New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-05-23
Bayard TayIsr IN Northern Europe.
Ne. Xxx.
. ABOUT THE Firms.

We have ordered our sleds TO be ready at noon
Or the return journey to Haparands. find tna'
N excursion HENCE TO the iron mountains OF ueii'-
vass, thence to Quckjock at the foot Of the Nortn
exn Alp, Suhtelma, "Queen of Shows anu -
southwark through the heartOf Swedish LaPP'n"' a,
would be attended with much more diihcui'y a"u
DELAY than had supposed 10 the first place. tnere
are no broken roads at present, except on
Of inland trade; much OF the intermediate country
N a wilderness, where one must camp lot many
pishts in the snow; food is very scarce, the Laps
having hardly enough for their own necessities ana
Ne DELAYS at every place where guides and reindeer
nu,t be changed, would prolong the journey far
Acyoud the time which have allotted to the North.
] begin 10 doubt, also, whether one would De sum-
GENTLY repaid for the great fatigue and danger
which such trip would involve. There Is no
sensation Of which one wearies sooner than disgust
and much as enjoy degree Of barbarlsIn IN mlder
climates, suspect that long cornPanohsniP Win
Lapps in Polar Winter would be little TOO much
fr me. so / turn my face toward Stockholm,
heartily clad that have made the Journey yet not
As.atisfed that am in sight of its termination.
shall employ my time this morning in commu-
n;catinp to you what few particulars concerning the
FYnns have been able to collect, and for which l
am mostly indebted to Mr.. Wolley, whose acquaint-
ance with the language and residence of three years
m Lapand have made him perfectly familiar with
tbe race. As remarked once BEFORE they are
more picturesque people than the Swedes, with
stronger lights and shades of character, more ar
Dent temperaments, and more deeplyrooted ma
tional feeling. They seem TO be rather clannsh
and exclusive in fact, disliking both Swedes and
Russians, and rarely intermarrying with them.
The sharply defined boundaries Of language and
race, at the head of the Bothnian Gulf a strlk
ing evidence of this. Like their distant relatives,
the Hungarian Magars, they retain many distinct
traces of their remote Asatic origin 1t is partly
owing to this fact, and partly to that curious ap
proach of extremes which we observe in Nature no
less than in Humanity, that all suggestive traits of
resemblance in these regions point to the Orient
rather than to Europe.
have already described the physical character
istics Of the Fnns and have nothing to add except
that find the same type everywhere, even among
the mixed-blooded Quans Of KautOkeno-high
sheekbones, square, strong jaws, full yet firm lips
low, broad foreheads, dark eyes and hair, and a
deeper, warmer red on the cheeks than on those of
The rosy Swedes. The average hight is perhaps
not quite equal to that of the latter race but in
physical vigor can see no inferiOrity, and there
are among them many men of splendid stature,
strength and proportion. Won Buch ascribes the
marked difference of stature between the Firms and
the Lapps, both living under precisely the same in
fiuences of climate, to the more clearly habits of
the former and their constant use of the vapor-
bath; but have always found that blood and de-
scent even where the variation from the primitive
stock is but slight, potent than climate or
custom. The Firms have been so long Christian
ized and civilized (accordng to the European idea
of civilization, that whatever peculiar character
istics they retain must be looked for mainy in those
habits which illustrate their mental and moral ma
lures In their domestic life, they correspond IN
most particulars to the Swedes of the same class
They are passionate, and therefore prone to ex-
cesses-imaginatiye and therefore, owing to their
scanty education, superstitOus. Thus the religious
element especially the fantastic alterations thereof
eppendered BY Listadius and other missionaries,
while it has tended greatly to repress the vice, has
in the same proportion increased the weakness
Drunkenness, formerly so prevalent as to be the
great curse of Lapland is now exceedingly rare,
and 30 are the crimes for which drunkenness is
responsible The most fragrant which has &C.
Cured in this neighbOrhOOd for some years past
was that of woman who attempted to poison her
father-in-law by mixing the scrapings of lucifer
matches with his coffee in order to get rid of the
burden Of supporting him. Although the evidence
was very convincing, the matter was hushed up, in
order to avoid scandal upon the Church, the
woman being a steadfast member. In regard to
drunkenness, / have heard it stated that while it
was formerly no unusual thing for Finn to be
frozen to death while in this condition, the same
catastrophe never befel Lapp, owing to his me-
chanical habit of keeping his arms and feet in mo-
tion--a habit which he preserves even while utterly
stupefed and unconscious
A singular spiritual epidemic ran through Polar
Finland three or four years ago, cotempOrary with
the religious excitement in Norwegian Lapand, and
partly occasiOned by the same reckless men. II
consisted of sobbings strong nervous commissions,
and occasional attacks of that state of semi-cOn-
scousness called trance, the subjects of which were
looked upon having been possessed by the Spirit,
and transported to the other world where visions,
kke those of John on Patm0s, were revealed to
them The missionaries, instead of depressing this
unhealthy delusiOn rather encouraged it, and even
went so far as to publish, as supernatural reveal
tions the senseless rawlings of these poor deluded
people. The epidemic spread until there was scarce
B family some member Of which was not affected
b. it. and even yet it has not wholly subsidized. The
a