July 23.

This evening I took leave of the alpine part of Lapland, and returned by water from Hyttan towards Luleå. 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 Luleå, 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 Tjåmotis 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 Tjåmotis, 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 (Nymphææ), 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 Linnæus. The grass of which he here speaks is n.38 of his Flora Lapponica. A. geniculatus β, 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 Västerbotten. 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 Västerbotten, 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 chamæmorus, 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 Linnæean herbarium.) The bird called (by the Swedes) Lappskata, Rödfogel in Västerbotten, 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 Småland. 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. Antennæ 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. Linnæus 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 Smålanders call Kodden (Rubus saxatilis), and Raspberries (R. idæus). 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 Svartlå I noticed a mineral spring, but whatever may be its qualities, nobody has yet made any inquiries concerning them.

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

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 Luleå produced, in excessive abundance, the Water Sedum (Tillæa 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 β. Sp. Pl. 89. See Fl. Lapp. n.38.) The Water Sedum (Tillæa 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 Luleå 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 Luleå, on whose accuracy I have the greatest possible dependance, assured me that she had, at the posthouse of Biorsiö, 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 Swartlä. 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 Umeå, were now laden with fruit, as the Mesomora (Cornus suecica), Vaccinia (Whortleberries), Chamæmorus (Rubus Chamæmorus, Cloud-berry), and Chamærubus (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 Grytnäs, situated opposite to the church of Kalix, is a ferry to convey passengers to this church, adjoining to which the inhabitants of Luleå 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 Småland, 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 Flotagræs, or Flote-grass, in Linnæus's native country of Småland, 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 Småland. The cross piece is turned towards the south, but the method here differs from that of the Smålanders in one respect. The latter place one sheaf on the top of another, but the inhabitants of Västerbotten 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 Smålanders therefore are able to reach high enough to place their uppermost sheaves by hand, but the inhabitants of Västerbotten 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 præmorsum (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. γ.) 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.

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