GOOD ADVICE FROM THE PEOPLE OF HAPARANDA.--WARNED AGAINST STILL COLDER
WEATHER.--DIFFERENT COSTUME NEEDED.--DRESSED AS A LAPLANDER.--LAPP
GRASS FOR FEET PROTECTION.
I had hardly arrived in Haparanda, when the leading people of the place
came to welcome me. I was not unknown to several of them, on account of
some of my books which have been translated into Swedish; and they were
my friends at once.
They heard with astonishment that I intended to go further north. They
looked serious and remained silent for a while. "We will give you
letters of introduction to our friends," they said; "but after a time
you will be too far north, where we do not know anybody. You will find
only Finlanders and Laplanders until you come to the Arctic shores of
Norway."
After saying this they began to fill their big meerschaum pipes with
tobacco and lighted them, and smoke came out as if from a small funnel.
They gave puff after puff and were again silent; the wrinkles over their
foreheads showed that they were thoughtful and anxious.
One friend said: "The country which lies between the head of the Gulf
of Bothnia and Nordkyn, the most northern part of the mainland in
Europe, is very stormy in winter, the winds blow with terrific force,
and midway between the shores of the Baltic and the extremity of the
land snow is also very deep. It is a roadless land."
When I heard this, I said to myself: "Is 'The Land of the Long Night'
'Snow Land' as well?" Then I thought of the great "Snow Land" I had left
behind me, and how hard travelling had been, and I wondered if it would
be worse in this second "Snow Land." If it was, then I had a hard task
ahead of me.
Another friend said, "This big overcoat of yours will never do in the
country you are going to. These long boots you wear will not be
serviceable."
"Yes," they all said together. "This costume of yours will be
unmanageable on account of the wind. You cannot travel in 'The Land of
the Long Night' dressed as you are. You must dress like a Laplander.
Theirs is the only costume that can stand the weather you are to
encounter, the only one in which you will be able to get into their
small sleighs, and face the fierce wind and the intense cold."
"Remember," said another of my new friends, "that you are going to
travel over a roadless country covered with snow, the reindeer will be
your horse, and you will not be able to go about without going on skees,
for at every step one sinks deep into the snow."
Then another added, to reassure me: "Our country is a country of laws;
we have order, and hate lawlessness. You will feel safe among the
people. You will find where the country is uninhabited, or where the
farms are very wide apart, houses or farms of refuge where you can get
food and reindeer to take you further on. These are post stations where
you can remain until the weather is good. There you are as safe as among
us."
I thanked them for all the advice and information they gave me and said
that I would follow their admonition in regard to my dress. They then
bade me good-night. The next day I remembered what my friends had said
to me the day before, and with one of them I went to get the garments
worn by the Lapps.
I bought two "kaptor."[1] These are also called "pesh." They are long
blouses reaching down to the knee or below, made of reindeer skins, with
fur attached; with a narrow aperture for the head to pass through, and
fitting closely round the neck.
[1] Plural form. Singular, "kapta."
One of the kaptor was much larger than the other, for in case of intense
cold one is worn beneath the other with the fur inside, and the outside
one with the fur outside.
I got a pair of trousers made of skin from the legs of the reindeer, of
which the fur though short is considered the warmest part of the animal,
as it protects his legs, which are always in the snow. The provisions of
nature are wonderful!
There are no openings to the Lapp trousers, so that no cold air can
reach the body. They are fastened round the waist by a string and are
tied above the ankle. There the fur is removed and the leather is made
very soft so that it may go round the shoe.
I got two pairs of shoes made of the skin of the reindeer near the hoof,
with the fur outside. This part is said to be the warmest part of the
whole skin. All the Lapp shoes are sharp pointed, the point turning
upward. They are bound at the seams with red flannel. The upper part
fits above the ankle. They were large enough for me to wear two pairs of
thick, home-knitted stockings and Lapp grass to surround the foot
everywhere without pinching it. Long narrow bands of bright color are
attached to them. These bands are wound around the legs above the
ankles, thus preventing snow and wind from penetrating. These shoes can
only be used in cold weather when the snow is crisp, and are especially
adapted for skees, as they are pointed and have no heels.
I procured also four pairs of mittens, one made of the skin of the
reindeer near the hoof, another of wool with a sort of down, the third
of cow's hair, and the fourth of goat's hair; the two latter are the
warmest, but they are very perishable.
I also got two pairs of very thick home-knitted stockings. These were of
wool. I succeeded in getting two other pairs made of cow's hair, and
another pair made of goat's hair, and I was especially cautioned to
handle them gently when I put them on or took them off--likewise with
the mittens of goat's and cow's hair.
I also got a vest made of soft reindeer skin to put on over my
underwear, and two sets of thick underwear of homespun, for these are
much warmer than those that are made by machinery.
I added to my outfit one pair of long and another shorter pair of boots
for wet weather in the spring, when the snow is damp and watery. These
boots were made of the skin of the lower part of the hind legs of
reindeer, the fur being scraped off. The leather is black and it is
prepared in such a way as to exclude water or moisture. They were rubbed
with a composition of reindeer fat and tar.
Then I bought a square Lapp cap, the top filled with eider down. The rim
could be turned down to protect the ears and the forehead.
After procuring my Lapp outfit, I thought I would try to dress myself in
my new garments. The friend who accompanied me said: "I will show you
how to prepare your feet before you put your shoes on. One can never be
too careful, otherwise the feet are sure to be cold on a journey."
I put on my two new pairs of hand-knitted stockings. He surrounded my
feet over the stockings with Lapp grass; then he put my shoe on most
carefully, with the lower part of the trousers inside, and then wound
the bands not too tight round my ankle, saying, "Now your feet will be
warm all day even if you spend all your time on skees. You see how
careful I have been in putting on your shoes. Dressed as you are you
can defy the cold. If you follow the advice I have given you, you will
never have cold feet no matter how long you drive or walk in the snow.
But take great care that neither shoes, nor stockings, nor grass be
damp. I think it will be well for you to let a Lapp or a Finn put your
shoes on before you start on a long journey--until you can do it
yourself quite well."
The "shoe grass" of which I have spoken grows in the Arctic regions in
pools in the summer. It is gathered in great quantity by the Laplanders
and Finlanders, who dry it and keep it carefully, for it is
indispensable in winter in their land of snow and cold. It has the
peculiarity of retaining heat and keeping the feet warm and absorbing
the moisture. I always travelled with a good stock of that grass,
twisted and knotted together in small bundles.
Then I looked at myself in the looking-glass, and for the first time saw
how I appeared in my new outfit, my Lapp costume. The frontispiece will
show you exactly how I was dressed (without a hood), for it is from a
photograph. Unfortunately, being a bachelor, I don't know how to take
care of things, and my costume, gloves, stockings, and mittens have been
eaten up by moths, and I have had to throw them away. But I appeared
before the American Geographical Society in New York dressed in this
suit, seated in my Lapp sleigh, with a stuffed reindeer harnessed to it,
and my bearskin over me.
To complete my outfit I added two large reindeer-skin bags, one larger,
so that the smaller one could be put inside it without much difficulty.
I was to sleep in these bags when obliged to rest out doors on the snow.
One bag was sufficient in ordinary cold weather--say 15 or 20 degrees
below zero; the other I would use when the thermometer ranged from 25 to
40 or 50 degrees below zero.