104 LAPLAND. 



land, as may be expected in so northern a climate, i's extremely se- 

 vere. In the most northern parts the sun remains below the horizon 

 from the 20th of November to the 10th of January; and from the 

 beginning of September to the middle of March the whole country 

 is covered with snow and ice; and in the depth of winter the lakes 

 and rivers are generally frozen to the depth of two Danish ells and a 

 half. In summer, on the other hand, the sun continues in like man- 

 ner two months above the horizon ; and the heat in the valiies and 

 plains is excessive. Innumerable insects are produced, and the in- 

 habitants are infested with musquitoes to an intolerable degree. Mr. 

 Acerbi, returning on the 20th of July from the North. Cape, the most 

 northern extremity of these regions, remarks in his Diary ; " The 

 sea was perfectly calm, and I do not remember having ever suffered 

 greater heat in my life than in this journey." 



With respect to the soil and vegetable productions of Lapland, the 

 whole country is an immense wilderness, where agriculture is entire- 

 ly unknown, except in a very few parts in the south, in which corn 

 (principally rye and buckwheat) is cultivated. In the north, tracts 

 of considerable extent are overgrown with moss, which is the prin- 

 cipal food of the rein -deer. The trees are the fir, birch, larch, and 

 small beech, which form vast but not very thick forests. 



Animals... .The animals are nearly the same with those described 

 in the account of Norway, excepting the rein-deer, which more pe- 

 culiarly belongs to Lapland. This animal, the most useful, perhaps, 

 of any in the creation, and which seems to have been provided by 

 nature to recompense the Laplanders for the privation of the other 

 comforts of life, resembles the stag, only it somewhat droops the 

 head, and the horns project forward. In summer the rein-deer pro- 

 vide themselves with leaves and grass, and in the winter they live 

 upon moss ; which they have a wonderful sagacity in finding, and., 

 when found, scrape away the snow that covers it with their feet. The 

 scantiness of their fare is inconceivable, as is the length of the jour- 

 neys which they can perform without any other support. They fix 

 the rein-deer to a kind of sledge, shaped like a small boat, in which 

 the traveller, well secured from cold, is laced down ; with the reins, 

 which are fastened to the horns of the animal, in one hand, and a kind 

 of bludgeon in the other, to keep the carriage clear of ice and snow. 

 The deer, whose harnessing is very simple, sets out, and continues 

 the journey with prodigious speed ; and is so safe and tractable, that 

 the driver is at little or no trouble in directing him. At night they 

 look out for their own provender ; and their milk often contributes 

 to support their master. Their instinct in choosing their road, and 

 directing their course, can only be accounted for by their being well 

 acquainted with the country during the summer months when they 

 live in the woods. Their flesh is well-tasted food, whether fresh or 

 dried ; their skin forms excellent clothing both for the bed and the 

 body ; their milk and cheese are nutritive and pleasant ; and their in- 

 testines and tendons supply their masters with thread and cordage. 

 When they run about wild in the fields, they may be shot at as other 

 game. But it is said, that if one be killed in a flock, the survivors 

 will gore and trample him to pieces ; therefore single stragglers are 

 generally chosen. With all their excellent qualities, however, the 

 rein-deer have their inconveniences. It is difficult in summer to keep 

 them from straggling; they are sometimes buried in the snow; and 

 they frequently grow restive, to the great danger of the driver and 



