Such of the Laplanders as are rich enough to afford it, make their wives a present of a coverlet; a petticoat made of cloth, without any gathers, as usual among these people; a small silver beaker or cup; several rix-dollars and silver rings; a spoon, &c.; so that many a bride costs her husband more than a hundred dollars, copper money. To the mother he perhaps gives a silver belt, as well as a cloth petticoat.
I have already mentioned that the Laplanders eat Angelica (sylvestris) in a raw state. This plant, which the inhabitants of Westbothland call Bioernstut, has so many names among the Laplanders, ac
cording to the different stages of its growth, as to cause much confusion to a stranger. The first year of its growth they term the root Urtas, and the leaves Fadno; but the second year the plant is known by the name of Posco or Botsk. When the stalk is dried, or eaten raw, they call it Rasi, that is, grass. They say, when any one has eaten more of this plant than is good for him, "Elli rasi ist purro etnach," the meaning of which is, "Thou hast overloaded thyself with such a quantity of grass."
Another herb of which they are very fond is the Sowthistle with a simple stem, known by the name of Jerja. (Sonchus alpinus. Fl. Lapp ed. 2. 240. Sm. Pl. 1c. t. 21. S. lapponicus. Willd. Sp. Pl. v. 3. 1520.) This has a perennial root. The stem is erect, round, green, smooth, except a few soft scattered hairs, which are most remarkable towards the top and bottom, and is almost as tall as a man. Leaves about twelve or fourteen, half clasping the stem, gradually smaller upwards, nearly
the shape of Dandelion, or of the common Sowthistle, one half of each leaf, consisting of the terminal lobe, making exactly an acute triangle, toothed at the edges; from that part downwards the leaf contracts, but not to the main rib, and then again expands into two narrow appendages, as it were, equal in breadth, but unequal in length, which are crenate at their edges. From thence begins the stalk of the leaf, which is winged and toothed, and half embraces the stem. The leaves are thin and smooth, with a rib purple on the upper side, and the upper ones are the least divided, as well as the bluntest. The flowers are collected into a corymbus, somewhat like Butterbur, but more loosely, especially in the lower part, each supported by a very short stalk, accompanied by a very narrow oblong leaf which extends beyond the flower. The calyx consists of several oblong, narrow, acute, imbricated leaves, varying in number from fourteen to twenty, the outermost gradually shortest, but the
ten innermost are equal in length, and blunter than the rest, composing two rows; the calyx altogether is shorter than the corolla, tubular, swelling, and downy. Florets equal in number to the leaves of the calyx. Germen short, square, crowned with long white radiating down. Petal flat, cut away on one side, violet-coloured, five-toothed. Stamens five, white, their apex (anther) cylindrical, five-sided, white, marked with five blue lines. Pistil one, forked at the top. Receptacle naked, dotted. This plant grows among trees at the sides of mountains, along with the narrow-hooded Aconite (Aconitum lycoctonum), flowering at the end of July or beginning of August. The stem, which is milky, is eaten by the Laplanders in the same manner as Angelica. The taste was to me very bitter, but the people of the country do not find it so, though they confessed that it appeared bitter to them when they first learned to eat it. As soon as the plant
shows its flowers, the stalk becomes woody, and no longer eatable.
The sinews of which the fine thread is made that, when covered with tin, serves for embroidery, and is called tentråd (tin-thread), are taken from the feet of the reindeer, or of oxen, boiled; though sometimes the feet of sea-fowl are chosen for this purpose. Old women and girls are employed in preparing this thread, by drawing it through holes made in a piece of reindeer's horn. They wind it round their hands and feet as they form it, and smear it with fat extracted from the foot of the animal, to make it more supple, as they proceed.
Hay is made in different modes in various parts of Sweden. In Westbothland the fresh-cut grass is heaped together over night, that it may get a heat. Next day it is spread out, and by this method its quality is supposed to become richer and stronger. The same is practised with hops
in Jamtland, where the fresh-gathered hops are packed together, as hard as possible, till they become warm; after which they are spread out to dry. Their strength is by this means improved.