ed down: "I'm not a Lapp at
all, I'm a Russian now," or "He's a good man" (_i. e._, active,
energetic) "and not a Lapp."

So that they evidently have no particularly high opinion of themselves,
and put no great value on their tribal individuality; and yet, as
the free-born child of the broad and boundless _tundra_, the Lapp
dearly loves his home and open roving life.

The chief occupations of the Lapps are reindeer-rearing and fishing,
and in winter, the transport of goods by means of their deer. They
are unfortunately bad husbandmen, utterly reckless about the increase
of their herds, and never dreaming of looking upon them as sources
of gain. Deer-herding is not, in their eyes, a regular business,
they merely keep such head as are required for domestic uses, that
is, for food, clothing and travelling. Very few Lapps own big herds,
while most of them hardly know or care how many in reality they have.
In summer, when the deer are not wanted for travelling purposes, they
dismiss them to range at large, without any surveillance whatever. To
escape the persecutions of gadflies and mosquitoes the deer generally
flock to the Hibinski Mountains, or else wander to the sea-shore.
When thus at large they multiply freely of themselves, and, by
this time half wild, often stray away from the herds altogether.

The rearing of reindeer might easily be made such a profitable
business as to be sufficient in itself to insure a comfortable
livelihood to the Lapps. The deer itself hardly requires any looking
after the whole year round. All through the summer it feeds on
various grasses, and in winter on the _yagel_, or reindeer lichen
(_Cladonia rangiferina_), which it scratches out from under the
snow, with its hoofs. This lichen, or moss, grows in profusion all
over the _tundras_ and forests of the Kola Peninsula. It is his
deer which supply the Lapp with food and clothing, convey his family
and goods hundreds of versts in his wanderings, and, finally, give
him the opportunity of adding to his income by acting as carrier,
and by supplying teams to the government postal-stations, etc.
Some years ago some Zirians from the Petchora settled in the Kola
Peninsula with their herds, numbering some 5,000 head. The Lapps
welcomed them into their community, looking upon them, indeed,
as benefactors, as the Zirians, a smart and enterprising race,
get everything needed for household purposes, which they obtain
much cheaper than the Lapps themse