In the other was a big fat boy,
fast asleep.

Two women went out and collected a lot of snow, which they put on to
melt in a big iron pot hanging over the fire. This is the way the Lapps
have to do to procure water. When the snow had melted she put the water
in a coffee kettle that had a spout. One of the women ground coffee in a
mill. Then the ground coffee was put into the kettle and left to boil
for quite a while, the woman watching it, taking off the pot when it was
about to boil over, and then putting it over the fire again. The third
woman was attending to the cups and saucers. When the coffee was ready
they put in a little bit of salt to give it flavor, then set the coffee
kettle on the ground and put into it a small piece of dried fishskin to
clarify it and precipitate the grounds at the bottom of the kettle.

When the coffee was ready to be poured, one of the women went out and
came back with reindeer milk which had remained frozen for over three
months. Then the coffee was served. The wife bit several pieces of rock
candy from a big lump, to sweeten each cup of coffee, and after putting
in frozen reindeer milk with a spoon, licked it with her tongue--"What
is the use of being particular when one travels," I said to myself. If
one were, he would starve. We had silver spoons, round in shape, with
twisted handles. "These," said the father, "have been in the possession
of our family for nearly two hundred years." I saw different initials
and different dates from the year 1700 down.

After coffee men, women, and the young girls filled their pipes and had
a good smoke. They were very much astonished when I told them I had
never smoked in my life.

"There are two things we Lapps have always with us--coffee and tobacco.
After a hard day's work or a long journey there is nothing so refreshing
as coffee," said Pehr Wasara, smacking his lips at the very thought.

While we were chatting, Pehr was busy cutting reindeer meat and putting
the pieces in a pot hanging over the fire which had been filled with
snow that had melted. When he had finished, he said: "By and by you will
have something to eat." I was prodigiously hungry; travelling over the
snow in a temperature between 35 and 45 degrees below zero, as I had
done for several days, gives one such a good appetite! While waiting for
the meal to be ready, I went outside the tent with my host.

The sight outside was quite as strange as the inside of the tent.
Numerou