The Land of the Long NightDu Chaillu, Paul B. (Paul Belloni)
General
The Land of the Long Night
Du Chaillu, Paul B. (Paul Belloni)
Lapland -- Description and travel -- Juvenile literature
One day found me comfortably settled in a _gamme_ which belonged to
Matias Laiti. The chief meal was of reindeer meat and fish,--a boiled
head of fresh cod. This is considered the sweetest and nicest part of
the fish. A great wooden bowl of milk was given to me. The milk had a
queer taste--it had a fishy taste--so had everything else, I thought. I
am sure that if the cannibals that were my friends in Africa had been
here, and eaten me up, they would have found that I tasted of fish, for
I had been living on fish ever so long.
I kept visiting one Sea Lapp and his family after another, and had a
good time--living on fish and reindeer meat, for the Sea Lapps own
reindeer which are kept for their relations or friends further in the
interior. Sea Lapps intermarry much with river Lapps, and also with
nomadic Lapps. They form really one family.
On Sunday morning they were dressed in their best _vuolpo_ head-dresses
and garments. These were red, blue and white, with red and yellow bands
at the bottom of the skirt. Some had pretty belts, and wore necklaces of
large glass beads. The women and men had combed their hair, and it was
not to be combed again for a week. They all had washed their faces and
hands. One woman wore a pair of blue woollen trousers, fitting tight
from the knees to the ankle, had put on a new pair of Lapp shoes, and
wore casque-like head-gear, which was blue like her dress and had red
seams. The boats were ready to be rowed across the fjord to take them to
the church, where service was held once in three weeks. They were all
Lutherans.
There were hardly any children in the place. The school was the other
side of the fjord by the church. The children were about to return to
their parents, for in summer there is no school. All the
Swedish-Norwegian Lapps know how to read and write.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account