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REGNARD’S JOURNEY TO LAPLAND,
to find out the habitations of their comrades: they did not return till an hour after
midnight ; and they told us that after having tr avelled a great way they had not been
able to find any body. This intelligence vexed, but did not deprefs us, for we had
only come this length for the purpofe of feeing the moft diftant fpots, and we had left
a number of objects behind us, which we had deferred vifiting till our return. We had
been defirous of employing our firft ardor in vifiting the moft difficult objeéts, left this
fire of curiofity being leflened, we fhould have been contented with obferving the
neareft objects.
We refolved therefore now to retrace our fteps ; and the wind being wefterly, we fet
fail early in the morning, and returned in one day to find that little old ‘Laplander whom
I have already fpoken of, and who promifed to entertain us on our return: we met him
on the river fihing, and we induced him, by our prefents of tobacco and fpirits, to take
us to his hut, although he endeavoured to avoid it, and feemed to forget the promife
which he had made us. He informed one of our Lapland conductors, who was his
fon-in-law, of the place of his refidence ; and having fet out through the woods with
one of our interpreters, whom we exprefsly prohibited from quitting him, we continued
our route by water. Having arrived in two hours oppofite to the place where the hut
was fituated, we went afhore, and finding that it was {till at a confiderable diftance, we
took with usa quantity of tobacco and a bottle of fpirits, and followed our Laplander,
who conduéted us during the whole night through the wood. ‘This man, who was not
intimately acquainted with his father’s refidence, which had been lately changed, was
as much embarraffed as ourfelves : fometimes he put his ear to the earth, in order to
hear fome noife; fometimes he examined the foot{teps of the animals which we met
with, in order to difcover whether the rein-deer which had paffed were favage or tame;
fometimes he climbed like a cat to the tops of pine-trees, to difcover the fmoke, and
always roared with his whole force, with a dreadful voice, which refounded through all
the wood. At length, after having wandered a long time, we heard a dog bark ; never
did a voice appear to us fo charming as that of this dog, which came to confole us in the
defert. We turned to that fide from whence the noife proceeded; and after having
ftill travelled fome time, we fell in with a large troop of rein-deer, and a fhort time after-
wards we arrived at the hut of our Laplander, who had only juft arrived, like ourfelves.
This hut was in the middle of the wood, conftruéted like all the reft, and covered
with its valdmar : it was furrounded with mofs, for the purpofe of feeding about eighty
rein-deer which the Laplander poffeffed. Thefe rein-deer form the whole wealth of
this people: there are even fome who have a thoufand and twelve hundred. It is the
employment of the women to take care of them, and they tie and milk them at certain
hours: they count them twice every day ; and when one ftrays, the Laplander fearches
for it in the woods till he finds it. ‘They fometimes run a very long time after thefe
animals, and follow their tracks in the fnow for three whole weeks. The women, as I
have already faid, have a particular care over the rein-deer and their young ; they watch
them conftantly, and guard them day and night again{t the wolves and other favage
beafts. The beft method of guarding them againft the wolves is that of tying them to
fome tree ; and the wolf, whois very fufpicious and fearful of being taken, is afraid that
this is only a feint, and that there is near the animal fome fnare in which he may be
caught. The wolves are in this country extremely ftrong, and quite grey; they are
almoft quite white during the winter, and are the moft deadly enemies of the rein-deer,
who defend themfelves again{ft them with the fore-feet, when they cannot efcape by
flight. There is alfo an animal of a greyifh brown colour, about the height of a dog,
which the Swedes call yart, and the Latins gulo, which alfo carries on a bloody warfare
with
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