6 INTRODUCTION. 



sembling each other in their form, stature, customs, 

 and ignorance of mind. Born under a rigorous clit 

 mate, where Nature's productions are coarse and few, 

 their stature* seems to have been as much affected by 

 the hardness of their fare, as their complexion appears 

 to have been darkened by the severity of the cold. 

 Their persons are as uncouth, as their manners arc un- 

 cultivated; their face large and broad, the nose flat 

 and short, the eyes of a yellowish brown inclining to 

 blackness, the eye-lids drawn towards the temples, the 

 cheek-bones high, the mouth large, the hair black and 

 straight, and the colour of the skin a dark -greyish. In 

 all these different nations the women bear so striking a 

 similitude to the men, that it is difficult to distinguish 

 the difference between them. There is not only a per- 

 sonal resemblance in the inhabitants of these rigid 

 climes, but their manners and.inclinations are the same, 

 for they are all equally rude, stupid, and superstitious. 

 Their religion (if such it may be called) is idolatrous ; 

 but the Danish Laplanders have a large black Cat, M 

 whicli they communicate their secrets, and consult in 

 their affairs. Their attachment to their country is car- 

 ried to such an excess, that the}' cannot bear to live 

 out of it ; their food is principally dried fish, the ilesh 

 of rein-deer, and bears; and their bread is composed 

 of fish-bones pounded, and mixed with the inside ten- 

 der bark of the pine-tree: their drink is train-oil or 

 brandy, or, when deprived of these, water in which 

 juniper-berries have been infused. They are all hun- 

 ters, and particularly pursue the ennin, the fox, the 

 ounce, and the martin, for the sake of their skins; 



* The height of a' Laplander seldom exceeds four feet, and the tallest 

 amongst them scarcely reaches five. 



