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.