THE EMIGRANT'S HAND-BOOK. 445 



this at the fire, or bake it in an oven, till it becomes brittle, 

 then beat it and grind it into meal, and after steeping the 

 farinaceous part or flour in warm water, to take off* the 

 resinous taste, they mix it with a small portion of oats, or 

 moss, and make it into thin cakes, about an inch thick, 

 which are baked for use. The poor inhabitants are some- 

 times constrained to live upon this disagreeable food for a 

 great part of the year. We learn from the same authority, 

 that "in summer the Laplanders scarcely eat anything 

 but fish from the fresh-water lakes, and drink with great 

 eagerness the water in which the fish has been boiled. In 

 winter they must put up with dried fish, and the innermost 

 bark of the fir, which they strip off in the summer, divide 

 it in long strips, and hang them in their dwellings to dry 

 for winter stores. When used, these strips of bark are 

 minced into small pieces along with the rein-deer tallow, 

 and boiled together for several hours with water, till they 

 form a thick broth." Dr. Prout suggests, with respect to 

 this process, that during the long boiling, the lignin, or 

 woody fibre may perhaps combine with the water, so as to 

 form a kind of starch, which is soluble in the stomach ; 

 but the precise nature of the change is not yet understood. 

 The young shoots of the fir, stripped of their leaves, just 

 as they begin to appear in the spring, are sought for with 

 avidity by the children, and are very wholesome, form- 

 ing an agreeable salad ; these are also stored in winter for 

 the rein-deer. In the same countries, also, they dry the 

 root of the water dragon, (Culla pahislris) grind it to flour, 

 and mix it with the above. The inner bark of the elm 

 and of other trees, has been employed in the same man- 

 ner. 



TO PRESERVE FISH. 



To preserve fish quite fresh, for a short time, requires 

 even more care than meat. They should be kept in a 



