_August 4._
A reindeer may be driven in a carriage twelve (Swedish) miles in a day,
or, at the utmost, fifteen; but the animal is generally killed
immediately afterwards with the Laplanders' spears, and eaten.
The Laplanders are perhaps so called from the (Swedish) word _lappa_, to
sew or patch together, because their garments usually answer to that
description.
The degree of cold is certainly greater on the alps than in less
elevated regions; for instance, it is colder in Jamtland than at Tornea,
though the former lies about one hundred miles further south. Thus it
appears that the cause of the severity of the cold does not depend so
much on the approach towards the pole, as on the elevation of the
ground, which ought to be carefully observed. Hence the plants of the
north of Lapland are such only as are capable of resisting the most
severe and long-continued cold, and hence snow lies on the alps of
Italy.
Alpine plants are, for the most part, perennial, except the Little Blue
Centaury (_Gentiana nivalis_), and perhaps the Single-flowered _Lychnis_
(_apetala_). I wish botanists would endeavour to discover and make known
any new kinds of pulse or grain, especially such as are of a hardy
constitution, and not likely to suffer from the severity of winter. Some
are perhaps to be found among the grasses. It is necessary to ascertain
what degree of northern latitude they would bear, and whether they are
capable of growing within the frigid zone. It is worthy of inquiry in
what respects the Alps, properly so called (of Switzerland,) agree with
ours of Lapland, as well as how far, and by what means, they are
susceptible of culture. The descriptions that have been given of them
may be consulted. The Greenland alps would also be worth examining, to
see how far these different countries agree in their native plants, in
varieties of situation, and in plenty of soil, compared with the
proportion of rocks or large stones. Do they all agree in the diminutive
stature of their plants?
The tranquil existence of the Laplanders answers to Ovid's description
of the golden age, and to the pastoral state as depicted by Virgil. It
recalls the remembrance of the patriarchal life, and the poetical
descriptions of the Elysian fields.
So many Finlanders crowded about me, that I scarcely knew what to do.
They were all blear-eyed to such a degree as to be nearly blind. Many of
them were perfectly deprived of sight, and ninety-nine out of a hundred
that were so had their eyes shut. It seems in vain to prescribe any
remedy for this evil, so long as its cause is every where so prevalent.
This consists in their smoky dwellings. If I had the management of
these Finlanders, I would tie them up to the wall and give them fifteen
pair of lashes apiece till they made chimneys to their huts, especially
as they have such plenty of fire-wood. This improvement in the comfort
of their dwellings might surely be accomplished by the authority of the
chief magistrate, for I have not been able to learn any sufficient
reason for their adherence to their old way of building. If people
thirty or forty years of age are thus afflicted, what must become of
them by the time they are seventy?
The Finlander's scythe is represented in the annexed figure.
[Illustration]
The handle is rather above two feet in length, straight for about the
space of a foot from the part where the blade is bound on. Afterwards it
is slightly curved outwards, and then again, towards the apex, in some
degree inwards so as to make a straight line with the base. The top is
thicker than any other part. The blade of the scythe is, like that used
in our country, about a foot and a half long, and an inch and half
broad, very slightly curved. Its back is, like that of our scythes,
thickened on one side. The mower takes hold of the top with his left
hand, so that the back of the scythe is uppermost, but grasps with his
right the part where the above-described curvature ends, so as to be
able to give the edge a turn upwards. As he moves forward, he mows first
on the right, and then on the left, only turning his hands, and not
lifting the scythe, but merely presenting each side of its blade
alternately to the ground.
On the south-west side of the town, across a small bay, lies a mineral
spring. The water is not ill-tasted. Indeed this is one of the best
mineral waters I have met with in the north; but it lies very low,
appearing to derive its origin from a stream that runs above, so that
its water comes out soiled, as it were, from the earth, and is covered
with scum.
_August 5._
Every body at Tornea was continually talking to me of a distemper to
which their horned cattle are subject, and which kills many of them in
the course of the winter, but especially in the spring, when they lose
from fifty to a hundred head of cattle almost every year. On walking to
examine the meadow into which they are first turned out to grass, I
found it a bog or marsh, where the Water Hemlock, _Cicuta aquatica_,
(_C. virosa_, _Sp. Pl._ 366. _Fl. Lapp. n._ 103. _Engl. Bot. t._ 479.)
grew in abundance, and had evidently been cropped plentifully by the
animals in feeding. It seemed probable therefore that they eat it most
in the spring, when first turned into this pasture; whence it proves so
much more extensively fatal than in summer, when perhaps they only pick
up a plant here and there. It grows in all the moist meadows which are
mown for hay; consequently the cattle take it likewise in their winter
food, and therefore perish, more or less, during that time of the year.
We learn from Wepfer's experiments, who gave it to various kinds of
animals, what violent symptoms it occasions. See his book. Nothing
appeared to me so interesting, during my visit to Tornea, as to examine
into the cause and remedy of this evil. If my ideas be right, the whole
might be prevented by employing a woman for a month to eradicate all the
_Cicuta_; by which this town, small as it is, might save above two
hundred silver dollars. I was informed that the cattle dying from this
cause become so infectious, that they cannot be flayed without great
danger. The persons employed in that business have their hands greatly
swelled by touching the carcase, and several have lost their lives in
consequence. The plant in question, therefore, agrees in qualities with
the _[OE]nanthe_, as it does likewise in place of growth and outward
appearance, especially in the _pinnæ_ of its leaves.[9]
The meadows hereabouts, among the thickets towards the shore of the bay,
afforded me the following plants.
1. _Veronica_ (_maritima_), with an erect stem, branched in the upper
part, and bearing numerous spikes. Lower leaves acute, cordate-oblong,
sharply serrated, the upper ones lanceolate, serrated, two, three, or
four together, opposite on the stalk. Corolla tubular, divided two
thirds of its length into two lips, of which the upper is the broadest,
ovate, obtuse, and nearly erect; the lower three-cleft, the middle
segment narrowest, but all of equal length. Stamens two, very long,
awlshaped, situated at the separation of the two lips. Hence the flower
is of the personate kind. Pistil reflexed. Capsule heartshaped, narrow
at the upper edge. The flowers are numerous in each spike.
2. Selleri, (_Apium graveolens_[10],) unless I am much mistaken. The
petals are white, spreading, and acute. The partial umbels are broad.
The general one has very rarely one or two (leaves of an involucrum?).
3. _Galium parisiense_ (_uliginosum_), with a square, furrowed,
procumbent stem. The leaves are lanceolate, broader towards the
extremity, acute, armed with little prickles as well as the stem. The
flower is not tubular, nor the seeds prickly. The latter are white, as
is also the flower. Four leaves grow together in the lower part of the
stem, but in the upper part six. Under the little umbels of flowers are
either four or two.
4. _Galium album_ (_boreale_). Stem square, erect, branched, especially
in the upper part. Leaves four together, sessile, rather broader towards
their base, three-nerved, slightly reflexed at the margin. There are two
leaves to each of the lesser umbels. Seeds two, roundish, joined into a
didymous shape, downy. Flower not tubular.
5. _Cruciata_, if I am not mistaken. (_Galium palustre_, that is,
_Cruciata palustris alba_ of Tournefort.) Leaves four, ovate-oblong,
bluntish, narrower towards their base. Flower, I believe, not tubular.
See what I gathered in the woody parts of Lulean Lapland. (This was the
same species, as appears by the _Fl. Lapp._)
6. _Clymenum parisiense_ (_Lathyrus palustris_). Stem triangular, two of
its angles ending in wings, or having a dilated compressed border. There
are two little oblong pointed angular leaflets at the insertion of the
leaves, which latter are pinnated, ending in a tendril, and composed of
two or three pair of nearly lanceolate _pinnæ_. The flowers are
violet-coloured, three or four on each common stalk.
7. _Angelica tenuifolia_ (_sylvestris_), which I would define _A.
umbellulis globosis_. The general umbel, though often naked, is commonly
furnished with one, two, or as far as five, very slender leaves; each
partial one has often as many as eight. It is curious that when the
plant blooms vigorously, none of the stalks of the umbel can be seen,
but the flowers form a complete ball, like the Double Guelder-rose
(_Sambucus Opulus_, _flore pleno_,) or the Globe Thistle (_Echinops
Sphærocephalus_). The petals are lanceolate and spreading. Stem
striated, or slightly furrowed.
8. _Cicuta aquatica_ of Wepfer (_C. virosa_ above mentioned). I am
disposed to refer this plant to _[OE]nanthe_, on account of its external
aspect, which is wonderfully like the last-mentioned genus. I must
examine whether their flowers agree. The footstalks are hollow,
inflated, and erect. _Pinnæ_ three, rarely four, pair, of a narrow
lanceolate shape. Those on the stem have from three to seven serratures
each, but the radical ones have more, all distinct; and sometimes the
lowermost serrature, at the lower edge, grows out into a sort of
spurious _pinnula_. The top of the stem bears from one to three umbels;
the general umbel being naked, or rarely furnished with a solitary
leaflet[11]. The partial ones have seven short, narrow, acute leaflets.
The tips of the petals are inflexed.
9. (_Pedicularis_) _Sceptrum Carolinum_. Its capsules are rose-coloured,
its flowers yellowish white tipped with flesh-colour, and obtuse. The
capsules are about equal to the interstices of the spike, which all
together is about four inches long.
_August 6._
The day of the holy sabbath, and therefore a day of recreation for both
mind and body. I saw in the church (of Tornea) a memorial of King
Charles the XIth's own observation of the sun on the 14th of June, 1694.
The sun was visible on that night till very near twelve, when a small
cloud hid it from the sight. It was however above the horizon[12]. In
winter the sun does not rise above the horizon, but at the solstice it
becomes visible. Could it be seen from the pole?
The young women in Finland have much more swelling bosoms than those of
Lapland; the latter accord best with the description of the poet,
"_Quales cruda viro puella servat._"
(_Mart._ lib. 8. ep. 63.)
_August 7._
The town of Tornea stands on a small island, inhabited close to the
shore on the south-west side. I call it an island, because it is bounded
on the north by a swamp; on the south-east by the great river of Tornea;
on the west and south-west by an arm of the sea, like a large river in
appearance, but so shallow that no vessel can approach within a mile of
the town on that side. This arm of the sea was formerly the _king's
road_, (a channel obliged to be kept open,) but now it is almost dry in
summer time, on the north side, towards the swamp.
I ascended the steeple from whence his majesty king Charles the Eleventh
saw the sun at midnight on the 14th of June, 1694.
_August 8._
Nothing worth notice occurred.
_August 9._
Leaving Tornea, I proceeded to Kimi, where is a large salmon fishery,
for which this place is remarkable, as Liminge is for its meadows, and
Storlionis for its cornfields, but the last yield the greatest profit.
_August 10._
I stayed at the house of the principal clergyman in Kimi till the 11th.
This day I gathered a sort of Pink, _Caryophyllus_, with reflexed petals
of a purplish colour, divided into many segments almost to their base.
The claws, not contracted at the summit, bear on the upper side, at the
bend, a tuft of dull-coloured hairs. (This was the beautiful and
fragrant _Dianthus superbus._) Also a _Salix_ with appendages at the
base of its leaves. (What species this was, does not appear.) At the
shore of the great river grew _Alsine repens_, _foliis gramineis_,
(_Stellaria uliginosa_, _Fl. Brit._ 476. _Engl. Bot. t._ 1074.)
Lying-in women at this place are accustomed to drink brandy seasoned
with pepper, partly for the sake of its intoxicating quality, by way of
a narcotic, and partly to bring on the labour pains. The clergyman's
wife told me an infallible method, as she said, to prevent the pains
which often follow childbirth. When the woman's first child is born, and
the umbilical cord divided, a spoonful of the blood is given her to
swallow. This is to be practised at every succeeding labour, and I was
assured that each would be rendered more easy, without any after pains.
In East Bothnia, as well as in Medelpad, it is customary to have the
dairy superintended by a superior female servant, called the _fäbodar_,
who receives for each cow one pound of butter and one of cheese, besides
a pound of _mesosmör_. (See _v._ 1. 197.)
To obtain a greater quantity of butter, the milk is set by, either in a
cellar or in a double-walled house, to be kept as cold as possible, for
at least two days, or so long as that it will not stick to the finger.
The milk will not turn sour, but will become very thin and blue, while
the cream collects on the top, of considerable thickness and in great
perfection. The cream being taken off, and put into the churn, often
proves so rich, that after it has been churned but a short time, if the
churn be laid on one side nothing will run out. It is no small labour to
churn such cream.
Of the remaining milk cheese is made, being warmed before it is
coagulated. If the milk has begun to turn sour, it will not do for this
purpose. Such thin milk as this is not very fit for eating, but the whey
which separates from it in the making of cheese, is by some people made
into _syra_. (See _v._ 1. 243. _n._ 11.) This is done merely by putting
it, when cool, into a vessel or cask, when, if set by for a considerable
time, it will become extremely tough. Most usually however it is boiled,
and then kept for two or three days, when, some new milk being added, it
is boiled up again to the consistence of flummery, and then set by in
some kind of vessel. If it remains for a long while without being
touched, it grows hard, and becomes _mesosmör_. (_v._ 1. 243. _n._ 12.)
The blue milk above mentioned may be boiled like fresh milk, and does
not readily turn sour.
_Gos-mjölk_, or rather _Gäs-mjölk_, (from the Swedish verb _gäsa_, to
work or ferment,) is made as follows. The butter-milk is set by in a tub
till it begins to ferment, when about a third or fourth part of the
quantity of fresh milk is added, the whole being allowed to work once
more. A serum by this time is formed at the bottom, which is drawn off
by means of a cock or tap, in the bottom of the tub, and used
immediately for food. A similar portion of fresh milk is then put to the
remainder, when more whey is, in due time, deposited. This practice is
repeated from time to time for the space of a fortnight, at the end of
which the milk in the tub becomes of a thick consistence, and is
excellent eating.
_Servet-mjölk_ (Napkin Milk) is made by taking a quantity of sour milk
just beginning to ferment, when bubbles, like hydatids as it were, are
formed between the cream and the milk. This is cut across in various
directions, and the thicker substance taken off and hung up in a napkin,
that the liquid part may drain away. What remains in the napkin acquires
a firm consistence, and is eaten along with fresh sweet cream.