MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



477 



was known of them, had always 

 been Christians, like the Norwe- 

 gians. Had they been called 

 Quans, or merely Finlanders, they 

 would have spared M. Von Westen 

 many a sad hour towards the end 

 of his life, and the missionary 

 College many a consultation how 

 they should represent so ticklish 

 an affair to the bishop, for none 

 of them would have thought of 

 doubting that the Finlanders had 

 been CInistians for centuries. 

 These Finns then were of opi- 

 nion in 1727, that they had come 

 over from Sweden more than 

 a hundred years before, and pre- 

 viously from Tawastehuas in Fin- 

 land: both very probable circum- 

 stances. 



At present the Quans actually 

 constitute by far the greatest part 

 of the population of Alten, and in 

 the valley of Altens-Elve they are 

 almost the only inhabitants. In the 

 year 1801, of one thousand seven 

 hundred and ninety-three souls 

 who inhabited the Piiistegieldt of 

 Alten, only four hundred and 

 seventy-five were Norwegians. Of 

 the remaining one thousand four 

 hundred and ninety-three, a few 

 hundreds only were sea Lap- 

 landers (See Firmer) who lived in 

 Langfiord and in Stiernesund; the 

 remaining one thousand two hun- 

 dred, and consequently nearly two- 

 thirds of the whole population, 

 were Quiins. A cruel, slow, and 

 infectious disorder, it is true, con- 

 siderably diminished their number 

 in 1806. Whole hamlets died : 

 in remote places, men were found 

 dead before their houses and on 

 the roads, who, in the midst of 

 winter had gone out in quest of 

 assistance for their suffering fa- 

 milies, but being themselves at- 



tacked by the malady, for want of 

 strength had fallen down by the 

 way. The disease spread over all 

 Finmark, and gave a very consi- 

 derable shock to the population of 

 that province. Alten will more 

 easily, however, recover from it ; 

 for the meadows and fish of Alten 

 are still sufficient to protect the 

 industrious Quans from the gripe 

 of hunger, and of the rapid in- 

 crease of the population after- 

 wards, such striking examples are 

 furnished by Cajaneborg, Kusamo, 

 Sodankyla, that ihey deserve the 

 utmost attention of every poli- 

 tician. 



MANNERS OF THE LAPLANDERS. 



The barking of dogs below an- 

 nounced the vicinity of a herd and 

 the hut of a Lapland family: We 

 made all the haste we could to- 

 wards it ; for the rising storm and 

 rain from the south-west seriously 

 admonished us to seek shelter for 

 the night. We soon found the hut 

 or gamme at the foot of the hill, 

 and on the bank of the Great 

 Marsh. They received us, but not 

 in a friendly manner. The Lap- 

 landers are not Arabs. Where 

 the spruce and Scotch firs, and 

 where birches will not succeed, the 

 nature of man seems equally defec- 

 tive. He sinks in the struggle with 

 necessity and the climate. Thefiner 

 feelings of the Laplanders are to be 

 developed by brandy ; and, as in 

 eastern countries, a visit is an- 

 nounced by presents, the glass 

 alone here softens their hostile 

 dispositions. Then, indeed, the 

 first place in the bottom of the 

 tent, opposite to the narrow door, 

 is conceded to the stranger. We 

 lie in the circumference of a room 



