They eat and sleep on skins spread on the twigs. They burn wood for
fires. The fire is made on the ground in the middle of the floor. The
smoke goes out through a hole in the roof.
[Illustration: A Lapp Family at Home.]
The Lapps do not all live in the same way. Some of them are called
mountain Lapps. In summer the mountain Lapps live in tents among the
hills. Their tents are made of reindeer skin. They have a great many
reindeer.
The reindeer is very useful to the Lapps. It gives them milk. It
draws their sleighs. Its flesh is good to eat. They make clothes of
its skin. They make knives and spoons of its horns.
In summer the reindeer eat the soft shoots of shrubs and trees. In
winter they feed on moss called lichen. They get the lichen
themselves. They would not eat it if it were gathered for them. In
winter they dig down through the snow with their feet to get at the
lichen. They dig first with one fore foot and then with the other.
The snow is often so deep that the reindeer has to dig a hole so large
that its body is almost hidden.
The reindeer are not put in stables. They like to be out in the cold
and snow. They are able to take care of themselves.
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