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FRANK HEDGES BUTLEK
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THROUGH LAPLAND WITH SKIS AND REINDEER
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Frontispiece.
IH ROUGH LAPLAND
. TH SKIS ^ REINDEER
viTH SOME ACCOUNT OF ANCIEN 1 i.APLAND AND THE MURMAN COAST By FRANK HEDGES BUTLER, F.R.G.S. First Hon. Treasurer Royal Automobile Club, iSn- To 1902; Founder of the Rovac Aero Club, Author of "5,000 Miles i"; a Balloon," AND ok "Travels by Land, V'ater, and Air"
WITH 4 MAPS AN' ' USTRATIONS
HER UNWIN LTD. J • ADELPHI TERRACE
THROUGH LAPLAND
WITH SKIS ^ REINDEER
WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF ANCIENT LAPLAND AND THE MURMAN COAST By FRANK HEDGES BUTLER, F.R.G.S. First Hon. Treasurer Royal Automobile Club, 1897 TO 1902 ; Founder of the Royal Aero Club, 1901 ; Author of "5,000 Miles in a Balloon," and of "Travels by Land, Water, and Air"
WITH 4 maps and 65 ILLUSTRATIONS
T. FISHER UNWIN LTD. J.ONDON : ADELPHI TERRACE
n;^
^
7//7//^
first published in igi?
{All rights reserved)
DEDICATED TO
THE MEMBERS OF THE SKI CLUB,
OF THE ROYAL AUTOMOBILE CLUB,
AND OF THE ROYAL AERO CLUB
OF GREAT BRITAIN
rf> r\ /I o o 1 1
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE INTRODUCTORY . ' ^ . . . . .1
The term *' Lapp " — Situation and physical conditions of Lapland — The different kinds of Lapps — Their modes of life — Their dress
CHAPTER II THE LAPLANDER OF OLD . . . . .16
Lapland in the seventeenth century — Inhabitants — Dwell- ings— Dress — Food — Manners — Customs — Birth — Educa- tion— Courtship and marriage — Health — Death — Funerals — Industries and employments — Bear-hunting — Religion — Language ^ -
CHAPTER III THE LAPLANDER OF TO-DAY . . . .51
Modern Lapland— -Routes and conditions of travel — Rein- deer, wolves, and dogs — The pulka : the Lapp travelling coach— Ski-ing— The Lapland wmter— Ways of life— Social customs — Marriage — Burial rites — Village communal meetings : " Sooim "—A native on life in Lapland
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER IV
PAGE
FBOM BOSSKOP TO VADSO . . . . .98
Visit to Bosskop — A Lapp fair — The " Samlag " and prohibition — Provisions and clothing for the journey — The ceremonial of a Lapp toilet — Pulka travelling — Dinner at 7 a.m. — Karasjok — Lapp scenery and weather — Lapland nights — The *' bastue," the Finnish Turkish bath : its rites and ceremonies
CHAPTER V
PETCHENQA AND THE MONASTERY OF ST. TRYPHON . 137
Journey to Petchenga, in Russian Lapland — Visit to Petchenga Monastery, founded by St. Tryphon, 1533 — History of Tryphon — His death, 1583 — Later vicissitudes of the monastery — Massacre of the monks and destruc- tion of the buildings, 1590 — Rebuilding of the monastery, 1619— Its importance and influence to-day
CHAPTER VI
THE MUEMAN COAST AND THE KOLA PENINSULA . . 169
Extent and physical features— Early history — Inhabitants — CHmate— Birds and fishes — Possibilities for colonizing the Murman Coast — Basin of the Paza River — Population — Ways of life — Communications with Petrograd — Report of Russian Minister
CHAPTER VII
IN THE FAB NORTH ...... 192
Going North in Lapland — Polar Circle Station — Malmberg, the iron mountain — From Kiruna to Karesuando — Easter in the Far North — Wedding feasts and funeral baked meats — Life with the northernmost Lapps
CONTENTS
IX
CHAPTER VIII
FAOS MODES OF TRAVEL : EEINDBER-SLBIGHING AND 8KI-ING . 218
Reindeer as beasts of burden — Reindeer and ski-driving — Breaking in the reindeer — Harness — Driving in the moun- tains — Bosskop market — Transport routes — Ski-running — Origin of the word " ski " — Different kinds of ski described
APPENDIXES I. Eoads, Winterways, and Routes II. Fjeldstues (Rest- or Guest-houses) .
III. Telegraph and Telephone Ofifices
IV. Russian Lapland and the Murman Coast V. Bibliography ....
. 233 . 249 . 256 . 260 . 282
lA
ILLUSTRATIONS
FRANK HEDGES BUTLER . . . Frontispiece
FACINO PAQH ENGRAVED FRONTISPIECE FROM SHEPFER'S ** LAPLAND " . 1 CROSSING RUSSIAN LAPLAND . . . . .8
TRAVELLING ALONG THE ALTEN RIVER . . .8
ANCIENT DRAWING OF PULKA AND REINDEER . . 20
ANCIENT WEARING APPAREL . . . . .20
SACRIFICES AND OTHER CEREMONIES . . . 22
ANCIENT SKIS, SHOWING THE DIFFERENT LENGTHS . 22
LAPP MAN AND WOMAN. REINDEER CARRYING CHILD . 24
ANCIENT SACRIFICES : REINDEER HORNS . . .24
LAPP WOMAN CARRYING MAILS TO KOLA AND ARCHANGEL
FROM PETCHENGA . . . . .60
BOSSKOP AND MOUNTAINS .... . 96
HOTEL AT BOSSKOP . . . . . .98
BOSSKOP CHURCH ...... 100
KARASJOK CHURCH ...... 100
BOSSKOP : A PROMENADE ON SKIS . . . .102
BOSSKOP : SKI-GIRL . . . . . .104
BOSSKOP : AUTHOR AND LAPP THURRI . . .106
KARASJOK : TELEPHONE STATION. TELEPHONE MISTRESS
AND CHILDREN ...... 108
JUKASJARVI : GOVERNMENT REST-HOUSE . . .110
REINDEER PLODDING UP A MOUNTAIN ... .112
RAVNASTUEN . . . . . . .114
KARASJOK : LAPP CHILDREN . . . . .116
KARASJOK : OUR PARTY AT NIELSEN'S HOTEL . .118
CHILDREN PLAYING ON SNOW SLOPES AT KARASJOK . 120
AUTHOR AND LAPP SLEEPING IN ipHE SNOW . . 120
BASSEVOUDSTUEN : REST-HOUSE .... 122
ANGELI : PARK OF FIR-TREES. LAPP ON SKIS . . 123
A merchant's caravan on KARASJOK a RIVER . .124
AIKIO, FINLAND : LAPP WOMAN AND HERD OF REINDEER . 126 OUR VAPPUS (driver) FETCHING REINDEER TO HARNESS
IN PULKAS ....... 128
REISVUONO : GOING ON BOARD MOTOR- YACHT . . 130
xi
Xll
ILLUSTRATIONS
VA.CINO FAGS
REISVUONO : MB. GUNNABI, HANDELSMAN AND POSTMASTER.
AUTHOR IN SLEDGE ..... 132
BIDDING GOOD-BYE AT BUGOPJOBD .... 134
PETCHENGA MONASTERY ..... 137
BORG MESCH (sWEDISH INTERPRETER), AUTHOR, AND LAPP 138
MAPS
ANCIENT MAP OF LAPLAND
ANCIENT MAP OP RUSSIAN LAPLAND .
ROUTES TO LAPLAND ....
PART OF LAPLAND, SHOWING AUTHOR'S ROUTES
138 144
144 192 102 194 196 197
. 198
SCENE 199
PETCHENGA : AUTHOR AND RUSSIAN LAPLANDER AUTHOR AND STAFF OF PETCHENGA MONASTERY ENARE CHURCH. AUTHOR ON SKIS . . . .
SWEDISH LAPLAND : POLAR CIRCLE RAILWAY STATION JUKASJARVI CHURCH AND TOWER . . . .
KIRUNA : RAILWAY STATION AND HOTEL JUKASJARVI : LAPP TENT . . . .
KARESUANDO CHURCH : LAPPS LEAVING AFTER SERVICE . KARESUANDO : HERR OSCAR VON SUDOW (SWEDISH GOVERNOR
OF LAPLANd), LAPP WOMEN, AND CHILD EASTER DAY IN KARESUANDO CHURCH : COMMUNION KARESUANDO : REST-HOUSE. LAPP PEOPLE. AUTHOR WITH
SPADE STICK ....
LAPP WEDDING AT KARESUANDO LAPPS LEAVING KARESUANDO CHURCH LEPPAJARVI : OUR PARTY IN FINLAND LEPPAJARVI : OUR DRIVERS IN RUSSIAN FINLAND AIDDEJAVRE : GOVERNMENT REST-HOUSE KAUTOKEINO CHURCH AND BISHOP OF TROMSO LAPPOLUABAL : LAPP TENT . KAUTOKEINO : LAPP GROUP .
VADSO : NORWEGIAN LADY IN REINDEER DRESS JESJOKA RIVER : REINDEER RETURNING AFTER MID-DAY
MEAL OF MOSS HAMMERFEST : SKI-JUMPING . HAMMERFEST : ASCENDING MOUNT TYVEN SUOSJAVRE : SNOW-MOUND REST LAPP WOMAN AND CHILD LAPP MOTHER AND CHILD
LAPP ON SKIS WITH REINDEER ON RIVER MUONIOELP INTERIOR SCENE : LAPP THURRI MAKING A MEAL LAPPS PASSED EN ROUTE
200 201
202 204 204 204 206 208 208 210
210 212 212 214 218 222 224 226 228
2
6
51
286
A tlu theater m O-xon i6j^.
ENGRAVED FRONTISPIECE FROM SHEFFER's "LAPLAND."
To face p 1.
THKOUGH LAPLAND
CHAPTEE I
INTBODUCTOEY
The term "Lapp" — Situation and physical conditions of Lapland — The dififerent kinds of Lapps — Their modes of life— Their dress.
Not such the sons of Lapland: wisely they
Despise th' insensate barbarous trade of war ;
They ask no more than simple Nature gives;
They love their mountains, and enjoy their storms.
No false desires, no pride-created wants,
Disturb the peaceful current of their time;
And, through the restless ever-tortured maze
Of pleasure, or ambition, bid it rage.
Their reindeer 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, heaped into one expanse
Of marbled snow, as far as eye can sweep
With a blue crust of ice unbounded glazed.
Thomson.
The term "Lapland" is applied to the part of northern Europe inhabited by the Lapps. It
2
2 - .^ TKJl^UGH LAPLAND
covers portions of Norway, Sweden, and Eussia. The origin of the term '*Lapp" is obscure. The Swedish historian, Johannes Magnus, writing in the sixteenth century, called the land Lappia, following Saxo Grammaticus, the twelfth-century Danish chronicler. Other writers called it by the latinized name Lapponia. In the seventeenth century the region was known in England as Lapland, in Sweden as Lapmarkia,^ in Denmark and Norway as Laplandia or Findmarkia. Several ingenious etymologies have been suggested both in ancient and modern times. Some derive the name from the Swedish Lapp^ ^ags, " from their [i.e. the Laplanders] coming into Swedland every year with rags lajpt about them"; others from the Swedish laepa, to run or leap, from their skill in sliding swiftly over the frozen snow by means of ski. Sheffer,2 the Swedish professor whose *' Lapponia" (1673) was translated into English and published at Oxford in 1674,3 wrote of the **art
» "Mark" in Swedish = land.
2 Johannes Scheffenis (John Sheffer) was born at Strasburg in 1621; in 1648 he came to Sweden by invitation of Queen Christina, and was soon appointed Professor of Law and Ehetoric at the University of Upsala, where he died in 1679. He is the author of many learned historical and legal works.
3 The English translator was Acton Cremer, son of Thomas Cremer, of Bockleton, in Worcestershire, He was educated
INTRODUCTORY 3
they have by which with crooked pieces of wood under their feet like a bow they hunt wild beasts, and glide along the ground not taking up one foot after another as in common running, but carrying themselves steady upon the frozen snow, they move forward stooping a little."
Historians often called Lapland ^^ Scridfinnia," and the inhabitants were famous for sliding or gliding along the ground, their feet fastened to crooked pieces of wood, made plain and bent like a bow in the front part to move freely over the tops of the snow hills. The term *^Scridfinnia" is derived from " Skrida," which in the Danish and Swedish languages means to slide.
In Norway and Finland the Laplanders are called Finns, and in Sweden and Russian Lap- land, Laplanders.
The extent and exact situation of Lapland in ancient times is uncertain, but in 1600,
at Westminster School and came up to Christ Church, Oxford, in 1670, aged 19. According to Heame the work of translation was " an imposition set him by Bishop Fell for courting a mistress " at that early age. The lady in question was his cousin. Miss Elizabeth Penell, whom he married in 1676. Cremer took his B.A. in 1674 and his M.A. in 1677. He became Vicar of CUfton, in Worcestershire.
To the second edition of Sheffer's "History of Lapland," published in London in 1704, there is added "The Travels of the King of Sweden's Mathematicians into Lapland."
4 THROUGH LAPLAND
Charles IX, King of Sweden, sent two famous mathematicians — Forsius, a Swedish, and Birk- holten, a German professor — with instruments, to make what discoveries they could. On their return they reported ** that beyond the elevation of the Pole 73 degrees there was no continent towards the north but the great frozen sea, and that the farthest point was Norcum, or Norcap, not far from the Castle of Wardhouse.'*
The following is the table of the latitudes and longitudes taken by them : —
Uma |
Longitude. .. 3800 |
Latitude 65-11 |
Pitha |
.. 40-00 |
66-14 |
Lula |
... 40-30 |
66-30 |
Toerna |
.. 42-27 |
67-00 |
Kimi |
.. 42-20 |
67.10 |
Lappijaerf Antoware |
.. 42-33 ... 44-40 |
70-90 70-26 |
Tenokijle Porsanger Lingen Traenes |
... 4600 .. 44-20 ... 37-30 ... 32-30 |
70-50 71-42 70-36 70-25 |
Euvenes |
... 33-35 |
7000 |
Titifare |
... 37-55 |
69-40 |
Piala |
... 41-40 |
60-15 |
Siguar Tingwar |
.. 38-35 .. 38-00 |
68-59 69-40 |
Eounala |
... 39-30 |
69-47 |
Kontokrine |
.. 42-00 |
69-17 |
Waranger Lanzord |
... 45-00 ... 45-35 |
71-35 71-26 |
INTRODUCTORY
Hwalsund |
Longitude. ... 42-40 |
Latitude, 7112 |
Skrifae |
... 38-50 |
71-18 |
Trumfae... |
... 35-52 |
70-55 |
Andaces ... |
... 3200 |
70-30 |
Serghen Wardhus |
... 32-20 ... 52-00 |
69-30 71-55 |
Norkaap |
... 45-30 |
72-30 |
As the latitude proves, Lapland is situated very near the Pole. There are only two seasons : summer and winter. For some months in the summer the sun never sets nor goes below the earth; at the same time it does not rise much above it, " but as it were kisses and gently glides along the horizon for the most part." In winter the sun never rises, although, as a matter of fact, even when lowest it is not much beneath the earth, and notwithstanding that there is con- tinual night for some months, ^* yet every day the sun comes so near that it makes a kind of twilight." The moon, in winter, gives a bright light, which is enhanced by the white- ness of the snow, so that work can well be carried on. *'When the moon shines they go a-fishing, and despatch all other necessaries that are to be done without doors; and when it does not, if the air be clear, even the light of the stars so much abates the darkness that the horror of the night is much lessened."
6 THROUGH LAPLAND
The climate, notwithstanding the severe cold, is healthy. The air is fresh and clear, purified by the frequent and violent winds. A particu- larly tempestuous wind rises from the sea, and heaps up thick dark clouds that, even in sum- mer, obscure the sight, and in winter ^^ drive the snow with such force and quantity that if any person be surprised abroad, he hath no other remedy but to throw himself on the ground, with some garment over him, suffering himself to be quite buried in snow till the storm is past, I which done, he rises up and betakes himself to the next cottage he can meet, all paths and roads being hid in the snow."
The worst winds are those that prevail among the mountains, ** where they throw down all things they meet with, and carry them away by their violence into far distant places, where they are never seen or heard of afterwards," and the inhabitants' only chance of safety is to take refuge in dens and caves. Eain is rare in summer, but frequent at other seasons. In winter the whole land is covered with snow, and travelling is done at night, when the moon, reflected from the snow, lights up all the country and ensures safety. Travellers can thus
^ To-day he puts up skis or pulkas as a sign to other travellers.
M?^S~T?^
INTRODUCTORY 7
** discern and avoid any pits, precipices, and wild beasts that would otherwise annoy them : so convenient are the ways for any journey that two reindeer will draw a greater load over the trodden snow than a cart and ten horses can in the fields at other times."
In the most northerly part of Lapland, which is very mountainous, the tops of the mountains are covered with perpetual snow. Frequent mists so thicken the air that '^ pas- sengers cannot distinguish one man from another to salute or avoid him, though he be close up to them.'' The swiftest rivers are frozen so hard that the ice is practically solid and the lakes could bear the weight of a railway train.
Strange as it may seem, the summer is hot, since the sun shines unceasingly. Spring and autumn, as has been said, are non-existent ; there is scarcely any interval between the ex- treme cold of winter and the heat of summer. Strangers regard it as a miracle to see ^* every- thing springing fresh and green when but a week before all things were overwhelmed with frost and snow." An old chronicler records how, in June 1616, he saw the trees budding and the grass coming up green out of the ground, and within a fortnight after he saw the plants full blown and the leaves of the trees
8 THROUGH LAPLAND
*'at their perfection, as if they had known how short the summer was to be, and therefore made such haste to enjoy it." Mosquitoes are a veritable plague in July, and special clothing is necessary.
Some of the Lapps live in the mountains, others in the pine woods. The former are called Moun- tain Lapps (Fjeldlappers). In the winter, how- ever, they have to live in the woods, as they can- not remain on the mountains, where there are frequent storms of snow and no sheltering trees. When the snow is deep it is easy to keep the reindeer, sometimes two or three thousand of them, in a herd together. From Christmas till Easter the Lapps remain mostly in one place, and when the snow melts they follow the reindeer to the mountains and islands across the sea, where they remain during the calving season until Midsummer Day. After that they go still higher up the mountains to get away from the mosquitoes and gnats. The same cir- cuit has gone on for many hundreds of years. In appearance and habits the Mountain Lapps afford a typical picture of the race.
The Laplander begins to go to the moun- tains and coast from the interior about the end of May and June, leaving all his winter neces- saries behind him in wooden buildings in the
CROSSING RUSSIAN LAPLAND.
TRAVELLING ALONG THE ALTEN RIVER. From drawings on stone by W. Westall, A.B.A.
To face p. 8.
INTRODUCTORY 9
villages. The reindeer are very fond of salt water, and nature has taught them to get away to the high lands from the clouds of mos- quitoes that tease them near the rivers and lakes. The Swedish Lapps from Tornea Trask go to Tromso, and travel some two to three hundred miles from the interior. They also go from Enontekis, in Finland.
When the Lapp pitches his tent it is generally by a lake where water can be obtained, and sheltered from the winds. The tent is a mere rag of coarse cloth about 6 ft. high to 20 ft. in circumference. In this confined space, with a hole at the top to let out the smoke, the Laplander, his wife, children, and dogs sleep. Many times have I slept in these tents, sometimes seeing the stars and the Northern Lights shining above. At other times it has been snowing, the snow melting by the heat of the wood fire as it descends. The only entrance to the tent is by a small slit on one side covered by a flap, which lifts or falls and prevents the external air coming in. The erection of a tent takes half an hour. Three forked branches are stuck into the ground in a triangle, joined at the top, and a few branches tied round to strengthen it.
The existence of these people is subject to constant change. During their wandering they
10 THROUGH LAPLAND
see the greatest variety of scenery and witness Nature in her wildest and most beautiful garb. Their lives are passed sometimes in inactivity and sometimes in great bodily fatigue and hard- ship, and in undergoing the extremes of plenty and want. When hungry, the Lapp gratifies his appetite without -restraint, and is perfectly rave- nous; the quantity he devours at a meal is astonishing, and sufi&cient to last him some days should he be exposed to any sudden extremity.
In all parts of Norwegian, Swedish, and Eussian Lapland there is a numerous class of poorer Lapps, whose herds of deer are too small to enable them to live in the mountains, or to trust to them entirely for subsistence. These are called Wood Lapps, and they live in the large woods and forests that abound in the country. There are also the Fishing or Coast Lapps.
Near the coast potatoes grow and a little corn, but the greater part of the soil is covered with moss, on which the 200,000 reindeer feed. The Lapps themselves live mostly in the winter on reindeer meat and dried salt fish.
The Laplanders are generally of low stature, but many of the young men and women are handsome and strong. Near the coast the people
INTRODUCTORY 11
are dark and their eyes are brown, but in the interior fair people are met with light blue eyes, a clear skin, and beautiful white teeth. Some have thick heads, short flat noses, wide mouths, and straggling beards, and resemble the Mon- golian type. They are very superstitious and are frightened of a stranger if he tries to photo- graph them.
Honesty is one of the great virtues of the Lapp, who abhors theft : the merchants only cover their goods to secure them against the weather in their wooden buildings, and on their return from long journeys find them safe and untouched.
The Lapps are charitable to the poor and hos- pitable to strangers. They are clean and indus- trious, making tools, implements for fishing, clothes, and ornaments.
To travel in comfort in Lapland it is necessary to dress like the natives. In winter the dress is the same for men and women, both wearing breeches made of reindeer skins — the skins of the young calf — which they call muddas or paesks. The feet are covered with shoes of reindeer skin filled with dry grass ; the hands with gloves, also made of reindeer skin and filled with dry hay. Women generally wear a white reindeer coat and red cap with yellow or blue embroidery. The men's caps
12 THROUGH LAPLAND
are filled with eiderdown and feathers from dif- ferent birds. The winter costume of the Lap- landers is the same throughout the country.
For the fairs and for weddings and feasts the dress is very picturesque. The women have many-coloured shawls over their shoulders and silver ornaments, and at weddings they generally don white shoes and red gloves. The men wear on such occasions a red leather belt — sometimes richly ornamented and covered with small squares of solid silver — from which they suspend their knives, tobacco-pouches, etc. Silver rings are worn by both sexes, and in all my travels, whether in the frozen North or in Central Africa by the Victoria Nyanza, where the Kavirondo tribes go nude, I have always observed that the ladies like ornaments.
For driving in pulkas, a driving paesk ^ is put over the ordinary paesk,^ and is made of the best and thickest skins. Over the shoulders a broad bear-skin tippet 3 is worn which entirely covers them, reaching nearly to the waist; the claws of the animal are sometimes left on the ends hanging down in front. I bought a very nice bear tippet for thirty roubles from a Lapp in Enare, Finland. The tippets are a great pro-
* Mountjam baesk. ^ Kjore baesk.
3 Sjaewanowdt.
. INTRODUCTORY 13
tection during a heavy fall of snow and generally in bad weather.
From the belt of the paesk is suspended the knife, tobacco-pouch, and shooting apparatus when hunting. The knife is long, and is used for cutting wood, eating, clearing the snow off the bottom of the pulka, or killing the reindeer.
Reindeer leggings ^ slip on and come above the knee ; they are sometimes fastened to the knicker breeches, and prevent the snow or cold coming near the legs. They are secured at the bottom by long, narrow yellow or red bands 2 round and round the high shoe, to keep the cold from ascending and the snow from getting in. The Laplanders wear no stockings or socks, the shoes being stuffed with soft dried grass. 3 The gloves, made of reindeer skin, are also stuffed with grass, and there are no fingers to these gloves. Drying the grass before the fire in the morning is a great business. Sometimes twenty Lapps — men, women, and children — with their feet bare and spotlessly clean owing to the rubbing of the grass, perform this operation. Grass keeps the feet warm, and means comfort for the whole of the body for the rest of the day, for as there is no dust or dirt in the snow and
^ Baellinger. ^ Wontogahk.
3 Car ex sylvatica, in Lappish, sena.
14 THROUGH LAPLAND
ice, the body is kept clean. In fact, washing the hands and face is all that is necessary when travelling north during a journey ; a vapour bath is obtained later on at a village.
Almost every part of the reindeer skin goes to the making of clothes. The paesk is made from the whole hide of the deer killed in the winter; the leggings and gloves, of the skin covering the legs and thighs of the animal, and the shoes are taken from the skin between the horns and covering the top of the head. The fur is worn outside, and the closeness and thickness of it make it impossible for the cold to penetrate.
To preserve the free circulation of the blood every article of clothing is made loose and easy. The sleeves of the paesk are very large, which makes the coat easy to get out of, as it is drawn over the head. This is very useful when the cold is severe, as the Lapps are continually obliged to sleep on the snow without any further shelter for their bodies than their clothes. But it should be observed that the author put on twenty-five separate articles of clothing, the only one of no use being the handkerchief, because in the dry air colds are unknown. Laplanders owe to the dry air the great blessing of health. Like the Northern Esquimaux, they are almost entirely immune
INTRODUCTORY 15
from disease. Colds from exposure are nearly unknown to the Laplanders, and I have often seen the winter paesk more open in front than with others who live in warmer districts. They never seem to feel the cold, and are always most careful never to remove their gloves and to have plenty of dry hay in their shoes.
CHAPTEE II THE LAPLANDER OF OLD
apland in the seventeenth century — Inhabitants — Dwellings — Dress — Food — Manners — Customs — Birth — Education — Courtship and marriage — Health — Death — Funerals — Industries and employments— Bear-hunting— ReUgion — Language.
Before proceeding to the narrative of my travels in Lapland, it is interesting to give some account of the country and inhabitants as it was in the last quarter of the seventeenth century, because there is, on the whole, very little difference between the Lapland of to-day and of that period. As will be seen, the traveller constantly comes across manners and customs, occupa- tions, beliefs and superstitions, that remain the same as when they were described by the old historian.
1. The Inhabitants.
The origin of the Laplanders is obscure. Some ascribe to them a Mongolian origin, and both
16
THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 17
their type of countenance and their language lend themselves to that belief. It is, however, generally agreed that they are akin to the Finns described by Tacitus as wild hunters *^ who have neither weapons, horses, nor household gods. They live upon herbs, are clothed with skins, lie upon the ground, putting all their con- fidence in arrows, which they head with bones for want of iron. Both the men and women support themselves by hunting, and they have no other defence for their children against the violence of wild beasts or weather but huts or hurdles, which are the security of the old men as well as the young." Later, Saxo Grammaticus wrote of them as ^*the farthest people towards the north, living in a clime almost uninhabitable, good archers and hunters, and of uncertain habi- tations, wheresoever they kill a beast making that their mansion, and they slide upon the snow in broad wooden shoes."
In the seventeenth century the greater part of Lapland, viz. the southern and inland country, belonged to Sweden; the maritime tract, then called Findmark, to Norway; and the rest, from the Castle of Wardhus to the entrance to the White Sea, to Kussia. Sheffer describes the Laplanders as of low stature but well propor- tioned, and with good features. Their agility of
3
18 THROUGH LAPLAND
body was great, and they were in every way suited for active employments. The young women were often handsome ; they had a clear skin and took great care to preserve their natural beauty. The men were of swarthy complexion, lean and slender, broad chested, strong limbed, and swift footed, with thick heads, prominent foreheads, hollow and blear eyes, short flat noses and large mouths. Their hair was thin and short, their beards straggling, scarce covering the chin. The hair of both sexes was generally black and coarse, very seldom yellow. Their usual exercises were running races, climbing inaccessible rocks and tall trees. Sheffer found them very superstitious and cowardly, ^* being frighted at the very sight of a strange man or ship," suspicious, jealous, and revengeful. Above all they dreaded war, and our historian refuses to countenance the tradition that Gustavus Adolphus had several companies of Laplanders in his armies. He attributes the belief very ingeniously to the fact that Gustavus's enemies had to find some reason for the ^^many defeats which, to the wonder of the world, that most victorious Prince" inflicted on them, and so pretended that the " victories were obtained by the help of the Laplanders and magic." In business matters the Laplanders liked to get the
THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 19
best of a bargain, and were delighted when they happened ** to outwit any one." They were also covetous, " it being part of their cowardice to dread poverty " ; yet they were lazy, and until compelled by necessity could hardly bring them- selves to hunt or fish. They disliked strangers, ^' of what country soever," and Sheffer wisely observes : *^ So fond admirers are all men of themselves, that even the Laplanders will not exchange their interests with the inhabitants of the most happy climate, and however barbarous they are, doubt not to prefer themselves in point of wisdom to those that are most ingeniously educated in arts and letters." They had deep veneration for marriage ; they were charitable to the poor, not only receiving those who were destitute into their huts, but supplying them with stock whereon to live. They would even lend gratis for a considerable time ten or twelve reindeer. They were cleanly in their habits and often washed their hands and face.
2. Dwellings.
The Laplanders lived in tents or sheds, fashioned differently according as their inmates belonged to mountain or forest. The former erected four posts at four corners, placing three rafters on top of them, so that there should be
20 THROUGH LAPLAND
one on each side and one at the back. Long poles were then placed on the rafters so that their tops might rest upon and support one another. The poles were covered with coarse woollen cloths. These tents they took away with them when they left the place. But the forest-dwellers made sheds of board and posts that met at the top in a cone, which they covered with the boughs of fir and pine, or with the bark of those trees, and sometimes with turf. There were two doors ; that at the front was the larger and more generally used ; that at the back smaller and used for bringing in provisions and the prey obtained by hunting. In the centre was the hearth, surrounded by stones, in which there was continual fire except at midnight. The cooking-pot hung over it, the smoke going out through a hole in the roof. The interior was divided into spaces by means of logs laid along the ground; some of the divisions served as sleeping-rooms, others as a kitchen and an apartment in which to keep the men's hunting implements. The floor was strewn with branches of birch-trees, covered with rein- deer skins to keep out the damp, and on the skins the occupants were used to sit and lie. The master, his wife, children, and servants all dwelt in the same hut. Near at hand a store-
ANCIENT DRAWING OF PULKA AND REINDEER. From Shefifer's "Lapland."
ANCIENT WEARING APPAREL. From Sheffer's "Lapland."
To "ace p. 20.
THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 21
house for their goods and provisions was erected. They cut off the upper part of a tree to about 15 or 18 ft. from the ground, and placed on it two rafters crosswise/ and built their repository on them of boards, making the door in the bottom, so that when the man left it, '^ the door falls-to like a trapdoor and all things are safe." They went up by ladders made of the trunks of trees in which notches were cut like stairs. They were built high up in this fashion in order to prevent bears and other wild beasts from getting at the contents.
3. Dkess.
In summer their garments were of homespun woollen cloth, and in winter of reindeer skins. Their shoes and gloves were of the same material, stuffed with hay to make them warm; the shoes were worn on the bare feet without stockings. Both men and women wore their garments next their skin without any linen underneath, for they had no flax in the country. They covered their heads with a cloth cap which reached down to and partly covered their shoulders, *^ leaving only a space for them to see through." The cap kept them warm in winter and protected them from mosquitoes in summer. In all clothing the hair « In the figure of an X.
22 THROUGH LAPLAND
of the skin was worn outside. There was little difference in the apparel of the sexes, especially in winter, since the women must then wear breeches "by reason of the deep snows, storms, and badness of the ways." Both the men and women were fond of ornaments, and upon festi- vals and holidays, instead of the customary plain leather girdle, wore one ornamented with silver or tin studs according to the wealth of the wearer. They also hung chains about their necks. The women's girdles were much broader than the men's, and those worn on highdays and holidays w^ere ornamented with tin or silver plates of the length of a finger engraved with '' shapes of birds and flowers," the plates laid so close together that the leather fillet was entirely covered with them. They hung chains on the girdles and many rings and trinkets on the chains. The weight was often as much as twenty pounds ; they were specially pleased by the rings, *' the jingling of which is very grateful to their ear, and, as they think, no small commendation to their beauty." They sometimes wore a sort of breastplate of coloured cloth ornamented with engraved metal studs. At fairs, weddings, and feasts they covered their heads with a red kerchief. There was no difference in the attire of married women or maidens. Neither sex wore
SACRIFICES AND OTHER CEREMONIES. From Sheffer's "Lapland."
ANCIENT SKIS, SHOWING THE DIFFERENT LENGTHS.
From Sheffer's "Lapland"
To face p. •22.
THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 23
night clothes; they lay naked on the reindeer skins, covering themselves in winter with other skins and blankets, in summer with the blankets alone, making of them for their heads a kind of rude mosquito net. Of the use of linen or cotton sheets they were quite ignorant.
4. Food.
With regard to food, the Mountain Lapps lived almost wholly on their reindeer, which provided them with milk, cheese, and meat. Occasionally they bought cows, goats, and ewes from the neighbouring parts of Norway, which they milked in summer and killed in winter. In winter they ate chiefly boiled reindeer flesh, in summer milk, cheese, and dried flesh. The delicacies in greatest esteem were the tongue and marrow of the rein- deer, and such dainties were always forthcoming when priests were to be entertained. The Forest Lapps lived partly on fish and partly on birds and beasts. They preferred the flesh of bears, a dish that always appeared when they entertained friends. Bread and salt were almost unknown. Instead of the former they used dried fish, reduced to a kind of meal by grinding ; and instead of salt, the inner rind of the pine-tree prepared in a peculiar way. All fresh meat was boiled, and the broth greatly esteemed ; some- -
24 THROUGH LAPLAND
times fish was cooked in the same vessel. The milk, which is very thick, was either boiled with water or allowed to stand in the cold to freeze into a kind of cheese. Fish was either eaten fresh as soon as caught or dried in the sun, when it would keep for ** several years." For sweet dishes they prepared blackberries, straw- berries, wild angelica, all of which they preserved by boiling in their own juice without water over a slow fire till they were very soft; then a little of their salt was sprinkled over them, they were put into a vessel of birch-bark and buried in the ground, and taken out as required. Their chief drink was water, some of which was always kept hanging over the fire in a kettle to prevent it freezing, '* out of which every one with a spoon takes what he pleases, and so drinks it hot, especially in winter-time." Also they often drink the broth made with the meat. Beer was un- known to them, but for pleasure they drank " spirit of wine and brandy, with a little of which you may win their very souls." They were also *^ very great admirers of tobacco." Sheffer thus describes a Laplander's meal : —
" Their dining-room in the winter- time is that part of the hut where the man and his wife and daughters use to lie, and is on the right hand as you go in at the foregate ; but in summer without doors upon the green grass. Sometimes,
LAPP MAN AND WOMAN. BEINDEER CABRYING CHILD. From Sbeffer's "Lapland."
ANCIENT SACRIFICES : REINDEER HORNS. From Shefifer's "Lapland."
To face p. 24,
THE LAPLANDER OF OLD 25
too, they are wont to sit about the kettle in the middle of the hut. They use not much ceremony about their places, but every one takes it as he comes first. They seat them- selves upon a skin spread on the ground cross-legged in a round ring ; and the meat is set before them in the middle, upon a log or stump instead of a table; and several have not that, but lay their meab upon the skin which they sit on. Having taken the flesh out of the kettle, the common sort put it upon a woollen tablecloth, the richer on a linen ; as for trenchers and dishes, they are quite unknown to them. But if any liquid thing is to be served up, they put it in a kind of tray made of birch. Sometimes without