Journey.

forehead.

peculiar.

Separate.

Species.

coat.

6. When it proceeds on a journey, it lays its great horns on its back, while there are two branches which always hang over its forehead, and almost cover its face. One thing feems peculiar to this animal and the elk; which is, that as they move along, their hoots are heard to crack with a pretty loud noise.

7. This arifes from their manner of treading; for as they reft upon their cloven hoof, it fpreads upon the ground, and the two divifions feparate from each other; but when they lift it, the divifions clofe again, and ftrike against each other with a crack. The female alfo of the rein-deer has horns as well as the male, by which the species is dif tinguished from all other animals of the deer kind whatsoever.

8. When the rein-deer firft fhed their coat of hair, they are brown; but in proportion as approaches? fummer approaches, their hair begins to grow whitish; until, at laft, they are nearly grey. They are, however, always black about the

grey. coarfer..

eyes.

9. The neck has long hair, hanging down, and coarfer than upon any other part of the body. The feet, juft at the infertion of the infertion? hoof, are furrounded with a ring of white.

thick...

attempt?:

10. The hair in general ftands fo thick over the whole body, that if one fhould attempt to feparate it, the skin will no where appear uncovered whenever it falls alfo, it is not feen to drop from the root, as in other quadrupeds, but feems broken fhort near the bottom; fo that the lower part of their hair is feen growing while the falls upper away. The horns of the female are made like thofe of the male, ex-. cept that they are fmaller and lefs branching.

II. The rein-deer fhed their horns at the end of November; and they are not complete

5

ly furnished again till towards autumn. As Autumn. in the rest of the deer kind, they sprout from

the points; and alfo in the beginning, are furnished with a hairy cruft, which fupports exquifite? the blood veffels, of moft exquifite fenfibili...

ty. .

bleak?

12. Lapland is divided into two diftricts, mountains. the mountainous and the woody. The mountainous part of the country is at beft barren and bleak, exceffively cold, and uninhabitable during the winter ; ftill, however, it is the most defirable part of this frightful region, and is most thickly peopled during the fummer..

exceffively?

13. The natives generally refide on the de- declivity? clivity of the mountains, three or four cot-tages together, and lead a cheerful and focial

life. Upon the approach of winter, they are migrate? obliged to migrate into the plains below, each bringing down his whole herd, which

often amounts to more than a thousand, and berd? ? leading them where the pasture is in greatest plenty..

14. The woody part of the country is much more defolate and hideous. The whole face of nature there prefents a frightful fcene of trees without fruit, and plains without verdure. As far as the eye can reach, nothing is to be feen, even in the midst of fummer, but barren fields, covered only with a mofs, almoft

as:

defolate?

hideous ?

verdure?

conflagra

white as fnow ; no grafs, no flowery land- tions? fcapes, only here and there a pine-tree, which.. may have escaped the frequent conflagrations. by which the natives burn down their forefts.

15. But, what is very extraordinary, as the clothed. whole furface of the country is clothed in white, fo, on the contrary, the forefts feem to the laft degree dark and gloomy. While gloomy.. one kind of mofs makes the fields look as if they were covered with fnow, another kind

blackens

Verdure?

deforms.

fubfift?

remote ?

folitude?

mountain

eer's.

preferred.

exclufive?

paflare. infested?

gnats. berdfman.

previously.

blackens over all their trees, and even hides their verdure.

16. This mofs, however, which deforms the country, ferves for its only fupport, as upon it alone the rein-deer can fubfift. The inhabitants, who, during the fummer, lived among the mountains, drive down their herds in winter, and people the plains and woods below,

17. Such of the Laplanders as inhabit the woods and the plains all the year round, live remote from each other, and having been used to folitude, are melancholy, ignorant, and helpless. They are much poorer alfo than the mountaineers, for, while one of thofe is found to poffefs a thoufand rein-deer at a time, none of thefe are ever known to rear the tenth part of that number..

18. The rein-deer makes the riches of this people and the cold mountainy parts of the country agree best with its conftitution. It is for this reafon, therefore, that the mountains of Lapland are preferred to the woods; and that many claim an exclufive right to the tops of hills, covered in almoft eternal fnow.

19. As foon as fummer begins to appear the Laplander drives his deer up to the moun tains and leaves the woody country and the low pafture, which at that season are fo infefted with gnats and flies, as to fill the whole air, like clouds of duft in a dry and windy day.

20. Every morning and evening, during the fummer, the herdsman returns to the cottage with his deer to be milked, where the women previoufly have kindled up a fmoky fire, which effectually drives off the gnats, and keeps the rein-deer quiet while milking.

21. The female furnishes about a pint,

folds?

which though thinner than that of the cow, Pafture. is nevertheless sweeter and more nourishing. This done, the herdsman drives them back to pasture; as he neither folds nor houses them, neither provides for their subsistence during the winter, nor improves their pasture by cultivation.

fubfiftence.

22. Upon the return of winter, when the defolate ?. gnats and flies are no longer to be feared, the Laplander defcends into the lower grounds; and, as there are but few to difpute the pof- extensive? feffion of that defolate country, he has an extenfive range to feed them in. Their chief and almost their only food at that time, is the white mofs already mentioned.

Spectator?

23. This is of two kinds; the woody, which defert? covers almost all the defeit parts of the country like fnow; the other is black, and covers the branches of the trees in very great quantities. However unpleafing thefe may be to the fpectator, the native esteems them as one of his choiceft benefits, and the most indulgent gift of nature..

choiceft.

indulgent?

24. While his fields are clothed with mofs, fertility? hé envies neither the fertility nor the verdue

of the more fouthern landscape; dreffed up landscape? warmly in his deer-fkin clothes, his fhoes

and gloves of the fame materials, he drives

his herds along the defert, fearlefs and at eafe, materials. ignorant of any higher luxury than what their milk and smoke-dried flesh afford him.

25. Hardened to the climate, he fleeps in the midst of ice; or awaking, dozes away-his time with tobacco; while his faithful dogs fupply his place and keep the herd from wandering. The deer, in the mean time, with inftincts adapted to the foil, pursue their food, tho covered in the deepest snow. 26. They turn it up with their nofes, like

fwine;;

hardened.

dozes.

adapted?

purfue?

Surface?

tractable?

barneffed.

fledge.

beat.

guides.

goad. refractory?

refource. patient.

tretch.

fatigues.

halting. wavelling. glazed?

fwine; and even though its furface be frozen and stiff, yet the hide is fo hardened in that part, that they eafily overcome the difficulty.

27. The rein-deer, which we have now defcribed, are fo tractable, that they are harneffed, like horfes, to a fledge by a trap, which goes round the neck and comes down between their legs. The fledge is extremely light, fhaped fomething like a small boat, and is fhod on the bottom with the fkin of a young deer, the hair turned to flide on the frozen fnow.

28. The perfon who fits on this guides the animal with a cord, fastened round the horns, and encourages it to proceed with his voice, and drives it with a goad. Some of the wild breed, tho by far the strongest, are yet found refractory, and often turn upon their drivers, who have then no other resource but to cover themselves with their fledge, and let the animal vent its fury upon that.

29. But it is otherwife with those that are tame; no creature can be more active, patient and willing; when hard pufhed, they will trot between fifty and fixty English miles, at one stretch. But, in fuch a cafe, the poor obedient creature fatigues itfelf to death; and if not prevented by the Laplander, who kills it immediately, it will die a day or two after.

30. In general they can go about thirty miles without halting, and this without any great or dangerous efforts. This, which is the only manner of travelling in that country, can be performed only in the winter, when the fnow is glazed over with ice; and although it troublefome. be a very speedy method of conveyance, yet it is inconvenient,dangerous,and troublesome. 31. There is fcarce any part of this animal that is not converted to its particular uses.

converted?

As