The Laplanders are said to live to a great age ; and it has even been affirmed, that some of them have completed a century and a half. But, as they are little skilled in the exact computation of time, much dependence cannot be placed on their own testimony ; and their premature looks of old age, and general wretched tenor of life, are not very consistent with such accounts of their longevity. Their long endurance of intense cold—their coarse and precari ous food—their close and smoky habitations, and their ne glect of personal cle iiness—are not likely to prove con ducive to vigorous th and long life. But, on the other hand,thcir roaming disposition—their employment in hunt ing, fishing, and tending the rein-deer, which habituate them to air and exei cise—their partiality to various prepa rations of milk as an article of subsistence—their warm clothing and careful precautions against clamp or cold feet— not to mention their exemption from the dissipations of more refined states of society—are doubtless favourable to the prevention of disease, and give credibility to the state ments of their being a healthy race. At the same time, as in the case of most savage tribes, it is highly probable that the great proportion of vigorous constitutions among them may be ascribed to the circumstance of those who are of a weakly habit dying in infancy. Fevers, agues, and drop .. are rare ; chilblains, not more common than in other countries; the stone, gout, and jaundice, entirely unknown. Even coughs and colds, notwithstanding the severity of the climate, are very uncommon ; though a few cases of con sumption now and then occur. Swelled necks, or goitres, similar to those in Switzerland—sore, or blear eyes, fre quently inducing total blindness as old age advances—a swelling or falling down of the uvula, cured by cutting off the affected part—colics, and other disorders of the sto mach and bowels ; picurisies, and cases of hoarseness in spring and autumn—lumbago and rheumatic pains, epilep sy and head-aches, scurvy and St. Anthony's fire, deafness and asthma among old people, arc the most frequent dis eases in Lapland. The great remedy employed in roost ()Nielr diseases, for all aches and pains, head ache, tooth-ache, pleurisy, lumbago, ,Sce. is the actual cau tery, which they apply by burning a piece of fine fungus, about the size of a pea, on the place affected, and thus pro ducing a sore by way of issue, which is allowed to remain open till it heals spontaneously. In hard imposthumes, &c. they apply a kind of plaster made from the loose scaly bark of the birch, scorched, chewed, mixed with fresh tur pentine from the spruce fir, and kneaded by the hands into an uniform paste, which brings forward the suppuration, and promotes its discharge without much pain. As an ointment for burns, they boil fresh cream to a thick consis tence. Most of their other medicines are mere nostrums, or charms. They pretend to cure inward complaints by swallowing the blood of the seal, or the rein-deer, as warm as possible. They touch a diseased tooth with a splinter from a tree which has been struck by lightning ; and in or der to rub off the speck in a commencing cataract of the eye, they introduce a common louse within the eye-lids. Before reducing a dislocated or fractured bone, they cause the patient to swallow, in a drink, a little powdered silver or brass. As a remedy for sprained alleles, or other sprains, they bind the suffering part with the sinew of the rein deer's tore legs ; but, at the same time, reckon it essential to the cure, that a female patient must use the sinews of the buck, arid a male those of the doe.
During the winter time, and especially from the begin ning of December to the end of January, a sort of apathy, congenial to the season, creeps over the nilives, and they spend in sleep more than one half of the 24 hours. Their principal cal e is to keep themselves warm ; and little em ployment of any kind is carried on.
The maritime Laplanders change their habitations only twice in the year, namely in spring, and autumn ; and inthis case they leave their hutsstanding until their return. Those, also, who inhabit the woody region, are more stationary. But the mountain or wandei ing Laplanders are continually moving lrom place to place to procure food for their rein deer. About the middle of summer they more with their families and herds towards the sea-coast, seldom travelling above four English miles a day. They spend great part of the summer in fishing ; and as the rivers abound in fish, they find no difficulty in catching as many as they desire, which they hang up and dry for future use. In this em ployment they are often attended on the lakes by large Hocks of sea swallows, which direct them to the places where the shoals of fish are most abundant ; and are reward ed with the small fishes, which are cast on the shore, or left for them in the boats. They come duly at the same hour in the morning, as if to inform the fishermen that it is time to begin their work, and set off with the boats as guides, ready by their cries and plunging into the water to point out the most proper places for casting the nets. On the ap proach of autumn they return to the mountains, where they move about, as occasion requires, from one wood or hill to another. On their way from the coast in autumn, as the
rein-deer are particularly fat in that season, they generally kill a sufficient number of them, which they deposit by the way in a kind of hovel or storehouse, to remain there dur ing winter, and serve as a supply for their families in the following spring, on their progress to the coast. In spring and autumn, when the earth is free from its covering of snow, the natives travel on foot, and convey their tents and baggage on the backs of the reindeer; but, in the winter excursions, sledges are used for transporting themselves and their furniture. The sledge is made of birch wood, and formed like a boat with a flat stern. The ends of the side planks are fastened with wooden pegs to the roundish board, which forms the back, and their points, brought to :, ether at the front, are bound fast with a rope. The sled ges are caulked within, and frequently pitched also on the outside, to keep out the water. The kind most commonly used for travelling is so light, as to be easily carried in the arms, and is no larger than to admit the legs and thighs of the Laplander. It is open from head to stern; but has oc casionally a seal skin fixed to the head, which covers the legs and knees of the passenger, to which is joined a rug, spreading over his lap, and fastened by leather loops to the side, to defend him from the snow. The larger sledges, em ployed for conveying provisions and baggage, have general ly a convex deck from head to stern, with a hatch behind, which is raised by a projecting bolt, when any thing is to be drawn out, or stowed under the deck. The sledges are drawn by the female, or by gelt rein-deer ; and it requires great perseverance to break these animals to the harness. In yoking them to the sledge, a broad collar of untanned deer skin is put over the neck, from which a rope made of thongs, cut from seal skin or the hide of an ex, passes tin der the belly between the fore and hind legs, and is fast ened to the sledge by a hole in the fore part of the keel. Another collar of kersey cloth, and embellished with tinsel, is occasionally put on by way of ornament. A broad girth is sometimes brought round the body of the oeer, with an opening below the belly to let the rope pass through, and to keep it steady in pulling the vehicle. A vein, or throng like a halter, is fastened to the head of the deer, and, while the animal is standing still, hangs on the. left side. The Laplander, when placed in the sledge, ties the end of the halter about the thumb of his right hand, and then shaking it with violence from side to side, the animal springs forward at great speed, but in an irregular and serpentine course. When the driver wishes to keep to either hand, he pulls the rein to that side. When going down hill, he regulates the sliding of the sledge by the movement of his body ; or, if the descent is very steep, he tiesa rein-deer by the horns to the back of the sledge, which the animal is trained to keep steady by drawing wards. When he wishes to urge the rein-deer to its ut most speed, which is at the rate of ten miles an hour, he places himself on his knees, and encourages him by certain sounds and movements ; and when lie is desirous to stop, he shifts the rein from the right side to the left, upon which the animal immediately stands still. In transporting bag gage or provisions, a train of four or five sledges may be conducted by one man, who seats himself in the foremost, while the rein of each deer is attached to the stern of the preceding sledge ; and one deer tied to the back of the hindmost, to act as a check upon their velocity in descend ing the declivities. The sledges, when not in use, are fre quently lodged under a wooden shed ; but, in general, they are met ely turned up on the snow, with the keel upwards, and in this position they serve the purpose of repositories for venison, S-.e. For travelling on foot in winter, the Lap landers employ snow shoes, which are about six feet long, and six inches broad in the middle, tapering to a point at both extremities. The upper part of the shoe is flattish, the edge on each side sharp, the under part convex, and furrowed lengthwise ; and in the middle of the broad sur face is a place for the foot, with a band to fasten it firmly about the ancle. Many of the families in removing from one station to another, follow the sledges on foot, driving the herds of deer. In this way, they frequently travel by night as well as by day over an entire surface of snow, without the slightest vestige of a track to guide their way, and with the snow drifting in all directions; yet, by observ ing the stars, or the course of the wind, they rarely happen to miss their route. In these cases, they fix bells to the collars of the rein-deer, in order to keep together by the sound, when they can no longer see one another. They are always provided with a steel, flint, and matches, to light their pipes, or kindle a fire if requisite ; and when obliged to stop, in consequence of the severity of the wea ther, or the length of the way, speedily erect a small tra velling tent, and take their repose as occasion or neces• site may demand.