The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1861-03-02

SCapes BtIu RlIOeu Oy Tue BIllIeo VI Hutu'
m,r. Alasl the good fairy, 81 benefcent,
80 bright, in her rainbow robe, studded
with flowers, was gone, and King Frost
WINS to reign over the devastated realms.
IIark the long waiIing cadences Of the
sweet, sad chant-.an old, old beathen chant,
Of the days when Freya WIS wOrshipped;
Freya, ut once Venus and Summer Of this
far remote race-in which the Laplanders
bewail the parting day! Now for the
long night Already, as We turned to
quit the hill, after straining our eyes until
the last flint glow had died away tOo-al.
ready an icy breeze had sprung up from
the dim northwest, and I shivered and
wrapt my cloak around me at the sudden
sensation of cold. at is the snow wind,
said an old Laplander as we paced down
to the village; "nO more flowers for the
lasses to braid in their hair this year"
must confess that felt Uncommonly
like frightened child left alone in the
dark, and regretted my whim for staying
among the Laps.
But that night there were high rcvels
held among the dwelIers in caves. Peter
Wow as a chief Of the village, entertained
all the beauty and wealth (all the ugliness
and poverty as welD Of Kublitz in his
hOspitnble halls Underground. Torches
blazed and sputtercd; lamps, fed by senl
oil and dccr's fat, were lighted and hung
to every bracket and projection through
all the subtcrrancan dwelling; and ut a
very carly hour, the monOtonOus but i'm
patient beating of the Lapland drum sum-
InOned the guests. All Kublitz was there,
young and old, in holiday garb. There
were games and sweetmeats for the child
rcn, dancing for tho lads and lasses, and
abundance Of tobacco, gossip and strong
liquors for the seniors Of the village. A
pet treindecr-a lovely miIk.whitc creature
almost hidden by the flowers with which
1t was gnrlanded-was led through the
rooms by q rope Of roses held by six
young maidens. Six young hunters fol-
lowed, each with q drawn sword, with
which they were presently to figure in
the ancient sword dance Of Scandinavia.
The orchestra, composed Of the strangest
looking instruments, still managed-for
the Laps are a very musical peOple-tO
discourse sweet sounds, now Of wild pa
thos, now almost maddeningly gay and
exciting. Such hearty, vigorous, ngilc
dancing I never beheld. Even in the
gayest circles Of Stockholm, . primitive
capital, in which the elegant world has
not yet become too languid for enjoyment,
those Lapland dancers would have been
wonders, and yet there was nothing -bOist-
er0us or ungainly in their movements
Indeed, these were rs Sprightly and al'
most as small as fairies, and had somc-
thing OF the fawn-like elasticity and grace
Of childhood In all their motions. Indeed,
il was a marvellous sight, that assembly
of small folks under the level Of the earth,
and It put me in mind ofwhat had heard
of the Daione Sheah Of the Scottish le.
gems, and their revelry within some
haunted hill. could hardly help fancy.
ing l was really a captive or q guest Of q
troop Of carOusing gnomes, or that like
the Rhymer, had been borne away to
Fairyland, and had but a iaint prospect
of revisiting the real daylight world again.
The next morning, l had a surprise
indeed. A shout from the upper earth
aroused me, and scrambling to the outer
air, beheld the rocks, tho black pine
col g., the ilIimitable moorlands, one daz.
cling, all -pervading sheet Ofblinding SNOW.
All gone the fair flow ers, the song birds,
the uncultured fruits that offered their
profusion everywhere, blooming heather
and green grass, all gonei buried until
next summer brought back the daylight,
beneath n spotlcss, unvarying cloud ol
virgin snow. To my great relief, it was
not as dark as had expected. A sort Ol
hazy, shimmering light prevailed, like
mo0n6eams through mist The north
ern wind blew keen and even as gAzed,
the binding snow-takcs came whirline
down again, and seemed to bury the dead
summer deeper at every instant.
We oil laid by our summer clothes, put
on our manifold wraps Of fur and wooden,
and betook us to winter avOcations. And
now came Q strange season, when It was
hard to say whether II was day or night
or both, or neither. The lamps were never
suffered to 90 out; the iiddlcs and drums
the bone flute and the musk Ox's horn
were never silent for three consecutive
hours; and there seemed no regular times
for meals, or sleep, or work, or recreation
On the contrary, music, and such simple
labOrs a. could be performed underground
and dancing and cooking, to say nothing
Of eating, drinking and gossipping, wen
on in promiscuous fashion through thu
twenty. four hours Of what would, dowr
South, have been legal day. lfany ont
felt tired or sleepy. he or she went t,
sleep; the hungry ate, the thirsty drank
the perpetual fires constantly cooked TIL
most cutlandish messes; the fiddlcs ant
drums went on rs if sclfActing; the rein
deer we're fed, tended and MIXED; birchcu
bowls were carved, horn trinkets chiseled
and stories related to gaping listeners, al
at once and oil forever. left off looking
at my watch at all, except mechanically
I went about as q sleep walker; dreame,
standing. | passed great part Of tina
wonderful winter not unpleasantly, but il
Il sort Of amiable nightmare. OF cours
saw no newspapers; the world might wal
as it pleased. It was in the daylight, il
the dark. or course received no letters
the post courier Was shut out, along witt
the sun, and was the tenant. Of strang
lamplit, moonshiny world.
We were not always underground. Il
the fine weather the reindeer were driver
out to browse on the lichens and MOSES
from which they scratched away tho snOv
with their fore feet There were hunting
parties, too, when We chased and slew tn
white wolves, the white hares, the mar
tens, the deer, the birds, all and every on
in their winter livery Of white. Their
was the ermine chase, and the chase O
the white fox, and grand battle with al
old giant Of . bear, who presumed OH tn
sUperstitious respect the Laps have 70
"Old Grandfather Wizard" as they cal
him, and robbed the storehouses, until hi
thefts become unbearable. The wolf hunt
were rather dangerous; but the bear wa
4 terrible fellow; he wounded four Of Ou
best hunters cOwed the dogs with his ur
sine hugs, and nearly beat the whole com
munity, when Q lucky shot laid him low
And then there were the glorious drives
Oh, the wild excitement Of sweeping OveI
the frozen snow in deer.drawn slcdge