LAPLAND. 91 



She lived in France some years, was educated and 

 clothed as a lady, but the love of her native fells 

 was too deeply rooted in her breast to be ever 

 extinguished, and after a lapse of some years she 

 left the gaieties of Paris and returned to her wild 

 mountain home so strongly is the love of home 

 implanted in the breasts of these rude mountaineers. 

 It would doubtless be interesting to trace the origin 

 of the Laplander. I can hardly fancy that they 

 are a type of the original Scandinavian race, for 

 they were all mighty warriors, and these little Laps 

 are the most harmless creatures under the sun. 

 It is very probable, however, that in earlier ages, 

 when the country was in a different state to what 

 it is at the present day, they were not confined 

 solely to these northern tracts, but probably wan- 

 dered over the whole face of the land. I fancy, 

 however, they must be of Asiatic origin, and havo 

 travelled eastward through Russian Finmark. 

 Their language is unlike any I ever heard, and I 

 could only catch one word, "porisk" (good day), 

 wliich is their usual greeting. Although the Lap 

 settlers are very little better than the Laps them- 

 selves, and speak their language well, they all 

 appear to be of Lap-Swedish origin, and I could 

 never hear of a real Lap who had ever settled down 

 as a farmer. Now, however, as Christianity is yearly 

 spreading more and more among them, and their 



