gage, a circumllance which would leave us in a very unpleafant
lituation. W e left it to them to divide our baggage into feven
parcels, one for each, including the girl, who was to be made to
carry her proportion. W e remarked a degree of equity in the
diftribution o f the burthens, which impreffed us with no unfavourable
idea of the chara&er of thefe people. W e obferved that they
gave the lighteit packets to fuch as appeared unequal to a heavier
load. To excite irt them an attention to juftice, and to each
other, we gave each of them a glafs of brandy when they fet about
making the divifion, promifing them another when it was made.
On beginning their march they afked for a third, and though we
feared this third glafs would intoxicate them, yet we durft not
difpleafe them by a refufal. In order to induce us the more readily
to comply with their requeft as to a third glafs, they quoted
a Lapland proverb as their authority for it, which fays, “ Before
“ a journey take a glafs for the body’s fake; at fetting off take
“ another for courage fake.” At length we began our march,
each of our Laplanders with his load of baggage, one o f them
taking the lead, and the reft following one by one in lingle file.
This was the firft time during our whole journey that we had
travelled in this manner, and we were wonderfully delighted with
the lingular appearance which our caravan made. W e kept in
the rear of the line of march, in order th a t we might lee that no
part of our baggage was dropt or loft, and moreover to obferve the
conduit of thofe that went before. The pleafure we had in reviewing
this proceflion was deftroyed by the intolerable ftench
which thefe filthy Laplanders left behind them, when “they began
to
to perfpire. It was beyond what I am able to defcribe_; and
were I ever fo equal to the talk, I am fure the reader would not
thank me for the perufal of fo ill-favoured a compofition.
The degree of heat was twenty-nine in the ihade, and forty-five
in the fun. The ground burned our fe e t; and the few lhrubs we
met with in our way afforded us little or no ihelter. W e were
almoft fuffocated with h e a t; and to add to our fufferings, we were
under the neceflity of wearing a drefs of thick woollen cloth, as
a iecurity from the infeits, and to cover our faces with a veil,
which in a great meafure prevented our drawing breath. This
extraordinary degree of heat loon operated mod powerfully upon
our Laplanders, who had already fwallowed three glaffes of brandy
each. They laid themfelves down to reft at every lhort diftance,
and were calling out every moment for more brandy. W e loon
difcovered that we had no longer to do with Finlanders, who are
a fober, robuft, aitive, and hardy race of people. W e had now
to deal with a fet of wretches who cared only for fermented liquors,
and were unwilling to work. In this manner we went on
for fix miles from the beginning of our journey, in which diftance
they flopped to take reft about fifty times, and as many times
each of them afked for brandy. If we had not come to the refo-
lution to deny them when they afked, we ihould have made no
progrefs that day. They were dying with thirft, and the firft
fpring they came to they dipped their heads in, like fo many pigs;
and drank full as large draughts. W e were at very confiderable
trouble throughout the whole of this journey, both in making
our Laplanders go on and in keeping them from ftraggling.
When