THE LAPPS. 



165 



instantly drops, and dies without a groan or struggle. As soon as it falls, and 

 appears to be dead, the Laplander plunges the knife dexterously behind the off- 

 shoulder into the heart ; then opening the animal, its blood is found in the stom- 

 ach, and ladled out into a pot. Boiled with fat and flour, it is a favorite dish. 



An important epoch in the life of the Fjall Lapp is his annual visit to one 

 of the winter fairs held in the chief towns or villages which the more industri- 

 ous Swedes, i^'orwegians, or Fins have founded on the coasts here and there, or 

 in the well- watered valleys of his fatherland, and which he attends frequently 

 from an immense distance. After a slight duty to Government has been paid, 

 business begins ; but as every bargain is ratified with a full glass of brandy, his 

 thoughts get confused before the day is half over — a circumstance which the 

 cunning merchant does not fail to turn to account. On awaking the next morn- 

 ing, the vexation of the nomad at his bad bargains is so much the greater, as no 

 people are more avowed mammon-worshippers than the Lapps, or more inclined 

 to sing, with our Burns : — 



0 wae on the siller, it is sae prevailin '! 



Their sole object seems to be the amassing of treasure for the sole purpose of 

 hoarding it. The avarice of a Lapp is gratified in collecting a number of silver 

 vessels or pieces of silver coin ; and being \inable to carry this treasure with 

 him on his journeys, he buries the whole, not even making his wife acquainted 

 with the secret of its deposit, so that when he dies the members of his family 

 are often unable to discover where he has hidden it. Some of the Lapps pos- 

 sess a hundred-weight of silver, and those who own 1500 or 1000 reindeer have 

 much more ; in short, an astonishing quantity of specie is dispersed among 

 them. Silver plate, when offered to them for sale, must be in a polished state, 

 or they will not buy it ; for such is their ignorance, that when the metal, by 

 being kept buried, becomes tarnished, they conceive that its value is impaired, 

 and exchange it for other silver, which being repolished, they believe to be 

 new. The merchants derive great benefit from this trafiic. 



Brandy and tobacco are the chief luxuries of the Lapps. The tobacco-pipe 

 is never laid aside except during meals ; it is even used by the women, who 

 also swallow spirits as greedily as the men ; in fact, both sexes will almost part 

 with life itself for the gratification of dram-drinking. If you walk up to a 

 Lapp, uncouthly squatted before his tent, his very first salutation is made by 

 itretching forth a tawny hand and demanding, in a whining tone, " Tabak " or 

 "Braendi." Dr. Clarke relates an amusing instance of their propensity for 

 spirituous hquors. On his very first visit to one of their tents, he gave the fa- 

 ther of the family about a pint of brandy, thinking he would husband it with 

 great care, as he had seen him place it behind him upon his bed near the skirt- 

 ing of the tent. The daughter now entered, and begged for a taste of the 

 brandy, as she had lost her share by being absent. The old man made no an- 

 swer, but when the request was repeated, he slyly crept round the outside of the 

 tent until he came to the spot where the brandy was, when, thrusting his arm 

 beneath the skirting, he drew it out, and swallowed the whole contents of the 

 bottle at a draught. 



