THE LAPLAXD ALPS. oQ 



the operation, which they say would render 

 them rotten and apt to rend, neitlier can 

 they spare them very long. 



White walmal cloth is procured from 

 Russia, but for want thereof they commonly 

 wear a light grey cloth of the same kind. 



Ropes are made of roots of spruce fir 

 in the following manner. Choosino* the 

 most slender roots, they scrape oft^ the 

 bark, while fresh, with the back of a knife, 

 holding the roots against the thigh. After- 

 wards each root is first split with the knife 

 into three or four parts, which are then by 

 degrees separated into a number of very 

 slender fibres ; and these, being wrapped 

 round the hand like a skain of thread, 

 are tied together. They are then boiled 

 in a kettle for an hour or two, with a 

 considerable quantity of wood ashes. 

 While still soft from this boiling, they are 

 laid across the knee, and scraped three or 

 four times over with a knife. At last they 

 are twisted into small ropes. Birch roots 

 serve in like manner to afford corda<re for 

 the Laplanders, but more rarelj . The 



