Part 18

After our discourse of the inhabitants of _Lapland_, their Nature and manners, something is to be said of other things there remarkable. First of their Cattel, of which they have some common to other Nations, some proper only to themselves. They have no Horses, nor Asses, Oxen, nor Bulls, Sheep nor Goats. The inhabitants do not regard Horses, for the little use they have of them; Oxen, Sheep, Goats, they procure from their Neighbors, for the provision of meat, wool, and hides, and they keep them but one Summer, still killing them a little before Winter. The Beasts proper to _Lapland_ which no other Nation has, are Rain-deers, _Peucerus_ stiles them _Tarandi_, but without reason, for the Rain-deer compared with _Tarandus_ as ’tis described by _Pliny_, have scarce any thing a like, the _Tarandus_ having the bulk of an Ox, an head bigger than a stags, and hair as thick and rough as a Bears, which he can change into any color, as he shews in his 8^{th} book, but nothing of this agrees to the Raindeer, as we shall shew anon. Likewise _Gesner_ did erre in bringing this Animal from two divers species. ’Tis not known who imposed the name; but whatever become of the Etymology or imposition of the name, tho it seem to be of late times, the beast it self was long before known. The first that wrote of him was _Paulus Warnefrid_: he speaks there of a people which he calls _Scritobini_, which were doubtless the _Laplanders_, for he describes their cloths to be the same with those which the _Laplanders_ call’d _Mudd_, he affirms that the beast of which they had their hides was not unlike a Stag, which serves to prove that they were the _Rain-deer_, for so they are call’d by _Herbestenius_, _Damianus_, and _Olaus_, who tells us that they are something taller then a Stag: those which have broad horns (found most in the North) are less than others. But tis not the same thing to talke of tallness and bulk; for tho other Stags owe their height to their long legs, they have less bodies than the Rain-deer. They have 3 horns, 2 branching out backward, the third sprowting down their foreheads (which _Olaus_ observes is to guard them from the wild Beasts especially the Wolves.) _Lomenius_ speaks of 4 horns, 2 backwards and 2 forwards, as appears by his picture, in which the Artist falls short of the matter, as my draught which is more accurate will show: but _Albertus Magnus_ makes them have three rows of horns, for so _Jonstonus_ out of him, they carry saies he 3 horns, each breeding 2 horns more, which makes his head seem bushy. Two of these are bigger then the rest, which answer to the Stags horns, growing sometimes to that bigness as to be 5 cubits high, and are adorned with 25 branches. The Doe has 2 short horns, one being fixt in its forehead which it uses in conflict with other beasts. These horns are proper only to the Buck, the Doe having much less and fewer branches. They are commonly covered with a kind of Wool, which is most frequent after they are cast and begin again to shoot; so _Olaus_. In the spring, they begin to sprout, tender, but rough and full of blood: when they come to a sufficient growth, they cast their hair in Autumn. The Rain-deer differ from a Stag, that their feet are thick like a Bulls; hence _Olaus_ took notice of their round hoofs: when they walk, the joints of their feet make a noise like the clashing of flints, or cracking of nuts, which is peculiar only to these beasts. Lastly their color is different from a Stags, for it comes nearer an Ash: besides they are white not only on their belly but on their haunches, which _Damianus_ observes does render them more like Asses then Stags, and _Zeigler_ agrees with him. But I cannot see on what account _Olaus_ attributes a main to this beast: they have indeed, especially under their necks, hair longer then ordinary, such as Goats and other beasts have, but nothing agreeable to an horse main: tis farther observeable that tho they are cleft they do not chew the cud. Likewise instead of the bladder for their gall they have a black passage in their liver. This is the picture of one drawn to the life.

Moreover the beast is naturally wild, and such still abound in _Lapland_, but now multitudes are tamed for domestick service; those that are bred of tame ones, remain so, of which there is great plenty. There is a third sort bred of the wild and tame, for they use, as _Sam. Rheen_ observes, to set out tame Does about rutting time, for the better conveniency of catching the wild ones. Thence it happens that sometimes the tame ones breed that third sort, which they call particularly _Kattaigiar_ or _Purach_, and are bigger and stronger than the rest, and fitter to draw Sledges. He saies too that they retain something of their primitive wildeness, sometimes being very headstrong, and kicking at him that sits on the Sledge. The driver hath no remedy then but to turn his Cart, and lie under it, till the Beast ceases to be unruly, for they are strong, and will not be governed with whips. They go a rutting about S. _Matthews_ tide, in the same manner that Staggs do: if any Buck be killed in that Season, the flesh stinks like a Goats, which makes the Inhabitants desist from killing them at that time, but at other times they are good meat. The Does (which they call _Waijar_) are big ten months, they calve about _May_, when they can recruit themselves with the Sun, and fresh grass. They breed but one a piece, but are so fertile, that of an hundred there is not ten barren. Those that have calved are stiled _Raonæ_, which become exceeding fleshy, as if they were fatned against Autumn, at which time they are usualy killed.

Those that have young ones never are housed, but give suck without, and in this case the great multitude breeds no confusion, for each Doe knows her proper Calf, and is known by it; so saies _Sam. Rheen_, who affirms that they know one another after two or three years absence. When the Calves are grown they feed on grass and leaves, and what the Mountains afford: their color is mixt of red and yellow. About S. _James_ tide they cast their hair, which in the next growth turns blackish. They are at their full growth in 4 years, each year changing their name; the first, they are stiled _Namiloppa_, i. e. nameless. _Tornæus_ calls the Buck _Hiroas_, but _Rheen_ gives him the name of _Herki_. When they are able to work, they are tamed; one sort being condemned to the Sledge, and thence named _Vaijom-herki_, others to carry burdens, thence called _Lykam-herki_. Those that are design’d for labour they commonly gueld, which renders them more tractable: this is done when they are a year old. Those which are reserved for breeding, are called _Servi_. The Bucks are not so numerous as the Does, of which there be an hundred for twenty, which are profitable for Milk, Cheese and breeding. Both men and women milk them kneeling, one hand being emploied to hold the pail, and the other the dugg. They milk them sometimes loose, and sometimes bound to a post, about 2 or 3 of the clock in the evening, and but once a day, the rest being reserved for the calves: those which have Calves alwaies yield most milk: the greatest quantity they give at once is a Swedish pint and half, that is about the fourth part of the ordinary measure upon the _Rhine_. The milk is fat and thick, and very nurishing, which is their chiefest food; that which they do not boil they make Cheese of, which is thus described by _Rheen_. The Dairy-Maids first let the milk stand to cream, when it hath stood they take off the cream with a skimmer. When one Cheesefat is filled, they fill another, and put it on the first, and so till 6 or 8 are filled, then they turn the Cheesefats, that the lowermost be in the top, and use not their hands to press the cheese, but let them press each other. Each Cheese requires as much milk as ten Rain-deers can spare: their shape is round about two fingers thick, and as big as a Trencher, which we use at table, their Milk makes very fat Cheese, but no Butter, instead of which they have a kind of tallow, as I shew’d before.

Now the _Laplanders_ having such advantages from these beasts, take great care in driving them to their Meadows, and defending them from wild Beasts. They are so concerned for them, that they bring their Wives, Children, and Servants, to watch them in the pastures, and drive those that wander back to the Herd. When milking time comes, they drive them into folds, which are spots of ground, hedged in with hurdles stuck on forks, each fold having two doors, one by which they enter, the other which carries them out into their Medows. Their meat in Summer is the best grass the Mountains afford, with leaves of young Trees. They avoid all hard rough grass, especially where Bullrushes grow. The other Seasons of the year they feed on a kind of white Moss, which abounds in _Lapland_: when the Mountains are covered with Snow, they scrape out this Moss with their feet. And _S. Rheen_ observes that tho they get least food in the Winter quarter, they grow whiter and fatter then at other times, for in Summer the excessive heat makes them worse. These Cattel too are subject to disseases, which if once begun, spread and kill the whole Herd, but this very rarely. They are infected with that more frequently, which _Olaus_ describes. About _March_ worms or wornels do begin to breed in their backs, which when alive, creep out and make the Beasts skin, if then killed, full of holes, like a Seive, and almost useless.

The Wolves trouble them, tho they have their horns to defend themselves; but they are not alwaies so armed, for they cast their horns once a year, which grow again very slowly. The Does never cast theirs till they have calved. The Rain-deers use not their horns when they encounter the Wolves so much as their forefeet, with these they receive them coming on, otherwise their feet defend them by flight, which they can easily do, if not hindred by Snow. The third inconveniency is that if they be not very carefully lookt to, they will wander and be lost, therefore the owners put certain marks on them to distinguish them from others; their marks they put sometimes on their ears, and not their horns, because they cast them. But if they escape all accidents whatever, they never live above 10 years.

And thus much for the Rain-deers, which alone supply the want of Horses, Sheep, and other Cattel. Therefore the Inhabitants apply themselves only to the care of these, neglecting all the rest; besides Dogs, which faithfully watch their Houses and Cattel, and are very serviceable for hunting, as I have mentioned in that Chapter.

CHAP. XXIX.

_Of the wild Beasts of the_ Laplanders.

Of all the Beasts in _Lapland_ the Bear is chief: him saies _Sam. Rheen_, they stile King Of the Woods, and gives this reason, because in strength and fierceness he exceeds all the rest. They are very numerous, some fiercer than others, especially those which are mark’t with a white wreath about their necks, many of which are found in the North. These annoy the Inhabitants Cattel, and overturn their Stores; which they fix on the top of a Tree, to preserve their flesh and fish, and all that concerns provision: but in one night the Bear destroys all the food they have laid up.

Next the Bear the Elk is remarkable, which _Olaus_ calls the wild Asse, _Scaliger_ confounds it with the Rain-deer, for he saies, tho it had Asses hair, it was called by the _Swedes_, _Ranger_, by the _Goths_, _Rangifer_, by the _Germans_, _Ellend_, by the _Moscovites_, _Lozzi_, and some Books say that in _Norway_ they were named _Rehen_: what Books he means I am ignorant, but I am sure the _Elks_, which the _Germans_ call _Ellend_, were never called _Rehen_, but _Ælg_, or _Ælgar_, which is now the common name through all the North; neither can I think otherwise of the _Moscovites Lozzi_, for it is the same with the _Lithuanian Losso_, as _Herbestenius_ observes. That which the _Lithuanians_ call _Loss_, the _Germans_ call _Ellend_, and many in Latin _Alce_. So that _Loss_, _Lozzi_, _Ælg_, _Ellend_ is the same Beast, but quite different from the Rain-deer, contrary to what _Scaliger_ thought. For first it excells the Rain-deers in bulk not a little, being as high as any Horse; its horns are shorter, but above two palms in breadth, shooting out a few, tho not many young sprouts. His leggs are not round, but long, especially the foremost: he engages very smartly, and his sharp hoofs enable him to encounter all Men and Dogs that oppose. He hath a long head, and huge thick lips alwaies hanging down; his color is not so white, but all over his body it inclines to a dark yellow mixt with ashen: when he walks he makes no noise with his hoofs as all Rain-deers do; whoever sees both Beasts (as I have often) will perceive such difference, that he will wonder how any one should mistake. There is no great breed of these in _Lapland_, but they have them from other places, especially _Lithuania_. _Charles_ the ninth, by a public Proclamation claimed all the skins of those that were killed for his Exchequer, as I mentioned in another place. _Olaus_ saies that they continue altogether in the South of _Lapland_, and are taken most frequently by running them down, or hunting; in other places they are rarely found: but it is manifest that twice a year they swim in great Herds out of _Carelia_, over the River _Niva_, to wit, in the Spring to go into _Carelia_, and in Autumn to return into _Russia_. Some few Stags have bin seen in _Lapland_. _S. Rheen_ mentioning the chief Beasts which have bin found there, reckons severall species of four footed Beasts, as wild Rain-deers, Bears, Stags, Wolves, Gluttons, Beavers, Otters, Martins, Squirrels; but these Stags are but few and little, such as they call _Damacervi_, or _Platicerotes_, which since they have nothing peculiar from those in other nations, let it suffice that they are named. To these I may add wild Rain-deers, but because they differ from the tame ones only in bulk, being bigger, and in color somewhat blacker, I will likewise pass them over. _Sam. Rheen_ after the Stags mentions Wolves, of which there is a great number, distinguisht from those in other Countries only by their color, something whiter, whence they are often called white Wolves: their hair is thicker, longer and rougher. These most of all molest the Rain-deers, which are armed against them with their horn.

I find in some Papers of _Euræus_ that the Wolves did never assault the Rain-deer if it was bound to a stake: the reason may be because he fears some trap when he sees the rope that binds the Raindeer: for the Wolf is a very suspicious creature, and thinks every thing he sees to be a snare to catch him. Besides he may suspect that men lie hidden to kill him, whereas the Rain-deers are only bound for the better conveniency of milking them. Nevertheless, the Wolves venture not only on Beasts, but on Men and Women, especially those that are big with child. Travellers are forced to go armed, particularly Women near their time, for the Wolves take their scent and watch more greedily for them, therefore no Woman is permitted to travel without a guide assisting her. The next are the Gluttons, which are frequent here, they have a round head, strong and sharp teeth, like a Wolfs, a plump body, and feet shorter than the Otters: their skin is of a very dark color, some of them resemble Sables, only they have softer and finer haire; this Beast lives not altogether on Land, but many times in the Water, like the Otter, tho much bigger and stronger: some compare it to the Otter, but it is far greedier than he, for thence it gets its name. For _Olaus_ tells us that it is called by the _Swedes_, _Jerff_, by the _Germans_, _Wildfras_: but this German name doth not denote the Beast to eat much, but to devour what it finds in the Woods, for _wild_ signifies any thing in the Woods; wherefore either _Scaliger_ did not understand the word, or else the Printer did not follow his copy: which appears more plainely, from that the _Gulo_ doth not only infest wild Beasts, but tame (as hath bin often known in _Swedland_) and Water creatures too, being it self accustomed to the Waters.

There are abundance of Beavers in _Lapland_, because the Nation abounds with plenty of Fish, whence they have store of food: _Olaus_ thinks that the plenty of them proceeds from the quietness of the Waters, which are never troubled with Ships, as the _Rhine_ and _Danow_ are. I add nothing of these because they are not distinguish’d from the vulgar sort, neither are the Otters. Next to these _Sam. Rheen_ speaks of the Foxes, as being numerous, and of severall sorts over all _Lapland_. He reckons up, besides the common ones, those that are black, brown, ash-colored, white; and those that are marked with a cross. The black are most valued because they are rare: in _Moscovy_ Men of honor and preferment have their Caps made of their skins, which are sold, as _Herberstenius_ observes, for 10, sometimes 15 pieces of gold. Those that are marked with a cross, _Johnston_ calls _Crucigeræ_, and describes them thus: they have from their mouth, over their head and back to their tail a black streak, another crossing their back, and down to their forefeet, which two lines do resemble a cross. These are preferred before the common red Foxes, being bigger, and having thicker hair. The ashen-colored Foxes are those which _Johnston_ calls _Isatidæ_, their color is mixt of ash and blew, such as is the color of the woad, tho this color is not spread all over his body, nor is any single hair wholly of this color, for the longest hairs are black at the end, the shortest white, from both which this color results. _Olaus_ calls these _Celestine_, or sky-colored Foxes, where too he tells us that they are of less worth than the rest, and the white ones too, because their color is so, without the tincture of any other, such as Conies use to have. The reason is because their number is great, and their hair not durable: but that there is such abundance of these skins happens because the Foxes are more easily taken, not living in the Woods, but on the naked Mountains between _Norway_ and _Swedland_.

After the Foxes the Martins are mentioned. These too are frequent in _Lapland_, and indeed no Nation doth afford more or better skins than this doth. But these differ too, those that have yellow on their throat being preferred before the white: but this is observable that the _Laplanders_ have no Martins but in the Woods, and they have also a particular sort of meat, for they feed on Squirrels and Birds. In the night time, saies _Olaus_, by the advantage of their sharp claws they can easily climb any Tree, where they make a prey of the Squirrell, who is quite as nimble, tho not so strong, and therefore can sometimes save himself by skipping round the arm of a Tree: this the enemy cannot imitate, especially if the Squirrell leads him up to the top branches, otherwise he cannot escape, and leap from the top of one Tree to another. The Martin is not injurious only to the Squirrel, but to both small and great Birds, which he seizes on as they are at roost: if they be the greater Birds they presently betake themselves to flight with him sitting on their backs, and persisting to bite so long, till they drop down dead.

Next are the Squirrels, which are incredibly numerous. These particularly change their color every year. When Winter draws on they turn from red to grisle, which color is valued in the skin; this color the further the Beasts are Northwards, is the purer, and less mixt with red, and is so too the farther the Season is from Summer, at which time they are never hunted, but all in the Winter. Tho they do so abound, yet they are wont to go away in such troops, till there are scarce any left. The reason of their departure is not known: some think it is because they fear hunger and foresee the want of meat. Others think it is to avoid the injury of the weather. _Rheen_ and _Ol. Pet._ describe their march on this wise. They go to the brinks of a River, where they find the bark of Pine, or Birch trees, on which they trust themselves, and venture to launch forth, pricking up their tailes for sailes. Thus they are carried at the mercy of the wind till it overturns them and their bark. Their body is of that nature that it will not sink, but being drowned, is driven to shore, where very often great numbers are taken up, and their skins, if they are found soon enough are as fit for use as ever: but, tho such an accident, as this, sweeps away most of them, yet the few that are left preserve the species, and multiply very soon, for each Squirrel brings forth 4, 5, or more at a time. And those are all the Beasts which _S. Rheen_ mentions.