Lachesis Lapponica; Or, A Tour in Lapland, Volume 1
by Carl von Linné · English · Gutenberg #34779 · 361,975 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: Lachesis Lapponica; Or, A Tour in Lapland, Volume 1
Author: Carl von Linné
Editor: James Edward Smith
Translator: Charles Troilius
Release date: December 29, 2010 [eBook #34779]
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/34779
Credits: Produced by Simon Gardner, Robert Connal, Chris Curnow,
Jana Srna and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LACHESIS LAPPONICA; OR, A TOUR IN LAPLAND, VOLUME 1 ***
Produced by Simon Gardner, Robert Connal, Chris Curnow,
Jana Srna and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
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Transcriber's Notes
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* * * * *
_Lachesis Lapponica_,
OR A
TOUR IN LAPLAND,
NOW FIRST PUBLISHED
FROM THE
ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT JOURNAL
OF THE CELEBRATED
LINNAEUS;
BY
JAMES EDWARD SMITH, M. D. F. R. S. ETC.
PRESIDENT OF THE LINNAEAN SOCIETY.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
"Ulterius nihil est, nisi non habitabile frigus."
OVID.
_LONDON_:
PRINTED FOR WHITE AND COCHRANE, HORACE'S HEAD,
FLEET-STREET,
BY RICHARD TAYLOR AND CO., SHOE-LANE.
1811.
* * * * *
TO
THOMAS FURLY FORSTER, ESQ.
FELLOW OF THE LINNAEAN SOCIETY.
_My dear Sir,_
_Among the various consultations and communications which have taken
place between us in the course of our long and uninterrupted friendship,
I recollect that one object of your anxious curiosity has always been
the_ Lachesis Lapponica _of Linnaeus, so often alluded to by himself and
his pupils, and the original Swedish manuscript of which came into my
hands with the rest of his collection. Of this I now present you with
an English translation; and I offer it to you with the more
satisfaction, because you are, amongst all my Linnaean acquaintance, one
of the most capable of entering into every feeling of the original
writer. His love of truth and of nature were not more ardent than your
own, nor was his mental profit more. You, who have so deeply studied the
works he prepared for the public, will with no less pleasure listen with
me to his familiar conversation. We here behold, not the awful preceptor
of the learned world in his professorial chair, but a youthful
inexperienced student, full of ardour and curiosity, such as we
ourselves have been, recording his ideas and observations for his own
use, not delivering them forth for the instruction of others; and while
we admire his perseverance and acuteness, we can sympathize with his
embarrassments, and readily pardon his very inconsiderable mistakes.
Happy are those who, like you, can equally sympathize in his pious and
benevolent affections, his disdain of hypocrisy and oppression, and his
never-ceasing desire to turn his scientific acquisitions to practical
utility!_
_Be pleased, my dear Sir, to accept, with your usual favour, this
sincere tribute of respect and esteem, from_
_Your very faithful friend,_
_J. E. SMITH._
PREFACE
BY THE EDITOR.
The biographers of Linnaeus have often mentioned the Journal of his
Lapland Tour, to which he himself has frequently adverted, in various
parts of his voluminous works, under the title of _Lachesis Lapponica_.
The publication of this Journal has been anxiously desired; and so
valuable was the manuscript considered, that on his whole collection and
library being sold, after the death of his son, it was remarked that
these papers at least ought to have been retained in Sweden, as a
national property; the journey which they record having been undertaken
at the public expense, and the objects illustrated thereby being,
necessarily, more important to the author's countrymen than to any other
people. This remark, however, was not made till long after the
manuscript, with all the treasures which accompanied it, had escaped, by
land and by sea, the pursuit instituted by the Swedish monarch to
recover them, and had reached England in safety. It became a duty for
their fortunate possessor to render them useful. To place the authority
of this collection, as far as possible, out of the reach of accident, he
has made it his chief object to extend any information to be derived
from it, not only to his own countrymen, but to his fellow-labourers in
every quarter of the globe. The Banksian herbarium was, in the course of
seven months, compared with that of Linnaeus throughout, to their mutual
advantage, by a copious interchange, not only of information, but of
specimens. Plants or insects were for many years continually sent from
France, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Germany, and even Sweden, as well as
from America, for comparison with the authentic originals named by the
hand of Linnaeus. The time and labour devoted to this task have been
richly compensated, by the acquisition of various novelties, and of much
instruction, as well as by the pleasure of so extensive an intercourse
with persons occupied in the same favourite and delightful pursuit, and
by the acknowledgements with which most of them have overpaid the
trouble.
The manuscripts of Linnaeus were no less freely consulted; but great was
our disappointment to find the _Lachesis Lapponica_ written in Swedish.
For a long time therefore it remained unexplored. At length Mr. Charles
Troilius, a young gentleman in the mercantile line, resident in London,
undertook the task of translating it. The manuscript proved to be the
identical journal written on the spot during the tour, which certainly
rendered it the more interesting; but the difficulty of decyphering it
proved from that very circumstance unexpectedly great. The bulk of the
composition is Swedish, but so intermixed with Latin, even in half
sentences, that the translator, not being much acquainted with this
language, found it necessary to leave frequent blanks, giving a literal
version only of what he was able to read. The whole abounds also with
frequent cyphers and abbreviations, sometimes referring to the
publications or opinions of the day, and intended as memorandums for
subsequent consideration. It is, in short, such a journal as a man would
write for his own use, without the slightest thought of its ever being
seen by any other person. The composition is entirely artless and
unaffected, giving a most amiable idea of the writer's mind and temper;
and it cannot but be considered as highly curious, to contemplate in
these pages the development of such a mind as that of Linnaeus. As not a
word throughout the whole was written for the use of any person but the
author, the reader may perhaps be disappointed at not meeting with any
thing like a professed description of Lapland, or even a regular detail
of the route of the traveller. What was familiar to Linnaeus, either in
books or in his own mind, is omitted. By the brilliant sketches he has
left us in his _Flora Lapponica_, published a few years after his
return, we see what he might have written had he here undertaken to
communicate his own knowledge or remarks to others; and the same may be
said of such of his dissertations, in the _Am[oe]nitates Academicae_, as
professedly treat of subjects belonging to Lapland. The curious and
learned reader will, however, here and there, meet with the first
traces of ideas, opinions or discoveries, which scarcely acquired a
shape, even in the mind of the writer, till some time afterwards. If on
the one hand the Journal may seem defective in communicating
information, the occasional quotations, references and allusions, the
familiar and sufficiently correct use of the Latin language, and the
general accuracy of the whole, give a very high idea of the author's
accomplishments. The extemporaneous journals of the most illustrious
travellers, made without a single book to refer to, or a companion to
consult, would few of them perhaps stand the test of criticism so well.
To render the translation fit for the public view, the editor found
himself under the necessity of writing the whole over; but in doing
this, though often obliged to supply the forms of whole sentences, of
which only hints or cyphers exist in the manuscript, he has been careful
to give as literal a translation of the rest as the materials would
allow. This principle ever kept in view, and the difficulty of the
undertaking, which, small as the book is, has taken up much of his time
for seven years past, must apologize for any inelegancies of
composition. Yet in many parts the original displays a natural and
striking eloquence, of which the translation may possibly fall short.
Such passages, when they occurred, repaid the labour and perplexity of
studying for hours to decypher some obscure mark, or some ill-written
Swedish or Latin word, which the original translator had given up in
despair.
The sketches with a pen, that occur plentifully in the manuscript, are
not the least curious part of the whole. They are often necessary to
explain descriptive passages in the work, and about sixty of them have
been selected to illustrate the book. These have been cut in wood, with
such admirable precision, that every stroke of the pen, even the most
casual, is retained, and it is but justice to the artist, Mr. R. T.
Austin, to record his name. Several plants, but rudely sketched in this
manuscript, being more completely represented in the _Flora Lapponica_,
it was thought unnecessary to publish such figures, except a few, for
the sake of curiosity, or of particular illustration.
The notes are entirely supplied by the editor. Every name or remark that
he has added to the text, is scrupulously inserted between crotchets;
nor is there, throughout the whole, any one passage or word of the
original author's so inclosed.
The "Brief Narrative," subjoined to the Journal, having been drawn up by
Linnaeus himself, to lay before the Academy 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 repetitions, there is little that
can be thought superfluous.
* * * * *
_Norwich_, April, 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 country, I prepared my wearing apparel and other necessaries for
the journey as follows.
My clothes consisted of a light coat of Westgothland linsey-woolsey
cloth without folds, lined with red shalloon, having small cuffs and
collar of shag; leather breeches; a round wig; a green leather cap, and
a pair of half boots. I carried a small leather bag, half an ell in
length, but somewhat less in breadth, furnished on one side with hooks
and eyes, so that it could be opened and shut at pleasure. This bag
contained one shirt; two pair of false sleeves; two half shirts; an
inkstand, pencase, microscope, and spying-glass; a gauze cap to protect
me occasionally from the gnats, a comb; my journal, and a parcel of
paper stitched together for drying plants, both in folio; my manuscript
Ornithology, _Flora Uplandica_, and _Characteres generici_. I wore a
hanger at my side, and carried a small fowling-piece, as well as an
octangular stick, graduated for the purpose of measuring. My pocket-book
contained a passport from the Governor of Upsal, and a recommendation
from the Academy.
_May_ 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 Ph[oe]bus.
_Omnia vere vigent et veris tempore florent,
Et totus fervet Veneris dulcedine mundus._
Spring clothes the fields and decks the flowery grove,
And all creation glows with life and love.
Now the winter corn was half a foot in height, and the barley had just
shot out its blade. The birch, the elm, and the aspen-tree began to put
forth their leaves.
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 compared with this. For the distance of a
quarter of a Swedish mile it is surrounded with fertile corn-fields,
which are bounded by hills, and the view is terminated by spacious
forests.
I had no sooner passed the northern gate of the city than I perceived
signs of a clay soil, except in the hills, which consist of sand and
stones. The road here is level, and for a quarter of a mile destitute
of trees. In ditches by the way side the Water Byssus was observable
(_Byssus Flos aquae_), particularly in places sheltered from the wind. It
greatly resembles the cream of milk, and is called by the peasants
_Watnet blommar_, or Water Flower.
A number of mares with their colts were grazing every where near the
road. I remarked the great length of the young animals' legs, which
according to common opinion are as long at their birth as they ever will
be; therefore if a measure be taken from the hoof up to the knee of a
young colt, and so on from the knee to the extremity, it will give the
height of the horse when full grown. A similar observation has been made
on the size of the bones in the ear of an infant.
I observed the same kind of moss, or rather _Lichenoides terrestre_,
_daedaleis sinubus_, (_Lichen nivalis_,) which is found on the hill near
the palace at Upsal.
Geese were now accompanied by their goslings, which are all uniformly
of the same yellow hue when hatched, whatever colour they may acquire
afterwards.
I left old Upsal on the right, with its three large sepulchral mounds or
_tumuli_.
The few plants now in flower were _Taraxacum_ (_Leontodon Taraxacum_),
which Tournefort erroneously combines with _Pilosella_ (_Hieracium
Pilosella_), notwithstanding the reflexed leaves of its calyx; _Draba
caule nudo_ (_D. verna_), which in Smoland is called Rye Flower, because
as soon as the husbandman sees it in bloom he is accustomed to sow his
Lent corn; _Myosotis scorpioides_; _Viola tricolor_ and _odorata_;
_Thlaspi arvense_; _Lithospermum arvense_; _Cyperoides_ (probably some
species of _Carex_); _Juncoides_ (_Juncus campestris_); _Salix_ (_S.
caprea?_); _Primula veris_, as it is called, though neither here nor in
other places the first flower of the spring; _Caltha palustris_, known
by the name of Swedish Caper, as many people are said to eat it instead
of the true Caper; the report of its giving a colour to butter is
certainly false.
The lark was my companion all the way, flying before me quivering in the
air.
_Ecce suum tirile, tirile, suum tirile tractat[1]._
[1] "The lark that tirra-lirra chaunts."
_Shakspear's Winter's Tale._
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 H[:o]gsta) 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 approach
to the forest, the Red-wing, or _Turdus iliacus_, whose amorous
warblings from the tops of the Spruce Fir were no less delightful. Its
lofty and varied notes rival those of the Nightingale herself.
In the forest innumerable dwarf Firs are to be seen, whose diminutive
height bears no proportion to their thick trunks, their lowermost
branches being on a level with the uppermost, and the leading shoot
entirely wanting. It seems as if all the branches came from one centre,
like those of a palm, and that the top had been cut off. I attribute
this to the soil, and could not but admire it as the pruning of Nature.
This form of the Fir has been called _Pinus plicata_.
L[:a]by 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 Lapponica_; and _Engl. Bot. t. 714_.)
A large and dreary pine-forest next presented itself, in which the
herbaceous plants seemed almost starved, and in their place the soil,
which was hardly two inches deep, all below that depth being pure barren
sand (_Arena Glarea_), bore Heath (_Erica_), _Hypnum parietinum_, and
some Lichens of the tribe called _coralloides_.
Above a quarter of a mile beyond the post-house, near the road, is a
Runic monument; but I did not allow myself time to copy the inscription,
finding it had lately been deciphered by somebody else.
A quarter of a mile further stands a land-mark of a curious
construction, consisting of four flattish upright stones placed in a
square, with a fifth in their centre.
I discovered a large stone of the kind called _Ludus Helmontii_[2], and,
wishing to break it, I took a smaller stone, which proved to be of the
same kind. My endeavours were vain as to the former; but the small one
broke into many fragments, and proved to contain minute prismatic
crystals, which were quite transparent; some white, others of a deep
yellow.
[2] So I understand the original, which is _Lapis marmoreus
polyzonos_.
Before the next post-house, I noticed on the right a little farm, and on
the other side of the way a small ditch used to wash in. Here stood a
plain sloping stone of white granite, in which were three large
dark-grey squares, seeming to have been inlaid by a skilful
stone-cutter. It was evident, however, on examining one end, that they
were continued through the whole substance of the stone.
Opposite to Yfre is a little river, the water of which would at this
time have hardly covered the tops of my shoes, though the banks are at
least five ells in height. This has been occasioned either by the water
continually carrying away the loose sand, or, as I am more inclined to
believe, the quantity of water is less than it has been.
_Chrysosplenium_ (_alternifolium_) was now in blossom. Tournefort
defines it _foliis auriculatis_, but erroneously, as the leaves are all
separate and distinct[3]. It has eight stamens, placed in a
quadrangular position, and two pistils. Thus it evidently approaches
nearer to the _Saxifragae_, as former botanists have justly thought, than
to the _campaniformes_, or flowers with a monopetalous corolla.
[3] 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 natural affinity of this plant, we may
observe how his own system, professedly artificial, and yet so
affectedly despised by some botanists for not being natural, led him
to the real truth. In fact, some truth is to be learnt from every
system and every theory, but perfection is not to be expected from
any one.
At Yfre, two miles further, I noticed young kids, under whose chins, at
the commencement of the throat, were a pair of tubercles, like those
sometimes seen in pigs, about an inch long, of the thickness of their
mother's nipples, and clothed with a few scattered hairs. Of their use I
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 which it
undermines the ground, is exceedingly visible at this place. Hence the
strongest earthen ramparts, made with the greatest expense and labour,
are often found insufficient to secure the foundations of large palaces
or churches in some situations. But where timber has been used, the
attacks of water are little to be dreaded. On both sides of the church
were several small sepulchral mounds. It now grew late, and I hastened
to Mehede, two miles and a half further, where I slept.
_May 13._
Here the Yew (_Taxus baccata_) grows wild. The inhabitants call it Id or
Idegran.
The forest abounded with the Yellow Anemone (_Anemone ranunculoides_),
which many people consider as differing from that genus. One would
suppose they had never seen an Anemone at all. Here also grew Hepatica
(_Anemone Hepatica_) and Wood Sorrel (_Oxalis Acetosella_). Their
blossoms were all closed. Who has endowed plants with intelligence, to
shut themselves up at the approach of rain? Even when the weather
changes in a moment from sunshine to rain, though before expanded, they
immediately close. Here for the first time this season I heard the
Cuckoo, a welcome harbinger of summer.
Having often been told of the cataract of Elf-Carleby, I thought it
worth while to go a little out of my way to see it; especially as I
could hear it from the road, and saw the vapour of its foam, rising like
the smoke of a chimney. On arriving at the spot, I perceived the river
to be divided into three channels by a huge rock, placed by the hand of
Nature in the middle of its course. The water, in the nearest of these
channels, falls from a height of twelve or fifteen ells, so that its
white foam and spray are thrown as high as two ells into the air, and
the whole at a distance appears like a continual smoke. On this branch
of the cascade stands a saw-mill. The man employed in it had a pallid
countenance, but he did not complain of his situation so much as I
should have expected.
It is impossible to examine the nature of the inaccessible black rock
over which the water precipitates itself.
Below this cataract is a salmon fishery. A square net, made of wicker
work, placed at the height of an ell above the water, is so constructed
that the salmon when once caught cannot afterwards escape.
Oak trees grow on the summits of the surrounding rocks. At first it
seems inconceivable how they should obtain nourishment; but the vapours
are collected by the hills above, and trickle down in streams to their
roots.
In the valleys among these hills I picked up shells remarkable for the
acuteness of their spiral points. Here also grew a rare Moss of a
sulphur-green colour[4].
[4] This appears to have been _Bartramia pomiformis_, _Bryum
pomiforme_ of Linnaeus. See _Fl. Lapp. n. 400_.
From hence I hastened to the town of Elf-Carleby, which is divided into
two parts by the large river, whose source is at Lexan in Dalecarlia.
The largest portion of the town stands on the southern side, and
contains numerous shops, occupied only during the fairs occasionally
kept at this place.
I crossed the river by a ferry, where it is about two gun-shots wide.
The ferryman never fails to ask every traveller for his passport, or
license to travel. At first sight this man reminded me of Rudbeck's
Charon, whom he very much resembled, except that he was not so aged. We
passed the small island described by that author as having been
separated from the main land in the reign of king John III. It is now at
a considerable distance from the shore, the force of the current
rendering the intermediate channel, as Rudbeck observes, every year
wider. The base of the island is a rock. Only one tree was now to be
seen upon it.
The northern bank of the river is nearly perpendicular. I wondered to
see it so neat and even, which may probably be owing to a mixture of
clay in the sand; or perhaps it may have been smoothed by art.
Horizontal lines marked the yearly progress of the water. The sun shone
upon us this morning, but was soon followed by rain.
Elf-Carleby is two miles and a half further. On its north side are
several sepulchral mounds.
Here for the first time I beheld, what at least I had never before met
with in our northern regions, the _Pulsatilla apii folio_ (_Anemone
vernalis_), the leaves of which, furnished with long footstalks, had two
pair of leaflets besides the terminal one, every one of them cut half
way into four, six or eight segments. The calyx, if I may be allowed so
to call it, was placed about the middle of the stalk, and was cut into
numerous very narrow divisions, smooth within, very hairy without.
Petals six, oblong; the outermost excessively hairy and purplish; the
innermost more purple and less hairy; all of them white on the inside,
with purple veins. Stamens numerous and very short. Pistils cohering in
a cylindrical form, longer than the stamens, and about half as long as
the petals.
We had variable weather, with alternate rain and sunshine.
A mile from Elf-Carleby are iron works called H[:a]rn[:a]s. The ore is
partly brought from Danemora in Roslagen, partly from Engsi[:o] 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 mobilis_ 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.
GESTRICKLAND.
The forests became more and more hilly and stony, and abounded with the
different species of Winter-green (_Pyrolae_).
All along the road the stones were in general of a white and
dark-coloured granite.
I noticed great abundance of the Rose Willow (_Salix Helix_), which had
lost all its leaves of the preceding season, except such as composed
rosaceous excrescences at the summits of its branches, and which looked
like the calyx of the _Carthamus_ (_Safflower_), only their colour was
gone.
Near Gefle stands a Runic monumental stone, rather more legible than
usual, and on that account more taken care of.
I noticed a kind of stage to dry corn and 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, Angermanland, and Westbothland.
_May 14._
I left Gefle after divine service, having previously obtained a proper
passport from the governor of the province and his secretary. I was well
received and entertained by the Comptroller of the Customs, L[:o]nbom.
At this town is the last apothecary's shop and the last physician in the
province, neither the one nor the other being to be met with in any
place further north. The river is navigable through the town. The
surrounding country abounds with large red stones.
At the distance of three quarters of a mile stands Hille church. Here
begins a chain or ridge of hills extending to the next post-house, three
quarters of a mile further, and separating two lakes. On its summit, a
quarter of a mile from Gefle, a number of different sepulchral mounds
are observable, composed of stones.
The Fir trees here all appeared tall and slender, and were laden with
cones of three different stages of growth; some a year old, not larger
than large peas, and of a globular figure; others two years old, ovate
and pointed; and the remainder ripe, with their scales open and
reflexed, having been four years on the tree.
In the marshes on the left the note of the Snipe (_Scolopax Gallinago_)
was heard continually.
At the distance of a quarter of a mile before we come to Troye, on the
right, are the mineral springs of Hille.
Troye post-house, which Professor Rudbeck the elder used to call Troy,
is surrounded by a smooth hill.
The road from hence lay across a marsh called by the people the walls of
Troy, a quarter of a mile in extent, destitute of large trees. The Sweet
Gale (_Myrica Gale_), laden with catkins about its upper branches, was
abundant every where, as well as the Dwarf Birch (_Betula nana_). These
form a sort of low alley through which the road leads. This _Betula_
had also catkins upon it, which are sessile and erect, not pendulous as
in the Common Birch, about half an inch long and as thick as a
goose-quill, situated about the lower part of the branches. The female
catkins are more slender than the male, erect, and sessile upon the
upper branches. Their scales ovate and almost leafy, green, pointed,
three-cleft, with three pair of purplish pistils. Here and there grew
the Marsh Violet (_Viola palustris_), with its pale grey flowers, marked
with five or seven black forked lines on the lower lip.
In the forest on the other side of this marsh were many kinds of
Club-moss (_Lycopodium clavatum_, _Selago_, _alpinum_, and
_complanatum_).
A quantity of large stones lay by the road side, which the governor of
the province had caused to be dug up in order to mend the high-way. They
looked like a mass of ruins, and were clothed with _Campanula
serpyllifolia_ (the plant afterwards called _Linnaea borealis_), whose
trailing shoots and verdant leaves were interwoven with those of the Ivy
(_Hedera Helix_).
On the right is the lake Hamr[:a]nge Fj[:a]rden, which adds greatly to the
beauty of the road.
The morning of this day was bright, but the afternoon was diversified
with sunshine and rain, like the preceding. The wind however changed
from north to south.
On the mountainous ridge at Hille, above described, I remarked on the
ends of the Juniper-branches a kind of bud or excrescence, consisting of
three leaves, longer than when in their natural state, and three or four
times as broad, which cohered together except at their tips. They
enveloped three smaller leaves, of a yellow hue, in the centre of which
lodged either a maggot or a whitish chrysalis. (This produces the
_Tipula Juniperi_. See _Fauna Suecica_ 438, and _Fl. Suec._ 360).
I arrived at Hamr[:a]nge Post-house during the night.
The people here talked much of an extraordinary kind of tree, growing
near the road, which many persons had visited, but none could find out
what it was. Some said it was an apple tree which had been cursed by a
beggar-woman, who one day having gathered an apple from it, and being on
that account seized by the proprietor of the tree, declared that the
tree should never bear fruit any more.
_May 15._
Next morning I arose with the sun in order to examine this wonderful
tree, which was pointed out to me from a distance. It proved nothing
more than a common Elm. Hence however we learn that the Elm is not a
common tree in this part of the country.
I observed that in these forests plants of the natural family of
_bicornes_ (with two-horned antheras) predominated over all others, so
that the Heath, _Erica_, in the woods, and _Andromeda_[5], in the
marshes, were more abundant than any thing else. Indeed we meet with few
other plants than _Vaccinium Myrtillus_ and _Vitis-Idaea_, _Arbutus
Uva-Ursi_, _Ledum palustre_, &c. The same may be said of the upper part
of Lapland.
[5] 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 in print. The origin
of _Andromeda_ will be explained hereafter, and the fanciful idea
which gave rise to it had not perhaps at this time occurred. He
therefore now either intended to call this plant _Daphne_, or he
accidentally wrote one name by mistake for the other, having both in
his mind.
The spiders had now spread their curious mathematical webs over the
pales and fences, and they were rendered conspicuous by the moisture
with which the fog had besprinkled them.
The Red-wing (_Turdus iliacus_), the Cuckoo (_Cuculus canorus_), the
Black Grous (_Tetrao Tetrix_), and the Mountain Finch (_Fringilla
Montifringilla_), with their various notes made a concert in the
forest, to which the lowing herds of cattle under the shade of the trees
formed a base. The weather this morning was delightfully pleasant.
_Lichen islandicus_ grows abundantly in this forest.
After travelling about a mile and half from Hamr[:a]nge I arrived at the
river Tonna, which divides Gestrickland from Helsingland, and empties
itself into the bay of Tonna. The abovementioned lake, called by the
inhabitants Hamr[:a]nge Fj[:a]rden, extends almost to the sea. I was
told it did actually communicate with the ocean. At least there is a
ditch in the mountain itself, whether the work of art or nature is
uncertain, called the North Sound, hardly wide enough to admit a boat to
pass. This is dammed up as soon as the hot weather in summer sets in, to
prevent the lake losing too much water by that channel, as the iron from
several founderies is conveyed by the navigation through this lake.
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 (_Pinus sylvestris_ and _P. Abies_) grow here
to a very large size. The inhabitants had stripped almost every tree of
its bark.
A number of small white bodies were hanging on the plants of Ling
(_Erica_), of a globular form, but cut off, as it were, though not open,
on the lower side, each about the size of a Bilberry (_Vaccinium
Myrtillus_), and consisting of a thin white silky membrane. A small
white insect was lodged within.
There were also affixed to some plants ovate white bodies of a silky
texture, apparently formed of innumerable silky threads. These contained
each a small insect.
A little further on I observed close to the road a rather lofty stone
containing in its substance large fragments of _mica_.
At last to my great satisfaction I found myself at the great river
Liusnan. From this part of the forest to the sea the distance is three
miles. Here and there in the woods lay blood-red stones, or rather
stones which appeared to have been partially stained with blood. On
rubbing them I found the red colour merely external, and perfectly
distinct from the stone itself. It was in fact a red Byssus (_B.
Jolithus_).
Many sepulchral mounds are in this neighbourhood.
Not far from Norrala, situated about a mile from the last post-house,
the water in the ditches deposits a thick sediment of ochre.
Several pair of semicircular baskets made of wicker work were placed in
the water, intended principally to catch Bream (_Cyprinus Brama_). Here
I observed the Lumme, or Black-throated Diver (_Colymbus arcticus_),
which uttered a melancholy note, especially in diving.
From Norrala I proceeded to En[:a]nger, through a heavy fog, as it had
rained violently while I rested at the former place. Towards evening it
thundered and lightened. In the course of this whole day's journey I
observed a great variety in the face of the country as well as in the
soil. Here are mountains, hills, marshes, lakes, forests, clay, sand,
and pebbles.
Cultivated fields indeed are rare. The greater part of the country
consists of uninhabitable mountainous tracts. In the valleys only are to
be seen small dwelling-houses, to each of which adjoins a little field.
Even in these there is no great proportion of fertile land, the
principal part being marshy.
The people seemed somewhat larger in stature than in other places,
especially the men. I inquired whether the children are kept longer at
the breast than is usual with us, and was answered in the affirmative.
They are allowed that nourishment more than twice as long as in other
places. I have a notion that Adam and Eve were giants, and that mankind
from one generation to another, owing to poverty and other causes, have
diminished in size. Hence perhaps the diminutive stature of the
Laplanders[6].
[6] 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.
Brandy is not always to be had here. The people are humane and
civilized. Their houses are handsome externally, as well as neat and
comfortable within; in which respects they have the advantage of most
other places.
The old tradition, that the inhabitants of 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 Montifringilla_); but,
what is remarkable, they were all males, known by the orange-coloured
spot on the breast.
_May 16._
Between Eksund post-house and Spange is the capital iron forge of
Eksund, which has two hammers and one blast furnace. The sons of Vulcan
were working in their shirts, and seemed masters of their business. The
ore used here is of three or four kinds. First, from Dannemora; second,
from Soderom; third, from Grusone, which contains beautiful cubical
pyrites; fourth, a black ore from the parish of Arbro, which lies at the
bottom of the sea, but in stormy weather is thrown upon the shore. At
this place, as well as further north in the same district, a kind of
blueish stone[7] is used for building the tunnels or chimneys, which is
considered as more compact and better able to resist heat than _Lapis
molaris_ or _Pipsten_ (_Cos molaris?_). The limestone placed between the
other stones was procured from the sea shore, and abounded with
petrified corals.
[7] Probably _Saxum fornacum_, _Linn. Syst. Nat. ed. 12. v. 3. 79_.
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, contrived to lift up a hammer for the
purpose of bruising flax.
[Illustration]
When it is not wanted, a trap door is raised, to turn the stream aside.
Several butterflies were to be seen in the forest, as the common black,
and the large black and white. Here I noticed _Lichenoides terrestre
scutatum albicans_, (_Lichen arcticus_), which has larger fructification
than the common _L. caninus_, with which it agrees in other respects,
except colour. (See Linnaeus's opinion respecting this Lichen, in which
however he is certainly mistaken, in _Fl. Lapponica n. 442_.)
By the road side between Nieutaenger and Bringstad, a violet-coloured
clay, used in building bridges, is here and there to be met with.
On a wall at Iggsund I found a nondescript hemipterous insect. (What
this was cannot now be ascertained.)
Between the post-house of Iggsund and Hudwiksvall the abovementioned
violet-coloured clay is found in abundance, forming a regular stratum. I
observed it likewise in a hill near the water which was nine ells in
height.
The strata of this hill consisted of two or three fingers' breadths of
common vegetable mould; then from four to six inches of barren sand
(_Arena Glarea_); next about a span of the violet clay; and lastly
barren sand. The clay contained small and delicately smooth white
bivalve shells, quite entire, as well as some larger brown ones, of
which great quantities are to be found near the water side. I am
therefore convinced that all these valleys and marshes have formerly
been under 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, were quite barren, nothing but stones remaining.
The produce of the arable land here being but scanty, the inhabitants
mix herbs with their corn, and form it into cakes two feet broad, but
only a line in thickness, by which means the taste of the herbs is
rendered less perceptible.
Hudvikswall is a little town situated between a small lake and the sea.
Near this place the Arctic Bramble (_Rubus arcticus_) was beginning to
shoot forth, while _Lychnis dioica_ and _Arabis thaliana_ were in
flower.
The larger fields here are sown with flax, which is performed every
third year. The soil is turned up by a plough, and the seed sown on the
furrow; after which the ground is harrowed. The linen manufactory
furnishes the principal occupation of the inhabitants of this country.
Towards evening I reached Bringstad. The weather was fine, it having
rained but once in the course of the day.
_May 17._
Continuing my journey at sunrise, I saw some sepulchral mounds near the
church of J[:a]ttedahl. As soon as I had passed the forest, I overtook
seven Laplanders driving their reindeer, which were about sixty or
seventy in number followed by their young ones. Most of the herd had
lost their horns, and new ones were sprouting forth. I asked the drivers
what could have brought them so far down into the country. They replied
that they were born here near the sea coast, and intended to end their
lives here. They spoke good Swedish.
Near the post-house at Gnarp, to the westward, grows a birch tree, with
more than fifty or sixty of those singularly matted and twisted branches
which this tree sometimes produces.
MEDELPAD.
Between Gnarp and the post-house of Dingersj[:o] stands the boundary mark
between Helsingland and Medelpad or Medelpadia, consisting of two posts,
one on each side the road. Here I began to perceive the common Ling,
_Erica_, to grow more scarce, its place being supplied by a greater
quantity of the Bilberry (_Vaccinium Myrtillus_). Birch trees became
more abundant as I advanced. On the left of the road are large mountains
of granite. At the foot of those rocks the whole country was covered
with stones, about twice as large as a man's fist, of a greyish green
colour, lying in heaps, and covered with a fine coating of moss, seeming
never to have been disturbed.
I had scarcely passed the limits of 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-glass, they
appeared for the most part of a reddish cast, but the wing feathers were
snow-white.
Close by the post-house of Dingersj[:o] grew the large Yellow Aconite
(_Aconitum lycoctonum_), called by the peasants Giske or Gisk. All over
the country through which I passed this day, it is as common as heath or
ling. Not being eaten by any kind of cattle, it grows luxuriantly, and
increases abundantly, in proportion as other herbs are devoured. Thus
Nature teaches the brute creation to distinguish, without a preceptor,
what is useful from what is hurtful, while man is left to his own
inquiries.
To the north of Dingersj[:o], on the right hand of the road, stands a
considerable mountain called Nyaeckers-berg, the south side of which is
very steep. The inhabitants had planted hop-grounds under it. As the hop
does not in general thrive well hereabouts, they designed that this
mountain should serve as a wall for the plants to run upon. They were
not disappointed as to the success of their plantations; for the hops
were very thriving, being sheltered from the cold north wind, and at the
same time exposed to the heat of the sun, whose rays are concentrated in
this spot as in a focus.
At the distance of a quarter of a mile from the post-house, on the left,
stands the highest mountain in Medelpad, according to the inhabitants,
which is called Norby Kullen, or more properly Norby Knylen. It is
indeed of a very considerable height; and being desirous of examining it
more minutely, I travelled to Norby, where I tied my horse to an ancient
Runic monumental stone, and, accompanied by a guide, climbed the
mountain on its left side. Here were many uncommon plants, as _Fumaria
bulbosa minima_, _Campanula serpyllifolia_ (_Linnaea borealis_), _Adoxa
moschatellina_, &c., all in greater perfection than ever I saw them
before. I found also a small rare moss, which I should call _Sphagnum
ramosum_, _capsulis globosis_, _petiolus_ (pedicellis) _longis
erectis_, if it may be presumed a _Sphagnum_, as I saw no calyptra. The
little heads or capsules were exactly spherical[8].
[8] Linnaeus's ideas concerning the genera of Mosses were at this
time in a very unsettled state. Could this be any thing else than
_Bartramia pomiformis_?
After much difficulty and fatigue, we reached the summit of the mountain
to the westward. Here the country-people kept watch during the war with
the Russians, and were obliged to attend twice a day, as this place
commands an extensive sea view. They had collected a great quantity of
wood, on which stood a pole, with a tar-barrel placed transversely on
its top. This was to be set on fire at the landing or approach of the
enemy, being conspicuous for many miles around.
I brought away with me a stone, which seemed of a very compound kind.
Every sort of moss grows on this mountain, that can be found any where
in the neighbouring country. The trees towards the upper part were
small, but some of considerable dimensions grew about the sides of the
hill.
When at the summit, we looked down on the country beneath, varied with
plains and cultivated fields, villages, lakes, rivers, &c. We saw the
appearance of a smoke between us and the lower part of the mountain,
which was not perceptible as we descended, being a slight mist or
exhalation from the ground. The dung of the hare was observable all over
the very highest part of the hill; a certain proof of that animal's
frequenting even these lofty regions.
We endeavoured to descend on the south side, which was the steepest, and
where rocks were piled on rocks. We were often obliged to sit down, and
in that position to slide for a considerable way. Had we then met with a
loose fragment of rock, or a precipice, our lives had been lost. About
the middle of this side of the mountain, an Eagle Owl (_Strix Bubo_)
started up suddenly before us. It was as large as a hen, and the colour
of a woodcock, with black feathery ears or horns, and black lines about
the bill. I wished for my gun, which I had left, finding it too
troublesome to carry up the hill. Immediately afterwards we perceived a
little plat of grass, fronting the south, and guarded, as it were, with
rocky walls on the east and west, so that no wind but from the south
could reach it. Here were three young birds and a spotted egg[9]. Of
these birds one was as large as two fists, healthy and brisk, clothed
all over with very soft long whitish feathers like wool. This we took
away with us to the house. The other two were but half as large. The egg
fell to pieces as I took it up, and contained only a small quantity of a
thin watery fluid, the abominable smell of which I shall not venture to
describe, lest I should excite as much disgust in my readers as in
myself. I believe the two smaller birds were the offspring of the Eagle
Owl. Close to the nest lay a few small bones, of what animal I am
ignorant. These birds were all quite full fed. Near them was a large
dead rat, of which the under side was already putrefied and full of
maggots. I verily believe that these young birds cannot digest flesh,
but are obliged to wait till it decays and affords them maggots and
vermin. Their bills and cere were black. The egg was almost globular,
white, the size of that of a guinea-hen.
[9] So I interpret Linnaeus's cypher in this and another place, which
is _ovum_ [square with dot] _sum_, (ovum maculosum). If I am wrong,
the candid reader will rather compassionate than condemn me; yet
Linnaeus says, a little further on, that the egg was white.
Here and there among the rocks small patches of vegetation were to be
seen, full of variety of herbaceous plants, among others the Heart's
Ease, _Viola tricolor_[10], of which some of the flowers were white;
others blue and white; others with the upper petals blue and yellow,
the lateral and lower ones blue; while others again had a mixture of
yellow in the side petals. All these were found within a foot of each
other; sometimes even on the same stalk different colours were
observable: a plain proof that such diversities do not constitute a
specific distinction, and that the action of the sun may probably cause
them all. There could scarcely be a more favourable place for vegetation
than this, exposed to the sun, sheltered from the cold, and moderately
watered by little rills which trickled down the mountain.
[10] More probably, from the place of growth, as well as the
description, _Viola lutea_ of _Fl. Britannica_, and _English Botany,
vol. 11. t. 721_.
Leaving this mountain, and proceeding further on my journey, I observed
by the road a large reddish stone, full of glittering portions of talc.
The greater part of my way lay near the sea shore, which was bespread
with the wrecks of vessels. How many prayers, sighs and tears, vows and
lamentations, all alas in vain! arose to my imagination at this
melancholy spectacle! It brought to my mind the student[11], who in
going by sea from Stockholm 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.
[11] 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_.
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 Fj[:a]hl, where I was obliged to pass a river by two separate ferries,
the stream being divided by an island.
_May 18._
Being Ascension day, I spent it at this place, partly on account of the
holiday, partly to rest my weary limbs and recruit my strength.
The country bears a great resemblance to Helsingland, but is rather a
more pleasant residence.
I took a walk about the neighbourhood to amuse myself with the beauties
of Flora, which were here but in their earliest spring. I found an
aquatic Violet with a white flower, which very much resembled the large
wild Violet (_Viola canina_), of which I should have taken it for a
variety had I not compared them together. It always grows near the
water. The odd petal, or lip, is always more or less of a blueish
colour; the rest whitish, generally indeed quite white[12]. Close to
this grew the little Marsh Violet, mentioned some time since, (_V.
palustris_, see _p. 20_,) but here it was remarkable for a purplish
tinge; (_V. palustris [beta] Fl. Brit.?_)
This evening it rained very hard.
[12] Linnaeus appears to have neglected to describe this _Viola_ in
his printed works. May it not be _V. lactea_, _Fl. Brit. 247._
_Engl. Bot. vol. 7. t. 445_?
_May 19._
On the following morning I arose with the sun, and took leave of Fj[:a]hl.
Having proceeded about a quarter of a mile, I came within sight of the
next church, called Hasj[:o]. Here I turned to the left out of the main
road, to examine a hill where copper ore was said to be found. The
stones indeed had a glittering appearance, like copper ore; but the
pyrites to which that was owing were of a yellowish white, a certain
indication of their containing chiefly iron. Some stones of a blackish
colour lay about this hill, decomposed by the action of the air. An
opening not more than six feet in breadth, and as much in depth, was the
only examination that had as yet been made into this mine. The mountain
is named Balingsberget.
Not far distant, close to the church on the north-east, a huge stone is
to be seen. The credulous vulgar relate that, when the church was
building, some malignant beings of gigantic size were desirous of
knocking it down, but the stones thrown for that purpose fell short of
the sacred spot. As a confirmation of this history, they show the
evident marks of four huge fingers and a thumb on the upper side of the
stone.
In approaching the next large mountain, called Brunaesberget, I turned
towards the left, and found a cave, formed by Nature in the mountain
itself, resembling an artificial dwelling. The sides, end and roof were
all of stone. The front was open, but much narrower and lower than the
inside, which was so lofty that I could not reach the roof. The entrance
was concealed on the outside by two large trees, a fir and a birch, and
the descent was pretty steep. On the floor lay some burnt stumps of
trees. The neighbouring people informed me that a criminal had concealed
himself for two years in this cavern, its situation being so retired,
and the approach from the road so well fortified by stones piled on
stones, that he remained entirely undiscovered.
On the roof and sides of this cave, near the entrance, the stones were
clothed with a fungous substance, like a sponge in texture, without any
regular form; or rather like the internal medullary part of the Agaric
of the Birch, when dressed for making tinder. It appeared to me quite
distinct from all plants hitherto described. (This is the _Byssus
cryptarum_; _Linn. Fl. Lapp. n. 527_, and _Fl. Suec. n. 1181_.
Succeeding travellers have gathered it here.)
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 lycoctonum_), both which it affords in common with
Helsingland.
ANGERMANLAND.
About a quarter of a mile from the next post-house is a small bridge,
over a rivulet which joins two little lakes. This water separates
Medelpad from Angermanland. We no sooner enter this district, than we
meet with lofty and very steep hills, scarcely to be descended with
safety on horseback.
Very near Hernosand, in the territories of the bishopric, I picked up a
number of Chrysomelas of a blueish green and gold. (These were the
beautiful _Chrysomela graminis_. See _Faun. Suec. n. 509_.)
The city of Hernosand is situated about half or three quarters of a mile
within the borders of the province, standing on an island, accessible to
ships on every side, except at Vaerbryggan, where they can scarcely
pass.
In the heart of the Angermannian forests trees with deciduous leaves,
_Betula alba_ and the hoary-leaved Alder (_Betula incana_), abound
equally with the Common and Spruce Firs (_Pinus sylvestris_ and
_Abies_), while among the humble shrubs the Heath (_Erica_) and the
Bilberry (_Vaccinium Myrtillus_) alternately predominate; the former
chiefly on the hills, the latter in the closer parts of the forest.
These hills might with great advantage be cleared of their wood; for
here is a good soil remaining wherever the trees are burnt down, not
barren stones as in Helsingland and Medelpad. The valleys between the
mountains, as in those countries, are cultivated with corn, or laid out
in meadows, but here are spacious plains besides.
Every house has near it one of those stages already described, on which
the rye, less plentiful here than barley, is laid to dry, as are the
peas likewise.
The woods abound with matted branches of the birch, I know not from what
cause.
Between Norsby and Veda, on the hill towards M[:o]rtsi[:o]n, I had a very
extensive view of the surrounding country, which presented itself like
clouds of dense vapour rising one above another. The mountains looked
quite blue from the fog which rose from them; and this vapour gave them
the appearance of having each a more lofty summit than the hill before
it. This was the case in every part of the prospect.
Veda is situated near the great river of Angermanland, which takes its
name from the country (_Angermanna Elfven_), and is half a Swedish mile
in breadth near its mouth. The water is entirely salt, this being more
properly an arm of the sea than a river.
I crossed this water, and, on approaching the opposite shore, observed
all along the coast a remarkable line of white froth, an ell broad,
carried along with the stream. On inquiring the cause of this, my
companions in the boat replied, they knew of no other than that this
line was the course of the current of the river.
Near the road, every here and there, were nets for catching fish. These
were not painted black, but coloured red by boiling large pieces of the
inner bark of the birch. When this liquor begins to cool, the nets are
immersed in it.
_May 20._
In some places the cows were without horns; a mere variety of the common
kind, and not a distinct species. Nor have they been originally formed
thus; for though in them the most essential character of their genus is,
as to external appearance, wanting, still rudiments of horns are to be
found under the skin. A contrary variety is observable, in 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 whatever side I cast my eyes,
nothing but lofty mountains were to be seen. Not far from Aessja the
little Strawberry-leaved Bramble (_Rubus arcticus_) was in full bloom.
The cold weather, however, had rendered the purple of its blossoms paler
than usual. I cannot help thinking that it might more properly and
specifically be called _Rubus humilis_, _folio fragariae_, _flore rubro_,
than _fructu rubro_. It likewise seems to me, that this plant exactly
agrees in structure with the _Rubus folio ribes alpinus anglicus_ of
authors, which I must compare with it the first opportunity[13].
[13] Linnaeus soon satisfied himself that the latter was his _Rubus
Chamaemorus_. The _arcticus_ is a much more valuable plant for its
fruit, which partakes of the flavour of the raspberry and
strawberry, and makes a most delicious wine, used only by the
nobility in Sweden.
A quarter of a mile further is Doggsta, on the other side of which,
close to the road, stands a tremendously steep and lofty mountain,
called Skulaberget, (the mountain of Skula,[14]) in which I was informed
there was a remarkable cavern. This I wished to explore, but the people
told me it was impossible. With much difficulty I prevailed on two men
to show me the way. We climbed the rocks, creeping on our hands and
knees, and often slipping back again; we had no sooner advanced a
little, than all our labour was lost by a retrograde motion. Sometimes
we caught hold of bushes, sometimes of small projecting stones. Had they
failed us, which was very likely to have been the case, our lives might
have paid for it. I was following one of the men in climbing a steep
rock; but seeing the other had better success, I endeavoured to overtake
him. I had but just left my former situation, when a large mass of rock
broke loose from a spot which my late guide had just passed, and fell
exactly where I had been, with such force that it struck fire as it
went. If I had not providentially changed my route, nobody would ever
have heard of me more. Shortly afterwards another fragment came tumbling
down. I am not sure that the man did not roll it down on purpose. At
length, quite spent with toil, we reached the object of our pursuit,
which is a cavity in the middle of the mountain. I expected to have seen
something to repay my curiosity, but found a mere cavern, formed like a
circle or arch, fourteen Parisian feet high, eighteen broad, and
twenty-two long. The stones that compose it are of a very hard kind of
quartz or spar, yet the sides of the cavern are in many places as even
as if they had been cut artificially. Several different strata are
distinguishable, particularly in the roof, which is concave like an
arch. In that part a hole appears, intended, as I was told, for a
chimney. Whether it is pervious to any extent, I know not. Some
convulsion of the mountain seems to have shivered the rock in
longitudinal fissures. All the shivers of stone, many of which lie on
the floor, are quadrangular, and of a considerable size. I am fully
persuaded of this grotto having been formed by the hand of Nature, and
that art had afterwards merely cleared away the fragments of stone. The
entrance is sufficiently large to afford a full view of the inside,
occupying an eighth part of the whole. Drops of water trickle down from
the roof near one of the sides. Some species of _Polypodium_, the
_Asplenium Trichomanes_, and other ferns, grow on the adjacent parts of
the mountain. Before the orifice of this cavern grew a Sallow tree,
which when king Charles XI. passed this way was cut down, and, having
grown up again, was a second time felled by the inhabitants[15].
[14] Its perpendicular height is two hundred Swedish ells. See
_Dissert. de Angermanni[^a]_.
[15] This cavern has been visited by other naturalists since the
time of Linnaeus, among whom was Dr. Olaf Swartz, the present Bergian
Professor of Botany at Stockholm, well known by his various
excellent publications, who gathered here the same _Byssus_
(_cryptarum_) which Linnaeus found in the other cavern at
Brunaesberget. Both their original specimens are now in my
possession.
Having taken leave of this mountain, I had scarcely continued my journey
a quarter of a mile before I found a great part of the country covered
with snow, in patches some inches deep. The pretty spring flowers had
gradually disappeared. The buds of the birch, which so greatly
contribute to the beauty of the forests, were not yet put forth. I saw
nothing but wintry plants, the heath and the 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 long duration of the snow.
This part of the country is very mountainous, and is watered by many
small rills, originating on the sides of the mountains from the copious
rains falling upon them, and running from thence, by various channels,
to swell the streams of Helsingland and Medelpad.
The cornfields afford a crop two years successively, and lie fallow the
third. Rye is seldom or never sown here, being too slow in coming to
perfection, so that the land, which must next receive the Barley, would
be too much exhausted. The ploughs are made with two transverse beams on
one side, that the sods may be turned the first time the land is
ploughed, as will presently be more particularly explained.
_May 21._
After going to church at Natra, I remarked some cornfields, which the
curate of that place had caused to be cultivated in a manner that
appeared extraordinary to me. After the field has lain fallow three or
four years, it is sown with one part rye and two parts barley, mixed
together. The seed is committed to the ground in spring, as soon as the
earth is capable of tillage. The barley grows rank, ripens its ears, and
is reaped. The rye in the mean while goes into leaf, but shoots up no
stem, as the barley smothers it and retards its growth. After the latter
is reaped, the rye advances in growth, and ripens the year following,
without any further cultivation, the crop being very abundant. The corn
so produced is called Kapps[:a]d.
Today I met with no flowers, except the Wood Sorrel (_Oxalis
Acetosella_), which is here the _primula_, or first flower of the
spring. The _Convallaria bifolia_ and Strawberry-leaved Bramble (_Rubus
arcticus_) were plentifully in leaf.
The rocks are generally of a whitish hue, the uppermost side indeed
being rather darker from the injuries of the air, and the minute mosses
that clothe it.
The inhabitants make the same kind of broad cakes of bread, which have
already been described. The flour used for this purpose commonly
consists of one part barley and three of chaff. When they wish to have
it very good, and the country is rich in barley, they add but two
portions of chaff to one of corn[16]. The cakes are not suffered to
remain long in the oven, but require to be turned once. Only one is
baked at a time, and the fire is swept towards the sides of the oven
with a large bunch of cock's feathers.
[16] How would this _very good_ bread suit English stomachs? This
_honest_ adulteration has not been thought of by any of our
schemers, whose projects only serve to teach evil-disposed bakers to
make bread of any thing rather than what they ought, and to spare
their pockets at the expense of the public welfare.
In summer the people eat _Segmiolk_ (Thick Milk), prepared in the
following manner: After the milk is turned, and the curd taken out, the
whey is put into a vessel, where it remains till it becomes sour.
Immediately after the making of cheese, fresh whey is poured lukewarm on
the former sour whey. This is repeated several times, care being always
taken that the fresh whey be lukewarm. Finally they let the mixture
remain for some time, the longer the better, and it becomes at length so
glutinous, that it may be drawn out from one side of the house to the
other. Even if a vessel be filled with it and set by in the cellar, as
is usually practised for winter provision, care must be taken that not
the least drop may run out, otherwise the whole would escape, so great
is the cohesion of its particles.
This prepared milk is esteemed a great dainty by the country people.
They consider it as very cooling and refreshing. Sometimes it is eaten
along with fresh milk. In taking it from the dish, it cannot be poured
out, as it all runs back again if not cut with a knife, or, as is more
usual, parted by holding the finger against the edge of the spoon.
Intermittent fevers would not be so rare here as they are, if they could
be produced by acid diet, for then this food must infallibly occasion
them.
A small quantity of this preparation is sometimes put into the barley
cakes, in order to give them tenacity.
I had here abundant opportunities of examining a fish, not every where
to be met with, called the Harr, (_Salmo Thymallus_, or Grayling,)
which in appearance very much resembles a Salmon. (See _Fauna Suecica,
ed. 2. 125_.)
The coverlets of the beds at this place are made of hare-skins.
_May 22._
The cows in this neighbourhood have no horns, so that the owners can
neither by the rings on the horn ascertain how many calves the cow has
had, nor, as is usual with respect to goats, determine the age of the
animal every year by the new horns. A few of them indeed bore horns of a
finger's length only, and those bent down, immediately from their
origin, so close to the hide, that they were hardly visible above the
hair.
Apple trees grow between Veda and Hornoen, but none are to be seen
further north. No kind of Willow is to be met with, as I was informed,
throughout Angermanland. The 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 occurrence.
In the road I saw a Cuckoo fed by a _Motacilla_ (Water Wagtail?). I am
sure of the fact, and that there was no deception in the case.
In the forest previous to my arrival at Ouske, I picked up a striated
stone, from a small cleft in the rock, which had the appearance of
imperfect cinnabar.
Ochre was here very abundant in the marshes, and had a coat which tinged
the fingers with a silvery hue; a sign of iron, but not of any mineral
water.
_Stellaria_ with oblong leaves (_Callitriche autumnalis_) grew in the
surrounding puddles. Those botanists are much mistaken who distinguish
this from the kind with oval leaves (_Callitriche verna_), for they only
differ in age. The lower leaves of the preceding year, of an ovate form,
still remained under water quite fresh, bearing ripe seeds in their
_axillae_.
The stones hereabouts are of a light grey colour, with large white
spots.
Near the coast was a quicksand, caused here, as in 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 Normaling, I took a walk to examine the
neighbourhood, and met with a mineral spring, already observed by Mr.
Peter Artedi[17], at this his native place. It appeared to contain a
great quantity of ochre, but seemed by the taste too astringent to be
wholesome. It is situated near the coast to the west, on the south of
the church, and at no great distance from it.
[17] The celebrated writer on fishes, afterwards so intimately
connected with Linnaeus. The latter published his Ichthyology, and
wrote his life in a style which does equal honour to his own
feelings and the merit of his friend.
I observed on the adjacent shore that an additional quantity of sand is
thrown up every year by the sea, which thus makes a rampart against its
own encroachments, continually adding by little and little to the
continent.
A mile, or rather more, from the land, is an island named Bonden, where
the bird called Tordmule (_Alca Torda_) lays its eggs every year. These
are collected every season by the peasants, who assured me that the bird
never lays above one egg in a year, except that egg be taken away, and
then she will repeatedly lay more. It seems to me a very curious
circumstance, and scarcely possible, that the increase of the species
every year should be naturally not more than one. Some persons indeed
told me these birds laid two eggs. It is certain that the size of the
egg is very large compared with the body of the parent. I only saw some
fragments of this bird, but am pretty certain of its being the _Anas
arctica_ (_Alca Torda_).
In proportion as I approached Westbothland, the height of the mountains,
the quantity of large stones, and the extent of the forests, gradually
decreased. Fir trees, which of late had been of rare occurrence, became
more abundant. Above a mile before we come to S[:o]rmjole, is a river
called Angeraen, separating Angermanland from Westbothland.
The peasants hereabouts use the following implements, for breaking up
the ground of their fallow fields.
[Illustration]
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.
[Illustration]
No. 2 is used immediately afterwards, to cut the clods of turf from
their base and turn them up. Of this a is the handle, as in No. 1, held
by the ploughman's right hand; b the main beam of the plough; c the part
which goes under the surface of the ground, and is terminated in the
fore part by the plough-share; d, which is formed obliquely, turning
towards the outside, not towards the man who guides the plough; e is
placed on the top horizontally, reaching to the base of the
plough-share, serving to turn over the clods. The whole is drawn by a
horse, the only kind of animal used here in husbandry.
No. 3, p. 65, is a hoe, which, when furnished with a handle, serves to
pare the earth from the under side of the turfs, after they are turned
over by the machine last described. The first year after this operation
they sow rye, but in the following season barley, when the turfs are
become rotten.
WESTERBOTTEN, or WESTBOTHLAND.
The ground here is tolerably level; the soil sand, sometimes clay. In
some places are large tracts of moss. The whole country, owing to the
sand and the moss, is by no means fertile, though it affords a good deal
of milk. Barley is the chief corn raised here, rye being very seldom
sown, and when any is sown, it is commonly summer rye.
Before I reached S[:o]rmjole, two male reindeer came up to me. I was
mounted on a mare, which had nearly thrown me. No flowers were here to
be seen, not even the Wood Sorrel (_Oxalis Acetosella_), my only
consolation in Angermanland. _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 (_Eriophorum
vaginatum_ and _polystachion_) were now coming into bloom. _Betula nana_
was abundant enough, but as yet showed no signs of catkins or leaves.
Throughout the whole of this country no Ash, Maple, Lime, Elm nor Willow
is to be seen, much less Hazel, Oak or Beech.
Towards evening I reached R[:o]b[:a]ck, where I passed the night. The wind
blew hard from the north-east, and the evening was cold.
_May 24._
Close to R[:o]b[:a]ck is a fine spacious meadow, which would be quite
level, were it not for the hundreds of ant-hills scattered over it.
Near the road, and very near the rivulet that takes its course towards
the town of Umoea, are some mineral springs, abounding with ochre, and
covered with a silvery pellicle. I conceive that R[:o]b[:a]ck may have
obtained its name from this red sediment, from _r[:o]d_ red, and
_b[:a]ck_ a rivulet. Not far from this town is another mineral spring,
by drinking of which several persons have lost their lives. It flows
down an adjacent hill.
Umoea, situated on the abovementioned little river, which is passed in a
ferry-boat, and navigable for merchandise to the sea, is but a small
town, not having yet recovered from the damage done it by the enemy, who
burnt it to the ground. The ferry-boat was conducted by a brawny,
though bald and grey-bearded Charon, in an old grey coat, just such as
Rudbeck describes.
I waited on Baron Grundell, Governor of the province, who is a pattern
of mildness, and he received me in the kindest manner. He showed me
several curiosities, and gave me much interesting information.
He had two Crossbills (_Loxia curvirostra_) in a cage, which fed on the
cones of the spruce fir (_Pinus Abies_) with great dexterity. They took
up a cone with their beak, and, holding it fast with one foot, picked
out the seeds by means of their forked mandibles, of which the upper is
very thick, ending in an oblong curved very sharp point. The lower is
shorter, and cuts obliquely, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the
left. Both these were male birds; their feathers of a tawny red, except
the wings and forked tail, which were black.
From the window I perceived in an adjoining fen the Yellow-hammer
(_Motacilla flava_) and some Swallows.
Baron Grundell told me he often had Snow Buntings (_Emberiza nivalis_),
and Ortolans (_E. Hortulanus_), which last are frequently sold in France
for the value of a ducat (nine shillings). These birds are also to be
met with in Scania. Here had been plenty of Ruffs and Reeves this year
(_Tringa pugnax_).
He showed me the skins of blue and black Foxes, and also of the variety
called _Korssraf_, Cross Fox (_Canis Vulpes [beta] Faun. Suec._), which
is of a yellow colour except the shoulders and hind quarters, and they
are of a greyish black. He told me he had lately sent the king a live
_Jarf_ (_Mustela Gulo_), and that he had once had another of that
species so much domesticated, that when he would have turned it into the
water, at the first cutting of the ice, it would not leave him, nor
would it feed on any kind of fish alive.
In the garden the Governor showed me the garden orache, sallad, and red
cabbage, which last thrives very well, though the white will not come to
perfection here; also garden cresses, winter cresses (_Erysimum Barbarea
[beta] Fl. Suec._), scurvy-grass, chamomile, spinach, onions, leeks,
chives, cucumbers, columbines, carnations, sweet-williams, gooseberries,
currants, the barberry, elder, guelder-rose and lilac. Potatoes here are
not larger than 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 Ptarmica_), rose-campion
(_Agrostemma coronaria_), scurvy-grass, currants, gooseberries,
barberry-berries, wild rose, and lovage (_Ligusticum Levisticum_),
though scarcely cherries, apples or plums.
Barley in some of the neighbouring fields was now beginning to spring
up, but in others it was not yet sown.
The Governor informed me of a singular opinion prevalent here concerning
the clay in the sand-hills, that it increases and decreases with the
moon, so that by digging during the full moon clay may be obtained, but,
on the contrary, when the moon is in the wane, sand only will be found
in the same spot. The same gentleman remarked that cracks or chasms in
the ground are observable in fine or dry weather, which close in cloudy
or wet seasons, and may have given rise to the above idea.
Near the water side I caught an _Ephemera_, of which I made a drawing
and description. It was however of a distinct genus from the proper
_Ephemera_, having the wings inclining downwards, not erect, the tail
with two bristles instead of three, and the _antennae_ bent near the
extremity. (This appears to have been a small specimen of the _Phryganea
bicaudata_.)
From my first arrival in Westbothland, I had remarked that all the
inhabitants used a peculiar kind of shoes or half-boots, called
_K[:a]ngor_. These seemed at first sight very awkward, but I soon found
they had many advantages over common shoes, being easier in wearing, and
impenetrable to water. Those who wear them may walk in water up to the
tops without wetting their feet; for the seams never give way as in our
common shoes. Another advantage is that they require no buckles, and
serve equally well for shoes or boots, so that those who follow the
plough are not obliged to buy boots for that purpose. The lowest price
of a pair of common boots is nine dollars, and of strong shoes five; but
these cost only two dollars. They are cut so that not a morsel of
leather is wasted. Thick soles, formed as usual of three or four layers
of leather, are here needless, neither are heels wanted. Nature, whom no
artist has yet been able to excel, has not given heels to mankind, and
for this reason we see the people of Westbothland trip along as easily
and nimbly in these shoes as if they went barefoot.
In the cornfields lay hundreds of Gulls (_Larus canus_) of a sky-blue
colour.
_May 26._
I took leave of 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 Lycksele 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 convenience to a stranger
travelling in Sweden. It now became necessary for me to entreat in the
most submissive manner when I stood in need of this useful animal. The
road grew more and more narrow and bad, so that my horse went stumbling
along, at almost every step, among stones, at the hazard of my life. My
path was so narrow and intricate, along so many by-ways, that nothing
human could have followed my track. In this dreary wilderness I began to
feel very solitary, and to long earnestly for a companion. The mere
exercise of a trotting horse in a good road, to set the heart and
spirits at liberty, would have been preferable to the slow and tedious
mode of travelling which I was doomed to experience. The few inhabitants
I met with had a foreign accent, and always concluded their sentences
with an adjective. Throughout this whole day's journey nothing occurred
to my observation worth notice, except a fine kind of sand by the
rivulet at Gubbele near Brattby, which would be excellent for the
purpose of making moulds for casting metal.
Not far from Spoland I caught on a willow a small insect of the beetle
tribe, of a red colour, with black branching lines surrounding the
whole body, and a golden head.
[Illustration]
(This appears by the drawing, here copied from the original manuscript,
to be _Chrysomela lapponica_.) Here grew a _Salix_ with ovate-oblong
leaves, very hairy all over (_S. lanata_); its catkins were, for the
most part, far advanced and faded.
In the evening I arrived at Jamtboht, where some women were sitting
employed in cutting the bark of the aspen-tree (_Populus tremula_) into
small pieces, scarcely an inch long, and not half so broad. The bark is
stripped from the tree just when the leaves begin to sprout forth, and
laid up in a place under the roof of a house till autumn or the
following spring, when it is cut into the small fragments above
described. In this state it serves as food for cows, goats and sheep,
instead of hay, the latter being a very scarce article in these parts;
for the fields consist principally of marshy tracts, whose herbage is
but of a coarse kind.
On my inquiring what I could have for supper, they set before me the
breast of a Cock of the wood (_Tetrao Urogallus_), which had been shot
and dressed some time the preceding year. Its aspect was not very
inviting, and I imagined the flavour would not be much better; but in
this respect I was mistaken. The taste proved delicious, and I wondered
at the ignorance of those who, having more fowls than they know how to
dispose of, suffer many of them to be spoiled, as often happens at
Stockholm. I found with pleasure that these poor Laplanders know better
than some of their more opulent neighbours, how to employ the good
things which God has bestowed upon them. After the breast is plucked,
separated from the other parts of the bird, and cleaned, a gash is cut
longitudinally on each side of the breast-bone, quite through to the
bottom, and two others parallel to it, a little further off, so that
the inside of the flesh is laid open in order that it may be thoroughly
dressed. The whole is first salted with fine salt for several days.
Afterwards a small quantity of flour is strewed on the under side to
prevent 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 necessary to preserve it so long.
It rained so violently that I could not continue my journey that
evening, and was therefore obliged to pass the night at this place. The
pillows of my bed were stuffed with the hair of the reindeer instead of
feathers. Under the sheet was the hide of a reindeer with the hair on,
the hairy side uppermost, on which the people told me I should lie very
soft.
_May 27._
In the morning the continued rain prevented my pursuing my journey till
noon. The bark of the large smooth kinds of Willow is here used for
tanning leather. The smooth bark of the upper branches, cut into small
pieces, is chosen for the purpose, the coarse part on the bottom of the
stem being useless.
At noon I departed from the place where I had slept, and continued to
pursue the same bad road as the preceding day, which was indeed the
worst I ever saw, consisting of stones piled on stones, among large
entangled roots of trees. In the interstices were deep holes filled with
water by the heavy rains. The frost, which had but just left the ground,
contributed to make matters worse. All the elements were against me. The
branches of the trees hung down before my eyes, loaded with rain-drops,
in every direction. Wherever any young birch trees appeared, they were
bent down to the earth, so that they could not be passed without the
greatest difficulty. The aged pines, which for so many seasons had
raised their proud tops above the rest of the forest, overthrown by the
wrath of Juno, lay prostrate in my way. The rivulets which traversed the
country in various directions were very deep, and the bridges over them
so decayed and ruinous, that it was at the peril of one's neck to pass
them on a stumbling horse. It seemed beyond the power of man to make the
road tolerable, unless a 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 bridle I had only a
rope, which was tied to the animal's under jaw. In this trim I proceeded
on my journey.
Here and there, in the heart of the 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
scattered plants of ling. Some places afforded the perforated coralline
Lichen (_L. uncialis_), which the inhabitants, in rainy weather when it
is tough, rake together into large heaps, and carry home for the winter
provender of their cattle. These sandy spots were in extent three
quarters of a mile or a mile, encompassed as it were with a rampart, or
very steep bank, fifteen or twenty ells in height, so nearly
perpendicular that it was not to be ascended or descended without
extreme difficulty. They might be compared to the mountain which
Alexander the Great ascended with so much labour. It often happened that
above one of these sandy heaths lay another equally barren. They
resembled the ridges of a field, except the perfect flatness and great
breadth of the surface of each, and their being destitute of stones. The
interstices of the country between these embanked heaths were occupied
by water, rocks and marshes, producing abundance of firs intermixed with
some birches, all covered with black and white filamentous Lichens.
Juniper bushes but rarely occurred, and were all of a very diminutive
size, and close-pressed to the ground.
At Skullbacken is a small current of water, which rises out of the
ground at that very spot. I tried to feel the bottom with my stick, but
could not reach it.
At Abackan, and on the road beyond it for a considerable way, some loose
ice still remained, which surprised me much at this season of the year;
yet I recollected that but a week before I had met with snow in the
neighbourhood of mount Skula.
Here and there on the road lay a crustaceous _Byssus_, consisting as it
were of a white rough brittle membrane, with white grains scattered over
it[18].
[18] From the above description, this is very likely to have been
the _Lichen byssoides_, _Engl. Bot. v. 6. t. 373_, in its early
state, when it has exactly the appearance Linnaeus mentions.
On the sandy heaths among the perforated Lichen (_uncialis_) grew
another kind much resembling it, but as thick as the finger, snow-white,
and with more copious and dense entangled branches, which, not having
been hitherto described, I denominated _Coralloides ramosissimum
perforatum_, _ramis implexis_, _niveum_[19]. There was also an elegant
cup-moss, (_L. cocciferus_,) repeatedly proliferous from the centre of
its cups, two or more cups originating together from one centre, all
over of a grey hue, except the scarlet tubercles which bordered the
uppermost cups. Every where in the road grew the beforementioned leafy
sulphur-coloured Lichen (_nivalis_?) in the greatest profusion.
[19] By the description and sketch in the manuscript, this seems a
variety of _L. rangiferinus_.
The marshy places abounded with _Muscus tectorius_[20] and
_Polytrichum_, intermixed with abundance of Black Whortle-berries.
[20] I am ignorant what Linnaeus means by this denomination.
Wherever I came I could get nothing to drink but water.
Against the walls of the houses the Agaric shaped like a horse's hoof
(_Boletus igniarius_) was hung up to serve as a 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[21].
[21] 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.
I observed they had gathered some of the Water Trefoil (_Menyanthes
trifoliata_), which is the plant here called Missne. It is ground and
mixed with their corn to make bread. They also boil it with some kinds
of berries into an electuary, but it is in every state very bitter. The
root only is used.
Part of this day's journey was performed in a Lapland boat, which will
be described hereafter.
The peasants of this country, instead of tobacco, smoke the buds of
hops, or sometimes juniper berries, and when nothing else can be had,
the bark of the juniper tree; but to supply the want of snuff they use
ashes mixed with a small portion of real snuff. They strain their milk
through platted tufts of hair from a cow's tail.
In the evening I reached Teksnas, situated in the parish of 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
morning to get to church on Sunday. On this account they can very seldom
attend divine service, except on fast days, Whitsunday, Easter Sunday,
and Christmas day.
How trifling would be the expense of building a small church, and how
much have those in authority to answer for before God for neglecting to
provide one! Timber for the purpose was brought here so long ago as the
time of the late Abraham Lindelius; but it has lain till it is rotten,
as the clergy find some difficulty in the undertaking: nor is this the
only obstacle!
Here I observed a kind of dark-coloured gnat with very large dark wings
(_Empis borealis_.)
_May 28._
I left Teksnas and proceeded to Genom; but as there is no conveyance but
by water, from the last-mentioned place to Lycksele, and the wind blew
very hard, I was obliged to stop at Genom till the following day.
Indeed I did not arrive there till nine o'clock, when I found the people
assembled at prayers, after which a sermon was read out of a book
containing several; and as this service did not end till eleven, it
would then have been too late to have set out for Lycksele, more than
five miles distant, without any house or resting-place between.
One of the peasants here had shot a small Beaver. I inquired concerning
the food of this animal, and was told it was the bark of trees, the
birch, fir, and mountain ash, but more especially the aspen, and the
castor becomes larger in proportion as the beaver can get more of the
aspen bark. This confirmed the truth of what Assessor Rothman formerly
asserted, that castor is secreted from the intermediate bark of the
poplar, which has the same scent, though not quite so strong: hence it
is to be presumed that a decoction of this bark, if the dose were
sufficiently large, would have the same medicinal effects.
I wonder no naturalist has classed this animal with the Mouse tribe,
(_Mures._ Linnaeus afterwards called the Order _Glires_,) as its broad
depressed form at first sight suggested to me that it was of that
family; in which opinion I was confirmed when I examined the broad naked
tail, the short obtuse ears, and the two pair of parallel front teeth,
so well formed for cutting, of which the lower pair are the largest.
The people here eat the flesh of the 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 generally boiled. The rump is thrown away, but the
feet are eaten. The skin spread out and dried is worth twelve dollars.
The castor fetches half a dollar, or sometimes a dollar. I found the
boiled flesh very insipid, for want of salt.
This young Beaver, which fell under my examination, was a foot and half
long, exclusive of the tail, which was a palm in length and two inches
and a half in breadth. The hairs on the back were longer than the rest;
the external ones brownish black, the inner pale brown. The belly
clothed with short dark-brown fur. Body depressed. Ears obtuse, clothed
with fine short hairs, and destitute of any accessory lobe. Snout blunt,
with round nostrils. Upper lip cloven as far as the nostrils; lower very
short. The whiskers black, long and stout. Eye-brow of three bristles
like the whiskers over each eye. Neck none. The fur of the belly was
distinguished from that of the sides by a line on each side, in which
the skin was visible. Feet clothed with very short hairs, quite
different from those of the body. A fleshy integument invested the whole
body. The _intestinum caecum_ was large, with a very large appendix. Upon
the stomach lay two large cellular glands, of whose nature and use I am
ignorant. There were two cutting teeth in each jaw, of which the upper
pair were the shortest, and notched at the summit like steps; the lower
and larger pair were sloped off obliquely. Grinders very far remote from
the fore-teeth, which is characteristic of the animal, four on each
side. Hind feet webbed, but fore feet with separate claws. Tail flat,
oblong, obtuse, with a reticulated naked surface.
The strength of the Beaver in its fore teeth, so as to cut through the
trunk of the largest aspen trees, is I believe beyond that of any other
animal.
_May 29._
Very early in the morning I quitted Genom in a ha[oe]p 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 proceeded to
Lycksele. When the sun rose, nothing could be more pleasant than the
view of this clear unruffled stream, neither contaminated by floods, nor
disturbed by the breath of Aeolus. All along its translucent margin the
forests which clothed its banks were reflected like another landscape in
the water. On both sides were several large level heaths, guarded by
steep ramparts towards the river, and these were embellished with plants
and bushes, the whole reversed in the water appearing to great
advantage. The huge pines, which had hitherto braved Neptune's power,
smiled with a fictitious shadow in the stream. Neptune however, in
alliance with his brother Aeolus, had already triumphed over many of
their companions, the former by attacking their roots, while the latter
had demolished their branches.
We passed several small islets separated from the main land by the
action of the current, as _Caln[:a]sholm_ (the isle of Caln[:a]s), &c.
Close to the shore were many _Charadrii Hiaticulae_ (Ringed Plovers)
and _Tringae_ (Sandpipers). One of the latter my companions shot, but
destroyed it so completely that we obtained only a wing and a leg
entire, the remaining parts being so torn that I could not make out the
species. The foot consisted of four toes, of which the hinder one was
very small, and the two external ones joined by a web at their base.
A little further on a couple of young owls were suspended on a tree. On
my inquiring what these birds had done to be so served, the rower made
me remark, on the most lofty of the fir trees, concave cylinders of
wood, closed at top and bottom, and having an aperture on one side.
These cylinders are placed on the highest part of the trees, in order to
tempt Wild ducks to lay their eggs in them, and they are afterwards
plundered by the country people. In one of these nests a brood of young
owls had been hatched instead of young ducks.
Presently afterwards the breast of a Cock of the wood was given me to
eat, by way of a bait. It had been shot this spring and dried in the
sun, without being previously cooked; neither had it so many
longitudinal cuts as that I have described in the foregoing pages.
As we proceeded further we saw seven or eight large white swans lying on
the water, making a loud noise, and biting one another with their beaks.
Cranes also are found here. The rower said he had shot one and nailed it
up against the wall, with all its flesh and feathers on. What an
absurdity!
The peasant who was my rower and companion had placed nets all along the
shore, in which he caught plenty of pike. He had upwards of thirty small
nets. The money with which he pays his taxes is chiefly acquired by
fishing. A dried pike of twenty pounds weight is sold for a dollar and
five marks, silver coin.
In one of the nets he found a large male Goosander caught (_Mergus
Merganser_).
The bill of this bird was long and narrow, of a blood red, blackish on
the upper edge. Its upper mandible longest, tipped with a hooked point
which rendered it obtuse, and furnished with thirty large teeth pointing
inwards. Lower mandible channelled underneath, and furnished with about
forty smaller teeth, likewise pointing inwards. A triple row of very
small teeth was observable in the upper mandible within the others.
Tongue narrow, bordered with bristles and with a double row of very
minute teeth. Nostrils oblong, placed in the substance of the bill. Eyes
round, with a crimson iris. A pellucid membrane, proceeding from the
inner corner of the eye, covers the ball while the bird is diving under
water; which is remarkable. It has besides a whitish membrane of greater
thickness (_membrana nictitans_), which closes the eye as in other
birds. The head is of a grey colour, with a very long pendulous blackish
crest composed of a few light downy feathers. Neck like that of a
Woodcock. Breast and belly white. Middle of the back black, with white
lateral spots, further on grey or whitish, with transverse undulated
lines. The ten outermost large feathers of the wing are black; the inner
ones black and white, so that the _speculum_, or spot of the wing, is
very large and white, divided by two black transverse lines. Tail short,
ash-coloured. Feet red. Legs compressed. Hind toe very small, with a
membranous lobe, and curved inwards. Fore toes three, the outermost of
four joints, middle one of three, and the innermost of two only. All the
toes are connected by a palmate web, and the innermost has, besides, a
marginal longitudinal membrane. The windpipe is remarkable, formed not
of half rings, as in most birds, but of circular ones. About the middle
it is dilated into a sort of bag, and further down into another smaller
one[22].
[22] On this subject see Dr. Latham's excellent paper in the fourth
vol. of the Linn. Society's Transactions, p. 90.
LYCKSELE LAPLAND.
The river along which we had rowed for the space of almost three miles,
and which had hitherto been easily navigable, now threatened us
occasionally with interruption, from small shelves forming cascades, and
at length we came to three of these, very near each other, which were
absolutely impassable. One of them is called the waterfall of Tuken. My
companion, after committing all my property to my own care, laid his
knapsack on his back, and turning the boat bottom upwards, placed the
two oars longitudinally, so as to cross the seats. These rested on his
arms as he carried the boat over his head, and thus he scampered away
over hills and valleys, so that the devil himself could not have come up
with him.
[Illustration]
See a sketch of this boat annexed.
[Illustration]
Its length was twelve feet, breadth five, and depth two. The thickness
of the edge not more than two lines. The four planks which formed each
of its sides were of root of spruce fir, each about a span broad and
four lines thick. The two transverse boards or seats were of the
branches of the same tree. The seams were secured obliquely with cord as
thick as a goosequill.
Ice was still to be seen here and there near the shore of the river,
though not in any great quantity.
The trees of this neighbourhood are principally Common Fir (_Pinus
sylvestris_), with a smaller proportion of Spruce (_P. Abies_), and
Birch. Now and then some Poplars are to be seen. The shrubs are dwarf
kinds of Willow and Dwarf Birch (_Betula nana_); both now in blossom.
The more humble and herbaceous plants are Ling, (_Erica vulgaris_ and
_Tetralix_[23]), four kinds of _Vaccinium_, _Linnaea_[24], _Pyrola
pyrifolia_ (_P. secunda_), _Epilobium_, Golden rod (_Solidago Virga
aurea_), _Empetrum_ in flower, Dandelion, _Convallaria bifolia_, Sweet
grass (_Holcus odoratus_) in flower, Small smooth Rush (_Juncus
filiformis_), Jointed water Rush (_J. articulatus_), Water Horse-tail
(_Hippuris vulgaris_), Marsh Marigold (_Caltha palustris_), a _Mnium_
not in fructification, four species of _Lycopodium_, _Andromeda
polifolia_[25], Milfoil (_Achillea Millefolium_), and Small Sorrel
(_Rumex Acetosella_).
[23] The manuscript mentions both _Erica_ and _Tetralix_, yet the
latter is not in the _Flora Lapponica_, nor is it common in Sweden.
[24] This name occurs here for the first time in the manuscript.
[25] The original is _Daphne_ as above; see p. 23.
The birds I remarked were the Ringed Plover (_Charadrius Hiaticula_),
the Red-wing (_Turdus iliacus_), the Lumme (_Colymbus arcticus_), the
Tufted Duck (_Anas Fuligula_).
Also a few insects, as _Dytiscus natator_, &c.
The forest was rendered pleasant by the tender leaves of the Birch, more
advanced than any I had hitherto met with, owing to the rain which had
fallen the Saturday preceding, and the sunshine of this and the
foregoing day.
The banks of the river are composed of sand or small pebbles; on the
latter the water had deposited a blackish stain. A little before we
reached the church of Lycksele, the fourth waterfall presented itself.
This is more considerable than any of the three preceding, falling over
a rock. On its brink the curate had erected a mill, which in this
mountainous spot wanted no artificial dam, as Nature had prepared one in
the most complete manner.
The adjoining mountain consists of a mixed spar, and extends a good way
to the right, being in one part very lofty, and perpendicular, like a
vast wall, towards the shore. Some islands, rather considerable in size,
are seen in the river as we approach this waterfall.
At eight o'clock in the evening I arrived at the hospitable dwelling of
Mr. Oladron, the curate of Lycksele, who, as well as his wife, received
me with great kindness. They at first advised me to stay with them till
the next fast day, the Laplanders not being implicitly to be trusted,
and presenting their fire-arms at any stranger who comes upon them
unawares, or without some recommendation.
_May 30._
In the morning however my hosts changed their opinion, being
apprehensive of my journey being impeded by floods if I delayed it.
I here learned the manner in which the Laplanders prepare a kind of
cheese or curd, from the milk of the reindeer and the leaves of Sorrel
(_Rumex Acetosa_). They gather a large quantity of these leaves, which
they boil in a copper vessel, adding one third part water, stirring it
continually with a ladle that it may not burn, and adding fresh leaves
from time to time, till the whole acquires the 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 summer, in wooden vessels, or in the first stomach of
the reindeer. It is kept either in the caves of the mountains, or in
holes dug in the ground, lest it should be attacked by the mountain mice
(_Mus Lemmus_).
Near the shore at Lycksele I observed vast shoals of those small fishes
called the Glirr (_Cyprinus Aphya_), each about an inch and half long,
and two lines broad.
In this place I made a description and sketches of the whole caparison
of a reindeer, with the stick used by the Laplanders in driving that
useful animal.
[Illustration]
The latter, which serves as a walking stick, is round, two feet and half
long, and three inches thick, made of wood, see fig. 1. a, is a twisted
iron ring, encompassed with several smaller rings of the same metal, b b
b, which serve to make a rattling noise to urge the reindeer
occasionally to quicken his pace. c, is the head, turned out of a
reindeer's horn. d, the handle of turned wood. e, the stick itself,
which is likewise turned, of one piece with the handle, and tapering
towards the end.
[Illustration]
Fig. 2 is the bridle, made of green or blue cloth, bordered with
leather, a a, embroidered with tin foil, and fringed at the sides with
small strips of list, b b, about six inches long and one broad, of all
sorts of colours. Those at c c are only two or three inches long. The
cloth is lined on the inside with reindeer skin, stripped of its hair,
and dyed red with alder bark, and is in length, from e to e, nine or ten
inches, and from e to f about half as much. Its breadth, from f to g,
is three inches, but from a a to h h, only an inch and half.
At each end, f f, is a rope two feet long and as thick as a child's
finger, covered with the beforementioned kind of red leather, and
terminated by a tuft of various-coloured list. At the opposite angles, e
e, are two similar cords, bordered on one side for about eight inches
each, that is as far as i, with little strips of coloured list. To the
part i is fixed a rope of leather like a whip cord, l, 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 l is the rein, which is
fastened by the noose at its further end round the arm of the driver.
[Illustration]
Fig. 3 represents the saddle-cloth, which is about two feet and half
long, besides its ornaments, and six or seven inches broad. Its ends,
a b and a c, are joined under the reindeer's belly. The straps, d d d,
are a foot long.
Fig. 4 is the harness, a foot and half long, and three inches broad,
without its decorations. Under this is laid a roll, b, made of reindeer
skin, with the hair on, as thick as a man's arm, which contains a
twisted net. This is covered in its upper part by a, but the ends, c c,
are exposed to view, and covered with blue cloth embroidered with tin
foil, each of them terminating in a sort of ball, tied up with a thong,
e e, as the hairy part is with another thong.
[Illustration]
Fig. 5 has at one end a noose, a, which embraces the two balls just
described, from which a double leather thong, three inches broad and
four feet long, extends to a transverse piece of bone, c, serving to
take hold of the sledge in which the Laplander travels.
No. 3 therefore is placed on the back of the reindeer, b and c being
tied together below the shoulders. No. 4 is fixed upon the neck, and
fastened with f f over the chest, forming the saddle, the hairy part
serving to keep it from galling the animal. The ends, c c, pass between
the hind legs, and to them is fixed, as before mentioned, the leather
which draws the sledge.
I understood that the water, along part of which I had pursued my route,
was divided into broad navigable spaces, interrupted frequently by
narrow or precipitous passes, called by the name of a _forss_, force, of
which a long enumeration was given me.
The pasture ground near the parsonage of Lycksele was very poor, but
quite the reverse about a quarter of a mile distant. Here the butter was
extremely remarkable for its fine yellow colour, approaching almost to a
reddish or saffron hue. On my inquiring what kind of herbs most abounded
in these pastures, the people gave me a description of one which I
judged to be a _Melampyrum_, and on my drawing a sketch of that kind of
plant, they assured me it was what they meant, which is very plentiful
in their forests, and is called Kowall[26].
[26] Linnaeus has mentioned this circumstance in his _Flora
Lapponica, n. 240_, where he confounds _Melampyrum pratense_ and
_sylvaticum_ together as one species.
In the school here were only eight scholars.
I procured at Lycksele a Laplander's snuff-box, which is of a round
figure, turned out of the horn of a reindeer.
The church of Lycksele, built of timber, was in a very miserable state,
so that whenever it rained the congregation were as wet as if they had
been in the open air. It had altogether the appearance of a barn. The
seats were so narrow that those who sat on them were drawn neck and
heels together.
Here was a woman supposed to labour under the misfortune of a brood of
frogs in her stomach, owing to her having, in the course of the
preceding spring, drunk water which contained the spawn of these
animals. She thought she could feel three of them, and that herself, as
well as persons who sat near her, could hear them croak. Her uneasiness
was in some degree alleviated by drinking brandy. Salt had no effect in
destroying the frogs. Another person, who for some years had had the
same complaint, took doses of _Nux Vomica_, and was cured; but even this
powerful remedy had been tried on this woman in vain. I advised her to
try tar, but that she had already taken without success, having been
obliged to throw it up again[27].
[27] Linnaeus writes as if he did not absolutely disbelieve the
existence of these frogs, which were as much out of their place as
Jonah in the whale's belly. The patient probably laboured under a
debility of the stomach and bowels, not uncommon in a more luxurious
state of society, which is attended with frequent internal noise
from wind, especially when the mind is occasionally agitated. Yet
the idea of frogs or toads in the stomach has often been credited.
Not many years ago a story appeared in the Norwich paper, of a
gentleman's servant having eaten toad-spawn with water cresses,
which being hatched, occasioned dreadful uneasiness, till he brought
up a large toad by means of an emetic; and this story was said to
have been sworn before the mayor of Lynn, as if it had been really
true.
_May 31._
Divine service being over, I left Lycksele in order to proceed towards
Sorsele.
The riches of the Laplanders consist in the number of their reindeer,
and in the extent of the ground in which they feed. The poorest people
have from fifty to two hundred of these animals; the middle class from
three hundred to seven hundred, and the rich possess about a thousand.
The lands are from three to five miles in extent. Wild reindeer are
seldom met with in Lapmark. 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 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[28]. They pay a certain tribute to the crown, and
are thenceforth free of all extraordinary taxes, as well as the native
Laplanders, being neither obliged to furnish a soldier for the army, nor
a sailor for the navy. Whether it be time of peace or war it is all the
same to them, as they are burthened with no taxes. These Finlanders are
permitted to fix in any part of Lapland in which they find a probability
of cultivating the ground to advantage, so that there is no doubt but
most part of Lapmark will in time become colonized and filled with
villages.
[28] These colonists (_novaccolae_) are often mentioned in the _Flora
Lapponica_.
At Easter, Whitsuntide and Christmas, as well as on the four annual
festivals by law established, the Laplanders and colonists usually
attend divine service at church, where they stay till the holidays are
over, and are accommodated in huts adjoining to the sacred edifice.
Besides the times above mentioned, the colonists go to church on
Lady-day, Midsummer, Michaelmas, and the 21st of September or St.
Matthew's day. Those who live at no great distance from a church, attend
there every other Sunday, to hear a sermon. On the intermediate Sundays,
prayers are read to the members of each family at home.
At Whitsuntide this year no Laplander was at church, the pikes happening
to spawn just at that time. This fishery constitutes the chief trade of
these people, and they were therefore now, for the most part, dispersed
among the alps, each in his own tract, in pursuit of this object.
I observed the forests to consist chiefly of Fir and Birch. Where woods
of the former had been burnt down, the latter sprung up in abundance,
and wherever the Birch abounded, the pasture ground was of the best
quality.
At Flaskesele I found _Rubus alpinus repens_ (_R. saxatilis_),
_Trientalis_, _Aconitum lycoctonum_, _Ulmaria_ (_Spiraea_), _Podagraria
tenuifolia sterilis_ (probably _Angelica sylvestris_), _Polypodium
Dryopteris_, _Thymelaea_ of the old writers (_Daphne Mezereum_), Herb
Christopher (_Actaea spicata_), and Juniper (_Juniperus communis_); also
_Lichenoides_ with a greyish white crust and flesh-coloured tubercles,
growing in watery places (_Lichen ericetorum_), and another on stones
with black tubercles. A yellow species with a leafy crust grew on the
Juniper (_L. juniperinus_).
I remarked here water abounding with a red ochraceous sediment like
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 passengers who passed over
it. The colonists use it to paint their window-frames red.
The eatable moss of Norway (_Lichen islandicus_) was here of two kinds,
the one broad and scattered, the other in thick tufts about three inches
high. Both of them are reddish towards the root, and are certainly only
varieties of each other.
Near the water side I met with the nest of a Sandpiper (_Tringa
Hypoleucos_), which is one of the smallest of its genus. The nest was
made of straw, and contained four eggs. The parent bird had flown away
at my approach.
In the neighbouring forest grew a rare little leafy _Lichenoides_, of a
fine saffron colour beneath, and bearing on the upper side flat oblong
shields (_Lichen croceus_). Also the _Boletus perennis_ (described in
_Fl. Lapp._), and a small white Agaric with gills alternately forked and
undivided.
Adjoining to the cataract of Gransele the strata in the left-hand bank
appeared as follows. Under the soil a brown sand, next to it some
fathoms depth of white, below which were two fathoms of a purple sand,
which lay upon small stones, and those upon larger ones on a level with
the water.
The Little Eared Grebe (_Colymbus auritus_) was here occasionally quite
black, or black with white spots under the wings. There was great
abundance of Wild Ducks, those birds abounding as much on this side of
Lycksele as on the other.
This part of the country is beautifully diversified with hills and
valleys, clothed with forests of birch intermixed with fir, which were
now reflected by the calm surface of the water.
In the _force_ or water-fall of Gransele are thirteen small islands.
I noticed on both sides of the river several summer huts of the
Laplanders, in which they reside, for a short time together, during that
season. A Laplander never remains more than a week on one spot, not
only because of seeking fresh pasture for his reindeer, but because he
cannot bear to stay long in a place. He drives the whole herd together,
young and old, into the river, to swim over to the opposite shore, which
these animals easily perform, though the stream is more than eight
gunshots wide.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
At one place, close to the river, was a Laplander's shop, raised on a
round pole, fig. a, as high as a tall man and as thick as one's arm.
This pole supported a long horizontal beam, b, with two cross pieces, c
c, which together formed the foundation of the edifice, and on this
rested the wooden walls, whose form, together with the roof and door,
may be more clearly seen at fig. 2. The height of the apartment was two
feet; its length and breadth a fathom each. This structure is never
moved from its place. The walls are very thin; the ceiling is of birch
bark, with a roof of wood and stone above it. It is scarcely possible to
conceive how the owner can creep into this building, the door being so
small.
In a small bay of the river a large stone stood two or three ells in
height above the water, which supported a fir tree six ells high, and,
as appeared from counting its annual shoots, twelve years old. It
seemed to have no particle of earth to nourish it; but perceiving some
cracks in the rock, I was persuaded that its roots must through them
find access to the water.
Towards evening I heard the note of the Red-wing (_Turdus iliacus_). On
the north side of the forest large pieces of ice still remained unmelted
near the shore.
The bark of the birch is extremely useful to the inhabitants of Lapland.
Of it they make their plates or trenchers, boat-scoops, shoes, tubs to
salt fish in, and baskets.
Near the shore grew the Naked 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 the neighbouring marsh or moss the greater part of the herbage
consisted of _Juncellus aquaticus_[29], which new bore its diminutive
blossoms. I found three stamens to each scale, with a style among the
upper ones, which was divided half way down into three lobes. Some of
the spikes consisted only of stamens. The root is particularly curious,
being scaly, with an entangled tuft of fibres under each scale, which
form the basis of the turf.
[29] It must surely be the _Scirpus caespitosus_ of which Linnaeus
here speaks.
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 1._
We pursued our journey by water with considerable labour and difficulty
all night long, if it might be called night, which was as light as the
day, the sun disappearing for about half an hour only, and the
temperature of the air being rather cold. The colonist who was my
companion was obliged sometimes to wade along in the river, dragging the
boat after him, for half a mile together. His feet and legs were
protected by shoes made of birch bark. In the morning we went on shore,
in order to inquire for a native Laplander, who would undertake to be my
guide further on. Finding only an empty hut at the spot where we landed,
we proceeded as fast as we could to the next hut, a quarter of a mile
distant, which likewise proved unoccupied. At length we arrived at a
third hut, half a mile further, but met with as little success as at the
two former, it being quite empty. Upon which I dispatched my
fellow-traveller to a fourth hut, at some distance, to see if he could
find any person fit for my purpose, and I betook myself to the
contemplation of the wild scenes of Nature around me.
The soil here was extremely sterile, consisting of barren sand (_Arena
Glarea_) without any large stones or rocks, which are only seen near
the shores of the waters. Fir trees were rather thinly scattered, but
they were extremely lofty, towering up to the clouds. Here were spacious
tracts producing the finest timber I ever beheld. The ground was clothed
with Ling, Red Whortle-berries (_Vaccinium Vitis Idaea_), and mosses. In
such parts as were rather low grew smaller firs, amongst abundance of
birch, the ground there also producing Red Whortle-berries, as well as
the common black kind (_Vaccinium Myrtillus_), with _Polytrichum_
(_commune_). On the dry hills, which most abounded with large pines, the
finest timber was strewed around, felled by the force of the tempests,
lying in all directions, so as to render the country in some places
almost impenetrable. I seemed to have reached the residence of Pan
himself, and shall now describe the huts in which his subjects the
Laplanders contrive to resist the rigours of their native climate.
[Illustration]
The _Kodda_, or hut, is formed of double timbers, lying one upon
another, and has mostly six sides, rarely but four. It is supported
within by four inclining posts, fig. 2. a, as thick as one's arm,
crossing each other in pairs at the top, b, upon which is laid a
transverse beam, c, four ells in length. On each side lower down is
another cross piece of wood, d, serving to hang pipes on. The walls are
formed of beams of a similar thickness, but differing in length,
leaving a hole at the top to serve as a chimney, and a door at the side,
see fig. 3, a and b. These are covered with a layer of bark, either of
Spruce Fir or Birch, and over that is another layer of wood like the
first. In the centre, fig. 1, the fire is made on the ground, and the
inhabitants lie round it. In the middle of the chimney at fig. 2, c,
hangs a pole, on which the pot is suspended over the fire.
The height of the hut is three ells, its greatest breadth at the base
two fathoms.
They always construct their huts in places where they have ready access
to clear cold springs.
The inhabitants sleep quite naked on skins of reindeer, spread over a
layer of branches of Dwarf Birch (_Betula nana_), with similar skins
spread over them. The sexes rise from this simple couch, and dress
themselves promiscuously without any shame or concealment.
When, as occasionally happens in the course of the summer, they cannot
procure fresh water, and are necessitated to drink the warm sea water,
they are infallibly tormented with griping pains, with strong spasms in
the region of the stomach, and pain in the lower part of the abdomen,
accompanied with bloody urine. This is a species of colic, and is called
_ullem_. It generally lasts but one day, rarely two. The same thing
happens if they drink before they have broke their fast in a morning.
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 further back, which very rarely
afford any milk. There are no cutting teeth in its upper jaw. This
animal certainly ruminates, as Ray rightly judged, notwithstanding the
reports to the contrary collected in his Synopsis of Quadrupeds (_p.
88, 89_). The females are horned as well as the males, which is proper to
this order of quadrupeds, but the horns of the females are more slender
than those of the other sex.
In the country of 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 themselves a house without a chimney, so that the smoke
could escape only by the door. They had however a couch to sleep on.
The fish, of which they had collected about sixteen pounds, was hung up
in the hut to dry. It was chiefly Pike, with some Char (_Salmo
alpinus_).
The fat parts, with the intestines, after having been cleaned, are put
together till they become sour, when an oil is obtained for the purpose
of greasing shoes. The scales and larger fins are collected and dried
together. From them is afterwards procured, by boiling, an unctuous
substance, into which they dip their fishing-nets, having first dyed or
tanned them with birch bark, in order to make them more durable. The
spawn of the fish is dried, and afterwards used in bread, dumplings, and
what is called _v[:a]lling_ (a sort of gruel made by boiling flour or
oatmeal in milk or water). The livers are thrown away, being supposed to
occasion drowsiness, and pain in the head, when eaten.
These fishermen had been here six weeks, and intended staying a
fortnight longer, when the season of the pike's spawning would be over.
They lived during this period chiefly on the spawn and entrails of the
fish they caught.
For this fishery these people pay no tax, neither to the crown nor to
the native Laplander, who has free access to the water only when these
adventurers have left it. Though he himself pays tribute for it, he
dares not throw in the smallest net during the stay of his visitors;
for, if they find any of his nets, they may throw them up into the high
trees, as I was told they often had done.
The poor Laplander, who at this season has hardly any other subsistence
for himself or his family, can with difficulty catch a fish or two for
his own use. I asked one of them why he did not complain of this
encroachment; but was told that having once applied to the magistrate,
or judge of the district, the great man told him it was a trifle not
worth thinking about; and he esteems the decrees of this exalted
personage to be sacred, and altogether infallible, like the oracles of
Apollo. He reverences his king as a divinity, and is firmly of opinion
that if he were informed of the above grievance it would no longer be
suffered to exist.
_June 2._
The forest here was full of the noblest pine trees, growing to no
purpose with respect to the inhabitants, as the wood is not used even
for building huts, nor the bark for food, as it is in some other parts.
I wonder they have not contrived to turn these trees to some account, by
burning them for tar or pitch.
The colonists who reside among the Laplanders are beloved by them, and
treated with great kindness. These good people willingly point out to
the strangers where they may fix their abode so as to have access to
moist meadows affording good hay, which they themselves do not want,
their herds of reindeer preferring the driest pastures. They expect in
return that the colonists should supply them with milk and flour.
Ovid's description of the silver age is still applicable to the native
inhabitants of Lapland. Their soil is not wounded by the plough, nor is
the iron din of arms to be heard; neither have mankind found their way
to the bowels of the earth, nor do they engage in wars to define its
boundaries. They perpetually change their abode, live in tents, and
follow a pastoral life, just like the patriarchs of old.
Among these people the men are employed in the business of cookery, so
that the master of a family has no occasion to speak a good word to his
wife, when he wishes to give a hospitable entertainment to his
guests[30].
[30] 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 describing.
The dress of these Laplanders is as follows.
On the head they wear a small cap, like those used at my native place of
Stenbrohult, made with eight seams covered with strips of brown cloth,
the cap itself being of a greyish colour. This reaches no lower than the
tips of the ears.
Their outer garment, or jacket, is open in front half way down the
bosom, below which part it is fastened with hooks, as far as the pit of
the stomach. Consequently the neck is bare, and from the effects of the
sun abroad and the smoke at home, approaches the complexion of a toad.
The jacket when loose reaches below the knees; but it is usually tied up
with a girdle, so as scarcely to reach so far, and is sloped off at the
bottom. The collar is of four fingers' breadth, thick, and stitched with
thread.
All the needle-work is performed by the women. They make their thread of
the sinews in the legs of the reindeer, separating them, while fresh,
with their teeth, into slender strings, which they twist together. A
kind of cord is also made of the roots of spruce fir.
The country bordering on the sea coast hereabouts, in some places
consists of grassy pastures, in others of pebbly or sandy tracts. Large
stones are rare.
The river of 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 general the strongest flood does not
set-in till Midsummer.
This river, as I was informed, has its source in the alps about a mile
from the sea of Norway, and empties itself into the gulf of Bothnia at
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 this place had killed his daughter
to prevent his son-in-law from inheriting his property.
A tree close to one of the tents was adorned with more than a dozen pair
of horns of the male reindeer, or _Brunren_. When castrated, the same
animal is called _Ren oxe_. The female is denominated _Kiaelfja_.
[Illustration]
The horns were shaped as in the annexed figure. The base is compressed
and very smooth, not knotty as in the stag. The middle part is curved
outward and backward, beyond which the horn is gradually bent forward
again and inward. Near the base one, two or three branches project
forward, of which some are palmate, having from two to five divisions
pointing upward (a). At the projecting part in the middle of the horn is
a little short simple branch (b). The summit is palmate, having from two
to five branches from its back part, which are curved inward (c).
I made some inquiries here concerning the diseases of the people.
They are subject to the _ullem_, or colic, of which I have already
spoken, _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 others rheumatic complaints in the
back, which descend down the hips and legs, leaving the part first
attacked. These complaints happen in summer as well as in winter.
We continued our course up the river of 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 matter.
The inhabitants of this country no longer use bows and arrows, but
rifle-guns loaded with bullets, not with small shot.
They wear no stockings. Their breeches, made of the coarse and slight
woollen cloth of the country called _walmal_, reach down to their feet,
tapering gradually to the bottom, and are tied with a bandage over their
half boots.
I observed the Red Whortle-berries (_Vaccinium Vitis Idaea_) were here of
a larger size than in the country lower down; but Juniper on the
contrary was very diminutive, and grew mostly in fens or watery places.
The Crake berries (_Empetrum nigrum_) were as large as the Black
Bilberry. Close to a waterfall in Juita Rotogviek or Rootforsen, in a
marsh on the right hand, I found Herb Paris (_Paris quadrifolia_),
_Aconitum lycoctonum_ and _Thalictrum_ (_flavum_). But what most
surprised and pleased me was the little round-leaved Yellow Violet, with
a branched stem, and narrow, smooth, not bearded, petals, described by
Morison, which had not before been observed in Sweden (_Viola biflora_).
Several kinds of Willows grew 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 Laplanders remove with them from place to place. Each
hut is formed with three poles, forked at the top. Under the shelter of
these huts or tents were suspended dried fish, cheese, clothes, pots and
various utensils. There were neither walls nor doors, consequently no
locks to protect them.
At length meeting with a very long shelvy contraction in the river, we
were obliged to quit our boat, and go by land in search of a Laplander
to serve as my guide further on, whom we expected to find at a place a
mile distant. But it appeared to me full a mile and half, over hills and
valleys, rivulets and stones. The hills were clad with Ling and with
_Empetrum_, which entangled our feet at every step; not to mention the
trees lying in all directions in our way, and over which we were obliged
to climb. The marshy spots were not less difficult to pass over. The
Bog-moss (_Sphagnum_) afforded but a treacherous support for our feet,
and the Dwarf Birch (_Betula nana_) entangled our legs.
I could not help remarking that all the fibres of the full-grown pine
trees seemed to be obliquely twisted, and in a contrary direction to
the diurnal motion of the sun. I leave this to the consideration of the
curious physiologist; whether it may arise from any thing in the soil or
air, or from any polar attraction[31].
[31] 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.
Some of these pines bore tufted or fasciculated 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 indeed when I reached the other side, I congratulated myself
on having had a very narrow escape. A neighbouring mountain affords grey
slate, but of a loose and brittle kind.
We had next to pass a marshy tract, almost entirely under water, for the
course of a mile, nor is it easy to conceive the difficulties of the
undertaking. At every step we were knee-deep in water; and if we thought
to find a sure footing on some grassy tuft, it proved treacherous, and
only sunk us lower. Sometimes we came where no bottom was to be felt,
and were obliged to measure back our weary steps. Our half boots were
filled with the coldest water, as the frost, in some places, still
remained in the ground. Had our sufferings been inflicted as a capital
punishment, they would, even in that case, have been cruel, what then
had we to complain of? I wished I had never undertaken my journey, for
all the elements seemed adverse. It rained and blowed hard upon us. I
wondered that I escaped with life, though certainly not without
excessive fatigue and loss of strength.
After having thus for a long time gone in pursuit of my new Lapland
guide, we reposed ourselves about six o'clock in the morning, wrung the
water out of our clothes, and dried our weary limbs, while the cold
north wind parched us as much on one side as the fire scorched us on the
other, and the gnats kept inflicting their stings. I had now my fill of
travelling.
The whole landed property of the Laplander who owns this tract consists
chiefly of marshes, here called _stygx_. A divine could never describe a
place of future punishment more horrible than this country, nor could
the Styx of the poets exceed it. I may therefore boast of having visited
the Stygian territories.
We now directed our steps towards the desert of Lapmark, not knowing
where we went.
A man who lived nearest to the forlorn spot just described, but had not
been at it for twenty years past, went in search of some one to conduct
me further, while I rested a little near a fire. I wished for nothing so
much as to be able to go back by water to the place from whence I came;
but I dreaded returning to the boat the way we had already passed,
knowing my corporeal frame to be not altogether of iron or steel. I
would gladly have gone eight or ten miles by a dry road to the boat, but
no such road was here to be found. The hardy Laplanders themselves, born
to labour as the birds to fly, could not help complaining, and declared
they had never been reduced to such extremity before. I could not help
pitying them.
A marsh called _Lyckmyran_ (lucky marsh), but which might more properly
be called _Olycksmyran_ (unlucky marsh), gives rise to a small rivulet
which takes its course to Lycksele, and abounds with ochre. The water is
covered with a film. I am persuaded that iron might be found there.
_June 3._
We waited till about two o'clock in the afternoon for the Laplander I
had sent on the expedition above mentioned, who at length returned quite
spent with fatigue. He had made the requisite inquiries at many of the
huts, but in vain. He was accompanied by a person whose appearance was
such that at first I did not know whether I beheld a man or a woman. I
scarcely believe that any poetical description of a fury could come up
to the idea, which this Lapland fair-one excited. It might well be
imagined that she was truly of Stygian origin. Her stature was very
diminutive. Her face of the darkest brown from the effects of smoke. Her
eyes dark and sparkling. Her eyebrows black. Her pitchy-coloured hair
hung loose about her head, and on it she wore a flat red cap. She had a
grey petticoat; and from her neck, which resembled the skin of a frog,
were suspended a pair of large loose breasts of the same brown
complexion, but encompassed, by way of ornament, with brass rings. Round
her waist she wore a girdle, and on her feet a pair of half boots.
Her first aspect really struck me with dread; but though a fury in
appearance, she addressed me, with mingled pity and reserve, in the
following terms:
"O thou poor man! what hard destiny can have brought thee hither, to a
place never visited by any one before? This is the first time I ever
beheld a stranger. Thou miserable creature! how didst thou come, and
whither wilt thou go? Dost thou not perceive what houses and habitations
we have, and with how much difficulty we go to church?"
I entreated her to point out some way by which I might continue my
journey in any direction, so as not to be forced to return the way I
came.
"Nay, man," said she, "thou hast only to go the same way back again;
for the river overflows so much, it is not possible for thee to proceed
further in this direction. From us thou hast no assistance to expect in
the prosecution of thy journey, as my husband, who might have helped
thee, is ill. Thou mayst inquire for our next neighbour, who lives about
a mile off, and perhaps, if thou shouldst meet with him, he may give
thee some assistance, but I really believe it will scarcely be in his
power."
I inquired how far it was to Sorsele. "That we do not know," replied
she; "but in the present state of the roads it is at least seven days
journey from hence, as my husband has told me."
My health and strength being by this time materially impaired by wading
through such an extent of marshes, laden with my apparel and luggage,
for the Laplander had enough to do to carry the boat; by walking for
whole nights together; by not having for a long time tasted any boiled
meat; by drinking a great quantity of water, as nothing else was to be
had; and by eating nothing but fish, unsalted and crawling with vermin,
I must have perished but for a piece of dried and salted reindeer's
flesh, given me by my kind hostess the clergyman's wife at Lycksele.
This food, however, without bread, proved unwholesome and indigestible.
How I longed once more to meet with people who feed on spoon-meat! I
inquired of this woman whether she could give me 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 maggots, I had no
appetite to touch it; but though it thus abated my hunger, it did not
recruit my strength. I asked if I could have any reindeer tongues, which
are commonly dried for sale, and served up even at the tables of the
great; but was answered in the negative. "Have you no cheese made of
reindeer's milk?" said I. "Yes," replied she, "but it is a mile off."
"If it were here, would you allow me to buy some?" "I have no desire,"
answered the good woman, "that thou shouldst die in my country for want
of food."
On arriving at her hut, I perceived three cheeses lying under a shed
without walls, and took the smallest of them, which she, after some
consultation, allowed me to purchase.
[Illustration]
The cap of my hostess, like that of all the Lapland women, was very
remarkable. It was made of double red cloth, as is usually the case, of
a round flat form. The upper side A was flat, a foot broad, and stitched
round the edge, where the lining was turned over. At the under side B
was a hole to receive the head, with a projecting border round it. The
lining being loose, the cap covers the head more or less, at the
pleasure of the wearer.
As to shift, she, like all her countrywomen, was destitute of any such
garment. She wore a collar or tippet of the breadth of two fingers,
stitched with thread, and bordered next the skin with brass rings. Over
this she wore two grey jackets, both alike, which reached to her knees,
just like those worn by the men.
[Illustration]
I was at last obliged to return the way I came, though very unwillingly,
heartily wishing it might never be my fate to see this place again. It
was as bad as a visit to Acheron. If I could have run up the bed of a
river like a Laplander, I might have gone on, but that was impossible.
On my return I observed that the basis of all the tufts of grass, which
abound in _mosses_ or marshy spots, was the little rushy plant with an
entangled root (_Scirpus caespitosus_) of which I have already spoken.
The roots of this vegetable rise every year higher and higher above the
soil, so that it seems to have a principal share in forming meadows out
of bogs. It is also the basis of all the most remarkable floating
islands[32].
[32] In the _Flora Suecica_, and _Am[oe]n. Acad. v. 1.511_, these
properties are attributed to the _Sch[oe]nus Mariscus_, which
Scheuchzer in his _Agrostographia, p. 377_, assures us forms the
floating islands near Tivoli.
I heard the note of some Ptarmigans (_Tetrao Lagopus_), which sounded
like a kind of laughter. On approaching them I observed that their necks
were brown, their bodies white, with three or four brown feathers on the
shoulders. Their tails were of a darkish hue[33].
[33] These birds had partly acquired their summer plumage.
I noticed the Agaric of the Spruce Fir (_Agaricus Fl. Lapp. n. 517_), a
flat sessile species, which is the chief remedy used by the Laplanders
against gnats, by smoking themselves as well as their reindeer with it.
When these insects become very numerous and troublesome, they force the
reindeer from their pastures. Even those which have been a whole year
away from home are obliged to return. The Laplanders lay small piles of
this fungus, every morning and evening, upon the fire in their huts, by
which means only they are enabled to sleep at their ease.
I was also shown the Agaric of the Willow (_Boletus suaveolens Fl. Lapp.
n. 522_), which has a very fragrant scent. The people assured me it was
formerly the fashion for young men, when going to visit their
mistresses, to use this fungus as a perfume, in order to render
themselves more agreeable[34].
[34] I must here present the English reader with a passage on this
subject from the _Flora Lapponica_. "The Lapland youth, having found
this Agaric, carefully preserves it in a little pocket hanging at
his waist, that its grateful perfume may render him more acceptable
to his favourite fair-one. O whimsical Venus! in other regions you
must be treated with coffee and chocolate, preserves and sweetmeats,
wines and dainties, jewels and pearls, gold and silver, silks and
cosmetics, balls and assemblies, music and theatrical exhibitions:
here you are satisfied with a little withered fungus!"
The Cloudberry (_Rubus Chamaemorus_) abounded hereabouts, and was now in
bloom. The petals varied in number from four to seven. I observed this
plant blossoming equally well on the most lofty mountains, as was also
the case with the Crake berry (_Empetrum nigrum_).
I again met with the hemipterous insect mentioned _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 the Lapland huts. The
last-mentioned insect smells like rue. See figure.
[Illustration]
An oblong piece of brown cloth is sewed into the back part of the collar
of the women's jackets.
_June 4._
Adjoining to a hut I remarked some round pieces, apparently of a sort of
napped cloth, as black as pitch. Not being able to imagine what they
could be, I was informed they were the stomachs or rennet-bags of the
reindeer turned inside out, for the purpose of preserving the milk of
that animal in a dry state till winter. Before the milk thus preserved
can be used, it is soaked in warm water. Some use bladders for the same
purpose. In the more mountainous parts they boil sorrel (_Rumex
Acetosa_) with the milk which they preserve for winter use.
I wondered, indeed I more than wondered, how these poor people could
feed entirely on fish, sometimes boiled fresh, sometimes dried, and then
either boiled, or roasted before the fire on a wooden spit. They roast
their fish thoroughly, and boil it better and longer than ever I saw
practised before. They know no other soup or spoon-meat than the water
in which their fish has been boiled. If from any accident they catch no
fish, they cannot procure a morsel of food. At midsummer they first
begin to milk the reindeer, and maintain themselves on the milk till
autumn; when they kill some of those valuable animals, and by various
contrivances get a scanty supply of food through the winter.
The young children sleep in oblong leather cradles, without any thing
like swaddling-clothes, enveloped in dried bog-moss (_Sphagnum
palustre_), lined with the hair of the reindeer. In this soft and warm
nest they are secured against the most intense cold.
The winter huts, capable of being removed from place to place, consist
of four large curved poles, perforated at the top and fastened two and
two together, which being supported by four other straight sticks, form
a kind of arch. The whole is covered, except at the very top, where an
opening is left for a chimney, with the coarse cloth called _walmar_ or
_walmal_. The edifice when finished is about four feet high.
Tormentil (_Tormentilla officinalis_) here always grows in boggy ground,
which is remarkable. Its root is chewed along with the inner bark of the
Alder, and the saliva thus impregnated is applied to leather, to dye it
of a red colour. Thus their harness, reins, girdles, gloves, &c. are
tanned.
The extensive pine forests here grow to no use. As nobody wants timber,
the trees fall and rot upon the ground. I suggested the advantage of
extracting pitch and tar from them, but was answered by the judge of the
district that, from the remoteness of the situation, what could be
obtained from them would not pay for the trouble. But as no place in the
whole Swedish territories can afford so much, and it might easily in
winter be conveyed twenty miles, surely it deserves attention.
In a grassy spot near the river I found a rare species of _Ranunculus_,
with a three-leaved calyx and a little yellow upright flower, which
appears to be nondescript. I met with it but twice or thrice in this
neighbourhood and no where else. (This is _R. lapponicus Fl. Lapp. n.
231. t. 3. f. 4._)
In the marshes I remarked that what I had previously found on the hills,
and taken for a kind of white _Byssus_, had here possessed itself of the
tops of the 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 _Sphagnum_. (_Lichen
ericetorum._ See _Fl. Lapp. n. 455._)
It is remarkable that the Juniper here always grows in watery places.
The berries are scantily produced, nor are the people of the country at
all acquainted with the method of making a spiritous liquor from them,
as in other places.
I showed them how to make a kind of brandy of the young tops of the fir,
as a little improvement upon their usual watery beverage[35], 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
determined to keep entirely to water.
[35] Linnaeus's words are "to wash down the water."
I could not observe that the nights were at all less light than the
days, except when the sun was clouded.
The poor Laplanders find the church festivals, or days of public
thanksgiving, in the spring of the year, very burthensome and
oppressive, as they are in general obliged to pass the river at the
hazard of their lives. The water at that season is neither sufficiently
frozen to bear them, nor open enough to be navigated; so they are under
the necessity of wading frequently up to their arms, and are half dead
with cold and fatigue by the time they get to church. They must either
undergo this hardship, or be fined ten silver dollars and do penance for
three Sundays; which surely is too severe[36].
[36] This is no new instance of contrariety between the tyranny of
man and the gospel of Christ, whose "yoke is easy and his burthen
light." If these innocent people were to complain of it to their
spiritual guides, they might be told, as on another occasion, see
_p. 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 less
indispensable an atonement than the penance.--Pity that such
tractable sheep should not be better worth shearing!
This day I found the very hairy variety of the Purple Marsh Cinquefoil
(_Comarum palustre_) mentioned by Plukenet (_t. 212, f. 2_). The plants
were of the last year's growth, and their hairiness the more
conspicuous; but it is a mere variety.
The Laplanders never eat but twice a day, often only once, and that
towards evening.
On the banks of the river, where fragments are to be found of all the
productions of the mountains, I met with silver ore.
The insects which fell under my observation this day were the great
Black Humble-bee (_Apis terrestris_), the Wasp, the Gnat (_Culex
pipiens_), and the Flesh Fly (_Musca carnaria_).
_June 5._
On the mountainous ground adjoining to the river I met with an
herbaceous plant never before observed in Sweden. The flowers were not
yet blown, but appeared within a few days of coming to perfection. I
opened some, and found them of a papilionaceous structure. The tip of
the standard, as well as of the keel, which was cloven, had a purplish
hue. The whole habit of the plant showed it to be an _Astragalus_ (_A.
alpinus_ _Fl. Lapp. n. 267. t. 9. f. 1._), which was confirmed by the
last-year's pods, remaining on their stalks. I called it for the present
_Liquiritia minor_ (Small Liquorice).
By this time I became almost starved, having had nothing fit to eat or
drink for four days past, neither boiled provision of any sort, nor any
kind of spoon-meat. I had chiefly been supported by the dried flesh of
the reindeer above mentioned, which my stomach could not well digest,
nor indeed bear except in small quantities. The fish which was offered
me I could not taste, even to preserve my life, as it swarmed with
vermin. At length I happily reached the house of the curate, and
obtained some fresh meat.
The curate here had caught the Gwiniad (_Salmo Lavaretus_) five palms in
length, which is an unusual size. This fish is remarkable for spawning
near Lycksele church about Michaelmas, but in the alps at Christmas,
advancing gradually up the river between those two periods after
pairing.
The small Gwiniad (_Salmo Albula_) pairs under the ice at this place
about Christmas. In Smoland it pairs at Michaelmas.
Reindeer milk is excellent for making cheese, a pail of about three
quarts yielding a large quantity. On this account those who keep cows
add a portion of it to their milk; by which method they obtain much more
cheese than otherwise.
The reindeer suffers great hardship in autumn, when, the snow being all
melted away during summer, a sudden frost freezes the mountain Lichen
(_L. rangiferinus_), which is his only winter food. When this fails, the
animal has no other resource, for he never touches hay. His keepers fell
the trees in order to supply him with the filamentous Lichens that
clothe their branches; but this kind of food does not supply the place
of what is natural to him. It is astonishing how he can get at his
proper food through the deep snow that covers it, and by which it is
protected from the severe frosts.
The reindeer feeds also on frogs, snakes, and even on the Lemming or
Mountain Rat (_Mus Lemmus_), often pursuing the latter to so great a
distance as not to find his way back again. This happened in several
instances a few years ago, when these rats came down in immense numbers
from the mountains.
The Pike pairs in this neighbourhood as soon as the river becomes open.
I met with some strangers who had been six or eight miles, or more, to
the north of Lycksele, and had resided there on a fishing party ever
since Easter. I accompanied one of them to his hut. Each man had
collected about twenty pounds of fish, which were drying.
It is certainly very unjust that these people, settled more than eight
miles down the country on the other side of Lycksele church, should
drive the native Laplanders away, and be allowed to fish in these upper
regions, which have no communication with the sea shore, and this
without paying any tax to the crown or tithe to the curate of the
parish, which the fishermen of the country are obliged either to do, or
to farm the fishery of the land-holder, who pays tribute for his land,
and who justly complains of the hardship he suffers in various respects,
without daring to make any open resistance.
When any of these complaints were made by the Laplanders in my hearing,
I asked why they did not seek redress in a proper manner.
"Alas!" replied they, "we have no means of procuring access to our
sovereign. Nobody here exercises any authority to protect us, or to
prevent these interlopers from doing with us just as they please. We
cannot procure witnesses in our favour, scattered about as we are in an
unfrequented desert, and therefore we are robbed with impunity. We can
never believe that this happens with the approbation of our Gracious
Sovereign. If we were assured that it was his will, we should submit
with dutiful resignation."
The clergy also complained to me that, after having resided in this
wilderness, and fulfilled the duties of their calling with all possible
care and diligence, they are never in the way of promotion, like those
employed in schools, or any other station, where they are more at hand
to solicit preferment. Indeed it seems very just, that, after having
served here for twenty years, they should obtain some small preferment
in a more cultivated country, where their children might be properly
educated, and enjoy the advantages of civilized society.
A schoolmaster at this time resident here, who had exerted himself in
the most exemplary manner, so as to do as much in two years as his
predecessor had done in ten, with respect to teaching Swedish to the
children of the Laplanders, a task harder than that of the plough, had
no other prospect than still to remain in obscurity, even his great
merit not being likely to procure him any further advancement.
In the forests of this neighbourhood good pasturage is now and then to
be found; but the corn-fields and meadows are poor, especially the
former. After the marshes have been mowed one season, or at most two,
they produce no more grass. The 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 improvement than this. I have noticed large tracts
of loose bog or moss land, which I am persuaded would make excellent
meadows, if any drain, though ever so small, were made to carry off the
water. This, I was told, had been tried in some instances, but that no
grass grew on the land in consequence of it; on the contrary, the whole
was dried up and barren. This arises from the turfy roots of the rushy
tribe of plants, which, though killed by the draining, still occupy the
ground.
As to the pine forests, if the superfluous part of them were felled, and
birch trees permitted to grow in their stead, a better crop of grass
would consequently be produced. When the country is mountainous, this
would be attended with less success; but with least of all where the
soil is of the barren sandy kind (_Arena Glarea_), of which I have
already spoken several times in the course of my tour. On such a soil,
after the burning of a pine forest, nothing grows for the ensuing ten or
twenty years. But might not even this dreary soil be improved by felling
the trees, and leaving them to rot upon the ground, so as to form in
process of time a layer of vegetable mould? In Scania, Buck-wheat
(_Polygonum Fagopyrum_) is sown on a sandy soil, but here the climate is
too severe. Yet perhaps some other plant might be found to cultivate
even here. It would be very desirable to discover some means of
eradicating the Bog-moss.
The reason why the marshes prove barren, after the grass has been mown,
is easily explained by considering the nature of the rushy plants, whose
roots extend themselves gradually upwards, and choke the _Carices_ and
other grasses, when the latter are cut down to the ground, so that their
roots wither. Might this evil be cured by burning?
I wondered that the Laplanders hereabouts had not built a score of small
houses, lofty enough at least to be entered in an upright posture, as
they have such abundance of wood at hand. On my expressing my surprise
at this, they answered: "In summer we are in one spot, in winter at
another, perhaps twenty miles distant, where we can find moss for our
reindeer." I asked "why they did not collect this moss in the summer,
that they might have a supply of it during the winter frosts?" They
replied, that they give their whole attention to fishing in summer
time, far from the places where this moss abounds and where they reside
in winter.
These people eat a great deal of flesh meat. A family of four persons
consumes at least one reindeer every week, from the time when the
preserved fish becomes too stale to be eatable, till the return of the
fishing season. Surely they might manage better in this respect than
they do. When the Laplander in summer catches no fish, he must either
starve, or kill some of his reindeer. He has no other cattle or domestic
animals than the reindeer and the dog: the latter cannot serve him for
food in his rambling excursions; but whenever he can kill Gluttons
(_Mustela Gulo_), Squirrels, Martins, Bears or Beavers, in short 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 family consists of
four persons, including himself, when he has no other meat, kills a
reindeer every week, three of which are equal to an ox; he consequently
consumes about thirty of those animals in the course of the winter,
which are equal to ten oxen, whereas a single ox is sufficient for a
Swedish peasant.
The peasants settled in this neighbourhood, in time of scarcity eat
chaff, as well as the inner bark of pine trees separated from the scaly
cuticle. They grind and then bake it in order to render it fit for food.
A part is reserved for their cattle, being cut obliquely into pieces of
two fingers' breadth, by which the fodder of the cows, goats, and sheep
is very much spared. The bark is collected at the time when the sap
rises in the tree, and, after being dried in the sun, is kept for winter
use. They grind it into meal, bake bread of it, and make grains to feed
swine upon, which render those animals extremely fat, and save a great
deal of corn.
The Laplanders dye their wool red chiefly with the Blood-root or
Tormentil, _Tormentilla erecta_. A red colour is given to their leather
by means of fir bark. The men wear a kind of 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 stockings. The waistband is fastened by
thongs, not buttons.
As to the diseases of these people, I was informed here that fevers are
very rare indeed, and that the smallpox is also of unfrequent
occurrence. Hence, when it does come, many old people with grey hairs
fall a sacrifice to the latter disorder, which however is not widely
communicated, any more than fever, because of the very thin population.
Of intermittent fever I met with only one example, and of _calculus_
another. They cure a cough by sulphur laid on the lighted fungus which
serves them as tinder, or on the fire, the smoke of which inhaled into
the lungs is esteemed a specific; but it is a very fallacious one. For
the headache a small bit of the aforesaid fungus is laid on the place
where the pain is most violent, and, being set on fire, it burns slowly
till the part is excoriated. This therefore is the _Moxa_ of the
Laplanders. In case of a _prolapsus uvulae_ they cut off the protuberance
with a pair of scissars. For the colic or belly-ache they rub the nails
with salt, besides which they administer oil internally.
I here satisfied myself about the native species of _Angelica_, which
are two only, not three. The Bi[oe]rnstut 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
(_Polytrichum commune_), called by the Laplanders Romsi, grows copiously
in their damp forests, and is used for this purpose. They choose the
starry-headed plants, out of the tufts of which they cut a surface as
large as they please for a bed or bolster, separating it from the earth
beneath; and although the shoots are scarcely branched, they are
nevertheless so entangled at the roots as not to be separable from each
other. This mossy cushion is very soft and elastic, not growing hard by
pressure; and if a similar portion of it be made to serve as a coverlet,
nothing can be more warm and comfortable. I have often made use of it
with admiration; and if any writer had published a description of this
simple contrivance, which necessity has taught the Laplanders, I should
almost imagine that our counterpanes were but an imitation of it. They
fold this bed together, tying it up into a roll that may be grasped by a
man's arms, which if necessary they carry with them to the place where
they mean to sleep the night following. If it becomes too dry and
compressed, its former elasticity is restored by a little moisture.
_June 6._
In order to observe how fast the water rose in the river, which was
increasing daily, I had fixed a perpendicular stick the preceding
evening at eight o'clock close to the margin of the stream. This morning
at five it had gained a foot in depth and two feet in breadth. Near the
bank, which is continually undermining in some part or other by the
current, stones are found incrusted with sand, coagulated as it were
about them by means of iron. Some of them seem as if they had been blown
to pieces with gunpowder.
I was told that the peasants had in the winter preceding foretold an
unusual rise of the river, and a great flood, in the course of this
summer, which when it happens is a considerable detriment to those whose
pasture grounds are overflowed by it. Their mode of judging is by the
swelling of the stream in winter, to which they observe that in the
ensuing summer always to bear a proportion.
The colonists settled in 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 Gr[:a]no I met with perfectly white flowers of the Dog's Violet (_Viola
canina_): also _Bistorta alpina sobolifera_, or more properly perhaps
_vivipara_ (_Polygonum viviparum_), as the bulbs had grown out into
small leaves.
Rain fell in the night, accompanied with thunder and lightning.
_June 7._
[Illustration]
Early in the morning I left Gr[:a]no, and in passing through the forest
observed on the Juniper magnificent specimens of that gelatinous
substance, about which and its heroic virtues in curing the jaundice so
much has been said[37]. I picked up a curious insect which I then named
_Cantharis niger maculatus et undulatus_ (_Cicindela sylvatica_), and
which I afterwards met with in great abundance throughout the pine
forests of this province, though rare elsewhere, flying or running with
great celerity along the roads and paths. Here also it was my fortune to
see a rare bird not hitherto described. If I am not mistaken, it is what
Professor Rudbeck called _Pica Lapponum_. I could only examine it
through my spying-glass, but I perceived all the characters of a
_Turdus_, so that I do not scruple to define it _Turdus caud[^a]_,
_rubr[^a] medio cinere[^a]_. It had moreover the flight and voice of a
_Turdus_, screaming in the same manner. Towards evening I noticed a
black sort of Plover, with legs of a yellowish green, and had also an
opportunity of killing a Lomm (_Colymbus arcticus_), which I stuffed,
and of which I made a description in my ornithological manuscript. The
bill was not toothed.
[37] _Tremella juniperina_ of Linnaeus, _T. Sabinae_ of Dickson: see
_English Botany, v. 10, t. 710_, which I am persuaded is merely an
exudation from the shrub that bears it.
Towards evening I reached Stocknasmark and Iamtboht, where grew the
pretty little _Cameraria_ of Ruppius and Dillenius (_Montia fontana_), a
plant that had never fallen in my way before. In K[:a]llheden 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. The fungus used
for this purpose is an Agaric with a bulbous stalk and crimson cap (_A.
integer [beta]. 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.
[Illustration]
The Little Cotton-Grass (_Eriophorum alpinum_) and the _Mesomora_
(_Cornus suecica_) grow abundantly in this neighbourhood. About the
water were several _Ephemerae_. I also caught a little insect of the
beetle (or coleopterous) kind, the shells of which were red, the thorax
blue with a red margin, the whole shining with a tinge of gold. In
Lapland are scarcely any fleas, no bugs, though plenty of lice, nor any
frogs nor serpents.
_June 8._
Very early in the morning I set out again on my journey, and in my way
examined the Palmated Orchis with a green or pale flower, differing from
all others in the shape of its nectary, which is like a bag and not a
spur. Hence I have referred it to _Satyrium_ (_S. viride_). It connects
that genus with the real _Orchides_ with palmate bulbs[38].
[38] The more correct characters, founded by Haller and Swartz on
the anthers, reduce this plant very successfully to the genus
_Orchis_, with _Satyrium hircinum_ likewise.
I remarked that all the women hereabouts feed their infants by means of
a horn, nor do they take the trouble of boiling the milk which they thus
administer, so that no wonder the children have worms. I could not help
being astonished that these peasants did not suckle their children.
About four o'clock in the afternoon I found myself once more at the town
of Umoea. Large flies like gnats with great black wings were flying
about in the air, which I had before taken, May 27, for some species of
_Musca_; but their peculiar flight now gave me another opinion, which
was strengthened by the form of their poisers (_halteres_) and the round
entire figure of their wings. (_Empis borealis_). Here I found a curious
Ladybird (_Coccinella trifasciata_) of an orange colour, with oblong,
not round, spots.
A remarkable change had taken place in the appearance of the country
during the fortnight which had elapsed since I was here before. The
Aspen trees were then quite leafless; now they were in full foliage; the
grass was very dry, and about a quarter (of an ell?) high.
It is a general practice throughout Lapland in the autumn to set traps
in the more unfrequented parts of the woods to catch the Wood Grous
(_Urogallus_). Some of these traps were still remaining, but I could
never properly observe their construction till I met with one in the
course of this day's journey. This machine consists of six parallel
pieces of wood, each at a little distance from the next, and all joined
together by a transverse piece at each end. Over them the twig of a tree
is placed horizontally, one end of it being fastened to the frame, the
other introduced into a loop holding a weight. An upright splinter of
wood is made to support this twig in an arched position, so that when
the bird goes under it to roost, or otherwise touches the splinter, the
latter falls down, and the bird is caught.
[Illustration]
This being a day of public thanksgiving, I remained at Umoea.
Agues are very uncommon in this country, but St. Anthony's fire seems to
be proportionably 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 _Polytrichum_, with a branched stem bearing
flowers in the form of shields. (_Mnium fontanum Sp. Pl. Bartramia
fontana Fl. Brit._ The male plant.)
[Illustration]
From the root arises an oblique stem (a) about half an inch long,
entirely clothed with very sharp-pointed leaves. From thence the main
stem (b) grows perpendicularly to the height of an inch, of a purple
colour, clothed with ovate, acute, membranous, whitish scales, each half
embracing the stem. Between the bases of these is a solitary line or
rib, into which they are inserted in an alternate order. I imagine the
oblique part of the stem (a) to be of autumnal or winter growth, and the
upright portion (b) to have been put forth in summer or spring. At the
summit of the latter stands a sort of blossom (c), composed of six
scales, of which the three lower are opposite and shortest; the three
upper larger, ovate, pointed, somewhat spreading, permanent, of a
whitish green colour. Within these scales or petals is a flat, or
slightly convex, disk, composed of innumerable very slender whitish
filaments with reddish tips, much shorter than the surrounding scales.
Can these filaments be the stamens? They are by no means rudiments of
leaves. One, two or three branches grow out at the base of this flower,
the latter being for the most part perennial, and go through the same
mode of growth and flowering as the parent plant. The calyx therefore,
contrary to the nature of the common _Polytrichum_, is proliferous from
its base.
It is curious that all the flowers, in each tuft composed perhaps of a
hundred plants, rise exactly to the same level. It is also remarkable
that the new stems form a similar angle to that made by the growth of
the preceding year (d), so that the whole assemblage of them is as
regularly disposed as a body of soldiers.
[Illustration]
2. This moss (_Bartramia fontana_, the female plant) agrees in many
respects with the preceding, but differs in the following particulars.
The roots or shoots of the preceding year are quite black, while those
of the present season are of a paler or whitish green; nor are the scaly
leaves so far remote from each other as that the red stem appears so
regularly between them. The plants are also more branched, and less
curved. In the last place, this is a fruit-bearing kind, having purple
stalks two inches long, each of which sustains a globular head, larger
than usual in mosses, bent obliquely, and of a green colour. The
_calyptra_ or veil is remarkably small, smooth, and membranous.
3. is a moss (_Bryum bimum Fl. Brit. Engl. Bot. t. 1518._) whose stem
and leaves partake of a blood-red hue. The latter are regularly and
alternately imbricated, oblong, pointed; the upper ones forming a head
at the summits of the branches, as in No. 1, but the disk is not
exposed, for the lower leaves which surround it are the longest, and the
inner ones shortest, just the reverse of No. 1. This No. 3 therefore is
the male, and No. 4 the female, both found on the same plant[39]. The
latter bears, on a long purple stalk, greenish at the upper part, an
oblong pear-shaped pendulous head (or capsule). The veil is very small.
[39] Here we find the Hedwigian theory of the fructification of
mosses forestalled by the good sense and accurate observation of
Linnaeus, though out of respect 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. 255. Not being able to investigate every point of
systematical and physiological botany thoroughly himself, he, with
amiable deference, often trusted to those who had more particularly
studied certain subjects.
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_).
[Illustration]
_June 10._
(Here occur in the manuscript long Latin descriptions of _Rubus
arcticus_ and _Betula nana_, which are printed in a more finished
state in the _Flora Lapponica_, _ed._ 2. 170 and 274.)
_June 11._
Being Sunday, and a day of continued rain, I remained at 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 before me. I wandered
along in a perpetual mist, which made the grass as wet as if it had
rained. The sun appeared quite dim, wading as it were through the
clouds. By nine o'clock the mists began to disperse, and the sun shone
forth. The Spruce Fir (_Pinus Abies_), hitherto of an uniform dark
green, now began to put forth its lighter-coloured buds, a welcome sign
of advancing summer[40].
[40] Linnaeus, in the _Am[oe]nitates Academicae_, says the Swedish
summer is in its highest beauty when "the fresh shoots of the fir
illuminate the woods."
_Chamaedaphne_ of Buxbaum (_Andromeda polifolia_) was at this time in its
highest beauty, decorating the marshy grounds in a most agreeable
manner. The flowers are quite blood-red before they expand, but when
full-grown the corolla is of a flesh-colour. Scarcely any painter's art
can so happily imitate the beauty of a fine female complexion; still
less could any artificial colour upon the face itself bear a comparison
with this lovely blossom. As I contemplated it I could not help thinking
of Andromeda as described by the poets; and the more I meditated upon
their descriptions, the more applicable they seemed to the little plant
before me, so that if these writers had had it in view, they could
scarcely have contrived a more apposite fable. Andromeda is represented
by them as a virgin of most exquisite and unrivalled charms; but these
charms remain in perfection only so long as she retains her virgin
purity, which is also applicable to the plant, now preparing to
celebrate its nuptials. This plant is always fixed on some little turfy
hillock in the midst of the swamps, as Andromeda herself was chained to
a rock in the sea, which bathed her feet, as the fresh water does the
roots of the plant. Dragons and venomous serpents surrounded her, as
toads and other reptiles frequent the abode of her vegetable prototype,
and, when they pair in the spring, throw mud and water over its leaves
and branches. As the distressed virgin cast down her blushing face
through excessive affliction, so does the rosy-coloured flower hang its
head, growing paler and paler till it withers away. Hence, as this plant
forms a new genus, I have chosen for it the name of _Andromeda_[41].
[41] Linnaeus has drawn this fanciful analogy further in his _Flora
Lapponica_. "At length," says he, "comes Perseus in the shape of
Summer, dries up the surrounding water and destroys the monsters,
rendering the damsel a fruitful mother, who then carries her head
(the capsule) erect."
Every where near the road grew the _Mesomora_ or Herbaceous Cornel
(_Cornus suecica_, very minutely described in _Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 39_.
See also _English Botany, v. 5. t. 310_.).
All the little woods and copses by the road side abounded with
Butterflies of the Fritillary tribe, without silver spots. The great
Dragon Fly with two flat lobes at its tail (_Libellula forcipata_), and
another species with blue wings (_L. Virgo_), were also common.
Various modes of rocking children in cradles are adopted in different
places. In Smoland the cradle is suspended by an elastic pole, on which
it swings up and down perpendicularly. The poorer Laplanders rock their
infants on branches of trees, but those of superior rank have cradles
that commonly roll from side to side. In the part of the country where I
was now travelling, the cradles rock vertically, or from head to foot,
as in the figure.
[Illustration]
Close to the road hung the under jaw of a Horse, having six fore teeth,
much worn and blunted, two canine teeth, and at a distance from the
latter twelve grinders, six on each side. If I knew how many teeth and
of what peculiar form, as well as how many udders, and where situated,
each animal has, I should perhaps be able to contrive a most natural
methodical arrangement of quadrupeds[42].
[42] Here the Linnaean system of _Mammalia_ seems first to have
occurred to the mind of its author.
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,
_Polytrichum_, and that quite dried up. Some of the barns were evidently
in a decayed state; which made me suspect this condition of the land to
be an increasing evil, and that it had formerly been more productive
than at present. Indeed some of these tumps were so close together that
no grass had room to grow between them. If the cause of this evil, and a
cure for it, could be discovered, the husbandman would have reason to
rejoice. Wherever these hillocks abounded, the earth seemed to be of a
loose texture, consisting of either mud or clay. When I stepped upon
them they gave way, and when cut open they appeared all hollow and
unsound. I conceive the frost to have a great share in their formation,
which when it leaves the ground causes a vacuity, and the turf, loosened
from the soil, is raised up.
The insects which occurred to my notice this day, besides those above
mentioned, were the following:
A black _Ichneumon_, like a Humble Bee, with club-shaped antennae four
lines long, and blueish wings. Its mouth armed with a pair of toothed
forceps. Thorax hairy, with several smooth spots interspersed. Abdomen
depressed, ovate, rough at the base with greyish hairs, and furnished
with a series of scales beneath, see fig. b. Feet pale red, otherwise
the general colour of the insect is black. It lives on the willow. (This
appears to be the _Tenthredo lucorum_, a species not preserved in the
Linnaean cabinet.)
[Illustration]
A small _Papilio_, of the fritillary tribe, with one silver mark
underneath of the form of a shield. See it among those of Petiver
collected in Portugal. (This must surely be _Papilio C album_.)
A greyish Butterfly with feathered antennae, whose female has no wings.
See Swammerdam. (_Phalaena antiqua._)
An elegant little blackish Butterfly, besprinkled with snow-white spots
like rings, smooth and polished on the under side, was very plentiful in
the paths.
A black _Tipula_ was running over the water, and turning round like a
_Gyrinus_ or Water Flea. (_Cimex lacustris._)
In the wells, the _Swammerdamia_ of Swammerdam and Lister ran about with
great velocity. Among these was a very minute insect, which I could not
ascertain.
An _Elasticus_, (_Elater_, probably the _aeneus_,) of a golden black,
with striated cases to the wings, and geniculated antennae.
A reddish _Cantharis_, with black antennae, and light grey cases to the
wings.
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[43] was flying in the
marshes.
[43] What this word expresses I am unable to determine.
The country here is rather flat, yet now and then considerable hills
present themselves, not very high indeed, but abounding in steep
declivities. The stones about these hills were variegated, and as if
inlaid, glittering with talc; many of them rusty, and spontaneously
corroded. On one spot, in the road itself, is produced a brown
pale-purplish earth, which is very likely to be useful for painting. The
hill where this earth or ochre is found is called H['o]gmarkb[oe]rget.
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 mountain; but the peasants of the
neighbourhood, 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 kept this stranger from the knowledge of Hans Person, a
peasant at Webomark, who would have conducted him right. The father of
this Hans was the first discoverer of the mountain in question, and
undertook a journey to Stockholm with a small barrel of the ore; but
before he set off, his neighbours made him drunk, and took out the
proper ore, replacing it in his barrel with lumps of granite. His son is
now at all times ready to show the mountain to any one who inquires for
it, and I had some thoughts of going to find out this man, though his
residence was far out of my road. Learning however that he was not now
at home, but employed somewhere at a distance in building or repairing a
bridge, I thought it useless to inquire any further.
At some few places at which I stopped for refreshment in the course of
this day's journey, I procured some of that preparation of milk called
_S[:a]tmiolk_, by some people _T[:a]tmiolk_. In the neighbourhood grows the
plant called _T[:a]tgrass_, or _Pinguicula_, with its most curiously
constructed flower. When the inhabitants of these parts once procure
this plant, they avail themselves of it during the whole year; for they
preserve it dried through the winter, and use it as a kind of rennet
till the return of spring.
Here also I learned another preparation of milk. After cheese is made,
the whey is boiled and skimmed, which operation is repeated till a
sediment forms as thick as flummery. This is afterwards dried, and kept
in casks for use. It makes an ingredient in bread, and is called
_Mesosm[:o]r_.
The fire-places here were furnished with a regular apparatus for boiling
the kettle. The Laplanders in general content themselves for this
purpose with a large stick, which they place obliquely in the ground, so
as to lean over the fire, and on which they suspend either a kettle or a
fish; but here they have adopted quite another mode.
[Illustration]
A square beam (a) is placed perpendicularly, so as to be turned upon a
pivot at its base. To this a transverse beam (b) is fixed by a peg or
joint, so that its extremity may be moved up or down, and teeth are cut
in this beam, to hang the kettle upon, at a greater or less distance
from the upright support. Underneath is another shorter piece of wood
(c), forked at the extremity to catch the lower teeth of the
last-mentioned beam, and fixed likewise by a joint at its base, in order
to be elevated more or less at pleasure. The advantages of this
contrivance are many.
1, the materials cost nothing, whereas any iron machinery is
expensive.
2, here is no waste, for iron may be employed to more important
purposes.
3, this is capable of being raised higher or lower according as the
height of the fire may require, which an iron trivet cannot.
4, the iron trivet is troublesome to move about, which this machine
does not require.
5, when the trivet happens to lose one of its feet, it is no longer of
any use.
6, the circular part of the iron trivet must be proportioned to the
size of the kettle it is to support, but this machine will hold any
sized kettle.
The fields in this part of the country are excellent, being extensive
and level, the soil consisting of sandy and argillaceous earth. The
crops are abundant, provided the corn be not injured by frost, as it
had been the preceding year. Owing to this misfortune, I found bread
made of spruce fir bark at present in general use. The Buckbean
(_Menyanthes trifoliata_) is very seldom used, on account of its
bitterness[44].
[44] 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
extremely bitter and detestable." In the same work, _p. 259_, he
describes an excellent kind of bread made of the roots of _Calla
palustris_, which though acrid when fresh, become wholesome if
dried, and boiled afterwards in water, as is the case with its near
relation our common _Arum_, and the _Jatropha Manihot_, or Casava,
of the West Indies.
Flax is scarcely ever cultivated here.
In the evening I strolled out from the post-house at Bumoen towards the
sea side in search of natural productions. The brooks close to the shore
swarmed with innumerable little oval _Notonectae_ (Boat-flies), no bigger
than nits (_N. minutissima_); as well as with the lesser ovate
_Dytiscus_, shaded with grey, and known by its blunt cloven _sternum_.
(_D. cinereus._) On the beach multitudes of black insects without wings,
and half covered with shelly cases, were running about. (Probably _Cimex
littoralis_.) There were also abundance of _Ephemerae_ (May-flies), all
which had two prominent fore feet, and three bristles at the tail. I
caught several, thus rendering their transient existence still shorter.
They were of two species, one larger, of a blackish hue, with dark
clouded wings (_E. vulgata_); the other about half as large, with a
blackish thorax, and white wings. (This does not agree with any species
in the _Fauna Suecica_.)
Not far from the shore, on a small elevation, where the trees and
underwood had lately been burnt down, grew the Strawberry-leaved Bramble
(_Rubus arcticus_) with jagged petals, a remarkable and elegant variety.
(See _Fl. Lapp. t. 5. f. 2_.)
_June 14._
It rained very hard in the course of this day, as well as in the
preceding night.
The cornfields hereabouts vary in soil, being sometimes clay or sand,
sometimes a good mould, and often a mixture of all three. In general
they yield some kind of a crop, whatever the weather may be, except it
should prove severely cold, which is the ruin of the country.
The forests are beautiful, consisting of Spruce Fir, Common Fir, and
plenty of Birch, so that no part of Sweden is more pleasant to travel
through while the summer lasts.
The principal subsistence of the inhabitants is derived from selling
deals. The price is sixteen silver styvers (about three English
farthings each) for a dozen of deals. Tar is sold at six dollars, copper
money, a barrel.
I wish those who deny that certain plants are peculiar to certain
countries could see how abundantly the Birch, the Lapland Willow, the
Strawberry-leaved Bramble, the Cloud-berry (_Rubus Chamaemorus_), and the
Thyme-leaved Bell-flower (_Linnaea borealis_) flourish in this district,
and how the _Ranunculus acris_ entirely covers the pasture lands with
its brilliant yellow flowers.
On arriving at the post-house of Sunnanaen, I was gratified with the
view of a fine river, and the very neat little town of Skelleftea,
consisting of two principal streets and several cross ones, with a
church. The houses are about three hundred and fifty or four hundred,
and their white chimneys give them a cheerful aspect. I was informed
that every peasant in the parish had a house of his own in the town, for
the use of his family during festivals[45].
[45] In T[:o]rner's work on the Geography of Sweden is the following
curious account: "Skelleftea, a parish consisting of about one
hundred and fifty whole farms (in Swedish _hemman_), and containing
four thousand souls, is situated near a cove or arm of the sea, in
which is an island, formerly of considerable extent but now very
small. St. Stephen is said to have prophesied that the day of
judgment will come as soon as this island is entirely washed away.
The island certainly diminishes yearly, but every one must judge for
himself as to the probability of the prophecy."
Proceeding a little further, I remarked a steep hill near the road
carefully covered over with boughs of spruce fir. On removing some of
these, the ground evidently appeared to have been broken up, and
apparently blasted with gunpowder. This should seem to have been done by
some one in search of ore, of which however I could not perceive the
least indication. I carried away a few specimens of the rock.
After passing the next post-house, I was ferried over a river about half
way towards the third, when an Owl appeared, flitting every now and
then, at short distances, before me. Laying hold of my gun, I ventured
to take aim, though my horse kept going on at a good rate. It was a
quarter past twelve at night, yet not at all dark. I was lucky enough to
hit the bird, but in such a manner that one side of it was too much
damaged to allow of stuffing and preserving the specimen. (This was the
_Strix Ulula_, the Latin description of which, made on the spot, is
given, somewhat, corrected, in the _Fauna Suecica_; but the annexed
sketch is too great a curiosity to be suppressed).
[Illustration]
Just as I was about to draw up a description of this Owl, a little
Beetle crept out of its plumage. It was evidently a _Scarabaeus_ by its
antennae. The whole body was oblong, shaded with blue and black; the
belly white. When touched or alarmed, it lay perfectly still. (Probably
_Dermestes murinus_.)
Near the road lay a trap to catch Salmon, made of long slender laths,
bound together with six flexible twigs of osier into a cylindrical form,
open at the base, and furnished with twigs in that part placed like the
wires of a mousetrap, but in a double row, that they might be so much
the stronger. The open space between them was enough to admit a man's
head. On one side further on was a door to take out the fish when
caught.
_Oniscus aquaticus_ was in the water.
The Dean of Skelleftea told me an anecdote of a Laplander who, at the
last court of justice held there, summoned his neighbour for having
twice as much land, without paying any greater share of taxes than
himself. The man summoned was of course sentenced to pay double what he
paid before. This provoked him so much, that he immediately gave
information of a vein of silver on his own estate, in consequence of
which he was, by the fundamental laws of the realm, exempt from all
taxes whatsoever. He then went to his adversary in triumph, exclaiming,
"See how matters go now! I am exempt from taxes, but how is it with
you?"
_June 15._
This day afforded me nothing much worthy of notice. The sea in many
places came very near the road, lashing the stony crags with its
formidable waves. In some parts it gradually separated small islands
here and there from the main land, and in others manured the sandy beach
with mud. The weather was fine.
In one marshy spot grew what is probably a variety of the Cranberry
(_Vaccinium Oxycoccus_), differing only in having extremely narrow
leaves, with smaller flowers and fruit than usual. The common kind was
intermixed with it, but the difference of size was constant. The
_Pinguicula_ grew among them, sometimes with round, sometimes with more
oblong leaves.
The Bilberry (_Vaccinium Myrtillus_) presented itself most commonly with
red flowers, more rarely with flesh-coloured ones. _Myrica Gale_, which
I had not before met with in Westbothnia, grew sparingly in the marshes.
In the evening, a little before the sun went down, I was assailed by
such multitudes of gnats as surpass all imagination. They seemed to
occupy the whole atmosphere, especially when I travelled through low or
damp meadows. They filled my mouth, nose and eyes, for they took no
pains to get out of my way. Luckily they did not attack me with their
bites or stings, though they almost choked me. When I grasped at the
cloud before me, my hands were filled with myriads of these insects, all
crushed to pieces with a touch, and by far too minute for description.
The inhabitants call them Knort, or Knott, (_Culex reptans_, by mistake
called _C. pulicaris_ in _Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 382_.)
Just at sunset I reached the town of Old Pithoea, having previously
crossed a broad river in a ferry boat. Near this spot stood a gibbet,
with a couple of wheels, on which lay the bodies of two Finlanders
without heads. These men had been executed for highway robbery and
murder. They were accompanied by the quartered body of a Laplander, who
had murdered one of his relations.
Immediately on entering the town I procured a lodging, but had not been
long in bed before I perceived a glare of light on the wall of my
chamber. I was alarmed with the idea of fire; but, on looking out of the
window, saw the sun rising, perfectly red, which I did not expect would
take place so soon. The cock crowed, the birds began to sing, and sleep
was banished from my eyelids.
_June 16._
This morning I made an excursion to the northward, in order to examine a
well, reported to be of a mineral nature. It is situated about half a
quarter of a mile from Old Pithoea, and seemed to me only a common cold
spring, having no taste, nor could I perceive any ochre about it, nor
any silvery film on its surface. In the road to this spring stands a
steep hill called _Brevikberget_, which I climbed with great difficulty.
In the clefts of the rock lay several wings of young ravens and crows,
with feet of hares, &c. "See," said I to my companion, "here has been
the nest of an Eagle Owl!" On arriving at the next crag, a little higher
up, we discovered a pair of birds of this species (_Strix Bubo_) sitting
in a hollow of the rock. Their eyes sparkled like fire, for the iris in
each of them was luminous in itself, like touchwood, glow-worms, or
rotten fish. These birds were as lar
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