The houses are smoky cottages- called “pörten”, in which there is no hearth, only a stove. There is, admittedly, a sort of wooden pipe in the ceiling but it is rarely opened as they think it will be warmer if the smoke goes out of the door. They think they would freeze if they had chimneys – which seems to me to be somewhat erroneous reasoning. Would it not be better to have chimneys and reasonable warmth rather than the heat of a bath-house and blind and weeping eyes, a black and sooty cottage and the necessity of lying on the floor – and even making the beds on the floor – since smoke is blowing all around? It seems likely that just as much cold comes in through the door as through the chimney. They are, in fact, so afraid of losing the heat that they will not risk having windows and have small apertures instead. Thus, like owls, they love the darkness. I looked in through one of these window holes and it was utterly black inside the house although there were both adults and children within. I could see nothing but 2 eyes glowing like a devil in a jug but, when I looked more closely, it was just a jug. I was tempted to classify them as one of those species that give off their own light. I know that when the farmers in Småland light their stoves they get such a heat that they roast in spite of the chimney. Sticks are burnt here, as in Småland. I can never believe that such excessive heat in the winter here, where it is so extremely cold, can be good for the health. The Christmas poles here are 4 feet long.1 There is no bed since they lie on the floor and they usually sleep in the outhouses in summer. There are benches around the inside of the cottages, the table is in the corner, the stove in the opposite corner.