Here I cannot desist from making a few points in passing about those people who try to prove on the basis of the teeth that man is created to eat all kinds of things. They claim that man has teeth such as the incisors that resemble those of the fructivores like the hare or rabbit or squirrel, canines like those of the carnivorous dog and cat, and molars like those of the herbivorous cow and horse. But I do not find this reasoning wholely satisfactory. In the first place, if we examine the incisors, they will be found to be quite different from those of the gnawing animals such as the mouse and the hare, in which animals these teeth are set at an obtuse rather than a right angle – unlike our incisors which are vertical and have points that meet. Theirs, therefore, can be very long: witness the teeth of the beaver. Certain carnivorous animals also have incisors like…[gap in manuscript]. We have canines, and I consider them important even though we have no more than 4 of them. Our molars do not place us close to the herbivores even though oxen and cows also have them, since dogs, cats and indeed all the carnivores have molars. I have never yet seen a specimen of the herbivores that has only a single stomach or which does not ruminate – and the whole family of mice are no exception to this.
But let us return to our own species. If we look at its characteristics, its teeth, its hands and fingers, then we will soon learn how closely related we are to baboons and monkeys -the wild men of the woods. Look at them and see whether they are carnivorous; they will provide the final answer.
6. Satisfied with little. A Lapp does not fill his belly with as much porridge as it will hold but takes just a little now and a little then. Finnish farmers force down as many turnips and Scanians porridge etc. as the belly will take. The Dalecarlian, indeed, eats so that his belly sticks out like a drum, which is why he is more suited to digging and ditching than to running over mountains. The Lapp, on the other hand, is thin and slim. I have never seen a Lapp with a pot-belly. Milk also makes him supple.
7. I looked at their knees and feet etc. and found them to be of the same structure as everyone else’s. The sole of the foot did, however, seem a little more concave on the inner side than that of other people. What difference that might make is something that mechanics may be better able to say than I am.
8. All Lapps are small. I have still not seen one as big as me. A heavy and large body cannot walk as nimbly as a small one even though the organs are much stronger and longer. We can see this in all small things: a little Öland horse or a Norwegian horse runs very quickly and, although a large Scanian horse can outpace them, it is still amazing how fast they move their feet. It is quite obvious that their feet go faster than those of the larger horse.
It is amazing to see how large the Hälsinglander is and how small the Lapp. The reason is obvious: 1. If you give a puppy plenty to eat, he will be big; give him little, he will be small. 2. If you keep a little puppy warm, he will grow big; let him be cold, he will be small.
Thus it is with the Lapps. The reasons why the Lapps are so healthy are:
- The absolute purity of the air – I myself was as if reborn.
- Well cooked food.
- Cold food. Cooked food is allowed to cool – they do not rush helter-skelter at their food.
4. The absolute purity of the water.T - ranquillity of mind. As in the Golden and Silver Ages: no strife, no excessive anxiety whether about their kin or about money.
- None of the heavy eating favoured by farmers, who eat until their coats burst before they are satisfied.
- Only occasional use of spirits; it would be even better if there was none at all.
- Adaptation to the cold and endurance learnt from early years.
- Meat eating: carnivorous animals live longer.
Norway
I saw no flies in Lappmark but as soon as I entered Norway there was an abundance of them in the houses. The huge swarms of mosquitoes, on the other hand, disappeared completely.
I was given red-fish to eat here and it tasted like salmon; it was large and had 1 dorsal fin running from the middle of the body to the tail.
I was now utterly exhausted by the journey and allowed myself a rest.
12th. There was a very strong wind the following day and I did not dare go out to sea. I walked on the shore in the morning when the tide was low. The tide comes in twice in every 24 hours and takes 6 hours between the low and the high tide. That is, 4 tides each day, 2 ebb-tides and 2 flood-tides. They increase with the moon. Various species of fucus lay on the lonely shore, growing on rocks or shells.1
The Lapps come to TÖRRFJORD to buy schnaps. First they drank as long as they could stand, then they blew up the dried reindeer bladders they had with them, filled them with schnaps, tied them up and carried them off. They also have small cups, about 1/3 the size of a spoon, and they drink one after another of these, often as much as half a pint.
When the Lapps want to dress up they put on an unlined white homespun garment which has a high collar with 10 rows of thread stitched around it; the colour is blue with brown edging. The material costs 1 copper daler for 2 feet and it takes 16 feet for a tunic, so it costs as much as a small Lapp fur coat.
The Lapps place one hand on top of the other when they wash their faces.
The womenfolk sew the clothes and shoes and cook the food made from milk, but the men cook the meat, fish and fowl etc. If the wife is absent the men ccok the milk food too – otherwise not.