The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-10-05
A VISIT TO THE uAPPS.

Miss Margaret Kennedy Tells of Her
| Experience During a Trip in Scandl-
navia.
! Miss Margaret Kennedy who made a
recent trip through an unfrequented
part of Sweden, thus describes some Of
| her experiences:
| During our stay at Otschon we made
long and interesting excursion to the
Gapps, and had the rare opportunity OF
assisting at one of their services, which
are only held two or three times a
year. An hours row and two hours
! ride through the forest along q broad
and rushing river brought us TO their
little wooden church, which, with
farm or two, nestled in a small but fer
tile valley; behind this lowered the wild
and rocky field, on which this tribe OF
Lapps had their encampment. We put
our ponies in the stables of the "Lapp
King" rich farmer SO called because
of his kindness and hospitality to the
Laps, who, In their turn, treated him
as their father and general counsellor.
We amused ourselves till the service
began watching the congregation, as
! they appeared over the fields, looking
very bright, and picturesque In their
church going attire, which was richer
and much more adorned than Is usual
~ the case; but these people belonged
to very prosperous tribe, possessing
many hundred reindeer. The curiously
| shaped hats Of the men are scarlet, as
q rule, their WaistcoatS are thickly
braided In vivid colore, and they have
skin tight breeches made of reindeer
skin. The womens caps are Of Grim
son satin, their hair Is loose and plait-
ed in with strings of beads, and they
wear long embroidered tunics stretch
ing to their knees, Red seems to be
their favorite color; even the babies
wear tight fitting red caps, and very
sweet they looked as they lay In their
little reindeer skin cradles and were
rocked by their mothers, who were
waiting to take them TO be christened
when the service began.
These cradles are made in the shape
of French sabots, laced across with
strips Of leather. These are necessary
precauti0n, as the babies are often
hung up, cradles and all, on the branch
es of the fir trees when their parents
want to be rid Of them. At II o'clock
we all went into the church, an ugly
whtewashed, wooden little building,
adorned inside with gotesque plaster
figures and a big eye, painted IN vivid
blue with a hideous black eyelash. 1t
| appeared out Of sea Of white paint,
and looked down on us with an I'M
cnnny and fixed stare from behind the
alter. The service was Lutheran, and
read In Swedish by a priest sent all
the way from Undertaken. After the
christening of the babies we all went
into the churchyard, where the burial
service was chanted over the graves Of
those who had died In the last six
months 1t was all rather impressive
somehow, and the little Lapps looked
very much in earnest and Joined heart
fly in all the prayers. After an hour Of
the srv1ce my father and l left, as be-
fore returning home we wanted to visit
one of their kotas, or camps, the only
one lying a the foot of the field.
quarter of an hours walk brought US
to 1t. In shape rather ressem bling an
Indian wigwanl, this kota unlike the
usual ones made of reindeer skin, was
built Of turf overdaid with branches
with the smoke coming out of a hole
In the roof. Crawling through the mar
row opening we found ourselves In a
circular room about twelve feet in dia-
meter Fir boughs, bundles and sacks
strewed the earthen floor, and our
twenty men, women and children from
the higher encampment had slept In
THIS limited space the night before to
be ready for the next days service
They generally sleep In their clothes
without undressing, these strange little
people, OF furniture of any sort, bed
table or chair there was not trace
The only inmate of the hut was an old
man, who lay by the smoky fire rock
ing a cradle on his knee. We saw at q
glance he was no Lapp. his bright coal
black eyes. pointed beard and dark
complexion procaimng southern orr
gin He was In fact. an old French
"militaire," and we were very glad to
come across him, as we had heard
something of him before from his wife,
an old Lapp woman. who had called
one day at our farm at Otschon. And
so. while the Lapps were still away at
their devotions, my father and I seated