BUTTER AND CHEESE. 233 



have been married to him, sent him at once to the right- 

 about, very properly refusing to have anything more to say 

 to so dastardly a fellow." 



The quantity of milk given by the rein-deer is incon- 

 siderable on the average, perhaps, less than half a pint. 

 The flavour of it is highly aromatic, owing probably to the 

 kind of herbage the animal browses upon in summer. In 

 colour and consistency it resembles very rich cream ; and its 

 nature is such, that, however gratifying to the taste, it is 

 difficult, and even unwholesome to drink more than in small 

 quantities. In rare instances the milk is converted into 

 butter, which is white, and quite hard. It is more suitable 

 for making cheese, of which it is said to produce from six to 

 ten times more than the same quantity of cows' milk. But 

 though the quantity may be great, the quality of the cheese 

 is certainly not much to boast of. One of our countrymen, 

 indeed, describes it, and with truth, " as extremely bad ; 

 being hard as a bullet, white in colour, of a disagreeable 

 taste, and eatable only by a Laplander." 



It is for the most part during autumn, when the rein- 

 deer are in the best condition, that the Lapp slaughters 

 such of them as he and his family may require for food 

 during the coming winter. The axe is seldom or never 

 brought into use on these occasions. It is with the knife 

 alone that the deer is slain, as well as quartered. The 

 weapon is driven into the nape of the animal's neck, which 

 at once brings him senseless to the ground, on which the 

 man sticks him in the breast, and in a very few moments 

 life is extinct. 



The blood collects in the cavity of the chest ; and when 

 the entrails are taken out, it is carefully put into the 



