The Arctic World

by Anonymous

The Lapps are a superstitious race. Like all the Norse tribes, they believe in witchcraft; and of old the Lapland witches had a reputation which extended to England, for being able to ward off rain or disperse storms. The English seamen trading to Archangel frequently visited their coast in order to buy a favourable wind.

Many of the Lapps claim the ability to foretell future events, and fall, or pretend to fall, into a trance or ecstasy, during which they see visions, utter prophecies, and unlock the secrets of those who trust to their divination. They also read the fortunes of inquiring dupes by means of a cup of liquor, or by the vulgarest jargon of palmistry. Superstition is the daughter of Ignorance. It is also the sister of Fear, for the superstitious are invariably prone to see supernatural signs and wonders in the appearances of the heavens, or to hear unearthly voices borne upon the midnight wind, and in everything they cannot understand to imagine the presence of some antagonistic power. As the American natives were panic-stricken at the occurrence of an eclipse, so the Lapps are filled with dread when the sky glows with the coruscations of the aurora.

These superstitions prevail in spite of the exertions of priests and schoolmasters. They are nourished in secret even when they are not openly proclaimed; and the Lapp, after listening devoutly to the harangue of his pastor, will return home to offer homage to his saidas, or wooden idols; to cower at the name of Trolls, the evil spirit of the forest; and to be deluded by the artifices of any so-called witch or fortune-teller.

There are Lapps, and Lapps; each, according to the region he inhabits, bearing his distinctive characteristics, and preserving his individual habits. Thus, there are the Fjälllappars, or Mountain Lapps; the Skogslappars, or Wood Lapps; and the Fisherlapps.

From the nature of the country the reader will expect, and will be right in expecting, that the Fjälllappars form the most numerous section. They are the nomads of Lapland, and their mode of life is entirely pastoral. As the Arabs with their flocks move from one oasis to another, or the Tartars with their cattle, so the Lapps migrate from place to place, compelled by the necessity of finding sustenance for their herds of reindeer. The mosses and lichens on which these animals feed are soon exhausted, and some time elapses before the half-frozen soil replaces them. The same cause operates to prevent the Lapps from assembling in large communities. Seldom more than three, four, or five families encamp in the same neighbourhood.

It will not be supposed that the temporary abode of a nomad exhibits any architectural completeness. Their tuguria, or huts, are of the rudest construction. They raise a conical framework, composed of the flexible stems of trees, and this they cover with a coarse kind of canvas, and in winter with the skins of reindeer and other animals. No doorway is required, and egress and ingress are provided for by turning up a portion of the canvas at the bottom, so as to form a triangular gap; and the portion so turned up is let down again at night. In the centre of the interior some large stones are piled together for a fireplace, and a square opening in the roof above carries off the smoke, and lets in the light and air—not to say rain, snow, and fog, when these prevail.

The tent or hut we have described generally measures about six feet in diameter, and eighteen to twenty in circumference. It does not exceed ten feet in height. There is no floor, but the ground is covered with reindeer skins, and upon these the inhabitants sit or crouch by day, and huddle themselves up at night. The household utensils, implements, and weapons are suspended from the sides of the hut; and the clothing of the family, no very extensive stock, is preserved in a chest.

On a shelf or platform, raised high above the reach of dogs and wolves, between two neighbouring trees, the Lapp keeps his store of dried reindeer flesh, and cheese, and curds; for his diet is as plain as his general habit of living. His herd of reindeer he puts up at night, or when they are required for milking, in a large enclosure, about four hundred to five hundred feet in circuit, formed by a barrier of posts and stumps of trees, supporting a row of horizontal poles. Against the latter birch poles and branches of trees are placed diagonally, forming a kind of abattis, which is found to be a sufficient security against the attacks of wolves.

It is said that the milking of a herd of reindeer affords a lively and picturesque spectacle. When they have been driven within the area, and all the outlets closed, a Lapp, selecting a long cord or thong, twists both ends round his left hand, and then in his right gathers the thong itself in loose coils. Fixing on a reindeer, he flings the coils over its antlers. Sometimes the latter offers no resistance; but generally, on feeling the touch of the thong, it darts away, and its pursuer, in order to secure it, is called upon for the most vigorous efforts. And the scene is animated indeed, when half-a-dozen reindeer, pursued by as many Lapps, sweep round and round the enclosure, until the former are finally overcome, or, as now and then happens, wrest the cord from the hands of the discomfited Lapp, and leave him prostrate on the ground. When the animal is secured, his master takes a dexterous hitch of the thong round his muzzle and head, and then fastens him to the trunk of a prostrate tree. The operation of milking is performed by both men and women.

As soon as the pasture in the neighbourhood is exhausted, the encampment is broken up, and the little company migrate to some fresh station. The rude tuguria are dismantled in less than half an hour, and packed with all the household furniture on the backs of the reindeer, who, by long training, are inured to serve as beasts of burden. On the journey they are bound together, five and five, with leather thongs, and led by the women over the mountains; while the father of the family precedes the march to select a suitable site for the new encampment, and his sons or servants follow with the remainder of the herd.