suecica) with Kappi (see vol. i. p. 281.), which is made of whey boiled till it grows as thick as flummery. To this they

moreover add some cream. That fruit is entirely neglected in the country of Medelpad.

In Dalecarlia the people generally keep their cattle up in the mountains, twelve or sixteen miles from their own dwellings, on account of gad-flies and other stinging insects. There they have their dairies, and make cheese. The remaining whey is boiled till two thirds are wasted, when it becomes as thick as flummery. This is sometimes eaten instead of butter, sometimes mixed with dough, or serves for food in various other manners.

The wind is excessively powerful in this alpine region, so that sometimes it is impossible to stand against it, both men and sledges being overturned by its violence.

It blew so hard at the place where I now was, that one of the windows of the curate's house was blown in upon the floor.

Every Laplander constantly carries a sort of pole or stick, tipped with a ferule,

and furnished with a transverse bit of wood. Whenever he is tired, he leans his arms and nose against it to rest himself.

Such as live in the forests are dexterous marksmen, but not those who inhabit the alps. Nevertheless, they all contrive, by means of their wooden bows, to procure, in the course of the winter, a considerable number of Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in their grey or winter clothing, for the sake of their skins.

In the winter season also they go in pursuit of their most cruel enemies the wolves. One of these animals will sometimes kill twenty or thirty reindeer at a time, if he comes into the enclosure where they are. The wolf often runs away before the Laplander can get near enough to fire at him. A bear can hardly catch a reindeer, except by coming upon it unawares, the latter being much the most swift of foot; but if he gets into any of the store-houses, he does a great deal of mischief, turning every thing topsy-turvy. Bears are also

very dangerous in the fissures of rocks and mountains, where they usually conceal themselves.

The Glutton (Mustela Gulo) does most harm in the pantry or store-house. He never meddles with the reindeer.

A part of the employment of the men is to make sledges, or other machines of wood for carriage. They cut rough wood in the forests for the boxes which they carry with them into the alps.

The duty of the women is to mend the clothes of the whole family.

Laplanders have several plays or amusements.

Children make of the dwarf birch (Betula nana) something like reindeer's horns, with which they gore one another in sport. They amuse themselves frequently by building little huts of stone.

Grown-up people play very well at tennis, but they seldom partake of that diversion. More common amusements are blindman's buff, and drawing gloves.

Here I think it worth while to observe, that the alpine Laplanders are more honest, as well as more good-natured, than those who dwell in the woodlands. Having acquired more polish from their occasional intercourse with the inhabitants of towns, the latter have, at the same time, learned more cunning and deceit, and are frequently very knavish. The inhabitants of the alps dwell in villages formed of their tents, living together, as I have already related, in great comfort and harmony. Those who occupy the woody parts of the country live dispersed.

The Laplanders know no musical instrument except the lur (a sort of trumpet), and pipes made of the bark of the quicken tree or mountain ash. They are not accustomed to sing at church, except those who are reckoned among the great or learned of the community.

The inhabitants of this country are not more troubled with chilblains than those of other places. They do not mind

having their cheeks frost-bitten. The women wear an embroidered band round the head, which affords no protection in this respect; but the men have a loose band of skin with the hair on, which can be pulled down occasionally over their cap, when the cold is intolerable.

(But to proceed with a further account of the diversions of the people I am describing).

Spetto, one of their games, is played, by men as well as women, in the following manner. They prepare from thirty to fifty or sixty pieces of wood, a hand's breadth in length, which are spread upon the extended skin of a reindeer. One of the players takes a ball made of stone or marble, larger than a boy's playing marble, which he throws up into the air about an ell high. While the ball is up, he snatches away one of the sticks, but in such a manner as not to miss catching the ball in its fall, holding the stick in the same hand. He subsequently gathers together,

in his other hand, as many of the sticks as he has thus been able to procure. If he fails in any respect, another person is to take the ball, and proceed in the same manner, the former player resigning up to him one of the sticks every time the ball is thrown, till no more remain in his own possession. He who can take up all the sticks wins the game.

The following rules are to be observed.

1. He who catches the ball, but not one of the sticks, must resign the ball to another player, as well as he who has let it fall.

2. He who takes up more than one stick at a time, must return what he has taken.

3. The adversary, that is, the last player, who could not succeed in taking up all the sticks, is allowed to lay down as many as he pleases of the sticks he has collected, and may arrange them according to his fancy. It is usual to lay one upon another, in order to render the game more difficult, the player being obliged to

snatch up each separately; which is not easy without taking two, when so situated, at once.

4. When at length one person has taken up all the sticks, his adversary is permitted to replace the two last of them upon the skin in any manner he chooses. He commonly separates them as widely as possible. The person who had previously gained the whole, is then required to take up both these sticks at one throw of the ball, and if he fails he must give up the game. Thus the victory is often lost by means of these two last sticks.

5. When the adversary fails of his aim, the other player is to take all the sticks lying on the field, as well as those which, after having been laid down by himself, were won by the other person, and the whole are to be laid down again directly, in order to be taken up according to the above rules. But he is no longer under any obligation himself to take up the sticks which he has thus laid for his companion.

The game called Tablut is played with a checkered board, and twenty-five pieces, or men, in the following manner.