ld reindeer. The domestic and the wild animals eat
the same food, the gray caribou moss, which carpets northern
Newfoundland and the whole of Labrador, furnishing an inexhaustible
supply of forage everywhere in forest and in barrens. The Lapland
reindeer had been introduced into Alaska and northwestern Canada with
great success. They would thrive equally well in Labrador and
Newfoundland.

With this in mind Doctor Grenfell learned all he could about reindeer
and reindeer raising. The more he studied the subject the better
convinced he was that domesticated reindeer introduced into Labrador
would prove a boon to the people. He appealed to some of his generous
friends and they subscribed sufficient money to undertake the
experiment.

In 1907 three hundred reindeer were purchased and landed safely at St.
Anthony, Newfoundland. With experienced Lapland herders to care for
them they were turned loose in the open country. For a time the herd
grew and thrived and the prospects for complete success of the
experiment were bright.

It was Doctor Grenfell's policy to first demonstrate the usefulness of
reindeer in Newfoundland, and finally transfer a part of the herd to
Labrador. The great difficulty that stood in the way of rearing the
animals in eastern Labrador was the vicious wolf dogs. It was obvious
that dogs and reindeer could not live together, for the dogs would
hunt and kill the inoffensive reindeer just as their primitive
progenitors, the wolves, hunt and kill the wild caribou.

Because of the dogs, no domestic animals can be kept in eastern
Labrador. Once Malcolm MacLean, a Scotch settler at Carter's Basin, in
Hamilton Inlet, imported a cow. He built a strong stable for it
adjoining his cabin. Twelve miles away, at Northwest River, the dogs
one winter night when the Inlet had frozen sniffed the air blowing
across the ice. They smelled the cow. Like a pack of wolves they were
off. They trailed the scent those twelve miles over the ice to the
door of the stable where Malcolm's cow was munching wild hay. They
broke down the stable door, and before Malcolm was aware of what was
taking place the cow was killed and partly devoured.

For generations untold, Labradormen have kept dogs for hauling their
loads and the dogs have served them well. They were not willing to
substitute reindeer. They knew their dogs and they did not know the
reindeer, and they refused to kill their dogs. To educate them to the
change it was ev