156 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. [X. 



would betray their temporary place of abode ; but I never 

 got a near view of a regular settlement. 



In the summer-time they 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 an hexagonal form, with a fire in 

 the centre, whose smoke rises through a hole in the roof. 

 The gentlemen and ladies occupy different sides of the 

 same apartment ; but a long pole laid along the ground 

 midway between them symbolizes an ideal partition, which 

 I dare say is in the end as effectual a defence as lath and 

 plaster prove in more civilized countries. At all events, the 

 ladies have a doorway quite to themselves, which, doubtless, 

 they consider a far greater privilege than the seclusion of a 

 separate boudoir. 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 up 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 thence- 

 forth as the most fortunate of men. 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 issue from the tents, and 

 having deliberately chewed some bark of a species of alder, 

 they spit the red juice into their husband's faces, typifying 

 thereby the bear's blood which has been shed in the 

 honourable encounter. 



Although the forests, the rivers, and the sea supply them 

 in a great measure with their 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 friend. He has twenty-two different names 



