The names of the first ten numerals are, The conversion of the Laplanders to Christianity can not be dated much earlier than the middle of the 17th century ; and it is still so very imperfect as to consist in little more than their receiving baptism, bearing Christian names, and attending, in a manner by compulsion, on a few festivals of the church. hey are said to have still re tained their ancient religion almost unmixed with any of those additions, which half-converted nations generally make fromChristianity. They, in general, acknowledge the king of Sweden as their lawful sovereign ; and conform to the Swedish courts of judicature established in different parts of their country. A small number are tributary to Denmark and Russia. They are not a numerous people ; and are calculated not to exceed 60,000, scattered over an extent of 150,000 square miles. Even of this number, Baron Von Buch considers, that one sixth part only is composed ol the real Laplanders, and that the rest are properly Finnish colonists, by whose gradual influx the the population of Swedish Lapland is said to have doubled, in the course of thirty years. The Laplanders have a swarthy black short hair, a wide mouth, hollow cheeks, end a chin some what long and pointed. Their eyes are weak and watt ry, in consequence, it is supposed, of their stre,ky habitatirecs, or the driving and glaring snows of winter, which often have the effect of depriving the natives of sight for several days after re turning from a hunting excursion. They possess great strength of body, and are capable of undergoing extraor dinary degrees of labour. They are not less remarkable for swiftness of foot and bodily agility ; and are inured from their infancy to every kind of activity and exertion. They are rather of diminutive stature, a circumstance which has generally been ascribed to the severity of their climate, and the scantiness of their diet. Their slouch ing gait and want of artificial heels give them, however. the appearance of being lower than they are in reality ; and, as the boys have often the air of maturer years, and are employed in driving the sledges, it is not unlikely that they may have been mistaken by many travellers for men. The smallest person observed among them by Alaupertius, was a well proportioned woman, who measur ed four feet, two inches, and five lines ; and Hogsbriim frequently met with natives of the different provinces, whose height was between five and six feet. Even their swarthy complexion is more the effect of the smoke in which they are doomed to pass so great a portion of their existence, than a natural hue of their skin ; for Linnxus affirms, that a the fairness of the bodies of these dark-faced people rivalled that of any lady what ever " The dress of the Laplanders consists of a conical cap in the form of a sugar loaf, and of a greyish colour, made with eight seams, which are covered with stripes of brown cloth, with a tassel of various coloured shreds on the top, and a border of fur round the lower part : some times the colour of the cap is red, and the stripes yel low. While engaged in hunting or in tending the rein deer, they wear also a kind of riding-hood, which covers the whole head, breast, and shoulders, having only a small opening in front to look through. The men rarely wear any covering about their necks, which are exposed naked to the weather, with no other protection but what is derived from the thick collars of their coats. The coat, which serves at once as shirt and outer garment, is gene rally made of sheep-skin, with the wool upon it turned next the skin, and reaches below the knees, when not tied up with a girdle. It is open in front half way down the bosom, below which it is fastened with hooks, as far as the lower part of the stomach. The collar is high and thick, quilted with cloth, frequently ornamented with different coloured threads, and extending a little way down the bosom on each side. Instead of pockets, they carry a little bag hanging over the breast, divided into two compartments, and containing their tobacco pipe, tinder box, tohacco, and spoon. The great coat made of ker sey or rein-deer skin, with the hairy side outwards, is, like the jacket, open only at the breast, and provided with an upright stiffened collar, with a running string to draw it close about the neck. The collar, the opening at the breast, the shoulder-band, the cuffs of the sleeve, and the bottom of the coat and jacket, are commonly bordered with cloth or furs of different colours, and worked with threads of various hues. The mountain Laplanders also wear around their necks when they travel, the skin of a fox's cub. They sometimes wear gloves of tanned leather ; but more commonly made of the skins of the fawn of the rein-deer, with the hair turned outwards, and a lining of Cyprus-grass A finer sort is made of the skit, of the black fox or of the rein deer's foot ; and the upper part, which reaches above the wrist, is formed of cloth curiously worked with tinsel wire, and trimmed with otter's skin. They use no stock ings, but wear a kind of pantaloons of coarse cloth or tan ned leather, or the skin of the rein-deer's legs, fitted close to the limbs. Their shoes are made from the skin of the reindeer, the soles being taken from the forehead, and the upper leather from the legs of the animal. Tne hair of the sole is generally singed,to render it less slippery in walking ; and the inside is carefully lined with a kind of soft hay, chiefly of the carx sylvatica Sometimes they buy leather from their neighbours for boots; and a finer sort is made for sale with the legs of coarse cloth neatly worked with tinsel wire, and the toe prolonged to a sharp point. They wear leather belts ornamented with
tin, and with thongs of leather, to which are attach ed tin balls, keys, Sze. hanging down behind. The women wear caps of woollen or linen cloth, with stripes and borders of yellow cloth and ribbands of gold or silver tinsel, and use riding-hoods, when abroad, like those of the men. Their jackets and great coats resem ble those of the men, except that the former is gather ed into plaits before and behind, and is rather shorter than that of the other sex, while the latter is longer. The other parts of their dress are little different from those of the men ; but their gloves and shoes are gene rally of white skins, and their girdles more ornamented. They wear also kerchiefs, or mantles of Russian linen or cotton, and narrow aprons of the same stuffs, always fur nished with a fringe or border. All their articles of dress are made by the women.
The mountain Laplanders, or those who inhabit the alpine country, have no fixed habitations, but live in tents, which they move from place to place, in quest of food for their rein-deer. These tents are usually nine feet in height, and about 12 feet in length. They are constructed by means of six poles or beams of wood, nearly meet ing at the top, and in winter fixed at the lower extremi ties in a wall of snow raised around the enclosed space. The tent is covered with Nvalmul cloth, generally in two pieces, fastened together with wooden skewers ; and the door is simply a flap of cloth left between two of the main beams, but sometimes extended on a wooden frame in the form of a pyramid, with a thong of leather tying the top or point of the door to the upper part of the opening, by way of hinge, while the side to windward is carefully kept close, and entrance allowed only in the opposite direction. The fire place, which consists of a square en closure of • low stones, is always in the centre of the tent, and above it is left a hole in the roof to let out the smoke, and a small beam crossing the top of the principal poles to support the iron hook by which the kettle is suspended. The summer tent is covered with canvas cloth ; and a small one of the same materials is carried by the Lap lander in his hunting excursions at all seasons. The huts of the maritime Laplanders, and of those who inhabit the woody region, nearly resemble the tents now described, in their whole form and structure, except that instead of a cloth covering, the roof is formed of the bark of the birch tree and sods of earth. The internal arrange ment is the same in both. The space between the fire place and the door is used as a receptacle for fire-wood, and that behind the fire for the kettles and other utensils. The spaces on each side of the fire-place are divided by logs of wood, into three apartments, which may be styled the bed-chambers ; of these the space farthest from the door, accounted the most honourable, is occupied by the husband and wife ; that in the middle by the children ; and the outer one by the servants. It not unfrequently happens that two families dwell with the utmost harmony in the same habitation, each occupying one side. raid using the fire-place, with its front and back spaces, in common. The whole floor of the huts and tents is cover ed with the small branches of trees, and above these are usually spread the skins of rein-deer, upon which the family sit or recline, as, excapt in the centre, wnere the fire is situated, no part is sufficiently high to admit of their standing upright. A thicker covering of skins is laid in the lateral spaces, which are used as bed chambers ; and, however intense may be the cold. the mountain Laplander always strips himseli naked when he goes to sleep. His outer coat serves as a pillow, and a sheep's skin, with the woolly side inward, as a blanket, above which, if necessary, is laid a woollen rug During summer, a canvas quilt is commonly used as the upper covering, which the Laplander drsws completely over his head as a protection from the musquitoes, and keeps it raised in the middle by a leather thong tied to the pules of the tent, so as to allow a freer respiration in his hiding place At all seasons these dwellings are constantly filled with smoke, which is considered as the best protection from the gnats in summer, and from the cold in winter ; but in consequence of the wetness .of the wood which they are obliged to employ as fuel, this smoke is so pitchy and dense, as to render it inconceivable how human be ings should be able to exist, or, at least, to preserve their eye-sight in such a situation. In the huts there is usual ly a stall near the door, for the sheep and cattle, which enter by the same door, and pass the night under the same roof with the family. Both the maritime and moun tain Laplanders have sheds and hovels around their dwell ings, as receptacles for *provisions: and other household stuffs, which are not in immediate request ; and general ly one of these is an empty space under their hay-stack, which is built on a frame of posts. Frequently, also, the mountaineers dig holes in the ground and pave them with stones, as store-places for the flesh of the rein-deer.