Many of the Lapps claim the ability to foretell future events, and fall, or pretend to fall, into a trance or ecstasy, during which they see visions, utter prophecies, and unlock the secrets of those who trust to their divination. They also read the fortunes of inquiring dupes by means of a cup of liquor, or by the vulgarest jargon of palmistry. Superstition is the daughter of Ignorance. It is also the sister of Fear, for the superstitious are invariably prone to see supernatural signs and wonders in the appearances of the heavens, or to hear unearthly voices borne upon the midnight wind, and in everything they cannot understand to imagine the presence of some antagonistic power. As the American natives were panic-stricken at the occurrence of an eclipse, so the Lapps are filled with dread when the sky glows with the coruscations of the aurora. These superstitions prevail in spite of the exertions of priests and schoolmasters. They are nourished in secret even when they are not openly proclaimed; and the Lapp, after listening devoutly to the harangue of his pastor, will return home to offer homage to his saidas, or wooden idols; to cower at the name of Trolls, the evil spirit of the forest; and to be deluded by the artifices of any so-called witch or fortune-teller. There are Lapps, and Lapps; each, according to the region he inhabits, bearing his distinctive characteristics, and preserving his individual habits. Thus, there are the Fjälllappars, or Mountain Lapps; the Skogslappars, or Wood Lapps; and the Fisherlapps. From the nature of the country the reader will expect, and will be right in expecting, that the Fjälllappars form the most numerous section. They are the nomads of Lapland, and their mode of life is entirely pastoral. As the Arabs with their flocks move from one oasis to another, or the Tartars with their cattle, so the Lapps migrate from place to place, compelled by the necessity of finding sustenance for their herds of reindeer. The mosses and lichens on which these animals feed are soon exhausted, and some time elapses before the half-frozen soil replaces them. The same cause operates to prevent the Lapps from assembling in large communities. Seldom more than three, four, or five families encamp in the same neighbourhood.