About a quarter of a mile from the next post-house is a small bridge,
over a rivulet which joins two little lakes. This water separates
Medelpad from Angermanland. We no sooner enter this district, than we
meet with lofty and very steep hills, scarcely to be descended with
safety on horseback.
Very near Hernosand, in the territories of the bishopric, I picked up a
number of Chrysomelas of a blueish green and gold. (These were the
beautiful _Chrysomela graminis_. See _Faun. Suec. n. 509_.)
The city of Hernosand is situated about half or three quarters of a mile
within the borders of the province, standing on an island, accessible to
ships on every side, except at Vaerbryggan, where they can scarcely
pass.
In the heart of the Angermannian forests trees with deciduous leaves,
_Betula alba_ and the hoary-leaved Alder (_Betula incana_), abound
equally with the Common and Spruce Firs (_Pinus sylvestris_ and
_Abies_), while among the humble shrubs the Heath (_Erica_) and the
Bilberry (_Vaccinium Myrtillus_) alternately predominate; the former
chiefly on the hills, the latter in the closer parts of the forest.
These hills might with great advantage be cleared of their wood; for
here is a good soil remaining wherever the trees are burnt down, not
barren stones as in Helsingland and Medelpad. The valleys between the
mountains, as in those countries, are cultivated with corn, or laid out
in meadows, but here are spacious plains besides.
Every house has near it one of those stages already described, on which
the rye, less plentiful here than barley, is laid to dry, as are the
peas likewise.
The woods abound with matted branches of the birch, I know not from what
cause.
Between Norsby and Veda, on the hill towards M[:o]rtsi[:o]n, I had a very
extensive view of the surrounding country, which presented itself like
clouds of dense vapour rising one above another. The mountains looked
quite blue from the fog which rose from them; and this vapour gave them
the appearance of having each a more lofty summit than the hill before
it. This was the case in every part of the prospect.
Veda is situated near the great river of Angermanland, which takes its
name from the country (_Angermanna Elfven_), and is half a Swedish mile
in breadth near its mouth. The water is entirely salt, this being more
properly an arm of the sea than a river.
I crossed this water, and, on approaching the opposite shore, observed
all along the coast a remarkable line of white froth, an ell broad,
carried along with the stream. On inquiring the cause of this, my
companions in the boat replied, they knew of no other than that this
line was the course of the current of the river.
Near the road, every here and there, were nets for catching fish. These
were not painted black, but coloured red by boiling large pieces of the
inner bark of the birch. When this liquor begins to cool, the nets are
immersed in it.
_May 20._
In some places the cows were without horns; a mere variety of the common
kind, and not a distinct species. Nor have they been originally formed
thus; for though in them the most essential character of their genus is,
as to external appearance, wanting, still rudiments of horns are to be
found under the skin. A contrary variety is observable, in Scania and
other places, in the ram, which has sometimes four, six or eight horns,
that part growing luxuriant to excess, like double flowers.
The forests chiefly consist of the Hoary-leaved Alder. Birch trees here
also bear abundance of matted branches. To whatever side I cast my eyes,
nothing but lofty mountains were to be seen. Not far from Aessja the
little Strawberry-leaved Bramble (_Rubus arcticus_) was in full bloom.
The cold weather, however, had rendered the purple of its blossoms paler
than usual. I cannot help thinking that it might more properly and
specifically be called _Rubus humilis_, _folio fragariae_, _flore rubro_,
than _fructu rubro_. It likewise seems to me, that this plant exactly
agrees in structure with the _Rubus folio ribes alpinus anglicus_ of
authors, which I must compare with it the first opportunity[13].
[13] Linnaeus soon satisfied himself that the latter was his _Rubus
Chamaemorus_. The _arcticus_ is a much more valuable plant for its
fruit, which partakes of the flavour of the raspberry and
strawberry, and makes a most delicious wine, used only by the
nobility in Sweden.
A quarter of a mile further is Doggsta, on the other side of which,
close to the road, stands a tremendously steep and lofty mountain,
called Skulaberget, (the mountain of Skula,[14]) in which I was informed
there was a remarkable cavern. This I wished to explore, but the people
told me it was impossible. With much difficulty I prevailed on two men
to show me the way. We climbed the rocks, creeping on our hands and
knees, and often slipping back again; we had no sooner advanced a
little, than all our labour was lost by a retrograde motion. Sometimes
we caught hold of bushes, sometimes of small projecting stones. Had they
failed us, which was very likely to have been the case, our lives might
have paid for it. I was following one of the men in climbing a steep
rock; but seeing the other had better success, I endeavoured to overtake
him. I had but just left my former situation, when a large mass of rock
broke loose from a spot which my late guide had just passed, and fell
exactly where I had been, with such force that it struck fire as it
went. If I had not providentially changed my route, nobody would ever
have heard of me more. Shortly afterwards another fragment came tumbling
down. I am not sure that the man did not roll it down on purpose. At
length, quite spent with toil, we reached the object of our pursuit,
which is a cavity in the middle of the mountain. I expected to have seen
something to repay my curiosity, but found a mere cavern, formed like a
circle or arch, fourteen Parisian feet high, eighteen broad, and
twenty-two long. The stones that compose it are of a very hard kind of
quartz or spar, yet the sides of the cavern are in many places as even
as if they had been cut artificially. Several different strata are
distinguishable, particularly in the roof, which is concave like an
arch. In that part a hole appears, intended, as I was told, for a
chimney. Whether it is pervious to any extent, I know not. Some
convulsion of the mountain seems to have shivered the rock in
longitudinal fissures. All the shivers of stone, many of which lie on
the floor, are quadrangular, and of a considerable size. I am fully
persuaded of this grotto having been formed by the hand of Nature, and
that art had afterwards merely cleared away the fragments of stone. The
entrance is sufficiently large to afford a full view of the inside,
occupying an eighth part of the whole. Drops of water trickle down from
the roof near one of the sides. Some species of _Polypodium_, the
_Asplenium Trichomanes_, and other ferns, grow on the adjacent parts of
the mountain. Before the orifice of this cavern grew a Sallow tree,
which when king Charles XI. passed this way was cut down, and, having
grown up again, was a second time felled by the inhabitants[15].
[14] Its perpendicular height is two hundred Swedish ells. See
_Dissert. de Angermanni[^a]_.
[15] This cavern has been visited by other naturalists since the
time of Linnaeus, among whom was Dr. Olaf Swartz, the present Bergian
Professor of Botany at Stockholm, well known by his various
excellent publications, who gathered here the same _Byssus_
(_cryptarum_) which Linnaeus found in the other cavern at
Brunaesberget. Both their original specimens are now in my
possession.
Having taken leave of this mountain, I had scarcely continued my journey
a quarter of a mile before I found a great part of the country covered
with snow, in patches some inches deep. The pretty spring flowers had
gradually disappeared. The buds of the birch, which so greatly
contribute to the beauty of the forests, were not yet put forth. I saw
nothing but wintry plants, the heath and the whortle-berry, peeping
through the snow. The high mountains which surround this tract, and
screen it from the genial southern and western breezes, added to the
thick forests which will hardly allow the first mild showers of spring
to reach the ground, may account for the long duration of the snow.
This part of the country is very mountainous, and is watered by many
small rills, originating on the sides of the mountains from the copious
rains falling upon them, and running from thence, by various channels,
to swell the streams of Helsingland and Medelpad.
The cornfields afford a crop two years successively, and lie fallow the
third. Rye is seldom or never sown here, being too slow in coming to
perfection, so that the land, which must next receive the Barley, would
be too much exhausted. The ploughs are made with two transverse beams on
one side, that the sods may be turned the first time the land is
ploughed, as will presently be more particularly explained.
_May 21._
After going to church at Natra, I remarked some cornfields, which the
curate of that place had caused to be cultivated in a manner that
appeared extraordinary to me. After the field has lain fallow three or
four years, it is sown with one part rye and two parts barley, mixed
together. The seed is committed to the ground in spring, as soon as the
earth is capable of tillage. The barley grows rank, ripens its ears, and
is reaped. The rye in the mean while goes into leaf, but shoots up no
stem, as the barley smothers it and retards its growth. After the latter
is reaped, the rye advances in growth, and ripens the year following,
without any further cultivation, the crop being very abundant. The corn
so produced is called Kapps[:a]d.
Today I met with no flowers, except the Wood Sorrel (_Oxalis
Acetosella_), which is here the _primula_, or first flower of the
spring. The _Convallaria bifolia_ and Strawberry-leaved Bramble (_Rubus
arcticus_) were plentifully in leaf.
The rocks are generally of a whitish hue, the uppermost side indeed
being rather darker from the injuries of the air, and the minute mosses
that clothe it.
The inhabitants make the same kind of broad cakes of bread, which have
already been described. The flour used for this purpose commonly
consists of one part barley and three of chaff. When they wish to have
it very good, and the country is rich in barley, they add but two
portions of chaff to one of corn[16]. The cakes are not suffered to
remain long in the oven, but require to be turned once. Only one is
baked at a time, and the fire is swept towards the sides of the oven
with a large bunch of cock's feathers.
[16] How would this _very good_ bread suit English stomachs? This
_honest_ adulteration has not been thought of by any of our
schemers, whose projects only serve to teach evil-disposed bakers to
make bread of any thing rather than what they ought, and to spare
their pockets at the expense of the public welfare.
In summer the people eat _Segmiolk_ (Thick Milk), prepared in the
following manner: After the milk is turned, and the curd taken out, the
whey is put into a vessel, where it remains till it becomes sour.
Immediately after the making of cheese, fresh whey is poured lukewarm on
the former sour whey. This is repeated several times, care being always
taken that the fresh whey be lukewarm. Finally they let the mixture
remain for some time, the longer the better, and it becomes at length so
glutinous, that it may be drawn out from one side of the house to the
other. Even if a vessel be filled with it and set by in the cellar, as
is usually practised for winter provision, care must be taken that not
the least drop may run out, otherwise the whole would escape, so great
is the cohesion of its particles.
This prepared milk is esteemed a great dainty by the country people.
They consider it as very cooling and refreshing. Sometimes it is eaten
along with fresh milk. In taking it from the dish, it cannot be poured
out, as it all runs back again if not cut with a knife, or, as is more
usual, parted by holding the finger against the edge of the spoon.
Intermittent fevers would not be so rare here as they are, if they could
be produced by acid diet, for then this food must infallibly occasion
them.
A small quantity of this preparation is sometimes put into the barley
cakes, in order to give them tenacity.
I had here abundant opportunities of examining a fish, not every where
to be met with, called the Harr, (_Salmo Thymallus_, or Grayling,)
which in appearance very much resembles a Salmon. (See _Fauna Suecica,
ed. 2. 125_.)
The coverlets of the beds at this place are made of hare-skins.
_May 22._
The cows in this neighbourhood have no horns, so that the owners can
neither by the rings on the horn ascertain how many calves the cow has
had, nor, as is usual with respect to goats, determine the age of the
animal every year by the new horns. A few of them indeed bore horns of a
finger's length only, and those bent down, immediately from their
origin, so close to the hide, that they were hardly visible above the
hair.
Apple trees grow between Veda and Hornoen, but none are to be seen
further north. No kind of Willow is to be met with, as I was informed,
throughout Angermanland. The Hazle is not to be found here. Cherries do
not always ripen, but Potatoes thrive very well. Tobacco and Hops both
grow slowly, and are of rare occurrence.
In the road I saw a Cuckoo fed by a _Motacilla_ (Water Wagtail?). I am
sure of the fact, and that there was no deception in the case.
In the forest previous to my arrival at Ouske, I picked up a striated
stone, from a small cleft in the rock, which had the appearance of
imperfect cinnabar.
Ochre was here very abundant in the marshes, and had a coat which tinged
the fingers with a silvery hue; a sign of iron, but not of any mineral
water.
_Stellaria_ with oblong leaves (_Callitriche autumnalis_) grew in the
surrounding puddles. Those botanists are much mistaken who distinguish
this from the kind with oval leaves (_Callitriche verna_), for they only
differ in age. The lower leaves of the preceding year, of an ovate form,
still remained under water quite fresh, bearing ripe seeds in their
_axillae_.
The stones hereabouts are of a light grey colour, with large white
spots.
Near the coast was a quicksand, caused here, as in Scania, by the fine
light sand of the soil being taken up by the wind into the air, and then
spread about upon the grass, which it destroys.
The road in several parts lies close to the sea shore.
_May 23._
After having spent the night at Normaling, I took a walk to examine the
neighbourhood, and met with a mineral spring, already observed by Mr.
Peter Artedi[17], at this his native place. It appeared to contain a
great quantity of ochre, but seemed by the taste too astringent to be
wholesome. It is situated near the coast to the west, on the south of
the church, and at no great distance from it.
[17] The celebrated writer on fishes, afterwards so intimately
connected with Linnaeus. The latter published his Ichthyology, and
wrote his life in a style which does equal honour to his own
feelings and the merit of his friend.
I observed on the adjacent shore that an additional quantity of sand is
thrown up every year by the sea, which thus makes a rampart against its
own encroachments, continually adding by little and little to the
continent.
A mile, or rather more, from the land, is an island named Bonden, where
the bird called Tordmule (_Alca Torda_) lays its eggs every year. These
are collected every season by the peasants, who assured me that the bird
never lays above one egg in a year, except that egg be taken away, and
then she will repeatedly lay more. It seems to me a very curious
circumstance, and scarcely possible, that the increase of the species
every year should be naturally not more than one. Some persons indeed
told me these birds laid two eggs. It is certain that the size of the
egg is very large compared with the body of the parent. I only saw some
fragments of this bird, but am pretty certain of its being the _Anas
arctica_ (_Alca Torda_).
In proportion as I approached Westbothland, the height of the mountains,
the quantity of large stones, and the extent of the forests, gradually
decreased. Fir trees, which of late had been of rare occurrence, became
more abundant. Above a mile before we come to S[:o]rmjole, is a river
called Angeraen, separating Angermanland from Westbothland.
The peasants hereabouts use the following implements, for breaking up
the ground of their fallow fields.
[Illustration]
No. 1 is a plough drawn by a horse. b, b, is a strong thick-backed
knife, placed in the middle of the plough, and serving to cut straight
lines through the grassy turf, which in the course of five or six years
has accumulated on the soil.
[Illustration]
No. 2 is used immediately afterwards, to cut the clods of turf from
their base and turn them up. Of this a is the handle, as in No. 1, held
by the ploughman's right hand; b the main beam of the plough; c the part
which goes under the surface of the ground, and is terminated in the
fore part by the plough-share; d, which is formed obliquely, turning
towards the outside, not towards the man who guides the plough; e is
placed on the top horizontally, reaching to the base of the
plough-share, serving to turn over the clods. The whole is drawn by a
horse, the only kind of animal used here in husbandry.
No. 3, p. 65, is a hoe, which, when furnished with a handle, serves to
pare the earth from the under side of the turfs, after they are turned
over by the machine last described. The first year after this operation
they sow rye, but in the following season barley, when the turfs are
become rotten.
WESTERBOTTEN, or WESTBOTHLAND.
The ground here is tolerably level; the soil sand, sometimes clay. In
some places are large tracts of moss. The whole country, owing to the
sand and the moss, is by no means fertile, though it affords a good deal
of milk. Barley is the chief corn raised here, rye being very seldom
sown, and when any is sown, it is commonly summer rye.
Before I reached S[:o]rmjole, two male reindeer came up to me. I was
mounted on a mare, which had nearly thrown me. No flowers were here to
be seen, not even the Wood Sorrel (_Oxalis Acetosella_), my only
consolation in Angermanland. _Caltha palustris_ alone appeared in the
marshes, which in this country is the first blossom of the spring. The
Cotton Rush with one spike and that with many spikes (_Eriophorum
vaginatum_ and _polystachion_) were now coming into bloom. _Betula nana_
was abundant enough, but as yet showed no signs of catkins or leaves.
Throughout the whole of this country no Ash, Maple, Lime, Elm nor Willow
is to be seen, much less Hazel, Oak or Beech.
Towards evening I reached R[:o]b[:a]ck, where I passed the night. The wind
blew hard from the north-east, and the evening was cold.
_May 24._
Close to R[:o]b[:a]ck is a fine spacious meadow, which would be quite
level, were it not for the hundreds of ant-hills scattered over it.
Near the road, and very near the rivulet that takes its course towards
the town of Umoea, are some mineral springs, abounding with ochre, and
covered with a silvery pellicle. I conceive that R[:o]b[:a]ck may have
obtained its name from this red sediment, from _r[:o]d_ red, and
_b[:a]ck_ a rivulet. Not far from this town is another mineral spring,
by drinking of which several persons have lost their lives. It flows
down an adjacent hill.
Umoea, situated on the abovementioned little river, which is passed in a
ferry-boat, and navigable for merchandise to the sea, is but a small
town, not having yet recovered from the damage done it by the enemy, who
burnt it to the ground. The ferry-boat was conducted by a brawny,
though bald and grey-bearded Charon, in an old grey coat, just such as
Rudbeck describes.
I waited on Baron Grundell, Governor of the province, who is a pattern
of mildness, and he received me in the kindest manner. He showed me
several curiosities, and gave me much interesting information.
He had two Crossbills (_Loxia curvirostra_) in a cage, which fed on the
cones of the spruce fir (_Pinus Abies_) with great dexterity. They took
up a cone with their beak, and, holding it fast with one foot, picked
out the seeds by means of their forked mandibles, of which the upper is
very thick, ending in an oblong curved very sharp point. The lower is
shorter, and cuts obliquely, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the
left. Both these were male birds; their feathers of a tawny red, except
the wings and forked tail, which were black.
From the window I perceived in an adjoining fen the Yellow-hammer
(_Motacilla flava_) and some Swallows.
Baron Grundell told me he often had Snow Buntings (_Emberiza nivalis_),
and Ortolans (_E. Hortulanus_), which last are frequently sold in France
for the value of a ducat (nine shillings). These birds are also to be
met with in Scania. Here had been plenty of Ruffs and Reeves this year
(_Tringa pugnax_).
He showed me the skins of blue and black Foxes, and also of the variety
called _Korssraf_, Cross Fox (_Canis Vulpes [beta] Faun. Suec._), which
is of a yellow colour except the shoulders and hind quarters, and they
are of a greyish black. He told me he had lately sent the king a live
_Jarf_ (_Mustela Gulo_), and that he had once had another of that
species so much domesticated, that when he would have turned it into the
water, at the first cutting of the ice, it would not leave him, nor
would it feed on any kind of fish alive.
In the garden the Governor showed me the garden orache, sallad, and red
cabbage, which last thrives very well, though the white will not come to
perfection here; also garden cresses, winter cresses (_Erysimum Barbarea
[beta] Fl. Suec._), scurvy-grass, chamomile, spinach, onions, leeks,
chives, cucumbers, columbines, carnations, sweet-williams, gooseberries,
currants, the barberry, elder, guelder-rose and lilac. Potatoes here are
not larger than poppy-heads. Tobacco managed with the greatest care, and
when the season is remarkably favourable, sometimes perfects seed. Dwarf
French beans thrive pretty well, but the climbing kinds never succeed.
Broad beans come to perfection; but peas, though they form pods, never
ripen. Roses, apples, pears, plums hardly grow at all, though cultivated
with the greatest attention. The garden however affords good radishes,
mustard and horse radish, and especially leeks, chives, winter cresses,
columbines, goose-tongue (_Achillea Ptarmica_), rose-campion
(_Agrostemma coronaria_), scurvy-grass, currants, gooseberries,
barberry-berries, wild rose, and lovage (_Ligusticum Levisticum_),
though scarcely cherries, apples or plums.
Barley in some of the neighbouring fields was now beginning to spring
up, but in others it was not yet sown.
The Governor informed me of a singular opinion prevalent here concerning
the clay in the sand-hills, that it increases and decreases with the
moon, so that by digging during the full moon clay may be obtained, but,
on the contrary, when the moon is in the wane, sand only will be found
in the same spot. The same gentleman remarked that cracks or chasms in
the ground are observable in fine or dry weather, which close in cloudy
or wet seasons, and may have given rise to the above idea.
Near the water side I caught an _Ephemera_, of which I made a drawing
and description. It was however of a distinct genus from the proper
_Ephemera_, having the wings inclining downwards, not erect, the tail
with two bristles instead of three, and the _antennae_ bent near the
extremity. (This appears to have been a small specimen of the _Phryganea
bicaudata_.)
From my first arrival in Westbothland, I had remarked that all the
inhabitants used a peculiar kind of shoes or half-boots, called
_K[:a]ngor_. These seemed at first sight very awkward, but I soon found
they had many advantages over common shoes, being easier in wearing, and
impenetrable to water. Those who wear them may walk in water up to the
tops without wetting their feet; for the seams never give way as in our
common shoes. Another advantage is that they require no buckles, and
serve equally well for shoes or boots, so that those who follow the
plough are not obliged to buy boots for that purpose. The lowest price
of a pair of common boots is nine dollars, and of strong shoes five; but
these cost only two dollars. They are cut so that not a morsel of
leather is wasted. Thick soles, formed as usual of three or four layers
of leather, are here needless, neither are heels wanted. Nature, whom no
artist has yet been able to excel, has not given heels to mankind, and
for this reason we see the people of Westbothland trip along as easily
and nimbly in these shoes as if they went barefoot.
In the cornfields lay hundreds of Gulls (_Larus canus_) of a sky-blue
colour.
_May 26._
I took leave of Umoea. The weather was rainy, and continued so during
the whole day. I turned out of the main road to the left, my design
being to visit Lycksele Lapmark. By this means I missed the advantage I
had hitherto had at the regular post-houses, of commanding a horse
whenever I pleased; which is no small convenience to a stranger
travelling in Sweden. It now became necessary for me to entreat in the
most submissive manner when I stood in need of this useful animal. The
road grew more and more narrow and bad, so that my horse went stumbling
along, at almost every step, among stones, at the hazard of my life. My
path was so narrow and intricate, along so many by-ways, that nothing
human could have followed my track. In this dreary wilderness I began to
feel very solitary, and to long earnestly for a companion. The mere
exercise of a trotting horse in a good road, to set the heart and
spirits at liberty, would have been preferable to the slow and tedious
mode of travelling which I was doomed to experience. The few inhabitants
I met with had a foreign accent, and always concluded their sentences
with an adjective. Throughout this whole day's journey nothing occurred
to my observation worth notice, except a fine kind of sand by the
rivulet at Gubbele near Brattby, which would be excellent for the
purpose of making moulds for casting metal.
Not far from Spoland I caught on a willow a small insect of the beetle
tribe, of a red colour, with black branching lines surrounding the
whole body, and a golden head.
[Illustration]
(This appears by the drawing, here copied from the original manuscript,
to be _Chrysomela lapponica_.) Here grew a _Salix_ with ovate-oblong
leaves, very hairy all over (_S. lanata_); its catkins were, for the
most part, far advanced and faded.
In the evening I arrived at Jamtboht, where some women were sitting
employed in cutting the bark of the aspen-tree (_Populus tremula_) into
small pieces, scarcely an inch long, and not half so broad. The bark is
stripped from the tree just when the leaves begin to sprout forth, and
laid up in a place under the roof of a house till autumn or the
following spring, when it is cut into the small fragments above
described. In this state it serves as food for cows, goats and sheep,
instead of hay, the latter being a very scarce article in these parts;
for the fields consist principally of marshy tracts, whose herbage is
but of a coarse kind.
On my inquiring what I could have for supper, they set before me the
breast of a Cock of the wood (_Tetrao Urogallus_), which had been shot
and dressed some time the preceding year. Its aspect was not very
inviting, and I imagined the flavour would not be much better; but in
this respect I was mistaken. The taste proved delicious, and I wondered
at the ignorance of those who, having more fowls than they know how to
dispose of, suffer many of them to be spoiled, as often happens at
Stockholm. I found with pleasure that these poor Laplanders know better
than some of their more opulent neighbours, how to employ the good
things which God has bestowed upon them. After the breast is plucked,
separated from the other parts of the bird, and cleaned, a gash is cut
longitudinally on each side of the breast-bone, quite through to the
bottom, and two others parallel to it, a little further off, so that
the inside of the flesh is laid open in order that it may be thoroughly
dressed. The whole is first salted with fine salt for several days.
Afterwards a small quantity of flour is strewed on the under side to
prevent its sticking, and then it is put into an oven to be gradually
dried. When done, it is hung up in the roof of the house to be kept till
wanted, where it would continue perfectly good, even for three years, if
it were necessary to preserve it so long.
It rained so violently that I could not continue my journey that
evening, and was therefore obliged to pass the night at this place. The
pillows of my bed were stuffed with the hair of the reindeer instead of
feathers. Under the sheet was the hide of a reindeer with the hair on,
the hairy side uppermost, on which the people told me I should lie very
soft.
_May 27._
In the morning the continued rain prevented my pursuing my journey till
noon. The bark of the large smooth kinds of Willow is here used for
tanning leather. The smooth bark of the upper branches, cut into small
pieces, is chosen for the purpose, the coarse part on the bottom of the
stem being useless.
At noon I departed from the place where I had slept, and continued to
pursue the same bad road as the preceding day, which was indeed the
worst I ever saw, consisting of stones piled on stones, among large
entangled roots of trees. In the interstices were deep holes filled with
water by the heavy rains. The frost, which had but just left the ground,
contributed to make matters worse. All the elements were against me. The
branches of the trees hung down before my eyes, loaded with rain-drops,
in every direction. Wherever any young birch trees appeared, they were
bent down to the earth, so that they could not be passed without the
greatest difficulty. The aged pines, which for so many seasons had
raised their proud tops above the rest of the forest, overthrown by the
wrath of Juno, lay prostrate in my way. The rivulets which traversed the
country in various directions were very deep, and the bridges over them
so decayed and ruinous, that it was at the peril of one's neck to pass
them on a stumbling horse. It seemed beyond the power of man to make the
road tolerable, unless a Bjelke (Governor of Gefle) had the command of
the district.
Many persons had confidently assured me, that it was absolutely
impossible to travel to Lycksele in the summer season; but I had always
comforted myself with the saying of Solomon, that "nothing is impossible
under the sun:" however, I found that if patience be requisite any
where, it is at this place. To complete my distresses, I had got a horse
whose saddle was not stuffed, and instead of a bridle I had only a
rope, which was tied to the animal's under jaw. In this trim I proceeded
on my journey.
Here and there, in the heart of the forest, were level heathy spots, as
even as if they had been made so by a line, consisting of barren sand
(_Arena Glarea_), on which grew a few straggling firs, and some
scattered plants of ling. Some places afforded the perforated coralline
Lichen (_L. uncialis_), which the inhabitants, in rainy weather when it
is tough, rake together into large heaps, and carry home for the winter
provender of their cattle. These sandy spots were in extent three
quarters of a mile or a mile, encompassed as it were with a rampart, or
very steep bank, fifteen or twenty ells in height, so nearly
perpendicular that it was not to be ascended or descended without
extreme difficulty. They might be compared to the mountain which
Alexander the Great ascended with so much labour. It often happened that
above one of these sandy heaths lay another equally barren. They
resembled the ridges of a field, except the perfect flatness and great
breadth of the surface of each, and their being destitute of stones. The
interstices of the country between these embanked heaths were occupied
by water, rocks and marshes, producing abundance of firs intermixed with
some birches, all covered with black and white filamentous Lichens.
Juniper bushes but rarely occurred, and were all of a very diminutive
size, and close-pressed to the ground.
At Skullbacken is a small current of water, which rises out of the
ground at that very spot. I tried to feel the bottom with my stick, but
could not reach it.
At Abackan, and on the road beyond it for a considerable way, some loose
ice still remained, which surprised me much at this season of the year;
yet I recollected that but a week before I had met with snow in the
neighbourhood of mount Skula.
Here and there on the road lay a crustaceous _Byssus_, consisting as it
were of a white rough brittle membrane, with white grains scattered over
it[18].
[18] From the above description, this is very likely to have been
the _Lichen byssoides_, _Engl. Bot. v. 6. t. 373_, in its early
state, when it has exactly the appearance Linnaeus mentions.
On the sandy heaths among the perforated Lichen (_uncialis_) grew
another kind much resembling it, but as thick as the finger, snow-white,
and with more copious and dense entangled branches, which, not having
been hitherto described, I denominated _Coralloides ramosissimum
perforatum_, _ramis implexis_, _niveum_[19]. There was also an elegant
cup-moss, (_L. cocciferus_,) repeatedly proliferous from the centre of
its cups, two or more cups originating together from one centre, all
over of a grey hue, except the scarlet tubercles which bordered the
uppermost cups. Every where in the road grew the beforementioned leafy
sulphur-coloured Lichen (_nivalis_?) in the greatest profusion.
[19] By the description and sketch in the manuscript, this seems a
variety of _L. rangiferinus_.
The marshy places abounded with _Muscus tectorius_[20] and
_Polytrichum_, intermixed with abundance of Black Whortle-berries.
[20] I am ignorant what Linnaeus means by this denomination.
Wherever I came I could get nothing to drink but water.
Against the walls of the houses the Agaric shaped like a horse's hoof
(_Boletus igniarius_) was hung up to serve as a pin-cushion.
As a protection against rain, the people wear a broad horizontal collar
made of birch bark, fastened round the neck with pins.
The women wash their houses with a kind of brush, made of twigs of
spruce fir, which they tie to the right foot, and go backwards and
forwards over the floor[21].
[21] This closely resembles the French method of cleaning, or at
least scrubbing, their rooms, except that the Laplanders have the
advantage in using water as well as a brush.
I observed they had gathered some of the Water Trefoil (_Menyanthes
trifoliata_), which is the plant here called Missne. It is ground and
mixed with their corn to make bread. They also boil it with some kinds
of berries into an electuary, but it is in every state very bitter. The
root only is used.
Part of this day's journey was performed in a Lapland boat, which will
be described hereafter.
The peasants of this country, instead of tobacco, smoke the buds of
hops, or sometimes juniper berries, and when nothing else can be had,
the bark of the juniper tree; but to supply the want of snuff they use
ashes mixed with a small portion of real snuff. They strain their milk
through platted tufts of hair from a cow's tail.
In the evening I reached Teksnas, situated in the parish of Umoea. Seven
miles distant from this place is the church, the road to which is
execrable, insomuch that the people are obliged to set out on Friday
morning to get to church on Sunday. On this account they can very seldom
attend divine service, except on fast days, Whitsunday, Easter Sunday,
and Christmas day.
How trifling would be the expense of building a small church, and how
much have those in authority to answer for before God for neglecting to
provide one! Timber for the purpose was brought here so long ago as the
time of the late Abraham Lindelius; but it has lain till it is rotten,
as the clergy find some difficulty in the undertaking: nor is this the
only obstacle!
Here I observed a kind of dark-coloured gnat with very large dark wings
(_Empis borealis_.)
_May 28._
I left Teksnas and proceeded to Genom; but as there is no conveyance but
by water, from the last-mentioned place to Lycksele, and the wind blew
very hard, I was obliged to stop at Genom till the following day.
Indeed I did not arrive there till nine o'clock, when I found the people
assembled at prayers, after which a sermon was read out of a book
containing several; and as this service did not end till eleven, it
would then have been too late to have set out for Lycksele, more than
five miles distant, without any house or resting-place between.
One of the peasants here had shot a small Beaver. I inquired concerning
the food of this animal, and was told it was the bark of trees, the
birch, fir, and mountain ash, but more especially the aspen, and the
castor becomes larger in proportion as the beaver can get more of the
aspen bark. This confirmed the truth of what Assessor Rothman formerly
asserted, that castor is secreted from the intermediate bark of the
poplar, which has the same scent, though not quite so strong: hence it
is to be presumed that a decoction of this bark, if the dose were
sufficiently large, would have the same medicinal effects.
I wonder no naturalist has classed this animal with the Mouse tribe,
(_Mures._ Linnaeus afterwards called the Order _Glires_,) as its broad
depressed form at first sight suggested to me that it was of that
family; in which opinion I was confirmed when I examined the broad naked
tail, the short obtuse ears, and the two pair of parallel front teeth,
so well formed for cutting, of which the lower pair are the largest.
The people here eat the flesh of the beaver as well as of the hare and
squirrel, which indeed are all of the same natural family. The Romans,
we are told, ate mice by way of a choice dainty. The beaver is very
seldom roasted, but generally boiled. The rump is thrown away, but the
feet are eaten. The skin spread out and dried is worth twelve dollars.
The castor fetches half a dollar, or sometimes a dollar. I found the
boiled flesh very insipid, for want of salt.
This young Beaver, which fell under my examination, was a foot and half
long, exclusive of the tail, which was a palm in length and two inches
and a half in breadth. The hairs on the back were longer than the rest;
the external ones brownish black, the inner pale brown. The belly
clothed with short dark-brown fur. Body depressed. Ears obtuse, clothed
with fine short hairs, and destitute of any accessory lobe. Snout blunt,
with round nostrils. Upper lip cloven as far as the nostrils; lower very
short. The whiskers black, long and stout. Eye-brow of three bristles
like the whiskers over each eye. Neck none. The fur of the belly was
distinguished from that of the sides by a line on each side, in which
the skin was visible. Feet clothed with very short hairs, quite
different from those of the body. A fleshy integument invested the whole
body. The _intestinum caecum_ was large, with a very large appendix. Upon
the stomach lay two large cellular glands, of whose nature and use I am
ignorant. There were two cutting teeth in each jaw, of which the upper
pair were the shortest, and notched at the summit like steps; the lower
and larger pair were sloped off obliquely. Grinders very far remote from
the fore-teeth, which is characteristic of the animal, four on each
side. Hind feet webbed, but fore feet with separate claws. Tail flat,
oblong, obtuse, with a reticulated naked surface.
The strength of the Beaver in its fore teeth, so as to cut through the
trunk of the largest aspen trees, is I believe beyond that of any other
animal.
_May 29._
Very early in the morning I quitted Genom in a ha[oe]p or small boat,
such as shall be hereafter described, proceeding along the western
branch of the river of Umoea; for the river which takes its name from
that place divides into two branches near Gresele, two miles from Umoea.
One branch comes from Lycksele, the other, as I was told, from Sorsele.
By the western branch, as I have just mentioned, we proceeded to
Lycksele. When the sun rose, nothing could be more pleasant than the
view of this clear unruffled stream, neither contaminated by floods, nor
disturbed by the breath of Aeolus. All along its translucent margin the
forests which clothed its banks were reflected like another landscape in
the water. On both sides were several large level heaths, guarded by
steep ramparts towards the river, and these were embellished with plants
and bushes, the whole reversed in the water appearing to great
advantage. The huge pines, which had hitherto braved Neptune's power,
smiled with a fictitious shadow in the stream. Neptune however, in
alliance with his brother Aeolus, had already triumphed over many of
their companions, the former by attacking their roots, while the latter
had demolished their branches.
We passed several small islets separated from the main land by the
action of the current, as _Caln[:a]sholm_ (the isle of Caln[:a]s), &c.
Close to the shore were many _Charadrii Hiaticulae_ (Ringed Plovers)
and _Tringae_ (Sandpipers). One of the latter my companions shot, but
destroyed it so completely that we obtained only a wing and a leg
entire, the remaining parts being so torn that I could not make out the
species. The foot consisted of four toes, of which the hinder one was
very small, and the two external ones joined by a web at their base.
A little further on a couple of young owls were suspended on a tree. On
my inquiring what these birds had done to be so served, the rower made
me remark, on the most lofty of the fir trees, concave cylinders of
wood, closed at top and bottom, and having an aperture on one side.
These cylinders are placed on the highest part of the trees, in order to
tempt Wild ducks to lay their eggs in them, and they are afterwards
plundered by the country people. In one of these nests a brood of young
owls had been hatched instead of young ducks.
Presently afterwards the breast of a Cock of the wood was given me to
eat, by way of a bait. It had been shot this spring and dried in the
sun, without being previously cooked; neither had it so many
longitudinal cuts as that I have described in the foregoing pages.
As we proceeded further we saw seven or eight large white swans lying on
the water, making a loud noise, and biting one another with their beaks.
Cranes also are found here. The rower said he had shot one and nailed it
up against the wall, with all its flesh and feathers on. What an
absurdity!
The peasant who was my rower and companion had placed nets all along the
shore, in which he caught plenty of pike. He had upwards of thirty small
nets. The money with which he pays his taxes is chiefly acquired by
fishing. A dried pike of twenty pounds weight is sold for a dollar and
five marks, silver coin.
In one of the nets he found a large male Goosander caught (_Mergus
Merganser_).
The bill of this bird was long and narrow, of a blood red, blackish on
the upper edge. Its upper mandible longest, tipped with a hooked point
which rendered it obtuse, and furnished with thirty large teeth pointing
inwards. Lower mandible channelled underneath, and furnished with about
forty smaller teeth, likewise pointing inwards. A triple row of very
small teeth was observable in the upper mandible within the others.
Tongue narrow, bordered with bristles and with a double row of very
minute teeth. Nostrils oblong, placed in the substance of the bill. Eyes
round, with a crimson iris. A pellucid membrane, proceeding from the
inner corner of the eye, covers the ball while the bird is diving under
water; which is remarkable. It has besides a whitish membrane of greater
thickness (_membrana nictitans_), which closes the eye as in other
birds. The head is of a grey colour, with a very long pendulous blackish
crest composed of a few light downy feathers. Neck like that of a
Woodcock. Breast and belly white. Middle of the back black, with white
lateral spots, further on grey or whitish, with transverse undulated
lines. The ten outermost large feathers of the wing are black; the inner
ones black and white, so that the _speculum_, or spot of the wing, is
very large and white, divided by two black transverse lines. Tail short,
ash-coloured. Feet red. Legs compressed. Hind toe very small, with a
membranous lobe, and curved inwards. Fore toes three, the outermost of
four joints, middle one of three, and the innermost of two only. All the
toes are connected by a palmate web, and the innermost has, besides, a
marginal longitudinal membrane. The windpipe is remarkable, formed not
of half rings, as in most birds, but of circular ones. About the middle
it is dilated into a sort of bag, and further down into another smaller
one[22].
[22] On this subject see Dr. Latham's excellent paper in the fourth
vol. of the Linn. Society's Transactions, p. 90.