The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1871-03-23
LIFE IN LAPLAND.
,vv,r rnAyrrra saw AND HEARD AT ou1cx5ooK.

IItillery service, has puDnsleo, IL AVu'
.ldon q lively and charming book, unoer
The title Of airy Lapland, . Fresh
l Field for Summer Tourists The cap
tain and his wife, desiring summer
vacation out of the beaten track OF
English tourists, fed away to Lapland,
and went to see the midnight sun at
the extraordinary little hamletof QUICK.
lock. This picturesque and important
town consists of four houses ana q
church, and may be accepted as the ul-
innate expression of Lapland. PIC
ture to yourself" says Capt Hutchln-
son, "two Swiss valleys. united togeth-
er at the head of lake. The low
ground covered with small birch and
willow, of exquisitely vivid green, a
beautiful contrast to the dark forest OF
pine which rises Immediately above it.
The trees, already diminutive at the
base, become more and more stunted
as they approach the summit. Where
the forest ceases, the shrubby willows,
not more than two feet high, commence;
and then we find a region where little
is to be seen but MOSES and hchens,
close to the great fell running up to the
Norwegian frontier; and, browning all,
magnificent background of eternal
snow. The village, with about thirty
wooden houses Including barns and
outhouses), all colored bright red,
stands on a grassy slope reaching to
the waters edge. The tiny church,
also of bright red wood, is built on an
isolated hillock. Two rivers help to
form the lake; the first flows down one
valley in quiet grandeur, while the
second bursts over immense masses of
granite in hurried fury, making three
falls Of excessive beauty, the roar OF
which can be heard for miles. Add to
all this a clearness of atmosphere pc
culiar only to the Attic circle, and n
dryness which never allows of fog,
and this is Quickjock."
Quickjock wore its gayest aspect at
the time of this visit. The Lapps had
come thither from all parts. to attend
the service in the little church. st.
Johns day is their great festival, on
which they commemorate the arrival Of
summer. The pastor had at least TWEEN
ty mouths to supply with food, and
every morning two boats set off with
their nets to the lake for the days sup
ply. They would return about II a. NJ
with o large quantity of fish; but il
was never too large for the consumers,
who would, each of them. eat six pounds
as easily as one pound, if set before
them. Nothing was ever left for the
morrow. They subsist entirely on fish,
milk, and rye bread.
The harmless little people pleased the
travellers immensely. There was a
nice little couple" says Capt. Hutchin-
son, 1--WE took great fancy to, and
after much consultation, decided to our
satisfaction which was the boy and
which the girl. As both men and wo-
men have long hair, and neither whisk-
ers nor beard, and dress alike in high
blue cloth bill ycock hats, and reindeer.
skin coats and leggings, it is almost
to distinguish them. We
asked them how old they were, an6
whether they belonged to the school.
The laugh was against us, when we
found the gentleman to be 90, and the
lady, his wife, 24-instead of Ia and
IL, as we had settled them to be-" In
this lovely little Lilliput, potatoes are
the size of walnuts, lamb steaks as big
as larks, and calf about the dimen-
sions of large cat. No doctor is
within 100 miles, for the Lapps are
never i'll until just before they die;
and the one doctor even at Lulea is in
despair at the want Of patients. The
effects of climate are very curious to
watch. The summer had set in, and
everything seemed to be growing by
steam; though Qtickjock lies at such
an attitude that On hours walk up any
Of the mountains round would bring one
10 perpetual snow With the warmth
come the mosquitoes, which are as
to the natives as to the
and are prepared against by
covering the tops of the chimneys with .
'ods of earth, and kept out by never
opening the windows at all, and the
ioors only for the indispensable mo-
nent of ingress and egress.