[This is an extract from a well-known book by Lord Dufferin, entitled Letters from High Latitudes, which describes a yacht voyage made by the author in 1856, to Iceland, Spitzbergen, &c.] 1. It was in the streets of Hammerfest that I first set eyes on a Laplander. Turning round a corner of one of the ill-built houses, we suddenly ran over a diminutive personage, in a white woollen tunic, bordered with red and yellow stripes, green trousers fastened round the ankles, and reindeer boots, curving up at the toes like Turkish slippers. On her head for she turned out to be a lady-was perched a gay party-coloured cap, fitting close round the face, and running up at the back into an overarching peak of red cloth. Within this peak was crammed—as I afterwards learned-a piece of hollow wood, weighing about a quarter of a pound, into which is fitted the wearer's back hair. 2. Hardly had we taken off our hats, and bowed a thousand apologies for our unintentional rudeness to the fair lady, before a couple of Lapp gentlemen hove in sight. They were dressed pretty much like their companion, except that an ordinary red nightcap replaced the queer helmet worn by the lady; and the knife and sporran fastened to their belts, instead of being suspended in front as hers were, hung at the side. Their tunics, too, may have been a trifle shorter. 3. Not one of the three was beautiful. High cheekbones, short noses, oblique Mongol eyes, no eyelashes, and enormous mouths, composed a cast of features which their burnt-sienna complexion, and hair like ill-got-in hay, did not much enhance. The expression of their countenances was not unintelligent; and there was a merry, half-timid, half-cunning twinkle in their eyes, which reminded me a little of faces I had met with in the more neglected districts of Ireland. 4. In the summer-time, the Laplanders live in canvas tents; during winter, when the snow is on the ground, the forest Lapps build huts in the branches of trees, and so roost like birds. The principal tent is of a hexagonal form, with a fire in the centre, whose smoke rises through a hole in the roof. 5. Hunting and fishing are the principal employments of the Lapp tribes; and to slay a bear is the most honourable exploit a Lapp hero can achieve. The flesh of the slaughtered beast becomes the property-not of the man who killed him, but of him who discovered his trail; and the skin is hung on a pole, for the wives of all who took part in the expedition to shoot at with their eyes bandaged. Fortunate is she whose arrow pierces the trophy; not only does it become her prize, but in the eyes of the whole settlement her husband is looked upon thenceforth as the most fortunate of men. 6. As long as the chase is going on, the women are not allowed to stir abroad; but as soon as the party have safely brought home their booty, the whole female population issues from the tents, and having deliberately chewed some bark of a species of alder, they spit the red juice in their husbands' faces, typifying thereby the bear's blood which has been shed in the honourable encounter. 7. Although the forest, the rivers, and the sea supply him in a great measure with food, it is upon the reindeer that the Laplander is dependent for every other comfort in life. The reindeer is his estate, his horse, his cow, his companion, and his friend. He has twentytwo different names for him. His coat, trousers, and shoes are made of reindeer's skin, stitched with thread manufactured from the nerves and sinews of the reindeer. Reindeer milk is the most important item in his diet. Out of reindeer horns are made almost all the utensils used in his domestic economy; and it is the reindeer that carries his baggage, and drags his sledge. 8. But the beauty of this animal is by no means on a par with his various moral and physical endowments. His antlers, indeed, are magnificent, branching back to the length of three or four feet; but his body is poor, and his limbs thick and ungainly; neither is his pace so rapid as is generally supposed. The Laplanders count distances by the number of horizons they have traversed; and if a reindeer changes the horizon three times during the twenty-four hours, it is thought a good day's work. 9. Moreover, so just an appreciation has the creature of what is due to his great merit, that if his owner seeks to tax him beyond his strength, he not only becomes restive, but sometimes actually turns upon the inconsiderate Jehu who has overdriven him. When, therefore, a Lapp is in a great hurry, instead of taking to his sledge, he puts on a pair of skates exactly twice as long as his own body, and so flies on the wings of the wind. 10. Every Laplander, however poor, has his dozen or two dozen reindeer; and the flocks of a Lapp Croesus amount sometimes to two thousand head. As soon as a young lady is born-after having been duly rolled in the snow-she is dowered by her father with a certain number of deer, which are immediately branded with her initials, and thenceforth kept apart as her especial property. Lord Dufferin. queer slaugh'-tered ex-pres'-sion pierc'-es Ham'-mer-fest, in Norway. It is the most northerly town in Europe. di-min'-u-tive, small. tun'-ic, a loose kind of frock. a-pol'-o-gies, excuses. un-in-ten'-tion-al, not meant or intended. hove in sight, came in sight. spor'-ran, a kind of pocket. sin'-ews spe'-cies sledge de-pend'-ent phys'-i-cal |
