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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,