This they find in abundance in the mountainvalleys, and cook with milk in their uncoated copper vessels, without on that account suffering bad effects in the stomach. They also eat raw the stalk of the angelica archangelica, which they call slöcke, first removing the outer skin. In winter the Laplander exchanges part of his rein-deer flesh for meal in the markets and coast districts; and he then eats the flesh, or the preserved milk, cooked with meal, or a kind of soup made of reindeer blood and meal. The rein-deer cheese, from its richness, seldom freezes, and forms a most substantial meal; it is also most useful when burnt, and applied to a frost-bitten part. The cheeses are made in circular cakes an inch thick; they are semi-transparent, and very palatable. This food in winter is very nourishing, and it is thus that he is enabled to endure the hardships and severe weather with which he has to contend. The female deer produces its young in the month of March, and from that time it is milked by some of the Laplanders once, by others, twice a-day. The dog is an important animal in Lapland, and

every native has a number proportionate to that of his rein-deer, amounting sometimes to twelve, or more. These dogs protect the deer from wild animals, give a signal when these approach, keep the herd together, so that they may not become scattered, and thus lose themselves in the mountains, and go in search of them when the latter occurs. They drive the deer by their barking, and, when that is not sufficient, they bite their legs. In order to prevent injury being thus inflicted, the canine teeth are extracted when the dogs are young. It is rather instinct than a regular training which teaches the dogs their duty. They have a natural inclination to the rein-deer, and as soon as the latter are in motion are eager and ready to follow. The dogs are divided into two companies, of which the one accompanies the herd, and the other remains in the tents. As soon as the rein-deer return from their pasture to the tents, the dogs which have been reposing start up and enter upon their duties, and those which are relieved lie down quietly in the tents. The Lapland dog is not large, has long hair, a sharp nose,

a long-haired tail, and erect ears. The milking of the deer, when the dogs are most useful, is an interesting scene in the life of the Laplander.

"Towards evening the deer are driven from the mountains to the tents. Their arrival is first announced by the barking of the dogs, who run round the herd to keep the animals together. Soon the whole herd is descried forming a closely packed mass, which moves along like a grey cloud. As the animals approach nearer, the horns become a prominent object, resembling a moving, leafless forest, and very various in their form and size. The fawns push through among the full-grown animals, and we at last hear a crackling noise produced by the movement of their legs, and resembling the sound of burning fir-trees, or rather that of electric sparks. Here and there is heard a sound, somewhat like the grunting of swine. Near the tents there is a circular enclosure provided with two openings or doors. When the deer approach it, they press closely together in order to enter, and one sees only the moving mass and the projecting horns. Should a deer or a

fawn remain behind, or take a wrong path, a dog immediately pursues it, and the deserter is soon seen running back to the herd at full pace, followed by the dog. The animals now stand closely packed together, within the fence, and are so tame that even a stranger can touch them without danger or trouble. In the centre of the enclosure there is a small erection to which the animal is firmly bound during the milking, in order that it may not become unruly, and upset both the milk and the milker. The milking is performed by men, women, and children; but the task of bringing each animal to the milking-place belongs exclusively to a particular man, and is accomplished in the following manner. This individual is accurately acquainted with every animal even in a herd of several hundred, and knows if it is a male or female, and if it is milked or not. He goes with a noose in his hand, and throws it so dexterously over the horns of the animal he wishes to secure, that he never fails in his object, even at a distance of fifteen or twenty yards, and even when many other deer are standing between him and his

object. So soon as the noose is fastened round the horns, the animal is led to the milking-place, another animal is then taken, and so on, until all have been milked. The skill of the Laplanders in the use of this noose can only be compared to that of the savages of Africa or the bull-takers in Brazil."*

The Laplanders pay but little attention to cleanliness in the milking process; during the summer loose hairs fall abundantly into the milk, and these are but partially removed by sieves. The rein-deer understands how to keep back her milk; and, in order to prevent this, the Laplander strikes her with his fist repeatedly, and thus much additional hair drops into it. The milk is obtained in small quantities, but is as rich as cream; the taste by no means disagreeable, resembling that of the sheep. On their winter journeys the Laplanders generally carry a supply of it frozen in a bladder, and break off pieces as they require it. The Laplander's summer lasts from about June to September. During this time the deer

*Gustav Peter Blom.