This multitude of deer are seen on the top of a mountain, near the Stoudenaïa-reka, sometimes collected, and sometimes scattered, seeking under the snow for moss. It is seldom that any of them wander from the flock, and they are always caught without difficulty. On the evening of my arrival I had an opportunity of enjoying this spectacle. They had been assembled in order to select what were necessary for my use, which required only a quarter of an hour. Upon a particular cry of their keepers, the tame deer came towards us. The young ones, and those which are unaccustomed to, or exempt from, labour, go off in a different direction. The slow and the restive ones were next separated from the rest, and those that were wanted were easily caught by means of a running noose which they threw over them with singular dexterity. The choice being made, they separated those destined for my use, and which if they had not been detained by force, would speedily have gone to rejoin the rest. They do not ordinarily employ in labour the female deer, which are reserved for the propagation of the species. They are coupled in autumn, and foal in the spring. The young males designed for draught, are castrated nearly in the same manner as the dogs of Kamtschatka. There are almost always three or four deer in a flock that are trained for the chace. The instinct of these animals is inconceivable; they hunt even while they are feeding. If a tame deer perceives a wild one, he immediately, without showing any sign either of joy or surprise, imitates in browsing the gait and manner of the other, who sometimes approaches him without suspecting a snare. Presently one sees them play together; their horns become entangled, they part, they join each other again, they fly and pursue each other by turns. In these sportive amusements the tame deer gradually draws his prey within musquet shot of the hunter. With a well managed deer, one is able to seize his companion alive; a cord is hung upon the horns of the former, which, in their play, he entangles in the horns of his adversary. From that time the greater the efforts made by the wild deer to escape, the closer the running knot is drawn, and the more strongly the tame deer pulls at the cord, in order to give his master time to come up. It frequently happens however that the wild deer suspects the trick, and escapes the danger by flight. When a Koriac comes out of his yourt in the morning, the deer flock about him in expectation of a drink, which is the highest treat to them; this is nothing more than human urine, which is carefully preserved in vessels, or hampers made of straw, and of so nice a contexture that the liquor cannot penetrate through them. The flock are so extremely fond of this beverage, that whatever quantity you give them, it is all swallowed in an instant.