THEIR DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS. 
253 
some little green nook among the rocks, would betray 
their temporary place of abode; but I never got a near 
view of a regular settlement. 
In the summer-time they live in canvas tents; 
during winter, when the snow is on the ground, the 
forest Lapps build huts in the branches of trees, and so 
roost like birds. The principal tent is of an hexagonal 
form, with a fire in the centre, whose smoke rises through 
a hole in the roof. The gentlemen and ladies occupy 
different sides of the same apartment; but a long pole 
laid along the ground midway between them sym¬ 
bolises an ideal partition, which I dare say is in the 
end as effectual a defence as lath and plaster prove 
in more civilized countries. At all events, the ladies 
have a doorway quite to themselves, which, doubt¬ 
less, they consider a far greater privilege than the 
seclusion of a separate boudoir. Hunting and fishing 
are the principal employments of the Lapp tribes; and 
to slay a bear is the most honourable exploit a Lapp 
hero can achieve. The flesh of the slaughtered beast 
becomes the property—not of the man who killed him, 
but of him who discovered his trail; and the skin is 
hung up on a pole, for the wives of all who took part in 
