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.

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).

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]

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.

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.

2. Medusa (aurita) orbicular, with four little hearts in the middle. This is also entirely pellucid like glass, except that the little heart-shaped marks are red, each with a transparent cavity in its centre. There are four crisped auricles, or feelers, between them.

3. Medusa (cruciata) orbicular, marked with a white cross. Entirely of a glassy transparency, but marked with a white cross which completely divides it into four parts. There are no feelers, nor could I discern any vestige of a mouth. Can this be in the state of an egg?

One object of the Laplanders who 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.

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.

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]

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.

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.

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].

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.