Lachesis Lapponica; Or, A Tour in Lapland, Volume 1Linné, Carl von
History
Lachesis Lapponica; Or, A Tour in Lapland, Volume 1
Linné, Carl von
Lapland -- Description and travel; Natural history -- Lapland
Scarcely any other fish is found in the lakes of this neighbourhood than
the _Röding_, which the Laplanders call _Raud_ (_Salmo alpinus_, or
Charr), and this is extremely abundant. It is a Salmon, or rather Trout,
with a scarlet belly. Its length is about a foot. The scales are
extremely minute. Head smooth, ovate, obtuse. Jaws furnished with teeth,
and the tongue also bears two rows of teeth, six in each row. The palate
moreover is toothed at each side. Nostrils small, with two holes to
each, one above the other, the lowermost largest, and capable of being
closed. Iris of the eyes grey, with a black pupil. Below each eye, in
the cartilage of the cheek, are seven little hollow points ranged
longitudinally, and in its hinder part are three others placed
perpendicularly. The rays which cover the gills are ten on each side,
connected together. Fin of the back with twelve rays, of which the two
foremost are gradually longer, the third and fourth longest of all and
subdivided. The whole fish is black in the upper part; its sides of a
sky blue; head and throat white underneath; belly reddish-yellow. The
ventral fins are red, with a white exterior edge. Many yellowish spots
are scattered longitudinally along each side of the fish near the
lateral line. The tail is of a brick-colour, and forked. The flesh is
red, and very palatable. The people here caught fifty of these fishes
with two hauls of the net, of which they made a dinner for me and
themselves. One dish consisted of the fresh fish boiled, which was not
agreeable to my palate for want of salt. Others were roasted on a
wooden spit before the fire, but for the same reason I could hardly
taste them. The third mode of preparation was the most acceptable to me,
and had a very good flavour. This was made of the dried and salted
Röding, roasted on a spit. The Laplanders drink the water in which the
fish has been boiled, which I was unable to do,--though I could not but
commend the practice, as favourable to digestion.
The reindeer are innumerable, like the forests they inhabit. The herds
are driven home, night and morning, to be milked. It was amusing to
observe the manner of driving them, performed by a maid-servant with a
dog. If the reindeer proved refractory, the dog easily made them obey
the word of command, particularly when seconded by the hissing of the
woman, at which they were extremely terrified.
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