A Tour in Lapland
By
Carolus Linnaeus
Translated by
Charles Troilus and J.E. Smith

First published 1811
Published by the Ex-Classics Project, 2021
Public Domain



Frontispiece - Linnaeus in Lapp dress





Title Page

Lachesis Lapponica,
OR A
TOUR IN LAPLAND,
NOW FIRST PUBLISHED
FROM THE
ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL
OF THE CELEBRATED
LINNAEUS;
BY
JAMES EDWARD SMITH, M.D. F.R.S. ETC.
PRESIDENT OF THE LINNAEAN SOCIETY.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
=====================
"Ulterius nihil est, nisi non habitabile frigus."
OVID.
======================
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR WHITE AND COCHRANE, HORACE'S HEAD,
FLEET-STREET,
BY RICHARD TAYLOR AND CO. SHOE-LANE.
======
1811.



DEDICATION.
TO
THOMAS FURLY FORSTER, ESQ.
FELLOW OF THE LINNAEAN SOCIETY.

My dear Sir,

Among the various consultations and communications which have taken
place between us in the course of our long and uninterrupted
friendship, I recollect that one object of your anxious curiosity has
always been the Lachesis Lapponica of Linnaeus, so often alluded to
by himself and his pupils, and the original Swedish manuscript of
which came into my hands with the rest of his collection. Of this I
now present you with an English translation; and I offer it to you
with the more satisfaction, because you are, amongst all my Linnaean
acquaintance, one of the most eapable of entering into every feeling
of the original writer. His love of truth and of nature were not more
ardent than your own, nor was his mental profit more. You, who have
so deeply ,studied the works he prepared for the public, will with no
less pleasure listen with me to his familiar conversation. We here
behold, not the awful preceptor of the learned world in his
professorial chair, but a youthful inexperienced student, full of
ardour and curiosity, such as we ourselves have been, recording his
ideas and observations for his own use, not delivering them forth for
the instruction of others; and while we admire his perseverance and
acuteness, we can sympathize with his embarrassments, and readily
pardon his very inconsiderable mistakes. Happy are those who, like
you, can equally sympathize in his pious and benevolent affections,
his disdain of hypocrisy and oppression, and his never-ceasing desire
to turn his scientific acquisitions to practical utility Be pleased,
my dear Sir, to accept, with your usual favour, this sincere tribute
of respect and esteem, from
Your very faithful friend,
J. E. SMITH.



PREFACE.
BY THE EDITOR.

The biographers of Linnaeus have often mentioned the Journal of his
Lapland Tour, to which he himself has frequently adverted, in various
parts of his voluminous works, under the title of Lachesis Lapponica.
The publication of this Journal has been anxiously desired; and so
valuable was the manuscript considered, that on his whole collection
and library being sold, after the death of his son, it was remarked
that these papers at least ought to have been retained in Sweden, as
a national property; the journey which they record having been
undertaken at the public expense, and the objects illustrated thereby
being, necessarily, more important to the author's countrymen than to
any other people. This remark, however, was not made till long after
the manuscript, with all the treasures which accompanied it, had
escaped, by land and by sea, the pursuit instituted by the Swedish
monarch to recover them, and had reached England in safety. It became 
a duty for their fortunate possessor to render them useful. To place
the authority of this collection, as far as possible, out of the
reach of accident, he has made it his chief object to extend any
information to be derived, from it, not only to his own countrymen,
but to his fellow-labourers in every quarter of the globe. The
Banksian herbarium was, in the course of seven months, compared with
that of Linnaeus throughout, to their mutual advantage, by a copious
interchange, not only of information, but of specimens. Plants or
insects were for many years continually sent from France,
Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Germany, and even Sweden, as well as from
America, for comparison with the authentic originals named by the
hand of Linnaeus. The time and labour devoted to this task have been
richly compensated, by the acquisition of various novelties, and of
much instruction, as well as by the pleasure of so extensive an
intercourse with persons occupied in the same favourite and
delightful pursuit, and by the acknowledgements with which most of
them have overpaid the trouble.

The manuscripts of Linnaeus were no less freely consulted; but great
was our disappointment to find the Lachesis Lapponica written in
Swedish. For a long time therefore it remained unexplored. At length
Mr. Charles Troilius, a young gentleman in the mercantile line,
resident in London, undertook the task of translating it. The
manuscript proved to be the identical journal written on the spot
during the tour, which certainly rendered it the more interesting;
but the difficulty of deciphering it proved from that very
circumstance unexpectedly great. The bulk of the composition is
Swedish, but so intermixed with Latin, even in half sentences, that
the translator, not being much acquainted with this language, found
it necessary to leave frequent blanks, giving a literal version only
of what he was able to read. The whole abounds also with frequent
ciphers and abbreviations, sometimes referring to the publications or
opinions of the day, and intended as memorandums for subsequent
consideration. It is, in short, such a journal as a man would write
for his own use, without the slightest thought of its ever being seen
by any other person. The composition is entirely artless and
unaffected, giving a most amiable idea of the writer's mind and
temper; and it cannot but be considered as highly cu- rious, to
contemplate in these pages the development of such a mind as that of
Linnaeus. As not a word throughout the whole was written for the use
of any person but the author, the reader may perhaps be disappointed
at not meeting with anything  like a professed description of
Lapland, or even a regular detail of the route of the traveller. What
was familiar to Linnaeus, either in books or in his own mind, is
omitted. By the brilliant sketches he has left us in his Flora
Lapponica, published a few years after his return, we see what he
might have written had he here undertaken to communicate his own
knowledge or remarks to others; and the same may be said of such of
his dissertations, in the Amoenitates Academicae, as professedly
treat of subjects belonging to Lapland. The curious and learned
reader will, however, here and there, meet with the first traces of
ideas, opinions or discoveries, which scarcely acquired a shape,
even, in the mind of the writer, till some time afterwards. If on the
one hand the Journal may seem defective in communicating information,
the occasional quotations, references and allusions, the familiar and
sufficiently correct use of the Latin language, and the general
accuracy of the whole, give a very high idea of the author's
accomplishments. The extemporaneous journals of the most illustrious
travellers, made without a single book to refer to, or a companion to
consult, would few of them perhaps stand the test of criticism so
well.

To render the translation fit for the public view, .the editor found
himself under the necessity of writing the whole over; but in doing
this, though often obliged to supply the forms of whole sentences, of
which only hints or ciphers exist in the manuscript, he has been
careful to give as literal a translation of the rest as the materials 
would allow. This principle ever kept in view, and the difficulty of
the undertaking, which, small as the book is, has taken up much of
his time for seven years past, must apologize for any inelegancies of
composition. Yet in many parts the original displays a natural and
striking eloquence, of which the translation may possibly fall short.
Such passages, when they occurred, repaid the labour and perplexity
of studying for hours to decipher some obscure mark, or some ill-
written Swedish or Latin word, which the original translator had
given up in despair.

The sketches with a pen, that occur plentifully in the manuscript,
are not the least curious part of the whole. They are often necessary
to explain descriptive passages in the work, and about sixty of them
have been selected to illustrate the book. These have been cut in
wood, with such admirable precision, that every stroke of the pen,
even the most casual, is retained, and it is but justice to the
artist, Mr. R. t.Austin, to record his name. Several plants, but
rudely sketched in this manuscript, being more completely represented
in the Flora Lapponica, it was thought unnecessary to publish such
figures, except a few, for the sake of curiosity, or of particular
illustration. The notes are entirely supplied by the editor. Every
name or remark that he has added to the text, is scrupulously
inserted between crotchets; nor is there, throughout the whole, any
one passage or word of the original author's so enclosed. The "Brief
Narrative," subjoined to the Journal, having been drawn up by
Linnaeus himself, to lay before the Academy of Sciences at Uppsala,
could not with propriety be omitted. Part of it throws great light on
the body of the work; and though there are some repetitions, there is
little that can be thought superfluous.
Norwich, April, 1811.



UPLAND.
HAVING been appointed by the Royal Academy of Sciences to travel
through Lapland, for the purpose of investigating the three kingdoms
of Nature in that country, I prepared my wearing apparel and other
necessaries for the journey as follows. My clothes consisted of a
light coat of Westgothland linsey-woolsey cloth without folds, lined
with red shalloon, having small cuffs and collar of shag; leather
breeches; a round wig; a green leather cap, and a pair of half boots.
I carried a small leather bag, half an ell in length, but somewhat
less in breadth, furnished on one side with hooks and eyes, so that
it could be opened and shut at pleasure. This bag contained one
shirt; two pair of false sleeves; two half shirts; an inkstand,
pencase, microscope, and spying-glass; a gauze cap to protect me
occasionally from the gnats; a comb; my journal, and a parcel of
paper stitched together for drying plants, both in folio; my
manuscript Ornithology, Flora Uplandica, and Characteres generici. I
wore a hanger at my side, and carried a small fowling-piece, as well
as an octangular stick, graduated for the purpose of measuring. My
pocket-book contained a passport from the the Governor of Uppsala,
and a recommendation from the Academy.

May 12, 1732, old style.

I set out alone from the city of Uppsala on Friday May 12, 1732, at
eleven o'clock, being at that time within half a day of twenty-five
years of age. At this season Nature wore her most cheerful and
delightful aspect, and Flora celebrated her nuptials with Phoebus.

Omnia vere vigent et veris tempore Arent,
Et totus fervet Veneris dulcedine mundus.
Spring clothes the fields and decks the flowery grove,
And all creation glows with life and love.

Now the winter corn was half a foot in height, and the barley had
just shot out its blade. The birch, the elm, and the aspen-tree began
to put forth their leaves. Uppsala is the ancient seat of government.
Its palace was destroyed by fire in 1702. With respect to situation,
and variety of prospects, scarcely any city can be compared with
this. For the distance of a quarter of a Swedish mile it is
surrounded with fertile corn-fields, which are bounded by hills, and
the view is terminated by spacious forests.

I had no sooner passed the northern gate of the city than I perceived
signs of a clay soil, except in the hills, which consist of sand and
stones. The road here is level, and for a quarter of a mile destitute
of trees. In ditches by the way side the Water Byssus was observable
(Byssus flos aquae), particularly in places sheltered from the wind.
It greatly resembles the cream of milk, and is called by the peasants
Watnet blommar, or Water Flower.

A number of mares with their colts were grazing everywhere near the
road. I remarked the great length of the young animals' legs, which
according to common opinion are as long at their birth as they ever
will be; therefore if a measure be taken from the hoof up to the knee
of a young colt, and so on from the knee to the extremity, it will
give the height of the horse when full grown. A similar observation
has been made on the size of the bones in the ear of an infant.

I observed the same kind of moss, or rather Lichenoides terrestre,
daedaleis sinubus, (Lichen nivalis,) which is found on the hill near
the palace at Uppsala.

Geese were now accompanied by their goslings, which are all uniformly
of the same yellow hue when hatched, whatever colour they may acquire
afterwards.

I left old Uppsala on the right, with its three large sepulchral
mounds or tumuli.

The few plants now in flower were Taraxacum (Leontodon taraxacum),
which Tournefort erroneously combines with Pilosella (Hieracium
pilosella,) notwithstanding the reflexed leaves of its calyx; Draba
caule nudo (D. verna), which in Smċland is called Rye Flower, because
as soon as the husbandman sees it in bloom he is accustomed to sow
his Lent corn; Myosotis scorpioides; Viola tricolor and odorata;
Thlaspi arvense; Lithospermum arvense; Cyperoides (probably some
species of Carex); Juncoides (Juncus campestris); Salix (S. caprea?);
Primula veris, as it is called, though neither here nor in other
places the first flower of the spring; Caltha palustris, known by the
name of Swedish Caper, as many people are said to eat it instead of
the true Caper; the report of its giving a colour to butter is
certainly false.

The lark was my companion all the way, flying before me quivering in
the air.

Ecce suum tirile, tirile, suum tirile tractat<1>.

The weather was warm and serene. Now and then a refreshing breeze
sprang up from the west, and a rising cloud was observable in that
quarter.

Okstad (more properly Hogsta) is a mile and a quarter from Uppsala.
Here the forests began to thicken. The charming lark, which had till
now attended my steps, here left me; but another bird welcomed my
approach to the forest, the Redwing, or Turdus iliacus, whose amorous
warblings from the tops of the Spruce Fir were no less delightful.
Its lofty and varied notes rival those of the Nightingale herself.

In the forest innumerable dwarf Firs are to be seen, whose diminutive
height bears no proportion to their thick trunks, their lowermost
branches being on a level with the uppermost, and the leading shoot
entirely wanting.  It seems as if all the branches came from one
centre, like those of a palm, and that the top had been cut off. I
attribute this to the soil, and could not but admire it as the
pruning of Nature. This form of the Fir has been called Pinus
plicata.

Laby is a mile and a quarter further. Here the forest abounds with
the Red Spanish Whortleberry (Arbutus uva-ursi), which was now in
blossom, and of which, as it had not been scientifically described, I
made a description; (see Flora Lapponica; and Engl. Bot. t.714.)

A large and dreary pine-forest next presented itself, in which the
herbaceous plants seemed almost starved, and in their place the soil,
which was hardly two inches deep, all below that depth being pure
barren sand (Arena glarea), bore Heath (Erica), Hypnum parietinum,
and some Lichens of the tribe called coralloides.

Above a quarter of a mile beyond the post-house, near the road, is a
Runic monument; but I did not allow myself time to copy the
inscription, finding it had lately been deciphered by somebody else.

A quarter of a mile further stands a land-mark of a curious
construction, consisting of four flattish upright stones placed in a
square, with a fifth in their centre.

I discovered a large stone of the kind called Ludus helmontii,<2>
and, wishing to break it, I took a smaller stone, which proved to be
of the same kind. My endeavours were vain as to the former; but the
small one broke into many fragments, and proved to contain minute
prismatic crystals, which were quite transparent; some white, others
of a deep yellow.

Before the next post-house, I noticed on the right a little farm, and
on the other side of the way a small ditch used to wash in. Here
stood a plain sloping stone of white granite, in which were three
large dark-grey squares, seeming to have been inlaid by a skilful
stone-cutter. It was evident, however, on examining one end, that
they were continued through the whole substance of the stone.

Opposite to Yfre is a little river, the water of which would at this
time have hardly covered the tops of my shoes, though the banks are
at least five ells in height. This has been occasioned either by the
water continually carrying away the loose sand, or, as I am more
inclined to believe, the quantity of water is less than it has been.

Chrysosplenium (alternifolium) was now in blossom. Tournefort defines
it foliis auriculatis, but erroneously, as the leaves are all
separate and distinct<3>. It has eight stamens, placed in a
quadrangular position, and two pistils. Thus it evidently approaches
nearer to the Saxifragae, as former botanists have justly thought,
than to the campaniformes, or flowers with a monopetalous corolla.

At Yfre, two miles further, I noticed young kids, under whose chins,
at the commencement of the throat, were a pair of tubercles, like
those sometimes seen in pigs, about an inch long, of the thickness of
their mother's nipples, and clothed with a few scattered hairs. Of
their use I an ignorant.

Near the church of Tierp runs a stream, whose bank on the side where
it makes a curvature is very high and steep, owing to timber placed
close to the water. The great power of a current, and the way in
which it undermines the ground, is exceedingly visible at this place.
Hence the strongest earthen ramparts, made with the greatest expense
and labour, are often found insufficient to secure the foundations of
large palaces or churches in some situations. But where timber has
been used, the attacks of water are little to be dreaded. On both
sides of the church were several small sepulchral mounds. It now grew
late, and I hastened to Mehede, two miles and a half further, where I
slept.

May 13.

Here the Yew (Taxus baccata) grows wild. The inhabitants call it Id
or Idegran.

The forest abounded with the Yellow Anemone (Anemone ranunculoides),
which many people consider as differing from that genus. One would
suppose they had never seen an Anemone at all. Here also grew
Hepatica (Anemone hepatica) and Wood Sorrel (Oxalis acetosella).
Their blossoms were all closed. Who has endowed plants with
intelligence, to shut themselves up at the approach of rain? Even
when the weather changes in a moment from sunshine to rain, though
before expanded, they immediately close. Here for the first time this
season I heard the Cuckoo, a welcome harbinger of summer.

Having often been told of the cataract of Elf-Carleby, I thought it
worth while to go a little out of my way to see it; especially as I
could hear it from the road, and saw the vapour of its foam, rising
like the smoke of a chimney. On arriving at the spot, I perceived the
river to be divided into three channels by a huge rock, placed by the
hand of Nature in the middle of its course. The water, in the nearest
of these channels, falls from a height of twelve or fifteen ells<4>,
so that its white foam and spray are thrown as high as two ells into
the air, and the whole at a distance appears like a continual smoke.
On this branch of the cascade stands a saw-mill. The man employed in
it had a pallid countenance, but he did not complain of his situation
so much as I should have expected.

It is impossible to examine the nature of the inaccessible black rock
over which the water precipitates itself. Below this cataract is a
salmon fishery. A square net, made of wicker work, placed at the
height of an ell above the water, is so constructed that the salmon
when once caught cannot afterwards escape. Oak trees grow on the
summits of the surrounding rocks. At first it seems inconceivable how
they should obtain nourishment; but the vapours are collected by the
hills above, and trickle down in streams to their roots. In the
valleys among these hills I picked up shells remarkable for the
acuteness of their spiral points. Here also grew a rare Moss of a
sulphur-green colour.<5>

From hence I hastened to the town of Elf-Carleby, which is divided
into two parts by the large river, whose source is at Lexan in
Dalecarlia. The largest portion of the town stands on the southern
side, and contains numerous shops, occupied only during the fairs
occasionally kept at this place.

I crossed the river by a ferry, where it is about two gun-shots wide.
The ferryman never fails to ask every traveller for his passport, or
license to travel. At first sight this man reminded me of Rudbeck's
Charon, whom he very much resembled, except that he was not so aged.
We passed the small island described by that author as having been
separated from the mainland in the reign of king John III. It is now
at a considerable distance from the shore, the force of the current
rendering the intermediate channel, as Rudbeck observes, every year
wider. The base of the island is a rock. Only one tree was now to be
seen upon it.

The northern bank of the river is nearly perpendicular. I wondered to
see it so neat and even, which may probably be owing to a mixture of
clay in the sand; or perhaps it may have been smoothed by art.
Horizontal lines marked the yearly progress of the water. The sun
shone upon us this morning, but was soon followed by rain.

Elf-Carleby is two miles and a half further. On its north side are
several sepulchral mounds.

Here for the first time I beheld, what at least I had never before
met with in our northern regions, the Pulsatilla apii folio (Anemone
vernalis), the leaves of which, furnished with long footstalks, had
two pair of leaflets besides the terminal one, every one of them cut
half way into four, six or eight segments. The calyx, if I may be
allowed so to call it, was placed about the middle of the stalk, and
was cut into numerous very narrow divisions, smooth within, very
hairy without. Petals six, oblong; the outermost excessively hairy
and purplish; the innermost more purple and less hairy; all of them
white on the inside, with purple veins. Stamens numerous and very
short. Pistils cohering in a cylindrical form, longer than the
stamens, and about half as long as the petals.

We had variable weather, with alternate rain and sunshine.

A mile from Elf-Carleby are iron works called Harnas. The ore is
partly brought from Danemora in Roslagen, partly from Engsio in
Sodermanland. These works were burnt down by the Russians, but have
since been repaired.

Here runs the river which divides the provinces of Uppland and
Gastrikland. The soil hereabouts is for the most part clayey. In the
forests it is composed of sand (Arena mobilis and A. glarea). The
post-houses or inns are dreadfully bad. Very few hills or lakes are
to be met with in Uppland. When I had passed the limits of these
provinces, I observed a few oak trees only in the district of
Medelpad.



GASTRIKLAND.
The forests became more and more hilly and stony, and abounded with
the different species of Winter-green (Pyrolae).

All along the road the stones were in general of a white and dark-
coloured granite.

I noticed great abundance of the Rose Willow (Salix helix), which had
lost all its leaves of the preceding season, except such as composed
rosaceous excrescences at the summits of its branches, and which
looked like the calyx of the Carthamus (Safflower), only their colour
was gone

Near Gefle stands a Runic monumental stone, rather more legible than
usual, and on that account more taken care of. I noticed a kind of
stage to dry corn and peas on, formed of perpendicular posts with
transverse beams. It was eight ells in height. Such are used
throughout the northern provinces, as Halsingland, Medelpad,
Angermanland, and Westbothland.

May 14.

I left Gefle after divine service, having previously obtained a
proper passport from the governor of the province and his secretary.
I was well received and entertained by the Comptroller of the
Customs, Lonbom.

At this town is the last apothecary's shop and the last physician in
the province, neither the one nor the other being to be met with in
any place further north. The river is navigable through the town. The
surrounding country abounds with large red stones.

At the distance of three quarters of a mile stands Hille church. Here
begins a chain or ridge of hills extending to the next post-house,
three quarters of a mile further, and separating two lakes. On its
summit, a quarter of a mile from Gefle, a number of different
sepulchral mounds are observable, composed of stones.

The Fir trees here all appeared tall and slender, and were laden with
cones of three different stages of growth; some a year old, not
larger than large peas, and of a globular figure; others two years
old, ovate and pointed; and the remainder ripe, with their scales
open and reflexed, having been four years on the tree.

In the marshes on the left the note of the Snipe (Scolopax gallinago)
was heard continually. At the distance of a quarter of a mile before
we come to Troye, on the right, are the mineral springs of Hille.

Troye post-house, which Professor Rudbeck the elder used to call
Troy, is surrounded by a smooth hill.

The road from hence lay across a marsh called by the people the walls
of Troy, a quarter of a mile in extent, destitute of large trees. The
Sweet Gale (Myrica gale), laden with catkins about its upper
branches, was abundant everywhere, as well as the Dwarf Birch (Betula
nana). These form a sort of low alley through which the road leads.
This Betula had also catkins upon it, which are sessile and erect,
not pendulous as in the Common Birch, about half an inch long and as
thick as a goose-quill, situated about the lower part of the
branches. The female catkins are more slender than the male, erect,
and sessile upon the upper branches. Their scales ovate and almost
leafy, green, pointed, three-cleft, with three pair of purplish
pistils. Here and there grew the Marsh Violet (Viola palustris), with
its pale grey flowers, marked with five or seven black forked lines
on the lower lip.

In the forest on the other side of this marsh were many kinds of
Club-moss (Lycopodium clavatum, Selago, alpinum, and complanatum).

A quantity of large stones lay by the road side, which the governor
of the province had caused to be dug up in order to mend the high-
way. They looked like a mass of ruins, and were clothed with
Campanula serpyllifolia (the plant afterwards called Linnaea
borealis), whose trailing shoots and verdant leaves were interwoven
with those of the Ivy (Hedera helix.)

On the right is the lake Hamrange Fjarden, which adds greatly to the
beauty of the road.

The morning of this day was bright, but the afternoon was diversified
with sunshine and rain, like the preceding. The wind however changed
from north to south.

On the mountainous ridge at Hille, above described, I remarked on the
ends of the Juniper-branches a kind of bud or excrescence, consisting
of three leaves, longer than when in their natural state, and three
or four times as broad, which cohered together except at their tips.
They enveloped three smaller leaves, of a yellow hue, in the centre
of which lodged either a maggot or a whitish chrysalis. (This
produces the Tipula juniperi. See Fauna Suecica 438, and Fl. Suec.
360).

I arrived at Hamfange Post-house during the night.

The people here talked much of an extraordinary kind of tree, growing
near the road, which many persons had visited, but none could find
out what it was. Some said it was an apple tree which had been cursed
by a beggar-woman, who one day having gathered an apple from it, and
being on that account seized by the proprietor of the tree, declared
that the tree should never bear fruit any more.

May 15.

Next morning I arose with the sun in order to examine this wonderful
tree, which was pointed out to me from a distance. It proved nothing
more than a common Elm. Hence however we learn that the Elm is not a
common tree in this part of the country.

I observed that in these forests plants of the natural family of
bicornes (with two-horned antheras) predominated over all others, so
that the Heath, Erica, in the woods, and Andromeda,<6> in the
marshes, were more abundant than anything  else. Indeed we meet with
few other plants than Vaccinium myrtillus and Vitis idaea, Arbutus
uva-ursi, Ledum palustre, &c. The same may be said of the upper part
of Lapland.

The spiders had now spread their curious mathematical webs over the
pales and fences, and they were rendered conspicuous by the moisture
with which the fog had besprinkled them. The Red-wing (Turdus
iliacus), the Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), the Black Grouse (Tetrao
tetrix), and the Mountain Finch (Fringilla montifringilla), with
their various notes made a concert in the forest, to which the lowing
herds of cattle under the shade of the trees formed a base. The
weather this morning was delightfully pleasant.

Lichen islandicus grows abundantly in this forest.

After travelling about a mile and half from Hamrange I arrived at the
river Tonna, which divides Gastrikland from Halsingland, and empties
itself into the bay of Tonna. The abovementioned lake, called by the
inhabitants Hamrange Fjarden, extends almost to the sea. I was told
it did actually communicate with the ocean. At least there is a ditch
in the mountain itself, whether the work of art or nature is
uncertain, called the North Sound, hardly wide enough to admit a boat
to pass. This is dammed up as soon as the hot weather in summer sets
in, to prevent the lake losing too much water by that channel, as the
iron from several founderies is conveyed by the navigation through
this lake.



HALSINGLAND.
I HAD scarcely travelled a quarter of a mile beyond the river when I
observed a red earth close to the road, which promises to be very
useful in painting, if it should prove sufficiently plentiful, and
capable of being cleansed from its impurities. The people at the next
post-house informed me that the same earth, but of a much better
quality, was found in the parish of Norrbo.

The Common and Spruce Firs (Pinus sylvestris and P. abies) grow here
to a very large size. The inhabitants had stripped almost every tree
of its bark.

A number of small white bodies were hanging on the plants of Ling
(Erica), of a globular form, but cut off, as it were, though not
open, on the lower side, each about the size of a Bilberry (Vaccinium
myrtillus), and consisting of a thin white silky membrane. A small
white insect was lodged within. There were also affixed to some
plants ovate white bodies of a silky texture, apparently formed of
innumerable silky threads. These contained each a small insect.

A little further on I observed close to the road a rather lofty stone
containing in its substance large fragments of mica.

At last to my great satisfaction I found myself at the great river
Liusnan. From this part of the forest to the sea the distance is
three miles. Here and there in the woods lay blood-red stones, or
rather stones which appeared to have been partially stained with
blood. On rubbing them I found the red colour merely external, and
perfectly distinct from the stone itself. It was in fact a red Byssus
(B. jolithus).

Many sepulchral mounds are in this neighbourhood.

Not far from Norrala, situated about a mile from the last post-house,
the water in the ditches deposits a thick sediment of ochre.

Several pair of semicircular baskets made of wicker work were placed
in the water, intended principally to catch Bream (Cyprinus branca).
Here I observed the Lumme, or Black-throated Diver (Colymbus
arcticus), which uttered a melancholy note, especially in diving.

From Norrala I proceeded to Enanger, through a heavy fog, as it had
rained violently while I rested at the former place. Towards evening
it thundered and lightened. In the course of this whole day's journey
I observed a great variety in the face of the country as well as in
the soil. Here are mountains, hills, marshes, lakes, forests, clay,
sand, and pebbles.

Cultivated fields indeed are rare. The greater part of the country
consists of uninhabitable mountainous tracts. In the valleys only are
to be seen small dwellinghouses, to each of which adjoins a little
field. Even in these there is no great proportion of fertile land,
the principal part being marshy.

The people seemed somewhat larger in stature than in other places,
especially the men. I inquired whether the children are kept longer
at the breast than is usual with us, and was answered in the
affirmative. They are allowed that nourishment more than twice as
long as in other places. I have a notion that Adam and Eve were
giants, and that mankind from one generation to another, owing to
poverty and other causes, have diminished in size. Hence perhaps the
diminutive stature of the Laplanders<7>.

Brandy is not always to be had here. The people are humane and
civilized. Their houses are handsome externally, as well as neat and
comfortable within; in which respects they have the advantage of most
other places.

The old tradition, that the inhabitants of Halsingland never have the
ague, is without foundation. In every parish where I made the inquiry
I found many persons who had had that disorder, which appears to be
not unfrequent among them. Here were plenty of Mountain Finches
(Fringilla montifringilla); but, what is remarkable, they were all
males, known by the orange-coloured spot on the breast.

May 16.

Between Eksund post-house and Spange is the capital iron forge of
Eksund, which has two hammers and one blast furnace. The sons of
Vulcan were working in their shirts, and seemed masters of their
business. The ore used here is of three or four kinds. First, from
Dannemora; second, from Soderom; third, from Grusone, which contains
beautiful cubical pyrites; fourth, a black ore from the parish of
Arbro, which lies at the bottom of the sea, but in stormy weather is
thrown upon the shore. At this place, as well as further north in the
same district, a kind of bluish stone<8> is used for building the
tunnels or chimneys, which is considered as more compact and better
able to resist heat than Lapis molaris or Pipsten (Cos molaris?). The
limestone placed between the other stones was procured from the sea
shore, and abounded with petrified corals.

Granite, I believe of all the different kinds existing in the world,
abounds everywhere in the forests.

In every river a wheel is placed, contrived to lift up a hammer for
the purpose of bruising flax. When it is not wanted, a trap door is
raised, to turn the stream aside.



Several butterflies were to be seen in the forest, as the common
black, and the large black and white. Here I noticed Lichenoides
terrestre scutatum albicans, (Lichen arcticus), which has larger
fructification than the common L. caninus, with which it agrees in
other respects, except colour. (See Linnaeus's opinion respecting
this Lichen, in which however he is certainly mistaken, in Fl.
Lapponica n.442.)

By the road side between Nieutwnger and Bringstad, a violet-coloured
clay, used in building bridges, is here and there to be met with.

On a wall at Iggsund I found a nondescript hemipterous insect. (What
this was cannot now be ascertained.)

Between the post-house of Iggsund and Hudwiksvall the abovementioned
violet-coloured clay is found in abundance, forming a regular
stratum. I observed it likewise in a hill near the water which was
nine ells in height.

The strata of this hill consisted of two or three fingers' breadths
of common vegetable mould; then from four to six inches of barren
sand (Arena Glarea), next about a span of the violet clay; and lastly
barren sand. The clay contained small and delicately smooth white
bivalve shells; quite entire, as well as some larger brown ones, of
which great quantities are to be found near the water side. I am
therefore convinced that all these valleys and marshes have formerly
been under waters and that the highest hills only then rose above it.
At this spot grows the Anemone hepatica with a purple flower; a
variety so very rare in other places, that I should almost be of the
opinion of the gardeners, who believe the colours of particular
earths may be communicated to flowers.

I observed that the mountains, after the trees and plants had been
burnt upon them, were quite barren, nothing but stones remaining.

The produce of the arable land here being but scanty, the inhabitants
mix herbs with their corn, and form it into cakes two feet broad, but
only a line<9> in thickness, by which means the taste of the herbs is
rendered less perceptible.

Hudvikswall is a little town situated between a small lake and the
sea. Near this place the Arctic Bramble (Rubus arcticus) was
beginning to shoot forth, while Lychnis dioica and Arabis thaliana
were in flower.

The larger fields here are sown with flax, which is performed every
third year. The soil is turned up by a plough, and the seed sown on
the furrow; after which the ground is harrowed. The linen manufactory
furnishes the principal occupation of the inhabitants of this
country.

Towards evening I reached Bringstad. The weather was fine, it having
rained but once in the course of the day.

May 17.

Continuing my journey at sunrise, I saw some sepulchral mounds near
the church of Jattedahl. As soon as I had passed the forest, I
overtook seven Laplanders driving their reindeer, which were about
sixty or seventy in number followed by their young ones. Most of the
herd had lost their horns, and new ones were sprouting forth. I asked
the drivers what could have brought them so far down into the
country. They replied that they were born here near the sea coast,
and intended to end their lives here. They spoke good Swedish.

Near the post-house at Gnarp, to the westward, grows a birch tree,
with more than fifty or sixty of those singularly matted and twisted
branches which this tree sometimes produces.



MEDELPAD.
BETWEEN Gnarp and the post-house of Dingersjo stands the boundary
mark between Halsingland and Medelpad or Medelpadia, consisting of
two posts, one on each side the road. Here I began to perceive the
common Ling, Erica, to grow more scarce, its place being supplied by
a greater quantity of the Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus). Birch trees
became more abundant as I advanced. On the left of the road are large
mountains of granite. At the foot of those rocks the whole country
was covered with stones, about twice as large as a man's fist, of a
greyish green colour, lying in heaps, and covered with a fine coating
of moss, seeming never to have been disturbed.

I had scarcely passed the limits of Halsingland, when I perceived a
brace of Ptarmigans (Tetrao lagopus) in the road, but could not get
near enough to fire at them. Viewed through my spying-glass, they
appeared for the most part of a reddish cast, but the wing feathers
were snow-white.

Close by the post-house of Dingersjo grew the large Yellow Aconite
(Aconitum lycoctonum), called by the peasants Giske or Gisk. All over
the country through which I passed this day, it is as common as heath
or ling. Not being eaten by any kind of cattle, it grows luxuriantly,
and increases abundantly, in proportion as other herbs are devoured.
Thus Nature teaches the brute creation to distinguish, without a
preceptor, what is useful from what is hurtful, while man is left to
his own inquiries.

To the north of Dingersjo, on the right hand of the road, stands a
considerable mountain called Nyaeckers-berg, the south side of which
is very steep. The inhabitants had planted hop-grounds under it. As
the hop does not in general thrive well hereabouts, they designed
that this mountain should serve as a wall for the plants to run upon.
They were not disappointed as to the success of their plantations;
for the hops were very thriving, being sheltered from the cold north
wind, and at the same time exposed to the heat of the sun, whose rays
are concentrated in this spot as in a focus.

At the distance of a quarter of a mile from the post-house, on the
left, stands the highest mountain in Medelpad, according to the
inhabitants, which is called Norby Kullen, or more properly Norby
Knylen. It is indeed of a very considerable height; and being
desirous of examining it more minutely, I travelled to Norby, where I
tied my horse to an ancient runic monumental stone, and, accompanied
by a guide, climbed the mountain on its left side Here were many
uncommon plants, as Fumaria bulbosa minima, Campanula serpyllifolia
(Linnaea borealis), Adoxa moschatellina, &c., all in greater
perfection than ever I saw them before. I found also a small rare
moss which I should call Sphagnum ramosum, capsulis globosis,
petiolis (pedicellis) longis erectis, if it may be presumed a
Sphagnum, as I saw no calyptra. The little heads or capsules were
exactly spherical<10>. After much difficulty and fatigue, we reached
the summit of the mountain to the westward. Here the country-people
kept watch during the war with the Russians, and were obliged to
attend twice a day, as this place commands an extensive sea view.
They had collected a great quantity of wood, on which stood a pole,
with a tar-barrel placed transversely on its top. This was to be set
on fire at the landing or approach of the enemy, being conspicuous
for many miles around.

I brought away with me a stone, which seemed of a very compound kind.
Every sort of moss grows on this mountain, that can be found any
where in the neighbouring country. The trees towards the upper part
were small, but some of considerable dimensions grew about the sides
of the hill.

When at the summit, we looked down on the country beneath, varied
with plains and cultivated fields, villages, lakes, rivers, &c. We
saw the appearance of a smoke between us and the lower part of the
mountain, which was not perceptible as we descended, being a slight
mist or exhalation from the ground. The dung of the hare was
observable all over the very highest part of the hill; a certain
proof of that animal's frequenting even these lofty regions.

We endeavoured to descend on the south side, which was the steepest,
and where rocks were piled on rocks. We were often obliged to sit
down, and in that position to slide for a considerable way. Had we
then met with a loose fragment of rock, or a precipice, our lives had
been lost. About the middle of this side of the mountain, an Eagle
Owl (Strix Bubo) started up suddenly before us. It was as large as a
hen, and the colour of a woodcock, with black feathery ears or horns,
and black lines about the bill. I wished for my gun, which I had
left, finding it too troublesome to carry up the hill. Immediately
afterwards we perceived a little plat of grass, fronting the south,
and guarded, as it were, with rocky walls on the east and west, so
that no wind but from the south could reach it. Here were three young
birds and a spotted egg.<11> Of these birds one was as large as two
fists, healthy and brisk, clothed all over with very soft long
whitish feathers like wool. This we took away with us to the house.
The other two were but half as large. The egg fell to pieces as I
took it up, and contained only a small quantity of a thin watery
fluid, the abominable smell of which I shall not venture to describe,
lest I should excite as much disgust in my readers as in myself. I
believe the two smaller birds were the offspring of the Eagle Owl.
Close to the nest lay a few small bones, of what animal I am
ignorant. These birds were all quite full fed. Near them was a large
dead rat, of which the under side was already putrefied and full of
maggots. I verily believe that these young birds cannot digest flesh,
but are obliged to wait till it decays and affords them maggots and
vermin. Their bills and cere were black. The egg was almost globular,
white, the size of that of a guinea-hen.

Here and there among the rocks small patches of vegetation were to be
seen, full of variety of herbaceous plants, among others the Heart's
Ease, Viola tricolor,<12> of which some of the flowers were white;
others blue and white; others with the  upper petals blue and yellow,
the lateral and lower ones blue; while others again had a mixture of
yellow in the side petals. All these were found within a foot of each
other; sometimes even on the same stalk different colours were
observable: a plain proof that such diversities do not constitute a
specific distinction, and that the action of the sun may probably
cause them all. There could scarcely be a more favourable place for
vegetation than this, exposed to the sun, sheltered from the cold,
and moderately watered by little rills which trickled down the
mountain.

Leaving this mountain, and proceeding further on my journey, I
observed by the road a large reddish stone, full of glittering
portions of talc. The greater part of my way lay near the sea shore,
which was bespread with the wrecks of vessels. How many prayers,
sighs and tears, vows and lamentations, all alas in vain! arose to my
imagination at this melancholy spectacle! It brought to my mind the
student,<13> who in going by sea from Stockholm to Turku had
experienced so severely the terrors of the deep, that he rather chose
to walk back to Stockholm through Osterbotten, Tornio, Vasterbotten,
&c., than trust himself again to so cruel and treacherous a deity as
Neptune.

Towards evening, I reached Sundswall, a town situated in a small spot
between two high hills. On one side is the sea, into which a river
discharges itself at this place. About sunset I came to Finstad, but
continued my route the same evening to Fejahl, where I was obliged to
pass a river by two separate ferries, the stream being divided by an
island.

May 18.

Being Ascension Day, I spent it at this place, partly on account of
the holiday, partly to rest my weary limbs and recruit my strength.
The country bears a great resemblance to Halsingland, but is rather a
more pleasant residence. I took a walk about the neighbourhood to
amuse myself with the beauties of Flora, which were here but in their
earliest spring. I found an aquatic Violet with a white flower, which
very much resembled the large wild Violet (Viola canina), of which I
should have taken it for a variety had I not compared them together.
It always grows near the water. The odd petal, or lip, is always more
or less of a bluish colour; the rest whitish, generally indeed quite
white.<14> Close to this grew the little Marsh Violet, mentioned some
time since, (V. palustris) but here it was remarkable for a purplish
tinge; (V. palustris b Fl. Brit.?)

This evening it rained very hard.

May 19.

On the following morning I arose with the sun, and took leave of
Fjahl. Having proceeded about a quarter of a mile, I came within
sight of the next church, called Hasjo. Here I turned to the left out
of the main road, to examine a hill where copper ore was said to be
found. The stones indeed had a glittering appearance, like copper
ore; but the pyrites to which that was owing were of a yellowish
white, a certain indication of their containing chiefly iron. Some
stones of a blackish colour lay about this hill, decomposed by the
action of the air. An opening not more than six feet in breadth, and
as much in depth, was the only examination that had as yet been made
into this mine. The mountain is named Balingsberget.

Not far distant, close to the church on the north-east, a huge stone
is to be seen. The credulous vulgar relate that, when the church was
building, some malignant beings of gigantic size were desirous of
knocking it down, but the stones thrown for that purpose fell short
of the sacred spot. As a confirmation of this history, they show the
evident marks of four huge fingers and a thumb on the upper side of
the stone.

In approaching the next large mountain, called Brunaesberget, I
turned towards the left, and found a cave, formed by Nature in the
mountain itself, resembling an artificial dwelling. The sides, end
and roof were all of stone. The front was open, but much narrower and
lower than the inside, which was so lofty that I could not reach the
roof. The entrance was concealed on the outside by two large trees, a
fir and a birch, and the descent was pretty steep. On the floor lay
some burnt stumps of trees. The neighbouring people informed me that
a criminal had concealed himself for two years in this cavern, its
situation being so retired, and the approach from the road so well
fortified by stones piled on stones, that he remained entirely
undiscovered.

On the roof and sides of this cave, near the entrance, the stones
were clothed with a fungous substance, like a sponge in texture,
without any regular form; or rather like the internal medullary part
of the Agaric of the Birch, when dressed for making tinder. It
appeared to me quite distinct from all plants hitherto described.
(This is the Byssus cryptarum; Linn. Fl. Lapp. n.527, and Fl. Suec.
n.1181. Succeeding travellers have gathered it here.)

Everywhere near the road lay spar full of talc, or Muscovy glass,
glittering in the sun.

Now we take leave of Medelpad and its sandy roads, as well as its
Yellow Aconite (Aconitum lycoctonum), both which it affords in common
with Halsingland.



ANGERMANLAND.
ABOUT a quarter of a mile from the next post-house is a small bridge,
over a rivulet which joins two little lakes. This water separates
Medelpad from Angermanland. We no sooner enter this district, than we
meet with lofty and very steep hills, scarcely to be descended with
safety on horseback.

Very near Hernosand, in the territories of the bishopric, I picked up
a number of Chrysomelas of a bluish green and gold. (These were the
beautiful Chrysomela graminis. See Faun. Suec. n.509.) The city of
Hernosand is situated about half or three quarters of a mile within
the borders of the province, standing on an island, accessible to
ships on every side, except at Vaerbryggan, where they can scarcely
pass.

In the heart of the Angermanlandn forests trees with deciduous
leaves, Betula alba and the hoary-leaved Alder (Betula incana),
abound equally with the Common and Spruce Firs (Pinus sylvestris and
abies), while among the humble shrubs the Heath (Erica) and the
Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) alternately predominate; the former
chiefly on the hills, the latter in the closer parts of the forest.

These hills might with great advantage be cleared of their wood; for
here is a good soil remaining wherever the trees are burnt down, not
barren stones as in Halsingland and Medelpad. The valleys between the
mountains, as in those countries, are cultivated with corn, or laid
out in meadows, but here are spacious plains besides.

Every house has near it one of those stages already described, on
which the rye, less plentiful here than barley, is laid to dry, as
are the peas likewise.

The woods abound with matted branches of the birch, I know not from
what cause. Between Norsby and Veda, on the hill towards Mortsion, I
had a very extensive view of the surrounding country; which presented
itself like clouds of dense vapour rising one above another. The
mountains looked quite blue from the fog which rose from them; and
this vapour gave them the appearance of having each a more lofty
summit than the hill before it. This was the case in every part of
the prospect.

Veda is situated near the great river of Angermanland, which takes
its name from the country (Angermanna Elfven), and is half a Swedish
mile in breadth near its mouth. The water is entirely salt, this
being more properly an arm of the sea than a river.

I crossed this water, and, on approaching the opposite shore,
observed all along the coast a remarkable line of white froth, an ell
broad, carried along with the stream. On inquiring the cause of this,
my companions in the boat replied, they knew of no other than that
this line was the course of the current of the river.

Near the road, every here and there, were nets for catching fish.
These were not painted black, but coloured red by boiling large
pieces of the inner bark of the birch. When this liquor begins to
cool, the nets are immersed in it.

May 20.

In some places the cows were without horns; a mere variety of the
common kind, and not a distinct species. Nor have they been
originally formed thus; for though in them the most essential
character of their genus is, as to external appearance, wanting,
still rudiments of horns are to be found under the skin. A contrary
variety is observable, in Skċne and other places, in the ram, which
has sometimes four, six or eight horns, that part growing luxuriant
to excess, like double flowers.

The forests chiefly consist of the Hoary-leaved Alder. Birch trees
here also bear abundance of matted branches. To whatever side I cast
my eyes, nothing but lofty mountains were to be seen. Not far from
Aessja the little Strawberry-leaved Bramble (Rubus arcticus) was in
full bloom. The cold weather, however, had rendered the purple of its
blossoms paler than usual. I cannot help thinking that it might more
properly and specifically be called Rubus humilis, folio fragariae,
flore rubro, than fructu rubro. It likewise seems to me, that this
plant exactly agrees in structure with the Rubus folio ribes alpinus
anglicus of authors, which I must compare with it the first
opportunity.<15>

A quarter of a mile further is Doggsta, on the other side of which,
close to the road, stands a tremendously steep and lofty mountain,
called Skulaberget, (the mountain of Skula,<16>) in which I was
informed there was a remarkable cavern. This I wished to explore, but
the people told me it was impossible. With much difficulty I
prevailed on two men to show me the way. We climbed the rocks,
creeping on our hands and knees, and often slipping back again; we
had no sooner advanced a little, than all our labour was lost by a
retrograde motion. Sometimes we caught hold of bushes, sometimes of
small projecting stones. Had they failed us, which was very likely to
have been the case, our lives, might have paid for it. I was
following one of the men in climbing a steep rock; but seeing the
other had better success, I endeavoured to overtake him. I had but
just left my former situation, when a large mass of rock broke loose
from a spot which my late guide had just passed, and fell exactly
where I had been, with such force that it struck fire as it went. If
I had not providentially changed my route, nobody would ever have
heard of me more. Shortly afterwards another fragment came tumbling
down. I am not sure that the man did not roll it down on purpose. At
length, quite spent with toil, we reached the object of our pursuit,
which is a cavity in the middle of the mountain. I expected to have
seen something to repay my curiosity, but found a mere cavern, formed
like a circle or arch, fourteen Parisian feet high, eighteen broad,
and twenty-two long. The stones that compose it are of a very hard
kind of quartz or spar, yet the sides of the cavern are in many
places as even as if they had been cut artificially. Several
different strata are distinguishable, particularly in the roof, which
is concave like an arch. In that part a hole appears, intended, as I
was told, for a chimney. Whether it is pervious to any extent, I know
not. Some convulsion of the mountain seems to have shivered the rock
in longitudinal fissures. All the shivers of stone, many of which lie
on the floor, are quadrangular, and of a considerable size. I am
fully persuaded of this grotto having been formed by the hand of
Nature, and that art had afterwards merely cleared away the fragments
of stone. The entrance is sufficiently large to afford a full view of
the inside, occupying an eighth part of the whole. Drops of water
trickle down from the roof near one of the sides. Some species of
Polypodium, the Asplenium trichomanes, and other ferns, grow on the
adjacent parts of the mountain. Before the orifice of this cavern
grew a Sallow tree, which when King Charles XI. passed this way was
cut down, and, having grown up again, was a second time felled by the
inhabitants.<17>

Having taken leave of this mountain, I had scarcely continued my
journey a quarter of a mile before I found a great part of the
country covered with snow, in patches some inches deep. The pretty
spring flowers had gradually disappeared. The buds of the birch,
which so greatly contribute to the beauty of the forests, were not
yet put forth. I saw nothing but wintry plants, the heath and the
whortleberry, peeping through the snow. The high mountains which
surround this tract, and screen it from the genial southern and
western breezes, added to the thick forests which will hardly allow
the first mild showers of spring to reach the ground, may account for
the long duration of the snow.

This part of the country is very mountainous, and is watered by many
small rills, originating on the sides of the mountains from the
copious rains falling upon them, and running from thence, by various
channels, to swell the streams of Halsingland and Medelpad. The
cornfields afford a crop two years successively, and lie fallow the
third. Rye is seldom or never sown here, being too slow in coming to
perfection, so that the land, which must next receive the Barley,
would be too much exhausted. The ploughs are made with two transverse
beams on one side, that the sods may be turned the first time the
land is ploughed, as will presently be more particularly explained.

May 21.

After going to church at Natra, I remarked some cornfields, which the
curate of that place had caused to be cultivated in a manner that
appeared extraordinary to me. After the field has lain fallow three
or four years, it is sown with one part rye and two parts barley,
mixed together. The seed is committed to the ground in spring, as
soon as the earth is capable of tillage. The barley grows rank,
ripens its ears, and is reaped. The rye in the mean while goes into
leaf, but shoots up no stem, as the barley smothers it and retards
its growth. After the latter is reaped, the rye advances in growth,
and ripens the year following, without any further cultivation, the
crop being very abundant. The corn so produced is called Kappsad.

Today I met with no flowers, except the Wood Sorrel (Oxalis
acetosella), which is here the primula, or first flower of the
spring. The Convallaria bifolia and Strawberry-leaved Bramble (Rubus
arcticus) were plentifully in leaf.

The rocks are generally of a whitish hue, the uppermost side indeed
being rather darker from the injuries of the air, and the minute
mosses that clothe it.

The inhabitants make the same kind of broad cakes of bread, which
have already been described. The flour used for this purpose commonly
consists of one part barley and three of chaff. When they wish to
have it very good, and the country is rich in barley, they add but
two portions of chaff to one of corn.<18> The cakes are not suffered
to remain long in the oven, but require to be turned once. Only one
is baked at a time, and the fire is swept towards the sides of the
oven with a large bunch of cock's feathers.

In summer the people eat Segmiolk (Thick Milk), prepared in the
following manner: After the milk is turned, and the curd taken out,
the whey is put into a vessel, where it remains till it becomes sour.
Immediately after the making of cheese, fresh whey is poured lukewarm
on the former sour whey. This is repeated several times, care being
always taken that the fresh whey be lukewarm. Finally they let the
mixture remain for some time, the longer the better, and it becomes
at length so glutinous, that it may be drawn out from one side of the
house to the other. Even if a vessel be filled with it and set by in
the cellar, as is usually practised for winter provision, care must
be taken that not the least drop may run out, otherwise the whole
would escape, so great is the cohesion of its particles.

This prepared milk is esteemed a great dainty by the country people.
They consider it as very cooling and refreshing. Sometimes it is
eaten along with fresh milk. In taking it from the dish, it cannot be
poured out, as it all runs back again if not cut with a knife, or, as
is more usual, parted by holding the finger against the edge of the
spoon.

Intermittent fevers would not be so rare here as they are, if they
could be produced by acid diet, for then this food must infallibly
occasion them.

A small quantity of this preparation is sometimes put into the barley
cakes, in order to give them tenacity.

I had here abundant opportunities of examining a fish, not everywhere
to be met with, called the Harr, (Salmo Thymallus, or Grayling,)
which in appearance very much resembles a Salmon. (See Fauna Suecica,
ed. 2. 125.)

The coverlets of the beds at this place are made of hare-skins.

May 22.

The cows in this neighbourhood have no horns, so that the owners can
neither by the rings on the horn ascertain how many calves the cow
has had, nor, as is usual with respect to goats, determine the age of
the animal every year by the new horns. A few of them indeed bore
horns of a finger's length only, and those bent down, immediately
from their origin, so close to the hide, that they were hardly
visible above the hair.

Apple trees grow between Veda and Hornoen, but none are to be seen
further north. No kind of Willow is to be met with, as I was
informed, throughout Angermanland. The Hazel is not to be found here.
Cherries do not always ripen, but Potatoes thrive very well. Tobacco
and Hops both grow slowly, and are of rare occurrence.

In the road I saw a Cuckoo fed by a Motacilla (Water Wagtail?). I am
sure of the fact, and that there was no deception in the case.

In the forest previous to my arrival at Ouske, I picked up a striated
stone, from a small cleft in the rock, which had the appearance of
imperfect cinnabar.

Ochre was here very abundant in the marshes, and had a coat which
tinged the fingers with a silvery hue; a sign of iron, but not of any
mineral water.

Stellaria with oblong leaves (Callitriche autumnalis) grew in the
surrounding puddles. Those botanists are much mistaken who
distinguish this from the kind with oval leaves (Callitriche verna),
for they only differ in age. The lower leaves of the preceding year,
of an ovate form, still remained under water quite fresh, bearing
ripe seeds in their axillae.

The stones hereabouts are of a light grey colour, with large white
spots.

Near the coast was a quicksand, caused here, as in Skċne, by the fine
light sand of the soil being taken up by the wind into the air, and
then spread about upon the grass, which it destroys.

The road in several parts lies close to the sea shore.

May 23.

After having spent the night at Normaling, I took a walk to examine
the neighbourhood, and met with a mineral spring, already observed by 
Mr. Peter Artedi<19>, at this his native place. It appeared to
contain a great quantity of ochre, but seemed by the taste too
astringent to be wholesome. It is situated near the coast to the
west, on the south of the church, and at no great distance from it.

I observed on the adjacent shore that an additional quantity of sand
is thrown up every year by the sea, which thus makes a rampart
against its own encroachments, continually adding by little and
little to the continent.

A mile, or rather more, from the land, is an island named Bonden,
where the bird called Tordmule (Alca Torda) lays its eggs every year.
These are collected every season by the peasants, who assured me that
the bird never lays above one egg in a year, except that egg be taken
away, and then she will repeatedly lay more. It seems to me a very
curious circumstance, and scarcely possible, that the increase of the
species every year should be naturally not more than one. Some
persons indeed told me these birds laid two eggs. It is certain that
the size of the egg is very large compared with the body of the
parent. I only saw some fragments of this bird, but am pretty certain
of its being the Anas arctica (Alca torda).

In proportion as I approached Westbothland, the height of the
mountains, the quantity of large stones, and the extent of the
forests, gradually decreased. Fir trees, which of late had been of
rare occurrence, became more abundant. Above a mile before we come to
Sormjole, is a river called Angeraen, separating Angermanland from
Westbothland.

The peasants hereabouts use the following implements, for breaking up
the ground of their fallow fields.




No. 1 is a plough drawn by a horse. b, b, is a strong thick-backed
knife, placed in the middle of the plough, and serving to cut
straight lines through the grassy turf, which in the course of five
or six years has accumulated on the soil.



No. 2 is used immediately afterwards, to cut the clods of turf from
their base and turn them up. Of this a is the handle, as in No. 1,
held by the ploughman's right hand; b the main beam of the plough; c
the part which goes under the surface of the ground, ands is
terminated in the fore part by the plough-share d, which is formed
obliquely, turning towards the outside, not towards the man who
guides the plough; e is placed on the top horizontally, reaching to
the base of the plough-share, serving to turn over the clods. The
whole is drawn by a horse, the only kind of animal used here in
husbandry.

No. 3, (previous Illustration), is a hoe, which, when furnished with
a handle, serves to pare the earth from the under side of the turfs,
after they are turned over by the machine last described. The first
year after this operation they sow rye, but in the following season
barley, when the turfs are become rotten.

VASTERBOTTEN, OR WESTBOTHLAND.
THE ground here is tolerably level; the soil sand, sometimes clay. In
some places are large tracts of moss. The whole country, owing to the
sand and the moss, is by no means fertile, though it affords a good
deal of milk. Barley is the chief corn raised here, rye being very
seldom sown, and when any is sown, it is commonly summer rye.

Before I reached Sormjole, two male reindeer came up to me. I was
mounted on a mare, which had nearly thrown me.

No flowers were here to be seen, not even the Wood Sorrel (Oxalis
Acetosella), my only consolation in Angermanland. Galtha palustris
alone appeared in the marshes, which in this country is the first
blossom of the spring. The Cotton Rush with one spike and that with
many spikes (Eriophrum vaginatum and polystachion) were now coming
into bloom. Betula nana was abundant enough, but as yet showed no
signs of catkins or leaves. Throughout the whole of this country no
Ash, Maple, Lime, Elm nor Willow is to be seen, much less Hazel, Oak
or Beech.

Towards evening I reached Roback, where I passed the night. The wind
blew hard from the north-east, and the evening was cold.

May 24.

Close to Roback is a fine spacious meadow, which would be quite
level, were it not for the hundreds of ant-hills scattered over it.

Near the road, and very near the rivulet that takes its course
towards the town of Umeċ, are some mineral springs, abounding with
ochre, and covered with a silvery pellicle. I conceive that Roback
may have obtained its name from this red sediment, from rod, red, and
back, a rivulet. Not far from this town is another mineral spring, by
drinking of which several persons have lost their lives. It flows
down an adjacent hill.

Umeċ, situated on the abovernentioned little river, which is passed
in a ferry-boat, and navigable for merchandise to the sea, is but a
small town, not having yet recovered from the damage done it by the
enemy, who burnt it to the ground. The ferry-boat was conducted by a
brawny, though bald and grey-bearded Charon, in an old grey coat,
just such as Rudbeck describes.

I waited on Baron Grundell, Governor of the province, who is a
pattern of mildness, and he received me in the kindest manner. He
showed me several curiosities, and gave me much interesting
information.

He had two Crossbills (Loxia curvirostra) in a cage, which fed on the
cones of the spruce fir (Pinus abies) with great dexterity. They took
up a cone with their beak, and, holding it fast with one foot, picked
out the seeds by means of their forked mandibles, of which the upper
is very thick, ending in an oblong curved very sharp point. The lower
is shorter, and cuts obliquely, sometimes to the right, sometimes to
the left. Both these were male birds; their feathers of a tawny red,
except the wings and forked tail, which were black. From the window I
perceived in an adjoining fen the Yellow-hammer (Motacilla flava) and
some Swallows.

Baron Grundell told me he often had Snow Buntings (Emberiza nivails),
and Ortolans (E. Hortulanus), which last are frequently sold in
France for the value of a ducat (nine shillings). These birds are
also to be met with in Skċne. Here had been plenty of Ruffs and
Reeves this year (Tringa pugnax).

He showed me the skins of blue and black Foxes, and also of the
variety called Korssraf, Cross Fox (Canis vulpes b Faun. Suec.),
which is of a yellow colour except the shoulders and hind quarters,
and they are of a greyish black. He told me he had lately sent the
king a live Jarf (Mustela gulo), and that he had once had another of
that species so much domesticated, that when he would have turned it
into the water, at the first cutting of the ice, it would not leave
him, nor would it feed on any kind of fish alive.

In the garden the Governor showed me the garden orache, salad, and
red cabbage, which last thrives very well, though the white will not
come to perfection here; also garden cresses, winter cresses
(Erysimum barbarea b Fl. Suec.), scurvy-grass, chamomile, spinach,
onions, leeks, chives, cucumbers, columbines, carnations, sweet-
williams, gooseberries, currants, the barberry, elder, guelder-rose
and lilac. Potatoes here are not larger than poppyheads. Tobacco
managed with the greatest care, and when the season is remarkably
favourable, sometimes perfects seed. Dwarf French beans thrive pretty
well, but the climbing kinds never succeed. Broad beans come to
perfection; but peas, though they form pods, never ripen. Roses,
apples, pears, plums hardly grow at all, though cultivated with the
greatest attention. The garden however affords good radishes, mustard
and horseradish, and especially leeks, chives, winter cresses,
columbines, goose-tongue (Achillea ptarmica), rose-campion
(Agrostemma coronaria), scurvy-grass, currants, gooseberries,
barberry-berries, wild rose, and lovage (Ligusticum levisticum),
though scarcely cherries, apples or plums.

Barley in some of the neighbouring fields was now beginning to spring
up, but in others it was not yet sown.

The Governor informed me of a singular opinion prevalent here
concerning the clay in the sand-hills, that it increases and
decreases with the moon, so that by digging during the full moon clay
may be obtained, but, on the contrary, when the moon is in the wane,
sand only will be found in the same spot. The same gentleman remarked
that cracks or chasms in the ground are observable in fine or dry
weather, which close in cloudy or wet seasons, and may have given
rise to the above idea.

Near the water side I caught an Ephemera, of which I made a drawing
and description. It was however of a distinct genus from the proper
Ephemera, having the wings inclining downwards, not erect, the tail
with two bristles instead of three, and the antennae bent near the
extremity. (This appears to have been a small specimen of the
Phryganea bicaudata.)

From my first arrival in Vasterbotten, I had remarked that all the
inhabitants used a peculiar kind of shoes or half-boots, called
Kangor. These seemed at first sight very awkward, but I soon found
they had many advantages over common shoes, being easier in wearing,
and impenetrable to water. Those who wear them may walk in water up
to the tops without wetting their feet; for the seams never give way
as in our common shoes. Another advantage is that they require no
buckles, and serve equally well for shoes or boots, so that those who
follow the plough are not obliged to buy boots for that purpose. The
lowest price of a pair of common boots is nine dollars, and of strong
shoes five; but these cost only two dollars. They are cut so that not
a morsel of leather is wasted. Thick soles, formed as usual of three
or four layers of leather, are here needless, neither are heels
wanted. Nature, whom no artist has yet been able to excel, has not
given heels to mankind, and for this reason we see the people of
Vasterbotten trip along as easily and nimbly in these shoes as if
they went barefoot. In the cornfields lay hundreds of Gulls (Larus
canus) of a sky-blue colour.

May 26.

I took leave of Umeċ. The weather was rainy, and continued so during
the whole day. I turned out of the main road to the left, my design
being to visit Lycksele Lappmark. By this. means I missed the
advantage I had hitherto had at the regular post-houses, of
commanding a horse whenever I pleased; which is no small convenience
to a stranger travelling in Sweden. It now became necessary for me to
entreat in the most submissive manner when I stood in need of this
useful animal. The road grew more and more narrow and bad, so that my
horse went stumbling along, at almost every step, among stones, at
the hazard of my life. My path was so narrow and intricate, along so
many by-ways, that nothing human could have followed my track. In
this dreary wilderness I began to feel very solitary, and to long
earnestly for a companion. The mere exercise of a trotting horse in a
good road, to set the heart and spirits at liberty, would have been
preferable to the slow and tedious mode of travelling which I was
doomed to experience. The few inhabitants I met with had a foreign
accent, and always concluded their sentences with an adjective.
Throughout this whole day's journey nothing occurred to my
observation worth notice, except a fine kind of sand by the rivulet
at Gubbele near Brattby, which would be excellent for the purpose of
making moulds for casting metal.

Not far from Spoland I caught on a willow a small insect of the
beetle tribe, of a red colour, with black branching lines surrounding
the whole body, and a golden head.



(This appears by the drawing, here copied from the original
manuscript, to be Chrysomela lapponica.) Here grew a Salix with
ovate-oblong leaves, very hairy all over (S. lanata); its catkins
were, for the most part, far advanced and faded.

In the evening I arrived at Jamtboht, where some women were sitting
employed in cutting the bark of the aspen-tree (Populus tremula) into
small pieces, scarcely an inch long, and not half so broad. The bark
is stripped from the tree just when the leaves begin to sprout forth,
and laid up in a place under the roof of a house till autumn or the
following spring, when it is cut into the small fragments above
described. In this state it serves as food for cows, goats and sheep,
instead of hay, the latter being a very scarce article in these
parts; for the fields consist principally of marshy tracts, whose
herbage is but of a coarse kind.

On my inquiring what I could have for supper, they set before me the
breast of a Cock of the wood (Tetrao urogallus), which had been shot
and dressed some time the preceding year. Its aspect was not very
inviting, and I imagined the flavour would not be much better; but in
this respect I was mistaken. The taste proved delicious, and I
wondered at the ignorance of those who, having more fowls than they
know how to dispose of, suffer many of them to be spoiled, as often
happens at Stockholm. I found with pleasure that these poor
Laplanders know better than some of their more opulent neighbours,
how to employ the good things which God has bestowed upon them. After
the breast is plucked, separated from the other parts of the bird,
and cleaned, a gash is cut longitudinally on each side of the breast-
bone, quite through to the bottom, and two others parallel to it, a
little further off, so that the inside of the flesh is laid open in
order that it may be thoroughly dressed. The whole is first salted
with fine salt for several days. Afterwards a small quantity of flour
is strewed on the under side to prevent it sticking, and then it is
put into an oven to be gradually dried. When done, it is hung up in
the roof of the house to be kept till wanted, where it would continue
perfectly good, even for three years, if it were necessary to
preserve it so long.

It rained so violently that I could not continue my journey that
evening, and was therefore obliged to pass the night at this place.
The pillows of my bed were stuffed with the hair of the reindeer
instead of feathers. Under the sheet was the hide of a reindeer with
the hair on, the hairy side uppermost, on which the people told me I.
should lie very soft.

May 27.

In the morning the continued rain prevented my pursuing my journey
till noon. The bark of the large smooth kinds of Willow is here used
for tanning leather. The smooth bark of the upper branches, cut into
small pieces, is chosen for the purpose, the coarse part on the
bottom of the stem being useless.

At noon I departed from the place where I had slept, and continued to
pursue the same bad road as the preceding day, which was indeed the
worst I ever saw, consisting of stones piled on stones, among large
entangled roots of trees. In the interstices were deep holes filled
with water by the heavy rains. The frost, which had but just left the
ground, contributed to make matters worse. All the elements were
against me. The branches of the trees hung down before my eyes,
loaded with rain-drops, in every direction. Wherever any young birch
trees appeared, they were bent down to the earth, so that they could
not be passed without the greatest difficulty. The aged pines, which
for so many seasons had raised their proud tops above the rest of the
forest, overthrown by the wrath of Juno, lay prostrate in my way. The
rivulets which traversed the country in various directions were very
deep, and the bridges over them so decayed and ruinous, that it was
at the peril of one's neck to pass them on a stumbling horse. It
seemed beyond the power of man to make the road tolerable, unless a
Belke (Governor of Gefle) had the command of the district.

Many persons had confidently assured me, that it was absolutely
impossible to travel to Lycksele in the summer season; but I had
always comforted myself with the saying of Solomon, that "nothing is
impossible under the sun:" however, I found that if patience be
requisite any where, it is at this place. To complete my distresses,
I had got a horse whose saddle was not stuffed, and instead of a
bridle I had only a rope, which was tied to the animal's under jaw.

In this trim I proceeded on my journey. Here and there, in the heart
of the forests were level heathy spots, as even as if they had been
made so by a line, consisting of barren sand (Arena glarea), on which
grew a few straggling firs, and some scattered plants of ling. Some
places afforded the perforated coralline Lichen (L. uncialis), which
the inhabitants, in rainy weather when it is tough, rake together
into large heaps, and carry home for the winter provender of their
cattle. These sandy spots were in extent three quarters of a mile or
a mile, encompassed as it were with a rampart, or very steep bank,
fifteen or twenty ells in height, so nearly perpendicular that it was
not to be ascended or descended without extreme difficulty. They
might be compared to the mountain which Alexander the Great ascended
with so much labour. It often happened that above one of these sandy
heaths lay another equally barren. They resembled the ridges of a
field, except the perfect flatness and great breadth of the surface
of each, and their being destitute of stones. The interstices of the
country between these embanked heaths were occupied by water, rocks
and marshes, producing abundance of firs intermixed with some
birches, all covered with black and white filamentous Lichens.
Juniper bushes but rarely occurred, and were all of a very diminutive
size, and close-pressed to the ground.

At Skullbacken is a small current of water, which rises out of the
ground at that very spot. I tried to feel the bottom with my stick,
but could not reach it. At Abackan, and on the road beyond it for a
considerable way, some loose ice still remained, which surprised me
much at this season of the year; yet I recollected that but a week
before I had met with snow in the neighbourhood of Mount Skula.

Here and there on the road lay a crustaceous Byssus, consisting as it
were of a white rough brittle membrane, with white grains scattered
over it.<20>

On the sandy heaths among the perforated Lichen (uncialis) grew
another kind much resembling it, but as thick as the finger,  snow-
white, and with more 'copious and dense entangled branches, which,
not having been hitherto described, I denominated Corailoides
ramosissimum perforatum, ramis implexis, niveum.<21> There was also
an elegant cup-moss, (L. cocciferus,) repeatedly proliferous from the
centre of its cups, two or more cups originating together from one
centre, all over of a grey hue, except the scarlet tubercles which
bordered the uppermost cups. Everywhere in the road grew the
beforementioned leafy sulphur-coloured Lichen (nivalis?) in the
greatest profusion.

The marshy places abounded with Muscus tectorius<22> and Polytrichum,
intermixed with abundance of Black Whortleberries.

Wherever I came I could get nothing to drink but water.

Against the walls of the houses the Agaric shaped like a horse's hoof
(Boletus igniarius) was hung up to serve as a pincushion.

As a protection against rain, the people wear a broad horizontal
collar made of birch bark, fastened round the neck with pins.

The women wash their houses with a kind of brush, made of twigs of
spruce fir, which they tie to the right foot, and go backwards and
forwards over the floor.<23>

I observed they had gathered some of the Water Trefoil (Menyanthes
trifoliata), which is the plant here called Missne. It is ground and
mixed with their corn to make bread. They also boil it with some
kinds of berries into an electuary,<24> but it is in every state very
bitter.

The root only is used. Part of this day's journey was performed in a
Lapland boat, which will be described hereafter.

The peasants of this country, instead of tobacco, smoke the buds of
hops, or sometimes juniper berries, and when nothing else can be had,
the bark of the juniper tree: but to supply the want of snuff they
use ashes mixed with a small portion of real snuff. They strain their
milk through platted tufts of hair from a cow's tail.

In the evening I reached Teksnas, situated in the parish of Umeċ.
Seven miles distant from this place is the church, the road to which
is execrable, insomuch that the people are obliged to set out on
Friday morning to get to church on Sunday. On this account they can
very seldom attend divine service, except on fast days, Whitsunday,
Easter Sunday, and Christmas Day.

How trifling would be the expense of building a small church, and how
much have those in authority to answer for before God for neglecting
to provide one! Timber for the purpose was brought here so long ago
as the time of the late Abraham Lindelius; but it has lain till it is
rotten, as the clergy find some difficulty in the undertaking: nor is
this the only obstacle!

Here I observed a kind of dark-coloured gnat with very large dark
wings (Empis borealis).

May 28.

I left Teksnas and proceeded to Genom; but as there is no conveyance
but by water, from the last-mentioned place to Lycksele, and the wind
blew very hard, I was obliged to stop at Genom till the following
day. Indeed I did not arrive there till nine o'clock, when I found
the people assembled at prayers, after which a sermon was read out of
a book containing several; and as this service did not end till
eleven, it would then have been too late to have set out for
Lycksele, more than five miles distant, without any house or resting-
place between.

One of the peasants here had shot a small Beaver. I inquired
concerning the food of this animal, and was told it was the bark of
trees, the birch, fir, and mountain ash, but more especially the
aspen, and the castor becomes larger in proportion as the beaver can
get more of the aspen bark. This confirmed the truth of what Assessor
Rothman formerly asserted, that castor is secreted from the
intermediate bark of the poplar, which has the same scent, though not
quite so strong: hence it is to be presumed that a decoction of this
bark, if the dose were sufficiently large, would have the same
medicinal effects.

I wonder no naturalist has classed this animal with the Mouse tribe,
(Mures. Linnaeus afterwards called the Order Glires) as its broad
depressed form at first sight suggested to me that it was of that
family; in which opinion I was confirmed when I examined the broad
naked tail, the short obtuse ears, and the two pair of parallel front
teeth, so well formed for cutting, of which the lower pair are the
largest.

The people here eat the flesh of the heaver as well as of the hare
and squirrel, which indeed are all of the same natural family. The
Romans, we are told, ate mice by way of a choice dainty. The beaver
is very seldom roasted, but generally boiled. The rump is thrown
away, but the feet are eaten. The skin spread out and dried is worth
twelve dollars. The castor fetches half a dollar, or sometimes a
dollar. I found the boiled flesh very insipid, for want of salt.

This young Beaver, which fell under my examination, was a foot and
half long, exclusive of the tail, which was a palm in length and two
inches and a half in breadth. The hairs on the back were longer than
the rest; the external ones brownish black, the inner pale brown. The
belly clothed with short dark-brown fur. Body depressed. Ears obtuse,
clothed with fine short hairs, and destitute of any accessory lobe.
Snout blunt, with round nostrils. Upper lip cloven as far as the
nostrils; lower very short. The whiskers black, long and stout. Eye-
brow of three bristles like the whiskers over each eye. Neck none.
The fur of the belly was distinguished from that of the sides by a
line on each side, in which the skin was visible. Feet clothed with
very short hairs, quite different from those of the body. A fleshy
integument invested the whole body. The intestinum caecum was large,
with a very large appendix. Upon the stomach lay two large cellular
glands, of whose nature and use I am ignorant. There were two cutting
teeth in each jaw, of which the upper pair were the shortest, and
notched at the summit like steps; the lower and larger pair were
sloped off obliquely. Grinders very far remote from the fore-teeth,
which is characteristic of the animal, four on each side. Hind feet
webbed, but fore feet with separate claws. Tail flat, oblong, obtuse,
with a reticulated naked surface.

The strength of the Beaver in its fore teeth, so as to cut through
the trunk of the largest aspen trees, is I believe beyond that of any
other animal.

May 29.

Very early in the morning I quitted Genom in a haœp or small boat,
such as shall be hereafter described, proceeding along the western
branch of the river of Umeċ; for the river which takes its name from
that place divides into two branches near Gresele, two miles from
Umeċ. One branch comes from Lycksele, the other, as I was told, from
Sorsele. By the western branch, as I have just mentioned, we
proceeded to Lycksele. When the sun rose, nothing could be more
pleasant than the view of this clear unruffled stream, neither
contaminated by floods, nor disturbed by the breath of Aeolus. All
along its translucent margin the forests which clothed its banks were
reflected like another landscape in the water. On both sides were
several large level heaths, guarded by steep ramparts towards the
river, and these were embellished with plants and bushes, the whole
reversed in the water appearing to great advantage. The huge pines,
which had hitherto braved Neptune's power, smiled with a fictitious
shadow in the stream. Neptune however, in alliance with his brother
Aeolus, had already triumphed over many of their companions, the
former by attacking their roots, while the latter had demolished
their branches.

We passed several small islets separated from the main land by the
action of the current, as Calnasholm (the isle of Calnas), &c. Close
to the shore were many Charadrii hiaticulae (Ringed Plovers) and
Tringae (Sandpipers). One of the latter my companions shot, but
destroyed it so completely that we obtained only a wing and a leg
entire, the remaining parts being so torn that I could not make out
the species. The foot consisted of four toes, of which the hinder one
was very small, and the two external ones joined by a web at their
base.

A little further on a couple of young owls were suspended on a tree.
On my inquiring what these birds had done to be so served, the rower
made me remark, on the most lofty of the fir trees, concave cylinders
of wood, closed at top and bottom, and having an aperture on one
side. These cylinders are placed on the highest part of the trees, in
order to tempt wild ducks to lay their eggs in them, and they are
afterwards plundered by the country people. In one of these nests a
brood of young owls had been hatched instead of young ducks.

Presently afterwards the breast of a Cock of the wood was given me to
eat, by way of a bait. It had been shot this spring and dried in the
sun, without being previously cooked; neither had it so many
longitudinal cuts as that I have described in the foregoing pages.

As we proceeded further we saw seven or eight large white swans lying
on the water, making a loud noise, and biting one another with their
beaks. Cranes also are found here. The rower said he had shot one and
nailed it up against the wall, with all its flesh and feathers on.
What an absurdity! The peasant who was my rower and companion had
placed nets all along the shore, in which he caught plenty of pike.
He had upwards of thirty small nets, The money with which he pays his
taxes is chiefly acquired by fishing. A dried pike of twenty pounds
weight is sold for a dollar and five marks, silver coin. In one of
the nets he found a large male Goosander caught (Mergus merganser).
The bill of this bird was long and narrow, of a blood red, blackish
on the upper edge. Its upper mandible longest, tipped with a hooked
point which rendered it obtuse, and furnished with thirty large teeth
pointing inwards. Lower mandible channelled underneath, and furnished
with about forty smaller teeth, likewise pointing inwards. A triple
row of very small teeth was observable in the upper mandible within
the others. Tongue narrow, bordered with bristles and with a double
row of very minute teeth. Nostrils oblong, placed in the substance of
the bill. Eyes round, with a crimson iris. A pellucid membrane,
proceeding from the inner corner of the eye, covers the ball while
the bird is diving under water; which is remarkable. It has besides a
whitish membrane of greater thickness (membrana nictitans), which
closes the eye as in other birds. The head is of a grey colour, with
a very long pendulous blackish crest composed of a few light downy
feathers. Neck like that of a Woodcock. Breast and belly white.
Middle of the back black, with white lateral spots, further on grey
or whitish, with transverse undulated lines. The ten outermost large 
feathers of the wing are black; the inner ones black and white, so
that the speculum, or spot of the wing, is very large and white,
divided by two black transverse lines. Tail short, ash-coloured. Feet
red. Legs compressed. Hind toe very small, with a membranous lobe,
and curved inwards. Fore toes three, the outermost of four joints,
middle one of three, and the innermost of two only. All the toes are
connected by a palmate web, and the innermost has, besides, a
marginal longitudinal membrane. The windpipe is remarkable, formed
not of half rings, as in most birds, but of circular ones. About the
middle it is dilated into a sort of bag, and further down into
another smaller one.<25>



LYCKSELE LAPLAND.
THE river along which we had rowed for the space of almost three
miles, and which had hitherto been easily navigable, now threatened
us occasionally with interruption, from small shelves forming
cascades, and at length we came to three of these, very near each
other, which were absolutely impassable. One of them is called the
waterfall of Tuken.


My companion, after committing all my property to my own care, laid
his knapsack on his back, and turning the boat bottom upwards, placed
the two oars longitudinally, so as to cross the seats. These rested
on his arms as he carried the boat over his head, and thus he
scampered away over hills and valleys, so that the devil himself
could not have come up with him.




See a sketch of this boat annexed. Its length was twelve feet,
breadth five, and depth two. The thickness of the edge not more than
two lines. The four planks which formed each of its sides were of
root of spruce fir, each about a span broad and four lines thick. The
two transverse boards or seats were of the branches of the same tree.
The seams were secured obliquely with cord as thick as a goosequill.

Ice was still to be seen here and there near the shore of the river,
though not in any great quantity. The trees of this neighbourhood are
principally Common Fir (Pinus sylvestris), with a smaller proportion
of Spruce (P. abies), and Birch. Now and then some Poplars are to be
seen. The shrubs are dwarf kinds of Willow and Dwarf Birch (Betula
nana); both now in blossom.

The more humble and herbaceous plants are Ling, (Erica vulgaris and
tetralix)<26>, four kinds of Vaccinium, Linnaea<27>, Pyrola pyrifolia
(P. secunda), Epilobium, Golden rod (Solidago virga aurea), Empetrum
in flower,  Dandelion, Convallaria bifolia, Sweet grass (Holcus
odoratus) in flower, Small smooth Rush (Juncus filiformis), Jointed
Water Rush (J. articulatus), Water Horse-tail (Hippuris vulgaris),
Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris), a Mnium not in fructification,
four species of Lycopodium, Andromeda polifolia<26>, Milfoil
(Achillea Millefolium), and Small Sorrel (Rumex Acetosella). The
birds I remarked were the Ringed Plover (Charadrius hiaticula), the
Redwing (Turdus iliacus), the Lumme (Colymbus arcticus), the Tufted
Duck (Anas fuligula).

Also a few insects, as Dytiscus natator, &c.

The forest was rendered pleasant by the tender leaves of the Birch,
more advanced than any I had hitherto met with, owing to the rain
which had fallen the Saturday preceding, and the sunshine of this and
the foregoing day. The banks of the river are composed of sand or
small pebbles; on the latter the water had deposited a blackish
stain. A little before we reached the church of Lycksele, the fourth
waterfall presented itself. This is more considerable than any of the
three preceding, falling over a rock. On its brink the curate had
erected a mill, which in this mountainous spot wanted no artificial
dam, as Nature had prepared one in the most complete manner.

The adjoining mountain consists of a mixed spar, and extends a good
way to the right, being in one part very lofty, and perpendicular,
like a vast wall, towards the shore. Some islands, rather
considerable in size, are seen in the river as we approach this
waterfall.

At eight o'clock in the evening I arrived at the hospitable dwelling
of Mr. Oladron, the curate of Lycksele, who, as well as his wife,
received me with great kindness. They at first advised me to stay
with them till the next fast day, the Laplanders not being implicitly
to be trusted, and presenting their fire-arms at any stranger who
comes upon them unawares, or without some recommendation.

May 30.

In the morning however my hosts changed their opinion, being
apprehensive of my journey being impeded by floods if I delayed it.

I here learned the manner in which the Laplanders prepare a kind of
cheese or curd, from the milk of the reindeer and the leaves of
Sorrel (Rumex acetosa). They gather a large quantity of these leaves,
which they boil in a copper vessel, adding one third part water,
stirring it continually with a ladle that it may not burn, and adding
fresh leaves from time to time, till the whole acquires the
consistency of a syrup. This takes place in six or seven hours, after
which it is set by to cool, and is then mixed with the milk, and
preserved for use from autumn till the ensuing summer, in wooden
vessels, or in the first stomach of the reindeer. It is kept either
in the caves of the mountains, or in holes dug in the ground, lest it
should be attacked by the mountain mice (Mus lemmus). Near the shore
at Lycksele I observed vast shoals of those small fishes called the
Glirr (Cyprinus aphya), each about an inch and half long, and two
lines broad.

In this place I made a description and sketches of the whole
caparison of a reindeer, with the stick used by the Laplanders in
driving that useful animal. The latter, which serves as a walking
stick, is round, two feet and half long, and three inches thick, made
of wood, see fig. 1.

a, is a twisted iron ring, encompassed with several smaller rings of
the same metal, b b b, which serve to make a rattling noise to urge
the reindeer occasionally to quicken his pace. c, is the head, turned
out of a reindeer's horn. d, the handle of turned wood. e, the stick
itself, which is likewise turned, of one piece with the handle, and
tapering towards the end.



Fig. 2 is the bridle, made of green or blue cloth, bordered with
leather, a a, embroidered with tin foil, and fringed at the sides
with small strips of list, b b, about six inches long and one broad,
of all sorts of colours. Those at c c are only two or three inches
long. The cloth is lined on the inside with reindeer skin, stripped
of its hair, and dyed red with alder bark, and is in length, from e
to e, nine or ten inches, and from e to f about half as much. Its
breadth, from f to g, is three inches, but from a a to h h, only an
inch and half.

At each end, f f, is a rope two feet long and as thick as a child's
finger, covered with the beforementioned kind of red leather, and
terminated by a tuft of various-coloured list.<29> At the opposite
angles, e e, are two similar cords, bordered on one side for about
eight inches each, that is as far as i, with little strips of
coloured list. To the part i is fixed a rope of leather like a whip
cord, 1, twelve feet long, with a noose at each end, one of which
goes round the part already described at i.

a a a, h h h, is placed at the forehead of the animal. The ropes, f
f, are tied round the horns, so that the tassels of list hang down on
each side. e e goes under its neck like a halter, and 1 is the rein,
which is fastened by the noose at its further end round the arm of
the driver.


Fig. 3 represents the saddle-cloth, which is about two feet and half
long, besides its ornaments, and six or seven inches broad. Its ends,
a b and a c, are joined under the reindeer's belly. The straps, d d
d, are a foot long.

Fig. 4 is the harness, a foot and half long, and three inches broad,
without its decorations. Under this is laid a roll, b, made of
reindeer skin, with the hair on, as thick as a man's arm, which
contains a twisted net. This is covered in its upper part by a, but
the ends, c c, are exposed to view, and covered with blue cloth
embroidered with tin foil, each of them terminating in a sort of
ball, tied up with a thong, e e, as the hairy part is with another
thong.


Fig. 5 has at one end a noose, a, which embraces the two balls just
described, from which a double leather thong, three inches broad and
four feet long, extends to a transverse piece of bone, c, serving to
take hold of the sledge in which the. Laplander travels.

No. 3 therefore is placed on the back of the reindeer, b and c being
tied together below the shoulders.

No. 4 is fixed upon the neck, and fastened with f f over the chest,
forming the saddle, the hairy part serving to keep it from galling
the animal. The ends, c c, pass between the hind legs, and to them is
fixed, as before mentioned, the leather which draws the sledge.

I understood that the water, along part of which I had pursued my
route, was divided into broad navigable spaces, interrupted 
frequently by narrow or precipitous passes, called by the name of a
forss, force, of which a long enumeration was given me.

The pasture ground near the parsonage of Lycksele was very poor, but
quite the reverse about a quarter of a mile distant. Here the butter
was extremely remarkable for its fine yellow colour, approaching
almost to a reddish or saffron hue. On my inquiring what kind of
herbs most abounded in these pastures, the people gave me a
description of one which I judged to be a Melampyrum, and on my
drawing a sketch of that kind of plant, they assured me it was what
they meant, which is very plentiful in their forests, and is called
Kowall.<30>

In the school here were only eight scholars.

I procured at Lycksele a Laplander's snuff-box, which is of a round
figure, turned out of the horn of a reindeer.

The church of Lycksele, built of timber, was in a very miserable
state, so that whenever it rained the congregation were as wet as if
they had been in the open air. It had altogether the appearance of a
barn. The seats were so narrow that those who sat on them were drawn
neck and heels together.

Here was a woman supposed to labour under the misfortune of a brood
of frogs in her stomach, owing to her having, in the course of the
preceding spring, drunk water which contained the spawn of these
animals. She thought she could feel three of them, and that herself,
as well as persons who sat near her, could hear them croak. Her
uneasiness was in some degree alleviated by drinking brandy. Salt had
no effect in destroying the frogs. Another person, who for some years
had had the same complaint, took doses of Nux Vomica, and was cured;
but even this powerful remedy had been tried on this woman in vain. I
advised her to try tar, but that she had already taken without
success, having been obliged to throw it up again.<31>

May 31.

Divine service being over, I left Lycksele in order to proceed
towards Sorsele. The riches of the Laplanders consist in the number
of their reindeer, and in the extent of the ground in which they
feed. The poorest people have from fifty to two hundred of these
animals; the middle class from three hundred to seven hundred, and
the rich possess about a thousand. The lands are from three to five
miles in extent. Wild reindeer are seldom met with in Lappmark. They
chiefly occur on the common between Grano and Lycksele. It very often
happens that those whose herds are large lose some of their reindeer,
which they generally find again in the ensuing season, and they then
drive them back to their old companions. If they will not follow the
herd, they are immediately killed. Several parts of Lappmark are
inhabited by colonists from Finland, who, by royal license, taking up
their abode here, break up the soil into corn and pasture lands.<32>
They pay a certain tribute to the crown, and are thenceforth free of
all extraordinary taxes, as well as the native Laplanders, being
neither obliged to furnish a soldier for the army, nor a sailor for
the navy. Whether it be time of peace or war it is all the same to
them, as they are burthened with no taxes. These Finlanders are
permitted to fix in any part of Lapland in which they find a
probability of cultivating the ground to advantage, so that there is
no doubt but most part of Lappmark will in time become colonized and
filled with villages.     At Easter, Whitsuntide and Christmas, as
well as on the four annual festivals by law established, the
Laplanders and colonists usually attend divine service at church,
where they stay till the holidays are over, and are accommodated in
huts adjoining to the sacred edifice. Besides the times above
mentioned, the colonists go to church on Lady-day, Midsummer,
Michaelmas, and the 21st of September or St. Matthew's day. Those who
live at no great distance from a church, attend there every other
Sunday, to hear a sermon. On the intermediate Sundays, prayers are
read to the members of each family at home.

At Whitsuntide this year no Laplander was at church, the pikes
happening to spawn just at that time. This fishery constitutes the
chief trade of these people, and they were therefore now, for the
most part, dispersed among the alps, each in his own tract, in
pursuit of this object.

I observed the forests to consist chiefly of Fir and Birch. Where
woods of the former had been burnt down, the latter sprung up in
abundance, and wherever the Birch abounded, the pasture ground was of
the best quality.

At Flaskesele I found Rubus alpinus repens (R. saxatilis),
Trientalis, Aconitum lycoctonum, Ulmaria (Spiraea), Podagraria
tenuifolia sterilis (probably Angelica vestris), Polypodium
dryopteris, Thymelaea of the old writers (Daphne mezereum), Herb
Christopher (Actaea spicata), and Juniper (Juniperus communis); also
Lichenoides with a greyish white crust and flesh-coloured tubercles,
growing in watery places (Lichen ericetorum), and another on stones
with black tubercles. A yellow species with a leafy crust grew on the
Juniper (L. juniperinus).

I remarked here water abounding with a red ochraceous sediment like
anatto (Bixa Orellana), such as I had before seen further south. It
was chiefly in the bogs near Flaskesele waterfall that this ochre was
to be found, and it stained the footsteps of passengers who passed
over it. The colonists use it to paint their window-frames red.

The eatable moss of Norway (Lichen islandicus) was here of two kinds,
the one broad and scattered, the other in thick tufts about three
inches high. Both of them are reddish towards the root, and are
certainly only varieties of each other.

Near the water side I met with the nest of a Sandpiper (Tringa
hypoleucos), which is one of the smallest of its genus. The nest was
made of straw, and contained four eggs. The parent bird had flown
away at my approach.

In the neighbouring forest grew a rare little leafy Lichenoides, of a
fine saffron colour beneath, and bearing on the upper side flat
oblong shields (Lichen croceus). Also the Boletus perennis (described
in Fl. Lapp.), and a small white Agaric with gills alternately forked
and undivided.

Adjoining to the cataract of Gransele the strata in the left-hand
bank appeared as follows. Under the soil a brown sand, next to it
some fathoms depth of white, below which were two fathoms of a purple
sand, which lay upon small stones, and those upon larger ones on a
level with the water.

The Little Eared Grebe (Colymbus auritus) was here occasionally quite
black, or black with white spots under the wings. There was great
abundance of Wild Ducks, those birds abounding as much on this side
of Lycksele as on the other.

This part of the country is beautifully diversified with hills and
valleys, clothed with forests of birch intermixed with fir, which
were now reflected by the calm surface of the water.

In the force or waterfall of Gransele are thirteen small islands.

I noticed on both sides of the river several summer huts of the
Laplanders, in which they reside, for a short time together, during
that season. A Laplander never remains more than a week on one spot,
not only because of seeking fresh pasture for his reindeer, but
because he cannot bear to stay long in a place. He drives the whole
herd together, young and old, into the river, to swim over to the
opposite shore, which these animals easily perform, though the stream
is more than eight gunshots wide.


At one place, close to the river, was a Laplander's shop, raised on a
round pole, fig. a, as high as a tall man and as thick as one's arm.
This pole supported a long horizontal beam, b, with two cross pieces,
c c, which together formed the foundation of the edifice, and on this
rested the wooden walls, whose form, together with the roof and door,
may be more clearly seen at fig. 2.

The height of the apartment was two feet; its length and breadth a
fathom each. This structure is never moved from its place. The walls
are very thin; the ceiling is of birch bark, with a roof of wood and
stone above it. It is scarcely possible to conceive how the owner can
creep into this building, the door being so small.

In a small bay of the river a large stone stood two or three ells in
height above the water, which supported a fir tree six ells high,
and, as appeared from counting its annual shoots, twelve years old.
It seemed to have no particle of earth to nourish it; but perceiving
some cracks in the rock, I was persuaded that its roots must through
them find access to the water.

Towards evening I heard the note of the Redwing (Turdus iliacus). On
the north side of the forest large pieces of ice still remained
unmelted near the shore.

The bark of the birch is extremely useful to the inhabitants of
Lapland. Of it they make their plates or trenchers, boat-scoops,
shoes, tubs to salt fish in, and baskets. Near the shore grew the
Naked Horsetail (Equisetum hyemale), having a shoot springing from
its root on each side. The sheathing cups of its stem are white, with
both their upper and lower margins black. A more remarkable
circumstance is, that the whole plant is perennial, not merely the
root.

In the neighbouring marsh or moss the greater part of the herbage
consisted of Juncellus aquaticus,<33> which now bore its diminutive
blossoms. I found three stamens to each scale, with a style among the
upper ones, which was divided half way down into three lobes. Some of
the spikes consisted only of stamens. The root is particularly
curious, being scaly, with an entangled tuft of fibres under each
scale, which form the basis of the turf.

The Laplanders are very fond of brandy, which is remarkable in all
people addicted to fishing; and there is nothing that the Laplanders
pursue with such ardour as hunting and fishing.

Jun 1.

We pursued our journey by water with considerable labour and
difficulty all night long, if it might be called night, which was as
light as the day, the sun disappearing for about half an hour only,
and the temperature of the air being rather cold. The colonist who
was my companion was obliged sometimes to wade along in the river,
dragging the boat after him, for half a mile together. His feet and
legs were protected by shoes made of birch bark. In the morning we
went on shore, in order to inquire for a native Laplander, who would
undertake to be my guide further on. Finding only an empty hut at the
spot where we landed, we proceeded as fast as we could to the next
hut, a quarter of a mile distant, which likewise proved unoccupied.
At length we arrived at a third hut, half a mile further, but met
with as little success as at the two former, it being quite empty.
Upon which I dispatched my fellow-traveller to a fourth hut, at some
distance, to see if he could find any person fit for my purpose, and
I betook myself to the contemplation of the wild scenes of Nature
around me.

The soil here was extremely sterile, consisting of barren sand (Arena
Glarea) without any large stones or rocks, which are only seen near
the shores of the waters. Fir trees were rather thinly scattered, but
they were extremely lofty, towering up to the clouds. Here were
spacious tracts producing the finest timber I ever beheld. The ground
was clothed with Ling, Red Whortleberries (Vaccinium vitis idaea),
and mosses. In such parts as were rather low grew smaller firs,
amongst abundance of birch, the ground there also producing Red
Whortleberries, as well as the common black kind (Vaccinium
myrtillus), with Polytrichum (commune). On the dry hills, which most
abounded with large pines, the finest timber was strewed around,
felled by the force of the tempests, lying in all directions, so as
to render the country in some places almost impenetrable. I seemed to
have reached the residence of Pan himself, and shall now describe the
huts in which his subjects the Laplanders contrive to resist the
rigours of their native climate.


The Kodda, or hut, is formed of double timbers, lying one upon
another, and has mostly six sides, rarely but four. It is supported
within by four inclining posts, fig. 2 a, as thick as one's arm,
crossing each other in pairs at the top, b, upon which is laid a
transverse beam, c, four ells in length. On each side lower down is
another cross piece of wood, d, serving to hang pipes on. The walls
are formed of beams of a similar thickness, but differing in length,
leaving a hole at the top to serve as a chimney, and a door at the
side, see fig. 3, a and b. These are covered with a layer of bark,
either of Spruce Fir or Birch, and over that is another layer of wood
like the first. In the centre, fig. 1, the fire is made on the
ground, and the inhabitants lie round it. In the middle of the
chimney at fig. 2, c, hangs a pole, on which the pot is suspended
over the fire. The height of the hut is three ells, its greatest
breadth at the base two fathoms. They always construct their huts in
places where they have ready access to dear cold springs.

The inhabitants sleep quite naked on skins of reindeer, spread over a
layer of branches of Dwarf Birch (Betula nana), with similar skins
spread over them. The sexes rise from this simple couch, and dress
themselves promiscuously without any shame or concealment.

When, as occasionally happens in the course of the summer, they
cannot procure fresh water, and are necessitated to drink the warm
sea water, they are infallibly tormented with griping pains, with
strong spasms in the region of the stomach, and pain in the lower
part of the abdomen, accompanied with bloody urine. This is a species
of colic, and is called ullem. It generally lasts but one day, rarely
two. The same thing happens if they drink before they have broke
their fast in a morning.

Everywhere around the huts I observed horns of reindeer lying
neglected, and it is remarkable that they were gnawed, and sometimes
half devoured, by squirrels. At this season the young sprouting horns
on the heads of those animals had attained but two or three quarters
of an ell in length, covered with a soft and tender skin, so that I
noticed, here and there, small drops of blood, from the gnats having
stung them. The reindeer has four nipples, besides two spurious ones
further back, which very rarely afford any milk. There are no cutting
teeth in its upper jaw. This animal certainly ruminates, as Ray
rightly judged, notwithstanding the reports to the contrary collected
in his Synopsis of Quadrupeds (p. 88, 89). The females are horned as
well as the males, which is proper to this order of quadrupeds, but
the horns of the females are more slender than those of the other
sex.

In the country of Lappmark crawfish as well as fleas are unknown.

In the evening of the 1st of June we came to an island occupied by
fishermen. They were peasants from Grano, a place eight miles
distant. They had built themselves a house without a chimney, so that
the smoke could escape only by the door. They had however a couch to
sleep on.

The fish, of which they had collected about sixteen pounds, was hung
up in the hut to dry. It was chiefly Pike, with some Char (Salmo
alpinus). The fat parts, with the intestines, after having been
cleaned, are put together till they become sour, when an oil is
obtained for the purpose of greasing shoes. The scales and larger
fins are collected and dried together. From them is afterwards
procured, by boiling, an unctuous substance, into which they dip
their fishing-nets, having first dyed or tanned them with birch bark,
in order to make them more durable. The spawn of the fish is dried,
and afterwards used in bread, dumplings, and what is called valling
(a sort of gruel made by boiling flour or oatmeal in milk or water).
The livers are thrown away, being supposed to occasion drowsiness,
and pain in the head, when eaten.

These fishermen had been here six weeks, and intended staying a
fortnight longer, when the season of the pike's spawning would be
over. They lived during this period chiefly on the spawn and entrails
of the fish they caught.

For this fishery these people pay no tax, neither to the crown nor to
the native Laplander, who has free access to the water only when
these adventurers have left it. Though he himself pays tribute for
it, he dares not throw in the smallest net during the stay of his
visitors; for, if they find any of his nets, they may throw them up
into the high trees, as I was told they often had done.

The poor Laplander, who at this season has hardly any other
subsistence for himself or his family, can with difficulty catch a
fish or two for his own use. I asked one of them why he did not
complain of this encroachment; but was told that having once applied
to the magistrate, or judge of the district, the great man told him
it was a trifle not worth thinking about; and he esteems the decrees
of this exalted personage to be sacred, and altogether infallible,
like the oracles of Apollo. He reverences his king as a divinity, and
is firmly of opinion that if he were informed of the above grievance
it would no longer be suffered to exist.

June 2.

The forest here was full of the noblest pine trees, growing to no
purpose .with respect to the inhabitants, as the wood is not used
even for building huts, nor the bark for food, as it is in some other
parts. I wonder they have not contrived to turn these trees to some
account, by burning them for tar or pitch.

The colonists who reside among the Laplanders are beloved by them,
and treated with great kindness. These good people willingly point
out to the strangers where they may fix their abode so as to have
access to moist meadows affording good hay, which they themselves do
not want, their herds of reindeer preferring the driest pastures.
They expect in return that the colonists should supply them with milk
and flour.

Ovid's description of the silver age is still applicable to the
native inhabitants of Lapland. Their soil is not wounded by the
plough, nor is the iron din of arms to be heard; neither have mankind
found their way to the bowels of the earth, nor do they engage in
wars to define its boundaries. They perpetually change their abode,
live in tents, and follow a pastoral life, just like the patriarchs
of old.

Among these people the men are employed in the business of cookery,
so that the master of a family has no occasion to speak a good word
to his wife, when he wishes to give a hospitable entertainment to his
guests.<34>

The dress of these Laplanders is as follows. On the head they wear a
small cap, like those used at my native place of Stenbrohult, made
with eight seams covered strips of brown cloth, the cap itself being
of a greyish colour. This reaches no lower than the tips of the ears.
Their outer garment, or jacket, is open in front half way down the
bosom, below which part it is fastened with hooks, as far as the pit
of the stomach. Consequently the neck is bare, and from the effects
of the sun abroad and the smoke at home, approaches the complexion of
a toad. The jacket when loose reaches below the knees; but it is
usually tied up with a girdle, so as scarcely to reach so far, and is
sloped off at the bottom. The collar is of four fingers' breadth,
thick, and stitched with thread.

All the needle-work is performed by the women. They make their thread
of the sinews in the legs of the reindeer, separating them, while
fresh, with their teeth, into slender strings, which they twist
together. A kind of cord is also made of the roots of spruce fir.

The country bordering on the sea coast hereabouts, in some places
consists of grassy pastures, in others of pebbly or sandy tracts.
Large stones are rare.

The river of Umeċ now began to swell, the weather having been for
some days very warm, so as to melt the ice and snow in the frozen
regions above. The stream was now so deep and strong that it was not
to be navigated without difficulty. In general the strongest flood
does not set in till Midsummer. This river, as I was informed, has
its source in the alps about a mile from the sea of Norway, and
empties itself into the gulf of Bothnia at Umeċ.

No colonists are to be met with north of this river. After proceeding
for a while up the stream, we went on shore to repose a little at a
cottage. The wind blew very cold from the north.

About a year ago a man who lived at this place had killed his
daughter to prevent his son-in-law from inheriting his property.

A tree close to one of the tents was adorned with more than a dozen
pair of horns of the male reindeer, or Brunren. When castrated, the
same animal is called Ren oxe. The female is denominated Kiaelfja.


The horns were shaped as in the annexed figure. The base is
compressed and very smooth, not knotty as in the stag. The middle
part is curved outward and backward, beyond which the horn is
gradually bent forward again and inward. Near the base one, two or
three branches project forward, of which some are palmate, having
from two to five divisions pointing upward (a). At the projecting
part in the middle of the horn is a little short simple branch (b).
The summit is palmate, having from two to five branches from its back
part, which are curved inward (c).

I made some inquiries here concerning the diseases of the people.
They are subject to the ullem, or colic, of which I have already
spoken, for which they use soot, snuff, salt, and other remedies. The
pain sometimes seizes them so violently that they crawl on the ground
while it lasts, not being able to stand or lie still. They are also
afflicted with the asthma, the epilepsy, and a swelling of the uvula.
The husband of a woman who had the last-mentioned disorder, cut away
a part of the swelling, but it grew as large again in the course of a
twelvemonth. The prolapsus uteri also sometimes occurs. Many persons
have the pleurisy, and others rheumatic complaints in the back, which
descend down the hips and legs, leaving the part first attacked.
These complaints happen in summer as well as in winter.

We continued our course up the river of Umeċ. At length, quitting the
main stream, we proceeded along a branch to the right, which bears
the name of Juita, and left Lycksele church at about four miles
distance, as near as I could guess, for the Laplanders know nothing
about the matter.

The inhabitants of this country no longer use bows and arrows, but
rifle-guns loaded with bullets, not with small shot. They wear no
stockings. Their breeches, made of the coarse and slight woollen
cloth of the country called walmal, reach down to their feet,
tapering gradually to the bottom, and are tied with a bandage over
their half boots.

I observed the Red Whortleberries (Vaccinium vitis idaea) were here
of a larger size than in the country lower down; but Juniper on the
contrary was very diminutive, and grew mostly in fens or watery
places. The Crake berries (Empetrum nigrum) were as large as the
Black Bilberry. Close to a waterfall in Juita Rotogviek or
Rootforsen, in a marsh on the right hand, I found Herb Paris (Paris
quadrifolia), Aconitum lycoctonum and Thalictrum (flavum). But what
most surprised and pleased me was the little roundleaved Yellow
Violet, with a branched stem, and narrow, smooth, not bearded,
petals, described by Morison, which had not before been observed in
Sweden (Viola biflora). Several kinds of Willows grew everywhere near
the water, but had not yet displayed their leaves.

I came to a hut, consisting of eighteen posts, covered with walmal,
or coarse cloth, ten feet long and eight broad. Also some winter
huts, the poles of which the Laplanders remove with them from place
to place. Each hut is formed with three poles, forked at the top.
Under the shelter of these huts or tents were suspended dried fish,
cheese, clothes, pots and various utensils. There were neither walls
nor doors, consequently no locks to protect them.

At length meeting with a very long shelvy contraction in the river,
we were obliged to quit our boat, and go by land in search of a
Laplander to serve as my guide further on, whom we expected to find
at a place a mile distant. But it appeared to me full a mile and
half, over hills and valleys, rivulets and stones. The hills were
clad with Ling and with Empetrum, which entangled our feet at every
step; not to mention the trees lying in all directions in our way,
and over which we were obliged to climb. The marshy spots were not
less difficult to pass over. The Bog-moss (Sphagnum) afforded but a
treacherous support for our feet, and the Dwarf Birch (Betula nana)
entangled our legs.

I could not help remarking that all the fibres of the full-grown pine
trees seemed to be obliquely twisted, and in a contrary direction to
the diurnal motion of the sun. I leave this to the consideration of
the curious physiologist; whether it may arise from anything in the
soil or air, or from any polar attraction.<35> Some of these pines
bore tufted or fasciculated branches near their summits, like those
before mentioned.

At length we came to a sort of bay or creek of the river, which we
were under the necessity of wading through. The water reached above
our waists, and was very cold. In the midst of this creek was so deep
a hole that the longest pole could scarcely fathom it. We had no
resource but to lay a pole across it, on which we passed over at the
hazard of our lives; and indeed when I reached the other side, I
congratulated myself on having had a very narrow escape. A
neighbouring mountain affords grey slate, but of a loose and brittle
kind.

We had next to pass a marshy tract, almost entirely under water, for
the course of a mile, nor is it easy to conceive the difficulties of
the undertaking. At every step we were knee-deep in water; and if we
thought to find a sure footing on some grassy tuft, it proved
treacherous, and only sunk us lower. Sometimes we came where no
bottom was to be felt, and were obliged to measure back our weary
steps. Our half boots were filled with the coldest water, as the
frost, in some places, still remained in the ground. Had our
sufferings been inflicted as a capital punishment, they would, even
in that case, have been cruel, what then had we to complain of? I
wished I had never undertaken my journey, for all the elements seemed
adverse. It rained and blowed hard upon us. I wondered that I escaped
with life, though certainly not without excessive fatigue and loss of
strength.

After having thus for a long time gone in pursuit of my new Lapland
guide, we reposed ourselves about six o'clock in the morning, wrung
the water out of our clothes, and dried our weary limbs, while the
cold north wind parched us as much on one side as the fire scorched
us on the other, and the gnats kept inflicting their stings.

I had now my fill of travelling. The whole landed property of the
Laplander who owns this tract consists chiefly of marshes, here
called stygx. A divine could never describe a place of future
punishment more horrible than this country, nor could the Styx of the
poets exceed it. I may therefore boast of having visited the Stygian
territories.

We now directed our steps towards the desert of Lappmark, not knowing
where we went. A man who lived nearest to the forlorn spot just
described, but had not been at it for twenty years past, went in
search of some one to conduct me further, while I rested a little
near a fire. I wished for nothing so much as to be able to go back by
water to the place from whence I came; but I dreaded returning to the
boat the way we had already passed, knowing my corporeal frame to be
not altogether of iron or steel. I would gladly have gone eight or
ten miles by a dry road to the boat, but no such road was here to be
found. The hardy Laplanders themselves, born to labour as the birds
to fly, could not help complaining, and declared they had never been 
reduced to such extremity before. I could not help pitying them.

A marsh called Lyckmyran (lucky marsh), but which might more properly
be called Olycksmyran (unlucky marsh), gives rise to a small rivulet
which takes its course to Lycksele, and abounds with ochre. The water
is covered with a film. I am persuaded that iron might be found
there.

June 3.

We waited till about two o'clock in the afternoon for the Laplander I
had sent on the expedition above mentioned, who at length returned
quite spent with fatigue. He had made the requisite inquiries at many
of the huts, but in vain. He was accompanied by a person whose
appearance was such that at first I did not know whether I beheld a
man or a woman. I scarcely believe that any poetical description of a
fury could come up to the idea, which this Lapland fair-one excited.
It might well be imagined that she was truly of Stygian origin. Her
stature was very diminutive. Her face of the darkest brown from the
effects of smoke. Her eyes dark and sparkling. Her eyebrows black.
Her pitchy-coloured hair hung loose about her head, and on it she
wore a flat red cap. She had a grey petticoat; and from her neck,
which resembled the skin of a frog, were suspended a pair of large
loose breasts of the same brown complexion, but encompassed, by way
of ornament, with brass rings. Round her waist she wore a girdle, and
on her feet a pair of half boots.

Her first aspect really struck me with dread; but though a fury in
appearance, she addressed me, with mingled pity and reserve, in the
following terms:

"O thou poor man! what hard destiny can have brought thee hither, to
a place never visited by any one before? This is the first time I
ever beheld a stranger. Thou miserable creature! how didst thou come,
and whither wilt thou go? dost thou not perceive what houses and
habitations we have, and with how much difficulty we go to church?"

I entreated her to point out some way by which I might continue my
journey in any direction, so as not to be forced to return the way I
came. "Nay, man," said she, "thou hast only to go the same way back
again; for the river overflows so much, it is not possible for thee
to proceed further in this direction. From us thou hast no assistance
to expect in the prosecution of thy journey, as my husband, who might
have helped thee, is ill. Thou mayst inquire for our next neighbour,
who lives about a mile off, and perhaps, if thou shouldst meet with
him, he may give thee some assistance, but I really believe it will
scarcely be in his power.

I inquired how far it was to Sorsele. "That we do not know," replied
she; "but in the present state of the roads it is at least seven days
journey from hence, as my husband has told me."

My health and strength being by this time materially impaired by
wading through such an extent of marshes, laden with my apparel and
luggage, for the Laplander had enough to do to carry the boat; by
walking for whole nights together; by not haying for a long time
tasted any boiled meat; by drinking a great quantity of water, as
nothing else was to be had; and by eating nothing but fish, unsalted
and crawling with vermin, I must have perished but for a piece of
dried and salted reindeer's flesh, given me by my kind hostess the
clergyman's wife at Lycksele. This food, however, without bread,
proved unwholesome and indigestible. How I longed once more to meet
with people who feed on spoon-meat! I inquired of this woman whether
she could give me anything to eat. She replied, "Nothing but fish." I
looked at the fresh fish, as it was called, but perceiving its mouth
to be full of maggots, I had no appetite to touch it; but though it
thus abated my hunger, it did not recruit my strength. I asked if I
could have any reindeer tongues, which are commonly dried for sale,
and served up even at the tables of the great; but was answered in
the negative. "Have you no cheese made of reindeer's milk?" said I.
Yes," replied she, "but it is a mile off." "If it were here, would
you allow me to buy some?" "I have no desire," answered the good
woman, "that thou shouldst die in my country for want of food."

On arriving at her hut, I perceived three cheeses lying under a shed
without walls, and took the smallest of them, which she, after some
consultation, allowed me to purchase.


The cap of my hostess, like that of all the Lapland women, was very
remarkable. It was made of double red cloth, as is usually the case,
of a round flat form. The upper side A was flat, a foot broad, and
stitched round the edge, where the lining was turned over. At the
under side B was a hole to receive the head, with a projecting border
round it. The lining being loose, the cap covers the head more or
less, at the pleasure of the wearer. As to shift, she, like all her
countrywomen, was destitute of any such garment.


She wore a collar or tippet of the breadth of two fingers, stitched
with thread, and bordered next the skin with brass rings. Over this
she wore two grey jackets, both alike, which reached to her knees,
just like those worn by the men.

I was at last obliged to return the way I came, though very
unwillingly, heartily wishing it might never be my fate to see this 
place again. It was as bad as a visit to Acheron. If I could have run
up the bed of a river like a Laplander, I might have gone on, but
that was impossible.

On my return I observed that the basis of all the tufts of grass,
which abound in mosses or marshy spots, was the little rushy plant
with an entangled root (Scirpus caespitosus) of which I have already
spoken. The roots of this vegetable rise every year higher and higher
above the soil, so that it seems to have a principal share in forming
meadows out of bogs. It is also the basis of all the most remarkable
floating islands<36>.

I heard the note of some Ptarmigans (Tetrao lagopus), which sounded
like a kind of laughter. On approaching them I observed that their
necks were brown, their bodies white, with three or four brown
feathers on the shoulders. Their tails were of a darkish hue.<37>

 I noticed the Agaric of the Spruce Fir (Agaricus Fl. Lapp. n.517), a
flat sessile species, which is the chief remedy used by the
Laplanders against gnats, by smoking themselves as well as their
reindeer with it. When these insects become very numerous and
troublesome, they force the reindeer from their pastures. Even those
which have been a whole year away from home are obliged to return.
The Laplanders lay small piles of this fungus, every morning and
evening, upon the fire in their huts, by which means only they are
enabled to sleep at their ease.

I was also shown the Agaric of the Willow (Boletus suaveolens Fl.
Lapp. n.522), which has a very fragrant scent. The people assured me
it was formerly the fashion for young men, when going to visit their
mistresses, to use this fungus as a perfume, in order to render
themselves more agreeable.<38>

The Cloudberry (Rebus Chamaemorus) abounded hereabouts, and was now
in bloom. The petals varied in number from four to seven. I observed
this plant blossoming equally well on the most lofty mountains, as
was also the case with the Crake berry (Empetrum nigrum).


I again met with the hemipterous insect mentioned above, which feeds
on fish, and with it another black and dotted one of the coleopterous
order, which is seen running with the former among the scales of
fish, as well as in the crevices of the floors of the Lapland huts.
The last-mentioned insect smells like rue. See figure.

An oblong piece of brown cloth is sewed into the back part of the
collar of the women's jackets.

June 4.

Adjoining to a hut I remarked some round pieces, apparently of a sort
of napped cloth, as black as pitch. Not being able to imagine what
they could be, I was informed they were the stomachs or rennet-bags
of the reindeer turned inside out, for the purpose of preserving the
milk of that animal in a dry state till winter. Before the milk thus
preserved can be used, it is soaked in warm water. Some use bladders
for the same purpose. In the more mountainous parts they boil sorrel
(Rumex acetosa) with the milk which they preserve for winter use.

I wondered, indeed I more than wondered, how these poor people could
feed entirely on fish, sometimes boiled fresh, sometimes dried, and
then either boiled, or roasted before the fire on a wooden spit. They
roast their fish thoroughly, and boil it better and longer than ever
I saw practised before. They know no other soup or spoon-meat than
the water in which their fish has been boiled. If from any accident
they catch no fish, they cannot procure a morsel of food. At
midsummer they first begin to milk the reindeer, and maintain
themselves on the milk till autumn; when they kill some of those
valuable animals, and by various contrivances get a scanty supply of
food through the winter.

The young children sleep in oblong leather cradles, without anything
like swaddling-clothes, enveloped in dried bog-moss (Sphagnum
palustre), lined with the hair of the reindeer. In this soft and warm
nest they are secured against the most intense cold.

The winter huts, capable of being removed from place to place,
consist of four large curved poles, perforated at the top and
fastened two and two together, which being supported by four other
straight sticks, form a kind of arch. The whole is covered, except at
the very top, where an opening is left for a chimney, with the coarse
cloth called walmar or walmal. The edifice when finished is about
four feet high.

Tormentil (Tormentilla officinalis) here always grows in boggy
ground, which is remarkable. Its root is chewed along with the inner
bark of the Alder, and the saliva thus impregnated is applied to
leather, to dye it of a red colour. Thus their harness, reins,
girdles, gloves, &c. are tanned.

The extensive pine forests here grow to no use. As nobody wants
timber, the trees fall and rot upon the ground. I suggested the
advantage of extracting pitch and tar from them, but was answered by
the judge of the district that, from the remoteness of the situation,
what could be obtained from them would not pay for the trouble. But
as no place in the whole Swedish territories can afford so much, and
it might easily in winter be conveyed twenty miles, surely it
deserves attention.

In a grassy spot near the river I found a rare species of Ranunculus,
with a three-leaved calyx and a little yellow upright flower, which
appears to be nondescript. I met with it but twice or thrice in this
neighbourhood and no where else. (This is R. lapponicus Fl. Lapp.
n.231. t.3. f.4.)

In the marshes I remarked that what I had previously found on the
hills, and taken for a kind of white Byssus, had here possessed
itself of the tops of the Bogmoss (Sphagnum), and bore flesh-coloured
shields, so that an inexperienced observer might easily be so far
deceived by it as to think those shields the fructification of the
Sphagnum. (Lichen ericetorum. See Fl. Lapp. n.455.)

It is remarkable that the Juniper here always grows in watery places.
The berries are scantily produced, nor are the people of the country
at all acquainted with the method of making a spiritous liquor from
them, as in other places. I showed them how to make a kind of brandy
of the young tops of the fir, as a little improvement upon their
usual watery beverage,<39> but they thought the scheme impracticable;
nor could they conceive it possible to obtain anything drinkable from
the sap of the birch. They seemed determined to keep entirely to
water.

I could not observe that the nights were at all less light than the
days, except when the sun was clouded.

The poor Laplanders find the church festivals, or days of public
thanksgiving, in the spring of the year, very burthensome and
oppressive, as they are in general obliged to pass the river at the
hazard of their lives. The water at that season is neither
sufficiently frozen to bear them, nor open enough to be navigated; so
they are under the necessity of wading frequently up to their arms,
and are half dead with cold and fatigue by the time they get to
church. They must either undergo this hardship, or be fined ten
silver dollars and do penance for three Sundays; which surely is too
severe<40>.

This day I found the very hairy variety of the Purple Marsh
Cinquefoil (Comarum palustre) mentioned by Plukenet (t. 212, f.2).
The plants were of the last year's growth, and their hairiness the
more conspicuous; but it is a mere variety.

The Laplanders never eat but twice a day, often only once, and that
towards evening.

On the banks of the river, where fragments are to he found of all the
productions of the mountains, I met with silver ore.

The insects which fell under my observation this day were the great
Black Humblebee (Apis terrestris), the Wasp, the Gnat (Culex
pipiens), and the Flesh Fly (Musca carnaria).

June 5.

On the mountainous ground adjoining to the river I met with an
herbaceous plant never before observed in Sweden. The flowers were
not yet blown, but appeared within a few days of coming to
perfection. I opened some, and found them of a papilionaceous
structure. The tip of the standard, as well as of the keel, which was
cloven, had a purplish hue. The whole habit of the plant showed it to
be an Astragalus (A. alpinus Fl. Lapp. n.267. t.9. f.1.), which was
confirmed by the last-year's pods, remaining on their stalks. I
called it for the present Liquiritia minor (Small Liquorice).

By this time I became almost starved; having had nothing fit to eat
or drink for four days past, neither boiled provision of any sort,
nor any kind of spoon-meat. I had chiefly been supported by the dried
flesh of the reindeer above mentioned, which my stomach could not
well digest, nor, indeed bear except in small quantities. The fish
which was offered me I could not taste, even to preserve my life, as
it swarmed with vermin. At length I happily reached the house of the
curate, and obtained some fresh meat.

The curate here had caught the Gwiniad (Salmo lavaretus) five palms
in length, which is an unusual size. This fish is remarkable for
spawning near Lycksele church about Michaelmas, but in the alps at
Christmas, advancing gradually up the river between those two periods
after pairing. The small Gwiniad (Salmo albula) pairs under the ice
at this place about Christmas. In Smċland it pairs at Michaelmas.

Reindeer milk is excellent for making cheese, a pail of about three
quarts yielding a large quantity: On this account those who keep cows
add a portion of it to their milk; by which method they obtain much
more cheese than otherwise.

The reindeer suffers great hardship in autumn, when, the snow being
all melted away during summer, a sudden frost freezes the mountain
Lichen (L. rangiferinus), which is his only winter food. When this
fails, the animal has no other resource, for he never touches hay.
His keepers fell the trees in order to supply him with the
filamentous lichens that clothe their branches; but this kind of food
does not supply the place of what is natural to him. It is
astonishing how he can get at his proper food through the deep snow
that covers it, and by which it is protected from the severe frosts.
The reindeer feeds also on frogs, snakes, and even on the Lemming or
Mountain Rat (Mus lemmus), often pursuing the latter to so great a
distance as not to find his way back again. This happened in several
instances a few years ago, when these rats came down in immense
numbers from the mountains.

The Pike pairs in this neighbourhood as soon as the river becomes
open. I met with some strangers who had been six or eight miles, or
more, to the north of Lycksele, and had resided there on a fishing
party ever since Easter. I accompanied one of them to his hut. Each
man had collected about twenty pounds of fish, which were drying.

It is certainly very unjust that these people, settled more than
eight miles down the country on the other side of Lycksele church,
should drive the native Laplanders away, and be allowed to fish in
these upper regions, which have no communication with the sea shore,
and this without paying any tax to the crown or tithe to the curate
of the parish, which the fishermen of the country are obliged either
to do, or to farm the fishery of the land-holder, who pays tribute
for his land, and who justly complains of the hardship he suffers in
various respects, without daring to make any open resistance. When
any of these complaints were made by the Laplanders in my hearing, I
asked why they did not seek redress in a proper manner. "Alas!"
replied they, "we have no means of procuring access to our sovereign.
Nobody here exercises any authority to protect us, or to prevent
these interlopers from doing with us just as they please. We cannot
procure witnesses in our favour, scattered about as we are in an
unfrequented desert, and therefore we are robbed with impunity. We
can never believe that this happens with the approbation of our
Gracious Sovereign. If we were assured that it was his will, we
should submit with dutiful resignation."

The clergy also complained to me that, after having resided in this
wilderness, and fulfilled the duties of their calling with all
possible care and diligence, they are never in the way of promotion,
like those employed in schools, or any other station, where they are
more at hand to solicit preferment. Indeed it seems very just, that,
after having served here for twenty years, they should obtain some
small preferment in a more cultivated country, where their children
might be properly educated, and enjoy the advantages of civilized
society. A schoolmaster at this time resident here, who had exerted
himself in the most exemplary manner, so as to do as much in two
years as his predecessor had done in ten, with respect to teaching
Swedish to the children of the Laplanders, a task harder than that of
the plough, had no other prospect than still to remain in obscurity,
even his great merit not being likely to procure him any further
advancement.

In the forests of this neighbourhood good pasturage is now and then
to be found, but the corn-fields and meadows are poor, especially the
former. After the marshes have been mowed one season, or at most two,
they produce no more grass. The Bogmoss (Sphagnum) overruns them, and
renders them barren. Surely this extensive country might be as well
cultivated as Halsingland, which is equally mountainous, and in other
respects less fit for improvement than this. I have noticed large
tracts of loose bog or moss land, which I am persuaded would make
excellent meadows, if any drain, though ever so small, were made to
carry off the water. This, I was told, had been tried in some
instances, but that no grass grew on the land in consequence of it;
on the contrary, the whole was dried up and barren. This arises from
the turfy roots of the rushy tribe of plants, which, though killed by
the draining, still occupy the ground.

As to the pine forests, if the superfluous part of them were felled,
and birch trees permitted to grow in their stead, a better crop of
grass would consequently be produced. When the country is
mountainous, this would be attended with less success; but with least
of all where the soil is of the barren sandy kind (Arena glarea), of
which I have already spoken several times in the course of my tour.
On such a soil, after the burning of a pine forest, nothing grows for
the ensuing ten or twenty years. But might not even this dreary soil
be improved by felling the trees, and leaving them to rot upon the
ground, so as to form in process of time a layer of vegetable mould?
In Skċne, Buckwheat (Polygonum fagopyrum) is sown on a sandy soil,
but here the climate is too severe. Yet perhaps some other plant
might be found to cultivate even here. It would be very desirable to
discover some means of eradicating the Bog-moss.

The reason why the marshes prove barren, after the grass has been
mown, is easily explained by considering the nature of the rushy
plants, whose roots extend themselves gradually upwards, and choke
the Carices and other grasses, when the latter are cut down to the
ground, so that their roots wither. Might this evil be cured by
burning? I wondered that the Laplanders hereabouts had not built a
score of small houses, lofty enough at least to be entered in an
upright posture, as they have such abundance of wood at hand. On my
expressing my surprise at this, they answered: "In summer we are in
one spot, in winter at another, perhaps twenty miles distant, where
we can find moss for our reindeer." I asked "why they did not collect
this moss in the summer, that they might have a supply of it during
the winter' frosts?" They replied, that they give their whole
attention to fishing in summer time, far from the places where this
moss abounds and where they reside in winter.

These people eat a great deal of flesh meat. A family of four persons
consumes at least one reindeer every week, from the time when the
preserved fish becomes too stale to be eatable, till the return of
the fishing season. Surely they might manage better in this respect
than they do. When the Laplander in summer catches no fish, he must
either starve, or kill some of his reindeer. He has no other cattle
or domestic animals than the reindeer and the dog: the latter cannot
serve him for food in his rambling excursions; but whenever he can
kill Gluttons (Mustela gulo), Squirrels, Martins, Bears or Beavers,
in short anything except Foxes and Wolves, he devours them. His whole
sustenance is derived from the flesh of these animals, wild fowl, and
the reindeer, with fish and water. A Laplander, therefore, whose
family consists of four persons, including himself, when he has no
other meat, kills a reindeer every week, three of which are equal to
an ox; he consequently consumes about thirty of those animals in the
course of the winter, which are equal to ten oxen, whereas a single
ox is sufficient for a Swedish peasant.

The peasants settled in this neighbourhood, in time of scarcity eat
chaff, as well as the inner bark of pine trees separated from the
scaly cuticle. They grind and then bake it in order to render it fit
for food. A part is reserved for their cattle, being cut obliquely
into pieces of two fingers' breadth, by which the fodder of the cows,
goats, and sheep is very much spared. The bark is collected at the
time when the sap rises in the tree, and, after being dried in the
sun, is kept for winter use. They grind it into meal, bake bread of
it, and make grains to feed swine upon, which render those animals
extremely fat, and save a great deal of corn.

The Laplanders dye their wool red chiefly with the Blood-root or
Tormentil, Tormentilla erecta. A red colour is given to their leather
by means of fir bark. The men wear a kind of trousers which reach
down to their feet, and are tied round their half boots, so as to
keep out water. They wear no shirt nor stockings. The waistband is
fastened by thongs, not buttons.

As to the diseases of these people, I was informed here that fevers
are very rare indeed, and that the smallpox is also of unfrequent
occurrence. Hence, when it does come, many old people with grey hairs
fall a sacrifice to the latter disorder, which however is not widely
communicated, any more than fever, because of the very thin
population. Of intermittent fever I met with only one example, and of
calculus<41> another. They cure a cough by sulphur laid on the
lighted fungus which serves them as tinder, or on the fire, the smoke
of which inhaled into the lungs is esteemed a specific; but it is a
very fallacious one. For the headache a small bit of the aforesaid
fungus is laid on the place where the pain is most violent, and,
being set on fire, it burns slowly till the part is excoriated. This
therefore is the Moxa of the Laplanders. In case of a prolapsus
uvulae they cut off the protuberance with a pair of scissars. For the
colic or belly-ache they rub the nails with salt, besides which they
administer oil internally.

I here satisfied myself about the native species of Angelica, which
are two only, not three. The Biœrnstut is Angelica sylvestris, the
Botsk, A. archangelica. (See Flora Lapponica, n.101, 102.)

The bountiful provision of Nature is evinced in providing mankind
with bed and bedding even in this savage wilderness. The great Hair-
moss (Polytrichuin commune) called by the Laplanders Romsi, grows
copiously in their damp forests, and is used for this purpose. They
choose the starry-headed plants, out of the tufts of which they cut a
surface as large as they please for a bed or bolster, separating it
from the earth beneath; and although the shoots are scarcely
branched, they are nevertheless so entangled at the roots as not to
be separable from each other. This mossy cushion is very soft and
elastic, not growing hard by pressure; and if a similar portion of it
be made to serve as a coverlet, nothing can be more warm and
comfortable. I have often made use of it with admiration; and if any
writer had published a description of this simple contrivance, which
necessity has taught the Laplanders, I should almost imagine that our
counterpanes were but an imitation of it. They fold this bed
together, tying it up into a roll that may be grasped by a man's
arms, which if necessary they carry with them to the place where they
mean to sleep the night following. If it becomes too dry and
compressed, its former elasticity is restored by a little moisture.

June 6.

In order to observe how fast the water rose in the river, which was
increasing daily, I had fixed a perpendicular stick the preceding
evening at eight o'clock close to the margin of the stream. This
morning at five it had gained a foot in depth and two feet in
breadth. Near the bank, which is continually undermining in some part
or other by the current, stones are found incrusted with sand,
coagulated as it were about them by means of iron. Some of them seem
as if they had been blown to pieces with gunpowder.

I was told that the peasants had in the winter preceding foretold an
unusual rise of the river, and a great flood, in the course of this
summer, which when it happens is a considerable detriment to those
whose pasture grounds are overflowed by it. Their mode of judging is
by the swelling of the stream in winter, to which they observe that
in the ensuing summer always to bear a proportion.

The colonists settled in Lappmark sow a great deal of turnip seed,
which frequently succeeds very well and produces a plentiful crop.
The native Laplanders are so fond of this root, that they will often
give a cheese in exchange for a turnip; than which nothing can be
more foolish.

At Grano I met with perfectly white flowers of the Dog's Violet
(Viola canina): also Bistorta alpina sobolifera, or more properly
perhaps vivipara (Polygonum viviparum), as the bulbs had grown out
into small leaves.

Rain fell in the night, accompanied with thunder and lightning.

June 7.
Early in the morning I left Grano, and in passing through the forest
observed on the Juniper magnificent specimens of that. gelatinous
substance, about which and its heroic virtues in curing the jaundice
so much has been said.<42>


I picked up a curious insect which I then named Cantharis niger
maculatus et undulatus (Cicindela sylvatica), and which I afterwards
met with in great abundance throughout the pine forests of this
province, though rare elsewhere, flying or running with great
celerity along the roads and paths. Here also it was my fortune to
see a rare bird not hitherto described, If I am not mistaken, it is
what Professor Rudbeck called Pica lapponum. I could only examine it
through my spying-glass, but I perceived all the characters of a
Turdus, so that I do not scruple to define it Turdus cauda rubra
medio cinerea. It had moreover the flight and voice of a Turdus,
screaming in the same manner. Towards evening I noticed a black sort
of Plover, with legs of a yellowish green, and had also an
opportunity of killing a Lomm, (Colymbus arcticus), which I stuffed,
and of which I made a description in my ornithological manuscript.
The bill was not toothed.

Towards evening I reached Stocknasmark and Iamtboht, where grew the
pretty little Cameraria of Ruppius and Dillenius (Montia fontana), a
plant that had never fallen in my way before. In Kallheden it was
peculiarly abundant, and afterwards I found it common throughout
Vasterbotten. It is one of the smallest of plants.

The Laplanders in this neighbourhood had set traps to catch
squirrels. Each consists of a piece of wood cloven half way down, and
baited with a piece of dried fungus with which the animal is enticed.
The fungus used for this purpose is an Agaric with a bulbous stalk
and crimson cap (A. integer b. Sp: Pl.).


In the huts I observed suspended over the tables two tails of the
great female Wood Grouse (Tetrao urogallus), spread so as to make a
kind of circular fan, which had a handsome appearance.

The Little Cotton-Grass (Eriophorum alpinum) and the Mesomora (Cornus
suecica) grow abundantly in this neighbourhood. About the water were
several Ephemerae. I also caught a little insect of the beetle (or
coleopterous) kind, the shells of which were red, the thorax blue
with a red margin, the whole shining with a tinge of gold. In Lapland
are scarcely any fleas, no bugs, though plenty of lice, nor any frogs
nor serpents.

June 8.

Very early in the morning I set out again on my journey, and in my
way examined the Palmated Orchis with a green or pale flower,
differing from all others in the shape of its nectary, which is like
a bag and not a spur. Hence I have referred it to Satyrium (S.
viride). It connects that genus with the real Orchides with palmate
bulbs.<43>

I remarked that all the women hereabouts feed their infants by means
of a horn, nor do they take the trouble of boiling the milk which
they thus administer, so that no wonder the children have worms. I
could not help being astonished that these peasants did not suckle
their children.

About four o'clock in the afternoon I found myself once more at the
town of Umeċ. Large flies like gnats with great black wings were
flying about in the air, which I had before taken, May 27, for some
species of Musca; but their peculiar flight now gave me another
opinion, which was strengthened by the form of their poisers
(halteres) and the round entire figure of their wings. (Elvis
borealis). Here I found a curious Ladybird (Coccinella trifasciata)
of an orange colour, with oblong, not round, spots.

A remarkable change had taken place in the appearance of the country
during the fortnight which had elapsed since I was here before. The
Aspen trees were then quite leafless; now they were in full foliage;
the grass was very dry, and about a quarter (of an ell?) high.


It is a general practice throughout Lapland in the autumn to set
traps in the more unfrequented parts of the woods to catch the Wood
Grouse (Urogallus). Some of these traps were still remaining, but I
could never properly observe their construction till I met with one
in the course of this day's journey. This machine consists of six
parallel pieces of wood, each at a little distance from the next, and
all joined together by a transverse piece at each end. Over them the
twig of a tree is placed horizontally, one end of it being fastened
to the frame, the other introduced into a loop holding a weight. An
upright splinter of wood is made to support this twig in an arched
position, so that when the bird goes under it to roost, or otherwise
touches the splinter, the latter falls down, and the bird is caught.

This being a day of public thanksgiving I remained at Umeċ.

Agues are very uncommon in this country, but St. Anthony's fire seems
to be proportionably more frequent, insomuch that everybody complains
of being troubled with it. At Uppsala and Stockholm agues are common,
and at Lund acute fevers terminate in that complaint.

Throughout Lycksele Lapland there are no other domestic animals than
Reindeer and Dogs. The latter are generally of a hoary grey colour,
and a middling size. The Laplanders use no artificial beverage.

June 9.

Near the town of Umeċ, in a springy spot on the side of a hill, I met
with three or four curious species of moss.


1. A kind of Hypnum, or Polytrichum, with a branched stem bearing
flowers in the form of shields. (Mnium fontanum Sp. Pl. Bartramia
fontana FL Brit. The male plant.) From the root arises an oblique
stem (a) about half an inch long, entirely clothed with very sharp-
pointed leaves. From thence the main stem (b) grows perpendicularly
to the height of an inch, of a purple colour, clothed with ovate,
acute, membranous, whitish scales, each half embracing the stem.
Between the bases of these is a solitary line or rib, into which they
are inserted in an alternate order. I imagine the oblique part of the
stem (a) to be of autumnal or winter growth, and the upright portion
(b) to have been put forth in summer or spring. At the summit of the
latter stands a sort of blossom (c), composed of six scales, of which
the three lower are opposite and shortest; the three upper larger, 
ovate, pointed, somewhat spreading, permanent, of a whitish green
colour. Within these scales or petals is a flat, or slightly convex,
disk, composed of innumerable very slender whitish filaments with
reddish tips, much shorter than the surrounding scales. Can these
filaments be the stamens? They are by no means rudiments of leaves.
One, two or three branches grow out at the base of this flower, the
latter being for the most part perennial, and go through the same
mode of growth and flowering as the parent plant. The calyx
therefore, contrary to the nature of the common Polytrichum, is
proliferous from its base. It is curious that all the flowers, in
each tuft composed perhaps of a hundred plants, rise exactly to the
same level. It is also remarkable that the new stems form a similar
angle to that made by the growth of the preceding year (d), so that
the whole assemblage of them is as regularly disposed as a body of
soldiers.


2. This moss (Bartiamia Fontana, the female plant) agrees in many
respects with the preceding, but differs in the following
particulars. The roots or shoots of the preceding year are quite
black, while those of the present season are of a paler or whitish
green; nor are the scaly leaves so far remote from each other as that
the red stem appears so regularly between them. The plants are also
more branched, and less curved. In the last place, this is a fruit-
bearing kind, having purple stalks two inches long, each of which
sustains a globular head, larger than usual in mosses, bent
obliquely, and of a green colour. The calyptra or veil is remarkably
small, smooth, and membranous.

3. is a moss (Bryum bimum Fl. Brit. Engl. Bot. t.1518.) whose stem
and leaves partake of a blood-red hue. The latter are regularly and
alternately imbricated, oblong, pointed; the upper ones forming a
head at the summits of the branches, as in No. 1, but the disk is not
exposed, for the lower leaves which surround it are the longest, and
the inner ones shortest, just the reverse of No. 1. This No. 3
therefore is the male, and No. 4 the female, both found on the same
plant.<44> The latter bears, on a long purple stalk, greenish at the
upper part, an oblong pear-shaped pendulous head (or capsule). The
veil is very small. 5. is a small Lichen or Marchantia (Riccia) with
oblong leaves, contracted in the middle, sprinkled with brown powder.


The annexed figure represents a large kind of gnat caught in the same
place (Tipula rivosa).

June 10.

(Here occur in the manuscript long Latin descriptions of Rubus
arcticus and Betula nana, which are printed in a more finished state
in the Flora Lapponica, ed. 2.170 and 274.)

June 11.

Being Sunday, and a day of continued rain, I remained at Umeċ.

June 12.

I took my departure very early in the morning. The weather was so
hazy I could not see the distance of half a gun-shot before me. I
wandered along in a perpetual mist, which made the grass as wet as if
it had rained. The sun appeared quite dim, wading as it were through
the clouds. By nine o'clock the mists began to disperse, and the sun
shone forth. The Spruce Fir (Pinus abies), hitherto of an uniform
dark green, now began to put forth its lighter-coloured buds, a
welcome sign of advancing summer.<45>

Chamaedaphne of Buxbaum (Andromeda polifolia) was at this time in its
highest beauty, decorating the marshy grounds in a most agreeable
manner. The flowers are quite blood-red before they expand, but when
full- grown the corolla is of a flesh colour. Scarcely any painter's
art can so happily imitate the beauty of a fine female complexion;
still less could any artificial colour upon the face itself bear a
comparison with this lovely blossom. As I contemplated it I could not
help thinking of Andromeda as described by the poets; and the more I
meditated upon their descriptions, the more applicable they seemed to
the little plant before me, so that if these writers had had it in
view, they could scarcely have contrived a more apposite fable.
Andromeda is represented by them as a virgin of most exquisite and
unrivalled charms; but these charms remain in perfection only so long
as she retains her virgin purity, which is also applicable to the
plant, now preparing to celebrate its nuptials. This plant is always
fixed on some little turfy hillock in the midst of the swamps, as
Andromeda herself was chained to a rock in the sea, which bathed her
feet, as the fresh water does the roots of the plant. Dragons and
venomous serpents surrounded her, as toads and other reptiles
frequent the abode of her vegetable prototype, and, when they pair in
the spring, throw mud and water over its leaves and branches. As the
distressed virgin cast down her blushing face through excessive
affliction, so does the rosy-coloured flower hang its head, growing
paler and paler till it withers away. Hence, as this plant forms a
new genus, I have chosen for it the name of Andromeda.<46>

Everywhere near the road grew the Mesomora or Herbaceous Cornel
(Cornus suecica, very minutely described in Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 39. See
also English Botany, v.5. t.310.).

All the little woods and copses by the roadside abounded with
Butterflies of the Fritillary tribe, without silver spots. The great
Dragon Fly with two flat lobes at its tail (Libellula forcipata), and
another species with blue wings (L. virgo), were also common.


Various modes of rocking children in cradles are adopted in different
places. In Smċland the cradle is suspended by an elastic pole, on
which it swings up and down perpendicularly. The poorer Laplanders
rock their infants on branches of trees, but those of superior rank
have cradles that commonly roll from side to side. In the part of the
country where I was now travelling, the cradles rock vertically, or
from head to foot, as in the figure.

Close to the road hung the under jaw of a horse, having six fore
teeth, much worn and blunted, two canine teeth, and at a distance
from the latter twelve grinders, six on each side. If I knew how many
teeth and of what peculiar form, as well as how many udders, and
where situated, each animal has, I should perhaps be able to contrive
a most natural methodical arrangement of quadrupeds.<47>

I could not help remarking that the very best fields of this part of
the country, in which from six to ten barns commonly stood, were
almost entirely occupied with turfy hillocks producing nothing but
Hairmoss, Polytrichum, and that quite dried up. Some of the barns
were evidently in a decayed state; which made me suspect this
condition of the land to be an increasing evil, and that it had
formerly been more productive than at present. Indeed some of these
wimps were so close together that no grass had room to grow between
them. If the cause of this evil, and a cure for it, could be
discovered, the husbandman would have reason to rejoice. Wherever
these hillocks abounded, the earth seemed to be of a loose texture,
consisting of either mud or clay. When I stepped upon them they gave
way, and when cut open they appeared all hollow and unsound. I
conceive the frost to have a great share in their formation, which
when it leaves the ground causes a vacuity, and the turf, loosened
from the soil, is raised up.


The insects which occurred to my notice this day, besides those above
mentioned, were the following: A black Ichneumon, like a Humble Bee,
with club-shaped antennae four lines long, and bluish wings. Its
mouth armed with a pair of toothed forceps. Thorax hairy, with
several smooth spots interspersed. Abdomen depressed, .ovate, rough
at the base with greyish hairs, and furnished with a series of scales
beneath, see fig. b. Feet pale red, otherwise the general colour of
the insect is black. It lives on the willow. (This appears to be the
Tenthredo lucorum, a species not preserved in the Linnaean cabinet.)

A small Papilio, of the fritillary tribe, with one silver mark
underneath of the form of a shield. See it among those of Petiver
collected in Portugal. (This must surely be Papilio C album.)

A greyish Butterfly with feathered antennae, whose female has no
wings. See Swammerdam. (Phalaena antiqua.)

An elegant little blackish Butterfly, besprinkled with snow-white
spots like rings, smooth and polished on the under side, was very
plentiful in the paths.

A black Tipula was running over the water, and turning round like a
Gyrinus or Water Flea. (Cimex lacustris.)

In the wells, the Swammerdamia of Swammerdam and Lister ran about
with great velocity. Among these was a very minute insect, which I
could not ascertain.

An Elasticus, (Elater, probably the aeneus,) of a golden black, with
striated cases to the wings, and geniculated antennae.

A reddish Cantharis, with black antennae, and light grey cases to the
wings.



PITEA.
I now entered the territory of Piteċ. It rained about eleven o'clock
for half an hour, otherwise the day was fine.

June 13.

A very bright and calm day. The great Myrgiolingen<48> was flying in
the marshes. The country here is rather flat, yet now and then
considerable hills present themselves, not very high indeed, but
abounding in steep declivities: The stones about these hills were
variegated, and as if inlaid, glittering with talc; many of them
rusty, and spontaneously corroded. On one spot, in the road itself,
is produced a brown pale-purplish earth, which is very likely to be
useful for painting. The hill where this earth or ochre is found is
called Hógmarkbœrget.

At the post-houses of Gremersmark and Sela, I was told of a mountain
about two miles distant, reported to contain copper. Three years
previous to my travelling this way, a man had been sent by the Board
for Mining Affairs to investigate this mountain; but the peasants of
the neighbourhood, in consequence of the threats of the burghers of
Umeċ, were deterred from giving him proper directions, and put him on
a wrong scent. They kept this stranger from the knowledge of Hans
Person, a peasant at Webomark, who would have conducted him right.
The father of this Hans was the first discoverer of the mountain in
question, and undertook a journey to Stockholm with a small barrel of
the ore; but before he set off, his neighbours made him drunk, and
took out the proper ore, replacing it in his barrel with lumps of
granite. His son is now at all times ready to show the mountain to
any one who inquires for it, and I had some thoughts of going to find
out this man, though his residence was far out of my road. Learning
however that he was not now at home, but employed somewhere at a
distance in building or repairing a bridge, I thought it useless to
inquire any further.

At some few places at which I stopped for refreshment in the course
of this day's journey, I procured some of that preparation of milk
called Satmiolk, by some people Tatmiolk. In the neighbourhood grows
the plant called Tatgrass, or Pinguicula, with its most curiously 
constructed flower. When the inhabitants of these parts once procure
this plant, they avail themselves of it during the whole year; for
they preserve it dried through the winter, and use it as a kind of
rennet till the return of spring.

Here also I learned another preparation of milk. After cheese is
made, the whey is boiled and skimmed, which operation is repeated
till a sediment forms as thick as flummery. This is afterwards dried,
and kept in casks for use. It makes an ingredient in bread, and is
called Mesosmor.

The fire-places here were furnished with a regular apparatus for
boiling the kettle. The Laplanders in general content themselves for
this purpose with a large stick, which they place obliquely in the
ground, so as to lean over the fire, and on which they suspend either
a kettle or a fish; but here they have adopted quite another mode.


A square beam (a) is placed perpendicularly, so as to be turned upon
a pivot at its base. To this a transverse beam (b) is fixed by a peg
or joint, so that its extremity may be moved up or down, and teeth
are cut in this beam, to hang the kettle upon, at a greater or less
distance from the upright support. Underneath is another shorter
piece of wood (c), forked at the extremity to catch the lower teeth
of the last-mentioned beam, and fixed likewise by a joint at its
base, in order to be elevated more or less at pleasure. The
advantages of this contrivance are many.

1. The materials cost nothing, whereas any iron machinery is
expensive.

2. Here is no waste, for iron may be employed to more important
purposes.

3. This is capable of being raised higher or lower according as the
height of the fire may require, which an iron trivet cannot.

4. The iron trivet is troublesome to move about, which this machine
does not require.

5. When the trivet happens to lose one of its feet, it is no longer
of any use.

6. The circular part of the iron trivet must be proportioned to the
size of the kettle it is to support, but this machine will hold any
sized kettle.

The fields in this part of the country are excellent, being extensive
and level, the soil consisting of sandy and argillaceous earth. The
crops are abundant, provided the corn be not injured by frost, as it
had been the preceding year. Owing to this misfortune, I found bread
made of spruce fir bark at present in general use. The Buckbean
(Menyanthes trifoliata) is very seldom used, on account of its
bitterness.<49>

Flax is scarcely ever cultivated here.

In the evening I strolled out from the post-house at Bumoen towards
the sea side in search of natural productions. The brooks close to
the shore swarmed with innumerable little oval Notonectae
(Boatflies), no bigger than nits (N. minutissima); as well as with
the lesser ovate Dytiscus, shaded with grey, and known by its blunt
cloven sternum. (D. cinereus.) On the beach multitudes of black
insects without wings, and half covered with shelly cases, were
running about. (Probably Cimex littoralis.) There were also abundance
of Ephemera (May-flies), all which had two prominent fore feet, and
three bristles at the tail. I caught several, thus rendering their
transient existence still shorter. They were of two species, one
larger, of a blackish hue, with dark clouded wings (E. vulgata); the
other about half as large, with a blackish thorax, and white wings.
(This does not agree with any species in the Fauna Suecica.)

Not far from the shore, on a small elevation, where the trees and
underwood had lately been burnt down, grew the Strawberry-leaved
Bramble (Rubus arcticus) with jagged petals, a remarkable and elegant
variety. (See Fl. Lapp. t.5. f.2)

June 14.

It rained very hard in the course of this day, as well as in the
preceding night. The cornfields hereabouts vary in soil, being
sometimes clay or sand, sometimes a good mould, and often a mixture
of all three. In general they yield some kind of a crop, whatever the
weather may be, except it should prove severely cold, which is the
ruin of the country.

The forests are beautiful, consisting of Spruce Fir, Common Fir, and
plenty of Birch, so that no part of Sweden is more pleasant to travel
through while the summer lasts. The principal subsistence of the
inhabitants is derived from selling deals.<50> The price is sixteen
silver styvers (about three English farthings each) for a dozen of
deals. Tar is sold at six dollars, copper money, a barrel.

I wish those who deny that certain plants are peculiar to certain
countries could see how abundantly the Birch, the Lapland Willow, the
Strawberry-leaved Bramble, the Cloud-berry (Rubus chamaemorus), and
the Thyme-leaved Bell-flower (Linnaea borealis) flourish in this
district, and how the Ranunculus acris entirely covers the pasture
lands with its brilliant yellow flowers.

On arriving at the post-house of Sunnanaen, I was gratified with the
view of a fine river, and the very neat little town of Skelleftea,
consisting of two principal streets and several cross ones, with a
church. The houses are about three hundred and fifty or four hundred,
and their white chimneys give them a cheerful aspect. I was informed
that every peasant in the parish had a house of his own in the town,
for the use of his family during festivals.<51>

Proceeding a little further, I remarked a steep hill near the road
carefully covered over with boughs of spruce fir. On removing some of
these, the ground evidently appeared to have been broken up, and
apparently blasted with gunpowder. This should seem to have been done
by someone in search of ore, of which however I could not perceive
the least indication. I carried away a few specimens of the rock.


After passing the next post-house, I was ferried over a river about
half way towards the third, when an Owl appeared, flitting every now
and then, at short distances, before me. Laying hold of my gun, I
ventured to take aim, though my horse kept going on at a good rate.
It was a quarter past twelve at night, yet not at all dark. I was
lucky enough to hit the bird, but in such a manner that one side of
it was too much damaged to allow of stuffing and preserving the
specimen. (This was the Strix ulula, the Latin description of which,
made on the spot, is given, somewhat corrected, in the Fauna Suecica;
but the annexed sketch is too great a curiosity to be suppressed).

Just as I was about to draw up a description of this Owl, a little
Beetle crept out of its plumage. It was evidently a Scarabaeus by its
antennae. The whole body was oblong, shaded with blue and black; the
belly white. When touched or alarmed, it lay perfectly still.
(Probably Dermestes murinus.)

Near the road lay a trap to catch Salmon, made of long slender laths,
bound together with six flexible twigs of osier into a cylindrical
form, open at the base, and furnished with twigs in that part placed
like the wires of a mousetrap, but in a double row, that they might
be so much the stronger. The open space between them was enough to
admit a man's head. On one side further on was a door to take out the
fish when caught.

Oniscus aquaticus was in the water.

The principal clergyman Skelleftea told me an anecdote of a Laplander
who, at the last court of justice held there, summoned his neighbour
for having twice as much land, without paying any greater share of
taxes than himself. The man summoned was of course sentenced to pay
double what he paid before. This provoked him so much, that he
immediately gave information of a vein of silver on his own estate,
in consequence of which he was, by the fundamental laws of the realm,
exempt from all taxes whatsoever. He then went to his adversary in
triumph, exclaiming, "See how matters go now! I am exempt from taxes,
but how is it with you?"

June 15.

This day afforded me nothing much worthy of notice. The sea in many
places came very near the road, lashing the stony crags with its
formidable waves. In some parts it gradually separated small islands
here and there from the mainland, and in others manured the sandy
beach with mud. The weather was fine. In one marshy spot grew what is
probably a variety of the Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccus), differing
only in having extremely narrow leaves, with smaller flowers and
fruit than usual. The common kind was intermixed with it, but the
difference of size was constant. The Pinguicula grew among them,
sometimes with round, sometimes with more oblong leaves. The Bilberry
(Vaccinium myrtillus) presented itself most commonly with red
flowers, more rarely with flesh-coloured ones. Myrica gale, which I
had not before met with in Vasterbotten, grew sparingly in the
marshes. 	In the evening, a little before the sun went down, I was
assailed by such multitudes of gnats as surpass all imagination. They
seemed to occupy the whole atmosphere, especially when I travelled
through low or damp meadows. They filled my mouth, nose and eyes, for
they took no pains to get out of my way. Luckily they did not attack
me with their bites or stings, though they almost choked me. When I
grasped at the cloud before me, my hands were filled with myriads of
these insects, all crushed to pieces with a touch, and by far too
minute for description. The inhabitants call them Knort, or Knott,
(Culex reptans, by mistake called C. pulicaris in Fl. Lapp. ed. 2.
382.)

Just at sunset I reached the town of Old Piteċ, having previously
crossed a broad river in a ferry boat. Near this spot stood a gibbet,
with a couple of wheels, on which lay the bodies of two Finlanders
without heads. These men had been executed for highway robbery and
murder. They were accompanied by the quartered body of a Laplander,
who had murdered one of his relations.

Immediately on entering the town I procured a lodging, but had not
been long in bed before I perceived a glare of light on the wall of
my chamber. I was alarmed with the idea of fire but, on looking out
of the window, saw the sun rising, perfectly red, which I did not
expect would take place so soon. The cock crowed, the birds began to
sing, and sleep was banished from my eyelids.

June 16.

This morning I made an excursion to the northward, in order to
examine a well, reported to be of a mineral nature. It is situated
about half a quarter of a mile from Old Piteċ, and seemed to me only
a common cold spring, having no taste, nor could I perceive any ochre
about it, nor any silvery film on its surface. In the road to this
spring stands a steep hill called Brevikberget, which I climbed with
great difficulty. In the clefts of the rock lay several wings of
young ravens and crows, with feet of hares, &c. "See," said I to my
companion, "here has been the nest of an Eagle Owl!" On arriving at
the next crag, a little higher up, we discovered a pair of birds of
this species (Strix bubo) sitting in a hollow of the rock. Their eyes
sparkled like fire, for the iris in each of them was luminous in
itself, like touchwood, glow-worms, or rotten fish, These birds were
as large as young geese. I durst not venture to attack them with my
hands; but approaching them with a stake, I then first perceived they
were almost full grown, though not yet able to fly. The extent of
their wings when spread was four feet; their colour blackish, with
red-brown spots; their plumage very soft down, of a blackish hue
tipped with white, mixed with sprouting quills. The smaller feathers
were underneath of a reddish brown, marked with very narrow curved
lines. The hue of the larger feathers, especially of the breast,
where they were most apparent, was a brick colour, each being marked
with a black indented longitudinal stripe. The feathers over the
eyelids were small and black; upper part of the cheeks dark coloured,
lower whitish. The wings and tail were not yet come to their full
growth, hut their quill feathers were blackish, with roundish red-
brown spots. Feet like those of a hare, red-brown and downy, with
naked claws. Bill black, the cere or membrane at its base black,
accompanied by whitish whiskers. Nostrils at the fore part of the
cere, roundish, separated by an oblique partition. Throat white. Iris
of the eye round, large, saffron-coloured, with a very large bluish-
black pupil. The ears were large, and I could have wished they had
fallen under the inspection of an able anatomist, as they would
certainly have afforded him matter for curious observation. The bones
called the stapes, incus, &c., as well as the cochlea, were of large
proportions. The eyes also were large and prominent, dilated at their
base like an onion. When the white outer coat was removed, which was
easily accomplished, the cornea appeared of considerable thickness,
in which, when in a room, external objects were very accurately
delineated, but not so abroad. The crystalline lens was remarkably
soft, and scarcely of more consistency than the vitreous humour. The
tunica arachnoidea was very conspicuous, filled with innumerable
vessels, and of such firmness as to be very easily separable from the
cornea. In the middle, near the optic nerve, it looked red from the
number of blood-vessels, but the sides were of a bluish black. There
were two orifices at the larger corner of the eye.

On this same mountain grew in abundance a kind of Muscus lichenoides
of a greyish black colour, as if scorched or burnt, different from
what authors have described, being more coriaceous<52> and greenish,
while that is black and brittle, almost like burnt paper, and smooth
underneath; whereas the plant I here observed has the under side
entirely covered with fibres like little roots. (This was the true
Lichen velleus of Linnaeus, preserved in his herbarium, and figured
in Dillenius, tab. 82. f.5. See Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 360.)

The branches of Spruce Fir here began to show that appearance to
which Clusius, if my memory does not deceive me, has given the name
of Pinus nodosa. These knots consist of innumerable little plates,
looking as if all the buds had been cut short, and plaited together.
In the inside is lodged a great mass of very small oblong insects, or
rather eggs.

June 17.

Although I walked about a good deal, and was not inattentive to what
came in my way, I met with nothing peculiarly worthy of notice. On
the grass I frequently observed that substance like saliva, which the
common people call Frog-spittle, and which envelops a little pale
flesh-coloured insect like a small Grasshopper. This insect, though
not arrived at maturity, moved in some degree, and showed sufficient
signs of the family to which it belonged, though it was not yet old
enough to cut capers. I removed the frothy moisture from some of
these insects, and on returning to them in the course of an hour, I
found them covered as before; a proof of the origin of the froth,
which is produced by the animal for the purpose of protecting its
tender skin against the violent heat of the sun. Whilst I was busied
in these observations, a number of cattle came running over the
fields with the greatest velocity. Even the most miserably lean cows,
which one would think scarcely able to drag one leg after another,
went skipping along like does. Hic pauper cornua sumit.<53> They
twisted their tails round and round, and went bounding and frisking
about, till they at length reached a puddle, where they stopped all
at once, as having found a sure asylum against the enemy that had put
them to flight. Anxious to investigate what it could be that excited
such extraordinary agitation, and prompted such exertions as neither
the whip nor the fear of immediate death could occasion, I discovered
it to be an insect which I had already met with lower down in the
country, and which is no other than an Oestrus or Gadfly, (Asilus
crabroniformis). Our Natural Historians confound the Oestrus with the
Tabanus, which are as distinct from each other as a hare from a
bear.<54> Cattle indeed are as much incommoded by the Broms (Tabanus
bovinus) as by the very worst of the Fly or Musca tribe, to which the
Tabanus certainly belongs; but by the Oestrus (Asilus) they are
frightened out of their wits. This insect does not fix itself on the
body of the animal, but on the feet, between the larger and smaller
hoofs. As it scarcely ever flies higher above the earth than two or
three spans, and in general not more than four or five inches, the
cattle, when aware of it, run as fast as they can till they get their
feet into water or marshy ground, in which situations they are free
from danger. The habit of the insect is that of an Ichneumon, and it
much resembles a Hornet, being of a yellowish colour, with a small
sharp point at its tail curved forwards. See the figure and
description of Frisch, and my own specimen.

June 18.

Sunday. The people brought me a peasant's daughter, a year and half
old, who was deprived of sight, requesting me to say whether her
complaint was a cataract. Finding the eyes well formed, without any
unusual appearance, and quite free from specks or clouds, I was
rather inclined to say the child had a gutta serena,<55> but was soon
convinced that this could not be the case, as she evidently enjoyed
being in the light near the window. But at the same time I remarked
curious convulsive motions in the eyes, and that when the child was
spoken to, and tried to look towards the speaker, they were turned
upside down, so that only the white part became visible. She was born
in this state. I inquired of the mother whether, when she was with
child, she had seen any body turn their eyes in this manner. She
replied that she was then in constant attendance on her mother, or
mother-in-law, who was supposed to be dying, but afterwards
recovered, and whose eyes were affected with similar convulsions.
Hinc illae lachrymae; this was the cause of the infant's misfortune.
I believe it was not originally blind, but that the focus was
situated too much on one side of the eye-ball, so that vision was
impossible unless the eyes were placed in a particular position with
respect to the rays of light, as is observable in persons that
squint. The natural situation of the eyes in the subject before me
was partly under the upper lid, so that only half the pupil was
exposed, and this was sufficient for vision in one particular
direction only. I know no remedy for such a misfortune, except
perhaps glasses, cut in a peculiar manner for this express purpose,
might help it. I recommended however that the child's cradle should
be placed with the feet towards the window, so that she might, though
not at first without inconvenience, gradually acquire a habit of
turning her eyes downward in pursuit of the light; for by repeated
efforts anything becomes possible and easy. Bartholin's management of
squint-eyed people is founded on the same principles.

After a violent storm of thunder with much rain, I went, about four
in the afternoon, to the new town of Piteċ, and examined several
gardens, in order to learn what plants are able to stand the severe
winters of this inhospitable climate. Among them were the Burnet
(Poterium sanguisorba) and the Costmary (Tanacetum balsamita). Some
young oaks had been raised from acorns the preceding year, the
greater part of which were killed by the winter frosts. A few of them
only had put forth a fresh shoot just above the ground. The apple-
trees were almost entirely destroyed.

June 19.

I set out very early in the morning on a sea voyage to explore the
natural productions of the tract called Skargċrd and the islands
belonging to it. The water a mile out at sea was scarcely salt, on
account of the numerous rivers which here discharge themselves into
the bay. No plants worth notice were to be found, though I searched
carefully every place likely to afford any. Near the beach, where the
tide often rises in winter ten or twelve fathoms, I observed an Alder
thicket now white with little patches of Trientalis and Mesomora
(Trientalis europaea and Cornus suecica), whose snowy blossoms were a
great ornament to the shore. Ray therefore justly mentions<56> the
latter plant as growing in maritime places in Sweden. Here likewise
grew the Male and Female Lychnis (L. dioica), for the most part with
red flowers, very rarely with white; as well as the Gramen miliaceum
(Milium effusum?), and a Rush two feet high, with its sharp stem
reaching a span above the panicle, which is lateral, and divided into
three principal branches. Of this there was also a smaller variety.
(This Rush must have been the Juncus effusus. See Fl. Lapp. n.117.)

The people hereabouts talked much of mountains haunted by hobgoblins,
particularly the hill called Svenberget, situated between new and old
Piteċ; also of seas and fishing-places, where nothing is to be
caught, unless by those who come unexpectedly. Their discourse
moreover ran on that useful sort of witchcraft by which a thief is
put to his wit's end and detected. The origin of these fables may
partly be traced in history, and the rest is to be attributed to
invention.

The fishes of this neighbourhood are the Crusian (Cyprinus
carassius), the Miller's Thumb (Cottus gobio), the Bream (Cyprinus
brama), the Asp (Cyprinus aspius) called in this part of Lapland
Kuroupek, the Stam (Cyprinus grislagine), the Three-spined
Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), the Laxakel, a species of Trout
(can this be the small or young Salmon, mentioned in Fauna Suecica
n.345.?), the Rud (Cyprinus erythrophthalmus), and the Holken (what
this last is I know not).

In the island of Longoen three miles from Old Piteċ, I was lucky
enough to find, growing under a Spruce Fir, the Coral-rooted Orchis
(Ophrys corallorrhiza, Engl. Bot. t.1547.) in full bloom, which had
never fallen in my way before. It is a very rare plant, and grows so
sparingly, that, after finding one specimen, there is little hope of
soon meeting with another.<57>


The root is throughout of the thickness, of a very small quill,
white, smooth, fleshy, almost horizontal, branched and subdivided
like a coral; the branches obtuse, and very slightly compressed;
destitute of capillary fibres. Stem erect, simple, smooth, six inches
high. Leaves none, except three sheaths, each longer and narrower
than that below it, which reaches above its base, and all
cylindrical, of a pale flesh-colour. Flowers generally about eight or
ten, spreading in three rows, occupying an inch and half of the upper
part of the stem; all equidistant, sessile, each with an acute scale
at its base, cloven with an obtuse sinus. Germen oblong, striated,
curved slightly outwards, but at length becoming erect and rugged.
Calyx of three oblong, narrow, acute, purple-tipped, concave, equal
leaves, longer than the petals, one of them being superior, the
others inferior. Petals three: two of them ovate, adhering by their
edges, constituting an upper lip; their summits reddish: the
lowermost a flat, reflexed, obtuse, white lip, sprinkled with
purplish dots near its base.

June 20.

This day I examined two nondescript species of fish, belonging to the
genus Cyprinus. The first is called Stemma (Cyprinus grislagine). Its
head is oblong and obtuse, black on the top, silvery at the sides,
and white beneath. The back of the fish is also blackish; its sides
of a shining silvery hue; the belly white. Eyes round and white,
their irides dotted, especially the upper part, which is moreover
marked with a large verdigris-green spot just above the black pupil.
Nostrils round, accompanied with a pair of smaller roundish orifices.
Mouth without teeth. Tongue blunt. Lower jaw a little the shortest;
that part which covers the gills consisting of five connected,
obtuse, not spinous, rays on each side. Dorsal fin solitary, of ten
rays, the first of which is very short and undivided; the second
twice as long, but likewise simple; each of the rest twice forked,
except the tenth, which is only obscurely cloven. Tail forked, acute,
of eighteen rays, one of which on each side is very long and simple,
the others gradually shorter, twice forked, some of them still more
subdivided. Anal fin of eleven rays, like those of the dorsal one,
the external ones longest, as in that, both fins appearing forked
when unexpanded. Ventral fins of nine rays each, one of them long and
simple, the rest, as in the foregoing, gradually shorter, the last
being cloven. These fins are not forked when unexpanded. Brachial (or
pectoral) fins of seventeen rays like those of the foregoing, except
that each is much shorter than its preceding neighbour, the ultimate
one being scarcely discernible. Scales in seventeen rows on each
side, including the dorsal and ventral rows in each reckoning,
otherwise only fifteen. In the tenth row the lateral line is marked
by a minute ovateoblong dot on each scale of a silvery white, so that
there are about fifty such dots on each side. The dorsal fin is
blackish, the rest pale, the ventral ones very slightly yellowish.

The whole length is two palms and five lines.<9>
	From the nose to the dorsal fin three inches.
	Base of the dorsal fin eight lines; its length thirteen lines.
	From that fin to the tail three inches and five lines.
	Length of the tail one inch and four lines; its diameter at the
base seven lines.
	From each point to the fork ten lines.
	From the tail fin to the anal one, one inch, two lines.
	Base of the latter eight lines; its length eleven. 
	From the anal to the ventral fins one inch, five lines.
	Base of the latter eight lines; their length eleven. From the
ventral to the pectoral fin one inch, eight lines. Base of the latter
four lines, length eleven.
	Length of the head one inch, five lines.
	Greatest diameter of the body one inch, five lines.

The other fish was a smaller Cyprinus, of a yellowish silvery hue,
called at Piteċ Wimba. (C. Wimba. Syst. Nat. ed. 12. v.1. 531). I
could not perceive it to differ in any character from the preceding,
except that it had sixty dots on each side, so that though a smaller
fish it had more numerous dots and scales. The colour of the back was
paler, and less black; the sides of a pale silvery hue. Ventral fins
reddish at the outer and anterior edges, as is the lower edge of the
tail.

Both these fishes differ from the Roach (Cyprinus rutilus) in the
colours of their eyes and fins, as well as in being thinner at the
back.



LULEA.
June 21.

I took my leave of the old town of Piteċ, and arrived at the more
modern one of Luleċ. All along by the road side I remarked the
curious manner in which the Fir blossoms. Its branches produce a
fresh shoot every year from their extremity; by observing the series
of which shoots the age of the tree can be accurately computed. They
retain their original leaves, which are needle-shaped, for three
years; but when these fall the same branch never acquires any more.
The male flowers, each of which is a corymbus of stamens, grow from
the side of the present year's shoot, near its base; but the female
ones proceed from the extreme point, and are round and red. Both
kinds of flowers are however but seldom found on the same shoot. In
the Moneywort (Linnaea borealis), though its flower is, not without
reason, reckoned by everybody of the regular kind, its stamens
indicate the contrary. They are four as in labiate flowers, two
small, and two longer ones near the other side. Betwixt these the
pistil is situated, being bent towards one side as in labiate plants.
The upper lip therefore is to be understood as consisting of two
lobes, the lower of three, though all the lobes are alike.<58>

The bogs were now white with the tufts of both kinds of Cotton-grass,
the upright and the pendulous (Eriophorum vaginatum and
polystachion). The marshes were clothed with the white blossoms of
Sedum (palustre). The Dwarf Bramble (Rubus arcticus) became gradually
less abundant. The forests also were white with the Trientalis and
Mesomora (Cornus suecica), which began to fade, and the Bilberry
(Vaccinium myrtillus) was taking their place, along with the
Melampyrum (sylvaticum) and Geranium (sylvaticum). The meadows were
perfectly yellow with the upright Ranunculus (acris), and some of the
corn fields were no less so with Brassica campestris; but where the
Behen (Silene inflata, Fl. Brit.) was beginning to shoot forth, the
former withered away. The rivulets were white with Menyanthes
(trifoliata). The Cotton-grass and Willows now began to scatter their
winged seeds.

(Here follow, in the manuscript, sketches of the leaves, with Latin
descriptions, of Salix pentandra, caprea and myrtilloides, to be
found more complete in the Flora Lapponica.) 	Close to the shore,
on the right of the ferry of Gaddewick, is a considerable spring,
named Kall Kalla, or Cold Spring, having a strong current and
abounding with ochre, which is deposited abundantly along its course.
The water bears a silvery film, and has a mineral taste, though not a
strong one. It gushes forth with impetuosity, and never freezes in
its course to the river, which is about eighteen ells distant. No
high hill is near, but it springs from a swelling bank about two ells
in perpendicular height above the level of the river. The mouth of
the spring is towards the north-east. The inhabitants use it for
washing.

In places near the highway, where the people had laid bridges, the
soil appeared very thin. The gravel and sand were commonly about a
span deep in moist places; in dry ones much more. The clay was often
two ells in thickness, under which gravel again occurred. Between the
dark-coloured sand and the clay, as well as where the clay
terminated, especially near the sand, runs water, which deposits
clay, as the abovementioned spring does ochre. I noticed the
following insects.


1. A large black Capricorn Beetle, variegated with a lighter hue.
(Cerambyx sutor, the female.) The horns were longer than the body,
black, consisting of ten joints, each joint ash-coloured at its base.
Body black, rugged, its wing-cases besprinkled here and there with
clustered dirty spots. Abdomen cylindrical, covered towards the
thorax with beautiful red lice, (Acarus coleoptratorum).

2. A minute black fly, with a roundish body and white wings, (Culex
equinus). This infested the horses in infinite multitudes, running
under their mane, and attacking them with great fierceness, being not
easily driven off. (See its figure subjoined to the former.)

3. A grey Gnat, with striated wings, a blackish body, and black legs
surrounded with white rings. (Mentioned, in the Fauna Suecica, as a
large variety of Culex pipiens, the Common Gnat.) This cruelly
tormented me and my most miserable horse, Its wings ire whitish,
appearing striated near the veins by the refraction of the sun's
rays. The thorax was hairy, especially underneath. Abdomen oblong,
dotted with black at the sides. All the other parts were grey. While
the insect feeds, it raises up its hind feet into a horizontal
posture. If I stooped ever so little whilst walking in the meadows,
my nostrils and eyes were filled with these gnats.

June 22.

I gathered a shrubby Willow, with lanceolate downy leaves like those
of Elaeagnus. (This was Salix arenaria.) It is rather a large shrub,
but rarely rises to the size of a tree. The leaves are furrowed along
the course of the veins, and convex between them, slightly downy and
of a greyish green on the upper side; clothed with snowy woolliness
beneath. The lower scales of the bud nearly smooth above, and very
green. Stem smooth, almost flesh-coloured, or pale brown; the young
branches reddish, clothed with white down. (See Engl. Bot. v.26.
t.1809.)

Near the new town of Piteċ, close to the shore, grew the round-leaved
Water Violet (Viola palustris) with perfectly snow-white flowers. The
Dwarf-cypress moss (Lycopodium complanatum) is rather plentiful
hereabouts, and is used for dyeing yarn. For this purpose it is
boiled with birch leaves, gathered at midsummer. It gives a yellow
colour to woollen cloths. On the shore near old Luleċ grew Ranunculus
minimus parisiensis (R. reptans).

The new town of Luleċ is very small, situated on a peninsula,
encompassed by a kind of bay. The soil is extremely barren. Indeed
the town stands on a little eminence, which is a mere heap of stones,
with sea sand in their interstices. It seems as if the sea had
carried away all the earth, and, like a beast of prey, had left
nothing but the bones, throwing sand over them to conceal its
ravages.

I quitted this new town at one o'clock, there being nothing to be
got; and as no horse was to be procured in the whole place, I
proceeded by sea to old Luleċ, half a mile distant. Here I met with a
curious kind of grass, which in Smċland is called Kaffa skiaegg, or
Old-man's beard: at Piteċ its name is Svinborst, Hog's bristles: and
at this place it is known by the denomination of Lapp-har, Lapland
hair. (Nardus stricta, Engl. Bot. t.290.) It was now in blossom. The
root seems half bulbous, or as it were an aggregation of numerous
bulbs. The leaves are bristly like a beard, and rough to the touch.
The spike is unilateral, and scarcely thicker than the stem, composed
of equally narrow alternate oblong scales.

The presence of this grass, as well as the whole aspect of the
forests, marshes, cornfields, meadows, waters and herbage, evinced a
great conformity betwixt this country and Smċland. Many herbaceous
plants grow here which are not to be found in Uppland, Sodermanland,
Ostergotland, nor Skċne, though natives of Smċland.

In passing over a meadow towards the water-side I heard something
snap and crackle in the marshes, as if the water had been boiling. In
several places the latter was dried up, so that mud only remained,
and these spots were almost entirely covered with a kind of shell-
fish which made the above-mentioned noise. I observed the same in
several similar places, but in others none were to be seen till I had
stirred up the mud, when it proved full of these animals, which
seemed to have made their way deeper and deeper into the soil as the
water had withdrawn. The same sound may be observed in a thousand
places, originally dry, when the water has access to them, but I had
never ascertained the cause till now. (These shells seem to have been
the Mya arenaria, Faun. Suec. n.2127.)

The Swammerdamia flies of Swammerdam and Lister were flying about
here, as numerous as atoms I observed an insect unknown to me, with a
yellowish globular body the size of a lentil. Amongst the grass were
thousands of the most minute species of Gnat, (Culex pulicaris,) the
males being distinguished by their hairy foretops (antennae).

The water swarmed with innumerable small fishes, just spawned, so
pellucid that they were rendered conspicuous chiefly by their large
eyes. The observer of nature sees, with admiration, that "the whole
world is full of the glory of God."

This neighbourhood abounds with the Stellaria minima of botanists,
(Callitriche,) generally supposed to be very rare. It is evidently no
naturally distinct species, but a variety caused by circumstances.
Every one knows that the common kind always floats in the water;
whereas this minima never grows where water is actually present, but
where it has been dried up in consequence of hot weather. Not being,
therefore, able to sustain itself upright, it must creep, and becomes
at the same time diminutive from a deficiency of its usual aliment.
If any one doubts this, let him place this dwarf plant in a rivulet,
or the larger one in a situation from which the water is retiring,
and the result will remove every doubt.

The inhabitants here are frequently afflicted with the scurvy, whence
arise ulcers of the mouth and uvula, ulcerous sores and swelling of
the feet, as well as aching pains in the legs and feet, and dropsical
swellings of the latter. It may be expected that the peasants will be
most liable to these latter diseases on festival days.<59>

June 23.

I went to see the old church of Luleċ. Close by the door I was shown
a hole which the monks had formerly caused to be made in the stone
wall. It was perfectly circular, sixteen lines in diameter, and
terminated in an obtuse oval cavity. It was intended as a measure to
decide in some cases occasionally brought before the ecclesiastical
court. Within the church is a magnificent altar-piece, adorned with
old statues of martyrs, in the heads of which are cavities to hold
water, with outlets at the eyes, so that these figures could, at the
pleasure of the priests, be made to weep. There are two pedestals,
with an image upon each, whose hands are so contrived that, by means
of a cord, they could be lifted up in adoration, as the people passed
by them in entering the church.<60>

A quarter of a mile to the north of the town is a mineral well, the
water of which the dean and some other persons had used medicinally.
The dean, who was gouty, had, in consequence of drinking this water,
formed some chalk-stones. The well is situated in a steep mossy and
marshy bank. Its water throws up sand as it rises, looks clear,
ferments in a glass, with an iridescent appearance in the sunshine.
It has a slight taste of vitriol, but is smooth in drinking. When
shaken, it emitted a smell like that of gun-powder. A solution of
galls turned it reddish, but the mixture did not stain white paper.
Blue paper is not affected by this water. It deposits a great
quantity of ochre, and the surface bears a silvery film.

This day and the two preceding, indeed every day since the 18th, had
been bright, warm, and for the most part calm. The meadows were still
fine and beautiful in their aspect, and every thing conspired to
favour the health and pleasure of the beholder. If the summer be
indeed shorter here than in any other part of the world, it must be
allowed, at the same time, to be nowhere more delightful. I was never
in my life in better health than at present.

The meadows in this neighbourhood abound with an arborescent willow,
whose leaves are like those of an Alaternus, or a laurel. (Salix
phylicifolia, Engl. Bot. t.1958. Fl. Lapp. n.351. t.8. f.d). It is
remarkable for the undulations, or flexures, between the serratures
of the leaf.

The use of milk among the inhabitants of Vasterbotten is very great;
and the following are the various forms in which it serves them for
food:

1. Fresh, of which a great deal is taken in the course of the day.
	2. Fresh boiled.
	3. Fresh boiled, and coagulated with beer, which is called aost.
	4. Sour milk, deprived of its cream, and capable of being cut.

5. Sour milk eaten with its cream.
	6. Butter, made, as usual, of cream shaken till its oily part
separates and floats.
	7. Butter-milk, what remains after the butter is made.

8. Cheese, made of fresh milk heated, coagulated with calves' rennet,
then deprived of its whey and dried.
	9. This whey being boiled, the scum which rises is repeatedly
collected, and called walle.
	10. The remaining whey is used instead of milk or water in
making bread.
	11. The same fluid kept for a long time till it becomes viscid,
is preserved through the winter, and called syra.

12. The whey of cheese boiled to a thick consistency is denominated
mesosmor, and with meal is added to the preceding.
	13. Sotost, or Sweet Cheese, is made of fresh milk boiled till
it is partly wasted, and the remainder, of the thickness of pap or
gruel, is eaten fresh.
	14. Mjolost, Meal Cheese, is milk coagulated with rennet, mixed
with meal, and boiled.
	15. Tatmjolk, is fresh milk poured on leaves of Butterwort,
Pinguicula, as already mentioned.
	16. Servet milk. See Aug. 10.
	17. Gos-mjolk. See Aug. 10.
	18. Lapmjolk, is milk mixed with sorrel leaves, (R. acetosa,)
and preserved till winter in the stomach of a reindeer, or some other
animal. 
	19. The milk of the reindeer is placed in a cellar to prevent
its quickly turning sour, in order to obtain the more cream; if it
freezes, they thaw it again.

June 24.
Midsummer Day. Blessed be the Lord for the beauty of summer and of
spring, and for what is here in greater perfection than almost any
where else in the world,-the air, the water, the verdure of the
herbage, and the song of birds! I walked out in the morning to
botanize, but met with nothing curious, except Arisarum of Rivinus
(Calla palustris), the flower of which is described in my Characteres
Generici; and the Corallorrhiza. 	Here I was first informed of a
disease which had made great ravages amongst the cattle in this
neighbourhood, and which was of so pestilential a nature, that,
though the animals were flayed even before they were cold, wherever
their blood had come in contact with the human body, it had caused
gangrenous spots and sores. Some persons had had both their hands
swelled, and one his face, in consequence of the blood coming upon
it. Many people had lost their lives by it, insomuch that nobody
would now venture to flay any more of the cattle, but they contrived
to bury them whole. As a preventative they had adopted the practice
of swimming their cattle once a day, which they believed rendered the
animals proof against the disorder. I was told that the cattle
grazing on a certain declivity at Tornoea die to the number of two or
three hundred in the course of the summer. I must examine whether the
cause of this may not be the Water Hemlock (Cicuta aquatica).

Could not meadows be freed from their wart-like tumps by burning?
These swellings might be cut off with an oblique hatchet, in spring
after the frost ceases, and burnt in a heap; their ashes would serve
as a valuable manure for the corn-field. Sandy grounds are rendered
fertile with bog-earth; clay with sand. Ledum (palustre) is laid
among corn in the barns, to drive away mice.

I here obtained some of the Nasaphiel silver ore, and the curious
iron ore of Lulean Lappmark, called gubbsilfver (old man's silver).
The mine is not yet exhausted. The working of it had been for some
time discontinued, but it is now resumed. It yields sixty per cent.
It is situated a mile distant from Jokkmokk, and is called Rutawari.
I procured also from the parish of Piteċ some pencil lead, or
leadlike mica (black lead) which blackens the fingers.

The weather continued extremely fine, which in the opinion of the
common people portended a good harvest.

June 25.

Sunday.-After divine service, I took leave of Luleċ, in order to
proceed to Lulean Lappmark, and arrived at the river of Luleċ. I was
informed that the salmon, which remain all winter in the Western
Ocean, proceed gradually, as spring advances, up the river to this
place to spawn. They enter the river about the middle of May, and
reach this part of it by midsummer. Hooks have been found sticking in
the side of some of the fish, which proved their having been here
before.

The Subularia, a new Melampyrum,<61> and Pedicularis (sylvatica) with
a white flower, occurred to me at Sunnerby. The white bog-moss
(Sphagnum palustre) powdered, is applied to excoriations in the skin
of young children. Towards evening I found in a sand-hill a loose
kind of sandstone containing three per cent of iron.

June 26.

I gathered Gramen paleaceum (Juncus bufonius), both kinds of Tetrahit
(Galeopsis Tetrahit and G. versicolor, Fl. Brit.), Geranium
(silvaticum) with a pale white flower. At Bredċker I noticed the
Conyza (Erigeron uniflorum or E. acre), the purple-flowered Millefoil
(Achillea millefolium), and the Cirsium (Carduus heterophyllus.) The
Laplanders boil all their meat very thoroughly, and treat their
guests with grease, by way of dainty, which is eaten with a spoon.
They milk their reindeer twice a day. Each gives not more at a time
than half a pint, or at the utmost three quarters.

The natives of the country tan their leather with birch bark, buying
hides of the colonists for this purpose. The hides, after being
plunged into warm water, are buried in some out-of-the-way corner of
the hut, and taken up every day till the hair begins to separate,
which is then scraped off with a roundish knife. The recent inner 
bark of the birch, cut into small pieces, is then boiled in common
water for half an hour in which liquor, when partly cooled, the skin
is immersed. On the two following days it is taken out, the liquor
warmed, and the skin replaced. Afterwards it is dried in the open air
in the shade. This leather is much better and softer than what the
colonists themselves prepare, but these last-mentioned people are
very tenacious of their own modes and customs.

Near the margin of the river various species of Willow, which I had
already gathered and described, were growing in high beauty, and
contributed greatly to the ornament of its banks. The neighbouring
forests consist of pine trees intermixed with birch, but the latter
tree is much less abundant here than in Umeċn Lappmark, especially
in. Leaves of the Meal-berry (Arbutus uva-ursi) are used in tanning
or dyeing; which saves a great deal of alum. Many barrels of these
leaves are sent for sale to Stockholm.

The Laplanders of Vasterbotten give their young children the unripe
berries of this shrub boiled, by way of a laxative or purge. Ten or
twelve are the usual quantity, but the dose varies according to the
age of the patient.

Several kinds of Foxes are found in Lappmark. Their fur is more
valuable in proportion as they come further north.

1. The black is the dearest of all. From sixty to two hundred dollars
of copper money are paid for one of these skins. People of rank in
Russia use them for hoods or head-dresses. All their counsellors have
caps of black foxes skin.
	2. The rusty-coloured kind, with grey legs, sells for sixty
dollars.
	3. The cross foxes skins, black over the shoulders, loins and
backbone, sell for three or four plates (rather more than as many
shillings sterling).
	4. Blue foxes are worth from six to ten dollars.
	5. Red foxes, which are of a yellowish hue, and
	6. White ones, fetch but three dollars each.

The Sting-gnat (Culex pulicaris) is a very minute insect, much the
smallest of its genus, being about the size of a large flea, of a
greyish or clouded white. Its sting is very severe, and leaves a
blackish spot as large as that caused by a flea-bite. The wings of
this species lie one over the other, as in (C. reptans) the kind
already mentioned. In this part of the country, as in Umeċn Lappmark,
are many elevated fields of barren sand adjoining to the river, and
sloping towards it, each of them divided into quarters by transverse
ditches. The river has washed away one of its banks so far as
frequently to form a perpendicular cliff, exhibiting strata of light-
coloured barren sand, which must be supposed to have been deposited
there by water, as they lie horizontally. The neighbouring alps must
have been the original boundaries of the current, till the quantity
of water decreased. Then the large river shaped out its course,
leaving several smaller channels, intersecting what is now the
adjacent plain, with islands between them.

Half way between Svarlċ and Harns met with the (Pedicularis) Sceptrum
carolinum, first observed by Professor Rudbeck. This stately plant
was not yet in flower. It grew in a dry soil. In the neighbouring
watery places grew a new species of Marsh Ranunculus, (R.
lapponicus,) having a calyx of three pale reflexed leaves, five or
six narrow acute rue-like yellow petals, more upright than usual,
their claws each furnished with a scale. Stamens nine to twelve.
Pistils six to twelve. Leaves commonly two to one stem.

June 27.

Near Harns is found a fine handsome blue clay, in some measure fire-
proof; also a rare kind of iron ore.

The corn-fields here produce Echioides (Lycopsis arvensis), and the
woods the most slender kind of Equisetum (sylvaticum). On the river's
bank near Laxeden grew the Sorrel whose leaf is cut away in the
middle, called Acetosa folio in medio deliquium patiente, (Rumex
digynus,) but it was not now in flower.

On the other side of the river stands a Pine tree marked with the
yearly elevation of the water, as well as its greatest decrease. In
1669 it rose eight feet perpendicular more than the present year, and
in 1667 it rose still one foot higher; but since that time it has
every year fallen more and more short of such an elevation. Not far
distant is a mineral spring, which of all that I have met with
deposits the greatest quantity of ochre. Its taste is highly
astringent. Some persons have drunk the water medicinally, not
altogether without benefit.

Near the river I noticed the Pinguicula, and everywhere hereabouts
the Least Cotton-rush (Eriophorum alpinum).

The people here, who dread their children should be marked with that
kind of spot called Eldmarke, which resembles a burn, as soon as the
umbilical cord is cut, rub some of its blood upon the face, hands and
breast of the infant, by way of prevention.

I was here told of a specific to destroy House Crickets (Gryllus
domesticus), which consists of grated carrots mixed with arsenic.
This they eat greedily, and are all infallibly poisoned.

We passed the night in a large sailingboat upon the river, in which
we had performed the chief part of this day's expedition.

June 28.

In the morning we continued our voyage to Storbacken a mile and half
distant, from whence we were afterwards obliged to walk five miles to
Jokkmokk. This day indeed we only reached Pajarim,<62> where we slept
all night in a smoky hut, ventilated merely by holes in the roof.

I found in the woods the (Erysimum) Barbarea, with a stem four feet
high, but its leaves were neither so broad, nor so much auricled, as
in the garden plant. Crooked pine trees were to be seen in several
places, the under side of which is always as hard as box-wood, and
this part is used for naves of wheels and the bottoms of sledges.
Such wood is called kior.



LULEAN LAPLAND.
NEAR Storbacken, at the confluence of the great and small rivers of
Luleċ, is the boundary mark between Lappmark and Vasterbotten. As
soon as I entered Lappmark, the hill which forms a promontory betwixt
the two rivers afforded me the following plants. The Sorrel lately
mentioned (Rumex digynus) was here in blossom. The calyx is of two
leaves; the petals two, perfectly like the calyx. Stamens six. 
Pistils two, in the same flower with the stamens, reflexed. Fruit
compressed, with two, not three, angles. Some of its flowers were
infected with smut, as in barley.

The Small Liquorice (Astragalus alpinus). Some plants had white
flowers, tipped with a bluish hue; the others bore entirely purple
blossoms. On the hill named Wollerim I met with a very rare little
species of Asphodel, with white flowers in a roundish spike
(Anthericum calyculatum, Sp. Pl. Tofieldia palustris, Engl. Bot.
t.536). The leaves are ranged on each other's back (equitant) as in
the Marsh Asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum, t.535). At a small
distance in the marshes I found the small flowering rush of Bauhin,
Juncoidi affinis of Scheuchzer, (Scheuchzeria palustris). The calyx
is of six oblong sharpish leaves, reflexed and permanent. Petals
none. Stamens six, capillary, very short, pendulous, with upright,
very long, obtuse, compressed apices (anthers). Embryos (germens)
three, often four, rarely five, ovate, compressed. Pistils (styles)
none. Stigmas attached to the outer part of the embryos, not
elevated. Capsules of two valves, with one seed in each capsule.
Leaves concave, sheathing the lower part of the stem. In the evening
I observed Red Currants (Ribes rubrum), and a kind of panicled grass
with blue leaves, (perhaps an Aira, but it cannot now be determined).

Here was the black biting spider (Aranea palustris), but not the
littoralis (A. riparia).

June 29.

The Pine trees are observed to be more barren of branches on their
north sides; hence the common people know by these trees which way
the north lies. The timber lay here in abundance, entirely useless.
Brandy is made from the fir, as well as from the berries of mountain
ash.

About a mile from Pajarim I came to the mountain of Koskesvari, which
is very lofty, insomuch that the snowy summits of the Lapland alps
are visible from it, though at a very great distance. In this
elevated situation the Red Whortleberry (Vaccinium vitis idaea)
assumes a quite different appearance from what is usual, its stems
being twice as long, perfectly erect, and not branched. The
extremities of the branches of the Spruce-fir bear small yellow
cones, which however are nothing else than the leaves deformed, being
thicker and shorter than when in their proper state, and of a pale
yellow, marked on their inside with two prominent orange-coloured
lines. When arrived at maturity, they burst asunder, and discharge an
orange-coloured powder, which stains the clothes of those who
approach the tree. I conceive these excrescences to be caused by some
nute insects. The common people eat them raw as a dainty, like
berries. Here also I met with a narrow-leaved Cirsium (Serratula
aipina), which I had previously noticed in Umeċn Lappmark, but it was
not then in bloom. Likewise (Rhamnus) Frangula, Pinguicula,
Unbranched Quaking-grass (this must have been Melica nutans),
Corallorrhiza, the Narrow-leaved Spotted Orchis (maculata), Geranium
(sylvaticum) with a white flower veined with purple, a purple pistil
and blue anthers. The leaves of this last plant were variously
divided, the lower in seven lobes, the Middle ones in five, the
uppermost opposite and sessile, with only three lobes. Two flowers
grow on each stalk.

Here also I gathered a Pinguicula, the fore-part of whose petal was
white, the hind-part blue, which is certainly a beautiful as well as
singular variety. (See Fl. Lapp. n.11. P. vulgaris.)

The trees here produce Usnea arborea (Lichen plicatus), which the
Laplanders apply to excoriations of the feet caused by excessive
walking. They line their shoes with this moss, a practice which might
with advantage be adopted by soldiers on a march. The Laplanders also
line their shoes with grass, consisting of various species of Carex,
(especially C. sylvatica, Fl. Brit.). This grass they comb with iron
or horn combs, bruising it between their hands till it becomes soft
and pliable. When dried they cram it into their shoes, and it answers
instead of stockings for defending the feet from cold. (See Fl. Lapp.
n.528.)

After much trouble and fatigue, I at length reached Jokkmokk, where
stands the principal church of this northern district, and where its
pastor resides.

June 30.

The clergyman of Jokkmokk, Mr. Malming, who is the schoolmaster, and
Mr. Hogling the curate, tormented me with their consummate and most
pertinacious ignorance. I could not but wonder how so much pride and
ambition, such scandalous want of information, with such incorrigible
stupidity, could exist in persons of their profession, who are
commonly expected to be men of knowledge; yet any school-boy twelve
years of age might be better informed. No man will deny the propriety
of such people as these, at least, being placed as far as possible
from civilized society.

The learned curate began his conversation with remarks on the clouds
in this country, setting forth how they strike the mountains as they
pass, carrying away stones, trees and cattle. I ventured to suggest
that such accidents were rather to be attributed to the force of the
wind, for that the clouds could not of themselves lift, or carry
away, anything. He laughed at me, saying surely I had never seen any
clouds. For my part, it seemed to me that he could have never been
any where but in the clouds. I replied, that whenever the weather is
foggy I walk in clouds, and when the fog is condensed, and no longer
supported in the air, it immediately rains beneath my feet. At all
such reasoning, being above his comprehension, he only laughed with a
sardonic smile. Still less was he satisfied with my explanation how
watery bubbles may be lifted up into the air, as he told me the
clouds were solid bodies. On my denying this, he reinforced his
assertion with a text of scripture, silencing me by authority, and
then laughing at my ignorance. He next condescended to inform me that
after rain a phlegm is always to be found on the mountains, where the
clouds have touched them. Upon my replying that this phlegm is a
vegetable called Nostoc, I was, like St. Paul, judged to be mad, and
that too much learning had turned my brain. This philosopher, who was
as fully persuaded of his own complete knowledge of nature, as
Sturmius was of being able to fly by means of hollow globes, was
pleased to be very facetious at my expense. At length he graciously
advised me to pay some regard to the opinions of people skilled in
these abstruse matters, and not, at my return home, to expose myself
by publishing such absurd and preposterous opinions as I had now
advanced. The other, the pedagogue, lamented that people should
bestow so much attention upon temporal vanities, and consequently,
alas! neglect their spiritual good;<63> and he remarked that many a
man had been ruined by too great application to study. Both these
wise men concurred in one thing. They could not conceal their wonder
that the Royal Academy should expressly have appointed a mere student
for the purposes for which I was sent; without considering that there
were already as competent men resident in the country, who would have
undertaken the business. They declared they would either of them have
been ready to accept of the charge. In my opinion, however, they
would but have exhibited a fresh illustration of the proverb of the
ass and the lyre.

The number of pupils under the care of the gentleman above mentioned
at this time amounted to four only. The church is but a small one.

It is a practice here with some persons who have the headache, from
excessive drinking or any other cause, to hold their foreheads before
the fire till they smart violently. Others apply to the temples young
shoots of spruce fir bruised.

Half a mile from the church I gathered the Cirsium minus (Serratula
alpina), the Cacalia (Tussilago frigida), the latter not in flower,
and one kind of Botsko of the Laplanders, called Biœrnstut in
Vasterbotten (Angelica sylvestris), which is the narrow-leaved
species of Angelica, and resembles the larger kind. Its general umbel
is destitute of an involucrum. My Lapland companion seized it
immediately, and peeling the stalk, which had not yet flowered, ate
it like a turnip, as a great delicacy. Indeed it tasted not
unpleasantly, especially the upper part, which is the most tender.
This dainty is in great request amongst the Laplanders.

We arrived at length at Purkijau, a small island, the northern side
of which is planted with forests of spruce fir, and the others with
woods of birch, by way of protection to the corn. The colonist who
resides here informed me that the corn never suffered from cold, as,
besides the shelter afforded by these plantations, the circumjacent
water moderated the degree of frost. The situation of this island is
pleasant. I found in some bushy parts of it the Sceptrum carolinum,
and another species of Pedicularis, with narrow leaves and a tuft of
purple flowers (this seems to have been P. sylvatica only).

The river Karax, where is a pearl fishery, runs not far from hence.
On its banks I remarked the Sceptrum carolinum, which became very
common as I advanced further on my journey. Another mile brought us
to the lake of Randiau; on approaching which we saw nothing before us
but lofty mountains of an oblong obtuse form, lifting their summits
one above another, and on the most distant of these snow was to be
seen, though half melted away like snow in the spring.

July 1.

Parkajaur, the first lake I reached after leaving the place where I
slept, is a short mile in length. At its opposite shore rises the
lofty peaked mountain of Achiekoivi, or Tornberget, upon whose summit
the Laplanders used, in ancient times, to offer sacrifice, for the
success of their herds of reindeer. The mountain still shows traces
of fire. At the western end of this lake a Laplander resided, and
from thence it was scarcely a quarter of a mile by land to the next
lake, called Skalk, where as I passed near a waterfall, I found the
Barbarea and Pedicularis, both already mentioned, also the Asphodel
(Tofieldia palustris, Fl. Brit.) and the little Astragalus.


When I came to the lake Skalk in the way towards Tjċmotis, about a
mile short of the last-mentioned place, I was much struck with an
opening between the hills to the north-west, through which appeared a
range of mountains, from ten to twenty miles distant, as white as the
clouds, and seeming not above a mile from the spot where I stood.
Their summits reached the clouds, and indeed they resembled a range
of white clouds rising from the horizon. They recalled to my mind the
frontispiece of Rudbeck's Lapponia Illustrata. Mountains upon
mountains rose before me in every direction. In a word, I now beheld
the Lapland alps.

Arriving in the evening at Tjċmotis, I saw the sun set apparently on
the summit of a high mountain called Harrevarto, situated over
against the house of the parish clerk. This spectacle I considered as
not one of the least of Nature's miracles, for what inhabitant of
other countries would not wish to behold it? O Lord, how wonderful
are thy works!

July 2.

At Tjċmotis I rested during the whole of this day, Sunday.

Here the beautiful corn was growing in great perfection in valleys
between the snowy mountains. It had shot up so high as to be laid in
some places by the rain. It had been sown on the 25th or 26th of May,
as at Umeċ.

I found in abundance Trifolium pratense, corona calyce breviori, or
Aster folio non acri, flore purpureo; (Erigeron uniflorum, Fl. Lapp.
n.307. t.9. f.3.) The same occurred with a white flower. Also
Euphrasia (officinalis) about its usual size, but with very small
flowers; (a variety mentioned in the Flora Lapponica, n.247, found
likewise in Switzerland.) In the same neighbourhood grew the
Tetrahit, both with small and large flowers, (Galeopsis tetrahit, and
G. versicolor, Fl. Brit.)


July 3.

Early this morning I went with Mr. Joachim Koch, quarter-master of
the regiment stationed here, and Mr. Segar Swanberg, master of the
mines, to the Kiuriwari, a high mountain half a mile from Tjċmotis,
where a silver mine had just been opened. The ore showed itself only
in one cleft, whose sides it seemed to cement together.

All over this mountain I observed a kind of Uva-Ursi with black
fruit, which I do not know that any author has described. The flower
was exactly like that of the Mealy-berry (Arbutus uva-ursi); each
stood on a simple stalk, and had five teeth at its orifice. The fruit
was of five cells, globose, enclosed in the petal. (Arbutus alpina.)

I likewise found here a Catch-fly with ten stamens and five styles
(Lychnis alpina), exactly similar to the common Catch-fly (Lychnis
viscaria), except that the flowers were smaller and not so much
scattered, neither was the stem at all viscid.

Birch trees were to be found even on the highest part of this hill,
but of a very diminutive stature. Their trunks were thick but low,
and their highest shoots seemed to have been killed by frost, so that
the young leaves looked as if they were growing out of branches that
had been burnt. I was told that these trees afford every year but a
very small portion of sap, and that the wood is much harder than the
common kind. Such diminutive trees grow to a great age. The further I
proceeded up the country, the smaller I still found them.

Some of the people hereabouts clean their half-boots and harness with
the fat of fish; others purchase blacking from Norway.

July 4.

I met with an Andromeda with leaves like Empetrum (A. caerulea). The
stem and foliage were exactly like that plant, but somewhat larger.
The calyx rough, short, with five teeth. Corolla of one petal, blue,
ovate, with five spreading notched segments at its orifice. Stamens
ten, very short, with horned anthers. Pistil one, the length of the
corolla, with a blunt pentagonal stigma.

The following food is prepared by the. Laplanders from milk. The
messen or whey, after the cheese is made, is boiled to a thick
consistency, and a small quantity of cream from the milk of the
reindeer is added. The whole is afterwards dried in the maw or
rennet-bag of the reindeer, and tastes very well.

Kappa is the scum which rises while the whey is boiling. This being
skimmed off, is also kept in rennet-bags for use.

The milk is not turned, in order to make cheese, with rennet, but
with the maws of pike (Esox lucius), of char (Salmo alpinus), or of
the grayling (Salmo thymallus). These are previously dried, and
preserved for use in a little keg of milk. When any of this is taken
out for use, they are careful to fill up the vessel with fresh milk,
that they may always have a supply at hand.

Jumomjolk is prepared by boiling half a pint of syra (see above) in a
small quantity of water, which must be kept stirring till the whole
is perfectly dissolved. It is then mixed with milk of the reindeer,
and poured either into rennet-bags of that animal, or some kind of
pot or tub, in which it is preserved for future use, if not
immediately eaten.

Rennet is also made by taking the maws of such reindeer fawns as die
in the spring, putting milk into them, and hanging it up to dry for
use.

I here made the following observations relative to the remedies used
by the Laplanders.

Their Moxa, as the Japanese call it, but which they term Toule, is
made of a fine fungus found on the birch, and always chosen from the
south side of the tree. Of this they apply a piece as large as a pea,
upon the afflicted part, setting fire to it with a twig of birch, and
letting it burn gradually away. This is repeated two or three times.
It produces a sore that will often keep open for six months
afterwards, nor must it be closed till it heals spontaneously. This
remedy is used for all aches and pains; as the headache, toothache,
pleurisy, pain in the stomach, lumbago, &c. It is the universal
medicine of the Laplanders, and may be called their little physician.

Kattie is a kind of drawing or ripening plaster made in the following
manner. The fine loose scaly bark of birch is set on fire, and
immediately quenched in water. It is then chewed, in the same manner
as when wanted for cementing earthen-ware together, and afterwards
mixed with fresh turpentine from the spruce fir, both being kneaded
together by the hands, till the mass becomes a black uniform plaster.
This has a very emollient quality, and is successfully applied to
hard imposthumes, &c., which it brings to maturity without pain in a
short time, and promotes their discharge.

The common method of the Laplanders for joining broken earthenware,
is to tie the fragments together with a thread, and boil the whole in
fresh milk, by which they are cemented to each other.

The grass used for lining shoes is a Carex pseudo-cyperus, with many
slender pendulous spikes. (Carex sylvatica, Fl. Brit.)

An ointment for burns is made of fresh cream boiled to a thick
consistency, with which the sore is anointed. It removes the pain,
and admirably promotes the healing of the ulcer. For chilblains, the
oil or fat which exudes from toasted reindeer cheese, rubbed upon the
part affected, is a sovereign cure. Some persons use dog's fat for
the same purpose. The latter is also used for pains in the back,
being rubbed in before a fire.

The Laplanders make use of no razor, but cut their beards with
scissars. They never cut the hair of the head, and only occasionally
employ a comb or any similar instrument. They have no laundress or
washerwoman.

The drug called castor is one of their great remedies for every
disease, and the gall of the bear is another.

When a wedding is to be celebrated, the lover takes all his relations
along, with him, each carrying meat and brandy. Being arrived at-
(this sentence is left unfinished in the manuscript.)

July 5.

I continued my journey to Hyttan, and in my way passed a marshy
place, such as the Laplanders call murki. Close to the borders of it
grew the least Thalictrum (T. alpinum), with four pale petals, and
twelve stamens with long anthers, their filaments purple. In another
part grew an Androsace with two drooping flowers. It had five
stamens; one capitate pistil; an ovate fruit of one cell; a five-
cleft calyx, and a swelling (corolla of one) petal. It is therefore
not a good Androsace. (This was unquestionably Primula integrifolia,
see Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 52, which Linnaeus, in that work, seems to have
confounded with P. farinosa. Speaking of the latter he says, This
Primula, the splendid crimson of whose flowers attracts the eyes of
all who traverse the fields of Skċne and the meadows of Uppland in
the early spring, did not occur during my whole journey till after I
had ascended the Lapland Alps, where it grew very sparingly,
furnished with only two or three flowers, and those of a very pale
hue, so that in the mountains of Lapland it deserves neither the name
of Caesar nor of Regulus.<64> The stem of the plant, however, in
these regions was a span or more in height, which is hardly the case
in any other part of Sweden." Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 51. Hence it appears
that the real P. farinosa ought to be struck out of the Lapland
Flora, provided no botanist has found it there since Linnaeus made
the above remarks.) Sceptrum carolinum was in blossom near the water,
as well as the gloomy Aconitum (lycoctonum), "whose flowers with us
are not yellow, as the synonyms of authors assert, but everywhere of
a bluish ash-colour.<65>" Here also grew Juncus palustris, calamo
trifido (J. trifidus); the Violet with a yellow flower (Viola
biflora); and the Wood Stitchwort with heart-shaped leaves (Stellaria
nemorum, which Linnaeus, in Flora Lapp. n.186, confounds with his
Alsine media, or Stellaria media, Fl. Brit. a mistake he corrected in
his Species Plantarum).

Shortly afterwards I came within sight of an oblong and very lofty
mountain, situated on the right-hand, called Carsavari, composed of a
coarse kind of fissile stone, upon which pure native alum is found;
see Bromell (in the Acta Suecica from the year 1726 to 1730). Very
near the last-mentioned mountain is situated another, called
Tavevari, remarkable for two rivulets running from its summit, and
falling over a rock in the middle of their course.

Concerning the spots or imperfections in the skins of reindeer, it is
certain that they originate in the perforations made by insects,
probably a species of Tabanus, through which those insects introduce
their eggs. When the young ones arrive at maturity, they come forth
by the same passage, and the wound is closed by a scar. On this
subject, lest any person should be misled by authority, or by the
writings or reports of others, I shall quote the learned work of
Linder on Syphilis, p. 11. "Reindeer in Lapland are subject to the
smallpox, which in Norland is termed Kormsiuka, as I was informed at
Wicksbergensbrun by Zachary Plantin, master of arts." In this the
able writer has been totally misled, by a person usually esteemed no
less honest than profoundly learned. I cannot however conceive how a
man, who values himself upon such a character, should willingly and
deliberately propagate a falsehood. He ought, on the contrary, rather
to aim at correcting it. If the reindeer should even have the small-
pox every year, this supposed disease will prove on examination
nothing else than the sting of the Gad-fly (Oestrus tarandi). Did any
man ever advance such an absurdity! Even the Laplanders themselves
call the disease Kurbma (which is the name of the fly that actually
causes it).

One of the Laplanders' dishes, called Kappi, or Kappa-tialmas, is
prepared in the following manner. While the milk of the reindeer,
intended for making cheese, is warm, before the rennet is added to
it, a film rises to the top, which is taken off carefully with a
spoon, and put into the bladder of a reindeer. This is hung up
against the side of the hut to dry; after which it is eaten, being
esteemed a great delicacy. They frequently mix some kind of berries
with it when used. The fruit called Hjortron, (Cloud-berry, or Rubus
Chamaemorus,) bruised and eaten with milk of the reindeer, is also a
very palatabie Lapland dish. The milk of this animal affords at least
twice as much cheese in proportion as any other milk. Butter is very
seldom made by these people, nor is cream ever used for that purpose,
as it scarcely rises in sufficient quantity. Milk only is used, being
agitated in a wooden vessel with a whisk. The butter is of a white
colour.

Candles are not in use among the Laplanders, though the tallow of the
reindeer is very fit for that purpose, notwithstanding its
consistency being less firm than that of ordinary tallow. These
people preserve it in bladders, and boil it for food. Each reindeer
yields but a small quantity of tallow in proportion to its size, not
more than a sheep; having none between the muscles, like oxen and
other cattle, but only round them.

Viviparous Bistort (Polygonum viviparum) grew hereabouts two spans in
height. The Trientalis in moist situations had obtuse petals (see Fl.
Lapp. n.139, e). The Water Epilobium in this place had very broad
leaves. (E. palustre b. Pl. 495. Fl. Lapp. n.148.) Geranium
(sylvaticum) had sometimes a white flower with purple veins, and blue
anthers; sometimes the petals, as well as anthers, were white.



THE LAPLAND ALPS.
July 6.

In the afternoon I took leave of Hyttan, and, at the distance of a
mile from thence, arrived at the mountain of Wallavari (or
Hwallawari), a quarter of a mile in height. When I reached this
mountain, I seemed entering on a new world; and when I had ascended
it, I scarcely knew whether I was in Asia or Africa, the soil,
situation, and every one of the plants, being equally strange to me.
Indeed I was now, for the first time, upon the Alps! Snowy mountains
encompassed me on every side, I walked in snow, as if it had been the
severest winter. All the rare plants that I had previously met with,
and which had from time to time afforded me so much pleasure, were
here as in miniature, and new ones in such profusion, that I was
overcome with astonishment, thinking I had now found more than I
should know what to do with.

1. Alchemilla with fingered leaves, silky underneath, but without
flowers. (A. alpina.)
	2. Jussiea<66>, with ternate leaves, abrupt and three-toothed at
their extremities. (Sibbaldia procumbens.) The calyx is of one leaf,
very large, in ten segments, the five alternate ones of which are
smallest, as in the strawberry tribe. Petals five, ovate, yellow,
shorter than the calyx, and inserted betwixt its segments. The five
stamens also proceed from the calyx. Pistils from five to ten,
capitate at their summits, affixed laterally to the middle of the
seeds, as in Alchemilla. (See the remarks of Linnaeeus, respecting
the natural order of this plant, in. Fl. Lapp. n.111.)
	3. Dillenia. Stem woody. Flower purple. (Azalea procumbens.)
Calyx coloured, small, five-cleft, acute, purple, permanent. Petal
one, erect, bell-shaped, five-cleft halfway down, acute, purple.
Stamens five, shorter than the petal. Pistil one, seated on the
embryo, the length of the calyx. Stigma capitate. Seeds numerous,
roundish. Pericarp globose, of five cells and five valves. Leaves
ovate, evergreen; opposite, resembling those of the Cranberry.
(Vaccinium oxycoccus.)
	4. Bannistera. (Diapensia lapponica.) Calyx of large, ovate,
imbricated leaves; first two, then two more, then five, so that they
are nine in all. Petal one, with a short wide tube, its disk (or
border) in five obtuse spreading segments. Stamens five, from the 
segments of the calyx (corolla), erect, broad, looking like
intermediate prominent segments; the anthers situated on their inner
side, at the top. Pistil one, upright, awlshaped. Stigma obtuse.
Pericarp round with a point, invested with the calyx, of three cells.
Seeds several, round. Leaves oblong, narrow, obtuse, reflexed, lying
imbricated over each other. (Slight sketches only of these plants are
annexed to their descriptions in the manuscript, but perfect figures
of the two last may be seen in Fl. Lapp.)
	5. Saxifraga with oblong serrated leaves, and lanceolate petals.
(S. stellaris.) The leaves are about the root, oblong inclining to
lanceolate, serrated with a few teeth. Stem naked, with several
flowers at its summit. Calyx permanent, five-cleft, acute, reflexed.
Petals five, somewhat spreading, oblong, sharp at each end, white,
marked with two yellow dots upon the claw. Stamens ten, awl-shaped,
the length of the calyx. Anthers purple. Embryo (germen) with two
horns. Style none. Stigmas obtuse.
	6. Saxifraga with palmate five-cleft obtuse leaves. (S.
rivularis.) Lower leaves cut half way down into five roundish
segments; upper one in three segments. Stem short, flowering at the
top. Calyx five-cleft, erect. Petals five, ovate. Stamens, ten.
Embryos two (rather two-horned).
	7. Saxifraga with a creeping stem, the leaves placed in a
quadrangular form. (S. oppositifolia). Stems like those of a Sedum,
creeping. Leaves oblong, obtuse, hairy at the edge, small; the points
sometimes bony (or cartilaginous). Flower large. Calyx of five blunt
leaves. Petals five, erect, purple, large, oblong, obtuse. Stamens
ten, purple, erect, shorter than the petals, with scarlet anthers.
Embryo divided. Styles none. Stigmas obtuse. 
	8. Female Rose-root, Rhodia. (Rhodiola rosea.)
	9. Rhodia montana abortiens. (Male plant of the same.) Differs
from the female in having five lanceolate petals, and five leaves to
the calyx; though often but four.
	10. Purple Water Lychnis, (L. dioica,) a variety with four-cleft
petals. (See Fl. Lapp. n.182.)
	11. Pinguicula with the spur shorter than the petal. (P.
alpina.) The petal is white with a yellow beard, like a Melampyrum.
Leaves narrower than in the common kind; spur shorter and funnel-
shaped, not cylindrical.
	12. Ranunculus minimus, leaves three-cleft, their side-lobes
divided. (R. nivalis, var. c Fl. Lapp. t.3. f.3.)
	13. Ranunculus with bluntly-triangular plaited petals. (R.
glacialis.) The lower leaves are in many deep segments; the upper
three-lobed, their lobes three-cleft. Calyx purplish, hispid, Petals
five, very large, white, dilated upwards, obtuse, plaited at the
upper edge. Stamens and anthers erect, numerous, very short, yellow.
Pistils many, in a convex head, with slender points.
	14. Ranunculus resembling Winter Aconite. (R. nivalis.)
	15. Draba with lanceolate leaves and twisted seed-vessels. (D.
incana.)
	16. A small Hesperis with a white flower, and oblong flat pods.
Leucojum of Rudbeck? (Arabis alpina.)
	17. Cochlearia with leaves like Plantaginella, (Limosella
aquatica,) and umbellate pods. (Cardamine bellidifolia.)
	18. Andromeda with leaves like Empetrum, and a blue flower. (A.
caerulea.)
	19. Andromeda with leaves like a Lycopodium, and a white, half-
ovate, half-five-cleft flower. (A. hypnoides.)
	20. Alisma, rather Arnica, with lanceolate three-ribbed leaves,
the radius with three teeth. (Arnica montana b.)
	21. Caryophyllata (Geum) with a solitary upright flower. Must it
not be a distinct genus? The petals are eight. (Dryas octopetala.)
	22. An abortive variety of Saxifraga no. 5 (stellaris), with
small, obtuse, white petals, purple anthers, and a white embryo; but
very rarely flowering, as the blossoms are all transformed into
clusters of minute leaves. (See Fl. Lapp. t.2.f. 3.)
	23. Pedicularis with bluntly serrated leaves, and a pale fiesta-
coloured flower, with a deeper-coloured spot on the lip. The upper
lip is narrow; the lower in three equal segments. Calyx large, hairy.
Fruit hoary. (Pedicularis hirsuta.)
	24. Dwarf Catchfly. (Silene acaulis.)
	25. The same with stamens, but an abortive fruit. Pistils three.
Petals obtuse emarginate. Capsule of one cell. Stamens ten.
	26. Sagina with marginate petals and an oblong capsule. Pistils
three, Is it an Alsine? (Stellaria biflora; see Fl. Lapp. n.158.)
	27. Salix villosa, with sessile ovate leaves. It is a humble
plant. (S.lanata.)
	28. Subterraneous willow, with orbicular concave leaves, male.
(Salix herbacea.)
	29. Female of the same, with red fruit.
	30. Veronica serpyllifolia, upright, with a blue flower. (V.
alpina.)

The lofty mountains, piled one upon another, showed no signs of
volcanic fire, but were covered with stones, all of a fissile kind,
and by that means easily distinguishable. From the snow, which lay so
plentifully on these mountains as to cover half the ground, water was
continually running down in streams like so many springs, or like
rivers cut through the deep snow, for the refreshment of travellers.
We found it very good.

The little alpine variety of the Ptarmigan (Tetrao lagopus) was now
accompanied by its young. I caught one of these, upon which the hen
ran so close to me, that I could easily have taken her also. She kept
continually jumping round and round me; but I thought it a pity to
deprive the tender brood of their mother, neither would my compassion
for the mother allow me long to detain her offspring, which I
restored to her in safety.

After having walked four or five miles in the course of the night, I
went to sleep in the morning in one of the cottages of the country.

July 7.

The inhabitants, sixteen in number, lay there all naked. They washed
themselves by rubbing the body downwards, not upwards. They washed
their dishes with their fingers, squirting water out of their mouths
upon the spoon, and then poured into them boiled reindeer's milk,
which was as thick as common milk mixed with eggs, and had a strong
flavour. Some thousands of reindeer came home in the morning, which
were milked by the men as well as the women, who kneeled down on one
knee.

From the top of the head of some of these reindeer I took out the
maggots which trouble them so much. I observed here in plenty the
large fly with a yellow neck, and yellow segments of the body,
(Oestrus tarandi,) which probably is the same insect (in a perfect
state), as I judge by the length of the legs.

My hosts gave me missen to eat; that is, whey, after the curd is
separated from it, coagulated by boiling, which renders it very firm.
Its flavour was good, but the washing of the spoon took away my
appetite, as the master of the house wiped it dry with his fingers,
whilst his wife cleaned the bowl, in which milk had been, in a
similar manner, licking her finger after every stroke. I also tasted
some jumo, which they mixed with reindeer's milk, but it did not
please me.

This day I gathered the following plants. (The numbers are continued
from above)

31. Saxifraga with a tuberous root, a simple stem flowering at the
summit, and bulbs in the bosoms of the leaves. (S. cernua.) This has
much resemblance to the common Saxifrage, (S. granulata,) but bears
only one flower at the top of the stem, which is pendulous before it
opens. The petals and stamens are white. In the bosom of each leaf
are about ten naked anther-like little heads (or buds), which grow
out into embryos of future plants. It inhabits watery places.
	32. A very small Juncus, with a spatha of two leaves, enclosing
two seeds; (rather capsules, but Linnaeus wrote seeds, because it
appears by the manuscript that he took the plant at first for a
Carex.) This is one of the smallest of grasses, bearing a solitary
spike, one floret of which has an upright glume, (or leaf of the
spatha,) the other a reflexed one. The petals are whitish. Pistil
snow-white. Stamens six. (This can be no other than Juncus biglumis,
see Engl. Bot. t.898, omitted in Linnaeus's own edition of Fl. Lapp.
and supposed to have been first found by the celebrated Dr. Montin in
1749.)
	33. Carex with several black loose pendulous spikes, one of
which is male, two or three female. (C. saxatilis.)
	34. Draba with a yellow flower. (D. alpina.) Pod like the rye-
flower. (D. verna, see above) Salix creeping under ground, with
elegant roundish-oval, rugged, rigid leaves. (S. reticulata.) Male
and female.
	36. Salix with oblong, obtuse, slightly serrated leaves. (S.
n.367, Fl. Lapp.?) In marshy places.
The Willows often grow to the height of a man in moist places, or on
islands in the rivers, but in elevated situations no tree is more
than a foot high; nor is there any plant, except the dwarf birch
(Betula nana) and the Willows, that affords the inhabitants any wood.


37. A very small Pedicularis, with the aspect of the Sceptrum
carolinum. The fruit is curved. (P. flammea) This very elegant little
plant so exactly represents the Sceptrum carolinum, plentiful here in
moist places, one might take it for a representation of that in
miniature. The leaves are brownish, pinnate; their segments
imbricated. Flowers four, five, or more, at the top of the stem.
Calyx like that of Sceptrum carolinum. Petal with an erect upper lip,
which is narrow, compressed, and brownish; the lower lip horizontal,
three-cleft, saffron-coloured, like all the rest of the flower. Root
like skirrets.
	38. Saxifraga with oblong, acute, thickish leaves, rough with
rigid hairs at the edges. (S. aizoides.) It had not yet flowered, but
I afterwards found the blossoms, which were yellow, with a large,
flat calyx, in five ovate segments. Petals five, small, ovate, yellow
besprinkled with orange. Embryo yellow, two-horned. Stigmas
orbicular, flat, whitish. Stamens awlshaped, five of them very short.
	39. Juncoides capitulis psyllii, with loose heads of flowers.
(Juncus campestris.) Also another with conglomerated heads. (J.
campestris b. Fl. Lapp. t.10. f.2. Certainly a distinct species.)

The birds I saw were Snow-buntings (Emberiza nivalis); Green Plovers
in great plenty, (Charadrius pluvialis,) called by the Laplanders
Hutti; and Wheat-ears. (Motacilla oenanthe.) The Laplanders of this
neighbourhood do not often take the diversion of shooting. They are
seldom masters of a fowling-piece; and when not occupied in following
or attending the reindeer, they remain in idleness for whole days
together, feeding on nothing but milk, and the dishes prepared from
it.

I satisfied myself here that the crackling noise made by the reindeer
does not originate in the hoof, nor in the lowermost joint of the
foot.

The women of this neighbourhood smoke tobacco as well as the men.
Every body learns to smoke about the age of twelve or fifteen.
Whenever I gave my host about an ell of twisted tobacco, I was sure
to obtain in return a cheese of double its value.

The large-flowered Cerastium (C. alpinum) was here everywhere in
abundance, and the prickly Lycopodium. (L. Selaginoides?) The nei-
hbouring mountain abounded with a very black fissile aluminous stone.
The surface of the snow appeared to have a vibratory motion, like
water slightly agitated, or like a large white sail swelled by the
wind. All the inhabitants of this neighbourhood wore garments made of
reindeer skins.

July 8.

The plants I found this day were the following.


40. Michelia. (Azalea lapponica.) Its calyx is inconspicuous, green,
in five obtuse segments. Petal one, erect, gradually dilated upwards,
divided almost down to the base into five ovate segments, purple,
deciduous. Stamens five, proceeding from the receptacle, erect,
shorter than the petal, purplish, thread-shaped, with roundish
anthers. Pistil one, thread-shaped, inclining to one side, longer
than the petal, with a globose embryo, and thick stigma. Pericarp
membranous, globose, of five cells and five compressed valves, the
cells fixed to the column, as in Ledum, bursting at the top. Leaves
thick, ovate, evergreen, clustered at the tops of the branches, as in
Ledum. Flowers about three, at the extremity of each branch, each on
a simple uncoloured stalk. Is this the same genus with Dillenia
(Azalea procumbens, no. 3.)? I think not. In that the calyx and
flower stalks are coloured; two flowers proceed from each bud; the
petal is firm, and cut but half way down; the calyx is half as long
as the petal; the pistil is erect, shorter than the petal; the
stamens are directed inwards, and not attached to the receptacle.
(Notwithstanding these reasons, Linnaeus united the two plants
together in his Flora Lapponica, as one genus, under the name of
Azalea, quoting two synonyms of Tournefort and Bauhin for this no.
40, which belong to Rhododendrum ferrugineum, his own plant being
entirely new, if not a pentandrous variety of that Rhododendrum,
which is much to be suspected. The above description, of the fruit
especially, is sufficient to show it cannot belong to the same genus
with Azalea procumbens, though perhaps it may accord better with the
American Azaleae.)
	41. Campanula with a contracted flower. (C. uniflora.) Differs
from the common blue kind, (rotundifolia,) in having the leaves as
well as the flower much contracted at the base, so that the latter is
funnel-shaped. The embryo is oblong, with. six sides, rough, with
three orifices near the base of the calyx.
	42. Lychnis with a concealed flower. (L. apetala.) Leaves pink-
like. Flower solitary at the top of the stalk. Calyx ovate, inflated,
closed, with ten black hispid ribs, which branch near the top. Petals
five, oblong, brownish, shaped exactly like the usual claws of a
Lychnis, but without any border. Stamens ten. Embryo oblong,
inclining to cylindrical, contracted in the middle, obtuse, blackish.
Pistils five, whitish. The petals, stamens and pistils are all
concealed within the calyx.
	43. A small Aster, with one solitary white flower. (Erigeron
uniflorum.) It has the calyx of the Amellus, the flower of a daisy,
white with a yellow disk.
	44. A viviparous grass, Poa. (Rather Festuca vivipara.)
	45. Juncus with a sharp rigid point. Juncus, n.116. Fl. Lapp.)
	46. A Catchfly which is not viscid, with the flowers collected
into a tuft. (Lychnis alpina.)
	47. A smooth Cerastium, agreeing in evry respect with the large-
flowered one, except the hairiness and hoary aspect of the leaves.
(C. alpinum, a smooth variety.)

I observed everywhere about the sides of the hills holes dug by the
Lemming Rat. (Mus lemmus.) Hares are grey in summer upon the alps.

No herb or tree on the highest parts of these alps attains more than
a quarter of an ell in height, though in the valleys the same species
may perhaps be two or three feet high. Birch trees, which however are
very scarce, creep in a manner under the earth, throwing up the tips
of their branches here and there to the height of a quarter of an
ell. Tender shoots of this kind sometimes conceal a very knotty
depressed stem.

In the evening, and indeed till the night was far advanced, we sought
for one of the Laplanders' huts, but to no purpose. Tracts made by
the reindeer were plentiful enough in the marshy grounds, which we
followed sometimes in one direction, sometimes in another, without
their leading us to what we were in search of. I had walked so much
that I could hardly stand on my legs, and was near fainting with
fatigue, so that I lay down, resolving rather to endure the cold and
boisterous wind, than proceed any further this night. At length the
Laplander and his servant, who were my guides, found some dung of the
reindeer. One of them took it up, and after squeezing it in his -hand
and smelling at it, gave it to his companion to smell also. He was
even desirous that I should take a snuff at it. By its freshness they
were rejoiced to discover that a Laplander with his herd bad but
recently left this spot, and they accordingly pursued a track which
was here and there discernible in the snow. After we had proceeded
half a mile, we met with the object of our search, who had removed
but the day before, so that I had now an opportunity of taking some
repose.

July 9.

Fatigued -with my late journey, I remained here all the following day
and night, not only because it was Sunday, but because I was too much
tired to undertake to cross the ice that day. Near the icy mountains
the water of the neighbouring lakes was frozen to the depth of a
fathom. I employed my-self in making the following memorandums.

I was told that Fungi are very plentiful in the alps in autumn.
Scarcely any other fish is found in the lakes of this neighbourhood
than the Roding, which the Laplanders call Raud (Salmo alpinus, or
Char), and this is extremely abundant. It is a Salmon, or rather
Trout, with a scarlet belly. Its length is about a foot. The scales
are extremely minute. Head smooth, ovate, obtuse. Jaws furnished with
teeth, and the tongue also bears two rows of teeth, six in each row.
The palate moreover is toothed at each side. Nostrils small, with two
holes to each, one above the other, the lowermost largest, and
capable of being closed. Iris of the eyes grey, with a black pupil.
Below each eye, in the cartilage of the cheek, are seven little
hollow points ranged longitudinally, and in its hinder part are three
others placed perpendicularly. The rays which cover the gills are ten
on each side, connected together. Fin of the back with twelve rays,
of which the two foremost are gradually longer, the third and fourth
longest of all and subdivided. The whole fish is black in the upper
part; its sides of a sky blue; head and throat white underneath;
belly reddish-yellow. The ventral fins are red, with a white exterior
edge. Many yellowish spots are scattered longitudinally along each
side of the fish near the lateral line. The tail is of a brick-
colour, and forked. The flesh is red, and very palatable. The people
here caught fifty of these fishes with two hauls of the net, of which
they made a dinner for me and themselves. One dish consisted of the
fresh fish boiled, which was not agreeable to my palate for want of
salt. Others were roasted on a wooden spit before the fire, but for
the same reason I could hardly taste them. The third mode of
preparation was the most acceptable to me, and had a very good
flavour. This was made Of the dried and salted Roding, roasted on a
spit. The Laplanders drink the water in which the fish has been
boiled, which I was unable to do, though I could hot but commend the
practice; as favourable to digestion.

The reindeer are innumerable, like the forests they inhabit. The
herds are driven home, night and morning, to be milked. It was
amusing to observe the manner of driving them, performed by a maid-
servant with a dog. If the reindeer proved refractory, the dog easily
made them obey the word of command, particularity when seconded by
the hissing of the woman; at which they were extremely terrified. I
observed also the manner of driving, them out to pasture. The wind
blowing hard from the east, their conductress preferred a circuitous
path, rather than face the storm. The reindeer, on the contrary,
delighting to run against the wind, turned homeward when diverted
from their inclination, while the dog ran after the woman. When these
animals are permitted to face the wind, they run very fast and
without intermission, in hopes of finding a place to cool themselves.
Indeed I observed one of the herds crowding close together under the
shadow of a hill, on a spot covered with snow, to avoid the heat
caused by the reflection of the sun from the snow in other places.
These animals will eat nothing in hot weather, especially as the
gnats are then very troublesome. The males much resemble stags, but
none in any of the herds had now more than one branch to their horns.

The head of the reindeer is grey, blackish about the eyes. Mouth
whitish. Nostrils oblique. Tail short, not above six inches long,
obtuse, white, concealed between the haunches. Feet encompassed with
white above the hoofs. The whole body is grey, blacker when the new
coat first comes on, whiter before it falls. The hair is not readily
plucked off, but easily broken. The horns of the female are upright,
or slightly bent backward, furnished with one or two branches in
front near the base, the summit sometimes undivided, sometimes
cloven. Those of the male are often two feet and a half long, and
their points are as far distant from each other. They are variously
branched, with more or less numerous subdivisions. These animals cast
their horns every year; the males immediately after the rutting
season, about the end of November; the females in May, after they
have brought forth their young. If the females are barren, it is
known by their casting the horns in winter.<67> Those of the males
scarcely differ from the females in general structure. Both are
hairy, but the hairiness falls off before Michaelmas. In some which I
have seen broken, the inside, under the skin, of the young growing
horns, appears like a cartilage. Hence they are flexible, and so very
sensible, that the animal can scarcely bear to have them handled.
Under a narrow layer of cartilage, the whole cavity is full of blood
vessels. When arrived at their full growth, the horns are bulbous at
their base, like those of a stag.

The length of the leg of the reindeer, from the joint of the foot to
that next the body, is two feet. From this latter joint to the top of
the back is also two feet. From the shoulders to the tail two feet.
From the shoulders to the horns one foot, and the same from the horns
to the mouth. From the belly to the back, that is, the perpendicular
measure of the trunk, is a foot and half. As the reindeer walks
along, a crackling noise proceeds from its feet. This excited my
curiosity; and inquiring what was supposed to be the cause, the only
answer I could get from any one was, that "our Lord had made it so."
I inquired further in what manner our Lord had formed the reindeer so
as to produce such an effect; but to this the respondent answered
nothing.<68> When I laid hold of the animal's foot, pulled it,
twisted and stretched it, or pushed it backward and forward in every
possible way, no crackling was produced. At length I discovered the
cause in the hoofs themselves, which are hollowed at their inner
side. When the animal stands on its feet, the hoofs are, of course,
widely expanded, and their points most remote from each other; but
every time the foot is lifted from the ground, they strike together,
and cause the noise above mentioned. This I was afterwards able to
imitate at pleasure, by moving the foot with my hand.

When the reindeer are driven to the place where they are accustomed
to be milked, they all lie down, breathing hard and panting
violently, chewing the cud all the while. The report of Scheffer
therefore, that they do not ruminate, is false, and Ray guessed more
correctly than Scheffer observed.

When the fawn is missed by its mother, she runs in search of it with
the most violent anxiety, stooping with her nose to the ground like a
sow, till she finds it. She even quits the herd to which she belongs,
and seeks her young at the Laplander's hut. After the herd has lain
down in the manner above described, each of the people takes a small
rope, and, making a noose, throws it over the head of one of the
females intended to be milked. The cord is afterwards twisted round
the horns, and the other end tied to a small pole fixed in the
ground. One pole is sufficient to secure four of the animals, which
all hands are afterwards employed in milking, both master and
mistress, men and maids. If the milk does not come with facility,
they beat the udder very hard with their hands; which causes a
greater flow. The dugs are four, very rarely six, all yielding milk,
and none of them dry. The young are not separated from their mothers.
After the herd was milked and gone to pasture, I observed the maid-
servant taking up some of the soft black dung, which, after kneading
it with her hands, she put into a vessel. On my inquiring what could
be the use of this, she answered that the dugs were besmeared with
it, to prevent the fawn's sucking too much. She added that it would
dry upon the nipple by the morning after it was applied, and might
then be easily rubbed off. The female reindeer bring forth their
young early in May, and their owners begin milking them on Midsummer
day, and continue to do so till the beginning of November in the
forests, but in this neighbourhood they leave off milking about
Michaelmas. The fawns acquire horns the first year, which are
perfectly simple, like fingers. I could not help wondering how the
Laplanders knew such of the herd as they had already milked, from the
rest, as they turned each loose as soon as they had done with it. I
was answered that every one of them had an appropriate name, which
the owners knew perfectly. This seemed to me truly astonishing, as
the form and colour are so much alike in all, and the latter varies
in each individual every month. The size also varies according to the
age of the animal. To be able to distinguish one from another among
such multitudes, for they are like ants on an anthill, was beyond my
comprehension.

July 10.

I witnessed with pleasure the supreme tranquillity enjoyed by the
inhabitants of this sequestered country. After they have milked their
reindeer, and the women have made their cheese, boiled their whey to
the requisite consistency, and taken their simple repast, they lie
down to enjoy that sound sleep which is the reward and the proof of
their innocent lives. There is rarely any contention among them. The
inhabitants of the neighbouring moveable village had pitched their
tents close together in lines, either from east to west, or
otherwise. When my servant came in, he put his nose close to that of
any person whom he wished to salute, as if he had intended to kiss
him, saluting him with the old expression "purist." I inquired
whether they actually kissed each other but my man answered in the
negative, that they only put their noses together. This custom is in
use among relations only.

A boy had been sent out to gather sorrel (Rumex acetosa), the larger
kind, or variety, of which he brought home enough of the leaves with
their stalks to fill a kettle. A small quantity of water was poured
upon it, just sufficient to cover the bottom of the kettle. It was
kept stirring over the fire, and allowed to boil, till the whole was
reduced to a pulp. This was afterwards mixed with milk, and put into
large barrels. When it has stood by for some time, it acquires an
agreeable sourish taste, quite different from the flavour of the
fresh plant. The barrels thus filled are preserved in holes, dug in
the ground for the purpose, either lined with brickwork, or with
birch bark, to protect them from rats or mice.

Another boy came in with as much as he could carry in his arms of the
stalks of Angelica (sylvestris) which had not yet flowered. The
people stripped off the leaves, and by means of a knife peeled the
stalks, the skin of which came off like hemp. They ate the remainder
as they would an apple, thinking it a great delicacy. I partook of it
with them. The broad sheathing footstalks of the leaves, which enfold
the young umbels, not being esteemed good to eat fresh, were peeled,
and added to the syra, which was destined, to make jumomjolk.


In the hut where I was a guest, an infant lay in its leather cradle.
Its head was protected by a screen of leather, and at the sides two
longitudinal pieces of cloth, folding one over the other, were drawn
together by a cord, over the child's body, which was besides covered
with reindeer skins underneath. The head, breast, and shoulders were
bare. It lay in this state all night long in the cold tent, and was
exposed to the open air at other times, though the weather was very
cold; yet the child did not suffer any inconvenience

I slept every night between two reindeer skins.

I was treated with ostamus, or milk turned to curd by rennet, which,
together with a great proportion of cheese that I had eaten of late,
disagreed violently- with me, and almost brought on a tenesmus.

The women here, as well as the men, smoke tobacco, and indeed do
almost everything but actually wear breeches. The men dress the meat,
while the women employ themselves only in making cheese, and other
various preparations of milk. Every kind of fish or meat is cooked by
the men; and if the women happen not to be at hand, even the cheese
and milk fall under their management.

The alps are destitute of human inhabitants in the winter season,
because the Laplanders are then obliged to seek more woody parts of
the country, where alone they are able to find a sufficient quantity
of moss (Lichen rangiferinus) to feed their reindeer. On the alps
there is hot only a want of wood, but the snow is covered with too
bard a frozen crust to be penetrated so as to come at anything
beneath it.

The poorest people only remain here as long as possible, for the sake
of catching Ptarmigans (Tetrao lagopus); which is done in the
following manner.

They take a little forked birch twig, about a span long, which is
stuck into the snow perpendicularly by its divided end, forming a
sort of arch. A snare or noose, made of pack-thread or horsehair, is
then fixed to the twig by one end, and placed in the open space
between the forks. The thin curling bark of the twig, being carefully
slit down at the outer side, curls inward, and serves both to confine
and conceal the snare, by drawing it close to the branch on the inner
side. Such traps as these are ranged in a line, about a fathom from
each other, in the birch thickets, brush wood being laid from one to
another, so as to form a low fence. Now as the Ptarmigans come
running along, for they seldom fly, they have no way to go but
through these snares, and forty or fifty of them are frequently
caught at a time.

This day I both heard and saw the Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), which the
Laplanders call Geecka; and also the great fishing Gull with a grey
back (Larus canus), to which they give the name of Staule; (not
Straule, as in the Fauna Suecica.)

The Andromeda (hypnoides) with leaves like moss, or needle-shaped,
was here in flower. The petal is bell-shaped, white tipped with
purple, divided half way down into five semi-ovate segments. Calyx
five-cleft, erect, acute. Anthers orange, very short, furnished with
white bristles. Pistil one, obtuse. In walking over the snow, I once
sunk up to my middle, the floods having undermined it to a great
depth. Two men drew me out with a rope, and I received no damage
except a blow on my thigh and being very wet. Soon afterwards I met
with a Laplander who was both a Danish and Swedish subject. He
offered me brandy, which I would have declined; but he insisted on my
taking a glass, and some tobacco.

The water of the lake of Virijaur (perhaps Wire-jaur) was of a
whitish green colour; exactly like water poured into a vessel
previously used for milk. This appearance arose merely from its
extreme purity, levity, and consequent transparency. It was cooler
than the water flowing from the snow.

Not far from this lake, on the left, upon the side of the mountain
called Kaitsoniunni, near a rivulet, I picked up a curious stone or
radiated fluor; of a bluish colour, composed of square parts
(probably zeolite). In the evening it rained, but I observed the
Papilionoides with purple spots (Sphinx filipendulae).

The stones hereabouts were mostly fissile, horny; some black and
aluminous, but generally horny and spontaneously decomposing, with
silvery talc, rarely any quartz.



NORWEGIAN LAPLAND.
July 11.

We rose early this morning, and after walking a quarter of a mile
arrived at the lofty icy mountain. This is indeed of a very great
elevation, and covered with perpetual snow, the surface of which was,
for the most part, frozen quite hard. Sometimes we walked firmly over
it, but it occasionally gave way, crumbling under our feet like sand.
Every now and then we came to a river taking its course under the
snowy crust, which in some parts had yielded to the force of the
currents, and the sides of each chasm exhibited many snowy strata one
above another. Here the mountain streams began to take their course
westward, a sign of our having reached Norwegian Lapland. The
delightful tracts of vegetation, which had hitherto been so agreeably
interspersed among the alpine snows, were now no longer to be seen.
No charming flowers were here scattered under our feet. The whole
country was one dazzling snowy waste. The cold east wind quickened
our steps, and obliged us to protect our hands that we might escape
chilblains. I was glad to put on an additional coat. As we proceeded
across the north side of this mountain, we were often so violently
driven along by the force of the wind, that we were taken off our
feet, and rolled a considerable way down the hill. This once happened
to me in go dangerous a place, that, after rolling to the distance of
a gunshot, I arrived near the brink of a precipice; and thus my part
in the drama had very nearly come to an end. The rain, which fell in
torrents on all sides, froze on our shoes and backs into a crust of
ice. This journey would have been long and tiresome enough without
any such additional inconvenience. At length, after having travelled
betwixt three and four miles, the mountains appeared before us, bare
of snow though only sterile rocks, and between them we caught a view
of the western ocean. The only bird I had seen in this icy tract, was
what the Laplanders call Pago (Charadrius hiaticula). Its breast is
black, throat white, feet orange.

Having thus traversed the alps, we arrived about noon upon their bold
and precipitous limits to the westward. The ample forests spread out
beneath us, looked like fine green fields, the loftiest trees
appearing no more than herbs of the humblest growth. About these
mountains grew the same species of plants that I had observed on the
other side of the alps. We now descended into a lower country. It
seems, as I write this, that I am still walking down the mountain, so
long and steep was the descent, but the alpine plants no longer made
their appearance after we had reached the more humble hills. When we
arrived at the plains below, how grateful was the transition from a
chill and frozen mountain to a warm balmy valley! I sat down to
regale myself with strawberries. Instead of ice and snow, I was
surrounded with vegetation in all its prime. Such tall grass I bad
never before beheld in any country. Instead of the blustering wind so
lately experienced, soft gales wafted around us the grateful scent of
flowery clover and various other plants. In the earlier part of my
journey, I had for some time experienced a long-continued spring
(whose steps I pursued as I ascended the Lapland hills); then
unremitting winter and eternal snow surrounded me; summer at length
was truly welcome. Oh how most lovely of all is summer!

Here grow, for the most part, the common plants of Uppland, besides
which I noticed Aconitum lycoctonum, and the little Mountain Catchfly
with a white upright flower (Silene rupestris<69>); as also Coronopus
maritimus punctatus (Plantago maritima b, Fl. Suec. 46), Mesomora
(Cornus suecica), and the Cloudberry (Rubus chamaemorus).

By this time I was heartily tired, and found the refreshment of some
cow's milk, and meat, with a chair to sit upon, very acceptable. I
could not but wonder to see my two Laplanders, who had accompanied me
during the whole of this day's tedious walk, one of them fifty years
of age, the other upwards of seventy, running and frisking about in
sport, though each of them had carried a burthen all the way; not
indeed a very heavy one, but, considering the distance, by no means
trifling. This set me seriously to consider the question put by Dr.
Rosen, "Why are the Laplanders so swift-footed?" To which I answer,
that it arises not from any one cause, but from the cooperation of
many.

1. The Laplanders, unlike us, wear no heels to their half boots. We
see dancing-masters and rope-dancers, with little or no heels,
perform feats of great agility, scarcely practicable with them. The
same may be observed of running-footmen, and people of various
countries who habitually walk fast; while, on the contrary, those who
are accustomed to large and high heels, move in a heavy and
deliberate manner. It is usual to shoe young horses heavily, that
they may acquire a steadiness of pace; and I observe that the country
boys where I am now writing, throw off their shoes when they intend
to run, as the heels with which these shoes are made, deprive them of
half the natural control of the muscles in the soles of their feet.
Those muscles, by means of high heels, and consequently less use or
exercise, become more and more stiff, and a man with a wooden foot or
leg cannot but move heavily.

2. These people are accustomed to running from their infancy. As soon
as a Lapland boy can go alone, he is taught to run and put a halter
round the reindeer's neck. When he grows a little older, he learns to
follow these animals, which are always quick-paced, insomuch that it
is more laborious to keep up with them than with a herd of goats, and
more difficult to run after them than to frisk about with a parcel of
calves. If therefore a rope-dancer, or a running-footman, acquires
great agility by perpetual practice, no wonder that a Laplander, who
till he is married, and often all his life long, runs habitually
after the reindeer, should rival any of them in swiftness of foot.

3. Freedom from hard labour is another cause. All laborious
employments, such as directing the plough, threshing, cutting and
hewing of wood, &c. render the blood thick, and the limbs stiff.
Hence the flesh of a peasant is hard and tough, that of a young
damsel soft and tender; nor can a peasant move with the lightness and
flexibility of limbs that we see in a girl. How delicate are the
muscles of children compared with those of an aged person! The
Laplanders appear to be more nimble and active, in all their
movements, because they undergo no hard or Herculean labours.

4. Habitual exercise of the muscles. A rope-dancer trains his pupils
to the continual contraction and dilatation of their muscles, that
they may acquire the more pliability. A dancer is at first taught by
violence to turn out his toes; but by custom that position becomes
easy, for use is second nature. So the Laplanders are perpetually
exercising the muscles used in walking, which thence become so
flexible, that they are able to sit for a long while cross-legged,
without pain or inconvenience, in a posture intolerable to us, who
are used to commodious seats. For my own part, since I set out on my
journey, I have become able to walk four times as far as I could at
first.

5. Animal food. It is observable that such of the creation as feed on
vegetables, are of a more rigid, though strong, fibre; witness the
Stag, the Bull, &c.; while, on the contrary, carnivorous animals, as
the Dog, Cat, Wolf, Lion, &c., are all more flexible. The fact and
its cause are both evident. The Laplanders are altogether
carnivorous. They have no vegetable food brought to their tables.
They now and then indeed eat a raw stalk of Angelica, as we would eat
an apple, and occasionally a few leaves of Sorrel; but this, compared
with the bulk of their food, is scarcely more than as one to a
million. In spring they eat fish, in winter nothing but meat, in
summer milk and its various preparations. It may further be remarked,
that salted food, which these people do not use, renders the body
heavy.

Here I cannot help making a few incidental remarks, on the opinion
that man is proved, by his teeth, to be formed to eat all kinds of
food. Those who advance this opinion say, his front or cutting-teeth
are like those of animals that eat fruits or nuts, as the Hare,
Rabbit, Squirrel, &c.; his canine, or eye-teeth, like those of beasts
of prey, as the Cat; and his grinders like those of animals that live
upon herbage, as the Cow, Horse, &c. But this reasoning is not
altogether satisfactory to me. If, in the first place, we examine the
human fore-teeth, we shall find them quite different from those of
nut-cracking animals of the Squirrel or Hare tribe, which are more
prominent, and rather spreading than erect at the angle, whereas ours
are perpendicular, with their summits close and level. Hence the
fore-teeth of such animals are very long, witness those of the
Beaver. Some carnivorous animals have similar fore-teeth to ours, but
have we any such canine teeth as theirs? They do not exceed ours in
number, but they are much more important. The being furnished with
grinders as such, will not, on the other hand, class us with
herbivorous animals, although Bulls and Cows have them; for the Dog
and Cat, and all other carnivorous ones, have grinders likewise. I
have not yet met with any herbivorous animal, with a simple stomach,
which is not subject to eructation, nor is the Mouse tribe any
exception. But to decide concerning our own species. If we
contemplate the characters of our teeth, hands, fingers, and toes, it
is impossible not to perceive how very nearly we are related to
Baboons and Monkeys, the wild men of the woods. In as much therefore
as these are found to be carnivorous, the question is decided with
respect to ourselves.

6. The Laplander is satisfied with a small quantity of food at once.
He does not eat his fill at one meal, but takes food from time to
time, as he feels inclined. On the contrary, the peasants of Finland
cram themselves with as many turnips, and those of Skċne with as much
flummery,<70> as their stomachs can possibly receive. The inhabitants
of Dalecarlia eat till the body is as tight as a drum. Such people
are much better qualified to labour in the cultivation of the ground,
than to run over the alps. The Laplanders are always of a thin
slender make. I never saw one of them with a large belly. Milk diet
also contributes to render them active.

7. I examined their knees, ankles, and feet, but could not perceive
the least difference in their shape from those of other countries,
except perhaps that the sole of the foot seemed rather more concave,
at the inner side, than usual. How far this may make any difference,
a better mechanic than I am must determine.

8. All the Laplanders are of a small stature. I have never yet met
with any of them so tall as myself. A large heavy body cannot move so
nimbly as a small one, even though its organs are proportionably
stronger and more durable. This is apparent in many similar cases. A
little pony from the isle of Oland, or one of a similar kind from
Norway, runs with extreme velocity; for though a great trooper's
horse may get before it, the little animal moves its legs with
astonishing rapidity, and much quicker than the great horse. There is
a striking difference in stature between the inhabitants of
Halsingland and those of Lapland, nor is the reason of this
difference at all obscure. If we give a young puppy plenty of food,
he will grow large; if but little, he will turn out small. If kept
warm, he will also grow to a much larger size than if he is always
inured to cold. The same remarks may be applied to the people in
question. Another subject of inquiry is, why the Laplanders are so
healthy; for which the following reasons may be assigned.

1. The extreme purity of the air, which seemed to give me new life as
I inhaled it.
	2. The use of food thoroughly dressed.
	3. Eating their food cold; for they always let their boiled meat
cool before they taste it, and do not seize it with avidity as soon
as it comes out of the pot.<71>
	4. The purity of the water.
	5. Tranquillity of mind. They have no contentions, neither are
they over and above careful about their affairs, nor addicted to
covetousness. Their lives are protracted to extreme old age.
	6. Their never overloading the stomach, while the rustic of
other countries eats till he is ready to burst.
	7. Deficiency of spirituous liquors. Of these they rarely taste,
and only in such quantities as to be rather beneficial than
otherwise.
	8. Their being inured to cold from their infancy renders them
hardy.
	9. Probably the quantity of flesh they eat may prolong their
lives, as carnivorous animals are long-lived.



NORWAY.
I saw no flies in Lapland, but in Norway the houses are full of them.
I was however no longer infested with swarms of gnats. At the place
where I stopped to rest after my fatiguing journey, they gave me
Sword-fish (Xiphias gladius) to eat, which very much resembled Salmon
in flavour. It was of a large size, with a dorsal fin continued from
the middle of the back to the tail.

July 12.

The next day it blew so very hard that I did not venture to leave
this place by sea. I took a walk in the morning on the beach, it
being low water, and noticed various marine productions. Several
species of Fucus were attached either to stones or shells, as well as
Ulvae and Confervae. Barnacles (Lepas balanus and L. balanoides) were
seen sticking to large stones, at present left by the tide. I noticed
also several univalve and bivalve shells of various sizes. The
Strombus (Pes pelecani) with and without its dilated lip; also some
small Crabs, and other things. I gathered a viviparous avenaceous
grass (what this was cannot be ascertained). Here likewise I noticed
several Zoophytes, and among them the three following Medusae.


1. Medusa (capillata) of an octagonal shape, with notched angles. The
annexed figure shows its under side. The whole is transparent like
glass. There are eight pair of rays, within which the disk, and other
rays at the base of the former, are all covered with minute scaly
prickles, ranged in concentric circular rows. The outer feelers,
which look like the stamens of a flower, are sometimes snow-white,
sometimes of a reddish flesh-colour, and crisped. Within these is a
central cluster of longer feelers, resembling pistils.


2. Medusa (aurita) orbicular, with four little hearts in the middle.
This is also entirely pellucid like glass, except that the little
heart-shaped marks are red, each with a transparent cavity in its
centre. There are four crisped auricles, or feelers, between them.


3. Medusa (cruciata) orbicular, marked with a white cross. Entirely
of a glassy transparency, but marked with a white cross which
completely divides it into four parts. There are no feelers, nor
could I discern any vestige of a mouth. Can this be in the state of
an egg?

One object of the Laplanders who accompanied me hither, to
Torfjorden, was the purchase of brandy. They drank it in the first
place as long as they could stand on their legs, and having brought
with them a number of dried reindeer bladders, these were
subsequently all filled -with brandy, tied up, and carried away by
them. Their general custom is to use small cups, about one third the
size of a spoon, by means of which each Laplander in his turn will
often contrive to swallow a whole quartern of brandy.

When the Laplanders mean to appear in full dress, they attire
themselves in white walmal cloth, without any lining, and their
jacket is ornamented with a high blue collar with a brown edge, the
whole collar being stitched over and over with thread. The cloth for
this part costs a dollar, copper money, extraordinary for every ell,
on account of the brown edge. Eight ells make a jacket, so that the
whole comes to as much as a small garment of reindeer skin.

They complained to me about the sale of their manufactures, which
they are now obliged to dispose of at too low a rate. They would
willingly allow twenty per cent profit to the merchants of Stockholm,
giving them a preference that they might be enabled to pay the
duties, nor would they then listen to applications from any other
quarter.

The Lapland women are accustomed to sew all the clothes and shoes,
and to cook all such articles of food as are made of milk; but the
men dress the meat, fish, and fowl. If the housewife happens not to
be at hand, the preparation of the milk dishes falls upon the
husband, but not otherwise. The Laplanders in this part of Norway,
who have become cultivators of the ground, use scythes whose upper
end rests on a projecting piece of wood set on the ground, as on a
pivot, another piece opposite to it serving for a handle.

This was a very hot day, with a few drops of rain in the afternoon.


The weather being now calm, we ventured to go out to sea in a boat,
in order to search for the natural productions of that element. We
soon caught, with a hook and line, plenty of Sey-fish (Gadus virens).
These were about ten inches long, very smooth, fat and tender,
covered with extremely minute scales. The back was of a darkish
green, the belly white. The mouth toothed, like that of a perch. Some
of these fish had sticking to them several Remorae, or rather
Pediculi marini of Frisch, of which I preserved specimens. (Lernaea
assellina?) The fish themselves were so numerous and so voracious,
that we had no sooner thrown out the hook, letting it float after the
boat, than they swallowed it so quick that we could hardly take them
out fast enough. The next day however, the sky being very clear, we
had no such success. The hook we used was of steel, without any kind
of bait, and yet we caught above sixty fish in all.

Torfiolme, where I now was, is entirely encompassed by lofty
mountains covered with snow. Between their summits dark grey clouds
were stationed here and there, so that the base of each mountain, as
well as the summit itself, was clear. These clouds, or vapours, at
length gradually subsided. Close to the borders of the bay or creek,
are many little sequestered villages scattered among the hills. Each
has but a small valley adjoining, and consequently not above a
cornfield or two within its district, with a very small portion of
pasture-ground attached to each house, though possibly there might be
more further off, which I could not perceive. The inhabitants
therefore would scarcely be able to subsist, were it not for the vast
plenty of fish within their reach, which serves them for food and for
sale. The sea here not only abounds with a great variety of species,
but the individuals of each are also uncommonly numerous. The people
were continually talking to me about the whale fishery.

I had here an opportunity of seeing how salmon are caught. Some piles
are placed in the mouth of a little creek or cove, adjoining to a
small fence or row of pales.Close to this a perpendicular net is
placed in the water, in a curved position, one end being fastened to
the shore, the other to two cords, while the middle is floated out,
by means of a buoy in the mouth of the creek, towards the sea. When
the fish swim up the creek to a certain distance, they are entrapped
in this net, the cords being pulled by two people stationed in a hut
adjoining, built for the purpose of watching the net.

 The plant here called Missne, and used for food by the people, is
the Water Dragons (Calla palustris); while that given to cattle is
the Menyanthes (trifoliata). Horses are fed with the finest tops of
the twigs of spruce fir, chopped extremely small, and mixed with an
equal quantity of barley. Such feed is used only in times of great
scarcity, but it is very excellent provender.

The church of this place is but small.

The herbs I collected hereabouts were Mesomora (Cornus suecica) with
a proliferous blossom. Spergula marina with. spatulate petals, ten
stamens, and three very short pistils, (Arenaria peploides). Apium
palustre (Ligusticum scoticum). Trifolium with a monopetalous flower,
of a white colour, (T. pratense). Muscipula montana minima (perhaps
Gypsophila muralis, see Fl. Lapp. n.171). Gramen triticeum maritimum,
flore glauco, (Elynius arenathis? see Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. n. 34). Glaux
(maritima). A Fucus in long strips, resembling flax; with many other
species of that genus. Filium marinum, in aqua villosum. Coronopus
with clotted leaves (a variety of Plantago maritima). There were
numerous Echini (Sea Urchins), as well as Patellae (Limpets), and
Balani (Barnacles); all so abundant on the shore that we could
scarcely walk without treading upon them. I noticed likewise some
kinds of Star-fish (Asterias), with many Corallines, and petrified
Corals. (See Linnaeus's dissertation, entitled Corallia Baltica,
Amœn. Acad. v.1.74.)

In the evening we arrived at the parsonage house of Rorstad, the
residence of Mr. John Rask, Pastor Secundarius, and chaplain to the
king. He has been in the West Indies, as well as Africa, and has
published an account of his voyage, in which various fishes and
plants are described in a very interesting style. He gave me a
friendly reception. He has a handsome daughter named Sarah Rask,
eighteen years of age. She seemed to me uncommonly beautiful. I must
not omit to write to him hereafter; for, according to his account, he
never expected to see an honest Swede. I wish Mr. Ingerald<72> may
come and visit our neighbourhood, that I may have an opportunity of
testifying my gratitude for his kindness, which otherwise I can never
repay.

July 14.

In the morning I took leave of Mr. Rask, and returned with the master
of the boat to Torfjorden. I had now before me the whole of this
western Archipelago, and was told that, if we were to steer our
course directly westward, we should arrive at Greenland. The
conversation on our passage turned much upon a certain West
Gothlander, who had been guilty of some treacherous conduct, and told
various falsehoods. (To this the above conversation of Mr. Rask
probably alluded).

Tun-bread, as it is called in Vasterbotten, is made of barley and
chaff in the following manner. After threshing, they sift the corn
through a large cribble, which retains not only the grain and chaff,
but not unfrequently a small quantity of straw. This is dried and
ground. The rich grind the corn alone; others one third part barley,
with two of chaff, others again one of chaff to two of barley. The
meal thus procured is moistened with cold water into a paste or
dough, without being allowed to go into a state of fermentation, and
without any yeast. Cold water is preferred to warm, the latter
rendering the dough too brittle. The dough, being of a soft
consistency, is then well kneaded on a table. A handful of it is
sufficient to make one cake, though no person would suppose that so
small a quantity could make so large a cake as afterwards appears.
This lump of dough is spread out fiat on a table, not with a rolling-
pin, but with the hands and a flat trowel or shovel. A considerable
quantity of flour is sprinkled over the surface, and the whole mass
is extended till it becomes as thin as a skin of parchment. It is
then turned by means of a very large shovel, after being previously
pricked all over with an instrument made on purpose, and composed of
a large handful of the wing feathers of ptarmigans, partridges, or
some such birds. The other side, when turned uppermost, is
subsequently pricked in the same manner. The cake is then put into
the oven, only one being ever baked at a time. The attendance of a
person is necessary, to watch the cake, and move or lift it up
occasionally, that it may not burn. Much time indeed is not required
for the baking. When sufficiently done, the cake is hung over a bed-
post, or some kind of rail, and the two sides hang down parallel to
each other. Other cakes when baked are hung near to, or over, the
first. When the whole are finished, they are laid by, one upon
another, in a large heap, till wanted.

Some people make bread of the bark of fir-trees. For this purpose
they choose the bark of such trees as are of a large size, with but
few branches, because the branches, as well as the younger trees, are
more resinous, and therefore more strongly flavoured. The bark taken
from the lower part of the tree is esteemed the best. The hard
external coats require to be carefully removed. Stores of this bark
are often laid by for winter use. Previously to its being ground into
flour, it is laid over a slow fire in order to be warmed through, and
rendered more friable, for it becomes by this means much thickened
and very porous. It is next ground and baked, in the same manner as
the barley above mentioned. The dough made of fir bark is more
compact than barley dough, and almost as much so as that made of rye;
but the bread has a bitterish taste.

Missen bread is made of the Water Dragons (Calla palustris). The
roots of this plant are taken up in spring, before the leaves come
forth, and, after being extremely well washed, are dried either in
the sun or in the house. The fibrous parts are then taken away, and
the remainder dried in an oven. Afterwards it is bruised in a hollow
vessel or tub, made of fir wood, about three feet deep; as is also
practised occasionally with the fir bark. The dried roots are chopped
in this vessel, with a kind of spade, like cabbage for making sour
kale (sauerkraut), till they become as small as peas or oatmeal, when
they acquire a pleasant sweetish smell; after which they are ground.
The meal is boiled slowly in water, being continually kept stirring,
till it grows as thick as flummery.<70> In this state it is left
standing in the pot for three or four days and nights. Some persons
let it remain but twenty-four hours; but the longer the better, for
if used immediately it is bitter and acrid; both which qualities go
off by keeping. It is mixed for use, either with the meal made of fir
bark, or with some other kind of flour, not being usually to be had
in sufficient quantity by itself; for the plant is, in many places,
very scarce, though here in such abundance that cart-loads of it are
collected at a time. This kind of flummery, being mixed with flour,
as I have just mentioned, is baked into bread, which proves as tough
as rye-bread, but is perfectly sweet and white. It is really, when
new, extremely well-flavoured. Cattle Misne (Menyanthes trifoliata)
is very seldom used for making bread, being too bitter; but the roots
are given to domestic cattle, who devour them fresh. This plant grows
plentifully in all the rivers of this country, as well as in the
neighbouring marshes.

Nordskbrod, Norway bread, is made either entirely of rye flour, or of
barley with a third part rye. The dough is prepared with cold water,
and kneaded a long while, till it does not stick to the hands.
Afterwards it is flattened with a rolling-pin of a round shape, but
furrowed longitudinally, which is turned by the hands as fast as
possible. The edges of the dough, thus spread out, are repeatedly
turned in, and the whole, laid carefully on a table, makes a very
even cake, as thin as paper, though smoothed with such a rolling-pin.
It is baked on an iron made on purpose, being moved about and turned
during the process, and subsequently smoothed and polished with a
bunch of the heads of rye straw dipped in water.

In times of great scarcity, when nothing better is to be had than
seeds of Spurrey, (Spergula arvensis,) from the fields, these seeds,
after being dried, are ground and baked, along with a small
proportion of corn. The bread thus made proves blackish, but not bad.

A kind of cheese is made of sour milk in this part of Norway, for
which the following is the recipe. Take any quantity of sour milk,
and boil it till a thick sediment subsides. Then strain it through a
linen cloth, so as to get rid of the thin watery part, when the
remainder will be of the consistency of flummery. This last must be
put into a covered vessel, and allowed to stand by eight days; after
which it must be mixed with cream, and stirred about in a plate, or
some other convenient vessel; when it should be moulded into an
obtuse conical shape, and set by in a cool place, covered up from the
air. Should it happen to break, or fall in pieces, it must be stirred
up and moulded over again. Leave it till it becomes sufficiently dry,
which very often requires a month or two, when a rugged and cellular
crust will be formed on the surface, which must be taken off before
the cheese is eaten.

As I was rambling about among the hills and gathering strawberries, I
perceived a Laplander carrying a fowling-piece, who seemed in pursuit
of birds. Indeed I had scarcely noticed him till I heard the report
of his gun, when I turned about and observed him to be very near me,
though lower down on the hill. The ball struck against a large stone
at a very small distance from the spot where I stood. God be praised
that it did not hit me! The fellow ran away, and I never saw him
after, but I immediately returned home.

July 15.

In this part of Norway the fields are not enclosed, wood for stakes
or pales being very scarce. There is no distinction between the
meadow or pasture grounds and the forests, except that the latter are
rather more bushy and besprinkled with a few trees, while the former
are quite bare. The meadows, and even the roads, are mown, as well as
fed, and yet both abound with tall grass. A woman always attends the
cattle, which are not driven home at night, nor when milked, but
enclosed within a moveable paling or pen. This is continually removed
from one spot to another, in order to manure the ground. Horses are
permitted to range at large. Hogs are yoked. The cows are milked
thrice a day, morning, noon, and evening. Flocks of sheep and. goats
are allowed to follow the cows.

Some persons hereabouts use stoves made of lapis ollaris, (Talcum
Ollaris,) as well as boiling-pots of the same material. The stoves
are without chimneys, like a small flue with an oven. The fire is
alwayskindled in the oven, when the intention is to make the room
warm', and the people make use of burning coals when they are going
to bake; but they never bake in the oven. All the smoke mounts to the
ceiling, and finds its way out by a hole made for the purpose in the
centre; but this renders the ceiling perfectly black. When the smoke
does not escape readily, it is necessary to make a draught by opening
the door of the house. The reason given for this contrivance is, that
if there were a regular chimney, too much heat would escape that way.
But surely such an excuse is very lame, for much more heat must
escape by opening the door. The hole in the roof is closed at
pleasure, by means of a square cover, fixed transversely to the end
of a pole, which is lifted up from within.

Clay and stone abound in this neighbourhood. The walls of the houses
are never built perpendicularly, although timbered; for every beam is
crooked, both withinside and without. The barns are small and low,
furnished with threshing-floors.

It is impossible to traverse the Lapland alps in winter, for the
following reasons. In the first place, the cold is so intense that
nobody could endure it. Next, no reindeer are, at that season, on the
alps, but in the forests, the only place where they can procure any
food. Thirdly, no reindeer could pass the alps at a stretch, the
distance being too great; and lastly, it would not be possible for a
traveller to carry with him the requisite supplies of clothes and
provisions. For these reasons it is generally the custom to travel
over this country either in summer or autumn.

There are numerous obstacles to the cultivation of this alpine tract.
The intense cold of its winters, which exceeds that of any other
country. From the snow lying so long on the ground, the parts exposed
to the north are incapable of any culture. Frosts are frequent even
in summer. The days are dark in winter. The weather is always moist.
The soil is of a turfy kind, composed of mosses decayed by frost,
impregnated with standing water. Good black vegetable mould is not to
be met with. Lofty trees cannot be raised, on account of the
excessive violence of the wind; hence there is a great scarcity of
wood. It is customary for those in our part of Sweden who fancy
themselves indisposed, to frequent watering-places, or mineral
springs, during the heat of summer. For my own part, I have, thank
God! for several years enjoyed tolerable health, except a slight
languor, or other trifling indisposition. But as soon as I got upon
the alps, I seemed to have acquired a new existence. I felt as if
relieved from a heavy burden and after having spent a few days in the
low country of Norway, though without having committed the least
excess, I found my languor or heaviness return. When I again ascended
the alps, I revived as before, to which the pure and well ventilated
atmosphere did not a little contribute. It is a prevailing opinion
that, at a great elevation, the air is so much thinner, as to render
it necessary to breathe through wet sponges held to the nose and
mouth. I can aver that the difficulty of breathing is only caused by
the exertion of climbing the mountains, as a person who runs fast, or
uses any other violent exercise, oppresses his lungs by accelerating
the circulation of the blood.<73>

Did not the barometer show the pressure of the air to be less in such
elevated places, it would seem contrary to reason that it should be
so, upon the following principles. We know these alps to be higher
than any other hills, as no current runs across them. The streams on
the western side take their course down to the western ocean, while
those on the east run into the sea on that side. If we take into
consideration the abundance of cascades formed by these alpine-
torrents, in their way to the sea, the stupendous elevation of the
hills will be the more evident, not only on that side but on the
opposite one also. When therefore the wind blows over this country,
whether from the sea or the land, the air, having to pass such great
heights, must of course be more condensed by meeting with such an
obstruction. Thus moreover its force is increased, as well as the
sensation of cold which it gives. The air being rendered, by whatever
cause, more compact or dense, will account for its frequently
freezing in these places, during the hottest summer. Cold consists in
the compression, and heat in the rarefaction of the air,<74> hence it
seems to follow that the air is not more rare upon mountains.

But, to return to the subject of watering-places, I am persuaded that
those who could undertake a journey to this alpine country, would
derive full as much benefit from coming hither to drink snow water,
as from frequenting mineral springs, especially such as are situated
in low, foggy, marshy places. One thing at least would be in their
favour, that they could not so readily find means to transgress the
rules of temperance, usually prescribed, if not observed, at a
watering-place, by being tempted to drink strong ale or other
spirituous liquors after dinner.

The exquisite purity and good flavour of water always depend on the
snow, which tends to preserve water as salt does meat. We all know
how soon water is spoiled by keeping in a warm place, and, on the
contrary, how long it may be preserved in a cold one. The Laplanders
treasure up the snow water as if it were the choicest wine. I have
observed of late that water-drinking is becoming more common in
Stockholm, as among the Portuguese; but how different is the water,
as well as the climate! The Lapland water is indeed uncommonly
grateful to the palate.

When lately sailing on the coast of Norway, I was amused by observing
my Lapland attendant, who, as soon as he grew warm, dipped his koxa,
or ladle, into the sea, in order to drink as usual; but he was much
disappointed on finding the water salt instead of fresh. These people
always carry a large ladle about them, for the purpose of drinking
spring water, whenever they find themselves heated or thirsty, which
they do without apprehension of any bad consequences. I often
practised the same during my journey. Indeed, were it not for the
abundance of this fine water, nobody could travel in Lapland, for
there are no houses of refreshment. Bacchus and Ceres are both
unknown there, though Venus meets with due honours. The greater part
of the springs and rivers originate in the snow water of the alps;
hence the latter are twice or thrice as full when the weather is warm
in that part of the country. I one day showed a Laplander some of the
drawings in my manuscript journal. He was alarmed at the sight; took
off his cap, made a bow, and remained with his head inclined, and his
hand clapt to his breast, mumbling some words to himself; and
trembling as if be was going to faint away.<75> Many people are
afraid of a Jack in a box.

A curious stratagem was related to me in Norway, as practised upon
the Laplanders, by a person commissioned to take from them their
magical drums and idols. Having procured information of any Laplander
who kept such things concealed, be first requested to have them
brought forth. This their owner re-fused. After having long used
entreaties, to no purpose, he laid hold of one of the Laplanders'
arms, slipped up the sleeve of his jacket, and so contrived at length
as to open a vein. The Laplander was near fainting, and, entreating
him to spare his life, promised to bring the drum required; upon
which the arm was bound up immediately.  This plan has been
frequently pursued with success.<76>

In the course of my tour, my guide having one day conducted, me to
his next neighbour, the latter was just about shifting his quarters,
and therefore could not take charge of me. The former would not
attend me any further, though I paid him well for his trouble, and
entreated him not to desert me. I was obliged, therefore to menace
him with my hanger, upon which he took to his heels. He did not
however succeed in his attempt to escape, for my servant soon caught
him. His fears overcame him, and he promised, trembling, to accompany
me as I wished. Observing that he very often turned his head about, I
made him walk before me. As soon as we came to the residence of
another Laplander, and before I had well entered the hut, he set out
running, not back again the way we had come, but towards the
mountains, so that the devil himself could not have caught him, and
leaving both his money and his civility behind him. This is a proof
that severity is not the best way of dealing here. My interpreter
told me, that if the man had seen a gun cocked and presented at him,
he would not have suffered a hundredth part of the alarm that be did.

Many of the curious plants, of which I had in Lappmark found here and
there a solitary individual, as a great rarity, were common enough in
Norway. Hence I concluded that their seeds had been brought down by
the torrents, the chief of them being aquatics, as the (Pedicularis)
sceptrum-carolinum, Astragalus (alpinus), Acetosa with a notched leaf
(Rumex digynus), the white Pedicularis (sylvatica) as well as the
purple, the Asphodel (Tofieledia palustris, Fl. Brit. 397,) &c.



THE LAPLAND ALPS (2).
In the latter part of this day, July 15th, I set out on my return
from the low grounds of Norway. The heat was very powerful as we
began to ascend the mountains. When we reached what had seemed to us
from below the summit of a hill, we saw just as lofty an eminence
before us, and this was the case nine or ten successive times. I had
no idea of such mountains before. The elevation of this hill cannot
be taken by any geometrical instrument, as the summit is not visible,
even at some miles' distance. I believe its height must exceed a
Swedish mile, but to climb it was worse than going two miles any
other way. Had we not frequently met with such abundance of water, we
should have been overcome with fatigue. In this ascent I found the
little Astragalus (alpinus) with a white flower, and the Little
Gentian (Gentiana nivalis.)

Our clothes, which were wet quite through with perspiration, in
consequence of the heat we had encountered in the beginning of our
journey, were now frozen stiff upon our backs by the cold. We
determined to seek for a Laplander's hut. In order to get at one, we
were obliged to descend, so steep a hill, that, being unable to walk
down it, I lay down on my back and slid along, with the rapidity of
an arrow from a bow. I avoided with difficulty the large snow
torrents that every now and then came in my way, and which were
sometimes within an ell of me.

On reaching this hut, I noticed some of the reindeer whose horns were
not above half an inch long, the brom-fly (Oestrus tarandi) having
bitten them while quite tender; for these insects are, in the
Norwegian alps, worse than the gnats of Swedish Lapland.

I here obtained a curious piece of information respecting the mode of
castrating the reindeer. When the animal is two years and a half old,
its owner, about a fortnight before Michaelmas, getting a person to
assist him by holding it fast by the horns, places himself betwixt
its hind legs. He then applies his teeth to the scrotum, so as to
bruise its contents, but not so as to break the skin, for in that
case the reindeer would die. He afterwards bruises the part still
more effectually between his fingers. The same operation is performed
on both sides, if the reindeer remains quiet long enough for the
purpose at one time. The animal is in consequence rather indisposed
for a while, so that he can hardly keep up with the rest of the herd,
but he usually recovers perfectly in a week's time. This is certainly
an art no less curious than remarkable, and merits further
consideration.

The girls here, especially when they wish to appear to advantage,
divide their hair into two braids, one above each ear, which braids
are tied together, at the hind part of the head, so as to hang down
the back. A tuft of ribbons is appended to the extremity of each
braid.

July 16.

We undertook to cross the ice-mountain. Having proceeded some way on
our journey, we observed a dense cloud to the northeast. It was
visible both above and below us, and at length approached us in the
form of a thick mist, which moistened our clothes, and rendered even
our hair thoroughly wet. It so completely obliterated our horizon,
that we could neither see sun nor moon, nor the summits of the
neighbouring hills. We knew not whither to turn our steps, fearing on
the one hand to fall down a precipice and lose our lives, as actually
happened, a few years ago, to a Laplander under the same
circumstances; or on the other to be plunged into the alpine torrent,
which had worn so deep a channel through the snow, as to make any one
giddy, looking upon it from above. We could now not distinguish
anything a couple of ells before us. Our situation was like that of
an unskilful mariner at sea without a compass, out of sight of land,
and surrounded by hidden rocks on every side. The Laplanders
themselves consider the situation we were in as one of the worst
accidents that can ever befall them. We, however, though destitute of
a guide, were fortunate enough to discover the track of a reindeer,
and of some kind of carriage in which goods had probably been lately
conveyed towards Norway. This track directed us safely to one of the
Lapland moveable tents.

All the Laplanders are usually blear-eyed, so that one would think
the word Lappi (Laplanders) was derived from lippi (blear-eyed). The
causes of this inconvenience are various, but chiefly the following.

1. The sharp winds. In the early part of my journey, repeated
exposure to stormy weather rendered my eyes sore, so that I became
unable to open them wide, and was obliged to keep them half shut. How
much more must this be the case with those who dwell on the alps,
where there is a perpetual wind!
	2. The snow, the whiteness of which, when the sun shone upon it,
was very troublesome to me. To this the alpine Laplanders are
continually exposed
	3. The fogs. This day I found myself very comfortable in my walk
over the icy mountain, till the fog, mist, or cloud, whichever it 
might be called, came about me, rendering the eyes of my interpreter,
as well as my own, so weak and relaxed, that we could not open them
wide without an effort. Such must often be the case with the
Laplanders.
	4. Smoke. How is it possible that these people should not be
blear-eyed, when they are so continually shut up in their huts, where
the smoke has no outlet but by the hole in the roof, and consequently
fills every body's eyes as it passes!
	5. The severity of the cold in this country must also contribute
to the same inconvenience.

The mountain Laplanders, or those who live in the alps, build no
huts; They have only tents made in the following manner.


The first figure represents two connected beams, which compose the
frame-work of one side of the hut; and these meet at the top with two
similar ones, forming the opposite side. A solitary beam is placed on
each side, in the middle of the arch formed by these four, so that
the whole edifice has six angles. Two more slender sticks, but
equally tall, are then erected between every two angles, or main
ribs, of the building. Over the whole is spread the covering of the
tent (made of walmal cloth).


The usual height of the structure is about a fathom and half, and the
breadth two fathoms. A flap of cloth is left, so as to open and shut
by way of a door, between two of the main beams.

When they lie down to rest, and are fearful of being incommoded by
heat, they fix a hook through the middle of the coverlet, which
raises it perhaps an ell and a half above them, and under this canopy
they repose.


The women wear several things attached to their belt, as a leather
bag, 1, containing a spoon, as well as a pipe, 3, 2. A knife in a
case, 4. A thimble made of leather; which goes round the finger, 5. A
pin-cushion, with a brass cover which pulls down over it like a cap,
6. Several large brass rings. The belt itself is ornamented with tin
or silver embroidery, and pearls.


The men wear, instead of the above, a kind of bag, hanging down
exactly in front. This is divided internally into two pockets,
containing their tobacco-pipe, tinder-box, tobacco, and a spoon made
of reindeer's horn, of an oblong flattish shape. The women often wear
a similar bag, but of a smaller size.

When the reindeer are milked, as they cast their coat during the
whole course of the summer, the hair flies about very inconveniently,
often covering the milk in the pail. Some hair sticks also to the
dugs of the animal, and it is found necessary to clean and soften
them before the milking is begun. This is generally done by dipping
the fingers into the milk which may be in the pail already, and
washing them therewith. Whenever it happens that one of the reindeer
strays from its master's herd to that of a neighbour, the person to
whom it comes milks it, without any offence to the proper owner. Such
an accident often happens; for these animals love society, and the
more of them there are together, the better they thrive and enjoy
themselves. They are marked at the ears, like cows, that every person
may know his own.

The furniture of these Laplanders consists of kettles and pots, made
sometimes of brass, sometimes of copper; rarely of stone, on account
of the weight. They have also hemispherical bowls, with handles,
generally made of the hard knotty excrescences of the birch. These
are often large enough to hold four or five cans, (of three quarts
each,) and formed so neatly, that any one would believe them to be
turned. Into these they pour what is to be served up at their meals.
Plates they have none, but in their stead boards, of an oblong shape,
are used for meat; which, previous to its distribution among the
guests, is served up in round pails. Closely plaited baskets, or
tubs, always circular, are used to keep cheese in. There is moreover
an oblong barrel, for the purpose of holding jumomjolk.

Within the tent are spread on each side skins of reindeer, with the
hairy part uppermost, on which the people either sit or lie down, for
the tent is not lofty enough to allow any one to stand upright. In
the centre of the whole is the fire-place, or a square enclosure of
low stones about the ash-heap. The back part of the tent, behind the
fire-place, is entirely occupied either with brush-wood or branches
of trees, behind which, or, most commonly, before it next the fire,
the household furniture is placed. In the roof are two racks,
suspended over the reindeer skins on each side, upon which cheeses
are laid to dry, and, before these, towards the entrance, hang
rennet-bags, filled with milk, preserved for winter use.


The annexed figure is a sort of plan of the floor of one of these
Lapland tents. a is the fire-place. b, b, reindeer skins, six in
number, three at the right hand, on entering the tent, and as many at
the left. c large fire-wood. d cheese-vessels. e kettle, with its
lid. f, behind the first reindeer skin, is the place of the harness.
g. a barrel or cask. h a store of skins and. hair of the reindeer. i
the milk-strainer, with its flat cover.


The next figure represents the roof of the tent, as seen from below.
a, a, are the racks on which the cheeses are ranged: b outlet for the
smoke. c, c, rennet-bags containing milk. d plat of hair from the
reindeer's tail, to strain milk through. e the flat cover of the
milk-strainer; see i in former figure.

Such was the dwelling, and I shall now describe some of its
inhabitants. I sat myself down at the right hand of the entrance,
with my legs across. Opposite to me sat an old woman, with one leg
bent, the other straight. Her dress came no lower than her knees, but
she had a belt embroidered with silver. Her grey hair hung straight
down, and she had a wrinkled face, with blear eyes. Her countenance
was altogether of the Lapland cast. Her fingers were scraggy and
withered. Next to her sat her husband, a young man, six-and-thirty
years of age, who, for the sake of her large herds of reindeer, had
already been married ten years to this old hag. When the Laplanders
sit, they either cross their legs under them, or one knee is bent,
the other straight.

As a defence against wind and snow, a sort of hood, called
nialmiphata, is worn over the cap. It is made of red cloth, of the
shape of a truncated cone, dilated at the bottom, and is four palms
high, three palms in circumference at the upper part, and six at the
bottom. This covers the cheeks, as well as the neck and shoulders,
the eyes and mouth only being exposed. In the back part, at bottom,
is a loop, through which goes a ribbon to secure the whole from being
blown off, by being tied round the body under the arms. In winter-
time the women wear breeches, made exactly like those worn by the
men, as well as boots, though the latter come no higher than the
knees. It is wonderful how they are able, in the severity of winter,
to follow the reindeer, which are never at rest, but keep feeding by
night as well as by day. They have indeed small sheds or huts, here
and there, into which they occasionally drive their reindeer, but
with the greatest difficulty.

During the night we passed over the beautiful lake of Wirisiar. The
weather was very cold and foggy.

July 17.

In the morning we arrived at the abode of Mr. Kock, the under-
bailiff, where I could not but admire the fairness of the bodies of
these dark-faced people, which rivalled that of any lady whatever.
Here I saw some Lemming Rats, called in Lapland Lummick. The body of
these animals is grey; face and shoulders black; the loins blackish;
tail, as well as ears, very short. They feed on grass and reindeer-
moss (Lichen rangiferinus), and are not eatable. They live, for the
most part, in the alps; but in some years thousands of them come down
into the woodland countries, passing right over lakes, bogs, and
marshes, by which great numbers perish. They are by no means timid,
but look out, from their holes, at passengers, like a dog. They bring
forth five or six at a birth. Their burrows are about half a quarter
(of an ell?) deep. Here I found the little Gentian, or Centaury, with
a hyacinthine flower in five notched segments (Gentiana nivalis).

July 18.

I gathered and examined the little Catchfly, which resembles the
common one (Lychnis viscaria) except in being smaller, and not at all
viscid. (L. alpina) The root is perennial. Leaves oblong-lanceolate,
approaching to linear. Stem simple, round, smooth, bearing two,
three, or four pairs of opposite leaves. From the uppermost pair
springs one flower-stalk on each side, bearing a single flower,
between two small opposite purple leaves. A little higher up, two
other simple flower-stalks come forth in the same manner, with two
coloured leaves at their base, the stem being thus extended straight
upwards. Calyx ovate, erect, coloured, with five teeth. Petals five,
their disk cloven half way down; the crown with two teeth. Stamens
10. Pistils 5.

After passing the alps, we grew thirsty; but the water we met with
proved less pleasant than usual, having an earthy taste, although it
flowed from plentiful stores of ice and snow. My Laplander took his
knife and cut out a lump of ice, which he sucked by way of
refreshment. I found this mode of drinking agreeable enough, the ice
being very palatable, and we both partook of it largely. He told me
it was considered very wholesome for the chest. Indeed I learned,
both from the Laplanders and my own experience, that pure water,
however cold, is never hurtful, provided it be taken in moderation.

I was desirous of having my linen washed; but the people understood
my request as little as if I had spoken Hebrew, not a single article
of their own apparel being made of linen. As their food is of animal
origin, so is their clothing, which consists either of skins, the
produce of the country, or of the woollen cloth called walmal, which
they purchase. In the winter they wear Lapland boots, which come up
as high as the middle of the thighs, without any stockings, only the
feet are protected with what they term Skogras (Carex sylvatica Fl.
Brit.), as already mentioned. Next to the body they wear a jacket of
walmal, and above that a lappmudd, or coat of reindeer skin, with the
hairy side turned inwards. In summer they turn that side outwards.
The boots used by the women do not reach higher than the knee.

July 19.

I remarked with astonishment how greatly the reindeer are incommoded
in hot weather, insomuch that they cannot stand still a minute, no
not a moment, without changing their posture, starting, puffing and
blowing continually, and all on account of a little fly. Even though
amongst a herd of perhaps five hundred reindeer there were not above
ten of these flies, every one of the herd trembled and kept pushing
its neighbour about. The fly meanwhile was trying every means to get
at them; but it no sooner touched any part of their bodies, than they
made an immediate effort to shake it off. In one respect this season
is peculiarly propitious to the insect, as the reindeer's coat is now
very thin, most of the hair of last year's growth being fallen off. I
caught one of these insects as it was flying along with its tail
protruded, which had at its extremity a small linear orifice,
perfectly white. The tail itself consisted of four or five tubular
joints, slipping into each other, like a pocket spying-glass, which
this fly, like others, has a power of contracting at pleasure. See
what I have already mentioned concerning the spots in the reindeer
skins, as caused by this insect (Oestrus tarandi).

When the Lapland children are laid into the cradle, they seldom cry,
although their hands are confined down to their sides. If they cry,
it is generally from hunger. The cradle is placed in a sloping
position, so that the child's head is half upright. The bottom of the
cradle is hollowed out of a piece of fir wood, consequently not very
heavy. Over the head of the child is a hoop forming an arch, to which
a transverse bow is fixed, the whole being covered with cloth, like
the rest of the cradle. In summer the child lies without any covering
of reindeer hair, only having under its head and body either some
walmal cloth, fur, or moss.

The Laplanders use a curious kind of box or basket, which they call
kisa, for keeping or carrying various articles. It is of an oval
form, with the bottom and sides made of fir, like a box, being about
a foot and half long, a foot broad, and six inches deep, with a
transverse opening in the bottom to admit a part of the saddle of the
reindeer. The contents are confined by a lacing of cords, that goes
from side to side across the top, which is otherwise open. Two such
boxes, each weighing about two pounds, are placed like panniers upon
the reindeer; for that animal cannot carry above four or five pounds
weight, and the castrated males only are used as beasts of burden at
all. A leather thong crosses the saddle, connected with another
longer one, which goes round the chest of the animal at one part, and
round its thighs, like the breechings of a horse, at the other. A
pack-saddle, made either of reindeer skin, or of walmal cloth, with a
bow of spruce fir, goes across the back, and is connected with the
leather thongs just mentioned, being further secured by a girth under
the belly. Against the sides of this pack-saddle the above-described
boxes or baskets are hung and fastened, the transverse chink in the
bottom of each being fitted to the saddle.

I observed that the Laplanders, both men and women, after borrowing a
lighted pipe, and passing it from one to another, retain a mouthful
of smoke as long as possible, that they may enjoy as much of the
flavour as they can. Old men chew tobacco.

The tendons in the legs of the reindeer serve to make thread or cord.
In each hind leg are two tendons, one before the other; in each fore
leg one behind and two or three before it. These the Laplanders lay
hold of with their mouths, split and moisten them, rubbing them from
time to time with reindeer marrow, preserved in bladders for that
use, in order to render them as supple as possible. Each string is
made sharp at both ends, and drawn through holes of various sizes in
an instrument made on purpose (of wood or metal) to render it as fine
and smooth as they can. Two such threads are then twisted together by
means of the band upon the thigh or knee. They are generally held
with the left hand, and twisted with the right upon the left knee,
proceeding downwards, the thread being moistened from time to time
with saliva.

In this part of the country the Empetrum (Crow- or Crake-berry)
serves for firing. Otherwise the most common fuel is the dwarf Birch
(Betula nana), and the Willow with lanceolate white hairy leaves
(Salix lapponum), so very abundant on the Lapland alps. The dwarf
birch bears very small leaves in these elevated regions.

When the children are taken out of the cradle, which I have already
described, they are dressed in a small garment of reindeer skin. They
are usually able to stand on their legs by the time they are four
months old, and turn their head and eyes about with a degree of 
intelligence hardly ever seen in our children at that early age.

I never met with any people who lead such easy happy lives as the
Laplanders. In summer they make two meals of milk in the course of
the day, and when they have gone through their allotted task of
milking their reindeer, or making cheese, they resign themselves to
indolent tranquillity, not knowing what to do next. In winter their
food is cheese, taken once or twice a day, but in the evening they
eat meat. A single reindeer supplies four persons with food for a
week.

This animal has no gall-bladder, nor could I discover the insertion
of the biliary duct. The liver however is of a large size. The first
stomach is large, with a thick orifice, and lined with a fine
cellular network like that of a cow, being moreover longitudinally
plaited. The Laplanders are curious dissectors. They take out each of
the stomachs separately, with as much care as a professed anatomist.

The thread made of sinews, as above described, is never used for
sewing walmal, which makes their summer clothing, but only for
garments composed of fur or leather. Their shoes indeed are mended,
as well as made, with it. This last business falls to the lot of the
women. The leather is purchased.

A good ox may be bought in Norway for three rix-dollars; a female
reindeer for one rix-dollar; a castrated male for from twelve to
eighteen dollars, silver coin; and a fawn is worth from twelve to
eighteen dollars of copper money. Three reindeer, therefore, are but
equal to the value of a common ox.

I left this place in the evening, proceeding on my journey on foot,
and walking all night long, till three o'clock in the afternoon of
the following day. Thus I walked six miles at a stretch, before I
arrived at another Lapland hut.


Nothing occurred particularly worth noticing by the way, except an
Andromeda (tetragona) with quadrangular shoots, and flowers from the
bosoms of the leaves. The stem is woody, procumbent, naked, thread-
shaped, variously divided. Branches partly erect, entirely covered
with leaves, which are oblong, obtuse, somewhat rounded, concave,
keeled, sessile, disposed in an imbricated manner. Flower-stalks
solitary, from the bosoms of the leaves, erect, threadshaped,
whitish, each bearing a drooping flower. Calyx five-cleft, purplish,
with ovate straight segments. Petal one, half-ovate or bellshaped,
exactly resembling the lily of the valley, cut half way down into
five erect acute segments. Stamens ten, very short, with horned
anthers, scarcely longer than the calyx. Pistil simple, the length of
the calyx. Pericarp roundish, with five obtuse angles, erect, of five
cells, with several seeds.<77>

July 20.

The people here use a kind of bread called Blodbrod (Blood Bread),
made of small fresh fish, bruised and mixed with a little quantity of
flour. This is baked or roasted on a jack before the fire, but it is
used only in hard times.

There are no common flies, bugs, nor snakes, on these Alps. The
Laplanders however abound with lice, which in winter are allowed to
freeze, when they turn red, and are easily killed. In summer they
come forth from the clothes, if exposed to the sun, and are then
destroyed with the nails, these people having no firelock to shoot
them with.<78>

I was informed that in this neighbourhood the inoculated small-pox is
remarkably fatal. If the patients have but seventy or eighty
pustules, they die of it as of the plague. They fly to the mountains,
when infected, and die. The same is the case with the measles. It
appears that both these diseases are aggravated by the violent cold,
whence the patients die in so miserable a manner <79> Swelled necks
(goitres) are frequent. Sore eyes es are universal, especially in the
spring, when the Laplanders remove towards the Alps. The glittering
of the snow has then a pernicious effect on their eyes. Aged people
are very often blind. Female obstructions are rare, though sometimes
met with among the better sort of people; neither are the catamenia
immoderate, nor in common so copious as with us. The Lapland women
are entirely ignorant of the leucorrhoea. Of hysterics I met with but
two cases. One maid-servant, twenty-four years of age, had the
complaint about once a year; another, about thirty, was attacked with
it monthly during the summer. Epilepsy sometimes occurs. Headaches
are frequent; hence the forehead is often seen full of scars (from
the application of their toule, or moxa). Elderly people are often
hard of hearing. The sleep of the Laplanders is commonly sound, and
they are in the habit of sleeping or waking whenever they please. A
swelling, or falling down, of the uvula is not uncommon, in which
case they frequently cut off the part affected. When children are
troubled with swellings in the glands about the throat, the usual
remedy is to prick the part, and suck out the blood, which is
considered as a speedy and effectual cure. If this method be not
adopted, they suppose the blood would rise to the head, and cause
cutaneous eruptions there.

Coughs are of very rare occurrence, notithstanding the constant
practice of drinking snow- and ice-water, even after swallowing pure
grease or fat, which perhaps may prevent its bad consequences.
However this may be, the Laplanders seldom die from catching cold.
Cases of phthisis, or consumption, do indeed now and then occur among
them, and pleurisies are very common, especially in spring and
autumn. Lumbago, or pain in the back, is most prevalent during the
summer. For this, as I have already mentioned, actual cautery, by
means of their toule, or moxa, is often applied. Bleeding at the nose
chiefly happens among those Lapland women who are in the service of
the colonists, and who, in consequence of certain obstructions, are
subject also to oedematous swellings of the feet. I have not heard of
a single instance of jaundice.

Some elderly people are afflicted with asthma; and hoarsenesses now
and then occur in the winter and spring. The stone and gout are
entirely unknown amongst the Laplanders. Swellings of the lower
extremities are uncommon, as these people are in the habit of
swathing their legs, which renders them all slender and well shaped.
All dropsical complaints indeed are very rare, though I did: meet
with one case of this kind. Of tenesmus I happened to hear of but a
single instance, though the Laplanders eat so much cheese and drink
water. Disorders in the stomach are not uncommon, which are
frequently attended with diarrhoea, and in some years this disease is
contagious.

The specimens of minerals which I had  collected in the course of my
tour were now become numerous, and consisted of the following
articles.

1. An alum, as I presume, of a club shape, without any taste, seeming
as it were dissolved in fluor, from the mountains to the north of the
lake Skalk, near Tjċmotis.
	2. Native alum in its own matrix; from the same place. (Alumen
nativum. Syst. Nat. vol. 3. 101).
	3. Native alum, rough and green, separate from its matrix; from
the same mountains.
	4. Alum like the former in appearance, but not salt, perhaps a
calcareous stone; found not far from the same place.
	5. Various alpine micaceous stones.
	6. Marl from Lapland.
	Quartz from Lapland.
	8. Silver ore from. Kiurivari.
	9. Silver ore from Nasaphiel in Piteċn Lapland.
	10. Sandstone containing three per cent of iron.
	11. Black slate from the alps.
	12. Petrified corals from Norway.
	13. Iridescent fluors from the alps.

The fish called by the Laplanders Sijk (the Gwiniad, or Salmo
lavaretus,) is taken in their lakes. Its head terminates in an obtuse
point. The upper jaw is the longest. Mouth without teeth. Iris of the
eye silvery, with a blackish upper edge, and a black pupil. The whole
body is silvery, blackish about the back, eleven inches long and two
deep. Head two inches long at the sides; from the snout to the dorsal
fin four inches and a half. The dorsal fin consists of thirteen rays,
of which the first is by far the largest, and the last cloven or
interrupted. The soft fat fin is in its proper place.

July 21.

The following are the disorders or inconveniences to which the
reindeer are subject. When the frost is so intense as to form an
impenetrable crust on the surface of the snow, so that the animal
cannot break it with his feet, to get at the Lichen on which be
feeds, he is frequently starved to death. This misfortune is as
dreadful to the Laplanders as any public or national calamity
elsewhere; for, when his reindeer are killed, he must himself either
starve to death, beg for his livelihood, or turn thief.

The hoofs of the reindeer are not uncommonly affected with a swelling
at the edge where they are attached to the skin, at which part they
consequently become ulcerated, and are seldom healed. The creature
thus grows lame, and cannot keep up with the herd.

These animals are sometimes attacked with a vertigo, or giddiness in
the head, which causes them to run round and round continually. The
people assured me, that such of them as run according to the course
of the sun may be expected to get the better of the disorder; but
those which turn the contrary way, being supposed incurable, are
immediately killed. The recovery of the former is thought to be
promoted by cutting their ears, so as to cause a great discharge of
blood.

The Kurbma, or ulceration caused by the Gad-fly, takes place every
spring, especially in the younger fawns. Such as are brought forth in
the summer season are free from this misfortune the ensuing spring,
but in the following one many of them lose their lives by it. When
come to their full size and strength, the consequences are less
fatal; but no reindeer is entirely exempt from the attacks of this
pernicious insect.

The fawns are of a reddish hue the first season, during which they
cut their fore-teeth. In the autumn they turn blackish, and have
fodder given them. They are when young frequently afflicted with a
soreness in the mouth, so as to be unable for a while to eat.

Reindeer are subject to a disease called by the Laplanders Pekke
Kattiata, accompanied with ulcerations of the flesh, which however
often heal by a sloughing of the part affected. This is an epidemic
disorder. It is believed that if any of the ulcerous part, which is
cast off, be swallowed by the animal, in licking his own coat, or
that of any other of the herd labouring under this malady, it proves
fatal by corroding the viscera.

The dugs of the female often become chapped or sore, so as to bleed
whenever they are milked.

The male reindeer in his natural state is fatter than such as are
castrated, except the latter be kept without work, in which case they
become the fattest. Such as are castrated and allowed to run wild,
become considerably larger, as well as tamer, in consequence.

The rutting season lasts but a fortnight, that is, from about a week
preceding the feast of St. Matthew (Sept. 21.) to Michaelmas day,
during which period the male is savage and dangerous. Immediately
afterwards he casts his coat and horns, and not unfrequently becomes
so emaciated, that, many instances, death is the consequence.

Towards the feast of St. Eric (May 18) in the following year, or
within a fortnight of that period, very rarely later, the females
bring forth their young. They do not copulate the first year, and
seldom before the third, their progeny being found the better for
this delay. Indeed neither the males nor females arrive at their full
growth and perfection before they are towards three years old. The
fawn, whether male or female, is called the first year mesk; the
second season the male is called orryck, and the female whenial. In
the third year the latter, if she has been covered, is known by the
appellation of watja or waja, which means a wife; if otherwise, she
goes by the name of whenial-rotha, the three-year old male being
called wubbers. In his fourth year the male is termed koddutis; in
the following one kosittis; in the sixth machanis, and in the seventh
namma lappotachis. After that period no male is kept, they all
perishing in consequence of the exhaustion above mentioned, but the
castrated ones live to a more advanced age. None of these animals
however survive beyond their twelfth or fourteenth year. When the
castrated males become very fat towards autumn, and show signs of old
age; or the females, having become barren, appear otherwise to be off
the decline, they are killed, by the knife, in the close of the year;
from an apprehension that they might otherwise perish of themselves
from infirmity, in the course of another season. Such of the male
reindeer as are destined to serve for a stock of provision, are
killed before the rutting-time, and their carcases hung up to be
exposed to the air and frost before flaying. The flesh is smoked and
a little salted, and then laid upon sledges to dry in the sun, that
it may keep through the winter till spring. About the feast of St.
Matthias (Feb. 24.) the reindeer begin to be so incommoded with the
gad-fly, that they are not in a fit condition to be slain for eating.
From that period therefore, till the milking season, the Laplanders
are obliged to live on this stock of preserved meat. At other times
of the year the females are killed for immediate use, according as
they are wanted. The blood is kept fresh in kegs, or other vessels,
and serves for food in the spring, being added to the valling,
(gruel) with a small proportion of milk and water. The blood of these
animals is thick in consistency, like that of a hog. The Laplanders
carry a portion of it along with them from place to place, in 
bladders or some kind of vessels. A stock of this and all other
necessaries is collected as late as possible, before the melting of
the snow, while there still remains a track for the sledges.

A kind of blood pudding or sausage is made, in general without flour,
and with a large proportion of fat. This the Lap landers call marfi.

The liver of the reindeer, which is of a considerable bulk, is boiled
and eaten fresh. The lungs, being salted and moderately dried, are
eaten occasionally, or else given to the dogs. The intestines, which
abound with fat, are cut open, washed, and boiled fresh; nor are they
unpalatable. The brain and testicles are never eaten. The foot is
flayed down to the fetlock joint, beyond which the hair cannot, by
scalding or any other contrivance, be separated, without the cuticle
and skin coming along with it. Even when the feet are boiled, the
hair never comes off without the skin. Thus the animal when living is
the more firmly protected against the snow. The hoofs are thrown away
as useless.

The dung of the reindeer in summer is almost as large as cow-dung,
but in winter it more resembles that of the goat. Each individual
reindeer does not bear horns of precisely the same shape every year.
The points are very liable to be deformed, in consequence of the
animal's  scratching them, while in a growing state, with its feet;
they being in that state much inclined to itch, and as tender as the
flesh of a fresh fish.

These animals are afflicted with maggots called kornmatskar in their
noses and gums, from which they relieve themselves in the spring by
snorting and blowing. When the insects lodge on their backs and form
pustules there, the people make a practice of squeezing them out, to
prevent the reindeer from being too much irritated by them. (This
species is the Oestrus nasalis, though the account here given is not
very clear; but in the first edition only of the Fauna suecica
Linnaeus says, on the authority of a gentleman named Friedenreich,
that "this Oestrus lodges its eggs in the frontal sinus of the
reindeer in Lapland, and is frequently cast out by them as they
travel along in the spring.")

When the skin is stripped from the carcase of the reindeer, it is
immediately spread out, and stretched as much as possible, by means
of a longitudinal pole, and a transverse stick at each end of the
skin, these sticks being pulled asunder with a strong cord. Several
more transverse twigs are placed between these two sticks, so as to
extend every part of the edges of the hide, which in this position is
allowed to dry. The Laplanders' gloves are made of skin taken from
the legs of the animal; their hairy shoes, of that from its forehead
between the horns, such being worth two dollars, copper money; while
those made from the skin of the legs, being much thinner, are of very
little or no value.

A Laplander never goes barefoot, though he has nothing to serve him
for stockings but hay (Carex sylvatica, Fl. Brit.) Sometimes he buys
leather for shoes or boots from his neighbours.

The people of this country boil their meat in water only, without any
addition or seasoning, and drink the broth. Jumomjolk kept for a
whole year is delicate eating. Berries of all kinds are boiled in it.
Some persons make a practice of boiling these berries by themselves,
preserving them afterwards in small tubs, or other wooden vessels.
They boil their fish more thoroughly than their meat, over a slow
fire, drinking likewise the water in which it has been dressed. The
meat is never so much boiled as to separate from the bone. Fresh fish
is sometimes roasted over the fire. Few people dry and salt it,
though that method is sometimes practised. Meat is dried by the air,
sun and smoke all together, being hung up in the chimney, or rather
hole by which the smoke escapes through the roof.

The Laplanders never eat of more than one dish at a meal.

By way of dainty, the women occasionally mix the berries of the Dwarf
Cornel (Cornus suecica) with Kappi, which is made of whey boiled till
it grows as thick as flummery. To this they moreover add some cream.
That fruit is entirely neglected in the country of Medelpad.

In Dalecarlia the people generally keep their cattle up in the
mountains, twelve or sixteen miles from their own dwellings, on
account of gad-flies and other stinging insects. There they have
their dairies, and make cheese. The remaining whey is boiled till two
thirds are wasted, when it becomes as thick as flummery. This is
sometimes eaten instead of butter, sometimes mixed with dough, or
serves for food in various other manners.

The wind is excessively powerful in this alpine region, so that
sometimes it is impossible to stand against it, both men and sledges
being overturned by its violence. It blew so hard at the place where
I now was, that one of the windows of the curate's house was blown in
upon the floor.

Every Laplander constantly carries a sort of pole or stick, tipped 
with a ferule, and furnished with a transverse bit of wood. Whenever
he is tired, he leans his arms and nose against it to rest himself.

Such as live in the forests are dexterous marksmen, but not those who
inhabit the alps. Nevertheless, they all contrive, by means of their
wooden bows, to procure, in the course of the winter, a considerable
number of Squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) in their grey or winter
clothing, for the sake of their skins. In the winter season also they
go in pursuit of their most cruel enemies the wolves. One of these
animals will sometimes kill twenty or thirty reindeer at a time, if
he comes into the enclosure where they are. The wolf often runs away
before the Laplander can get near enough to fire at him. A bear can
hardly catch a reindeer, except by coming upon it unawares, the
latter being much the most swift of foot; but if he gets into any of
the store-houses, he does a great deal of mischief, turning every
thing topsy-turvy. Bears are also very dangerous in the fissures of
rocks and mountains, where they usually conceal themselves.

The Glutton (Mustela gulo) does most harm in the pantry or store-
house. He never meddles with the reindeer.

A part of the employment of the men is to make sledges, or other
machines of wood for carriage. They cut rough wood in the forests for
the boxes which they carry with them into the alps.

The duty of the women is to mend the clothes of the whole family.

Laplanders have several plays or amusements.

Children make of the dwarf birch (Betula nana) something like
reindeer's horns, with which they gore one another in sport. They
amuse themselves frequently by building little huts of stone.

Grown-up people play very well at tennis, but they seldom partake of
that diversion. More common amusements are blindman's buff and
drawing gloves.

Here I think it worth while to observe, that the alpine Laplanders
are more honest, as well as more good-natured, than those who dwell
in the woodlands. Having acquired more polish from their occasional
intercourse with the inhabitants of towns, the latter have, at the
same time, learned more cunning and deceit, and are frequently very
knavish. The inhabitants of the alps dwell in villages formed of
their tents, living together, as I have already related, in great
comfort and harmony. Those who occupy the woody parts of the country
live dispersed.

The Laplanders know no musical instrument except the lur (a sort of
trumpet), and pipes made of the bark of the quicken tree or mountain
ash. They are not accustomed to sing at church, except those who are
reckoned among the great or learned of the community.

The inhabitants of this country are not more troubled with chilblains
than those of other places. They do not mind having their cheeks
frost-bitten. The women wear an embroidered band round the head,
which affords no protection in this respect; but the men have a loose
band of skin with the hair on, which can be pulled down occasionally
over their cap, when the cold is intolerable.

(But to proceed with a further account of the diversions of the
people I am describing).

Spetto, one of their games, is played, by men as well as women, in
the following manner. They prepare from thirty to fifty or sixty
pieces of wood, a Hand's breadth in length, which are spread upon the
extended skin of a reindeer. One of the players Takes a ball made of
stone or marble, larger than a boy's playing marble, which he throws
up into the air about an ell high. While the ball is up, he snatches
away one of the sticks, but in such a manner as not to miss catching
the ball in its fall, holding the stick in the same Hand. He,
subsequently gathers together, in his other hand, as many of the
sticks as he has thus been able to procure. If he fails in any
respect, another person is to take the ball, and proceed in the same
manner, the former player resigniNg up to him one of the sticks every
time the ball is thrown, till no more remain in his own possession.
He who can take up all the sticks wins the game. The following rules
are to be observed.

1. He who catches the ball, but not one of the sticks, must resign
the baLl to another player, as well as he who has let it fall.

2. He who takes up more than one stick at a time, must return what he
has taken. 
	3. The adversary, that is, the last player, who could not
succeed in taking up all the sticks, is allowed to lay down as many
as he pleases of the sticks he has collected, and may arrange them
according to his fancy. It is usual to lay one upon another, in order
to render the game more difficult, the player being obliged to snatch
up each separately; which is not easy without taking two, when so
situated, at once.
	4. When at length one person has taken up all the sticks, his
adversary is permitted to replace the two last of them upon the skin
in any manner he chooses. He commonly separates them as widely as
possible. The person who had previously gained the whole, is then
required to take up both these sticks at one throw of the ball, and
if he fails he must give up the game. Thus the victory is often lost
by means of these two last sticks.
	5. When the adversary fails of his aim, the other player is to
take all the sticks lying on the field, as well as those which after
having been laid down by himself, were won by the other person, and
the whole are to be laid down again directly; in order to be taken up
according to the above rules. But he is no longer under any
obligation himself to take up the sticks which he has thus laid for
his companion.


The game called Tablut is played with checkered board, and twenty-
five pieces, or men, in the following manner.


Fig. 1, is the king, whose station is in the central square or royal
castle, called konokis by the Laplanders, to which no other person
can be admitted.
	Fig. 2, represents one of the eight Swedes his subjects, who, at
the commencement of the game, are stationed in the eight squares,
adjoining to the royal castle, marked 2 and 3.
	Fig. 3, is one of sixteen Muscovites, their adversaries, who
occupy the sixteen embroidered squares, (some of them marked 4 in the
cut,) situated four together in the middle of each side of the field.

The vacant squares, distinguished by letters, may be occupied by any
of the pieces in the course of the game.
LAWS.

1. Any piece may move from one square to another in a right line, as
from a to c; but not corner-wise, or from a to e.
	2. It is not allowed to pass over the heads of any other pieces
that may be in the way, or to move, for instance, from b to m, in
case any were stationed at e or i.
	3. If the king should stand in b, and no other piece in e, i, or
m, he may escape by that road, unless one of the Muscovites
immediately gets possession of one of the squares in question, so as
to interrupt him.
	4. If the king be able to accomplish this, the contest is at an
end.
	5. If the king happens to be in e, and none of his own people or
his enemies either in for g, i or m, his exit cannot be prevented.
	6. Whenever the person who moves the king perceives that a
passage is free, he must call out raichi, and if there be two ways
open, tuichu.
	7. It is allowable to move ever so far at once, in a right line,
if the squares in the way be vacant, as from c to n.
	8. The Swedes and the Muscovites take it by turns to move.
	9. If any one man gets between two squares occupied by his
enemies, he is killed and taken off, except the king, who is not
liable to this misfortune.
	10. If the king, being in his own square or castle, is
encompassed on three sides by his enemies, one of them standing in
each of three of the squares numbered 2, he may move away by the
fourth. If one of his own people happens to be in this fourth square;
and one of his enemies in number 3 next to it, the soldier thus
enclosed between his king and the enemy is killed. If four of the
enemy gain possession of the four squares marked 2, thus enclosing
the king, he becomes their prisoner.
	11. If the king be in 2, with an enemy in each of the adjoining
squares, a, A And 3, he is likewise taken.
	12. Whenever the king is thus taken or imprisoned, the war is
over, and the conqueror seizes all the Swedes, the conquered party
resigning all the Muscovites that he had taken.

The Laplanders use the middle bark of the elm for dressing their
reindeer skins, but merely by chewing it, and rubbing their saliva on
the skins. They also tan with birch bark, but do not suffer the skins
to remain long under the operation, which they say would render them
rotten and apt to rend, neither can they spare them very long.

White walmal cloth is procured from Russia, but for want thereof they
commonly wear a light grey cloth of the same kind.

Ropes are made of roots of spruce fir in the following manner.
Choosing the most slender roots, they scrape off the bark, while
fresh, with the back of a knife, holding the roots against the thigh.
Afterwards each root is first split with the knife into three or four
parts, which are then by degrees separated into a number of very
slender fibres; and these, being wrapped round the hand like a skein
of thread, are tied together. They are then boiled in a kettle for an
hour or two, with a considerable quantity of wood ashes. While still
soft from this boiling, they are laid across the knee, and scraped
three or four times over with a knife. At last they are twisted into
small ropes. Birch roots serve in like manner to afford cordage for
the Laplanders, but more rarely. The latter are more generally used,
without being split; for basket-work. For various articles of
furniture the roots of Tall (Scotch Fir, Pinus sylvestris) are cut
into small boards. The wood of that tree serves for inferior kinds of
work, and, amongst other things, for cheese-vats.

The Laplanders scrape with a knife the young and tender stalks of the
plant called Jerja, (Sonchius alpinus, Sm. Plant. t.21.) and eat them
as a delicacy, like those of the great Angelica (A. archangelica),
which in the first year of their growth are termed Fatno.

A Laplander always places himself at the further part of his hut, and
his guest is seated next to him on a skin spread on purpose. The
master of the hut is by this means enabled to reach the vessel in
which water is kept for drink, and which always stands in the upper
part of the hut.

The river Hyttan flows in a perpetual stream both summer and winter.
Now if, according to the general opinion, the water of this river
were derived from exhalations of the great ocean, collected by the
alps of this country, it should cease to run when all the alpine
tracts are frozen. The stream must therefore be constantly fed by
neighbouring springs.

The names by which the Laplanders distinguish the several times of
the day or night are as follows. Midnight is called in their language
kaskia. The remainder of the night before dawn, pojela kaskia. The
morning dawn, theleeteilyja. Sunrise, peivi morotak. Two or three
hours after sun-rise, areiteet. The hour of milking the reindeer,
which is about 8 or 9 o'clock, arrapeivi. Noon, or dinner time,
kaskapeivi. About 5 or 6 o'clock in the afternoon, eketis peivi.
Sunset, peiveliti. Night, ia.

The days of the week are named as follows.
	Sunday, Sotno peivi.
	Monday, Mannutaka.
	Tuesday, Tistaka.
	Wednesday, Kaska vacku, or middle of the week. 
	Thursday, Tourestaka.
	Friday, Perietaka.
	Saturday, Lavutaka.

They have no names for the months, but certain weeks are
distinguished by the following appellations.
	Midsummer week. Midtsomarvacku.
	St. Peter's week, June 29, Pelasmassuvacku.
	Goose week, Gassa vacku.
	In the middle of the summer, Gaskakis.
	St. Margaret's, July 20, Marcrit.
	St. Olaus' mass, July 29, Vollis.
	(No date mentioned here.) Vehak.
	St. Laurence, Aug. 10, Lauras.
	Reindeer-fawn week, Orryk. When in a fawn two years old the
horns begin to bud.
	St. Bartholomew, Aug. 24, Barti.
	(No date.) Hoppmil.
	St. Mary, Sept. 8, Margi.
	Holy Cross, Sept. 14, Behawis.
	St. Matthew, Sept. 21, Matthus.
	St. Michael, Sept. 29, Michel.
	(St. Faith, Oct. 6?) Perkit.
	(Middle of Oct.) Talvi.



The annexed figure represents a Laplander's staff. It is tipped with
a blade of iron, as thick as the thumb. With this weapon he attacks
the bear and wolf in the time of deep snow. On the lower part of the
shaft is a sort of hoop, six inches in diameter, made of root of fir,
and fastened with thongs of reindeer skin, one of which passes
through a hole in the staff. At the bottom it is mounted with iron.
The use of this hoop is to prevent the staff from sinking into the
snow, when used as a walking-stick., The shaft itself, made of birch
wood, is about four feet long, and an inch and half thick.


This sketch is taken from one of their snow shoes, made of:wood. Its
length is six feet, from h to i; breadth, from k to g, five inches.
The hind part, i, is rather more obtuse than the other end, h, which
last is elevated about two or three inches. From h it gradually
widens to f.The part from c to d, where the foot stands, is about
eight inches; its breadth three. The under part of the shoe is
convex, and furrowed lengthwise; the upper flattish, raised about ten
lines, and the edge all round is sharp. At b is a band, made of fir
root twisted, serving to tie the shoe fast round the ankle. The
general thickness of the shoe throughout is from three to four lines.

Some people wear a pair of the same size; others have the left shoe
smaller than the right. Each is often lined or covered, about the
central part, with a piece of hairy reindeer skin, to prevent the
foot slipping about upon the shoe, and give a firmer step in walking
over the snow. This is most practised in Kemi-Lappmark, where the
wild reindeer are most abundant.

The Lapland thread is made out of the tendons of reindeer fawns half
a year old. Such thread is covered with tin foil for embroidery, its
pliability rendering it peculiarly fit for the purpose. The tendons
are dried in the sun, being hung over a stick. They are never boiled.

To show to what a high degree of perfection these people have arrived
in the art of making such thread, I brought away a sample of it,
which I believe none of our ladies could match.

Shoes and baskets made of birch are used both in Angermanland and
Halsingland, as well as ropes of the same material, which will not
sink in water, but these are not in general use.

The bows which serve the Laplanders for shooting squirrels are
composed of two different kinds of wood, laid parallel to each other.
The innermost is birch, the outermost of what they term kior, kioern
or tioern. (This is procured from a tree of the Common Fir, Pinus
sylvestris, that happens to grow in a curved form, usually in marshy
places, or on the banks of rivers, and whose contracted side is hard
like box: see Fl. Lapp. n. 346, l.) If this be not practised, the
bows are more apt to snap. Each layer of wood is externally convex,
yet not so much as to render the bow quite cylindrical.

When the Laplanders expect any visitors, they are particularly
careful to have plenty of ris (branches of the dwarf birch) spread on
the floor, under the reindeer skins on which they sit; otherwise they
would be thought deficient in civility, and the mistress of the
family would be censured as a bad manager, when the guests returned
to their own homes.

The mode of their entertainment is as follows. First, if the stranger
arrives before their meat is set over the fire to boil, they present
him either with iced milk, or with some kind of berries mixed with
milk, or perhaps with cheese, or with kappi, Afterwards, when the
meat is sufficiently cooked, and they have taken it out of the pot,
they put into the water, in which it has been boiled, slices of
cheese made of reindeer milk. This is a testimony of hospitality, and
that they are disposed to make their guest as welcome as they can.
They next serve up some of their dry or solid preparations of milk.

The marriages of the Laplanders are conducted in the following
manner. (This subject was treated above, like Sterne's "history of
the king of Bohemia and his seven castles," no doubt to the great
dismay of the curious reader. We ought to have warned him of its
being resumed in a subsequent part of the work, but in truth we had
not then ourselves proceeded so far in deciphering the original
manuscript.)

In the first place the lover addresses his favourite fair one in a
joking manner, to try whether his proposal be likely to prove
acceptable or not. Perhaps he even goes so far as to speak once or
twice to her father upon the subject. He then takes his leave; either
fixing a time for his return, or not, as it may happen.

The lover next takes with him such of his nearest relations as live
in the neigh bourhood, who, as well as himself, all carry provisions
with them, to the hut of his mistress, he going last in the
procession.

When the party arrive at the place of their destination, they all,
except the lover, walk in. If there happen to be any other huts near
at hand, it is usual for the damsel to retire to one of them, that
she may not be obliged to hear the conversation of the visitors. Her
admirer either remains on the outside of the door, amongst the
reindeer, or goes into some neighbouring hut. There are usually two
or three spokesmen in the party, the principal of whom is called
Sugnovivi. When they are all seated, the young man's father first
presents some brandy to the father of the young woman; upon which the
latter asks why he treats him with brandy? The former replies, "I am
come hither with a good intention, and I wish to God that it may
prosper." He then declares his errand. If the other party should not
be favourably inclined to the proposal, he rejects it, at the same
time thanking the person who made it. Upon this, all who are present
endeavour to prevail upon him to give his consent to the marriage. If
they succeed, or in case the offer has from the first been accepted,
the friends of the lover fetch whatever they have brought along with
them, consisting of various utensils, and silver coin, which they
place on a reindeer skin, spread in the hut, before the father and
mother of the intended bride. The father or the mother of the
bridegroom then distributes the money between the young woman and her
parents. If the sum be thought too small, the latter ask for more,
and it frequently happens that much time is spent in bargaining,
before they can come to a conclusion. When the parties concerned
cannot obtain so large a sum as they think themselves entitled to,
they often reject the whole, and return the money to those who
brought it. But if, on the contrary, matters are brought to a
favourable conclusion, the parents allow their daughter to be sent
for. Two of the bridegroom's relations undertake this office. If the
bride has any confidential female friend, or a sister, they walk arm
and arm together; and in this case the mother of the bridegroom is
required to make a present of a few brass rings, or something of that
kind, to this friend or sister, who keeps lamenting the loss of her
companion.
	When the bride enters the hut, her father asks whether she is
satisfied with what he has done? To which she replies, that she
submits herself to the disposal of her father, who is the best judge
of what is proper for her. The mother of the bridegroom then presents
the bride with the sum allotted for her, laying it in her lap. If it
proves less than she had expected, she shows her dissatisfaction by
various gestures, and signs of refusal, in which case she may
possibly obtain at least the promise of a larger sum. All these gifts
become her own property.

When such pecuniary matters are finally arranged, the father and
mother of the bridegroom present him and his bride with a cup of
brandy, of which they partake together, and then all the company
shake hands. They afterwards take off their caps, and one of the
company makes an oration, praying for God's blessing upon the
newmarried couple, and returning thanks to him who "gives every man
his own wife, and every woman her own husband."

The parents of the bridegroom next partake of some brandy, and the
whole stock of that liquor which they had brought with them is
fetched for the company. All the relations of the bridegroom then
come forward with their provisions, which generally consist of
several cheeses, and piece of meat dried and salted. The latter is
roasted before the fire, while the company is, in the mean while,
regaled with some of the solid preparations of milk, the bride and
bridegroom eating by themselves, apart from the rest.

Two stewards are next chosen, one of them from the bride's party, the
other from that of the bridegroom. The last-mentioned party are then
required to furnish a quantity of raw meat, amounting to about a
pound and half to each person. This the stewards immediately set
about boiling, and their duty moreover is to serve it round to all
present. This meat is dressed in several separate pots, two only in
each hut, if there be any neighbours whose huts can serve to
accommodate the party on this occasion; for each Laplander has never
more than one hut of his own. The fat part of the broth is first
served up in basins. Afterwards various petticoats or blankets, of
walmal cloth, are spread on the floor, by way of a table-cloth, on
which the boiled meat is placed. The chief persons of the company
then, as many as can find room, take their places in the hut of the
bride's family, sitting down round the provision, while the children
and inferiors are accommodated in the neighbouring huts. Grace is
then said. The bride and bridegroom are placed near together, for the
most part close to the door, or place of entrance. They are always
helped to the best of the provision. The company then serve
themselves, taking their meat on the points of their knives, and
dipping each morsel into some of the fat broth, in which the whole
has been boiled, before they put it into their mouths. Numbers of
people assemble from the neighbourhood, to look in upon the company
through the door; and as they expect to share in the feast, the
stewards give them two or three bits of meat, according as they
respect them more or less. What remains after everybody is satisfied,
is put together, and wrapped up in the blankets or cloths, that part
of it which is left by the new-married couple being kept separate
from the rest, as no other person is allowed to partake of their
share. The dinner being over, the whole company shake hands and
return thanks for their entertainment. They always shake hands with
the bride and bridegroom in the first place, and then with the rest,
saying at the same time kusslân.

After taking some brandy, the whole party go to bed. The herd of
reindeer had been turned out to pasture from the time when the meat
was put into the pot. The bride and bridegroom sleep together with
their clothes on.

When the company rise in the morning, if the bridegroom's father and
their party have anything left, they treat the others with it; for
the family of the bride have seldom any preparation made, not
expecting, or not being supposed to expect, such company, and they
never keep any brandy by them, but purchase it for every occasion.
Whatever cold meat therefore remains is brought forward, to which the
bride's party indeed add cheese, and any other preparation of milk
they may have in store, as well as any dried meat; such things being
usually kept by them. With these the party regale themselves by way
of breakfast. Afterwards the family of the bride boil some fresh
meat, as a final repast for their guests, who, after partaking of it,
take their leave.

The banns are usually published once. The marriage ceremony, which is
very short, is performed after the abovementioned company is
departed. This being over, the bridegroom either takes his wife
immediately home with him, or he goes to his own hut alone, and stays
there from one to five days, after which he returns to her residence,
bringing with him his herd of reindeer, and stays there for some time
with her.

Such of the Laplanders as are rich enough to afford it, make their
wives a present of a coverlet; a petticoat made of cloth, without any
gathers, as usual among these people; a small silver beaker or cup;
several rix-dollars and silver rings; a spoon, &c; so that many a
bride costs her husband more than a hundred dollars, copper money. To
the mother he perhaps gives a silver belt, as well as a cloth
petticoat.

I have already mentioned that the Laplanders eat Angelica
(sylvestris) in a raw state. This plant, which the inhabitants of
Vasterbotten call Bioernstut, has so many names among the Laplanders,
according to the different stages of its growth,as to cause much
confusion to a stranger. The first year of its growth they term the
root Urtas, and the leaves Fadno; but the second year the plant is
known by the name of Posco or Botsk. When the stalk is dried, or
eaten raw, they call it Rasi, that is, grass. They say, when any one
has eaten more of this plant than is good for him, "Eli rasi ist
purro etnach," the meaning of which is, "Thou hast overloaded thyself
with such a quantity of grass." Another herb of which they are very
fond is the Sowthistle with a simple stem, known by the name of
Jerja. (Sonchus alpinus. Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 240. Sm. Pl. Ic. t.21. S.
lapponicus. Willd. Sp. Pl. v.3. 1520.) This has a perennial root. The
stem is erect, round, green, smooth, except a few soft scattered
hairs, which are most remarkable towards the top and bottom, and is
almost as tall as a man. Leaves about twelve or fourteen, half
clasping the stem, gradually smaller upwards, nearly the shape of
Dandelion, or of the common Sowthistle, one half of each leaf,
consisting of the terminal lobe, making exactly an acute triangle,
toothed at the edges; from that part downwards the leaf contracts,
but not to the main rib, and then again expands into two narrow
appendages, as it were, equal in breadth, but unequal in length,
which are crenate at their edges. From thence begins the stalk of the
leaf, which is winged and toothed, and half embraces the stem. The
leaves are thin and smooth, with a rib purple on the upper side, and
the upper ones are the least divided, as well as the bluntest. The
flowers are collected into a corymbus, somewhat like Butterbur, but
more loosely, especially in the lower part, each supported by a very
short stalk, accompanied by a very narrow oblong leaf which extends
beyond the flower. The calyx consists of several oblong, narrow,
acute, imbricated leaves, varying in number from fourteen to twenty,
the outermost gradually shortest, but the ten innermost are equal in
length, and blunter than the rest, composing two rows; the calyx
altogether is shorter than the corolla, tubular, swelling, and downy.
Florets equal in number to the leaves of the calyx. Germen short,
square, crowned with long white radiating down. Petal flat, cut away
on one side, violet-coloured, five-toothed. Stamens five, white,
their apex (anther) cylindrical, five-sided, white, marked with five
blue lines. Pistil one, forked at the top. Receptacle naked, dotted.
This plant grows among trees at the sides of mountains, along with
the narrow-hooded Aconite (Aconitum lycoctonum), flowering at the end
of July or beginning of August. The stem, which is milky, is eaten by
the Laplanders in the same manner as Angelica. The taste was to me
very bitter, but the people of the country do not find it so, though
they confessed that it appeared bitter to them when they first
learned to eat it. As soon as the plant shows its flowers, the stalk
becomes woody, and no longer eatable.

The sinews of which the fine thread is made that, when covered with
tin, serves for embroidery, and is called tentrċd (tinthread), are
taken from the feet of the reindeer, or of oxen, boiled; though
sometimes the feet of sea-fowl are chosen for this purpose. Old women
and girls are employed in preparing this thread, by drawing it
through holes made in a piece of reindeer's horn. They wind it round
their hands and feet as they form it, and smear it with fat extracted
from the foot of the animal, to make it more supple, as they proceed.

Hay is made in different modes in various parts of Sweden. In
Vasterbotten the fresh-cut grass is heaped together over night, that
it may get a heat. Next day it is spread out, and by this method its
quality is supposed to become richer and stronger. The same is
practised with hops in Jamtland, where the fresh-gathered hops are
packed together, as hard as possible, till they become warm; after
which they are spread out to dry. Their strength is by this means
improved.

The people of Skċne having mowed their grass, let it lie till dry,
when they rake it together. The Smċlanders dry it in a kind of shed.
The Ostergotlanders range it in heaps, two and two together, in a
long row. In Uppland the new-mown grass is tied up in bundles, and
collected into cocks. In Angermanland the whole year's crop is laid
by upon a kind of raised floor. In Vasterbotten, after being dried in
the shed, the hay is kept there for use, being laid crosswise, and
cut when wanted.<80>



LULEAN LAPLAND (2).
July 23.

This evening I took leave of the alpine part of Lapland, and returned
by water from Hyttan towards Luleċ. The White, or Mountain, Fox
(Canis lagopus) lives among the alps, feeding on the Lemming Rat or
Red Mouse, (Mus lemmus,) as well as on the Ptarmigan (Tetrao
lagopus). This White Fox is smaller than the common kind. The
Ptarmigan, which the Laplanders call Cheruna, feeds on the Dwarf
Birch (Betula nana), which for that reason is called Ryprys, or
Ptarmigan-bush. At night this bird lies squat upon the snow, in the
same posture as the Wood Grous (Tetrao urogallus): hence a great deal
of its dung is seen in the prints it makes in the snow. This mode of
roosting renders the Ptarmigan an easy prey to the Fox.

The Lemming or Red Mouse, (Mus lemmus,) in some seasons entirely
overruns the country; devouring the corn and grass: but though these
animals thus occasionally appear by millions at a time, they
subsequently depart and disappear as unaccountably, so that nobody
knows what becomes of them. They do no mischief in the houses.

The Ermine (Mustela erminea) is white in winter, red in summer. This
animal is seldom met with on the alps, but is very plentiful in the
forests. Foxes and Wolves have destroyed the chief of the Hares. The
Wolves indeed kill the Foxes.

The Shrew Mouse (Sorex araneus) and Common Small Mouse (Mus musculus)
are found in Lappmark, but no Rats (Mus rattus).

Hunting the Bear is often undertaken by a single man, who, having
discovered the retreat of the animal, takes his dog along with him,
and advances towards the spot. The jaws of the dog are tied round
with a cord, to prevent his barking, and the man holds the other end
of this cord in his hand. As soon as the dog smells the bear, he
begins to show signs of uneasiness, and by dragging at the cord
informs his master that the object of his pursuit is at no great
distance. When the Laplander by this means discovers on which side
the bear is stationed, he advances in such a direction that the wind
may blow from the bear to him, and not the contrary; for otherwise
the animal would by the scent be aware of his approach, though not
able to see an enemy at any considerable distance, being half blinded
by the sunshine. When he has gradually advanced to within gunshot of
the bear, he fires upon him; and this is the more easily accomplished
in autumn, as the bear is then more fearless, and is continually
prowling about for berries of different kinds, on which he feeds at
that season of the year. Should the man chance to miss his aim, the
furious beast will directly tarn upon him in a rage, and the little
Laplander is obliged to take to his heels with all possible speed,
leaving his knapsack behind him on the spot. The bear coming up with
this, seizes upon it, biting and tearing it into a thousand pieces.
While be is thus venting his fury, and bestowing all his attention,
upon the knapsack, the Laplander takes the opportunity of loading his
gun, and firing a second time; when he is generally sure of hitting
the mark, and the bear either falls upon the spot or runs away.

July 24.

In the huts of this neighbourhood I observed an instrument which I
had no where noticed before, consisting of an oblong board, placed
transversely at the end of a pole. Its use is to stir the pot while
boiling.

Directly opposite to Hyttan towards the west, and on the south of the
mountain of Wallivari, is, a vein of fine iron ore, but hardly worth
working while the roads, by which it must be conveyed to Luleċ, are
in so bad a state.

This night I beheld a star, for the first time since I came within
the arctic circle. Nevertheless the darkness was not considerable
enough to prevent my reading or writing whatever I pleased.

One of the Laplanders had caught a quantity of the fish called
Sikloja (Salmo albula) of a large size. He stuck about twenty of them
on one spit, the back of each being placed towards the belly of the
next, and they were thus roasted before the fire. These fish had
previously been dried, though not at all salted.

The glue used by the Laplanders for joining the two portions of
different woods of which their bows are made is prepared from the
Common Perch (Perca fluviatilis) in the following manner. Some of the
largest of this fish being flayed, the skins are first dried, and
afterwards soaked in a small quantity of cold water, so that the
scales can be rubbed off. Four or five of these skins being wrapped
up together in a bladder, or in a piece of birch bark, so that no
water can get at them, are set on the fire in a pot of water to boil,
a stone being laid over the pot, to keep in the heat. The skins thus
prepared make a very strong glue, insomuch that the articles joined
with it will never separate again. A bandage is tied round the bow
while making, to hold the two parts the more firmly together.

When these people undertake a short journey only, they carry no bag
for provisions, the latter being stored between their outer and inner
jackets, which are always bound with a girdle, being wide, and formed
of numerous folds, both above and below it.

The Purple Willow-herb, or Epilobium (angustifolium?) made the fields
at this time very beautiful. The Golden-rod (Solidago virgaurea) was
likewise here in blossom, though not yet upon the alps, where it
flowers later.

I have never yet seen any animal swim so light as the reindeer.
During the dog-days the herds of reindeer, belonging to the
inhabitants of the woody parts of Lapland, are very badly off for
want of snow, with which those animals refresh themselves in hot
weather upon the alps. Hence they constitute a more valuable and
thriving property to the alpine Laplanders than to any others. In the
winter time, when the favourite Lichen of the reindeer (L.
rangiferinus) cannot be got at, their keepers fell trees laden with
filamentous Lichens, to serve them for food; but it scarcely proves
sufficient.

The rivulet near Tjċmotis Trask has a very white appearance, as if
milk had been mixed with it. This the inhabitants term kalkwatter, or
lime-water, from the colour, not from any knowledge of its cause or
origin. This rivulet they told me came from the alps. It empties
itself into the great river near Tjċmotis, and renders the water of
that river white for the space of four or five miles. I noticed a
similar phenomenon at Wirijaur.

I was amused with the mode in which these Laplanders take brandy.
After they have laid hold of the mug, they dip their forefingers into
the liquor, and rub a little on their foreheads, as well as on the
middle of their bosoms. On inquiring the reason, I was told their
intention was that the brandy might not prove hurtful either to the
head or breast.

Some people here were regaling themselves with fresh fish, of the
kind lately mentioned (Salmo albula), which having boiled into a mass
like pap or flummery, they were eating out of their hands.

The dress of the Laplanders is, in one particular at least, very
wisely contrived. Their thick collars effectually protect the throat
and breast, which being furnished with numerous nerves and small
muscles, and being the seat of the windpipe and of many principal
veins and arteries, are very important and susceptible parts. The
neck moreover, from its slender shape, is peculiarly exposed to cold.
Hence the protection of clothing is found very necessary to the parts
in question. For want of it our young women suffer much injury, which
our youths avoid by running into the contrary extreme of tying their
neckcloths so tight as to make themselves as red in the face as if
they were half strangled.

We Swedes are accustomed to have all our clothing made very tight.
Not only the neckcloth, but the coat, waistcoat, breeches, stockings,
sleeves, &c., must all stick close to the body, and the tighter they
are the more fashionable. The Laplanders, on the contrary, wear only
two, and those slight, bandages about them, which moreover are broad,
and therefore less injurious than a narrow bandage in any part. Those
to which I allude are the waistband and knees of their breeches, both
made sufficiently loose and easy.

To-day I gathered the following plants. A reed-like panicled Grass,
with a very slender branched stem. (This appears to have been Arundo
calamagrostis, Fl. Lapp. n.42)

A great aquatic Carex, with inflated, whitish, pendulous spikes. In
more dry situations they were upright and shorter, but in every other
particular the same. (C. vesicaria.) A grass with a slender
darkcoloured panicle, approaching the stem, (Agrostis rubra, Fl.
Lapp. n.46.)

July 25.

The lakes in this part of the country did not afford me so many
plants as further south. Their bottoms were quite clear, and
destitute of vegetation. Their shores were no less barren. No Water-
lilies (Nymphaeae), no Water-docks, &c., (different species of
Rumex,) grew about their borders, but the surface of the water itself
was covered with the Water Ranunculus (R. aquatilis), bearing round
as well as capillary leaves, and whitening the whole with its
blossoms. I could not but wonder to see these broad patches of white
spread over the lakes, though, when I passed up the country but a
fortnight before, I had not perceived the least appearance of even
the herbage of the Ranunculus that composed them. Now its branches,
an ell in length, swam on the surface. The growth of the stem must be
very rapid, as it often proceeded from a depth of three fathoms. Some
of the plants thrown up on the shore had capillary leaves, as are all
those which grow under the water. The root resembles that of the
Iris.
	 I noticed also the Pondweed with leaves clasping the stem
(Potamogeton perfoliatum, rare in Lapland); and a very large branched
floating Water-grass, with cylindrical spikes, which I hesitate
whether to separate from the Gramen aquaticum geniculatum spicatum,
(of Bauhin and Rudbeck. Alopecurus geniculatus of Linnaeus. The grass
of which he here speaks is n.38 of his Flora Lapponica. A.
geniculatus b, Sp. Pl. 89.)


The annexed figure represents the Norwegian cross-bow, used for
shooting squirrels, which it will hit at the distance of twenty or
thirty paces as certainly as a gun. It was curious to observe the
dexterity with which one of the Laplanders hits a small fly, which I
had set up for a mark, at the distance of thirty paces.

The bow itself, a, a, a, made of steel, is two feet and a half long,
two inches wide in the middle, gradually sloping off to the
extremities, which are only one inch in width. Each end is rounded,
with a notch, where the cord is fixed, which, when the bow is drawn,
seems in danger of immediately slipping off, but it never does. The
whole bow when at rest makes a curve of two inches; when strongly
bent it forms one of seven. The cord b, fixed on at the ends b, b, is
made of twisted hemp, as thick as one's finger, bound round with
hempen thread, especially in the middle, where it is to receive the
bolt. The stock c, c, made of wood ornamented with inlaid work of
bone, is two feet and a half long, and half a palm broad, being half
an inch thick towards the top, and an inch at the base. Its upper
side is entirely covered with the above-mentioned inlaying, and quite
even or flat, except towards the base or handle, where it is slightly
concave. The part marked d on the bow, and D on a larger scale
annexed, is the catch, like a pulley, which turns on an iron pin, and
in the side of which is a projection, with a rectangular notch, see
fig. 1 and 2. When the bow is bent, the angle at fig. 2 catches the
cord, and is let go by means of the apparatus represented at c, c, by
the side.

As no human being is sufficiently strong to draw this bow with the
hands alone, a strap of leather is fixed round the loins, ending in
two iron hooks, which lay hold of the cord. One foot is put into the 
strap at the top of the bow, h, and then, by the exertion of the
body, the bow is drawn till the cord catches the angle of the pulley
D.


The annexed cut represents the bolt of this Norwegian cross bow,
which is a foot and half long, an inch thick. From the extremity,
which is thicker and blunt, to the feathered part, is about a foot.
The feathers, taken from the wing of the great Grouse or Cock of the
wood, (Tetrao urogallus,) are stripped from the quill, and placed
erect in three longitudinal rows; and after being bound on with
thread, the part by which they are attached is smeared with pitch, to
fix them the more firmly. The whole bolt is made of birch wood. Its
base is compressed, naked and smooth, formed with a groove to receive
the bow-string. This more finished and elaborate sort of bow is
principally used in Vasterbotten. The whole cost of one, with all its
appurtenances, amounts to fifteen dollars, copper money. The
Laplanders therefore content themselves with a far more rude and
simple apparatus, consisting of such a wooden bow made of birch, as I
have already described, with a string fitted to it. Or they merely
cut a branch of fir in the forest, and with any bit of cord that
happens to come in their way, kill abundance of squirrels, holding
the bow with their left hand, and drawing it with their right by
means of a small cleft stick. Thus they will, as I have witnessed,
take successful aim at the Emberiza nivalis, or Snow Bunting, sitting
on the tops of the most lofty pines.

It is commonly reported that no clay is to be found in Lapland, but I
met with some in two different places; in each instance indeed it was
at the bottom of a lake, as at Rondijaur and Skalka trask, the shores
being of sand though the bottom was clay.

Nets are set in the lakes in winter to catch the Sijk fish (Salmo
lavaretus, or Gwiniad.) Holes are made for this purpose in the ice,
and the nets are dragged with a string. This is done from St.
Andrew's day, (Nov. 30th,) to Christmas.

The Laplanders make their sledges serve for chests, when they are not
used for their proper purpose, by constructing a sort of roof or
convex covering, with an opening in the middle, to admit whatever
they choose to store up within. This opening shuts with a moveable
lid. Sledges in this state occasionally serve for the conveyance of
goods from one place to another, the covering keeping them dry.

Caps are made of the skin of the Colymbus arcticus, (Black-throated
Diver,) which is very tough when properly prepared. This bird has a
grey ring round its neck, as described by Wormius. I met with a
Carex, bearing round capsules, full of black powder. (Probably Carex
panicea, whose seeds are often infected with the ustilago or smut.)

July 26.

I shall here give a description of the Achier or sledge. This is a
kind of travelling machine invented by the Laplanders, drawn along
the ground like other sledges, and made of birch wood. The back part
is upright, or nearly so, the lower part only being somewhat sloping
inwards, and its form is roundish, the height a foot, the breadth a
foot and a half. The body of the machine is like the hulk of a boat,
with an obtuse keel, and consists of five longitudinal boards on each
side, lying one over the edge of another that which forms the keel
being about an inch thick, and lying flat like the others. Each board
is not externally plane, but convex, so that as the carriage is drawn
over the snow it leaves several tracks or lines where it goes, the
board which forms the keel only being quite flat. The boards, which
are fixed at one extremity in a circular manner to the roundish board
that makes the back, (or as it were the stern,) are collected by
their points at the other, and all bound together with a rope, for
there are no nails to fasten them. The whole carriage is six feet in
length, and from the back part to within two feet of the front its
breadth is all the way about four feet. From that spot the keel
begins to curve upwards, and the transverse dimensions are contracted
gradually to a point. This sledge is drawn by a rope that goes
through a hole in the front of the keel. The edges or sides of the
machine do not curve outwards, but rather inwards. When any covering
is to be put on, which is always done in part when any person is to
travel sitting in this carriage, and entirely, from one end to the
other, when it is intended to be used for the conveyance of goods,
two or three semicircular or archlike bows are erected, fixed by
their ends within the edges of the carriage, which serve to support a
covering of sealskin, or cloth, whose margin next the back is loose,
and so far distant from that part as to allow the traveller to sit
upright, his legs lying under the cover, while the said margin is
tied round his waist, like an apron, serving to keep the snow out of
the hollow part of the machine. The person of the traveller is
further secured by strings fixed to the edges of the carriage, which
lace around him across the top, so as to prevent his being thrown out
by any oblique or unexpected movement. Each board, which composes the
body of the sledge, is somewhat convex on the inside, but still the
whole internal surface is sufficiently smooth and even. The point in
front sometimes projects a foot beyond the hollow part.<81>

It is worthy of notice that the Laplanders use no almanac, but in its
stead only a kind of instrument like the ancient runic calendar of
the Goths, composed of seven small splinters or boards. They have
indeed names to mark some periods, as already mentioned, but they do
not, like us, compute time by the month, but by the course of their
various holidays. They have also a name for every week. They are
unable to tell when an eclipse of the sun or moon is to be expected.
The year begins, by their reckoning, on the Friday before Christmas
day.

The people in the part of the country where I was now travelling
wear, in summertime, either a coat of walmal cloth next the skin, or
no coat at all, only a lappmudd as they call it, (or garment of
reindeer skin,) stripped of its hair.

At sun-set we reached Purkijaur, where we in vain attempted to
procure a boat. We had no resource but to make ourselves a float or
raft, on which we committed our persons and all our property to the
guidance of the current of the river. The night proved very dark in
consequence of a thick fog, insomuch that we could not see before us
to the distance of three fathoms. After a while we found ourselves in
the middle of the stream, and it was not long before the force of the
water separated the timbers of our raft, and we were in imminent
danger of our lives. At length however, with the greatest difficulty,
we reached a house situated on an island, after a voyage of half a
mile from where we embarked.<82>

At Purkijaur I hired a man to show me the manner of fishing for
pearls, for which I agreed to pay him six dollars. He made a raft of
five timbers as thick as my body, and two fathoms in length. At each
end was a staple to which the anchor was attached. This anchor was
nothing more than a stone, tied round with twigs of birch that it
might not be lost, to which he fastened a cord, about two fathoms in
length, made of birch twigs. He was likewise furnished with a pole of
the same length, which served him to steer his raft, as it floated
along the strong current. The bottom of the river is not easily seen
at any great depth; but when he could distinctly perceive it, he
dropped his stone anchor, fixing the upper end of the rope to the
staple on the raft, by which it became stationary. Whenever he wished
to examine another spot, he weighed anchor, and resigned himself to
the force of the current. Where the water was shallow, he stood
upright on his raft; but where the depth was considerable, he lay at
full length, with his face downwards, looking over the edge of the
raft.

By means of a pair of wooden pincers, two fathoms in length, he laid
hold of the pearl oysters (rather mussels, Mya margaritifera,) and
drew them up. The part of the pincers below the joint or hinge was
about a span long, and of three fingers breadth, hollowed out at the
points, one of which was curved, the other flat. Taking the other end
of these pincers in his hands, he easily directed them to the spot
where he saw the shells lying.

The latter were generally open, so that they might readily be
discerned by the whiteness of their inside; but when the water is
very much agitated, the animals immediately close their shells,
though destitute of eyes or ears. The form of the shell is elliptic-
oblong, with a contraction, or shallow notch as it were, about the
middle of their outer margin. The man opened them by means of a whelk
shell, which he thrust with violence between the valves, for it is
impossible to effect this with the finger only. He introduced the
point of the whelk in the centre of the base, or broader end, of the
mussel, searching for the pearls chiefly towards the other end, on
the inside of the valve. If the inside of the latter be white, the
pearl is white; but if dark or reddish, the pearl is of the same
colour.

When it was first discovered that this neighbourhood produced pearls,
the river at Purkijaur was the place where the principal pearl-
fishery was established. But now it is nearly exhausted. When the
discovery of this bed of pearl muscles was first made, it is said the
shells were in such abundance that nobody could reach the bottom of
them, which is far from being the case at present.

There is no external sign about the shell, by which it is possible to
know whether it contains a pearl or not. Consequently many thousands
are destroyed to no purpose before one pearl is found. It is also a
great pity that all the mussels are killed in consequence of this
examination. Each pearl is either attached to the shell, or loose.
They are found at all seasons of the year, and are sometimes thrown
out of the shell spontaneously by its inhabitant.

I witnessed at this place what appeared to me a very extraordinary
phenomenon, a pike in whose stomach, when opened, was found a young
duck entire. The peasant who was my companion told me he had many
times seen the same thing.

July 27.

The reindeer fed with evident avidity on the great water Horsetail
(Equisetum fluviatile), which the Laplanders call Aske, though it was
in a dry state, and though they will not eat common hay. How
unaccountably negligent are the Laplanders, not to collect in the
course of summer a stock of this plant and of the Reindeer-moss
(Lichen rangiferinus) for winter fodder! They would then have some
provision for the herd, when the country is covered with an
impenetrable crust of frozen snow, and not hazard the loss of all
they are worth in the world.

The inhabitants of Vasterbotten, to defend themselves against the
bites of gnats, besmear their skin with a mixture of tar and fish-
grease, or some other kind of fat. They keep this composition in a
horn which hangs at their side. The Laplanders however give
themselves no trouble about any such matter.

In order to add to the pungency of the tobacco which they are in the
habit of chewing, the Laplanders mix with it the root of Angelica.
(A. archangelica is preferred, but when that is not at hand, the
sylvestris is used, as appears from the Flora Lapponica.)

The women wear their belts in the same manner as the men, except when
they are big with child, in which case the belt must necessarily be
placed much higher than ordinary. This day I found the little heart-
leaved Ophrys (O. cordata) growing, as it usually does, amongst the
Embus chamaemorus, whilst I was gathering the fruit of the latter.
Also the least Pinguicula (P. villosa); but its leaves were withered,
and the fruit was ripe, which is heartshaped and emarginate, of two
valves and one cell. The last-mentioned plant grew among White-moss
(Sphagnum palustre. These specimens are still preserved in the
Linnaeean herbarium.) The bird called (by the Swedes) Lappskata,
Rodfogel in Vasterbotten, Gvousach in Lapland, (Corvus infaustus,
Faun. Sum 32. Lath. Ind. 159. Lanius infaustus, Syst. Nat. v.1. 138,)
is of a small size, but it audaciously lays bold of anything it can
find, being so far from timid that it flew away with part of our
provisions as we sat at table. This bird seems nearly allied to the
Jay (Corvus glandarius).

It is only in winter the clothes of the Laplanders have any sort of
lining, except that these people generally wear, next the stomach,
the skin of a young reindeer fawn. The sleeves of their coats are not
fixed to the jacket, or body of the garment. The part which covers
the shoulder folds over the top of the sleeve, in the shape of a
wedge. A seam reaches the whole length of the jacket, from top to
bottom, on each side, the jacket becoming gradually wider, downward.
It reaches as low as the middle of the leg. The collar is for the
most part blue, stitched with white thread.

The reindeer are not slaughtered in the same manner as cattle usually
are either at Stockholm or in Smċland. The animal being secured with
a halter, the Laplander takes his spear and sticks it into the thorax
behind the shoulder, so as to pierce the heart. By this means the
blood collects in the cavity of the thorax, none of it appearing
externally. After the skin is flayed off, the blood is found
coagulated in the thorax, from whence it is extracted, and bruised
into a soft mass. With this the poorer sort of people make a kind of
soup, by boiling along with it the brains of the animal, which the
rich do not eat. The testicles are never eaten by any sort of people.
The penis serves to make a thong to draw the sledges.

Such of the Laplanders as inhabit the forests go to the alps at
midsummer and return about St. Laurence's day (August 10th) and the
mountain Laplanders descend into the lower country between the first
of November and Christmas, and go back again about Lady-day.

All kinds of clothing made of skins are sewed with sinews of animals,
as before described; but those of walmal cloth, with hempen thread
purchased from the neighbouring countries.

July 28.

To-day I found the Pseudo-helleborine (possibly Cypripedium
calceolus, not before mentioned in this journal.) All the little
rills and rivulets hereabouts produced a Potamogeton, which I was
doubtful whether to distinguish from the common kind, as it varies
excessively in appearance, but the leaves are more grassy. (P.
gramineum, as appears from the Flora Lapponica, yet nothing can be
less like the "common kind," if by the latter. be meant the natans,
which, with the perfoliatum and graminuem, compose the catalogue of
species in FL. Lapp.) Hereabouts grew the Juncus with three seeds
(capsule) at the top of the stem, which also I observed to be
sometimes reflexed. (J. triglumis; see Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 90.)

Several days ago the forests had been set on fire by lightning, and
the flames raged at this time with great violence, owing to the
drought of the season. In many different places, perhaps in nine or
ten that came under my notice, the devastation extended several
miles' distance. I traversed a space three quarters ofa mile in
extent which was entirely burnt, so that Flora, instead of appearing
in her gay and verdant, attire, was in deep sable, a spectacle more
abhorrent to my feelings than to see her clad in the white livery of
winter, for this, though it destroys the herbage, leaves the roots in
safety, which the fire does not. The fire was nearly extinguished in
most of the spots we visited, except in ant-hills, and dry trunks of
trees. After we had travelled about half a quarter of a mile across
one of these scenes of desolation, the wind began to blow with rather
more force than it had done, upon which a sudden noise arose in the
half-burnt forest, such as I can only compare to what may be imagined
among a large army attacked by an enemy. We knew not whither to turn
our steps. The smoke would not suffer us to remain where we were, nor
durst we turn back. It seemed best to hasten forward, in hopes of
speedily reaching the outskirts of the wood; but in this we were
disappointed. We ran as fast as we could, in order to avoid being
crushed by the falling trees, some of which threatened us every
minute. Sometimes the fall of a huge trunk was so sudden, that we
stood aghast, not knowing whither to turn to escape destruction, and
throwing ourselves entirely on the protection of Providence. In one
instance a large tree fell exactly between me and my guide, who
walked not more than a fathom from me, but, thanks to God! we both 
escaped in safety. We were not a little rejoiced when this perilous
adventure terminated, for we had felt all the while like a couple of
outlaws, in momentary fear of surprise.

I have long ago related my sufferings from gnats in the course of my
Lapland expedition. In this place I was still more incommoded by some
very small flies, about a line in length and very narrow. Their
breast was of a bluish grey. Front of the head whitish, with black
eyes. Wings pellucid. Body greyish, oblong and narrow. A white scale
was placed on each side at the insertion of the wings. The legs were
black, with a white joint in the middle of each, the base being
speckled. The hind part of the shoulders was whitish. Antennae
simple, minute, parallel, and pointing right forward. The wings lay
one over the other so as to resemble a single one, notched at the
extremity, when the insect was at rest. Each of us was beset by a
whole legion of these flies towards sun-set. What rendered them
peculiarly troublesome was their manner of running over the face, and
flying into the nose, mouth and eves. When they were approaching in
order to inflict their bite, they were not to be driven away by our
blowing ever so hard. The Laplanders call these insects Mockere,
alluding to the smallness of their head; the Swedes Knott. (Culex
reptans. Linnaeus mentions in the Fauna Suecica the extremely
tiresome noise made by these gnats in their approach.) They covered
our linen so as to render it quite black. It was to no purpose to
attempt to drive them away.

I visited the Laxholms, islands so called from the salmon fishery.
Here the Common Salmon (Salmo salar, named Lax by the Swedes,) is
found with the under jaw occasionally hooked, which variety is termed
Kroklax, or Hooked Salmon. I inquired whether this hooked kind was
esteemed a distinct species, or whether a difference arising from
age; to both which questions I was answered in the negative. I was
shown fish of the smallest size, which had in proportion as large a
hook to the lower jaw as the largest. Bonge has therefore fallen into
an error in his dissertation upon salmon. (Daniel Bonge, Dissertatio
de Salmonum natura, eorumque apud Ostrobothnienses piscatione,
Uppsala. 1730. 4to. under the presidency of Professor Roberg, with
wooden cuts.) I inquired whether the hooked salmon were furnished
with roe or with milt. I was answered that they had always milt. On
opening seven of them I found this verified, whereas four salmon
which were not hooked had all of them roes. The hooked (or male)
salmon is so called, because the point of its lower jaw is bent
inward, and has a taper form, resembling a finger while on the
contrary the upper is furnished with a cavity to receive that point,
embracing it like a sheath, for about half its length. The female
fish has a more obtuse lower jaw, but not less inflexed, there being
only a very slight furrow in the upper one; so that the two sexes may
be distinguished from each other by these marks from the earliest
age.

Those who fish for salmon come to this place about a fortnight before
midsummer, and remain till St. Bartholomew's day, August 24th, as
during that space of time the salmon keep ascending the river. After
the day last mentioned none of the fishermen remain. Few of the fish
escape being taken, so as to return down the river. At Michaelmas the
fishermen come here again, when they catch a smaller sort of salmon.

 This day I observed the harvest beginning. The corn now cutting,
though sown but a few days before midsummer, was nevertheless quite
ripe. The Lent rye was not yet ripe enough to be cut, but the winter
rye ripens some time before the other corn. Thus it appears that corn
(barley) springs up and ripens at this place in the space of sixty
days.

In my walks I gathered the berries of the Strawberry-leaved Bramble
(Rubus arcticus), which proved delicious. They have somewhat of the
flavour of Blackberries (Rubus fruticosus), but are more agreeable.
This fruit does not separate from its calyx like other species of its
geniis. It is a compound berry, in size and structure somewhat
between what the Smċlanders call Kodden (Rubus saxatilis), and
Raspberries (R. idaeus). Its colour is a brownish crimson.

The (Pedicularis) Sceptrum carolinum is perennial, with scales, not a
fibrous tuft or beard, at the root.<83> The stem is round, not
quadrangular. Calyx five-cleft.<84> Lower lip -regular, divided into
three equal segments.

Pedicularis with a purple head (Bartsia alpina. Linn. Sp. Pl. 839.
Engl. Bot. t.361. Euphrasia. Fl. Lapp. n.246.) shows an affinity to
the Crista galli (Rhinanthus) in its calyx, which is divided into
four equal acute segments. The fruit is ovate and acute, compressed
at the point. Lower lip straight. All the other Pediculares, except
Sceptrum carolinum, have an oblique fruit.

Here and there grew specimens of Heath (Erica vulgaris) with tufted
branches, looking like a pruned spruce fir, and very beautiful.

The water of the river now began to decrease, in consequence of which
it became clearer, and it was more difficult to catch any fish.

Scarcely any species of Carex was to be found this season but what
had some degree of smut or ustilago about its spikes, consisting of
little globular black bodies, changing to dust.

July 29.

Tanning of leather is thus performed by the Laplanders.

The scaly cuticle of the birch being first stripped off, the bark is
then scraped from the tree and boiled fresh in water, for about as
long a time as is requisite to boil fish; being afterwards set by to
cool, to a certain degree, that it may not injure the hide by being
too hot. The latter, having previously been scalded, by dipping into
lukewarm water, is then soaked in the decoction of bark, and the
vessel containing it sunk into a hole dug in the ground, at the
extremity of the hut. The hide is taken out every day, and softened
in luke-warm water, till the hair becomes loose, when it is scraped
off by such a knife as tanners use. The skin is then replaced in the
tan when cool, without any previous drying, till the third day after
the hair comes off, when it is hung up to dry in the shade. When the
leather is but half dry, they often cut it up for shoes, which are
always made by the women, without any last: The thread used for the
purpose is that made of tendons.

Some persons never scald the hide, but scrape off the hair with a
knife, soak it a little in water, and then plunge it into the tan.

Near Svartlċ I noticed a mineral spring, but whatever may be its
qualities, nobody has yet made any inquiries concerning them.

The river Luleċ divides into two branches, not far above the bounds
of Lappmark and Vasterbotten, one of which is called the little river
Luleċ, whose origin is among the mountains towards Hyttan, the other
Stor Luleċ, running from the alps in Norbattra.

July 30.

On examining the cultivated Hop (Humulus lupulus), I found the
structure of the female as follows. Calyx consisting of an universal
involucrum of four leaves, and a partial one, likewise of four ovate
leaves, containing eight florets, each of which has an ovate spatha,
of a very large Size with respect to the rudiments of the fruit.
Petals none. Pistils two, horn-like. Stigmas acute. Seed-vessel not
the base of the spatha enclosing the seed, which is solitary.

The shore of the river Luleċ produced, in excessive abundance, the
Water Sedum (Tillaea aquatica); likewise the Aquatic Dwarf Plantain
(Limosella aquatica). The Spiked Water-grass, with a bent stem, here
grew above other plants, twisting its leaves round them, like a sort
of bindweed. (Alopecurus geniculatus b. Sp. Pl. 89. See Fl. Lapp.
n.38.) The Water Sedum (Tillaea aquatica) proved no less plentiful by
the sides of the roads. In the river I gathered an herb, which I was
doubtful whether to refer to Stellaria (Callitriche), to Potamageton,
or to the Aponogeton of Pontedera. (This appears to have been the
latter, Zannichellia palustris.)

I reached the old town of Luleċ in the evening. It rained and
thundered violently during the whole night.

July 31.

This day I had intended to prosecute my journey towards Tornio, but a
heavy rain, with tremendous thunder and lightning, confined me
entirely to the house.

The wife of the principal clergyman of Luleċ, on whose accuracy I
have the greatest possible dependance, assured me that she had, at
the posthouse of Biorsio, in the parish of Torp, in Medelpad, seen
large quantities of the Yellow Aconite (Aconitum lycoctonum),
collected and boiled for the use of the table, like cabbage. This
astonished her very much, as she knew it to be used in Jemtland to
poison flies. When she expressed her apprehensions about eating of
this herb, the maidservant laughed at her, telling her it was much
too good to be so slighted.

Hares are always hunted in this part of the country, and the dogs are
trained not to bark. If they offend in this respect they are sure of
a beating.

August 1.

I found some Truffles (Lycoperdon Tuber) between Heden and Swartla.
Near the road grew Glaux (maritima), as well as the Narrow-leaved Sea
Plantain (Plantago maritima), and Small-leaved Angelica (A.
sylvestris). On a bank I observed Triticum maritimum. (This last is
thought by Dr. Afzelius to be Elymus arenarius. See Fl. Lapp. ed. 2.
n. 34.) Here various plants, which I had found blossoming at Umeċ,
were now laden with fruit, as the Mesomora (Cornus suecica), Vaccinia
(Whortleberries), Chamaemorus (Rubus Chamaemorus, Cloud-berry), and
Chamaerubus (R. saxatilis, Stone Bramble), all which vied with each
other in the profusion of their berries. But little Ling (Erica) was
to be seen.

The hills are but trifling. Rising grounds, which had partly been
burnt, were covered with Spruce firs, and even with Reindeer-moss
(Lichen rangiferinus).

Towards evening I arrived at Tornio.

The weather was fine. Near Grytnas, situated opposite to the church
of Kalix, is a ferry to convey passengers to this church, adjoining
to which the inhabitants of Luleċ and Tornio keep a fair. The river
produces abundance of Flote-grass, which at this time bore its spikes
or heads of flowers. I had long been acquainted with the plant, it
being very abundant in this country as well as in Smċland, and had
wondered what species it could be especially as I never heard of any
botanist who had met with the fructification. It is a Sparganium,
whose leaves are very long, reaching a fathom or two, according to
the depth of the water, and floating on its surface. They are convex
at their back, except in the lower part, which is flat on both sides.
(This plant named Flotagraes, or Flote-grass, in Linnaeus's native
country of Smċland, is the Sparganium n.345 of Fl. Lapp. in the
second edition of which work I have called it S. natans, on his own
authority in the Flora Suecica and Species Plantarum; but in English
Botany, v.4. 273, and Fl. Brit. 962, this error is corrected, so far
at least as concerns the original Lapland specimen, which is
unquestionably S. simplex, Engl. Bot. v.11. t.745, a species he did
not, in his works, distinguish from our common S. ramosum, t. 744. I
am now persuaded he confounded this simplex with the natans in his
Lapland tour, as well as in his herbarium, where the original
specimens of the two are pinned together.)

August 2.

They dry their corn upon drying sheds as is practised in Smċland. The
cross piece is turned towards the south, but the method here differs
from that of the Smċlanders in one respect. The latter place one
sheaf on the top of another, but the inhabitants of Vasterbotten lay
the sheaves crosswise, in an alternate order, each thinking their own
method the best for procuring the most complete ventilation. In this
country fifteen sheaves are lodged under each shed, without
supporters; but in Smoland twelve only, ten of which are in the main
pile and two at the sides. The Smċlanders therefore are able to reach
high enough to place their uppermost sheaves by hand, but the
inhabitants of Vasterbotten find it necessary to be provided with
what they term a Skyllkrok, or Rick-hook, consisting of a round pole,
with a transverse. projecting piece of wood, (like a directionpost in
England, as appears by the sketch in the manuscript,) by means of
which each sheaf is lifted up.

On a heath very near the river Sangis noticed some earth of a red
colour. The dry part of the forest which had been burnt down,
produced Reindeer-moss (Lichen rangiferinus) in such abundance, that
the whole face of the ground was covered with it. The evening was
fine when I reached Zangis (or Sangis), where I took leave of my
native tongue.

August 1.

At sunrise the marshes were all white with hoar frost. In the
preceding night winter had paid his first visit, and slept in the lap
of the lovely Flora. I did not observe that she had suffered from her
rude visitor, except with regard to the Dracontium (Calla palustris),
the leaves of which assumed a pallid aspect. The plants latest in
bloom at this place, are Erica (vulgaris), the Red-flowered
Persicaria (Polygonum persicaria), and Hieracium praemorsum
(Leontodon autumnale, Sp. Pl. 1123. Hedypnois autumnalis, Fl. Brit.
826. Engl. Bot. t.830.)

On leaving Sangis, I left my mother tongue behind me. At Saris I met
with native Finlanders only, whose language was unintelligible to me.

Here grew the Masarooth (Selinum palustre) with a proliferous umbel.

The mouse-traps used here are made like those for catching squirrels;
which I have already described.

Between Zeivis (perhaps Saris) and Tornio are three ferries to pass.
In my way I noticed a new species of Stellaria (Callitriche), of a
small size, not leafy at the top, erect, not creeping like the S.
minor; (see Fl. Lapp. n.2. var. c.) It had the appearance of
Potamogeton graminifolium (gramineum). (What particular state or
appearance, of the Callitriche this might be, does not appear, nor is
it mentioned in Fl. Lapp.) I reached Tornio by three o'clock.





TORNIO.
August 4.

A reindeer may be driven in a carriage twelve (Swedish) miles in a
day, or, at the utmost, fifteen; but the animal is generally killed
immediately afterwards with the Laplanders' spears, and eaten.

The Laplanders are perhaps so called from the (Swedish) word lappa,
to sew or patch together, because their garments usually answer to
that description. The degree of cold is certainly greater on the alps
than in less elevated regions; for instance, it is colder in Jamtland
than at Tornio, though the former lies about one hundred miles
further south. Thus it appears that the cause of the severity of the
cold does not depend so much on the approach towards the pole, as on
the elevation of the ground, which ought to be carefully observed.
Hence the plants of the north of Lapland are such only as are capable
of resisting the most severe and long-continued cold, and hence snow
lies on the alps of Italy.

Alpine plants are, for the most part, perennial, except the Little
Blue Centaury (Gentiana nivalis), and perhaps the Single-flowered
Lychnis (apetala). I wish botanists would endeavour to discover and 
make known any new kinds of pulse or grain, especially such as are of
a hardy constitution, and not likely to suffer from the severity of
winter. Some are perhaps to be found among the grasses. It is
necessary to as certain what degree of northern latitude they would
bear, and whether they are capable of growing within the frigid zone.
It is worthy of inquiry in what respects the Alps, properly so called
(of Switzerland,) agree with ours of Lapland, as well as how far, and
by what means, they are susceptible of culture. The descriptions that
have been given of them may be consulted. The Greenland alps would
also be worth examining, to see how far these different countries
agree in their native plants, in varieties of situation, and in
plenty of soil, compared with the proportion of rocks or large
stones. Do they all agree in the diminutive stature of their plants?

The tranquil existence of the Laplanders answers to Ovid's
description of the golden age, and to the pastoral state as depicted
by Virgil. It recalls the remembrance of the patriarchal life, and
the poetical descriptions of the Elysian Fields.

So many Finlanders crowded about me, that I scarcely knew what to do.
They were all blear-eyed to such a degree as to be nearly blind. Many
of them were perfectly deprived of sight, and ninety-nine out of a
hundred that were so had their eyes shut. It seems in vain to
prescribe any remedy for this evil, so long as its cause is
everywhere so prevalent. This consists in their smoky dwellings. If I
had the management of these Finlanders, I would tie them up to the
wall and give them fifteen pair of lashes apiece till they made
chimneys to their huts, especially as they have such plenty of fire-
wood. This improvement in the comfort of their dwellings might surely
be accomplished by the authority of the chief magistrate, for I have
not been able to learn any sufficient reason for their adherence to
their old way of building. If people thirty or forty years of age are
thus afflicted, what must become of them by the time they are
seventy?


The Finlander's scythe is represented in the annexed figure. The
handle is rather above two feet in length, straight for about the
space of a foot from the part where the blade is bound on. Afterwards
it is slightly curved outwards, and then again, towards the apex, in
some degree inwards, so as to make a straight line with the base. The
top is thicker than any other part. The blade of the scythe is, like
that used in our country, about a foot and a half long, and an inch
and half broad, very slightly curved. Its back is, like that of our
scythes, thickened on one side. The mower takes hold of the top with
his left hand, so that the back of the scythe is uppermost, but
grasps with his right the part where the above-described curvature
ends, so as to be able to give the edge a turn upwards. As he moves
forward, he mows first on the right, and then on the left, only
turning his hands, and not lifting the scythe, but merely presenting
each side of its blade alternately to the ground.

On the south-west side of the town, across a small bay, lies a
mineral spring. The water is not ill-tasted. Indeed this is one of
the best mineral waters I have met with in the north; but it lies
very low, appearing to derive its origin from a stream that runs
above, so that its water comes out soiled, as it were, from the
earth, and is covered with scum.

August 5

Everybody at Tornio was continually talking to me of a distemper to
which their horned cattle are subject, and which kills many of them
in the course of the winter, but especially in the spring, when they
lose from fifty to a hundred head of cattle almost every year. On
walking to examine the meadow into which they are first turned out to
grass, I found it a bog or marsh, where the Water Hemlock, Cicuta
aquatica, (C. virosa, Sp. Pl, 366. Fl. Lapp. n.103. Engl. Bot.
t.479.) grew in abundance, and had evidently been cropped plentifully
by the animals in feeding. It seemed probable therefore that they eat
it most in the spring, when first turned into this pasture; whence it
proves so much more extensively fatal than in summer, when perhaps
they only pick up a plant here and there. It grows in all the moist
meadows which are mown for hay; consequently the cattle take it
likewise in their winter food, and therefore perish, more or less,
during that time of the year. We learn from Wepfer's experiments, who
gave it to various kinds of animals, what violent symptoms it
occasions. See his book. Nothing appeared to me so interesting,
during my visit to Tornio, as to examine into the cause and remedy of
this evil. If my ideas be right, the whole might be prevented by
employing a woman for a month to eradicate all the Cicuta; by which
this town, small as it is, might save above two hundred silver
dollars. I was informed that the cattle dying from this cause become
so infectious, that they cannot be flayed without great danger. The
persons employed in that business have their hands greatly swelled by
touching the carcase, and several have lost their lives in
consequence. The plant in question, therefore, agrees in qualities
with the Œnanthe, as it does likewise in place of growth and outward
appearance, especially in the pinnae of its leaves.<85>

The meadows, hereabouts, among the thickets towards the shore of the
bay, afforded me the following plants.

1. Veronica (maritima), with an erect stem, branched in the upper
part, and bearing numerous spikes. Lower leaves acute, cordate-
oblong, sharply serrated, the upper ones lanceolate, serrated, two,
three, or four together, opposite on the stalk. Corolla tubular,
divided two thirds of its length into two lips, of which the upper is
the broadest, ovate, obtuse, and nearly erect; the lower three-cleft,
the middle segment narrowest, but all of equal length. Stamens two,
very long, awl-shaped, situated at the separation of the two lips.
Hence the flower is of the personate kind. Pistil reflexed. Capsule
heartshaped, narrow at the upper edge. The flowers are numerous in
each spike.
	2. Celery, (Apium graveolens<86>,) unless I am much mistaken.
The petals are white, spreading, and acute. The partial umbels are
broad. The general one has very rarely one or two (leaves of an
involucrum?).
	3. Galium parisiense (uliginosum), with a square, furrowed,
procumbent stem. The leaves are lanceolate, broader towards the
extremity, acute, armed with little prickles as well as the stem. The
flower is not tubular, nor the seeds prickly. The latter are white,
as is also the flower. Four leaves grow together in the lower part of
the stem, but in the upper part six. Under the little umbels of
flowers are either four or two. 	4. Galium album (boreale). Stem
square, erect, branched, especially in the upper part. Leaves four
together, sessile, rather broader towards their base, three-nerved,
slightly reflexed at the margin. There are two leaves to each of the
lesser umbels. Seeds two, roundish, joined into a didymous shape,
downy. Flower not tubular.
	5. Cruciata, if I am not mistaken. (Ga1lium palustre, that is,
Cruciata palustris alba of Tournefort.) Leaves four, ovate-oblong,
bluntish, narrower towards their base. Flower, I believe, not
tubular. See what I gathered in the woody parts of Lulean Lapland.
(This was the same species, as appears by the Fl. Lapp.)
	6. Clymenum parisiense (Lathyrus palustris). Stem triangular,
two of its angles ending in wings, or having a dilated cornpressed
border. There are two little oblong pointed angular leaflets at the
insertion of the leaves, which latter are pinnated, ending in a
tendril, and composed of two or three pair of nearly lanceolate
pinnae. The flowers are violet-coloured, three or four on each common
stalk.

7. Angelica tenuifolia (sylvestris), which I would define A.
umbellulis globosis. The general umbel, though often naked, is
commonly furnished with one, two, or as far as five, very slender
leaves; each partial one has often as many as eight. It is curious
that when the plant blooms vigorously, none of the stalks of the
umbel can be seen, but the flowers form a complete ball, like the
Double Guelder-rose (Sambucus opulus, fore pleno,) or the Globe
Thistle (Echinops sphaerocephalus). The petals are lanceolate and
spreading. Stem striated, or slightly furrowed.
	8. Cicuta aquatica of Wepfer (C. virosa above mentioned). I am
disposed to refer this plant to Œnanthe, on account of its external
aspect, which is wonderfully like the last-mentioned genus. I must
examine whether their flowers agree. The footstalks are hollow,
inflated, and erect. Pinnae three, rarely four, pair, of a narrow
lanceolate shape. Those on the stem have from three to seven
serratures each, but the radical ones have more, all distinct; and
sometimes the lowermost serrature, at the lower edge, grows out into
a sort of spurious pinnula. The top of the stem bears from one to
three umbels; the general umbel being naked, or rarely furnished with
a solitary leaflet.<87> The partial ones have seven short, narrow,
acute leaflets. The tips of the petals are inflexed.
	9. (Pedicularis) Sceptrum carolinum. Its capsules are rose-
coloured, its flowers yellowish white tipped with flesh-colour, and
obtuse. The capsules are about equal to the interstices of the spike,
which all together is about four inches long.

August 6.

The day of the holy sabbath, and therefore a day of recreation for
both mind and body. I saw in the church (of Tornio) a memorial of
King Charles the XIth's own observation of the sun on the 14th of
June, 1694. The sun was visible on that night till very near twelve,
when a small cloud hid it from the sight. It was however above the
horizon.<88> In winter the sun does not rise above the horizon, but
at the solstice it becomes visible. Could it be seen from the pole?

The young women in Finland have much more swelling bosoms than those
of Lapland; the latter accord best with the description of the poet,

"Quales cruda viro puella servat."
(Mart. lib. 8. ep. 63.)<89>

August 7.

The town of Tornio stands on a small island, inhabited close to the
shore on the south-west side. I call it an island, because it is
bounded on the north by a swamp; on the south-east by the great river
of Tornio; on the west and south-west by an arm of the sea, like a
large river in appearance, but so shallow that no vessel can approach
within a mile of the town on that side. This arm of the sea was
formerly the king's road, (a channel obliged to be kept open,) but
now it is almost dry in summer time, on the north side, towards the
swamp.

I ascended the steeple from whence his majesty king Charles the
Eleventh saw the sun at midnight on the 14th of June, 1694.

August 8.

Nothing worth notice occurred.

August 9.

Leaving Tornio, I proceeded to Kemi, where is a large salmon fishery,
for which this place is remarkable, as Liminge is for its meadows,
and Storlionis for its cornfields, but the last yield the greatest
profit.



KEMI.
August 10.

Stayed at the house of the principal clergyman in Kemi till the 11th.
This day I gathered a sort of Pink, Caryophyllus, with refiexed
petals of a purplish colour, divided into many segments almost to
their base. The claws, not contracted at the summit, bear on the
upper side, at the bend, a tuft of dull-coloured hairs. (This was the
beautiful and fragrant Dianthus superbus.) Also a Salix with
appendages at the base of its leaves. (What species this was, does
not appear.) At the shore of the great river grew Alsine repens,
foliis gramineis, (Stellaria uliginosa, Fl. Brit. 476. Engl. Bot.
t.1074.)

Lying-in women at this place are accustomed to drink brandy seasoned
with pepper, partly for the sake of its intoxicating quality, by way
of a narcotic, and partly to bring on the labour pains. The
clergyman's wife told me an infallible method, as she said, to
prevent the pains which often follow childbirth. When the woman's
first child is born, and the umbilical cord divided, a spoonful of
the blood is given her to swallow. This is to be practised at every
succeeding labour, and I was assured that each would be rendered more
easy, without any after-pains.

In Osterbotten, as well as in Medelpad, it is customary to have the
dairy superintended by a superior female servant, called the fabodar,
who receives for each cow one pound of butter and one of cheese,
besides a pound of mesosmor.

To obtain a greater quantity of butter, the milk is set by, either in
a cellar or in a double-walled house, to be kept as cold as possible,
for at least two days, or so long as that it will not stick to the
finger. The milk will not turn sour, but will become very thin and
blue, while the cream collects on the top, of considerable thickness
and in great perfection. The cream being taken off, and put into the
churn, often proves so rich, that after it has been churned but a
short time, if the churn be laid on one side nothing will run out. It
is no small labour to churn such cream.

Of the remaining milk cheese is made, being warmed before it is
coagulated. If the milk has begun to turn sour, it will not do for
this purpose. Such thin milk as this is not very fit for eating, but
the whey which separates from it in the making of cheese, is by some
people made into syra. This is done merely by putting it, when cool,
into a vessel or cask, when, if set by for a considerable time, it
will become extremely tough. Most usually however it is boiled, and
then kept for two or three days, when, some new milk being added, it
is boiled up again to the consistency of flummery, and then set by in
some kind of vessel. If it remains for a long while without being
touched, it grows hard, and becomes mesosmor. The blue milk above
mentioned may be boiled like fresh milk, and does not readily turn
sour.

Gos-mjolk, or rather Gas-mjolk, (from the Swedish verb gasa, to work
or ferment,) is made as follows. The butter-milk is set by in a tub
till it begins to ferment, when about a third or fourth part of the
quantity of fresh milk is added, the whole being allowed to work once
more. A serum by this time is formed at the bottom, which is drawn
off by means of a cock or tap, in the bottom of the tub, and used
immediately for food. A similar portion of fresh milk is then put to
the remainder, when more whey is, in due time, deposited. This
practice is repeated from time to time for the space of a fortnight,
at the end of which the milk in the tub becomes of a thick
consistency, and is excellent eating.

Servet-mjolk (Napkin Milk) is made by taking a quantity of sour milk
just beginning to ferment, when bubbles, like hydatids as it were,
are formed between the cream and the milk. This is cut across in
various directions, and the thicker substance taken off and hung up
in a napkin, that the liquid part may drain away. What remains in the
napkin acquires a firm consistency, and is eaten along with fresh
sweet cream.



OSTERBOTTEN.
August 11.

I departed from the house of the chief clergyman of Kemi, whose name
is Forbus or Forbers, and that of his wife Christian. Here I observed
the Lumme of Wormius, (Colymbus arcticus) Its outermost toes were
largest, and most naked; the next, or middlemost, smaller; the thumb,
or innermost, very small. A skin of a squirrel, that had been caught
in winter, was white towards the end of the rump, as were also the
outermost toes, and the ears.

In my journey this day I met with the Stratiotes (aloides), and the
Butomus (umbellatus); as well as the Mesomora (Corpus suecica), the
spotted Palma Christi (Orchis maculata), and the Gnidium. (Thislast
could be no other than the Mezereon, Daphne mezereum, formerly called
Coccognidium.)

I found also the Ladies' Slipper (Cypripedium calceolus), but it was
almost out of flower. The calyx consists of four long, coloured,
lanceolate leaves, two of which, the upper and lower, are longer and
broader than the two lateral ones. Petals two, the uppermost
inversely ovate, reflexed, bearing the anthers. Is it the pistil? The
lowermost inflated, obtuse, about an inch long. Anthers two. Fruit
below the flower, of one cell, oval, with three principal and three
smaller angles, splitting laterally into three valves, having a
central column between them. The seeds adhere longitudinally to the
middle of the placenta (or receptacle). The herb has the aspect of
Veratrum.

August 12.

The forests hereabouts are composed of Birch and Spruce fir mixed
with Pine (Pinus sylvestris), and a little Juniper (Juniperus
communis). The herbaceous plants grow luxuriantly in these woods, and
attain a remarkable height. Berries of the Wild Vine (Rubus
saxatilis), the Vaccinium (Whortleberry), Mesomora (Cornus suecica),
Empetrum (Crow or Crake-berry), and (Rubus) Chamaemorus, are here in
abundance. The (Pedicularis) Sceptrum Carolinum presents itself
everywhere in the highway.
	The pales, with which the fields are fenced off, are placed
horizontally against upright posts.

The houses, or rather smoke-huts, are called Pyrter in this part of
the country. In these there is no proper fire-place, but the whole is
an oven, as it were, consisting of the four walls of the house, with
a flat cieling. In the latter is a hole by way of chimney, but not
partially covered by any kind of lid, or trap-door, as in Norway, so
that when the fire, made on a hearth under this opening, is very
smoky, it might be entirely opened to let out the smoke. There is
indeed a sort of wooden window in the roof, but it is rarely opened.
The people think themselves the warmer because the smoke can escape
by the door only, and are persuaded that they should be frozen to
death if they had a chimney; which opinion seems to me altogether
absurd. Would it not be better to have chimneys, with a moderate
degree of warmth, than a heat like that of a bagnio, with blind and
sore eyes, and a black sooty house? They lie on the floor in the
midst of this smoke, and that is their only bed. Notwithstanding
their opinion, I cannot help thinking that full as much cold air
enters by the door, as there could by a chimney. They are so anxious
to keep themselves warm, that they do not venture to have any
windows, only shutters in their stead; indeed they seem to be as fond
of darkness as owls. I peeped into one of these houses through a
shutter, and within was perfect darkness. Nevertheless there were
several children and other persons in the dwelling. I could
distinguish nothing but what seemed to me a pair of glaring fiery
eyes, like the devil, in a sort of large jug. On looking more
attentively, I perceived that the object before me was actually a jug
or pot, in which I had already remarked that they were accustomed to
carry lighted embers, when wanted, to their neighbours.

I am sure the peasants of Smċland often make a fire sufficient to
roast them alive, though their houses are furnished with chimneys,
and their fires are made, as at this place, with small pieces of
wood. To say the truth, few persons can be of opinion that such
excessive heat, in the winter of this very severe climate, can be
wholesome.

I have already mentioned that the inhabitants of these smoky
dwellings have no beds, but actually sleep on the floor. In the
summer season, however, they generally sleep in their barns. Round
the inside of the above-described hut or cottage, are ranged various
tubs or wooden vessels. In one corner, opposite to the spot where the
fire is made, stands a table.

As it would be impossible to bear a fire in these dwellings during
the heat of summer, their owners have another building which serves
them for a kitchen. This is almost of the shape of the Laplanders'
huts, but double their width and height, consisting of cloven beams
or posts, such as are used for the fences of the fields, only not
covered in, like the dwellings of the Laplanders. In the centre,
where all the posts meet at the top, the pot is suspended over the
fire. Here they boil their provisions, distil brandy, &c.

The stage-houses<90> are constructed like those seen at some
posthouses in our part of the country, having the centre of the roof
raised on longitudinal timbers. They are lofty, but narrow. The
wooden walls curve outwards towards the top.

This year the crops of corn proved very bad in this neighbourhood, so
that the inhabitants were obliged to chop their chaff, with the upper
part of the straw, as fine as possible, of which, when ground, they
made bread. Others preferred the bark of Pine trees (Pinus
sylvestris) for this purpose. The fields of rye, sown in the autumn,
were at this time quite green. The winter rye, sown last year, was
not yet cut. The sheaves are not laid upon any stage, or under any
cover, but are placed ten together in a heap, standing nearly
upright, the uppermost sheaf being laid across, so as to shelter the
others. They are afterwards carried into the kilns, which at this
place have exactly the appearance of bagnios, with ovens built of
boulder stones.

The fastenings of the doors are quite different here from those used
in Smċland, which are fixed into the floor, and capable of being
raised or depressed at pleasure. The fastening here is a kind of long
button upon the door, on the side where the hinges are fixed, which
being turned horizontally over the door-post, prevents the opening of
the door.

By the road side grew an Amanita (Agaric) with a stalk two inches
high, and as thick as a goose-quill. Its head was hemispherical; pale
above; concave beneath, with loose gills. (Probably Agaricus n.499.
Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 373. Fl. Suec. n.1217. ed. 2. 446.)


The scythes used in this country nearly resemble those of the
Norwegians, but differ in this respect, that the upper projection
from the handle stands out horizontally, see figure e, b, while the
lower, c, is perpendicular, and the top, a, which rests against the
arm, is flattened. The mower is therefore obliged to take hold of the
foremost projection, with his left hand, under the main handle. The
advantage of this is, that he is able to move forward in a nearly
upright posture. The Norwegian however walks still more erect in
mowing. The proportions of this Kemi scythe are as follows: From a to
b one foot and a half; b to c two palms and a half; c to d two feet;
the breadth at b two inches in a right line. The length of the
projection b is three inches; and of c the same. The blade is like
our Smċland ones, but stands at an acute angle with the handle.

The harrow consists of four or five links, in each of which are 
twelve joints. These have alternately one and two projecting pieces
each. (See the figure annexed to the scythe just described)

In the stage-houses, boilers are fixed in the walls, for boiling
horsedung, which is given as food to the cattle; as well as to heat
water for pouring on reindeer moss (Lichen rangiferinus), which is
also used for the same purpose; but such diet gives a loathsome taste
to their milk.

In the roof of these houses hams and salmon are smoke-dried. During
the winter the people are obliged to work in their miserable cabins
or Pyrter, when they open their shutters; but nevertheless find
themselves sufficiently warm.


The annexed cut represents a sort of plough, used at Kemi.

a, the base, is three palms long and one broad.
	b, b, handles, each a palm in length.
	c, d, shafts, six feet long, and of a round figure.
	e, e, chains by which the shafts are attached to the collar or
yoke. The distance betwixt e and e is three feet.
	f, f, a straight or flat cross bandage.
	g, m, the base of the plough-share, three feet in length, and
two palms and a half broad.
	h, points of the share, five palms long; distant at their base
one foot three inches, at their extremities two feet.
	i, i, a chain of long links, fastened to a ring that embraces
the base of each point of the share, into which chain, at k, is
introduced the handle l; this acts so as to bring the points together
rather than to separate them.

It must be observed that the inner edge of these points is turned
downward, so that when the handle or spatula l is put in at k, and is
laid upon one of them, the earth is thrown on one side, and this is: 
one alternately with the two points. The part m is slightly curved,
as well as the points proceeding from it(r) When it is intended to make
a deep trench, as in cute ting through turf in the marshes, 1 is laid
parallel to m, while the rings at f, f, as well as at i, i, prevent
the plough-share from going too far downward.

No kind of plough is used at Tornio, all the ground being turned over
with the spade. The same is the case at Kemi, except in the fields
where rye is sown, and these are ploughed with the plough just
described.

It is a common custom at Kemi to furnish out a table with five or six
plates, and as many spoons, napkins, &c., though only one or two
persons are expected to dinner. There is at the post-house a free
table (or ordinary).

In the land belonging to the clergyman of Kemi, I found the (Lythrum)
Salicaria with a very unusual aspect, having alternate leaves, and a
solitary flower in the bosom of each. (The original specimens in the
Linnaean herbarium have two or more flowers to the upper leaves.)

My intention was to have extended my journey into the province of
Osterbotten; but on applying at the post-house, I could neither
procure a horse, nor anything to eat, for the inhabitants either
could not, or would not, understand me. I therefore took leave of
them the same day I arrived, and turned my steps backward.

The Finlanders in Osterbotten are dressed very much like the
Laplanders, and therefore agree with them in general appearance.
Their dress is the same with respect to their cap, their light-grey
jacket, their breeches reaching down to the feet, their half-boots,
their belt into which they stick their knife, and the use of hooks
and eyes upon their clothes instead of buttons. But they differ in
not having a high collar, and in wearing a shirt and neckcloth, as
well as in having their coat open before. They stick nothing into
their girdle but a knife, though some people carry a key at the end
of it. Their breeches are tied round the knees.

At church I observed some men with a girdle of black list,<91> just
as it was rent from the cloth, wound two or three times round the
waist, which formed a contrast with their grey jackets. The women
however dress in articles purchased from other countries, and make
quite a different appearance from the Lapland females.

Osterbotten, being a low country abounds in marshes, bogs, and fens.
The grass is tall; but still there is such a deficiency of hay, that
they buy up horse-dung at Tornio, and boil it, as I have said, in the
boilers built up in some of their houses in which also they boil
water to pour over the reindeer moss.

The bread used by the inhabitants of this country in the present
season of scarcity was made principally of chaff cut fine and ground.
The winter rye, sown but this day se'n night, had already sprung up,
and made the fields quite green. I returned back to Tornio in the
evening



TORNIO (2).
August 13

This being a fast day, I heard a sermon in the Finnish tongue,
preached at the church of Tornio. A lawful wife was churched, after
her lying-in; which ceremony was performed in the choir, near the
elevated part. The women in general had either naturally white hair,
or hair that had once been brown, now turned grey. Very few had it
red. They wear their hair rather straight.

The physiognomy of both men and women is phlegmatic and stupid; the
body clumsy, the complexion bad, and the features destitute of all
delicacy of form or expression.

The boundary between Vasterbotten and Osterbotten is not formed by
the river of Kemi, but by another smaller stream, not far distant, on
the left.

They catch Sijk (Salmo lavaretus) in a curious manner at this place.
These fish, like the common salmon, swim against the stream, and for
that reason are to be caught only near large falls of the river,
which they are unable to ascend. The fisherman, being furnished with
a net fixed at the end of a long pole, strips himself naked up to the
waist, and walks into the middle of the strongest cascade. To prevent
accidents from the force of the water, a rope is often tied round his
waist, the other end of which is held fast by a friend on shore. Thus
they catch the fish below the fall.

Seals are taken by various means, being either shot with firearms, or
caught in a net. The latter, three or four fathoms high, is made of
hempen cord, as thick as a goose-quill, each mesh being two spans
wide. This net is kept upright in the water by means of oblong floats
of wood, and has no stones at the bottom. Four or five such nets are
frequently tied to the ends of each other, and a large stone is
attached to the last, bound about with willow or osier, which serves
to keep the nets steady. These are set in places where the seals are
known to hide themselves, for those animals do the fishermen great
damage, not only by devouring fish, but by tearing the fishing nets,
from the destruction of which the haunts of the seals are discovered.
When a seal comes in the way of the above-described nets, he either 
thrusts his head between the meshes, getting more and more entangled
the more he pushes forward, or, as often happens, he is caught by the
foot.

On a sand-hill near the church at Tornio, grew, in great abundance,
Granum triticea maritimum, (Triticum radice repente, foliis rigidis;
Fl. Lapp. n.34, which, in the second edition of that work, p. 23, I
have, by the persuasion of my intelligent friend Dr. Afzelius,
referred to Elymus arenarius, and what Linnaeus here says, confirms
this determination.) Its blue leaves looked quite different from all
others, and very handsome. I picked some seeds from the spikes, which
were as large as grains of rye. Hence I was induced to consider
whether this plant might not serve as a kind of corn, to be
cultivated on such dry and blowing sands, provided the proper method
of managing it could be discovered, which surely would not be a very
difficult task. The advantage of this would be that, by such means,
many sandy tracts, where nothing else will grow, might be turned to
advantage; and the perennial roots, which no other corn has, would of
course save the trouble of sowing it annually. Perhaps even these
roots themselves might, in hard times, serve for food.

The tall Finlander Daniel Cajanus, at Stockholm, born in this part of
Osterbotten, was the son of a clergyman. At his birth he was no
bigger than the generality of children, and his health was very
indifferent, particularly with regard to his chest, till the age of
twelve or fifteen years.

I was informed that the inhabitants of this neighbourhood often hear
thunder in the alps during winter.

In the alps of Tornio cold is brought by a south wind, and mild
weather comes from the north, because of the sea.

The Laplanders consult several natural objects by way of compass as
they travel.

1. Large Pine-trees, which bear more copious branches on their
southern side than towards the north.
	2. Ant-hills, the south sides of which bear grass, the northern
whortleberries.
	3. Aspen trees, whose bark is rough on the north side, smooth on
the opposite part.
	4. Old withered Pines are clothed, on the north side, with the
black Usnea, or filamentous Lichen (L. jubatus).

By such marks as these they are able to find their way through
pathless forests. Have we any guides so certain?

When these people kill any wild reindeer with fire-arms in summer,
they lodge the carcase in a cold cellar, and cut it up as they want
it for provision.

I observed a curious kind of lime-stone burnt at Kemi, Tornio, and
other places round the neighbouring sea-coast.

August 14.

A very rainy day. A silver ore from Hjortot has been assayed by the
Mineral Board, and found to contain forty percent lead, but only
three or four of silver.

August 15.

Near the ferry at Tornio I picked up the Fresh-water Sponge, Spongia
lacustris of Newton, (S. lacustris; Syst. Nat. v.1. 1299. Linnaeus
here refers to Mr. Newton, the friend of Ray, who found the Sponge in
question in the Norwich river, where it still exists. It is however
denominated in Ray's Synopsis, S. ramosa fluviatilis, not lacustris.
Linnaeus quoted from memory.)

August 16.

In dissecting the flower of Artemisia (vulgaris), I was struck with
its very curious conformation. (This alludes to the want of a limb to
the corolla of the female or marginal florets. See Fl. Lapp. ed. 2.
244.)

August 17.

I went by sea from Tornio to Kalix. The wind proved contrary. The
islands abounded with Whortleberries, and with the fruit of Rubus
saxatilis. On one called Korsholm I met with a sort of Behen. Can it
be the same with that which grows in cornfields? Their different
parts are tolerably alike. This grew among the pebbles of the beach.
Its calyx is oblong. Leaves narrow. Stem erect. Fruit of one cell. In
other respects it resembles Behen. (This was Cucubalus (Behen)
variety the third, or c, Fl. Lapp. n.180. ed. 2. 149. Silene
maritima, Fl. Brit. 468. Engl. Bot. t. 957. We have found it remain
for many years unchanged in a garden, propagating itself by seed,
though Linnaeus reports that the third year he could not distinguish
his from our common Silene inflata, his Cucubalus Behen.)

August 18.

On islands near the shore I saw a Salix with leaves like the
cultivated olive. It is a shrub three feet high, but growing in a
spreading manner. Stem grey, with roundish dusky solitary buds, of a
very large size, in proportion to the plant. Leaves gradually larger
(upwards?), oblong-lanceolate, bluntish, on scarcely perceptible
footstalks, furnished with an obtuse longitudinal rib beneath, but no
veins. Their upper surface is green, sprinkled all over with minute
white dots; very slightly channelled, and paler, along the nerve.
(This appears to have been S. rosmarinifolia.)

August 19.

At the fair of Kalix I obtained some information concerning the
commerce of this country, which is very different from that of almost
every place in the world besides, insomuch that I am unable to
determine which party makes his market of the other. The townsman
thinks it is himself who cheats the peasant, but I verily believe he
is the party who is cheated.

1. The general plan of traffic here is bartering one article for
another.
	2. The merchant generally carries his goods home to the
peasant's residence in the country, at whatever distance it may be,
or else conveys them to the fair, from whence the purchaser is to
fetch them.
	3. When a townsman sets up trade as a merchant, his principal
aim is to get as many country-people to connect themselves with him
as possible, who are to supply him with their produce. These are
termed Gield-bonder, or creditors.
	4. The advantage the peasants have in thus confiding to the
merchant the whole of their goods, is, that the latter pays their
taxes for them to the collector, which must be done either in ready
money, or bills of exchange.
	5. When the merchant receives the goods from the countryman, no
price is fixed upon them between the parties; but when the former
returns from Stockholm, he sets down in his account-book nearly the
sum for which he has disposed of the articles there. In this the
peasant trusts to the honour of the merchant, and is paid
accordingly.
	6. These prices are not communicated to the countryman
immediately, nor does he know the price of the salt, tobacco, corn,
and other articles, with which the merchant supplies him in return,
till they settle accounts; which does not take place till the end of
every year, or perhaps not so frequently.
	7. As long as a peasant keeps to one merchant, he is allowed
credit, and obtains advances of any money for which he may have
occasion, even although the goods delivered do not amount to the
interest of the sum lent, which is sometimes equal to 1000 dollars.
But if he carries any of his goods to another merchant, he must
immediately pay what he owes to his original correspondent, or suffer
a sequestration of his property.
	8. The countryman never brings his own goods to market, unless
he happens to be going that way, in which case he usually takes them
with him, but otherwise it is expected the merchant should fetch
them.
	9. When the towns of this part of the country were first built,
each had certain parishes appropriated to it, and these were called
the trading district of each town, in which no person who did not
belong to the town had a right to trade. These exclusive privileges
were subsequently annulled by royal authority, and free markets were
established, where strangers as well as the neighbouring inhabitants
were equally permitted to trade. This open trade has not however
taken place at Kalix, partly because the peasants are situated at so
great a distance from one another, and partly because the merchants
in the town conceive that such a plan would ruin them, they being in
that case obliged to buy and sell for ready money.
	10. Here are no free markets, properly speaking, but only
Upbordsmoten (periodical meetings of the collectors of the revenues
with the peasants). At these times the townsmen and the peasants meet
together at the place of rendezvous, as at Kalix every year on the
19th of August, and at Tornio in the depth of winter.

The inconveniences of the above plan of trade are,

1. The merchant lays considerable sums fast, with which he might
otherwise extend his commerce.
	2. He has the trouble of carrying his goods to the house of the
peasant, whereever it may be, up the country, and of bringing what he
takes in exchange from the place of rendezvous to his own house in
town.
	3. The consequence of such a plan is that many a merchant has
outstanding debts to the amount of 100,000 dollars, the greater part
of which he may never get paid.

The inconveniences to the countryman are,
	1. He runs in debt more than he can ever pay.
	2. The merchant has the advantage of fixing what price he
chooses on his goods.
	3. He is not allowed to take any measures for his own profit.

The collar of the shirts, worn by the inhabitants of Finland and
Osterbotten in this neighbourhood, resembles ours, their sleeves
being more like those of a woman's shift.

Young women here commonly wear the bosom open, and have nothing over
their shift, which is gathered round the waist like a petticoat.

The country of Osterbotten is chiefly inhabited about the sea-coast,
and on the banks of rivers. An Aurora borealis was seen in the night 
of the 18th of August, and had been visible for a week past, so early
does it begin here.

The rowers of the boat in which I pursued my progress had blisters on
their hands caused by pulling at the oars. Their specific was the
ladle with which they had just been stirring the pot where fish was
boiling. This they applied, hot as it was, to the part affected, and
the blisters disappeared.

What is here called Taim is a sort of salmon, two spans in length at
most, the tail scarcely cloven, the mouth not hooked, but otherwise
like the common kind. (This is probably the Salmo salar in a young
state; and may perhaps be the Laxunge, or  Salmo minor, vulgari
similis, Artedi Spec. 50, not 80, mentioned in Fauna Suecica, ed. 2.
122, though Linnaeus has no allusion there to the Taim.)

As soon as the corn is carried from the field, it is usual to thrash
it slightly, that whatever is loose may come away, and not be lost in
the barn, as also that the coarser part may be separated from the
finer.

The flail is about a yard long, and rather thick.

The roofs in this part of the country are made of the bark of birch-
trees, not covered over with any turf, but held fast by round poles,
as thick as one's arm, whose upper extremities, alternately longer
and shorter, reach to the ridge, and being bored through, are
fastened to it, in such a manner that their ends project about a span
each way beyond the ridge, crossing each other. Being thicker at
their lower ends, they lie almost close together. Within this there
is often a false roof, like a ceiling, covered over with birch-bark
and earth; but this is only when the house is wished to be very warm.

At the residence of the Governor of the Province at Kalix, I saw
three swans, which, having been taken when young, were as tame as
domestic geese, to which these birds are so much alike in every
respect, that I can have no doubt of their belonging to one genus.
Their bill is flat, and black at the extremity, as well as the
margins, convex and somewhat angular in the middle, so far at least
that the swelling part terminates in an angle. The middle is fleshy,
where the oblong nostrils are situated; the base flat or
quadrangular, with two sinuses pointing upwards, and pale-coloured.
The margin is toothed just like the Concha veneris (Cypraea).


A carriage called Stotting is used here, for bringing home wood for
fuel in winter, over the ice and snow. It is made of birchwood, and
resembles a sledge. The length of this machine from a to b is three
feet and a half, the breadth of each beam four inches and a half;
their thickness two inches, except in the middle, at d, where it is
three inches and a half, though in all the other parts of equal
dimensions. The transverse bar, c, is one foot and a half long, three
inches and a half broad, and is elevated four inches above the
longitudinal pieces. e, e, are two slender triangular pieces, two
feet in length, and two inches in thickness. f, f, are about one palm
and a half each in length and breadth. h is curved upwards about two
palms and a half out of the straight line. g is two feet long between
the main beams, three inches and a half broad, but scarcely one in
thickness.

The sledges, or beams, a, b, differ from the common ones in being
broader, and in the elevation or thickness of each at d. The
transverse beam c; on which the load is laid, is bored through at
each end, to receive the supporting pieces. The slender bars e, e,
which may be termed clavicles, are broadest in the fore part, where
they also are bored through, and fastened with pegs, serving to give
stability to the cross beam c. Two of these carriages are tied
together, one behind the other, through the hole in the cross beam,
at k. The loop, i, is made of birchen twigs.

At Kalix I found the Hippuris (vulgaris) with forked branches;
Pentaphylloides facie fragariae, (Potentilla rupestris?); and Eruca
foliis sinapeos. (What this was does not appear.)

I noticed limestone in the cliff at Kalix and Tornio.


The scythe which serves at Kronoby in Osterbotten, for mowing barley,
is made exactly like the common one of the Finlanders, with the
foremost handle underneath, but, that nothing may be wasted or lost,
the machine b c is fixed to the scythe, b being stuck into the hole
at a, and fastened with a pin through it at the other side. A cord is
tied from the other end c to the handle d, before the scythe is used.
The lower, or shortest, bar of this appendage scarcely extends beyond
the extremity of the scythe at f.Its position is regulated by a cord,
according to the in-a clination of the blade f g. The length of the
main handle of the scythe, e f, is two ells.

August 31.

I collected and described various species of Fungi. (Here follow
descriptions or characters of several species of Agaricus, Boletus
and Hydnum, given more correctly in the Flora Lapponica.)

September 3.

I stood sponsor to the son of the Burgomaster Geyer Svanberg, who was
born the preceding night, or rather between one and two in the
morning. He was named Geyer.
	Mr. Svanberg told me the (Cotyledon) Umbilicus veneris grew on a
hill called Karvick, near Wallivari to the north. (This probably was
not confirmed, as the plant does not occur in Flo. Suecica.)

September 4.

I went to Biorknas, in order to be instructed in the art of assaying.

September 9.

I examined the fish called in West Bothland Natting, (Petromyzon
fluviatilis.) Its upper jaw is acutely notched, resembling two teeth.
The lower has seven small teeth, of which the two outermost are
largest. Mouth in the under side of the bead, gaping, oval, rather
compressed. There are seven openings in a row behind the eyes,
gradually larger as they recede from thence. The fins have no visible
rays, but merely streaks, yet they are not adipose, or fat, fins.
There is a prominent orifice on the top of the head. The pericardium
is cartilaginous. The fish is a span long. Its hind fin triangular.

These (lampreys) are caught at this time of the year, when the nights
grow dark, in hollow timbers of a conical shape, resembling the
wicker baskets used for catching eels. The entrance is made smooth
and even. These timbers are laid, at the depth of two ells, in the
river, and kept down with stones, the opening being turned to meet
the current. Some such traps are made of willow twigs not bigger than
goose-quills, plaited close together into the same shape, and are two
ells in length.

I was told that the Laplanders are accustomed to preserve blood of
the reindeer in rennet-bags through the winter till spring, when they
boil it with water, and drink it.

Tar is obtained in the following manner. A cavity, of an inversely
conical shape, is dug in a hill, and then lined with hewn timbers,
nine ells in length each, so as to form a sort of funnel. This again
is lined with bark of pine-trees, so as to prevent the tar draining
away into the ground between the timbers. At the bottom is another
funnel or vessel of wood to receive the tar, which runs from thence
into a trough, close on all sides, except a hole where the point of
the said funnel is inserted, and another at the extremity, closed
with a moveable plug, from which the tar is received into vessels and
taken away. Roots of fir, cut to pieces, are placed upright in the
large funnel above, so as to leave a convexity over the bottom, and
the whole being covered with turf is set on fire, against the wind.
Care is taken, by varying the admission of air, to prevent its
burning too fast, or unequally; and by this means they procure both
tar and charcoal.

September 14.

I took my leave of Biorknas. The weather was cold and rainy. Such of
the forest trees as are of a deciduous nature had now assumed a
pallid hue, in consequence of the cold nights; but the evergreens,
with their needle-shaped leaves, standing among them, seemed to defy
the cold, and were rendered conspicuous by their dark-green colour.
The high wind scattered the withered leaves over my path. How useful
are the usual storms of autumn to disperse ripe seeds, and plant
colonies far from the parent trees! The hills appeared sandy; and
such places as had been burnt were now perfectly white with Reindeer
Moss, (Lichen rangiferinus,) which grew so close together, as hardly
to leave any room for the Ling. It ornamented the sides of the roads
like the Iceland Moss, (Lichen islandicus.)

Some part of the road consisted of a reddish-brown earth, such as I
had observed in the early part of my journey near Umeċ. I was told
that it was excellent for red paint. At length I reached Zingis, and
in the evening arrived at Tornio, entirely wet through.

September 15.

I observed how they manage their corn at this season. They have no
barns to lay it into, but it is placed between poles, all the ears
directed to one side, in stacks two or three ells long, and very
high. If the corn be not quite dry, it is first spread abroad.
Afterwards it is dried in a kiln, and thrashed on a floor. How liable
must it be to take fire, and how much must unavoidably be spilt in
consequence of such management!

I received 100 dollars, of copper-money, from the chief clergyman. I
learned here that Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) and Mugwort (Artemisia
vulgaris) are used to make a fomentation or bath, wonderfully useful
for women in labour, who are accustomed to sit over the steam of
these herbs. I had observed the people at every house drying Tansy,
but could meet with nobody who would inform me to what use it was
destined.

September 16.

This day I again left Tornio, for Kemi. There are six ferries between
these two places, over the river Kokama, which passes near Kemi. Two
miles from hence are the boundaries of Oster- and Vasterbotten.
Limestone attracted my notice all the way along the road to Norbotn;
it was yellow on the outside, whitish within.



ECONOMICAL REMARKS CONCERNING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF
TORNIO.
The soil is various, sometimes clay, sometimes sand. The corn-fields
are sown every other year, and lie fallow the intermediate seasons,
half of each field lying fallow, while the other half is cultivated.
The former is ploughed during the whole summer, to prevent the growth
of grass or weeds, which might exhaust it. Barley is sown in these
open fields only. Rye is cultivated on land that has recently been
cleared of its wood by burning, but not in any great quantities.
Turnips and Rye are sown together in one crop, and not, as usual in
other places, Turnips one year and Rye the other. Rye bread is
reserved to treat visitors. Barley bread is of three different
qualities; 1, made of the unmixed barley; 2, of a mixture of barley
and chaff; 3, of chaff without any addition, except now and then a
handful or two of barley. This last is their Spis-brod, or household-
bread.

The plough is of the same construction as that used in Vasterbotten.

Almost every person, except such as are very poor, catches as many of
the small kind of Herrings, called Strœmming (Clupea harengus b,
Membras of old authors,) as are necessary for the support of his
family. Those who are not otherwise employed in spring and autumn,
catch them for sale afterwards to such as have not time to take any
for themselves. These fish begin to spawn about the 18th of May, and
continue till about the 16th of June. After the latter period they go
into the small inlets among the rocks, and are taken by means of
large nets till St. Peter's day, June 29th. This is called the large
Strœmming fishery. From St. Peter's day till St. Bartholomew's (Aug.
24th), or even later, they are taken likewise with nets in their
usual haunts. These fish are found with milt as well as roe
throughout the summer. One barrel of sour Strœmming is as valuable as
two of the salted sort, the former being greatly preferred. A peasant
whose family consists of a dozen people, takes half a barrel of salt
Strœmming for his whole supply, and this is used to make a kind of
soup when boiled with turnips; but he takes a barrel and three
quarters of sour Strœmming, which is eaten without any preparation,
like smoked and salted meat. If the director of the family is a good
oeconomist, he will never allow it to be boiled or roasted. They let
the fish which is to make sour Strœmming lie for three or four hours
only before they take out the entrails, after which it is washed in a
small coarse sieve, till most of the blood is removed. It is then
salted, in the proportion of thirty pounds of ordinary salt to each
barrel of fish. The fish destined to make salt Strœmming must be much
more carefully washed, for if the least drop of blood remains it will
turn sour. Every barrel of this requires a quarter of a barrel of
salt which is disposed in layers, alternately with layers of fish.
Each layer of fish and salt are rubbed together with the hands, till
a sort of scum rises on the top.

 Another way of preparing salt Strœmming is to make so strong a brine
that the entire fish, thrown into the tub, will not sink. They put in
only so many of the fish as can readily be stirred about in the
brine. If the tub be so full that the brine does not entirely cover
the Strœmming, more is added, and the whole is suffered to remain for
some days. The fish is afterwards gutted in the following manner. A
person puts ten or twelve of them on the thumb of his left hand, in
such a manner that the back of each fish is turned towards the palm.
He then very dexterously loosens the gills with his right hand,
pinching out the gills and intestines at once; which is performed
with great quickness. The fish are then put into a rope basket, and
salted as before. When they have remained thus for a couple of days, 
they are put into other baskets, in order that the brine may drain
away, and finally are packed up in new kegs for keeping, without any
further salting. A hole is bored in each tub, just above the
lowermost hoop, to draw off the brine, which is always collecting
from the fish, and if permitted to remain, will cause the whole to
turn sour; but the same method is not practised for the sour
Strœmming. This last is in its greatest perfection about St. James's
day (July 25th).

These people have three meals a day in summer, besides breakfast, and
the sour Strœmming always makes a part of their dinner, as well as of
the preceding refreshment. The fish, after being repeatedly squeezed,
is laid between two slices of bread, and so eaten. After it they take
some sour preparation of milk, without cream. Sometimes indeed they
eat a bit of cheese, or bread and butter; but they never eat meat
after the sour Strœmming. Their vegetable food consists of cabbage,
peas, or turnips, the first being generally eaten on Sundays. Peas
are eaten once a week, except when the cabbage is deficient, and then
they supply its place. Turnips and salt Strœmming are generally eaten
in a morning, in the following manner. When the turnips are boiled
nearly enough, the fish is put to them, but not before, lest it
should be broken to pieces. To this some flour is added; and they
drink sour milk after it. Their supper always consists of flummery,
made of barley-meal. Before they first go out in a morning they eat
either bread and butter, or bread and cheese, but they prefer the
former. The mixed bread (made of corn and chaff) is their ordinary
portion; good bread, made entirely of corn, they seldom or ever
taste. It is reserved for visitors, or for very extraordinary
occasions. Their mixed or household bread, being baked in cakes as
thin as paper, is eaten by laying four or five such cakes together
upon each other. They are never unprovided with ale in their cellars,
to treat visitors, though their ordinary drink is table beer. In
summer time they always drink Syra.

The peasants themselves eat but very little of their own mutton, and
chiefly the shoulder and brisket. The rest they sell; scarcely any is
kept in the house but the above parts, with the marrow-bones, which
they break to get at the marrow. The heads and feet of sheep, goats,
and hogs, are salted and dried, being, when wanted, boiled with peas,
and not ill-tasted. The legs of sheep, cut off at the knee, are often
boiled fresh; the fat which floats on the top being collected and
preserved in a horn or pot, as very useful to grease small ropes, and
wheels. The legs and feet thus boiled are afterwards thrown away, not
eaten. The head and feet of a calf are usually pickled.

For fire-wood these people use birchwood. They burn no candles in
their houses. They go to smoke themselves with the Finlanders in
their huts.

The hay is mown here in the same manner as in Uppland, and the corn
is managed in the same way as in Smċland. When the season is dry,
they prefer drying the corn in heaps in the open air, as before
described; but in wet weather they have recourse to sheds. The hay is
spread out till dry, and afterwards carried, without being made into
cocks.

They raise as many hops as are wanted for each family, and have
perhaps a few pounds over, for sale. Their pales are high, made of
pine-wood, and placed sloping.

The milk is set in the cellar, in deep tubs made of alder wood, by
which they obtain a great proportion of cream, even two fingers'
thick. This cream is stirred up with the milk, warmed, and then
coagulated, for making cheese. Another mode is with butter-milk, to
which they add a sixth part of fresh milk, that has stood one day and
been skimmed. This mixture, being first warmed, is then coagulated.
The cheese thus made is preferred to the former, and often eaten in
preference to butter.

Between Midsummer and St. James's day (July 25th), the whey is
collected, after the cheese is made; which, after boiling for some
hours, is set by to cool. When cold, it is barrelled up for winter
use. Poor people and old women beg or buy it, a small bottle-full at
a time. To one pot of sour milk they add a fourth part of Syra; and
these together have the taste of what they term Filbunke, which is
sour milk with the cream on, just beginning to ferment, and of which
they make Servetmjolk.

Thick milk (perhaps Mesosmor) is often kept in barrels till winter,
as is the meal made of fir-bark, when both serve for winter
provision.

Syra is so very sour as not to be eatable by itself. When they have
no milk to dilute it with, they add an equal quantity of water to the
Syra, and mix the whole with flummery, which mixture they prefer to
small beer.

Butter is now and then made of goat's milk; but it is very strong,
and quite as white as that made of the milk of the reindeer.



OSTERBOTTEN (2).
September 17.

I departed from the posthouse of Kemi. The weather was unfavourable,
for it rained all day long. I took up my lodging in the evening at
the posthouse of Jo. This part of the country lies very low,
abounding with marshes and numerous small rivulets, but few hills.
There is plenty of grass. The buildings are bad. The forests consist
chiefly of Birch, intermixed with the acifoliae (slender-leaved
evergreens). Of these last the Juniper was remarkable for its
abundance and large size, so as to be almost arborescent. The Birch
and the dwarf Willows had now become pale, but the Sorbus (Mountain
ash, Pyrus aucuparia, Fl. Brit.) had assumed a red hue, as well as
all the mosses. (Pedicularis) Sceptrum Carolinum appeared everywhere
by the roadside. Thalictrum (flavum) and Scutellaria (galericulata)
were less frequent, but Golden-rod (Solidago Virga aurea), Trollius
(europaeus), (Spiraea) Ulmaria, and Epilobium (palustre?) were
plentiful, as was the sweet Milium (effusum), with the Gramen ramosum
(probably Aira caespitosa.)

The inhabitants were in their smoky huts, with their eyes full of
smoke, and the tears running from them. Nevertheless they seemed more
studious of warmth than careful of their eyesight.

The same sort of plough is used here as at Kemi.

I had frequent views of the sea through the woods on the right hand.
Wherever the waves had thrown up sand-hills grew a pea with a
triangular stem, a white creeping perennial root, and thick leaves
alternately pinnate, (Pisum maritimum).

Near Jo I noticed a pit-fall designed to catch wolves. This was dug
in a hill, at no great distance from the house. Around it within were
eleven pales or stakes, placed upright and close together. In the
centre stood a pole, which, as well as the pales, was on a level with
the surface of the ground. The pole supported a wheel, over which
were laid boards, so as entirely to cover it, in such a manner that
if the wolf, when caught, should be able to climb up as high as the
wheel, he might not get any further

The peasants of this upper part of Osterbotten, children of darkness
in their houses, are no less so in their slovenly appearance, chiefly
owing to their uncombed hair. Their breeches reach as low as the
feet, and are white, and they wear a sort of short cloak, sewed
together in front.-Their disposition is quarrelsome. Their
habitations are infected with a smell of sour fish, like sour
Strœmming, for they are kept very dirty. These people speak no other
language than the Finlandish.

Here and there by the road I had this day travelled, I noticed the
Sea Wheatgrass, (Elymus arenarius. See Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. n.34.)

September 18.


I travelled from Jo to Oulu. The rye was bound into sheaves, ten of
which were piled up together in a heap, the ears at the top of each
being brought close together, and another sheath being placed, in an
inverted position, upon them, the whole was sheltered from wet. The
barley was not set upright, but laid on one side, in such a manner
that the ears were all turned inward, and the straw stood outward all
round. On the top of each little stack thus formed, a reversed sheath
was put, as a kind of covering.

The villages consisted of the same kind of smoky huts I have already
described.


(The annexed cut seems to be a representation of one of these
dwellings, at which Linnaeus was so indignant.)

Near the ferry of Haukipudas, stones are collected from the shore,
which, though nothing but concretions of sand and small pebbles, are
so firm as to serve for the construction of ovens. At one spot, where
the river had excavated the sandy bank, it was evident that the
cement, which combines these particles together, is no other than a
rust of iron. The stones in_ general hereabouts are very fine-
grained, and break easily. They have all the appearance of containing
a portion of iron. Some were more rugged and rusty than the rest.

A kind of boats used here to navigate rapid and dangerous parts of
the rivers, are made of thin planks of spruce fir, and are four or
five fathoms long, and about one broad in their middle. The sides are
five or six quarters of an ell deep; the extremities compressed. The
middle of the boat is nearly semi-cylindrical, the keel being raised
up, or hollowed as it were by the dilatation of the sides, in which
all the importance and peculiarity of the contrivance consists, for
without this the vessel would be much more easily overset in rapid
and shelvy places. Some of these boats have no prominent keel at all;
others are furnished with a slight one, chiefly in their forepart,
which is a little the highest, in order to bear the better any shocks
from striking against stones; so that if this part be able to pass,
the rest of the vessel may go in safety.


One sort of nets used for catching Sijk fish, (Salmo lavaretus, or
Gwiniad, before mentioned) are five spans high, and of a considerable
length, the meshes very smalls There are loop-holes at the top, large
enough to admit two fingers, bordered with birch bark, whose edges
are sewn together. (See 1, 2, 3, 4 in the figure.) The stones (5, 6,
7) at the bottom are but small, covered with birch bark. The nets are
set near the sandy shore.


Another kind of net, used for catching the same fish, is placed in
the strongest part of a current or waterfall. It resembles a
receiving net, except being not so deep. The length is three ells,
breadth two, and depth one. This is fixed very steadily, by means of
poles, in the middle of the very strongest and most confined current,
against the stream, so that when the fish attempts to pass upwards,
by the narrow passages on each side the net, he finds it
impracticable, and is thrown back by the force of the water,
generally into the net, out of which he can never escape, but is
taken out at leisure.

Near Oulu is a mineral spring, not yet made any use of. The taste of
the water seemed good. This spring is situated close to the town, on
a small island, where there is a sawing-mill. In the church I noticed
the monument of Messenius, with his effigy made to the life. He is
actually buried here <92>. This church is one of the longest I ever
saw built of wood, but its height is not correspondent. The arms of
the town are displayed on the pulpit. Oulu is almost as large as
Lund.


September 19.


After attending divine service I left this place. Sledges in use here
are constructed with a cross board to rest the feet against. (a,
seems to be a bandage or belt, to keep the traveller from being
suddenly jolted out of this vehicle, and b is the part to rest the
back or head against; but there are no references in the manuscript
to these letters of the sketch.) I now came in sight of the extensive
meadows of Liminka, more spacious than all the meadow-ground of
Tornio and Raibeck together. (Tuneld says in his Geography, that the
meadows of Liminka, and cornfields of the neighbouring parish of
Storkyrro, are famous to a proverb for their great extent.) At first
the land seemed a perfect marsh, filled with Horsetail (Equisetum
fluviatile), and especially with Reed, Arundo (Phragmites), which
last grew in such abundance as to resemble a forest. The Water
Hemlock, Cicutaria aquatica (Cicuta virosa,) was very plentiful by
the roadside. This led me to inquire whether the cattle ever fed
there? I was answered by the peasants in the affirmative, with a
question in my turn, whether I could give them any advice on the
subject, for they had lost a great many; adding similar particulars
to what I had heard at Tornio.

Red Currants (Ribes rubrum) grew all the way by the road, as well as
Lenticula (Lemna or Duckweed), and the Lichenoides of which powder is
made was observable on the trees. (Lichen prunastri, said to have
been used for hair-powder.)

The meadow of Liminka is two miles in length. The best part of the
land, near the village of that name, was now occupied by the horned
cattle. The land here is more elevated and less marshy, though
somewhat impaired by tumps<93> (of Carex caespitosa). If but a third
part of it were cultivated, according to the Skċnian mode of
husbandry, it would be of more value than the whole is at present. I
was told that the whole marsh might be laid dry, by cutting a channel
down to the seashore; but it was feared that the land might in
consequence become covered with White Moss (Sphagnum palustre), which
would render it altogether unprofitable.

About a thousand hay-cocks were now before me on the meadow, but none
of them consisting of more than a horse could draw. They never here
use more than a single horse or ox at a time for draught. Each of
these cocks was raised from the ground on a kind of scaffold,
supported by several cross poles. Some of the Water Iris (Iris
Pseud'acorus) was mixed with the hay.

The milk strainers are made of straw, and not very clean.

September 20.

Brabestad, not far distant, is a small town, though twice the size of
Tornio, standing on a peninsula by the sea. In the hospital of
Kronoby are many maniacs, whose insanity is said to have arisen from
jealousy of the conduct of their wives. One of them, whose wife was a
very old woman, took this fancy, supposing her to intrigue with
several other men. Possibly in these cases impotence, or perhaps some
fantastic concupiscence, may have been a cause of the derangement.

About this neighbourhood it is the custom to administer to women in
labour a very nauseous medicine, which is called Hittatran, or Casual
Train-oil; so termed because it is obtained from the carcases of such
seals as, having been killed early in the spring, have been left
among the broken ice till they are by chance cast upon the shore.
They are consequently putrid, and the oil is so offensive, that few
persons, except such as are in great extremity, or not very nice, can
be brought to take it. In general Castor is here considered as a
sheet-anchor in such cases, as being found by long experience very
effectual in bringing on the labour-pains. Others take saffron
infused in wine. For after-pains they swallow, as at Kemi, a few
drops of blood from the umbilical cord, not only in the woman's first
lying-in, but every subsequent one.

Some Finlanders, as I was told, have a method by which they pretend
to catch bears, with a sort of magic. This is done by procuring some
of the bear's dung, fresh and warm if possible, and mixing it with
that of one of their own cows. The consequence is said to be, that
the bear will be attracted by sympathy to come after the cow; an
effect certainly not more wonderful than many sympathies upon record.

There is a fish in the lakes near Pyhejorki which is called Muicu.
Bishop Terserus, a Dalecarlian, bishop of Turku, says that he has
seen at this place a fish named Muicu, which is no other than the
Blikta, taken in the lake of Silian in his native country. How true
this may be I know not, but I saw plainly that this Muicu is the
Small Sijk (Salmo albula), such as is found in Smċland.


This figure represents a plough used here, drawn by an ox. The share,
a, is of iron, a span long. The part b is four spans high; c is four
spans long; d and e, three spans each; f, g, four spans. The ends of
the shafts are connected by a curved piece of wood, which keeps them
from the shoulders of the animal, and supports there.

September 21.

Being the feast of St. Matthew the apostle, I went to church at
Kokkola. Here is an introductory school, to prepare children for that
at Kronoby.

I passed on to Jacobstad, which has a remarkably good harbour. Ships
are able to load and unload close to the quay.

September 22.

Leaving Jacobstad, I arrived at the town of Nykarleby, which is
nearly as big as Vaxjo. Every one of the streets is laid with
timbers, placed cross-wise, instead of stones, like a bridge, which
has a handsome appearance. The harbour of this place is near the
river, a quarter of a mile from the town. Vessels when laden indeed
can scarcely come within half a mile. On the shore lay vast piles of
wood, destined to be conveyed to Stockholm for fuel.

The country-people have, in every one of their mills, an instrument
made of six or seven blades or hatchets, serving to cut chaff into
small pieces in a trough, in order to grind it afterwards with their
barley.

Rotkal (Brassica oleracea x, Sp. Pl. 932, Napo brassica, or Stalk-
cabbage) is dried for winter use; when it is boiled, and given with
the liquor to the cattle.


The women at this place wear a hood, or neckcloth, as they call it,
of grey walmal cloth, but only in bad weather. It is tied with a
black ribbon in the fore part. When they ride on horseback, they
carry the whip slung at their back.

To stir up the pot, when boiling, they use a stick with several
projecting bits of wood at the bottom, (not unlike a chocolate-mill,)
which is rolled between their hands.

In the evening of this day I arrived at Vaasa. September 23. I went
to church at Vaasa, and visited also the palace, situated on the
south-west side of the city, the school, and other public buildings.
This is a handsome little town enough. It is the residence of the
governor.

Not far from the town, and indeed close to the walls, is a reputed
copper-mine, the working of which was discontinued, after an
excavation had been made to the depth of five or six fathoms. The ore
has a glittering micaceous appearance, and gives a stain like black
lead. The sand about it is a loose talc, as if spontaneously
decomposed, I do not indeed believe that it contains any copper or
other metal; which seems to have been the opinion of those who so
soon gave over the pursuit.

The rustics here trust to three doctors, Beaver's-gall, Bear's-gall,
and Pallavinus. (By a chemical sign annexed, it appears that Linnaeus
here meant brandy, but the word itself is not explained.)

This day being Sunday, I saw the girls all going bare-headed to
church. They each, however, carried an oblong-oval hat, supported by
broad coloured ribbands, the ends of which hung down.

September 24.


In my way from Nykarleby to this place (the day before yesterday) I
had observed a kind of plough in use, different from any I had before
seen. This was almost always drawn by a horse, seldom by an ox. The
latter, when used, had the same harness as the horse, but without a
girth. Over its back indeed passes a band like a saddle-girth, which
is kept upon the neck of the animal to prevent the harness sliding
forward; but for horses they use no such thing. See the figure.

The shoes worn at this place in some measure resemble half-boots. The
soles are of untanned leather, with the hair upon it the upper
leathers made of tanned sealskin, and tied round the ankle with
strings. (A representation of one of these shoes accompanies the last
figure.)

Hypericum (perforatum), Scrophularia (nodosa), Bidens (cernua?)
occurred to me here, for the first time in all my journey. The three
species of Ribes (rubrum, alpnum and nigrum,) were in prodigious
abundance.

September 25.

At sun-rise I took my departure from Vaasa. The pines in the forest
were stripped of their bark, so that vast tracts were covered with
nothing but such naked trees. No more was left on each trunk, to the
height of three ells or three and a half, than a small strip of bark,
about the breadth of four fingers, generally on the north side, to
prevent its being . . . (here is a word not to be deciphered). The
trees are left standing for six or seven years afterwards, and are
then cut down close to the roots, being also headed a little above
the naked part. The heads or branches either serve for firing, or, as
often happens, are left to rot on the ground.

Three miles below Vaasa I recognised the Climbing Nightshade (Solanum
dulcamara). In the town itself I had noticed (Leonurus) Cardiaca, and
Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger). Near the shore grew Salix oleaefolia with
its berries, (Hippophaë rhamnoides). It is known by the name of
Finnbaer or Surbaer, (Finn-berries, or Sour berries). The fruit is
situated below the leaves, as in the Alder. The footstalks are two
lines long. Berries bluntly oval, of a tawny orange-colour, three or
four lines long, smooth, sour, having a watery pulp mixed with
ochraceous matter. Seed solitary, roundish-oblong, slightly
compressed, obtuse, attached by its lower edge to a membrane which
enfolds it. When this cover is removed, the seed itself appears brown
and polished, having a longitudinal groove at each side. The
fishermen eat these berries bruised, by way of sauce to their fresh
fish, but I thought them rather too acid.

September 26.

I passed Kristinestad, but before coming to that place, noticed at
Narpes a very extensive tract of land, which had formerly been a fine
meadow, the soil being extremely good. But at present it was so
entirely overrun with tumps (originally perhaps formed of Carex
caespitosa) that it produced little or nothing. These tumps were 
crowded almost over one another, and were overgrown by Polytrichum
(Hair-moss), which had come to its full stature, and rendered most of
them nearly black. There was scarcely room for the cattle to make
their way to any food between the tumps.

In the passages of all the houses hung nets, used for catching bears.
These are made of ropes of Lindenbast, (the inner bark of the lime-
tree, Tilia europaea,) full as thick as a bridle or rein. The meshes
when stretched are each three quarters of an ell wide. The height of
the net is equal to the stature of a man. Such nets, supported by
poles, are set up in a line of one hundred fathoms in extent, the
lower side close to the ground. The bear is driven into them by the
people hunting him on all sides.

September 27.

This day I observed a mode of brewing in a kneading trough, which
stood on a table, and its end being made so as to elide up and down,
the wort is easily poured out.

Below the town of Kristinestad, I first found the Lathyrus
viciaeformis (L. palustris), and Water Cresses, (Sisymbrium
nasturtium); also Campanula persicifolia and (Sedum) Telephium.

September 28.

I was glad when I had done with the very bad road which extends from
the Lappfjard near Kristinestad, to Hwisbofiahl, towards Biorreborg;
a highway it cannot be called, for it is exactly like the road
between the town of Umeċ and Grano. Near Merikarvia I first
recognised the Acer (platanoides) and Filix fœmina ramosa (Aspidium
Filix-foemina?)

The road from Hwisbofiahl to Giolbohl lies along the coast. The grass
here was remarkably tall, and full of all sorts of plants; as the
Ribes insipidum (alpinum), called by the inhabitants Degbaer, in the
greatest abundance. (Viburnum) opulus and (Lonicera) xylosteum here
first re-appeared after my long absence.

N.B. The shrub which Mr. Hojer informs us grows on this island, with
blackish brown berries, may perhaps be the Xylosteum, as the colour
of the leaves seemed to agree very well. (Were it not for the above
indication of the colour of the berries, it might, from the Flora
Suecica, be suspected that Linnaeus had, in these two paragraphs,
written by mistake Xylosteum for Periclymenum.)

The alpine Stone Bramble, Rubus saxatilis, was extremely plentiful;
and the Cultivated Hop (Humulus lupulus), growing wild, afforded me
great pleasure, as I contemplated its ingenious manner of curling
round the Aspen trees (Populus tremula). Here also (Anemone)
hepatica, and the Cracca with toothed wings (stipulae) and striated
flowers, (Vicia sylvatica,) as well as the Orobus vernus, once more
greeted me. The grass with a dense spike-like panicle, whose stems
serve for cleaning the inside of tobacco-pipes, (Agrostis
arundinacea,) grows copiously in this part of the country; and
reached higher than my head. The marshes abound with Iris
(Pseudacorus) and with Cyperus (probably Scirpus maritimus). The
greater part of the road I had travelled hitherto from Kemi lay so
near the shore, that, even in the woody parts of it, the sea was
frequently visible through the forests.

September 29.

I travelled the whole of Michaelmas-day.

When a Finlander has fired at a bear, he immediately runs to one
side, for the animal, if not killed, is sure to run directly forward,
towards the smoke; by which means the man escapes out of his reach.

The peasants who reside near the cliffs or rising ground judge by the
crows (Corvus cornix), of the approach of bad weather; for these
birds seek the marshy country in the evening before it comes on.

Ulvila churchyard seemed to abound with sculls. I reckoned forty of
them in one heap. This churchyard is built round, after the old
fashion.

On entering one of the stove-huts of the inhabitants here, it was so
hot, that I thought my nose would have been burnt off. Nevertheless,
the people within seemed comfortable enough, and the boys, clad in
skins, were running up and down the couch. The stove is constructed
like that of a bagnio in Smċland, but upon it is piled a great heap
of flat stones, to the height of a man. The old women sit in these
huts half naked.

Between Hyfoeda and Taftnen is a river almost navigable. In some
parts, as I was told, it is nine fathoms deep, and in one place is a
ferry across this river. Half a mile from hence southward, close to
the road, between two small bridges which are near each other, I
noticed a sand-hill of very fine sand, in differently-coloured
strata, some white, others reddish-purple.

In the evening I arrived at the town of Turku, which is as large as
Orebro, and well built. It has often been ruined by the enemy, and
often burnt clown by accidental fires, which, if not occasioned
otherwise, might easily happen from the stoves of the huts. I
remarked that these stoves were less lofty than some I had seen, and
that several stones lay loosely piled on one another above the
opening, which serve to retain the heat

September 30.

The Finnish liquor called Lura is prepared like other beer, except
not being boiled, instead of which red-hot stones are thrown into it.
Hence its purgative quality from the iron. Here I saw a flying
squirrel (Sciurus volans) from Tavasthia.

The long black rat, with a white lower lip, catches birds, both on
trees and in the water. He holds fast by his claws, and bites with
his four prominent teeth. The Finlanders call this animal Mink. (This
seems to be Viverra lutreola, Faun. Suec. ed. 2. 5.)

A quarter of a mile from the city is a mineral spring, of which
Tillands has taken notice.<13> It is older than that of Medevi (near
Vadstena). The current is so strong that one of the burghers of the
city has built a mill, to which the water is led, but it does not
always go. Near the town a mine has lately been opened, containing
iron here and there, with small quantities of pyrites. The mountain
itself is a black mica, immediately adjoining to the city.

The library here is miserable. There are two colleges close together.



ALAND TO UPPSALA.
October 5.

I departed from Turku. The corn-fields of Finland are beautiful, and
resemble those of Ostergotland in their wide extent and level
surface. There are regular ferry-boats at stated times to take
passengers to the isle of Aland.

October 6.

I arrived at the place, near Brandoen,(Brando?) where I was to go on
board the ferry-boat. The shore is a red rock. Passed over to the
island of Aland, the whole of which consists of the same kind of red
rock. The palace of Kastelholm, at present falling fast into ruins,
is built of this sort of stone.

 The women use for dyeing a sort of rock Lichenoides, of a brown
stercoraceous colour, (perhaps Lichen stygius, or omphalodes,) which
they boil in water with alum. But Walmal cloth, and stockings, are
dyed without alum. Some add a little Annatto (Bixa orelana).

Shoes like short half-boots are worn here made of seal-skin.

October 7.

In the evening of this day I passed over the plain of Aland. There
were abundance of Finn-berries (Hippophaë rhamnoides) by the road.

October 8.

I sailed over the sea of Aland.

October 9.

Near Esbro an iron mine has lately been opened. About the church are
sundry sepulchral monuments. I noticed on the small surrounding
hills, as well as at Musangen, very fine and lofty plants of juniper
resembling cypresses, the branches erect and close, assuming a
conical or pyramidal figure.

October 10.

About one o'clock in the afternoon I arrived safe at Uppsala. To the
Maker and Preserver of all things be praise, honour and glory for
ever!



SOME OBSERVATIONS RELATIVE TO THE SEAL, PHOCA
VITULINA.
There are two kinds (or varieties) of this animal. The Grâ Siâl (Grey
Seal) is the largest, of a grey colour, lighter, and slightly clouded
on the back. The Wikare Siâl (Creek Seal) is smaller, black on the
back, and very cloudy or wavy at the sides. Otherwise there is no
difference between them.

The whelp at its birth is perfectly white, being covered with white
hair about an inch long, which it loses in four or five weeks, and
becomes quite black. At the same period it acquires more activity and
shyness than at first. The upper fore teeth are six, very small,
resembling those of a dog. The eye-teeth slightly enlarged at their
outer edge, as in the dog, and furnished with a little notch at their
base. Grinders six. Whiskers remarkably large. There are two nipples
a little below the navel, which the female has a power of drawing in,
so as to leave holes large enough to admit the finger. She lets them
out at pleasure to her young one.

The seal lies on its back while sleeping, either on the ice or on
rocks. They couple soon after the feast of St. Matthew, September 21;
and the grey seal brings forth its young in January, the creek seal
in February. The male runs round and round the female many times,
with a yelping noise, being very careful not to be observed.

When the female has young, the male is very savage, and continually
attends to protect her. She brings forth but one at a birth, which at
first is dull and stupid, easily caught. If thrown into the water,
however, he exerts himself with some activity, and returns to the
shore, not having as yet acquired any shyness. But by the time all
his first coat of white hair is fallen off, he begins to be timid.
The growth of the young seals is very rapid.

The seal, when out of the water, can hardly distinguish objects at
half a quarter of a mile's distance at the utmost. But in foggy and
dull weather he sees better than in sunshine. He never remains in the
water during moon-light nights. His hearing is acute though he has no
external ears, and his scent is also very quick. He can remain under
water for nearly half a quarter of an hour; but by that time he must,
at the peril of his life, come to the surface to breathe, which he
often does within a fathom of the shore, and he afterwards spouts out
water.

Nets for catching seals are set right out into the sea, from some
promontory, to the distance of twenty fathoms. These are examined
every morning, to see what is caught. They are chiefly set from St.
Bartholomew (August 24), when the moon is in her wane, till over St.
Matthew's day, September 21.

Grey seals are hunted in winter till Lady-day. They lie upon the ice,
often in great numbers, close to a hole which they have made in it.
When they come out of the water by this opening upon the surface of
the ice, the water they bring with them freezes about its margin, so
that in time the edges become elevated, and it looks like a well. If
it should freeze over, they travel to the south-west, till they can
get at water, always proceeding straight forward, even though they
meet with mountains in their way; and they return in the same direct
line back again. The hunters go with large poles, carefully
approaching the creek seal till they get near enough to fire at him
before he is aware. The grey seal is taken with a sort of hook or
harpoon. The seals are able to penetrate through the ice from
beneath, lying on their backs under water, be it ever so thick, but
cannot make their way into it from above.
END OF THE TOUR.



APPENDIX I - LINNAEUS' REPORT TO THE ACADEMY.

A BRIEF NARRATIVE
OF
A JOURNEY TO LAPLAND,
Undertaken with a View to Natural History, in the Year 1732, at the
Expense of the Royal Academy (of Uppsala); by CHARLES LINNAEUS,
Student of Physic and of Natural History, as drawn up by Himself to 
lay before the said Academy.

THE Royal Academy of Sciences having, last Spring, permitted my
humble memorial to be laid before them, respecting the project of a
journey to Lapland, with a view to the improvement of natural
history, and having honoured the same with their approbation,
appointing me to undertake the expedition, I feel it my duty, after
having accomplished my journey, most respectfully to present to the
Academy a narrative thereof. For the sake of brevity and clearness
shall divide my subject into three parts

1st, A journal of my tour.
	2nd, The expenses incurred.
	3rd, The advantages likely to accrue.

I. THE JOURNAL.

May 12, 1732.

Having received my instructions from the Royal Academy of Sciences,
with a passport from the Government, and having prepared every thing
necessary for my journey, I set out immediately at eleven o'clock,
from this place (Uppsala), carrying with me nothing but what was
absolutely necessary, in order that I might not be detained or
interrupted, in case of not being able always to procure a horse, but
might occasionally pursue my way on foot. As the summer seemed to be
fast advancing, I thought it not advisable to lose time by the way,
nor to stray far from the road, in the early part of the tour, but
only to observe attentively what readily presented itself, that I
might reach Lapland with all possible dispatch.

May 13.

By eleven o'clock I arrived at Gefle, where I was obliged to stay all
that day, for it was evening before I received from the governor of
the province (of Gastrikland) the requisite passport, which was
accompanied by orders to all the public officers in his district to
give me all requisite assistance to penetrate, if possible, into
Asila Lappmark.

May 14.

Owing to the above delay, and my attending morning service the next
day at Gefle church, I could not quit that place till one o'clock.
Proceeding without stopping to Hudwickswald, I there merely spoke a
few words to Mr. Broman the clergyman, and pursued my way to Knorby
Knylen, the highest mountain in Medelpad, from whence I went to
Sundswall, and further in my way I examined a cave formed by nature
in a very hard rocky mountain, formerly a retreat for thieves and
highwaymen. I was so unfortunate, in my journey through Medelpad, as
not to meet with a single horse that did not tumble with me several
times, in consequence of which I was at one time so severely hurt as
to be scarcely able to remount. Having already collected together a
number of stones and minerals, which were no less burthensome than
unnecessary to carry along with me further, I rode to Hernosand,
where I left these encumbrances. I did not; however, stay there above
two hours.

May 20.

At length I reached the famous mountain of Skula in Angermanland, at
the very top of which is a large grotto, so neatly formed by nature
that art could scarcely have excelled it. This grotto was represented
to me as quite inaccessible, and it was said that not more than two
or three persons had ever been there; nor was it without great
difficulty that I prevailed on two men to accompany me, everybody
deeming the project impracticable. As we climbed up towards it, we
sometimes crept forwards, sometimes slid back again. Now we mounted a
considerable way by catching hold of branches and roots of trees, and
then, meeting with steep inaccessible rocks, were obliged to turn
back. After following one of my guides for about two hours, I thought
the other seemed to make more progress; which induced me to go after
the latter. I was scarcely got two ells out of my former path, than
the man whose track I had left loosened a large stone with his foot,
which fell on the very spot I had quitted, with such violence, that I
was surrounded by fire and smoke, and should certainly, but for the
protecting hand of Providence, have been crushed to pieces. We
reached the grotto at length, after much labour and trouble, and
descended the mountain with much greater facility. Laying hold of the
tops of spruce firs which grew close to the rocks, we slid down upon
them, dragging them alter us down the precipices.

May 23.

I at length, after twelve days journey, reached Umeċ. It had
originally been my design to go to Asila Lappmark, in order to
observe what plants are able to endure the very hard winters of that
region, but I was obliged to change my plan. The summer would not
have been long enough, nor my stock of money sufficient to enable me
to reach that most northern part of the country, where the severity
of the climate is augmented by the cold north wind and the vast snowy
mountains. I applied, therefore, to baron Grundell, governor of Umeċ,
for a passport to the nearer parts of Lapland, which was immediately
granted. This gentleman showed the greatest readiness to befriend me,
and appeared to take much interest in the success of my undertaking.
He gave such orders as might cause the public officers in Lapland to
lay no obstacles in my way, but rather to assist me by every means in
their power. He himself gave me much curious information, and showed
me his own garden, that I might observe what plants would stand the
winter here: concluding by expressing, in the most flattering terms,
his approbation of my appointment.

May 25.

The following morning I set out on my way towards Lappmark. Leaving
the highway, I came to one of the most unpleasant roads I ever
travelled. It was covered with stones, betwixt which were thick
entangled roots of trees, and among them were deep holes full of
water. The whole ground was a marsh, which the frost was at this time
just about quitting. Large pine-trees, that had been blown down in
the course of the stormy winter, frequently crossed my path; and the
more flexible birches, weighed down by the snow, interrupted my
course on all sides. I frequently came to such steep heathy places
that my horse could scarcely climb or descend them, and in the
bottoms between them were marshy tracts, with rivulets destitute of
bridges, so that my beast slipped down several times; and as I passed
the streams, the water reached up to my saddle. I then regretted,
what I had in the former part of my journey so much detested, 
travelling on the high-way on these stumbling horses, and would
rather have descended the steepest hill in Angermanland than have
chosen the present road, for at every step the horse took, I thought
he would have fallen. In the evening of

May 28
however, I arrived at Genom, the last village in Vasterbotten, seven
miles from the great road which leads westward from Umeċ. Not having
reposed since I left the place last mentioned, I slept here all
night.

May 29.

The next morning I proceeded in a boat up the river of Umeċ as far as
Lycksele church, which is the first in Umeċn Lappmark, and situated
five miles distant from Grano. This was Whitsun-eve.

May 30.

Being Whitsunday, I determined to stay here. Indeed Mr. Gran the
minister of the place<94> (Pastor Gran in the original) wished me to
wait till the next Sabbath day, as he did not think it advisable for
me to proceed, so as to come suddenly among the Laplanders, before he
had made my design known from the pulpit. He was apprehensive that I
might meet with the same accident as his own wife had done, who
coming unexpectedly upon these people, had a fire-lock presented to
her breast. Notwithstanding this, the rise of the water in the river,
in consequence of the advancing summer among the Alps, was so rapid,
that I was on that account induced to hasten my departure, after
having engaged one of the colonists to accompany me by water to the
nearest habitation of some one of the native Laplanders.

May 31.

The divine service of this day being over, I left Lycksele, taking
with me only three loaves of bread, and some reindeer tongues, by way
of provision. I presumed that I should procure among the Laplanders
flesh of the reindeer, cheese, milk, fish, fowl, &c. Nor, indeed,
could I well take anything more at present; for, whenever we came at
any shoals or falls in the river, it was necessary for my companion
to take our boat on his head, over mountains and valleys, so that I
had not only my own luggage to carry at such times, but his likewise.

June 1.

Having by morning come within the territories of the nearest
Laplander, we left our boat on the shore of the river, and went in
search of this man through the wild forests, where we saw no more
traces of roads or enclosures than if the country were entirely
uninhabited. We met, however, with several deserted huts, where he
had at one time or other resided. Being exceedingly tired with this
walk, I was glad to repose myself here in the desert, while my
Finland conductor went in search of my future guide. Nor was I
without considerable fears that this man, when he had met with the
Laplander, might not be able to find me again. However, about noon he
returned, accompanied by a Laplander, who took charge of me, inviting
me home to his hut, where he treated me with fish, and fresh water. I
was afterwards conducted from one Laplander to another, till I came
to a part of the river, about twenty-five miles above Lycksele. I
shall not dwell on the inconveniences I was obliged to undergo every
time we had to seek for any of the Laplanders, while I was quite
destitute of provisions. These poor people themselves had, at this
season, nothing but fish to eat, as they had not yet begun to
slaughter their reindeer, nor to go a fowling; neither had they, as
yet, milked any of their reindeer.

June 2.

On coming to the place just mentioned, we found it impracticable to
proceed by water, the river being so rapid, and so much impeded by
falls, that we were obliged to undertake a walk of a few miles
further, which I was told would bring us to a more navigable stream.
After walking for some time, a fen or marsh lay before us, seemingly
half a mile broad, which we had to cross. At every step the water was
above our knees, and the ice was at the bottom. Where the frost was
quite gone, we often sunk still deeper. When we had traversed this
marsh, we sought in vain for any human creature, and were therefore
under the necessity, a little further on, of crossing another bog,
still worse than the former, and a mile in extent. I know not what I
would not rather have undertaken than to pass this place, especially
as the elements were all adverse, for it blowed and rained violently.

June 3.

By four o'clock this morning, having conquered all our difficulties,
we still could not meet with any Laplander. I was so fatigued that I
could proceed no further without some repose. We therefore made a
fire; and having dried my clothes, I lay down by the side of it, in
hopes of taking a little rest. But in this I had no success. The fire
scorched me on one side, while the cold north wind pinched me on the
other; and the gnats so stung my hands, face, and legs, that it was
impossible to sleep. Thus I remained in expectation of my Lapland
conductor, who had set out in search of another, till two o'clock in
the afternoon. I could not help thinking how miserably I might have
to end my days here, in case he should think proper to desert me
entirely. At length, however, he returned, bringing with him a little
black-looking woman, whose hair hung loose about her shoulders, with
a red cap upon her head. I scarcely think that any poet could have
described a fury so hideous as this woman. She addressed me in
Swedish to the following effect. "Oh, thou poor man! what misfortune
can have brought thee into my country? Seest thou what miserable
living 53 we have? I have never yet seen any: stranger here in
summer. Whence dost thou come, and whither dost thou intend to go?"
Having tasted nothing for four days past but a little fresh fish,
without any bread, I asked her, seeing a small kettle in her hand,
what she could give me to eat. She immediately set about boiling a
pike which she had brought with her; but when I was going to taste
it, I observed heaps of vermin between the gills, which made meloathe
it altogether, and rather continue to fast, though my strength
suffered much. This woman informed me there was no boat to be had on
the next river, and that I had only to return the way I came; which
words were like a stroke of thunder to me. I know not anything I
would less willingly have undertaken than to traverse again these
Stygian marshes, which were now not to be avoided. However, this good
woman conducted us to a side path, whereby we avoided about half a
mile of the way we had come. In traversing the forest, we arrived at
a shed, supported by four posts, and covered with a roof. Here hung
some clothes, and a small reindeer cheese, which last I immediately
wished to obtain. But the woman refused, saying she should want it
herself for the next holiday. My hunger was such, that I could not
lose sight of this cheese, and I was induced to offer her anything
she was pleased to ask for it, telling her I verily believed I should
hardly survive another day if I had it not. At length she complied,
and the cheese proved afterwards of the most signal service to me. We
then took leave of our female companion, and began to measure back
our steps. I was thus obliged to return by the course of the river,
having, with the thoughtlessness of youth, undertaken more than it
was possible to perform. We continued our voyage down the river,
being carried with great velocity by the current, the whole of the
next day. At length coming to an island, the Laplander failed in his
attempt to weather it. and the boat, striking against a rock, was
dashed to pieces. We both found ourselves in the water; but the depth
being inconsiderable, we soon landed on the island. My conductor lost
not only his boat, but a hatchet and pike. I lost two stuffed birds,
one of them a large Heron (Ardea cinerea?) which was black with a
white breast; the other a Red-bird, or Gvousach, as the Laplanders
call it, (Corvus, or Lanius infaustus) It was with great difficulty
we got from this island to the shore. The sun shone warm; and after
having wrung the water out of our clothes, we walked on for about a
mile, along the bank of the river, amongst thickets and bogs, till we
came in sight of a colonist, who was fishing for pike. He gave me
some provision, and conducted me to Grano, where I only stopped to
rest one night, and on the evening of the 8th of June arrived at
Umea.

June 12.

Early this morning I set out by land towards Piteċ, where I arrived
after two days journey, for the night was as pleasant for travelling
as the day. Here I met with kind entertainment from Mr. Solander, the
principal clergyman of the place.

June 19.

I went out to sea in a boat for some miles, to explore the
neighbouring coast and islands, and returned at length to the new
town. Here however I made no long stay, but proceeded in one day from
thence to Luleċ. I was anxious to lose as little time as possible,
being very desirous of reaching the alps of Lulean Lapland time
enough to see the sun above the horizon at midnight, which is seen to
greater advantage there than at Tornio.

June 25.

Taking leave of the town, I embarked on the river of Luleċ, which I
continued to navigate upwards for several successive days and nights,
having good accommodation both as to food and boat. The boats here
are excellent, far unlike those in the district of Umeċn Lapland,
which are, in a manner, only sewed together, so that a foot set on
one of their sides is sufficient to stave them; and if the passengers
are not careful how they sit down, the boat is overset. After three
days and three nights, we reached Kvikkjokk, situated close to the
alps. Here I received from the famous wife of the curate Mr. Grot
provisions sufficient to last me for eight days.

July 6.

After several days' travelling, on the evening of July 6th I ascended
Wallavari, the first mountain of the alps on this side, which is
indeed of a very considerable height. My companion was a Laplander,
who served me both as servant and interpreter. In the latter capacity
his assistance was highly requisite, few persons being to be met with
on these alps who are acquainted with the Swedish language; nor was I
willing to trust myself alone among these wild people, who were
ignorant for what purpose I came. I had already suffered much in the
Lapland part of Umeċ for want of knowing the language. Nor was my
companion wanted less to assist me in carrying what was necessary,
for I had sufficient incumbrances of my own, without being the bearer
of our provisions into the bargain. On my first ascending these wild
alps, I felt as if in a new world. Here were no forests to be seen,
nothing but mountains upon mountains, larger and larger as I
advanced, all covered with snow. No road, no tracks, nor any signs of
inhabitants were visible. The verdure of summer seemed to shun this
frozen region, retiring into the deep valleys between the mountains.
I saw very few birds, except some Ptarmigans, which the Laplanders
call Cheruna (Tetrao lagopus), running with their young along the
vales. The delightful season of spring, whose cheering influence on
man and all living nature I had so lately experienced in the
beginning of my journey, seemed an alien here. The declining sun
never disappeared sufficiently to allow any cooling shade, and by
climbing to the more elevated parts of these lofty mountains, I could
see it at midnight above the horizon. When I cast my eyes over the
grass and herbage, there were few objects I had seen before, so that
all nature was alike strange to me. I sat down to collect and
describe these vegetable rarities, while the time passed unperceived
away, and my interpreter was obliged to remind me that we had still
five or six miles to go to the nearest Laplander, and that if we had
a mind for any reindeer meat, we ought to bestir ourselves quickly.
We proceeded therefore up and down the snowy hills, sometimes passing
along their precipitous sides, which was the most difficult
travelling of all, and for many a long way we walked over heaps of
stones. About the evening of the following day we reached the nearest
spot where any Laplander was at that time settled. The man we met
with gave me a very good reception, and furnished me with a couple of
reindeer skins to sleep between. Immediately after my arrival, the
herd, consisting of seven or eight hundred head of reindeer, came
home. These were milked, and some of the milk was boiled for my
entertainment, but it proved rather too rich for my stomach. My host
furnished me with his own spoon, which he carried in his tobacco-bag.
On my expressing a wish, through my interpreter, to have the spoon
washed, my Lapland friend immediately complied, taking a mouthful of
water, and spitting, it over the spoon. After having satisfied my
hunger, and refreshed myself with sleep, I steered my course directly
South-west, towards the alps of Piteċ, proceeding from thence to the
lofty icy mountains, or main ridge of the country. A walk of scarcely
above four or five miles further brought me to the western edge of
this ridge, for I was desirous of examining that side of the
mountains, to see how it agreed with the eastern part. I had no
sooner arrived at the icy mountains than a storm overtook me,
accompanied by a shower of thin pieces of ice, which soon formed an
icy crust over my own clothes and those of my conductor. The severity
of the cold obliged me to borrow the gloves and lappmudd (coat of
reindeer skin) from the man who accompanied me. But the weather
proved more favourable as soon as we had crossed the summit of the
ridge. From hence the verdant appearance of Norway, lying far beneath
us, was very delightful. The whole country was perfectly green, and,
notwithstanding its vast extent, looked like a garden in miniature,
for the tallest trees appeared not above a span high. As we began to
descend the alps, it seemed as if we should soon arrive at the lower
country, but our calculations were very inadequate to what we found
its actual distance. At length, however, we reached the plains of
which we had enjoyed so stupendous a prospect. Nothing could be more
delightful to my feelings than this transition, from all the severity
of winter, to the warmth and beauty of summer. The verdant herbage,
the sweet-scented clover, the tall grass reaching up to my arms, the
grateful flavour of the wild fruits, and the fine weather which
welcomed me to the foot of the alps, seemed to refresh me both in
mind and body.

Here I found myself close to the sea-coast. I took up my abode at the
house of a ship-master, with whom I made an agreement to be taken in
a boat, the following day, along the coast. I much wished to approach
the celebrated whirlpool, called the Maelstrom, but I could find
nobody willing to venture near it. We set sail the next morning
according to appointment, but the wind proved contrary, and the boat-
men were, after a while, exhausted with rowing. Meantime I amused
myself in examining various petrifactions, zoophytes, and submarine
plants of the Fucus tribe, which occupied every part of the coast. In
the evening I arrived at the house of Mr. Bask, the pastor of
Torfjorden, who gave me a kind reception.

Next day we proceeded further on our voyage; but the contrary wind
exhausted our patience, and we veered about, soon reaching the place
from whence we had first set out, the wind being directly in our
favour for that purpose. On the following morning I climbed one of
the neighbouring mountains, with the intention of measuring its
height. While I was reposing in perfect tranquillity on the side of
the hill, busied only in loosening a stone which I wanted to examine,
I heard the report of a gun at a small distance below. I was however
too far off to receive any hurt, so, thanks to Providence, I escaped,
but my alarm may be easily imagined. Perceiving the man who had fired
the gun, I pursued him to a considerable distance, in order to
prevent his charging his piece a second time, and I determined never
to go there again without some protection. I inquired who it could be
that had made this unprovoked attack, but I found it impossible to
gain any in formation on the subject.


On the 15th of July<95> we set out on our return, and that whole day
was employed in climbing the mountains again, to our no small fatigue
and exhaustion, the ground we had to pass over being so extremely
steep as well as lofty. When we reached the cold snowy mountains,
indeed, we had sufficient opportunity to cool ourselves. From hence
we turned our course towards the alps of Tornio, which were described
to me as about forty miles distant. What I endured in the course of
this journey is hardly to be described. How many weary steps was I
obliged to set to climb the precipices that came in my way, and how
excessive were my perspiration and fatigue! Nor were these the worst,
evils we had to encounter before we reached Kaituma. Sometimes we
were enveloped with clouds, so that we could not see before us;
sometimes rivers impeded our progress, and obliged us either to
choose a very circuitous path, or to wade naked through the cold snow
water. This fresh snow water however proved a most welcome and
salutary refreshment, for without it we should never have been able
to encounter the excessive heat of the weather. Water was our only
drink during this journey, but it never proved so refreshing as when
we sucked it out of the melting snow. Having nearly reached the
Lapland village of Kaituma, the inhabitants of which seemed perfectly
wild, running away from their huts as soon as they perceived us
approaching, from a considerable distance, I began to be tired of
advancing further up into this inhospitable country. We had not at
this time tasted bread for several days, the stock we had brought
with us being entirely exhausted. The rich milk of the reindeer was
too luscious to be eaten without bread, and the ordinary or second-
rate cheese occasioned such a degree of costiveness as I could no
longer endure. I determined therefore to return towards Kvikkjokk,
which was forty miles from this spot. In the course of my journey
thither, walking rather carelessly over the snow, without noticing a
hole which the water had made, I fell through the icy crust into the
deep snow. The interpreter and guide were totally unable to assist
me, the cavity in which I lay being very steep, and so hollowed out
by the water that it surrounded me like a wall. It was not in their
power to reach me without a rope, which they luckily were able to
procure to drag me out of the hole. I had received a blow on my thigh
in the fall, the effects of which I felt for a month afterwards. One
of my guides had met with a similar accident but a week before.

At length we arrived at Kvikkjokk, after having been four weeks
without tasting bread. Those who have not experienced the want of
this essential support of life, can scarcely imagine how hard it is
to be deprived of it so long, even with a super fluity of all other
kinds of food. I remained four days at Kvikkjokk to recruit my
strength, and afterwards descended the river again to Luleċ. There
being no boat to be had north of Purkijaur, we were obliged to
construct a raft for ourselves. Our voyage was very perilous, for the
wind and current both combined to overset us, so that it was not
without the greatest exertion we saved ourselves, and it being night,
nobody heard our cries for assistance.

The next day I was conducted to the river of Calatz, to see the
manner of fishing for pearls, and on the 30th of July arrived at
Luleċ.

Here I rested for a day or two, then proceeded to Tornio, and from
thence to Kemi, and some way up the river of that name. Afterwards I
entered Osterbotten; but not understanding the Finnish language, I
found it inconvenient to proceed, and preferred returning four miles
back again. I made several excursions to an adjacent island. At the
town of Kalix I became acquainted with the judge of a neighbouring
district, and we accompanied each other to Tornio, from whence I
proceeded in a boat to Kengis, Jonesvando, and within four miles of
Juckesceni; but as the frost was beginning to set in very hard, it
being late in autumn, and there being nothing, as far as I could
discover, very remarkable to see, I descended the river again in the
same boat, and had a quick passage back. Having noted down the
Finnish names for such articles as I should be most likely to want at
the inns, I ventured once more to enter Osterbotten, in order to
pursue my journey that way homeward. I considered that in a new
country there is always something new to be seen, and that to travel
the same road I had come, would probably afford but little
entertainment or instruction. I had still less inclination, at this
advanced season of the year, to encounter the hazard of a sea voyage.
Several merchants who wanted to sail from Tornio to Stockholm had
long been waiting for a fair wind.

I therefore pursued my way along the coast through Osterbotten and
Finland, visiting Ulea, Brakestad, Old and Nykarleby, Vaasa,
Kristinestad, Biorreborg and Turku, remaining four days at the place
last mentioned. I then went by the post yacht to Aland, crossed the
sea of Aland, and on the 10th of October reached Uppsala. The whole
extent of my journey amounts to 633 Swedish miles (about 3798 English
miles) as appears by my itinerary subjoined:

From Uppsala to Umeċ
60
Umeċ to Lycksele
12
Lycksele to the upper part of Lappmark
25
From thence again to Umeċ
37
From Umeċ to Piteċ
22
Piteċ to Longoen
3
Back again to Piteċ
3
From thence to Luleċ
5
Luleċ to Kvikkjokk
33
Kvikkjokk to the alps of Piteċ
25
From thence to the Norway coast
10
Excursion by sea, and back again,
14
From Norway to Kaituma
40
From Kaitum to Kvikkjokk
40
Kvikkjokk to Tornio
47
Tornio to Kemi
5
From hence to Maxaniemi
5
Maxaniemi to Kalix
9
Kalix to Kengis
32
Kengis to Jonesvando
40
Jonesvando to Tornio
26
Tornio to Turku
100
Turku to Uppsala
40
Total
633

(The account of the expenses of this journey, and observations on the
advantages to be derived from it, both promised in the beginning of
this "brief narrative," are not found in the manuscript.)



APPENDIX II - THE LAPLAND ALPS by DR. WAHLENBERG.

The following extract, from Dr. Wahlenberg's "Observations made with
a view to determine the height of the Lapland Alps," p. 45, &c., was
translated from the Swedish by the late Mr. Dryander, who kindly
communicated it to the editor, expressing a wish that it might
accompany the present publication. To fulfil this desire is now
become a duty. It is with a melancholy satisfaction I here subjoin
the last communication I ever received from this excellent and
learned pupil of Linnaeus, to the work of his master. Many remarks
from him have assisted me in the course of this undertaking, and if I
could have submitted the whole to his inspection before it went to
press, many inaccuracies, which a foreigner could scarcely avoid,
might have been corrected by a native Swede, a man too so supremely
accurate, and so conversant with every part of the subject. But this
the various and unremitting employments of my deceased friend
rendered impracticable, and I could only take advantage of what he
had it in his power to bestow, in casual conversations, or in answer
to the questions I was now and then obliged to ask him, such as he
was ever ready, on all occasions, to satisfy, because, to use his own
words, he knew they were "likely to be of use."

The following remarks of Dr. Wahlenberg display a singular acuteness
of observation. They are a complete picture, drawn by a masterly
hand, not only to the adept in Natural History, but to every one who
has the least taste for beholding the face of Nature, under its most
striking and unusual aspects. The able author is, as yet, but
slightly known to English readers, even in the more technical part of
his science. What we are now to lay before them gives a promise of
his taking a high rank amongst writers of a superior and more
generally interesting class, one of those in short who touch upon no
subject without enriching it.


Dr. Wahlenberg's remarks are divided into eight sections, each of
which describes a separate line of elevation.

1. On approaching the Lapland Alps (Fjall), we first arrive at the
line where the Spruce Fir, Pinus abies, ceases to grow. This tree had
previously assumed an unusual appearance; that of a tall slender
pole, covered from the ground with short, drooping, dark branches; a
gloomy object in these desolate forests! The Rubus arcticus had
already, before we arrived at this point, ceased to bring its fruit
to maturity. With the Spruce we lose the Rosa cinnamomea, Convallaria
bifolia, &c.; n and the borders of the lakes are stripped of their
ornaments of Arundo phragmites, Lysimachia thyrsiflora, Galim
boreale, and Carex globularis. Here is the true station of Tussilago
nivea (Wind. Sp. Pl. v.3. 1970.) The last beaver-houses are seen in
the rivulets, and no Pike nor Perch is to be found in the lakes
higher up. The boundary of the Spruce Fir is 3200 feet below the line
of perpetual snow, and the mean temperature is about 3 degrees of
Celsius's thermometer (37.5 of Fahrenheit).

2. Scotch Firs (Pinus sylvestris) are still found, but not near so
tall as in the lower country. Their stems here are low, and their
branches widely extended. Here are seen the last of Ledum palustre,
Salix pentandra, Veronica serpyllifolia, &c. The bogs have already a
very sterile appearance. Near the utmost boundary of the Scotch Fir
grows Phaca alpina. Higher up are hardly any Bears to be met with,
and the berries of Vaccinium myrtillus (the Bilberry) do not ripen
well. Salmo lavaretus (the Gwiniad), and S. Thymallus (the Grayling),
soon after disappear from the lakes. The upper limit of this zone,
when the Scotch Firs cease, is 2800 feet below the line of perpetual
snow, and the mean temperature about 2.5 degrees of Celsius (36.5 of
Fahrenheit.) A little below this point, or about 3000 feet before we
come to perpetual snow, Barley ceases to ripen but small farms, the
occupiers of which live by grazing and fishing, are met with as far
as 400 feet higher, for instance, Naimaka in Enontekis, and so far
also potatoes and turnips grow large enough to be worth cultivating.

3. Beyond this the dwarf and stunted forests consist only of Birch.
Its short thick stem, and stiff, widely spreading, knotty branches,
seem prepared to resist the strong winds from the alps. Its lively
light green hue is delightful to the eye, but evinces a weakness of
vegetation. These Birch forests soon become so low, that they may be
entirely commanded from the smallest eminence. Their uppermost
boundary, where the tallest of the trees are not equal to the height
of a man, is 2000 feet below the line of perpetual snow. This zone is
therefore much wider than the preceding. Long before its termination
Alnus incana, Prunus padus, and Populus tremula, were no more to be
seen. A little before the Birch ceases, we miss the Sorbus aucuparia
(Pyrus aucuparia, Fl. Brit.) which for some time had not presented us
with any fruit; the Rubus arcticus already likewise barren; Erica
vulgaris, Aconitum lycoctonum, &c. Where the Birch forest becomes
thinner, the reflection of the heat from the sides of the mountains
is the strongest. Here in many spots we find the vegetation of
Sonchus alpinus, Struthiopteris, and Aconitum lycoctonum remarkably
luxuriant. The drier spots now become covered with Lichen
rangiferinus. Tussilago frigida and Pedicularis sceptrum-carolinum
have their place to the utmost boundary of the Birch. Thus far only
Char (Salmo alpinus) is found in the lakes, and higher up all fishing
ceases.

4. All mountains above this limit are called Fjall (Alps). Near
rivulets and on the margins of bogs only, is found a. little brush-
wood, consisting of Salix glauca, whose grey hue affords but little
ornament to the landscape. The lower country is covered with the
dark-looking Betula nana, which still retains its upright posture. A
few Juniper bushes, and some plants of Salix hastata, are found
scattered about. Every hill is covered with Arbutus alpina,
variegated with Andromeda caerulea and Trientalis europaea. The more
boggy ground is decorated with Andromeda polifolia in its greatest
beauty, and Pedicularis lapponica. On the sides of the mountains,
where the reflected heat has the greatest power, grow Veronica
alpina, Viola biflora, Pteris crispa, and Angelica archangelica. This
zone extends within 1400 feet of the line of perpetual snow. The
Glutton (Mustela gulo) goes no higher than this. The berries of Rubus
chamaemorus still ripen here, but not at a greater degree of
elevation.

5. Now no more brushwood is to be seen. The white Salix lanata is not
above two feet high, even about the rivulets, and Salix myrsinites is
of still more humble growth. Betula nana occupies the drier
situations, but creeps entirely upon the ground. The hills are
clothed with the rather brown than green Azalea procmubens and Azalea
lapponica, which give this zone its most peculiar feature. Verdant
spots between the precipices, where the sun has the greatest power,
produce Lychnis apetala, Erigeron uniflorum, Astragalus leontinus<96>
and montanus, with Ophrys alpina. In boggy places Aira alpina, Carex
ustulata, and Vaccinium uliginosum are observable. The only berries
however which ripen at this degree of elevation, are those of
Empetrum nigrum; but these are twice as large as what grow in the
woodlands, and better flavoured. The upper boundary of this zone is
800 feet below the line of perpetual snow. The Laplanders scarcely
ever fix their tents higher up, as the pasture for their reindeer
ceases a very little way above this point. The mean temperature is
about +1 degree of Celsius (34 of Fahrenheit).

6. Next come the snowy alps, where are patches of snow that never
melt. The bare places between still produce a few dark shrubby
plants, such as Empetrum nigrum, but destitute of berries, Andromeda
tetragona and hypnoides, as well as Diapensia lapponica. Green
precipices exposed to the sun are decorated with the vivid azure
tints of Gentiana tenella and nivalis, and Campanula uniflora,
accompanied by the yellow Draba alpina. Colder and marshy situations,
where there is no reflected heat, produce Pedicularis hirsuta and 
flammea, with Dryas octopetala. This zone extends to 200 feet below
the limits of perpetual and almost uninterrupted snow.

7. Beyond it perpetual snow begins to cover the greatest part of the
ground, and we soon arrive at a point where only a few dark spots are
here and there to be seen. This takes place on the Alps of Kvikkjokk
at the elevation of 4100 feet above the sea; but nearer the highest
ridge, and particularly on the Norway side of that ridge, at 3100
feet. Some few plants, with succulent leaves, are thinly scattered
over the spongy brown surface of the ground, where the reflected heat
is strongest, quite up to the line of uninterrupted snow. These are
Saxifraga stellaris, rivularis and oppositifolia, Ranunculus nivalis
and glacialis, Rumex digynus, Juncus curvatus<97> and Silene acaulis
The mean temperature at the boundary of perpetual snow is +0.4
degrees of Celsius, (32.75 of Fahrenheit).

8. Above the line of perpetual snow, the cold is occasionally so much
diminished, that a few plants of Ranunculus glacialis, and other
similar ones, may now and then be found, in the clefts of some dark
rock rising through the snow. This happens even to the height of 500
feet above that line. Further up the snow is very rarely moistened.
Yet some umbilicated Lichens (Gyrophorae), &c., still occur in the
crevices of perpendicular rocks, even to the height of 2000 feet
above the line of perpetual snow. These are the utmost limits of all
vegetation, where the mean temperature seems to be + 1.1 of Celsius
(30 of Fahrenheit)(sic). The Snow Bunting, Emberiza nivalis, is the
only living being that visits this elevated spot.



A Tour in Lapland By Carolus Linnĉus

Notes

Most of these are in the original. Those added by the transcriber are marked [TN].

1. Ecce suum, &c.: "The lark that tirra-lirra chaunts." Shakespeare's Winter's Tale.

2. Ludus Helmontii: So I understand the original, which is Lapis marmoreus polyzonos. [Agate [TN]

3. Tournefort by this definition probably meant to compare the shape of the leaves, with the ears of some animal. In the criticism of Linnĉus respecting the natural affinity of this plant, we may observe how his own system, professedly artificial, and yet so affectedly despised by some botanists for not being natural, led him to the real truth. In fact, some truth is to be learnt from every system and every theory, but perfection is not to be expected from any one.

4. The Swedish ell was 59cm or about 23 inches. [TN]

5. This appears to have been Bartramia pomformis, Bryum pomiforme of Linnaeus. See Fl. Lapp n. 400.

6. It is a curious circumstance that Linnĉus in his MS. here has the word Daphne; but his remark is not in any respect applicable to that genus, and he evidently can mean only Andromeda polifolia. He had not as yet named either of these genera in print. The origin of Andromeda will be explained hereafter, and the fanciful idea which gave rise to it had not perhaps at this time occurred. He therefore now either intended to call this plant Daphne, or he accidentally wrote one name by mistake for the other, having both in his mind.

7. The original is very obscure, and I have been obliged partly to guess at the sense of the intermingled Latin and Swedish. I beg leave to suggest that the deficiency of brandy among this sequestered people is perhaps a more probable cause of their robust stature, and even of their neatness and refinement, than that assigned, by Linnĉus.

8. Bluish stone: Probably. Saxum fornacum, Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12. v. 3. 79.

9. Line: one-twelfth of an inch (2.1 mm. approx.)

10. Linnĉus's ideas concerning the genera of Mosses were at this time in a very unsettled state. Could this be anything else than Bartramia pomiformis?

11. Spotted egg: So I interpret Linnĉus's cipher in this and another place, which is ovum * sum, (ovum maculosum). If I am wrong, the candid reader will rather compassionate than condemn me; yet Linnĉus says, a little further on, that the egg was white.

12 Viola tricolor: More probably, from the place of growth, as well as the description, Viola lutea of Fl. Britannica, and English Botany, vol. 11. t. 721.

13. This student was Tillands, afterwards Professor at Abo, who hence assumed this surname, expressive of his attachment to land, and Linnĉus named in honour of him a plant which cannot bear wet. See his Ord. Nat. 291.

14. Linnĉus appears to have neglected to describe this Viola in his printed works. May it not be V. lactea, Fl. Brit. 247. Engl. Bot. vol. 7. t. 445?

15. Linnĉus soon satisfied himself that the latter was his Rubus Chamĉmorus. The arcticus is a much more valuable plant for its fruit, which partakes of the flavour of the raspberry and strawberry, and makes a most delicious wine, used only by the nobility in Sweden.

16. Skulaberget: Its perpendicular height is two hundred Swedish ells. See Dissert. de Angermannia.

17. This cavern has been visited by other naturalists since the time of Linnĉus, among whom was Dr. Olof Swartz, the present Bergian Professor of Botany at Stockholm, well known by his various excellent publications, who gathered here the same Byssus (cryptarum) which Linnĉus found in the other cavern at Brunaesberget. Both their original specimens are now in my possession

18. How would this very good bread suit English stomachs? This honest adulteration has not been thought of by any of our schemers, whose projects only serve to teach evil-disposed bakers to make bread of anything rather than what they ought, and to spare their pockets at the expense of the public welfare.

19. Peter Artedi: The celebrated writer on fishes, afterwards so intimately connected with Linnĉus. The latter published his Ichthyology, and wrote his life in a style which does equal honour to his own feelings and the merit of his friend.

20. Corailoides, &c.: From the above description, this is very likely to have been the Lichen byssoides, Engl. Bot. v. 6. t. 373, in its early state, when it has exactly the appearance Linnĉus mentions.

21. By the description and sketch in the manuscript, this seems a variety of L. rangiferinus.

22. Muscus tectorius: I am ignorant what Linnĉus means by this denomination.

23. This closely resembles the French method of cleaning, or at least scrubbing, their rooms, except that the Laplanders have the advantage in using water as well as a brush.

24. Electuary: A medicine in the form of a thick syrup. [TN]

25. Merganser: On this subject see Dr. Latham's excellent paper in the fourth vol. of the Linn. Society's Transactions, p. 90.

26. The manuscript mentions both Erica and Tetralix, yet the latter is not in the Flora Lapponica, nor is it common in Sweden.

27. Linnĉa: This name occurs here for the first time in the manuscript.

28. The original is Daphne as above.

29. List: a narrow strip of cloth.[TN]

30. Linnĉus has mentioned this circumstance in his Flora Lapponica, n. 240, where he confounds Melampyrum pratense and sylvaticum together as one species.

31. Linnĉus writes as if he did not absolutely disbelieve the existence of these frogs, which were as much out of their place as Jonah in the whale's belly. The patient probably laboured under a debility of the stomach and bowels, not uncommon in a more luxurious state of society, which is attended with frequent internal noise from wind, especially when the mind is occasionally agitated. Yet the idea of frogs or toads in the stomach has often been credited. Not many years ago a story appeared in the Norwich paper, of a gentleman's servant having eaten toad-spawn with water cresses, which being hatched, occasioned dreadful uneasiness, till he brought up a large toad by means of an emetic; and this story was said to have been sworn before the mayor of Lynn; as if it had been really true.

32. These colonists (novaccolĉ) are often mentioned in the Flora Lapponica.

33. Juncellus aquaticus: It must surely be the Scirpus cĉspitosus of which Linnĉus here speaks.

34. When Linnĉus wrote this sentence, he seems to have had a presentiment of his own matrimonial fate, just the reverse in this very point of that he was describing.

35. It may seem presumptuous to attempt the solution of a question which Linnĉus has thus left in the dark; but perhaps the almost continual action of the prevailing strong winds, such as he describes in many parts of his journal, may give a twist to the fibres of these pines during their growth.

36. In the Flora Suecica, and Amœn. Acad. v. 1.511, these properties are attributed to the Schœnus mariscus, which Scheuchzer in his Agrostographia, p. 377, assures us forms the floating islands near Tivoli.

37. These birds had partly acquired their summer plumage.

38. I must here present the English reader with a passage on this subject from the Flora Lapponica. "The Lapland youth, having found this Agaric, carefully preserves it in a little pocket hanging at his waist, that its grateful perfume may render him more acceptable to his favourite fair one. O whimsical Venus! In other regions you must be treated with coffee and chocolate, preserves and sweetmeats, wines and dainties, jewels and pearls, gold and silver, silks and cosmetics, balls and assemblies, music and theatrical exhibitions: here you are satisfied with a little withered fungus!"

39. Linnĉus's words are "to wash down the water."

40. This is no new instance of contrariety between the tyranny of man and the gospel of Christ, whose "yoke is easy and his burden light." If these innocent people were to complain of it to their spiritual guides, they might be told, as on another occasion, see above that "it was a trifle not worth thinking about." We cannot here say with Pope,

"The devil and the king divide the prize,"

but we may presume that the fine is considered as no less indispensable an atonement than the penance.—Pity that such tractable sheep should not be better worth shearing!

41. Calculus: Kidney or bladder stone.[TN]

42. Tremella juniperina of Linnĉus, T. sabina of Dickson: see English Botany, v. 10. t.710, which I am persuaded is merely an exudation from the shrub that bears it.

43. The more correct characters, founded by Haller and Swartz on the anthers, reduce this plant very successfully to the genus Orchis, with Satyrium hircinum likewise.

44. Here we find the Hedwigian theory of the fructification of mosses forestalled by the good sense and accurate observation of Linnĉus, though out of respect for Dillenius be soon after adopted the erroneous opinion of the latter, making what is really the male the female, and vice versa. See Transactions of the Linnĉan Society, v. 7. 255. Not being able to investigate every point of systematical and physiological botany thoroughly himself, he, with amiable deference, often trusted to those who had more particularly studied certain subjects.

45. Linnĉus, in the Amœnitates Academicĉ, says the Swedish summer is in its highest beauty when "the fresh shoots of the fir illuminate the woods."

46. Linnĉus has drawn this fanciful analogy further in his Flora Lapponica. "At length," says he, "comes Perseus in the shape of Summer, dries up the surrounding water and destroys the monsters, rendering the damsel a fruitful mother, who then carries her head (the capsule) erect."

47. Here the Linnĉan system of Mammalia seems first to have occurred to the mind of its author.

48. Myrgiolingen: What this word expresses I am unable to determine.

49. Linneus in the Flora Lapponica, ed. 2. 53, tells us that "in times of extreme scarcity the roots of this plant, dried and powdered, are mixed with a small quantity of meal, and serve to make the miserable bread of the poorer settlers in Lapland, which is extremely bitter and detestable." In the same work, p. 259, he describes an excellent kind of bread made of the roots of Calla palustris, which though acrid when fresh, become wholesome if dried, and boiled afterwards in water, as is the case with its near relation our common Arum, and the Jatropha Manihot, or Cassava, of the West Indies.

50. Deals: Wooden planks.

51. In Törner's work on the Geography of Sweden is the following curious account: "Skelleftea, a parish consisting of about one hundred and fifty whole farms (in Swedish hemman), and containing four thousand souls, is situated near a cove or arm of the sea, in which is an island, formerly of considerable extent but now very small. St. Stephen is said to have prophesied that the day of judgment will come as soon as this island is entirely washed away. The island certainly diminishes yearly, but everyone must judge for himself as to the probability of the prophecy."

52. Coriaceous: Like leather [TN]

53. Hic pauper cornua sumit: "Here the poor man takes up horns." Alluding to Horace's "addis cornua pauperi." ["you give horns (i.e. courage, strength) to the poor man." Horace, Odes bk. 3 ode 21 l.18.[TN]

54. By this comparison, and the subsequent allusion to an Ichneumon and a Hornet, Linnĉus at the present period appears to have taken this Asilus for one of the hymenopterous order, and he even calls it an Ichneumon in Act. Uppsala. ann. 1736, p. 29, n. 8. The history of its attacking the feet of cattle is given in the first edition of Fauna Suecica, 308, on the authority of the country people, but is omitted in the second, probably because Linnĉus found he had been misinformed. My learned entomological friend the Rev. Mr. Kirby observes that the real Oestrus bovis is, as has from all antiquity been believed, the cause of the above-described agitation in cattle, who escape it by running into cool damp places, which it dislikes to frequent.

55. gutta serena: Loss of sight caused by disease of the optic nerve. [TN]

56. Ray: See his Historia Plantarum, v. 1. 655, which Linnĉus here correctly quotes from memory.

57. Coral-rooted Orchis: In the Flora Lapponica this plant is said to be very frequent in Lapland. In other countries it is usually reckoned extremely rare; but I was favoured by Mr. Edward John Maughan, a young botanist of Edinburgh, in the summer of 1807, with a copious supply of specimens and living roots, gathered amongst willows in a peat bog, a little to the south of Dalmahoy hill, about nine miles from Edinburgh. Some of the roots blossomed in my garden.

58. In this instance the Linnnĉan system led to a true knowledge of the natural affinity of the plant, which one founded on the corolla would scarcely have done.

59. Linnĉus perhaps means, that they may have a pretence to avoid the drudgery of going to church, through some of the hardships he has already described; yet here the church seems to have been near at hand, and in itself not unentertaining.

60. In Tuneld's Geography, I am told, is the following account of this church: "The parish church of Luleċ is regarded as the oldest in Västerbotten, having been built in the very earliest ages of Christianity, and was very famous while the catholic religion prevailed in Sweden. It contains a remarkable old altar-piece, the gilding of which cost 2408 ducats. In the vestry a copy of the canonical law, in seven volumes folio, is still preserved."

61. New Melampyrum: What this was does not appear. M. pratense and sylvaticum only have been found in Lapland.

62. The author in his Flora Lapponica, n.13, mentions having found his Pinguicula villosa growing among Bog-moss, Sphagnum, near this place, and in no other. This plant is not noticed in the manuscript Tour.

63. I have known one instance of such bigotry, or rather hypocrisy, out of Lapland.

64. See Simler, who calls the Primula farinosa "Cĉsar or Regulus among herbs."[Cĉsar was the first Roman emperor, Regulus the last [TN]

65. This remark of Linnĉus I have borrowed from Fl. Lapp. n.221.

66. In this and many following instances, the original names in the manuscript are here retained, as a matter of curiosity to the learned botanist, who will be interested in seeing to whom Linnĉus extemporaneously dedicated his new genera as they occurred, and who will at the same time admire his sagacity, in determining them, at first sight, so correctly, that not one has subsequently been set aside by any of his severest critics.

67. These particulars concerning the casting of the horns of the reindeer, much confused in the manuscript, are corrected from the admirable history of this animal in the Amoenitates Academicĉ, v.4. 150. It is there said that the castrated males also cast their horns, but rarely before they are nine years old. The sooner they begin, the more healthy they are esteemed.

68. "Sed ad hoc Sorberius nihil." ["But Sorberius said nothing to this." Samuel Sorberius was a 17th Century scholar. I have been unable to trace the source of this quotation[TN]

69. Silene rupestris: This appears by the Flora Suecica to be likewise a native of Uppland.

70. Flummery: Porridge made from wheatmeal.

71. Linnĉus's expression is, "they do not spring upon it with boots and spurs."

72. Who Mr. Ingerald was, does not appear. Perhaps the master of the boat, or somebody whom Linnĉus met at the house of the good curate.

73. This opinion of Linnĉus coincides with what M. de Saussure observed in ascending Mont Blanc. We cannot say so much in favour of his subsequent theory.

74. Here the effects are mistaken for causes.

75. This simple Laplander certainly took Linnĉus for a conjurer, and the book for something equivalent to the magical drum of his own country, to which he resorts, in time of doubt or trouble, with as much confidence as a devotee to the shrine of a saint, or any other "Jack in a box."

76. A notable method of converting these poor people from pagan superstitions, and of exemplifying the mild and just spirit of the Christian religion! This bleeding was as effectual as that practised by the grand inquisitor upon a king of Spain, who showed symptoms of humanity at an auto-da-fé, even without the flogging superadded in the latter case, which the pious crusader against Lapland drums did not find necessary.

77. The discovery of the plant in question is related in the Flora Lapponica in so interesting a manner, that we cannot refrain from translating the passage. See the second edition, p. 135.
"I met with this plant but once, and that throughout a journey of four hours, over the celebrated mountain of Wallivari in the district of Luleċ, to-wards a tract of country which lies about half way between the northern and western part, where it grew in great abundance.
Whilst I was walking quickly along, in a profuse perspiration, facing the cold wind, at midnight; if I may call it night when the sun was shining without setting at all; still anxiously inquiring of my interpreter how near we were to a Lapland dwelling, which I had for two hours been expecting, though I knew not its precise situation; casting my eager eyes around me in all directions, I perceived as it were the shadow of this plant, but did not stop to examine it, taking it for the Empetrum. But after going a few steps further, an idea of its being something I was unacquainted with came across my mind, and turned back; when I should again have taken it for the Empetrum, had not its greater height caused me to consider it with more attention. I know not what it is that so deceives the sight in our Alps during the night, as to render objects far less distinct than in the middle of the day, though the sun shines equally bright. The sun being near the horizon, spreads its rays in such a horizontal direction, that a hat can scarcely protect our eyes: besides, the shadows of plants are so infinitely extended, and so confounded with each other, from the tremulous agitation caused by the blustering wind, that objects very different in themselves are scarcely to be distinguished from each other. Having gathered one of these plants, I looked about and found several more in the neighbourhood, all on the north side, where they grew in plenty; but I never met with the same in any other place afterwards. As at this time they had lost their flowers, and were ripening seed, it was not till after I had sought for a very long time that I met with a single flower, which was white, shaped like a lily of the valley, but with five sharper divisions."

78. This strange passage is presumed to allude to a little gun, four or five inches long, still shown in the arsenal at Stockholm, with which vulgar report says the famous Queen Christina used to kill fleas.

79. It is not impossible that Linnĉus might be misled here by the prejudices of his time, or by those of the people from whom he obtained his account.

80. The whole of this account of the hay consists, in the manuscript, of such concise, disjointed, and obscure notes, that we are by no means certain of having preserved the exact sense.

81. La Motraye, after describing the Lapland sledge, observes that "it is attached by a single trace or thong, passing under the belly of the reindeer, and fixed to a leather collar which goes round the animal's neck. A long cord made of twisted fir bark, tied to his horns, serves, when pulled in a straight line, to stop his course, or, when drawn toward either side, to turn him in that direction. When this cord is made to strike him gently, by a vertical motion, on the back, it urges him to greater speed. The overturn of the sledge, where the road is uneven, is prevented by a stick, which serves, like the oar or paddle of a boat, to guide its course."

82. Linnĉus records this misfortune in his Flora Lapponica, at n.42, see ed. 2. p. 27, where, in speaking of Arundo calamagrostis, he says he "presumes the synonyms are rightly applied, though he had no opportunity of comparing his plant with books and descriptions, having lost the specimen, with various other natural productions, by being cast away as he was descending one of the great rivers of Lapland." The synonym of Morison at least, which he has thus by memory applied, proves to be erroneous.

83. This account does not agree with the description in the Flora Lapponica, but is the most correct.

84. This also is correct.

85. A few further remarks on the above subject, printed in the Flora Lapponica, may be acceptable to the English reader.

"This disease made no regular progress, nor was it communicated by infection from one animal to another. The cows are driven all together in the spring to feed in a meadow, near the town, to the southwest, on the other side of a creek of the river, in which I was informed the greatest mortality happened. The symptoms differ in different cases; but all the cattle, feeding indiscriminately, are seized with a swelling of the abdomen, attended with convulsions, and die with horrid bellowing, in the space of a few days. No person dares venture to flay the recent carcases, it having been found by experience that not only the hands, but even the face, in consequence of the warm steams from the body, became inflamed and gangrenous, and that death finally ensued.

I was asked whether this disease was a kind of plague; whether the meadow in question produced any venomous spiders; or whether the yellow-coloured water was poisonous.

That it was no plague appeared from its not being contagious, and from the spring being its most fatal season. I saw no spiders here, except what are common throughout all Sweden; nor was the yellow sediment of the water anything more than a common innocent ochre of iron.

I had scarcely landed from the boat in which I was taken to this meadow, than the Cicuta presented itself before me, and explained the cause of all this destruction. It is most abundant in the meadow where the cattle are first seized with the distemper, especially near the shore. The slightest observation teaches us that brute animals distinguish, by natural instinct, such plants as are wholesome to them, from such as are poisonous. The cattle therefore do not eat this Hemlock in summer or autumn; whence few of them perish at those seasons, and such only as devour the herb in question incautiously, or from an inordinate appetite. But when they are first turned out in the spring, partly from their eagerness for fresh herbage, partly from their long fasting and starvation, they seize with avidity whatever comes within their reach. The herbage is then but short, and insufficient to satisfy them; probably also it is in general more succulent, immersed under water, and scarcely perceptibly scented; so that they are unable to distinguish the wholesome from the pernicious kinds. I remarked everywhere that the radical leaves only were cropped, no others; which confirmed what I have asserted. In a neighbouring meadow I saw this same plant cut with the hay for winter food; so that it is no wonder if in that state some, even of the more cautious cattle, are destroyed by it."
Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 76.

86. Celery: This plant is not mentioned in the Flora Lapponica, and the account annexed seems to belong to Ligusticum scoticum, n. 107 of that work, with which it well agrees.

87. Linnĉus in this description denominates these leaflets, whether of the general or partial involucrum, radii; a term he always subsequently used for the stalks of the umbels.

88. King Charles the Eleventh, on his visit to Tornio in 1694, was accompanied by Count G. Douglas, Lord Lieutenant; Count Piper, Counsellor of Chancery; J. Hoghusen, Counsellor of the Board of War; and some other learned men, and in the night between the 13th and 14th of June saw, from the belfry of the church, the midnight sun, at that time visible there to a person placed on such an elevation. The year following, Professors Bilberg and Spole were sent to Tornio to repeat these observations. The royal visit to Tornio was commemorated by a medal struck on the occasion, having on one side the bust of the king; on the reverse, a representation of the sun half above the horizon, with this motto, Soli inocciduo Sol obvius alter;["The North Polar sun meets the other sun"[TN]and beneath, Iter Regis ad Botniam Occidentalem, Mense Junio 1694.["Journey of the King to Västerbotten, June 1694"[TN]

89. Quales cruda vivo puella servat: "Which a virgin bride keeps for her spouse." The preceding line is et talis tumor excitet papillas "a rounded fullness swells the breast." Martial, Epigrams, Bk. 8 no. 64 not 63, in the Loeb edition. [TN]

90. Stagehouses: Stegerhusen. I have not been able to make out the precise meaning of this word.

91. List: A strip of cloth [TN]

92. John Messenius, famous for his learning and his misfortunes, was professor of law and politics at Uppsala, in the reign of the great Gustavus Adolphus, who had a high esteem for him, and who exerted all his wisdom, and even his power, to allay the envy and hatred of some of the colleagues of this able man, especially of John Rudbeck, a malignant though learned theologian. The king in vain endeavoured to pacify Rudbeck by preferment, while he removed Messenius to Stockholm, and made him a member of the new council established there. The latter was formally accused of being a secret partisan of the deposed Catholic king Sigismond, and was condemned to a perpetual prison, where he composed a great work entitled Scandia Illustrata, published at Stockholm between the years 1700 and 1714. Messenius died in 1636. His son Arnold might be justified for detesting those who had persecuted his illustrious father, but not for the folly of expressing his feelings in satirical publications against people in power. For this he paid with his life on the scaffold in 1648, and his own son, aged about 17, suffered with him.

93. Tumps: Tough clumps of vegetation

94. In the Journal, Linnĉus speaks of Mr. Oladron as the curate of Lycksele, and his wife.

95. 15th of July: The manuscript says July 1st, but this does not agree with the original journal, which therefore I have followed. See the Journal under 15th July, above.

96. Astragalus leontinus: Jacq. Ic. Rar, t.154. Willd. Sp. Pl. v.3. 1287.

97. Juncus curvatus: We know not what species the author intends by this name.