When a Finlander has fired at a bear, he immediately runs to one side,
for the animal, if not killed, is sure to run directly forward, towards
the smoke; by which means the man escapes out of his reach.
The peasants who reside near the cliffs or rising ground judge by the
crows (_Corvus Cornix_), of the approach of bad weather; for these birds
seek the marshy country in the evening, before it comes on.
Ulvila churchyard seemed to abound with sculls. I reckoned forty of them
in one heap. This churchyard is built round, after the old fashion.
On entering one of the stove-huts of the inhabitants here, it was so
hot, that I thought my nose would have been burnt off. Nevertheless, the
people within seemed comfortable enough, and the boys, clad in skins,
were running up and down the couch. The stove is constructed like that
of a bagnio in Smoland, but upon it is piled a great heap of flat
stones, to the height of a man. The old women sit in these huts half
naked.
Between Hyfoeda and Taftnen is a river almost navigable. In some parts,
as I was told, it is nine fathoms deep, and in one place is a ferry
across this river. Half a mile from hence southward, close to the road,
between two small bridges which are near each other, I noticed a
sand-hill of very fine sand, in differently-coloured strata, some white,
others reddish-purple.
In the evening I arrived at the town of Abo, which is as large as
Orebro, and well built. It has often been ruined by the enemy, and often
burnt down by accidental fires, which, if not occasioned otherwise,
might easily happen from the stoves of the huts. I remarked that these
stoves were less lofty than some I had seen, and that several stones lay
loosely piled on one another above the opening, which serve to retain
the heat.
_September 30._
The Finnish liquor called _Lura_ is prepared like other beer, except not
being boiled, instead of which red-hot stones are thrown into it. Hence
its purgative quality from the iron.
Here I saw a flying squirrel (_Sciurus volans_) from Tavasthia.
The long black rat, with a white lower lip, catches birds, both on trees
and in the water. He holds fast by his claws, and bites with his four
prominent teeth. The Finlanders call this animal _Mink_. (This seems to
be _Viverra Lutreola_, Faun. Suec. ed. 2. 5.)
A quarter of a mile from the city is a mineral spring, of which Tillands
has taken notice. (See _v._ 1. 43, _note_.) It is older than that of
Medevi (near Vadstena). The current is so strong that one of the
burghers of the city has built a mill, to which the water is led, but it
does not always go. Near the town a mine has lately been opened,
containing iron here and there, with small quantities of pyrites. The
mountain itself is a black mica, immediately adjoining to the city.
The library here is miserable. There are two colleges close together.
_October 5._
I departed from Abo. The corn-fields of Finland are beautiful, and
resemble those of East Gothland in their wide extent and level surface.
There are regular ferry boats at stated times to take passengers to the
isle of Aland.
_October 6._
I arrived at the place, near Brandoen, where I was to go on board the
ferry-boat. The shore is a red rock. Passed over to the island of Aland,
the whole of which consists of the same kind of red rock. The palace of
Castelholm, at present falling fast into ruins, is built of this sort of
stone.
The women use for dyeing a sort of rock _Lichenoides_, of a brown
stercoraceous colour, (perhaps _Lichen stygius_, or _omphalodes_,) which
they boil in water with alum. But Walmal cloth, and stockings, are dyed
without alum. Some add a little Arnotto (_Bixa Orelana_).
Shoes like short half-boots are worn here made of seal-skin.
_October 7._
In the evening of this day I passed over the plain of Aland. There were
abundance of Finn-berries (_Hippophaë rhamnoides_) by the road.
_October 8._