The Morning Star And Catholic Messenger

LAPLAND AND THE LAPS.

A Mr. Krohn, who lives in Norway, has been off among the Laps, and gives a very full account of the country and the people. As you know Lapland or the land of the Lapps, extends across the northernmost parts of Norway, Sweden, and Russia, and borders on the Arctic sea. It is said that the Lapps once had what is now Norway and Sweden, but that they have been gradually pushed north by more powerful nations until they now have only a narrow territory, with the Arctic Ocean on one side and high mountains with perpetual snow on the other. There are only about 30,000 of them altogether, and these are scattered in tribes, which have but little to do with each other, and according to Mr. K., they speak such different languages that those from one part of the country can not understand those from another part, though they all call themselves one nation. As a rule they are very small, the men being rarely over five and often under four feet high, and the women much smaller; they have dark skins, very black and straight hair, very little beard, which they pull out when young, and dark deeply set eyes. They dress in woolen cloth in summer, and in furs in winter, and are fond of gay colors. They use when traveling on the snow a kind of skates called "skiders," which are made of light wood, one of them as long as the person who wears it, and the other a foot shorter; the feet are fastened to the middle of these by thongs, and with them he can skim over the snow so fast that he can overtake the swiftest animal. Perhaps if asked what you know about the Laplanders, almost every one of you would answer- "Reindeer" and you would be right, for this is the most peculiar thing about them, and they are the only people in the world who regularly use any kind of deer as a domestic animal. I don't intend to give you a full history of the Laps, or to tell you all that Mr. K. writes about them, but only about the people, their houses, and their reindeer. The men show much skill in carving articles from reindeer's horns, and the women in weaving ribbons and other finery of bright colors to wear. Some of the Lapps are wandering tribes, living always in tents and moving from place to place; others build huts of stone and moss which they live in in winter, and take to their tents only in summer, when they go from the mountains down to the sea, while others still, called the Fisher Lapps, live near the water all the year in the most miserable huts, surrounded by heaps of decaying fish; these are regarded as the lowest of all and they are so dirty as to be very unpleasant people. The tents are made like those of some of our Western Indians; a lot of poles placed together to form a cone, and this is covered in summer with coarse cloth, and in winter with skins; a hearth or fire place of stones is made in the middle of the tent, and the smoke goes out at a hole in the top. The floor is covered with skins, and in this place, not more than six feet across, the whole family sleep at night, and huddle around the fire by day. All their furniture consists of a chest for the best clothes, a few bowls, pots, and kettles. Living in this way, it is no wonder that they are not clean, that the smoke causes most of them to have sore eyes, and that there are a great many blind people among them. Even the wealthiest among them live in a manner that the poorest among us would think most miserable. Their wealth consists almost entirely of reindeer. Though the most useful, the reindeer is probably the least graceful of all the deer family. It is remarkable for the great size of its spreading hoofs, which allow it to travel over the snow. The horns are very large, and broad at the top, and weigh from 20 to 25 lbs. Unlike other deer, the females, as well as the males, have horns. It feeds in winter entirely upon what is called reindeer moss, which is a whitish kind of lichen, not rare in our Northern States, and very abundant in Lapland. The deer gives its owner no trouble about feeding or stabling: it digs its own food from under the snow, and all the housing it gets is a pen at night to keep off wolves; in summer it feeds upon the leaves of trees and upon green herbs. Sometimes the deer are wild, but they can be made very tame and become fond of their master. The females furnish a very rich milk, though but little of it, and is used as food and to make butter and cheese. The deer is used for riding and to draw the sledge, and as a pack animal: but it is not much used for riding, as it is very weak in the back-bone, and the saddle is placed on the haunches. The Lapps, who wander from place to place, rarely stay in one spot more than a fortnight; by that time the pasture is used up, and in half an hour the tents are taken down, and that, with all the household goods, is packed on the backs of the deer, and the family start to find a new home. But it is in the sledge or "pulka," as they call it, that the deer travels best; this is like a boat with a round bottom, and it carries but one, and he is packed in with furs very snugly. The deer has a collar around its neck, from which the traces run down between its legs, and are made fast to the sledge; reins are attached to the horns, and small bells are fastened to the collar, as the deer is fond of their sound. The deer will draw the sledge sixty or seventy miles a day. Perhaps you think it would be a grand thing to go off in this style; but it is really hard work, and not without danger. The driver has all he can attend to; he has to balance the sledge with his body-for woe to him if he should upset! He carries a stick to steer by and to prevent an overturn; there are no roads, trees are many if the sledge should strike stump or stone while at full speed the rider would suffer. After all I think that I prefer our sleigh with a horse. Some rich Lapps have as many as 1,000 to 1,500 reindeer and 300 are considered enough to support a large family; the rich owner can kill deer he wants. The meat of the deer is the chief food of the Lapps; and they put every part of the body to some use. The marrow is used to make a choice pudding; the skins for tents and bedding; the blood is used for other purposes; the horns and bones are worked into spoons and knife-handles; even the hoofs are used to make small articles, jelly and glue. The deer sometimes overturns the sledge and the owner must look out and hide if he is on a journey until the animal gets over its "tantrums." There are some unpleasant things Mr. Krohn states that the stranger is welcomed to the poorest Laplander's hut: the common salutation being "Is peace in the land?" and is given the warmest place and softest skins; he adds: "peace is his motto, his first question is for peace, and his good bye is, may peace be with you.'" "Who would be a Laplander?" you will say. Yet they like their life, and wish for no other; if taken from home they pine and are miserable until they can got back.