Part 4 (1/2)
[Ill.u.s.tration: A Lapp Family at Home.]
The Lapps do not all live in the same way. Some of them are called mountain Lapps. In summer the mountain Lapps live in tents among the hills. Their tents are made of reindeer skin. They have a great many reindeer.
The reindeer is very useful to the Lapps. It gives them milk. It draws their sleighs. Its flesh is good to eat. They make clothes of its skin. They make knives and spoons of its horns.
In summer the reindeer eat the soft shoots of shrubs and trees. In winter they feed on moss called lichen. They get the lichen themselves. They would not eat it if it were gathered for them. In winter they dig down through the snow with their feet to get at the lichen. They dig first with one fore foot and then with the other.
The snow is often so deep that the reindeer has to dig a hole so large that its body is almost hidden.
The reindeer are not put in stables. They like to be out in the cold and snow. They are able to take care of themselves.
The Lapps eat a good deal of meat. Their meat is the flesh of the reindeer. They are very fond of fat. All people who live in very cold countries eat a great deal of fat. It helps to keep them warm. The Lapps also have milk and cheese. They eat rye bread and fish and berries. They drink coffee.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A White Bear.]
In winter they have to melt snow in a pot over the fire to get water.
The rivers and lakes are all frozen.
The Lapps cook their food in a large pot over the fire. They sit around the fire to eat. The father takes a piece of meat out of the pot. Then he serves a piece to each. The Lapps use no forks. They use their fingers instead.
In some places they have a funny way of storing their food. They make a little log house on the top of a post. They have a ladder to go up to it. In this little house they store cheese and milk and other things. Then wild animals cannot reach them.
[Ill.u.s.tration: A Lapland Wolf.]
There are bears and wolves and foxes in Lapland. These animals are sometimes very fierce. They would come into the people's tents and houses at night, were it not for the dogs. Nearly every person has a dog. Even the hoys and girls have dogs. The dogs are very brave.
They are not afraid to attack wolves or bears.
But you will wish to know about the children in Lapland. You have heard about the old woman who lived in a shoe. The Lapp baby has a cradle shaped like a shoe. It is made of a single piece of wood. It is lined with moss and other warm things. The mother often carries it in her arms. Sometimes she carries it on her back, slung from her shoulders. The baby plays with strings of b.u.t.tons or gla.s.s beads.
When a baby is born in Lapland they give it a reindeer. If the reindeer has any young ones, they keep them for the baby until it is a man or woman. They also give a reindeer to the person who is the first to find that the baby has cut a tooth.
The Lapp boys and girls have very few toys. The toys they have they make themselves. The boys make willow flutes and play on them. When the boys go on the water they have long, narrow boats like canoes.
Some boys also make sleighs.
Many of the boys and girls go to school. They learn to read and write and count.
There are towns near the sea and by the rivers and lakes. In these towns they have schools and churches.
GREENLAND.
Very strange people live in Greenland. They are called Eskimos.
Greenland is a country very far north. It is always cold there. So the children need warm clothing. Their stockings are made of birdskin.
The soft feathers keep their little feet very warm. Their shoes are made of sealskin.
An Eskimo girl does not wear skirts. Her clothes are like her brother's. Her trousers are made of white bearskin. Her jacket is made of fur. When she goes out sleigh riding, she puts on fur mittens.
Do you know what a fur boa is? This little girl wears one around her neck. It is made of the tail of a fox. The strings to it are made of long pieces of skin.
[Ill.u.s.tration: An Eskimo Girl.]
Perhaps you think the Eskimo children are white. No, they are brown.