The furniture of these Laplanders consists of kettles and pots, made sometimes of brass, sometimes of copper; rarely of stone, on account of the weight. They have also hemispherical bowls, with handles, generally made of the hard knotty excrescences of the birch. These are often large enough to hold four or five cans, (of three quarts each,) and formed so neatly, that any one would believe them to be turned. Into these they pour what is to be served up at their meals. Plates they have none, but in their stead boards, of an oblong shape, are used for meat; which, previous to its distribution among the guests, is served up in round pails. Closely platted baskets, or tubs, always circular, are used to keep cheese in. There is moreover an oblong barrel, for the purpose of holding _jumomjolk_ (_vol._ 1. _p._ 273). Within the tent are spread on each side skins of reindeer, with the hairy part uppermost, on which the people either sit or lie down, for the tent is not lofty enough to allow any one to stand upright. In the centre of the whole is the fire-place, or a square enclosure of low stones about the ash-heap. The back part of the tent, behind the fire-place, is entirely occupied either with brush-wood or branches of trees, behind which, or, most commonly, before it next the fire, the household furniture is placed. In the roof are two racks, suspended over the reindeer skins on each side, upon which cheeses are laid to dry, and before these, towards the entrance, hang rennet-bags, filled with milk, preserved for winter use. The annexed figure is a sort of plan of the floor of one of these Lapland tents. a is the fire-place. b, b, reindeer skins, six in number, three at the right hand, on entering the tent, and as many at the left. c large fire-wood. d cheese-vessels. e kettle, with its lid. f, behind the first reindeer skin, is the place of the harness. g a barrel or cask. h a store of skins and hair of the reindeer. i the milk-strainer, with its flat cover. [Illustration] The following figure represents the roof of the tent, as seen from below. a, a, are the racks on which the cheeses are ranged. b outlet for the smoke. c, c, rennet-bags containing milk. d plat of hair from the reindeer's tail, to strain milk through. e the flat cover of the milk-strainer; see i in the former figure. [Illustration]