. Round about the North pole . , and every one is allowed to keep what he layshold of in this manner. It might seem that in thisway nothing would be left to requite the spearmen fortheir skill, and the danger they have encountered ; butwhilst everything taken in the river is the property ofwhoever secures it, the wounded animals which reachthe bank before they fall, belong to the spearman whowounded them. The skill and experience of these menare such that in the thickest of the conflict, whenevery energy is taxed to the uttermost, and their life isevery moment at stake, they have sufficient pr
. Round about the North pole . , and every one is allowed to keep what he layshold of in this manner. It might seem that in thisway nothing would be left to requite the spearmen fortheir skill, and the danger they have encountered ; butwhilst everything taken in the river is the property ofwhoever secures it, the wounded animals which reachthe bank before they fall, belong to the spearman whowounded them. The skill and experience of these menare such that in the thickest of the conflict, whenevery energy is taxed to the uttermost, and their life isevery moment at stake, they have sufficient presence ofmind to contrive to measure the force of their blows soas to kill the smallest animals outright, but only towound the larger and finer ones, so that they may bejust able to reach the bank. Such proceeding is notsanctioned by the general voice, but it seems neverthe-less to be almost always practised. The whole scene isof a most singular and curious character, and quiteindescribable. The throng of thousands of swimming. THE TUNDRA 113 reindeer, the sound produced by the striking togetherof their antlers, the swift canoes dashing in amongstthem, the terror of the frightened animals, the dangerof the hunters, the shouts of warning advice or applausefrom their friends, the blood-stained water, and all theaccompanying circumstances, form a whole which noone can picture to himself without having witnessedthe scene. The tundra has no more characteristic animal thanthe reindeer. Over the mossy hillocks and the mattedtops of the dwarf birches he runs, or through the riversand lakes he swims, with his broad-hoofed, spade-likefeet never at a loss to find a footing. In the longwinter he is protected by his thick skin against theinfluence of the cold, and is seldom at starvation point,as he digs for food in the deepest snow, and is by nomeans particular what he eats; and in the shortsummer he is in luxurious ease, for the tundra, as wehave seen, is not always as bad as it is painte
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