Lapland

an indefinite territory, the home of the Lapps. It occupies the northern portions of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia proper as far east as Archangel. Owing to the influence of the Gulf Stream, the climate is milder than that of the corresponding region in North America. The soil is unproductive. Small fields of rye are raised, but the greater part of this vast stretch is covered with the mosses on which reindeer feed.

The Lapps are related to the Finns. They are considered a fringe of the great Mongolian invasion that swept over eastern Europe in early days. They have neighbored with the Scandinavians so long that they have been converted to the Lutheran religion, and have taken over many Norwegian and Swedish words into their language. Otherwise, however, their natural speech is unintelligible to a European. A few are members of the Greek Church.

There has been intermingling of blood. Some villages are quite Scandinavian in appearance. The genuine Lapps are a short race--the shortest people in Europe. Even the men seldom exceed five feet four inches in stature. They are described as a squatty, bowlegged people, not, however, without agility, especially in the winter season. They are of a yellowish complexion. The hair is black and straight; the beard is scanty. The Lapp has black, oblique eyes, a flat, stubby nose, a broad mouth and high cheek bones. Men and women dress much alike. They wear woolen clothing with reindeer boots, reindeer trousers, and coat of the same material.

On the Norwegian coast there are villages of Lapp fishermen, but, like the Tartars, to whom they are probably distantly related, the great majority of the inhabitants live a wandering life, following their herds of tame reindeer. In the winter season they live in log or stone huts made tight with moss and covered usually with earth, in which grasses and other plants take root, giving the habitation the appearance of a low, grassy mound. In summer they live in portable tents consisting of slender poles covered with heavy woolen cloth. The Lapp tent has much the appearance of the North American wigwam. As might be expected from people who live in a cold country without facilities for bathing, they are far from tidy. They are said to wash their faces only on holiday occasions. Cooking is performed usually in an open kettle suspended from the roof above, in which an aperture is made for the escape of smoke. Babies are swung to and fro in a contrivance not unlike a large shoe, likewise suspended from the ceiling. One side of the room is reserved for housework, the other provides sleeping accommodations. Beds are made of moss or twigs covered with reindeer skins. The members of the family sleep together without removing their clothing. In case of very cold weather they have tanned robes for covering.

The typical Lapp has no occupation except that of tending his flock. In this he is aided by a shrewd, wolfish cur that understands its business quite as well as the shepherd dog of Scotland. The Lapp is the only person who has ever succeeded in domesticating an animal of the deer kind. His ambition in life is to own a large flock of reindeer. The Lapps build their houses in the uplands where the reindeer prefer to feed a considerable part of the year. They have inclosures into which the herds are driven once a day. The man of the house lassoes the female reindeer and ties them up while the women milk. A reindeer yields about a teacup full of exceedingly rich, strong milk, from which rank butter and strong cheese are made.

As stated, the reindeer live on moss which grows without cultivation. A deep snow seems to be no hindrance to their feeding. They paw holes with their front feet, as a dog digs a burrow, until they reach the moss. A flock of deer feeding in a deep snow presents a peculiar appearance. Not infrequently nothing is visible but the tips of their tails at the top of the snow burrows. In the summer season the deer break away and make for the coast. The reason for this migration is not understood, but it is impossible to stop them. The most that the Lapp and his dogs can do is to direct their course to some desired portion of the coast. When the time of migration comes, the entire family packs up and follows the deer. Each Lapp punches the ears of his deer with his own private mark, which, like the brand used by our Western cattlemen, is registered with the government.

Scattered here and there throughout the entire territory are lonely government chapels to which the Lapps repair for weddings or to attend service. In the winter time they harness their favorite reindeer to sledges and think nothing of going 100 miles to church. The sledge is a long, narnow affair, shaped not unlike an Indian's canoe. The harness of the reindeer consists of a band around its neck with a thong running between its legs to the prow of the sled. The breaking of the reindeer begins at the age of three. It requires two years to tame him thoroughly.

At certain seasons of the year the Lapps journey to trading stations to exchange eiderdown, reindeer horns, hides, and meat, as well as grouse, capercailzie, and other game, for silver buttons, jewelry, clocks, articles of finery, coffee, sugar, and, we regret to say, a rye whiskey of the vilest sort. It is not long since writers estimated the total number of Lapps at 30,000. Like the North American Indians, they have diminished steadily, until, at the present time, there are not above half that many.

See Reindeer; Midnight Sun; Finland