REIN DEER. 275 



fury upon that. But it is otherwise with those 

 that are tame ; no creature can be more active, 

 patient, and wilhng* : when hard pushed, they will 

 trot nine or ten Swedish miles, it is said, or be- 

 tween fifty and sixty English miles, at one stretch; 

 but in such a case the poor obedient creature fa- 

 tigues itself to death ; and if not killed immedi* 

 ately by its owner, will die in a day or two after* 

 In general they can go about thirty miles without 

 halting, and without any great or dangerous 

 efforts. This, which is the only way of travel- 

 ling in Lapland, can be performed to advantage 

 only when the snow is glazed over with ice : and 

 though it be a speedy method of conveyance, yet 

 it is inconvenient, dangerous, and troublesome. 



The chief food of the Rein Deer is a species of 

 Lichen, commonly called the Rein-Deer moss, 

 which covers vast tracts of the northern regions, 

 and on which these animals particularly delight to 

 brouze. In summer they readily obtain it in vast 

 plenty, and in winter dig with their horns through 

 the snow to arrive at it. 



With the Laplanders this animal is at once the 

 substitute of the Horse, the Cow, the Sheep, and 

 Goat. 



Those innocent people have subdued it to vari- 

 ous uses, and reclaimed it from its wild state. 

 Tliey devote their whole care to its management ; 

 occasionally housing and nursing their herds dur- 

 ing the winter, and attending them during the 

 summer to the tops of their mountains, and to the 

 sides of their clear lakes and streams, vrhich are 



