REIN DEER. 
55 
state. When the heat of summer becomes oppres- 
sive, and the insects which abound in the marshy 
bottoms begin to torment the rein deer, they at- 
tend them to the summits of their alps ; to the sides 
of their clear lakes and streams, often bordered with 
native roses. They know the arts of the dairy, 
milk these their cattle, and make from it a rich 
cheese. They train them to the sledge, consider 
them as their chief treasure, and cherish them with 
the utmost tenderness. 
Their rein-deer form their riches. These their tents. 
Their robes, their beds, and all their homely wealth 
Supply, their wholesome fare, and cheerful cups. 
Obsequious at their call, the docile tribe 
Yield to the sled their necks, and whirl them swift 
O’er hill and dale, heap’d into one expanse 
Of marbled snow, as far as eye can sweep. 
With a blue crust of ice unbounded glaz’d, 
Thomson. 
The brutish Samoied considers them in no othe^r 
view than as animals of draught, to convey them to 
the chase of the wild deer; which they kill for the 
sake of their skins, either to clothe themselves, or 
to cover their tents. They know not the cleanly 
delicacy of the milk or cheese; but prefer for their 
repasts the intestines of beasts, or the half-putrid 
flesh of a horse, ox, or sheep, which they find dead 
on the high road. 
The Koreki, a nation of Kamtschatka, may be 
placed on a level with the Samoieds : these wan- 
derers keep immense herds of rein deer, some of 
