LAPLAND. 



UplinJ nufacture for themselves, and ornament in a style of 

 ^"~ ~"~" some elegance. They tan their leather with the first 

 inner bark of the birch, which they cut into small pie- 

 ^fgfrc. ces, and boil for half an hour ; and, having previously 

 a,rt*. freed the hides from the hair, by plunging them in 

 warm water, burying them under ground, and scrap- 

 ing them with a roundish knife, they immerse them in 

 the liquor, a little cooled ; and, for two days, the li- 

 - is wa-med, and the >kim repliced. By means 

 of lir bark, they give the leather a red stain ; and dye 

 their wool of that colour, with the blood-root, or tor. 

 mentil. They cement broken earthen- ware, by tying 

 the fragments together with a thread, and boiling the 

 whole in fresh milk. The women prepare the skins of 

 foxes, fawns, otter*, and other animals for sale, by strip. 

 ; off the membranous pirts, and curing them with 

 fish oil. The women make tinsel wire of different 

 thickness, by drawing it through a machine formed of 

 a rein-deer's skull ; and with this wire they embroider 

 coats, gloves, harness, &c. in a very fanciful style. The 

 Laplanders manufacture thread from the tendons of the 

 rein-deer. These they hold before the fire, and beat 

 with wooden hammers, to render them more pliant and 

 divitible. They lay hold of them with their teeth, and 

 split them into filament;, moistening them occasionally 

 with reindeer marrow. These filaments are drawn 

 through hole* of different siz in a wooden or metal 

 instrument, to render them as -.mooth as possible. They 

 are then twisted into threads by rubbing them with 

 the hand upon the thigh or knee, and moistening them 

 from time to time with saliva. 



Muring winter, the Laplanders carry on some traf- 

 fic with the Swedes, bartering kins, fur, dried fi-h, 

 and venison, glove* and short boots, for coarse flannel, 

 cloth, hemp, copper, iron, and various utensils, but 

 particularly for tu'iaccn, brandy, meal, and salt ; be- 

 side* exchanging fish for meal, from the Russians on 

 the northern coast. Some idea of the amount of this 

 commerce, may be furnished from the following abstract 

 export* from We-trobothnia to Stockholm, which 

 principally come down from Lapland : 



luh. 



pike, toA, cod, m- 



berf. tallow, nfci <' fa*, and tangoes, 

 Hifc* wd fan, cfaieflj hair, qui-rd, lf. 

 r ikBM, with LcpUod glare*, i 



Rix-<fc>IUn. U. 

 62,015 16 

 66,199 



24,870 

 70.14* 



221,226 



The principal weapons of the Laplanders in more 

 remote times, were bows and arrows ; but now, they 

 chiefly employ fire-arms, and are in g> . llent 



marksmen : They still amuse themselves witu throw. 

 ing a javelin at a mark, as one of then- sports. They 

 are expert wrestlers and leapers. One usual mode of 

 the former exercise, consists in fastening their I) .ml- in 

 each other's belts, and striving who shall lift and throw 

 his opponent ; and of the latter, in leuping over a stick 

 held by two persons in a horizontal position. Another 

 diver ion, is to strike a stuffed leathern ball into the 

 air, and to catch it before it reache-, the ground ; ami, 

 at other times, two of them, or two e<j -, lay 



of a rope by means of a stick at each end, and 

 strive to disengage it from etch other's grasp, till the 

 ftroggle is' decided by the breaking of the rope, or the 



giving way of the weaker party. A more sedentary Laplaai, 

 game in their long winter imprisonment, is that of the ""Y"'* ' 

 fox and geese, played with pegs, upon a board. The. 

 Laplanders are said, by some travellers, to have a sort 

 of trumpet called lur, and pipes made of the bark of 

 mountain ash : but Acerbi affirms, that they have no 

 idea of harmony whatever, and that all artificial music 

 appears to be banished from their solitary districts. He 

 affirms, that neither by the power of money or of 

 brandy, could he ever prevail with any of the natives 

 to produce any thing like a song, except a monotonous 

 vociferation in a kind of fainting or fading voice, pro- 

 longed and repeated till the breath is exhausted. He 

 found as little poetry as music, in the song, of which 

 the words and notes, equally unvaried, were as follows: 

 " a good journey, my good gentlemen gentlemen- 

 gentlemen gentlemen a good journey journey 

 journey my good gentlemen gentlemen a good 

 journey journey journey journey." 



The Laplanders rarely intermarry with the Norwe- Marriages,. 

 gians or other neighbouring nations. Their matrimo- 

 nial negotiations are conducted with extraordinary for- 

 mality and decorum. When a young man has select- 

 ed his object, he .communicates his wishes to his own 

 family, who repair in a body to the dwelling of the 

 young woman's parents, carrying a slight present, such 

 as a ring or ornamented girdle to the fair one, and a 

 quant, ty of brandy to entertain the friends. When ar- 

 rived at the hut, the suitor is left without, till he shall 

 be invited to enter ; and as soon as the rest of the party 

 have entered, their spokesman fills out a bumper of 

 brandy, which he offers to the girl's father, and the ac- 

 cint.cicc of which, indicates his approbation of the 

 match to be proposed. After the liquor has gone round 

 the company, leave is obtained for the young man to 

 present himself, while his advocate in a set speech 

 opens the treaty. The lover, upon being introduced, 

 take* his seat near the door, at some distance from the 

 rest ; and it is only when the parents of the girl have 

 signified their full consent, that he offers her the pre- 

 sent which he has brought, and promises wedding 

 clothes to her father and mother. Sometimes a sum of 

 money u given, both to the bride and to her parents ; 

 and not unfrequently considerable bargaining is em- 

 ployed to raise the amount. All that the bride receives, 

 on this occasion becomes her own private property ; 

 and among the better class, a wife, counting all ex- 

 pences, commonly costs the husband about a hundred 

 copper dollars. Should the parents depart from their 

 promised consent, it is an established law, that they 

 must repay all the expences and presents, even to the 

 brandy which has been drunk at the first visit. After 

 the parlies have been in this manner betrothed, the 

 young man is allowed to visit the bride, whose favour 

 he generally endeavours to conciliate, by presenting to- 

 bacco, brandy, or whatever he thinks will. 5 be most ac- 

 ceptable. On the marriage day, the bride appears 

 in her best dress, but her head, commonly closely 

 covered, is on this occasion only adorned with a ban- 

 deau or fillet, while her hair flows loose upon her 

 shoulders. The banns are usually published only once. 

 The marriage ceremony, which is very short, is some- 

 times performed before, and sometimes after the enter- 

 tainment. The wedding feast is celebrated in a frugal 

 and -ober manner, without music, dancing, or any other 

 ('-.tivity. Such of the guests as are able, make a pre- 

 sent to the bride of money, rein-deer, or other useful 

 article, to begin the stock, or furnish the dwelling of 

 the young couple. In some parts of Lapland, it is tup. 

 1 



