Part 2

We have seen how _Lapland_ is situate; let us next proceed to other particularities of it. That ’tis very near the Pole appears from its latitude, insomuch that for some months in the Summer the Sun here never sets, and on the contrary in the Winter it never rises; which _Herbersten_ says is but forty days, and tho three hours in the night the body of it is something darkned, so that his raies appear not, yet there is so much light, that they continue their work all the while. Indeed the same account is not to be taken of the whole Country, since part of it lies nearer, and part further distant from the Pole; and of these too some parts are more East, and some more to the West, from whence ’tis that with some of them the Sun is scarce above the Horizon for so many daies as he pretends. And altho in the Summer it never sets and goes below the Earth, yet neither does it rise much above it, but as it were kisses and gently glides along the Horizon for the most part; as likewise in the Winter when lowest it is not much beneath it: which is the reason that tho they have one continued night for some months, yet every day the Sun comes so near, that it makes a kind of twilight. _Joh. Magnus_ saies that in the absence of the Sun there are two twilights, one in the morning, the other in the evening, in which those poor remainders of day provide that the night should not be utterly destructive. And by how much the Sun is farther absent, the light of the Moon is clearer. Hence _Petr. Claud._ saies that when the Moon shines they go a fishing, and dispatch all other necessaries that are to be done without doors; and when it does not, if the air be clear, even the light of the Stars so much abates the darkness, that the horrour of the night is much lessened, and there is light enough for the dispatch of severall businesses, which is farther assisted by the whiteness of the Snow. The Air of _Lapland_ is cold, but fresh and clear, and consequently very wholesome, being much purified by the winds which are here very frequent and violent. It has bin attested to me by eye-witnesses, that there rises a certain wind out of the Sea, which beginning to blow raises presently such thick and dark clouds even in the midst of Summer, that they utterly hinder the sight, and in the Winter drives the snow with such force and quantity, that if any person be surprised abroad, he hath no other remedy but to throw himself on the ground with some garment over him, suffering himself to be quite buried in snow till the storm is past, which don, he rises up, and betakes himself to the next Cottage he can meet, all paths and roads being hid in the snow. But the strongest and most irresistible winds are upon the Mountains, where they throw down all things they meet with, and carry them away by their violence into far distant places, where they are never seen or heard of afterwards. Their only help against these is to convey themselves into dens and caves. Here is rain as in other places, sometimes more, and sometimes less, but in the midst of Summer, this as likewise the neighbouring Countries have very seldom any at all. Snow they have more often, and so much that in the Winter it covers all the Country, of which they make this advantage, that they can travel the more securely in the night; for the light of the Moon reflected from the snow, enlightens all the fields, that they can discern and avoid any pits, precipices and wild Beasts, that would otherwise annoy them: so convenient are the wayes for any journy, that two rein deer will draw a greater load over the trodden snow, then a Cart and ten Horses can in the fields at other times. These snows in some places, as on the tops of their highest hills, remain perpetually, and are never melted by the strongest heat of the Sun. In the upper part of _Lapland_ there are Mountains rising to such a vast hight, that the snow continues upon them Summer and Winter, and is never dissolved, but in other places the Land is every year over-flown with floods of melted snow. They have also very great frosts and mists, and good store of them, which sometimes so thicken the air, that the sight is quite obstructed, and Passengers cann’t distinguish one man from another to salute or avoid him, tho he be come close up to them. It is so extreme cold here in the Winter, that ’tis not to be endured but by those who have bin bred up in it. The swiftest Rivers are sometimes frozen so hard, that the ice is more than three or four cubits thick; and their greatest Lakes and deepest Seas bear any burdens whatever. Nor is the Summer, which to some may seem incredible, more moderately hot. For tho the Sun be very low, and his raies oblique, yet lying upon them so long together, their force is strangely increast; the only allay being from the vapors rising out of the neighbouring Sea, and from the snows, which as well in Summer as Winter continue undissolv’d in hollow places between the hills. As for Spring and Autumn they know neither, there being so very little space between the extremity of cold in the Winter, and heat in Summer, that by Strangers ’tis look’t upon as a miracle to see every thing springing fresh and green, when but a week before all things were overwhelm’d with frost and snow. _Ol. Petr. Nieuren._ has observed it as a memorable thing, and which he would not have believ’d from any one had he not seen it himself, that in the year 1616, June 24, going to the Church of _Thor_, he saw the trees budding, and the grass coming up green out of the ground, and within a fortnight after he saw the Plants full blown, and the leaves of the trees at their perfection, as if they had known how short the Summer was to be, and therefore made such hast to enjoy it. Their soil is generally neither very fertile nor barren, but between both, full of flints, stones and rocks, every where appearing high, by whose unevenness and roughness the rest of the ground about is useless. The ground is generally very soft and flabby, by reason of the many Lakes and Rivers overflowing, yet would it be fit either for tillage or pasture if any would be at the pains and charge of draining it. _Ol. Petrus_ saies of the Southern part, lying under the same climate and influence of the Heavens with _Bothnia_, that ’tis as apt to bear any grain as the Western _Bothnia_ it self, but this is not without a concurrence and aptitude likewise of the soil: and he himself confesses in Chap. 12^{th}, that the Land is stony, sandy, uneven, overrun in some places with briars and thornes, and in others nothing but hills, moores, fennes and standing waters, which are not the qualities that usually commend Land for agriculture. Then as to his urging its verdant and rich pastures, it doth not follow that all Land which yields much grass should be equally capable of bearing good corn. Yet doth the Land afford plenty of grass, and that so good that their Cattel are fatned much cheaper and sooner with it than any other thing, as also divers hearbs, but particularly ’tis happy in all kind of pot-hearbs. There are many large Woods and Forests, especially towards _Norway_, but not very thick; likewise steep rocks and high mountaines called _Doffrini_; upon whose naked tops, by reason of the violence of the winds to which they are exposed, never yet grew tree. Below these hills lie most pleasant Vallies, in which are clear fountaines and rivulets innumerable, which emtying themselves into the rivers, at length are carried into the _Bothnic_ Sea. Their water is clear, sweet and wholesome, only their Forests abound with stinking and standing Pools. This Country Winter and Summer hath an incredible number of all kinds of wild beasts, especially the lesser sorts, which suffice not only for their own use, but to drive a great trade with their neighbours. They have Birds also of all sorts very many, but Fish in such abundance that a great part of the Natives are entirely fed by them. But of all these we shall speak in their proper places, I will add no more here but this, that the Description of old _Finland_ or _Scritofinnia_ by the Ancients is the same which hath bin given here of _Lapland_; to confirm what I said before that these Countries differ only in name, and not in nature and situation. We come now to its Division.

CHAP. IV.

_Of the Division of_ Lapland.

Those who have writ of _Lapland_, mention different divisions of it. _Saxo_ in his 5^{th} Book, and elswhere, speaks of two _Laplands_, and after him _Johannes Magnus_ tells us, _that both the_ Laplands _are joined together Southward_. I suppose in that division they had respect to their situation, and meant the Eastern and the Western _Lapland_: for so _Damianus Goes_, who seems to borrow from _Joh. Magnus_, expresses it. _Lapland_, saith he, _is divided into the Eastern and the Western, separated from each other by the Bothnic Sea_. From whence we may gather that that part of the Country which lies on one side of the _Bothnia_, was called the Eastern _Lapland_, and that which lies on the other, the Western.

Besides this division of _Lapland_, there is another taken from the places most frequented by the Inhabitants. For one part thereof, lying along the Coasts of the Ocean, is from thence called _Siœfindmarken_, that is _the maritime Lapland_; the other lying higher on the Continent, _Fiœldmarken_, that is, _inland Lapland_: tho by some they are called simply _Findmarken_ and _Lappmarken_. This last division _Pet. Claud._ gives us in his 27^{th} Chapter. _All the Sea Coasts_, saith he, _Northward and Eastward as far as_ Findmarkia _reaches, are possest by the_ Siæfinni, _or maritime Finlanders, but the mountainous and champaign Country, by the Lapfinni, from thence named Lapmarkia or Wildfindlandia, that is wild or savage Findland_. Where he calls one part of the Country _Lapmarckia_, the other _Findmarckia_, the one lying along the shore, and bordering on the Sea, the other mountainous, woody, and savage, upon the _Terra firma_. And this too may be worth our notice, that _Wildfinland_ with him is that which others call _Lappmarkia_: I suppose, because the Natives live by hunting, as those of the other do by fishing. For he presently adds, _There are many thousands in that place that feed on nothing but the flesh of wild Beasts_. And indeed some there are with whom those only pass for the true _Laplanders_: as _Samuel Rheen_, who in his 2^d Chapter of his forementioned Book, tells us, _that besides the Scrickfinni_ (so he calls them that with _Pet. Claud._ are _Siœfinnes_) _there are other true_ Laplanders, _that live on nothing but rain deer_. And so from the Natives feeding on wild Beasts, _Lapland_ properly so called, is also stiled _Wildfindland_, in opposition to _Findmarkia_, whose Inhabitants live both on Fish and Cattel. And yet there may be given another reason for the imposition of this name, from the many woods of that Country. _Olaus Magnus_ in more places then one calls the natives, men that dwell in woods, or _Savages_: as in the title of his 3^d Chapt. of his 4^{th} Book, which is, _Concerning the fierceness of the_ Savages, _or those that dwell in woods_, in which Chapter he describes the _Laplanders_. And in the following Chapter he says, _that the wild_ Laplanders _are clothed with rich skins of several Beasts_. The Baron _Herberstenius_ also in his History of _Moscovy_, calls them _Savage Laplanders, who tho they dwell_, says he, _on the Sea Coast in little Cottages, and lead a brutish kind of life, are yet more civilized then the Savages of Lapland_: whence ’tis plain, that by the _Findlanders_ living near the Sea, he means those that others call _Siœfinnes_, and by the _Savage Laplanders_ those that possess the inland Country, who he thinks were so called from their wildness and barbarity. And by and by he adds, _that by converse with Strangers, who come thither to trade, they begin to lay aside their Savage nature, and become a little more civilized_. Afterwards he calls them _Diki Loppi_, which name the _Moscovites_ give them at this time, as hath been shewed elswhere.

There is also a 3^d Division of _Lapland_, that respects the several Princes to whom the Country is in subjection. And this _Andr. Buræus_ intends, when he tells us, _The greatest part of_ Lapland, viz. _the Southern and inland Country, belongs all to the Kingdom of Sweden: The maritime tract, that lies on the Ocean, and is called Findmark (whose Inhabitants the_ Siœfinni, _or maritime Findlanders, are so named from their living by fishing) to Norway: The rest of them that dwell from the_ Castle of Warhuus _to the mouth of the_ white Sea, _are subject to the Russians, which part the Swedes call Trennes, the Natives Pyhinienni, and the Russians Tarchana voloch_. Of their subjection to these severall Princes, we shall speak when we come to treat of their Government; and also of those parts that belong to _Norway_ or _Denmark_, and _Russia_. At present we shall only mention the division of that part which is under the _Swedes_, and is named by _Buræus_, the Southern and inland _Lapland_, and by _Petr. Claud._ _Lappmarkia_ properly so called. This is divided into six lesser parts called _marker_, or _lands_, tho _Buræus_ chuses to render them Territories or Provinces. Each of these have their distinct names, and are called _Aongermandlandslapmark_, _Umalappmark_, _Pithalappmark_, _Lulalapmark_, _Tornalapmark_, _Kiemilapmark_. So _Samuel Rheen_ in his first Chapter, _That part of_ Lapland _which belongs to Sweden is divided into the Kiemensian, Tornensian, Lulensian, Pithensian, Umensian, and Angermanlandensian Lapmark_. _Buræus_ mentions but five of these Provinces, viz. _Umalappmark_, _Pithalappmark_, _Lulalapmark_, _Tornelapmark_, and _Kimilapmark_, comprehending _Angermandlandslapmark_ under _Umalapmark_, not that they are one and the same Province, but because they are both governed by one Lieutenant. Each of these Provinces take their name from Rivers that run thro the midst of them, as _Wexionius_ in his description of _Swedland_ assures us. As for their situation, _Angermanlandslapmark_ borders upon _Andermannia_ and _Jemtia_, to this joins _Umalapmark_, next to that is _Pithalapmark_, and then _Lulelapmark_, all of them lying Westward, reaching on one side to that ridg of Hills that divides _Swedland_ from _Norway_, and on the other side to the Western _Bothnia_. Northward of them lies _Tornelapmark_, and extends it self from the fartheh corner of the _Bay of Bothnia_ all along the North Sea, called by Seamen _Cape Noort_. Next to this lies _Kimilapmark_, winding from the North toward the East, and bounded on one side by the Eastern _Bothnia_, on another side by that part of _Lapland_ that belongs to _Russia_, and on a third side by _Cajania_ and _Carelia_.

Moreover these Provinces we are speaking of, are subdivided into lesser parts, called by the _Swedes_ _Byar_, as _Samuel Rheen_ tells us, and are equivalent to our _Shires_, and the _Pagi_ of the Ancients. So in _Cæsar_ we meet with _Pagus Tigurinus_, and _Pagi Suevorum_, which were not Villages or Country Towns, but large parts of a Country, such as the _Greeks_ called νόμοι, used in ancient times in the division of Ægypt. Hence the _Glossary_ renders the ancient _Toparchiæ_, _Pagus_, τοπαρχία, χώρα, νόμος. There are several of these _Pagi_ or _Shires_ in each Province, except _Angermanlandslapmark_, which makes but one _Pagus_, vulgarly called _Aosahla_. _Umalapmark_ hath four, _Uma_, _Lais_ or _Raanby_, _Granby_, and _Vapsteen_. _Pithalapmark_ seven, _Graotreskby_, _Arfwejerfsby_, _Lochteby_, _Arrieplogsby_, _Wisierfby_, _Norrvesterby_, _Westerby_. _Lulalapmark_ five, _Jochmoch_, _Sochjoch_, _Torpinjaur_, _Zerkislocht_, and _Rautomjaur_. _Tornelapmark_ eight, _Tingawaara_, _Siggewaara_, _Sondewara_, _Ronolaby_, _Pellejerf_, _Kiedkajerf_, _Mansialka_, _Saodankyla_, _Kithilaby_. So that all the Territories or Provinces are divided into 33 _Byars_. In each of these there are several _Clans_ or Families, which the _Swedes_ call _rakar_, each of which have a certain allotment of ground assign’d them for the maintenance of themselves and their Cattel; not in the nature of a Country Farm with us, but of a very great length and bredth, so as to include Rivers, Lakes, Woods, and the like, which all belong to one _Clan_ or family. In every _Biar_ there are as many allotments as there are families that can live of themselves, and are not forced by poverty to serve others. In the _Byar_ called _Aosahla_ there are about 30 of these _Clans_, or families, in others more or less according as they are in bigness, which all have their several names, tho ’tis not worth while to repeat them. And thus much shall suffice of the third division of _Lapland_, not lately made (except that under _Charles IX_ some _Clans_ had certain allotments assign’d them) but derived from very ancient time; as appears from hence that neither the _Laplanders_ have known, nor the _Swedes_ given them any other, since the Country hath bin under their subjection. Nor are the words modern, or taken from any thing that may give any cause to suspect them of novelty: which I the rather observe, that from hence the native simplicity, agreable to the antiquity of the Nation, may appear.

CHAP. V.

_Of the_ Laplanders _in reference to the inclinations, temper and habit, of their minds and bodies_.

It is almost peculiar to this People to be all of them of low stature, which is attested by the general suffrage of those Writers who have described this Country. Hence the learned _Isaac Vossius_ observes, that _Pygmies_ are said to inhabit here; and adds that they are a deformed People: but in truth their feature and proportion is good enough, and that they are not distorted sufficiently appears from their great agility of body, and fitness for active emploiment. Nor need we dispute of this, since in _Sweden_, we see them every day among us, and can observe no defect in any kind, or deformity, by _Lomenius_ unjustly ascribed to them. _Ol. Mag._ and _Tornæus_ esteem their young women indifferently handsome, and of a clear skin, which I have often seen my self; for they take great care to preserve their natural beauty, which the men neglect to do: and therefore if they are less amiable then the other Sex, it is to be imputed to their choice, not nature. To which we may add the length of their frosts, and the bitterness of the Air, against which they neither arm themselves sufficiently with clothes, nor know how to do so: besides the smoak which continually fills their cottages empairs very much their natural complexion, which is the reason why most of the men also are so swarthy. And as they are generally short, they are also very lean, and ’tis rare to see a fat man amongst them, for the cold that prevents their growing tall, dries up likewise their moisture, and makes them apt to be slender. They are also very light in respect of their bulk and stature, which comes from their not eating any Salt, if we will believe _Ol. Petr._ And thus much may be said in general of the frame and condition of their bodies. As for their particular parts they have thick heads, prominent foreheads, hollow and blear eyes, short flat noses, and wide mouths. Their hair is thin, short and flaggy, their beard stragling, and scarce covers their chins. The hair of both Sexes is generally black and hard, very seldom yellow, their breasts broad, slender wasts, spindle shanks, and swift of foot. They are very strong in their limbs, so that in a bow which a _Norwegian_ can scarce half bend, they will draw an arrow up to the head. Their strength is accompanied with such activity withall, that with their bows and quivers at their backs they will throw themselves thro a hoop of but a cubit in diameter. But this seems to be spoken only of some Tumblers, for the People are generally ignorant of such sports; their usual exercises being running races, climbing inaccessible rocks and high trees. Tho they are thus nimble and strong, yet they never go upright, but stooping, which habit they get by frequent fitting in their cottages on the ground.