LAPLAND. 



599 



deer and so on, till either the rites are considered sue- 

 !, or the victims happen to be exhausted. The 

 Ganic flies are evil spirits supposed to be under the 

 Noaaid's authority, to whom alone they are visible, and 

 who pretends to keep them safely in a box till he re- 

 quires their service*. Should he be employed to re- 

 cover stolen goods, he repairs to the tent where he sus- 

 pects the thief may be found, and pouring a quantity 

 n}' brandy into a dish, makes many grimaces over it 

 for a considerable time. He then takes the suspected 

 person aside, charges him with the crime, declares that 

 he saw his countenance distinctly reflected in the dish 

 of brandy, and threatens to let loose upon him a swarm 

 of Ganic flies until he make restitution. In this man- 

 ner he so worki upon the fears of the suspected per- 

 son , that, if really the thief, he seldom fails to replace 

 the stolen goods as secretly as he had taken them away. 

 The juoige, or song of incantation, is used by the Noaaid 

 in the exercise of his magical function, and is delivered 

 with the moat hideous kind of yelling that can be ima- 

 gined. It is frequently employed by those who are not 

 professed magicians, as it is supposed to have the power 

 of driving away the wolf, and other enemies of the 

 herds. The words and import are sufficiently simple ; 

 but the mode of uttering them is accounted by no means 

 unlikely to alarm even the ravenous prowler in his 



il.nint;. 



Konpi dm cda)M 

 Ik ihjal k*lka dani 



Maaknc kioUbjai 

 Jadon kalkak <Ui 



kg Attorn 



pensing their labours among them as missionaries, by LaplanJ.^ 

 recalling them to better situations, is more likely to *~^~~~ ' 

 prove successful. 



The Laplanders are wholly destitute of learning; Literature. 

 and have no accurate division of time. They begin the 

 year with the Friday before Christmas ; and have names 

 for all the festivals, of which they are reminded by the 

 clergy, who insist rigidly upon their attendance at 

 church on these days, even in the most stormy weather, 

 and from the greatest distance. They use no almanack 

 of their own; but the better instructed among them, 

 and particularly the clergy, have almanacks from Swe- 

 den. The Laplanders employ, in place of these guides, 

 a kind of instrument composed of seven small splinters 

 or boards, like the ancient Runic calendar of the Goths. 

 They have no months, but divide time by weeks. The 

 following are their names for the days of the week : 



jetzhja lakai hcwanet. 



Aceuned wolf! far bate* away ! 

 Make m these woods DO longer stay; 

 Fly hence, and seek earth's utmost bounds, 

 <>r petiah by the hunter's wounds. 



The Laplanders still retain much of this superstitious 

 spirit even in the Christian rites which they have adopt- 

 ed. They particularly regard the sacrament as a power- 

 ful charm to preserve them from the attempts of evil 

 .spirits. It is not long since they used to take a cloth 

 with them to church, into which they were accustomed 

 to spit out the sacramental bread, which they wrapped 

 up with great care, and afterwards divided into as great 

 a number a* possible of small crumbs. One of these 

 crumbs was given to every one of their cattle, in the 

 full persuasion that the herd would thus be secure from 

 all injury. Their very deficient acquaintance with 

 Christianity may, in some measure, be ascribed to the 

 very inefficient manner in which they are instructed. 

 It has generally been the practice of the missionaries 

 and pastors to address the natives by means of an in- 

 terpreter ; and the attempts of the Danish government 

 to remedy this defect, have hitherto proved unsuccess- 

 ful. Neither could the Laplanders be prevailed upon 

 to pursue in Denmark the necessary education for of- 

 ficiating as preachers to their countrymen ; nor could 

 they be induced to adopt the Danish language as the 

 prevailing dialect. The plan of encouraging young 

 persons to study the Lapland language, and of recom- 



Sunday, 

 Monday, 

 Tuesday, 

 Wednesday, 



Thursday, - 



Friday, - 



Saturday, * - - 



Midnight, - 



The remainder of night, - 



The morning dawn, 



Sun-rise, .... 



Two or three hours after sun-rise, 



Hour of milking the rein-deer, 8 



9 o'clock. 



Noon, or dinner hour. 

 Afternoon, . . - - 

 Sun-set, .... 

 Night 



Sotno peivi: 

 Ataniuttaka. 

 Tistaka. 



Kaska vaku (i. e. mill- 

 die of the week.) 

 Tourcstaka. 

 Perictakit. 

 Larritaka. 



Pujfla kuskiu. 

 Tltdceteilyja. 

 Prn-i Moiotak. 

 Arfitcec. 



< Arra pehi. 



. 



Eket'u fcivi. 

 Peiviliti. 

 Ja. 



Though the lot of the Laplanders is full of toil and character 

 penury, their attachment to their native country is re- of natives. 

 markably strong. Of this the Danish missionary Leanis 

 mentions a striking proof in the difficulty which he ex- 

 perienced in prevailing upon any of their young men 

 to accompany him to Copenhagen, to be presented to the 

 king of Denmark. Notwithstanding the ingenuity and 

 dexterity with which they construct their canoes and 

 sledges, manufacture thread from the sinews of ani- 

 mals, and sew the harness of the rein-deer, they dis- 

 cover very little intellectual ability. In their persona 

 they are dirty, and covered with vermin ; never cutting 

 their hair, or employing any other comb than their fin- 

 gers. In their manners they are destitute of any kind 

 of delicacy, rising naked from their beds, and dressing 

 themselves promiscuously in the presence of either sex. 

 They are described as very ignorant, which may well 

 be supposed ; as extremely indolent, which is the case 

 with most nations so little removed from the savage 

 state ; as strongly addicted to the use of spiritous li- 

 quors, which is so commonly characteristic of the inha- 

 bitants of cold countries.* Some travellers have far- 

 ther stigmatized them as cowardly, covetous, and knav- 

 ish; a description which appears to be more applicable 

 to those who inhabit the woody country bordering on 

 Sweden, than to those who occupy the alpine regions, 

 who are much more distinguished by their honesty and 



Thj peculiarly Ike CMC with die maritime Laplanders on the northern coast, who are calculated to consume the half of their annual 

 am brandy ; and who are iiwHimly convinced, that brandy mtut be ai nourishing as bread, because, like bread, it is prepared from 

 " They do not drink," a>y> Baron Von Bucfa, " for the purpose of lightening the si-verity of their labour, or for the purpose of keep- 

 **m in winter oo Mm ; for they very seldom have* brandy in the boat with them in their voyages. They do not drink to assist 

 erf their memb of fan and tat fob-liven ; for they icldoni have any brandy in their gammes. All is consumed at the mer- 

 . tat before hk door ; and they would themaelve* be aitonuhcd if they returned from the merchant's without becoming raving mad 



l boon aemelev, and dead drunk before the door."" The brandy at last deprives them or. 



wish d nsratf, tot afterward, lying tat , 



+*tScr~A* 7 ** m ?Si*, t 



, 

 , sod worn down, aud are at last unable to perform the most necessary operations." 



