The river along which we had rowed for the space of almost three miles,
and which had hitherto been easily navigable, now threatened us
occasionally with interruption, from small shelves forming cascades, and
at length we came to three of these, very near each other, which were
absolutely impassable. One of them is called the waterfall of Tuken. My
companion, after committing all my property to my own care, laid his
knapsack on his back, and turning the boat bottom upwards, placed the
two oars longitudinally, so as to cross the seats. These rested on his
arms as he carried the boat over his head, and thus he scampered away
over hills and valleys, so that the devil himself could not have come up
with him.
[Illustration]
See a sketch of this boat annexed.
[Illustration]
Its length was twelve feet, breadth five, and depth two. The thickness
of the edge not more than two lines. The four planks which formed each
of its sides were of root of spruce fir, each about a span broad and
four lines thick. The two transverse boards or seats were of the
branches of the same tree. The seams were secured obliquely with cord as
thick as a goosequill.
Ice was still to be seen here and there near the shore of the river,
though not in any great quantity.
The trees of this neighbourhood are principally Common Fir (_Pinus
sylvestris_), with a smaller proportion of Spruce (_P. Abies_), and
Birch. Now and then some Poplars are to be seen. The shrubs are dwarf
kinds of Willow and Dwarf Birch (_Betula nana_); both now in blossom.
The more humble and herbaceous plants are Ling, (_Erica vulgaris_ and
_Tetralix_[23]), four kinds of _Vaccinium_, _Linnaea_[24], _Pyrola
pyrifolia_ (_P. secunda_), _Epilobium_, Golden rod (_Solidago Virga
aurea_), _Empetrum_ in flower, Dandelion, _Convallaria bifolia_, Sweet
grass (_Holcus odoratus_) in flower, Small smooth Rush (_Juncus
filiformis_), Jointed water Rush (_J. articulatus_), Water Horse-tail
(_Hippuris vulgaris_), Marsh Marigold (_Caltha palustris_), a _Mnium_
not in fructification, four species of _Lycopodium_, _Andromeda
polifolia_[25], Milfoil (_Achillea Millefolium_), and Small Sorrel
(_Rumex Acetosella_).
[23] The manuscript mentions both _Erica_ and _Tetralix_, yet the
latter is not in the _Flora Lapponica_, nor is it common in Sweden.
[24] This name occurs here for the first time in the manuscript.
[25] The original is _Daphne_ as above; see p. 23.
The birds I remarked were the Ringed Plover (_Charadrius Hiaticula_),
the Red-wing (_Turdus iliacus_), the Lumme (_Colymbus arcticus_), the
Tufted Duck (_Anas Fuligula_).
Also a few insects, as _Dytiscus natator_, &c.
The forest was rendered pleasant by the tender leaves of the Birch, more
advanced than any I had hitherto met with, owing to the rain which had
fallen the Saturday preceding, and the sunshine of this and the
foregoing day.
The banks of the river are composed of sand or small pebbles; on the
latter the water had deposited a blackish stain. A little before we
reached the church of Lycksele, the fourth waterfall presented itself.
This is more considerable than any of the three preceding, falling over
a rock. On its brink the curate had erected a mill, which in this
mountainous spot wanted no artificial dam, as Nature had prepared one in
the most complete manner.
The adjoining mountain consists of a mixed spar, and extends a good way
to the right, being in one part very lofty, and perpendicular, like a
vast wall, towards the shore. Some islands, rather considerable in size,
are seen in the river as we approach this waterfall.
At eight o'clock in the evening I arrived at the hospitable dwelling of
Mr. Oladron, the curate of Lycksele, who, as well as his wife, received
me with great kindness. They at first advised me to stay with them till
the next fast day, the Laplanders not being implicitly to be trusted,
and presenting their fire-arms at any stranger who comes upon them
unawares, or without some recommendation.
_May 30._
In the morning however my hosts changed their opinion, being
apprehensive of my journey being impeded by floods if I delayed it.
I here learned the manner in which the Laplanders prepare a kind of
cheese or curd, from the milk of the reindeer and the leaves of Sorrel
(_Rumex Acetosa_). They gather a large quantity of these leaves, which
they boil in a copper vessel, adding one third part water, stirring it
continually with a ladle that it may not burn, and adding fresh leaves
from time to time, till the whole acquires the consistence of a syrup.
This takes place in six or seven hours, after which it is set by to
cool, and is then mixed with the milk, and preserved for use from autumn
till the ensuing summer, in wooden vessels, or in the first stomach of
the reindeer. It is kept either in the caves of the mountains, or in
holes dug in the ground, lest it should be attacked by the mountain mice
(_Mus Lemmus_).
Near the shore at Lycksele I observed vast shoals of those small fishes
called the Glirr (_Cyprinus Aphya_), each about an inch and half long,
and two lines broad.
In this place I made a description and sketches of the whole caparison
of a reindeer, with the stick used by the Laplanders in driving that
useful animal.
[Illustration]
The latter, which serves as a walking stick, is round, two feet and half
long, and three inches thick, made of wood, see fig. 1. a, is a twisted
iron ring, encompassed with several smaller rings of the same metal, b b
b, which serve to make a rattling noise to urge the reindeer
occasionally to quicken his pace. c, is the head, turned out of a
reindeer's horn. d, the handle of turned wood. e, the stick itself,
which is likewise turned, of one piece with the handle, and tapering
towards the end.
[Illustration]
Fig. 2 is the bridle, made of green or blue cloth, bordered with
leather, a a, embroidered with tin foil, and fringed at the sides with
small strips of list, b b, about six inches long and one broad, of all
sorts of colours. Those at c c are only two or three inches long. The
cloth is lined on the inside with reindeer skin, stripped of its hair,
and dyed red with alder bark, and is in length, from e to e, nine or ten
inches, and from e to f about half as much. Its breadth, from f to g,
is three inches, but from a a to h h, only an inch and half.
At each end, f f, is a rope two feet long and as thick as a child's
finger, covered with the beforementioned kind of red leather, and
terminated by a tuft of various-coloured list. At the opposite angles, e
e, are two similar cords, bordered on one side for about eight inches
each, that is as far as i, with little strips of coloured list. To the
part i is fixed a rope of leather like a whip cord, l, twelve feet long,
with a noose at each end, one of which goes round the part already
described at i.
a a a, h h h, is placed at the forehead of the animal. The ropes, f f,
are tied round the horns, so that the tassels of list hang down on each
side. e e goes under its neck like a halter, and l is the rein, which is
fastened by the noose at its further end round the arm of the driver.
[Illustration]
Fig. 3 represents the saddle-cloth, which is about two feet and half
long, besides its ornaments, and six or seven inches broad. Its ends,
a b and a c, are joined under the reindeer's belly. The straps, d d d,
are a foot long.
Fig. 4 is the harness, a foot and half long, and three inches broad,
without its decorations. Under this is laid a roll, b, made of reindeer
skin, with the hair on, as thick as a man's arm, which contains a
twisted net. This is covered in its upper part by a, but the ends, c c,
are exposed to view, and covered with blue cloth embroidered with tin
foil, each of them terminating in a sort of ball, tied up with a thong,
e e, as the hairy part is with another thong.
[Illustration]
Fig. 5 has at one end a noose, a, which embraces the two balls just
described, from which a double leather thong, three inches broad and
four feet long, extends to a transverse piece of bone, c, serving to
take hold of the sledge in which the Laplander travels.
No. 3 therefore is placed on the back of the reindeer, b and c being
tied together below the shoulders. No. 4 is fixed upon the neck, and
fastened with f f over the chest, forming the saddle, the hairy part
serving to keep it from galling the animal. The ends, c c, pass between
the hind legs, and to them is fixed, as before mentioned, the leather
which draws the sledge.
I understood that the water, along part of which I had pursued my route,
was divided into broad navigable spaces, interrupted frequently by
narrow or precipitous passes, called by the name of a _forss_, force, of
which a long enumeration was given me.
The pasture ground near the parsonage of Lycksele was very poor, but
quite the reverse about a quarter of a mile distant. Here the butter was
extremely remarkable for its fine yellow colour, approaching almost to a
reddish or saffron hue. On my inquiring what kind of herbs most abounded
in these pastures, the people gave me a description of one which I
judged to be a _Melampyrum_, and on my drawing a sketch of that kind of
plant, they assured me it was what they meant, which is very plentiful
in their forests, and is called Kowall[26].
[26] Linnaeus has mentioned this circumstance in his _Flora
Lapponica, n. 240_, where he confounds _Melampyrum pratense_ and
_sylvaticum_ together as one species.
In the school here were only eight scholars.
I procured at Lycksele a Laplander's snuff-box, which is of a round
figure, turned out of the horn of a reindeer.
The church of Lycksele, built of timber, was in a very miserable state,
so that whenever it rained the congregation were as wet as if they had
been in the open air. It had altogether the appearance of a barn. The
seats were so narrow that those who sat on them were drawn neck and
heels together.
Here was a woman supposed to labour under the misfortune of a brood of
frogs in her stomach, owing to her having, in the course of the
preceding spring, drunk water which contained the spawn of these
animals. She thought she could feel three of them, and that herself, as
well as persons who sat near her, could hear them croak. Her uneasiness
was in some degree alleviated by drinking brandy. Salt had no effect in
destroying the frogs. Another person, who for some years had had the
same complaint, took doses of _Nux Vomica_, and was cured; but even this
powerful remedy had been tried on this woman in vain. I advised her to
try tar, but that she had already taken without success, having been
obliged to throw it up again[27].
[27] Linnaeus writes as if he did not absolutely disbelieve the
existence of these frogs, which were as much out of their place as
Jonah in the whale's belly. The patient probably laboured under a
debility of the stomach and bowels, not uncommon in a more luxurious
state of society, which is attended with frequent internal noise
from wind, especially when the mind is occasionally agitated. Yet
the idea of frogs or toads in the stomach has often been credited.
Not many years ago a story appeared in the Norwich paper, of a
gentleman's servant having eaten toad-spawn with water cresses,
which being hatched, occasioned dreadful uneasiness, till he brought
up a large toad by means of an emetic; and this story was said to
have been sworn before the mayor of Lynn, as if it had been really
true.
_May 31._
Divine service being over, I left Lycksele in order to proceed towards
Sorsele.
The riches of the Laplanders consist in the number of their reindeer,
and in the extent of the ground in which they feed. The poorest people
have from fifty to two hundred of these animals; the middle class from
three hundred to seven hundred, and the rich possess about a thousand.
The lands are from three to five miles in extent. Wild reindeer are
seldom met with in Lapmark. They chiefly occur on the common between
Granoen and Lycksele. It very often happens that those whose herds are
large lose some of their reindeer, which they generally find again in
the ensuing season, and they then drive them back to their old
companions. If they will not follow the herd, they are immediately
killed.
Several parts of Lapmark are inhabited by colonists from Finland, who,
by royal license, taking up their abode here, break up the soil into
corn and pasture lands[28]. They pay a certain tribute to the crown, and
are thenceforth free of all extraordinary taxes, as well as the native
Laplanders, being neither obliged to furnish a soldier for the army, nor
a sailor for the navy. Whether it be time of peace or war it is all the
same to them, as they are burthened with no taxes. These Finlanders are
permitted to fix in any part of Lapland in which they find a probability
of cultivating the ground to advantage, so that there is no doubt but
most part of Lapmark will in time become colonized and filled with
villages.
[28] These colonists (_novaccolae_) are often mentioned in the _Flora
Lapponica_.
At Easter, Whitsuntide and Christmas, as well as on the four annual
festivals by law established, the Laplanders and colonists usually
attend divine service at church, where they stay till the holidays are
over, and are accommodated in huts adjoining to the sacred edifice.
Besides the times above mentioned, the colonists go to church on
Lady-day, Midsummer, Michaelmas, and the 21st of September or St.
Matthew's day. Those who live at no great distance from a church, attend
there every other Sunday, to hear a sermon. On the intermediate Sundays,
prayers are read to the members of each family at home.
At Whitsuntide this year no Laplander was at church, the pikes happening
to spawn just at that time. This fishery constitutes the chief trade of
these people, and they were therefore now, for the most part, dispersed
among the alps, each in his own tract, in pursuit of this object.
I observed the forests to consist chiefly of Fir and Birch. Where woods
of the former had been burnt down, the latter sprung up in abundance,
and wherever the Birch abounded, the pasture ground was of the best
quality.
At Flaskesele I found _Rubus alpinus repens_ (_R. saxatilis_),
_Trientalis_, _Aconitum lycoctonum_, _Ulmaria_ (_Spiraea_), _Podagraria
tenuifolia sterilis_ (probably _Angelica sylvestris_), _Polypodium
Dryopteris_, _Thymelaea_ of the old writers (_Daphne Mezereum_), Herb
Christopher (_Actaea spicata_), and Juniper (_Juniperus communis_); also
_Lichenoides_ with a greyish white crust and flesh-coloured tubercles,
growing in watery places (_Lichen ericetorum_), and another on stones
with black tubercles. A yellow species with a leafy crust grew on the
Juniper (_L. juniperinus_).
I remarked here water abounding with a red ochraceous sediment like
arnotto (_Bixa Orellana_), such as I had before seen further south. It
was chiefly in the bogs near Flaskesele water-fall that this ochre was
to be found, and it stained the footsteps of passengers who passed over
it. The colonists use it to paint their window-frames red.
The eatable moss of Norway (_Lichen islandicus_) was here of two kinds,
the one broad and scattered, the other in thick tufts about three inches
high. Both of them are reddish towards the root, and are certainly only
varieties of each other.
Near the water side I met with the nest of a Sandpiper (_Tringa
Hypoleucos_), which is one of the smallest of its genus. The nest was
made of straw, and contained four eggs. The parent bird had flown away
at my approach.
In the neighbouring forest grew a rare little leafy _Lichenoides_, of a
fine saffron colour beneath, and bearing on the upper side flat oblong
shields (_Lichen croceus_). Also the _Boletus perennis_ (described in
_Fl. Lapp._), and a small white Agaric with gills alternately forked and
undivided.
Adjoining to the cataract of Gransele the strata in the left-hand bank
appeared as follows. Under the soil a brown sand, next to it some
fathoms depth of white, below which were two fathoms of a purple sand,
which lay upon small stones, and those upon larger ones on a level with
the water.
The Little Eared Grebe (_Colymbus auritus_) was here occasionally quite
black, or black with white spots under the wings. There was great
abundance of Wild Ducks, those birds abounding as much on this side of
Lycksele as on the other.
This part of the country is beautifully diversified with hills and
valleys, clothed with forests of birch intermixed with fir, which were
now reflected by the calm surface of the water.
In the _force_ or water-fall of Gransele are thirteen small islands.
I noticed on both sides of the river several summer huts of the
Laplanders, in which they reside, for a short time together, during that
season. A Laplander never remains more than a week on one spot, not
only because of seeking fresh pasture for his reindeer, but because he
cannot bear to stay long in a place. He drives the whole herd together,
young and old, into the river, to swim over to the opposite shore, which
these animals easily perform, though the stream is more than eight
gunshots wide.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
At one place, close to the river, was a Laplander's shop, raised on a
round pole, fig. a, as high as a tall man and as thick as one's arm.
This pole supported a long horizontal beam, b, with two cross pieces, c
c, which together formed the foundation of the edifice, and on this
rested the wooden walls, whose form, together with the roof and door,
may be more clearly seen at fig. 2. The height of the apartment was two
feet; its length and breadth a fathom each. This structure is never
moved from its place. The walls are very thin; the ceiling is of birch
bark, with a roof of wood and stone above it. It is scarcely possible to
conceive how the owner can creep into this building, the door being so
small.
In a small bay of the river a large stone stood two or three ells in
height above the water, which supported a fir tree six ells high, and,
as appeared from counting its annual shoots, twelve years old. It
seemed to have no particle of earth to nourish it; but perceiving some
cracks in the rock, I was persuaded that its roots must through them
find access to the water.
Towards evening I heard the note of the Red-wing (_Turdus iliacus_). On
the north side of the forest large pieces of ice still remained unmelted
near the shore.
The bark of the birch is extremely useful to the inhabitants of Lapland.
Of it they make their plates or trenchers, boat-scoops, shoes, tubs to
salt fish in, and baskets.
Near the shore grew the Naked Horse-tail (_Equisetum hyemale_), having a
shoot springing from its root on each side. The sheathing cups of its
stem are white, with both their upper and lower margins black. A more
remarkable circumstance is, that the whole plant is perennial, not
merely the root.
In the neighbouring marsh or moss the greater part of the herbage
consisted of _Juncellus aquaticus_[29], which new bore its diminutive
blossoms. I found three stamens to each scale, with a style among the
upper ones, which was divided half way down into three lobes. Some of
the spikes consisted only of stamens. The root is particularly curious,
being scaly, with an entangled tuft of fibres under each scale, which
form the basis of the turf.
[29] It must surely be the _Scirpus caespitosus_ of which Linnaeus
here speaks.
The Laplanders are very fond of brandy, which is remarkable in all
people addicted to fishing; and there is nothing that the Laplanders
pursue with such ardour as hunting and fishing.
_June 1._
We pursued our journey by water with considerable labour and difficulty
all night long, if it might be called night, which was as light as the
day, the sun disappearing for about half an hour only, and the
temperature of the air being rather cold. The colonist who was my
companion was obliged sometimes to wade along in the river, dragging the
boat after him, for half a mile together. His feet and legs were
protected by shoes made of birch bark. In the morning we went on shore,
in order to inquire for a native Laplander, who would undertake to be my
guide further on. Finding only an empty hut at the spot where we landed,
we proceeded as fast as we could to the next hut, a quarter of a mile
distant, which likewise proved unoccupied. At length we arrived at a
third hut, half a mile further, but met with as little success as at the
two former, it being quite empty. Upon which I dispatched my
fellow-traveller to a fourth hut, at some distance, to see if he could
find any person fit for my purpose, and I betook myself to the
contemplation of the wild scenes of Nature around me.
The soil here was extremely sterile, consisting of barren sand (_Arena
Glarea_) without any large stones or rocks, which are only seen near
the shores of the waters. Fir trees were rather thinly scattered, but
they were extremely lofty, towering up to the clouds. Here were spacious
tracts producing the finest timber I ever beheld. The ground was clothed
with Ling, Red Whortle-berries (_Vaccinium Vitis Idaea_), and mosses. In
such parts as were rather low grew smaller firs, amongst abundance of
birch, the ground there also producing Red Whortle-berries, as well as
the common black kind (_Vaccinium Myrtillus_), with _Polytrichum_
(_commune_). On the dry hills, which most abounded with large pines, the
finest timber was strewed around, felled by the force of the tempests,
lying in all directions, so as to render the country in some places
almost impenetrable. I seemed to have reached the residence of Pan
himself, and shall now describe the huts in which his subjects the
Laplanders contrive to resist the rigours of their native climate.
[Illustration]
The _Kodda_, or hut, is formed of double timbers, lying one upon
another, and has mostly six sides, rarely but four. It is supported
within by four inclining posts, fig. 2. a, as thick as one's arm,
crossing each other in pairs at the top, b, upon which is laid a
transverse beam, c, four ells in length. On each side lower down is
another cross piece of wood, d, serving to hang pipes on. The walls are
formed of beams of a similar thickness, but differing in length,
leaving a hole at the top to serve as a chimney, and a door at the side,
see fig. 3, a and b. These are covered with a layer of bark, either of
Spruce Fir or Birch, and over that is another layer of wood like the
first. In the centre, fig. 1, the fire is made on the ground, and the
inhabitants lie round it. In the middle of the chimney at fig. 2, c,
hangs a pole, on which the pot is suspended over the fire.
The height of the hut is three ells, its greatest breadth at the base
two fathoms.
They always construct their huts in places where they have ready access
to clear cold springs.
The inhabitants sleep quite naked on skins of reindeer, spread over a
layer of branches of Dwarf Birch (_Betula nana_), with similar skins
spread over them. The sexes rise from this simple couch, and dress
themselves promiscuously without any shame or concealment.
When, as occasionally happens in the course of the summer, they cannot
procure fresh water, and are necessitated to drink the warm sea water,
they are infallibly tormented with griping pains, with strong spasms in
the region of the stomach, and pain in the lower part of the abdomen,
accompanied with bloody urine. This is a species of colic, and is called
_ullem_. It generally lasts but one day, rarely two. The same thing
happens if they drink before they have broke their fast in a morning.
Every where around the huts I observed horns of reindeer lying
neglected, and it is remarkable that they were gnawed, and sometimes
half devoured, by squirrels.
At this season the young sprouting horns on the heads of those animals
had attained but two or three quarters of an ell in length, covered with
a soft and tender skin, so that I noticed, here and there, small drops
of blood, from the gnats having stung them. The reindeer has four
nipples, besides two spurious ones further back, which very rarely
afford any milk. There are no cutting teeth in its upper jaw. This
animal certainly ruminates, as Ray rightly judged, notwithstanding the
reports to the contrary collected in his Synopsis of Quadrupeds (_p.
88, 89_). The females are horned as well as the males, which is proper to
this order of quadrupeds, but the horns of the females are more slender
than those of the other sex.
In the country of Lapmark crawfish as well as fleas are unknown.
In the evening of the 1st of June we came to an island occupied by
fishermen. They were peasants from Granoen, a place eight miles distant.
They had built themselves a house without a chimney, so that the smoke
could escape only by the door. They had however a couch to sleep on.
The fish, of which they had collected about sixteen pounds, was hung up
in the hut to dry. It was chiefly Pike, with some Char (_Salmo
alpinus_).
The fat parts, with the intestines, after having been cleaned, are put
together till they become sour, when an oil is obtained for the purpose
of greasing shoes. The scales and larger fins are collected and dried
together. From them is afterwards procured, by boiling, an unctuous
substance, into which they dip their fishing-nets, having first dyed or
tanned them with birch bark, in order to make them more durable. The
spawn of the fish is dried, and afterwards used in bread, dumplings, and
what is called _v[:a]lling_ (a sort of gruel made by boiling flour or
oatmeal in milk or water). The livers are thrown away, being supposed to
occasion drowsiness, and pain in the head, when eaten.
These fishermen had been here six weeks, and intended staying a
fortnight longer, when the season of the pike's spawning would be over.
They lived during this period chiefly on the spawn and entrails of the
fish they caught.
For this fishery these people pay no tax, neither to the crown nor to
the native Laplander, who has free access to the water only when these
adventurers have left it. Though he himself pays tribute for it, he
dares not throw in the smallest net during the stay of his visitors;
for, if they find any of his nets, they may throw them up into the high
trees, as I was told they often had done.
The poor Laplander, who at this season has hardly any other subsistence
for himself or his family, can with difficulty catch a fish or two for
his own use. I asked one of them why he did not complain of this
encroachment; but was told that having once applied to the magistrate,
or judge of the district, the great man told him it was a trifle not
worth thinking about; and he esteems the decrees of this exalted
personage to be sacred, and altogether infallible, like the oracles of
Apollo. He reverences his king as a divinity, and is firmly of opinion
that if he were informed of the above grievance it would no longer be
suffered to exist.
_June 2._
The forest here was full of the noblest pine trees, growing to no
purpose with respect to the inhabitants, as the wood is not used even
for building huts, nor the bark for food, as it is in some other parts.
I wonder they have not contrived to turn these trees to some account, by
burning them for tar or pitch.
The colonists who reside among the Laplanders are beloved by them, and
treated with great kindness. These good people willingly point out to
the strangers where they may fix their abode so as to have access to
moist meadows affording good hay, which they themselves do not want,
their herds of reindeer preferring the driest pastures. They expect in
return that the colonists should supply them with milk and flour.
Ovid's description of the silver age is still applicable to the native
inhabitants of Lapland. Their soil is not wounded by the plough, nor is
the iron din of arms to be heard; neither have mankind found their way
to the bowels of the earth, nor do they engage in wars to define its
boundaries. They perpetually change their abode, live in tents, and
follow a pastoral life, just like the patriarchs of old.
Among these people the men are employed in the business of cookery, so
that the master of a family has no occasion to speak a good word to his
wife, when he wishes to give a hospitable entertainment to his
guests[30].
[30] When Linnaeus wrote this sentence, he seems to have had a
presentiment of his own matrimonial fate, just the reverse in this
very point of that he was describing.
The dress of these Laplanders is as follows.
On the head they wear a small cap, like those used at my native place of
Stenbrohult, made with eight seams covered with strips of brown cloth,
the cap itself being of a greyish colour. This reaches no lower than the
tips of the ears.
Their outer garment, or jacket, is open in front half way down the
bosom, below which part it is fastened with hooks, as far as the pit of
the stomach. Consequently the neck is bare, and from the effects of the
sun abroad and the smoke at home, approaches the complexion of a toad.
The jacket when loose reaches below the knees; but it is usually tied up
with a girdle, so as scarcely to reach so far, and is sloped off at the
bottom. The collar is of four fingers' breadth, thick, and stitched with
thread.
All the needle-work is performed by the women. They make their thread of
the sinews in the legs of the reindeer, separating them, while fresh,
with their teeth, into slender strings, which they twist together. A
kind of cord is also made of the roots of spruce fir.
The country bordering on the sea coast hereabouts, in some places
consists of grassy pastures, in others of pebbly or sandy tracts. Large
stones are rare.
The river of Umoea now began to swell, the weather having been for some
days very warm, so as to melt the ice and snow in the frozen regions
above. The stream was now so deep and strong that it was not to be
navigated without difficulty. In general the strongest flood does not
set-in till Midsummer.
This river, as I was informed, has its source in the alps about a mile
from the sea of Norway, and empties itself into the gulf of Bothnia at
Umoea.
No colonists are to be met with north of this river.
After proceeding for a while up the stream, we went on shore to repose a
little at a cottage. The wind blew very cold from the north.
About a year ago a man who lived at this place had killed his daughter
to prevent his son-in-law from inheriting his property.
A tree close to one of the tents was adorned with more than a dozen pair
of horns of the male reindeer, or _Brunren_. When castrated, the same
animal is called _Ren oxe_. The female is denominated _Kiaelfja_.
[Illustration]
The horns were shaped as in the annexed figure. The base is compressed
and very smooth, not knotty as in the stag. The middle part is curved
outward and backward, beyond which the horn is gradually bent forward
again and inward. Near the base one, two or three branches project
forward, of which some are palmate, having from two to five divisions
pointing upward (a). At the projecting part in the middle of the horn is
a little short simple branch (b). The summit is palmate, having from two
to five branches from its back part, which are curved inward (c).