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
The two dogs ran in every direction, to try to scent people. They seemed
to know that we were looking after the tent of Wasara's father; but each
time they would return looking in the face of their masters silently, as
if to say "We find nothing."
We were somewhat afraid of wolves, but trusted in the dogs to warn us of
their approach. We at last concluded to stop; we kept the reindeer
harnessed and stood near them. We fixed our hoods carefully over our
faces, put on our masks, and seated ourselves on the snow. Soon I heard
heavy snoring--Pinta and Wasara were fast asleep, with their heads
downward and arms crossed on their breasts. The Lapps sleep often in
that way when travelling. But the weather cleared after three or four
hours and we continued our journey. My two friends then knew where they
were.
After an hour's drive we saw in the midst of the snow, near a large
forest of fir trees, a tent. "Here is the tent of my father," said
Wasara, pointing out the tent to me.
We hurried our reindeer, and as we approached the place more than a
dozen Lapp dogs, wolf-like in appearance, announced our arrival by their
fierce barking.
Wasara's father came outside of the tent, drove the dogs away, and told
them to be quiet. He recognized his son and bade us come in.
"What a strange abode these nomadic Lapps have," I said to myself, as I
looked around inside of the tent. According to Lapp etiquette the left
side of the tent was given to us, soft reindeer skins being first laid
on the top of branches of young birch trees that were spread on the
floor of earth, the snow having been removed where they had pitched
their tent.
The father took his snuffbox from a small bag and offered me a pinch of
snuff. This ceremony meant that I was welcome, and I passed the snuffbox
to his son who, in turn, offered a pinch of snuff to Pinta.
I looked with astonishment at the people that were in the tent, and
everything that surrounded me. These Lapps had blue eyes; their faces,
owing to exposure to the blustering winds, were very red, but the
protected part of the skin was as white as that of the whitest people.
There were a number of women and men, several young girls and two lads.
I was told that there were two men with the reindeer.
[Illustration: "What a strange abode these nomadic Lapps have!"]
The women were all busy; one was weaving shoe-bands of bright colors,
red predominating; another was just finishing a "kapta," and a third one
was putting a lining of red flannel over the seams upon a tiny pair of
reindeer-skin shoes for a child; the girls were sewing some
undergarments.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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