IN BEAUTIFUL DELECARLIA 



473 



tourists visiting this center of Sweden's 

 many attractions usually think they have 

 seen all when Leksand and Rattwik have 

 been thoroughly inspected. And then 

 until recently the means for penetrating 

 thus far into the Scandinavian Penin- 

 sula were not at all attractive. Now one 

 has quite a choice of routes : a railroad 

 connects Rattwik and Orsa, and during 

 the summer a comfortable boat plies be- 

 tween the places named, while a good 

 road leads directly from Leksand to 

 Orsa, 45 miles distant, over which the 

 cyclist can wheel or the leisurely inclined 

 traveler may be carried in a hired con- 

 veyance. 



This parish is noted for its strong, 

 handsome people, and the thrift and in- 

 dustry of old and young are proverbial. 

 The women here, as in all the rural dis- 

 tricts of Sweden, assist the men in the 

 farm work, but when winter comes to 

 call the men away to the woods or to the 

 grindstone quarries, they are left at home 

 to look after the house and farm, chil- 

 dren, and cattle. In other days, as we 

 learn from song and saga, the long win- 

 ters of enforced idleness rested heavily 

 upon the inhabitants of Orsa, and many 

 times before spring broke the icy bar- 

 riers against the supplies coming from 

 the south it was necessary to eke out the 

 stock of flour by mixing with it pulver- 

 ized bark. But now the scarcity of tim- 

 ber in the more accessible districts has 

 sent lumbermen here to make the hill- 

 sides yield their harvest and every one 

 is deriving therefrom immediate if not 

 ultimate profit. To such an extent is this 

 true that we find here a parish so rich 

 from the revenues of its own lands, that 

 all property is exempt from taxation. 



The language of these hardy moun- 

 taineers is unlike that of their nearest 

 neighbors, and it is with difficulty that 

 mutual conversation is carried on when 

 they meet. However, intercourse is so 

 rapidly eliminating these linguistic differ- 

 ences that an interpreter is not needed, 

 as was said to be the case a generation 

 ago. 



I have visited Orsa on various oc- 

 casions, usually, however, during the 



busy summer season, when every effort 

 was being put forth to secure as much 

 food and fuel as possible for winter use, 

 but on my last trip to the Daleland a 

 fair furnished the opportunity of seeing 

 them in their holiday attire, with all 

 thoughts of work and winter out of their 

 minds. It was a joyous sight. Old as 

 well as young were enjoying the well- 

 earned rest, and finery but seldom seen 

 was on this day getting a good airing. 

 The stranger was welcome, especially 

 when my Dale dress showed that curi- 

 osity had not prompted the visit. 



After watching their games for some 

 time I thought it a good time to drop in 

 at a few of the country houses to gather 

 from such of the old folks as might have 

 staid at home some of their folk-lore. 

 But after driving from place to place, 

 into by-ways, and up the mountainsides 

 without finding any one at home, we were 

 forced to the conclusion that everybody 

 was at the fair. And why shouldn't they 

 be? The summers are short at best and 

 the long winters, with their dreary 

 nights keeping the families closely 

 housed, afford no opportunity for fun 

 or merry-making. An important fea- 

 ture of this fair was its bazaar, where 

 each person could offer for sale such ar- 

 ticles as they wished to dispose of. Here 

 were seen in abundance caps and mittens, 

 robes and blankets, and numerous ar- 

 ticles made of that tightly woven, un- 

 dyed woolen goods, known as wadmall, 

 which stood Nansen in such good stead 

 during his stay in the far north. 



ix the; lumber camps 



With the approach of winter the men 

 leave home for the ever-receding lumber 

 camps, where biting winds and heavy 

 work will be their portion as long as the 

 snows lie on the ground to slick the roads 

 over which the logs are drawn. The 

 camps are simply log huts, not so well 

 built as the cosy houses they left, and 

 the great fire built in the middle of the 

 room does little more than keep warm 

 the feet of the men as they He about it. 

 This fire must be kept up all night, so 

 the men take turns as firemen, while 



