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Title: Lachesis Lapponica - A Tour in Lapland, Volume 1
Author: Linné, Carl von, 1707-1778
Language: English
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* * * * *
_Lachesis Lapponica_,
TOUR IN LAPLAND,
NOW FIRST PUBLISHED
FROM THE
OF THE CELEBRATED
LINNÆUS;
BY
JAMES EDWARD SMITH, M. D. F. R. S. ETC.
PRESIDENT OF THE LINNÆAN 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 LINNÆAN 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 Linnæus, 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 Linnæan 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 Linnæus 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 Linnæus 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 Linnæus. 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 Linnæus 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 Linnæus. 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 Linnæus, 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 _Amœnitates Academicæ_, 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
Linnæus 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 Phœbus.
_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 aquæ_), 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_,
_dædaleis 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 Högsta) is a mile and a quarter from Upsal. Here
the forests began to thicken. The charming lark, which had till now
attended my steps, here left me; but another bird welcomed my 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_.
Läby 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 _Saxifragæ_, 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 Linnæus 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 Linnæus. 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 Härnäs. The ore is partly
brought from Danemora in Roslagen, partly from Engsiö 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 (_Pyrolæ_).
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, Lönbom.
At this town is the last apothecary's shop and the last physician in the
province, neither the one nor the other being to be met with in any
place further north. The river is navigable through the town. The
surrounding country abounds 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 _Linnæa borealis_), whose
trailing shoots and verdant leaves were interwoven with those of the Ivy
(_Hedera Helix_).
On the right is the lake Hamränge Fjärden, which adds greatly to the
beauty of the road.
The morning of this day was bright, but the afternoon was diversified
with sunshine and rain, like the preceding. The wind however changed
from north to south.
On the mountainous ridge at Hille, above described, I remarked on the
ends of the 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 Hamränge 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-Idæa_, _Arbutus
Uva-Ursi_, _Ledum palustre_, &c. The same may be said of the upper part
of Lapland.
[5] It is a curious circumstance that Linnæus 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 Hamränge 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 Hamränge Fjärden, 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 Enänger, 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 Linnæus.
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 Linnæus's opinion respecting this Lichen, in which
however he is certainly mistaken, in _Fl. Lapponica n. 442_.)
By the road side between Nieutænger 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 Jättedahl. As soon as I had passed the forest, I overtook
seven Laplanders driving their reindeer, which were about sixty or
seventy in number followed by their young ones. Most of the herd had
lost their horns, and new ones were sprouting forth. I asked the drivers
what could have brought them so far down into the country. They replied
that they 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 Dingersjö 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 Dingersjö 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 Dingersjö, on the right hand of the road, stands a
considerable mountain called Nyæckers-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_ (_Linnæa 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] Linnæus'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 Linnæus'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
Linnæus 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
Linnæus 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 Fjähl, 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 β Fl. Brit.?_)
This evening it rained very hard.
[12] Linnæus 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 Fjähl.
Having proceeded about a quarter of a mile, I came within sight of the
next church, called Hasjö. 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 Mörtsiön, 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 Æssja 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 fragariæ_, _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] Linnæus soon satisfied himself that the latter was his _Rubus
Chamæmorus_. 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 Angermanniâ_.
[15] This cavern has been visited by other naturalists since the
time of Linnæus, 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 Linnæus found in the other cavern at
Brunæsberget. 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 Kappsäd.
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
_axillæ_.
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 Linnæus. 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 Sörmjole, is a river
called Angeræn, 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 Sörmjole, 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 Röbäck, where I passed the night. The wind
blew hard from the north-east, and the evening was cold.
_May 24._
Close to Röbäck 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 Röbäck may have
obtained its name from this red sediment, from _röd_ red, and _bäck_ 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 β 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
β 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 _antennæ_ 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
_Kängor_. 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 Linnæus 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 Linnæus 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._ Linnæus 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 cæcum_ was large, with a very large appendix. Upon
the stomach lay two large cellular glands, of whose nature and use I am
ignorant. There were two cutting teeth in each jaw, of which the upper
pair were the shortest, and notched at the summit like steps; the lower
and larger pair were sloped off obliquely. Grinders very far remote from
the fore-teeth, which is characteristic of the animal, four on each
side. Hind feet webbed, but fore feet with separate claws. Tail flat,
oblong, obtuse, with a reticulated naked surface.
The strength of the Beaver in its fore teeth, so as to cut through the
trunk of the largest aspen trees, is I believe beyond that of any other
animal.
_May 29._
Very early in the morning I quitted Genom in a haœp or small boat,
such as shall be hereafter described, proceeding along the western
branch of the river of 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 Æolus. 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 Æolus, 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 _Calnäsholm_ (the isle of Calnäs), &c. Close
to the shore were many _Charadrii Hiaticulæ_ (Ringed Plovers) and
_Tringæ_ (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_, _Linnæa_[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] Linnæus 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] Linnæus 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 (_novaccolæ_) 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_ (_Spiræa_), _Podagraria
tenuifolia sterilis_ (probably _Angelica sylvestris_), _Polypodium
Dryopteris_, _Thymelæa_ of the old writers (_Daphne Mezereum_), Herb
Christopher (_Actæa 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 cæspitosus_ of which Linnæus
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 Idæa_), 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 _välling_ (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 Linnæus 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 _Kiælfja_.
[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 Idæa_) 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 Linnæus 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 cæspitosus_) 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 _Amœn. Acad. v. 1.511_, these
properties are attributed to the _Schœnus Mariscus_, which
Scheuchzer in his _Agrostographia, p. 377_, assures us forms the
floating islands near Tivoli.
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 Chamæmorus_) 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] Linnæus'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 uvulæ_ they cut off the protuberance
with a pair of scissars. For the colic or belly-ache they rub the nails
with salt, besides which they administer oil internally.
I here satisfied myself about the native species of _Angelica_, which
are two only, not three. The Biœrnstut is _Angelica sylvestris_, the
Botsk _A. Archangelica_. (See _Flora Lapponica, n. 101, 102_.)
The bountiful provision of Nature is evinced in providing mankind with
bed and bedding even in this savage wilderness. The great Hair-moss
(_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 Gräno 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 Gräno, 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 caudâ_, _rubrâ
medio cinereâ_. 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 Linnæus, _T. Sabinæ_ 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 Källheden it was
peculiarly abundant, and afterwards I found it common throughout
Westbothnia. It is one of the smallest of plants.
The Laplanders in this neighbourhood had set traps to catch squirrels.
Each consists of a piece of wood cloven half way down, and baited with a
piece of dried fungus with which the animal is enticed. The fungus used
for this purpose is an Agaric with a bulbous stalk and crimson cap (_A.
integer β. 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 _Ephemeræ_. 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
Linnæus, 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 Linnæan
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] Linnæus, in the _Amœnitates Academicæ_, says the Swedish
summer is in its highest beauty when "the fresh shoots of the fir
illuminate the woods."
_Chamædaphne_ 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] Linnæus 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 Linnæan 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 antennæ 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
Linnæan 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 antennæ, whose female has no wings.
See Swammerdam. (_Phalæna 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 _æneus_,) of a golden black,
with striated cases to the wings, and geniculated antennæ.
A reddish _Cantharis_, with black antennæ, 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 Hógmarkbœrget.
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
_Sätmiolk_, by some people _Tätmiolk_. In the neighbourhood grows the
plant called _Tätgrass_, 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
_Mesosmör_.
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] Linnæus 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 _Notonectæ_ (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 _Ephemeræ_ (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 Chamæmorus_), and the
Thyme-leaved Bell-flower (_Linnæa 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 Törner's work on the Geography of Sweden is the following
curious account: "Skelleftea, a parish consisting of about one
hundred and fifty whole farms (in Swedish _hemman_), and containing
four thousand souls, is situated near a cove or arm of the sea, in
which is an island, formerly of considerable extent but now very
small. St. Stephen is said to have prophesied that the day of
judgment will come as soon as this island is entirely washed away.
The island certainly diminishes yearly, but 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 _Scarabæus_ by its
antennæ. 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 large as young geese. I durst not
venture to attack them with my hands; but approaching them with a stake,
I then first perceived they were almost full grown, though not yet able
to fly. The extent of their wings when spread was four feet; their
colour blackish, with red-brown spots; their plumage very soft down, of
a blackish hue tipped with white, mixed with sprouting quills. The
smaller feathers were underneath of a reddish brown, marked with very
narrow curved lines. The hue of the larger feathers, especially of the
breast, where they were most apparent, was a brick colour, each being
marked with a black indented longitudinal stripe. The feathers over the
eyelids were small and black; upper part of the cheeks dark coloured,
lower whitish. The wings and tail were not yet come to their full
growth, but their quill feathers were blackish, with roundish red-brown
spots. Feet like those of a hare, red-brown and downy, with naked
claws. Bill black, the cere or membrane at its base black, accompanied
by whitish whiskers. Nostrils at the fore part of the cere, roundish,
separated by an oblique partition. Throat white. Iris of the eye round,
large, saffron-coloured, with a very large blueish-black pupil. The ears
were large, and I could have wished they had fallen under the inspection
of an able anatomist, as they would certainly have afforded him matter
for curious observation. The bones called the _stapes_, _incus_, &c., as
well as the _cochlea_, were of large proportions. The eyes also were
large and prominent, dilated at their base like an onion. When the white
outer coat was removed, which was easily accomplished, the cornea
appeared of considerable thickness, in which, when in a room, external
objects were very accurately delineated, but not so abroad. The
crystalline lens was remarkably soft, and scarcely of more consistency
than the vitreous humour. The _tunica arachnoidea_ was very
conspicuous, filled with innumerable vessels, and of such firmness as to
be very easily separable from the cornea. In the middle, near the optic
nerve, it looked red from the number of blood-vessels, but the sides
were of a blueish black. There were two orifices at the larger corner of
the eye.
On this same mountain grew in abundance a kind of _Muscus lichenoides_
of a greyish black colour, as if scorched or burnt, different from what
authors have described, being more coriaceous and greenish, while that
is black and brittle, almost like burnt paper, and smooth underneath;
whereas the plant I here observed has the under side entirely covered
with fibres like little roots. (This was the true _Lichen velleus_ of
Linnæus, preserved in his herbarium, and figured in Dillenius, _tab. 82.
f. 5_. See _Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 360_.)
The branches of Spruce Fir here began to show that appearance to which
Clusius, if my memory does not deceive me, has given the name of _Pinus
nodosa_. These knots consist of innumerable little plates, looking as if
all the buds had been cut short, and platted together. In the inside is
lodged a great mass of very small oblong insects, or rather eggs.
_June 17._
Although I walked about a good deal, and was not inattentive to what
came in my way, I met with nothing peculiarly worthy of notice. On the
grass I frequently observed that substance like saliva, which the common
people call Frog-spittle, and which envelops a little pale
flesh-coloured insect like a small Grasshopper. This insect, though not
arrived at maturity, moved in some degree, and showed sufficient signs
of the family to which it belonged, though it was not yet old enough to
cut capers. I removed the frothy moisture from some of these insects,
and on returning to them in the course of an hour, I found them covered
as before; a proof of the origin of the froth, which is produced by the
animal for the purpose of protecting its tender skin against the violent
heat of the sun.
Whilst I was busied in these observations, a number of cattle came
running over the fields with the greatest velocity. Even the most
miserably lean cows, which one would think scarcely able to drag one leg
after another, went skipping along like does. _Hic pauper cornua
sumit_[46]. They twisted their tails round and round, and went bounding
and frisking about, till they at length reached a puddle, where they
stopped all at once, as having found a sure asylum against the enemy
that had put them to flight. Anxious to investigate what it could be
that excited such extraordinary agitation, and prompted such exertions
as neither the whip nor the fear of immediate death could occasion, I
discovered it to be an insect which I had already met with lower down
in the country, and which is no other than an _Oestrus_ or Gad-fly,
(_Asilus crabroniformis_). Our Natural Historians confound the _Oestrus_
with the _Tabanus_, which are as distinct from each other as a hare from
a bear[47]. Cattle indeed are as much incommoded by the _Broms_
(_Tabanus bovinus_) as by the very worst of the Fly or _Musca_ tribe, to
which the _Tabanus_ certainly belongs; but by the _Oestrus_ (_Asilus_)
they are frightened out of their wits. This insect does not fix itself
on the body of the animal, but on the feet, between the larger and
smaller hoofs. As it scarcely ever flies higher above the earth than two
or three spans, and in general not more than four or five inches, the
cattle, when aware of it, run as fast as they can till they get their
feet into water or marshy ground, in which situations they are free from
danger. The habit of the insect is that of an _Ichneumon_, and it much
resembles a Hornet, being of a yellowish colour, with a small sharp
point at its tail curved forwards. See the figure and description of
Frisch, and my own specimen.
[46] "Here the poor takes up horns." Alluding to Horace's "_addis
cornua pauperi_."
[47] By this comparison, and the subsequent allusion to an
_Ichneumon_ and a Hornet, Linnæus at the present period appears to
have taken this _Asilus_ for one of the hymenopterous order, and he
even calls it an _Ichneumon_ in _Act. Upsal. ann. 1736, p. 29, n.
8_. The history of its attacking the feet of cattle is given in the
first edition of _Fauna Suecica_, 308, on the authority of the
country people, but is omitted in the second, probably because
Linnæus found he had been misinformed. My learned entomological
friend the Rev. Mr. Kirby observes that the real _Oestrus Bovis_ is,
as has from all antiquity been believed, the cause of the
above-described agitation in cattle, who escape it by running into
cool damp places, which it dislikes to frequent.
_June 18._ Sunday.
The people brought me a peasant's daughter, a year and half old, who was
deprived of sight, requesting me to say whether her complaint was a
cataract. Finding the eyes well formed, without any unusual appearance,
and quite free from specks or clouds, I was rather inclined to say the
child had a _gutta serena_, but was soon convinced that this could not
be the case, as she evidently enjoyed being in the light near the
window. But at the same time I remarked curious convulsive motions in
the eyes, and that when the child was spoken to, and tried to look
towards the speaker, they were turned upside down, so that only the
white part became visible. She was born in this state. I inquired of the
mother whether, when she was with child, she had seen any body turn
their eyes in this manner. She replied that she was then in constant
attendance on her mother, or mother-in-law, who was supposed to be
dying, but afterwards recovered, and whose eyes were affected with
similar convulsions. _Hinc illæ lachrymæ_; this was the cause of the
infant's misfortune. I believe it was not originally blind, but that the
focus was situated too much on one side of the eye-ball, so that vision
was impossible unless the eyes were placed in a particular position
with respect to the rays of light, as is observable in persons that
squint. The natural situation of the eyes in the subject before me was
partly under the upper lid, so that only half the pupil was exposed, and
this was sufficient for vision in one particular direction only. I know
no remedy for such a misfortune, except perhaps glasses, cut in a
peculiar manner for this express purpose, might help it. I recommended
however that the child's cradle should be placed with the feet towards
the window, so that she might, though not at first without
inconvenience, gradually acquire a habit of turning her eyes downward in
pursuit of the light; for by repeated efforts any thing becomes possible
and easy. Bartholin's management of squint-eyed people is founded on the
same principles.
After a violent storm of thunder with much rain, I went, about four in
the afternoon, to the new town of Pithoea, and examined several
gardens, in order to learn what plants are able to stand the severe
winters of this inhospitable climate. Among them were the Burnet
(_Poterium Sanguisorba_) and the Costmary (_Tanacetum Balsamita_). Some
young oaks had been raised from acorns the preceding year, the greater
part of which were killed by the winter frosts. A few of them only had
put forth a fresh shoot just above the ground. The apple-trees were
almost entirely destroyed.
_June 19._
I set out very early in the morning on a sea voyage to explore the
natural productions of the tract called Skargarden and the islands
belonging to it. The water a mile out at sea was scarcely salt, on
account of the numerous rivers which here discharge themselves into the
bay. No plants worth notice were to be found, though I searched
carefully every place likely to afford any. Near the beach, where the
tide often rises in winter ten or twelve fathoms, I observed an Alder
thicket now white with little patches of _Trientalis_ and _Mesomora_
(_Trientalis europæa_ and _Cornus suecica_), whose snowy blossoms were a
great ornament to the shore. Ray therefore justly mentions[48] the
latter plant as growing in maritime places in Sweden. Here likewise grew
the Male and Female Lychnis (_L. dioica_), for the most part with red
flowers, very rarely with white; as well as the _Gramen miliaceum_
(_Milium effusum?_), and a Rush two feet high, with its sharp stem
reaching a span above the panicle, which is lateral, and divided into
three principal branches. Of this there was also a smaller variety.
(This Rush must have been the _Juncus effusus_. See _Fl. Lapp. n. 117_.)
[48] See his _Historia Plantarum, v. 1. 655_, which Linnæus here
correctly quotes from memory.
The people hereabouts talked much of mountains haunted by hobgoblins,
particularly the hill called Svenberget, situated between new and old
Pithoea; also of seas and fishing-places, where nothing is to be
caught, unless by those who come unexpectedly. Their discourse moreover
ran on that useful sort of witchcraft by which a thief is put to his
wit's end and detected. The origin of these fables may partly be traced
in history, and the rest is to be attributed to invention.
The fishes of this neighbourhood are the Crusian (_Cyprinus Carassius_),
the Miller's Thumb (_Cottus Gobio_), the Bream (_Cyprinus Brama_), the
Asp (_Cyprinus Aspius_) called in this part of Lapland _Kuroupek_, the
Stäm (_Cyprinus Grislagine_), the Three-spined Stickleback
(_Gasterosteus aculeatus_), the Laxäkel, a species of Trout (can this be
the small or young Salmon, mentioned in _Fauna Suecica n. 345_?), the
Rud (_Cyprinus erythrophthalmus_), and the Holken (what this last is I
know not).
In the island of Longoen, three miles from Old Pithoea, I was lucky
enough to find, growing under a Spruce Fir, the Coral-rooted Orchis
(_Ophrys corallorrhiza, Engl. Bot. t. 1547._) in full bloom, which had
never fallen in my way before. It is a very rare plant, and grows so
sparingly, that, after finding one specimen, there is little hope of
soon meeting with another[49].
[49] In the _Flora Lapponica_ this plant is said to be very frequent
in Lapland. In other countries it is usually reckoned extremely
rare; but I was favoured by Mr. Edward John Maughan, a young
botanist of Edinburgh, in the summer of 1807, with a copious supply
of specimens and living roots, gathered amongst willows in a peat
bog, a little to the south of Dalmahoy hill, about nine miles from
Edinburgh. Some of the roots blossomed in my garden.
[Illustration]
The root is throughout of the thickness of a very small quill, white,
smooth, fleshy, almost horizontal, branched and subdivided like a
coral; the branches obtuse, and very slightly compressed, destitute of
capillary fibres. Stem erect, simple, smooth, six inches high. Leaves
none, except three sheaths, each longer and narrower than that below it,
which reaches above its base, and all cylindrical, of a pale
flesh-colour. Flowers generally about eight or ten, spreading in three
rows, occupying an inch and half of the upper part of the stem; all
equidistant, sessile, each with an acute scale at its base, cloven with
an obtuse sinus. Germen oblong, striated, curved slightly outwards, but
at length becoming erect and rugged. Calyx of three oblong, narrow,
acute, purple-tipped, concave, equal leaves, longer than the petals, one
of them being superior, the others inferior. Petals three: two of them
ovate, adhering by their edges, constituting an upper lip; their summits
reddish: the lowermost a flat, reflexed, obtuse, white lip, sprinkled
with purplish dots near its base.
_June 20._
This day I examined two nondescript species of fish, belonging to the
genus _Cyprinus_. The first is called Stemma (_Cyprinus Grislagine_).
Its head is oblong and obtuse, black on the top, silvery at the sides,
and white beneath. The back of the fish is also blackish; its sides of a
shining silvery hue; the belly white. Eyes round and white, their
_irides_ dotted, especially the upper part, which is moreover marked
with a large verdigrise-green spot just above the black pupil. Nostrils
round, accompanied with a pair of smaller roundish orifices. Mouth
without teeth. Tongue blunt. Lower jaw a little the shortest; that part
which covers the gills consisting of five connected, obtuse, not
spinous, rays on each side. Dorsal fin solitary, of ten rays, the first
of which is very short and undivided; the second twice as long, but
likewise simple; each of the rest twice forked, except the tenth, which
is only obscurely cloven. Tail forked, acute, of eighteen rays, one of
which on each side is very long and simple, the others gradually
shorter, twice forked, some of them still more subdivided. Anal fin of
eleven rays, like those of the dorsal one, the external ones longest, as
in that, both fins appearing forked when unexpanded. Ventral fins of
nine rays each, one of them long and simple, the rest, as in the
foregoing, gradually shorter, the last being cloven. These fins are not
forked when unexpanded. Brachial (or pectoral) fins of seventeen rays
like those of the foregoing, except that each is much shorter than its
preceding neighbour, the ultimate one being scarcely discernible. Scales
in seventeen rows on each side, including the dorsal and ventral rows in
each reckoning, otherwise only fifteen. In the tenth row the lateral
line is marked by a minute ovate-oblong dot on each scale of a silvery
white, so that there are about fifty such dots on each side. The dorsal
fin is blackish, the rest pale, the ventral ones very slightly
yellowish.
The whole length is two palms and five lines.
From the nose to the dorsal fin three inches.
Base of the dorsal fin eight lines; its length thirteen lines.
From that fin to the tail three inches and five lines.
Length of the tail one inch and four lines; its diameter at the base
seven lines.
From each point to the fork ten lines.
From the tail fin to the anal one, one inch, two lines.
Base of the latter eight lines; its length eleven.
From the anal to the ventral fins one inch, five lines.
Base of the latter eight lines; their length eleven.
From the ventral to the pectoral fin one inch, eight lines.
Base of the latter four lines, length eleven.
Length of the head one inch, five lines.
Greatest diameter of the body one inch, five lines.
The other fish was a smaller _Cyprinus_, of a yellowish silvery hue,
called at Pithoea _Wimba_. (_C. Wimba._ _Syst. Nat. ed. 12. v. 1. 531_).
I could not perceive it to differ in any character from the preceding,
except that it had sixty dots on each side, so that though a smaller
fish it had more numerous dots and scales. The colour of the back was
paler, and less black; the sides of a pale silvery hue. Ventral fins
reddish at the outer and anterior edges, as is the lower edge of the
tail.
Both these fishes differ from the Roach (_Cyprinus Rutilus_) in the
colours of their eyes and fins, as well as in being thinner at the back.
_June 21._
I took my leave of the old town of Pithoea, and arrived at the more
modern one of Lulea. All along by the road side I remarked the curious
manner in which the Fir blossoms. Its branches produce a fresh shoot
every year from their extremity; by observing the series of which shoots
the age of the tree can be accurately computed. They retain their
original leaves, which are needle-shaped, for three years; but when
these fall the same branch never acquires any more. The male flowers,
each of which is a _corymbus_ of stamens, grow from the side of the
present year's shoot, near its base; but the female ones proceed from
the extreme point, and are round and red. Both kinds of flowers are
however but seldom found on the same shoot.
In the Money-wort (_Linnæa borealis_), though its flower is, not without
reason, reckoned by every body of the regular kind, its stamens indicate
the contrary. They are four as in labiate flowers, two small, and two
longer ones near the other side. Betwixt these the pistil is situated,
being bent towards one side as in labiate plants. The upper lip
therefore is to be understood as consisting of two lobes, the lower of
three, though all the lobes are alike[50].
[50] In this instance the Linnæan system led to a true knowledge of
the natural affinity of the plant, which one founded on the corolla
would scarcely have done.
The bogs were now white with the tufts of both kinds of Cotton-grass,
the upright and the pendulous (_Eriophorum vaginatum_ and
_polystachion_). The marshes were clothed with the white blossoms of
_Ledum_ (_palustre_). The Dwarf Bramble (_Rubus arcticus_) became
gradually less abundant. The forests also were white with the
_Trientalis_ and _Mesomora_ (_Cornus suecica_), which began to fade, and
the Bilberry (_Vaccinium Myrtillus_) was taking their place, along with
the _Melampyrum_ (_sylvaticum_) and _Geranium_ (_sylvaticum_). The
meadows were perfectly yellow with the upright _Ranunculus_ (_acris_),
and some of the cornfields were no less so with _Brassica campestris_;
but where the _Behen_ (_Silene inflata, Fl. Brit._) was beginning to
shoot forth, the former withered away. The rivulets were white with
_Menyanthes_ (_trifoliata_). The Cotton-grass and Willows now began to
scatter their winged seeds.
DISTRICT OF LULEA.
(Here follow, in the manuscript, sketches of the leaves, with Latin
descriptions, of _Salix phylicifolia β_, _pentandra_, _caprea_ and
_myrtilloides_, to be found more complete in the _Flora Lapponica_.)
Close to the shore, on the right of the ferry of Gaddewick, is a
considerable spring, named Kall Källa, or Cold Spring, having a strong
current and abounding with ochre, which is deposited abundantly along
its course. The water bears a silvery film, and has a mineral taste,
though not a strong one. It gushes forth with impetuosity, and never
freezes in its course to the river, which is about eighteen ells
distant. No high hill is near, but it springs from a swelling bank
about two ells in perpendicular height above the level of the river. The
mouth of the spring is towards the north-east. The inhabitants use it
for washing.
In places near the highway, where the people had laid bridges, the soil
appeared very thin. The gravel and sand were commonly about a span deep
in moist places; in dry ones much more. The clay was often two ells in
thickness, under which gravel again occurred. Between the dark-coloured
sand and the clay, as well as where the clay terminated, especially near
the sand, runs water, which deposits clay, as the abovementioned spring
does ochre.
I noticed the following insects.
[Illustration]
1. A large black Capricorn Beetle, variegated with a lighter hue.
(_Cerambyx Sutor_, the female.) The horns were longer than the body,
black, consisting of ten joints, each joint ash-coloured at its
base. Body black, rugged, its wing-cases besprinkled here and there
with clustered dirty spots. Abdomen cylindrical, covered towards the
thorax with beautiful red lice, (_Acarus coleoptratorum_).
2. A minute black fly, with a roundish body and white wings, (_Culex
equinus_). This infested the horses in infinite multitudes, running
under their mane, and attacking them with great fierceness, being
not easily driven off. (See its figure subjoined to the former.)
3. A grey Gnat, with striated wings, a blackish body, and black legs
surrounded with white rings. (Mentioned, in the _Fauna Suecica_, as
a large variety of _Culex pipiens_, the Common Gnat.) This cruelly
tormented me and my most miserable horse. Its wings are whitish,
appearing striated near the veins by the refraction of the sun's
rays. The thorax was hairy, especially underneath. Abdomen oblong,
dotted with black at the sides. All the other parts were grey. While
the insect feeds, it raises up its hind feet into a horizontal
posture. If I stooped ever so little whilst walking in the meadows,
my nostrils and eyes were filled with these gnats.
_June 22._
I gathered a shrubby Willow, with lanceolate downy leaves like those of
_Elæagnus_. (This was _Salix arenaria_.) It is rather a large shrub, but
rarely rises to the size of a tree. The leaves are furrowed along the
course of the veins, and convex between them, slightly downy and of a
greyish green on the upper side; clothed with snowy woolliness beneath.
The lower scales of the bud nearly smooth above, and very green. Stem
smooth, almost flesh-coloured, or pale brown; the young branches
reddish, clothed with white down. (See _Engl. Bot. v. 26. t. 1809_.)
Near the new town of Pithoea, close to the shore, grew the round-leaved
Water Violet (_Viola palustris_) with perfectly snow-white flowers.
The Dwarf-cypress moss (_Lycopodium complanatum_) is rather plentiful
hereabouts, and is used for dyeing yarn. For this purpose it is boiled
with birch leaves, gathered at midsummer. It gives a yellow colour to
woollen cloths. On the shore near old Lulea grew _Ranunculus minimus
parisiensis_ (_R. reptans_).
The new town of Lulea is very small, situated on a peninsula,
encompassed by a kind of bay. The soil is extremely barren. Indeed the
town stands on a little eminence, which is a mere heap of stones, with
sea-sand in their interstices. It seems as if the sea had carried away
all the earth, and, like a beast of prey, had left nothing but the
bones, throwing sand over them to conceal its ravages.
I quitted this new town at one o'clock, there being nothing to be got;
and as no horse was to be procured in the whole place, I proceeded by
sea to old Lulea, half a mile distant. Here I met with a curious kind of
grass, which in Smoland is called Kaffa skiægg, or Old-man's beard: at
Pithoea its name is Svinborst, Hog's bristles: and at this place it is
known by the denomination of Lapp-här, Lapland hair. (_Nardus stricta_,
_Engl. Bot. t. 290_.) It was now in blossom. The root seems half
bulbous, or as it were an aggregation of numerous bulbs. The leaves are
bristly like a beard, and rough to the touch. The spike is unilateral,
and scarcely thicker than the stem, composed of equally narrow alternate
oblong scales.
The presence of this grass, as well as the whole aspect of the forests,
marshes, cornfields, meadows, waters and herbage, evinced a great
conformity betwixt this country and Smoland. Many herbaceous plants grow
here which are not to be found in Upland, Sudermannia, Ostro-gothia,
nor Scania, though natives of Smoland.
In passing over a meadow towards the water-side I heard something snap
and crackle in the marshes, as if the water had been boiling. In several
places the latter was dried up, so that mud only remained, and these
spots were almost entirely covered with a kind of shell-fish which made
the above-mentioned noise. I observed the same in several similar
places, but in others none were to be seen till I had stirred up the
mud, when it proved full of these animals, which seemed to have made
their way deeper and deeper into the soil as the water had withdrawn.
The same sound may be observed in a thousand places, originally dry,
when the water has access to them, but I had never ascertained the cause
till now. (These shells seem to have been the _Mya arenaria_, _Faun.
Suec. n. 2127_.)
The _Swammerdamia_ flies of Swammerdam and Lister were flying about
here, as numerous as atoms. I observed an insect unknown to me, with a
yellowish globular body the size of a lentil. Amongst the grass were
thousands of the most minute species of Gnat, (_Culex pulicaris_,) the
males being distinguished by their hairy foretops (_antennæ_).
The water swarmed with innumerable small fishes, just spawned, so
pellucid that they were rendered conspicuous chiefly by their large
eyes. The observer of nature sees, with admiration, that "the whole
world is full of the glory of God."
This neighbourhood abounds with the _Stellaria minima_ of botanists,
(_Callitriche_,) generally supposed to be very rare. It is evidently no
naturally distinct species, but a variety caused by circumstances. Every
one knows that the common kind always floats in the water; whereas this
_minima_ never grows where water is actually present, but where it has
been dried up in consequence of hot weather. Not being, therefore, able
to sustain itself upright, it must creep, and becomes at the same time
diminutive from a deficiency of its usual aliment. If any one doubts
this, let him place this dwarf plant in a rivulet, or the larger one in
a situation from which the water is retiring, and the result will remove
every doubt.
The inhabitants here are frequently afflicted with the scurvy, whence
arise ulcers of the mouth and _uvula_, ulcerous sores and swelling of
the feet, as well as aching pains in the legs and feet, and dropsical
swellings of the latter. It may be expected that the peasants will be
most liable to these latter diseases on festival days[51].
[51] Linnæus perhaps means, that they may have a pretence to avoid
the drudgery of going to church, through some of the hardships he
has already described; yet here the church seems to have been near
at hand, and in itself not unentertaining.
_June 23._
I went to see the old church of Lulea. Close by the door I was shown a
hole which the monks had formerly caused to be made in the stone wall.
It was perfectly circular, sixteen lines in diameter, and terminated in
an obtuse oval cavity. It was intended as a measure to decide in some
cases occasionally brought before the ecclesiastical court. Within the
church is a magnificent altar-piece, adorned with old statues of
martyrs, in the heads of which are cavities to hold water, with outlets
at the eyes, so that these figures could, at the pleasure of the
priests, be made to weep. There are two pedestals, with an image upon
each, whose hands are so contrived that, by means of a cord, they could
be lifted up in adoration, as the people passed by them in entering the
church[52].
[52] In Tuneld's Geography, I am told, is the following account of
this church: "The parish church of Lulea is regarded as the oldest
in Westbothnia, having been built in the very earliest ages of
Christianity, and was very famous while the catholic religion
prevailed in Sweden. It contains a remarkable old altar-piece, the
gilding of which cost 2408 ducats. In the vestry a copy of the
canonical law, in seven volumes folio, is still preserved."
A quarter of a mile to the north of the town is a mineral well, the
water of which the dean and some other persons had used medicinally. The
dean, who was gouty, had, in consequence of drinking this water, formed
some chalk-stones. The well is situated in a steep mossy and marshy
bank. Its water throws up sand as it rises, looks clear, ferments in a
glass, with an iridescent appearance in the sunshine. It has a slight
taste of vitriol, but is smooth in drinking. When shaken, it emitted a
smell like that of gun-powder. A solution of galls turned it reddish,
but the mixture did not stain white paper. Blue paper is not affected by
this water. It deposits a great quantity of ochre, and the surface bears
a silvery film.
This day and the two preceding, indeed every day since the 18th, had
been bright, warm, and for the most part calm. The meadows were still
fine and beautiful in their aspect, and every thing conspired to favour
the health and pleasure of the beholder. If the summer be indeed
shorter here than in any other part of the world, it must be allowed, at
the same time, to be no where more delightful. I was never in my life in
better health than at present.
The meadows in this neighbourhood abound with an arborescent willow,
whose leaves are like those of an _Alaternus_, or a laurel. (_Salix
phylicifolia_, _Engl. Bot. t. 1958_. _Fl. Lapp. n. 351. t. 8. f. d_). It
is remarkable for the undulations, or flexures, between the serratures
of the leaf.
The use of milk among the inhabitants of Westbothnia is very great; and
the following are the various forms in which it serves them for food:
1. Fresh, of which a great deal is taken in the course of the day.
2. Fresh boiled.
3. Fresh boiled, and coagulated with beer, which is called _ölost_.
4. Sour milk, deprived of its cream, and capable of being cut.
5. Sour milk eaten with its cream.
6. Butter, made, as usual, of cream shaken till its oily part
separates and floats.
7. Butter-milk, what remains after the butter is made.
8. Cheese, made of fresh milk heated, coagulated with calves' rennet,
then deprived of its whey and dried.
9. This whey being boiled, the scum which rises is repeatedly
collected, and called _walle_.
10. The remaining whey is used instead of milk or water in making
bread.
11. The same fluid kept for a long time till it becomes viscid, is
preserved through the winter, and called _syra_.
12. The whey of cheese boiled to a thick consistence is denominated
_mesosmör_, and with meal is added to the preceding. See _p. 197_.
13. _Sötost_, or Sweet Cheese, is made of fresh milk boiled till it is
partly wasted, and the remainder, of the thickness of pap or gruel,
is eaten fresh.
14. _Mjölost_, Meal Cheese, is milk coagulated with rennet, mixed
with meal, and boiled.
15. _Tatmjölk_, is fresh milk poured on leaves of Butterwort,
_Pinguicula_, as already mentioned, _p_. 196, 197.
16. Servet milk. See _Aug._ 10.
17. _Gös-mjölk_. See _Aug._ 10.
18. _Lapmjölk_, is milk mixed with sorrel leaves, (_R. Acetosa_,) and
preserved till winter in the stomach of a reindeer, or some other
animal.
19. The milk of the reindeer is placed in a cellar to prevent its
quickly turning sour, in order to obtain the more cream; if it
freezes, they thaw it again.
_June 24._
Midsummer day. Blessed be the Lord for the beauty of summer and of
spring, and for what is here in greater perfection than almost any where
else in the world,--the air, the water, the verdure of the herbage, and
the song of birds!
I walked out in the morning to botanize, but met with nothing curious,
except _Arisarum_ of Rivinus (_Calla palustris_), the flower of which is
described in my _Characteres Generici_; and the _Corallorrhiza_.
Here I was first informed of a disease which had made great ravages
amongst the cattle in this neighbourhood, and which was of so
pestilential a nature, that, though the animals were flayed even before
they were cold, wherever their blood had come in contact with the human
body, it had caused gangrenous spots and sores. Some persons had had
both their hands swelled, and one his face, in consequence of the blood
coming upon it. Many people had lost their lives by it, insomuch that
nobody would now venture to flay any more of the cattle, but they
contrived to bury them whole. As a preventative they had adopted the
practice of swimming their cattle once a day, which they believed
rendered the animals proof against the disorder.
I was told that the cattle grazing on a certain declivity at Tornoea
die to the number of two or three hundred in the course of the summer. I
must examine whether the cause of this may not be the Water Hemlock
(_Cicuta aquatica_).
Could not meadows be freed from their wart-like tumps by burning? These
swellings might be cut off with an oblique hatchet, in spring after the
frost ceases, and burnt in a heap; their ashes would serve as a valuable
manure for the corn-field. Sandy grounds are rendered fertile with
bog-earth; clay with sand. _Ledum_ (_palustre_) is laid among corn in
the barns, to drive away mice.
I here obtained some of Nasaphiel's silver ore, and the curious iron ore
of Lulean Lapmark, called _gubbsilfver_ (old man's silver). The mine is
not yet exhausted. The working of it had been for some time
discontinued, but it is now resumed. It yields sixty per cent. It is
situated a mile distant from Jockmock, and is called Rutawari. I
procured also from the parish of Pithoea some pencil lead, or lead-like
_mica_ (black lead) which blackens the fingers.
The weather continued extremely fine, which in the opinion of the common
people portended a good harvest.
_June 25._
Sunday.--After divine service, I took leave of Lulea, in order to
proceed to Lulean Lapmark, and arrived at the river of Lulea. I was
informed that the salmon, which remain all winter in the Western Ocean,
proceed gradually, as spring advances, up the river to this place to
spawn. They enter the river about the middle of May, and reach this part
of it by midsummer. Hooks have been found sticking in the side of some
of the fish, which proved their having been here before.
The _Subularia_, a new _Melampyrum_[53], and _Pedicularis_ (_sylvatica_)
with a white flower, occurred to me at Sunnerby. The white bog-moss
(_Sphagnum palustre_) powdered, is applied to excoriations in the skin
of young children. Towards evening I found in a sand-hill a loose kind
of sandstone containing three per cent of iron.
[53] What this was does not appear. _M. pratense_ and _sylvaticum_
only have been found in Lapland.
_June 26._
I gathered _Gramen paleaceum_ (_Juncus bufonius_), both kinds of
_Tetrahit_ (_Galeopsis Tetrahit_ and _G. versicolor_, _Fl. Brit._),
_Geranium_ (_sylvaticum_) with a pale white flower. At Bredacker I
noticed the _Conyza_ (_Erigeron uniflorum_ or _E. acre_), the
purple-flowered Millefoil (_Achillea Millefolium_), and the _Cirsium_
(_Carduus heterophyllus_.)
The Laplanders boil all their meat very thoroughly, and treat their
guests with grease, by way of dainty, which is eaten with a spoon. They
milk their reindeer twice a day. Each gives not more at a time than half
a pint, or at the utmost three quarters.
The natives of the country tan their leather with birch bark, buying
hides of the colonists for this purpose. The hides, after being plunged
into warm water, are buried in some out-of-the-way corner of the hut,
and taken up every day till the hair begins to separate, which is then
scraped off with a roundish knife. The recent inner bark of the birch,
cut into small pieces, is then boiled in common water for half an hour;
in which liquor, when partly cooled, the skin is immersed. On the two
following days it is taken out, the liquor warmed, and the skin
replaced. Afterwards it is dried in the open air in the shade. This
leather is much better and softer than what the colonists themselves
prepare, but these last-mentioned people are very tenacious of their own
modes and customs.
Near the margin of the river various species of Willow, which I had
already gathered and described, were growing in high beauty, and
contributed greatly to the ornament of its banks. The neighbouring
forests consist of pine trees intermixed with birch, but the latter tree
is much less abundant here than in Umoean Lapmark, especially in
Siodorne. Leaves of the Meal-berry (_Arbutus Uva-ursi_) are used in
tanning or dyeing; which saves a great deal of alum. Many barrels of
these leaves are sent for sale to Stockholm.
The Laplanders of Westbothnia give their young children the unripe
berries of this shrub boiled, by way of a laxative or purge. Ten or
twelve are the usual quantity, but the dose varies according to the age
of the patient.
Several kinds of Foxes are found in Lapmark. Their fur is more valuable
in proportion as they come further north.
1. The black is the dearest of all. From sixty to two hundred dollars
of copper money are paid for one of these skins. People of rank in
Russia use them for hoods or head-dresses. All their counsellors
have caps of black foxes skin.
2. The rusty-coloured kind, with grey legs, sells for sixty dollars.
3. The cross foxes skins, black over the shoulders, loins and
backbone, sell for three or four plates (rather more than as many
shillings sterling).
4. Blue foxes are worth from six to ten dollars.
5. Red foxes, which are of a yellowish hue, and
6. White ones, fetch but three dollars each.
The Sting-gnat (_Culex pulicaris_) is a very minute insect, much the
smallest of its genus, being about the size of a large flea, of a
greyish or clouded white. Its sting is very severe, and leaves a
blackish spot as large as that caused by a flea-bite. The wings of this
species lie one over the other, as in (_C. reptans_) the kind already
mentioned, _p. 209_.
In this part of the country, as in Umoean Lapmark, are many elevated
fields of barren sand adjoining to the river, and sloping towards it,
each of them divided into quarters by transverse ditches. The river has
washed away one of its banks so far as frequently to form a
perpendicular cliff, exhibiting _strata_ of light-coloured barren sand,
which must be supposed to have been deposited there by water, as they
lie horizontally. The neighbouring alps must have been the original
boundaries of the current, till the quantity of water decreased. Then
the large river shaped out its course, leaving several smaller channels,
intersecting what is now the adjacent plain, with islands between them.
Half way between Svarlå and Harns I met with the (_Pedicularis_)
_Sceptrum Carolinum_, first observed by Professor Rudbeck. This stately
plant was not yet in flower. It grew in a dry soil. In the neighbouring
watery places grew a new species of Marsh _Ranunculus_, (_R.
lapponicus_,) having a calyx of three pale reflexed leaves, five or six
narrow acute rue-like yellow petals, more upright than usual, their
claws each furnished with a scale. Stamens nine to twelve. Pistils six
to twelve. Leaves commonly two to one stem.
_June 27._
Near Harns is found a fine handsome blue clay, in some measure
fire-proof; also a rare kind of iron ore.
The corn-fields here produce _Echioides_ (_Lycopsis arvensis_), and the
woods the most slender kind of _Equisetum_ (_sylvaticum_). On the
river's bank near Laxeden grew the Sorrel whose leaf is cut away in the
middle, called _Acetosa folio in medio deliquium patiente_, (_Rumex
digynus_,) but it was not now in flower.
On the other side of the river stands a Pine tree marked with the yearly
elevation of the water, as well as its greatest decrease. In 1669 it
rose eight feet perpendicular more than the present year, and in 1667 it
rose still one foot higher; but since that time it has every year fallen
more and more short of such an elevation. Not far distant is a mineral
spring, which of all that I have met with deposits the greatest
quantity of ochre. Its taste is highly astringent. Some persons have
drunk the water medicinally, not altogether without benefit.
Near the river I noticed the _Pinguicula_, and every where hereabouts
the Least Cotton-rush (_Eriophorum alpinum_).
The people here, who dread their children should be marked with that
kind of spot called _Eldmarke_, which resembles a burn, as soon as the
umbilical cord is cut, rub some of its blood upon the face, hands and
breast of the infant, by way of prevention.
I was here told of a specific to destroy House Crickets (_Gryllus
domesticus_), which consists of grated carrots mixed with arsenic. This
they eat greedily, and are all infallibly poisoned.
We passed the night in a large sailing-boat upon the river, in which we
had performed the chief part of this day's expedition.
_June 28._
In the morning we continued our voyage to Storbacken a mile and half
distant, from whence we were afterwards obliged to walk five miles to
Jockmock. This day indeed we only reached Pajarim[54], where we slept
all night in a smoky hut, ventilated merely by holes in the roof.
I found in the woods the (_Erysimum_) _Barbarea_, with a stem four feet
high, but its leaves were neither so broad, nor so much auricled, as in
the garden plant. Crooked pine trees were to be seen in several places,
the under side of which is always as hard as box-wood, and this part is
used for naves of wheels and the bottoms of sledges. Such wood is called
_kior_.
[54] The author in his _Flora Lapponica, n. 13_, mentions having
found his _Pinguicula villosa_ growing among Bog-moss, _Sphagnum_,
near this place, and in no other. This plant is not noticed in the
manuscript Tour.
LULEAN LAPLAND.
Near Storbacken, at the confluence of the great and small rivers of
Lulea, is the boundary mark between Lapmark and Westbothnia.
As soon as I entered Lapmark, the hill which forms a promontory betwixt
the two rivers afforded me the following plants.
The Sorrel lately mentioned (_Rumex digynus_) was here in blossom. The
calyx is of two leaves; the petals two, perfectly like the calyx.
Stamens six. Pistils two, in the same flower with the stamens, reflexed.
Fruit compressed, with two, not three, angles. Some of its flowers were
infected with smut, as in barley.
The Small Liquorice (_Astragalus alpinus_, see _p_. 159). Some plants
had white flowers, tipped with a blueish hue; the others bore entirely
purple blossoms.
On the hill named Wollerim I met with a very rare little species of
Asphodel, with white flowers in a roundish spike (_Anthericum
calyculatum_, _Sp. Pl. Tofieldia palustris, Engl. Bot. t. 536_). The
leaves are ranged on each other's back (equitant) as in the Marsh
Asphodel (_Narthecium ossifragum, t. 535_). At a small distance in the
marshes I found the small flowering rush of Bauhin, _Juncoidi affinis_
of Scheuchzer, (_Scheuchzeria palustris_). The calyx is of six oblong
sharpish leaves, reflexed and permanent. Petals none. Stamens six,
capillary, very short, pendulous, with upright, very long, obtuse,
compressed _apices_ (anthers). Embryos (germens) three, often four,
rarely five, ovate, compressed. Pistils (styles) none. Stigmas attached
to the outer part of the embryos, not elevated. Capsules of two valves,
with one seed in each capsule. Leaves concave, sheathing the lower part
of the stem.
In the evening I observed Red Currants (_Ribes rubrum_), and a kind of
panicled grass with blue leaves, (perhaps an _Aira_, but it cannot now
be determined).
Here was the black biting spider (_Aranea palustris_), but not the
_littoralis_ (_A. riparia_).
_June 29._
The Pine trees are observed to be more barren of branches on their north
sides; hence the common people know by these trees which way the north
lies. The timber lay here in abundance, entirely useless. Brandy is made
from the fir, as well as from the berries of mountain ash.
About a mile from Pajarim I came to the mountain of Koskesvari, which is
very lofty, insomuch that the snowy summits of the Lapland alps are
visible from it, though at a very great distance. In this elevated
situation the Red Whortle-berry (_Vaccinium Vitis idæa_) assumes a quite
different appearance from what is usual, its stems being twice as long,
perfectly erect, and not branched. The extremities of the branches of
the Spruce-fir bear small yellow cones, which however are nothing else
than the leaves deformed, being thicker and shorter than when in their
proper state, and of a pale yellow, marked on their inside with two
prominent orange-coloured lines. When arrived at maturity, they burst
asunder, and discharge an orange-coloured powder, which stains the
clothes of those who approach the tree. I conceive these excrescences to
be caused by some minute insects. The common people eat them raw as a
dainty, like berries. Here also I met with a narrow-leaved _Cirsium_
(_Serratula alpina_), which I had previously noticed in Umoean Lapmark,
but it was not then in bloom. Likewise (_Rhamnus_) _Frangula_,
_Pinguicula_, Unbranched Quaking-grass (this must have been _Melica
nutans_), _Corallorrhiza_, the Narrow-leaved Spotted _Orchis_
(_maculata_), _Geranium_ (_sylvaticum_) with a white flower veined with
purple, a purple pistil and blue anthers. The leaves of this last plant
were variously divided, the lower in seven lobes, the middle ones in
five, the uppermost opposite and sessile, with only three lobes. Two
flowers grow on each stalk.
Here also I gathered a _Pinguicula_, the fore-part of whose petal was
white, the hind-part blue, which is certainly a beautiful as well as
singular variety. (See _Fl. Lapp. n. 11._ _P. vulgaris_.)
The trees here produce _Usnea arborea_ (_Lichen plicatus_), which the
Laplanders apply to excoriations of the feet caused by excessive
walking. They line their shoes with this moss, a practice which might
with advantage be adopted by soldiers on a march. The Laplanders also
line their shoes with grass, consisting of various species of _Carex_,
(especially _C. sylvatica_, _Fl. Brit._). This grass they comb with iron
or horn combs, bruising it between their hands till it becomes soft and
pliable. When dried they cram it into their shoes, and it answers
instead of stockings for defending the feet from cold. (See _Fl. Lapp.
n. 328_.)
After much trouble and fatigue, I at length reached Jockmock, where
stands the principal church of this northern district, and where its
pastor resides.
_June 30._
The clergyman of Jockmock, Mr. Malming, who is the schoolmaster, and Mr.
Högling the curate, tormented me with their consummate and most
pertinacious ignorance. I could not but wonder how so much pride and
ambition, such scandalous want of information, with such incorrigible
stupidity, could exist in persons of their profession, who are commonly
expected to be men of knowledge; yet any school-boy twelve years of age
might be better informed. No man will deny the propriety of such people
as these, at least, being placed as far as possible from civilized
society.
The learned curate began his conversation with remarks on the clouds in
this country, setting forth how they strike the mountains as they pass,
carrying away stones, trees and cattle. I ventured to suggest that such
accidents were rather to be attributed to the force of the wind, for
that the clouds could not of themselves lift, or carry away, any thing.
He laughed at me, saying surely I had never seen any clouds. For my
part, it seemed to me that he could have never been any where but in the
clouds. I replied, that whenever the weather is foggy I walk in clouds,
and when the fog is condensed, and no longer supported in the air, it
immediately rains beneath my feet. At all such reasoning, being above
his comprehension, he only laughed with a sardonic smile. Still less was
he satisfied with my explanation how watery bubbles may be lifted up
into the air, as he told me the clouds were solid bodies. On my denying
this, he reinforced his assertion with a text of scripture, silencing me
by authority, and then laughing at my ignorance. He next condescended to
inform me that after rain a phlegm is always to be found on the
mountains, where the clouds have touched them. Upon my replying that
this phlegm is a vegetable called _Nostoc_, I was, like St. Paul, judged
to be mad, and that too much learning had turned my brain. This
philosopher, who was as fully persuaded of his own complete knowledge of
nature, as Sturmius was of being able to fly by means of hollow globes,
was pleased to be very facetious at my expense. At length he graciously
advised me to pay some regard to the opinions of people skilled in these
abstruse matters, and not, at my return home, to expose myself by
publishing such absurd and preposterous opinions as I had now advanced.
The other, the pedagogue, lamented that people should bestow so much
attention upon temporal vanities, and consequently, alas! neglect their
spiritual good[55]; and he remarked that many a man had been ruined by
too great application to study.
[55] I have known one instance of such bigotry, or rather hypocrisy,
out of Lapland.
Both these wise men concurred in one thing. They could not conceal their
wonder that the Royal Academy should expressly have appointed a mere
student for the purposes for which I was sent, without considering that
there were already as competent men resident in the country, who would
have undertaken the business. They declared they would either of them
have been ready to accept of the charge. In my opinion, however, they
would but have exhibited a fresh illustration of the proverb of the ass
and the lyre.
The number of pupils under the care of the gentleman above mentioned at
this time amounted to four only. The church is but a small one.
It is a practice here with some persons who have the headache, from
excessive drinking or any other cause, to hold their foreheads before
the fire till they smart violently. Others apply to the temples young
shoots of spruce fir bruised.
Half a mile from the church I gathered the _Cirsium minus_ (_Serratula
alpina_), the _Cacalia_ (_Tussilago frigida_), the latter not in flower,
and one kind of Botsko of the Laplanders, called Biœrnstut in
Westbothnia (_Angelica sylvestris_), which is the narrow-leaved species
of _Angelica_, and resembles the larger kind. Its general umbel is
destitute of an involucrum. My Lapland companion seized it immediately,
and peeling the stalk, which had not yet flowered, ate it like a turnip,
as a great delicacy. Indeed it tasted not unpleasantly, especially the
upper part, which is the most tender. This dainty is in great request
amongst the Laplanders.
We arrived at length at Purkijau, a small island, the northern side of
which is planted with forests of spruce fir, and the others with woods
of birch, by way of protection to the corn. The colonist who resides
here informed me that the corn never suffered from cold, as, besides the
shelter afforded by these plantations, the circumjacent water moderated
the degree of frost. The situation of this island is pleasant. I found
in some bushy parts of it the _Sceptrum Carolinum_, and another species
of _Pedicularis_, with narrow leaves and a tuft of purple flowers (this
seems to have been _P. sylvatica_ only).
The river Karax, where is a pearl fishery, runs not far from hence. On
its banks I remarked the _Sceptrum Carolinum_, which became very common
as I advanced further on my journey.
Another mile brought us to the lake of Randiau; on approaching which we
saw nothing before us but lofty mountains of an oblong obtuse form,
lifting their summits one above another, and on the most distant of
these snow was to be seen, though half melted away like snow in the
spring.
_July 1._
Parkajaur, the first lake I reached after leaving the place where I
slept, is a short mile in length. At its opposite shore rises the lofty
peaked mountain of Achiekoivi, or Tornberget, upon whose summit the
Laplanders used, in ancient times, to offer sacrifice, for the success
of their herds of reindeer. The mountain still shows traces of fire. At
the western end of this lake a Laplander resided, and from thence it was
scarcely a quarter of a mile by land to the next lake, called Skalk,
where as I passed near a waterfall, I found the _Barbarea_ and
_Pedicularis_, both already mentioned, also the Asphodel (_Tofieldia
palustris, Fl. Brit._) and the little _Astragalus_, see _p. 159_.
[Illustration]
When I came to the lake Skalk in the way towards Kiomitis, about a mile
short of the last-mentioned place, I was much struck with an opening
between the hills to the north-west, through which appeared a range of
mountains, from ten to twenty miles distant, as white as the clouds, and
seeming not above a mile from the spot where I stood. Their summits
reached the clouds, and indeed they resembled a range of white clouds
rising from the horizon. They recalled to my mind the frontispiece of
Rudbeck's _Lapponia Illustrata_. Mountains upon mountains rose before me
in every direction. In a word, I now beheld the Lapland alps.
Arriving in the evening at Kiomitis, I saw the sun set apparently on the
summit of a high mountain called Harrevarto, situated over against the
house of the parish clerk. This spectacle I considered as not one of the
least of Nature's miracles, for what inhabitant of other countries would
not wish to behold it? O Lord, how wonderful are thy works!
_July 2._
At Kiomitis I rested during the whole of this day, Sunday.
Here the beautiful corn was growing in great perfection in valleys
between the snowy mountains. It had shot up so high as to be laid in
some places by the rain. It had been sown on the 25th or 26th of May, as
at Umoea.
I found in abundance _Tripolium pratense_, _coronâ calyce breviori_, or
_Aster folio non acri_, _flore purpureo_; (_Erigeron uniflorum_, _Fl.
Lapp. n. 307. t. 9. f. 3_.) The same occurred with a white flower. Also
_Euphrasia_ (_officinalis_) about its usual size, but with very small
flowers; (a variety mentioned in the _Flora Lapponica, n. 247_, found
likewise in Switzerland.) In the same neighbourhood grew the _Tetrahit_,
both with small and large flowers, (_Galeopsis Tetrahit_, and _G.
versicolor_, _Fl. Brit_.)
_July 3._
Early this morning I went with Mr. Joachim Koch, quarter-master of the
regiment stationed here, and Mr. Segar Swanberg, master of the mines, to
the Kiuriwari, a high mountain half a mile from Kiomitis, where a silver
mine had just been opened. The ore showed itself only in one cleft,
whose sides it seemed to cement together.
All over this mountain I observed a kind of _Uva Ursi_ with black fruit,
which I do not know that any author has described. The flower was
exactly like that of the Mealy-berry (_Arbutus Uva-ursi_); each stood on
a simple stalk, and had five teeth at its orifice. The fruit was of five
cells, globose, enclosed in the petal. (_Arbutus alpina._)
I likewise found here a Catch-fly with ten stamens and five styles
(_Lychnis alpina_), exactly similar to the common Catch-fly (_Lychnis
Viscaria_), except that the flowers were smaller and not so much
scattered, neither was the stem at all viscid.
Birch trees were to be found even on the highest part of this hill, but
of a very diminutive stature. Their trunks were thick but low, and their
highest shoots seemed to have been killed by frost, so that the young
leaves looked as if they were growing out of branches that had been
burnt. I was told that these trees afford every year but a very small
portion of sap, and that the wood is much harder than the common kind.
Such diminutive trees grow to a great age. The further I proceeded up
the country, the smaller I still found them.
Some of the people hereabouts clean their half-boots and harness with
the fat of fish; others purchase blacking from Norway.
_July 4._
I met with an _Andromeda_ with leaves like _Empetrum_ (_A. cærulea_).
The stem and foliage were exactly like that plant, but somewhat larger.
The calyx rough, short, with five teeth. Corolla of one petal, blue,
ovate, with five spreading notched segments at its orifice. Stamens ten,
very short, with horned anthers. Pistil one, the length of the corolla,
with a blunt pentagonal stigma.
The following food is prepared by the Laplanders from milk.
The _messen_ or whey, after the cheese is made, is boiled to a thick
consistence, and a small quantity of cream from the milk of the
reindeer is added. The whole is afterwards dried in the maw or
rennet-bag of the reindeer, and tastes very well.
_Kappa_ is the scum which rises while the whey is boiling. This being
skimmed off, is also kept in rennet-bags for use.
The milk is not turned, in order to make cheese, with rennet, but with
the maws of pike (_Esox Lucius_), of charr (_Salmo alpinus_), or of the
grayling (_Salmo Thymallus_). These are previously dried, and preserved
for use in a little keg of milk. When any of this is taken out for use,
they are careful to fill up the vessel with fresh milk, that they may
always have a supply at hand.
_Jumomjölk_ is prepared by boiling half a pint of _syra_ (see _p. 243_)
in a small quantity of water, which must be kept stirring till the whole
is perfectly dissolved. It is then mixed with milk of the reindeer, and
poured either into rennet-bags of that animal, or some kind of pot or
tub, in which it is preserved for future use, if not immediately eaten.
Rennet is also made by taking the maws of such reindeer fawns as die in
the spring, putting milk into them, and hanging it up to dry for use.
I here made the following observations relative to the remedies used by
the Laplanders.
Their _Moxa_, as the Japanese call it, but which they term _Toule_, is
made of a fine fungus found on the birch, and always chosen from the
south side of the tree. Of this they apply a piece as large as a pea,
upon the afflicted part, setting fire to it with a twig of birch, and
letting it burn gradually away. This is repeated two or three times. It
produces a sore that will often keep open for six months afterwards, nor
must it be closed till it heals spontaneously. This remedy is used for
all aches and pains; as the headache, toothache, pleurisy, pain in the
stomach, lumbago, &c. It is the universal medicine of the Laplanders,
and may be called their little physician.
_Kattie_ is a kind of drawing or ripening plaister made in the following
manner. The fine loose scaly bark of birch is set on fire, and
immediately quenched in water. It is then chewed, in the same manner as
when wanted for cementing earthen-ware together, and afterwards mixed
with fresh turpentine from the spruce fir, both being kneaded together
by the hands, till the mass becomes a black uniform plaister. This has a
very emollient quality, and is successfully applied to hard imposthumes,
&c., which it brings to maturity without pain in a short time, and
promotes their discharge.
The common method of the Laplanders for joining broken earthen-ware, is
to tie the fragments together with a thread, and boil the whole in fresh
milk, by which they are cemented to each other.
The grass used for lining shoes is a _Carex pseudo-cyperus_, with
many slender pendulous spikes. (_Carex sylvatica_, _Fl. Brit._)
An ointment for burns is made of fresh cream boiled to a thick
consistence, with which the sore is anointed. It removes the pain, and
admirably promotes the healing of the ulcer.
For chilblains, the oil or fat which exudes from toasted reindeer
cheese, rubbed upon the part affected, is a sovereign cure. Some persons
use dog's fat for the same purpose. The latter is also used for pains in
the back, being rubbed in before a fire.
The Laplanders make use of no razor, but cut their beards with scissars.
They never cut the hair of the head, and only occasionally employ a comb
or any similar instrument. They have no laundress or washerwoman.
The drug called castor is one of their great remedies for every disease,
and the gall of the bear is another.
When a wedding is to be celebrated, the lover takes all his relations
along with him, each carrying meat and brandy. Being arrived at--(this
sentence is left unfinished in the manuscript.)
_July 5._
I continued my journey to Hyttan, and in my way passed a marshy place,
such as the Laplanders call _murki_. Close to the borders of it grew the
least _Thalictrum_ (_T. alpinum_), with four pale petals, and twelve
stamens with long anthers, their filaments purple. In another part grew
an _Androsace_ with two drooping flowers. It had five stamens; one
capitate pistil; an ovate fruit of one cell; a five-cleft calyx, and a
swelling (corolla of one) petal. It is therefore not a good _Androsace_.
(This was unquestionably _Primula integrifolia_, see _Fl. Lapp. ed. 2.
52_, which Linnæus, in that work, seems to have confounded with _P.
farinosa_. Speaking of the latter he says, "This _Primula_, the splendid
crimson of whose flowers attracts the eyes of all who traverse the
fields of Scania and the meadows of Upland in the early spring, did not
occur during my whole journey till after I had ascended the Lapland
Alps, where it grew very sparingly, furnished with only two or three
flowers, and those of a very pale hue, so that in the mountains of
Lapland it deserves neither the name of Cæsar nor of Regulus[56]. The
stem of the plant, however, in these regions was a span or more in
height, which is hardly the case in any other part of Sweden." _Fl.
Lapp. ed. 2. 51._ Hence it appears that the real _P. farinosa_ ought to
be struck out of the Lapland Flora, provided no botanist has found it
there since Linnæus made the above remarks.)
[56] See Simler, who calls the _Primula farinosa_ "Cæsar or Regulus
among herbs."
_Sceptrum Carolinum_ was in blossom near the water, as well as the
gloomy _Aconitum_ (_lycoctonum_), "whose flowers with us are not yellow,
as the synonyms of authors assert, but every where of a blueish
ash-colour[57]."
[57] This remark of Linnæus I have borrowed from Fl. Lapp. n. 221.
Here also grew _Juncus palustris_, _calamo trifido_ (_J. trifidus_); the
Violet with a yellow flower (_Viola biflora_); and the Wood Stitchwort
with heart-shaped leaves (_Stellaria nemorum_, which Linnæus, in Flora
Lapp. n. 186, confounds with his _Alsine media_, or _Stellaria media_,
_Fl. Brit._ a mistake he corrected in his _Species Plantarum_).
Shortly afterwards I came within sight of an oblong and very lofty
mountain, situated on the right-hand, called Carsavari, composed of a
coarse kind of fissile stone, upon which pure native alum is found; see
Bromell (in the _Acta Suecica_ from the year 1726 to 1730).
Very near the last-mentioned mountain is situated another, called
Tavevari, remarkable for two rivulets running down from its summit, and
falling over a rock in the middle of their course.
Concerning the spots or imperfections in the skins of reindeer, it is
certain that they originate in the perforations made by insects,
probably a species of _Tabanus_, through which those insects introduce
their eggs. When the young ones arrive at maturity, they come forth by
the same passage, and the wound is closed by a scar. On this subject,
lest any person should be misled by authority, or by the writings or
reports of others, I shall quote the learned work of Linder on
_Syphilis_, _p. 11_. "Reindeer in Lapland are subject to the small-pox,
which in Norland is termed Kormsiuka, as I was informed at
Wicksbergensbrun by Zachary Plantin, master of arts." In this the able
writer has been totally misled, by a person usually esteemed no less
honest than profoundly learned. I cannot however conceive how a man, who
values himself upon such a character, should willingly and deliberately
propagate a falsehood. He ought, on the contrary, rather to aim at
correcting it. If the reindeer should even have the small-pox every
year, this supposed disease will prove on examination nothing else than
the sting of the Gad-fly (_Oestrus Tarandi_). Did any man ever advance
such an absurdity! Even the Laplanders themselves call the disease
_Kurbma_ (which is the name of the fly that actually causes it).
One of the Laplanders' dishes, called _Kappi_, or _Kappa-tialmas_, is
prepared in the following manner. While the milk of the reindeer,
intended for making cheese, is warm, before the rennet is added to it, a
film rises to the top, which is taken off carefully with a spoon, and
put into the bladder of a reindeer. This is hung up against the side of
the hut to dry; after which it is eaten, being esteemed a great
delicacy. They frequently mix some kind of berries with it when used.
The fruit called _Hjortron_, (Cloud-berry, or _Rubus Chamæmorus_,)
bruised and eaten with milk of the reindeer, is also a very palatable
Lapland dish. The milk of this animal affords at least twice as much
cheese in proportion as any other milk. Butter is very seldom made by
these people, nor is cream ever used for that purpose, as it scarcely
rises in sufficient quantity. Milk only is used, being agitated in a
wooden vessel with a whisk. The butter is of a white colour.
Candles are not in use among the Laplanders, though the tallow of the
reindeer is very fit for that purpose, notwithstanding its consistence
being less firm than that of ordinary tallow. These people preserve it
in bladders, and boil it for food. Each reindeer yields but a small
quantity of tallow in proportion to its size, not more than a sheep;
having none between the muscles, like oxen and other cattle, but only
round them.
Viviparous Bistort (_Polygonum viviparum_) grew hereabouts two spans in
height. The _Trientalis_ in moist situations had obtuse petals (see
_Fl. Lapp. n. 139, ε_). The Water _Epilobium_ in this place had very
broad leaves. (_E. palustre β. Sp. Pl. 495._ _Fl. Lapp. n. 148._)
_Geranium_ (_sylvaticum_) had sometimes a white flower with purple
veins, and blue anthers; sometimes the petals, as well as anthers, were
white.
THE LAPLAND ALPS.
_July 6._
In the afternoon I took leave of Hyttan, and, at the distance of a mile
from thence, arrived at the mountain of _Wallavari_ (or _Hwallawari_), a
quarter of a mile in height. When I reached this mountain, I seemed
entering on a new world; and when I had ascended it, I scarcely knew
whether I was in Asia or Africa, the soil, situation, and every one of
the plants, being equally strange to me. Indeed I was now, for the first
time, upon the Alps! Snowy mountains encompassed me on every side. I
walked in snow, as if it had been the severest winter. All the rare
plants that I had previously met with, and which had from time to time
afforded me so much pleasure, were here as in miniature, and new ones in
such profusion, that I was overcome with astonishment, thinking I had
now found more than I should know what to do with.
1. _Alchemilla_ with fingered leaves, silky underneath, but without
flowers. (_A. alpina._)
2. _Jussiea_[58], with ternate leaves, abrupt and three-toothed at their
extremities. (_Sibbaldia procumbens._) The calyx is of one leaf, very
large, in ten segments, the five alternate ones of which are smallest,
as in the strawberry tribe. Petals five, ovate, yellow, shorter than the
calyx, and inserted betwixt its segments. The five stamens also proceed
from the calyx. Pistils from five to ten, capitate at their summits,
affixed laterally to the middle of the seeds, as in _Alchemilla_. (See
the remarks of Linnæus, respecting the natural order of this plant, in
_Fl. Lapp. n. 111_).
[58] In this and many following instances, the original names in the
manuscript are here retained, as a matter of curiosity to the
learned botanist, who will be interested in seeing to whom Linnæus
extemporaneously dedicated his new genera as they occurred, and who
will at the same time admire his sagacity, in determining them, at
first sight, so correctly, that not one has subsequently been set
aside by any of his severest critics.
3. _Dillenia._ Stem woody. Flower purple. (_Azalea procumbens._) Calyx
coloured, small, five-cleft, acute, purple, permanent. Petal one, erect,
bell-shaped, five-cleft half way down, acute, purple. Stamens five,
shorter than the petal. Pistil one, seated on the embryo, the length of
the calyx. Stigma capitate. Seeds numerous, roundish. Pericarp globose,
of five cells and five valves. Leaves ovate, evergreen, opposite,
resembling those of the Cranberry. (_Vaccinium Oxycoccus._)
4. _Bannistera._ (_Diapensia lapponica._) Calyx of large, ovate,
imbricated leaves, first two, then two more, then five, so that they
are nine in all. Petal one, with a short wide tube, its disk (or border)
in five obtuse spreading segments. Stamens five, from the segments of
the calyx (corolla), erect, broad, looking like intermediate prominent
segments; the anthers situated on their inner side, at the top. Pistil
one, upright, awlshaped. Stigma obtuse. Pericarp round with a point,
invested with the calyx, of three cells. Seeds several, round. Leaves
oblong, narrow, obtuse, reflexed, lying imbricated over each other.
(Slight sketches only of these plants are annexed to their descriptions
in the manuscript, but perfect figures of the two last may be seen in
_Fl. Lapp._)
5. _Saxifraga_ with oblong serrated leaves, and lanceolate petals. (_S.
stellaris._) The leaves are about the root, oblong inclining to
lanceolate, serrated with a few teeth. Stem naked, with several flowers
at its summit. Calyx permanent, five-cleft, acute, reflexed. Petals
five, somewhat spreading, oblong, sharp at each end, white, marked with
two yellow dots upon the claw. Stamens ten, awlshaped, the length of the
calyx. Anthers purple. Embryo (germen) with two horns. Style none.
Stigmas obtuse.
6. _Saxifraga_ with palmate five-cleft obtuse leaves. (_S. rivularis._)
Lower leaves cut half way down into five roundish segments; upper one in
three segments. Stem short, flowering at the top. Calyx five-cleft,
erect. Petals five, ovate. Stamens ten. Embryos two (rather two-horned).
7. _Saxifraga_ with a creeping stem, the leaves placed in a quadrangular
form. (_S. oppositifolia_). Stems like those of a _Sedum_, creeping.
Leaves oblong, obtuse, hairy at the edge, small; the points sometimes
bony (or cartilaginous). Flower large. Calyx of five blunt leaves.
Petals five, erect, purple, large, oblong, obtuse. Stamens ten, purple,
erect, shorter than the petals, with scarlet anthers. Embryo divided.
Styles none. Stigmas obtuse.
8. Female Rose-root, _Rhodia_. (_Rhodiola rosea._)
9. _Rhodia montana abortiens._ (Male plant of the same.) Differs from
the female in having five lanceolate petals, and five leaves to the
calyx; though often but four.
10. Purple Water _Lychnis_, (_L. dioica,_) a variety with four-cleft
petals. (See _Fl. Lapp. n. 182_.)
11. _Pinguicula_ with the spur shorter than the petal. (_P. alpina._)
The petal is white with a yellow beard, like a _Melampyrum_. Leaves
narrower than in the common kind; spur shorter and funnel-shaped, not
cylindrical.
12. _Ranunculus minimus_, leaves three-cleft, their side-lobes divided.
(_R. nivalis_, var. γ. _Fl. Lapp. t. 3. f. 3._)
13. _Ranunculus_ with bluntly-triangular plaited petals. (_R.
glacialis._) The lower leaves are in many deep segments; the upper
three-lobed, their lobes three-cleft. Calyx purplish, hispid. Petals
five, very large, white, dilated upwards, obtuse, plaited at the upper
edge. Stamens and anthers erect, numerous, very short, yellow. Pistils
many, in a convex head, with slender points.
14. _Ranunculus_ resembling Winter Aconite. (_R. nivalis._)
15. _Draba_ with lanceolate leaves and twisted seed-vessels. (_D.
incana._)
16. A small _Hesperis_ with a white flower, and oblong flat pods.
Leucojum of Rudbeck? (_Arabis alpina._)
17. _Cochlearia_ with leaves like _Plantaginella_, (_Limosella
aquatica_,) and umbellate pods. (_Cardamine bellidifolia._)
18. _Andromeda_ with leaves like _Empetrum_, and a blue flower. (_A.
cærulea._)
19. _Andromeda_ with leaves like a _Lycopodium_, and a white,
half-ovate, half-five-cleft flower. (_A. hypnoides._)
20. _Alisma_, rather _Arnica_, with lanceolate three-ribbed leaves, the
radius with three teeth. (_Arnica montana β._)
21. _Caryophyllata_ (_Geum_) with a solitary upright flower. Must it
not be a distinct genus? The petals are eight. (_Dryas octopetala._)
22. An abortive variety of _Saxifraga_ nº. 5 (_stellaris_), with small,
obtuse, white petals, purple anthers, and a white embryo; but very
rarely flowering, as the blossoms are all transformed into clusters of
minute leaves. (See _Fl. Lapp. t. 2. f. 3_.)
23. _Pedicularis_ with bluntly serrated leaves, and a pale
flesh-coloured flower, with a deeper-coloured spot on the lip. The upper
lip is narrow; the lower in three equal segments. Calyx large, hairy.
Fruit hoary. (_Pedicularis hirsuta._)
24. Dwarf Catchfly. (_Silene acaulis._)
25. The same with stamens, but an abortive fruit. Pistils three. Petals
obtuse, emarginate. Capsule of one cell. Stamens ten.
26. _Sagina_ with emarginate petals and an oblong capsule. Pistils
three. Is it an Alsine? (_Stellaria biflora_; see _Fl. Lapp. n. 158_.)
27. _Salix villosa_, with sessile ovate leaves. It is a humble plant.
(_S. lanata._)
28. Subterraneous willow, with orbicular concave leaves, male. (_Salix
herbacea._)
29. Female of the same, with red fruit.
30. _Veronica serpyllifolia_, upright, with a blue flower. (_V.
alpina._)
The lofty mountains, piled one upon another, showed no signs of volcanic
fire, but were covered with stones, all of a fissile kind, and by that
means easily distinguishable. From the snow, which lay so plentifully on
these mountains as to cover half the ground, water was continually
running down in streams like so many springs, or like rivers cut through
the deep snow, for the refreshment of travellers. We found it very good.
The little alpine variety of the Ptarmigan (_Tetrao Lagopus_) was now
accompanied by its young. I caught one of these, upon which the hen ran
so close to me, that I could easily have taken her also. She kept
continually jumping round and round me; but I thought it a pity to
deprive the tender brood of their mother, neither would my compassion
for the mother allow me long to detain her offspring, which I restored
to her in safety.
After having walked four or five miles in the course of the night, I
went to sleep in the morning in one of the cottages of the country.
_July 7._
The inhabitants, sixteen in number, lay there all naked. They washed
themselves by rubbing the body downwards, not upwards. They washed their
dishes with their fingers, squirting water out of their mouths upon the
spoon, and then poured into them boiled reindeer's milk, which was as
thick as common milk mixed with eggs, and had a strong flavour. Some
thousands of reindeer came home in the morning, which were milked by the
men as well as the women, who kneeled down on one knee.
From the top of the head of some of these reindeer I took out the
maggots which trouble them so much. I observed here in plenty the large
fly with a yellow neck, and yellow segments of the body, (_Oestrus
Tarandi_,) which probably is the same insect (in a perfect state), as I
judge by the length of the legs.
My hosts gave me _missen_ to eat; that is, whey, after the curd is
separated from it, coagulated by boiling, which renders it very firm.
Its flavour was good, but the washing of the spoon took away my
appetite, as the master of the house wiped it dry with his fingers,
whilst his wife cleaned the bowl, in which milk had been, in a similar
manner, licking her finger after every stroke.
I also tasted some _jumo_, which they mixed with reindeer's milk, but it
did not please me.
This day I gathered the following plants. (The numbers are continued
from _p. 291_.)
31. _Saxifraga_ with a tuberous root, a simple stem flowering at the
summit, and bulbs in the bosoms of the leaves. (_S. cernua._) This has
much resemblance to the common Saxifrage, (_S. granulata_,) but bears
only one flower at the top of the stem, which is pendulous before it
opens. The petals and stamens are white. In the bosom of each leaf are
about ten naked anther-like little heads (or buds), which grow out into
embryos of future plants. It inhabits watery places.
32. A very small _Juncus_, with a _spatha_ of two leaves, enclosing two
seeds; (rather capsules, but Linnæus wrote seeds, because it appears by
the manuscript that he took the plant at first for a _Carex_.) This is
one of the smallest of grasses, bearing a solitary spike, one floret of
which has an upright glume, (or leaf of the _spatha_,) the other a
reflexed one. The petals are whitish. Pistil snow-white. Stamens six.
(This can be no other than _Juncus biglumis_, see _Engl. Bot. t. 898_,
omitted in Linnæus's own edition of Fl. Lapp. and supposed to have been
first found by the celebrated Dr. Montin in 1749.)
33. _Carex_ with several black loose pendulous spikes, one of which is
male, two or three female. (_C. saxatilis._)
34. _Draba_ with a yellow flower. (_D. alpina._) Pod like the
rye-flower. (_D. verna_, see _p. 5_.)
35. _Salix_ creeping under ground, with elegant roundish-oval, rugged,
rigid leaves. (_S. reticulata._) Male and female.
36. _Salix_ with oblong, obtuse, slightly serrated leaves. (_S. n. 367,
Fl. Lapp.?_) In marshy places.
The Willows often grow to the height of a man in moist places, or on
islands in the rivers, but in elevated situations no tree is more than a
foot high; nor is there any plant, except the dwarf birch (_Betula
nana_) and the Willows, that affords the inhabitants any wood.
[Illustration]
37. A very small _Pedicularis_, with the aspect of the _Sceptrum
Carolinum_. The fruit is curved. (_P. flammea._) This very elegant
little plant so exactly represents the _Sceptrum Carolinum_, plentiful
here in moist places, one might take it for a representation of that in
miniature. The leaves are brownish, pinnate; their segments imbricated.
Flowers four, five, or more, at the top of the stem. Calyx like that of
_Sceptrum Carolinum_. Petal with an erect upper lip, which is narrow,
compressed, and brownish; the lower lip horizontal, three-cleft,
saffron-coloured, like all the rest of the flower. Root like skirrets.
38. _Saxifraga_ with oblong, acute, thickish leaves, rough with rigid
hairs at the edges. (_S. aizoides._) It had not yet flowered, but I
afterwards found the blossoms, which were yellow, with a large, flat
calyx, in five ovate segments. Petals five, small, ovate, yellow
besprinkled with orange. Embryo yellow, two-horned. Stigmas orbicular,
flat, whitish. Stamens awlshaped, five of them very short.
39. _Juncoides capitulis psyllii_, with loose heads of flowers. (_Juncus
campestris._) Also another with conglomerated heads. (_J. campestris
β_. _Fl. Lapp. t. 10. f. 2._ Certainly a distinct species.)
The birds I saw were Snow-buntings (_Emberiza nivalis_); Green Plovers
in great plenty, (_Charadrius pluvialis,_) called by the Laplanders
_Hutti_; and Wheat-ears. (_Motacilla Oenanthe._)
The Laplanders of this neighbourhood do not often take the diversion of
shooting. They are seldom masters of a fowling-piece; and when not
occupied in following or attending the reindeer, they remain in idleness
for whole days together, feeding on nothing but milk, and the dishes
prepared from it.
I satisfied myself here that the crackling noise made by the reindeer
does not originate in the hoof, nor in the lowermost joint of the foot.
The women of this neighbourhood smoke tobacco as well as the men. Every
body learns to smoke about the age of twelve or fifteen.
Whenever I gave my host about an ell of twisted tobacco, I was sure to
obtain in return a cheese of double its value.
The large-flowered _Cerastium_ (_C. alpinum_) was here every where in
abundance, and the prickly _Lycopodium_. (_L. Selaginoides?_).
The neighbouring mountain abounded with a very black fissile aluminous
stone.
The surface of the snow appeared to have a vibratory motion, like water
slightly agitated, or like a large white sail swelled by the wind.
All the inhabitants of this neighbourhood wore garments made of reindeer
skins.
_July 8._
The plants I found this day were the following.
40. _Michelia._ (_Azalea lapponica._)
Its calyx is inconspicuous, green, in five obtuse segments. Petal one,
erect, gradually dilated upwards, divided almost down to the base into
five ovate segments, purple, deciduous. Stamens five, proceeding from
the receptacle, erect, shorter than the petal, purplish, thread-shaped,
with roundish anthers. Pistil one, thread-shaped, inclining to one
side, longer than the petal, with a globose embryo, and thick stigma.
Pericarp membranous, globose, of five cells and five compressed valves,
the cells fixed to the column, as in _Ledum_, bursting at the top.
Leaves thick, ovate, evergreen, clustered at the tops of the branches,
as in _Ledum_. Flowers about three, at the extremity of each branch,
each on a simple uncoloured stalk. Is this the same genus with
_Dillenia_ (_Azalea procumbens_, nº. 3.)? I think not. In that the
calyx and flower-stalks are coloured; two flowers proceed from each bud;
the petal is firm, and cut but half way down; the calyx is half as long
as the petal; the pistil is erect, shorter than the petal; the stamens
are directed inwards, and not attached to the receptacle.
(Notwithstanding these reasons, Linnæus united the two plants together
in his _Flora Lapponica_, as one genus, under the name of _Azalea_,
quoting two synonyms of Tournefort and Bauhin for this nº. 40, which
belong to _Rhododendrum ferrugineum_, his own plant being entirely new,
if not a pentandrous variety of that _Rhododendrum_, which is much to be
suspected. The above description, of the fruit especially, is sufficient
to show it cannot belong to the same genus with _Azalea procumbens_,
though perhaps it may accord better with the American _Azaleæ_.)
[Illustration]
41. _Campanula_ with a contracted flower. (_C. uniflora._) Differs from
the common blue kind, (_rotundifolia,_) in having the leaves as well as
the flower much contracted at the base, so that the latter is
funnel-shaped. The embryo is oblong, with six sides, rough, with three
orifices near the base of the calyx.
42. _Lychnis_ with a concealed flower. (_L. apetala._) Leaves
pink-like. Flower solitary at the top of the stalk. Calyx ovate,
inflated, closed, with ten black hispid ribs, which branch near the top.
Petals five, oblong, brownish, shaped exactly like the usual claws of a
_Lychnis_, but without any border. Stamens ten. Embryo oblong, inclining
to cylindrical, contracted in the middle, obtuse, blackish. Pistils
five, whitish. The petals, stamens and pistils are all concealed within
the calyx.
43. A small _Aster_, with one solitary white flower. (_Erigeron
uniflorum._) It has the calyx of the _Amellus_, the flower of a daisy,
white with a yellow disk.
44. A viviparous grass, _Poa_. (Rather _Festuca vivipara_.)
45. _Juncus_ with a sharp rigid point. (_Juncus_, _n. 116. Fl. Lapp._)
46. A Catchfly which is not viscid, with the flowers collected into a
tuft. (_Lychnis alpina._)
47. A smooth _Cerastium_, agreeing in every respect with the
large-flowered one, except the hairiness and hoary aspect of the leaves.
(_C. alpinum_, a smooth variety.)
I observed every where about the sides of the hills holes dug by the
Lemming Rat. (_Mus Lemmus._) Hares are grey in summer upon the alps.
No herb or tree on the highest parts of these alps attains more than a
quarter of an ell in height, though in the valleys the same species may
perhaps be two or three feet high. Birch trees, which however are very
scarce, creep in a manner under the earth, throwing up the tips of their
branches here and there to the height of a quarter of an ell. Tender
shoots of this kind sometimes conceal a very knotty depressed stem.
In the evening, and indeed till the night was far advanced, we sought
for one of the Laplanders' huts, but to no purpose. Tracts made by the
reindeer were plentiful enough in the marshy grounds, which we followed
sometimes in one direction, sometimes in another, without their leading
us to what we were in search of. I had walked so much that I could
hardly stand on my legs, and was near fainting with fatigue, so that I
lay down, resolving rather to endure the cold and boisterous wind, than
proceed any further this night. At length the Laplander and his servant,
who were my guides, found some dung of the reindeer. One of them took it
up, and after squeezing it in his hand and smelling at it, gave it to
his companion to smell also. He was even desirous that I should take a
snuff at it. By its freshness they were rejoiced to discover that a
Laplander with his herd had but recently left this spot, and they
accordingly pursued a track which was here and there discernible in the
snow. After we had proceeded half a mile, we met with the object of our
search, who had removed but the day before, so that I had now an
opportunity of taking some repose.
_July 9._
Fatigued with my late journey, I remained here all the following day
and night, not only because it was Sunday, but because I was too much
tired to undertake to cross the ice that day. Near the icy mountains the
water of the neighbouring lakes was frozen to the depth of a fathom. I
employed myself in making the following memorandums.
I was told that _Fungi_ are very plentiful in the alps in autumn.
Scarcely any other fish is found in the lakes of this neighbourhood than
the _Röding_, which the Laplanders call _Raud_ (_Salmo alpinus_, or
Charr), and this is extremely abundant. It is a Salmon, or rather Trout,
with a scarlet belly. Its length is about a foot. The scales are
extremely minute. Head smooth, ovate, obtuse. Jaws furnished with teeth,
and the tongue also bears two rows of teeth, six in each row. The palate
moreover is toothed at each side. Nostrils small, with two holes to
each, one above the other, the lowermost largest, and capable of being
closed. Iris of the eyes grey, with a black pupil. Below each eye, in
the cartilage of the cheek, are seven little hollow points ranged
longitudinally, and in its hinder part are three others placed
perpendicularly. The rays which cover the gills are ten on each side,
connected together. Fin of the back with twelve rays, of which the two
foremost are gradually longer, the third and fourth longest of all and
subdivided. The whole fish is black in the upper part; its sides of a
sky blue; head and throat white underneath; belly reddish-yellow. The
ventral fins are red, with a white exterior edge. Many yellowish spots
are scattered longitudinally along each side of the fish near the
lateral line. The tail is of a brick-colour, and forked. The flesh is
red, and very palatable. The people here caught fifty of these fishes
with two hauls of the net, of which they made a dinner for me and
themselves. One dish consisted of the fresh fish boiled, which was not
agreeable to my palate for want of salt. Others were roasted on a
wooden spit before the fire, but for the same reason I could hardly
taste them. The third mode of preparation was the most acceptable to me,
and had a very good flavour. This was made of the dried and salted
Röding, roasted on a spit. The Laplanders drink the water in which the
fish has been boiled, which I was unable to do,--though I could not but
commend the practice, as favourable to digestion.
The reindeer are innumerable, like the forests they inhabit. The herds
are driven home, night and morning, to be milked. It was amusing to
observe the manner of driving them, performed by a maid-servant with a
dog. If the reindeer proved refractory, the dog easily made them obey
the word of command, particularly when seconded by the hissing of the
woman, at which they were extremely terrified.
I observed also the manner of driving them out to pasture. The wind
blowing hard from the east, their conductress preferred a circuitous
path, rather than face the storm. The reindeer, on the contrary,
delighting to run against the wind, turned homeward when diverted from
their inclination, while the dog ran after the woman. When these animals
are permitted to face the wind, they run very fast and without
intermission, in hopes of finding a place to cool themselves. Indeed I
observed one of the herds crowding close together under the shadow of a
hill, on a spot covered with snow, to avoid the heat caused by the
reflection of the sun from the snow in other places. These animals will
eat nothing in hot weather, especially as the gnats are then very
troublesome. The males much resemble stags, but none in any of the herds
had now more than one branch to their horns.
The head of the reindeer is grey, blackish about the eyes. Mouth
whitish. Nostrils oblique. Tail short, not above six inches long,
obtuse, white, concealed between the haunches. Feet encompassed with
white above the hoofs. The whole body is grey, blacker when the new
coat first comes on, whiter before it falls. The hair is not readily
plucked off, but easily broken. The horns of the female are upright, or
slightly bent backward, furnished with one or two branches in front near
the base, the summit sometimes undivided, sometimes cloven. Those of the
male are often two feet and a half long, and their points are as far
distant from each other. They are variously branched, with more or less
numerous subdivisions. These animals cast their horns every year; the
males immediately after the rutting season, about the end of November;
the females in May, after they have brought forth their young. If the
females are barren, it is known by their casting the horns in
winter[59]. Those of the males scarcely differ from the females in
general structure. Both are hairy, but the hairiness falls off before
Michaelmas. In some which I have seen broken, the inside, under the
skin, of the young growing horns, appears like a cartilage. Hence they
are flexible, and so very sensible, that the animal can scarcely bear to
have them handled. Under a narrow layer of cartilage, the whole cavity
is full of blood-vessels. When arrived at their full growth, the horns
are bulbous at their base, like those of a stag.
[59] These particulars concerning the casting of the horns of the
reindeer, much confused in the manuscript, are corrected from the
admirable history of this animal in the _Amœnitates Academicæ_,
_v._ 4. 150. It is there said that the castrated males also cast
their horns, but rarely before they are nine years old. The sooner
they begin, the more healthy they are esteemed.
The length of the leg of the reindeer, from the joint of the foot to
that next the body, is two feet. From this latter joint to the top of
the back is also two feet. From the shoulders to the tail two feet. From
the shoulders to the horns one foot, and the same from the horns to the
mouth. From the belly to the back, that is, the perpendicular measure of
the trunk, is a foot and half.
As the reindeer walks along, a crackling noise proceeds from its feet.
This excited my curiosity; and inquiring what was supposed to be the
cause, the only answer I could get from any one was, that "our Lord had
made it so." I inquired further in what manner our Lord had formed the
reindeer so as to produce such an effect; but to this the respondent
answered nothing[60]. When I laid hold of the animal's foot, pulled it,
twisted and stretched it, or pushed it backward and forward in every
possible way, no crackling was produced. At length I discovered the
cause in the hoofs themselves, which are hollowed at their inner side.
When the animal stands on its feet, the hoofs are, of course, widely
expanded, and their points most remote from each other; but every time
the foot is lifted from the ground, they strike together, and cause the
noise above mentioned. This I was afterwards able to imitate at
pleasure, by moving the foot with my hand.
[60] "Sed ad hoc Sorberius nihil."
When the reindeer are driven to the place where they are accustomed to
be milked, they all lie down, breathing hard and panting violently,
chewing the cud all the while. The report of Scheffer therefore, that
they do not ruminate, is false, and Ray guessed more correctly than
Scheffer observed.
When the fawn is missed by its mother, she runs in search of it with the
most violent anxiety, stooping with her nose to the ground like a sow,
till she finds it. She even quits the herd to which she belongs, and
seeks her young at the Laplander's hut.
After the herd has lain down in the manner above described, each of the
people takes a small rope, and, making a noose, throws it over the head
of one of the females intended to be milked. The cord is afterwards
twisted round the horns, and the other end tied to a small pole fixed in
the ground. One pole is sufficient to secure four of the animals, which
all hands are afterwards employed in milking, both master and mistress,
men and maids. If the milk does not come with facility, they beat the
udder very hard with their hands; which causes a greater flow. The dugs
are four, very rarely six, all yielding milk, and none of them dry. The
young are not separated from their mothers. After the herd was milked
and gone to pasture, I observed the maid-servant taking up some of the
soft black dung, which, after kneading it with her hands, she put into a
vessel. On my inquiring what could be the use of this, she answered that
the dugs were besmeared with it, to prevent the fawn's sucking too much.
She added that it would dry upon the nipple by the morning after it was
applied, and might then be easily rubbed off. The female reindeer bring
forth their young early in May, and their owners begin milking them on
Midsummer day, and continue to do so till the beginning of November in
the forests, but in this neighbourhood they leave off milking about
Michaelmas. The fawns acquire horns the first year, which are perfectly
simple, like fingers. I could not help wondering how the Laplanders
knew such of the herd as they had already milked, from the rest, as they
turned each loose as soon as they had done with it. I was answered that
every one of them had an appropriate name, which the owners knew
perfectly. This seemed to me truly astonishing, as the form and colour
are so much alike in all, and the latter varies in each individual every
month. The size also varies according to the age of the animal. To be
able to distinguish one from another among such multitudes, for they are
like ants on an anthill, was beyond my comprehension.
_July 10._
I witnessed with pleasure the supreme tranquillity enjoyed by the
inhabitants of this sequestered country. After they have milked their
reindeer, and the women have made their cheese, boiled their whey to the
requisite consistence, and taken their simple repast, they lie down to
enjoy that sound sleep which is the reward and the proof of their
innocent lives. There is rarely any contention among them. The
inhabitants of the neighbouring moveable village had pitched their tents
close together in lines, either from east to west, or otherwise. When my
servant came in, he put his nose close to that of any person whom he
wished to salute, as if he had intended to kiss him, saluting him with
the old expression "_purist_." I inquired whether they actually kissed
each other; but my man answered in the negative, that they only put
their noses together. This custom is in use among relations only.
A boy had been sent out to gather sorrel (_Rumex Acetosa_), the larger
kind, or variety, of which he brought home enough of the leaves with
their stalks to fill a kettle. A small quantity of water was poured upon
it, just sufficient to cover the bottom of the kettle. It was kept
stirring over the fire, and allowed to boil, till the whole was reduced
to a pulp. This was afterwards mixed with milk, and put into large
barrels. When it has stood by for some time, it acquires an agreeable
sourish taste, quite different from the flavour of the fresh plant. The
barrels thus filled are preserved in holes, dug in the ground for the
purpose, either lined with brickwork, or with birch bark, to protect
them from rats or mice.
Another boy came in with as much as he could carry in his arms of the
stalks of _Angelica_ (_sylvestris_) which had not yet flowered. The
people stripped off the leaves, and by means of a knife peeled the
stalks, the skin of which came off like hemp. They ate the remainder as
they would an apple, thinking it a great delicacy. I partook of it with
them. The broad sheathing footstalks of the leaves, which enfold the
young umbels, not being esteemed good to eat fresh, were peeled, and
added to the _syra_, see p. 243, which was destined to make _jumomjölk_,
see p. 273.
[Illustration]
In the hut where I was a guest, an infant lay in its leather cradle. Its
head was protected by a screen of leather, and at the sides two
longitudinal pieces of cloth, folding one over the other, were drawn
together by a cord, over the child's body, which was besides covered
with reindeer skins underneath. The head, breast, and shoulders were
bare. It lay in this state all night long in the cold tent, and was
exposed to the open air at other times, though the weather was very
cold; yet the child did not suffer any inconvenience.
I slept every night between two reindeer skins.
I was treated with _östamus_, or milk turned to curd by rennet, which,
together with a great proportion of cheese that I had eaten of late,
disagreed violently with me, and almost brought on a _tenesmus_.
The women here, as well as the men, smoke tobacco, and indeed do almost
every thing but actually wear breeches. The men dress the meat, while
the women employ themselves only in making cheese, and other various
preparations of milk. Every kind of fish or meat is cooked by the men;
and if the women happen not to be at hand, even the cheese and milk fall
under their management.
The alps are destitute of human inhabitants in the winter season,
because the Laplanders are then obliged to seek more woody parts of the
country, where alone they are able to find a sufficient quantity of moss
(_Lichen rangiferinus_) to feed their reindeer. On the alps there is not
only a want of wood, but the snow is covered with too hard a frozen
crust to be penetrated so as to come at any thing beneath it.
The poorest people only remain here as long as possible, for the sake of
catching Ptarmigans (_Tetrao Lagopus_); which is done in the following
manner.
They take a little forked birch twig, about a span long, which is stuck
into the snow perpendicularly by its divided end, forming a sort of
arch. A snare or noose, made of packthread or horsehair, is then fixed
to the twig by one end, and placed in the open space between the forks.
The thin curling bark of the twig, being carefully slit down at the
outer side, curls inward, and serves both to confine and conceal the
snare, by drawing it close to the branch on the inner side. Such traps
as these are ranged in a line, about a fathom from each other, in the
birch thickets, brush wood being laid from one to another, so as to form
a low fence. Now as the Ptarmigans come running along, for they seldom
fly, they have no way to go but through these snares, and forty or fifty
of them are frequently caught at a time.
This day I both heard and saw the Cuckoo (_Cuculus canorus_), which the
Laplanders call _Geecka_; and also the great fishing Gull with a grey
back (_Larus canus_), to which they give the name of _Staule_; (not
_Straule_, as in the _Fauna Suecica_.)
The _Andromeda_ (_hypnoides_) with leaves like moss, or needle-shaped,
was here in flower. The petal is bell-shaped, white tipped with purple,
divided half way down into five semi-ovate segments. Calyx five-cleft,
erect, acute. Anthers orange, very short, furnished with white bristles.
Pistil one, obtuse.
In walking over the snow, I once sunk up to my middle, the floods having
undermined it to a great depth. Two men drew me out with a rope, and I
received no damage except a blow on my thigh and being very wet. Soon
afterwards I met with a Laplander who was both a Danish and Swedish
subject. He offered me brandy, which I would have declined; but he
insisted on my taking a glass, and some tobacco.
The water of the lake of _Virijaur_ (perhaps _Wire-jaur_) was of a
whitish green colour, exactly like water poured into a vessel
previously used for milk. This appearance arose merely from its extreme
purity, levity, and consequent transparency. It was cooler than the
water flowing from the snow.
Not far from this lake, on the left, upon the side of the mountain
called _Kaitsoniunni_, near a rivulet, I picked up a curious stone or
radiated _fluor_, of a blueish colour, composed of square parts
(probably zeolite). In the evening it rained, but I observed the
_Papilionoides_ with purple spots (_Sphinx Filipendulæ_).
The stones hereabouts were mostly fissile, horny; some black and
aluminous, but generally horny and spontaneously decomposing, with
silvery talc, rarely any quartz.
_July 11._
We rose early this morning, and after walking a quarter of a mile
arrived at the lofty icy mountain. This is indeed of a very great
elevation, and covered with perpetual snow, the surface of which was,
for the most part, frozen quite hard. Sometimes we walked firmly over
it, but it occasionally gave way, crumbling under our feet like sand.
Every now and then we came to a river taking its course under the snowy
crust, which in some parts had yielded to the force of the currents, and
the sides of each chasm exhibited many snowy strata one above another.
Here the mountain streams began to take their course westward, a sign of
our having reached Norwegian Lapland. The delightful tracts of
vegetation, which had hitherto been so agreeably interspersed among the
alpine snows, were now no longer to be seen. No charming flowers were
here scattered under our feet. The whole country was one dazzling snowy
waste. The cold east wind quickened our steps, and obliged us to protect
our hands that we might escape chilblains. I was glad to put on an
additional coat. As we proceeded across the north side of this
mountain, we were often so violently driven along by the force of the
wind, that we were taken off our feet, and rolled a considerable way
down the hill. This once happened to me in so dangerous a place, that,
after rolling to the distance of a gun-shot, I arrived near the brink of
a precipice, and thus my part in the drama had very nearly come to an
end. The rain, which fell in torrents on all sides, froze on our shoes
and backs into a crust of ice. This journey would have been long and
tiresome enough without any such additional inconvenience. At length,
after having travelled betwixt three and four miles, the mountains
appeared before us, bare of snow though only sterile rocks, and between
them we caught a view of the western ocean. The only bird I had seen in
this icy tract, was what the Laplanders call _Pago_ (_Charadrius
Hiaticula_). Its breast is black, throat white, feet orange.
Having thus traversed the alps, we arrived about noon upon their bold
and precipitous limits to the westward. The ample forests spread out
beneath us, looked like fine green fields, the loftiest trees appearing
no more than herbs of the humblest growth. About these mountains grew
the same species of plants that I had observed on the other side of the
alps. We now descended into a lower country. It seems, as I write this,
that I am still walking down the mountain, so long and steep was the
descent, but the alpine plants no longer made their appearance after we
had reached the more humble hills. When we arrived at the plains below,
how grateful was the transition from a chill and frozen mountain to a
warm balmy valley! I sat down to regale myself with strawberries.
Instead of ice and snow, I was surrounded with vegetation in all its
prime. Such tall grass I had never before beheld in any country. Instead
of the blustering wind so lately experienced, soft gales wafted around
us the grateful scent of flowery clover and various other plants. In the
earlier part of my journey, I had for some time experienced a
long-continued spring (whose steps I pursued as I ascended the Lapland
hills); then unremitting winter and eternal snow surrounded me; summer
at length was truly welcome. Oh how most lovely of all is summer!
Here grow, for the most part, the common plants of Upland, besides which
I noticed _Aconitum lycoctonum_, and the little Mountain Catchfly with a
white upright flower (_Silene rupestris_[61]); as also _Coronopus
maritimus punctatus_ (_Plantago maritima β_, _Fl. Suec. 46_), _Mesomora_
(_Cornus suecica_), and the Cloudberry (_Rubus Chamæmorus_).
[61] This appears by the _Flora Suecica_ to be likewise a native of
Upland.
By this time I was heartily tired, and found the refreshment of some
cow's milk, and meat, with a chair to sit upon, very acceptable. I could
not but wonder to see my two Laplanders, who had accompanied me during
the whole of this day's tedious walk, one of them fifty years of age,
the other upwards of seventy, running and frisking about in sport,
though each of them had carried a burthen all the way; not indeed a very
heavy one, but, considering the distance, by no means trifling. This set
me seriously to consider the question put by Dr. Rosen, "why are the
Laplanders so swift-footed?" To which I answer, that it arises not from
any one cause, but from the cooperation of many.
1. The Laplanders, unlike us, wear no heels to their half boots. We see
dancing-masters and rope-dancers, with little or no heels, perform feats
of great agility, scarcely practicable with them. The same may be
observed of running-footmen, and people of various countries who
habitually walk fast; while, on the contrary, those who are accustomed
to large and high heels, move in a heavy and deliberate manner. It is
usual to shoe young horses heavily, that they may acquire a steadiness
of pace; and I observe that the country boys where I am now writing,
throw off their shoes when they intend to run, as the heels with which
these shoes are made, deprive them of half the natural control of the
muscles in the soles of their feet. Those muscles, by means of high
heels, and consequently less use or exercise, become more and more
stiff, and a man with a wooden foot or leg cannot but move heavily.
2. These people are accustomed to running from their infancy. As soon as
a Lapland boy can go alone, he is taught to run and put a halter round
the reindeer's neck. When he grows a little older, he learns to follow
these animals, which are always quick-paced, insomuch that it is more
laborious to keep up with them than with a herd of goats, and more
difficult to run after them than to frisk about with a parcel of calves.
If therefore a rope-dancer, or a running-footman, acquires great agility
by perpetual practice, no wonder that a Laplander, who till he is
married, and often all his life long, runs habitually after the
reindeer, should rival any of them in swiftness of foot.
3. Freedom from hard labour is another cause. All laborious employments,
such as directing the plough, threshing, cutting and hewing of wood, &c.
render the blood thick, and the limbs stiff. Hence the flesh of a
peasant is hard and tough, that of a young damsel soft and tender; nor
can a peasant move with the lightness and flexibility of limbs that we
see in a girl. How delicate are the muscles of children compared with
those of an aged person! The Laplanders appear to be more nimble and
active, in all their movements, because they undergo no hard or
Herculean labours.
4. Habitual exercise of the muscles. A rope-dancer trains his pupils to
the continual contraction and dilatation of their muscles, that they may
acquire the more pliability. A dancer is at first taught by violence to
turn out his toes; but by custom that position becomes easy, for use is
second nature. So the Laplanders are perpetually exercising the muscles
used in walking, which thence become so flexible, that they are able to
sit for a long while cross-legged, without pain or inconvenience, in a
posture intolerable to us, who are used to commodious seats. For my own
part, since I set out on my journey, I have become able to walk four
times as far as I could at first.
5. Animal food. It is observable that such of the creation as feed on
vegetables, are of a more rigid, though strong, fibre; witness the Stag,
the Bull, &c.; while, on the contrary, carnivorous animals, as the Dog,
Cat, Wolf, Lion, &c., are all more flexible. The fact and its cause are
both evident. The Laplanders are altogether carnivorous. They have no
vegetable food brought to their tables. They now and then indeed eat a
raw stalk of Angelica, as we would eat an apple, and occasionally a few
leaves of Sorrel; but this, compared with the bulk of their food, is
scarcely more than as one to a million. In spring they eat fish, in
winter nothing but meat, in summer milk and its various preparations. It
may further be remarked, that salted food, which these people do not
use, renders the body heavy.
Here I cannot help making a few incidental remarks, on the opinion that
man is proved, by his teeth, to be formed to eat all kinds of food.
Those who advance this opinion say, his front or cutting-teeth are like
those of animals that eat fruits or nuts, as the Hare, Rabbit, Squirrel,
&c.; his canine, or eye-teeth, like those of beasts of prey, as the Cat;
and his grinders like those of animals that live upon herbage, as the
Cow, Horse, &c. But this reasoning is not altogether satisfactory to me.
If, in the first place, we examine the human fore-teeth, we shall find
them quite different from those of nut-cracking animals of the Squirrel
or Hare tribe, which are more prominent, and rather spreading than erect
at the angle, whereas ours are perpendicular, with their summits close
and level. Hence the fore-teeth of such animals are very long, witness
those of the Beaver. Some carnivorous animals have similar fore-teeth to
ours, but have we any such canine teeth as theirs? They do not exceed
ours in number, but they are much more important. The being furnished
with grinders as such, will not, on the other hand, class us with
herbivorous animals, although Bulls and Cows have them; for the Dog and
Cat, and all other carnivorous ones, have grinders likewise. I have not
yet met with any herbivorous animal, with a simple stomach, which is not
subject to eructation, nor is the Mouse tribe any exception.
But to decide concerning our own species. If we contemplate the
characters of our teeth, hands, fingers, and toes, it is impossible not
to perceive how very nearly we are related to Baboons and Monkeys, the
wild men of the woods. In as much therefore as these are found to be
carnivorous, the question is decided with respect to ourselves.
6. The Laplander is satisfied with a small quantity of food at once. He
does not eat his fill at one meal, but takes food from time to time, as
he feels inclined.
On the contrary, the peasants of Finland cram themselves with as many
turnips, and those of Scania with as much flummery, as their stomachs
can possibly receive. The inhabitants of Dalecarlia eat till the body is
as tight as a drum. Such people are much better qualified to labour in
the cultivation of the ground, than to run over the alps. The Laplanders
are always of a thin slender make. I never saw one of them with a large
belly. Milk diet also contributes to render them active.
7. I examined their knees, ankles, and feet, but could not perceive the
least difference in their shape from those of other countries, except
perhaps that the sole of the foot seemed rather more concave, at the
inner side, than usual. How far this may make any difference, a better
mechanic than I am must determine.
8. All the Laplanders are of a small stature. I have never yet met with
any of them so tall as myself. A large heavy body cannot move so nimbly
as a small one, even though its organs are proportionably stronger and
more durable. This is apparent in many similar cases. A little pony from
the isle of Oeland, or one of a similar kind from Norway, runs with
extreme velocity; for though a great trooper's horse may get before it,
the little animal moves its legs with astonishing rapidity, and much
quicker than the great horse.
There is a striking difference in stature between the inhabitants of
Helsingland and those of Lapland, nor is the reason of this difference
at all obscure. If we give a young puppy plenty of food, he will grow
large; if but little, he will turn out small. If kept warm, he will also
grow to a much larger size than if he is always inured to cold. The same
remarks may be applied to the people in question.
Another subject of inquiry is, why the Laplanders are so healthy; for
which the following reasons may be assigned.
1. The extreme purity of the air, which seemed to give me new life as I
inhaled it.
2. The use of food thoroughly dressed.
3. Eating their food cold; for they always let their boiled meat cool
before they taste it, and do not seize it with avidity as soon as it
comes out of the pot.[62]
[62] Linnæus's expression is, "they do not spring upon it with boots
and spurs."
4. The purity of the water.
5. Tranquillity of mind. They have no contentions, neither are they over
and above careful about their affairs, nor addicted to covetousness.
Their lives are protracted to extreme old age.
6. Their never overloading the stomach, while the rustic of other
countries eats till he is ready to burst.
7. Deficiency of spirituous liquors. Of these they rarely taste; and
only in such quantities as to be rather beneficial than otherwise.
8. Their being inured to cold from their infancy renders them hardy.
9. Probably the quantity of flesh they eat may prolong their lives, as
carnivorous animals are long-lived.
NORWAY.
I saw no flies in Lapland, but in Norway the houses are full of them. I
was however no longer infested with swarms of gnats.
At the place where I stopped to rest after my fatiguing journey, they
gave me Sword-fish (_Xiphias Gladius_) to eat, which very much resembled
Salmon in flavour. It was of a large size, with a dorsal fin continued
from the middle of the back to the tail.
_July 12._
The next day it blew so very hard that I did not venture to leave this
place by sea. I took a walk in the morning on the beach, it being low
water, and noticed various marine productions. Several species of
_Fucus_ were attached either to stones or shells, as well as _Ulvæ_ and
_Confervæ_. Barnacles (_Lepas Balanus_ and _L. Balanoides_) were seen
sticking to large stones, at present left by the tide. I noticed also
several univalve and bivalve shells of various sizes. The _Strombus_
(_Pes pelecani_) with and without its dilated lip; also some small
Crabs, and other things. I gathered a viviparous avenaceous grass (what
this was cannot be ascertained). Here likewise I noticed several
Zoophytes, and among them the three following _Medusæ_.
1. _Medusa_ (_capillata_) of an octagonal shape, with notched angles.
The annexed figure shows its under side. The whole is transparent like
glass. There are eight pair of rays, within which the disk, and other
rays at the base of the former, are all covered with minute scaly
prickles, ranged in concentric circular rows. The outer feelers, which
look like the stamens of a flower, are sometimes snow-white, sometimes
of a reddish flesh-colour, and crisped. Within these is a central
cluster of longer feelers, resembling pistils.
[Illustration]
2. _Medusa_ (_aurita_) orbicular, with four little hearts in the middle.
This is also entirely pellucid like glass, except that the little
heart-shaped marks are red, each with a transparent cavity in its
centre. There are four crisped auricles, or feelers, between them.
[Illustration]
3. _Medusa_ (_cruciata_) orbicular, marked with a white cross. Entirely
of a glassy transparency, but marked with a white cross which completely
divides it into four parts. There are no feelers, nor could I discern
any vestige of a mouth. Can this be in the state of an egg?
[Illustration]
One object of the Laplanders who accompanied me hither, to Torfjorden,
was the purchase of brandy. They drank it in the first place as long as
they could stand on their legs, and having brought with them a number of
dried reindeer bladders, these were subsequently all filled with brandy,
tied up, and carried away by them. Their general custom is to use small
cups, about one third the size of a spoon, by means of which each
Laplander in his turn will often contrive to swallow a whole quartern of
brandy.
When the Laplanders mean to appear in full dress, they attire themselves
in white _walmal_ cloth, (see _p. 137_,) without any lining, and their
jacket is ornamented with a high blue collar with a brown edge, the
whole collar being stitched over and over with thread. The cloth for
this part costs a dollar, copper money, extraordinary for every ell, on
account of the brown edge. Eight ells make a jacket, so that the whole
comes to as much as a small garment of reindeer skin.
They complained to me about the sale of their manufactures, which they
are now obliged to dispose of at too low a rate. They would willingly
allow twenty per cent. profit to the merchants of Stockholm, giving them
a preference that they might be enabled to pay the duties, nor would
they then listen to applications from any other quarter.
The Lapland women are accustomed to sew all the clothes and shoes, and
to cook all such articles of food as are made of milk; but the men dress
the meat, fish, and fowl. If the housewife happens not to be at hand,
the preparation of the milk dishes falls upon the husband, but not
otherwise. The Laplanders in this part of Norway, who have become
cultivators of the ground, use scythes whose upper end rests on a
projecting piece of wood set on the ground, as on a pivot, another piece
opposite to it serving for a handle.
This was a very hot day, with a few drops of rain in the afternoon.
[Illustration]
The weather being now calm, we ventured to go out to sea in a boat, in
order to search for the natural productions of that element. We soon
caught, with a hook and line, plenty of Sey-fish (_Gadus virens_). These
were about ten inches long, very smooth, fat and tender, covered with
extremely minute scales. The back was of a darkish green, the belly
white. The mouth toothed, like that of a perch. Some of these fish had
sticking to them several _Remoræ_, or rather _Pediculi marini_ of
Frisch, of which I preserved specimens. (_Lernæa Assellina?_) The fish
themselves were so numerous and so voracious, that we had no sooner
thrown out the hook, letting it float after the boat, than they
swallowed it so quick that we could hardly take them out fast enough.
The next day however, the sky being very clear, we had no such success.
The hook we used was of steel, without any kind of bait, and yet we
caught above sixty fish in all.
Torfiolme, where I now was, is entirely encompassed by lofty mountains
covered with snow. Between their summits dark grey clouds were stationed
here and there, so that the base of each mountain, as well as the summit
itself, was clear. These clouds, or vapours, at length gradually
subsided.
Close to the borders of the bay or creek, are many little sequestered
villages scattered among the hills. Each has but a small valley
adjoining, and consequently not above a cornfield or two within its
district, with a very small portion of pasture-ground attached to each
house, though possibly there might be more further off, which I could
not perceive. The inhabitants therefore would scarcely be able to
subsist, were it not for the vast plenty of fish within their reach,
which serves them for food and for sale. The sea here not only abounds
with a great variety of species, but the individuals of each are also
uncommonly numerous. The people were continually talking to me about the
whale fishery.
I had here an opportunity of seeing how salmon are caught. Some piles
are placed in the mouth of a little creek or cove, adjoining to a small
fence or row of pales. Close to this a perpendicular net is placed in
the water, in a curved position, one end being fastened to the shore,
the other to two cords, while the middle is floated out, by means of a
buoy in the mouth of the creek, towards the sea. When the fish swim up
the creek to a certain distance, they are entrapped in this net, the
cords being pulled by two people stationed in a hut adjoining, built for
the purpose of watching the net.
The plant here called _Missne_, and used for food by the people, is the
Water Dragons (_Calla palustris_); while that given to cattle is the
_Menyanthes_ (_trifoliata_). Horses are fed with the finest tops of the
twigs of spruce fir, chopped extremely small, and mixed with an equal
quantity of barley. Such feed is used only in times of great scarcity,
but it is very excellent provender.
The church of this place is but small.
The herbs I collected hereabouts were _Mesomora_ (_Cornus suecica_) with
a proliferous blossom. _Spergula marina_ with spatulate petals, ten
stamens, and three very short pistils. (_Arenaria peploides_). _Apium
palustre_ (_Ligusticum scoticum_). _Trifolium_ with a monopetalous
flower, of a white colour, (_T. pratense_). _Muscipula montana minima_
(perhaps _Gypsophila muralis_, see _Fl. Lapp. n. 171_). _Gramen
triticeum maritimum, flore glauco_, (_Elymus arenarius?_ see _Fl. Lapp.
ed. 2. n. 34_). _Glaux_ (_maritima_). A _Fucus_ in long strips,
resembling flax; with many other species of that genus. _Filum marinum,
in aquâ villosum._ _Coronopus_ with dotted leaves (a variety of
_Plantago maritima_). There were numerous _Echini_ (Sea Urchins), as
well as _Patellæ_ (Limpets), and _Balani_ (Barnacles); all so abundant
on the shore that we could scarcely walk without treading upon them. I
noticed likewise some kinds of Star-fish (_Asterias_), with many
Corallines, and petrified Corals. (See Linnæus's dissertation, entitled
_Corallia Baltica, Amœn. Acad. v. 1. 74_.)
In the evening we arrived at the parsonage house of Rorstad, the
residence of Mr. John Rask, _Pastor Secundarius_, and chaplain to the
king. He has been in the West Indies, as well as Africa, and has
published an account of his voyage, in which various fishes and plants
are described in a very interesting style. He gave me a friendly
reception. He has a handsome daughter named Sarah Rask, eighteen years
of age. She seemed to me uncommonly beautiful. I must not omit to write
to him hereafter; for, according to his account, he never expected to
see an honest Swede. I wish Mr. Ingerald[63] may come and visit our
neighbourhood, that I may have an opportunity of testifying my gratitude
for his kindness, which otherwise I can never repay.
[63] Who Mr. Ingerald was, does not appear. Perhaps the master of
the boat, or somebody whom Linnæus met at the house of the good
curate.
_July 14._
In the morning I took leave of Mr. Rask, and returned with the master of
the boat to Torfjorden. I had now before me the whole of this western
Archipelago, and was told that, if we were to steer our course directly
westward, we should arrive at Greenland. The conversation on our passage
turned much upon a certain West Gothlander, who had been guilty of some
treacherous conduct, and told various falsehoods. (To this the above
conversation of Mr. Rask probably alluded).
Tun-bread, as it is called in Westbothnia, is made of barley and chaff
in the following manner. After threshing, they sift the corn through a
large cribble, which retains not only the grain and chaff, but not
unfrequently a small quantity of straw. This is dried and ground. The
rich grind the corn alone; others one third part barley, with two of
chaff; others again one of chaff to two of barley. The meal thus
procured is moistened with cold water into a paste or dough, without
being allowed to go into a state of fermentation, and without any yeast.
Cold water is preferred to warm, the latter rendering the dough too
brittle. The dough, being of a soft consistence, is then well kneaded on
a table. A handful of it is sufficient to make one cake, though no
person would suppose that so small a quantity could make so large a cake
as afterwards appears. This lump of dough is spread out flat on a table,
not with a rolling-pin, but with the hands and a flat trowel or shovel.
A considerable quantity of flour is sprinkled over the surface, and the
whole mass is extended till it becomes as thin as a skin of parchment.
It is then turned by means of a very large shovel, after being
previously pricked all over with an instrument made on purpose, and
composed of a large handful of the wing feathers of ptarmigans,
partridges, or some such birds. The other side, when turned uppermost,
is subsequently pricked in the same manner. The cake is then put into
the oven, only one being ever baked at a time. The attendance of a
person is necessary, to watch the cake, and move or lift it up
occasionally, that it may not burn. Much time indeed is not required for
the baking. When sufficiently done, the cake is hung over a bed-post, or
some kind of rail, and the two sides hang down parallel to each other.
Other cakes when baked are hung near to, or over, the first. When the
whole are finished, they are laid by, one upon another, in a large heap,
till wanted.
Some people make bread of the bark of fir-trees. For this purpose they
choose the bark of such trees as are of a large size, with but few
branches, because the branches, as well as the younger trees, are more
resinous, and therefore more strongly flavoured. The bark taken from the
lower part of the tree is esteemed the best. The hard external coats
require to be carefully removed. Stores of this bark are often laid by
for winter use. Previously to its being ground into four, it is laid
over a slow fire in order to be warmed thorough, and rendered more
friable, for it becomes by this means much thickened and very porous. It
is next ground and baked, in the same manner as the barley above
mentioned. The dough made of fir bark is more compact than barley dough,
and almost as much so as that made of rye; but the bread has a bitterish
taste.
_Missen bread_ is made of the Water Dragons (_Calla palustris_). The
roots of this plant are taken up in spring, before the leaves come
forth, and, after being extremely well washed, are dried either in the
sun or in the house. The fibrous parts are then taken away, and the
remainder dried in an oven. Afterwards it is bruised in a hollow vessel
or tub, made of fir wood, about three feet deep; as is also practised
occasionally with the fir bark. The dried roots are chopped in this
vessel, with a kind of spade, like cabbage for making sour kale (sour
crout), till they become as small as peas or oatmeal, when they acquire
a pleasant sweetish smell; after which they are ground. The meal is
boiled slowly in water, being continually kept stirring, till it grows
as thick as flummery. In this state it is left standing in the pot for
three or four days and nights. Some persons let it remain but
twenty-four hours; but the longer the better, for if used immediately it
is bitter and acrid; both which qualities go off by keeping. It is mixed
for use, either with the meal made of fir bark, or with some other kind
of flour, not being usually to be had in sufficient quantity by itself;
for the plant is, in many places, very scarce, though here in such
abundance that cart loads of it are collected at a time. This kind of
flummery, being mixed with flour, as I have just mentioned, is baked
into bread, which proves as tough as rye-bread, but is perfectly sweet
and white. It is really, when new, extremely well-flavoured. _Cattle
Misne_ (_Menyanthes trifoliata_) is very seldom used for making bread,
being too bitter; but the roots are given to domestic cattle, who devour
them fresh. This plant grows plentifully in all the rivers of this
country, as well as in the neighbouring marshes.
_Nordskbröd_, Norway bread, is made either entirely of rye flour, or of
barley with a third part rye. The dough is prepared with cold water, and
kneaded a long while, till it does not stick to the hands. Afterwards it
is flattened with a rolling-pin of a round shape, but furrowed
longitudinally, which is turned by the hands as fast as possible. The
edges of the dough, thus spread out, are repeatedly turned in, and the
whole, laid carefully on a table, makes a very even cake, as thin as
paper, though smoothed with such a rolling-pin. It is baked on an iron
made on purpose, being moved about and turned during the process, and
subsequently smoothed and polished with a bunch of the heads of rye
straw dipped in water.
In times of great scarcity, when nothing better is to be had than seeds
of Spurrey, (_Spergula arvensis_,) from the fields, these seeds, after
being dried, are ground and baked, along with a small proportion of
corn. The bread thus made proves blackish, but not bad.
A kind of cheese is made of sour milk in this part of Norway, for which
the following is the receipt.
Take any quantity of sour milk, and boil it till a thick sediment
subsides. Then strain it through a linen cloth, so as to get rid of the
thin watery part, when the remainder will be of the consistence of
flummery. This last must be put into a covered vessel, and allowed to
stand by eight days; after which it must be mixed with cream, and
stirred about in a plate, or some other convenient vessel; when it
should be moulded into an obtuse conical shape, and set by in a cool
place, covered up from the air. Should it happen to break, or fall in
pieces, it must be stirred up and moulded over again. Leave it till it
becomes sufficiently dry, which very often requires a month or two, when
a rugged and cellular crust will be formed on the surface, which must be
taken off before the cheese is eaten.
As I was rambling about among the hills and gathering strawberries, I
perceived a Laplander carrying a fowling-piece, who seemed in pursuit of
birds. Indeed I had scarcely noticed him till I heard the report of his
gun, when I turned about and observed him to be very near me, though
lower down on the hill. The ball struck against a large stone at a very
small distance from the spot where I stood. God be praised that it did
not hit me! The fellow ran away, and I never saw him after, but I
immediately returned home.
_July 15._
In this part of Norway the fields are not enclosed, wood for stakes or
pales being very scarce. There is no distinction between the meadow or
pasture grounds and the forests, except that the latter are rather more
bushy and besprinkled with a few trees, while the former are quite bare.
The meadows, and even the roads, are mown, as well as fed, and yet both
abound with tall grass. A woman always attends the cattle, which are not
driven home at night, nor when milked, but enclosed within a moveable
paling or pen. This is continually removed from one spot to another, in
order to manure the ground. Horses are permitted to range at large. Hogs
are yoked. The cows are milked thrice a day, morning, noon and evening.
Flocks of sheep and goats are allowed to follow the cows.
Some persons hereabouts use stoves made of _lapis ollaris_, (_Talcum
Ollaris_,) as well as boiling-pots of the same material. The stoves are
without chimneys, like a small flue with an oven. The fire is always
kindled in the oven, when the intention is to make the room warm, and
the people make use of burning coals when they are going to bake; but
they never bake in the oven. All the smoke mounts to the cieling, and
finds its way out by a hole made for the purpose in the centre; but this
renders the cieling perfectly black. When the smoke does not escape
readily, it is necessary to make a draught by opening the door of the
house. The reason given for this contrivance is, that if there were a
regular chimney, too much heat would escape that way. But surely such an
excuse is very lame, for much more heat must escape by opening the door.
The hole in the roof is closed at pleasure, by means of a square cover,
fixed transversely to the end of a pole, which is lifted up from within.
Clay and stone abound in this neighbourhood. The walls of the houses are
never built perpendicularly, although timbered; for every beam is
crooked, both withinside and without. The barns are small and low,
furnished with threshing-floors.
It is impossible to traverse the Lapland alps in winter, for the
following reasons. In the first place, the cold is so intense that
nobody could endure it. Next, no reindeer are, at that season, on the
alps, but in the forests, the only place where they can procure any
food. Thirdly, no reindeer could pass the alps at a stretch, the
distance being too great; and lastly, it would not be possible for a
traveller to carry with him the requisite supplies of clothes and
provisions. For these reasons it is generally the custom to travel over
this country either in summer or autumn.
There are numerous obstacles to the cultivation of this alpine tract.
The intense cold of its winters, which exceeds that of any other
country. From the snow lying so long on the ground, the parts exposed to
the north are incapable of any culture. Frosts are frequent even in
summer. The days are dark in winter. The weather is always moist. The
soil is of a turfy kind, composed of mosses decayed by frost,
impregnated with standing water. Good black vegetable mould is not to be
met with. Lofty trees cannot be raised, on account of the excessive
violence of the wind; hence there is a great scarcity of wood.
It is customary for those in our part of Sweden who fancy themselves
indisposed, to frequent watering-places, or mineral springs, during the
heat of summer. For my own part, I have, thank God! for several years
enjoyed tolerable health, except a slight languor, or other trifling
indisposition. But as soon as I got upon the alps, I seemed to have
acquired a new existence. I felt as if relieved from a heavy burthen;
and after having spent a few days in the low country of Norway, though
without having committed the least excess, I found my languor or
heaviness return. When I again ascended the alps, I revived as before,
to which the pure and well ventilated atmosphere did not a little
contribute. It is a prevailing opinion that, at a great elevation, the
air is so much thinner, as to render it necessary to breathe through wet
sponges held to the nose and mouth. I can aver that the difficulty of
breathing is only caused by the exertion of climbing the mountains, as a
person who runs fast, or uses any other violent exercise, oppresses his
lungs by accelerating the circulation of the blood.[64]
[64] This opinion of Linnæus coincides with what M. de Saussure
observed in ascending Mont Blanc. We cannot say so much in favour of
his subsequent theory.
Did not the barometer show the pressure of the air to be less in such
elevated places, it would seem contrary to reason that it should be so,
upon the following principles. We know these alps to be higher than any
other hills, as no current runs across them. The streams on the western
side take their course down to the western ocean, while those on the
east run into the sea on that side. If we take into consideration the
abundance of cascades formed by these alpine torrents, in their way to
the sea, the stupendous elevation of the hills will be the more evident,
not only on that side but on the opposite one also. When therefore the
wind blows over this country, whether from the sea or the land, the air,
having to pass such great heights, must of course be more condensed by
meeting with such an obstruction. Thus moreover its force is increased,
as well as the sensation of cold which it gives. The air being rendered,
by whatever cause, more compact or dense, will account for its
frequently freezing in these places, during the hottest summer. Cold
consists in the compression, and heat in the rarefaction of the air[65],
hence it seems to follow that the air is not more rare upon mountains.
[65] Here the effects are mistaken for causes.
But, to return to the subject of watering-places, I am persuaded that
those who could undertake a journey to this alpine country, would derive
full as much benefit from coming hither to drink snow water, as from
frequenting mineral springs, especially such as are situated in low,
foggy, marshy places. One thing at least would be in their favour, that
they could not so readily find means to transgress the rules of
temperance, usually prescribed, if not observed, at a watering-place, by
being tempted to drink strong ale or other spirituous liquors after
dinner.
The exquisite purity and good flavour of water always depend on the
snow, which tends to preserve water as salt does meat. We all know how
soon water is spoiled by keeping in a warm place, and, on the contrary,
how long it may be preserved in a cold one. The Laplanders treasure up
the snow water as if it were the choicest wine. I have observed of late
that water-drinking is becoming more common in Stockholm, as among the
Portuguese; but how different is the water, as well as the climate! The
Lapland water is indeed uncommonly grateful to the palate.
When lately sailing on the coast of Norway, I was amused by observing my
Lapland attendant, who, as soon as he grew warm, dipped his _koxa_, or
ladle, into the sea, in order to drink as usual; but he was much
disappointed on finding the water salt instead of fresh. These people
always carry a large ladle about them, for the purpose of drinking
spring water, whenever they find themselves heated or thirsty, which
they do without apprehension of any bad consequences. I often practised
the same during my journey. Indeed, were it not for the abundance of
this fine water, nobody could travel in Lapland, for there are no houses
of refreshment. Bacchus and Ceres are both unknown there, though Venus
meets with due honours. The greater part of the springs and rivers
originate in the snow water of the alps; hence the latter are twice or
thrice as full when the weather is warm in that part of the country.
I one day showed a Laplander some of the drawings in my manuscript
journal. He was alarmed at the sight; took off his cap, made a bow, and
remained with his head inclined, and his hand clapt to his breast,
mumbling some words to himself, and trembling as if he was going to
faint away[66]. Many people are afraid of a Jack in a box.
[66] This simple Laplander certainly took Linnæus for a conjurer,
and the book for something equivalent to the magical drum of his own
country, to which he resorts, in time of doubt or trouble, with as
much confidence as a devotee to the shrine of a saint, or any other
"Jack in a box."
A curious stratagem was related to me in Norway, as practised upon the
Laplanders, by a person commissioned to take from them their magical
drums and idols. Having procured information of any Laplander who kept
such things concealed, he first requested to have them brought forth.
This their owner refused. After having long used entreaties, to no
purpose, he laid hold of one of the Laplanders' arms, slipped up the
sleeve of his jacket, and so contrived at length as to open a vein. The
Laplander was near fainting, and, entreating him to spare his life,
promised to bring the drum required; upon which the arm was bound up
immediately. This plan has been frequently pursued with success[67].
[67] A notable method of converting these poor people from pagan
superstitions, and of exemplifying the mild and just spirit of the
Christian religion! This bleeding was as effectual as that practised
by the grand inquisitor upon a king of Spain, who showed symptoms of
humanity at an auto da fè; even without the flogging superadded in
the latter case, which the pious crusader against Lapland drums did
not find necessary.
In the course of my tour, my guide having one day conducted me to his
next neighbour, the latter was just about shifting his quarters, and
therefore could not take charge of me. The former would not attend me
any further, though I paid him well for his trouble, and entreated him
not to desert me. I was obliged therefore to menace him with my hanger,
upon which he took to his heels. He did not however succeed in his
attempt to escape, for my servant soon caught him. His fears overcame
him, and he promised, trembling, to accompany me as I wished. Observing
that he very often turned his head about, I made him walk before me. As
soon as we came to the residence of another Laplander, and before I had
well entered the hut, he set out running, not back again the way we had
come, but towards the mountains, so that the devil himself could not
have caught him, and leaving both his money and his civility behind him.
This is a proof that severity is not the best way of dealing here. My
interpreter told me, that if the man had seen a gun cocked and presented
at him, he would not have suffered a hundredth part of the alarm that he
did.
Many of the curious plants, of which I had in Lapmark found here and
there a solitary individual, as a great rarity, were common enough in
Norway. Hence I concluded that their seeds had been brought down by the
torrents, the chief of them being aquatics, as the (_Pedicularis_)
_Sceptrum-Carolinum_, _Astragalus_ (_alpinus_), _Acetosa_ with a notched
leaf (_Rumex digynus_), the white _Pedicularis_ (_sylvatica_) as well as
the purple, the Asphodel (_Tofieldia palustris_, _Fl. Brit. 397_,) &c.
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
_Printed by Richard Taylor and Co., Shoe Lane, London._
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes
Changes made to the text (in the case of typographical errors) are as
follows:
Page 66: added missing semi-colon ("... terminated in the fore part by
the plough-share; ...")
Page 83: changed "grea" to "great" ( ... except the perfect flatness and
great breadth of the surface of each, ...)
Page 158 (Footnote [36]) changed period to comma after page reference
(... see _p. 130_, that "it was a trifle not worth thinking about.")
Page 167 deleted spurious apostrophe after "winter" (... that they might
have a supply of it during the winter frosts?)
Page 192 changed "Where-ever" to "Wherever" (Wherever these hillocks
abounded, ...)
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Lachesis Lapponica - A Tour in Lapland, Volume 1" ***
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