Lachesis Lapponica; Or, A Tour in Lapland, Volume 1

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.

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.

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].

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.

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].

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.

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.

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].

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].

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].

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.

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.

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].

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.