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Lachesis Lapponica,

OR A

TOUR IN LAPLAND,

NOW FIRST PUBLISHED

FROM THE

ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL

OF THE CELEBRATED

L I N N iE U S ;

JAMES EDWARD SMITH, M. D. F.R.S. etc.

PRESIDENT OF THE LINNjEAN SOCIETY.
IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

" Ulterius nihil est, nisi non habitabile frigus."

Ovio.

LONDON:

rUlNTED FOR WHITE AND COCHRANE, HORACE'S HEAD,

FLEET-STREET,

BT RICHARD TAYLOR AND CO., SHOE-LANE.

isn.

/

^

DL

TO |<^|

THOMAS FURLY FORSTER, Esq. ^'

FELLOW OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY.

Ml/ dear Sir,

Among the various
consultations and communications
which have taken place between us
ifi t lie course of our long and un-
interrupted friendship , I recollect
that one object of your anxious
curiosity has always been the La-
chesis Lapponica of Linnceus, so
often alluded to by himself and
his pupils, and the original Swed-
ish manuscript of which came
into my hands with the rest of his

A 2

ir * DEDICATION.

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 Linncean ac-
quaintance, one of the most ca-
pable of entering into every feel-
ing 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 con-
versation. We here behold, not
the awfid preceptor of the learned

DEDICATION.

world in his professorial chair,
but a youthful inexperienced stu-
dent, full of ardour and curiosity,
such as we ourselves have been, re-
cordin<y 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 em-
barrassments, 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 op-
pression, and his never-ceasing de-

VI DEDICATIONS

sire to turn his scientific acquisi-
tions to practical utility !

Be pleased, my dear Sir, to
accept, with your usual favour,
this sincere tribute of respect and
estee7n^ from

Your very faithful friend,

J. E. Smith,

PREFACE

BY THE EDITOR.

The biographers of Linnaeus have
often mentioned the Journal of his Lap-
land Tour, to which he himself has fre-
quently 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 pro-

Tlii PREFACE.

perty; the journey which they record
having been undertaken at the pubhc
expense, and the objects illustrated
thereby being, necessarily, more impor-
tant to the author's countrymen than
to any other people. This remark, how-
ever, was not n)ade 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 pos-
sessor to render them useful. To place
the authority of this collection, as far
as possible, out of the reach of acci-
dent, he has made it his chief object to
extend any information to be derived
from it, not only to his own country-
men, but to his fellow-labourers in

PREFACE. IX

every quarter of the globe. The Bank-
sian 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 speci-
mens. 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 ori-
ginals 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 fa-
vourite and delightful pursuit, and by

X PREFACE.

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 Lap-
ponica written in Swedish. For a long
time therefore it remained unexplored.
At length Mr. Charles Troilius, a young
gentleman in the mercantile line, resi-
dent in London, undertook the task of
translating it. The manuscript proved
to be the identical journal written on
the spot during the tour, which cer-
tainly rendered it the more interesting ;
but the difficulty of decyphering it
proved from that very circumstance
unexpectedly great. The bulk of the
composition is Swedish, but so inter-

PREFACE. XI

mixed with Latin, even in half sentences,
that the translator, not being much ac-
quainted 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 cj^phers and abbre-
viations, sometimes referring to the pub-
lications or opinions of the day, and in-
tended 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

XU PREFACE.

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 any thing hke a professed descrip-
tion of Lapland, or even a regular de-
tail of the route of the traveller. What
was familiar to Linna?us, either in books
or in his own mind, is omitted. By
the brilliant sketches he has left us in
his Flora Lappoiiica, published a few
years after his return, we see what he
miffht have written had he here under-
taken to communicate his own know-
ledge or remarks to others ; and the
same may be said of such of his disser-
tations, in the Amocnitates Academicce,
as professedly treat of subjects belong-
ing to Lapland. The curious and
learned reader will, however, here and

PREFACE. XIII

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 informa-
tion, the occasional quotations, refe-
rences and allusions, the familiar and
sufficiently correct use of the Latin lan-
guage, and the general accuracy of the
whole, give a very high idea of the au-
thor's accomplishments. The extempo-
raneous journals of the most illustrious
travellers, made without a single book
to refer to, or a companion to con-
sult, would few of them perhaps stand
the test of criticism so well.

1 o render the translation fit for the
public view, the editor found himself

XIV PREFACE.

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 cy-
phers exist in the manuscript, he has
been careful to give as literal a trans-
lation of the rest as the materials would
allow. This principle ever kept in
view, and the difficulty of the under-
taking, which, small as the book is, has
taken up much of his time for seven
years past, must apologize for any inele-
gancies of composition. Yet in many
parts the original displays a natural and
striking eloquence, of which the trans-
lation may possibly fall short. Such
passages, when they occurred, repaid
the labour and perplexity of studying
for hours to decypher some obscure
mark, or some ill-written Swedish or

PREFACE. XV

Latin word, which the original trans-
lator 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 de-
scriptive 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 pre-
cision, 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 un-
necessary to publish such figures, except
a few, for the sake of curiosity, or of
particular illustration.

XVI PREFACE.

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 in-
closed.

The " Brief Narrative,'' subjoined to
the Journal, having been drawn up by
Linnaeus himself, to lay before the Aca-
demy of Sciences at Upsal, could not
with propriety be omitted. Part of it
throws great light on the body of the
work ; and though there are some repe-
titions, there is little that can be thought
superfluous.

No nvich, A pri 1 , 1811.

JOURNEY

TO

LAPLAND.

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 coun-
try, 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 lea-
ther bag, half an ell in length, but some-
what less in breadth, furnished on one side
with hooks and eyes, so that it could be

B

2 UPLAND.

opened and shut at pleasure. This bag con-
tained one shirt ; two pair of false sleeves ;
two half shirts ; an inkstand, pencase, mi-
croscope, 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, Flo-
ra Uplandica, and Characteres generici.
I wore a hanger at my side, and carried a
small fowling-piece, as well as an octangu-
lar stick, graduated for the purpose of
measuring. My pocket-book contained a
passport from the Governor of Upsal, and
a recommendation from the Academy.

Mai/ 12, 1732, old style.

I set out alone from the city of Upsal
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.

UPLAND* 3

Omnia vere vigent et veris tempore Jlorent^
Et totusfervet 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.

Upsal 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 com-
pared 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
B 2

4 UPLAND.

trees. In ditches by the way side the
Water Byssus was observable {Bi/ssus
Flos aquce), particularly in places shel-
tered from the wind. It greatly re-
sembles the cream of milk, and is called
by the peasants U atnct blommar, or Water
Flower.

A number of mares with their colts were
grazing every where near the road. I re-
marked the great length of the young ani-
mals' 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 orown. A similar observa-
tion 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, dcedaleis sitiu-
/jii.s, (Lichen nivalis,) which is found on
the hill near the palace at Upsal.

Geese were now accompanied by their

UPLAND. Ö

goslings, which are all uniformly of the
same yellow hue when hatched, whatever
colour they may acquire afterwards.

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

The few plants now in flower were Taraxa-
cum [Leontodon Taraxacum), whichTourne-
fort erroneously combines with Pilosella (Hi-
eracium Pilosella), notwithstanding the re-
fl€xed leaves of its calyx ; Draba caule nudo
(D. verna), which in Smoland is called Rye
Flower, because as soon as the husband-
man sees it in bloom he is accustomed to
sow his Lent corn ; Myosotis scorpioides ;
Viola tricolor and odor at a ; Thiamin ar-
vense ; Lithospermum arvense ; Ci/peroi-
des (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 ; Caltlia
palustris, known by the name of Swedish
Caper, as many people are said to eat it

o UPLAND.

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.

Eccesuum tirile, tirile, suum tirile tractat*.

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 Högsta) is a mile
and a quarter from Upsal. Here the forests
began to thicken. The charming lark,
which had till now attended my steps, here
left me ; but another bird welcomed my ap-
proach to the forest, the Red-wing, or Tiir-
dtis iliacus, whose amorous warblings from
the tops of the Spruce Fir were no less de-
lightful. Its lofty and varied notes rival
those of the Nightingale herself.

* " The lark that tinra-lirra chaunts."

Shakspear's Winter's Tale.

UPLAND. 7

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 en-
tirely 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 Pimis plicata.

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

A large and dreary pine-forest next pre-
sented itself, in which the herbaceous plants
seemed almost «tarved, and in their place
the soil, which was hardly two iiiches deep,
all below that depth being pure barren
sand (Arena Glarea), bore Heath (Erica),

8 UPLAND.

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 decyphered by somebody else.

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

I discovered a larjje stone of the kind
called Ludiis Helmoniii*, and, wishing to
break it, I took a smaller stone, which
proved to be of the same kind. My en-
deavours 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

* So I understand the original, which is Lapis mur-
moreus polyzonos.

UPLAND. 9

Side of the way a small ditch used to M^ash
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 sub-
stance 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 be-
lieve, the quantity of water is less than it
has been.

Chrysospleniiim {alternifoliiim) was now
in blossom. Tournefort defines it foliis
auriculatis, but erroneously, as the leaves
are all separate and distinct*. It has eight

* Tournefort by this definition probably meant to
compare the shape of the leaves, with the ears of some
animal. In the criticism of Linnaeus respecting the

10 UPLAND.

stamens, placed in a quadrangular position,
and twc pistils. Thus it evidently approach-
es nearer to the SaxifragcB, as former bota-
nists have justly thought, than to the cani-
paniformes, or flowers with a monopetalous
corolla.

AtYfre, two miles further, I noticed young
kids, under whose chins, at the commence-
ment 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 am 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

natural affinity of this plant, we may observe how his
own system, professedly artificial, and yet so affected-
ly 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 per-
fection is not to be expected from any one.

UPLAND. 11

which it undermines the ojround, is exceed-
ingly 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 situa-
tions. 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.

Mmj 13.

Here the Yew {^Taxiisbaccata) grows wild.
The inhabitants call it Id or Idegran.

The forest abounded with the Yellow
Anemone (Atiemone rajiunculoides), 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 lias endowed plants

12 UPLAND.

with intelligence, to shut themselves up at
the approach of rain? Even when the
weather changes in a moment from sun-
shine 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 ; espe-
cially 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 fif-
teen ells, 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 con-
tinual smoke. On this branch of the cas-
cade stands asaw-mill. The man employed in
it had a pallid countenance, but he did not

UPLAND. 13

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 es-
cape.

Oak trees grow on the summits of the
surrounding rocks. At first it seems in-
conceivable how they should obtain nour-
ishment ; 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*.

From hence I hastened to the town of

* This appears to have been Bartramia pomiformis,
Bryum pomiforme of Linnaeus. See Fl. Lapp n. 400.

14 UPLAND.

Elf-Carleby, which is divided into two parts-
by the large river, whose source is at Lexan
in Dalecarha. The largest portion of the
town stands on the southern side, and con-
tains 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
main land in the reign of king John III.
It is now at a considerable distance from
the shore, the force of the current render-
ing 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

UPLAND. 15

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 venialis), the leaves of which,
furnished with long footstalks, had two pair
of leaflets besides the terminal one, everyone
of them cut halfway 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 out-
ermost excessively hairy and purplish ; the
innermost more purple and less hairy ; all

16 UPLAND.

of them white on the inside, with purple
veins. Stamens numerous and very short.
Pistils cohering in a cyhndrical form, longer
than the stamens, and about half as lono;
as the petals.

We had variable weather, with alternate
rain and sunshine.

A mile from Elf-Carleby are iron works
called Härnäs. The ore is partly brought
from Danemora in Roslagen, partly from
En2:siö in Sudermannia. These works
were burnt down by the Russians, but have
since been repaired.

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

it

GESTRICKLAND.

The forests became more and more hilly
and stony, and abounded with the different
species of Winter-green {Fyrolce)k

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

I noticed great abundance of the Rose
Willow (Salu Helis), 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 Ccn-thamus
[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 pease on, formed of perpendicular
posts with transverse beams. It was eight
ells in height. Such are used throughout
the northern provinces, as Helsingland^
Medelpad, Ångermanland, and Westboth-
landé

18 GESTRICKLAND.

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 enter-
tained by the Comptroller of the Customs,
Lönbom.

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 ^ith 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

GESTRICKLAND. 19

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 [Scolopaa 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 Rud-
beck the elder used to call Troy, is sur-
rounded 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 (Mi/rica
Gale), laden with catkins about its upper
branches, was abundant every where, as
well as the Dwarf Birch (Betula nana).
These form a sort of low alley through
C 2

20 GESTRICKLAND.

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 ses-
sile upon the upper branches. Their scales
ovate and almost leafy, green, pointed,
three-cleft, with three pair of purplish pis-
tils. Here and there grew the Marsh
Yiolet {Viola pa lustris), 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 (Li/-
copodium clavafum, Selago, alpimwi, and
complanatum).

A quantity of large stones lay by the
road side, which the governor of the pro-
vince had caused to be dug up in order to
mend the high-way. They looked like a
mass of ruins, and were clothed with Cam-
panula scrpiflUfolia (the plant afterwards

GESTRICKLAND. $1

called Liiinaa borealis), whose trailing
shoots and verdant leaves were interwoven
with those of the Ivy {Heder a Helk).

On the right is the lake Haniränge
Fjärden, 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 Jumper-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
yellovi^ hue, in the centre of which lodged
either a maggot or a whitish chrysalis.
(This produces the Jipula Juniperi. See
Fauna Suecica 438, and Fl. Suec. 360).

I arrived at Hamränge Post-house during
the night.

22 GESTRICKLAND.

The people here talked much of an ex-
traordinary 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 be-
ing on that account seized by the pro-
prietor of the tree, declared that the tree
should never bear fruit any more.

Mai/ 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 bicoriies (with two-horned
antheras) predominated over all others, so
that the Heath, Erica, in the woods, and

GESTRICKLAND. 23

Andromeda^, in the marshes, were more
abundant than any thing else. Indeed we
meet with few other plants than Vaccinium
Myrtillus and Vitis-Jdcea, Arbutus Uva-
Ursiy Ledum palustre, Sec. 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 conspicu-
ous by the moisture with which the fog had
besprinkled them.

The Red-wing [Turdus iliacus)^ the
Cuckoo (Cucuhis canorus), the Black Grous
(Tetrao Tetri.r), and the Mountain Fnich
(Fringilla Montifr inbilla), with their va-

* It is a curious circumstance that Linnaeus 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 m 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 acci-
dentally wrote one name by mistake for the other,
havine; both in his mind.

24 GESTRICKLAND.

rious 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 islandiciis grows abundantly in
this forest.

After travelling about a mile and half
from HamrUnge I arrived at the river Tonna,
which divides Gestrickland from Helsing-
land, and empties itself into the bay of
Tonna. The abovementioned lake, called
by the inhabitants Hamränge Fjärden, ex-
tends 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 un-
certain, called th^ 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 chan-
nel, as the iron from several founderies
is conveyed by the navigation through this
lake.

25

HELSINGLAND.

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 (Piniis
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

26 HELSINGLAND.

ovate white bodies of a silky texture, ap-
parently 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 di-
stance is three miles. Here and there in the
woods lay blood-red stones, or rather
stones which appeared to have been par-
tially 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 ifi. JoUthus).

Many sepulchral mounds are in this
neighbourhood.

Not far from Norrala, situated about a
mile from thelast 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.

HELSINGLAND. 27

intended principally to catch Bream {Cy-
prinus Brauia). Here I observed the
Lumme, or BL>ck-throated Diver {Colym-
bus afcticus), which uttered a melancholy
note, especially in diving.

From Norrala I proceeded to Enänger,
through a heavy fog, as it had rained vio-
lently while I rested at the former place.
Towards evening it thundered and light-
ened. In the course of this whole day's
journey I observed a great variety m 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 un-
inhabitable mountainous tracts. In the
valleys only are to be seen small dwelling-
houses, to each of which adjoins a little
field. Even in these there is no great pro-
portion of fertile land, the principal part
being marshy.

The people seemed somewhat larger in
stature than in other places, especially the

28 IIELSINGLAND.

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 gene-
ration to another, owing to poverty and
other causes, have diminished in size.
Hence perhaps the diminutive stature of
the Laplanders*.

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 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 Linnaeus.

HELSINGLAND. 29

The old tradition, that the inhabitants
of Helsingland 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 MontifringiUa) ; 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 work-
ing in their shirts, and seemed masters of
their business. The ore used here is of
three or four kinds. First, from Daniie-
mora ; 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

30

HELSINGLAND.

further north in the same district, a kind
of blueish stone* is used for building the
tunnels or chimneys, which is considered
as more compact and better able to resist
heat than Lapis molaris or Vipsten (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 every
where in the forests.

In every river a wheel is placed, con-
trived to lift up a hammer for the purpose
of bruising flax.

* Probably Saxwn fomaann, Linn. Syst. Nat,
ed. 12. V. 3. 79.

HELSINGLAND. 31

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
JLichenoides terrestre scutatum albicans.)
(^Lichen ai^cticus), which has larger fructi-
fication 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 cer-
tainly mistaken, in Fl. Lapponica n. 442.)

By the road side between Nieutsenger
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 nonde-
script 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, form-
ing a regular stratum. I observed it like-

32 HELSINGLAND.

wise 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 vege-
table mould ; then from four to six inches
of barren sand {^Arena Glarea); next about
a span of the violet claj ; and lastly bar-
ren 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 water, 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,

HELSINGLAND. 33

were quite barren, nothing but stones re-
maining.

Tiie produce of the arable land here be-
ing but scanty, the inhabitants mix herbs
with their corn, and form it into cakes two
feet broad, but only a line in thickness, by
which means the taste of the herbs is ren-
dered less perceptible.

Hudvikswall is a little town situated be-
tween a small lake and the sea.

Near this place the Arctic Bramble
(Riibifs arcticiis) was beginning to shoot
forth, while Lychnis dioica and Arabis
tlialiana 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 fur-
nishes the principal occupation of the in-
habitants of this country.

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

34 HELSINGLAND,

Matj 17.

Continuing my journey at sunrise, I saw
some sepulchral mounds near the church
of Jättedahl. 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 w^ere
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 some-
times produces.

35

MEDELPAD.

Between Gnarp and the post-house of
Dingersjö stands the boundary mark be-
tween Helsingland and Medelpad or Me-
delpadja, consisting of two posts, one oji
each side the road. Here I began to per-
ceive the common Ling, Ei'ica, 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 coun-
try 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
Helsingland, 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-glgiss, they
D 2

36

MEDELPAD.

appeared for the most part of a reddish cast,
but the wing feathers were snow-white.

Close by the post-house of Dingersjö
grew the large Yellow Aconite {Aconitum
li/coctoimm), 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 in-
creases 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 in-
quiries.

To the north of Dingersjö, on the right
hand of the road, stands a considerable
mountain called Nyieckers-berg, the south
side of which is very steep. The inhabi-
tants had planted hop-grounds under it.
As the hop does not in general thrive well
hereabouts, they designed that this moun-
tain should serve as a wall for the plants to
run upon. They were not disappointed as to

JVIEDELPAD. 37

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 tlie 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 monu-
mental stone, and, accompanied by a guide,
climbed the mountain on its left side.
Here were many uncommon plants, as
Fumarla bulbosa minima. Campanula ser^
pylUfoUa (Linncea borealis), Adoxa mos-
chatellina. Sec, 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.

38 MEDELPAD.

petiolis (pedicellis) lougis ci'ectis, if it may
be presumed a Sphagnum^ as I saw no
calyptra. The little heads or capsules
were exactly spherical*.

After mucli 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
Mood, 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 ap-
proach 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 neighbour-
ing country. The trees towards the upper

* Llnnaeiis's ideas concerning the genera of Mosses
were at this lime in a very unsettled $tate. Could this
be any thing else than Bartramia pomiformis ?

MKDELPAD. 39

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 ani-
mal'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 po-
sition to shde 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 moun-
tain, an Eagle Owl (Striv Bubo) started
up suddenly before us. It was as large as

40 MEDELPAD.

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 after-
wards 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*. 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

* So I interpret Linnaeus's cypher in this and an-
other place, which is ovum Qj sum, (ovum maculo-
sum). If I am wrong, the candid reader will rather
con)pass:onate than condemn nie; yet Linnoeussays,
a liuie further on^, that the egg was white.

MEDELPAD. 41

should excite as much disgust in my readers
as in myseh*. 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 is^norant. These birds were all
quite full fed. Near them was a large dead
rat, of which the under side was already pu-
trefied 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, Fiola tricolor*,
of which some of the flowers were white ;
others blue and white ; others with the

* More probably, from the place of growth, as well
as the description, f^iola lutea of Fl. Britannica, and
English Botany^ vol. W.t. 721.

42 MEDELPAD.

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 glitter-
ing 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 !

MEDELPAD. 43

It brought to my mind the student*, who
in going by sen from Stockhobii to Abo
had experienced so severely the terrors of
the deep, that he rather chose to walk
back to Stockholm through East Bothnia,
Tornea, West Bothnia, &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
Fjähl, where I was obliged to pass a river
by two separate ferries, the stream being
divided by an island.

* This was Tillands, afterwards Professor at Abo,
who hence assumed this surname, expressive of his
attachment to land, and Linnaeus named in honour
of him a plant which cannot bear wet. See his
Ord. Nat. 291.

44 MEDELPAD.

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 Helsingland, but is rather a more plea-
sant 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 ca/mia), 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 blueish
colour ; the rest whitish, generally indeed
quite white*. Close to this grew the little

* Linnaeus appears to have neglected to describe
this Fiola in his printed works. May it not be
V. lactea, Fl. Brit. <2^1. Engl. Bot. vol. 7. /. 445 ?

MEDELPAD. 45

Marsh Violet, mentioned some time since,
(F. palustris^ see p. 20,) but here it was
remarkable for a purplish tinge ; (F. paliis-
tris 13 FL Brit. F)

This evening it rained very hard.

Mai/ 19.

On the following morning I arose with
the sun, and took leave of Fjähl. 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 cop-
per 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

46 MEDELPAD.

been made into this mine. The mountain
is named Balingsberget.

Not far distant, close to the church on
the nortli-east, a huge stone is to be seen.
The credulous vulgar relate that, when the
church was building, some malignant beings
of iiiofantic size were desirous of knockino-
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 arti-
ficial 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

MEDELPAD. 47

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 un-
discovered.

On the roof and sides of this cave, near
the entrance, the stones were clothed with
a fungous substance, like a sponge in tex-
ture, without any regular form ; or rather
like the internal medullary part of the
Agaric of the Birch, when dressed for mak-
ing tinder. It appeared to me quite di-
stinct from all plants hitherto described.
(This is the Byssus crypt arum ; Linn. Fl.
Lapp. n. 527 i and FL Siiec. n. 1181. Suc-
ceeding travellers have gathered it hde.)

Every where 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 lycoctonurn), both which it af-
fords in common with Helsingland.

48

ÅNGERMANLAND.

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 Ångermanland.
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 blueish green and
gold. (These were the beautiful Chrysomcla
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 Angermannian forests
trees with deciduous leaves, Befula alba
and the hoary-leaved Alder {Beiula incana),

ÅNGERMANLAND. 49

abound equally with the Common and
Spruce Firs (Pinus sylvestris and Abies),
while among the humble shrubs the Heath
(Erica) and the Bilberry {VacciniumMyr-
tillus) 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 Helsingland
and Medelpad. The valleys between the
mountains, as in those countries, are culti-
vated 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 Mörtsiön, I had a very extensive
view of the surrounding country, which

E

50 ÅNGERMANLAND.

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
Ångermanland, which takes its name from
the country [Angermanna Elfveti), 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 approach-
ing 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 com-
panions 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

ÅNGERMANLAND. 51

painted black, but coloured red by boil-
ing 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 charac-
ter of their genus is, as to external appear-
ance, wanting, still rudiments of horns are
to be found under the skin. A contrary
variety is observable, in Scania 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 what-
ever side I cast my eyes, nothing but lofty
mountains were to be seen. Not far from
^ssja the little Strawberry-leaved Bramble
E 2

62 ÅNGERMANLAND.

{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
humiUs, folio fragarice, jiore rubrv, thaii
fructa rubro. It likewise seems to me,
that this plant exactly agrees in structure
with the Rubus folio vibes alpinus anglicus
of authors, which I must compare with it
the first opportunity*.

A quarter of a mile further is Doggsta,
on the other side of which, close to the road,
stands a tremendously steep and lofty moun-
tain, called Skulaberget, (the mountain
of Skula,-^) in which I was informed there
was a remarkable cavern. This I wished

* Linnaeus soon satisfied himself that the latter was
his Riibus ChamcBmorus. The arcticus is a much more
valuable plant for its fruit, which partakes of the fla-
vour of the raspberry and strawberry, and makes a
most delicious wine, used only by the nobility in
Sweden.

t Its perpendicular height is two hundred Swedish
ells. See Dissert, de Angermannia.

ÅNGERMANLAND. 53

to explore, but the people told me it was
impossible. With much difficulty I pre-
vailed 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 ex-
actly 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

54 ÅNGERMANLAND.

not roll it down on purpose. At length,
quite spent with toil, we reached the ob-
ject of our pursuit, which is a cavity in the
middle of the mountain. I expected to
have seen somethmg 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, parti-
cularly in the roof, which is concave like
an arch. In that part a hole appears, in-
tended, 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 longi-
tudinal fissures. All the shivers of stone,
many of which lie on the floor, are qua-
dran<rular, and of a considerable size. I am
fully persuaded of this grotto having been
formed by the hand of Nature, and that

ÅNGERMANLAND. 55

art had afterwards merely cleared away the
fragments of stone. The entrance is suffi-
ciently 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 spe-
cies of Pohj podium, the Asple?ihim Tricho-
manes, and other ferns, grow on the ad-
jacent 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 in-
habitants*".

Having taken leave of this mountain, I
had scarcely continued my journey a quar-
ter of a mile before I found a great part of

* This cavern has been visited by other naturalists
since the time of Linnaeus, 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 Byss7is
{cryptarum) which Linnaeus found in the other ca-
vern at Brunaesberget. Both their original specimens
are now in my possession.

56 ÅNGERMANLAND.

the country covered with snow, in patches
some inches deep. The prettj 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 whortle-berry, 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 Ions: duration of the snow.

This part of the country is very moun-
tainous, and is watered by many small
rills, originating on the sides of the moun-
tains from the copious rains falling upon
them, and running from thence, by various
channels, to swell the streams of Helsing-
land and Medelpad.

The cornfields afford a crop two years
successively, and lie fallow the third. Rye
is seldom or never sown here, being too

ANGERMANLAN^D. 57

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 ex-
plained.

May 21.

After going to church at Natra, I re-
marked 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

58 A^^GERMANLAND.

in growth, and ripens the year following,
without any further cultivation, the crop
being very abundant. The corn so pro-
duced is called Kappsäd.

Today I met with no flowers, except
the Wood Sorrel (Oralis Acetosella), which
is here the primula, or first flower of the
spring. The Convallaria bifoUa and Straw-
berry-leaved Bramble {Iluhus 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 coun-
try is rich in barley, they "add but two
portions of chafl:^ to one of corn*. The

* How would this very good bread suit English
stomachs ? This honest adulteration has not been

ÅNGERMANLAND. 59

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.

thought of by any of our schemers, whose projects
only serve to teach evil-disposed bakers to make bread
of any thing rather than what they ought, and to
spare their pockets at the expense of the public wel-
fare.

60 ÅNGERMANLAND.

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 con-
sider 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 in-
fallibly occasion them.

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

I had here abundant opportunities of
examining a fish, not every where to be

ÅNGERMANLAND. 6l

met with, called the Harr, (Salmo Thymal-
lus, 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.

Mai/ 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 An-

m ÅNGERMANLAND.

germanland. The Hazle 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 oc-
currence.

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.

Stellarid with oblong leaves (Callitriche
autumnalis) grew in the surrounding pud-
dles. Those botanists are much mistaken
who distinguish this from the kind with
oval leaves (Callitriche ver?io), for they
only differ in age. The lower leaves of the
preceding year, of an ovate form, still re-

ÅNGERMANLAND. 63

mained under water quite fresh, bearing
ripe seeds in their axillce.

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

Near the coast was a quicksand, caused
here, as in Scania, 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 Norma-
ling, I took a walk to examine the neigh-
bourhood, and met with a mineral spring,
already observed by Mr. Peter Artedi*, at
this his native place. It appeared to con-
tain a great quantity of ochre, but seemed

* The celebrated writer on fishes, afterwards so in-
timately connected with Linnaeus. The latter pub-
lished his Ichthyology, and wrote his life in a style
which does equal honour to his own feelings and the
merit of his friend.

64 ÅNGERMANLAND.

by the taste too astringent to be whole-
some. 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 {A lea Tor da) 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

ÅNGERMANLAND.

'65

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 Tor da).

In proportion as I approached West-
bothland, 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 be-
fore we come to Sormjole, is a river called
Angeraen, separating Ångermanland from
Westbothland.

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

66

ÅNGERMANLAND.

a 2

^

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Sm

z^

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 tne 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 pait which goes under the surface of
the ground, and is terminated in the fore
part by the plough-share d, which is
formed obliquely, turning towards the out-
side, not towards the man who guides the

ÅNGERMANLAND.

67

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 ani-
mal used here in husbandry.

No. 3, p. 65, is a hoe, which, when fur-
nished 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 opera^
tion they sow rye, but in the following
season barley, when the turfs are become
rotten.

WESTERBOTTEN, or WESTBOTHLAND.

The ground here is tolerably level; the
soil sand, sometimes clay. In some places
are large tracts of moss. The whole coun-
try, 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
F 2

68 WESTBOTIILAND.

sown, and when any is sown, it is com-
monly 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 Ångermanland. Caltha
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 (Eriopho-
rum vciginatiim and polystacliion) were
now coming into bloom. Befula 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 Röbäck,
where I passed the night. The wind blew
hard frpm the north-east, and the evening
was cold.

WESTROTHLAND. 69

Maj/ 24.

Close to Röback is a fine spacious mea-
dow, 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
Umoea, are some mineral springs, abound-
ing with ochre, and covered with a silvery
pellicle. I conceive that Röbäck may have
obtained its name from this red sedi-
ment, from j'od red, and bäck a rivulet.
Not far from this town is another mineral
spring, by drinking of which several per-
sons have lost their lives. It flows down
an adjacent hill.

Umoea, situated on the abovementioned
little river, which is passed in a ferry-boat,
andi navigable for merchandise to the sea,
is but a small town, not having yet reco-
vered from the damage done it by the
enemy, who burnt it to the ground. The
ferry-boat was conducted by a brawny,

70 WESTBOTHLAND.

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 mild-
ness, and he received me in the kindest
manner. He showed me several curiosities,
and gave me much interesting informa-
tion.

He had two Crossbills ( Lo^ria ciirvirostra)
in a cage, which fed on the cones of the
spruce fir (Pinus Abies) with great dex-
terity. 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 ad-

WESTBOTIILAND. 71

joining fen the Yellow-hammer (Motncilla
jiava) and some Swallows.

Baron Grundell told me he often had
Snow Buntings (Einberiza nivalis), and
Ortolans (E. Hortiihnius), which last are
frequently sold in France for the value of a
ducat (nine shillings). These birds are
also to be met with in Scania. Here had
been plenty of RufFs and Reeves this year
{Tringa pugnai).

He showed me the skins of blue and
black Foxes, and also of the variety called
Korssraf, Cross Fox {Canis Vtilpes (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
[Miistela Gulo), and that he had once
had another of that species so much do-
mesticated, 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

72 WESTBOTHLAND.

the garden orache, sallad, and red cab-
bage, which last thrives very well, though
the M^hite will not come to perfection here;
also garden cresses, Mdnter cresses (Erij-
simiim Barbarea (B FL Suec), scurvy-
grass, chamomile, spinach, onions, leeks,
ehives, cucumbers, columbines, carnations^
sweet-williams, gooseberries, currants, the
barberry, elder, guelder-rose and lilac.
Potatoes here are not larger than poppy-
heads. 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 horse radish, and especially
leeks, chives, winter cresses, columbines^
goose-tongue (Achillea Ptar?7iica), rose-
campion {.Agrosiemma coronaria), scurvy-

WESTBOTHLAND. "JS

grass, currants, gooseberries, barberry-
berries, wild rose, and lovage {Ligusticum
Levisticum), though scarcely cherries, ap-
ples 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 de-
creases with the moon, so that by digging
during the full moon clay may be obtain-
ed, but, on the contrary, when the moon
is in the wane, sand only will be found in
the same spot. . The same gentleman re-
marked that cracks or chasms in the ground
are observable in tine 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 Ephe-
mertty of which I made a drawing and de-
scription. It was however of a distinct
genus from the proper Ephe??iera, having
the wings inclining downwards, not erect,.

74 WESTBOTHLAND.

the tail with two bristles instead of three,
and the antennce> bent near the extremity.
(This appears to have been a small speci-
men of the Phryganca hicaudata.)

From my first arrival in Westbothland, I
had remarked that all the inhabitants used
a peculiar kind of shoes or half-boots, called
K'chifyor, These seemed at first si^ht verv
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 strons: 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

WESTBOTHLAND. 75

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 Westbothland trip along
as easily and nimbly in these shoes as if
they went barefoot.

In the cornfields lay hundreds of Gulls
{JLarus canus) of a sky-blue colour.

May 26.

I took leave of Umoea. 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 Lyck-
sele Lapmark. 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 con-
venience 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

76 WESTBOTHLAN]>.

grew more and more narrow and bad, so
that my horse went stumbhng along, at al-
most 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 travellino; which I was doomed to
experience. The few inhabitants I met
with had a foreign accent, and always con-
cluded their sentences with an adjective.
Throughout this whole day^s journey no-
thing 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 mak-
mg moulds for casting metal.

Not far from Spoland I caught on a wil-
low a small insect of the beetle tribe, of a

WESTBOTIILAND. 77

red colour, with black branching lines sur-
rounding the whole body, and a golden head.

(This appears by the drawing, here copied
from the original manuscript, to be C/iry-
somela lapponica.) Here grew a Salix
with ovate-oblong leaves, very hairy all
over i^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 {Po-
puliis 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 de-
scribed. In this state it serves as food for
cows, goats and sheep, instead of hay, the
latter being a very scarce article in these

78 WESTBOTHLAND.

parts ; for the fields consist principally of
marshy tracts, whose herbage is but of a
coarse kind.

On mv inquiring what I could have for
supper, they set before nie the breast of a
Cock of the wood i^Vetrao Urogalhis), which
had been shot and dressed some time the
preceding year. Its aspect was not very
invitino- and I imaoined the flavour would
not be much better ; but in this respect I
was mistaken. The taste proved delicious,
and I wondered at the is^norance 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 Lap-
landers know better than some of their
more opulent neighbours, how to employ
the <iood thinjrs 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

WESTBOTHLAND. 79

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 its
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 ne-
cessary 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 w^ere stuffed
with the hair of the reindeer instead of
feathers. Under the sheet w-as the hide of
a reindeer with the hair on, the hairy side
uppermost, on which the people told me I
should lie very soft.

80 WESTBOTHLAND.

May 27.

In the morning the continued rain pre-
vented 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 en-
tangled 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 mat-
ters 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

WESTBOTHLAND. 81

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 ri-
vulets which traversed the country in vari-
ous 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 Bjelke (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

G

82 WESTBOTIILAND.

bridle I had only a rope, which was tied
to the animaFs under jaw. In this trim I
proceeded on my journey.

Here and there, in the heart of the forest,
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 scat-
tered plants of ling. Some places afforded
the perforated coralline Lichen (L.^mcialis),
which the inhabitants, in rainy weather
when it is tough, rake together into large
heaps, and carry home for the winter pro-
vender 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 perpendi-
cular that it was not to be ascended or de-
scended 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

WESTBOTHLAND. 83

barren. They resembled the ridges of a
field, except the perfect flatness and grea
breadth of the surface of each, and their
beins: 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 crusta-
G 2

84 WESTBOTHLAND.

ceous Bjjssus, consisting as it were of a
white rough brittle membrane, with white
grains scattered over it*.

On the sandj heaths among the per-
forated Lichen [uncialin) grew another kind
much resembhng it, but as thick as the
nnger, snovz-white, and with more copious
and dense entangled branches, which, not
having been hitherto described, I denomi-
nated Coralloides ramosissimiwi perfora-
tum, ramis implexis, niveum f. There was
also an elegant cup-moss, (L. cocciferus,)
repeatedly proliferous from the centre of
its cups, two or more cups originating to-
gether from one centre, all over of a grey
hue, except the scarlet tubercles M'hich
bordered the uppermost cups. Every
where in the road grew the beforemen-

* From the above description, this is very hkely to
have been the Lichen lysso'ides, Engl. Bot. v. 6.
t. 3 7-i, in its early state, when it has exactly the
appearance Linnjeus mentions.

t By the description and sketch in the manuscript,
this seems a variety of L. ratigijerinus.

WESTBOTHLAND. 85

tloned leafy sulphur-coloured Lichen (ni-
valis ?) in the greatest profusion.

The marshy places abounded with Mus-
ens iectorius^ and Fotytrichnm, intermixed
with abundance of Black Whortle-berries.

Wherever I came 1 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 pin-
cushion.

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-^-.

* I am ignorant what Linnaeus means by this de-
nomination.

f 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.

S6 WESTBOTHLAND.

I observed they had gathered some of
the Water Trefoil {Menyanthes trifoliota),
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, 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 some-
times juniper berries, and when nothing
else can be had, the bark of the juniper
tree ; but to supply the w^ant 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, situ-
ated in the parish of Umoea. 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

WESTBOTHLAND. 87

morning to get to church on Sunday. On
this account they can very seldom attend
divine service, except on fast days, Whit-
sunday, 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 be-
fore 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.
1 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 followmg day.

88 WESTBOTHLAND.

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 be-
tween.

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, t-hat 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 pre-
sumed thai a decoction of this bark, if the
dose were sulliciently large, would have
the same medicinal effects.

WESTBOTIILAND. 89

I wonder no naturalist has classed this
animal with the Mouse tribe, (Mures. Lin-
naeus afterwards called the Order G lires,)
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
beaver 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 gene-
rally 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 in-
sipid, for want of salt.

This young Beaver, which fell under my
examination, was a foot and half long, ex-

90 WESTBOTHLAND.

elusive 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 depress-
ed. 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 intestimim ccEciim
was large, with a very large appendix.
Upon the stomach lay two large cellular
glands, of whose nature and use I am ig-
norant. There were two cutting teeth in
each jaw, of which the upper pair were the

WESTBOTIILAND. 91

shortest, and notched at the summit Hke
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 fiat, 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 haoep or small boat, such as
shall be hereafter described, proceeding
along the western branch of the river of
Umoea ; for the river which takes its name
from that place divides into two branches
near Gresele, two miles from Umoea. One
branch comes from Lycksele, the other, as
I was told, from Sorsele. By the western
branch, as I have just mentioned, we pro-

92 WESTBOTHLAXD.

ceeded 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 ^olus. All along its trans-
lucent 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 ram-
parts 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 iEolus, 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, ^sCalnasholm (the isle ofCalnUs),
&c. Close to the shore were many Cha-

WESTBOTHLAND. Q3i

radrii Hiaticulce (Ringed Plovers) and
Tr'mgcB (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 spe-
cies. 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 inquir-
ing what these birds had done to be so
served, the rower made me remark, on the
most lofty of the fir trees, concave cylin-
ders of wood, closed at top and bottom,
and having an aperture on one side. These
cyhnders are placed on the highest part of
the trees, in order to tempt Wild ducks to
lay their eggs in them, and they are after-
wards 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

94 WESTBOTHLAND-

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 previ-
ously cooked ; neither had it so many
lono'itudinal 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 upward.s 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 {Mci^giis Merganser).

The bill of this bird was long and nar-

WESTBOTHLAND. 95

row, of a blood red, blackish on the upper
edge. Its upper mandible longest, tipped
with a hooked point which rendered it ob-
tuse, and furnished with thirty large teeth
pointing inwards. Lower mandible channel-
led underneath, and furnished with about
forty smallerteeth, likewise pointing inwards.
A triple row of very small teeth was observa-
ble 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 {inemhrana
nictitana)^ which closes the eye as in other
birds. The head is of a grey colour, with
a very long pendulous blackish crest com-
posed 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

96 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

or whitish, with transverse undulated Hnes.
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*.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND.
The river alono: which we had rowed for
the space of almost three miles, and which
had hitherto been easily navigable, now

* On this subject sec Dr. Latham's excellent paper in
the fourth vol . of the Linn. Society's Transactions, p. 90.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

97

threatened us occasionally with interrup-
tion, from small shelves forming cascades,
and at length we came to three of these,
very near each other, which were abso-
lutely 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 val-
leys, so that the devil himself could not
have come up with him.

98 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

See a sketch of this boat annexed.
1

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 [Phiits sijlvestris),
with a smaller proportion of Spruce (P.
A hies), and Birch. Now and then some
i^oplars are to be seen. The shrubs are

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 99

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^),
four kinds of Vacciniurn, Linnaa-f, Pyrola
pyrifolia (P. secunda), Epilobium, Golden
rod (Solidago Virga a urea), Empetrum in
flower, Dandelion, Convallaria hifolia.
Sweet grass (Holcus odor at us) in flower.
Small smooth Rush (Juncus Jiliformis),
Jointed water Rush (J. articulatiis), Water
Horse-tail {Hippuris vulgaris), Marsh Ma-
rigold {Caltha palustris), a Mnium not in
fructification, four species of Lycopodium,
Andromeda polifolia%. Milfoil (Achillea
Millefolium), and Small Sorrel (Rumex
Acetosella).

The birds I remarked were the Ringed

* The manuscript mentions t>oth Erica and Tetralix,
yet the latter is not in the Flora Lapponica, nor is it
common in Sweden.

t This name occurs here for the first time in the
manuscript.

I Th.e original is Daphne as above ; see p* j?3^
H ^

100 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

Plover {Charadrius Hiaticula), the Red-
wing (Tiirdus iliacus), the Lumme {Co-
lymhus arcticus)^ the Tufted Duck (A?ias
Fidigula),

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 it-
self. 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.

Tile adjoining mountain consists of a

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 101

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 consider-
able 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 kind-
ness. They at first advised me to stay
with them till the next fast day, the Lap-
landers 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.

102f LTCKSEtE LAPLAND.

I here learned the manner in which the
Laplanders prepare a kind of cheese or curd,
fj'om the milk of the reindeer and the
leaves of Sorrel (Rumex Acetom). 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 consistence 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 sum-
mer, in wooden vessels, or in the first sto-
mach 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 LemmuH).

Near the shore at Lycksele I observed
vast shoals oF those small fishes called the
Glirr (Cyprimis Aphya), each about an
inch and half long, and two lines broad.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

103

In this place I made a description and
sketches of the whole caparison of a rein-
deer, with the stick used by the Laplanders
in driving that useful animal.

1 b

104 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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, encom-
passed with several smaller rings of the
same metal, b b h, which serve to make a
rattling noise to urge the reindeer occa-
sionally 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, em-
broidered 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.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

105

106 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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
nnd as thick as a child's finger, covered
with the beforementioned kind of red lea-
ther, and terminated by a tuft of various-
coloured list. At the opposite angles, e c,
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.

tYCKSELE LAPLAND. 107

4^

108 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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 em-
broidered with tin foil, each of them ter-
minating 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 toge-

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 109

C

110 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

ther 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 di-
vided into broad navigable spaces, inter-
rupted 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 al-
most to a reddish or saffron hue. On my
inquiring what kind of herbs most abound^
ed in these pastures, the people gave me a
description of one which I judged to be a
Mclampijrum, and on my drawing a sketch

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. Ill

of that kind of plant, they assured me it
was what they meant, which is very plenti-
ful in their forests, and is called Kowall*.

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 when-
ever it rained the cons-re nation 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 ani-

* Linnaeus has mentioned this circumstance in hii
Flora LapponicQ) n. 240, where he confounds Me-
lampyrum pratense and sylvaticum together as one
species.

112 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

mals. 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 degTee alle-
viated 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 Nilv Vomica,
and was cured ; but even this powerful re-
medy 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*.

* Linnoeus writes as if he did not absolutely disbe-
lieve 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 sto-
mach and bowels, not uncommon in a more luxuri-
ous 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 dread-

IyCKSELE LAPLAND. IIS

May 31.

Divine service being over, I left Lyck-
sele 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 Lap-
mark. They chiefly occur on the common
between Granoen 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

ful 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.

I

114 LYCK5KLE LAPLAND.

follow the herd, they are immediately
killed.

Several parts of Lapmark are inhabited
by colonists from Finland, who, by royal
license, taking up their abode here, break
up the soil into corn and pasture lands*.
They pay a certain tribute to the crown,
and are thenceforth free of all extraor-
dinary taxes, as well as the native Lap-
landers, 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 bur-
thened with no taxes. These Finlanders
are permitted to fix in any part of Lap-
land in which they find a probability of
cultivating the ground to advantage, so
that there is no doubt but most part of
Lapmark will in time become colonized
and filled with vilkiges.

At Easter, Whitsuntide and Christmas,
as well as on the four annual festivals by

* These colonists (novaccolce) are often mentioned
in ihe Flora Lappo7iica.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 115

law established, the Laplanders and colo-
nists usually attend div ine 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 inter-
mediate 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 con-
stitutes 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
I 2

116 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

sprung up in abundance, and wherever the
Birch abounded, the pasture ground was
of the best quahty.

At Flaskesele I found Riibiis alpinus re-
peiks (R. saxatilis), Triejitalis, Aconitum
li/coctonumy Ulmaria (Spircea), Podagraria
tcnuifoUa sterilia (probably Angelica syU
vest?-is)y PoJypodium Dri/opferis, Thymelcea
of the old writers {Daphne Mezereurn),
Herb Christopher (Actcea spicata), and
Juniper {Juniperus communis) ; also Xz-
chenoides with a greyish white crust and
flesh-coloured tubercles, growing in watery
places {Lichen ericetor um), and another
on stones with black tubercles. A yellow
species with a leafy crust grew on the Ju-
niper {L. juni per inus).

I remarked here water abounding with
a red ochraceous sediment like arnotto
{Bixa Orellana), such as I had before seen
further south. It was chiefly in the bogs
near Flaskesele water-fall that this ochre was
to be found, and it stained the footsteps of

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 117

passengers who passed over it. The colo-
nists use it to paint their window- frames
red-

The eatable moss of Norway {Lichen
istandicus) 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 Hypohucos), 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

118 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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 {Colymhus
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 sur-
face of the water.

In the force or water-fall of Gransele are
thirteen small islands.

I noticed on both sides of the river se-
veral summer huts of the Laplanders, in
which they reside, for a short time toge^
ther, during that season. A Laplander
never remains more than a week on one

LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

119

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

d

120

LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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
ceilipg 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 i^s

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 121

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
Red-wing (Turdiis iliacus). On the north
side of the forest large pieces of ice still re-
mained unmelted near the shore.

The bark of the birch is extremely use-
ful 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 Horse-
tail (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 tlie neighbouring marsh or moss
the greater part of the herbage consisted

122 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

oi Juncellus aquaticus*, which now bore its
diminutive blossoms. I found ihree sta-
mens 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.

June I.

We pursued our journey by water with
considerable labour and diflficulty 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 tempe-
rature of the air being rather cold. The

* It must surely be the Scirpus ccespitosus oi which
Linnaeus here speaks.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 123

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 di-
spatched my fellow-traveller to a fourth hut,
at some distance, to see if he could find
any person fit for my purpose, and I be-
took myself to the contemplation of the
wild scenes of Nature around me.

The soil here was extremely sterile, con-
sisting of barren sand [Arena Glarea)
without any large stones or rocks, which

124 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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 pro-
ducing the finest timber I ever beheld.
The ground was clothed with Ling, Red
Whortle-berries (Vaccinium Vitis Idaa),
and mosses. In such parts as were rather
low grew smaller firs, amongst abundance
of birch, the ground there also producing
Red Whortle-berries, as well as the com-
mon black kind {Vaccinium Myrtillus)^
with PoJijtrichum (comminie). 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 him-
self, and shall now describe the huts in
which his subjects the Laplanders con-
trive to resist the rigours of their native
climate.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

125

The Kodda, or hut, is formed of double
timbers, lying one upon another, and has
mostly six sides, rarely but four. It is sup-

ported 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

126 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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 sus-
pended 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
clear cold springs.

The inhabitants sleep quite naked on
skins of reindeer, spread over a layer of
branches of Dwarf Birch [Betiila 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

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 12?

course of the summer, they cannot procure
fresh water, and are necessitated to drink
the warm sea water, they are infaUibly tor-
mented with griping pains, with strong
spasms in the region of the stomach, and
pain in the lower part of the abdomen, ac-
companied with bloody urine. This is a
species of colic, and is called iillem. It
generally lasts but one day, rarely two.
The same thing happens if they drink be-
fore they have broke their fast in a morn-
ing.

Every where 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 farther back, which very

128 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

rarely afford any milk. There are no cut-
ting 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 Lapmark 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 Granoen, a place
eight miles distant. They had built them-
selves 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, aftep

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 129

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 to-
gether. From them is afterwards pro-
cured, by boiling, an unctuous substance,
into which they dip their fishing-nets, hav-
ing first dyed or tanned them with birch
bark, in order to make them more durable.
The spawn of the fish is dried, and after-
wards used in bread, dumplings, and what
is called välling (a sort of gruel made by
boiling flour or oatmeal in milk or water).
The livers are thrown away, being sup-
posed 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 Lap»

K

130 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

lander, 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 him-
self 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 per-
sonage to be sacred, and altogether infalli-
ble, like the oracles of Apollo. He reve-
rences his king as a divinity, and is firmly
of opinion that if he M^ere informed of the
above grievance it would no longer be suf-
fered to exist.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 131

June 2.

The forest here was full of the noblest
pine trees, growing to no purpose with re-
spect 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 Lap-
landers 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 ac-
cess to moist meadows affording good hay,
which they themselves do not want, their
herds of reindeer preferring the driest pas-
tures. They expect in return that the co-
lonists should supply them with milk and
flour.

Ovid's description of the silver age is
still applicable to the native inhabitants of
K 2

132 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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 boun-
daries. 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 em-
ployed 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*.

The dress of these Laplanders is as
follows.

On the head they wear a small cap, like
those used at my native place of Stenbro-
hult, made with eight seams covered with

* When Linnaeus 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 de-
scribing.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 133

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, sepa-
rating them, while fresh, with their teeth,
into slender strings, which they twist to-
gether. A kind of cord is also made of
the roots of spruce fir.

134 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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 Umoea 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 ge-
neral 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 Umoea.

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

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 135

this place had killed his daughter to pre-
vent his son-in-law from inheriting his pro-
perty.

A tree close to one of the tents was adorn-
ed with more than a dozen pair of horns
of the male reindeer, or Brunren. When
castrated, the same animal is called Hen
oxe. The female is denominated Kialfja'

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 back-
ward, 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, hav-

136 LYCKSELE LAPLAND,

ing from two to five divisions pointing up*»
ward (a). At the projecting part in the
middle of the horn is a httle short simple
branch (b). The summit is palmate, hav-
ing 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, p. 127> 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
oth(M's rheumatic com})laints in the back,
which descend down the hips and legs,

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 137

leaving the part first attacked. These
complaints happen in summer as well as in
winter.

We continued our course up the river
of Umoea. 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 mat-
ter.

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 Whortle-berries (Fac-
cinium Vitis Idcea) were here of a larger
size than in the country lower down ; but
Juniper on the contrary was very diminu-

138 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

tive, and grew mostly in fens or watery
places. The Crake berries (Empetrum
nigrum) were as large as the Black Bil-
berry. Close to a waterfall in Juita Ro-
too^viek or Rootforsen, in a marsh on the
right hand, I found Herb Paris (Paris
quadrifolia), Aconitum lycoctonum and
Thalictrum (jiavum). But what most sur-
prised and pleased me was the little round-
leaved Yellow Violet, with a branched stem,
and narrow, smooth, not bearded, petals,
described by Morison, which had not be-
fore been observed in Sweden {Viola
biflora).

Several kinds of Willows grew every
where 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 Lap-
landers remove with them from place to
place. Each hut is formed with three poles,
forked at the top. Under the shelter of

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 159

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, rivu-
lets 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 (Bctula nana) entangled
our legs.

I could not help remarking that all the
fibres of the full-grown pine trees seemed

140 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

to be obliquely twisted, and in a contrary
direction to the diurnal motion of the sun.
J leave this to the consideration of the cu-
rious physiologist; whether it may arise
from any thing in the soil or air, or from
any polar attraction*.

Some of these pines bore tufted or fas-
ciculated branches near their summits, like
those before mentioned, p. 7-

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

* It may seem presumptuous to attempt the solution
of a question which Linnaeus 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.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 141

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 brit-
tle kind.

We had next to pass a marshy tract, al-
most entirely under water, for the course
of a mile, nor is it easy to conceive the dif-
ficulties 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 wa-
ter, as the frostj in some places, still re-
mained 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

142 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

that I escaped with hfe, 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 Lap-
lander who owns this tract consists chiefly
of marshes, here called stygx. A divine
could never describe a place of future pu-
nishment 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 Lapmark, not knowing where we
went.

A man who lived nearest to the forlorn

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 143

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 httle 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 ex-
tremity before. I could not help pitying
them.

A marsh called Lychnyran (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.

144 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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 appear-
ance was such that at first I did not know
whether I beheld a man or a woman. I
scarcely believe that any poetical descrip-
tion 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 fiat red cap.'
She had a grey petticoat ; and from her

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 145

neckj 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 habita-
tions we have, and with how much diffi-
culty 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 re-
turn the way I came.

" Nay, man," said she, " thou hast only

L

146 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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
liaving for a long time tasted any boiled

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 147

meat ; by drinking a great quantity of
water, as nothing else was to be had ; and
by eating nothing but fish, unsalted and
crawUng with vermin, I must have perished
but for a piece of dried and salted rein-
deer's flesh, given me by my kind hostess
the clergyman's wife at Lycksele. This
food, however, without bread, proved un-
wholesome 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 any thing 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 mag-
gots, 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 oflf."
L 2

148

LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

" 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 pro-

A B

LYCKSELE LAPLAXD. 149

jecting- 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 country-
women, was destitute of any such gar-
ment. 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.

150 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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
ccEspitosus) 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 form-
ing meadows out of bogs. It is also the
basis of all the most remarkable floating
islands*.

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 fea-
thers on the shoulders. Their tails were
of a darkish hue-j ■.

* In the Flora Suecica, and Amcen. Acad. v. 1.511,
these properties are attributed to the Schoenus Mariscus,
which Scheuchzer in his Agrostographia, p. 377»
assures us forms the floating islands near Tivoli.

t These birds had partly acquired their summer
plumage.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 351

I noticed the Agaric of the Spruce Fir
(Agaricus Fl. Lapp. n. 517)? a A^it sessile
species, which is the chief remedy used by
the Laplanders against gnats, bv smok-
ing 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 Lap-
landers lay small piles of this fungus, every
morning and evening, upon the fire in their
huts, by which means only they are ena-
bled to sleep at their ease.

I was also shown the Agaric of the Wil-
low (Boletus suaveolens Fl. Lapp. n. 522),
which has a very fragrant scent. The peo-
ple assured me it was formerly the fashion
for yoiing men, when going to visit their
mistresses, to use this fungus as a perfume,
in order to render themselves more agree-
able*.

* I must here present, the English reader with a

152 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

The Cloudberry {Rubus C/iamcemorns)
abounded hereabouts, and was now in
bloom. The petals varied in number from
four to seven. I observed this plant blos-
soming equally well on the most lofty
mountains, as was also the case with the
Crake berry [Empettmm nigrum).

I again met with the hemipterous insect
mentioned p. 31, 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

passage on this subject from the Flora Lapponica.
" Tlie 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 olher 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 thea-
trical exhibitions : here you are satisfied with a little
withered funsrus !"

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 153

the Lapland huts. The last-mentioned in-
sect smells like rue. See figure.

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

Jime 4.

Adjoining to a hut I remarked some
round pieces, apparently of a sort of nap-
ped cloth, as black as pitch. Not being
able to imagine what they could be, I was
informed they were the stomachs or ren-
net-bags of the reindeer turned inside out,
for the purpose of preserving the milk of
that animal in a dry state till winter. Be-
fore 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
(Rumej: Acetosa) with the milk which they
preserve for winter use.

154 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

I wondered, indeed I more than won-
dered, 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 prac-
tised 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 lea-
ther cradles, without any thing like swad-
dling-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 in-
tense cold.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 155

The winter huts, capable of being re-
moved 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
Xio 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

156 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

the situation, what could be obtained from
them would not pay for the trouble. But'
as no place in the whole Swedish territories
can aftbrd 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 Kanunculus, 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. ^31. 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 Bi/ssus, had here
possessed itself of the tops of the Bog-
moss (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
Sp/iag7uim. [TAchen ericetor am. See FL
Lapp, n. 455.)

It is remarkable that the Juniper here

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. ] O?

always grows in watery places. The ber-
ries are scantily produced, nor are the
people of the country at all acquainted
with the method of making a spiritous li-
quor 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*, but they thought the scheme
impracticable ; nor could they conceive it
possible to obtain any thing drinkable from
the sap of the birch. They seemed deter-
mined 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 burthen-
some and oppressive, as they are in general
obliged to pass the river at the hazard of
their lives. The water at that season is

* Linnaeus's words are " to wash down the water."

lo8 LYCKSELE LAPLANU.

neither sufficiently frozen to bear them,
nor open enough to be navigated ; so they
are under the necessity of wading fre-
quently up to their arms, and are half
dead with cold and fatigue by the time
they get to church. They must either un-
dergo this hardship, or be fined ten silver
dollars and do penance for three Sundays ;
which surely is too severe*.

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

* This is no new instance of contrariety between
the tyranny of riian and the gospel of Christ, whose
*' yoke is easy and his burthen light." If these in-
nocent people were to complain of it to their spiritual
guides, they might be told, as on another occasion,
seep. 130. 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
]e3s indispensable an atonement than the penance. —
Pity that such tractable sheep should not be better
worth shearing !

LYCKSELE LAPLaND. 159

growth, and their hairiness the more con-
spicuous ; but it is a mere variety.

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

On the banks of the river, where frag-
ments are to be found of all the produc-
tions of the mountains, I met with silver
ore.

The insects which fell under my observa-
tion this day were the great Black Humble-
bee (Apis terrestris), the Wasp, the Gnat
(Culex pipie?is), 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 papi-
lionaceous structure. The tip of the stand-
ard, as well as of the keel, which was
cloven, had a purplish hue. The whole

160 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

habit of the plant showed it to be an
Astragalus {A. alpinus Fl. Lapp, n. 267-
t. 9'f' !•)? which was confirmed bj 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 in-
deed 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 Lavarctus) five palms in length,
which is an unusual size. This fish is
remarkable for spawning near Lycksele
church about Michaelmas, but in the alps

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. l6l

at Christmas, advancing gradually up the
river between those two periods after pair-
ing.

The small Gwiniad [Salmo Alhula) pairs
under the ice at this place about Christmas.
In Smoland it pairs at Michaelmas.

Reindeer milk is excellent for making
cheese, a pail of about three quarts yield-
ing 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 fila-
mentous 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

l62 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

food through the deep snow that covers it,
and by which it is protected from the se-
vere frosts.

The reindeer feeds also on frogs, snakes,
and even on the Lemming or Mountain Rat
{Mils Lemmiis), often pursuing the latter
to so great a distance as not to find his way
back again. This happened in several in-
stances 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 fish-
ing 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

LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

165

away, and be allowed to fish in these up-
per regions, which have no communication
■with the sea shore, and this without pay-
ing 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 unfre-
quented desert, and therefore we are robbed
with impunity. We can never believe that

164 LYCKSELE LAPLAXD.

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 em-
ployed in schools, or any other station,
where they are more at hand to solicit pre-
ferment. 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

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 105

Other prospect than still to remain in ob-
scurity, even his great merit not being
likely to procure him any further advance-
ment.

In the forests of this neighbourhood good
pasturage is now and then to be found, but
the corn-fields and meadows are poor, espe-
cially the former. After the marshes have
been mowed one season, or at most two,
they produce no more grass. The Bog-
moss (Sphagnum) overruns them, and
renders them barren. Surely this extensive
country might be as well cultivated as
Helsingland, which is equally mountainous,
and in other respects less fit for improve-
ment 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, w^ere
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 conse-
quence of it ; on the contrary, the whole
was dried up and barren. This arises from

l66 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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 pro-
duced. 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 (Arefia 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 im-
proved 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 Scania, Buck-wheat (Pohjgonwu
Fagopyrum) is sown on a sandy soil, but
here the climate is too severe. Yet per-
haps some other plant might be found to
cultivate even here. It would be very d^

LYCKSr. LC LAPLAND. 1 6'7

sirable to discover some means of eradi-
cating the Bog-moss.

The reason why the marshes prove bar-
ren, after the grass has been mown, is easily
explained by considering the nature of the
rushy plants, whose roots extend them-
selves 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 here-
abouts had not built a score of small houses,
lofty enough at least to be entered in an up-
right posture, as they have such abundance
of wood at hand. On my expressing my
surprise at this, they answered : " In sum-
mer we are in one spot, in vrinter at an-
other, 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 fish-

l68 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

ing 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 do-
mestic 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 Gido), Squir-
rels, Martins, Bears or Beavers, in short
any thing 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 fa-
mily consists of four persons, including

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 16.9

himself, when he has do 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 sin<»:le ox is sufficient for a Swe-
dish peasant.

The peasants settled in this neighbour-
hood, 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.

170 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

The Laplanders dye their wool red
chiefly with the Blood-root or Tormentil,
Torment ilia erect a, A red colour is given
to their leather by means of fir bark. The
men w^ear a kind of trowsers which reach
down to their feet, and are tied round their
half boots, so as to keep out water. They
wear no shirt nor stockino;s. The waist-
band is fastened by thongs, not buttons.

As to the diseases of these people, I was
informed here that fevers are very rare in-
deed, and that the smallpox is also of un-
frequent 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
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

LYCKSELE LAPLA^^r). 171

a specific ; but it is a very fallacious one.
For the headache a small bit of the afore-
said 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 M(Kra of the Lap-
landers. In case of a prolapsus uvulce they
cut oW 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 Bioernstut 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 (Poli/trichinn com-
mune) 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

172 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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 ne-
vertheless 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 comforta-
ble. I have often made use of it with ad-
miration ; and if any writer had published
a description of this simple contrivance,
which necessity has taught the Laplanders,
I should almost imagine that our counter-
panes 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 re-
stored by a little moisture.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 173

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 in-
crusted 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 hap-
pens is a considerable detriment to those
whose pasture grounds are overflowed by
it. Their mode of judging is by the swell-
ing of the stream in winter, to which they

174 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

observe that in the ensuing summer always
to bear a proportion.

The colonists settled in Lapmark 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 GrUno I met with perfectly white
flowers of the Dog's Violet (J iola canina):
also Bistorta alpina soboUfera, or more
properly perhaps vivipara (Polygonum vi-
viparum), as the bulbs had grown out into
small leaves.

Rain fell in the night, accompanied with
thunder and lio-htnina;.

June 7-

Early in the morning I left GrUno, and

in passing through the forest observed on

tlie Jimipcr magnificent specimens of that

gelatinous substance, about which and its

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 175

heroic virtues in curing the jaundice so
much has been said*. I picked up a curi-
ous insect which I then named Cantharis
riiger maculatus et uudulatus {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 mis-
taken, it is what Professor Rudbeck called
Pica Lapponum. I could only examine
it through my spying-glass, but I perceived

* Tremellu juniperina of Linnaeus, T. Salince of
Dickson: see English Botany, v. 10. /. 710, which
I am persuaded is merely an exudation from the shrub
that bears it.

176 LYCKSELE LATLAND.

all the characters of a Tardus, so that I do
not scruple to define it Turdus caudå, rubra
ttiedio cinereå. It had moreover the flight
and voice of a Turdus, screaming in the
same manner. Towards evenino- I noticed

o

a black sort of Plover, with legs of a yel-
lowish 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 manu-
script. The bill was not toothed.

Towards evening I reached Stocknas-
mark and lamtboht, where grew the pretty
little Canieraria of Ruppius and Dillenius
(Moiiiia fontana), a plant that had never
fallen in my way before. In Källheden it
was peculiarly abundant, and afterwards I
found it common throughout Westbothnia.
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.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 177

The fungus used for this purpose is an
Asraric with a bulbous stalk and crimson
cap {A. integer (2, Sp. PL).

In the huts I observed suspended over
the tables two tails of the great female
Wood Grous (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 neigh-
bourhood. About the water were several
Ephemera. 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.

178 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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 1 have referred it to Satyrium
(5. viride). It connects that genus with
the real Orchides with palmate bulbs*.

I remarked that all the women here-
abouts feed their infants by means of a
horn, nor do they take the trouble of boil-
ing 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
Umoea. Large flies like gnats with great

* The more correct characters, founded by Haller
and Swartz on the anthers, reduce this plant very
successfully to the genus Orckis, with Satyrium
hircinum likewise.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 179

black wings were flying about in the air,
which I had before taken^ May 27, for
some species of Mmca ; but their pecuhar
flight now gave me another opinion, which
was strengthened by the form of their
poisers (lialteres) and the round entire
figure of their wings. (Empis horealis).
Here I found a curious Ladybird (Cocci-
nella 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 foli-
age ; the grass was very dry, and about
a quarter (of an ell?) high.

It is a general practice throughout Lap-
land in the autumn to set traps in the more
unfrequented parts of the woods to catch
the Wood Grous (Urogalius). Some of
these traps were still remaining, but I
could never properly observe their con-
struction till I met with one in the course.
N 2

180 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

of this day's journey. This machine con-
sists 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 other-
wise touches the splinter, the latter falls
down, and the bird is caught.

yyA-^/yy^^y'///^^^2T^ry^'rT^mii^

This being a day of public thanksgiving,
I remained at Umoea.

Agues are very uncommon in this coun-
try, but St. Anthony's fire seems to be pro-

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 181

portionably more frequent, insomuch that
every body complains of being troubled
with it. At Upsal 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 Umoea, 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 Folijiiichum,
with a branched stem bearing flowers in
the form of shields. (Milium fontanwn
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

182 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

thence the main stem (b) grows perpendi-
cularly to the height of an inch, of a pur-
ple colour, clothed with ovate, acute, mem-
branous, whitish scales, each half em-
bracing 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), com-
posed of six scales, of which the three
lower are opposite and shortest ; the three
upper larger, ovate, pointed, somewhat

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 135

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 ru-
diments 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 I^olytrichum, 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 simi-
lar 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 åoldiers.
5

184

LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

2. This moss (Bartramia font ana, 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 pface, this is a
fruit-bearing kind, having purple stalks

LYCKS£LE LAPLAND. 185

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 {Bri/icm hiinum FL Brit.
Engl. Bot. 1. 1518.) whose stem and leaves
partake of a blood-red hue. The latter are
regularly and alternately imbricated, ob-
long, 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 there-
fore is the male, and No. 4 the female,
both found on the same plant*. The latter

* Here we find the Hedwiglan theory of the fructi-
fication of mosses forestalled by the good sense and
accurate observation of Linnasus, though out of re-
spect for Dillenius he soon after adopted the erroneous
opinion of the latter, making what is really the male
the female, and vice versa. See Transactions of the
Linnaean Society, v. 7. 253. Not being able to in-
vestigate every point of systematical and physiological

186 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

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

botany thoroughly himself, he, with amiable defe-
rence, often trusted to those who had more particularly
studied certain subjects.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 187

nana, which are printed in a more finished
state in the Flora Lapponka, ed. 2. I70
and 274.)

June 11.

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

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 be-
fore 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 advan-
cing summer*.

* LinnEBLis, in the Amoenitates AcademiccB, says the
Swedish summer is in its highest beauty when " the
fresh shoots of the fir illuminate the woods.'*

18S LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

Chamcedaphne 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 compari-
son with this lovely blossom. As I con-
templated it I could not help thinking of
Andromeda as described by the poets ;
and the more I meditated upon their de-
scriptions, 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 per-
fection only so long as she retains her vir-
gin purity, which is also applicable to the
plant, now preparing to celebrate its nup-

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 189

tials. 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 rep-
tiles frequent the abode of her vegetable pro-
totype, 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 aw^ay. Hence, as this plant
forms a new genus, I have chosen for it
the name oi Andromeda^ .

Every where near the road grew the
Mesomora or Herbaceous Cornel (Cornns

* Linnseus 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 thea
carries her head (the capsule) erect."

190 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

suecica, very minutely described in FL
Lapp, ed, 2. 39- See also English Botany,
V. 5. L 510.).

All the little woods and copses by the
road side abounded with Butterflies of the
Fritillary tribe, without silver spots. The
great Dragon Fly with two flat lobes at its
tail {Lihellula forcipata), and another spe-
cies with blue wings (L. Virgo), were also
common.

Various modes of rocking children in
cradles are adopted in different places. In
Smoland the cradle is suspended by an
elastic pole, on which it swings up and
down perpendicularly. The poorer Lap-
landers rock their infants on branches of
trees, but those of superior rank have cra-
dles 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.

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. IQl

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 arrange-
ment of quadrupeds*.

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 Hair-
moss, Poli/frichum, 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 increas-
ing evil, and that it had formerly been
more productive than at present. Indeed

* Here the Linnaean system of Mammalia seems
first to have occurred to the mind of its author.

192 LYCKSELE LAPLAND.

some of these tumps M^ere so close together
that no grass had room to grow between
them. If ihe cause of this evil, and a cure
for it, could be discovered, the husband-
man would have reason to rejoice. Where-
ever 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.
1 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 blueish wings. Its mouth armed with
a pair of toothed forceps. Thorax hairy,
with several smooth spots interspersed.
Abdomen depressed, ovate, rough at the

LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 193

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 he the J'enthredo lacorum^
a species not preserved in the Linnsean
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. {Plialcena antiqua.)

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

194 PITHOEA.

A black Tipula was running over the
water, and turning round like a Gyrhius 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 Elastic us, [Elater, probably the
ceneus,) ot a golden black, with striated cases
to the wings, and geniculated antennee.

A reddish Ccmtharis, with black anten-
nae, and light grey cases to the wings.

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

PITHOEA.

June 13.

A VERY bright and calm day. The
great Myrgiolingen * was flying in the
marshes.

* What this word expresses I am unable to deter-
mine.

piTnoEA. 195

The country here is rather flat, yet now
and then considerable hills present them-
selves, not A'^ery high indeed, but abound-
ing in steep declivities. The stones about
these hills Mere variegated, and as if in-
laid, 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
Hogmarkboerget.

At the post-houses of Gremers-mark 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 moun-
tain ; but the peasants of the neighbour-
hood, in consequence of the threats of the
burghers of Umoea, were deterred from
giving him proper directions, and put him
on a wrong scent. They kepi this stranger
o 2

196 PITHOEA.

from the knowledge of Hans Person, a pea-
sant at Webomark, who would have con-
ducted him right. The father of this Hans
was the first discoverer of the mountain in
question, and undertook a journey to Stock-
holm with a small barrel of the ore ; but
before he set off, his neighbours made him
drunk, and took out the proper ore, re-
placing it in his barrel with lumps of
granite. His son is now at all times ready
to show the mountain to any one who in-
quires for it, and I had some thoughts of
going to find out this man, though his re-
sidence was far out of my road. Learning
however that he was not now at home, but
employed somewhere at a distance in build-
ing or repairing a bridge, I thought it use-
less 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 prepara-
tion of milk called Satmiolk, by some people
T'dtmiolk. In the neighbourhood grows the

PITHOEA. 197

plant called Tcitgrass, 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 pre-
serve 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 ingre-
dient 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 them-
selves 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.

198 PITHOEA.

A square beam (a) is placed perpendicu-
larly, 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 ex-
tremity 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 like^
wise by a joint at its base, in order to be
tilevated more or less at pleasure. The ad-
vantages of this contrivance are many.

PITHOEA. 199

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

2, here is no waste, for iron may be em-
ployed to more important purposes.

3, this is capable of being raised higher or
lower according; as the heioht of the fire
may require, which an iron trivet can-
not.

4, the iron trivet is troublesome to move
about, which this machine does not re-
quire.

5, w^hen 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

200 PITHOEA.

been the preceding year. Owing to this
misfortune, I found bread made of spruce
fir bark at present in general use. The
Buckbean [Meny ant lies trifoUata) is very
seldom used, on account of its bitterness*.

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 Notonectce (Boat-
flies), no bigger than nits (N. minut issima);

* Linnaeus 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 ex-
tremely 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 rela-
tion our common Arum, and the Jairopha Manihot,
or Casava, of the West Indies.

PITHOEA. 201

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 lit-
toralis.) There were also abundance of
Ephemerce (May-flies), all which had two
prominent fore feet, and three bristles at
the tail. I caught several, thus render-
ing their transient existence still shorter.
They were of two species, one larger, of a
blackish hue, with dark clouded wings
(E. vidgata) ; 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 eleva-
tion, where the trees and underwood had
lately been burnt down, grew the Straw-
berry-leaved Bramble (Rubus arcticus)
with jagged petals, a remarkable and ele-
gant variety. (See Fl. Lapp. t. ö.f. 2.)

202 PITHOEA.

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, ex-
cept 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 sum-
mer lasts.

The principal subsistence of the inhabi-
tants is derived from selling deals. 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

' PITHOEA. 203

are peculiar to certain countries could see
how abundantly the Birch, the Lapland
Willow, the Strawberry-leaved Bramble,
the Cloud-berry {Rubiis Chamcemorus),
and the Thyme-leaved Bell-flower (LinncEa
borealis) flourish in this district, and how
the Hanunculus acris entirely covers the
pasture lands with its brilliant yellow
flowers.

On arriving at the post-house of Sun-
nanaen, I was gratified with the view of a
fine river, and the wery neat little town of
Skellefteå, 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 in-
formed that every peasant in the parish
had a house of his own in the town, for the
use of his family during festivals*.

* In Tomer's work on the Geography of Sweden
is the following curious account : *' Skellefteå, a parish
consisting of about one hundred and fifty whole farms
(in Swedish hemman)^ and containing four thousand

204 PITHOEA.

Proceeding a little further, I remarked
a steep hill near the road carefully covered
over with boughs of spruce fir. On re-
moving some of these, the ground evidently
appeared to have been broken up, and ap-
parently blasted with gunpowder. This
should seem to have been done by some
one 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

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 pro-
phesied that the day of judgment will come as soon
as this island is entirely washed away. The island
certaiuly diminishes yearly, but every one must judge
for himself as to the probabihty of the prophecy."

PITIIOEA.

205

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 StriT Ulula, the Latin description of
which, made on the spot, is given, some-
what corrected, in the Fauna Suecica ;
but the annexed sketch is too great a cu-
riosity to be suppressed).

206 PITHOEA.

Just as I was about to draw up a de-
scription of this Owl, a little Beetle crept
out of its plumage. It was evidently a
ScarabiEus 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 miirinus.)

Near the road lay a trap to catch Sal-
mon, 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 Dean of Skellefteå told me an anec-
dote of a Laplander who, at the last court
of justice held there, summoned his neigh-

PITHOEA. S07

bour for having twice as much land, with-
out paying any greater share of taxes than
himself. The man summoned was of course
sentenced to pay double what he paid be-
fore. 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 what-
soever. 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 c"

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 main land, and in
others manured the sandy beach with mud.
The weather was fine.

In one marshy spot grew what is proba-

!208 PITHOEÄ.

blj a variety of the Cranberry (Vacciniunt
Oai/coccus), differing only in having ex-
tremely 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, some-
times with more oblong leaves.

The Bilberry (Vacciniiim Myrtillus) pre-
sented itself most commonly with red
flow^ers, more rarely with flesh-coloured
ones. Mi/rica Gale, which I had not be-
fore met with in Westbothnia, grew spar-
ingly in the marshes.

In the evening, a little before the sun
went down, I was assailed by such multi-
tudes of gnats as surpass all imagination.
They seemed to occupy the whole atmo-
sphere, 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

PITHOEA. 209

I grasped at the cloud before me, my
hands were filled with myriads of these in-
sects, all crushed to pieces with a touch,
and by far too minute for description. The
inhabitants call them Knort, or Knott,
{Cukx repta?is, by mistake called Cpu-
licaris in FL Lapp. ed. 2. 382.)

Just at sunset I reached the town of Old
Pithoea, 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 pro-
cured 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
p

210 PITIIOEA.

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 Pithoea, 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 [St?'ii' Bubo)
sitting in a hollow of the rock. Their eyes
sparkled like lire, for the iris in each of

PITIIOEA. 211

them was luminous in itself, like touch-
wood, 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 groMn,
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 sprout-
ing quills. The smaller feathers were un-
derneath 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 co-
loured, lower whitish. The wings and tail
were not yet come to their full growth, but
their quill feathers were blackish, with
roundish red-brown spots. Feet like tliose
p 2

212 PITHOEA,

of a hare, red-brown and downy, with
naked claws. Bill black, the cere or menfi-
brane 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 blueish-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 observa-
tion. The bones called the stapes, inc^is^
&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 re-
moved, 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 re-
markably soft, and scarcely of more con-
sistency than the vitreous humour. The

PITIIOEA. 213

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
blueish black. There were two orifices at
the larger corner of the eye.

On this same mountain grew in abun-
dance a kind of Musens lichenoides of a
greyish black colour, as if scorched or
burnt, different from what authors have
described, being more coriaceous and
greenish, while that is black and brittle,
almost like burnt paper, and smooth un-
derneath ; whereas the plant I here ob-
served 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./. 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

214 PITHOEA.

given the name of Piuus nodosa. These
knots consist of innumerable httle plates,
looking as if all the buds had been cut
short, and platted together. In the inside
is lodged a great mass of very small ob-
long insects, or rather eggs.

June 17-
Althouoh I walked about a sjood deal,
and was not inattentive to what came in
mj way, I met with nothing peculiarly
worthy of notice. On the grass I fre-
quently observed that substance like saliva,
which the common people call Frog-spittle,
and which envelops a little pale flesh-co-
loured insect like a small Grasshopper.
This insect, though not arrived at maturity,
moved in some degree, and showed suffi-
cient signs of the family to which it be-
longed, though it was not yet old enough
to cut capers. I removed the frothy mois-
ture from some of these insects, and on re-
turning to them in the course of an hour,
I found them covered as before; a proof

PTTUOEA. 215

of the origin of the froth, which is pro-
duced by the animal for the purpose of
protecting its tender skin against the vio-
lent heat of the sun.

Whilst I was busied in these observa-
tions, 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. Hie pauper cornua sumit^. 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 extra-
ordinary agitation, and prompted such ex-
ertions as neither the whip nor the fear of
immediate death could occasion, I disco-
vered it to be an insect which I had already

* " Here the poor takes up horns," Alluding to
Horace's " addis cornua panperi."

216 PITHOEA.

met with lower down in the country, and
which is no other than an Oestrus or Gad-
fly, (Asiliis crabroniformis). Our Natural
Historians confound the Oestrus with the
Tahamis, which are as distinct from each
other as a hare from a bear*. Cattle in-
deed are as much incommoded by the
fronts (Tahanus hovinus) as by the very
worst of the Fly or Musca tribe, to which
the Tahanus certainly belongs ; but by the
Oestrus (Asilus) they are frightened out of

* By this comparison, and the subsequent allusion
to an Ichneumon and a Hornet, Linnaeus at the pre-
sent period appears to have taken this Asilus for one
of the hymenopterous order, and he even calls it an
Ichneumon in Act. Upsal. 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 au-
thority of the country people, but is omitted in the
second, probably because Linnaeus 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 ruiuiing into cool damp places, which it dislikes to
frequent.

PITIIOEA. 217

their wits. This insect does not fix itself
on the body of the animal, but on the feet,
between the larg-er 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 re-
sembles a Hornet, being of a yellowish co-
lour, with a small sharp point at its tail
curved forwards. See the figure and de-
scription 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

218 PITHOEA.

specks or clouds, I was rather inclined to
say the child had a gut t a serena, 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, M'hen 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 sup-
posed to be dying, but afterwards recover-
ed, and whose eyes were affected with
similar convulsions. Mine illcc lachnimce ;
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

PITIIOEA. 219

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, ex-
cept perhaps glasses, cut in a peculiar man-
ner for this express purpose, might help it.
I recommended however that the child's
cradle should be placed with the feet to-
wards 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 any thing becomes pos-
sible 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 after-

jriopn, to the new town of Pithoea, and ex-

220 PITHOEA.

amined 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 Sangui-
sorha) and the Costmary (Tanacetum
Bahamifa). 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 de-
stroyed.

Jime 19-
I set out very early in the morning ori a
sea voyage to explore the natural produc-
tions of the tract called Skargården 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 tlie beach, where the tide often rises

piTnoEA. 221

in winter ten or twelve fathoms, I observed
an Alder thicket now white with little
patches of Trientalis and Mesomora (Tri-
entalis europaa and Cornus suecica), whose
snowy blossoms were a great ornament to
the shore. Ray therefore justly mentions*
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 Graineii miliaceitm
{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 effusiis.
See FL Lapp, n. 117.)

The people hereabouts talked much of
mountains haunted by hobgoblins, parti-
cularly the hill called Svenberget, situated
between new and old Pithoea ; also of seas

* See his Historia Plantanim, v.\. G55, which
Linnaeus here correctly quotes from memory.

222 PITIIOEA.

and fishing-places, where nothing is to be
caught, unless by those who come unex-
pectedly. 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 at-
tributed to invention.

The fishes of this neiohbourhood are the

o

Crusian (Cyprinus Carassiiis), the Miller's
Thumb {Cottiis Gobio), the Bream {Cypri--
nus Brama), the Asp (Cyprimis Aspitis)
called in this part of Lapland Kuroupck,
the Stäm {CyprinuH Gris/agi/ie), the Three-
spined Stickleback {Gasterosteus aciileatus)^
the Laxakel, a species of Trout (can this
be the small or young Salmon, mentioned
in Fauna Suecica n.34i3?), the Rud {Cy~
prinus erytlirophthalmus), and the Holken
(what this last is I know not).

In the island of Longoen, three miles
from Old Pithoea, I was lucky enough to
find, growing under a Spruce Fir, the Coral-
rooted Orchis {Ophnjs coraJlorrliiza^ Eiigh

PITIIOEA. 223

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*.

The root is throughout of the thickness
of a very small quill, white, smooth, fleshy,

* 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 1607^ 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 ray garden.

224 PITHOEA.

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 roM's, 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.

PITHOEA. 225

Ju7ie 20.

This day I examined two nondescript
species of fish, belonging to the genus
Ci/primis. 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, tha'ir ir ides dotted, espe-
cially the upper part, which is moreover
marked with a large verdigrise-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 ob-
Q

22(5

PITHOEA.

scurely cloven. Tail forked, acute, of
eighteen rays, one of which on each side
is very long and simple, the others gra-
dually shorter, twice forked, some of them
still more subdivided. Anal fm of eleven
rays, like those of the dorsal one, the ex-
ternal ones longest, as in that, both fins
appearing forked when unexpanded. Ven-
tral fins of nine rays each, one of them
long and simple, the rest, as in the fore-
going, gradually shorter, the last being
cloven. These fins are not forked when
unexpanded. Brachial (or pectoral) fins
of seventeen rays like those of the forego-
ing, except that each is much shorter than
its preceding neighbour, the ultimate one
being scarcely discernible. Scales in seven-
teen rows on each side, including the dorsal
and ventral rows in each reckoning, other-
wise only fifteen. In the tenth row the
lateral line is marked by a minute ovate-
oblong 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

PITHOEA. 227

rest pale, the ventral ones very slightly
yellowish.

The whole length is two palms and five
lines.

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 fines.

Base of the latter four lines, length eleven.
Q 2

228 PITHOEA.

Length of the head one inch, five lines.

Greatest diameter of the body one inch,
five hnes.

The other fish was a smaller Cyprinus^
of a yellowish silvery hue, called at Pithoea
Wimba. (C. Wimha. 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
(Cyprimis Rutihis) in the colours of their
eyes and fins, as well as in being thinner
at the back.

Jime 21.

I took my leave of the old town of
Pithoea, and arrived at the more modern

LULEÅ. 229

one of Luleå. All along by the road side
I remarked the curious manner in M'hich
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 corymhus 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 sel-
dom found on the same shoot.

In the Money-wort (Linncea horealis),
though its flower is, not without reason,
reckoned by every body 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

230 LULEÅ.'

plants. The upper lip therefore is to be
understood as consisting of two lobes, the
lower of three, though all the lobes are
alike*.

The bogs were now white with the tufts
of both kinds of Cotton-grass, the upright
and the pendulous {Eriophorum vagiiiatum
and polystachion). The marshes were
clothed with the white blossoms of Ledum
{palustre). The Dwarf Bramble (Rubus
arcticus) became gradually less abundant.
The forests also were white with the Ti'leii"
talis and Mesomora {Cornus sjiecica), which
began to fade, and the Bilberry (Vaccinium
Myrtillus) was taking their place, along
with the» Melampyinim (sylvaticimi) and
Geranium {sylvaticum). The meadows
were perfectly yellow with the upright
Hanunculus (acris), and some of the corn-
fields were no less so with Brassica cam-
pestris ; but where the Behen {Silene hu

* In this instance the Linnaean system led to a true
knowledge of the natural affinity of the plant, which
one tounded on the corolla would scarcely have done,

LULEÅ. 231

jlata, FL Brit.) was beginning to shoot
forth, the former withered away. The ri-
vulets were white with Menyanthes {tri-
foliata). The Cotton-grass and Willows
now began to scatter their winged seeds.

DISTRICT OF LULEA.

(Here follow, in the manuscript, sketches
of the leaves, with Latin descriptions, of
Salix phifUcifolia /3, pentandra, caprea
and myr tilloides, to be found more com-
plete in the Flora Lapponica.)

Close to the shore, on the right of the
ferry of Gaddewick, is a considerable
spring, named Kail Källa, 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 im-
petuosity, and never freezes in its course to
the river, which is about eighteen ells
distant. No high hill is near, but it springs

232

LULEÅ.

from a swelling bank about two ells in per-
pendicular 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 com-
monly 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 above-
mentioned spring does ochre.

I noticed the following insects.

LULEÅ. 255

1. A large black Capricorn Beetle, varie-
gated with a lighter hue. {Ceramhyx

'^'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 cylindri-
cal, covered towards the thorax with beau-
tiful red lice, (^Acarus coleoptratorum).

2. A minute black fly, with a roundish
body and white wings, [Culex eqidnus).
This infested the horses in infinite mul-
titudes, running under their mane, and
attacking them with great fierceness, be-
ing 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 are whitish,

5234 LULEÅ.

appearing striated near the veins by the
refraction of the sun's rays. The thorax
was hairy, especially underneath. Abdo-
men 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
Elccag?ius. (This was Saliv areiiaria.) 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
Avith snowy woolliness beneath. The lower
scales of the bud nearly smooth above, and
very green. Stem smooth, almost flesh-co-
Joured, or pale brown ; the young branches

LULEÅ. 235

reddish, clothed with white down. (See
Engl BoLv.26. f. 1809.)

Near the new town of Pithoea, close to
the shore, grew the round-leaved Water
Violet {Viola pahistris) with perfectly snow-
white flowers.

The Dwarf-cypress moss {Lycopodium
complanatum) is rather plentiful hereabouts,
and is used for dyeing yarn. For this pur-
pose it is boiled with birch leaves, gathered
at midsummer. It gives a yellow colour
to woollen cloths. On the shore near old
Lulea grew Raminculus minimus parisi->
ensis (R. reptans).

The new town of Lulea is very small, si-
tuated 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.

236' LULEÅ.

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 Lulea,
half a mile distant. Here I met with a cu-
rious kind of grass, which in Smoland is
called KafFa skiaegg, or Old-man's beard :
at Pithoea 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, corn-
fields, meadows, waters and herbage,
evinced a great conformity betwixt this
country and Smoland. Many herbaceous
plants grow here which are not to be found

LULEÅ. 237

in Upland, Sudermannia, Ostro-gothia, nor
Scania, though natives of Sraoland.

In passing over a meadow towards the
water-side I heard somethhig 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 co-
vered 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, ori-
ginally dry, when the water has access to
them, but I had never ascertained the cause
till now. (These shells seem to have been
the Mi/a arenaria, Faun. Suec.ii. 2127-)

The Swammerdamia flies of Swam-
merdam and Lister were flying about here,
as numerous as atoms. I observed an in-

238 LULEÅ.

sect unknown to me, with a yellowish glo-
bular body the size of a lentil. Amongst
the grass were thousands of the most mi-
nute species of Gnat, {Culex pulicaris,)
the males being distinguished by their hairy
foretops (anteiince).

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
w^orld 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 pre-
sent, but where it has been dried up in
consequence of hot weather. Not being,
therefore, able to sustain itself upright, it
must creep, and become^ at the same time

LULEÅ. 239

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 af-
flicted 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*.

June 23.

I went to see the old church of Lulea.
Close by the door I was shown a hole
which the monks had formerly caused to

* Linnaeus perhaps means, that they may have a
pretence to avoid the drudgery of going to church,
through some of the hardships he has already de-
scribed; yet here the church seems to have been
near at hand, and in itself not unentertaining.

240 LULEÅ.

be made in the stone wall. It was per-
fectly 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 con-
trived that, by means of a cord, they could
be lifted up in adoration, as the people
passed by them in entering the church*.

* In Tuneld's Geography, I am told, is the follow-
ing account of this church : " The parish church of
Luleå is regarded as the oldest in Westbothnia, 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."

liULEA. 241

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 be-

R

M2 LtJLEA.

holder. If the summer be indeed shotter
here than in any other part of the world,
it must be allowed, at the same time, to be
no where more dehahtful. 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 Alaternns, or a
laurel. {Saliv pJiylicifolia, Engl. Bot.
t. 1958. FL Lapp. n. 351. t. 8. /. d). It
is remarkable for the undulations, or flex-
ures, between the serratures of the leaf.

The use of milk among the inhabitants
of Westbothnia is very great ; and the fol-
lowing; 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 olosf.

4. Sour milk, deprived of its cream, and
capable of being cut.

5. Sour milk eaten with its cream.

LULEÅ* 243

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 de-
prived of its whey and dried.

9. This whey being boiled, the scum
which rises is repeatedly collected, and
called walk.

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 si/ra.

12. The whey of cheese boiled to a thick
consistence is denominated mesosmör,
and with meal is added to the preceding.
See p. 197.

13. Sötost, 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. Mjölost, Meal Cheese, is milk coagu-

R 2

244 LULEÅ.

lated with rennet, mixed with meal, and
boiled.

15. Tatmj'olk, is fresh milk poured on
leaves of Butterwort, Pi?iguicula, as
already mentioned, p. I96, 197-

16. Servet milk. See Aug. 10.

17. Gos-mjolk. See Aug. 10.

18. Lapmj'olk, is milk mixed with sorrel
leaves, (R. Acetosa,) and preserved till
winter in the stomach of a reindeer, or
some other animal.

] 9- 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.

.Jmie 24.

Midsumm.er 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 herb-
age, and the song of birds !

LULEÅ. 245

I walked out in the morning to botanize,
but met with nothing curious, except
Arisarum of Rivinus {Calla palustrh), the
flower of which is described in my Cha-
racteres 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
Avere 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.

J was told that the cattle grazing on a

546 LULEÅ.

certain declivity at Tornoea die to the
number of two or three hundred in ihe
course of the summer. I must examine
whether the cause of this may not be the
Water Hemlock {Ciciita aquatica).

Could not meadows be freed from their
wart-like tumps by burning? These swell-
ings 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 (pa-
lustre) is laid among corn in the barns, to
drive away mice.

I here obtained some of Nasaphiel's sil-
ver ore, and the curious iron ore of Lulean
Lapmark, called gubbsilf'ver (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 Jockmock, and is called
Rutawari. I procured also from the pa*

LULEÅ. 247

rish of Pithoea some pencil lead, or lead-
like mica (black lead) which blackens the
fingers.

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

June 25.

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

The Subularia, a new Melampyriim*^
and Pedicularh {sylvatica) with a white

* What this was does not appear. M. pratense
and sylvaiicum only have been found in Lapland.

248 LULEÅ.

flower, occurred to me at Sunnerby. The
white bog-moss (Sphagnum palustre) pow-
dered, is applied to excoriations in the skin
of young children. Towards evenmg I
found in a sand-hill a loose kind of sand-
stone containing three per cent of iron.

June 26.

I gathered G ramen paleaceum [Juncus
hiifoniiis), both kinds oiTetrahit (Galeopsis
Tetrahit and G. versicolor, Fl. Brit.),
Geranium {sylvaticum) with a pale white
flower. At Bredacker I noticed the Conyza
(Erigeron unijiorum or JE. acre), the pur-
ple-flowered Millefoil (Achillea Millefo-
Hum), and the Cirsium (Carduus hetero-
phyllus.)

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.

LULEÅ. 249

The natives of the country tan their lea-
ther 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 neigh-

t50 LULEÅ.

bouring forests consist of pine trees inter-
mixed with birch, but the latter tree is
much less abundant here than in Umoean
Lapmark, especially in Siodorne. 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 Westbothnia give
their young children the unripe berries of
this shrub boiled, by way of a laxative or
purge. Ten or twelve are the usual quan-
tity, but the dose varies according to the
age of the patient.

Several kinds of Foxes are found in Lap-
mark. Their fur is more valuable in pror
portion as they come further north.
J . The black is the dearest of all. From
sixty to two hundred dollars of cop-
per money are paid for one of these
skins. People of rank m Russia use
them for hoods or head-dresses. All
their counsellors have caps of black
foxes skin.

LULEÅ. 551

2. Tlie rusty-coloured kind, with grey legs,

sells for sixty dollars.
S. 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 vSting-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, p. 209-

In this part of the country, as in Umoean
Lapmark, are many elevated fields of
barren sand adjoimng to the river, and
sloping towards it, each of them divided

252 LULEÅ.

into quarters by transverse ditches. The
river has washed away one of its banks so
fyr as ire ue tly to form a perpendicular
chfF, exhibiting strata of hght-coloured
barren sand, which must be supposed to
have been deposited there by water, as
they He horizo tally. The neighbouring
alps must have been the original boundaries
of the current, till the quantity of water
decreased. Then tha large river shaped
out its course, leaving several smaller chan-
nels, intersecting what is now the adjacent
plain, with islands between them.

Half way between Svarlå and Harns I
met with the (Pedicularis) Sceptriim Caro-
limim, 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
JRanimcidus, (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

LULEÅ. 253

twelve. Pistils six to twelve. Leaves com-
monly 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
(hycopsis arveihsis), and the woods the most
slender kind of Equisetum (si/lvaticum).
On the river's bank near Laxeden grew the
Sorrel whose leaf is cut away in the middle,
called Acetosa folio in medio deliquium
patieiite, (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 de-
crease. In 16*69 it rose eight feet per-
pendicular more than the present year,
and in I667 it rose stiil 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

^54 LUIIA.

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 Pinguicida,
and every where hereabouts the Least Cot-
ton-rush [Eriophorum alpiniim).

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 pre-
vention.

I was here told of a specific to destroy
House Crickets {Gryllus doinesticus), which
consists of grated carrots mixed with arsenic.
This they eat greedily, and are all infalli-
bly poisoned.

We passed the night in a large sailing-
boat upon the river, in which we had per-
formed the chief part of this day's expedi-
tion.

i

LULÉA. 255

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 Jockmock. This day indeed
we only reached Pajarim*, where we slept
all night in a smoky hut, ventilated merely
by holes in the roof.

I found in the woods' the (Erysimiim)
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 se-
veral places, the under side of which is al-
ways as hard as box-wood, and this part
is used for naves of wheels and the bot-
toms of sledges. Such wood is called
kior.

* The author in his Flora Lapponica, n. 13, men-
tions having found his Pinguicula villosa growing
among Bog-moss, Sphagnum, near this place, and
in no other. This plant is not noticed in the manu-
script Tour,

^56

LULEAN LAPLAND.

Near Storbacken, at the confluence of
the great and small rivers of Lulea, is the
boundary mark between Lapmark and
Westbothnia.

As soon as I entered Lapmark, the hill
which forms a promontory betwixt the two
rivers afforded me the following plants.

The Sorrel lately mentioned (Kum^x
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 flov/er with the stamens, re-
flexed. Fruit compressed, with two, not
three, angles. Some of its flowers were in-
fected with smut, as in barley.

The Small Liquorice [Astragalus al-
pinas, see p. 159). Some plants had
white flowers, tipped with a blueish hue ;
the others bore entirely purple blossoms.

On the hill named Wollerim I met with
a very rare little species of Asphodel, with

LULEAN LAPLAND. 257

white flowers in a roundish spike [Antlieri-
cum cahjculatum,Sp. PL Tofieldiapalustris^
Engl. Bot. t. 536"). The leaves are ranged
on each other's back (eqiiitant) as in the
Marsh Asphodel {Narthecium ossifrogum,
t. 5S5). 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 up-
right, very long, obtuse, compressed apices
(anthers). Embryos (germens) three, often
four, rarely live, 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 rubriim), and a kind of panicled
grass with blue leaves, (perhaps an Aira^
but it cannot now be determined).

258 LULEAN LAPLAND.

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

June 29.

The Pnie 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 tim-
ber lay here in abundance, entirely useless.
Brandy is made from the iir, 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 Whortle-berry (Vacci-
Ilium Vitis idcea) 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 yel-
low cones, which however are nothing else

lulea:^ laplan^d. 259

than the leaves deformed, being thicker
and shorter than when in their proper state,
and of a pale yellow, marked on their in-
side with two prominent orange-coloured
lines. When arrived at maturity, thej
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 mi-
nute insects. The common people eat them
raw as a dainty, like berries. Here also I
met with a narrow-leaved Cirsium (Ser-
ratula alpina), which I had previously no-
ticed in Umoean Lapmark, but it was not
then in bloom. Likewise {Jlhamnus)
Frangida, Pinguicnla, Unbranched Qua-
king-grass (this must have been Melica
nutans), Corallorrkha, 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 mid-
dle ones in five, the uppermost opposite
s2

200 LULEAN" LAPLAND.

and sessile, with only three lobes. Two
flowers grow on each stalk.

Here also I gathered a Pingiiicida, the
fore-part of M'hose petal was white, the
hind-part blue, which is certainly a beauti-
ful as well as singular variety. (See Fl.
Lapp. n. 11. P. 'Vulgaris,)

The trees here produce Usnea arhorea
(Lichen pUcatus), which the Laplanders
apply to excoriations of the feet caused by
excessive walking. They line then* 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 spe-
cies of Carei\ (especially C si/lvatica, 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. 328.)

After much trouble and fatigue, I at
length reached Jockmock, where stands

LULEAN LAPLAND. 26l

the principal church of this northern di-
strict, and where its pastor resides.

June 30.

The clergyman of Jockmock, IVIr. Maim-
ing, 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 scanda-
lous want of information, with such incor-
rigible stupidity, could exist in persons of
their profession, who are commonly ex-
pected to be men of knowledge ; yet any
school-boy twelve j^ears 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 civi-
lized society.

The learned curate began his conversa-
tion 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

262 LULEAI^ LAPLAND.

suggest that such accidents were rather to
be attributed to the force of the wind, for
that the clouds could not of themselves lij:'t,
or carry away, any thing. 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 sup-
ported in the air, it immediately rains be-
neath my feet. At all such reasoning, be-
ing above his comprehension, he only
lauirhed 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, silen-
cing me by authority, and then laughing at
my ignorance. He next condescended to
inform me that after rain a phlegm is al-
ways to be found on the mountains, where
the clouds have touched them. Upon my

LULEAN LAPLAND. 203

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 ad-
vised me to pay some regard to the opi-
nions 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 mAich attention
upon temporal vanities, and consequently,
alas ! neglect their spiritual good* ; and he
remarked that many a man had been ruined
by too great application to study.

* I have known one instance of such bigotry, or
rather hypocrisy, out of Lapland.

264 LULEAX LAPLAND.

Both these wise men concurred in one
thing. They could not conceal their won-
der that the Royal Academy should ex-
pressly have appointed a mere student for
the purposes for which I was sent, without
considering that there were already as com-
petent 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

LULEAN LAPLAXD. 265

the Cirsium iniiuis (Serratula alpina), the
Cacalia (Tussilago frigichi), the latter not
in flower, and one kind of Botsko of the
Laplanders, called Bioernstut in Westboth-
nia (Angelica si/lvestris), which is the nar-
row-leaved species of Angelica, and re-
sembles the larger kind. Its general umbel
is destitute of an involucrum. My Lap-
land companion seized it immediatel}^ and
peeling the stalk, which had not yet flower-
ed, ate it like a turnip, as a great delicacy.
Indeed it tasted not unpleasantly, espe-
cially the upper part, which is the most
tender. This dainty is in great request
amongst the Laplanders.

We arrived at length at Parki jau, 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, tlie circumjacent wai-
ter moderated the degree of frost. The

266 LULEAX LAPLAXD.

situation of this island is pleasant. I found
in some bushy parts of it the Sccptriim
Carolinum, and another species of Pedi-
cularis, 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 CaroUninn, which
became very common as I advanced further
on my journey.

Another mile brought us to the lake of
Randiau ; on approaching ^\ hich we saw
nothing before us but lofty mountains of
an oblong obtuse form, lifting their sum-
mits 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,

LULEAN LAPLAND. 267

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 Bai'barea and
Pedicnlarh, both already mentioned, also
the Asphodel (Tofieidia paliistris, Fl. Brit.)
and the little Astragalus, see p. 159-

When I came to the lake Skalk in the
way towards Kiomitis, 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

LULEAN LAPLAND.

LULEAN LAPLAND. 209

of Rudbeck's Lapponia lUustrata. Moun-
tains upon mountains rose before me in
every direction. In a word, I now beheld
the Lapland alps.

Arriving in the evening at Kiomitis, I.
saw the sun set apparently on the summit
of a high mountain called Harrevarto,
situated over against the house of the pa-
rish 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 !

Juhj 2.

At Kiomitis 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 2.5th or 26th of
May, as at Umoea.

I found in abundance Tripolium pratcnse ^

270 LULEAN LAPLAND.

corona cali/ce breviori, or Aster' folio non
acri, flor e pur pure 0 ; (Erigeron imiflorum^
FL Lapp. 11. 307. t, Q. f. 3.) The same
occurred with a white flower. Also Eu-
phrasia {officinalis) about its usual size, but
with very small flowers ; (a variety men-
tioned in the Flora Lapponica, n, 247?
found likewise in Switzerland.) In the
same neighbourhood grew the Tetrahit,
both with small and large ^owers,{Galeopsis
Tetrahif, and G. versicolor, FL Brit.)

July 3.

Early this morning I went with Mr.
Joachim Koch, quarter-master of the regi-
ment stationed here, and Mr. Segar Swan-
berg, master of the mines, to the Kiuriwari,
a high mountain half a mile from Kiomitis,
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.

LULEAN LAPLAND. 271

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 [Lychuis alpina),
exactly similar to the common Catch-fly
(hychnis 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, bat of a very di-
minutive stature. Their trunks were thick
but low, and their highest shoots seemed
to have been killed by frost, so that the
3^oung leaves looked as if they were grow-
ing out of branches that had been burnt.
I was told that these trees aflbrd 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

272 LULEAN LAPLAND.

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 Nor-
way.

July 4.

I met with an Andromeda with leaves
like Empetrum {A. ccerulea). The stem
and foliage were exactly like that plant,
but somewhat larger. The calyx rough,
short, wdth five teeth. Corolla of one pe-
tal, blue, ovate, w ith 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 consistence, and
a small quantity of cream from the milk of

LULEAN LAPLAND. 273

the reindeer is added. The whole is after-
wards 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 [Eso.v Liicim), of charr [Salmo al-
pinus), or of the grayling i^Salmo Thi/mal-
liis). These are previously dried, and pre-
served 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 syi'a (see p. '243) 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

T

274 LULEAN LAPLAND.

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 Lap-
landers.

Their Mo.ra, as the Japanese call it, but
which they term Toide, 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 gra-
dually 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. Sec. It is the

LULEAN LAPLAND. 275

universal medicine of the Laplanders, and
may be called their little physician.

Kattie is a kind of drawing or ripening
plaister 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 w^anted for cementinfr earthen-ware
together, and afterwards mixed wdth fresh
turpentine from the spruce fir, both being
kneaded together by the hands, till the
mass becomes a black uniform plaister.
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 earthen-ware, is to tie
the fragments together with a thread, and
boil the whole in fresh milk, by which thej
are cemented to each other.

The grass used for lining shoes is a Carex
T 2

276 LULEAN LAPLAND.

psettdO'Ci/perus, with many slender pendu-
lous spikes. {Carex sylvatica, Fl. Brit,)

An ointment for burns is made of fresh
cream boiled to a thick consistence, 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 drus: called castor is one of their
great remedies for every disease, and the
gall of the bear is another.

When a weddin^r is to ])e celebrated, the

LULEAN LAPLAND. 277

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 lonp' anthers, their

filaments purple. In another part grew an

Anclrosace 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 mtegrifolia,

see Fl. Lapp, eel, 2. 52, which Linnseus, in

that work, seems to have confounded with

P. farinoHa. Speakmg of the latter he says,

'' This Fi'wmla, the splendid crimson of

whose flowers attracts the eyes of all who

278 LULEAN LAPLAND.

traverse the fields of Scania and the mea-
dows of Upland 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 Lap-
land it deserves neither the name of Ceesar
nor of Regulus*. 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 Linnieus made the
above remarks.)

Sceptrum CaroUnum was in blossom
near the water, as well as the gloomy
Aconitum [hjcoctomnn), " Avhose flowers
with us are not yellow, as the synonyms of

* See Simler, who calls the Primula farinosa
" Caesar or Kegulus among herbs."

LULEAN LATLAND. 279

authors assert, but every where of a blueish
ash-colour*/'

Here also grew Juncus palustris, calamo
trifido {J. trijidas) ; the Violet with a yel-
low flower {Viola hifiora) ; and the Wood
Stitchwort with heart-shaped leaves {StcU
laria nemorum, which Linnaeus, in Flora
Lapp. n. 186, confounds with his Ahine
media, or Stellaria media, Fl. Brit, a
mistake he corrected in his Species Planta^
rum).

Shortly afterwards I came within sight
of an oblong and very lofty mountain,
situated on the right-hand, called Carsa-
vari, 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, re-
markable for two rivulets running down

* This remark of^ Linnaeus I have borrowed fronn
Fl. Lapp. n. 221.

280 LULEAN LAPLAND.

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 Tabcnws,
through which those insects introduce their
eggs. When the young ones arrive at ma-
turity, they come forth by the same pas-
sage, 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 Si/philis, p. 11. " Rein-
deer in Lapland are subject to the small-
pox, which in Norland is termed Korm-
siuka, as I was informed at Wicksbergens-
brun 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 cliaracter, sliould
willingly and deliberately propagate a false-

lULEAN LAPLAND. 281

hood. He ought, on the contrary, rather
to aim at correctins; it. If the reindeer
should even have the small-pox every year,
this supposed disease will prove on exami-
nation nothing else than the sting of the
Gad-fly [0 est?' us Taraiuii). Did any man
ever advance such an absurdity ! Even the
Laplanders themselves call the disease
Kurhma (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 fdm 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. Tfiey frequently mix some kind
of berries with it when used. The fruit
called Hjortron^ (Cloud-berry, or Riibus
ChamcEmorus,) bruised and eaten with milk

282 LULEAN LAPLAND.

of the reindeer, is also a very palatable
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 Lap-
landers, though the tallow of the reindeer
is very fit for that purpose, notwithstand-
ing its consistence 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 tal-
low 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 {Pohjgonum vivipa^
rum) grew hereabouts two spans in height.
The TriaitaUs in moist situations had ob-^

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 283

tuse petals (see FL Lapp. n. 139, s)- The
Water Epilohium in this place had very
broad leaves. (E. palustre (B. Sp. PL 495.
Fl. Lopp. 11. 148.) Geranium (sijlvaticum)
had sometimes a white flower with purple
veins, and blue anthers ; sometimes the pe-
tals, as well as anthers, were white.

THE LAPLAND ALPS.

Juli/ 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 Hzimllawai'i), 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 moun-
tains encompassed me on every side. I

284 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

walked in snow, as if it had been the se-
verest 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 over-
come 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, al-
pina.)

2. Jussiea^, with ternate leaves, abrupt
and three-toothed at their extremities.
{Sibbaldia procianbens.) The calyx is of
one leaf, very large, in ten segments, the

* 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 in-
terested in seeing to whom Linnaeus extemporaneously
dedicated his new genera as they occurred, and who
will at the same time admire his sagacity, in deter-
mining them, at first sight, so correctly, that not one
has subsequently been set aside by any of his severest
critics.

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 285

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, af-
fixed laterally to the middle of the seeds,
as in Alchemilla. (See the remarks of Lin-
nceus, respecting the natural order of this
plant, in Fl. Lapp. n. 111).

3. Dillenia. Stem woody. Flower pur-
ple. {^Azalea procumhens.) Calyx colour-
ed, small, five-cleft, acute, purple, per-
manent. Petal one, erect, bell-shaped,
five-cleft half way down, acute, purple.
Stamens five, shorter than the petal. Pistil
one, seated on the embryo, the length of
the calyx. Stigma capitate. Seeds nume-
rous, roundish. Pericarp globose, of five
cells and five valves. Leaves ovate, ever-
green, opposite, resembling those of the
Cranberry. (Vaccinium Oxycocctis.)

4. Baiwistera. {Diape7isia lapponica.)
Calyx of large, ovale, imbricated leaves,

286 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

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 fiv^e?
from the segments of the calyx (corolla),
erect, broad, looking like intermediate pro-
minent segments ; the anthers situated on
their inner side, at the top. Pistil one,
upright, awlshaped. Stigma obtuse. Peri-
carp 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 manu-
script, 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

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 287

spreading, oblong, sharp at each end,
white, marked with two yellow dots upon
the claw. Stamens ten, awlshaped, the
length of the calyx. Anthers purple.
Embryo (germen) with two horns. Style
none. Stigmas obtuse.

6. Saaifraga with palmate five-cleft ob-
tuse leaves. (S. rivularis.) Lower leaves
cut half way down into five roundish seg-
ments ; 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. Sta-
mens ten, purple, erect, shorter than the
petals, with scarlet anthers. Embryo di-
vided. Styles none. Sti";mas obtuse.

2SS THE LAPLAND ALPS.

8. Female Rose-root, Rhodia. {Rhodiola
ivsea.)

9. Rhodia montana ahortiens, (Male
plant of the same.) Differs from the
female in having five lanceolate petals, and
five leaves to the cal^'x ; 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 Melam-
pijriim. Leaves narrower than in the com-
mon kind ; spur shorter and funnel-shaped,
not cylindrical.

12. Ranuncuhis minimus, leaves three-
cleft, their side-lobes divided. {R. nivalis,
var. 7. Fl. Lapp. t. o.f. 3.)

13. Ranunculus with bluntly-triangular
plaited petals. ( J{. glacialis.) The lower
leaves are in many deep segments ; the
upper three-lobed, their lobes three-cleft.
Calyx purplish, hispid. Petals five, very

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 289

large, white, dilated upwards, obtuse,
plaited at the upper edge. Stamens and
anthers erect, numerous, very short, yel-
low. Pistils many, in a convex head, with
slender points.

14. Ranimcuhis 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? (Arahis alpina,)

17» Cochlear ia with leaves like Planta-
ginella, [Limosella aquatica,) and umbel-
late pods. (Cardamine bellidi folia.)

18. Andromeda with leaves like Empe-
trum, and a blue flower. (A. ccerulea.)

19. Andromeda with leaves like a Li/co-
podium, and a white, half-ovate, half-five-
cleft flower. (A. Iiypnoides,)

20. A lisma, rather ^r/izcö, with lanceo-
late three-ribbed leaves, the radius with
three teeth. [Arnica montana fo.)

21. Caryophyllata {Geu?n) with a goli-

u

290 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

tary upright flower. Must it not be a di-
stinct genus ? The petals are eight. ( Dry as
octopetala.)

22. An abortive variety of Saa ifråga
n°. 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 mmute
leaves. (See FL Lapp. t. 2. f. 3.)

23. Pedicidaris with bluntly serrated
leaves, and a pale flesh-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
Iioary. (Pedicidaris hirsuta.)

24. Dwarf Catchfly. {Silene acaulis.)

25. The same with stamens, but an
abortive fruit. Pistils three. Petals ob-
tuse, emarginate. Capsule of one cell.
Stamens ten.

26. Sagina with emarginate petals and
an oblong capsule. Pistils three. Is it an
Alsine ? (Stellaria biflora ; see FL Lapp,
n, 158.)

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 291

27- Saliv villosa, with sessile ovate
leaves. It is a humble plant. (S. lanata.)

28. Subterraneous willow, with orbicular
concave leaves, male. {Saliv hcrhacea.)

29- Female of the same, with red fruit.

30. Veronica scrpyllifolla, upright, with
a blue flower. (F. 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 di-
stinguishable. From the snow, which lay
so plentifully on these mountains as to
coverhalf the ground, waterwas 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;
u 2

29'^ THE LAPLAND ALPS.

I

but I thought it a pity to deprive the tender
brood of their mother, neilher would my
Gompassioh for the mother allow me long
to detam her offspring, which I restored to
her in safety.

After havino; walked four or five miles
in the course of the night, I went to sleep
in the mornino; in one of the cottao;es of
the country.

Julij 7.

The inhabitants, sixteen in number, lay
there all naked. They Vv-ashed themselves
by rubbing the body downwards, not up-
wards. 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 rein-
deer came home in the morning, which
were milked by the men as well as the wo-
men, who kneeled down on one knee.

From the top of the head of some of these

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 293

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, {OeHiriis
Tarandi,) which probably is the same in-
sect (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 appe-
tite, 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 p. 291 •)

31. Siuifraga with a tuberous root, a

294 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

simple stem flowering at the summit, and
bulbs in the bosoms of the leaves. {S.
cerniia.) This has much resemblance to
the common Saxifrage, [S. granulata,)
but bears onl v^ 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 Jiinctis, 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 spotha,) the other a
reflexed one. The petals are whitish. Pistil
snow-white. Stamens six. (This can be no
other than Jinicus biglufnis, see Engl. Bot
t. 898, omitted in Linnacus's own editior^

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 295

of Fl. Lapp, and supposed to have been
first found by the celebrated Dr. Montin
in 1749.)

53. Carex with several black loose pendu-
lous spikes, one of which is male, two or
three female. (C. saxatilis»)

34. Draha with a yellow flower. (D.
alpina.) Pod like the rye-flower. [D.verna,
see J). 5.)

35. Salix creeping under ground, with
elegant roundish-oval, rugged, rigid leaves.
{S. reticulata.) Male and female.

S6. 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 [Betitla nana)
and the Willows, that affords the inha-
bitants any wood.

296

THE LAPLAND ALPS.

37. A very small Pedicularis, with the
aspect of the Sceptrum CaroUnum. The
fruit is curved. {P.Jiammea) This very
elegant little plant so exactly represents
the Sceptrum Carolinum, plentiful here in
moist places, one might take it for a re-
presentation of that in miniature, Tho

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 297

leaves are brownish, pinnate ; their seg-
ments imbricated. Flowers four, five, or
mere, at the top of the stem. Calyx like
that of Sceptrum Carolinum. Petal with
an erect upper lip, which is narrow, com-
pressed, and brownish ; the lower lip hori-
zontal, three-cleft, saffron-coloured, like
all the rest of the flower. Root like
skirrets.

38. Saocifraga with oblong, acute, thick-
ish leaves, rough with rigid hairs at the
edges. (S. aizoides.) It had not yet flower-
ed, 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 or-
bicular, flat, whitish. Stamens awlshaped,
five of them very short.

39. Juncoides capitulispsylUi, with loose
heads of flowers. [Jttnciis campestris.)
Also another with conglomerated heads.
(/. campestris /3. FL Lapp. t. 10. f. 2.
Certainly a distinct species.)

298 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

The birds I saw were Snow-buntings
{Ember iza nivalis) ; Green Plovers in great
plenty, (Charadrius pluvialLs,) called by
the Laplanders Hiitti ; and Wheat-ears.
{Motacilla Oenanthc.)

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 followmg or at-
tending 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 ori-
ginate 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-iiowered Cerasiiian (C «/-

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 299

pinum) was here every where in abun-
dance, and the prickly Lycopodium. (L.
Selaghwides ?)

The neio-hbourins; 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 Uke a large white sail sv/elled
by the wind.

All the inhabitants of this neighbourhood
wore srarments made of reindeer skins.

Juli) 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, gradu-
ally dilated upwards, divided almost down
to the base into five ovate segments, pur-
ple, deciduous. Stamens five, proceeding
from the receptacle, erect, shorter than
the petal, purplish, thread-shaped, with
roundish anthers. Pistil one, thread-shaped,

300 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

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 ex-
tremity of each branch, each on a simple
uncoloured stalk. Is this the same genus
with Dilleuia {Azalea procAimbens, n°. 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 re-
ceptacle. (Notwithstanding these reasons,
Linnccus united the two plants together in his
Flora Lappofiica, as one genus, under the
name oi' Azalea, quoting two synonyms of
Tournefort and Bauhin for this n°. 40,
which belong to Rliododendrum ferrugi-

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 301

7ieiim, his own plant being entirely new,
if not a pentanclrous variety of that llhodo-
dendrum, which is much to be suspected.

The above description, of the fruit espe-
cially, is sufficient to show it cannot belong
to the same genus with Azalea procumbens,
though perhaps it may accord better with
the American Azalece.)

41. Campanula with, a contracted flower.
(C. inuflora.) Differs from the common
blue kind, {rotundifoUa,) 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, vvith three orifices near the
base of the calyx.

42. Lychnis with a concealed flower.

502 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

(L. opetald.) Leaves pink-like. Flo^Ver
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 ex-
actly 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 uuijiorum.) It has
the calyx of the A melius, the flower of a
daisy, white with a yellow disk.

44. A viviparous grass, Poa. (Rather
Festuca vivipara.)

45. Junciis with a sharp rigid point.
{Ju7icns, n. 11 6. J'7. Lapp.)

46. A Catchfly which is not viscid, with
the flowers collected into a tuft. [Lychnis
alpina.)

47- A smooth Cerastium, agreeing in

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 303

every respect with the large-flowered one,
except the hairiness and hoary aspect of
the leaves. (C. alpinum, a smooth variety.)

I observed every where about the sides
of the hills holes dug by the Lemming Rat.
(Mus Lemnius.) Hares are grey in sum-
mer 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 some-
times 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, m hich we
followed sometimes in one direction, some-
times in another, without their leading us

304 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

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 en-
dure the cold and boisterous wind, than
proceed any farther this night. At length
the Laplander and his servant, who were
my guides, found some dung of the rein-
deer. One of them took it up, and after
squeezing it in his hand and smeUing 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 re-
joiced to discover that a Laplander with
his herd had 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 re-

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 305

mained here all the following clay and night,
not only because it was Sunday, but be-
cause I was too much tired to undertake to
cross the ice that day. Near the icy moun-
tains the water of the neighbouring lakes
was frozen to the depth of a fathom. I
employed myself 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
Kuding, which the Laplanders call Raud
{Salmo alpiiius, or Charr), and this is ex-
tremely 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

306 THE LAPLAXD ALPS.

grey, with a black pupil. Below each eye,
in the cartilage of the cheek, are seven little
hollow pomts 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 subdi\ ided. 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, M'hich
was not agreeable to my palate for want of
salt. Others were roasted on a wooden

TH-E LAPLAND ALPS. 30?

spit before the fire, but for the same rea-
son I could hardly taste them. The third
mode of preparation was the most accepta-
ble to me, and had a very good flavour.
This was made of the dried and salted
Röding, 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 not 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 re-
fractory, the dog easily made them obey
the word of command, particularly 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 pre-
ferred a circuitous path, rather than face
X 2

308 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

the storm. The reindeer, on the contrary,
dehghting to run against the wind, turned
homeward when diverted from their inch-
nation, 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

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 309

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 nu-
merous subdivisions. These animals cast
their horns every year ; the males imme-
diately 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*. Those

* These particulars concerning the casting of the
horns of the reindeer, much confused in the manu-
script, are corrected from the admirable history of this
a.n\ma.\ in the ^moenitQies yicademiccB, 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.

310 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

of the males scarcely differ from the females
in general structure. Both are hairy, but
the hairiness falls off before Michaelmas.
In some M'hich I have seen broken, the in-
side, 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

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 311

noise proceeds from its feet. This excited
my curiosity ; and inquiring what was sup-
posed 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 rein-
deer so as to produce such an effect ; but
to this the respondent answered nothing*.
When I laid hold of the animal's foot,
pulled it, twisted and stretched it, or push-
ed it backward and forward in every pos-
sible 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 toge-
ther, 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

* *'Sed ad hoc Sorberius nihil."

312 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

place where they are accustomed to be milk.-
ed, they all lie clown, breathing hard and
panting violen tl}^, chewing the cud all the
while. The report oi" SchefFer therefore,
that they do not ruminate, is false, and
Ray guessed more correctly than SchefFer
observed.

When the faw^n is missed by its mother,
she runs in search of it with the most vio-
lent 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 man-
ner above described, each of the people
takes a small rope, and, making a noose,
throws it over the head of one of the fe-
males 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 suflftcicnt to secure
four of the animals, which all hands are
afterwards employed in milking, both mas-
ter and mistress, men and maids. If the

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 313

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 knead-
ing 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 be-
smeared with it, to prevent the fawn's suck-
ing 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

314 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

fingers. I could not help wondering ho\^^
the Laplanders knew such of the herd as
they had already milked, from the rest,
as they turned each loose as soon as they
liad 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 consistence, and taken their
simple repast, they lie down to enjoy that

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 315

sound sleep which is the reward and the
proof of their innocent Uves. There is
rarely any contention among them. The
inhabitants of the neighbouring moveable
village had pitched their tents close to-
gether 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 sor-
rel (Ilumex 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

3l6 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

mixed with milk, and put into large barrels.
When it has stood by for some time, it
acquires an agreeable sourish taste, quite
difterent 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 (sijlvestris) which had not yet
flowered. The people stripped oft' the
leaves, and by means of a knife peeled the
stalks, the skin of which came oft^ 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 en-
fold the young umbels, not being esteemed
good to eat fresh, were peeled, and added
to the syra, see p. 243, which was destined
to miikejwnomjölk, see p. 273.

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 317

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 to-
gether 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.

318 THE LAPLAND ALPS.

The women here, as well as the men,
smoke tobacco, and indeed do almost
every thing 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 manap-ement.

o

The alps are destitute of human inha-
bitants 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 (hichen rangiferinus) to feed their
reindeer. On the alps there is not only a
want of wood, but the snow is covered
with too hard a frozen crust to be penetrated
so as to come at any thing beneath it.

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

THE LAPLAND ALPS. 319

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 packthread 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 care-
fully slit down at the outer side, curls in-
ward, 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 canornis), which the Lap-
landers call Geecka ; and also the great
fishing Gull with a grey back (Larifs

320 THE LAPLAT^^D ALPS.

camis), to which they give the name of
Staule ; (not Straule, as in the Fauna
Suecica.)

The Andromeda (hi/pnoldes) with leaves
hke 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 under-
mined 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-jain-) was of a whitish green

%

THE LAPLAND ALTS. 32;|.

colour, exactly like water poured into q,
vessel previously used for milk. This ap-
pearance arose merely from its extreme
purity, levity, and consequent transparency.
It was cooler than the water fiowinir from
the snow.

Not far from this lake, on the left, upon
the side of the mountain called Kaitsoni-
iinni, near a rivulet, I picked up a curious
stone or radiated^wor, of a blueish colour,
composed of square parts (probably zeolite).
In the evening it rained, but I observed
the Papilionoidcs with purple spots {SphirLV
F'dipendulct).

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

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

Y

322 NORWEGIAN LAPLAND.

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, crumbUng 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
snov/y strata one above another. Here
the mountain streams began to take their
course westward, a sign of our having
reached Norwegian Lapland. The de-
liglitful 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

NORWEGIAN LAPLAND. 323

mountain, we were often so violently driven
along by the force of the wind, that we
were taken off our feet, and rolled a con-
siderable way down the hill. This once
happened to me in so dangerous a place,
that, after rolling to the distance of a gun-
shot, 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 incon-
venience. At length, after having travelled
betwixt three and four miles, the moun-
tains 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 [Chara-
drtiis Hiaticula). Its breast is black, throat
white, feet orange.

Having thus traversed the alps, we ar-
rived about noon upon their bold and pre-
Y 2

324 NORWEGIAN LAPLAND.

cipitous 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 spe-
cies 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 de-
scent, 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 M'ith
vegetation in all its prime. Such tall grass
I had 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
rarious other plants. In the earlier part

NORWEGIAN LAPLAND. 325

of my journey, I had for some time ex-
perienced 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 com-
mon plants of Upland, besides which I
noticed Aconitum li/coctonum, and the little
Mountain Catchfly with a white upright
flower (Silene riipestris^); as also Coronopits
maritimus punctatus [Plaiitago maritima
/3, Fl. Sicec, 46), Mesomora (Cornus sue^
cica), and the Cloudberry [Rubus Cha-
mcpmorus).

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

* This appears by the Flora Suecica to be likewise
a native of Upland.

326 NORWEGIAN LAPLAND.

walk, one of them fifty years of age, the
other upwards of seventy, runnmg and
frisking about in sport, though each of
them had carried a burthen all the way ;
not indeed a very heavy one, but, con-
sidering the distance, by no means trifling.
This set me seriously to consider the ques-
tion 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, w^ith 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

NORWECxIAN LAPLAND. 327

I am now writing, throw off their shoes
when they intend to ran, 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 run-
ning 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 v/onder that a
Laplander, who till he is married, and
often all his life long, runs habitually after

328 NORWEGIAN LAPLAND,

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 flexi-
bility of limbs that ^ve see in a girl. How
delicate are the nmscles of children com-
pared with those of an aged person ! The
L'lplanders 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 con-
tinual 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

NORWEGIAN LAPLAND. 329

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.

o. 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 tact 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

330 NORWEGIAX LAPLAND.

fish, in winter nothing but meat, in sum-
mer 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 inci-
dental 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, Sic. But this reason-
ing 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,
M'itli their summits close and level. Hence

NORWEGIAN LAPLAND. .331

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 impor-
tant. 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 grind-
ers 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 spe-
cies. 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 carnivo-
rous, the question is decided with respect
to ourselves.

332 NORWEGIAN LAPLAND.

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 contrar}^ the peasants of Finland
cram themselves with as many turnips, and
those of Scania with as much tiummery, 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 dif-
ference 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 dillerence, a better mechanic
than I am must determine.

NORWEGIAN LAPLAND. 333

8. All the Laplanders are of a small
stature. I have never jet 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 proportion-
ably stronger and more durable. This is
apparent in many similar cases. A little
pony from the isle of Oeland, or one of a
similar kind from Norway, runs with ex-
treme 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 Helsingland 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.

S34 NORWEGIAN LAPLAND.

Another subject of inquiry is, why the
Laplanders are so heakhy ; 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.*

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 ad-
dicted to covetousness. Their liv^es 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

* Linnaeus's expression is, " they do not spring
upon it with boots and spurs."

NORWAY. SS5

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.

336 NORWAY.

■ . 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 spe-
cies of Fucus were attached either to stones
or shells, as well as UIvce and Confervce.
Barnacles (Lepas Balan iis and L. Bala-
noides) were seen sticking to large stones,
at present left by the tide. I noticed also
several univalve and bivalv-e shells of various
sizes. The Strombiis {Pen pekcani) 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 Midusce.

1. Medusa (capi/lafa) of an octagonal
shape, with notched angles. The annexed

NORWAY.

337

figure shows its under side. The M-hole is
transparent hke glass. There are eight pair
of ravs, 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, some-
times of a reddish flesh-colour, and crisped.
Within these is a central cluster of longer
feelers, resembling pistils.

z

338 NORWAY.

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.

NORWAY. 339

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 ac-
companied 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 qu'drtern of brandy.

When the Laplanders mean to appear
in full dress, they attire themselves io
z 2

340 NORWAY.

white walmal cloth, (see p. 137,) without
any hning, 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

NORWAY^ 541

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 A^en-
tured 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 (Gadiis virens).
These were about ten inches long, very
smooth, fat and tender, covered with ex-
tremely 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
Rcmora, or rather Pedkuli marini of
Frisch, of which I preserved specimens,
(Lerncea Assellina ?) The fish themselves

542

JfORWAY.

NORWAY. 343

were so numerous and so voracious, that
we had no sooner thrown out the hook,
letting it float after the boat, than they swal-
lowed it so quick that we could hardly take
them out fast enough. The next day how-
ever, 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 scatter-
ed among the hills. Each has but a small
valley adjoining, and consequently not above
a cornfield or two within its district, M-ith
a very small portion of pasture-ground
attached to each house, though possibly
there might be more further off, which I

344 NORWAY.

could not perceive. The inhabitants there-
fore 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 lor the purpose of
watching the net.

NORWAY. 345

The plant here called Missnc, and used
for food by the people, is the Water
Dragons (Calla palustrk) ; while that given
to cattle is the Menyantlies (trifoäata).
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 prolife-
rous blossom. Spergula marina with spatu-
late petals, ten stamens, and three very
short pistils, (Arenaria peploides). Apium
palustre [Liguaticum scoticitm). Trifolium
with a monopetalous flower, of a white
colour, [T. prat ense). Muscipulajnontana
minima (perhaps Gypsophila muralis,, see
Fl. Lapp, n. 111). Gramcn triticeum
maritimum^ jiore glanco, (Ehpnus arena-
riiis? see i'/. Lapp. ed. 2. n. 34). Glaux
{maritima), A Fucas in long strips, re-

54Ö NORWAY.

sembling flax ; with many other species of
that genus. Filum mari7ium, in acpiåvil-
losum. C oronopus with dotted leaves (a
variety of Plantago maritima'). There
were numerous Echini (Sea Urchins), as
well as Vatellce (Limpets), and Balani
(Barnacles) ; all so abundant on the shore
that we could scarcely walk without tread-
ing upon them. I noticed likewise some
kinds of Star- fish [Asterias), with many
Corallines, and petrified Corals. (See Lin-
naeus's dissertation, entitled CoralUa Bal-
iica, Amodn. Acad. v. 1. 74.)

In the evening we arrived at the parson-
age house of Rorstad, the residence of Mr.
John Rask, Pastor Sccundarius, and chap-
lain 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 de-
scribed in a very interesting style. He gave
me a friendly reception. He has a hand-
some daughter named Sarah Rask, eighteen
yearsof age. She seemed to me uncommonly

NORWAY. 347

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* may come and visit
our neighbourhood, that I may have an op-
portunity 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 pas-
sage turned much upon a certain West
Gothlander, who had been guilty of some
treacherous conduct, and told various false-
hoods. (To this the above conversation of
Mr. Rask probably alluded).

* Who Mr, Ingerald was, does not appear. Per-
haps the master of the boat, or somebody whom Lin-
n«us met at the house of the good curate.

348

NORWAY.

Tun-bread, as it is called in Westbothnia,
is made of barley and chafFin the following
manner. After threshing, they sift the corn
through a large cribble, which retains not
only the grain and chaff, but not unfre-
quently 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 con-
sistence, 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 flat on a table,
not with a rolling-pin, but with the hands
and a flat trowel or shovel. A considerabU

NORWAY. 349

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 on.e 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 re-
quired 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.

350 NORWAY.

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 fla-
voured. 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
»low 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 Dra-
gons (Calla palustrh). The roots of this
plant are taken up in spring, before the

Norway. 351

leaves come forth, and, after being ex-
tremely 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 prac-
tised occasionally with the fir bark. The
dried roots are chopped in this vessel, with
a kind of spade, like cabbage for making
sour kale (sour crout), 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. 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 keep-
ing. 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

552 NORWAY.

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 trifoUata) is very sel-
dom 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.

Nordskbrad, 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 along while,
till it does not stick to the hands. After-
wards it is flattened with a rolling-pin of
a round shape, but furrowed longitudinally,
which is turned by the hands as fast as

NORWAY. 353

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 black-
ish, but not bad.

A kind of cheese is made of sour milk
in this part of Norway, for which the follow-
ing is the receipt.

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

2 A

354 NORWAY.

remainder will be of the consistence 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 ramblino; about amono; the hills
and gathering strawberries, I perceived a
Laplander carrying a fowling-piece, who
seemed in pursuit of birds. Lideed 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

NORWAY. 355

against a large stone at a very small di-
stance 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 bush}^ 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
2 A 2

556 NORWAY.

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 olloj-is, (Talcum Ollari.s,) as well
as boiling-pots of the same material. The
stoves are without chimneys, like a small
flue with an oven. The fire is always kin-
dled 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 thej^ never bake in the
oven. All the smoke mounts to the ciel-
ing, and finds its way out by a hole made
for the purpose in the centre ; but this
renders the cieling 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 ^^ ould
escape that way. But surely such an ex-
cuse is very lame, for much more heat
must escape by opening the door. The

NORWAY. 557

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 neigh-
bourhood. The walls of the houses are
never built perpendicularly, although tim-
bered ; 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 Lap-
land alps m winter, for the following rea-
sons. 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

358 NORWAY.

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 nordi 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.

NORWAY. 359

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 burthen ; 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 prevaihng 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 ac^»
celerating the circulation of the blood.*

* This opinion of Linnaeus coincides with what
M. de Saussure observed In ascending Mont Blanc.
We cannot say so much in favour of his subsequent
theory.

;6o

NORWAY.

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 tlie 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 cas-
cades formed by these alpine torrents, in
their way to the sea, the stupendous ele-
vation of the hills will be the more evi-
dent, not only on that side but on the
opposite one also. Vv^hen therefore the
wind blows over this country, whether
from the sea or the land, the air, having
to pass such groat 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 ren-
dered, by whatever cause, more compact

NORWAY. SGl

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*,
hence it seems to follow that the air is
not more rare upon mountains.

But, to return to the subject of water-
ing-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, espe-
cially 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 (h'ink 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

* Here the effects are mistaken for causes.

362 NORWAY.

meat. We all know how soon water la
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 com-
mon in Stockholm, as among the Portu-
guese ; 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 Nor-
way, I was amused by observing my Lap-
land attendant, who, as soon as he grew
warm, dipped his ko.va, 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 tliemselves heated or thirsty,
which they do without apprehension of any
bad consequences. I often practised the
same during my journey. Indeed, were it

NORWAY. 363

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 thnce 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 tremblino; as if he was p-oino; to faint
away*. Many people are afraid of a Jack
in a box.

A curious stratagem was related to me

* This simple I^aplander certainly took Linnaeus
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,"

S64! NORWAY.

in Norway, as practised upon the Laplan-
ders, by a person commissioned to take
from them their ma^rical drums and idols.
Having procured information of any Lap-
lander who kept such things concealed, he
first requested to have them brought forth.
This their owner refused. 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, en-
treating 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*.

* A notable method of converting these poor peo-
ple from pagan superstitions, and of exempUFving 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 fii; even with-
out the flogging superadded in the latter case, which
the pious crusader against Lapland drums did not
find necessary.

NORWAY. 36 J

In the course of my tour, my guide
having one day conducted me to his next
neighbour, the latter was just about shift-
ing his quarters, and therefore could not
take charge of me. The former would not
attend me any further, though I paid li'im
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
overcan>e 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 Lap-
lander, 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

566 NORWAY.

of dealing here. My interpreter told me,
that if the man had seen a gun cocked and
presented at him, he would not have suf-
fered a hundredth part of the alarm that
he did.

Many of the curious plants, of which
I had in Lapmark found here and there a
solitary individual, as a great rarity, were
common enough in Norway. Hence I con-
cluded that their seeds had been brought
down by the torrents, the chief of them
being aquatics, as the [PecUcularis) Scep-
tnwi-Carolinum, Astragalus {alpimts),
Acetosa with a notched leaf [llumcx digy-
iiits), the white Pedkiilaris [syhatica) as
well as the purple, the Asphodel (Fojieldia
palusiris, FL Brit 397,) &c.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

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