Lapland

This location is mentioned in the following paragraphs:

(§281) Lappland is inhabited in many places by settlers, that is, Finns, who have settled here by command and permission of the crown.1 They occupy arable and pasture land and pay certain taxes to the crown but beyond that they, like the Lapps, are exempt from all extraordinary dues, having to provide neither soldiers nor boatsmen and being equally happy whether there is peace or war, since not even the smallest tax is levied on them.

(§714) The Lapps usually have bleary eyes and it looks as if the one word might be derived from the other. There are a number of causes, prime among which are: 1. Wind. When I first started my journey and was subjected to a storm, my eyes became red and I was unable to open them fully and was obliged to keep them half-closed. All the more so, then, for those who live in the mountains, where the wind is everpresent. 2. The snow and all the whiteness, especially when the sun shines, has been a particular source of trouble to me. Therefore, also to the Mountain Lapps who have permanent snow. 3. Mist. I could manage well enough on the glacier today until the fog, mist or cloud - which is all the same thing - arrived and so impaired the eyes both of myself and my interpreter that we could hardly keep them open however hard we tried. Same with the Lapps. 4. Smoke. What, if not sore eyes, can be expected among people who dwell in a "kåta” where the smoke gets into everyone's eyes and into every corner just as readily as it goes through the hole in the roof? 5. Cold, and where is colder than Lappland? The Mountain Lapps merely rely on tents and do not use a permanently built "kåta".

(§891) The Lappland magpie [Siberian Jay] - "Rodfagel" in Västerbotten, -"guousack" in Lappish - is greedy, takes meat or whatever it sees and is not timid; it can be reckoned to be one of the jay family.

(§898) The fire kindled by Thor some days ago was now running wild in the Lappland forest, especially since it has been so dry.10 In many places - 9 or 10 - we saw how the forest fire had travelled many miles. I traversed an area where it had burnt for 5 miles and I observed how Flora bore black raiment in place of her green and luxuriant garb. It seemed to me crueller than the white of winter for, though the latter destroys the stem, it leaves the root unharmed - which the fire does not. We walked where the fire had almost died out except in the ant-hills and dry tree-trunks. After we had walked 3/4 of a mile, a slight breeze rose and all at once there was a cracking and crashing in the forest as though from the troops of some great army when the enemy opens fire. We did not know which way to turn: because of the smoke we could not stay where we were, but nor did we dare go back. We thought that by going on we should soon come to the end of it, but there we were mistaken. We leaped around trees that we could see were about to fall in our path. A couple of times they fell in an instant and we came to a startled stop and placed ourselves in the hands of the Being of Beings. On one occasion a large tree crashed down between myself and my companion who was walking no more than 2 yards behind me, hut by the providence of Almighty God both of us escaped unharmed. How happy we were when, free as birds, we were released from this terror of Cain!

Practical data about this location:

• Written: Lappland
• GPS (lat,lon): [65.9, 18.06667]
• Geoname: 2696973