A PRIMITIVE STEAM BATH HOUSE.--HOW THE BATH WAS PREPARED.--WHAT ARE THE
TWIGS FOR?--I ASCERTAIN.--ROLLING IN THE SNOW.--FINE EFFECT OF THE
BATH.
A few miles further on I came to a little hamlet composed of a few
farms. The inhabitants were all Finlanders. Travelling was so bad, on
account of the big drifts of snow, that I decided to stay a few days in
the place. The following day was Saturday and the afternoon was the
beginning of Sunday, and the boys and the young men of the place said to
me: "Paulus, to-day is bathing day. Every Saturday we have a bath."
"All right, boys," I replied, "I will have a bath with you." Of course
they did not mean a water bath, but a steam bath.
Pointing to a little log building, they said, "Paulus, this is the bath
house. Come, and we will show you how we work out a steam bath in our
country. You see the bath house stands away from other buildings, to
prevent the fire from spreading in case it should start anywhere."
So I went with them to the bath house and got in. It was dark, and no
light or air could come in except through the door. The room was about
fifteen to eighteen feet long and about ten or twelve feet wide. In the
centre there was an oven-like structure, made of boulders piled upon
each other without any cement whatever. Along the walls were three rows
of seats, made simply from the branches of trees and rising one above
the other, just like seats at a circus, the first one being near the
ground. The people had brought wood beforehand. This they put into the
oven and set fire to it. They said to me, "We are going to keep the fire
burning all the time, to heat the stones, and when they are burning hot
this afternoon we will stop the fire, the place will be cleaned, and
then we will take our bath."
We were soon obliged to go out, on account of the smoke. And the fire
was kept up all day, boys coming now and then with more firewood to add
to it.
Late in the afternoon I went with two women who cleaned the place
thoroughly and took away the ashes, and a big vessel put next the oven
was filled with water. Slender boughs of birch trees were brought in,
and I wondered why. I found out later! Finally word was sent round that
everything was ready.
Then my new friends said to me, "Paulus, you will undress in your room
and come to the bath room with nothing on, for there is no place there
to dress or to hang your clothes. We all go there naked."
"But," said I, "it is 30 degrees below zero."
"That is nothing," they answered, laughing. "The bath house is close
by--just a stone's throw from your place, and you will find it warm
enough there," upon which they left me to get ready themselves.
When I was undressed I looked through the windows and saw men and boys
without clothes on running towards the bath house, which they entered
quickly and shut the door.
It did not take me much time to reach the bath house. I ran double quick
to it. Oh! wasn't it cold on the way! But as soon as I was in I could
feel the great heat from the oven. It was so warm, and felt so good
after coming from the icy air.
Then water was taken from the large vessel and thrown over the stones
with a big dipper. Steam rose at once; then more water was thrown, until
the place was full of steam. I could not stand it. It was too hot for
me. "Don't stand up, Paulus," they said; "sit on the lower seat." Even
that was too high for me. I sat on the floor until I got accustomed to
breathing the hot air. The perspiration was fairly running down my body.
More water was poured and more steam was raised.
Then one of the fellows said, "Paulus, let me give you a switching with
the birch twigs. It is fine; it brings the blood into circulation." One
of the boys began to switch my back, and soon I cried, "Enough, enough,
enough!" Soon all were switching one another, and the one who had
switched me said, "Paulus, give me a good switching--harder than the one
I gave you." I thought mine had been strong enough; my back must have
been as red as a boiled lobster. I followed his injunctions until he
said it was enough.
Then more steam was raised after a while, and after this was done all
shouted, "Let us have another switching before we go." At last I went
out with a few of the men, when, lo! they rolled over two or three times
in the snow, calling out to me to do likewise; that it felt so good. I
did what they bade me to do. How nice it was! It was a delightful
sensation. Then we got up and ran as fast as we could for our houses.
As we ran, they called to me, "Paulus, do not dress at once, and not
before you have stopped perspiring." So I walked up and down in my room
for more than an hour before I dressed. After this I felt like a new
man.
The Finlanders do not dress like the Laplanders when they are at home;
it is only when they travel that they wear the kapta or pesh. The men
wear long overcoats, lined with woolly sheepskin. The women's dress is
composed of a body of black cloth, with skirt of thick homespun wool.
Their long and heavy jackets are also lined with sheepskin inside, and
they wear hoods.