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ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY UEEMS. 449
That they fhould diftinguifh the feafons, and feltivals, and other periods of time,
the Laplanders formerly made ufe of certain wooden calendars commonly called
Priimftave.
The hufband frequently difcharges the duty of the midwife.
The Laplanders very often take the clergyman of the place, the miflfionary, the pub-
lic inftructor, and church-warden, as witnefses of the baptifm of their infants.
As often as the occafion demands that the whole family, who inhabit the cot, fhould
go out, either to look after the rein-deer, that is loft, or to attend to any other bufinefs
they tie the children, who by reafon of their tender age, cannot follow, for their better
fecurity, in the cot, left they fhould fall into fome mifchief or the fire when left to them-
felves. When going over the mountains I ufually carried with me, among other bag-
gage, a trunk made faft and fecured, to which they often tied the children, left they
fhould too freely run up and down. . «
There is no ufe made of {tools among this people; for the Laplander fits on the
ground with his feet acrofs under his feat. Should he happen to vilit other inhabitants
of Norway, in whofe habitations there is either a ftool or benches, he refufes to ufe
one when offered to him, thinking he can fit more commodioufly on the bare ground,
The Laplanders, faluting each other, rufh into each others arms in mutual faluta-
tion, repeating Buwri/?, that is God fave you, by this form the little Laplanders, faluted
me alfo, taking me for a native, on account of the language and habit of Lapland,
which during my refidence among them, I always ufed.
The Lapland women fhave their heads even to baldnefs. They kill the vermin that
infeft the head with a knife.
Should the foot or arm be in extreme pain, they bind that part of the limb where the
force of the pain principally is felt, with two ligaments, as tight as they can, and apply to
it a burning hot coal, under a perfuafion that the pain, as if getting an opportunity from
the burfting and opening of the flefh by the force of fire, would break out and go away.
In the whole tract of weftern Finmark, for I refided there for a whole ten years, two
horfes were only to be found, one of which belonged to Peter And, the provincial
judge; the other was the property of Chriftian And, prefect of merchandife in the
parifh of Alten. Hence the peafants of the Norwegian nation, who inhabit this tract,
as alfo the maritime Laplanders, are compelled of themfelves to difcharge the labour of
horfes, by carrying hay on their backs in fummer, in winter in little carts, and fuch
things, as elfewhere are carried by horfes. The condition of the mountain Laplanders,
is, on this account, the more defirable as abounding in rein-deer, and who make ufe of
their afliftance for their own purpofes, and for the carrying of burthens. Andon ac-
count of the great fearcity of horfes, all over this part of the country, moft of the
inhabitants look with aftonifhment at this animal, as they do at any thing foreign and
very ftrange. One Matthias Peterfon furnifhes an inftance of this: he was a mountain
Laplander from Porfanger Bay, who, as he told me himfelf, came to And, the
judge of the place, for the purpofe of adjufting fome bufinefs; in his houfe he
ufed to fleep, when happening one night to come out from his bed-room, he un-
expectedly faw a horfe itanding at the door, at the fight of which he was as terrified,
as if he had feen a huge fpectre: he haftily returned to his chamber, where he {hut
himfelf clofeup, after well fecuring the door.
And as it is well known, in this traét of country there is neither fowing, nor harvelt,
fo does itneceflarily follow, the inhabitants want no manure. Hence the dung that is
gathered from cows, fheep, goats, as being in itfelf a thing of no value, they ufually on
the approach of fummer, are wont taburn. But certain ruftics of Finland, who live on
VOL. I. 3M the
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