BOOK.
VII. Mr. Oehrling fpoke the Latin and French tongues with great
fluency : I had the fatisfaftiou o f converfing with him, and
received from him the following information relative to Lapland
and its inhabitants.
The Laplanders call themfèlves Salme- Same, and Samen»
Almatjeh. 7 heir country they .denominate Same-Landa,
orSame-aednam; theSwedes ftyle it Lapland or Lappmarken,
and thè inhabitants Lappar. The natives o f thole diftritìs
under the dominion o f Sweden or Denmark are Lutherans,;
while many o f thofe who are fubjeft to Ruffia are itili Par
gans., Swediih Lapland contains about eight churches, which
in fome parts lie at fo great a diftance from each other, that
a native is frequently obliged to travel three days in order to
attend divine fervioe. Lapland, in general, is a vali region,
but very thinly peopled. Near the G ulf the country is com-
pofed chiefly o f granite rock, or is itrewed over with detached
malfes of that itone. The whole face o f the inland
is overfpread with immenfe tracks o f foreft, confiding chiefly
o f firs, larch, and fmall beech, interfperfed with numerous
lakes whichabound with fiih. It yields pafiture, and affords
fome corn, chiefly ,rye and huck-wheat ; .and is capable of
producing a greater quantity, i f more of the natives .could be
induced to leave their wandering way o f life, and cultivate
the ground. The winter is very Jong and tedious, lading
nearly nine months .: the fnow frequently begins to fall towards
the latter end.of Angud, and remains upon the ground
till the middle of May. The people are partly fettled, and
in part wild and roving,: the latter live in tents made with
coarfe cloth.; the former .are fixed ¿n finali villages near the
lakes, and.chiefly follow ffflffng. They build their cottages,
lbmewhat in the fhape o f a cone, by placing a circle o f large
•trees or poles aflapt in the earth, and clofe t_o each other, fo
that
that their tops meet, and form a fmall vent for the iffue o f CHAFI
I .
the fmoke : they cover the ground within with branches -
trees. In fummer their clothes are made o f coarfe cloth ;
in winter o f the lkins o f rein-deer*. In fpring their food
confids principally o f the eggs o f water fowl, which are
extremely plentiful in thofe parts; in fummer and autumn o f
the birds themfelves,and of various others o f the partridge-
tribe t ; and in winter o f the milk and fleih o f the rein-deer,
and
* In the F lo ra La p p o n ic a Linnseu^ fays,
“ Perhaps the curious reader w ill wonder
“ how the peop le in Lapland,* du r in g the
;‘ terrible co ld th at reigns th ere in w in ter ,
‘ can preferve th e ir lives ; fince almoft all
“ birds, and even fome w ild beafts, defert it
“ at that time. T h e Laplander,, not only
‘ in the da y, bu t .-through th e who le .win te r
I nights, is ob liged to wand er ahout in th e
* woods with his herds o f rein-deer. ' F o r
‘ the rein-.deer n e v e r come, under cover,
| nor eat an y kind o f fod de r, b u t a p a r t i-
| cularkind o f liv e rw or t. On this ac count
‘ the herdfmen are u n d er a neceffity o f liv -
‘ ing1 con tin u ally in the woods, in order5to -
‘ take care o f th eir ca tt le , left th e y ihould
‘ be devoured b y wild beafts. T h e .L a p -
‘ lander ea fily does w ith o u t more lig h t , as
‘ the fnow reflects the- ra y s th at come from .
‘ the itars, and as the A u rora Borealis il-
‘ luminates the air ev ery n igh t w ith a g rea t
‘ variety o f figure s. N o p a rt o f ou r b ody
‘ is more ea fily deftroye.d b y cold than th e -
■ extremities o f th e limb s, w h ich are moft
‘ remote from th e fun o f this microcofm,
‘ the he art. T h e kibes th at happen to ou r
‘ hands and fe e t , fo common in the n o r th -
‘ ern parts o f Sweden, p rove this. ■ In
‘ Lapland .you w i l l never fee fuch a th in g , -
‘ although, were we to ju d g e by .the fitu a -
‘ tion o f the co u n try , we fliould imagine '
• juft the con tra ry; e fpec ially as th e people .
wear no fto ck in g s, as we do, not only fin-
‘ gle, bu t double and , trip le . T h e L ap -
‘ lander guards h im fe lf aga inil the cold in
1 the following manner. H e wears breeches
Vo,x.. I I , ‘ , y
H made o f rein-d eer ikins with the h a ir o n ,
£< re a ch in g down to his h e e ls , and iljoes
■ “ made o f the fame .m a te r ia ls , th e h a iry
“ p a rt turn ed outwards , H e p u ts into his
“ ilioes Jlcnder-eared broad-leaved cyperus
“ gra fs , carex vcjicaria, Spec. P L (or th e
“ Bladder. C a r e x ) that is cu t in fumme r
“ and dried. T h is h e firft comb s , and rubs
“ in his hands, and then p laces ft.in fu ch
“ a man ner, th at it not o n ly covers his fe e t
“ quite, roun d , bu t his leg s a l f o ; and b ein g
“ thus guarded, h e is qu ite fecured againft
“ the intenfe co ld . W ith this grafs th e y
U f lu f f their gloves lik ew ife , in o rd e r to pre -
“ fe iv e th eir hands. A s this grafs keeps o ff
“ th e co ld in w in te r , fo in fumme r it hinders
“ the feet from fwe atin g , and at th e fame
“ time preferves them from b ein g annoyed
“ b y ftr ik in g againft ftones, & c . fo r th e ir
“ ilioes are v e ry th in , b ein g made, not o f
“ tanned le a th e r , but the-raw h id e ,” S t il-
lin g fle e t ’ s T r a c t s , p . 13 7 , 138.
t “ A b o u t au tum n , when th e lakes o f
tl Lap lan d b egin to fre e z e , th e w a te r - fow l,
“ w h ich are found th.ere in g rea t abundance,
“ migra te towards th e S o u th ; and upon
** the firft open in g o f th e.fp r in g they re tu rn
“ in la rg e flocks to th eir p r io r habita tion s,
u w h e re rhey find a plen tifu l fu b 6ften.eefrom
“ the g ru b s o f the gn ats. _ T h e f e ,g ru b s too
“ ferve fo r th e food, o f th e ietraones o r
“ p a rtr id g e trihe, thoufands w h e re o f , and
“ even myriads., are d a ily ta k e n , and fent
“ to S to ckh o lm . T h e fe birds are. cau gh t
“ in fuph la rg e quantities by th e Laplan de rs,
“ as to fu p p ly them w ith their o rdin ary
y - jjj .