They are subject to the _ullem_, or colic, of which I have already
spoken, _p. 127_, for which they use soot, snuff, salt, and other
remedies. The pain sometimes seizes them so violently that they crawl on
the ground while it lasts, not being able to stand or lie still. They
are also afflicted with the asthma, the epilepsy, and a swelling of the
_uvula_. The husband of a woman who had the last-mentioned disorder, cut
away a part of the swelling, but it grew as large again in the course of
a twelvemonth. The _prolapsus uteri_ also sometimes occurs.
Many persons have the pleurisy, and others rheumatic complaints in the
back, which descend down the hips and legs, leaving the part first
attacked. These complaints happen in summer as well as in winter.
We continued our course up the river of Umoea. At length, quitting the
main stream, we proceeded along a branch to the right, which bears the
name of Juita, and left Lycksele church at about four miles distance, as
near as I could guess, for the Laplanders know nothing about the matter.
The inhabitants of this country no longer use bows and arrows, but
rifle-guns loaded with bullets, not with small shot.
They wear no stockings. Their breeches, made of the coarse and slight
woollen cloth of the country called _walmal_, reach down to their feet,
tapering gradually to the bottom, and are tied with a bandage over their
half boots.
I observed the Red Whortle-berries (_Vaccinium Vitis Idaea_) were here of
a larger size than in the country lower down; but Juniper on the
contrary was very diminutive, and grew mostly in fens or watery places.
The Crake berries (_Empetrum nigrum_) were as large as the Black
Bilberry. Close to a waterfall in Juita Rotogviek or Rootforsen, in a
marsh on the right hand, I found Herb Paris (_Paris quadrifolia_),
_Aconitum lycoctonum_ and _Thalictrum_ (_flavum_). But what most
surprised and pleased me was the little round-leaved Yellow Violet, with
a branched stem, and narrow, smooth, not bearded, petals, described by
Morison, which had not before been observed in Sweden (_Viola biflora_).
Several kinds of Willows grew every where near the water, but had not
yet displayed their leaves.
I came to a hut, consisting of eighteen posts, covered with _walmal_, or
coarse cloth, ten feet long and eight broad. Also some winter huts, the
poles of which the Laplanders remove with them from place to place. Each
hut is formed with three poles, forked at the top. Under the shelter of
these huts or tents were suspended dried fish, cheese, clothes, pots and
various utensils. There were neither walls nor doors, consequently no
locks to protect them.
At length meeting with a very long shelvy contraction in the river, we
were obliged to quit our boat, and go by land in search of a Laplander
to serve as my guide further on, whom we expected to find at a place a
mile distant. But it appeared to me full a mile and half, over hills and
valleys, rivulets and stones. The hills were clad with Ling and with
_Empetrum_, which entangled our feet at every step; not to mention the
trees lying in all directions in our way, and over which we were obliged
to climb. The marshy spots were not less difficult to pass over. The
Bog-moss (_Sphagnum_) afforded but a treacherous support for our feet,
and the Dwarf Birch (_Betula nana_) entangled our legs.
I could not help remarking that all the fibres of the full-grown pine
trees seemed to be obliquely twisted, and in a contrary direction to
the diurnal motion of the sun. I leave this to the consideration of the
curious physiologist; whether it may arise from any thing in the soil or
air, or from any polar attraction[31].
[31] It may seem presumptuous to attempt the solution of a question
which Linnaeus has thus left in the dark; but perhaps the almost
continual action of the prevailing strong winds, such as he
describes in many parts of his journal, may give a twist to the
fibres of these pines during their growth.
Some of these pines bore tufted or fasciculated branches near their
summits, like those before mentioned, _p. 7_.
At length we came to a sort of bay or creek of the river, which we were
under the necessity of wading through. The water reached above our
waists, and was very cold. In the midst of this creek was so deep a hole
that the longest pole could scarcely fathom it. We had no resource but
to lay a pole across it, on which we passed over at the hazard of our
lives; and indeed when I reached the other side, I congratulated myself
on having had a very narrow escape. A neighbouring mountain affords grey
slate, but of a loose and brittle kind.
We had next to pass a marshy tract, almost entirely under water, for the
course of a mile, nor is it easy to conceive the difficulties of the
undertaking. At every step we were knee-deep in water; and if we thought
to find a sure footing on some grassy tuft, it proved treacherous, and
only sunk us lower. Sometimes we came where no bottom was to be felt,
and were obliged to measure back our weary steps. Our half boots were
filled with the coldest water, as the frost, in some places, still
remained in the ground. Had our sufferings been inflicted as a capital
punishment, they would, even in that case, have been cruel, what then
had we to complain of? I wished I had never undertaken my journey, for
all the elements seemed adverse. It rained and blowed hard upon us. I
wondered that I escaped with life, though certainly not without
excessive fatigue and loss of strength.
After having thus for a long time gone in pursuit of my new Lapland
guide, we reposed ourselves about six o'clock in the morning, wrung the
water out of our clothes, and dried our weary limbs, while the cold
north wind parched us as much on one side as the fire scorched us on the
other, and the gnats kept inflicting their stings. I had now my fill of
travelling.
The whole landed property of the Laplander who owns this tract consists
chiefly of marshes, here called _stygx_. A divine could never describe a
place of future punishment more horrible than this country, nor could
the Styx of the poets exceed it. I may therefore boast of having visited
the Stygian territories.
We now directed our steps towards the desert of Lapmark, not knowing
where we went.
A man who lived nearest to the forlorn spot just described, but had not
been at it for twenty years past, went in search of some one to conduct
me further, while I rested a little near a fire. I wished for nothing so
much as to be able to go back by water to the place from whence I came;
but I dreaded returning to the boat the way we had already passed,
knowing my corporeal frame to be not altogether of iron or steel. I
would gladly have gone eight or ten miles by a dry road to the boat, but
no such road was here to be found. The hardy Laplanders themselves, born
to labour as the birds to fly, could not help complaining, and declared
they had never been reduced to such extremity before. I could not help
pitying them.
A marsh called _Lyckmyran_ (lucky marsh), but which might more properly
be called _Olycksmyran_ (unlucky marsh), gives rise to a small rivulet
which takes its course to Lycksele, and abounds with ochre. The water is
covered with a film. I am persuaded that iron might be found there.
_June 3._
We waited till about two o'clock in the afternoon for the Laplander I
had sent on the expedition above mentioned, who at length returned quite
spent with fatigue. He had made the requisite inquiries at many of the
huts, but in vain. He was accompanied by a person whose appearance was
such that at first I did not know whether I beheld a man or a woman. I
scarcely believe that any poetical description of a fury could come up
to the idea, which this Lapland fair-one excited. It might well be
imagined that she was truly of Stygian origin. Her stature was very
diminutive. Her face of the darkest brown from the effects of smoke. Her
eyes dark and sparkling. Her eyebrows black. Her pitchy-coloured hair
hung loose about her head, and on it she wore a flat red cap. She had a
grey petticoat; and from her neck, which resembled the skin of a frog,
were suspended a pair of large loose breasts of the same brown
complexion, but encompassed, by way of ornament, with brass rings. Round
her waist she wore a girdle, and on her feet a pair of half boots.
Her first aspect really struck me with dread; but though a fury in
appearance, she addressed me, with mingled pity and reserve, in the
following terms:
"O thou poor man! what hard destiny can have brought thee hither, to a
place never visited by any one before? This is the first time I ever
beheld a stranger. Thou miserable creature! how didst thou come, and
whither wilt thou go? Dost thou not perceive what houses and habitations
we have, and with how much difficulty we go to church?"
I entreated her to point out some way by which I might continue my
journey in any direction, so as not to be forced to return the way I
came.
"Nay, man," said she, "thou hast only to go the same way back again;
for the river overflows so much, it is not possible for thee to proceed
further in this direction. From us thou hast no assistance to expect in
the prosecution of thy journey, as my husband, who might have helped
thee, is ill. Thou mayst inquire for our next neighbour, who lives about
a mile off, and perhaps, if thou shouldst meet with him, he may give
thee some assistance, but I really believe it will scarcely be in his
power."
I inquired how far it was to Sorsele. "That we do not know," replied
she; "but in the present state of the roads it is at least seven days
journey from hence, as my husband has told me."
My health and strength being by this time materially impaired by wading
through such an extent of marshes, laden with my apparel and luggage,
for the Laplander had enough to do to carry the boat; by walking for
whole nights together; by not having for a long time tasted any boiled
meat; by drinking a great quantity of water, as nothing else was to be
had; and by eating nothing but fish, unsalted and crawling with vermin,
I must have perished but for a piece of dried and salted reindeer's
flesh, given me by my kind hostess the clergyman's wife at Lycksele.
This food, however, without bread, proved unwholesome and indigestible.
How I longed once more to meet with people who feed on spoon-meat! I
inquired of this woman whether she could give me any thing to eat. She
replied, "Nothing but fish." I looked at the fresh fish, as it was
called, but perceiving its mouth to be full of maggots, I had no
appetite to touch it; but though it thus abated my hunger, it did not
recruit my strength. I asked if I could have any reindeer tongues, which
are commonly dried for sale, and served up even at the tables of the
great; but was answered in the negative. "Have you no cheese made of
reindeer's milk?" said I. "Yes," replied she, "but it is a mile off."
"If it were here, would you allow me to buy some?" "I have no desire,"
answered the good woman, "that thou shouldst die in my country for want
of food."
On arriving at her hut, I perceived three cheeses lying under a shed
without walls, and took the smallest of them, which she, after some
consultation, allowed me to purchase.
[Illustration]
The cap of my hostess, like that of all the Lapland women, was very
remarkable. It was made of double red cloth, as is usually the case, of
a round flat form. The upper side A was flat, a foot broad, and stitched
round the edge, where the lining was turned over. At the under side B
was a hole to receive the head, with a projecting border round it. The
lining being loose, the cap covers the head more or less, at the
pleasure of the wearer.
As to shift, she, like all her countrywomen, was destitute of any such
garment. She wore a collar or tippet of the breadth of two fingers,
stitched with thread, and bordered next the skin with brass rings. Over
this she wore two grey jackets, both alike, which reached to her knees,
just like those worn by the men.
[Illustration]
I was at last obliged to return the way I came, though very unwillingly,
heartily wishing it might never be my fate to see this place again. It
was as bad as a visit to Acheron. If I could have run up the bed of a
river like a Laplander, I might have gone on, but that was impossible.
On my return I observed that the basis of all the tufts of grass, which
abound in _mosses_ or marshy spots, was the little rushy plant with an
entangled root (_Scirpus caespitosus_) of which I have already spoken.
The roots of this vegetable rise every year higher and higher above the
soil, so that it seems to have a principal share in forming meadows out
of bogs. It is also the basis of all the most remarkable floating
islands[32].
[32] In the _Flora Suecica_, and _Am[oe]n. Acad. v. 1.511_, these
properties are attributed to the _Sch[oe]nus Mariscus_, which
Scheuchzer in his _Agrostographia, p. 377_, assures us forms the
floating islands near Tivoli.
I heard the note of some Ptarmigans (_Tetrao Lagopus_), which sounded
like a kind of laughter. On approaching them I observed that their necks
were brown, their bodies white, with three or four brown feathers on the
shoulders. Their tails were of a darkish hue[33].
[33] These birds had partly acquired their summer plumage.
I noticed the Agaric of the Spruce Fir (_Agaricus Fl. Lapp. n. 517_), a
flat sessile species, which is the chief remedy used by the Laplanders
against gnats, by smoking themselves as well as their reindeer with it.
When these insects become very numerous and troublesome, they force the
reindeer from their pastures. Even those which have been a whole year
away from home are obliged to return. The Laplanders lay small piles of
this fungus, every morning and evening, upon the fire in their huts, by
which means only they are enabled to sleep at their ease.
I was also shown the Agaric of the Willow (_Boletus suaveolens Fl. Lapp.
n. 522_), which has a very fragrant scent. The people assured me it was
formerly the fashion for young men, when going to visit their
mistresses, to use this fungus as a perfume, in order to render
themselves more agreeable[34].
[34] I must here present the English reader with a passage on this
subject from the _Flora Lapponica_. "The Lapland youth, having found
this Agaric, carefully preserves it in a little pocket hanging at
his waist, that its grateful perfume may render him more acceptable
to his favourite fair-one. O whimsical Venus! in other regions you
must be treated with coffee and chocolate, preserves and sweetmeats,
wines and dainties, jewels and pearls, gold and silver, silks and
cosmetics, balls and assemblies, music and theatrical exhibitions:
here you are satisfied with a little withered fungus!"
The Cloudberry (_Rubus Chamaemorus_) abounded hereabouts, and was now in
bloom. The petals varied in number from four to seven. I observed this
plant blossoming equally well on the most lofty mountains, as was also
the case with the Crake berry (_Empetrum nigrum_).
I again met with the hemipterous insect mentioned _p. 31_, which feeds
on fish, and with it another black and dotted one of the coleopterous
order, which is seen running with the former among the scales of fish,
as well as in the crevices of the floors of the Lapland huts. The
last-mentioned insect smells like rue. See figure.
[Illustration]
An oblong piece of brown cloth is sewed into the back part of the collar
of the women's jackets.
_June 4._
Adjoining to a hut I remarked some round pieces, apparently of a sort of
napped cloth, as black as pitch. Not being able to imagine what they
could be, I was informed they were the stomachs or rennet-bags of the
reindeer turned inside out, for the purpose of preserving the milk of
that animal in a dry state till winter. Before the milk thus preserved
can be used, it is soaked in warm water. Some use bladders for the same
purpose. In the more mountainous parts they boil sorrel (_Rumex
Acetosa_) with the milk which they preserve for winter use.
I wondered, indeed I more than wondered, how these poor people could
feed entirely on fish, sometimes boiled fresh, sometimes dried, and then
either boiled, or roasted before the fire on a wooden spit. They roast
their fish thoroughly, and boil it better and longer than ever I saw
practised before. They know no other soup or spoon-meat than the water
in which their fish has been boiled. If from any accident they catch no
fish, they cannot procure a morsel of food. At midsummer they first
begin to milk the reindeer, and maintain themselves on the milk till
autumn; when they kill some of those valuable animals, and by various
contrivances get a scanty supply of food through the winter.
The young children sleep in oblong leather cradles, without any thing
like swaddling-clothes, enveloped in dried bog-moss (_Sphagnum
palustre_), lined with the hair of the reindeer. In this soft and warm
nest they are secured against the most intense cold.
The winter huts, capable of being removed from place to place, consist
of four large curved poles, perforated at the top and fastened two and
two together, which being supported by four other straight sticks, form
a kind of arch. The whole is covered, except at the very top, where an
opening is left for a chimney, with the coarse cloth called _walmar_ or
_walmal_. The edifice when finished is about four feet high.
Tormentil (_Tormentilla officinalis_) here always grows in boggy ground,
which is remarkable. Its root is chewed along with the inner bark of the
Alder, and the saliva thus impregnated is applied to leather, to dye it
of a red colour. Thus their harness, reins, girdles, gloves, &c. are
tanned.
The extensive pine forests here grow to no use. As nobody wants timber,
the trees fall and rot upon the ground. I suggested the advantage of
extracting pitch and tar from them, but was answered by the judge of the
district that, from the remoteness of the situation, what could be
obtained from them would not pay for the trouble. But as no place in the
whole Swedish territories can afford so much, and it might easily in
winter be conveyed twenty miles, surely it deserves attention.
In a grassy spot near the river I found a rare species of _Ranunculus_,
with a three-leaved calyx and a little yellow upright flower, which
appears to be nondescript. I met with it but twice or thrice in this
neighbourhood and no where else. (This is _R. lapponicus Fl. Lapp. n.
231. t. 3. f. 4._)
In the marshes I remarked that what I had previously found on the hills,
and taken for a kind of white _Byssus_, had here possessed itself of the
tops of the Bog-moss (_Sphagnum_), and bore flesh-coloured shields, so
that an inexperienced observer might easily be so far deceived by it as
to think those shields the fructification of the _Sphagnum_. (_Lichen
ericetorum._ See _Fl. Lapp. n. 455._)
It is remarkable that the Juniper here always grows in watery places.
The berries are scantily produced, nor are the people of the country at
all acquainted with the method of making a spiritous liquor from them,
as in other places.
I showed them how to make a kind of brandy of the young tops of the fir,
as a little improvement upon their usual watery beverage[35], but they
thought the scheme impracticable; nor could they conceive it possible to
obtain any thing drinkable from the sap of the birch. They seemed
determined to keep entirely to water.
[35] Linnaeus's words are "to wash down the water."
I could not observe that the nights were at all less light than the
days, except when the sun was clouded.
The poor Laplanders find the church festivals, or days of public
thanksgiving, in the spring of the year, very burthensome and
oppressive, as they are in general obliged to pass the river at the
hazard of their lives. The water at that season is neither sufficiently
frozen to bear them, nor open enough to be navigated; so they are under
the necessity of wading frequently up to their arms, and are half dead
with cold and fatigue by the time they get to church. They must either
undergo this hardship, or be fined ten silver dollars and do penance for
three Sundays; which surely is too severe[36].
[36] This is no new instance of contrariety between the tyranny of
man and the gospel of Christ, whose "yoke is easy and his burthen
light." If these innocent people were to complain of it to their
spiritual guides, they might be told, as on another occasion, see
_p. 130_, that "it was a trifle not worth thinking about." We cannot
here say with Pope,
"The devil and the king divide the prize,"
but we may presume that the fine is considered as no less
indispensable an atonement than the penance.--Pity that such
tractable sheep should not be better worth shearing!
This day I found the very hairy variety of the Purple Marsh Cinquefoil
(_Comarum palustre_) mentioned by Plukenet (_t. 212, f. 2_). The plants
were of the last year's growth, and their hairiness the more
conspicuous; but it is a mere variety.
The Laplanders never eat but twice a day, often only once, and that
towards evening.
On the banks of the river, where fragments are to be found of all the
productions of the mountains, I met with silver ore.
The insects which fell under my observation this day were the great
Black Humble-bee (_Apis terrestris_), the Wasp, the Gnat (_Culex
pipiens_), and the Flesh Fly (_Musca carnaria_).
_June 5._
On the mountainous ground adjoining to the river I met with an
herbaceous plant never before observed in Sweden. The flowers were not
yet blown, but appeared within a few days of coming to perfection. I
opened some, and found them of a papilionaceous structure. The tip of
the standard, as well as of the keel, which was cloven, had a purplish
hue. The whole habit of the plant showed it to be an _Astragalus_ (_A.
alpinus_ _Fl. Lapp. n. 267. t. 9. f. 1._), which was confirmed by the
last-year's pods, remaining on their stalks. I called it for the present
_Liquiritia minor_ (Small Liquorice).
By this time I became almost starved, having had nothing fit to eat or
drink for four days past, neither boiled provision of any sort, nor any
kind of spoon-meat. I had chiefly been supported by the dried flesh of
the reindeer above mentioned, which my stomach could not well digest,
nor indeed bear except in small quantities. The fish which was offered
me I could not taste, even to preserve my life, as it swarmed with
vermin. At length I happily reached the house of the curate, and
obtained some fresh meat.
The curate here had caught the Gwiniad (_Salmo Lavaretus_) five palms in
length, which is an unusual size. This fish is remarkable for spawning
near Lycksele church about Michaelmas, but in the alps at Christmas,
advancing gradually up the river between those two periods after
pairing.
The small Gwiniad (_Salmo Albula_) pairs under the ice at this place
about Christmas. In Smoland it pairs at Michaelmas.
Reindeer milk is excellent for making cheese, a pail of about three
quarts yielding a large quantity. On this account those who keep cows
add a portion of it to their milk; by which method they obtain much more
cheese than otherwise.
The reindeer suffers great hardship in autumn, when, the snow being all
melted away during summer, a sudden frost freezes the mountain Lichen
(_L. rangiferinus_), which is his only winter food. When this fails, the
animal has no other resource, for he never touches hay. His keepers fell
the trees in order to supply him with the filamentous Lichens that
clothe their branches; but this kind of food does not supply the place
of what is natural to him. It is astonishing how he can get at his
proper food through the deep snow that covers it, and by which it is
protected from the severe frosts.
The reindeer feeds also on frogs, snakes, and even on the Lemming or
Mountain Rat (_Mus Lemmus_), often pursuing the latter to so great a
distance as not to find his way back again. This happened in several
instances a few years ago, when these rats came down in immense numbers
from the mountains.
The Pike pairs in this neighbourhood as soon as the river becomes open.
I met with some strangers who had been six or eight miles, or more, to
the north of Lycksele, and had resided there on a fishing party ever
since Easter. I accompanied one of them to his hut. Each man had
collected about twenty pounds of fish, which were drying.
It is certainly very unjust that these people, settled more than eight
miles down the country on the other side of Lycksele church, should
drive the native Laplanders away, and be allowed to fish in these upper
regions, which have no communication with the sea shore, and this
without paying any tax to the crown or tithe to the curate of the
parish, which the fishermen of the country are obliged either to do, or
to farm the fishery of the land-holder, who pays tribute for his land,
and who justly complains of the hardship he suffers in various respects,
without daring to make any open resistance.
When any of these complaints were made by the Laplanders in my hearing,
I asked why they did not seek redress in a proper manner.
"Alas!" replied they, "we have no means of procuring access to our
sovereign. Nobody here exercises any authority to protect us, or to
prevent these interlopers from doing with us just as they please. We
cannot procure witnesses in our favour, scattered about as we are in an
unfrequented desert, and therefore we are robbed with impunity. We can
never believe that this happens with the approbation of our Gracious
Sovereign. If we were assured that it was his will, we should submit
with dutiful resignation."
The clergy also complained to me that, after having resided in this
wilderness, and fulfilled the duties of their calling with all possible
care and diligence, they are never in the way of promotion, like those
employed in schools, or any other station, where they are more at hand
to solicit preferment. Indeed it seems very just, that, after having
served here for twenty years, they should obtain some small preferment
in a more cultivated country, where their children might be properly
educated, and enjoy the advantages of civilized society.
A schoolmaster at this time resident here, who had exerted himself in
the most exemplary manner, so as to do as much in two years as his
predecessor had done in ten, with respect to teaching Swedish to the
children of the Laplanders, a task harder than that of the plough, had
no other prospect than still to remain in obscurity, even his great
merit not being likely to procure him any further advancement.
In the forests of this neighbourhood good pasturage is now and then to
be found; but the corn-fields and meadows are poor, especially the
former. After the marshes have been mowed one season, or at most two,
they produce no more grass. The Bog-moss (_Sphagnum_) overruns them, and
renders them barren. Surely this extensive country might be as well
cultivated as Helsingland, which is equally mountainous, and in other
respects less fit for improvement than this. I have noticed large tracts
of loose bog or moss land, which I am persuaded would make excellent
meadows, if any drain, though ever so small, were made to carry off the
water. This, I was told, had been tried in some instances, but that no
grass grew on the land in consequence of it; on the contrary, the whole
was dried up and barren. This arises from the turfy roots of the rushy
tribe of plants, which, though killed by the draining, still occupy the
ground.
As to the pine forests, if the superfluous part of them were felled, and
birch trees permitted to grow in their stead, a better crop of grass
would consequently be produced. When the country is mountainous, this
would be attended with less success; but with least of all where the
soil is of the barren sandy kind (_Arena Glarea_), of which I have
already spoken several times in the course of my tour. On such a soil,
after the burning of a pine forest, nothing grows for the ensuing ten or
twenty years. But might not even this dreary soil be improved by felling
the trees, and leaving them to rot upon the ground, so as to form in
process of time a layer of vegetable mould? In Scania, Buck-wheat
(_Polygonum Fagopyrum_) is sown on a sandy soil, but here the climate is
too severe. Yet perhaps some other plant might be found to cultivate
even here. It would be very desirable to discover some means of
eradicating the Bog-moss.
The reason why the marshes prove barren, after the grass has been mown,
is easily explained by considering the nature of the rushy plants, whose
roots extend themselves gradually upwards, and choke the _Carices_ and
other grasses, when the latter are cut down to the ground, so that their
roots wither. Might this evil be cured by burning?
I wondered that the Laplanders hereabouts had not built a score of small
houses, lofty enough at least to be entered in an upright posture, as
they have such abundance of wood at hand. On my expressing my surprise
at this, they answered: "In summer we are in one spot, in winter at
another, perhaps twenty miles distant, where we can find moss for our
reindeer." I asked "why they did not collect this moss in the summer,
that they might have a supply of it during the winter frosts?" They
replied, that they give their whole attention to fishing in summer
time, far from the places where this moss abounds and where they reside
in winter.
These people eat a great deal of flesh meat. A family of four persons
consumes at least one reindeer every week, from the time when the
preserved fish becomes too stale to be eatable, till the return of the
fishing season. Surely they might manage better in this respect than
they do. When the Laplander in summer catches no fish, he must either
starve, or kill some of his reindeer. He has no other cattle or domestic
animals than the reindeer and the dog: the latter cannot serve him for
food in his rambling excursions; but whenever he can kill Gluttons
(_Mustela Gulo_), Squirrels, Martins, Bears or Beavers, in short any
thing except Foxes and Wolves, he devours them. His whole sustenance is
derived from the flesh of these animals, wild fowl, and the reindeer,
with fish and water. A Laplander, therefore, whose family consists of
four persons, including himself, when he has no other meat, kills a
reindeer every week, three of which are equal to an ox; he consequently
consumes about thirty of those animals in the course of the winter,
which are equal to ten oxen, whereas a single ox is sufficient for a
Swedish peasant.
The peasants settled in this neighbourhood, in time of scarcity eat
chaff, as well as the inner bark of pine trees separated from the scaly
cuticle. They grind and then bake it in order to render it fit for food.
A part is reserved for their cattle, being cut obliquely into pieces of
two fingers' breadth, by which the fodder of the cows, goats, and sheep
is very much spared. The bark is collected at the time when the sap
rises in the tree, and, after being dried in the sun, is kept for winter
use. They grind it into meal, bake bread of it, and make grains to feed
swine upon, which render those animals extremely fat, and save a great
deal of corn.
The Laplanders dye their wool red chiefly with the Blood-root or
Tormentil, _Tormentilla erecta_. A red colour is given to their leather
by means of fir bark. The men wear a kind of trowsers which reach down
to their feet, and are tied round their half boots, so as to keep out
water. They wear no shirt nor stockings. The waistband is fastened by
thongs, not buttons.
As to the diseases of these people, I was informed here that fevers are
very rare indeed, and that the smallpox is also of unfrequent
occurrence. Hence, when it does come, many old people with grey hairs
fall a sacrifice to the latter disorder, which however is not widely
communicated, any more than fever, because of the very thin population.
Of intermittent fever I met with only one example, and of _calculus_
another. They cure a cough by sulphur laid on the lighted fungus which
serves them as tinder, or on the fire, the smoke of which inhaled into
the lungs is esteemed a specific; but it is a very fallacious one. For
the headache a small bit of the aforesaid fungus is laid on the place
where the pain is most violent, and, being set on fire, it burns slowly
till the part is excoriated. This therefore is the _Moxa_ of the
Laplanders. In case of a _prolapsus uvulae_ they cut off the protuberance
with a pair of scissars. For the colic or belly-ache they rub the nails
with salt, besides which they administer oil internally.
I here satisfied myself about the native species of _Angelica_, which
are two only, not three. The Bi[oe]rnstut is _Angelica sylvestris_, the
Botsk _A. Archangelica_. (See _Flora Lapponica, n. 101, 102_.)
The bountiful provision of Nature is evinced in providing mankind with
bed and bedding even in this savage wilderness. The great Hair-moss
(_Polytrichum commune_), called by the Laplanders Romsi, grows copiously
in their damp forests, and is used for this purpose. They choose the
starry-headed plants, out of the tufts of which they cut a surface as
large as they please for a bed or bolster, separating it from the earth
beneath; and although the shoots are scarcely branched, they are
nevertheless so entangled at the roots as not to be separable from each
other. This mossy cushion is very soft and elastic, not growing hard by
pressure; and if a similar portion of it be made to serve as a coverlet,
nothing can be more warm and comfortable. I have often made use of it
with admiration; and if any writer had published a description of this
simple contrivance, which necessity has taught the Laplanders, I should
almost imagine that our counterpanes were but an imitation of it. They
fold this bed together, tying it up into a roll that may be grasped by a
man's arms, which if necessary they carry with them to the place where
they mean to sleep the night following. If it becomes too dry and
compressed, its former elasticity is restored by a little moisture.
_June 6._
In order to observe how fast the water rose in the river, which was
increasing daily, I had fixed a perpendicular stick the preceding
evening at eight o'clock close to the margin of the stream. This morning
at five it had gained a foot in depth and two feet in breadth. Near the
bank, which is continually undermining in some part or other by the
current, stones are found incrusted with sand, coagulated as it were
about them by means of iron. Some of them seem as if they had been blown
to pieces with gunpowder.
I was told that the peasants had in the winter preceding foretold an
unusual rise of the river, and a great flood, in the course of this
summer, which when it happens is a considerable detriment to those whose
pasture grounds are overflowed by it. Their mode of judging is by the
swelling of the stream in winter, to which they observe that in the
ensuing summer always to bear a proportion.
The colonists settled in Lapmark sow a great deal of turnip seed, which
frequently succeeds very well and produces a plentiful crop. The native
Laplanders are so fond of this root, that they will often give a cheese
in exchange for a turnip; than which nothing can be more foolish.
At Gr[:a]no I met with perfectly white flowers of the Dog's Violet (_Viola
canina_): also _Bistorta alpina sobolifera_, or more properly perhaps
_vivipara_ (_Polygonum viviparum_), as the bulbs had grown out into
small leaves.
Rain fell in the night, accompanied with thunder and lightning.
_June 7._
[Illustration]
Early in the morning I left Gr[:a]no, and in passing through the forest
observed on the Juniper magnificent specimens of that gelatinous
substance, about which and its heroic virtues in curing the jaundice so
much has been said[37]. I picked up a curious insect which I then named
_Cantharis niger maculatus et undulatus_ (_Cicindela sylvatica_), and
which I afterwards met with in great abundance throughout the pine
forests of this province, though rare elsewhere, flying or running with
great celerity along the roads and paths. Here also it was my fortune to
see a rare bird not hitherto described. If I am not mistaken, it is what
Professor Rudbeck called _Pica Lapponum_. I could only examine it
through my spying-glass, but I perceived all the characters of a
_Turdus_, so that I do not scruple to define it _Turdus caud[^a]_,
_rubr[^a] medio cinere[^a]_. It had moreover the flight and voice of a
_Turdus_, screaming in the same manner. Towards evening I noticed a
black sort of Plover, with legs of a yellowish green, and had also an
opportunity of killing a Lomm (_Colymbus arcticus_), which I stuffed,
and of which I made a description in my ornithological manuscript. The
bill was not toothed.
[37] _Tremella juniperina_ of Linnaeus, _T. Sabinae_ of Dickson: see
_English Botany, v. 10, t. 710_, which I am persuaded is merely an
exudation from the shrub that bears it.
Towards evening I reached Stocknasmark and Iamtboht, where grew the
pretty little _Cameraria_ of Ruppius and Dillenius (_Montia fontana_), a
plant that had never fallen in my way before. In K[:a]llheden it was
peculiarly abundant, and afterwards I found it common throughout
Westbothnia. It is one of the smallest of plants.
The Laplanders in this neighbourhood had set traps to catch squirrels.
Each consists of a piece of wood cloven half way down, and baited with a
piece of dried fungus with which the animal is enticed. The fungus used
for this purpose is an Agaric with a bulbous stalk and crimson cap (_A.
integer [beta]. Sp. Pl._).
In the huts I observed suspended over the tables two tails of the great
female Wood Grous (_Tetrao Urogallus_), spread so as to make a kind of
circular fan, which had a handsome appearance.
[Illustration]
The Little Cotton-Grass (_Eriophorum alpinum_) and the _Mesomora_
(_Cornus suecica_) grow abundantly in this neighbourhood. About the
water were several _Ephemerae_. I also caught a little insect of the
beetle (or coleopterous) kind, the shells of which were red, the thorax
blue with a red margin, the whole shining with a tinge of gold. In
Lapland are scarcely any fleas, no bugs, though plenty of lice, nor any
frogs nor serpents.
_June 8._
Very early in the morning I set out again on my journey, and in my way
examined the Palmated Orchis with a green or pale flower, differing from
all others in the shape of its nectary, which is like a bag and not a
spur. Hence I have referred it to _Satyrium_ (_S. viride_). It connects
that genus with the real _Orchides_ with palmate bulbs[38].
[38] The more correct characters, founded by Haller and Swartz on
the anthers, reduce this plant very successfully to the genus
_Orchis_, with _Satyrium hircinum_ likewise.
I remarked that all the women hereabouts feed their infants by means of
a horn, nor do they take the trouble of boiling the milk which they thus
administer, so that no wonder the children have worms. I could not help
being astonished that these peasants did not suckle their children.
About four o'clock in the afternoon I found myself once more at the town
of Umoea. Large flies like gnats with great black wings were flying
about in the air, which I had before taken, May 27, for some species of
_Musca_; but their peculiar flight now gave me another opinion, which
was strengthened by the form of their poisers (_halteres_) and the round
entire figure of their wings. (_Empis borealis_). Here I found a curious
Ladybird (_Coccinella trifasciata_) of an orange colour, with oblong,
not round, spots.
A remarkable change had taken place in the appearance of the country
during the fortnight which had elapsed since I was here before. The
Aspen trees were then quite leafless; now they were in full foliage; the
grass was very dry, and about a quarter (of an ell?) high.
It is a general practice throughout Lapland in the autumn to set traps
in the more unfrequented parts of the woods to catch the Wood Grous
(_Urogallus_). Some of these traps were still remaining, but I could
never properly observe their construction till I met with one in the
course of this day's journey. This machine consists of six parallel
pieces of wood, each at a little distance from the next, and all joined
together by a transverse piece at each end. Over them the twig of a tree
is placed horizontally, one end of it being fastened to the frame, the
other introduced into a loop holding a weight. An upright splinter of
wood is made to support this twig in an arched position, so that when
the bird goes under it to roost, or otherwise touches the splinter, the
latter falls down, and the bird is caught.
[Illustration]
This being a day of public thanksgiving, I remained at Umoea.
Agues are very uncommon in this country, but St. Anthony's fire seems to
be proportionably more frequent, insomuch that every body complains of
being troubled with it. At Upsal and Stockholm agues are common, and at
Lund acute fevers terminate in that complaint.
Throughout Lycksele Lapland there are no other domestic animals than
Reindeer and Dogs. The latter are generally of a hoary grey colour, and
a middling size.
The Laplanders use no artificial beverage.
_June 9._
Near the town of Umoea, in a springy spot on the side of a hill, I met
with three or four curious species of moss.
1. A kind of _Hypnum_ or _Polytrichum_, with a branched stem bearing
flowers in the form of shields. (_Mnium fontanum Sp. Pl. Bartramia
fontana Fl. Brit._ The male plant.)
[Illustration]
From the root arises an oblique stem (a) about half an inch long,
entirely clothed with very sharp-pointed leaves. From thence the main
stem (b) grows perpendicularly to the height of an inch, of a purple
colour, clothed with ovate, acute, membranous, whitish scales, each half
embracing the stem. Between the bases of these is a solitary line or
rib, into which they are inserted in an alternate order. I imagine the
oblique part of the stem (a) to be of autumnal or winter growth, and the
upright portion (b) to have been put forth in summer or spring. At the
summit of the latter stands a sort of blossom (c), composed of six
scales, of which the three lower are opposite and shortest; the three
upper larger, ovate, pointed, somewhat spreading, permanent, of a
whitish green colour. Within these scales or petals is a flat, or
slightly convex, disk, composed of innumerable very slender whitish
filaments with reddish tips, much shorter than the surrounding scales.
Can these filaments be the stamens? They are by no means rudiments of
leaves. One, two or three branches grow out at the base of this flower,
the latter being for the most part perennial, and go through the same
mode of growth and flowering as the parent plant. The calyx therefore,
contrary to the nature of the common _Polytrichum_, is proliferous from
its base.
It is curious that all the flowers, in each tuft composed perhaps of a
hundred plants, rise exactly to the same level. It is also remarkable
that the new stems form a similar angle to that made by the growth of
the preceding year (d), so that the whole assemblage of them is as
regularly disposed as a body of soldiers.
[Illustration]
2. This moss (_Bartramia fontana_, the female plant) agrees in many
respects with the preceding, but differs in the following particulars.
The roots or shoots of the preceding year are quite black, while those
of the present season are of a paler or whitish green; nor are the scaly
leaves so far remote from each other as that the red stem appears so
regularly between them. The plants are also more branched, and less
curved. In the last place, this is a fruit-bearing kind, having purple
stalks two inches long, each of which sustains a globular head, larger
than usual in mosses, bent obliquely, and of a green colour. The
_calyptra_ or veil is remarkably small, smooth, and membranous.
3. is a moss (_Bryum bimum Fl. Brit. Engl. Bot. t. 1518._) whose stem
and leaves partake of a blood-red hue. The latter are regularly and
alternately imbricated, oblong, pointed; the upper ones forming a head
at the summits of the branches, as in No. 1, but the disk is not
exposed, for the lower leaves which surround it are the longest, and the
inner ones shortest, just the reverse of No. 1. This No. 3 therefore is
the male, and No. 4 the female, both found on the same plant[39]. The
latter bears, on a long purple stalk, greenish at the upper part, an
oblong pear-shaped pendulous head (or capsule). The veil is very small.
[39] Here we find the Hedwigian theory of the fructification of
mosses forestalled by the good sense and accurate observation of
Linnaeus, though out of respect for Dillenius he soon after adopted
the erroneous opinion of the latter, making what is really the male
the female, and _vice versa_. See Transactions of the Linnaean
Society, _v._ 7. 255. Not being able to investigate every point of
systematical and physiological botany thoroughly himself, he, with
amiable deference, often trusted to those who had more particularly
studied certain subjects.
5. is a small _Lichen_ or _Marchantia_ (_Riccia_) with oblong leaves,
contracted in the middle, sprinkled with brown powder.
The annexed figure represents a large kind of gnat caught in the same
place (_Tipula rivosa_).
[Illustration]
_June 10._
(Here occur in the manuscript long Latin descriptions of _Rubus
arcticus_ and _Betula nana_, which are printed in a more finished
state in the _Flora Lapponica_, _ed._ 2. 170 and 274.)
_June 11._
Being Sunday, and a day of continued rain, I remained at Umoea.
_June 12._
I took my departure very early in the morning. The weather was so hazy I
could not see the distance of half a gun-shot before me. I wandered
along in a perpetual mist, which made the grass as wet as if it had
rained. The sun appeared quite dim, wading as it were through the
clouds. By nine o'clock the mists began to disperse, and the sun shone
forth. The Spruce Fir (_Pinus Abies_), hitherto of an uniform dark
green, now began to put forth its lighter-coloured buds, a welcome sign
of advancing summer[40].
[40] Linnaeus, in the _Am[oe]nitates Academicae_, says the Swedish
summer is in its highest beauty when "the fresh shoots of the fir
illuminate the woods."
_Chamaedaphne_ of Buxbaum (_Andromeda polifolia_) was at this time in its
highest beauty, decorating the marshy grounds in a most agreeable
manner. The flowers are quite blood-red before they expand, but when
full-grown the corolla is of a flesh-colour. Scarcely any painter's art
can so happily imitate the beauty of a fine female complexion; still
less could any artificial colour upon the face itself bear a comparison
with this lovely blossom. As I contemplated it I could not help thinking
of Andromeda as described by the poets; and the more I meditated upon
their descriptions, the more applicable they seemed to the little plant
before me, so that if these writers had had it in view, they could
scarcely have contrived a more apposite fable. Andromeda is represented
by them as a virgin of most exquisite and unrivalled charms; but these
charms remain in perfection only so long as she retains her virgin
purity, which is also applicable to the plant, now preparing to
celebrate its nuptials. This plant is always fixed on some little turfy
hillock in the midst of the swamps, as Andromeda herself was chained to
a rock in the sea, which bathed her feet, as the fresh water does the
roots of the plant. Dragons and venomous serpents surrounded her, as
toads and other reptiles frequent the abode of her vegetable prototype,
and, when they pair in the spring, throw mud and water over its leaves
and branches. As the distressed virgin cast down her blushing face
through excessive affliction, so does the rosy-coloured flower hang its
head, growing paler and paler till it withers away. Hence, as this plant
forms a new genus, I have chosen for it the name of _Andromeda_[41].
[41] Linnaeus has drawn this fanciful analogy further in his _Flora
Lapponica_. "At length," says he, "comes Perseus in the shape of
Summer, dries up the surrounding water and destroys the monsters,
rendering the damsel a fruitful mother, who then carries her head
(the capsule) erect."
Every where near the road grew the _Mesomora_ or Herbaceous Cornel
(_Cornus suecica_, very minutely described in _Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. 39_.
See also _English Botany, v. 5. t. 310_.).
All the little woods and copses by the road side abounded with
Butterflies of the Fritillary tribe, without silver spots. The great
Dragon Fly with two flat lobes at its tail (_Libellula forcipata_), and
another species with blue wings (_L. Virgo_), were also common.
Various modes of rocking children in cradles are adopted in different
places. In Smoland the cradle is suspended by an elastic pole, on which
it swings up and down perpendicularly. The poorer Laplanders rock their
infants on branches of trees, but those of superior rank have cradles
that commonly roll from side to side. In the part of the country where I
was now travelling, the cradles rock vertically, or from head to foot,
as in the figure.
[Illustration]
Close to the road hung the under jaw of a Horse, having six fore teeth,
much worn and blunted, two canine teeth, and at a distance from the
latter twelve grinders, six on each side. If I knew how many teeth and
of what peculiar form, as well as how many udders, and where situated,
each animal has, I should perhaps be able to contrive a most natural
methodical arrangement of quadrupeds[42].
[42] Here the Linnaean system of _Mammalia_ seems first to have
occurred to the mind of its author.
I could not help remarking that the very best fields of this part of the
country, in which from six to ten barns commonly stood, were almost
entirely occupied with turfy hillocks producing nothing but Hair-moss,
_Polytrichum_, and that quite dried up. Some of the barns were evidently
in a decayed state; which made me suspect this condition of the land to
be an increasing evil, and that it had formerly been more productive
than at present. Indeed some of these tumps were so close together that
no grass had room to grow between them. If the cause of this evil, and a
cure for it, could be discovered, the husbandman would have reason to
rejoice. Wherever these hillocks abounded, the earth seemed to be of a
loose texture, consisting of either mud or clay. When I stepped upon
them they gave way, and when cut open they appeared all hollow and
unsound. I conceive the frost to have a great share in their formation,
which when it leaves the ground causes a vacuity, and the turf, loosened
from the soil, is raised up.
The insects which occurred to my notice this day, besides those above
mentioned, were the following:
A black _Ichneumon_, like a Humble Bee, with club-shaped antennae four
lines long, and blueish wings. Its mouth armed with a pair of toothed
forceps. Thorax hairy, with several smooth spots interspersed. Abdomen
depressed, ovate, rough at the base with greyish hairs, and furnished
with a series of scales beneath, see fig. b. Feet pale red, otherwise
the general colour of the insect is black. It lives on the willow. (This
appears to be the _Tenthredo lucorum_, a species not preserved in the
Linnaean cabinet.)
[Illustration]
A small _Papilio_, of the fritillary tribe, with one silver mark
underneath of the form of a shield. See it among those of Petiver
collected in Portugal. (This must surely be _Papilio C album_.)
A greyish Butterfly with feathered antennae, whose female has no wings.
See Swammerdam. (_Phalaena antiqua._)
An elegant little blackish Butterfly, besprinkled with snow-white spots
like rings, smooth and polished on the under side, was very plentiful in
the paths.
A black _Tipula_ was running over the water, and turning round like a
_Gyrinus_ or Water Flea. (_Cimex lacustris._)
In the wells, the _Swammerdamia_ of Swammerdam and Lister ran about with
great velocity. Among these was a very minute insect, which I could not
ascertain.
An _Elasticus_, (_Elater_, probably the _aeneus_,) of a golden black,
with striated cases to the wings, and geniculated antennae.
A reddish _Cantharis_, with black antennae, and light grey cases to the
wings.
I now entered the territory of Pithoea. It rained about eleven o'clock
for half an hour, otherwise the day was fine.