o the herd, the dogs attack them fiercely and act with great cunning,
taking care not to be bitten by them and waiting for the opportunity to
spring on the wolves."

While Pehr was talking I wished I could see a pack of wolves attacking
reindeer, to see how the dogs fight them.

"Do not think," added Pehr, "that it is our inclination to be harsh
towards our dogs. We never overfeed them; it is the only way to keep
them hardy, strong, and healthy. They are not allowed to rest until
their master or mistress has returned to the tent. Then we want them to
stay out doors."

"I should like very much," I said to Pehr, "to see how you break in
reindeer and accustom them to harness."

"Well," he replied, "you will see how we train our reindeer to draw
sledges. You came just in time, for we are now training some, as we have
several that are getting too old. The males are used as draught animals,
as they are stronger than the females. When the snow is in good
condition they can draw as much as four hundred pounds, or two or three
logs of pine or fir."

So he sent two men after the reindeer. They took their lassos with them,
and in less than an hour they returned with two reindeer.

"The process of teaching a reindeer to draw a sleigh or carry a pack on
his back," observed Pehr, "is very tedious and very hard work. Some of
the reindeer are more difficult to teach than others, and in spite of
the best training the wild nature and restlessness of the animal shows
itself not infrequently."

I thought so. I remembered my first lessons.

[Illustration: "I went outside the tent with my host."]

"We begin to train the reindeer," he continued, "when he is about three
years old, and he does not become a well trained animal before he is
five. When they are under training a daily lesson is given them to let
them know their masters, and also a lesson to accustom them to be
lassoed, of which they are very much afraid at first. We give them salt
and angelica, of which they are very fond, every day, to make them
come when they are needed, and in that case the lasso is not necessary.
They are never subjected to ill-treatment at any time; if they were we
could do nothing with them."

The work of teaching the reindeer to draw a sleigh began. Salt was first
given to one of the deer, which he seemed to enjoy very much. Then
without trouble a very strong leather cord with a loop was put carefully
over his horns, and the loop was drawn tight