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ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 489
In addition to all thefe incommodities which gather round a mi‘lionary in this pari
of the world, that inquietude, painful enough, arifmg from being neceflarily conftrained
to the cot of the Laplanders family, is ftillin the rear. When at leifure for ftudy and
meditation, the mind looks for retirement and tranquility. But the miffonary mutt
meditate in the cot itfelf, in the midft of the occupations and talk of the fervants, the
crying of infants in their cradle; or he muft walk out in the open air, where the cold
and falling fnows in no {mall degree difturb his mind, intent on {tudy and meditation.
All thefe evils I have experienced, not ignorant that you my brethren will have to
ftruggle, appointed to the fame office, as I formerly have been, with all the incommo-
dilies and moleftations I have juft defcribed.
It fometimes happens that a miffionary traverfing- the mountains in winter, in dif
charge of his duty, comes to the tent of a Laplander, at the time when he is preparing
to go to another quarter, on account of a deficiency of mols, which the rein-deer have
eat up in the place he has. He takes with him his tent, his family, and his whole
herd of rein-deer, now in need of fubfiftence. In this cale he is obliged to follow the
Laplanders as he wanders, regardlefs of air, of cold or fnows, finding no reft until the
Laplandey, after he has found a place fit for himfelf and his rein-decr, now wanting
to be fed, has pitched and fully furnifhed the cot, clearing away the fnow, and [tt dit
up with all its props and appendages.
It happens alfo that the miffionary together with his fellow guide which they call
themfelves Oaeppes, when travelling through the mountains, meets with a great fall of
{now direétly in his eyes and face, that he is under the neceflity of veiling both, left he
fhould be altogether overpowered by the exceflive heaps which are whirled about -by the
wind in circles. He who is in this predicament, is fo buried by the falling and
agitated fnow, as if in an exceflive thick mift, as fcarcely to be able to fee the rein-deer
that draws him, a circumftance that often befcel me when pafling over the mountains.
And fince the traveller is almoft deprived of all ule of fight, by this misfortune, it fol-
lows, that there is danger, left getting out of the right path, on account of the various
and oppofing precipices, he fhould fall into the greateft rifqne of his life ; and doubt-
lefsly many would have perifhed, did not the God of Irael, who governs the univerfe by
his providence protect them under the covering of his wings.
Another inconvenience arifes from the ice, when the cold is very fevere, and much
fnow is falling, faftening on the cheeks of the travellers, which like a plate covering
the face, is atterwards torn off, and from icicles fticking to the eye brows, which oc-
cafions much painful trouble to thofe who are not, from their early years, accuftomed
to thefe ills. Even when you have got over thefe incommodities: and dangers you are
arrived in acot filled, with the fouleft {moke, a circumftance which creates no finall de-
gree of moleftation to the traveller, and to pafs over the other ills, it is fufficient to men-
tion this one alone, that if his ftay is many days in the cot, this fmoke caufes his face
, to inflame, and {well up witha variety of puftules.
Should it ever happen, which in reality, happened to a miffionary in pafling over the
mountains, either that the length of the way, or the heap of fnows falling, or for any
other reafon whatever, night now prefling on, you cannot reach any oneinn, you mutt
then remain under the open fky without covering, keeping off the cold and fnows, in
the fledge threugh the whole night, or if the place happens to be woody you mutt re-
main under the covering of fome trees, cut down from the higheft wood, driven into the
ground and covered over with a thick linen canopy, which the traveller takes with him
tor this purpofe until the break of day. This fhelter, vile and broken as it is, is better
than being in the open air; each mode of pafling the night from experience is known
VOL. I. 3R to
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