A GENEPvAL COLLECTION OF THE BEST AND MOST INTERESTING VOYAGES AND TRAVELS IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD; MANY OF WHICH ARE NOW FIRST TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH. DIGESTED ON A NEW PLAN. BY JOHN PINKERTON, AUTHOR OF MODERN GEOGRAPHY, &c. &c. ILLUSTRATED WITH PLATES. VOLUME THE FIRST. LONDON: - PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME, PATERNOSTER-ROW; AND CADELL AND DAVIES, IN THE STRAND. 1808. f\ Strahan mi Picflnn, Hrinieis-Sueet, Lonoon. G /LI LIBRARY DNIVERSITy OF CAI.rFORNIA SANTA BARBARA CONTENTS Of THE FIRST VOLUME. m» Page 'T^HE Voyages of Sir Hugh Willoughby and others to the Northern Parts of RvJJia and Siberia, .... - I Firji Voyage of the Dutch to the North cf Europe, - - - 8l Second Voyage of the fame, - - - - - 85 Third Voyage of the fame, - - - - - 90 Differ tat ion of Johyi Ifaac Pont anus concerning the North-eaji Paffage, - 127 P^egnard's Journey to Lapland, ISc. - - - - 131 Journey of Maupertuis to the Polar Circle, - - - 231 Outhier's Journal of aVoyage to the North, - - - 259 Travels of M. Arwid Ehrenmalm into Wejlern Nordland,^c. - - 337 Jccount of Danijl:) Lapland, by Leems, - - • • 376 A'ilifon^s Voyage from Archangel, - - - - - 49 1 A new jxcount of Samoiedia and the Samoiedes, - • - 522 Journal rff even Seamen left at Spilpergcn, - - - 535 Account of Forty-two Perfons Jhipwrecked 7iear Spitfbcrgen, - - 5J7 Phipp's Journal of a Voyage to the North Pole, - - - S2>^ Le R y's Narrative of four Ruffian Sailors, cafl upon the Ifland of F.afl Spitfhergen, 595 BacklironCt CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. Page BackJiroTn*s Voyage to S/)itJhergen, - - . - - 614 Von TroiFs Letters on Iceland, - - - - - 621 Kerguelen's Voyage to the North, - - - -' - 735 Earl of Cumberland's Voyage to the Azores, • - - 804 Raleigh'' s Report of an Engagement near the Azores, - - 824 Voyage to Tercera, by De Chajle, ? - - / - 833 A GENERAL PREFACE EXPLAINING THE PLAN AND ARRANGEMENT OF THIS WORK. THE reader of this large and expensive collection, the most volu- minous of the kind ever published, except the Histoire Generale des Voyages, (which extends to twenty-four volumes in quarto, including the Supplements,) is entitled to enquire into the causes of its plan and arrangement. The varieties of hmnan opinion, even among the Scien- tific, have long formed a topic of trivial observation ; and they who have the least examined the subject, usually decide with the greatest dogma- tism and celerity. But the present cause being of great importance to the Publishers, Avho have embarked a large sum of money in equip- ing this literary fleet, which, without a strong popular gale, cannot re- turn to port with a freight worthy of their expectation, it is hoped they will not suffer by the calm of neglect, or the storms of envy and calumny. Trusting to the usual candour, which they have experienced from the Public, they believe that an explanation of no great length will suftice to convince the unprejudiced, of the preference due to the method followed in the present collection. With this view alone, they must mention that the defects of the only other system of this kind, " The General History of Voyages and Tra- vels," in the French language, have been long apparent even to careless observers. The original plan of that great collection belongs to an English author, Green, the editor of the four volumes of voyages, commonly called Astleys, fi'om the name of the proprietor. A man he certainly was of curious learning and research in this branch of literature ; but VOL. I. a his IV PREFACE:. liis juclgviiicnt and tasle are b}- no means equal lo his erudition. The 1 ravels into each country are introduced b}' a large account of that coun- Irv, cliictly derived from the very travels which he is about to insert; so that there is a needless repetition ; and often a dryness of discussion, and superfluous anxiety about the pretended accuracy of frivolous or false information, that unite to disgust the most patient reader : and the work of course fell into such a decline of estimation, that it stopped at ihe fourth vohune, being alike an object of neglect ^vith the Public and with the learned. Another radical cause of this failure Avas the very title, and assumption, that the voyages into distant countries, performed by distant persons, and even at distant ages, could form the subject of a histor}^ which implies a continuous and well digested narrative of successive events in chro- nological order. In compiling this pretended history, the editor sub- jected himself to the greatest disadvantage; the chief interest and autlicnticily of the voyage being lost by the assumption of the third ]>erson; one great charm in reading books of travels consisting in the personal interest, arising from the author's own narrative of his own feelinss and dangers. The instruction to be derived from such works is also violated by injudicious or unfailhfld extracts; a defect too Avell known in the old collection called Purchas's Pilgrims, in which that venerable author has exerted his utmost judgement, ability, and discernment, in selecting the most useless parts of the unhappy authors im})risoned in his jail ; leaving the patient reader to consult the originals, if he wish for solid information. "With the noble example of Ilakhiyt before his eyes, it is surprising that he should fall into this error; but the want of judgement can never be supplied by fancy, or by memory, which ought ever to be subordinate to that supreme monarch of the mind; and whose laws alone can give stability and duration to any human production. From these defects the work of Green, amidst great pretensions to accuracy, and solemn discussions of mere trifles, with notes replete with learned contradictions, and minute and microscopic balancing of one 1 1 straw I'fiEFACE. V straw-agalnst another, is yet unsatisfactory in the great object, the accurarc representation of the text and ideas of the original traA'ellers. Hence ii is well known that, Avhilc his work is forgotten, the French translation, presented in the first twelve volumes of the Histoire Generak cles Voyages,, cannot be consulted or quoted with impunity. This is certainly a heavy grievance to the purchaser of such an expensive work, Avho has reason to expect that he has procured a complete library of voyages and travels ; but finds, on the contrary, that he must purchase the originals, if he desires either to read without error, or to quote without inaccuracy. The plan of annotation, pursued by Green and Prevost, is also liable to strong objections. A difference of opinion, between an editor and his original author, can scarcely be of such moment as to divert the reader from the course and interest of the narrative. The contradiction of the text by a note is seldom pleasing, and must be done upon another authority, commonly not superior to the original. It Avould have been remarkably easy for the Editor to have given many corrective notes from his own Geography; which may be regarded as a perpetual commentary upon the voyages and travels here collected. But the facility of such a plan Avas more obvious than its honesty, in enlarging a work, by information, already in the hands of the Public, and diffused among numerous readers, by numerous editions, both in Eui'opc and America. The peculiar province of an annotator is to illustrate obscure passages, (though some commentators rather obscure than illustrate,) and in such a collection as the present there are happily few obscurities to illustrate. The easy parade of learned notes also apj^ears incongruous in a work designed for popular amusement, as well as general infor- mation. In works of a magnitude surpassing their limited comprehension, the tnost ignorant are the most apt to decide,, and the most malicious to condemn. For fools will rush where angels fear to tread. a 2 Men Tl PREFACE. Men of reading and candour may compare this work with thai of Prevost, which still remains the most esteemed of all the former col- lections ; and then judge whether the plain and veracious plan, here adupted, be not of superior advantage to the dry historical narralive, and inaccurate quotations of that meretricious work; which in the French translation resembles the mistress of the Roman Poet, infida sed pulchra. The author at first proposed a work of similar beauty, with marginal indications and other typographical advantages, and some account of the authors whose travels were not thought Avorthy of being inserted. But as on this plan not above one volume could have been published in the course of a year, it was over-ruled. The omission of the accounts of obscure travellers is supplied by the ample catalogue contained in the last volume ; and the first plan has been radically adhered to in the general presentation of the authors, with their original authenticity ; so that this collection may be used with the same confidence as the original works themselves ; an advantage which, though of supreme importance, will rarely be obtained from similar compilations. Among other advantages of the present, it must not be forgotten that perhaps the only travels Avorth preservation, in the former large col- lections in the English language, by Churchill, Green, Harris, the Harleian, &c. will here be found reprinted, so as to exonerate the pur- chaser from a prodigious expense. Many volumes of high price, such as Pococke's, Shaw's, &c. &c. will also be here found entire, with the single omission of wretched plates, which convey no idea of the objects. Translations and extracts of many important travels, not before known in the English language, are also intermingled ; with several small treatises, objects of research among the curious, and otherwise liable to be lost or unknown, such as Ferber's Tract on the Mineralogy of Derbyshire, Dolomicu's singular and interesting pamphlet on the terrible Earth- quakes of Calabria, 1783, only known in the Roman edition; with several other examples of similar curiosity and rarity. In diis point of view it is believed that the purchaser of this work could not procure the same collection, in the originals, for less than three or four hundred pounds ; not to mention that he must be peculiarly fortunate if he were to . PREFACE. VU to procure some of them at any expense, and after the search of i^^iff^jy years. Even the plates accompanying this work have often been objects of pecuhar care ; many of them are from original drawings, imparted by the hberahty of Enghsh voyagers and travellers : and most of the sin- gular and beautiful views in France are selected from the Voyage PittO' resque de la France, a work which sells at eighty guineas. The Editor has even been surprised at the anxiety of the Publishers to furnish novelty in this department ; and the exertions of Mr. Cook, the engraver, deserve honourable mention, both for their accuracy and beauty. The first volume presents two historical pieces on the first successful attempt of English navigators in modern times, the discovery of northern Russia by Chan- celor, and the consequent commercial intercourse, which has proved of so much importance to both nations. The events of 1812 and 1813 will render these subjects still more interesting than when they were engraved in 1807. The idea of these decorations was taken from the Histoire Generale des Voyages ; but it was afterwards thought more advisable, and more consonant to the plan of the work, to substitute real views. Some readers seem to have expected charts, which are only useful to navigators ; and to answer that purpose must be executed upon the largest scale. Where no traveller has appeared to give a good general account of a country, that country is of course omitted ; this work being a collection of voyages and travels, and not a system of geography, or a compilation from detached authors. A supplemental volume, or vohunes, might, in the course of years, remedy this, with some few other omissions above specified. Such deficiencies are unavoidable in a collection of this uni- versal nature ; and the supplemental volumes of the French collection amount to no less than five. The original plan proposed by the Editor must have extended to twenty volumes ; and he always suspected that the restriction of the plan to twelve, proposed by the Publishers, could not be accomplished, without the sacrifice of many essential articles, or an unad- visable disproportion in the parts allotted to the different divisions of the globe Viii ¥ RET' ACE. globe. With some omissions, above stated, and which, with piibUc en- com'agement, might easily be supphed ; and with defects and errors inci- dent to all hmnan productions, especially of this extent, the Editor still hopes that it will be found the most complete collection of voyages and travels ever laid before the Public in any age or country. It Avas proposed to have prefixed an introduction, containing a short but comprehensive history of the rise and progress of discovery, from the most ancient to the most modern times ; but it was found as proper, and more convenient, to reserve it as a retrospect for the last volume ; in which, without forestalling the reader's curiosity, it may assist his recollection, like the summing up of a cause ; and may, at the same time, enable him, after the inspection of such an assemblage of information on the various regions of the globe, to perceive, at one view, the progress that had been made, and the portions that still remain imperfect. He will also there find some observations on the improved plan, that has been adopted by most travellers, since the pub- lication of the voyages of the immortal Cook ; and which have rendered many former accounts of too little consequence, to be at all considered in a collection of this nature. A GENERAL TAELE OF CONTENTS EUROPE. VOL. I. THE Voyages of Sir Hugh Willoughby and others to the Northern Parts of Ruffia and Siberia Firft Voyage of the Dutch to the North of Eu- rope Second Voyage of the fame Third ditto ditto Diflertation of John Ifaac Pontanus, concerning tlie North Eaft Paffage Regnard's Journey to Lapland, &c. Journey of Maupertuis to the Polar Circle Onthier's Journal of a Voyage to the North Travels of M. Arvvid Ehrenmalm into Western Nordland, &c. Account of Danish Lapland, by Leems AUifon's Voyage from Archangel A new Account of Samoiedia and the Samoiedes Journal of Seven Seamen left at Spitftergen Phipps's Journal of a Voyage to the North Pole Le Roy's Narrative of Four Ruffian Sailors, call upon the liland of Eall Spitfbergen Backflrom's Voyage to Spitlhergen Von Troil's Letters on Iceland Kergueland's Voyage to the North Earl of Cumberland's Voyage to the Azores Raleigh's Report of an Engagement near the Azores Voyage to Tercera, by De Chafte VOL. IL Voyage to England and Scotland, by Gonzales Shaw's Tour to the West of England Sketch of a Tour into Derbylhire, by William Bray, F. A. S. Oryctography of Derbyfliire, by Ferber Travels through feveral parts of England, by C. P. Moritz Skrine's Tour through Wales Malkin's Tour through Walcb Haffell's Tour to the Ifle of Wight Heath's Account of the Wands of Scilly Robertfon's Tour through the Ifle of Man VOL. in. A Tour in Scotland, by Thomas Pennant, Efq. Pennant's Second Tour in Scotland Account of the Drofacks, from Garnet's Tour Martin's Defcription of the Weflern lilands Martin's Voyage to St. Kikla An Account of Hirta and Rona, by Sir George Mackenzie, of Tarbat Brand's Defcription of the Orkneys, and Shet- land An AbllracS of Young's Tour in Ireland Hamilton's Letters on the Northern Coafl of Ire- land VOL. IV. Lifter's Journey to Paris, 1698 Young's Travels in France Saufllire's Attempts to reach the Summit of Mont Blanc Ramoud's Journey to the Summit of Mont Perdu VOL. V. Spallanzani's Travels in Italy DolomiLu's Account of the Earthquakes in Cala- bria in 1783. Bourgoanne's Travels in Spain Coxe's Travels in Switzerland K A GENERAL TABLE OP CONTENTS. VOL. VI. Riefbeck's Travels through Germany Coxe's Travels in Denmark Coxe's Travels in Norway Portia's Travels in Sweden Coxe's Travels in Ruflia Travels of Rabbi Benjamin — Rubruquis Marco Polo Two Mahometans NieuhofF's Travels in China Bell's Travels in Afia Hamel's Travels in Korea ASIA. VOL. VIL A Defcription of Tibet The Travels of Goez from Labor to China Travels through Tibet, by feveral Miffionaries Caron's Account of Japan Diary on the Coaft of Japan, 1673 Kempfer's Hiftory of Japan VOL. VIIL Journal of Sir Thomas Roe, Embaflador to the Great Mogul Bernier's Voyage to the Eaft Indies Extra<5l from Tavernier's Voyages, concerning the Diamond Mines Hamilton's Account of the Eaft Indies Low's Difcovery of the Banians Buchanan's Journey through Myfore, Canara, and Malabar VOL. IX. ExtraAs from the Travels of Pietro Delle Valle in Perfia Abftratts of Chardin's Travels in Perfia Defcription of Perfia, from Harris's CoUedlion, re-publiflied by Dr. Campbell Francklin's Tour in the South of Perfia Extrads from Forfter's Travels, concerning the Northern Parts of Perfia Accounts of Independent Tartary Jenkinfon's Travels to Bucharia Balbi's Voyage to Pegu Fitch's Voyage to Pegu, cSrc. Symes's Embafly to Ava Turpin's Hiftory of Siam Baron's Defcription of Tonqueen Richards's Hiftory of Tonquin Bovis's Hiftory of Cochin China VOL. X. Niebuhr's Travels in Arabia Blount's Voyage to the Levant Dandini's Voyage to Mount Libanus Maundrell's Journey from Aleppo to Jerufalem Journey from Cairo to Mount Sinai Dr. Pococke's Travels in the Eaft ASIATIC ISLANDS. VOL. XL Dampier's Account of the Phillippines Obfervations on the Phillippine Iflands and the Ifle of France, from the French of M. de Guignes Beeckman's Voyage to Borneo / Account of Java and Batavia, from the Voyages of Stavorinus — Celebes, Amboyna, &c. ditto Pigafetta's Voyage round the World Extrads from the Treatile on Navigation of An- tonio Pigafetta 12 Auftralafia, Introdudory Obfervations from the Work of the Prefident de Brofles Pelfart's Voyage to Auftralafia Tafman's Voyage for the Difcovery of Southern Countries Dampier's Account of New Holland Abftrad of Captain Cook's Firft Voyage Second ditto Laft ditto Voyage for tlie Difcovery of Southern Land« ftom the French of M. Peron A GENERAL TABLE OF CONTENTS. XI NORTH AMERICA. VOL. XII. Colon's Difcovery of the Weft Indies Dilcoveries made by the Englifti in America from the Reign of Henry VII, to the Clofe of that of Queen Elizabeth Frobiflier's Firft Voyage in fearch of the North Weft Paflage to China, made in 1576 Frobiflier's Second Voyage made for the Difco- very of the North Weft Paflage> made in 1577, with a Defcription of the Country aud People Frobiiher's Third Voyage for the Difcovery of the North Weft Paffage, made in 1578 Difcovery of, and Voyages to, Virginia Cartier's Difcovery ot the Ifland of New France VOL. xin. Smith's History of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles Lahontan's Travels in Canada Memoirs of North America Kalm's Travels in North America Burnaby's Travels through the Middle Settle- ments iu North America, in 1759 and 1760 SOUTH AMERICA. VOL. XIV. Betagh's Account of Peru Ovalle's Historical Relation of Chili Condamine's Travels in South America Bouguer's Voyage to Peru Ulloa's Voyage to South America NieuhofF's Voyages and Travels into Brazil AFRICA. VOL. XV. A Voyage to Abyffinia, by Father Jerome Lobe Poncet's Journey to Abyflinia Browne's Journey to Dar-Fur Pococke's Travels in Eg3rpt Addifon's Account of West Barbary Windhufs's Journey to Mequinee Shaw's Travels in Barbary Lempriere's Tour to Morocco Abd Allatif 's Relation refpeding Egypt VOL. XVL Thunberg"* Account of the Cape of Good Hope Voyage to Congo, by Angelo and Carli Merolla's Voyage to Congo The ftrange Adventures of Andrew Battel, of Leigli, in Eflex, fent by the Portuguefe Pri- foner to Angola Bonnan's Description of the Coaft of Guinea Proyart's History of Loango, Kakongo, and other Kingdoms in Africa Adamfon's Voyage to Senegal, the Island of Goree, and the River Gambia Santo's Hiftory of Eaftern Ethiopia Rochon's' Voyage to Madagafcar Glas's Hiftory of the Canary Iflands Park's Travels in Africa SUPPLEMENT. VOL. XVII. Retrofpe 247 248 252 259 408 439 413 414 433 436 522 - 504 - 784 - 796 - 526 -651 - 705 - 721 VOL. XI. ^ Burmah Temple, Prince of Wales Ifland,~^ Frontifpiece. 2. View of the Bafon des Chutes, Ifle of Bourbon, ...... 69 3. View near the River d'Abord, ditto,! o 4. Fall of the River des Roches, ditto, J " 5*j.Town of St. James, Ifland of St. Helena, i;^ 6. The Church at Batavia, - - - 173 7. Ifle of Bourou, from the Road, 8. Dory Harbour, New Guinea, g. Otaheite, - - . . . Rock at Tolaga, New Zealand, Infide of a Hippah, New Zealand, Jefuit's College, Madeira, 7 Governor's Caftle, ditto, j " Chriftmas Harbour, Kerguelen's Land, 10. II. 12. >3- 14- 247 477 502 529 542 564 567 lyjCrater on the Ifland of Amfterdam, / i6( Refolution Bay, in the Marquefas, 17. View in the Ifland of Rotterdam, - 18. Dance in the Friendly Ifles, - 19. A Fiatooka or Moral, in Tongataboo, 20. Canoe of the Sandwich Ifles, 21. Sea Horfes . . - . 22. View of Port Napoleon, Ifle of France, 23. View on the Great River, ditto, 24. View of the Three Mammilles Moun- * tains, ditto, » 25. View on the Mountain de Calibafl^es, ditto, .... 26. View of Sydney, with the Mouth of the Paramatta, ... ^1- 59s 606 616 668 674 735 738 761 762 764 903 XIV A GENERAL LIST OF PLATES. VOL. xrr. I. Philadelphia, from the Great Tree at Kenfington, - - To face the Title. I. Eaft View of Baltimore, Maryland, - 309 3. George Town and City of Wafhington, - 343 4. Wright's Ferry on the Sufquehanna, Pennfylvania, - - . . . 382 5. View on the River Schuylkill, near Phila- delphia, - - - - J . 383 ~^. Quebec from Point Levy, - - t- - 396 9- 10. II. Habitations at Nootka Sound, - - 544 Natives at Oonalaflika and their Habita- tions, - - - - - • S5^ View of Rofeau, in the Ifland of Dominica, 57 1 View of St. Anthony's Nofe, on the North River, Province New York, - - 621 Pierced Ifland, a remarkable Rock, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, ... 642 VOL. XIH. 1. Natural Bridge in Virginia, To face the Title. 2. Coffer of Perotte, .... 266 3. View on the River St. Lawrence, - "1 4. Charadleriftic -Scenery of the Hudfon V 271 River, - - - - - J 5. Falls of Niagara, ----- 296 6. Falls of Montmorenci, - - . . 674 7. Great Falls of the Potomac, - - • --720 8. View of the Pafaic Falls from the Eaft, 9. — — South, 734 10. Peak, of Orizaba, from the Foreft of Xalapor, ------ 7J3 1 1 . View of the Havanna, from Jefu del Monte,^ - 756 13. Volcanoes of Puebla, as feen from the City of Mexico, . - - - 765 VOL. XIV. 1 . Natural Bridges of Icononza, To face the Title. Cafcade of the River Vinagre, View of Paramaribo, Skinning of the Abama Snake, Indian Female of the Arrowauka Nation, Chimborazo, from the Plain of Tapia I 53 256 256 283 9- 10. II. 12. '3- 14. Fall of Tequcndania, - .. - - --xi 2 Paflage of Quindiu in the Andes, - -^16 Uncommon Bridges in South America, - 530 Palace of the Incas at Canar, - - 548 View of Buenos Ayres, ... 642 View of the Ifland of St. Thomas, - -.702 City of St. Sebaflian,-Rio do Janeiro,") The Aquedu(5t in Uio de Janeiro, - j " ' VOL. 1. Genaeter, the Capital of Ago^vma, To face the Title. 2. Mountains of Samayut, Abyifinia, - - 3 3. The Town of Adowe, - - - - 96 4. Part of the new City of Alexandria, with - the Light-houfe, - - - - 168 5. View of a Mofque near Rofetta, Lower EgJPt. 174 6. Principal Square in Grand Cairo, with Murad Bey's Palace - - - - 183 7. View of the AtjueduA which conveys the Water of the Nile to Cairo, - - 186 8. The Pyramids from Old Cairo, - - 197 ^ XV. 9. Djebelein or the Two Mountains, Upper Egypt, - ... - . . 260 <; 10. View of a Temple at Thebes, from Kour- now, -..--- 23^ Temple ofApollinopolis Magna, at Edfow, 259 Ruins of one of the Temples of Elephan- tina, Upper Egypt, ... - 263 View of the Ifland of Philoe, Upper Egypt, 265 An Arabian Summer-houfe, upon an- tique Fragments, on the Canal of Me- nouf, ..--.. 298 Mountains, Eaft of Tetuan, Barbary, - 447 View near Tetuan, in Barbary, - - 449 II. 12. J3- 14. 16. VOL. XVL I. View of Table Mountain, Cape of Good Hope, - - - - To face the Title. 2. Ifland of Teneriffe, Od. 21, 1792, - 744 10 ADVERTISEMENT. THE firft fix volumes of a new General Colleclion of Voyages and Travels, comprifing the Narratives of the European Travellers, are now fubmitted to the Public. The Plan of the Editor's Syftem of Geo- graphy has been followed, as far as was confident with the different nature of the prefent Work. In feveral Collcftions of this kind, it has happened that the Voyages and Travels in Europe, by being referved to the lail, have been either omitted, or given in fmall detached portions. The arran-^e- ment here adopted has at leaft fupplied that defefl, without hazarding a fimilar imperfection in relation to any other quarter of the globe. The difcovery of a direct maritime intercourfe with the great empire of RufTia, and the confequent extenfion of commerce and navigation, being juftly regarded by hiftorians as the firft dawn of the wealth and naval preponderance of England, it has attrafted the firft attention in a national colledion. This difcovery, the moft interefting among thofe of Modern Europe, is naturally followed by the beft defcriptions of the other coun- tries fituated in the extremities of that part of the world, fo as to prefent for the firft time, a conne6led profpeft of thofe remote regions, fo inte- refting to the imagination from the peculiarities of their pofition and cli- mate, and of the life and manners of the inhabitants. Having thus furveyed the boundaries of Europe, the united kino-dom of Great Britain and Ireland has been confidercd, for the reafcns detailed m the Editor's Modern Geography, as holding out the next claim to notice. After this have been placed the defcriptions of France, Italy, Spain, and other countries in the fouth of Europe, which are followed by the beft accounts of Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sv/eden and Pvufiia, with the other northern diftricts, thus completing the feries of Voyages and Travels relating to this important quarter of the world. As, however, tliis work is intended for the general reader, a brief account of the ancient Voyages and Travels which led the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, to what may be VOL. I. A ADVERTISEMENT. called the difcoveiy of the diftaiit European countries, will, with other in- trodu6tory matter at prefent neccfTarily deferred, be given in the laft volume. The next divifion of this Collection will contain the account of tra- vellers that relate to Afia, which will alfo be publifhed feparately as foon as it can be completed, without waiting fof the regular courfe of monthly delivery. The remainder of the work, containing the defcriptions of Africa and America, will be brought forward in fimilar detached portions, for the accommodation of Perfons who may prefer this mode of publica- tion. The publication in monthly parts will, however, be continued as before. In a work of this defcription it muft always be difficult, at its commence- ment, to eftimate, with any certainty, the extent to which it may proceed. This difficulty the Editor and Publifliers have felt in the prefent under- taking. In their Profpecfus they expreffed a hope that tlieir Colleftion might be comprifed in ten or twelve Volumes ; but they now find, from the vaft mafs of valuable materials, which have offered themfelves for felec- tion, that they cannot, without injuring the utility and intereft of their Work, by the omiffion of fome, and the abridgement of other important documents, calculate iipon completing it in lefs than fixteen Volumes. They announce this with the lefs regret, on account of the general appro- bation with which their Plan has been received. LIST OF THE PLATES IN VOLUME L t. THE Death of Sir Hugh Willoughby, ... To face the Title. 2. Mr. Chancellour's Interview with the Emperor of Ruffia, - Page 32 3. Scene in Laphnd, - . - - • - - - - 231 4. Norwegian killing a Bear, - - -» - - - - ^^^7 5. Laplanders and magical Drum, ....-_- 384 6. Hut and Drefles of the Laplanders, - - - - - - 388 7. Samoiedes, - » . - - - -. .. j22 8. A Lady of Iceland, - - - - - - - - - 751 g. "Map of the Azores, .-.-_---. 804 10. Headlands of the Azores, ,.------ 808 VOL.1. a A GENERAL GENERAL COLLECTION OF VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. THE FOrJGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBT, RICHARD CHANCELOR AND OTHERS, TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. (From Hakluyt's Col.'ecflion, Vol. I. p. 226.) J. HESE interefting Voyages are introduced with a genealogy of the dukes of Mos« covy, which being extraneous to the fubje£l:, and often erroneous, fliall be here omitted. But the inftru£lions of Sebaflian Cabot deferve prefervation, on account of their curi- ofity, and the celebrity of the author, not to mention that the firfl: Englifh voyage of difcovery deferves to be detailed with all its circumftances ; and in a plan of this extent the Gothic building may fometimes form an agreeable variety amidft modem edifices. Ordinances, inJiruBions, and advertifements of and for the direSl'wn of the intended voyage for Cathay, compiled, made, and delivered by the right worjhipful M. Sebajiian Cabota, efquire, governor of the myfiery and company of the merchants adventurers for the difco- very of regions, dominions, ijlands, and places unknoivn, the gth day of May, in the year of our Lord God 1553, and in the yth year of the reign of our mofi dread fovereign lord^ Edward the Sixth, by the grace of God, king of England, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, and of the church of England and Ireland, in earth fupreme head. Firft, the captain-general, with the pilot-major, the mafters, merchants, and other officers, to be so knit and accorded in unity, love, conformity, and obedience in every degree on all sides, that no diffention, variance, or contention may rife or fpring betwixt them and the mariners of this company, to the damage or hindrance of the voyage ; for that diffention (by many experiences) hath overthrown many notable intended, and likely enterprifes and exploits. 2. Item, for as much as every perfon hath given an oath to be true, faithful, and loyal fubjects, and liegemen to the king's moll excellent majefty, his heirs and fuc- ceffors, and for the obfervation of all laws and ftatutes, made for the prefervation of his moft excellent raajefly, and his crown imperial of his realms of England and Ireland, VOL. i; B and and to ferve his grace, the realm, and this prefent voyage trulv, and not to give np, in- termit, or leave off the fame voyage and enterprife until it fhall be accomplidied, fo far forth as pofTibility and life of man may ferve or extend : therefore it behoveth every perfon in his degree, as well for confcience as for duty's fake, to remember his faid charge, and the accomplifliment thereof. 3. Item, where furthermore every mariner or paiTenger in his fhip hath given like oath to be obedient to the captain-general, and to every captain and mafler in his Hiip, -for the obfervation of thefe prefent orders contained in this book, and all other which hereafter fliall be made by the twelve counfellors in this prefent book named, or the mo'l part of them, for the better conduction and prefervation of the fleet, and atchiev- ing of the voyage, and to be prompt, ready, and obedient in all acts and feats of ho- nefty, reafon, and duty, to be miniltered, fliewed, and executed, in advancement and preferment of the voyage and exploit : therefore it is convenient that this prefent book fhall once every week (by the difcretion of the captain) be read to the faid company, to the intent that every man may the better remember his oath, confcience, dut}-, and charge. 4. Item, every perfon, by virtue of his oath, to do effeftually, and with good will (as far forth as him fhall coinply), all and every fuch act and afts, deed and deeds, as fliall be to him or them from time to time commanded, committed, and enjoined (during the voyage) by the captain-general, with the affent of the counfel and afliftants, as well in and during the whole navigation and voyage, as alfo in difcovering and landing, as cafes and occafions fliall require. 5. Item, all courfes in navigation to be fet and kept, by the advice of the captain, pilot-major, mafters, and maflers' mates, with the allents of the counfellors and the mofl number of them, and in voices uniformly agreeing in one, to prevail, and take place, fo that the captain-general fliall in all counfels and aflemblies have a double voice. 6. Item, that the fleet fliall keep together, and not feparate themfelves afunder, as much as by wind and weather may be done or permitted, and that the captains, pilots, and maflers fhall fpeedily come aboard the admiral, when and as often as he fliall feem to have jufl caufe to affemble them for counfel or confultation to be had concerning the affairs of the fleet and voyage. 7. Item, that the merchants and other fliilful perfons in writing fliall daily write, defcribe, and put in memory the navigation of every day and night, with the points, and obfervation of the lands, tides, elements, altitude of the fun, courfe of the moon and stars, and the fame fo noted, by the order of the mafl:er and pilot of every fhip, to be put in writing, the captain-general afl'embling the maflers together once every week (if wind and weather fhall ferve), to confer all the obfervations and notes of the Paid fliips, to the intent it may appear wherein the notes do agree, and wherein they diflent, and upon good debatement, deliberation, and conclufion determined, to put the fame into a common ledger, to remain of record for the company : the like order to be kept ia proportioning of the cards, aftrolabcs, and other infl;ruments prepared for the voyage at the charge of the company. 8. Item, that all enterprifes and exploits of difcovering or landing to fearch ifles, regions, and fuch like, to be fearched, attempted, and enterprifed, by good deliberation, and common aflTent, determined advifedly. And that in all enterprifes, notable ambaf- fages, fuits, requefts, or prefentmcnt of gifts or prefents to princes, to be done and executed by the captain-general in perfon, or by fuch other as he by coxumon affent fhall appoint or aflign to do, or caufe to be done, in the fame» 9. Item, TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. J 9. Item, the fteward and cook of every fliip, and their afTociates, to give and render to the captain and other head officers of their fliip weekly (or oftener if it fhall feem requifite), a ju(l or plain and pcrfeft accompt of expences of the viftuals, as well flefii, fi{h, bifcuit, meat or bread, as alfo of beer, wine, oil or vinegar, and all other kind of victualling under their charge, and they, and every of them, fo to order and difpend the fame, that no wafte or unprofitable excefs be made otherwife than reafon and necef- fity fliall command. 10. Item, when any inferior or mean officer, of v/hat degree or condition he fiiall be, fliall be tried untrue, remifs, negligent, or unprofitable in or about his office in the voyage, or not to ufe himfelf in his charge accordingly, then every fuch officer to be punifhed or removed at the difcretion of the captain and ailillants, or the mod part of them, and the perfon fo removed not to be reputed, accepted, or taken from the time of his remove any more for an officer, but to remain in fuch condition and place as he fhall be affigned unto, and none of the company to refill fuch chaflifement or worthy puniflimentas (hall be miniftered to him moderately, according to the fault or defert of his offence, after the laws and common culloms of the fcas, in fuch cafes heretofore ufed and obferved. 1 1. Item, if any mariner or officer inferior fliall be found by his labour not meet nor worthy the place that he is prefently fliipped for, fuch perfon may be unfliipped and put on land at any place within the king's majefly's realm and dominion, and one other perfon more able and worthy to be put in his place, at the difcretion of the captain and mafters, and order to be taken that the party difmifled fliall be allowed proportionably the value of that he fliall have deferved to the time of his difmiffion or difcharge, and he to give order with fureties, pawn, or other aflurance, to repay the overplus of that he fliall have received, which he fliall not have deferved, and fuch wages to be made with the party newly placed as fliall be thought rcafonable, and he to have the furniture of all fuch neceflfaries as were prepared for the party difiniifed, according to right and confcience. 12. Item, that no blafpheming of God, or deteftable fwearing, be ufed in any fliip, nor communication of ribaldry, filthy tales, or ungodly talk, to be fuftered in the com- pany of any fliip, neither dicing, carding, tabling, nor other devilifli games to be fi'e- quented, whereby enfueth not only poverty to the players, but alfo llrife, variance, brawling, fighting, and oftentimes murder, to the utter deftrudlion of the parties, and provoking of God's nioif jufl: wrath and fv/ord of vengeance. Thefe and all fuch like peftilences, and contagions of vices and fins to be efchewed, and the offenders once nio- niflied, and not reforming, to be puniflied at the difcretion of the captain and malter, as appertaineth. 13. Item, that morning and evening prayer, with other common fervices appointed by the king's majefly and laws of this realm, to be read and faid in every fliip d;iily by the niinifter in the admiral, and the merchant or fome other perfon learned in other fliips, and the Bible or paraphrafes to be read devoutly and chriltianly, to God's honour, and for his grace to be obtained and had by humble and hearty prayer of the navi- gants accordingly. 14. Item, that every officer is to be charged by inventory with the particulars of his charge, and to render a perfeft accompt of the defraying of the fame, together with modeft and temperate difpending of powder, fhot, and ufe of all kind of artillery, which is not to be uiifufed, but diligently to be preferved for the neceflary defence of the fleet and voyage, together with due keeping of all infl:ruments of your navigation, and other requifites. B 2 15. Item, 4 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, 15. Item, no liquor to be fpilt on the ballaft, nor filthinefs to be left within board ; the cook-room and all other places to be kept clean, for the better health of the com- pany ; the gromals and pages to be brought up according to the laudable order and ufe of the fea, as well in learning of navigation, as in exercifing of that which to them appertaineth. 1 6. Item, the liveries in apparel given to the mariners be to be kept by the mer- chants, and not to be worn, but by the order of the captain, when he fhall fee caufe to mufter or fhew them in good array, for the advancement and honour of the voyage, and the liveries to be re-delivered to the keeping of the merchants, until it fhall be thought convenient for eveiy perfon to have the full ufe of his garment. 17. Item, when any mariner or any other paflenger fhall have need of any necef- fary furniture of apparel for his body, and confervation of his health, the fame fhall be delivered him by the merchant, at the ailignment of the captain and mafter of that fhip, wherein fuch needy perfon fhall be, at fuch reafonable price as the fame coft, without any gain to be exafted by the merchants, the value thereof to be entered by the mer- chant in his book, and the fame to be difcounted off the party's wages that fo fhall re- ceive and wear the fame. 18. Item, the fick, difeafed, weak, and vifited perfon within board, to be tendered, relieved, comforted, and helped, in the time of his infirmity; and every manner of perfon, without refpeft, to bear another's burthen, and no man to refufe fuch labour as fhall be put to him, for the moft benefit and public wealth of the voyage and enterprife to be atchieved exaftly. 19. Item, if any perfon fhall fortune to die, or mifcarry in the voyage, fuch apparel and other goods, as he fhall have at the time of his death, is to be kept by the order of the captain and mafler of the fhip, and an inventory to be made of it, and conferved to the ufe of his wife and children, or otherwife according to his mind and will, and the dav of his death to be entered in the merchant's and Reward's books, to the intent it may be'known what wages he fhall have deferved to his death, and what fliall reft due to him. 20. Item, that the merchants appointed for this prefent voyage fhall not make any fhew or fale of any kind of merchandifes, or open their commodities to any foreign princes, or any of their fubjects, without the confent, privity, or agreement of the cap- tains, the cape merchants, and the affiftants, or four of them, whereof the captain- general, the pilot-major, and cape merchant to be three, and every of the petty mer- chants to fhew his reckoning to the cape merchant, when they or any of them fhall be required : and no commutation or truck to be made by any of the petty merchants, without the affent abovefaid : and all wares and commodities trucked, bought, or given to the company by way of merchandife, truck, or any other refpeft, to be booked by the merchants, and to be well ordered, packed, and conferved in one mafs entirely, and not to be broken or altered, until the fhip fhall return, to the right difcharges, and inven- tory of all goods, wares, and merchandifes fo trucked, bought, or otherwife difpended, to be prcfented to the governor, confuls, and affiflants in London, in good order, to the intent the king's majefly may be truly anfwercd of that which to his grace by his gi-ant of corporations is limited, according to our mofl bound duties, and the whole company alfo to have that which by right unto them appertaineth, and no embezzlement fliall be ufed, but the truth of the whole voyage to be opened, to the commonwealth and benefit of the whole company and myftery, as appertaineth, without guile, fraud, or mal engine. 21. Item, no particular perfon, to hinder or prcjudicate the common ftock of the company, in fale or preferment of his own proper wares and things, and no particular emer- TO THE NORTHERN' PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 5 emergent or purchafe to be employed to any feveral profit, until the common ftock of the company fhall be furniflieJ, and no perfon to hinder the common benefit in fuch purchafes or contingents, as Ihall fortune to any one of them, by his own proper policy, induftry, or chance, nor no contention to rife in that behalf, by any occafion of jewel, ftones, pearls, precious metals, or other things of the region, where it fhall chance the fame to rife, or to be found, bought, trucked, permuted, or given : but every per- fon to be bound in fuch cafe and upon fuch occafion, by order and direftion, as the general captain, and the council fhall eftablifh and determine, to whofe order and difcretion the fame is left : for that of things uncertain, no certain rules may or can be given. 22. Item, not to difclofe to any nation the flate of our religion, but to pafs it over in filence, without any declaration of it, feeming to bear with fuch laws and rites as the place hath, where you fhall arrive. 23. Item, for as much as our people and fhips may appear unto them Rrange and wonderous, and theirs alfo to ours, it is to be confidered, how they may be ufed, learning much of their natures and ^ith, and what metals they have in hills, mountains, ftreams, or rivers, in, or under the earth. 28. Item, if people fliall appear gathering of ftones, gold, metal, or other hke, on the fand, your pinnaces may draw nigh, marking what things they gather, ufing or playing upon the drum, or fuch other inifruments, as may allure them to hearken- ing, to fantafy, or defire to fee, and hear your inilruments and voices, but keep you out of danger, and fhew to them no point or fign of rigour and hoftility. 29. Item, if you fliall be invited into any lord's or ruler's houfe, to dinner, or other parhance, go in fuch order of ftrength, that you may be flronger than they, and be wary of woods and ambufhcs, and that your weapons be not out of your poffef- fions. 30. Item, 6 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILL0IW3HBY AND OTHERS, 30. Item, if you fliall fee them wear lions' or bears' fkins, having long bows and arrows, be not afraid of that fight : for fuch be worn oftentimes more to fear flran- gers, than for any other caufe. 3r. Item, there are people that can fwim in the fea, havens, and rivers, naked, having bows and (hafts, coveting to draw nigh your fnips, which if they fliall find not well watched or warded, they will alTault, defuous of the bodies of men, which they covet for meat : if you refilt them, they dive, and fo will flee, and therefore diligent watch is to be kept both day and night in fome iflands. 32. Item, if occafion fliall ferve, that you may give advertifements of your pro- ceedings in fuch things as may correfpond to the expeftation of the company, and like- lihood of fuccefs in the voyage, pafling fuch dangers of .the feas, perils of ice, in- tolerable colds, and other impediments, which by fundry authors and writers, have ininiflered matter of fufpicion in fome heads, that this voyage could not fucceed for the extremity of the north pole, lack of paffage, and fuch like, which have caufed wavering minds, and doubtful heads, not only to withdraw themfelves from the ad- venture of this voyage, but alfo dilfuaded others from the fame, the certainty whereof, when you fliall have tried by experience, (mod certain mafl:er of all wordly know- ledge,) then for declaration of the truth, which you fliall have experted, you may by common alTent of counfel, fend either by land, or otherwife, fuch two or one perfon, to bring the fame by credit, as you fliall think may pafs in fafety ; which fending is not to be done, but upon urgent caufes, in likely fuccefs of the voyage, in finding of paflTage, in towardlinefs of beneficial trafiic, or fuch other like, whereby the company being advertifed of your eftates and proceedings, may further provide, forfee and de- termine that which may feeni mofl: good and beneficial for the public wealth of the fame : eithtr providing before-hand fuch things, as fliall be requifite for the continu- ance of the voyage, or elfe otherwife to difpofe as occafion fliall ferve : in which things your wifdonis and difcretions are to be ufed, and ftiewed, and the contents of this capitule, by you much to be pondered, for that you be not ignorant, how many perfons, as well as the king's majefty, the lords of his honourable counfel, this whole company, as alfo your wives, children, kinsfolks, allies, friends, and familiars, be repleniflied in their hearts with ardent defire to learn and know your eflates, conditions and wel- fares, and in what likelihood you be in, to obtain this notable enterprize, which is hoped no lefs to fucceed to you, than the Orient or Occident Indies have to the high benefit of the emperor, and kings of Portugal, whofe fubjefts, induftries, and travels by fea, have enriched them, by thofe lands and iflands, which were to all cofmogra- phers, and other writers both unknown, and alfo by appearances of reafon void of ex- perience, thought and reputed unhabitable for extremities of heats and colds, and yet indeed tried, molt rich, peopled, temperate, and fo commodious, as all Europe hath not the like. 37,. Item, no confpiracies, part-takings, factions, falfe tales, untrue reports, which be the very feeds and fruits of contention, difcord, and confufion, by evil tongues to be fuflered, but the fame, and all other ungodlinefs be chaflened charitably with brotherly love, and always obedience to be ufed and praftifcd by all perfon,-, in their degrees, not only for duty and confcicnce fake towards God, under whofe merciful hand navigants above all other creatures naturally be mofl: nigh and viciae, but alfo for prudent and worldly policy, and public weal, confidenng and always having prefent in your minds that you be all one mofl royal king's fubjects and naturals, with daily remembrance of the great importance of the voyage, the honour, glory, praife, and benefit TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 'J benefit that depend of, and upon the fame, toward the common wealth of this noble realm, the advancement of you the travellers therein, your wives, and children, and fo to endeavour yourfelves as that you may fatisfv the cxpeclalion of them, who at their great cods, charges, and expences, have fo furnilhed you in good fort, and plenty of all neceilaxies, as the like was never in any realm, feen, ufed, or known, requifite and needful for fuch an exploit, which is mofl likely to be atchieved, and brought to good efiect, if every perfon in his vocation fhall endeavour himfelf according to his charge, and moft bounden duty : praying the living God, to give you his grace, to accomplifh your charge to his glory, whofe merciful hand fliall profper your voyage, and preferve you frcm all dangers. In witnefs whereof I Sebaftian Cabota, governor aforefaid, to thefe prefent ordi- nances, have fubfcribed my name, and put my feal, the day and year above written. The names cf the iiuelve counfellors appointed in this voyage. 1. Sir Hugh Willoughby, knight, captain-general. 2. Richard Chancelor, captain of the Edward Bonaventure, and pilot-general of the fleet. 3. George Burton, cape merchant. 4. Mailer Richard Stafford, miniiter. 5. Thomas Langlie, merchant. 6. James Delahere, gentleman, 7. William Gefferfon, mafler of the Bona Speranza admiral. 8. Stephen Burrough, mafler of the Edward Bonaventure. 9. Cornelius Durforth, m.afler of the Confidentia. 10. Roger Wilfon, 1 11. John Buckland, r maflers' mates, 12. Richard Ingram, J The copy of the letters mijjlve 'vchich the right noble Prince Edward the Sixth, fent to the kings, princes, and ether potentates, inhabiting the north-eajl parts of the -ivorld, to- ward the mighty empire of Cathay ; at fuch time as fir Hugh Willoughby, knight, ayid Richard Chancelor, ivith their company attempted their voyage thither in the year of Chrijl 1553, and the feventh and laft year of his reign. Edward the Sixth, by the grace of God, king of England, France, and Ireland, &:c. To all kings, princes, rulers, judges, and governors of the earth, and all other having any excellent dignity on the fame, in all places under the univerfal heaven : peace, tranquillity, and honour be unto you, and your lands and regions, which are under your dominions, and to every of you, as is convenient. For as much as the great and Almighty God liath given unto mankind, above all other living creatures, fuch a heart and defire, that every man defireth to join friend- fhip with other, to love and be loved, alfo to give and receive mutual benefits : it is theretore the duty of all men, according to their power, to maintain and increafe this defire in every man, with well deferving to all men, and efpecially to fhew this good affedion to fuch, as being moved with this defire, come unto them from far countries. For how much the longer voyage they have attempted for this intent, fo much the more do they thereby declare that this defire hath been ardent in tbem. Furthermore alfo, the examples of our fathers and predeceffors do invite us hereunto, 3 foraf- 8 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, forafmuch as they have ever gently and lovingly intreated fuch as of friendly mind' came to them, as well from countries near hand, as far remote, commending them- felves to their protection. And if it be right and equity to fhew fuch humanity toward all men, doubtlefs the fame ought chiefly to be ihewn to merchants, who wandering about the world, fearch both the land and the fea, to carry fuch good and profitable things, as are found in their countries, to remote regions and kingdoms, and again to bring from the fame, fuch things as they find there commodious for their own coun- tries : both as well that the people, to whom they go, may not be deftitute of fuch commodities as their countries bring not forth to them, as that alfo they may be par- takers of fuch things whereof they abound. For the God of heaven and earth greatly providing for mankind, would not that all things fliould be found in one region, to the end that one fliould have need of another, that by this means friendfliip might be eftabliflied among all men, and every one feek to gratify all. For the eftablifliing and furtherance of which univerfal amity, certain men of our realm, moved hereunto by the faid defire, have inltituted and taken upon them a voyage by fea into far countries, to the intent that between our people and them, a way may be opened to bring in, and carry out merchandifes, defiring us to further their enterprize. Who affenting to their petition, have licenfed the right valiant and worthy fir Hugh Willoughby, knight, and other our trufl;y and faithful fervants, which are with him, according to their defire, to go to countries to them heretofore unknown, as well to feek fuch things as we lack, as alfo to carry unto them from our regions, fuch things as they lack. So that hereby not only commodity may enfue both to them and us, but alfo an undiflbluble and perpetual league of friendfliip be eftabliflied between us both, while they permit us to take of their things, fuch whereof they have abundance in their regions, and we again grant them fuch things of ours, whereof they are deftitute. We therefore defire you kings and princes, and all other to whom there is any power on the earth, to permit unto thefe our fervants free paflage by your regions and do- minions : for they fliall not touch any thing of yours unwilling unto you. Confider you that they alfo are men. If therefore they fliall ftand in need of any thing, we defire you of all humanity, and for the nobility which is in you, to aid and help them with fuch things as they lack, receiving again of them fuch things as they fliall be able to give you in reconipence. Shew yourfelves fo towards them, as you would that we and our fubje£ts fliould fliew ourfelves towards your fervants, if at any time they fliall pafs by our regions. Thus doing, we promifc you by the God of all things that are contained in heaven, earth, and the fea, and by the life and tranquillity of our kingdoms, that we will with like humanity accept your fervants, if at any time they fliall come to our kingdoms, where they fliall as friendly and gently be entertained, as if they were born in our dominions, that we may hereby reconipence the favour and benignity which you have fhewed to our men. Thus after we have defired you kings and princes, &c. with all humanity and favour, to entertain our well-beloved fervants, we will pray our Al- mighty God, to grant you long life and peace, which never fliall have end. Written in London, which is the chief city of our kingdom, in the year from the creation of the world, 5515 in the month of Jiar*, the fourteenth day of the month, andfeventh year of our reign. * Hakluyt fuppofcs this to be the Saracen name of February. In the geography of thefe times the favages of the north of Europe were fuppofed to be Saracens. This letter is tranllated by Hakluyt from the Latin, and he adds that it was likewife written in Greek and other languages. The TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. g The true copy of a note found ivrittcn in cne of the two fnps, to luit, the Sper:niza, Ki-hich wintered in Lappia, ivhere Sir Hi/^h Willoughby and all his company dicct, being frozen to death, anno I ^^2>' The voyage intended for the difcovery of Cathay, and divers other regions, domi- nions, iflands, and places unknown, fet forth by liie right worfliipful mafter Sebaftian Cabota efquire, and governor of the myftery and company of the merchants adven- turers of the city of London : which fleet being furnlflied, did fet forth (he tenth day of May, 1553, and in the foventh year of our mofl dread fovereign lord and king, Edward the fixth. The names ofthefliips of the fleet, and of their burden, together with the names of the cap' tains, and counfellors, pilot-?najor, mafiers of the jlnps, merchants, ivith other officers, and mariners, as hereafter followeth. The Bona Efperanza, admiral of the feet, of 120 tons, having with her a pinnace and a boat. Sir Hugh Willoughby, knight, captain-general of the fleet. William Gefferfon, mafter of the fliip. Roger Wilfon, his mate. William Gittons, Charles Barrett, Gabriel Willoughby, John Andrews, Alexander Woodfoord, Ralph Chatterton, merchants. Mariners and officers, according to the ufe and cuflom of the fe as. John Brooke, mafter gunner. Nicholas Anthony, boatfwain. John Web, his mate. Chriftopher Banbrucke, Thomas Davlfon, Robert Roflfe, Thomas Simpfon, quarter mafters. William White, James Smith, Thomas Painter, John Smith, their mates, Richard Gwinne, George Goifwine, carpenters. Robert Gwinne, purfer. Laurence Edwards, his mate and cooper. Richard Morgan, cook. Thomas Naflie, his mate. William Light, John Brande, Cutbert Chelfie, George Blage, Thomas Walker, Thomas Allen, Edward Smith, Edward Hunt, John Fawkner, Rowland Brooke. Alexander Gardiner, Richard Molton, Surgeons, which two were taken in at Harwich. Difcharged at Harwich, by reafon of ficknefs, George Blake, Nicholas Anthonv, For Pickei'ie ducked at the yard's arm, and fo difcharged, Thomas Nafii. The Edward Bonadventurc, of 160 tons, with her a pinnace, and a boat. Richard Chancelor, captain, and pilot-major of the fleet, Stephen Borowgh, mafter of the fliip. John Buckiand, his mate. George Burton, Arthur Edwards, merchants. John Stafford, minifter. James Dallaber, Nicholas Newborrow, John Segfwikc, Thomas Francis, John Haffe, Richard Johnfon, William Kempe. VOL. I. c Mariners lO VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBV AND OTHERS, Mariner r and officers, ccccrding to the ufe and cttfiom ofthefeas. Robert Stanton, mafter gunner. John Walker, his innte. James Long, John Cocks, gunners. Thomas Walter, furgeon. Peter Palmer, boatfwain. Richard Strowde, his mate. John Robinfon, John Carowe, Thomas Stone, Roger Lifhble, quarter mafters. John Aurten, fteward, Patrick Stevens, his mate. Auften Jacks, cook. William Every, cooper. Griffin Wagham, carpenter. Thomas Stelfton, Thomas Townes, John Robinfon, John White, William Lau- rence, Miles Butter, John Browne, William Morren, William Watfon, Thomas Handcocks, Edward Pacie, Thomas Browne, Arthur Pet, George Phibarie, Edward Paterfon, William Beare, John Potter, Nicholas Lawrence, William Burrough, Roger Welford, John Williams. The Bona Confidcntla of 90 tons^ having tviih her a pinnace and a boat. Cornelius Durfoorth, mafter of the fliip. Richard Ingram, his mate. Thomas Langlie, Edward Kever, Henry Dorfct, merchants. Jilariners and sfficers, according to the ufe and cufom of the fea. Henry Tailer, mafter gunner. George Thurland, his mate. William Hamane, boatfwain. John Edwards, his mate. Thomas Kirbie, Henry Dickenfon, John Haye, William Shepwafli, quarter mafters. John Reyne, fteward. Thomas Haute, cook, William Laflie, his mate. Nicholas Knight, carpenter. Peter Lewike, Nicholas Wiggleworth, John Moore, William Chapman, Brian Chefter, William Barrie, Richard Wood, Clement Gibfon, John Clarecke, Erafraus Bentley, John Duriforth. The jur amentum, or oath, miniflered to the captain. You fhall fwear to be a faithful, true and loyal fubjeft in all points and duties, that to a fubjeft appertaineth, to our fovereign lord the king's majeily, his heirs, and fuc- ceflors : and that you fliall well and truly to the uttermoft of your capacity, wit, and knowledge, ferve this prefent voyage, committed to your charge, and not to give up, nor fooncr intermit the fame, until you fhall have atchieved the fame, fo far forth, as you may without danger of your life, and lofs of the fleet : you fliall give good, true, and faithful counfel to the faid fociety, and to fuch as fhall have the charge with or under you, and not to difclofe the fecrets, or privities of the fame to any per- fon by any manner of mean, to the prejudice, hurt, or damage of it. You fhall minifter juftice to all men under your charge, without refped of perfon, or any af- fcdlion, that might move you to decline from the true miniftration of juftice. And further, you fliall obferve, and caufe to be obferved, as much as in you lieth, all and Angular rules, articles, provifions hitherto made, or hereafter to be made for the pre- fervation TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. II fervation or fafe condudl: of the fleet and voyage, and benefit of the company. You fliall not permit nor fufFer the flock or goods of the company to be wafled, em- bezzled, or confumed, but fliall conferve the fame whole and entire, without diminifh- ment, until you fliall have delivered or caufe to be delivered the fame, to the ufe of the company. And finally you fliall ufe yourielf in all points, forts, and conditions, as'to a faithful captain, and brother of this company fliali belong and appertain : fo help you God, &c. The oath mni/lered to the majier of the ftjip, ^c. You fhall fwear by the holy contents in that book, that you, according and to the uttermoft of your knowledge, and good underflanding in mariner's fcience and craft, fliall in your vocation do your befl to conduct the good fliip called the N. &c. whereof you now are mafler under God, both unto and from the ports of your difcovcry, and fo ufe your endeavour and faithful diligence, in charging, difcharging, lading again, and roomaging of the fame fhip, as may be mofl for the benefit and profit of this right worfhipful fellowfhip : and you fliall not privately bargain, buy, fell, exchange, barter, or diftribute any goods, wares, merchandife, or things whatfoever (neceifary tackles and viftuals for the fhip only excepted,) to or for your own lucre, gain, or profit, neither to nor for the private lucre, gain, or profit of any other perfon or perfons what- foever. And further, if you fliall know any boalfwain, mariner, or any other perfon or perfons whatfoever, to buy, fell, barter, truck, or exchange any goods, wares, mer- chandifes, or things for private account, reckoning, or behalf, you fhall do your befl to withftand and let the fame : and if you cannot commodioufly fo do,, that then before the difcharge of fuch goods, bought for private account, you fhall give knowledge thereof to the cape merchant of this faid fellowfliip for the time being. And you fliali not receive nor take, nor fuffer to be received or taken into your faid fliip during this voyage, any maner perfon or perfons whatfoever, going or returning, but only thofe mariners which without fraud or guile fliall be hired to be of your company, and to ferve in mariners' craft and fcience only : So help you God, &c. These forefaid fhips being fully furniflied with their pinnaces and boats, well ap- pointed with all manner of artilleiy, and other things neceffary for their defence with all the men aforefaid, departed from Ratcliffe, and valed unto Deprford, the tenth day of May, 1553. The eleventh day about two of the clock, we departed from Deptford, pafling by Greenwich, faluting the king's majefly then being there, fliooting off our ordnance, and fo valed unto Blackwall, and there remained until the feventeenth day, and that day in the morning we went from Blackwall, and came to Woolwich by nine of the clock, and there remained one tide, and fo the fame night unto Heyreth. The eighteenth day from Heyreth unto Gravefend, and there remained until the twentieth day : that day being Saturday, from Gravefend unto Tilbury Hope, remain- ing there until the two and twentieth day. The twenty.fecond day from Tilbury Hope to Hollie Haven. The twenty-third day from Hollie Haven^ till we came againfl Lee, and there remained that night, by reafon that the wind was contrary to us. The twenty-fourth day the wind being in the S. W. in the morning, we failed along the coafl over the Spits, until we came againft St. Ofyth, about fix of the clock at night, and there came to anchor, and abode there all that night. The 12 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, The twenty-fifth day about ten of the clock we departed from St. Ofyth, and fo failed forward unto the Nase, and there abode that night for wind and tide. The twenty-fixth day at five of the clock in the morning, we weighed our anchor, and failed over the Nase, the wind being at the S. W. until we came to Orwell Wands, and there came to an anchor, and abode there until the twenty-eighth day. The fame day being Trinity Sunday, about feven of the clock before noon we weighed our anchors, and failed till we came athwart Walfurfye, and there came to an anchor. The twenty-ninth day from thence to Hohnehead, where we ftayed that day, where we confulted which way, and what courfes v^'ere befl to be holden for the difcovery of our voyage, and there agreed. The thirtieth day of May, at five of the clock in the morning, we fet fail, and came againft Permouth, about three leagues into the fea, riding there at anchor all that night. The lafl; of May into the fea fix leagues N. E. and there tarried that night, where the wind blew very fore. The firft of June, the wind being at north, contrary to us, we came back again to Orwell, and remained there until the fifteenth day, tarrying for the wind, for all this time the wind \^-as contrary to our purpole. The fifteenth day being at Orwell, in the latitude of 52 degrees, in the morning we weighed our anchors, and went forth into the Wands, about two miles from the town, and lay there that night. The fixteenth day, at eight of the clock, we fet forward and failed until we came athwart Alburrough, and there ftayed that night. The feventeenth day, about five of the clock before noon, we went back unto Orford- nefle, and there remained until the nineteenth day. The nineteenth day, at eight of the clock in the morning, we went back to Orwell, and abode there three days tarrying for the wind. The twenty-third day of June, the wind being fair in the S. W. we hailed into the feaa to Orfordnefle, and from thence into the feas ten leagues N. E. : then being paft the fands, we changed our courfe fix leagues N. N. E. : about midnight we changed our courfe again, and went due N. continuing m the fame unto the twenty-feventh day. The twenty-feventh day, about feven of the clock, N. N. W. 42 leagues, to the end- to fall with Shotland : then the v.ind veered to the W. fo that we could lie but N. and by W. continuing in the fame courfe 40 leagues, whereby we could not fetch Shotland : then we failed N. 16 leagues by eftimation, after that N. and by W. andN. N.W. then S. E. with divers other courfes, traverfing and tracing the feas, by reafon of fundry and manifold contrary winds, until the fourteenth day of July : and then the fun entering into Leo, we difcovered land eaftv/ard of us, unto the which we failed that night as much as we might : and after we went on fhore with our pinnace, and found little houies to.' the number of thirty, where we knew that it was inhabited, but the people were fled away, as we judged, for fear of us. The land was all full of little iflands, and that innumerable, which were called (as- we learned afterwards) ilCgeland, and Halgeland, which lieth from Orfordneffe N. and by E. being ia the latitude of 66 degrees*. The diltance between Orfordnclfe and iEgeland 250 leagues. Then we failed from thence 1 2 leagues N. W. and found m.any other iflands, and there came to anchor the 19th day, and manned our pinnace, and • Iq failbctwetn 54 and 55 degrees. weus TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. IJ went on fliorc to the iflands, and found people mowing and making of hay, which came to the fhore and welcomed us. In which place were an innumerable fort of iflands, which were called the Ifles of Roi't, being under the dominion of the king of Denmark: which place was in latitude 66 degrees, and 50 minutes. The wind being contrary, we remamcd there three days, and there was an innumerable fort of fowls of divers kinds, of which we took very many. The 22d day, the wind coming fair, we departed from Rod, failing N. N. E. keeping the fea until the 27th day, and then we drew near unto the land, which was (till E. of us ; then v/ent forth our pinnace to feek harbour, and found many good harbours, of the which we entered into one with our Ihips, which was called Stanfew, and the land being iflands, were called Lewfooi:, or Lofoot*, which were plentifully inhabited, and very gentle people, being alfo under the king of Denmark ; but we could not learn how far it was from the main land : and we remained there until the •^oth day, being in latitude 63 degrees, and from the aforefaid Roil about 30 leagues N. N. E. The 30th day of July about noon we weighed our anchors, and went into the feasy and failed along thefe iflands N.N.E. keeping the land flill in fight until the fecond day of Auguft : then hailing in clofe aboard the land, to the intent to know what land it was, there came a rtdft' of the ifland aboard of us, of whom we afl<:ed many quefliions, who fhewed unto us that the ifland was called Seynam,t which is the latitude of feventy degrees, and from Stanfew thirty leagues, being aUb under the king of Denmark ; and that there was no merchandife there, but only dried fi(h and train oil. Then we beino- purpofed to go unto Finmark, enquired of him if we might have a pilot to bring us- unto Finmark : and he faid, that if we could bear in, we ihould have a good harbour, and on the next day a pilot to bring us to Finmark, unto the Wardhoufe, which is the ftrongeft hold in Finmark, and mod reforted to by report. But when we would have entered into an harbour, the land being very high on every fide, there came fuch flawes of wind and terrible whirlwinds, that we were not able to bear in, but by violence were conftrained to take the fea again, our pinnace being unfiiipped : we failed N. and by E. the wind increafmg fo fore that we were not able to bear any fail, but took them in, and lay adrift to the end to let the ftorm overpafs. And that night by violence of wind, and thicknefs of mifts, we were not able to keep together within fight, and thea about midnight we loft our pinnace, which was a difcomfort unto us. As foon as it was day, and the fog overpaft, vv'e looked about, and at the laft we defcried one of our fiiips to leeward of us; then we fpread an huUock of our forefail, and bare room with her, which was the Confidence, but the Edward we could not fee. Then the flaw fomething abating, we and the Confidence hoifted up our fails the fourth day, failing- N. E. and by N. to the end to fall with the Wardhoufe, as we did confult to do before^ in cafe we fliculd part company. Thus running N.E. and by N. and N. E. fifty leagues^ then we founded and had 160 fathoms, whereby we thought to be far from land, and perceived that the land lay not as the globe made mention. Wherefore we chanp-ed. our courfe the fixth day, and failed S. E. and by S. eight-and-forty leagues, thinking thereby to find the Wardhoufe. The eighth day much wind rifing at the W. N. W. we not knowing how the coaffc lay, flruck our fails, and lay adrift, where we founded, imd found 160 fathoms as afore. The ninth day, the wind veering to the S. S. E. we failed N. E. 25 leagues.. * liiiffydcB. f Senjan.. 1h£> 14 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, The tenth day we founded, and could get no ground, neither yet could fee any land, whereat we wondered ; then the wind coming at the N. E. we ran S. E. about 48 leagues. The eleventh day, the wind being at S., we founded and found 40 fathoms and fair fand. The twelfth day, the wind being at S. and by E. we lay with our fail E. and E. and byN. 30 leagues. The fourteenth day, early in the morning, we defcricd land, which land we bare with all, hoifting out our boat to difcover what land it might be ; but the boat could not come to land the water was fo flioal, where was very much ice alfo, but there was no similitude of habitation, and this land heth from Seynam E. and by N. 160 leagues, being in latitude 72 degrees. Then we plied to the northward the fifteenth, fixteenth, and feventeenth day. The eighteenth day, the wind coming at theN.E., and the Confidence being troubled with bilge water, and ftocked, we thought it good to feek harbour for her redrefs : then we bare room the i8th day S. S. E. about 70 leagues. The twenty-firfl: day we founded and found 10 fathom, after that we founded again and found but 7 fathom, fo (hallower and fliallovver water, and yet could fee no land, where we marvelled grqatly : to avoid this danger, we bare roomer into the fea all that night N. W. and by W. The next day we founded and had twenty fathoms, then fliaped our courfe, and ran W. S. W. until the twenty-third day : then we descried low land, unto which we bare as nigh as we could, and it appeared unto us unhabitable. Then we plied weftward along by that land, which lieth W. S. W. and E. N. E. and much wind blowing at the W. we haled into the fea N. and by E. 30 leagues. Then the wind coming about at the N. E. we failed W. N. W. : after that the wind bearing to the N. W. we lay with our fails W. S. W. about 14 leagues, and then defcricd land, and bare in with it, being the 2Sth day, finding (hoal water, and bare in till we came to three fathom, then perceiving it to be fhoal water, and alfo feeing dry fands, we haled out again N. E. along that land until we came to the point thereof. That land turning to the weftivard, we ran along 16 leagues N. W : then coming into a fair hay, we went on land with our boat, which place was unhabited, but yet it appeared unto us that the people had been there, by crofles and other figns : from thence we went all along the coall wcflward. The fourth day of September we loft fight of land, by reafon of contrary winds, and the eighth day we defcried land again. Within two days alter we loft the fight of it : then running W. and by S. about thirty leagues, we got the fight of land again, and bare in with it until night : then perceiving it to be a lee fhore, we got us into the fea, to the end to have fea room. The twelfth of September we hailed to (horeward again, having then indifferent wind and weather : then being near unto the fliore, and the tide almoft fpent, we came to an anchor in 30 fathoms water. The thirteenth day we came along the coaft which lay N. W. and by W. and S. E. and by E. Tlie fourteenth day we came to an anchor within two leagues of the fhore, having 60 fathoms. There we went afhore with our boat, and found two or three good harbours, the land being rocky and high, but as for people could we fee none. The fifteenth day wo ran flill along the coaft until the feventeenth day : then the wind being contrary unto us, . 3 we TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. »5 we thought it beft to return unto the harbour which we had found before, and fo we bare roomer with the fame, howbeit we could not accomplifh our defire that day. The next day, being the eighteenth of September, we entered into the haven, and there came to an anchor at fix fathoms. This haven runneth into the main, about two leagues, and is in breadth half a league, wherein were very many feal fifhes, and other great fiflies, and upon the main we faw bears, great deer, foxes, with divers flrange beads, as gu- loines*, and fuch other which were to us unknown, and alfo wonderful. Thus remaining in this haven the fpace of a week, feeing the year far fpent, and alfo very evil weather, as froft, fnovv, and hail, as though it had been the deep of winter, we thought beft to winter there. Wherefore we fent out three men S. S. W. to fearch if they could find people, who went three days journey, but could find none : after that we fent other three weftward, four days journey, which alfo returned without finding any people. Then fent we three men S. E. three days journey, who in like fort returned without finding of people, or any fimilitude of habitation. Thefe two notes following were written upon the outfide of this pamphlet or book. " I . The proceedings of Sir Hugh Willoughbie after he was feparated from the Ed- ward Bonaventure. 2. Our fliip being at an anchor in the harbour called Sterfier, in the ifland Lofoote." The river or haven wherein Sir Hugh Willoughbie with the company of his two fhips perifhed for cold, is called Arzina in Lapland, near unto Kegor. But it appeareth by a will found in the fhip, that Sir Hugh Willoughbie and mofl; of the company were alive in January 1554. * Hakluytadds upon the margin, or tJlons : and adds, that in this harbour they died. The l6 VOYAGIS OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, The Book of the great and mighty Emperor of Rvjj'ia, and Duke of Mofcovia, and of the do?!!inionSi orders and commodities thereunto belonging : drawn by Richard Chancelour, FOR as much as it is meet and neceflary for all thofe that mind to take in hand the travel into far or ftrange countries, to endeavour themfelves not only to underftand the ordersi, commodities, and fruitfulnefs thereof, but alfo to apply them to the fetting forth of the fame, whereby it may encourage others to the like travail : therefore have I now thought good to make a brief rehearfal of the orders of this my travail in Ruflia and Mofcovia, and other countries thereunto adjoining ; becaufe it was my chance to fall with the north parts of Ruflia before I came towards Mofcovia, I will partly declare my knowledge therein. Ruflia is very plentiful both of land and people, and alfo wealthy for fuch commodities as they have. They be very great fifliers for falmons and fmall cods : they have much oil, which we call train-oil, the raofl: whereof is made by a river called Duina. They make it in other places, but not fo much as there. They have alfo a great trade in feething of fait water. To the north part of that country are the places where they have their furs; as fables, marterns, greefle beavers, foxes white, black, and red, minks, ermines, miniver, and harts. There are alfo a fifli's teeth, which fifli is called a morfle. The takers thereof dwell in a place called Pofliefora, which bring them upon harts to Lampas to fell, and from Lampas carry them to a place called Colmogro, where the high market is holden on St. Nicholas day. To the well of Colmogro there is a place called Gratanove, in our language Novogorode, where muth fine flax and hemp groweth, and alfo much wax and honey. The Dutch mer- chants have a fliaple houfe there. There is alfo great fl:ore of hides, and at a place called Plefco: and thereabouts is great fl:ore of flax, hemp, wax, honey; and that town is from Colmogro 1 20 miles. There is a place called Vologda, the commodities whereof are tallow, wax, and flax ; but not fo great plenty as is in Gratanove. From Vologda to Colmogro there runneth a river called Duyna, and from thence it falleth into the fea. Colmogro ferveth Gra- tanove, Vologda, and the Mofco, with all the country thereabout, with fait and fait fifli. From Vologda to Jeraflave is two hundred miles ; which town is very great : the com- modities thereof are hides, and tallow, and corn in great plenty, and fome wax, but not fo plentiful as in other places. The Mofco is from. Jeraflave two hundred miles. The country betwixt them is very well repleniflied with fmall villages, which are fo well filled with people, that it is wonder to fee them : the ground is well fl:ored with corn, which they carry to the city of Mofco in fuch abundance, that it is wonder to fee it. You fliall meet in a morning feven or eight hundred fledges coming or going thither, that carry coi-n and fome carry fifli. You fliall have fome that carry corn to the Mofco, and fome that fetch corn from thence, that at the leafl; dwell a thoufand miles off"; and all their carriage is on fledges. Thofe which come fo far dwell in the north parts of the duke's dominions, where the cold will fufi^er no corn to grow, it is fo extreme. They bring thither fiflies, furs, and beafts' fliins. In thofe parts they have but fmall ftore of cattle. The Mofco itfelf is great : I take the whole town to be greater than London with the fuburbs ; but it is very rude, and ftandeth without all order. Their houfes are all of timberj very dangerous for fire. There is a fair caftle, the walls whereof are of brick, and TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. ' ly and very high : they fay they are eighteen feet thick, but I do not believe it, it doth not fo feem, notwithflanding I do not certainly know it ; for no ft ranger may come to view it. The one fide is ditched, and on the other fide runneth a river called Mofcua, which runneth into Tartary, and fo into the fea called Mare Cafpiuni : and on the north fide there is a bafe town, the which hath alfo a brick wall about it, and fo it joineth with the caftle wall. The empei'or lieth in the cafile, wherein are nine fair cliurches, and therein are religious men. Alfo there is a metropolitan with divers bifhops. I will not ftand in defcription of their buildings, nor of the ftrength thereof, becaufe we have better in all points in England. They be well furnilhed with ordinance of all forts. The emperor's or duke's houfe neither in building, nor in the outward fliew, nor yet within the houfe, is fo fumptuous as I have feen. It is vci'y low built in eight fquare, much like the old building of England, with fmall windows, and fo in other points. Now to declare my coming before his majefty : after I had remained twelve days, the fecretary which hath the hearing of ftrangers did fend for me, advertifing me that the duke's pleafure was to have me to come before his majefty, with the Idng's my mafter's letters ; whereof I was right glad, and fo I gave mine attendance. And when the duke was in his place appointed, the interpreter came for me into the outer cham- ber, where fat one hundred or more gentlemen, all in cloth of gold, very fumptuous, and from thence I came into the council-chamber, where fat the duke himfelf with his nobles, which were a fair company : they fat round about the chamber on high, yet fo that he himfelf fat much higher than any of his nobles, in a chair gilt, and in a long garment of beaten gold, with an imperial crown upon his head, and a ftaff of cryftal and gold in his right hand, and his other hand half leaning on his chair. The chancellor ftood up with the fecretary before the duke. After my duty done and my letter deli>. vered, he bade me welcome, and enquired of me the health of the king my mafter; and I anfwered that he was in good health at my departure from his court, and that my truft; was that he was now in the fame. Upon the which he bade me to dinner. The chan- cellor prefented my prefent unto his grace bareheaded (for before they were all covered), and when his grace had received my letter, I was required to depart : for I had charge not to fpeak to the duke, but when he fpake to me. So I departed unto the fecretary's chamber, where I remained two hours, and then I was fent for again unto another palace ■which is called the golden palace, but I faw no caufe why it fliould be fo called ; for I have feen many fairer than it in all points : and fo 1 came into the hall, which was fmall and not great, as is the king's majefty's of England, and the table was covered with a table-cloth ; and the marfhall fat at the end of the table with a little white rod in his hand, which board was full of veflels of gold : and on the other fide of the hall did ftand a fair cupboard of plate. From l hence I came into the dining chamber, where the duke himfelf fat at his table without cloth of eftate, in a gown of fil ver, with a crown imperial on his head ; he fat in a chair fomewhat high : there fat none near him by a ^reat way. There were long tables fet round about the chamber, which wei'e full fet -with fuch as the duke had at dinner : they were all in white. Alfo the places where the tables ftood were higher by two fteps than the reft of the houfe. In the niidft of the chamber ftood a table or cupboard to fet plate on ; which ftood full of cups of gold: and amongft all the reft there Itood four marvellous great pots or crudences, as they call them, of geld and filver : I think they were a good yard and a half high. By the cupboard ftood two gentlemen with napkins on their flioulders, and in their hands each of them had a cup of gold fet with pearls and precious ftones, which were the duke's own drinking-cups : when he was difpofed, he drank them off at a draught. And for VOL. I. B his l8 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, his fervice at meat it came in without order, yet it was very rich fervice : for all were ferved in gold, not only he hini'elf, but alfo all the reft of us, and it was very maffy : the cups alio w ere of geld, and very maiTy. The number that dined there that day was two hundred perfons, and all were ferved in golden veflels. The gentlemen that waited were all in cloth of gold, and they ferved him with their caps on their heads. Before the fervice cai-.ie in the duke fent to every man a great fniver of bread, and the bearer called the party fo fent to by his name aloud, and faid, John Bafiliuich, emperor of Ruflia and great duke of Mofcovia, doth rev/ard thee with bread : then muft all men fland up, and do at all times when thefe words are fpoken. And then Lift of all he giveth the marfhall bread, whereof he eateth before the duke's grace, and fo doth re- verence and departeth. Then cometh the duke's fervice of the fwans, all in pieces, and every one in a fcveral difti : the wliich the duke fendeth as he did the bread, and the bearer faith the fame words as he faid before. And as I faid before, the fervice of his meat is in no order, but cometh in difii by difli : and then after that the duke fendeth drink, with the like faying as before is told. Alfo before dinner he changed his crown, and in dinner time two crov.ns ; fo that I faw three feveral crowns upon his head in one day. And thus when his fervice was all come in, h^e gave to every one of his gentlemen waiters meat with his own hand, and fo likewife drink. His intent thereby is, as I have heard, that every man fhall know perfectly his fervants. Thus when dinner is done, he calleth his nobles before him name by name, that it is wonder to hear how he could name them, having fo many as he hath. Thus when dinner was done, I departed to my lodging, which was an hour within night. I will leave this, and fpeak no more of him nor his houfehold : but I will fomewhat declare of his land and people, with their nature and pow^r in the wars. This duke is lord and emperor of many countries, and his power is marvellous great ; for he is able to bring into the field two or three hundred thoufand men : he never goelh into the field himfelf with under two hundred thoufand men : and when he goeth himfelf he furniiheth his borders all with men of war, which are no fmall number. He leaveth on the borders of Liefland forty thoufand men, and upon the borders of Letto fixty thoufand men, and toward the Na- gayan Tartars fixty thoufand, which is wonder to hear of: yet doth he never take to his wars neither huft^andmen nor merchant. All his men are horfemen : he ufeth no footmen, but fuch as go with the ordinance and labourers, which are thirty thoufand. The horfemen are all archers, with fuch bows as the Turks have, and they ride fhort as do the Turks. Their armour is a coat of plate, with a fkull on iheir heads. Some of their coats are covered with velvet or cloth of gold ; their defire is to be fumptuous in the field, and efpecially the nobles and gentlemen : as 1 have heard their triiimiing is very coftly, and partly I have feen it, or elfe I would fcarcely have believed it : but the duke himfelf is richly attired above all meafure ; his pavilion is covered either with cloth of gold or filver, and fo fet with ftones, that it is wonderful to fee it, I have feen the king's majefty's of England, and the French king's pavilions, which are fair, yet not Uke unto his. And when they be fent into far or ftrange countries, or that ftrangers come to them, they be very gorgeous : elfe the duke himfelf goeth but meanly in ap- parel ; and when he goeth betwixt one place and another, he is but reafonably appa- relled over other times. In the while that I was in Mofco the duke fent two amballadors to the king of Poland, which had at the leaft five hundred horfes; their fumptuoufnefs was above meafiure, not only in themfelves, but alfo in their horfes, as velvet, cloth of gold, and cloth of filver, fet with pearls and not fcant. What Ihall I farther fay ? I never heard of nor faw men fo fumptuous ; but it is no daily guile, for when they have not TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. ig not occafion, as I faid before, all their doing is but me^n. And now to the efFeft of their wars : they are men without all order in the field ; for they run hurling on heaps, and for the moft part they never give battle to their enemies ; but that which they do, they do it all by ftealth. But I believe they be fuch men for hard living as are not under the fun, for no cold will hurt them : yea, and though they lie in the field two months, at fuch time as it fliall freeze more than a yard thick, the common foldier hath neither tent nor any thing elfe over his head ; the moft defence they have againft the weather is a felt, which is fet againft the wind and weather, and when fnow cometh he doth caft it off, and maketh him a fire, and layeth him down thereby. Thus do the moft of all his men, except they be gentlemen, which have other provifion of their own. Their lying in the field is not fo ftrange as is their hardnefs ; for every man muft carry and make provifion for himfelf and his horfe for a month or two, which is very won- derful. For he himfelf fhall live upon water and oatmeal mingled together cold, and di-ink water thereto : his horfe fiifill eat green wood, and fuch like baggage, and Oiall iland open in the cold field without covert, and yet will he labour and ferve him right well. I pray you among all our boafting warriors how many fliould we find to endure the field with them but one month. I know no fuch region about us that bcareth that name for man and beaft. Now what might be made of thefe men if they v/ere trained and broken to order and knowledge of civil wars ? If this prince had within his countries fuch men as could make them to underftand the things aforefaid, I do believe that two of the beft or greateft princes in Chriftendom were not well able to match with him, confidering the greatnefs of his power and the hardinefs of his people, and ftrait living both of people and horfe, and the fmall charges which his wars ftand him in ; for he giveth no wage? except to ftrangers. They have a yearly flipend, and not nmch. As for his own countr)-men, every one ferveth of his own proper cofts and charges, faving that he giveth to his arcubufliers certain allowance for powder and Ihct, or elfe no man in all his country hath one penny wages. But if any man hath done very good fervice, he giveth him a farm or a piece of land ; for the which he is bound at all times to be ready whh fo many men as the duke fliali appoint ; who confidereth in his mind what that land or farm is well able to find : and fo many fhall ,he be bound to furnllh at all and every fuch time as wars are holden in any ol the duke's dominions. For there is no man of living but he is bound likewife, whether the duke call for either foldier or la- bourer, to furnifli them v/nh all fuch necelfaries as to them belong. Alfo, if any gentleman or man of living do die v;ithout ilTue male, immediately after his death the duke entereth his land, notwithftanding he have never fo many daugh- ters, and peradventure giveth it forthwith to another man, except a fmall poriion that he fpareth to marry the daughters withal. Alfo if there be a rich man, a fermour, or man of living, which is ftricken in age, or by chance is maimed, and be not aide to do the duke's fervice, fome other gentleman that is not able to live, and more able to do fervice, will come to the duke and complain, faying, your grace hath fuch an one, which is unmeet to do fervice to your highnefs, who hath great abundance of wealth, and likewife your grace hath many gemiemen which are poor and lack living, and we that lack are well able to do good fervice, your grace might do well to look upon him, and make hiin to help thofe that want. Immediately the duke fendeth forth to inquire of his wealth ; and if it be fo proved, he Ihall be called before the duke, and it Ihall be faid unto him, friend, you have too much living, and are unferviceable to your prince ; lefs will ferve you, and the reft will ferve ether men that are more able to fcrve 5 whereupon immediately his living iliall be taken away from him, faving a little D 2 to 20 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHSRg, to find himfelf and his wife on, and he may not once repine thereat : but for anfwer he will fay, that he hath nothing, but it is God's and the duke's grace's, and cannot fay, as we the common people in England fay, if we have any thing, that it is God's and our own. Men may fay, that thefe men are in wonderful great awe, and obedi- ence, that thus one muft give and grant his goods which he hath been fciaping and fcratching for all his life to be at his prince's pleafure and commandment. Oh that our fturdy rebels were had in the like fubjeftion to know their duty towards their princes. They may not fay, as fome knaves in England fay, I would find the queen a man to ferve in my place, or make his friends tarry at home, if money have the upper hand. No, no, it is not fo in this country : for he fliall make humble fuit to ferve the duke. And whom he fendeth mod to the wars he thinketh he is mod in his favour : and yet as I before have faid, he giveth no wages. If they knew their ftrength, no man were able to make match with them : nor they that dwell near them fhould have any reft of them. But I think it is not God's will : for I may compare them to a young horfe that knoweth not his ftrength, whom a little child ruleth and guideth with a bridle, for all his great ftrength : for if he did, neither child nor man could rule him. Their wars are holden againft the Crinime Tartarians and the Nagaians. I will ftand no longer in the rehearfal of their power and wars. For it were too tedious to the reader. But I will in part declare their laws and punifhments, and the execution of juftice. And firft I will begin with the commons of the country, which the gentlemen have rule on : and that is, that every gentleman hath rule and juftice upon his own tenants. And if it fo fall out that two gentlemen's fervants or tenants do difagree, the two gentlemen examine the matter, and have the parties before them, and fo give the fentence. And yet cannot they make the end betwixt them of the contro- verfy, but either of the gentlemen muft bring his fervant or tenant before the high judge or juftice of that country, and there prefent them, and declare the matter and cafe. The plaintiff" faith, I require the law ; which is granted : then cometh an officer and arrefteth the party defendant, and ufeth him contrary to the laws of England. For when they attach any man they beat him about the legs, until fuch time as he findeth fureties to anfwer the niatter : and if not, his hands and neck are bound together, and he is led about the town, and beaten about the legs, with other extreme punifhments, till he come to his anfwer : and the juftice demandeth if it be for debt, and faith : cweft thou this man any fuch debt ? He will perhaps fay nay. Then faith the judge : art thou able to deny it ? Let us hear how. By oath, faith the defendant. Then he commandeth to leave beating him, till further trial be had. Their order in one point is commendable. They have no man of law to plead their caufes in any court ; but every man pleadeth his own caufe, and giveth bill and anfwer in writing, contrary to the order in England. The complaint is in manner of a fuppli- cation, and made to the duke's grace ; and delivered him into his own hand, requiring to have juftice, as in his complaint is alleged. The duke giveth fentence himfelf upon all matters in the law : which is very com- mendable, that fuch a prince will take pains to fee miniftration of juftice. Yet not- withftanding it is wonderfully abufed ; and thereby the duke is much deceived. But if it fall out that the officers be efpied in cloaking the truth, they have moft condign pu- niftiment. And if the plaintiff" can nothing prove, then the defendant muft take his oath upon the crucifix whether he be in the right or no. Then is demanded if the plaintiff" be any thing able farther to make proof: if he be not, then fometimes he will fay, I am able to prove it by my body and hands, or by my champion's body, fo re- quiring c TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 2t quiring the camp. After the other hath his oath, it is granted as well to the one as to the other. So when they go to the field, they fwear upon the crucifix, that they be both in the right, and that the one fliall make the other to confefs the truth before they de- part forth of the field : and fo they go both to the battle armed with fuch weapons as they ufe in that country : they fight all on foot, and feldom the parties themfelvcs do' fight, except they be gentlemen. For they Hand much upon their reputation, for they will not fight, but with fuch as are come of as good an houfe as themfelves. So that if either party require the combat, it is granted unto them, and no champion is to ferve in their room : wherein is no deceit : but otherwife by champions there is. For al- though they take great oaths upon them to do the battle truly, yet is the contrary often feen : becaufe the common champions have none other living. And as foon as the one party hath gotten the viftory, he demandeth the debt, and the other is carried to prifon, and there is fhamefuUy ufed till he take order. There is alfo another order in the law, that the plaintiff may fwear in fome caufes of debt. And if the party defend- ant be poor, he fliall be fet under the crucifix, and the party plaintiff mult fwear over his head ; and when he hath taken his oath, the duke taketh the party defendant home to his houfe, and ufeth him as his bondman, and putteth him to labour, or letteth him for hire to any fuch as need him, until fuch time as his friends make provifion for his redemption : or elfe he remaineth in bondage all the days of his life. Again, there are many that "will fell themfelves to gentlemen or merchants to be their bondmen, to have during their life, meat, drink, and cloth, and at their coming to have a piece of money. Yea, and fome will fell their wives and children to be bawds and drudges to the buyer. Alfo, they have a law for felons and pickers contrary to the laws of Eng- land. For by their law they can hang no man for his firft offence ; but may keep him long in prifon, and oftentimes beat him with whips and other punifliment : and there he fliall remain until his friends be able to bail him. If he be a picker or a cut-purfe, as there be very many, the fecond time he is taken, he hath a piece of his nofe cut off, and is burned in the forehead, and kept in prifon till he find fureties for his good behaviour. And if he be taken the third tim.e, he is hanged. And at the firfl: time he is extremely puniflied and not releafed, except he have very good friends, or that fome gentleman require to have him to the wars : and in fo doing he fliall enter into great bonds for him : by which means the country is brought into good quietnefs. But they be naturally given to great deceit, except extreme beating did bridle them. They be naturally given to hard living as well in fare as in lodging. I heard a Rufllan fay, that it was a great deal merrier living in prifon than forth, but for the great beat- ing. For they have meat and drink without any labour, and get the charity of welU difpofed people : but being at liberty they get nothing. The poor is very innume- rable, and live mofl; miferably : for I have feen them eat the pickle of herring and other (linking fifli ; nor the filli cannot be fo fl;inking nor rotten, but they will eat it, and praife it to be more wholefome than other fifli or frefli meat. In mine opinion there be no fuch people under the fun for their hardnefs of living. Well, I wilt leave them in this point, and Vvall in part declare their religion. They do obferve the law of the Greeks with fuch excefs of fuperfl:ition, as the like hath not been heard of. They have no graven images in their churches, but all painted, to the intent they will not break the commandment : but to their painted images they ufe fuch idolatry, that tha like was never heard of in England. They will neither worfliip nor honour any imige that is made forth of their own country. For their own images (fay they) have pic- tures to declare, what they be, and how they be of God, and io be not ours.- Th;y X fay? 2-} VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, fay, look how the painter or carver hath made them, fo we do worfliip them ; and thev worfiiip none before they be chriftened. They fay we be but half chriflians : be- cauTe we obferve not part of the old law with the Turks. Therefore they call them- felves more holy than us. They have none other learning but their mother tongue, nor will fuffer no other in their country among them. All their fervice in churches is in their mother tongue. They have the Old and New Teftamenr, which are daily read anionic them : and yet their fuperftition is no lefs. For when the priefts do read, they have fuch tricks in their reading, that no man can underfland them, nor no man "iveth ear to them. For all the while the prieft readeth, the people fit dov^n, and one talk with another. But when the prieft is at fervice no man fitteth, but gaggle and duck like fo many geefe. And as for their prayers, they have but little (kill, but ufe to fay Js bodi pomele : as niuch to fav. Lord have mercy upon me. For the tenth man within the land cannot fay the Pater Nofter. And as for the ci-eed, lio man may be fo bold as to meddle therewith but in the church: for they fay it fliould not be fpoken of, but in the churches. Speak to them of the commandments, and thev will fav they were given to Mofes in the law which Chrifl: hath now abrogated bv his precious death and paffion ; therefore ('fay they) we obferve little or none thereof. And I do believe them. For if they were examined of their law and com- mandments together, they fliould agree but in few points. They have the facrament of the Lord's Supper, in both kinds, and more ceremonies than we have. They pre- fent them in a difli in both kinds together, and carry them round aliout the church upon the prieft's head, and fo do minifter at all fuch times, as any fliall require. They be great offerers of candles, and fometimes of money, which we call in England, Soul-pence, with more ceremonies than I am able to declare. They have four Lents in the vear, whereof our Lent is the greatefl. Look, as we do begin on the Wednefday, Vo they do on the I^Ionday before, and the week before that they call the Butter-week ; and in that week they eat nothing but butter and milk. Howbeit I believe there be in no other country the like people for drunkennefs. The next Lent is called Saint Peter's Lent, and beginneth always the Monday next after Trinity Sunday, and endeth on Saint Peter's even. If they fliould break that faft, their be- lief is, that they fliould not come in at heaven gates. And when any of them die, they haveth a teftimonial with them in the coffin, that when the foul conieth to heaven gates it may deliver the fame to Saint Peter, which declareth that the party is a true and holy RuiTian. 'l"he third Lent beginneth fifteen days before the later Lady-day, and endeth on our Lady-even. The fourth Lent beginneth on Saint Martin's-day, and endeth on Chriltmas-even : which Lent is failed for Saint Philip, Saint Peter, Saint Nicholas, and Saint Clement. For they four be the principal and greatefl faints in that country. In thefe Lenis they eat neither butter, eggs, milk, nor cheefe ; but they are very ftraitly kept with fifli, cabbages, and roots. And out of their Lents they obferve truly the Wednefdays and Fridays throughout the year; and on the Saturday ihey do eat flefli. Furthermore they have a great number of religious men ; which are black monks, and they eat no flefli throughout the year, but fi(h, milk, and but- ter. By their order they fliould eat no frefli fifh, and in their Lents they eat nothing but coleworts, cabbages, fait cucumbers, with other roots, as radifli and fuch like. Their drink is like our penny ale, and is called qi/a/s. They have fervice daily in their churches, and ufe to go to fervice two hours before day, and that is ended by day- light. At nine of the clock they go to mafs : that ended, to dinner; and after that to fervice again j and then to fuppcr : you flmil underftand that at every dinner and fupper TO THE NORTHEtlN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 23 fupper they have declared tlie expofition of the Gofpol that day : but how they wreft and twine the Scriptare, and that together by report it is wonderful. As for whoredom and drunkennefs there be none fuch living ; and for extortion they be the moft abominable under the fun. Now judge of their holinefs. They have twice as much land as the duke himfelf hath : but yet he is rcafonable even with them, as thus: when they take bribes of any of the poor and fimple, he hath it by an order ; when the abbot of any of their houfes dieth, then the duke hath all his goods, moveable and innnoveable : fo that the fucceflbr buyeth all at the duke's hands: and by this mean they be the beft fermers the duke hath. Ihus with their religion I make an end, trailing here- after tu know it better. To the right worfliipful and my fmgular good uncle, Mafter Chriftopher Frothingham, give thefe. Sir, read and correft ; For great is the .defect. The teftmony of M. Richard Eden, in his Decades, concerning the book following : And whereas, (faith he), I have before made mention how Mofcovy was incur time difcovered by Richard Chancelor, in his voyage toward Cathay, by the direciion and information of M. Sebaftian Cabota, who long before had this fecret in his mind ; I fliall not need here to defcribe that voyage, forafmuch as the fame is largely and faith- fully written in the Latin tongue by that learned young man Clement Adams, fchool- mafter to the queen's henfamen, as he received it at the mouth of the faid Richard Chancelor.. The new navigation and difcovcrv of the kingdom of Mofcovia, hy the north-eajl, in the year 1553 : enterprifed by Sir Hugh Willoughbie, knight, and performed by Richard Chancelor, pilot major of the voyage : written in Latin by Clement Adams. AT what time our merchants perceived the commodities and wares of England to be' in fmall requed: with the countries and people about us, and near unto us, and that thofe merchandifes which flrangers in the time and memory of our anceliors did ear- neftly feek and defire, were now neglefted, and the price thereof abated, although by us carried to their own ports, and all foreign merchandifes in great account, and their prices wonderfully raifed : certain grave citizens of London, and men of great wifdom, and careful for the good of their country, began to think with themfelves, how this mifchief might be remedied. Neither was a remedy (as it then appeared) wanting to their defires, for the avoiding of fo great an inconvenience: for feting that the wealth of the Spaniards and Portingales, by the difcovery and fearch of new trades and coun- tries, was marvelloufly increafed, fuppofing the fame to be a courfe and mean for them alio to obtain the like, they thereupon refolved upon a new and llrange naviga- tion. And whereas at the fame time one Seballian Cabota, a man in thofe days very renowned, happened to be in London, they began firft of all to deal and confult dili- gently with him, and after much fpeech and conference together, it was at lafl con- cluded that three fhips fnould be prepared and furnifhed out, for the fearch and dif- covery of the northern part of the world, to open a way and paifage to our nxjn for travel to new and unknowa kingdoms. And 24 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHEY AND OTHERS, , And whereas many things feenied neceffary to be regarded in this fo hard and difficult a matter, they firft made choice of certain grave and wife perfons in manner of a fenate or company, which Ihould lay their heads together and give their judg- ments, and provide things requifite and pi"ofitable for all occafions : by this company it was thought expedient ; that a certain fuin of money fiiould piiblickly be collected to ferve for the furnifliing of fo many fhips. And left any private man ihould be too much opprefled and charged, a courfe was taken, that every man willing to be of the fociety fliould dilburfe the portion of twenty and five pounds a-piece : fo that in fliort time by this means the fum of fix thoufand pounds being gathered, the three fhips were bought, the moft part whereof they provided to be newly built and trimmed. But in this aftion, I know not whether i may more admire the cai"e of the merchants, or the diligence of the fliipwrights : for the merchants they get very ftrong and well- feafoned planks for the building ; the fliipwrights, they with daily travail, and their greateft (kill, do fit them for the difpatch of the fhips : they calk them, pitch them, and among the reft, they make one moft ftaiinch and firm, by an excellent and inge- nious invention. For they had heard that in certain parts of the ocean, a kind of worms is bred, which many times pierceth and eateth through the ftrongeft oak that is : and therefore that the mariners, and the reft to be employed in this voyage might be free and fafe from this danger, they cover a piece of the keel of the fliip with thin fheets of lead : and having thus built the fhips, and furnifhed them with armour and artillery, then followed a fecond care no lefs ti-oublefome and necefTary tiian the for- mer, namely, the provifion of viftuals, which was to be made according to the time and length of the voyage. And whereas they afore determined to have the eaft part of the world faiied unto, and yet that the fea towards the fame was not open, except they kept the northern traft, whereas yet it was doubtful whether there were any paf- fage yea or no, they refolved to vidual the fliips for eighteen months ; which they did for this reafon. For our men being to pafs that huge and cold part of the world, they wifely forefeeing it, allow them fix months viftual to fail to the place, fo much more to remain there if the extremity of the winter hindred their return, and fo much more alfo for the time of their coming home. Now this provifion being made and carried aboard, with armour and munition of all forts, fufficient captains and governors of fo great an enterprife were as yet want- ing ; to which office and place, although many men, (and fome void of experience) ofi'ered themfelves, yet one Sir Hugh Wiiloughbie, a moft valiant gentleman, and well born, very earneflly requefted to have that care and charge committed unto him : of whom before all others, both by reafon of his goodly perfonage (for he was of a tall flature) as alfo for his fingular fkill in the fervices of war, the company of the mer- chants made greateft accompt : fo that at the laft they concluded and made choice of him for the general of this voyage, and appointed to him the admiral, with authority and command over all the reft. And for the government of other fliips, although divers men feemed willing, and made offers of themfelves thereunto, yet by a com- mon confent one Richard Chancelor, a man of great eftimation for many good parts of wit in him, was elected, in whom alone great hope for the performance of this bufinefs relied. This man was brought up by one Mafter Henry Sydney, a noble young gentleman, and very much beloved of King Edward, who at this time coming to the place where the merchants were gathered together, began a very eloquent fpeech or oration, and fpakc to them after this manner following : " My TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 25 «' My very worfliipful friends, I cannot but greatly commend your prefent godly and virtuous intention, in the ferious enterprifing (for the fmgular love you bear to your country) a matter, which (I hope) will prove profitable for this nation, and honour- able to this our land. Which intention of yours we alfo of the nobility are ready to our power to help and further ; neither do we hold any thing fo dear and precious unto us, which we will not willingly forego, and lay out in fo commendable a caufe. But principally I rejoice in niyfelf, that I have nouriflied and maintained that wit, which is like by foine means and in fome meafure, to profit and fteed you in this wor- thy aftion. But yet I would not have you ignorant of this one thing, that I do nov/ part with Chancelor, not becaufe I make little reckoning of the man, or that his main- tenance is burdenous and chargeable unto me, but that you might conceive and un- derftand my good will and promptitude for the furtherance of this bufmefs, and that the authority and eftimation which he deferveth may be given him. You kncv the man by report, I by experience ; you by words, I by deeds ; you by fpeech and com- pany, but I by the daily trial of his life have a full and perfedl knov/ledge of him. And you are alfo to remember, into how many perils for your fakes, and his country's love, he is now to run : whei'eof it is requifite that we be not unmindful, if it pleafe God to fend him good fuccefs. • We commit a little money to the chance and hazard of fortune : he commits his life (a thing to a man of all things the moil dear) to the raging fea, and the uncertainties of many dangers. We fliall here live and reft at home quietly with our friends, and acquaintance : but he in the mean time labouring to keep the ignorant and unruly mariners in good order and obedience, with how many cares (hall he trouble and vex himfelf ? with how many troubles fhall he break himfelf ? and how many difquietings fliall he be forced to fuftain ? We fhall keep our own coafts and country : he fhall feek flrange and unknown kingdoms. He fliall commit his fafety to barbarous and cruel people, and fhall hazard his life amongfl; the monilrous and terrible beafts of the fea. Wherefore in refpeft of the greatnefs of the dangers, and the excellency of his charge, you are to favour and love the man thus departing from us : and if it fall fo happily out that he return again, it is your part and duty alfo liberally to reward him." After that this noble young gentleman had delivered this, or fome fuch like fpeech, much more eloquently than I can pofTibly report it, the company then prefent began one to look upon another, one to queftion and confer with another : and fome (to whom the virtue and fufliciency of the man was known) began fecretly to rejoice with themfelves 5 and to conceive a fpecial hope, that the man would prove in time, very rare and excellent, and that his virtues, already appearing and Hiining to the world, would grow to the great honour and advancement of this kingdom. After all this, the company growing to fome filence, it feemed good to them that were of greateft gravity amongft them, to inquire, fearch, and feek'what might be learned and known concerning the eafterly part or traft of the world. For which caufe two Tartarians, which were then of the king's liable, were fent for, and an interpreter was gotten to be prefent, by whom they were demanded touching their country, and the manners of their nation. But they were able to anfwer nothing 10 the purpofe ; being indeed more acquainted (as one there merrily and openly faid) to tofs pots, than to learn the ftates and difpofitions of people. But after much ado, and many things pafTed about this matter, they grew at lafl to thisilfue, to fet down and appoint a time for the departure of the fhips : becaufe divers were of opinion, that a great part of the beft time of the year was already fpent, and if the delay grew longer, the way VOL. I. £ would 26 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, would be flopped and ba»-red by the force of tlie ice, and the cold climate : and therefore it was thought befl: by the opinion of them all, that by the tenth day of Mav, the captains and manners fhould take fhipping, and depart from Ratcliffe upon the'ebbe, if it pleafed God. I'hey having faluted their acquaintance, one his wife, another his children, another his kinsfolks, and another his friends de?rer than his kinsfolks, were prefent and ready at the day appointed : and having weighed anchor, they de(-art"ed with the turning of the water, and failing eafily, came firft to Greenwich. 1'he greater fliips are towed down with boats, and oars, and the mariners being all apparelled in watchet or fky-coloured cloth, rowed amain, and made away with dili- gence. And being come near to Greenwich, (where the court then lay) prefently on the news thereof, the courtiers came running out, and the common people flocked together, flanding very thick upon the fhore ; the privy council they looked out at the windows of the court, and the refl ran up to the tops of the towers : the fhips here- upon difcharge their ordnance, and fhoot off their pieces after the manner of war, and of the fea, infomuch that the tops of the hills founded therewith, the vallies and the waters gave an echo, and the manners they fhouted in fuch fort that the fky rang again with the noife thereof. One flood in the poop of the fliip, and by his geflure bids farewell to his friends in the bell manner he could. Another walks upon the hatches, another climbs the fhrouds, another flands upon the main yard, and another in the top of the fhip. To be fhort, it was a very triumph (after a fort) in all refpefts to the beholders. But (alas 1) the good King Edward (in refpefl of whom prin- cipally all this was prepared) he only by reafon of his ficknefs was abfent from this Ihew, and not long after the departure of thefe fhips, the lamentable and mofl for- rowful accident of his death followed. But to proceed in the matter. The fliips going down with the tide, came at lafl to Woolwich, where they flayed and cad anchor, with purpofe to depart therehence again as foon as the turning of the water, and a better wind fhould draw them to fet fail. After this they departed and came to fiarwich, in which port they flaid long, not without great lofs and con- fuming of time : yet at the lail with a good wind they hoifled up fail, and committed themfelves to the fea, giving their lafl adieu to their native country, which they knew not whether they fliould ever return to fee again or not. Many of them looked often- times back, and could not refrain from tears, confidering into what hazards they were to fall, and what uncertainties of the fea they were to make trial of. Amongfl the refl, Richard Chancelor, the captain of the Edward Bonaventure, was not a little grieved wuth the fear of wanting victuals, part whereof was found to be corrupt and putrified at Harwich, and the hogfheads of wine alfo leaked, and were not flaunch : his natural and fatherly affedion alfo fomewhat troubled him ; for he left behind him his two little fons, which were in the cafe of orphans if he fped not well ; the eflate alfo of his company moved him to care, being in the former refpedts after a fort ufthappy, and were to abide with himfelf every good or bad accident : but in the mean time while his mind was thus tormented with the multiplicity of for- rows and cares, after many days failing, they kenned land afar off, whereunto the pilot direfted the fhips ; and being come to it, they land, and find it to be Rofl Ifland, where they flayed certain days, and afterwards fet fail again, and proceeding towards the north, they efpied certain other iflands, which were called th e Crofs-of- Iflands. From which places when they were a little departed. Sir Hugh Wiiloughby the general, a naan of good forefight and providence in all his anions, erected and fet TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 2; fet out his flag, by which he called together the chiefeft men of the other fliips, that by the help and affiftance of their counlels, the order of the government and the con- duction of the fliips in the whole voyage might be the better : who being come to- gether accordingly, they conclude and agree, that if any great tempeft fhould arife at any time, and happen to difperfe and fcatter them, every (hip fhould endeavour his bell to go to Wardhoufe, a haven or caftle of fome name in the kingdom of Norway, and that they that arrived there firfl in fafety, fhould ftay and expect the coming of the reft. The very fame day in the afternoon, about four of the clock, fo great a tempeft fud- denly arofe, and the feas were fo outrageous, that the fliips could not keep their intended courfe, but fome were per force driven one way, and fome another way, to their great peril and hazard : the general with his loudeft voice cried out to Richard Chancelor, and earneftly requefted him not to go far from him ; but he neither would nor could keep company with him, if he failed ftill fo faft : for the admiral was of better fail than his fhip. But the faid admiral (I know not by what means) beaiing all his fails, was car- ried away with fo great force and fwiftnefs that not long after he was quite out of fight, and the third fliip alfo with the fame ftorm and like rage was difperfed and loft us. The fhip boat of the admiral, (ftriking againft the fliip,) was overwhelmed in the light and view of the mariners of the Bonaventure : and as for them that are already returned and arrived, they know nothing of the reft of the fliips what v/as become of them. But if it be fo, that any miferable nilfhap have overtaken them, if the rage and fury of the fea have devoured thofe good men, or if as yet they live, and wander up and down in ftrange countries, I muft needs fay they were men worthy of better fortune, and if they be living, let us wifli them fafety and a good return : but if the cruelty of death hath taken hold of them, God fend them a chriftian grave and fepulchre. Now Richard Chancelor, with his fliip and company, being thus left alone, and be- come very penfive, heavy, and forrowful, by this difperfion of the fleet, he (accord- ing to the order before taken) fliapeth his courfe for Wardhoufe in Norway, there to expefl: and abide the arrival of the reft of the fliips. And being come thither, and having ftaid there the fpace of feven days, and looked in vain for their coming, he determined at length to proceed alone in the purpofed voyage. And as he was pre- paring himfelf to depart, it happened that he fell in company and fpeech with certain Scottilhmen ; who having underftanding of his intention, and wifliing well to his a£tions, began earneftly to difi'uade him from the further profecution of the difcovery, by amplifying the dangers which he was to fall into, and omitted no reafon that might ferve to that purpofe. But he holding nothing fo ignominious and reproachful, as inconftaney and levity of mind, and perfuading himfelf that a man of valour could not commit a more diflionourable part than for fear of danger to avoid and fhun great attempts, was nothing at all changed or difcouraged with the fpeeches and words of the Scots, remaining ifedfaft and immutable in his firft refolution ; determining either to bring that to pafs which was intended, or elfe to die the death. And as for them which were v/ith Mafter Chancelor in his fhip, although they had great caufe of difcomfort by the lofs of their company (whom the forefaid tempeft had feparated from them,) and were not a little troubled with cogitations and perturbations of mind, in refpeft of their doubtful courfe ; yet notwithftanding they were of fuch £ 2 confent 28 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, confent and agreement of mind with Mafter Chancelor, that they were refolute, and prepared umJer his dii-edion and government, to make proof and trial of al! adven- tures, without all fear or miftruft of future dangers. Which conflancy of mind in all the company did exceedingly increafe their captain's carefulnefs ; for he being fwal- lowed up with like good will and love towards them, feared left through any error of his, the fafety of the company fliould be endangered. To conclude, when they faw their defire and hope of the arrival of the reft of the fhips to be every day more and more fruftrated, they provided to fea again, and Mafter Chancelor held on his courfe towards that. unknown part of the world, and failed fo far, that he came at laft to the place where he found no night at all, but a continual light and brightnefs of the fun fhining clearly upon the huge and mighty fea. And having the benefit of this per- petual light for certain days, at the length it pleafed God to bring them into a certain great bay, which was of one hundred miles or thereabouts over. Whereinto they entered, and fomewhat far within it caft anchor, and looking every way about them, it happened that they efpied afar oft" a certain fiflier boat, which Mafter Chancelor, accompanied with a few of his men, went towards to common with the fifhermen that wers in it, and to know of them what country it was, and what people, and of what manner of living they were : but they being amazed with the ftrange greatnefs of his ftiip, (for in thofe parts before that time they had never feen the like,) began prefently to avoid and to flee : but he ftill following them at laft overtook them, and being come to them, they (being in great fear, as men half-dead) proftrated them- felves before him, offering to kifs his feet : but he (according to his great and fmgu- lar courtefy,) looked pleafantly upon them, comforting them by figns and geftures, refufmg thofe duties and reverences of theirs, and taking them up in all loving fort from the ground. And it is ftrange to confider how much favour afterwards in that place this humanity of his did purchafe to himfelf. For they being difmiffed, fpread by and by a report abroad of the arrival of a ftrange nation, of a fingular gentlenefs and courtefy : whereupon the common people came together offering to thefe new come guefts victuals freely, and not refufmg to traffic with them, except they had been bound by a certain religious ufe and cuftom, not to buy any foreign commodi- ties, without the knowledge and confent of the king. By this time our men had learned that this country was called Rufiia or Mofcovy, and that Juan Vafiliwich (which was at that time their Idng's name) ruled and go- verned far and wide in thofe places. And the barbarous Ruffes afked likevvife of our men, whence they were, and what they came for : whereunto anfwer was made, that they were Engliflimen fent into thofe coafts, from the moft excellent King Edward the Sixth, having from him in commandment, certain things to deliver to their king, and feeking nothing elfe but his amity and friendftiip, and traffic with his people, whereby they doubted not, but that great commodity and profit would grow to the fubjefts of both kingdoms. The barbarians heard thefe things very gladly, and promifed their aid and further- ance to acquaint their king out of hand with fo honeft and a reafonable requeft. In the meantime Mafter Chancelor entreated viduals for his money of the governor of that place, (who together with others came aboard him,) and required hoftages of them likewife for the more affurance of fafety to himfelf and his company. To whom the governors anfwered, that they knew not in that cafe the will of their king, but yet were willing in fuch things as they might lawfully do, to pleafure him : which was as then to afford him the benefit of victuals. Now TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 29 Now while thefe things were a doing, they fecretly fent a meffenger unto the em- peror, to certify him of the arrival of a ftrange nation, and withal to know his pleafure concerning them. Which meffiige was very welcome unto him, infomuch that vo- luntarily he invited them to come to his court. But if by reafon of the tedioufnefs of fo long a journey, they thought it not befl fo to do, then he granted liberty to his fub- jcfts to bargain, and to traffic with them : and further promifed, that if it would pleafe them to come to him, he himfelf would bear the whole charges of poft horfes. In the meantime the governors of the place deferred the matter from day to day, pretending divers excufes, and faying one while that the confent of all the governors, and ano- ther while, that the great and weighty affairs of the kingdom compelled them to defer their anfwer : and this they did of purpofe, fo long to protraft the time, until the mef- fenger (fent before to the king) did return with relation of his will and pleafure. But mailer Chancelor, (feeing himfelf held in this fufpenfe with long and vain ex- peftation, and thinking that of intention to delude him, they polled the matter off" fo often,) was very inftant with them to perform their promife ; which if they v\'Guld not do, he told them that he would depart and proceed in his voyage. So that the Mofco- vites (although as yet they knew not the mind of their king,) yet fearing the departure indeed of our men who had fuch wares and commodities as they greatly defired, they at lad refolved to furniffi our people with all things neceffary, and condufl; them by land to the prefence of their king. And fo mailer Chancelor began his journey, which was very long and moft troublefome, wherein he had the ufe of certain fleds, which in that country are very common, for they are carried themfelves upon fleds, and all their carriages are in the fame fort, the people almoft not knowing any other manner of carriage, the caufe whereof is the exceeding hardnefs of the ground congealed in the winter time by the force of the cold, which in thofe places is very extreme and horrible, whereof hereafter we will fay fomething. But now they having pafled the greater part of their journey, met at lafl; with the fleddeman (of whom I fpake before) fent to the king fecretly from thejuftices or go- vernors, who by fome ill hap had lofl: his way, and had gone to the fea fide, which is near to the country of the Tartars, thinking there to have found our fhip.. But having long erred and wandered out of his way, at the laft in his dired return, he met (as he was coming) our captain on the way. To whom he by and by delivered the emperor's letters, which were written to him with all courtefy and in the mofl loving manner that could be : wherein exprefs commandment was given, that poft horfes Ihould be gotten for him and the reft of his company without any money. Which thing was of all the Ruffes in the reft of their journey fo willingly done, that they began to quarrel, yea, and to fight alfo in ftriving and contending which of them fliould put their poft horfes to the fledde : fo that after much ado and great pains taken in this long and weary journey, (for they had travelled very near fifteen hundred miles,) mafter Chancelor came at laft to Mofco the chief city of the kingdom, and the feat of the king : of which city, and of the emperor himfelf, and of the principal cities of Mofcovy we will fpeak imraedi-- ately more at large in this difcourfe. Of Mofcovy, -which is afo called Rrtffa. Mofcovy, which hath the name alfo of Ruflia the White, is a very large and fpacious country, every way bounded with divers nations. Towards the South and the Eaft, it is compaffed with Tartaria : the northern fide of it ftretcheth to the Scythian ocean : upoOi 3© VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, upon the wefl part border the Lappians, a rude and favage nation, living in woods, whofe language is not known to any other people : next unto thefe, more towards the fouth is Svvecia, then Finlandia, then Livonia, and laft of all Lituania. This country of Mofcovy hath alfo very many and great rivers in it, and is marifh ground in many places : and as for the rivers, the greatefh and mod famous amongft all the reft, is that, which the Ruffes in their own tongue call Volga ; but others know it by the name of Rha. Next unto it in fame is Tanais, which they call Don, and the third Borifthenes which at this day they call Neper. Two of thefe, to wit, Rha and Borifthenes iffuing both out of one fountain, run very far through the land : Rha receiving many other pleafant rivers into it, and running from the very head or fpring of it, towards the eaft, after many crooked turnings and windings, difchargeth itfelf, and all the other waters and rivers that fall into it by divers paffages into the Cafpian Sea. Tanais fpringing from a fountain of great name in thofe parts, and growing great near to his head, fpreads itfelf at length very largely, and makes a great lake : and then growing narrow again, doth fo run for certain miles, until it ^alleth into another lake, which they call Juan : and therehence fetching a very crooked courfe, comes very near to the river Volga : but difdaining as it were the company of any other river, doth there turn itfelf again from Volga, and runs towards the fouth, and falls at laft into the lake of Ma:otis. Borifthenes, which comes from the fame head that Rha doth, (as we faid be- fore) carrieth both itfelf, and other waters that are near unto it, towards the South, not refufing the mixture of other fmall rivers : and running by many great and large countries falls at laft into Pontus Euxinus. Befides thefe rivers, are alfo in Mofcovy certain lal^es and pools, the lakes breed fifii by the celeftial influence : and amongft them all, the chiefeft and moft principal is called Bealozera, which is very famous by reafon of a very ftrong town built in it, wherein the kings of Mofcovy referve and repofe their treafure in all time of war and danger. Touching the Rhiphean mountains, whereupon the fnow Heth continually, and where hence in times paft it was thought that Tanais the river did fpring, and that the reft of the wonders of nature, which the Grecians feigned and invented of old, were there to be feen : our men vt'hich lately came from thence, neither faw them nor yet have brought home any perfefl: relation of them, although they remained there for the fpace of three months, and had gotten in that iime fome intelligence of the language of Mofcovy. The w hole country is plain and champion, and few hills in it : and towards the north hath very large and fpacious woods, wherein is great ftore of fir trees, a wood very neceffary, and fit for the building of houfes : there are alfo wild beafts bred in thofe woods, as bufies, bears, and black wolves, and another kind of beaft unknown to us, but called by them Roffomakka ; and the nature of the fame is very rare and wonderful : for when it is great with young, and ready to bring forth, it fecketh out fome narrow place between two itakes, and fo going through them, preffeth itfelf, and by that means is eafed of her burden, which otherM'ife could not be done. They hunt their buffes for the moft part a horfeback, but their bears a foot, with wooden forks. The north parts of the country are reported to be fo cold, that the very ice or water which diftilleth out of the moift wood which tliey lay upon the fire, js prefently congealed and frozen : the diverfity groweth fuddenly to be fo great, that in one and the felf fame firebrand, a man fliall fee both fire and ice. When the winter doth once begin there, it doth ftill more and more increafe by a perpetuity of cold : neither doth that cold flack, until the force of the fun beams doth diffolve the cold, and make glad the earth, returning to it again. Our mariners which wc left in the fliip in the TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 3! the mean time to keep it, in their going up only from their cabins to the hatches, had their breath oftentimes fo fuddenly taken away, that they often fell down as men very near dead, fo great is the (liarpnefs of that cold climate : but as for the fouth parts c^ the country, they are fomewhat more temperate. Of Mofco the chief city nf the kingdom, and of the Emperor thereof. It remaineth that a larger difoourfe be made of Mofco, the principal city of that country, and of the prince alfo, as before we have promifed. The empire and govern- ment of the king is veiy large, and his wealth at this time exceeding great. And be- caufe the city of Mofco is the chiefefl of all the reft, it feemeth of itfelf to challenge the firft place in this dilcourfe. Our men fay, that in bignefs it is as great as the city of London with the fuburbs thereof. There are many and great buildings in it, but for beauty and fairnefs, nothing comparable to ours. There are many towns and villages alfo, but built out of order, and with no handfomenefs : their ftreets and ways are not paved with ftone as ours are : the walls of their houfes are of wood : the roofs for the moft part are covered with Ihingle boards. There is hard by the city a very fair caftle, ftrong, and furniflied with artillery, whereunto the city is joined diredlly towards the north, with a brick wall : the walls alfo of the caftle are built with brick, and are in breadth or thicknefs eighteen feet. This caftle hath on the one fide a dry ditch, on the other fide the river Mofcua, whereby it is made almoft inexpugnable. The fame Mofcua trending towards the eaft doth admit into it the company of the river Occa. In the caftle aforefaid, there are in number nine churches, or chaples, not alto- gether unhandfome, which are ufed and kept by certain religious men, over whom there is after a fort, a patriarch, or governor, and with him other reverend fathers, all which for the greater part, dwell within the caftle. As for the king's court and palace, it is not of the neateft, only in form it is four fquare, and of low building, much fur- pafled and excelled by the beauty and elegance of the houfes of the kings of England. The windows are very narrowly built, and fome of them by glafs, fome other by lattices admit the light : and whereas the palaces of our princes are decked and adorned with hangings of cloth of gold, there is none fuch there: they build and join to all their walls benches, and that not only in the court of the emperor, but in all pri-. vate men's houfes. Now after that they had remained about twelve days in the city, there was then a mef- fenger fent unto them, to bring them to the king's houfe : and they being after a fort wearied with their long ftay, were very ready and willing fo to do : and bemg entered whhin the gates of the court, there fat a very honourable company of courtiers, to the number of one hundred, all apparelled in cloth of gold, down to their ancles : and there hence being conducted into the chamber of prefence, our men began to wonder at the majefty of the emperor : his feat was aloft, in a very royal throne, having on his head a diadem, or crown of gold, apparelled with a robe all of goldfmith's work, and in : his hand he held a fceptre garnifned and befet with precious ftones : and befides all other notes and appearances of honour, there was a majefty in his countenance pro- portionable with the excellency of his eftate : on the one fide of him ftood his chief Secretary, on the other fide, the great commander of filence, both of them arrayed alfo in cloth of gold ; and then there fat the council of one hundred and fifty in number, all in like fort arrayed, and of great ftate. This fo honourable an aflembly, fo great a majefty of the emperor, and of the place might very well have amazed oiir men, and have 22 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, have dafiied them out of countenance : but notwith (landing Mafter Chancelor being therewithal nothing difmayed, faluted and did his duty to the emperor, after the man- ner of England, and withal delivered unto him the letters of our king, EduT,rd the flxth. The emperor having taken and read the letters, began a little to queftion with them, and to alk them of the welfare of our king : whereunto our men anfwered him diredly, and in few words : hereupon our men prefented iumething to the emperor, by the chief fecretary, which at the deliveiy of it, put off his hat, being afore all the time covered : and fo the emperor having invited them to dinner, difmiffed them from his prefence : and going into the chamber of him that was mailer or the requefts to the emperor, and having flaid there the fpace of two hours, at the lafl: the meffenger cometh, and calleth them to dinner: they go, and being conducted into the golden court, (forfo they call it, although not very fair,) they find the emperor fitting upon an high and {lately feat, apparelled with a robe of filver, and with another diadem on his head : our men being placed over againft him, fit down : in the midft of the room flood a mighty cupboard upon a fquare foot, whereupon flood alfo a round board, in manner of a diamond, broad beneath, and towards the top narrow, and every ftep rofe up more narrow than another. Upon this cupboard was placed the emperor's plate, which was fo much, that the very cupboard itfelf w^as fcant able to fuftain the weight of it : the better part of all the vefTels, and goblets, was made of very fine gold : and among the reft, there were four pots of very large bignefs, which did adorn the reft of the plate in great meafure : for they were fo high, that they thought them at the leaft five feet long. There were alfo upon this cupboard certain filver calks, not much differing from the quantity of our firkins, wherein was referved the emperor's drink : on each fide of the hall ftocd four tables each of them laid and covered with very clean table cloths, whereunto the company afcended by three fteps or degrees : all which were filled with the affembly prefent : the guefts were all apparelled with linen without, and with rich fkins within, and fo did notably fet out this royal feaft. The emperor, when he takes any bread or knife in his hand, doth firft of all crofs himfelfupon his forehead : they that are in fpecial favour with the emperor fit upon the fame bench with him, but fomewhat far from him : and before the coming in of the meat, the emperor himJelf, according to an ancient cuftom of the kings of Mofcovy, doth firft beftow a piece of bread upon every one of his guefts, with a loud pronunciation of his title, and honour, in this manner; the great duke of Mofcovy, and chief emperor of Ruftia, John Bafihwich (and then the officer nameth the guelt) doth give thee bread. Where- upon all the guefts rife up, and by and by fit down again. This done the gentleman ufner of the hall comes in with a notable company of fervants, carrying the difties, and having done his reverence to the emperor puts a young fwan in a golden platter upon the table, and immediately takes it thence again, delivering it to the carver, and feven other of his fellows, to be cut up : which being performed, the meat is then diftributed to the guefts, with the like pomp and ceremonies. In the mean time, the gentleman uflier receives his bread, and tufteth to the emperor, and afterward, having done his reverence, he departcth. Touching the reft of the dilhes, becaufe they were brought in cut of order, our men can report no certainty : but this is true, that all the furniture of difties, and drinking vefTels, which were then for the ufe of a hundred guefts, was all of pure gold, and the tables were fo laden with vefTels of gold, that there was no room for fome to ftand upon them. We may not forgot that there were one hundred and forty fervitors arrayed in cloth of gold, that in the dinner time changed thrice their habit and apparel, which fervitors 3 ^^'^ TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 3^ are in like fort ferved with bread from the Emperor, as the reft of the gueds. Laft of all, dinner being ended, and candles brought in, (for by this time night was come) the Emperor calleth all his guefts and noblemen by their names, in fuch fort, that it feems miraculous, that a prince otherwife occupied in great matters of eftate, fliould fo well remember fo many and fundry particular names. The Ruffes told our men, that the reafon thereof, as alfo of the bellowing of bread in that manner, was to the end that the Emperor might keep the knowledge of his own houdiold : and withal, that fuch as are under his difpleafure, might by this means be known. Of the difclpl'ine of war among the Ruffes. Whenfoever the injuries of their neighbours do call the King forth to battle, he never armeth a lefs number againfl the enemy than three hundred thoufand foldiers, one hundred thoufand whereof he carrieth out into the field with him, and leaveth the reft in garrifon in fome fit places, for the better fafety of his empire. He preffeth no huibandman nor merchant ; for the country is fo populous, that thefe being left at home, ihe youth of the realm is fufficient for all his wars. As many as go out to warfare do provide all things of their own coft : they fight not on foot, but altogether on horfe- back : their armour is a coat of mail and a helmet : the coat of mail is gilded, or elfe adorned with fdk, although it pertain to a common foldier : they have a great pride in fhewing their wealth : they ufe bows and arrows, as the Turks do : they carry lances alfo into the field. They ride with a fhort flirrup, after the manner of the Turks. They are a kind of people moft fparing in diet, and moft patient in extremity of cold, above all others ; for when the ground is covered with fnow, and is grown terrible and hard with the froft, this Ruffe hangs up his mantle, or foWier's coat, againft that part from whence the wind and fnow drives, and lb making a little fire, lieth down with his back towards the weather : this mantle of his ferves him for his bed, wall, houfe and all : his drink is cold water of the river, mingled with oatmeal, and this is all his good cheer, and he thinketh himfelf well, and daintily fed therewith, and fo fitteth down by his fire, and upon the hard ground, roafteth as it were his weary fides thus daintily fluffed ; the hard ground is his feather-bed, and fome block or ftone his pillow : and as for his horfe, he is as it were a chamber fellow with his mafler, faring both alike. How juftly may this barbarous and rude Ruffe condemn the daintinefs and nicenefsof our captains, who living in a foil and air much more temperate, yet commonly ufe furred boots and cloaks! But thus much of the furniture of their common foldiers. But thofe that are of higher degrees come into the field a little better provided. As for the furniture of the Emperor himfelf, it is then above all other times mofl notable. The coverings of his tent, for the moft part, are all of gold, adorned with ftones of great price, and with the curious workmanfllip of plumafiers. As often as they are to fkirmifli with the enemy, they go forth without any order at all : they make no wings, nor military divifions of their men, as we do, but lying for the moft part in ambufh, do fuddenly fet upon the enemy/ Their horfes can well abftain two whole days from any meat : they feed upon the barks t)f trees, and the moft tender branches, in all the time of war. And this fcant and mi- ferable manner of living both the horfe and his mailer can well endure, fometimes for the fpace of two months, lufty and in good ftate of body. If any man behave himfelf valiantly in the field, to the contentation of the Emperor, he beftoweth upon him in re- compenfe of his fervlce fome farm, or fo much ground as he and his may live upon, which notwithftanding after his death returneth again to the Emperor, if he die without VOL. I. F a male 34 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, a male ifllie. For although his daughters be never fo many, yet no part of that inherit- ance comes to them, except peradveature the Emperor of his goodnefs give fome por- tion of the land amongft them, to bellow them Vv'ithal. As for the man, whofoever he be, that is in this fort rev/arded by the Emperor's liberality, he is bound in a great fum to maintain fo many foldiers for the war when need fliall require, as that land, in the opinion of the Emperor, is able to maintain. And all thofe to whom any land falls by inheritance are in no better condition ; for if they die without any male ifllie, all their lands fall into the hands of the emperor. And, moreover, if there be any rich man amongft them, who in his own perfon is unfit for the \Aars, and yet hath iuch wealth, that thereby many noblemen and warriors might be maintained, if any of the courtiers prefent his name to the Emperor, the unhappy man is by-and-bye fent for, and In that inftant deprived of all his riches, which with great pains and travail all his life- time he hath gotten together ; except perhaps fome fmall portion thereof be left him to maintain his wife, children, and family. But all this is done of all the people fo willingly at the Emperor's commandment, that a man would think they rather make reftitution of other men's goods, than give that which is their own to other men. Now the em- peror having taken thefe goods into his hands, beftoweth them among his courtiers according to their deferts ; and the oftener that a man is fent to the wars, the more favour he thinketh is borne to him by the Emperor, although he go upon his own charge, as I faid before j fo great is the obedience of all men generally to their prince. Of the amhajfadors of the Emperor of Mofcovy. The Mofcovite, with no lefs pomp and magnificence than that which we have fpoken of, fends his ambaffadors to foreign princes in the ailairs of eflate. For while our men were abiding in the city of Mofco, there were two ambafladors fent to the King of Poland, - accompanied with five hundred notable horfes, and the greater part of the men were arrayed in cloth of gold, and of filk, and the worft apparel was of garments of blue colour, to fpeak nothing of the trappings of the horfes, which were adorned with gold and filver, and very curioufly embroidered : they had alfo with them one hundred white and fair fpare horfes, to ufe them at fuch times as any wearincfs came upon them. But now the time requireth me to fpeak briefly of other cities of the Mofcovites, and of the wares and commodities that the country yieldeth., Novogorode. Next unto Mofco, the city of Novogorode Is reputed the chlefefl of RulTia ; for al- though it be in majefty inferior to it, yet in greatnefs it goeth beyond it. It is the chiefefL and greatell mart town of all iNIofcovy : and albeit the Emperor's feat is not there, but at Mofco, yet the commodioufnefs of the river, falling into that gulf, which is called Sinus Finnicus, whereby it is well frequented by merchants, makes it more famous than Mofco itfclf. This town excels all the reft in the commodities of flax and hemp : it yields alfo hides, honey, and wax. The Flemings there fometimes had a houfe of mer- chandife, but by reafon ihat they ufcd the like ill-dealing there, which they did with us, they loft their privileges, a reftitution v/hercof they earneltly fued for at the time that our men were there. But thofe Flemings hearing of the arrival of our men in thofe parts, ■wrote their letters to the Emperor againfl them, accufmg them for pirates and rovers, wifliing him to detain and imprifon them. Which things when they were known of our men, they conceived fear that they fliould never have returned home. But the Emperor believing TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 35 believing rather the Icing's letters, which our men brought, than the lying and falfr fuggeftions of the Flemings, ufed no ill intreaty towards them. Terajlave. Yeraflave alfo is a town of fome good fame, for the commodities of hides, tallow, and corn, which it yields in great abundance. Cakes of wax are tliere alfo to be fold, although other places have greater (lore. This Yeraflave is diftant from M^fco about two hundred miles ; and betwixt them are many populous villages. Their fields yield fuch {tore of corn, that in conveying it towards Mofco, fometimes in a forenoon, a man fhall fee feven hundred or eight hundred fleds going and coming, laden with corn and fait fifli : the people com.e a thoufand miles to Slofco to buy that corn, and then carry it away upon fleds ; and thefe are thofe people that dwell in the north parts, where the cold is fo terrible, that no corn doth grow there, or if it fpnng up, it never comes to ripenefs. The commodities that they bring with them are fait fifli, flcins, and hides. Vologda. Vologda being from Mofco five hundred and fifty miles, yields the commodities of hemp and flax alfo j although the greatefl; ftore of flax is fold at Novogorode. Flefco. The town of Plefco is frequented of merchants for the good ftore of honey and wax that it yieldeth. tlolmagro. The north parts of Ruflla yield very rare and precious fkins ; and amongft the refl: thofe principally which we call fables, worn about the necks of our noble women and ladies : it hath alfo martin's fkins, white, black, and red fox fkins, fkins of hares, and ermines, and others, which they call and term barbaroufly, as beavers, minxes, and minivers. The fea adjoining breeds a certain beafl: which they call the mors, which feeketh his food upon the rocks, climbing up with the help of his teeth. The Rufles ufe to take them for the great virtue that is in their teeth, whereof they make as great accompt as we do of the elephant's tooth. Thefe commodities they carry upon deers' backs to the town of Lampas, and from thence to Colmagro, and there in the winter time are kept great fairs for the fale of them. This city of Colmagro fcrves all the country about it with fait and fait fifh. The Ruffians alfo of the north parts fend thither oil, which they call trane, which they make in a river called Una, although it be alfo made elfewhere : and here they ufe to boil the water of the fea, whereof they make very great ftore of fait. Of coKlrovcrfisiin Law, and bow they are ended. Having hitherto fpoken fo much of the chiefeft ciues of Ruflia as the matter re- quired, it remaineth that we fpeak fomewhat of the laws that the Mofcovites do ufe, as far forth as the- fame are come to our knowledge. If any controverfy arife among them, they firft make their landlords judges in the matter ; and if they cannot end it, tJien they prefer it to the magiftrate. The plaintiS" craveth of the faid magiftrate that P 2 he 36 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, he may have leave to enter law againft his adverfary ; and having obtaineil it, the officer fetcheth the defendant, and beateth him on the legs till he bring forth a furety for him; but if he be not of fuch credit as to procure a furety, then are his hands by an officer tied to his neck, and he is beaten all the way till he come before the judge. The judge then afketh him (as for example in the matter of debt) whether he oweth any thing to the plaintiff. If he denies it, then faith the judge, how canfl: thou deny it? the defendant anfwereth, by an oath : thereupon the officer is commanded to ceafe from beating of him, until the matter be furth^-r tried. They have no lawyers, but every man is his own advociite, and both the complaint of the accufer, and the anfwerof the defendant, are in manner of petition delivered to the emperor, intreating juflice at his hands. The emperor himfelf heareth every great controverfy, and upon the hearing of it giveth judgment, and that with great equity, which I take to be a thing worthy of fpecial com- mendation in the majefty of a prince. But although he do this with a good purpofc of mind, yet the corrupt magiftrates do wonderfully pervert the fame ; but if the emperor take them in any fault, he doth punilh them mofl feverely. Now at the lad, when each party hath defended his caufe with his bed reafons, the judge demandeth of the accufer whether he hath any more to fay for himfelf; he anfwereth, that he will try the matter in fight by his champion, or elfe intreateth that in fight betwixt themfelves the matter may be ended ; which being granted, they both fight it out : or if both of them, or either of them, feem unfit for that kind of trial, then they have public champions to be hired, which live by ending of quarrels. Thefe champions are armed with iron axes and fpears, and fight on foot, and he whofe champion is overcome, is by-and-bye taken and imprifoned, and terribly handled, until heagreeth with his adverfary. But if either of them be of any good calling and degree, and do challenge one another to fight, the judge grantelh it ; in which cafe they may not ufe public champions : and he that is of any good birth doth contemn the other, if he be bafely born, and will not fight with him. If a poor man happen to grow in debt, his creditor takes him and maketh him pay the debt, in working either to himfelf, or to fome other man, whofe wages he taketh up. And there are fome among them that ufe willingly to make themfelves, their wives, and children, bond-flaves unto rich men, to have a little money at the firft into their hands, and fo for ever after content themfelves with meat and drink ; fo little accompt do they make of liberty. Of Punijhments upon Thieves. If any man be taken upon committing of theft, he is imprifoned and often beaten, but not hanged for the firft offence, as the manner is with us ; and this they call the law of mercy. He that offendeth the fecond time hath his nofe cut off, and is burned in the forehead with a hot iron. The third time he is hanged. There are many cut- purfes among them ; and if the rigour of the prince did not cut them off, they could not be avoided. Of their Religion. They maintain the opinions of the Greek church : they fuffer no graven images of faints in their churches, but their pictures painted in tables they have in great abund- ance, which they do adore and offer unto, and burn wax candles before them, and caft holy water upon them without other honour. They fay that our images which are fet up in churches and carved have no divinity in them. In their private houfes they have 4 images TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 37 images for their houfchold fiunts, and for the rnofl: part they are put in the darkeil place of the houfe : he that comes into his neighbour's houfe doth firft falute his faints, although he fee them not. If any form or ftool ftand in his way, he oftentimes beateth his brow upon the fame, and often ducking down with his head and boJy, worfhippeth the chief image. The habit and attire of the priefts and of the laymen doth nothing at all differ. As for marriage it is forbidden to no man, only this is received and held amongfl; them for a rule and cuftom, that if a prieft's wife doth die, he may not marry again, nor take a fecond wife ; and therefore they of fecular priefts, as they call them^ are made monks, to whom then chaftitv for ever is commanded. Their divine fervice is all done and faid in their own language, that every man may undsrftand it : they re- ceive the Lord's fupper with leavened bread, and after the confecration they carry it about the church in a faucer, and prohibit no man from receiving and taking of it that is willing fo to do. They ufe both the Old and the New Teftament, and read both in their own language, but fo confufedly, that they themfelves that do read underftand not what themfelves do fay ; and while any part of either Teftament is read, there is liberty given by cuftom to prattle, talk, and make a noife : but in the time of the reft of the fervice they ufe very great filence and reverence, and behave themfelves very modeftly, and in good fort. As touching the Lord's Prayer, the tenth man amongft them knows it not ; and for the articles of our faith, and the ten commandments, no man, or at the leaft very few of them, do either know them or can fay them ; their opinion is, that fuch fecret and holy things as they are, fliould not raflily and imprudently be com- municated with the common people. They hold for a maxim amongft them, that the old law and the commandments alfo are aboliflied by the death and blood of Chrift : all ftudies and letters of humanity they utterly refufe : concerning the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew tongues, they are altogether ignorant in them. Every year they celebrate four feveral fafts, which they call according to the names of the faints. The firft begins with them at the time that our Lent begins ; the fecond is called amongft them the faft of St. Peter ; the third is taken from the day of the Virgin Mary ; and the fourth and laft begins upon St. Philip's day. But as we begin our Lent upon Wednefday, fo they begin theirs upon the Sunday. Upon the Saturday they eat flefli. Whenfoever any of thofe fafting feafts do draw near, look what week, doth immediately go before them, the fame week they live altogether upon white meats; and in their common language they call thofe weeks the faft of butter. In the time of their fafts, the neighbours every where go from one to another, and vifit one another, and kifs one another with kifles of peace, in token of their mutual love and chriftian concord ; and then alfo they do more often than at any other time go to the holy communion. When feven days are paft from the beginning of the faft, then they do often either go to their churches, or keep themfelves at home and ufe often prayer ; and for that fevennight they eat nothing but herbs : but after that feven- night's faft is once paft, then they return to their old intemperance of drinking, for they are notable toflpots. As for the keeping of their fafting days, they do it very ftraightly ; neither do they eat any thing befides herbs and fait fifti as long as thofe fafting days do endure ; but upon every Wednefday and Friday in every week through- out the year they faft. There are very many monafterles of the order of St. Benedict amongft them, to which many great livings for their maintenance do belong; for the friars and the monks do at the leaft poffefs the third part of the livings throughout the whole i\Iofcovite em- pire. To thofe monks that are of this order there is amongft them a perpetual prohi- bition ^8 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, bitlon that they may eat no flefh, and therefore their meat is only fait fifh, milk, and but- ter ; neither is it permitted them by the laws and cuftoms of their religion to eat any frefh fifli at all ; and at thofe four fading times whereof we fpake before, they eat no fifh at all, only they live with herbs and cucumbers, which they do continually for that pur- pofe caufe and take order to grow and fpring, for their ufe and diet. As for their drink, it is very weak and fmall. For the difcharge of their office, they do every day fay fervice, and that early in the morning before day ; and they do in fuch fort, and with fuch obfervation, begin their fervice, that they will be fure to make an end of it before day ; and about nine of the clock in the morning they celebrate the communion. When they have fo done they go to dinner, and after dinner they go again to fervice, and the like alfo after fupper ; and in the mean time while they are at dinner, there is fome expofition or interpretation of the gofpel ufed. Whenfoever any abbot of any monaifery dieth, the emperor taketh all his houfehold ftuft", beads, flocks of fheep, gold, filver, and all that he hath ; or elfe he that is to fucceed him in his place and dignity doth redeem all thofe things, and buyeth them of the em- peror for money. Their churches are built of timber, and the towers of their churches, for the mod part, are covered with fliingle boards. At the doors of their churches they ufually build fome entrance or porch, as we do ; and in their churchyards they ereft a certain . houfe of wood, wherein they fet up their bells, wherein fometimes they have but one, in fome two, and in fome alfo three. There is one ufe and cudom amongd them which is drange and rare, but yet it is very ridiculous, and that is this : when any man dieth amongd them, they take the dead body and put it in a coffin or ched, and in the hand of the corpfe they put a Httle fcrowl, and in the fame there are thefe words written, that the fame man died a Rufle of Ruffes, having received the faith, and died in the fame. This writing or letter, they fay, they fend to St. Peter, who receiving it (as they affirm) reads it, and by-and-bye admits him into heaven, and that his glory and place is higher and greater than the glory of the chridians of the Latin church, reputing themfelves to be followers of a more fincere faith and religion than they : they hold opinion that we are but half chridians, and themfelves only to be the true and perfedl church. Thefe are the foolifti and childifli dotages of fuch ignorant barbarians. Of the Mofcovites that are idolaters, dwelling near to Tartar ia. There is a certain part of Mofcovy, bordering upon the countries of the Tartars, wherein thofe Mofcovites that dwell are very great idolaters. They have one famous idol amongd them, which they call the golden old wife ; and they have a cudom that whenfoever any plague or any calamity doth aftlift the country, as hunger, war, or fucn like, then they go to confult with their idol, which they do after this manner : they fall down prodrate before the idol, and pray unto it, and put in the prefence of the fame a cymbal ; and about the fame certain perfons dand, which are chofen amongd them by lot ; upon their cymbal they place a filver toad, and found the cymbal, and to whom- foever of thofe lotted perfons that toad goeth, he is taken and by and by flain ; and im- mediately, I know not by what illufions of the devil or idol, he is again redored to life, and then doth reveal and deliver the caufes of the prefent calamity. And by this means knowing how to pacify the idol, they are delivered from the imminent danger. 0/ TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 39 Of the form of their private houfes, and of the apparel of the people. The common houfes of the country are every where built of beams of fir-tree ; the lower beams dofo receive the round hollovvnefs of the uppermoU:, that by the means of the building thereupon, they refift and expel all winds that blow ; and where the timber is joined together, there they flop the chinks with mofs. The form and fafliion of their houfes in all places is four fquare, with Ifrait and narrow windows, whereby with a tranfparent cafement, made or covered with fkin like to parchment, they receive the light. The roofs of their houfes are made of boards covered without with the bark of trees ; within their houfes they have benches or griezes hard by their walls, which com- monly they fleep on, for the common Jjeople know not the ufe of beds ; they have floves wherein in the morning they make a fire, and the fame fire doth either m6de- rately warm, or make very hot the whole houfe. The apparel of the people for the moft part is made of wool ; their caps are picked like unto a tike or diamond, broad beneath and fliarp upward. In the manner of mak- ing whereof there is a fign and reprcfentation of nobility ; for the loftier or higher their caps are, the greater is their birth fiippofed to be, and the greater reverence is given them by the common people. The conclufion, to Oiicen Mary. Thefe are the things, Moft Excellent Queen, which your fubjefts newly returned from Ruffia have brought home concerning the Itate of that country ; wherefore if Yoiir Majefty fhall be favourable, and grant a continuance of the travel, there is no doubt kut that the honour and renown of your name will be fpread amongfl. thofe nations, whereunto three only noble perfonages from the very creation have had accefs, to whom no man hath been comparable. The copy of the Duke of Mofcovy and Emperor ofRuJfn his letters fent to king Edward the Sixth, by tte bands of Richard Chanceloiir. THE almighty power of God,and the incomprehenfible Holy Trinity,rightful Chriflian belief, &c. We, Great Duke Juan Vafilivich, by the grace of God, great lord and Emperor of all Ruffia, great Duke of Volodemer, Mofco, and Novograd, King of Kazan, King of Aft racan,Lord of Plelko, and Great Duke of Smolenfko, ot Twerria, Joughoria, Permia, Vadfka, Bulghoria, and others. Lord and Great Duke of Novograd in the Low Country, of Chernigo, Rezan, Polotfkoy, Roftove, Yaruflaveley, Bealozera, Liefland, Oudoria, Obdoria, and Condenza, Commander of all Siberia, and of the north parts, and Lord of many other countries, greeting. Before all, right, great, and worthy of honour, Edward, King of England, &c. according to our moft hearty and good zeal, with good intent and friendly defire, and according to our holy chriftian faith, and great governance, and being in the light of great underftanding, our anfwer by this our ho- nourable writing unto your kingly governance, at the rcqueft of your faithful fervant Richard Chancelour, with his company, as they fliall let you wifely know, is this. In the ftrength of the twentieth year of our governance, be it known, that at our fea coafts arrived a fhip with one Richard and his company, and faid that he- was defirous to come 3 into 40 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, into our dominions, and according to his requefl; hath feen our majeRy and our eyes ; ■and hath declared unto us your majefly's deiire, as that we fhould grant unto your fub- ■jects to go and come, and in our dominions, and among our fubjeds, to frequent free •marts with all forts of merchandifes, and upon the fame to have wares for their return ; and they have alfo delivered us your letters, which declare the fame requeft. And here- upon we have given order, that wherefoever your faithful fervant Hugh Willoughbie land or touch in our dominions, to be well entertained, who as yet is not arrived, as your fervant Richard can declare. And we, with chriflian belief and faithfulnefs, and according to your honourable requeft, and my honourable commandment, will not leave it undone ; and are further- more willing that you fend unto us your fhips and veffels, when and as often as they may have pa^ffage, with good affurances on our part to fee them harmlefs. And if you fend one of your majefty's counfel to treat with us, whereby your country merchants may, with all kinds of wares, and where they will, make their market in our dominions, they fhall have their free mart, with all free liberties, through my whole dominions with all kind of wares, to come and go at their pleafure, without any let, damage, or impediment, according to this our letter, our word, and our feal, which we have com- manded to be underfealed. Written in our dominion, in our city, and our palace in the caftle of Mofco, in the year 7060, the fecond month of February. This letter was written in the Mofcovian tongue, in letters much like to the Greek letters, very fair written in paper, with a broad feal hanging at the fame, fealed in paper upon wax. This feal was much like the broad feal of England, having on the one fide the image of a man on horfeback, in complete harnefs, fighting with a dragon. Under this letter was another paper, written in the Dutch tongue, which was the interpretation of the other, written in the Mofcovian letters. Thefe letters were fent the next year after the date of king Edward's letters, 1554. The Coins, Weights, and Meafures tifed in Ruffia; written by John Hajfe, in the year 1554. FORASMUCH as it is moft neceflary for all merchants who feek to have traffic in any ilrange regions, firft to acquaint themfelves with the coins of thofe lands with which they do intend to join in traffic, and how they are called from the valuation of the higheft piece to the loweft, and in what fort they make their payments, as alfo what their common weights and meafures be ; for thefe caufes I have thought good to write fome- thing thereof, according to mine own knowledge and experience, to the end that the merchants of that new adventure may the better underltand how the wealth of that new frequented trade will arife. Firft, it is to be noted, that the emperor of Ruffia hath no other coins than filver in all his land, which goeth for payment amongft merchants ; yet notwithftanding there is a coin of copper which ferveth for the relief of the poor in Mofco, and no where elfe, and that is but only for qualfe, water, and fruit, as nuts, apples, and fuch other like. The name of which money is called pole or poles, of which poles there go to the leaft of the filver coins eighteen. But I will not ftand upon this, becaufe it is no current money among merchants. Of filver coins there be three forts of pieces : the leaft is a poledenga ; the fecond a denga; the third, nowgrote, which is as much to fay in Englifli, as halfpenny, penny, and two-pencej and for other valued money than this, there is none : there are often- times TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 4I times there coins of gold, but tliey come out of foreign countries, whereof there is no ordinary valuation, but they pafs according to the agreement of merchants. Their order in fumming of money is this : as we fay in England halfpenny, penny, {liilling, and pound, fo fay they poledenga, denga, altine, and rubble : there goeth two poledengas to a denga, fix dengas to an altine, and twenty-three altines, and two dengas to a rubble. Concerning the weights of Ruflia they are thefe : there are two forts of pounds in ufe amongft them; the one great, the other fmall: the great pound is jud two fmall pounds: they call the great weight by the name of beafemar, and the fmall they call the fkalla weight : with this fmall weight they weigh their filver coins, of the which the Emperor hath commanded to pat to every fmall pound three rubbles of filver ; and with the fame weight they weigh all grocery wares, and almofl all other wares v/hich come into the land, except thofe which they weigh by the pode, as hops, fait, iron, lead, tin, and batrie with divers others, notwithflanding they ufe to weigh batrie more often by the fmall weight than by the great. Whenfoever you find the prices of your wares rated by the pode, confider that to be the great weight, and the pound to be the fmall. Alio they divide the fmall pound into forty-eight parts, and they call the eight-and-fortieth part a flotnike, by the which flotnike, the retailers fell their wares out of their fliops, as goldfmiths, grocers, filk- feilers, and fuch other like as We do ufe to retail by the ounce : and as for their great ■weight which they call the beafemar, they fell by pode, or fliippond. The pode doth contain of the great weight, forty pounds, and of the fmall eighty : there go ten podes to a fliippond. Yet you mufl; confider that their great weight is not full with ours : for I take not their great pound to be full thirteen ounces, but above twelve I think it be. But tor your juft proof, weigh fix rubbles of Ruffia money v>'ith our pound weight, and then you fliall fee what it lacketh : for fix rubbles of Ruflia is by the Emperor's fiandard, the great pound : fo that I think it be the next way to know the juft weight, as well oi the great pound as of the fmall. There is another weight needful to be known, which is the weight of Wardhcufe, for fo much as they weigh all their dry fifli by weight, which weight is the beafemar, as they of Ruflia do ufe, notwithfianding there is another fort in it: the names of thofe weights are thefe : the mark pound, the great pound, the weie, and the fliippond. The mark pound is to be underftood as our pound, and their great pound is twenty-. four of their mark pound : the weie is three great pound, and eight weie is a fliippond. Now concerning their meaiures, as they have two forts of weights, fo they have alfo two forts of meaiures, wherewith they meafure cloth both linen and woollen : they call the one an arefiiine, and the other a locut : the arefliine I take to be as much as the Flanders ell, and their locut half an Englifli yard : with their arefliine they may mete all fuch forts of cloths as come into the land, and with the locut all fuch cloth, both linen and woollen, as they make themfelves. And whereas we ufe to give yard and inch, or yard and handful, they do give nothing but bare meafure. They have alfo a meafure wherewith they do mete their corn which they call a: fetforth, and the half of that an ofmine : this fetforth I take to be three bufhels of London meafure. And as for their drink meafure, they call it a fpan, which is much like a bucket, and of that I never faw any true rate, but that fome was greater than other fome. And as for the meafures of Wardhoufe wherewith they mete their clothj, VOL. I, G there; >2 VOY4.GIS OF SIR KUGII WILLOUGHBY AXD OTHERS, there is no difference between that and the meafure of Danil, which is half an Eng- lifli ell. Concerning the tolls and cuftoms of Ruffia, it was reported to me in Mofcovia, that the Turks and Armenians pay the tenth penny cuflom of all the wares they bring into the Emperor's land, and a^ove that they pay for all fuch goods as they weigh at the Em- peror's beam, two-pence of the rubble, which the buyer or feller mufl: makp report of to the mafter of the beam : they alfo pay a certain horfe toll, which is in divers places of his realm four pence of a horfe. The Dutch nation are free of this : notwithftanding for certain offences, they had loft their privileges, which they have recovered this fummei-, to their great charge. It was reported to me by a juflice of that country, that they paid for it thirty thoufand rubbles, and alfo that Rye, Dorpte, and Revel have yielded themfelves under the go- vernment of the Emperor of Ruffia : whether this was a bragg of the Ruffes or not, I know not, but thus he faid, and indeed while we were there, there came a great am- baffidor out of Licfland, for the affurance of their privileges. To fpeak fomewhat of the commodities of this country, it is to be underflood, that there is a certain place four fcore miles from the fea called Cohnogro : to which place there refort all the forts of wares that are in the north parts, as oils, fait, ftock^fh, falmon. feathers, and furs : their fait they make of fait water by the fea fide : their oils they make of feals, whereof they have great ftore which is brou ht out of the bay where our (liips came in : they make it in the fpring of the year, and bring it to Col- mogro to fell, and the merchants there carry it to Novogrode, and fo fell it to the Dutch nation. Their ftockfifli and falmon cometh from a place called Mallums, not far from Wardhou'e : their falmon and their fait they carry to Mofco, and their dij fifli they carry to Novogrode, and fell it there to the Lieflanders. The furs and featl:iers which come to Colmogro, as fables, beavers, minks, armirie, lettis, graies, woolverings, and white foxes, with deer (kins, they are brought thither, by the men of Penning, Lampas, and Powftezer, which fetch them from the Samoedes that are counted favage people : and the merchants that bring thefe furs do ufe to truck with the merchants of Colmogro for cloth, tin, batrie, and fuch other like, and the merchants of Colmogro carry them to Novogrode, Vologda, or Mofco, and fell them there. The feathers which come from Penning they do little elleem. If our merchants do defire to know the meeteft place of Ruffia for the (landing houfe, in mine opinion I take it to be Vologda, which is a great town (landing in the heart of Ruffia, with many great and good towns about it. There is great plenty of corn, victuals, and of all fuch wares as are raifed in Rufland, but fpecially, flax, hemp, tallow, and bacon : there is alfo great ftore of wax, but it cometh from the Mofko. The town of Vologda is meeteft for our nierchants, becaufe it lieth araongft all the beft towns of Ruffia, and there is no town in Ruffia but trades with it : alfo the water is a great commodity to it. If they plant themfelves in Mofco or Novogrode, their charge will be great and wonderful, but not fo in Vologda : for all things will there be had better cheap by the one half And for their vent 1 know no place fo meet. It is likely that fome will think the Mofko to be the meeteft by the reafon of the court, but by that reafon I take it to be worfe : for the charge there would be fo great by cravers and expences, that the moiety of the profit would be wholly confumed, which in the other place will be faved. And yet notwithftanding our merchants may be there in the winter to ferve the Emperor and his court. The Emperor is a great merchant himfelf TO THE NORTHERN I'ARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 43 himfelf of wax and fables, which with good forefight may be procured to their hands : as for other commodities there are little or none in Mofcovia, bcfides thofe above re- hearfed : if there be other it is brought thither by the Turks, who will be dainty to buy our clothes confidering the charges of carriage over land. Our merchants may do well to provide for the Ruffes fuch wares as the Dutch nation doth ferve them of, as Flanders and Holland cloths, which I believe, they Ihiill fcrve better and with lefs charge than they of Rye, or Dorpte, or Revel : for it is no fniall adventure to bring their clothes out of Fhinders to either of thefe places, and their charge not little to carry them overland to Novogrode, which is from Rye nine hun- dred Ruffian n.iles. This Novogrode is a place well furnifli:d with flax, wax, hides, tallow, and many other things : the beft flax in Ruflia, is brought thither, and there fold by the hundred bundles, which is done alfo at Vologda, and they that bring the flax to Novogrode, dwell as near Vologda, as Novogrode, and when they hear of the utteiance which they may have with our nation, they will as willingly come to them as go to other. They have in Ruifia two forts of flax, the one is called great flax, and the other fmall : that which they call great flax is better by four rubbles in one hundred bundles than the fmall : it is much longer than the other, and cleaner without wood : and whereas of the fmall flax there go twenty-feven or twenty-eight bundles to a Ihippond, there goeth not of the greater fort above twenty-two or twenty-four at the moft. : There are many other trifles in Rulfia, as foap, mats, &c. but I think there will be no... great account made of them. G 2 Tun 44 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, The Letter of M. George Killmgworth the Company' sfirjl Agent in Mofcovy, touching their Entertainment in their fecond Voyage. Anno 1555, the ajth of Nove?nber in Mofco. RIGHT Worfliipful, my duty confidered, &c. It may pleafe your Worfhip to under- ftand, that at the making hereof we all be in good health, thanks be to God, fave only William our cook as we came from Colmogro fell into the river out of the boat and was drowned. And the eleventh day of September we came to Vologda, and there we iai-d all our wares up, and fold very little : but one merchant would have given us twelve robles for a broad cloth, and he faid he would have had them all, and fouraltines for a pound of fugar, but we did refufe it becaufe he was the firft, and the merchants were not come thither, nor would not come before winter, trufting to have more : but I fear it will not be much better. Yet notwithllanding we did for the beft. And the houfe that our wares lie in cofts from that day until Eafter ten robles. And the twenty- eight day of September we did determine with ourfelves that it was good for M. Gray, Arthur Edwards, Thomas Hautory, Chriftopher Hudfon, John Segewick, Richard Johnfon, and Richard Judd, to tarry at Vologda, and M. Chancelor, Henry Lane, Edward Prife, Robert Beft, and I fliould go to Mofco. And we did lade the Em.pe- ror's fngar, with part of all forts of wares to have had to the Mofco with us, but the way was fo deep, that we were fain to turn back, and leave it flill at Vologda till the froft. And we werjt forth with poft horfe, and the charge of every horfe being ftill ten in number, comes to lox. yd. half-penny, befides the guides. And we came to the Mofco the fourth day of Oftober, and were lodged that night in a fimple houfe : but the next day we were fent for to the Emperor his fecretary, and he bade us welcome with a cheerful countenance and cheerful words, and we fhewed him that we had a letter from our Queen's Grace to the Emperor His Grace, and then he defired to fee them all, and that they might remain with him, to have them perfeft, that the true meaning might be declared to the Emperor, and fo we did : and then we were appointed to a better houfe : and the feventh day the fecretary fent for us again, and then he fhewed us that we fliould have a better houfe, for it was the Emperor his will, that we fhould have all things that we did lack, and did fend us meat of two forts, and two hens, our houfe free, and every two days to receive eight hens, feven altines, and two-pence in money, and meat a certain portion, and a poor fellow to make clean our houfe, and to do that whcreunto we would fet him. And we had given many rewards before, which you fliall perceive by other, and fo we gave the meffengers a reward with thanks : and the ninth day wq were fent to make us ready to fpeak with the Emperor on the morrov/. And the letters were fent us, that we might deliver them ourfelves, and we came before him the tenth day : and before we came to his prefence we went through a great chamber, where flood many fmall tuns, pails, bowls, and pots of filver, I mean, like wafliing bowls, all parfel gilt : and within that another chamber, wherein fat (I think) near a hundred in cloth of gold, and then into the chamber where His Grace fat, and there I think were more than in the other chamber alfo in cloth of gold, and we did our duty, and fliewed His Grace our Queen's Grace's letters, with a note of your prefent which was left in Vologda : and then His Grace did a(k how our Queen's Grace did, calling her coufm, faying that he was glad that we were come in health into his realm, and we went one by one unto him, and took him by the hand, and then His Grace TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 45 Grace did bid us go in health, and come to dinner, again, and we dined in his prc- fence, and were fet with our faces towards His Grace, and none in the chamber fat with their backs towards him, being I think near a hundred at dinner then, and all ferved with gold, as platters, chargers, pots, cups, and all not llender but very mafly, and yet a great number of platters of gold, ftanding flill on the cupboard not moved : and divers times in the dinner time His Grace fent us meat and drink from his own table, and when we had dined we went up to His Grace, and received a cup with drink at his own hand, and the fame night His Grace fent certain gentlemen to us with divers forts of wine and meat, to whom we gave a reward, and afterward we were by divers Italians counfelled to take heed whom we did trull to make the copy of the privileges that we would defire to have, for fear it fliould not be written in the Ruffian tongue, as we did mean. So firft a Ruffian did write for us a breviat to the Emperor, the tenor whereof was, that we did defire a ftronger privilege : and when the fecretary faw it, he did deliver it to His Grace, and when we came again, His Grace willed us to write our minds, and he would fee it, and fo we did. And His Grace is fo troubled with preparations to wars, that as yet we have had no anfwer : but we have been required of his fecretary, and of the under chancellor, to know what wares we had brought into the realm, and what wares we do intend to have, that are, or may be had in this realm : and we fliewed them, and they ffiewed the Emperor thereof. And then they faid His Grace's pleafure was, that his beft merchants of the Mofco ffiould be fpoken to, to meet and talk with us. And fo a day was appointed, and we met in the fecretary his office, and there was the under chancellor, who was not part two years fince the Emperor's merchant, and not his chancellor : and then the conclufion of our talk was, that the chancellor willed us to bethink us, where we would defire to have a houfe or houfes, that we might come to them as to our own houfe, and for merchandife to be made preparation for us, and they would know our prices of our wares and frife : and we an- fwered that for our prices they muft fee the wares before we could make any price thereof, for the like in goodnefs hath not been brought into the realm, and we did look for an example of all forts of our wares to come from Vologda, with the firfl: fled way, and then they fhould fee them, and then we would fliew them the prices of them : and likewife we could not tell them what we would give them juftly, till we did know as well their jufl; weights as their meafures : for in all places where we did come, all weights and meafures did vary. Then the fecretary (who had made promife unto us before) faid, that we fhould have all the jufl; meafures under feal, and he that was found faulty in the contrary, to buy or fell with any other meafure than that, the law was, that he fhould be puniffied : he faid moreover, that if it fo happen that any of our merchants do promife by covenant at any time to deliver you any certain fum of wares in fuch a place, and of fuch like goodnefs, at fuch a day, for fuch a certain price, that then be- caufe of variance, we ffiould caufe it to be written, according as the bargain is, before a juftice or the next ruler to the place : if he did not keep covenant and promife in all points, according to his covenant, that then look what lofs or hindrance we could juftly prove that we have thereby, he fhould make it good if he be worth fo much : and iu like cafe we muft do to them : and to that we did agree, fave only if it were to come over the fea, then if any fuch fortune fliould be (as God foi'bid) that the ffiip fhould mifchance or be robbed, and the proof to be made that fuch kind of wares were laden, the Englifh merchants to bear no lofs to the other merchant. Then the chancellor faid, methinks you fhall do beft to have your houfe at Colmogro, which is but one hundred miles from the right difcharge of the fliips, and yet I truft the fliips fhall come nearer 46 VOYAGLS OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, nearer hereafter, becaufe the fliips may not tarry long for their lading, which is one thcufand miles from Vologda by water, and all our merchants (hall bring all our mer- chandife to Colmogro to you, and fo fhall our merchants neither go empty nor come empty : for if they lack lading homeward, there is fait, which is good ware here, that they may come loaden again. So we were very glad to hear that, and did agree to his faying : for we fliall neverthelefs, if we lift, have a houfe at Vologda, anJ at the Mofco, yea, and at Novogrode, or where we will in Rufland : but the three-and- twentieth of this prefent we were wih the fecretary, and then among other talk, we moved, that if we fhould tarry at Colmogro with our wares, and fliould not come to Vologda, or further to feek our market, but tarry ftill at Colmogro, and then the merchants of the Mofco and others fhould not come and bring their wares, and fo the {hips ftiould come, and not have their lading ready, that then it were a great lofs and hindrance for us : then faid he again to us, that the merchants had been again together with him, and had put the like doubt, that if they (hould come and bring their wares to Colmogro, and that they fhould not find wares there fufScient to ferve them, that then they fhould be at great lofs and hindrance, they leaving their other trades to fall to that : and to that we did anfwer, that after the time that we do appoint with them to bring their wares to Colm.ogro, God willing, they fliould never come thither, but at the beginning of the year, they fliould find that our merchants would have at the leaft for a thoufand robles, although the fliips were not come : fo that he faid, that then we muft talk further with the merchants : fo that as yet I know not, but that we fhall have need of one houfe at Colmogro, and another at Vologda, and if that they bring not their wares to Colmogro, then we fliall be fure to buy fome at Vologda, and to be out of bondage. And thus may we continue three or four years, and in this fpace Vv-e fliall know the country and the merchants, and which way to fave ourfelves beft, and where to plant our houfes, and where to ftek for wares : for the Mofco is not beft for any kind of wares for us to buy, f;u'e only wax, which we cannot have under feven-pence the Ruffe pound, and it lacks two ounces of our pound, neither will it be much better cheap, for 1 have bidden fix-pence for a pound. And I have bought more, five hundred weight of yarn, which ftands me in eight-pence farthing the RuiTe pound one with another. And if we had received any ftore of money, and were difpatched here, of that we tarry for, as I doubt not but we fhall be fliortly (you know what 1 mean}, then as foon as we have made falc, I do intend to go to Novogrode, and to Plefco, whence all the great number of the beft tow flax conieth, and fuch wares as are there I truft to buy part. And fear you not but we will do that may be done, if God fends us health, defiring you to prepare fully for one fliip to be ready in the beginning of April to depart off the coaft of England. Concerning all thofe things which we have done in the wares, you fliall receive a perfccl note by the next bearer (God willing) for he that carrieth thefe from us is a merchant of Tcrwill, and he was caufed to carry thefe by the commandment of the Emperor his fecretary, whofe name is Juan Mecallawich Wefkawate, whom we take to be our very friend. And if it pleafe you to fend any letters to Dantifke to Robert Elfon, or to William Watfon's fervant Dunftan Walton to be conveyed to us, it may pleafe you to enclofe ours in a letter fent from you to him, written in Polifh, Dutch, Latin, or Italian : fo cnclofed coming to the Mofco to his hands, he will convey our letters to us wherefoever we be. And 1 have written to Dantifke already to them for the conveyance of letters from thence. And TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 47 And to certify you of the weather hei-e, men fay that thefe hundred years was never fo warm weather in this country at this time of the year. But as yeflernight we received a letter from Chriftopher Hudfon from a city called Yeraflave, who is'comin"- hither with certain of our wares, but the winter did deceive him, fo that he was fain to tarry by the way : and he wrote that the Emperor's prefent was delivered to a <^entleman at Vologda, and the fled did overthrow, and the butt of hollockwas loft, which made us all very forry. I pray you be not offended v.ith thefe my rude letters for lack of time : but as foon as fales be made, I will find the means to convey you a letter with fpeed : for the way is made fo doubtful, that the right meflenger is fo much in doubt, that he would not have any letters of any effect fent by any man, if he might, for he knows not of thefe : and to fay the truth, the way is not for him to travel in. But I will make another fliift be- fide, which I trufl: fliall ferve the turn till he come; if fales be made before he be ready, which is and fliall be as pleafeth God : who ever preferve your Worflnp, and fend us good fales. Written in haftc. By your's to command George Killingworth, Draper. A Copy of the fir ji Privileges granted by the Emperor of RiiJJla to the EngUfh Merchants in the Tear i^SS' John Vafilivich by the grace of God Emperor of Ruflia, Great Duke of Novoqrode, Mofcovia, &:c. To all people that fliall fee, read, hear, or underftand thefe prefents, greeting. Forafmuch as God hath planted all realms and dominions in the whole world with fundry commodities, fo as the one hath need of the amity and commodities of the other, and by means thereof traffic is ufed from one to another, and amity thereby increafed : and for that as amongft men nothing is more to be defired than amity, without the which no creature being of a natural good difpofitioii can live in quietnefs, fo that it is as troublefome to be utterly wanting, as it is perceived to be grievou^ to the body to lack air, fire, or any other neceflaries moft requifite for the con- iervation and maintenance thereof in health : confidering alfo how needful merch;indife is, which furniflieth men of all that which is convenient for their living and nouriture, for their clothing, trimming, the fatisfying of their delights, and all other things con- venient and profitable for them, and that merchandife bringeth the fame commodities from divers quarters in fo great abundance, as by means thereof nothing is lacking in any part, and that all things be in every place (where intercourfe of merchandifes is received and embraced ; generally in fuch fort, as amity thereby is entered into, and planted to continue, and the enjoyers thereof be as men living in a golden world : Upon thefe refpefts and other weighty and good confiderations, us hereunto movin"-, and chiefly upon the contemplation of the' gracious letters, direded from the Rin-ht High, Right Excellent, and Right Mighty Oueen Mary, by the grace of God Queea of England, France, &c. in the favour of her fubjefts, merchants, the governor, confuls, afliftants, and commonalty of merchants adventurers for difcovery of lands, &c. Know ye therefore, that we of our grace fpecial, mere motion, and certain know- ledge, have given and granted, and by thefe prefents for us, our heirs and fucceflTors, do give and grant as much m us is and Heth, unto Sebaltian Cabota governor, fir George Barnes knight, &c. confuls: Sir John Grefham, &c. afliftants, and to tiie commonalty of the afore-named fellowfliip, and to their fucceliors for ever, and 4 to ^8 yOTACES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, to the fucceffors of every of them, thefe articles, grants, immunities, franchifes, liberties and privileges, and every of them hereafter following exprefled and de- clared, videlicet : 1. We for us, our heirs, and fucceffors, do by thefe prefents give and grant free licence, faculty, authority and power unto the faid governor, confuls, affiftants and com- monalty of the faid fellowihip, and to their fucccitors forever, that all and fmgular the merchants of the fame company, their agents, faftors, doers of their bufmefs, attornies, fervants, and niinifters, and every of them, may at all times hereafter for evermore, furely, freely,- and fafely, with their fhips, merchandifes, goods, and things whatfoever, fail, come and enter into all and fingular our lands, countries, dominions, cities, towns, villages, caftles, ports, jurifdiflions, and diftrifts by fea, land, or frefli waters, and there tarry, abide, or fojourn, and buy, fell, barter and change all kind of mer- chandifes, with all manner of merchants, and people, of whatfoever nation, rite, con- dition, ftate or degrees they be, and with the fame or other fhips, wares, merchandifes, goods, and things whatfoever they be, unto other empires, kingdoms, dukedoms, parts, and to any other place or places at their pleafure and liberty by fea, land, or frefli waters may depart, and exercife all kind of merchandifes in our empire and dominions, and every part thereof freely and quietly, without any reflraint, impeachment, price, exaftion, preft, ftrait, cuftom, toll, impofition, or fubfidy to be demanded, taxed, paid, or at any time hereafter to be demanded, taxed, fet, levied, or inferred upon them, or any of them, or upon their goods, fliips, wares, merchandifes, and things, of, for, or upon any part or parcel thereof, or upon the goods, flilps, wares, merchandifes, and things of any of them, fo that they fhall not need any other fafe conduft or hcence-general nor fpecial of us, our heirs, or fucceffors ; neither Ihall be bound to a£k any fafe condudl or licence in any of the aforefaid places fubjedt unto us. 2. Item, we give and grant to the faid merchants this power and liberty, that they, nor any of them, nor their goods, wares, merchandifes, or things, nor any part thereof, fiiall be by any means within our dominions, lands, countries, caftles, towns, villages, or other place or places of our jurifdidtion, at any time hereafter attached, flayed, arrefled, nor difturbed for any debt, duty, or other thing, for the which they be not principal debtors or fureties, nor alfo for any offence or trefpafs committed, or that fliall be com- mitted, but only for fuch as they, or any of them, fhall aftually commit ; and the fame offences (if any fuch happen) (hall be by us only heard and determined. •^. Item, we give and grant that the faid merchants fliall and may have free liberty, power, and authority to name, choofe, and affign brokers, fhippers, packers, w^eighers, meafurers, waggoners, and all other meet and neceffary labourers, for to ferve them in their feat of merchandifes, and minifler and give unto them, and every of them, a cor- poral oath, to ferve them well and truly in their offices, and finding them, or any of them, doing contrary to his or their oath, may punifh and difmifs them, and from time to time choofe, fwear, and admit other in their place or places, without contradidtion, let, vexation, or difturbance, either of us, our heirs, or fucceffors, or of any other our juf- tices, officers, niinifters, or fubjeds whatfoever. 4. Item, we give and grant unto the faid merchants, and their fucceffors, that fuch perfon as is or fhall be commended unto us, our heirs, or fucceffors, by the governor, . confuls, and afliftants of the faid fellow fliip rcfiant within the city of London, within the realm of England, to be their chief factor within this our empire and dominions, may and fhall have full power and authority to govern and rule all Englifhmen that have had, or fliall have accefs, or repair in or to this faid empire and jurifdictions, or any part 3 thereof ; TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA; 49 thereof; and {hall and may mmifter unto them, and every of them, good juflice in all their caufes, plaints, quarrels, and diforders between them, moved and to be moved, and affemble, deliberate, confiilt, conclude, define, determine, and make fuch acts and ordinances as he fo commended with his afliitants fhall think good and meet for the good order, government, nnd rule of the faid merchants, and all other Englhhmen re- pairing to this our faid empire and dominions, or any part thereof, and to fet and levy upon all and every Englifliman, offender or offenders, of fuch their afts and ordinances made and to be made, penalties and mulfts by fine or imprilbnment. 5. Item, if it happen that any of the faid merchants, or other Englifhman, as one or more do rebel againll fuch chief fador or faftors, or his or their deputies, and will not difpofe him or themfclves to obey them, and every of them, as fhall appertain ; if the faid rebels or difobedients do come, and be found in our faid empire and jurifdidfions, or any part and place thereof, then we promile and grant that all and every our officers, miniflers, and fubjeds fhall efFeclually aid and affifl the faid chief faftor or fadlors, and their deputies, and for their povC'er fliall really work to bring fuch rebel, or difobedient rebels, or difobedients, to due obedience ; and to that intent fhall lend unto the fame fadlor or fadors, and their deputies, upon requefl therefore to be made, prifons and inftruments for punifliments from time to time. 6. Item, we promife unto the faid merchants, and their fucceffors, upon their requefl, to exhibit and do unto them good, exafl:, and favourable juftice, with expedition in all their caufes; and that when they, or any of them, fliall have accefs, or come to or before any of our juftices, for any their plaints moved, and to be moved, between any our fubje£ls or other ftranger, and them, or any of them, that then they fhall be firll; and forthwith heard, as foon as the party which they fhall find before our juftices fhall be depeached, which party being heard forthwith, and as foon as may be, the faid Englifh merchants fhall be rid and difpatched ; and if any action fhall be moved by or againft any of the faid merchants, being abfent out of our faid empire and dominions, thei^ fuch merchants may fubftitute an attorney in all and fingular his caufes, to be followed as need fhall require, and as fhall feem to him expedient. 7. Item, we grant and promife to the faid merchants, and to their fuccelTors, that if the fame merchants, or any of them, fliall be wounded, or (which God forbid) flain in any part or place of our empire or dominions, then good information thereof given, we and our juflices and other officers fhall execute due corre£tion and punifhment without delay, according to the exigence of the cafe ; fo that it fhall be an example to all others not to commit the like. And if it fhall chance the factors, fervants, or miniiters, of the faid merchants, or any of them., to trefpafs or offend, whereby they, or any of them, fhall Incur the danger of death or punifhment, the goods, wares, merchandifes, and things of their matters fhall not therefore be forfeited, confifcated, fpoiled, nor feized by any means by us, our heirs, or fucceffors, or by any our officers, minifters, or fub- jeds, but fhall remain to their ufe, frank, free, and difcharged from all punifliment and lofs. 8. Item, we grant that if any of the Englifh nation be a:n-efled for any debt, he fhall not be laid in prifon, fo far as he can put in fufficient furety and pawn ; neither fhall any fergeant or officer lead them, or any of them, to prilbn, before he fliall have known whether the chief fa£tor or factors, or their deputies, fhall be fureties, or bring in pawn for fuch arretted ; then the officers ihall releafe the party, and fhall let him or them at liberty. VOL. I. H • 9- More- ^O VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, 9. Moreover, we give, grant, and promife to the faid merchants, that if any of their fliips or other veffels fliall be fpoiled, robbed, or damnified in failing, anchoring, or returning to or from our faid empires and dominions, or any part thereof, by any pirates, merchants, or other perfon, whatfoever he or they be, that then, and in fuch cafe, we will do all that in us is- to caufe reftitution, reparation, and fatisfaction to be duly made to the faid Englifli merchants, by our letters and otherwife, as fliall Hand with our ho- nour, and be confonant to equity and jullice. 10. Item, for us, our heirs, and fucceflbrs, we do promife and grant to perform, maintain, corroborate, authenticate, and obferve all and fingular the aforefaid liberties, franchifes, and privileges, like as prefently we firmly do intend, and will corroborate, authenticate, and perform the fame, by all mean and way that we can, as much as may be, to the commodity and profit of the faid Englilh merchants, and their fucceflbrs, for ever. And to the intent that all and fingular the faid gifts, grants, and promifes may be inviolably obferved and performed, we, the faid John Vafilivich, by the grace of God, Emperor of RufliajXjreat Duke of Novogrode, Mofco, &c. for us, our heirs, and fuc- ceifors, by our imperial and lordly word, inftead of an oath, have and do promife, by thefe prefents, inviolably to maintain and obferve, and caufe to be inviolably obferved and maintained, all and fingular the aforefaid gifts, grants, and promifes from time to time, and at all and every time and times hereafter ; and for the more corroboration hereof have caufed our fignet hereunto to be put*. Dated in our caflle of Mofco, the twentieth day of , in the year * The charter granted by Ehilip and Mary to the RuQla merchants does not deferve infertioaj but it is fmgular that the riglit of conqueft is permitted over any part polTefled by infidels. Th£ TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 5 1 The Navigation and Di 'co-very toward the River of Ob, made by Majier Steven Biirrough, Majler of the Pinnace called the Scrchthrift, with divers things zvorth the noting, pa(fed in the Tear 1556. (Haki.uyt, Vol. I. p. 274 ) WE departed from Ratdiffe to Blackwall the twenty-third of April. Saturday, being St. Mark's day, we departed from Blackwall to Grays. The twenty-feventh, being Monday, the Right Worfhipful Scbaftian Cabota came aboard our pinnace at Gravefend, accompanied with divers gentlemen and gentlewomen, who after that they had viewed our pinnace, and tailed of fuch cheer as we could make them aboard, they went on fliore, giving to our mariners right liberal rewards ; and the good old gentleman, Mafler Cabota, gave to the poor moft liberal alms, wifliing them to pray for the good fortune and profperous fuccefs of the Serchthrift, our pinnace ; and then, at the fign of the Chriilopher,he and his friends banquetted, and made me, and them that v/ere in the company, great cheer; and for very joy that he had to fee the towardnefs of our intended difcovery, he entered into the dance himielf, among the reft of the young and lufty company ; which being ended, he and his friends departed moft gently, commending us to the governance of Almighty God. Tuefday we rode ftill at Gravefend, making provifion for fuch things as we wanted. Wednefday, in the morning, we departed from Gravefend, the wind being at S. W.; that night we came to an anchor thwart our Lady of Holland's. Thurfday, at three of the clock in the morning, we weighed, and by eight of the clock we were at an anchor in Orwel Wanns, and then incontinent I went aboard the Edward Bonaventure, where the worftiipful company of merchants appointed me to be, until the faid good fliip arrived at Wardhoufe ; then I returned again into the pinnace. Friday, the fifteenth of May, we were within feven leagues of the fhore, on the coaft of Norway, the latitude at a fouth fun, 58° 30', where we faw three fails, befide our own company ; and thus we followed the fhore or land, which lieth N. N. W., N. and by W., and N. W. and by N., as it doth appear by the plat. Saturday at an eaft fun we came to St. Dunftan's ifland, which ifland I fo named; it was ofl'us eaft two leagues and a half, the wind being at S. E. ; the latitude this day at a fouth fun 59° 42'. Alfo the high round mountain bare eaft of us, at a fouth fun ; and when this hill is eaft of you, and being bound to the northward, the land lieth north and half a point wefterly, from this faid fouth fun, unto a north fun, twenty leagues N. W. along the fliore. Upon Sunday, at fix of the clock in the morning, the fartheft land that we could fee that lay N. N. W. was eaft of us three leagues, and then it trended to the northwards, and to the eaftwardsof the north; which headland I judged to be Scoutfnefs. At feven of the clock we changed cur courfe and went N. the wind being at S. S. E., and it waxed very thick and mifty, and when it cleared we went N. N E. At a fouth fun we loft fight of the Serchthrift, becaufe of the mift, making our way N.; and when we loit fight of the fliore and pirmace, we were within two leagues and a half of the ftiore. The laft land that we faw when this mift came upon us, which is to the northwards of Scoutfnefs, lay N. N. E. and"S. S. W., and we made our way N. until a weft fun five leagues. From that until Monday, three a-clock in the morning, ten leagues N.N. E. ; and then we went N. and by E., becaufe the wind came at the W. S. W. with thick H 2 mift 5 52 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, mifi: ; the latitude this day at a fouth fun 6t,° 30' truly taken : at this feafon we had fight of our pinnace again. From that until Tuefday a fouth fun N. N. E. 44 leagues, and then N. E. ; from a fouth fun until eight of the clock, fifteen leagues N. E. From that until Wednefday a fouth fun N. N. E., except the firfl: watch N. E. ; then had we the latitude in Sy" 39'. From that unto a N. W. fun eighteen leagues N. E. ; and then we were within two leagues of the fhore, and faw the high land to the fouth- ^vards of Lowfoot break out through the miil:, and then we went N. and by E. From the faid N. W. fun until four of the clock in the morning, N. and by E. ten leagues and a half, and then N. N. E. until a fouth fun, the latitude being 69" 30'. From that until half an hour pad feven of the clock, N. N. E. eleven leagues and a half, and then We went N. E. ten leagues. From that three leagues and a half E.N. E. and then we faw the land through the clouds and hazy thwart on the broadfide of us, the wind being then at S. S. W. From that until Saturday, at eight of the clock in the morning, E. N. E., and to the northwards forty-eight leagues, and then the wind came up at N., we being aboard the fhore, and thwart of the chapel which I fuppofe is called Kedilwike ; then we cad the flftp's head to the feawards, becaufe the wind was very fcant ; and then I caufed the pinnace to bear in with the fliore, to fee whether (he might find an harbour for the fhips or not, and that fhe found and faw two readers ride in the found ; and alfo they faw houfes. But notwithflanc'ing, God be praifed, the wind enlarged upon us, that we had not occafion to go into the harbour ; and then the pinnace bare her mizen mail overboard with flag and all, and loft the flag : with the maft there fell two men over- board, but God be praifed they were faved ; the flag was a token whereby we might underftand whether there were a good harbour there or not. At a north fun the North Cape (which I fo named the firft royagej was thwart of us, which is nine leagues to the eaftwards of the forefaid chapel from the eafternmoll point of it. June 7. The Sunday we weighed in Corpus Chrifti bay, at a N. E. and by E. fun : the bay is almoft half a league deep ; the headland, which is Coipus Chrifti point, lieth 8. E. and by E. one league from the head of the bay, where we had a great tide, like a race over the flood : the bay is at the leaft two leagues over ; fo do I imagine from the Fair foreland to Corpus Chrifti point ten leagues S. E. and by E. ; it floweth in this bay at a S. and by W. moon, full fea. From that we went until feven o'clock at after- noon twenty leagues S. E. and by S. ; and then we took in all our fails, becaufe it was then very mifty, and alfo we met with much ice that ran out of the bay ; and then we went S. S. E. with our forefail. At eight of the clock we heard a piece of ordnance, which was out of the Edward, which bade us farewell, and then we fhot off another piece, and bade her farewell ; we could not one fee the other becaufe of the thick mift : at a N. W. fun it began fomewhat to clear, and then we faw a headland, and the fliore trended to the fouthweftward, which I judged to be about Crofs Ifland ; it was off us at a N. N. W. fun, W. S. W. S. From this N. N. W. fun until Monday we went S. E., and this morning we came at anchor among the flioals that lie ofl' Point Lookout, at a N. E. and by E. fun, the wind being at E. S. E. At this point Lookout a fou.th moon maketh a lull fea. Cape Good J'ortune lieth from the lile of CroflTes S. E. and between .them is ten leagues. Point Lookout lieth from Cape Good Fortune E. 8. E., and between them ai'e fix leagues. St. Edmund's point lieth from point Lookout E. S. E., and halt a point to 3 the TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 53 the fouthw?.rds, and between them are fix leagues. There is between thefe two points a bay that is half a league deep, and is full of flioals and dangers. At a S. F.. fun we weighed, and turned to the windwards, the wind being at E, S. E. ; and at a S. E. fun we came to an anchor, being then a f'.'Il fea, in five fathoir.s and a half water. It hieth at this place where we rode, and alio at point Lookout, four fathom water. At a W. N. W. fun we weighed, and drived to the windwards until Tuefday, a N. N. E» fun, and then being a high water, we came to an anchor open of the river Cola, in eight fathom water. Cape St. Bernard lieth from St. Edmond's point S. E. and by S., and betwixt them are fix leagues ; and alfo betwixt them is the river Cola, into which river we went this evening. 1 o. Wednefday we rode fiill in the faid river, the wind being at the N. ; we fent our fkiif a-land to be dreffed ; the latitude of the mouth of the river Cola is 65° 48'. 1 1 . Thurfday, at fix of the clock in the moining, there came aboard of us one of the Ruffe lodias, rowing with twenty oars, and there were four-aud-tvventy men in her. The mafter of the boat prefented me with a great loaf of bread, and fix rings of bread, which they call colaches, and four dried pikes, and a peck of fine oatmeal ; and I gave unto the mafter of the boat a comb and a fmall glafs : and he declared unto me that he was bound to Pechora ; and after that I made them to drink, the tide being fomewhat broken, they gently departed. The mailer's name was Pheodor. Whereas the tenth day I fent our pinnace on fliore to be mended, becaufe fhe was leaky and weak, with the carpenter and three men more to help him, the weather chanced fo, that it was Sunday before they could get aboard our fhip. All that time they were without provifion of victuals, but only a little bread, which they fpent by Thurfday at night, thinking to have come aboard when they had lifted, but wind and weather denied them ; infoniuch that they were fain to eat grafs and fuch v/eeds as they could find then above ground, but frefli water they had plenty ; but the meat v\ith fome of them could fcant frame, by reafon of their queazy ftomachs. 14. From Thurfday at afternoon, until Sunday in the morning, our bark did ride fuch aroadfled, that it was to be marvelled, without the help of God, how fhe was able to abide it. In the bight of the S. E. fliore of the river Cola, there is a good road in five fathom,, or four fathom and a half, at a low water ; but you Ihall have no land N. N. E. of you then. I proved with our pinnace that the depth goeth on the S. E. fhore. 18. Thurfday we weighed our anchors in the river Cola, and went into the fea feven or eight leagues, where we met with the wind far northerly, that of force it conltrained us to go again back into the faid river, where came aboard of us fundry of their boats,, which declared unto me that they were alfo bound to the northwards, a fifliing for morfe and falmon, and gave me liberally of their white and wheaten bread. As we rode in this river, we faw daily coming down the river many of their lodias,, and they that had lead had four-and-twcnty men in them, and at the laft they grew tO' thirty fail of them ; and among the reft there was one of them whole name was Gabriel, who fliewed me very much friendihip, and he declared unto me that all they were- bound to Pechora, a fifhing for falmons and morfes ; infomuch that he fliewed me by demonftrations, that with a fair wind we had feven or eight days failing to the river Pechora, fo that I was glad of their company. This Gabriel promifed to give me warn- ing of flioals, as he did indeed. 21. Sunday being the one-and-twentieth day, Gabriel gave me a barrel of mead, and one of his fpecial friends gave me a barrel of beer, which was carried upon men's backs at leafl: two miles. 22. Monday 54 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILI.OUGHBY AND OTHERS, 22. Monday we departed from the river Cok, with all the reft of the faid lodias, but failing before the wind they were all too good for us; but accordino to promife, this Gabriel and his friend did often itrike their fails and tarried for us, forfaking their own company. 23. Tucfday, at an E. N. E. fun, we were thwart of Cape St. John. It is to be un- derdood that fi-om the -Cape St. John unto the river or bay that goeth to Wezcn, it is all funk land, and full of flioals and dangers, you fliall have fcant two fathom water, and fee no land. And this prefent day we came to an anchor thwart ot a creek, which is four or five leagues to the northwards of the laid cape, into which creek Gabriel and his fellow rowed, but we could not get in ; and before night there were above twenty fail that went into the faid creek, the wind being at the N. E. We had indifferent good landfang. This afternoon Gabriel came aboard with his fkitf, and then I rewarded him for the good company that he kept with us over the flioals with two fmall ivory combs, and a fteel glafs, with two or three trifles more, for which he was not ungrateful ; but uot- withflanding his firfl: company had gotten further to the northwards. 24. Wednefday being Midfummer-day, we fent our Ikiti aland to found the creek, where they found it almoft dry at a low water; and all the lodias within were on ground. Although the harbour were evil, yet thefl;ormy fimilitude of northerly winds tempted us to ftt our fails, and we let flip a cable and an anchor, and bare with the harbour, for it was then near a high water : and as always in fuch journies varieties do chance, when we came upon the bar in the entrance of the creek, the wind did flirink fo fud- denly upon us, that we were not able to lead it in, and before we could have flatted the fhip before the wind, we fliould have been on ground on the lee fliore ; fo that we were conflrained to let fall an anchor under our fails, and rode in a very breach, thinking to have warped in. Gabriel came out with his ikiS, and fo did fundry others alfo, fliewing their good will to help us, but all to no purpofe, for they were likely to have been drowned for their labour ; infomuch that I defired Gabriel to lend me his anchor, be- caufe our own anchors were too big for our fkift" to lay out, who fent me his own, and borrowed another alfo and fent it us. Then we laid out one of thofe anchors, with a hawfer which he had of 140 fathom long, thinking to have warped in, but it would not be ; for as we fliorted upon the faid warp the anchor came home, fo that we were fain to bear the end of the warp, that we ruflied in upon the other fmall anchor that Gabriel fent aboard, and laid that anchor to feawards.; and then between thcfe two anchors we traverfed the (hip's head to feawards, and fet our forefail and mainfail, and when the bark had way we cut the hawfer, and fo gat the fea to our friend, and tried out all that day with our main courfe. 25. TheThurfday we went room with Cape St. John, where we found indifferent good road for a N. N. E. wind, and for a need, for a N. and by W. wind. 26. Friday at afternoon we weighed and departed from tiicnce, the weather being meetly fair, and the wind at E. S.E. and plied for the place where we left our cable and anchor and our hawfer ; and as foon as we were at an anchor, the forefaid Gabriel came aboard of us, with three or four more of their fmall boats, and brought with them of their aquavitas and mead, profefling unto me very much friendfliip, and rejoiced to fee us again, declaring that they earneiUy thought that we had been lofl;. This Gabriel declared unto me that they had faved both the anchors and our hawfer ; and after wa had thus communed, I caufed four or five of them to go into my cabin, where I gave 2 them TO THE XORTHERN PARTS OP RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 55 them figs, and made them fuch cheer as I cauld. While I was thus banquettnig of them there came another of their fldfTs aboard with one who was a Kcril, whofe name afterwards I learned, and that he dwelt in Colmogro, and Gabriel dwelt in the town of Cola, which is not far from the river's mouth. This forefaid Keril faid unto me that one of the anchors which I borrowed was his ; I gave him thanks for the loan of if, thinking it had been futTicient. And as I continued in one accuflomed manner, that if the prefent which thcv brought were worth entertainment, they had it accordingly ; he brought nothing with him, and therefore I regarded hini but lictle. And thus we ended, and they took their leave and went afliore. At their coming aflaore Gabriel and Keril were at inconvenient words, and by the ears as I underftand ; the caufe was be- caufe the one had better entertainment than the other : but vou fhall underftand that Gabriel was not able to make his party good, becaufe there were feventeen lodias of the Keril's company who took his part, and but two of Gabriel's company. The next high water Gabriel and his company departed from thence, and rowed to their former company and neighbours, which were in number twenty-eight at the leaf!:, and all of them belonging to the river Cola. 27. And as I underftood Keril made reckoning that the hawfer which was faft in his anchor fhould have been his own, and at firft would not deliver it to our boat, infomuch that I fent him word that I would complain upon him, whereupon he delivered the hawfer to my company. The next day being Saturday, I fent our boat on fliore to fetch frefh water and wood, and at their coming on fliore this Keril welcomed our men moft gently, and alfo ban- quetted them ; and in the mean time caufed fome of his men to fill our baricoes with water, and to help our men to bear woo.l into their boat ; and then he put on his befl filk coat, and his collar of pearls, and came aboard again, and brought his prefent with him; and thus having more refpeft unto his prer?nt than to his perfon, becaufe I per- ceived him to be vain glorious, 1 bade him welcome, and gave him a difhoffigs; and then he declared unto me that his father was a gentleman, and that he was able to fhew me pleafure, and not Gabriel, who was but a prieft's fon. 28. After their departui'e from us we weighed, and plyed all the ebb to the wind- wards, the wind being northerly, and towards night it waxed very ftormy, fo that of force we were conftrained to go room with Cape St. John again, in which ftorm we loft ourfkiff at ourftern that we bought at Wardhoufe,and there we rode until the fourth of July. The latitude of Cape St. John is 66° 50'. And it is to be noted, that the land of Cape St. John is of height from the full fea mark, as I judge, ten fathoms, being clean without any trees growing, and alfo without ftones or rocks, and confifls only of black earth, which is fo rotten that if any of it fall into the fea, it will fwim as though it were a piece of wood. In which place, about three leagues from the fliore, you fhall BOt have above nine fathom water and ciay ground- July 4. Saturday at a N. N. W. fun, the wind came at E. N. E. and then we weighed and plyed to the northwards ; and as we were two leagues fliot pafh the cape, we faw a houfe ftanding in a valley, which is dainty to be feen in thofe parts, and by and by I faw three men on the top of the hill : then I judged them, as it afterwards proved, that they were men which came from fome other place to fet traps to take vermin for their furs ; which traps we did perceive very thick along the fliore as we went. 5. Sunday at an E. fun we were thwart off the creek where the Ruffes lay, and there came to an anchor, and perceiving the moft part of the lodias to be gone, we thougiit it not good to tarry any longer there, but weighed and fpent all the ebb plying to the windwards. 6. Monday 56 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, 6. Monday at a fouth fun it was high water. All along the coaft it floweth little, only a fouth nioou makes a full fea ; and as we were a weighing we efpied the Ruife lodias which we iirft loft ; they came out of a creek amongft the fandy hills ; which hills begin fifteen leagues N. N. E. from Cape St, John. 7. Plying this ebb to an end, we came to an anchor fix leagues N. N. E. from the place where we faw the Rufles come out ; and there the Ruffes harboured themfelves within a funk bank, but there was not water enough for us. At a north fun we weighed and plyed to the northwards, the land lying N. N. E. and S. S. W. until a fouth fun, and then we were in the latitude of 68' 30'. ; and in this latitude end thofe fandy hills, and the land beginneth to lie N. and by W,, S. and by E., and N. N. W., and to the weftuards, and there the water beginneth to wax deep. At a N. W. I'un we came to an anchor within half a league of the fliore, where we had good plenty of filh, both haddocks and cods, riding in 1 o fathom water. 8. Wednefday we weighed and plyed nearer to the headland, v/hich is called Ca- ninoz, the wind being at E. and by N. 9. Thurfday the wind being fcant, we turned to windwards the ebb, to get ^bout Caninoz ; the latitude this day at noon was 68' 40'. 10. Friday we turned to the windwards of the ebb, but to no purpofe ; and as we rode at an anchor, we faw the fimilitude of a florm rifing at N. N. W., and could not tell where to get rode nor fuccour for that wind, and harbour we knew none ; and that • land which we rode under with that wind was a lee {hore. And as I was mufing what was beft to be done, I faw a fail come out of a creek under the torefaid Caninoz, which v.-as my friend Gabriel, who forfook his harbour and company, and came as near us as he might, and pointed us to the eaftwards, and then we weighed and followed him, and went E, and by S., the wind being at W. N. W. and very mifty. 1 I. Saturday we went E.S.E. and follo%yed Gabriel, and he brought us into an harbour called Morgiovets, which is thirty leagues from Caninoz, and we had upon the bar going in two fathom and a fourth part ; and after we were pall in over the bar it waxed deeper, for we had five fathoms, four and a half, and three fathom, &c. Our bark being moored, I fent fonie of our men to fhore to provide wood, where they had plenty of drift wood, but none growing ; and in this place we found plenty of young fowl, as gulls, feapies, and others, whereof the Ruffes would eat none, whereof we were nothing forry, for there came the more to our part. 12. Sunday cur men cut wood on fhore and brought it aboard, and we ballafted our fiiip with flones. This morning Gabriel faw a fmoke on the way, who rowed into it with his fkiff, which fmoke was two leagues from the place where we rode ; and at a N. W. fun he came aboard again, and brought with him a Samoed, which was but a young man ; his ap» parel was then ftrange unto us, and he prefented me with three young wild gcefe, and one young barnacle. 13. Monday I fent a man to the main in Gabriel's boat, and he brought us aboard eight barricoes of frtfh water : the latitude of the faid Margiovcts is 68' 20'. It floweth there at a S. S. W. moon full fea, and hieth two fathom and a half water. 14. At a W. N. W. fun we departed from this place, and went E, twenty-five leagues, and then faw an ifland N. and by W. of us eight leagues, which ifland is called Dol- goieve ; and from the cafternmofl part of this ifland there lieth a fand E. and by S. feven leagues long. 15. Wednefday at a N. and by E. fun, Swetinoz was S. of us five leagues. This day at afternoon we went in over the dangerous bar of Pechora, and had upon the bar but one fathom water. TO THE NOaTHEP.N PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. ey 1 6. Thurfday we rode ftill. 17. Friday I went on fliore raid obferved the variation of the compafs, which was 3° 30' from the N. to the W. : the latitude this day was 69° 10'. From two or throe leagues to the eaflward of Swetinoz, until the entering of the river Pechora, it is all fandy hills, and towards Pechora the fandy hills are very low. It hieth on the bar of Pechora four feet water, and it floweth there at a S. W. moon a full fea. 20. Monday at a N. and by E. fun we weighed, and came out over the faid dangerous bar, w here we had but five feet water, infomuch that we found a foot lefs water coming cut than we did going in. I think the reafon was becaufe when we went in the wind was oft' the fea, which caufed the fands to break on either fide of us, and we kept in the fmootheft between the breaches, which we durft not have done, except we had feen the Ruifes to have gone in before us ; and at our coming out the wind was off the fhore, and fair weather, and then the fands did not appear with breaches as at our going in : we thank God that our (hip did draw fo little water. When we were a fea board the bar the wind fcanted upon us, and was at E.S. E. infomuch that we flopped the ebbs, and plied all the floods to the windwards, and made our way E. N. E. 2 1 . Tuefday at a N. W. fun, we thought that we had feen land at E. or E. and by N., of us, which afterwards proved to be a monftrous heap of ice. Within a little more than half an hour after we firft faw this ice, we were enclofed within it before we were aware of it, which was a fearful fight to fee ; for, for the fpace of fix hours, it was as much as we could do to keep our Ihip aloof from one heap of ice, and bear roomer from another, with as much wind as we might bear acourfe ; and when we had palled from the danger of this ice, we lay to the eaflwards clofe by the wind. 22. The next day we were again troubled with the ice. 23. Thurfday being calm we plied to the windwards, the wind being northerly : we had the latitude this day at noon in 70° 1 1'. V/e had not run pad two hours N. W., the wind being at N. N. E. and N. E. and by N. a good gale, but we met again with another heap of ice : we weathered the head of it, and lay a time to the feawards, and made way W. fix leagues. 24. Friday at a S. E. fun we caft about to the eaflwards, the wind being at N. N. E. : the latitude this day at noon was 70° 15'. 25. On St. James his day, bolting to the windwards, we had the latitude at noon in 70° 20'. The fame day at a S. W. fun, there was a monflrous whale aboard of us, fo near to our fide that we might have thrufl a fword or any other weapon in him, which we durft not do for fear he fhould have overthrown our fliip ; and then I called my company together, and all of us fhouted, and with the cry that we made he de- parted from us: there was as much above water of his back as the breadth of our pinnace, and at his falling down he made fuch a terrible noife in the water, that a man would greatly have marvelled, except he had known the caufe of it; but God be thanked we were quietly delivered of him. And a little after we fpied certain iflands, with which we bare, and found good harbour in fifteen or eighteen fathom, and black oze : we came to an anchor at a N. E. fun, and named the ifland St. James his ifland, where we found frefh water. 26. Sunday much wind blowing, we rode ftill. 27. Monday I went on fhore and took the latitude, which was 70° 42'. The varia- tion of the compafs was 7° 30' from the N. to the W. VOL. i; I 28. Tuefday 5? VOYAGES or SIR HUGH WILS.OUGHBY. AND OTKERS, 2S. Tuefday we plied to the weftwards along the (Ijore, the wind being at N. W., and as I was about to come to anchor, we faw a fail coming about the point, wheiTunder we thought to have anchored ; then I fent a fkift' aboard of him, and at their coming . aboard they took acquaintance of them, and the chief man faid he had been in our company in the river Cola, and alfo declared unto them that we were pail the way which (hould bring us to the Ob. This land, faid he, is called Nova Zembla, that is to fay, the New Land ; and then he came aboard himfelf with his fldiF, and at his coming aboard he told me the like ; and faid further, that in this Nova Zembla is the highefh mountain in the world, as he thought, and that Camen Bolfliay, which is on the main of Pechora, is not to be compared to this mountain, but I faw it not : he made me alfo certain de- monftrations of the way to the Ob, and feemed to make hafte on his own way, being very loth to tarry, becaufe the year was far paft, and his neighbour had fet Pechora, and not he ; fo I gave iiim a fteel glafs, two pewter fpoons, and a pair of velvet flieathed knives, and then he feemed fomewhat the more willing to tarry, and fliewed me as much as he knew for our purpofe ; he alfo gave me feventeen wild geefe, and fliewed me that four of their lodias were driven per force from Caninoze to this Nova Zembla. This man's name was Lofliak. ■zg. "Wedncfday as we plied to the eaftwards, we efpied another fail, which was one ofthisLofliak's company, and we bare room and fpake with him, who in like fort told us of the Ob, as the other had done. 30. Thurfday we plied to the eaftwards, the wind being at E.N. E. ■3^1. Friday the ga/e of wind began to increafe, and came wefterly withal, fo that by a N. W. fun we were at an anchor among the iflands of Vaigats, where we faw two fmall lodias, the one of them came aboard of us and prefented me with a great loaf of bread ; and they told me that they were all of Colmogro, except one man that dwelt at Pechora, u ho feemed to be the chiefefh among them in killing of the morfe. There were fome of their company on fliore which did chafe a white bear over the high cliii's into the water, which bear the Ibdia that was aboard of us killed in our fight. _ Ihis day there was a great gale of wind at N., and we faw fo much ice driving a foaboard, that it was then no going to fea. Auguft I. Saturday I went afliore, and there I faw three morfcs that they had killed : they held one tooth of a morfe, which was not great, at a roble, and one white bear fkin. at three robles and two robles : they further told me that there were people called Samoeds on the great ifland, and that they would not abide them nor us, who have no houfes, but only coverings made of dcers' fkins, fet over them with Itakes : they are men expert in (hooting, and have great plenty of deer. 'ihis night there lell a cruel Itorm, the wind being at W. 2. Sunday we had very much wind, with plenty of fnow, and we rode with two anchors a-head. 3. Monday we weighed and went room \\ ith another ifland, which was five leagues E. N. E. from us ; and there I met again with Lofliak, and went on fhore with him, and he brought me to a heap of the Samoeus' idols, which were in number about three hundred, the worft and the moli: unartificial work that ever I faw : the eyes and mouths of fundry of them vi ere bloody ; they had the (hape of men, women, and children, very grofsly wrought ; and that which they had made for other parts was alio fprinkled with blood. Some of their idols were an old Hick with two or three notches, made with a knile in it. 1 faw much of the footing of the faid Samoeds, and of the fleds that they ride in. There was one of their lleds broken, and lay by the heap of idols ; 2 and TO THE KORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 59 and there I faw a deer's fkin which the fowls had fpoiled ; and before certain of their idois blocks were made as high as their mouths, being all bloody, I thought that to be the table whereon they offered their facrifice : I faw alfo the inftruments whereupon they had roafteu flefli, and as far as I could perceive they make their fire dircvtly under the fpit. Lolhak being there prefent told me that thefe Samoeds were not fo hurtful as tliry of Obare, and that they have no houfes, as indeed I faw none, but only tents made of deers' fkins, which they under-prop with flakes and poles : their boats are made of deers* fkins, and vfhen they come on fhore they carry their boats with them upon their backs; for their carriages they have no other beads to ferve them but deer only. A;.' for bread and corn they have none, except the Ruffes bring it to them : their knowledge is very bafe, for they know no letter. 4. Tuefday v:e turned for the harbour where Lofliak's bark lay, whereas before we rode under an ifland ; and there he came aboard of us, and faid unto me, if God fend wind and w-eather to ferve I will go to the Ob with you, becaufe the morfes were fcant at thefe illands of Vaigats ; but if he could not get t-o the river of Ob, then he faid he would go to the river of Naramzciy, where the people were not altogether fo favage as the Samoeds of the Ob are : he fliewed me that they will flioot at all men to the utter- moft of their power, that cannot fpeak their fpeech. 5. Wednefday we faw a terrible heap of ice approach near unto us, and therefore wc thought good with all fpeed poffible to depart from thence, and fo I returned to the weitwards again to the ifland where v>'e were the thirty-firft of July. 6. Thurfday I went afliore and took the latitude, which was yo° 25' ; and the varia- tion of the compafs v.-as 8^ from the N. to the W. Lofiiakandthe two fmall lodias of Pechora departed from this ifland, while I was on fhore taking the latitude, and went to the fouthwards : I marvelled why he departed fo fuddenly, and went over the fhoals amongfl the iflands where it was impoffible for us to follow them ; but after 1 perceived them to be weatherwife. 7. Friday we rode ftill, the wind being at N. N. E. v^'ith a cruel florm : the ice came in fo abundantly about us at both ends of the ifland that we rode under, that it was a iearful fight to behold : the florm continued with fiiow, rain, and hail plenty. 8. Saturday we rode flill alfo, the florm being fomewhat abated, but it was altogether mifty, that we were not able to fee a cable's length about us, the wind being at N. E. and ^y^- . . ... 9. Sunday, at four of the clock in the morning, we departed rrom tins ifland, the V'ind being at S. E., and as we were clear a feaboard the fmall iflands and fhoals, it came fb thick with mifls that we could net fee a bafe fhot from us ; then we took h\ all our fails to make little way. At a S. E. fun it waxed clear, and then we fet our fails, and lay clofe by the wind to the fouthwards alongfl the iflands of Vaigats. At a W. fun we took in our fail again, becaufe of the great mift and rain. We founded at this place, and had five-and-twenty fathoms ivater, and foft l)lack oze, being three leagues from the fhore, the wind being at S. and by E, but flill mifly. ID. Monday at an E. fun we founded, and had forty fathoms, and oze, flill mlilv. At noon we founded again, and had thirty-fix fathom, full miPLy. 11. Tuefday at an E.N. E. fun we let fall our anchor in three-and-twenty fathom, the mitl flill continuing. 12. Wednefday, at three of the clock in the morning, the mifl brake up, the wind being at N. E. and by E. and then we faw part of the iflands of Vaigats, which we bare withal, and went E. S. E. clofe by the wind : at a W. fun we were at an afichor under I 2 the 6o VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, the S. Vv''. part of the faid Vaigats, and then I fent our fkifF to fhore with three men in h€r, to fee if they might fpeak with any of the Samoeds, but could not : all that day was rainy but not windy. 13. Thurfday the wind came wefterly, fo that we were fain to feek us another place to ride in, becaufe the wind came a fea board land, and although it were mifty, yet we followed the fhore by our lead : and as we brought land in the wind of us, we let fall our anchor. At a W. fun the mill: brake up fo that we might fee about us, and then we might perceive that we were entered into a found. This afternoon we took in two or three fkifFs' lading of ftones to balaft our fliip withal. It hieth here four feet water, and floweth by fits uncertain to be judged. 14. Friday we rode ftill in the found, the wind at S. W., with very much rain, and at the end of the rain it waxed again mifty. 15. Saturday there was much wind atW. and much rain, and then again mifly. 16. Sunday was very mifty and much wind. 17. Monday very mifty, the wind at W. N. W. 1 8. Tuefday was alfo mifty, except at noon : then the fun brake out through the mift, fo that we had the latitude in 70° lo': the afternoon was mifty again, the wind being at W. N. W. 19. Wednefday at three of the clock afternoon the mift brake up, and the wind came at E. N. E., and then we weighed, and went S. and by E. until feven of the clock eif^ht leagues, thinking to have had fight of the fandy hills that are to the eaft- wards of the river Pechora. At a N. W. fun we took in our mainfail, becaufe the wind increafed, and went wkh a forefail W. N. W. the wind being at E. N. E. : at night there grew fo terrible a ftorm, that we faw not the like, although we had endured many ftorms fince we came out of England. It was wonderful that our bark was able to brook fuch monftrous and terrible feas, without the great help of God, who never faileth them at need, that put their Aire truft in him. 20. Thurfday at a S. S. W. fun, thanks be to God, the ftorm was at the higheft, and then the wind began to flack, and came northerly withal, and then I reckoned the weft- ermoft point of the river Pechora to be S. of us fifteen leagues. At a W. S. W. fun wefetour mainfail, and lay clofe by the wind, the wind being at N. W. and by N., making but little way, becaufe the billow wentfo high : at midnight we caft about, and the ftiip capcd N. N. E. making little way. 21. Friday at noon we had the latkude in 70° 8', and we founded and had twenty- nine fathoms fand, and in manner ftreamy ground. At a W. fun we caft about to the weftwards, and a little after the vi'ind came up at W. 22. Saturday was calm : the latitude this day at noon was 70° 20', we founded here, and had nine-and-forty fathom and oze, which oze fignified that we drew towards Nova Zembla. And thus we being out of all hope to difcover any more to the eaftward this year, we thought it beft to return and that for three caufes. The firft the continual N. E. and northerly winds, which have more power after a man is paft to the eailwards of Caninoze, than in any place that I do know in thefe • northerly regions. Second, becaufe of great and terrible abundance of ice which we faw with our eyes, and we doubt greater ftore abidcth in thofe parts : I adventured already fomewhat too far In it, but I thank God for my fafc deliverance from it. Third, becaufe the nights waxed dark, and the winter began to draw on with his ftorras : and therefore I refolved to take the firft beft wind that God Ihould fend, and I ply TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 6l ply towards the bay of St. Nicholas, and to fee if we might do any good there, if God would permit it. This prefent Saturday we faw very much ice, and were within two or three leagues of it: it fliewed unto us as though it had been a firm land as far as we might fee from N. W. off us to the eaflwards : and this afternoon the Lord fent us a little gale of wind at S., fo that we bare clear off the weftermoft part of it, thanks be to God. And then againfl night, it waxed calm again, and the wind was at S. W. : we made our way until Sunday noon N. W. and by W., and then we had the latitude in 70" 30', the wind at S. W. : there was a billow fo that we could not difcern to take the latitude exattly, but by a reafonable guefs. 24. Monday there was a pretty gale of wind at S., fo that we went W. and by S., the latitude this day at noon was 70° 10': we had little wind all day: at a W. N."W. fun we founded, and had twenty-nine fathoms black fandy oze, and then we were N. E. five leagues from the N. E. part of the iiland Colgoieve, 25. Tuefday the wind all wellerly we plied to the windwards. 26. Wednefday the wind was all wefterly, and calm ; we had the latitude this day in 70° 10', we being within three leagues of the north part of the ifland Colgoieve. 27. Thurfday we went room about the weftermoft part of the ifland, feeking where we might find a place to ride in for a N. W. wind, but could find none, and then we caft about again to the feawards, and the wind came at W. S. W., and this morning we had plenty of fnow. 28. Friday, the wind being at S. W. and by W. we plied to the windwards. 29. Saturday, the wind being at S. we plied to the weftwards, and at afternoon the mift brake up and then we might fee the land feven or eight leagues to the eaftward of Caninoze : we founded a little before and had thirty-five fathoms and oze. And a while after we founded again, and had nineteen fathom and fand : then we were within three leagues and a half of the Ihore, and towards night there came down fo much wind, that we were fain to bring our fhip atrie, and laid her head to the weftwards. 30. Sunday, the wind became more calm, and then it waxed very mifty : at noon we caft about to the eaftwards, the wind being at S., and ran eight hours on that board, and then we caft about and caped W. S. W. : we founded and had thirty-two fathoms, and tough oze like clay. 31. Monday, we doubled about Caninoze, and came at an anchor there, to the in- tent we might kill fome fifli if God would permit it, and there we gat a great nufe, which nufes were there fo plenty, that they would fcarcely fuffer any other fifti to come near the hooks : they faid nufes carried away fundry of our hooks and leads. A little after at a W. fun, the wind began to blow ilormy at W. S. W. fo that we were fain to weigh and forfake our fifliing ground, and went clofe by the wind S. Wo and S. W. and by W., making our way S. S. W. September 1 . Tuefday at a W. fun we founded and had twenty fathoms, and broken wilkefliells : I reckoned Caninoze to be twenty-four leagues N. N. E. from us. II. The eleventh day we arrived at Colmogro, and there we wintered, expefting the approach of next fummer to proceed farther in our int-ended difcovery for the Ob : which (by reafon of our employments to Wardhoufe the next fpring for the fearch of fome Englifli Ihipsj was not accordingly performed. Certain Cz VOYAGES 0~ SIR. HUGH WILLOUGHBV AND OTHERS, Certain Notes vnperfeBly ivrittcn hy Richard John/on fervanf to, majlcr Richard ChaTicekur, which zvcs in the' Difcovery of Vaigatz and Nova Zembla, iviih Steven Biirroivsin the Serckthrift, i ^^6, and afterward among the Sainoeds, ivhofe devilijh Rites he defcribeth. FIRST, after we departed out of England we fell with Norway, and on that coafl: lleth Northbern or Northbergin, and this people are under the king of Denmark : but they difler in thtir fpeech from the Danes, for they fpeak Norih. And north of North- bern, lie the ifles of Roft and Lofoot, and thefe iflands pertain unto Finmark, and they keep the laws and fpeak the language of the iflanders. And at the eaitermofl: part of that land is a caftle which is called the Wardhoufe, and the king of Denmark doth ■fortify it with men of war: and the Ruffes may not go to the weftward of that caftle. And E. S. E. from that caftle is a land called Lappia : in which land be two manner of people, that is to fay, the Lappians, and the Scricklinns, which Scrickfinns are a wild people which neither know God, nor yet good order : and thefe people live in tents made of deer fkins : and they have no certain habitations, but continue in herds and companies by one hundred and two hundreds. And they are a people of fmall Mature, and are clothed in deers' {kins, and drink nothing but wate)-, and eat no bread but flelh all raw. And the Lappians be a people adjoining to them, and be much like to them in all conditions, but the Emperor of Ruflia hath of late overcome many of them, and they are in fubjeftion to him. And this people will fay that they believe in the Ruffes' God. And they live in tents as the other do. And S. E. and by S. from Lappia, lieth a province called Corelia, and theCe people are called Kerilli. And S. S. E. from Corelia lieth a country called Novogardia. And thefe three nations are under the Emperor of Ruffia, and the Ruffes keep the law of the Greeks in their churches, and write fomewhat like as the Greeks write, and they fpeak their own language, and they abhor the Latin tongue, neither have they to do with the pope of Rome, and they hold it not good to worflup any carved image, yet they will v.orihip painted images on tables or boards. And in Ruflia their churches, fteeples and houfes are all of wood : and their fliips that they have are fowed with withes and have no nails. The Kerillcs, Ruffians and Mofcovians be much alike in all conditions. And S. from the Mofco- vians lie the Tartarians, which be Mahometans, and live in tents and waggons, and keep in herds and companies : and they hold it not good to abide long in one place, for they will fay, vdien they will curfe any of their children, I would thou mighteft tarry fo long in a place that thou mightLll fmell thine own dung, as the chriii!.ias do ; and this is the greateft curfe that they have. And E. N. E. of Ruffia lieth Lampas, which is a place where the Ruffes, Tartars, and Samoeds meet twice a year, and make the fair to barter wares for wares. And N. E. from Lampas lieth the country of the Samoeds, which be about the river of Pechere, and thefe Samoeds be in lubjeftion to the Emperor of Ruffiia, and they lie in tents made of deer fkins, and they ufe much witchcraft, and flioot well in bows. And N. E. from the river Pechere lieth V-aigatz, and there are the wild Samoeds which will not fuffer the Ruffes to land out of the fea, but thev will kill them and eat them, as we are told by the Ruffes : and they live in herds, and' have all their carriages with deer, for they have no horfes. Beyond Vaigatz lieth a land called Nova Zcmbla, which is a great land, but we faw no people, and there we had fowl enough, and there we faw white foxes and white bears. And the faid £amoeds which are about the banks of Pechere, which are in fubjection to the EmpS' TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RTTSSIA AND SIBERIA. 63 vor o*' Riiflia, when th.'vwill remove from one place to another, then they will make Jhcrifices in manner following. Every kindred doth facrifice in iheir own tent, and he that is molt ancient is their priefl. And fird the prieft doth begin to play upon a thing like v> a great iieve, with a flc'n on the one end like a drum ; and the flick that he playeth with is about a fpan long, and one end is round like a ball, covered with the flvin of an hart. Alfo the priefl: hath upon his head a thing of white like a garland, and his hce is covered with a piece of a fhirt of mail, with many fmall ribs, and teeth of fifhes, and wild bealls hanging on the fame mail. Then he fmgeth as we ufe here in England to hallow, whope, or fiout at hounds, and the reft of the company anfwer him with this owtis, igha, igha, ighn., and then the prieft replieth again with his voices. And they anfwer him with the felf-fame words fo many times, that in the end he be- cometh as it were mad, and falling do'vi-n as he were dead, having nothing on him but a fhirt, lying upon his back I might perceive him to breathe. I aficed them why he lay fo, and they anfwered me, now doth our God tell him what we fliall do, and whither we fhall go. And when he had lain flill a little while, they cried thus three times to- gether, oghao, oghao, ogbao, arid as they ufe thefe three calls he rifeth with his head and lieth down again, and then he rofe up and fang with like voices as he did before : and his audience anfwered him igha, igha, igha. Then he commanded them to kill five olens or great deer, and continued fmging (till both he and they as before. Then he took a fword of a cubit and a fpan long (I did mete it myfelf ) and put It into his belly halfway and fometime lefs, but no wound was to be feen, (they continuing in their fweetfong (fill). Then he put the fword into the fire till it was warm, and fo thruft it into the flit of his fliirt and thruft it through his body, as I thought, in at his navel and out at his fundament : the point being out of his fhirt behind, I laid my finger upon it, then he pulled out the fword and Hit down. This -being done, they fet a kettle of water over the fire to heat, and when the water doth feeth, the prieft beginneth to fing again they anfwering him, for fo long as the water was in heating they fat and fang not. Then they made a thing being four fquare, and in height and fquarenefs of a chair, and covered with a gown very clofe the fore part thereof, for the hinder part ftood to the tent's fide. Their .tents are round and are called cbome in their language. The water ftill feething on the fire, and this fquare feat being ready, the prieft put oft' his fliirt, and the thing like a garland which was on his head, with thofe things which covered his face, and he had on yet all this while a pair of hofen of deers' fkins with the hair on, which came up to his buttocks. So he went into the fquare feat, and fat down like a taylor and fang with a ftrong voice or halloaing. Then they took a fmall line made of deers' Ikins of four fathoms long, and with a fmall knot the prieft made it faft about his neck, and under his left arm, and gave it unto two men ftanding on both fides of him, which held the ends together. Then the kettle of hot water was fet before him in the fquare feat, all this time the fquare feat was not covered, and then it was covered with a gown of broad cloth without lining, fuch as the Ruffes do wear. Then the two men which did hold the ends of the line ftill ftanding there, began to draw, and drew till they had drawn the ends of the line ftiff" and together, and then I heard a thing fall into the kettle of water which was before him in the tent There- upon I afked them that fat by me what it was that fell into the water that ftood before him. And they anfwered me, that it was his head, his flioulder, and left arm, which the line had cut off, I mean the knot which I faw afterward drawn hard together. Then I rofe up and would have looked whether it were fo or not, but they laid hold on me, and faid, that if they fliould fee him with their bodily eyes, they fhould live no longer. And the moft part of them can fpeak the Ruffe tongue to be underftood : and 64 VOyAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, and they took me to be a Ruffian. Then they began to hallow with thefe words, dghaoo, oghaco, oghaco, many times together. And as they were thus finging and out- calling, I faw a thing like a finger of a man two times together thrufl: through the gown from the prieft. I afked them that fat next to me what it was that I faw, and they faid not his finger ; for he was yet dead : and that which 1 faw appear through the gown was a beaft, but what beaft they knew not nor would not tell. And I looked upon the gown, and there was no hole to be feen : and then at the laft the pried lifted up his head with his fhoulder and arm, and all his body, and came forth to the fire. Thus far of their fervice which I faw during the fpace of certain hours : but how they do worfhip their idols that I faw not : for they put up their fluff for to remove from that place where they lay. And I went to him that ferved the prieft, and afked him what then- God faid to him when he lay as dead. He anfwered that his own people doth not know, neither is it for them to know : for they muft do as he commanded. This I faw the fifth day of January in the year of our Lord 1556 after the Englifh account. Of the Penniatis, Samoiies, and Lappes, (Hakluyt I. 491.) THE Permians and Samoites that lye from Ruffia, N. and N. E. are thought likewife to have taken their beginning from the Tartar kind. And it may partly be gueffed by the faftiion of their countenance, as having all broad and flat faces as the Tartars have, except the Chircaffes. The Permians are accounted for a very ancient people. They are now fubject to the Ruffe. They live by hunting and trading with their furs, as alfo doth the Samoit, that dwelleth more towards the North Sea. The Samoit hath his name (as the Ruffe faith) of eating himfelf : as if in times pafl: they lived as the cannibals, eating one another. Which they make more probable, becaufe at this time they eat all kind of raw flefh, whatfoever it be, even the very carrion that lieth in the ditch. But as the Samoits themfelves will fay, they were called Samoie, that is, of themfelves as though they were indigene, or people bred upon that very foil, that never changed their feat from one place to another, as moft nations have done. They are fubjefl: at this time to the Emperor of Ruffia. I talked with certain of them, and find that they acknowledge one God : but repre- fent him by fuch things as they have moft ufe and good by. And therefore they wor- fliip the fun, the ollcn, the lofli, and fuch like. As for the ftory of Slata Baba, or the golden hag, (which I have read in fome maps, and defcriptions of thefe countries, to be an idol after the form of an old woman) that being demanded by the prieft, giveth them certain oracles, concerning the fuccefs and event of things, I found to be a very fable. Only in the province of Obdoria upon the fea fide, near to the mouth of the great river Obba, there is a rock, which naturally (being fomewhat helped by imagi- nation) may feem to bear the fhape of a ragged woman, with a child in her arms (as the rock by the North Cape the fliape of a friar,) where the Obdorian Samoites ufe much to refort, by reafon of the commodity of the place for fifhing : and there fome- tirae (as their manner is ) conceive and pradtife their forceries, and ominous conjedur- ings about the good or bad fpeed of their journies, fifhings, huntings, and fuch like. They are clad in feal fkins, with the hair fide outwards down as low as the knees, with their breeches and netherftocks of the fame, both men and women. They are all black haired, naturally beai-dlefs. And therefore the men are hardly difcemed from the women by their looks : fave that the women wear a lock of hair down along both their TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 6t, their ears. Tliey live in a manner a wild and favagc life, roving ftill from one place of the country to another, without any property of hcufe or land more to one than to another. Their leader or direiStor in every company, is their papa or priefl. On the north fide of Ruffia next to Corelia, lieth the conntry of Lappia, whicii reachcth in lenpth from the fartheft point northward, (towards the North ('ape) to the fartheft part S. E. (which the Ruffe caileth Sweetneffe or Holy Nofe, the Engliflimeu Cape-grace) about tjiree hundred and forty-five verft or miles. From Sweetneife to Candelox by the way of Verfega (which meafureth the breadth of that country) is ninety miles or thereabouts. The whole country in a manner is either lakes or mountains, which towards the fea fide are called Tondro, becaufe they are all of hard and craggy rock, but the inland parts are well furnifhed v;ith woods that grow on the hills fides, the lakes lying between. Their diet is yeiy bare and fimple. Bread they have none, but feed" only upon fifli and fowl. They are fubjecl: to the Emperor of Rudia, and the two kings of Sweden and Denmark: which all exadt tribute and cuffom of them 'as was faid before,) but the Emperor of Ruffia beareth the greatefl: hand over them, and exafteth of them far more than the reft. The opinion is that they were firlt term.ed Eappes of their brief and flio^t fpeech. The Ruffe divideth the whole nation of the Lappes into two forts. The one they call Nowremanfkoy Lapary, that is the Nor- wegian Lappes becaufe they be of the Daniih religion. For the Danes and Norwe- gians they account for one people. The other that have no religion at all but live as brute and heathenifli people, without God in the world, they call Dikoy Lapary, or the wild Lappes. The whole nation is utterly unlearned, having not fo much as the ufe of any alpha- bet, or letter among them. For praftice of witchcraft and forcery they pafs all nations in the world. Though for enchanting of {hips that fail along their coafl, (as I have heard it reported,) and their giving of winds good to their friends, and contrary to other, whom they mean to hurt by tying of certain knots upon a rope, (fomewhat like to the tale of Eolus his windbag) is a very fable, devifed (as may feem) by themfelves, to terrify failors for coming near their coaft. Their weapons are the long bow, and hand gun, wherein they excel, as well for ■ quicknefs to charge and difcharge, as for nearnefs at the mark by reafon of their continual praQice (whereto they are forced) of fhooting at wild fowl. Iheir manner is in fumnier time to come down in great com- panies to the fea fide, to Wardhuyfe, Cola, Kegor, and the bay of Vedagoba, and th(.re to fifh for cod, falmon, and but-fifh, which they fell to the Ruffes, Danes, and Norwegians, and now of late to the Englifhmen that trade thither with cloth, which they exchange with the Laps and Corelians for their fifli, oil, and furs, whereof alfo they have fome ftore. They hold their mart at Cola on St. Peter's day : what time the captain of Wardhuyfe (that is refiant there for the king of Denmark,) mull be prefent, or at lead fend his deputy to fet prices upon their flock fifli, train oil, furs and other commodities : as alfo the Rufle Emperor's cuftomer, or tribute taker, to receive his cuflom which is ever paid before any thing can be bought or fold. When their fifhing is done, their manner is to draw their carbafTes or boats on fhore, and there to leave them with the keel turned upwards^ till the next fpring tide. Their travel to and.fro is upon fleds drawen by the olen deer : which they ufe to turn a grazing all the fum- mer time in an, ifland called Kildyn, (of a very good foil compared with other parts of that country) and tov;ards the winter time, when the fnow beginneth to fall, they fetch them home again for the ufe of their fled. VOL. I. n J LEARKtD 66 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, ui LEARNED Epijlle •written 15 Si unto the famous Cofmographer M. Ger,ird Merarfor, coit' cern'tMg ihe Ri-ver Pechora, Naramfin'-, Cirra rcca, the mighty River of Ob, the Place of Yaks Olgufh in Siberia, ihe great River Ardoh,tbe Lake of Kittay called of the Borderers Par aha, the Country of Car rah Colmak, gi-ving good Light to the Dlf co-very of the north" caji Paffage to Cathay, China, and the Malucaes. (Hakluvt I- 509.) To the famous and renowned Gerard Mercator, his reverend and fingular friend at Duii'burgh in Cliveland thele be delivered. CALLING to remembrance Tmoft dear friend) what exceeding delight you took at our being together, in reading the geographical writings of Homer, Strabo, Ariflotle, Pliny, Dion, and the reft, I rejoiced not a little that I happened upon fuch a meifen- ger as the bearer of thefe prefents, (whom I do ei'pecially recommend unto you) who arrived lately here at Arufburg upon the river of Ofella. This man's experience (as I am of opinion) will greatly avail you to the knowledge of a certain matter which hath been by you fo vehemently defired, and fo curioufly laboured for, and concerning the which the late cofmographers do hold fuch variety of opinions : namely, of the dif- covery of the huge promontory of Tabin, and of the famous and rich countries fub- j'ecl to the Emperor of Cathay, and that by the N. E. ocean fea. The man is called Alferius being by birth a Netherlander, who for certain years lived captive in the do- minions of Ruflia under two famous men Yacovius and Unekius, by whom he was fent to Antwerp to procure fkilful pilots and mariners, (by propounding liberal re- wards) to go unto the two famous perfonages aforefaid, which two had fet a Sweden Ihipwright on work to build two (hips for the fame difcovery upon the river of Dwina. The paffage unto Cathay by the N. E. (as he declareth the matter, albeit without art, yet very aptly, as you may well perceive, which I requeft you diligently to confider) is without doubt very fhort and eafy. This very man himfelf hath travelled to the river of Ob, both by land, through the countries of the Samoeds, and of Sibier, and alfo by fea, along the coaft of the river Pechora eaftvvard. Being encouraged by this his experience he is fully refolved with himfelf to condudl a bark laden with nier- chandife (the keel whereof he will not have to draw over much water) to the bay of St. Nicholas in Rufiia, being furnifhed with all things expedient for fuch a difcovery, and with a new fupply of victuals at his arrival there, and alfo to hire into his company certain Ruifes beft known unto himfelf, who can perfedly fpeak the Samoeds' language, and are acquainted with the river of Ob, as having frequented thofe places year by year. Whereupon about the end of May he is determined to fail from the bay of St. Nicholas eallward, by the main of Joughoria, and fo to the eaflerly parts of Pechora, and to theifland which is called Dolgoia. And here alfo he is purpofed to obferve the latitudes, to furvey and defcribc the country, to found the depth of the fea, and to note the diftances of places, where, and fo oft, as occafion fliall be offered. And for- afmuch as the bay of Pechora is a moft convenient place both for harbour and vidual, as well in their going forth as in their return home in regard of ice and tempeft, he is dvtermincd to bellow a day in founding the flats, and in fearching out the beft entrance for fli ps : in which place heretofore he found the water to be but five feet deep, howbeit he doubteth not but that there are deeper channels : and then he intendeth to proceed on along TO Tlin NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. C7 along thofe coafts for the fpace of three or four leagues, leaving the ifland called Vaigats almoft in the middle way between Ugoria and Nova Zembla, then alfo to pafs by a certain bay between Vaigats and Ob, trending fouthe; ly into the land of Ugoria, whereinto fall two fmall rivers called Marmcfia and Carah, upon the which rivers do inhabit another barbarous and favage nation of the Samoeds. He found many fiats in that traft of land, and many catarafts or overfalls of water, yet fuch as he was able to fail by. When he fliall come to the river of Ob, which river (as the Samoeds re- port) hath feventy mouths, which by reafon of the huge breadth thereof, containing many and great iilands, which are inhabited with fundry forts of people, no man fcarcely can well difcover, becaufe he will not fpend too much time, he purpofeth to fearch three or four at the moll of the mouths thereof, thofe chiefly which fuall be thought mod commodious by the advice of the inhabitants, of whom he meaneth to have cer- tain with him in his voyage, and meaneth to employ three or four boats of that coun- try in fearch of thefe mouths, as near as poffibly he can to the (liore, which within three days journey of the fea is inhabited, that he may learn where the river is beit jiavigable. If it fo fall out that he may fail up the river Ob againft the ftream, and mount up to that place which heretofore accompanied with certain of his friends, he pafled unto by land through the country of Siberia, which is about twelve days jour- ney from the fea, where the river Ob falleth into the fea, which place is in the conti- nent near the river Ob, and is called Yaks Olgufli, borrowing his name from that mighty river which falleth into the river Ob, then doubtlefs he would conceive full hope that he had pafled the greateft difficulties : for the people dwelling thereabout report, which were three days failing only from that place beyond the river Ob, whereby the breadth thereof may be gathered (which is a rare matter there, becaufe that many rowing with their boats of leather one day's journey only from the fliore, have been caft away in tempeft, having no fkill to guide themfelves neither by fun nor ftar) that they have feen great vefl'els laden with rich and precious merchandife brought down that great river by black or fwart people. They call that river Ardoh, which falleth into the lake of Kittay, which they call Paraha, whereupon bordereth that mighty and large nation which they call Carrah Colmak, Vvhich is none other than the nation of Cathay. There, if need require, he may fitly winter and refrefh himfelf and his, and feek all things which he fliall Itand in need of : which if it fo fall out, he doubteth not but in t!ie mean while he fliall be much furthered in fearching and learning out many things in that place. Howbeit, he hopeth that he fliall reach to Cathay that very fum- mer, unlefs he be hindered by great abundance of ice at the mouth of the river of Ob, which is fometimes more and fometinies lefs. If it fo fall out, he then purpofeth to return to Pechora, and there to winter : or if he cannot do fo neither, then he mean- eth to return to the river of Dwina, whither he will reach in good time enough, and fo the next fpring following to proceed on his voyage. One thing in due place I forgat before. The people which dwell at that place called Yaks Olgufli, affirm that they have heard their forefathers fay, that they have heard mofl: fweet harmony of bells in the lake of Kitthav, and that they have feen therein flately and large buildings : and when they make mention of the people named Carrah Colmak (this country is Cathay) they fetch deep fighs, and holding up their hands, they look up to heaven, fignifying as it were, and declaring the notable glory and magnificence of that nation. I would this Oliver were better feen in cofmography, it would greatly further his experience, which doubtlefs is very great. Mofl: dear friend, I omit many things, and I wifli you fliould hear the man himfelf which promifed me faithfully that he would vifit you in his K 2 wsy 62 VOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WH^LOUGHBY AND OTHERS, way at Duifburg, for he defireth to confer with you, and doubtlefs you (liall very much further the man. He feemeth fufficiently fumiflied with money and friends, wherein and in other offices of courtefy I offered him my furtherance if it had plcafed him to have ufed me. The Lord profper the man's defires and forwardnefs, blefs his good beginnings, further his proceedings, and grant unto him mod happv iflue. Fare you well, good Sir, and my fmgular friend. From Aruiburg upon the i-iver of Ofella, the acthof February, 1581. Your's wholly at commandment, JOHN BALAK. Tne Letter of Gerard Mcrcator, written to M. Richard Hakluyt of Oxford, touching the intefided Difccvery of the North Eajl Paffage. An. 1580.* , (Hakluyt Vol. I. p. 4)4.) < I^Tranllated from the Latin. 3 SIR, I received your letters the 19th of June : it grieved me much that upon the fight of them the time being fpent, I could not give any convenient inftruftions : I Willi Arthur Pet had been informed before his departure of fome fpecial points. The voyage to Cathaio by the eall, is doubtlefs very eafy and fhort, and I have oftentimes marvelled, that being fo happily begun, it hath been left off, and the courfe changed into the weft, after that more than half of your voyage was difcovered. For beyond the ifland of Vaigats and Nova Zembla, there followeth prefentiy a great bay, which on the left fide is enclofed with the mighty promontory Tabin.f Into the midit hereof there fall great rivers, which palling liirough the whole country of Serica, and being as I think navigable with great veffels into the heart of the continent, may be an ealy means whereby to traffic for all manner of merchanuife, and tranfport them out ot Cathaio, Mangi,, Mien, and other kingdoms thereabout into England. But confider- ing with myfelf that that navigation was not intermitted, but upon great occafion, I thought that the Emperor of Ruffia and Mofcovy had hindered the proceeding thereof. If fo be that with his grace and favour a further navigation may be made, 1 would counfel them certainly not firft to feek out the promontory Tabin, but to fearch this bay and rivers aforefaid, and in them to pick and chufe out fome convenient port and harbour for the Englifli merchante, from whence afterward with more opportunity and lefs peril, the promontory Tabin and all the coaft of Cathaio may be difcovered. And . that there is fuch a huge promontory called Tabin, I am certainly perfuaded not only out of Pliny, but alfo other writers, and fome maps (though fomewhat rudely drawn :_) and that the pole of the loadftone is not far beyond Tabin, I have learned by the cer- tain obfervations of the loadftone ; about which pole and Tabin I think there are very many rocks, and very hard and dangerous failing : and yet a more hard and difficile paffage I think it to be this v;ay which is now attempted by the weir, lor it is neai'er to the pole of the loadftone, to the which I think it not lafe to approach. And bccaufe the loadftone hath another pole than that of the world, to the which from all parts it • In the original thia letter follows fome inftruftions for navigators by M. Richard Hakluyt o£ Eitou, in the county of Hereford efquire, Anno 1 j8o Was this gentleman the fallier of our editor ? f Thia abfurd theory is founded upon a mifapprehenfion of the ancient geography. I hath TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 6() hath a refpeft, the nearer you come unto it, the more the needle of the compafs doth vary from the north, fomctuncs to the weft, and fometimes to the eaft, according as a man is to the eastward or to the weftward of that meridian that pafleth by both the poles of the magnet and the world. This is a ftrange alteration and very apt to deceive the failor, unlefs he know the unconftancy and variation of the compafs, and take the elevation of the pole fome- tinics with his inftruments. If Mafter Arthur be not well provided In this behalf, or of fuch dexterity, that perceiving the errors he be not able to correct the fame, I fear left in wandering u^ and down he lofe his time, and be overtaken with the ice in the midft of the entcrprize. For that gulf, as they fay, is frozen every year very hard. Which if it be io, the beft counfel 1 could give for their beft fafety were to feek ibme harbour in that bay, and thofe rivers whereof I have fpoken, and by fonie ambaflador to make friendfnip and acquaintance with the great Can, in the name of the Queen's Majefty, which I believe will be grateful to the mightieft Emperor in the world, yea moft excellent for the length of the traffic, and great diftance of the places. I think from the mouths of the mighty rivers Bautifus and Oechardus to Cambalu, the chiefeft feat of the Prince the Can, there are not pail three hundred Gorman miles, and to pafs by Ezina a city of th'e kingdom of Tangut, which feemeth to be but one hundred German miles from the mouths of the faid rivers, and is fubjeft to the great Can. I would gladly know how high the fea doth flow commonly in the port of RIofcovia where your men do harbour, and in other eafterly places unto Tabin ; and alfo whe- ther the fea in this ftrait do flow always one way to the E. or to the W., or whether it do ebb and flow according to the manner of the tides in the middle of the channel, that is to fay, whether it flow there fix hours into the W. and as many back again to the E. for hereupon depend other fpeculations of importance. I would willi M. Frobiflier to obferve the fame weilwards. Concerning the gulf of Merofro and Ca- nada, and New France which are in my maps, they were taken out of a certain fea card drawn by a certain prieft out of the defcription of a Frenchman, a pilot very fkilful in thofe parts, and prefenied to the worthy Prince George of Aufiria, Bifliop of Liege : for the trending of the coaft, and the elevation of the pole, I doubt not but they are very near the truth : for the chart had, befide a fcale of degrees of latitude pailino- through the midft of it, another particularly annexed to the coaft of New France, whei-ewith the error of the latitudes committed by reafon of the variation of the com- pafs might be correfted. The hiftory of the voyage of Jacobus Onoyen Bufchodu- cenfis * throughout all Afia, Africa, and the north, was lent me in time paft by a friend of mine at Antwerp. After I had ufed it, I reftored it again : after many years I required it again of my friend, but he had forgotten of whom he had borrowed it. The writings of Guliclmus Tripolitanus, and Joannes de Piano Carpini I never faw : only I found certain pieces of them in other written hand books. I am giad the epitome of Abilfadais tranflated, I would we might have it fhortly. " Thus much Sir, I thought good to anfwer your letters : if there be any thing elfe that you would require of me, I will moll willingly communicate it with you, cravinfi- this hkewife of your courtefy, that whatfoever obfervations of both thefe voyages ftiail come to your hands, , you would impart them to me, they fliall all remain with me according to your difcretion and pleafure, and whatfoever 1 gather of them, I Will faithfully fignify unto you by letters, if happily they rn'ay yield any help or light unto this moft excellent enterprize of navigation, and moft profitable to our Chriftian conimon- « Of BoJsleDuc. wealth. 73 rOYAGES OF SIR HUGH WILLOITOHBY AND OTHKRS, wealth. Fare you well, moft learned friend. At Duifburg in Cliveland, twenty-eighth of July, the year 1580. At i^rthur his return, I pray you learn of him the things I have requefted, and whe- ther any where in his voyage he found the fea frelh, or not very fait ; for I fuppofe the fea between Nova Zembla and Tabin to be frefh. Yours wholly to my power to be commanded, GERARD MERCATOR. The Difcovery made by M. Arthur Pet, and M. Chnrlcs Jackman of the mrih-eajl Parts^ beyond the IJland of Vaigafz, ivith two Barks ; the one called the George, the other the William, in the Tear 1580*. Written by Hugh Smith. (From Hakluvt, Vol. I. p. 445 ) UPON Monday the thirtieth of May we departed from Harwich in the afternoon, the wind being at S. and to the eaflward. The ebb being fpent we could not double the pole, and therefore were conflrained to put in again until the next day in the morn- ing, being the lafl; of May ; which day we weighed our anchors about three o'clock in the morning, the wind being W. S. W. The fame day we palTed Orfordnefs at an eafl: fun, and Stamford at a weft fun, and Yarmouth at a W. N. W. fun, and fo to Winterton, where we did anchor all night ; it was then calm, and the flood was come. The next day being the hrft of June, we fet fail at three o'clock in the morning, and fet our courfe north, the wind at the S. W. and at S. S. W. The tenth day, about one of the clock in the afternoon, we put into Norway, to a place where one of the headlands of the found is called Bottel ; the other headland is called Moile. There is alfo an ifland called Kene. Here I did find the pole to be ele- vated 62° : it doth flow there S., and it hieth feven or eight feet, not above. The eleventh day in the morning the wind came to the S. and to the S. E. : the fame day at fix in the afternoon we fet fail and bare along the coaft j it was very foul weather with rain and fog. The twenty-fecond day the wind being at W. we did hall the coaft E. N. E. and E. The fame day, at fix in the morning, we did double the North Cape. About three in the afternoon we paiTed Skitesbearenefs, and hald along the coaft E. and E. S. E. ; and all the fame night we hailed S. E. and S. E. by E. The twenty-third day, about three in the morning, we came to Wardhoufe, the wind at the N. W. The caufe of our coming in was to feek the William, whole com- pany we loft the 6th day of this month, and to fend letters into England. About one of the clock in the afternoon the' William alfo came into Wardhoufe to us in good fafety, and all her company in good health. The twenty-fourth the wind came to the E. N. E. This day the William was hald aground, becaufe (he was fomewhat leaky, and to mend her fteerage. This night, about twelve of the clock, ftie did hale afloat again. The twenty-fifth day the wind was at E. N. E. • Tills narrative is inferted, though fomewhat prolix, as the voyage was of great expeftatlon, anj the navigators had the merit of making a molt obiUuaie and perfevering atieiiipt tor a nuriii-call paliagc to China. Th9 TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 7I The twenty-fixth day the Toby of Harwich departed from Wardhoufe for London, Tho nas Green being mafter, to whom we delivered our letters. The twenty-feventh day the wind was at S. S. E and the twenty- eighth alfo. The twenty-ninth day, about fix in the afternoon, the wind came to the W. N. W. for the {pace of one hour, and prcfently to the E. again, and lo was variable all the fame night. The thirtieth, about fix in the morning, the wind came to E. S. E., and continued fo all the fame day. The firft of July, about five in the afternoon, the wind was at N. N. W. j and about feven of the clock we fet fail from Wardhoufe E. and by S. The fecond day, about five in the morning, the wind was E. and E. S. E. and we did lie to the fhorewards ; and about len in the morning the wind came to S. S. E. and we laid it to the eailwards ; fometimes we lay E. by S., fometimes E. S. E., and fomethnes E. by N. About five in the afternoon we bare with the William, who was willing to go with Kegor, becaufe we thought her to be out of trie, and failed very ill, where we might mend her fleerage ; whereupon Maiter Pet, not willing to go into harbour, faid to Mafter Jickman, that if he thought hiinfelf not able to keep the fea, he fhould do as he thought belt, and that he in the mean time would bear with Willoughby's land, for that it was a parcel of our direction, and would meet him at Verove Oftrove, or Vaigats, and fo we fet our courfe E N. E., the wind being at S. E. The third day the wind at S. E. we found the pole to be elevated 70° 46'. The fame night at twelve of the clock we founded, but had no ground, in 120 fathoms, being fifty leagues from the one fide by our reckoning E.N. E. from Kegor. The fourth day all the morning was calm. This day we found the pole to be ele- vated yi" 38'. This day, at nine in the afternoon, the wind at N. E. with a gentle gale, we hald along S. E. by E. The fifth day, the wind at N. W., we hald E. and E. by S. This day we faw land, but we could not make it, the wind being northerly, fo that we could not come near to it. The fixth day, about two in the afternoon, the wind at N. N. W. we hald E. S. E. with a fair and gentle gale. This day we met with ice. About fix in the afternoon it became calm ; we with fail and oars laid it to the N. E. part, hoping that way to clear us of it ; for that way we did fee the head part of it, as we thought : which done, about twelve of the clock at night we gat clear of it : we did think it to be ice of the bay of St. Nicholas, but it was not, as we found afterwards. The feventh day we met with more ice, at the eaft part of the other ice : we hald along a-weather the ice to find fome end thereof by E. N. E. This day there appeared more land north from us, being perfect land : the ice was between us and it, fo that we could not come nearer to it. The fame morning, at fix of the clock, we put Into the ice to find fome way through it ; we continued in it all the fame day, and all the night following, the wind by the N. N. W. : we were conftrained to go many points of our compafs, but we went mod an eafterly courfe. The eighth day, the wind at N. N. W. we continued our courfe, and at five in the morning we founded and had ninety fathoms red oze. This day, at four in the after- noon, we founded again, and had eighty-four fathoms oze, as before. At fix in the afternoon we cleared ourfelves of the ice, and hald along S. E. by S. : we founded again at ten o'clock at night, and had forty-three fathom fandy oze. The ninth day, at two ia the morning, we founded again, and had forty-five fathcis, 2 Uien ;y2, VOYAGES OF SIR HUOH WILLOUGHBY AND OTHERS, then there appeared a fliadow of land to us E. N. E. ; and fo we ran with it the fpace of two hours, and then perceiving that it was but fog, we hald along S. E. This day, at two in the afternoon, we founded, and had fifty fathoms black oze : our latitude v/as 70° 3'. At ten o'clock at night we founded again, and had fifty fathoms black oze. The tenth day, the wind being at N. N. W., we hald E. and by N., which courfewe fet, becaufe at ten of the qjock aforenoon we did fee land, and then we founded, having thirtv-five fothoms black oze. All this day there was a great fog, fo that \ve durll not bear with the land to make it, and fo we kept an outwardly courfe. This day, at fix in the afternoon, v\^e efpied land, wherewith we hailed, and then it grew calm : v/e founded and had 120 fathoms black oze ; and then wefent our boata-land to found and prove the land. The fame night we caa-ie vvitli aar lliip within an ifland, where we rode all the fame night. The fame night we went into a bay to ride near the land for wood and water. , ■ I'he eleventh day the wind came to the E. S. E. This day, about a league from us to the eaftwards, we faw a very fair found or river that paft very far into the country, with two or three branches, with an ifland in the midft. The twelfth of July ihe wind was E. S. E. This day, about eleven o'clock in the morning, there came a great white bear down to the water-fide, and took the water of his own accord ; we chafed him with our boat, but for all that we could do he got to land and efcapea from us, where we named the bay Bearbay. This day, at feven in the afternoon, we fet fail, for we had good hope that the wind would come wefterly, and with fail and oars we gat the fea. All the night it was calm with fog. The thirteenth day in the morning the wind was very variable v-^ith fog, and as it cleared up we met with great ftore of ice, which at the firft fliewed like land : this ice did us much trouble, and the more becaufe of the fog, which continued until the four- teenth day twelve of the clock. The fourteenth day in the morning we were fo imbayed with ice, that we were con- flrained to come out as we went in, which was by great good fortune, or rather by the goodnefs of God, otherwife it had been impoffible ; and at twelve of the clock we were clear of it, the wind being at S. and S. by W. The fume day we found the pole to be elevated 70° 26' : we lay along the coaft N. W., thinking it to be an iHand ; but find- ing no end in rowing fo long, we fuppofed it to be the main of Nova Zembla. About two in the afternoon we laid it to the fouthward to double the ice, which we could not do upon that board, fo that we caft about again and lay W. along under the ice. About feven in the afternoon we got about the greated part thereof. About eleven o'clock at nirrht we brought the ice S. E. of us, and thus we were rid of this trouble at this time. The fifteenth day, about three in the morning, the wind was at S. S W. : we cafl about and lay to the eaftwards ; the wind did wefter, fo that we lay S. S. W. with a fiawn Iheet, and fo we ran all the fame day. About eight in the afternoon we founded, and had 23 fathoms fmall grey fand. This night, at twelve of the clock, we founded again, and had 29 fathoms fand, as afore. The fixteenth day unto three in the morning we hald along E. S. E., where we found eighteen fathoms red fand, then we hald along N. E. In thefe foundings we had many overfals. This day, at ten of the clock, we met with more ice, wnich •.» as very great, fo that we could not tell which way to get clear of it : then the wind came 10 the S.S.E., fo that we lay to the northwards : we thought that way to clear ourfelves of it, but that way wc had more ice. About fix in the afternoon the wind came to the E. ; then we > lay to the fouthwards, that we had thirty fathoms black oze. This day we found the pole TO THE NORTHERN PARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIHHRIA. J 2, pole to be elevated 69° 40'; and this night at twelve o'clock we h:id forty-one fathoms red fand. The feventeenth day, at three in the morning, we had twelve fathoms. At nine we had eight and feven. All this day we ran S. and S. by, W., at the depth aforefaid, red fand, being but (hallow water. At eight in the afternoon, the wind with a flwvver and thunder came to the S. W., and then we ran E. N. E. At twelve at night it came to the S. and by E. ; and all this was in the bay of Pechora. The eighteenth day, at feven in the morning, we bare v;ith the headland of the bay, where we found two iflands : there are alfo overfals of water or tides. We went be- tween the main and the ifland, next to the head, where we had about two fathoms and a half : we found the pole elevated 69° 1 3'. This day we had fight of Vaigatz : the land of the main of Pechora did trend S. E. ; we hald E. S. E. and had ten fathoms oze all the fame day until four in the afternoon, then being calm we anchored in ten fathoms all the fame night. The nineteenth day, at two in the morning, we fet fail, and ran S. anil S. S. W. all the fame day at eight, feven, and fix fathoms ; this was off the S. part of Vaigatz ; this part of the land lieth N. and S. This day, at four in the afternoon, we found fliallovv water, fometimes four fathoms, fometimcs three, and two and a half, and one fathom and a half; there we anchored, and fent our boat away to found, and all to leeward we had four feet, and three feet, and two feet ; there was not water for the boat between Vaigatz and the other fide : linding no more water, there was no other way but to go back as we came in, having the wind N. W. ; fo at twelve at night we fet fail. The twentieth day w e plied to the northwards, and got deep water again fix and feven fathoms. The twenty-firfl day, the wind by the N. ViT., we hald along the caaft N. andN. N. W.; we had eight, and nine, and ten fathoms. The twenty-fecond day the wind came to the S. W. ; we bare along the coafl of Vaigatz, as we found it to he N. and by W , and N. N. W., and N. ; the uind blew very much with great fog: we lacking water and wood bare within an ifland, where we found great flore of wood and water ; there were three or four goodly rounds. Under two points there was a crofs fet up, and a man buried at the foot of it. Upon the faid crofs Maiter Pet did grave his name, with the date of our Lord, and likewife upon a flone at the foot of the crofs, and fo did I alfo ; to the end that if the William did chance to come thither, they might have knowledge that we had been there. At eight in the afternoon the wind came to the N. N. W., we fet fail and turned out of the bay. The fame night the wind came to the W., fo that we lay N. along the land. The twenty-third day, at five in the morning, the wind came to the S W. ; a fea board we faw a great number of fair iflands, to the number of fix ; a fea board of thefe iflands there are many great overfals, as great flreams or tides ; we hald N. E and E. N. E as the land did trend. At eight aforenoon the wind came to the S. E. with very much wind, rain, and fog, and very great ftore of ice a fea board ; fo we lay to the S. W. to attain to one of the iflands to harbour us if the v/eather did fo extremely continue, and to take in our boat, thinking it meet fo to do, and not to tow her in fuch weather. About twelve of the clock it became very calm upon the fudden, and came up to the W. N. W. and N. W. by W., and then we took in our boat ; and this done, there came down fo much wind as we were not able to fl:eer afore it, with corfe and bonnets of each, we hald S. with the land, for fo the land did trend. This day all the afternoon we failed under a great land of ice, we failed between the land and it, being not able to crofs it. About twelve at night we found the ice to flretch into the land, that we could VOL. I, t not 74 I'^OYAGES CF SIR HUGH WILLOUGEiLY AND OTHERS, not get clear to the eaftward, fo we !aid it to the fliore, and there we foiuKl it clear hard aboard the fliore; and we foi:nd alfo a very fair iiland, which makes a very good har- bour, and within are twelve fathoms. This ifland is to the eaftwai'ds of Vaigatz four or five leagues. Th.is land of the main doih trend S. E., and S. E. by E. : it is a very fair coaft, and even and plain, and not full of mountains nor rocks : you have but (liaiioAv water of fix ur fevcn fathoms about a league from the fhore. Ai! this morning we balled E. S. E. This day we found the pole to be elevated 69° 14'. About twelve o'clock we were conllrained to put into the ice to fcek fome way to get to the northwards of it, hoping to have fome clear pafTage that way, but there 'tvas nothing but whole ice. A.bout nine in the after- noon v/e had fight of the William, and w hen we faw her there was a great land of ice between her and us, fo that we could not come one to the other; but as we came near to her, we founded our trumpet and (hot off two muikets, and flie put out her flag upon her foretopmaft in token that (h'^ did fee ur;. All this ti.me v.e did fliorten our fails, and went with our forefcil and maintopfail, fecking the bed way through the broken ice. flie making av.ay the beft that ilie could to follow us, we put our Hag to anfwer her a^ain with the like : thus we continued all the afternoon till about twelve o'clock at night, and then we moored our fliip to a piece of ice to tarry for the William. The twenty-fifth day, about five in the morning, the William came to us, being both glad of.our meeting. The William had her fternpoit broken, that the rudder did hang clean befides the flcrn, fo that flie could in no wife port her helm with all hands ; flie did lighten her (fern, and trim her head, and when we had brought her forward all that we could, we l.rought a cable under her flern, and with our capflain did wind up her ftern, and fo we made it as well as the place would give us leave, and in the end we brought her to fteer again. We acknowledge this our meeting to be a. great benefit of God for our mutual comfort, and fo gave his majefly thanks for it. All the night after we took our refl:, being made fad upon a piece of ice : the wind was at W. N. W., but we were fo enclofcd with ice that we could not tell which way to pafs. Winds we have had at will, but ice and fogs too much againft ourwills, if il had pleafed the Lord God otherwife. The twenty-fixth day the wind was at W. N. W. : we fet fail to the northwards, to feek if we could find any way clear to pafs to the eafl;\vard ; but the further we went that way, the more and thicker was the ice, fo that we could go no further ; fo about four in the afternoon we were conftrained to moor upon another piece of ice. I think we failed in all a league this day ; here we had fifteen fathoms oze, and this cze is all the channel over. All the fame day after four of the clock, and all the night we tar- ried there, being without all good hope, but rather in defpair. This day Mailer Jug- man did fee land E. N. E. from us, as he did think ; whether it were land or no I cannot tell well, but it was very like land, but the logs have many times deceived us. The taenty-ltventh day the vund was at N. W. This day, at nine in the morning, we fet fail to feck the fliore. Further into the ice we could not go, and at feven in the afternoon we moored to a piece of ice, and the William with us ; here we had fourteen fathoms oze. At three in the afternoon we warped from one ice to ancther. At nine in the afternoon we moored again to a piece of ice until the next day. All this night it did fnow with much wind, being at W. N. W and at N. W. and by W. The twenty eighth day the wind came to the S. W. and S. S. W. This day was a very fair day. At one in the afternoon Mafl.er Pet and Mailer Jackman did confer together what was belt to be done, confidering that the winds were good for us, and we 2 not TO THE NORTHERN I'ARTS OF RUSSIA AND SIBERIA. 75 rot able to pafs for ice, they did agree to feck to the l:ind again, and fo to Vaigatz, and there to confer further. At three in the afternoon we did warp from one piece of ice to another, to get from them if it were pofliblc : here were pieces of ice fo great, that we could not fee beyond them out of the top. Thus we warped until nine in the after- noon, and then we moored both our fnips to a great and high piece of ice until the next morning. The ninc-and-tio°, thinking he fliould be able to pafs by the eaft of the lands which are there, and he then fleered towards the nortli. Barentiz on the contrary purfued a fouthern direcEtion on account of the ice. On the eleventh he imagined himfelf by calculation to He N. and S. with Candinous, or Candnoes, the eaftern point of the White Sea, which remained to the S. and he bore to the S. and S. and by E. in latitude 72°, and conceived himfelf to be near the land of Sir Hugh Willoughby. On the feventeenth he arrived in latitude 74' 40'. At noon he obferved Novaya Zemlia, towards the bay of Loms. On the eighteenth he doubled the cape of Admiralty Ifle, and on the nineteenth faw the Ifle of CrofTes, under which he anchored on the twentieth, the ice preventing him from advancing farther. Eight of the feaman failed towards land in the fhallop, where they went to vifit one of the croffes, and placed themfelves at the foot in order to repofe, before vifiting the other. Thefe two crofles have given name to the ifland. Proceeding to vifit the other crofs they preceived two bears at the foot, at which they were very much alarmed, not having any arms. The bears raifed themfelves quite upright againft the crofs in order that they might the better fee the perfons coming towards them, for they can fmell at a far greater dift ance than they can fee, and afterwards ran to meet them. The I'ailors fled towards their boat, looking behind from time to time to fee if they were followed by thefe ferocious beads. But the mafter flopped them, and threatened to plunge the boat hook he held in his hand into the body of the firfl man who fled ; becaufe, he faid, it would be better to keep all together than to feparate, in order to frighten the bears by their fhouts. They therefore walked an ordinary pace towards the boat, where they efcaped with much joy. On the twenty-firfl of July, they were in latitude 76' 15', and the variation of the compafs was 26° or a little more. On the fixth of Augufl, they paffed by Cape NafTau, and on the feventh were under Cape Trooft, where Barentfz had long wifhed to be. In the evening the weather became fo hazy that it was neceffary to moor the fliip to a bank of ice, of thirty-fix fathoms depth in the water, and about fixteea fathoms above, fo that it was altogether fifty-two fathoms in thicknefs. On the ninth of Augufl, the veilel being Hill moored to the bank of ice, the mafler who was walking on deck, heard the breathing of an animal, and immediately beheld a bear attempting to mount the fliip. He immediately cried out all hands on deck! and all the crew having afcended^ they faw the bear with his claws againfl the fide of the vefTel, and endeavouring to enter. They began fhouting all together as loud as they could, at which the beafh frightened retired a little farther oft'. But returning immediately from behind the bank of ice to which the velTel was moored, and walking fiercely towards them, flill endea- voured to throw himfelf within. They had had time to flretch the fail of the fliallop over the upper works of the velfel, and a part of the crew was near the windlafs with four firelocks. The bear was wounded and fled, without their being able to fee on which fide, on account of the fnow which fell very thick. It is very probable he went behind one of the mountains of ice which had gathered on the banks. On the tenth of Augult, the ice having feparated, the flakes began to float, and it was then obferved that the large bank of ice to which the veflerhad been moored, 4 reached q6 third voyage of the dutch reached to the bottom, becaufe all the others paffing along, ftruck againft this bank without moving it. They were therefore afraid of being enclofed by the ice, and en- deavoured to leate that part of the fea : although in pafling they found the water already frozen, the veflel occafioning the ice to crack for a confiderable diftance around it. Ihev finally arrived at another bank, where they prefently cad a ftream anchor and remained moored there till night. After fupper, during the firft watch, the ice began to break with fo dreadful a noife as not to be defcribed. The head of the veflel lay in the current which broke up tb.e ice, fo that they were obliged to let out more cable in order to be clear of it. Mors than four hundred large banks of ice were counted, lying ten fathoms under the water, and apparently of the height of two fathoms above. They afterwards made the veflel fall to another bank, fix long fathoms under water, and they moored it by the ftem. When they were fettled there, they perceived at a little diltance another bank, the top of which ended in a point like the point of a {leeple, and it reached to the bottom of the fea. They advanced towards it, and found it to be twenty fathoms under water and nearly twelve above. On the eleventh of Augufl: they failed again tov/ards another bank, being eighteen fathoms deep, and ten fathoms above the water. On the tv.'elfth they advanced towards the coaft, tliat the veflel might not be carried away by the ice, and that at all events it might be in greater fecurity ; for the larger banks of ice could not approach it, being only in four or five fathoms of water. In that place was alfo a great fall of water which defcended from the mountains. The velfel v/as again moored to a bank of ice, and this place they named the Little Cape of the Ice. On the thirteenth of the fame month of Augufl, in the morning they faw a bear coming from the eafl:ern point towards the vefl"el. A failor broke one of his legs by a muflvet ball. Notwithfl:anding which he went back and climbed up a mountain. Several of the crew left the fliip, and having purfued him, killed and flayed him. On the fifteenth Barentfz fleered along the coaft of Orange Ifle, where his veflTel was entangled in the ice, near a great bank, in danger of fliipwreck. But he extri- cated himfelf by approaching the land, though with extreme difficulty; and when he had moored himfelf, the wind veered to the S. E. : which occafioned him to change his anchorage. While the crew were all engaged in performing this change, the great noife they made awoke a bear who was fleeping quite clofe. He immediately ran towards the veflel, and obliged all the labourers to quit their work in order to defend themfelves. The bear received a muflvet ball in his body, and fled thus wounded to the other fide ©f the ifland, where he placed himfelf on a bank of ice. They followed him, and feeing the fliallop failing towards him, he threw himfelf again into the water and endeavoured to get back to the ifland. They intercepted his paflTagc, and wounded him on the head with a hatchet. They endeavoured to follow up the blow, but every time the hatchet was raifcd, he plunged into the water and avoided the blows with fuch dexterity that it was with great difficulty -he was killed. On the fixteenth ten men in the yacht failed towards Novaya Zemlia. They drew the fchuyt on the higheft part of the ice, which refembled a little mountain, and obferved the altitude in order to know in which diredtion the main land lay. Ihy found it to lie S. S. E., and afterwards IHU more to the S. This led them to think though very unfea- fonably, that the continent extended towards the fouth. At the fame time they ob- ferved the water to the S. E. to be free, and imagined the fuccefs of their voyage was infured ; TO THE NORTH OF EUROPE. 9/ infured ; fo that they were extremely impatient to carry this pleafing intelligence to Barentiz. On the eighteenth they got ready and wiflied to fail, but in vain, for having naviga- ted with great difficulty, they were obliged to return to the place from which they de- parted. On the nineteenth they doubled Cape Defire, and conceived frefli hopes of being able to fail. Neverthelefs they got entangled again in the ice and were obliged to put back. On the twenty-firft they entered Icy Harbour, and remained at anchor there during the night. On the following morning they left it, and moored their veflTel to a bank of ice on which they mounted, and admired its figure as being of very fingular form. This bank was covered with earth at the top, and nearly forty eggs were found. The colour was not that of ice, but of a Iky blue. Thofe who were there, reafoned much concerning this objedt. Some faid it was in fa£l ice^ while the others maintained that it was a frozen land. However this might be the bank was of very groat height, being about eighteen fathoms under water, and ten above. On the twenty-fifth of Auguft, at three in the afternoon, the tide again began to force the ice along ; and they imagined they could fail by the fouth of Novaya Zemlia towards the well of the Weigats. For as they had paffed Novaya Zemlia, and not having found any paflage open, they had no more hopes of being able to proceed farther, and prepared to return to Holland, when bring arrived in the Bay of the Currents they were impeded by the ice, which was fo thick that they were obliged to put back. On the twenty-fixth having entered Icy Harbour, they renrained there inclofed by the ice which floated fi'om all parts, and rolled along v/ith great force ; fo that they were not able to extricate themfelves. They even had nearly loft three men, who were on the ice endeavouring to make an opening. But happily for thefe three men as the veffel fell back, and the ice was carried along by the fame fide the veffel was forced from, and that they were adtive and ftrong, each of them took fo well his opportunity, that one caught hold of the tacks, the other the fheet, and the third the bight of the main brace which hung out of the back part of the fliip ; and thus they were all three moft miraculoufly faved, fo nearly had they been carried away by the ice. In the evening of the fame day they came to the weft of Icy Harbour, where they were obliged to winter, and fuii'ered a great deal, as nmch by cold, as the want of neceffary articles, not to mention their vexation. On the twentyfeventh the ice floated about the veflel, and as the weather was fine, part of the crew landed, and had penetrated a confiderable diftance, whilft the wind, which veered to the S. E., and was fufficiently ftrong, detaching yet more ice, forced it towards the prow of the veffel, and occafioned it to pitch in fuch a manner and at the fame time to fall aftern that it feemed to touch the bottom with both its extremities. In this imminent danger, the fhallop was let down, in order to fave themfelves in cafe of necefTity. They alfo hoifted a flag as a fignal to thofe on fliore to return on board ; at the fight of which they made all hafte to repair there, though they thought that the veffel had already ftarted. On the twenty-eight the ice being feparated a little, the fliip was recovered in its fliation : but before this was quite accompliflied, Barentfz went with the other pilot to vifit the prow. While they were there engaged, and on their knees and elbows in order to meafure, the upper works of the veffel ftarted, and in opening made fo dreadful a cracking that they believed themfelves loft. On the twenty-ninth when it was completely in its ftation, they endeavoured by means of iron crows and other in- ftruments, to break and feparate the ice which lay in heaps, but without fuccefs ; fo VOL. I. o ■ that 98 THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH tltat they had no longer hopes of being able to difengage themftlves and to have a free naviijation. On the thirtieth the flakes of ice began again to gather in heaps more and more, around the veffel, to which a ftrong wind contributed ranch, and the fnow which fell in thick flakes, and increafed the height of thefe dangerous ramparts which furrounded it. There was a dreadful cracking every where both within and around the Ihip, and they were in dread of feeing it burll and break to pieces. As the ice was much more heaped up under the vefi'el on the fide whence the cur- rent proceeded, than the other, it firft lay very m.uch inclined ; but finally it gathered in heaps in the fame manner on the other fide, and by this means the veflcl was fet uprit^ht again, and lifted on thefe banks of ice, as if it had been intentionally raifed with fcrews or other machines. On the thirty-firft more flakes of ice floated towards thofe at the head, and en- tirely raifed up the prow ; fo that the (lem was elevated four or five feet higher than the reft of theveifel, and the ftern was funk between the ice, as in a pit. 1 hey were in hopes this incident would preferve the rudder, and that the flakes of ice would no more ftrike againll it ; but this did not prevent its breaking as well as the tiller. Never- thelefs if it was not able to fave the rudder, there is every appearance that it contributed the moft to preferve the body of the vefl'el. For if the if ern frame had been expofed to the flakes of ice which ince(To feet, and neverthelefs remained entire. In the afternoon they made the neceflliry preparations to draw the yawl and fhallop to fhore. On the ftcond the veffel was ftill more raifed by new flakes, which occafioned it to crack fo dreadfully, and even to ftari in feveral places, that notwiihllanding the bad weather they reiblved to drag the yawl to land with thirteen cafks of bifcuits, and two fmall cafks of wine. On the third the veffel was befet with freff» flakes of ice, which united with thofe which already furrounded it, and held it fo faft. 1 hen the after-piece which was at the ftern poll; feparated, but the fheathing ftill remained. The cable which was an- chored to the wind alfo broke, as well as a new cable which they had faftened to the ice : fo that it was to be wondered at that the body of the veflill fliould remain entire, confidering the violence, the quantity and the fize of the flakes of ice, fome of which were feen floating as high as the fait mountairis fecn in Spain, and were only at mufket fhot diftance from the veflcl. On the fifth after fupper, the banks of ice pre'^cd fo againft the vcflTel, that it re- mained quite inclined on one fide, and was greatly injured, though always without feparating. Neverthelefs as they imagined it could not refift much longer, they carried, to fhore an old fore-fail, powder, lead, firelocks, mufkets, and other arms, in order to make a tent near the place where was-they.iwl. They alfo carried more bifcuit, and wine, with carpenters' inftruments, to refit the fliallop if neceffary. Belides there was fo TO THE NORTH OF ETTROPE. 99 fo little water about the veffel, that they were not able at one time to draw up a full bucket. On thefeventh, five failors having landed, two of them returned onboard, a.iil th; three others walked for two leagues, into the counliy, where they favv a river of hcfli water, and a quantity of wood which had floated on its banks. They al(o faw traces of rein deer and elks, at leafl as well as ihey could judge from the marks of the fee t, and the different fize of thefe vcftiges, fuch as they appeared imprinted on the gruUi.v^ On the night of the ninth two bears came clofe to theveflel, which they put to flijiiit by the noife of trumpets and guns which they fired, although none of them took elied on account of the fog. On the eleventh being calm weather, eight Hulors well artTitd went on ihore, in order to fee if the three others who had already been there, had well obferved every thing, and if they were not miftaken in the report they had mace concerning the wood on the banks of the river. For after having been locked in the ice at different times, and extricated thcmfelves from it, they found thcmfelves. th's time inclofed in fuch a manner, that they well perceived it being the feafon of autumn and winter approaching, there was no more room to hope they ihould be able to difen- gage themfelves. Thus preparing to pafs the winter, they had held counfel all torrether as to what was to be done, in waiting what it would pleafe God to order concerning them. It was therefore refolved to fortify themfelves againfl: the cold, and the attacks of wild hearts, and to build a hut for this purpofe. They had a favourable opportunity for executing their defign. On the fliore were found even whole trees with the roots, which had been brought, either from Tartary, or Mofcovy, for there were none on the fpot ; fo that they found the three firft lailors had made a faithful report. This beginning of good fortune induced them to hope that heaven would grant them here- after greater favours, and that fince it furnifhed them with the means of building a retreat, to warm themfelves and to prevent their perifliing by cold, which would have been inevitable without this afliftance, it would alfo facilitate to them the means of re- turning to their native country. On the fifteenth of the fame month of September, in the morning, the man who flood centinel, preceived three bears, one of which remained behind a bank of ice, while the others advanced towards the veffel. As the crew were preparing to fire, one of the bears was about to put his head into a tub where fome meat lay in foak at a con- fiderable diftance from the veffel, becaufe there was no water in the part where it lay. At the fame inftant the bear received a mufket ball in his head, which laid him dead. The other bear remained as if thunderflruck: he attentively regarded his companion ftretched on the place, and feeing him make no motion, he imelt to him, and at leno-th went awfiy. They followed him with their eyes, and as they preceived him return, and raife himfelf on his hind legs in order to call himfelf on the failors, they fired and Hiot him in the belly, which caufed him to fall again on his feet, and then he fled making a great howling They opened the dead bear, and having taken out the entrails, they placed him on his four legs, in order to fee if he would be fufficiently frozen to carry him to Holland, if they had the good fortune to extricate the veifel. The work of the building of a hut was at length begun, by preparing a fledge to convey the wood. At this time the fea was all frozen to the thicknefs of two finoers. On they fixteenlh they brought four rafters from a league diftant, by walking alwavs on the ice or thefnow. During that night it Hill froze of the thicknefs of two fingers. On the feventeenth thirteen men departed to feek for wood, ten of which conveyed it, %vhile the other three cut it. On the twenty-firll the froft increafed to i'uch a degree, 2 that lOO THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH tliat it was neceflary to tranfport the kitchen articles to the lower part of the hold, every thing freezing in the cook room. Oil the twenty-third the carpenter died, and on the twenty-fourth was buried in a cleft of a mountain, near a water fall, for the earth was fo frozen that it was impoffible to dig a grave. On the twenty-fifth the rafters were fixed, and the building began to aiTume its form. On the twenty-fixth the wind blew from the weft and the fea was free, but the veflel not being difengaged, the crew only beheld this mitigation of the weather with vexation. The whole of the crew did not confift at that time of more than fixteen men, of whom fome one was frequently fick. On the twenty-feventh it froze fo hard, that one of the crew being at work putting a nail into his mouth, as is the cuftom of workmen, the fkin came away when he drew it out, and the blood followed. The cold latterly be- came fo intenfe, that it was only an extreme defire of preferving life, which could have enabled them to fupport the hardfliip of their labour. On the thirtieth the wind was E. and E S. E., and it fnowed fo hard on the preceding night, and all this day, that the height of the fnow prevented their going in queft of wood. They made a great fire along the building to thaw the earth, and raife it around like a rampart in order to form a better inclofure, but in vain, for the earth was frozen fo hard and to fuch a depth'that it was impoflible to foften it, and if they had been deter- mined to accomplifli it in all events, it would have confumed too great a quantity of wood. On the fecond of Oclobcr the hut was in an advanced Hate, and near it was raifed a May-pole of frozen fnow. On the fifth the fea was obferved to be open as far as the eye could extend, notwithftanding which the ice about the veflel did not melt ; fo that it feemed as if they had built a wall on purpofe to raife it two or three feet, and it was found that the water in this part was frozen to the bottom, that is to fay, to the depth of three fathoms and a half. On the fame day the front cabin was cut up, and the planks were ufed to cover the hut, in form of a roof with two flopings : which was nearly completed on the fame day. On the feventh the aftermoft cabin was cut up, to make a fence around the hut. The wind, which was violent during the night of the feventh, continued all the fol- lowing day, and brought fo much fnow, that it feemed very probable that thofe who fliould be expofed to the air, would have been fuftbcated. Befides it would have been totally impoflible to walk as far as the length of a fliip, and to fufter the rigour of the cold, and the inconvenience of the air, during that time. On the fifteenth the air became a little milder, fo that they were enabled to leave the fhip. One of the crew being on fliore met with a bear, which he did not perceive till he ■was near to him. He turned back, and fled with all hafte towards the veflfel. The bear purfued him, and arriving at the fpot where they had placed the other bear which had been killed a fliort time before to freeze, and was completely covered with fnow, excepting one of his paws that was raifed in the air, he flopped there ; which gave the failor an opportunity of reaching the veflfel and faving his life. As he was very much frightened on entering the fliip, he could utter nothing but a bear, a bear. The other i'ailors having afcended above, in order to fire on the bear, could fcarcely perceive any thing, on account of the fmoke in the veflel, while they were fliut up in it ; and which they could never have believed poflible to fupport, if it had been to gain all the wealth of the world, if they had not been influenced to pre- ferve their lives, which they would foon have loll, by the incredible feverity of the cold, and the inconvenience of the fnow. The bear did not wait till their eyes were free, and retired without being feen. On TO THE NORTH OF EUROPE. IQl- On the eleventh the wine and the other provlfions were brought lo land, and on the twelfth half of the crew flept in the hut they had built, where they fuffered extreme cold, becaufe as yet they had no beds, and little covering. Nor could they make any fire, the chimney not being yet built, and the fmoke on this account infupportable. On the thirteenth three failors went to the fliip, and placed fome beer on a fledge, in order to carry it away ; but as they were fetting off, there arofe fo violent a wind, there was fo great a fl;orm, and the cold fo intenfe, that they were not only obliged to re-enter the veflel, but even to leave their beer without, on the fledge. The follow- ing day they found the bottom of a cafk of flrong beer of Dantzic * completely cracked by the flrength of the frofl: ; and the beer inflead of running out was frozen and ftuck to the bottom as if it had been flrong glue. The cafli was carried into the hut and placed upright. They thawed the beer, for there was very little in the middle of the caflc which was not frozen ; but what was not congealed, having loft the talle of beer, becaufe the ftrength had been drawn away, was no longer fit to drink ; and that which they thawed had only the tafte of water. They thought of mixing them together again, which however did not reftore the original tafl;e or virtue. On the night of the fixteenth a bear attempted to enter the veflfel ; but hearing the voices of the failors towards break of day, he retired. On the eighteenth after taking the bifcuit from the yawl which they had dragged to land, they alfo took out the wine, which was not yet frozen, though the frofl had already continued with great feverity for fix weeks. On the nineteeth another bear. attempted to get into the veflel, where only two men and a boy remained who were very much alarmed. The two men ran to the bottom oi the hold, and they boy climbed to the top of the fore flirouds. In the meantime fome failors advancing from the hut, the bear went diredtly up to them as foon as he pei*- ceived them, but fled at the firft fhot they fired at him. On the twentieth they returned to the veflel to carry away all the beer : they found- fome calks which the frofl: had fplit, and feveral iron hoops broken on thofe in which was the flrong beer. On the twenty-fourth all the remainder of the crew, to the num- ber of eight, retired to the houfe, and they were obliged to convev on a fledge a ninth who was fick. They alfo dragged with incredible labour, the firallop of their veflTelj- and they placed it with the keel upwards, in order to make ufe of it when opportunity Ihould ofi^er. In fine feeing that the veflfel was frozen in fuch a manner, that they could have no hopes of feeing it foon difengaged, they carried back the ftream anchor on board, left it fliould be loft under the fnow, and that they might ufe it in the following fummer,- hoping to find then fome favourable occafion for returning to their country. In the mean time the fun, the fight of which was the only benefit and pleafure which remained, beginning to abandon them, they made all poflible diligence, to convey on their fledges the remainder of the vidluals in the veflel, and the rigging necefl'ary to equip the fliallop, in order to carry them to their hut. On the twenty- fifth of the fame month of October, while occupied in this work, the mafter who happened to raife his eyes, faw three bcare behind the veflel, who were advancing to- wards the failors. He cried out loudly in order to frighten them. On their fide the failors threw their ftraps on the ground, to put themfelves in a ftate of defence. Luckily two halberts were found on the fledge : the mafter took one, and Gerard de Veer the other. The others ran towards the veflel, but one of them fell into a chafm * A ilrong and medicinal beer, made with the berries of fweet briar. in LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA I02 THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH in the ice ; an accident which made all the reu fliudder thinking the bears would inevit- ably devour him, Inftead of which thofe ferocious beafts purfiied thofe who fled to- wards the vefl'el ; diu-ing which time the mafler with de Veer and the man who had alien .nto the chalin, went round the veflcl, and entered on the opporit:e fide to the bears. Thefe favage animals feeing that they had entered, advanced furioufiy towards the vefiel where the crow, having no other arms but the two halberts on which t'ley could not depend, endeavoured to divert their attention by throwing pieces of wood at their head, and other things after which they ran each time a piece was thrown, in the fame manner as a dop^ runs after a Hone. One of the failors was feat into the cook-room to ftrike a fire, and another to feek for fonie pikes. The more the failor haflened, the lefs was he able to kindle any fire, fo that there was no opportunity of ufmg their firelocks. In the mean time the bears always returned to the aifault with equal fury. A halbert was thrown which having (truck the largeft direftiy on the mouth, he began to retreat, and the others who were confiderably fmaller, followed him flov.ly at a didance, and left the crew to the liberty of dragging their fledge to their hut. On the twenty-fixth, the greater part of the water was free clofe to the land, but the ice always continued about the veffel. On the twenty-feventh, a v>'hite fcx was killed, which they roaited ; it very much refeinbled the rabbit in tafte. The fame day they were employed in mending, and fixing the clock. They alfo prepared a lamp to burn in the night time, and for this purpofe they ufed the fat of a bear which they melted. On the twenty-ninth they carried on fledges a quantity of the herbs and other things left by the fea on the fliore, which they placed about the fail that inclofed the hut, that the cold might penetrate lefs through the planks, which were not let into each other, the bad weather not having permitted them to do otherwife. On the firft of November, in the dulk of the evening they faw the moon rife in the eaft, and the fun yet rofe fufficiently high on the horizon to be perceived. On the fecond they faw the fun rife in the S. S. E., and fet near the S. S. W. ; but the whole of his dilk did not appear above the horizon : he was only feen on the horizon itfelf, and a part of it remained concealed. On the fame day they killed a fox with a blow of a hatchet, which they roaited. ' On the third the fun rofe in the S. and by E., a little nearer the S. than the S. E., and fet in the S. and by W., alfo a little nearer the S., and the top alone of its difk appeared above the horizon, although the fituation where they took altitude was as high as the top of the veffel, which lay clofe. On the fourth it was no longer obferved, al- though the weather was very ferene. At this time the furgeon took a ca(k or an empty pipe, and made a bath of it, where they bathed one after another : from which they experienced much benefit. On the fame day they took a fox, this animal appearing at ihat time while the bears were re- tired as well as the fun, and did not again appear till the return of that flar. As the fun had quitied the horizon, the moon had come to take its place, appearing all day and night without fetting, when it was in its higheft quarter. The lixth, was fo dull a day that it could not be dilfinguifhed from the night, the more as the clock, which would have afTided them, had Hopped ; fo that not conceiving it to he day, all the people remained for a long time a-bed without rifing but on nectffary occafions, and when they rofe, the were not able to difcern if the light they faw was that of the day or the moon. They even had- much difpute concerning it, but finally found that it was day and even the middle of the day. On the eighth they diftributcd the remainder of the bread, and the portions were fixed at four pounds and five ounces for eight days, inflead as formerly of the fame portion TO THE :-:ORTH OV' EUROPE. ic; portion only lading for five or fix days. As to thcfirtiand meat they imagined there was no neccflity of dillributing them ; but for the drink, they were in want of it, and what beer remained potfifled no ftrength nor tafte. On the eleventh they fixed a net made of rope yarn on a hoop, to catch foxes : fo that when a fox was und.Tncath, he remained there caught as in a trap, and they could draw the trap and the fox into the hut. The fame day they took a fox. On the twelfth the di'.tribution of the wine was fixed at two fmuH cups each day, and they had nothing befides to drink but water from melted fnow which they took from without. On the eighteenth the mailer diflributed to each perfon a piece of thick cloth, to cover themfelves, or to ufe in any manner they fliould choofe againft the cold. On the twenty-ninth thechcfl of fheets was opened, which were alfo diftributed to make fliirts, for the preffing neceflity obliged them to feek every method to relieve their peilbiis. On the twentieth, the weather being tolerably fine, they wafhed their linen, but it was not perfeftly walhed : for as foon as they drew it from the boiling water, in order to wring it, it froze. It even continued frozen near the fire on the outer fide, and only the fide facing the fire thawed ; fo that it was neceflary to plunge the other fide again into ihe boiling water iii order to thaw it. On the twenty-fecond th-;y ate together a large Dutch cheefe, one of feventeen which they ftill poffi-fl'ed, and the remainder was divided that each man might manage his portion at difcreiion. On the twenty-third as they faw foxes, they conllructed traps of thick planks, which they furniihed with ftones in order to render them the heavier, and fixed fliort (lakes in the ground about the place where the planks fell, in order to prevent the foxes from digging, and efcaping ; and they took fome by this me- thod. On the twenty- fourth two men who were indifpofed bathed, and on leaving the bath, the furgcon made them take a purgative medicine from which they derived much benefit. On the twenty-fixth, twcnty-feventh. and twenty-eighth there fell fuch a prodigious quantity of fnow, that they remained buried in their hut, without being abh to leave it on any occafion whatever. But the weather clearing up on the twenty-ninth, they began to dig the faow with Ihovels, made an opening, and finally got out, by crawling through they hole they had dug. They found their traps covered with fnow, but dif- engaged thein, and on the lame day took a tox ; an aliment which became neceffary, there being no other to be found in the fnow, even when it was poflible to remove it. By this they were alfo furniihed with flvins, to make caps proper to fecure their heads from the feverity of the cold. On the firft of December the fnow flill environed their hut on all fides ; which oc- cafioned fo great a fmoke when they wifhed to make a fire, that they were obliged to lay in bed almoll ail day, except the cook who at length arofe to piepare fome victuals. On the fecond day they made ufe of ftones which they heated and placed an und thcni in their beds, becaufe the cold and fmoke being equally infupporiable, they could fcarcely find means to protei> themfelves at the fame time from both of thefe evils, On the third, while in their beds, they heard the ice of the fea crack with fo horri- ble anoife, that they imagined the mountains of ice which they had ken during the fummer, and which had appeared of fo many fathoms in height were detached and heaping upi)n one another. In the m jan time as during two or three days that they had not fo much fire as ufual, it froze fo har-d within the hut, that on the floor rnJ walls was ice of the thiLknefs of two fingers, and there was ibme even in tlieir bed; v.here they lay. They then prepared the fand-glafsof twelve hours, and took care to keep it in good order, that they m.^ht a know 104 THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH know the time, for the froft had fufpended the motion of the dials, though they had increafed the counterpoifes. On the fixth the cold was fo great, that not being able to fupport it any longer, they re<^arded each other with langu'fhing looks and pity, believing the cold would flill en- creafe and exlinguifli tlieir lives : in fad:, however great they made the fire, they could no more warm thcmfelves. The dry wine of Serez, which is of a very hot nature, alfo froze then, and they were obliged to thaw it on the days of diftribution, which was per- iformcd every other day, when each man had half a pint, and after that they had only water, a drink very little fit for their condition, and the cold which. over v/ helmed them, and belidcs it was fnow water. Tiie feventh was as fad a day as the preceding. This day they confulted together as to thcbeil meaijsof refilling the cold : it was refolved to fetch from the veffel the pit-coal ■which Vv-as there, bccaufe it affords great heat, and burns for a long time. In the evening thevmadc a large fire of this coal, which warmed them furprifmgly ; but they thought not' of the return and the fad effeds this pleafure might pofTefs. Ihis warmth, which had done them fo much good, they were willing to preferve as much as poffible, and fortius purpofe they entirely clofed the windows and went to bed, very contented to lie fo warmly, which rendered them gayer than ordinary, and occafioned them to talk toge- ther for a long time after being in bed. In the end they found themfelves all attacked with vertigos and fwimmings in the head, fome more than others, which they perceived by the means of one of them who being fick could lefs fupport them, and made lamentations. They all found themfelves in excefllve pain, not being able to fland up : fome however crawled to the chimney and door and opened them ; but the man who opened the door fainted and fell down on the fnow. De Veer, whole head was near to the door, having heard the fall, threw fome vinegar in the face of the man who had f;\llen, and brought him to himfelf. When the door was opened, the cold, which had done them fo much harm, was of fcrvice and recovered them ; without it they mufl: all have inevitably expired during the fainting which feized them. The mailer diftributed to each a glafs of wine to flrengthen their fpirits. On the ninth, tenth, and eleventh, the weather was fine and clear, and the fky flarry; yet the cold increafed to fo great a degree, that thofe who have not felt it are unable to conceive : the leather of their flioes froze on the feet as hard as if it had been horn, fo that they were of no more fervice. They made a kind of covering, i-efembling large flippers, of the upper part of flieep fkins, which they might wear with three or four pair of focks over one another, in order to warm their feet : their garments were even quite white with fnow and frofl: : when they remained without fufficiently long, the puftules and pimples on their body, face, and ears alfo, were frozen. On the fourteenth of the fame month of December they obferved the altitude, and found themfelves in lat. 76°. On the eighteenth feven of them went to obferve the Hate of the vefTcl. The water had rifen an inch in eighteen days, during which time they had not vifited the vefTel, though it was not properly water but ice, becaufe the water froze immediately it appeared above the ice. The water brought from Holland in calks was alfo completely frozen. The twenty-fourth, which was Chriflmas-cve, they difengaged their hut from the fnow, in order that they might go out ; a labour they were at that time obliged to perr form every day. Although there was no day-light, they were enabled to fee to a tolerable dillance, and they perceived there were feveral places in the fea perfeftly free, which was iDccafioned no doubt when the violent cracking of the ice was heard. Chriftraas-day was to THE NORTH OF EUROPE. I05 was dreary, yet they heard foxes around the hut, which they would have been well pleafed to have caught, to ufe in the preiling want. The fire no longer appeared to caft its accufliomed heat, or at leaft it could not pafs to near objeds ; for their ftockings were burned before their feet received any warmth, and the burning of the ftockings would not have been perceived, if the fniell had not been affecled. In this manner pafled the clofe of the year, and in the miuft of thefe fufferings the remainder of the crew of the veffel entered on the year 1597. The commencem.ent was not lefs fevere than the preceding year had been : they began it by again diminilh- sng tlie portions of wine diliributed every other day ; and as fonie of them feared it would be a confidcrable length of time before they left the place, though they always flattered thcmfelves with this hope, they fpared that very neceffary aliment, in order to make it lalt the longer, and to retain fome in cai'e of a more prefiing occafion. On the fourth of January they put on their chimney a lance with a fmall piece of cloth, in order to know the quarter of the wind ; but to learn it, they did well to ob-' ferve it in placing the linen, for it was frozen in a moment after, and became as Itifl" as a ftick, without being able to play or turn. On the fifth the air being a little milder, they cleared their door, which had been fliut for fome days, and opened it : they made ufe of this opportunity for regulating the mofl neceffary matters ; among others they cut fome wood and carried it into the hut, that they might not be in want of it, if poffible. The whole of the day being thus paffed in laborious occupation, they recollected at night that it was twelftli-day, aiid entreated the mafter to permit them to take at leaft fome hours of recreation, among fo many hardfliips and caufes of grief. They were unwilling to ufe any thing but the wine they had voluntarily fpared, and perhaps two pounds of flour, of which they made a kind of fritters cooked with oil ; a mefs which was eaten with as good an appetite as they would have eaten the greatefl: delicacies, if they had been at their own dwellings. Thev even celebrated the feaft in all its cere- monies, drawing tickets, and the gunner was king of Novaya Zemlia ; a country perhaps more than two hundred leagues long, fituated between two feas. On the tenth of January they found the water had rifen nearly a foot in the veffel. On the twelfth they obferved the altitude of the (far called the Bull's Eye ; and it ap- peared to them that the altitude of this ftar, and fome others befides, which they had obferved, and that of the fun, accorded very well, and that they were in lat. 76% but rather higher than lower. On the thirteenth the weather was clear and ferene, and they perceived the light of day began to increafe ; for on throwing a ball they perceived it roll, which they could not before. From this time they v/ent out every day, and exercifed themfelves at walk- ing, running, throwing, in order to revive their limbs : they alfo remarked at the fame time a rednefs in the ffiy, which was to them an aurora, the harbinger of the fun. The air was alfo found lefs cold during the day ; fo that when they had a good fire in the 'hut, there fell from the boards and partitions large pieces of ice v/hich thawed in the beds, a circumftance which never happened before, however great they made their fire ; but at night it always froze equally ftrong. On the eighteenth, as the wood-fuel diminifhed greatly, they again ufed pit-coal, with the precaution of not clofing the chimney, which prevented the former bad effects : neverthelefs they judged it proper to be careful of it as well as the wood, and illll more lb, for they expefted to reimbark in their little veffel without any covering, where they would have great occafion for coal. It was alio neceffary in the fame manner todirai- ailh the portions of bifcuit, as well on account of the quantity already confumed, as VOL. I, p becaufe IO(S THIRD VOYAGE O? THE DUTCH becaufe the cafks were not exaftly of the proper weight. Again, the capture of foxes was not fo abundant as formerly; and this retreat of the fox was dill more grievous, as it was an indication of the fpeedy return of the bears, who in fact appeared very foon after. The twenty-fourth of January was a clear and fine day. James Heemfkcrk, Gerard de Veer, and another, took the opportunity of walking towards the fouthern {hore of Novaya Zemlia. De Veer, when they leaff thought of it, perceived a fide of the fun's difk : full of joy they all three returned quickly to carry this agreeable news to Barcntfz and the others. Barentfz, an experienced mariner, would not believe it, becaufe, ac- cording to all the computations, it would be fifteen days before the fun could be feen in that altitude. The others maintained that they had feen it ; and this difpute gave rife to wagers. The twenty-fifth and twenty-fixth were fo very mifty that they could not fee one another, fo that thole who had wagered that the fun had not yet appeared imagined they had already won: but the weather clearing up on the twenty-feventh, all the company together beheld the full difiv of the ftar of day above the horizon ; whence it was eafy to conclude that a part had been feen on the twenty-fourth. Neverthelefs as this difcovery is contrary to the opinions of all writers both ancient and modern, and that fome may pretend that it is againfl; the courfe of nature, and that it dcllroys the rotundity afcribed to the heavens and earth, they conceived there would be perfons inclined to believe they were miftaken ; that they would fay it was fo long fmce they had beheld the day, that it was impoffible to keep an exatt account of the number of the days ; that probably they had palfed fome days in bed and fleep without being confcious of it ; and that in fine, from whatever accident it might arife, they muft necelTarily have made fome error in their calculation. But as for them who did not doubt of what they had feen, and who were unwilling to give occafion to think that they might have fome doubts, as they might have done if they had fpoken lefs pofitively, and had not related the circumftances and the reafons, they have minutely written all thefe things, in order to fhew that their computation was cxaiSl : they then faw, for the firfl; time, the fun in the fign of Aquarius, in c;° 25' j and according to their former calculation, he fliould have been in 16' 27'' before he could appear in the latitude of 76", where they found themfelves to be. Thefe circumftances, fo contrary to one another, occafioned much aflonifliment, the more as they did not think it poflible to be miftaken in their computation of the time :. they had marked day by day, without omitting any one, whatever happened : they had continually paid attention to their watches, and when they were frozen, they had recourfe to the twelve-hour-glafs. Their occupation at that time was to make different refleflions, in order to conciliate what appeared fo oppofite, and to difcover the truth with refpeft to the time. They confulted the Ephemerides of Jofeph Scala, printed at Venice, which reached from 1589 to 1600; and they thereby found that on the t\venty-fourth of January, which was the fame day the fun had appeared to them, the moon and Jupiter were in conjundion at one hour after midnight with refpeft to Venice. On this remark they were attentive to obferve that fame night at what hour thofe two planets ihould be in conjunftion, with regard to the place they were in, and they were five hours later than at Venice, that is to fay, about fix in the morning. During this obfervation they faw that they approached each other at times till fix in the morn- ing, when they were exadly the one above the other, both in the fign of Taurus. Their conjunction took place by the compafs e.xaQly at N. and by E., and the fouth of the compafs. TO THE NORTH OF EUROI'E. I07 compafs, or of the needle, was S. S. W,, where was the true fouth, the moon being eight days old ; whence it appeared that the moon and fun were at the diftance of eight rumbs from each other. This difference therefore between the place where they were and Venice was five hours in longitude, and that being fuppofed, we may compute how much farther they were to the eaft than the city of Venice, that is to fay, five hours, each hour being of fifteen degrees, which makes feventy-five degrees ; from which it is eafy to conclude that they were not miftaken in their computation, but that by the means of thefe two planets they had found the true longitude ; for the city of Venice is in long. 37" 25', and the declination being 46" 5' : it follows that the hut which was in Novaya Zemlia was in long. 1 1 2° 25', and lat. 76". All which circumllances are here related to fhew that there was no error in their computation of time. As to what regards the difference of time, which was about fifteen days, that they had feen the fun at Novaya Zemlia fooner than it flaould have appeared, it is left to the learned to argue and to determine as well as they can. On the fame day, the twenty-fixth of January, the fick man of the company fell into a great fvvoon, and continued very bad till pad midnight, when he died. On the twenty- feventh they dug a grave in the fnow near the hut in order to bury him, though with no fmall difficulty, on account of the cold which obliged them to work by turns. In fine, the pit being feven feet deep, they buried the dead man. The thirty-firft was a very fine day, and they were able to enjoy the brightnefs of the fun with pleafure. The firfl feven days of February were bad and ftormy, which nearly occafioned them to defpair ; for in the hopes of finer weather they had not taken the ufual precaution of providing themfelves with wood. The hut was again furrounded with high ramparts of fnow : the fog was greater than it had been in the midfl: of winter, and the fnow fell as thick as ever. But they did not as before give themfelves the trouble of difengaging their door each time ; and when any thing occurred which obliged them to go out, they paffed through the chimney, and thofe who were not able were conftrained to per- form their necefllties within. On the eighth the weather became finer : they faw the fun rife in the S. S. E. and fet in the S. S. W., that is to fay, with ref{>c6t to the dial of lead they had conftrufted near their hut, and fixed exactly ibuth of that place ; for otherwife there was a difference a£ leafl of two rumbs from their other ordinary compafles. On the thirteenth they cleaned their traps : while they were thus occupied they faw a large bear coming direftly towards the hut, to which they all retired in great haff;e. One of them having taken aim, the ball ftruck the bear on the breaft, palled quite through the body, and went out by the tail, fo that it became as flat as a halfpenny. The bear being wounded, made a great leap, and retired for twenty or thirty feet fro-n the hut, where he fell. Thofe who purfued him found him ftill living, and he raifed his head as if to fee who had wounded him. As they had already too fatally experienced the ftrength of thefe animals, they did notTtop there, but fired two other muiket-fhots at him and killed him : they ripped up his belly, and having taken away more than a hundred pounds of fat and lard, they melted it ; and by this means they had wherewithal to feed their lamp every night, which they had not done for fome time, being in want of material ; but now they had the pleafure of havhig each a lighted lamp by his bedfide when they chofe. The fliin of the bear was nine teet long and feven wide. On the twenty-firft they had no more wood remaining to warm themfelves, and the weather was very fevere as well on account of the wind and fnow as of the cold. It was P 2 necclfary ic8 THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH neceffary therefore to colleft together what wood they could, both from without and within, and ufe even the fmall ilicks under their feet. The weather was finer en the twenty-fecond : they prepared a fledge to fetch feme wood, but found it fo covered with fnow that it was iinpoflible to difengage it ; thus they were obliged to proceed much farther, whence neverthelefs they brought but little, and with fuch great labour, that returning they all loft their fpirits, as the feverity of the cold was great, the labour of dragging the wood fatiguing, and the ftrength of the labourers exhaufted by their exertions, and the inconveniences tliey then experienced ; but, in lliort, it was however indifpenfable either to bring wood or perifli with cold. When they approached the hut they perceived the waters open in different places of the fea, which afforded themfome confolation, and awakened the hopes of a fpeedy departure. On the twenty-eighth they again went to the number of ten to fetch a Hedge full of wood, the eleventh of their company not being able to aflift them, becaufe he had loft his great toe by the feverity of the cold ; and this labour was not lefs painful than the other. On the eighth of March they faw no more ice on the N. E. fide in the fea, from which they concluded that there was a great fea to the N. E. of them. On the ninth they were able to fee ftill farther, and perceived all the fea to theN.E. open ; but on the fide of Tartary there yet remained ice, whence they concluded that the fea was of no great breadth on that fide, even when the weather was perfectly ferene : they imagined they difcovered lands, and ihey ftiewed to one another to the S. and S. E. of their hut, a land which appeared to them like little mountains, and in the fame manner as profpeds do when they firft prefent themfelres. On the fourteenth there arofe a wind from the E. N. E., fo violent and cold, that the fea was again frozen as hard as ever. This fevere v\ eather occafioned thofe to relapfe, who having been ill, and growing better, had been a little too much expofed during the milder weather. From this day the cold continually increafed, and was even ftill greater and more infupportable than ever. This contrary weather, fo little cxpecled, dil'pirited the whole crew in fuch a manner, that they could fcarcely confole fhcmfelves with the hopes of a fpeedy thaw, which the feafon feemed to promife. During the night of the fixth of April a bear approached the hut : notwithftanding their endeavours to kill him with mulket and firelock ihots, they were not able to take aim on account of the fog ; and befides the powder was fo damp that it wou.ld not take fire, and their guns almoft always failed to fire. The bear defcended by the ftcps in the fnow to the door, and attempted to enter ; but the malLer placing himfelf behind it, kept it fo well clofed that the bear retired. Neverthelefs he returned two hours after and climbed to the top of the hut, where he made fo dreadful a roaring that they were all alarmed: he advanced towards the chimney, and made fuch great exertions to overturn it, that they feared he would accomplilli it : he tore the fail with which it was furrounded, and having made an extraordinary ravage he at length departed. On the eighth and ninth the wind blew from the S. W. and the ice difappearcd ; but on the tenth a violent wind from the N. E. brought it back again, and filled the fea, heaping the flakes upon one another, fo that about the coaft there were yet more and higher heaps than before. '1 his fevere weather continued till the fifteenth, when they vifited their veflel : they found it in the fame condition they had left it. Returning they faw a bear who ap- proached them : they immediately placed themfelves in a ftate of defence, and the bear as. TO THE NORTH OF EUROPJ:. I09 as if confcious of bis dani:cr retired. They advanced to the place from which tliey had fecii him proceed, in order to difcover if he had no lurking h-de : they found a large cavity in the fnow, nearly as deep as the height of a man, narrow at the entrance, and very wide within : they thruft their pikes into it, and not meeting with any thing, one of the company even entered it. - After this they went together to the fca fhore, from which they viewed the mountains of ice which covered the fea, and which v/ere nearly difpofed like the houfes of a great city, interfered with towei's, ftecples, baftions, and ramparts. On the feventeenth ieven of them returned to their veflTel : they there perceived that the water was free, which induced them to mount thofe heaps of ice, and pafs as well as they could from one to the other till they reached the water, which they had not approaclied for fix or feven months. Arriving there they beheld a little bird which dived into the water and con- cealed itfelf ; and this induced them to think that the water was more open than it had been to that time. On the eighteenth they obferved the altitude, and found themfelves in lat. 75" 58'. On the firit of May they cooked the remainder of their meat, which was as good as ever, at leail they thought fo, and it appeared fuch in eating : it polTefTed however this defeft, that being drefTed it would no longer keep. On the fecond of May there arofe a violent wind from the S. W. which cleared the main fea, and left no more ice. They each began then to talk of embarking and re- turning to Holland, being very weary at the flay they had made in fo difagreeable and incommodious a place. On the third all the remainder of the ice was carried awav, except that which furrouiided the veiTel. Neverthelefs the bed p ovifions, and which were the mofl; fit to give them ftrength, as meat, oatmeal, and othf ■[.;, failed them at a time when they had occafion to ftrengthen themfelves in order to fupport the labour they had to perform. With this view the mailer diftributed the remainder of the bacon, and he found enough for three weeks at two ounces a day for each man. On the fourth five of them went to the veffel, which was more inclofed in the ice than ever, fiuce in the middle of March it was only feventy-five paces from the open water., and at that time five hundred : this was a great fubjedl of affliction, for they were not aware that they could drag the fchuyt or fhallop to the fea. In the night a bear having come to the door of the hut, retired when he heard the voices and noife, as one of the failors obferved who had afceadtd the chimney ; fo that it feemed the bears began to be afraid, and dared not attack the men with their ufual boldnefs. On the fifth, when the fun was at the lowefl:, they beheld it at a confiderable height above the horizon. On the feventh and eighth the fnow again fell in i'uch quantities that they were obliged to remain in their hut, where fome of the failors propofed to fpeak to the mafter, and reprefcnt to him that it was time to leave that fatal place. Ne- verthelefs no one dared to undertake It, becaufe he had fignified and had deferred their departure to the end of June, when they might hope the veflel would be dilengaged from the ice, being the fineft weather of the fummer. On the ninth all the crew, llill more urged with defire of returning, entreated Barentfz to fpeak to tlie mailer, and to per- fuade him to embark ; but Barentfz (lopped them by his remonftrances, and made them again defer their purpofe. On the fifteenth Barent.fz having again been folicited fpoke to the mailer, who told him that they fhould only wait till the end of the prefent month, and that if the velTel was not difengaged in that time, they fliould prepare to fit up the fchuyt and Ihallop and depart. This anfwer revived the crew ; but the period appeared very remote, becaufe it would require a confiderable time to refit thefe little ve0els and equip them. » Oa no THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH On the twentieth and twenty-firfl: the wind blew from the N. E. and brought back the ice : neverthelefs, with the confent of the mafler, each began to prepare hU clothes, and what he imagined he fhould partixnilarly want for the voyage. On the twenty-fifth they obferved the altitude in the afternoon, and found themfelves in lat yG", as they had done before, (^n the twenty-fixth and twenty-fcventh the fame N. E. wind blow- ing violently, again brought more ice. The crew having taken occafion from this to urge the mafter, he permitted them to commence the work of equipment ; and oa the following day feven of them went to the veflel and brought every thing that was neccf- fary, among others the old foremafl fail, to make fails, fonie running rigging from the packets of ropes, and other articles. On the twenty-ninth ten men went to the fchuyt to draw it to the hut and refit it. It was fo buried in the fnow that they had great difficulty to difengage it ; but they were not able to draw it after them on account of their weak ftate, which occafioned the moft poignant grief, becaufe they then feared they Ihould end their days there. The raafter exhorted them brilkly to exert all their efforts, telling them that in facf, unlefs they were willing to become citizens of Novaya Zemlia, and very foon to prepare their graves there, they mufl recover the fchuyt, and that the hopes of return depended on it ; the ftrongcft and moft affecting remonltrance that could have been made. But of what little avail are words and reafons againfl a phyfical impoflibility ! Weak- ened by long exertions, and already fatigued with the labour, they were not able to proceed : they repofed themfelves, and having dined, they returned again to try their ftrength. The Ihallop, which lay with the keel upwards, was again overturned near the hut, and they began to repair it. While they were labouring with ardour, they perceived a frightful bear coming to- wards them : they immediately re-entered the hut, where they waited at all the three doors with firelocks, and a fourth mounted the chimney with a mufket. The bear walked towards them with as much fiercenefs as any before, and approached to the declivity of the fteps of one of the doors, where he was not perceived by the man on guard there, who was then looking towards the other door. Thofe who were within feeing the bear, cried out for him to take care of himfelf : he turned his head, and not- withftanding the fright he was in, he fired his gun, which having wounded the bear in the body, he fled. This fpedtacle was diftrefhng to thofe who beheld it, for when the man perceived the bear, that ferocious bealt was clofe to him, ready to tear him to pieces ; and if the prime of the gun had not taken fire, as fometimes happens, there is no doubt he would have been devoured. Perhaps the animal would even have entered the hut, where he would. ^2ve made a dreadful carnage. In the mean time, the wound he had received prevented him from fleeing very far. When they perceived him flop, they ran to him with their arms, and having killed him, they ripped up his belly, where they found pieces of fcadogs yet entire, with the (kin and hair, which indicated that they had only jufl been devoured. On the thirtieth all thofe v;ho were in a condition to work at the refitting of the bark employed themfelves, and the others mended the fails, or made in the hut other necef- fary things for their departure. Another bear came again to prcfent himfelf to the workmen without, who killed him. On the lafl day of the month, while they were en- gaged in their moft laborious work, there came again a frcfli one, who walked fiercely towards them. It feemed as if thefe animals perceived that their prey was about to tfcape, and which they wiflied to prevent by returning three fuccefllve days. It was therefore neceffary to quit their work and retire to their hut ; the bear followed a them : TO THE NORTH OF EUROPE. Ill them : he was received with a volley of three firelocks, which all took effcclr, the one from the chimnev, and the other two from two of the doors. This death cod them dear, for having cut the beafl: in pieces, and dreffed the liver, and eaten it with pleafurc, they were all indifpofed : three of them were fo very ill that they thought they would die ; neverthelefs they recovered, having a new fkin from tl-,c head to the foot. Their re-eilabliflinient fcarcely gave lefs pleafure to the remainder of the company than to themfelves ; for the lofs of three men would perhaps have put them out of condition to work with any eiFed for 'heir return. On the third of June their ftrength having returned, they refumed the refitting of the bark, which was completed after fix days' labour. At night there arofe fo violent a wind from the wefl; that the v.ater again became free, and they prepared to embark. On the fourth they went to the number of eleven to the fchuyt, which was on the fea fhore, and dragged it to the veflel ; this labour being then more eafy than it had been when they were obl;;^ed to quit it, cither becaufe the fiiow was not fo hard, and that the fchuyt glided more freely over it, or that they pofTelTed more courage by feeing the water free, and being on the eve of embarkin^j. They left three men there to refit the fchuyt, which was propei'Iy a little herring-bark or herring-bufs, and was fharpened behind. They cut off a part from the poop, made a little item frame, and added fome planks to the fides, that the veffel might have more depth, and be better able to (land the fea. The other part of the crew which was in the hut did not work with lefs ardour for the other preparations of ,he voyage. On this fame day they conveyed two fledges laden with proviions and O'her articles from the hut to the veflel, which was nearly half way between rhe hu' and the place where the water was free, that they might not have fo long a carri.ige v^ hen it was neceflary to embark. On the fixth they dragged two more fledges laden with fome piovifions and merchandife. After this there happened a violent ftorm from the S. W., accompanied with fnow and hail, and particularly rain, which they had not beheld for a long time. The car- penters were obliged to quit their work and retire with the others into the hut, where nothing then remained dry ; for the planks had been taken away to refit the little veffels, and there only remained the I'ail, which was not fit to keep out the rain. The path which was covered with fnow began alio to thaw, fo that it v^as neceflary to leave oti the flioes they had made of hats to refume their leathern Ihoes, in whatever ftate they might be, and to make the beft ufe they could of them. On the feventh they packed up the befl merchaudifc, and that which they chofe to carry back, and wrapped them round with tarpawling in order to proteft them from the water, which could not fail frequently to fplafli in a little veflel without cover. On the eighth they dragged their packages to the veflel, and the fame day the carpenters completed the repairs of the fchuyt. On the fame day alfo they dragged the Ihallop to the veflTel ; and on the tenth they made four journies with the fledge laden each time. They put what little remained of the wine in i'mali veifcis, in order to diflribute it be- tween the two boats ; and alfo that in cafe one fhould remain inclofed in the ice, as they well forefaw what might happen, they could eafily remove all the things fr- be moored clofe to one another. At this time alfo he had the two memoirs Hgned, of which mention has been made. In fine, on the fourteenth of June 1597, at fix in the morning, they weighed anchor, and fet fail from Novaya Zemlia with a wefierly wind : they arrived that day at the Cape of the Ifles, where they ftill met with much ice, and they remained there inclofed ; which afHicted them in no fmall degi-ee, under the appreheiifion they might continue there : four of them landed to reconnoitre the countiy, and they knocked dow^n four birds from the rocks with ftones. On the fifteenth the ice being a little feparated, they doubled Cape Fleffingen, and came to Cape Defire. On the fifteenth they were at Orange Ifie, where they alio landed, and having made a fire of the wood they found there, they melted the fnow and put the water into fmall caflvS for drink. Three of them palled on the ice to another ifland, where they took three birds ; but returning, the mailer, who was one of the three, fell into a hole in the ice, where he was in danger of perilhing, for there was at that part a very rapid current. They drefied the birds for the fick. After they had again fet fail, and were arrived at Icy Cape, the two vefiels joined, and the mafter, who was not in the fame with Barentfz, aflced him how he found himfelf. Barentfz replied that he was better, and hoped he would flill be able to travel before they arrived at their inn. He alked if they were at Icy Cape, and De Veer having an- fwered him in the affirmative, he wiflied to be raifed up in order that he might behold that cape once more, for which there was leifure enough, being again inclofed in the ice, and the veflels completely furrouuded. On the morning of the feventeenth the flakes of ice ftruck againfl thefe two little veflels in fo dreadful a manner, that the hair of the crew ftood on end : they believed themfelves at their lad hour, neither being able to flop the courfe of thefe floatinpj mafles, nor to prevent their being carried to leeward : they even found themfelves all together fo prelfed between two banks of ice, that they took their laft farewell of each other. At length refuming courage, they endeavoured to come nearer to the firm ice, to fallen a cord and tow the veflels there, that they might be lefs expofed to the floating flakes. When they had approached a little, there was no perfon who would go to moor the cord ; the danger was too great ; yet a virtue mufl: be made of necefiity, and the fl;rength of the balance prevail over the weak fide. In this dilemma De Veer, who was the moll nimble among them, undertook to carry the cord, and leaped from one flake of ice to the other, until, with the afllfl:ance of God, he happily arrived on the firm ice, and faltened the cord about an eminence of ice. All the others then alfo left the veflels, and carried the fick in flieets on the ice, where they placed fome other things under them in order that they might repofe. They afterwards dife-mbarked whatever remained on board, and dragging the veflels on the ice, they faw themfelves delivered from the fear of a death which had appeared al- moft inevitable. On the eighteenth they refitted their veflels which had been damaged from what they had fullered. They caulked the feams and covered them with tar-pawling having happily found fome wood to malce pitch. They afterwards landed to feck for eggs, to VOL. I. Q give tI4 THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH give to the fick who mod earneflly afked for fome : but they were not able to find any, and only brought back four birds. On the nineteenth they were more inclofed in the ice than before, and no more be» held any par* opc:n, fo that they thought they had only prolonged their lives for fome days, unle s God fhould deliver tht-m by fome frefli miracle. On the twentieth at nine hi the morning, the mate came on board the ihallop, and faid that one of the crew, called Nicci s And.ifz, appeared to be drawing near to his end. Barentfz told him that he fim.ly t°l;cv>.d h"s was r.ot fc.r oft". The crew who perceived at the fame time that Barentfz was locking over a chart, which I>e Veer had drawn of the places they had feen during the voyage, had not the lead idea of his being in that flatc. They remained featcd and converged together of many other matters, until Barentfz putting afide the chart, faid to De Veer, give me fome drink. When he bad drunk he found himfelf very bad, his eyes rolled in his head, and he expired fo fuddenly that they had not time to call the mafter who was in the fchuyt. Nicolas Andrifz alfo expired immediately after. But the death of Barentfz extremely affliiEted the whole crew, for they poflelfed great con- fidence in him, and he was very experienced in the art of pilotage and navigadon. On the twenty fecond the wind blowing frelh from the S. E., the fea began to open. Yet it was nectflary to drag the vefiels more than fifty paces on the ice, and after having launched them, to draw them again on other ice, and to drag them for more than thirty paces before arriving at a free and navigable part. Having performed this labour, they fet fail between four and five in the morning, and at noon got again en- tangled in the ice : but a little time after it feparated in a manner that it had the ap- pearance of the opening of a fluice. They then navigated a little along the coaft, and afterwards fuddenly found themfelves again completely inclofed, and notwithftanding all their efforts to feparate the ice, they could not accomplish it. At length the waters having again opened of themfelves, they continued to fail along the coaft. On the twenty-third at nine in the morning, they came to Cape Trooft, from which- they could not depart on account of the freih ice which furrounded them. On the fume day they obierved the altitude and found themfelves in latitude 76° 39". Here the fun (hone clear ; but it was not of fufficient ftrength to^ melt the fncw, for which they would have had great occafion in order to have water to drink, all of them fuffer- ing a great thirft. On the twenty-fourth at noon they difengaged themfelves from the ice by means of their oars, and having gained the fea, they failed onward well till they came to Cape Naflau which they difcovered, and from which they were according to their computa- tion at the diftance of three leagues. Three failors landed, and brought a little wood, which ferved them to boll fome meat, in order to have fome warm aliment for their ftomachs, of which they ftood in very great need. Onthe twenty-fifth and and twenty-fixth there arofe a heavy tempeft from the fouth during which the part of the ice to which the veffels were moored broke and feparated. The veffels being unmoored drifted out to fea, without their being able to row towards the firm ice, and they were a hundred times in danger of perifhing. As they found they could not regain the land by means of the oars, they hoifted up the forefail, and , ftood towards the coafl. But the fore-maft of the fchuyt broke twice ; fo that they were conftrained notwithftanding the violence of the wind, to make ufe of the main fail. Scarcely was it hoifted up when the wind took it in fuch a manner, that if it had not been immediately lowered the veffel would have been funk ; for it already admitted the water every where by the fide, and this accident, with the violence of the tempeft, occafion- ed thofe expofed to them to regard death as certain. But the time appointed by heavea for TO THE NORTH Of rUROPn. JI5 for their lad hour, was not yet arrived. There fuidenly arofe a N. \V. wind which cahned every thing, and faroured their paffage to the finn ice, though they did not reach it without danger. When they had arrived there, they looked about to endeavour to difcover the fliallop, and not ieeing any thing of it, they navigated about a league along the ice without the leaft fign of it ; fo that they began to apprehend the velTel was loft. In the mean tin\e there happened a great fog which obliged the crew of De Veer to fire a mudvct, in order that they might anfwer if they heard it. In fad, the others anfv.ered, and this fignal enabled to them rejoin. On the twenty-feventh they arrived at a place on the weftern coaft of Cape Naflau, where while they failed along the land, they beheld on the ice more fea-cows than they had ever feen, or rather they faw an innumerable muhitude. They alfo obferved a dock of birds, at which having fired two mu{kets together they killed twelve. On the twenty-eighth they difembarked all their cargo, and placed it on the firm ice, where they alfo dragged their veffels, becaufe the wind which came from the fea, might force the ice towards them with too much violence. As foon as they had defcended on the ice they made tents of their fails, and placed themfelves underneath m order to take fome repofe, leaving one man as centinel. About mid-night there came three bears towards the veflels. The centinel difcovering them, called out three bears, three bears. At thisnoife they all awoke, and proceeded from the tents with mufliets <:harged only with fmall fliot to kill birds. Although thefe {hots might give no great wounds to the bears, they did not fail to turn back, and by this means gave an opportunity of loading the mufkets again. One was killed, and the other two fled. They returned on the following day at three in the afternoon, to the place where the dead bear was lying, and one of them having taken him by the throat, carried him to a confiderable diftance on the moft rugged ice, where both began to eat him. The erew feeing this fired a mulket, which occafioned them to quit their prey and flee. Four men going to the place, found that in the little time they were about it, they had already devoured half of the body of their comrade, of which feeing the fize, they were aftonifhed at the ftrength of the bear who had carried him away by fo difficult a path, fince thefe four men had great difficulty to lift the remaining half. On the thirtieth the wefterly wind again forced the ice with the fame violence to- wards the eaft ; they beheld afreffi two bears coming on a bank of floating ice ; which they believed to be the fame they had feen the preceding day. They fhewed a difpofi- tion to attack the crews, but took another route. About half-paft ten in the morning, another prefented himfelf on the firm ice, who retired as foon as he heard a noife. On the firfh of July at fix in the morning, which was the break of day, there came again a bear on the flakes of ice who plunged into the water in order to fwim to the firm ice where the crews were, but retired at the found of their voices. About nine, the banks of ice coming from the fea, ftruck with fo much violence againft: the firm ice that it fplit into feveral pieces that to which the crew had retu-ed with their little veflfels, and occafioned it to float. This was a dreadful accident, for ^all their packages were on the ice, and the greater part fell into the water. It became neceflary therefore to exert frefli ft:rength in order to drag the fliallop on the ice near the fliore, where they hoped to be lefs incommoded by the flakes of ice. But having drawn the veflel, when they would go to fetch the packets, they found themfelves in as great danger as ever they had been ; for while they endeavoured to ^ay hold of a packet, the ice fplit between both, or under another packet, and carried it o 2 awav. Il5 THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH away. It even fpfit under the feet of the people while they were walking ; fo that they were at a lofs to know how to aft, or how to fave themfelves. The fame happened \vhen they endeavoured to move the fchuyt, the ice fplit under their fett, and the fchuyt was carried away with the crew. It wavS even broken in fome parts, efpecially in thofe which had been altered or repaired. The mail: was broken ; the crofs-piece of the mart, and almoft the whole fchuyt v/as fplit to pieces. There was alio a fjcK. man within, who wis not taken out but with extreme danger to tiie perf:>ns employed in this charitable office ; for the pieces of ice on whicii they were obliged to place themfelves, floated and itruck againft other ice, and the lead blow which might have been given to an arm or a leg would have broken it. At length after a confiderable time of hardihips and Lhour, the ice difperfed a little, and the violence of their eourfe diminilhed. They then return>.d to their fchuyt, and drew it again on the firm ice near the fliallop, where it was in a little more fecurity. This fatigue laCed from fix in the morning till fix in the evening, fo that all the crew were quite exhaufted. They loft that dav two calks of bifcuit, a chefl full of linen cloth, a chcfl full of clothes and neceffary articles for the equipment of the veffels, the aftronomical circle, a packet of fcarlet cloth, a Uttle calk of oil, one of wine, and fome cheefe-^. On the fecond of July at half pafl four in the afternoon, the weather was finer, and fix men were employed at the refitting of the Ichuyt, while fix others went on fhore to feek for wood. They alio brought fome ftones which they arranged on the ice to ferve as a hearth, and to make a fire, in order to melt fome pitch to caulk the fchuyt. They looked at the fame time for a piece of wood to make a mafl, which they found. There was even fome wood cut down and tools to cleave it which they carried away, and which indicated that the place had been frequented by men. The fchuyt was repaired at two in the morning, and they afterwards roafied fome birds vv'hich they had killed, in order to eat, and recruit their flrength. On the third two men were font to procure fome water. They found at the water- ing place two of their oars, the tiller of the rudder, the chell of linen cloth, and a hat out of the cheft: of goods. They carried away their load, and v/hen they were re- turned, they fent four others who drew all the remainder of the water, and placed it oix the ice, whence they again took it when they fet fail. On the fourth the weather was finer than they had experienced fince their ftay on the coafts of Novaya Zemlia. They availed themfelves of this opportunity to wafli in fnow water the pieces of velvet which had been wetted by the fait water, and packed them up a frefli. On the fifth John Janfz of Haerlem, a relation of the deceafed Nicolas Andrifz, alfo died. On the fame day the flakes began again to float with violence. On the feventh they killed thirteen birds, on which they fealted the following day. On the ninth the ice continued to float, and the water became free towards the land. The firm ice, on which were the veflels and crews, alfo began to fcparate and float, which obliged them to draw their veffels to the water more than three hundred and forty paces, a prodigious labour, and which they could never have performed if they had not been actuated to preferve their lives. They fet fail between feven and eight in the morning ; but at fix in the evening were obliged to return to land, and replace themfelves on the firm ice, which was not yet feparated in that part. On the tenth they exerted all their efforts to pafs through the ice, and failed till they found themfelves between two large furfaces of ice, very much refembiing fields, but which joined together in a part. It was neceffary therefore to unload the veffels again, tranfport their cargoes, and drag them themfelves on the ice till they ihould again meet TO THE NORTH OF EUROPE. I17 meet with open water, which they did not for more than a hundred paces. Afterwards ihey again let i'ail, hut this diil not continue long, and they were roiiilrained to proceed mere gently in order to pais to a fmall I'pace lying beivveen two other fields of ice, which however were only two prodigious floating flakes, between which they palFed before they were completely joined. When they were without this flrait, the wind began to blow frefh from the wcfl:, and tofik them by the prow ; fo that they failed with all their efforts to regain the firm ice which with great difliculty they approached. They there again dragged their veffels, and remained half dead with faii- ue, and almoft in defpair at beholding the prodigious aifemblage of difliculties. On the eleventh a large and very fat bear advanced towards them from the water, lie was received with three muflcets which were aimed at him together, and being fired when he was no farther off than about thirty paces, killed him at once. The fat quite warm which ifl'ued from his wounds, refembled oil on the water where it flowed. Some of the crew placed themfelves on an ice bank which they directed towards the body, and having fixed a cord about his neck, dragged him on the ice, where they drew his teelh ; and having meafured the body, found it to be eight feet thick. After this, three of the crew went to an illand lying before them, from which they difcovered the Ifle of Croflls to the weft. They advanced by that fide, and entered this latter ifland, in order to fee if there were no figns of the Ruffians being arrived there ; but they faw nothing that could in the leaft induce them to imagine that any one had landed there fince their departure. They took nearly feventy eggs of moun- tain mallards, and returned to join their companions, after an ablence of twelve hours which had appeared to the remainder of the crew who waited for them, a great time, and had occafioned them great uneafinefs. They related, that in order to pafs to the Ifle of Crofles, they had fometimes been up- to their knees in the water on the ice between the two iflands, and that they had walked nearly fix leagues going and coming. The others were aflonifned at their boldnefs, and efpecially being fo weak as they all were that they had undertaken fo fatiguing a journey. The eggs they brought were a very neceffary and agreeable mefs for them all : and though amidfl fo many difficulties they did not fail to make a very delicious repall. They alfo then diitributed the remainder of the wine, of which each had three mhiglcsi or fix French pints. On the fixteenth a bear came towards them from the land. At firfl they could not difcern if it was a bear, fo much did his white fkin glitter, and refemble the fnow. ' . When he had approached they fired at him, and the fhot taking effeft, he fled. Oij the following day fome of them wifhing to go to the neighbouring ifland, to obferve if there were any opening in the water, met about halfway with the wounded bear, l\ing on a bank of ice. As foon as he heard them he fled, but one of them having given him a violent blow with a boat hook, the hook of which entered his fidn, he fell back on his two hinder paws. The man would have followed up the blow, but the bear broke the hook to pieces, fo that he who had given the blow fell backwards in his turn. The others immediately fired on the bear, which occafioning him to flee, the failor who had fallen down rofe up, ran after him with the flump of his boat-hook, and dif- charged feveral heavy blows on his body. The bear turned back each time, and leaped three times againft the man who fliruck him. In the mean time his two companions having approached, they fired again at the bear and pierced him thi'ough the body, fo that he fell back again and could no longer >\'alk but with difficulty. In fine, they fired once more, and having killed him, they.drewhis teeth. Oa IlS THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH On the eighteenth they unloaded the veflels, and having drawn them on the ice, they dragged them over it to a place where water was open. Aherwards they carried the cargo there, that is to f;\y, for more than a thoufand paces ; a fatigue under which they had nearly funk. They then again fet fail, and navigated till half pafl four in the afternoon, when the)' were again entangled in the ice : and it was neceffary to draw their vefTels over as they had already fo many times. They tliere had a diflinft view of the Ifle of Croffes from which they computed they were at the diltance of a league. On the nineteenth while the veflfels and the crew were on the ice, feven men pafled at fix in the morning into the Ifland of Crofles, whence they beheld a confiderable fpace of water open to the weft, which gave them great joy, and occafioned them to haften to bear this good intelligence to their companions. Neverthelefs they took time to colleft a hundred eggs, which were cooked as foon as they arrived, and dillributed. At two in the afternoon they laboured to put the veiTels tnto the water. It was neceflary to drag them for more than two hundred and feventy paces, but this was performed with a cheerfulnefs which much alleviated the pain, in the hopes that it would be the laft of that kind of fatigue they Ihould undergo. As foon as the veffels were in the water, they fet fail, and made fuch good way, that at fix in the evening they were beyond the Ifle of Crofies and immediately afterwards they Hiw no more ice, or at leaft the little they beheld gave them no uneafinefs. They bore to the W. and by S. with a good fteady wind, blowing from the E. and E. N. E. : fo that according to their computation they failed at the rate of eighteen leagues in twenty-four hours : which infpired them with frefli courage, and with the hopes by the blefllng of God of a happy return. On the twentieth at nine in the morning they doubled the Black Cape, and at fix in the evening obferved Admiralty Ifle which they pafled at midnight. They there be- held nearly two hundred fea cows on a bank of ice, about which they were feeding, and they attacked them, of which they had occafion to repent ; for this fpecies of marine monfters poflefling an extraordinary ftrength, they all fwam towards the veflels, as if with a defign to attack them, and to revenge the injury they had fufliained ; and they made all round a dreadful nqife as if they had threatened to deftroy every thing. The freflinefs of the wind which forced the veifels along, relieved them from a peril which they could well have avoided if -they had been willing, and into which a want of pru- dence alone had drawn them. On the twenty-firft they doubled the Capes of Plancio and Laugenes. On the twenty- fecond as they were clofe to Cape Cant, the crew of Gerard -de Veer landed to feek for eggs and birds. They did not find any ; but afterwards about noon, feeing a rock covered with birds, they fleered towards it, and throwing ilones they knocked down and took twenty-two birds, and one of the crew having landed on the rock brought away ,twenty-thr.ee eggs. About three in the afternoon, they came to another cape where they took nearly a hundred and twent,y-five birds, taking the greater number by the hand in their nefts ; for they wer£ not alarmed at the fight of the men, and no doubt were only afraid of the foxes and other wild beads, to fecure themfclves from which, they built their nefts on thofe high and fteep rocka, where they could not afccnd. As for the men, if the fight of them had frightened the birds, they might eafily have cfcapcd from their hand?, for they could not go to take them in their own nefts, where they feemcd to await being taken, without danger of breaking their legs or arms, or of perifliing, and ftill more in defcending than in mounting. Befides, there was only one egg in each neft, and it lay on the bare rock, without ftraw or feathers, or any thing which could give it 2 warmth ; TO THE NORTH OF EUROPE. 1 I5 warmth ; fo that there was room for wonder how thefe eggs could be brooded and hatched on account of the great cold which reigned there. When they had again fet (ail in order to depart from the coaft, the wind became per- fectly contrary, Befides thefea was fo covered with ice, that after much difficulty, and making different tacks, they found themfelves again entangk>d. The mafter who was in the fchuyt farther in the fea, feeing the others in the midfl: of the ice, and that they continually advanced, imagined they perceived open water farther off, in which he was not deceived ; and that were they willing to reach it. Under this idea he tacked about and (leered in the fame direftion, and both together bore towards the coaft, where they met with a good harbour fheltered almoft from every wind. They landed there and brought wood in order to cook the bird-s. On the twenty- third the weather being cloudy and foggy, and the wind blowing from the north, they were conftrained to remain in that creek. In the mean time fome of the crew advancing farther into the ifland, they found fome fmall ftones of good gold. On the twenty-fourth they obferved the altitude and found themfelves in latitude 73° lo'. The weather continuing unfavourable, they were obliged to remain longer in that place, whei-e they went to leek for fmall golden ftones, and they brought away handfomer than they had obferved before. On the twenty-fixth at noon, they again fet fail, and as the creek in which they were, was of great extent, it was already full midnight by the time they were without. On the twenty-feventh they failed along the coaft through the broken ice, and at fix in the evening they arrived at a place where was a very rapid current, which induced them to think they were near Coftinfarch ; for they faw a great gulf as they imagined extending to the fea of Tartary. About midnight, they doubled the Cape of the Croffes, and entered a channel between the main land and an ifland. On the twenty-eighth of July, they failed along the coaft, and came at three in the afternoon to the Abbey of St. Laurence, or under Baftion Cape, where they found beyond the point, two Ruffian barks which were at anchor. It would be difficult to defcribe the joy of the whole crew at having arrived at a place where they had the fight of men. Neverthelefs this joy was damped by the reflection, that thefe men who were to the number of thirty, were not Hollanders but perhaps favages, or at leaft other people with whom they were unacq^uainted, and who might treat them as enemies. In the mean time they approached the (bore with much difficult)', and the Ruffians perceiving them quitted their work, and advanced towards them unarmed. Approach- ing one another they made falutatbns each according to his manner. Some of the Ruffians recollected the Hollanders, and beheld them with compaffion ; and fome of the Hollanders alfo remembered them to be the fame they had feen in the preceding voyage, when they had paffed the Weigats, and who had entered their veffel. It was eafy to obferve on the countenances of the Ruffians, the aftonifliment they were in, at beholding the others, and feeing them fo^ meagre and- caft down,- wandering in fmall veffels without decks, and quite expofed j while before they, had feen them in fo beau- tiful a fhip and fo well equipped. Two of them laid their hands in a friendly manner on the fhoulders of the mafter and De Veer, in order to let them know they remembered them ; for of all the Dutch crew which was there, only thefe two had been in the preceding voyage, in which they had feen the Ruflians, They afked, as well as could be comprehended, where their crabble was, that is to fay, their veffel. As thty had no interpreter they made them underftand in the beft manner they could, that they had loft it in the ice ; upon which they 120 THIRD VOYAGE OF THE EUTCH they replied, Grabble propal ; the Dutch conceiving they faid, the veffel is loft, replied' alfo Crable propal, thinking to fay, yes, we have loft it. Afterwards the Ruffians made them underftand that ir the other voyage they had drunk, wine in the ftiip. One of the failors comprehending that they fpoke of drinking went to draw feme water, and having prefented it to theni they fiiook their heads and faid, Nodobrc, by which they thought they would iay. that is not :;ood. The maftcr having approached them, and having opened his tnputh and fhewn the infide, in order to make them underftand that he was tormented wi^h'thefcurvy, and to a(k if they had no remedies for this diforder, they conceived the maimer would fay he was hungry, and having returned to their lodia they brought a loaf of rye flOur of about eight pounds weight, and fome dried birds. The mafter thanked them and alfo made them a prc- fgnt of half a dozen bifcuits. He invited two of the principal to come into the fchuyt with him, where they prefented each with a glafsof wine of v.'hat they had remaining. The other failors went to the place where were the other Ruffians, and there boiled fome bifcuits in water, in order to take fomething warm. In fine it was a great confo- lation to have commerce with men after being deprived of that pleafure for thirteen months. On the twenty-third in the morning, the Ruffians prepared to fail, and drew from beneath the grafs on the brink of the-fea, fome tons of whale oil which they had buried in order to carry on board. The Dutch who had not been able to learn their route, perceived they took that of the Weigats. They fteered tlie fame courfe and followed them. But the weather was fo dark and mifty that they lofl fight of one another. Tn the mean time the Dutch entered a channel between two iftands, and pafled thera till they were again entangled in the iee, \ivithout feeing any opening by which they might leave it ; which made them prefume that they were near the Weigats, and that the N. W. wind had thus forced the ice into the gulf. It was therefore neceffary to put back, and return to the two iftands, to one of which they moored their veflels. On the thirty-firft they failed from this ifland towards another in which were two crofles. Perceiving thefe, they perfuaded themfelves that they fliould meet with fome people there: but they faw no one. Neverthelefs their trouble was not loft ; if they found no men they found fome cochlearia, a herb of which they were nearly all in want, becaufe they were attacked with the fcurvy, and fo afteded, that the greater paut was ready to fmk under it. They ate the cochlearia, in great quantities, becaufe in Hol- land they had heard much faid of its virtue, and they experienced it to be yet greater than they had imagined. It had fo great and fudden an effeft that they were furprifed j fo that thofe who were no longer able to eat bifeuit, began to eat it directly. On the third of Auguft 1597 they determined to crofe from Novaya Zemlia to Ruffia. With this intention they fteered to the S.S' W., and failed till fix in the morning, when they again got entangled in tl>e ice. This new misfortune fenfihly afiected them, for they did not exped to be any more expofed to it, and thought they had been complet< ly clear of it. A calm coming on at the fame time, they endeavoured to extricate themfelves by their oars ; and in faft by three in the afternoon they were in tiu- main fea, where no mor<' ice was fccn. As they proceeded at a good rate, they im-!;:^inM they fhouid foon be off" the coafts of Ruflia; but at nine at night they faw themf^vt,- .u'fofh furrounded with ice ; an accident which had nearly ruined them, and occafioned them to fear tivey ihould never be out of thefe dangerous parts. v.^ , I Not TO THE NORTH OF EUROPE. 121 Not being^ able therefore to fail with the fhallop, nor to double Icy Cape, they were obliged to pafs through the ice which furrounded them. While they were en- gaged in this, they advanced more than they did before, and at length after great difficulty found themfelves again in free water. As for the mafler, he was in tho fchuyt : and this veffel, which was a better failer than the other, paffed Icy Cape, after which they rejoined. On the fourth at noon, they faw by the prow, the coafl: of Ruffia, and having ap- proached it they failed clofe to the fhore, and remained moored there till three in the afternoon when they again fet fail. They kept conftantly clofe to the fliore, and pro- ceeded at a tolerable rate till midnight when they difcovered a Ruffian veflel and called out Candtioes, Candnoes ; but the Ruffians anfvvered, Pitzoj-a, Pitzora ; giving the Dutch to underdand that they were not yet near to Candnoes, as they imagined, but only near to Pitzora. This error arofe from the variation of the needle of the com- pafs, which was inclofed in a box encompaffi^d with circles of iron, fo that they were raiftaken by two rumbs. As they had obferved their error, they judged it proper to moor, and wait for day. On the fifth a failor having landed, found fome grafs and fniall trees. He called the others and told them to bring firelocks, becaufe there was game, at which they were extremely rejoiced : for the provifions were nearly exhaufted, only fome mouldy bif- cuit remaining. Befides fome of the crew were of opinion they Ihould leave the veflels there, and proceed by land, becaufe othervvife it was probable that they would perifli by hunger. On the fixth of Auguft, the wind being contrary, they encouraged one another to row flrongly, in order to depart from the gulfj but after having rowed for nearly three leagues, they could not ad /ance farther, as much on account of the contrary wind, as of their weak condition ; and befidcs the coaft (Iretched farther to the N. E. than they had imagined. On the feventh they left the gulf, and reached the point of land where they had been before. There they were obliged to fix themfelves again with their hawfers, becaufe the wind always remained contrary, which made them heavy at heart, feeing there was no end to their hardfliips, and finding difeaie and hunger con- fume them. The eighth and ninth were not more favourable days. Soma of the crew having landed, difcovered a buoy between Candnoes and the continent of Ruffia, and they concluded that this was the channel through which the Ruffians paffed. Returning, they met with a dead fea-dog. They dragged it into the fchuyt, and regarded it. as a good piece of game, fo greatly were they prelfed by hunger. But the others pre- vented them from eating it, telling them that it would certainly occafion their deaths, and that it would be better to fufl'er (till, and wait what it fhould pleafe God to do with them : that it Ihould be hoped that out of his goodnefs he would at laft provide for their wants. On the eleventh they rowed till noon when they had a freili breeze from theS., and having fet the fails they proceeded very quickly. In the evening, the wind increafing very much, they failed towards the coaft, and landed in order to water the veffel if they could meet with any. They alfo erefted tents on account of the rain which fell in heavy Ihowers, and which at midnight was accompanied with lightning and loud claps of thunder. All thefe new misfortunes, following thofe with which they were already overwhelmed, reduced them almoft to defpair, and occafioned fome to wilh for death. On the twelfth at fix in the morning they refumed a little courage at feeing a Ruffian bark coming towards them at full fail. They haftened as much as they could to ftand VOL. I. R out 122 '■ THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH out to fea and meet it. The mafter went on board the bark, and afked at what diflance they were yet from Canduoes ; but he could not learn any thing, being unacquainted with the language. Tliey extended five fingers, and the Dutch imagined this fignified that there were five crolles on the coaft. They alfo drew out their fteering compais, and (hewed that the lands lay to the N. W. of them, and the Dutch found the fame by their compafs. As the mafter perceived he could derive no intelligence from them, he entered farther into the bark, and pointing to a calk of fifh, alked if they would fell it, and prefented them a piece of forty ibis. They comprehended his intention, and gave him a hundred and two fiih, with little cakes which they had cooked in the water in which they had boiled their fifh. About noon they parted, the Dutch crew remaining very much fatisficd at having obtained a little provifion, becaufe for a length of time they had only had each four ouiices per day, with water, and nothing more. They divided the fifli equally between them, without the Icalt diflinclion. On the thirteenth two failors landed in order to difcover if the point of Candnoes ftretched far into the fea. At their return they faid there was every appearance that it was the fame point they had conceived, and on this the fpirits of all the crew being revived they rowed with great exertion along the coafl. At three in the afternoon they obferved that the cape which they had i'een appeared at fome diftance to the S., and no longer doubted then that this was the Cape of Candnoes, whence they hoped to enter the mouth of the White Sea. "With this intention the vefTels approached each other fide to fide, and ftood out to fea in order to pafs the White Sea, and go to RufTia, according to their idea. They failed with tolerable fuccefs till midnight when there arofe a violent tempell from the N., which feparated the two vefTels from one another. On the fourteenth the weather clearing up, the crew of the fchuyt difcovered the others ju(t within the reach of the eye, and ufed every exertion to rejoin them, but in vain, on account of a gi-eat mill which arofe. On the fifteenth they had a fine breeze, and about noon difcovered land. They then imagined that they were to the weft of the White Sea, beyond Candnoes. When ihcy v-ere near to land they faw fi\- barks of Ruffians lying at anchor. They f.iluted tliem, and aikcd them at what diftance they were from Kilduin or Kildun. The Ruffians gave them to underltand that they were flill very far from it, and that they were only on the eaftern coaft of Candnoes. They ftretched out their arms to lignify that it v>as necelTary to pafs the White Sea, and that it would be very perilous to undertake this voyage with fuch fmall vefTels. The Dutch having requelted fome proviiions, they gave them a loaf, which they ate with great appetite notwithftanding its drynefs. Neverthelefs though they fufficiently comprehended, the crew of the fchuyt could not perfuade themfelves that they were at the place which was fignified to them : they were willing at any rate to believe that they had pafTed the White Sea. On the fixtccnth De Veer fteered towards a bark, which he faw to ftarboard, and to ■which he came up with great difficulty. They afl^ed the Ruffian crew if they were near Zcmlia of Cool, or otherwife Kilduin. The Ruffians fhook their head, and gave them to undcrftand they were only at Zemlia of Candnoes. The Dutch were ftill u;iwilling to believe them. They entreated them to give them fome provifions. The Ruffian*; gave them fome plaice, and the mafter having paid a piece of filver for them, tacked about in order to enter a channel before which they then were, and through ■wliich they would pafs into the fea. The TO THE NORTH OF EUROPE. r23 The RufBans obfcrving their tacking, and that they took a wrong courfe, befidos that the tide was ahiioft pafied, fent two men to them in a little yawl, with a large loaf. Thefe men gave them to underftand that they would do well to return to the bark, where they would endeavour to give them more inftruclion. The mafler prefented another piece of fdver with fome cloth to thefe meffengers, who continued without wifliing to part. Thofe who were in the large bark railed in the air a piece of bacon and fome butter, to induce the Dutch to return. They therefore returned, and haying (liewed their chart to the Rulfians ; thefe latter made them comprehend that they were {till to the eall of the White Sea and Candnoes. The Dutch were not lefs furprifed than afflifted with this intelligence, which they could not believe till then, and to find themfelves fo diftant, efpecially on account of their companions in the fliallop. The mafler purchafed of the Ruffians three facks of flour, a fide of bacon and half another, with a little cafic of honey, as much for his crev.-, as for that of the flrallop, if they (hould rejoin* lathe mean time ihe tide having paffed, at the commencement of the ebb, they crofTed the channel at the mouth of which they were when the little yawl came to re- call them, and flood out to fea, failing until they had difcovered a large cape ftretching very far, which thjy believed to be Candnoes. At night they anchored under this cape, and boiled a pot full of flour with water; a mefs which they found excellent, the more fo as they had mixed a little honey. They were yet extremely uneafy on account of the ihallop which they faw no more, and of the fate of which they were ignorant. On the feventeenth being moored, they faw a bark coming from the White Sea to which they failed. On boarding they prefented them a loaf without being yet aiked for one. The Ruffians wiffied to make them underftand in the beft manner they could that they had feen their companions to the number of feven in their fliallop, and fpoken to them. But as they found they were not underftood, they lifted up feven fingers, and pointed to the fchuyt, giving them to underftand that it was as fmall a veflTel with- out deck which they had feen, and that they had fold them bread, meat, fifli, and other things. The crew of the fchuyt beginning to comprehend what they faid, per- fectly underftood them by feeing in their hands a little compafs which they had feen with, the boatfwain's mate. They alked them if it was long fince they had feen their com- panions, and where they then were. The Ruffians fignified to them that it was the preceding day, and carefled the Dutch very much, who did not do lefs in thanking them, efpecially on account of the good intelligence they had given them with refpeft to the ftiallop. The mafter directed them to row with exertion towards the part where the ffiallop fliould be, in order to endeavour to rejoin them ; and having ranged all day along the coaft, about midnight they met with a fpring of frefti water, where they watered the ftiip, and at the fame place they alfo found fome cochlearia. On the eighteenth at fix in the morning, they drew up the large ftone to which they were moored, inftead of a ftream anchor, and continued to range the coaft, failing till noon, when they again beheld another great cape upon which there appeared in- diftinftly fome crofles. Towards fix in the evening, they recognized diftindly by the marks that it was the Cape of Candnoes, which is at the mouth of the White Sea, and under which they had wiftied for a length of time to arrive. This cape is very eafily known again by five crofTes which are there, and it can eafily be perceived how it bears off on each fide, on one fide to the S. E., and on the other to the S. W. R 2 While 124 THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH While they were preparing to crofs to the weft of the White Sea, towards the coaft of Lapland, they perceived that the water had nearly all run out of one of their little cafks. They had more than forty leagues to go before they could meet with frefli, fo that they judged it proper to fail towards land in order to feek for fome fpring ; but the fea daflied fo violently along the coalL that they dared not approach. They again fet fail between ten and eleven at night, and iailed all that night and the following day with a good wind, by which they made a great progrefs ; fo that on the twentieth, between four and five in the morning, they faw the land to the wefl of the "White Sea, having before perceived by the roaring of the fea that they were not far oiF. It was to them a great occafion to give thanks to God, that in thirty hours they had happily palled the White Sea, in which they had a very perilous paffage of forty leagues. When they were off the coaft, and found that there was no way of advancing by failing, they palled between fome rocks, and came to a good road, where having en- tered, they faw a large bark at anchor, and fome houfes on the coaft : they rowed to- wards the bark, and having moored the fchuyt there, they landed and proceeded to thofe houfes. The inhabitants received them with kindnefs ; they led them to a Ifove where they dried their clothes, and then ferved them with fifh. In thefe houfes were thirteen men, who went out to fifli every morning, and two of which commanded the others; all of them living very foberly, and ahrioli: conftantly on fifli. Befides thefe thirteen Ruffians, there were two Laplanders with three women and a child, who lived in great poverty, only eating the remnants of the Ruffians, who left them fome pieces of filh, and the heads which they threw to them, and which the Lap- landers picked up, with great humility and many thanks. The Dutch regarded this jtoanner of living with great compaffion, who, in whatever ftate they were themfelves, and whatever pity they mufl excite, could not forbear being moved for others, and con- cerned at the mifery ot thefe unfortunate people. On the twenty -firft the mafter had fome frefli fifli drelTed, of which the crew ate as much as they pleafed, which had not happened for a length of time, and they made a porridge of water and flour to fupply the place of bread. In the afternoon having ad- vanced into the country to feek for ibme cochlearia, they perceived two men on a little mountain, and faid to one another that there muft be more inhabitants in the place than they had feen ; and afterwards, without making any other refletlion thereon, they re- turned to their fchuyt. 1'hefe two men, who were their own companions, and of the crew of the fliallop, defcended from the mountain and went to the bark, to endeavour to procure fome pro- vifions ; but having come there without any defign, and as it were without thinking of it, and having no money, they had refolved to give two pair of their breeches, becaufe they had each two or three pair over one another. When they approached the bark they faw the fchuyt, which was clofe to it, at anchor, and recognized thofe who were within. The joy was reciprocal ; they meffed together, and drank water as clear as that of the Rhine at Cologne. The ci'ew of the fhallop had fuffered ftill more hardfliips than that of the fchuyt, and both together returned thanks to God from the bottom of their hearts, becaufe he had permitted them to meet again. On the twenty-fecond their companions arrived with their veflel, and this completed their joy. They entreated the cook of the Ruffians to wet a fack of flour and make fome bread, to which he very willingly confented. As thehfliermen returned at that time from the fea, the mafter bought ol them four ftock- fifli, which he had drclfed. While the Dutch were at dinner, the man who commanded the Ruffians came to fee them. TO THE NORTH OF EUROPE. 125 them, and as they had but little bread, he prefented them witii fome. They invited him to eat with them ; but he would not, becaufe it was a fall: day, and they had thrown a little fat or melted butter over the fiOi. They could not even prevail on him nor his people to drink a fingle draught, becaufe the cup appeared a little greafy, and they would not lend their cups for fear they fliould greafe them ; fo fuperftitious are they in the obfervation of th.ir faffs. On the tuenty-third the mailer made a handfome prefent in money to the com- mander of the RulHans, and paid the cook for his trouble in making bread, for which they both returned many thanks. At fix in the evening the two veil'els fet fail during the fpring tide. On the twenty-fourth, at fix in the morning, they arrived at the Seven liles, where they met with many fifliermen, of whom they afked for Kool, or Kilduil. The fifherm n pointed to the eaft ; and this was alfo the opinion of the Dutch crew. The fifliermen threw them a ftock-filh, but they could not pay them for it, being carried along too quickly by a ftrong wind : they only made different figns to fignify that they thanked them, remaining befides furprifed at the obliging manners of thofe people. At fix in the evening they met with other fifhermen, who failed towards them, and afked where was their crabbcl, that is to fay, their {hip ? They gave for anfwer the two words which they had learned, cr.ibhel propaU the fhip is loft : upon whicli the fifhermen again crijd out, Cool hrabante crabbel, by which they conceived they would fay that there were Dutch velfels at Cool, or Cola. On the twenty-fifth at noon they were in fight of Kilduin, and between one and two came to the vveffern extremity of the ifland. The mafler immediately landed, where he found five or fix fmall houfes inhabited by Laplanders, of whom they afked if that country was not Kilduin ? They anfwered yes ; and that there were three Dutch vef- fels at Cola, two of which were to leave it that fame day. Upon this anfwer they again fet fail between four and five in the afternoon, with an intention to reach Wardhuis ; but during their courfe the wind increafed fo that they could not keep the fea during the night : they therefore palfed behind two rocks and bore towards the land. They faw a little hut there, to which they repaired and found three men, who received them with kindnefs. They afked thefe men if they could find a veffel to go to Holland. They returned the fame anfwer as the Laplanders, that there were three, two of which were on the eve of departure. They afk^d them if they were willing to go to Cool with one of the crew by land, and they would pay them well for their trouble. The Laplanders excufed themfelves, faying they could not leave that place. Neverthelefs they condufted the mafter with one of the failors over a mountain, where they met with other Laplanders, who engaged to conduft the failor, on their promifing two reals of eight. Thus one of them having taken a firelock, and the failor holding a hook in his hand, they both departed towards morning. On t le tvventy-fixth they towed the two vefTels to land, and drew out what they had there to expofe it to the air : they afterwards went to vifit the Ruffians, with whom they warmed themfelves : they alfo dreffed what they had to eat, and refumed two re- gular repafls every day, as having no doubt that henceforth they fhould meet with men from rime to time, and the moft part of thofe things for which they fhould have occafion. They drank alfo of the beverage of the Ruffians, which they call quas, made of every fort of old and mouldy bread, and which neverthelefs they did not fail to find good, after having for fuch a length of time drank nothing but water. Some of them having advanced farther into the country met with a kind of little fruit, of the colour of the floe. 126 THIRD VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH TO THE NORTH. floe, which much refembled black goofberries, of which they ate, and found much be- nefit from them ; for they perceived tliat thefe goofeberries completed the cure of the fcurvy. On the twenty-nhith they faw on a mountain the Laplander returning to them, but without the failor he had conducted to Cola, which furprifed them and caufed fome alarm. The Laplander being arrived gave a letter to the mafter, who having broke it open immediately found that the writer was extremely aftonifiied at his arrival at that place with his crew ; that he believed them all loft a long time fmce ; that their return had given him the greater joy, as he had regarded their lofs as certain ; tliat he would come very foon to meet them with all kinds of refrefliments. This letter was figned John Cornelifz Riip. So agreeable a piece of news was received with great fatisfaction. Tliey paid the Laplander, and belides imde him a prefent of a pair of breeches, ftockings, and fonie other clothes, fo that he was quite clothed in the Dutch fafliion. This man walked fo quickly that it was perfectly aitonilhing : they had conftantly travelled for two days and two nights, in order to arrive fpeedily at Cola, when they were both together ; and at the return of the Laplander alone, he had only been twenty-four hours on his journey. The failors imagined there was a little witchcraft in the bufmefs : he gave them a par- tridge he had killed on his return. On thirtieth they remained all day in anxious fufpenfe to know who this John Cor- nelifz was who had written. It occurred to them fometimes that it might probably be the fame John Cornelifz who had been in their company ; but they afterwards rejeded this idea, becaufe they could not believe he was living, in the fame manner as on his fide he could not believe they were dill alive. The hardfhips he had fuffered, and would fuifer, appeared to them ftill greater than theirs, and they confequently concluded he could not have fupported them, and that he was certainly dead. At length the mafter looked for a letter that this John CorneHfz who had failed with him had formerly written, and finding it to be the fame hand-writing, he no longer doubted he was flill alive. In the mean time they faw a yawl failing towards the coaft, and when it approached they recognized John Cornelifz, who was with the failor they had fent to Cool. This was a meeting of perfons who had believed each other loft, and who beheld one another as rifen from the dead. John Cornelifz brought with him a cafk of Roftoc beer, wine, brandy, bread, meat, pork, falmon, fugar, and feveral other refrefliments. On the laft day of Auguft they got ready and departed to proceed to Cola, after having returned many thanks to the Ruflians, and having paid well for their lodging, fatting fail at mid- night during the height of the tide. On the tirft of September, at day-break, which was about fix in the morning, they found themfelves to the weft of the river of Cola, on which they proceeded, both row- ing and failing at the fame time, till midnight. On the fecond they continued to afcend the river, on the banks of which they had the pleafure of feeing trees, and they imagined themfelves arrived in another world ; for they had never yet met with trees in all the other places where they had landed. Between feven and eight in the evening they joined the veffel of John Cornelifz. The meeting of the two crews was a new occafion for rejoicing, the more fo as that of Cornelifz had been in the voyage of the preceding year with the fame mafter. At dufk they entered Cola, and on the following day they unloaded their veflTels and landed to refrefti themfelves, after incredible fatigues, in order to recruit their ftrength, and be in condition to complete the voyage to Holland. On the eleventh they obtained DISSERTATOIN OK JOHN ISAAC PONTANUS, ScC. Hy obtained pernilflion of the governor, who was there on the part of the great Duke of Mofcovy, to have their veflels conduced to the exchange, or warchoufo of the merchants, and to I'.ave them there asfacred, in order to preferve the memory of fo long and dan- gerous a voyage, made by a route till then unknown, and in fmall veiTels without any covering, which had navigated nearly four hundred leagues along the coafts and in the main fea to Cola; at which the inhabitants of that city were in an aftonifhnient which would h"ve been difficult to exprefs. On the fifteenth of September they came down the river in a bark to get on board the vefiel of John Cornclifz, which lay half a league from the town, and in the afternoon the vedel alio defcended half way down the river and beyond the ftrait. On the eigh- teenth they left the river and flood out to fca, in order to proceed to Holland. On the following day, at fix in the evening, they came before Wardhuis, where they anchored, becaufe Cornelifz had yet to take in there fome merchandife. On the fixth of Oclober, in the evening, they weighed anchor and left Wardhuis, and on the twenty-ninth of the fame month they entered the Meufe, failing with aE.N.E. wind. The following day they proceeded by land to Maaflandt-fluis, Delft, Haerlem, and on the firfl: of November they arrived at Amflerdam, in the fame drefs they had worn at Novaya Zemlia, and with the fame furred caps of foxes' fkins : thence they proceeded to the houfe of Peter Haffelaar, who was one of the diredors for the city of Amflerdam at the time of the equipment of the two vefTels at that place ; that is to fay, the one of John Cornelifz, and that of the mafler who had been to Novaya Zemlia, and returned. The return of the remainder of the crew of the loft vefTel occafioned much furprife to the people, who had thought them dead ; and as the report quickly fpread through the city, it came to the ears of the Chancellor of the King of Denmark, then his ambaf- fador to Holland, while he was at table and dining at the Prinfliof *. The high bailiff of Amflerdam went himfelf with two other lords of the city to fetch them, and they made a recital before the ambaifador and the burgomaflers of Amflerdam of their voyage and adventures ; after that they retired. Thole who had dwellings at Amflerdam went to their houfes, and the others were placed at an inn, and their expcnces defrayed until they had drawn up their^accounts and had been paid. They were in all to the number of twelve. * The houfe where the counfellors of the admiralty afTemble. DIS5ERTATI0H OF THE LEARNED JOHN ISAAC PONTANUS, JN WHICH HE ANSWERS THE OBJECTIONS OF THOSE WHO CONSIDER THE SEARCH OF A NORTHERN PASSAGE AS A TASK OF TOO GREAT DIFFICULTT; AND IN WHICH HE PROPOSES THE MOST PROBABLE MEANS OF ACCOM- PLISHING THIS DESIGN. (Ibfd. Vol. I. p. 254.) THERE are fome perfons who might object that what has been attempted is abfo- lutely impofTible, that we have not been able to accomplifh if, and that mofl probably we fhall never fucceed. But I anfwer, that the fame was formerly faid of the navigation to the Eafl Indies, which at prefent is fo happily pradifed by the Dutch and Portugviefc, 2 as 128 DISSERTATION OF JOHN ISAAC PONTANUS, as we fhall mention in its place. It was faid to be impoffible to pafs twice under the line, that the hope was too flender, and the danger too great and certain. Thefe ob- jeflions and fome others did not difluade Emanuel King of Portugal from his defign ; and he completed the difcovery of that courfe through the ocean, which a year before had been fliewn by his prcdeceffor to the Cape of Good Hope. This prince having given the command of the fleet which he fent to the Indies to Velafco de Gama, who accepted it, this commander embarlced in 1497 at Califmalis, or Cadiz.* He direcled his courfe towards Arabia, doubled the Cape of Good Hope, made all the necelTary difcoveries, and arrived at the kingdom of Calicut. At his return he related in prefence of the King every thing he had performed. For befides thetefti- monies of the ancients, they had entertained fi-efli hopes of fucceeding in this naviga- tion from the account of certain perfons whom the King had fent to Alexandi-ia, with orders to pafs from that place into Mauritania, which is above Egypt, whence they were to proceed towards Italy, in order to learn in all thofe places from the mod able per- fons what route Ihould be taken, after having pafled around the Cape of Good Hope, in order to reach the Indies. With refpeft to the ancients, it is true it feems probable that the route by this Cape may have been unknown to Ptolemy ; but Pliny exprefsly relates feveral circumftances, from which it appears that the inhabitants of Cadiz formerly much frequented the parts on this fide of the Cape : for he fays, that when C. Csefar, ion of Auguft us, waged war on the Red Sea, wrecks of Spanifh veflels were obferved ; and that during tiie flou- rifliing days of Carthage, when its power was dreaded, Hanno having failed from Cadiz to the extremity of Arabia, had given a defcription of that voyage. Befides, it may be inferred from Cornelius Nepos, that this fame route was alfo known to the Arabs ; for he relates that in his time one Eudoxus, who fled from Lathyrus King of Alexandria, having returned by the Red Sea, pafTed to Cadiz ; which is alfo precifely mentioned by Pliny. But we mufl: fmifli this digreflion, and return to our fubjefl:. If therefore the Por- tuguefe, from lending faith to thefe teflimonies of the ancients, have met with a happy fuccefs, why fliall we pay no regard to what thefe fame ancients have related of the navigation by the north ? Their teftimonies and the thing itfelf well deferve that we Ihould make every imaginable attempt. I pafs in filence what the chronicles of France and Denmark have faid of thofe of Greenland ; which chronicles of Denmark, Anfgarius, and after him Albert, minifliers of the gofpel, have publiftied at Hamburg, though at prefent their name is fcarcely known ; but thefe things will appear in a new light, if they be compared with what has been related by Pliny already cited. This author tells us, on the faith of Cornelius Nepos, that formerly there was a famous navigation made by the north, and he ad- vances this proof: that when O. iVIetellus Celer was conful with C. Afranius, being alfo governor of the Gauls, the King of the Suabians made him a prefent of fotne Indians, who being at fea for traffic, had been forced by a tempeil and call on Ger- many : he underftands that part of Germany where the Wefer and Elbe difcharge thenifelves into the foa ; for we have demonllrated elfewhere that the dominion of the ancient Suabians extended to that place. It may be conjectured that thefe Indians had parted from Cape Tabin, which is in the north of Tartary, and is called Mount Tabin by Pliny ; and that they were of Seres, a neighbouring country, and where at prefent are the frontiers of Cathay, on the fide of the Dead Sea, thus named, or Sea of Mar- •"(This paper is oalj iuferteJ on account of its ciuiofity. Pontanus muft have been a niiferable geographci'. I mora. CONCERNING THE NORTH-EAST PASSAGE. 129 mora, or Maramanifa, by the Cimbri, according as the fame Pliny relates on the faitli of Philemon ; and that the tempefl had carried them to thi- coafts of Germany. If all thefe things be true, it will be found that the relation of the Samoiedes, which we have heretofore feen, is to be credited, and that it is of great importance, fince it difclofes that the Riiflians every year, taking their opportunity to fail to a certain cape, which they call Ugolita, beyond the river Obi, arrive there in five days by that fame fea before it freezes ; fo that the voyages we would make by the north fliould be undertaken by this fame route, which appears the mofl expeditious and fure, till better difcoveries be made. We fliould follow the example of Emanuel King of Portugal, who, before equipping a fleet to proceed to theEaft, difpatched perfons to reconnoitre the Red Sea, and the routes from that fea to the Indies, in order to know its nature, and the gulfs which might be there. In the fame manner if we would wifh to pafs the Strait of Naflau, or of Weigats, perfons fhould be fent at the public expence, who taking the opportunity of the voyage made by the Ruflians every year, fliould join them in order to proceed in their com- pany ; by this means we fliould afcertain if the fea beyond the Weigats is the great fea of Tatary, or only a gulf, beyond which we cannot pafs : we fliould know if Cape Tabin be always frozen, or if it be pofiible to fail beyond : we might, I fay, be informed of all thefe things by the people inhabiting thofe climates, and who are acquainted with them. In order to facilitate this enterprife, there fliould be difpatched a fliip of war of the lowed rate, and not fo much attention paid to man it with a ftrong crew, as to compofe the crew of officers and failors already acculfomed to fail in thofe climates. This veflel fhould be ftored with provifions for a year, or even a longer time, and when arrived at the fl:rait, the place fhould be chofen which might be judged the mod proper to winter in, from which there might be communication with the RulFians and Samoiedes, and where they fliould wait the time of the pafTage of the Mofcovites. It would be well alfo that fome of the Dutch who trade to Japan fliould come by that fide to Cape Tabin, or at leafl to the places which are the moft neighbouring, and obferve the route and the country. Thefe are the mofl certain, and without doubt the only means, which can be put in praftice to clear up this great myflery, that is, whether veflels may there meet with a pafTage. I am aware that others are of opinion it would be furer to direct the courfe through the main fea, and to fail around the northern coaft of Novaya Zemlia, to the latitude of 82^ or thereabouts, becaufe the days and the fummer are longer there, the ice not fo frequent, nor in fuch quantity along the coaft ; and in fine, becaufe the cold there is lefs feverethan in lat. 76°, and below. I admit that all thefe things are thus on the globe, which is extremely inclined and curved in this latitude, and which raifes the fun on the horizon for nearly fix months. Neverthelefs there are two reafons why this opinion fliould not be received. The firft, that we have no knowledge of that climate, neither if it be all fea, or if there alio be lands and iflands. In the fecond place, fuppofing it pofhble to navigate there, the difficulty ftill remains the fame ; that is to fay, that it is neceffary to defcend from the latitude of 80° to the latitude of 70°, and below, and there to fuffer the inconveniences and the rigour of the cold and mountains of ice, in the midfl of vi'hich we fliould find ourfelves ; to remain feparated from all communication with men in unknown countries ; to be deprived of the brightnefs of the fun, to con- tend with wild beafl:s ; and finally, according to all appearance, miferably to perifli. To this has been reduced the fuccefs of the voyages which have been undertaken to the prefent time. The firft of thofe who vifited the northern coaft of America, was VOL. I. s Nicolas j^o DISSERTATION OF JOHN ISAAC PONTANUS, &C. Nicolas Zenetus,* who, in the year 1380, after having been driven here and there, lofl the hope he had conceived. In 1500 Gafpavd Cortefius, inftead of the ftrait he fought, met with a river, and having been obliged to return, he again undertook the fame voyage the following year and perifhed ; and his death was foon after followed by that of his brother Michael, who perilhed in the fame refearch. Sebaftian Cabot, a Venetian, having been fent, in 1506, by Henry VII. King of England, alfo to feek a northern paffage, was impeded by the ice, and returned without fuccefs. John Varafcenus hav- ing failed there in 1 524, in the name of Francis I. King of France, who was prepoffefled with the fame defign, landed at Cape Britain, where he and his crew were devoured by the favages. Sebaftian Gomefius, a Spaniard, took this fame route in 1525, and all the honour he acquired was to bring away fome favages. After this the Engliili having formed the fame defign, Sir Hugh Willoughby, ia 1^53, arrived in lat. 72°, where from the cold and other inconveniences, he and his •whole crew perilhed. Three years after Stephen Barrough took the fame route, and difcovered the ifles of Galgoievia, Novaya Zemlia, and fome others ; but having already experienced the feverity of the cold of this climate, and forefeeing the confequences, he departed in time and returned. Afterwards Martin Frobilher, Arthur Pet, Charles Jackman, and John Davis, of the fame nation, made the fame attempt without fuccefs. Frobifher, in 1576, returned on account of the ice : Pet and Jackman experienced the feme fate in 1580, except that they more diftlndtly obferved the coafts of Novaya Zem- lia. In 1585, Davis difcovered a gulf, but to the prefent time the extent has not beea afcertained. Finally, the Dutch in our days having rendered themfelves famous in the art of navigation by their voyages and difcoveries, were alfo willing to contribute to this lad, and have acquitted themfelves with honour, though they have failed ; for we have feen above the fuccefs of their enterprife. Thus I do not fee that this route caa be completely difcovered, unlefs by the means I have juft pointed out. * He fpeaks of the fabulous voyage of Nicholas Zeno. A JOURNET ( '31 ) A JOURNEr THROUGH FLANDERS, HOLLAND, ^c. LY M. REGNARD. [Newly tranfl ited from the Stereotype edition of the Works of this celebrated comic Poet. Paris, i8or. Tom. v.] WE left Paris in the Bruffells' diligence on the twenty-flxth day of April, 1681. I intended to fleep at Senlis, where I expefted to find P^I, de Fercourt, who had fet out from Paris three days before. All our fellow-paflengers were young men, the eldeft of whom was below twenty-eight years of age; five of them were Dutchmen, one of whom was M de Wafenau, captain of the Prince of Orange's guards : we had alfo in our company a little Spanifli abbe, who was going to take polfeflion of a petty canon- fhip at Bruffells. This little pried, humph-backed and humph-breaited, was a fource of entfrtainment to us during the whole journey. We went next day to Pont, where we dined, after which we travelled to fleep at Gournai, where the refidence of the prefi- dent Amelot is fituated : the chateau is furrounded with water, and the garden is inter- feded with various rivulets, which add confiderably to its beauty. We left this place early in the morning, that we might be enabled to reach and fleep at Peronne, which is called La Pucelle, on account of its unfliaken fideHty to the royal caufe during the civil war. It is a ftnall town, but extremely ftrong on the fide by which it is entered, on account of marfhes, which render any approach to it difficult, and which form a number of large and deep ditches, occafioning a thoufand windings before the city can be ar- rived at. The river Somme laves its walls, and defends it on the fame fide, fo that the place is almofl: inaccefTible. Thefe ditches produce excellent carp, which are famous throughout all France, as well as numbers of ducks, the pies made of which are equally efleemed. The diilance from Peronne to Cambray is feven leagues. While we were on the road we were attacked with fuch a violent Itorm that our horfes, frightened and blinded with conflant flafhes of lightning, which created day in the midft of darknefs, overturned the coach in a deep ditch, where, in confequence of the violent fall, we were in danger of ending our days ; but fortune fo ordered matters that not one of us was wounded : we efcaped with being completely drenched in water ; and after we had been angled and drawn like fiih from the coach, nearly in the fituation of thofe who come out of a mine, in which they had been immerfed to the ears, we were obliged to travel a league and a half on foot to Cambray, which, as may eafily be conceived, we entered in a very dirty and difagreeablc condition. This city by no means deferves the renown which it has acquired in France : it is only formidable by the mifchief which its garrifons have done to our peafantry ; and I amaftonifhed at the difturbance which it excited before it was taken by the greateft of kings. The fatt is, Cambray of itfelf is of no importance ; it is the caflle only which is capable of making any defence, and the city had no ffrength but what it derived from its protection ; and the works which are now carrying on at this place furnifli a con- vincing proof that there is no intention of immediately giving it back ; and that the Spaniards who believed it fo llrong, that they faid, " If the King of France wiflies to take Cambray, he muff build one," have now taken leave of it for ever. This fortrefs, fo famous throughout the world, was begun by Charles the Fifth, and has been increafed by many fortifications, which render it a very refpeQable place: its walls are aflonifli- ingly high, owing to the great depth of the ditches ; but they are not on this account the (Ironger, as they are almoll wholly undermined. We were conduced every where. s 2 by 132 REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND, &C. by an officer, who with pleafur" fliowed us every thing worthy of obfervatlon, and pointed out to us the breach by which the Spaniards efcaped. The city contains nothing remaikable, except the fpire of the cathedral, which has been lately built with furprifing delicacy of tafte. Wc lod'^ed at the Ravcn, and were vtry ill accouimodatLu, ownig to the number of ftrangers at this place. From Cambrav to Valenciennes the dillance is not greater than from Peronne to Cambray. Valenciennes is fituated upon the Efcaut, and they are fortifying it in fuch a manner as to render i'- impregnable. We obferved carefully the place by which it had been taken, and the gate through which the muflcetteers entered. This gate is conflru'ftcd like a gate of vaulted iron, and had communication with a glacis ; it had not been open for two.ity years, and it was only fo at this time for the purpofe of carrying in the body of the major, who had been wounded during an attack which had. been made on this fide : the mu.'i:etteers, for whom it alTuredly had not been opened, pur- fued the enemy, and llndiiig tnis entrance, continued their way ; and notwithftanding a (hower o: bullets, pufhed on to another gate, the portcullis of which not haviflg been ufed for a long time, it was f(^und impoffible to (hut, and they made themfelves mafters of the city. We entered the fortr°fs, and as v.e had a kind of a pried with us, they gave us two foldiers as condi^fiors. It is known that there is nothing Spanifh in this coun- try but the difpofition of the prieils ; and they are carefully and c:nitioufly watched, to prevent them from engagin;iin any improper enterprife. We obferved that all the females in this country were handfome. In travelling from Valenciennes to Mons, it is cuftomary to dine at Reverain, a place worthy of attention, both on account of the refi- dence of our armies, and of its being the fpot which feparates the territories of France and Spain : we arrived in good time at the city, and had fufficient leifure to view it with attention. Mons is the cppital of Hainault, and the firft town under the dominion of Spain on this fide ; but it remains io only until it pleafe France to take it under her protection : it may be confidered one of the ftrongeit fortreffes of the Low Country, on account of its fituation, being furrounded with marfhes The burghers form its garrifon, and we favv them mount j;uard in the great fquare, which is extremely handfome. The Prince of Aremberg, a Spanifli nobleman, who is al*b Duke of Arcot, and of the firft family of the Low Country, is governor. That which gratifi^.-d me nnich in Mons, and which is lingular enough, was the royal college of Canonefles, founded by a — — , who eftabliflied this community for the reception ol ladies of quality, who remain here until they leave it for the purpofe of being married. Thefe ladies perform the fervice with peculLir gracefuinefs : they have one drefs in which they attend church in the morning, and another in which they vifit the city in the evening, when they attend the belt com- pany, and are peifedtly well received, on acccunt of the gallantry which they profefs. We afcended the great tour, from whence we viewed the whole city, and where we alfo faw an excellent chime of bells, which the Dutch and Flemings are very fond of. After leavir.g Mons, we intended to llecp at Notre Dame de Halle. This place' of devotion has been, in common with others, much abufed by the armies encamped in its neighbourhood, which have had no regard for the reverence which ail Ff mings feel for this church, dedicated to the Virgin. We obferved on leaving Moiis the fpot where the famous battle of St. Denis was fought, on tho tvening previous to ihcprocUmation of peace in the army, and at the time when the Prince of Orange had in his polfcffioa the articles of peace actually figned : we were accompanied by an officer who was pre- fent at the engagement, and who Ihowed us the polls and pohtions which the two armies occupied. Tile banle is alfo denominated that of Cafliau, which is the appellation of a little village oppofite to that abbey, whole name diltinguilhes this engagcmciit. We REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND, &C. l^S We nt length arrived at BruiTells, the fecond city of Brabant : it is extremely agree- iiblc, and very populous, as it is the ordinary place of refidcnce of the govoniors of the Low Country, and conl''quent!y of a number of men of quality who attend the court ; on this account it is called I7.>e Nobie. The governor's palace is the fined building in the city, both on account of its fize, and tf the fine park which fuin un.ls it, ferving as an agreeable promenade to all the inhabitants, and d.lighting the fight l«y the number of fountains which it contains. The Prince of Parma is the prefent governor : he has placed the militia on an excellent footing, i-e-efiabliihing it by great levies made upon the people, who have r.ot bee n extremely well plcafed with the meafure. The town- houfe is a curious (trudure : it was ereded by an Italian, who hanged himfelf with vexation, as his epit-inh informs us, becaufe he had neglected to place the tower in the middle. This man performed that office for himfelf which a hang iian fliould have done ; for he delerved no better than a cord, for having been deficient in a point whi:h men the moll ignorant of architedure would by no means have neglected. The churches of Brulfels, like thofe of the Low Country, are very handfome, and kept in excellent repair. "We law in the collegiate church, called St. Gudule, three miraculous hofts, on which we were told that fome fpots of blood could be difcovered. We went to fee ihefociety of Beguins, which is a peculiar order in this country : they are clothed la white when at church ; but they walk through the ftreets in a long black cloak, which covers them from head to foot : they have alfo a little cap on their heads, which forms a very handfome drefs ; and I obferved girls in this religious habit whom I (hould have loved in preference to many others fliining in gold, and fparkling with diamonds. At this time there were eight hundred at Beguiuage. The court of faihionables here is the fame with the court among us : here all the ladies and cavaliers are to be met with ; but there is this difference, however, that all the ladies are here on one fide, and the gentlemen on the other. We palled three days very pleafantly at Bruffells, and after having feen every thing wortiiy of obfervation in the city, we ft out on the fixteenth day of May by the canal which communicates with Antwerp ; but by which we only went to , where we left the boat, for the purpofe of taking coaches to Malines, which we wifhed to fee before our arrival at Antwerp. Malines is termed The Beautiful, and not without reafon ; for it appears to be rather a painted than a real city, the buildings being regular, and the ftreets handfome and well paved. It is to this parliament, the fidt of the Low Country, that every procefs which is appealed is referred ; and this circumftance renders the city celebrated. This province is difmembered from the reft of the Low Country, and forms a marquifate by itfelf. AH the common people work, as is the cuftom throughout Flanders, at the manufacture of white lace, which bears tfiis name ; and Beguinage, which is the largeft and m.oft valuable of them all, is only fupported by the labour in which the Beguins are engaged, and in which they excel. The Beguins arerehgious girls or women, who retire to this place as often as they think proper ; they have each a little houfe to them- felves, where they receive the viiits of their relations ; there are evtn fome of them who take boarders. 'l"he place is called Beguinage, and the gates are fhut early in the evening. There is at MalincS a tower remarkabL- for its height, which comiiiands a moft extenfive profpcrtl. From Malines, where we dined, we were to go in the evening to Antwerp in coaches, which travel every day at a certain hour, and by the moll charming and beautiful road which 1 have ever feen. Antwerp, the capital, and the molt extenfive city of Brabant, and to which one might give titles ftill more relpectable, furpaffes all the cities I have feen, Naples. Rome, and Venice excepted, not only by the niagnihcence of its buildings, the pomp of its churches, and 1^4 REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND, ScC. and the fize of its fpacious flreets, but alfo by the manners of its inhabitants, the men: polite of whom endeavour to imitate the French manners both with regard to drefs and language, which they are proud of pofieffing in perfeftion. That which firfl: excited our admiration in entering the city was the beauty oi its fuperb ramparts, which, co- vered with trees, form the mod dehghtful walk in the world : they are wholly covered with freeftone, and waflied by a ditch of running water, which furrounds the city, and which equally ferves to embellifli and defend it. The cathedral is well buih, and the fteeple, of Epglilh workmanfhip, is furprifmgly handfome ; but it may one day prove the fource of vexation to the city. 1 hei'e are here feveral excellent paintings, and among others a defcent from the crofs, by Rubens, which is reckoned a mafter-piece. Ihe church of the Jeiuits is not inferior in magnificence to any which I have feen in Italy, and is as fuperb, as the marble with which it is built has been conveyed from a confiderable diftance, and at a great expence : the whole roof is covered with pieces, from the hand of the greateft maflers. It is eafy to judge of the magnificence of this church, when it is ftated that the marble rail alone which guards the chief altar cofl more than forty thoufand livres : and I do not believe it poflible to behold a more finiflied piece of fculpture ; the marble is fo delicately rounded, that it feems to have forgotten its native hardnefs for the purpofe of affuming that form which the workman wifhed to give it, and to yield like wax to the dictates of his will. The fortrefs, famed through all Europe for its regularity, has five baftions : it is larger, ftronger, and in- comparably better built than that of Cambray. Its glacis is extenfive and fpacious throughout, and fuperior in this refpedl to that of Cambray, which can be very nearly approached while under cover ; which circumifance tended not a little to facilitate its capture. We were conducted hither by M. de Verprofl, and carried every where by an officer, who would not allow us to walk upon the balfions. We faw the place where the Dutch attempted to take the city by furprife, where they defcended by night in the river, and attempted to pafs the ditch by means of little boats, which every man could carry upon his fhoulder ; but the centinel hearing a noife gave the alarm, in confequence of which the Dutch, difappointed in their expectations, retreated and left all their boats and in- ftruments, which are fiill kept in the citadel, and which were Ihewn to us as fymptoms and monuments of vidlory. We embarked at Antwerp for Rotterdam. We had Zealand on the left, and pafied in fight of Bergen-op-Zoom, which belongs to the Count of Auvergne. We were three days on our voyage, and paffed the Brille : this place excited confiderable difturbance during the troubles in Holland, which happened about a century ago. During the reign of Philip the Second, Ion of Charles the Fifth, the Seven Provinces were governed by , filler of Charles, and confequently the King's aunt. Philip, to whom they belonged, wilhed to levy fonie new taxes from the people, and to ellablifh the inquifition among them. The Dutch placed themfelves in oppofition to the new declarations, and the Prince of Orange, fupported by Count Horn, and by , at the head of the populace, remonltrated to the govei-nefs, and propofcd tv\o hundred articles, refpefting which they requeflcd fatisfadlion. This lady, furprifed at the tumult, turned round to one of the chief men of her council, who told her, in derifion, that Jhe ought not to give h erf elf any uneafinefs about aft o/"bkggars. 'I'his faying being reported to the mutineers, they became fo enraged that they eltablilhed a party, which has fince been difiinguiflied by the name of The Beggars. The governefs, however, returned to Spain, being confcious of the fadious difpofition of the inhabitants of the Seven Pro- vinces, and not wilhing to Ihew them that ihe could not confent to a part of the articles vhich they propofed : this led Philip the Second to fend the Duke of Ava, who after- wards REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND, &C. 1 35 wards (hed fo much blood, and produced the complete rebellion of the Provinces : it is faid that he deflroycd, by the hands of the executioner, more than eighteen thoufand perfons. He convoked the States at Bruflells. Count Horn, not wifhing to appear ringleader of the mutiny, went thither ; but the Prince of Orange, fearing the Spaniards, whom he diftrufted, left the States that he might not be obliged to attend. Count Horn meeting accidentally the Prince of Orange, who abfented himfelf, " Farewell, (fays he) Prince ivithout territories :" to which the Prince replied, " Farewell, Coimt without a head :" which was afterwards found to be true ; for being arrefled at the meeting of the States, they cut off the Count's head, together with thofe of an almoll: countlefs number of individuals, who were fuppofed to belong to his party, or who were fufpecled to do fo, it being treafon in the opinion of the Spaniards, to be an objedt of fufpicion to the King. The Prince of Orange, being fenfible by the death of Count Horn and his adherents that he had adled with proper prudence, wilhed ftill to confult his fafety, and ftrengthening the party of the fadtious, he put himfelf at their head, and after many battles, in which he was continually worded, he at length took the Brille, from which the Duke of Ava, endeavoured, in vain, to expel him. This gave occafion to the pictures made of him, in which he is ladicroufly reprefented with fpeftacles on his nofe, Brille in Dutch fignifying fpedacles. Holland is divided into feven United Provinces, which are denominated Guelderland, Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Friezland, Overyffell, and Groningen. We arrived at Rotterdam at midnight, and were obliged to go over the walls, that we might enter the city, as the gates were fhut. This city is the fecond of the whole country ; and it is eafy to judge of its richnefs by the number of veffels, which are to be feen here from every country, and which fill the canal of the city, though it is extremely large. This city is remarkable for the extent of its commerce, as well as the beauty of its houfes, which are polVeffed of all that neatnefs fo charafteriftic of all the cities of Holland. The ftatue of Erafmus is placed in the middle of the great fquare : he was born in this city, and certainly deferved from the republic, a ftatue ia bronze upon the bridge which is fituated in the middle of the fquare. We left Rotterdam, at two o'clock of the afternoon, in boats, which are extremely commo- dious in all parts of Holland : they fet out, every one at different times, and half an hour after each other ; in confequence of which, fome of them depart every half hour both of the day and the night for a hundred different places ; and, lb punttual are they, that the horfe is yoked to the boat, as foon as the hour is ready to Itrike ; and before it has fully ftruck the horfe fets off. We travelled to Delft, a little village at the diftance of two leagues from the Hague, where we faw the brother of one of our friends whom we had left in flavery at Algiers. We entered the principal church of the city, and viewed the tomb of the famous Admiral Tromp. In the evening we arrived at the Hague, which is the fined village in the world : it is the Prince of Orange's ordmary refidence. He was not here at this time, but had gone to a great hunt in Germany, upon the lands of with the The Prince of Orange is denominated William the Third of Naffau. The late wars have rendered him popular in Holland, and he has, confequently been declared Stad- tholder, Captain-General of the Armies belonging to the United Provinces of the Low Country, and Grand Admiral. The States allow him the fum of a hundred thoufand franc j per annum, befides defraying the expences of his private eltablifhmcnt. Some individuals wiflied him and tried to entice him, to declare himfelf King of Holland while he was ablo.- lutemafter of the troops. But thole who had more wifdom pointed out to him, not only the difficulty attending the execution of this projed, but the impoffibihty of maintaining 2 the 136 REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND, &C. the fovereignty even were he fortunate enough to acquire it. They argued that Holland would be completely and fpeedily deflroyed, if it became the property of a mafler, and ceafed to be a republic, and that on account of the great expence which would beconfiantly required for the prefervation of the country; that a prince would be obliged to raife large funis upon his fubjefts, which whillt they were indulged with the title of freemen, they would pay with pleafure, as all they gave, uas for the general good ; it is on this account, that no country is more harraffed by taxes and impofts than Holland ; and the people flatter themfelves, that, as it is they v/ho im- pofe them, they have it in their power to refufe them whenever they pleafe. This counfel, the mofl: prudent and politic, was followed by the Prince of Orange, w^ho found his account in it. The States of Holland hold their fittings at the Hague, which is the chief caufe of Its magnificence. The houfes of fome individuals are very beautiful, but the palace of the Prince has nothing in it remarkable. On the contrary it is furprifing lo fee him fo indifferently lodged, whilft fome merchants dwell in far grander manfions. We h\v the chambers of the States, one of which is handfome enough, and which M. Del faid, he would undertake to gild for two thoufand crowns, though according to the general calculation, it coft more than ten tlioufand crowns of gold; but, he added, he underflood that they had furnifhed it for him. M. Davaux was here, at this time, ambaflador. We faw him in mourning on account of the recent death of the Chevalier M. Mefme, his brother-in-law whom I have feen at Rome, and who had been lately killed by the ftroke of a ftone. On leaving the palace, we viewed a gate in the neighbourhood of the houfe of M. De- , the place where the murder of Penfionary De Witt happened, who was deflroyed by the populace, at the commencement of the war. This took place at the inftigation of the Prince of Orange, who was difpleafed with him for publidiing an edift, which had been ifi'ued a fhort time before, forbidding the people to recognife the Prince as their Sovereign, which it was their wifli to do. Prince William of Naifau, who was at the head of the patriots ^^■hen they threw off the Spanifh yoke, behaved fo goneroufly liuiing the whole of the war, that the Dutch, after the Spaniards had been obliged to recognife ihem and their Republic as indepen- dent ftates, were forced to reward his valour by conf-^rring on him the title of Protedor of the States. This title is rrijoyed by his furc.fTors. But the council of the pro- vinces, and cipecially the De "\Vutt>, who compnfed a particular faction, and who were encouraged by many others, publifhed thu; perpetual law, by which it was declared illegal ever to propofe the Prince oi Orange as Sovereiga, and even obliged theprefent Prince, while young to fign it. During thefe traniadtions, war with France com- menced ; and the people dreading the French yoke, and believing, that, if they had the Prince of Orange at their head, they would perform wcnders, propofed him. But being prevented by ih':- perpetual eclift, they broke out againfl De Witt, the general of the forces, and caufed him to be urreiled, accufing him of high treafon, and of wifhing to overturn the government ; but, finding no evidence fufficient to convict him, they contented themfelves with banifliing him, for the purpofe of fatisfy- ing tlie people and the fadion of the Prince ■■.<( Orange. His brother penfionary at the Hague for the affairs of the province of Holland, demanded permiilion to vilit him ; but, in endeavouring to enter the prifbn, the people mutinied, fuifering with impatience the fight of a man who oppofed their fchemes, fell upon him, and barba- roufly affaflinatcd him on the fpot. They drew him to a little diltance, where they hung him b) the neck. Every body crowded to this fccne, and fo enraged were the people, 1 that reonard's journey to i-apland. 137 that they cut the body in pieces, and took away with them lumps of flefli, which they fold feme days afterwards, at a high price, to thofe who had not enjoyed the fatisfaction of being prefent at this maflacre. The people, who are ferocious brutes, delighting al- ways in extremes, becaufe deftitute of reafon, and either too timidor (00 rafh, have already repented of this aftion. They are fenfible, that the law was made for their intereflrs ; and the Penfionary's death was the firll check which the Republic rect-ived. The United Provinces are indebted, under heaven, to the Princes of Orange for their liberty, who forced the King of Spain to fign the treaty, and to recognize the Dutch as a free people, independent of every other, which is a very remarkaljl*" cir- cumftance. William the Firft cemented with his blood, the foundation of the Repub- lic. Maurice and Henry, his fons, advanced its glory, by being conquerors in feveral engagements. William the Second, not inferior to the reil, died very young, and left as the fucceflbr of his virtues William the Third of the fame name, the prefent Prince of Orange, fon of William the Second, and Mary Stewart, eldeft daughter of Charles the Firft, King of England, who was beheaded. In the thirty-fixth or thirty-feventh year of William the Second's age, William the Third was born, who has fmce mar- ried the daughter of the Duke of York. He was not born till after his father's death, and he was, when eleven years of age, deprived of the Princefs Royal his mother, who died at London, of the fmall-pox, the fame difeafe which had carried off her hufband, William the Second. It is known to all the world, that Holland is a ftate purely republican ; but it will be proper to fay fomething more particular refpefting its government. Every city is governed by a magiftrate, burgo-mafters, and counfellors, befides a bailiff, in criminal caufes, who difcharges his ofiice at the will of the council, and who determines abfolutely, in criminal affairs, of the fentence of the burgo-mafters. Above a certain fum, an appeal may be made to the provincial court, to which every city fends a councillor. The deputies from the cities compofe the States of the Province ; and the deputies from the Provinces form the States General, who enter into alliances, form treaties, im- pofe taxes, and attend to the general interefts of the republic. The Provinces have all equally the fame influence ; but the Province of Amftei'dam generally fways the balance, and influences the decifions, according to its wifli. That city alone is con- fidered a province. It is a natural conclufion that the fovereignty is not refident in the States General, who confift folely of envoys from the cities for the purpofe of propofing in the counil, thofe matters which they wifh to be confidered. The Hague is the place where the Dutch nobility refide, and it is, perhaps, the mofl; charming refidence in the world. A large forefl of tall trees, bounded on every fide, by magnificent palaces, and furrounded by extenfive and beautiful meadows, renders its appearance one of the mofl pleafant in Europe. Before the Stadthoufe, there is a pond furrounded with pieces of hewn ftone, while large trees on its borders adorn the palace of the Prince. One can travel in a quarter of an hour from the Hague to the fea, by a charming road. In going thither, we faw a chariot with fails, which the Prince of Orange had caufed to be conftructed, and we went into a place, where they ride round a ring on wooden horfes. We went to view a refidence of the Prince where he pafTes part of the year, and maintains a number of curious beafts» We alfo faw fome cows from Calicut, of a peculiar ftru£ture, with bunches on their backs, befides a number of Itags. We left the Hague, and dined at Leyden, which is called Lugdumim Batavorum, and which is refpeftable on account of its univerfity, its anatomical preparations, and the propriety of its buildings j it is in my opinion, the mofl - vox.. 1. T refpedable ^3^ REGNARu's JOURNEY TO LAPLAND. refpedlable of all the Dutch towns. We faw here a number of curiofities, and among others, a hippopotamus or fea-cow, which had been brought from India. In the anato- mical mufeum they lliow a quantity of preparations, fo numerous, that a catalogue of them would be fufficient to fill a large volume. From Leyden we travelled to Amfterdam and faw Haarlem on the road, where we obferved a large church : we arrived at Amllerdam in the evening. This city of cities, fo renowned throughout the whole univerfe, may well be confidered a mailer-piece. The houfes are magnificent, the flreets fpacious, and the canals extremely large, with their banks fringed with trees,: which mixing jheir verdure with the various colours with which the houfes are painted, form one of the moft delightful, fcenes in the world. The city appears double. One can fee it in the water, and the refleftion of the palaces in the canals renders this place a charming refidence. The town-houfe is fituated on the dam ; this flruclure might have been reckoned one of the fined in Europe, if the architedl had not been deficient in the plan, and had made fome diftinftion betwixt the vv'indows and the entrance, which it is necelTary to look for on all fides, and often to enquire for. "We afcended the ftairs of the building, where we faw a magazine of arms, and a very fine chime of bells. From the fpire, we obferved Utrecht, which was the place that bounded the conquell of the King. The houfe of correftion is one of the moft ufeful eftabliflnnents I know, it contains all the females of infamous character, who are fliut up in it, for a certain time, and obliged to work. Perhaps there is no town in the world, Paris excepted, where there is fo much de- bauchery, as in Amfterdam. However, there is this difference between them, that in this city, there are certain diftricts, where bawds refide, and maintain, in their houfes, a certain number of girls. The" gentleman is lliown into a chamber, which has a communication with a number of fmall ones, of which he pays for the entrance. The portrait, and the price of the lady which the chamber contains, are fixed above the door ; the choice is left to the gentleman ; but the lady will not venture out till the price is paid, and if the portrait has flattered, fo much the worfe for him. The work-houfe is another receptacle for vicious perfons and children, whofe parents have been unable to reclaim them, where they are employed to grind cinna- mon; There is in the great church of Amfterdam a chain of immenfe value, on ac- count of the excellence of its workmanfhip. At Amfterdam, and throughout Hol- land, all kinds of religions, except the Catholic are tolerated ; this exception is an example of their good policy, as they are corivinced, that if ever the Catholics ac- quired power, it would be a great check to their liberty, and might prove its deftruc- tion. One fees here, Lutherans, Calvinifts, Armenians, Neftorians, Anabaptifts, and Jews, who arc more powerful in this place, than in any other country : Their fynagogue here is infinitely fuperior to that of Venice. The India houfe, which is without the city, fhows clearly, that it belongs to the richeft merchants in Europe. They were building here a very fine fliip, which was to fail for India in a month. We went to fee their fliips of war, which had no very refpeclable appearance, and 1 did not diflinguifh one, which was equal in beauty to our own. They difapprove of quarter-galleries, which are frequent with us, and fuppofe that they obftruft the fliip's motion, but this addition, fo far from being any diladvantage, is, I find, extremely ufeful to the ofFicer-s, and ornamental to the veifel. At Amfterdam, we lodged at Chellier's, at the Place Royale, in Kalvcrjlraat. We knew M. de Refwic, who is dcfcended of one of the firft families in Holland, and who in the late wars, expended large funis of money. He fhewed Mifs Hornia, his miftrefs, heirefs to a very fine fortune, and, like him, a Catholic. We faw them together at the opera, at the re- I prcfentatioa REGNARD S JOURNEY TO LAPLAND. j'^Cj prcfentation of the rape of Helen. We were informed at the comedy that the whole I'uin received is given to the poor, and that the city pays the comedians, who receive a certain falary. We left Amfterdam, on the twenty-fifth day of May 1681, and arrived at Enchuyfe in the evening, where we only flaid while we took a refrefhment. We obferved, that this city has three herrings upon its arms, on account of the great numbers which the inhabitants catch of this fifli. We hired a boat in the evening to Workum, where we arrived next morning. This province is called North Holland, and I do not believe there are finer women any where, than what are here to be met with. The peafant- girls poflels charms not inferior to thofe of the ancient Romans, and they are fufficient to infpire love at firft fight. We arrived at Lewarden, the capital of Friefland, a very handfome town, which chofe the Prince of Naffau for its governor, not wifliing to vote for the Prince of Orange. This Prince is about twenty- five or twenty-fix years of age. He lolt his father about eighteen years ago, at the feventh year of his age. This Prince died in confequence of an unluckly accident : a piftol, which went off accidentallv, at once deprived Europe of a great man, and Friefland of a generous governor. He left be- hind him, a widow illuftrious ior her birth and her merit, Albertine of Orange, daughter of Prince Henry and ' Amelia de Solmes. The Pi-ince furvived feven'or eight days after the accident, and the people of Friefland out of gratitude for the good conduct of the father offered the government to his fon, who was at that time extremely young, and appointed him no other governor, than the Princefs his mother. We left Lewarden, and having travelled the whole night, we arrived by day-break, at Groningen, a city very pleafantly fituated, and which became famous in the late war, for the fiege which it fuftained againil the bifliop of Munfter, who invefted it at thr head of twenty-four thoufand men. But the excellence of its fortifications, and the courage of its inhabitants forced the befiegers to abandon their works after a fiege of fix weeks, during which, they loft a great number of men. From Groningen we travelled to Oldenburg, which belongs, at prefent, to the King of Denmark, This city has given its name to the whole county. Two years ago, it was deftroyed by lightning: they are beginning to rebuild it, and the King of Denmark is rearing fome fortifications. They have here a horn of plenty, which has given rife to the ftory of a woman, who rifing out of the earth, prefened herfelf to the Count of Olden- burg, with this horn in her hand, full of a liquor which he was unacquainted with. The Prince was then at the chace, at a diftance from his people, and much exhaufted. But being ignorant of this liquid, and feeing an extraordinary woman, he would not touch it, but poured it upon the buttocks of his horfe. The n;rength of this liquor carried off all the hair from the places it had touched. The King had departed from Oldenburg for Copenhagen only two days before our arrival. On the fame evening we arrived at Bremen, a republic whofe territories are furrounded with thofe of Sweden and Denmark. The city is handfome, but of fuch fmall extent, that the walls almoft touch the territories of their neighbours. From Bremen we faw nothing remarkable, till we arrived at Hamburg ; and we were five days and five nights conftantly travelling in their poll waggons, before we finifhed the j riurney. From Hamburg to Amfterdam, the diilance is calculated at fixty miles, which amount to a hundred and thirty French leagues. Hamburg is a Hanfeatic town, free and imperial, which from its excellent militia and regular fortifications, has nothing to fear from a number of Princes, who are very T 2 anxious i,Q regnard's journey to laplakd. anxious to poffefs this rich treafure, and particulary, the King of Denmark, for whom it is very conveniently fituated. This Prince blockaded it during the late wars with five and twenty thoufand men ; but feeing the number of auxiliary forces which arrived from all quarters, he could do nothing more. He refigned, a (hort time after, for the fum of two hundred thoufand crowns, all his pretenfions to this city. It is governed bv four burgo-maftcrs, and eighteen councillors. The ladies here are very hand- fome, and cover their faces, according to the Spanifli fofhion. The Lutheran religion is profeffed here, where they have a "hollow pine a hundred years old. Their operas are pretty well reprefented, and I found that of Alcelle excellently performed. The whole country is excellent, and very fertile. Their carriages are extremely convenient, and the horfes are excellent, and run continually. JOURNEY TO DENMARK. FROM Hamburg, we fef out for Copenhagen, which is about a hundred and twenty leagues diftant from it. At Pinnenberg, three miles from the city, we faw the Queen mother of Denmark, who was going to the waters of Pyrmont with Prince George her fon, and younger brother of the King. From Pinnenberg, we proceeded to Iffoe, Renfburg, Flcnfburg, Aflen, Niebury, Caftor, Rochild. The latter was formerly the refidence of the Danilh Kings. 'Their tombs are flill to be feen here; that of Chriflian the Firft is beautiful. We faw the model of his ftatue, and it was with difficulty that 1 reached up to it. The Oueen mother is of the houfeof Luneburg. She went to the camp to fee the young Oueen, with whom flie is by no means on a friendly footing ; and fhe would not receive the vifits of the ambafladors, becaufe they vifited the young Queen before her. All the above-mentioned towns are handfome : the women carry all kinds of balkets made of very fine twigs, upon their heads. At Aflen, I loft a portmanteau. Frederic the Third was the firft King under whom the kingdom became hereditary. He was fupported by the merchants of Copenhagen, who could not bear the tyranny of the nobles. They encouraged him in his enterprize, and rewarded him with their fervices. The merchants and people were fo abufed by the nobles, that they could kill any one of them, if they depofited a crown under the body of the deceafed. Frederic did not attempt to take this privilege from the nobility ; but he ordained, that if a merchant or a peafant killed a noble, in that cafe, they fhould place two crowns below the dead body. The coffin v/hich contains the body of Frederic the Third, late King of Denmark, and father of the prefent, is very rich, and covered with various pieces of workmanfhip in filver. ... Copenhaf^cn is very advantageoufly fituated on the Baltic fea. It is a frontier town on the fide of the Province of Schonen, and fuftaincd a fiege very vigouroufly, during two years, againft Guftavus Adolphus, the father of Oueen Chriftina, wliom we have feen at Rome. The fpiresof Sainta Maria bear the marks of this fiege. The Louvre is a very ordinary building, covered with brafs, which was formerly the refidence of bifliops, when the King's court was held at Rochild. The ftable is very handfome, and very long, and contains a number of excellent horfes ; and the riding- houfe, which is near it, is a very curious firudurc. It was here that the rejoicing took place when the Oueen of Sweden left Copenhagen. There are no buildings worth looking at in tins city, if we except the palace of the Queen mother, the garden of the King, and that of the Duke of Guldenleu, which is » the REGNARd'6 journey to LAPLAND. I4r the title of all the firft baftards of the King of Denmark, and means Lion dore ; and when the King upon the throne begets a Guldenleu, that of the late King takes tha title of High Mightinefs. We were four days and four nights in travelling one hundred and twenty leagues ; and we arrived at Copenhagen on Thurfday, at the opening of the gate. We lodged at Krants. P'rederic the Third was archblfhop of Bremen, but was elefted King, on the death of his elder brother. He had fix children, two of them boys, and four girls. The fons were King Chriftian, and Prince George. The eldefl of his daughters, Anne Sophia, was married to George the Third, Duke of Saxony ; another to the Duke of Holftein, the third, Sophia Amelia, to William Palatine of the Rhine, and brother to Madame d' Orleans J and the fourth and youngeft, Uliica Eleonora, to the King of Sweden. Chriftian the Fifth, the prefent King, has five children. Three of them are fons ; Prince Frederic, eleven years old. Prince Chriftian fix, and Prince Charles one. Two are daughters, the eldell of whom is called Sophia, and the other The tower of the obfervatory, which a carriage might afcend, is a very curious build- ing. It was reared by Frederic the Second. From the top of the tower we fee the whole of the city, which is not very extenfive, but which appears almoft wholly furrounded. by water. There is a celeftial globe of brafs here, made by the hands of Tycho Brahe, a famous mathematician, and a native of this country. The Exchange is a very handfome building, placed oppofite to the Louvre. Its fpire is very curioufly conftrufted. Four lizards, whofe tails are raifed up in the air, form the circumference. It is here, where all curiofities are expofed to fale, as at the palace. The harbour contains the King's fhips, amounting to about fifty or fixty, the admiral's veffel has a hundred guns. The Kings of Denmark never fent out fuch a number of fhips before, and the lad victory which they gained over the Swedes acquired them immortal honour. The arfenal contains a number of fine pieces of cannon. There are even fome of highly polilhed fteel, which w^re manufactured in Mofcovy. In a hall above, there are arms for fixty thoufand men, a chariot which moves of itfelf, and another, in the wheels of which there is a clock, which flrikes the hour according to the motion of the wheels. All the fpoils which the Danes acquired in their late wars with the Swedes, are placed here, with the equipage of feventeen veffels, which were taken at one time. The King's cabinet is above the library. There are feveral chambers filled with curiofities ; among others, there is a tail of a horfe, which is the mark of authority among the Turk«, and which the bafhaws place before their tents, when they are at the army ; the Grand Seignior has three, and the Vifier two. We faw a beautiful female mandrake, the flippers of a girl who was defloured without being confcious of it, a nail which they told us, is one ot Nebuchadnezzar's, and one of the children of that Countefs of Flanders who brought forth, at one birth, as many as there are days in a year. The King is very handfome, and takes pleafure in various exercifes, fuch as riding on horfeback, and the chace. He is four-and-thirty years of age, and married Charlotte Amelia daughter of the Landgrave of HeiVe. There is no language fo well adapted for beggars as the Danifli. When they fpeak, one is always apt to think that they are crying. The 1^42 regnard's journey to LATLAND. The kingdoms of Denmark and Norway are fubject to the fame fovereign. They are bounded by Sweden on the eaft, England on the weft, the Frozen Ocean on the north, and Germany on the fouth. They are connected with the latter by means of the Dutchy of Holftein, which is near the ifthmus. This place, at prefent denomi- nated Jutland, and which is fituated between the Ocean and the Baltic Sea, was known to the ancients by the name of Cimbric Cherfonefus. Denmark is a rich and fruitful country, containing a number of iflands, the mofl refpeftable of which are, Zealand, Falfter, Langeland, Laland and Funen, the latterbf which is famous for that laft viftory which faved the kingdom from total deftrudtion, when the Danes, fupported by the Dutch, put all the power of Guftavus Charles at defiance in this ifland, while he had befieged Copenhagen two years. The King of Denmark is ftill mafter of Iceland, which is fuppofed to be the Ultima Thule of the ancients. This ifland, although it is covered with fnow, neverthelefs contains burning mountains, whence iflue fire and flames, to which the Iceland poets compare the breads of their miftreifes. It alfo contains fmoldng lakes which turn every thing thrown in them to ftone, and many other wonders, which render this ifland famous. Norway extends along the fea fliore the whole way to the houfe of Wardhus, which is, beyond the North Cape, in approaching from the fide of the White Sea, upon which Archangel, a fea-port of Mufcovy is fituated. This extent of territory was ceded by the treaty of peace concluded betwixt Frederick the Third and Guftavus Charles, late Kings of Sweden and Denmark. Greenland begongs to Denmark alfo ; but it is only habitable three months in the year, which are employed in the whale-fiftiery. Sweden has been feveral times joined to thefe two kingdoms, by alliances entered into between the Princes or Princeifes of the two countries. But Sweden was totally feparated from them by Guftavus the Firft, head of the family of Vafa, who caufed himfelf to be crowned King of that kingdom in the year 1^28, and introduced the Lutheran religion at the fame time that Chriftian the Third eftabliftied it in Denmark. The latter had always been an eleftive monarchy, as well as Sweden ; but Frederick the Third, after having been engaged in feveral wars with his neighbours, and having faved the ftate by his vigilance and courage, procured the government to be declared fucceflive and hereditary. Frederick, third of the name, fon of Chriftian the Fourth, who reigned more than fixty years, and of Anne Catharine, fifterof John Sigifmond, Elector of Brandenburg, was father of the prefent King Chriftian the Fifth. He was archbifhop of Bremen, before he fucceeded to the kingdom, in confequence of the death of his fiither, and that of his elder brother, who was a year older ; and he married in the year 1643, Sophia Amelia, daughter of George Duke of Brunfwick and Luneburg, and Anne Eleonora, daughter of Louis, Landgrave ofHefle, chief of the houfe of Darmftadt. The laft re- union of thefe kingdoms happened in 1397, by the marriage of Haquin, fon of Magnus the fifth King of Sweden and Infelburg, and heir to Norway, with Margaret, eldeft daughter of Waldemar the fourth. King of Denmark. The laft feparation, as I have already mentioned, took place in the year 1528,111 confequence of the tyrannical conduft of Chriftian the Second to the Swedes. He obliged the inhabitants of Stockholm to give him hoftages ; and even after he had received them, continued his cruelties. Guftavus Vafa one of the hoftages, efcaped ia Sweden, put himfelf at the head of the opprefted Swedes, who elected him King, and threw oft" the Danifti yoke. We learned in Denmark the nature of a Virfchat. The ambaflador took the trouble to give us tlie information himfelf. He told us, that this amufement generally REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. ^43 generally hjippened in the winter fcafon, during which time the King, wifliing to ainufe himfelf, orders a Virfchat throughout the whole court, and forms one ot the party. The whole court appears in different trades, with dreffes appropriate to the bufmefs which they prot'efs, and which has fallen to their lot. The King of Denmark, himfelf appeared at the lafl:, in the charafter of a coalman ; and we were told that nothing can be more entertaining than this kind of mafquerade. It is not pradifed in Denmark only, but is alfo prevalent in Sweden, and throughout all Germany. It is worthy of obfervation, that juftice is extremely well diftributed in Denmark; and that every year, a chamber is held for the purpofe of determining appeals from all the courts of the kingdom, which continues to fit till all the bufinefs is terminated. The King of Denmark's guard confifts of infantry and cavalry, dreffed in blue turned up with red, and a large cloak of the fame colour. He has always forty thoufand men in arms, who are paid by the provinces, both in peace and war ; and thofe which are the mofl wealthy furnifh two regiments, one of infantry and the other of cavalry. JOURNEY TO SWEDEN. Genealogy of the Kings of Sweden, from the Days of Gujiavus the Fir/i. Guftavus of Vafa. John III. who married one Jagelloo. Charles IX. Sigifmond King of Sweden and Poland. Guftavus Adolphus Catherine of Vafa who was married to John CafTicnir, Count Palatine of the Rhine, of the branch of Deux Ponts. Chriftina who abdicated the Kingdom, in the year 1644. Charles Guftavus the X., who married Hedwige Eleonora, daughter of the Duke of Holftein. The Prince Adolphus. Margaret Eleonora, who was married to Magnus- Gabriel of La Gardie, Rtjirop. Charles XI. the prefent monarch, married Ulrica Eleonora, filler of the King of Denmark, by whom he had a daughter, his firfl child, in July, t68 1. That country at' prefent denominated Sweden, was anciently called Scandia or Scandinavia, and is little elfe, if we may fay fo, than an ifland which ftretches betwixt the Ocean, the Baltic Sea, and the Gulf of Bothnia. This province is not extremely fertile throughout. Lapland is fterility itfelf ; and this people, whom I have had the curiofity to vifit at the end of the world, are equally deftitute of bodily and mental food, having neither corporeal nor fpiritual nourilhment. ^ But; j^^ REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. But Gothland and Oftrogothia are fo fertile, in feme places, that they may be com- pared to France •, and the foil is fo rich, that it rears in the fpace of three months the fame commodities, which it takes nine months, in other places, to produce. There are other places, where nature mud be forced in order to produce nourifhment fufficient for the inhabitants, Schonen, Schanmol ind, Angermania, and Finland ; and it is here, where nature refufing fertility to the plains, grants in its ftead, abundance to the forefls, which in winter are burnt by the inhabitants, for the purpofe of fowing in their allies, grain in fpring, which arrives at greater perfection, and in a {horter time than any where elfe. The Swedes are naturally a brave people ; and without mentioning the Goths and Vandals, who, fcaling the Alps and the Pyrennees conquered Italy and Spain, let us for a moment attend to Guflavus Adolphus, the chief of conquerors, who was followed by very few Swedes, and who viftoiioufly over-ran the whole of Germany, hke lightening, making every Prince fenfible of the force of his arms. Let us confider a Charles Gullavus, the laft King of this country, who reduced the Danes, his molt formidable enemies, to fuch a degree, that they w^ere obliged to retire within the walls of their capital, which was the only place in the kingdom remaining in their poffeffion, where he befieged them two years, and who, after many engagements, died of a fever at Gottenburg, aged thirty-feven years, on the 12th day of February 1660. This Prince, who was conftantly performing wonders, forced heaven itfelf to aid and affifthim, and to perform miracles in his favour. It hardened the waters of the Belt for the purpofe of affording him an opportunity of performing a heroic aftion. Charles the Tenth led all his troops over a frozen fea two leagues in width, with all his cannon, and encamped there where he remained feveral days with an intrepidity of refolution, which furprifed every body, but which was natural to him. If this Prince was a great warrior, he was equally an excellent politician ; and he difplayed it clearly during the reign of Queen Chriftina'; for, while (lie amufed herfelf with confulting men of letters, whom fhe invited from all quarters, but who taught her not the art of reio-ning, he embraced the opportunity of gaining the affedions of all thefenators, who •were difgufted with the adminiftration of the Queen, and who obliged her to refign the government in his favour. Was it not the great Guflavus Adolphus who led the way to this worthy fucceflbr ? and who, after having led a life wholly warlike and heroic, ended his days in the field of victory, and in the midfl of his troops, in confequence of a mufket (hot, which deprived Europe of its greateft conqueror. Queen Chriftina was a worthy defcend- dant of this great Prince. This Princefs had a foul truly royal, and exhaufted all the praifes of ingenious men. She might have reigned longer, if (he had been more miltrefs of herfelf; and the jealoufy which (he excited amongft the fenators, who beheld with impatience the greateft favours lavifhed on Riflroffe., by whom (he had children, obliged her to refign the crown. She changed her religion at the infligation of the Spanilh aniba(rador, who promifed her, that if fhe became Catholic, (lie fliould be married to the King his mafler. She remained at Rome almoll all her life, after (lie abdicated the throne, and fubfifled on ten thoufand crowns, which the Pope gave her annually as a penfion, till the King of France put her in pofTefTion of all her property. She kept in her own hand the fertile iflands of Aland and Gothland, fituated in the Baltic Sea, but (he exchanged them a (hort time ago, for the territority of Norcopin in O(trogothia. Charles XL, the prefent King, is fon of Charles Guflavus, Count Palatine, of the houf'e oiDcux Poms, and of Hedwige Eleonora, youngefl dauglTter of the Duke of llolflein. REGNARD*S JOURNEY TO LAPLAND. 1 45 Holftein. He is a Prince who does not difgrace the dignity of his anceflors : his com- manding and royal demeanour difplays that he is defcended from the race of the illuf- trious Guftavi. His difpofition is completely warlike ; and as he has no enemies to war with, his chief employment confifts in hunting the bear. This fport is rather fol- lowed in winter than fummer ; and when a peafant has difcovered traces of the boar, by means of his footfteps in the fnow, he informs the chief huntfman, who condufts the King to the fpot. The bear is an intrepid animal : he does not fly.at the fight of man, but walks on without fwerving from his path. When he is obferved to be fuffi- ciently near, it is neceffary for the hunter to alight from his horfe and wait till he come pretty clofe to him ; he then gives the animal a fevere ftroke, which obliges him to raife himfelf on his hinder legs : this is the time to ftrike, and it is very dangerous not to wound him mortally ; for he now approaches the hunter with fury, and embracing him with his fore feet, generally flifles him ; on this account it is neceffary to have a piftol for the purpofe of (hooting him, and if this fails, a Ihort fpear muft be referved for dif- patching him. We faw one at Stockholm which the King had killed with his own hand, in refcuing his favourite Vaqmefter who was almoft deftroyed by it. This animal lies in his den three or four months in the year, and during all this time takes no other nourilhment than what -he procures from fucking his paw. The King has always in his pofleiTion three or four little bears, whofe teeth and claws are pared every month.- I knew at Copenhagen M. de Martangis, the ambaffador, who conferred on me a thoufand favours : I was feveral times entertained by him. He conduced me to the houfe of Madame Countefs of Rantzau, whofe hufband was ambaffador in France : I fupped there with the beautiful ladies Revinfelau and Grabe, the latter of whom may juflly be confidered a perfedt beauty. I alfo met there Madame de Ratelau and M. du Boineau, a native of Rochelle, one of the captains of the royal navy, who quitted the fervice on account of his religion. I left Copenhagen, and let out for Stockholm, on the firft day of July. We faw Frederickfburg, the King's pleafure-reildence, which may be denominated the Verfailles of Denmark. The chapel is very magnificent, the pulpit and altar, and a number of ether figures, being folid filver ; but that which appeared to me the mofl curious, was an organ made of ivory, the fculpture of which is faid to have coft eighty thoufand crowns. The oratory of the King, which is behind the chapel, and where hs hears the fervice, is a place in which nothing has been fpared for the purpofe of rendering it mag- nificent. We were conduced through all the apartments of the palace, in which we obferved nothing remarkable, except the great hall above, the ceiling of which was beautiful ; the variety of colours forms a charming fcene, the fight of which highly gra- tifies the beholder. After leaving Frederickfburg we arrived at Elfineur, where we flept. This is at the ftrait of the Sound, where the velTels pay toll to the King of Denmark. Swedifh veffels pay no toll, on account of which the greater number of fliips which pafs here take Swedifh colours, which are blue with a yellow crofs. The paflage is guarded by a ftrong fortrefs ; but I do not believe that it would be very difficult to pafs without pavino- any thing. We flept at the houfe of the agent of the King of France, who is an Irifl-i- man. We croffed next day to Elfimburg with an unfavourable wind. This town de- fended itfelf in the late wars for a confiderable time againfl the Danes. During the fiege fix thoufand men were deftroyed in eight days : they took it at lafl ; but they gave it back, with all the other places which they had taken, to the crown of Sweden.' On our paffage-we faw Riga, Engelholm, Holm, and Halmftadt, a fortified town, and famous for the laft battle which the King of Sweden fought there. This was the VOL. I. u firft 146 regnard's journey to laplanb. firft engagement m which he was engaged, and the firft viftory he gained : he was ac- companied by M. de Feuquieres, a lieutenant-general in the King's fervice, and his ambaffador in Sweden. It was in this battle that the young king, fuftering himfelf to be hurried on by his courage, and believing himlelf followed by his regiment of drabans, who are his guards, and with whom he conceived himfelf invincible, advanced alone to the middle of the enemy's army, feeking every where the King of Denmark, and calling for him with a loud voice ; but not finding him, he put himfelf at the head of one of the enemy's regiments, which he found without a leader, giving orders in German, like all the northern nations, and conduced it into the middle of his army, where it %vas cut in pieces. From Halmftad we travelled to Jenycopin, whofe fituation on the borders of the Wefer, a lake eight leagues in length, is delightful. We afterwards pafl'ed through Grenna, Norcopin, Lincopin, Nycopin, Vellit, and we arrived at Stockhobn. on Monday at eleven o'clock at night, after having travelled fix days and fix nights among rocks and forefts of pine and fir, which form the fineft profpecls in the world. We travelled this journey in a carriage which we purchafed for four crowns at Drafe, and we ob- ferved the peafants' hoqfes, which are conftructed in the Mufcovite manner, with trees interlaced. The people have fomething favage in their appearance j the air and the fituation of their country infpire them with this difpofition. The Swedifh mile contains 6600 toifes, and that of France 2600. Stockholm is a city which the peculiarity ot its fituation renders delightful : it is fituated almoft in the middle of the Baltic Sea, at the mouth of the Bothnian GulL The approach is exceedingly dangerous, in confequence of the number of rocks which furround it ; but from the moment that the veiTels once arrive within the port, they are more fafe than in any other in the world ; they remain there without any anchor, and approach even to the walls of the houfes. Stockholm has more trade than any other port in the Baltic Sea ; and as this fea is only navigable during fix months in the year, nothing has a grander appearance than this port, which is crowded with veflels from the month of April to that of Oftober. We had no fooner arrived at Stockholm than we waited on M. de Feuquieres, lieute- nant general in the King's fervice, who has been ambaffador here for ten years: he received us with all poffible refpeft, and conducted us next day to kifs the King's hand. This prince, twenty-five years of age, is fon of Charles, Prince Palatine, to whom Chriftina, daughter of Adolphus, laft King of the houfe of Vafa, refigned the Swedifli crown, when flie wifhed to retire from the throne and change her religion. The King's taffe is wholly martial : the warlike exercii'es and thofe of the chace are natural to him, and he takes no greater pleafure than in the purfuit of thefe occupa- tions. We had the honour of converfing with him almoft a whole hour, and the plea- fure of contemplating him at our eafe : he is well proportioned, his gait is majeftic, and every thing about him befpcaks the king : he married about a year ago , daughter of Frederick the Third, and filler of the prefent King of Denmark. Thefe two royal perfonages have always had an extraordinary fimilarity and fympathy, which it is not difficult to perceive : Nature had formed them in every rcfped for each other. The Prince never met with any one who could give him inlormation refpedting the Princefs, without alking queftions of a particular nature, clearly (hovving that there was more love than curiofity in his difpofition ; and the Princefs was always fo anxious about the Prince, that it was remarked fhe w as lefs anxious about intelligence of the Prince, than about the Prince himfelf. During our flay at Stockholm great rejoicings were made for the birth of a princefs : 2 we REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. ^47 \ve. were prefent at the ceremony of her baptifm. There was on the occafion an open table, and the prince, to difphiy his fatisfadion, undertook to intoxicate all the court ; and in a more merry manner than ordinary, made himfelf ib. He even incited them by exclaiming, " A gentleman has no courage if he do not follow his king." He fpoke the little French which he is poffefTed of to every body ; and I obfervcd that he was the only one at court who fpoke it fo imperfeftly. All the Swedilh gentlemen have a particular pride in fpeaking our language perfeftly. Count Stembock, Grand Marfhal of the kingdom, the Rijlroffc or Viceroy ; Count de la Gardie, the Grand Treafurer j Steinte Bielke, the Count Cunifmar, all fpeak French as elegantly as if they were Frenchmen themfelves. The Englifli Envoy performed wonders at this feaft, that is to fay, he was firil drunk. The Envoy of Denmark, who had held the princefs in the name of the King his mafter, immediately followed him almoll without reflexion. After him the whole company followed in the fame flate. The ladies were alfo of the party. The two handfome daughters of the Rijlroff'e held the two ends of the pall which covered the infant ; they diftinguiflied themfelves among all the other ladies by their beauty and politenefs of manners. We went fome days after to vifit Count de la Gardie at Carlbery : his palace is regular, and being furrounded with rocks, and fitu- ated on the borders of the lake, is one of the handfomeft in Sweden. The proprietor of this manfion, who is certainly one of the greateft Lords in the kingdom, has been four months ago very ill treated by a reduftion, as well as a great number of others : he has loft more than eighty thoufand crowns by this re-union of property to the royal domain. The buildings of Stockholm are grand. The houfe of the nobles, the palace of the Rijlroffc, that of the Grand Treafurer, and a great number of others, are worthy of obl'ervation. 1 fhould have fpoken of the Louvre before all the other buildings ; but although it is no doubt the firft in the city, in confequence of the perfonage who inha- bits it, we may fafely fay that it is only on this account, and in confequence of the number of its apartments, that it deferves to be taken notice of : there are fome halls which are magnificently enough furniflied, but they are not calculated to make a palace ; and it is impollible to determine what are their fhapes. We faw during our refidence here the execution of two fervants, who had been pre- fent at the alTaffination of a gentleman which their mafters had committed : they were not the moft guilty, but they were the moft unfortunate. We admii-ed the intrepidity and fortitude of thefe men on their way to the fcaftbld ; they did not feem at all affefted, and fpoke carelefsly to all the perfpns whom they met : one of them was married ; his wife fupported him on one fide, and a clergyman on the other. At Stockholm we knew M. de Feuquieres, the ambaffador ; M, de la Piquetiere, a learned and very intelligent man y M. le Vaffeur, fecretary to the embafly, and fon of an advocate in the rue Ouincampoix ; M. de la Chenets, and Father Archange, carme- lite and chaplain of M . We alfo faw M. Bart, a corfair, who remained at Stock- holm for the purpofe of recovering payment for fome prizes which he had taken from the Danes and Lubeckers, and fold to the king, and which had been declared lawful. At the hotel kept by Verfchal, a Norman, we knew M.JM. de Saint Leu, la Neuville, Grandmaifon, malter of the horfe to the Count Charles Oxftiern, Coiffard, furgeon, and . The mine called Coperberyt is the moft curious in Sweden, and is the fource of the whole wealth of the country : although there are feveral other mines, this has been always held in the higheft eftimation : no tradition tells the date of its being opened : it is four days' journey diftant from Stockholm. One defcries this mine long before one u 2 arrives 148 regnard's journey To lapland. ■arrives at it, by the fmoke which iffues from all quarters, and which makes it appear to be rather the fhop of Vulcan than the refidence of men. We behold on all fides nothing but furnaces, fires, charcoal, fulphur, and cyclops, who tend to complete this infernal picture. But let us defcend this abyfs, the better to conceive its horrible na- ture. We were firfl: conducted into a chamber where we changed our drefs, and were each furniflied with a (lick fhod with iron, for the purpofe of fupporting us in the mod dangerous places. From hence we entered the mouth of the mine, which is dreadfully long and deep : we were unable to fee the people working at the bottom, fome of whom v.'ere raifing ftones, while others were throwing earth ; fome were blowing rocks, by fires prepared for the purpofe ; and, in fine, every one had his employment. We defcended this pit by a number of fleps which lead to it ; and we nov/ began to be fen- fible that we had as yet done nothing, and that our fatigue was only the beginning of feverer toils. In faft, our guides now lighted their flambeaux of fir, which fcarcely pierced the thick darknefs of thefe fubterraneous regions, and which only furniflied us with light fufficient to dilliinguifli the frightful objects which prefented themfelves to our view : the fmell of the fulphur fliifled us ; the fmoke blinded, and the heat broiled us : and if to thefe objefts we join the noife of the hammers, which refound throughout thefe caverns, 'the fight of thofe fpedlres, naked as the hand, and black as devils, it mufl; be confefl"ed that nothing can give us a clearer idea of hell than this living picture, pointed in the gloomieft and blackeft colours which can poflibly be imagined. We defcended more than tw o leagues in the earth, by frightful roads, fometimes upon trembling fcales, fometimes on light planks, and always in continual apprehenfion* We perceived in our defcent a number of pumps, and curious machines for raifing the water ; but we were unable to examine them on account of the extreme fatigue which we had already experienced : we only perceived a number of unfortunate wretches who wrought the pumps. We went with confiderable difficulty to the very bottom ; but when it became neceflary for us to re-zkend, fuperafqtie evadere ad auras, it was with inconceivable difficulty that we regained our former height, where we were obliged to throw ourfelves upon the ground in order to recover our breath, which the fulphur had . deprived us of. We at length arrived at the mouth of the mine, by the afllftance of fome perfons who fupported us under the arms. Here we begin to breathe with as much joy as a foul efcaped from purgatory ; and we were beginning to re-acquire our lofl: vigour, when an aff"efl:ing fight prefented itfelf to our view : they were bringing up from the mine an unfortunate creature who had jufl been cruflied by a fl:one which had fallen on him. Thefe accidents happen daily ; and the fmallefl; Hones falling from fuch a dreadful height, produce the fame effedl with the largefl:. There are always feven or eight hundred men who work in this abyfs, who gain fixteenyJz^j- a day ; and there is almoft an equal number of overfeers, with an axe in their hands as a mark of authority. I know not whether one ought more to pity the lot of thefe wretches, or the blindnefs of men who, for the purpofe of indulging their luxui'y and gratifying their avarice, tear the bowels of the earth, confound the elements, and fubvert the laws ot nature. Boece was perfedtly right when, complaining of the manners of his age, he exclaimed, " Heu ! primus quis fiiit ille Auri qui pondera lefti Gemmafque latere volentes, Pretiofe pericula fodit ?" What indeed can be more inhuman, than to expofe fo many individuals to fuch immi- nent danger ? Pliny informs us that the Romans, who had more need of men than gold, would REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. I49 would not fufier the mines which had been difcovered in Italy to be opened, for the purpofe of preferving the lives of the people ; and they thought that thofe wretches who had forfeited their lives could not be more cruelly punifhed than in fuffering them to live, for the purpofe of conflantly employing them to dig their own graves. In this mine are found native fulphur, blue and green vitriol, and odaedrons, which are (tones naturally cut in a pyramidal form on all fides. From Coperberyt we came to a filver mine at Salberyt, a little village two days' jour- ney diftant from Stockholm, and one of the mofl: delightfully fituated places in that country. We travelled next day to the mine, which is about a quarter of a mile dif- tant from the village. This mine has three large mouths, at which it is impofTible to fee the bottom : the half of a tub, fupported by a cable, is employed inftead of a flair- cafe, for the purpofe of defcending this abyfs : it rifes and falls by means of a very cu- rious machine, which is wrought with water. The extent of one's danger may eafily be conceived, when one mud defcend in this manner, having only one foot in this ma- chine, and one's life depending on the flrength or weaknefs of a rope. A fatellite, black as a devil, holding in his hand a torch of pitch and rofin, defcended with us, and fcreamed out an air fo melancholy, that it feemed to have been made on purpofe for this infernal defcent. When we were about the middle we felt great cold, which, joined to the water which fell on us in torrents from all quarters, roufed us from the lethargy into which we had fallen in defcending to thefe fubterraneous regions. We at length arrived at the bottom of this gulf, after half an hour's journey ; there our fears began to difappear ; we no more beheld any thing frightful : on the contrary, every thing was brilliant in thefe nether regions. We defcended ftill farther below ground, upon extremely high fcales, for the purpofe of vifiting a faloon which is in the bofom of this cavern, and which is fupported by a number of columns of filver, with which every thing is covered. Four fpacious galleries difclofe themfelves, and the reflection of the lights, which fhone on all fides, and dazzled on the vaults of filver, and a clear rivulet which ran at their foot, did not tend fo much to give light to the workmen, as to render this abode more magnificent than the palace of Pluto, which the ancients placed in the centre of the earth, where the god of wealth has eftablifhed all his treafures. Men of all countries are to be feen in thefe galleries, feeking with care that object which confers fo much pleafure on mankind. Some draw carriages, others roll ftones, and others are tearing the rocks afunder. It is a town below a town, and contains houfes, taverns, ftables and horfes ; and what is very remarkable, there is a mill in the bottom of this gulf which raifes the water out of the mine. One remounts by means of the fame machine for the purpofe of viewing the different operations by which filver is made. The firft ftones taken out of the mine are called_y?z^ which are dried in a furnace, which burns flowly, and which feparates the antimony, arfenic, and fulphur from the ftone, the lead, and the filver, which remain together. This firft operation is followed by another, in which the dried ftones are thrown into troughs and piled upon each other, for the purpofe of being reduced to duft, by means of large hammers wrought by water : this matter is kept in water which runs conftantly upon a large cloth, placed in a Hoping pofition, and by which all the thick and earthy matter is carried off, while the lead and the filver remain at the bottom ; it is afterwards removed from hence, and thrown a third time into furnaces, which feparate the filver from the lead, which is con- verted into fcum. The Spaniards of Potofi do not now employ fo many different methods for the pur- pofe of purifying filver, and rendering it malleable, fince they found out the method of mixing it with quickfilver, which is the determined enemy of all the other metals, I which 1^0 REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. which it dedroys, except gold and filver, from which it feparates all other bodies, for the purpofe of uniting itfelf to them. Mercury is found in this mine ; and this metal, although fome refufe it fuch a name, becaufe it is not malleable, is perhaps one of the moft curious produciions in nature ; for being liquid, and flowing of itfelf, it is the heavied of all bodies, and changes into the lighteft, by refolving itfelf into vapour, which, meeting with a hard body, or a cold region, immediately thickens and refumes its an* cient form, without any poflibility of ever being deftroyed. The perfon who condufted us to the mine, and who was overfeer of it, fhowed us a great number of curious ftones which he had collected from all parts : he fliowed us a large piece of that dudile ftone which, fo far from being confumed, becomes white in the fire, and which the Romans employed for the purpofe of burning the bodies of their dead : he affured us that he had found it in this very mine, and prefented each of us with a fmall piece, which, as a particular favour, he cut oft' from it. We departed the fame day from this little city to go to Upfal, where we arrived early next morning. This city is the moft refpeftable in Sweden, both on account of its univerfity and its fituation. Here all thoie who devote themfelves to the church are obliged to ftudy; but it is the policy of this country to prevent their nobility from taking holy orders, for the purpofe of keeping up their numbers of gentlemen, who may be more ufefuUy otherwife employed. We faw the library, which contains nothing extraordinary, if we except the Codex Argoiteus, written in Gothic letters of filver by a bifhop of the Goths, called Ulphila, who lived in Mcfia. This book was found in the fack of Prague, aitd carried oft' by Count Konigfmark, who made a prefent of it to Queen Chriftina. The remainder of my obfervations on Upfal may be feen in the end of my account of my Journey to Lapland, becaufe I vifited it upon my return. We alfo faw at Stockholm an Envoy of the Khan of the Lower Tartars, or Tartars of Chrimea, or Precopites, who inhabit the ancient Tauric Cherfonefus, and the country which is fituated betwixt the Bor)'fthenes and the Tanais. This Prince confers favours which coft him fcarcely anjr thing ; and permiftion to become his ambaffador to Chriftian Princes is one of his choiceft favours. 1 was prefent when this Envoy had an audience ; the King was fitting in an arm-chair in the middle of his court : the Envoy made a poor fpecch, without even looking upon the King : he then prefented to him five or fix letters, folded lengthways, and wrapped up in taff'etas : one was from the Khan; another from the wife of one of his brothers ; and another from the minifter. He offered fome Tar- tarian horfes, not extremely handfome, but remarkably ftrong. The King replied, that he would accept of them if they came from his mafter ; and being affured that they did, he kifled the King's hand and put it upon his head. Five or fix beo^gars were in his train j and indeed it was inipoftible to behold any thing more wretched. OBSERVATIONS. The cities of Bremen, Hamburg, and Lubeck, which are imperial, with the Dukes of Mecklenburg, Holftein-de-Sel, Lunebourg, Hanover, and, in general, the whole houfe of Brunfwick, form Lower Saxony, which is called the Circle of Lower Saxony, and has a vote in all the diets of the empire. Luther is buried at Wittenberg. It ought to be obferved, that the chace of the bear is alfo conduced in Poland in va- rious manners. As there is nothing fo delicate as the paws of a bear, which are ferved up at the tables of kings, fo there is likewife no kind of chace in which gentlemen take greater pleafure. It is dangerous to mifs in ftriking j for the animal when ftruck re- turns. REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. i ^l turns, as has been already mentioned, upon the hunter, and embracing him with his fore- paws, ftifles him. We were told by the governor of a Pruflian province, that one of his relations a fhort time before had at the bear-chace his arm broken and his neck twifted, which were the caufes of his death. The peafants chace in a different manner ; they know the haunts of the animal, and go to attack him w ith a knife in their hands : when the bear approaches, they pufh into his throat their left hand wrapped up in linen, and with the right flab him in the belly. Another mode is lefs dangerous : the bear is very fond of the honey which bees make in the trunks of trees ; he afcends, drawn by the odour of his prey, to the fummits of the higheft trees : the peafants put diftilled fpirits into the honey, and the bear finding the tafte agreeable, takes fo much that the ilrength of the fpirit intoxicates him and makes him fall ; the peafant then finds him without flrength, in a recumbent pofture, and eafily becomes malter of him. The Elector of Brandenburg is called : he has a fon, fifteen years of age, who is denominated Kurt-Prince : heprofeffes the Calviniflic religion. Amber is found upon his lands in Ducal Pruffia ; for Royal Pruffia belongs to the King of Poland. It produces to him more than twenty-five thoufand crowns a month : he farms out the amber-fifliery at from fixty to eighty thoufand crowns ; and there is a horfe-guard for the purpofe of watching the fliore. When the wind is high it is found in greatefl abun- dance. Before it comes out of the fea it is foft, and will take the impreflion of a feal. There are feveral pieces on which flies are found. This fifherj' extends from Dantzic to Memel. The elk is an animal higher than a horfe, and of a whitifh colour : it has a branch like the deer, and a foot of the fame fhape, very long ; its under-lip hangs down, and it has a bunch upon the neck like a camel. It defends itfelf, againft the dogs who pur- fue it, with its fore-feet, with which it flrikes them very forcibly. The fon of the Eleftor of Brandenbui'g married a year ago the daughter of Prince Bogeflas de Ratzevie, Duke of Stuck, and of Kopil de Bitze, and of Dubniki, of the illullrious family of the Ratzevils, defcended from the ancient Princes of Lithuania, and for more than three centuries princes of the empire. He was the fon of Prince Jannalius, of the black branche, whofe evil defliny led him to declare himfelf chief of that party which oppofed the King, but which was foon after taken into favour, and of Elifabeth Sophia, daughter of John George, Eleftor of Brandenburg, afterwards married to Julius Henry, Duke of Saxe-Lawembourg : he was governor of Ducal Pruffia. This young princefs was wholly educated at the court of Brandenburg. The — — paid his addreffes to her, and fpent a large fum of money on her account ; but the Elector would not fuffer more than eight hundred thoufand livres of rent to be fent out of the countr)\ The Poles conflantly complain of his conduct, as there is a treaty which ftipulates that this princefs fhould marry no other than a native of Poland. He who paid his addreffes to her lofl his reafon in confequence of vexation. The father of the Grand Duke of Mufcovy was called Frederic Alexander, and the prefent Duke, Alexander Michael, or Michael Federowitz, Michel fon of Peter. The Prince of Tranfylvania is called Apaty, pays eighty thoufand crowns of tribute to the Turk, and loves nothing but drinking. Reliqui governs the ftate, and Telechi is general of the rebels. The capital of Tranfylvania is Cujuar, or Albejule. M. Acakias has been refident at the court of this Prince for the purpofe of treating with the fadion of the rebels. REFLECTIONS. It is ufual with travellers when they make a voyage to conjure up florms, and all the weather they meet with, which is not perfectly calm, is, according to them, a continu^ temp eft. 152 REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. temped, which in one moment drives their veflels againft the clouds, and in the next precipitates them to hell : fuch are the defcriptions of fome. For my part, without any exaggeration, I fliall mention that the Baltic Sea is famous for the number of Ihipwrecks which happen in it ; and that it can feldom be crofled in the autumn without being expofed to bad weather, for in winter it is not navigable. We were obliged in our paflage to take in fail five or fix times ; and although it is generally made in three or four days, our paflage was ftill longer. Thefe misfortunes were of fome ufe ; and the time during which we remained at anchor was not the portion of my life which has been the moft ufelefsly fpent. I went every day to the perpendicular rocks, on which I remained fome hours, where the abruptnefs of the precipices and the view of the fea accorded extremely well with my reveries. It was during thefe foJitary meditations that I entered wholly into myfelf, and inveftigated the inmoft fentiments of my heart, to place truth in full view, without difguife, fuch as it really exifted. I caft a look back upon the events of my pad life, reflected upon my defigns which had never been executed, my refolutions broken, and my unfuccefsful enterprifes, I confidered my prefent mode of life, my wandering voy- ages, my changes of abode, the diverfity of objefts, and the conftant motion to which I was expofed : I felt myfelf wholly in that fiate where inconftancy is the prevalent inclination ; and I came to this conclufion, without being in the fmallefh degree mifled by the fuggeftions of felf-love : 1 judged impartially of every thing : I reflefted that all this conduct was in direct oppofition to the real enjoyment of life, which confifls folely in repofe ; and that this defirable tranquillity of foul is to be experienced in the purfuit of an agreeable profeflion, which retains us in a fteady pofition, like a fhip held by aa anchor in the midfl of a tempeft. All the vague defigns, inveftigations of the future, chimeras, expedations of fortune, are only fantoms that miflead us, which we take pleafure in forming, and with which our minds entertain themfelves. All theobftacles which ambition excites, far from (lopping us, ought to make us diftruflfulof ourfelves, and more than ever apprehenfive. You know, Sir, as well as I do, that the choice of a profeflion is one of the moft diffi- cult attempts of a man's conduft ; and on this account there are numbers who never embrace any, remaining in continual indolence, living not as they would have wiflied, but as they have begun, whether it arife from the fear of vexatious occurrences, the love of idlenefs, the hatred of toil, or any other caufes. There are other men who are not retarded in their career by obflacles, and who giving themfelves up to that inconftancy which is natural to them, cannot enjoy repofe even when unemployed : they are continually agitated with new ideas and defigns : they change folely from a defire of change and a natural inconflancy ; and that which they have left pleafes them always more than that which they enjoy. The whole life of thefe men is a continual agitation ; and if they are fometimes obferved to be at refi: in their old age, it is not the hatred of change which influences them, but the laflltude of age, rendering them lefs capable of motion, and preventing them from undertaking any enter- prife ; like thofe reftlefs individuals who are unable to fleep, but who from frequently tofTmg find at length that repofe which wearinefs procures them. I know not which of thefe fituations arc the moft unhappy, but I am convinced that they are both extremely difagreeable : hence arife thofe tempefts of the foul, and boif- terous pafTions, which make one wifh that one neither could nor dared to undertake any thing, when one fears every thing, hopes every thing, and is defirous to feek fome where elfe that happinefs to which one is a ftranger : hence alfo arife thofe difcontents, that difpleafure with ourfelves, that impatience at our idlenefs, thofe complaints which we REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND: 155 hum, a little ifland eight miles from Torno. Some fifliermen belonging to it came off to us in a little bark, the thinnefl I have ever feen, the boards of which were fewed together in the Ruffian manner. They brought us {oxntjlntmelin, and we gave them in exchange bifcuit and fpirits, with which they returned completely fatisfied. The wind continuing flill extremely favourable, we arrived within a league of Torno, where We caft anchor. It is almoft incredible that we could have travelled fo far in four days. The diftance from Stockholm to Torno is computed to be two hundred Swedifh miles by water, which are equal to fix hundred French leagues ; 3nd we made this voyage, with a fouth and fouth-fouth-weft wind fo favourable and fo ftrong, that having left Stockholm on Wednefday at mid-day, we arrived here at the fame hour on the Sunday following, without having been obliged to Ihift our fails during the whole voyage. Torno is fituated at the extremity of the Gulf of Bothnia, in 42° 27' of longitude, and in Gj" of latitude. This is the laft town in the world towards the north ; the reft, as far as the cape, being only inhabited by Laplanders, favages who have no fixed refi- dence. Here the northern nations hold their fairs in winter, when the fea is fufficiently frozen to allow them to travel in fledges. At this time all the people of the north, Ruffians, Mufcovites, Finlanders, and Laplanders from all the three kingdoms, come hither on fnow and ice, which is fo convenient, that by means of fledges one can travel in one day from Finland to Lapland, and crofs the Bothnian Gulf on ice, although it is in the narroweft places thirty or forty Swedifli miles in breadth. The trade of this town confifts in filh, which are fent to a great diftance ; and the river Torno abounds fo much in pike and falmon, that it could furnifli a fufficient quantity to fupply all the inhabitants of the Baltic Sea : they fait fome for exportation, and fmoke others in fhallow vefl'els, which are conftrufted like baths. Although this town is, ftriftly fpeak- ing, nothing but a confufed mafs of wooden huts, it pays annually two thoufand pieces of brafs, which amount to about a thoufand livres of our money. We lodged with the agent for the bark which conveyed us from Stockholm : his wife was not at home ; ffie had gone to attend a fair to the diftance of ten or twelve leagues, for the purpofe of bartering fait and meal for the flcins of rein-deer, minevers, and other animals : for the whole trade of this country is generally carried on in barter; ' and the Ruffians and Laplanders fcarcely ever do bufmefs in any other manner. We went next day, Monday, to fee Johannes Tornatis, a learned man, who had tranflated into the Lapland language the Pfalms of David, and had written an hiftory of the country : he was a country prieft, and had died three days before : we found him ftretched out in his coffin with the drefs of his profeffion, which had been made on purpofe for him. He was much regretted here, and had travelled through a confider- able part of Europe. His wife was in another part of the room lying on her bed : flie teftified the regret which fhe felt at lofmg fuch a hufband ; and a number of other women, her friends, fur- rounded the bed, and re-echoed by their groans to the grief of the widow. But that which confoled them a little, in fuch great affliftion and general fadnefs, was a great number of large pots of filver, made in the antique manner, and filled fome with French, fome with Spanifh wines, and fome with fpirituous liquors, which they took good care never to leave long empty. We tafted of them all ; and the widow often interrupted her lamentations to prefs us to drink : ffie even ordered tobacco to be brought us, but we declined taking any. We were afterwards conduced to the church, of which the deceafed was paftor, where we faw nothing worthy of obfervation ; and X 2 when 156 regnard's journey to laplakd. when taking leave of the widow, we were again obliged to drink to the memory of the dead, and to do that which is called libare manibus. We afterwards went to the dwelling of a perfon who was in our company ; his mother received us with all poffible kindnefs ; and thefe people, who had never before feen Frenchmen, did not know how to telliiy the joy, which they felt at feeing us in their country. On Tuefdav, they brought us a quantity of furs, to fell ; and of large coverings furred with fkins of white hares, wliich they offered to difpole of for a crown. They alio fliewed us dreffes of the Lapponians, made of the ikins of young rein-deer, with their whole appiirtenances, boots, gloves, flippers, fafh, and bonnet. We went, the fame day, to the chace, around the houfe ; we found numbers of wild woodcocks, and other animals unknown in our country ; and we were aftoniflied, that the inhabitants whom we met with, were no lefs anxious to avoid us than the game. On Wednefday, we received a vifit from the magidrate and bufgo-mafler, who offered us their fervices in every thing which was in their power. After dinner, they came to condud us to their barks, and brought us to the prieft of the town, who is fon-in-law of the deceafed Tornaeus. We now faw, for the firft time, a Lapland fledge, and admired its ftruiElure. This machine, which they call Pulea, is made like a fmall fliip-boat, raifed in front, for the purpofe of more eaiily keeping off the fnow. The prow confifts folely of a fingle plank, and the body is compofed of feveral pieces of wood, fewed together with a large thread of a rein-deer, without a fingle nail ; this wood is joined to another piece in front, which is very (Irong, and which extends over the whole length above, and by going beyond the reft of the ftrudure, ferves the fame purpofe with the keel of a fliip. It is upon this piece of wood, that the fledge runs j and as it is only about four fingers breadth wide, it rolls conftantly from fide to fide ; the traveller places himfelf in the infide, as in a coffin, where the half of his body is covered; there he is tied, and rendered immoveable, with the exception of his hands, one of which is employed in holding the reins, and the other fupports him, when in danger of falling. He is obliged carefully to balance himfelf; on which account, thofe who are unaccufl:omed to this mode of travelling are often in danger of their lives, and chiefly when the flledge defcends the fteepell rocks, over which it flies with fuch horrible fwiftnefs, that it is impoflible to conceive the rapidity of the motion, without having experienced it» We fupped this evening in public with the burgo-mafl;er ; and the whole inhabitants came in crowds to fee us eat. We poftponed our departure, till the next day ; and we took an interpreter. On Thurfday the lafl; of July, we left Torno in a little Finland boat, made for the purpofe of performing voyages here ; it is about twelve feet long, and three broad. It is impoffible to fee any thing better or more lightly built, than this boat ; and to fuch a det^ree is this carried, that two or three men can e^fily bear it, when they are obliged to pafs the cataradts of the river, which are fo impetuous, as to roll down (tones of an immenfe fize. We were obliged to walk on foot almoft all the reft of the day, on account of the torrents which fell from the mountains, and of a boiilerous wind which forced the water into the boat in fuch quantities, that if it had not been immediately bailed out, the boat would foon have been filled. We went, along the banks of the river, conftantly hunting ; and killed fome game; we were aftoniflied at the number ot ducks, geefe, and water-fowl, and feveral other birds, which we met with at every ftep. We did not to-day go fo far as we had intended, in confequence of a violent rain which took place, and obliged us to pafs the night at a peafant's houfe, at the diftance of a league and a half from Torno. We REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. I57 We travelled the whole of Friday without (lopping, and were from four o'clock of the morning, till night, in going three miles ; if, indeed, it may be called night where the fun is always in fight, and where no diftinftion can be made betwixt to-day and to-morrow. We went more than half of the way on foot, in confequence of the dreadful tor- rents, which it was neceflary to pafs. We were even obliged to carry our boat in fome places ; and we had the pleafure of feeing at the fame time, two little boats defcending in the midfl of the catarads. The fwifteft and the lighteft bird could not fly with fuch impetuofity ; the fight cannot even follow the courfe of thefe boats, which hide themfelves from view, and at one time dive into the waves where they feeni buried, and at another time rife to an aftonifliing heigth. During this rapid courfe, the pilot is ftanding, and employs all his fkill to avoid ftones of an extraordinary fize, and to pafs through the middle of rocks, in a fpace no larger than the breadth of the boats, which would be driven into a thoufand pieces, if they touched them in the llightefl degree. We killed to-day in the wood, two young pheafants, three ducks, and two teal, without going out of our way, during which, we were very much incommoded by gnats, which are the curfe of this country, and which nearly drove us to defpair. The Laplanders have no other method of defending themfelves againft thefe curfed creatures, than by filling the places of their refidence with fmoke ; and we obferved, on the road, that to preferve their cattle from thefe troublefome infedls, they light a large fire, in the place where their cows, (which are all wholly white,) graze amidlt the fmoke of which they place themfelves, and thus chafe away the gnats, which are un- able to remain. We purfued the fame method, and fmoked ourfelves as foon as we arrived at the houfe of a German, who has refided thirty years in the country, and receives the tri- bute of the Laplanders for the King of Sweden. He told us, that this people were obliged to be in a certain place, appointed for them in the preceding year, to bring the neceflary tribute ; and that they generally preferred the winter feafon on account of the convenience which it afforded them, in travelling, by means of their rein-deer, upon the ice. The fum which they pay is very fmall ; and it is the policy of the King of Sweden, as he is defirous that they fhould remain his tributaries, not to impofe on them vexatious burdens, left this people, deftitute of any fixed refidence, and to whom the whole of Lapland is a dwelling-place, fhould remove to the territories of other Princes, on account of the troublefome exactions to which they were fubjefted. Some of thefe people, however, pay tribute to different countries ; and fome- tlmes, a Laplander will be tributary to the King of Sweden, that of Denmark, and the Grand Duke of Mufcovy ; they will pay to the firfl; on account of refiding within his territories ; to the fecond, for permiflion to fifh on the coaft of Norway, which be- longs to him j and to the third, that they may be allowed to hunt upon his lands. Nothing worthy of obfervation befel us during our journey on Saturday ; but we had no fooner arrived at the refidence of a peafant, than we were aftoniflied with find- ing every body bathing. Their baths are made of wood, like all their houfes. One obferves in the middle of this bath, a great mafs of ftones thrown together without order, except that tliey leave a hole in the middle, in which the fire is lighted. Thefe ftones being once heated, communicate warmth to the whole place ; but this heat augments to a great degree, when they proceed to throw water upon the flint-ftones, which emitting a ftifling fmoke, caufe the air which is breathed in thefe places to be warm as fire. But what furprifed us moft in entering this bath, was finding boys and girls. 158 regnard's journey To lapland. girls, mothers and fons, brethren and fillers all promifcuoufly together, and obferving, that the naked females remained quite unconcerned at being expofed to the view of ftrangers. But we were ftill more furprifed at beholding young girls with a fwitch, flriking the naked men and boys. I at firfl: fuppofed, that nature being exhaufted by great fweat, required this afliftance for the purpofe of (howing, that there flill remained fome figns of life in the bather ; but I was foon undeceived, and learnt, that this practice was followed, in order that the frequent ftrokes fhould open the pores, and affifl; in producing great perfpiration. I afterwards with difficulty conceived how thefe people, ilTuing naked from their fiery baths, could run and throw themfelves into an extremely cold river, which was within a few paces of the houfe ; and I fuppofed, that thev mufl have very ftrong conftitutions, before they could remain unaffe£led with thofe confequences which fuch a fudden tranfition from heat to cold was naturally calculated to produce. You would never have believed. Sir, that the Bothnians, an extremely favage people, {hould have imitated the Romans in their luxury and their pleafures. But you will be flill more aftonifhed, when I inform you, that thefe fame people who have baths among them, like emperors, have no bread to eat. Ihey live upon a little milk, and nourifh themfelves with the tenderefl of the bark, which they find on the tops of the pines. They gather it, when the tree gives out its fap, and after expofing it fome time to the fun, they bury it in large bafkets under ground, over which they kindle a hre, which gives it a very agreeable colour and flavour. Such, Sir, throughout the wiiole year is the food of men, who eagerly indulge themfelves in the luxury of a bath, and who can live without bread. We were extremely fortunate at the chace on Sunday, and brought home a con- fiderable quantity of game ; but we faw nothing worthy of remark, except two long wooden planks of fir, with which the Laplanders run with fuch remarkable fwiftnefs, that no animal, even the fleetefl, can efcape them, when the fnow is hard enough to fupport them. Thefe planks, extremely thick, are two ells long, and half a foot broad ; they are made pointed before, and are pierced through at the thickefl part, for the purpofe of paffing a leathern ftrap which keeps the feet firm and immoveable. The Laplander who ftands upon it, holds a flick in his hand, to one end of which a round piece of wood is attached to prevent it from entering into the fnow, and the other end is pointed with a piece of iron. This flick is employed to give him the firfl motion, to keep him up while running, and to flop him when he chufes ; with this he alfo pierces the beaft he is in purfuit of, when he approaches near enough for that purpofe. It is difficult enough to conceive the fleetnefs of thefe hunters, who can, by the aid of thefe inflruments, outrun the fwiftefl animals ; but it is impoffible to have an ade- quate idea of their method of defcending the fleepefl precipices, and how they can mount the mofl craggy mountains. All this, however, they perform, Sir, with an addrefs which furpalles imagination, and which is fo natural to the people of this country, that the women are no lefs adroit in the ufe of thefe planks than the men. They go to vifit their relations, and travel in this manner the longefl and mofl difficult journies. We met with nothing remarkable on Monday, except the quantity of game which we faw and killed ; wc made ufe of no lefs than twenty pieces this day ; it is true, we had purchafed five or fix ducks from fome peafants who had taken them. Thefe people ufe no other arms in hunting, than the bow or the crofs-bow. They employ the bow in hunting the larger beafls, as the boar, the wolf, and the wild rein-deer ; and REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. 1^9 and when they wifh to take the lefs confiderable animals, they make ufe of the crofs-bo\r, which differs from ours, only in its fuperior fize. So fkilful are thofe people in the ufe of thefe arms, that they never fail in flriking the objeft at the greatefl diftance at which they can behold it. The fmalleft bird cannot efcape them ; there are even fome who will ftrike a pin on the head. The arrows which they ufe, are of various kinds ; fome are pointed with iron, or the bone of a fifli ; and others are round, fhaped like a ball, cut through the middle. They make ufe of the firft kind, with the bow when they go to the greater hunts, and of the latter with the crofs-bow when they attack animals which can be deftroyed without giving them any dangerous wounds. They employ thefe round arrows in attacking the minevers, martins, and ermines, that they may preferve the fkins whole ; and, becaufe it is difficult to avoid leaving a mark on the flvin, where the flroke has been given, the moft ingenious never fail to hit the fpot that they wifli, and generally ftrike the head, which the leafl valuable part of the fkin. We arrived on Tuefday at Kones, and flopped there on Wednefday, for the purpofe of refting ourfelves, and of feeing the iron and copper-works, which are at this place. We admired the method which they follow in working thefe metals, and of preparing the copper before it is made into Peloltes, which form the money of the country, after it has been (lamped with the image of the Prince. But that which adonifhed us mofl of all was, the conduft of one of the foundere, who approached the furnace, and took into his hand a quantity of copper which the violence of the heat had rendered liquid as water, where he continued to hold it fome time. Nothing can be more frightful than thefe abodes : The torrents which fall from the mountains, the rocks and the woods which furround them, the blacknefsand the favage air of thefe founders, all contribute to form a horrible refidence. Thefe frightful folitudes, however, are fometimes agree- able, and pleafe one, at times, as much, as the mofl magnificent abodes ; and it was in the midfl of thefe rocks, that I compofed the following verfes j a praftice to which, I had, for fome time, been unaccuflomed. Tranquilles et fombres forlts, Ou !e foleil ne luit jamais Qu'iU travers de mille feuillages. Que vous avez pour moi d'attraits ! Et qu'il eft doux, foils vos ombrages, De pouvoir refpirer en paLx ! Que j'aime avoir vos chenes verds, Prefque avlli vieux que I'univers, Qui, malgre la nature emue, Et fes plus cruels aquilons, Sont auffi furs pres de la nue. Que les epis dans les fillons 1 Et vous, impetueux torrents. Qui, fur le roches murmurants, Roulez vos e;iux avec contrain:e. Que le bruit que vous excitez Caufe de refpedt et de crainte A toux ceux que vous arre.cz I Quelquefois vos rapides eaus. Venant arrofer les rofeaux, Forinent des etangs pacifiques, Ou les plongeons et les canards, Et tous les oifeaux aquatiques, Viennent fondre de toutes panes. D'uii J Go REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. D'un cote Ton voit des poiflbns. Qui, fans craindre les hanie9ons, tniiltent !eurs denieures protondes ; Et pour prendre un plaifer iioveau* Las de folatrer dans les ondes, S' clancent et fautent furs I'cau. Tous ces Edifices dctruits, Et ces refpedables debris, Qu'on voit fur cette roche obfcure, ' Sont plus beau que les batimcns Ou Tor, I'l/.ur, et la peinture, Forment les moindres onienients, Les temps y laifTe quelques trous. Pour la demeure des hiboux ; Et les betes d'un crl funefle, Les olfeaux facrcs a la nuit, Dans I'horreur de cctte retraite, Trouvent toujours unfur rcduit. We left thefe forges on Thurfday, to go to others which are diftant from them about -eighteen Swedifli miles, which are equal to nearly fifty French leagues. We kept al- ways in the fame road, there being no other in the country, and purfucd our journey to the northward, on the banks of the river. We learnt, that it had here another name, and that it was called by the inhabitants. Wilnama Suarida. We paffed the whole night, upon the water, and we arrived next day, being Friday, at the poor hut of a peaiant, which, however, we found to be empty. The whole family, confiftihg of five or fix perfons, were gone out ; fome were in the woods, and others had gone to fifh the pike. This fifh, which they dry, ferves them for nourifliment during the whole year. They do not take it by means of nets, as others do ; but by lighting a fire on the prow of their little bark, they draw the fifli to the light of this flame, and harpoon them with a long flick, pointed with iron, in the fhape of a trident. I'hey catch great numbei's of this fifh, of an extraordinary fize ; fo that nature like a bountiful mother, denying them fertility of foil, furnilhes them with the abundance of the waters. The farther one advances in this country, the mifery is the greater ; the inhabitants are ignorant of the ufe of corn ; fifh-bones, ground with the bark of trees, are ufed inflead of bread, and notwithflanding this horrid diet, thefe people live in perfeft health. As they are deftitute of phyficians, it is not furprifing, that they fhould be alfo igno- rant of difeafes, and fhould live to fuch an advanced age, that they generally furvive till they are a hundred years old, and fome of them, a hundred and fifty. We made little progrefs on Saturday, as we ftopt the whole day in a fmall houfe, which is the lad that one meets within this country. We had various amufements while refiding in this cabin. The firft was to employ ourfelves, every one at diiferent e;^ercifes as foon as we arrived. One cut a dry tree in the neighbouring wood, and drew it with difficulty to the place of its deftination, another, after having (truck a light with a flint, blew with all his ftrength to lighten a fire ; fome were engaged in preparing a lamb, which they were going to kill ; and others, pofTefling more forefight, left thefe petty employments, and went to procure from a neighbouring pond, which was full of filh, lomething for to-morrow. This pleafure was followed by another, for no fooner were we feated at table, than we agreed, on account of our prefling neceflities, to order a general hunt. Every body made preparations for this purpofe ; and having taken two little barks and two peafants with us, we abandoned ourfelves ou the river to our REGNARD S JOURNIiY TO LAPLAND. J 53 we make at havinp^ nothing to do ; every thing vexes us, company is troublefome, folii. tiule frightful, light is difagreeable, darknels diftreiiing, exercife fatigue-s, repofe pro- duces fleep, the whole world is odious to us, and we become at length infupportable to ourlclves. There is nothing which men of" this defcription do not defire ; and tlie high opinion which they entertain of themfelves leads them to attempt every tiling : ambition makes them fuppofe all things poflible ; but they want courage, and irrefblution flops them. The fiiccefs of others, \\ hich is always in their view, ferves at one time to fo- ment their vague defigns, and to excite their ambition ; and at other times it expofes them to the gnawings of jealoufy : they perceive with impatience the fuccefs of others j they wifli their debafement, becaufe they cannot rife to the fame level ; and the deflruc- tion of their fortune, becaufe they defpair of being able to acquire one equally good. Thefe men conflantly cry up the cruelty of their fate, and complain of the infenfibility of the age, and the depravation of human nature : they undertake diflant journies, tear themfelves from tlieir country, and feek climates warmed by another fun : at one time they expofe themfelves to the tempeituous ocean ; at another time, difgufted either with its calm or its florms, they return once more to land : to-day the voluptuoufnefs of Italy enchants them ; but no fooner do they arrive in that country than they figh again for France, with all its delights. " Let us leave the city," exclaims a man of this defcription, " where virtue is opprefTed, where vice and luxury reign, and of which *' I am unable to fuffer the noife." Immediately after he fays, " Let us go back to the *' city ; I languifli in folitude ; man was not made to live with beafts ; and it is a long " time fince I heard thepleafmg buftle which the confufion of a city excites." A jour- ney is no fooner finiflied than he undertakes another. In this manner, though always flying from himfelf, he cannot avoid himfelf : he carries his inconflancy always about ■u ith him ; and the fource of his uneafmefs is ill himfelf, without being confcious of it. JOURNEY TO LAPLAND. Travelling has its toils as well as its pleafures ; but the fatigue which we experi- ence, far from difgufting us, generally iiicreafes our defire of travelling. This pallion, irritated by obflacles, engages us infenfibly to go farther than we intended ; and when we fometimes fet out for the purpofe of vifiting Holland, we find ourfelves, we know not how, at the end of the world. This circumffance. Sir, has actually happened to me. I underflood at Amfterdam that the court of Denmark was at Oldenburg, which is only three days' journey diflant from that place ; and if I had not gone thither to fee it, I fhould either have difplayed very little curiofity, or confiderable contempt for that court. I therefore fet out for Oldenburg ; but Fortune, who wiflied to take me ftill farther, fo ordained that the King had departed two days before my arrival. I was told that I Ihould find him at Altona, which is only at the diflance of a mufket-fliot froni Hamburg. I believed myfelf bound in honour to follow mydefign, and to travel two or three days' journey farther, in order to enjoy the fight which I wifhed. Befides, Hamburg is a Hanfeatic town, famous for its commerce with the whole world, and re- fpeQable on account of its fortifications and its government. I fhould have found at Altona the Danifh court ; but I only found a part of what I wifhed to fee : I only faw the Queen-mother and Prince George her fon, who were going to the waters of Pyr- niont. I vifited Hamburg, which pleafed me highly : and after having gone fo far to fee the King, I thought that I was bound to vifit him in his capital city, where I was fure to find him. I fet out for Copenhagen : the ambalfador prefented me to the King, VOL. I. X ai'. 154 REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. and I had the honour to kifs his hand, and to converfe with him fome time. My refi- dence in Copenhagen was extremely agreeable ; and I found the ladies in it fo witty andfo handfome, that I (hould fcarcely have been able to leave them, if I had not been affured that thofe of Sweden were equally agreeable. The anxious defire which I had of feeing the King of Sweden alfo induced me to vifit Stockholm. We had the honour of faluting the King, and of converfmg with him for a whole hour. As he knew we were travelling from motives of curiofity, he informed us that Lapland deferved to be feen by the curious, both on account of its fituation and its inhabitants, whofe mode of living is quite different from that of all Europe ; and he gave orders to Count Steinbielk, grand treafurer, to give us every neceffary recommendation, if we wifhed to undertake the journey. And pray. Sir, who could refifl the advice of a King, and a great King too, like that of Sweden ? Might not one with his advice undertake any thing ? And could we be unfuccefsful in an attempt which he himfelf had recommended, and to which he wifhed fuccefs ? The advices of kings are commands ; and it was on this ac- count that, after putting all our affairs in order, we fet fail for Torno, on Wednefday the twenty-third day of July, 1681, at mid-day, after having paid our refpefts to M. Steinbielk, grand treafurer, who, obeying the orders which he had received from the King, his mafter, gave his recommendations to the governors of the provinces through which we were to travel. We were carried by a fouth-wefl wind as far as Vacfol, where the fhips are vifited. On our paffage thither we were ftruck with the ridiculous pofition of Stockholm. It is almofl incredible that a fituation, fuch as that of this city, fhould have been chofen for the purpofe of containing the capital of fuch an extenfive kingdom as that of Sweden. It is faid that the founders of this city, feeking a fpot on which to build it, threw a ftick into the fea, with the determination to build the city wherever the ftick flopped : the flick confequently flopped in the place where the city now flands, which has nothing frightful about it but its fituation ; for the buildings are handfome, and the inhabitants polite. We faw the ifland of Aland, forty miles diflant from Stockholm : it is very fertile, and becomes the retreat of the elks, who go thither from Livonia and Carelia, when the winter allows them to pafs over on the ice. This animal, though in fome refpefts like the deer, furpaffes it in fwiftnefs and flrength, which it employs againft the wolves, with whom it frequently engages. The fkin of this animal belongs to the King ; and the peafants are obliged, under pain of death, to carry it to the governor. After leaving this ifland we lofl fight of land, and did not again defcry it till Friday morning, in the neighbourhood of Hernen or Hernefante, which is a hundred miles diflant from Stockholm, equal to three hundred French leagues, and the wind conti- nuing extremely ftrong, we foon defcried the iflands of Ulfen, Schagen, and Goben j fo that on Saturday we found that we had left Angermania, and were now as far as Uma, the firfl city of Lapland, and which takes its name from the river on which it is. fituated. This city gives its name to the whole province, which is called Urna Lap- mark. It is fituated in 38° of longitude, and in 6^° 1 1' of north latitude, diflant from Stockholm about one hundred and fifty miles, which amount to about four hun- dred and fifty French leagues. We faw the iflands of Quercken on Saturday, and the wind continuing always fouth- wefl, enabled us to perceive at mid-day the little ifland of Ratan ; and at four o'clock of the evening we found ourfelves as far as Cape Burocklubcn. After paffing this little cape we lofl fight of land, and on Sunday morning, the wind having continued foutherly during the whole night, wc found ourfelves as far as Mal- I hurn. REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND'. l6l ■our good fortune. We hunted in the flrangefl and mofl: delightful m.inner imaginable. No one has ever heard that people went a hunting with flicks in France ; but fuch is the practice here, for fo abundant is the game that they make ufe of rods,fand even fticks to kill them. The birds which we caught in greatell numbers, were divers ; and we admired the addrefs with which they were taken. The pcafants followed them wherever they went ; and when they perceived them fwlmming below water, they threw their flick, and flruck them in the head at the bottom of the water with fuch addrefs, that it is difficult to conceive the promptitude with which they performed this aftion. For our parts, who were not made for this mode of hunting, and whofe eyes were not fine enough for piercing to the bottom of the river, we flruck at random in the fiime places where we faw they flruck, without any other weapons than flicks ; and fo much execution did we make, that in lefs than two hours, we procured more than twenty, or twenty-five pieces of game. We returned to our little dwelling, much pleafed with having feen this hunt, and flill more with bringing fomething along with us for our fupport. Good fortune, like bad, feldom comes alone, and fome peafants, having heard of our arrival, which had been rumoured over the country to a great diilance, partly from curiofity to fee us, and partly to receive fome of our money, brought us a flieep, which we purchafed for five or fix fous, and which increafed our flock of provifionf, to fuch a degree, that we believed ourfelves well enough furniflied to undertake a journey of three days' length, during which time we fhould be unable to meet with any other houfe. We let out early on Sunday morning, that is, at ten o'clock ; for the necelFity which we were under of taking reft, prevented us from being ever on the road before this hour. - We were furprized at meeting with fo many fwallows in this northern lati- tude, and having afked the country people who conduced us, what became of them in winter, and whether they migrated to warm regions, they affured us, that they formed platoons, and buried themfelves in the flime which is at the bottom of the lakes J and that they await in this place, the return of the fun to his former vigour, when he pierces to the bottom of thefe marlhes, and gives them again that life which the cold had deprived them of. I was told the fame thing, by the ambaffador at Copenhagen, and by feveral perfons at Stockholm ; but I could never believe,- that thefe animals could live more than fix months buried in the earth, without any fuflenance. However, fuch is the faft ; and the truth of it has been confirmed to me by fo many people, that I can no longer have any doubt on the fubjefl:. We lodged to-day at Coctuanda, where Lapland commences ; and next day, being Monday, we travelled four miles, and encamped on the bank of the river, where we were obliged to fleep in the open air, and where we made fmoking fires to preferve us from the importunity of the gnats. We made a large round intrenchment formed ■ of a number of tall dry trees, and of fmaller ones for the purpofe of lighting them ; we placed ourfelves in the middle, and made the befl fire that I have ever feen. The wood which we burned would certainly have been fufHcient to load one of thofe large boats which come to Paris with wood ; and a fmall quantity more would have been fufficient to fet the whole forefl on fire. We remained in the midfl of thefe fires the whole night, and we fet out next morning, being Tuefday, for the purpofe of vifiting the copper-mines, which were only two leagues diflant. We travelled towards the weft on the border of a little river, called Longafwchi, which formed here and there the Tnofl beautiful farms that I have ever feen : and after having been often obliged to earry our boat, for want of water, we arrived at Swapavara, or Suppawahara, where VOL. I. Y the X 1 52 REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. the copper-mines are fituated. This place is about a league diftant from the river and we were obliged to travel the whole way on foot. We were extremely glad to hear upon our arrival, that there was a Frenchman here. You fee, Sir, that there is no place, however retired, where Frenchmen are not to be found. He has wrought in thefc mines nearly thirty years, and he had really more the appearance of a favage, than a man ; but he was of confiderable fervice to us, although hi had almoft wholly forgot his mother tongue. He affured us tliat fince he- had firlt refided here, far from having feen any Frenchmen, no ftranger had arrived who was born nearer France, than an Italian, who palled by this place fourteen years ago, and of whom he had never afterwards heard. We were much pleafed with this man's recovering in fome meafure his native language, and we learned from him many, things, which we could with difficulty have been informed of by any other, than a Frenchman. Thefe mines of Swapavara are thirty miles diflant from Torno, and fifteen from Konges, (a Swedifh mile is always equal to three French leagues.) They were opened about feven-and-twenty years ago by a Laplander, called to whom a fmall- rent of four crowns and two barrels of meal is paid : he is exempt from every tax. Thefe mines were formerly better wrought than they are now ; formerly they had con- ftantly a hundred men working here, but at prefent one only fees ten or twelve. The copper found here, is however the belt in Sweden ; but fo deferted and fo frightful is the country, that there are very few perfons who can remain in it. No body but the Laplanders can remain here, and they refide in the neighbourhood of the mines, only during the winter, as, in fummer, they are obliged to leave the country on account of the heat, and the gnats, which the Swedes call akana-as and which are worfe, a thoufand times, than all the plagues of Egypt. They retire to the mountains in the neighbourhood of the vi-eftern fca, for the purpofe of fifliing more conveniently, and finding more eafily nourifhment for their rein-deer, who live upon a little white and tender mofs, w hich grows in fummer on the Sellicean mountains, which feparate Nor- way from Lapland, in the mofl: northern regions. We went next day, Wcdnefday, to view the mines, which were fully half a league dillant from our cabin. We admired the works and the excavated abyfs which penetrated even to the centre of the earth, for the purpofe of feeking, almoft in hell itfelf, materials for the gratification of luxury and vanity. The greateft ' number of thefe pits were full of ice, and fome of them were clothed from head to foot, with a coat of ice fo thick, that even the largeft ftones which we amufed ourfelves with throwing at them, far from making any breach, did not leave the fmalleft mark of the place where they had been (Iruck ; and when they fell to the bottom wefaw them roll and rebound without making the ilightelt imprellion on the ice. And we were at this period in the hotteft of the dog-days ; but what is here called a violent fummer would be reckoned in France a very fevere winter. The rock does not furnilh the metal in every part, but it is found in veins ; and when once one is difcovered, it is followed with as much care as it was formerly fought after. For this purpofe, fire is either employed to foften the rock, or powder to blow it to pieces ; the latter mode is by far the moft troublefome, but it is beyond meaiuro more ufeful. We took ftones of all colours, yellow, blue, green, and violet ; but the laft appeared to us by far the beft, and the fuUeft of metal. We made a trial of leveral pieces of loadftone which we found upon the rock ; but they had loft almoft all their power by the fires which had been made above or below ; 2 which REGNARd's journey to LAPI.ANll. 163 which prevented us from taking any away with us, as we thought it better to wait till our return, when we could procure it from the iron-mine. After having invcdigatcd all the machines and pumps employed for raifmg the water, we contemplated at our Joifurc all the mountains covered with ihow that fm-rounded us. It is upon thefe rocks, that the Laplanders live during winter ; and this country has been in their pofleffion, fince the diviiion of Lapland, which took place in the reign of Guflavus Adolplius, father of Queen Chriftina. Thefe lands and mountains belong to them exclufively : and to mark their property, they have their names written upon fome (tones, or cut out in fome parts of the mountain, which they have had in their poffedion, or which they have inhabited. Such are the rocks ofLupawara, Kerquerol, Kilavara, Lung, Dondere, or rock of I'him- der, which have furniflied names to the famihes of Laplanders which dwell upon them, and which are only diftinguilhed in this country by the furnames that thefe rocks furnifh them with. Thefe mountains are fometimes feven or eight leagues in length ; and although they remain always upon the fame rock, they do not hefitate often to Ihift their places, when neceffity leads them to do fo, and when their rein- deer have confumed all the mofs which was near their habitations. Although fome Laplanders have, during the winter, certain fixed places of refidence, there are many more who conftantly wander, and whofe habitations cannot be difcovered ; they are fometimes in the woods, fome- times on the lakes, juft as they have need of hunting or fifhing, and they are never to be feen, except when they attend the lairs in winter, for the purpofe of bartering Ikins for fome other article which they ftand in need of, and for carrying the tribute which they pay to the King of Sweden, but from which they might eafdy exempt themfelves, if they did not wifh to attend thefe fairs. But the need which they have of iron, fteel, cordage, and knives, and other articles of this nature, oblige them to attend thefe fairs, at which they receive the commodities they are in want of. The tribute which they pay is alfo extremely fmall. The richefl: among them, when they have a thoufand or twelve hundred rein-deer, which is the cafe with fome, pay generally only two or three crowns at the moft. After being amply informed on all thefe topics, we began to return to our hut, and iaw on the road thofe forges where the copper is firll founded. Here the grollelt alloy is feparated, and when it has been long enougk in the foundery to have all its impurities thrown out, before taking out the copper at the bottom, they lift up feveral fheets, which they call rofettes, in which there is only one half of copper, and which are afterwards placed in the furnace, to remove the quantity of drofs which (till remains. This is the firft fliape which is given to it here ; but at Konges, it is palfed three times through the fire, that it may be thoroughly purified, and rendered fit to take that form imdcr the hammer, which is wifhed to be given to it. OnThurfday a priell of the Laplanders arrived with four of that people, for the purpofe of attending next day, one of the days of religious exercife eitablifhed throughout all Sweden, to thank God for the viftories gained by them on that day. Thefe were the firfl; Laplanders we had feen, and the fight of them gave us much fatisfafiion. They came to barter fifli for tobacco. We regarded them attentively from head to foot : they are made quite differently from other men. The talleft of them is not more than three cubits high ; and I know not any figure more truly laughable. They have large heads, broad and flat faces, level nofes, fmall eyes, large mouths, and thick beards dcfcending to their ftomach. All their limbs are proportioned to their littlenefs of body ; their legs are thin, their arms long, and the whole of this little machine feemsto move on fprings. Their winter drefs confifts of the Ikin of a rein- deer, made like a fack defcending to the knees, and tied round the thighs, with a fafii Y 2 of 164 REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. of leather adorned with fraall plates of filver ; the (hoes, gloves, and boots of the famcfl uff: and this has led feveral hiftorians to relate, that there were men in the northern regions, habited like beafts, and who wore no other covering than that which nature had given them. They have always a purfe made of the entrails of the rein-deer, which hangs upon their breafi:, and in which they keep a fpoon. They change this drefs in fummer, and take a lighter, which is generally formed of the Ikins of birds whom they flay for the purpofe of defending themfelves againft the gnats. They have always above this a fack of coarfe or whitifli gray cloth, with which they cover themfelves ; for they are quite ignorant of the ufe of linen. They cover the head with a cap, which is generally made of the fkin of a bird,: large as a duck, which they call loom, fignifying in their language Ia7nc, becaufe this bird cannot walk ; they place it on their heads in fuch a manner, that the birds's head falls over their brow, and its wings cover their ears. Such, Sir, is the defcription of this little animal, called a Laplander ; and, it may be faid, that, after the monkey, he approaches the nearefl to man. We interrogated them on feveral fubjefts on which we wilhed for information, and, in particular we afked them where we could find their comrades. Thefe people gave us every informa- tion. They told us that the Laplanders began to defcend from the mountains fituated near the Frozen Ocean, from whence the heat and the flies had driven them, and fpread themfelves towards the lake Tornotracs, where the river Torno takes its rife,, for the purpofe of fifhing a fliort time, till, about Saint Bartholomew's day, by which time they arrive at the mountains of Swapavara, Kilavan, and others, where the cold begins to be felt, and where they intend to pafs the winter. They affured us, that we fhould be certain of meeting with fome of the richefl of the Laplanders there, and that, during the feven or eight days which it would take us to travel thither, they would arrive in thofe places. They added, that, for their parts, they had remained the whole fummer, in the neighbourhood of the mine and tl>e lakes around it, having found fufficient nourifliment for fifteen or twenty rein-deer, which every one was in pofleffion of, and being too poor te-undertake a journey of fifteen days, for which pro- vifions mud be procured, which they had not in their power to do, in confequence of their having been unable to hve away from the ponds which furnilhed them daily with, their fubfillence. On Friday, the fifteenth day of Augtrft, it was extremely cold, and fnow fell on the neighbouring mountains. We had a long converfation with the pried, when he had finiflicd the two fermons which he delivered this day, the one of which was in the Finnifli, the other, in the Lapponian language. He fortunately for us, fpoke pretty good Latin, and we interrogated him on every fubjeft, which he could be bell ac- quainted with, fuch as baptifm, marriage, and funerals. He told us, that, with refpcdl to the firft, the Laplanders were Chriftians and baptifed ; but the majority were fo only in form, and they retained fo much of their old fuperdition, that it might be faid of them, they had only the name of Chriilians, and they were flill Pagans in their hearts. The Laplanders carry 'their children to the pried for baptifm, a fhort time after they are born ; if, in winter, they carry them in their fledges, and if in fummer, they place them upon the rein-deer, in their cradles filled with mofs, which are made of the bark of the birch-tree, and in a very peculiar manner. On this occafion, they generally make a prefent to the pried, a pair of gloves bordered in certain places with feathers of the loom, which are violet, dreaked with white, and of a very beautiful colour. As foon as the child is baptifed, the father makes it a prefent of a female rein-deer I and regnard's journey to Lapland; 16^ and whatever this rein-deer, which they call pannikcis^ produces in milk, cheefe, or any thing elfe, belongs to the infant, if a daughter, and forms her portion when fhe is mar- ried. There are fome alfo who make a prefent to their children of a deer when they perceive the firft tooth ; and all the deer which are produced from this one are diflin- guifhed by a particular mark. They change the name which the child has received in baptifm when they are unhappy ; and on the firft day of their marriage they lie together in the fame hut, and carefs their wives in the prefence of every one. Refpeding marriage, he told us that the Laplanders married their daughters late, though they had feveral offers, when it was known in the country that they had a num- ber of deer which had been produced from thofe which their father had given them when they were baptifcd, and when they had their firft teeth ; for here this is all that they carry with them : and the fon-in-law, far from receiving any thing from his father-in- law, is obliged to purchafe the daughter by prefents. They generally begin, like the birds, to make love in April. When the lover has feen fome daughter whom he wilhes to marry, he mufl: take care to be furniflied with a quantity of fpirituous liquor when he vifits the father or the neareft relation to make his requefl : this is the only way of making love in this coun- try ; and a marriage is never concluded until feveral bottles of fpirits have been drank, and a confiderable quantity of tobacco fmoked. The more amorous a lover is, the greater quantity of fpirits does he carry ; and it is impoflible to take a more effectual method of difplaying the ftrength of his paffion. They give a particular name to the fpirituous liquor which the lover carries to the agreement, and call it the happy arrival of wine, or foubbowvin, the lover's wine. It is a cuflom among the Laplanders to affi- ance their children long before they are married ; they do fo with the intention of making the lover continue his prefents ; and if he wifhes to fucceed in his entcrprife, he mud not fail to continue fprinkling his love with fuch a delightful beverage. At length, after having a year or two performed all the neceffary ceremonies, the marriage is fometimes concluded. Formerly the Laplanders had a mode of marriage quite peculiar, whilfl: they conti- nued buried in the darknefs of paganifm, which is ftill obferved by fome of them. They did not carry the parties before the pried, but the parents married them at home, with- out any'bther ceremony than that of ftriking fome fparks of fire by means of a flint : they believed that there were no figure more myfterious and better fitted than this to reprefent the nature of marriage ; for as the ftone contains within itfelf the fparks of fire, which do not appear except when it approaches iron, fo, fay they, there remains a principle of life unfeen in both fexes which only can be perceived when they are united. I believe, Sir, that you will not think this very bad reafoning in Laplanders ; and there are many men acute enough who would feel confiderable difficulty in giving fo appofite a comparifon. But I know not whether you will confider the ioUowing rea- foning to be equally excellent. I have already mentioned that when a daughter is known in the country to have a number of rein-deer, fhe does not want fuitors ; but I did not tell you, Sir, that this property is all that they expeft in a wife, vi'ithout giving themfelves any trouble whether fhe is handfome or not ; whether Ihe has wit, or is dellitute of it ; or even whether flie be a maid, or whether another has previoufly received any marks of her love. But what you will admire flill more, and what at firft furprifed me, is, that thefe people, far from making amonfter of this virginity, believe thofe girls who have loft it ought to be the more anxioufly fought after ; and that poor as they are, which often happens, they frequently i66 resnard's journey to lapland. frequently prefer them to the rich, who are ftlU maids, or at lead who would be confi- dered fuch. But it is neceffary to make this diltinction, Sir, that thefe girls, of whom I am fpealcing, mud have granted their favours to thofe flrangers who arrive here in winter for the purpofe of trade, and not to Laplanders. From hence they infer, that becaufe a man, whom they behevc to be richer and poffelled of a better taile than them- felves, has been anxious to give marks of his love for a girl of their country, flie mull therefore be pofl'effed of fome fecret merit, of which, though they are at prefent igno- rant, they will in time become fenfible. So keen are they for thefe kinds of morlels, that when they come fometimes during the winter to the city of Torno, and find a girl with child, not only do they forget their interefts, in being willing to take her without property, but even after flie has laid in they pay for her to her parents as much as they can afford. I know many perfons, Sir, who would be charitable enough to make the fortunes in this manner of a number of poor girls, and who would not afk any thing better than to procure them, without being put to much trouble, advantageous offers. If this fafliion were to be adopted in France, one would not ice fo many girls remain fo long unmarried : the fathers, whofe purfes are tied with a triple knot, would not be fo much tormented, and the girls themfelves would always have in their power a method by which they could efcape from the captivity in which they are held. But I do not be- lieve. Sir, that although the fathers would do all in their power, it would be very eafy to introduce it. As the Laplanders are naturally ignorant of almofl all kinds of difeafes, they have not been defirous of maldng fome to themfelves like us. Jealoufy and the fear of cuckoldom give them no uneafinefs : thefe evils, which torment fo many among us, are to them unknown ; and I do not believe there is any word in their language to exprefs the idea of a cuckold : and one may fay jocularly with the Spaniard, In fpeaking of paft ages and the prefent, Paflo lo de oro, •Pall'6 lo de plata, P.ifTo lo de hierro. Vive lo de cuerno. And while thefe people are bringing back the golden, we are making one to ourfelves of horn. In fact, Sir, you are now to behold among them that which I believe took place in the days of Saturn, namely, a community of poflellions which will aflonifli you. You have feen that the Laplanders are what we call cuckolds before marriage, and you are now to be convinced that they are no lefs fo after it. When the marriage is confummated the hufband does not carry away his wife, but remains one year with his father-in-law, at the end of which period he goes to fettle himfelf where he pleafes, and carries with him all that belongs to his wife. The pre- fents even which he made to his father-in-law during the courtfhip are given back, and the parents repay thofe which have been made them by fome rein-deer, according to their ability. I have fliown you. Sir, that ftrangers have a great privilege in this country, which is that of honouring the daughters on their approach : they have another, which is not lefs confiderable, that of partaking with the Laplanders a fhare of their beds and their wives. When a (tranger arrives in their huts, they receive him in the befl manner they are able, and think they treat him moft kindly if they have a glafs of fpirits to give hinij; but after the refrcfhmcnt, when the ftranger they receive is refpeftable, and they wifli to be kind to him, they make their wives and their daughters approacli, and they think themfelves REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. l6y themfelves highly honoured if the ftranger behave to them in the fame manner they do themfelves ; and as for the wives and daughters, they make no fcniple of giving the vifitor all that he defires; and they believe that he does them as much honour as their hufbands and fathers. As this mode of behaviour furprifcd me much, and as I had never an opportunity of experiencing it, I procured the inofl: exact information in my power, and learnt fe- veral fads of this nature. I will then tell you what I have been affured is really true. The Frenchman whom we found at the mines of Swampavara, who was a funple man, and I believe incapable of contriving a flory, affured us that to pleafe a number of Laplanders he had aflifted them in their conjugal duty ; and to ihow us how thefe people had ufed means to induce him to take this trouble, he told us that one day, after having drunk fome glaffes of fpirits with a Laplander, he was folicited by this man to lie with his wife, who was then prefent with all the family ; and that upon refufmg, which he did in the bed manner he could, the Laplander not finding his excufes fatisfaclory, took his wife and the Fi-enchman, and having thrown them both upon a bed, he went out of the room and locked the door, begging of the Frenchman, by every argument he could think of, to do in his place that which he was accuftomed to do himfelf. The ftory which happened to Joannes Torna;us, prieft of the Laplanders, of whom I have already fpoken, is no lefs remarkable. It was related to us by the fame prieft who had been his curate in Lapland, and who had lived under him more than fifteen years. A Laplander, he told us, one of the richeft and moft confiderable in the Lapland of Torno, wifhed that his bed was honoured by his paftor ; he knew no better method of multiplying his cattle, and of drawing down the bleffmg of heaven upon all his family : he begged of him feveral times to do him that honour ; but the paftor, from confcience, or fome other motive, wiftied to avoid it, and always reprefented to him that this was not the moft certain method of rendering the Deity propitious. The Laplander by no means coincided with this mode of reafoning ; and one day when he found the paftor alone, he conjured him on his knees, and by all that he held facred among the gods whom he worihipped, not to refufe him the favour that he requefted ; and adding pro- mifes to his intreaties, he prefented him with fix crowns, which he was willing to give him if he would debafe himfelf fo far as to lie with his wife. The good prieft doubted fome time whether he could do it confcientioully, and not wifliing to refufe the poor man, he determined that it was better to make him a cuckold, and gain his money, than to drive him to defpair. If this adventure had not been related to us by the fame prieft, who was at that time his pupil, and who was prefent, I could never have believed it ; but he aflured us of the truth of it in fo earneft a manner, that, independent of any confideration of the manners oi' the country, I could not doubt it. This kindnefs which the Laplanders difplay to their women does not limit itfelf to their paftors ; but agreeable to what has been already mentioned, and what fhall after-- wards be fliown, extends alfo to ftrangers of every defcription. I will not take any notice. Sir, of a girl whom a magiifrate of Lapland, who receives the tribute for the King, had a child by. A Laplander purchafed her of him who had diflionoured her, for no other reafon than becaufe fhe had been able to gain the affection of a ft ranger. Events of this nature are fo common in this country, that even during a fhort relidence among the Laplanders a perfon can fcarcely fail to be convmced of their reality by his own experience. They wafti their children in a tub three times a day until they are a year old, and afterwards three times a-week : they have few children, and it fcarcely ever happens that i68 regnard's jocrney to lapland. that fix are found in a family. As foon as they are born they are waflied in fnow till they are deprived of breath, and then they iiiimerfe them in a bath of hot water : I be- lieve they do this for the purpofe of hardening them to the cold. As foon as the mother is delivered flie drinks a large draught of oil from the whale, and flie believes that it is of great ufe to her. It is eafy to know when in the cradle of what fex a child is : if it is a boy, they hang over its head a bow and arrows, or a lance, to teach them, even in the cradle, what ought to be their employment during their lives, and to inform them that it is their duty to render themfelves expert in their exercife. Over the cradle of girls they hang the wings oi the jopcs, which they call rippa, with the feet and the bill, to infmuate to them from their infancy the advantages of neatnefs and agility. When the women are pregnant thefe people ftrike the tabor, for the purpofe of knowing what fex the child will be of: they prefer girls, becaufe they receive prefents in marrying them, and they are obliged to purchafe their wives. Difeafes, as I have already mentioned, are almolt unknown among the Laplanders, and when they are aft'efted with any. Nature is ftrong enough to cure them herfelf ; and without the affiftance of phyficians they foon recover their health : however they employ fome remedies, fuch as the root of the mofs, which they call Jec/^, or that which is deno- minated flony angelica. The fap which oozes from their fir-trees ferves them for plaf- ters, and the cheefe of the rein-deer is their divine ointment. _ They apply thefe remedies in various manners. They have the gall of the wolf, which they mix with gunpowder, in fpirits. "When the cold has frozen fome part of their bodies, they fpread the cheefe cut in flices over the part affefted, and they are cured by it. The fecond method of employing the cheefe, both for external and internal remedies, is by inferting a red-hot iron into the cheefe, which by its heat draws out a kind of oil, with which they rub themfelves on the part affefted ; and this remedy is always followed with a certain and marvellous fuccefs : it ftrengthens the breafl:, removes the cough, and is good for all contufions ; but the ufual remedy for the moil dangerous difeafes is fire : they apply a piece of charcoal perfectly red to the wound, and fufFer it to remain as long as they are able, that every thing impure in the fore may be eaten out. This is a cuftom among the Turks : they have no remedy which they conceive more fovereign. Thofe who are fortunate enough in France and other countries to arrive at an ex- treme old age, are obliged to fufFer a great deal of inconvenience which it brings along with it ; but the Laplanders are totally exempted from them, and they feel no infirmity in this fiate, except a finall diminution of their ordinary vigour : it is even impoflible to difiinguifli the old men from the young ; and white heads are very rarely to be feen in this country : they always retain their own hair, which is generally red. But what is flill more remarkable, one meets with very few old men who are not blind; their fight, naturally weak, is unable any longer to fupport either the glare of the fnow, with which the earth is almoft conftantly covered, or the continual fmoke iffuing from the fire which is always burning in the middle of their huts ; they confequently become blind in their old age. "When a perfon is fick, they have a cuftom of playing on a tabor, of which I (hall treat afterwards, for the purpofe of difcovering whether the difeafe will terminate fa- tally ; and when they fuppofe themfelves certain of unhappy confequenccs, and that the fick perfon is drawing near to his end, they gather themfelves round his bed ; and that they may aflift the foul of the dying in its paffage to the next world, they bring to him as much fpirits as they can, and drink as long as it lafts, to confole themfelves for the lofs of their friend, and to excite them to weep. No fooner is he dead than they abandon the houfe, and even demoliih it, left that which remains of the foul of the de- ceafed. REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. l6^ ceafed, which the ancients called niancs, fliould do them any injury. The coffin confids of a tree hollowed out, or even fometiines of their fledge, into which they put all that the dead perfon had nioll valuable, as his bow, his arrows, and his lance, with the inten- tion that Ihould he one day return to life, he may be able to exercife his former profef- fion. Some of them are even fuch gallant chriftians as to confound chriftianity with their ancient fuperftitions ; for having heard their priefls tell that we fhould one day arife again fron\ the dead, they put into the coffin of the dead perfon his hatchet, a flint, and a piece of iron to Itrike a fire, (Laplanders never travel without thefe neceflaries,) that "when he arifes he may be able to cut down trees, level rocks, and burn all the obitacles that he may meet with in his road to heaven. You fee, Sir, that notwithftanding all their errors, thefe people move thitherward as much as poffible ; they wifli to arrive at it either peaceably or bv force, fo that it may be faid. His per ferruvi et ignes ad cxlos graffiiri conjlitiitwn, and that they expeft by iron and fire to enter the kingdom of heaven. They do not always inter their dead in cemeteries, but very often in foreits and ca- verns : they fprinkle the place with fpirits ; all the mourners drink of them ; and three days after the funeral they kill the rein-deer which had borne the dead to the burying- place, and a feaft is made of it to all the company prefent : the bones are not thrown away, but gathered carefully for the purpofe of burying at the fide of the deceafed. It is at this repafl that they drink the paligavin, that is, fortunate liquor, becaufe they drink in honour of a perfon whom they believe to be happy. Succeffions are fettled nearly in the fame manner as in Sweden : the widow takes the half; and if the deceafed has left any property, the boy takes two-thirds of it, and leaves the reft to his fifter. We were very earneftly engaged in this converfation, when we were informed that fome Laplanders with their rein-deer were obferved approaching on the tops of the moun- tains : we iallied out to meet them, that we might have the pleafure of feeing their equi- page and their march ; but we fell in with three or four perfons only who carried on their deer fome dried filh for fale at Swapavara. I have long fpoken to you. Sir, about the rein-deer, without having given you a defcription of that animal, which I have already fo often alluded to. It is but reafonable, therefore, that I fliould now proceed to gratify your curiofity, as I have at prefent gratified my own. Rheen is aSwedifli word by which they have been diftinguiffied, either on account of its neatnefs or his fwiftnefs; for rhen fignifies neat, and renna means to run, in that language. The Romans were totally ignorant of this animal, and the modern Latins call it rangifcr. I cannot give you any other reafon for this, than that the Swedes formerly called this animal r^«^^/, to which word fera was added, as if they had faid, the animal called rangi. Although I do not wifli to fay that the horns of this animal, which fhoot out in the form ot large branches, have led them to give it this appellation ; for in that cafe they would rather have called it ramifer than rangifcr. Whatever may be in this. Sir, one thing is certain, that although this animal is almoft like a ftag, it neverthelefs differs from it in fome refpeQs. The rein-deer is larger, but the horns are totally diit'erent ; they rife to a great height, and become crooked in the middle, forming a kind of circle round the head, which is covered with hair from top to bottom, of the colour of the ikin, and is full of blood throughout ; fo that if it is hard prelTed by the hand, the animal Ihows by its conduor/, and the Greeks called lagopos, about the fize of a hen ; the plu- mage of this bird in fummeris grey, of the fame colour with a pheafant, and in winter, it is quite white, like all the animals that live in this country ; and beneficent nature gives them the fame colour with the fnow, that they may not be recognized by the hunter, who could eafily perceive them, if they were of any other colour than the fnow, with which the earth is totally covered. I have already defcribed this animal : its tafte is more favoury than that of a partridge, and it gives, by its cry, a certain mark that it will foon fall among the fnow, as may be eafily underllood by its name which fignifies bird of the fnow. The Laplanders place their nets upon the Ihow, and form a little hollow, in the midft of which they leave an empty fpace, where the fnares are placed, and through which the birds mud pafs. It is impoihble to conceive the quantity of fifh in Lapland. It is every where inter- fered by rivers, lakes, and rivulets, and fo full of fifh are thofe rivers, lakes, and rivulets, that a man can take as many with a fingle line in half an hour, as he is able to carry. This is alfo the fole nourifhment of the Laplanders ; they have no other bread ; and they do not catch them foiely for their own ufe ; they form the only article of their commerce, and purchafe thofe commodities they fland in need of, with fifh orfkins; for which reafon, fifliing is all their occupation; for whe- ther they wifli to eat, or to indulge themfelves in luxury, which is not fufiered to reign in this country, they have no other means of doing fo. It is true, that the rich never fifh ; the poor fifh for them ; and they give them tobacco, or fpirits, or iron, or Ibme article of that nature, in exchange. Without flopping to take notice of all the fifh in this country, I will mention, that there is no place where falmon are found in greater abun- dance. They begin to arrive in the month of May, and they are, at that time, much fatter I9S REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. fatter and more delicious than in the month of September, when they return. There are fome years when, in the river of Torno alone, they fifh to the amount of three thou- fand tons, which are fent to Stockholm, and to all the inhabitants of the Baltic Sea, and the Bothnian Gulf. The pike is equally abundant with the fahnon ; they dry them, and carry immenfe quantities of them, I have already defcribed the method they em- ploy to fifla at night, by the light of a large fire which they kindle on the prow of their boats. The trout is very frequently met with : but there is a kind of fifli which I never few before, and which they call jf^/ ; it is of the fize of a herring, and extremely deli- cate. After having remained fome days with thefe Laplanders, and learned from them all the information we wiflied, we returned by that road which led us to the pricft ; and on the fame day, Wednefday, the twenty-feventh of Augufl, we left him, and flept at Cok- luanda, which is the boundary between Bothnia and Lapland. But, Sir, I know not whether you confider it flrange that I fliould have talked to you fo much of the Lap- landers, while I have faid nothing of Lapland. I do not know how it has happened, but I am going to end where I fliould have begun : but it is better to fpeak of it late, than not at all ; and before I leave the fubjeft, I will tell you all I know refpefting it. I cannot tell you what name this province was known by among the ancient geogra- phers, becaufe it was unknown to them : and Tacitus and Ptolemy know no province more diftant than Scriflnia, which we now call Bothnia, or Biarmia, and which ftretches along the Bothnian Gulf. All that we know of Lapland to-day is, that it is divided into eail and weft : on the weft it faces Iceland, and is under the dominion of the King of Denmark ; on the eaftern fide it is bounded by the White Sea, in which the port of Archangel is fituated, which belongs to the Grand Duke of Mufcovy. It is proper to add a third divifion, which is in the middle of thefe two, and which is much larger than both the others, and this is under the government of Sweden, and is divided into five different provinces, which have all the general name of Lapland ; and are called Uma Lapmarch, Pitha Lapmarch, Lula Lapmarch, Torna Lapmarch, and Kiuii Lapmarch. They talce their names from the rivers which water them ; and thefe fame rivers give all their names to the cities they pafs, if this appellation may be given to a parcel of huts made of trees. The province of Torna Lapmarch, which is exactly fituated at the bottom of the Gulf of Bithynia, is the furtheft in the world on the fide of the arctic pole, and extends as far as the North Cape. Charles the Ninth, King of Sweden, being anxious to know the fituation and extent of his dominions, fent to this place, at various times in the year 1600, two illuftrious mathematicians, the one called Aaron Forfius, a Swede, and the other Jerome Blrcholto, a German. Thefe individuals performed the journey, witli all the neceffary provifions and inftrunients, very fuccefsiully ; and they reported on their return that they found no continent on the north beyond the feventy-third degree of latitude, but an immenfe frozen ocean ; and the laft promontory wliich bordered on the fea was Nuchus, or Norkap, not far from caftle Wai'dhus, which belongs to the Danes. It was in this part of Lapland that we travelled ; and we have re-afcended the river which waters it to the fource. Wc arrived next day at Jacomus Maftung, which was only diftant two leagues from the plac€ where we had flept: we made three or four on foot in order to arrive at it, and we did not lofeour labour. There is at this place a very good iron mine, but it is ahnoft abandoned, on account of its great diftance. We went tliithcr to fee the iron- work ; but although we were difappointed in this expedation, we were more fortunate than we cxpeded : wc went into the mine, from whence we procured very beautiful ftones REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. I99 ftones of adamant. We obferved with much pleafure the fm-pnfing cflfcds of this ftone, wlien it is (till in its native ftate : it required a great deal of force to feparatc flones fo large as thofe we wiflied to procure ; and the hammer that was employed, which was as thick as a man's thigh, remained fo fixed when it fell on the chiflel in the (tone, that the man who (truck with it required fome afiiftance before he could withdraw it. I wiihed to try this myfelf ; and having taken a large iron-bar, fimilar to that which is employed to lift the heavieft bodies, and which I could fcarcely move, I ftruck the chilfel, which bounded with extreme violence, and fuftained the fliock with inconceiv- able force : I put a compafs, which I had, in the middle of the aperture of the mine, and the needle turned round with inconceivable rapidity : we took the belt (tones, and re- mained no longer in this place. We went to iind our boats, and travelled to fleep at Tuna Hianda, at the houfe of one of our boatmen, who fliowed us his letters of exemp- tion from taxes, which he had received from the King, tor difcovering this iron-mine. This peafant called himfelf Lars Larzon, Laurentius a Laurentio. The next day, Sunday, we travelled a confiderable way, and arrived in the evening at Koenges, where we had ftopt a day in pa(rmg. We purchafed in this place fledges, and all the hamefs which is neceifary to yoke the rein-deer •, they cod us a ducat each. We did not depart till Monday at mid-day, as we were obliged to wait for the boats, which were at a great diftance, and which it was necelTary to carry a great way, to avoid the catarafts, which are extremely violent in this place. We flept this night at Pello, where we had the pleafure of feeing on our arrival that method of fi{hing the pike, of which I have already fpoken to you, and which appeared to me fo a(loni(hing. It is not furprifing that the inhabitants of this country fliould adopt every poffible method of catching fifh : they have nothing elfe to fubfift on ; and nature, which often gives the remedy along with the difeafe, when refufing grain to this people, gives them fifh in greater abundance than in any other country in the world. We came next day, being the firft of September, to fleep at the houfe of the magiftrate of Lapland, a German, of whom I have already fpoken ; and on the next day we arrived at Torno, after having paflfed more than fifty cataracts. Thefe cataracts are very impetuous falls of water, which make a dreadful noife in falling : there are fome which continue during the length of two or three leagues ; and it is the greateft pleafure in the world to fee thefe tor- rents defcending with an inconceivable fvviftnefs, and maldng three or four Swediili miles in an hour, which are equal to twelve French leagues. The more ftrong the cataracl is, it is neceflTary to ply the oar with the greater vigour, in order to defend the boat againfl the waves ; by which means, being at the fame time hurried on by the torrent, and afllfted by the oar, you make an aftonifliing diftance in a little time. We arrived at Torno on Tuefday, and we came in good time to fee the ceremony of the funeral of John Tornjeus, whom I formerly mentioned, and who had been dead two months. It is the cuftom in Sweden to keep the bodies of their dead a very long time : this length of time depends on the quality of the deceafed ; and the higher the rank of the perlbn, the longer is the funeral deferred. This time is aflibrded, that every- thing may be prepared for this event, which is the moft folemn that takes place in this country ; and if it be faid that the Turks lay out their property on marriages, the Jews on circumcifions, and the chrlftians on law-fuits, we may add, the Swedes on their fu- nerals. In fact, I was aftoniflied at the great expence laid out upon the funeral of a man who was not by any means of rank, and that too in a country fo barbarous, and at fuch a diftance from the rell of the world. They had no fooner heard of our arrival, than the fon-in-law of the defunft immediately began to ftudy a Latin oration, which he in- tended to deliver die next day in our prefence, inviting us to attend his father's funeral : he 203 REGNARd's JOCRNEY to LAPLAND. he was dreaming about it the whole night ; and when he came before us next day, he had forgotten the whole of his-difcourfe. If low bows fay any thing, and be the marks of eloquence, I can affure you that our haranguer was the prince ot orators ; but I be- lieve the bending of his body was employed rather to hide the confulion which appeared upon his countenance, than to adorn his difcourfe. As we were acquainted with the object of his vifit, we underftood that he came to requeft our affiftance at the ceremony, for we could underlland nothing from his difcourfe ; and a fhort time after the burgoi mailer of the city, with an officer who was there in garrifon, came to take us in their boat acrofs the water to the houfe of the deceafed. On our arrival we found the whole houfe filled with priefls, habited in long cloaks, and hats which appeared by their height to be columns employed to fupport fome beam of a houfe. 1 he body of the decealed was depofited in a coifin, covered with cloth, and placed in the middle of them. They watered him with their tears, w hich trickled down their moiftened beards, the feparated hairs of which formed various channels, and diftilled this forrowful humour, which was employed inflead of holy-water. All thefe priefts had left their parilhes, and had come from a great diftance : fome of them had travelled more than a hundred leagues ; and we were ailured that fuch is their regard for this ceremony, if it had happened in winter, when the roads are in the bell fituation for travelling, there was no prieft within two hundred leagues diflance who would not have attended. The oldefl: delivered a funeral oration to all his alliflants ; and he mulf furely have faid fomething very afiecling, fince his mournful air had almofl: drawn forth even our tears, who knew not a word he fpoke. The women were in a little chamber feparated from the men, and they groaned in a dreadful manner ; among others, the widow of the deceafed interrupted by her fighs the difcourfe of the preacher. While this fermon was delivered here, another was preached in the Finland tongue at the church ; and when the two difcourfes were ended, they fet out to conduct the body to the church. Seven or eight refpeclable inhabitants car- ried him on their flioulders, and every one was anxious to lend their aid. This brought to my recolleftion what Virgil fays of the entrance of the horfe into Troy, when he mentions that both young and old were anxious to lend their aid to draw that machine into their city ; Fitnemqiic manu contingere gaudent. We followed the corpfe like the chief mourners ; and the widow was afterwards conduced under the arms of two of her daughters, the one of whom grieved much, while the other feemed not at all afleded. The body was placed in the middle of the church, while fome pfalms were fung ; and the women, in pafling by the decealed, threw themfelves upon the coiSn, and embraced him for the laft time. Now commenced the grand and principal funeral oration, delivered by John Plantinus, priefl; of Urna, who received a difh made of fliver for his trouble. I cannot fay whether he merited it ; but I know that he cried much : and that to render every objedt more fad, he made himfelf hideous, in leaving his hair in diforder, and full of pieces of ftraw, which he had not had time to take out of it. This man related every occurrence in the life of the deceafed, from his birth to his lad figh : he mentioned the places, and the mafters whom he had ferved, the provinces which he had feen, and did not omit the minuteft circumftance of his life. It is the cuitom in this country to deliver a funeral oration over lacqueys and fervants, provided the relations are able to pay a crown to the orator. I attended through curiofity the funeral of a fervant at Stockholm. The priefl: who delivered her funeral oration, after mentioning the place of her birth, and her relations, expatiated on the good qualities of the deceafed, and exaggerated highly her knowledge of kitchen-work, diflributing his difcourfe into various divifions, according to the num- ber of ragouts which ihc knew how to prepare j and fonued a part of his oration, by telling REGNARD S JOURNEY TO LAPLAND. 201 telling them that flic had only one fault, that of making every thing too fait, and that flie Ihewcd by this conduct the regard fhe had for prudence, of which fait is the fymbol, and her little regard for the things of this world, which flie threw away in profufion. You may fee by this. Sir, that there are few people who may not give occafion to a funeral fpeech, and lurnifli an orator with a wide field for the difplay of his eloquence. But our prefent fubjecl had a more noble career. John Torneeus was a learned man : he had travelled, and had even vifited France, as tutor to Count Charles Oxenftiern. When the funeral oration was ended, they came up to us and paid us a compliment in Latin, defiring us to Hay to the banquet. Although we underilood no more of this compliment than we had done of the firfl:, we had no difficulty in gueffing what they wiihed to fay : our llomachs informed us very intelligibly what it was; and they com- plained fo loudly that it was near three o'clock, and that they had not yet eaten, that it was no more difficult for thefe people to underftand our language, than for us to un- derftand theirs. They conduced us into a large hall, in which were three long tables ; and this was the mofl honourable place. There were befides thefe five or fix other tables, ftill better covered, for the entertainment of all the people who were prefent. The preludes to the repall were fpirituous liquors, beer, and another liquor which they call calchat, compofed of beer, wine, and fugar ; two of the mod execrable liquids which could enter the human body. The tables were at length ferved ; and they placed us at the upper end of the firfl table, with the priefls of the higheft rank, fuch as the chief preacher and others. They commenced their meal in fdence, as is the general cuftom, and as the feafon demanded ; which led Plantin to remark, who was at my fide, that they called the guefts Nclli. N fignifies Ncque vox, nee fcrmo egreditur ex ore eorum; loquebautur I'ariis Unguis ; in omncm terram cxivii fonus eorum. All thefe words are taken from fcripture ; and I do not believe that it is poffible to apply them better than on this occafion ; for one can fcarcely figure a more exa£t reprefentation of the marriage at Cana, than the picture in which it was now reprefented to us, more beautiful and more natural than that of Paul Vcronefe. The tables were covered with flrange, and, if I may ufe the expreflion, antique diflies ; for it had been at lead eighf days fince they were drefled. Large pots of different kinds, made for the mofl part like thofe which were ufed at the facrifices of the ancients, covered this table, and produced by their number a confufion fimilar to that which took place at the banquets of the ancients. But what gave the finifhing flroke to this pidture, was the venerable air of all the prielts, clothed in their beards, and the Finland drefs of all the guefls, which are as becoming as can well be imagined. There was among others a little old man, with fhort hair, a thick beard, and a bald forehead : I do not believe that a more exafl; reprefentation of the figure of Saint Peter could poffibly be produced by the imagination of any painter. This man wore a green robe, turned up with yellow, without any fhape, and producing the effeft of a drapery tied with a fafli. 1 could not ceafe contemplating this man, who was the brother of the deceafed. Whilfl I was engaged in looking at this man, the refl were employed in more important occupations, and were drinking to the honour of the defunfl:, and the profperity of his family, in an aflonifliing manner. The priefls, like the bed friends, drank the mofl copioufly ; and after having toafted feveral healths, they came at length to kings and great men. They began firfl by drinking to the health of hand fome girls, which is the cullom throughout all Sweden, and from thence they rofe to kings. Thefe healths are drank out of veffels, the fize of which is proportioned to the rank of thefe royal perfonages ; and to induce me to drink they propofed the health of the King of France, in a veffi^l as much larger than the refl, as this monarch furpafles the other kings in power. It would have been a crime to refufe this toafl ; I VOL. I. D D drank 203 R'EGNARd's journey TO LAPLAND. drank k, and emptied the pot very coura,2;eoufly. It was not likely that, as we were in Sweden, we {liould drink the Kincr of France's health and foroet that of the Kincr of Sweden ; it \\as therefore drank out of a veflel which was fcarcely inierior in fize to that of the other ; and after having drank feveral healths out of it, every one was filent to fay prayers. It happened unluckily that at this time one of our p?rty faid fomething witty, and obliged us to burft out into loud laughter, which continued fo long, that the whole affemhly, whofe eyes were turned towards him, were extremely difpleafed : and what was ftill more vexing was, that as every one was uncovered during the repafl:, on account of our being prefent, our hats had been carried away ; fo that we had no means of hiding the laugh, which we were unable to refill, and the more we endeavoured to ftifle it, the more it burft out : on which account the prieffs, fuppofing that we made a i'eft of their religion, left the alTembly, and were unwilling to return. We were informed )y a little prieif, who was more our friend than the refl, that they had determined to attack us on the fubject of religion : however, we avoided talking with them on this iub* ieft, and we went to find them in another place, to which the company had retired for the purpofe of fmoking, whilfl the fervants cleared the tables : they brought, as a defert, pipes and tobacco, and all the priefts drank and fmoked till they fell under the table. In this manner it was that they watered the grave of John Tornjeus ; and thus the feall ended. Olaiis Graan, fon-in-law of the deceafed, endeavoured as well as he was able to condutl us to our boat, with his pot in his hand, but his legs failed him ; he was very near falling into the river ; and he was obliged to be carried home by two men. We believed that the whole ceremony was finiflied, when next morning Olaiis Graan again made his appearance, followed by fome other priefts, who came to rcqueft our attendance on the morrow. I aflure you. Sir, that this furprifed me ; I had never heard of a fecond day's feaft, except at a marriage, and I did not fuppofe that it was the fame with regard to funerals. We were neceflitated to refolve on a fecond attendance, and we had a conference with Olaiis Graan during the happy interval he enjoyed between paft and future drunkennefs. This Olaiis Graan, fon-in-Iaw of the deceafed, is priefl of the province of Pitha ; a learned man, or at leaft calling himfelf fuch, a geographer, chemirt, furgeon, mathema- tician, and above all pluming himfelf on his knowledge of the French language, which he fpoke in a manner you may have fome idea of from the following compliment he paid us : " La grand ciel," he repeated feveral times, " conferve vous et votre applicabilite, *' tout le temps que vous verrez vos gris cheveux." ' The great heaven preferve you, * and your applicability, every time that you look upon your grey hairs.' He (hewed us two medals, the one of Oucen Ohriftina, and the other a fliekel of the Jews, which on one fide reprefented the rod of Mofes ; and on the other, a cup from whence a kind of incenfe iffucd. Befides all his other qualifications, he pretended to pofTefs a perfeft knowledge of pharmacy ; and to convince us, he drew from feveral pockets a quantity of boxes of all fizes, and of cordials fufficient to fill an apothecary's fhop. He gave me a piece of the tefticle of a caftor, and aflured me that he extrafted an excellent oil from the tail of this animal, which was ufeful in all kinds of dil'eafes. When our con- verfation was finiflied, we were conducted to the place where we had been the day be- fore, where every one, to pay honour to the defund, drank plentifully, and thofe who were able returned home. We remained at 'J'orno on our return from Lapland eight days. Wednefday and Thurfday were fpent at the funeral ; Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were only diftin- guifhed by the frequent vifits we received, when it was neceflary to make every one drink. On Monday the burgomaftcr gave us a dinner ; and on Tuefday at day-break, the RECNARu's JOURNJr/ TO I.API.AND. 203 tlie wind being wederly, wc frt fail. The wind continued very good the whole day, at night it became lels violent ; and next day, Wednefdav, we were becalmed. Oa I'hurfday the weather was equally unfavourable, and we remained motionlefs like towers. We heaved the lead -feveral times to make foundings, but not being able to find any, we continued our courfe in continual apprchenfions of running aground fome- where. On Friday the niill having difperfed, we made a little way by means of an eafl and norlh-eafl: wind, and we paded the little iflands of Querken ; but the wind being contrary next day, we were obliged to turn back, and to red ourfelves in a port called Ratan. We fpent part of this day in a neighbouring ifland at the chace ; and in the, evening we went to church at about half a league's diflance. The priefl gave us a fupper ; but fearing that we had frefli young men returning from Lapmark, who would be anxious to make fome attack upoii his honour, he anxioufly endeavoured, left we fliould have fpent the night with him, to convince us that the wind was fair, although it was completely contrary. We returned to our boat to pafs the night, after having ' purchafcd a hare at his houfe ; and on Sunday morning the major of the regiment of this province fent two foldiers to the boat to inquire after us : we waited on him, and found all his'oificers prefent, befides a good dinner prepared for us. We were obliged to drink in the Swedifli manner, that is to fay, to empty the bowls at one draught ; and when we came to the health of the King, they brought upon a difli three glafles full of h'quor, which were completely emptied. I confefs that 1 had never before experienced this triplicity of glaffes full, and that I was as much aftoniflied at obferving that it did not fuffice to drink the toaft out of one. It is alfo a part of the cereinony here to turn the glafs upfide down on the difli, to fhew that the liquor has been faithfully drank. We returned to our veflel ; and next day, at fix o'clock of the morning, we went to fee how the wind blew : it was eafterly ; and fuch was the ignorance of our captain and our pilot, that they believed we could not go out of the port with this wind. I aflerted the contrary, and I induced them to venture on departing from the harbour : we dicT fo without any accident ; and at mid-day the wind became fo flirong at north-eaft, that after continuing fo the whole night, and on Thurfday till mid-day, we made during twenty-four hours more than a hundred leagues ; but the wind having fallen all at once, we remained at a diilance of eight leagues from Agbon, a place where it was ne- cellary for us to land, in order to travel by land to Coperberyt. We were unable to do fo till next day ; and having fortunately found on the fliore fome little boats which were returning from the fair of ?Icrnefautes, we flept at Withfeval, a little town on the border of the Gulf of Bothnia, and the next day we took pod-horfes, and made a very difagreeable journey, partly on account of the roughnefs of the roads, and partly on account of our being fo little accuft omed of late to travel poll, for whicli reafon we felt more acutely the fatigues of it. We loft our way during the night in the woods ; and if it be at any time vexatious to wander in darknefs, it is nuich more fo in Sweden, in a country full of eternal precipices and forefts, where we were totally ignorant of every word of the language, and where it was impoilible to find one to inform us of the road when we required it. Neverthelefs, after advancing a confiderable wav on our road, during a dreadful rain, with theailiftance of a little candle, a thoufand times more agreeable in this dark night than the moft beautiful fun in one of the fineft days in fum- mer, we arrived at the poft-houfe; and next Friday, being much fatigued with our preceding day's journey, we only travelled three leagues, and flept at Alta. We fct out at fix o'clock in the morning, that we might be able to make four Swedifli miles, which are equal to twelve French leagues ; and after having travelled till two o'clock of the afternoon, we arrived at a wretched hut, which we could not believe was the place where we were to change horfes, w hich however was the cafe j but finding no perfou D D 2 to 204- REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. to fpeakto, we continued our journey by roads which no one can conceive the difficulty of except thofe who have paffed them. We believed that we were very near the potl- houle, and we travelled till four o'clock without feeing a fingle individual to direct us on our road, or any roof to cover our heads. To add to our misfortune, the rain fell in fuch quantity, that it made up this night for the three preceding months, during which not a fingle drop of water fell. The hope with which we flattered ourfelves that we would meet with fome peafant's hut, enabled us, notwithftanding the dreadful fa- tigue with which we were affefted, to continue on our journey ; but at length the rain fell fo plentifully, and the night became fo dark, that our horfes difheartened, not hav- ing eaten any food, like ourfelves, during the whole day, flopped on a fudden, and we found it impoifible to make them advance one (tep. Behold us then forrowfully remaining in the middle of the wood, without having any thing in the world to cover us, except the belly of our horfes ; and one might do fo without danger, for the poor animals were fo fatigued that they pafl'ed the night without ftirring, and without eating, as well as their mailers. Our only confolation was a good fire that we made, which warmed us a little ; but nothing could be more amufing than to fee us in this plight, all extremely fad and overcome, like men who had not eaten for twenty-four hours, and who languidly bowed their heads to receive the rain which it pleafed heaven to pour down plentifully upon us. And what tended to make our ad- venture ftill more curious was, that next morning, by the break of day, we were no fooner on horfeback than we difcovered, at a diftance of about two gun-fhot, a little houfe which we had fo anxioufly inquired after, and to which we repaired to drink fome milk. Misfortune is good for fonwthing, they fay ; for this wandering enabled us 10 reach Coperber)'t the next day, which was Sunday, where we fliould not otherwife have arrived till the day after : we difcovered that town by means of the fmoke which jlTued from it, and which refembled more the fhop of Vulcan than any thing elfe : no- thing was to be feen on every fide but furnaces, fires, coals, and frightful cyclops. It is neceffary to defcend to the town through holes. * To give you an idea of the frightful- nefs of it, they conducted us firft into a chamber to change our clothes, where we took a flick fhod with iron to fupport us in the mofl dangerous places : we at length defcended to the mine, which is afloniihingly wide and deep. We fcarcely perceived the workmen, fome of whom were raifing flones, others throwing earth, and others making fires to loofen the mine, and every one, in fad, at his feparate employment. We defcended this pit by a number of roads which led to it ; and we now began to find that we had as yet done nothing, and that this was only a beginning to more ferious labours. Our guides lighted their flambeaux, which were fcarcely fufficient to difpel the thick dark- nefs which reigned in thefe fubterraneous regions. One fees nothing on every fide, and that too by endangering the fight, but fubjedls of horror, by the aid of fome glim- mering lights which are only futlicient to enable one to diflinguifli them ; the fmoke blinds, and the fulphur choaks one : add to this the noife of the hammers, and the view of thefe fhades, thefe wretches, who are flark-naked, and black like devils, and you will be of my opinion, that nothing can be a better rcprefentation of hell than this living picture, painted with the blackelt and mofl fombre pictures that can pofiibly be imagined. We defcended more than two leagues into the earth by frightful roads, fometimes on trembling ladders, fometimes on thin planks, and always in continual ap- prchenfions. We obferved on the road a number of pumps to raife the water, and very curious machines uhich we had not leiiurc to examine ; we only law numbers of thofe wretches who wrought at the pumps. We penetrated to the very bottom with great ditti- • This defcription u preferved, though nearly a repetition. 2 culty ; REGNARD's JOURNHY to LAPLAND. 205 culty ; but when we began to re-afcend, the fulphur choaked us to fuch a degree, that it vas after inconceivable pain that we regained the firil dcfcent : we were obliged feveral times to throw ouri'elves upon the earth, and our knees being unable to fupport us, we were obliged to walk by the affiflance of our hands. We at length arrived, after dread- ful exertions, at the mouth of the mine : here it was that we began to breathe, in the fame manner as a foul drawn out of purgatory. A pitiable objed now prefented itfelf to our fight : they were carrying away one of thofe miferable wretches who had beea crufhed by a little ftone, which the fall from a great height had rendered dangerous. Thefe poor people expofe their lives very lightly : they receive fixpence a day ; and there are fix or feven hundred men conftanrly employed in this place. I know not whether we have more reafon to pity the lot of thefe wretches who work in this infernal place, or to curfe the avarice of thofe men who, for the purpofe of gratifying their lux- ury, tear out the bowels of the earth, confound the elements, and reverfe the order of nature. Boethius had good reafon to fay, fpeaking of his own age, *' Hcu ! primus quis fuit I'Ue Auri, qui pondera tefti, Genimafque latere volenteJ, Pretiofa pericula fodit ?" And Plinv tells us that the Romans, who had more need of men than gold, would not fuffer thofe mines to be opened which had been difcovered in Italy. The Spaniards go to Guinea for wretches whom they deftine to labour at their rock of Potofi ; and there are fome countries which fend thofe thither whofe crimes have merited death, and who continue to dig their graves their whole hves. In this mine of Coperberyt are found native fulphur, blue and green vitriol, and ocla- drons ; the latter are curious ftones, natuarlly cut into an octagon Ihape. We departed from this place the fame day to vifit the filver mine at Saliberyt ; we arrived there next day, which was Tuefday : its real name is Sala ; and its fituation is one of the mofl pleafant in Sweden. Next day we went to the mine which is a quarter of a mile diltant from it : this mine has three large mouths, like pits, of which it is impoflible to fee the bottom ; the half of a tub, fupported by a rope, is the only ftair which leads to this abyfs : the water makes this machine move in a curious manner ; it wheels about and turns on both fides, for the purpofe of afcending and defcending. The imminence of the hazard can eafily be conceived ; you are half in a tub in which you have only one leg ; a fatellite, black as a devil, with a flambeau in his hand, defcends along with you, chaunting a mournful long, made on purpofe for this defcent. The mode of travelling is pleafant enough ; but one can fcarcely be quite at eafe here, when one fees one's felf at the end of a rope, and remembers that one's life depends entirely on its ftrength, or its weaknefs. When we had reached the middle we began to experience great cold, which joined to the torrents which fell from all quarters, roufed us from our lethargy. We arrived at length, after half an hour's journey, at the bottom of this abyfs : here our fears began to diiperfe ; we no more beheld any frightful objefts : on the contrary, every objeft fparkled in thefe fubterraneous regions : and after having defcended (till farther, fupported by extremely high ladders, we arrived at a faloon, which is at the bottom of the mine, fupported by columns of this precious metal : four fpacious galle- ries next appeared ; and the light of the fires which burned on all fides, and which fparkled on the vaults of filver, and a clear rivulet which flowed by their fide, tended lefs to afford light to the workmen, than to render this the niotl magnificent abode which can well be imagined, and fomewhat like the enchanted palaces of Pluto, which the 206 REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. the poets have placed In the centre of the earth, where flie preferves her treafiires. In thefc galleries men of all countries are condantly to be found, who labour hard to find that, which gives fo much delight to the reft oi mankind. Some draw carriages ; fonie roll ftones ; fome are dividing rocks ; and every one has his difFcH"ent employ- nient. It is a town below another town : here are taverns, houfos, ftables, and horfes ; and what is moft altonifliing of all is a wind-mill, which goes continually in this cavern, and which is employed in raifmg the water. We re-afcend by the fame machine in which we defcended, in order to fee the various operations nectffary to make fdver. M'lie lirft ftones which are drawn from the mine are called////^-!, and are placed in a fur- nace to dry, which burns flowly, and feparates the antimony, arfenic, and fulphur from the ftone, the lead, and the filver, which remain together.' This firft operation is fol- lowed by a fecond, when thcfe dried ftones are thrown into troughs, where they are piled up and reduced to powder, by means of large hammers wiought by water. This powder is depofited in water, which runs conftantly upon a plank placed in a floping direction, and which carrying oif the groifer particles, leaves the filver and the lead be- hind at the bottom on a cloth. The third operation feparates the fdver from the lead, V hich falls to the bottom in drofs ; and the fourth ferves at length to bring it to per- feclion, and to put it in a condition fit for the hammer. One would not fuppofe that fo many operations were neceflary to produce a metal which is only an excrement of the earth. The Spaniards at Potofi do not give themfelves the trouble of performing all thefe operations in order to purify their fdver, as they have difcovered the method of cleaning it with quickfilver, which being an enemy of all the other metals, which it de- ftroys, except fdver and gold, it feparates them of all their grofler and earthy matter, in order to unite itfelf entirely to them. Mercury is found in this mine ; and this metal, though fome refufe it the appellation becaufe it is not malleable, is perhaps one of the rareft produclions of nature ; for being liquid and flowing of itfelf, it is the heavieft body in the world ; and it changes to the lighteft, and is refolved into vapour, which, encountering a folid fubftance, or a cold atmofphci-e, immediately becomes thick, and reaffumes it former form, without any poffibility of ever being deftroyed. The perfon who conducted us in the mines afterwards fliewed us in her poffeffion, a number of curious ftones which Ihe collected from all quarters ; among others a large piece of that foft ftone, which inftead of being conlumed by the fire, affumes a Mhite colour, and which the Romans employed to burn the bodies of their dead. She had found it in this mine, and prefented each of us \\ith a fmall piece of it. We left this little town the fame day to go to Upfal, where we arrived early next morning. This is the moft confiderable town of all Sweden, both on account of its univerfity and its fituation; it is to this place, that all thofe who intend entering into holy orders are fent, from which profeffion, all the Swedilh nobility are excluded ; for, it is the policy of this country, left the number of nobles fliould be diminilhed, to employ them more ufefuUy otherwife. Wefaw the library, which contains nothing worthy of notice, except the cedes argcntctis i\riX\\i'icn}^X, written in Gothic letters of filver, by a bifliop called Ulphila, in Mefia, about the year ■^70, found at the deftrudion of the city of Prague, and brought away by Count Koningfmark, who made a prefent of it to Oueen Chriltina. We went afterwards to the church, where we faw the tomb of Saint Eric, King of Sweden, who was beheaded. They gave us his head and his bones to touch, which are wholly preferved in a box of filver. We faw in a large chapel behind the quire, the tomb of Guftavus the Firft, and his two wives, one of whom had in her hand a whip, on account of her cruelty. They fliewed us in the vcftry, an ancient idol called Thor, which the Swedes adored, and a very beautiful comuiuiiion-cup, which was REGNARd's journey to LAT'LAND. ^07 was a prefent from Queen Ciiriflina. There arc feveral learned men here, and among others, Rudbekius, a phyfician, who has written a very curious book, which he fliewed us himfelf. This man fliews, by all that is contained in authors, fuch as Herodotus, Plato, Diodorus of Sicily, and others, that the gods came from his country : he gives very ftrong reafons for it : he perfuades us from the connection which fubfifls betwixt his language and all the names of the gods. Hercules is de- rived from ber and coule^ which fignifies Captain, and Diana comes from the Gothic word dla., which fignifies nurfe. He fliewed us, that the Hefpcrian apples had been in this place, which rendered thofe immortal who tailed them. Pie pointed out to us, that this immortality arofe from knowledge, which makes men live for ever. He mentioned a pailage in Plato, where addrelling himfelf to the Romans he tells them, that they had received their gods from the Greeks, and that the Greeks had taken them from the Barbarians. He anxioufly endeavoured to perfuade us, that the pillars of Hercules were fituated in his country, and a number of other matters, which you may beheve if you choofe. We faw in his cabinet many pieces of mechanifm ; one of the Runic fticks to learn the courfe of the fun, which the Swedes according to his account, knew before the Egyptians and the Chaldeans; all the Runic letters are made in the form of a dra- gon, which he faid, is the fame with that which guai'ded the garden of the Hefperides ; the Runic letters which the Swedes made ufe of were only fixteen in number. Ovenius is ftill a celebrated phyfician. Rcdelius and Loxenius are celebrated, the firfl for an- tiquities, and the other for jurifprudence: Columbus for hiflory, and Sheffer, who has written refpefting the Laplanders, is much efteemed for logic. In the old town of Upfal, a number of antiquities are to be feen, fuch as the tombs of the Kings of Sweden, and the four-fronted temple of Janus, which is one of the fubjects on which Rud- bekius has written. We went on board a little boat, which was bound for Stockholm, for certain reafons ; but the wind which was favourable, having changed, being ftill within view of Upfal, we travelled two large Swedifli miles, which are equal to five or fix French leagues, and arrived at the poft-houfe, where we took horfes, and they con- dueled us, in the night time to Stockholm, which we entered at four o'clock in the morning of Saturday the 27th of December. Here at length terminated our hazard- ous journey, of which I would not have been deprived for a great deal of money, and which I would not begin again for much more. A JOURNEY TO POLAND. We left Stockholm, on the third day of Oiflober 1683, to go to Dalles for the purpofe of finding our veflel, which had departed two days before us. We were efcorted by all our good friends, a league beyond the city : when we took leave of them, and travelled the whole night, we arrived next day at Dalles. This is the place where the duties upon all the goods which enter or are exported, are paid to the King of Sweden : it is here, where the rocks which furround Stockholm are firft obferved, and among which it is difEcult to travel. Our boat was not yet there, but it arrived on the morrow at mid-day ; it came from Stettin, in Pomerania, which belongs to the King of Sweden, and which gave fo much employment during the late wars, to the troops of the eleftor of Brandenburg, who remained nine months before its walls, which were only defended by a few refpeSable inhabitants. It has been fince given up to the King of Sweden, as well as all the other places he had loft, which the King of France obhged them 208 REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. them to retuvn to him. We fet out next day, being Sunday, at day-break, with a flivourable wind, which changed immediately after, and obliged us to go for fafety to Landfor, near to the place from which we had fet fail. We had confiderable difficulty in retiring between two rocks, which ferved usasaflielter from the tempeft which was extremely violent, and we expetted a hundred times to be driven among the ftones, with which this fea is ci-owded. The fourth day of Oftober is celebrated for being unfavour- able to us : it is juft three years fince, on tliis day, dedicated to Saint Francis, my patron, we were taken prifoners by the Turks, in the Mediterranean, within fight of Nice. It is difficult to forget thefe days, when they are drawn in our memory with fuch flrong and vivid colours. We I'emained three days in this place ; and the wind be- coming a little more favourable, we fet fail, and came within fight of Wiiby, the capital of the ifland of Gothland. Thisifland, which is the mofl fertile in all Sweden, was given as an appenage to Oueen Chriflina, who has exchanged it and that of Oeland for the city and lordihip of Norkopin, in . There is a book of the laws of Wifby, which is made ufe of to compile the regulations of naval commerce. Fortune, which appeared only to be favourable to us, that we might feel more acutely our difappointments, was not long in making us experience her ufual caprice : there arofe during the night fuch a dreadful tempeft, that, after remaining a long time in con- tinual terror, we were obliged, as foon as day-light appeared, to fet fail with all our canvas, to flop for fafety once more in Sweden, at Wefterwick, in the province of Smaland. In this place, we faw two objefts deferving of pity ; the firfl was, the general deftrudion of the city, which the Danes had burned in the late wars, and which was ftill full of defolation : they were now beginning to rebuild it : The other was more recent, and made us refleft ftill more upon the danger we had been expofed to ; we faw the fad remains of an Enghfli veflel, loaded with fait, which had been wrecked, and the crew of which had been with confiderable difficulty faved. We remained in this wretched place fix days, during which the wind prevented us from leaving it ; 1 went every day, for fome hours to the fteep rocks, where the height of the precipices and the view of the fea, accorded very well with my reveries. I have written fome of them in my journey to Sweden. At length we failed ; but our favourable weather continued no longer, than was neceflary to carry us out to the open fea, and to put it out of our power to go to any place for flielter. The temped became now fo violent, that our captain, one of the moft ignorant that ever was at fea, had fifty times a defire to fuft'er himfelf to be wrecked upon fome bank of fand. We remained in continual apprehenfions during more than eight days, that a thick mift prevented us from diftinguilhing day from night ; and at length, we arrived within fight of the light-houfe at Dantzic, where our captain came fooliflily to anchor, and which he approached fo near, that two hours afterwai-ds, a dreadful north-weft wind having arifcn, he gave us one of the moft ferious alarms that we ever had in our lives. He entered the cabin, in which we were afleep, weeping and crying like one in defpair, and alluring us of our approaching deftruttion, and that nothing but God could deliver us from the imminent danger in which we were placed. It is vexatious to awaken thofe who fleep foimdiy, to give them information of this kind ; but it was to us ftill more horrible, when having run upon deck, we beheld the fea in fury, the noife of which together with that of the wind foreboded to us nothing but danger; but we were at the height of mifery, when, our cable breaking, we felt the veffel, in a dreadfully dark night, ftrike on a bank of fand. No words can paint the wretchednefs of a man who finds himfelf in this horrible fituation ; for my part. Sir, I remember nothing clfc, except, that during the whole remaining part of the night, I began more than five hundred Pater No/lcrsy and was never able to finifh one. At regnard's journey To lapland. 209 At length morning returned, the mod delightful I ever faw ; and having hung out our flag, to fliew the danger we were in, they came from on fliore in wherries to find us, and we were condudled into the city. Dantzic is fituated on tiie Baltic Sea, at the mouth of the Viftula. The largeft veflels come into the ilreets, which are cut into canals ; the entrance to the harbour is defended by an excellent citadel, which they call Mund. This city is under the pro- tedtion of the King of Poland ; but however oflentatioufly thefe gentlemen may talk of their liberty, they have only the name of it, and their proteftor may, with juftice, be confidered their mafter. They loft, four years ago, a number of their privileges, oa account of the condud of one Doctor Stoff, who was the author of a kind of a fedition. The King vifited them, and that he might chaflife the rebels, he fined tliem in large funis of money. The burgo-mafters gave him a Starojlie, called Pofchi, which was en- gaged for twenty thoufand ducats. The King alfo ordered, that all law fuits refpe6ting fums above one thoufand livres, might be appealed to the court of Warfaw. Dantzic is called Gcdaiium in Latin ; and the German word is dervived from the verb danizcn, which fignifies, to dance. The origin of this etymology is the following, a number of peafants generally afl'embledon the fpot where it is built, and intending to build a town, they applied to the bilhop whofe property the ground was, for leave to build houfes upon it, who gave them as much ground as they could encircle wliilft holding each other by the hand, and making a round in the form of a dance. Dantzic pays about fixty thoufand crowns to the King of Poland. There are com- miflaries appointed at the gates for the purpofe of dividing the cuftoms. The govern- ment of the city is divided into three parts. The firfl; divifion confifts of four burgo- mafters, who are taken from the patrician families, and of thirteen councillors. The burgo-mafters prefide one year each, after one another, and are, as well as the council- lors, appointed for life : the fecond divifion confjfts of twenty-four inferior magiftrates ; and the third, of a hundred men. The principal trade of this city is in corn, which comes down the Viftula from Poland, and in wax, fteel, and amber, which is coUefled on the fea-fliore from this place to Memel. It is true, that this fifhery belongs to the Marquis of Brandenburg, who farms it out for more than fixty thoufand crowns. When the wind is high, then is the fiftiery moft produdive ; and at this time alfo, the guards and the farmers difcourfe together, and ramble on the fliore with more exaftnefs ; and they are ftriGly prohi- bited, under pain of death, from purloining the fmalleft quantity. It is foft before it has^ been expofed to the atmofphere, and wiil take the impreilion of a feal ; there are many pieces found with flies in them. I was aftonifhed, when I was told, what a great traffic is carried on in this fingle article ; and as I make little ufe of it myfelf, I believe that others confumed no more than me ; but I learnt at the fame time, that the chief trade of the Dutch to India confifts of amber, where they confume it greedily. A great Indian lord will fometimes burn at one grand feaft, more than twenty thoufand crowns' worth of amber ; and the odour of it is not only agreeable to the fmell, but is alfo very medicinal, and ufeful in curing pains of the head. Their traflSc alfo confifts of afhes, honey, and litharge. The fortifications of the city are very well kept in repair, and equally ferve to adorn and defend it. The gate called Hador is a piece of excellent architedture ; and I have never feen any thing better proportioned. We obferved in the city very fpacious fl.reets, which are, however, disfigured by the large balconies which occupy the half of them. There is in the middle of the great fquare, a fountain which reprefents Nep- tune, in bronze. The houfes are very handfomc, and well furnilhed. VOL. I. E E The a to REGNARD's JOITRKEY TO LAPLAND. The arfenal is very large, and adorned with feveral beautiful pieces of cannon, but the great church is a ftrudure equally beautiful on account of the height of the roof, and the elegance of the carpenters' work. There is in this church a certain hole, into which the Lutherans threw all the faints and all the ornaments that they found in the Catholic church ; and, on this account, they call the place hell. The Catholics have three or four churches, the fervices of which are performed by Jefuits, Jacobins, Carmelites, and decayed Carmelites ; and I was never more furprifed, than when I firft attended mafs : when the prieft was on the point of raifnv:;- the hod, I was rather informed of the aftion which he intended to perform by the noife of the ftrokes which his ailiftants gave themfelves, than from the noife of the little bell, which it was impoffible to hear. Few men are fo religious in appearance, as the Poles ; they arc very (trifl: obfervers of the faQs ordained by the church. They eat no butter on meager days, but only linfeed oil. They can take no flefh on Fridays ; and there would be danger of eating it in Maffovia ; and a Pole would believe he performed a meritorious aftion, if he killed a man in that (late. What is alfo remarkable at Dantzic is, the mill with thirty wheels, which produces a ducat to the city every hour. There is in the great church a remarkable pifture of a Flemilh painter, who on his way to Rome, was taken by Corfair Turks, and after- wards retaken by the Chriftians : his name was John of Chene, fi'om Antwerp. He has fo well reprefented the lad judgment, that nothing more excellent can be conceived. I have never feen fuch a finiflied performance ; although it is certain, that juftice of defign is not to be found throughout every part : it is faid that an eledor of Branden- burg offered fifty thoufand crowns for it. We^afcended to the top of a fpire, from whence we commanded a view of the whole city, and of the fea, which is half a league diftant from it. It is nearly of the fame fize with Orleans ; but there the houfes are more crowded together, and there are alfo a much greater number of inhabitants. As for the ladies, it is necefl'ary to give them their due. I have never feen in any country, a greater number of beauties ; they are all very fair, and are extremely agreeable. The wives of MefTrs. Mathias are extremely handfome, and efpecially the youngeft, who might pafs for a perfeft beauty. We obferved the Polifh dance, which is peculiar. The fervants march before, and the maflers follow ; they do fcarcely any thing elfe, but march. There are oxen in this country of a prodigious fize ; they are brought from Podolia, which belongs to the Turks or from the "Ukraine, the bed part of which belongs to them alfo. This province of the Ukraine is inhabited by the CofTacks. The foil is fo good, that it is fufficient to fow feed in it, once in three or four years ; that which falls from the fickle in cutting is fuflicient to fow the crop ; and thofe who wifh to fow them a fecond time, gather in the fame manner. There are few finer countries. We underltood at Dantz/c, that M. de Bethune was very much edeemed by the Poles, and extremely generous. At the election of the prefent King of Poland, not one general of Lithuania oppofed his coronation ; but the reft wifhed for the Prince of Lorraine, or that of Neubourg. The Prince of Lorraine married a Princefs Mary, Dowager Queen of Poland ; but he was not fupported by France. The king, Michael Coribut Wefnowifchy was chofen king, as if it had proceeded from the vexation of thofe, who could not agree before the election. He received a penfion of five thoufand livres from the queen for his fubfiftence. He died very oppor- tunely ; for the Poles were deliberating about his depofition. His funeral obfequies were performed at the fame time with thofe of King Callimir, who died at Paris. I The REONARD's journey To LAPLAND. 2U The Prince of Conde has feveral times in the diets been propofed as king ; but the Poles are too much afraid ot him : they are extremely apprehenfive, that he would be defirous of encroaching on the Uberties of Poland, of which they are extremely jealous. Count St. Paul died two days too loon, and was deprived of the pleafure of feeing himfelf king. He had been chofen by common confent ; but heaven ordained other- wife. The Poles made fome fcruples about crowning the queen, becaufe the dowager was ftill alive, and wiflied to relieve the ftate, which was unable to fupport two queens ; but the King had taken his meafures with fuch prudence, that fhe was crowned a fliort lime after him. The Jiarojiies are the governments of a province ; the King gives them to the gentle- men, and cannot deprive them of them. The cities fend deputies to the diets, which the King aflfembles when he pleafes ; and the molt infignificant of thefe gentlemen, or of thefe envoys, can put an end to a diet ; for there is a law in Poland, by which it is enafted, that their affairs muft be decided non pluralitate votorum, fed nemine contradicente, ' not by a plurality of voices, but * by unanimous confent.' The wayvodes or palatinates are larger than ihejiarojiies ; they are fub-dlvided into Jiarojiies. The palatinate of M. Vaubrenic, called Boncofci, was injured by a Polifh gentleman, who abandoned it, and was received and brought to France by him. Madame, the Marchionefs of Breflbi, his aunt, was expelled from the court, and obliged to leave the city by the intrigues of the queen, who dreaded the King's engagements, and felt fome pangs of jealoufy. The (lory adds, that it was Seinkamer, called the Wolget. We faw, on the day of our departure, the great Hevelius, profeflbr of aftronomy, one of the learned men of the age, who received penfions from a number of princes, and particularly, from his Moii; Chriftian Majefty. This man fhewed us all the works which the fire had ■ fpared. He related to us, with tears in his eyes, the lofs he had fuflained by a dreadful fire which had happened two years ago, had confumed more than forty houfes, and which unfortunately had begunwith his. This great man has continued to labour night and day, for nearly fifty years. At night he is employed in obferving the flars from the top of his houfe, with glaifes more than a hundred and eighty feet in length ; and during the day, he reduces to writing, what he had obferved the preceding night. Among feveral other learned fubjeds on which he entertained us, we learnt, that he was of the fame opinion with Copernicus ; and he told us, that it was perfedly abfurd to believe, that the heavens turned round the earth, and he fupported his affertion by feveral demonltrations, by which we were convinced ; he fliewed us on this fubjed, a terreflrial and celeftial globe, which proved in a furprifing manner, that which |he told us; he mentioned as one of his ftrongefl reafons, that he always remarked at one time, the fame diftance betwixt the earth and the fixed ftars, which are attached as well as the fun to the firmament, and that at ano4her, he found that it was much more diftant from them : which convinced him, that the motion was in the earth, and not in the heavens ; and on this fubjefl:, we, having told him, that this opinion was condemned among us as heretical, he told us that Father — confeifor of his holinefs had written to him on this fubjeft, and pointed out to him, that the church condemned this opinion, till it was proved, but, fo foon as any had one demonftrated it to be true beyond a doubt, he would then find no difficulty in adopting the more probable opinion. In the obfervation which he made at firft upon this motion of the earth, and upon this nearnefs and diftance from the Ifars, he thought he had been miftaken, as he told us, in his calculation : but having, during E E 2 -a laple 312 REGNARd's journey TO LAPLAKD. a lapfe of fifty fucceiTive years, made the fame obfervation, he had now no doubt of the truth of his opinion. He alfo told us, that he had difcovered the libration of the moon, which no perfon before him had been acquainted with, and the knowledge of which had been of great ufe to him in all his works, the number of which exceeds all belief. He has dedicated them to almoft every prince in the world, and the volumes are full of plates made with his own hand : he fhevved us them all, befides fifteen large volumes, as thick as the jives of the Saints, full of letters which the moft learned men of the whole world had written to him on various fubjefts. The moon is a round body, full of depreffions and elevations. He has drawn a chart of it feveral times, and has given particular names to the mountains and remark- able places which he has obferved ; not that there is any water in the moon, but a cer- tain kind of matter, which has the fame appearance with water. He is at prefent con- ftrufting a globe of a fpherical form, in which he intends to fhew all the fcientitk dif- coveries which have been during more than fifty years : he is affilted by the king, to whom he intends to dedicate his performance. He (hewed us the moll beautiful geometrical inftruments that I have ever feen, and a piece of amber, on which, as foon as it was drawn from the fea, he imprinted himfelf the impreffion of a feal, whilft it was ftill fufficiently foft to receive it : for the moment it has been expofed to the air it be- comes hard, as we obferve it. The Marquis of Brandenburg has made a prefent to the Emperor of a chair of am^ ber, which is faid to be the greatefl: curiofity in the world : and to the Dauphin, a mirror of it, which is confidered a mafler-piecc. This prince is certainly the moft powerful of all Germany ; his territory is more than two hundred miles in extent ; and the province of Pruffia alone, of which he has only a part, produces of revenue to him, more than twenty-fix thoufand crowns a-month. He gave a feaft this lafl fummer, when he was at Pyrmont, in which he expended, according to report, fifty thoufand browns : there were prefent forty royal perfons, that is to fay, defcended of royal families or of fovereigns. The two Queens of Denmark and Prince George were prefent. His court is more fplendid than any other in Germany, and if he be defti- tute of the rank of a king, he is not deftitute of the heart, the court, and the revenues of one. The Eleftor of Brandenburg is called Frederic- William, Great Chamberlain of the empire, and has married Louifa Henrietta, daughter of Frederic Henry, Prince of Orange. He has a fon about fifteen years old, called tbe Court-Prince, he is of the Calviniflic religion. We lodged at Dantzic, with Payen, in the Schyher Gulden Huus. We knew there M. Mace, watchmaker, who had refided long in Conftantinople, and who purchafed his wife there, who is from Dantzic ; the ftory is very interefiing. This Pole is called ' and his brother is now agent at the Conitantinopolitan court, where he himfelf had been with his father, who was ambaflador. We kept up a correfpondence with the Tranfylvanian Michael ApafFei, whom France bribed largely to grant a paflage through his territories to fixty thoufand Frenchmen, and an equal number of Tartars, whom we kept in pay during the late wars, and who neceflarily diverted the attention of the Emperor. The Duke of Tranfylvania is chofen by the ftates of the country, and is confirmed by the Grand Turk, to whom he pays tribute. He fwears on his arrival at fupreme power, to maintain in the country the free exercife of five religions, which are, the Roman Catholic, the Greek, the Lutheran, the Calvinilfic, and the Anabaptid. He receives tribute from the princes of Moldavia and Wallachia. 2 Tlie REGNARD's JOURKEV to LAPLAND. 213 The late Prince of Tranfylvania was called Ragotfki, of the kingdom of Hungary ; and his predecelTor was Bethlem Cabor, who married Catherine of Brandenburg. We fet out from Dantzic for Warfaw on Wednefday the twenty-ninth of Odober, in a little covered chariot which we hired for four-and-twenty crowns current money of the country, which amount to about twenty French livres. On our departure we palled through a very large fuburb, a German mile in length, which is called Schotiand. The road is very fine, the country very good, and the inns very wretched ; but one does not obferve this wretchednefs, becaufe it is the cuftom in Poland for travellers to carry every neceflary along with them, even their beds ; for in the inns nothing is to be found but what one carries. This cultom has its advantages and its difadvantages : one difadvantage is, that it becomes neceflary for one to carry a great equipage ; but it has this advantage, that one always has fomething good to eat, and that one always fleeps in one's own bed ; which is undoubtedly a great convenience for a traveller, who is very happy at enjoying repofe at night after the fatigues of the day : this confideration alone is fufficient to make one fupport the toil of a journey. The reafon why nothing is to be met with in Poland is, that the gentlemen take every thing from the peafant, and pay him moft frequently with flripes. All the pea- fants are born flaves ; and fo great is the power of the lords of the foil, that it extends even to the jurifdiftion over life and death ; and when a gentleman has killed one of his peafants, he is acquitted by paying , which amounts to about I'even francs of our money, and this fum is employed to bury him. The lands are not fold according to their value, but the number of peafants which are upon them : they are obliged to work five days in the week for their mafter, and the fixth for themfelves and their families, who are more wretched than it is pofiible to exprefs. It frequently happens that the lords, having need of money, fell to their flaves their liberty for a certain fum of money ; but without this they are not permitted to remove their habitations : and a peafant who fliould be found in flight, would undoubt- edly be maflacred by his mafler. This dominion extends over the women as well as the men, and even fomewhat further ; and if the peafant has a handfome daughter, the gentleman does not fail to take the privilege of the lord of the foil. Wepafled through Graudentz, a city fituated on the Viftula, which is a magazine of the grain which is carried down this river to Dantzic and Culm, where we attended mafs, in a very fine church, on Touflaint's day ; and we arrived at Thorn, a city finely fituated, which for this reafon is called Die Schenjie, the handfomeft. Thorn is a free city, uiider the protedion of the King of Poland, like Dantzic, and it is the capital of Pruflia-royal ; it is almofl; in the middle of the diftance betwixt Dantzic aud Warfaw. The government is almoft like that of Dantzic, except that the four burgomafters are changed every year, fifteen days before Eafter, on the Sunday of Judlca. Thefe four burgomafters are eleded ; but the burgrave, who is the chief, is appointed by the King of Poland. We went to fee the town-houfe, which is very mag- nificent ; and in the magiftrates' hall are portraits of the kings of Poland, from Cafimir the Fourth, who reigned forty-five years. To him fucceeded John Albertus, who fat on the throne eight years ; and was followed by Alexander, who reigned five years ; and after hitn Sigifmond the Firft remained on the throne forty-one years : Sigifmond Auguftuswas next eleded, who remained king four-and-twenty years ; but his fucceflbr, Henry the Third, who was afterwards King of France, reigned only three months. This prince received two crowns, and had for his motto, Manet ultma cwlo ; but others changed ccclo to clauflro. After him came Stephen, who reigned fix years; and Sigif- mond the Third, King of Sweden and Poland, fucceeded him. The former kingdom was 214 REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. was fnatched from him by Charles the Ninth, his uncle, whilft he was in Poland. This prince was chofen King of Sweden, and engaged at his election to live every fifth year at Stockholm ; but being unable to keep his promife, on account of the continual wars in which he was engaged with the Turks, the Tartars, and the Mufcovites, he deter- mined to fend them a fenate, compofed of forty Jefuits, who fhould reprefent his court : this fenate was received at Dantzic with great magnificence, and embarked for Stock- holm ; but intelligence of their departure being received at Stockholm, the council aflembled, in which Charles, the King's uncle, prefided, who diffuaded the Swedes from receiving a government of priefts ; and the veflel containing them having arrived ia the road, he went in a twenty-gun veflel, under pretence of receiving them ; and having given a falute rather too rough to the veflel containing the holy brotherhood, he drove it to the bottom, without attempting to fave any Jefuit, whom he jeered in crying to them. Perform now your miracles, as in Japan, when you walked on the water ! Sigifmond in this manner lofl; his crown of Sweden, which his uncle acquired ; who knowing well that there was no better means of exciting a war than under the pretext of religion, he expelled all the Roman Catholic prieflis, and eftabliflied the Lutherans in their ftead. He was engaged in a war with his nephew, in 1604, which continued two years ; but the King of Poland was unable to undertake any attempt of confequence, from the attention which it became neceflfary to pay to the Tartars, who prefled him ftrongly on the other fide. This did not prevent the Kings of Poland, after Sigifmond the Third, from taking the title of Kings of Sweden, until the time of John Cafimir, at the lafc pacification, which took place at Oliva, near Dantzic ; where it was ordained that John Cafimir, being the lafl: of his family, fiiould condefcend to enjoy this title only during his life-time, in his intercourfe with all the princes of the world who fhould give him this title, except the Swedes. Sigifmond had two fons, both of whom fucceeded to the throne : the eldefl: was Uladiflas the Fourth, who reigned fifteen years. It was during this reign that the cele- brated entry of the Poles into Paris, to demand the Princefs Mary for their queen, took place. Uladiflas being dead, his brother Cafimir was chofen in his ftead, who married his brother's widow, and reigned fixteen years, at the end of which he refigned the crown, and retired to pafs the remainder of his days in France, where he died. To him fucceeded Michael Coribet Wefnowilchy : this prince was too good ; and his nobles defpifed him to fuch a degree, that they put it into his head to retire into a convent, which he would have done if death had not prevented him. The Queen agreed to it, becaufe flie was to have been married to Count St. Paul, whom the majority wiflied to raife to the throne. It was under him that Sobiefld, who at that time was only grand marflial, gained the famous battle of Cochin, in the Ukraine, between the Niefter and the Pruth. The 1 urks were encamped and well entrenched under a fortrefs ; and the Poles, being about eighty thoufand men ftrong, having palled the Niefter on Sunday, encamped the following days almoft within fight of the Turks. Thurfday and Friday were fpent in making fome fkirmiflies, and on the evening of this day the Poles charged the enemy. This attack continued the whole night, and on Saturday morning the de- feat commenced, and continued only two hours, during which more than eight-and- thirty thoufand Turks were killed, without giving quarter to a finglo individual. Huf- fain Pacha, who commanded the Turkilh army, with great difficulty iaved himfelf with two thoufand men, who alone remained of the whole army, which amounted to more than forty thoufand men, and which by flight avoided the fate of their companions. The booty was great, and it was wholly given up to the ioidiers, except the tent of Hufliiin, REONARd's J0URNE7 TO LAPLAND. tig Hi^fTain, which was carefully preferved and fent as a prefent to the King. Nothing could be more fuperb than this tent ; it had more the appearance of a city than a pa- vilion of war, and all the officers were lodged in it. Hulliiin Facha repaffed the river with near fix thoufand men ; but the bridge fell when the whole army was upon it, and more than four thoufand men were drowned, without any relief to thofe who ex- perienced the cruelty of the waves, except that of being cut to pieces by their enemies. The King Michael received this intelligence with great joy, and this caufedhis death, which happened eight days after. There were great factions after his death, as always happens in Poland on fnnilar occafions. Sobieiki was then grand marlhal, and general in chief, and he made the whole army fwear before he left them that they would give their votes for the Prince, although at that time he was not beloved by the lefler nobles. M. de Beauvais was fent from France ; and whether it was not the intereft of France that the Prince fhould become King, or that he found too many obftacles among the nobility, he made before the aflembled fenate one of the fined fpeeches ever delivered, telling the republic that both in gratitude for pafl: fervices, and in the hope of thofe which might in future be received, no eleftion could be fo favourable to the public good as that of Sobiefki, who in confequence was chofen King, and afterwards crowned at Crackow, under the name of John the Third. The dowager of King Michael has fince been married to the Prince of Lorraine, who has more influence than any other at the court of Poland, if the intrigues of France had been lefs powerful, and if it had not been wholly her intereft to prevent this Prince from arriving at the throne, fince by this new acquifition of power he might have been enabled to undertake fome enterprife againft France, for the recovery of his duchy. Although Poland be united to France by friendfhip, without having much intercourfe with her, it is more her intereft to remain on good terms with the Emperor, whofe growing ftrength in Hungary is alarming. It was made apparent two years ago that the Poles were not ignorant of this maxim, when M. de Bethune was at that court for the purpofe of fomenting the rebellion of the Coflacks, both by means of men and mo- ney. The Queen ordered the recruits which M. de Bethune was fending off to the rebels to be arrefted near the Hungarian mountains, by the Palatine of Ruffia, by which {he evinced that Poland had no concern with what pafled in that quarter, and that the whole proceeding originated with the court of France, which for want of money allowed the troops commanded by M. de Guenegaut to be difbanded. Thefe troops were compofed of fome Frenchmen, Tartars, but the greatefl: part were rebels, who find- ing that it had been more than two years fince they had received any pay, they mutinied againfl: their generals, whom they attacked and arrefted prifoners in a village, where they wiflied to maflTacre them. This conduft of the Palatine of Ruffia, ordered by the Queen, produced a great alte- ration in the mind of M. de Bethune, who was a confiderable time without attending the court, which was alfo the cafe with Madame the Marchionefs, who could not remain on good terms with the Queen. M. de Bethune did not wifh well the more for this a£tion to the Palatine of Ruffia, under-general of the crown, and in fome degree put him at defiance, by telling him if they were each of them at the head of five hundred horfe, it would be feen who was fuperior : however they afterwards became friends, and the Palatine afterwards made a prefent of a fine Turkiffi horfe to M. de Bethune. M. de Bethune was extremely popular in Poland : no man ever fuftained his cha- rafter better in that country than him ; he always kept open table, and had more than a hundred perfons in his houfe ; he lodged at the Caffimerian palace, built by the Prin- cefs Mary. Three 21$ REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. The diets are held once in three years ; two are held in Warfaw, and one at Grodno, or Wilna, the two mofl refpeclable cities of Lithuania. This province has the fame officers with Poland, and General Spas is commander-in-chief in Lithuania. It is faid in the country that it might fo happen that the Lithuanians might chufe a King ; they fee themi'clves defpifed by the Poles, and even by the King, who has not the fame regard for them as for his other fubjeds : it is feared that they may put themfelves under the protection of Mufcovy. They cry out for war m evciy diet ; but they, as well as the Poles, are in no condition to carry it on. When war is declared, you fee all the little gentry on horfeback attending the army : they remain as long as their provilions laft, which confill of a great number of little cheefes, hard as wood, a kitt of butter, and fomething elfe of that nature ; and when this is confumed, and they have eaten the price of theii ""orfcs, they return home, and are thus in a very poor ftate for continuing the war. The lalt diet was held lad year, and was broken up by a little gentleman, who was of a different opinion from the reft. It was at that time that the affair refpefting the ambaffadors took place, who returning from the caftle were infulted by fome Poles, who had endeavoured to feize the fword of a page : he drew his fvvord; but fome gentle- men having alighted fi'om their chariots, among others the Mai'quis of Janfon, the whole was appeafed. The Poles departed for afTiftance, and returned with nearly three hun- dred perfons, to fall once more upon the attendants of the ambaffadors, with hazel-fticks and cudgels, crying, 7.abi, zabi,franjhute , tuc, ttce. The attendants alighted from the chariot, and went in to the refidence of the Palatine of RulTia, where they defended themfelves as well as they were able againft this multitude, whom the prefence of the ambaffadors was unable to overawe, and which could not prevent feveral gentlemen from being wounded, and fome remained appai'ently dead on the fpot. The King came next morning incognito to the ambaffadors, who lodged at the Holy Crofs with the fathers of the miilion, to fettle matters : the Palatine of Ruflia came thi- ther aifo, and offered to put all his people into the hands of the ambafladors, to treat them as they thought proper. Envoys are fent from all parts to thefe diets : fome were there from Perfia, Turkey, and Mufcovy. The Mufcovite was conduced in the chariot of the Grand Marflial, drawn by the King's horfes. The Turk was there on account of the limits which he had eftablillied with near thirty thoufand men feven league from Leopold, accoi-ding to his inclination, for they were in no condition to contefl with him. This gave great vexation to many individuals who had property in that quarter, who however received promifes of being otherwife recompenfed. This is a pretty good way of eftablifhing boundaries at the head of an army. The firft office belonging to the crown is that of General, which is poffefTed by Prince Nitre, nephew of the King, although older. The fecond is that of Grand Marfhal, poffefled by Lubomirflcy. The Palatine of Ruflia is Under-General. The Chevalier Lubomirfky is Grand Enfign, and M. de Morftain is Great Treafurer of the kingdom, without being obliged to give any account : he is immenfely rich, al- though it is not yet eight years fince his circumftances were very ftraightened. All thefe offices are fold by the poffeffors of them ; but if they happen to become vacant by death, the King difpofes of them. 1 he archbifhop of Cnelhe, who is at prefent , is Primate and firft Prince of the kingdom, bom a legate, and governs the whole country during the intefregnum, which continues a year. The money is marked with his image. There is almcft no other kingdom in Europe, except Poland, wliich is eleftive. The King REONARD S JOURNEY TO LAPLAND. 2ljr King propofed at the laft diet that they fliould recognife his fon as his fucceflbr ; but the Poles faid that they could only recognife him as fon of the Grand Marfhal, his father filling that office when he was born. The troops are raifed and paid at the expence of the republic, which fupports only five or fix thoufand men, for the purpofe of protecting the frontiers from the incurfi,ons of the Tartars. They havefome regiments of huflars, vho are men armed in a very particular manner. To equip one of thefe huflars cofts more than two thoufand livres : they have large horfes, and carry a tiger's flcin upon their fhoulders, a quiver and arrows behind their back, a coat of mail upon their head, a fabre, piftols, and a cutlafs. The fervants of thefe men precede the fquadron on horfeback, with a lance in their hand ; and it is very fingular that thefe people have wirgs fixed to their backs : they ru(h occafionally into the midft of their enemies, and frighten their horfes, who are unaccuftomed to thefe vifions, and make way for their mailers, who clofely follow them. The republic has alfo fome Tartars whom it fup- ports in time of peace, who are like the Swifs, willing to hire themfelves out to thofe who will pay them : thefe are in other refpefts the worit troops in the world : they fhewed clearly that their horfes were better than themfelves, when obferving the Swedes paffing the Viftula, they chofe rather to avoid than to await them, and left King Cafimir, who had only leifure to help the Queen into her chariot, and who faw from his refi- dence the Swedes pafs the river, and enter into Warfaw ; and, on the other hand, ob- ferved the Poles and the Tartars flying fwifter than the wind. They ravaged the whole city, conduced by Guflavus Charles, father of the prefent King, who gave a wilhed-for permiflion to his ibldiers to carry away the beautiful column at the entrance of the gate of Warfaw, provided they removed it without breaking it. In the laft diet it was refolved that no candles fhould be lighted there, to prevent thofe who flept from being feen ; for it often happens that as the Poles go to the diet at three or four o'clock, after dinner, when they have drank too freely, others took the opportunity of pafling fome refolutions, while they knew thofe who were of an oppollte opinion were afleep, and which confequently paffed unanimoufly : it is on this account that they have been anxious to banifli light from their aflembly, that the confufion in it may be increafed, if indeed it could be greater, and that thofe who flept might not be obferved. Warfaw is in Mazovia, the capital of Upper Poland, and is the place where the diets are held every three years. This city is fituated upon the Viftula, which comes from Cracow, and on which a great quantity of commodities are conveyed from Hungary, and chiefly wine, the mod excellent which can poflibly be drunk. It contains nothing worthy of obfervation, except the flatue of Sigifmond the Third, eretted by his foil Uladifias, which is placed at the entrance of the gate on a pillar of jafper, at which the Swedes fired feveral cannon ; the gilding of the figure is deeper than the thicknefs of a ducat. The city is very dirty and very fmall, and, properly fpeaking, confifts folely of the great fquare, in the middle of which the town-houfe is fituated, and around it there are numbers of fliops kept by Armenians, very richly furniflied with iluffs and merchan- dife, in the Turkifh manner, fuch as bows, arrows, quivers, fabres, carpets, knives, and others : here they have a great number of churches and convents. We faw the Cafli- merian palace, built by the late queen, which is at prefent fo much neglefted, that every part of it is falling to decay : we faw there feveral of thofe chairs by means of which they afcend and defcend Irom one chamber to another. It was from this palace that the queen beheld the Swedes pais over the river, which walhes the feet of the walls ; and it was here where M. Bethune dwelt. We went to pay a vifit to M. Luborairlky, grand Marlhal, who is one of the richefl VOL. I. f F princes Cl8 HEGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. princes of Poland. His father was gcneralillimo, and enterta'ned great jcaloufy of Potofkv, another general : howe\'er they became fiiends in confcquence of the marriage ■which Lubomiriky brought about betwixt his Ion and Potofl^y's daughter : fhe is dead, and this prince has fince married the daughter of the great chamberlain. Lubomirfky, his father, took up arms againfl his king, and defeated his troops feveral times : he was accufed of favouring Auftria in the approaching election, and ot'aflifting the great party of the confederation. This nobleman fliewed us his whole houfe with great condcfcenfion : he purchafed it five or fix years ago, and had an excellent bargain of it ; it is called Jefuoua, and is only about a cannon-fliot diftant from the city. This prince is conflantly building in his garden hermitages and baths, which are very beautiful. His palace is lull of a great number of very beautiful originals, which he has collected at a great expence. His gallery is very curious : he fhewed us a large piece of mechanifm, which he had received irom the neighbourhood of Augfturg, which contained a clock, a chime of bells, a per- petual motion, and a number of other things j the whole was made in the form of a large cabinet of filver. He fhewed us the fpot on which his grandfather had gained the battle over the Turks at Choczim, where Ofman was prefent, and where feveral thoufand of the enemy were left on the field of battle. This place is favourable to the Poles ; they have gained two fignal victories on it, and efpecially the lalt, which tended not a Httle to the peace which fucceeded. We went to the caflle, which contains nothing beautiful, except the chambers of the fenate, and that of marble, where the taking of Smolenfko by the Poles from the Muf- covites is painted, and where they killed great numbers, and took two fons of the Grand Duke prifoners, whom they brought to Warfaw, where they died ; and a chapel was built for them, w hich is Aill called the Chapel of the Mufcovires, and is lituated be- fore the place where we lodged. I'here is in the caftle fome very fine tapeltry, wrought with gold, which was brought from France by King Henry j a part of it was pledged to the inhabitants of Dantzic by Cafimir, to induce them to relieve the neceflities of the ftate. The palace of M. Morftain, grand-treafurer of the -kingdom, is the moft magnificent of all, both with regard to the fine effect of the ftruclure, and the richnefs of the fur- niture with which it is adorned. This nobleman received us v\ith all poifible affability ; he fhewed us all the apartments of his palace, and a number of pictures in his gallery. We falute.d the trealurer's lady, who is a native of Scotland, whom we met with at General Beam's, who ferved in the French army in Hungary. M. Morllain has pur- chafed from the Marquis de Vitri the territory of Montrogue in France.. He pretends that his fon, who is called M. de Chateau-Villain, and whom the queen in derifion de- nominates Little- Villain, will remain in France and poflels all his property there; and what remains in Poland is to be the property of his grand-daughter, who is now mar- riageable. He requefled us to take a repaft with him. The houfe of the Palatine of Lublin is alfo to be feen. General Spas is chief general of Lithuania : he made a flrenuous oppofition to the election of Sobiefky ; but it was carried by means of money. It is prohibited under fevere penalties to draw a fword during the diets, and to fight any where in Poland within three leagues of the King and the grand Marflial. ivl. deBeauvais only propofed in his harangue the Prince of Nc ubourg to be eleded, and did not give himfeU much concern who was King, provided it was not the Prince of Lorraine. The eledtion of the King takes place in the country, where they ereft a wooden ftrufture. A circumltance took place at the coronation of the prefent King, 1 which RECNARD's journey to LAPLAND. 2 It) Tvhich never happened before, and wliich will probably never happen again, which was that the King followed the bodies of two others. King Michael and King Cafnnir, to the grave. The coroniition takes place at Cracow. King Michael had a little foul : he took pleafure only in procuring images and watches ; and requeuing from the queen one day a watch, he told her he wilhed to make buttons of it to his waiftcoat. \Vhen he was elefted, the queen fettled a penfion on him of five thoufoid livres ; M. Seryeant lent him a third part of it. The Poles are extremely proud, and plume themfelves highly upon their nobility, the greater part of whom are obliged to till the ground, fo wretched is their condition. A petty nobleman wears his fabre while proceeding to cultivate the ground, and lays it down befide fome tree ; and if any one pafling would refufe him the appellation of Moiicbc-Panicr, and fimply call him Panier, which is equivalent to Mr., he would be treated very roughly. In other rcfpcds they are very civil, and are always the firfl; to put their hands to their hat: they are great obfervers of fails, and prattife more abftinence than is demanded of them. Some Poles eat no flcfn on Monday and Wednefday ; on Friday almofl no- body eats butter ; and on Saturday they eat nothing boiled, but take that which has- been roafted. This devotion extends towards all the animals ; and our valet having one Saturday given fome fat to a dog, our hoftefs wiflied to punilh him, thinking flie was performing a meritorious aQion. The Poles lay out confiderable fums on their interments, and delay them a long while, from motives of magnificence. There are great lords who are not interred for five or fix years after their death, and who are depofited in heated chapels, which coft large fums. On the day of interment they caufe armed men to enter, hke the ancient chevaliers, who come, as if on horfeback, into the church, and run to break their lance at the foot of the coffin. The houfe of the fathers of the miflion, where the ambafladors lodge, is very large. They built a church, called Holy Crofs ; but it remains there till fome good man finifh with his pence that which the fathers have begun. 1 hey were eftablifhed with the re- ligious of Saint Mary by the late queen ; they are very rich, and the bifliop of Cracow is at prefent eftablifliing them in his diocefe : the fuperior was not there, but we faw Father Mumafan. The rebels of Hungary have revolted, on account of religion, againfl: the Emperor, who wiflied to deprive them of liberty of confcience. Michael Apaffi is Prince of Tranfylvania : he fwears, at his acceffion to power, to mahitain four religions in his ftates. The greatell pleafure of this prince confiils in drinking, and whoever is able to do lo is fure to make his fortune in his fervice. The capital of Tranfylvania is Cuifvar. The young prince, fix or feven years old, is educated in the difpofition of his father, and carries always a bottle at his fide, in the form of a bandoleer. M. Acakias was a long time the reiident in this country ; at prefent it is M. du Verdet. The Chevalier de Bourges, who left it with M. Acakias, but who being fick (topt at Leopold, allured us that he had, in a feafl which he gave to the refident, taken the hair of a ilave, and having pafled a (tick acrofs, he took pleafure, for the purpofe of diverting the company, to make liim fwing during the wiiole repafi: : he afterwards obliged him to run quite naked eighteen leagues at the fide of the chariot of the Princefs Telechi ; tliis is the wife of the miniller of ftate, through whofe hands every thing paffes. The Prince does not open even a fingle letter, and thinks of nothing but drinking. This Telechi is the ia<3il barbarous man in the world : there are more irons in his houfe than in Marfeilles. F F 2 Telechi 2:o REGNARli's JOURNEY TO "tAPLAKD. Telechi is the chief of the army, and fupports the rebels. This Prince of Tranfylvania pays eighty thoufand crowns of tribute to the Grand Seignior : this year he has paid double tribute, becaufe fome Turks had been killed on the territory of Tranfylvania. Bethlem Gabor was the firfl: who became tributary to the Porte ; he paid ten falcons. His fucceffor Michael Bafons was obliged to pay ten thoufand crowns ; and Ragotfld paid twenty ; and the prefent Prince pays eighrv thoufand. We travelled from Javarow to Javarouf in fix days ; it is a diftance of about forty leagues. Javarouf is the mofl: abominable place, not only of Poland, but of the whole world. The court remained here this winter, on account of the pregnancy of the queen, who intended to ly-in at this place. The court flops but a fliort time in one place : it travels conftantly, and in the mofl: agreeable manner imaginable ; for the whole of Poland is the finelf counti-y for hunting I have ever feen, and this journey is a continued chace. We had the honour to ialute the King, and to kifs the hand of the Queen. This Prince received us with all that goodnefs which he fhews to every one, and efpecially to Rrangers : he took great pleafure in making us relate the particulars of our voyage to Lapland, and he never ceafed to interrogate us refpefting it. The Oueen had equal curiofity, and wifhed to be informed of every particular. This Prin- cefs is one of the mofl: accompliflied in Europe ; flie is about thirty-eight years old, and nature has been pleafed to impart to her a portion of all her gifts : fhe is the fineft: perfon at court, the handfomefl:,and the mofl: witty : it it only to fee her that fhe may be known ; but one is the better perfuaded of her excellencies, when one has had the honour of con- verfmg with her. It was fhe who placed the crown on the King's head ; and ambition, which is the noble failing of great fouls, was enjoyed by this Princefs in the higheft degree. It was fhe who incited the King to endeavour to afcend the throne ; and for this purpofe fhe fpared neither money nor promifes, and exerted herfelf fo much that fhe was at length fuccefsful, notwithfl:anding the great intrigues of the Prince of Lor- rain. It is true that the arrival of M. de Bethune was of no little ufe ; he arrived the night before the diet was to have been finifhed, when it was intended to proclaim the Prince of Lorrain King the day after ; he made fuch ufe of the Httle time he had, and he managed the members of the diet fo fuccefsfuUy, that they prolonged it for fome days, during which time he had leifure to ad with that fuccefs which he met with. The royal family is the mofl: accomplifhed which can be any where met with. The eldeft Prince is called Louis-Henry- Jacob ; the King of France, the Queen of England, and his grandfather, were his god- fathers and god-mother. This Prince is in his fourteenth year, and promifes every thing that can be expected from a great prince ; he is handfome, dances well, and fpeaks four languages as well as his own, the German, Latin, French, and Polifh : to gratify the King, who knows thefe languages perfeftly, he favs, that he wifhes to learn all the languages of Europe. The Princefs, about fix or feven years of age, is very handfome, and was crowned before fhe was born. The Prince Alexander, fix years old, is the mofl amiable prince that can be feen : there is alfo the Prince Amour, three or four years old. The Queen, who is at prefent preg- nant, has had fourteen children, and is flill as frefh, and in as good health as a woman of twenty years of age. I had the honour of holding the game of the King at ombre, of playing with him, and to crown me with honour, of eating with him at his table, the ambaffador being placed on his right, and I on his left. The mafler of the horfe was there with the (taroilat of . We this day accompanied the King to the chace. Poland is a country wholly adapted for this amufement : this is expreflTed by the word itfclf ; for Pcln, from whence the wnrd is derived, fignifies level country in the Sclavo- nian language. But the chace is not conduced here as in France : they make an en- clofure REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. 221 clofiire of nets, near which they place foldiers, who drive out the game at an opening •which is left for that purpofc : they iend in a great number of dogs at this opening, accom- panied by huntfmen on horfeback, to aflift them, who drive out all the animals which it contains. Every one takes his poft, two mufket-fhot diflant from each other, and when any animal appears, whether wolf, fox, roebuck, &c. ihey let loofe fuch a number of greyhounds, that the animal rnufl be very fleet if it can efcape. We were extremely fuc- cefsful this day : in lels than four hours we took more than ten roe-bucks, three wolves, five or fix foxes, and a number of hares ; but what rendered the hunt delightful and bloody, was a wild boar of the fize of a horfe, who was killed after a long conteft with ' the dogs ; he killed fome of them, mangled others, and wounded both men and horfes ; but at length he was killed by the fliot of a blunder-bufs : they carried him on a little; cart to the King, and every body owned that they had never fecn fo furious an animal. It was neceflary to procure a chariot for the removal of the mangled dogs, in the fame manner as the wounded are removed after a battle. We faw at the court M. de Vitri, ambaflador extraordinary, who received us with particular kindnefs. During all the time we were at court, we had no other houie and no other table than his. We faw at his houfe M. de Valalc, his equerry ; M. Noblet, who departed for France the day after we arrived ; Mefl". Peliflier and Devilles, fecre- taries ; the Marquis of Arquien, to whom the Queen gives twenty thoufand livres a-year: this is the rendezvous of all the French for pleafure and for play ; the Count of Ma- tigny his fon, who is captain of dragoons, and to whom the Queen gives two thoufand crowns. We faw at the houfe of the Marquis of Arquien M. D'Alerac, M. de Va- lale, &c. The Queen has three French gentlemen, Mefl". Ryon, Forges, and Villars, who was in the Swifs regiment of Monfieur : he made a tour through France. We knew at the court the mafter of the horfe, M. Jalonlky, vice-chancellor of the Queen, who is a man of genius ; M. Sarinfki, King's'fecretary ; M. Dalanty, an Italian, fecretary of the King ; and M. Dumont de I'Efpine, valet-de-chambre. In Poland it is a cuftom to make prefents on feftival-days. The Princefs Radzivil is called Catharine ; her fete took place while we were at the court : the Queen made her a prefent, and wiflied that there Ihould be a dance at the court. Thefe kinds of dances never terminate ; and from the beginning to the end every one dances with his own partner without flopping. They have a mode of dancing in the Ruffian manner, which is very pleafant : M. the Chevalier Lubomirfki, grand-enfign of the kingdom, dances it perfeftly well. They never dance more than at marriages, where the King is at all the cxpence dur- ing the fix or feven days, in which the wife does not live with her huiband ; and the day in which fhe is put into his pofleffion he treats every body. The Poles are proud, are extremely vain of their high rank, and lay out every thing to procure a fine horfe, an elegant drefs, and a beautiful fabre : they are handfome ; but in this the women do not refemble them ; with difficulty could two be found at the court who were fupportable. They gratify themfelves with a number of attendants ; and the petty nobles, who have nothing to live on, attach themfelves to fome of the richer. The women almoft never go abroad, and go to embrace their hufband's thigh when they return home : this is the moll cultomary mode of falutation in Poland ; and the women of quality are faluted in no other manner than by embracing their thigh. There are fome whofe embraces are a little too rough, and who are very willing to feel that which they embrace. Their dreffes are very rich, and are wholly covered with gold and 222 REGNARd's JOURNEY TO LAPLAKD, and filvcr. Their drefs confifls of a man's waiftcoat unbuttoned, and a petticoat ; they wear boots like men. Tiiere is no country in the world more flat than Poland ; we have travelled through almoft the whole country without finding a fingle mountain ; whence the country being flat, there are few rivulets, as they are unable to flow, on which account, the water is very fc;n-ce ; but, to make up for this deprivation, they make very good beer, particularly at Varca, which is renowned throughout the country as being the befl:, AW thefe extenfive plains are fown v\ith corn, and it is exported to various parts of Europe. There is no fortified place in Poland, except Leopold, which is fituated on the Tarkifli frontier : (till, however, thefe are fortifications in the Polifli manner, which the French would willingly deftroy. It is by this means, they think, that they preferve their liberty; and, having no place where they can intrench themfelves, they are obliged to make ramparts of their bodies. They are certain to beat the Turks, when they choofe, as they have always done ; but neverthelefs, they do not ceafe to lofc their country with them. The Tartars are the enemies whom they fear mofl : thefe men do not feek after glory ; they only defire booty, on which they live. Their troops are never placed in regular order ; they fall fiiddenly on the enemy's camp and take every thing they can find ; and at the firll found of the drum, which the captain has fixed to the bow of his faddle. they retire and return a quarter of an hour after- wards to attack fome other place ; fo that they are conftantly on the alert ; by which means thev confound their enemies, and continually flop and moleft them. They are, in fighting, particular in this refpeft, that they fight when flying, and flioot arrows from behind their heads, which are difcharged upon their enemies. They make frequent incurfions into Poland, when the Poles do not pay them the ten thoufand coujuqiies, which they are obliged to furnifli them with every year, which are dreflfes made of flieep's fliins. The Tartars, when making their incurfions, travel thirty or forty leagues in one night, carrying with them a little lack filled with flravv, attached to the head of their horfcs, who do not flop, that they may eat it, and a piece of flefli vi'hich becomes baked under the faddle ; fo that, their enemies, unapprifed of their approach, they take all that they can find in the country, men, women, and children, whom they afterwards carry by the Black Sea, to fell at Conftantinople. But they have this peculiarity, that they never attack fortified places ; nor will forty thoufand Tartars attack a paltry village, provided it be only fliut up with planks, becaufo they are afraid of ambufcades, and they do not wifli to fight regularly. The Poles are anxious to procure the alliance of the Tartars, and make ufe of it, unlefs w hen at war with the Turks, for whom they always declare themfelves, as being Mahometans, and rendered tributaries to the Grand Seignior, in confequence of which, if the Ottoman race became extinft, the Khan of the I'artars would fucceed to the Empire. King Cafimir had more than twenty thoufand of them, when the Swedes entered Poland, but they did not await the enemy, and as foon as they knew that they were only two leagues diflant from them, they fled as if they had been at their heels. The republic always maintains feven or eight thoufand regular troops on the frontiers, to prevent the incurfions of the Tartars. The King does not maintain thefe troops ; he only pays the Heydukcs, the Scmelles, and the Janizaries. The firfl-mentioned are drefled in blue, with large buttons and plates of tin, and have bonnets made of felt upon their heads. They have firelocks, and the biirdiche, which they fay is a very good V capon. The Scmelles are other foldiers all armed in the fame maimer j but all the Janizaries Regnard's journey to I apland. 223 Janizaries are Turks, drefled like thofe whom I have feen in Turkey. A very curious circumdance happened during the fitting of {he lull diet. A Turkifli coinp:iny of the garrilon of Kaminiek, dcferted completely with its arms, colours, n-.>uey-che[l, and officers, and came to offer their fervices to the king of Poland. The King behaved on this occafion, in a manner th;it became a great Prince, and with his ufual intrepidity ; for, notwithltanding the folicitations of the Queen, and of all his council, who advilld him not to take thefe men into his fervice in the prefent conjunfture of affairs, as he had at that time, a Turkifli ambaffador at the Court, which made them fuppofe, what was not unlikely, that they were fpies, (the event ihcwed, however, that he was better informed than them all,) he has them ftill, and gives them double pay. But it is a very extraordinary thing, to fee a whole company defert with its officers. The fined militia of Poland confuts of huil'ars, Tavaches, and Panfars, who are all nobles. The armour of the hulliirs is fomewhat fingular. The King has ftill a company of about a hundred reitrcs, who accompany him on all occafions. We fawat Veroni, M. Acakias who returned from Trani'ylvania, and gave us infor- mation refpefting that country ; he told us, that the people confided of Tranfylvanians and Saxons ; that the former were mafters, and the latter fomewhat like Haves. The Saxons are people who came from Saxony, who are here treated like Jews although they are more men of property than the others. Tiie Tranfylvanians travel without ex- pending a halfpenny, as they live upon, and lodge with the Saxons. \Vhen t!ie Tran- fylvanian noblemen have caught fome game, they fend one of their fervants to fell it, and the mafters demand fome game to eat ; the poor Saxon is oblige! to go and pur- chafe from the fervants of thefe mafters the game, and to pay them whatever they demand for it. Almoft every perfon fpeaks Latin in this country. The Polifh language is Sclavonian, like that of Mufcovy and Tartary ; and there Is as great a difference between thefe languages, though they are derived from the fame fource, as betwixt the Italian and Spaniffi, which are derived from the Latin. The living languages which are fpoken in Europe, may be claffed under two heads ; for I am not fpeaking of the dead languages, like the Greek, the Hebrew, and the Latin. The Arabic language is in Afia what the Latin is in Europe ; and with a knowledge of this language, one may pafs from the Bofphorus, to the moft diftant parts of India. There are therefore, only two mother-tongues, which have their dialects, and thefe are the Teutonian and the Sclavonian. The Sclavonian is famihar at Conftantinople, and its principal dialers are the Ruffian, fpoken by the Mufcovites, the Dalmatian by the Tran- fylvanians, and the Hungarians, the Bohemian and the Polifn, and fome others which are fpoken among the Wallachians, Moldavians, and Lefler Tartars. The Teutonic has three principal dialects, the German, the Saxon, and the Danifli ; and from thefe proceed other idioms, as the Engliffi. the Swediffi, the Flemifli, ^c. The Greek language is dead, and lefs corrupted than the Latin; but it is ftill fpoken in the iflands of the Archipelago, in Achaia, and in the Morea. There are alfo feveral other leffer original languages which have very little extent, as the Albanele, in Epirus and Macedonia, the Bulgarian, in Servia, Bofnia, and Bulgaria; that of the Colfacs, or Leffer Tartars, on the banks of the Tanais ; that of the Laplanders, and the Fins ; that of the Irilh ; and the Bifcayan, and the Breton. We left the (court, after having taken leave of their majefties on Friday, and were condudled by the Sieur de Valalc. We pafled next day through Jeroflans, which gives its name to a duchy, the half of which belongs to the Oueen. We faw fome little vil- lages, which contain nothing remarkable. On our journey, we were attacked by three robbers; we were in our chariot, which oil acccuit of the wind, v/as ihut up on all fides : 124 REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. fides : they cried out to our coachman to flop, who had no inclination to obey them, and made a fignal to us to prepare our piftols ; which we immediately did, and defcend- ed from the chariot with the piftols in our hands, accompanied by our valet, who armed with a firelock, kept them in check. When they obferved this arrangement, they ftopt fhort, and regarded us, without daring to approach. We continued our journey on foot, with our piftols in our hands ; and as it was late, we arrived a fhort time after at the inn, where they fent two of their companions, who came, like pafTen- gers, to obfcrve the fituation of our countenances. They faw, that we had our arms ready, and that we were on foot during the whole night. We did not know them to be what they really were ; and as it was already late, we had been unable to remark them on account of the obfcurity. They fet out two hours before day break, and we were arranging matters to fet out, when the coachman told us, that he had feen them join four others in the neighbourhood of the houfe, and that they had entered the wood, which was about a hundred paces diftant. We did not think it prudent to depart, till the return of day ; and we were waiting till it fhould be light, when we heard four carriages pafling, containing two oxen each. We embraced this opportunity of palling through the wood ; and as it was clear moon-light, we obliged all the drivers to take white fticks in their hands, which appeared by the light of the moon, as if they had been mufkets. In this manner, we palled on, while they dared not attack us, although we heard them ruftling on every fide. At the firft village we arrived at, the people informed us, that the wood was full of them, and that it was difficult to pafs it without being robbed. We arrived at Cracow on Thurfday morning ; we had fome difficulty in procuring lodgings, for there was no tavern in the place. We found an Italian, who condufted us to his houfe. This man, like all his countrymen, immediately deafened us with his loud noife ; he talked about nothing, but millions, his equipage, his horfes, and his chariot. We were not long in difcovering, that the fellow was one of the greatefl fcoundrels that ever lived. We were no fooner feated at table, then he went to borrow three wooden fpoons of his landlord, and told us, that he had given out his own which were filver, to be cleaned. We talked of going out after dinner, and having inquired, whether he had a fword, he told us, that he had unfortunately fallen the day before, and that, in falling, he had broken it, and had confequently given it to an armourer. In looking at our piftols, he told us, that he had a pair which he had purchafed at Amfter- dam, which were double-barrelled, and which were at prefent in the hands of the ar- mourer, that they might be cleaned. He told us, that he would take us in his chariot to ice the mines ; but when the time came, he faid his chariot was newly painted, and four of his horfes were lame. But what was moft entertaining, was, that he was always protefting, that he would take nothing for our lodging with him ; and when it was neceffary to go to market, he came to alk a crown, faying, that he had given away all his cafh for letters of exchange on Mefl'. PelTalouki of Vienna. He laid, he had a law-fuit refpeding two houfes in the city worth ten thoufand francs, which had come to his poffeffion through his wife ; and nevcrthelcls, he wilhed to return with us the fol- lowing day, without any intention of ever coming back. And having alked the reafon why he would leave fuch a line property, and fuch excellent expeftations ; " O" faid he, " that gives me no uneafinels ; I Ihall fettle all that bufinefs to-morrow ; I Ihall " gain my law-fuit ; I Ihall fell my houfes." We faw quite well his ralcally intentions, but we uiftied to amufe ourfelvcs with him to the end ; andtopufhthe raillery a little farther, 1 afkcd him, if he would give me letters of exchange on Vienna, for money which 1 fhould pay him. At this propofition, joy began to Iparkle on the fcoundrel's 2 countenance j REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. 225 countenance ; he began to prepare the mofl: excellent letters of exchange that were e\'er made by the moll celebrated banker ; but unfortunately neither ink nor paper were found in the houfe. I afterwards alked to fee his horfes ; the fcoundrel perceived that he was laughed at, and that he had to do with men as intelligent as himfelf. I never Hiw a man more confounded in my life, and we amufed ourfelves with repeating his ufual phrale, Jtaliani iwn fono mlga crilloni ; and we faid Franccji, inflead of Iialiani, We threw in his teeth an infinite number of his deceptions, lies, and contradictions ; and we had the pleafure of confounding the greateft fcoundrel in the world. Cracow is the chief city of Upper Poland, and is infinitely more handfome, larger, and has more trade than Warfaw. It is fituated on the Viftula, which takes its rife at no great diftance. Its academy is much efteemed : it was founded, about three hundred years ago, by Cafimir the Firft, who alked for profeffors from the colleges of the Sorbonne at Paris, who were the caufes of that great reputation which it acquired. The objeft moft worthy of notice in Cracow, is the caille, fituated on a little hill ; it is very extenfive, but without form, or any regard to the rules of architcfture ; the chambers are fpacious, and the cielings fuperbly gilt ; on which account, this refidence might be fit for a king. In the church of the caftle, the tombs of the kings are to be feen ; and they never inter one King, till another has been eleded. King Cafimir and King Michael were interred the fame day that the prefent King was crowned ; for they all come to be crowned at Cracow. The body of Saint Staniflas is in a flirine of filver, placed in the middle of the church and covered by a canopy. This faint, who was killed by one of the Kings of Poland, is the caufe why the Poles go with their heads ftiaved, and eat no butter on Friday, and fomeof them on Saturday ; this was impofed on them as a penance, by one of the popes, during a hundred years ; and this cutfom became a law, for although the time of the penance had expired, they never ceafe to obferve this fad, and the cuftom of fhaving the head. There are few cities, I do not fay in Poland, but in all Europe, where there are more churches, priefts, and particularly monks, than in Cracow. They are as rich and as much refpefted here as in Italy ; and this is the reafon, why they are fo numerous. With refped to the churches, to do them jultice it mud be confeffed, that the Poles are extremely anxious about the beauty and the fervice of their churches ; the gold fliines in them on all fides ; and one is aftoniflied to find a church gilt to the very vault, in a wretched village, where it has been impofTible to procure a morfel of bread. The finefl: churches in Cracow are die Dome, dedicated to Saint Mary, which is in the middle of the fquarc, the Minims, and the Bernardins; the Jefuits have a very beautiful one, lately built in the Italian manner. The great fquare is very fpacious, and the principal Ifreets branch out from it; chiefly the grand (treet, which leads to Cafimir, the refidence of the Jews, who have in that place, their republic, their fynagogue, and their court of juftice. Thefe gentlemen are no better treated in Poland than in Italy and 1'urkey, where they are the dregs of tiie human race, and the fponge which is prelfed from time tp time, and chiefly when the ftate is in danger. Although they were not diftinguiflied by any particular mark, as in Italy, by a yellow hat, in Germany by a drefs, in Turliey bv a turban, in l^oland by a ruft", it would be impoflible not to know them by their excom- municated air, and their haggard looks. However rich they may be^ they are unable to leave off that villainous difpofition in which they were born, and which excites horror in thofe who have feen them, chiefly in Poland, in the inns which they keep. Throughout the whole of Black Rufiia, where there are thirty or forty of them in a little chamber, the children are naked as they were born, and the fathers and mothers are only half VOL. I. c G covered. 226 REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. covered. I do not believe there is any nation in the world more fruitful : one finds in the fame box filled with flravv, and in the fame cradle, four or five children of the fame mother, who are fo black and hideous, that they appear like little crows in a neft. The tribute which the Jews of Cracow pay to the republic amounts to twenty thou- fand crowns ; they give befides this, three hundred ducats annually to the King, two hundred to the Queen, a hundred to the Prince, and a number of other lefler expences to which they are daily fubject. There are fome cities in Germany, where they are not permitted to refide ; and when there bufinefs calls them to thefe places, they give one ducat for the firft night they fleep in the city, two for the fecond, and three for the third. This is alfo the cafe at Warfaw, where they are not permitted to refide, except during the fitting of the diets ; but there is no kind of rafcality, which they do not praftife j and when any one is found at another time, the fcholars are let loofe upon them, and have a right over their perfons ; fo that, it is eafy to imagine, what kind of treatment they will receive from thefe gentlemen. We went to pay our refpefts to the Palatine of Cracow, the firfl of the kingdom, called Viclipofky, grand chancellor of the crown, and brother-in-law of the King. - We had letters to deliver to him from the ambalfador, and others for the lady of the grand-chancellor, from the Queen, and from the Marquis of Arquien his father. This nobleman requefled us to dine with him: a number of excellent fifh were on the table, but the greater part in oil, as it was Saturday ; and here it may be obferved, that the Poles do not relifh oil unlefs it be very ftrong, and they fay, when it is fvveet, as we prefer it, it has no fmell. The equerry is at the end of the table with a large fpoon, by which every-body is ferved ; it is neceffary to have a knife and fork in one's pocket, elle one may very probably be obliged to make ufe of one's fingers. The grand-chancellor has a very handfome daughter, about thirteen or fourteen years of age, and two boys fomewhat younger. This nobleman had the goodnefs to fend us a chariot to go to the falt-mines of Vicliika, which are a good league diftant from Cracow. It was to this place we went to admire the effects of nature in her different produ£tions. In the middle of the fquare of the city, one fees a flied under which, one no fooner enters, than a large wheel is obferved, which horfes are turning, and which is employed to raife the ftones which are drawn from the mine. Near this wheel, there is a hole dug as wide as a very large pit, and covered wholly over with large pieces of wood, fixed the one to the other. It was by this aperture, that we defcended to that abyfs ; but before fetting out on this journey, they clothed us with a kind of furplice. They moved a great number of ropes and girths, which were fixed to the great cable, the one after the other. Five or fix men made preparations to go down with us, and lighted a number of lamps, while others furrounded the mouth of the hole, and began to fing that pafTage of the Paflion, where thefe words are, Expiravit Jtfi/s, and ilill continued in the moll frightful tone, the De profiindis. I confefs, that at this time, my whole blood frcezed ; all the prepa- rations tor this living interment appeared to me fo horrible, that I wiflied to be a great way of!" from the place where I was ; but matters had gone too fi\r ; I was obliged to bury myfclf alive in this grave. One of our guides placed himfclf at the end of the cable, with a lam;) in his hand ; I then placed myfelf on ray girth above his head ; one of the miners placed himfelf above me ; my comrade was above him, and another was over his head, with a lamp in his hand, and another above him ; fo that there were more than a dozen of us, one above another, fixed to the cable, like ilrings of beads, 2 in RECNARd's journey to LAPLAND. 227 in a poflure, not themoft agreeable in the world ; for not only did we run the rifk of the cable breaking, but we were alfo afraid, left the cords that fupported us fliouid give way, and left thole of others, which would fall upon us, fliould break. We defcended a hundred long toifes in this manner ; and wc at length found our- felves in a place, very I'pacious, and very deep, in the middle of v;hich we found a chapel, where mafs was frequently faid ; from whence we were conducted by roads without end where they had removed the fait, which they break off in large pieces, which three horfes can with diiTicuky draw. This ftone is of an afh-colour, and fparkles like diamonds ; it is not hard, and the fmall pieces which fall off in cutting it, are put into barrels, and are fold in that ftate. This ftone is infinitely falter than our excife fait, and becomes white when it is piled up ; but they make a fait of the water which they draw from the deepeft places of the mine, which, after it hardens, becomes the whiteft and the finelt, that can poflibly be feen. From this quarry, we defcended to another, for there are feven of them, the one above the other, and when we were near the laft, we found a rivulet of frefli water, the beft I ever drank. This is one of thegreateft curiofities I ever beheld in my life, to fee a water ifl'uing from and running over ftones of fait, without taking the tafte of it. There are alfo other rivulets found here, but their waters are perfedly fait. After having defcended for two hours, we arrived, at length, at the laft quarry, where the men were working : they cut for us a ftone which fifty horfes would have been unable to draw ; and a fingle man fevered this ftone from the rock, with great eafe. When this piece has fallen, they cut it into round pieces, the fliape of a barrel, that they may be able to roll it into the carriage. We found in this pit a number of men and horfes, who wrought at wheels made for the purpofe of raifing the water. In this mine, fait is found of various prices, and veins, fome of which are better than others. The fmalleft is called Ziclona, the next Zibicoa, and the beft of all Ockavata. The firft kind is fold for twelve guldens the ton, which weighs fix hundred pounds, the fecond thirteen, and the third fixteen. This laft is like cryftal, and equally tranl- parent, and is divided into little fquares like ice. We travelled near four hours in this mine ; and we were affured, that, fo great is its extent, a perfon would be unable to go through every part of it in fifteen days. Along the whole length of the vaults of this quarry, falt-water petrified may be obferved hanging like icicles at a rain fpout ; and when it has become hard enough to be wrought, the workmen make chaplets of it, and little utenfils of that kind. We afcended by the fame ladder by which we defcended ; and I was ftill more un- comfortable in going up than in coming down; for the rope that fupported me not being fufficiently fixed to the cable, Aid off from time to time, and caufed me great uneafi- nefs ; and without deceiving, I confefs, that I felt extremely difagreeable, and I pro- mifed, that I ftiould never revifit thefe fubterraneous regions. To travel this journey once in one's life is perfedly fufficient. We remained three or four days, after which, we fet out for Vienna. We pafled through Zator-Ozvienzin, and other places belonging to Poland. A JOURNEY TO GERMANY. The firft city in Germany which one meets with in Silefia is and which is dependant on a particular prince who is called Count Balthafar. We travelled from thence to Olmutz, the feat of the bifliopric. The palace of the bilhop, who is both fpiritual and temporal prince, is as fine a one as can be feen in Germany. We obferved, cc 2 that 228 REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. V that the principal occupation of the fcholars is, to go at night, from flrcet to ftrcet, and fing, when they beg for alms : this is a common pradtice of all the ftudents oif Germany. We arrived at Vienna on the 20th day of September. One part of the court was abfcnt, and there was only here that of the Emprefs Dowager, who is of the houfe of Tvrol. The Emperor was at Oldenburg, where he held a diet, which all the Palatines and great lords of Hungary attended, both to fettle the affairs of the rebels, which have occupied attention for more than fifteen years, and to affift in the coronation of the Emprefs, Queen of Hungary. The Emperor arrived two days after at Vienna ; and we returned with him from Hungary. He intended to pafs the whole winter at Vienna, and afterwards to go to the diet at Ratilbon. The Hungarians are proud and magnificent in diamonds. The Palatine of Hun- gary or Vice-King is the richeft : he had lately received the order of the Fleece from the King of Spain, vacant by the death of the Prefident, who had married thePrincefs of Holftein, where I was prefent, and where all the people have their rendezvous ; he had long adminiftered the affairs of the Empire, and has fince been blamed, and turned out of the miniftry. Abeley has taken his place in the government. The Hungarians are not tall, but their drefs tends to give them a good air, together with the cock feathers which they wear upon their heads ; they carry as many feathers as they have beheaded Turks in battle. Their country is the moft produftive in the world in corn, wine, and pafturage, but they are at prefent ruined j their wine of Tockay is efteemed the beft. Vienna is the capital of Auftria, and the feat of the empire ; it was attacked in by the great Soliman, with an army of an hundred thoufand men ; but he was obliged to raife the fiege. The Turkifh arms, which are above the tower of Saint Stephen, are witnefles of a good refiflance ; they have been left there, either as a mark of this aftion, or fi-om the articles of the capitulation concluded in this manner. The city of Vienna is not large, but it is populous, notwithftanding the horrid ravages of the plague two years ago, which deftroyed more than two hundred thoufand men» The ftreets are handfome, and efpecially thofe of the quarter of the nobles. The churches are magnificent here, and a;bove all thofe of the Jefuits, who have three con- vents here ; and are the mafters at Vienna. They gather a very confiderable tax upon thofe who enter the city after eight o'clock in fumnier, and fix in winter; one mufl pay four-pence, and this is a dreadful monopoly. All the falliionables aflemble in the church of Saint Michael and Sainte-Croix ; the ladies are placed on one fide, and the gentlemen on the other. We faw there tlie filter of Montecuculi, the Countefs of Arach ■ and for cavalier Noftiche Bouquin . The gala days with the Emperor are certain days of rejoicing, when every body is fuperbly drefled. The precious flones are to be met with in abundance : and I do not believe there is any place in the world where they are more plenty ; the rejoicings take place on the Emperor's birth-day, on thofe of the Emprefs &c. The Emperor is a younger fon of Ferdinand the Third. His elder bi-ot her died Arch-Duke at eighteen or twenty years of age ; he was a very handfome Prince. The Emperor was taken from among the Jefuits to be put in his place ; but he was rather born for the convent than the throne. Ferdinand the Third had three wives, the firft. was called Mary, the daughter of Phillip the Third, King of Spain, by whom he had three fons. The firft, as I have faid, died King of the Romans, the fecond is at prefent Emperor, and the third died Bifhop of Paflau and of Breflaw. I The REGNARD's journey to LAPLAND. 229 The feconJ wife of Ferdinand was of the houfc of Infpruck, who died in child-bed very voung : her tomb is to be feen at the church ot the Dominicans. The third who is flill Hving, is called Emprefs Leonora, Dowager, fhe is of the houfe of Mantua, aunt of the Duchcfs of York. She has two daughters; the eldeft married Michael Coribut Wienowiefki, King of Poland, and has fince been married to the Duke of Lorraine ; the fecoiid was married about two years ago to the Duke of Neubourg, brother-in-law of the Emperor. The Emperor is called Leopold Ignatius fon of Ferdinand the Third, and of Mary daughter of Phillip the Third, King of Spain. He was born the 9th day of June 2640; and was raifed to the Imperial dignity in the year 1659. He has had three wives like his father. The firfl was the Infanta of Spain, daughter of Phillip the Fourth, only fifter of the prefent King, Charles the Second, and filter of the father of the prefent Queen of France. She has a daughter, called the Arch-Dutchefs, about fovlrteen or fifteen years of age, who is lame. The fecond was of the houfe of Infpruck. The third is of the houfe of Neubourg. He married this Princcfs about four or five years ago ; and he has a fon by her about four years old, who is called the Arch- Duke. The Arch-Dutchefs had great expeftations of being married to the King of Spain ; it is even faid that they faluted her as Queen for fome time at the court. There has been always much jealoufy between this young Arch-Duchefs, and the other daughter of the Emprefs i)owager, who has been married to the Duke of Neubourg, as having both of them the fame pretenfions, and both hoping to be Queen of Spain. And the old Emprefs was much furprifed when flie learned the marriage of the King of Spain, with Mademoifelle, becaufe they had flattered her, that, if flie made the Emperor declare war againft France, her daughter would be Queen of Spain ; in which Ihe was fuccefsful, for flie is very ingenious. This Princefs, feeing her hopes difappointed in one quarter, fought after a crown elfevvhere, and endeavoured to negociate her marriage with the King of Sweden ; but the Princefs of Denmark 'had previoufly made too deep an imprellion on his heart, to be fupplanted : thus, feeing no more crowned heads, flie was obliged to marry the Duke of Neubourg ; but flie treated him with inconceivable haughtinels. The prefent Arch-Duchefs is niece of that Princefs, and they have often been rivals. No other match can be obferved for her but the Duke of Florence, the Princefs of Saxony being at prefent married to the Eleftor of Bavaria. The Emperor is Arch-Duke of Auflria, and King of Hungary and Bohemia ; he has the only Arch-duchy in the world, and his children bear tlie title of it. They bend the knees before him : and the Emperor himfelf, when bowing at the altar, bends his tv.o knees, v.'ithout however putting them to the ground. The council of confcience oi the Emperor is compofed of a capuchin, called Father Emeric, Bifliop of Vienna, and of Father Richard, ajefuit, from Lorraine. The Emperor is very devout ; he goes alnioft every day to dine with the monks or the religious. When he travels, it is without noife, for he has neither drums nor trumpets. His guards, called ^/-^i^-OTj, in number a hundred or two hundred, with a partizan in their hands, clothed in black, all in a cloak laced with yelLw, form a hedge in the middle of which the Emperor paiTes in his chariot, which is liker a cheft than any thing elfe. There is never any perfon at his fide, and the Emprefs feats her- felf at the other end. The 230 REGNARd's journey to LAPLAND. The horfes are harnaffed with ropes, and the coachman is on horfeback, fince one of them heard upon his feat, a fccret that he revealed. All the attendants travel on horfeback. Before the Emperor can be elevated to the Imperial dignity, he mud have been ele£l- ed King of the Romans, and he cannot enjoy this title, till he is fourteen years of age. The Emperors are elected and crowned at Frankfort, but the crown is at Aix-la-chapelle. The Emperor is very fond of hunting ; I was at a hunt, which he made on his return from Oldenbourg, where they killed eighty or ninety wild boars with the fword. Thofe who are near the Emperor kill them from a lodge which is prepared for him. They treat the Emperor with the refpect due to His Sacred Majefty. He carries the order of the Fleece ; but he does not give it, and it belongs folely to the King of Spain. We never have ambalTadors at Vienna, becaufe Spain wifhes to have the precedence, as being of the fame houfe. The Marquis of Seleville was, at this time, envoy extra- ordinary. We lived with the Marquis, and I had a private converfation with the Marchoinefs ; fhe is one of the moft intelligent and virtuous ladies I have ever known. We knew there M. de Saint-Laurent, coufm of Madame the Marchionefs Pigore. We dined feveral times with the Count de Stirum. The Count of Staremberg is governor of the city ; he wilhed to have a difpute with Meffrs. de Marfdlac and d'Alincourt, becaufe they had not told their names at the court. Vienna takes its name from a little river, which pafles between the fuburb of Iflaw and the city, which, when it overflows its banks, makes dreadful ravages. The Danube paffes here alfo. It is the largefl river in Europe ; it takes its rife in and after flowing feven or eight hundred leagues, it falls into the Black Sea, by feven mouths. Its courfe is contrary to that of all the other rivers of the world j it flows from weft to eaft, and there is no other, except the Po, that refembles it. The Louvre is a large fquare ftrufture, which contains nothing remarkable. Its court is ufed as a riding-houfe. The gentlemen have fteps of wood to affifl; them in jnounting their horfes. MEMOIR ( 231 ) MEMOIR READ BEFORE THE ROTAL ACADEMT OF SCIENCES. THIRTEENTH OF NOVEMBER, 1737, ON THE MEASURE OF A DEGREE OF THE MERIDIAN AT THE POLAR CIRCLE. [By M. Maupertuis. Newly tranflated.] EIGHTEEN months ago I fubmitted to this aflembly the objcfl; and plan of a voyage to the polar circle ; 1 have now to render them an account of its fuccefs : in doing which it may firfl be neceffary to advert to the ideas which were the caufe of its being undertaken, M. Richer having noticed at Cayenne, in 1672, that gravity in that ifland near the equator was lefs than in France, the learned turned their eyes towards the confequences tiiat might refult from this famous difcovery. One of the mod illudrious members of the academy maintained, that it proved as well the revolution of the earth on its axis, (which did not require to be proved) as the flatnefs of it towards the poles, which was a paradox. M. Huygens applying the theory of centrifugal force, of which he was the author, to the parrs which conflitute the earth, demonftrated that taldng thefe parts as gravitating uniformly towards a centre, and making their revolution round an axis, it muft neceflarily follow to fupport an equilibrium, that they form a fpheroid flattened, towards the poles. M. Huygens even determined the proportion of flatnefs, and this by the ordinary principle of gravity. Newton was the partifan of a different theory, of the attradion of the particles of matter one towards the other ; and came to the fame conclufion that the earth was flattened, although by his computation in a diff"erent proportion. In faft, when by the laws of fl:atics we examine the figure of the earth, every theory leans to its being flat ; and one cannot imagine a lengthened fpheroid, unlefs by very forced hypothefes on gravity. From the firfl; efl:abliflinient of the academy, one of its principal 'objeds had been the meafurement of a degree of the meridian of the earth : M. Picard had deter- mined this degree towards Pai-is with fuch exaftnefs, as left nothing further to wifli for in appearance. But this meafure could be general only in cafe the earth were fpherical; if the earth were flattened, itwould be too long for the degrees towards the equator, and too fliort for thofe towards the poles. When the meafurement of the meridian which traverfes France was finiflied, we were furprifed to learn that the' degrees towards the north were fliorter than thofe towards the fouth ; this was diametrically oppofite to the effcfts which ought to follow if the earth were flat towards the poles. According to thefe meafurements it fliould be lengthened towards the poles ; other experiments made on the parallel which tra- verfes France, confirmed this extenfion, and thefe meafurements had great weight. Thus the academy was divided, the information it poflefled caufed it to doubt ; when the King chofe to have this great quefl;ion decided, a quefl:ion not like thofe vain fpeculations with which the idle amufe themfelves, not a ufelefs fubtlety of philofophy, but a matter of real influence on aflronomy and navigation. In order to determine properly the figure of the earth, it was neceflTary to compare two degrees of the meridian as different in latitude as pofTible ; becaufe whether the degrees increafe or diminifh in length towards the pole, the flight difference between adjoining ones might be lofl in the errors of obfervations ; inflead of which, if the two degrees compared were at great diftance one from the other, the diff"erence being re- peated o-'Z MAUPERTUIs's MEMOIR ON THE MEASURE OF -J peated as often as there are intermediate degrees, would make together a fum too con- liderable to elcape the obfervers. M. Le Compte de Mauripas who is attached to the fcisnces, and who is defirous of rendering them ferviceable to the itate, found united in this undertaking, an advantage to navigation, and to the academy, and the profpect of its being of utility to the public, infured the attention of the Cardinal de Fleury, in the midll of war. The fciences found in him that protection, and aihftance, which could fcarcely be expeded in time of the moll profound peace. M. Le Compte de Mauripas quickly after fent to the academy the orders of his Majefty, to have the queftion decided refpefting the figure of the earth ; the academy received them with joy, and haftened by feveral of its members to put them in execution ; fome were deftined to the equator, to meafure the firft degree of the meridian, and fet off a year before us, the others for the north to meafure a degree as near to the pole as poflible. The fame zeal actuated thofe who went to expofe themfelves to the fun under the torrid zone, as them who were to experience the hoiTors of winter in the frozen regions ; either had but one aim, that of rendering themfelves ufeful to their country. The party defigned for the north was compofed of four academicians, Meflrs. Clairaut, Camus, Le Monnier, and myfelf, and of Mr. L' Abbe Oulhier, accom- panied by M. Celfius, the celebrated profeifor of aflronomy at Upfal, who affifted us in all our labours, and whofe information and advice were very ufeful to us. Were it permitted me to fpeak of my other companions, of their firmnefs, and their talents, it would be vifible, that however difficult the work we undertook, with their concurrence it mull have been eafy. A long time has elapfed fince we heard lafl; from thofe gone to the equator : little more of that expedition is known befide the trouble it has met with ; and our expei-ience has tauG;ht us to feel for thofe engaged in it-, we have been more fortunate, and ai'e returned to bring to the academy the fruits of our toil. The veflel that bore us having arrived at Stockholm, we haftened to fet out towards the bottom of the gulph of Bothnia, where we could choofe better than by truding to charts, which of the two coatf s of the gulph would be mod fuitable to our operations. The perils with which they threatened us at Stockholm did not deter us ; nor thekind- nefs of his Majefty, who, in fpite of the orders that he iffued for us, ceafed not from teftifying his concern at feeing us depart on fo dangerous an adventure. We arrived at Torneo in time to fee the fun fhine without fetting for feveral days ; as is ufual in thofe climates about the fummer folflice ; an admirable fight to an inhabitant of the temperate zones, notwithftanding his knowledge ot fuch being the cafe at the polar circle. It perhaps will not be ufelefs here to give an idea of the work we had laid down, and the means we had to take in meafuring a degree of the meridian. Nobody is ignorant that as one advances towards the north, the ftars placed towards the equator appear to fink ; and on the contrary thofe fituated towards the pole, to rife : it is very probable that the obfervance of this phenomenon afforded the firft proof of the roundnefs of the earth. This diiFerence in the meridian height of a Itar, which we perceive in tracing an arc of the meridian, I call the amplitude of that arc ; it is this which is the meafurement of its curve, or in other words, it is the number of minutes and fcconds which it contains. Were the earth entirely fpherical, this difference of the height of a ftar, (this ampli- tude) would always be in proportion to the arc of the meridian palled over. If in order to fee a ftar change its elevation one degree, it might be necefl'ary at Paris to pafs over JOURNEY OF MAUPEB.TU1S, 233 over a fpace of 57,000 toifes, the fame diftance fhould be gone over at Tomeo, to find the fame change in the height of the flar. If on the contrary, the furface of the earth were uniformly even, however great the dif- tance paffed over towards the4iorth, the ftar would appear neither more, nor lefs elevated. If then the furface of the earth be unequally curved in different regions, to find the fame difference of the elevation of a ffar, it will be neceffary in thofe different regions, to pafs over unequal arches of the meridian of the earth ; and thofe arches whole am- plitude is a degree, will be longer whv^re the earth is more flattened. So that if the earth be flattened towards the poles, a degree of the terreflrial meridian will be longer towards the poles than at the equator, and hence the figure of the earth may be afcer- tained by comparing the different degrees one with the other. By this will be feen, that to have the meafure of a degree of the meridian of the earth, a diflance on this meridian mufl: be meafured, and the change of the elevation of a ftar at the two extremities be known, in order to be able to compare the length of the arch, with its amplitude. The firft part of our work confifted then in meafuring a confiderable fpace upon the meridian, and for this purpofe a fucceffion ol triangles was neceflary, which might com- municate with feme bafe, whole length might be meafured by the pole. We had always entertained the hope of being able to make our obfervations upon the fhores of the Gulf of Bothnia. The facility of croffmg by fea to the different llations, of tranfporting the infl;ruments in boats, the advantage of obfervations, that the iflands of the gulf marked in fuch number uponihe charts, feemed to hold out to us ; all thefe had pre-determined us in favour of the coaft and ifles. We proceeded with impatience to reconnoitre, but all our voyages for that purpofe, ferved only to fhew us the necefiity of giving up our firft intention. Thefe iflands which lay oft' tlie fhores of the gulph, and the coaft of the gulf itfelf, which we had reprefented to our fancy as promontories, vifible at a great diftance, and from which we might diftinguifli others equally diftant ; all thefe iflands were level with the water, and confequently quickly hid by thej'oundnefs of the earth. They even concealed each other towards the borders of the gulph, when they were too near ; and where ranged along the coafts, they did not advance far enough into the fea, to afford us the direction we required. After repeated fruitlefs endeavours to obtain in thefe iflands what they could not afford, we were obliged to give up all hope, and abandon them. I travelled from Stockholm to Torneo in a coach with the reft of the company ; but chance having thrown in our way, in the courfe of this long journey, the veffel which bore our inftruments and fervants, I went on board, and arrived at Torneo feveral days before the others. On landing I met with the governor of the province who was going to vifit Northern Lapland, (part of his government): I joined him in order to gather fome idea of the country in the abfence of my companions, and penetrated fifteen leagues towards the north. On the night of the folftice I afcended one of the higheft mountains of this country, called Avafaxa ; and returned in fufficient time to be at Torneo on their arrival. In this journey, which lafted but three days, I re- marked that the river Torneo ran pretty clofely in the diredlion of the meridian as far as I had gone : and noticed on all fides high mountains that afforded ftations per- ceptible at great diftances. We thought then of beginning our operations to the north of Torneo upon the fummits of thefe mountains, but this appeared to us fcarcely poflible. We had, in the deferts of a country hardly inhabitable, in the immenfe foreft which extends from Torneo to the North Cape, to eftecl: operations, difficult even in the moft VOL. I. H H com- 2-4 JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS. commodious countries. There were but two modes of getting forward in thefe deferts, to both of which we were obliged to have recourfe ; the one by navigating a river full of catarafts, the other by proceeding on foot through thick forefts, or deep marflies ; and allowing we fliould get through the country after the moft tedious marches, we had to fcale rugged mountains, clear the fummits of thefe mountains of the trees which there impeded the fights, live in thefe deferts upon the coarfeft food, and ex- pofed to flies fo tormenting, that they oblige the Laplanders and their rein-deer to abandon the country during this feafon, to feek,on the fhores of the fea, a more tolerable refidence. To fum up all, the work was to be undertaken without knowing, or being able to learn, whether it was prafticable ; without knowing whether after fo much pains, the ■want of one mountain might not abfolutely ftop the courfe of our triangles ; and withoat knowing whether we Ihould be able to find upon the river a bafe that could be united with our triangles. Should all thefe fucceed, we had afterwards to conflruft obferva- tories on the mofl northern of our mountains ; a train of inftruments more complete than are to be found in many of the obfervatories of Europe were to be tranfported there ; and aftronomical obfervations to be made the moft minutely exa(El. If on one hand thefe different obftacles were fufficient to alarm us j on the other the work had many attradions. Befides the difficulties we had to overcome, we had to meafure a degree in all probability as far towards the north as is permitted man to meafure, the degree which cuts the polar circle, and of which one part is in the frozen zone. After all, giving up the hope of being able to make ufe of the iflands of the gulph, this was our laft refource ; for we could not fatisfy ourfelves by defcending to the more fouthern provinces of Sweden. We left Torneo on Friday fixth July, with a company of Finnifh foldiers, and a great number of boats laden with inftruments, and the moft indifpenfible neceffaries of life; and began to afcend the great river, which proceeding, from the extremity of Lap- land, empties itfelf into the Bothnick Sea, after dividing into two branches, which form the little ifland Swintztar, on which the town is built in latitude 6^° 51'. From that day we lived in the deferts and on the tops of mountains, which we were de- firous of uniting by triangles. After having afcended the river from nine o'clock in the morning until nine at night, we arrived at Korpikyla, a hamlet on its banks, inha- bited by Fins ; we landed there, and after marching a long time acrofs the foreft, we arrived at the foot of Nirva, a fharp mountain, whofe fummit is compofed of rock alone, which we afcended, and upon which we eftablifhed ourfelves. On the river we had been grievoufly incommoded by large flies with green heads, which drew blood wherever they ftung ; on Nirva we were plagued with feveral other kinds ftill more tormenting. Two young Lapland girls were keeping a little herd of rein-deer upon the fummit of this mountain, and from them we learned an antidote againft the flies of the country : thefe poor wenches were fo much hid by the fmoke of a great fire which they had kindled, that we could fcarcely fee them ; and very foon we were furrounded by a fmoak as thick as theirs. While our party was encamped on Nirva, I left it at eight in the morning with Mr. Camus, to reconnoitre the mountains towards the north ; we afcended the river again as far as to the foot of Avafaxa, a high mountain, whofe fummit we ftripped of its trees, and erefted a fignal upon it. Our fignals were hollow cones made by a number of great trees, which being deprived of their bark, were fo white as to be eafily dillinguiflied at the diftance of ten or twelve leagues; their centre in cafe of accident JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS. i^S accident was eafily to be found again, by marks which we made on the rocks, and flakes which were driven deep into the earth and covered again by great (tones : in fhort thefe fignals were fufficiently commodious for obfervations, and as fubftantially conflrufted as mod of the buildings of the country. As foon as the fignal was finifhed, wedefcended the mountain, and having embarked on the little river Tenglio which palling the foot of Avafaxa, empties itfelf into the great river ; we went up it as far as to that part which feemed to us neareft to a mountain apparently calculated for our work ; there we landed, and after a march of three hours acrofs a marfh, arrived at the foot of Horrilakero. Although greatly fatigued we afcended it, and pafled the night in cutting down what trees we found. A great part of the mountain is of red flone, interfperfed with a fort of white cryftals, long, and tolerably parallel to one another. The fmoak was not here a preventative againft the flies, more vexatious upon this mountain than on Nirva. We were obliged notwith- ftanding the exceffive heat to cover our heads with our Lapmudes (a drefs made of the (kins of rein-deer,) and to caufe ourfelves to be furrounded by a thick rampart of branches of fir, and even by whole trees which almoft almofl overwhelmed us, but which preferved us only for a Ihort time. After having felled all the trees on the top of Horrilakero, and conftrufled a fignal there, we left it and retraced our road to find the boats which we had drawn into the wood ; it is thus the inhabitants of the country manage for want of cordage, which is very fcare with them. A few very thin planks of deal compofe their fkiffs, fo light, and fo flexible, that notwithftanding they continually flrike againfi; the ftones with which the rivers are full, borne by the whole violence of the torrent, they bear the fliock without injury. It affords a fight, terrible for thofe unaccuftomed to it, and aftonifliing to all, to behold this frail machine in the midfl: of a cataraft the noife of ■which is deafening, carried away by a torrent of waves, froth, and ftones ; fometimes borne up aloft, and at others loll amid the waves ; one dauntlefs Fin fteering it with an oar, while two others row with all their might, to efcape the following waves, that threaten to overwhelm them ; at fuch times the keel is often above the water, and only fupported by one extremity prefTmg on a wave, which finks at every inftant. Although thefe Fins be particularly bold, and fkilful amid catarafts, they are every where elfe ingenious in (leering fmall veflels, in which mod frequently they have hothing but a tree with its branches, to ferve for a maft, and fails. We re-embarked on the Tenglio, and having entered the Torneo, we failed down it to return to Korpikyla. Four leagues from Avafaxa, we left our boats, and after walking nearly an hour in the forefl;, we found ourfelves at the foot of Cuitapari, a very rugged mountain whofe top was a rock covered with mofs, commanding a prof- peft all around for a confiderable diftance ; from it on the fouth we could diftinguifh the fea of Bothnia, we raifed a fignal here from which we faw Horrilakero, Avafaxa, Torneo, Nirva, and Kakama. We continued then to fall down the river, which between Cuitaperi and Korpikyla contains dreadful catarafts that it is not. ufual to pafs in boats. The Fins did not fail to land in the neighbourhood of thefe, although excefs of fatigue made it more fupportable for us to pafs them in boats, than to walk a hundred paces. At length the eleventh of July at night we came to Nirva, where the remainder of our company was eftabliflied ; they had feen our fignals, but the fky had been fo much charged with vapour they had been unable to make any obfervation. I know not whether it was owing to the continual prefence of the fun above the horizon which raifed vapors that there was no night to condenfe, but during the two months that we palled upon thefe mountains the heavens were always overcall until the north wind H H 2 came 23^ JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS. came to diflipate the mift. This difpofition of the atmofphere often detained us eight or ten days on a mountain in waiting for the favorable opportunity of feeing diftinctly the objefts we wifhed to obferve. It was not until the day after our return to Nirva, that fome angles were taken ; and the following, under favor of a very bleak north wind, we completed our obfervations. July the fourteenth we left Nirva, and while Meffrs. Camus, Le Monnier, and Celfius went to Kakama, Meffrs. Clairaut, Cuthier and myfelf paffed on to Cuitaperi, whence on the fixteenth M. L'Abbe Cuthier departed to place a fignal on Pullingi. The eighteenth we took obfervations, which, notwithftanding the interruption of thunder and rain, we completed by night, and the twentieth we fet off, and arrived at midnight at Avafaxa. This mountain is fifteen leagues from Torneo, on the bank of the river ; the accefs to it is difficult, to afcend it we had to pafs through a forefl: that continues for half its height ; it is there divided by great heaps of fharp and flippery ftones from its re- mainder, which extended to the fummit ; I fay extended, becaufe we caufed all the trees that covered the top to be cut down. The N. E. fide is a frightful precipice of rocks in which fome falcons had made their neft ; at the foot of it the Tenglio runs, which turns round Avafaxa before it throws itfelf into the Torneo. From this moun- tain the profpeft is beautiful ; nothing interrupts the fight towards the South, and the courfe of the river is difcernible for a vaft extent ; towards the eaft the Tenglio is traced through feveral lakes that it paffes ; on the north the view extends twelve or fifteen leagues, where it is interrupted by a multitude of mountains, heaped one upon the other refembling chaos, among which it was not eafy to find that which we had feea from Avafaxa. We paffed ten days on this mountain, during which, curiofity often procured us vifits from the inhabitants of the neighbouring country j they brought us fiih, flieep, and fuch wretched fruits as grow in their torefts. Between this mountain and Cuitapari, the river is exceeding broad, and forms a kind of lake, which as well as that it was extenfive, was very advantageoully fituated for our bafe ; Meffrs. Clairaut and Camus took upon themfelves the care of afcertaining its direftion, and for that purpofe remained at Ofwer Torneo after our obfervations upon Avafaxa were compleated ; while 1 went to Pullingi with Meffrs. Le Monnier, Cuthier, and Celfius. On the fame day that we left Avafaxa we paffed the polar circle, and arrived the next day (31 July) at three o'clock in the morning at Turtula, a kind of hamlet for the reapers of the little barley and grafs that grow in thofe parts. After walking fometime in the foreft, we embarked on a lake which carried us to the foot of Pullingi. It is the higheft of the mountains, and extermely difficult of accefs from the fudden- nefs with which it rifes, and from the height of the mofs in which we could fcarcely walk. We got to the fummit however at fix o'clock in the morning, and the ftay we made from the thirty-firfl: July to fixth Auguft was as painful as our afcent. It was neceffary we fhould cut down a forefl of the largeft trees ; and the flics were fo trouble- fome, that our foldiers of the regiment of Wellro-Bothnia, a regiment dilHnguifhed even in Sweden, where there are fo many brave men ; thefe men, enured to the greatelt hardfhips, were obliged to envelope their faces, and cover them with pitch ; thefe in- feds infeded every thing we were about to eat ; as foon as expofed, our meat was black over with them. The birds of prey were not lefs famifhed, they flew round us continually, to feize on fome joints of mutton which were cooking for us. I The JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS. 437 The day after our arrival at Pullingi, M. L'Abbe Cuthier left us, accompanied by an officer of the fame regiment wiiich had rendered us fo much fervice ; to ercft a fignal towards towards Piilo. On the fourth we perceived one on Niemi that the fame officer had raifed : having taken the angles between thefe fignals, we left Pullingi the fixth ot Augufl:, (having fullered feverely), to go to Pillo ; palling four cataracfs v.-e arrived there the fame day. Pillo is a village inhabited by a few Fins, near to which Kittis the Imvefl of the mountains is fituated ; upon this our fignal was placed. In afcending towards it, we found a Ipring of the pureft water, iifuing from a very fine fand, and which in the fevereft frofts of winter, preferves its liquid ftate ; when we returned to Pillo at the end of winter, while the fea at the bottom of the gulph, and all the rivers were become hard as marble, this water flill ran as in the middle of fummer. We were fo fortunate on our arrival as to complete our obfervations, and ftaid at Kittis only till the following day ; leaving it at three o'clock in the afternoon, and ar- riving the fame evening at Turtula. Already a month had pafled that we had lived in the defarts, or rather on the tops of mountains, having no other bed than the ground, or a flone fpread over with deer fkins, nor any other nourifhment than a few fifli which the Fins brought us, or which we ourfelves caught, and fome fpecies of berries, or wild fruits which the forefts af- forded. The health of M. Monnier which was not proof againfl this kind of life ; and which was confiderably hurt at Pullingi, diminilhed vifibly, and entirely failing him here, I left him at Turtula to defcend the river, and go for its re-eftablifhment to the houfe of the re£tor of Ofwer Torneo which was the bell, and almofl: the only afyluni the country poffeffed. At the fame time I left Turtula in company with Meflrs. Cuthier and Celfius to traverfe the foreft in fearch of the fignal that the officer had erefted at Niemi, this was a terrible journey ; we proceeded as far as to a little rivulet on leaving Turtula, when we got on board three fmall boats, but they palled with fo much trouble among the rocks, that we were every now and then obliged to get out, and leap from one to another. This rivulet led us to a lake, fo full of little yellow grains of the fize of millet, that its water was entirely coloured by it ; I^took them to be the chryfals'of fome infect, and conjeftured that they were thofe of the flies which had fo much tormented us, fince I faw no others whofe numbers could anfwer the quantity of grains, requifite to fdl a lake of tolerable fize. At the end of this lake we had to walk to another of the finefl water, on which we found a boat ; we put our quadrant in it, and followed it along the Ihore. On thefe fhores the foreft was fo thick that we were obliged to cut our way through, every moment inconvenienced by the height of the mofs, and by the fir trees which we met with lying on the ground. In all thefe forefts there are nearly as many of thefe trees fallen as Handing, the foil which nourilhes them to a certain point, is incapable of affording them nutriment beyond, and not deep enough to allow them to eftablifh themfelves firmly ; one half perifhes or is blown down by the leaft wind. All thefe forefts are full of firs, and birch trees thus rooted up. Time has re- duced the latter to duft without occafioning the fmalleft change in the bark : we were furprifed to find that with the leaft ftroke we could crufh and break them although of fome fize. It is this moft likely which gave origin to the ufe that the Swedes make of he bark of birch ; they cover houfes with it, and in faft nothing can be better adapted *r the purpofe. In fome provinces this bark is covered with earth, upon which gardens arc formed "Pt. the roofs, as on many of the houfes at Upfal. In Weftro-Bothnia the bark 238 JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS. bark is faftened by cylinders of fir, fixed to the ridge, declining on both fides the roof. Thefe woods feemed only the ruins of forefts, of which the greater part of the trees had periflied ; it was one of this defcription, and the mofl hideous of them that we had to pafs through on foot, followed by twelve foldiers who carried our baggage. We came at length to the border of a lake of great fize, and of the fineft water in the world, we found two boats on it, into which having put our in- ftruments and luggage, we waited their return at the fide. A heavy gale, and the bad flate of the boats made their voyage tedious ; they came back at length, we went on board, traverfedthe lake, and got to the foot of Niemi at three o'clock in the afternoon. This mountain, which the furrounding lakes, and the difficulties we had to furmount in reaching it, made appear like the enchanted grounds of fairy tales, would be delight, ful in any other part but Lapland : on one fide a clear wood, the walks of which were as even as the alleys of a garden, in it the trees formed no impediment to our way, nor prevented the view of a charming lake that wafhed the foot of the mountain ; on the other fide were parlours and clofets feemingly cut out of the rock, and to which nothing but the roof was wanting : thefe rocks were fo perpendicular, fo lofty, and fo even, that they looked more like walls begun for fome palace, than a work of nature. Fre- quently while there we faw thofe vapours rife out of the lake, which the inhabitants of the country call Haltios, and which they conceive to be the fpirits to whom the guar- dianfliip of the mountains is committed : this particular mountain was formidable by its being the refidence of bears ; however we faw none, and it had more the appearance of the habitation of genii and fairies than the dwelling for bears. The day following that of our arrival a fog prevented our obfervations ; on the tenth they were interrupted by thunder and rain ; the eleventh we completed them, and leaving Niemi, after repaffing three lakes, we arrived at Turtula, at nine o'clock in the evening ; whence on the twelfth we again fet out for the houfe of the reftor of Ofwer Torneo, which we reached at three o'clock in the afternoon, and where we met with our companions, leaving M. Le Monnier, and M. L' Abbe Cuthier : on the thirteenth, I pro- ceeded with Meflrs. Clairaut, Camus, and Celfius, for Horrilakero with four boats. We entered the Tenglio, which has its catarafts, but is more inconvenient from its fhallow- nefs, and the great number of flones in it, than from the rapidity of its waters. I was furprifed to find on its banks, fo near to the frozen zone, rofes of as lively crimfon as thofe which grow with us. At nine o'clock in the evening we arrived at Horrilakero. We did not complete our obfen'ations here until the feventecnth, and leaving it the next day, we got to Ofwer Torneo by night, meeting with all our company. The mod fuitable fpot for eftablilhing the bafe had been fixed upon : and Meflrs. Clairaut and Camus, after having vifited the banks of the river, had determined its di- reftion, and fixed the length of it by fignals which they had caufed to be ereded at its two extremities. Having afcended Avafaxa in the evening to obferve the angles which were to unite this bafe to our triangles, we faw Horrilakero all on fire. This is an accident frequent in thefe forefts, where there is no fubfifling during fummer except in the midft of fmoke, and where the mofs and the firs are fo combuflible, that oftentimes the fire that is lighted occafions the conflagration of thoufands of acres. The fmoke of thefe fires har frequently hindered us in our work as much as the thicknefs of the air. Seeing that ' was highly probable that the fire of Horrilakero arofc from the embers of that we b^ kindled, and which had been badly extinguifhed, we fent thirty men to cut awav'^s communication with the neighbouring woods. Our obfervations on Avafaxa werf^°^ completed before the twenty-firfl;. Horrilakero ftill continued burning ; we faw- ^o- 2 »fered JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS. 239 vered with fmokc, and the fire, which had reached the forefl: below, at Intervals broke out with violence. Some of the people fent to Horrilakero reporting that the fignal had been damaged by the fire ; we fent to re-conftrutt it, a work of no difliculty, from the precautions be- fore noticed. The twenty-fecond we went to Poiky Torneo, on the bank of the river where the northern fignal of the bafe was ftationed, to make the obfervations necefiary to unite it to the fummit of the mountains ; and on the twenty-third we left it for the other extre- mity of the bafe, where, on the bank of the river, at a place called Niemifby, the fouthern fignal was placed. That night we flept in a pretty pleafant meadow, from which M. Camus the next day went on to Pello, to prepare huts for us, and conflrufl an obferva- tory on Kittis, where we were to make aftronomical obfervations for afcertaining the amplitude of our arch. After taking our obfervation from the fouthern fignal, we again afcended Cuitaperi at night, where the lafl obfervation, which was to unite the bafe with the triangles, was completed on the twenty-fixth. We had jufl: learned that the fextant which we expefted from England had ar- rived at Tomeo, and we haftened to that place to get it ready with the other inftru- ments that we had, to carry to Kittis, where the feverity of winter was more to be dreaded than at Torneo, and where for which reafon we were defirous of beginning our obfervations for determining the amplitude of the arch, before the frofls fet in. While all was preparing for the journey to Pello, we went up the fteeple of the church built on the Ifle of Swentzar, which I notice, in order that it may not be confounded with the Finnifh church built in the Ifle of Bierckhohn, to the fouth of Swentzar ; and having obferved from this fteeple the angles which it made with our mountains, we again left Torneo the third of September with fifteen boats, the largefl fleet which had ever been feen on the river, and arrived to fleep at Kuckula. The fucceeding day we reached Korpikyla, and while part of our company continued their route towards Pello, I fet off on foot with Meflrs. Celfius and Cuthier for the Ka- kama, where we arrived at nine in the evening through a heavy rain. The whole fummit of Kakama confifts of foliated white (lone, its leaves having a ver- tical diredion almofl perpendicular to the meridian. Thefe flones held the rain, which for fome time back had fallen in fuch manner, that every part which did not confifl of rock was covered with water ; and it continuing to rain through the night, our obferva- tions could not be completed till the next day ; we were confequently obliged to pafs a fecond night as damp and as cold as the preceding : on the fixth our obfervations were finifhed. After the uncomfortable ftay that we made at Kakama we left it, and urged by a con- tinual rain through a foreft where we had difficulty to keep our feet, we exerted our- felves greatly to get forward, and after five hours walking arrived at Korpikyla : we flept there that night, and continuing our journey the next day, we reached Pello the ninth of September, where we met all together. Our different expeditions, and a refidence of fixty-three days in the defarts, had given us the befl fucceffion of triangles poffible : a work, the prafticability of which was un- certain, and in which we ran great hazard of not fucceeding, had turned out as fortu- nately as it could have done, had we pofTeffed the power of difpofing the fite of the mountauis at our pleafure. Our mountains colleftively with the church of Torneo formed a clofe figure, in the midft of which was Horrilakero, a focus ferving to unite all the triangles of which our figure was compofed : it was a long heptagon, in the diredion of the meridian. This figure 24® JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS. figure was fufceptible of a proof rather fingular in thefe operations, depending on the natural qualities of polygons. The fum of the angles of an heptagon on a level is 900° : the fum of our heptagon upon a curved furface ought to exceed this a little, and we found it 900° i' yi", according to our obfervations of fixteen angles. Towards the middle of the figure we formed a bafe, the largeft perhaps that ever was meafured, and the mofl even ; fince it was on the furface of the river that it was to be meafured, when it fliould be frozen. The extent of this bafe fecured to us an exaftitude in meafuring the heptagon, and its pofition left no room to apprehend that there could be any errors of moment, from the fmall number of triangles in the midfl of which it was placed. Indeed the length of the arc of the meridian which we were meafuring was very con- venient for the certainty of our work. If there be an advantage in meafuring large arcs, inafmuch that the errors which may arife in computing the amplitude are not greater for large than fmall arches, and that diffafed amid fmall ones, they make a more confiderable total of error than amid larger ones : on the other hand, the millakes which may be made in the triangles may have confequences dangerous in proportion to the diilance to be meafured, and the number of the triangles, if the number be great, and the conveniency of a bafe for frequent proofs be wanting, thefe laft errors may form a very diverging feries, and more than counterbalance the advantages derivable from large arcs. I had read to the academy before my departure a memoir on this fubjecl, in which I determined the moft advantageous length to be meafured for a cer- tainty of exactitude ; this length depends on the precifion with which the horizontal angles are obferved, compared with that which the inftrument may give, with which the diltance of the ftars from the zenith is taken ; and applying the refleftions which I made to our work, it will be found that a longer or fliorter arc than ours would not have afforded fo much certainty of its meafure. For obferving the angles between our fignals, we ufed a quadrant of two feet radius, with a micrometer attached, which being verified round the horizon, always gave the fum of the angles very nigh by four proofs : its centre was always placed in the centre of the fignals, every one took and wrote his obfervations feparately ; and afterwards we adopted the mean of all the obfervations, which differed very little one from another. On every mountain we took efpecial care to obferve the elevation or depreffion of the objefts chofen for taking the angles, and the reduction of the angles to the level of the horizon we efliabliOied on thefe heights. This firft part of our work, which might have been impoffible, being thus happily terminated, we gathered frefli fpirits to go through the reft, which fnnply required labour. In a fucceffion of triangles joined one to another by common fides, the angles of which are known, one fide being afcertained, it is eafy to find the remainder ; we were fure of poffefiing the exatt diflance from the fteeple of the church ofTorneo, which terminated our heptagon towards the fouth, to the fignal of Kittis which was its northern extremity, as foon as the length of our bafe fhould be known ; and the meafurement of this we pofiponcd till winter, when we fliould not want either for time or ice. We then turned to another part of our work, to determine the amplitude of the arc of the meridian comprehended between Kittis and Torneo, the meafurement of which we looked upon as complete. I have already fiated what this was which we had to de- termine. It was neceflary to obferve how much higher or lower the fame ftar when on the meridian appeared at Torneo than at Kittis, or what is the fame, how much this ftar on crofting the meridian was more near or diftant from the zenith of Torneo than of Kittis, This difference between the two elevations, or the two diftances from the zenith, was JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS. 241 was the amplitude of the arc of the terreRrial meridian between Kittfs and Tornco. This is a finiplo operation : it does not even require that one Ihould have the pofitive diftances of the ftar from the zenith of each place ; it is fuihclent to take tlie diiference between the diftances : but this operation exads the grcateii: nicety and the utmoft pre- caution. We had for the purpofe a fextant of about nine feet radius, funilar to that which Mr. Bradley ules, and with which which he made his curious difcovery of the aberration of the fixed ftars. The inflrument was made at London, under the infpeG- tion of Mr. Graham, of the Royal Society of England. This able mechanic had flu- died to unite in it every advantage and convenience that we could defire, and himfelf graduated the limb. There are too many things to notice in this inflrument for my giving now a complete defcription of it. Although what properly conilitutes the inilrument be very fimple. Its fize, the number of pieces ferving to render it commodious to the obferver, the weight ot a large pyramid nearly twelve feet high, which forms its pedeftal, made its getting up to the fiunmit of the mountains of Lapland almofl an impracticable matter. On Kittis two obfervatorles had been built : in one was the time-pi-ce of Mr. Gra- ham, a quadrant of two feet, and an inflrument confifling of a telefcope fixed perpen- dicularly, and moveable about an horizontal axis, for which as well we were indebted to the care of Mr. Graham : this inflrument was placed exa6lly in the centre of the fignal, which ferved as a point to our laft triangle ; it was ufed for determining the di- rection of the triangles with the meridian. The other obfervatory, much larger, was adjoining, and fo nigh that one could diflinctly hear the ticking of the time-piece fi'om one to the other ; the fextant almofl filled it. I fliall fay nothing of the difficulty of tranfporting fo many inftruments to the top of the mountain : it was effected, the limb of the fextant was placed exactly on the level of the meridian we had traced, and we fatisfied ourfelves of its exattnefs, by the time of the paffing of a ftar of which we had taken the elevation. To fum up, every thing on the thirtieth of September was ready to begin obferving, and the fucceeding days the obfervatlons of the ftar S of the Dragon were made, in which the greateft difference that occurred did not exceed t,''- While obferving this ftar with the fextant, the other obfervatlons were not neglected : the time-piece was regulated every day with care by correfponding elevations of the fun ; and with the inftrument which I before mentioned we obferved the paffage of the fun, and the time of its paffing the verticals of Niemi and Pullingi. By thefe means the fituation of our heptagon in refpedt to the meridian was afcertained, and eight of thefe obfervatlons, the difference between the v/idefl of which did not amount to a minute, gave for a mean of the angle formed with the meridian of Kittis, by a line drawn from the fignal of Kittis to the fignal of Pullingi, 28° 51' 52'''. All thefe obfervatlons were very happily completed, but rains and fogs had fo much retarded them, that we had reached a period at which it was fcarcely poflible to under- take a return to Torneo ; neverthelefs other correfponding obfervatlons upon the fame ftar remained to be made there, and we were defirous that the fmallefl poilible interval Ihould occur between the obfervatlons, in order to obviate the errors which might arlfe from any motion of the ftar (in cafe it fliould have any of which we were ignorant). It is fufHciently diftinguifhable that the whole of this operation being founded upon the difference of the meridional height of a certain ftar obfervel at Kittis and at Torneo, it is necelfary that the ftar fliould maintain the fame pofition ; or at leaft if it fliould be liable to any change of elevation that it fhould be known, in order not to confound fuch inotion with the curve of the arc defired. Afti'onomers for many ages have noticed a revolution of the ftars round the pqles of VOL. I. I I the 242 JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUI3. the ecliptic, which caufes the precefTion of the equinox, anJ a change of decl?nfion In the flars, which we can compute upon, in the matter of which we fpeak. But there is in the ftars another change of declenfion, on which, although more re- cently obferved, I believe we may reckon as fecurely as upon the other. Although Mr. Bradley be the firft who difcovered the rules of the change, the exafliiefs of his obfervations, and the excellence of the inftrument with which they were made, are equivalent to many ages of oi'dinary obfervations. He found that every ftar obferved during the courfe of the year, feemed to defcribe in the heavens a fmall elliplis, of which the great axis is about 40'^. As there appeared at fird to be a great variety in this motion of the flai-s, it was not till after a long fucceffion of obfervations that Mr. Bradley difcovered the theory upon which this motion, or rather this appearance, de- pends. If to difcover fo fmall a motion required his nicety of obfervation, his intelli- gence as well was neceffary to find out the principle which produced it. We will not attempt to explain the fyftem of that celebrated allronomer, which may be much better feen by confuting No. 406 of the Philofophical Tranfactions ; all that we fhall obferve on the fubject of this difference in the place of the liars, obferved from the earth, is, that it arifes from the motion of the light radiated by the ftar, and the motion of the earth in its orbit, combined together. Were the earth motionlefs, it would require a certain inclination of the telefcope through which a ftar is obferved to permit the ray emitted by the ftar to traverfe its centre in coming to the eye. But if the earth, which bears the telefcope, move with a velocity comparable to the velocity of the ray ef light, it is no longer the fame inclination which is neceffary to give to the telefcope ; its pofition muft be changed to allow the ray of light penetrating its centre, to reach the eye ; and the different pofitions of the telefcope will depend on the different directions in which the earth moves at the various feafons of the year. The calculation being made on this principle, according to the velocity of the earth in its orbit, and according to the velo- city of light, known by different experiments, the change of declenfion in the ftars is found to be as itated by Mr. Bradley from obfervation ; and one is enabled to fubtrad from the declenfion of every ftar the quantity neceffar)' for confidering it as fixed, dur- ing the time that muft elapfe between the oblervations that are compared with each other for determining an arc of the meridian. Although the motion of every ftar in the courfe of the year follow very exaftly the law which depends upon this theory, Mr. Bradley has difcovered yet an additional mo- tion of the ftars, much fmaller than the two which we have mentioned, and which is not fenfible until after the lapfe of feveral years. To perfect nicety this third motion fhould be reckoned ; but for our work, in which the time that paffed between the obfervations was very ftiort, its efteft is infenfible, or rather much fmaller than one can reafonably hope to determine in thefe kind of operations. In fact, I confulted Mr. Bradley to know if he had any obfervations upon the two ftars that we ufed for afcertaining the amplitude of our arc. Although he had not obferved our ftars, becaufe they pafs too far from his zenith to be obferved with his inftrument, he has been fo good as to com- municate to me his laft difcoveries on the aberration and the third motion of the ftars, and the correded copy which he has fent for our amplitude, in which attention is paid to the preceflion of the equinox, the aberration of the ftars, and this new motion, docs not fcnfibly difter from the amended fcheme which we had made for the preceflion and aberration alone, as in the detail of our operations will be feen. Notwithftanding we might fafely rely upon the amendment for the aberration of light, we were willing to make this amendment as little as poffible, in order to fatisfy thofe (if any there Ihould be) who might be unwilling to admit of Mr. Bradley's theory, or who JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS. 243 vho {houl J imagine that there were other motions of the flars : for this purpofe it was fit that the interval between the obfervations at Kittis and at of Torneo fliould be as fliort as poflible. We Iiatl perceived ice as early as the nineteenth of September, and fnow on the twenty- firft. Several parts of the river were already frozen, and thefe firft frofls, which were imperfcd, prevented navij^ation for fome time on it, yet left it impaffablc with Hedges. In cafe of waiting at Pello, we ran the chance of not arriving at Torneo until a period wliich would occafion too long an interval between the obfervations already made and thofc we had to n)ak.e there ; we even rifked lofmg the (far l)y the fun which was ap- proaching it, merging it in its rays. It would then be neceffary to return in the midlt of winter, to take frefh obfervations of fome other flar upon Kittis; bit\i it was appa- rently neither prafticable nor poOible to pais whole nights taking obiervations during the winter on that mountain. By fetting off we ran the rilk of being furprifed by the ice in the river, and detained with all the inflruments ; there was no computing where, nor how long : we rilked as well the rendering fruitlefs our ol)fervatIons at Kittis, and we readily perceived ho\T difficult it would be to repair fuch a lofs, in a country where obfervations can fo feIdon\ be made, where throughout the funmier we could not hope to fee any of the liars which our fextant could embrace, from their fmailnefs, and from the continual day which ren- ders them invifible, and where the winter made the obfervatoi-y of Kittis uninhabitable : we weighed all thefe difficulties, and refolved to rifl-c the voyage. Melli-s. Camus and ■Celfius departed the twenty- third with the fextant : the following day Meflrs. Clairaut and Le Monnier; and on the twenty-fixth M. I/Abbe Outhier and myfelf : we were fortunate enough to arrive by water at Torneo the twenty-eighth of October, and were aflured that the river had fcarcely ever been navigable fo late in the feafon. The obfervatory which we had caufed to be prepared at Torneo was ready to receive the fextant, and it was placed there on a level with the meridian. The firfl: of November it began to freeze hard, and the fucceeding day the river was frozen over : the ice- no longer melted, but was quickly white with fiiow ; and this vaft river, which a few days before was covered with fwans and various other water-fowl, was now no more than an immenfe plain of ice and fnow. On the firfl of November we began to obferve the ftar we had before obferved at Kittis, and with the fame care : the wideft of thefe obfervations did not differ r". Thefe obfervations, as well as the former at Kittis, were made by day, without throwing light on the threads of the telefcope : then taking a mean, reducing the parts of the micro- meter into ieconds, and having due regard to the change of the declenfion of the ftar during the time elapfed between the obfervations, as well for the preceffion of the equi! nox as for the other motions of it, we found the amplitude of our arc 57' 27". Our work nou-, as far as it could be, was complete ; it was ftoppcd without our being able to tell if we ffiould find the earth lengthened or flattened, becaufe we wers unacquainted with the length of our bafe. What remained to do was not an operation difficult in itfelf, it was only to meafure with the rod the diftance between the two fig- nals that were raifed the fummcr before ; but this meafurement was to be made upon the ice of a Lapland river, in a country where the cold became daily niore and more intolerable, and the dillance to be meafured was more than three lead cold that are experienced at Paris ; bringing into twelve hours an equality of vici3itudes with what are felt by the inhabitants of the temperate zones in the fpace of a year. We chofe to fcruple the meridional direftion of our heptagon. This, as has been noticed before, had been determined upon Kittis, by a number of obfervations on the paflage of the fun over the verticals of Niemi and Pullingi ; and it was not to be ap- prehended that our figure fhould have received any alteration in its direftion, feeing the fmall number of triangles of which it confilfed, and the clofenefs with which the fumof the an:,des of our heptagon approached to 900°. Neverthelefs we were inclined to make the trial of the direftion at Torneo. For this purpofe a dilferent method to that which had been ufed at Kittis was adopted ; this confined in obferving the angle between the fun when on the horizon, and fome one of the fignals, with the hour at which the angle was taken. The three obfervations that we made, gave for a mean of the direftion by this procefs, within ^4' of what we had determined by the obfervations from Kittis. Every part of our work having thus been repeated, nothing remained but to examine the primitive conftrudtion and divisions of our fextant. Although we had no ground to doubt its correftnefs, we undertook to try it in the interval between the time at which the weather would allow of our departure ; and this trial, from its fingularity, from its demonftrating how much our inftrument was to be relied upon, as well as to Ihew the means to be ufed for difcovering its being out of order, if it fhouldbe defirous that I fhould mention it. On the fourth of May upon the ice of the river we meafured a diftance of 380 toifes I foot 3 inches which was to ferve as a radius. And upon meafuring this twice over we found no variation. Two firm flakes with two fights, in a line drawn perpendicularly at the extremity of this diftance, were fixed ; and having meafured the diftance between the centres of the two fights, this diftance was 36 toifes, 6 inches, 6 lines 4, which was to ferve as a tangent. The fextant was placed horizontally in a room upon two firm flocks, fupported by an arch in fuch manner that its centre was exaftly at the extremity of the radius of 380 toifes, I foot, 3 inches ; and five different obfervers having taken the angle between the two fights, among whom the greateft difference was not two feconds, the mean of which being taken, the angle between the two fights was 5° 29' 4^%" 95. by calculation the angle fhould have been 5° 29' 50''', that is to fay, it differed from the angle ob- served byi'-'^T:- It will no doubt be thought furprifing, that a fextant of 5° 29' ^^W in a climate fo temperate as that of London, and divided in a chamber which certainly was not cold, Ihould be found precifely of the fame angle at Torneo when we tried it. The parts of the fextant were certainly contraded by the cold in this lad experiment ; but one's furprize will vanifh on confideration that the inftrument being made wholly of the fame matter, its parts would contract proportionally, and confequently its figure remain the fame, which was the cafe. Having thus found fuch a wonderful exadnefs in the whole arc of our fextant, we wiftied to know if the two degrees of its limb which we ufed the one for §, the other for a were perfeftly equal. M. Camus, whofe ingenuity had already been fo ufeful to us on feveral occafions, procured us the means of making this comparifon with all poffible exadlitude ; and having compared together our two degrees, the mean of the obfervations taken by five obfervers gave \" more for the degree of the limb ufed in takina; S than that ufed for a. We JOURNEY OF J^UPERTUIS. 25 1 We were furprlfcd when we faw that this inequality between the two degrees tended to diminifh the very trifling difference found between our two amplitudes, reducing it from T,V^ to 2^^ ; and it will be feen in the detail of the operations, that this difference between the two degrees of the limb, however fmall, it may be accounted for by the means ufed to difcover it. Thus we verified, not only the total amplitude of our fextant, but alfo different arcs, which we compared together ; and this proof from arc to arc, joined to thatof the total which we had made, latisfied us that nothing had been left to wifh for beyond in the con- ftruftion of the inftrument, and that fo great a precifion could not have been expected. We did not know what elfe to imagine as neceflary for the meafurement of the de- gree of the meridian ; for I (hall not fay any thing here of our experiments on gravity, a matter equally important, and which we treated with equal care. It will be fufficient now to fay, that if difpofed to follow the example of Meflrs. Newton, Huygens, and fome others, among whom I fcarcely dare to name myfelf, one might be difpofed to compute the iigure of the earth by gravity. Every experiment we made in the frozert zone will fhew the earth to be flattened ; which is confirmed alfo by what we learn of the experiments made by MeflTrs. Godin, Bouguer, and La Condamine on the torrid zone. In the mean time the fun drew nearer to us, or rather no longer left the horizon : it was a fingular fight to behold it fo long illuminate a frozen horizon, to fee the fummer in the heavens, while rigid winter grafped the earth : we were then in the morning of that long day which lafl;s for feveral months ; in the mean time it did not feem that the continued fun caufed any change in either ice or fnow. On the fixth of May it began to rain, and fome water was perceptible on the frozen river. Every day at noon the fnow melted, and every night winter refumed its fway. At length, on the loth of May, the earth was vifible, unfeen for fuch a length of time : fome elevated points, expofed to the fun, began to appear like the fummits of the moun- tains after the flood, and foon after the birds, natural to the country, were feen again. Towards the beginning of June the ice gave up both land and fea : we immediately turned our thoughts to our return to Stockholm, and departed the ninth of June, fome by land and fome by fea ; but the reft of our adventures, or our Ihipwreck in the Gulf of Bothnia, do not belong to this fubjeft. ACCOUNT OF A JOURNET TO THE EXTREMITr OF LAPLAND, FOR THE PURPOSE OF FINDING AN ANCIENT MONUMENT. [By M. Maupertuis] WHILST we were at Pello, where the arc of the meridian which we had meafured terminated, the Fins and Laplanders frequently fpoke to us of a monument which they looked upon as the wonder of their country, and in which they conceived was contained the knowledge of every thing of which they were ignorant. This monument was re- ported to be fituated from twenty-five to thirty leagues towards the north, in the middle of a vafl: forefl:, which feparates the gulf of Bothnia from the ocean. To arrive there one is obliged to be drawn over the fnow by rein-deer, in thofe dan- gerous fort of carriages called Pulkas, of which I already have given a defcription in the account of our obfervations. Although it was the month of April, there was yet a rifle of being frozen in the deferts, where there was no hope of finding an afylunl ; and this rifle was to be undertook upon the aflfertions of Laplanders. I am almofl: afliamed to tell that I undertook it. The want of occupation during a (lay which we were obliged to prolong in thefe countries till the feafon for our depar- K K 2 ture ; 252 JOURNEY OF^MAUPERTUIS. ture ; a difpofition from curiofity of penetrating to the centre of Lapland ; the moil flender hope of feemg the only monument of this defcription perhaps extant in the world, with the habitude which we had of encountering hardfliips and danger ; thefe perhaps may excufe me. I refolved then on going, and had the good fortune of being accompanied by M. Celfius, who to a moll profound acquaintance with aftronomy, joined a profound knowledge of the northern languages, and who had made a particular iludy of Runic hifcriptions, to which we thought this which was fpoken of to us might have fome relation. It perhaps may be pleafmg to know the method ufed in travelling in Lapland. In the beginning of winter the roads conducing to frequented places are marked with branches of fir : fcarcely have the fledges and pulkas beaten the firft fnow which covers the road, and begun to hollow it, before a fucceeding fall, driven by the wind, fills it, and brings it to a level with the furface of the country, lake, or river. The next car- i-iages that pafs beat again the way which other falls of fnow cover anew, and thefe roads alternately hollowed by carriages, and filled by the wind, that reduces every where the fnow to a level ; although not more raifed than the circumjacent parts, form neverthe- iefs caufeways, or bridges of compreffed fnow, from which by varying to the right or left, one is engulphed by the fnow. Great care is taken not to fwerve from thefe roads, and moflly towards the middle they are hollowed by a kind of furrow, made by- the pulkas travelling over them ; but in the midll of forefts and unfrequented places no. fuch roads exift. The Fins and Laplanders only find each other by marks cut on trees.. Sometimes the rein-deer plunges up to the horns in fnow, and in thefe places if over- taken by one of thole ftorms, during which the fnow falls in fuch quantity, and driven by the wind on every fide in fuch manner, that it is impoflible to fee two fteps from one^ it would be impofiible to find again the way pafleJ over, or to purfue one's courfe ; deftrudion muft infallibly follow, and above all, if not provided with tents, as we were^ to fhelter us from part of the ftorm. While on our journey, our Laplanders, fruitful in wonderful ftories, relatedto usoa thisfubjeft many accounts of men who had been taken up into the air in thefe ftorms, with their pulkas and their rein-deer, and precipitated fometimes on roclcs, at others into the middle of the lakes. I leftPello the eleventh of April, 1737, and arrived in the evening at Kingis, which is twelve or fifteen French leagues diftant. I did not flop there, being defirous of getting to. the place where rein-deer were to be provided for me as foon as pollible ; I therefore proceeded five leagues farther, and flept at Pellika : this is one of the houfes which forms the village of Payala. In thefe countries villages are compofed of no more than two or three houfes, each fome leagues diftant from the other. I there found fix rein-deer with their pulkas ; but as we could yet go three leagues further in fledges, I referved our horfes for the next day to carry us to Erckiheicki, to which place I fent forward the rem-deer to wait for me. In thefe unfortunate climates, inceflantly burnt during the fummer by the rays of the- fun, which never goes down, and afterwards during the winter wrapt in profound and continual night, one could not expe£t to meet with fuch an agreeable afylum as that we found. The houfe called Pellika, in fpite of its remotenefs from the inhabited world, was one of the bed I had met with in the country ; we Itretched out fkins of bears and: rein-deer, on which we prepared ourfelves by taking a little reft for the fatigues of our next day's journey. Long before fun-rife I left Pellika on the twelfth of April, and foon arrived at Ercki- heicki, where I ftopped no longer than was necelTary to leave our fledges and get tied in our pulkas j a precaution without which, when the rein-deer is at its fpeed, one fliould JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS.. 253 flioulJ not long remain in the carriage. At this feafon, however, our precautions againft the rapidity of the rein-deer were fuperfluous t they were no longer thofe ungo- vernable deer which drew me lad fummer with fuch fwiftnefs over the river, and almoil flew with me from the top of Avafaxa. Their former fmooth horns were now no other than white and dry bones, which one might miftake for parched ribs ol dead animals : their bones came through their fkin, and they looked as though incapable o£ dragging us a hundred fteps. The difference of the feafons was the caufe of this change. When they drew me to Avafaxa they came from Norway, where, during the fummer, they had nothing elfe to do but to feed and get fat : at that period I would advife no one to travel in pulkas ; but at the prefent feafon, after having undergone all the toil of winter and returned ft-om the Lapland fairs, we had nothing to fear from the rein-deer, unlefs it were to be left behind. If it be difficult to (top this animal when in its full ftrength, at the time of his exhauftion it is not lefs difficult to make him proceed. We travelled thus dragged through a foreft, having eight or nine leagues to go : there was no road which led to the fpot we were going to, which made it fo much the more laborious for the rein-deer ; at every Ihort interval we were obliged to fuffer them to reft, and give them mofs which we had brought with us : this mofs is their only food. The Laplanders mixed it with ice and fnow, and form very hard cakes of it, which ferve at the fame time as food and beverage for the animal, who gnaw it with avidity. In fpite of this, we were under neceffity of leaving a deer on the road : he was tied to a tree, and fome of thefe cakes left befide him. We ourfelves were much incommoded by the uneafy pofture which we were obliged to alTume in thefe pulkas : the only amufement afforded us during this tirefome journey, was in noticing in the fnow the footfteps of the different animals with which the forefts are tilled : we eafily diftinguifhed the different ones, and law with furprife the number of various animals which had pafTed in a very Ihort fpace during a few days. We faw on the road many fnares laid for ermines, in fome of which were prifoners. The Laplanders tie to a tree, whofe top is cut off level with the height of the fnow, a log of wood, covered by another ready to fall, beneath which a fmall paffage is left for the ermine, and which, upon its entering to cat the bait that is fet for him, falls on and crufhes him. It is thus that ermines, which are very plentiful in Lapland, are fnared : thefe animals are cinnamon-coloured in fummer, having only the belly and tip of the ears white : we frequently met with fuch on the banks of lakes and rivers, where I imagine they watch for fifli, of which they are particularly fond ; fometimes even we have found theni fwimming in the middle of the water. In winter they become entirely white ; which was the cafe of thofe we found in the fnares. However, upon leaving Torneo, a tame ermine that I had in the houfe had already loft its v\hite in many places ; and on my return fome days afterwards 1 found it perfectly grey. It is true, if it be the cold which,. by any caufe whatever, whitens them, thofe which were expofed to the air ftiould natu- rally remain longer white than thofe lliut up in a houfe : perhaps the ermines found by us had been caught fome time ; for as may be conceived, frozen animals are preferved all the winter. In the packages of ermines fold by the Laplanders, when the ikins are turned infide out, there are always a number of grey, or fpotted with grey,, which are not ufed for trimmings. We arrived at Keyma, fituated at the foot of a little mountain called Winfo, at one o'clock in the afternoon : we afcended it, it was there we were to find the monument we were feeking, but it was covered with fnow. Our Laplanders fought for it without being 254 JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS. being able to find it, and I began to repent me of having undertaken fo fatiguing a voyage upon fuch fufpicious information, when after a long fearch it was difcovered : I caufed part of the fnow to be removed, and lighted a great fire for the purpofe of melt- ing the remainder, in order that we might examine this pretended wonder. It is a flone of which a part of iiregular form advances out of the earth to the height of a foot and a half, and is about three feet broad : one of its faces is tolerably even, and form a furface not altogether vertical, but which mal:es an acute angle with the horizon. On this face are two very ftraight lines of charadlers, rather more than an inch long, and which are cut tolerably deep into the (tone, hke notches made by the flroke of an axe in wood, or a chifel, being broad at the furface, and ending at the bot- tom with an acute angle. At the bottom, and out of the two lines, are fome larger charafters ; in fpite of all the figns which thefe characters fliew of having been engraved with iron, I dare not ven- ture to affirm whether they be the work of man, or a fport of nature. I leave to them who have made a longer ftudy than myfelf of ancient monuments, or who may be more bold than me, to decide this queflion. If the refemblance of feveral of thefe charadlers, and even of many which fucceed each other, appear to difcounte- nance their being letters, I Ihould not therefore conclude that fuch chara£ters were without fignification. If we mark one, eleven, one hundred and eleven, &c. in Arabic figures, it will readily be feen what different meaning may be made by the addition of % funilar character. The moft ancient infcriptions of China are compofed of no more than two charaders, and one cannot doubt of thefe being the work of man, or of their containing a meaning fhould they be no other, as fome with much apparent reafon imagine, than arithmetical works. If the tradition of the country be confulted, all the Laplanders affure us that they are charadters of great antiquity, containing valuable fecrets ; but what can one believe in regard to antiquity from thofe people who even do not know their own age, and who for the greater part are ignorant who were their mothers. M. Brunniers, their reftor, fpeaks of this monument, in a diflertation that he has caufed to be printed upon the town of Tomeo and the neighbouring country : he looks upon it to be a Runic infcription, and relates that there were formerly three crowns on it, effaced now by time. But M. Celfius, very well acquainted with the Runic, could not read thefe charadlers, and found them to differ from all the infcriptions fubfiiling in Sweden ; and as for the crowns, if there ever were any, time has effaced them ia fuch a manner that no veftige of them remains. The {tone on which thefe lines are engraved is compofed of different beds ; the cha- radlers are written on a fpecies of flint, while the reft, and above all between the two lines, feems to be of a ftone more foft and foliated. However it may be, M. Celfius and myfelf copied feparately, and with care, all that we could difcern. Should JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS. 255 Should it be no other than a fport of nature, the reputation which the ftone bears in this country deferves that \vc fliould have given the delcription of it. This {tone does not certainly poilefs the beauty of the monuments of Greece or Rome; But if what is on it be an infcription, it very poflibly has the advantage of being the oldeft in the univerfe. The country in which it is found is inhabited only by a race of men who live lUte beafts in the forefls : we cannot imagine that they can have ever had any memorable event to traufmit to pofterity, nor if ever they had had, that they could ever have invented the means. Nor can it be conceived that this country, with its prefent arpeiEt, ever poffeiVed more civilized inhabitants. The rigour of the climate, and the barrennefs of the land, havedeltined it for the retreat of a few miferable wretches who know no other. It feems therefore that our infcription muft have been cut at a period when this country was fituated in a different climate, and before fome one of thofe great revolutions which we cannot doubt have taken place in our globe. The pofition that its axis holds at prefent, with refpetl of the ecliptic, occafions Lapland to receive the fun's rays very obliquely ; it is thereby condemned to a winter long and fatal to man, as well as to all the produc- tions of nature, its land is barren and a defart. No great movement poflibly in the heavens was neceffary to caufe all its misfortunes. Thefe regions may formerly have been thofe on which the fun fhone mofl favourably : the polar circles may have been what now the tropics are, and the torrid zone have filled the place now occupied by the temperate. But how could the fituation of the axis of the earth be changed ? If attention be paid to the motion of the celeftial bodies, but too many caufes may be feen capable of producing this and even greater changes. If the knowledge of anatomy, of all the parts and all the fpriags which caufe the mo- tion of our bodies, occafions thofe acquainted with it to wonder how the machine can pofiibly laft fo long, the fame may be laid of agronomy. The knowledge of the celef- tial movements discovers to us many caufes which could effect not only upon our earth, but on the general fyftem of the univerfe, material changes. The variation in the obliquity of the ecliptic, which feveral aftronomers confider as demonflrated by the obfervations of the ancients, compared with our own, might of itfelf, after a long lapfo of ages, have produced changes fimilar to thofe we fpeak of. The obliquity at which the equator of the earth at prefent cuts the ecliptic, which at prefent is no more than 23 ^°, may poffibly be the remainder of a much greater obliquity, during which the poles may have been in the temperate or the torrid zone, and have had the fun at their zenith. Whether there may have been fuch changes, or more fudden ones, it is certain there has been fome. The print of filh, and fifh themfelves petrified, which are found in countries moll remote from the fea, and even upon the fummits of mountains, are in- contedible proofs of thefe places having been formerly low and covered with water. Sacred hilfory teaches us that the waters formerly covered the higheft mountains. Such an inundation it would be difficult to imagine, without the tranfpofition of the centre of gravity of the earth, and of its climates. If repugnant to the allowance of fuch changes, the infcription at Winfo may be con- ceived to owe its origin to fome event as fingular as our voyage. An infcription which IhouU contain the hiftory of the operation which we went to this country to effect, nyght in fome future day perhaps be as obfcure as this is now ; and if all the fciences were to be loft, who could then difcover, who could imagine, that fuch a monument had been the work of Frenchmen; and that what was cut thereon was the meafurement of the degrees of the earth, and the folution of its figure. 2 I leave 256 JOURNEY OF MAUPERTUIS. I leave my reflexions and the monument to the conjeftures which may be entertained on them, and take up the thread of my relation. After we had copied what we found on the ftone, we embarked in our pulkas to return to Erckiheicki. This journey was ilill more fatiguing than it had been in the morning : the pofture in the pulkas is fo verv incommodious, that it gives the fenfation of a broken back after a few hours ; not- withftanding we were fo feated continually fj-oui four in the morning until one in the afternoon. Our return was ftill longer ; our deer flopped every minute, and the mofs \ve carried with us being all confumed, we were obliged to feek fome. When the fnovv is in powder, which is the cafe till fprlng, although it cover the earth entirely to a great depth, a rein deer digs himfelf a ftable in a moment, and brufhing away the fnow on all iules, difcovers the mofs which is hid at the bottom. It is pretended that the animal has a particular inftinft for finding the mofs fo covered with fnow, and that he is never de- ceived when he makes his hole ; but the (late of the furface of fnow hindered my afcer- taining whether this account be true or falfe. As foon as this furface has been thawed by the power of the fun, the froft which fucceeds freezes it, and forms a crufl: fufficiently hard to bear men, deer, and even horfes ; but when fo hardened, the rein-deer being unable to penetrate it, the Laplanders are obliged to break it ; and this is the total of the returns which they make them for their fervices. Thefe rein-deer deferve that we fliould fay fomething of them : they are a kind of deer whofe fpreading horns branch out before the forehead ; they feem defigned by nature to fatisfy all the wants of the Laplanders ; they ferve them inltead of horfes, cows, and fhecp. The i-ein-deer is faftened to a fmall boat, called a pulka, pointed before to cut through the fnow, and a man in a pofture half-fitting and half-lying in this carriage, may go ■with great fpeed, provided he does not fear overturning, or being ingulphed in the fnow. The flefh of them is excellent to eat, either frefli or dried. The milk of the doe is rather fliarp, but as thick as the cream from cows' milk : it is capable when frozen of being preferved for a long time, and the Laplanders make cheefes of it, which however would be much better than they are, if more care and cleajilinefs were ufed in making them. The flun of the deer ferves for all forts of clothing : that of the young ones, covered with a yellowifli hair, a little curly, forms a very fott lining for the cloaths of the Fins : when older, the hair becomes brown, when thofe drefles are made of it fo well known over Europe by the name of Lapmades ; they are worn with the hair outwards, and are a very light and warm drefs. The fkin of the old deer is prepared in the fame manner as that of bucks and does, and makes excellent gloves, the fineft waiflcoats, and mofl handfome girdles. The Laplanders make the nerves and guts, by twilling them into thread, which is the only kind they ufe. To conclude, that every part of them may be ferviceable, they offer tlieir horns in facrifice to their deities. Being returned from Pellika, after having experienced much fatigue, cold, and tire- fomenefs, we left it again on the thirteenth, early in the morning, and arrived by nine o'clock at Kingis. This place, although a wretched one, is rather more known than the others, by the iron forges in it : the ore is brought there during the winter by rein-deer, from the mines of Ju- nefvando and Svvappawara. Thefe forges are worked only for a fliort part of the winter, the extreme fi-oH not allowing the wheels to ad upon the bellows and hammers. Kingis is fituated on a branch of the river Torneo, which has a dreadful cataraft before it, im- paflable for boats. The maffes of ice and foam precipitated with violence, and forming a cafcade, the edges of which appeared like cryltal, formed a mod noble fpei^tacle. After I dining JOURNEY OF MAUrERTtrm. i'^^ dinino^ with the clergyman at Kingis, M. Antilius, we left it, and an'ived in the cvpninf» at Pcilo, where wc llept in the llime houic that we had refided in fo much, and which? we beheld very likely the lad time. Proceeding from Kengis we met upon the river feveral cnravans of Laplanders car- rying ikins and fiih to Pello, which they had been bartering for at the fairs of Upper Lapland with the merchants of Torneo. Thefe caravans formed long files of pulkas :■" the firfl: rein-deer, who is guided by a Laplander on foot, draws the firlt pulka, to which" the fecond rein-deer is faltened ; and in like manner the remainder, to the number of thirty or forty, who every one follow exaftly in the little furrow traced in the fnowby the firfl, and deepened by all the reft. When they are tired, and the Laplanders have pitched on a fpot where they mean to encamp, they form, with the deer faftened to their pulkas, a large circle : every one makes his bed in the fnow on the middle of the river, and the Laplanders diftribute mofs among them : they themfelves are little more diffi- cult in their accommodation ; many are fatisfied with lighting a fire, and ly on the river, while their \vives and children fetch from their pulkas fome fi(h for their fupper j others ereft a kind of tent, a receptacle worthy of a Laplander, being no other than miferable rags of a coarfe woollen cloth, rendered by fmoke as black as if it had been dyed ; it is faftened round certain ftakes, which form a cone, with an opening at the top which ferves for a chimney. There the moft voluptuous, ftretched on bear and rein-deer Ikins, pafs their time in fmoking tobacco, and looking with contempt on the occupations ■of the reft of men. Thefe people have no other dwellings than tents: all their wealth confifts in their deer, which live on nothing but a mofs that is not every where to be found. When their herd has ftripped the fummit of one mountain, they are obliged to condud them to another, thus obliged to live continually wandering in the defarts. Their foreft, dreadful in winter, is even lefs fit for living in in fummer : an innumerous fwarm of flies of every defcription infeft the air ; they follow men by the fmell from a great dif- tance,and form around every one who ftops an atmofphere fo thick as to exclude the light. To avoid them it is neceflary to be continually moving without reft, or to burn green trees, which caufes a thick fmoke, and drives them away by its becoming infupportable, as it is almoft to man himfelf : and laftly, they are fometimes obliged to cover their flcin with the pitch that exudes from the firs, Thefe flies fting fliarply, or rather many of them frequently occafion real wounds, from which the blood flows abundantly. During the time that thefe infeds are moft violent, that is to fay, in the two months which we pafled in forming our triangles in the foreft, the Laplanders fly to the coafts of the ocean with their rein-deer to get free from them. I have not yet fpoken of the appearance or fize of the Laplanders, of which fo many- fables have been related. Their diminutivenefs has been greatly exaggerated ■; it is im- poflible to exaggerate on their uglinefs. The rigour and length of a winter, againft which they have no other flielter than what the wretched tents afford which I have de- fcribed, in which they make a blazing fire, which fcorches them on one fide, while they are frozen on the other : a fliort fummer, but during which they are incelfantly burnt by the rays of the fun ; the barrennefs of the ground, which produces neither grain, nor fruit, nor pulfe, feem to have caufed a degeneration of the human race in thefe climates. As to their fize, they are fliorter than other men, although not fo much fo as fome travellers have related, who make pygmies of them. Out of a great number of men and women that I faw, I meafured a woman apparently of twenty-five or thirty years of age, and who fuckled an infant which fhe carried in the bark of a birch-tree : VOL. I. L L flie 258 JOURNEY OF MAUPERTtllS. fhe feemed to be in good health, and well proportioned, according to the idea I formed of the proportions of their ftature ; fhe was four feet two inches five parts high, and certainly (he was one of the fmallefl: I met with, yet without appearing from her dimi- nutivenefs either deformed or extraordinary in that country. People may have deceived themfelves as to the ftature, or large heads of Laplanders, who have not made the ob- fervations which I did, in fpite of the general ignorance of their ages that prevails among them. Children, who from their tendereft youth have their features disfigured, and frequently the appearance of little old men, begin very early to conduft their pulkas, and to follow the fame labours as their fathers. I fufpeft the greater part of travellers have formed their judgment of the fize of Laplanders, and of the largenefs of their heads, from thofe of the children ; and I myfelf have frequently been nearly deceived in this point. I do not mean to deny that Laplanders are fhorter than other men for the greater part ; but that I efteem their fhortnefs to have been ftated as too great in the relations of travellers, owing to the error I have mentioned, or poflibly to that in- clination towards the marvellous w'hich is fo predominant. To me thei'e feems to be a head difference between us and them, which is a great deal. A country immediately contiguous to Lapland produced a real wonder, of an oppo- fite defcription. The giant exhibited at Paris in 1735, was born in a village but little diftant from Torneo. The academy of fciences having caufed him to be meafured, found him to be fix feet eight inches eight lines in height. This Colofius was made up of matter fufEcient to have formed four or five Laplanders, JOURNAL ( 259 ) JOURNAL OF A VOrAGE TO THE NORTH IN THE YEATIS, 1736 and f,^. [By M. OuTHiER. Newly traiiflated from the Oiiginal. Paris, 1744,410.] IS the earth lengthened or oblate at the poles ? This is the famous qucftion fo long agitated among the learned, which neither the ingenious fyftems conceived by different perfons, nor geometrical and aftronomical obfervations up to 1735, have been fufEcient to decide. The bed mode of terminating the dlfpute, was to meafure under the equator, and at the polar circle, one or more degrees of the meridian, by trigonometrical and aftronomical obfervations of the exaflefl: nicety. M. Le Comt« de Maurepas always bufied in contributing to the ads'ancement of the fciences, and the welfare of commerce and the (late, obtained for the gentlemen of the academy of fciences all the aOiflance neceflary from his Majefty, towards making obfervations ; the refult of which was important as well to the perfedion of the fciences, as the greater fecurlty of navigatie academy fet off in the month of May 1735, for Peru under the equator; M. de Maupertuis ofiered himfelt for the voyage to the polar circle. Its length, the exceflive fatigue incident thereon, the rifles he had to run; nothing leflened his zeal: Meflrs. Clairaut, Le Monnier, and Camus, of the acadenvy, were aflbciated with him ; he did me alfo the honour to afk tor me to ac- company Mm. Although before-hand prejudiced againft the northern climates, I left immediately, and without hefitation, the agreeable fociety of the Lord Bifliop of Bayeux, with whom I was, to join him. We were not to leave Paris before April 1736; neverthelefs I went there in the beginning of December 1735 : M. Celfius, profeflbr of aftronomy at Upfai, was to join us on the road. M. de Maupertuis requefted as well of M. Le Comte de Maurepas, to have M. Sommereux for fecretary, and M. d'Herbelot as draughtfman. The four or five months preceding our departure, were pafled in overlooking the condruclion of the inftruments which we required, and in providing whatever might be ufeful to us on our voyage : We made alfo upon the funple pendulum many ob- fervations, the correfponding ones to which we were to make at the poku" circle. It was there that M. de Maupertuis had refolved to go, to make his experiments for af- certaining the figure of the earth ; but for a long while he was undetermined, whether it fhould be in Iceland, on the coafts of Norway, or towards the bottom of the Gulph of Bothnia. The befl maps have a great number of iflands defcribed along the coafts of this gulph, which promifed to be advantageous to the work to be effeded, in confe- quence M. de Maupertuis gave it the preference ; and requeued of M. Le Comte de Maurepas, to obtain the orders of hisMajedy, the neceifary recommendations, and to caufc advice to be fent to Sweden. The anfwer was lb fooner received than we immediately prepared for our departure. All the inftruments were ready and packed with care. The carrier which conveyed them, was accompanied as flir as Dunkirk, by afervant which M. de Maupertuis took ■with him ; he as well had four others, one of whom had before been at Stockholm, and undcrftood the Swedifli language. As foon as the day of our departure was fettled, h h 2 we zGo outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. we took all the places of the St. Omer's poft coach, for Friday, twentieth of 'April 1736. We fet off, Meffrs. de Mairpertuis, Clalraut, and Can>us, of the academy of feiences, MelTieurs Sommereux, Herbelot, and niyfelf, by the poft coach on Friday the twentfeth of April, with four fervants. M. Le Monnier who had been detained by bufinefs, followed in a feparate carriage, and overtook us before we arrived at Louvre, where we .dined with MeflVs. Nicoli and Hellot, of the academy of feiences, who accompanied us fo far ; we paffed by Senlis, and arrived to deep at Pont St. Maxence. On Saturday the twenty-tirft we dined at Gournay, where there is a fine caflle, with canals and beautiful fountains ; and llept at a fmall town, called Roye. On Sunday the twenty- fecond we dined at Myaucour, and flept at Perenne. It is a pretty town ; the ram- parts^, moflly of turf, form agreeable promenades ; the town, furrounded by a great deal of water, and marlhy lands. Monday the twenty-third, we dined at Bapaume, and flept at Arras : we arrived there early, and went to fee the abbey of St. Vaafl, its library, and treafury ; in which was fhewn to us a thorn of the holy crown, and a bit of the fponge. Tuefday the twenty-fourth, we dined at Souchet, and flept at Bethune, a very hand- fome town with good fortifications. Wednefday the twenty-fifth, we dined at Aire, and flept at St. Omer's, both thefe towns are handlome, large, and have very clean ftreets. At St. Omer's we faw the abbey of St. Berlin and its church, in it on the fummit of a pillar are the toad and lizard, the hiflory of which is known to every one. Thurfday mornin'g the twenty-fixth we embarked on the canal in a very pretty boat ; we dined at Bourbourg, and continued our route in the fame boat to Dunkirk. We made a quick pafTage, with fails fet all the way, and a favourable wind. Near Dunkirk we found on the banks of the canal. Dr. Lythenius, a Swedifli phyfician who came to France with M. Le Comte de Chronihelm, a Swedifli nobleman ; M. Le Comte de Maurepas had direfled that they fliould both accompany us to Stockolm ; he alfo ordered M. De la Haye d'Anglemont, commiflary of the marine at Dunkirk, to get ready a veffel for us, and flore it with every thing needful. As foon as we arrived, we went to fee the veffel which was to take us to Stockholm ; it was fmall but fafe, and abundantly provided with every thing necefTary. M. ci'Anglemont had taken a lodging for us at Dunkirk. Friday the twenty-feventh, we dined at his houfe in company with Meffrs. de Janfac, and d'Alembon. Sunday evening the twenty-ninth, while we were at fupper, M. Celfius arrived from London ; he had feen M. de Maupertuis at Paris, and had taken upon himfelf to caufe fome inftru- jnents to be conftrufted in England, which were of material fervice afterwards. On Wednefday the fccond of May, Meflrs. de Maupertuis, Ciairaut, Camus, Le Monnier, Celfius, Sommereux, Herbelot, and myfelf, accompanied by M. Le Comte de Chronihelm, and Dr. Lythenius, embarked at Dunkirk, on board the PrHdent, commanded by captain Francis Bernard, and piloted by Adam Guenflelik. .•<;.,;! . The whole of the fliip's complement was four men and a boy. We had live fervants brought from Paris, and a cook which M. d'Anglemont provided us with. We weighed anchor, and failed at half paft five in the morning ; M. de la Haye d'Anglemont accompanied us for the fpace of half a league. Although the fea was not much agitated, it was not long before we were almoft all attacked by the fea-ficknefs ; and I was worfe than any. As the veffel was fmall, our beds were between decks, which was only tfliree feet high j the hatchway Gerved both for lioor and window. ^ a On OUTHIEr's journal of a VOYA&C to the north. *i.6i Cki Thurfday the thirJ, we were all very well. M. Colfiiis had brought a fiuall qua- drant troin England of a new conltruction, for taking elevations at fea ; we tried it, and on the following days niadeufeof it. We fludicd and calculated. M. de JVlaupcrtuis amufed us with his livelinefs, and the charms of his converfation. On Friday, the fourth, we faw a little greenfinch among the yards, it flew fometimes to the edges of the deck, at others amid the rigging, following us until the eigluh of the month, after which we faw it no longer. There came alfo a great bird, fimilar to a buzzard, which perched on our main-maO; to reft itfelf; it came from the Eaft, and after half an hour flew away towards the Wc(L We took an obfervation with the Englifh inllrument at noon, and found the latitude 54° 34'. ■" The captain and the pilot with the foreftafF found it 54° ^6'. At the beginning of the evening we faw a fine aurora- borealis. The pilot remarked that it prefaged a tempeft. Saturday, the fifth, the weather became fqually, and I was very fick. We obfervcd again the height of the fun with our Englifh inftrument, and found our latitude within a minute of our computation by the log. When the weather was fine, although it was windy ; (as was almoft always the cafe) we dined on the deck : it was fometimes fo much inclined that we were frequently. near overfetting, difhes and all, which created fome little confufion at our meals. All day, Sunday, the fixth, the weather has been rather fqually ; I have been con- tinually fick and unable to eat any thing. A wave broke, and nearly covered the deck : the captain ordered us to make hafte into the cabin. Monday, the feventh, which was Rogation Monday, the fea was very much fwelled. The night very dark. The fea entirely covered with fparks of light. We hoifted up water in a pail, and agitating it with the hand, we diftinguilhed a number of fmiilar fparks, which followed the motion of the water, and for the mod part funk to the bottom of the bucket. A Norwegian fhip, large, and of a bad appearance, as well as its failors on the deck, purfued us in an infolent manner aftern, and going fafter than us, would have run us down, had we not fteered out of its way.3 Thurfdaythe tenth, (Afcenfion Day,) very bad weather, we went at a great rate all on one fide, from Skayen, very nearly to the Sound. The pilot has not loft fight all day long, of a veffel which went before us, and has followed its track. Kept all day on deck, not being able to bear fliuttingup ; was obHgedto hold by the rigging on the upper part of the deck. Were fo much inclined that the gunwale was frequently un- der water. At night fall the captain and pilot much embarraflied, afraid to enter the ftrait, and equally fearful of keeping out at fea, left we fliould be driven by the winds on the coafts. We reefed all fails, and paft a moft horrid night, rolling dreadfully and continually. All the tbipgs m our lockers ftruck, and rolled againft each other. This fituation ap- peared the more dreadful to us from its being new ; M. de Maupertuis kept all his prefence of mind, and encouraged us by his fercnity, and the livelinefs of liis wit. At length on the eleventh, by two in the morning at dawn of day we fet fail, entered the ftrait, and anchored before Elfineur. MeflVs. Le Monnier and Celfius difembarked to proceed by land to Stockholm : Meflrs. Chronihelm and Lythenius, went on fhore as well to proceed to Gottenburg : Meffrs. de Maupertuis, and Camus accompanied the captain to Elfineur to make their declaration. Thefe gentlemen learned of M. Ans, 262 OUTHIERs's JOURNAL OP A VOYAGE TO THE NORTK. Ans, tlie French conful, that our's was the firfl: French fliip wliich had palTed this year. MelTrs. de Maupertuis and Camus, on their return at five in the evening, iaid that when they firll landed, it was with great difficuky they could keep on their legs. Elfineur is a little town almoft wholly of wood, the view of the ftrait from it, is very pleafing. There is a handfome caftle with guns, under which one is obliged to pafs ; it is a fine coaft covered with verdure, and trees. The Swedilh coaft on the north is more dry and barren. Helfinborg is feen upon it with a large tower, and terrace, covered with cannon. • Saturday morning, the twelfth, we pafled the S. W. fide of the ifland of Huane, formerly the refidence of Tycho Brahe. Where his obfervatory was fituated, there is no longer any thing remaining but a fmall houfe. The coalls of Sweden and Denmark were entirely covered with fnow, which fell in the night. The night being very dark we drew water in a bucket, but however much we dif- turbed it, it yielded no fparks : we difcovered as well that the water of the Baltic con- tained very little fait. On Monday, the fourteenth, from eleven o'clock till noon, a halo round the fun was feen ; its radius from the center of the fun to its interior circumference was 21° 30', and to its exterior circumference 22" 30'. The external edge of the circle was confuted, but the internal edge was di(tin£tly marked, at leafl towards the zenith and the horizon. The fime day I took an elevation at noon, and found the latitude -55° 40'. The pilot found it no more than 55° 30'. Tuefday, the fifteenth, the fea was much fwollen, although there was little wind ; we were obliged to fteer as near to it as poflible : the veflel pitched dreadfully. The feventeenth, a Swedilh boat requefted to accompany us ; but had great difficulty to keep up with us. As it was rather diltant behind, M. de Maupertuis defired our captain to back fails, and invite the mailer to dine with us. Our captain made a tack : this manoeuvre is extremely fimplc ; by moving the rudder the veflel makes a fmall half circle, which is defcribed on the water ; he then lowered fails and waited. The mailer of the Swedifli brigantine thanked us. Another Swedifh veflel which vv'e fpoke, accompanied us to Dalheron. At eleven o'clock, faw an aurora borealis, notwithltanding a clear moon light. On the nineteenth faw the tower of Langfoort, fituated on a point of land : the tower the farthelt advanced, is about 6000 toifes more towards the South, than the place where we took an elevation at noon : found the latitude 59° 15'. Our paifage for the lail four days delightful ; night and day we njade a league an hour without feeling the leafl: motion. Dalheron is a large village, divided in two ; on the rocks on both fides the paflage ; its houfes, extremely fmall, of wood painted red, with their white chimnies, and their little glazed windows, offered a very pleafing fpe(fl:acle. Near to Dalheron is a very handfome country houfe on the fliore. As for the refl:, the country on both fides the Lidt, or bed of the river, (which is rather an arm of the fea,) is frightful, being nothing but rocks extremely arid, with a few very fmall firs. Sunday, the twentieth, (Whitfunday,) we followed the Swedifh galliot, and another fmall veflel. 1 laid mafs, and at the communion the pilot thundered out Domine, fal-vwn foe rcgcm nojlrum Ludovkwn, in which he was joined by all the afiembly. No night } at midnight, 1 read in a book of very fmall letters, I We outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. 263 Wc paffed by a fmall village called Lindal, and near to Ouxyoup, where there is a callle a mile fiirther on. We entered a very narrow ftrait, the current in which was rapid ; the failors went on fliore to draw the velTel through with ropes. We made a half circle round a rock, and found ourfelves before the caftle of Vaxholm, where M. de Maupertuis went to fliew his paiTports to the governor, who fpoke French. We pafled between the caltle and the village, which is Hill more charming than that of Dalheron. This village of Vaxholm is placed on a rock, forming a promontory oppo- fite the caftle of Vaxholm. At night as the veiTel made but little way, M. Camus and myfelf got into the yawl belongiiig to the Swedifli pilot, and rowed out of curiofity to fome houfes on the banks ; we had fome difficulty in regaining the fhip. Monday, the hventy-firft, at half paft three, we entered the port of Stockholm : we diluted with three pieces of cannon ; other veflels arriving faluted as well : to which a fort, or neighbouring caftle, anfwered feveral times. The vifiting of the veffel being over, we landed at nine o'clock, and met with MelTrs. Monnier and Celfius. I went with Meffrs. de Maupertuis and Camus to M. de Cafteja's, the French ambaflador : I faid the mafs of Whit-Monday there. Such it was in France ; but here, with the Catholics as well as Lutherans, it was the Monday after the third Sunday from Eafter, they having kept Eafter five weeks later than us. The proteftants in Sweden have not received the new calendar of Pope Gregory Thirteenth. Contrary to rule, they not only keep Eafter the fecond full moon after the cquinoftial day, but on the fecond Sunday after the fecond full moon. Notwith- ilanding the Catholics conform themfelves to the cuftom and ftile of the country, in order to prevent confufion in the commerce of civil life.- The almoner of his excellency the ambaffador informed me that they were authorifed fo to do by a bull of the Pope. We had fome employment while we remained in this city : firft, our baggage was to be examined at the cuftom-houfe: we had reafon to be pleafed with the cuftom-houfe ofEcers, they for the moft part accepted as enough the declaration which we made; latisfied that they might rely upon its truth, they took pains in forwarding us immedi- ately on our arrival. Every one of us did what he could : M. de Maupertuis \^'as even' where ; he fettled with bankers for our receiving what money might be necefiary ; he looked out for re- commendations for the country to which we were going, and means ior tranfporting thither both ourfelves and luggage: in a word, he provided like a father of a family for the neccffities of a large party, that he was going to eftablifh in an unknown country, for an indeterminate time. M. Le Comte de Cafteja, ambaffador of France at Stockholm, was exceedingly obli- ging tow ards us, and obtained for us every comfort that we could dehre. He told us if he had had room enough he would not have fuffered us to remain in an inn ; and M. de Maupertuis in particular he fo ftrongly iblicited to take a room at his houfo, that he could not deny him. Wednefday, the twenty-third, H. E. the ambaffador prefentcd us to the King of Sweden ; after which we dined with II. E., and in the afternoon were prefented to the Queen, having the honour again of paying our court to his majefty : he fhewed us m.uch kindnefs, and fpoke to all of us in very good French : he told M. de Maupertuis that we were about to undertake a dreadful voyage ; that although he had been in many bloody battles, he would prefer the moft del'perate of them to undertaking fuch a voyage as we were about to do ; that it was however a game country. He prefented M. de Maupertuis with a fowling-piece, which he faid he had ufed himfelf for a long time. Saturday^ 264 outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. Saturday, the twenty-fixth, after dining with the ambaffador, we went to fee a fliip launched : afterwards the abbot Hennegan, one of the ahiioners of the embafTy, acconi- panied me to fee the churches of St. Catherine and St. Nicholas, which are tolerably handfome. Sunday, the twenty-feventh, he conduced me and M. de Maupertuls to the church of St. Claire, to fee the Lutheran office performed. The officiator had a chafuble, at the back of which was a crucifix embroidered in filver : they fang in the Swedifh lan- guage the Gloria in Excelfis, Credo, Sanftus, and the Pater Nofter : feveral perfons received the communion, and returned very devoutly, apparently with great felf-fatis- faclion. Their finging, accompanied by the organ, appeared to me very fine. During the fermon a beadle carried a long cane, with which he hit the heads of fuch as were afleep ; it is his office as well, in a large purfe, which he advances into the crowd at the end of a long cane, to colledl the alms for the church. Another day we went to the Greek office of the Mufcovite fchifmatics, in a chapel which they are allowed to hold at Stockholm. The congregation confifted of not more than a dozen or fifteen perfons, among which was a young man who fpoke French very well ; he caufed us to enter the fanduary which is clofed. In entering the chapel they make a number of reverences to the holy images, and the reft of the congregation, and after every bow a fign of the crofs. There is always a good fire in chafing-difhes : the officiating prieft frequently throws in incenfe ; he makes ufe of warm water to mix with the uine in the chalice. Their finging is very fingular ; they repeat with quicknefs certain words, but fo quickly as to be almoft out of breath, as if we were to repeat over afid over Deo gratias, Deo gratias, Deo gratias. Their ceren^onies are performed in a, flovenly manner : the prieft blows his nofe occafionally through his fingers ; in other refpects they have a very devout appearance. The twenty-ninth I went with the abbot Hennegan to fee the King's library. M. Benkfilius, the librarian, fhewed us whatever there was curious : he made me a prefent of a Lapland manual, which is a prayer-book in the Lapland tongue, teUing me I Ihouki be the patriarch of the Laplanders. The thi'rty-firft we went to the office for geographical maps. There are feveral per- fons who are employed in arranging the geography of that country : during the winter they meafure over the ice ; and in the fummer they digeft their meafurements, and draw their maps with much order and exactnefs. The King of Sweden had the goodnefs to order them in the office to give us drafts of the coafts of the Gulf of Bothnia, where we relied on making our experiments- In confequence, a beautiful draft of the weftern fide was prefented to us, which we carried with us: there was not before our departure fufficient time to complete the eaftern fide, but it was fent to us fome days after. We went the fame day to fee the King's garden, where we faw in green-houfes orange- trees, with oranges on them. We had before noticed in other gardens ivy, fuch as creeps on our walls, planted in pots, and which appeared to be highly efteemed. We then went to Carlftjerg, a royal palace, and to Ulrikfdale, another, where there is a tolerably large park with plenty of game. THE CITV OF STOCKHOLM. Stockholm is a fine and large city ; all the houfes of the city, and part of thofe of the fuburbs, are of ftone, well built, and four or five ftories high : the other part of the houfes in the fuburbs are of wood ; they are built with fquare beams placed horizontally, laid one upon the other, their extremities croffing at the angles of every apartment which OUTHIEr'S journal of a voyage to the NORTH;, 265 Vhich they make. Thcfc houfes arc painted in red, not only for ncatnefs' fake, but alfo to prcierve them : above the timber-work planks arc nailed, which are covered with birch-bark firft, and afterwards with turf or earth. Many of the ftone-houfes are co- vered with iron plates, or wrouglit iron ; fome are covered wth copper, others with ridge tiles. To fome of their windows they have Venetian blinds, which move on a pivot fo as to increafe or diminifli light at pleafure. Every night after ten o'clock a number of men parade the ftreets, crying or rather finging the hour, and aftei-wards a kind of prayer ; they watch as well to prevent any noife or diforder during the night : they are armed with a ftafF, at the end of which is a machine with fprings ; the uie of it to feize by the neck or the leg thofe whom they are defirous of flopping, or who infult them, and it is impoflible to get loofe from it. While we were at Stockholm a fine palace for the King was being conflrufted. There are in the town many handfome and large churches ; that of St. Catherine is perfectly new, and built with a dome, the great altar of it is very handfome : 1 noticed there a painting of the Purification of the Virgin, very well executed. On one fide of the altar is Hope holding an anchor j on the other. Religion holding a crofs and a chalice. They have in almoft all their churches a very handfome pulpit, with an hour-glafs. In the great church of St. Nicholas, clofe to the King's caftle, there is a large paint- ing of the Judgment, thirty-three feet high by twenty-two broad. There is alfo another which represents Chrift upon the Crofs, all the circumftances of his paflion being re- prefented in different bailb-relievos, and a handfome ftatuc of St. George. The church of St, James is in the fame tafte as that of St. Catherine, new and nearly of the fame fhape. That of St. Claire is built fimilarly to ours ; it is beautiful and large. The chapel of the Ruffians, or Greek fchifmatics, which is at the town-houfe, is of no confideration, and very badly lighted ; neverthelefs there are many figures of faints gilt, and fomt fculpture, but badly proportioned, and fomewhat after the Chinefe tafte : the fanituary, where the altar is, is kept fliut ; the prieft opens and fhuts it feveral times in perform- ing the office. At Stockholm are many Roman Catholics, who exercife their religion freely, in the chapels of H. E. the French ambafTador and the envoy of the Emperor. In the mean time we thought of our work, and of proceeding in as httle time as f)offible to the mofl northern parts of the ftatcs of Sweden. We amufed ourfelves in ooking about the city, only when we could not occupy ourfelves in accelerating our voyage : every thing at length was ready ; M. de Maupertuis had made every neceffary arrangement. At Stockholm he met with M. D'Hegreman, fon-in-law of the burgo- mafter of Torneo, a little town fituated at the bottom of the Gulph of Bothnia, and through him he had fecurcd a vefiel to carry our luggage and inflruments. M. de Maupertuis hired as well a fervant, who fpoke Swedifli and French, befides which H. E. the ambafTador gave one of his own ; and as our intention was that the operations fhould be carried on on the coafts of the gulph, his excellency infilled on our fhipping his own boat in theveffel which carried our luggage and inflruments. M. Sommereu^ and moil of the fervants went on board, and failed on Sunday the third of June. Monday, the fourth, after dining with the ambafTador, he prefented us altogether to take leave of the King of Sweden. We had bought two coaches to travel from Stock- holni to Torneo by land : IVI. de Maupertuis fet off in one, with MelTrs. Clairaut and Celfius, on Tuefday morning, the fifth, to vifit M. le Comte de Horn, who was at his country-houfe, and proceed thence to Upfal, where we were to meet together. M. de Maupertuis always intended that we fhould have purfued our route from Stockholm to Torneo by fea } but we prevailed upon him to alter our phvn, ffonj the repugnance to the VOL. I. M M fea 266 o^uthier's journal of a voyage to the north. fea which feme of us manifefted. It is true, the expence of travelling by land was not confiderable. Coaches made entirely of wood, lined with fuftian, and with common glafs inftead of plate, cofl no more than five hundred livres a-piece : each horfe in Sweden is paid for after the rate of eight fous for a mile, which is equal to two French leagues, and in this manner we travelled ; this formed almoft all our expence. Wednefday the fixth,at eight o'clock in the morning, we fet off in thefecond coach, MelTrs. Camus, Le Monnier, Herbelot, and myfelf ; we went again to take leave of the ambaffador, and left Stockholm at nine o'clock. We changed horfes at Rottbron, two miles off, that is to fay, nearly four French leagues : the Swedifli mile contains eighteen thoufand Swedifh ells, each ell one foot ten inches of French meafure. From Rotebron to Maeflrad one mile and three quarters ; from Maeflrad to Alfik one mile and three quarters : thefe are the names of the places where we changed horfes. From Alfik is one mile and a half to Upfal, where we arrived at ten o'clock at night. It is feven miles from Stockholm to Upfal, through a country filled with rocks and fmall hills covered with firs, among many branches or finuofities made by the river of Stockholm, We paffed a river to the north of Alfik in a flat boat ; and a little before our arrival at Upfal we entered a beautiful wood of large firs, traverfed by a road in a ftraight line. The roads from Stockholm to Upfal, and even as far as Torneo, are fine, well kept, and marked at every quarter of a mile by a wooden port, properly fhaped and painted red, on which is marked the number of miles and quarter of miles from Stockholm. Some ancient ports are found as well, or rather pillars of flones ; but within a few years the roads have been meafured by the pole, and fince wooden ports have been placed. Frequently along thefe roads gates are met with, which (hut in a moft ingenious manner. M. de Maupertuis foon after arrived with Meffrs. Clairaut and Celfius. On the feventh we all went together to fee the governor of Upfal, who detained us to dinner. At the end of the repaft'jwhite wine, in which orange and fugar were mixed, was handed round in a large glafs ; every one drank from the fame ghfs, which went round feveral times, firft to the health of the governor and his lady, and afterwards other toarts. After dinner we went to fee the great church, which is the cathedral, the univerfity, and the garden of the cartle ; and all of us fupped with M. Celfius. The city of Upfal is rather large, moft of its rtrcets are perfeftly ftraight. Except the cathedral and feven or eight houfcs, which are of ftone, all the other buildings are of wood, covered with birch-bark, and turf upon that : there is only the houfes of the governor and the archbifliop v.hich are covered with birch-bark without turf; and throughout the remainder of the road towards the north they are as well without turf. On an eminence to the fouth of the city the caftle rtands in ruins, but the garden is yet handfome. Looking on the town from the caftle, it has the appearance of a large gar- den, the ftreets of which, in ftraight lines, fufficicntly refemble tlie alleys, and the houfes covered with turf the fquarcs. A river paflcs through the city, the water of which is red. Over this river there are two bridges, fufpendcd to beams arching from one fide of the river to the other. The cathedral is rather large, but ill paved : there is an excellent choir, a fine altar, with a great crucifix, and a very liandfome pulpit : in the facrifty arc ornaments fuffi- cicntly rich, among others a fuit of black for Good Friday ; two chalices, one of which is of gold ; wood of the real crofs on a great crofs of filver gilt. In a chapel of the cathedral the tomb of St. Eric, King of Sweden, is feen, a martyr : both the tomb and the relics are greatly negleded. In the univerfity are four auditories, or apartments for teaching : there is a cabinet of outhier's journal op a vcvags to ?:?? yroiiTfT. ao; of rarities, and a tolerably good library. I noticed a quadrant of Hevelius ; it is of wood, divided into fpaccs of ten minutes, four feet and a half radius, with fights. Friday, thcei^^hth, we went to the archbifliop's, but he was then holding a confifterv, and we could not fee him : M. de Maupcrtuis returned there in the afternoon, or the next morning, and held a long converfation with him. If wt' had let off together we fliould frequently have been delayed at the flages, where we fhould fcarcely have been able to meet with fuflicicnt horfcs for our two coaches ; we therefore took the precaution oi fending a fervant before on horfeback, who ordered the horfes to be got ready for the firft coach, and this gave information at the dilferent flages where we changed that another would follow in feven or eight hours, in order that the horfes might be got ready, and we arrived the quicker at "I'orneo. Meffi's. Camus, Herbelot, and myfelf, began our journey at five in the evening in the firfl coach. M. Meldecreutz, a Swede, who was fond of geometry, and fpoke French, Ihould have made the fourth, and promifed to join us at LIpfal ; he however did not come : he arrived not till fome days after in a chaife with a young Swedifli nobleman, fon of M. de Cederfirom, fecretary of ftate : this young nobleman having a defire to fee the country which we were going to, determined to take the opportunity of our expedition. We found about half a mile from Upfal, a little before our entrance into the wood, a church and fome ruins, which we were told were Old Upfal. We changed horfes at rioyfladt, one mile and a quarter from Upfal ; at Laby, one mile and a quarter fro.n Hoyftadt ; at Yiietel, two miles beyond Laby ; the road all the way excellent, but through a country made up ol marflics and woods. We arrived at Yftetel a little before midnight ; we found fome eggs, which we made them boil hard for us, and they formed our fuppcr. We left it on Saturday, the ninth, at two o'clock in the morning, went through the woods as far as Mehede, a diilance of two miles and a half, and always through woods and low grounds, yet covered with water, from the thawing of the fnow, to the great town of Elflkarby, one mile and a half beyond Mehede. To arrive at this town it was neceffary we fhould pafs over a great river, w hich has a handfome cataract, where there are iron-founderies, in a boat. We left it at eleven o'clock, by a road through woods of fir, between lakes a;id rocks; hav- ing paffed a river by the way, over a bridge, we arrived at three in the afternoon at GefTle, which is two miles and a half from Elffearby, and eighteen from Stockholm. Gefile is a pretty large town ; through it a river pailes, over which is a wooden bridge: vefTels come up the river into the town. In the middle of the town are feen the remains of a ftone caflle, which feemcd to have been fomewhat grand. Some of the houfes of the town are of flone, the remainder of wood, without turf on the roof. The enclo- fure of the town is the fame as at Stockholm ; and at Upfal is a pallifado, with very- neat wooden gates ; it enclofes feveral large gardens : by the remains; of the church V hich was burnt, it appears to have been of fize. We found a good inn at GefHe. After dinner we went to the governor's, who was abfent : we begged his fecretary to forward orders for our obtaining poft-hor-fes, and fet off at fix in the evening, before the coach of M. de Maupertuis arrived. After half a league of open country, we again met with woods and rocks, as far as Troyc, a mile and a half diflant, where finding frefli horfes, we went on, through a marfliy and woody country, to Hamrung,one mile and three quarters farther: we arrived there at eleven o'clock at night. We foon after again fet off; we paffed through very thick woods for the fpaceof fix French leagues, in the midft of which are fome houfes, on the banks of. the river Liufna, which we crofild in a boat ; farther on we crofl'ed MM 2 another i 263 1 X~1I12£V O another; afterwards we continued our route between lakes on the right and left, ;ind arrived at Skoog, a three-mile (tage, at five in the morning. This night the gnats plagued us greatly : to get quit of them, we were obliged to draw up the glafies of the coach, when, the weather being extremely hat, we were nearly fuflbcated : this incon- venience however was more tolerable than th-e gnats. As it was Sunday, the tenth, we could not obtain horfes until the people returned from church, we confequently threw ourfelves on beds to take fome reit, having firil eaten fome bread and cheefe which v/e took with us ; for in general we could meet with nothing to eat, fometimes eggs and milk, but the milk moIUy four ; they make it four immediately upon milking the cows. When the good people we travelled among had any thing to give us, they gave it mod willingly; audit was neceflary for us to infill, before they could be perfuaded to receive for it. Every thing there is cheap, and our liberality altonifhed them. The poft-mafter is not obliged to keep more than one horfe in the {fable : when feveral are wanted, he informs the individuals of his neighbourhood, who go to the •woods to feek theirs. Thefe individuals, fometimes as many as three, came, bringing their horfes; one mounted the coach-box, another One of the horfes, and at times they ran on foot a great length of way. It is the rule to pay them eight fous per horfe per mile ; for the drivers, we paid them twice or three times as much as the people of the country are wont to do, which was very trifling. If we gave them eight fous for two or three miles, they were furprifed at our generofity ; they took us by ihe hand, with an air of joy and iViendfhip, exclaiming : " For myck, tak myn her ;" you give too much, thank you. Sir. After repofmg ourfelves a little, we fet off at one in the afternoon : the road ftill through woods ; fome lakes and mountains are feen. We paffed in a boat by rowing acrofs a river, and arrived at half pall four at Soderella, two miles from Skoog. From Sodarella we went to Noralla, one mileolf: between thefe places we pafled by Soderhani, famous in Sweden for its mufquets. From Noralla we proceeded two miles and a half through woods, wherein were marlhes, and here and there fome houfes, and arrived at Upangc, at eleven o'clock, leaving it at midnight. One SwediOi mile farther on, on the eleventh, we'entered a more pleafing country, but more mountainous : there are lakes, and a river which works a confiderable forge, near to which is a handfome houfe, clofe to the poft-houfe of Ek- funda, one mile and a half diftant from U[)ange. We left Ekfunda at three o'clock in the morning, and at a mile diftance pafled clofe to Hudfwikfwald, without entering it ; it is a town of a neat appearance ; it had two fleeples, and a town-houfe with a kind of dome ; the town is fituated at the bottom of the gulph. ^'■■^ A little farther, that is to fay, one mile and three quarters from Ekfunda, we took frefli horfes at the poft-houfe of Sand, and again others, three quarters of a mile farther, at .Weifta : thefe two latter places are fuuated in a fme country, of valleys abounding with barley and rye. ,j^. From Wcilla we went on to Hermongar, one mile and three quarters off, always among woods. For the firft time on the road we law rein-deer, which lliepherds were guard- ing, and which appeared very tame. Leaving Hermongar we paffed a river, all the way was lined with woods of birch, for one mile and a half, to Gnarp, which we reached at two o'clock in the afternoon. We waited there for M. de Maupertuis, who arrived at nine in the evening. While waiting for him we dined and flept, and departed at ten o'clock, leaving our companions 5 "i ' outhier's journal or a voyage to the xorth. 2G9 in the fccond coach to take their vcfl in their turn. Ahnofl: always woods of fir ; wc pafled through a hamlet, eroded a torrent, and at lad: a great river, over a bridge, at the end of" which is the polt-houfe ofNiuronda, two miles and three quarters from Gnarp. MeflVs. de Cederitrom and Meldecreutz joined us here. At iix in the morning of Tuefchiy, the twelfth, after going one mile and a half, we arrived at the little town of Sundfwald, very prettily fituated at the bottom of a fmall gulph, where veflels come up : the church and the town-houfe have a very neat appear- ance, as well as the houfes themfelves. We palled a great river a quarter of a mile before we came to it, and a fmall one on leaving it, which empties itfelf into the gulph. We allied for bread, and were told there! was none. There is no pofl-houfe in this town, wherefore wc went on with the fitme horles, one mile farther, to Dinguclfladt, two miles and a half from Gnarp. We left Dinguelftadt at eight o'clock, and, through roads mountainous and full of fuiuofities, came to the great river of Lindal : we palTed in a bark the two branches which It forms on different fides of an ifland ; and after landing we changed horfes at Fiahl, one mile and a quarter from Dinguelftadt. At noon we quitted Fiahl, going through woods of birch, and at three o'clock ar- rived at Marck, one mile and feven-eighths dlftant : we dined there, and left it at feven o'clock. We met now with an unequal country, but in which were fme valleys, inter- mixed with lakes : mid-way pafled a river, and got to Skoog by ten o'clock, one mile and three quarters from Marck. We now were near Hernofand, and pafled by the country-houfe of its bifliop. M. de Maupertuis afterwards informed us that he went to fleep there, and received at his hands every mark of pohtenefs. M. de Cedeftrom, his relation, told us as well he would have been much gratified to have feen us. We left Skoog, on the thirteenth, at eleven o'clock at night, and towards midnight arrived at the borders of a gulph, into which the great river Angeran empties itfelf. It blew frefli ; the boatmen advifed us not to go over with the coach : they joined two boats together, faftening them well ; they placed the two hind-wheels of the coach far- theft from the fliore, making them run on planks, and afterwards the two fore ones in the other, and got over by dint of rowing, being ill-fiivoured by the wind, which had much to work upon in the coach : we were obliged to ufe the fame means in the paflage of feveral other rivers on the road. After the coach was landed, they returned to pafs us over ; this manoeuvre cod us nearly three hours. On landing we met with horfes ready for us on the banks at Veyda, and at four in the morning we reached Skullerftadt, three quarters of a mile from Veyda, and one mile and five-eighths iVom Skoog. We flept at Skullerftadt, and did not leave it till eleven o'clock : the roads were very crooked, and over high mountains, the vaUies of which are moftly lakes, or arms of the fea. We went two miles and a half farther, and ar- rived at four in the afternoon at Saltzoker ; thence over mountains to Eflya, five-eighths of a mile from it : we found there flat bread, in the form of cakes, which was good, as well as the milk and butter ; for a long time we had not fared lb well. The country Itill full of mountains, but the bell we had feen fince we left Upfal. The valleys end in lakes, or gulphs ; but there are a many fields fowed with barley and rye. We quitted Eflya at fix o'clock, and, on account of the mountains, did not arrive at Dokftat, al- though no more than a mile diftant, until nine. We could have embarked our coach in boats at Saltzoker, and pafled by water to Dokftat j it was propofed to us, but would have given us too much trouble. At 270 outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. At a quarter of a mile beyond Dokilat we pafled under mount Skula ; above we perceived the entrance of an apparently inacceffible cavern ; we were told however that people had entered it, and that it was very white infide. We travelled between the fea which was eaft of us, and this mountain which is nothing but one prodigious rock. The country continually mountainous, but the roads much better. We arrived the fourteenth, at one o'clock in the moniing at Bielladt, two miles from Dokitat. We waited here for M. de Maupertuis who came up with us together with Meffrs. Clairaut, LcMonnier, and Ceiuus at half pad five. M de Cederftrom with M. Meldecreutz, arrived nearly at the fame time. M.Herbelot (laid behind to follow in M. Cederftrom's chaife ; and M. Meldecrcutz occupied his place in the coach, which carried M. Camus and myfelf. We fet off at fix in the morning, meeting with many mountains and woods, and after travelling a mile arrived at the poft houfe of lioonas. We left it at ten o'clock : many moimtains the valleys of which were f ntile, frequently lakes and gulphs ; we palTed over one by a bridge and an ived at Broitadt a mile and one-eighth from Hoonas. As all their moveable feafts were four weeks behind, they were now keeping Af- ccnfion Day, and we could not obtain horfes till one in the afternoon. We were twice obliged to have fonie parts of our coach mended ; and M. de Maupertuis overtook us. After proceeding a mile we croffed a large and rapid river over a bridge ; the water of it was red, the cafe with the moft part of the rivers of this country ; we croffed a fecond by a bi'idge called Hufa, a little while before we reached Onlka, two miles and three quarters from the laft poft houfe. We arrived at Onflca nearly all together ; a man came to inform us that M. Som- mereux and our luggage was at anchor about three leagues from us. M. de Mau- pertuis went firfl: in his coach ; one of our fervants driving him, on going down from Onfls.a, (for the peafants of this country do not underftand driving), ran the coach againft the gate, and broke the fliafts, which obliged him to return to the pofl houfe to have them mended ; and as we were ftill together, M. de Maupertuis tired of the in- conveniences of travelling by land, took horfe and joined the fhip. M. de Ceder- ftrom in our coach took the place of M. de Meldecreutz, who remained at Onlka to wait for M. Sommereux, who M. de Maupertuis was to fend back from the veflel. The fifteenth, we journeyed for two miles through woods of fir and birch, and by midnight came to the poft houfe of Afwa, and one mile and half farther to that of Lafvvar. Thence to Sodermiola was three miles and three quarters, and two miles and a quarter from Sodermiola to Rodbek ; we paiTed entirely through forefts of fir and birch, over vei'y fandy roads, with now and then a lake. Rodbek is a fine and large village at the weft of a great plain or meadow, 'nter- fperfed with a number of fmall flieds for houfing the hay. Jn this village there is very good water, faid to be mineral. We changed horfes at Rodbek, which is only a quar- ter of a mile diftant from the town of Uhma ; we croffed a part of this great plain, and paffed in a boat the river of Uhma, where we arrived at half paft five in the evening ; the fecond coach followed us very clofely. The city of Uhma fixty-eight miles one-eighth from Stockholm, is no otherways handfome than from its fituation on a river of the fame name, wide as the Seine at Paris, and on which the velfels come up to the houfes. There are four ftreets in a ftraight line running from eaft to weft, and parallel with the river : they are croffed by feveral others north and fouth. At the caftern extremity of the city is a great fquare, in which is the church : on Sundays and Holidays there are numbers of men with halberts in the city to prevent noife and diforder. And further on towards the north in every pai-ifli in I the OUTHIER S JOURNAL OF A VOYAGH: TO THE NORTH. 271 the country there is a Lanfiman, that is a man to whom the Goverrior aJdrefLs all orders for the public fcrvice ; in towns he is called a burgoniafter. The profpcifl of the neighbourhood is pleafing j it confifts of large plains full of fmall houfes or fheds for hay, beyond which are the mountains rather elevated ; half a mile from the city to the ealt, on the northern fide of the river is the houfe of the governor of the province, built entirely of wood, neverthelefs very handfome for that country ; people were at work in making large gardens fufficiently pretty. It having been noifed about in the city that fome Frenchmen were to arrive there a number of perfons had collected to fee us. M. Clairaut arrived with the fecond coach, the care of which M. de Maupertuis had left to him ; we fupped together in a good inn and met with wine : at halfpaft ten, Mcflrs. Camus, Celfius, Ilerbelot, and myfelf fet off; M. Clairaut with the coach waited for Monfieur Sommereux, and to hear of the embarkation of M. de Maupertuis. Leaving Uhma we met with nothing but fields, with fome valleys for the fpace of a mile and arrived at Taffley by midnight : thence flill the fame country : we palled a river, and beyond it found a camp confiding of two companies only ; they exclaimed in German, ivar das, M. Celfius anfwered goth ivrn, that is to lay a good friend. The fixteenth we changed horfes at Safwaar, one mile and three-eighths from Taflley, and again entered woods, which continued one mile and feven-eighths to Diekneboda. About a mile farther, at fix o'clock in the morning, we came to the village of By<^do, we faw there an arch formed by two trees' from thirty to forty feet high, from \\hich is fafpended a kind of circle made of branches ; here the troops exercife themfelves in throwing hand grenades. We did not change horfes at Bygdo, the poft houfe was at Riklera a little farther, one mile and three-eighths from Diekneboda ; from thence we vent on to Gamboda, through a pleafant country, the fame diftance of one mile and three- eighths. Afterwards higher mountains fucceeded, one in particular which extends a great way from north to fouth, at the bottom of which is a lake : we paffed this moun- tain in an oblique diredlion, and arrived at noon at Grimmerfmack one mile and one- eigth diftant ; we left it, without waiting, and travelling through a fimilar road, came by a beautiful valley between two lakes, to the poft houfe of Selet, one mile from the former. We met here with good fifh, and dined ; they afked next to nothing for our dinner, and when we offered them more, made fon^e difficulty in accepting it. It was two in the afternoon when we arrived at Selet ; we left at it four o'clock : we paffed a river, over a bridge, between two lakes ; foon after another ; then fucceeded flat country, and fine woods of fir, as far as the pod houfe of Dagboftadt, one-eighth of a mile off. Thence through woods of fir for one mile and a half, when vre reached Burca. We left this place at feven o'clock, and fhortly after paffed a river, then through a long valley in which runs a large river, on the banks of which we left our horfes at Simmanafin, which is divided from Sialefstadt only by the river which we paffed in a boat. From Burea to Sialefstadt two miles : it was midnight, on the feventeenth , when we landed ; we did not go into Sialefstadt, which is a large town ; we found horfes near the church, to the weft of the village; the Lanfiman had been in- formed of our coming, and many were colledled waiting to fee us. At firft they put norfes to our coach which did nothing but rear, not kno^xing how to draw. We had others harneffed to, and when about to depart, the countryman who was to drive us was much puzzled where to place himfelf, and after confidering fome time, at lad clapped himfelf in the boot, where we could fcarce perceive him, which diverted us highly. We flept without fear all four of us, during a great part of the way, notwith- ftanding the bad coachman we had, and the horfes which di'ew us having been jud caught lyt outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. caught in the woods, and which were very little fuited to coaches, and that through immenfe forefts, and fometimes defarts, where for four or five miles not a houfe was to be feen. We at length fet oft" ; travelled through a tolerably fine country, and croffedtwo rivers by bridges, and arrived at Frafkager one mile and a half farther, at three o'clock in the morning ; we left it again immediately ; the road was perfectly level through forells of fir and birch, intermixed with marllies. We paffed a handfome and large river called Bufti, at four o'clock, whereat the coach was put in two boats ; fame road, level, and amid woods to Abyn, two miles and a quarter diftant. We arrived there at feven o'clock •, afterwards we paffed a river over a bridge of wood, (in this country there are none of Hone). We then had a very even road amid woods of fir and marflies, but very fandy, and in which we had much trouble to get on, fo that we did not arrive at Geffre, no more than feven-eighths of a mile diftant, before eleven o'clock. The valley of Geffre is fufficiently pretty, one of its extremities reaches to the fea to the fouth- eafl, and at the other is a lake through which the river runs. A number of houfes are difperfed about, and a great quantity of land is under cultivation. We paffed the river, and after riding two leagues, over an even but fandy road, amid woods, we perceived a handfome common, well cultivated, with two hamlets : yet fome woods, and a fandy road till we came to the great river Pithea, which we paffed in a boat at four in the afternoon, and arrived at Pithea, two miles and a quarter from Geffre. It is the ancient Pithea, which, befides a large village built round about the church, comprifes a great number of houfes difperfed in a beautiful meadow, on the borders of fome lakes, contiguous to the fea, and the great river, which is rather an arm of ths fea. New Pithea, or the town, is a French league from it : we faw it on our return. The eighteenth, we dined and Hopped at Pithea, till Monday morning. M. de Cederftrom and Meldecreutz, arrived at two in the morning, their chaife much damaged. M. de Clairaut came fliortly after which his coach. As foon as thefe gentlemen had breakfafted, we were defirous of going on, but had to feek M. Celfius, who had gona to fleep at the clergyman's, or re£lor of the parilh, at fome diftance from the inn. Ivl. Clairaut and myfelf wentto look for him, but neither of us knew where he lived. We knocked at the door of a feemingly genteel houfe, imagining it to be that of the clergyman : although M. Clairaut already knew fomething of the language, he could not make the fervant underffand him, and we were going further at hazard ; when the mafter of the houfe, who was thejudgeof the place, came out, and faid to us in French, qui dcmandez vous Meffieurs ? (What do you wifii Gentlemen). We were both fur- prifed and pleafed : he politely accompanied us to the houfe of the clergyman, which was fome way off. M. Celfius returned with us, and fet off in the firil coach with M. Camus, M. Le Monnier, who took the place of M. Herbclot and myfelf. M. Clairaut and M. Sommereux repofcd themfelvcs a little, and afterwards fet oft' in their coach, with M. Cederftrom and Herbelot. It was eight o'clock when we left Pithea, and after a mile and feven eighths, through woods intermingled with fields and lakes, we arrived at Rofwik by noon ; thence travelling on we paffed a bridge over a river, and after going up hill for a long time in the woods, we defcended into a beautiful plain, and arrived at two o'clock at Ernas, one mile and an eighth from Rofwik. Leaving Ernas we parted an arm of the fea, which looked like a marfli, and afterwards through woods of fir, to a river which we croffed in a boat, about five o'clock. After parting this river, in a wood of iir, we had a very bad and fandy road to get through ; when we parted the river our two coaches were together : IVleffrs. Clairaut, Celfius, and fome others went in a boat to LuUea : M, Sommereux outhier's journ.\l of a voyage to the north. 273 Sommereux and niyfclf continued our route by land with the coaches, and arrived there at feven o'clock, in the evening. This place is called Lullea gammal Itadt, that is to liiy, Lullea the old town ; it is a large place built about_ the church ; there are ftreets in it, as in a town, but without being furrounded by palifliides. New Lullea is a town, a good league from it on the lea fliorc, which we did not fee from Ernas to Lullea, a mile and a quarter. On quitting Lullea, we entered a country much diverfified by woods, marllics, and fine fields, well cultivated. After pafllng a large colledion of water over a bridge, at ' a mile and a half from Lullea, we reached the poll houfe of Porfeon, fituated in delight- ful meadows. We left it at eleven o'clock at night, palling the plain, we went up hill, through a wood ; from this eminence we faw the fun entire, although it wanted but a quarter of an hour of midnight. ?.L Lc Monnier and myfelf climbed up trees ; we wifhed mucii to fee the fun at midnight, and w-ould gladly have waited, but we could not hold out againft the gnats, which plagued us to death : continuing our route we defcended into a valley, and loft the fun. The country continued covered with woods of fir and birch, and marflies, and after a mile and a half, we pafled a great river in a boat to get to Raunea, where we arrived the nineteenth, at three o'clock in the morn- ing, and by a fimilar road at Huitathn, a mile and a quarter beyond. For there we palled two bridges, over watry marflies, and reached Toreby at eight o'clock, diftantamileand five eighths ; we pafled through great woods by a mountainous and unequal country. It was nearly noon, when we found ourfelves on the bank of a great river, which forms a Take, from which it iffues with rapidity. On both fides the river the country is well cultivated, with fome houfes; till two o'clock we followed thecourfe of its fouthern bank, and after two miles riding we eroded it in a boat to arrive at Calix ; M. Celfius, and fome others of our party went to the clergymaii's or redor's, called in Swedifli Kyrckher. From Calix, we fet off at four o'clock, always through woods, with bad and fandy roads. The fervant which we had with us, who went before, fent us horfes to the middle of the wood, and we changed after having gone a mile. We walked another mile, palled between two lakes, and came to a little river juft before a village called Sangis, where there are fome well cultivated fields, as is generally the cafe, round about the villages and hamlets of the country ; which are ever near the banks of fome river, or the fliores of fomegulph. At Sangis, we croffed in a boat a large river, and took horfes, with which we ti-avelled for a mile between lakes, through a mountainous country, interfered by marfhes, as far as Sanhiwitz, where we arrived at eleven o'clock at night. We yet continued among woods, and marfhes, croffed two bridges over fmall rivers ; then an arm of the fea in a boat ar two o'clock on the twentieth, and a fimilar at four: yet fome woods, and marfhes ; after which we arrived at Huparanda, upon the fhore of the gulph, formed by the river Torneo, at five o'clock, two miles dillant from Sanhiwitz, and oixe hundred and feven miles and three eighths, from Stockholm. We pafled this gulph with our coaches by boats to go to Torneo, where w'e reckoned no taking up our quarters ; but having learned that M. Piping, burgomafter of the town, lived near the bottom of the Gulph at Martila, in his houfe called Nara, we did not go down to the town, but went in the fame boat to the bottom of the bay, and entered the houfe of M. Piping, who had been informed of our journey by M. DTIegreman, his fon-in-law, a merchant of Stockholm ; and in confequence prepared apartments for us. M. Clairaut and thofe who were in his coach, arrived foon after us. We were all very much fatigued ; and relied ourfelves during Wednefday and Thurfday. It was VOL. I. K N the 474 outhier's jourkal of a voyage to the north. the clay of the fummer folftice, on the twenty-firft, a feafon when in this country, the fun is feen paffing the meridian at midnight, in the north. We looked for this fight but in vain ; the vapours with v.hich the horizon was overcharged hindered us. Charles XI. King of Sweden, incited by the fame defire, purpofely undertook a voyage from Stockholm to Torneo, to fee it, he was more fortunate than us, for getting into the belfr)', he faw more than a quarter of the diameter of the fun at midnight. M. de Maupertuis had made a fortunate voyage, he had feen from fea, the fun during a whole night, at leaft a part of its difk. He arrived at Torneo nearly two days before us, and found there M. GuUingrip, governor of the province, who was going into Lapland. M. de Maupertuis did not hefitate'to accompany him, impatient to examine the country, he went as far as Ofvver Torneo, and afcended mount Avafaxa, to fee if he could not draw fome advantage for the obfervations from the mountains. He did not choofe to go farther, wifhing to be at Torneo againft our arrival. We had the pleafure of feeing him there, and of meeting altogether on Thurfday evening. The twenty-fecond, M. Duriez, lieutenant colonel of the regiment of Weftro-bothnia, was then at Torneo. We went altogether on Friday to vifit him, at a fomewhat elegant houfe which he had at Hapaniemi ; he treated us with great civility, and during our flay in the country we faw him frequently. There were only two perfons in Torneo, who fpoke French, M. Duriez, and a young man, whom the governor pointed out to M. de Maupertuis, and who ferved us for an interpreter. From Hapaniemi, we went to the town : we afcended the balcony of the town- houfe to obferve the neighbourhood ; for we thought of nothing but finding fituations proper to form a fuccefiion of triangles. M. de Maupertuis, on his journey to Ofwer Torneo, and from the fuinmit of Avafaxa, had feen fome mountains, which appeared advantageous to our purpofe ; but he noticed that the greater part of thefe mountains were near to each other, and covered v.ith trees. We employed Saturday and Sunday in vifiting the neighbourhood of Torneo, and in deliberation on the meafures mod proper to adopt, for the fuccefs of our operations. At length we refolved on going to vifit the coafl; of Oftro-bothnia, and theiflands along that coalt. We no longer thought of the coaft of Weflro-bothnia, fince M. de Mau- pertuis informed us, that coming by fea, he had noticed it, and that both the coafl; and iflands were nearly level with the water, and covered with wood. M. Camus, Sommcreux, and myfelf, were charged with the examination of the courfe of the coaft, and the iflands met with there, from Tonieo as far as Brakeftadt : we took feven men who were to row and fteer the boat, which was a common one, in which we embarked with two fervants, and provifions for a fortnight : that is to fay, buifcuit, and fome bottles of wine remaining of the ftock laid in at Dunkirk. We began our voyage, Monday the twenty-fifth, at half paft; fix in the afternoon. I continually obferved with my compafs, the direction we took, the pofition of the iflands, and the moft; apparent parts of the coaft. The twenty-fixth, at four in the morning, we had already advanced feven miles and a half from Torneo ; the wind became northerly, and we fet the fails. We were all extremely cold ; we landed on the ifland of Knawaniemi ; we made a good fire, befide which we brcakfafted. The wind continued northerly with very fine weather, we carried fail, and arrived at Ullea, at half paft five in the evening, on the fame day, (Tuefday,) which with them was Whit-Tuefday. Ullea, is a pretty conCderable town of Oftro-bothnia ; the ftrcets are in ftraight lines, and very long. There is but one church, and a town-houfe, where there is a public clock. Vef- fels come up nearly to the town, it is built entirely of wood, as well the church as the houfes of the town. There is a dock-yard in which velTeis ?ire built. The caftle of Ullea called UUabor^, outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. «75 Ullaborg, is in a imall ifland to the north of the town, it is built alfo of wood. The cudoni-houfe is in another Httlc ifland not far from the town at N. W. ; and W. of the caftle. At Ulleawe found a pretty good inn, we fupped, and flept there. Ullcais fifteen miles from Tomeo, and eight from Brakcftadt, where we Were bound : we could very well have difpenfed with going there, for we found neither the coaft nor iflands fit for our work ; however, not to neglect any thing we continued our voyage. M. Camus had recommended a fecond boat with two oars, to accompany us from Ulloa, and we departed with our two boats on Wednefday, the twenty-feventh, at five in the morning, we fleered S. W. till noon ; we carried the little Englifh quadrant with us ; on Tucfday we had obferved the height of the lower margin of the fun, ajid found it 48° 6', this day we found it 48° 25'. From our leaving Ullea we had had but little, although contrary wind, and by noon we had advanced no more than three miles.. Shortly after noon the w ind having much increafed, and the fea being greatly agitated, we endeavoured to reach the fhore; at firft we got behind a large heap of ffones, projeding fomewhat into the fea ; for the fea being very fhallow along the coafls, there are few places where it is eafy to land ; in the mean time the feamen informing us, that if the fea ran higher we fliould not be in fafety behind this heap, we returned about half a mile in order to find a fafe harbour. We landed, erefted our tent, and refled ourfelves 'till eight at night. The wind having flackened then, we fent back our fecond boat which was uielefs to us, and fet off in the firfl to continue our route. By midnight, we had advanced two miles, and were about five miles from Ullea ; M. Camus deeming it unnecefTary, wifhed to return towards Torneo, and vifiting the Iflands of Carloohn, and Sandhon, we fleered then N.N. W. The failors were much furprized, and knew not what to make of w, they faid they had never before in fuch a boat proceeded fo far from land ; for thefe iflands are five French leagues from the fliore. We thought firfl of going to Sandhon, although a defart, and without any habitation, but we could not get near enough to it, owing to the extreme fhallownefs of the water. We returned to- wards Carloohn, where we landed with difficulty, at five o'clock in the morning : one of our mariners was obliged to carry us on his fhoulders for a confiderable dilhmce, the boat while loaded not being able to approach near. We found there a hamlet, and entered the befl houfe, called Heikis ; they fhewed us into a room with two beds in it, the room furnifhed with benches all round. We remained there above two days, living on our provifions, with fome milk and fifh that we bought in a village : for fhortly after our landing the wind blew fo violently, and fo adverfely the whole time, that we could not leave the place. Towards evening M. Camus and SommereuK, went to the houfe of the clergyman, which we were informed was about three quarters of a league diilant. He fhewed them great civility ; the next day he fent us eggs, and on Saturday morning he came to fee us. I accompanied him a good part of the way on his return, and we had a long converfation together : as he had learnt that I was a priefl, he often inquired of me, why are you not allowed to marry ? This good chaplain was fliortly about to marry the daughter of the redor of Flaminia, who had recently died, and expected thereby to infure to himfelf a fuccelTion to the reftory, of which he was only the curate : he took all our names, and was delighted with our having touched at his ifland. We faw there very fine crops of rye and barley. Every countryman here as well as in WeRro- bothnia, has feveral out-houfes ; he has his windmill, and manufaftures his own cloth. This ifland is four miles from Ullea, and two miles from the main laud, it nearly joins N N 2 the i']6 outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. the little Iflands of Hanis and Lappakari. Carloohn is the only ifland which we faw on- our voyage \\hich is inhabited. At length on Saturday, the thirtieth, at nine in the evening, the wind having abated, we returned to our boat to proceed towards Torneo, At half pall eleven a large flock of birds, called Curlews, came over making a horrid noife, and flying very near us : occafioned by our approaching an ifland formed by a great heap of fl:ones, on which they made their nclls. We arrived there at midnight and landed, this caufed an increafe in the cries of the birds, who when we took any of their little ones ap- peared ready to attack us. We afterwards pafled by three fimilar iflands. A fl:rong S. AV. wind rifing, v/hich caufed a great fwell, at two o'clock in the afternoon, we got into a creek, where we landed. In this place were fifliermen's houfes ; it is called Mufcalackti, and is a little to theN. W. of Simoka. We were told that M. de Mau- pertuis had been there on Friday. At five o'clock we left this place, and arrived by ten, at the ifland of Mounolota, where we landed, and from which I'orneo is eafily diftinguiflied. We did not defcend the river by the fame courfe we took on leaving Torneo ; we fleered thenE. of the Finnifli church, and the ifland of Biorckholn, near the little ifland of Rugen,'and returned by the other branch of the river to the W.of the ifland of Biorck- holn, and arrived at the burgomafter's on Monday, the fecond of July, at three o'clock in the morning, where we communicated to M. de Maupertuis, all the remarks we had made on our voyage. He had himfelf undertook a journey along a part of the eaflern coafl of the gulph, and faw that there were no means of forming a fucceflion of tri- angles. M. Celfius propofed to pofl:pone the work until winter, and to cffedt it by aftual meafurement on the ice of the gulph : but what fhould we have been doing for three months, during which we could fee no liar, the fun being always above the horizon, or fo little fet that there was a continual flrong twilight ? Befides, we had not yet received the fextant, by which we were to obferve the diftance of certain (lars from the zenith ; and the inhabitants of Torneo could tell us nothing for certain of the fl:ate of the gulph in winter : they imagine that the whole of it is frozen over ; but no one could tell us how far we might with fafety venture on the ice. And if certain of being able to tra- verfe it, a S. wind happening to blow, the ice would be opened, and fometimes piled up, and thereby our plans become interrupted, and lofl. It was propofed to cut a line direftly N. and S., av.d meafure it with the rod, through the woods, this was a propofition fuperior in value to our trufling to the ice ; it was more certain, but fubjed to great inconveniencies. Although the country be not very uneven, we could never cxpedl to meet with twenty leagues without confulerable eleva- tions, and without having lakes, rivers, and niarlhes, to pafs, which would have made this meafure diflicult of execution. At lafl: M. do Maupertuis refolved on undertaking the operations on the mountains. M. Viguclius, diredlor of the fchools of Torneo, who had for a long time aisled as paflior, or chaplain, in Lapland, infcn-mcd us that the river Torneo ran more nearly from N. to S. than what the maps defcrihed, which gave us further encouragement. M. de Maupertuis laid his plan with M. Duricz, to have a number of foldiers ready to forward us in their boats : thefe men are pcafants refiding in their own houfes, always ready at call, either to pafs in review, or to join the army ; a very courageous fct of men, and not afraid of fatigue. There is not an inhabitant of Torneo without one or more boats ; fur during the fummer, and as long as the river be navigable, they travel in no other manner ; and it is terribly laborious to walk, as we, in the event, were obliged to do, through a country made up of marfhes and foreflis, and where the mofs grows fo high, that a man can fcarcely extricate himfelf from it. 1 Tuefday, ottthier's journal of a voyage to the north. 277 Tuefclay, the third, and Wednefday, the fourth, we employed ourfelves in preparing for travelling : feme bifcuits, a few bottles of wine, fomc rein-deer fkins for our beds ; four tents, which could contain no more than two perfons each; two quadrants, a plane- table, a pendulum, thermometers, and all the inftrumcnts neceflary or ufeful towards the completion of our operations ; this was our bagt^age. We went twice near the Fins' church, in tlje iliand of Biorckholn, in order to re- connoitre properly two or three mouptains perceivable from that fpot, and the belfry, which we went up. Thurfday, the fifth, Vv'as the feaft of St. John, which they keep eleven days later than, us, according to the old flile : it was a grand folemnity, and we could not depart that day, notwithftanding every thing was ready. Friday, the fixth, by nine o'clock in the morning, our inftruments, our provifion, and the few cloaths which we took with u§, were embarked, and we departed in feven boats, each boat manned by three men. We were all eight of us together, with five fervants, the other two being left at Torneo : befides, we carried with us our hoft, M. piping, the young M. Helant, who M. de Maupertuis had met with at the governor's, and who ferved us an interpreter throughout the expedition. M. Piping and M. Helant fpoke the Finnifh tongue, the only one in ufe among the foldiers, and throughout the country beyond Torneo, and which is entirely different from the Swedilh ; he fpoke Latin alfo. We landed, and walked along the banks, while the failors v/ith great diffi- culty got the boat up the cataracts of Wojackala and Kuckula. The mountains which we faw from Torneo were Nieva and Kukania : the firfl is not far from the river, it is nigh fome houfes called Corpikyla ; and it was on this mountain that M. de Maupertuis wiflied to make his firft ftation, and begin the opera- tions ; but for this purpofe objedls to be feen were neceffary. Kukama prefented itfelf as fit for this purpofe ; and the firft thing to be done was to conflruft; a fignal there. At fix in the evening, while all our flotilla was before the village of Karungi, 1 detached myfelf, with Mefirs, Sommereux and Helant, two fervants and two boats ; of the fix men which manned thefe, one was left in care of them, and with the five others we un- dertook to go to the mountain of Kukama. We met with dreadful roads ; as the fnow had but lately thawed ; the marfhes, which formed a great part of the road, were im- pafTable. The inhabitants, to pafs thefe marfhes, had joined together fir-trees end to end, on which, by keeping a due balance, it were pofTible to pafs, if the knots of thefe trees, which are like fo many points, allowed of treading on them : and there was nothing impofTible to our foldiers ; they carried our provifions and their own, with hatchets, the plane-table, with a part of our cloaths ; and when we could no longer walk on the trees, we trudged through the marfhes : once I funk in up to the knee, and with difficulty got out. We traverfed two lakes ; a boat which was in ihe firft of thefe lalces not being on the fide neareft us, our foldiers gathered together fome pieces of timber, upon which tvi'o of them got, to go to fetch the boat, on which they ferried us over. On the fecond lake there was no boat ; in the fame manner as before, they fast- ened together fix pieces of timber, on which we all ten embarked ; but as it funk a little under our coUefted weight, two foldiers re-landed with our two fervants ; they joined five pieces of wood together^ on which they pafTed, while we went over on the firft. On all the road we found only a deferted mill, on the river Mufta, and two barns for hay near the lakes. We fuffered a great deal, not only from fatigue on the road, but from the (tinging of gnats and the heat. Although it be no more than three French leagues from Karungi to Kukama, we were eigfit hours in going, and did not arrive there before two o'clock on Saturday morning. Our ayS outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. Our foldiers went to the fide of the mountain to cut fome firs, and carried them to the top, which is naked and craggy : moft of the rocks compofmg it are foliated with large leaves and fmall, all laying like beau-traps, and fupporting one another, fo that it IS difficult to walk on them. On the mod elevated part of thei'e rocks we planted one of our firs, which we fupported at foot by means of the other trees. Although we had no need oi warmth, we kindled a large fire to drive away the gnats, and to be enabled to fleep a little, laying on the rocks. I obferved with the plane-table the angles made by the Finnifli mountains. We luckily found abundance of excellent water, in a fort or natural ciflerns made by the rocks, and after eating of our provifions, we defcended from the mountain at noon. By different, but equally difficult roads, we proceeded to Mount Nieva. After paffing a lake in a little boat, which came clofe to the fide, M. Sommereux, a fervant, and four foldiers, went for the two boats which we had left at Karungi ; and the fifth foldier con- duced M. Helant and me ftraight to Nieva, by tolerable roads. We arrived at feven in the evening at the top of Nieva, where we found the tents erected, as well as a fignal imagined by M. Maupertuis, of a moft advantageous defcrip- tion. Inflead of a fingle tree to ferve as a fignal, as I had done at Kukama, M. de Maupertuis conllructed a pyramid of trees, ftripped of their branches, and placed one againft the other. Thefe trees, faftened together at the top, and fpreading towards the bottom, made at the fame time a fignal, the point of which could be dirt inguifhed with nicety, and an obfervatory, in the middle of which was placed the inftrument for ob- ferving the angles, without any rcdu^ion at the centre. This plan was afterwards adopted for all the fignals which we conftrufted, even for that of Kukama, which was rebuilt. Shortly after, M. Helant and niyfelf h?d arrived at the top of Nieva, M. Maupertuis, with M. Camus, two fervants, and twelve foldiers, having M. Piping as interpreter with them, departed to plant, fignals on fuch mountains towards the north as he fhould find fufficiently high, and in fituations fuitable to forming good triangles. Sunday, the eighth, we had a great deal of company ; the Fin inhabitants of the neighbourhood came in flocks to fee us. Our party, on reaching the mountain, found two Lapland women feeding their rein-deer; their hut was at the foot of the mountain, towards the north-eaft. We fuffercd greatly from the gnats on Nieva, and multitudes of other different flies. To preferve us from them, we covered our faces with a kind of gauze : if this veil hap- pened to touch the face, or to have any vacancy, in an inftant the gnats covered us with blood. While eating, when it was neceffary to uncover our faces, we kept in as thick a fmoke as we were able, which we found to be the befl remedy againft the gnats and flies. At night efpecial care was taken to drive them out of the tents, which were after- wards clofed as exaftly as poffible. Their humming was heard continually about the tent ; but as they could not get in, it fervcd but to lull us to fleep. That in which I was upon Nieva being exactly fhut, I could fcarcely fupport the heat it occafioned. On Monday, the ninth, I caufcd the foldiers to bring firs, which they hewed on the fide of the mountain : I inclined them againft a rock, which was pei-pendicular, and about nine or ten feet high, at the bottom of which was a large rock, very even and horizontal, which ferved me for floor and bed, in the chamber which I made with thefe trees. Our party having very hard beds in the tents, as well as myfelf, we made ourfelves mattraffes with the little twigs of birch, which we covered with a rein-deer's fkin ; this was the extent of the fchemcs for our accommodation. I had air fufncient in my now apart- ment ; but the flies and gnats were to be guarded againft : my boots, which I never pulled off, fervcd to defend my legs, and fitting my veil over my face, 1 managed to fleep pretty tranquilly. 5 Tuefday, outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. iZ^g Tuefday, the tenth, in the afternoon it thundered ; we had however no rain. At feven in the evening wc perceived a fignal, in fliape of a pyramid, which Meffrs. de Maupertuis- and Camus had eretted on Mount Horrilakero ; we had already, on Sunday evening, perceived one on that called Avafaxa. Wednefday morning, the eleventh, we perceived a third on Cuit;iperi; and on the evening of that day iVIelTrs. de Maupertuis and Camus came back vith their detachment. Nieva, Kukama, and Cuitaperi, are the only mountains whofe fummits were unco- vered by trees ; on the two others, Meffrs. de Maupertuis and Camus were obliged to caufe a number of trees to he felled to make the fignals vifible, which were ereded on the molt elevated fpot. They had very bad roads through the marlhes which they had to pafs in going to Horiilakero : there they fuftered more than on any of the other mountains from gnats; neither fire nor fmoke could entirely drive them away ; they were obliged to cover themftlves with their fkin drefles, and inclofe themfelves with branches of trees, in order to take a little reft, if it were poffible to reft, half-fmothered as they were during a heat as powerful as in France. They crofted again the fame marflies to reach their boats, on the bank of the river Tengelio, by which, and through lake Patimo, they pafled into the great river Torneo ; turning round the foot of Ava- faxa, where they erefted their firft fignal, on Sunday evening, I'hefe gentlemen faw at fome diftance from the river a mountain, four leagues below Avafaxa, which appeared to them fit for their operations : they left their boats, and by hilly and difficult roads they got to the fummit of this mountain, which is called Cuita- peri ; from it they perceived all the mountains upon which there were fignals, and the belfry of Torneo ; they erefted a fignal there, and returned to their boats. After thefe gentlemen had advanced a league on the great river, they found themfelves at the cata- raft of Waojenna, which is the largeft and moft: violent of all we met with between Torneo and Pello, It is not ufual to pafs thefe cafarads in boats, particularly Wuojenna. The Fins who conduft them take care to caufe the paflengers to land : their intereft, as much as the fafety of the paffengers, influences them in this. They wifti to make them fo light as fcarcely to touch the water, to avoid the ftones againft which the boat is every mo- ment expofed to be broke ; to keep it above the billows, and to fecure it from the waves which threaten it aftern, while two men pull luftily at the oars ; with another the third continually fteers it one way or another, to avoid the rocks. Sometimes, when we landed, we faw from the bank thefe boats half in the air, ftvimming over the tops of the waves, as if over rollers, fo quick was their motion ; at other times they feemed fwal- Jowed by the billows. All the boats of this country, even large ones, fuch as that which brought us to UUea, are extremely light ; they are made of planks of deal, extremely thin, faftened to a Ikeleton, compofed of a keel and ribs ; the planks are only nailed on the fides, they are fewed to the keel, and to one another, for their whole length, by thread made from the nerves of the rein-deer, which is like catgut ; after this the whole is well covered with pitch. Thefe fliifts, {o flender, poffefs two advantages in their flexibility, which prevents their breaking when they ftrike ; and their lightnefs, which not only caufes them to draw very little water, but renders cordage unneceffary for faftening thera on landing ; they are eafily drawn out of the water, and are left on the beach : moft of them are furniflied with a maft, which is raifed and lowered by three lines, to carry a fail when the wind favours. We faw many in which, for want of a fail, the feamen had raifed a fmall fir with its branches on. The inhabitants need fails in moft parts of the river, which forms lakes, where the water is, as it were, ftagnant, till you arrive at the fpot where it difcharges itfelf with impetuofity through fome cataratl. It is in this that tlia 28o outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. the addrefs and courage of the Fins, who are theinhabitantsof the country, are particu- larly confpicuous. The danger which there was in remaining in the boat while going down the catarads did not intimidate Mefirs. Maupertuis and Camus ; perhaps fatigue had its part in pre- venting their landing. M. de Maupertuis was without any apprehenfion ; he amufed himfel'f in the boat with obferving the different effefts of the water, while rufliing for- ward with violence : as for M. Piping, who only remained in the boat out of complai- fance, he was terribly frightened, and faid nothing, except that " it was no laughing matter ;" but the following morning, pretending bufinefs, he returned to Torneo. Wednefday evening we were all affembled together. We began on Thurfday, the twelfth, the obfervation of the angles: we finilhed them on Friday, the thirteenth ; and it was propofed to move. Mefirs. Camus, Le Monnier, and Celfius, undertook to make the obfervations upon Kukama: they fet off on Saturday morning, the fourteenth, with two fervants, and fix failors or foldiers, who relieved each other in carrying on their flioulders the quadrant, of two feet radius. Shortly after we all defcended the moun- tain with M. de Maupertuis, to regain our boats on the fide of the river : we left two for thofe of our party who were gone to Kukama, and we embarked in the others to go up towards Cuitaperi. We landed at the cataraQs of Matka and Wuojenna ; it was even neceffary to tranfport by land part of the baggage and inftruments. It was nine in the evening when we arrived at Cainunkyla, one of the firft hamlets of the parifh of Ofwer Torneo, which begins at the cataratt Waojenna : thence afcending towards the north the fpace of fix or feven leagues, the river becomes very large, and is full offmall iflands, covered with grafs, which is mowed Both fides of the river are well furniflied with houfes, furrounded by fome very verdant meadows, little fields of fine round-eared barley and rye ; in many places alfo hops for making beer : fome fow hemp, but it grows hardly two feet high. After taking repofe, and eating fome milk, at Cainunkyla, we left it at ten o'clock. We proceeded in the boat a league farther ; after which we left the river to crofs the woods and rocks between it and the fummit of Cuitaperi, which we did not reach until Sunday morning, the fifteenth, at three o'clock. We immediately ereded our tents, to Ihelter us from the fog, and a very cold rain which fell on our journey. On this mountain, as well as on Nieva, and Kukama, we were obliged to look about a long while before we could find proper fpots for fixing the tent-pofts ; for the fummit of the mountain is almofl entirely covered with rocks. Monday, the fixteenth,at feven in the morning, the fog had difperfed : we mounted the eighteen-inch quadrant on its ftand, and made fome obfervations. Comparing the angles taken upon Nieva with this little quadrant, with thofe taken with the two feet quadrant, we found a difference ; by examination we difcovered the caufe. The little quadrant gave for the circle of the horizon 360° 4', while the other gave exactly 360°. M. Langlois, known for his fkill and exadlitude in the conflruftion of mathematical inftruments, made them both ; and I owe him the juffice to ftate, that the one of two feet radius was as perfect as can poflibly be made. M. de Maupertuis, who confiders no impediment when truth is to be obtained, de- fceiided with M. Clairaut from Cuitaperi, to return to obferve on Nieva with the little inftrumentof eighteen inches : I left it at the fame time with M. Helant, to go towards the north, in fearch of mountains fit for continuing our triangles. MefTrs. Sommereux and rierbelot remained on Cuitaperi. Monday, at eleven at night, we left our boats near the houfes of Marcofari, to pro- ceed to the neighbouring mountains of the fame name : we were there almoft devoured by OfrTHIER's J0T7RNAL OP A VOYAGE TO fllE NORTH. 2'8l by gnats, which fcarcely allowed us the liberty of examining the neighbourhood. We returned to our boats, afcending the river as far as the mountains of Ka^tilla, which we went up : we vifited three of their fummits, and thence perceived another niouutain towards the north, which feemed perfeftly adapted to our operations, but which was entirely covered with trees. Our failors told us it was Pullingi, and we immediately refolved on going there. While our failors with great difficulty got the boats up the catara£t of Kattilla, we proceeded on foot along the bank ; and here it was I firfl paflTed the polar circle. It was nearly feven in the morning when our boats received us above the cataracl : we found the river flill.fine and fpacious, fome very good fields on its fides of excellent rye, barley, and hops, near the hamlets of Komnus, Hiougfing, and Rattas. We got out of the boat again to examine the mountains of Rattas, but found they could be of no ufe to us. We left them at noon, and arrived by two o'clock at Lambifen Nieva : we found there a comfortable houfe, where we left a part of our things in order to get to PuUingi, through the woods and marflies, with greater facility. It was two leagues dillant ; we attained its fummit at feven o'clock, exceedingly tired ; the gnats tormented us here more than any where before : befides thefe, the air was full of extremely fmall flies, whofe filings drew blood. In order to eat our bread, for we had nothing elfe, we were obliged to be very quick in pafling our hand under the veils which covered our faces ; without this precaution we fhould have been covered with blood by their ftinging, and' have fwallowed as many of them as crumbs of bread. M. Helant and I were by our- felves, with fix foldiers or failors : we enveloped ourfelves both together in the cloth of a tent in fuch a manner as to leave no entrance to the flies, and icated ourfelves near a large fire in order to fleep. The eafl:ern extremity of Pullingi is the mofl; elevated part of the mountain, but co- vered with fir trees of a much larger fize than any wliich we had hitherto met with. From the top of a tree I difcovered Avafaxa and Horrilakero, and I determined on erect- mg a fignal ; but it was necefl'ary to fell beforehand a part of the trees. Our fix men were employed about it InceflTantly, and the fignal was raifed on Wednefday, the eigh- teenth, at four in the afternoon ; we then retraced our way to take our cloaths at Lam- bifen Nieva, and re-afctnd the river in our boats. We were fo much fatigued, that wc did not land on going down the catarad of Kattilla, which in truth is not the moffc dangerous : and at nine in the evening we left the frigid for the temperate zone. "We aftei-wards defcended the cataracl of Sompa, and continued our route till Thurfday morning, the nineteenth, at five o'clock, when we arrived at the top of Cuiiaperi, where we were all coUetled together. All the morning it continued raining ; in the •afternoon the obfervations, begun by the gentlemen whom we joined, were continued ; they were completed on Fridaj, the twentieth. M. Meldecreutz, who left Stockholm with a defign of accompanying us through our operations, preferred travelling with M. de Cederfi;rom through the country, not to fi\y the defarts ; for to the north of Pello few habitations are to be met with. As foon as they arrived at Torneo they fet off" going to the fourccs of the river, and the lake of Torneo ; they even faw the north fea. M. de CederRrom, on leaving us, propofed to \is this journey; but M. de Maupevtuis with the whole party were of opinion, it would be better to begin the work which fomied the fubjecl of our voyage. M. Meldecreutz, on his return, learnt we were upon Cuitaperi ; he came there. M. de Maupertuis behaved with great civility towards him ; but as he had not thought proper to begin the work with us, we paid no attention io the inclination he nianifelted of continuing it with us, and he departed to join M. de Cederflrom. VOL. I. Q At 282 OUTHIEr's journal Ol- A VOYAGE TO THE NORTM. At four in the evening we lent dov/n all our baggnge, and at feven we embarked in fix boats, eachTe«onduclcd by three men, to proceed to Avafaxa, on whofe furntnit we arrived at midnight. After having pitched our tents, and taken food and reft, on Satur- day, the twenty-firfl, we came down the mountain to go to Ofvvcr Torneo, or rather Sarkilachti, to fee M. Brunius, paftor of Ofvvcr Torneo, and M. de Guilingrip, governor of the province, who was at his houfe. We were very well received ; we dined there ; and he promifed to come the next day to dine with us. If we had to fuffer from the flies and the heat, we had yet the confolation of perfett freedom as to our drefs ; we were in our jackets, with Finnifh fhoes, a kind of leathern focks ; we drelfed as we pleafed, in fhort, and no one looked upon it as extraordinary. "We received the governor and all his retinue in the fame drefs. Our tents were too little ; we could not fhelter ourfelves from the fun under them ; we therefore made our foldiers build a dining-room with trees and leaves, furniflied with a table and benches ; we had there the remainder ef our wine, and there it was finifhed. It is difficult to defcend the mountain. After having got down through a little wood, we met with large and flippery rocks, lying very unevenly ; afterwards we entered into a foreft which ftretched to the foot of the mountain, where we found the river Tengelio, which on three fides runs round it, and afterwards empties itfelf into the great river Tor- neo. In going up and down thefe mountains, notwithltanding their difficulty, two of our foldiers, marching with a flcady pace, carried on their fhoulders our two feet quadrant, and fo by two and two our baggage and provifions : they never objefted to the labour, although it was inceflant. JNotwithftanding their fatiguing work, thefe Fins ate very little ; a few dry fifli, which they carried in a bag, made of the bark of the birch tree, and which hung at their fide, with a cafk of foured milk, was all their food and be- verage. They fometimes have a little barley-cake, extremely dry, and as they empty their cafk of four milk, they replenifli it with water. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood came to our mountains in flocks : many of them offered their boats and their fervices ; we gave two thalers per day to each man, which is about twenty-four ibis French money, very high wages for that country. The ardour which infpired them to ferve us engaged fome to buy their places of thofe who brought us from Torneo; others brought us milk, fhcep, orfifh. On the two firft mountains, Nieva and Cuitaperi, we ate a quantity of frefh falmon : we bought one at Cuitaperi, three feet ten inches long, for which we paid three livres, and the feller thought it a great deal ; he would not have obtained for it more than forty fous from his country people. Pullingi was the only mountain on which we had a fignal towards the north, and another was to be found to continue the triangles further. For this purpofe, I fet off with M. liclant and fix foldiers, in two boats, on Sunday, the twenty-third, at eight ia the evening. We embarked on the river Tengelio ; we croffed the lake Portimo, and continued yet on the river until three o'clock in the morning : we then left our boats and went acrofs the marflics and forefts to mount Horrilakero ; we made the fignal larger, to be the better perceived. From thence I examined the mountains which are perceived beyond, but which appeared confounded, and piled one upon the other. Our foldiers told me, that one which appeared the mod likely for our purpofe was called Lango, but was very diftant ; that they knew it, and could lead us to it. We were not fufficiently well provided with food to go fo far into a defart, where there were no habitations ; we there- fore came back to Avalaxa, rcachmg it on IVIonday night. We always landed while the boat was worked through the catarafts in the Tengelio: the failors made ufe of a diflTerent method here to that ufed in the Torneo ; inllead of 1 rowing outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. 283 rowing ill the cataracls, they held fad with theix* poles, and oftentimes got out of the boat and held it by the fides, in order to get between the ftones which fill the bed of the liver, and caufe the catarafts. After conferring with M. de Maupertuis and the reft of his company, and having taken fome provifions, we departed anew, M. Helant and niyfelf, with our fix men, on Tuefday, the twenty-fourth, in the afternoon, at two o'clock, and after rc-afcending the Tengelio, and crofiing the lake of Portimo, by ten at night we arrived at the cataraft of Luonion, at the bottom of which we leave the river when going to mount Ilorrila- kcro. We walked up this cataract, and at midnight were in the middle of lake Maiama Lombole*. We pafled through lake Lohi in a thick fog, and arrived on the twenty- fifth, at three o'clock in the morning at the houfes called by the name of the lake Lohi Jerfwi. All the family were ailecp there in the middle of a very dirty chamber, which is called Porti : we entered into a limilar room, where we ate fome frefli eggs. This was the only inhabited houfe we met with beyond lake Portimo : fome huts are met with, but they arc no other than places of retreat for the nlhermen, who in the feafon go as far as thefe diftant lakes. The inhabitants arrange among themfelves the dill;ribution of the fifhcry, and everyone has his own hxed Itation. We left the place at hve o'clock, paffcd the cataract of Pefia, and the lake of the fame name, and after continuing our route pretty far into the great lake Miecko, we found ourfelves at the foot of mo\mt Ketima : we went to the fummit of it ; and as I perceived Ilorrilakero and Pullingi, upon climbing a tree, we fhould immediately have raifed a fignal there, if I had not imagined that mount Lango would be a more advantageous fpot. V/o therefore returned to our boats, and fet off at three o'clock in the afternoon to proceed further. We had a favourable wind, and hoilled a fail during the remainder of our palfage along the lake; but at the cataract Lango, where there was but iittle water, we were obliged to get up it from ftone to Itone with much difficulty on foot, the wood on the fides being fo thick as to prevent our palling through it. Our failors had a ftill harder talk to get their boat up. Above the catarad we embarked again on lake Lango, and at feven at night we had got up the mountain of that name, eafi of the iake. On the twcnty-fixth we were fo greatly fatigued that we quickly fell adeepjlaid by a fire upon the rock. In vain did I travel over all the mountain ; I could not diftinguilh any of the others on which the fignals were placed ; our foldiers had mad^ a miftake at Ilorrila- kero, and taken fome other mountain for that of Lango. We conceived nothing to be better than to return to Ketima; but on entering lake Miecko again, we faw on its weftern fide mount Pieika, which promifed to be of fervice. At fix o'clock, with much trouble, we got up it, for it is very rugged on the fide of the lake ; the top is entirely covered with large firs, and here we were greatly plagued by gnats ; we were only free from them when we had climbed up one of the largeit trees, from which we could diflinguifli nothing. When we had detenuined on climbing this tree, as it was lopped too much, our Fuis felled another in a little time, and (tripping it of its branches, made notches all alono- one of its fides, which ferved us as fteps to alcend its higheft branches. We then returned, on the twenty-feventh, to Ketima. Before we afcended it, we fupped on the fide of a lake, in order to take advantage of its water, and towards mid- night we walked up to the fummit of the mountain. We pitched a tent, which it • Lombole, Jerfwi, and Ripi, are three different denominations of lakes ia the Finniflt language ; Terfw iigiiifics a lake limply ; Lombole a very long lake ;' Ripi> a fmall lake. 002 was 284 OUTHIER*S JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. was not long before we needed ; it rained, with thunder, till nine in the morning : our •foldiers {heltered themfelves from it as well as they could with the fails of their boats. Immediately after the rain we began Lulling the trees, which was continued all day long. While our men werefo occupied,! went down the mountain with M. Helant to drink, in the afternoon, at the lake, ahd to fetch water for ourfelves and the foldiers. We faw for a long time from the fide of the lake a large animal, which was fwimming a great diftance from us : our failors told us it was probably a large pike ; they were not fo vifionary as a number of the inhabitants, who take them for fpirits, called by them Haltios : others fay they are bears, who fwim towards the boats for the purpofe of over- turning them, and devouring the men in them. Scarcely had we re-afcended the moun- tain, when we faW M. de Guilingrip with fix boats cro fling the lake : he was going into thefe loft countries in fearch of mountains containing iron. We faw a fingular appearance in the fky at feven o'clock, as the fun flione from the N. W. there appeared in the rain which was falling in the S. E. three rainbows, the colours of the internal and external of which were vivid ; of the middlemoft, which was parallel to the internal oije, and which bifefted the external, the colours were not fo lively. On the twenty-eighth, at night, it rained heavily with thunder, after which we con- ftrufted the fignal, and continued ftripping the mountain till four in the afternoon. We defcended and re-embarked, and after two hours which it took to crofs the lake, we again entered the river. Fortunately we arrived by eight o'clock in the evening at the houfe of Lohi Jerfwi, where we fheltered ourfelves from the rain, which fell in abundance throughout the night, accompanied by dreadful thunder. We flept upon heaps of new-mown hay, the beft bed we had met with fince we left Torneo. We did not leave this place till near ten in the morning, to continue our journey towards Avafaxa, where we expected that I\I. de Maupertuis yet remained. Our provi- fions failing, we proceeded to the houfe of Portimo, on the lake of that name, to try what we could find to eat : we met with bread, or rather dry barley- cake, made half of flraw ; extreme hunger made this appear delicious. We reached the top of Avafaxa at ten o'clock, as thofe gentlemen were returning from the houfe of M. Brunniua The length of my voyage had given them time to make their obfervations : they had not been able to fee the fignal on Kelima, and waited for our return, in order to deter- mine on the courfe we fhould take. iVIount Avafaxa is fituated in the beft peopled and fineft part of the river : its bed, above all, towards the fouth, for the fpace of four or five leagues, is extremely wide, and ofiercd the moft proper i'pot we could defire for an excellent bafe, whofe extremi- ties would be vifible from Cuitaperi and Avafaxa. This bafe could not be mcafured at any other time than in winter over the ice ; but it fuited to fix upon it, and erect fig- nals at its extremities, to join it to the triangles, and to make the uecefl'ai'y obfervations before winter came on. Monday, the thirtieth, fliortly after noon, we all came down from Avafixa : Meffrs. Clairaut and Camus took upon themfelves to determine the direction of the bafe, and its extremities ; and M. de Maupertuis with the reft of his -party enibarked in five boats to go to Pullingi. At nine at night we landed to get up the cataraft of Kattilia, which is interfered by the -polar circle : our feamen took us to Hiougfing, on the weftern fide of the river, to a good houfe, where we fupped ; we found there good barley-bread, dry fifh, milk, cream, butter, and chcefe, and were ferved in a very cleanly manner. We leftthis houfe at eleven o'clock, and inftead of going to Lambifen at Pullingi by hfidj we went on in the boats to the little village of Tuitula, and from thence to the 5 mouth OUTHIEr's journal of a VOyAGIi TO THE NORTH. 285 mouth of the river Keutas, which is not navigable. We left our boats on the banks of the great river, and proceeded on foot to the fide of Lake Keutas. The thirty-firft. Ordinarily they have a little boat on each lake to fetch the hay mowed in the marflies ; on this lake we found two, and we made ufe of one on feveral expedi- tions to the foot of the mountain of Pullingi. We had much trouble to reach the fummit ; it is very fteep, and at every Itep we made, we were up to the knees in mois. The mountain itfelf isthe higheft of allthofe on which we went, and incomparably the mofl: peftered with gnats and flies. What we fuffered there from thefe infeds is incon- ceiveable : the Fins, our foldiers, of the regiment of Weftro-bothnia, men as courage- ous as indefatigable, and infenfible to the intemperance, and inconveniencies of the weather, were not able to hold up againfl; them ; but were o!)liged to rover their faces with pitch. The fervant given to us by the ambaffador had his head pi-odigioufly fwelled by their ftinging. M. Le Monnier, alfo had great difficulty in fupporting this continual torment, and his health was very much hurt by it : a difgull; of the food we ate, did not a little contribute to his illnefs. We found in the little village of Turtula plenty of mutton, milk and fifh ; but fcarcely were they ready, and withdrawn from the fire, than they were quite black from the little flies which covered them. During our three firfl: encampments we were obliged to go down the mountain to the river, to obtain what water we wanted ; at Pullingi, we found a fountain towards the S. W., on the declivity of the mountain. We found there alfo an abundance of a fmall black fruit, which they call blober ; the plant on which it grows is feven or eight inches high, and the leaf fimilar to that of the myrtle ; the fruit confifts of fmall black grains of the fize of juniper berries : this fruit is met with in France. All day Tuefday was very fine: we difcerned very well the fignals of Avafaxa, Horrilakero, and Ketima ; but other fignals were requifite towards the north. On the firfl of Auguft, M. de Maupertuis had met with a ferjeant or fubaltern of the regiment of Weitro-bothnia, at Avafaxa, a well informed a£tive man ; he engaged iiiui to accompany us to Pullingi. The day after we arrived there, this officer, I^il. Helant, and myfelf i^^t out towards the north to feek for fome mountain, whence we might dif- cover at Icut Puilingi and Ketima, if we fliould not be able to diilinguifli as Avell Hor- riiakero. We went to the moft northern houfes of Pello, and we got down to that or Cortcn Niemi, by two in the afternoon, where we dined. We made every poflible learch ; for this no one could be better adapted than our officer : no inhabitant, not even the mafter of Corten Niemi, who did not want for intelligence, could give us any fatisfac- tory iiiformation. At laft after having examined all the neighbouring mountains which are low, we found nothing to anfwer our purpofe better than the little mount Kittis : we eafily dit- cerned Pullingi from it ; but could not perceive either Ketima, or Horrilakero. We faw other mountains to the eafl of Pullingi ; but one gave them one name, another a different one, and were as Uttle agreed about the roads which led to them. We fnould have gone farther towards the north, if after going up to the fummit of Kittis, v.e had perceived fome higher mountain more advantageous ; but none was vifi; le, and iIk; dircciion of the river fwerved greatly from that of the meridian, and cea'cd to continue finourable to our operations. On the fecond we determined therefore on conlhuiSling a fignal on the higheft part of Kittis ; we caufed all the trets to be felled which might hinder the fight of it from Pullingi, and the mountains which, we faw to the S. F. As we forefaw that our fignal would appear almoft overwhelmed by the furrcnnding country, in ordtr to render it more vihble, we put in practice a fuggcftion of M. de Maupertuisj it was to fplit the trees which we ufed for buiidir.gthe fignal, and to place the irci>. rnal 2 86 outhier's journal of a voyace to the north. internal fplit part outwards, in order that its whitenefs might make it diftingulHiable with cafe. We returned to our boat, on Thurfday the third, at eight o'clock in the evening, and arrived on Friday morning at one o'clock, at the fummit of Pulling!. After havuig related to Meifrs. de Maupertuis, Le Monnier, and Celfius, the difficulties we had met with, and after informing them that beyond Kittis, no place was vifibie proper for continuing the triangles, that the river did not even continue from the fame direc- tion, its courfe being from a great inclination towards the wefl: ; we rcfolved in concert to let oil' immeoiatcly in fearch of fome mountains to the caltward, from which we might difcover Pullingi, Horrilakero, or Ketima, and Kittis. We then at noon left Pullingi. M. Celfius had inftruftcd the Swedifli officer in what was neceffiiry for making good triangles : this officer with fix foldiers went towards the S. E., while M. Ilclant and my- felf went with fix foldiers to the E. N. E. We pafled through the village of Turtula, where they were reaping fome very fine barley ; and after going through a fliort didance of wood, intermixed with raarlhes, we embarked on lake Pamas : we continued a little forward into the river Hanki, having marflies in the woods at its fides, and after- wards having walked for a long time amid woods and marflies, we found Mount Kukas, the fummit of which we reached at nine in the evening. Immediately we made a great fire ; this was always our firfl meafure on account of the gnats, and after taking, v.ith a compafs, from the tops of trees, the diredions of Horrilakero, Pullingi, and Kittis, the fignals on which I difcovered, on the fourth, we caufed thofe trees to be felled which were in the fuitable direftions, fo forming avenues in the midfi; of which the fignal was placed, whence v/e perceived Horrilakero, Pullingi, and Kittis. We did not finifli till Saturday at fix o'clock : we then returned to our boats ; and by the lake Pamas, entered the river of that name ; there was fo very little water that every intlant we were obliged to get out of the boat, and leap from rock to rock, for the rivir is full of them. We did not get to Turtula until midnight. We took up our ;ibode with a rich farmer, whofe houfe is called Martihi. 1\T. Hclant threw himfclf on a bed, for my part I preferred fleeping on a bench 'Aiih which all their chambers are furninied, going entirely round, and of a good breadth. We left this place on the fifth, fhortly after four o'clock in the morning, and reached Pullingi by feven o'clock. All day, Sunday, the weather was delightful, and very few flies ; the obfervations were continued ; the fignal upon Kittis was difliucVly fecn. as well as that I had con- flrufted upon Kukas ; and two which the Swedifli officer had cretled, the one on Niemi, which was employed in the triangles, and the other on Mount Alpus. This lall would have made a better triangle, but it was not difl.inguifliab]e from Kittis. The two con- (h'ucted by I\T. llelant and me upon Ketima and Kukas, were not ufed, Niemi being more advantageous tliau Kukas, feeing that Kukaina was feen from it, and that it thence completed a heptagon. On Sunday evening v e began fending down our baggage, and at feven o'clock in the morning of Ivlonday, the fixth, we all went down to embark on the Lake Keutas, and proceed in our five boats to the fide of the great river. The river Keutas is not navigable, as well horn want of water, as from what there is being employed for turning a faw mill ; this mill is as ingenioully contrived as thofe in France ; after the log or trunk of a tree, which is placed to be fawed has advanced to its whole length, and it has been fawed through from one end to the other, the motion of the water carries it back again to receive a fccond fawing. In other places on thefe little rivers, they have very fmall mills for grinding grain, which have only one horizontal wheel turned by' the water : the flones placed on the fame axis are very fmall, and make no OUTHIER'a JOURNAL OP A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. 2S7 no iTWire ^-evolutions than the water wheel: it only crufhcs the grain very coarfjjy, with the ftraw which is mixed with it to increafe the bulk. There is one of thefe mills on the Tengclio, below Lake Portimo ; they have fome, the water wheels of which are vertical, but asfinall as the former, and which grintl no better : we met with one in going fron> Karungito Kukuma, on the little river IVIulla, in the middle of the woods ; M. Piping has a fimiliar one at Torneo : N. of Torneo wc met no longer with windmills. The health of M. Monnier was far from being re-eftablifhed : notwitiiflanding he made, befides obfervations of the angles, fome on the meridional elevation of the fan, in concert with M. de Maupertuis and Celfius ; and obferved an eclipfe of Aldebaran by the moon, which was ufcful in afcertaining the diiierence between the mcridiaas of Puilingi and Paris. To get better it was necefHiry he fliould be more comfortablv lodged, and above all receive nourilhment of a Icfs difguding nature than flies. In vain did M. de Maupertuis ufe tjie molt prefling intrcaties to induce b.im to remain at Tur- tula, where he would have had very comfortable accommodation at the i'armcr's of Martila ; or to defcend the river to Ofwer Torneo, and go to the houfe of iVI. Brunius, where he would have found Meffrs. Clairaut and Camus ; he infilled abfolutcly on ac- companying us to Pillo. We therefore all went on board, and at noon found ourfelves clofe to a large even rock, on the weftcrn fide of the river, on which we dined. The inhabitants call it Pellon Pyta, which in the Finnifli language fignifies the table of Pillo; it is a praftice among them on going up the river to make a meal there before they afcend the catarads : thefe were not fo full of rocks, as the catarafts of Katilla, and the others lower down ; neverthelefs the river is very rapid, and they are not got up without difficulty. We landed at the houfe of Saukola the mofl. northern of Pillo, and the ncarefl to KIttis. ^We arrived at our fignal at five o'clock : the weather was delightful ; we obferved the angles between Puilingi, and Niemi, and Kukas, as well as the elevation of the fignals. We flept on the monntain, and the next day took the meridional height of the fun. We made fecure here as in every previous inftance of the center of the fignal by difter- ent marks, and lines of trees and neighbouring rocks, by flakes deeply funk, in order to find it again, if by any accident, and above all by fire, it flioukl happen to be deflroyed. We found a number of fmall flies but fewer gnats on this mountain. At four in the afternoon, we went down Kittis to vifit the houfes of Corten Niemi, and Purainen, and to know if the owners could lurnifli lodgings for us, when we re- turned to make the celedial obfervations. The houfe of Saukola would have been nearer to the mountain, but it was not fit for us, while here we found two fufficiently commodious rooms in each of thefe. We went on board at five o'clock, and arrived at Turtula at eight, where we fupped, and flept at the houfe Martila. Were it not for the fmall gnats durmg the night, it would have been pleafant, the weather being charming : they had juft gathered in their hay here, as well as at Pello, and were about the end of their barley harveft:. We began to fee fmall birds fuch as fparrows and finches ; till now we had feen none but fwallows. Many more ducks were fecn on the river. After leaving Torneo, we met no longer with any domeftjc fowls, unlefs at the houfe of M. Brunius. The country people fallen to the bottoms of trees, logs of wood or trunks of trees hollowed, to attrafl; certain large birds, who come to thefe places to lay their eggs, which they take and eat. The fun let at nine o'clock, and at midnight there was fcarcely fufficient twilight to read. On the eighth, I joined M. de Maupertuis, and we perfuaded M. Le IMonnier, who was in a very languid (late, to go to relt himfelf, and recruit his health at Ofwer ! orneo ; Meffrs. Soramereux and Helant accompanied him j and fent their boat back to Tur- tula, «R3 outhier's journal of a voyage to the north* tulii, to be of ufe to us on our return from Niemi, where Meflfrs. de Maupertuls, Ccifui?, anil uiyfclf, went to make obfervations with the quadrant of two feet. Nicmi is the mountain on which the Swedifli officer erefted a fignal ; he went there with us to fcrve as an interpreter, underftanding the Finnifh, as well as the Swedifli language. Wednefday, at fcven o'clock in the morning we left Turtula, and we went to fome diilance to embark in three of tliofe little boats which the inhabitants have in almoil every part, for fetching fodder from the marflies : ours we left on the banks of the great river ; they would have been too large to be any ways of ufe on the little river Pamas, on whicii we had great trouble in palling even the fmall boats which carried os between the rocks ; and fi-om which we were frequently obliged to get out in order to ilep from ftone to flone. At length we entered Lake Pamas, which I had crofled before with M. Htlant. The water of it was not clear ; it was entirely filled with fmall, round, yellowifh grains refembling millet ; andwhichiVI.de Maupertuis took to be the chrylalides of gnats, or of thofe little flies with which the air fwarmed. Our failors told us this was always the cafe during the autumn, and that at other feafon« from the time of the melting of the ice, the water of the lake was perfeftly clear. We left the lake by the river Sika, which we went up in our boats, and afterwards left. After about an hour's walking through the woods, we came to the little lake KalTuri, on wiiich there was but a very hnall boat and a raft : we loaded them with our baggage and quadrant, and went on foot round its fide, through the wood which was fo thick, that we were obliged to cut our way. There was befides a very high mofs, which covered many trunks of trees blown down by the wind, in fuch fort that we never knew where we placed our feet, and frequently thinking to be walking on higher ground we ftepped into a hollow ; we walked on this in manner for two hours, and arrived at length at the fide of a great lake on which were two boats : we loaded them with our baggage and inftrument to be tranfported to the foot of Mount Niemi, which is wafhed by the other exurcmity of the lake, nearly a league long. Our failors brought the boat back to take us over, and not having any fail they fubiiituted branches of fir. At length before four o'clock we had attained the fummit of Niemi. The lake which we pafTed is called Ajangi ; it is at the N. of our mountain, and com- municates with other lakes at the S. of the fame. We faw on this lake towards the South fome vapours rife, which fome of the inhabitants take to be fpirits, and call them haltios. The foldiers who ferved us both as workmen and failors were not fo credu- lous. ' M. de Maupertuis was delighted with Mount Niemi: I ought not to fay anything after the defcription he has given of it, in his work on the Figure vfthc Earth. It is true the objefts fccn there iorm a contraft, a variety, which prefent a fpcdacle equally agreeable and fingular. it might be thought nothing but bears and wild beafts fhould be met with in a place fo diltant as four or five leagues, from any habitation, and loll as it were, amid woods and lakes ; neverthelefs we faw there nothing but the haltios which I have before mentioned. 'Ihe remainder of the day the horizon was much loaded with vapour. On Thurfday the ninth, thunder and rain interrupted our obfcrvations during tlie whole day. Friday the tenth, foggy all the morning, and the remainder of the day rain, which prevented our work. I'he weather was fine v;hen we kft Turtula. We reckoned upon its continuance, and that at the lateft our obltrvations would be hniflicd by Friday. Neither ourfelvcs nor our OUTHIER S JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. 2iQ our failors had laid in provifions for more than two or three days ; in the mean time we had no profped of fair weather, and had already begun to divide the provifions which we had remaining among our foldiers : we therefore difpatched five of them to Turtula on Friday evening for vidluals for us and for themfelves. Saturday, the eleventh, the weather becoming fine, we began our obfervations at three o'clock in the morning, and they were completed before noon : we fent our baggage down to the foot of the mountain, thinking that the foldiers fent to Turtula would make hafle back. The boats returned, and we embarked at five in the evening : we had difficulty in croffing ; a very violent contrary wind had rofe, and the boats were not found ; the failors took the precaution of keeping clofe to the fide, to be under flielter from the wind by the foreft. It was ten o'clock before we reached Turtula : we fupped at the farmer's at Martila, and although there were two empty beds, Meifrs. de Mau- pertuis and Celfius flept in a tent, which was pitched before the houfe ; and as three could not commodioufly fleep in it, I. returned to fleep on the bench which had been my bed before. M. Le Monnier had fent back the boat which carried him to Ofwer Torneo, and we had five on the bank of the great river. We went on board them with all our baggage on Sunday, the twelfth, at nine in the morning, and arrived fomewhat before two o'clock at Ruktula, where we dined. We afterwards croffed the river to go to the houfe of M. Brunius, the paftor of Ofwer Torneo : we found at the water-fide MefTrs. Clairaut and Camus, with M. Le Monnier, who was much recovered. The weather was de- lightful, and the air free from flies ; together we took rather a long walk, entertaining ourfelves with plans for fpending the winter at Torneo : we met all at M. Brunius's, who with much politenefs offered us his houfe. M. de Maupertuis willingly took upon himfelf whatever was laborious, and infifl;ed upon every one faring better, or lefs ill than himfelf. I did not fpare myfelf, particu- larly when I had to accompany him ; notwithflianding he obliged me to remain at M. Brunius's to take repofe. I liopped with Meflrs. Le Monnier, Sommereux, and Her- belot, who had remained there fince their departure from Avafaxa ; and Meffrs. de Maupertuis, Clairaut, Camus, and Celfius, departed on Monday, the thirteenth, at nine in the morning, to make obfervations on mount Horrilakero. Meffrs. Clairaut and Camus had determined the bafe, and caufed a fignal to be con- ftrufted at each of its extremities. MeflTrs. Le Monnier, Sommereux, and myfelf, after dinner took a walk to the fignal at the northern extremity of the bafe ; we fecured the centre by different direftions taken from the neighbouring trees, which we marked, that we might know its pofition again, in cafe of any accident ; and as we could not fee the fignal on Avafaxa from this one, on account of the trees on the fummit of that mountain, 1 went up it with two failors in order to fell them. I rejoined Meffrs. Le Monnier and Sommereux, and we returned together to the houfe of M. Brunius. I went by myfelf in the evening to take a walk on the little mountain Sarki Wara, which joins the Prefbytery ; from the top of it I had a mofl: beautiful view towards the the fouth, along the courfe of the river as far as Kainenkyla j the weather delightful, and no gnats. M. Brunius returned from Hieta Niemi, a chapel of eafe to Ofwer Torneo : we fupped with him and Mad. Brunia : he exercifed the functions of curate, and expeded to fucceed his father in the rectory of Ofwer Torneo, who was blind and incapacitated from fulfilling his duties. Tuefday, the fourteenth, at nine in the morning, I fet off" alone with three failors in a boat to go to the fouthern extremity of the bafe, in order to fecure the centre of the VOL. I. p p fignal : 290 OUTHir.a's JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. fignal : I could not effecl ii by direftions taken from tree to tree, for there were none except what were very fmall ; but I made a more certain mark by the means of a great rock wh'ch was near the fignal. We pafled the day of the Affumption of the Blefled Virgin, (whofe feaft is not held in Sweden) very tranquillv. M. Bruniuskept company with us almoft all the day : we entertained ourlelvesin talking Latin with him. Jull as we were all in betl, at eleven o'clock, M. Camus returned from Horrilakero, to go the next day to Kukuma, in order to rebuild the fignal which the winds had blown down. He took fome reft ; and Thurfday morning, the fixteenth, we both fet off, with a fervant who fpoke Swedilh, and nine foldiers, one of which alfo fpoke Swedifh. We embarked in three boats, of which we left one at Hieta Niemi : two being fufficient for us, a third would only have embarraifed and detained us in pailing the catarafts. M. Camus and myfelf were in the fame boat, in which we kept going down the cata- rafts. At that of Waojenna, a wave on the fide where 1 fat fpent iti'elf over the boat and almofl: covered me with water. We were obliged to keep ourfelves in a polture almofl: Iving, in order that we might not hinder the pilot from feeing the rocks, which he continually avoided by the means of the rudder, while two Fins rowed with all their might : in fome places, hovyever, they fuffer the boat to fall down the Ifream guided only by the pilot. '1 he cataraft Matka was quite as terrible as the firft : we were, as it were, buried amidft the waves, but this was of fliort duration. We arrived at Kor- pikyla at three in the afternoon : we itopped more than two hours at a farmer's ; we dined there, as well as our failors, who required a little reft. We got to the top of Kukuma by ten o'clock : the heat and almoft continual rays of the fun had fomewhat dried the marflies, and v;e found the road pretty good. A rein- deer belonging to the Lapland girls who lived at the foot of mount Nieva took a liking to us, and followed us in fpite of his miftrefs, who could not prevent him : he ftayed on mount Kukuma all the time we remained there. The nights began to be cold, and we paflTed this near a great fire. At three o'clock in the morning of the feventeenth we fet to work to re-eftablifh the fignal ; we fet off at nine o'clock, and arrived by noon at Korpikyla. The rein-deer came back with us, and returned to his miftreffes, who had five or fix others. We afcended the cataracts on foot ; the waters were very low in them, and the navigating through them incommodious : we got into the boats again at Kainun- kyla, and arrived at M. Brunius's, where all were in bed except himfelf, who was re- turning from fifhing at midnight. Saturday, the eighteenth, was very fine, fcarce any gnats or fmall flies ; there were only a few Hies remaining fimilar to thofe we meet with in France. Meffrs. de Mau- pertuis, Clairaut, and Celfius, returned from Horrilakero at five in the atternoon, and we were all met together. In the evening we perceived a fine aurora borealis. On Sunday, the nineteenth, fome of our party going to church, where there was a fcrmon, were aftoniflied to hear the fobbing of the audience, affefted by the difcourfe of M. Brunius. On their return from church, it was faid that the forefl; of Horrilakero was on fire ; this turned out but too true : after dinner we faw from the top of Avafaxa the fmoke of the fire ; it even prevented our obferving the angles of the extremities of the bafe, or feeing Horrilakero. We were obliged to fend an exprefs there to know if the fignal was not damaged ; as for the rclt, the weather continued fine, and the nights rather cold. Meffrs. de ..laupertuis, CeUius, and myfelf, notwithftanding flept on the mountain. Meffrs. Clairaut and Camus went to M. Brunius with iVL Le Monnier, as yet convalefcent : they found M. Herbelot there, who on taking a trip in a boat was near outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. 291 near being drowned : as all the ill that followed the accident was only his fear, we did nothing but laugh at it, and kept ourfelves alive by our gaiety. Monday, the twentieth, the i'moke was flill thicker; it was diftinguifhable in every quarter. In dry weather, as it was then, the mountains of the country often take fire, which communicates in an inftant to the dry mofs, and fpreads prodigioufly ; fometimes three weeks elapfe before it is extinguiflied. The fmoke of thefe fires extends over the gulph, hides the beacons from the pilots, and frequently caufesfliip wreck. This fliewed us how wifely we had afted in not lofing time in Sweden and atTorneo, and in nearly completing our trigonometrical obfervations before this fmoke was common, which would not allow the perception of diilant objea:s,fuch as the points of our triangles were. MelTrs. Clairaut and Camus returned in the evening to fup and fleep with us on the mountain. Tuefday, the twenty-firft, the exprefs fent to Horrilakero having reported that the fignal there was burnt, Peter, the fervant which the ambaffador gave, an intelligent man, and who knew the centre of the fignal, departed with fix men to re-conftruQ: it. We never failed to take exaftly the centre of our fignals, and in the obiervation of the angles to make the interfeftion of the two refleftors of the inftrument anfwer to it. When we left a fignal, if it was on a rock, we made a mark at the centre on the rock; and we made more fure of it, by taking its diflance and direction from certain neighbouring trees and rocks, of which frequently we preferved a copy in the regifter of our obfer- vations. If the fignal was placed on the ground, or we were any ways able to drive a ftake in at the centre, we did fo, and on leaving the place we covered it with a large ftone ; it is thus we had afted at Horrilakero. Madame Brunia fent to us on the mountain a difli of haflied meat, and one of green peas ; but they were fo much fugared and feafoned with lemon-peel, according to the tafte of the country, that we could not eat it. At four o'clock in the afternoon the fmoke was difperfed, and we took the two angles remaining. At nine o'clock we went down to fleep at M. Brunius's, where we found letters announcing the arrival of the fextant, which M. Celfius had ordered in England, and which was to ferve us to examine the diftances of fome ftars from the zenith. The next day, Wednefday, the twenty fecond, early in the morning, we all went to the northern fignal of the bafe : we caufed it to be rebuilt in as folid a manner nearly as the houfes of the country are wont, preferving in a fcrupulous manner the fame centre. We had only to take the angle between Avaiaxa and the fouthern fignal of the bafe, and were not able to effeft this, owing to the fmoke, till four in the afternoon ; we were even obliged to fend a man to fpread a very white cloth over the fignal. At nine o'clock we returned to fup and fleep at M. Brunius's : his houfe was the beft retreat we met with ; it was placed nearly in the middle of the fpace comprifed by our triangles, and very near the northern extremity of our bafe : we always found there three rooms, that we could occupy without inconvenience to the family, which was very numerous. They furnifhed us abundantly with every thing neceflary for our fuftenance, and every one there exerted himfelf to ferve us. The good father, old and blind ; the mother of the fame age ; their fon and fon-in-law, with their family and fervants, formed a very ■ natural reprefentation of a houfe of the ancient patriarchs. Hofpitality is exercifed "pretty generally throughout the country: if want of reft, or dread of bad weather, at any time induced us to take refuge in a houfe, the mallei-, before we could fay any thing to him, Ibmetimes even without an interpreter to make ourfelves underftood, im- mediately opened fur us an apartment, apparently dellined for flrangers only, and re- mained flanding looking at us, his family affembled about him, and every one quickly haftened to wait on us. If it were in the fmallell degree cold, fire was immediately p p 2 kindled ; 2Q2 OUTHIEr's journal OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. kindled ; and frequently they brought what little they had to eat before we afked for it. As M. Helanr, the only Finnifh interpreter we had, could not be every where, that we might not want fcr neceflarics in his abfence, we learnt to falute in this language, and to afli for milk, butter, bread, water, or to drink. Ihurfday morning, the twenty-third, not content v\ith giving us an excellent break- fad, M. Brunius put feveral bottles of beer into our boats : we had five ready, and at ten o'clock we embarked to go to the fouthern extremity of the bafe. M. Brunius went with us ; he was going to lay in his flock of falmon : he told us, for many years there had not been fo great a fcarcity of water in the river, nor fo much dry weather ; in confequence on every fide there were fires in the forefls. Peter returned then from Horrilakero, where he had employed twenty-two men in extinguifliing the fire, and re- eftablifhing the fignal : he left feven to watch left it fhould break out afreih. At three in the afternoon we reached the fouthern fignal of the bafe, at a moment when the clouds of fmoke were tolerably dilpcrfed ; but fcarcely had we begun our obfervations, before the wind changing brought them back again. We were impatient to finifli them, and to profit of the remaining time before the frofts fet in, to go to Kittis, in the neigh- bourhood of Pello, in order to make the neceflary obfervations with the fextant, which had juft arrived from England at Torneo. In the evening we went down to Niemilty, which is a fmall village ; we pitched our four tents there in the meadow, where we pafled the night. After liftening to all the means propofed for preventing the iofs of time, M. de Maupertuis thought it would be beft for fome one to go to Pello to pre- pare every thing neceflary, in order that, on arriving there with the fextant and other inftruments, we might be enabled to begin immediately the neceflary obfervations. M. Camus took thefe preparations upon himfelf, and for that purpofe left us on Friday, the twenty- fourth, accompanied by M. Herbelof. We returned to our fouthern fignal, where we happily terminated our obfervations : we then came back to Niemilby, to embark in our four boats to go to Cuitaperi, to take the angle between the fouthern fignal of the bafe and mount Avafaxa. Friday night and Saturday, the twenty-fifth, we made many fruitlefs attempts : we were unable to make our obfervations, the clouds of fmoke which covered the country keeping us on this mountain, where our refidence was extremely difagreeable ; in fpite of cold, we had numbers of gnats. A little rain which fell in the night was not fufficient to extinguifli the fires ; it had however beaten down and difperfed the fmoke, and we had clear wea- ther fufficiently long to make our obfervation, which was only of one angle, on Sunday morning the twenty-fixth. At two o'clock in the afternoon we came down the mountain ; we found five boats at the banks of the river, M. Camus having fent his back as foon as he had reached Ofwer Torneo, where he took another. I embarked in the fame as M. de Maupertuis, and we kept in it going down the cataraft of Matka. A little below this cataraft, as we were threatened with a heavy rain, and it was late, we made for land at a good houfe of Korpikyla, on the weftern fide of the lake made by the river : the rain difperfed, we pitched our tents, and paflfed the night there. M. Viguclius, chaplain and director of the fchools of Torneo, was with us ; he had that day preached at this houfe, which was called Tepane Piping : the inhabitants of the neighbourhood having been informed of it had afllmblcd there. M. Viguelius told me that this was often the cafe at places diftant from a church ; and further, that when there was any one ill, he ufed to make the confecration to them to adminifter the communion. lu the evening we faw be- tween the clouds an aurora borcalis. Monday OUTHIER S JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO TME NORITI. 2<)3 Monday morninc^, the twenty-feventli, there wis in the court a Lapland mnn and woman : they were two ill-made perfons, nhnofl always fitting on their heels, and ca:iie begging; they would not have been very fhort had tliey rtood up. We left this place at feven o'clock in the morning. We landed on pafling the cata- rads of Kuckula : we amufed ourfelves in noticing the movements (if our boats from the banks, how at times they appeared in the air, and at others ingulphed by the waves. We faw there an ermine, which hid itfelf fo cunningly among the (tones, that we were unable to find it: we fometimes faw them run into the water towards the banks of the river or lakes. We faw alfo birds of the eagle fpecies dart into the waters of the cata- raft, and carry away fifh in their claws : we were told that when thefe birds dart upon fifli of too confiderable a fize for them to bear away, they are fometimes drawn beneath the water by them and drowned, not being able to vvithdraw their claws. At three in the afternoon we arrived at M. Pipings', where we firft landed on our arriving at Torneo ; we found there again the fame rooms and beds. It was the firft time from the fi.xth of July that we laid between flieets. From the mountains of Nieva, Kukuma, and Cuitaperi, we diftlnguifhed the belfry of Torneo, and from this belfry we had to take the angles between thofe tliree moun- tains : the two firft were eafily diftinguiflied ; but neither on Monday, nor at any time on Tuefday, the twenty-eighth, could we perceive the third. At length, on Wcd- nefday morning, the twenty-ninth, we perceived from the belfry of the town mount Cuitaperi, and we afcended with our quadrant to make our obfervations : the weather did not allow of our taking them to our fatisfadion. During the night it rained a great deal, and ftill more on Thurfday morning, the thirtieth. The rain began again in the evening, lafted all the night, and the whole of Friday, the thirty- firft. After wandering about fo long among the lakes and mountains, Torneo appeared to us another world. Lieutenant-colonel Dariez came to fee us, and invited us to dine with him ; we all of us went on Friday : Meflrs. de Cederftrom and Meldecreutz were of the party. The next day thefe gentlemen accompanied us to the belfry, where we ftaid all day waiting in vain for an opportunity to obferve our angles. We then re- gretted the tranquillity of the mountains : we were furrounded by fpedators, who in- commoded us, and were no ways interefted in our obfervations. Sunday, the fecond of September, there was clear weather very fit for our taking the angles ; we thought of nothing elfe. In order to get rid of troublefome company, and to make our obfervations at cafe, M. Celfius, who went to church, as foon as it was over, went up the belfry and Ihuc himfelf in. M. de Maupertuis and myfelf pretended to take a walk, and when by ourfelver e afcended to the tower of the beUry, where M. Celfius, as we had concerted, wa.. w^dting for us, and where we had ftiut up our quadrant fome days before. Before evening fervice we had fufGcient time to complete our obfervations. We had now no more than one angle to take to perfect our trigonometrical feries ; it was at Kukuma, to take the angle of Horrilakero and Niemi, in order to clofe the heptagon which the fituation of places had allowed us to form, and which afforded us Angular advantages for proving the feries of our triangles. During the too long ftay we had made at Torneo, we had got ready everything we had to take to Pello for making the different obfervations. For the fextant alone three boats were required : we had befides, three pendulums vibrating feconds, feveral fimple pendulums, quadrants, barometers, thermometers, and a variety of other inftruments to take with us. M. de Maupertuis had obtained an order for the lanfeman of Ofwer Torneo to furnifli us with fifteen boats : the foldicrs and countrymen were fo anxious to ferve us,. that. 294 outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. that inflead of fifteen, there were eighteen or nineteen. There was a long difpute among tiiefe Fins ; they would all go, and feized on the different packages to load their boats with ; but tlie lanfeman had fent a lift of fifteen which he had engaged, and in thefe we all fet oft" on Monday, the third, a little after noon. We only left two fervants at M. Piping's at Torneo, with M. Herbelot, who was juft returned from Pello. Along the cataracts we walked, and again faw birds taking fifli. It rained a little, and as it increafed after pafling the cataraft of Kuckula, we landed on the'i-fland Toiwolan, other- wife Kukulan ; there were fome houfes there, wherein we fpent the night. Tuefday, the fourth, about fix in the morning, we departed, and arrived with our little fleet at Corpikyla at ten o'clock. After dining here all together, while the reft of the party continued their road to Pello, M. de Maupertuis, M. Celfius, and myfelf, fet out towards Kukuma ; the rein-deer which followed us on the nineteenth of Auguft refolved again to be of the party, and would not leave us. At two o'clock in the after- noon one of our failors or foldiers perceived we were gone wrong, and one of them returned to Corpikyla to obtain a guide. We were then obliged to wait for him in a heavy rain ; and alter our guide had arrived we were able to proceed but very flowly, our Fins being very heavily laden. We arrived on the top of Kukuma a little after eight o'clock; it was already very dark, and the rain came on heavier; the whole fumniit of the mountain was nothing but rock or water : neverthelefs we pitched a tent in a fpot as damp as it was hard, and Peter, who was with us, pitched the other near the fignal, to put the quadrant under fhelter. Our Fins, well fidllcd in makirg fires, kindled one in fpite of the badnefs of the weather ; we endeavoured to warm and dry ourfelves, but the cold rain, which fell in torrents, rendered our attempts ufelefs. M. de Maupertuis, tired of being cold, and getting wet by the fire, retired towards the tent : the night was very dark, it was one of thofe not lightened by the aurora borealis. M. de Maupertuis walking on the points of the rocks, on which by day it is difficult to walk, put his leg between two rocks and fell. Peter and myfelf ran to him on hearing the noife, and found him in fuch a fituation as to give us apprchenfion he had broke his thigh : we helped him into the tent, and we cut twigs of birch to ferve as a mattrafs for him. I fupped by the fire with M. Celfius ; we went to lay down in the tent befide M. de Maupertuis, and pafled the night coolly enough. It rained again on Wednefday, the fifth, all the morning, with a fog : in the after- noon we endeavoured to take our angle, but could not fatisfy ourfelves ; we were how- ever comforted by learning that M. de Maupertuis found himfelf better, and that he had nothing to fear from his accident. It rained very much through all the night again : our poor Fins bore with all the conftancy imaginable the brunt of the weather, without any flieltcr ; they appeared as infcnfible to its roughnefs as our rein-deer. Thurfday, the fixth, by ten in the morning, it ceafed to rain ; we made our obferva- tion very well, dined, and left the mountain at three in the afternoon, to go by very bad roads, and often through water, to fleep at Corpikyla. M. de Maupertuis walked very well, and felt fcarcely any pain : our rein-deer came back with us, and rejoined the others feeding by the hut of the Laplanders. Friday morning, the feventh, one of the Lapland women, very infirm, came, drawn by a rein-deer, to M. de Maupertuis, to bring him a bafket which fhe had made, and which {he fold to him. At fix o'clock we fet off in five boats ; wc afcended all the cataracts on foot as far as Cuinunkila. While wailing there ior our boats we faw them threfli their barley : they put it firft in a room to dry, in the corner of which is a kind of flove : it is a large fquare block of ftone, rather longer than wide, through the middle of outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. 295 of which a cavity is cut which runs its whole length. They kindle a fire in this hollow, as we do in our ovens, and this caufes an amazing heat, which continues for a great length of time in the block of ftone. -It is in this room that they finifli the drying of the barley, which beforehand after the harvolt has been expofed to the rays of the fun on large ladders, which are erefted for this purpole near to every houfe : there are even fome in the middle of the town of Torneo. They threfli thtir grain, thus dried, with flails, fufficiently reft-mbling thofe which the country people make ufc of in France j and after clearing the gram, by throwing it from one fide of the barn to the other to feparate the dufl, they complete the operation of cleaning in rather deep bafkets, which ferve them for fans. I ought to have obferved before, that they reap their rye and barley with a fickle, as is the praftice in P'rance : not fo with the hay ; they ufe a fey the, the blade of which, almoft as long as ours, is much more narrow ; it is faftened to a handle which is no more than two feet four inches long, or at moil two feet and a half: they dart this fcythe among the grafs, firit to the right, and then to the left, with fuch quicknefs, and (looping fo low, that it is wonderful how they are able to fupport the fatigue. We began to fee fome horfes, which were returning from their fummcr quarters. The manner of living of thefe animals is among the moft furpriung things of this coun- try : it is only in the winter that they are made ufe of in dragging fledges, which ferve for travelling in, as well as to carry the diiferent neceflaries of life, particularly wood and fodder ; for during the fummer all travelling and carriage of every thing is eff'ecled by water. During the month of May, earlier or later according to the length of winter, the horfes leave their mailers on the firfl thawing of the fiiovv, and go into certain quarters of the forefts, where they feem to have eflablifhed among themfelves a rendezvous. Thefe horles form feparate troops, which never interfere or feparate from each other : each troop takes a different quarter of the foreft for its paiturage, and keeps to that which is fixed upon without encroaching on the others. When their food is exhaulled they decamp, and go in the fame order to occupy another paliure. The police ot their fociety is well regulated, and their march fo uniform, that their mailers always know where to find them, if by chance they fliould want in the fpring or fummer to travel any where in a carriage or fledge, which fometimes happens to be the cafe; or if any traveller flioulJ want horfes. In that cafe the countrymen, receiving the orders of the gihvergole, that is to fay, the poltmafter, go into the woods to fetch their horles, which after rendering the ferviccs required, return to the forefl: of them- felves, and join their companions again. When the feafon becomes bad, which it began to do in the month of September, the horfes quit their forelt in troops, and every one proceeds to his own ftable : they are fmall, but excellent, and lively without vice : their mafl;ers lay hold of them fometimes by the tail to catch them, and they fekiom make refinance. There are however fome, in fpite of their general docility, who defend themfelves on taking them, or attempting to harnefs them to carriages. They are very heahhy and fat when they return from the forefl: ; but their almoft continued labour during the winter, and the little food given them, makes them lofe their good appearance very foon. When faftened to the fledges, they frequently as they run feize on mouth- fuls of inow ; and as foon as releafed thev roll amid the fnow, as ours are wont to do in the grafs : they pais the night as frequently in the yard as the liable, even in the fharpeft frolts : they frequently are in want of food, particularly when the winter is very long ; the horfes then go and forage for themfelves in places where the fnow has begun to thaw. 3 No 295 outhier's journal of a voyage to the no:^th. Not fo with the cows ; in the villages along the rivers they go to no diflance from the houfes to which they are daily taken to be milAed. At Torneo, in the fummer, there are few cows brought to the town : during rainy years, when the ilthmus of Nara Is overflowed by the river, they can only reach it by fu'iniming ; on this account many of the burghers have (heds on the weflern banks of the river, fouth of Mattila, to which their wives and maids go by water to milk them ; they are fmall, almoft all white, and many without horns. By then our bdats had got up the cataraft Waojenna, it was ten o'clock in the morn- ing : we re-embarked, and took fliclter from a very heavy rain at two o'clock at Alkula. We arrived at night at M. Brunius's, where as ufua! we were received in the mod gra- cious manner. Saturday morning, the eighth, after taking tea, which is much the praflice in the better houfes of the country, and eating our breakfafl:, we fet oft" for Pello with only four boats : the conduftor of the fifth could not accompany us ; he was a corporal, and had received order to be at a certain place to attend the exercife of the foldiers. At eight o'clock at night we arrived at Turtula, that is to fay, to the houfe of Martila, where we alwavs took up our abode. We left it on Sunday, the ninth, at feven o'clock, and pro- ceeded to dine on the rock of Pello Pyta : there was a fog, and very cold north wind ; we made a good fire, for wood in this country is nowife fcarce. At length, at three o'clock, we arrived at Pello, where we all met together, except M. Herbelot, who was employed at Torneo on forae drawings he had to finifh. M. Camus had been a fortnight at Pello ; he had been alone before joined by Meflrs. Clairaut and Monnier, who accompanied the fextant with all the inftruments. M. Camus in that time had got ready for us two apartments in the houfe of Corten Niemi, one of which was intended for obfervations on the fimple pendulum, and to fix a telefcope in, to re- gulate them by the motion of the fixed ftars. M. Camus, for that purpofe, had caufed the floor of the apartment to be cut, in order to erect a fhaft of flone on which to fix the telefcope, and hang the fimple pendulums : there remained therefore no more than one room for fleeping at Corten Niemi. He had provided two others in the houfe of Purainen, about one hundred and fifty toifes from the other : one of thefe apartments was occupied by Meflrs. Clairaut, Le Monnier, and Celfius ; the other by M. de Mau- pertuis and myfelf. In the houfe of Saukola we fliould have been much nearer to Mount Kittis ; but it belonged to a poor man who had not a fingle room fit for us. M. Camus bought of him his cotta, that is, a fort of pavilion higher than the other parts of the houfe, and larger at the top than the bottom : at the top there is ufually a long pole with a wea- ther-cock. In this cotta it is that fnow is melted and water warmed to give to the cattle during the winter : fome make their brandy in it from grain. M. Camus bought this cotta then, and had it taken to pieces, and afterwards carried and put together again on the mountain, where it fervcd as an obfervatory to place the fextant in, and to take the difl ances of fome liars froni the zenith. We had the convenience of a forge at Corten Niemi ; although not in very good condition, it was ufeful to us ; we even forged feveral pieces of iron work for which we had occafion. Monday morning, the tenth, we employed a great number of workmen, the horfes were returned to their homes : thofe of our two hofls were ufed in drawing upon fledges the cafes which contained the parts of our fextant : a fmall obfervatoi-y was be- gun, quite new, prccifely over the point of the laft of our triangles, to take there the diredion of the meridian, and to fix a pendulum. The following days thefe different works were continued ; every one worked at the part afligned him j all was in motion 5 at OUTHIER S JOURNAL OP A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. ICjf at Corten Niemi, and on the mountain : the fliaft of ftone was finifhed, and fecured with clamps } the fixed telefcope was fet up, and an excellent pendulum of Julien Lc Roi was in its place, on Thurfday night, the thirteenth. The two hift nights there had been an abundance of rain ; this was remarkable, for a very beautiful aurora borcalis, whofe ftrcams of light formed at times a vault, gufhing upwards from every fide, and joining at the zenith : inccflantly they changed their fhape ; in every quarter frcfh ones were thrown out, lefs however in the north than in the other divifions of the {ky. Friday, the fourteenth, was one of thofe grand prayer-days, of which tlie King of Sweden obliges the inhabitants to keep four in the year : on them they do no miuinpr of work: they are obliged to fend one from every family to church, though it fhould be thirty miles diftant, that is to fay, fixty leagues. Five families, however, in the vil- lage of Pello are exempted, for fear of accidents happening from fire, or any other caufe ; and each inhabitant in his turn fucceeds to the exemption. At church the names of thofe who attend are regiftered, and there are penalties for fuch families as are ab- fent without fatisfaftory reafon : on thefe days they remain very long at chuixh. At Ofwer Torneo there were two fuccefllve fermons, and the people were in church from nine or ten in the morning until three in the afternoon. Saturday, the fifteenth, a man coming from Wardhus, M. Celfius had a long con- verfation with him : if we had had nothitig elfe to do than to fatisfy our curiofity, he would have created in us a defire to vifit a country ftill colder and more defart than that which we were in. There came fome Laplanders, moft frightful figures, to aik charity of us, crying all the time : they came in without tapping at the door, entering our apart- ment without ceremony ; and whatever they faid, we could only comprehend the word Jefou Chriflou, which they repeated pretty often. Some girls of the village who were betrothed came with their mothers, to beg a few pieces of money towards celebrating their nuptials. As we paid our workmen well, in fo poor a country, it caufed a high opinion of our opulence. M. Camus had provided a cafe of drugs and medicuies for our voyage ; this made him efteemed throughout the country fome famous phyfician. A girl who had fallen ill at Torneo, fent an exprefs to Pello to confult him on her com- plaint, and to requefl the proper remedies : he anfwered with fo much gravity, that ihe certainly would be cured if all that were wanted in the cure were to ftrike the imagina- tion. Thefe little adventures added to the gaiety which we conftantly enjoyed in midft of our operations. The (ky was cloudy, and we had not hitherto been able to obfcrve by ourfixed tele- fcope the paffage of a ftar : neverthelefs the obfervatories were ready on Kittis. Sunday afternoon, the fixteenth, we placed the fextant in the grand obfervatory ; the weather continued heavy with a little rain the reft of the day, and all Monday, the feventeenth, and Tuefday morning, the eighteenth. Tuefday afternoon it began to be fine, and Meffrs. de Maupertuis, Clairaut, Somme- reux, and myfelf, went to take a walk ; at night the iky being clear, we obferved the paflage of the bright part of the Eagle over the threads of the fixed telefcope, which was faftened to the ftone ftiaft. We had fixed another telefcope againll the planks of wood, which ferved as a wall to the apartment ; but we very foon perceived that the wood gave, and that no reliance could be placed on the obfervations made with this telefcope. During the night there were auroras boreales, and it froze. Wednefday, the nine- teenth, the weather changed, the wind got round to the fouth, it was inilty, with an appearance of fnow. It rained very hard during the night, fo that no opportunity off"ered of obferving an ecHpfe of the moon : we only began at a quarter paft four on VOL. I. y Q Thurfday 298 outhier's journal or a voyage to the north. Thurfday morning, the twentieth, to fee the moon, which was then entirely ech'pfed ; it was very feebly diflinguiflied, perhaps owing to the twih'ght ; at a quarter part five it had not begun to pafs the fhadow of the earth, and finking below the horizon, it was again concealed by clouds. We continued to work at what related to the obfervations which we had to make : we went to place in the little obfervatory on the mountain a pendulum which Mr. Gra- ham had fent, with the fextant. In the fame obfervatory an inftrument was placed for taking the direftion of the meridian. From the time of the fextant being put up, fome one of us had flept every night in the great obfervatory, in order that the inftruments might not be deranged or fpoilt. The inhabitants began to bathe frequently : their bath is fo hot that M. de Mauper- tuis, who wiflied to try it, found that the thermometer of Reaumur rofe to 44° above the freezing point. In their baths they have a kind of ftove, exaftly refembling that which I defcribed as in ufe among them for drying their corn ; it is as well placed in the corner of the chamber. When the block of ftone which forms it becomes well heated, they throw water upon it, and the fleam from this water makes their bath : they gene- rally go in two together, each holding a handful of twigs, with which they whip each other to excite perfpiration. I have feen very old men at Pello go out of a bath quite naked, and violently fvveating, and pafs acrofs a court through the frofty air, without receiving any injury from it. At Corten Niemi, and in the houfe of every farmer at all of eafy circumftances, befides the room defigned for the bath, they have another larger, wherein there is a ftove : two or three little fquare holes, of fix inches wide, ferve for windows ; here the family fleep during the winter. In the day-time the men work at mending their nets for the fifhery, or making new ones ; the women few, or weave cloth : they are, as it were, in a hot-houfe in thefe rooms, which are called Porti, or Pyrti. Small flips of deal, exceeding thin, two or three feet long, which they light, ferve them inflead of lamp or candle : thefe flips of wood, which are very dry, burn well, but do not laft long ; the wick which falls off on its being confumed, is received into difhes of fnow, to prevent danger from fire. Thurfday night we were yet troubled with fome of thofe vexatious fmall flies. At night the fky overcafl: ; and Friday morning, the twenty-firft, a quantity of fnow fell until ten o'clock ; afterwards the weather became ferene : we took advantage of it to afcend the mountain, in order to obferve the direftion of the meridian, and to fix the fextant in that direftion. All night long the weather was ferene ; there was not how- ever any aurora borealis ; the wind north, with a froft. The fine weather continued all day, Saturday, the twenty-fecond ; we paffed it on the mountain taking correfponding heights of the fun, to regulate the pendulum, and defcribing a meridian with a Itretched thread in the great obfervatory, to prove the pofition of the fextant in the line of the meridian. We had placed in the fmall obfervatory an indrument, for the purpofe of having th9 diredion of the meridian with refpeft to the triangles ; it was placed exaftly at the point of the laft triangle. The telefcope of this inftrument being pointed to the fun at noon, or to a flar on its pafling the meridian, was lowered vertically, and gave on the horizon a point, between which and PuUingi and Nicmi we obferved the angles. We repeated this obfervation fcvcral times during our ftay at Pello. The fine weather con- tinued all night ; there were aurorie borealcs, and it froze harder than on the preced- ing night. Sunday, the twenty-third, notwithflanding the north wind, and the cold continued, it was very cloudy. Monday morning, the twenty-fourth, the north wind incrcafed ; a large outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. 299 large quantity of fnow fell, which however began to thaw before night. The bad wea- ther continued throughout Tuefday, the twcnty-fifth : at times it fnowed, at others it rained ; all our attention was occupied in preventing the penetration of the fnow, which the wind drifted through the fmallefl: crevice, from being of any injury to the inftru- ments upon the mountain. When we left Torneo we did not expeft to meet with fuch bad weather ; and as there was not any great likelihood of its changing, M. dc Maupertuis fent two fervants to Torneo for provifions, that is to fay, for flour and brandy, with bed-clothes and rein- deers' fkins, which the feverity of the cold began to render neceflary. We occupied ourfelves varioufly during the bad weather ; we got up barometers and proved them, as well as the thermometers, and made places for our obfervations on gravity, with tho different fimple pendulums which we had brought from Paris. There was fome appearance of fine weather during the night, and the next day, Wed- nefday, the twenty-fixth. We were always anxioufly looking for fine weather, in order to profit by it immediately : for this purpofe Meflrs. de Maupertuis and Celfius pafled the night on the mountain ; M. Le Monnier the following night ; but we had con- ftantly cloudy weather, although it was ice-cold, and were unable to make any obfer- vation with the fextant, or take the paflage of the bright part of the Eagle by the fixed telefcope, to make ufe of in our experiments on the fimple pendulums. The weather, fo continually adverfe, gave us much uneafinefs. We had chofen $ of the Dragon as the moft proper fiar for the obfervation of the fextant : it pafled the meridian near enough to the zenith, at the moft fuitable hcui', to be again obferved at Torneo ; but we were under continual apprehenfion of not finifliing our obfervations at Kittis fufficiently in time : in the interval, we were approaching the period when we fliould be flopped, not only by our obfervations, but alfo by the ice in the river, which in the beginning of winter, and frequently for a long time ferves as an impediment to all navigation, but is not fufficiently ftrong to bear fledges. This difficulty became fo much the more ferious for us, from our having to tranfport tliither the fextant, the foot of which alone was extremely heavy. Had the weather been tolerably favourable, and left us without inquietude about the fuccefs of our operations, our refidence at Pelio would have been pleafant enough. We formed a fociety very much attached to each ofher, had comfortable apartments, confidering the country, and had on the banks of the river walks as plea- fant as they werereclufe : beer, brandy, and water from the river, fupplied the place of wine ; and if fome things wei'e wanting, we had a fuperfluity of others. To-day tu o dozen of fat moor-game were brought us, which coft us no more than two fous each, which was however much more than what the inhabitants of the country were wont to pay ; we frequently alfo had woodcocks and hares. M. Brunius came to fee us ; and fome days after, M. Antilius, chaplain of Kengis, who had been preceptor to M. Hclant our interpreter ; he flaid two days with us at Pello : he fhewed us his Lapland almanac; it was a piece of wood, two feet long, with different charaftcrs engraved on its four faces ; it was ornamented at top by a little plate of filvcr, and at bottom with a very long iron ferrel, badly made : he gave to M. Camus a loaditone, armed, but very weak : he brought us in his boat from Kengis beer, poultry, and barley-bread fpiced. M. dc Maupertuis prefented him with feveral bottles of excellent French brandy. We had the comfort of receiving news from France alinoft every week, for the poft arrives weekly at Torneo ; and although we were thirty leagues dillant, our letters were quicklv delivered. Q Q 2 IIoIt 3C0 outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. Holy Thurftiay, the twenty-feventh, at night, the barometer got up a line ; the fky always covered with the fame north wind, but lefs cold during the day, fo that the fnow was nearly all melted. It froze again during the night 5 and at lengtn on Saturday, the twenty-ninth, we had clear weather. We pafled all the morning on the mountain, verifying the pofition of the fextant in the line of the meridian, and regulating the pendulum of Mr. Graham by correfpond- ing heights, in the little obfervatory where it was placed. I began in the apartment where the ftone fhaft was, to obferve the vibrations of a fimple pendulum : it was a bar of well-polilhed iron, fomewhat thicker below than at the top, where it was open, and fufpended on a pivot of fteel, made like a knife. I compared the vibrations of this fimple pendulum with the vibrations of an excellent fecond pendulum of M. Julien Le Roi, placed in the fame apartment, and which was re- gulated by the fixed ftars. At night we obferved the pafling of the bright part of the Eagle by the fixed tele- fcope ; but we were not yet able to make any obfervation with the fextant ; we only fitted it more exaftly in the line of the meridian. It was very cold in the night. Sun- day morning, the thirtieth, the thermometer was eight degrees below the freezing point, and the edges of the river were frozen the thicknefs of ten lines. It was very fine all day ; but at night cloudy with fnow, which continued on Monday, the firit of Oftober. I had gone on with my obfervations on the fimple pendulum : on Monday M. de Mau- pertuis came to continue them with me, and went to the mountain in the evening, where he remained all night with Meflrs. Monnier and Celfius : they pafied all Tucfday, the fecond, there as well, which was a tolerably fine day, and at length began to take obfervations with the fextant. It had not thawed throughout the day, notwithftanding the fun was out for fome time, ftill we did not much feel the cold. The following night it was fo extreme, that the river was frozen almolt to the middle by Wednesday morning, the third ; at the edges the ice was from fourteen to fifteen lines thick. Scarcely a night paffed without auroras boreales. Game and birds became every day more plen- tiful : we faw large flocks of ducks on the river } and frequently heard the cry of cranes and florks as they flew over us. M. de Maupertuis came in the morning from the mountain to the apartment of the flone fliaft, where I was, continuing experiments on the fimple pendulums during the time of the flay of the others of our party on the mountain, occupied with their obfer- vations. M. de Maupertuis divided his attention between one and the other. This evening he received a letter from M. de Maurepas, which he communicated to us ; it was highly complimentary in what regarded us. The weather was Itill cold, and although cloudy, it never failed to freeze at night. Thurfday, the fourth, it was more mild, and very fine, and at night we made our ob- fervations as well as we could defire : M. de Maupertuis, M. Camus, and myfelf, that on the bright part of the Eagle with the fixed telefrope ; and Meflrs. Clairaut, Le Mon- nier, and Celfius, that on the ftar S of the Dragon, with the fextant. The two follow- ing days, the fifth and fixth, it continued fine, and we again made the fame obfervations. At the fextant we always obferved three together, and not every day the three fame perfons : one counted the pendulum, and another attended to the micrometer, while the perfon obferving through the tekfcope moved it backward or forward by the mi- crometer without looking to it, before he faw the flar cut by the thread of the telefcope, and pals through its whole fcope. Sunday, the fevcnth, the weather continued fine; but unfortunately during the ob- fervation a motioa was communicated to the fextant, which made us fufpicious of error. INIondav, outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. 3or Monday, the eighth, ftill fine weather ; the obfervation at night was perfc£lly mado: the cold iiicreafed, and the ice in the river, which had thawed, appeared again. Tuef- dav, the ninth, was cloudy. Wednefday, the tenth, fine, and our ohfervations were very well made ; but time now no longer allowed of more, and M. de Maupcrtuis was per- feftly fatisfied with them already made. All thofe by the fextant gave the fame diftance of the flar S of the Dragon from the zenith, within two or three feconds. The difl'erent obfervations on the fimple pendulums had alio been made with all polFible care, but did not give the fame refult to equal nicety. Two of thefe pendulums were bars of iron well poliflied ; one cylindrical turned ; the other lozenge-fhaped with four fides : three others of thefe pendulums were made with a ball of brafs, filled with lead, flrongly foldered to a rod of fteel, at the end of which it was fufpended upon two knives. Wednefday night, when 1 returned to Corten Niemi to Purainefe, I found M. de Mau- pcrtuis come back from the mountain, who acquainted me with the refult of the obfei'va- tions on the fimple pendulums, and told me he was defirous that at leaft one of the ball pendulums, inllead of being fufpended on two knives, fliould be hung on a ring, or rather a fimple fliaft fixed at the extremity of the rod of the pendulum : this, on the next day, I efFeded ; in returning from one fide to the other, its motion was more uniform than it had been when hung on two knives. I took away the ball from another of thefe pendulums, and fubftituted a lentil, in order to determine whether the refiftance of the air being lefs, there would not be a diflerence in the movements of the pendulum j there did not appear to be any. Thurfday, the eleventh, the weather had become very mild ; but there was a thick fog, which ended in rain ; and afterwards there was nothing but a fucceffion of fog and rain : if at any time fome Ihort intervals of clear weather occurred, they never happened at fuch hours as were feafonable for our obfervations. Any man, except M. de Mau- pertuis, would have been fatisfied with thofe we had already made, as well with the fextant as the fimple pendulum ; he however wiflied to wait for a return of fine weather, to repeat them. We had now reached the twentieth of Oftober, without any appearance of it ; the barometers rofe feveral lines, and notwithftanding we had conti- nually either fogs, rain, or fnow, which melted as it fell. In cafe the weather fliould become clear, the feafon being far advanced, we ran great rilk of being detained at Pello at lead for a month : there would have been a froll fufficiently fharp to freeze the river ; and as long as this remained without becoming much more fevere, the ice would have prevented the navigation of the river, without being fufficiently hard to bear fledges. Befides, it was defirable to fuffer as fliort an interval as pofTible to elapfe between the obfervations made at Pello and thofe to be made at Torueo. All Saturday, and Sunday, the twenty. firil, was pafled in deliberating on what fliould be done ; and at lafl:, the bad weather ftill continuing, we determined on going. Mon- day motning, the twenty-fecond, we went up the mountain and took down the fextant and all the initruments, which kept us employed till five in the evening, when we re- turned to Corten Niemi. Tuefday morning, the twenty-third, the fextant, part of the fimple pendulums, the pendulum of M. Le Roi, and alniofl: all the inftruments, were put on board five boats; Mefl"rs. Camus and Celfius embarked at the fame time, to fall down to Torneo, and prepare there a proper place to fix the fextant in, and to make obfervations upon it. On arriving at Ofvver Torneo they took frefh boats, and fent back the five they took from Pello : Meffrs. Clairaut and Le Monnier fet off the next day in the afternoon with three of thefe boats. We fliould have departed together, but the prcfence of all of us at Torneo was not indifpeijfable during the preparation of a place for, and fixing the 5 fextant j 302 outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. fcstant ; and M. de Maupertuis was yet defirous of making, for two days longer, fomt^ experiments on the fimple pendulums. We continued therefore thofe which we had before begun ; but as the weather was flill bad, and we could make no obfervations with the fixed telefcope, to afcertain the motion of the pendulum of Mr. Graham, which we had referved ; M. de Maupertuis, fearful of being detained too long a time, if the river fliould happen to be frozen, refolved on our departure the next day. He wiHied to make experiments of gravity without interruption by the pendulum of Mr. Graham, which for fome days back we had placed in the apartment of the ftone fliaft : we there- fore left it at Pello, with the other fimple pendulums which had not been tried, defign- ing to come back in a fledge during the winter, when we were given to underftand we might expeft a very ferene fky. Friday, the twenty-fixth, Meffrs. de Maupertuis, Sommersux, Helant, and myfe!', embarked for Torneo : we dined at Hyougfing, in the houfe where we had been fo well received the thirtieth of July, and by night reached the houfe of M. Brunius. The failors which brought us from Pello knew the danger to which they were expofed, by being at any great diflancc from home at fuch a feafon : they were apprehenfive, it the frofl: began, of being ftopped by the ice on the river on their return ; on which account they befought us to take others for the continuation of our voyage. We took four at Ofvver Torneo, and departed early on Saturday morning, the twenty-feventh. We dined at Coifwunkyla, at a friendly farmer's, whofe nephew, then in the houfe with him, fpoke Latin. M. de Maupertuis made him dine with us; and we were looked upon with great curiofity by all the family. We did not land to go down the catarafi: Waojenna, which was frightful, as much from the contrary wind, as the great abundance of water ; for many years the river had not been fo much fwollen at that feafon. The cataraft Macka was fo flroncc and impetuous, that not only did we land, but the failors themfelves were obliged to unload their boats, to can-y their loading along the bank of the river, for the fpaceof from one hundred to one hundred and fifty toifes, and afterwards to pull their boats afliore, and drag them the fame diftance, to launch them again into the water below the c:»'araft : there they loaded them afrefli, and we embarked. We reckoned upon fleeping at Tohi- wolan Sari, where we had before flept on the third of September ; but at five o'clock getting dark, and the bad weather continuing, we landed at the houfe of Frankila, be- longing to a very hofpitable farmer, where we fared pretty well : we flept there, as ufual, fome on benches, fome on tables, and others on the floor. Sunday morning, the twenty-eighth, the fky became ferene, and our watermen, fearful of cold and ice, fet off with us a long time before day-light : they would not allow us to remain in the boats at the cataraft of Kukula, below which we again went on board. We favv a number of fwans on the banks of the river. We pafl'ed over the ifthnms of Nara in our boats, where the waters of the river formed a little catarad, entirely furrounding with water the town of Torneo. M. Pi])ing, the burgomafler, could fpare us no more than four apartments, one of which was required for ourfervants : we were very well able to bear with being a little flraitened for room, where we pafl'ed a few days only at his houfe ; but now having to pafs the winter at Torneo, we fouglit to lodge more comfortably. Inltcad therefore of landing at M. Piping's, at his houfe of Nara, at the village of Mattila, we advanced far- ther with our boats, and landed pretty nigh the town-houfe, and proceeded to the houfe of a citizen, who had provided for us a dining-parlour and two bed-rooms, which Meflrs. Le Monnier and Celfius chole for themfelves : Mellrs. Canms and Herbelot lodged in the fame ftreet, with a M. Planftron : M. Clairaut lodged at M. Creuger's ; and M. de 4 Maupertuis OOTIIIER S JOURNAL OF A VOYAGK TO THE NORTH.- ^CJ Maupertuis with a M. Piping, a relation of the burgomafler. M. Helant went to his father's, at the fouthern extremity of the town. There were then only M. Sominereux and myfelf unaccommodated. M. de Maupertuis found a fpare room at the houfe of his hoft for M. Sommereux, with whom he had frequent bufinefs, as he flood in tlie double capacity of fecretary and treafurer. M. Herbelot, who had flopped at Torneo, and knew the town, took me to Mad. Tornbcry's, mother-in-law of M. Rokman, the furgeon : I there found an apartment which was very quickly put in order, and where I lodged during the whole of my refidence at Torneo. All the others were in the fame ftreet, along the margin of the water ; I alone was in the fecond ftreet, but di- redly oppofite to M. de Maupertuis' lodgings, a back door of which led into my flreet. Torneo is a little town, of about feventy houfes, which are all built of wood : there are three parallel ftreets, extending from north to fouth, a little towards the turning at the bank of a branch of the river, which is nothing but a bay during the fummer, when the town is not entirely furrounded by water; thefe three principal ftreets are crofTed by fourteen lanes. The church, which alfo is of wood, is fomewhat feparated from the houfes, although within the palifades which furround the town, and which as well in- clofes a fpace of ground which is cultivated, of rather confiderable extent. In this church the prayers are read in the Swedifh language, on account of the burghers, who fpeak that language. The town and this church are fituated in an iiland or peninfula, called Swentzlar. There is another church, built with ftone, in another ifland, called Biorckholm, a quarter of a mile to the fouth of the town : here the fen'ice is read in the Finnifii language, for the benefit of the fervants of the town and the peafantry of the neighbourhood ; very few of whom underftand the Swedifh. The houfe of the reO:or is near the fecond church, and he is unable to go to the city, except by a boat, or over the ice. In 1737, there were befides three curates or chap- lains, who aflifted the rector, and preached or read the fervice Ibmetimes : they all dwelt to the weft of the river, and came to town over the ice in winter, and in fummer in boats, to avoid the greater length of road by Nara. One of thefe chaplains was di- rector of the fchools, and came every day to town ; it was M. Viguiliers, of whom I have fpoken, and who came very frequently to fee us. All the houfes in town as well as country have a large court, inclofed at leaft on two fides by apartments, and on the two others by ftables and hay fheds. In the country thefe courts are perfetJUy fquare ; in town they are oblong. The flecping-rooms have the chimney in the corner, as was the cale in all of ours : the chim- noy-places are no more than from two feet and a half to three feet wide, by four or four feet and a half high. Above the chimney-piece there is a very narrow horizontal flit, in which a plate of iron is inferted, called Spihel, in order to fliut the funnel of the chimney entirely, or in part, at will. When they make a fire, the wood is placed upright in fulTiciently large quantity, and as foon as lighted it is fpeedily reduced to charcoal j the fpihel is then fhut, and a de- gree of heat proportionate to their wifli is communicated to the apartment. In my room I made the thermonieter of Reaumur rife to thirty-fix degrees above the freezing point, at a time when the glafTes of my windows were covered with ice. A candle placed in a candleftick near the window became fo foft, that it bent and fell. In the country, the bed-rooms and the kitchen are made pretty nearly in the fame manner as in town ; the chimneys are made of brick and unhewn ftoncs, which is the only mafon's work known in the counti7 : frequently under the fame chimney-flue, near the fire in the kitchen, they have an oven for baking bread ; and fometimes an alembic for diftilling brandy from barley. Beyond 304 outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. Beyond Torneo, in going up the river, every count)7man has a kind of pavilion, which they call Cotta, larger at top than at the bottom, and higher than the i"eft of the houfe, at top of which, at the end of a long pole, is a weather-cock. Clofetothe window of the cotta, without the houfe, there is a well ; through the window the water is made to pafs into cauldrons, where it is heated, and where fnow for the cattle is fometimes thawed; occafionally as well they make their brandy there. Moreover they have their granaries, which are feveral fmall apartments feparate from the houfe, their baths, their rooms for drying and threfhing their barley, fomevvhat refembling their baths ; and befides, their kitchen, and room called Pyrti, of which I have before fpoken : ordinarily they have two very decent rooms for ftrangers, to whom they always offer the belt in every thing. The burghers in town,'no more than the country people, ufe above one blanket on their beds, a coverlid of white hare-fkin ferves inftead of a fecond. Many of thefe farmers have filver forks, large fpoons, and goblets ; with thofe who are lefs rich they are of wood : they are kind, ftudious of making themfeives ferviceable, and perfeftly honefl. I faid before that every farmer had his magazines ; the greater part of thofe of Tor- neo are along the fide of the river. This magazine is a room built of wood, like the others, but raifed from the ground ; many even placed over the water, on four or fix blocks of ftone, to keep away rats : they get up to them by a wooden ladder, which is divided from the door by the fpace of a foot. It is in this room that they inclofe a good part of their provifion. Thole who are in eafy circumflances have feveral of thefe ma- gazines. They are forbid having many coats of the feme colour : they are not allowed to wear any cloth coat which is not marked in the folds with the King's fignet ; any venturing to do fo would have it feized. There are officers whofe duty it is to go from houfe to houfe to fee if the chimney-places are properly kept ; if they have a lanthorn ; in Ihort, if every thing be in proper order. They are forbidden alfo, under a penalty of fifteen hundred dollars, being prefent at the niafs of the Catholics, to whom the laws of the kingdom only permit the exercife of their religion in clofed apartments. They fcafon all their meats with fugar, faftron, ginger, lemon and orange-peel, and mix cummin in all their bread. The ordinary drink is beer, which they make very good : they have a little white wine at Torneo, which they call Vin de Picardon : all red wines they call Pontadle. Many country people know nothing of red wine : fome of thofe who followed us to the mountains, feeing us drink of it, imagined we were drinking the blood of the fheep we had bought of them. Along the river there are houfes from fpace to fpace, a certain number of which, although very widely difperfed, make up a village. All thofe from Torneo, to a fpot beyond the cataraft of Waojenna, belong to the parifli of that town ; and all north of the cataracl to that of Ofvver Torneo, that is to fay. Upper Torneo. In this parifh of Upper Torneo there are as well two churches : the chief at Sarki Lulhti, where the reftor Brunius lives ; the other at Hieta Niemi, where fervicc is fome- times performed, for the convenience of thofe parifliioncrs at too great a dilfance from the principal church. Befides thefe, there is a chapel at Kengis, with a chaplain, who does the duty of the re£tor. The villages the mofl; apart are Turtula and Pello : at the firft are only nine houfes ; at Pello are feventeen, nine or ten of which are nearly con- tiguous to each other. At Pello the ninth of September there was rye already up, very green and promifing. They cultivate the land with (hovels and fpades alone, and know nothing ot cither ploughs or carts. The fecond of Odobcr, as the earth was much frozen, they fullered their outhier's journal of a voyage to tiik north.. 305 their horfcs to graze this fine r)'e. They fow barley at the earlicfl: in May, but generally in Jiuio, and it is ripe in the beginning of Augull, as well as the rye ; they then reap it with a fickle, the fame as in France. All the barley is round-eareil, and makes a very w'cll-talted bread. The inhabitants have near their houfes long poles, placed horizon- tally into holes made in two or three upright beams ; the whole forms a kind of ladder, very wide, on which they expofe their barley to the rays of the fun, during the remainder of the month of Auguit, while it yet appears for fome time above the horizon : when the feafon is adverfe, they take them into the rooms fet apart for threfhing ; they place them on large ladders, with the ears downwards, fo that birds, not being able to perch on them, fliould do them no damage. 1 heir harrows are contrived very ingenioudy ; they are compofed of fmall pieces of wood, which are faftened together very much in the manner of certain chains made for watches : there are feveral ranges of thefe pieces, each range confifting of twelve ; the firfl; rank hung entirely upon two crofs pieces, to which the harncfs is I'attened, by which the horfe dravis. In all the country through v.hich we paffed fcarcely any other trees w^ere feen but fir and birch. In the iflands of the Gulph of Bothnia there grows a tree refembling the acacia ; it bears bunches of white flowers, which turn to berries of a very lively red : there arc a number of thcfe trees in the cliurch-yard of Torneo ; no ufe is made of their fruit. A little to the fouth of Torneo, in Welt-bothnia, a tree is met with, of a mid- dling fize: fome of them have leaves which refemble thofe of the pear-tree; others refembling cherry leaves : this tree bears bunches of white tlowers ; it is called Eque. At Torneo, and even beyond Uhma, there are no fruit trees ; we did not find either black or white thorn, nor even bramble : ftrawberries however grow even north of Torneo, wijh fome currants, and wild rofes. North of Torneo no rafpberries are met with : they have yet however a good fort of fruit which they call Ocrubeus ; it is be- tween a rai'pberry and a ftrawberry, and of afize between both ; Its leaf reiembles that of a rafpberry ; its height is inconfiderable ; its ftem woody ; it bears a red flower, wliich turns to a red fruit, pleafing to the tafl:e. In fome of the iflands of the Gulph white-flowered ocrubeus are met with ; they bear five or fix white flowers on the fame ftalk, very much like the rafpberry ; while the red-flowered ocrubeus has feldom more than one flower on each flalk. They have alfo fome other fruits : the hiouteron, a fort of mulberry ; its ftem refem- bles that of the ocrubeus, five or fix inches high, and its fruit, on ripening, becomes yellow : it is found in marfhes and meadows. In dry places, in the woods, lingen is met with ; it grows on a fmall plant, whofe leaves are like box ; the ftems, after creep- ing in nearly the fame manner as verenica, for four or five inches, lift themfelves up, and bear at their extremities a bunch of very pretty bell-fliaped flowers, of a purple co- lour, which in autumn produce i-ed berries, a little four; the flavour like that of our barberry : this fruit, notwithflanding its fliarpnefs, frequently iuclofes a finall worm. The blober is another fruit of this country ; it is a fmall black berry, which is often met with in different places of Normandy, and in the mountains of Franche Compte. That of the north is of two kinds : one is at mofl: but five or fix inches high, the leaves of a bright green, and the fruit of a fine black ; the other is above a foot high, and has the leaves and fruit fomewhat of an afli colour : both one and the other have leaves fimilar to thofe of the myrtle. Befides fir and birch, there are fome fallows, and here and there afpins, very high and ftraight. VOL. I. R R In 3c6 octhier's journal of a voyage to the north. In the meadows is feen a kind of narcififiis, very pretty ; the leaf is thick, and like that of clover ; it is called Sceptrum Carolinum, and known to the French botanifls by the fame name. We favv a fmall lily of the valley, much lefs than ours, whofe leaf was heart-fhaped. They have alio pirola, golden rod, cudweed, or goldy locks, and a plant with long leaves, whofe root has two bulbs ; it bears, on a lofty ftem, a bunch of hood- fhaped flowers ; they ai-e not handfome, but have exaftly the fame fmell as honeyfuckle. There is befides, a fort of ferpent's tongue, or herb without partition, a great quantity of fmall flirubs, which they call fmall broom ; mofl of the marflies are full of them. Monday, andTuefday, the twenty-ninth, after our arrival at Torneo, were employed in putting the obfervatory in order, where the fextant was to be placed. M. Hellander, the hoft of Meflrs. Le Monnier and Celfius, and at whofe houfe we dined, had a room, like the cotta before defcribed, which was very fit for our purpofe. We dug into the ground beneath it to fix the more firmly fome large ftones, on which, as a bafe, we were to place the fextant : we opened the cieling of this room, as we had before done with that of Pello ; and M. Stenols, a Swede, fent into that country to vifit the mines, made a pull, of very ingenious contrivance, to lift with eafe, and quickly, the covering of the opening of the roof, when it was neceflary to make an obfervation. Wednefday, the thirtieth, the fky being clear, we haftened to place the fextant. Meflrs. Le Monnier and Celfius had already marked the direftion of the meridian in our new obfervatory : we verified it anew ; and in the evening the fextant was ready, fo ihat we made an obfervation on the ftar S of the Dragon, which we had obferved at Pello. We moved the fextant, but in the flightefl: manner imaginable, to place it more exaftly in the line of the meridian ; and we continued taking obfervations every day, the fair weather continuing to the feventh of the next month. The weather was fine, but very cold, and Thurfday, the firft of November, the river was entirely frozen over between the town and Hapa Niemi : no one however pafled over as yet upon the ice ; but the waters having fomewhat fubfided, people pafled from ftone to ftone to the ifthmus of Nara. We faw ourfelves now eftabliflied in the town for all the winter ; each was obliged to make his own individual arrangements, and at the fame time to attend to whatever concerned the operations and object of our voyage. From the obfervatory, where the fextant was, we could not fee the horizon, nor make any other obfervations than with the fextant. We caufed another fmall obfervatory to be built on the fide of the water, entirely feparated from the houfes of the town : the little Englifli inftrument was placed here, which ferved to take the diredion of the meridian, with a pendulum, and a qua- drant. Meflrs. Le Monnier and Celfius took their correfponding heights, regulated the pendulum, determined the fouth, and a point at the horizon, by the means of which, with the little Englifli inftrument, we always found again the paffage of the ftars over the meridian. We made new barometers : M. de Maupertuis was very careful throughout the winter in noticing their variations, as well as thofe of the thermometers, whether filled with fpirits of wine or mercury, conftru£led upon the principles of M. de Reaumur. Saturday, the third, the ice of the river was ftrong enough to allow of pafling from the town to Hapa Niemi. Sunday, the fourth, M. Sommereux and myfelf crofled it to go to fee M. Viguelius at Iiis houfe of Granwik : we were obliged to make ufe of a boat to go from the fliore to the ice, and again from the ice to land ; a fouth wind had fwcUed the river, by driving up the waters of the gulph, which caufed the ice to break along the fides. The water notwithftanding was much lower than on the twenty-eighth of Odober, when we pafl'ed iji a boat over the ifthmus of Nara j we crofTed it on foot, 5 returning outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. 307 returning from Granwik to the town : it is true, we were obliged to flep from flone to ftone. The ice, owing to the rapidity of the water, was not firm there, although the cold was fo intenfe that our flioes were glued to the flones, upon our waiting only for twenty feconds in the fame place. M. Marilius, a furveyor, arrived from Stockholm to fee our operations : he was fent by M. Nodelcreutz, direclor of the office eftabliflicd at Stockholm for geography, and charts and maps of the kingdom. It was M. Nodel- creutz who prepared for us in his office the charts of the coafts and iflands of the gulph. The weather continued fine, and obfervations with the fextant were made every day as well as could be vviflied : they were' continued on Monday night, the fifth ; but dur- ing the night it began to fnow. It continued on Tuefday morning, the fixth, and from that time till towards the end of May ; there was neither ice nor earth to be feen, there wlas nothing but fnow. People began travelling in fledges on the rivers and lakes, as if upon land. Orders v, ere iffued, and almofl; as immediately executed, for planting fmall firs on the ice in avenues along all the places through which the road was to go, which is moft ufually made over the ice, as foon as fufficiently llrong, on account of its being more even, and the fhorteft way. They are obliged every year thus to mark the road, without which it would be im- poffible to follow it ; and travellers would frequently be loft in the fnow when increafed to the height of four or five feet. The firft fledges which pafs over the fnow prefs down and harden it : foon other fnow falls, which fills up the road, and which fucceedino- fledges, keeping the fame path, harden anew ; fo that by the middle of winter the fnows which have fallen, or which frequently the winds have drifted into the road, thus har- dened, prefent a kind of highway extremely hard, as high as the reft of the fnow above the ice or ground. Wednefday, the feventh, it was fo cold that the thermometers fell to 20° below the freezing point : in the remarkable year of 1709 it did not fall below 144". This ex- treme cold did not laft long. Thurfday morning, the eighth, it was much milder. Friday, the ninth, and Saturday, the tenth, it thawed ; already a foot and a half of fnow had fallen ; a good part had thawed ; but the ice was not yet fufficiently hard to bear. Sunday morning, the eleventh, the fky was partly clear, and we prepared every thing for obferving the paflTage of Mercury over the diflc of the fun ; but fog fucceeding, we were not able to make the leaft obfervation. The weather became more cold, and it froze very hard till Wednefday night. Monday, the twelfth, was a grand holiday, the feaft of AH Saints, according to old ftile, which is followed by the Swedes : in the morn- ing were two fervices in the church of the town, and one in the afternoon. The laft veflels were not yet returned from Stockholm ; they were expedted with- impatience, and much apprehenfion was entertained for them from the north winds and more rigid frofts, which would freeze the Gulph of Bothnia. It created much joy on Thurfday morning, the fifteenth, to behold the wind turn to the fouth : it con- tinued Friday, the fixteenth, with fnow from time to time, and a beginning of thaw which lafted throughout Saturday, the feventeenth, and Sunday, the eighteenth. The wind was continually fouth, and very violent ; the ice began to be dangerous ; a horfe barnefled to a fledge was drowned, but the men in it were faved. The violence of tht wind threw fo much water from the gulph into the river, that our little obfervatory was already a foot under water : Meflrs. dc Maupertuis, Le Monnier, and myfelf, went in a boat to bring away the quadrant, the pendulum, and the Enghfli inftrument; which however we could not efteft without being up to the knees in water. Mifs Bek, the lady to whom the medicines were fent from Pello, was lately married to Dr. Ervafte ; it was he who preached on Sunday j the fubjeit was the father of a R- R- 2 family 3o8 outhihr's journal of a voyage to th-e north. family calibrating the nuptials of his fon. Monday, the nineteenth, the fame mild wea- ther continued, with a violent v.iml. Thurfday, the twenty-fecond, the interment of a young girl, who died the fourth of the month, took place : fhe was expofed for fifteen days at her mother's, with her face uncovered ; all the inhabitants of the town and neigh- bourhood attended the funeral ; from all quarters people were flocking in fledges, the ice having become firm again, and travelling fafe ; there was only half a foot of fnow. 1 went with M. Camus over the ice to Matila on Friday, the twenty-third, to vifit M. Piping, our firfl; hofl; ; it was fcarcely two o'clock when we faw the fun fet. The (hips which were expelled from Stockholm had arrived pretty near the fliore on Saturday, the feventeenth of the month ; but the ice had prevented their reaching it, and was not ilrong enough to bear on fledges the merchandize they brought ; many of the men had got to the town over the ice ; my holt was one ot the number, and had arrived on Saturday laft. This day, the twenty-fourth, the ice was fufficiently firm, and fome of the goods were brought on fliore: they confilted of grain, rye, rice, cabbages, fait, apples, and fome oranges ; till four days more they did not truil their heavier com- modities to the ice, lefs capable of bearing, and more dangerous on the gulph than what it was in the river. Although the diflierent obfervations made at Torneo and at Pello all agreed to two or three feconds, and though there was no ground for fufpeding any injury to have happened to the inflirument, in its paflTage from Pello to Torneo, particularly as it was tranfported in a boat ; M. de Maupertuis, always as fcrupulous as he had been upon the mountains with refpeft to the obfervations on the angles, thought of nothing but of contriving means for verifying the obfervations made with the fextant. We talked of taking it back to Pello ; but it was refolved, inltead ot this, which was a difficult expe- dient, and would have taken a long time to tranfport it to Mattila, a quarter of a league from Torneo, and obferve whether, after bringing it back and replacing it in the ob- fervatory, fubfequent obfervations made upon the lame fl:ar would have the fame refults, fo proving no alteration in the inflrument. Tuefday, the twcnty-feventh, we got every thing ready in order to obferve as foon as the weather would allow us. We began as well to prepare whatever might be ne- ceflary to us for the meafure of our bafe ; while M. Bruniusgot made at Ofwer Torneo eight large rods, very fl^raight, each five toifes long, with a good number of fupports, according to the idea which we had given him, and which we had entreated him to at- tend to. We lived very comfortably at Torneo. M. Duriez, lieutenant-colonel, the reftor named Proubfl:, that is to fay, priell, anfwering to deans in our diocefes, our ancient holl M. Piping, M. Viguelius, the brother of M. Brunius, made up our general lociety; they were pleafaiit and i'enfible men : as for the rclt, our unanimity and gaiety were fuflicient for making our mode of life agreeable. The inhabitants of the country had conceived a friendlhip for us. M. Helant, our interpreter tor the Finnifh language, in- formed us at dinner on Wcdnefday, the twenty-eighth, that feveral countrymen wiflied to go to France with us, where they faid they would teach our fifliermea how to take f::.lmon. Thurfday, the twenty-ninth, the weather became very mild, the thermometers flood at the freezing point : the wind was fouth, pretty ftrong, and drove the water of the river over the edges of the ice. Saturday, the firlt of December, was fine, and an ob- fervation was made with the fextant. Sunday, the fecond, two Laplanders from Corpikyla came to Torneo, each drawn by a rein-deer. We had never feen thcfe fledges in motion before : the conllrudion of a them outhier's journal of a voyage to the nortji. 309 thftn is fingular, and the Laplanders and Fins made ufe of them with wonderful (kill. 1 fhall fpL'ak. more at large of them at the twenty-fevcnth of December. Monday, the third, was fine, and we made other obfervations whh the fextant. The cold increafed of a fuddcn fo much, that on Tuefday moming, the fourth, the thermo- meter of fpirits of wine was at i8°, and that of mercui-y at 22°, below the freezing point. During the night, and all day on Wedn. fday, the fifth, it fnowed. Thurfday morning, the fixth, we took off the telefcope from the foot of the fextant ; we put it into its box, and caufed ic to be carried to Mattila, and brought back again into the obfervatory. The good people were very much fui"prifcd at this ceremony; they looked upon it in forae meafure as myflerious : fome of them aiked M. Helant how he came not to attend the proceflion of the French ? We replaced the fextant on its pedeftal : that night we made an obfervation which gave the fame elevation to the ftar, and fliewed that the fextant had not fuffered by all the motion given it in the porterage : by a fecond obfervation, made on Saturday, we found dill the fame height for the ftar. Wednefday evening, the feventh, IVJ. Brunius arrived, and was to go back on Friday morning : the rods for the meafure of the bafe were made, as well as the fupports ; but we knew not how to adl. Were we to meafure the bafe now, or defer it until the fpring ? A great deal of fnow had fallen already, and frequently it fnowed ; fometimes even the weather was mild, and it rained, as was the cafe all this day ; all this rendered the work of meafurement very difficult, and very laborious. In putting it off till the fpring, we were fure of having much longer days ; and had a right to expeft that the furface of the fuow, a little melted by the rays of the fun, and afterwards hardened by the froft at night, would make a crult hard enough for us to walk upon, and perform our work with eafe. Many citizens of Torneo advifed us to put off the meafurement till the fpring, when the days would be longer, and the cold lefs ftverc. M. Brunius and fome others gave different advice ; they faid fome confiderable thaw might take place fooner than expefted, and we run the rilk of lofing our meafurements. After confulting among ourfelves, Saturday, the eighth, and Sunday, the ninth, it was refolved that M. Clairaut, M. Celfius, and myfelf, fliould go to the fpot to examine if the operation was then pradicable. We took two fledges, and all three departed, with one fervant, on Monday afternoon, the tenth : we paffed by Mattila and Neder Wojakala, thence we croffed the river to go to change horfes at Ofwer Wojakala ; from which place we proceeded continually among woods as far as Kukula, on the eailern bank of the river, becaufe the ice was not paOable in the cataradts ; ihey were verv rugged there, with large chafms in them in fevcral places. From Kukula we croffed the river again to go to change horfes at Lactilu : we left it at half pad five o'clock, and arrived at three quarters paft fix at Corpikyla, at the houfc of Tepane Piping, where we fupped, flept, and took frefli horlcson Tuefday morning, the eleventh. We paffed on Rill among woods, on the weftern fide of tiie river, and paffed over a fmall lake in the foreft of Taipala. We arrived at Witza Niemi, w hence we went down upon the ice of the river : we paffed before Pekila, near to the church of Hieta Niemi, and from there to Coifwunkyla ; we changed horfes there, and after leaving Niemiil)y, we fol- lowed very near the line of our bafe, as far as Mickolen Sari, whence we proceeded to M. Brunius's, where we arrived at noon. We had a long conference with him on the proje£l we had formed of meafuring our bafe immediately ; he ftrongly advifed it, notwithftanding the dilliculties ftarted by M. Celfius. Monday it was very cold, and ftill more fo on Tuefday. The laft night while we were at Corpikyla, the wood with which the houfes are built cracked with a loud noife, as 2IO outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. as though it was about to fpHt in every diredion. Tuefday evening the weather was milder, it fnowed and fpoiled all the roads, greatly retarding our return. We were however under no apprehenfions of miftaking our road, becaufe it was marked by trees on one fide and the other. We traced the fame road we came by. The road upon the river was perfedly fafe except over the catarads. Above Waojenna and through a good part of its current, there was a confiderable fpace not frozen from which continually a prodigious quantity of vapor arofe, thrown up by the impetuous motion of the water. We arrived at ten o'clock at Torneo : we made our report on the (late in which we found the ice and fnow, and the next day, Thurfday the thirteenth, in the morning, it was refolved to go and meafure. We prepared every thing necef- fary for this work, and every one made his individual arrangements. M. Camus and myfelf departed, Friday the fourteenth, at nine in the morning, to adjuft the rods with which we were to meafure, and trace the line of the bafe. Melfrs. Helant and Herbelot came with us ; we had five fledges, in which we took a quadrant and fome neceflary inftruments, thermometers, files, mallets, and feveral iron works for our meafures. We arrived a little after eight o'clock at the houfe of M. Brunius, where we found one room fhort of our former accommodation ; his fiftcr-in-law, wife of the chaplain of Torneo was on a vifit to him. We managed as well as we could, I had my bed with me, which I laid on a large table. Saturday the fifteenth, and Sunday the fixteenth there was dull weather, and it fnowed occafionally. Monday the feventeenth the weather was fine ; we went to look about the courfe of the bafe ; on the eighteenth we began to fix flakes, and continued our work on Tuefday. Meifrs. de Maupertuis, Clairaut, Monnier, Celfius, and Som- mereux, arrived the fame day, and Tuefday we were all affembled together at the houfe of Mr. Brunius. We had brought from Paris an iron toife well adjufled, by that of Chatelet, with a ftandard of iron as well, into which the toife exaftly entered. Both one and the other were adjufled at Paris, at a time that the thermometers were 14 above o. of Reaumur. Wednesday the nineteenth, we kept them in a chamber of the fame temperament by means of a good fire. We made five toifes of fir, which we armed at each of their extremities with a large round headed nail, filing it away till the toife exadly fitted the flandard. We carried our precifion fo far that a flieet of paper could not enter be- tween the mealures and the ftandard. While we were adjuiting the toifes, beds were prepared for us, and I ceafed from keeping mine on the table. Thurfday the twentieth, while M. de Monnier, and fome others continued fixing flakes along the bafe, Meffrs. Camus and myielf, with the five toifes which we had ad- jufled the day before, had falhioned eight long fir rods of the length of five toifes each. We made for this purpofe a fort of long flandard. We fixed in the apartment a large nail, and another in the porch, at a dilfance fome trifle fliort of five toifes, we placed fupports in a line, forming a kind of fcailbld froin one nail to another, we ranged along them our five toifes end to end very carefully. We then drove our two nails apart, and filed away from them jufl enough to allow of the five toifes, when tliey were clofely joined at their ends to enter between them ; the nails beiiig driven into the wooden walls of the houfe. It was between thefe two large nails that we adjufled our eight rods, as ex- adly as poffible of the length of thirty feet. We proved the length of the five wooden toifes, and afterwards the diltance of thirty feet, between the two largo nails. Wc made ready on Friday the twenty-fir(l to begin our meafuremcnt from the northern fignal. As a great deal of fnow had fallen, eight machines were prepared to clear the road for thofe who raeafured : they were large logs of woods fafleaed together in outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. 31 r in the (hapc of a triangle, drauii by a horfe, with the mofl acute angle foremoft, fo that the fides encreafing to the end, ranged the fnow on both fides. Thoie macliines, each of which was fo heavy that one horfe could fcarcely draw it, did not however fink deep enough into the faow, and had not all the effed, which the country people gave us reafon to expeft, fo that we made no further ufe of them. As foon as we had arrived at the northern extremity of our bafe, between ten and eleven o'clock, we concerted together, to begin exadly at the centre of the fignal, and to go on the ice from the fhore fome toifes diitant from the fignal : we then divided into two parties, each confiding of four meafurers. Each of us had a pencil ; fome made ufe of paper, others hung a flip of board to their neck, on which to mark a (troke with their pencil every time they laid down their rod. We did not truft thefe rods to any of the countiy people, nor even to our fervants ; they only fupported one end of them to help us in carrying them ; one of us always holding the other, and taking care to unite exaftly the nail which ended it, with that at the extremity of the one before. We had the precaution to mark our rods, that they might fucceed in the fame order ; already we had meafured 700 toifes at half paft two, when night coming on, we returned to the houfeof M. Brunius. That day it was exceeding cold; the thermometer was at i8° below the freezing point. While we were upon the bale, M. le Monnier drinking fome brandy out a filver cup, his tongue was glued to it in fuch a manner as to tear off the fkin. Saturday the twenty-fecond it became milder, it fnowed a little till noon ; it did not however interrupt our meafuring ; even till three o'clock, the weather became open, enabling us to fee fufEciently well. Sunday the twenty-third was very mild and clear ; while we were on the bafe at noon, we faw the fun entire, elevated about a quarter of a degree, that is to fay, about lialf its diameter above the horizon, in the direftion of the river ; we faw it as well on Tuefday the twenty-fifth ; it rofe at half-pafl: eleven, and fet half an hour after noon. The weather continued fine and moderate on Monday, Tuefday, and Wednefday. Meflrs. De Cederftrom and Meldecreutz came to fee us meafure, and remained with us Tuefday and Wednefday. Wednefday the tvventy-fixth in the evening the cold increafed ; we all fuffered greatly- Jn returning to M. Brunius's, from which we now proceeded as far as full two French leagues. We got into our fledges, heated by the exercife of meafuring, and proceeded two leagues in this flate without moving our limbs, and expofed to an ex- treme cold ; notwithftanding which none of us was materially injured ; 'tis true M. de Maupertuis had fome of his toes froft nipped ; and I for fome weeks felt pain in my fin- gers ; but this was little to what we had a right to apprehend. Wednefday evening the thermometer was at 15° below the freezing point, and Thurfdayat 25°. On the twenty-feventh, there was yet one part of the bafe to meafure which was not planted with ftakes ; Meflrs. Clairaut and Camus went to fix them, while M. de Mau- pertuis and myfelf undertook a (hort but terrible excurfion. - On taking obfervations of the angles at Avafaxa, we had omitted to take the height of a tree which entered into the angles obferved. This could not caufe any fenfible error in our obfervations, but M. de Maupertuis was too fcrupulous to pafs over the flightefl matter. We therefore afcended Avafaxa, drawn in pulkas by rein-deer : they are fledges made like fmall boats, pointed before, and ending in a keel which is only two or three inches broad. The Laplanders have fledges of this defcription five or fix feet long, which are ufed for tranfpoiting their dry filh, and rein-deer (kins ; but thofe common among the inhabi- tants for travelling, which were what we made ufe of, are at moft only four feet long ; the 31 1 osthier's journal of a voyage to the north. the deck of thefe fledges is covered with boards, and on the edge of them a rein deer's fkin is nailed, wliich he who travels in the pulka draws over his brcaft, and faftens with cords round his body, to prevent the fnow, in which he is fometimes nealry buried, from entering the fledge. The principal difficulty is to preferve a balance, the pulkas having no more footing than theflcaits which are commonly ufed in France. M. Brunius who accompanied us, accuitomed to this fort of conveyance, managed his fo well that he prefervcd a perfect equilibrium ; M. de Maupertuis, and myfelf were continually over- letting when we attempted to raife ourfelves with a little flick on one fide, we fell over to the other ; M. de Maupertuis even braifed his arm. The rein-deer which drew us, are a kind of flag whofe horns are large, with the branches turned down before. Thefe animals ferve for many purpofes : the flefh of them is eaten, which is tender but infipid ; the inhabitants, particularly the Laplanders, dry and keep it for a long time ; with the nerves of them they make thread, which is ufed efpecially for fowing of the planks of boats together; they eat their milk, and make cheefe of it, which is not good. 'J heir fkin ferves for dreffes, particularly that of the young ones, the hair of which is foft. There is no inhabitant whatfoever, whe- ther Tin, or Laplander, nor even Swede, without his coat of rein-deer fkin ; we as well had each of us one of , them : they are called Lapmudes, and are ufed inflead of great coats. The hair is worn outfide, and it is hned with cloth, ferge, or another fkin with the hair turned inwards. Of the Iklu of the old rein-deer, ftockings or rather pliant boots are made, the hair of which alfo is worn outfide ; they are very warm and very ferviceable for walking with on the fnow when it freezes ; when it thaws they are not worn. Rein-deer are ufed for travelling in places difficult for horfes to pafs, or in countries where there is a fcarcity of fodder for horfes, as in the neighbourhood of Kengis, and to the N. of it, that is to f\iy, in all the northern part of that continent. Some travel- lers have pretended that on being told in its ear, the place to which you were difpofed to go, the rein-deer underflood you ; this is a mere tale ; they are very fleet, but not firong ; harnefled to a fledge, provided the road were well beaten, they might travel thirty leagues in a day ; but when the road is not hard, and well beaten, and the fnow refills the fledge, the rein-deer gets on with difliculty, and very flowly. It has the advantage of being able to find its food every where. When tired, his mafler, well wrapped up to keep himfelf from the cold, loofens the animal, who does not wander far : he fcratches up the fnow, and at bottom finds a white mofs, which is almoft his only food, fo that the traveller only carries provifion for himfelf ; he puts it on the head or fore part of the fledge. A matter which will appear extraordinary is, that on a journey to Wardhus, the traveller is obliged to carry provifion of wood, on account of pafling over great extents of country entirely naked, and without trees. From the houfe of M. Brunius we proceeded over the ice with dreadful rapidity, there the road bring beaten as far as Narki, at which place we were at the foot of the mountain. It was entirely covered with fnow, there was no beaten track, and we had to apprehend falling between rocks, where we fliould have been overwhelmed in the fnow. A Fin, who had long and narrow boards fallencd to his feet, walked flowly before us to fathom the road ; he led with a fl;ring the rein-deer of the firfl fledge ; this poor animal funk into the fnow up to its belly, and had great difficulty, as well as thofe which followed him, to draw us to the top of the mountain ; we were frequently obliged to flop for them to reil, and take breath. We however arrived, and immediately made ready our quadrant of eighteen inches, for taking our obfervations, while two Laplanders and a Lapland woman who forved us outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. 313 us for guides, made a large fire, and the rein-deer were digging in the fnow, and feed- ing on the mofs they found. The cold was fo extreme that the fnow did not melt be- fore the fire, nor a foot from it. On going down the mountain our Laplanders cau.. tioned us to plunge our ftick into the fnow as deep as we could, to leflen the velocity of the fledges, and to prevent their continually falling on the hind legs of the rein-deer, which were faftened to ihcm. When we were at the bottom of the mountain, our Laplanders left their own fledges at Narki, and each guide feated himfelf on the fore- part of a fledge, and kept it poifed with fingular addrefs. We went all the way to the houfe of M. Bruiiius without once overturning, and very rapidly. M. Muritius, belonging to the chart and map office of Stockholm, arrived at Torneo, and came to fee us continue and compleat our meafurement of the bafe, and returned again to Torneo. We meafured in two diftinft parties as before noticed ; the refult of the meafurement of one was 7406 toifes, 5 feet 4 inches, of the other 7406 toifes, 5 feet exaftly. The fecond party in meafuring fixed in the ice a (take at every loo toifes. M. de Maupertuis, Camus, and myfelf went on Saturday the twenty-ninth, and Sunday the thirtieth, to be certain that no error had occurred in the number of the hundreds, and meafured with a long chord of 50 toifes, the whole length of the bafe. We completed this at three o'clock in the afternoon of Sunday ; a quantity of fnow fell with a bleak north wind. M. de Maupertuis with M. Helant fei off for Torneo, to which place MefTrs. Clairaut, Le Monnier, Sommereux, and Herbelot, had gone the Friday before. M. Camus and myfelf returned to M. Brunius whom we left on Monday morning the thirty-firfl:, accompanied by M. Celfius, and two fervants, and arrived at Torneo at feven o'clock in the evening. It was very fine in the morning and fufficiently temperate, but at four in the afternoon, a very cold South wind blew, with fnow. Tuefday the firfl: of January was v^ry fine but very cold : the thermometer re- mained for a long time at 20°, and even fell fo low as 22° below the freezing point. Wednefday morning the fecond, the thermometer of mercury was at 28°, and that of fpiritof wine at 25". On the evening of the fame day, the cold increafed, the thermo- meter of mercury was at 3 1 f , and a bottle of ftrong French brandy was quickly frozen. We heard the wood of which the houfes are built, in the night crack with a great noife. The noiie refembled that of mufquetry. In fpite of this dreadful cold, the inhabitants travel a great deal, and feem to prefer this feafon for their bufinefs. Thurfday the third, it fnowed in quantities : at night the iky was clear, and Friday morning, the fourth, it was covered with aurora borealis ; the thermometers were at 25 ' and 28°, which t-hey continued to be at, on Saturday the fifth, the day on which they kept Chridmas, which they call Jule ; the inhabitants pafl'ed a great part of the day at church, and the reft in their houfes, very much retired, and occupied with reading, or finging the pfalins and canticles of the church. The thermometer of mercury in the evening was 31% and Sunday morning the fixth 33°. An entire bottle of French brandy was frozen in a room without a fire. The evening of the fame day, the thermometer was at 37", while that of fpirit of wine was but at 29°, and this laft was frozen on Monday morning the feventh, and had rifen to the temperature of the cellars of the obfcrvatory. M. de Maupertuis carried it into his room in this ftate ; immediately after thawing, it fell a great deal, and afterwards rofe to the temperature of the apartment. The weather became mi Ider in the evening, and the thermometer of mercury was at 25®, a quantity of fnow fell with a South wind. M. de Maupertuis had begun at the houfe of M. Brunius, while we were meafuring the bafe, an experiment, which he repeated feveral times at Torneo, to afcertain if the toifes, and rods of wood, were lengthened or fliortened by the difierent temperatures of VOL. I. s s air : 2^'4. <>UT*HIER's JOtrRNAL OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTrt. air : he kept continually in his apartment two of the wooden toifcs that we had adjuded in the iron ftandard, and two others without in the court ; he never diftinguiflied any fenfible diminution or lengthening ; he was rather of opinion that thofe which had been expofed to the cold were lengthened. By the height or diftance from the zenith of the ftar J" of the dragon, taken at Pello and Torneo, we obtained the amplitude of the arc of the meridian comprehended between the two obfervatories. We had but to com- pare it with the diftance in toifes from Kittis to Torneo, which we were enabled to cal- culate after afcertaining the length of our bafe. The parallel of the obfervatory of Torneo was different from that of the fteeple, which ferved for the point of the la(t triangle. We had not mcafured the diftance between thefe parallels ; but from the meafurement I had made for taking a plan of the town, I knew within a trifle the dif- tance between them. We every one were occupied in private, calculating our triangles. M. de Maupertuis has publifhed thofe which he made by feveral fucceflions of triangles, in his book on the Figure of the Earth ; with all the corrciStions, and fubtradlions which the moft rigid geometrician could require. Befides our ufual occupations, and the obfervations which we had fometimes the op*. portunity of making, although very rarely, every one had fome diftinft paftime : I pafTed many of my leifurc moments in copying fair the plan of the town of Torneo which I had taken, and the courfe of the river comprized within the extent of our tri- angles : M. de Maupertuis had brought a great number of books which he lent to us : we were rather long at table after dinner and fupper : frequently vifited each other : went often to fee our friends in the town and neighbourhood. Thefe together made our time pafs pleafantly enough. During the night the wind abated, and Tuefday,. the eight, it was fair, and not fo cold. In the morning I went to fee our old landlord the burgo-mafter, and afterwards we all went to 'dine with the lieutenant-colonel who had invited us. There was a large com- pany, we were twenty-nine at table, fourteen, ladies and fifteen gentlemen. It was All Saints Day ; we faw one hundred Finns come out of church at noon, who were re- turning to their houfes, fome in town, fome in the country higher up the river. This fucceffion of fo large a number of fledges formed a fingular fpeQacle, and at Hapa Niemi we were mofl advantagcoudy placed for feeing it. Wednefday the ninth vi'as fine and rather mild, as well as the next day ; ftill the thermometers were at 17° to 19°, and although the cold was much more intenfc than it was in France in 1709, we could bear it very well. Thurfday the tenth, there was a grand dinner at Papilla, or Prefkhot, (the prefbytery, or prieft's houfe), at Mr. Foulq's the reftor of Torneo : during the night, and on Fri- day the eleventh, it fnowed with very mild weather ; the thermometer of mercury was no more than 3" below the freezing point, and that of fpirits of wine 5", inftead of which difference before the fevere colds of Sunday and Monday, they were both of them at the fame degree 4° or 5° below o. Saturday the twelfth, was new year's day, a great holiday in this country ; it was fine but rather cold. After dinner M. Duriez arrived with his lady ; they fupped with us, and did not leave us till midnight. The cold incrcafed continually, and on Sunday the thirteenth, at noon the thermometers were, that of mercury at aj", and that of fpirit of wine at 23°. Monday the fourteenth it was lefs cold, and in the afternoon it fnowed •with a ftrong South wind. Tuefday the fifteenth, the two thermometers were at 13°, it was cloudy, and fnowed all night. Thurfday the feventeenth it continued to be very mild ; at leaft we found it fuch, although it froze hard : M. de Maupertuis invited to dinner all thofe who had fhewn us civilities. ©UTHIER S JOURNAL OF A VOYaGE TO THE NORTH. 315 civilities, and the principal inhabitants of the town : we were thirty-five at table, and treated them handlbmely. The court and ftreet were full of Fins, and children, who came to lee the novelty of the entertainment. It was at the time of the fair of Jukas Jerfwi ; it begins the fourteenth of January, and ends the day of the Converfion of St. Paul. It is held thirty miles from Torneo, about fixty French leagues ; the citizens of Torneo go there in crowds ; they alone have the right of buying there. They are obliged to obtain a permit from the governor of the province to go to this fair ; this cofts them three dollars, worth about thirty-four or thirty-five fous of French money : were they to go this fair without this licence, they would be fined one hundred and fifty dollars Coppermyth, that is to fay, eighty livres French money, (the filver dollar being worth about thirty-four fous, the coppermyth dollar only eleven fous.) To go any where elfe requires a fimilar permit j however, when they are going no farther than Ofwer Torneo, or Pello, the allowance of the lieutenant colonel who commands in the town is fufficient, and is given gratis. They fet off for the fair of Jukas Jerfwi, in their fledges drawn by horfes as far as Ofwer Torneo ; there they take fledges drawn by rein-deer, and fend their horfes back. They have at the place where the fair is held, a great number of fhops which belong to them, wherein they dwell. Thefe fliops which are abandoned during the reft of the year, compofe the village of Jukas Jerfwi, with the church and the houfe of the reftor. It is there that the citizens of Torneo trade with the Laplanders ; they carry there fome bottles of low brandy, fyrup which they bring from Stockholm, and dried bread in cakes. The Laplanders in exchange give them cod, and other dried fifh, fkins, and dried meat of the rein-deer, bear and foxes Ikin, of different colours, ermines and martins. I wiflied to fee this fair ; the bafe being meafured, I had leifure, but I could not find any fuitable company to go with, the burgo-mafter not going. I did not much regret it however, the whole country being covered with fnow, fo that I could not have diftinguifhed either lakes or rivers, fcarcely even the forefts. Friday the eighteenth, the weather was delightful, not at all cold ; M. Camus and myfelf had began to turn with exactitude, fome balls of iron for experiments on the fimple pendulum. M. Camus alfo himfelf call fome balls of pewter, iilver, and copper, he tm'ned thefe as well for the fame purpofe. We 5had alternately fnow, and fine weather almofl always cold. The thermometers on Saturday the nineteenth, were at 19" and 21° below o. Monday morning the twcnty-firfl at 12' and 13"; the evening 16° and 18". Wednefday the twenty-third, 20° and 22°. All day on ThurlUay the twenty-fourth, and all the following night, at the freezing point ; with a ftrong S. W. wind, and the fnow melted a little. All day Saturday, all night, and Monday morning the twenty-fixth, very fine and mild, the thermometers at 1" below o. This weather continued the remainder of the month, but It frequently fiiowed. On the laft day of January the cold began to increafe, in fuch manner however, that it frequently all on a fudden became mild. The variations of cold in this country are extremely fudden ; at times we were almoft frozen,^ and immediately afterwards found the cold very eafy to bear. The thermometers confirm the ideality of thefe variations ; and that they are not to be attributed limply to the individual temperament of men, and lefs to the imagination. At Stockholm, the idea they entertained of this country was not very correci ; it is not to be wondered at that we fliould be ignorant of it in France. \V'hen we came away, M. Le Comte de Maurepas, preiented us with church plate, with diredions to make ufe of it, provided our ambafl'ador fliould not difapprove of our doing i'o. His s s 2 Excellency 3i6 outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. Excellency, after confulting with his friends, told me by no means to perform mafs in the country to which we were going ; fince if we were to give oifence in any meafure to the inhabitants, we might expofe ourfelves to inconveniencies, which would incapacitate us from executing the work we were upon. Notwithftanding, the inhabitants of lorneo took no unibrage at our performing the offices of our religion, provided it were in pri- vate, and with clofed doors. Having from motives of prudence abltained for fome time, we met with gentle reproaches on the occafion from M. Foulq the reftor, and M. Viguelius. Sunday the third of February, although the thermometers were at i o' below o, as it was fine, M. Sommereux and myfelf went to take a walk in the vicinage of the town, as folks in France are wont to do in fummer a little before funfet. Wednefday the fixth, it was much more {harp, the thermometers funk to 20'' and 23°. During the night a great wind arofe, which continued all Thurfday the feventh, with fnow. It was dreadful weather, the wind had raifed in different places prodigious heaps of fnow, particularly along the houfes ; of many it covered all the windows, and fome fmall houfes were buried in the fnow. The thirteenth, the Feaft of the Purification of the Virgin Mary, was celebrated in a very folemn manner ; there were prayers twice in the town church. Many people received the communion. The cold had fomewhat abated, the thermometers were not lower than 1 3" below o. Tuefday the nineteenth, the weather was fine and mild ; fome fnow melted in the fun, Meflrs. de Maupertuis, Sommereux, and myfelf, went out walking. This fine weather did not laft ; the fame evening it became cold, with wind, and fnow, which continued the two following days, Friday the twenty-fecond, on going to the fouthern extremity of the town, I was much pleafed with the fmgular appearance which the heaps of fnow drifted by the wind, and collefted along the houfes, and on the top, offered. The road through the town was exceedingly rugged, and the mafles of fnow by which it was bordered, very much refembled rocks ; notwithflanding this Meffrs. Le Monniei and Celfius went to Kimi, where there was a large affemhly. Monday the twenty-fifth, it was much colder ; the thermometer which was already at 15° yefterday funk to 20'. The burgo-mafter and four Romans who are the Judges of the town, went to meet the governor. He did not arrive till Tuel^ay morning the twenty-fixth, and without flopping at the town, continued his route to Ofwer Torneo, where he (topped a fortnight. The firfl; of March we had a Swedifii officer to dine with us, who ferved in France, he came from Peterfburg in fixteen days, and after dinner departed for Stockholm. I conformed to the ancient ftile in keeping the feafl: days, as the Catholics in Sweden are wont ; we kept that of St. Matthias, on Thurfday the feventh. Monday the eleventh at night, M. de Guilingrip, governor of the province, returned from Ofwer Torneo ; Meffrs. de Maupertuis, Clairaut, and Celfius, went to dine with him at M. SilfrifTon's where he lodged. We went to pay our refpefts after dinner. Saturday the fixtcenth, I made ready a telefcope, and went to the houfe of M. Viguelius at Grenwick, on the other fide of the water, to hang a fecond pendulum, and all of us went over in the evening to obferve an eclipfe of the moon. We had the whole horizon towards the wefl uninterrupted, which we fliould not have had in the town. The horizon was thick and full of vapour : we notwithftanding obferved this eclipfe of the moon ; but we could not obferve that of any of the fatellites of Jupiter, becaufe of his not being but very little above the horizon at that time. Although outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. 317 Although we had every reafon to rely upon the cxaditude with which we had de- termined the amplitude of the arc of the meridian, comprehended between Kittis and Torneo, by the obfervations of the fextant made upon the flar -t of the dragon ; the flar a of the fame conftellation, pafling very nigh to the zenith, we formed a defign of taking advantage of the time which the long winter afforded us, to obferve again at Torneo, and afterwards at Kitiis, the diftance to the zenith from the latter (lar a. We made ready the fextant for this purpofe, and the flcy being clear on the feventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth, we made the obfervation on thofe days. The South was determined at the Httle obfervatory, built at Torneo upon the edge of the water. Already feveral days had paffed fmce we had fixed flakes in the fnow, following the direftion of the meridian : on this line we fought with a quadrant two points, from which two perpendiculars fet off, the one anfwering to the grand obferva- tory of the fextant, the other to the fteeple of the church of the town. We meafured on Thurfday the twenty-firft the diRance between thefe two points, that is to fay, be- tween the parallel of the church of Torneo, and the parallel of the obfervatory of the fextant. We found the diftance y}, toifes, 4 feet, j inches. Friday the twenty-fecond the weather was very mild, the fnow funk, and melted a little. Saturday the twenty-third, we took down the fextant ; we put it into the cafes, and prepared whatever was neceffary for the voyage to Pello, which we propofed being- ing the following Monday. M. de Maupertuis on Sunday the tvventy-fourth, gave a grand dinner to the governor. More than thirty perfons were prefent. On Monday the twenty-fifth, Meffrs. Clairaut, Le IVlonnier, Celfius, and myfelf, fet off one after the other ; each having care of the inftruments, which we tranfported in fledges ; we followed the fame road we had gone before ; and all of us had arrived at nine o'clock in the evening at the houfe of M. Brunius, and the next day, Tuefday the twenty- fixth, we reached Pello. We could not always keep on the ice of the river, it was too uneven in the catarafts ; there were even fome confiderable breaks ; we were on this account fometimes obliged to traverfe the woods. We found in them three Lapland families, who had eredted there their huts. Thefe huts were formed of a number of poles twelve or fifteen feet high, one end leaning on the ground, where they formed a circle of about twelve feet : by the other extremity thefe poles joined at the top, and formed a cone. They put over thefe poles fome rags, and fome rein-deer fkins, which only covered a part. The top is entirely open, and ferves for a chimney for the fire which they make in the middle of this fort of tent. They pafs their winter thus, very badly clad, and often fleep with the fnow for their pillow. When they change their abode, they carry away their rags and deer- Ikins, and leave their poles as they were ; fecure of finding others every where in the forefts. We faw a number of thefe huts which had been abandoned. One of the three families which we met with, confided of twelve perfons, the two others of no more than five or fix. When we were at our landlord's at Purainen, we found his court full of Laplanders, with their fledges loaded with merchandife ; that is to fay, cod, dried fifh, and i-ein-deer fkins. Thefe poor Laplanders lay in the middle of the court during a mofl rigid froff, in fome of the fledges which were empty ; we even faw a child among them who per- haps was not a year old. Wednefday the twenty-feventh, Meffrs. Sommereux and Helant arrived with the telefcope of the fextant. We had already placed upon mount Kittis a large three feet quadrant, and the inftrument for taking the South. Thurfday the twenty-eighth, we returned to the mountain, and verified the quadrant by a back obfervation. Friday 7 the 318 OUT HIEr's JOOR^^AL OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH, the twenty-ninth it fnowed a little, M. de Maupertuis arrived, and told us that M. Camus was ill, and would remain at Torneo, with M. Herbelot. Saturday the thirtieth, we placed the fextant on the mountain, and the pendulum of Mr. Graham in the apart- ment of the ftone fliaft, that is to fay, the apartment of Corten Nienii, where we had conftrufted a ftone fliaft. We faw a large number of Laplanders arrive in their pulkas, followed by many fledges full of merchandize ; the following days fome of them came into our rooms ; they entered without knocking, and placed themfelves on their knees to aflv alms, making a long fpeech, of which we comprehended nothing but the word Jefou Chriftou. As foon as we had given them a piece of money, they immedi- ately aflced the mafter of the houfe for brandy, and after drinking fome, danced and fung with all their might in the court ; there was no harmony in their fmging. They have dogs who make fuch a Angular noife, that we miftook it firft for the catterwauling of grimalldns. It continued tofnow occafionally ; on Wednefday the third of April, it fnowed while the thermometer was at 5° below o. M. Le Monnier and myfelf fattened the fixed telefcope to the fliaft, and obferved the paflage ofRegulus for the experiments of the fimple pendulum ; Meffrs. de Maupertuis, Clairaut, and Celfius were upon the moun- tain, difpofing properly the fextant for obferving the paflage of the ftar a of the dragon. They began to make their obfervation on Thurfday morning the fourth, and continued it the fucceeding days. The balls which M. Camus had made of difi"erent metals were finifhed, and M. de Maupertuis had brought them. The pendulum of M. Julien Le Roi, was placed in the ftone fliaft room, its rod was fplit, and was feparable into two pieces ; the different balls were fucceflively fitted to it, to obferve the length, or the number of their vibra- tions in a determined time, which was known by the pendulum of Mr. Graham, regu- lated by the obfervation of Regulus, keeping the temperature of the apartment always the fame, by increafing the fire, or fuft'ering the admiffion of cold air at the door. Thurfday night, the thermometer out of the room was 9° below o. And Friday morning the fifth, it was 1 7° ; the night was fine, \^ e made the obfervation with the fextant. M. de Maupertuis had his bed placed in the apartment of the ftone fliaft where the pendulums were, in order to be moi-e within reach of preferving a regular heat. That day the Annunicatioa of the Virgin was celebrated with great folemnity : We continued our obfervation on the fimple pendulums ; we made that of the palfage of Regulus by the fixed telefcope, afterwards M. Le Monnier and myfelf, went to obferve the ftar a of the dragon with the fextant ; \ye were very well fatisiied with this obferva- tion : a little after we took the elevation of Venus, at its paifage to the meridian towards the north ; flie was 1° 15' above the horixon. We defcended from the mountain and. entered our apartments on Saturday the fixth, at three in the morning. 1 he twilight finiflied at eleven o'clock at night, and the dawn began at one in the morning. The thermometers yefterday were in the evening at 1 z" below o, and this morning they were at 16°. The wood of the houfes cracked, as it had done in the months of De- cember and January ; M. de Maupertuis was all the morning obferving the balls, and 1 ^11 the afternoon. - Again it was exceeding cold duj-ing the night. Sunday thefeventh, at five o'clock in the morning the thermometer of fpirits of wine was at 20°, and Monday morning the eighth at 18°. Thefetwo days we continued the obfervations of the balls and pendulums. We went to the mountain on Monday to take down and pack up the fextant, and the other inftruments, to be ready to return thc'fooner to Torneo. The cold Hill continued, and Tuefday morning the iijnth, the thcnnoiuctcrs of fpirits of wine were 1 7 ; ° below o : there OUTHIEr's journal of a VOVACS to THK KDRTir. 319 •fliere were yet fome balls and pendulums to make experiments with, which was done ■on Tuefday and "Wednefday ; and on Thurlclay, the eleventh, we fet ofF to return to Torneo, where we arrived on Fridav, the twelfth, in the afternoon. ]\I. de Maiipertuis had fet oflT from Pcilo with M. Celfuis, to go beyond Kengis, to look after a great (tone, on which certain charaftcrs were engraven, and which was ipoken of as a curious monument. They only arrived at Torneo on Sunday, the four- teenth, at ten or eleven at night. We remained at Pello as fhort a time as poflible : it was time to come back to Torneo, in order to prevent our being expofed to the ha- zard of being obliged to wait five or fix weeks, or perhaps longer, at Pello. Travelling is altogether impradlicable during the height of the thaws, whether by land or water ; thefe begin earlier or later, and lad fometimes a very long while. The fnow began to melt, afterwards it froze again, and formed a cruft fufficiently hard to bear almofl every wherr. On Monday, the fifteenth, the weather was fine; but on Tuefday, the fix- teenth, there was a South wind and much fnOw. The thermometers at 4° below o. Thurfday, the eighteenth, in the holy week, the inhabitants went to church ; there was a fermon, but no communion. On Friday, the nineteenth, they went more gene- rally : they gave a fermon with the communion ; many received the Lord's Supper. In the afternoon, a fecond difcourfe was given, and the prieft fang fomething from the pulpit. They do not faft commonly, even on Good Friday ; they however praftife fome mortifications, as they think proper : fome more devout than the reft ate nothing during the whole of Friday. Saturday, the twentieth, and Eafter Sunday, the twenty- firft, very fine and mild weather, the fnow melted in the fun. Eafter Day, the reftor and the minifters did not adminifter the communion : people, however, went to church, and a fermon was given morning and evening. M. de Maupertuis, immediately after his return from Pello, refumed his obfervations on the lengthening, or diminution of length, of the wooden toifcs, from expofure to heat and cold. During Eafter week we obferved the variation of the needle, which we found to be 5° and about 5' ; it was nearly the fame as we noticed in the Baltic before our arrival at Stockholm. The houfe which M. Camus lodged at looked upon the bay which the river forms 'to the Weft of the town ; and one of the rooms was a very fit one to verify 'the fextant and its divifions in, by actual meafurement upon the ice. M. Camus caufed the floor of the room to be taken up, in order to fix with more firmnefs, upon a vault which was below, two ftrong crofs trees, to ferve as a fupport for the fextant, and enable it to move in the line of the horizon with its divided limb. M. de Maupertuis fent a fervant to Ofwer Torneo, who brought thence four of the large rods with which we meafured the bafe, for the purpofe of meafuring a fuitable fpace for the proving of the fextant. The weather was continually changing : at times the fnow melted, efpecially when the wind was foutherly ; at others it fnowed again, and frequently it was very cold. Tuefday, the thirtieth, after Low Sunday, there was a great dinner at the redor's, at Preikhot : we were invited ; but as there was to be a prodigious number of guefts, and as we faw fledges going there from every quarter, M. de Maupertuis, M. Somme- reux, and myfelf, did not go, nor M. Camus, whofe health was not yet perfedly re- eftabliflied. Wednefday, the firft of May, at half paft two in the morning, we faw Venus on her pafling the meridian, towards the north, elevated about 4° above the horizon ; it had frozen very hard, and the weather was beautiful ; the heat of the fun melted the fnow from nine in the morning till fix at night. M. Camus and myfelf adjufted to their proper length of five toifes the four rods which were brought from Ofwer Torneo, and which were found each too ftiort by about half a line. 6 Saturday, 320 outhier's journal op a voyage to the north, Saturday, the third, we placed in the ice a large log, with a fight oppofite to the room •wherein M. Camus had caufed the fextant to be fixed horizontally, at the diftance of 380 toifes. We afterwards placed a log of wood, as large as the firft, with a fight in fuch a pofition that a line drawn from it to the firft fight fhould fall perpendicularly on the line drawn from the firft fight to the centre of the objeft-glafs of the fextant. In tiiis laft fpace, of upwards of 380 toifes, not half a line of difference was found on our twice meafuring it. Sunday, the fifth, after mafs, we began to obferve the angle which the two obje£ls formed at the fextant : we began on Monday, the fixth, and finiflied on Tuefday, the feventh. It was yet cold at times ; but it began to thaw, the fnow melted, and occa- fionally it rained ; all this made the roads very bad. The letters which ordinarily ar- rived on Sunday and Monday, did not reach us till Wednefday the eighth. On the firft of the month I was prefented with fmall fprigs of birch in a phial, as flowers are wont to be prefented in France. The warmth of my apartment made the fprigs open their leaves. By night it froze a little ; in the day-time it was fine, or at leaft mild. On Thurfday, the ninth, the ground appeared ; being fine, we walked out of the town to the Bolplafs (bowling-green). A part of the ifle of Lammas was vifible ; not- withftanding people paffed over to it upon the ice ; and there were there already two horfes who had left their mafter's houfe. At our return, pafling by the church, we faw the funeral procefllon of a girl ; it confifted of ten men, dreffed in black, who carried the bier ; the priefts and affiftants, five or fix in number, followed, having the father in the niidft of them j after them, another relative of the deceafed. The proceffion was very orderly and well conducted : no female accompanied it, it is not the cuftom j they go to the church before. Friday, the ninth, and the two following days, are fet afide for familiar inftruftion. A catechifm is made, in which, indifferently, young and old are examined. Thurfday, and Saturday, the eleventh, it is conduced in the Finnilh language, for the men and maid fervants ; and on Friday in Swedifli, for the burghers, who attend very punctually. Sunday, the twelfth, the weather pretty fine, the thaw continued ; and on Tuefday, the fourteenth, the water began to fpread in quantity over the furface of the ice, and make the pafling over it very difficult. The burgomafter and M. Viguelius came to refide in the town till the paffage in boats fliould be free, after the melting and difperfion of the ice. A great number of counti"y people coming to town had planks on their feet, four or five inches wide, and eight feet long : they make ufe of them in winter for hunting with, and travelling over the fnow, when there is no beaten road. Thefe fkatcs are alio ufeful during the thaws to pafs over the ice with ; they hinder it, weak as it is in fonie places, from giving way under them. They ufe, particularly in the fo- refts, machines ot this defcription, of no more than fix feet long. M. de Manpertuis, before the thaw, caufed a lump of ice to be cut out of the river; it Yi-as two feet thick : we were told that it was frequently thicker; but that the Ihow, vvliich had fallen immediately after the firft frofts, prevented its becoming fo thick as ufually ir did. The poft did not arrive until Wednciday night, the fifteenth, owing to the fiiow, and the difficulty of the paflagcs. Thurfday, the fixteenth, the weather being pretty fine, we walked into the northern part of the ifland, where more than half the ground was vifible. Friday, the feven- tecnth, and Saturday, the eighteenth, it was colder; fome fnow fell, and it froze dur- ing the night. Sunday, the nineteenth, was finer. Monday, the twentieth, it fnowed all day, but it melted immediately along the ftreets ; however large heaps of it remained. Tuefday, the twenty-firft, it was fine : in walking about we looked for fome proper place outhier's journal op a voyagk to the north. 32r place on which to ereft a monument commemorative of our expedition, with a fuitable infcription. On going out of the town we found a large rock, which was not far from the church ; we examined it, and finding it folid, began to work upon it. In this coun- try they have no mafons : inftead of working with the mallet, they make a fire on the rock, and when the part they wifh to open is fuiTiciently heated, they throw water upon it, which makes the rock fplinter. A letter which M. de Maupertuis received on Wed- nefday, the twenty-fecond, flopped the work. We thought of nothing now but re- turning to France, as foon as the navigation fliould be free. The fame day, M. de Maupertuis learnt, by a letter from M. de IVlaurepas, that his Majelly had granted a penfion of a thoufand livres to M. Celfius. Friday, the twenty-fourth, was another of thofe grand prayer-days which I have be- fore noticed. The river brought down a quantity of floating ice, and people began to pafs it, although not without danger. The fun fet entirely at ten minutes paft ten. We afcended the highefl part of the ifle of Swentzlar : we obferved with a quadrant the angle between the fun at the horizon and the fignal of Kukama, at the fame time counting feconds by a pendulum which we had placed near the fpot, in one of thofe houfes ufed for keeping fodder and cattle in, and which then was empty. The night was very fine : the next morning we returned to take the angle between the rifing fun on the horizon and the fame fignal. The diredlion of our fucceffion of triangles, with refpedt to the meridian, as found by thefe obfervations, differed by feme minutes from the direction found at Pello. We were at firfl furprifed j but quickly reflected that Kittis and Torneo not being under the fame meridian, we ought to find fome difference, on account of the two meridians approaching fenfibly towards the poles in the country where we were. M. Clairaut very quickly made the calculation of what this approxi- mation of the two meridians amounted to ; and it was found, by taking this into com- putation, the dire£lions of the triangles taken at Kittis and Torneo agreed within half a minute of a degree. There was now fcarcely any ice on the river ; yet the fea was quite white with the floats of ice covered with fnow. There was very little fnow remaining on the ground, even on the northern fide of bulhes ; and the inhabitants began to fow their barley all over the ifland. Sunday, the twenty-fixth, there was no longer any night ; and a fortnight had elapfed fince our being enabled to read in our apartments the mofl fmall characters at midnight. I had my fire only once made up in the day. I was much amufed for a long time, on Sunday afternoon, admiring the addrefs of a citizen of Torneo, who could draw, without having ever been taught, and delineated figures with fingular fkill : had he been under the hand of a mailer, he would have excelled in this line j he drew pidtures, made coats, and was the only tailor at Torneo. They kept Eafter the fame day as we did, and Rogation Sunday as well. Monday, twenty-feventh, and Tuefday, the twenty-eighth, people went much to church : that day they preached on the gofpel which we have for the Rogation mafs. They call thefe days Gonge dagen, the days of procelFion ; they however have no proceffion, and are fatisfied with preaching and finging the hymns of the church. I went to M. de Maupertuis to help|him to place two pendulums near to each other ; he made ufe of them for examining if two pendulums, moving very near each other with unequal vibrations, had any fenfible influence one on the other : M. de Maupertuis did not find that they had. The horfes had all proceeded to their fummer quarters ; my landlord fent for his, which he wanted lo go to Kimi. The horfe on hi§ return reded at his mailer's ; and VOL. I. T T Wednefday 323 OUTHIEr's jaURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO THE KORTH. Wednefday morning, the twenty-ninth, departed of himfelf to join his companions, which he could not efFeft without fwimming acrofs the river. M. Viguelius, afliftant mlnifter and direftor of the fchools of Torneo, had compofed a Latin poem in honour of the King of France, and the academicians which his Majefty had fent into the North ; he invited us to dine with him on Wednefday, and gave each of us a copy. Thurfday, the thirtieth, Afcenfion Day, was kept very folemnly ; we kept it alfo in our little chapel. We had a large company to dine with us : the lieutenant colonel, with the gravine, which anfwers to countefs, was of the party. Sunday, the fecond of June, very fine weather, and Monday, the third, the fame. I went with M. Sommereux to the highefl: part of the ifland to fee the fun fet : the upper edge pafled behind mount Nieva, near to Corpikyla, and fhortly afterwards it again appeared on the other fide, that is to fay, on the right of the mountain j it did not entirely difappear before two or three minutes after eleven. M. de Maupertuis went in the afternoon to fee the veffel which was to carry our in- ftruments and luggage to Stockholm. We began to make ready for our departure ; the following days were dedicated to thispurpofe, and were fully occupied. On Wed- nefday night, the fifth, many cafes filled with initruments were carried on board the veffel, nearly two leagues diftant from Torneo : the fea and the river are fo ihallow as not to allow veffels to approach nearer to the town. We took our leave : M. de Mau- pertuis rewarded, in a noble manner, all thofe who had rendered us fervice, and we thought no longer of any thing but our departure. DEPARTURE FROM TORNEO TO RETURN TO FRANCE. All the inftruments, baggage, and one of our coaches, were put on board a fliip be- longing to Torneo, v/hich was fpeedily about to fail for Stockholm. Sunday, the ninth, Whit-Sunday, I faid mafs early ; and M. de Maupertuis, after hearing it, had every thing ready to go by fea to Stockholm. Meffrs. Le Monnier, Sommereux, and Her- belot, were to accompany him ; Meffrs. Clairaut, Camus, Celfius, and myfelf, intending to go by land, in the coach which for that purpofe was left behind at Torneo. The wind became fair in the afternoon ; and as M. Le Monnier, who was gone to Kiemi with M. Celfius, was not returned, M. Clairaut took his place, and went after dinner with Meffrs. de Maupertuis, Sommereux, and Herbelot, to embark on board the veffel in the harbour of Puralakti, two or three leagues from the town : Meffrs. Camus, Helant, our interpreter, and myfelf, accompanied them on board ; we faw them fet fail at feven in the evening, and returned in one of our boats. We went to Hapa Niemi to take leave of the lieutenant-colonel, and at ten o'clock got back to town, where we met with M. Le Monnier returned j M. Celfius came back during the night, that is to fay, towards midnight, for there was continual day. Monday morning, the tenth, M. Camus and myfelf looked to our coach being put in order, and got every thing ready for fetting oft"". It was two in the afternoon when we left the town : we paffed in a boat with our coach at Hapurunda, where we were to find horfes ; we had much trouble in obtaining any, they had but lately returned to their fummer quarters : a number of them, how- ever, was brought, but very meagre, not having yet got over the fatigues of their winter fcrvicc. We at length fet off at five o'clock : there was yet fome fnow along the coafts of the gulph ; we found fome at Sangis, where we arrived on Tuefday, the eleventh, at half pail one in the morning. We could not obtain horfes here until the afternoon, and then very bad ones : of the four which were brought us, only two could draw ; iVL Le Monnier and myfelf were obliged to mount the other two, which were badly J faddled. outmier's journal or a voyage to the north. 323 fadtlled, and had much difficulty in keeping on their legs. We arrived at Calix to- wards fix in the evening : thence on AVednefday, the twelfth, at ten in the morning, at Ranea. In Sweden they obferve the fourth day of Whitfuntide with more (trictnefs than the preceding ones, and we could not get away until Thurfday, the thirteenth, at five in the afternoon. We pafled at midnight by Old LuUea ; they there gave us f«ch bad horfes, that in order to reach Bac, which is only half a mile from Bourg, we were obliged to fend back twice for frefh ones ; it is true, the roads were through lands, and very bad. Afterwards we obtained better horfes : we were feven minutes and thirty- five feconds in pafling over the wooden bridge, which the maps defcribe to have one hundred and two arches, and notwithftanding went at a good rate. On our arrival at Old Pithea, as M. Celfius was condufting us to the proubft, or rector, we were much furprifed at meeting with one of the fervants which M. de Mau- pertuis had taken on board with him. He told us that the veffel was run upon the coafl: at two miles from the town of Pithea, from which we were at the diftance of a good French league ; that thefe gentlemen had gone to the town, and begged us to join them there. We went immediately, and arrived to dine with them ; and after hearing the account which 1\I. de Maupertuis gave of his fhipwreck, we made arrange- ments for continuing our journey in company. Scarcely had the veffel, on v/hich thefe gentlemen were embarked, left Parnalakti, at feven o'clock in the evening, and proceeded three or four hours on its courfe, before the wind changed, and became furious : all Monday they were beaten about by the tempeft. On Tuefday morning, M. Sommereux, from his bed, perceived the pilot apparently very uneafy and agitated, and learnt that the veffel made a great deal of water. At this news every one arofe and ftirred about : there was but one pump, at which a part worked, while the others emptied the water with buckets through the Ikuttles. As foon as there was any refpite taken, inflantly the water gained upon them. The wind was continually changing. They often went up aloft, but could defcry no land ; they could only diflinguifh at a diftance long white flats, which were fuppofed to be floating ice. At length, the fame day in the evening, the wind was more favourable : the pilot ordered all fails to be hoifted before the wind, while they continued emptying the water ; and at length they difcovered the fhores of Wedro-bothnia. The pilot, who was experienced, and had much frequented the coaft, found a proper place on which to run the veffel afliore ; and he did this with fo much caution and management, that the (hip was no ways damaged by it. They had thrown overboard a part of the boards with which they were loaded ; as foon as (lie grounded, they quickly landed the reft, with the luggage, and all our inftruments. It was on the fkirts of a wood ; the fervants erefted tents, and remained there, while M. de Maupertuis and his compa- nions in the fliipwreck went to the town of Pithea. M. de Maupertuis departed on Friday, the fourteenth, in the coach which brought us, with Mtffrs. Clairaut, Celfius, and Camus, who was direiftcd to examine with attention the copper mines of Fahlun ; while M. Sommereux remained with iVl. Le Monnier and myfelf at Pithea, until the veffel was put into condition to refume its courfe to Stockholm. Saturday, the fifteenth, the wind being foutherly, and favourable for returning from the veffel to town, Meffrs. Le Monnier, Sommereux, and myfelf, went with two boats to bring back the coach, which had been embarked at Torneo, and which was with the fervants, the luggage, and the inftruments. The veffel remained there no more ; it had been brought clofer to the town, to be nearer to the workmen who were to refit it ; we found it laying on one fide, and entirely empty. We came back to town, the wind T T 2 being 324 outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. being favourable, remarkably quick : on the road we had thunder and rain ; but in the evening and the night there was fair weather : there was yet fome clouds ; and I re- marked at midnight that the fun illuminated them as far as to the horizon on the fide of the fouth, the fame as with us it does on the fide of the weft fome minutes before rifing : it rofe at nearly half paft twelve in the morning. Sunday, the fixteenth, as our lodging was in front of the bridge, we had thepleafure of feeing all the people come from church : there was a very large congregation ; great part of them very well dreft, and all returning with much decorum. During our refi- dence at Pithea I took the plan of it ; I went therefore, while all the inhabitants were in bed, to ftep the principal ftreets about midnight. The fituation of the town is fin- gular enough ; it occupies entirely a finall iiland, which has no communication with the town but by a wooden bridge, at the end of which is a gate which fhuts. The church is out of the town, and people go to it over the bridge. The ftreets of the towa are all ftraight : in the middle is a little fquare, regular enough, one fide of which is made up by the town-houfe and fchool. This town is half a mile, that is to fay, a league, from the old town, whence it is diftinguilhable. The road leading from one to the other was our cuftomary walk : having loft our way one day in the wood, we found a woodcock's neft, where as yet there was only eggs. Tuefday, the eighteenth, the veffel was in proper condition, and we now only waited for a fair wind, to put our baggage and inftruments on board. It became fair on Wed- nefday, the nineteenth ; we immediately repaired to the fpot where the baggage was, and off which part the veffel had proceeded to lay : we began to load, and continued the next day, the twentieth, in order to depart immediately. We came back to the town, whence we defigned fetting off" in our coach on Friday morning early, the twenty- firft ; but it was one of thofe grand prayer-days, on which, under great penalties, they are obliged to attend both at fervice and fermon, that we could not obtain horfes until they had come from church. At length, at four o'clock in the afternoon, Meffrs. Monnier, Sommereux, and my- felf, fet off; M. Herbelot, fhortly after the veffel grounded, embarked in another, which went from Pithea to Stockholm. When we had paffed Aby, we came to a river called Byka ; our coach was put into two boats joined to each other to pafs it : we then took frefh horfes ; we went on to Fralkayer, and arrived on Saturday, the twenty-fecond, at ten o'clock, at Sielelflat, which is a large town, where we dined. Leaving it, we paffed a very broad river, on a wooden bridge, quite new, and very well built. We were fur- prifed to fee fo confiderable a work entirely finifhed, having paffed by there in boats a year before, without feeing any preparations for the conftrudtion of it. We arrived at eight o'clock at Selit, where there is a church ; and as we could not obtain horfes until the afternoon of Sunday, the twenty-third, we went on with the fame as far as Gremmerfmark, where we arrived at eleven o'clock : we paffed the night there, lodging very badly, and very cold ; it froze, and they were under much concern on account of the barley. We made fo much intereft as to get horfes by ten o'clock in the morning : we paffed by the fide of the church of Nafaftra ; afterwards through the village of Safvvar ; then acrofs a river, over which was a bridge : we paffed after- wards a heath, where there were fome Swedes encamped ; the fentinels cried out in German, Who goes there ? they came to reconnoitre, and fuffered us to go on. About a mile beyond the camp, at eleven o'clock at night, we arrived at Uhma : we fupped and flept in the inn, which is a very good one ; and Monday morning, the twenty-fourth, M. Sommereux and myfelf went to fee M. Guedergrip, the governor of the province, whom we had met with feveral times at Torneo : I found there a letter which otjthier's journal of a voyage to the north, 325 which M. de Maupertuis had left for me, in which he mentioned that M. Camus waited for us at the copper mines of Fahlun. The hoafe of the governor is about a quarter of a mile out of the town : we dined with him, and went to rejoin M. Le Monnier, at Rodbck, where he went in the morning to examine the mineral waters. We left Rod- bek at fix in the evening, and arrived at Sodermiola at eleven o'clock ; which, after changing horles, we left at midnight. On leaving Sodermiola, we had for three miles and a quarter, that is to fay, nearly feven leagues, a woody country, without any houfe or fields ; after which the country is much better, but mountainous. Tuefday, the twenty-fifth, in going down thefe mountains we faftened our wheels with a cord, which we had fixed to the fliafts for that purpofe : the coachmen admired the invention, and exclaimed to one another. Bra conji, that is the excellent plan. They are not wanting of genius ; but they fee fo few coaches, that it is not wonderful they fhould be ignorant of this fimple expedient. We aiTived at Hoonas at eight o'clock at night ; we fupped and paffed the night there, during which a great deal of rain fell. We left it at five o'clock in the morning of Wednefday, the twenty-fixth, pafling on to Dorkftat ; and by ten in the evening came to the great river Angerman. The watermen made fonie difficulty at ferrying us over, becaufe there was a ftrong fouth wind, and the water was much agitated. Neverthelefs, feeing us anxious to get over, they made a deck of planks from one boat to another, after firfl: tying and fattening them very tight, on which they placed the coach, with the wheels on; and thus we paffed the river, which is full a league in breadth, and the paffage of which was fo much the more difficult, from the body of the coach taking a great deal of wind, which happened to be contrary. North of the great river, from the entrance into Angermania, the country is very mountainous ; but fouth of this great river the country is more even, with many lakes in the vallies. The country as far as Maik is well cultivated : we faw more churches alfo ; that of Sion, through which we paffed, is built entirely of brick, as well as ano- ther with a fteeple, which we perceived three quarters of a mile before we arrived at Sundfwald : we faw another very httle diftant from this, and in a country well cropt with barJey and rye ; both in agreeable fituations. On Thurfday, the twenty-feventh, at half paft three in the afternoon, we arrived at Sundfwald ; it is a little but pretty town : we left it at four o'clock, and arrived at fix o'clock at Niuranda, and at midnight at Gnarp. The weather was fine, and one could even yet fee to read. We reached Hermenger on Friday, the twenty-eighth, at three o'clock in the morning : the church at this place is handfome, the belfry of ftone. We paffed befide the town of Hudwickfwald, and arrived by nine at night at Noralea, which is a large place, in the middle of a well cultivated plain. We croffed at midnight the great river Liufna in a boat ; paffing on to Skoog and Hamrung, two confiderable vil- lages, and arrived at Geffle, or Guiewle, on Saturday, the twenty-ninth, a little before noon. We paffed all the way without being troubled with gnats till Friday evening ; but the laft night, and on Saturday, they were very troublefome. We left Geiffe on Saturday, at fix o'clock in the afternoon ; all night long we were incommoded with gnats. We paffed by Bek and Hopo, through an unpleafant country, as far as Halftad, which is a large village, fituated in a beautiful country : from there to Lingfore and Boriklo, which is four miles to the fouth of Swerfio Kyrka, which is the parifh. The people returned very late from church on Sunday, the thirtieth, and we were obliged to wait till four o'clock at Boriklo, the road being ffiut with a gate and chain till after fervice. The road paffes in two places on caufeways, very long, elevated above the level, among fields, lakes, and rivers : along thefe caufeways, which are faid to be natural, we met 6 with 326 outhier's journal of a voyage to the north, with feme houfes, with a number of forges for melting the copper ore. From thefe forges to Fahlun nothing was feen but woods, mountains, and ftones ; we arrived there on Sunday, at nine o'clock. The town of Fahlun, called otherwife Copperberg, is very large : it is not furrounded with barriers, as are all the other towns of the country ; the llreets of it are perfeftly ftraight. There are two fquares, one of which is handfome, large, and regular. North of this is a large houfe, built of (tone ; it comprifes the hall where juftice is rendered, a cellar, a granary, and a public difpenfary. Eaft of the fquare is a large ftone church, the belfry of which is lofty ; there is in it a very good ring of bells : the church is co- vered with copper ; the gates areof brafs ; as for the reft, it is not ornamented within. In the church-yard are many tombs of metal. Out of the town, on the eaftern fide, is another church, built as well of ftone ; it is covered with copper, as well as the fteeple of the tower, which is vei^ handfome. Befides thefe two churches, among the build- ings belonging to the mine, there is a chapel for the officei-s and workmen of the mine. At the ibuth-eaft of the town is a tolerably handfome houfe, which belongs to the Kino- of Sweden : the governor of Fahlun dwells in it ; and the King fometimes goes there. The neighbourhood is embellifhed by many pretty counti-y-houfes, which be- long to the inhabitants of the town. They are all concerned in the mines ; without it they cannot obtain the rights of citizenfhip : they are called Bufemans, that is to fay, men of the company ; and thofe who work themfelves, Brukande Bufemans. The greater part, inftead of fticks, carry little hatchets ; they wear hats without loops, like our priefts, black coats without pockets, black ftockings, and black gloves. All the weftern fide of the river, for at lead the fpace of half a mile, is entirely bar- ren and rocky. Among thefe rocks are the mines of copper: feveral canals conduft by different channels water for working an infinite number of machines. There are to be feen the houfes of the officers ; befides thefe, nothing but maffes of fcoriae, which form hillocks : between which roads are kept up for carrying the ore to little carts, drawn by one horfe. The eaftern fide of the river is not fo barren : there is all along the town pretty good meadows, for three or four hundred toifes ; beyond there are only mountains and woods. Monday, the firft of July, we went to fee the mines, M. Le Monnier, M. Sommereux, and myfelf. They made us all change our drefs at M. Bentzel's, one of the bailiffs of the mine ; thev gave us breeches, jackets, waiftcoats, wigs, and hats, and each of us a guide. We at firft defcended to the bottom of a very large pit, about one hundred toifes wide, and one hundred and fifty feet deep : we went down by ftairs cut in the rock, and by wooden ftairs when the rock was wanting. Our guides carried feveral bundles of long flips of deal : at the bottom of the pit they each lighted one, that we might fee ; and, each preceded by a guide, we entered one after the other thi-ough a very narrow cavern. We at firft defcended by a great number of ftone ftcps, which winded frequently, and arrived at a fquare hole perpendicular to the horizon, thi'ee or four feet wide, and at leaft thirty feet deep, furnifhed on two of its fides with ladders, which they have been obliged to tie together two by tuo, in order to get to the bottom of the hole. We entered into a very narrow cavern, through which having advanced a little, we found eight or ten men, almoft naked, having nothing but their breeches on ; they were lying on the ground, and had no other light than what was yielded by fome deal fplintcrs : the way was fo narrow that we could fcarccly pafs thcin. 1 he heats which were emitted from thefe caves, added to that of the flambeaux of our guides, almoft fuffocated us j we were every now and then obliged to turn our heads to breathe. After outhier's journal of a voyage to thk north. 327 • After pafling thefe naked men, we again defcended, and found ourfelves at length in cavities t'rom thirty to forty feet broad, fome of which were terminated by very large wells. We paffod by narrow paffagps to get from one of thefe cavities to the other. The greater part of thefe roads are furnilhed below with a wooden channel, to direct the wheels of the tumbrils, in which the horfes draw up the ore, to conduct it op- pofite to the welis which are cut to the top. It is through thefe openings that the ore is raifcd in very large buckets. I'hefe buckets are fufpended to cables, rolled over the axis of large wheels, fome of which are turned by horfes, and others by water. They are fo conftru6ted as while one bucket defcends, another is raifed. When it is required to let down a horfe, a band which goes under the whole of his body is faftensd to one of thefe cables. On each fide of the canal I ara fpeaking of, there is fufficient room for a perfon to pafs ; and to prevent paflengers from being hurt by the tumbrils, they are confined by a middle wheel placed under them, to the middle of the channel. In fome places there are other wooden channels faftened along the rock, the ufe of which is to condutt the water neceffary in the working the mine. In thefe fubterraneous places we faw two (tables for horfes, and a fmithy wherein tools, and flioes for horfes were made- In all thefe caverns, but above ail in the larger ones, we faw a great number of work- men, fome cloathed, others naked ; they make a fire on the ftone they are defirous of breaking, and when fufficiently heated, remove it, and direftly throw water upon the hot (tone, which fplits ; on every fide there are a number of thefe fires. Here we faw levers of every defcription for moving the ore, and placing it within reach of the tum- brils. There various pumps for raifmg water from parts where it was injurious, and diredting it to others where it was of ufe. Sometimes we faw rivulets running, which apparently loft themfelves in the crevices of the rock. There is in thefe mines a great number of roads, which we did not fee on account of the gates being fhut. In many of the caverns the rock is fupported by walls ; in others by planking joined together, fome with iron clamps, others with wooden (lays. In fpite of thefe precautions the tops of the mines are not firm, for workmen are fre- quently either wounded, orcrufhed to death by the fall of large fragments. Thefe un- fortunate beings know the danger to which they are expofed, and in confcquence a fombre fadnefs reigns among them, it feems as though mirth were prohibited indeed, for they are not allowed either to whiftle or fing in the mine. Women are alfo exprefsly forbid going down them. After having gone through different caverns during two hours, we found ourfolvcs at the bottom of the largeft well, and thought it rained abundantly, notwithltanding the ferenity of the fky ; the vapours afcending from all parts refolving into real rain, which continued to wet us, till we had afcended two thirds of the height of the well. It is 350 Swedifh ells deep, which make 640 French feet. We now wanted no more than two guides to bring us to the light of day ; one of them placed himfelf with M. Le Monnier and myfelf, in a large bucket, which is ufed to draw up the ore. We had neither of us more than one leg in the bucket, and held by the chain with which it is faftened to the cable. While afcending, every now and then our guide touched the fides of the well in order to dired: the bucket, and avoid the points of the rock which projected, as well as the defcending bucket, the fhock of which would have been dangerous. The coachman of this lingular kind of carriage required a confiderable portion of ikill, for the fwinging of the bucket, the turnings which the cord occafioned by its twifting, and the fmall iize of the well rendered the pafTage 328 OUTHIEr's journal Of A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. paffage difficult. Notwithftanding the horfes which drew us went at a very good rate we were nine minutes in rifing from the bottom to the top of the well. There are two water works, which draw up the ore in chains inftead of cables. They are compofed of large overfliot wheels, with two rows of buckets, one of which is oppofite to the other. Thefe wheels are placed in large wooden buildings clofely fliut up. At the top of the building is a large refervoir, into which pumps continually throw up water, carried to it by large wooden pipes ; at each oppofite fide of the refervoir, there is an opening with a flood gate which correfponds with the buckets : fo that by opening one of the flood gates, the water falls into the buckets that anfwer to it, and ihe wheel turns one way ; infl:ead of which it turns the other way, upon the (hutting that and opening the oppofite flood gate. We faw another water work, which had two wheels, each twenty-feven French feet in diameter. It was not at work when we went there ; it is ufed for raifmg the ore, and to work a prodigious quantity of machinery for pumping, and other purpofes. There are befides feveral other machines worked by water and horfes, for drawing fuch water from the mine as is fuperfluous; the machinery for working thefe pumps extends to a very great diftance, and divides, and fub-divides in a number of branches, for pumping at the fame time in a great many different places. Some of this machinery moves vertically, others horizontally ; and if the mountain be frightful from its rug- ged rocks, the moving forefl: formed by the different machineiy is an object well worthy a curious eye. All the bodies of the pumps are of wood ; the wheels, the levers, and all other parts of the machinery are perfeclly well confl:rud:ed. All the refervoirs as well are of wood, very clofely joined and pitched, fo as no water can efcape. As the ore is drawn it is feparated into different heaps, which are the property of in- dividuals. Every proprietor carries away his Ihare in little tumbrils, to take it to the foundry, where they prepare it for fufion. The mines are S. W. of the town, about 1 50 toifes diftant from the nearefl; houfes. Between the houfes and the town, and the town itfelf, even and along the banks of the river, there is nothing to be feen but forges, the bellows of which are moved by water. Near thefe forges are a number of furnaces, where the ore is extended on two layers of wood, which is fet fire to, and is left to burn for feveral days ; this is the firft part of the procefs for the preparation of the ore, and is called Kalleroflat. The fecond is in a nearly fimilar kind of furnace ; it is longer only and narrower. They then make the metal run in a very violent fire, blafted by immenfe bellows worked by water. There then remains to refine it only. Of this I fliallfpeak prefently when I come to Affta. On paiTmg near the Kalleroftats to leeward, the fmoke is fo thick and fulphurous, as not to be refpirable. Sometimes it entirely covers the town, and although incommo- dious to the inhabitants, it procures them the advantage of being never troubled with gnats ; an infupportable vexation throughout the reft of the country. The officers of the mine made us each a prefeiit of a Berfeman's hatchet, on the part of the company j they are very fmall ; the inhabitants ot Dalecarlia always carry one, which is to them in lieu of a llick. The governor invited us to dinner, and fhewed us the greateft civility. Tuefday the fecond of July, we went to fee a man who they faid was petrified ; he had been crufhed under a mafs of rock. After forty or fifty years, in digging, his body was found ; it was fo little changed, that a woman recollefted him ; for iixteen years he had been kept as a curiofity in an iron chair. We faw nothing but a body perfeclly black, much disfigured, and which exhaled a cadaverous fmell. Saturday OUTHIEr's journal of a voyage to TH2 NORTH. 329 Saturday the fixtli, after dinner we took leave of the governor, and departed in our coach, we (lopped at the country-houfe of M. Trohili the burgo-mafter ; it is very ele- gant ; the garden is extenfivc, the profped: diverfified by woods, meadows, and large fheets of water ; in which foine excellent fifli were caught for our fupper. We did not depart till eleven o'clock in the evening ; we rode all night through a fine country, and more than two thirds of the way on very large caufeways. We paffed the great river Dalu three times on floating bridges. Thefe floating bridges are large planks of wood joined together, parallel to the cur- rent of the river, and laid over other planks finiilar but longer, which are at right angles with the firft, all thefe planks are well joined : when loaded with a heavy carriage, they fink a little, and the water fometimes comes to the highefl: edge. Thefe floating bridges are of two defcriptions ; the one extends from one fide of the river to the other, as is the cafe with fome at Stockholm : the other occupies but a fmall part of the river, and is crofled along a cable extended from one fide of the river to the other, in the faine man- ner as our ferry boats. Sunday noon, the fevcnih, we arrived at Afsta, feven miles from Fahlun. Afsta to which name Fors is added, fignifying forge and catarafl:, is a very fmall place fituated on the fide of the great river Dalu, below a moft frightful catarai51:, which tiirns a large number of wheels ufed for refining copper. We firfl: went to fee the infpec- tor of the works who received us very politely ; he told us he would caufe the whole proceft of refining to be gone through as foon as we pleafed after midnight, for they obferved the Sunday with great fl:rifl;nefs. At midnight we went to fee them at work. The copper Is forwarded from Fahlun to Afsta in blocks in a very impure ftate, only having undergone the firft fufion* When It arrives at Afsta, an exadl account is taken of what belongs to each individual, in order to know what he may have to receive after deduding the King's dues, and the charges of refining. They began by putting into a kind of large crucible cut In the ground, a bed of char- coal, and above that a heap of Jarge ingots or blocks of copper, till there was about 8 or 9000 weight, with a quantity of charcoal above it. This was fet fire to, and blafted by two large bellows, which the water kept continually playing, until the ingots were en- tirely melted ; after this the bellows continued to play for a long time, frefli charcoal being added as often as requifite ; now and then the crucible was opened, the charcoal tvhich floated on its furface was taken away, and the melted ore flcimmed of whatever drofs fwimmed upon it. At length a little before ten o'clock the whole of the charcoal was removed, and the bellows ceafed from working. On the melted copper a little water was thrown, which not being able to evaporate at the Inftant, rolled backwards and forwards on the furface in little drops : this water having chilled the top, a cruft: was formed which was taken off" with hooked poles, and other iron inftruments ; water was thrown on a fecond time, and a fecond cruft taken ofi^; and thus until the crucible was empty ; It gave, if I mifl;ake not, forty crufts, or round flieets of copper, the laft of which are always the pureft and the beft. This work was compleated by ten o'clock ; the infpeftor came to feek us, and car- ried us to fee the laft fufion which was not long. A great number of thefe round flieets were put into a crucible nearly refcmbling the former ; they were very foon melted, they then dipped out of it with large iron fpoons, fufpended as a lever by chains, the melt, ed matter, which was poured into moulds as large, and nearly of the ftiape of the top of a hat. This matter become folid, but yet red, was placed on an anvil, and flattened by the ftrokes of a heavy hammer, which the water worked. Thefe (heets of copper were VOL. I. u u after- 33© outhier's journal of a voyage To the korth- afterwards cut into narrow plates, and paffed between rollers to make them even and of equal thicknefs. Three men weighing upon a large pair of flieers, the lever of which was horizontally placed, cut the plottes, that is to fay, the large copper coin. Four others, each holding a corner of the pieces with its impreflion, received the ftroke of a large hammer, moved by the water which ftamped the coin. Others cleaned it in rolling cafts. The infpedlor went with us every where, and invited us to dine with him. Tuefday the ninth, at five in the morning, we went in our coach to Meffinfbrok, a quarter of a mile diftant from Afsta, to fee them make brafs. They have three fubter- rancan furnaces, each furnifhed with a lid, they let down with large hooks to the bottom of thefe furnaces, nine very deep crucibles, which have been filled with red copper, calaminaris, with fome rafpings of yellow copper. Sometime after, they take up thefe fame crucibles, in which the matter is founded ; they pour it into a large mould very flat, to make fliects of brafs ; fome are cut into long flips, which are put to heat again in a large oven, wherein the fire is on one fide, they arc afterwards cut for brafs wire, at firfl: fquare, and large, but they are rendered round and {lender as they pleafe, by being drawn through guages by means of water that works nippers, which lay hold of the wire on its being forced through the guage, and draw it forward with violence. On one machine there are twelve of thefe guages with their nippers, which the tree of one finglc wheel works with furprifing celerity. They melt, and work alfo a number of different articles in yellow copper. The infpeftor made us take tea there, and to dine we returned to Afsta, which we left at noon for Salfberg, four miles and an half diftant from Afsta. The whole road through an even country, but very barren, and almoft wholly wood : through the whole diftancewe paffed but three villages. We had bad horfesand did not arrive till eight o'clock at night. Salfberg is a large and handfome town ; the ftreets are ftraight, and paved, as well as the fquare which is handfome and regular. On the twenty-firft Auguft in ly^O, this tovv'n was almoft wholly deftroyed by fire, and prefented a very fad appear- ance, few of the houfes being yet re-built. The town is watered by a very fmall river. We went on Wednefday morning, the tenth, to fee the filver mines, as they were not of any magnitude, we did not go down them, the burgo-mafter fhewed us all the pits ; there is but one machine both for pumping the water, and drawing up the ore. This ma- chine is well made, but not fo large as thofe at Fahlun. At three o'clock in the afternoon, we left Salfberg ; for fevcn miles we travelled through a very fine and well cultivated level country ; we faw quantities of rye, bar- ley, peas, and even very fine crops of wheat ; plenty of meadows, fevcral parilhes and villages, and but little wood. The reft of the road was more diverfified ; plenty of wood mixed however with cultivated fields in the valleys, and often lakes ; we pafl'ed a Itrait between two lakes, on a floating bridge, which was drawn over by a rope. We were then then two miles and a halt from Stockholm, we travelled all night, and arrived on Thurfday at eleven o'clock in the morning : we fet up at the fame inn which we logdcd at the year before : we met then MeflTrs. de Maupertuis, Clairaut, Celfius, and Herbelot, with all the fervants, and the luggage which had arrived with the vcffel, after a good voyage. On Sunday the fourteenth, after faying mafs, MeflTrs. de Maupertuis, Camus, and myfelf went to dine with the ambaffador. On Monday the fifteenth, his Excellency took us to Carlfberg, at ten in the morning, and prefented us to their Majefties. It was the day of St. Ulric, whofe name her Majefty bore ; on this occafion an entertain- ment was given in the gardens of Carlfberg j the King wiflicd to fee the drawings of fome 4 plants. outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. 331 plants, and animals, of fome Laplanders, and their dwellings which M. Herbelot had defigned, and converfed with much familiarity and benignity with all ofusj we took leave of their Majeflies and returned to Stockholm. Tuefday the fixteenth, M. Clairaut, M. Camus, and myfelf, went to fee the Count de TelTm ; afterwards I went to Mr. Ilorlcman, and to fee Mr. Bentzilius, at the king's library. After dinner we employed ourfelvcs in cleaning the quadrants and other inftruments which had got wet in the Ihip. Wednefday the feventeenth, we put them in their cafes, and M. de Maupcrtuis got every thing ready for our departure. For M. Sommereux and himfelfhehad engaged a palfage in a velfel going to Amfterdam ; M. Herbelot and lome fervants remained at Stockholm, till lome veffel (hould fail for Rouen, on board which they might flii'p the luggage and inftruments. One of the coaches was prefented to M. Celfius ; and the other was defigned to carry Meflrs. Clairaut, Camus, Le Monnier, and myfelf to Amfterdam, whither M. de Maupertuis went by fea. Thurfday the eighteenth, at five in the morning M. de Maupertuis departed with M. Sommereux ; Meffrs. Clairaut, Camus, Le Monnier and myfelf, after taking leave ot the ambaflador, fet off in our coach at fix o'clock. We palTcd over two wry fine floating bridges, and by midnight arrived at Soder Talge, and on Friday the nine- teenth, at eleven in the morning at Nykoping. We did not leave it till fix in the evening, and arrived on Saturday the twentieth, at four o'clock in the morning at Nord- koping : it is a large town in which there are many fione houfes : below a very rapid cataraft which works the wheels of an iron forge we faw a great number of veflels. By noon we were at Linkoping, twenty-two miles from Stockholm. The city of Linkoping is handfome, it is the fee of a bifliop ; there is a cathedral, with a large burial place, which many good houfes look out upon ; we lodged in one which was very neat, and in which we felt ourfelves at eafe, two or three miles before we arrived at the city, there began a handfome caufeway planted on both fides with willows. We left Linkoping at feven o'clock, we travelled frequently among rocks and came near to the fide of the great lake Water. For two miles we continued our route along its fide, at firft over rocks which I'urround it, and afterwards under the rocks along the margin of the lake. We paiTed through a village very fmall, and very poor, oppofire to which, on the top of the mountain the remains of a caftle are diftin- guiflied, called Brahufs, or good houfe, which had been burnt down ; to judge from it remains, it muft have been very handfome. On Sunday the twcnty-firft, a quarter of a mile further, below the fame ranfe of rocks from i©o to i5otoifes from the lake, is the little town of Grenna, thirty miles from Stockholm. The houfes are very imall, and all of wood ; they form two parallel ftreets, on the fame line as the length of the lake. The largelt of them is very broad and nearefl to the lake ; in the middle of the ftreet, there is a row of lofty trees which divides it from beginning to end, and affords a pretty profpect ; it is nearly 300 toifes long, running N. N. E,; a third part down this llreet towards the N. E. is a pretty re- gular fquare, fituated between the two ftreets, into which five or fix little crofs itreets fall. The church, the only flone building, is about two thirds up the great ftreet going towards the S. W. Between the town which is quite at the bottom of the rocks, and the lake, is a well cultivated country about 150 toifes broad, firetching along the lake. Thefe are feveral gardens in which cherries are very plentiful, which appeared to us to be of a good kind. We arrived there at nine o'clock in the morning, and departed ar four in the afternoon. u u 2 After 332 outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. After travelling about a quarter of a mile at the foot of the rock, upon leaving Grenna, weafcended it, and paffed to the eaft of a fmall lake. Some time after, we defcended to the fide of the great lake, along which we continued to Tonekoping. Weft of Grenna in the lake we perceived a large ifland with Iioufes upon it. At nine o'clock in the evening we arrived at Jonekoping ; the town appeared to us large and handfome ; a large and very broad ftreet paflcs through it : the houfes of it are neat, although almoft all of wood. It is fituated at the fouthern extremity of the great lake Water, the water of which as well forms a large bafon within the town. We faw no boat either on the bafon, or on the lake, which much furprizcd us ; I had before remarked that there was none on the lake near Grenna, nor in any of its extent while we were coafting it, over the rocks. I was not able to learn the reafon of it at Jonekoping ; we waited only an inftant there, becaufe there were fome German noble- men behind us, who took fixteen horfes, and we were fearful of their getting before us. We left it on Monday the twenty-fecond, at ten o'clock at night. We found an even country on proceeding, the road almoft always fandy and through woods ; to this fucceeded fields, meadows, lakes, and heaths ; we paffed two rivers, and on Tuefday the twenty-third at four o'clock in the morning, we arrived at Hionby, where we faw more empty fhops than houfes ; it is a place famous for markets and fairs. At eight o'clock we arrived at Hambneda or Hamna, where we refted our- felves ; the hoftefs took us for people out of their fenfes, to alk to go to bed at nine o'clock in the morning. We did not fet out till five in the evening ; we paffed a river, and afterwards through coppices, where we faw beach for the firft time. By feven o'clock we had reached Trahry ; we went flowly through the woods the fpace of two miles, as far as Mufkarid, where we arrived at midnight ; afterwards, having got to Fayerhalt one mile and half further, by two o'clock on Wednefday morning the twenty-fourth ; we left it at four o'clock, pafled by Orkliona, and Lenby, and reached Helfinhorg at fix o'clock in the evening. We had travelled for a long time through a country, the language of which was not familiar to us. We were delighted with finding at Helfinborg feveral perfons who fpoke French. The town of Helfinborg is not handfome ; there is a fmall terrace on the bank of the ftrait, where many cannon are placed. The wheels were taken off our coach, and it was put into a large boat, in which we embarked at feven o'clock. The wind was foutherly, we kept as near to it as pofiible, and ufing our oars, we paffed the Sound in an hour, but as the wind and the current had thrown us out of our courfe, and carried us fomewhat to the N. of the caftle of Elfineur, we were obliged to pull againit wind and tide, to get to the town at the S. S. E.; we did not land at Elfineur until nine o'clock : this town is pretty, the houfes have a neat appearance, but they have very few lodgings, and do not behave with much politenefs to ftrangers. We left Elfineur on Thurfday the twenty-fifth, at one in the afternoon ; we met whh roads very ill kept, and fometimes very bad, and did not arrive at Copenhagen, until nine o'clock in the evening. We lodged at an inn, which was oppofite the palace of the King of Denmark. Friday the twenty-fixth, M. dc la Noue, Envoy of France invited us to dinner. After dinner! went with Meffrs. Clairaut, and Camus, to fee a royal palace, called Frederikfberg which is handfome, and has fine gardens. Saturday the twenty-eight, I heard mafs faid by the Jefuits, who officiate at the Em- peror's chapel. This chapel is elegant; a number of Catholics were collected there to hear divine fervice. JVJ. de la Noue did us the honour of vifiting us j and we paffed 3 tl^e outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. 333 the remainder of the day in looking about the town, canals, ports, and veflels of the ^'"S- . ... On Sunday, the twenty-ninth, M. de la Noue again invited us to dine j he invited as ■well M. Herrebon, aftronomer of the King of Denmark. After dinner we went to M. Herrebon, who made each of us a prefent of feme books of his compofing : he gave us a collation in his garden : he had requefted the company of a clergyman, whofe drefs appeared to me extraordinary ; he had on a long coat, with a ruflP of very fine linen round his neck, and wore a cap, terminated at top by a large round piece of felt, about eighteen inches in diameter, placed horizontally ; this is the ufual drcfs of profcffors of divinity at Copenhagen. We afterwards went to fee the aftronomical tower, whei-e feveral of the inflruments of Tycho Brahe are preferved, and part of the original re- gifters of his obfervations. We faw the library of the univerfity, over the vault of the church, contiguous to the aftronomical tower. M. Le Clerc, fon of the famous Le Clerc, defigner and engraver at Paris, invited us to fupper. Monday, the twenty-ninth, we all went to the King's library, to the flablcs, and the riding-fchool, where M. Le Grand, Equerry of the King of Denmark then was, and caufed feveral horfes to be mounted ; we faw hunters and riding horfes very well trained. Thence we were concluded to a royal caflle in the town, wliich contains great weahh, a great quantity of gold plate, of a handfome fliapc, and well wrought : we were fhewn as well cabinets of medals, and natural hiftory, very complete ; with many paintings and ftatues of great value. The King of Denmark was ten or twelve lean-ues from Copenhagen, which prevented our paying our court to him. We went to take leave of M. de la Noue, and departed at eight o'clock in the evening. After travelling four miles, we arrived on Tuefday, the thirtieth, at Rofkild, at one o'clock in the morning, a middling city, the fee of a bifliop ; four miles farther, at Ringlled ; and attain four miles more, at Slagen, a town much refembling Roikild, and near to which is a caflle, much like a monaltery. At length, at five in the evening, we came to Korfer, a little town on the point of a tongue of land : in going out of the town is a little caftle, with a garrifon From Copenhagen to Korfer is fourteen Danifh .miles ; the country is level enough, and the roads good : there are fine forefts of beech, feveral lakes and fields, fome uncultivated, others cultivated, but the foil bad. We gave for each horfe fourteen fols; the poflilions are lazy, and fond of drink. At fix o'clock at night we were on the fliore of the Great Belt ; we embarked in a fmall veflel, on the deck of which, with its wheels on, our coach was placed. The wind was S. ; we kept near to it, in order to go W. S. W., and arrived by nine o'clock on the other fliore ; we flept at an inn on the quay, the gates of the town of Niuborg being fhut. We left that place at feven in the morning of Wednefday, the thirty firiT: ; we palled through Niuborg, where there is a garrifon, and after travelling four miles, arrived at noon at Odenzce, a handfome and large town : we went fix miles farther to Middelfaft, a fmall town, which we reached at eleveti o'clock at night ; we immediately embarked to crofs the Little Belt, in a large flat boat. We were obliged to row againfl the wind, which was S. W. ; at every ftroke of the oar (which was very long) we perceived a luminous train of fparks on the furface of the agitated waters. The water of the Belts being the fame as that of the Baltic Sea, which is fcarcely at all fait, it is prefumable that it is not the agitation of the faline particles alone which caufes thefe fparks : after ha\-ing gained on the wind by dint of rowing, we hoilted fail and palled over in an hour and a half, landing at one in the morning. We 334 OUTHIER S JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH, We fet oft" on Thurfday, the firft of Auguft, at three o'clock, and after travelling three miles arrived at Kolding, a fmall town, in which is a garrilon : we travelled four miles farther, arriving by noon at Hatterfleben, a pretty town, but without gates. The poflilions drove us very flowly : we journied all night, and did not arrive at Flenfborg till Friday, the fecond, at fix in the morning, where we had to do with very uncivil people, difobliging, and felfifli in the extreme. We left Flenil)org at eight in the morn- ing, paffing over nothing but heath, to Reniborg, where we arrived at ten o'clock at night. As the gates of the town were clofed, we took up our abode with a friendly farmer, who from his courteous behaviour might well have been taken for a flranger. From this place the country houfes, and even fome in the town, are fingularly plan- ned : they confift of a large court, to which you enter by a great gate ; at the bottom of this immenfe court are fome apartments; all round, in flieds, the cattle and poultry are kept, who in confequence are habituated to live very familiarly with the family : the kitchen is in the corner of the court, which is large enough to ferve for a coach-houfe ; carriages are kept in it. We continued our journey, pafting through the town of Renfborg ; it is well forti- fied ; it is divided in two by a canal, on which were many handfome boats carrying mads ; the fouthern part is very handfome. At four o'clock in the afternoon we ar- rived at Itzehoa ; it is a fine town, of great trade, but not inclofed. We fet off" thence at fix o'clock in the evening ; we pals over a fine fertile country, variegated by mea- dows, and watered by canals. A mile beyond Itzehoa we faw on the fide of the road a fortified caflle, furrounded by meadows. We flopped a little at midnight in the town of ElmePaem, and arrived on Sunday, the fourth, at eight o'clock in the morning, at Hambourg. We went to pay our refpefts there to M. Pouflin, envoy of the King ; he kept us to dine with M. de la Chetardie, who was returning from his embafl'y to Pruflia. On Mon- day, the fifth, and Tuefday, the fixth, we dined there again : we cannot fpeak too highly of the eagernefs he manifefied to have us continually with him. Tuefday he gave a dinner to M. de Chavigny, who was going as ambaffador to Copenhagen. Wedncfday, the feventh, we went to fee M. Rochefort, comniilTary of the marine, and to take leave of M. Pouflin. We dined at our inn : toviards the clofe of dinner fome Pruflian pjldiers, extremely tall, gave us a concert with a bafs viol, a baflbon, vio- lins, a guitar, and Fi-ench horns. At four o'clock in the afternoon we fet off in our coach ; and after travelling two miles along the northern bank of the Elbe, we crolTed it at Blankinefe in a very in- commodious boat, and conducted by very unflciliul boatmen. We continued our route in this boat along a little river, which difcharges itfelf into the Elbe, and which allows of decked vellels to go up of fome burthen ; we landed at eight o'clock in the evening on the bank of this little river. We went on a mile farther to Boxtehode, fituated on the fame river ; we arrived there at midnight ; we changed horfes there, and left it on Thurfday, the eighth, at two o'clock in the morning. There are four or five villages on the road, both fides of which prefent barren uncultivated plains, as far as near to Bre- men. We dined at one of thefe villages, and fared very well ; they prefented us firft with tea and coffee, which is the cuftom of the country. At ten o'clock in the evening we arrived near the gates of Bremen, which were al- ready clofed. Bremen is a very fine and large town ; we were told it contained a church for the Catholics. After travelling a mile we pafTed by Ddmerhorfl, continually in a bad country, nothing but heath and fandy roads. Two miles farther we reached Villenhufen : we left OUTHIER S JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. 335 left It at feven o'clock, going through a very unplcafant country, compofed of heath and i'and, and arrived on Friday, the ninth, at three o'clock in the morning, at Klappcnborg, all the inhabitants of which arc Catholics. We departed at five o'clock, and by nine reached the village of Largning, where we heard mafs. In this country they no longer conform to the old flilc : tlie feafi: of St. Laurence was celebrating, whofe mafs was folemnly fung, accompanied by the organ. We went afterwards to the town of HafTelune, thence to Lingen, and arrived on Sunday, the twclftii, at two in the morning, at Nothoron, a fmall town, in which the Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinifts, each publicly exercife their religion. The po(t- mafters of this country are not famous for their honefty ; they alked us twice what they had a right to receive, and we were obliged to wink at their roguery, in order to get on. We travelled over heaths almoft as far as Dolden, a large village, near which is a fine caftle ; there we came to a better country, as well in what regarded the foil as its in- habitants. When we paffed Dolden, we perceived many caflles, with fine avenues to them ; notwithllanding there yet was a quantity of heath, on which they cut turf, wliich is almoft their only fuel. We arrived at the gates of Deventer, which were fliut, at mid- night : we pafled the night in the fuburbs, and on Tvlonday, the thirteenth, at fix o'clock, entered the town, which is pretty, neat, and apparently well fortified. We took frefli horfes there, and departed at {c\cn o'clock : on leaving it we went over a handfome floating bridge of boats. The country afterwards was beautiful for two miles from the town : we then came to a very handfome and very large caftle, a fliort time before we reached the poft-houfe ; afterwards a foreft of beech, and immenfe heaths, without vil- lages, until within a mile of Amersford, where the country begins to improve. We faw there a great number of fields of tobacco, and feveral very long buildings for drying it. We paffed through the town of Amesford, which is handfome and large ; the fortifications are not in repair. At midnight we arrived at Narden, as pretty a town aspoffible to be ; its fortifications are refpedtable ; it is feparated by feveral canals, over which are bridges. We continued our road along a canal until we arrived at Amfter- dani, on I'uefday, the thirteenth, at nine in the morning. We had again the pleafure to meet with M. de Maupertuis ; he had only arrived the day before : the wind for a long time had been adverfe on his paffage, and llie veffel had beentempeft toft. The reft of the day, and the fucceeding one, we employed in examining the city and the port. Wednefday, the fourteenth, we embarked in a fchuyt, where we were not very comfortable, till we arrived at Leyden : we there took another boat, much more commodious, and more clean ; and again another at Delft, which conducted us to Rotterdam. All thefe towns are elegantly handfome, and yield nothing in neatnefs to Amfterdam. The banks of the canal ai"e adorned with magnificent houfes, and very fine gardens, particularly oppofite to the Hague. On one of the bridges of Rotterdam is the brals ftatue of Erafmus, dreffed as a Cordelier, holding a book in his hand. The veffels feen on every fide in this town, on the canal, and on the river, ofter a very fine fpectacle. M. de Maupertuis hired twocalaflies to continue our journey. Friday, the fixteenth, at two in the morning, we croffed the Meufe in a large flat-bottomed boat ; at nine we paffed the Scheldt, at a place where its waters are ftopped by three fine locks, which ferve to let down into the canal the barks and fmall veilels with which this prodigioufly wide river is covered. Near the locks there is a very large lanthern at the top of a maft, with a ladder to go up to it. We 33^ outhier's journal of a voyage to the north. We fent back our calaflies on arriving at the banks of the Scheldt ; and after pafling . it we met with frefii ones at Mordyk, which carried us to Antwerp, where we again changed our carriage : we there hired a large coach, which would hold eight perfons. From Antwerp we had the beft road poffible, well paved, ftraight, and planted with trees on the fides ; afterwards befide a fine canal, which we pafled by a bridge, on com- ing nigh to Bruflels, The fide of the canal towards the well is adorned with country houfes, and magnificent gardens, where fountains are feen playing, and very high and well-cut hedges. On Saturday, the feventeenth, at feven o'clock in the evening, we arrived at Bruflels, whence we followed the cuftomary road to Paris, where we arrived on Tuefday, the twentieth, at eight o'clock in the morning. M. de Maupertuis went forward from Perenni ; we proceeded to his houfe, and after reding ourfelves, we completed our voyage by fupping all together. "We arrived too late on Tuefday to complete our fird duty, which was to go and render an account of our expedition to hisMajefty, the Cardinal, and M. de Maurepas. On Wednefday, the twenty-firft, we all proceeded to Verfailles : we firfl; went to M. Le Comte de Maurepas, who received us in the moft kind manner ; he prefented us to the Cardinal Minifter, and afterwards to the King. The Cardinal obferved to us that the perfect union which had reigned among us during fo long a voyage delighted him extremely. M. Le Comte de Maurepas afterwards carried us home to dine with him. It was fcarcely poflible for M. de Maupertuis to prevent the lofs of fome time, occa- fioned by the eameftnefs of fo many friends. It was a week after our arrival before he laid the account of our trigonometrical obfervations before the academy ; in which, on a large fcale, he expofed the feries of our triangles. Friday, the thirteenth of September, we all went to the Comte de Maurepas' } I took my leave of him, and returned to the bifhop of Bayeux, to refume my former courfe of life. TRAVELS [ 337 ] TRAVELS OF M. ARIFID EHRENMALM INTO WESTERN NORDLAND, AND THE LAPLAND PROVINCE OF ASEHLE, OR ANGHERMANLAND, IN THE MONTH OF JUNE, 1741. [From the Hist. Gen. db> Voy. xxv. 464.] THIS work, tranflated from the Svvedifh, is perfeftly new to foreigners, and the tranflation has been made for the Hiftory of Voyages and Travels : it will enlarge our knowledge of a country, which, though barren, and but a wafte, is fufficiently near our civilized ftates to merit the attention of the reader. Should an invafion in Europe ever take place, it will, we have no doubt, proceed from thofe countries which we at prefent defpife. The mofl indigent nations only wait for fome violent convulfion, fome rupture in Europe, to fall upon it from all quarters; and perhaps the Nordlanders will per- form their part in this great revolution. We regard it as a mere chimera ; becaufe hiftory does not prefent the fame event twice, and that the paft, we imagine, far from being an example which fliould alarm the prefent, is, on the contrary, the guarantee of our fecurity ; fo does the difference of time and fituation change the order of caufes and effects. We confide in the political connexions of Europe, which balance all its powers by one another, which give the faculty of forefceing, and time to guard againft, irruption. We trufl: in the progrefs of the art of war ; in the fecurity of fortreffrs ; in the inexhauftible refource of fire-arms ; in money, which creates numerous armies ; in the multiplicity of ftates, which mutually thwart the cnterprifes, and retard the progrefs of one another ; in commerce in fine, which multiplying and mingling interefts and wants, diverts towards labour and induftry that reftlefs and furious adivity of men which formerly inclined them to war. But is not the invention of fire-arms favourable to the northern nations, whom nature has furniflied with iron to conquer the land ? Citadels, which may prevent furprife, will they bear againft famine and devaftation with which it is eafy to furround them ? The gold which pays the troops, will it infpire them with courage ? If it ferve for defence, will it not be an allurement for attack? All the riches of the new world, which flow in three or four channels of Europe, do they not invite the inhabitants of the north towards the fouth ? May not the connections of powers haften the revolution they are deftined to prevent ? Would not the preponderance of one of thefe northern confederacies bring on the fall and ruin of the equilibrium ? Would not each petty member unite with the greateft, with the ftrongeft, to complete the deftruction of the whole body ? Does not commerce point out the way to conqueft ; does it not infpire temptation ? What but a ten years* war in Europe is fufiicient to de- prive thericheft powers in America of their colonies ? Why afJure ourfelves that thefe, at tne leaft fliock of the mother country, would not throw off the yoke of the power which oppreffes them ? To what purpofe ferves the commerce of the two Indies, but to enervate, perhaps even by the I'iches it yields, the nations who have feized on it, to the exclufion of all others. The northern nations, full ot vigour, with their forces united, would fall upon our fouthern countries. They are open to invafion by the paffage of the two feas, which at prefent form the path of all countries ; by the effeminacy of the only inhabitants who have intereft without power ; by the mifery of the only inha- bitants who have power without intereft, to defend the ftate. What, when Rome pof- feffed all the riches of Afia, and all the ftrength of Europe ; a difcipline unique ; a nation trained up to war by the conqueft of the world ; nations which it had enlightened and civilifed j laws, arts, knowledge, and enjoyments which fhould have rendered it VOL. I. XX. dear 338 TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM. dear to the extent of Its dominion ; even at that time it loft all, beheld every thing' fink under its feet ; in lefs than two ages, the barbarians feizcd on all its weftern con- quefts, arrived at its gates, overturned its empire, annihilated its power ! And we dare to hope that with all its vices, and without its refources, without fpirit of union and pa- triotlfm among the principal families of each nation, all debafed or corrupted by the fervitude of courts ; without any political link between the people, who, by turns ene- mies and allies, know neither the interefls nor fentiments which fhould unite or divide them; without attachment for a land, in which the foldiers who defend it poflcfs no- thing, where all the fundamental bands of fociety are relaxed by the licentioufnefs of the manners, and by the fatal neceflity of a celibacy which luxury ordains, though pro- fcribed by nature ; we hope that, in fuch a fituation, the nations will not dare nor be able to attempt any thing ! Slumber in indolence ye that are born to flavery : it is of little confequence to you into what hands your chains may fall. In the mean time let us confider the land, we idle contemplators who can only think without a£ling ; we whom the fpeftacle of the vices of the age and our native country ftrongly repels toward regions dreary indeed to the fight, but confolatory to the mind. Let us follow an enlightened traveller, who feeks in the ruins and the defarts of nature the traces and hopes of focialnefs : he is an academician of Stockholm, who has vifited regions where the liberty which reigns in his country might givg rife to culture and correft the defeds of the climate. This journey will not be found the leaft inftruftive of this volume, nor of the whole colledion. Let us give the traveller leave to fpeak for himfelf; permitting ourfelves to add and blend our refiedlons with thofe with which he has embellifhed his work. I acquit myfelf ofa duty, by prefenting the obfervations I have been enabled to make in my journev, to the academy * which had countenanced it : whatever good it will meet with, will be the leaft of the happy fruits it has produced j what defefls and errors will be feen, only belong to the moft ufelcfs of its members. Before commencing the defcrlption of the province of Afehle, which is the principal objefl: of this journey, let me be permitted to fay a few words of the country which I have traverfed with my faithful companion, the Baron of Cederhielm. The road leading from Upfal to Flsedfund is divided into three branches, towards the fouth, the north-eaft, and the north-weft ; the latter, which condufts to Old Upfal, ex- tends in a line fo ftraight, that on departure the extremity may be perceived. This road appears to me the image and emblem of the order which fhould reign in all our ideas, whether of fpeculation or of condud, and be direfted towards the utility of man. The ftudies of the learned, the enterprifes of the politician, condufting to the lame end, ought equally to concur to the happinefs of fociety ; all which does not lead there, de- viates from the paths of nafure and of truth. The country, extending for two miles and a half from Upfal, prefents a foil nearly all argillaceous, or fertile, whether in the cultivated lands or the meadows, without any other wood than juniper-trees, which are regarded by ikilful economifts as a fign of fer- tility. This land, which has never been manured, and which is but indifferently culti- vated, produces fufficicntly good crops, with a certain abundance. The pallurages furnifli a turf which might make ufeful fuel. If trees were planted along the hedges, the flocks would find (hade to repofe in the night-time, during the long ftay of the fun in fummer, and the peafants wood, in the winters ftill longer. Great conqucfts v^ould coft more to Sweden, and yield lefs, than the knowledge and cultivation of the good lands • The Academy of Sciences of Sweden. TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM, 339 of that kingdom. It is high time that man, who has ravaged and depopulated the earth for ages, fhould at lall endeavour to fertilize it completely, and to cover it wixh inhabitants. The road leading from Lrebi to Ghefle is bordered with a land producing nothing but firs ; but if peace continue long, thefc trees, yet young, will become of great utility to navigation. This diftrid, hov.ever, pofltffes villages, the iVuits of cultivation, and exhibits fome fertility. The fand of this foil is covered, in fome places, with a bed of black earth ; but this bed is of fuch little thickncfs, that it is more prejudicial than ad- vantageous to burn the fields, in order to render them fertile. No land is entirely ufelefs in the eyes of an induftrious economift. In thefe countries, almoft defarts, the intelligent cultivators have left the hills to be covered with woods, while they have diflributed the plain into fields and pallure-lands. Here are found fields of a fandy foil, which receives fertility by manure ; lands a mixture of fand and argil ; and foils of pure argil : beneath the beds of fand there muft be a bed of argil, of the fame nature as that of the vallies. At two miles and a half on this fide of Ghefle we crofTed the river of Dal, which pro- ceeds fi-om Dalecarlia, and pafTes to the manufactory of Avefta. Near this pafTage we faw a fall, or cataradl, which, we were told, is the ftrongeft of this river. At that place two iflands divide it into three arms, which form three falls ; that on the eaft the lleepeft, and four fathoms high, falls from four rocks, which increafe the rapidity : the two other cafcades, the one more feeble than the other, are little remarkable, and fome- times fail of water. Below thefe falls the fliores of the river are of a bed of fand, which at the depth of two fathoms covers a bed of argil. The annual increafe of the waters in the fpring, raifes up the fand and tranfports it to the bed of the river, where there are formed mov- ing banks, from ten to twelve feet in height : the ice of the river breaking up alfo de- taches the fand, and augments the banks of the river at the expence of its fliores ; thus the inores are undermined, and its channel leffened : the lands become the prey of the waters which fliould nourifli them. An attem^ t might be made to dig the fhores of the river when the waters are low, and to plant trees, which would protect the lands againft the inundations : the river then compelled to run in its proper channel, would foon deftroy the banks of fand which time has accumulated. It would become navigable ; and polterity would blefs the generation who fkould have thus prepared for the welfare of its defcendants. It would be the means of deriving fertility even from the bofom of this river, which confumcs the countries that it waters, to dig in the argil, or the rich land which is bu- ried under the fand ; the two mixed together would enrich the fields. This work might be attempted during the fummer : it would often be laborious, on account of the depth of the fand. But there are places where the argil, lying very near the furfaceof the earth, would reward the labourer for the pains which this method of fertilizing his land wculd coll. Thus the river Dal, which, befides very full of other fifh, furnifhes great quantities of falmon and lampreys to the inhabitants of its fhores, would alfo be- come a great refource for agriculture. There are few countries where the waters do not offer to man more means of fubfiflence than it deprives him of: the torrents which ravage in winter, water the lands in fummer. The great rivers which defolate their fhores to the right and left, moiflen the lands far diftant from thefe fame fhores, which they never ceafe to overthrow. The fea, vihich exercifes over the globe an eternal and infurmountable empire, receives men and nourifhes them, when it has difpoffeffed them of their lands, or tranfports them to countries which it permits to exift, during fome- X X 2 ages, 340 ' TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM. a^es, on their foundations. Holland, China, the commerce of the whole world, the filhermen of the north and of all the favage iflands, every thing demonftrates that the fea, notwithftanding its deluges, inundations, and fliipwrecks, is yet an element more bountiful than terrible. All the country is fimdy from Elfcarleby to Ghefle : at that place Upland ends, and Gheftri-Keland commences. It is impoffible too much to admire the road leading to that province acrofs marlhes ; or to be weary of beholding the manner in which hu- man induflry has furnilhed it on both fides with a rampart of flints, which protefl: and border it like walls ; at the price of what labours the inhabitant of an inacceflible country has been able to open thefe means of communication, which compenfate for the avarice and the ruggednefs of nature 1 Ghefle is of no great compafs : moft of the houfes are built of ftone and wood toge- ther: the ftreets are narrow, and fometimes crooked ; the market therefore, for want of outlets and openings, has no fixed place ; it is even held in the flreets, which it in- cumbers ; an inconvenience ftill more grievous in great cities, where carriages and equipages are multiplied by luxury. But Ghefle is recompenfed for this inconvenience, infeparable from it fmallnefs and confliruftion, by innumerable advantages, for which it is indebted partly to nature and partly to indufl:ry. It is fituated at the extremity of a gulph, which the fea has formed half a mile in the land : the veflfels are flieltered there from the rocks and breakers, which befet the coafts of Sweden with dangers : large vef- fels, it is true, cannot anchor in the harbour ; but as the town is traverfed by a river, this efl;abliflies a continual intercourfe between the magazines built on its banks, and the merchandife unloaded or embarked at the port. A crov/d of fmall boats carry on this communication. A machine, which ferves to carry ofl" the mud, never ceafes clearing- this channel of navigation and commerce. Ghefle is a commercial and manufaQuring town, rich and populous : all the mechanics profit, all the inhabitants labour. This town, happily fituated between the fea and the mountains, ferves as a magazine to the whole country, flamps a great value on its mines, and fcatters abundance throughout its lands. By the mediation of this port, the copper attrads provifions, and the provi- fions occafion the exportation of the copper : the manufadures ferve as vehicles for this commerce. Under a heaven which only yields fnow, is feen a bakchoufe of fugar, a produdion which only thrives under a burning fky ; this manufafture is without the town : within is a manufaQure of tobacco, another production of the torrid zone. But what occafions one of the fmallcfl; cities of the north to flounfli in an extraordinary manner,. is a fchool for the thread and linen trade. The principal citizens fend their children there, as well for their own advantage, as for an example to the people, who find in this fchool a certain refource for the maintenance of their families. 1 cannot conceal the fentiment of joy with v.hich my foul was aSefted at behold- ing an efl:ablifliment fo patriotic, fo founded on humanity. The great quantity of flax which grows in this country, and the laborious and careful cliarafter of the women, united with the moderate price of provifions, cannot fail rendering tlie manutatture of cloth very advantageous, by increafing the cultivation of fla.x, fo natural to lands which produce little elfe. The manufaQurcs of which the materials are foreign are not near in fo great a proportion ; yet the bake-houfe of fugar, eflabliflied at Ghefle, is of great be- nefit. 1 he proprietor, who prepares five thoufand pounds of fugar weekly, fupports many men by this labour. The firfl. who opened this branch of indun:ry was compelled to buy of foreigners fugar-loaf moulds, for the value of twenty-four or thirty thoufand copper crowns. But the love of gain has occafioncd the difcovery in the country itfelf of an earth fufiiciently fine for thelc brick moulds j and the inventors are enriched, as 2 well TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM. '^41 well as their country, with all the money which woulJ have gone out of it without this difcovery. Virtues, as alfo vices, whether in morality or politics, never go (ingle : one branch of commerce has given birth to others. Happy the countries whole inha- bitants love labour, and endeavour to procure it by their ingenuity ! When the material of the manufactures is at a great price, and the return of the great advances flow, the workmen are long idle, for the entei-prifer will not overcharge himfelf with merchandife. In the uncertainty of gain he avoids iiazard, or makes it fall on the purchafer, by raifing the price of thefe articles : from that time he diminifhes the confumption, and leaves unemployed a great many hands, whom often he has taken from agriculture, to which they no n\ore return. Such is the inconvenience of manufactures of luxury. Thofe of Ghefle are not liable to it : the two-thirds of its inhabitants, which indultry or com- merce does not occupy, are employed in tiihing ; and even the peafants have recourfe to thisbufmefs, when the earth is not fufScient for their fubfdlence. The rich people pofl'efs in the town a fchool, and a fmall college with fix le6furers» Children to whom nature has given genius or talte for the fciences, may there acquire fuflicient theory to perfed the practice of the civil arts. Ghefle is the rehdcnce of the governor of Weftern Nordland, which comprehends Gheftri-Keland, Helfingelaiid, Medelpad, Jeinteland, and Anghermanland. There was formerly a fmall caflle, which the government have not poiTeffed the pecuniary means to rebuild, but which neverthelefs would be ueceflkry, to proted: the town from any infult. In Gheflri-Keland nearly all the peafants live with comfort ; they dwell in houfes tolerably well built : it is becaufe th y are citizens of a country where their clafs is an order of the ftate, a body refpected by all the others, as the moft numerous, the molt powerful, and above all, the moll ufeful, in the views of nature. It is not inquired in Sweden whether it is proper to give propriety of lands to the peafants 5 they have it, and they cultivate them, becaufe they are in pofleflion of them. The inhabitants of Nordland are more active, laborious, healthy, and flrong, than thofe of the fouth of Sweden ; they receive Grangers with much more affection, if they are not importunate. Moll of the Nordlanders paint the interior of their chambers, to enliven their abodes, which the climate renders dreary. They are cleanly in their drefs, and alfo in their food ; but their nourifhment is not very delicate : cheefe and butter are lufficient for the fimple inhabitants : they eat barley and oaten bread in fcarcity of rye, which is obferved to decreafe, both in quantity and quality, the farther we advance north. But the vices which exift in the fouth are obferved to diminilh in the fame pro- portion : travellers are there as fafe as the inhabitants, without locks or bolts. Beggary is very rare, becaufe idlenefs excites no pity ; but the wants of old age and infirm indi- gence are fupplied by the focial affeftion which unites families. The duties of kindred, the fentiments of friendlhip, have no reputation, they are fo common : little falfehood, and no oaths. The candour of youth is perpetuated in the uprightnefs of old age: there are no vices between thefe two ages, which wither the flowers of the former, and the fruits of the latter. The picture of thefe manners, worthy the pencil of Tacitus, is not a mere fidion. The peafants of Nordland are excellent cultivators : meadows are the mothers of fields ; they are acquainted with this rule of agriculture. In order to obtain the befl grafs, they every year cultivate a portion of their pafturages : the firfl: year they fow flax without manure; the fecond, barley, or mixed grain; the third winter they calt dung on it, efpecially that of the horfe ; they afterwards plough this field, and in the fpring fow oats. When the harveft is got in, they again appropriate this land to meadows. 34* TRAVELS OF EHRENMi^^LM. meadows, and change the land of men into what they call cows' land : the grafs rich and abundant which they derive from it for feven or eight years, pays them with ufury both for their manure and labour. Thefe large meadows are interfered by hedges, where each peafant proprietor has his barn : the fields, in the fame manner, are divided into as many partitions as there are families or cultivators ; thefe latter commonly only fow the argillaceous lands, which may reward their pains. If this country poflefled more inhabitants, it would become more fertile. I have feen many places capable of cultivation, and much marfiiy ground which might be turned into excellent meadows. Not merely that on the heights, there is found much flony fond, which fcarcelv having an inch of rich land, would not be ■worth the pains of clearing the wood. But good crops might be drawn from many vallies, covered with herbs which grow naturally amonglt birch and oziers : thefe trees are of a green, and vigour which indicate a land iit for cultivation. The products, as well of the land, of the commerce of grain, the filhery, the flocks of which they fell, the milk and butter, mines, manufaftures, and efpecially of thofe of flax, pay for the fubfiftence, and the imports of Nordland. In the weft of this pro- vince they alfo collect hemp, of which they make fails. They are inferior to thofe of Stockholm ; but if they are not fufficiently ftrong for veilels, they ferve at leall for barks, and to make tents and facks. The peafants of Nordland have procured a fpecies of cows, which are fmall indeed, but yield a great quantity of milk ; a profit for which thoy are indebted to the aillduity of their cares, and the quality of their pafture lands. They have excellent hay ; and the ftraw of the grain they fow, is better than that of rye. They are careful during the fummer to collect leaves of birch, alders and oziers, which they dry. They mix them in the winter with the bran of their grain, in hot water, and fill large tubs with them, which are in the ftalls of the cattle. The forage of the meadows is referved for the winter. Thus during the fummer the Nordlanders lead the cattle, far from their dwellings, into kinds of ftalls, or they leave them at liberty to graze on the environs. Some of thefe penns are common to whole villages : fome belong to particular families. A peafant has in his fold, one or feveral chambers where he dwells, prepares and keeps his milk food. Thefe folds are eftablilhed in the midft of the woods, at places where there is tolerably good grafs. Thefe uncultivated fpots are by degrees changed into meadows, fields, and gardens. The cattle pafs the night in thefe grounds, when they would prepare them for tillage ; or elfe they carry the dung there from the ftalls. In each family the greater number pafles the fummer with their cattle. During that time, they prepare the fallow ground by burning the woods and heaths, inclofe fields : they till them, gather the little they havcfown, ipin and make cloth. At the time of the hay harveft, they all go, men and women, to reap and gather in their crop. The Nordlanders have many goats, a cattle eafily bred up ; but few flieep, the wool of which is too coarfe to repay them for the trouble it corts. The fvvine, nearly all the fummer, feek their food in the woods. They are only feen in winter in the villages, where they are fed with bark of trees. The peafants dweUing near the mines, are thofe who may poftefs the greateft number of horfes : but they have fcarcely one for nine cows. Thefe horfes are at ti\e moft four feet and a half high. The fineft are thofe which were left by the Finlandilh regi- ments ot cavalry in Nordland, during the winter quarters of the war preceding 1740. In proportion as we advance north, the horfes decreafe in fize and ftrength. 'Ihofe of Weftern Nordland, are of a fingular form. They have the head and eyes large, fmall tars. TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM. ^43 ears, very (hort neck, full chert, ftrait ham, the body of little length but large, fhort loins between the tail and the belly, the upper part of the leg long, the lower Ihort, the bottom of the leg without hair, the hoof fmall and hard, the tail large, the hair thick, fmall feet, fure and never flioed : they are good horfes, feldom reTlive or obftinate, climbing up all the mountains. They owe their ftrength to the excellent grafs on which they feed. The odour of clover ar::iounces fine meadows from afar. When thefc horfes are moved to the paflure lands at Stockholm, they feldom pafsa year there without growing lean and lofing thtir vigour. On the contrary the horfes which come from more northern countries into Nordland, though fick the firfl: year, recover their ftrength. But on the other hand, ftaUions brought from a more fouthern climate, would here degenerate, perhaps at leaft in fize. Fj-om Ghcfle to Hcrnofand, we never lofe fight of the gulf of Bothnia, which by its fifliery might fupport the inhabitants of its fhores ; but there are alfo found in the midft of the woods, lakes, fome of them extenfive, others fmaller, which abound in large fifh, and of good flavour, fuchaspike, bream, and perch. Thefe lakes are bordered with verdant Ihrubs ; they flow in fmall vallies which they clothe with grafs, and often form by their union rivers in which falmon is found. Mofl; of thefe lakes are in elevated fjtuations, and their waters lurn many mills. The trees of this diftricl are tolerably good in fome places, and fit for timber-work ; but, in general, fmall, weak, old, and overgrown v/ith mofs. 1 here is but a fingle peafant's houfe between the inns of Hammarangria and Skog, which are at the diflance of three miles from each other. It is fituated by a lake abounding in fifli, near the bridge thrown over the little rivulet feparating Ghefl:ri- keland from Helfingeland. The pcafunt who dwells there pofleflTes lands which, bor- dering the highway, for the fpace of a mile, extend half a mile into the country. A wood to the fouth, ferves in common for the parifli of Hammarangria ; a wood to the north, ferves in common for the parifh of Skog. Each of thefe woods is a mile and three quarters in length, and one in breadth. This country only wants men. Although the whole extent of this road is covered with fand and aged firs, at intervals there are feen lakes and vallies clothed with herbage and wood. Nature is ready to aflifl; culti- vation. From Skog we proceed to the river of Saderahl, where is found a ferry-boat. This river merits atrention. It yields a very confiderable falmon fifliery. It ferves to tran- fport to Soderhama, the iron which is worked in the mills it turns. Every thing which contributes to the fubfiflence of man, to the relief of his real wants ought to interefl: him. The iron mines of Nordland do not prefent to the imagination of the reader thofe torrents of blood and carnage, with whit:h we fee the mines of gold overflowing, in the deplorable hiflory of the New World. Man born good and virtuous, delights to travel, at lead in imagination into thefe barren countries of the North, which exifling under a free and patriotic government, do not repel the heart, by fcenes of crime and vexa- tion, engendered by one another. Nature there is fad and even harfli : but there man is not malevolent ; man, who nearly over the whole earth occafions the woes of his kind. The foil of Helfingheland, is fimilar enough to that of Ghefl:rikeland ; equally ftony, more barren, overfpread with fl:eeper mountains. Helfingheland has befides a mixture of every kind of foil ; gravel and fand which produce firs, rich and firm argil, marflies, miry plains, black earth ; in fine it is interfeded with lakes, of which the bottoms are fumetimes fand, and fomctimcs mud. In the diflrid where the road borders the fea, there appear to have been woods fit for timber work j but they have all ^been cut, and 4 no 344 TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM. no more is feen than pines and woods of which the blackifli verdure is eternal, like the fadnefs and melancholy which it imparts. The difference obfen'ed of one province from another, is compofed of infenfible fhades. It gradually augments and diminiflies. Nature does not proceed by leaps : all her works form a chain, the links of which are imperceptible to the eye which regards them the nearen: ; while the vulgar eye only fees in the picture of the phyfical or moral woad, ftrong and fliarp colours, which diverfify it, without obferving the intervals where they mingle and ground with one another. The people vary but little, like the climate and foil they inhabit. A fudden diiference is feldom feen between neighbouring nations. Yet, in the fame manner as the conftitution of our bodies de- pends on our food ; the method of thinking and afting is the fruit of education, ex- ample, and cuftom. The government which may be termed the education of the people, modifies the natural difpofition of the mind and body, and fometimes derogates, by tranfient variations, the conltant law of the climate. But as the policy of ftates has little influence in Nordland, nature alone has there formed the conltitution of the men. The inhabitants of Helfingheland are of tliick ftature with large limbs. They are vigorous, induftrious, and expert in the mechanical arts. Their culture differs from that cf the environs of Stockholm. All their lands are fowed with fpelt, excepting one or two acres intended to produce rye. Thefe -latter are firff lightly ploughed in the fpring ; but they undergo feveral operations in fumnier. 1 he harrow is pafled over them eight days after the plough or mattock. The land fit for rye, which is fo rank as to produce many tares, requires hard labour, but Ihort, and little expenfive, becaufe it does not extend far. Flax is fowed in the lands prepared for the culture of corn, in untilled land, and in argillaceous earths, where it greatly thrives. The dung is not conveyed, either during the fummcr, becaufe tiie corn is then ftand- Lng, nor during the autumn, becaufe the cattle graze the Hubble ; but in the fpring, becaufe in that feafon the cold is not fufliciently Itrong, nor the fun fuflicienily hot to dry up the moifture of the earth. The dung is then of greater bulk and lefs weight. It is fpread at feveral different times, and in thin beds. The manure does not fo foon lofe itfelf in the fand, and the rain much better dilfolves the falts. But the dung and the lands are often burnt, in the idea and hopeof increafing the fertility. When they reap, the ffieaves of corn arC'Uever placed upright in the fields. But if the weather is ferene, feveral flieaves are arranged in crofles on one another, which arc pierced through, and fixed to the ground by a ftake fix feet in length When the v/ind has blown for two days on thefe flieaves, during very dry weather," they are car- ried into the barns. But during cloudy or rainy weather, they are laid up in a machine called a hajjlor. Thefe are vertical beams, through which pafs crofs bars ; thele beams are often compofed of two pieces faffened together with oziers, to raife or lower the crofs bars at plcafure. The fficaves are fpread on thefe bars. The loweff is a Kttle raifed above the ground. A bed ot corn-ears is placed on it, which is fixed by the lecond bar v/hich preiles it. This latter fupports a fecond bed faffened and prefl'ed by a third bar ; and this heap of flieaves is thus railed to the height of four or five fathoms. Under the bar which fupports ttie firll bed from below, is placed a pole failened at one of its ex- tremities, with an ozier to the fecond bar from above. At the other extremity is a hole, and through it palles a cord, by which the whole niafs is raifed, fo that a man cannot reach it ; thispok- perhaps raifed from one extremity of the haffior to the other. The whole heap is covered with ff raw. 'i'he corn thus collefted is left under the roof of the Uraw, lor any length of time, and in all weather. Beyond Heruofand, towards the Hojtli, the haffior ferves as a granary, not only for corn, but to dry and prefcrve the hay. The TRAVELS OF EMRENMALM. 345 The hay hanrefl: lafts longer in thefe noi thcrn provinces, than towards the fouth, though both men and women labour. In IlelRogheiand, the hay mowed in the morning, in the evening is placed in fmall heaps. In other parts it is fpread in beds in the bams, where it is left to dry before it is laid up. In Angherman- land, it is kept in the haffiors which are by the fide of the meadows, until the approach of winter. Formerly the fields of Helfingheland were not inclofed. At prefent they more re- fenible gardens than fields, by the moats with which they are furrounded. Their economy proceeds fo far as to draw all the herbs from thefe ditches, which is left to rot to make manure. Green turf and peat equally ferve for this purpofe. '[This manure prepares the lands for the fowing of the corn. I'he corn has two plagues to dread, frofl and mildew. This latter ftains the ears with a dufky red ; but it only blafts the corn 'near the mines. The fogs of the mornin"' and evening, fo deftruftive to corn, in many countries, are falutary inNordland. On the other hand, the ferenity of the nights fometimes occafions fcarcity. In the months of July and Auguft we often experienced a hot day and a cold night. We felt a very (harp cold, efpecially in the vallies covered with wood. This might perhaps be a reafon for clearing the country of all the ufelefs wood. The naked lands, and the open heights, are lefs expofed to the cold. If the land were more cleared it would increafe in population. The rye thrives well in thofe parts where the wood has •been burnt. The ears of corn I have feen were full and rich ; the ftraw ftrong. But a fmall number of inhabitants cannot undertake an extenfive cultivation. New colonies mud be eftablilhed in thefe defart diftrids, or at leaft the number of families and houfes Ihould be increafed. But new farms are not formed, becaufe the lands are never divided. A father of a family is only fucceeded by one of his children ; all the others having no Ihare in the eftate, rather choofe to become mariners. Yet if they remained in Sweden, they would be of eflential fervice to the ftate. But after having been trained to the fea, in Nordland, they often engage at Stockholm with veflels which fail to diltant countries. The allurement of a greater recompence, oc- cafions them to lofe fight of their country ; they ferve foreign nations, and feldorn re- turn to Sweden. In vain do the laws forbid them to leave their province, interefl: pre- vails, both over the wifdom of the regulations, and the vigilance of a few magiftrates, -who are unable to manage a country too extenfive. The ordinances which limit the r'ghts of a free nation, are never obferved, when they would detain in a land, but thinly peopled, men who have no fliai-e in the poffeffion. They have no native country, who poflefs no land. A country is in facl only peopled in proportion to the nnmber of its proprietors. Artizans, failors, and foldiers, belong to any country who can aftbrd to pay them. Man properly only belongs to the land which belongs to him. Mankind is increafed by lands. All other methods of population are precarious and tranfient, Nordland has flill more occafion to attach her inhabitants by pofleflion, fince the foil is more unkind. The dales are fcarcely inhabitable. Mod of the villages and parifiies are fituated on hills. The cold ofthecHmate, which permits but little cultivation, and occafions frequent fcarcity, compels the Nordlanders to live, not on acorns, which nature denies them, but even on the bark of trees. From underneath the thick rind of the fir, they take a white cuticle covering this wood, dry it, firfl; in their haffiors, then in the oven, and reduce it to flour. In fruitful feafons, it feeds the fwine and makes them become very fat. But in time of fcarcity, the rich people mix this flour with barley, and the poor with bran, and make a kind of bread. It is dry and rough VOL. I. Y Y to 346 Travels of ehrenmalm. to the palate ; thofe who eat it, are neither lefs healthy nor vigorous. Perhaps the cheefe and butter, with which they feafon this hard and infipid mefs, may fupply the want of lubflance and moifture. Beholding on one fide the treafures and crimes pro- duced by the torrid zone ; on the other the want and peace which reigns towards the frozen zone ; we are at a lofs for which we fhould be moft thankful, the prodigality or avarice of nature ! Happy are the countries where flie is neither fo harfh as to com- pel men to war, nor fo liberal as to difpenfe with labour. Such is the fituation of Nordland. At the diflance of half a mile from the ferry-boat of Ssederahl, towards the north- weft, is found the linen manufaftory of Flors. We faw children of the country, who had been at the bufinefs but three or four years, working with all the confidence and addrefs which might refult from a long experience. Here are manufaftured fine and coarfe cloth, thread ftockings, night-caps, damaflced table-cloth, as fine as the foreign. Yet it is complained that the works of this manufactory are of unequal tex- ture, and little duration. This defefl: arifes from the inequality, both of heat and humidity, which reigns in the rooms where they work. Each workman leans his loom againfl: a w^indow ; the exterior air is often moill, while that of the room is hot. The air which then enters at the crevices of the window, meeting the neareft threads preferves them in their full length ; and thofe which are farther in the chamber dry and con- traft. The warp therefore becomes unequal, fhorter at one of its extremities than the other, and breaks when worked. It mull often be renewed and the cloth in confe- quence is weakened. When it is ufed, the change of drynefs and humidity which it experiences, giving an unequal tenfion, occafions it to yield and break. The hot water which is kept in thefe rooms, might give a temperate heat, and the vapour arifing from it, might preferve the threads in nearly an equal degree of tenfion. But the fun, whofe light is requifite, fhining on one fide of the room, ftill occafions inconvenience. To remedy this M. Bennet, the director of this manufacture, has buried his fhop in a fandy eminence, and conftrufted a large parapet railed to the win- dows, made of bark of trees, mofs, heath, and every where covered with green turf. By thefe means he gives a moderate degree of humidity to his rooms, nearly every where equal, which muft produce the beft works. If the manufafture of Flors had not been placed in fuch fkilful hands, it would have fallen into difcredit, from which the greatefi; expenfe could have raifed it again but extremely flow ; fince it is not more eafy to reftore falhion to articles, than reputation to men. Thanks to the cares of an iuduftrious adminiftrator, I have feen in the bleaching yard of the manufafturc of Flors, thread as fine as that of Holland. The method ot fowing the linfeed in the environs, is the fame as formerly. But this manufadure has infpired them with defire, and afforded them the means, of cultivating flax proper for fine works. They have learned the art of making the flax and cloth more quickly, and rendering them extremely white. When the inhabitants of a country are able to im- prove the gifts of nature, to procure themfelves a livelihood which affords greater com- forts at the fame time that it requires more labour ; when the increafc of induftry en- fures that of fortunes and families ; a commerce more extended, the means of fubfiltence multiplied, agriculture brought to perfcftion, a general aflivity, a more univerfal prof- perity ; this moving fpedlacle fills the heart of a true patriot, with a lively and unafFed- ed joy, with love for the labour which produces all thefe benefits, with zeal to employ his talents and power for the happincfs of his brethren. A happy and contented people is never beheld, without a delightful emotion, which makes us rejoice in our ex* iftence. We do not contribute to this public felicity, without gathering ourfelves the 8 firft TRAVELS OF ERIIENMALM. 347 firn: fruits. How is it poflible there can be princes and miniflers on the earth, who do not enjoy this fore-tafte of the immortality referved for their labours ! The nianufa£ture of Flors fpreads induflry and fertility around it. In its eaflern environs which border the fea, few families are found, either rich or poor, who are not occupied in making fpinning wheels and looms. This labour procures them the means of living tolerably well, notwithdanding the dearnefsof the corn they muft buy, and their obje&ion to pay a tax which is well adminiftered. The town of Soderhamni, which is a mile and a half difliant from Flors, feels but faintly the influence of this manu- fafture. It is fmall, fituated between two mountains, on the banks of a rivulet. Few houfes are feen which are better condructed than thofe of the peafants around it. To paint them, would be an idle luxury. The inhabitants only labour in order to fubfift. The works of their hands clothe them, and their food would be little reliflied elfewhere. But the method of fpinning and making cloth they have brought to per- fection. Commerce would thrive well, if the town were not too far from the fea. Yet fifliing, the common refource of all the Nordlanders, a little agriculture and gardening, in a foil which produces with difficulty, contribute to fupport its inhabitants, in that ftate of mediocrity, which leaves nothing to wifh for, nothing to regret. Thefe men who lead a life of innocence, are befides employed in the manufafture of arms for the chaftifement of vicious nations. The forge of Soderhamm is the mofl; ancient of the kingdom of Sweden, and at prefent the leaft excellent. Yet there is feen a handfome pump, which is worlvcd by means of a fingle wheel ; a fimple and wonderful invention of Polhem, a man of great talents in the mofl ufeful arts. Soderhamm is befides remarkable for the church of Ulrica Eleanora, a tolerably good building. It has fome ornaments of wood, as its dome, fulHciently tafteful, though little expenfive. A? a man is allured even to piety, by the fenfes, an organ has been conflruft- ed in this church, and I can affirm, that it will be one of the befl in Sweden, for flrength, harmony, and purity of found. When I faw it, befides the ordinary tones of an organ, it produced thofe of a women's voice, and German flute : the latter was fo accurate, that the ear was completely deceived. The name of the artift who conftrufted this organ is Daniel Strale. This man deferves to be much more known, fince he is un- affefted in his manners, mild, without any arrogance, and without that fpirit of cupidity by which intriguing men obtain the reward of the inventors. Helfingheland extends to a village two miles to the north of the inn ofGnarp. On this road, we meet with nine or ten villages, and fome lonely houfes. In feveral places of this road, we obferved thofe ftones called lapis violanim fpurius. If inteUigent miners were fent to thefe diflriGs, they would no doubt find mines ; and this difcovery- would be extremely ufeful to the proprietors of the fmitheries, eflablifhed in the environs. It would even increafe the number of mills with much greater facility, fince the whole country abounds with woods and water-falls. Between Jggbefunid and Sanna^ I faw on my journey the town of Houdwikfiuald. ' It is fituated on a fmall tongue of land, ftretching between the fea and the lake Hottd- ivik. It has a very good and deep harbour. Its inhabitants are employed in fifliing and the mechanical arts. They manufadure in particular a great number of wooden, chairs which are tranfported to Stockholm. Every town which labours for the capital, deferves fome fame. The fmallefl branch of induflry is interefling in a country where nature offers few means of fubfiflence. It is pleafing to fee the men flruggling againfl the cruelty of her denials, endeavouring by labour to avoid that infignificance from which flie appears to have drawn them with regret, to involve them quickly Y Y 2 again. JV).8 TRAVELS or EHRENMALM. again. Where the earth is fordid, man is the creator ; where the earth yields eveiy thinj^, man alone is nothing. On the road leading from Ghefle to S«ndfvval, I obferved fome hop plantations,^ on hillocks expofed to the fun. Beyond Sundfwal, the only plantation I faw was by a fmall houfe lituated on the Niouronda. Perhaps, thefe are the lad: efforts of a land, which removing from the fun, finks into the obfcurity and folitude of the frozen zone. When we paffed through Gnarp, there was a little fair. We faw merchants enough, but little merchandife. This parilh is the mart of the towns of Nordland. All com- merce is carried on tliere by reciprocal exchange. The peafants come to pay for the merchandife they have taken on credit ; they acquit themfelves by provifions. This fpecies of commerce by exchange, is univerfal throughout Nordland, although the merchandife is not every where the fame. The peafants who in winter have occafion for corn, tobacco, or clothes ; in fpring and fummer for fait, iron, and even money, to pay the taxes, borrow what they want of the citizens. When their fortune and credit warrant their folvency, they lend them what they require, on condition of repayment at the firft fair, at the current price of the place, in butter, cheefe, meat, fiih, flax, cloth, ftockings, pitch, and tar, and fome- times in planks. But if they are little known, the price of what they lend is fixed be- fore hand. The opulent people, who repair to the fair to fell, proportion the price of their merchandifes to the want the purchafer has for them. Tliofe who pay ready money for the commodities they purchafe for the maintainence of the whole year, might fell thefe for a greater price, which they would not be obliged to give in return.- But the citizens never buy of a peafant, who fells to any other but his confidential mer- chant. The latter on his fide, never buys any more of the peafant who does not con- fine to him alone, the whole of his commerce, and endeavours to injure the merchant who fucceeds him. It is a fpecies of monopoly ; but it arifes from the Nordlanders being compelled to bring the produce of their land to Stockholm, and to derive all their confumption from that city. The government will no doubt corredt thefe abufes, and render the com- merce of the capital more favourable to the peafant. The higher clafs whofe intereft it is to participate in every kind of riches, will be enabled to trade in proportion, as the population increafing in the countries will ftock the towns with real dealers, and particularly mechanics. Example has more effeft than rule. The inferior claffes imitate the higher ; and villages are modelled after cities. Let manufaftures be eftabliflied at Stockholm, and the provincial towns, will bring their induftry and' commerce to perfedtion in imitation of the capital. From Helfingheland we pafs into Medelpad. The firft objeft which meets the attention of the traveller, is the river of Niouronda. It defcends from Heriedalc, de- riving its fource from the mountains ; it is large and navigable. Us fhores are bordered with large woods and rocks ; few fields which admit of cultivation, and yet fewer which are tilled. I'owards Sundfwal, the land is fandy, ufelefs to the inhabitants, and incom- modious to travellers. Sundfwal is fituatcd in the midft of a plain, covered with barren fand, and furrcninded by high mountains. A fmall gulf extending for half a mile to the fea, renders this town extremely fit for commerce, affording to veffels the facility of coming ihere, and taking in their cargo almoft entire. The exports from Sundfwal con- fift in chairs, pitch and tar, planks, the bark of trees to make bread, works of wood, linen cloth, meat, and milk food. The imports given in exchange, confift of corn, fait, to- bacco, woollen cloth, fpiccs, wine, and brandy. A dock TRAVELS OF EHUENMALM. 349 A dock for building offliips has lately been eflablilhed. It might alfo ferve for the provifion of the fait of all Nordland. A manufactory of wool is alfo feen there, which is only in its infancy, but happily enough begun, to increafe and profper. The fheep of the country have a coarfe fleece. If the peafant were aflifted by the advances of the rich proprietors, he would foon have flocks with fine wool. For this purpofe it would only be required to improve the forages by culture. The church of Sundfwal is of wood and very ancient, as are all tlie houfes. Oppo- fite to the cultom-houfc, a church has been conftrucled of free-ftone, on a fandy hill. Its form is oval ; the walls and roof are finiflied ; but the dome, which is but half made, is every where cracked. The architefl; is a peafant of the vallies. But the workman is lefs to blame than thofe who have employed him. A good architedl would fay, that that the dome has cracked, bccaufe the arch is too elevated, or too flat ; or becaufe the foundation lies in a moving and little ftable foil j or that the building itfelf, without pillars, is too wide for its length. But I dare afiirm that all thefe defeats are there united. Befides, the walls are too thick and the windows fmall. The country to the north of Sundfwal, appears to be a little better cultivated than that towards the ic)uth. In general, it rather wants cultivators than fertility. The banks of the river hidubl, on the right and left, for the fpace of a league and a half, are deep fands, but fertile and covered with a thin bed of black earth. Between two large neighbouring mountains are found many cultivable lands, compofed of fimd and argil. In this profpeft we obferved a great number of alders thriving on the heights j they refemble nut teees, in their leaves, bark, and wood ; but they are a little larger. We imagined we faw beds of argil, fometimes thick, fometimes thin, underneath the fand of the heaths we traverfed. In feveral places we met with people who affured us they had found beds of argil, fometimes of the thicknefs of three fathoms, and fome- time of only a foot. The bank of the rivulets and rivers of the whole of this difl:rid, are very much elevated, and the bed of argil lying under the fand may be difl;inftly feen. The fands appear to be the elfeft of 3 very ancient inundation. Moil of the hills of fand are fteep, and increafe in height from S. E. to N. W. ; while the rivers defcend from the N. W. to the S. E., towards the fea, which probably has formed the hills and rivers. Add to this obfervation, that there is feldom found in the vallies a pure fand without a mixture of argil. The latter no doubt mufl belong to the nature of the foil j they former may have been cafl: there by the fea. The woods of Medelpad, efpecially thofe through which the road lies, are nearly all cut or burnt. Few firs are feen, but many fmall pines and other fhrubs. The country of this province refembles that of HeUingheland ; with this difference that we meet with more inclofed fields, and a richer foil. Does this advantage arile from the monntains with which the country is furrounded ? We know that vallies and plains are enriched at the expence of the mountains, which are thinned by the torrents. Is not this land indebted for its abundant moifture to the number of lakes which water it ? The paf- turages are more fertile ; the fields more multiplied, remain unemployed for a longer time J the flocks are not kd there, nor is there is fo much flax fown as in Helfinghe- land. The men at Medelpad are large and athletic, more able, lively, adroit, and more addift- ed to commerce than in that province. The cattle are larger, give more milk, affume a whitilh colour which gradually augments, fo that there are very few at Afehle, which are not white. Is this a quality of the fame fpecies of catllS ? Is it owing to the climate, to t]ie,^ature,Qf the pafl:ure lands ? Or have the peafants chofen in preference, white animals ? 350 TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM. animals ? The climate is one of the ftrongefl: reafons. It has a fingular influence on colour. In the middle of the river Indahl, by the place we pafled, is feen a very beautiful ifland, which has on each fide a bridge, formed of flat boats : beyond and below this ifle the river appears to be a thoufand fathoms in width ; it is rapid ; it fprings from the lake Storfion, or great lake, and receives in its courfe nine fmall rivers, which defcend from the mountain. Beyond this ifle are many water-falls : a mile below it runs into the fea on the eaft, which fupplies it with falmon. The province of Medelpad is feparated by a fmall rivulet from Angherman. On entering this latter Hernofand prefents itfelf, fuuated in an ifland furrounded by the fea, and joining the continent by a bridge thirty fathoms in length. This town, burnt by the Rufllansin 1719, like all thofe ofNordland, is compofed of wooden houfes and nar- row flreets. The fouth fide is built on the declivity of a hill, extending to the fea : on this fide it only receives lighters and large barks ; but on the northern fide the largefl: veflTels may anchor, and load before the magazines. There are few inhabitants. Bodies of trades are ufelefs here, for want of capital ; and the college is of no benefit, in the want of occupations more eflential than ftudy. The women fpin, warp, and manufac- ture cloth ; though they fucceed indifferently, it is one of their principal refources. Nearly all the men fifli during the fummer : they fait all the fifli they take, or fell them frefli to the peafants, who fait them for their ufe. When the birds of the fea col- led together, it is a fignal for the fifliermen that the fifli are not far off : the fea is imme- diately covered with boats and nets. Every fociety would have laws relative to its kind of life and property. The fifliermen of Hernofand have a maritime code, according to which they are judged, by a particular council. All the inhabitants of Hernofand, ex- cepting five or fix, live on the produft of their fifhery or lands. The lands are divided between all the citizens j they burn them, and fow them with rye : they have pafture lands, which they hire of each other on occafion, at a price vary- ing with the abundance or fcarcity of forage. Near a foil which they have obferved to be fit for the bearing of flax, they have built in the town itfelf a manufadure of linen cloth. This eflablifhment will become confiderable, if we may judge from the fituation of the town, the charafter of its inhabitants, and the nature of the foil. The commerce of this country confifts particularly in flax : it has befides, like the other diflrids ofNordland, a refource in the traffic of game, which it fends to Stock- holm, during the whole of the winter. In Hernofand there are fadors who travel in the fummer to certain parts of Lapland, to buy, or exchange for brandy, all merchandife luitable to that town : thefe merchants travel farther than fifteen miles. They would render greater fervice to commerce and the ftate, if they employed themfelves in tan- ning of hides, and preparing the fldns of the beavers, they procure from Angherman- land and Lapland : they would add or fubfl;itute the profit of the manufadurer to that of the dealer : the returns of their capital would augment in their hands. The town of Hernofand is paved with a fpecies of flint, which might be ufed as whet- ftone ; but it is fo common, that the commerce would not compenfate for the expences. The mineral waters of the environs, very rich in oker, form a more lucrative objed. Hernofand has the advantage of being the refidence of the fuperintcndant of all Nord- land, which is the mofl: extenfivc and perhaps the befl: government in Sweden. But there cxifl;s an abufe common enough in that kingdom, which is, that the fuperintcndant poflTefles the prebends deflined for the ledurers of the colleges, who never enjoy them ; thus the patron becomes the incumbent : neverthelefs, Hernofand without a college would TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM. 351 would merely be a village. Indigence often reigns there, from the fcarcity of corn, and the fmallnefs of the produft of the fifhery : there are fuccefllve years in which the earth and the fea are equally fordid. The inhabitants of Hernofand might remedy thefe de- fers by the refource of labour, if it were fufficient to be miferable, in order to become induftrious ; but they would have occafion for advances and encouragement. Perhaps the rich part of the community gains more by the poverty of the people than bv their profperity : at lead it is a political maxim, fufficiently fpread over Europe, to prefer the opulence of a fmall number to the eafy circumftances of the people at large ; and to divide fociety unequally into two claffes, of which the one labours, and the ether enjoys. The commerce carried on by Nordland in dried and fmoked meats is one of the mofl oppofite to the profperity of that country, however advantageous it may be to the citi- zens and peafants of northern Angherman. The butter and checfe are excellent ia that country, and they have the cruelty to kill, in order to make fait meats, many flie- goats and cows, which afford good milk ; but like the boy in the fable, they would have all the golden eggs of the hen at once. If the labour and induftry were direfted by wife views ; if the adminiftrators of the dates had immediately for end the public utility, and only employed as the means the wealth of individuals, the happinefs of all the citi- zens would be the refult of their operations. We left part of our equpiage at Hernofand, and we embarked on 'a large gulf near that town. We afterwards afcended the river of Anghermanna for eight miles and a half, N. W. ; at its mouth it is nearly a league in width : large vefleis can only navigate to the inn of Hanmar, where the merchants and manufafturers have eilabiifhed a depot for the iron, planks, and other materials diftributed among the manufatlories of this country. Beyond this magazine, which is five miles from Hernofand, flat-bottomed boats are ufed. The fields and pafture-Iands bordering Anghcrraanie are, for the mofl part, well fituated, handfome and fertile, to the parifh of Solett, where the land confifts of a rich and fine argil : here we meet the firfl cataraft of the river. This river might eafily be rendered navigable for a much greater diftance, by conftrufting a fluice, which would ferve to raife the flat-bottomed boats to the level of the water-fall ; but as this is followed by feveral others, only feparated by fliort intervals, the number of fluices which would be required for the navigation of the river would incur great expences. Near the fall of Solett, on the wefl:ern fhore of the Anghermanna, is found a low land, where it feldom freezes, while the elevated places are conftantly frozen. Much farther to the fouth the heights are not fubjeft to froft, and the low parts are commonly ex- pofed. It may be prefumed, from this Angularity, that the nature of the foil contributes as much as its fituation, to the effeft of the influence of the feafons. Half a mile to the north of Solett, the Anghermanna receives the river of Adale, which rifes in the mountains, and iflues by the Rock of Swans, near Kitfcheivari. In the pa- rifhes of Solett and Botea, a third part of the lands is every year left unemployed : the other two thirds are fown, half with autumnal grain, half with that of fpring; fometimes they fow them only with the latter. The foil is rich and fertile; but without doubt cold, fmce the inhabitants warm the water they give their cattle to drink. The country of the environs of Solett, which borders the river, is called Adal ; the appearance is very pleafmg : the fhores are crowned with hills of a tolerable height, the declivity of which is infenfible. Thefe hillocks are argillaceous, and owe partly to art the agreeablenefs of their profpeft, interfe<3;ed with fields aud meadows. Ihe fhores of the 352 TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM, the Anghermanna are equally fpread with ftrait and high hills, forming vallies nearly as deep as the bed of the river. It fhores are alfo adorned and enlivened with fmitheries, founderies, and faw-millst but thefe machines are not turned by its waters ; its fwells are too ftrong, and its falls too feeble. Water-falls, of a furprifing height, formed by the torrents which defcend from the woods of Anghermanna, are the foul of the mechanifm of the forges and mills. The undertakers of the manufadlures of this diflrift derive their ore from Utoo, and the unwrought iron from other founderies : the expence occafioned by the tranfport of thefe materials, makes it defirable to find in the vicinity of the forges the iron ore which they work into bars. When the material is in the neighbourhood of the place where it is manufadured, the work becomes lefs expenfive. Abundance ofprovifions alone can maintain the balance between the undertakers of inanufattures, and the merchants who fell them the materials. From the mouth of the Anghermanna to the heights of Lie7n, we meet with falmon fiflieries, which afford fubfiftence to the filherman, and duty to the government ; but often neither yield the expences, nor the reward of the labour. From the parifh of Solett, proceeding to Liens, we purfued on horfeback the courfe nearly taken by the river, to the N. W. ; but it makes a great many windings : both its ■fhores'are bordered with hills of fand, covering a rich and fertile land, which nature feems to havebeen willing to preferve from the overflowings, or rather which is concealed under the heaps of rubbifli brought even by the inundations ; fmce the waters which m their fource fometimes wafh away the mountains, in {tripping them fometimes in their courfe raife hills of fand. However it be concerning the formation of thefe fands, and the rich lands underneath, the country we traverfe on leaving Solett is entirely compofed of mountains and rocks : yet we perceive fome good lands before arriving at Liens ; but the foil of this parifli is ftony and barren, intermingled with marfhes which might be ferdlifed. The little river which waters it, and fupplies it with falmon, is divided by a large rock, or rather an ifland, forming a water-fall little confiderable : the rock from which it is precipitated is fcarcely fix fathoms in height. The land of this diltricl is mixed with fi^nd ; it requires a third part of the fields to be left unemployed every year to enrich it. No hedges are feen ; the fallow ground is not even divided from the pafture land, becaufe the cattle remain in the folds till the hay harvcft. The farther we penetrate into this country, the more do we meet with beautiful woods, efpecially beyond Keftlla. The faw-mills have conlumed the greater part of the woods on this fide, not only on the banks of the river, but as far in the land as the peafants have had conveniency to export the wood. Every hamlet extends its territory to one or two miles on both fides of the Anghermanna : mod of thefe hamlets are built on the banks of this river : the cold even compels men to live near it ; for it always freezes the corn in the dry lands which do not receive any influence from the running waters. It is the fame of the vicinity of great rivers, as of the influence of courts, of which there is conflant complaint, and yet they are always approached. It is an iiijuf- tice, or at leafl: a folly, of courtiers to complain of the difgraces which they Ihould have forefeen, by facing them ; which they purchufe before-hand, by the value they fet on the fhortefl: favour ; and which they conllantly dcferve, were it only by the good offices they render themfelvcs, by corrupting or pilfering their mailer. But it is an ingrati- tude in people who dwell on the banks of rivers, when they complain of inundations : 6 a large TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM. 2>5j A large river overflown ravages, it is true, cultivated fields ; fonietimes carries away hamlets with their inhabitants and ilocks ; deftroys the provifions of one year, the crops of another, and the refources of feveral. But this river Ikls produced during ages an imnienl'c population, by the fertility of its banks, by navigation and commerce ; it has given water to the cattle who manure the land, and afford food to man ; it has fuppliei the inhabitants of its fhorcs with fiih : if it had not fed the regions which it trav-rfe, we fliould not behold them covered with fields, towns, rich and populous cities. Happy therefore are the flates which are watered by great rivers, if the inhabitants know how to take adviintage of the benefits they offer, and provide againfl: the difaders they may occafion ! Egypt has I'ubdued the Nile : the Po, the Rhone, the Loire, and Garonn?, are they more formidable ^ Every where do the waters require the airulance of art, either to become ufeful, or to prevent their being prejudicial to mankind. It feems even as if Nordland fhould rather expeft its fubfiftence from the waters than the land : it fcarcely poffelles any other foil fit for cultivation than thofe which are marfliy. Near Refilla is feen a hill covered with buflies, which are only fit for burn- ing ; it is the moft elevated part of the environs : the foil is good, but uncultivated, be- caufe it is overfpi-ead with ftreams, which render it miry. Nearly in all Nordland, each peafant poflelles a fmall water-mill, the wheels of which are horizontal. Water even which refufes to the culture of lands, lends at lealt its affiftance to the labour of man. Between Liens and lunfila the lands, nearly all flony, are covered with mofs and wood : they could procure timber, if they had the means of conveying it. A merchant of Hernofand has attempted to procure fome : during the winter he had fome cut and carried to the river fide ; then about the middle of fummer, at the greateft fwells of the waters, he had his wood thrown into it in pieces : the river has brought feveral of them to the place he wifhed ; but many others have been Hopped by the finuofities of the river : perhaps another iwell will bring the remainder of his cargo of wood. This method of conveyance would be ufeful to navigation ; for in thofe woods there are found trees which appear very fit for mails : it is true that they are in general injured by the inclemency of the feafons ; many ai'e frozen, beat down by the wind, or at leafl broken ; the greater part is cracked. The cold which is injurious to the trees, is yet more fatal to the corn. The inha- bitants of all the country to the north of Refilla are unable to derive from the land either any thing for fuftenance or to pay duty : the nigiits there are fo cold, when the corn ripens, that it is often frozen and irrecoverably loft. The parifhes of Liens and Junfila have few hamlets which are not expofed to this calamity. The greater part therefore of the inhabitants of this diflri;^, and the parifli of Afehle, give themfelves up to the care of their cattle, in which confill all their riches j that is, which afford fubfill- ence to the culivator, and duty to the ftate. From lunfila to the village of Hellan, in the parifli of Afehle, we traverfed for four miles marlhes, woods, and mountains : we followed for fome time by water the wind- ings of the river, in the places where there were no falls. Thofe kinds of channels where the calm of the waters is not interrupted by any fall, are called in the Nordland language Sehlcs. Stark is a name given to the intervals of water where the current is Ilronger, but not fufficicntly rapid, to prevent the paflage of veffels: thofe where the waters, without falling, run with lufficient rapidity to carry away every thing, are called Forfs : laftly, they give the name of Fall to thofe where the waters are precipitated, from whatever height they fall. This is a lan4 as much neglecied by na- ture, and difrcgarded by man, as that of which the unequal declivity occafions fo irrc- TOi.. 1. i{ z gular ^^4 TRAVELS OF EHRENM(>LM. gular a couife to the waters, fo little navigable. How fhould a country be inhabited which prefents fo many difTiculties to the traveller ? Wc travelled about four miles, over fix ot thefe fehles, where the water feenis to re- pofe : the firft was that of lunfila. Hence we travelled half a mile by land to the fehle of lal, upon which we navigated a quarter of a mile. Afterwards, having travelled three quarters of a mile by land, we travelled a fourth by water on the fehle ui' Kor/ifig ; then one and a half by land, and three quarters of a mile on the fehle oi Gouhle. A fmall ifland which we meet in the middle of this laft fehle, feparates Anghermanland from Weftcrn-bothnia. We again travelled by land feven-cighths of a mile, then a quarter of a mile on the fehle of Alfzv€ts ; afterwards half a mile by land ; laftly, we r.avigated on the fehle of Hellan, to the village of that name. We arrived there in the evening, very much fa- tigued, by a route of about twelve leagues, in w hich we were obliged to embark and difcmbark fix tin-/es in the fpace of twenty-two hours, pafled in the open air, during a continual rain ; for no houfe is met with in the whole of this road, interfered with deep marflies, high mountains, and extenfive countries of gravel and fand. Hellan is two miles and a half from the church of Afehle, where we went the next day, as much by foot as by water. The courfc on thefe routes is direfted as at fea, by the compafe and map ; not that the waters vary as much as the winds, but their diredion is oblique, and finuoup. The terms north-eall and by north, north and by eaft, fliould be as fami- liar and as frequent in a journey in Nordland, as they are in the journal of a navigator. Though the province of Afehle be in Lapland, there are no Lapland inhabitants in its fouthern part : fome peafants have formed in thefe defarts colonies, which they call Nybyggbcs. They reckon twenty five ; the parifli of Afehle contains a part of them : Hellan and Gnffehle are the moft ancient : they have been eftabliihed nearly fifty years ; the othei-s are recent. The firfl; traces up even to the reign of Charles XL This great monarch, by an ordinance of the twenty-third of September, 1673, exempted from the militia, the lodge- ment of troops, and the poll-tax, all thofe who would fettle in the province of Afehle ; and thefe privileges were confirmed by the ftates of the kingdom, at the diet of 1720. Each colony only pays, like the Lapland di(fri£ts, a fixed fum, which never varies with the wealth of the contributors. 'I'he richeO; pcafant only pays twenty-one crowns of' copper, which amounts to twenty-five livres and four fous of France ; but the greater part only pay three crowns of copper, or three livres and twelve fous. For this price they may poflefs a land of about twelve miles, or four leagues, in circuit; and often even any quantity of land they choofe. The land indeed is fo barren and poor in thefe countries, that it need not be mcai'ured. The exemption from fervice, and the fmall-- nefs of the taxes, are the leaft encouragements which may induce men to come and cul- tivate thefe barren and frozen mounts. The inhabitants of Afehle are large, laborious, aflivc, able in their kind of commerce^ and hofpitable to ftrangers : their houfes are tolerably well built, very fimilar to thofe of Nordland, except that their walls are not of (tone or lime. 1 he province neither afibrds that material, nor the kind of argil which might be fubflitutcd : in two places only Is found a very fine argil, of whicli they make bricks, which ferve for building.. Thefe people are very comfortable, notwithttanding their little wealth, which confifts in their cattle and nets ; but this latter relource fcidom difappoints their hopes, The river of Anghermanna, which traverfes the province, and all the fmall lakes by which. the TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM. 355 the land is interfered, funiifli a luflicient quantity of fifli to feed the Inhabitants, and to fell to RiMnthe fore part is hung a purfe, refembling a little fatchel. In this purfe they put up their tobacco, take it out in fmall parts, put it in their mouth and chew it. On the other fide is hung a variety of leather thongs, ornamented with tin, tin-taflels, keys, and fuch things. There is appended to the belt befides, a knife in a flieath, and a variety of rings hanging by a leather thong. The women make up thefe belts for fale out of cloth, the outfide of which is ornamented with tin j the inner is underlaid with leather. The C loathing of Women, The Lapland women moft ufually wear linen caps, feldom woollen. The woollen caps are made of kerfey, or fome fuch cloth, and confift of two pieces, one of which reaching to the neck, covers the hinder part and crown of the head, the other part the temples and the reft of it. Along the edge of the fewing, where thefe parts are joined, a bandage of kerfey, or of yellow cloth, is placed. "I1ie loweft end of the cap is orna- mented with a fillet of gold, or counterfeit filver, orforae other fliining bandage, or with a ftrip of cloth of a different colour from the cap itfelf, which is bound round with rib- bands, with gold or counterfeit filver, which make a very fliining appearance. Ire- member to have feen a poor woman with one that was bound with a bandage made of the dreffed fkin of a falmon, of a colour almoft white, in every other refpett like the ribbands juft mentioned. The caps of linen do not differ from woollen but in the trim- mings.; thefe being trimmed with ribbands and a bandage of cloth, whereas the linen are ornamented with more elegant fringes. The Tapland woman, before fhc puts on her cap, rolls op a certain round ball on the crown of the bead, and draws it together under the ball with a thong, by which fhe rives an appearance to her head covering not unlike the women of Amager in Zeeland, and of Op in halte, entering'on his journey, he docs not idlv, as at other times, fit in his fledge, but falls ou his knees. If he wants toilop, in driving, the rein is thrown from the right fide to the left, and there rells ; when done, the rein-deer inftantly flops. Should it happen, that any one is infuflicient alone for the management of the animal which draws him, as being too untraceable and unmanageable in tlie courfe, he then gives the rein to his friend, next before him, which he faltens to hie fledge, and in this manner he draws the driver together with his rcin-decr and fledge after him. And fmce the rein-deer who draws, as mentioned above, draws the fledge by a fingle flender and loofe rein, it necelkrily follows, that the animal going through declivities, cannot poft with fuch fpeed, but the fledge, as flippery and full on its wav, muflbe borne with a greater celerity, fo that it mull either llrike on the hinder feet of the rein- deer, or even out-flrip him in fpeed ; to remedy this inconvenience as it fometimes happens, another rein-deer is faftened to the fledge behind, by a rein put over his horns, ltd by too much hafle it may incommode the animal that draws, who will be retarded by the refifl:ance and efforts of the other. There are rein-deer who thus put behind, fo far arc tliey from retarding the fv.iftnefs of the fledge, willingly following it, aid and incite it as it i'pontaneoufly moves on. Others are of fuch a diipofition, fo obflinate and perverfe, that after the firfl experiment they are rejected. Riding through hills that are not fo flieep, there is no need of this method of check- ing the fledge, as the driver himfelf, by a certain motion of his body, and a certain expertnefs in drawing, can eafily direct the fledge in which he fits, which way he pleafes. But when he has to travel through places almofl. fi:eep, and well nigh broken int» precipices, it is ufual then to join to the fledge a rein-deer, and when thus joined to, negligently fallen him to the hinder part of the fledge, leaving the fledge to its free courfe, where chance fliall carry it. Parcels, in the faid fledges, called Raido-kicrres are thus carried : the driver of the fledges fits firlf in order ; another rein-deer follows bearing the fecond fledge, faftened by a rein to the firft : then a third, fourth, and fometimes more, each carrying his own fledge, follow in like order. The driver who fits in the firft, regulates all follow- ing in order. Some one rein-deer clofcs the troop without a fledge, but following for the purpofe, that if the occafion fliould call for it, he fhould check, by his eflx)rt, all the fledges running with too much celerity along the declivities as mentioned above. It fometimes, and but fometimes, happens that the fnow increafes to that height, that the rein-deer cannot break through them, on his way. I have been myfelf carried through fnow, fo high, that they have equalled the back of the animal, and i»ot feldom, by which, it is eafy to be judged, that travelling is at fuch a tiniQ, very flow and gradual. Chap. XI. — Qf the Joiirn'ies of the Laplanders. THE Laplanders of the coafl, change their habitations only twice a year, in the fpring and autumn. When changing their abode they do not take down their huts as the mountaineers, but only forfake them for a time, until they may return. The mountaineers on the contrary, juft as the ancient Scythians, mentioned in hiftory, have VOL. I. 30 done. 4IO ACCOUNT OF DANISM 1,A1'LAN» BY LEEMS. done, and as the Arabs and Tartars do to this day, are ever changeable, vagrant, and not contented with the fame fituation and place long together. The mountain Lap- lander takes himfelf, together with his wliole family, and the herd of rein-deer, to the toaics and borders that lie nearefl. the fea in the midfl of fummei\ But when the autumn is coming on, he retreats again with his cot, his rein-deer and family to the mountains, flowly and by degrees ; for getting on riis way, and having moved fcarcely the dillauce of a mile, he (tops, and going on the next day, he only ad- vances one mile, which he does every day, until the winter, now at hand, after paffing . the creeks adiflance of five, fix, or about feven miles from the fea, he has penetrated to the very confines of Swcdilh I.apland ; where when he has at length arrived, he ftops, but not fo at to prevent his moving with his cot and rein-deer, from one wood and hill to another, as neceflity fliould require. On the approach of fpring, he returns in the fame m.anner to the fea coafi:, but flowly -and as jufl; faid, ftep by ftep, until he has arrived with his family in that place, where he has determined to remain the whole fummer. On the fides of the roads, through which he is to travel, he takes care, that a number of little offices fliould be built, in which he puts up his proviiions and furniture, which, during winter, he draws out, when he pleafes, and when it is neceflary, for himfelf and his family. When the mountain Laplander is preparing lor a journey from the coa(t to the mountains, at the end of the autumn, he ufually kills fome rein-deer, at this feafon, ■which are very well fattened, and lays up in his houfe, which he has for the purpofe, the meat, in order, that on his return in fpring, by the fame road, he may have pro- vifion for himfelf and his family. The mountain Laplander in the fpring, fummer, and autumn feafons of the year, when travelling over the plains, now clear and bare from the fiiows, wdth his family and rein-deer, travels on foot, having put the cot with its timber and furniture, and other baggage on the backs of the rein-deer ; if the mother happens to have an infant at her breafi, fhe carries it on her back, put up in a holiow piece of wood, called in Lapland, Gieed'k, which I have defcribed above in Chapter VIIL on the turniture of the Laplanders. The herds of rein-deer, on their way, as at other times, are managed by their keepers. The mountain Laplander travelling in the winter feafon through plains covered with thick fnows, before he begins his journey takes down his cot, the planks of which this building chiefly conufts, the covering drawn over it, the timber of the floor ; the fire flones, he takes, with him, with the view, lelt the want of materials of this kind fhould render the place into -which he is dilpofed to emigrate, incommodious to him ; but he ufually flings away the branches with which the floor is covered, cutting down, in the place he creels his cot, new ones in their place. The cot, with all its materials, is put into a fingle fledge called in Lapland, Guatte- Kierres, which by the help of a fingle rein-deer, an animal neither {o great nor robult, is drawn through the thickeft fnows, whence it is eafy to be inferred that the cot itfelf, with all its furniture, is of fmall fize and confideration. The mother puts the infant, before the hufl)and enters on his journey, into a hollow piece of wood, Gieeci'k, mentioned before, flightly covered with woollen cloaths, yet with that precaution, that a fmall aperture may be open before the mouth of a child, by which he may breathe freely. Th.ir own baggage is carried alfo in the fledge. The hufband himfelf goes on firfl, and leads on the troop. The mother manages the fledge, in which the infant is, who, 1 fliould ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAl'LAKD BY LEl.MS. 411 fhould it begin to cry much, inCuintly ftops the fledge, and getting at the fide of it on her knees, gives her bread to the babe through the aperture I have jufl: mentioned, regardlefs of the fevcrity of cold or fnow. I'hc children, with the reft of tlic family, manage and take care of the herds of the rein-deer. In what manner the baggage is carried has been defcribed in Chapter X. conccnr'ng the kinds of carriage among the Laplanders. It is wonderful and fcarcely credible, unlefs one had feen it, that the Laplander, travelling in winter, over vaft mountains, and tracklefs haunts, efpecially at that fcafon, when all nature is covered and whitened with a conftant fnow, to a degree that neither the Hones nor the leail part ol the earth can be feen, nor anv other trace of human cul- ture, and when the fnows, agitated by the winds and whirled in circles, take away all ufe of fight, can find his way to his dellined place, and without miflake. What I am relating I write from experience ; for indeed, it happened to me not rarely, either that through clouds of mift and darknefs, with which the fnow driven round in a whirlwind darkened my fight, that I could not fee the beaft by which I was drawn, on which oc- cafion trufting to the Divine guidance, and the faith of the driver, after the manner of the blind, I fuftered inyfcif to be carried, not knowing where I was going. But it appears from experience, that neither enormous heaps of fnov\% nor the horrid darknefs of the night can obftrutl travellers, from arriving fafe and without errour at their place of deftination. They ufually hang bells from the necks of their rein-deer o/ carriage, that if they fliould not diffingulfli by fight, they might at leafl; know cacli other from hearing. 'J hey follow the wind too, if it is not veering, as a guide, fo that if the place they are going to is to the fouth, and that the wind (Iiould arife in this quarter, they begin their journey direftly in the teeth of this wind ; if it is a fouth-weft wind, they go in fuch a manner as to have the wind on their right hand ; if its to the eaft, they contrive to have it on the left. Should they chance to fee the ftars fnining on the way, they direcl their courfe, with confidence, by t')e northern ftar. For tf.ougir the Laplanders have never learned the fcience of the ftars, yet they know the various ftars and their fiiuation, and defignate them hy certain names : for inftance tl:e Pleiades in Lapland are called Nieid-Gjcrrcg, that is a company of virgins ; the fifties in the zoiii-ic Oaaggo, that is the fiflier ; the morning ftar is (niouvfo Najle; another ftar, Sar-va, thit- is the male rein-deer, others by different names. As it is ailigned to Divine Providence and to it alone, that a fliip in the midft of tetn- peits, among threatening waves, quickf.'.nds, and I'hoals, and darkened clouds, ftiall be unhurt, fo is it no lefs an argument of the protecHng care of the Deity that a hu- man being fhall pais fafe, and fecure, thiough pathlefs haunts, through mountains covered with conftant fnows, through thepa'petual attacks of hail, of fnow, and v.'hirl- winds, forming themfelves as in a troop in the very face of the traveller, and drawin^^ on a darknefs thicker than the moft daikiome night. For thofe, who are obliged to travel, difcover themfelves fo often furrounded by precipices and high mountains, that if they fliould err in the leaft from the way, they would neceifarilv run into the n-.oft imminent danger of their life; a melancholy inftance of which truth, we have had not long ago in one Siver Henrikfbn of the Laplaiul youth, then in Porfanger, while I was miffionary at the f;une place, who, when driving, ftruck his breaft againft a tree in the way by turning a little out of the courfe, which cccafioned his fudden death, which fol- lowed three days afterwards. '. The Laplander is furnifhed on every journey through winter with utcnfils for licjhtinfT a fire, a ifeel, a fiint, tinder and fulphur, all of which he carries in his bofom inclofed in a bag, or Uttle box, in order that when there is occafion, he may kindle a fire, or light his tobacco pipe. For it happens, arid that not feldom, what I myfelf experienced more '5 « 2 ihaa 412 ACCOUNT OP DANISH tAPLAND BY I.EEMS. than once, that travellers, obftrucled either by the thicknefs of the fnows or length of the way, are obliged to pafs whole nights under the open air. AVhenever this happens, the Lapland traveller erefts ahnall tent, made of very coarfehnen, which he always has at hand, on the fnovv, and lighting a fire refrellies his body. In winter whenever occu- pied in religious affairs, or engaged in any other bufinefs, they tie the rein-deer that draws them to a tree or trunk not far from them in the wood. On the maritime excurfions of Laplanders nothing occurs which can long detain the curious reader. It is fufficicnt juft to mention that they always have a tinder-box with them, and when the occafion requires it they can light a fire and their pipe of nicotiane, or get ready their meat ; for they are ever ready, if they happen to catch a fifh, imme- diately to land on the next coafl. to them, and lighting a fire between two flones, which they chufe for this ufc, and hanging the pot by a pole, with each end propped on each floiie the fire-place is made of, boil the fifh they have caught. In the lame manner they prepare meat for themfelves from the otter or any other wild bcall they might kill on the way. From what has been hitherto narrated, it is abundantly manifeft that the ftate and condition of this nation is, beyond defcription, reftlefs and hard ; but fince the fufferers are accudomed to this kind of life from their childhood, they are held by fo great a love cf their native foil, that fcarce any other nation, enjoying the moft happy and munifi- t'ent bounty, can equal them : in confirmation of this allertion it will be fatisfactory to read the following hirtory. When his niajelly the King, of moft glorious memory, Chrifiian VI., on his journey which he undertook through the kingdoni of Norway in the year 1733, had flopped at the gulf of Aalefund, in the divifion of the province of of Sundmoer, he honoured me moll humanely, through the favour of Andrew Ro- fenpalm, admiral of the fleet, and a moft worthy gentleman, with an audience on the twenty-ninth of July ; which day, as it was to me moft propitious and defirable, fo fhall its remembrance never fall from me. It was agreeable to his nioft royal Majefty to propound various queftions concerning the miflion to Lapland, on merchandize and other matters refpeding Finmark, and in his goodnefs, truly royal, to hear my humble anfwers, and then to mark with his royal hand, which I humbly repeat, the name of his moft liege fubjeft in his diary, in fign and token of future promotion, after the ten years miniftry in Lapland. His Majefty then enjoined on me that I ftiould moft humbly take care that, as foon as pofilble, fome of the young men of Lapland fliould be lent to him at court. I obeyed, as I fiiould, the commands of my ibvereign ; but who could imagine that any perfon could be found who would refufe fo munificent a condition ? But all did refufe. At length a young man, whofe name was Nicholas Peterfon Korfnses, with fome diffi- culty fuffered himlclf to be prevailed upon to go to Copenhagen. This young man was of a middling ftaturc and figure. There were others u ho could have reconuncnded them- felves by ftature and comelinefs in a greater degree, among whom was a young man from the gulf of Alten, of no common degree, of manly beauty among that people, whom Ind eavoured to prevail on by loading him with promifes to go to Copenhagen, and would have fucceeded without doubt had not his mother oppofed it tooth and nail, who, at that time pregnant^ came to vnc, afi"urlng me in form, that it would be a fcruple of conicicnce to me ihould I rend from her the only and dearly beloved fon ihe had, and that 1 (hould fuffer for it in the juft judgment of God, if any accident had confequently befallen her, and the birth near its time, through grief. But I return to Nicolas Peterfon. As foon as he arrived at Copenhagen he was, lor his condition, indulgently received, and, handfomely entertained by his Majefty. He was dreifed in coftly cloaths, whofe bor- dtrs and lower extremities were diftinguifhed by filvcr trimmings, yet ornamented in the Lapland falhion. The bonnets in cumuion ufe among the Laplanders are trimmed with ACCOUNT OF BANISH LAPLAND BY LHEM.S. 4IJ with a border from the fkin of the otter ; but the cap of this youth was ornamented with a fringe of filk velvet, of black colour, with a facing of the fame, ilkiftrated with the name of Chriltian VI. in fiiver ornament. But this profperity was not durable ; for on the approaching autumn, and the fall of the year, he fell fick, and died on the begin- ning of the following year. The caufe of fo fudden a death without doubt is to be fought for in fo fudden a change of air and food ; for he who at home was ufed to drink of one fpring, and that cold, and fubfifl on the congealed milk of rein-deer and fuch food, now regaled abroad with wine and dainties, could not bear this unufual and fudden change without danger of life ; according to that veiy melancholy faying, every fudden change is hurtful. The body was honourably interred at the King's expence, and the cloaths his Majeity ordered him to be drefl'ed in were fent to Lapland to his parents, that under their wretchednefs they fhould recall the memory and once happy condition of their deceafed fon to their confolation. When, as above mentioned, I had to pay my profound refpecls to his Majefty, at the time he happened to come to the gulf of Aalefund, in the province of Sundmocr, I had arrived there, for the purpofe of marrying Sophia Aletha Ruberg, three weeks before his IMajedy. I had at that time in my family a Lapland young man, of the name of Peter Jonfen, who had fo recommended himfelf to the attention of the high admiral, Rofenpalm, that he was difpofed to take him to Copenhagen and put him among his rowers : and as the youth had capacity, bis highneis took care that he fliould be taught writing and arithmetic ; when taught, he fent him to the Eafl: Indies, to acquire under a ikilful feaman, a knowledge of nautical affairs ; but returning from India he fell fick and died at Copenhagen. Chap. XII. — Of the wild Beajis and Birds ofFimnark, and of the Modes of catching iheniy ufed among the haplaiiders. AS many writei^s, verfed in natural hiftory, have long fince employed their time as diligently as fuccefsfully in invedigating and defcribing the properties of the nature of quadrupeds and birds, it would appear fuperfluous here to rcfume the fame fubjeft. Poilponing that confideration, I propofcd to mention fome of the modes and arts which the Laplanders ufe in taking them, and alfo fomething of the fmgular qualities of certain quadrupeds and birds, and other matters belonging to them. Moft of the kinds of quadrupeds, of a wild nature, which are found up and down through Norway, Finmark produces in no fmall number ; which advantage of their country the Laplanders know well to tuni to their own ufe. But it is to be parti- cularly noticed,, that the inhabitants of the mountains, abounding above the reft in a great quantity or rein-deer, have very feldom leifure for the chace, nor is there need they fhould, when they are fo very much occupied in watching and pafluring their herds ; and they can well forego this laborious and unquiet mode of life, turnilhed as they are befides with an abundance of thofe things they have ufe of. Finmark both produces and breeds a great number of wild rein-deer : thefe, called Godde by the inhabitants, by far exceed the tame ones in the bulk of the body. The Laplander going out to hunt, In fummer and autumn, the rein-deer, takes with him his well-fcented and fagacious dog, whom, as a guide that will not deceive him, he follows-, hunting by the fcent, until he comes up in view to the wild rein-deer. On the fight of the animal he muzzles the dog, left he Ihould frighten him by barking. Should the bullets he ufes, when firft fliot, not kill him, but only mortally wound him, he drives the dog, now freed from the chain and muzzle, on him as he Hies, who (topping now and then in his fpeed, in order to defend himfelf with his horns againft the dog, is fliot at and killed by the Laplander, who makes good ufe of the opportunity. During au- tumn. 414 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. turnn, when tlie rein-deer meet for the purpofe of procreation, the Laplander goes with ibnie of his rein-deer, tamed for that intent, where he knows that the wild ones meet, and there fafteningfome to trees with halters, fuffering others to Itray at large, he places himfelf in ambufli. The wild rein-deer fconting the females, inftantly flies to them, but falls a prey to the Laplander lying in wait for him. It happens fometimes that two at once come : thefe fliarply contending for the female, rufli in on each other with their iiorns, with commonly no other termination of their contefl, than that each of the com- petitors fhould fall under the arms of the Laplander. The Laplander, when hunting the wild rein deer, in winter, clofely follows the traces of the flraying aninial until he comes up in view of her : on feeing her, he fallens the r>_nn-deer of his fledge to the next tree, inftantly on foot to purfue. In fome parts of Lapland wild rein-deer are taken in the i'ollowing manner : the fnows being colleded in fuch heaps that the rein-deer cannot get over them, and the oiitfide of thefe heaps fo incrulled with ice, as to break under the tread of one of them, but yet able to bear the weight of a man with wooden fhoes, the Laplander, furnifhed with fuch flaoes, goes out to hunt the rein-deer, who while running over the fnow lightly incrulled, and difap- poiiiting his ftcps, gets entangled. In this ilate he cannot efciipe the hunter, comhj»T fwiftly in his wooden fhoes upon him by his accuftomcd celerity, but transfixed with the hunting fpear, becomes his prey. The taking of the rein-deer is effeded in other places by the following method : in places where the faid bealts ufually range, a certain opening, like a gate, is made, in which a loop is hung, made of the thicker fibns taken from the fmewy purts of the rein-deer; this the animal, flraying without caution, and fearing nothing, enters by chance, and inftantly falls into the fnare. In certain tra£ls of Lapland the rein-deer were taken wild formerly in this manner : a very higii inclofure was creeled from a piling of a great deal of wood, two greater arms or horns alternately projeding themfelves, fo that a great fpacc fliould be open between the ex- tremities of each arm, but behind fo gradually couiing together, as to terminate in a narrow aperture, in the appearance of a narrow gate. When this inclofure was ready, the hunting, when an opportunity offered, was propofed, and in this very manner : the vvikl rein-deer were compelkd into the inclofure by a fpace, lying open between the two arms that were feparated, who the farther they went in by flight, the nearer were they to the inward extremities of the faid inclofure, where thefe feparated arms again united in the form of a narrow gate, from whence they neither would nor could eafily get back, Icfl pre/Ted from behind they fhould fail among the hunters. A way out through the faid narrow opening was therefore to be fought by them in this miferable plight, which when found with difficulty, a ftooping hill foon prcfentcd itfclf, alcmg which they ran in a precipitate manner, when a new inclofure again prcfentcd itfelf, which feeing they could not get over, nor, by reafon of the flecpnefs of the hill, pafs without difh- culty, were forced to furrender. This mode of catcliiiig rein-deer was formerly in ul'c among the Varangriens, who even from that kind of cliace are held to pay a tribute of nine rein-deers,,or in dcfe£l of rein-deer, as many fox fkins, to the King's governor of the caRle of Wardhus. It was ufual alio among the Laplanders formerly, that they fliould drive the rein-deer they propofed to take into the next nearell lake, having placed men on the farther bank to attack them when fwimming over. It is related by fome one, that the women of Lapland are not Itfs addiftcd to hunting than the men ; this I never obferved, and never even heard a word of. There are no deer nor elks in Finmark. That an elk, as a certain writer lays down, much yields to the rein-deer in fize is very falfe ; for it is fufTicienily well known that one elk, of jufl fize, at leafl equals three full groA'n rcin-decr, and ihofc the larged of their kind, in the bulk of the body. Hai-es ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND DV LEEM3. 415 Hares are bred in great numbers in Finmark. This wild animal is called by fome of the inhabitants of Norway Tafe, but by the Laplanders Njaamel. Hares found in this tracl of country during winter, are of a white colour, but in fummer of a grey, as they are clfcwlicrc. Befides the gun, the mo(t ufual inflrumentof killing wild animals, other methods and arts are in ufe for catching hares. In thofe places where hares ufually haimt, fnarcs conftruift-xl from fniall flicks and cords artificially put together, are fixed in the ground, in which the hares, flraying without caution and freely among the trees, frequently run into the trap and are taken. They are caught too by a cer- tain iron machine, ucfcribed in another place. The Rufliai^s pav for each hare's fkin eight-pence. The Swedes are faid to make coverlets from thcfe kind of ikins. In Finmark, not lefs than through the remaining tratts of Norway, are found bears. The bear in Lapland is called Giioi/z/ji^, the word denoting the male and female of this animal. But the Laplanders alfo didinguifli the male and female, the male is Aenak ; the female is Aefle ; the Norwegians generally fay Bingse. The rein-deer eafdy efcape the bears by the fleetnefs of running ; cows, goats, and fheep are much more expofed to their cruelty and rapacity. That the Laplanders of Indragria, in Sweden, were compelled to bury the bodies of their deceafed friends, in certain little ifiands, fcattered in the lake of Indragria, led they fliould be a prey to the voracity of bears, has been handed down to us, but for the truth of the relation I cannot anfwer, relating only what I have heard. The bear is wonderfully delighted with certain blue berries, in Norwegian called Blaabaer, a great abundance of which is found in this country : but he alfo feeds on grafs. The Laplanders in common flioot their bears with grooved guns, which are only in ufe among them. If the bear does not fall with the firlt bullet, but is only wounded, he in- ftantly returns to take vengeance for himfelf, and often not without effed. But thefe wild bcafts are taken not with ihooting alone, but by other modes and flratagems. It is a matter well known and afcertained through the regions of the north, that the bear, during the winter, Hes concealed in his den, and that he is there fuflained by no other aliment, than a certain milky juice, which he fucks from his fore paws with a growling. It not feldom occurs, that the Laplander, going to hunt birds, fquirrels, and other game in the woods, accidentally falls on the haunt of a bear laid up for the winter, by the afiift- ance and guidance of his hunting dog, Handing and barking at the den, he has found out by the fcent. The Laplander obfcrving this, puts in the bow with which he de- ficrns to kill birds, (for bows, it appears, are in ufe as yet in fome of the countries of Lr.pland,) to the aperture or door of the den, while the bear is ftill carelefsly at reft, and not attempting to come out. He then cuts off branches from the fir-tree, if at hand, if not, from any others in his way, by which he fliuts up the mouth of the den, drawing out firft his bow with caution, yet in fuch a manner that it fhould not be alto- gether clofed up, as there mud be a fmall aperture for the bear to put his head through. Things thus arranged, the Laplander armed with an axe plants himfelf before the door of the den, in order to irritate the bear by every means and threat in his power, until he, provoked in the extreme, fhall rife, prepared to attack the enemy, fo wantonly challenging him and provoking him. The bear then thrufting his head fiercely through the narrov/ aperture that is made, is hit, or, in plain terms, receives a mortal blow from the Laplander, v\ith the axe, which, if it has ftruck the upper part of the face is almoil harudefs, but if the lower part and next the eyes, the blow immediately cuts off the head of the wild beaft. The Laplanders purfue a different method in other parts of the country, and in the following manner : When they have found the place where a bear has perhaps killed a wild beaft, but having killed it, has foon quitted, they fur- round, by a certain inclofure furuiihed with two doors, made in the form of an opening gate. 4l6 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. gate, and directly oppofite to them, the carcafe that is killed and jufl left behind him. Near each aperture or gate of the inclofure are laid various bows, ftretched and fur- nifhed with arrows, the height oi the bear, as well as can be conjectured as accurately obferved, with this view, that they may directly ftrike to the heart of the wild beait, entering by the door of the inclofure to his prey. A rope is extended near the ground, on the touch of which the arrows are fliot. The bear returning to his prey, en- ters the inclofure by one of the faid gates, and treading on the ropes, falls, pierced bv the arrows, provided they flrike with exaftneis. That the faid inclofure is fur- niflied with two doors they aflign as a reafon, partly, that a free paifage Oiould be open to the bear, on each fide, when he returns to his prey, partly, that if by chance he fliould efcape the arrows placed at the gate by which he entered, he fnould more certainly fall by thofe which were placed at the other. They alfo extend a rope with drawn bows on each fide in ambufh, on the walks and paths where they know bears ftray up and down, with the view that, treading on the rope, and the arrows being fliot, he may receive a death wound. The Laplander makes ufe of the afliflance of dogs in the hunting of bears, as well as rein-deer. He thoroughly rubs his limbs, when they exceedingly ache, with bear's greafe, which is laid up ; the inteftines of the animal that is killed are anxioufly preferved, with this due obfervance, that the fiu of the male bear may be ufed for the cure oi the males alone, and what is taken from the flie bear for the females. The lynxes, called by the Norwegians Goupe, arc by the Laplanders Jlb^s, are not to be met with inFinmark; this defeft however is fupplied by the great number of wolves. Of thefe, fome arc yellow, fome of a colour inclining to white. 1'his wild animal, ac- cording to the dift'erent dialects of places, gets different names, fuch as, Barg, Graabecn, Sfrob, Sfrog ; the Laplanders call them, Kumpi, Stalpc, Seibck, Ga'ine, Olgobutzh. The Laplanders mod ufually kill wolves with guns ; they take them alio with a certain iron machine, of which we fliall below give a defcription. The molt ufeful of thefe traps hold a wild beafl fo clofely, that fliould they only catch the nail, yet they can retain him, which, from the following account will be manifefl. : A certain mountain Laplander from the bay of Porlanger, called Andrew Jonfen, once caught a wolf in one of thofe approved machines, which, though only held by a fingle nail, and running befides with fo great fwiftnefs, with the machine that he carried with him, that the Laplander, though carried by his rein-deer, a very fwift animal, could fcarcely overtake him as he lied, yet fo clofely did the trap hold him, that he could by no means extricate himfelf and efcape. But, whatever more of the nature and habits of this animal could be mentioned, occurs in Chapter IX. on the rein-deer. Wolf-flsLins are ftretched on wooden tenter- hooks, called in Lapland Ratzb. ■ Poxes are found in grr?at numbers through Finmark. Of thefe many are red, called in Lapland Ruopfok ; others are red marked with a black crofs, whence they are called by the Norwegians Kors-Rocvc, that is, red foxes, but by the Laplanders Raude : others are altogether black ; others black, with the extremity of the hair on the back fliining with a colour like filver. Foxes of this fort, called in Lapland Zhjaeppok, whofe {kin, as being the bcfl of their kind, were rcferved under the injunttion of ain edict, publiflied on the 25th of May, in the 52d year of the 17th century, tor his Majefty alone; they are now fold without rcflraint to the Mufcovites, who make garments of them for men filling the highefl dignities. The Ruflian women of inferior condition, are faid to wear c aps or hoods trimmed with red fox-lkins. Befides the faid Ipccies, there are wfiite foSes found in Finmark, with black ears and legs, and black hairs in their tail. .Thefe >n Lapland are called VJc/gok, and arc very rarely met with. There are 6 befides ACCOUKT or DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 417 bcfides little white foxes, Icfs than thofe juft mentioned, called by the Norwegians Miel Rafftr, but by the Laplanders Njal, whofe fkins arc the word of all. Foxes feed on the cngs of ptarmigans and other birds taken by flratagem, on"'fiiice, flicll-fifh found near the fhorc, and fiich like foods. The Laplander, hunting the fox in winter, follows the track of him, until he finds him cither flceping in the open field, or has traced him to his den, where he has concealed himfclf. Here the hunter halts a little, wait- ing the opportunity of killing him with a bullet when coming out of his hiding place. He hides alfo pieces of meat in dillercnt places under the fnow, to the intent that the foxes fhould come to them. When he has once Imelt the meat, he eagerly flics to it, but, while flriving to difperfe the fnow with his feet, in order to get at the meat that is under it, he is fhot by the Laplander lying in wait for him. This kind of hunting is exercifed by night, by moonfliine, or, in deled of that, by the glimmering light which they call Boreal ; for it is fufficiently known, I think, that that which they call tl;c Aurora Bcira/is, is apparent in fo great a degree in this quarter of the ficy, that it can fupply the place of the abfent moon. Foxes are fometinies killed running, but they are moft uiually caught in a machine of iron, which, before it is laid, refembles a fenii- circlc, when laid, the fliape of a complete circle. They fix this rubbed with rofm, fit of the dolphin, or any other uuifluous matter, left the wily fox fhould fmell the ruft, and lay it in the fnow, in the fand near the fliore, or fome other commodious place, baited with the flefh of the lamia, which the Norwegians call Haac-Kioerring. The fox fmelling the bait, inftantly flies to it, but, while he is endeavouring to remove the fnow or the Hind with his feet to reach the hidden food, heincautioufly touches the trap, which touched, inftantly feizes the neck, the feet, or fome other part of the body, and clofely holds it. If the fnare or trap, which frequently happens, fhould lay hold of one foot only, the fox, fooner than become a prey to his enemy, eats away his own foot, if there is time for it, and takes to flight with the three remaining ones. This machine is ufed in other places in Norway, and befides it there is another, called Ritta, in which the Laplanders are ufed to catch foxes. The Ritta is made in the form of an oblong and low cheft, and open at one of its ends. Near that end that is open are two ftakes, overtopping the cheft itfelf in height, on which is put a beam acrofs. Before the faid ftakes, at the extremity of the cover, (for the machine has a cover no lefs than other neccfliiry parts of a cheft,) is a fmall pole, to the extremity of which above is a hook with a button aflixed, another pole being put over the beam, whofe fore point julh touches the button, while a rope is fixed to the other point, pafllng through the aperture made in the cover of the cheft, and drawn to the bait concealed in the lower part of the machine. The fnare thus conftiufted, the fox invited and allured by the odour of the bait, creeps in through the open part of the trap, where, while he is digging the earth, he touches the rope which loofens the button, and that being undone, the cover of the cheft inftantly falls in, and kills the fox by its weight. And, fince the fiiid machine can contain only the fore part of the fox, who has got in, while all the hinder part is out- fide, it often happens that a wolf falls upon a fox fo caught, and tears the part in his own way, that the hunter fliall be deprived of the flcin, the rew'ard and fruit of all his labour, and which he only looks after, now torn to pieces and broken up. They i-e- latethat the Swedes catch bears by a like machine, where it is to be obferved, that the trap which is conftrufted for the dcftroying of bears, is much larger in proportion to the ftrength and fize of this beaft, compofcd of ftrongcr beams and rafters, and laden with heavy flones, that the cover in its fall, when the button is undone, may fall with the greater weight and crufti him. Foxes are killed too by certain poifoned cakes, which the Laplanders call in their tongue, Saeljok. I'he fox, when going to build his fubter- voL. I. 3 u ranean 41 8 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. ranean reccTs, digs a way to it, not in a direct liiie, but in one curved and winding, with a variety of turnings, witli the intent, it feenis, that no one witli either fpear or any other noxious inftrunient (liould reach it ; and as it nccell'arily follows, that this den, and the windings to it, cannot be dug without throwing up a great quantity of earth, you will not without reafon be furprizcd, that, in fuch a den, fometimes of no middling- fize, no heaps of earth dug up are to be feen, but that every thing is found plain and level. The Laplander, when going to catch a fox in his den, fhuts up the entrance through which it appears he pafies, having made a new one in its place, by the help of which he drives to find out thofe which lead to the den ; which, when he has fcmnd out and laid open, he attacks the den itfi'lf ot the fox, where, when he has arrived, he drags him out from it, and kills him. It happens but very feldom, that two foxes are found together in the fame den. Fox-lkins are ftrctched on a certain machine called Ratz, as was mentioned above of wolf.fkins. The marten, called by the Laplanders Nnctie, is found too in Finmark. There are three fpecies of this animal ; the rlrfl comprehends thofe which in the Danlfh language are called Steen-AIaar. that is, marten, fountl among the rocks. The marten of this fpecies is darkilTi, {hort hairs, and brow nifli tail, with adi-coloured fpots, fometimes in- clining to a black and blue colour, mai-ked under the netk. It takes its name from the mountains and llony grounds it molt ufi ally haunts. The fecond fpecies is the mar- ten, called Birfc-Maar, that is, the marten that delights in places planted with the birch- tree ; this is of a dark colour, with a purple coloured tail, and marked with white fpots undtr the neck. To the third clafs belongs the fpecies of marten called Fiirr-Maar, ufed to the haunts of fir-trees. This is of a dark mud colour, with a yellow tail, and a mud coloured fpot under the neck, fomewhat white. The martens are caught ill a trap or iron machine, which I defcribed above. The glutton, called Bic/fnis, in Lapland GjcciPk, is found in Finmark, but rare and feldom. He is ftrongly furnifhcd vv'ith teeth, as well as the fliarpeft nails. Thofe of Lapland, who have explored the nature of this animal, and thoroughly examined it, aiTcrt, that the glutton^ though fmall in the body, is certainly not to be compared to the rein-deer, yet that it is able to kill one of full age and growth, but without flratagem, as appears from the following flatcmcnt : In the woods, where the rcin-decr ufually flray, the wily glutton gets up a tree, from it he leaps down on the head of the rein- deer as he pafl'es, and fo mangles his neck with his greedy bites, that he drops at length lifclefs under him. The fkins of the glutton, on account of the white fliining ftreak with which this animal is marked along the neck, and which they call in common, a iooking.glafs, are in great eflimation. From that part of the fkin which is taken from the feet of this animal, the Laplanders make gloves, elegantly adorned and diverfified with threads of tin intcrfperfcd, as is the cultom of the nation. With fo great, fo in- fatiable a voracity does this animal hunger, that he is laid not foorer to quit the carcafe than he has conlumed it all. But if he cannot contain the whole of it, he fearches out two trees very clofe to each other, between which he fqueezes himfelf, and by prefTmg and couitraining himfelf violently, relieves his belly ; when he has done this, lie haftens again to the cartafe, and devours the remainder of it. Impelled by the fame greedincis, it is ufual with him to go to the cupboards of the Laplanders built on the ways, as faid,and gnawing and digging through the coverings, gales, and floors of them, the greedy guefl, getting in, delfroys the meats and whatever foods are there to be found. The beaver, in Lapland Mi'jcg, is alio met with in fome diflrifts of Finmark, no where more frequently than in Indiager, a dillrift of Swcdilli Lapland, and on the banks of ACCOUNT OF DANISH -LAPLAKD BV LEEMS. 4' 9 of a very large and famous lake, which is faid to be twelve miles in circuit. 'I he fame" lake, as reported, is ofanimmenfe andalmofl unfathomable depth, and in it are many k'fler iflands. They fay the tooth of this animal is reddifii, crooked, and ahnoll iqaared. His tail, by the aid of which he is faid to make a houfe for himfelf, is broad, rough, and full of fcales. The wool, or rather hairs, are fold to the Rudians in common, and at a good price ; they purchafe alfo the Ikin for the covering their under garment with. The roval governor of this tract of Sweden, the ilhillrious Claudius Gagge, or- dered by his Majelly's command, Chrillian the IV. of glorious memory, that as many beavers' Ikins as could be got, fliould be bought for the ufe of his Majelty. The royal mandate, proclaimed on this bufmefs, is dated the 28th of June 1G09. The force and efficacy of the beaver or caftor oil in various fymptoms, is wonderful, too well known to praclitioners in medicine to be mentioned by me. It is faid to be medicinal for the internal difeafes of cattle; it is faid to be of fervice in frightening and driving away whales, to whom its very fmell alone is infuflerable ; for which reafon fifhermen, ap- prehenfive of harm from tliis great filh, are ever provided with the oil ot caftor. The beaver for this reafon is inftinftivcly led to builu his houfe near the banks of lakes and rivers. They faw with their teeth birch-trees, with which the building is conftructed. Whichever of the beavers fupplies the place of the fledge, lies upon his back, with his feet upwards, whilll his companions put the wood between his feet as he lies down, and holding it with his teeth, he drags it along to the place deftined for building his habitation, together with the wood laid upon it. In this manner one piece of timber is carried after another, where they choofe. Thofe who fupply the place of the fledge, are eafily known from the reft by the defect of hair, which is rubbed oft" by conftant action all along the back. At the lake or river where their houfe is to be built, they lay birch ftocks or trunks covered with their bark in the bottom itfelf, and, forming a foundation, they complete the reft of the building with fo much art and ingenuity as to excite the admiration of the beholders. The houfe itfelf is of a round and arched figure, equalling in its circumference the ordinary hut of a Laplander. In this houfe the floor is for a bed, covered with branches of trees, not in the very bottom, but a little above, near to the edge of the river or lake ; fo that between the foundation and the flooring on which the dwelling is fupported there is formed as it were a cell, filled with water, in which the ftocks of the birch-tree are put up, on the bark of this the beaver family who inhabit this manfion feed. Ift here are more families under one roof, befides' the faid flooring another refcmbling the former is built a little above, which you may not improperly name a fecond ftory in the building. The roof of the dwelling confifts of branches very clofely compared, and projects out far over the water. You have now, reader, a houfe conlifting and laid out in a cellar, a flooring, a hypocauft, a cieling, and a roof, raifcd by a brute animal, altogether deftitute of reafon and alfo of the builder's art, with no lefs ingenuity than commodioufnefs. This too is an extraordinary inftance of the Divine wifdom and goodnefs, which, in addition to the other inftinftive aftions of brute animals ftraying through their haunts, fliould more excite and actuate us to the admiration, praife, and adoration of the Divine Being. In the faid cell is an aperture, which fervcs for a door, through which the beavers go in and out. When they are all abroad, the hunters put a kind of a little faftening on that opening or door, in fuch a manner, that, on the entrance of the firit beaver, it fliould fiill and dole up the whole aperture as far as it goes. Thus fliut up, the beaver which is within is hindered from going out, and is taken. But as to what is hitherto related concerning the beaver and his manners I have not attained by my own experience, nor could I learn, becaufa through that whole diftrict where my duty as a miflionary hy, this animal never once 3 H 2 came 420 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. came in my way ; but what I have heard from Laplanders inhabiting thofe places re. lorted by beavers, I faithfully relate. Otters are found in great quantities through Finmark : this animal is called by fome Norwegians Slentcr ; by Laplanders Zhjevres, a word denoting each fex of this crea- ture. But the male otter, of full age and ftature, is called Goaaigc ; the male young of the otter in his firft year, Farro Goaaige ; the female of full age and ftature, Snaka ; a female young jiift come out of its firft year, Farro Snakn ; and thofe that have not at- tained this tender age, the Laplanders call Varlag'^es, The otters getting their fubfiftence in the lakes furpafs thofe that live in the fidt water by far, in the fleeknefs and beauty of their hair. The otters can be as eafily made tame as dogs, cats, and other domeRic animals ; befides, it can make itfelf agreeable and ufeful to its mailer, fetching fidi froni the lea, and having difcharged that duty returns home. There is a kind of otter, an animal of fmall body, yet can catch the cod and other larger fiHi : when it catches one. It drags it out to the next fhore and eats it : while eating its eyes are always fliut, at leaft very feldom does it open them, which the hunter chiefly attends to ; for he comes nearer while the otter's eyes are fliut, and halts when open, which he does by turns, imtil he can conveniently reach him with a ball, and thus commodioufly kill him. On every maritime excurfion the Laplander is furniflied with his gun. If the time permits he determines his courfe, not direftly where he is going, but approaching the Ihore he examines all its bays and creeks, to find out wild animals of all forts, but chiefly otters, which frequently are found there. This is the nature of the otter kind : that from its amphibious nature it employs one part, refembling a fifh, fwimming through the fea, through lakes and rivers, in getting its food ; the others afllgned to reft, which it takes on the dry ground, and in caverns, not fuch as foxes build for themfelves, but choofe fuch as by their very nature are formed from heaps of large flones, difpofed in a certain order. The Norwegians call a heap of ftones of this kind Utir. When the cavern is found the hunter lays his fnare, from beams and poles artificially joined and laid together, and furniflied with very fharp points, in which the otter, either feeking or quitting his den, falls into the fnare. Otters are taken in that well known machine Ipokcn of before. The fkins arc ftretched on two poles fit for this purpofe : that which is applied to the longer part of the fkin is called in Lapland Gidne ; the other, which is applied to the fhorter, is called Bmggnamor. The Ruflians fometimes wear cloaths triunned with otters' fkins ; befides, they export them into Tartary, to be fold, re- purchafed dear enough by the Laplanders ; for a fkin which Hands a Danilh trader in but one thaler, is bought back from the Ruflian at not lels than two or three thalei-s. The feas around Linmark abound in great plenty of feals, of which fome are larger, and marked with white fpots ; of thefe, fuch as are male are called in Lapland Davok ; the females arc called Ainc. Some are of huge bulk, of white colour, v.hich the Lap- landers call Jacgces ; others, of moderate fize, marked with black fpots, called by the Norwegians Stccn Robbc, by the Laplanders Niwrrojh, the Lapland word expreffing each lex. But the male is called in Lapland Rokka, the female ylfzbio. Others are white, with large black fpots, which the Laplanders call Daclj^i ; others alfo white, with black fmall fpots, called Oaaido ; others fmall, with a long bent beak, in Lapland called Fat7ie Viudne ; others, with other colours and other names. Befides the faid fpccics of feals, the Morfe is fometimes found in fome parts of the feas around Finmark. This marine beaft the Norwegians call Htial Res, the Laplanders Morjh. The morfe has broad nof- trils, thick tongue, huge crooked teeth, eipecially two, which projed t.ir beyond the reft, and with which it is faid to lay hold of rocks under water in the fea, at no great tliftance from the fliore, and to keep himfelf fafl by them. The Ruflians ufually make balls ACCOUNT OF DANISH I^APLAND UY LEEMS. 421 balls and other artificial things from the teeth of this fiEi, as equalling ivory in whitenefs, as alinolt to furpafs it, though dearer and more valuable by far. The feet of the morfe are covered with a very thick hide, alinoft five fingers in thicknefs. King Chriflian IV., of glorious memory, by a decree publilhed at thecaltle of Bergen on the fixth of July, 1622, ordered that fifteen hides of feals (hould be yearly bought for him. But the fea-horfes that are found in this part of the ocean are fliort-haired, yet with a maned neck, of an afli colour, different from thofe found in Iceland, of a carnation colour. The morfe when attacked makes a furious refinance. The Laplanders generally kill them by mufkets that are grooved ; fometimes they attack them by clubs or battoons, the blow being infllfted on the muzzle or front of the animal ; and winter is the time when this mode of hunting is praclifed, when the feals get together for the purpofe of coupling. The young (which are firll born are almofl: white, yet gradually take the co- lour of the dam), as weaker, nor able to fly, are in fuch a conteft in thegreateft danger. The fame fitte generally befalls the dams, yet refilling, and with all their might attack- ing their alTailant ; whence it oftentimes happens that they fall not unrevenged. In a calm fea one may fee the feals flecping, the head with the lower part of the body being under water, with the back above. The Laplander obferving this, on the difcharge of his gun, roufes him from his flecp, but fo as to overwhelm him with a perpetual ileep, or in plain terms, hits him when lleeping with a ball and kills him. The feal is among the amphibious, fwimming fometimes in the fea, fometimes on dry land, refling among the rocks, where, whilfi. he negligently lies, puts out one of his tore feet, exhibiting to thofe who come to fee him the appearance ot a man ftretched on his back, calling fome- body with his hand to his aflillance. When many of them are fwimming at the fame time in a troop, in order to get poffefllon of the fame rock, the one ftriving to get before the other, by which means toirmg and rolling themfelves they lafli the fea with fuch violence, that their fliouts while contending, and the nolfe of the waters can be heard far off. Thofe who happen to gain the rock have no flight contell with their affociates, who yet fwimming in the fea, endeavour by every exertion to get to the fame rock. If the contell is with an inferior, he who holds the rock eanly defends the place ; but if with a fuperior, he at length is compelled to yield. In fuch a conflict they mutually niiferably mangle each other, fetting up at the time a rude and favage kind of noife. Seals are ufually caught by the following artifice : the fea, by means of the tide, in- creafed to its greateft height, the feals climb the rocks, as was laid, to remain on them until the fea fliall ebb : mean time a flrong piece of wood, planted and furniflied with very flrong hooks and bent irons, is put at the bottom of the rock, to the intent that the feals rufhing down troni the rock into the fea, fliould get entangled in thefe hooks, which to fucceed the better, a fudden fhout is railed by their aggreffors ; on hearing which the feals with all their might rufli into the fea, and by that cxcefllve hade, greater than at any other time, are caught on the hooks fet lor them. The fkins of this animal are flretched ufually in the manner in which falmon are dried, except the tenter-hooks are more in number, longer, and thicker. The fquirrel, in Norwegian, Ifom, in Lapland, Orrt\ is found in fome parts of Fin- mark. Among the fquirrels fome are of a grey colour ; but in fummer all, without didindion, are red. In the woods, where they live, they fpring from the top of one tree to another with amazing agility. When palfing lakes or rivers, they feat themfelves on little pieces of wood or bark, and erecling their tails for fails, they reach the place they intend very commodioufly. There were two kinds of bows in ufe among the Laplan- ders ; the one, called G:ctdaugic, or the hand-bow, becaufe it was flretched by the hand alone. This inilrument was very fimple, confiding of one arch, properly lo called, and a firing. 422 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. a firing. The arrow, which was fitted to the hand-bow, was rather long, with a very fharp point, made of bone or iron. • The other, was called Juo/gc-Jai/gie, or foot-bow. This, befides the bow and firing, was furniflied with a wooden handle and button, made from the horn of the rein-deer, on which the firing held when the bow was bent. The arrows placed in this bow were without point : but the Giet daugic was ftretched no lefs by the aid of the feet than the hands, whence it had its name. After the invention ofmufl&, in Norwegian Stov Rypcr or Lie Rypcr, becaufe they frequent the woods and hills ; to the other clafs belong thofe called in Lapland Girofi, in Norwegian Field Ryper or Stare Ryper, that is moun- tain ptarmigan, becaufe they are found on the fununits of the loftiefl: mountains. Thefe differ a little from the former in the fize of the body, which is a httlc lefs, and alfo in the voice. The Laplanders catch the ptarmigan in the following manner ; they cut down birch trees, and difpofe them when cut in the fhape of an inclofure through the plain, different doors opening on this fide and that, by which birds of a moderate fize can creep in commodioufly. At each opening is a loop, in the form of the fingers extended, fixed at each end in the ground. The ptarmigan alighting accidentally on the faid inclofure, whilil fleeting freely up and down, they come to the tops of the brich trees, of which this hedge is made, for catching them, to the openings where the loops are put, through which, when wifhing to get to the nearer fide of the inclofure, they are entrapped. The wood-pigeon is fometimes feen in the eaftcrn Finmark ; in the Ruflian terri- tories, if report is true, much more frequently. There is a certain bird, which from the creft it carries, is called in the Norwegian Bnitis Koppcr, to be met with in fome of the trafts of this region. Such of thefe kind ot birds, as arc to be found in thefe countries, are cither grey, with white neck, or dark 1 3 with ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEM3. 425 with a red one, or variegated with a dark neck ; they equal in fize the field ouz-^l or black bird, but with larger feet, they have a fharp beak of a pale yellow colour. That which is male is red from the beak on to the crown without feathers ; it is adorned with two crells or combs, which form as many flaps, rifing on each fide of the jflefh without feathers. The male when going to couple for young feats herfelf on fome rifing hillock by land, and gaily expanding all his plumes, wonderfully difplays them, and exhibits fuch geftures as we before obferved in the bird called in Latin Xfrogallus. The ouzel or field black-bird from its elegant colour, and delicious flavour, is much in efteem, known to the neighbourhood of Denmark, and is to be met with in Fin- mark. Thefe birds come in fpring and go in fummer. When the time of their flight is approaching, they fly together and coalcfce in a varietv of greater flocks. They inhabit marfhy grounds, where on the higher hillocks, which are found in the marfli, they build their ncfl:s, and lay their variegated eggs under the open air, whence, in fome parts of Norway, they are called Heifoner, as if Hedefotier, that is, birds inhabiting marfliy grounds. This fame bird elfewhere in Norway is called Agerloe, that is huf- bandman, but in Lapland Bizbiut-zh. To the clafs of ouzels or field black-bird, is referred a bird called in Norway Spcvc ; in Lapland Giifgajiak. There are two kinds of this bird which is not uncommon any more in Finmark than elfewhere through Norway, differing from each other, but in the fize of the body alone, fome furpafling others in magnitude ; but all almoft agree in their afli colour, inclining fomewhat to a dark one, in their feet rather long, long beak, crooked and flender. They are frequently feen on large fl:ones by the fea ihore. They lay their eggs in marfliy grounds, and the flefh is of a mofl: delicious flavour. In Finmark as elfewhere through Norway, a certain bird is to be met with, called in Lapland Mackkaftak, but in Norwegian, from the varying dialed of each province, one time is called R^^e Giog, another time Marker Giog, and alfo Myre-hejl. It has dark wings, variegated with fpots, a beak rather long, a voice not unlike the bleating of a he-goat ; it yields a little in the fize of the body to the field black-bird, and lives in marfliy grounds. As far as I know this bird is found in Denmark, there known under the name of Myrebut. There is a certain bird to be met with in Finmark, called in Lapland Sagaii, in Nor- wegian Kield, or Rq7}c Kalv, in Latin Pica Marina, and frequently met with, in Fin- mark. 1 he Pica Marina or Sea Magpye, is a little larger than the black-bird of the fields, of a faftVon beak, the belly and feet fomewhat yellow, the breail and part of the wings white, the red of a very black colour. It is feen in common on the fliore, where it lays its eggs, and brings forth its young in a nefl: which is negligently made among the fca-weeds or bareica ftones. It is no ungrateful object to the curious eye, to obferve this bird on the fea-lhore, clofely treading on the water receding along the fand, and yielding to it on its return : but its ill-timed and extremely unpleafant vociferation which frightens away the other birds is not fo agreeable to the hunters. That fpecies too is reckoned among tiie aquatic birds ot Finmark, which the Lap- landers, in their language, call Bnvadak, but in Norwegian, the inhabitants of the difi:ritt of Finmark call Strog- Kjeld, that is the chattering magpye. This does not differ from that 1 have defcribed, but in the ilature which is a little lefs, and colour which all over the body is grey. But this bird is known and hated for its clamour and noife, with which it fills the whole neighbourhood, and from this it has its name. In other parts of Norway, it is called Stnuid Kield, from the fliore where it lives. VOL. I. 31- There 426 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. There is met with alfo in this tra£t, a certain bird called in Lapland GaddevierrnJhT, in Norwegian, Fjocrcptit. This bird, which elfewhere is little known through Norway, exceeds in fize the tame fparrow, it has grey feathers on the back, varied by fpecks of a different colour, white under the belly, breaft, and wings, a fliarpened beak, a piping voice, and feet rather long. It inhabits that part of the fhore, next to the fea, where it flies from one (tone covered with weed to another. It is feldom feen alone, but often accompanied with ten or more companions. The flelli of this bird is very delicate and favory. A certain bird is alfo found, by the Norwegian inhabitants of this place called Sand- 7nuling. This bird, whofe voice is alfo piping, is feen fometlines on the fhore, fome- timeson land, a little removed from the fliore, and wherever it goes, it makes ufenot of its wings but its feet. There are found befides in Finmark certain birds called by the Norwegians of the country, Snecfuglc, that is, fnow-birds, elfewhere through Norway according, to the va- riety ol that dialect, Fieldjiaer one time, at another Siieefugle, but in the Lapland language called Alpc. Their colour almoft white, dark wings, Ihort beak, their flefli of an ex- quifite flavour. What is obfervable in this bird and truly fingular and unufual is, that they fatten at the coming in of the tide, and grow lean again on its recefs. They are taken in the following manner by the Laplanders : fome little flicks are fet up on the ihow, to which noofes, made from the tails of cows, after the manner of loops by which thrufhes are taken, are fufpended. The birds, meaning to get through, are caught in the loops in their way. The faid birds are vifible in' certain tradts of Norway, in the beginning of fpring, forming themfelves into a large troop, but at the end of three \yeeks, efpecially in the iflands, again difappear to return, as ufual, in the next fpring. The goldfinch of Finmark, is of a very elegant colour, and of a molt mufical note. The grey linnet is, under the neck, of a pigeon colour, and furnifhes no fmall degree of delight to thofe who walk through the groves for i-elaxation, from its veiy fweet har- mony. Among the finging birds which the groves of Finmark poffefs, is fometimes obferved a certain bird, of very fweet fong, fhort beak, black head, ornamented with a variety of ipots, green belly, and a tail embelliflied with red and yellow feathers. It ufually lays its eggs in fubterraneous places. Befides the enumerated birds, more kinds of finging birds are found in Finmark, among which is a fmall bird of a grey colour, in Lapland called Veigc-Zizatzh ; others alfo, of a black colour, diflinguiflied by a white collar round the neck, called in Lap- land, Gjelavaclgo ; another kind alfo called Lafhol, equalling in fize the field black-bird or ouzel, noi unlike the colour of the lark, all of which delight the palTengers by their delightful melody. A certain bird, in Norwegian called Laxe-Titing, is fometimes feen near the banks of rivers. In this traft as elfewiiere through Norway, a little bird is found near the cata- racts of rivers, of a black colour, with a white collar round its neck, called in Norwe- gian Elvekald, in the Lapland language, Knoikgarbeek. Among the fea birds of this country the fwan too fhews itfelf in certain places. The Laplanders take fwans by a certain trap. Geefe, which they call wild, or grey, it appears, fly from the warmer countries in the beginning of fpring every year to Norway, and dwelling there in tho little iflands in the fea, through the whole of fummer hatch their young, but on the turn of the year, when inclining to autumn, and their young are grown up, they return to the 7 place o ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 427 place they came from. I grant that feme of the faid birds in this journey do not pro- ceed further than Norland, others fcarcely beyond the iflands of the diocefe of Bergen, towards the north ; yet equally true and certain is it, that a great number of them do not ccafe until they have penetrated into Finmark in their flight, where tliey hatch their young in the iflands well known to them, namely, Serclen, Jngden, and Rolfsdcn, in Weftern Finmark, and Hen-dcn in the eaftern, and procure fubfiflicnce for thcmfelves and young as they can, until on the return of autumn, they regain, with their young now grown up, the warmer regions of the fouth. It is pleafant to obferve in this kind of bird, that coming from winter quarters into Norway, at a flated fealbn of the year, they difcharge by turns the duties of a captain or leader; for they fly in flocks, the one following the other in order, when, he who was for fometime leader or flandard bear- er, pafling his office over to him who is next in order, retires into the rear and doles the troop. It is fl:ill further to be noticed, that on this journey they have certain Itations, efpecially in the narrow angles of the narrow bays, where they put up to- gether at night, and where they remain for many days ; and what chiefly raifes admi- ration, is that this bird, which in other refpefts is accounted an animal fo ftupid, that the greateft fools, deflitute of almofl; all power of judging, are called by way of re- proach ftupid geefe, yet fhould find his way fo accurately through fuch an immenfe trads of country, not only to the fame region, but even to the fame ifland, where, after the lapfe of a year, he had dwelt, and Ihould recognize and claim the neft he had built there. The pilot, who has learned his art by the continued induftry of many years, and eftabliflied it by long praftice, fcarcely direfts his courfe better to the def- tined fliores, provided with his nautical compafs, his hydrographic charts, and other in- ftruments and aids, than do tliefe birds complete their courfe, aided by inllind alone, to countries hindered by an immenfe diftiance, from the cold climates they come out of. One of their number keeps watch, while the refl: are afleep, which puts the hunter, if he means to kill one of them, on his art and all his circumfpection ; yetfome of them mufl: fall under the rifle barrel guns of the Laplanders. They are caught alfo with traps covered with turf, inftead of a bait. A part alfo is killed, when they are weak and infirm on account of their feathers which fall annually off"; at this time they withdraw from the traces and intercourfe of men, to places more remote, and therefore more fecure. In eaftern Finmark it is faid that a certain kind of wild goofe, is found different from the reft of his kind, both in the bulk of the body, which is lefs in thefe, and in colour. For they are dark on the back, with a white belly, with black fpots interfperfed be- tween, with a white circle round the eyes, with ycllov/ feet and bcal^ The flefli of this goofe is notof anungi'ateful relilh, nor do the eggs differ much in goodnefs from thofe which tame geefe lay. Ducks are very good in colour and flavour in Finmark ; there is feen there a bird of the fize of the I'mall duck of a black colour, inhaJjiting the fait water, as well as the lakes. 1 he Laplanders call it Skoaai-ra. Of the birds which in the Norwegian language are called Aderfuglc, an immenfe number is found through Finmark. So immenfe that flocks, even of a thoufand of thefe kinds of birds together, may be feen in fonic places, chiefly in the bay of I'orl'an. '^er. That of the male and which is called in Lapland Likka, has a broad beak, of a green colour ; the feathers of the head, brcait, and wings, are elegantly diverfified with white, black, fky blue, green, and brown. The female is of a dark colour, with a few fpecks of a different colour. The feathers are of iueftimablc value, and ferve for the Uuffing of pillows, inftead of wool ; this feather being in its nature moft excellent and 3 I 3 Ibftj 428 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. foft, is efteenied no lefs by foreigners than natives ; it is alfo known, and very much in vogue, in the courts of princes. This bird lays eggs the fize of fniall goofe eggs, of a grey colour, turning to a bluifli, the yolks of which, though reddlfh, are not ill-flavoured. It builds Its neft in common among the twigs, fometimes among the fea-weeds that arc dry on the fliore. So carefully and faithfully does it fit upon its eggs, that at the ap- proach of man it will fcarcely defert them ; and though it furpaffes the crow in fize, yet it is not a match for the crow, when plundering the neft and eggs. The flelh of thefe birds is of a very unfavory tafle. On the fliores of Finmark, as on the reft of the Norwegian coaft, extending into the fea, is found a bird, which is called in Norwegian Imbcr, black feathers, with fome white, a long and fharp beak, feet turned in, a difmal and terrific voice, by which the vulgar believes that a violent ftorm of the fouth wind immediately coming on is portended ; it is of a very large fize, as weighing eleven pounds, but not of equal goodnefs and flavour. One may always fee this bird, never flying, but fwimming on the water, and indeed fo deeply funk, that no part, except the head and neck, appears above it : and as the wings do not correfpond to the fize of the body, it raifcs itfelf with difficulty ; whence, at the voice and appearance of man, it fecures itfelf, not by flying, but by diving. You may meet one frequently ; feldom or ever fee two together. Such is its voracity, that it can devour at once a whole fifli of no moderate fize. A bird, known through all Norway as far as it extends, called in Norwegian lan- guage Lo3'«, in Lapland Gakkor, or Gakaite, is found alfo in Finmark. It is a little larger than a duck, lefs than a goofe ; It has a long and ftiarp beak, a ftrange but ftrong voice ; the neck, as well as the reft of the body, is long and graceful ; it has not much power in running, but is very ftrong on the wing : it brings forth its eggs in the little iflands and I'ocks, fituated in lakes and on mountains. The bird which is called in the Norwegian, S/rtrf, is called in Latin Corviis Marinus, fea-crow, here, as elfewhere, is feen about the Norwegian coaft. It refembles the pigeon, which it furpafles, in fize, by a long and fharp beak. The colour of this kind of birds is moftly the fame, being black all over the body, with fome white fpots under the belly, the reft being all black. The nature of fea-crows is this, that they fwim by turns in the fea, and take up their reft on the rocks in great numbers, with their wings ex- panded, that they may be the fooner dried in the fun. When going to fly from the rock where they were, they all precipitate themfelves into the fea, with a great noife of the water, to tiie purpofe that when their wings are made wet, they may become fitter for flying. They are incredibly voracious, for they eafily fwallow down whole fifhes, and thofe of no moderate fize, by which the flefti of this bird always taftes of the fifh, that is its conftant food, and on that account lefs delicate ; for which reafon, if it is boiled with peas, remitting a great deal of that bad tafte, it is tolerable food. Thefe birds lay their eggs and hatch their young among heaps of ftones. In the fea about Finmark is a bird, called in Norwegian Hnv-heji, that is, the fea- horfe. It is difcerncd at a diftance from the ftiorc, ufually in the open fea ; nor does it come to Ihore but in a cloudy fl<.y, arifing in conjuniStion with a horrid tempeft. It is fuppofed to lay its eggs on the coaft of Iceland ; in colour and fize it refembles a cor- morant, except that the colour inclines a little to white, with certain dark feathers in- terfperfed liere and tliere. The beak is divided into certain departments, each depart- ment diflinguiflied by a different colour. The voice is flirlll, and is brought out with a ccrtam fnorting. It fmciis of the oil got from the fat of fifli. It has its wings dif- tondcd and flilf when flying. It fleeps in the waters, and is feen fometimes moving tiu'ough them with an. ambling pace, a fign that a ftorm is fhortly coming on j on the 5 other ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 429 Other hanJ, if the fea is tranquil, it is thought to be fign of a calm and ftillncfs of the air. Beyond the bay of Drontheim, towards the fouth, this bird is not feen. In this part of the northern ocean a certain bird, likewifc, is fcen, called in Norweginn Ilav-Orre, the marine heath-cock. That vviiich is male equals in fize the bird Aede?-, juft defcribed ; on the head it is a greyifli colour, green about the eyes, blui/h on the beak, diftinguiflied by red, yellow, and black; on the neck white ; the feet yellow, bat black almoll: in the pavts ; but the female is ufually of a brownifh colour. A certain kind of bird, of the fize of a duck, of a dark colour, is found alfo in Fin- mark. They are to be met with in flocks, and are not much afraid of the prefence of men who approach them. The Ruffians arc laid to bring up at home birds of this kind tame. The birds the Norwegians call Hav- Adder, are found no lefs in this tra£t of country than elfewhere, near the Norwegian Ihorc. The male of thefe is ufually of a red neck, mingled with white, rather long feathers, of a white colour, coming out from the tail. Many of them are feen together, with a conftant vociferation, rivalling an articulate voice, redoubling the found oi Kiopatigla ; hence they are called by the Laplanders y^«_f- ga/agges, and by the inhabitants of the fouth of Norway, by way of joke, Angle Mngere^ that is, hook-fmiths, from the vernacular force of the word fignifying fome fuch thing. They are faid to afl'emble near lakes, on the mountains, for the purpofe of bringing forth their young, and to hatch their young. The flefh of this fort of bird is neither very favoury, nor altogether without relifli. The birds which in Norwegian are called Allfer, here too are to be feen up and down on the Norwegian coafl: ; as alfo the Klub Allfer, which bring forth their young in the clefts of rocks. ■^ This region abounds with great numbers of birds, which the Norwegians call Lunder, and which too are to be met with through Norway. This bird is fomewhat lefs than a duck, has a hooked beak, not much varying from an eagle's, except where it is marked with various fpecks, different from an eagle's, which is all of one colour. Thefe birds lay their eggs in high and inacceflible rocks, whence they are taken out with long poles. In certain trads of Norland dogs are reared and inftrudled to get into the rocks and bring out the birds themfelves. The feathers and down of thefe birds, above all which Norway produces, are mofl excellent, and ufetul in the fluffing of beds and pillows. In fome trads of this country, fuch as the iiland Acffer Den Sylteviigcn, and Sverbohs Klub, in the eaftern Finmark, in the weftern, and elfewhere, is a bird, known here and there in diflerent places through Norway, in the common language called Tiejle, but in the Lapland Zhiaelkes, a little below the fize of a duck, of a chicken voice, black eyes, with a white fpeck on each wing, the feet being elegantly red. Its eggs are ftreaked, contain a very full yolk, and red in comparifon of that which is found in the eggs of hens ; it lays among heaps of Hones, or in the clefts of rocks ; its nefl: is negligently prepared on the bare ground, but yet fufficiently adapted for the hatching and nou- rifhing its young. The young in the firfl: year are grey, when, in Lapland, they are called Boigek. This bird, fwimming on the v\'ater, on the difcharge of the gun, plunges itfelf in the fea, fwifter than thought, the inftant. Finmark produces cormorants in numbers almoft incalculable. Of this kind of bird are various kinds, among which are numbered cormorants of a grey colour, called in Norwegian Sild Manger, that is, cor- morants that feed on herrings, the largefl of their kind : the greater cormorants, with black wings, yellow feet and beak, in Norwegian called Sortbag, in Lapland Cairo ; ami the leffer cormorant, of the fame colour, in the Lapland called Sobmer ; a larger kind, white, with grey eves, yellovi^ beak and feet, in Norwegian Blaa Maager/m Lapland called 43© ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BT LEEMS. called Dahek. But thefe lefler cormorants chiefly are to be met with in great numbers, of the fame colour with thofe jufl mentioned, which are named in Norwegian Saeing, in the Lapland Gaijle, and which fiirpafs all the other fpecies in number, are thofe lefler cormorants which, with the exception of black feet, are like the former in colour, called in Norwegian Krojfe, in Lapland Skjerro. Of thefe whole troops are to be feenin places where they aflemble for laying their eggs, and hatching their young. They lay their eggs on high rocks, whence they fly in troops at the approach of man, darkening the whole air as with a thick cloud, and fill all places with their unfeafonable clamours. Near the promontory of Sverbolt, in eaftern Finmark, is feen a high and lofty rock, called in common Sverholis Klub, on the fide of which next to the fea, the Omnipotent Architeft of nature has formed in the rock itfelf certain natural recefl'es, covered with juofs, difpofed in a certain beautiful order, and feparated from each other by due dif- tances, where the faid birds meet every year in flocks for laying their eggs, and hatching their young. The eggs which are laid in the lower recefl'es (for of thefe one is above the other) are eafily taken by a fpoon faftened on a reed ; thofe which lie above are al- together inacceflible. The eagles ufually build their nefls in the neighbourhood, the inconvenience and injury of which the young cormorants, to their lofs, often feel. The eggs of cormorants that build in the rock are variegated ; the yolks, though furpafling in yellownefs hens' eggs, yet have a flavour not altogether difagreeable. But it is well to be noticed what qualities, from the colour and names affigned to each fpecies of cor- morant, have been mentioned above, fliould be underftood of the adult alone ; for the young are all of one alh colour at firfl:, marked with various fpecks, which colour as long as they keep they are called by the Norwegians Sfaa?- linger, but by the Laplanders Skavie ; but as foon as they begin to grow white (they begin in the autumn of the year they are hatched), in Lapland they are called Zhjiiormalas. The Laplan- ders intent on catching cormorants, put down a rope into the fea, to the end of which is fixed a hooked flick ; the cormorant thinking it food flies to it eagerly, and devour- ing hook and all, is caught by the wily Laplander, who draws in the rope. By this artifice they take ufually great numbers of them, ftrip their flvins off, and expofe them for fale. Certain birds, in Norwegian, Tacniwr, in Lapland called Zhjerrek, are to be met with in Finmark, and thefe not only common, and to be met with up and down in Nor- way, but well known by a black head, grey along the back and wings, white under the belly, and a clett tail ; but there are others too, if fame is to be credited, more uncom- mon, black all over the body, dunning the ears of the palfengers by their perpetual clamours and noife. Their early coming to the fhores is thought to prefage the early coming of falmon, and their entering the rivers. The bird, called in Norwegian Kii-e., or Kivc Jocn, in Lapland called HnJ/ccl, is num- bered with the /ell : it is the fame bird that is white under the belly, the reft: of the body being dark, a feather rather long coming out from the tail, with iharp talons ; in other refpccls like the lefler cormorants, 'ihis bird flays foinetimcs on fliore, and in the niarfliy grounds, yet adjoining the fea, lays her eggs, and hatches her young. As long as it remains on land, it fo fliuns the face of man, that it flics waywardly when pafling before his eyes. At other times it is leen at fea, wiiere its avcrfion to him is not fo great, where it rather fearlefsly flies to the fiflicrmen's boats, gaping at liie pieces of cafl away liver and other oflals of this fort. Flying through the air, it purfucs and prefli-s the faid cormorants, and alfo birds called Tticnncr, mentioned before, until it compels them to difcharge thcnifelves, and then by an amazing agility while flying, re- ceives and devours what it takes. A little ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BV LEEMS. 4^t A Httle bird befides is found in Finmark, called in Norwegian Smoelle Bot, or Nord Be/i Fug/en, but by the Laplanders Niwrte Loddc, or Bjcggiijl}. The Norweinan nanw, Smaclle Bet, it takes from its arrival, happening at the fealon of the year when the in- habitants of Norland, called in Norwegian Smaeller, ufually come for the fake of fifhing ; but it is called Nord vcft Fuglcn, from the quarter of the world fituated towards the north-eaft, whence it comes by fea to Finmark. 'I'his little bird fomewhat exceeds in fize the tame fparrow ; it is white under the belly, dark along the back, marked with various fpecks, a (harp beak, black colour, rather long feet, of grey colour, in great part cleft ; whence it can live as well on land as it can at fea. The fifliermcn on the fight of this bird, little doubt of a north-eafl wind Jhortly c-^ming on. The Laplanders, in hunting them, ufe grooved guns, by which they not only ufually kill greater birds, fuch as wild geefe, &c. but even iinall ones, fuch as thefe. Befides the above-mentioned birds, in Finmark are fee n the cuckoo, the woodpecker, the black-bird of the field, the fwallow, the wagtail, a little bird, called in Norwegian Rendejleens-Snagere, and Ring-Erkr, and many others ; but the ftarling, the tame Ipar- row, and fome others, very frequent in other places, are not to be found in Finmark. The magpie, as I mentioned above, is very rare in this country. Chap. 'UW.—Ofthe Fijliery. THE fhores of Finmark, all along the coaft of Norway, abound in fifli. The great number of whales that were taken by the fifhermen formerly, as well as the quantity of falmon taken at this day, in that very celebrated river Thana, may be adduced as proof. Of thefe not a few are exported, by reafon of their very exquifite flavour, in comparifon of others, fo highly efteemed ; to fay nothing of the great quantity of the various kinds of cod-fi(h, and of every kind of fifh, the feas of Finiiftrk abound in ; and for^the catching of which, the inhabitants of Norland flock to them in the very middle of winter, not without imminent peril of their lives. But the good fubjefts of this country are not only permitted fecurely and quietly to enjoy the benefit of fifliery and hunting on their annual return, that if a war Ihould break out ever fo extenfivcly, between the Danes and neighbouring Swedes, they may purfue in fafety, and at their leifure, the ufual bufmefs of fifliing and hunting ; but it is further provided, that they fliould exer- cife them with that degree of liberty that each may have full freedom, no one oppofing, or prefuming to oppofe, of going to get wood, of cutting down trees, of ilripping bark from birch-trees, for cither burning as fire, or building houfes (they ufually cover the tops of houfes with bark), of cutting grafs with a bill, of hunting fifli, bird, or wild beafl:. For though a certain writer has thought fit to defcribe Finmark as a country deprived of all the gifts of a kinder nature, and its inhabitants as men more than barbarous, and defl:itute of all intercourfe with other men; and though Saxo himfelf feems to deplore that vague and unfettled life to which the Laplanders are addicted and expofed ; though he writes, among other things, the Finni are the laft: inhabitants of the north, having embraced a quarter of the world fcarcely inhabitable, from either culture or dwelling, an uncertain habitation and waodering home ; yet the Laplanders' fifli, venifon, and other delicacies, are delightful, which may be fought for in vain in more cultivated parts of the world. It is not my intention to write on the fiflies of the fea about Finmark, tedioufly to defcribe the external and internal form of every fifh, which by others has been already done. It is fufiicicnt for me, after a defcription, fuch as it is, of the external figure of certain fiflies, to fliew fomewhat more fully the method in part, by which the Laplanders catch them, in part how they are ufed to manage and turn them to their ufe. 432 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. life, adding, as the occafion may require, certain circumftances that fhould be known, and would call a light over natural hidory. About the feftival of the purification of the Yirgm, and therefore about the middle of winter, a great quantity of whales is feen, not only near the fliores extending far into the fea, but even in the recefles themfelves of the inner bays, which, as if by the exprefs command of Heaven, drive into thofe places the larger codfifli, and other fifli in great quantities, where they can be conve- niently caught by the filliermen ; fo that thefe animals, altogether without the ufe and "Tuidance of reafon, are to be confidered as inflruments by which the benign goodnefs of Him adminifters food to his people, inhabiting a country where they neither fow nor reap. While thefe whales zr2 driving the fifli into the bays and on flioals, they ufually fct up at the fame time a horrid noife, whilit a vapour-like fmoke rifes up on each fide of them. The inhabitants ufually call troops or clofe bodies of whales of this kind Hval Grin. Experience has fhewn, it is by no means fafe to approach too fiear a troop of whales driving and hunting the lefler fifli, v.'hen fifliing boats have been not unfre- ^uently overfet by their being in the way. Under the canicular heats when whales meet for the purpofe of procreation, it is alfo equally dangerous to come near them, who take, as it feems, any fifliing boat for a mate. To avoid this danger, caftor-oil, which is very hateful and intolerable to the whale kind, is thrown into the lea, and, in defect of this, benches, empty tubs and fuch things as are at hand and the occafion fup- plies, with which, while the whale is playing, the fifliermen expofed to the danger make good ufe of the opportunity of getting off. At the time when the whales meet for the purpofe of procreating, the fperma ceti is found here and there, either floating on the water, or cafl: upon the fhore. Among the whales which are to be met with in the fea about Finmark the following are the principal : ift. The whale, which by the natives is called Ror-Hval; 2d, the whale, from the very great fize of its body, called Stor-Hval. There are whales of this kind which drive the fifli into the bays and on the flioals. jdly. The whale, Trold- H-valy a beafl: of inimenfe bulk covered with fcales. This moniler is faid to raife a horrid noife from the waters ; to him is afligned at the fame time a difpofition to overturn the boats of the fifliermen wherever he finds them, and the more to be dreaded bv the failors, as he rifes feldom from the deep where he lies hid. 4thly, The whale which is commonly called Nord Kapercn, accufl:omed to come from the icy mountains at Cape Nord, the lafl: promontory, whence its name alfo. Whales of this fpecies are inci'cdibly ferocious and untamable, %'ery dreadful and dangei'ous to fiflier-nien ; but they are fliort in flature, with a thick and fliort head, whence, in the Norwegian lan- guage, they arc called Stubbcn. There are various figures of whales that prefent themfelves, to be found among the writers of natural hifl;ory ; and in a late defcription of Greenland, engraven on copper fo neatly and accurately, that it would be fuperfluous altogether to repeat them here. As loon as large bodies of whales, as jull Itated, at a certain feafon of the year, gather round the promontory of Cape Nord, flrangcrs then frequent for filhing thefe fliores. For prefling the oil from the fat of whales they took up their refidence in Kielvigia and the ifland Scr-Dcn in Weflern Finmark. In procefs of time the Spaniards alfo from the province of Bifcay made the experiment of fifliing in thefe countries, differing from former fifliermen in this refped, that they ufcd to profs the oil from the fat, not on the land but in their fliips ; whereas the Laplanders lormeriy, inhabitants of the bay of Porfangcr, applied themfelves to the taking of whales by inflrumenta of their own in- vention. It iometimcs happens, that whales, either mortally wounded by the Green- kuid fifliermen, or killed by marine dogs, arc call on the Ihorcs of FimaarL The kings of ACCOUNT OF DANISH I.APLAND BY LEEMS. 433 of Denmark and Norway formerly claimed part of ihis prize, until Chriftian V. of glorious memory, mofl: humanely granted the whole to the people of Finmark, by a royal edi£l, bearing date the i ith of Augufl: 1688. Hiflory fuggefts to me, writing on whales thrown by accident on the coaft, an extrordinary and prolty tale, yet true, which I fiiall beg leave to relate. Certain Filhcrmen of Finmark fell by chance on a dead whale floating near the fliore, which, as they were not able to get to the nearefl coaflon account of their being few in number, one of the fociety attempting anunuiual and memorable a£t, dcfccnded alone from the boat on the whale, tolled and alinofl: over- whelmed by the waves, whilll his friends ran home to call for further ailifl;ance/ Meantime this bold fifliermati, prodigal of life, was fitting regardiefs of danger on the floating whale ; and, left he fliould be fliaken off by the conftaut beating of the waves, into the fea, he fcooped a cavity to fix his feet in, with a knife, in the back of the beaft, hoifting at the fame time an oar, that his returning friends might have a fignal by whicli they fhould recognize their companion in the open fea. The matter anfwered expec- tation ; thofe that departed now returned, and brought fafely to the fliore their com- panion with his fpoil. The marine dog, in Norwegian Staalhcnning ; in Lapland Fcika/i, is feen alfo on thefe fliores. It is not very unlike the leiler whale, nine or twelve cubits long ; he has a nofe ending in a Iharp point, tuf!-:s in each jaw a finger's length, and a long fin on the back, reprefenting a kind of fpear placed on end. Whales have no enemies more deftruclive to them than thefe very dogs, by whofe favage and faw teeth they are often flruck at and killed. For no whale of whatever fize or ftrength ever exifted but muft fall fliortly a prey to even a few of thefe dogs ; and, though it fliould make for the fhore to avoid their hoftile attacks, yet will thefe dogs not only follow but even effect, by repeated blows of the teeth, that it fliould return and become their prey. A whale, when befet around by the faid dogs, is faid to fet up a horrid flivage noife. A certain kind of fifh is alfo found about Norway and in the fea about Finmark, known under the name of Springere, that is, the leaping fifli ; they are of a black colour along the back, whitening under the belly, four or five cubits long, and are feen fpringing up from the fea with a great noife of the waves ; from thefe frequent fprings or bounds they have taken their name ; nor is it indeed unpleafant to fee many of them fporting together in the water. They are commonly to be met with at a diftance from the fhore in the vafl ocean ; it fometimes happens, efpecially in the fpring time, that they penetrate into the very recelTes of the inner bays, where ufually they are taken with call- ing nets. They diil'er from other fifli in this, that, when fhut in by the net, they not only try to efcape by getting away, but make towards the fhore with all their fpeed, the confcquence is, that they are taken with the greater eafe and certainty.* A certain fifli or rather marine nionfl;er, called in Norwegian Brugden, is fometimes feen alfo in this ocean. It is equal in fize to the common whale, has a very dark fkin, and a hunch on the back with which it is faid to overturn fifhing boats. It prefcnts it- felf to the view fometimes in a very calm fea, but, on the gentlefl afpiration of wind, re- gains as quick as poiHble the bottom of the fea, whence, it is plain, that even the flight- eft blafl; is intolerable to it. All the feas here and bays arc full of the dolphin fifli, called in the Norwegian Nifer. The manner of this fifli, which is to be met with in Denmark as well as Norway, rolling itfelf on the furface of the fea, is too well known to all to need a mi- • This feems the DelphUms Dclfhit of Linnxus, according to Gunner, in his note in this paflage. VOL. I. 3 K nute 434 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAKD BY LliEMS. nute defcriptlon from ine. The dolphin Is not unlike the mackarel, certainly not tri- angular, as it appears, when fwimming, to the fpeclators on fird view. Yet it differs from it, as well in the colour as in the lize of the body ; but the reafon of its appear- ing triangular to the fpedators is, that gamboling in the fea, it can turn itfelf lb into folds, one part being under the water and the other above. The Laplanders ufually kill them with muikets, where it is to be well obferved by the hunter that the bullets fliould be fliot a little before the dolphin rifes from the water, otherwife it would from its gambols and turnings eafily efcape the gun. This fifli is frequently met with repofing carclefsly on the waters when the fea is calm. The Laplanders, as well as the inhabitants of Norwegian Finmark, are very fond of the flefh and fat of the dolphin. The large flg-gq/h, fignifying in Lapland alhitf or (tick. Befides the above-mentioned fifli, there is to be found in Finmark, as elfewhere, near the Norwegian fliore, the fl;urgeon ; the ray, in Norwegian Skade ; the Rcdfijk, that is red fifli, in Norwegian Ver ; Lyr, the lefler cod-fifli, in Norwegian Eyfe, in Lapland Djukfo ; the lefler, or white cod-fifli Brcfmer, and innumerable others. But it is to be obferved, that the mackrel, congers, or eels, &c., fiflies very well known and very numerous alono- the Norwegian fliores, yet are not to be found in the feas of Finmark ; crabs of the rough and tefl:aceous kind, in Lapland Suobbo, and fliell-fifli are alfo here ; lobfl;ers sre found, but no oyflers. The Lapland women on tlie coafl: employ themfelves, together with their hufliands, willingly and faithfully in the fiflieries, differing from the peafant women of Norway, to whom thefe occupations feem too burthenfome and tirefome. The mountain Laplanders coming to the coails, together with their families and herds of rein-deer at a certain period of the year, now and then ufuUy employ themfelves in fifliing. And as the above-mentioned kinds of various fifh are found in the feas of Finmark, of which each fpecies has been dcltined to its own proper ufe by the all-wife Creator, giving fome to man for his nourifliment, others for their oil ; and to ferve the pur- pofcs of commerce, and the carrying on of trade ; fome alfo are turned to bait with which fllh is caught ; fo alto in the fame ocean, are to be met various monflcrs, pro- digious in their form and fize, wonderful to view, and fo furnifhed, that they feem to give more ample materials for writing, than benefit to mankind. Among thofe mon- gers of the deep, which are feen now and then in this part of the Northern Ocean, one in particular, an immenfe fifli, called the Krakcn, by the inhabitants of Nordland and Finmark, holds the firfl: rank by right, whofe form and magnitude of body is lb un- ufual that the fea does not produce a fimiliar prodigy. The faid fifli is very fcldom feen above water, as delighting in the depths, where quiet and almofl: immoveable it is faid to hide itfelf, environed with an incalculable number of every kind of fifh. When the fiflierman, fearching the fea in order to find a fifliy bottom, arrives by accident at the place where this nionfler is Ikulking in the bottom below, he thinks from the great number of fifli he has met there, that he has found a place, that is the uiofl; lit for fifhing j but when the nionfler that lies hid, touched with the plummet i3 that ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 439 that is let tlown, begins to move and gradually get up, which is eafily afcertalned from the fpace, that is between the bottom and the boat, becoming gradually iefs, he finds that it was not a bottom as he believed, but an immenfe fifli that was hid below. Mean- time the lilherman is not folicitous about getting away, knowing that this monfter is very flow in moving, and advances lb flowly, that fcarcely within the fpace of two hours he can rife from the bottom to the furface of the fea. Yet is he not altogether negli- gent of his fituation, finding by the plummet that the monfter, gradually emerging, is now at no great diltance from the boat. And without delay, the fillierman having jurt got away, he begins to appear above the water with huge and monftrous claws, of a vaiiety of fizes and Hiapes, giving the idea of a wood, thick, with different trees, ftripped of their bark ; at firfl: ereft in the air, but foon after complicated. The fpecies of this moniter, how horrid it is and deformed, fcarcely can thole who have feen it, exprefs with words. The inhabitants of Finmark and Nordland call this monfter Kraken ; elfewhere through Norway, efpecially among thofe of Carmefund, in the diocefe of Chrif- tianfand, it is called Brygdoi, yet from another marine moniter of the fame name, defcribed by us, it mult be carefully diftinguifhed. The fea of Finmark alfo generates the fnake, or marine ferpent, forty paces long, equalling in the fize of its head the whale, in form the ferpent. This monfter has a maned neck, refembling a horfe, a back of a grey colour, the belly inclining to white. On the canicular days, when the fea is calm, the marine ferpent ufually comes up, wind- ing into various fpirals, of which fome are above, others below the water. The feamen very much dread this monfter ; nor, while he is coming up, do they eafily cntrull them- felves to the dangers of the deep. That monfter, which the Norwegians commonly call Hav-Mand, and Hav-Fniey. many affirm, to whom credit is due, to have been often feen in this ocean. The male, which is called in Norwegian Hav-Manden, is defcribed as a monfter refembling a very robull man, of full ftature, brown ikin, long beard, hair over the lliouklers. The fe- male, or Hav Fruen, is laid to appear in human (hape, long hair, ghaftly viiiige ; fome- timcs- they fay flie is feen under a different likenefs. But the inhabitants affirm that thcfe monfters are never accuftomed to appear but in a horrid tempeft, not only dreadful to feamen, but often fatal, which inftantly follow?. And as all feas and bays abound in various kinds of filh, fo no lake nor river, how- ever fmall or ignoble, but in proportion to its capacity, contains hfli, either natives of the ftream, or brought by rivers from the fea inta them, all fabfervient to the ufe of man. Among the fifli in thejakes of Finmark is found alfo the pike, the genus being called la the Lapland, Hang, the fpecies, if a little larger, Golces. It feeds on frogs and toads in common ; and devours other fiffi alfo, as is well known ; nor does it fpare its own kind. The perch alone is excepted in the number of thofe in danger, protecled by the benefit of its very fliarp fins, with which it is armed. 'Ihe Laplanders kill the pike iii lummer, then accuftomed to come to the Ihores, and when balking at its fecurity, to omit other methods by which this fifli is ufually taken. In the lakes of Finmark a certain fifii is found, in Norwegian called Lafe, in Lapland Njak ; nor unlike the fea-fifti ^ro//«(?;-, defcribed above by us, in Ihape as well as colour. In the tune place, that kind of fifii is to be found in great plenty, called in Lapland Riiiido. Fiffi of this kind are ufually red under the belly, dark on the back, and are much recommended by their delicate flavour, A certain. 440 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. A certain fpecles of fifh, of mofl: excellent flavour, called in the Norwegian Blege, is to be found in the fame lakes ; its fkin is very fmooth, reddifh colour under the belly, the reft of the body white, inclining to a filvery hue. The perch belong alfo to the lake fifli of Finmark, which the Laplanders call Viijlioii ; alfo a certain fmall fifli, white fkin, of excellent flavour, called in Norwegian Siiky the fifii called by the Laplanders Haerre ; as alfo another furniflied with fliarp fins, in other refpefts not unlike the herring : the Laplanders call it Zhjofzhja ; to which is alfo added another, called in Lapland Rmnde-Golmek, fmall, but furniflied with very fliarp fins. Trout, and their various fpecies, all the beft of their kind, here are to be met with. The Laplanders ufually give them diSerent names, fuch as Damok, Vaalas, Guuvzbja ; and all thefe the mofl: excellent. I never tafted any equal to them. In the lakes of Finmark bordering on Rufila, a certain fifli is faid to be found, not very unlike the carp, either in fliape or tafl:e. In fummer the Laplanders fifli in the lakes with cafling nets, as well as wove nets. Yet in fome parts of Lapland it is a cuftom to fallen various beams at the bottom of lakes, to which rope lines are fixed, furniflied with hooks, made from the juniper-tree, on which the bait is put ; by which method of fifliing they fometimes take a large num- ber of fifli. In the winter, when all places are bound with froft, they catch fifli by letting down nets in the ice, and in this manner : they join certain long poles together, connefting the one with the end of the other •, nets are faftened to thefe poles fo joined, and a rope fixed at each end of the whole order. Thus prepared, they break the ice with an axe, and opening a way, let down the nets into the lake, to be carried on to another opening formed in the ice from the oppofite fide, obferving this order, that the lower edge of the nets fo extended fliould touch the very bottom, the upper being turned to the ice ; and left the line of nets may be broken by the continual motion of the waters, they take care that each end of the whole chain of them fliould be faftened with a ftrong rope to cer- tain ftakes eredted in the ice, and driven down as far as poflible. Fifliing nets are commonly done round with a rope fi'om twifted hemp ; but the Laplanders, as wanting hemp very much, make ufe of in its place the very thin fibres of trees. In the place of cork, which other fifliermen fix to the upper part of their nets, that they fliould more eafily arife, the Laplanders not unufually fix the outward bark of the birchen-tree; with which bark alfo it is their cuftom to join little ftones to the lower part of the nets, that they may go down to the bottom. If that part only of the lake adjoining the land is frozen up and covered with ice, the Laplander leans down over the bank to fee what fifli may be at the bottom, where fliould he fee any, he rolls down a piece of ice, cut with an axe from the edge of the frozen part, on the fifli with great dexterity, to cruih him by the weight of it : this mode of fifliing the Laplander can only praftice in the fliallows of the lakes. Among the frefli-water filh of Finmark the falmon is by right to be firft mentioned. This fifli is called by the Laplanders in general Luoos ; but the male, Goaaigjem ; female, Duovve. The falmon with a rough Ikin is called in Lapland Konu. The Norwe- gians call the finall falmon in their language, Tart. The river Thana, flowing through eaftern Finmark, is the moft diftinguiflied river of thofe that are abounding in fifli, of which there are many. This river takes its rife in the moft remote mountains of Lapland, rufliing through plains, vallies, and mountains, in a full and free channel, until increafcd by various torrents and fmaller rivers, it emp- 7 . ties ACCOUNT OF DANISH I.AP-LAND BY LEEMS. 44 1 tics itfclf into the fca, from the bay oiThana, with a great noife of waters. Among the finaller rivers, by whofe courfe it is increafed, that is confpicuous, whicli flows be- tween Thana and IVarauger, formerly abounding in beavers and pearls, as appears from the protocol of a judicial meeting held on the tenth of February of the year 1652, where the fpecial care of this river is fpccified, as enjoined on the Laplanders. But this river Thana, which you may properly call the principal river of ealtern Finmark, though it is diflant fome miles from the ocean, yet the marks of that great tide, and rapidity with which it flows, efpecially in fpring, when it is fwelled with an uncommon thaw, can eafily be remarked in the fea at a diftance from the fhore. The flilmon taken in this river differ much from thofe that come into other rivers, in breadth, (hortnefs, and fat- nefs, and are accounted the very belt of their kind. The filhing for them begins in this river in the beginning of fpring, and ends again two weeks after the fellival of St. John the Baptift. The river Alten is the mofl: celebrated river of all thofe that run through the weftern Finmark. It alio has its rife in the remoteft mountains of Lapland, running down through woods and mountains in a channel, until getting into the interior recefs of the bay of Alton, it rolls itfelf into the fea. This river carries along its waters fo calmly and gently, that from its very mouth, where it empties itfelf into the fea, to a high and fleep rock, over which rolling itfelf with the great noife of its waters, it makes an im- nienfe catarafl, it is navigable for a fpace of fix miles for lifliing boats and fmall craft. In this filhy river fo large a quantity of moft excellent falmon is taken, as would be fufficlent for filling a hundred, fometimes two hundred tuns. The falmon which are caught about the feftival of St. John, at which time we ftated that fidiing began in this river, are very fat, and befides of fuch a fize, that a full tun can fcarce hold fixteen of them ; but thofe which enter this river when the autumn is approaching, are much lefs than the former, and at the fame time lean. Dolphins are fometimes feen in this river, lying in wait for the falmon ftruggling along the ftream. The royal governor of this province, the illuftrious Claudius Gagge, is faid to be the firll who undertook to build weirs on this river, for the catching of falmon. This example was afterwards followed with the greateft fuccefs. This happened, it is faid, on the eleventh year of thefeven- teenth century, when the royal houfe, as it is called, Aar Den, was built on an ifland of the bay of Alttn, on account of the war then carrying on between the Danes and the neighbouring Swedes. There was then, as well as now, an entire free right of fifliery on the fame river, and free permifTion granted to each, without any tribute being im- pofed ; but afterwards it was let out on certain conditions, at a yearly return of two hundred thalers j firfl: to the Dutch, then to a fociety of merchants at Copenhagen ; afterwards to certain merchants of Bergen, in Norway, who undertook to ereft and preferve weirs on the river at their own expence. Among thefe the chief were citii:ens of Bergen, who fhut up the river Alten with an expenfive and fumptuous work, a number of workmen being hired at a daily Ifipend, who at a flated time fhould every year diligently work for fifteen da^'S together. Befides fixteen pounds of filh (valued at fifteen pence of our money), v>hich together with board, and a quantity of brandy were diftributed to each workman as his daily hire, fo many pounds of fiih being added at the end of each week. Two tons of beer, of Bergen, when the work was finifhcd, were collefted for the whole body of the workmen ; two quantities of eighteen hundred pounds weight of fifh, worth fifty thalers. So great was the expence at which the inhabitants of Bergen ftood to the feventy-feventh year of the feventeenth century, at which time laying alide all further expence, they thought it better to purchafe falmon from the Laplanders thenifelves, who dwell by the fide of the river. The fifhery then VOL. I. 3 L, devolving 442 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. devolving to the Laplanders, who by degrees got the habit of ere£ling weirs on the river, each claimed that part of the flreani which he had from the beginning as his lawful poflefTion, for him and his own for the future, belonging by full right and juft title, to the total exclufion of all others from that place. The laid fifhery is at this day carried on by peculiar regulations, fo that it is not permitted to every one to exercife it at will. Thirty-fix men are annually chofen, who have the fole right, all others being that year excluded of fifliery. The perfons chofen are from the common people, Lap- landers equally and peafants of the Finnifli nation, dwellers on the river. Thefe on each bank of the river throw up mounds, from beams and boughs of trees, fit for the keeping in and taking falmon. Thefe mounds are at due diftances from each other ; four men, neither more nor lefs, being appointed to fiih within the limits of the faid mound. They run out as far as about the middle of the river, to the purpofe that the falmon lliould have full liberty of paffing and re-paihng the ftream ; and that thofe whofe mounds are farther off from the mouth of the river, fhould not be defrauded of their juft benefit ; for if the river was laid over with mounds as with bridges, thofe only whofe mounds were built on the lower part of the ftream doubtlefsly would enjoy the whole benefit, to the total exclufion of their affociates from all hope of gain. The mounds raifed and difpofed in this manner are at length fliut up by a dam, pafling frora the further to the hither fide of the bank, within which whatever falmon is taken is common to the whole fociety of filhennen. When, on the change of the year towards autumn, all opportunity of fifliing has paffed by, the filhermen to a man approach the faid catarafl: againft the ftream, where the falmon that have efcaped the lower mounds have penetrated, but who, on account of the cataraft being in their way, cannot get further. Here they let down their nets in the river, and drag them flowly all over the bottom of it, as it, were by fweeping, to the mouth, where, loaden with a gi'eat quantity of falmon, they draw them on fliore, to the great amufement of thofe who are pleafed with this kind of fifhing. The falmon which are taken in each river, the Thana and Alten, are managed ufually in the following manner : when cut through the middle into two equal parts, well waftied, they lie fprinkled with a fufficient quantity of fait for fome days, afterward they are packed up in oak calks, of a large fize, rammed down clofely and firmly with certain machines ; brine is poured in through an orifice on the calk thus fluffed, frefh and frelh every day, until all the muftinefs that floats above is removed entirely, which is the duty enjoined chiefly on the cafk-maker. Salt of the very beft quality muft be ufedin the faking and preferving falmon, which, unlefs attended to, foreigners, who ufually purchafe the greateft part from them, will not buy of them. The Kings of Denmark and Norway have given the greateft attention to the promoting of the fifhery of Finmark. Chriftian IV., of moft glorious memory, by a royal decree, figned May 4, 1638, ordered money to be fent into Finmark to promote the fiftiery. Chriftian V., by a decree, April i6, 1687, moft humanely decreed, that no one fhould purchafe falmon from the filhermen but in fpecie. At the clofe of autumn, when the falmon becomes lean, and is no more faleable to merchants, the maritime Laplanders are accuftomed to row out a little from the fliore into the deep to take the falmon who at this time of year remain immoveable at the bottom of the fea, with an iron-headed fpear, called in Lapland Harfes. The fifliermen employed in this bufinefs, left they Ihould be obftrufted by the darknefs of the night, keep a light in the prow of the veffel, from pieces of fir-tree and the bark of the birch-tree, which they call Baral. The Lap- landers keep the falmon taken in this manner as food for themfelves, and lay it up in chefts that are arched, and of a larger fi^e, which, if they ftand on legs, are called in Lapland I^jal, but if not, Buorna. ^ 8 The ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BV LEEMS. 443 The Swedes formerly contended that they had a claim to a certain part of the often- mentioned rivers the Alten and Thana ; for as they impofed a tribute on the maritime Laplanders, as far as the peace of Knorod, in the year 1613, foleninly made be- tween each kingdom, by which it was ftipulated, that all kind of tribute and demand on the part of the crown of Sweden fliould ceafe in future j fo they further demanded that two-thirds of every fifhery were equally their ripht, as plainly appears from letters of King Charles of Sweden to the royal treafurer of Finmark, dated Oclober 30, 1596. Meantime the Swedes, by the force of this pretenfion on the faid fiflieries, fent often fiiherraen into Finmark, who, obflrufted by the inhabitants, were compelled, without efFedting any thing, to return : hence the matter broke out into public complaints. The commiflaries of the crown of Sweden remonftrated much on this bufinefs ; and the governor of Swedifli Lapland, the illuftrious Balthafar Bech, in the month of November 1607, received not only an order from his fovereign that he fliould inquire, from the governor of Finmark refiding at Wardhus, the caufe, as alfo true information of the re- fufal which the fifhermen who were fent out from Sweden to Finmark had fo impro- perly met with ; but he himfelf went into Varanger, with labourers and fifliermen ne- ceflary for the management and difpatch of this bufinefs, that he brought with him : he had alfo a treafurer with him, who was to colleft the tribute, and who was to refide in Vafoe, for the purpofe of collecting the revenue from the Laplanders of Finmark ; and alfo a prieft, who was to refide there and manage the holy affairs of that place, to whom, in confideration of his labour, two-thirds of the falary which annually w'as paid hitherto to the Danifh clergyman fhould be paid to him in future ; and all other dues of the diftrift which the treafurer of the province, Bartholomew Henricfon, had remitted to the governor of the King, Olaus Peterfon, by letters dated February 23, 1608. At the fame time, the faid-mentioned Balthafar Bech informs the governor of Finmark by letters, grievoufly complaining of the injury that was committed, as it feemed to him, that when the Swedifh labourers were going to ered weirs on the rivers, they were violently hindered by the inhabitants. To this was added a ferious remonft ranee, ex- aching that a free right of fifhery fliould be granted, without any tergiverfation, to the fifhermen daily fent from Sweden into Finmark. On thefe remonftrances being made by the crown of Sweden, and tranfmitted moft humbly by the gr»vernor of the province to the Danifh court, a decree of Chriffian IV., dated December 20, 1 609, was publifhed, in which it is flriftly declared that all Swedes, as many as were to be found in Finmark, mufl readily depart from the country ; that the crown of Sweden had no right over the fiflieries, or the other prerogatives and rights of the Kings of Denmark and Nor- way, by any claim whatever; that no Swedifh maritime Laplander had a right to fifh in the feas of Finmark without permiffion from the governor, and even then, not unlefs he would pay a yearly tribute for faid licence to the King of Denmark and Nor- way, as the rightful mailer of the fea. The Swedes did not even then defifl ; the faid Balthafar Bech fent again other workmen and fifhermen, by an order, bearing date April 14, 1609, into Finmark to follow up the work, fo ffrenuoufly and actively begun, and to build a place of worfliip on the bay of Alten. But this attempt too of the Swedes was difappointed, thenew workmen being hindered, as one may fuppofe, by the governor of the province, who ftript them of their axes, their other tools and working inflruments, with which they came to work, as appears by the acts of the judicial affem- bly, dated May 9, held in the fame year. After a variety of ikirmifliing, this whole contention was at length adjufted, and terminated by the peace of Knorodike, by which the Swedes renounced all claims upon Finmark. Befidesthe faid-named river of Tirana, there are alfo others in the eaftern Finmark, diff.inguiflicd for the abundance and fifhery of 3 L 2 falmon j 444 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. falmon ; fuch as above others the river Neida, running by the weflern fide of the bay of Varangria. Its fpring is to be looked for in the mountains of Ruflia, but its mouth in the bay of Kiofiorden wh.re the iiland of Kio is fiuated, in which the Laplanders who dwell on the river Neida ufually take up their flations when fifhing in the lea, while the time that is fit for taking falmon is approaching. Each bank ol this river is fliaded with birch-trees, luxuriant with branches. In the upper part is a cataraft, nigh which the Laplanders approaching take falmon with a net, and a little higher, in weirs. To keep thefe weirs in repair they mufl not only crofs the water, but alfo go under it as divers. Ten falmon formerly coft one thaler ; what they fell for to-day I cannot On the eaftern fide of the fame bay is a river, commonly called Jacobs-Elven, that is, Jacob's river. It is the fame which flows from the very celebrated lake Indiager, and contains no fmall quantity of falmon. The monks, to whom the fifhery formerly belonged, took care the falmon fhould be tranfported to Cola, a town in Ruflia, and fold to the Dutch trading there. There are more rivers that flow on the fame fide of the faid bay, not without note for their falmon fifhery. On the other fide of the bay of Varanger a variety of rivers flow, which the falmon enter at a flated feafon of the year, fuch as, i. Jacobs-Elven, that is, the river of Jacob, neai- the promontory Finne Naes, which is faid to run along the valley, delightful and ftiaded with an abundance of herbage and branching trees, and to contain a great quantity of falmon. The governors of Finmark formerly fliut up this river with weirs, having brought builders fit for this work from Malmis, a city of Ruflia. 2. Komag Ehen, that is, the river Komag, which is faid to be at the difl:ance of one mile from Kivergia. 3. Syhe-viig-Eheu, large and very fifliy ; alfo Kongsfiord-Ehen, Bersfiord- Elven, Bosjiord-Elvcn, Sandfiords-Ehen., and Langfiord-Elven, all of which, though with fome difference, are faid to contain falmon. On the fame fide of Porfanger bay are rivers abounding with a great quantity of trout, as the Bejlcr Botnens Eh, which falmon alfo vifit, but ufually fmall ; Bicrgebiie Ehen, Thomas Ehen, Jabus Ehen, Kalnaes Ehen, and others abounding in trout, gilt heads, and other fmall fifli, which the Laplanders call Vacjck. They catch fifli of this fort living in fl:reams, in a fmall loop of llender twilled ofier. Befides the river Alten, the prmcipal of weftem Finmark, other leflTer ones are found in the bay of Alten ; fuch as Borfe-Jok, Furnaes-Jok, Dakko-Jok, Dalme-Jok, GaidiflvJok, Gavouna-Jok, Halfe-Jok, Rain-Jok, Skirve-Jok, and Falle-Jok ; the lafl: fix of thefe rivers contain trout and falmon, but they are fmall and few. On the firfl; of the faid rivers, called Borfe-Jok, are two mills built, the one for fawing, the other for grinding corn ; on the fecond alfo is one, and on the laft there are two. But it is to be obferved, that the ufe of mills is new in this part of Fin- mark ; certainly it was altogether unknown a few years back. Wood was cleft in Finmark into pieces or beams formerly, not by fawing mills, but by hatchets only, by which mode of cutting only two pieces or beams were made from any piece of timber however large and fl;rong, when, by the aid of the faw, even fix may be made from the fame piece of timber. Almofl: all corn provifion ground Into flour was formerly imported by the Inhabitants, and is partly obtained fo even to this day, yet in fucli a manner, that no finall portion of corn to be ground on the above mills is yearly at the fame time brought in. In the bay of weftern Finmark, commonly called Repper Fiorden, is a river remarkable for falmon ; and another in the bay of Porfanger flowing from the very celebrated lake Lcuneje-Jauvrc, of which we fliall fpeak hereafter. In this river many falmoft are taken, yet more could be taken if greater care and dexttrlty were applied. 10 The ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 445 The knowledge, fuch as it is, of fifli, and the method of catching and managing them, being communicated to the reader, 1 wifli to add fomcthing of the manner in which the t'j-thes from the fiflieries are collefted in Finmaik. That tythes were in practice from the earliefl: times among the Norwegians, I am of opinion, is a thing well known. It appears from tiie records of the remotell times, that the great Lagebetter, king of Norway had levied tythes on his fubjefts from corn and other produce of tlie country, from the year of Chrift 1268 ; that king Chriftopher, by a decree publiftied in the year of Chrift 1448, had ordained, that tythes fhould be divided into three equal parts be- tween the church, the bifliop, and the pafttDr of the parifli ; that king Frederic I. had ordained and had difpofcd of tythes by various decrees, is well known. And as to what belongs to Finmark, it is to be obferved, that tything was Inlroduced there later than elfewhere through Norway ; yet in progrefs of time they were ordained, given, and accepted, until by royal authority and care they were brought into that order, that no- where through all Norway were they more juftly and equally paid. The payment of tythes from the filhcries, in what manner they were firft inftituted, and then brought into exaft order, may eafily be feen from the following decrees. Since it has been known that certain factors trading through Finmark and Norland, exchanged fifh, which the peafants had expofed for fide, for injurious and ufelefs wares, fuch as brandy, baftar, ronimenau, and, before a decimation was made, had tranf- ferred fraudulently to themfelves the advantages, king Frederic II. by an odift, publifhed at ElTcrom, bearing date the 17th of April 1562, has forbid fuch fraud for the future. Certain Laplanders of the mountains, of the Ruffian and Swedifli territories, having had the boldnefs to fifh in the lea of Finmark, without having either afked or obtained permifTion, king Chrlftlan the IV. of glorious memory, has forbid the fame, by a de- cree publiflied at Scanderburg In Jutland, that it fliould not be lawful for the faid Lap- landers to fifh on the fiiores of Finmark l)y any other condition than that obtained with refpecl: from the royal governor, and paying tythes from the quantity of fifh that may be taken. Charles king of Sweden, at the time when he exafted tribute from the maritime Laplanders of Finmark, granted permifTion of fifhing in the fea of Finmark to the citizens of Gottenburg, on the condition of duly paying the tenths from the quantity taken. The Swedes being compelled to yield, by the peace of Knorodfke, 1613, all pre- tenfions on the maritime Laplanders of Finmark, the governor was commanded to €xa«^(? Kande"), above-mentioned being laid afide. Befidcs, that the decimation fliould be made in the very place where the fiflies are put on board, for the purpofe of dividing them into three equal parts, between the king, the church, and the clergyman. For which bufinefs it was exprefsly given in command to the governor of the diftri£t by his facred majefliy, on the 9th of April of the fame year, that an exadt account fliould be taken of the fifli put on board, as alfo the tons of oil, called by the natives Tran, according to weight and meafure, and that he fliould exa£t from every feaman an account of the fame, tiiat when an efliniate was made of the tenths, a certain rule of tithing might be made. Tythes having pafled through various regulations and modifications were at laft, by feveral decrees, brought to a fixed and fettled rule. Chaf. ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LrEMS. 447 Chap. XlV.—0/ibe Workman/hip of the Laplanders, IT belongs to the women in Lapland to drcfs Iklns of various animals, fucli as foxes, young rein-deer, otters, and other fliins, fcraping off a membrane that goes round fkins of this kind, with a certain iron indrument, which they call Jekko, they thoroughly oil the fkin, with oil from the liver of fifli, and by means of a certain iron, which is fliarp and not unlike a fickle, and faftcned to the wall of the habitation, they cut it by moving it up and down. An indrument of this kind is called in Lapland Spicrko, The fibres cut out of the feet of the rein-deer, they bake, and when done they beat and pound it into various fmall pieces, until they attain the foftnefs of wool, and when done by rubbing them with the palm of the hand to the cheek, twift them into very fmall threads. They curioufly embellifli the belts and head-pieces, with which they iifually adorn their I'ein-deer of carriage, purfes and the borders of garments with fila- ments of tin. The manner they ufe in the making of elegant works of this fort, is curious and much u fed by the Laplanders in common ; though there are not wanting^ among them women to know and carry this art to greater pei-feftion. They are acquainted with the art of dying cloth of a yellow and faffron colour, by means of certain herbs, called IJneznd. Livdnjo. From various party-coloured threads they make knots, whence thongs are afterwards made with an infirument adapted to this purpofe from the rein-deer's horn, called in Lapland Njijkom. On this fee more in Chapter IV., on the garments of the Laplanders. From the unfliorn, but cleaned fkins of fheep, they make coverlets, fome of which are in the fhape of a fack, in which the feet of the perfon who repofes can be put ; others are differently formed. On thefe fee Chapter VI., on the beds and couches of the Laplanders. The faid coverlets when laid on a bed are turned with the hairy fide to the body of the perfon who ufes them. They weave alfo flieeting, which is fo worked, that after it has been in ufe a little time in covering them, when the bed becomes worn, it is converted to the ufe of covering for the winter's hut. A great number of thefe is wove from thick white thread, with dark fringes of black or afh-colour. The loom in which are woven the faid fheets is made from out of two thick beams raifed an end, on the extremity of which is fixed a loofe weaver's beam, extended from the one column to the other : to this they fallen the upper end of the thread, which comes down from the weaving beam, ftraight to the ground ; and as the thread is neither thrown with a fliuttle, nor preffed together, but worked with the hand whilft it is knocked together with a little beetle oa coming back, the other part of the thread is brought together by the flat part of the hand, fo that a fpace fliould be open for putting in the hand, through the little fork^ which is fuflained from the ends of the two little arms that projed out from the co- lumns. Hence it falls firfl: obliquely before it gets direftly down. To the lower ex- tremity of the woof are faftened flones, lefl loofened, it may entangle the body of the thread, but by being kept fliff and extended by its weight, it Hiould preferve the whole together. The woof is thus conveyed, and in the above manner, firft to the upper part of the beam, and is woven with the hand, whence it is clear that in making fheeting or covering, one mull begin from the upper end. As weavers cover round, in a weaving machine the beam at the end, gradually with linen by turning it round, fo alfo the beam of the aforefaid weaving machine, is gradually covered over, while turn- ing with the ftuff that is made. They weave gloves from the wool of flieep, mixed with that of hares. This is the manufafture of the women alone. The 443 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPl.AND BY JLE2MS. The men are acquainted with the manufa3;ure of cups, plates, of various kinds for various ufes, fome of which contain a quarter of a ton, ferving for the purpofe of Iceep- ing the milk of rein-deer, from the wood of birch-knots, not unlike to the maple tree. From the plates of horn which projeiSl from the end of the horns of the rein-deer they form fpoons, from their own fancy, yet artificial enough. The aforefaid plates, fome more, fome lefs, contain a certain marrow^ of an afii-colour, thofe that contain the leafl are the fmoother, more beautiful and fitter for ufe. On utenfils of this kind, may be feen, variety of forms, reprefentations of flowers of a dark colour, interfperfed, made ■with charcoal, enchafcd and inlaid. Thofe which are in comparifon of others, a little more elegantly fomied, and figured, are fometimes fent into cities to goldfraiths that filver fpoons may be made to their form. They have acquired the art of fabricating the handles [of knives, artficially adorned with tin, as alfo the heads of flicks from the thicker part of the rein-deer's horn. They form oval cafes with great attention to neatnefs. Little fiaggons are made from the fmall rootr of trees, or from thofe called Taeger, which they clofe together in a fingu- lar manner. The fhape of a big bellied veflel was ufually added to around flaggon with a fhort neck, and ferved for keeping fait. They are fliilled fufSciently in the con- Itruftion of fledges of various ufe and form, and diftinguillied by various names, as Gict-Kicrrcs, Rciido Kierres, Lok-Kicnrs, Pulke. On fledges, fee Chapter X., on the machines of conveyance among the Laplanders. They get glue from the fkins of fifh, by boiling efpecially that part which covers the head ; they get it alfo from the horns of the rein-deer, far more excellent than the former ; the fkin lies boiling for a long time in hot water, from which when taken out, whatever remains thickened at the bottom is made into glue. They do not ufe tongs when forging iron, but in the place of them a certain wooden Inflrument called in Lapland Jaffcr. The Laplanders as well as the Norwegians, in- habitants of Finmark, called by our countrymen, Nordmoend, buy Nordland boats, yet fome of the Laplanders themfelves make them as well for their own ufe, as for the ufe of others. Thefe belong to the marine affairs. Chap. XV. — On the various Manners of the Laplanders. THE Laplanders, from the time of Saxo, who flourlflied about the year 119c, and therefore not as yet known by this name, for fix whole ages, called befoi-e that lime Skrit Fins, ufe various manners peculiar to themfelves. It is a cullom received among the eaftern nations, to prcfcnt each other with gifts, efpecially fuperiors. The fame obtains among the Laplanders. For coming into the pretence of the magiflrate, the clergyman, or conful, they each bring fomething with them ; a checfc, a hare, a ptarmigan, fait or frefh water fifh, a killed lamb, venilbn of rein-deer, the tongue of the fame, a round lump of butter, a quantity of down-feathers, and other prefents of fuch nature. Neither is the gift received, without a due return ; for they arc prefcnted with a piece of tobacco, a glafs of water and honey, a pot of beer, a little pepper and ginger, and other little things at hand, and which we find to be very acceptable to them. The fame cuflom is to be found among the Ruffians, for on their arrival in any place, they diftinguilh him, who is in any degree of dignity, and whom they hold in honour, by a prefent which ufually confifts in brown bread made in a cake, which is brought on a wooden trencher, coloured red, in certain wooden fpoons, coloured with a refinous matter from the juniper tree, or gilt onianieats, fome- times in hen's eggs, fait falmon, linen, and fuch like things. That ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 4I9 That they fliould diftinguifli the feafons, and ftftivals, and other periods of time, the Laplanders formerly made ufe of certain wooden calendars commonly called Priiwjiavc. The hufband frequently difcharges the duty of the midwife. The Laplanders very often take the clergyman of the place, the miffionavy, the pub- lic inilructor, and church-warden, as witnefses of the baptifm of their infants. As often as the occafion demands that the whole family, who inhabit the cot, fhould go out, either to look after the rein-deer, that is loft, or to attend to any other bufinefs they tie the children, who by reafon of their tender age, cannot lollow, for their better fecurity, in the cot, left they fliould fall into fome mifchief or the fire when left to them- felves. When going over the mountains I ufuaily carried with me, among other bag- gage, a trunk made faft and fecured, to which they often tied the children, left they Ihould too freely run up and down. ^ There is no ufe made of ftools among this people ; for the Laplander fits on the ground with his feet acrofs under his feat. Should he hiippiu to vifit other hihabitants of Norway, in whofe habitations there is either a ftool or benches, he refufes to ufe one when offered to him, thinking he can fit more commodiouily on the bare ground. The Laplanders, faluting each other, rufli into each others arms in mutual faluta- tion, repeating Biutriji, that is God fave you, by this form the little Laplanders, faluted, me alfo, taking me for a native, on account of the language and habit of Lapland, which during my refidence among them, I always ufed. The Lapland women fliave their heads even to baldnefs. They kill the vermin that infeft the head with a knife. Should the foot or arm be in extreme pain, they bind that part of the limb where the force of the pain principally is felt, with two ligaments, as tight as they can, and apply to it a burning hot coal, under a perfuafion that the pain, as if getting an opportunity from the burfting and opening of the flefli by the force of fire, would break out and go away. In the whole tract of weftern Finmark, for I refided there for a whole ten years, two horfes were only to be found, one of which belonged to Peter And, the provincial judge ; the other was the property of Chriftian And, prefed of merchandife in the parifli of Alten. Hence the peafants of the Norwegian nation, who inhabit this trad, as alfo the maritime Laplanders, are compelled of themfelves to difcharge the labour of horfes, by carrying hay on their backs in fummer, in winter in little carts, and fuch things, as elfewhere are carried by horfes. The condition of the mountain Laplanders, is, on this account, the more defirable as abounding in rein-deer, and who make ufe of their afliftance for their own purpofes, and for the carrying of burthens. And on ac- count of the great fcarcity of horfevS, all over this part of the country, moft of the inhabitants look with aftonifhment at this animal, as they do at any thing foreign and very ftrange. One Matthias Peterfon furnilhes an inftance of this : he was a mountain Laplander from Porfanger Bay, who, as he told me himfclf, came to And, the judge of the place, for the purpofe of adjufting fome bufinefs ; in his houfe he ufed to fleep, when happening one night to come out from his bed-room, he un- expectedly law a horfe Itanding at the door, at the fight of which he was as terrified, as if he had feen a huge fpectre : he haftily returned to his chamber, where he fliut himfelf clofeup, after well fecuring the door. And as it is well known, in this tracl of country there is neither fowing, nor harveft, fo does it neceflarily follow, the inhabitants want no manure. Hence the dung that is gathered from cows, fheep, goats, as being in itfelf a thing of no value, they ufuaily on the approach of fummer, are wont to burn. But certain ruftics of Finland, who Hve on VOL. I. 3 M the 45© ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. the river Alten, accuftomed to agriculture at home, cultivate a few acres of ground, whence they have, on fome years, no defpicable crop. It is the cuftoni of certain Laplanders, whofe condition is fuperior to the reft, to bury their wealth, efpecially money, fo cautioudy in the ground, that their heirs fhould not have the leaft hope of enjoying it. That thefe people fhould do fo I am not furprifed, if having no lockers, no inclofures to fecure it, and where in fafety, and with- out the fear of thieves, they could lay up what treafures they have ; but for the maritime Laplander, who has but his hut, and the mountain Laplander but his cot, which he puts up and takes down according to the feafon, I confefs that the reafon altogether efcapes me, why at the hour of death he does not choofe to tell where he has hidden his riches, that the heirs fhould convert them to their ufe after the death of their parents. It has been related that a certain very rich Laplander, of the name of Henry Jonfon, living in Ozejok, being afked the reafon when near his death, why he fo ftudioufly concealed his riches, that his furvivors fhould have no hope of finding them ? his anfwer was, that un- lefs he did fo, that he would ftand in need of the neceffary means of fupporting himfelf after death. They fufpend dogs for the purpofe of killing them from a tree, and when ftrangled, take their fkins, from which, if they are black, they make borders and fillets, to be fewa on garments and gloves. It is a cuftom with the Lapland peafants of the Findland people, fome of whom dwell on the river Alten, to wafh themfelves often with warm water, and to fprinkle themfelves with water tinged with the boughs of trees. And this is enough for the prefent on the manners of the nation. To thofe who wifli to know more on this fubjef>, I refer them to the various Chapters of this Book, where thefe things are exprefsly treated of. Chap. XVI. — Of the Marriages of the Laplanders, IT very feldom happens that a young man of the Norwegian provinces marries a Lap- ^ land young woman, and a young Laplander a Norwegian young woman : in the diftri£t I have been mifTionary in, this never happened while I was engaged in the holy office. The Laplander, when going to pay his addreffes to the girl, takes certain of his rela- tives united in the next degree to him, one of whom is to be his advocate with the lady for him : the lover provides for himfelf brandy, to drink to the health of his future fpoufe, and her parents and friends ; befides, he brings a fmall prefent for the lady herfelf, which is a filver belt, a ring, or other things of this kind, as his ability can furnifh. When they come to the houfe in which the lady lives, all come in except the lover, who flays out until invited in. When all are within, the advocate of the young man oflers a cup of fpirits to the father, which if he refufes, it is a fign that he rejefts the terms ; but if he accepts it and drinks, that the nuptial condition is not difpleafmg to him. Then the above-named advocate drinks to the health not only of the father and mother, but of the future fpoufe, and her friends who are prefent ; which drinking bout goes on flep by ftep, with a requeft of courtfliip. This prelude being clofed, he approaches the bufinefs a little nearer, and courts her under the fhape of a lover concealing it yet from the eyes of the world : he now draws out his long formal phrafes, efpecially thofe of the fineft quality. Some time after the lover himfelf is introduced, and placed in a fpace which is infide the door between the two birchen ftocks that lie on the floor, and of which we made mention in Chapter V. If he ob- tains the confent of the girl, and of her parents and friends, he gives the prefent which he ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 45 1 he has brought, called Gilhe^ to her, and promifes new cloaths to her parents as a pre- fent, which the Laplanders call Biejatas. When this bufinefs is completed, the lover, bidding good-bye, departs with his friends. All thefe ceremonies in the bufinefs of courtfliip, as defcribed, are in ufe, though not always every where, and by all, efpecially at this day, with the exception of one or two fometimes. If the parents have betrothed their daughter to a lover, but afterwards broke their faith, they mufl; make good the ex- pences contrafted on the nuptials as far as they proceeded, according to a regulation among the Laplanders ; fo that not only he fhould receive the fortune and odd-money, but the expence alfo made in brandy, fhould be reflorcd to him. During the efpoufals between two who have pledged their mutual faith to each other, yet going on, the bride vifits fometimes the bridegroom : on a journey undertaken for the purpofe of meeting her, he delights himfelf by finging her praifes ; to this purpofe he throws out fuch expreflions as prefent themfelves unpremeditated to his thoughts, and fuch as his poetic vein may furnifli to him. But this cuftom, that of a lover vifiting his miftrefs, and celebrating her in fong, is not obferved at this day by all. ^Vhen they have met at the appointed place, and come into her prefence, he prefents her with brandy, and a little tobacco, if agreeable to her : Ihe is clothed in that neat nuptial garment, ufually for ornament, which is in ufe among the Lapland women on fellival days, with this only exception, that whilfl women, married as well as unmarried, at other times almoft go with their head covered, fhe only wears bare curls of hair, which are bound up with party-coloured fillets ; yet, if my memory does not deceive me, in cer- tain parts of Finniark a girl on the nuptial-day wears fillets, between which and the common fillets that bind the hair of the Lapland women there is no difference. When the nuptial ceremony is finifhed, the wedding-day is celebrated with frugality ; the nuptial guefts of better fortunes honour the fair bride with fome prefent, fome with money, others ■with rein-deer (kins, and fuch like things. The nuptials are thus celebrated without any pomp or oftentation. Among the people of Alten, among whom I difcharged the duties of public inftruftor, they were celebrated in the following manner : when the union was completed, the bridegroom with his fpoufe, and a few of his relations, withdrew to the folicitor of Talvig, whofe houfe was adjoining to the church, where (he is called in Norwegian Bonde Lehnfmand) alfo is held a yearly meeting of the juridical affcmbly by the gover- nor. Hither the guefts being invited, were received at a nuptial feafl: prepared at the expence of the hufband. The dilhes that were prepared were few and fimplc, namely, roaft: mutton, with a fmall portion of water and honey, which when taken, the new- married pair and the guefts retired to their own houfes. I myfelf, by invitation, was prefent at a nuptial entertainment given by one of thefe Laplanders, celebrating the nuptials of his fon, where there were no delicacies, nor any thing laid but the above- named difties. The fordid guefts, accuftomed to no luxuries, were fo latisfied with the bare pottage put before them, that without doubt they would have forgot the roaft meat, had not the father of the bride, noticing this, called out loudly, ' Roaft meat, roaft meat ! put it before us,* and this placed before them, he himfelf carved, yet in fuch a manner, as openly to difcover his ignorance in the art of carving. The nuptial preparations which are in the parifli of Kielvig, at the bay of Porfan- ger, in weftern Finniark, are yet more fimple and frugal. After the ufual union, the married pair, with a few of their friends, withdraw to certain fmall huts, fcattered in the field at no great diftance from the church of Kiftrand, to eat a fliecp which is brought for this purpofe. When this is eat the company breaks up, and the married pair and their friends return ftraight home. 3 M 2 From 452 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. From the nuptials and banquets of the Laplanders every kind of entertainment, the dance, and fports of fuch a liind, incitements to ill, unknown to thefe people, are ba- nillied : and hence neither morrice-dancers, pipers, nor even an inftrument of mufic, is to be found among them. And as they are altogether unacquainted with inflrumental mufic, fo are they equally ignorant of vocal, and not only ignorant, but invincibly fo : for during the intervals that I had leifure I tried their docility, which after various experiments I found fo great, and to fpeak as it really is, none at all, that they were incapable of learning the very rudiments of the meafures of the pfalms, or of adapting them to any harmony The caufe of this evil is not in the Laplanders themfelves, but is inherent in the very charac- ter and genius of their language ; for the Laplanders bring out mod words, and each fyllable of the word, and the paufeswith the acute accent, ; and hence it happens that eitlier fpeaking or fmging in Norwegian, they encumber all the words and fyllables of their fpeecli with one and the fame accent, and thereby utter a hiding and altogether confufed found. And this is the reafon that the modulation of the Laplanders is more like to an indigefled kind of clamour or howling, than to any thing like fmging. When the nuptial feftival is over, the bridegroom often ftayi with his father-in-law for the fpace of a whole year, which when ended, he is difmifled with his wife, to find a habitation. Before his departure, if circumftances admit of it, he prefents him with rein-deer, with kettles, with pots, furniture for beds, and other domeflic utenfils. Chap. XVIL — On the Holidays and Jmufemenfs of the Laplanders, and various Stories, partly entertaining, yet true. THAT feflival-holidays, as they are called, are ufually inflituted and kept during the Nativity of the Saviour, the Laplanders are altogether ignorant. Some, but a few, among them play at cards, and that very feldom. They contend among each other who can mofl: exaftly hit a mark. They mark the target, on a w^hite ground, with a black ; on a black ground, with a white fpof. He who beft hits the mark is prefented with money, tobacco, and whatever is agreed upon. They play at ball in this manner : part (land on this fide, part on that oppofite to thenij then one on one fide lets off the ball, covered with leather and fluffed with ftravF, cloth, and other rags, which his next man throws up in the air with a flick or battledore, and then one from the oppofite number fprings forward to catch it before it falls to the ground ; when at the very fame time he who ilruck it up in the air runs to the oppofite fide to take the place of him who came from'jit to catch the ball. If he who aimed at the ball lays hold of it, and with it fliall hit him who is flriving to refume his place before he has reached it, he is the conqueror. A certain kind of amufement, called the Goofe (Gaa/e-Jpil), is in praftice among them. On a tablet are drawn certain lines, on which they move up and down counters, to the number of thirteen, to defignate fo many geefe ; one of thcfc, a thief, rcprefenting the fox lying in wait for the geefe on the oppofite fide of the board. In this game there are two, as it were, champions ready for fight : the one leads on the chefs-man, that is, the fox ; the other manages the geefe. He who is fox docs every thing to way-lay and take the geefe, which if he fucceeds in he comes off conqueror ; the other, who undertakes to defend them, ftretches the wliole force of his genius to avoid cautioufly the fnares of the wily fox, and when the enemy is on all fides furrouaded by the geefe, and reduced to an extremity, he carries off the vidory. As ACCOUNT OF DANISH tAPLAND BY LEEMS. 453 As a pafllme this exerclfe is received among them : two men hold a flick raifed above the ground no great diflance, a third on a ftafF flies up to them, and when he has come as near as poflible to them, fupported on the ftaff, he fprings over the barrier. The Laplanders are great wrefllers, this exercife they ul'e partly for amufement, partly for keeping off the cold. I have been an eye-witnefs more than onoe of this kind of exercife, efpecially on journeys which I had to make in their company over the mountains. It then frequently happened that, when the rein-deer flopped and fed on the mofs that grew under the fnow, their drivers in amufement would repel the force of the cold from them by vvrclUing. Two men hold a rope extended on two flicks at a fmall diflance afunder ; one of thefe holds with each hand on one fide, both of the ends of the one flick ; the other, on the other fide, does exaftly the fime. Each then ftrives with his whole force to take the flick from the other, and that he fliould the more eafily mafler his wifli, he has one or more friends at hand behind him, who affift him by plying their fliouldcrs to his exertions. Whoever of thefe twifls the flick from the other, carries off the prize, and yields to him what has been agreed upon between them. They put two flicks into a ball of thread and lay hold of them when in, and in op- pofition to each other, each drags with all his might to himfelf until the ball is broken up in their wreflling. This exercife, which they call Bolokiit KiacJJ'ct^ is made as a trial of flrength, to afcertain which is ftronger than the other. An exercife has been received among the Laplanders, that two men flanding oppofite to each other, the one putting his hand on the girdle of the other in order to fupplant hiiu, fliould try their itrength. He that overfets the other is the conqueror. The young men play by throwing flicks with amazing agility from hand to hand ; this kind of amufement is called in Lapland Baettom. They even fuffer themfelves, after the manner of rein-deer, to be girt and driven for amufement. Here I fliall afk pardon of the benevolent reader for mentioning certain incidents which befel me and others ; thefe are of no great moment, yet, as being uncommon and not known, I fhall mention them. I paid a vifi-t on a certain time to the clergyman of the living of Koudekein, John Junell. That venerable man received me with all imaginable politenefs, laying before me what he had at hand, namely, broth made from frefh rein-deer, fifli frcfli from the river, and, what you may perhaps be furprifed at, rein-deer cheefe, boiled whole in a pot, fprinkled w ith much fugar, and placed on a plate in the manner of a tart. But ■of this clergyman this is remarkable, he being the whole fummer almoft deflitute of cattle ; as it appears, that almoft all the Laplanders who make up that church, in the pariflies of Skiervoe and Carlfoe, fituated in the parts of Norland, are accuftomed to emigrate in the fummer feafon to the coafls. It happened, when on the Chriflmas-eve I was lodged in a certain houfe appointed for receiving the clergyman, going to do duty on the next feflival in the church of Kiflrand, built at the tirfl time of the mifllon, that a fmall portion of frefh milk was given me as a prefent. From this I was inclined to make fome frumety, but was ex- ceedingly difappointed ; for the cook to whom 1 had given this in charge, mingled fuch a quantity of fait in this gruel for me, fo imprudently, that I was little inclined to tafle it, much lefs to eat the whole of the mefs. The man did it in the fimplicity of his mind, but he was attentive even to a fault. Meantime I went to bedj having nothing at hand lo appeafe a hungry appetite with. During 454 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. During the whole time I was among the Laplanders it always was a duty with me, from the feflival of the new year, to that time which is between Eafter and Whitfuntide, to traverfe the mountains in the difcharge of the duty of a preacher, firft among the mountain Laplanders of Porfanger bay, then among thofe who inhabit Laxfiord bay. When I performed this troublefome journey, and was preparing to defcend again to the bay of Laxfiord, to initiate the maritime Laplanders of this place alfo, it happend, that the Laplander I firfl came to (his name was Oluff Erichfen Karfnes,) presented me with a fmall portion of cow's milk, which was frefli, from which I had a mind to make a ptifan, to be divided into two equal parts, one for myfelf, the other for the hoft. How great my defire was for it may be inferred from my not either feeing or tafting a drop of new milk for the whole of the winter. But fmce in this as in other huts, the flieep occupied a fmall place for themfelves, and that fheepfold was next to me, it fo happened, that the flieep, allured by the fmell of the frefli milk, jumped through the door, which the Laplander's wife had opened, and overturned my bowl of drink. The hofl:, who had the half of it, had that politenefs that he wiflied to repair my lofs by kindly giving me part of his own, which I refufed with equal politenefs, knowing that ptifan was as grateful to him as new milk was to me. When going a journey over the mountains, among other veflels for travelling, I carried with me a liquor cafe filled with brandy, with this intent, that, when feized wit^ cold, I fliould have the means of reftoration. But neither did this fucceed to my wilhes. For, when walking out in the wood, not far from the cot, the wife of the Lap- lander where I refided went out to fetch fome calf-flcins from the fl:orehoufe near the cot. It fo happened, that, whilft flie was taking down the flcins, the liquor cafe, which lay upon them, fell to the ground and was broke in pieces ; the brandy alfo all flowed out on the fnow. The maflier of the cot, by name Juks Anodfl;en, on fcenting the brandy, eagerly fled to it, and, fucking up the very fnow which had abforbed the liquor, drank till he was even drunk. On my return from the wood, I found him in a fl:ate of inebriation, which excited in nie the greater wonder, as I knew the great penury or fcarcity of brandy or any ftrong drink that was i-n this defert. I felt uneafy too, as the king's mandate had forbidden, under fevere penalties, the giving a drop of ftrong in- toxicating liquor to any Laplander whatever. The Laplander then ingenuoufly con- feflTed the fact to me on my coming home, in the following words : Odne ednak vahag la Jhiaddam ; that is, a great misfortune has happened this day ! At which I was much moved, fearing lefl: fome ill had befallen his family ; but, informed of the misfortune, the weight of which he had fo aggravated with words, I collected myfelf, having little regard for the liquor cafe, which I never had before nor afterwards on my jour- ney. The whole time I was among the Laplanders I drank nothing but cold water, which was liioie grateful and delicious to nie than any wine or any other liquor what- ever. And whenever among the clergy, or men of better condition in life, where beer was drunk, I foynd the thirll was rather excited than quenched by it, certainly that it could not be allayed without water from the fpring. But now for my hofl, who, as he was a man in good circumfl:ances, fo was he alfo a man of courtefy, and made me a full reftitution of almofl: the whole I had loft. A certain merchant of Bergen, by name Daniel Ravnftjerg, of the fociety who pur- chafed the Finm.irk trade from the king, came into Finmark while 1 was difcharging rile duties of my miflion there, in order to attend to fome bufinefs he had the difpatch of. I travelled with him from Porfanger bay, where he had fome little delay. On the voyage the feanun killed an otter, and made for fliore as ul'ual to drefs it. When drefled, and cat up greedily in ourprefence, Ravnflaerg aflied a tafteofthe boiled part, 8 which N)- ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. J[.^^ which had fo miich recommended itfelf by its whitenefs. When he had tartcd it, and found no illnefs from it, following the example of my aflbciate, I ate likewife myfelf a fmall part without the lead injury, and found the flefh of this animal, with the excep- tion of the fifhy flavour, fufficisntly delicate. A certain Laplander refided at Porfanger bay, by name Simon Kiaes, fo notorious for magic ; his fame is yet among his countrymen, and will endure, I think, for ever. His fon Simon Peter was in the family of the i!Iufl:rious Knagenhielm, counfcllor of ftatc, and judge of the territory of Bergen. This Simon had once come into the village ■of Kielvig, which the governor of weftern I'lnmark, Trude Nittcr, then prefided over. The governor was then drinking a cup of tea, but handed to his guefl: one mingled with much fait in the place of fugar, which he politely received, and artfully concealing his indignation withdrew. After fome time the governor came accidentally to the houfe of the faid Laplander. And as in that part of the country where our Simon lived there grew no fmall quantity of Norwegian blackberries, the governor a(ked for a quantity of the berries, if convenient to him. The Laplander obeyed, bringing the berries refpeftfully, but fprinkled with fuch a quantity of fait as to yield a moft ungrateful tafte. The governor, on tafting the berries, difgulling, from their bad tafte, reproved the Laplander in fevere terms, reproaching him I'erioufly, that the- berries, good of themfelves, were fpoiled by his fprinkling them with too much filt, by which they had loft their natural flavour. The Laplander's excufe was fmart, that he thought his highnefs muft be exceedingly fond of faltnefs, as he had put into the tea which he had given him to drink, fuch an abundance of fait in the place of fugar. Another Laplander of the fame place, was aflced by way of joke, by a failor of Bergen, whether he could let out the hell fly, or play fuch other hellifli tricks, an- fwered, that he would immediately. He no fooner faid fo, than he brandiflied a burning log of wood, fnatched from the fire, all over the houfe in which they were, running up and dowm like a maniac ; that the failor, fearing left he fliould be . burnt from the fparks, fled inftantly with his friends, ceafing to teaze the Laplander any further. That the Laplanders are eafily alarmed and terrified, on the apprehenfion of danger or war, the following is an inftance. At the bay of Laxfiord is a place called Laefbefby. A Laplander's wife who lives there, went out one day to bring home her fheep who were at pafture. It happened on that day, ihere was a great fall of fnow that covered the face of things, fo that the woman fcarcely could diftinguiih one objedt from another, and took the parts of the trees that rofe above the fnow for men ; and as it is the nature of perfons in fear, to fafliion to their imaginations what they moft dread, flie fancied that thefe men moved and came near to her. Seduced by thefe phantoms and out of her fenfes, ftiehad no longer doubt but they were Rufllans coming on for plunder and booty. Without a moments delay (he returned home and filled all places with terror. Credit was given to her report. There happened at this very time to be no fmall number of perfons aflfembled, for the purpofe of divine worfiiip. On this forrowful news, all are armed for defence ; fires are lighted up through the plains j guns let off, and yells raifed, that the enemy, deceived by figns fuch as thefe that conveyed the idea of numbers, fliould in alarm run ofl". At the approach of night three young men were difpatched as fcouts, to explore and report ; thefe delaying beyond the ufual time are fucceeded by three others, who return and report that the en^my is coming up. In this general trepidation each prepares for figh\ One from this brave cohort fiiatches up, for his gloves, which the pinching cold, and the ardor of the aclion feeniedj 4^6 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEM3. feemed, forfooth, to require, a pair of breeches, which lay in his way. And now the whole is drawn out, fome armed with mufkets, others with hatchets, and fome had bills. A woman of the troop I converfed with on this imaginary fray, had a child on one arm, and a bill hook in the other. And as the numbers thickened through confternation, ignorant of the way, and confufed by the darknefs of the night, on their march they miftook the path, and fell, fortunately without any harm, into a pit-fall, and when extricated by the next morning exhibited a flriking and ridi- culous fpeftacle of the effects of fear on the imagiation, A Laplander of Alten in weftern Finmark, whofe name was Peter Nelfon, wagered with a failor of Bergen, that he would hit with a grooved gun, (landing in the hatches of the veffel, the top of the mail with exadtnefs ; and performed his engagement. Chap. XVIII. — On the Difeafes mid Deaths of the Laplanders. THE fmall pox, a terrible and contagious kind of difeafe, is feldom in Finmark, and fcarcely once makes its attack within thirty or forty years. Some years back this dif- order raged in thefe countries with fuch malignity, as to carry off an incalculable num- ber of every age and fex. A young Scotchman, brought it to Bergen whehce, the contagion fpreading extenfively, as it ufually does, fcattercd itfelf about in all quarters, and tainted with its venom certain perfons, refiding at Bergen on bufmefs, during the fummer, from the extremity of Nordland. But from the nature and effe£ls of this difeafe, epidemically fpreading itfelf, we may know in part, and eftimate the in- jcrutible ways and methods by which the Divine jullice proceeds to vindicate itfelf. And as it is cuftomary among the Norwegians peafants, to count their years, from the laft war between the Danes and Swedes, fo are the Laplanders accuftomed to count from the time of this raging malady, reckoning in this manner ufually : " I]am fo many years of age from the laft vifitation of the fmall pox." The Laplanders are afflifted at times with the head-ache, and a few other common illneffes , in other refpefts, they are a found and robuft people. They get rid of internal difeafes, as they call them, by drinking feal's blood, yet tepid or the blood of the rein-deer. They cure the tooth-ache, elfewherc, a moll fharp and almoft incurable pain, in like manner by a draught of feal's blood. For- merly, and in times of ignorance, they thought of no remedy againft this more im- mediate than the rubbing the teeth with a ilake from a tree ftruck with lightning. Befides an unufual Ipecies of tooth-ache prevails among the Laplanders, if you look efpecially to the caufe of it arifingfrom the bite of a certain kind of worm of a yellowifli colour, with a black head, as large as a grain of barley, which gets into the teeth of the Laplanders, and gnaws them with the acuteft pain. They ufually cure the eyes, darkened by a film drawn over them, by putting in a fmall vermin, the loufe, to eat through the membrane by its fubtle rubbing. Delicacy would have prevented my mentioning this kind of cure, but as it is fo uncommon and unufual, that it may be fought for in vain, among the medical tribe, you will indulge me in the bare mentioning it. For a kibe on the heel, and other ills contraftcd from extreme cold, they ufe oil of rein-deer, with which they rub over the part affected. They foften the fores of wounds by gum from the 6r tree. I have known fome Lap- landers, who, on frafturing a limb, before they would rcftore the limb, put out of joint and bruifed, by bandaging it up when fct right, to have drunk iilvcr, or it they had none, brafs when pulverized, affirming folemnly that they had received no fmall relief from the ufe of this potable metal. II • . How ACCOUNT OF DANISH I,APLAND BY LEEMS. 457 How they expel pain from the foot or arm, by the means of a hot bummg applica- tion, has been fhewn before. The nerve which is extended through the hinder feet of the rein-deer to the hoofs, ferves for the purpofe of binding up the nerves and other parts bruifed, and put out of joint, and of reftoring them .to their former date and place, with this difference, that thofe of the female ferve for the men, thofe of the male for the women. The body of a Laplander, when dead, is placed naked on a bier on fome fliavings. The funeral, conduced with little ceremony, accompanied by a very few of his friends is conduced to the place of interment. The furviving relatives, if in circum- ftances, receive the attendants at a fupper ferved up in the fmiplell manner, the whole confiding of a fmall portion of water and honey, &c. It was of old a cuflom in tliis country, that thofe who were diftinguifhed for their fldll in the bow, or the gun, fhould be buried in places confecrated to the worfliip of their idols, others being interred in the wild ways, and fuch ignoble places. The fepulchre itfelf had no other ornament than a common fledge, called in Lapland Kierres, in the place of a monument. It was a cuf- tom too in time pad, to lay on the body, the outward bark of the birch tree, which the Norwegians call, Naever, and ufe in the place of laths, covered with heaps of Hones gathered and raifed up for this purpofe. The tomb itfelf, adapted to the body, confided of fmooth and oblong dones, raifed and put in order on each fide, with a top and bottom made of dones of the fame fort and form, and not unlike al. together the common biers in ufe among us. In the funerals of the rudic Laplanders inhabiting Finmark Proper, this fingular cudom is obfervcd that the end of the fe- pulchral linen, while the procellion is moving, for greater folemnity and ornament, projects a little from the bier. Among the manners peculiar to this people it is here deferving of notice, that the Laplanders ufually make a prefent to their children when born, of a female rein-deer commonly called Simle, on the condition, that the boy fliould polTefs it with ail its pro- geny, in future and thereby become in procefs of time the lord of no fmall herd. When either parent dies, the boy demands, receives, and retains as his legitimate poireflion due to him by jud title, the faid animal with all its produce, feparated from the partition of the effeds that may be made by the other heirs of the effefts of the deceafed. Chap. X\J..—Of the Gods of the Laplanders. THE Laplanders formerly fadiioned to themfelves various gods, inhabitants of the mountains, lakes, and other places ; whence their frequent forms of exclamation and ejaculation, as Gcdge Olmuthz, Paffe-Gedge Vakkiet, that is, O man of done, O holy done, aflid me I conjure thee ! ailb Vackkiet buorre, Pajfc Vaerrc, data Mudn^ij dal hacttc hodi ! that is holy and good mountain, adid me in my adlidion, and other nu- merous appellations by which they invoke their gods, in mind and manner altogether heathen. And as they beheved their gods could be appeafed with facrifices in thofe places where they prefided, they frequently iacriticed to them after the manner of their country. But this fubjett will be treated of more diffufedly in the following Chapter. The account of an uncertain author, not long fince fell into my hands, which as con- taining a hidory of fome of the gods of this nation, 1 Ihall tranfcribe at large for the reader. A (hort Relation of fome of the Idols cf the Pagan Laplanders y and their Idolatrv. The Laplanders fancied for themfelves gods refiding in various places. J . They placed fome in the heavens, and in the fidercal fky. VOL. 1. 3 N 2. OthcTf 45^ ACCOUNT OF DANISH LArLAND BV LEEMS. 2. Others in the lower region of the air. 3. Others were, in their opinion, terreftrlal. 4. Others fubterranean, yet not very far under ground. 5. Others had their habitations in the very bowels of the earth. Of the gods inhabiting the ftarry manfions the greateft is Radien ; yet it is uncertain, whether he is over every part of the fidereal fls.y, or whether he governs only fome part of it. Be this as it may, I fiiall be bold to affirm, that the Laplanders never compre- hended under the name of this fldfe god, the true God; which is obvious from this, that fome have not fcrupled to put the image or Hkenefsof the true God by the fide of their Radien, on Runic boxes. This Radien, when efpecially he is charafterized by the name of the Zhioaarve-Radien, is invoked for the profperity of houfehold affairs, for the increafe and the protedion of the herds of rein-deer. The bufmefs of this falfe god was to infpire a foul into the fretus while forming in the womb, which they feign Maderakko, receiving from Radien, gave to his daughter Sarakka, whole duty it was to fit the body to it, whence is produced, as it were, a perfed foetus. The fame Radien receives the dead to him, after they have been fome time in the regions below ; but thofe who for a bad life in this world, and therefore hateful to the gods, are caft down into the region of torture, a place in the depths of the earth foul and fqualid, never return to the happy manfions of Radien, damned to eternal imprifonment in the region of torture, or of Pluto. Ruona-Nieid holds the next honours to Radien in the ftarry fky, a god, if you believe the Pagan Laplanders, diftinguiflied for virtue and power, the prefident and keeper of the mountains, when blooming in the fpring, and producing frefli herbage for the rein-deer. To him they offer facrifices in the beginning of the fpring, that their rein-deer may be the fooner led out into the frefh paftures. The gods who have got manfions in the lower regions of the air follow in order. 1 . Bcive or the Sun ; for the Laplanders hold the fun for a god, who with his light cheers the world, makes it fertile, and full of grafs for pafturage for the rein-deer. They are employed in rendering him propitious to them, by facrificingto him on the eve of St. John the Baptift ; that, as a Phoebus, he may frequently and cheerfully fcatter his light. Sacrifices are offered to him on account of the various ills they are afflifted with, particularly the inflammation of the brain. 2. Horangalis, or thunder. Him the Laplanders dread, as a god inclined to wrath beyond thi ir conception, ftriking not only mountain tops and trees, but men alfo and cattle. To divert his wrath from them, they endeavour to appeafe him by facrifices. 3. Gijen-Olrnai. 4. Biex-OIniai, the god of rain, the ocean, and of winds, whom they worfhip as the fubduer of the fea, and of the winds. 5. 6, 7. Three Ailekes Ohnak, in whofe honour the days of the week, Friday and Sunday are confecrated ; though there are among the Laplanders, who think fome- what different on this part of theology, and contend that Friday is dedicated to Sarakka, Saturday to Radien, and Sunday to the three Ailekes-Olmak, of whom mention is made here. They add befidcs, that fliould they happen to violate thefe faid days by profane labour, that they inffantly appeafe their deities by facrifice. Of their terreflrial gods the principal are, Leib-Omai, who is worlliipped as the god of hunting, and to that intent, that he fliould deign to favour the ufe of guns and arrows in the cxercife of them. And as it vi as ufual with the Laplanders to venerate their gods at facrifice, with prayer and genuflexion, fo is the fame ceremony ufed morning and evening with the greateft religion in the veneration of this idol. There J is ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 459 is alfo an ode ufually recited on his anniverfaiy. Kiofc-OUnai is the god of fifliing, who, to favour a fortunate and happy capture of iifli, receives divine honours, Madcrakko with her three daughters is the goddefs, who brings fuccours to females : her they endeavour to render propitious by religious worfhip, that fhe niav permit her three daughters to fuccour women when theoccafion calls for it. Some contend that flie herfelf gives the alfiftance ; others deny and fay flie does it by promoting the en- deavours and labours of her daughters. The eldeft of the daughters of the goddefs Maderakko is called Sarakka ; this is flie who prepares the body for the foetus in the womb of its mother, when Radien has let down the fpirit or foul from heaven, as jufl; mentioned : flie is believed to be the af- fiftaut of women in labour, and is forely afl'efted by their pains as the woman herfelf. That irreligious and abominable facrifice, before the ufe of the Lord's Supper was intro- duced, is laid to be inftituted in honour of this goddefs ; and fince the preparation of the body and blood of the embryo in the womb is afcribed to her, the body and blood of Sarakka is faid to be eaten and drunk, horrid to relate, in the falfe facrament. Others contend that in the faid facrament that the body of Leib Olinai is eaten, but that the blood of Sarakka is drunk ; but in fo alTerting they commit a manifeft error, in a mat- ter in every other refpeft foul and full of blafphemy, in confounding Lcib Oliimi with Radie?2, to whom, as contiibuting to the fcetus in its formation a fpirit, this honour, fuch as it is, is due ; whereas Leib Olmai contributes not all to the formation of man. And fo it is, or as it is manifeft itfelf from this, that there are Laplanders who confefs that they have eaten the body of Radien, and drunk of the blood of Sarakka, in this abominable rite. But this goddefs is mofl religiouHy worfnipped by both fexes, chiefly by the women, and efpecially when in labour, who, in order to obtain an eafy delivery, often drink to her honour a cup of brandy, and offer, in the hope and wifli of an eafy and happy delivery, a libation of meal, water, and honey. The next in order of the daughters of Maderakko is called Juks-Akka, the goddefs in whofe power it lay to convert the female in the womb into the male offspring. This goddefs they flrive to bind by facrifices to her, becaufe they prefer a male to a female child, by reafon of their life occupied fo much in fifliing and hunting, to which they are addifted, and for the exercife of which the males are preferable to the females. They call the third daughter of this goddefs Ux-Akka. She undertakes the care of new-born infants, cherifhes them and protects them from all thofe accidents to which that tender age is expofed. She attends to the monthly ills of the fex, that they fhould return in good time, and ceafe alfo, on account of which flie is religioufly worfhipped. To this clafs belong alfo thofe named Saivo-O!mak, or mountain gods, who ailift all and every one requiring their aiTiflance, or are addicted to thofe chiefly who buy thera for a confideration from other Noaaids, that is, magicians, or procure them by a cer- tain fmgular fKill of the Noaaids, that is, magic art. Thefe are faid to give refponfes to fuch as confult Saivo Olmak, which the Laplanders contend to be done in various ways ; by vifions in fleep ; by Myran, on Runic tabors ; on a girdle in a gun ; on flones, on horfes' bones, &c. When the magician is exercifmg his art that he might get fome Saivo Olmait, as a tutelary god with him, he refreflies himfelf with a draught Sai-oo- Zbiazc, that is, of mountain-water, as a recruit of flrength, which he repeats by inter- vals, efpecially when he has to enter into a trial of the pre-eminence of flrength with other magicians. In this contert: thefe magicians commit their Saivo-Sarva (by which is underflood male rein-deer) to fight. The fame ifTue as attends thefe attends their mafters ; fo that if the rein-deer fhould lofe his horn in the contefl, the mafter of him, by a kind of fympatliy, begins to get ill and languifh. 3 N 2 The 460 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. The Salvo-Lodde, or mountain-bird, is numbered with them : its office is to fliew the way to a magician while journeying. The Laplanders fay that this bird is frequently fent out by a rival and revengeful magician, to the deftruftion of magicians and otlior men. There is alfo a certain Saivo-Guellc, by which is underflood a mountain fifli, deftincd for prefcrving the life of a magician when going to depart into Jabme-Aibmo, or the land of the dead, and thence to bring back the fpirit of the man fick to death ; for an opi- nion prevailed among the Laplanders formerly that the fpirit of fick men, leaving the fick body on earth, palled to the land of the dead, and that the body would quickly haften after it, unlefs the fpirit, by the aid of a magician, was brought back in good time. From this jocular, and at the fame time ablurd opinion, the ceremonies for bringing back fouls from Jabme-Aibnio into the body, made to the gods, drew their origin. They even fabuloufly create a certain Nam?na-Gucllc, or naming fidi. They feign that very few can have this, unlefs on the fecond baptifm of the infant. Mention being made of a mode of anabaptifm, it is proper to point out in a few words that that fpecics of baptifm, which was formerly among the Pagan Laplanders, was wicked and diaboli- cal ; that it was a baptifm often reiterated, and that as often as a man fell into any dire illnefs, that he affuraed a name different from the one he had hitherto ufed ; and that it was performed by the fprinkHng of water, and in this folemn form : " I baptize thee in the name N. N., in which henceforth profper." This newly-acquired name, the former being aboliflied, was the confequence of this anabaptifm, and is altogether ido- latrous, being derived from the grandfather, or great-grandfather of him who happened to have the luck of a naming fifh in his family. Thofe of the fubterranean deities, who do not live deep in the earth, are believed to inhabit the region of Jabtnc-Aibmo, where Jahme-Akko, or the mother of death, holds her empire. Thofe who deicend to this region hold, when dead, the fame degree of dignity which, when living, they held in this life, clothed in a new body, in the place of that which perifhed in the grave. To thefe deities facrifices are frequently made for the life and fafety of man ; and that the more religioufly, as the Laplanders are thoroughly perfuaded that Jabme Akka, as well as the manes, are incited by a ftrong defire of fum- moning and dragging daily to their abodes living mortals ; and that nothing is more grateful to the dead themfelves than to fee fome 0/ their relations and children aflbciated with them in thefe very manfions. Rota-Aibmo, or the region of torture, is feigned to be the feats of the gods refiding in the bowels of the earth. Into this hell are thrufl down all thofe who have led a life impious, wicked, and hateful to the gods, deprived of all poflible hope of ever coming to the happy manfions of Radicn. This is the manfion of torture or pain, of that falfe god to whom the Laplanders addrefs their prayers, when in vain they have called others to their aid. The Laplanders fable that this Rota, or god of torture, on whom we are difcourfing, infefts men as well as cattle frequently with difeafes, and that the ma- lady cannot be otherwife averted than by facrificing to this malignant god ; for help would be fought for in vain from the other deities, as inefficient when oppofed to him. It has been obferved that the Laplanders do not ufe the fame rites in the worfhip of this god as in their worfhip of others. Agreeably to the vulgar rite In their profane facri- fices, when the animal deftined for the facrifice was flain, as many of the friends were invited to the feafl as were fufficlent for the eating of the ilefh taken from the head, back, and feet of the animal facrificed. The blood was fprinkled on a variety of trees, artificially cut and carved according to the cultom of the nation, and difpofed in order io ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 461 in honour of the gods, around altars : certain fragments of the bones, tongue, lungs, heart, head, ears, and tail being laid alfo on thefe altars. When facrificing to this deity, Rcfa, they bury a dead horfe in the ground, to the intent tiiat pernicious and hateful god fliould by its aid withdraw as fafl: as poffible to his abode, and ceafe to moleft them any more. It happens, though very feldom, that they facrificc to this idol by a common and ufual rite ; in which cafe they falhion his image to the form of man, and place the bones of the animal they have facrificed on the altar, yet without any thing on them, to Rota ; as alfo they ufualiy do to their other gods, for the purpofe of covering them with llefli. For the Laplanders have this opinion, that their gods are as equally fatisfied and contented with the bare bones of the animals facrificed to them, as if they were covered with flelh and entire. And for the reafon that they afcribc to them infinite power as to gods, and fay that nothing would be more eafy for them than to create flefh, and fo when created, to put into it bones. Hitherto this doubtful relation, for the truth of which in every thing I dare not vouch. Certainly Radicn, Riwna-Nicid, Madcrakko, with her three daughters, Sarakka, Jiiks- Akka, and Ux-Akka, of whom mention is made, are names totally unknown to the Laplanders of that tradt of country where my miflion lay ; concerning Saivo-Sarva, Jabme-Aibtno, or the land of the dead, when interrogated on thefe matters, and others which occur in this celebrated hiftory of their deities, they did confefs that they had heard fomething by rumour of them. Yet in moft things I agree with the author, who- ever he was, little doubting but thefe things which he related as among the Laplanders of the country of Drontheim and Norland were fo far formerly held as true, that I need but mention for the prefent this one circumftance, in confirmation that Ra- dicn. Sieve, and Rota, or Pluto, and fome others, may be feen pidured on their Runic boxes, which place before us a compendium of Lapland heathen theology ; and even the names given to the idols agree in part with the offices by which they are defcribed. Scheffer mentions that the Laplanders adored chieOy three idols, namely, Tbor, Stoer- junkare, and the fun, and diffufively lays down the rites to be obferved in their facrifices. The two former idols are at this day unknown to the Laplanders of Finmark. Joido Gadze were well known to the Laplanders inhabiting Finmark. The Joulo- Gadze, if you believe the Laplanders, were certain evil fpirits, to whom formerly they religioufly facrificed on the eve of the Nativity of Chrill, old ftyle. The Noanide-Gadze, or the affociates of the Ncaaids, or magician, were fo called from the information and aid which they were believed to give to the magician. Thefe, together with the Joido-Gadze, were very well known to the Laplanders, among whom thofc who were reputed for prudence and belief, affirmed with one voice that the l\oaaide-Cadze, or affo- ciates of the magician, were fpirits that ufualiy appeared under the fornr of children, and in the Lapland drefs, in dreams, and even in clear day, to the Laplanders. Thefe recommended their fervices and attention, pledging their faith that they would efleft, if admitted into the family, that their mailers fhould become fkilful and handy, and that they fhould be profperous in hunting, in fifhing, in curing the difeafes in men and cattle; and that they ihould more eafily obtain their admiffion, they added, that before they hired themfelves to the parents, that nothing was more equitable than that they fhould perform for the fons and grandfons the fame kind offices, as appertaining to them by hereditary right. If the magician, of his own free will and kindnefs, admitted thefe fpirits, he obtained at the f\ime time with them alfo Torvo-Paikc, or the caves and mountain abodes which the Noaaide-Gadze had hitherto poffefled as a tutelary retire- ment ; if not, they obtained even by threats that they Ihould afterwards be admitted. When at length admitted, either gracioufly or without confent, they taught the Noaalds their 4^2 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BV LEEMS. their whole manner of facrificing, the myfteries of the magic art, and the Jiioige, 'that is, the art or manner of religioiifly finging magic hymns. Thefe Noaaidc-Gadze, who were, as jufl: mentioned, afliftants and coadjutors of the Noaaid, or magician, and whom, for the difpatch of bufmefs, he could not do without, with regard to the Laplanders, were feparaied into two clafTes : the one forming Buorre-Gadze, that is, good fociety ; the other, Borra?nGadze, that is, gluttonous, or bad company. Thofe who were of the Buorre-Gadze, or good fociety, dedicated their labours and offices to the Noaaid, or magician, in curing diltempers, in expelling flies, if any were flung or injured by them, and to other laudable and good works of this nature. Others were called Perkel-Gadze, or diabolical fociety, for the purpofe of afiifling the Noaaid to injure others, and by the magic art deftroy both men and cattle, both as authors and as advifers. They called the fame Borrtim-Gadze a gluttonous and malig- nant fociety, becaufe they were believed to be folely intent in calamities of every kind, and in producing and eftecting mifchiefs, like a confuming fire. Vuokko is alfo well known to many of the Laplanders, and defcribed as a bad demon, appearing in the form of a huge and foul bird, from which the Noaaid, or magician, is faid to receive thofe in- famous and noxious flies, the caufe and means of fo many bad effects. To thtl'e I fliall add fuch as the Laplanders have not, as it appears to me plainly, counted among the number of their gods, nor deigned worthy of the honour of religious worfliip and facrifices, yet influenced by fome fuperilition in their behalf; fuch as Stallo, a prodigy equally known to the Laplanders, but feldom appearing ; in fable vefl:, but elegant attire, holding in his hand a flick, and provoking to conteflany one he meets. Concerning this prodigy I fliall relate what follows, but afk pardon from the reader for a very ridiculous narration. They relate that the faid Simon Kioes, whom we men- tioned before, had killed at a time a Sta/Io, and fome time after that he had killed another, in attempting to revenge the death of his aflfociate that he had flain, having ufed this flratagcm : he made an aperture through the door of his houfe (the houfe and door I law), through which he way-laid and fliot him when pafling, and he remembered that the Sta/Io was killed and privately buried by his father ; and that the fpoils taken from the enemy were, namely, a flick, in which was a dagger, and a fabre, out of which he made knives for his fon Peter, and fon-in-law Nicholas Kioes. The authority of this flory ref'is on them, the fons of Simon Kioes, as alfo feveral Laplanders from Porfanger, from whom I relate it, and leave it to be examined by the reader. But concerning Siallo, of whom mention is made ib often among the Laplanders, what opinion to form ca it ; 1 confcfs myfelf at a lofs to fay, and leave it to the judicious reader to determine. The Laplanders feign alfo a certain Zbiokkujl.i, or caufe of fudden illnefs ; hence fre- quently among them, when any one is feized with a fudden difordcr, they fay, Zbiokkujh full pazhji, that is, the ZbiokkvJ}} has flruck him. 'Iherc are belides a kind of fpectres, in Norwegian Udbocr, but in Lapland called Epparis, or Sljort. This kind of fpcftre is believed to wander up and down where any infant who had not received a name had been flain. It is feigned to cry out until the infant has a name given him, then to vanifl). The Laplanders adopt an opinion, in common ufually with the Norwegians, concern- ing certain i'ubterrancous biings, commonly called Govcilcr, fancying to ihcmfelves, I know not how, certain inhabitants who live under ground. Zbiakkalaggak are ac- counted by many as fpeclres, ufually appearing in the fliape of infant children ; but, as a certain Lap andcr has aflured me (by name Menry Sarrefon, the grandfather of An- drew Porfanger, who, in 1758, fent from the fchool at Drontheim to the college, now redor of the church which is appropriated to the hofpital of the faid town, a pious and honeft ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 463 tonefl: man), there are living in deep fprings, certain animals not very unlike to infants, if you look to their figure yet fmooth, and without hair; he faid that their fle/h was well relifhed ; that they were to be caught but feldom, and this only by art ; by a plate of butter put at the fide of the fpring where they keep. By the fcent of this, the Zhia^kahiggak allured, immediately come up, and, when rifing, are ihot by men who lie in wait. If fuch animals really exift, and that there was an opportunity of getting them, they would be worthy of a place in the king's mufeum. There was a certain Laplander dwelling in Porfanger, of the name of Andrew Ef- kildfon, among the Norwegians called Andrew Bredelkalde, that is Andrew Broadfront, commonly fo called, who died a little before my coming into this country. lie, as the report fays, ufually prayed to Saint John for women in child-bearing. Chap. XX. — Of the idolatrous Sacrifccs of the Laplanders. THE names of the Lapland idols, as well as the rites ufed in their worfliip, fo vaiy from the various fituations inhabited by Laplanders, that co give an exaft defcription of them, would, in this chapter, be extremely difficult ; meantime, what I have obferved vvhilfl: among them, or have learned from the obfervations of others who were Ikilled in thefe matters, I have determined to communicate to the reader. Animate things chiefly, and among thefe principally rein-deer and flieep, feals feldom, were facrificed to the gods. Inanimate, as milk, rice-milk, cheefe, and other things of this nature were alio fometimes offered. The rites ufed in facrifices were various and manifold. In the facrlfices of living things, either the whole animal, or at lead fome part was offered. Sometimes they boiled the whole animal, and when boiled, devoured it, except the bones, which were left for the god of the place, whom, they little doubted, was able and willing to cover them with new flelh. It was their practice to ereft certain long flicks, befmeared with the blood of the vittim, in the place where the facrifices were made. Sticks of this kind were called in Lapland Liet Morak. Sometimes they ufed to facrifice the animal at a certain river, into which the blood of the victim was poured ; certain (ticks ftained with the blood being folemnly erected in the place of facrifice. If they happened to kill a bear, when the fkin was Ilripped oft", and fome part of the meat was boiled, the liver was taken out, which, put on a flake and roalted at the fire, as a holl or kind of facramental facrifice, called in the Lapland Vuodno-baffm. The Laplanders are faid to offer certain facrifices for young children, in this order ; for an infant as yet in the womb, a fheep ; for the fame, when born, a dog, which was bur'^d alive, and, after birth, any animal drefled in a Unen hood. The ril^thod of facrificing inanimate things was thus : they poured brandy and liquids of fuch fort on the ground to propitiate the Lares, who were beheved to in- habit the hearth or threffiold, in that libation which they called Sei/iie-Staehiiae. To pour the beeffings of a cow the firfl time fhe brings forth young, on th'j floor of the- cow-houfe, belonged alfo to the facrcd ceremonies. When going to chvel! in a different place, they had a cuftom of pouring milk on the place from whence they were coming, in order to declare a grateful and devoted mind towards the deity of that place, on account of the benefits received during the whole time of their refidence- in it. The difeafes with which men as well as cattle were at different times affefted, hunt- ing and afliing that was unfuccefsful, and fuch incidents, furnifhed the Laplanders with- opportunity and even necelTity of appcafing their gods by facrifices. Yicliins were chiefly. 464 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. chiefly flain when they were fuccefsful in fifliing and hunting. This is apparent from the defcription of a very famous place of facrifice, Lcunjc-jauvrc fuolo, given by nie. In the places where they had flain their rein-decr, they ufually left behind them fonie fmall parts of the bead they had taken, horns, and parts of the flefh which had covered the fl-iuU and feet, in token and fignification of a mind devoted to the gods. As to the places in which the Pagan Laplanders had formerly facrificed, it appears, that they were various facred high places, Paffe Varck, in the bay of Varangar, in the parifli of Valb, in the diftrifl: of Thana, in the bay of Laxefiord, in the parifli of KioUefiord, in the bay of Porfanger, and many others, which they held in religious veneration. PaJ/c Varek, or facred high places, which they formerly held in religious veneration in the bay of Varangar, are as follow : 1. Meljlic-Vare Pajfc-Aldo, that is, facred rein-deer of the mountain of Meifke. That which is called facred is really fo, or is faid to be, or to have been very little fo. The female rein-deer in the Norwegian is called Simle. Hence whatever high places, called from Paffe A/do, or facred rein-deer, were formerly confecrated, had their name, no doubt, from the rein-deer, which were facrificed there. The mountain men- tioned is faid to be fituated in the inner recefs of Varangar bay ; hither is a great concourfe of Laplanders. The upper part is a level, the lower is covered with a wood of birchen trees. There is a report that facrifices were formerly made to the idol Stor- jiinkare, in that place, and, in proof of the facrifices which they made there, a number of the bones of the rein-deer a few years hence were feen in that place. 2. St\6/iJ-f, is called ihc Great Flounder^ s Head. Piijl'-Varck, or Ikcred rocks, which the Laplanders have religioufly adored on the fummit of the mountain Neiden, are as follow : 1. Niackkcjn-Karg, that is, the mountain ol creeping. 2. Ritoude Zhiold, that is, iron funnnit. 3. Ullo'Va:rrc, that is, mountain of wool. 4. Jcrge-Jcrgc, that is, rocky (tone. By the way, it is to be obfervcd, that certain Laplanders call a Hone Jcrvc, which others iu their dialed call Gcd'Jc: 5. Z/jiuodzbio-Akkcw, that is, my abiding grandame ; meaning grandmother by the father or mother's fide, which in no finall number of places of Norway is fo called. 6. Zaagca-BaJJc, that is, rock of foundation. J - 7. Gioili. ACCOUNT or DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 465 7. Guuli-bajii-vacrre, that is, mountain of the rock of fifliing. Paffc-Varck, or facred mountains which the Laplanders worfliipped beyond Va- rangar, along the coaft, are the following celebrated ones. 1. Raudo-Vacrre, that is, the mountain Ratido ; Raudo is a frefh water fifh, reddifli under the belly, called in the Lapland Raudo, but in the Norwegian R'Sr. 2. Biuijc-Vaerre, that is, mountain of the ear. The meaning of this name, as far as I can conjeiturc, is, that the wretches who make their fupplications to this idol, arc per- fuaded that he will gracioufly lend his ear to their fupplications. 3. RytO'Zhiok, that is, the top of the Pot Mountain. On this mountain is fliewn a ftone, refembling a man in his natural pofition and form, clothed in a hood. It feems too very probable that this name was given to the rock for this reafon, that the Lap- landers boiled there in pots the meat of the facrifices, which they ate according to their ufual manner of facrificing, leaving the bones for their gods. 4. Einar-Sieide, that is, oracle of Einar. 5. Sieide Vack-Aldo, that is, rein-deer endowed with the faculty of an oracle, or of divining. Paffb Varek, or facred mountains near the river Thana. 1. Gol/e Vaerre, that is, mountain of gold. Here formerly, on account of the lignal fuccefs in .taking of wild rein-deer, frequent, and, confidering the condition of the nation, fumptuous and fat facrifices were ufually offered. 2. Galdo-Oaaive, that is, head of thefpring of water; a mountain fo called. Pa/fe Varek, or facred mountains in the diftritt of Thana are the following: 1. Sieidf that is, the oracle. 2. Giems Bafte^ that is, rock Giems. 3. Staf7g-Naes. 4. Jokkel Nearg, that is, promontory, or little tongue of land, Jokkel. 5. Kolds Niarg, that is, promontory Kolds. 6. Sroppel Niarg, that is, promontory Stoppel. 7. Home bafte, that is, rock of horn. Pajfe Varek, or facred mountains, which the Laplanders have confecrated at Hobs- Eidet, the ifthmus of Hobfen, to the worfliip of idols, are as follow : 1. Vuoide-Ged'ge, that is, the ftone of unftion ; deriving its name from the blood or oil of the vidlim, with which, at facrifices, it was anointed. 2. Ravos-Niarg, that is, promontory offafting. 3. Klem-Niarg, that is, promontory Klem. 4. Sagga-Niarg. 5. Loidojh. The facred mountains which were formerly religioufly adored in the bay of Laxefi- ord are the following : 1. fW(^^j-J5Iiibbe Jmlo-Beive Herra ; that is, lord of the fccond feail ; and thirdly Goaal-Mad 3 p 2 Jouh' 476 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. Joulo-Beive Herra, that is, lord of the third feaft. It was a belief, that he who pro- faned thefe days was puniflied by the Deity ; but if, thefe days being duly celebrated, any one fhould aik any thing from the Deity, and, during their celebration fliould put himfelf before the Deity, that, moved by this fupplication, he would hear and affifl him. On tic Fourth Co7npartment, 1. Was feen the circle Mam, that is, the moon ; froai it, it was ufual to implore fine weather and ferene nights. 2. The images of two men, called Munne Olmuky that is, as to the letter of the ex- preffion, men travelling ; but, as to the fenfe or meaning, men going to church. 3. The image of a temple, to reprefent that v.'hich the prieft frequents. To it he is reprefentcd as confeffing that he and others are vowing and offering tapers, money, and other things, that aid and fuccour may be given to him on one misfortune and an- other ; and that he dedicates thofe things to the paftor of the faid place, which is ex- prelTed by this painted building. 4. The image of a man ftanding near the temple, to fignify, as it was exprefTed, a man going to the place of worlhip. On the Fifth Compartment, 1. The image of a woman, to denote, as it explains itfelf, the wife of a bound de* mon. The name is not known. 2. The image of a man a little below the one placed before it, to fignify by interpre- tation the devil killing men, and is called Difeafe. 3. The image of another man, which is faid to be the devil freely ranging about in hell and the upper air. A foolifh opinion is cheriflied that this devil has efcaped from the one that is bound faft, but the name of him is not known. 4. The figure I I I on the fkin of the Runic has been interpreted, Hdvet-dola, that is, hell fire, in which fouls are thought to be burnt. 5. This figure (2) Helvet Tarve-Geiine^ is faid to fignify the pitchy cauldron of hell, in which it is thought fouls are boiled. 6. This figure □ to fignify Helvet-Haude, that is, the fepulchre of hell, into which all believing in Satan are faid to be thrown. 7. The figure of a man, from whofe neck a line was drawn to the column, to fignify a bound devil, of whom mention was made above, to fignify that there was aa opinion, that from the creation of the world he was held fall in chains by the Deity. For the purpofe of this Runic drum the owner was provided with two Runic ham- mers, made from the horns of the rein-deer, called Zhioaarve-Vet'zhjerak, horn ham- mers, with the one of which he is faid to have firuck the drum. Befides he had a fmall cover made of brafs, to the upper part of which was fixed a brazen ring ; with this when going to excrcife his art, he covered the flcin of the drum, and proceeded thus: Alter railing up the Runic infirumcnt, he vibrated it on tiiis fide and that, and, holding it in one hand, he ftruck with a hammer he held in the other the ikin it was covered with. He then obferved if this cover of brafs, when the flvin was (truck with the hammer, ftould turn againft the courfe of the fun, that fortune would be un- favourable to him in whofe bthalt the Runic cymbal was (Iruck ; and if, in its defcent, it fliould not flop until it had touched one of the figures which were marked below the third line in the third compartment, that th(> Deity exceflively angry with him for whom it was ftruck, declared by tiiis fign, that he was a great finner, and that the Deity fliuuld be molt humbly invoked, if he wilhcd the cover fhould recede ; but Ihould it follow ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 477 follow the courfe of the fun, it was a fign that he in whofe behalf the drum was flruck, enjoyed good fortune. But he faid that he when going to ufe this drum marked himfclf and it with the Cgn of the crofs, as an earnefl of good fuccefs, fubjoining the Lord's prayer, and thefe words : Ibmel Atzhjc Barne ja Engcl Vii:kjct don, which fignify, God tiie Father, Son, and Holy Ghoft, aflifl; me, (I never perceived that the Laplanders called the Holy Ghoft, angel, but in all countries known to me they call it PnlJi Vuoign). To thefe prayers he added more words, and on Itriking with a hammer the fkin of the drum, he fet in motion the brafs cover on this fide and that. In the midfl of the work, he broke out into thefe words ; Thou, O God, who hart created the heaven and the earth, the fun, the moon, the ftars, and all men, the birds, and fifhcs of the fea, I am a man liable to error, old, and unworthy ; it is better that I (hould die than that you fhould deny your help to him in whofe behalf we intreat you ; where it is to be oblerved that the Laplanders, fpeaking in the Daniflr language, ufe the firft perfon plural, we, for the firlt perfon fingular, I. Another Laplander of Finmark gave this explication of his Runic drum. The ta- lons of all animals which that country produces, were fufpended from it on every fide ; and on the fkin covering the upper P^''^ of it, nine lines Vi'ere painted from elm bark, each having its own omen. He aifo added, when going to exhibit, that he placed a copper bird furroundcd with little bits of brafs on the fkin of it, and flruck it with a horn hammer, covered with beaver's fkin. By this impulfe, the bird turned itfelf to the lucky or unlucky figures. He faid, if this copper bird, when the fkin of the Runic in- ftrument was llruck with the hammer, fell from it to the earth, that it was a fign that the fame perfon would foon die. He further added, that when two wizards, called Noaads, wiflied to know, which excelled the other in the magic, that they painted two rein-deer flriking each other with their horns, on a Runic drum. The fignification was, that he whofe rein-deer had the viftory was the better wizard. There were among the magicians or Noaads, who openly pretended that thcv were both able and willing to do injury to men and alfo to cattle. Thefe, as we fhall fup- pofe, were dreaded more than dog or fei-pent. When fuch a perfon was going to pradife his art, he ate wolves' flefh, or fox's, before he began, from a perfuafion that he drew no fmall degree of ftrength and power from it. Others, on the other hand, confeffed, that they could cure various difeafes, give their fifhing and hunting parties fignal fuccefs, and, of their own free will, confer the greateft poffible benefits on thofe that ftood in need of them, whence it is no wonder, that they were held in high eftimation by the Laplanders, and celebrated by great praifes. The magician, whenever called to the affiftance of a fick perfon, condufled hlm- felf in the following manner, as the Laplanders relate : He thus fpoke to the Noaaid- Lodde, or his magic bird, Haette dal Kotz.bio duumathai, that is, nccellity compels you to undertake a journey ; on which words he folemnly fent the faid bird to the Ncaa'ul-Gadze^ that is, the partnerlhip of the magician, or certain fpirits addifted and bound to the at- tendimce of the magician, when come to him. Two colleges, the one vifible the other invifible, were inllituted for the Noaaid-Gad-ze, or fociety of the magician aflembled by the miniftry of the faid bird. The council which was called invifible, confilted of tlie magician and two women, adorned with a linen hood and all the reft of a reliu-jous drefe, except the girdle. Thefe women were called Shjarak. To thefe members were added others j a man without a hood and girdle, and a girl not as yet adult. The man 10 in 478 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. in his office was called Marro-Oaave. The magician had collefted all thefe members in that place where they tried the cure of the fick man. At the invifible affembly (fo called, becaufe vifible to the magician alone,) Aarja prefided, the Noaaid-Gadze, the companions of the magician as well as the two women, which the Aarja added to this invifible college fitting together with him. Women chofen into this invifible college were called Rtidok. Each college, vifible and invifible, duly called and provided, the magician prepared himfelf for his journey, that will be dcfcribed more at large by us, who, that he might aft agreeably to the rules of his art, after uncovering his head, and loofing his girdle and latchets, covered his face with his hands, and twirled round his whole frame into a variety of circles, with wondrous and ftrange geftures, adding thefe words, Valmajhjlet Haerge ! Saizhja let Vaaiias ! Let the rein-deer be got ready, and prepare the boat, he faid, and fnatching up an axe, he dragged the burning pieces of fire with his bare hands from the grate, aflerting with confidence, that he had nothing to fear in this flate from raging flame. Then, taking no fmall draught of brandy, he flruck liis knees, not {lightly, with the faid axe, and, raifing it up with both his hands, he brandifhed it three times around each of the women Shjarak. During this time no one was permitted to touch him, not even a fly, which they drove off with the greateil: care. When he had gone through thefe ridiculous, and almofl: furious, gefl:ures and ceremonies, he ftretched himfelf, like a dead man, on the ground, under which defer- tion of mind or trance, as it feemed, made up of body and mind, he lay ; that while his body lay in the cot, to be viewed by all, his mind, if you believe the Laplanders, through feme fubterranean paffage, when all fenfe for the time was fhut up, fhould view the Fa//i-Varek, or facrcd mountains, with their inhabiting gods, and hear the fongs, called in the Lapland Luodiit, which were ufually fung in the invifible college in this trance. During this time the aforementioned women, Shjarak, were feated in the tent, adorned with all their drefs, difcourfing in a low voice (a difcourfe of this kind was called in Lapland Monaiaebme), as afking each other what part of the world now held our ma- gician ; one part or other of the facred mountain being conflantly mentioned by them. If it happens that the women in their converfation fliould have fallen on the name of the mountain in wliich the magician, when the ecflacy is over, has afferted he has been taken, on the bare mention of it he feemed in the trance to them, to move his hand or foot. Mean time continuing their difcourfe, they go on to al1^, whether in that place, in which he has been taken up, he either fees or hears ? The magician, when at length he returns to himfelf, utters, in a low voice, the words which he boafts he heard uttered in the facred college ; words fuch as thefe the Laplanders call Zaabtnc. The women, fitting together, finding out that the magician is returned to himfelf, began, with a clear and loud voice, to fing. Thefe and other fuch diabolical rites and geflurcs being completed, the magician, returned to himfelf, fignified, by clear and open exprcflions, that a facri- fice is to be made, an animal to be flain, at the fame time naming the place where it was to be done, and interpofing his faith that the fick man would recover within a certain and limited fpace of tiniK ; which ibmetimes did happen with exaftneis and order, at another time not. For the whole day before the magician entered on this bufinefs, he refrained altogether from meat and drink. But it appears among all by whom the manners of this nation have been infpefted and examined, that the faid women Shjarak, had ever been prefent with the magician, when cxercifing his art in the college called vifible as witneffes of the atchievcment : it appears alio that the magician had ufed in this act ceremonies and geftures, fuch as loofcn- ing ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 479 ing of his girdle and latchets : his (Iriking his knee with the axe ; his taking burning logs from the fire, kc. ; and hiitly his proltrating himfelf on the ground like to a dead man. It is alfo beyond doubt, that the laid women during the act had muttered to one ano'her, and that the magician in his trance had began 10 move hand and foot a little to their dilcourfe, and foon after the office of his fenfes returning, that he had uttered in a fubdued tone of voice the words Vuolet-Zaabme, and that when at length coming to himfeU, he had advifcd and commanded a victim for the reftoration of the fick nun. All this is fo correct and true as to admit of no doubt ; but the remaining part I fub- mit to the underltandings and belief of the judicious reader. Fa//e Varek or facred mountains will feem wonderful to no one when mentioned on this oceafion. That there were fuch in this country, honored with divine worfhip, befides many other places of facrifice is plain from the idolatrous worfhip of the Laplanders, and from the traces to be met with at this day. I myl'elf have been an eye: witnefs of them. That the Pagan Laplanders, and efpecially their minifters, men infpired, Ihould. have in their minds thefe mountains and their inhabiting gods, is a matter eafy to be believed. And it may be eafily alfo inferred that the magician engaged in the cure of the fick, fliould have his mind fixed on thefe facted heights, by a certain manner of reafon, fuiting the thing itfelf. Moreover when the objefts that occupy our thoughts when we are awake, lay hold of them when afleep, it is no wonder, that the magician in this acl, which was all done in a deep and profound fleep, procured by the brandy he had drunk, placed beyond the power of all external objects, (hould fee his favonte hills, their gods, and other objeds before his fenfes, and hear them calling for vidims for the reltora- tion of the fick. And as all this is the bufinefs of magic, and the invention of the devil, it follows, that the wicked fpirit is the contriver and advifer of the councils, and that he has the Ejreater fhare in directing it. But this has not been the only pradice of medicine among them ; that others were pradifed will be manifeft from the following account. A certain Laplander from Por- fanger bay, by name Mellet Olfen, an honefl; man, free from guile, told me a ftory of two other of his countrymen, that when going to pradife medicine, made ufe of the following method. On the eve of Chriftmas, they flew a young rein-deer, and boiled the meat, certain fmall pieces of which together with a little butter and cheefe, and a few cakes they put in a fmall fkift' fabricated for that ufe. Having prepared, in this manner a facrifice, they piled up a great heap of wood, on which they placed the faid ikiif, jufl mentioned, with the facrifice itfelf, in order to remain there during the fedival. When the feafh was over the fldfl" was looked for on the pile, but no where found, while Mellet ferioufly affirmed, that no body knew what had happened or where it was put ; yet there is no doubt but the facrifices placed in the fl'cift, were offered to Joulo' Gadze, or to the company of Yules. The fame Mellet Olfen related to me a itory of another of his countrymen, an inhabitant of the fame bay, that when about to take fick perfons under his care he was accuftomed to attempt the bufinefs in this way. Brought in his boat gradually and flowly near the ihore, where there was the moft con- venient landing, he put in, and getting on the main land, he brought a ftone of no mo- derate fize to the boat, and Ipoke to it, after turning it round and round, often in words which Mellet apologized to me for fuflering to elcape his memory. On his return home he brought the faid ftone with him, and placed it under his pillow, and often ad- dreifedit, drawn from under his head, in the fame form of words. The Gail fly is befides numbered among their magic inftrumcnts moft remarkable, wherever.it is knawn, as an inflrument of injuring. The Laplanders contend that they were flies, but you would fay that they were evil Ipirits, under the name ot tlies. Ihey 480 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. They add that thefons receive them from their wizard parents, and that the evil fpirit, on the faihn-e of thefe furnifiies new ones, under the appearance of a horrid and deform- ed bird. They mention too, that they are kept in a certain box commonly called Ga>i~ F.I'kc, to be forth-coming, equally to injure man and beaft, at a feafonable moment, and that the manner of exerciOng this execrable art, confifls chiefly in this, that when the wizard orders his flies to iiy out from his box, an injury is done to this or that enemv, hy whom he contends an injury has been done at one time or other to him, yet with this due caution, that like be done for like, and that the revenge does not extend a nail's breadth beyond the injury received. The flies, on receiving the order, inftantly fly out, and difcharging their orders, return again each into his ovv^n box. Should a fwclling appear, not unlike the figure of a flounder, (called in the Nor- wegian Flynder) between the flefli and fl^in as fomething alive, moving this way and that, it is a fign of the hurt received from the contaft of the flies. Such a fymptom was formerly not unufual among the Laplanders. Befides, did the belly fwell, did blood flow from the mouth and nofe, fudden death fucceeding, no doubt there remained but that the man, labouring under fuch fymptoms, was feized by poifoned flies. He who was fo infefted, and was ignorant of the magic art, fo as not to be able to recall his former herJtli, implored aflilfance from another, who was thought able to repel the malady by the fame means it was brought on. There was a magi- cian, who was fl:ruck by the fly of another, is faid to have cured himfelf. Ihe de- gree of belief attached to thefe ftories, is great with the Laplanders, from whofe mouth I relate what I have heard from them. A certain writer mentions that the Laplanders take vengeance on their enemies by fmall fliort leaden arrows, which, infedted with poifon, they flioot very far bringing various and dangerous maladies on them by this means, which turn in the arms and legs, into cancers and other fuch ills. The Juotgcn fignifies fong, which fome of the Laplanders ufually fing by intervals, but fo confufed and broken that it bears more likcnefs to a howling than to an articu- late voice. There are Laplanders, v/ho innocently and folely for amufement fing their Juoigen, thefe are named Maargos ; but the Juoigen of others is altogether fuperft;i- tious, thinking they can keep otf the wolves from molefliing the cattle, by fuch a fong, and that they can drive them away altogether, which can be gathered from the following verfe, they are ufcd now and then to fing. Kumpi ! don cdnak vabag lek dakkam, Iffc. Wolf begone, author ot many ills, here you fliall no longer flay : hence begone to the extreme p.ins of the world, or mean time you fliall be transfixed with arrows, or you fhall perifli by fome other means. Some magicians fing as well in the exercife of their art as out of it ; others never. Thefe are called Judakas and Juraak in common. The magician when called on to recover things ftolen from their owners, is faid to proceed in this manner. He poured brandy into a bowl j and infpeded the liquor, fliewing the face of the perfon who looked into it, calling by name one or ano- ther whom he fufpcfl:ed of the theft. And as the liquor returned the countenance as a mirror, the very cunning juggler pretended that he fliw the image of the thief in the liquor, and openly charged him with the theft, adding threats that he himfelf, unlefs he returned the property itolen, would knock out his eye, or maim fome member of his body. On which the thief, dreading the cftefts, lefl; he fliould be deprived of an eye, or mutilated in any of his limbs, rellored what he had flolcn without delay to his maflicr. The magician intent on the liquid, ufually repeated fome folemn hymn. Thofc ACCOUNT OP DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS, 481 Thofe of the Laplanders, who were deteded in thcfe nefarious pradlices, were not admitted to the church, and the participation of facraments, without previous con- feffion and public abfolution, while Von Weften, the vicar, was living : a man who merited the greateft praife from the church, but who has immortalized himfelf, from his inltruclion and converfion of the Laplanders. Chap. XXII. — On the •various Supcrjlitlons of the Laplanders. THAT the Laplanders were formerly addifted to a variety of fupcrflitlons is fuf- ficiently well known. With fome Thurfday was kept holy ; at leaft it was thought impious to handle wool on that day. Alinoft all held Saturday, fome Friday as holidays, calling this latter Fajlo-Beive, that is tiie day of fading above the reft. A maritime Laplander of the name of Peter Peterfon, dwelling in one of the bay? of weft Finmark, and parifh of Kielvig, commonly called Smorfiord, told me that when he once went out to hunt hares on a Saturday, and was from fatigue feated on the ground, that a fpeftre with ahumanvifage and dark garment, appeared to him, alking him what he did there, and on his anfwering that he came to hunt hares, which he in- tended to give to his prieft, the fpedre replied, what do you think that hares taken on the Saturday, which fliould be obferved with the greateft veneration, can be acceptable to your prieft ? And then fubjoined in caution, that he fhould carefully guard againft violating Saturday, or any other holy day for the future, by any profane exercife. He added that from this profanation of the ancient feftivals, that the wild beafts, birds, and fifhes, abhorring and detefting the impiety of irreligious men, quitting their haunts, had fled away and haftened into other countries. That the fame fpeftre, which hitherto prefented itfeU in ragged garments, had foon after appeared to him in a more fumptuous habit, addrefling him in words of this kind : you will facrifice a cow to me, when this is done, the fea, the air, and earth will bring forth again fifties, fowl, and beafts. When this converfation was ended, the Laplander, you will fuppofe in confternation and diforder, returned home, fat a little, but foon drew his knife in a rage, and in the midft of thefe agitations of mind and body fell like to a dying man to the ground. His fer- vants faithfully attended on him under this lofs of his underftanding and fenfes, ftriv- ing now and then to awaken him, by flight blows, but in vain. Meantime the apparition which appeared to him in hunting, prefented itfelf to him in his vifion, ufing thefe words : you will never recover from this difeafe, unlefs you facredly promifc, when you get well, that you will, with due right I'acrifice a cow to me. The unhappy man made this promife, and immediately awoke from his trance, but fo weak that he could not walk; and as he fancied even ftill to fee the fpsftre walking up and down before him, he cried out with a loud voice to thofe prefent to help him, and drive off the fpectre left he ftiould rufti in upon him. Reftored at laft to himfelf, he fincerely laid open all he faw and heard, gravely and feverely injoining, that none of his people iliould attempt to profane the Saturday, or any other day that was facred and feitive. He ended here, and inftantly recited the Lord's Prayer, and part of the C2techifm. On the next day, this faid Laplander was vifitedby a great many who had accidentally heard thefe mat- ters, to whom he gave a fmcere explanation of all that happened to him, and attempted to perfuade them to bring back and reftore Saturday, and all the other feftivals of old, which through time were brought into difufe, and ftiould for that purpofe facritice lambs in order that the former plenty with which the country abounded fliojld be reftored. Some obeyed his monitions, while others took the whole vifion for a mere illufion and juggle of the malign fpirit. VOL. I. 5 Q For 482 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LA?LAND BY LEEMS." For my part, what to think of this vifion, whether it may be true or falfe, I leave to perfons of refletStion to determine. This at leafl; I can fuggefl, that the Laplander to whom it happened was a fimple and honed man, free from fraud of any kind. Be- fides, when it is remembered that the infernal fpirit can change himfelf into a thou- fand forms, it was eafy for him, who did not fcruple to tempt the fon of God, in whom were hidden fuch treafures of wifdom, thus to attempt and circumvent with his wiles, a poor fimple man, incredibly weak and helplefs in himfelf, that he might lead him with others out of the true way to his deftruftion. It was a cuftom with them folemnly to keep the Nativity of Chrifl:, and the facred days of the holy Virgin. A Laplander of thecoaft from a bay in the parifli of Alten, called Lcrrets-Fiorden, of the name of Andrew Peterfon related a certain objefl; had pre- fented itfelf to him, when once he was bringing a load of hay, from the fhed called Loaawe, on which we' treated more at large in another place, as fodder for the cattle, on which according to the old ftyle the Chiiftmas was to be celebrated. The llory is thus. When overcome with fatigue, the Laplander had fat down on his way, he heard a hifs- ing noife three times repeated, on which in difmay he exclaimed, O God come to my afliftance I pray you ! He rofe inftantly on this, and laying afide, or diflembling his fears, he haftened home, but on his way addrefl'ed by a clear fhrill voice ; (top friend, I wifli to fpeak a few words with you, on which he flopped, and turning about he perceived a figure oppofite to him of human fhape, in a fplendid drefs feverely reproving him, becaufe on that day, on which the feflival of Chrift had fallen, he was not afhamed to undertake fuch a bufinefs, ferioully affirming himfelf to be the meflenger of God, fent from heaven for this purpofe, to inltruft him and others, that the Na- tivity of Chrift, and other holydays old Itile, were to be kept holy, and that the innova- tion of violating this, as well as other feftivals was rafhly introduced, and that fuch an inftitution was merely human, and therefore of no authority and obligation : that Thurfday from twelve o'clock to evening, and alfo Saturday were to be religioufly ob- ferved, and that the reafon of the diftrefs of grain, and other calamities with which men are afflicted, is chiefly to be found in that irreligious profanation of ancient fefti- vals. He fpoke and inftantly difappeared in air. The Laplander haftened home as faft as he could, but before he came there his fpeech failed him, and he fell as if lifelefs to the ground, and no doubt would have died in that fituation, had notfome perfons been at hand, who feeing the danger of the man, took him home to his cot, after lift- ing himupjuft dead in their arms. After remaining fome time in this ftate he awoke, related what happened, and ferioully admoniftied his friends, according to the mandate of the angel who appeared to him, to be obfervant of all the old feftivals, particularly Thm-fdays and Saturdays, all of which ftiould be facredly and religioufly revered. Let ihe reader make his own refleftions on this ftory as on the former. The day before Chriftmas the eating of meat was forbidden. A young Laplander told me that on attempting to eat a piece of meat, that he had taken from off the iirc, he was not only reproved by his father, but the meat was taken even out of his mouth by him, after he was feverely chaftifed for attempting to eat it. The evenings preceding the birth of the Saviour, and the fcaft of the Virgin Mary old ftyle, were alfo fafts ; the one for the good education of boys, the other in honour of the Joulo-Gadze, or aflembly of the Yules of whom we fpoke in Chapter XIX., on the gods of the Laplanders. On the birth of Chrift it was a cuil:om, that the women (liould pile up boiled meats of various kinds in their aprons, and ftiould carry them to the cow-houfe to be hung up in it for three days, and (hi the third day to return, folemnly to confumc the provisions they had laid up. Il was alfo a cuftom tofct food on.the fame day before the crows. 4 For ACCOUNT OP DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 4,g; For a hufband to lie with his wife under occafional vifits of illner?, was accounted wicked ; neither was he permitted to touch her cloaths under i'uch a fituation. It was alfo interdicted to her, while under this illnefs, to walk over the foot of the hufband, which was ilretched out, as he fat on the ground ; nor was it jjcrmitted her either to go over his gun, that was on the ground, or to climb to the top of the hut, or to tread on that part of the fhore where the fifliermcn ufualiy expofcd their filhcs, or to milk the kine. When they recovered, they ufualiy vvafhed their heads in water from the caul- -dron ; which when done, they took care that the cauldi-on fhould be cleanfed with bran, aud that a cake fhould be afterwards made in it, which women alone were permitted to eat of. A woman when with child looks to a certain ftar which is next to the moon,'judging from its nearnefs or remotenefs, whether the young fiie carries in her womb fhould yield to fate, or be born under a happy omen. To put a handle to an axe in the houfe of a lying-in woman was Impious. The Lap- landers cautioufly provided againft any thing twifted or knotty in the garments of a perfon under fuch a fituation, led by a vain imagination that fuch knots would render the birth of the woman more difficult. The garments with which fhe was cloathed when in her labour flie foon put afide, never to put on or wear again. She was kept to that part of the hut where fhe lay-in ; nor was fhe permitted to change until fhe rofe in a flate of health. The Lapland women, for the mod part, fuckle their own children, fome two years and upwards. They wei-e of opinion, during their ignorance, that the children would enjoy a greater degree of felicity the greater number of fafts, they were fuckled from the teat. It was cuftomary with the Laplanders to name their children according to their dreams. Befides the names common to the Laplanders with the reft of the people of Norway, and given them by the prieft at the time of their baptifm, as Nicholas, Olaus, Peter, &c. which according to the genius of the Lapland language are differently written and pro- nounced ; as Anders in the Lapland founds Anda, or Adda ; S vend, that is, S veno, Spein ; Jens, that is, Janus, Junthe ; Jofeph, Juks ; Lars, that is, Laurentius, Lalla ; Nicolaus, Nikke, &c. Some had names given them from a kind of baptifmal fount at home ; as Utze Beivatzh, that is, Little Sun ; Quive, Mieize, Akkie, Guia, Nokke, and others of this clafs. For it has been a cuftom formerly, which is even retained to this day, of which I have been an eye-witnefs, that infants, from the day of their birth to a confirmed age, fhould be daily wafliedin a warm cauldron ; which praftice, as it is undertaken folely for their health and ftrength of body, has nothing hurtful in it. If the child is to have any other name than its firft genuine one, that is given in the firfl wafliing, when the navel-ftring is loofed from it, in this form of words : De man banfam dim dam Nabmi N. N. ja dam nabmi bunurijl kalkak aellet, I wafh thee in the name of N. N., in which you will thrive. During this time fome one name either of the afore- faid, or taken from its anceftors, is given to the infant : the holy water was boiled toge- ther with the bark of the alder-tree, and fprinkled on the infant. "When afterwards the child falls ill, or cries more than it fliould, it is imputed to no other caufe than becaufe a juft and genuine name was not given it ; and alfo afTerted, that there was an anceftor by whofe name he could be more properly and fitly called. A new wafliing was undertaken, when a new name was acquired, taken from one of his anceftors ; and this is the reafoa w hy you meet with Laplanders frequently that have two or three names, one of which is given in baptifm, the reft in private wafhings. But it would be an eafy matter to prove by inftances that there are Laplanders who, befides the family name given by the 3 Q 2 prielt ^84 ACCOUNT OF DANISH tAPLAND BY LEEMS. prieft In baptifin in the ufual manner, had alfo other names : one example will be fuffi- cient. When at a place at Porfanger bay, called in the Norwegian Horrigen, in the Lapland Vueppe, there were two young men, one named Nicholas, the other Gunner : whenever thefe fpoke together, by a cullom received in Norway, they addreffed each other as if named alike, ufmg this form, Gaimazhjam, that is, my dear namefake. This feemed llrange to me at fird, well !;novving the one was named Gunner, and the other Nicholas. The circumftance explained itfelf, when, in addition to the baptifmal name, I learned that another, and a different one from it, was given to each in the domeftic waflnng, namely, Quive, by which they were each double named and namefakes. When the ceremony of wafliing was over, a certain meat and drink, called in Lap- land NcaaiJe Borromujh and Noaadc-Ji/kiami/p, that is, magic meat and drink, was pre- pared for the child, to the intent that he fhould take in with thefe feafls the magic art, and that he fhould be folemnly initiated in them. Then a folemn feafl was made for the fake of him, which when it was ended, they took care that he fliould be inflrufled in the Juoigen, or that very celebrated long, fo familiar to, and fo much ufed by, the Laplanders, fo that the boy before he could fpeak diltinctly had maftered the elements of this rude melody, or if it pleafes better, this howling. They further taught him, as he advanced in years and underlfanding, the myfleries of the nefarious and diabolic art, and the whole method of idol facrifice and worfliip. It was a cuftom with them to put a piece of lleel, as a charm againft any ill, with infants in the cradle. It was cultomary too among them to offer vows up in the temples for the recovery of the fick, which a£l was called in the Lapland Kirkoi Zhjmrvot, to invoke the temple. Some Laplanders difcharging this duty, ufually rowed out into the open fea, and in boats which they turned round three times with the courfe of the fun, made their fupplications on their bent koees. They declined being numbered in the regifters, or telling the amount, left a computation of this kind fliould portend and entail on them the deflrudtion and death of their friends. In the coffins of the deceafed it was their cuftom to put up food, that they may have wherewith to fubfift on. A deceafed perfon was laid in the porch of the temple of Alten, on account of the cold, which was at time ex- treme, and prevented it from being then buried, in order that it fliould be taken to the - grave when the weather would admit. Meantime it happened that fome curious perfon removing the lid, and looking into the coffin, perceived a fpoon and a cake of meal baked lying by the fide of the corpfe. They are alfo faid to put up the bow and arrow they ufually ufed when hunting in the coffin with them. The rein-deer which drew the deceafed to the grave was flain as a victim, and when eaten, the bones were interred. When the body was buried, it was ufual to cover with a ftone that part of the cot where the body lay before fepulture: and as often as any of the family died, they inftantly quitted the place and went clfewhere to live. It was a pradice among fome to hang up a fheep's bone, wrapt up in hay and wool, in a hay-loft, to protect the cattle, as they fuperftitioufly feigned, againft the injury and feverity of a cold March. To mark the cattle with the fign of the crofs ; to hang on a cow, near the time of parturition, a piece of fteel to hit againft, and give good luck to the young, and to mark alfo their front, when juft born, with the fign of the crofs, after fprinkling equally the dam and the young with tiour, was cuftomary among the Lap- landers. It was counted impious in the males to feed on the beeftings of a cow that had juft calved, unlcfs they were fprinkled with meal. It fometimes happens that the rein-deer arc fuddenly carried off by death, for which rcafon the Laplanders, in poffeffion to-day of large herds, have in a little time few of them left. They impute iuch a calamity to the place, and for that rcafon not only quit it. ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 48^ it, going to another at a confiderable diftance from it, but burn all the excrement of the animal before they depart. Women are not permitted to eat the flefli of the head of the rein-deer. It is not permitted to males or females to eat of the limb of any animal, when they have felt a like pain with it in their own ; fo that fhould a Laplander happen to be ill in his eyes or back, he fliould religioufly abftain from the eating of the eyes and back of the ajiimal. The Laplanders to a man refrain mo fl: obflinately from eating fwine's flefli. If you enquire the caufe of this abflinence, they tell you that fwine are the magicians' horfes. That they are averfe to it in reality I am convinced ; but the true caufe it has not been in my power ever to afcertain, nor will one eafily be led to think that they themfelves aflign the true reafon. But they call the fwine Tazhja-Guouzhja, that is, the Norman, or Norwegian, bear, doubtlefsly for this reafon, that this animal, whofe flefh the Nor- wegians fo eagerly eat, is not much unlike the bear in form. They have a fancy that beads, birds, and filTi are averfe to the places where facred buildings have been raifed, and for this reafon very feldom attempt hunting in places of this kind, by reafon of their diftrull of fuccefs. Whenever any of the family went out to fifh, thofe who remained at home thought it impious to put a brand in a veffei filled with water to extinguifli it, left an injury fhould happen to the fifhermen. On their return they did not like to fpread their fifli on that part of the fhore which the women frequented, thinking if they did that their fuccefs would be baulked by it. Whenever a Laplander took a greater flounder, as called, he ufually marked it with the fign of the crois, when he took out the hook. It was accounted impious to put the water in which this fifh was boiled before a fhe-goat to drink, left the abundance and catching fliould derive any detriment from it. They are not very willing to call a bear by his proper and genuine name, Guoazhja, fearing left fo doing the favage beaft would tear their herds more mercilefsly ; they call him then, fupprefhng the name Moedda-Aigja, the old man with the fur garment. Bears when killed have been brought home in a kind of triumph. On their return they erefted a cot near that in which they refided, into which they did not enter until they had at firft ftript off their cloaths, confidering it as impious to enter it in the cloaths in which they had killed the bear. The males Itayed three days here, but the women during that time inhabited the cot : in the meantime no one was permitted to enter the dwelling of another. In the newly-erefted cot the males cooked the bear's flefli ; on which occafion they did not ufe the accuftomed term Vuojldjam, cook, but Gtiordcjlajii in its place. When cooked the men regaled themielves with it, giving part of it to the women, with fpecial care that they fliould not have any part of the haunch, nor that it fhould be given them through the ufual door, but put in through a rent made in the covering of the cot, in the place where the pots and kettles were put, mentioned in Chapter V. Through this place, by which bear's as well as rein-deer's flefh was put in, neither entrance nor outlet was permitted to the women. When the bear's flefli was confunied, the bones were laid in the earth ; and after three days that they lived feparately, a mutual intercourfe was then opened for them. He who had the good fortune of killing the bear from that time took it ill if any one pafled behind him. Schefter tedioufly defcribes a great number of fuperftitious ceremonies ufed in bear- hunting, the truth of all I cannot vouch for, neither from what I adtually know, or hear ■ from others; for in that part of the country in which I dilcharged the function of a mifTionary a bear was feldom killed : and to the whole of this account of his on this part of the fubjed I agree; nor is there any thing in it that exceeds an ordinary belief, in rav opinion, 8 When i^S6 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. When difcharglng leaden balls from their mufkets they make ufe of obfcene expref- •fions, and were of an opinion that the wolf had the power of fafcinating their pieces, and could prevent their hitting the mark. A certain bird, of black colour, with a white ftreak going round the neck, a conftant inhabitant of the catarads, called in Lapland Kuoik-Garbeek, in Norwegian Ehe-Kaldf was counted lucky ; could any one catch fuch a bird, he kept it carefully and had it in great eflimation. A certain Laplander of the mountains, by name John Jonfon, by the Laplanders called Hano, a man of wealth, living at Ozejok, a place then belonging to Swediih Lapland, was faid to have taken a bird of this fort, and to have kept it alive as a thing of faci-ed and ineflimablc value, in a white {hoe, or Kamag, and would not fling it away when dead, but preferved it as an objed of great value, little doubting that for- tune would be propitious to him while he kept this bird. On this man fee more in Chapter XV. on the manners of the Laplandere. 1 If any man happened to come under a tree where the cuckoo kept, and it raifed its note before it fled, he thought it a happy omen for him. To have found the eggs of this bird was regarded as a happy omen ; the head of the perfon who eat the eggs of fuch a bird was to be covered with a kettle. To kill a cuckoo was always thought ill luck. And if any one heard him when fading, in the beginning of fpring, this was deemed an unluky omen, that he would be on bad terms all the next year with his neighbour. To avert this bad omen he forthwith tore the bark from the firll tree that prefented itfelf to eat, after going three times round it. If any one in the beginning of fpring had heard the cry of the km, a kind of large bird, when falling, he perfuaded himfelf that all that year's produce of milk could not be curdled, or turned into cream, but would be like whey. They had a fuperflition too, that if they played with fire even injeft, that the young of the rein-deer would be blind. It was a cuftom alfo to mark the doors with the fign of the crofs. It is apparent, that the fun in Lapland in the winter, for the fpace of feven weeks, is below the plane of the horizon, and under the lower hemifphere ; and that the fame does not fet in fummer for the faid fpace of time ; and hence a cuftom, that on its re- turn after feven weeks darknefs they anoint their doors. They have a foolifli belief, that ftones which are weightier than their fize and out- ward figure feem to require, had in them fomething preternatural and uncommon. They believed that thunder ftruck their wizards with horror, even killed them. With this perfuafion not a fmall number of Nowegians was imprefl'ed. Hence the pro- verb. That if thunder did not exift, wizards would deftroy the univerfe. They fay, that, on the fight of lightning, they run up and down the woods, ftruck with horror, until they find a hollow tree to conceal themfelves in, which was juft blafted with lightning. There is no doubt but that the Laplanders cheriflied many more fuperftitions, but to dwell longer on them would be tedious, having already adduced examples enough to prove to demonftration the errors of this moft miferable people. Chap. XXIIL— 0« the Lapland Mijiotu A CERTAIN diftinguiftied bifliop of Drontheim, named Eric Bredal, who filled the epifcopal fee from the year 1643 to 1672, exerted himfelf with the greateft induftry in the inllruftion of the Laplanders in divine knowledge. He not only made learned mafters, but even in his own houfe took care that the children of the Laplanders Ihould be inftru<^ed, as alfo at the houfes of many of the clergy in the country. Thofe who ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. 4S7 >fc'ho had attained a due knowledge of the divine truths were difpeifed here and there through the mountains by the command of the bifhop, among the Laplanders to be yet inilrufted in their duty. Yet this diflribution did not produce, from a variety of obftaclcsthat occurred>that inltrudion and converfion of the Laplanders to the extent that was wilhed for. But the royal million, which was mofl gracioufly inftituted in the year 1714, has brought the Laplanders to that degree of Chriflian knowledge, fur- rounded before with thick clouds of error, that the light of the divine evangelifts and the glory of the Lord now fhines on them, which as being the fingular blefling of the ever adored and Almighty God, united with the unv^earied and chriltian endeavours of the Danifli kings, the whole band of Chriftian princes fliould follow with gratitude. This mifllon extended through all the governments under the Danilh fceptre, and of courfe through three provinces, namely, Finmark, Norland, and no fmall part of the province of Drontheim. This pious and glorious work was begun in the following manner : Frederick IV. of bleffed memory, when he came to the throne, fent a certain expert and able man, (for he had long before turned over this miffion in his mind,) named Paul Refen, to the northern countries and Finmark ; who, on examining thele countries, fliould bring in an exafl: report of them to his Serene and Royal Majefty. This Paul Refen, who was afterwards commiiTary and camp mafter at Bergen, reported his knowledge on this matter in the year 1 707. When this was done, his Majefty ilfued his mandate to Doftor Peter Krog, billiop of the diocefe of Drontheim, for the purpofe of felefting capable men for difcharging the duty of the miflion in the northern countries, and in Finmark. In the year 17 14 a ftrong hand was put to this work, as mentioned above, yet it is as yet referved for the glorious undertaking of their Serene Majefties of Den- mark. A college was therefore erected at Copenhagen, for promoting the progrefs of evangelical learning, by the father of his country and of the church, in the feat of empire, who, that he might the more eafily compafs his objeft, joined his counfels with men of confiderable knowledge, and fuch as were zealous for the extenfion of the church of Chrift, natives as well as foreigners, concerning the completion of this pious and glorious work. This plan made for the converfion of the Gentiles, containing thirty-one articles, he took care fliould be printed en the 19th of January 1715, in Danifli and German, which, by a circular letter, figned on the 9th of March of the fame year, he fent not only to all the governors of the provinces and the bifliops, in Denmark and Norway, commanding that they fliould publifli it in their provinces, but fent it alfo to others, natives as well as foreigners, particularly in a letter written in Latin, to the So- ciety at London for propagating the knowledge of the Chriftian religion. When thii was done promifes of aid and counfels for fupporting this work came from all quarters^ Seven very learned men and divines of the kingdom peculiarly zealous for the propa- gation in the diocefe of Drontheim compoi'ed this glorious counfel : thefe were Janus Juul, pallor of the church and prefident of the Nordmaern prefidency : Amund Barhorv, paftor of the church of Quernaes, in the fame prefedure. Tho- mas von Weften, then paftor of the congregation in the prefidency of Romfdal, afterwards reader of theology at Drontheim, and. vicarj of the college of miflion, &c. &c. &c. After thefe had fuccefsfully difcharged the duties of their truft, three pious and worthy miifionaries were fent into Finmark, in three divifions ; the firft into Waranger: and Thana, in the eaft ; the fccond into Laxefiord bay, in the eafl:, and to the bay of Porfanger ; the third, to Halfund, and the diflrid of the bay of Alton, in the weftern Finmark, But 488 ♦ ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS, But the great incovenlences that the Lapland mifTionary has to flruggle with may be eafily judged, from the reception he meets with in the hut of the maritime inhabitant where he puts up ; from his living among his cattle ; annoyed with their naftinefs ; the difagreeable and offenfive fmells excited from it. What this is may be eafily in- ferred by thofe who, from their early days have not been ufed to this fituation. Nor is he better off with the mountain Laplander. His habitation is no better than a fmall boughed cot, [full of rents, which are not even in the middle of winter, flopped up. He is ever annoyed with thick black fmoke : from the inftant the fire is lighted the whole cot is filled, from the vent-hole in the roof to the bottom, with an abundance of the foulefl fmoke, that the eyes can fcarcely be opened without injury. As the fire kindles up it decreafes a little, that, fliould a traveller fit even on the ground, yet he cannot get out of the fphere of it ; but never is he more plagued than when the wind vehemently blows all over the cot ; then it rages with all its fury ; that, enveloped in a thick mift of it, he is furrounded, not without a fignal injury to his eyes. To this is added the further moleftation, equal to the former, namely, the vapour that afcends from the wfood frefh cut and moift, when laid on the fire. The foul va- pour of tliis is fometimes even worfe than the fmoke itfelf. To the other incommodities is added, and with reafon, that infufFerable cold, which attacks this quarter of the world beyond the conception of any man, and even pene- trates with eafe into the open tents of the Laplanders For it often happened to my. felf while among the mountaineers, that, on waking in the morning, I could perceive under the blanket of fkins that covered me, my breath turned to a hoar froft. When fitting to write on the floor of the cot, on the defli placed between my legs, though the inkftand was placed near the hearth, heated with a conftant fire, yet it has happened more than once that the ink froze, while writing, in the pen. When I took a place at the fire to warm myfelf, my feet, as turned to the hearth, were warmed even to fcorching, while my back, which was from the fire, trembled almofl: through cold. But the excefs of the cold in winter how great it is in the Lapland mountains will appear from thisac- . count of mine from experience. A fire is kept continually burning, as is the cuftom of this people, piled up in the middle of the tent, recruited with frelh fuel perpetually put on it. The covering is at the diftance of three ells from the fire-place. This, when ftated, who could imagine that a blazing fire, and burfting out into high flames, could not prevent its freezing within, or at lead that it would thaw and prevent the cold from hardening froft in the tent ? Bnt the very contrary is the eft'eft. For, when fitting before the fire, I well remember what exceeds belief, I found that part of the wall which, by reafon of the fhade of my body did not receive the heat of the fire, frozen, and retain on its furface as it were my likenefs painted in white. Nor was there a fmall inconvenience from the want of good and wholefome beverage : for whether in the tent of a mountain or marijime Laplander, there was nothing to quench the third: but cold water, fometimes mingled with fnow ; and on failure of this, the fnow alone was melted in a kettle over the fire. Nor mufl: a millionary expeft, in hofpitable receptions of this fort, a foft and downy bed, in whofe place is fubftitnted a rough rein-deer's hide, on the bare ground, or at leafL on a few plained pieces of wood, with the traveller's cloaths placed under his head as a pillow. When laid down to repofe, he well nigh touches the fnow with his head, removed at Icaft from it by a palm's fpace; for he lies on the ground, his feet toward the fire, and his head agaiiilt the wall, which, as obferved above, is on the extremity, fur- rounded with perpetual fnows, and intrenched as if by a rampart. In ACCOUNT OF DANISH I.APLAND BY LEEMS. 4S9 In aJJition to all thefe incommodities which gather round a milfionary in this pan of the world, that inquietude, painful enough, arifiiig from being ncceflarily conftrained to the cot of the Laplanders family, is flill in the rear. When at l.-ilure lor liudy and meditation, the mind looks for retirement and tranquility. But the miflionary nuift meditate in the cot itfelf, in the midfl of the occupations and talk of the fervants, the crying of infants in their cradle ; or he mufl walk out in the open air, where the cold and falling fnows in no fmall degree difturb his mind, intent on ftudy and meditation. All thefe evils I have experienced, not ignorant that you my brethren will have to ftruggle, appointed to the fame office, as I formerly have been, with all the incommo- dities and moleflations I havejuft dcfcribed. It fometimes happens that a miflionary traverfing the mountains in winter, in dif- charge of his duty, comes to the tent of a Laplander, at the time when he is preparing to go to another quarter, on account of a deficiency of mofs, which the rein-deer have eat up in the place he has. He takes with him his tent, his family, and his whole herd of rein-deer, now in need of fubfufence. In this cale he is obliged to follow the Laplanders as he wanders, regardlefs of air, of cold or fnows, finding no reft until the Laplandeir, after he has found a place fit for himfelf and his rein-deer, novv' wanting to be fed, has pitched and fully furnifhed the cot, clearing away the fiiow, and ftt d it up with all its props and appendages. It happens alfo that the miflionary together with his fellow guide which they call ibemMvesOaoppes, when travelling through the mountains, n^eets with a great fall of fnow direftly in his eyes and face, that he is under the necellity of veiling both, left he fhould be altogether overpowered by the exceflive hec'.ps which are v^liirletl about by the wind in circles. Kc who is in this predicament, is fo buried by the falling and agitated fnow, as if in an exceflive thick mift, as fcarcely to be able to fee the rein-Jeer that draws him, a circumflance that often befcl me when paflir.g over the mountains. And fince the traveller is almoft deprived of all ufe of fight, by this misfortune, it fol- lows, that there is danger, left getting out of the right path, on account of the various and oppofing precipices, he fiiould fall into the greateft rifqne of his life ; and doubt- lefsly many would have periflied, did not theGod of Ifrael, who governs the miiverfe by his providence prcteit them under the covering of his wings. Another inconvenience arifes from the ice, when the cold is very fevere, and much fnow is falling, faftening on the cheeks of the travellers, which like a plate covering the face, is afterwards torn oft", and from icicles flicking to the eye brows, which cc- cafions much painful trouble to thofe who are not, from their early years, accuftonicd to thefe ills. Even when you have got over thefe incommodities and dangers you are arrived in a cot filled with the fouleft fmoke, a circumftance which creates no fmall de- gree of moleftation to the traveller, and to pafs over the other ills, it is fufficient to men- tion this one alone, that if his ftay is many days in the cot, this fmoke caufes liis face to inflame, and fvvell up with a variety of puftules. Should it ever happen, which in reality happened to a miflionary in pafling over the mountains, either that the length of the way, or the heap of fnows falling, or for any other reafon whatever, night now prelling on, you cannot reach any one inn, you niuft then remain under the open fky without covering, keeping off the cold and Ihows, in the fledge through the whole night, or if the place happens to be woody you muft re- main under the covering of fome trees, cut down from the higheft wood, driven into the ground and covered over with a thick linen canopy, which the traveller takes with him for this purpofe until the break of day. This flicker, vile and broken as it is, is better than being in the open air j each mode of pafling the night from experience is known VOL. 1. 3 R to 490 ACCOUNT OF DANISH LAPLAND BY LEEMS. to me. And to comprehend all in a few words, fo many inconveniences and diflrefles furround and exercife a Lapland miffionary, fo many labours to undergo, whether you look to the cold of the climate, which in its feafon is almoft infufFerable, or reflecl on the reception you meet with in a fmall and fmoky cot, or the fiiftenance of it, fuch as congealed rein-deer's milk, fpring water, and that fometimcs exceffivcly cold, and mingled with fnow, kc. with other innumerable ills in recounting which I am fcarce able to conclude, that it muft be attributed to the fpecial providence of God, and to him alone, that men not accuftomed to the climate and manners of this people, from their earlieft years, do not fink under thefe ills ; and efpecially thofe who do not enjoy a good ftate of health, fuch as myfelf, but are able to encounter and conquer all thefe evils without the lofs of their health or their lives. But here, as often ellewhere, the Divine power, wifely difpenfing all things in a maimer that is above the reach of human capacity, manifeftly dil'plays itfelf. During the term of my million, whatever feverities and diflreflfes I had to contend with I bore with equanimity and cheertulnefs, refigned and happy in the condition providence had placed me ; fiiould you alk and enquire the reafon, it is this ; that the Laplanders are of a difpofition fo gentle, mild, and traftable, that in their intercourfe with other nations fo much more poliflied in their own opinion as well as the in opinion of others, they feldom offend, a liberal, juft, or equitable mind, and provoke it to anger and indignation. He who refides among them, has no caufe of fear from them. The fpring of frelh water has for them a more lively relilh than wine ; that alooe caa allay their thirft. JN ( 491 ) AN ACCOUNT OF A VOTAGE FROM ARCHANGEL, IN RUSSIA. IN THE TEAR 1697, BT THOMAS ALLISON, COMMANDER OF THE SHIP* I SAILED over the bar of Archangel on the eighth of Oftober 1697, about four in the afternoon, in the fliip called the Amr, of 7 armoitib (burthen 2c;o tons), and bound for London ; by that time it grew dark, I came to an anchor, to get all things fad for the fca, the wind S. S. W., clofe wealhcB. The ninth (being Saturday \ by the firR light of the morning, I weighed anchor, and made the belt of my way ; at fi:^ in the evening I got the length of the land of Cats-nofc, the wind S.S.E., fine weather. Sunday, the tenth, at break of day, \ne, but the eddy winds came off the hills upon the point, and fwung the (hip's ftern fomevvhat too near the fliore. But thefqu.dl being over, the wind ea.ed, and blowing more into the bay (which by its looks proniifed well\ I hove up my anchor, and drove further into the depth of forty fathom, letting it then di-op again. By this time it grew dark, fo we gave her a whole cable, and rode in fixteen fathom. Then after ail things were (lowed, and we thoucrht ourfelves very well, and went to (upper, I felt the (hip to rub on the ground. I imnie- diately commanded the lead to be heaved over the poop, and found there was not above two fathom water. 1 hen 1 caufed two fakes of the cable to be taken in, and we rods with our (fern in feven fathom. Whereupon I got a fmall anchor and haulfer into my boat and rowed into the flat bay, in fixteen fathom ; by which means I heaved the (iiip further into the depth aforefaid, with very good ground. At the fame time I ordered the boat to foond round the (hip, and found the place where I rubbed on the ground to be a point of rocks lying from the main on the ibuth fide, but all over the bay elfe to be good ground ; fo we lay all night. Tuefday, the twenty-fixth, by day-light, I fent a boat with a mate to fee how things were about us ; who reported that in the bottom of the bay run in a good harbour, and likewife that fome houfes were in fight ; but upon my re-fending the boat, they were found without inhabitants. By that time thefe fearches had been made, night came on. (Note that we accounted fo much light to make day as was fufficient to read by, or wherewith we were able to difcern a boat at half a mile's dillance ; for though the fun might be at that time about three degrees high upon the me/idian, we being under high land, could not perceive his whole body.j Therell of our men on board were fitting the (hip, by mending the rig- ging and (ails; the wind at N. W., moderate weather, with fome fnow. That night I was much troubled with confideration of the place where we lay ; that if the wind (hould come to the N. E., with any gale, we might blow off the bank, and then into more hazardous, becaufe more unknown, places. Wednefday, the twenty-feventh, at break of day, I got my bed bow-anchor aboard, and warped further into the bay, where I rid, having withal two hauliers fadened to a rock on (hore. We continued to fit the (liip for the fea, when it (hould pleafe God to give us an opportunity. The wind was yet northerly, clear weather, lb that we faw land on the wfil fide over agaiail us, which we faw not the day of our firfl comini^' hi, and 1 judged it might be eight miles off. Thurfday, the twenty-eighth. This day proved very bad weather, with much fnow, and the wmd ihifting, Ibmetime at N. E , at N. and N. W., ib that we could not but acknov. ledge the providence of God in directing us to move where we were j for had it not been done, we mud have been blown from our former place. Then I went mvfelf to 4n| Allison's voyage from arch^vngel. to fearch, and founded the bay and harbour all over, and made what difcovery I could of things about us, finding a good watering-place, and plenty of wood near at hand. At mv return, upon complaint offoftieof our men's embezzling and ftealing our bread I ordered it to be locked up ; for it began to look with little hopes of getting out till the light moon came. We got a boat's load of wood and one of water that night on board ; and began to confider further as to our fafety in that place, lliould the wind wefler, and break our hauifer aihore. Friday, the twenty-ninth, at break of day, I went and founded from my bow-anchor to the eaftern fliore, and found forty fathom a little from it, fiill depthening towards the faid fncre. Whereupon arguing with myfelf, that after removal of the (hip further in, I might fet fail and come out as eafily, and yet in the m.ean time be fecure in the worft weather ; I removed farther into the harbour, even to the place where we lay all winter. This we had fcarce done, and made our Ihip fall, but it began to blow right in, and foon after it proved fuch a ftorm at N. W., that had we kept our late ftation we had in all likelihood been loft. Here again our men were made fenfible of tha goodnefs of God towards us, by a frelh inftance. Then having account that our peafe were unreafonably wafted, 1 ordered a barrel of them, with two great bags of bread, of two hundred and a half each, to be brought up into the round-houfe, with all fmall provisions, as butter, and cheefc, and fruit, to fecure them there ; and reduced our men to half allowance, that we mio^ht have fufficient wherewith to go to fea ; for here we abode as neceffity drove us, and not with any intent of refidence as yet. I obferved at this time the days to Ihorten exceedingly, being now not above faven hours, according to the explained meaning of day in the paragraph aforegoing. Saturday, the thirtieth, I moored the ftiip with two bowers to the often, along the bank, that is to fay, one to the S. E., and the other to the N. W., and carried both the kedge anchor and warp anchor aftiore^ and placed them together, each with one flook in the dry fliore, burying them with ftones, for the better holding. To one of thefe my kedge hauifer, to the other my ftream cable, was faftened, likewife a new tow-line to a great ftone, lying all as one to the W. '^. W. ; fo between all thefe flie fwung by the head. Take notice, the harbour was in fafliion like an oven, lying S. E. and N. W., being a niile from the mouth to the bottom, and two cables' length, viz. four hundred yards in breadth or widenefs : lying thus we fliut the oven's mouth, that is, we could not, fo lying, fee into the wide fuel. My beft bower lay in twenty-one fathom, and my fmall bower in nineteen; the middle of the harbour being of that depth, both upward antl downward, but ftiowling toward either fide, with good clay ground. It blew hard all day, with much ihow, and fome finall rain ; fo I fpread a fail over my main-deck, the weather being fo fliarp, there was no Handing upon the fame without it. Sunday, the thirty-firft, it blew a ftorm all day at N. W., infomuch that we could not continue the covering aforefaid, but were forced to take it down, and put the fail together again. / Monday, November the firft, I fent all hands afliore to get firing ; for the fnow in- crcafing, we feared our wood would all be buried under it. Our ordinary mannerof wood- ing wiis to go in the long-boat, with fixteen or eighteen men, to the fliore upon which the trees grew, almoft I'roin the beach liidf way up the hills: they were birch moftly, with feme fmnll trees like willovs, the biggeft of either not exceeding a middling man's thigh, and the appearance of them above the fnow not above three yards. We cut them as the depth of the fnow fullered us, fome nearer, fome further from the root'; for the plenty we had, eafed us from digging much. Befides, unlefs the fnow was newly 7 fallen, Allison's voyage from archanoel. /95 fallen, the furface of it was fo hard crufted by the froft, as to bear ; notvvithftandiiig feme accidentally plunged in now and then, but recoverably. The dragging of the trees thereby was no Icfs eafy, being upon a defcent ; and we lopped them near the fhore, for convenient putting on board and flowage. We got that day a long-boat full, that is, about a cart load, as I judged, or more. Tuelilay, the fecond, I got two boats full of wood more. Much fnow fell this day in fqualis, with hard blalls from theN. W , till towards night. Wednefday, the third, it being fair weather, I fent my fkiff with hooks and lines to take filh ; but in the fui I they could find no ground with a hundred fathom of line ; yet they madelbme trial nearer the fhore, without perceiving any to bite. There were but four men employed in this expedition, the rcfl went with the long boat a wooding as be- fore, but with greater toil and labour, occafioned from light fnow fallen the former night. This night alfo added more, it freezing hard withal, and the wind northerly. Thurfday, the fourth, it proved fair over head, the wind N. E., and moderate. This day we got a boat's load of water, confiding of four hogfheads full : at the fame time two of our men got up to the tops of the hills to the S. W. fide, to fee what they could difcover ; and brought word they had met with the prints of deers' hoofs, producing a piece of an old horn they had found as a teRimony. Likewife of bears, wolves, and foxes: thefe three are eafily dillinguifhed ; the imprefTion of the bear being flat and long, and like that of a human foot ; thofe of foxes and wolves are like dogs, the latter bigger. They faw fmall creatures too running and playing, which they believed were foxes. The watering crew alio faid they faw the fleps of deer where they had been. Friday, the fifth, the wind was at S. E., but with fuch a f^rm, that we could not think of loofing our ihip for the fea. However I fent fix men armed afhore, for difco- very, or what they could get ; but the wind and fnow was fo fevere upon their faces, that they could not proceed farther than the firll hill ; fo they returned, and only re- ported they faw a river on the eafl fide of the hill that was frozen faff. Saturday, the fixth, I got a boat load of wood. It froze extreme hard, the wind at N. E., turning to the N. W. towards night, and began to blow. Sunday, the feventh, it proved a frefh of wind, at N. W. all day, freezing hard. Monday, the eighth, it blew fo hard at S. S. W. that it broke all our fhore fafts, pulled home our imall bow anchor, and drove the fliip on the N. E. fliore, with her (tern aground ; but by good hap our bed bow anchor brought her up, and fwung the fliip into deep water ; fo we rode between our bow anchor, it proving moderate weather towards midnight. Tuefday, the ninth, I got my anchor on board, and moored the fhip in her old place, by laying the beft bower to the N. W., the flieet anchor to the S. E., and finall bower to the N. £., and carried all haulfers and tow-lines to the anchors on the dry fhore, to the W. S. W. of us. This we did as out of hopes of getting to fea this light moon ; for our rudder-head was wrung in pieces by a blow given againft the ground the dav be- fore, and fome\\hat damaged in the lower part. I then made the flrip as fnug as I could, by taking down our mizen-topmaft, crotched-yard, and fpritfail yard, with our low yards, fore and aft ; but our fails we could not unbend, being fo hard frozen. The wind came N. W., which forwarded us in faltening our fiiip, and that was both our day and night's "ork. Wednefday, the tenth, 1 got two haulfers more afhore, it blowing a hard gale at S. E. till ten at night. Then the wind altered and became f;iir. About tiiis time the hawks we had on board all died, within a few hours one of another. We had Hkev/ife three foxes to have been brought over, one of which our men eat fome days before unknown \ 496 • ALLISON S VOYAGE FROM ARCHANGEL. unknown to me ; and this day they roafleJ another, which I faw, the flefli looking black like a hare ; but upon tafte, I liked no fuch rank venifon. The third ran down into the hold, and could not be prefently found ; but a month after having played the ' thief with a piece of our beef, he was knocked on the head and being too lean for food, was thrown overboard. Thurfday, the eleventh, it fnowed much, but thawed as it fell ; the wind at N. W. with a flrong gale. I made all halte pofiible to get our rudder head mended, by fixing a piece of plank on the one fide of it. It being bad weather, that was all we could do in a day's fpace, which exceeded not fix hours, and no better than twilight. Neither could our men endure the air at fuch work, longer than a quarter of an hour, without coming in to warm themfelves. Friday, the tvvelith, I got another piece of plank on the other fide of the rudder head, it proving handfome weather and very clear; whereby we perceived fomething in the lower part of the rudder as broken, but upon trial with our poles and boat hooks, found only a fmall piece of the head bruifed, with damage incon- fiderable. Saturday, the thirteenth, it proved fair, but with fome fnow. I took the boat and rowed into the bay, on the other fide of the point, and at the bottom of it I found a river running in, but ib frozen as to hinder further difcovery of it ; but by founding the entrance, we found twelve foot water at half tide. Going aflioreon the N. fide I faw a great run of water falling into the bay thereby, near the fliore along a woody valley. Kot far from this place, I obferved the fnow to lie in ridges, (fuch as we make upon land, where w^efow our winter corn), its furface being hard crufled vith ice, with fome- thing appearing above it like ftraw. There w ere little more than the bare ears without any grain in thcin, four or five inches long : fo that thereby I had hold enough with my hand to pull up the whole flalk, which was about three feet in length. I v.as under full belief that this was barley, but I could not fatisfy myfelf, that any had been reaped off there, feeing the fnow covered the ftubble. To the unbelieving reader I have only this to offer, to evince the poffibility of it, viz. that the loil was good, as appeared by the plenty of wood near it, theouzy fliore, and clayed bottom of the bav ; the place lying open to the S and defended againft the N. E. by the mountains. Withal it muff be confidered that the fun is here about fix v.eeks above the horizon, ;ind the d.iys before and after much longer than with us in England at thofe times. That the bringing of this grain to perfeclion requires not above lourteen weeks after feed time, in niore fouthcrn regions. At Narva in Livonia, 1 myfelf have known the fame corn in the ear, within a month or five weeks after it appeared above ground. Hereabout I found an anchoring place, but fo fteep that whoever ufes it, muff trufl: chiefly to the fads he nrakes on ihore. 'J'herc was another alfo at the bottom of the bay, a mile in ; but the hafly departure of light made our difcovery incomplete. So \ve returned all of us onboard miferably cold. I could not but obferve that as we went and came by i\\cfucl the wind was at N. W. but w here the fliip rode, our men on board had it all day eafterly. Sunday, the fourteenth, it blew a hard dorm at N. W., pulling home our beft bow- anchor, until fuch time as the fmall bower and haulfcrs alhore ailifted ; and then by ;dl three fhe rode, till the gale was over, which was not before nine at night. Monday, the fifteenth, the wind was at N. fair ; and wc hauled our flieet anchor farther into the bay. Tuefday, the fixtccnth, we had a hard gale at E. N. E., fo that it pulled home our flieet anchor. There was much fnow all day and night ; the wind alter fome time coming Allison's voyage from archangel. 497 coming to the N. N. E. with fomewhat more moderate weather. At this time two of our company were mightily for fitting up a houfe upon land, and putting provifions therein for fubfiftence, in cafe we Ihould be forced afhore and wrecked. But I could not comply with fuch advice ; knowing the fhip to be warmer than any thing we could build afhore, with the materials, time, and light we had to do it. Withal I imagined, that if wc had had a place to our wifli upon Terra Firma, I could not have periuadcd them to do what they did ; but that the only way of preferving ourfelves and all we had about us, was by keeping it together, and making the fliip the fole place of retreat and refuge. Befides, I ever fpurred them up to action, expreiling daily the hopes I had of getting out ; forefeeing that by their fitting altogether by the fire, they might grow difeafed and unfit for fervice : on the contrary, that exercife, and the ex- pofing themfelves to the air frequently, would render them more hardy and healthy. Wednefday, the feventeenth, 'twas handfome weather of wind, and that at N. W., but with much fnow, yet we hauled out our fheet anchor again. Thurfday, the eighteenth, for wind as before. I began now to confider, that the frofl might render our iron anchors fo brittle, as to make our dependence on them not fecure. Thereupon taking with me fome men afliorewith iron crows and fhovels, I endeavoured to break ground ; which when I found poflible, I ordered the carpenter to cut a new mizen maft I had on board, not yet ufed. Of the biggefl: end I took twelve foot, and (after a hole of feven foot deep had been digged, with no fmall labour), I placed it, filling the hole with earth, llores and water, which being frozen, might the better fix it, as a poll for a cable to be faftened to. But that night I forbore ufing it ; being not willing to Ihake it, before it was fully eftablifhed. The httle light we had was not above five hours continuance. Friday, the nineteenth, it blew ftrongly from the S. S. E. and held very clear. As foon as it was light, I got my beft bower cable hauled up ; I took alfo a piece of a junk cable about twenty fathoms long, and made it fall to the (lake above-mentioned (which flood off to the S. and by W.) and feafed an eye at the other end. Then I took one end of my beft bower cable, (the other being faft to the anchor), and after I had made an eye on that alfo, with two luff tackles, I brought both as near as I could together, which was within three fathoms, and feafed them. This I had fcarce done, but there came down fo much wind at S. S. E. that we feared all would have been pulled to pieces : but [every thing holding fo well, our men could not but acknowledge the hand of divine providence in what had been done that day : for hereby we were preferved, not only then, but all the winter. Saturday, the twentieth, by the firft light of our flender day, we perceived our fkifF full of water at our ftern, which we hoifted on board to mend again. You muft note we could keep no right watch ; our men not being able to walk the deck half an hour for cold. I now made (bid inquiry into the quantity we had of peafe left, getting a barrel out, and meafuring them. Of thefe afterwards I delivered out four quarts a day for all our Ihip's company, being twenty-four men and boys, and this I did four days in a week. I likewife made fearch into our other provifions, and found we had five hundred and thirty pieces of beef, of four pounds each. Of fifli we had but fix days left ; allowing four North-fea rods a day : nine days flour and cheefe ; allowing two pounds of cheefe a day, for four men, with a kettle of hafty pudding, for the whole Ihip's company ; that being the beft way of ufing my flour. Seeing now little hopes of getting home before March at the fooneft, we confidered, ttiat ftore muft be kept for the fea, when VOL. I. 38 it 49? allisqn's voyage from archangel. it fhould pleafe God to fend us thither; nor had we reafonable expeftation of getting relief in this place. Sunday, the twenty-firft, ©ne of our boys complained of his feet being fore ; our furgeon immediately viewing them, found the effetl of the froft there up to his ancles; efpecially one very dangeroufly : but by his fkill and diligence, he recovered them in ten days. , Monday, the twenty-fecbnd, it proving fair, we fetched a boat of wood ; great quan- tities of which we burnt every day. And here it will not be amifs to mention our manner of keeping fire. I caufed the iron hearth in the fore-caftle to be brought into the fteerage, and ordered the carpenter to make a hearth as big as conveniently could {land in the fore-caftle ; which was five feet nine inches fquare every way. Then I fent afliore for as much clay, and as many ftones as filled it up : this was fufficient to accommodate fixteen men fitting clofe about it at once. Moreover I direfted the cooper for making a chimney to the fteerage, in the manner following, viz. by ftaving an empty butt, or pipe, and reducing the ftaves at one end, to the breadth of two inches each, fo that being hooped again, it exceeded not the widenefs of a firkin at the top, keeping the former breadth or capacity in the middle, ftill enlarging or ftanding more open at the bottom. The diftances or interftices there between the ftaves, we filled with pieces of wood, and made all tight with clay and ftones, which when we had fo finiflied, we placed upon the grating. This made the fteerage very warm ; but in all the time we kept fire there, we were obliged to keep the door open for admittance of wind, to give the fmoke vent. About eight this night the wind came to the S. S. E. with fnow and hard froft ; but at two in the morning, there was clear good weather. Tuefday the twenty-third, we had no foul weather, but fo clofe, that we could fcarce call that light we had, day. However we made ftiift to get a boat of wood, being in great fear of lofing the day wholly. At eight at night it blew from the S. S. E., but towards midnight the wind came more to the eaftward, with handfome weather. Wednefday, the twenty-fourth, it proved fair and clear, the wind foutherly. We cleared the deck of fnow and ice, which was grown a foot thick near the fcuppers. 'Twas fometimes fqually, but at eventide I faw the northern glance : that is, a ftream of light enlightening all the hemifphere, fo as one may read very well with it. 'Tis of a pale yellow or buff colour, like the inmoft circle of the rain-bow, appearing for a quarter of an hour, then vaniftiing and renewing itfelf again, by intervals during the fpace of five or fix hours. Sometimes this meteor feems a bright nimble-moving cloud ; at another time two of them, rufliing and encountering one another, like armies en- . gaged, and now and then I have thought with a grumbling noife akin to thunder. We reckon the froft to occafion them, and whatever reflefts or emits the light in that man- ner, cannot be far from the eye, being fo plainly to be difcerned, and fo exceeding fwift. Tiiurfday, the twenty-fifth, it being fair, I endeavoured to clear the hawfc, but there was fo much ice upon the cables, I could not do it. This day two of my men went up the hills, but wanted light, to make a difcovery. Friday, the twenty-fixth, ftill fair and clear, and by the light we had, I brought my beft bower cable, to the ftake on fliore, and ferved it well with old ropes, to prevent its chafing : the wind at E. JSf. E. and freezing hard. Saturday, the twenty-fcventh, it proved fair and calm, with fomc little fnow. I got a boat load of water, and ferved all our cables to prevent chafing, both afhore and at the hawfe, I had Allison's voyage from archanel. 499. I had complaint made me, that feme had ftolen fifli and broiled it ; but upon ftntt inquiry, I found fuch a thing could not be done privately : by reafon our men fat con- tiantly round the hearth in the fore-caftle, from fix or feven in the morning, till eight at night ; at which hour or foon after, I ever caufed the fire to be put out, fearing the continual keeping it might endanger the fhip, or occafion other diforders. Neverthe- lefs I caufed the fifh that hung overboard for watering, to be hauled in, and viewing it well, by the manner of it, I judged that the pieces diminifhed, were not cut off with a knife, but rather feemed bitten by fomc living creature ; which I fuppofed might be a feal, that I had feen fometinies about the fhip. So I put the fait fifli into a bag, and by a line himg it over the fliip for frefliening : and in the mean time I got a great fhark-hook, and baited it with a piece of the fame ; hanging it a foot under water, in a place where the feal ufed to fhow himfelf. I flood upon the watch ; and juft as it was dark the feal came and took it, making abufthng at the fide of the fhip. I prefently took hold of the rope, to which it was faflened, and found it too heavy for me, which made me call for help ; but before it came he got loofe, and I faw him fet his feet to the fhip's fide, and fling himfelf off : after this we faw him no more in the bay. Sunday, the twenty-eighth, it was flill calm, but with more fnow and clofe weather. Monday, the twenty-ninth, I hauled my fheet anchor further out, the wind at W. S. W. blowing frefli with fnow, but at four at night it began to thaw confiderably. I then fhared all the bread in the bread-room, being but five pounds and a half for each man. Tuefday, the thirtieth, it froze hard again, even our beer between decks ; fo that our anen could get nothing but water to drink, which had not flood above twelve hours, but became all ice. I confidered, that for them to drink warm water, might not bcfo good for their ftomachs, and to flave our cafks, would be of ill confequence for us, when we fhould have occafion for them at our going to fea. I then brought up a calk of my own honey, of which I diflributed about two pounds and a quarter to each man, for them to boil in their water, to make a kind of mead withal. This they drank, and were not offended with the ice in their mouths as before. The wind all this day at S. S. E., and the froft fo exceffive, that we feared the fpring heads would ere long tiil us, fo that we beflirred ourfelves for a boat load of water. Wednefday, December the firft, it proved fair, which encouraged me to fend my mate m the boat up the fuel, even before it was light ; chiefly to fee if there were any anchoring places for us to make ufe of, in cafe we fhould put out and not be able to re- gain our harbour. He returned and brought word, that he faw only two iflands on the W. fide, and that the fuel ran up a great way very wide, where they had much wind ; but where the fliip lay, we found little all day. Thurfday, the fecond, 'twas fair weather of wind out of the S. E. corner, but frozen hard all day, with fome fnow. You mufl know, our brightefl time now at noon, ex- ceeded not the light that comes an hour before fun-iife, in an equinoctial day in England. Friday, the third, the wind as before, and pretty calm flill, but freezing exceeding hard. Howbeit we went afliore for wood, of which we got not above two thirds of a boat full ; fo fhort was our day, and this efpecially fo very clofe, that we could not difcern the tops of the hills all that light. Saturday, the fourth, the wind kept at S. E., fair, and freezing hard, but towards night fome fnow. It was light now about but three hours and a half; as I t)bferved by my watch, which in my warm pocket went well, and (to my great comfort) kept its integrity in the worft of times. 332 Sunday, 500 Allison's voyaoe from archangel. Sunday, the fifth, we had fome weather of wind with feme fnow, and about three at night a fmall thaw. Monday, the fixth, being moderate weather, (but clofe and freezing) we fetched a boat of water. All our men went afhore ; fome with guns, and among them they (hot a white partridge, which was very good meat ; the reft employed themfelves in gather- ing mufcles, perriwinkles, and dills. Thefe dills are dark brown weeds, growing and hanging upon the rocks, and to be come at while low water : a fort of fea-plant or herb, common enough in the north of England, but more frequent in Scotland. There, I am told, they are eaten raw ; but by boiling they become loft, and look greener, tafting not much unlike a colewort. Our way of drefling them was, firft, to boil them in frefh water, which took away the faltnefs natural to them ; and after that boiling them again in our beef broth, they fupplied the place of a falad, to eat with our beef. By fome Scottifli men on board, we were happily inftrufted in the ufe of thefe. Tuefday, the feventh, it proved fair above head, the wind S. S. E. but freezing very hard. We got fome empty cafks from between decks to fill them, fearing more and more to depend upon the fprings. For our men were lately at a great lofs for them, and found it difficult digging in the ice. Their way was, when they went for water, to obferve the drains upon the {hore, and fo along the funken or depreffed places in the fnow, which were formed from the fprings of the upper grounds, joining in their defcent, and making gutters, fome with ftreams large enough to turn a little mill. The channels were covered with ice like a ceiling, under which the waters ran freely, but to come at it, they were forced to dig through fnow, and break through ice, to dip in their bowls and fill their pails ; which when full they carried to the boat, where the hoglheads flood with open heads to receive them. And notwithftanding they made all pofTible hafte aboard, and had not above a furlong to row, by that time they got to the fliip, the water would be covered with a pretty thick ice. The pails too thereby were fo frozen both within and without, as to weigh much more, and hold much lefs j ■and we were forced to thaw them continually, for a new day's fervice. Wednefday, the eighth, we had it fair and clear, with a fmall thaw, the wind wefterly. We filled fome water, and put it down into the hold. Thurfday, the ninth, we had very fair weather, and fo warm as to make a con- fiderable thaw : the wind W. S. W. Friday, the tenth, it was fair over head, but froze exceeding hard ; we fetched a boat load of water. Our men thought it good news, when I told them this was the (horteft day, and now we fhould make ourfelves ready for the fea, as fad as poffibly we could. In order thereto, I gave my chief mate direftions for rowing up the fuel on the morrow, to take a full view of the firfl bay we came by. This was matter of encouragement to them, and kept them in aftion, though I did it with little hopes of fudden benefit thereby. Saturday, the eleventh, it proving fair, I fent the boat into the outermoft bay to view- it, and get acquainted with fome place of fhelter, that we might make ufe of, in cafe we fliould not be able to regain the harbour, or proceed at our firfl putting out. They returned and brought me word, there was a good road within an ifland that lay in the bay : which made me refolve, if the weather held open that we could work, to make out for the fea by moonlight. Sunday, the twelfth, was a fair day, the wind at S. W. Monday, the thirteenth, it continuing fair weather, we got up our fprit-fail-yard and fore-yard crofs again ; filled a boat load of water, and got two wouldens on our rudder- head ; the wind caflerly. Tuefday, Allison's voyage from archangel. 501 Tuefday, the fourteenth, fo clofe all day as to be fcarce good twilight. A young man in our company took a Bible of" a fmall print, to try if he could read in it, but could not difcern his letters at twelve at noon. However I got up both my top-mafls and main-yard crofs, hoifted my mizen-yard, and hauled aboard one of my haufers. The wind at W. S. W. Wednefday, the fifteenth, we had as little light this day as the day before, with un- certain weather, fonietimcs blowing frelh and fometiines calm ; but the fcudd came very fwift out of the W. S. W. all day : we got but half a boat's load of -vood. At nine at night it blew a ftorm at N. W. with much fnow, that we were forced to ftrike our yards and top-mafts as fafl: as we could. Thurfday, the fixteenth, it continued blowing hard at W. N. W., fnowing much and freezing at fo extravagant a rate, that every thing became ice that was capable of being made fo. Friday, the feventeenth, it blew hard at S. S. E., with more fnow; and, at three at night, or in the after part of the day (as you will pleafe to call it,) it proved a ftorm out of the fame point. Saturday, the eighteenth, the wind was all foutherly, blowing hard, and freezing feverely, but dry over head. Bad as it was, v/e fetched a boat load of wood, and fome went afhore in the fkiff and got perriwinkles. It was ftrange how thefe little creatures could live, and endure fo much froft : for as foon as the water was gone from them, they would foon be covered with ice, but the returning tide melted it. Thefe we took off the fhore at low water, and brought them on board, where we boiled them in the ihells, and picked out the fnail, or that part that was meat. Sunday, the nineteenth, it blew hard at S. 8. W., with much fnow and hard froft. Monday, the twentieth, it blew defperately hard at N. E., with much fnow and fe« vere froft. Our day at this time was not four hours and a half long. Tuefday, the twenty-firft, in the morning the wind was at N. W., at noon all northerly ; at night N. E. with little fnow but continued froft. About this time I ob- ferved the fcooping or emptying of the boat, was a thing of too great labour for the boys to do, fo I ordered the men to take their turns ; this was very grievous to them ; for in a night's time it would be half full of fnow, and the water in the bottom frozen pretty thick ; fo that they muft firft throw out the fnow, then break a hole in the ice, and by that fcoop out the water, and at laft take away the ice with fliovels. The ftern of the boat too would, in that time, be covered four or five inches thick with ice, and aboot the edge of the water alfo, which we were forced to break off with mauls, or wooden beetles. During this, our people fuffered fo exceedingly, as to come aboai'd with their limbs almoft ftiff with cold, and their hair fo frozen as to hang with large icicles in the faftiion of great tags. Wednefday, the twenty-fecond, clofe fnowy weather all day, and the wind wefterly ; but by that lime it was quite dark it came to the N. E., blowing fredi. Here I think it proper to fet down my conftant obfervation of the fky towards the north pole, which I had made daily for four weeks laft paft : viz. that even during that time of light we called day, it continued always black, as if it were a dark cloud forerunning a fquall. It reached from N. W. to N. E. in the form of a rainbow, the arch elevated 15° or 20°, which made me conclude, that fomething farther to the N. there muft be a continual night all that while. Thurfday, the twenty-third, the morning was fair, but by noon the air was thick with fnow. I got a boat load of water and fome wood, and gave every man two pounds and a quarter of honey to make drink againft Chriftmas, I find no notice of wind 7 takea ^02 ALLISON S VOYAGE FROM ARCHANGEL. taken, this day, and likewife of feme few before ; but I am affiired It was too dark to think of flirring. We could not fee to eat our meat at noon without candles, of which we confunied plenty, bringing about five hundred weight from Rullia : for though we kept two lamps burning day and night, we yet ufed candles upon frequent and moving occafions. • Friday, the twenty-fourth, it proved fair and clear, the froft not exceflive ; fo that we cleaned our decks from fnow and ice. The' wind was northerly all day, but towards night it came to the E. Our men being very melancholy to think of their friends at home providing good cheer, I told them they fliould not pinch on the day following ; •and accordingly ordered every mefs fliould have full allowance. This put an end to that kind of difcourfe, and they feemed pleafed with the expedation of fuch a feall ; but though not of hauling fliarp * for it afterwards. Saturday, the 25th, being Chrifl:mas-day, in the former part of the day we had good weather, the wind at S. W., but for the latter part it blowed and fnowed. After dinner, i fpared out of my own {lore, to every two men, a bottle of ftrong beer, which they took thankfully, and made their hearts truly glad. About fix at night, as I was walking upon deck, I obferved it fo bright for a quarter of an hour, that we had it no lighter for fome days at noon, fmce our being here. This muft be from fome northern glance ; the more remarkable then, as unufual in clofe weather. Sunday, the twenty-fixth, it proved indifferent fair, with fmall fnow like rain ; that is, becoming drops of water, upon its alighting or falling upon the deck ; the wind at S. W. Monday, the twenty-feventh, I fetched a boat of water, the weather being fair and calm. This day I took up a hoglhead of the merchants honey, and fhared it equally, giving each man his part, to make mead as formerly. Tuefday, the twenty-eighth, the lad night was warm, and a fmall thaw we had j the day held fair, and the night enfuing continued calm. Wednefday, the twenty-ninth, ftill over head fair enough, but it froze again ex- ceflive hard ; the wind at N. E. The day was now five hours long, and at noon time we faw it was perfect day. Thurfday, the thirtieth, it blew hard at W. S. W., with fome fnow. I fent the long- boat a wooding, and three hands in the fkiif for water ; and the latter I accompanied, in order to vifit the infide of thofe houfes, that were juft by us, which our men dif- covered foon after our coming into this bay or cove. Here were dwelling-houfes fo» three families, as near as I could guefs, each having another for cattle adjoining, -and one for drying of fifli, which was open like a cage, with poles lying acrofs. I carried things with me f )r clearing the way to the doors from fnow ; and, approaching them, I found the dwelling-houfes were built above five feet from the ground, and twelve feet broad, in form round. The walls were made of floncs and mofs between them, infl:ead of mortar, and roofed with the fame, by the help of rafters or fplit trees, their lower ends reiting upon the wall, and their upper joining at the top againft a hollow flone, which ferved both for chimney and window. And for a hearth there was a flat ftone, laid fomewhat above the ground ; and on one fide a cabin, big enough for two people to lie in, with fome draw in it there left, which I guefled was all their bedding. In one of them I found a barrel of rye-meal, but fo bad as not to be ufed for food. We met there with a piece of a printed book, with a form of prayer therein, of the Danifh lan- guage J as one of our men told us, who underftood it, being by birth of that nation. * Seatcrm for pinching the belly. In Allison's voyage from archangel. 503 In the houfcs for cattle were ftalls and partitions of flicks eroding one another as hur- dles are made, fuch as are in gentlemen's Itables to part their llone-horfes, with boards too at the bottom. I'hey were fo fmall as to contain nothing bigger than fheep or goats ; the latter being more frtquent in the neighbouring countries. The doors of thefe folds or houfes were not above three feet and a half high, and two in breadth ; they were half full of fnow, fo that no dung could be obferved. To one houfe was an in- clofure like a yard, with a pond of water, but frozen. Likewife there was a place dif- cernible, where they hauled their boat upon land, when they had been a-fifliing. Friday, the thirty-firfl:, in the morning it blew hard at S. W., but the latter part of the day was very warm, and it fell a raining, and thawed very much. This made us . wifh for a light moon to be going with. Saturday, January the firft, it blew hard at W., but warm to admiration fo as to make a very great thaw ; even the tops of feveral fmall hills, that laid under the higher ones, became bare and clear of fnow. Withal a great deal of fnow that lay upon many parts of the fhip was melted oif. At the fame time came a great fea into the bay where we lay, breaking very high at the harbour's mouth ; but towards night the wind was at W. N. W. Sunday, the fecond, the wind was at S. W. blowing hard. It continued flill thaw- ing all this twenty-four hours. Monday, the third, we had a warm, fair, and dry day, with little wind, and that at ,S. W. This was the firfl: day we could open any fail fince we came in here : fo wc opened our mainfail to air it, and found no harm done to it, notwithftanding it had continued fo long furled up, which we greatly feared before. We got a boat of w ater too. Tuefday, the fourth, dill fair over head, and moderate as to wind, which was at the S. S.. W., but the frofl: had made its return. I fent the boat into the fuel to fee if they could take any fifli ; but they got none. One hoglhead of water more they got filled, and put between decks. Wednefday, the fifth, it blew frefli northerly, with fome fmall fnow, and froze hard again. I fent my men a-wooding where they could not but obferve, what alteration the late open weather had made upon the trees, difpofing them to flourifh, by moiften- ing their bark, and opening their buds confiderably ; which the returning cold had nipt again. Likewife upon the hills that were bare by the thaw, they found plenty of green juniper, of which they gathered, and brought on board a great many branches. Withal they peeled off the tender bark of the willow-like tree, and bound it up in feveral bundes, to hang *iea» the fire and dry, for an intended ufe. This over and above their load of wood, which they made good. Thurfday, the fixth, it was very fair over head, but blowing pretty hard at S. S. W., the froft too increafing. Yet they made fliift to get a boat of wood, with more juniper, and a quantity of bark as before. Friday, the feventh, it proved very bad vi^eather, the wind high at N. W., and much fnow again. This day's confinement gave our people leifure to advance a new pro- ject, and make trial of what they had got to fupply the want of tobacco ; with which had they been fufficiently flocked, it would have been a great relief to them, and a choice entertainment. For my own part I had juft enough to allow myfclf three or four pipes in a day, and could not find in my heart to fpare any to my befl friend : though it could not but grieve my fpirits to fee one fmoaking indead of it, mere rags of fuftian torn from a coat pocket. But this was before they found out the ufe of fome- thing more like it, being parts of dried plants : I mean the tops of juniper before men- 5 tioncd,, 5^4 ALLISON S VOYAGE FROM ARCHANGEL. tioned, and the willow-bark dried. Thefe they now begin to flired ftnall with a knife, and mix together in proportions according to each man's fancy, and to fill their pipes therewith. All that take tobacco know thefe have no agreement with the other as to virtue and efFeds ; nor yield the like pleafure nor benefit : but the fmoke, I am lure, was not ungrateful, and poflibly not unwholefome, both for the takers and company j and, in my opinion, it was no mean invention, in fuch extreme neceflity. Saturday, the eighth, the weather as bad as the day before, both of wind and fnow, and freezing hard. However we cleared our decks of fnow and ice, and flowed what wood we could fpare out of the forecaflle and fteerage, to make fit for the fea, having hopes that it would pltufe God to give us opportunity by this light moon. Sunday, the ninth, the night pall was very ftormy, blowing hard flill in the morn- ing at S. S E. with exceflive froft and fome fnow ; but towards noon the weather mended in all rcfpefts. Monday, the tenth, we had a ftorm out of the N. W., violent and furious, and, I think, with the mofl wind that ever I obferved in my life, though I have ufed the fea thefe thirty-eight years. It fnowed very hard withal, and froze at a great rate, info- much that the forepart of the fhip, by the daihing of the water againft her, and the mounting of the foam by the tempeft, had nothing but what was covered with ice. Tuefday, the eleventh, it continued blowing hard at N. W., with fnow and hard froft. The night pafl we loft thirteen pieces of beef, as they hung a-watering ; which was a great mortification to us. For our way was to put our beef into a wicker hamper, and hang it by a rope at the fliip's fide two feet under water ; now the rope gathering a quan- tity of ice, and the exceffive wind giving the fhip fome motion, it was thereby chafed afunder, and the beef let drop. It is to be obferved, that we could not frelhen our meat after the ufual manner at fea, by putting the fame into a tub of fea-water ; for that V ould have been all ice in a few hours, and the flefh ftill as hard and fait as before : the wicker hamper too was to preferve it from voracious fifhes, as the leal before fpoken of. Wednefday, the twelfth, it blew frefh at S. S. W., and froze fmartly. We got our warp anchor and two haufers on board, and made four pair of graplines or creepers, with which we went to try if we could hank the hamper, and recover the beef we loft two nights before ; but we were not lb lucky as to light upon it. But my mate in holding the line, while he was creeping or fearching for the ham- per, got the froft in his fingers, infomuch that the next morning he found blifters rifen upon them, and his thumbs as if they had been fcalded. And after the water was let out iDy opening them, his hands were fo raw as to make him incapable of going a- wooding. I'hurfday, the thirteenth, the wind was at S. E. and moderate enough, but the cold as rigorous as at any time before, and this day with a confiderable rime froft. How- ever we got a boat load of wood ; but when our men came aboard, they complained much of the froft being got into their feet and hands ; fome only bliftered, others turned black, and without feeling. Our chirurgeon opened the blifters, and by fo- mentations and other applications he recovered them ; and where it was turned black, he cut off the dead and fenfelefs part, and healed them after fome time : wherein he manifeftcd himfclf to have a good underftanding in his bufines, by the fuccefs he had ; feeing none had any lofs of an entire part or joint, but purely of what flefli or ikin was mortified before he faw it : and they all became lerviceable by that time I got home, ©r foon after. In juftice and gratitude I am obliged to mention his name, William Brown, oi Great I'armoKth, and educated there under his father of the fame pro- feflion. Friday, Allison's voyage from archangel. 505 Friday, the fourteenth, fair and clear weather we had, but it froze fo vehemently that I durfl: not let any man go out of the fliip, or do any work that day : cherlfliing and giving rcit to the difabled, and referving the found. Saturday, the fifteenth, (Hll clear as the day before, but freezing exceeding hard : the wind in the morning at N. E , but at night S. E. with a violent ftorm. At noon we reckoned the fun made his firfl bodily appearance in our part of the world, for the year enfuing : the day eight hours and a half long. Sunday the fixteenth, it blew hard at N. W. in the morning ; at noon the wind was at N. N. E. and freezing ; but not fo hard as before. Monday, the feventeenth, we had much wind at N. W. with fome fnow ; the frofl: too we looked upon as lefs vehement than formerly. Tuefday, the eighteenth, the morning was bluftering and cloudy ; the wind at N. W. At noon it cleared, and we faw the fun-beams gilding the tops of feveral hills, to our great joy and comfort ; for we had not feen funfhine before in ten weeks. Afternoon the wind came to the N. E. j fine weather ; we got a boat load of wood and two hogflieads of water. The latter was difficult to come at, the fprings being all frozea up, only the run of the great fpring we found gliding under the full fea-mark. Wednefday, the nineteenth, it was calm and good weather ; I caufed the decks and fcuppers to be cleared of ice and fnow : in doing which, we were forced to heat crows of iron red hot, and fo by degrees melt a way through the fcupper-holes, and free them from ice. And, with the fame inftruments and axes, cut through and raife up the ice upon the decks, and to heave overboard. Notwithflianding it froze extremely hard at this time, yet we had warm hopes of getting to fea, the wind being at S. E. Thurfday, the twentieth, the wind was at W. S. W. and moderate : neither was it fo cold as the day before ; freezing no harder than it does in a hard frofl: in England ; We hauled the fhip about twice to clear the hawfe ; and in the afternoon went and got perriwinkles, mufcles, and dills. Friday, the twenty-firfl:, it blew hard at N. N. W. but was very warm, fo as to caufe a fmall thaw. We got a boat load of wood and another of water ; and at the edge of the fliore our men faw eggs, one of which they pulled upon land, with a long bent flick, and brought it on board. Thefe are likewife called fea-urchins, having fomewhat growing upon the fhells like thorns, or the brifl:les upon the land hedge-hog. The fhape is round and flattifh, the fliell thin, and the briftles eafily rub oft": for a further decription, I muft refer the reader to authors that treat of fuch things. It was good news for me to hear of them, knowing what benefit they might be to us ; and therefore I caufed a piece of iron hoop to be fixed to the end of a pole, and made a net like a fiflierman's lead net againfl: the next day. Saturday, the twenty -fecond, the wind was at W. S. W. the weather fair too, and indiff"erent warm. We firft cleared the deck of the wood brought in the day before, and flowed it down into the hold for a fea ftore. Afterward fome went afhore with the pole and net aforefaid, and got flore of eggs ; while others went a gunning, who fhot only a fmall fowl, called a Greenland pigeon. I do not remember for the firll two months and more after I came in here, I ever faw any but two birds or fowls flying, and they were two crows of a dun colour, not different from ours fo called ; and by fome Royflion crows. Thefe flew often near the fliip, and at length were fo tame as to light upon our deck ; one of which our men fliot, poor and lean as he was, and nothmg but fkin, bone, and feathers. But before I came away I faw feveral of the Greenland doves aforefaid, and fowls like what we call kitties, pick up things at low- water, which I guelTed might be perriwinkles, and fea eggs efpecially. For one day, VOL. I. 3 T (though 5o5 ALUSOti's VOYAGE FROM ARCHANGEL. (though I have not fet it down punftually, I bear it in mind,) I went myfelf afiior?, and a furlong up the hills, I found the fliells of fea-eggs, which I judged might have been carried up .by fuch birds. They are fpecial good food, and I doubt not but the birds fuck out sll their inwards, though we eat only the yellow part like an egg's yolk, and throw away the other white or jelly part ; that ws take and put into a fauce-pan, and pour to it fome beef broth, whicli with a little pepper ftrewed upon it, and flewed together, makes a very good difli. Sunday, the twenty-third, we had it fair and clear all day, the wind foutherly, and' the froft very moderate. > Monday, the twenty-fourth, ftill fair and clear, the wind foutherly. We got our kedge anchor on board, but much trouble had we to come at it : we wei'e forced to di^ through a great deal of ice, and the ground itfelf, frozen deep, under which one flook had been long buried. We fhifted one of our fmall haulfers too, at the ftake where the cable was fall; ; got both our top-mafls up, hoifted our mizen-yard, and got our fore-yards up, with an intent to be jogging ; but before night it be:^an to blow at s. s. w. ' Tuefday, the twenty-fifth, it blew very hard, infomuch that I was forced to ftrike both top-malls, and lower all down again ; befides, it froze extremely hard all this twenty-four hours. Thus were we fatally baulked, and our defign of ftirring put a flop to, when we had provifion enough left to go to fea with ; I can't fay without great hazard of want, and danger of weather, could we have held on our purpofe. Wednefday, the twenty-fixth, it continued flill blowing, and the wind all foutherly; fo that at certain times, when the blalls came violently off the hills, notwithflanding the havvfe was very foul and thick frozen, yet the cable would be pulled flark out of the water. The haulfer too at the flake on fliore, having a great weight of ice upon it, would neverthelefs be fliff flrained above the water, as level as that of a rope-dancer, when it is made fit to walk upon ; it being to admiration that the flake, cable, and haulfers Ihould hold. Thurfday, the twenty feventh, the wind and weather ftiil the fame as the day before, blowing fiercely, but clear over-head, and freezing at a great rate. Friday, the twenty eighth, the wind kept its place, but grew more moderate, the frofl flill excefTive ; however I got a boat load of water, and another of wood. Saturday, the twenty ninth, it blew fmartly out of the S., and froze fo extraordinary- hard, that the water we brought on board the day before was a folid body of ice. For having occafion to brew that morning (it being late before the water came on board over night), I caufed one of the hogfheads to be digged into, to fee if any water could be found in the cafk; and in the midfl: there might be the quantity of about two g-allons lying in a hole of the depth of fourteen inches, and three inches width : of that I made mead, which proved exct;llcnt good, and fome of the very fort I brought with me to England. Sunday, the thirtieth, it blew a hard gale at S. by E., freezing withal, but not fo hard as two days before. Monday, the thirty-firH:, we had as much wind as the day before, and from the f;ime point, but dry over head, and freezing to extremity. There was a hogfliead that flood on end upon the deck full c^f water, with its head open, which froze gradually down- ward, fo as to force the bottom out, and raile the cafic three inches from the place it ftood on, and became a whole column or folid body of ice : another, at the fame time, that laid alon^ with its- bung open, froze in the like manner, burRing open the under- moft ilaff upon which it rcited. I leave to the reader to afhgn the natural reafon of this, only taking along with him this remark, that it lay upon a pretty thick ice that covered 10 the Allison's voyage from archangel. ^oy the deck. How long they had been both filled I cannot fay punctually : the firfl: might be one of them brought on board the Friday before ; the other poflibly had lain longer, as defigned for a fca (tore. This brings into confideratiou the daily toil our cook had, with an iron crow, to break afunder lumps of ice to put into the pot. In doing which lie was obliged to arm his hands with fur gloves and nu'ttens, otherwife the iron would have cleaved to his fingers, and carried the ikin along with it. The fame cloathing or defence our men conltantly u'ed, not only abroad in wooding and watering, but alfo in their work aboard, as handling the ropes, or whatever elfe they touched or moved. Over and above, when they went in the boat upon frequent expedi.ions, whether for carrying out or weighing of anchors, or going afhore for the many purpofes before cited, they put on their Ruffia boots, which were wide like thofe worn by fifliermen, and lined •with bear fkin : thefe thty were all furniflied with, but two or three, who were glad to fupply the want of them by tying old pieces of canvas about their legs, and over their feet. Tucfday, the firlt of Februar)'-, it continued (till blowing hard at S. by E.^ clear withal, and about noon we faw the fun fliine into the mouth of the harbour : he might fliew the whole of his face, but little of his power ; for it froze fo excefTively this day, that the ice hung upon the fliip in fome places full two feet thick, and at the edge of the water it was of a great breadth ; fo that the fliip, having a fmall motion, made fuch a noife, that the night before we could not fleep for it. To prevent which we hauled the long-boat about the fides, and with two great beetles or mauls broke it off; and fometlmes a piece of half a ton weight would drop at once. Wednefday, the fecond, it blew hard at S., w ith clear weather, but froze fo very hard that now all the cables were pall handling ; which mightily difcouraged us, and almoft ftified all thoughts of going. To mention all the difcourfes our people had at times, upon feveral occurrences, would fill a bigger volume ; and a great many more I had fet dovvn, had it not been fo great a trouble to write. Twas vexatious enough to get my ink ready for ufe, and no lefs to keep it fo, a boy being forced to thaw it as oft as I had occafion to dip my pen. Thurfday, the third, all the night pad ftormy, and the wind foutherly, but it froze not fo hard as the day before ; we got a boat load of wood, and another of water. As moderate as the weather was for cold, poflibly on fuch a day we might get the water on board in the hogflieads with little or no ice on the furface of it ; but after ftanding half an hour upon deck, we fhould have it thick enough to bear an empty pipe. This was a warm day comparatively, I fay, and cherifhed our dying hopes of getting from this place ; and towards night we got up our fore-topmafts, fore-yard, and mizen-yard, to be in readinefs for the fea. Friday, the fourth, in the morning, it blew a hard ftorm at S., fo that I was com- pelled once more to flrike our yards and top-ma!ts ; but towards night the wind eafed, and -we got our (tream cable on board, leaving a piece of twenty fathom behind us, fo deep buried under the ice on ihore as not to be got out. Saturday, the fifth. This day began with fine weather, the wind at S. S. W. Our men difcovered fcallop-fhells near the fhip, but they lay in deep water. I caufed a broad flat piece of iron to be bent, like a dredge to fifh for oyfters with, and ordered a bag to be made to it of rope-yarn ; and that night we went a dragging and got fixteen fcallops, ■which were very good viftuals. I brought home with me fome of thefe, and feveral other fhclls, of which 1 carelefsly difpofed of, or loft the moft part ; but when I waited upon that ingenious and worthy perfon, Mr. James Petiver, apothecary, in Alderfgate- ftreet, and fellow of the Royal Society, to prefent him with thofe few 1 had remaining ; 3 T 2 from £o8 Allison's voyage from archangel. from them and others he (hewed me, I remembered they were almofl: all of fuch kinds as are found about England : and by him I was further informed, that the genera! Eng- lifh names I had given to them were not improper ; more dilHnftly he told me they were perriwinkles, wilks, Scarborough couvins, limpets, mufcles, cockles, fea-eggs, &c. Oyfter-fhells too I faw here and there, but not one whole, with the inwards or meat in it. I kft with him likewife a piece or two of coral, got when we dragged for thefe fhell animals, having faved greater variety of the fame, which an unlucky boy threw over- board. Moreover fome flate-like ftones, and thefe I obferved there of various colours, which when we held againft the grindftone, tinged the water (it turned in) ftrongly of tlie fame colour. And in fome colour-fliops, where I expofed them here in London, they concluded them fit for painters' ufe, and of good value ; fo that this wretched coun- try was not deflitute of all human food or commodity ; and had I been there in a fea« 'fon when the fnow was gone, much more might have been obferved j or even then, had I made it more my bufinefs to difcover what was odd or rare. Towards night the wind came to the N. N. W., blowing hard, and fnowing. Sunday, the fixth, it proved fair and clear till three in the afternoon ; then the wind Ihifted from the N.-W. to S., and began to blow and overcaft. Monday, the feventh, it blew hard in the morning at N. N. W., and from thence the wind fhifted to W. S. W. I took now into further confideration the quantity of pro- vifion I had left, and finding hot above two hundred and three pieces of beef, and peafe proportionable ; and feeing no likelihood of getting any other relief while we (tayed here, than what we had met with, I put my men to ftraighter allowance, viz. fix men to a piece of beef a day, and a pint of peafe for four men. And to prevent all difcontent and murmuring, I kept myfelf, as I had done all along, upon the level with them, giv- ing them leave to take the firfi: piece in choice, and I the fecond for my own mefs. Withal I encouraged them daily to get what provifion of fuftenance they could from Ihore : having finilhed our drag, and fixed two nets for catching feaeggs, of which we got this day three bufhels. Thefe were the means of tempering, as well as fparing our fait flefh, which we fhould have more need of at fea, where we fhould be bereaved of the helps this harbour afforded us. Alas ! had we but ftore of proper and cherifhing food, our fufferings from the cold would have been eafily borne, by fo many hardy and lufly men as I had then on board, with the plenty of firing we met with. Nay, had I been fo lucky as to have brought, what I ufually did in former voyages, quantities of Ruffia hams and neats' tongues, they would have afl'orded great fupport under fuch •woeful diftreifes. But to heighten the misfortune, I was bafely difappointed at my coming away of a thoufand weight of llock-filh, which I had agreed for, to take with me as (hip provifion. Strong (-{.uiTia beer too (not to mention high wines and brandy) had been comfortable drinks in cold days, as I found by that little I had in bottles, which I kept buried up in (haw, and prelervtd moltly from the froll thereby ; howbeit now and then the boy fetcliing a bottle, would bring the neck in one hand, and the bottom in the other, without fpilling any, perhaps one of the uppennofi, and not well covered. And I cannot forget, what 1 have more than once taken notice of, that a bottle of beer Handing behind us, while we fat before the fire, would contrucl: ice in the time we were drinking it. TuelUay, the eighth, the weather was fair, and fomcthin.j warmer, the wind being at the b. W. 1 got my (lieet anchor and bed bower on board, and made all clear for the fea, riding only by our fmall bower and one cable afhore. In the evening our men dragged, and ufed their nets, getting fome fcallops and two bufhels of eggs, to our great relief. This day we firll pumped the (hip, having iu her about nine inches of water ; neither Allison's voyage from archangel. 509 neither had we occafion to do it afterward, which was a happinefs, by reafon we could not have kept our pumps clear without a good fupply of hot water ; bcfides, the doing it often would have fatijjued our men. Wednefday, the ninth, in the morning, it blew a ftout gale of wind at W. by N., with fnow ; but at noon the wind was at W. S. W., with fqualls of fnow. We got a boat of wood and water, and carritd a fhank of lines, with twenty hooks, out into ihc fuel, and Itft them all niplat, to fee if we could take any hfli therewith. Thurfday, the tenth, we had fair weather in the morning, and little wind ; fo we- fetched on board our lines, with the baits entire and no fifh. Before noon it blew a ftorm out of the W., with abundance of fnow, which obliged me to let go my beCt bower under foot : it continued to blow till midni;j,ht, and then the wind eafed. Friday, the eleventh, in the morning, it was fair, and the u ind foutherly : towards noon it fell a fnowing, and blew very hard at S. S. W '; in the evening it froze fmartly, with abatement of wind, inducing me to heave up my bed bow-anchor again ; but a great fnow followed, and bad weather all ni^ht. Saturday, the twelfth, it continued blowing very hard at W., with much fnow in fqualls ; fo I was forced to let drop my fheet anchor under foot. We had two cats on board, whofeliv'es we endeavoured to preferve by giving them frefli meat of fea-eggs, and mufcles, &c. ; but they grew weaker as the cold continued, and died of the cold, ftarved, one now, and the other a week after, even at our feet, and before the fire. Sunday, the thirteenth, it continued blowing very hard, the wind at W. N. W. and N. W., with much fnow, and violent guftsof wind. Monday, the fourteenth, we had not fo much wind on this as the laft two days, yet it was far enough from being calm. I heaved up my fheet anchor and brought it on board ; got a boat load of wood, and another of water. Tuefday, the fifteenth, the good weather in the morning invited our men afhore to gather perriwinkles and dills ; but by ten o'clock it began to blow a ftorm at N. W. by W., fo that they could fcarce get aboard again. At three in the afternoon one of our men departed this life : he was under thirty years of age, and taken firft fick at Arch- angel, of a diftemper like an ague, continuing ill ever fmce we came away from thence, and declining till this time. Neither can it be faid he died of the cold merely, fuch as do fo I as I have been told) going ofl" fleeping ; whereas he expired gradually and fen- •fibly, as I have feen others breathing their laft : could we have got home in good time, he might poflibly have recovered. The continuance of the ftorm made us let fall our -beft bow-anchor, Wednefday, the fixteenth, the morning was fair, fo we heaved up our (heet anchor, and buried our deceafed man at low water mark ; for higher up on the dry fhore the ground was fo hard frozen, that we could not dig it. We got a boat of wood and water, and put the dead man's cloaths to fale at the maft ; fo our cuftom is at fea in the like -cafe. In the evening the wind came to the S., blowing and freezing extraordinary hard, with fqualls of fnow ; afterwards it fhifted to N. N. E., continuing ftormy all night. Thurfday, the feventeenth, it grew calmer towards the morning, but it fnowed much, and froze very hard all day, the wind continuing at N. N. E. till midnight, and then came to the W., and in the morning following to N. N. W. Friday, the eighteenth, the weather moderate enough as to wind, but fnowing and freezing fo prodi^ioufly, that our men, who went afliore to get perriwinkles and dills, were forced aboard in a ihort time, being not able to endure the weather abroad ; and fome of them were fo benumbed with the cold, as to be incapable of helping themfelves to climb the fhip s fide, fo that others were forced to help or hand them up : but foon a. after 510 Allison's voyage from archangel. after th?y got aboard they recovered, tlie {hip being hot like a ftove, compared with \hs open air. I remember for feveral days I could not bear the fharpnefs of the air, walk- ing upon the deck, but was glad to clap my handkerchief double ever my mouth and nofe for a defence. You mufl: know that for theie four months pad, fince we came in here, ■we fuffered our beards to grow at length for warmnefs, which would be often full of icicles, from our breath congealed, after the expofmg ourfelves for a little while upon deck; but approaching the fire they came off eafiiy, whereas to have pulled them off" before, had been to bring hair and all. Saturday, the nineteenth, we had little wind this day, and that at N. W., but much fnow, and froll; fo exceflive, that it was impoilible lor a man to look to windward. In the mornings, after fuch bitter nights as we had at this time, the glafs windows of my round-houfe, where I lay, would have ice upon them of the thicknefs of a crown-piece; fo that we were forced to fcrape it ofl with a knife to let in the light. The great cabin windows we kept fliut up with boards nailed without, as well for the prefervation of, them againft weather, as warmth for the ten men i lodged there conftantly. The round- houfe I referved to myfelf, though much colder ; but 1 kept that in regard to the pro- vifion I had flowed therein. And to make known to them that I had fliared the fuffer- ings with 'em, I fliewed them my bed, which was frozen to the boards on each fide, that I durlf not allow t!ie boy to ftirit for fear of tearing ; thus for five months I left it, and went to it morning and night, not pulling off my clothes fave for fhifting, only putting on my fur gown at my arifmg, and plucking it oft" when 1 laid down, to throw over me, together with the ru country; and which already they are well acquainted with. There is as well always to be met with a fuffi- cient number of people ready to undertake this fifhery ; notwithftanding the profit that is derived from it be very moderate. Thefe voyages are made in fmall veflels built in the old faffiion of their country ; the complement of which ufually confifts of ten or twelve men, who receive no other pay than the portions of the produce of the fifherj', which are allotted them, after deduct- ing the expences of the equipment, and the major part referved for the proprietor of the fhip. This country at lead as much of it as is prefent known, is a defart entirely barren. It produces very little herbage ; neither trees nor bufhes are to be met with, fo that thofe who refort there for the fifhery, are obliged to provide themfelves with wood for firing. It is true of all thofe who have landed in the ifland, none have penetrated further than fifty or fixty werfts into the interior, which may give room for conceiving that in the center of the ifland there may poffibly be fome lands more fertile, and even fome inhabitants. However, as the fliores have been frequented for a long time all round the ifland, by a number of people attrafted there by the fifliery, without the leafl vef- tige of inhabitants being dilcovered ; and befides, as no other animals have been met with but fuch as feed on mofs or fiffi, fuch as white bears, white foxes, and rein-deer ; and not even one of the defcription which are fupported by berries, herbage, roots, or flioots of fhrubs ; it is highly probable that this ifland contains no inhabitants, and that its interior is as deftitute of wood as the (hores. A» 5^6 A NEW ACCOUNT OF SAMOIEDi.^, AND THE SAMOIEDES. As well, there is great probability that thofe who have been taken for natural inhabi- tants of tile country, were the crews of fome Ruilian veifels ; the more fo, from its being cullomary for the fiiliermen on thefe voyages, to drefs themlelves in the manner of the Samoiedes. Neverthelefs, the cold here is not fo intenfe as might be imagined. Navigators who have wintered feveral times in Nova Zeinla, and in Spitzbergen, have affured me that the cold of Nova Zemla is very tolerable in comparifon to that of Spitz- bergen ; which as well is nearer to the pole by feveral degrees. In this laft iOaud during the winter their is no twilight. It is only by the pofition of the ftars which are continually vifible that the day is diftinguiHiable from the night; whereas in Nova Zetnla the day is always marked by a feeble light which appears about noon ; even when the fun is not vifible. The perfon who related to me thefe particulars eight or nine years ago, loft twenty- four men, of the crews of fome vefTels which he had fent ^o Nova Zemla to pafs the winter ; they were all found dead on the fpot where they had eflablifhed themfelves. This misfortune frequently befalls thofe who remain there too late in the feafon j but we mufl not be too hazardous in afcribing it to the cold. Their death is to be attri- buted to the thick and noxious fogs, occafioned generally by the putrefadion of the weeds and mofs on the fea fhore. When the frofl is late in making its appearance, thefe peftilential vapours poifon and fuffocate thofe who breathe them. What con- firms this facl is the circumftance of a colony from Mifine, being there at the fame time compofed of twenty men, who had conftrufted their huts a hundred werfls from that of the others ; none of which died. They all returned the fucceeding years in perfeft health, but declared that they had fuffered gteatly from the fogs, and had all of ihem been ill. The foul fmell of thefe fogs, according to the report of thofe who have frequented Nova Zemla is fo difgufting, ib infupportable, as cannot be defcribed. Their effeft is the more dangerous when they happen at the time of a thaw, with the fea wind blow- ing towards the dwellings where the fifliermen winter. From ancient tradition it is known, that under the reign of the Czar Jwau Wafilowitz at the time of the deitrudion of Nowogcrod ; fome Ruffian families took refuge and eftablifhed themfelves in Nova Zemla. A countryman who had withdrawn himlelf from the domination of Strcgaroft', as well retired there with his wife and children. Many Ruffians know as yet the places inhabited by thefe fugitives, and de- fignate them by their names ; but the defcendants of thefe unfortunate men periflied altogether, in all probability from thefe putiferous effluvia. ^ A mine of filver, ftated to have been found in Nova Zemla, and the fpot on that account was called Sercbronka, a name bears to this day. The perfon who related to me the circumHance relative to the mine, and feveral others, informed me, at the fame time, that he had not been able to ai'certain if thefe traditions were to be relied on ; although careful of feeking the truth in all his refearches of this nature. The cxiftence of this mine of filver, fuppofmg it to be true, would have nothing ex- traordinary in it ; fince it is confidered a fact in Ruffia, that under the reign ot the tmprefs Ann, in a little deiert ifland of the White Sea, fome rocks were found en- crufled almoft entirely with filver ore, of the richcft quality that ever was feen, as was acknowledged at Petcrfburg ; to which place large bars of it were fent. Confiderable riches were expeded from this fortunate difcovery ; but on piercing the rock, they perceived that the interior did not contain the lealt trace of the ore ; and that it was fiinply an incrultation, pcllibly as ancient as the globe j or which may be refered the deluge, that refolves fo many problems. To A NEW ACCOUNT OF SAMOIEDIA, ANH TIIL' SAMOIEUES. 527 To return to the Samoiedcs, from whom we have fomcwhat wandered. Thefe men are of lower ftature tlian the middle fize : 1 never faw any that were lefs than four feet high, although that be the gi-eatefl: height afcribed to them in general, as a fucceflion of the fal^ le of the pygmies, of which fome will have that they eltabliPi the reality. Some of them were above the middle fize, nay even more than fix leel high. They are flurdy and nervous, broad and fquare built, with fliort legs, and fmall feet ; the neck very fliort, and the head large in proportion to the body, a flat face, black and tolerably open eyes ; the nofe fo much flattened, that the end is nearly upon the level with the bone of the upper jaw, which is vei'v ftrong, and greatly elevated, a large mouth, and thin lips. Their hair, which is as black as jet, but extremely hard and fl:rong, hangs from their flioulders, and is very fleek : their complexion is ol a yellow brown, their ears large and elevated. The men have little or no beard, and their head, as well as that of the women, is the only part of the body which produces hair. There remains to examine if it be a natural defe£t, a particular quality incident to their race, or only the effeti of a prejudice, in- ducing them to attach an idea of deformity to the hair of the body, which may caufe them to root it out whenever it may make its appearance. However it raay be, it be- comes the intereft of the women, above all, not to luft'er hair to grow on their bodv, fhonld it be natural to them, fince according to the ufage of their people a hultand has a. right to return the girl to her parents whom he might have taken to wife, and caufe "whatever he had purchafed her for to be returned him, provided any hair were found about her, except upon her head. A fimilar cafe, it is true, muft be very rare, even allowing them to be fubjeft to this natural vegetation, which they apparently confider as a great imperfeftion, feeing that a man marries generally a girl when but ten years of age. As well it is common among thefe people to fee mothers of children no more than eleven or twelve years old ; but, in equivalent, thefe forward mothers ceafe to bear children after thirty years of age. May not this praftice of marrying their girls before the cuftomary period of maturity, as well as the licence which the men poflefs of buying as many wives as they can pay for, be the phyfical caufe of the little fecundity of the Samoiedes, and probably of^heir diminutivenefsi? The phyfiognomy of the women exactly refembles that of the men, excepting that their features are rather more delicate, with their body more flender, the leg fliorter, and the foot ftill lefs ; otherwife it is difiicult to diftinguifli the fexes by the exterior, or by their drefs, which is very nearly the fame. Both men and women, as among all the barbarous "nations of the northern countries, wear drefles made of rein-deer's fkins, with the hair outermoft, and fewed together, which makes them a cloathing all of one piece, and fits and covers their body extremely well. This drefs is fo well calculated for their occafions in the rude climate which they inhabit, that the Ruffians, and other nations who are under nccefllty of travelling in their country, wear the fame habiliments. The only diflindion obiervable in the cloathing of the women eonfifts in fome fcraps of cloth, of difi^erent colours, with which their fkins are trimmed; and the youngefl: among them fometimes take the pains of feparating their hair in two or three trefles, which hang down behind. Thofe who have pretended that the Samoiede women were not fubjed to periodical evacuations are mifl:aken : this is a circumfl;ance on which I received very exa£t infor- mation ; but it is true their purgations of this nature are very flight. Another phyfical peculiarity of the Samoiede women, which appeared to me very cu- rious, and of which my inquiries on the fubjeft as completely fatisfied uie of the truth, is ^2? A NEW ACCOUNT 'of SAMOIEDIA, AND THE SAMOIEUES. is their having all of them their teats flat, fmall, and foft at all times, even when virgins, with the end of them as black as coal. It might be conceived that this accidenet were the refult of their premature marriages, if it were not certain that this attribute is com. mon to the Laplanders ; notwithftanding the latter never marry earlier than at fifteen years. Some other reafon therefore muft be fought, either in the natural conftitution, or the food of thefe people. Their tents, compofed of pieces of the bark of trees fewed together, and covered with rein-deer Ikins, are conftruded in a pyramidal fhape, on poles of a moderate thicknefs. An opening is contrived at the top of this tent for the purpofe of leaving a paflage for the fmoke, which when clofed increafes the warmth. From this it is plain that the tales of their fubterranean dwellings are fabulous. As the folding up of thefe tents is to them an eafy matter, they tranfport them from place to place by means of their rein-deer : this manner of confl:ru£ting an habitation is incontrovertibly the mod fuitable to the wandering life which they are obliged to follow ; for the ground producing abfolutely nothing fit for their fuftenance, they are obliged to change their abode frequently in fearch of the wood they have occafion for, and to find mofs for their rein-deer. This as well is one of the reafons which, joined to their intereft in hunting, reftrains them from remaining together in any great number ; for feldom will more than two or three tents be found in the fame neighbourhood, and as their deferts are of an immenfe extent, they can change their i-efidence as frequently as their neceffities require, without injuring one another. In fummer they prefer the neighbourhood of rivers, to profit from the filhery with more facility ; but they always keep at a great diftance from each other, without ever forming a fociety. After providing food, which is a care the men are charged with in every family, while the women are employed in fewing cloaths together, keeping the fire, and looking after the children, there is nothing farther that they feel intereft in ; they vegetate in tran- quillity, amufing themfelves after their manner, ftretched on rein-deers' (kins fpread round the fire in their tent. The fweets of idlenefs fupply the place of the paffions among thefe people, and neceflity alone has power to roufe them to adtivity. This love of idlenefs is one of the principal features by which the uninformed man, left to nature alone, is recognized. Hunting in winter, and in fummer fifhing, fornifh them plenteoufly with food. They are equally fkilled in both thefe exercifes ; and as the rein-deer forms all their wealth, they endeavour to take and keep as many of them as they can. Thefe animals are the better fuited to the natural lazinefs of thefe people, from their requiring no care for their fodder, which they find themfelves in mofs under tlie fnow. Further, whatever animal they meet with in hunting they deem proper for food, not difdaining even the carcafes of fuch as they find dead. However revolting this tafte of the Samoiedes may appear to us, in this matter they are not much behindhand with the Chinefe, who, civi- lized as they are, it is well known feed on carrion. The Samoiedes however refrain from eating dogs, cats, ermines, and the fquirrel, without my being able to learn the caufe of their exceptions. As for the flelh of the rein-deer, they eat it always raw : it is with them a luxury to drink the blood of thefe animals quite warm : they even pretend that this drink ferves as a prefervative againft the fcurvy j but they are vmacquainted with the pradice of milking them, as many writers have affirmed without foundation. They tat their filh ulfo quite raw, of whatever defcriptlon it maybe, but other kinds ef food they prefer cooking ; and as they have no fixed hours for their meals, they have always A KEW ACCOUNT OF SAiMOIEDIAj AND THE SAMOIEDES. 529 always a boiler containing meat on the fire, which they keep in the middle of their tents, in order that any of them who compofe the family may cat whenever lie pleafes. With refpett to the name of Samoiede, there is fome difpute on its etymology. Some imagine the name fynonymous with anthropophage, anciently given to thefe people, ou account of their having been feen to eat raw flefli, which was taken for human ; whence it was inferred that they devoured the dead bodies of their neighbours, as well as of their enemies, after the fafhion of the cannibals. But they have been freed from any fuch conception vvitli refpecl to them for fome time ; it is even known fi-om the tradi- tions of thefe people, that no fuch barbarous cuflom ever exilted among them. Others pretend the word Samoye fignifies, in the language of thefe people, an iiikabitant of the country, and that their denomination is deduced therefrom. Tliis origin would appear fuificiently natural, if the fuppolition which is the bafe ot it was not dciiv- tute of proof. But as in their language there is no word to be found refembling Sa- moye ; and as in their dialect they give themielves the names of Minez and Chaibwo, it is clear this latter etymology is purely chimerical, like many other derivations adopted without difcuflion. It will therefore be proper to feek for a word in the language of the neighbouring na- tions which may have affinity thereto. Now as it is well known that the Fins formerly inhabited the greater part of the countries of the north ; the word Sooma, which figni- fies in the Finnifli language a mardi, may very well have ferved as an origin for the name Samoiede : it is alio very likely the root of the name Samalantfch, which the Laplanders give themfelves in their own tongue, and that of Somaeinaye:, which the Carelians call themfelves by. In the Ruffian chancellary the Samoiedes are defignated by the title oi Sirognefzi, eatc. -» of raw meat. This is all I have been able to obtain of lead uncertain refpeding ihcie people. As to what regards the period of the Samoiedes palling under the Ruffian dominion, almoft all hiflorians agree in fixing the period in the reign of the Czar Feodor Iwan- owitz. It is in this reign that the relations made by a perfon of the name of Onecko, who carried on a very lucrative trade in this country, as it is faid, gave birth to the de- fign of fubjugating it. It is added, the conqueft of the country was not completed until under the reign of his fuccellbr, the Czar Boris, and that it was effected by the building of forts, and even fome towns. However I am induced to think there is fome error in this ; for I have feen theordonnances pubiifhed in the Grit years of the Emperor Peter I., concerning the means to be taken for coUeding the tribute of the Samoiedes, where mention is exprefsly made of letters patent having been granted to thefe people more than fixty years before the reign of the Czar F^eodor Iwanowitz; and by which permilfion was granted them to colled of themfelves the tribute in peltry v.hich they had to pay. Add to which, it is certain it never was in contemplation even to build any town or fort among the Samoiedes, for the purpofe of fubjugating them ; and actually there is none in exiltence throughout their country. Their tribute, czWed jeJJ a k, is re- ceived infmall towns fituated in the vicinity of their country, inhabited by Ruffian colo- nirts : it confifis ina (kin of the value of twenty-five copecs annually for every man who can draw the bow ; and every fpecies of peltry is valued at a certain rate. But as we are now fpeaking of afa6t, in contradiction to the ftatement of all who have written on the fubitct ; and as the curious may fee with plealure an original compofition, in the llile of that time, I have thouglit it right to tranilate one of the ordonnanccs of which I h.ave fpokcn : tlie original is preferved in the archives of the chancellary of Pulloicr. VOL. I. 3 Y " Oa 530 A NEW ACCOUNT Or SAMOIEDIA, AND THB SAMOIEDES. " On the part of the czars and grand princes, John Alexiowitz and Peter Alexiowitz, " fovereigns of all the Ruflias, the great, the lefs, and the white, to our ftolnik and " governor of Puflofer, John Matweowitz Kallire. A requeft has been prefented to " our high lordfliips from the Samoiedes GongorJJa and Pctcherfii, in which thefe people " inform us that they are in pofleflion of letters patent, granted to them by our anceftors " at a diftant period, when thefe people in 7033 (which correfponds to the year 1525 " of the common era) requeued to be taken under the dominion of that great lordly " czar and grand prince, Wafili Iwanov.itz, fovereign of all the Ruffias, of happy me- " mory ; in which it was ordained that they were to be received by our powerful hand " in quality of fubjefls, and be protected from any foreign infult, in confideration of " their paying their tribute in peltry at Petchora and Puflofer. In courfe of time, "namely, in 7105 (1597), our great-grandfather, the great lordly czar and grand " prince, Feodor Iwanowitz, fovereign of all the Ruflias, of happy memory, granted to *' them that they fliould pay their tribute only in conformity to the ancient regifiiers at " Puflofer, and that they fhould have allowance to coUeft this tribute among themfelves. " And whereas according to the complaints they make, thefe tributes are demanded of *' them at Berefowa and in Me/en, without giving them quittances for what is received, *' and are made to pay this tribute again at Puflofer j they intreat that in conformity to *' the letters patent in exillence, it be enjoined that they may be proceeded with in a " manner conformable to the preceding ordonnances ; that they may have the permif- " fionof coUefting the tribute of ikins among themfelves at one fpot, namely, Puflofer, " and that it may be forbidden they fliould be required to pay a fecond time at Berefowa *' and Mcl'cn, or that any violence be offered them, in order that they may not be obliged " to difperfe and abandon the country, which would caufe the fovereign to lofe his *' tribute. It has as well been reprefented to us that the Karatfcheflcoi Samoiedes, and " the families depending on them, in a petition figned with the marks common among " thefe people, every year deliver a great number of flvins as their tribute to our receiver " at Berefowa, and not knowing whether the faid tribute be forwarded entire to our " high lordfliips at Mofcow, they have given a fpecification, figned with their ufual " marks, of the furplus which they annually pay to our receiver at Pujlofer, the foldier " Stainka Wolouquenin. Now, in confequence of thefe petitions we ordain that imme- *' diately after receiving thefe prefent letters, thou mayeil take meafures for hindering " the faid Scnnoiedes Gmgorjlu and Petfcberfki from being any longer obliged to pay any " other tri' ute than that iuipofcd upon them by our anceflors j and farther, that they " have the permiffion of coUefting this tribute by themfelves in conformity to their pc- " tition, according to the ancient regiflers ; and that there be granted to them for re- •■' ceiver of the faid tribute, whichfoever of the people in our fervice they may themfelves " felecl ; that thou take as well efpecial care that the faid receivers of tribute ofl'er no " violence to thefe Samoiede people, by requiring or extorting from them, for their indi- " vidual advantage, any thing beyond what is impofed on them ; and that the whole *' being colleftcd together be carried to Pujlcfer, as before. And after thefe people " fliall become accuftomed to pay their tribute at Puflofer, thou fhalt fend to us the *' faid tribute regularly every year, without fuffering any deduftion, and this by the " ceiver,accompanied by any Samoiede which they may choofe for this purpofe,and caufe ** him to be brought uireftly before our high lordfliips at Mofcow, in the chancellary or •' pricafie of Novogornd. Let no tribute be a fecond time required of thefe Samoiedes, «' Gongorfki and Petfcherflci, at Berefowa, or in Mcfcn ; let them be protctted from •' all foreign infult, and have particular care that no violence be done them. And after *9 " having A NEW ACCOUNT OF SAMOIEDIA, AND THE SAMOIEDES. 53X " having read thefe prefent letters and taken a copy thereof with thine own hand, thou " hafl to deliver the original of thefe letters patent to thefe Samoiedcs, ,in order that " they may be of fervice to them with refpetl to the other waywodes or officers who " may fuccced thee in the employ wherewith thou art inveded." Given at Mofcow, in the Year 7192, (1684) 'he 9th of July. The original is figned by the hand of the * Diack Procophei Wofnizin, and collated by the fub-diack Alcxci Ferfanoxu. In regard to t Puftofer, of which in this ordonnance mention is made, it mufl: be ob- ferved, that in conformity to information cxtraded from the archives of thcchancellary of that town ; the nation, the defcendants of which inhabit that country at prefent, before it embraced ChrifUanity, (two or three hundred years ago, according to the tradition of the country,) bore the name of Tfhudi, which in the Ruflian Janguage fignifies Fins. The Samoiedcs who lived in the marflies or neighbouring deferts, giving fonie in- quietude to the Ruffian colonies, they built the fmall town of Puftofer, for the purpofe of placing thenifelves in a ftate of defence againft ftrangers who might land from the feaon that fide, according to their old traditions. For the fame purpofe in 7156 (that is to fay 1648,) 50 foldiers were eftabliflied there with their wives and children, fent from Cholmoger in the neighbourhood of Archangel. At prefent there is always a company of foldiers there from the garrifon of Archangel itfelf. And in fpite of the barrennefs of the country, and the fmall number and wretchednefs of the inhabitants, theinduRry of thefe people renders the pofl of waywode of the Puftofer a very lucra- tive appointment for the officers inverted therewith. Puilofer, the only place in the country of the Samoiedcs to which the name of a town is given, although properly fpeaking it to be no more than a village, is fituated a hundred werfts or thereabouts from the frozen ocean, a fhort diftance from the ftraits of Wei- gatz. The air in this quarter is fo cold, and the ground fo poor, that it produces no fort of grain, or fruit ; but the lake whence it takes its name abounds in fifla. This is the fum of what is remarkable in this country, unknown to the refl of the earth. The religion of the Samoiedcs is very fimple. Thofe who pretend that the light of human reafon is fufficient of itfelf to form a fyflem of religion, are obliged to al- low, that a fimiliar fyftem, conceived and arranged by men in a pure (late of nature, fuch as that of the Samoiedcs, could be no other than very obfcure, and very imperfeft. Accordingly their belief is reducible to the fmall number of following articles. They admit the exiflence of a fupreme Being, Creator of all things, eminently good and beneficent : a quality which according to their mode of thinking, difpenfes them from any adoration of him, or addreffing their prayers to him, becaufe they fuppofe this Being takes no intereft in mundane affairs, and confequently does not exaft nor need the worfhip of men. They join to this idea, that of a Being eternal and invifible, very powerful, although fubordinate to thefirft, and difpofed to evil; it is to this Being that they afcribe all the misfortunes which befall them in this life. Neverthelefs, they do not worlhip, although much in fear of him. If they place any reliance in the coun- fels of Koedejnicks or Tadebes, it is only on account of the connexion which they efteem thefe people to have with this evil Being, otherwife, they fubmit themfelves with perfedt apathy to all the misfortunes which can befall them^ for want of knowing the means of avoiding them, * Dignity which according to the iifage of that time, anfwered to that of Chancellor or Secretar)- of State, f Puftofer is derived from the RufDan word Pujlo a defert, and Ofero a lake. 3 Y 2 The 533 A NEW ACCOUNT OF SAMOIEDIA, AND THE SAMOIEDES. The fun and moon as well hold the place of fubaltern Deities ; it is by their inter- vention they imagine that the Supreme Being difpenfes his favors ; but they worfhip them as little as ! he idols or fitches, which they carry about them according to the re- commendation of their Koedefnicks. 1 hey appear to care very little about thcfe idols, and if they wear them, it is only owing to the attachment which they app_-ar to have to the traditions of their anceftors, of v.'hich the Koedifnicks are the depofitaries and the interpi'eters. Among them fome ideas of the immortality of the foul prevail, and a (late of retribu- tion in another life ; but all this refers fimply to a fperies oF metempfycofis. This fen- timent obfcure as it is, feems to indicate that thefo people defcend from fome Afiatic na- tion, formerly inhabiting the vicinity of India. It is in confequence ot their opinion of the tranfmigration of fouls, t!iat they are ac- cuftomed to inter with him, the drefles of the deceafed, bis bow, his arrows, and what- ever belongs to him, becaufe they fay the defunct may r.eed them in another world, con- iidering it unjufl; for any individual to appropriate to hirnfelf what bcl jngs to another. By this it is vifible, that if the doctrine of the immortality of the foul form a part of their religion, it is only as a fimple probability, refpecting which they havo their doubts. Laftly among them none of thoie religious ceremonies in u!e among other nations,. in particular circumftances of life, are met with. Their Koedifnicks are not to be con- fidered in this light, any more than the ceremony of their mnrriage, the birth of their ■ children, or hui ial of their dead : the whole adminiflration or this kind of prieils, is. limited to their giving them advice, and idols of their making, when they are more than commonly unfortunate in hunting, or any ficknefs occurs. It would be very dif- ficult to introduce chrillianity among thefe people, on account of their un'-'erflanding being too much confined to enable them to conceive things beyond the evidence of their fenfes; as well as that they deem their condition too happy, to be defirous of any change. The Samoiedes are as fimple in their morals as in their dogmas. Unacquainted with.- any law, they are without terms even for * vice or virtue. If they abltain from wrong it is by a fimple indinct of naturef. It is true they are accuftomed to preferve their wives each to themfelves, and carefully to avoid all degrees of confanguinity in marry- ing to fuch a degree, that a man never marries a girl defcended from the fame family with himfelf, however diflant the aflinity. Although the contrary be advanced by ieveral writers the fa£t may be relied on. They provide for their children till fuch lime as they arrive at tlie period of being able to help themfelves. All thefe cultoms rcligioufly obferved among them, are no other than the fruits of tradition handed down to them by their anceftors, and this tradition with fome reafon may be looked upon as law. But it does not appear that they are forbidden to affaffir nate, to fleal, or to take poffeflion by means of violence of the wives, or daughters be- longing to others. Notwithltanding, if credit be given to thefe good people, who feeni too fimple to difguife any thing, few indeed are the examples of fuch crimes com~ mitted among them. When the caufe of fuch forbearance is required of them, as from their own confefllon, they know of no principle which fhould deter them from fuch actions J they reply with fimplicity : It is very eafy for every one to fupply hig • All the nations of the cai tli without exception, have very poffihiy been the fame, it is thius Jiiftin rcjirefents the Scythians. Book. II. Ch;ip. ii. " '1 lie ignorance uf vice ttlciled moic with thefe people than the knowledjjc of virtue among others." X Jullitc nol law was rcfpeiltd by the pecple, Ibid, 3 wants,. A NEW ACCOUNT OF SAMOIEDIA, AND THE SAMOIEDES. 533 wants, and it is not right to take what belongs to another. As for murder, they have no conception how a man can he induced to kill his ft llow-creature. "With rc- fpeft to women, they imagine that the one whicli tliey are enabled to purchai'e for a trifle, may fatisfy their appetite as well as another, more fuitable to their fancy ; but . which might not be acquirable unlefs by violence. From all that has been faid, it will be feen that they know no other wants than thofe of fimple nature ; namely, food, the enjoyment of woman, and reft. As they are of a tafte no ways delicate, and orfy of fati.sfaction, the perfeft indiffe- rence which they contract in refpcft of their choice of women. Hands inltead of prin- ciple, and makes them && accordingly, without attending to it. Their fenfes and their faculties are in juft relation to their being and mode of life. They have a pif"cing eye, very delicate hearing, and a fleady hand ; thf-y fhoot an arrow with the greatefl: exaftitude, and Are exceeding fwift in running. All thefe qua- lities, which are natural to then;, and abfolutely neceffaiy for fupplying their necelli- ties, have been perfefted by continual exercife. They have, on the other hand, a grofs tafte, weak fmell, and dull feeling ; arifmg from the circumftance of the objefts about, them not being of a quality to produce on their fenfes any delicate impreflion.. It is eafy to conceive ttiat ambition and intereft, thole two great iprings which put mankind in motion, and which in fociety are the motives of all good and bad actions, as well as of the vices, which are the confequences of them ; fuch as envy, diffunula- tion, intrigues, injuries, meditated vengeance, llandcr, calumny, and falfehood, have no admiflion in the moral fyltem of thefe people : on the contrary, their want of terms to cxprefs thefe different vices,, which caufe fuch ravages in civilized fociety, fufficiently Ihews their Ignorance of them, . It will be comprehended without difficult)-, that the manner of living of thefe people muft be In conformity to the iimplicity of their notions, and the fterliity of their countrv. Although many authors affirm, that the Samoiedes have princes, judges, or mafters,. which they obey with great fubmlflion, it is certain, that they never knew of any fuch, nor at prefent have any. They pay, without repugnance, the tribute impofed on them., in peltry, without knowing of any other fubjeftlon towards the fovereign : they wil- lingly fubmit to this payment, becatife they faw their fathers before them do fo, and becaufe they know that if refufed, it could be enforced. In other refpeds, they are perfeftly independent one of another ; and If they pay any deference, it is ony to the fenior of every family, and lo the Koedefnicks, whole counfels they frmetimes attend to, without obligation to fubmit to them. When it is faid that the rein-deerare the only riches of the Samoiedes, it mufl: needs be conceived, that they are unacquainted with the ufe of money, and the difference In the price and value of metals, w Ith the exception of fome few in the neighbourhood of the R uf- fians, from whom they may have learnt this diftindion. They make ufe of their rein-deer for the purchafe of girls for wives; but, although upon agreeing with the fathers on the price of them, they may take as many wives as they will, they rarely take more than five, and the greater part content themfelves with two. There are fome girls for whom a hun- dred, or a hundred and fifty rein-deer are given ; but the purchafer is allowed to return them to their parents and take back what was given for them, when diiFatlsfied with them. As their wives arc accuftomed to produce children almofl: without any pain, they are fufpected of infidelity, and of having had commerce with fome ftranger when the con- trary happens. It is on fuch occafions principally that they beat and ill treat them, to make them conftfs their fault : if the woman confeffes, flie is lent back to her parents, and her purchafe price returned. Although the dirctt contrary be afEruied, even by. recejit 534 A NEW ACCOUNT OF SAMOIEDIA, AND THE SAMOIEDES. recent authors, thefe fads are not the lefs certain. M. de Buffon declares as an au then ticated matter, that not only are the hulbands not jealous, but that they offtr their wives and daughters to the firfl comers. This fkilful naturalifl; took information from very bad memoirs. The women of the Samoiedes have fo much modefty, that it is neceffary to make ufe of artifice to induce them to expofe any part of their body ; although it be difficult to comprehend wherefore they fliould attach an idea of fliame to the difcovery of any thing bare. Both fexes are ignorant of the ufe of !:)aths, and never wafli their body ; they are confequently very dirty, and of very difagreeable favour. This miferable mode of life would doubtlefs horrify any perfon born and brought up in fociety : notwithftanding, thefe people are contiunally gay, exempt from grief, and well fatisfied with their fate. I have known fome Samoiedes who had feen the towns of Mofcow and Peterfburg, and who confequently had been enabled to remark the advantages and convenience enjoyed by civilized people ; but who appeared little moved thereby. They have conftantly preferred their mode of living to all they faw more attraftive and voluptuous among the Rufllans ; fo much antipathy have they to fervitude, dependence, and whatfoever tends to difturb their quiet, or natural inclina- tion for idlenefs. They are fond of fmoking tobacco, and drinking ftrong liquors when they meet with them among ftrangers ; but they readily, and without the leafl: mark of regret, forego the ufe of them. This ftupid infenfibility is fo natural to them, that no objetl however new to them, ftrikes them any otherwife than flightly. It may excite their attention for an inftant, but to a certainty cannot inflame their defires. I made an experiment on their apathy. I caufed feveral Samoiedes of both fexes to be afl'embled one day in a chamber, to examine them the more minutely. But although I left on the table money, fruit, ftrong liquors, which I had previoufly let them tafte ; and although I ufed every imaginable expedient to irritate their defires ; notwithftanding I had fent all my domeftics away, and withdrew myfelf to a corner where I could fee them without being perceived, they did not lofe their indifference ; they kept quietly feated on the ground, with their legs acrofs, without touching any thing. Nothing but the Jooking-glalfes caufed any furprife in them for an inftant ; again a moment, and this (Ceafed to draw their attention. A SHORT ( 535 ) ^ SHORT JOURNAL OF SEVEN SEAMEN, WHO, BEING LEFT IN 1534 Ar SPITZBERGEN TO PASS THE WINTER THERE, DIED THERE IN 1635. [From Churchill's CoUctlion. Vol. If. p 359] IN the year 1633, feven perfons being left much at the fame tune, as well at Spitz- bergen as in the ifle of St. Maurice ; the /hips that were fent thither in 1634 had orders from the Greenland company to releafe thofe that had ftaid there, and to leave in their room feven others, who fliould offer their fervice for that purpofe. Accordingly the following feven were (with their confent) appointed to remain the next following winter at Spitsbergen : Andrew Johnfon of Middleburgh, Cornelius Thyfle of Rotter- dam, Jerome Carcoen of Delfts Haven, Tiebke Jellis of Frifeland, Nicholas Florifon of Hoom, Adrian Johnfon of Delft, Fettje Otters of Frifeland. Thefe being provided with all manner of necefl'arles, as meat, drink, phyfical pre- parations, herbs, &c. were left afhore to continue all the winter there ; during which time, they kept a journal of all remarkable circumftances ; the chief heads whereof I thought only fit to infert here, leaving out the more unneceflary obfervations, fuch as of the wind and weather, &c. to avoid proiixity. The nth of September 16^4, the fhips being failed thence for Holland, they got fight of abundance of whales, at whom they difcharged their guns, but could not take any ; they went alfo in fearch for green herbs, foxes and bears, but met with none. The 20th or ^ift of O£tober they had no more fight of the fun. The 24th of November, the fcurvy beginning to appear among them, they fearchcd very earneflly after green herbs, bears and foxes, but to- te their great grief could find neither of them ; fo they comforted one another v^'ith. hopes that God would provide for them fomething or other for their refrefhment. The 2d of December Nicholas r lorifou took a dofe of a fcorbutic potion, and they fet fome traps to catch foxes. The i ith, Jerome Carcoen took fuch another potion ; and thev refolved for the future every one to eat feparately from the other, fome being not fo much afflifted with the fcurvy as the reft. They w'ent often in quelt after feme refrefhnients,. but meeting with none, they recommended themfelves to God's providence. The 12th, Cornelius Thyffe did likewife take a medicinal potion again ft the fcurvy. The 23d, as- the cook was throwing out fome water, he faw a bear jult by the hut, but he ran awav at the noife, before they could come at their guns. The 24th, they difcovered another bear p. three of them advancing towards him, he role upon his hindermoft legs, and, being Ihot through the body by one of our guns, he began to bleed and to roar, and to bite one of our halberts v\ith a great deal of fiercenels ; but, finding us too hard for him, he betook to his legs ; being exceflive eager after fome frefli meat (of which we ftood in. great need for the recovery of our health , we purfued him with lanthorns and candles - a great way, but to our forrow could not overtake him ; which made us fay to one another, that in cafe we were not fupplied by God's peculiar providence with fome rcfrefliment fpeedily, the pain we endured mull needs kill us before the return of oui- Ihips; but God's will be done. The 25th, Cornelius Thyfle took another potion, againil the fcurvy, being in a deplorable condition.. The 14th of January Adrian Johnfon of Deft died, being the firft of the feven, though the other fix were full of pain, and very ill. The 15th, Fettje Otters died likewife ; and on the 17th, Cornelius Thyfle, being the man of all the reft in whom they had put their moft hopes, went to God. The remaining four were very weak, and had fcarcely ftrength left to ftand upon their legs, yet they made fliift to make coffins for thefe three, and put their bodies- into J 53^ JOURNAL OF SEVEN SEAMEN LEFT AT SPITZBERGEN. into them. The 28th they faw the firft fox, but could not take hhn. The 7th of February they had the good fortune to take a fox, to their no fmall fatisfaftion, though in eftect thy were too far gone to receive any benefit thereby. They faw many bears, three or fom*, nay fometiuies fix or ten together, but had net ftrength enough to manage their guns; or if they had had, they could not have pur- fued them, being not in a condition to fet one foot before another, nay not even to bite their bifcuits, for they were feized with mofl cruel pains, efpecialiy in their loins and belly, which generally increafed with the cold ; one did fpit blood, and another was afilic'ted with the bloody flux. Jerome Carcoen was Hill fomething better than the relf, being (till able to fetch them fome fuel lor firing. The 23d, they began to be fo weak, that they kept clofe in their cabins, recommending themfelves to God's mercy. The 24th they faw the fun again, which they had not feen fince Oclober 20th or 2 ill, in the preceding year. The 2Cth, being the laft day (as we guefs) they were able to write, and lived not long after ; they left this following memorial behind them : " Four of us that are fiill alive, lie flat upon the ground in our huts ; we believe we could Hill feed were there but one among us that could flir out of his hut to get us foine fuel, but nobody is able to ftir for pain ; we fpend our time in conftant prayers, to im- plore God's mercy to deliver us out ol this mifery, being ready whenever he pieafes to call us ; we are certainly not in a condition to live thus long without food or fire, and cannot affift one another in our mutual afflidions, but every one muft bear our own burthen." When the fhips from Holland arrived there in 1635, they found theni all dead, fliut lip clofe in their tent, to fecure their dead bodies againft the bears aii.d other ravenous creatures. This being the tent of Middleburgh, a baker who got afhore firll, happened to come to the back-door, which he broke open, and, running up ilairs, found there upon the floor part of a dead dog that was laid there to dry ; but making the bell of his ■way down again, he trod upon the carcafe of another dead dog (tor they had two) at the flair foot in the buttery. From hence, pafling through another door towards the fore-door, in order to open it, he ftumbled in the dark over the dead bodies of the men, whom they faw (after the door was opened,) altogether in the fame place, viz. three in toflins, Nicholas Floriion, and another, each in a cabin, the other tv^o upon fome fails fpread upon the floor, with their knees drawn up to their chins. Coffins being ordered to be made for the four that had none, they were buried with the other three under the fnow, till the ground becoming more penetrable, they were buried one by another, and certain fliones laid upon their graves, to hinder the ravenous beafls from digging up thtir carcaics: thefe were the lafl: that pretended topafs the winter at Spitzbcrgen. A SHORT [ 537 ] A SHORT AND TRUE ACCOUNT OF FORTT-TTFO PERSONS WHO PERISHED BT SHinVRECK NEAR SPJTZBERGEN, IN THE TEAR 1646. [rrom Churchill's Colleftion, Vol. II. p. 361.] JOHN CORNELIUS, of Muniken, being ordered to Spitzbcrgen to catch whales, fet fail from the Texel, in a galiiot, the fixth of May 1646, and arrived the third of June following near Spitzbergen, with an intention to anchor in the bay, but was by the vaft floats of ice-flioals forced to keep out at fea. After having in vain cruized up and down among the ice-fhoals, they got into the bay ; but perceiving two whales far- ther at fea, they fent out their floop in purfuit of the whales. While they were rowing up and down to watch the motions of thefe creatures, they difcovered at a dillance a great ice-flioal, with fomething white upon it, which at firfl fight they imagined to be bears ("they being generally white here); but oneEllert John- fon, (who was in the floop to manage the harpcock or iron wherewith they ftrike the whale) judging by the motion that it was fomething elfe, perfuaded them to row that way ; which being done accordingly, they not long after perceived the fame to be a piece of a rope belonging to the fails of a fhip, which was held up by a man as a fignal of their utmoft dillrels; fo they rowed up to it with all the oars they had, and oncom- ing near them found (to their great furprife) four living men, and one dead one (all Engliflimen), upon the ice-flioal, who upon their bended knees expreflTed their joy and thankfulnefs for fo unexpected a deliverance from the jaws of death. They were taken into the floop, and carried into the bay on board the fliip. They had cut a great hole, in the nature of a fubterraneous cave, into the ice, and round the entrance thereof had placed the pieces of ice that were cut out of the con- cavity, to defend themfelves againft the violence of the winds and waves. In this hole they had fpent fourteen days (it being fo long fince they had lofl: their fliip). At firft there were in all forty-two of them, and they had faved fome viduals and tools with their floop. The commander perceiving after a little while that it was im- poflible for them to hold out long upon the ice-flioal, refolved to go afhore in the floop, with feventeen ol his men, it he could, and to fend them word afterwards how matters flood there. This was done accordingly ; but it blowing very hard, and they having not heard the leafl: tidingsof them fince, they were afraid that they were drowned before they reached the fliore. There were then twenty-four left upon the ice-flioal ; but the want of provifions in- creafing daily among them, and they being reduced to a fl^arving condition, and cx- pedling nothing but prefent death, refolved to divide themfelves, and to get upon feveral other ice-flioals, in hopes by fome chance or other to come near to the fhore ; but whe- ther fome of them got afliore, or whether they were taken up by fome fhip or other, or whether they were fwallowed up by the mercilefs waves, they were not able to tell. Certain it is that we found four of them (the miferable remnants of forty-two) fitting tog< ther upon this ice-fhoal, overwhelmed with afflidion, without any hopes of being faved, from the laft extremity they were reduced to by frcfl and hunger, before we came in full fight of them with our floop, having had nothing to feed upon for fome time but a leather belt (belonging to one of them), which they divided and eat, fliare and fhare alike, till all was confumed. Alter they were brought to our fliip, our furgeon took all imaginable care for their recovery, notwithftanding which three of them died in a few days after ; fo that of forty- two wherewith their fliip was manned, no more than one cfcaped with life, who arriving in September 1646, in the galliot the Delft, upon the Meufe, from thence returned, to his native country in England. VOL. I. 32 A rorAGE C 538 ) ^ VOTJGE TOWARDS THE NORTH POLE, UNDERTAKEN Bl" HIS jITAJESTPS COMMAND, 1773, BT CONSTANTINE JOHN P HIP PS. INTRSDUCTION. THE idea of a paflage to the Eafi Indies by the North Pole was fuggefted as early as the year 1527, by Robert Thonie, merchanr, of Briftol, as appears from two papers preferved by Hackluit : the one addrelTed to King Henry VIII. ; the other to Dr. Ley, the king's ambaffador to Charles V. In that addreffed to the king he fays, "I know it to be my bounden duty to manifeft this fecret to your Grace, which hitherto, T fuppofe, has been hid." This fecret appears to be the honour and advantage which would be derived from the difcovery of a paflage by the North Pole. He reprcfents in the ftrongeH; terms the glory which the kings of Spain and Portugal had obtained by their difcoveries eafl and weft, and exhorts the king to emulate their fame by undertaking difcoveries towards the north. He ftates in a very mailerly ftyle the reputation that muft attend the attempt, and the great benefits, ihould it be crowned with fuccefs, likely to accrue to the lubjefts of this country, from their advantageous fituation ; which, he obferves, feems to make the exploring this, the only hitherto undifcovered part, the king's pecu- liar duty. To remove any objeflion to the undertaking which might be drawn from the fuppofed danger, he infills upon " the great advantages of conllant day-light in feas that, men fay, without great danger, difficulty, and peril, yea rather, it is impoflible to pafs ; for they being paft this little way whicli they named fo dangerous (which raay be two or three leagues before they come to the pole, and as much more after they pafs the pole), it is clear from thenceforth the feas and lands are as temperate as in thefe parts." In the paper addreffed to Dr. Ley he enters more minutely into the advantages and pradicability of the undertaking. Amongft many other arguments to prove the value of the difcovery, he urges, that by failing northward and palling the pole, the navigation from England to the Spice Illands would be Ihorter, by more than tvi'o thoufand leagues, than either from Spain by the Straits of Magellan, or Portugal by the Cape of Good Hope ; and to fhew the likelihood of fuccefs in the enterprize he fays, it is as probable that the cofmographers fhould be miftaken in the opinion they entertain of the polar regions being impaflable from extreme cold, as it has been found they were, in fuppoling the countries under the Line to be uninhabitable from excellive heat. With all the fpirit of a man convinced of the glory to be gained, and the probability of fuccefs in the un- dertaking, he adds, " God knoweth, that though by it I fliould have no great intereft, yet I have had, and dill have, no little mind of this bufmefs ; fo that if I had faculty to my will, it fliould be the firft thing that 1 would underftand, even to attempt, if our feas northward be navigable to the pole or no." Notwithftanding the many good argu- ments, with which he fupported his propofition, and the olfer of his own fervices, it does not appear that he prevailed fo far as to procure an attempt to be made. Borne, in his Regiment of the Sea, written about the year 1577, mentions this as one of the five ways to Cathay, and dwells chiefly on the mildnefs of climate which he ima- gines mull be found near the Pole, from the conflant prefence of the lun during the fammer. Thefe arguments, however, were foon after controverted by Blundi-villc, in hi-, trcatife on Univerfal IMaps, In 1378, George lieft, a gentleman who had been with Sir Martin Frobiflier in all his voviiges for the difcovery of a ncuth-wefl; palfage, wrote a very ingenious difcourfe, to prove all parts of the world habitable. No PHIPPs's JOURNAL. 539 No voyage, however, appears to have been undertaken to explore the circumpohir feas till the year 1607, when " Henry Hudfon was fot forth, at the charge of certjnr^ worfliipful merchants of London, to diicovcr a paffage by the North Pole to Japan and China." He failed from Gravefend on the firft of May, in a fliip called tlie Hopewell, having with him ten men and a boy. I have taken great pains to find his original journal, as well as thofe of fome others of the adventurers who followed him, but with out fuccefs : the only account I have fecn is an imperfcd abridgement in Purchas, by which it is not pofllble to lay down his track ; from which however, I have drawn the following partiodars :— He'fcll in with the land to the Weftward in latitude 73°, on the twenty- fird of June, which he named Hold-with-Hopo. The twenty- feventh, he fell m with Spitibergen, and met with much ice ; he got to 80° 23', which was the northcrn- moft latitudehe obferved in. Giving an account of the conclufion of his difcoveries, he fays, " On the fixteenth of Augufl: 1 faw land, by reafon of the clearnefs of the weather, (tretching far into (S2°, and, by the bowing and ihewing of the fky, much further ; which when I firft faw, I hoped to have had a free fea bet/.een the land and the ice, and meant to have compafTed this land by the North ; but now finding it was impoflible, by means of the abundance of ice compafling us about by the North, and joining to the land ; and feeing God did blefs us with a wind, we returned, bearing up the helm." He afterwards adds : " And this I can affure at this prefent, that between 78° and an half, and 82% by this way there is no paflagc."-In confequence of this opinion, he was the next year employed on the North-Eall difcovery. In March 1609, old ftyle, " A voyage was fet forth by the right worfliipful Sir Thomas Smith, and the reft of the Mufcovy Company, to' Cherry liland, and for a further difcovery to be made towards the North Pole, for the likelihood of a trade or a paflage that way, in the fhip called the Amity, of burthen feventy tuns, in which Jonas Poole was mafter, having fourteen men and one boy." — He weighed from Blackwall, March the firft old ftyle ; and after great feverity of weather, and much difficulty from the ice, he made the South part of Spitft>ergen on the fixteenth of May. He failed along and founded the coaft, giving names to feveral places, and making many veiy accurate obfervations. On the twenty-fixth, being near Fair Foreland, he fent his mate on fhore ; — and fpeaking of the account he gave at his return, fays, " Moreover, I was certified that all the ponds and lakes were unfrozen, they being frefli water ; which putteth me in hope of a mild fummer here, after fo fharp a beginning as I have had ; and my opmion is fuch, and I affure rayfelf it is fo, that a paffage may be foon attained this way by the Pole, as any unknown way whatfoever, by realon the fun doth give a great heat in this climate, and the ice (I mean that freezeth here) is nothing fo huge as I have feen in feventv three degrees." Thefe hopes, however, he was foon obliged to relinquifh for that year, having twice attempted in vain to get beyond 79° 50'. On the twenty-firft of June, he ftood to the Southward, to get a loading of fi(h, and arrived in London the laft of Auguft. He was employed the following year (161 1) in a fmall bark called the Elizabeth, of fifty tuns. The inftruiStions for this voyage, which may be found at length in PurcJias, are excellently drawn up : they direft him, after having attended the filhery for fome time, to attempt difcoveries to the North Pole as long as the feafon will permit ; with a difcre- tionary claufe, to ad in unforefeen cafes as fliall appear to him moil for the advancement of the difcovery, and intereft of his employers. This however proved an unfortunate voyage : for having ftaid in Crofs Road till the fixteenth of June, on account of the bad weather, and great quantity of ice, he failed from thence on that day, and ftcered W. by N. fourteen leagues, where he found a bank of ice : he returned to Crols Road ; from 1 z 2 whence 540 PHIPP'S JOURNAL. whence he failed, he found the ice to lie clofe to the land about the latitude of So", and that it was inipoffible to pafs that way ; and the ftrong tides making it dangerous to deal with the ice, he determined to ftand along it to the Southward, to try if he could find the fea more open that way, and fo get to the Weftward, and proceed on his voy- age. He found the ice to lis nearefh S. W. and S. W. by S., and ran along it about an hundred and twenty leagues. He had no gi'ound near the ice at i6o, 180, or 200 fathoms: perceiving the ice ftill to trend to the fouthward, he determined to return to Spitfbergen for the fifliery, where he loft his fliip. In the year 1614, another voyage was undertaken, in which Baffin and Fotherby were employed. With much difficulty, and after repeated attempts in vain with theftiip, they got with their boats to the firm ice, which joined to Red-Beach ; they walked over the ice to that place, in hopes of finding whale-fins, Sec, in which they were difap- pointed. Fotherby adds, in his account : " thus, as we could not find what we de« fired to fee, fo did we behold that which we wifhed had not been there to be feen ; which was great abundance of ice, that lay clofe to the fhore, and alfo off at fea as far as we could difcern." On the eleventh of Auguft they failed from Fair-Haven, to try if the ice would let them pafs to the Northward, or North- eaft- ward ; they fteered from Cape Barren, or Vogel Sang, N. E. by E. eight leagues, where they met with the ice, which lay E. by S. and W. by N. The fifteenth of Auguft they faw ice frozen in the fea of above the thicknefs of an half-crown. Fotherby was again fitted out the next year in a pinnace of twenty tons, called the Richard, with ten men. In this voyage he was prevented by the ice from getting far- ther than in his laft. He refers to a chart, in which he had traced the fliip's courfe on every traverfe, to fiiew how far the ftate of that fea was difcovered between 80" and 71° of latitude, and for 26° of longitude from Hackluit's headland. He concludes the account of his voyage in the following manner : " Now, if any demand my opinion concerning hope of a paffage to be found in thofe feas, I anfwer ; that it is true, that I both hoped and much defired to have paffed fur- ther than I did, but was hindered with ice ; wherein although I have not attained my defire, yet forasmuch as it appears not yet to the contrary, but that there is a fpacious fea betwixt Groinland and King James his new land [Spitfbergen] although much peftered with ice ; I will not fcem to difwade this worfliipful company from the yeai'ly adventuring of 150 or 2co pounds at the moft, till fome further difcovery be made of the faid feas and lands adjacent." It appears that the Rullia company, either fatisfied with his endeavours and defpairing of further fuccefs, or tired of the expence of the undertaking, never employed any more fhips on this difcovery. All thefe voyages having been fitted out by private adventurers, for the double pur- pofe of difcovery and prefent advantage ; it was natural to fuppofe, that the attention of the navigators had been diverted from purfuing the more remote and lefs profitable ob- ject of the two, with all the attention that could have been wiflied. I am happy, how- ever, in an opportunity of doing juftice to the memory of thefe men; which, without having traced their fteps, and experienced their difficulties, it would have been impof- fible to have done. They appear to have encounteivd dangers, which at that period muft have been particularly alarming from their novelty, with the greateft fortitude and per- feverance ; as well as to have fliewn a degree of diligence and ikill, not only in the or- dinary and pradtical, but more fcicntific parts of their proieffion, which might have done honour to modern feamen, with all their advantages of later improvements. This, when compared with tl;e accounts given of the ftate of navigation, even within thefe forty years, by the moft eminent foreign autliors, aftbrds the moft Uattcring and fatis- 2 factory PHIPPS'S JOURNAL. 54^ faifloi-y proof of the very early exiflcncc of that decided fuperiority in naval affairs, which has carried the power of this country to the height it has now attained. This great point of geography, perhaps the mod important in its confcqucnces to a commercial nation and maritime power, but the only one which had never yet been the objecl of royal attention, was inffercd to remain without further invefligation, from the year 1615 till 1773, when the Earl of Sandwich, in confequence of an application which had been made to him by the Royal Society, laid before his Majefty, about the begin- ning of February, a propofal for an expedition to try how far navigation was practicable towards the North Pole ; which his Majeity was pleafed to direcl fhould be immediately undertaken, with every encouragement that could countenance fuch an enterprize, and. every ailiftance that could contribute to is fuccefs. As foon as I heard of the defign I offered myfelf, and had the honour of being cn- trufted with the conduft of this undertaking. The nature of the voyage requiring par- ticular care in the choice and equipment of the fhips, the Racehorfe and Carcafs bombs ■were fixed upon as the firongeit, and therefore propereft for the purpofe. The pro- bability that fuch an expedition could not be carried on without meeting with much ice, made fome additional itrength neceffary ; they were therefore immediately taken into dock, and fitted in the mod complete manner for the fervice. The complement for the Racehorfe was fixed at ninety men, and the ordinary eftablifliment departed from, by appointing an additional number of officers, and entering effeclive men inltead ot the ufual number of boys. I was allowed to recommend the officers ; and was very happy to find, during the courfe of the voyage, by the great ailiftance I received on many occafions froni their abilities and experience, that I had not been mifiaken in the charafters of thofe upon whom fo much depended in the performance of this fervice. Two mafters ot Green- landmen were employed as pilots for each fliip. The Racehorfe was alfo furnifhed with the new chain-pumps made by Mr. Cole, according to Captain Bentinck's improve- ments, which were found to aniwer perfedly well. We alfo made ufe of Dr. Irving's apparatus for dillilling frefli water from the fea, with the greatefl fuccefs. Some fmall but ufeful alterations were made in the fpeciesof provifionsufually fupplied in the navy; an additional quantity of fpirits was allowed for each fliip, to be iffued at the difcretion of the commanders, when extraordinary fatigue or feverity of weather might make it expedient. A quantity of wine was alfo allotted for the ufe of the nek. Additional cloathing, adapted to the rigour of climate, which from the relations of former naviga- tors we were taught to exped, was ordered to be put on board, to be given to the fea- men when we arrived in the high latitudes. It was forefeen that one or both of the fliips might be facrificed in the profecution of this undertaking ; the boats for each fliip were therefore calculated, in number and fize, to be fit, on any emergency, to tranfport the whole crew. In fliort, every thing which could tend to promote the fuccefs of the undertaking, or contribute to the fecurity, health, and convenience of the fhips' compa- nies, was granted. The Board of Longitude agreed with Mr. Ifrael Lyons to embark in this voyage, to make aftronomical obfervations. His reputation for mathematical knowledge was too well eftabliflied to receive any addition from the few opportunities which a voyage in fuch unfavourable climates could afford. The fame Board fupplied him with fuch in- ftruments as they imagined might be ufeful for making obfervations and experiments. The Royal Society favoured me with fuch information as they judged might fcrve to direft my enquiries, whenever the circumflances of the voyage fhould afford m.e leifure and opportunity for making obfervations. Befidcs tliefe learned bodies, I was obliged to 542 I'HIPPs's JOURNAL. to many individuals for hints ; amongft whom it is with ple:ifure I mention Monfieur D'Alembert, who communicated to me a fliort paper, which, from the concifenefs and elegance with which it was drawn up, as well as from the number of intereding objects that it recommended to my attention, would have done honour to any perfon whofe reputation was not already eflablifl:ed upon fo folid a foundation as that learned pliilo- fopher's. To Mr. Banks I was indebted for very full inftructions in the branch of natural hiftorv, as I have fmce been for his afliftance in drawing up the account of the productions of that country ; which I acknowledge with peculiar fatisfaftion, asinftances of a very long friendfliip which 1 am happy in an opportunity of mentioning. As a voyage of this kind would probably afford many opportunities ot making expe- riments and obfervations in matters relative to navigation, I took care to provide myfelf with all the belt inflruments hitherto in ufe, as well as others which had been imper- feSlv, or never, tried. The length of the fecond pendulum in fo high a latitude as I was likely to reach, ap- pearing to me an experiment too interefting to be negleded, I defired Mr. Cum.ming ro make me fuch an inllrument as he thought would belt anfvver the purpofe. That modeily and candour which always attend real merit, induced him to lend me the iden- tical pendulum with which Mr. Graham had made his experiments, rather than furnilh ine with one of his own conftruftion ; but the judgment as well as ikill with which the apparatus joined to it was contrived and executed, not with [landing the fliortnefs of the time, will, I am fure, do him credit. The Board of Longitude fent two watch machines for keeping the longitude by differ- ence of time : one conflrufted by Mr. Kendal, on Mr. Harrifon's principles ; the other by Mr. Arnold. I had alio a pocket watch conftrutted by Mr. Arnold, by which I kept the longitude to a degree of exactitude much beyond what I could have expefted ; the watch having varied from its rate of going only 2' 40'' in one hundred and twenty-eight days. In the Journal which follows, I mean to confine myfelf to the occurrences of the voyage as they fucceeded in order of lime, which, for the convenience ot the generality of readers, I have reduced from the nautical to the civil computation : to this I fhall add, by way of Appendix, an account of all the experiments and obfervations under their refpcdive heads, that thofe who intereft themfelves in any particular branch, may find whatever they want, unmixed with foreign matters ; while thofe who may wilh only to trace the whole progrefs of the voyage, as well as thofe who may be fatisfied with the general refults of the experiments, will fmd the account unincumbered with that detail which 1 wilh to fubmit to others, who may chufe to examine more minutely, and com- pare the facts with the conclufions. A voyage of a few months to an uninhabited extremity of the world, the great objcft of which was to afcertain a very interefting point in geography, cannot be fuppofcd to afford much matter for the gratification of mere curiolity. The experiments and obfervations may poffibly from their novelty, and the peculiar circumltances of the climate in which they were made, afford fome entertainment to philofophers ; and might perhaps have been more numerous and fatisfattory, if the purfuit of the great objeft of the voyage had not rendered them, however interefting in themfelves, but a fecondary confideration. JOURNAL. April the nineteenth, 1773, I received my commifllon for the Racehorfe, with an order to got her fitted with the greatefl difpatch for a voyage of difcovery towards the North Pole, and to proceed to the Nore for further orders. 10 The PHIPPS'S JOURNAL. 5+3 Thctwcnty-thirJ, the Hiip was hauled out of Jock. May the twenty-tirit, the fliip being manned and rigged, and having got in all the provifions and flores, except the gunner's, wc fell down to Galleons. The twenty-fecond, we received on board the powder, with ci;i,ht fix-poundcr<;, and all the gunner's (lores. Lord Sandwich gave us the lad mark of" the obliging attention he had Ihewn during the whole progrcfs of the equipment, by coming on board to latisfy himfclf, before our departure, that the whole had been completed to the wifli of thofe ■who were embarked in the expedition. The eaPurly winds prevented our going down the river till the twenty-fixth, when I received my inltruftions for the voyage, dated the twenty-fifth ; direding me to fall down to the Nore in the Racehorfe, and there taking under my command the Carcafs, to make the beft of my way to the northward, and proceed up to the North Pole, or as far towards it as poflible, and as nearly upon a me- ridian as the ice or other obflructions might admit; and, during the courfe of the voyage, to make fuch obfervations of every kind as might be ul'ctul to navigation, or tend to the promotion of natural knowledge : in cafe of arriving at the Pole, and even finding free navigation on the oppofite meridian, not to proceed any farther ; and at all events to fecure my return to the Nore before the winter fliould fet in. There was alfo a claufe authorizing me to proceed, in unforefeen cafes, according to my own dif- cretion ; and another claufe directing me to profecute the voyage on board the Carcafs,, in cafe the Racehorfe (lioutd be lofl or difabled. The twenty-feventh, I anchored at the Nore, and was joined by Captain Lutwidge, in the Carcafs, on the thirtieth : her equipment was to have been in all refpecls the fame as that of the Racehorfe ; but when fitted. Captain Lutwidge finding her too deep in the water to proceed to fea with fafety, obtained leave of the admiralty to put fix more gims on fhore, to reduce the complement to eighty men, and return a quantity of provifions proportionable to that reduftion. The officers were reconmiended by Captain Lutwidge, and did juftice to his penetration by their condud in the courfe of the voyage. During our flay here, Mr. Lyons landed with the aftronomical quadrant at Sheernefs fort, and found the latitude to be 5 i° 3 1' 30% longitude 0° 30' Eaft. The eaflerly winds prevented our moving this day and the following. The fecond of June, having the wind to the weftward of north, at five in the morning I made the fignal to weigh ; but in lefs than half an hour the wind fhifting to the eait- ward, and blov/ing frefh, I furled the topfails. The wind came in the afternoon to N, by E., we weighed, but did not get far, the tide of flood making againft us. The third, the wind blowing frefli all day eafterly, we did not move. The fourth, the wind coming round to the wed ward at fix in the morning, I weighed immediately, and fent the boat for Captain Lutwidge, to deliver him his orders. At ten A. M. longitude by the watch i;6' P^. At eight in the evening we had got as far as Balfey cliff, between Orford and Harwich. Little wind at night. The fifth, anchored in Hoieley I'ay at half pall feven in the evening, in five and aa half fathom water. Orford caille N. E. b) N. Angle between Aldborough church and Orford light- houfe, Light-houfe and Orford church, - . - Orford church and callle, - - - , Caftle and Hofeley church, ... Hofeley and Balfey church. The fixth, at five in the morning, the wind at S. S. W., weighed, and Hood out tO' fea, fimding I might lofe two tides by going through Yarmouth Roads, Examined the log: line. 18 38' 16 2 20 00 59 35 27 544 PHIPPs's JOURN.M.. log-line, which was marked forty-nine feet ; the glafs was found, by comparing it with the time-keeper, to run thirty feconds : at noon latitude obferved 52" 16' 54", longitude by the watch 1° 30' 15" E. Angle between Southwold and Walderfwick, - - 10° 39' Walderfwick and Dunwich, - - - - 20 21 Dunwich and Aldborough, - - - - 46 53 Southwold N. W. halfN. fuppofed diftance three leagues. We concluded the lati- tude of Southwold to be 52° 22', and longitude 1° 18' i c" E. The dip was 73 22. The feventh, the wind was northerly all day, and blew frefli in the morning. We had flood far out in the night and the day before, to clear the Lemon and Ovver. The eighth, little wind mofl part of the day, with a very heavy fwell. Stood in for the land. At half pafi: ten longitude by the watch o" 41' 1 15" E. At noon the lati- tude was ^^i" 3S' 37"- We faw the high land near the Spurn, in the tvening. The ninth, about noon Flamborough Head bore N. W. by N. diftant about fix miles: wc vyere by obfervation in latitude 54" 4' 54', longitude 0° 27' i^l^. ; which makes Flamborough Head, in latitude 54° 9', longitude 0° 19' 15'' E. In the after- noon we were off Scarborough. Almoll calm in the evening. The tenth, anchored in the morning for the tide in Robin Hood's Bay, with little wind at N. W. : worked up to Whitby Road next tide, and anchored there at four in the afternoon, in fifteen fathom, with very little wind. The eleventh, calm in the morning ; completed our water, live flock, and vege- tables. At nine in the morning longitude obferved by the watch 1" 53' 30'' W. ; Whitby abbey bore S. half W. AVeighed with the wind at S. E., and fleered N. E. by N. to get lb far into the mkl-channel as to make the wind fair eaflerly or weflerly, without being too near either fliore, before we were clear of Shetland and the coaft of Norway. The twelfth, the wind at S. E. and the Ihip well advanced, I ordered the allowance of liquor to be altered, ferving the fliip's company one fourth of their allowance In beer, and the other three fourths in brandy ; by which means the beer was made to lail the whole voyage, and the water confiderably laved. One half of this allowance was ferved immediately after dinner, and the other half in the evening. It was now light enough all night to read upon deck. The thirteenth, the weather flill fine but confiderably lefs wind than the day before, and in the afternoon more northerly. The longitude at ten in the morning was found by my watch 0° 6' W. We took three obfervations of the moon and fun for the longitude ; the extremes differed from one another near two degrees : the mean of the three gave the longitude 1° 37' £. At noon the latitude obferved was 59" 32' 31'''. We found a difference of 36' between the latitude by dead reckoning and obfervation, the fliip being lb much more northerly than the reckoning. The diflance by this log was too fliort bv forty-three miles. A log marked forty-five feet, according to the old method, would have agreed with the obfervation within two miles In the two days' run. The circundfance of fleering upon a meridian, which aftbrded mc fuch frequent opportunities of detecting the errors of the log, induced me to obl'erve with care the comparative accuracy of the dilFerent methods of dividing the line, recommended by mathematicians, or praclifed by feamen. In the afternoon I went on board the ^Car- cafs to compare the time-keepers by my watch. At fix in the evening the longitude by my watch 0° 4' E. This evening the fun fet at twenty-four minutes paft nine, and bore I'illPPS S JOURNAL. 545 bore about N. N. W. by tlie compafs. The clouds made a beaufiful appearance lonjij after to the northward, from the rcfleGion of the fun below the iiorizon. It was quite light all night : the Carcafs made the fignal for feeing the land in ihe evening. The fourteenth, little wind, or calm, all day ; but very clear and fine weather. Made fevcral dilFerent obfer\ations by the fun and mr.on, and by my watch. The longitude of the fhip \va=; found by my watch, at ton in the morning, to be i ° i i' 45'' W, The longitude by the lunar obfervations ditl'ercd near two degrees from one another. By the mean of them the fliip was in longitude 2'' ^y' 45'' W. Some Shetland boats came on board with fifli. At noon the latitude by obfervation was 6:" 16' 45^ At one in the afternoon the dip was obferved to be 73" 50' ; and at eight, 75° 18': the evening calm, and very fine ; the appearance of the iky to the northward very beautiful. Variation, by the mean of feveral obfervations, C2'' 25' W. The fifteenth, by an obfervation at eight in the morning, the longitude of the fliip was by the watch o^ 39' W : dip 74° 52'. At half pafl ten in the morning, the longi- tude, from feveral obfervations of the fun and moon, was o' 17' W. ; at noon, bein^ in latitude 60° 1 9' 8", by obfervation, I took the diflance between the two fhips by the niegameter ; and from that bafe determined the pofition of HangclifT, which had never before been afcertaincd, though it is a very remarkable point, and frequently made by fhips. According to thefe obfervaiions it is in latitude 60" 9', and longitude 0° i;6' 30" W. In the Appendix I fliall give an account of the manner of taking furvcys by this in- ftrument, which I believe never to have been praftifed before. At one, obferved the dip to be 75°. A thick fog came on in the afternoon, with a flat calm ; we could not fee the Carcafs, but heard her anfwcr the fignals for keeping company. Variation, from the mean of feveral obfervations, 25° i' W. The fixteenth, a very thick fog in the morning ; latitude obferved at noon 60° 29' 17" ; the dip was obferved at nine in the evening to be 76" 45'. In the after- noon, the weather clear, and the wind fair, fteered N. N. E. : fent Captain Lutwidge his further orders and places of rendezvous. The feventeeenth, wind fair, and blowing frefli at S. S. W., continued the courfe N. N. E. : ordered the people a part of the additional clothing : faw an Englifh floop, but had no opportunity of fending letters on board, the fea running high. At ten in the morning, longitude by the watch 0° 19' 45" W : at noon, the latitude obferved was 62° 59' 27". '1 he fliip had outrun the reckoning eleven miles, i tried Bou- guer's log twice this dav, and found it give more tlian the common log. Variation I9°22'W. The eighteenth, little wind all day, but fair, from S. S. W. to S. E. : fllU (leering N. N. E. : ktitude obferved at noon 65'"' 18' 17". At three in the afternoon, founded with three hundred fathom of line, but got no ground. Longitude by the watch 1° o' 30" W. The nineteenth, wind to the N, W. Took the meridian obfervation at midnight for the firft time : the fun's lower linb 0° 37' 30" above the horizon ; from which the latitude was found 66° 54' 39" N. : at four in the afternoon, longitude by the watch 0° 58' 45 ' W. : at fix the variation i.,° 1 1' W. The twentieth, almofl calm all day. The water being perfectly fmootb, I took this opportunity of trying to get foundings at much greater depths than I believe had ever been attempted before. I founded with a very heavy lead the depth of feven hundred and eighty fathom, without getting ground ; and bya thermometer invented by lord Charles Cavendifli for tiiis purpofe, found the temperature of the water at ..VOL. I. 4 A that 54^ PHIPPS'S JOURNAL. that depth to be 26" of Fahrenheit's thermometer 5 the temperature of the air being 48" and a half. We began this day to nialvc ufe of Doctor Irving's apparatus for diflilling frefli water from the fea : repeated trials gave us the moft fatisfaftory proof of its utility : the water produced from it was perfectly free from fait, and wholcfome, being uled for boiling the iliip's provifions ; which convenience would alone be a defirable objedt in all voyages, independent of the benefit of fo ufeful a refource in cafe of diftrefs for water. The quantity produced every day varied from accidental circumftanccs, but was generally fi-om thirty-four to forty gallons, without any great addition of fuel. Twice indeed the quantity produced was only twenty-three gallons on each diftillation ; this amounts to more than a quart for each man, which, though not a plentiful allow- ance, is much more than what is neceffary for fubfiitence. In cafes of real neceifity I have no reafon to doubt that a much greater quantity might be produced without an in- convenient expence of fuel. The twenty. fird, a frefli gale at S. E. all day ; fleered N. N. E. At four in the morning we fpoke with a fnow from the feal fifliery, bound to Hamburg, by which we fent fome letters. At fix in the morning the variation, by the mean of feveral obfer- vations, was 23" 18' W. Longitude by the watch at nine was 0° 34' 30" W. Lati- tude obferved at noon 68' 5'. The twenty-fecond, calm mofl part of the day ; rainy and rather cold in the even- ing. At noon obferved the dip to be 77° 52'. The twenty-third, very foggy all day ; the wind fair ; altered the courfe, and fleered N. E. and E N. E., to get more into the mid channel, and to avoid falling in with the weflern ice, which, from the increafing coldnefs of the weather, we con- cluded to be near. At feven o'clock in the morning, being by our reckoning to the northward of 72°, we faw a piece of drift wood, and a fmall bird called a Red-poll. Dip obferved at nine in the evening to be 8i° 30'. The twenty-fourth, very foggy all the morning ; the wind came round to the north- ward. The dip obferved at noon was 80° 35'. In the afternoon, the air much colder than we had hitherto felt it ; the thermometer at 34°. A fire made in the cabin for the iirfl time, in latitude yT," 40'. The wind northerly, with a great fwell ; fome fnow, but in general clear. At eight in the morning, the longitude obferved by the watch was y" 1 5' E. Made feve- ral obfervations on the variation, which we found, by thofe taken at feven in morning, to be 17' 9' W. ; by others at three in the afternoon, only 7" 47' W. I could not account for this very fudden and extraordinary decreafe, as there were feveral different obfervations taken both in the morning and evening, which agreed perfedtly well with each other, without any apparent caufe which could produce an error atTeding all the obfervations of cither fet. At eight in the evening the longitude by the moon was 12" ^y' 3©'^ E., which differed 2° ^5' ^i^om that by the watch. Little wind at night. The twemy-fixth, little wind all day ; the weather very fine and moderate. The latitude obferved at noon was 74° 25'. The thermometer expofed to the fun, which flione very bright, rofe from 41° to 6i° in twenty minutes. By each of two lunar obfervations which I took with a fextant of four inches radius, at half pafl one, the' longitude was 9° 7' 30''' E. ; which agreed within thirty-feven minutes with an ob- fervation made by the watch at half an hour after three, when the longitude was 8° 5i' 30'' E. Dip 79" 22'. Tlie PHIPPS'S JOURNAL. 547 The twenty-feventh, at midnight the latitude obferved was 74.^ 26'. The wjjid came to the S. W., and continued fo all day, with a little rain and fnow. The cold did not increaie. We (leered N. liyE. At fevcn in the morning the variation, by a mean of ieveral obiervations, was found to be 20' 38' W. We were in the evening, by all our reckoning'?, in the latitude of the fouth part of Spitfbergen, without any appearance of ice or fight of land, and with a fair wind. The twenty cif;hth, lefs wind in the morning than the day before, with rain and fleet : continued Iteering to the northward. At five in the afternoon picked up a piece of drift wood, which was fir, and not worm-eaten : founded in two hundred and ninety fathom ; no ground. At fix the longitude by the watch was 7° 50' E. : be- tween ten and eleven at night, faw the land to the eaftward at ten or twelve leagues diifance. At midnight, dip Si°7'. The twenty-niniii, the \sind northerly; flood clofe in with the land. The coafl appeared to be neither habitable nor acceflible ; for it was formed by high, barren, black rocks, without the lead marks of vegetation ; in many places bare and pointed, in other parts covered with fnow, appearing even above the clouds : the vallies be- tween the high clifls w«re filled with fnow or ice. This profpect would have fug- gefled the idea of perpetual winter, had not the mildnefs of the weather, the fmooth' water, bright funfliine, and conftant day-light, given a cheerfulnefs and novelty to tlie whole of this ftriking and romantic fcene. I had an opportunity of making many obfervations near the Black point. Latitude obferved at noon 77" 59' 11''. The difference of latitude, from the lafl obfervation on the twenty-feventh at midnight to this day at noon, would, according to the old method of marking the log, have been two hundred and thirteen miles ; which agrees cxadly with the obfervation. At three in the afternoon, brought to and founded one iiundred and ten fathoms ; foft muddy ground : hoifted the boat and tried the ftream ; found it, both by the common and Bouguer's log (which agreed exaftly) to run half a knot north ; Black Point bearing E. N. E. At four the longitude by the watch was 9° 3 1' E. : at eight the variation, by the mean of nineteen obfervations, 1 1° 53' W.' I could not account from any apparent caufe for this great change in the variation : the weather was fine, the water fmooth, and every precaution we could think of ufed to make the obfervations accurate. The dip was 80° 26'. Plying to the northward. The thirtieth, at midnight, the latitude by obfervation was 78" o' 50'. At four in the morning, by Lord Charles Cavendifh's thermometer the temperature of the water at the depth of a hundred and eighteen fathoms was 31° of Fahrenheit's ; that of the air was at the fame time 40° and a half. At nine in the morning we faw a fliip in the N. W., Handing in for the land. Having little wind this morning, and that northerly, I {food in for the land, with an intention to have watered the (hip, and got out im- mediately, but was prevented by the calm which followed. At noon the latitude ob- ferved was 78' 8' ; the dip 79° 30'. At two in the afternoon we founded in a hundred and fifteen fathoms; muddy bottom: at the fame time we fent down Lord Charles Cavendifli's thermometer, by which we found the temperature of the water at that depth to be 33' ; that of the water at the furface was at the fame time 40", and in the air 44° and three fourths. Fahrenheit's thermometer plunged in water brought up from the fame depth, flood at 38" and a half. This evening the mailer of a Green- land fhip came on board, who told me, that he was juft come out ot the ice which lay to the weftward about fixteen leagues off, and that three fhips had been loft this year, -' two Englifli, and one Dutch. The weather fine, and rather warm. At fix in the evening the longitude by my watch was 9' 28' 45'' E. 4 A 2 July 54$ PHIPPS'S JOURNAL. July the firfl:, little wind northerly, or calm, all day : the weather .very fine, and fo warm that we flu without a fire, and with one of the ports open in the cabin. At noon the latitude obferved was 78° 13' 36''''; Black Point bearing S. 78° K. ; which makes the latitude of that point nearly the fame as that of the fhip, and agrees very well with the chai't of this coaft in Purchas. The fecond, Httle wind, and calms, all day ; the weather very fine. At fix in the morning five fail of Greenlandmen in fight. At noon the latitude obferved was 78'' 22' 41'''. I took a furvey of the coaff, as far as we could fee : 1 took alfo with the meganieter the altitudes of feveral of the mountains : but as there is nothing particularly intereiling to navigators in this part of ihecoali, I Ihall only mention the height of one mountain, which was fifteen hundred and three yards. This may ferve to give fome idea of the appearance and fcale of the coaft. At half pad fix the longitude by the watch was 9° 8' 30'' E. : variation 14" 55' W. The third, latitude at midnight 78" 23' 46" : dip. 80-45'. The weather fine, and the wind fair all day. Running along by the coaft of Spitfljergen all day : feveral Greenlandmen in fight. Between nine and ten in the evening we were abrealt of the North Foreland, bearing E. by S. half S., dillance one mile and half. Sounded in twenty fathom ; rocky ground. 1 he fourth, very little wind in the morning. At noon the latitude by obfervation was 79° 51'. Magdalena Hook bore N. 39" E. difiant four miles; which gives the latitude of that place 79° 34' ; the fame as Fotherby obferved it to be in 1614. Stood in to a fmall bay to the Southward of Magdalena and Hamburgher's Bay : anchored with the fiream anchor, and lent the boat for water. About three in the afternoon, when the boat was fent on fhore, it appeared to be high water, and ebbed about three feet. This makes high water full and change at half an hour pafl: one, or with a S. S. W. moon; which agrees exactly with Baffin's obfervation in 1613. The flood comes from the Southward. Went afliore with the altronomer, and initruments, to obferve the variation. A thick fog came on before we had completed the obfervations. 1 he fhip driving, I weighed and flood out to fea under an eafy fail, firing guns frequently to fhew the Carcafs where we were ; and in lefs than two hours joined her. Soon after (about four in the morning of the fifth) the Rockingham Greenland Ship ran under our ftern, and the mafler told me he had jud fpoke with fome fhips from which he learnt, that the ice was within ten leagues of Hacluyt's Head Land, to the North- Weft. In confequence of this intelligence, 1 gave orders for fleering in towards the Head Land ; and if it fhould clear up, to fteer direftly for it ; intending to go North from thence, till fome circumflance fhould oblige me to alter my courfe. The fifth, at five the officer informed me, that we were very near fome iflands oft" Dane's Gat, and that the pilot wifhed to ftand farther out ; 1 ordered the fhip to be kept N. by W., and hauled farther in, when clear of the iflands. At noon I fleered North, feeing nothing of the land ; foon after I was told that they faw the ice : I went upon deck, and perceived fomething white upon the bow, and heard a noife like the furf upon the fhore ; I hauled down the ftudding fails, and hailed the Carcafs to kt them know that I fhould ftand for it to make what it was, having all hands upon deck ready to haul up at a moment's warning : 1 dcfired that they would keep clofe to us, the fog being lb thick, and have every body up ready to follow our motions inftantanei ouH)', determining to iland on under fuch fail as fhoulJ enable us to keep the fiiips under command, and not rifle parting company. Soon after two fmail pieces of ice not above three fett fquare pafled us, which we fupj^ofed to have floated from the ihorc. It was not long before we faw fomething on tlie boWj part black and part covered PHIPPS S JOURNAL. 549 covered with fnow, which from the appearance wo took to be IflanJs, and thought that we had not flood lar enough out ; I hauled up immediately to the N. N. W. and was foon undeceived, finding it to be ice which we could not clear upon that tacic ; we tacked immediately, but the wind and fea both fetting directly upon it, we neared it very fall, and were within little more than a cable's length of the ice, whilfl in flays. The wind blowing frefli, the fiiips would have been in danger on the lee ice, had not the oilicers and men been very alert in working the fhip. The ice, as far as we could then fee, lay nearly E. by N. and W. by S. At half pafl feven in the evening, the fliip running entirely to the Southward, and the weather clearing a little, I tacked, and ftood for the ice. When I law it, I bore down to make it plain ; at ten the ice lay from N. ^\''. to eafl, and no opening. Very foggy, and little wind, all day ; but not cold. At eleven came on a thick fog. At half pafl midnight, heard thefurge of the ice, and hauled the wind to the eaflward. The fixth, clear weather all day, and the wind Eaflerly off the ice. In the mornin"- I flood in to make the land plain. At fix, was within four miles of the ice, which bore from E. N. E. to W. N. W. : at ten near Vogel Sang : at noon, latitude obferved 79* 56' y(^" ; wind Eaflerly. Continued plying to windward between the land and the ice : was within a quarter of a mile from the ice, which lay from E. N. E. to N. N. W., when I tacked at two in the afternoon ; and within half a cable's length at midnight : the Carcafs was a great way aflern and to leeward all day. Being fo near the lafl ren- dezvous, I did not chufe to bring to for her, but was very anxious to avail myfelf of this favourable opportunity, having the wind off the ice and clear weather, to fee whether there was any opening to the N. E. of the Head Land. By all the accounts from the Greenlandmen this year, and particularly the lafl account from the Rockino-- ham, as well as from what we had leen ourfelves, the ice appeared to be quite clofe to the N. W. We had feen it from E. S. E. to W. N. W. It was probable that the fea, if open any where, would be fo to the Eaflward, where the Greenlandmen do not often venture, for fear of being prevented from returning by the ice joining to Spitfbergen. ■ I determined therefore, fhould the wind continue in the fame quarter next dav, to find whether the ice joined to the land, or was fo detached as to afford me an opportunity of pafhng to the eaflward. In cafe of the ice being fafl I could, with the wind Eaflerlv, range clofe along the edge of it to the weflward. The weather exceedingly fine. At fix ill the afrernoon, the longitude by the watch was 9° 43' t^o" E. The feventh, at five in the morning the wind was northerly, and the weather remark- ably clear. Being near the ice 1 ranged along it. It appeared to be clofe all round ; but I was in hopes that fome opening might be found to get through to a clear fea to the Northward. 1 ran in amongfl the fmall ice, and kept as clofe as pofTible to the main body, not to mifs any opening. At noon. Cloven ClitFW. half S. k\en leagues. At one in the afternoon, being flill amongfl the loofe ice, I fent the boat to one of the large pieces to fill water. At four v/e fhoaled the water very fuddenly to fourteen fa- thom : the outer part of Cloven Cliff bore W. half N. : Redclitf, S. quarter E. The loofe ice being open to the E. N. E., we hauled up, and immediately deepened our water to twenty-eight fathom ; muddy ground, with fhelis. At half pafl four, the ice fetting very clofe, we ran between two pieces, and having little wind were flopped.- The Carcafs being very near, and not anfwering her helm well, was almofl on board of us. After getting clear of her, we ran to the Eaflward. Einding the pieces increafe in number and fize, and having got to a part lefs crowded with the drift ice, I brought to, at fix in the evening,- to fee whether we could ditcover the Icafl appearance of an opening : but it being my own opinion, as well as that of the pilots and officers, that 6 we r5o PHIPPb S JOURNAL. we could go no farther, nor even remain there without danger of being befet, I fent the ■boat on board the Carcafs for her pilots, to hear their opinion ; they both declared that ft appeared to them imprafticable to proceed that way, and that it was probable we (noiild foon be befet where we were, and detained there. The ice fet fo f'afl; down, that be- fore they got on board the Carcafs we were faft. Captain Lutwidge hoilled our boat up, to prevent her being ftove. We were obliged to heave the fliip throir^li for two hours, with ice anchors, from each quarter ; nor were we quite out of the ice till mid- night. This is about the place where moft of the old difcoverers were fi:opp,-d. The people in both fliips being much fatigued, and the Carcafs not able to keep up with us, without carrying itudding fails. I fliortened fail as foon as we were quite out, and left ci-ders to fland to the northward under an eafy fail : I intended, having failed in this attempt, to range along the ice to the N. W., in hopes of an opening that way, the wind being fair, and the weather clear ; refolving, if I found it all folijEi, to return to the eaflward, where probably it might by that time be broken up, which the veiy mild weather encouraged me to expect. The eighth, little wind in the morning, and a fwell fetting on the ice, we were obliged to get the boats a-head, to tow the fhip clear ; which they eiiccted with dif- ficuity. A breeze fpringing up when we were within two cables lengths of the main body of the ice, flood in for the land, and tacked at two, to fland to the N. W. for the ice ; but the weather coming thick between five and fix, I flood in again for the land. It clearing up foon after, I bore away again N. W. for the ice. At ten, fpoke with a Greenland Ship which had jufl left the ice all clofe to the N. N. W. Between eleven and twelve the wind came to the S. W., with an heavy fwell, and thick weather. Double-reefed the topfails, and tacked at twelve, to fland in for Hacluyt's Head Land, not thinking it proper to run in with the fall ice to leeward in thick weather, without even the probability of an opening ; and propofmg, if that weather continued, to com- plete the fhip's water, and be ready with the firft wind, off or along the ice, to look out for an opening and run in. To avoid any inconvenience, which from the experience of the preceeding day I perceived might happen, from too many running to one place on any fudden order, I divided the people into gangs under the midfhipmen, and ftationed them to the ice hooks, poles, crabs, and to go over upon the ice when wanted. The ninth, having a fair opportunity, and S. W. wind, flood to the weflward ; in- tending, when the weather was clear, to make the ice to the northward, and run along it. About twelve, clearer ; faw the faft ice to the northward, and the appearance of loofe ice to the N. W. : flood direclly for it, and got amongft it between two and three ; fleering as much to the northw ard as the fituation of the ice would permit. At fix obferved the dip 88° 52'. At half paft feven, found the ice quite faft to the weft, being in longitude 2° 2' E., by our reckoning, which was the fixrtheft to the weft- ward of SpitflxTgen that we got this voyage. At eight the fog was fo very thick, that we could neither fee which w ay to pufli for an opening, nor where the Carcafs was, thouo 30 Under the Ice. 75 At Sea. 60 14 Sea- water Diftilled water • which is, as 10192 oz. 21 21 10477,7; Sea water taken up at the back of Yarmouth Sands, was in the following ratio to diftilled water : dwts. grs. ft I Thermometer, 53" ; or, as I : 1,02803. The quantity of dry fait produced from the above water, was 1 3 dwts. i 5 grs. ; it appears, therefore, that fea-water contains more air than diftilled water. The refults of the experiments made with Lord Charles Cavendifh's thermometer, and thofe with the bottle fitted by Dr. Irving, differ materially as to the temperature of the fea at great depths ; I fhall give an account, theref )re of the precautions ufed by Dr. Irving to prevent the temperature from being altered, as well as of the allowance made by Mr Cavendidi for comprefTion, as they communicated them to me. The following is the account of the precautions taken by Dr. Irving to prevent the tcmp'Tature of the water being changed in bringing up from tlie b^ittoin : *' The bottle had a coating of wool, three inches thick, which was wrapped up in an oiled fliin, and let into a leather purfc, and the whole inclofcd in a well-pitched can- vafs-bag, firmly tied to the mouth of the bottle, fo that not a drop of water could penetrate to its furface. A bit of lead fluipcd like a cone, with its bale downwards and a cord fixed to its fmall end, was put into the bottle ; and a piece of valve learhi-r, with hall a dozen flips of thin bladder, were ftrung on the cord, which, when pulled, eflettually corked the bottle in the infide." 8 The PHIPPS'S JOURNAL. 575 The followinc; is IMr. Cavendifli s account of the correclions to be made for Lord Charles Cavendifh's thermometer : " The thermometer ufed in thefe experiments is fully defcribcd in the Pliilofophical Tranfaclions, Vol. L. p. 308 ; fo that I imagine it is unneceflary to mention it here. But fmce the publicrition of that volume, the late Mr. Canton difcovered that fpirits of wine and other fluids are comprt fliblc ; which mui^ make the thermometer appear to have been colder than it really was, and renders a correction neceffary on that account. There is another (mailer correction neceffary, owing to the expanfion of ipirits of wine by any given number of degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer being greater in the higher degrees than the lower. As the method of computing thefe two corredlions is not ex- plained in that paper, it may be proper juft to mention the ruL which was made ufe of in doing it. " In adjufting the degrees on the fcale of this thermometer, the tube was entirely full of mercury, or the mercurv flood at no degrees on the fcale, when its real heat was 65^ of Fahrenheit. Let the bulk of the mercury contained at that time in the cylinder be called IM, and that of the fpirits S ; let the expanfion of fpirits of wine by 1° of Fahren- heit, about the heat of 65', be to its whole bulk at that heat, as .r to i ; and let its ex- panfion by one degree at any other heat, as 6^° — x, be to its bulk at 65", as j x 1 — dx to i; let the expanfion of mercury by one degree of heat be to its bulk at 05% as m to i; and let ^ be called G ; let the comprelTion of fpirits of wine by the preffure of an hundred fathom of fea-water, when the heat of the fpirits is nearly the fame as that of the fea at the d^pth to which the thermometer was let down, be lo its bulk at 65', as C to I ; the compreflion of the mercury is fo fmall that it may be neglefted ; let the - thermometer be let down N hundred fathom, and when brought up and put into water of 65° — i degrees of heat let the mercury in the tube (land at E degrees ; confequently the heat, as fhewn by the thermometer, is 65° — F — E : and kt the real heat of the fea at the depth to which it was funk be 6^ — .v degrees; then 6^° — -"^—^s" — F — E 4- ^, — —_+ -,— ^' 1" this thermometer S — iioo; M z= '.,7 ; the ex- panfion of the fpirits ufed in making it by 1° at the heat of 6^°, was found to be — 5> of their bulk at that heat : that is j— — jv ; 7n — ; therefore G — i ,01 ■?» I yco 1700' iijO-. ' •-' From M. De Luc's experiments * it appears, that the expanfion of fpirirs of wine by I ° at any degree of heat, as 6^" — .v, is to its expanfion by 1° at 6^ , nearly as i — X I -'— to I : therefore, d — — . The compreffibility of the fpirits ufed for this thermo- meter at the heat of 58% was found to be exactly the fame as Mr. Canton determines it to be at that heat ; and therefore its compreffibility at all other degrees of heat is f^ippcfed to be the fame as he makes it. According to his experimentsf, the compref- fion of fpirits of wine by the preflure of 29! inches of mercury at the heat of 32 , id i/l, nearly the heat of the fea in thefe experiments, is 59 1 millionth parts of its bulk at that heat ; therefore - =1,9 and 65 — x = 65 — F — E -j- N x i, 9 — ' "*" "*" * N X 1 , 9 X f -t- .V J, + — 638. * Modifications de I'Atmofphere, Vcl I. page 252. f Philofophical Tianfaitions, \'ol. LIV. page 261. Oi/crvations 576 PHIPPs's JOURNAL* Obfcrvatiom made by Dr. Irving cf the Ecat of the Sea agitated by a Gale of Wind, and that of the Atmofphere. September the twelfth, the thermometer plunged into a wave of the fea, rofe to 62"; the heat of the atmofphere 50°. This experiment was frequently repeated during the gale, and it gave nearly the fame difference. At night, when the weather became moderate, the heat of water thirty fa- thoms below the furface was 55' ; the furface and the atmofphere were 54" September the twenty-fecond, the fea-water was 60° ; the atmofphere 59^ : the wind at S. W., a frefh gale. Ohfcrvations for determining the Height of a Mountain in Latitude jcf 44'; by the Baro- * meter, and Geometrical Mcafurement, Ohfervations taken by the Barometer by Dr. Irving, August the eighteenth, the day remarkably clear. Inches. - At fix in the morning, the barometer by the fea-fide flood at - 30,040 The thermometer 50'. On the fummit of the mountain, about an hour and three quarters later than the firft obfervation below, ... 28,266 Thermometer 42"". At about an hour later at the fame place, - - - 28,258 Thermometer 42°. By the fea-fide, where the firft obfervation was made, and about three hours later, - , - - - 30,032. Thermometer 44". Height of the mountain calculated by M. De Luc from the firft obfervation ... 1585 fem. Syft. Nat. 226. 10. The Arftick Gull. Penn. Brit. Zool. p. 420. Found on the coaft of Spitftiergen. Larus Ebiirneus, niveus, immaculatus, pedibus plumbeo-cinereis. Found on the coaft of Spitfbergen. This beautiful bird is not defcribed by Linnaeus, nor, I believe, by any other author ; It is nearly related indeed to the rathfher, defcribed by Marten in his voyage to Spitf- bergen, (fee page 77 of the Englifli tranflation) but, unlefs that author is much miftaken in his defcription, differs eflentially from it. Its place in the Syftema Naturae feems to be next after the Larus nsevius, where the fpecifick difference given above, which will diftinguifh it from all the fpecies defcribed by Linnxus, may be inferted. Defcription. — Tota avis (quoad pennas) nivea, immaculata. Roftinim plumbeum. Orbitse oculorum croceaz. Pedes cinereo-plumbei. Ungues nigri. Digitus Poflicus articulatus, unguiculatus. Alas Cauda longiorcs. 4 E 2 Cauda 580 PHIPPS'S JOURNAL. Cauda sequalls, pedibus longior. Longitude totius avis, ab apice roflrl ad finem caudss . Unclas \6 Longitudo inter apices alarum expanfarum - 37 Roftri ... 2 Sterna Hirundo. Linn. Syji. Nat. 227. 2. The greater Tern. Fe>7?i. Brit. Zool. p. 428. Found on the coaft of Spitfbergen. Emberiza nivalis. Linn. Syjt. Nat. 308. i. The greater B rambling. Pcnn. Brit. Zool. 321. Found not only on the land of Spitfbergen, but alfo upon the ice adjacent to it, in large flocks : what its food can be is difficult to determine ; to all appearance it is a granivorous bird, and the only one of that kind found in thefe climates, but how that one can procure food in a country which produces fo few vegetables, is not eafy to guefs. Amphibia.— Cyclopterus liparis. Linn. S\/?. Nat. 414. 3. Sea Snail. Penn. Brit. Zool. III. p. 105. Two only of thefe were taken in a trawl near Seven Ifland Bay. Pisces. — Gadus Carbonarius. Linn. S-^. Nat. 438. 9. The Coal Fifh. Penn. Brit. Zool. III. p. 152. Though we trawled feveral times on the north fide of Spitfbergen, and the feamen fre- quently tried their hooks and lines, yet nothing was taken except a few individuals of this and the foregoing fpecies. Insecta. — Cancer Squilla. Linn. Sy/l. Nat. 1051. 66. The Prawn. Merr. Pinn. 192. Found in the flomach of a feal, caught near the coaft of Spitfbergen. Cancer Boreas, macrourus, thorace carinato aculeato, manibus Isevibus, pollice fub- ulato incurvo. This finglar fpecies of crab, which has not before been defcribed, was found with the former in the flomach of a feal ; its place in the Syflema Natura; feems to be next after Cancer Norwegicus. Defcription. — Thorax ovatus, tricarinatus : carinse laterales tuberculofas, antice fpina acuta terminatie ; carina dorfalis fpinis tribus vel quatuor validis armata j antice produda in roftrum porreftum, acutuni, breve, thorace quintuple brevius ; praster fpinas carinaruni, anguli laterales thoracis antice in fpinas terminantur. Antenna; duas, thorace fere triplo breviores, bifida; : ramulus fuperior craffiufculus, filiformis, obtufus ; inferior gracilis, fubulatus. Palpi duo, duplicati j ramus fuperior foliatus, feu explanatus in laminam ovalenr, obtufam, longiludine antennarum, intus et antice villis ciliatam ; ramus interior an- tenniformis, fubulatus, multiarticulatus, antennis triplo longior. Paraftatides decem, anteriores parvi ; poflremi magni, pediforraes articulo ultimo explanato in laminam ovali-oblongani. Pedes decem, duo primorcs cheliferi, carpis incraffatis, reliqui fimplices ; pares fe- cundi at tertii filiformes, graciles ; quarti et qiiinti craffiufculi. Cauda thorace longior, fcxarticulata ; articulis quinque antericribus carinatis, carinis fpina antrorfum vcrgente armatis ; articulus fextus fupra bicarinatus, muticus, ter- minatus foliolis quinque, articulis caudac longloribus ; intermedio lanceolate, acuto, porredo, craffo, fupra planiulculo, quadricarinato carinis interioribus obfoletis, fub- lus concavo j latcralibus ovali-oblongis, obtufis. Neufteri PHIPPS'S JOURNAI,, 55'l Neurteri decern, (null! fub articulo ultimo) duplicati ; foliolls lanceolatis, ciliatls. Obf. — Specimina magnitudine varianr, alia triuncialia, alia feptein uncias longa. Cancer Ampulla, macrourus, articularis, corpore ovali, pcdibus quatuordecim fim- plicibus, laminis fenioruni poltici paris ovato-fubrotundis. This fingular animal was alfo taken out of the (lomach of the fame feal in which the two former were found. Its place in the Syftema Naturae is next to Cancer Pulex. Defcription. — Infeftum ex cvali-oblongum, glabrum, punftulatum, articulis qua- tuordecim compofitum, quorum primus capitis eft, feptem thoracem mentiuntur, et fex caudam tegunt. Capitis clypeus antice inter antennas in proceflum conicum, acutum defcendit. Antennae quatuor, fubulatas, articulate, fimplices, corpore decuplo breviores. Pedes quatuordecim, funplices, unguiculati ; femora poftremi paris poftice acuta, lamina dimidiato-fubrotunda, Integra, magna, quatuor lineas longa. Cauda foliata, foliolo unico brevi bifido : lacinije lanceolatas, acutsc. Neufteri duodecim, duplicati, fubulati, pilis longis ciliati, pofteriores retrorfuni porrcfti. Obf. — Specimina magnitudine variant, unclalia et biuncialia erant. Cancer nugax, macrourus, articularis, pedibus quatuordecim fimplicibus, laminis femoruni fex pofteriorum dilatatis fubrotundo-cordatis. This animal, which has not before been defcribed, fliould be inferted in the Syftema Naturse near Cancer Pulex ; it was taken in the trawl near Molfen Ifland. Defcription. — Infeftum oblongum, compreffum, dorfo rotundatum, glabrum, fef- quiunciale, articulis quatuordecim compofitum, quorum primus capitis eft, fepteni thoracem mentiuntur, et fex caudam efficiunt. Capitis clyptus fuu: obtufo antice pro antennis emarginatus. Antennas quatuor, fubulatx, multiarticulatae ; fuperiores corpore fextuplo breviores, bifidjE : articulo bafeos communi, magno ; ramulus interior exteriori duplo brevior. Inferiores fimplices, fuperioribus duplo longiores. Pedes quatuordecim, fimplices, unguiculati, unguibus parum incuvvis» Femora fea pofteriora poftice auda. Lamina foliacea, fubrotundo-cordata, dimidiata, margine integra, magna5.(tres lineas- Cauda apice foliata. Foliolls duobus, oblongis, obtufis, parvis. Neufteri duodecim, duplicati, lineari-lanceolati, pofteriores retrorfuia porredi, ut faci-le pro appendicibus caudee fumantur. Cancer Pulex. Lhin. Svjl. Nat. p. lo^^. Si. Taken up in the trawl along with the former. Verm£S. — Sipunculus Lendix, corpore nudo cylindraceo, apertura fubterminali. Found adhering, by its fmall fnout, to the infide of the inteftines of an Eider ducko Mr. Hunter, who at my rcqueft differed it, informed me that he had fcen the fame fpecies of animal adhering to the inteftines of whales. Defcription. — Corpus- croceuin, fubcylindraceum, tres lineas longum, craftitie pen- nas paflerina% utraque extremitate parum attenuatutn, apice terminatum in roftrum an- guftum corpore quintuple brevius, quo tunicis intcrnis inteftinoruni fefe aftigit ; prope- alteram extremitatem apertura fimplex, pro lubitu cxtenfibilib-, Afcidia gelatinofa. Lhin. S);/l. Nat. 1087. z. Taken up in the trawl, on the north fide of Spitfbcrgcn.. Afcidi'ai 5^^ PHIPPs's JOURNAL. Afcidia ruflica. Linn. Sji/i. Nat. 1087. 5. '1 aken up likewife in the trawl, on the north fide of Spitfbergen. Lerna branchialis. Linn. Sv/L Nat. 1092. 1. Found in the gills of the fca-fnail mentioned before. CIJo helicina nuda corporc fpirali. Marten's Spitjliergen Eng/ijh,p. 141. t. Q. fig. e. Snail flime fifli. Found in innumerable quantities throughout the ar£tic feas. Defcription. — Corpus magnitudine pifi, in fpirani ad inftar helicis involutum. Alse ovatre, obtufs, expanfje, corpore majores. Clio limacina nuda, corpore obconico. The Sea May Fly. Marten's Spitjhcrgen Englip, p. 169. Tab. P. f. 5. This little animal is found where the laft is, in equal abundance, peopling as it were this almofl uninhabited ocean. Marten fays that they are the chief food of the whale- bone whale ; and our fifliermen, who call them by the name of whale food, are of the fame opinion. Medufa capillata. Linn.SyJl. Nat. 1097. 6. Sea Blubber. Taken up on the paffage home, about the latitude S'^. Afterias pappofa. Linn. Sv/i. Nat. log'i. 2. Taken up on the north fide of Spitibergen. Afterias rubens. Linn. Syjt. Nat. 1099. 3. Sea Star. Alfo taken up in the trawl on the north fide of Spitfbergen. Aflerias Ophiura. Linn. Sv/i. Nat. 1100. 11. We likewife took this up in the trawl, on the north fide of Spitfbergen. Afterias peftinata. Linn. Svji. Nat. i i o i . 14. This, as well as all the reft of this genus, was taken up in the trawl on the north fide of Spitfbergen. Chiton ruber. Linn. Syjl. Nat. H07. 7. Coat of Mail Shell. Taken in the trawl, on the north fide of Spitfbergen. Lepas Tintinnabulum. Linn. Syji. Nat. i\6^. 12. Acorn Shell. Was picked up on the beach of Smeercnberg harbour ; but as it is much worn and broken, it is impoflible to be certain, whether it is a native of thofe feas, or has been brought there by accident. ]\lya truncata. Linn. 8)1/1. Nat. 11 12. 26. Likewife found on the beach in'Smeerenberg harbour. Mytilus rugofus. Linn. Syji. Nat. 1156.249. Was found with the former on the beach at Smeercnberg. Buccinum carinatum, tefta oblongo-conica tranfverfim ftriata ; anfraftibus fuperi- oribus oblique obtufeque multangulis ; inferioribus unicarinatis. Found on the beach at Smeercnberc; harbour. 'i'urbo hclicinus, tcfhi umbilicata convexa obtufa: anfraiElibus quatuor la^vibus. Taken up in the trawl, on the north fide of Spitfbergen. Sei-pula fpiroribus. Linn. Sy/i. Nat. 1 265. 794. Found in plenty (ticking to the (tone's and dead (hells in Smeercnberg harbour. Serpula PHIPPs's JOURNAL. 583 Serpula triquetra. Linn. Syfi. Nat. 1265. 795* Found with the laft adhering to dead fliells. SabcUa fruftulofa, tefla folitaria libera fimplici curvata : fragmentis conchaceis fabu- lofifque. Taken up in the trawl on the north fide of Spitfbergen. Defcription. — Vagina fpithamca vei longior, craflitie pennas anferin^, undique tefta fragmentis conchaceis fsepe magnitudine unguis, et fabulis magnitudine feminuin can- nabis. Millepora polymorpha. Linn. Sjr/L Nat. 1285. 53. Varietas rubra. Found thrown up on the beach at Smeerenberg harbour- Cellepora pumicofa. Linn. Syft. Nat, 1286. ^6, Found on the beach at Smeerenberg. Synoicum turgens. Taken up in the trawl, on the north fide of Spitfbergen. This animal is quite new to the natural hillorians, and fo different from the zoophytes which have been hitherto defcribed, that it may be confidered as a diflincl genus, whofe charaders are the following : Animalia nonnuUa, ex aplce finguli ffirpis fefe aperientia. Stirpes plures, radicatas, earnolb-itupofa:, e bafi comrnuni ereda:, cylindraceas, apice regulariter pro animalibus pertufa;. It fliould be infertcd next to the alcyonium, with which it in fome particulars agrees, but dift'ers from it materially in having the openings for the animals only at the top, and the animals themfelves not exferted like polypes (hydra), which is the cafe in the alcyonium. Defcription. — Stirpes plures, radicate, carnofo-ftupofge, digitiformes, cylindraceae, fuperne paulo crafFiores, obtufte, magnitudine digiti intantis, fubereclas, apice orificiis nonnullis perforatee, inferne dilatatae feu explanatae in bafm communem lapidibus ad- hjerentem. Orificia fex ad novem, ordine circulari plerumqne difpofita ; fub fingulo orificio ca- vitas longitudinalis, forfitan fingulo animali propria, in qua 1. Faux anguffa, brevis. 2. Inteflinum iiiftar ftomachi dilatatum, cblongo-ovatum, inferne foraminibus duobus pertufum ; inter ilia foramina aliud defcendit inteflinum, valde anguflum, filiforme, arcum brevem formans. Cavitas, quse per totam flirpem longitudinaliter pro fingulo animali deorfum tendit, fuperne ab inteffinis vix diftindla, infra ilia autem cylindrum exhibet granulis parvis (forfitan ovulis) repletam. Flullra pilofa. Linn. S}ift. Nat. 1301. 3. Found adhering to ftones in Smeerenberg harbour. Fluftra membranacea. Linn. Sy/i. Nat. 1301. 5. Found with the lall- mentioned fpecies. Plants. — Agroftis algida panicula mutica contrada, calycibus breviffimis ina:- qualibus. This fmall grafs, which has not before been known to botanifts, may be inferted among the fpecies of agrollis next to the minima. Defcription. 584 PHIPPS'S JOURNAL. Defcrlption.— Gramen in csefpitibus nafcens. Radix fibrofa perennis. Folia plurima radicalia, paucifBma caulina, glabra, latiufcula, longitudine culmi, pa- tula, bafi dilatata in vaginas laxas. Culmi adfcendentes, glabri, fefquiunciales. Panicula lineari-oblonga, contrafta, ftrifta, multitlora. Calycis Glumee membranacea;, albida, glabree, muticae, inrequales : exterior minu- tiflima, ovata, obtufa ; interior oblonga, acuta, corolla qulntuplo brevior. Corollas Gluma; oblongse, acutae, carinatas, muticae, glabrte, femilineares : exterior paulo longior. Stamina tria. Stigmata duo. Semen unicum, oblongum, utrlnque acuminatum, a corolla llberum. Tillsea aquatlca. Linn. Spec. Plant. 186. 2. Juncus campeflris. Linn. Spec. Plant. 468. 17. Saxifraga oppofitlfolia. Linn. Spec. Plant. 575. i"8. Saxifraga cernua. Linn. Spec. Plant. ^JJ. 26. Saxifraga rivularis. Linn. Spec. Plant. 577. 28. Saxifraga ca;fpitofa. Linn. Spec. Plant. 578. 34. Ceraftium alpinum. Linn. Spec. Plant. 628. 8. Ranunculus fulphureus, calycibus hirfutis, caule fub-blfloro, petalis rotundatis, inte- gerrimis, foliis Inferioribus fublobatis, fupremis multipartltls. Ranunculus quartus. Mart. Spitz. Engl. p. 58. t. t. f. d. Obf. — Primo intuitu ranunculo glaciali fimillimus, differt autem, quod petala rotun- data, integerrima, Intenfe lutea, fulgida ; et folia minus fubdivlfa ; fuperlora fiffa, laci- ulis oblongo-lanceolatis Integerrimis ; inferlora caulina lata, plana, levlter triloba vel quadriloba. This new plant fliould be Inferted next to ranunculus glaclalls. Cochlcaria Danica. Linn. Spec. Plant, go^. ^. Cochlearia Groenlandica. Linn. Spec. Pla?it. 904. 4. Salix herbacea. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1445. '^• Polytrichum commune. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1573. i. Bryiun Hypnoides. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1584. 21. Befides thefe, there were two other kinds of bryum, the fpecies of which could not be determined, for want of the frudtlfication ; the one refembled bryum trichoides la;te virens, &c. Dill. Mufc. 391. t. 50. f. 61. ; and the other bryum hypnoides pendulum. Dill. Mufi. 394. t. 50. f. 64. C. Hypnum aduncum. Littn. Spec. Plant, 1592. 23. Jungermannia julacca. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1601. 20. i\nothcr fpecies of jungermannia was aifo found, but without frufllficatlon ; It Is not much unlike lichcnaflrum ramofuis foliis trifidis. Dill. Mufc. 489. t. 70. f. 15. Lichen ericetorum. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1608. 12. Lichen Iflandicus. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1611. 29. Lichen nivalis. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1612. 30. Lichen caninus. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1616. 48. Lichen polyrrhizos. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1618. 57. Lichen pyxidatus. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1619. 60. 10 . Lichen PHIPPS'S JOURNAL, ^85 Lichen cornutus. Linn. Spec, riant. 1 620. 64. Lichen rangitcrinus. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1620. 66, - Lichen globifcrus. Linn. M«A7f. 133. Lichen pafchalis. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1621.69. Lichen chalybeitbrmis. Linn. Spec. Plant. 1623. ']'^. Account of Do6lor Irving* s Method of obtaining frejh Water from the Sea by Di/iillation. As the method of rendering fait water frefh by diftillation, introduced by Doctor Irving into the Royal Navy in the year 1770, and praclifed in this voyage, is an ob- ieiSt of the higheft importance to all navigators, and has not hitherto been generally Known, I have added the following very full account of its principles, apparatus, and advantages, with which I was favoured by Uo£tor Irving himfelf. " Previous to an account of this method of rendering fea water frefli by diftillation, it may not be improper to give a fhort detail of the experiments which have been for- merly made by others on this fubjecl ; pointing out at the fame time the feveral difad- vantages attending their procelTes, and the general caufes which obftruftcd the defired fuccefs. " Without entering into an account of the earlier experiments, it will be fufficient to take a view of fuch as have been profecuted with mofl attention, for the lalt forty years. " The firft of thefe was the procefs of Mr. Appleby, publilhed by order of the Lords of the Admiralty, in the Gazette of June 22d, 1734. By the account of that procefs it appears, that Mr. Appleby mixed with the fea water to be diltilled, a confiderable quantity, of the lapis infernalis and calcined bones. The highly unpalatable tafte of the water, however, excluhve of the extreme difficulty, if not impoffibility, of reducino- the procefs into pradice, prevented the further profecution of this method. " Another procefs for procuring frefli water at fea, was afterwards publiflied by Doftor Butler. Inftead of the lapis infernalis and calcined bones, he propofed the ufeoffoap leys; but though the ingredients were fomevvhat varied, the water was liable to the fame objeftions as in the preceding experiment. Doftor Stephen Hales ufed powdered chalk ; and introduced ventilation, by blowing fliowers of air up through the diftilling water, by means of a double pair of bellows. It was found by this method that the quantity of frefli water obtained in a given time, was fomewhat greater than what had been procured by the procefs of Mr. Appleby. This invention, however, was fubjcft to feveral difadvantages. The air box which lay on the bottom of the Hill, as well as the chalk, much obfliruaed the adf ion of the fire upon the water, at the fame time that the boiling heat of the latter was diminiflied by the ventilation : fo that more than double the ufual quantity of fuel was neceflary to produce the fame efteft. Bc- fides this method by no means improved the taflie of the water. " The next who attempted any improvement was the learned Doftor Lind, of Portfmouth. He diftilled fea water without the addition of any ingredients j but as the experiment he made was performed in a veflel containing only two quarts, with a glafs receiver, in his Iludy, nothing conclufive can be drawn from it for the ufe of fliip. ping. Indeed experiments of the like kind had been made by tkc chemifts in their laboratories, for at lead a century before. " In the year 1765, Mr. Hoffman introduced a fliill of a new conftrudion, with a fecret ingredient ; but the large fpace which this machine occupied, being feven feet five inches, by five feet eight inches, and, with its apparatus, fix feet feven inches high, made it extremely inconvenient: at the fame time that, on Recount of itb Ihallow form, VOL. I, 4 F the 586 PHIPPS'S JOURNAL. the ufe of it was iinpradticable durln^r any confiderable motion of the fliip. The water obtained, likewife, poflefl'ed all the difadvantages common to the preceding methods. " About the fame time experiments were made with a ftill of the common conflruc- tion, and Mr. Dove's ingredient. This method was attended with no advantage over any that had been formerly ufed ; the diftilled was mod unpalatable ; and the enormous fize of the apparatus, which occupied a fpace of thirteen feet feven inches by fix feet one inch, and fix feet five inches in height, rendered it imprafticable on board fhips. An experiment was immediately afterwards made with the fame ftill without any ingredient ; the refult, however, was uniformly a moll unpalatable tafte of the water. *' About this period, alfo, M. Poiflbnnier of Paris introduced into the French marine a ftill, three feet fix inches long, two feet wide, and eighteen inches deep. A portion of the chimney pafled through the upper part of the Hill, much in the fame manner as that of Mr. Hoffman : thefe gentlemen fuppofed that by this means they fhould fave fuel. The mouth of M. Poiifonnier's ftill was thirteen inches wide, on which he placed a tin plate, pierced like a cullender, with thirty-feven holes of fix lines diameter each ; to thefe were fixed tin pipes, of the fame bore and feven inches long, terminating within the ftill-head. The intention of this contrivance is to prevent any of the water in the ftill from paifing over into the worm, while the fhip is in confider- able motion. " In every other refpeft M. PoifTonnier employs a ftill- head, worm-pipe, and worm- tub, with all its ufual apparatus ; and he directs fix ounces oifojjil alcali to be mixed with the fea water at each diftillation, to prevent the acid of the magnefia fait from rifing with the vapour, when fait begins to form on the bottom of the flill. It is pro- bable that in M. Poiifonnier's ftill, which was even more fliallow in its form that Miv Hoffman's, fome of the water might be thrown up toward the worm; in which caff, the pierced plate with pipes might be of fome fervice in breaking the diredion of the water. But by Doftor Irving's tube this inconvenience is entirely prevented, as expe- rience fully evinces, viz. in a voyage to Falkland's lilands, where it has been ufed in diftillation every day ; in feveral voyages to the Eaft Indies ; and in this voyage, as is mentioned in the journal. " M. Poiflbnnier, in corretling this error in the conftruftion of his ftill, has intro- duced another of the moft capital nature in diftillation. For by means of the pipe-cul- lender, the vapour will meet with the greateft refiftance to its afcent, which will retard, the progrefs of diftillation in a very high degree, and increafe the Empyreunm, " From all the experiments above-mentioned, it is evident, that no method had hitherto been invented of making fea water frelh, which was not attended with fuch in- conveniencies as rendered the feveral proceffes of fcarce any utility. 1'he defects ot the various methods above enumerated, may be reduced to the following heads : " I. The fmall quantity of water produced by the ordinary methods of diftillation with a ftill-head, and worm, could never be adequate to the purpoles of ftiipping, though the apparatus fhould be kept in conftant ufe 5 and at the fame time, this mode of diftillation required a quantity of fuel, which would occupy greater /pace thap. might be fuf]icient for the ftowage of water. " 2. A ftill-burnt tulle, which always accompanies this method of' diftillation, and renders the water extremely unpalatable, exciting heat and thirft, if drank when re- cently diftilled. "3. A total ignorance with refpefl: to the proper time of ftopping the diftillation, whereby fait was permitted to form on the bottom of the boiler j which burning, and corroding the copper, dccompofcd the felenitic and magnefia falts, caufing their acids to 5 afcend PlIlPPs's JOURNAL. 58.7 arcend with the vapour, nnd a£t on the ftill-head and worm pipe, impregnating the water with metallic fahs of the mofl: pernicious quality. " 4. I'he fpace occupied by the ftill, ftill-head, and worm-tub, renders the ufe of them in mofl cafes totally impratlicable on board (hips. Add to this, their wearing out fo fad on account of the caufes above mentioned, the great expence of the apparatus, with the hazard of the (lill-licad being blown off, and the inconveniences thence aritlng. " 5. The ufe of ingredients, which though omitted in fome experiments in fmall, were neverthelefs erroneoufly confidercd as ellential to the making il^a- water fwect and palatable by diftillation. " 6. The inconvenience of a cumberfomc apparatus, calculaJ 'd only to be event- ually ufcful in unexpeded diftrofs for water, but conllantly occupying a great deal of room in a fliip, too necefl'ary for the ordinary purpofes to be fpared for that objecV. " Having fpecified the principal defeds of the feveral methods hitherto prdpofed for making fea water frefli, it will be proper before flaring the advantages of Doctor Ir- ving's method, to confider briefly the principles of diftillation in general, and the che- mical analyfis of fea water. " Water in an exhaultcd* receiver, rifes in vapour morecopioufiy at i 80" of Fahren- heit's thermometer, than in the open air at 2 1 2°, which may be confidered as its boiling point. " It therefore follows, that any comprefTion upon tlie boiling fluid cheeks the vapour in rifmg, and confequently diminiflies the quantity of water obtained. This is clearly exemplified in the fl:eam-engine, where the confumption of water in the boiler Is very inconfiderable, in comparifon to what would happen if the compreflion arifmg from the throat pipe, and valve of that machine was taken off, and theprefl'ure of theatmofphere only admitted. But by the reftraint of that valve, the vapour becomes hotter, and in- creafes in rarity and elaftlcity ; qualities eflTentlal to the purpofes of the engine, although the reverfe of thofe which ought to take place in common diftillation. For the columns of vapour fliould be removed from the boiling fluid as faft as they afcend, without fuf- ferlng any other reflftance than that of the atmofphere, which, in the ordinary bufmefs of diftillation, cannot be prevented. " The impropriety of the common procefs of diftillation, will appear evident by coai- paring it with the above pi'lnclples and fa£ts. " In the common method of diftillation, the whole column of vapour from a ftill of whatever fize, after afcending to the ftill-head, muft not only find its paflTage through a pipe of fcarce an inch and half diameter ; but defcend contrary to its fpeclfic gravity through air which is fifteen times its weight, in fplral convolutions : a courfe fo ex- tremely ill adapted to the progrefs of an elaftlc vapour, that frequently the ftill head is blown off with incredible violence, owing to the Increafed heat and elaftlcity of the va- pour confined by this conftrudlon. In the mean time the external furface of the pipe communicates heat to the water in contad with it, which, inftead of being entirely car- ried off, mixes the furrounding fluid, and heats the whole, rendering it unfit tor con- denfing the vapour within ; efpecially vi'hen it is confidered that the fubftance of the pipe is at leaft a quarter of an inch thick. '• From what has been laid, it is plain, that the quantity of diftlUed water will be leflened in proportion to the refiftance made to the afcent of the vapour, while the dlf- iiculty of condenfatlon will be greatly augmented, in confcquence of the increafed heat und elaftlcity of the vapour. But thefe dlladvantages, however great, rcfpeding the moJe of diftillation, give rife to another evil of a ftill more important nature, as affefting the diftilled fluid with a noxious burnt tafte or anpyrcuma ; occafioned by the vapour, 4 F 3 highly 588 PHIPPs's JOURNAL. highly heated, paffing over fo much furface of metal, viz. the {lill-head, dl-ane-neck, and a pipe of fix or feven feet in length, before it reaches the water in the worm tub. " Having difcuffed the fubjeft of diftillation, we come now to treat of the chemical analyfis of lea water. " Sea water contains chiefly a neutral fait, compofed of foffil alcali and marine acid. It likewife contains a fait which has magnefia from its bafis, and the fame acid. Thefe two falts are blended together in our common fait in England, which is prepared by quick boiling down fea water. Bat when the procefs is carried on by the fun, or a flow heat, they may be collected feparately ; that which has the foflll alcali for its bafis cryf- taUizlng firft ; and this is of a vaftly fuperior quality for preferving meat, and for the other culinary purpofes. The mother liquor now remaining, being evaporated, affords a vitriolic magnefia fait, which in England is manufaftured in large quantities, under the name of Epfom fait. " Befides the falts, which are objecls of trade, fea-water contains a felenitic fait, a little true Glauber's fait, often a little nitre, and always a quantity of gypfeous earth fufpcnded by means of fixed air. " The fpecific gravity of fea water to that of pure diftilled water, is at theNore as loco to 1024,6; intheNorth feaas looo to 1028,02. " The quantity of fait obtained by boiling fea-water in different latitudes, from 51° 30' to 80°, 43 N. L. appears from a table in the original work. " Sea-water, when boiled down to a flrong brine, admits with difficulty the fepara- tion of frefli water from it ; the diftillation becoming flower as the flrength of the brine incrcafcs, fo that a greater quantity of fuel is confumed in procuring a fmaller portion of water, and this likewife of a bad quality. From this efl"ential circumftance arifes the neceffity of letting out the brine by the cock of the boiler, when the diftillation is advanced to a certain degree ; and of adding more fea-water to continue the procefs if required. " The defefts of the feveral fchemes formerly propofed for rendering fea-water frefli being pointed out, the general principles of diilillation explained, and the component parts of fea-water analytically examined ; the advantages of the method invented by Doftor Irving remain to be flated, which may be reduced to the following : " I. The abolifhing all flills, ftill heads, worm-pipes, and their tubs, which oc- cupy fo much fpace as to render them totally incompatible with the neceflTary bufinefs of the ihip ; and ufing in the room of thefe, the fliip's kettle or boiler, to the top whereof may occafionally be applied a fimple tube, which can be eafily made on board a veflfel at fea, of iron plate, ftove funnel, or tin flieet ; fo that no fituation can prevent a Ihip from being completely fupplied with the means of difl:illing fea-water. " 2. In confequence of the principles of difl:illation being fully alccrtained, the con- trivance of the fimplefl means of obtaining the greatefl: quantity of diftilled water, by making the tube fufficiently large, to receive the whole column of vapour ; and placing it nearly in a horizontal diredion to prevent any comprefllon of the fluid, which takes place fo much with the common worm. " 3. The adopting the fimplefl and mofl: eflScacIous means of condcnfing vapour ; for nothing more is required in the diftillation but keeping the furface of the tube al- ways wet ; which is done by having fome fea-water at hand, and a pcrfon to dip a mop or fwab into this water, and pals it along the upper furface of the tube. By this opera- tion the vapour contained in the tube will be entirely condenfed with the greateft rapi- dity imaginable ; for by the application of the wet mop thin fheets of water are uniformly fpread, and mechanically prefled upon the furface of the hot tubej which being con- 10, verted PHIPPS'S JOURNAI.. ^8q verted into vapour, make way for a fuccefTion of frefli flieets ; and thus both by the evaporation and clofe contact of the cold water conftantly repeated, the heat is carried oft' more efteftually than by any other method yet known. " 4. The carrying on the diftillation witliout any addition, a correct chemical analyfis of fea water having evinced the futility of mixing ingredients with it, either to prevent an acid from rifing wth the vapour, or to deftroy any bituminous oil fuppofed to exift in fea water, and to contaminate the diflilled water, giving it that fiery unpala- table tafle infeparable from the former procefles. " 5. The afcertaining the proper quantity of fea water that ought to be diflilled, whereby the frefli water is prevented from contracting a noxious impregnation of me- tallic falts, and the veffel from being corroded and otherwife damaged by the falts caking on the bottom of it. " 6. The producing a quantity of fweet and wholefome water, perfectly agreeable to the tafle, and fufficient for all the purpofes of fhipping. " 7. The taking advantage of the drelhng the fhip's provifions, fo as to diflil a very confiderable quantity of water from the vapour which would otherwife be loft, without any addition of fuel. " To fum up the merits of this method in a few words : " The ufe of a fimple tuba, of the mofl eafy conflrudion, applicable to any fhip's kettle. The rejecting all ingredients ; afcertaining the proportion of water to be dif- tilled, with every advantage of quality, faving of fuel, and prefervation of boilers. The obtaining frefh water, wholefome, palatable, and in fufHcient quantities. Takino- the advantage of the vapour which afcends in the kettle, while the fhip's provifions are boiling. " All thefe advantages are obtained by the abovementioned fimpIe addition to the common fliip's kettles. But Doctor Irving pi'opofes to introduce two further im- provements. " The firfl is a hearth, or flove, fo conflrudted, that the fire which is kept up the whole day for the common bufmefs of the fhip, ferves likewife for diflillation ; whereby a fufficient quantity of water for all the ceconomical purpofes of the fhip may be ob- tained, with a very inconfiderable addition to the expence of fuel. " The other improvement is that of fubftituting, even in the largefl fliips, cafl-iron boilers, of a new conftrudion, in the place of coppers." Dire£lions for di/lilling Sea-Water. " As foon as fea-water is put into the boiler, the tube is to be fitted either into the top or lid, round which, if neceffary, a bit of wet linen may be applied, to make it fit clofe to the mouth of the veffel ; there will be no occafion for luting, as the tube acts like a funnel in carrying off the vapour. " When the water begins to boil, the vapour Ihould be allowed to pafs freely for a minute, which will effectually clean the tube and upper part of the boiler. The tube is afterwards to be kept conflantly wet, by pafTing a mop or fwab, dipped in fea-water, along its upper furRxe. The walle water running from the mop, may be carried oft" by means of a board made like a fpout, and placed beneath the tube. " The diflillation may be continued till three fourths of the water be drawn off, and no further. This may be afcertained either by a gauge-rod put into the boiler, or by meafuring the water diflilled. The brine is then to be let out. " Water may be diffilied in the fame manner while the provifions are boiling. « When rx^Q PHIPPS'S JOURNAL* <« When the tube Is made on fliore, the beft fubftance for the purpofe Is thin cop- per well tinned, this being more durable in long voyages than tin plates. " Inllead of mopping, the tube, if required, may have a cafe made alfo of copper, fo much larger in diameter as to admit a thin fiieet of water to circulate between them, by means of a fpiral copper thread, with a pipe of an inch diameter at each end of the cafe ; ihe lower for receiving cold water, and the upper for carrymg it otf when beated. " When only a very fmall portion of room can be conveniently allowed for diftllla- tlon, the machine, which is only tvventy-feven inches long, may be fubftituted ; as was done in this voyage. The principal intention of this machine, however, is to diftil rum and other liquors; for which purpofe It has been employed with extraordinary fuccefs, In preventing an anpyrcima, or f cry tafte." Account of the AJlronomical Obfervations and Time-keepers, by Mr. Lyons. " The obfervations for finding the time at fea, were taken with a brafs Hadley's ■fextant of eighteen Inches radius, made by Dollond ; and fometlmes by Captain Phipps, with a fmaller of four Inches radius, made by Ramfden, which commonly agreed with the other w-Ithln a minute. The error of the fextant was generally found by obferving the diameter of the fun ; which If the fame as double the femidlametcr fet down in the Nautical Almanac, fhewed that the inflrument was perfeftly adjufted ; if it differed, the difference was the error of the fextant. It was neceffary to know this •error of adjuftment very exaftly, and therefore I generally repeated the obfervation of the fun's diameter feveral times, and from the mean of the refult found the error of the fextant. This error will equally affeft all the obfervations taken near the fame time, and therefore cannot be difcovered from the comparifon of feveral obfervations. Under the equator, an eiTor of one minute in altitude, near the prime vertical, will only produce an error of four feconds in the apparent time ; but in the latitude of eighty degrees It will caufe an error of twenty-three feconds. As we generally took feveral fucceffive obfervations, any error in the obfervation itfelf will be generally In- dependent of the reft ; and as I have calculated each feparately, the conclufions will fhew which are erroneous, by their differing much from the mean of all, which can- not but be very near the truth. " In calculating thefe obfervations, I found by the logboard how much we had altered our latitude fmce the lafi: obfervation ; and fometlmes, when we had an obferva- tion the noon following the obfervation for the time, the latitude of the flilp at the time the altitudes were taken was Inferred from it. As moft of our altitudes were ob- ferved when the fun was near the prime vertical, a fmall error In the latitude will not produce any confiderable change In the time ; Indeed, If it is exa(aiy In the prime vertical. It will not make any change at all. " To find the longitude from thefe obfervations : to the apparent time found by calculation, apply the equation of time according to Its fign, which will give the mean time ; the difference between which and that marked by the watch, will fhew how It is too flow or too faft for mean time. " Captain Phipp's pocket watch, made by Mr. Arnold, when compared with the regulator at Greenwich, May 26th, was twenty-four feconds too flow ; it was there found to lofc twelve feconds and a quarter a day on mean time. From this It Is eafy to find what time it Is at Greenwich at any moment fliewn by th« watch. " The // PHIPPs's JOURNAL. 59I " The watch was compared every day about noon with the two thne-kcepers made by MefT. Arnold and Kendal ; and from this comparifon, and their rates of going pre- vioufly fettled at Greenwich, together with knowing, how much they differed from mean time at Greenwich before we fet our, was calculated the table which fliews what the mean time is at Greenwich according to each time-keeper, when the watch is at twelve hours. " By the help of this table, we may eafdy find the longitude of the fhip, as deduced from the going of each time-keeper. Having found how much the watch is too fait or too flow for mean time at the fliip, we know what the mean time is at the fhip when the watch is at twelve hours; and by the table we can find what is the mean time at Greenwich at the fame time, fuppofing each time-keeper had kept at the fame rate of going as it had before our departure : the difference of thcfe mean times will give the longitude of the fhip. " For example, June 19th, in the afternoon, the watch was 1' 24" too flow for mean time at the place where we obferved ; therefore, when the watch fhews twelve hours, the mean time at this place was 12" i' 24'^ At this time I find by the table, that, according to Kendal's time-keeper, the mean time at Greenwich was 1 2" 2' f : from this fubtracting 12'' 1' 24", the mean time at the fhip, the remainder, o' 43"^ is the difference of meridians ; which, converted into parts of a degree, gives 0° 10' 45 for the longitude of the fliip according to Kendal, which is to the wefhvard, becaufa the mean time at the fhip is lefs than that at Greenwich. " When we were on fhore, the obfervations were made with an aflronomical quadrant, divided by Mr. Ramfden, of eighteen inches radius, which was placed on a folid rock of marble ; the error of the line of collimation was found by inverting the quadrant, which was adjutted by a fpirit level. The weather did not permit us to take correfponding altitudes of the fun, fo thaf we determined the apparent time by com- putation from altitudes of the fun's Hm' ; having before fettled the latitude of the place of obfervation, from meridian altitudes of the Sun's limbs taken with the fame inftrument. " The latitudes of the fhip were ui.:e: mined mofl commonly by the meridian alti- tude of the fun's lower limb ; in a few Inftances, by that of his upper limb, when the lower was not fo diftinct, or was hid by the clouds. The height of the eye above the level of the fea, in all thefe obfervations, was fixteen feet. When we could not get a meridian obfervation, we made ufe of the method defcribed in the Nautical Almanac for 1 77 1, from two altitudes taken about noon, and at a little diftance from it. " It fometimes happens that we can only take fome altitudes very near the time of noon. If we have obferved any altitudes of the fun near the prime vertical, we may thence determine how much the watch Is too fad or too flow for apparent time ; and confequently, how mnch the time when the altitudes were taken, is dlllant from noon ; it therefore remains how to find how much thefe altitudes are different from the meridian altitude. This may eafily be found by the following rule : " To the logarithm of the rifing, taken out of the tables in Nautical Almanac for 1771, add the complement arithmetical of the logarithmic cofme of the fuppofed meri- dian altitude ; from the fum (the index being increafed by five) fubtraft the logarithm- ratio (found by the rules in the abovementioncd Ephemeris) the remainder is the log- arithmic fine of the change in altitude. o *' EXAMPLS rgj PHIPPS'S JOURNAL. " Example I.— June the twenty-firft, the aUitude of the fun's center was obferved to be 46° 6' at 16' 43* after apparent noon ; the latitude by account was 67° 17' ; the fun's declination being then 23" 28' N.j the fuppofed meridian akitude 46" 11'. «' Suppofed latitude 67° 17' Co. Ar. Cof. 0,41322. Rifing 16' 45" - - - 2,4264? Sun'a declination 23 26 Co. Ar. Cof. 0,03749. buppofedMer. Alt. Ar. Co. Cof. - 0,15967 7,58610 Log. ratio 0,450^1 - _ > . 0,45071 The change in akitude is +0° 5' . . » Sine 7,13539 Obferved altitude 46 6 Meridian altitude 46 1 1 Declination 23 28 Altitude of the Equator 22 43 Latitude 67 17 N. *' As the altitudes for determining how much the watch differs from apparent time were taken near the prime vertical, a great error in the fuppofed latitude will make a very infenfible change in the apparent time j nor will it create any great difference in the variation of altitude near noon in a given time, as will appear by the following computation : " Suppofe the latitude by account was 68° i;', a degree greater than before. 5- " Suppofed latitude 68° 17' Cof. Co. Ar.0,43178 Riling 16' 45" ... 2,42643 Declination - 33 28 — ■ 0,03749 Suppofed Mer. Alt. 45. 11. Cof. Co. Ar. 0,15191 7.57S34 Log. ratio 0,46927 - » . . 0,46927 The change in the fun's altitude Is 0° 4' 25" . , - SIiK 7,10907 Obferved altitude 46 6 Meridian altitude 46 10 25 Declination 23 28 Altitude of the Equator 22 42 2; Latitude 67 17 3 J which only differs thirty-five feconds from the true latitude we foimd before. " Example II. — June the twentieth, the altitude of the fun's center was obferved o"" 28' 38'' after midnight, to be i^ 13', the latitude by account being Cy" 40' N. «' Suppofed latitude 67° 40' Cof. Co. Ar. 0,^2022 Rifing 28' 38" ... 2,89380 Declination - 23 28 ■ . 0,03749 SuppofedMer. Alt. 1° 8' Cof, Co. - o,ocooi 7,»938r Log. ratio 0,45771 - - • • 0,45771 Change in the altitude — o° 9' « . Sine 7,43610 Obferved altitude i J3 Meridian altitude i 4 Co-declination 66 32 Latitude 67 36 N. « There PHIPPS'S JOURNAL. 593 *' There were two time-keepers font out for trial by the Board of Longitude : ona made by Mr. Kendal, after Mr. Harrifon's principles ; the other, by Mr. Arnold : this lafl was fufpended in gimmals, but Mr. Kendal's was laid between two cufliions, which quite filled up the box. They were both kept in boxes fcrewed down to tlie flielvcs of the cabin, and had each three locks ; the key of one of which was kept by the captain, of another by the firft lieutenant, and of the third byjnyfelf ; they were wound up each day foon after noon, and compared with each other and with Captain Phipps's watch. I'hey Hopped twice in the voyage, owing to their beii g run down; they were fet a-going again, and as they had been daily compared together, it was eafy to know how Jong each had flopped, from the others that were (till going ; this time is allowed for in the table of the mean time at Greenwich by each time-keeper. " When we were on fliore at the ifland where we obferved July fifteenth, we found how much the watch was too flow for mean time. When we returned from the ice to Smeerenberg, and again compared the watch with the mean time, allowing the fmall difference of longitude between the ifland and Smeerenberg, we found that it went very nearly at the fame rate as it did when tried at Greenwich : fo that its rate of going was nearly the fame in our run from England to the ifland, fj-om thence to the ice and back again to Smeerenberg, and in our voyage from thence to England, as we found on our return. By this means we were induced to give the preference to the watch, and to conclude that the longitude found by it was not veiy different from the truth. " The principles on which this watch is conftruded,as I am informed by the maker, Mr. Arnold, are thefe : the balance is unconnefted with the wheel-work, except at the time it receives the impulfe to make it continue its motion, which is only while it vi- brates lo" out of 380% which is the whole vibration ; and during this fmall interval it has little or no friction, but what is on the pivots, which work in ruby holes on dia- monds : it has but one pallet, which is a plane furface formed out of a ruby, and has no oil on it. \ " Watches of this confl;ru(Ei:ion go whilfl; they are wound up ; they keep the fame rate of going in every pofition, and are not aff"e61;ed by the different forces of the fpring : the compenfation for heat and cold is abfolutely adjuftable. " Time-keepers of this fize are more convenient than larger, on feveral accounts ; they are equally portable with a pocket watch, and by being kept nearly in the fame de- gree of heat, fufter very little or no change from the viciffitudes of the weather. " This watch was exceedingly ufeful to us in our obfervations on land, as the other time-keepers could not fafely be moved : and indeed, in theprefent voyage, where they were on trial, it was contrary to the intent for which they were put on board, and might liave been attended with accidents by which the rate of their going might have been greatly aff"edted. " The longitudes by Mr. Arnold's larger time-keeper ai'e very different from thofe by the watch in our voyage back from Spitlbergen to England ; owing, probably, to the balance-fpring being ruffed, as we found when it was opened at the royal obfervatory at Greenwich, on our return. " The longitudes found by the moon are deduced from diffances of the moon from the fun's limbs, or from ftars, taken with the fextant ; whilft the altitudes of the moon and fun, or ffar, were taken by two other obfervers. " In one inffance (June the twenty-fixth) the obfervations were all made by Captain Phipps with the fmall fextant fuccefllvely ; and the altitudes of the moon and fun at the very inftant the diftances were obferved, are deduced from the changes in thefe altitudes during the interval of obfervation. VOL. I. 4 a *^ I have eg^ PHIPPS'S JOURNAI,.' " I have calculated the longitude from each fet of obfervatlons feparately, to fiiew how near they agree with each other, and what degree of precifion one may expecb in fimi- lar cafes. " Obfervations of the diftances of the moon and fun, or ftars, may be ufeful to inforn^ us if the time-keepers have fuftered any confiderable change in their rate of going. For if the longitude deduced from the moon differs above two degrees from that found by the watches, it is reafonable to imagine that this difference is owing to fome fault in the watch, as the longitude found by lunar obfervations can hardly vary this quantity from the truth ; but if the difference is much lefs, as about half a degree, it is more probable that the watch is right, fince a fmall error in the didance will produce this difference. " The diftances of the moon from Jupiter were obferved, becaufe Jupiter is a very- bright objeft ; and the obfervations are eafier and lefs fallacious, particularly that of the altitude, than thofe of a fixed ftar, whofe light is much fainter. This method, however, requires a different form of calculation, from that of the obferved diltance of the moon from a fixed ftar, whofe diftances are computed for every three hours, in the nautical Almanac. The principal difficulty in the calculation is to find the moon's longitude from the obfervation of the diftance. This I have endeavoured to facilitate by the fol- lowing problem, which may be applied to any zodiacal ftar, and will be of ufe when the flar fet dowTi in the ephemeris cannot be obferved. " Problem. — Having given the diftance of two objeds near the ecliptic, with their latitudes, to find their difference of longitude. " Solution. — Find an arc A, whofe logarithmic fine is the fum of the logarithms of the fines of the two latitudes and the logarithmic tangent of half the diftance, rejedt- ing twenty from the index of the fum. " Find an arc B, whofe logarithmic fine is the fum of the logarithmic verfed fine of the difference of latitude, and the logarithmic cotangent of the diftance, rejeding ten from the index of the fum. " Then A added to the obferved diftance, and B fubtracted from the fum, leaves the difference of longitude. " If one of the latitudes is fouth, and the other north, the fum of the two arcs A and B fubtrafted from the diftance, leaves the difference of longitude. " Example. — Auguft the thirty-firft, the obferved diftance of the moon's center from Jupiter, cleared of refraftion and parallax, was 32° 2,5' 52% the moon's latitude being 1'' 47' N., and that of Jupiter 1° 36' S. •" Latitude D 1' 47' Sine 8,4930 Difference of latitude, 3" 23' Vers. Sin. 7,2413 I.at. 11 - I 36 Sine 8,4459 Half diftance 16 i8 Tang. 9 4660, Diftance 32 36 Cotang. 10,1941 Arc A. o' (;2" - Sine 26,4049 Arc B. <>' 25" .... Sine i7>4354. The I'um of thcfe ares —10' 17" SubtraiSted from the diftance - - 32° 35 52 leaves 32 25 35 the difference of longitude between the moon and Jupiter. " Knowing the longitude of Jupiter from the ephemeris, and the difference between It and that of the moon, we may infer the longitude of the moon by obfervation : and from the longitudes fet down for noon and midnight of each day in the nautical Alma- nac, find the apparent time at Greenwich when the moon had that longitude, which compared with the apparent tim.e at the fliip, will give the difference of meridians." 13^, NARRATIVE ( 595 ) hIARRATlVE OF THE ADVENTURES OF FOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS, WHO WERE CAST IN A STORM UPON THE UNCULTIVATED ISLAND OF EAST SPITZBERGEN, ON WHICH THET LIVED FOR SIX TEARS AND THREE MONTHS. [Tranflated from the Gennan of ProfefTor P. L. Le Roy, Member of the Imperial Academy Der Wiffea- fcliaften, at Peterfburg.*] " Inventrix confiliorum omnium necelfitas." Heiiodorus, Lib. VII. TRAVELS of older ftanding, and particularly thofe by fea, have often been the fource of exaggerated relations, fuch fomelimes as greatly exceed the bounds of proba- bility. As highly as we efteem thofe authors who have given us juft accounts of adven- tures of this nature, as much do we hefitate to give credit to thofe whofe narratives, abandoning hkelihood, are obnoxious to our judgment. Among thefe it has more than 6nce occurred that writers charged with fallacies, have in after time been found to have related truths in what have been looked upon as idle tales. It were ufelefs to inftance here examples of this defcription. The adventures which I purpofe to relate, in as few words as poffible, may be placed among the learned refearches of individuals into the globe ; they will, it is not unlikely, be worked upon with little regard to probability, and the matters related (in fome degree wonderful of themfelves) be enlarged with different variations. I muft certainly own that I knew not at firfl what opinion I ought to form of them myfelf, when M. Vene- zobre, direftor of the offices of the pitch merchants, gave me the firfl information re- fpefting them from Archangel. The failors, whofe hiftory I write, were dependants in a degree on Count Peter Iwanowitz Schuwalow, to whom the Emprefs Elizabeth had granted the privilege of fifhing for whales. I begged this nobleman to give an order that thefe failors fliould be permitted to come over from Archangel, that I might have converfation with them as I wiflied. The count had the goodnefs to comply with my requeft ; he was himfelf anxious to fee and fpeak to them. Accordingly they were wrote for, and two of them were fent to Peterfburg ; the boatfwain, called Alexis Himkoff", fifty years of age, and a failor, who was his godfon, and who bore the name of Iwan Himkoff". They arrived in this city at the beginning of the year 1 750, and the firft ^ifcourfe I held with them was on the eighth of January. They brought with them different articles of their workmanfliip, which I fhall notice as I proceed, to prefent to Count Schuwalow. I had full opportunity to qucffion them on every point which I could think of, and reiterated my enquiries at different periods ; from which I had no doubt of their veracity. I believe alfo that I do not aitume too much in faying, that nothing of what I am about to relate can with any reafon be called in queftion. Now a ground of certainty is furnifhed which will effablifli the truth of thefe adven- tures. At the time of the arrival of thefe unfortunate failors at Archangel, M. Von Klingftadt, fub-auditor of the admiralty of that town, caufed them to be brought before him ; he was the firft to interrogate them on what had befallen them, put down their anfwers in writing, and decided on publifliing the ffatement. Shortly after he came to Peterfburg, and faw the narrative which I had written, he told me he found it to coincide exadly with that which he had fketched ; and gave up his intention of publifhing iiisown. He had the civility to compare his draught with mine, in order to difcover if • Riga, 1768. 8v°. 4 G 2 I had 596 LE ROY's NARRATIVJ: of four RUSSIAN SAILORS. I had omitted to queRion the men on any feparate matters which he had learnt from them. The two accounts did not differ in the fmallefl: degree in the anfwers given to the various quefcions put to them. This is an inconteftible evidence of the truth of their narrative, fmce in different places, and at different times, they uniformly ftated the fame. In the year 174 3 Jeremias Ottamkoff, an inhabitant ofMefen, in Jergovia, a part of the government of Archangel, bethought himfelf of fending out a veffel with fourteen hands to Spitzbergen, to fifh for whales and fea-calves, called by the Ruffians Morgi ; in which line he carried on a confiderable trade. For eight days together this veffel had a favourable wind, but on the ninth it changed. Inftead of proceeding to the weftern fide of Spitzbergen, to which the Dutch and other nations annually refort for the whale fifliery ; they v/ere defirous of failing to the eaftern fide, and ffiortly reached an ifland which is called Eaft Spitzbergen, known to the Ruffians by the name of Maloy Brown, which fignifies Little Brown ; Spitzbergen Proper being called by them Bolfchoy Brown, that is, Great Brown. They were within three werlls of ftiore (two Englilh miles), " when fuddenly the veffel was inclofed by ice ; this gave them great uneafinefs. They held a council among themfelves on what to do, when the boatfwain recoUefted to have heard that fonie inhabitants of Mefen had once refolved upon wintering on this ifland ; they had alfo taken with them the materials of a hut, in ready-fitted timber, on board- their (hip ; and this hut had been judged to be certainly at fome diflance from the fea- Ihore. This information of the boatfwain induced them to refolye on fpending the winter there themfelves, fliould the hut remain as they hoped; confidering that they (hould run great danger in any cafe if they hazarded remaining at fea. They deputed four perfons to feek for and endeavour to find the hut, and any other medium of affifl:- ance ; that is to fay, the boatfwain, Alexis Himloff, and three failors, Iwan Himkoff, Stephen Sharapoff, and Foedor Weregin. They had to land on a defert ifland. Thcfe unfortunate men were therefore, of courfe, to be fupplied with arms, and plenty of provifion. On the other hand, they had to proceed the diftance of a mile over fragments of ice, now lifted up by the waves, and now driven againfl each other by the wind ; which made the way as perilous as la. borious, and confequently enforced the circumfpedion of not overloading themfelves, left they fliould fink, and not arrive. They provided themfelves for this expedition with a mufquet, a powder-horn, con- taining twelves charges of powder, a quantity of lead, an axe, a fmall kettle, i ftove, a piece of touchwood, a knife, a tin-box full of tobacco, and each his pipe ; with thefe few articles and provifions, did thefe four unfortunate failors reach the ifland. They overcame all their difficulties, and quickly difcovered the hut they were in fcarch of: it was erefted about a quarter of a mile from the fea. It was about fix fathoms long ; its breadth and its height^ were each three fathoms. It had a fmall entrance- hall, which might be two fathoms broad, and confequently had two doors, the one opening into the hall, the other into the chamber. This ferved very well to preferve the warmth of the room when it was heated. To conclude, there was found in this apartment a clay fire-place, fet up in the Ruffian manner, i, e. a ftove without a chim- ney, ferving the double purpofe of cooking the viduals and heating the room, and alfo for men to place themfelves upon : this is a common practice among the country people when they are cold. I have obforvcd that they were without a chimney in this room, and this can excite but little aftoniflnnent : the Ruffian peafantry, feldom building their houfes in any other manner. As for the fmoak with which the whole chamber is filled when a fire is made 6 in LE ROY S NARRATIVE OF roUR RUSSIAN SAILORS. ^57 In the flove ; to give it vent the door is opened, and three or four windows « hich are a foot long, and half afoot broad, made in the planks of which the houfe is conftrutt- ed : thefe windows can be lliut when defired very clofely, in frames purpofely contrived in which they are moved. When a fire is kindled, the fmoak never finks lower than thefe (mall windows which I have noticed, fo that a perfon may remain feated without being fubjed to much inconvenience from it, and when the apartment has been cleanfed, whether by the door or the windows, they can be drawn to. Without being tcrfd, one- may eafily conceive that the upper part of the room down to the windows, mufl: be as black as though built of ebony ; on the other hand, from the windows to the floor is comparatively clean, and preferves the appearance of the natural wood, of which the houfe was built. Satisfied with having found this hut, which fiiortly they improved by expelling from it the damp, and neceffarily foul air, they managed to pafs the night in it as well as they could. Early in the morning of the following day, they hied themfelves back to the -fea fliore, to inform their companions of their good fortune ; and bring from the fhip provifions, and neceifary arms ; in fhort, whatfoever it contained which could be ufeful to them for pafling the winter on this ifland. It were a more eafy tafk to conceive the anguifii of thefe unfortunate beings than to exprefs it, when upon treading back their fteps to the place where they landed, they perceived nothing but an open fea, entirely free from the ice, with which it was covered on the preceding day, and to their heavy misfortune no fhip in fight. A terrible ftorm which happened during the night had occafioned this dreadful calamity. And whether the pieces of ice with which it was enclofed had broke, and dafhing againfl: the veiTel with violence had crufiied it ; whether it had foundered at fea ; an accident which often occurs in thofe parts ; or whatfoever other diftrefs it had encountered, it never more was feen ; and as no intelligence refpetting its company was ever after obtained, it is highly probable they met with fome mifchance. From this circumflance, thefe unfor- tunate men faw plainly, that they had no hope remaining of getting from the ifland ; and vyith heavy hearts they returned to the hut from which they came. Their firft care and attention turned, as may be naturally imagined, upon their fupport and fhelter. The twelve charges of powder which they had, in a little time produced them as many rein-deer, which luckily for them abounded on the ifland. As the reia-deer is met with in the North of Europe, in Lapland, and in Afia, in fimilar latitudes, I conceive I fliall not be departing widely from my fubjeft in giving a defcription of it. The rein-deer refembles the flag, and the eland ; it is for the mofl part of an afh grey, although fome are met with of a reddifh colour. It is more flout and larger than the flag, but its feet are fhorter, and proportionately thicker. Its antlers are whitifli and plain, and are more branching than thofe of the flag ; thofe of the eland are more like them. When the rein-deer runs, the joints of its feet make a clicking which of itfelf is fufficientto diftinguifliit from the flag. The Laplander, the Samoiede, and the inhabitants of a part of Tungufi, break in the rein-deer, which is called by them as well as in Ruffia by the name of Olcn, and train it to draw them in their fledges ; the Tungufians call it Oleni. The rein-deer ferves all the purpofes of a horfe, is tolerably flrong, and pofTefTes an incredible fwiftnefs. Its food is mofs, which is found in abun- dance in all the Northern Countries. Its provender is every where to be met with, and cofls its mafler nothing, it even helps itfelf, digging through the fnow with its feet to get to its fodder. It has been affirmed that the jrehvdeer cannot fubfiil away from its 59^ LE ROY*S NARRATIVE OP TOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS. its native countiy ; but I can prove this affertion to be groundlefs. At Mofcow in the •year 17^1, I faw a dozen of them which were running by the fide of the houfe of Count Von Golofkin, at that time grand chancellor, which were kept in his grounds : they were of a reddifli white colour. In the year 1752, Count Peter Iwanowitch Vou Schuwaloff, fent for two from Archangel; a male, and female. They were fed on mofs. The female was a young one which throve to admiration, and down to the year 1754, was in perfeft health. Thefe are matters to which I was an eye witnefs at Mofcow. I cannot tell however what length of time Ihe lived, as I returned the fame year to Peterlburg. Having finiflied this fliort digreffion, I return to my narrative. The injuries which the hut ib luckily difcovered by the failors had received, were very trivial : the planks of which it was built had fcparated in different places, and re- quiring to have the chinks filled with mofs, the wind had a free paflage afforded it.« This however was an evil eafy to be remedied, as they had an axe, and the planks were not decayed. It is well known that in thefe cold climates wood keeps entire for many years, and is not fubjed to be worm eaten. It cofl them but little trouble to join the planks together again, and with the mofs which was found in abundance on the ifland, they readily filled up every crevice ; this praftice is generally followed in compleating houfes conftruded of wood. Thefe men relieved themfelves from this inconvenience without embarrafsment, the more h from its being the cuftom as is well known, for the Ruffian peafantc to build their own dwellings : they are confequently expert in the ufe of the axe. The cold in thefe climates is infupportable, and the earth itfelf produces no trees ; not even the fmallefl: bufli. This want of wood our unfortunate adventurers had re- marked on looking round the ifland on their arrival, and they were under apprehen- fion of perifliing of cold. Their good fortune however favoured them ; the pieces of a Ihip which had been wrecked, were thrown on the coafts of this ifland ; an accident which furnifhed them with wood enough to carry them through their firft winter. Nearly the fame affiftance was to be fent them the following year, this affording them no more than an advantageous variation : the waves of the fea continually throwing on (hore entire trees with their roots, without their being able to divine from what country they were brought. , This circumftance will not appear incredible to thofe who have taken the pains to inform themfelves of what different writers have related on .this fubjeft ; who notice its frequency, whether on our wintering at Nova Zemla, (not Zenibla as we Ihall prove,) or in lands of other latitudes farther towards the North. I break in on my narrative to obferve that it fhould be called not Nova Zcmbla, but Novoiaor Nova Zemla, which fignifies new earth, or new land, the Ruflian term con- veying both thefe meanings ; and under this name when fpoken of, it is known in Ruffia. Nothing affifted thefe failors during the firrt; year of their exile, fo much as a board to which was fixed a long iron hook, and a nail four or five inches long, and propor- tionately thick ; as well, another board to which was faftened different old iron work, the fid remains of fome veffel which had been loft in this wide extended fea. Thisun- exped ed aid arrived at a time when they had nearly expended their powder ; when the flefh of the rein-deer which they had fhot was almoft all confumcd ; and they had no other proiped than that of perifhing with hunger. A fecond piece of good fortune be- fell them, little lefs valuable than the firft : they found on the fea fliore the root of a fir tree which was nearly in tlie fliapc of a bow. Neceffity LE ROY's- narrative OF FOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS. ^Qtf NcccfTity was ever the mother of invention. They took for granted, that, by the means of their knife, they fliould be enabled to fa[hion this root into a complete bow j and effedively they compafTed their purpofe. But the difliciihy was to find a cord to llring it, and arrows to flioot with. They dchberated on this circumflance, and concluded upoa making two iron headed fpears ior defending themfelves from the white boars, whicli are more fierce than the ge- nei-ality of their fpecies ; an attack from them being the only molelfation they had to apprehend : the making of arrows and contriving a chord to firing their bow were put oft' to a future period. To make a hammer for working the iron into lances and ar- rows, was no great atchievement for them ; every one knows they might find a way to efie^t this purpofe, and furnifh themfelves with the tool. The iron hook which I have noticed they found faftened to the board thrown on fhore, had a pretty confiderable hole in it, about two or three inches from the end op- pofite to the head. The head was round and thick, fuch as in fimilar hooks is com- monly made for their protedion. I'hey contrived to heat red hot the end which had an orifice, and enlarged it by forcing into it the nail which they had met with : this they effected with a few ftrokes of the axe on the part, about five inches from the hole which was to be made larger ; by another blow they drove in the hot hook, a piece of rounded wood which ferved for a handle, and thus became poiTefTed of a hammer. To complete their forge, they pitched upon a large ftone for their anvil, which they had to remove from its place : on this occafion, two rein-deers' horns or antlers ferved them for flings. With thefe tools they forged themfelves two lances' heads, which they poliflied and pointed Iharp with ftones : thefe they bound as firmly as poflible by the exertion of all their might, with thongs made from the fkin of the rein-deer, to ftocks of the thicknefs of one's arm, made of the branches of trees, which they found call on fliore by the fea. When a man has refolution, he may with fuch a fpear (you may call it a pike or halbert if you will,) attack a white bear, although he runs im- minent danger of being killed. As foon as they had made themfelves mafters of one of thefe frightful beafts, the made its flefh ferve them for food ; and they found it much more agreeable to the tafte than that of the rein-deer : the truth of this circum- Ifance I have been aflured of by many with whom I have fpoken on this fubjeft. Upon examining the nerves and fibres of this bear they remarked with indefcribable delight, that they were divifible with the leaft trouble into threads as thick or as fine as they pleafed. I have myfelf made this experiment, which I fliall hereafter notice. This difcovery was one of the mofl happy events that could have befallen them ; be- fides other advantages which they might derive from it at a future period, it funiifhed them immediately with a cord for their bow. With this they killed all the rein-deer, and blue and white foxes, they had occafion for during the wliole time of their ilay upon the iOanJ, thefe ferved them for food, for medicine, and for raiment, pro- tet^ing them from the infupportable cold which reigns in thefe latitudes, fo contiguous to the pole. The great fuccefs which our iflanders met with from the ufe of their lances, en- livened them Tiiuch, and induced them without delay to forge four iron heads for ar- rows : thefe were completed, but madefmaller than the firft : they heated and fliaipencd them as they had done the former, and bound them with thin threads made of the nerves of the bear, to fhafts of fu-, through flits in which they inferted feathers wliich they found, faflening them with very fine fibres. Their ingenuity profited them fo far, .that in the courfe of the time of their remaining on the iiland, by means of thefe ar- rows, they killed two hundred and fifty rein-deer, befides a confiderable number of blue 6oo i-ii roy's narrative of Foua Russian sailors. blue and wliiu.' foxes. The latter are called Peftzi in Ruffia, on account of their ilrong refemblance to a kind of Iceland dog, which the German fliepherds ufually have for guarding their flieep : the word pes fignifying a dog in the Runian tongue. When they ventured themfelves againft the white bear, of which in all they killed ten, they ran great rifk of their life. Thefe wild animals are pofleffed of uncommon flrength, and defend themfelves with extraordinary obflinacy ; fo that, excepting the firfl which I have mentioned, they never defignedly encountered them : the nine others were killed in their own defence when attacked by them : feveral of thefe had even proceeded as far as into the entrance of the hut to tear them in pieces. It is true, all thefe wild animals did not Ihew the fame courage, if I may fo exprefs myfelf, whether from being lefs excited by hunger, or lefs furious by nature; fome of them running^ away at the cries which the men made while preparing themfelves to drive them back. Neverthelefs their different attempts occafioned thefe poor men unfpeakable inquietude : they never ventured to any diftance alone, nor without being armed with their lances to proteft them from the violence of the bears ; being continually under apprehenfion of being devoured by them. Thefe three defcriptions of wild animals were the only food of our iflanders during the whole of their ftay in that defert country. Men do not refleft upon all their means at once : it is commonly the need of a thing which opens their eyes, and impels them to think of expedients which otherwife would not have been conceived. The juftnefs of this obfervation was more than once ex- perienced by our failors. During a long period they were under the neceffity of eating their meat almofl raw, without fait, the want of which they felt feverely, and without bread. The immoderate cold of thefe climates, and the few conveniences the poffeffed, did not allow them to cook their vidluals in a proper manner : in their hut they only found a ftove of the Ruflian fafliion, and confequently of a defcription which could not ferve for making a kettle boil. On the other hand, wood was much too precious to them to keep up two fires, and were they to kindle one without the houfe, it would not ferve to warm them, a matter of the higheft importance in fuch a rigid clime. Finally, the continual dread of expofing themfelves to the white bears hindered them from cooking in the open air. I fhall now make one remark. Allowing that in fpite of the beforementioned impediments they fhould have attempted this meafure, it would yet have been imprafticable throughout a great part of the year : and certainly, the ex- ceffive cold which almoft always reigns in thefe regions, the long abfence of the fun, which leaves them for months enveloped in complete darknefs, the inconceivable falls of fnow, which take place at certain periods, and the long duration of the rainy feafon at others ; thefe circumflances mufl: have foon obliged them to change their intention, even fhould they have refolved upon it. How then were they to remedy the inconvenience of being obliged to eat their meat almofl; raw ? Their ingenuity pointed out the place to them of fufpending it from the roof of the hut. In the defcription of it, I have obferved that eveiy day it was filled with fmoke from the height of a fitting perfon to the top. Now this was adually a fmeking chamber ; then they hung their meat on wooden pegs, faflened on the outfida of the upper part of the roof of their hut, fo that their foes the bears could not reach them : there they left it the whole fummer through, expofed to the frcfh air, and the wind: it dried extremely well, and ferved them in lieu of bread, making them relifli their other meat which was but half cooked. After they had made this experiment, and it had fucceeded fo much to their comfort, as to fatisfy their fullcll wiflies ; they ever after continued the praQice of it, and increafed their flock of provifion as much as ihey were able. It I.E ROy's narrative or FOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS. 6ot It may be Inquired how came they by this idea? The anfwer is eafy. There are few countries in wliich it is not ufual to fmoke hams, and geefe, as well as difi'crcnt forts of fifh, and in Ruflia the pradice is common of drying falmon, Uurgcon, and other of fimilar kind in the fun ; whicli on fafl; days, and during the great fafl, are ferved up on table without the lead preparation. After fpeaking of their meat, I muft now give a fhort account of their beverage. The water which they obtained from the rivulets thai Itreamed plenteoudy from the rocks of this ifland, quenched their thirft in funimer; and the ice and the fnow, which they melted during the winter, ferved them for drink through that part of the year when they were confined to their hut. I muft not however forget to notice that their little kettle was the vefTel in which they fetched their water, and out of which they drank. # The fcurvy is a malady to which feamen are commonly fubjeft, and is more danger- ous in proportion to an approximity to the pole ; whether the caufe be attributable to the cold, or to any other unknown circumftance. Let that be as it will : thei'e un- fortunate men, fhould they be attacked by this diforder, were without afllflance, they therefore bethought themfeives of a means which ought not to pafs unnoticed, re- putedly a fovereign preventative of this difagreeable complaint. It was I wan HimkofF who had pafled the winter feveral times on the weftern coafl: of Spitibergen, that made his companions acquainted with this remedy. He inftrudled them to eat raw and frozen meat cut into fmall pieces, and drink the warm blood of the rein-deer, extrafted from the animal as foon as killed, and that as often as the carcales could be obtained ; and, laftly, to eat as much as poflible of cochlearia (fcurvy grafsj, the only grafs which grew on the ifland, and that but fparingly. It is for the faculty to determine, if thefe fmall pieces of raw and frozen flefli, and this warm blood of the rein-deer, be fit for the cure of the fcurvy. Might not exercife be concerned where this prefcription was followed by thole who were threatened with this diforder, or upon whoni it had made its appearance ? Again, no one is ignorant that cochlearia is a powerful antidote againfl: the fcurvy. However, be this as it may : experience, in this inftance, illuftrated the powerful influence of the prefcriptions adminiflered : three of the failors who made ufe of this regimen were kept entirely from this complaint. As often as they hunted down a rein-deer or a fox, as conftantly they drank its blood. Iwan HimkofF, the youngefl of them, had acquired fuch fwiftnefs of foot at this exercife, that he could leave the fafteft horfe behind, a circumftance to which I have been an eye-vvitnefs. The fourth, called Feodor Weregin, had at all times an unconquerable averfion to the blood of rein-deer, he was very heavy and very idle, and returning to the hut as foon as pof- fible when obliged to make excurfions. From his firft arrival upon this ifland he was menaced with this calamity, and in courfe of time the malady had made fuch progrefs, that he was fubjeft to a dreadful weaknefs, accompanied by cruel fufferings. During the lafl: year of his life he was bed-ridden, without (Irength enough to raife himfelf up, and without the power of moving his hand to his mouth ; the companions of his misfor- tunes being obliged to nurfe him the fame as a new-born child *. In • Although I have my doubts as to the efficacious operation of pieces of frozen and raw flefli cut fmall, and the drinking of the warm blood of newly killed rein-deer, as a remedy for the Icurvy ; it yet appears to nie that thefe tilings are worthy of notice. I certainly have found in the firll volume of a book entitled, " Voyages and Difcoveries of the Rulfians along the (hores of the Frozen Ocean and the Eaftern Sea, as well as towards Japan and America, publllhed by Miiller," that the inhabitants of northern Siberia make ufe of frozen fifli, which is eaten raw, as a remedy for that fliocking diforder, and that it is eftcdual." Vide page 194, 195. " Our men dug out their refidence for the winter at tlie mouth of the river Cho- tiifchtach. Here the fcurvy began to aficd our (hip's crew j but they were benefited by ufing a decoftion vot. I. 4 H of 6o2 LE ROV's NARRATIVE OF FOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS. In the beginning of my narrative 1 have obferved, that our failors brought a fma!! fack. of meal, about twenty pounds weight with them to the illand, I fhall now notice the ufe to which it was put. Soon after their arrival they abandoned the ufe of this food, defifting when they had cooked the flefh of the rein-deer which they had killed ; preferving thus about the half of it. This remaining quantity they put to a fervice at lead as neceffary as that to which the former part had been applied. I fliall proceed to defcribe it. They readily faw that, while in fo cold a climate, they mud continually keep up a fire, they would have very few means for kindling it after thofe Ihould be confumed which they poffeffed ; it is true, they had ftore of fire-wood, but little touchwood or tinder. The bai'barous nations in the wilds of America have difcovered a method of lighting a fire whenever they will : it confifls in the fridion of a fquare piece of hard 9 wood againft two pieces of fofter wood, which are faftened to it ; while the two foft pieces are prefied between the knees, the middle hard piece is milled by the hands with great vt locity, fo that by the friction, a heat is occafioned which fliortly caufes fmoke, and quickly fucceeding flame is excited *. Our ingenious failors had Httle knowledge of this American cuftom ; but they knew that when two pieces of dry wood, one of which being foft, and the other hard, are of cedar fiioots, which tree grows here to a fmall height, and after the manner of the country by taking raw and frozen fifh, which they powdered and ate. By thefe means, and by keeping continually at work and in liourly exercife, moft of them got relieved and reftored to health. " PofTibly the cure of thefe fick men is afci ibable alone to their exercife and the ballam contained in the cedar fhoots ; this is nothing other than a turpentine fcrving to purify the blood : however it appears from this that thefe nations make ufe of raw and frozen fi(h, as a remedy for this complaint, and I ^mean to ob« ferve this alone." The author noticed before fpeaks of blood as an antifcorbutic (fee page 205 to 206,). " On fuch an cccafion" (that of preventing and healing the fcurvy,) he fays, " we may take a precedent from the Ruf- fians of Archangel, fome of whom pafs almoft every year the winter in Nova Zemla without being incom- moded with this diforder ; imitating the bamoiedes in drinking frequently the blood of the frefh killed rein- deer." Now, one remark. Upon my reading this narrative to Mr. S. Batigne, before I gave it to the public, he,, on this occafion, obferved, th.it he gave credit to the efficacy of the blood of animals being drunk while warm, as well for preventing as even for remedying this diforder; its volatile natuie being calculated to hinder the juices ot the bouy from becoming clammy and thick, and to correft them when in that difpofi- tion, in fuch as would make the trial. This malady proceeds from a want of due circulation of the fluids,, vhich when difordered communicate their bane to the wliole mafs of blood. He grounded his opinion, aa- well as on other circumftances, upon the praftice fo common in voyages to America, in which, when the crew of a vcffcl is attacked by the fcurvy, they make for one of the Turtle Iflanus, called fo, from the num- ber of thefe animals found upon them ; when the fick cat plenteonfly of that food, which, from the quantity ©f blood it contains, and that of a balfamic nature, is the moft preferable of all remedies. — On thi^ fubjeft 1 fliall myfelf remark a cuftom which prevails in the neighbourhood of the Alps, and in other places. \V hen perfons are affliifted with pleurilies, or other complaints arifing from the want of the proper circulation of the fluids, they are accuftomed to dtink the blood of the mountain goats. Although this blood be of a hot nature, it yet produces favourable confcquences, from the volatility of its paits ; exciting remarkable tranf- piratiou, and promoting fweat. * See what Father Labat fays in his new voyages to the American Iflandson this fubjcdt, when treating of the Caribbees. " I mufl obfcrve in addition, that this is not the only mode of kindling fire wliich is pradlifcd by the Americans : fome among them have a particular inftrnment appropriate to this fervice. It is to me an ob- jeft of furprife, that the inhabitants of Kamfchatka ufe the fame inftrument." (Vide the before-cited work of Miiller, page 257.) The learned author then obferved another place, where fome Ame- ricans were taking their dinner, but who fled on his approach. He found, on proceeding to the fpot, an arrow, and an inilrument for kindling lire, fafiiioned in the fame manner as thofe ufed in Kamfchatka. In his remarks, he fays, " It Is a board with feveral holes ; with a ftick, one end of wliich a man thruRs into one of ihefe holes, while he mills the other end between his hands ; and from the quickncls of the motion caufes fitc, They then apply the fparks to any kind of matter of quick combullion," a violently i.E roy's narrative 01' FOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS. 6::i;^ violently rubbed aj^ainfl: each other, the latter takes fire. This as well being the mode in whicli the Rufllan country people produce fire when they arc in the woods, and a holy ceremony pra6lifed throughout all the villages wherein there is a church ; tliey could not confequently be ignorant of. Probably it may not be unacceptable to thole who have never heard a defcription of it, my giving an account of this ceremony. The eighteenth of Augufl, old flile, is called by the Ruffians Frol y Lavior : thefe are the names of two martyrs inferted in the Romifli calendar, Florus and Laurus ; on the twenty-ninth of the fame month lafl year, on which day is kept the fait of the be- heading of St. John the Baptifi. On this day the Ruflians lead their horfes round the church of their village, befidc which on the foregoing evening they dig a hole with two mouths. Each horfe has a bridle made of the bark of the linden-tree. The horfes go • through this hole one after the other, oppofite to one of the mouths of which the pried ftands with a fprinkler in his hand, with which he fprinkles them. As foon as the horfes have palled by their bridles are taken off, and they are made to go between two fires that they kindle, called by the Ruflians Givoy Agon, that is to fay, living fires, of which I fliallgive an account. I fliall before remark, that the Ruffian peafantry throw the bridles of their horfes into one of thefe fires to be confumed. This is the manner of their lighting thefe givoy agon, or living fires. Some men hold the ends of a flick made of the plane-tree, very dry, and about a fathom long. This flick they hold firmly over one of birch, perfeftly dry, and rub with violence and quickly againft the former ; the birch, which is fomewhat fofter than the plane, in a fliort time inflames, and ferves them to lin;ht both the fires I have defcribed. To return to our iflanders. It is inconteflible that they were acquainted with the givoy agon, and of the means for making it ; but why did they not adopt the fame plan? They had no other wood than fir, a moift wood of itfelf, and that moreover furniflied them by the fea. What were they to do if once their fire became extinguiflied ? One readily fees a remedy fhould be provided. In walking through the ifland they had re- marked that in the middle there was fome fat earth or clay. They conceived the idea of making themfelves a veilel of it, that might ferve for a lamp, which they might fupply with the fat of the rein-deer they had killed, and with that of thofe they fliould kill in future. This was certainly the mofl reaionable meafure they could adopt. What could they have done without light during the winter, which in this latitude has one night of fome months duration ? They procured therefore fome clay, and made a fort of a lamp therewith, this they filled with rein-deer's fat, and fluck a piece of twifted linen in it to ferve as a wick ; but they perceived with grief that the fat penetrated the vcfTel as foon as it melted, and dropt from it on every fide. They had now to feek a remedy for this misfortune, arifing from the pores of the vefTel being too large. This they quickly found. They made themfelves for this purpofe a new one, which firfl they fullered to dry well in the open air, and afterwards heating it red-hot in a glowing fire, they cooled it in the kettle wherein was a quantity of meal they were about to cook, fo that it received confiflency from the thin fiarch. As foon as the lamp had cooled, and they had filled it with melted fat, to their great joy they perceived that it did not leak ; but for their greater fecurity they dipped fome rags of the linen of their fhirts in the before-mentioned foddened meal, and placed them round their lamp. From the fuccefs of ihis elTay, they refolved on being careful of the remainder of their meal. As they were very fearful left fome unlucky accident might befall their lamp, they had the forefight to conllruft another, that at no time they iliould be in want from any cafualty happening. 4 H 2 Pofliblv 6o4 LE ROy's narrative of four RUSSIAN SATLORS. Poffibly it may be afked, where did they find wicks for trimming their lamps ? The anfwcr is at hand. On the wreck of the fliip, which they had coUefted with much la- bour for warming them in winter, was fome cordage found, and a fmall quantity of hemp, the produce of old ropes, ufed on board fhip for caulking, or forcing with llrength between the planks, to prevent leakage. When this was expended, they fub- flituted, what they but feldom wore, the linen of their fliirts and drawers. All who are acquainted with the Ruffian collume, know that there are few among them but what wear drawers ; few of the country people wear any other hofe. With this hemp, and this part of their cloathing, which among the common people is of a very coarfe quality, did they twift wicks j and from the time of their completing their firfl lamp, to the inftant of their going on fhip-board again, to return to their native land, they were never without this light burning in their apartment. The neceffity in which they found themfelves of appropriating fuch an eflential part of their cloathing as their fliirts and drawers to this purpofe, was reparable by their em- ploying the fkins of the deer which they had killed in the (lead, fufficiently adequate in itfelf as a fubftitute had they no other cloathing, a cafe which happened fhortly to be theirs. Without mentioning other things which they were in need of, they faw their fhoes and boots were worn out, and had no more : they were now but little removed from the violent cold of winter, and mufl again have refource to that ingenuity which feldom leaves men when neceffity calls for its being employed. They poilefled a quan- tity of fliins of the rein-deer and the fox, which ferved them for bedding and cloathing, and contrived to drefs them. This is the method in which they manufadured them. They foaked thefe (kins in foft water, and left them remaining in it for a day ; after- wards, with very little pains, they fcraped oft' the hair, and rubbed the leather, now moiftened through, between their hands until almofl dry ; they then fmeared this over with the melted fat of the rein-deer : they repeated this, rubbing it as before. This contrivance made the leather foft, pliant, and in fliort fo flexible, as to be fit for any ufe to which they might choofe to apply it. As for thofe fkins laid afide for the pur- pofe of making themfelves pelilTes, they were fatisfied with letting them foften for one day only in manufafturing them, proceeding afterwards in the fame manner as I have before defcribed, excepting their not tearing oft" the hair. Thus they faw themfelves at once poflefled of all the materials neceffiiry for cloathing themfelves from top to toe. Yet, however, one great difficulty remained to be overcome. They had neither awl to make their flioes and boots with, nor needle to few their cloathing ; but they had iron, as we have noticed, and found out means very foon of remedying this need : in iliort, they forged as ufeful an awl and needle as thofe which arc ufed by workmen in thefe lines of bufinefs. It was in the beginning difficult for them to contrive how to jnake the requifite hole in the needle, although at lad it was compafled by the means of the point of their knife, which for this purpofe they fliarpened and made proper, after having previoufly forged a fort of wire for a needle, and heated it red-hot. I have had an opportunity of convincing myfelf of the truth of all I have faid on this matter. I have attentively examined, through a common magnifying-glafs, the eye of this needle. The mode they ufed of rounding, polifliing, and pointing it, fo as to be very fharp, was by rubbing it on flones, of which there was an abundance : the only fault that it had was m that the eye not being fo uniform and even as it fiiould be, it was liable to cut the nerves with which it was threaded ; but this was a failing they could not remedy. Although unfurniflied with flicers, for the purpofe of cutting the hides, yet were they not without a fubftitute perfeflly frnfficient for this ufe, in the knife which they had fo 13 well LE ROY's narrative OF FOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS. 605 well fnarpened. Thus although they fiiould not have been tailors nor flioetnakcrs. It appears that thefe unfortunate men muft have become fuch in this incomprehcnfible ftate of embarraffment ; fince they manufaftured hofe, fhirts, waiftcoats, cloaks, or pe- liffes, boots, Ihoes, in fhort, every defcription of cloathing of which they had occafion, whether for winter or for fummer. Then they had, which accounts for it, patterns of all thefe things, the pelifles excepted, before them: with thefe, induflrious and inge- nious as they were (which will eafily be allowed of them from what has gone before), they had little difficulty in fewing together the fkins and hides according to meafure ; a practice to which they were accuftomed. "With refpeft to thread for fewing the fkins together, they had to provide for this, and quickly accomplifhed the means ; the nerves or finews of the rein-deer and bears were divided into thin or thicker threads, as they found mofl: to their advantage ; and with this lafl; contrivance they completed all that was neceflary for putting theui in condition of withflanding the inclemency of the weather. In fummer they were clad in flight undrelTed fl^ins : in winter they were drefi: like the Samoiedes and Laplanders, with long pelifles of the untanned ikms of rein-deer and foxes. Thefe pelifles had a hood fomewhat like that of the capuchins, but proteding more the neck and head : it was all of one piece, with an opening before for the face remaining uncovered ; fo that the pelifles mentioned being entire, on laying them afide they were obliged to draw them over the head like a fack. Separate from the dif- content which this lonefome life engenders, and particularly when conftrained ; and were it not for the refledion which each of them could not refrain from making, of the pofllbility of his furviving his companions, and confequently ftarving to death, they pof- feft comforts fufficient to content them, the pilot or boatfwahi however excepted, who had a wife and three children : he thought (as he himfelf has confefled to me) every day on his return to them, and bewailed continually the difl:ance which feparated him from his family. It is fit, however, that I fhould now begin the defcription of the ifland itfelf, and recount what this unfortunate inhabitant related to me refpefting it. This ifland laid down by Gerard Van Keulin, and by John Peter Stuurman in his corrected chart of the northern part of Europe, by reference, will be feen to lye be- tween latitude yy" 25' and 78" 45' N. under the name of Eaft Spitfbergen, called by the Rufllans, Maloy Broun ; and confequently, partly in the thirteenth, and partly in the fourteenth * Climate : whence it follows that the greateft length of day-light in the year will be of four months continuance, that is to fay on the fide of the ifland oppo- fite to that inhabited by our adventurers. In the before cited chart the ifland is laid down as defcribing a pentagon. Its greatefl length from Eaft to Weft, being twenty- three German miles, and its breadth from North to South twenty-two. As I had for- gotten to queftion our iflanders themfelves upon the fize of the ifland, I was obliged in * The author alluded to in any fuch divifion of the glohe, as fhould inake the fpace lying between latitude 7;° 25', and latitude 78° 45' to fall in the ulterior part of the thirteenth, and beginulnj; ef the four- teenth climate, does not appear. The table computed by Ricciolus, which is that in higheft clleem, divides the globe into twenty climates N., and as many S., that is to fay, icvcn from the Equator to 48° r r;' each, having the day in northern latitudes half an hour longer than the prectdfug ; fevcn from latitude 48° 15' to 65' 54', each having the day one hour longer than the preceding, (in this latitude from the refrafllons of its rays which are computed in the table of Ricciolus, the fun is feen on the twenty-firit of June with- out fetting, forming its circuit above the horizon, which circumftance, but for this refraftion, wouH not be vifible more South than latitude 66° 30' ;) and iix climates in each the day of one months longer duration, than in the preceding, beginning at latitude 6^* 54', and tinilhing at the pole. By this tabic thetighteenth climate begins in latitude 76° 6', that of the center of the Ifland according to the above noticed latitudes, and the longeft day, in that latitude, is compofed by him of one hundred and tivciity-four days continuance, the longcll night of one hundred and fevciiteen days length. — Tia'tjlator. order 6o6 tB ROY's narrative op four RUSSIAN SAILORS. order to be able to fpeak with certainty of it, to avail niyfelf of the chart which wa? laid before them, after their return to their native country : they found out of them- felves their place of exile, pointed out the fpoton which their hut had been ere£l:ed, and marked it with a ftroke of a pen upon the map, which was returned to me at Archangel. A proof that they had not deceived themfelves from a knowledge of this ifland is evident from what Mr. Vernezobre, mentioned already in the beginning of my narrative, writes to me. He fays in his letter of 15th of Noveniber, 1750. " The captain of a galliot called the Nicholas and Andrew, belonging to Count Peter Iwanowitch Von Schuwaloff, pafled in the winter of 1749 on Maloy Broun. He landed fliortly after the departure of our failors, and difcovered the hut which had ferved them for a dwell- ing, and noticed on a wooden crofs, ere£ted before the door by the pilot Alexis Himkof ; an infcription giving the name to the Ifland of Alexeyiewflcoi Oltrow, that is to fay, Alexis Ifland." I muft now remark a circumfl:ance contained in this letter which fhews that the ifland muft be of tolerable extent : " Certain Samoiedes hearing of the adventures of our failors, and this country being fuitable to them above all others, requefted to fpeak with Mr. Vernezobre ; they wKhed to bt permitted to inhabit it, and to be tranfported thither without reward, themfelves with their wives, their children, and their rein-deer." Before I enter into a detail on the nature of this ifland, it may perhaps not be out of place to make the following remark. Some authors have advanced that the country known by the name of Nova Zemla, is not properly fpeaking an ifland, or, as others main- tain, a part of our continent, but only aheap of ice, held up and coUeded together in the lapfe of time, which travellers have reprefented as an ifland. The ground on which they build their aflumption is this among others : when (they fay,) men dig to the depth of one or two leet through the ftratum of cartli, which the wind has blown over here from the coaft of Afia, nothing but ice is found below. I can not undertake to decide in this matter: this has ho relation to my fubjecl: I have not read the authors who have pubiiflied their fentiments in fupport of, or in oppo- fitlon to, this hypothefis. I am content with obferving limply that the ifland Eaft Spitz- bergen, of which I am treating, muft be looked upon indifputably as real land, accord- ing to the reprefentations made to me by thefe failors. They found, as they told me, many mountains and craggy rocks of an aftonifliing height, continually covered with ice and fnow. They did not meet with the fmalleft tree, nor even the moft diminutive bufli, the Cochlearia excepted, which was very fparingly found. No grafs grew, on the other hand mois was feen in abundance every where. In the middle of the ifland they difcovered fome fat earth or clay, whence it is probable that fome perfons have conceived that there were ice mines in this place, or that this itfelf was formerly nothing clfe : it is not impoflible were they to go and dig there, that they would fliortly get to the ice. They certainly had no rivers although they never wanted water : but a number of ftreams flowed at all times from the moun- tains and rock, fupplicd from abundant fources. Bcfides flint ftones wliich were com- mon, the ifland furniflied a kind of ftone proper for burning for lime. This ftone produced here on the lurface of the ground, in other countries is ufually dug from quarries: (it is cuftomary in Ruflla to burn lime, and lay the floors of their houfes with it,^ I fliould have taken the ftone to have been hewn, were it not for the circum.- ftance of its fpliting like flate after long expofure to the air, and being feparable like flate into fcales. Thib kind of ftone is called, by the Ruflians, />Iit. To conclude, at the fea fide of the iflanti, the ihore is covered with land and gravel, which continues' fome little diftancc towards the interior. I had LE ROY S NARRATIVE OF FOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS. Co/ I had the precaution to learn from the failors whatever I have yet dcfcrlbcd. It was natural as well thnt I Ihould be curious enough to queflion thena refpeding the length of continuance of the ihining of the fun, and its abfence ; as alfo concerning the tem- perature of the air, and the different changes in it which they had remarked : in fhort I enquired of them refpeding all the phenomena obferved by them, during their un- pleafant flay on this ifland. Upon my putting to them the queftion, at what time the fun began to appear above the horizon ? They anfwered me : it appeared the beginning of the great fait*. This anfwer did not however defignate any particular day : the time of the fall: changing always according to Eafler's falling early or late. Simple country people, unacquainted with the mode of computing for Ealler, and who poflibly had never remarked the cir- cumftance of this feaii; happening fometimes earlier, fometimes later j fuch were not confequently competent to fatisfy me on this point. The day they began to perceive the fun fliew itfelf, revolving entirely above the horizon, was the feaft of St. Athanafius, which happens on the fecond of May old ftile, or the twenty-firft of April, according to the Gregorian Kaiendar f. They told me farther that it circulated thus to their obfervation for ten or eleven weeks. If the • As it appears in the courfe of the narrative, that the failors by foine means kept fuch good reckoning of time, as to err only in two days, or owing to their having omitted the additional ones in the two leap years which occurred, fay four days ; is it unreafonable to Imagine that they would bear in mind the period at which Eafter was kept in the year of their departure from Archangel, and confider it as fixed on the fame day in the fucteeding year ? If we grant this, as Eafter-day in the year 174;^, fell upon our third of April, according to the Julian Computation forEailer, Lent would confequently begin on thetwenticlii of February, and if that day be the one on which the fun was feen to emerge fit 11 from below the horizon, it will differ from the table of Riceiohis, which calculates for the refraflion of light, by only two days ; the time it fhould be firft feen according to that, in this latitude, being the eighteenth of February, and it may fairly be prefumed. that unacquainted with the length to which their wintry niglu would extend, and keep- ing in their hut at much as pofTible during the feverc cold of that feafon, they might have miffed the firil aiflual appearance of the fun, and that for the two days which make the whole difference. Tranflator. ■\ The date here defciibed at which the fun was feen to complete its revolution above the horizon, is as near correft as could be cxpefred. By computation of Riceiolus, before adverted to, it fhould happen on the twentieth of April, As to the period of its ceafing to fhine, the account of its being but ten or eleven weeks, is incorredl. It would have appeared for as great a length of time above the horizon after the fol- ftitial day, as before, and confequently would have iTione for nearly eighteen weeks, inflead of ten or eleven, viz. from the twentieth of April until the twenty fecond of Auguil, N. S. The calculation of the perfon to whom M. Le Roy referred for information is alfo incorreft. The refraftion of the rays of the fun by the atmofphere caufes it to be vifible above the horizon before it be actually riftn, and makes it appear fome time after its fetting ; fo much fo, as to make a m.iterial difference in the length of its appearance in a lati- tude fo much to the no:th, 3 matter not calculated by him. The computation afforded to M. Le Rov, and that of Riceiolus, which is confidered correft, I have given below. Length of appearance. Length of dif-appearance. By M. Le Roy's friend - 119 - - III By Riceiolus - - 124 - - 117 Refpeiting the time of the firfl appearance of the fun above the horizon, it is pofTible from its being fo much defired, it would have impreffed itfelf upon their minds. The novelty of its revolution above the horizon, or rather a curie fity of afcertaining how long it happened before the time fuch an occurrence takes place at Archangel, might have made them more particular in noticing this date, the day of its dif- eontinuing to revolve v.'hoUy vifible being of minor interefl, fince it yet had to fhinc for a great part of the twenty-four hours for a long while, was not fo carefully attended to. "Fhe leal time at which, from compu- tation, it would ceafe wholly to be vifiule would be the twenty-fourth of OAober. They ftate this to have been the cafe on the twenty-fixth of Oftober, O. S., which is the fifteenth, according to our kalendar. May not their ceafing to fee the fun fo long as nine days before the time at which it fliould have been wholly invifible to them, have been occafioned by the great fogs which in the autumn fo conflantly prevail in thefe latitudes, according to the various accounts of all thofe who have proceeded fo high towards the north ? With thefe allowances made, and this doubt granted in their favour, they will appear to have been at correft as men in their circumflances of life could poflibly be expefted to have htm.—TranJlgtQr. latlev 6o3 tE roy's narraTivh of four Russian sailors. latter period of time be taken which from the fituation of the ifland muft be the nearefl to truth ; the time of its beginning to fet, will thus be fixed according to them upon the feventh of July. From thefe the fun began to fet every day, until the feaft of St. Demetrius : On that day it ceafed to fhine entirely. This account of our Iflanders is not correft. Upon confulting a'perfon well informed on thefe matters, I was given to undcrdand that provided the ifland, upon which they were, had been fituated in 771" of latitude, as it is defcribed on the chart, the fun would have been feen for the firfl time upon the fourth of February, would revolve above the horizon from the eleventh of April until the eighth of Auguft, and would entirely difappear upon the fixteenth of Odober. It is pofilble thefe poor fellows may have erred as well v/ith refpeft to the duration of the fun's appearance and difappearing, as to the time of its revolution above our hori- von, from their being defirous of afcertaining them by the feafl: days of the church ; and as will be gathered from what follows, they were as well greatly in error, in regard to the date of their return from this ifland. It was the fifteenth of Augufl, old ftile, the feaft of the Holy Virgin Mary, when the veflel, which brough them back to their native country, arrived at this ifland. But our worthy failors who had made preparations in as good a manner as they were able to keep this high holiday, reckoned the feaft two days later, and confequently efteemed that day to be the thirteenth of Auguft. A miftake of fmall confequence, which might arife from accountable caufes, feeing that they for four months together had the fun revolving above the horizon during the fummer, and in winter fpent nearly an equal time in utter night and darknefs : befides the weather being fo gloomy and cloudy at times ; and the rainy and fnowy feafons depriving them of the fight of the ftars. It is natural for the reader to enquire, how thefe men, who had neither clock, nor watch, neither fun, nor moon dial, could reckon the natural days whilethe fun continually fhone, and more particularly at that time when it was no longer vifible ? I did not neglefl: to interrogate them on this fubjed. The boatfwain hurt at my queftion anfwcred me with fome emotion, " What fort of a pilot fhould I be if I were ignorant of the method of taking an altitude of the fun, when that planet were vifible .'' Or if I knew not how to tell by the courfe of the ftars, in the abfence of the fun, what were the fit hours for bed time, out of the twenty- four ? I had made myfelf for this ufe a proper fort of ftaff, fimilar to that which 1 had left on board our fhip, and which ferved me to take my obfervations by." I con- ceive the inftrument which he mentioned to me on this occalion, was what is called a Jacob's ftafi^, or one fomewhat refembling it. The moon is vifible as they informed me in this country during the winter for nearly two months together, and rifes higher in proportion to the days becoming fliorter. I leave to Aftronomers the talk of criticifing this appearance, contenthig myfelf with relating fimply their depofition*. In • A fimilar example of the revolutions of the moon above the horizon in the abfence of the fun, re- marked by the Dutch in 1576, who wintered at Nova Zemia, in 76° of latitude may be feen in the third voyage of the Dutch to tlie North, p. 66, 67. " On the fird of November, during ths twilight, we faw the moon rife in the Eaft, the fun being yet perceived tolerably high above the hori/on. On the fecond, the fun was fetn to rife in the S. S. E , and ill nearly in the S. S. W. ; but the wliole of its globe did not (hew itfelf, being obferved only in the hori- zon with a part beneath. On the third, it vofe in the S. E. by S., but rather nearer to the S. ; and de- slined fomewhat to the S. of S. W. by S. ; the upper part of its globe appearing from the fpot where its height was taken, about as high as tlie tops of the vefTcl, which laid in that dircdion. On the fourth, it WSJ feen no more, tlic weather yet remaining very fine." «« When LE ROT S NARRATIVE OF FOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS. 6o<) la winter tlicy frequently were fpedators of that phoenomenon called hy natura- lifts the northern lights. This contributed greatly for a time to diniiiiifli the diirnay, which the thicic darkneis in which the hemifphere is enveloped in this climate during lb long a night, is calculated to imprefs on the mind of man. One would imagine a country fo near the pole, and in which the heat of fummer is very tolerable, notwithftanding the continual Ihining of the fun for fome months to- gether, would be fubjeft to excelHve and infupportable cold, as long as winter lafted : neverthelefs it has a ditlerent peculiarity. For about feven weeks, namely from the mid- dle of November, until the beginning of January, reckoned by thel'e good men according to holidays, viz. : from the beginning from that of St. Philip, which falls on the fifteenth of November, until the day of confecrating the water, called the Holy Three Kings, and which is on the fixth of January ; for thefe feven weeks it rained for the moft part abun- dantly, and without ceafing on this ifland, the weather being pretty mild, and the cold very fupportable : however after this period, that is to fay, when the land winds blew, and more particularly the South, the cold became infufferable. This may indeed occafion fome furprize, fince the . fouth wind is generally warm in all countries, and the north commonly cold : but we muft take into confideration, that the fouth wind in refpecf to our iflanders blew over all Europe, in winter covered with fnow ; and particularly over the northern part where the cold is extreme : but the north wind fweeping an open fea, inftead of cold brought exhalations, yet fomewhat frefli in themfelves, as they always bore along fome fnow with them : moft men will have noticed when in harbour, that the land breeze is at all times colder than that from fea. What confirms this account is, that all thofe who have been upon the Riphfean mountains or chain, called the Poias Semnoy, and which feparates Rullia in Europe from Siberia, give a fimilar defcription with our mariners, of the quality of the north and fouth winds. As for fnow, fuch an aftonifliing quantity fell on this ifland, that their hut in winter was commonly entirely enClofed by it, fo that they were left without any other means of getting out, than by an opening which they contrived in the roof of their entry room. In reply to my enquiries refpedting tempefts, thefe failors informed me, that they did not once hear it thunder during their refidence on the ifland. If we except white bears, rein-deer and foxes, which, as I have before noticed, were found in great plenty on the ifland, it is deftitute of all four footed animals, as well as of men. It is true fome wild fowl were feen in fummer : but they were only geefe, ducks, and other water fov/1. The fea likewife roimd about the ifland is deftitute of every kind of fifti. ~ Our failors in other refpects very ftricl: in their religion, contrary to the cuftom of this defcription of people, could not therefore obferve either the great or the fingle fafts. Nay had there been a fupcrabundance of fifti upon the coaft, thefe unfortunate men could have derived no benefit from the circumftance ; fmce as they had neither tackle nor nets, they could not have caus;ht them : the choice of meat mieht in fuch a cafe however have fuggcfted to them, to employ their ingenuity in conftruding tackle ; this they probably would have effefted in the end, yet at any rate not without great difliculty. Few whales were perceived nigh the fhore, but fea dogs and fea calves in verv con- fiderable numbers. It muft not therefore bo wondered at ihat the Ruffians ihould have " When the fun left rlfing, the moon afTumed its place, and Hione day and night without fetting ; as it was ihcn in its highcll tiiiai tcr." See Re^sieil des Voyages qui out fcrvi a I'ctablilT.'raent et aux piogrCs de h Compagniedes Indes Oiicntnks formce dans les Pays Ba's. VOL. I. 41 feme- 6iO LE ROY's narrative or FOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS. fometimes wiritered here ; with the fidns, the teeth, and the oil, of thefe animals, and particularly of the laft mentioned, they carry on a confiderable trade : what rather Ihould excite aftonifliment, is the circumftance, of no fiiip's arriving at the ifland du- ring the whole time of our failors' refiding there. Hence I fufped that the advantage derivable from the fifliery in this quarter, is not equal to that upon the weftern coaft of Spitzbergen, to which fliips commonly fail. They told nie it frequently happened that they met with teeth of fea calves upon the Ihore, and fometimes jaw s of thofe animals, but never entire carcafes. This can excite no \vonder. It does not admit a doubt, that if they died on the fhore, they would be devoured by the white bears, and probably by the foxes as well. The great number of teeth and jaws with which the fliores are beflrevved, makes me fufpedb with great probability, that thefe carnivorous beads frequently furprize the fea calves when afleep, and devour them. I am led to this fufpicion from a knowledge of its being commcm for the bears to feed on the dead whales, which are frequently feen floating on the fea, or are caft upon the fliores of thefe iflands contiguous to the pole. We have before obferved, that the rein-deer are fupported by the mofs, which ^rovvs plenteoufly in thefe uninhabited and defart regions, but what feeds the foxes that are met with ? It is well known that this animal is carnivorous, and lives on the continent upon fowl, and hares, which it furprizes : it is alfo probable that in this country, its food is thofe animals which the bear has killed, and which not having power itfelf to at- tack, have yet fallen an eafy prey to that flronger beaft. Before I proceed to mention the lucky, and unhoped-for deliverance of our failors from their lonefome fituation, a fituaticn in which they expected to pafs their days, I muft now relate an incident which I had omitted before, and which is well worthy of re- mark : As long as they remained upon this ifland, they had been free both from lice and fleas 5 and it was not till their return to their native country, that thefe vermin made their appearance again upon them. Mofl writers of voyages have remarked that upon crofling the equinoctial line, failors who are much fubjeci to be loufy, and the cloaths which they wear, that is to fay, their checked fliirts, become immediately clear of them : as foon however as they reci'ofs the line, they are peftered with thefe vermin again, as much as before. Thefe two fimilar incidents occafion me a refleflion reafonable enough in itfelf ; it is that fmce the pafling of the line, and the pafling of the polar circle produces a fmiilar efljedt, there mufl: needs be between the one, and the other, a connexion, into which it would be well that natur- aliflis fhould examine. Our unfortunates had now been nearly fix years in this difmal fituation, when Feodor Werigin died, reduced to a flceleton ; fo much had he fuflered from his dreadful illnefs. Releafed it is true from the cares of attending and feeding him, and from the grief of feeing him fuffer, without the power of aflbrding him relict, they did not yet fee his death without emotion ; they faw their number now diminiflied, and there were but three re- maining. As his deccafe took place in the winter, they made a hole in the fnow as deep as poflible, and laid his corpfe in it, covering it in the befl: manner they could, that the white bcais might not get to and devour it. To conclude, at a time when every one was reflecting upon this laft duty paid to theii* companion, and under apprehenfion that it would be his lot to lay by his iide, contrary to all expectation, a Ruflian veflel appeared in fight, on the fifteenth of Augult 1749. On board the fliip was a merchant of a certain fe£l, called by its profeflTors Stara tieva, 0. the ancient faith, a good and worthy character. The Ihip was originally in- 9* tended LE ROY's narrative OF FOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS. 6l I tended to winter in Nova Zemla, by its principal ; however, fortunately for our failors, M. Vcrnizobre propofcd to this merchant, to change t^at deflination for Spitzbcrgen ; which propofal, after many excufcs, and much demurrmg, was complied with. The wind being contrary on the voyage, the fliip was not able to reach the intended flation ; they therefore diretled her courle towards Eafl: Spitzbergcn, directly oppofite to the fpot inhabited by our adventurers. They perceived the velTel, and made hafte to kindle different fires upon the hills in the ncii^hbourhood of their dwelling ; they hoidcd as well a flag ftaff upon the fliore ; a rein-deer's fliin, which they fa'lcned to it ferving them for a fignal in lieu of colours. Thofe on board the fliip obfc;rve,d thefe fignals, and concluding that they were made by people who intreated their aHiftance, they came to anchor. It would be ufelefs for me to attempt to defcribe the joy with which thefe unfortunate men were filled at feeing fo nigh the infl:ant of their unexpected deliverance. Th^^y treated with the commander of the velTel, entered his fervice, and agreed wiih him for the tranfport of themfelves, and all their effeds to their native land, for which they were to pay him eighty rubles. They put on board the veffel fifty pood, or two thou- fand pounds of rein-deer's fat, and a number of hides of thefe animals, as well as blue and white fox Ikins, and thofe of the ten bears which they had killed : they did not forget their bow, their arrows, their fpears, or lances, their axe, alraoft worn to the handle, and nearly ufed up knife ; their awl, their needle, which were inclofed in a bone box very ingenioufly worked with their knife, the nerves or fibres of the white bears, and rein.deer, in fliort whatever they poffeft. Thefe different articles which I have defcribed, were fent by IVI. Vernizobrc to Count Von Schuwaloff, and by him were confided to my care : 1 had full leifure to ex- amine them, and to lay them before the unfated curiofity of feveral perfons ; among others different profeffors of the Imperial Academy, Der Wiffenfchaften, in whom they excited aflonifliment. Incompany of thefe latter gentlemen, I converfed with the pilot Alexis Himkoff, and his godfon the failor, Jwan Himkoff, and quedioned them at different times on their adventures. I mult be allowed in proceeding to mention a trifling circumftance, relative to the little box, which thefe men had made for holding their needle. I flievved this box to certain virtuofi and informed them that the failors had made it with a knife, and folemnly affured me of it ; thefe gentlemen did not believe that they told the truth ; they would have that it was turned ; and that thefe men had deceived me, in giving out that it was their workmanfliip ; whence they concluded, that, as they had told a falfity on this occafion, there was left room for doubting of what they had related refpefting the events on the ifland which they had inhabited. By chance it happened that while we were in converfation on the fubjeft, M. Homann, a very ingenious turner, came into my apartment. As foon as I faw him, I oblerved to the company, you fee that man, he is certainly the fitteft perfon that can be to decide this matter. I itept towards him, and gave the queflion a different turn, in order that it might not be fufpefted that M. Homann fliould anfwer me with more courtefy than truth. You mull decide. Sir, faid I, on the point I have to queftion you between this gentle- man and me : I maintain that this box is turned ; this gentleman the contrary. Alter Homann had taken and examined it, he anfwered me, this gentleman is in the right : this never was made with a turning lathe : it is a bone which has been rounded by Ihav- ing it. This anfwer filenced the company. It was now my turn tofpeak : I obferved that fince on this occafion thefe failors had told truth, in what we had heard decided, there k no room left for doubting the remainder of what was related by them. 412 I come 6l2 rE ROy's narrative of four RUSSIAN SAILORS. I come now to the return of our mariners : they arrived fafe aL Archai^.gel the twen- ty-eighth of September 1749, after, as I have before noticed, having palfed fix years and three months in this dreadful feclufion. The inftant of meeting of the pilot and his wife was threatened with a melancholy cataftrop'ae. She was Handing on the bridge as the veffel arrived : (lie recognized her huiband ; (lie loved him molt lincerely ; fhe had fo long bewailed him as dead ; but now, inconfiderate, witliout patience to wait till the fliip came to the pier, flie threw her- felf forward to clal'p him in her arms, Cae fell into the water, and v.ith dithcuky was faved from perifliing. I muft now in conclufion remark, that thefe men who had lived fo long without bread, ate it now with rekiftance. They complain of its purling them out. The fame objeftion in fhort they make to all forts of drink, and now make rain water alone their beverage. APPENDIX. The learned man, which I mentioned in my narrative I had confuked refpefting the reckoning of our iflanders, concerning the rifing and fetting of the fun, and whatever related to the courfe of that planet, was Profeflbr D. Krazzenftein, member of the Imperial Academy of Wiflencfliaften atPeteriburg. This is the tranflation of the letter which he wrote to me on this fubjed. " I have to apologize to you for having fo long delayed to fend my opinion on the queflions refpeding which you wrote to me : the time which the calculations required, and the long continuance of the rains, have prevented my doing fo before. " After confidering the matter with great attention, I find that the circumftance which Profeflbr Grifchon adduces as a proof of the exaftitude of the reckoning of our iflanders, namely, the two days later reckoning than that of the mariners who brought them from the ifland ; has a direft contrary tendency. " Let any reckon the 29th of February in a leap-year, this day will be reckoned by thofe who have no knowledge of the interpolation of a day, as the ifl: of March ; and after two fuch years, what by one will be counted the 29th of February, will by the other be efteemed the 2d of March ; hence it follows, that if our iflanders had ne- glefted to attend to the biflextiles, 1744 and 1748, they would confequently have reckoned that the 17th of Augufl, which their deliverers called the 15th. It is alfo evident, that, if they paid attention to the leap-years, they made a miflake of two days, and if they did not allow for them, they erred in computation by four days : this can appear but trifling, if we confider the dark and cloudy feafon of winter, where they were without means of cfHmating the regular day. Furthermore, in that year whea they noticed the entire difappearance of the fun on the 26th of OdoDer, they muft have erred in their time, by being ten days in advance, or we mud neceflarily prciuppofe,. that they were in latitude 74° ^ 1', .which can hardly be imagined. Bears' Ifland is in. that latitude, where they muft in fuch cafe have been ; which is not probable. " If their place of refidcnce was in latitude yy" and a half, as laid down upon the chart, the fun would then fhine for the firll liuie the 4th of February : from the i ith of April to the ^th of Auguft, it would be continually above the horizon, and finally, on the 1 6th of October it would wholly difiippear. " Had they been on Bears' Ifland, they would have fcen the fun the firft time on the 2bth of January : the fliining of the fun above the horizon would have continvied from the 20th of April until the 31ft of July, and on the 23d of Odober it would have difappearcd entirely. 7 " From JLE ROY's narrative OF HOUR RUSSIAN SAILORS. 613 " From the remarks of our iflanders, it would appear more likely that they were on the ktfl: mentioned ifland ; but the duikinefs of the atniofphere at the horizon, a circumflance attendant on northern climates, may be the caufe of their having per- ceived the circulation and abfence of the fun almofl ten days later and ten days earlier than computation will {hew. " If the beginning of the revolution of the fun above the horizon be placed on the 2d of May, the end of this revolution above the horizon mud happen on the igih of Jyly, and in this cafe they muil have been in 71° and a half of latitude ; which is not poflible. " I wifh we had the relation in the poffeflion of M. Von Klingfladt of Archangel, that we might add it to yours. Probably by this means, what is wanting might be fupplied, particularly the exa£t time of thefe failors arriving from the ifland. I have no doubt, were you to communicate the wifh, that he would take a pleafure in grati- fying you ; he fills the flation of Sub-auditor of the Admiralty, and dwells with M. Vernizobre. I am.. Sir, &c." At the clofe of this Narrative I mufl add two things : the refult of the illuftration of M. Von Klingfladt, and the reflexions with which Mr. Vernizobre terminates the firfl letter he wrote to me refpefting thefe failors, and the account of their ad- ventures. One of thefe men, fays M. Von Klingfladt, is called Alexis HimkofF, and is fifty years of age ; another is named Stephen Scharapoff, forty-two years old ; the third, by name Iwan Himkofl', is in his thirty-fixth year. All thefe, on their arrival, were in found and perfe£l health : I myfelf had occafion to remark it, upon queftioning them on the particulars of fuch an extraordinary refidence, attended by fuch a wonderful prefer- vation. Thefe are the reflexions of M. Vernezobre. The Englifh have a fabulous hiflory of Robinfon Crufoe ; this hiflory however is certainly true. The firfl is reprefented in a warm climate : ^ut our failors were in yy° and a half of latitude. The Englifhman was enabled to make a kind of punch with the raifins which grew on the ifland ; but our hardy and flurdy Ruffians were under neccffity of contenting themfelves with water. Robinfon had lofl almoft all knowledge of Chriflianity ; but our adventurers at all times, as I am afluredj preferved their faith, and unceafingly placed their confidenccr in God. jiccouNr ( 6i4 ) ACCOUNT OF A VOTAGE TO SPITSBERGEN IN THE TEAR 1780. BT S. B AC STROM, M. D. COMMUNICATED BY THE AUTHOR. [Phil. Mag. July 1799-] SIR, HAVING received much gratification from a perufal of jonr Map;azine, I fend you a few particulars refpecling a voyage which I made to Spitihergen in the year 1780, extracted from a journal I Icept at the time ; which you may lay before your i"eaders, if you think they can contribute either to their information or amufement. The Editor of the I am, &c. Pbilofophical Magazine. S. BACSTROIM. A VOYAGE to Greenland, as it is called, though in fad to the ifland of Spitfbergen, for the purpofe of killing the black whale fifli, is one of the healthieft that can be un- dertaken, and furniflies fo much curious matter for amufement to perfons of , an in- quifitive turn of mind, that even a fecond v\'ill hardly fatisfy fuch, if they have been for- tunate enough to fail with a good commander, and in a veffel well appointed. In both thefe refpecls I was very fortunate, which is rather uncommon ; the mailers or com- manders in the Greenland trade being generally men of little or no education, and con- fequently void of thofe Hberal fentiments neceflary to render the fituation of thofe who accompany them comfortable. If a regularly educated furgeon, from a defire of vifiting fuch northern regions, goes in a veiTel under fuch a perfon as I have defcribed, he is generally fickened the firfl; voyage ; a barber is perhaps his fucceflbr, and when any illnefs or accident happens on board, if the patient efcapes with his life, he is often rendered a cripple. I have feen fonie inftances of this kind. The unfociable difpofition of the mailer is not, however, the only circumftance that often deters from a fecond voyage. I have known vefllls well ftored by the owners with every neceffary and ufeful article, and even a liberal fupply of what fome would call luxuries, and yet every comfort withheld from thofe on board : the mafter literally ftarvinghimfelf and officers, and not allowing a bit of fire in the cabin, in thefe cold latitudes, that he might fave a few coals, fome dozens of hams and tongues, a quantity of cheefe, butter, flour, wine, porter, &c. to fend home to his own family at the end of the voyage : a paltry theft, at the expence of the health and frofl-bitten limbs of thofe on board. When the reader is informed, that fuch has been my paflion to vifit foreign climes that I have been no lefs than fifteen voyages, one of them round the world, he will not be furprifed that I lliould wifli to gratify my curiofity by vifiting the frozen regions, even though I knew fomething of the inconveniences before defcribed, to which thofe ■who undertake the voyage are often cxpofed. My bufinefs was to guard againft them as well as pofiible, by proper inquiries refpeding the character and difpofition of the mafter, and I fuccceded to my wilh in two voyages to thefe parts : the firfl: was in the Sea Ilorfe, in the year 1779, which yielded me much fatisfattion ; but I was more completely gratified by the fecond, which is the one 1 mean to defcribe. I engaged myfelf as furgeon on board the Rifing Sun. William Souter, mafter, A \yell appointed ftout fliip, of four hundred tons burthen, in the employ of Mr. Wil- liam Ward. The vcucl carried about ninety men, and had twenty nine-pounders mounted on the main deck, with nine whale-boats, fome of thetn hung in the tackles over the fides, and others flowed and lalhed on the deck. We BACSTROm's voyage to SPITSBERGEN. 615 We failed from London in the latter end of March 1 780, and, as is ufual with Grccn- landiiien, called at the town of Larwick, the capital of the Shetland ifles, where we found a mofl: hofpitable reception. A Mr. Innes, the mod opulent inhabitant of that country, kept an open table for every mafler of a veflel and his furgeon ; and no Ian- guage can convey a proper idea of the kind and difmterefled manner in which he re- ceived and entertained his guefts. We lay there fourteen days wind bound. The country has a bleak barren appearance, the furface being generally rocky, or covered with turf, which is the fuel employed there j but the benevolence and hofpitality of the more opulent, and the decency, fobriety, and good conduft of all the inhabitants, even thofe cf the lowed clafs, more than compenfate for the barrennefs of the foil. Prgvifions of every kind, the finer vegetables and fruit excepted, are very abundant here, anci extremely reafonable. The price of a good fowl was three-pence, of a dozen of new-laid eggs one penny ; and as much excellent fifh, cod, haddock, halibut, mack- erel, &c. could be bought for one fliilling, as would cod at lead ten pounds at Billingf- gate, or as ufed to dine our whole fliip's company and the cabin. Potatoes, turnips, &c. are not more common there than peaches and apricots in England. Wheat flour is alfo a rare article, but the inhabitants in general prefer bread made of oatmeal. The town of Larwick confids of about two hundred houfes, of one, or at mod of two dories, which form a narrow crooked lane on the fea-fide, badly paved with flat flones. All the houfes are built of quarry done : thofe of the rich are roomy, drong, convenient, and well furnifhed ; thofe of the poor are fmall, and very fmoky, for want of a proper arrangement of the chimnits. I'hough the place lies in 60* north latitude, the winters are not fevere ; they are, however, wet and dormy. The harbour is very capacious and fafe, and the anchoring ground good. About twenty or more Englifli Greenlandraen were lying here at an- chor, and feveral Dutch herring buflfes. Having filled our empty watcr-caiks, and laid in a dock of fowls, eggs, geneva, &c we took leave of our kind friends on fliore, and, the wind being foutherly, hove up our anchor, and fet fail for the ice. As we advanced to the northward the night became fnorter till we came near North Capeinlat. 71° lo', when we had no night at all. We were overtaken in that lati- tude by a mod tremendous gale of wind from the north-ead, which laded three days and nights. Our fliip lay more than once on her beam-ends, and every one on board thought fhe could never right again ; but providentially we weathered the gale. A ftorm in thofe high latitudes is fo intenfely cold, when it blows from the north or north- ead, that it is impolfible to look in the wind's eye, as the cold is fuch as literally to tear the Ikin off the face. In about 76" northern latitude we meet with ice floating in fmall round cakes, by the failors called pancakes : you fail tlirough this ice in perfeftly fmooth water ; which, from being of a green colour in the North Sea, blue to the northward of Shetland and Ferro, grows gradually of a darker colour, and looks now of a deep black dye. We failed feveral days through thefe floating ice-cakes. When in a liiil higher latitude, an open black-looking water re-appears ; and when you reach about 77° or 78' you pafs through large maflTes of floating ice twenty or thirty fathom thick, and fomeof them five or fix times bigger than your own veflel. Great care is taken to avoid driking againd thofe mafles, which fometimes are fo clofe that there remains only a narrow- channel for the fliip to fail through. I have feen this continue for twenty-four hours or longer. When this is the cafe, the commander dands in the main or fore-top, and lome- times higher, and calls down to the men at the wheel how to deer. This navigation is at- tended with great danger, as the ice projeQs underwater fometimes two or three fathoms. After 6i6 bacstrom's voyage to Spitsbergen. After navigating through thofe floating mafles, we faw the land of Spitfbergen eaft from us. It is feen at an almofl: incredible diftance, fometimes at thirty leagues ; a proof of its immenfe height. It generally appears amazingly bright, of the colour of the full moon, while the iky above it looks white and cold. In 79° and 80° you are prevented from going further to the northward by a folid continent of ice, or a colleftion of ice-fields, as they are called ; fome of which are many miles in extent. You make the (hip fall there with an ice-anchor, and look out for whales, having two or three boats on the watch conftantly. No fliip could ever polTibly navigate through the huge mafles of ice, which mufl: ne- ceflfarily be pafled before it can reach this high latitude, but for a circumfl:ance which would on firft view be little expected — the fea there is always as perfeftly fmooth as the river Thames : the irregularly difpofed maffes of ice prevent the water from ever ac- quiring, by the impulfe of the wind, thofe regular undulations, if I may ufe the term, which, by long continuance of the fame impulfe, would otherwife at lafl; raife it in billows. As foon as we got into fmooth water, perhaps forty or fifty leagues from the land, the fevere climate and intenfe cold we had experienced on the paflage in a more fouthern latitude before we made the ice, changed into a much milder one ; and when it was fine weather it was quite warm, fo that the icicles that hung from the large mafles of ice diflTolved and kept dropping till a return of colder weather. Among the fields of ice, but more fo in the harbours, it is confiderably warmer than on the paflage near North Cape. In the month of June we killed feven large whale fifli, and went with them into Mag- dalena bay, to cut the blubber up into fmall bits to fill the blubber-butts ; which bufinefs is called jnaking off. As the killing of the whales has been very well defcribed by Zorg- dragcr and others, I need not defcribe it. When you approach a harbour on the coaft of Spitflaergen, and, judging by the eye, cxpeci; to get in and come to anchor in three or four hours time, you are perhaps not lefs than ten or twelve leagues from it. This deception is ov.'ing to the immenfe heights of the rocky mountains, covered with fnow, and bordered with ice towards the fea-fide, which make very large harbours appear like fmall bafons, and the largeft fliips, when clofe under them, like a boat on the Thames. Magdalena Bay, in 79" north, is capa- cious enough to hold the whole Britifli navy ; but, on account of the immenfe mountains which furround it, appears like a very fmall inlet. We came to anchor in this bay, where we lay three weeks. While the people were making off", the mafters, furgeons, &c. of the different veflels then there vifited each other, and diverted themfelves in the bell: way they were able. Such vifits lafl: foinetimes twenty-four hours, for there is no night to interrupt the entertainment. The firfl: thing that ftrikes a curious mind here is that folemn filence which reigns around ; fometimes interrupted with a noife, like thunder heard at a diftance, occa- fioned by huge fragments of ice and rocks rolling down from the imm.enfe (leeps into the fea. I attempted to afccnd one of thefe mountains called Roche Hill. I got up about half way, which took feveral hours iiard labour. At that height I found the rocks covered with birds' eggs of difierent fizes. There are feveral rivulets and waterfalls of excellent water fupplied by the melting of the fnow. 1 met frequently with fcurvy-grafs, wild celery, endive, watcr-crefll-s, and a few other plants and flowers ; though the general vegetation which covers the rocks confifts in various kinds of mcfles and ferns. There are white bears of an enormous fize, BACSTROM's VOYAGJi TO SPITSBRRGEM. 617 fize, white foxes, deer, and elks, and above twenty different forts of water and land birds ; fiich as wild gecfc, wild ducks, fea-parrots, roches, fea-guUs, mallomooks, as the failors call them, whofc quills make the bcft drawing-pens I ever met with, wild pigeons, the whiie duck with a beautiful fcarlet head and yellow legs, and the fnow-bird, whofe note is as pleafing as that of the bullfinch or nightingale. This fealbn was the fined ever remembered in thofe high latitudes, and we had almofl: conitant fine weather. As we had room yet on board, and the feafon was not too far advanced, in hopes of killing a fifli or two more, we left Magdalcna Bay and fleered north. AVhen we arrived in 80° we found a perfcdly clear ocean free from ice, but favv no whales. We continued pufhing to the northward with fine foutherly breezes and mofl: beau- tiful weather, and could, with a good telefcope, difcover no ice to the northward, from the main-top-maft head, but a folid continent of ice eaft and weft ; fo that we were in a kind of channel of perhaps three or four leagues wide. We kept pufliing on, the cap- tain and I joking together about palling through the pole. Both Captain Soutcr and myfelf found ourfelves at length fome minutes north of 82*, where perhaps no man before us had ever been, nor fince. The high fnowy mountains of North Bank, or North Foreland, appeared very luminous, and bore fouth on the compafs. We had a ftrong inclination to pufli ftill further north ; but the danger of the eafh and weft ice, now to the fouthward of us as well as to the northward, moving and lock- ing us in, in which cafe we muft have been befet and inevitably loft, created a prudent fear, and induced the mafter to put about ftiip for North Foreland. The wind ftnfted at the fame time to the northward, and in a couple of days we came to anchor on North Bank, called Smeerenburg's Harbour. We faw now plenty of fin fifli or finners, white whales, and unicorns ; which is a fign that the feafon is over for killing the black whale, which then retires to the northward. As all thefe animals are well known and dc- fcribed, I forbear faying any thing refpe6ting them. One of our men having been at the habitation of the Ruffians in North Bank the yi?ar before, and affuring us that he could find the way to their hut. Captain Souter, a man of an inquifitive mind, propofcd to me to pay them a vifit. We took ten or twelve men with us^ a compafs, a few bottles of wine, bread, cheefe, &c. and fome good trade- knives, with a fmall keg of gunpowder, to make a prefent of to the Ruffians. We landed at the bottom of the harbour to the eaftward, where we found a large valley, feveral miles in breadth, furrounded with immenfe high mountains, moilly co- vered with fnow ; but as the fun had melted a part, the brown and black rock appeared, and rivulets of clear water ran down, forming little waterfalls. 'l"he ground was turf and clay, and not bad to walk on : we had feveral fmall rivulets to crofs, of two or three feet wide, but very fhallow ; near them we found fcurvy-grafs, water-creffes, endive, wild celery, and a few fmall ilowers, and faw a number of land birds flying up at our approach. We crofled a piece of ground where the Dutch had for- merly buried their dead : three or four of the coffins were open, with human fkeletons lying in them. Some infcriptions on boards, of which above twenty were ereQed over the graves, had the years 1630, 1640, &c. affixed to them. We alfofaw the ruins of feme brickwork, which had been a furnace, as the Dutch ufed to boil their oil here in the lad century, and for that reafon called it Smeerenburg's Haven, or the Harbour of the Fat Borough. We had above fix miles to walk to the northward, and were very much fatigued on account of the unevennefs of the ground and the heat, when wc difcovered VOL. I. 4 K the 5i8 bacstrom's voyage to Spitsbergen. the hut of the Ruffians at a diflance. They perceived our approach, and fent two or three people to meet and welcome us. Ihe common men made a flrange appearance ; they looked very much like fome Jews in Rag-fair or Rofemary-Iane : they wore long beards, fur caps on their heads, brown {heep-fkin jackets with the wool outfide, boots, and long knives at their fides by way of hangers. When we arrived at the hut, we were prefented to the caravelfk or commander, and to the furgeon,\vho both received us very politely, and invited us into the houfe, where we fat down to reft and refrefli ourfelves. Our people were introduced to their people in an outer room, and were entertained with meat and brandy. It happened fortunately that the furgeon was a German, a native of Berlin, of the name of Iderich Pochenthal, confequently I could converfe with him j and we both adled as In- terpreters between his and our commander. Captain Souter began with offering to the Ruffian commander, (who wasalfo dreffed in furs, only of a finer fort, and wore his beard and whifkers like the common men,) the keg of gunpowder, and half a dozen of good table knives and forks : the Ruffian captain accepted them with a great deal of joy, and made us a prefent in return, confift- ing of half a dozen of white fox flcins, two brown loaves of rye-bread, fix fmoked rein- deer tongues, and two rib-pieces of fmoked deer, for which we kindly thanked him. They turned out to be moft excellent eating, and of a finer flavour than any Englifli fmoked tongues, or hung beef. We placed our wine on the table, our bread and cheefe, and the Ruffian captain or- dered boiled fmoked rein-deer tongues, new rye-bread, and good brandy and water to be brought in. We all made a hearty, fociable meal ; the tongues, and the rye-bread, which was new and favoury, we^e a rarity to us : the Ruffian officers reliffied our Che- fhire cheefe and ffiip's bifcuit as a very high treat. We drank the Emprefs of Ruffia's and King George's health. The Ruffian commander was an elderly man, of very agreeable manners ; the furgeon extremely fo, and very intelligent. The hut confifted of two large rooms, each about thirty feet fquare, but fo low that I touched the ceiling with my fur cap. In the middle of the front room was a circular erection of brick-work, which ferved as an oven to bake their bread, and bake or boll their meat, and at the fame time performed the office of a ftove to warm the room. The fuel employed was wood, which drives on fhore plentifully in whole trees ftripped of thoir branches. A chimney carried the fmoke out of the roof of the hut ; but when they wifhed it, they could, by means of a flue, convey the fmoke into the back room, for the purpofc of fmoking and curing their rein-deer flefli and tongues, bears hams, &c. Round three fides of the front room was railed an elevated place of about three feet wide, covered with white bear (kins, which ferved for bedfteads. The captain's bed- clothes were made of white fox fkins fewed together ; the furgeon's was the fame ; the boatfwain, cook, carpenter, and the men, had ffieep flvins. The walls infide the room were very fmooth and white- waftied ; and the ceiling was made of ftout deal-boards, plained fmooth, and white-wafhed. The rooms had a fufficient number of fmall glafs windows, of about two feet fquare, to afford light : the floor was hard clay, perfeftly fmooth : the whole hut was nearly fixty feet in length, and thirty-four wide outfide; and was conftruded of heavy beams cut fquare, of about twelve Inches thick, laid horizontally one upon the other, joined at the four corners by a kind of dove-tailing, caulked with dry mofs, and payed over with tar and pitch, fo that not a breath of air can penetrate : the roof confifted of thin ribs laid acrofs the beam-walls, and three-inch d(;al nailed over them, fo that you could walk BACSTROm's voyage to SPITSBERGEN. 619 v^ralk on the top of the houfe : the roof was caulked and taiTcd, and perfectly tight. This is the manner of building houfcs in the country in Ruilia, particularly about Archangel. The furgeon gave me the following account of this Ruffian colony in Smcerenburg's Harbour : Some affociated merchants at Archangel fit out a crabbla, or veffcl, every year, of about one hundred tons, with a commander, mate, furgeon, boatfwain, carpenter, cook, and about fifteen hands, well provided with mufkets, powder and fliot, good large knives, and all kinds of utenfils for killing whales, unicorns, rein-deer, bears, and foxes. With a fufhci.Mit flock of rye-flour, brandy, cloathing, fnow-lhoes, deal-boards, car- penters' tools. Sec. this veffel fails every year in the month of May from Archangel, •goes round the North Cape of Norway, and arrives in June or July at Smcerenburg's Harbour, where the new colony is left on fhore. The veffel flays two or three weeks in the harbour to refit, and carries the old colony with their cargo (confiding of whales' blubber, blades or fo called whalebone, white bear fkins, white fox fkins, eiderdown and feathers, unicorns' trunks, which is an ivory that never turns vellow, and fnioked rein-deers' tongues,) home to Archaagel. The colonifls have no wages, but receive thoufandth fliares for what they bring home : the captain has fifty fhares, the mate and furgeon thirty each ; the carpenter, boatfwain, and cook, ten each ; and each common man or boy has one fhare. The furgeon told me that the captain had above one thoufand rubles due to him, and he himfelf about fix hundred, and each common man perhaps fifty or fixty : that when they returned fafe home, the common men would be able to live a whole year upon their money, and the officers much longer, as the neceffaries of life were very cheap at Archangel ; and for the company it had hitherto anfwered ex- tremely well. He told me this was his fecond trip, fo well had it anfwered his expeflations. " During the fo called long nights," faid he, " it feldom or never is fo dark that you cannot fee before you, nor is it fo dreadfully cold as it is at Peterfburg every winter. When a fnow florm happens, we cannot go out of the houfe ; but when it is ferene, and no wind, it is not too cold to go out and walk many miles. With the moonlight, the un- common brilliancy of the ftars in thefe high latitudes, and the refletlion of the northern lights, or aurora borealis, we have fo much light that we can fee to read a book or to write. " In winter-time the black whales come into the harbour and play clofe within ffiore, where we kill now and then one with harpoons fired out of a i'wivel. We kill v\ hite bears, foxes, rein-deer, and birds, as many as we can before the night-feafon, which commences in September, when all the land animals leave us and walk over the ice into Nova Zembla and Siberia : the land birds leave us in the fame manner. Unicorns we alio kill in the harbour, for the fake of their ivory trunks, which are afterwards fent to Germany and France." The furgeon and I had a race on fnow (hoes, which are a kind of fkates, of about two feet in length, for fkating over the fnow and ice. As I was in former years a good fkater, I could ufe them as well as he did. We ran fix or feven miles with them in an hour without fatiguing ourfelves : they have no irons. Before we left our Ruffian hofl, he informed us that a few weeks before they had, com- ing home from a ffiooting party, found an Engliffi captain and nine or ten men overhaul- ing their property in the hut The captain, finding that his chefl had been broke open, and that his rubles were diminiffied confiderably, reproached the Engliffi commander with the robbery, and a battle enfued. " The Engliffi fired upon us," faid the fur- 4 K 3 S<-'<'". 620 BACSTROm's voyage to SPITSBERGEN. p-con, who a(Si:ed all along as interpreter, " and killed one of our men on the fpot. We returned the fire and wounded fome of his men, and caufedthem to retreat precipitately. When the Englifli were gone, our captain counted his rubles, and found that there were fix hundred miffing." He intended to fend a flatcment of the affair to the Ruffian go- vernment. After having flaid above twelve hours with the Ruffians, highly entertained, we in- vlted them to come to fee us on board, and took our leave, returning the fame way by the compafs, and arrived fafe on board, after having been abfent almoft eighteen hours. We now prepared for the voyage home ; and after having filled our empty cafks with good water from the fhore, and made a clear fliip, we fet fail with a fine north- eafterly breeze in the middle of July 1780. We failed again through a great quantity of floating ice, and, our fhip being a good faller, paffed feveral full ffiips bound home- wards. The firfl: pleafing change we experienced was to have fome night, and to be obliged to light a candle in the cabin. O what a luxury ! —When you have no darknefs for a confulerable time (during May, June, and July), light becomes tedious at laft ; and the firft time you fee a candle burning in the cabin, and a dark night, the pleafure is inde- fcribable. Before we came into this more fouthern latitude, I ul'ed to obferve the fetting of the fun, refting, as it were, on the horizon, appearing of a very large fize, furrounded with moft beautiful and glorious colours of various tints, and then the rifing of it ffiortly after in full majefly. Language cannot convey an idea of the fcene. We came to anchor at Larwick towards the end of July, and were received in the kindefl manner by Mr. Inncs and all our friends in the place. After three weeks flay we took leave of our Shetland friends, and failed in company with a number of full ffiips for England. When we came on the coaft of Northum- berland and Yorkffiire, the breeze and weather being favourable, we were delighted with the fmell of the hay from the ffiore, and the fight of the pretty little towns and villages built on the fea-fide, and refreffied with excellent freffi cod and haddock, which the Yorkffiire cobles (a kind of fiffiing-boats) bring on board ; in return for which they prefer taking a piece of beef or pork to money : they bring fometimes eggs, potatoes. Sec. We had an uncommonly pleafant voyage home, and conftant fine weather, ac- companied with northerly breezes. We arrived about the latter end of Auguft fafe in Greenland-dock, after having beea out five months. Captain Souter kept an excellent table in the cabin, and a conftant fire in the flove : his fludy was to make every perfon on board comfortable. In the fifteen voyages I have been to fea, I have only twice had the good fortune to fail with men of equal worth ; Mr. Charles Paterfon,of the Sea-horfc, and Mr. William Alder, now a lieutenant in the Britifh navy. LETTERS ( 621 ) LETTERS ON ICELAND: Written by UNO VON TROIL, D. D. Firft Chaplain to his Swediflj Majclly, Ahnoner of the Swedilh Oideis of Knighthood, and Member of the Academy of Sciences at Stockholm. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, The Letters of Dr. Ihre and Dr. Bach to the Author, concerning the Edda and the Elephantiafis of Iceland: alfo, ProfefTor Berg man'. s curious Obfervations and Chemical Examination of the Lava and other' Subllances produced on the Wand. INTRODUCTION. THE accounts of Iceland, which have hitherto made their appearance in the Englifli language, are of fuch a nature, that it would betray ignorance or partiahty to recoin- mend them to the pubHc as fatisfadtory and faithful. The firft writer of any known hiftory of Iceland in the prefent century, was John Anderflbn, afterwards burgomafter of Hamburgh, who undertook a voyage to this not much-frequented ifland in a Greenland fhip ; but the authenticity of his performance is far from being fuch as may be relied on with confidence. Niels Horrebow, a Danifli aflronomer, was fent to Iceland by the court of Denmark, on purpofe to contradifl: Anderflbn's account : he publiflied fome obfervations on Ice- land, I ut from a too great a defire to pleafe his employers, he fell into the oppofite error, and paints all his objeds with a glow of colouring, that does not exaftly correfpond with the truth. In Richer's Continuation of Rollin's Hiflory is a hiftory of Iceland, a moft pitiful compilation, and full of the grofTefl errors that ever difgraced the hiflorical page. Under the authority of the Royal Society of Sciences at Copenhagen, Eggert Olafsen and Biarne Povelfen, two men of learning, natives of Iceland, and refiding in the countrv, travelled all over that ifland, and gave, in two volumes in quarto, a faithful and ample account of all that deferves the attention of the learned and curious, illuffrated by nu- merous engravings ; but though the performance is accurate and circumftantial, yet it is unfortunately clogged with repetitions, and the fa£ts are recounted in fo tedious and uninterefling a manner, that it requires a moft phlegmatic temper, and a large fund of patience, to go through the whole of this work, for it is filled with a long and dull re- cital of events, methodized in the moft formal manner pofTible. It can therefore by no means be thought fuperfluous, that Dr. Von Troil has favoured the literary world with his intereRing Letters on Iceland ; a work which, on account of its varied matter, and the great learning difplayed every where for the inftrudtion of the curious reader, deferves the warmeft approbation of the public. Menof talents and learning will, we flatter ourfelves, think highly of this prefent per- formance by Dr. Von Troil, though perhaps It may be fometimes a little deficient iu point of language. The ■6i2 VON troil's Letters on Iceland. The prcfent trandation has been made from the laft German edition, publifhed by MeflVs. Troil and Bergman, with numerous additions and correftions ; and though it is not oftentatioufly recommended to the public for any elegance or accuracy of (lyle, it may however be fafely ftated as a faithful tranflation from the original, and a work of real merit and utility. We leave it to the unprejudiced reader to form a judgment of this performance which is replete with variety of matter, treated on in an inlfrudlive and fatisfadory manner ; and likewife on the great learning relative to natural hillory, hlllorical, antiquarian, and philological fubjedls, which are every where blended in the context of the following letters; and we are of opinion, that in refped: to thefe points, this work requires no apology for offering it to the impartial public. As to its utility, it will not be unnecefl'ary to prefix a few obfervations on the im- portance of Icelandic literature. The Englifli language was originally fo nearly related to that of Iceland, that we need only call our eyes on a glolfary, to fee the affinity of both languages, and the great light the one receives from the other. The Normans and Danes, who were during a confiderable tune mailers of England, Introduced into it many cuftoms, laws, and manners, which would remain inexplicable ; but the Icelanders being onginally defcended from the fame Normans, and living on an ifland which has very little intercourfe with the refl: of the world, have preferved their language, manners, and laws in their primitive fimplicity ; nay, all the hiftorical ac- counts of the North are contained in the hifliorical layings (fagas) of the Icelanders, which are very numerous, and would be of very important fervice in the inveftigation of the origin of the language, manners, and laws of England. Nor can it be advanced that this kind of ftudy could not be purfued amonglt us for want of thefe hiltorical monuments of the Icelanders ; fmce by the known indefatigable zeal for the promo- tion of all branches of literature, and the moll difintercited gencrofity of Jofeph Banks, Efq. P. R. S. one hundred and fixty-two Icelandic manufci'ipts have been pre- fented to and are depofited in the Britifla Mufeum. The hiftory of the northern nations, their divinities, religion, principles, and tenets, together with their poetry, prefent the philofophic reader with fubjefts worthy of his ipeculation ; they at the fame time account for many hillorical events, and for many a curious cuftom preferved by fome one or other of the nations defcended from the fame root with thefc inhabitants of the north. The fubjcct of volcanos, and of the origin of certain kinds of flones and foflils, have of late attracled the attention of philofophers ; but in my opinion, they are no where treated with fo much candour, truth, and philofophical precifion as in thofe remarks which the Chevalier Torbern Bergman fent to our author in form of a letter, and which he has here communicated to the public. I'he whole ifland of Iceland is a chain of volcanos, the foil almofl every where formed of decayed cinders, lava, and flags ; and the numerous hot fprings, cfpecially that called Geyfer, give full fcopc to the moil curious remarks on thcie fubjefls, fmce they are here obvious in fo many varied fliapcs, and for that reafon become inltrudivc. Lava and fome other productions of nature have not been hitherto fubjedcd to chemi- cal proceflbs : profeflbr Bergman therefore defervcs the thanks of the public for his ex- cellent letter, giving a very interelling account of his experiments on all the various foflils and natural produclions of Iceland. Ihe origin of bafaltic pillars, fuch as form the Giant's Caufeway in Ireland, the whole ifland of Slafi"a, and more efpecially Fingal's Cave, has of late bccu much fpoken of by travellers and learned mincralogifl;s. Some 2 afcribe VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. 625. afciiibe their regular configuration to cryflallization : others pretend the fubterraneoui? fire to be the caufc of their regular columnar fhape ; but the ingenious Chevalier Tor- bern Bergman proves, by the mod Iblid arguments, that the bafalt pillars are no lava, or any ways related to volcanic fubftances, and that their regular columnar flnipe, he fug- geits, is owing to another caufe, and by his reafoning renders it highly probable. We are at the f;une time preiVnted with a view of the primitive earths, that originally compound all earthy and (tony bodies hitherto difcovered on the furface of our globe ; and their charafters are here alfo iet forth in the mofl: eafy and obvious manner by ex- periments. This great and interefling circumflance alone would be fufficient to recommend the prefent performance to the pcruHil of chemifts, mineralogifts, and philofophers. The letter of the Archiater Bach to Dr. Troil on the difeafes of Iceland, contains the mofl: curious and interefling obfervations for the ufe of medical gentlemen. In fhort, there is fcarcely a clafs of ^reader who will not find inflruftion and en- tertainment in the ingenious performance of Dr. Uno Von Troil, the author of this book. He is a Swede by birth, and defcended of a noble family: his father Samuel Von Troil, wasarchifhop of Upfal. After having fl:udied divinity, the oriental and northern languages and antiquities, together with the various branches of natural philofophy, he travelled, and vifited Ger- many, France, England, and Holland. During his flay in England he was introduced to Mr. Banks, who was then returned from his voyage round the world, and preparing to go on a fecond ; but that not taking place, he was prompted to make a fhort excurfion towards the Weftern Iflands and Iceland ; and eafily prevailed upon Dr. Von Troil to accompany him on this literary- voyage. After the return of Dr. Von Troil, he wrote letters to feveral learned men in his own country, eminent in the various profeflions and branches of literature and fcience, on the diflerent matters he had obferved in Iceland during his voyage ; they were at firfl only intended to fatisfy the felicitations and curiofity of his friends, who wiflied to be made acquainted with whatever he had difcovered worthy the notice of a literary man, and that might likewife bid fair to afibrd amufement. The fenator Charles Count Schetfer, a man of a benevolent charafter, and who patronizes learning in all its branches, together with its profefTors, folicited our author to communicate them to the public : in compliance with which, they were publifhed at ITpfal in 1777 in o£lavo ; and the next year after they appeared at the fame place tranflated into German, very much enlarged with additions of the author and alfo of Chevalier Bergman. Dr. Von Troil has for his talents, learning, and charafter been promoted in his na- tive country to feveral places of honour and emolument, fo that he may now be con- fidered as the firft man in Sweden in point of eminence in the ecclefiafl;ical line, and in point of learning inferior to none : he has taken his degree of doftor of divinity, is principal chaplain to the king, prefidcnt of the confifl:ory, reftor of the great church- of Stockholm, and prelate of all the Swedifh orders of knighthood. Thcfe curfory hints were thought nccelTary for\ifliering his letters on Iceland into the literary world ; the public will, no doubt, be curious to know the particular obferva- tions made by a learned man on an ifland that Mr. Banks, one of the firfl: characters of this country, thought deferving a nearer infpe£lion by a voyage he undertook at a great cxpence, accompanied by feveral learned and ingenious men.. For 624- VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. For the information of thofe who wifh to be acquainted with all the publications that have appeared, to treat either at large of Iceland, or examine fome of its particular ob- je£\s, we have here fubjoined a very curious and complete catalogue of them. Catalogue of Writers on Iceland. I Joachim Leo wrote fome verfes on Iceland in the German language, full of errors. There are four editions of them. Arngrim Jonee, in his Commentario de Iflandia, quotes the edition of 1561. s 7acobi Ziegleri Scondia feu Defcriptio Groenlandia:, Iflandlse, Non-egiac, Sue- cicc. Francofurti, 1575. 3 Jonfbogen (i. e. Jonfbook,an old book of laws) Hoolum (in Iceland.) 1578. 8vo. and feveral editions fubfequent to it. 4 Arngrim Jonse brevis commentarius de Iflandia. Hoolum, 1592. 8vo. and Ilafn M93- 8vo. 5 Ejufd. Crymogsa feu rerum Iflandlcarum llbri tres. Hamburg 1609, 1610. 161 4. 1618. 1620. and 1630. 6 Blefhenii Iflandia f. populorum et mirabilium, qure In ea infula reperluntur, ac- curata defcriptio. Ludg. Batav. 1607. 8vo. 7 Angrim Jonas Anatome Blefkeniana. Hoolum, 161 2. 8vo. and Hamburg, 1613. 4to. 8 Dan Fabritlus de Iflandia et Groenlandia. Roftock, 1616. Svo. 9 Arngrim Jonas cpiftola pro patria defenforla. Hamburg, 1618. 4to. written in oppofitlon to the preceding book. 10 Arngrim Jonas Apotribc caulmnia:. Hamburg, 1622. 1 1 De regno Danire et Norvegia; infulifque adjacentibus, tra£tatus varl! collefl! a Ste- phano Stephanio. Ludg. Batav. 1629. izmo. from whence the part concerning Iceland is taken out, and printed feparately with the title. 12 Iflandica; Gcntis primordia et vetus republica. Ludg. Bat. 1629, i zmo. 13 Arngrim Jonae Athanafia Gudbrandiana. Hamburg, 1630. 14 Peder Clauflbn's Norriges og omliggende oars BeikrlfveUc. Kiob. 1632. 4t0t and Kiob. 1637. Svo. 15 Arngrim Jonus ipecimen Iflandlse hlfl. et magna ex parte chorographicum. Amfl. 1643. iG La Peyrcre Relation de I'lflande, in a letter to Mr. de la Motte Vayer, dated 18 Dec. 1644. Is Infertcd in the Receuil des Vogages au Nord, torn. I. Amlt. 1715. 8vo. 17 Wolfil Norrigia illuflrata. Ilafn. 1651. Svo. and 410. 18 Wolllli Norriges, Iflands eg Griinlands Bcfkrifvclfc. Kiobhafn. 1651. 4to. 19 Hieronym. Mcgiferi Septentrio Nov-antiquus, five die neuc Nord-welt Ifland, Groenlaud, &c. Lcipz. 1653. lamo. 20 Edda Iflandorum A. C. 12 15, per Snorroncm Sturlas Iflandice confcrlpta, Iflan- dlce, Danlce, et Latinc cdita, opera P. J. Refenii. Ilafn. 1665. 4to. together with 21 Philofophia antiquiflima Norvego-danica difta Volufpa, qua^ efl; pars Eddie Sx- nmndi, primum publici juris facta a P. J. Refenio. Ilaln. 1661;. together with 22 Kthica Odini, pars Edda; Stemundi, vocata Haaramal, cdita per P. J. Refenium. Ilafn. 1665. 33 Theod. Thorhicci dilT. chorographica hiflorica de Iflandia, piKS. iEgid. Strauch. AVittent 1666 and 1670. 4to. item 1690. 4to. 24 Erici VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND, 625 24 Erlcl Bartholin! cxperimcnta Chrlflalli Iflandici difdiaclaftici. Hafn. 1699. 4(0. €5 Volufpa. Kiobenliavn. 1673. 4to. 26 Martinlere neue Rcife in die nordifchcn Landfchaften. Hamb. 1C75. 4to» Tranflatcd from the Englifli. There is hhewife a French edition. Paris 1682. 27 Ara; MuUiltii Schcdic. Skalholt 1688. -cto. Oxford 1696. Kiob. '733. 4to. 28 Landnama Bok. Skalholt j6S8. 4to. Is hkewilc pubUflied at Copenhagen, with a Latin tranflation, notes, and fevcral indexes. lilands Landnama-Bok, h. e. Liber originum Illandice. Editio noviihrna, ex manufcriptis Magnasanis fumptlbus perill. Suhmii. Havn. 1774. 4to. 29 Gahm de rationeanni folaris apud veteres Iflandos. This memoh- is printed at the end of Ara; Schedje in the Copenhagen edition. 30 Thordi Thorlaks Diff.de ultimo montis Heckla; in Iflandia incendio. Hafn. 1694. 31 Gahm de prima religionis in Iflandia fundatione. Hafn. 1696. 52 Defcription du Nord. 1698. i2mo. ^;^ Niewe befchryvinge van Spitfbergen, Ifland, Greenland end de beygelegen Ey« landen. 34 Einar Thorft. vita. Hafn. 1700. 2^ Reife nach Norden, woriniieu die fitten, Lebenfarten and Aberglauben der Nor- wegen and Iflander accural befchriebcn werden. Leipz. 1711, i2mo. 36 Blefkenii Hiftorie van Lap-and Finland, hier is bygevoegt de befchryving van Is- en Greenland. Leuvarden 1716. 8vo. 37 Vetterften de Poefi Scaldorum Septentrionalium. Upfal. 1717. 8vo. 38 Relation om det foerlkrekkelige Vandfall og exundation af Bierget Katlegiaa paa Ifland 172 1. Copenhagen 1727. 4to. 39 Kort bereettelfe on berget Krabla paa Ifland, famt andre Dernefs intil grantfande Berg, Hwilka nyligen begynt at infpruta eld och brinna. This account of the burning of the mount Krabla was printed probably in the year 1727, at Stockholm, in four pages in 8vo. 40 Benedifl; Thorflienfon eftterrettning om den jordbrand fom 1724 og folgende Aar i Bierget Krafla og de dar omkring liggende Herreder har graiferet. Kiobenhafa 1726. 8vo. 41 Olavi O. Nording DIff. de Eddis Iflandicis. Upfal. 1735. 4to. Mr. Oelrichs at Bremen has reprinted this Diff. in his Opufculis Danise et Suecias litterata:, torn L 1774. 42 Joh.Dav.Koehler prolufio de Scaldis feu poetis gentium ardoarum. Altdorf 1 738.'4to. 43 Er. Jul. Biorner, Inledning til de Hfwerborna Goeters gamla Hafder far deles go- tilka fprakets Forman och Sagornas Kanned om. feu, Introduclio in Antiquitates Ilyperboreo-Gothicas. Stockholm 1738. fol. 44 Ejufd. tradtatus de Varegis heroibus Scandianis. Stockholm 1743. 4to. 45 Lakmannus de computatione annorum per hyemes prifcis gentibus hyperborels ufitata. Kiel 1744. 4to. 4<3 De Yfverborna Atlingars Lara Hyperboreorum Atlandiorum feu Suiogotorum et Nordmandorum Edda, hoc efl Atavia, feu fons gentilis illorum et Theologiae et Philofophia:. Jam demum verfione Suinonica donata accedente latina — ad MS. quod pofTidet Bibliotheca Upfalienfis— opera Joh. Gorffon. Upf. 1746, 4to. This edition of the Edda was not finilhcd. 47 Iflanfl^a taxan. Iloolum 1746. 4to. 48 John Anderffon Naehrichten von Ifland, Groenanland, und der Straflil; David. Ilamb. 1746. It likewife appeared tranflated into the Danifh language. Copenh.. VOL. I. 4 L f 748» 6a6 vo^f troil's letters on Iceland. 1748. A French tranflation has likewafe been publifhed by Mr. Sellius, i/fu 12 mo. 2 vols. 49 Octroy foer det Iflandfke Societet. Kiob. 1747. Svo. t 50 Avertiffement om Anderflbns Traftat om Ifland. Kiob. 1748. 8vo. y 51 Joh. Thorkelffons tillgift til Andorflbn om liland. Kiob. 174S. Svo. 52 Eggerhard Olavius Enarrationes hiflorica; de Iflandias natura et conilitutione. Hafn. 1749. Svo. 53- Ejuld. Diff. de ortu et progreflu circa ignem Iflandis fubterraneum. Hafn. 1749. 4to. 54 Biarni PauH Obfervationes de alga faccharifera maris Iflandici. Hafn. 1749, Svo. ^^ Arnae Oddef. vita, inferted in the Nova literaina. Hafn. auni 1750. 56 De Gamla Normanners Patriarkaliika Lara pa S wcnfca och Lat. af Joh. Gooranflbn. Stockholm 1750. 4to. 57 Olai Wormii EpifloltE. Hafn. 1751. 2 vols. Svo. ^S Tilforladeliga efterretningar om Ifland med ett nytt Landkort, og 2 Aars mete- reologifl773- 105 Krifl:ni Saga, S. Ilifloria Religionis Chriftianse in Iflandiam introdufl:3e, nee non : Thattr af Ifleif Biikupi, f. narratio de Ifleifo Epifcopo— cum interpretatione Latina, notis, &c. Hafn. 1773. Svo. 106 Iflandifche Literatur und Gefchichetc. Erflier Theil. Goettingen 1773. 8vo. I'he ingenious Prof. Schlozer at Gottingen is the author. 107 Iflandifche Zeitungen. Thefe newfpapers were publilhed in Iceland in the year 1775- 108 Bualagen. Hrappfej. 1775. J09 Biurn a Skardzaa Annalar Hrappfej. 1774 and 1775. 4to. 2 vols. ITiefe annals contain the hillory from 1400 to 164$ ; and arc publilhed with a Latin tranf- 4 L 2 Jation : 6a^ VON TROIl's letters ©N ICELAND. lation : Annales Biornis a Skardfa. Ex manufcriptis inter fe collatis cum inter- pretatione Latina, variantibus ledtionlbus, notis et indice. no Krjftin-rettr hinn gamli— Jus Ecclefiafticum vetus f. Thorlacco-Kettilianum con- ftitutum, A. C. 1 1 23, Iflandice et Latine, edit Grimus Joh. Thorkelin. Hath. ^775' 111 Berattelfe om den Iflandike farfkiotfeln, upfatt af Theod. Thoroddi. Thefe ob- fervations appeared tranflated into Swedifli by Mr. Barchaus, in tne Journal of hufbandry 1776, tlie month of November. Stockh. 112 Vorlaulender Bericht und zugleich die Vorrede von der alten und raren Iflandif- chen Edda, fo uber 700 Jahr und daruber in Norden bifher unerklarbar ver- fleckt gelegen. Stettin 1776. 4to. Its author is Mr. Schimmelmann of Stet- tin, who likewife had printed in 1 774 ; Abhandlung abgefafst in einem Schrei- ben an einen Gelehrten von der alten Iflandifchen Edda. 4to. 113 Sven Solvefen Iflandifke Jus criminale. Kiob. 1776. 8vo. 114 Iflandifche Merkwurdigkeiten, in a periodical paper called Mannichfaltlgkeiten, firft year fecond quarter, Berlin 1777. 8vo. 115 Sciagraphia Hiftorise litteraria; IflandJEe, auftorum et fcriptorum turn editorum turn incditorum indicem exhibens, culvis delineandcc periculum fecit Haldanus Einari, Ph. Mag. et Redor Scholas Cathedr. Holenfis. Holnii^ 1777* 8vo. 116 Modern Hiftory of the Polar Regions. The firfl: part is to be met with in Ri- cher 's Modern Hiftory, or Continuation to Rollin's Antient hiftory, Vol. XXVII. Berlin 1778. 8vo. 117 Diff. inaugu rails de Lichene lllandico, Prsef. Trommfdorff. Refp. Reifle. Er- furth. 1778. 118 Die Iflandifche Edda. Das id : die geheime Gotteflehre der eelteften Hyperboraer- im Jahr. 1070 — 1075, aus alten runifthen Schriften edirt von Samund Froden, hiernaschft im Jahr 1664, durch Refen, und nun in die hochtentfche Sprache mit einem Verfuch zur rechten Erklarung uberfezt und edirt von J. Schimmel- mann. Stettin, 1778. 4to. X19 Bref rasrande en Refa til Ifland 1772. Upfala. 1777. 8vo. and translated into German by Joh. George Pet. Moelle. Upfala and Leipz. 1779. 8vo. The work which is now here appears tranflated into Englifh. 120 Joh. Theod. Phil. Chrift. Ebeling de QualTia et Lichene Iflandico. Glafgoz, 1779. 8vo. This Catalogue contains all the writers of any confequence on Iceland, or on matters, relative to, or concerning that country. LETTER I. — TO PROFESSOR BERGMAN*. On the Ef'c6ls of Fire in Iceland. SIR, SINCE I am happily returned from a very pleafant fummcr's excurfion through the wcflern iflands of Scotland, to Iceland and the Oricneys, it is with peculiar pleafure that I take this opportunity of afiuring you of my efteem and friendfliip. It is probably • This letter was firft publiflicd In the year 1773, in the Upfala newfpaperB, No, 3, 4. 6. and 8. 1 not TON TROIl's letters OV ICELAND. gjr) not unknown to you, that Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander have been difagrecably dlfap- pointed when they were on the point of fctting out on a new voyage round the world lad famnier. However, in order to keep together and employ the draughtfniea and other perfons whom they had engaged for their voyage to the South-Soa, they refo'.ved upon another excurfion. It was impofTible to chufe a better one than that to Iceland ; and you may eafily conceive. Sir, tliat though I was ready to fet out on my return to Swe- den, I did not hefitatc a moment in accepting their offer to accompany them. To fay the truth, I was glad to vifit a country where I could not alone hope to find many re- mains of our ancient language, but where I was certain to fee nature in a new point of view. I have not been difappointed in either of my expectations ; and I could never have found a happier opportunity than that of making this voyage in the company of Mr. Banks and Dr. SolAnder, of whom it would be unnecefiary to fay one word more, as they are both known fo well to you, and to the learned and ingenious throughout Europe. I know. Sir, that every information will be welcome to you, which concerns thofe objefts that attrafted my attention there ; and there is no one who would communicate this information to you with more pleafure than myfelf ; but as it v/ould require too much prolixity to mention every thing, I flinil only in this letter fpeak of the principal operations of fire in Iceland, a fubjecl which, I am convinced, is one of the mod i.n- portant. On our arrival in Iceland on the twenty-eighth of Augufl t 772, we direifllv faw a prof- pect before us, which, though not pleafmg, was uncommon and furprizmg. V/hat- ever prefented itfelf to our view bore the marks of devaftation ; and our eyes, accuf- tomed to behold the pleafmg coafts of England, now faw nothing but the vefliges of the operation of a fire, heaven knows how ancient ! The defcription of a country, where quite clofe to the fea you perceive almofl; nothing but fl^arp cliffs vitrified by fire, and where the eye lofes itfelf in high rocky mountains covered with eternal fiiow, cannot polfibly produce fuch emotions as at firft fight might entirely prepofTefs the thinking fpeclator. It is true, beauty is pleafing both to our eyes and our thoughts ; but gigantic nature often makes the mofl: lading impreflions. We cafi: anchor not far from BefTeftedr, the dwelling-place of the celebrated Steurlefonj. where we found two trafts of lava, called Gorde -diid Huakyre- Hraun (for what we and the Italians call Lava, is called rn Iceland Hraun from Hrinna, to flow) of which particularly the lafl was remarkable, fincc we found there befides a w hole field covered with lava, which muft have been liquid in the higheft degree, and whole mountains of turf. Chance had direfted us exadlly to a fpot on which we could better than on any other part of Ice^ land, confider the operations of a fire which had laid wafte a ftretch of ten or twelve miles*. We fpent feveral days here, in examining every thing with fo much the more pleafure, fince we found ourfelves, as it were, in a new world. We had now feen almofl all the effefts of a volcano, except the crater, from which the fire had proceeded : in order therefore to examine this likewife, we undertook a journey of twelve days to mount Heckla itfelf ; we travelled fifty or fixty milesf over an uninterrupted track of lava, and had at lad the pleafure of being the fird who ever reached the fummit of tnis celebrated volcano. The caufe that no one has been there * The miles irentioned by Dr. Troil are always Svvediflr, ten and an half of vvhicK arc equal to a degrst en cne of the great circles of the globe; and therefore one Swcdiih mile is nearly equal to fix Engliik ftatute miles. Ten or twelve miles are fixty or feventy-two Englifli miles, f Thrte hundred tr three hundred and listy Englilli miles. beforej. 630 - VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. before. Is partly founded in fuperRition, and partly in the extreme difficulty of the afccnt, before the lafl difcharge of fire. There was not one in our company who did notwifh to have his cloaths a little fingcd, only for the lake of feeing Heckia in a blaze J and we almofl: flattered ourfelves with this hope, fince the bifliop of Skalholt had informed us by letter, in the night between the fifth and fixth of September, the day before our arrival, flames had proceeded frotn it ; but now the mountain was more quiet than we wiflied. We however paffed our time very agi-eeably, from one o'clock in the night till two next day, in vifiting the mountain. We were even fo happy, that the clouds which covered the greateft part of it difperfed towards evening, and procured us the mofl extenfive profpect imaginable. The mountain is fomewhat above five thou- fand feet high, and feparates at the top into three points, of which that in the middle is the highefl:. The mofl; inconfiderable part of the mountain confifts of lava, the reft are aflies, with hard folid flones thrown from the craters, together with fome pumice-ftones, of which we found only a fmall piece, with a little native fulphur. A defcription of the various kinds of ftones that are to be found here would be too prolix, and partly unin- telligible ; and I fo much the more willingly omit it, as I hope to fatisfy your curiofity, as foon as the colle£tion I made of them arrives in Sweden. Amongft many other openings, four were peculiarly remarkable ; the firft, the lava of which had taken the form of chimney-ftacks half broken down ; another, from which water had ftreamed ; a third, all the ftones of which were red as brick ; and laftly, one from which the lava had burft forth in a ftream, which was divided at fome diftance into three arms. I have faid before, that we were not fo happy to fee Heckia throw up fire ; but there were fufficient traces of its burning inwardly ; for on the upper half of it, covered over with four or five inches deep of fnow, we frequently obferved fpots without any fnow ; and on the higheft point, where Fahrenheit's thermometer was at 24° in the air, it rofe to 153° when it was fet down on the ground ; and in fome little holes it was fo hot that we could no longer obferve the heat with a fmall pocket ther- mometer. It is not known whether, fince the year 1693, Heckia has been burning till 1766, when it began to throw up flames on the firft of April, and was burning for a long while, and deftroyed the country many miles around. Laft December fome flames likewife proceeded from it j and the people in the neighbourhood believe it will begin to burn again very foon, as they pretend to have obferved, that the rivers thereabouts are drying up. It is believed that this proceeds from the mountain's at- tracting the water, and is confidered as a certain fign of an impending eruption. Befides this, the mountains of Mayvatn and Kattlegia are known in this century, on account of the violent inflammations of the former, between the years 1730 and 1740, and the latter in 1 756. But permit me. Sir, to omit a farther account of the volcano at this time *, in order to fpcak of another effect of the fire, which is much finer, and as wonderful as the firft, and fo muft be the more remarkable, as there is not in any part of the known world any thing which refembles it ; I mean the hot fprings of water which abound in Iceland f. They have different degrees of warmth, and are on that account divided by the inha- bitants themfelves into laugar, warm baths, and hucrer, or jets (Teaux ; the firft are found in feveral other parts of Europe, thougii I do not believe that they are even em- ployed to the fame purpofes in any other place ; that is to fay, the inhabitants do not .• Dr. Troil treats moie at large of the Icelandic volcaiios in his i8th and ic^lh Letters ; and in the 20th. lie fpcaks more particularly of Mount Heckia. f The 2 1 (I Letter treats more iully of the hot fprings in Iceland. bathe VON TROIL S LETTERS ON ICELAND. 63 I bathe in them her« merely for their health, but they are Hkewife the occafion for a fccne of gallantry. Poverty prevents here the lover from making prefents to his fair one, and nature prefents no flowers of which clfewhcrc garlands are made : it is therefore cuftomary, that inflead of all this, the fwain perfeftly cleanfes one of thcfc baths, which is afterwards honoured with the vifits of his bride. The other kind of fprings men- tioned above deferves more attention. I have feen a great number of them ; but will only fay fomething of three of the mofl remarkable. Near Laugei-vatn, a fmall lake of about a mile in circumference, which is about two days journey diftant from Heckla, I faw the firfl; hot jet d'eau ; and I mufl confefs that it was one of the moft beautiful fights I ever beheld. The morning was uncommonly clear, and the fun had already begun to gild the tops of the neighbouring mountains ; it was fo perfeft a calm, that the lake on which fome fwans were fwimming was as fmooth as a looking-glafs ; and' round about it arofe, in eight different places, the fleam of the hot fprings, which loft itfelf high in the air. Water was fpouting from all thefe fprings ; but one in particular continually threw up a column from eighteen to twenty-four feet high, and from fix to eight feet diameter, the water was extremely hot. A piece of mutton and fome falmon trouts we boiled in it ; as likewife a ptarmigan, which was almoft boiled to pieces in fix minutes, and tafled ex- cellently. I wifli it was in my power, Sir, to give you fuch a defcription of this place as it deferves ; but I fear mine would always remaiji inferior in point of exprefTion. So much is certain, at leaft, nature never drew from any one a more cheerful homage to her great Creator than I here paid him. At Reikum was another fpout of the fame fort, the water of which, I was afTured, rofe to fixty or feventy feet perpendicular height fome years ago ; but a fall of earth having almofl covered the whole opening, it now only fpouted between fifty-four and fixty feet fideways. We found a great many petrified leaves in this place, as likewife fome native fulphur, of which too the water had a much ftronger tafte than any where elfe. 1 have referved the moft remarkable water-fpout for the end ; the defcription of ■which will appear as incredible to you as it did to me, could I not affure you that it is all perfeftly true, as I would not aver any thing but what I have feen myfelf. At Gey- fer, not far from Skallholt, one of the epifcopal fees in Iceland, a moft extraordinary large jet d'eau is to be feen, with which the celebrated water-works at Marly and St. Cloud, and at Gaffel, and Herrenhaufen, near Hanover, can hardly be compared. One fees here, within the circumference of half a mile*, forty or fifty boiling fprings together, which, I believe, all proceed from one and the fame refervoir. In fome the water is perfectly clear, in others thick and clayey ; in fome, where it paffes through a fine ochre, it is tinged red as fcarlet j and in others, where it flows over a paler clay, it is white as milk. The water fpouts up from all, from fome continually, from others only at intervals. The largeft fpring, which is in the middle, engaged our attention particularly the whole day, which we fpent here from fix in the morning till feven at night. The aperture through which the water arofe, and the depth of which I cannot determine, w-as nine- teen feet in diameter ; round the top of it is abafon, which, together with the pipe, has the form of a cauldron ; the margin of the bafon is upwards of nine feet one inch higher than the conduit, and its diameter is of fifty-fix feet. Here the water does not fpout continually, but only by intervals feveral times a day ; and as I was informed by the people in the neighbourhood, in bad rainy weather, higher than at other times, • About three Englifh miles. ^y2 VON TROIL's letters ON ICELAND. On the day that we were there, the water fpouted at ten different times, from fix in the morning till eleven A. M. each time, to the height of between five and ten fathoms ; till then the water had not rifen above the margin of the pipe, but now it began by de- grees to fill the upper bafon, and at laft ran over. The people who were whh us told us, that the water w ould foon fpout up much higher than it had till then done, and this appeared very credible to us. To determine its height, therefore, with the utmoft accu- racv, Dr. Lind, who had accompanied us on this voyage in the capacity of an aftrono- mer, fet up his quadrant. Soon after four o'clock we obferved that the earth began to tremble in three different places, as likewife the top of a mountain, which was about three hundred fathoms diffant from the mouth of the fpring. We alfo frequently heard a fubterraneous noife like the difcharge of a cannon ; and immediately after a column of water fpouted from the open- " ing, which at a great height divided itfelf into feveral rays, and according to the obfer- vations made with the quadrant, was ninety-two feet high. Our great furprife at this uncommon force of the air and fire vs^as yet incrcafed, when many ftones, which we had thrown into the aperture, were thrown up with the fpouting water. You can eafily conceive. Sir, with how much pleafure we fpent the day here ; and indeed I am not much furprifed, that a people lb much inclined to fuperftition as the Icelanders are, imagine this to be the entrance of hell ; for this reafon they feldom pafs one of thefe openings without fpitting into it ; apd, as they fay, uti fandcns mtin, into the devil's mouth. But I think it is time to finifh my long letter, and I will only try your patience with one thing more, which likewife deferves to be better known. Natural hitlorians have alwavs obferved thofe large remarkable pillars, which the hand of nature has prepared in Ice- land, and in fome other places, with the greateft attention. The Giant's Caufeway has, till now, been confidered as the largeft and molt regular affemblage of thefe columns ; but we have difcovered one on our expedition through the weftern iflands of Scotland,- which infinitely furpaffes it. The whole ifland of Staffa* confifts almoft entirely of thefe pillars, which are as regular as can be imagined ; they feem to be of the fame fubftance as the Irifli ones, and have from three to feven fides ; each pillar is furrounded by- others, that join fo clofely to it, as to have a very fmall ipace between them, which is frequently filled up with a chryflallized incruftration. In moil places the pillars are perpendicular; in others they arc a little inchned, and yet in others they have the con- figuration of the timber-work in the infide of a Ihip. The highell pillar was fifty-fiv& feet one inch long, and each joint from one to two feet. There is a cavern here which confifts entirely of thefe pillars ; it is rt^Gy feet long, ^T„y broad, and 1 1 7,6 high. There are three fathoms of water in it, fo that it is eafy to enter into it with a boat. It is diiiicult to determine the queftion, how thefe pillars have been formed ; but it is more than probable, nay almoft certain, that they are the remains of an ancient volcano, many indifputable trafts of which are found in many parts of Scotland. You mull not in this place apply to me the ftory Helvetius tells of a clergyman and a fine lady, who together obferved the fpots in the moon, which the former took for church lleeples, and the latter for a pair of happy lovers. I knew that we fi-equently imagine to have really found what we moll think of, or mofi wifli for ; but I fincerely affure you, that | do • See the account of StafFa, by Jofcph Banks, Efq. infeited in Pennant's Tour in Scotland, and Voyage to the Hebrides, 1772, page 2^9, 30;;, and tlie fine rcprefcntations of thefe bafalts, executed after the accurate drawings executed by Mr. John Frederick Miller, employed by Mr. Banks, and communicated by the lad- mentioned gentleman, for the adorning of Mr. Pennant's Scots Tour. 10 not VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. fjj not fpeak of fuch fires without the moft docifive opinions. I will, however, reL^ivc a liirther account of thefc extraordinary produdions till my return home, when I iLiUcr niyfelf I fliall be able to give you entire fatisfadion. Letter II.— to the royal librarian mr. c:j6rwell. Of Iceland in general. SIR, Utrecht, Jan. 22, 1773. You are, no doubt, informed of the voyage Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander undertook Jaft fummer to Iceland, as well as my having accompanied thefe gentlemen on that ei^- pedition. I need not tell you what reafons determined me to become one of their com- pany. You can eafily conceive how many different circumftances might have per- fuaded a curious Swede to vifit a country remarkable in fo many refpedts ; I am per- fectly fatisfied with my voyage, and can eafily convince you of it, by communicating to you fome little account of what principally attraded our attention during its courfe. We fct fail from London on the twelfth of July laft: in a fhip, for which one hundred pounds fterling were paid every month. Befides Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and my- felf, we had on board an aftronomer*, a lieutenant in the navy (a very worthy man, his name is Gore, and deferves to be mentioned, as he is, as far as we know, the firft who has failed three times round the worldj ), together with a lieutenant, three draughtf- men, and two writers, who, with the feamen and fervants, made about forty people. We firft landed on the Ifle of Wight, which is a little paradife, where we fpent two days. Nature feems to have fpared none of her favours in embellifliing it ; and I know no place in it which does not prefent a pleafing view to the obferver. The inhabitants refemble their ifland ; they live in a little community among themfelves ; they are not very rich, neither have they any beggars. They are generally cheerful, cleanly, and obliging ; and there are but few inflances among them of any one marrying a perfon who did not at that time refide or afterwards fettle on the ifland. From thence w-e failed to Plymouth, where we faw the docks, magazines, and every- thing belonging to them worthy of notice, and then proceeded towards St. George's Channel. We had intended to land on the Ifle of Man, as it Is one of the few places where the Runic characters have been brought by the Danes, and the only one, except the north, where fome of our old Runic ftones are found ; but at fea we cannot always ad ac- cording to our pleafure : the wind obliged us to leave the Ifle of Man on our right, and to continue our courfe to the weftern iflands of Scotland. It is exceedingly pleafant to fail among thefe iflands, though not very fafe, without a good wind and expert pilots : for in the firfl cafe you mull depend upon the ebb and flood ; and in the fecond you are in continual danger on account of the great number of rocks. The nature of the country is fuch, that I do not wonder at its having given birth to a Fingal, and an Ofllan. It is not the only place where we have feen heroes pro- • Dr. James Lind, of Edinburgh, who is well known b 5' many memoirs inferted in the Philofophical Tranfaftions, and other ingenious publications. f Captain Dampier did it a long time before Mr. Gore, viz. Cowley and Danipler, 1683, 168+ ; Dam- pitr and Funnel, 16S9, 1691 ; Woodes, Rogers, and Dampier, 1708, 1711. If Lieutenant Gore and Captain Charles Clerk return fafe home from the voyage they are now engaged in, they both will have failed four times round the world. VOL. I. 4 M duced 63.4 » VON TROn.'s LETTERS ON ICELAND. duced among the mountains ; and what can be more calculated to form a poet, than wild romantic and enchanting fc(='nes of nature, which are here fo pleafingly blended. It would be tedious to enumerate all the ifles we have vifited. The moll: remarkable arc Oranfay and Columfkill, on account of their antiquities ; Scarba, for its known water-drain, (Vatta-drag) ; and Staffii, on account of its natural pillars, which hitherto have been little known, and furpafs whatever has beenobferved before of the kind. You know. Sir,' that the ■ inhabitants of thefe ifles, as well as in the Highlands of Scotland, have a language of their own, which they call Erfe, and which is a remnant of the Celtic. In this language Oliian wrote his admirable poems ; and though the in- habitants cannot at prefent produce any thing comparable to them, yet I hope, on my return home, to give you proofs of their being able to write both with elegance and fentimental feehngs. As it is very extraordinary that this language fhould have pre- ferved itfelf here fo long*, it will perhaps not be difagreeable to you to be more parti- cularly acquainted of the limits within which it is confined. I will readily flietch them out to you, being a,ble to do it with fo much the more certainty, having received my in- formation from Mr. Macpherfon, the o;ily man in England who has particularly fludied this language. It begins to be fpoken on the eafternfide at Nairn, and extends from thence through tine whole country, and all the weflern ifles. In the north Its limits are at Caithnefs, where Erfe is only fpoken in four pariflies out of ten ; in the other fix, better Englifli is fpoken than in any other part of Scotland. There is in Ireland another dialefl: of it, as well as in Wales and Britany ; however, they are not fo difierent, but a man born in either of thefe provinces, may make himfelf underfliood in the others. Had I been ac- quainted with the language of the Dalikarlians, I fliould have had an opportunity of examining how far that fimilarity is founded which, as it appeared to my ear, fubfifl:s between thefe two languages. The country abounds with northern antiquities, fuch as caftles, flrong-holds, bury- ing-places, and monuments, (Bautafteinar) ; and the people, who are obliging and extremely hofpitable, have a number of cuftoms refembling thofe obferved by our country-people, fuch as the celebration of the firfl of May t, and many others. We now left thefe iflands, and continuing our voyage arrived at laft, on the twenty- eighth of Auguft, at Iceland, where we call anchor at Beflefledr, formerly the dwelling- The very little conneftion which the antient inhabitants of the Scots Highlands and of the Hebrides with oth.er nations 'el; ecially before the Union, which has in every refpeft been beneficial to them) is « had wii the true caufe that tlie Erfe language has fo lonj< been priferved among them. Betides thefe reafons there is another, which accounts ainioft forlhem all ; the poverty of tiie ioil and inclemency of climate admit of very little cultivation, fo that thefe parts have very few natural produftions which might tempt foreigners tovifit them : fome few gifis of nature are, no doubt, lodged in the bofom of the Scots hills ; but hitherto indolence and want of indullry in the natives have ntglefted thefe riches : within a few years only it is that commerce has begun to raife its head, which alone induces other nations to frequent this or any country. It is therefore not fo very extraordinary, that in a mountainous country the remains of ancient nations fliould be found, who long preferve their language. In the Caucafus are flill exifting the pofterity of feveral nations who croffed thefe mountains in their a tempt to conquer Afia and Europe, and within a fmall compafs, more than five or fix different languages are fpoken. t It is called in Sweden luar Fruday ; k jour ik rwlir Dume, our Lady's Day. The witches are fup- pofedto take, in the night preceding that day, iheir flight to BlakuUa, a famous mountain ; but it was formerly believed in Germany, thyt the witches travelled to the IMaxberg or Brocken, a high mountain contiguous to the Hartz foreft. In Sweden the fpring comts on about this time, and of confequence the hard labour of ploughing, mowing, and reaping follow one another from that time, and require the belt exertion of the flrength of the hulbandmen, to which they prepare themfelvcs on this day by frequent libations of their ttrong ale, and they ufually fay, Majh miin driika marg i beiun ; You muil dnnk marrow in your booes. place VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND^ 6;^S' place of the famous Sturlcfon, We feemed here to be in another world ; indead of the fine profpeds wiih which we had fed our eyes, we now only faw the horrid remains of many devaftations. Imagine to yourfelf a country, which from one end to the other prcfents to your view only barren mountains, whofe fummits are covered with eternal inow, and between them fields divided by vitrified cliffs, whofe high and fliarp points feem to vie with each other, to deprive you of the fight of a little grafs which Icantily fprings up among them. The fame dreary rocks likewife conceal the few fcattered habitations of the natives ; and no where a fingle tree appears, which might afford fhelter to friendihip and innocence. I fuppofo. Sir, tliis will not infpire you with any great in- clination of becoming an inhabitant of Iceland ; and indeed at firfl fight of fuch a country one is tempted to believe that it is impoffible it fliould be inhabited by any hu- man creature, if one did not fee the fea, near the flioves, every where covered with boats. Though there is fcarcely any country fo little favoured by nature, and where fhe appears throughout in fo dreadful a foiTn, yet Iceland contains about fixty thoufand people, who cannot properly be called unhappy, though they are unacquainted with what in other places conft itutes happinefs. I fpent there above fix weeks with the great- ell pleafure, partly in ftudying one of the moll extraordinary fituatlons of nature, and partly in coUeding information from the natives, concerning their language, manners, &c. &c. As to the former, I have treated of it in a letter to profeflbr Bergman, which I doubt not he will communicate to you with pleafure, if you defire it. Of the latter i will here mention fome particulars. You know. Sir, that Iceland firft began to be cultivated in the eleventh century by r- Norwegian colony, among which were many Swedes. They remained perfectly free in this corner of the world for a long time '; but were, however, at laft obliged to fub- mit to the Norwegian kings, and afterwards became fubjeO:, together with Norway, to the kings of Denmark. They were at firft governed by an admiral, who was fent thither every year to make the neceflary regulations ; but that mode has been changed many years, and a governor * appointed, who conitantly refides in the country* This poft is, at prefent, occupied by ]\Ir. Larr Thodal, who has formerly been Danifli pleni- potentiary in the commiflion for fettling the limits between Sweden and Norway, and has fpent feveral years at Stockholm. The Icelanders are of a good honefl difpofition ; but they are, at the fame time, fo ferious and fullen, that I hardly remember to have feen any one of them laugh : they are hy no means fo ftrong as might be fuppofed, and much lefs handfomc. Their chief amufement, in their leifure hours, is to recount to one another the hiftory of for- mer times ; fo that to this day you do not meet with an Icelander who is not well ac- quainted with the hiftory of his own country : they alfo play at cards. Their houfes are built of lava, thatched with turf, and fo fmall, that you find hardly room to turn yourfelf in them. They have no flooi-s ; and their windows, in- ftead of glafs, are compofed of thin membranes of certain animals. They make no ufe of chimnies, as they never light a fire, except to drefs their victuals, when they" only lay the turf on the ground. You will not therefore think it ftrange, when I in- form you, that we faw no houfes, except fliopsand warehoufes ; and on our journey to Heckla we were obliged to take up our lodgings in the churches. Their food principally confifls of dried fifli, four* butter, which they confider as a great dainty, milk mixed with water and whey, and a little meat. They receive fo • Stiftfamtmann>. 4 M 2 lilt!?. 6^6 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. little bread from the Danifh company, that there is hardly any peafant who eats it above three or four months in the year. They Hkevvife boil groats, of a kind of mofs (Lichen Iflandicus) which has an agreeable tafte. The principal occupation of the men is fifli- ing, which they follow both winter and fummer. The women take care of the cattle, knit {lockings, &c. They likewife drefs, gut, and dry the fiihcs brought home by the men, and otherwife ailifl; in preparing this Itaple commodity of the country. Befides this, the company who yearly fend fifteen or twenty fliips hither, and who poffefs a monopoly which is very burthenfome to the country, export from hence fome meat, edder-down, and fome falcons, which are fold in the country for feven, ten, and fifteen rix-dollars a-piece. Money is very rare, which is the reafon that all the trade is carried on by filhes and ells of coarfe unfhorn cloth, called here Wadmal ; one ell of wadmal is worth two fifhes ; and forty-eight fiflies are worth a rix-dollar in fpecie. With gold they were better acquainted at our departure, than on our arrival. They are well provided with cattle, which are generally without horns : they have likewife flieep, and very good horfes ; both the lafl: are the whole winter in the fields : dogs and cats they have in abundance. Of wild and undomeflicated animals they have only rats and foxes, and fome bears*, which come every year from Greenland with the floating ice : thefe, however, are killed as foon as they appear, partly on ac- count of the reward of ten dollars, which the king pays for every bear, and partly to prevent them from deftroying their cattle. The preient governor has introduced rein- deer into the ifland ; but out of thirteen, ten died on their paflTage, the other thx-ee are alive with their young. It is extraordinary that no wood grows fucccefsfully in Iceland ; nay, there is fcarcely a fingle tree to be found on the whole ifland, though there are certain proofs of wood having formerly grown there in great abundance. Corn cannot be cultivated here to any advantage ; though I have met with cabbages, parfley, turnips, peafe, &c. &c. in five or fix gardens, which were the only ones in the whole ifland. I mufl; now beg leave to add a few words about the Icelandic litei-ature. Four or five centuries ago the Icelanders were celebrated on account of their poetry and know- ledge in hifl:ory. I could name many of their poets, who celebrated in fongs the war- like deeds of the northern kings ; and the famous Snorre Sturlefon is the man to \vhom even the Swedes are indebted for the firil illuftration of their hiftory. We, for this reafon, fet fo high a value upon the antient Icelandic records and v.'rltings, that they have almofl: all been drawn out of the country : fo exceedingly fcarce they are become, that, notwithflanding the pains I took during the whole time of my (lay there, I got a fight of only four or five Icelandic manufcripts. In the inland parts of the country, our old language has been preferved almofl quite pure ; but on the coafl:s, •where the natives have an intercourfe with the Danifli merchants, it has been fome- what altered. Some fpeak the Danifh language very well ; but thofe who did not, could foonermake themfelves intelligible to us Swedes, than to the Danes. We likewife found three or four Runic infcriptions, but they were all modern, and confequently of no value. I have faid before that the Icelanders took pleafure in liflening to their old traditional fayings and flories ; and this is almofl the only thing that remains among them of the fpirit of their anceftors ; for they have at prcfent but few poets ; and their clergy know little befides fome Latin, which they pick up in the fchools eflablifhed in the epifcopal fees at Skallholt and Hoolura. Some of them, however, have ftudicd * The bears here mentioned are t'lic white polar or arftic carnivorous bears, abfolutely forming a fpecies widely (lillinft from our brown and black bears ; though the celebrated Linnwua only fufpeilcd them to be a new fpccics, not having fccn and examined any of thefc animals. VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. 6^y at the univerfity of Copenhagen ; and I became acquainted with three men of great learning among them, who were particularly well verfed in the northern antiquities. One ot them is the bilhop of Skallholt, Finnur Jonfon, who is compiling an ecclefiafti- cal hiftory of Iceland ; the two others are the provofl Gunnar Paulfon, and Halfdan Ginarfon, reftor at Hoolum. That there is a printing-oflice in Iceland cannot be unknown, as we are acquainted with the rare editions of Olof Tryggwaflbns, Landnama, Greenland, and Chriftendoms Sagas, or Traditions, printed at Skallholt ; but I did not expedl to find the art of print- ing fo antient here, as it was reprefented to be. A Swede, whofe name was John Mathiefon, brought hither the firft printing-prefs, between the years 1520 and 1530; and publUhed in the year 1531 the Breviarium Nidarofienfe. I have collected as many Icelandic books as I have been able to difcover ; among the rarefl: is the Icelandic bible, printed in folio at Hoolum in the year 1584. I hope likevvife, that fifteen (till now unknown) traditional hiflories or fagas will be no unwelcome acquifition. You may judge, Sir, how agreeably I fpent my time here in thcfe occupations, which I applied to with fo much the more pleafure, as they all related to objeds en- tirely new : added to which, I was in fociety with Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander ; the latter of whom is a moft worthy difciple of our Linneeus, and unites a lively temper to the mofl excellent heart ; and the former is a young gentleman of an unbounded thirfl; after knowledge, refolute and indefatigable in all his purfuits, frank, fond of focial converfation, and at the fame time a friend of the fine arts and literature : in fuch company you will confefs it was impofTible I fhould have the lead reafon for regretting the time fpent in this voyage. I had almoft flattered myfelf with the hopes of feeing Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander in Sweden ; but I learn that they will be detained in England for fome time. I much fear Dr. Solander will be for ever loft to his native country, as well on account of the univerfal efteem in which he is held in England, as of his being preferred to a more beneficial place at the Britifh Mufeum than that which he formerly poflefied. Their voyage to the South Seas will probably make its appearance in April or May next. They have already begun to engrave the coUeftions of animals and plants they have made on their voyage, which will employ them feveral years, as they mult con- fift, I lliould apprehend, of near two thoufand plates. It would be writing a natural hiftory were I to attempt to give a proper defcription of thefe admirable collections. They have alone above three thoufand fifhes and other animals preferved in fpirits, moft of which are new : Linnaeus might find among their plants, of which they have feveral fets, (one of which, I flatter myfelf, will find its way into Sweden,) fubjeds for a new mantifla. I propofe, when I have feen Holland, to make a little excurfion to Germany to fee Mr. Michaelis, and foon afterwards return to my native country, where I fliall have the honour of affuring you perfonally of the aftcftionate regard, &c. &;c. Letter III.— to chevalier ihre. On the phyfical Conjiimion of the Country. SIR, Stockholm, June 20, 1773. There is no duty more agreeable to me, than that of obeying your commands, in tranfmitting to you fome account of Iceland, its antiquities, and what elfe relates to it. As I have happily had an occafion of feeing the country myfelf, it may with juftice. 638 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. juftice be required of me, that I fliould willingly communicate to others the informa* tions I have "been able to procure ; and it would give me peculiar pleafure it they en- abled me fatisfaftorily to anfwer thofe queftions which you kindly propofed to me- Iceland is juftly reckoned amongli; the largefl iflands in the known world. It is fixty miles in length, and its breadth exceeds forty Swedifli miles". The mofl ufeful atnong many maps of this country is that which has been made by Meflrs. Erickffen and Schoonning in the year 1771, though it might be further im- proved. BeiTeftedr, in the fouthern part of the ifland, not far from Hafnefiord, lies, according to HoiTebow's account of Iceland, in 64 degrees 6 minutes of north latitude, and in 41 degrees of longitude, from the meridian of Stockholm ; fo that it is almofl: in the latitude of Hernofand f. The country does not afford a pleafmg profped to the eye of the traveller, though It prefents him with objcfts worthy of attention in many refpefts : for befides innu- merable ridges of mountains that crofs it in i'everal dircclions, and fome of which, on account of their height, are covered with continual ice and fnow, you only fee barren fields between them, entirely deftitute of wood, and covered with lava for the fpace of many miles. This is certainly as incapable of giving the eye pleafure, as it is unfit for any other ufe. On the other fide, however, it caufes the greateft furprize in the at- tentive fpeftator, to fee fo many fpeaking proofs of the dreadful effefls of volcanoes. Though the coafts are better inhabited, the inland parts of the country do not lie wafte and negleded ; and one finds every where, fometimes clofe together, and fome- times at greater diftances, farms with fome land belonging to them, which generally confifts of meadow-land, and fometimes of hills thick fpread with low flu'ubs and bufhes, and which they honour with the appellation of Woods. In the whole ifland there are no towns, nor even villages ; nothing but fingle farms are to be feen, fome of which, however confiil of feveral dwelling-houfes, dcllined for the owner of the farm and his tenants, {Jjid Icygumann) who procure from the proprietor a houfe and pafture for as many cows, horfcs, and fheep us they choofe to agree for. On the eftates of fome peafants who are better circumftanced, there are even fometimes dwellings for labourers (J.ntufma)i) who work for daily hire. All thefe farms belong either to the king, the church, or the peafants themfelves \. I will mark the price of two of thefe farms, which were fold a little before our arrival, that you may judge of their value. The one farm, whereon ten cows, ten horfes, and four hundred flieep might be kept, was fold for one hundred and twenty rix-dollars ; and the other, which had fuflicient pafture for twelve cows, eighteen heads of young cattle, above a year old, that had not yet calved {unguot), eight oxen, fourteen horfes, and three hundred Iheep, for one hundred and fixty dollars. In fOme few places they have fmall fenced fpots near their houfes, in which they cul- tivate cabbage, parflcy, Ipinach, turnips, paticntia, potatoes, and fome other roots and vegetables, together with flax and hemj). Fruit trees arc looked for in vain, which is not to be wondered at, fince ftorms and hurricanes are here very frequent. Thefe have given rife to the name of (IVcdrakiJla) Storm-coaft, which has been given to fome places in Iceland. * About 360 Britldi fea miles in length, and about 240 in breadth. f A town in Sweden. X In otdtr to fliew at once in what proportion tlie farms are diftr buted between the king, the church, ond the farmers, I will here annex an abitrad taken from the Icelandic ViUarium, or Land-book of the year 1695, which came into my pofTeflion. II AB- VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. '^39 ABSTRACT FROM THE ICELANDIC LAND-BOOK OF 1 695. tbefe farms eachfyffclbe- ' — 1 n o" 40 C3 w s P.' CO 25 2 HI 3 3 C < trq ;t) -I Cl- 40 < fu ~8^ H 3' ?3 3 < -1 " .5"' '.^l ° a. 9- — n 3 3 3 •^ 3" r. the king. 90 10 37 22 6 21 21 85 .5' 4; 102 6 32 4 202 7i8 30^ 345 tlie biiliop's of Skalliolt. 6 4 3 I 4 '3 the bifhop's of Hoolum. 18 24 39 .96 61 49 52 urch glebe. 14 9 67 44 ,8 64 29 46 '4 33 55 81 8 64 (140 ebe of clerBy. 1 2 9 4 2 ^ 4 10 ) 3 14 ic 13 14 23 6 1 2 6 i. 14c 45 16 184 ebe of fuper- luated clergy. 1 *• 4 z ^ 3 3 1 I 12 7 3 r maintaining poor. 1 11 126 I I 2 I 2 5 r maintaining pitals. 1 V 1 133 iH I ^53 1 91 ) farmers. 36 9« 216 344 59i 2?. 149 M2 i6i 66 ■45 104 187 47 47 40^8 ta! film. 199! 68 , 180 187 259 125! ?29 366 3'3 tic6 ^57 183 268 ^47 They iiave likewife prevented the growth of fir-trees, and Norway pitch-firs*, which governor Thodal had planted here, whofe tops feemed to wither as foon as they were about two feet high, when they then ceafed growing. That wood has formerly grown in Iceland, can be proved from the Sagas or tradi- tion ftories of Landnama, KJalnefinga, Svafdala, and Egill Skallagrimfonare. It is like- wife proved by pieces which are frequently dug up in marlhes and fens, where not a fin- gle bufh is to be feen at prefent. The fubftance, called by the natives futurbrand, is likewife a clear proof of it. This futurbrand is evidently wood, not quite petrified, but indurated, which drops afunder as foon as it comes into the air, but keeps well in water, and never rots : it gives a bright though weak flame, and a great deal of heat, and yields a fourifli though not unwholefome fmell. T|he fmiths prefer it to fea-coal, becaufe it does not fo foon wafte the iron. The Icelanders make a powder of it, which they make ufe of to pre- ferve their cloaths from moths ; they likewife apply it externally againft the cholick. I have feen tea-cups, plates, &c. in Copenhagen made of futurbrand, which takes a fine polifh. It is found in many parts of Iceland, generally in the mountains in horizontal beds ; fometimes more than one is to be met with, as in the mountain of Lack in Barde- llrand, where four Itrata of futurbrand ai-e found alternately with different kinds of ftone. I have brought a large piece of it with me to Sweden, in which there are evident marks of branches, the circles of the annual growth of the wood, leaves, and bark, in the furrounding clay ; and there is fome rcafon to believe, that thefe trees have been mixed in ihc thrown-up lava in fome eruption of fire, or an earthquake. f Pinus picea, Linn, and pinus abies, Linn^ lam 640 VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. I am almoft iiicllaed to believe that feme ftreams of lava, which at the depth of fifteen feet, according to obfervations that have been made, can advance twelve thoufand Swe- difli ells, of two feet each, in eight hours, by a declivity of forty-five degrees, have fwept away thefe trees, which feem to have been of a confiderable fize, and buried them ; and this is fo much the more probable, as the futurbrand frequently has the appearance of coal. But as I do not know whether this opinion has ever been advanced before, and having had no opportunity of making fufhcient obfervations upon this con- jefliure, and as there is even fome reaibn to fuppofe, that a tree would in fo violent a fire direftly be confumed to allies, though the contrary may alfo be poffible, when it is in the fame inftant overturned, covered, and in a moment fmothei'edj yet I will not even venture to offer this opinion as a probable conception. There is flill another probable fuppofition. The trees may have been overturned by an earthquake, and then covered beneath the hot afhes of a volcano, in the fame manner as happened at Herculaneum, and other places, where whole towns have (hared the fame fate. That there have been formerly confiderable woods in Iceland can fcarcely be doubted; nay, there are at this time fome fmall fpots covered with trees, as at Hallarmftad, Hunfe- feld, and Aa, and in feveral other places. However, there are no fir nor pine-trees ; and the birch-trees now exifting never exceed the height of eight or twelve feet, and are not above three or four inches thick, which is partly owing to bad management, partly to the devaftations caufed by fire or hurricanes, and the Greenland floating ice: the lafl is the caufe that at Stadar-hrauns, Eyry, and Kiolfield, whole fpots of land are feen covered with withered birch-trees. But thefe being found infulHcient to fup- ply the inhabitants with fuel, they likewife make ufe of turf, fern, juniper, and black crow-berry bu flies (empetrum nigrum) ; in other places they burn the bones of cattle killed for butchers meat, and fifhes moiftened with train-oil ; alfo dried cow-dung that has been the whole winter in the meadow ; and lafl of all floating wood. This floating wood is obtained in great abundance every year, particularly at Langanas on the north- eafl coaft, at Hornflrand on the north-weft fide, and every where on the northern coaft of the countiy *. There are feveral different kinds of wood among it, the greateft part is Norway pitch-fir f j but befides this, one finds common fir, Under, willow |, cork- * The immenfe quantity of wood floating down the Mifilflippi, the St. Lawrence, and other rivers of North America, are probably thofe which are carried to the northern regions. From the gulph of Mexico a ftrong current fets acrofs the Atlantic in a fouth-weft to north-eaft direftion, or neatly, and carries many tropical fruits on the coaft of Norway, the Fcrois, and Iceland ; which remarkable circumftancc has been Doticed by that curious oblerver and delineator of nature George Edwards. But the wood coming down tlie Mifiiffippi is remarked by BofTu, in iiis Travels through North America, vol. I. p. 19. The coaft. of Greenland is benefited by drift-wood, in the fame manner as Iceland. See Crantz's Hift. of Greenland, vol. I. p. 37- The northern coaft of Siberia is often covered with wood in a moll aftonifhing manner. See John George Emelin's Travels through Siberia, vol. II. p. 411;. Nor is the coaft of Kamtfchatka deftftute of tloatlng wood. See J. F. Miller's Colledion of Ruflian Tranfaflions, vol. III. p. 67. The great rivers of Siberia, luch as the Lena, Kolyma, Yenifes, and others, carry chiefly in fpring many wood trees along with their waters into the ocean, where it is often floating in v.uious direftions, fet by winds and currents, and checked by the immenfe maffcs of ice, till, after many months and years, it is thrown up and left on the coaft, for the benefit of the inhabitants of ihefc frigid regions, which are too cold for the growth of trees. Iceland receives its dri't-wood by ftrong wefterly and north-wefteriy gales, varying with foutherly winds, which fcems to confirm the opinion, that the drift-wood comes from North America : it confifts chiefly of pinus, abies, picea, limbra, and larix, tilia, curopea, bctula alba, and falix caprea, and fome unknown kinds of wood : and according to Catefl^y's Nat. Hift. of Carolina, great quantities of thefe enumerated woods arc floating down tlic rivers of Virginia and Carolina ; and another part fcems to come round the north of Eu. rope from the Siberian rivers. t Pinus abics, Linn. % Salis caprea, Linn. 5 wood. VON TR011,'S LETTERS ON 1CELA.ND. 64^ V'ood, and two forts of red-wood, which are called rauda graie :xndflnff'akjk in Iceiaud, and on account of their colour and hardhcfs are employed in various kinds of neat work. It comes mofl: probably from the northern parts .of Tartary, and partly from Virginia and Carolina. As to what relates to agriculture, it may be difcovered by many parages of the ancient Icelandic accoi^nts, that corn formerly grew in Iceland. In later times feveral trials have been made with it, but they have b*i;n attended with little fuc- cefs. Governor Thodal fowed a little barley in 1772, which grew very brifkly ; but a fliort time before it was to be reaped, a violent ftorm fo utterly deftroyed it, that only a few grains were found fcattercd about. If we confider, befides thefe ftrong winds, or rather hurricanes, the frolls which frequently fet in during May and June, we fhall difcover a number of difficulties which check the rife and growth of agriculture in Iceland. If, notwithftanding thefe obftacles, it can ever be brought to a thriving condition, it mud: certainly be under the prefent in- defatigable governor, who has the welfare of the country much at heart, and, in con- jun£lion with the government, fludies evei7 polTible means to promote it. I confider thefe violent winds, and the Greenland floating ice, vi'hich every year does great damage to the country, as the chief caufe of the diminution of the growth of wood, iis well as of the ill fuccefs in the late attempts for introducing agriculture. This ice comes on by degrees, always with an eafterly wind, and frequently in fuch ofOT, to judge, with wliich iLc iinglilli word Doom <;orre'"ponds. I At the fame time and at tlie fame place the fplrltual court called Preftajlcfna Is held, wherein the go- vernor and hilliop prtfide : the priells are the afletfors. § The jo'ijhuk was received in 1272, according to an Icclaadic Chronicle, publiHifd by Langcbeck in :he fccond volume of the Scriptores Mill. Dan. cafes^; 648 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. cafes -^ but at prefent mod matters are decided after the Danifli law, and fome more re- cent regulations. LETTER v.— TO chevalier mkE. Concerning Eccleftajlical Affairs in Iceland. Stockholm, June 32, 1772. Tt is Icnown from Landnama Bok, and the Shedse of Are, that the Norwegians found fome traces of Chrillianity on their arrival in Iceland. There were alfo fonii^ few Chriftians among thefe new colonifls, who, however, fcon apoftatized to. the hea- then religion, fo that it became general there. It is not known whether any attempts had been made to introduce the Chriftian i-eligion before the year 98 i, when a certain bilhop Friedric arrived there from Saxony, and was obliged to return, alter a ftay of five years, without having made any great progrefs. ■However, a church was built in 984, by Thorvard Bodvarfon, and fomc perfons re- ceived baptifm ; but others, though they had no objetlion to the Chriftian doftrine, could not be prevailed upon to fuffer themfelves to be baptized, as they pretended it would be indecent to go naked into the water like little boys to receive baptifm, which, according to the cuftom of thofe times, could only be done by fubmerfion. Some, however, to fhew their deteftation of paganifm, fuffered themfelves to be figned with the crofs, which they called Priniftg/iifig. Thefe were not confidered either as Chriftians or Heathens ; however, they were allowed to eat with the former, and to be buried clofe to the church-yard. Olof Tryggvaflbn afterwards fent them Stefr ThorgilfTon, and after him his chaplaia Thangbrand, a German by birth ; but they were both received with ftones and abufive language, as they attempted to convert them, which happened to be at the ver)' fpot where the common court of juftice was held : nor were they fpared by the poets of the country, who, being bribed for the purpofe, poured forth in their poetical productions the keeneft inveftives and fatire upon thefe champions of the Chriftian religion. However, the Icelanders obtained fome knowledge of the Chriftian doftrine, which by degrees operated upon their minds. Some of them refufed to contribute any more towards the idolatrous facrifices, and wiftied to enjoy more circumftantial and certain in- Urudtion in the Chriftian religion ; fo that on the arrival of Giflur and Hyalti in the year one thoufand, the whole country was converted without bloodftied, though not without oppofition. They alfo obtained a jus canonicum* from biftiop Grimkell, drawn up by himfclf, which was as valid as a law till 1 123, when it was again revifed by bifliops Thorlak and Ketill f. After this time monks and convents abounded in the country. Many monks of the order of St, Benedii^ and St. Auftin fettled there, and the people paid a tribute to the Roman fee, as well as other European nations, which confifted in one nag/i, ten of which were equal to one ell of two feet J. That Rome did not lofe fight of Iceland, though ever fo diftant, can be proved by the biftiop of Skallholt, Arne Therlakfon, keeping his own agent, Sighvatr Lande, canon of Drontheim, al the fecond council of Lyons, which was convened by Gregory L in the • See Kriflnii Saga, printed Copenhagen, 1776, in 8vo, p. 57, •{• The canon law was piinted at Copenhagen, 1776, in 8vo. I The vahie of all tliinjjs is fettled In Iceland by ells of ? ICELAND. Kin?? Chriftian III. began to introduce the Lutheran religion in the year 1540 ; but the zeal with which the biihops (who were then very powertul) oppofed him, prevented him from lucceeding till the year 1 55 1 . Since that period, the church of Iceland has enjoyed a happy tranquillity, every feed of difcord being fupprelTed in its rife, though fome attempts were made to diiTerniuate the evil. , , Iceland is divided into one hundred and eighty-nine parifiies, of which one hundred and twenty-feven belong to the fee of Skallholr, and fixty-two to that of Hoolum. All the minirt'crs are native IceUinders, and receive a yearly faiary of four hundred or five hundred rix-do'lars from the king, exclufive of what they have from their congregation. LETTER VL— TO chevalier ihre. Of the Charader and Manner of Life of the Icelanders. ' Stockholm, September 1, 1774. In a former letter I treated of the arrival of the Norwegians in Iceland, of their llrft form cf government, and the changes they experienced through their ow a mifmanage- ment and the viciilitudes of time : give me leave. Sir, to draw your attention to their charader and way of life. In like manner as their ancsftors only lived by war, piracy, the chace, and agricul- ture, fo our new Icelandic colonifts were ftrangers to any fame but that acquired by the ftren^th of their arm, and knew no exercifes but fuch as a hardened body was able to fapport. To go to war, to plunder, burn and deflroy, and furmount every obftacle which op- pofed their defigns, they deemed the fureft path to immortality ; even their games gave them an opportunity of exercifmg both their ftrength and agilit)- of body. Glhnu-lijU or the art of wreflling, was general among them ; though it is mentioned in their old hiftories, that their heroes fometimes made ufe of an artifice which was called Laufc-tck, and is the lame as what we call tripping up one's heels. Skylmej}, or the art of fencing, was ftill more common ; for though they treated one another pretty rout^hlv on thefs occafions, yet thofe rules of art were wanting which a weaker arm may at prefent apply to his advantage upon occafion. The manj afnadur wzs held in the higheft efteem : a man, dextrous in that exei-cife, was held in the utm.ofl veneration by them, and was celebrated even in their fongs. This was a kind of lingle combat, to which a man might challenge any one who was de- firous to be recorded in the annals of fame. Life or death was alike indifferent to thefe gladiators ; and it was deemed a noble art to underftand well how to fliarpen the inilru- nients of death, as may be f^icn by Rigj'lhidu. The fuuaiion in which the Icelanders were in regard to the kings of Norway, who always kept a watchful eye over them, and fought every opportunity to fubjugate them, obliged them to have recourfe to other ftates for a knowledge in government and litera- ture ; for this purpofe they often Iliiled to Norway, Denmark, Sweden, England, and Scotland. The travellers, at their return, were obliged to give an account to their chiefs of the (late of thofe kingdoms through which they paited. For this reafon hif- tory, and what related to fcience, was held in high repute, as long as the republican form cf government lailcd ; and the great number of fagas and hiiiories which are to be met with in the country, if not all equally important, (hew at leafh the defire they had of being inflructed. During this time Greenland was difcovered by an Icelander, Eyrek Rauda, in 932 j. aad America iu jcoi, by Bidrn Hcrjulfsibn and Leii Eri To VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. 6jl To fccure themfelves, therefore, againfl: their powerful neiglibours, they were obliged to enlarge their hiftorical knowledge; they likewife took great pains in fludying per- fedly their own laws, for the maintenance and prote£tion of their internal fecurity. Ihus Iceland, at a time when ignorance and obfcurity pervaded the reft of P^urope, was enabled to produce a confidcrable number of poets and hiftorians. "When the Chrhlian religion was introduced there, more were found converfant in the law than could have been expected, confulering the extent of the country, and the number of its inhabitants. Fifhing was followed among them ; but thcv devoted their attention coufiderably more to agriculture *, which has fmce entirely ceafed. Two things have principally contributed towards producing a great change both in their character and way of life, viz. the progrefs of the Chriflian religion under Olof Tryggwafon, and the lofs of their libert)' under King Harold. For if religion, on one fide, commanded them to defift from their ravages and warlike expeditions ; the f^cular power, on the other, deprived them of the neceflTaiT forces for the execution of them : lince this time, \\e tind no farther traces of their heroic deeds, except thofe which are preferved in their hiftories. Our prefent Icelanders give the preference to filhlng, and the care of their cattle, to war. The Icelanders are middle-lized and well made, though not very ftrong ; and the women are in general ill-featured. The men have left off the cuftom of wearing beards long ago, though you find them reprefented with them in Eggcrt Olafsen's travels through Iceland ; a drawing which, perhaps, may reprefent an inhabitant of Sondmoer, in Norway, but by no means an Icelander -f. Vices are indeed much lefs common among them than in other parts, whtre riches and luxury have corrupted the morals of the people. Theft is feldom heard of; nor are they inclined to incontinence, though there are examples of perfons having been j'iunilhed more than once on that account. Though their poverty difables them from imitating the hofpitality of their anceftors in all refpeds, yet the defire of doing it ftill exifts ; they cheerfully give away the little they have to fpare, and exprefs the utmoft joy and fatisfaftion if you are pleafed with their gift. When they want to flicw themfelves particularly atfedionato, they kifs one another on the mouth on their vifits : they do the fame to the hulband and the wife, the mother and the daughter ; they are uncommonly obliging and faithful, and extremely attached to government |. They are very zealous in their religion §, and it miift be • Hans FinfTen, in !.!s letter on the feafibllity of agriculture in Icel.inJ, Copeiiliag. 177:, Svn. demon- ftrates this by a written document during the time of Snorre Sturlcfon, page 64, which likciviic appear? from Landnama Bok, chap. 21. •f- This, however, is fubjcdt to fome exceptions : for the inhabitants of Omund Fiordcn, and fome fami- Ire? on the north fiJe cf the ifland, ftill wear beards ; and in Fniolkadul live? a man named Be^ ediifk, kiiowu on account of his biarj. Between 17^0 and i 750 it happened, between the icy mountains of Sneefaekls Jukne, that two brethren dividing between themfelves the inheritance left them by tlitir fatlur. one of thcin, called Helge, gave his brothel four rix-Joilars for the exclufive right of wearing a beard, which liglit, in their family, was the fole prerogative of their late father. J To prevent fmuggling, there is a fevere penalty for piloting a ilrange fliip into lirirbour. Wlien tlic philofophic tiaveliirs made the coalt, they were under nectfilly to force a:i Icelander to ftay on board, ami to fci vc them as a rilot. And though appeafed by good treatment and prefent^, he ntvcrthclits cariivdll.e fliip to an unfafe place, till the governor granted his leave to bring the fh'p to a tate anchorage. When thi rcaloii of this ftrangc behaviour was aflced, the Icelander anfwercd, he would rather fuffv-r himf.lf to be cut ill pieces, than to act againft the legulations of his king. It is however told, that the inlu biianis on the riOilhtrn cujil are not quite fo docile, and therefore lefs obfequioin. § An Icelander ncvir palTes a river, or any other dangerous place, without previously taking off his hat, and imploiing divine protection; and he is aUvays thankful for the prottcli^ju of G>>d, wh«a he has paflVJ the danger in fecurity. 40a ownei 652 VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. owned not entirely free from fuperfiition. They have an inexprcffible attachment for their native country, and are no where fo happy. An Icelander, therefore, rarely fettles in Copenhagen, though ever fo advantageous conditlijns flioulJ be oft'ered him *. On the other hand, one cannot afcribe any great indaflry to them ; they work on in the manner they are once ufed to, without thinking of ufeful improvements. Perhaps this defed lies more with the government, which being unacquainted with the nature of the country, did not make the neceflary difpofitions and regulations for creating and encouraging induflry. They are not cheerful in converfation, but hmple and credulous, and have no averfion to a bottle if they can find opportunity ; but it may eafily be con- ceived, that this is not to be underflood of all without exception. When they meet together, their chief pafliine confifts in reading their hiifory (faugulcjlur) ; the mafler of the houfe makes the beginning, and the reft continue in their turns when he is tired. Some of them know thefe Itories by heart, others have them in print, and thofe that have not, have them in writing. One of thefe palfimes is rumiilcjlur, confiding in the recita- tion of fome verfes, which fometimes are indifferently fung. They befides amufe them- felves in their meetings with what they call wikc-waka, where a man and woman take one another by the hand, and by turns fing ftanzas, which are a kind of dialogue, and to which the company fometimes join in chorus. This however affords little amufe- ment to a ftranger, as they generally fing very bad, without obferving time, or any other grace, particularly as they have not the lead knowledge of the modern improve- ments in mufic f . To their diverfions likevvife belongs that called glaeder, where one among them is dif- guifed ; ringbrud^ where ten or twelve men join hands, and form a ring in dancing ; and it is reckoned a great dexterity to break through the ring, without defiroying their or- der ; gUmu-UJiy which has been mentioned before, and means wreftling ; hnati-kikury or playing with bowls on the ice ; hjlrldin, or riding races for a wager, &c. &c. They are famous at playing at chels, and had formerly two forts of tliis game ; one of which •vid&Qd.Wtdjungfrufchacb (ladies chefs), and the other riddare fchach\ (knight's chefs) : at prefent only the lad is cuftomary. They alfo amufe themfelvcs with kotra (a game at tables), they play on it togtadilla or olofsiaji, when the men are ranged blind- fold, without dice, according to an old fong which muft be faid by heart. Befides thefe games they have others called Mylna Farhigar-tafl, and Goda-tafl. They alfo play fome * It feems that Providence wifely inlliUed into the human heart the love of that foil whereon a man is torn, and probably with a view that thofe places, which aie not favoured by nature with her choiceft blef- fmgs, may not be left without inhabitants. It may he affirmed with fume degree of ceitainty, that the love of one's native place increafts in an inverfe ratio of its having received favours from nature. A French- man feldom or never feels thnt lunging dcfjre for liis home, which all Swedes are fenfible of. A peafant of Scania (a rich country in a mild climate) eats his hally pudding (the favourite difli in Scania) with equal pl<:afufe and enjoyment in whatever place it be ; but a native of Elfredahl and Sasrna (places illfuvouitd by na ure) tl.iiiks his brtad made of (lour, mixed wiilithebaik cf trees i 1 his own country r.ioie preferable to the beft diflies he eats in the low country. The chiefcft with of a Switzer is to die in his own country. V.Mieii a Swit/er in the French arujy fung a certain long to his countrymen in the la!l war, there arofe in the breads of nil that heard liim fuch a dileafc like longing tot their native country, th.it it became abfo- lutely nectfl ry to the French generals to give the llriftelt injunctions, that this fong (hould never he heard again in the can. p. This will appevr called /'n'/rt, with two firings made of liorfes hair; both are played by a bow. 1 likewifc iieardK)f another inlliument ealK-dj^m/^'*", but 1 never could get a fight of it. I Vide Letter of Ainus Maguauo to Widalin, communicated to me in manufcript by Mr. Thorotti. games VON TROfL's LETTERS ON ICELAND. 6^^ games at cards, called Alkort, Handkarrer^Tru-fpill, and Pamphile; all thefc games are merely for amulement, fince they never play for money, which feeins however to have been formerly cudoinary among them, fince in one of their old laws a line is deftiued for thofe who Ihould play for money. LETTER VII. — TO chevalier ihre. Of the Drefs of the Icelanders. Stockholm, Sept. 6, 1774. The Icelanders have made very few alterations, if any, in their drefs in modem times. It is not elegant or ornamental, but yet neat, cleanly, and fuited to the cli- mate. The men all wear a linen fhirt next to the Ikin, with a Ihort jacket, and wide pair of breeches over it. When they travel they wear another fhort coat (hanpa) over it. All this is made of coarfe black cloth {lundmal') ; only the inhabitants on the north fide of Arnarfioi-d wear white clothes. On the head they wear large three cor- nered hats, and worfted {lockings, and Icelandic flioes on their feet. Some of them have fhoes from Copenhagen, but as they are rather too dear for them, they generally make their own flioes, Ibmetimes of ox hide, but nioltly of fheep's leather : the manner in which they make them is this ; they cut a fquare piece of leather, rather wider than the length of the foot, this they few up at the toes, and behind the heel, and tie it on with leather thongs. Thefe fhoes are convenient enough where the country is level ; but it would be very difficult for us, who are not ufed to them, to go with them amongft the rocks and flones, though the Icelanders do it with great eafe. I Ihall fpeak of their fifliing clothes afterwards. The women likewife are always drefTed in black wadmal : they wear a bodice over their fliifts, which are fewed up at the bofom ; and above this a jacket laced before, with long narrow fleeves reaching down to the wrifls. In the opening on the fide of the fleeve they have buttons of chafed filvcr, with a plate fixed to each button, on which the lover, when he buys them in order to prel'ent them to his miftrefs, takes care to have his name and her's engraved. At the top of the jacket a little black collar is fixed (Jinittir) of about three inches broad, of velvet or filk, and frequently trimmed with gold cord. The petticoat is likewife of uadmal, and reaches down to the ancles. Round the top of it is a girdle of filver, or fome other metal, to which they fallen the apron {J'wmte), which is aifo of wadmal, and ornamented at top with buttons of chafed filver. Over this drefs they wear a hcjupa, or upper-drefs, nearly refembling that of the peafants at Wingaker in Sweden, with this dilierence, that it is wider at bottom • this is clofe at the neck and wrifts, and a hand's breadth fhorter than the petticoat. It is adorned with a facing down to the very bottom, w hich looks like cut velvet, and is generally wove by the Icelandic women. On their fingers they wear gold, filver, or brafs rinj^s. Their head-drefs confilts of feveral cloths wrapped round the head, al- mofl; as high again as the face ; it is tied fall with a handkerchief, and ferves more for warmth than ornament : girls are not allowed to wear this head-drefs before they are manageable. At their wedd'ngs they are adorned in a very particular manner : the bride wears clofe to the face, round her head-drefs, a crown of filver gilt. She has two chains round her neck, one of which hangs down very low before, and the other refts on her fhoulders. Bcfides thefe fhe wears a lefTer chain, from, which a little heart gene- rallv hangp, which niay be opened to put bairan\or fome other kind of perfume into it. 'i'hc drel's here delcribtd is worn by all the Icelandic women, high and low, without exception j with this difference, that the poorer fort have it of coarfe ivadmal, with 6 ornaments 654 VON TROIL*S LETTERS ON ICELAND. ornaments of brafs ; and thofe that are eafier in their circuraftances, of broad clo th, with fdver ornaments gilt. I faw one of thefe drefles, which belonged to the bailiff's vile, und was worth at lead three hundred dollars. Perhaps it would not bedifagree- able to perufe a lilt of the different articles which compofe an Icelandic woman's drefs, one of which Mr. Banks bought, in order to take to England, with his other Icelandic colleftions. RIx Dol. Shil. Dan. Hcmpa ("upper drefs) . - - Hattve (travelling hat) Upphlutitr (bodice) - - - Svinta (apron) Treja (jacket) - - - Mallinda (girdle) - ^ Fat (petticoat) Kjcdja (chain) Laiifa pnonar (bodkins ornamented with filver) Kojfur (fdlet) Erma knappar (fleeve-buttons) ^en vctUngar (rough gloves) Aubreida (a cloth to wrap their clothes in) LETTER VIII. — TO chevalier ihre. Of the llotifis and Biiildings of the Icelanders. Stockholm, Sept. 14. 1774. The houfes of the Icelanders are not alike throughout the country. According to fome defcriptions, they are tolerable on the north fide of the iiland ; but on that part of Iceland which I have feen, they were all extremely bad, excepting thofe of the go- vernor at BeiTeftedr, the phyfician's at Seltiarnarnes, and the Iheriff's at Wido, which were built of ftone at the king's expence. In fome parts the dwellings and other buildings of the Icelanders ore made of drift-wood, in others they are raifed of lava, almolf in the fame manner as the flone-walls we make for inclofures, with mofs ftaffed between the lava. In fome houfes the walls are wainfcotted on the infide. The roof is covered \^■ith fods laid over rafting, or fometimes over ribs of whales, which is both more durable and more expcnfive than wood. The timber-work refts on many beams laid length-ways. The walls are about three yards high, and the entrance fomewhat lower. The plan of one of thefe houfes is here annexed, to give a better idea of it. 4 • 5 2 24 6 4 3 6 8 4 6 2 I 24 4^ 4 5Z 46 (a) is VON TROil/s M-.TTKRS ON ICELAND. 6^^ (a) is the door or entrance of the long lobby ; (bbb) is about fix feet broad, and ad- mits the light through ibme holes in the roof, upon which a hoop, with a fkin ftretehed over it, is laid. At the end of the lobby is a room ( c) where the women do their work, and wliere the mafler of the houfe generally fleepn with his wife. The walls of this rooln arc wainfcoted ; it has a ceiling and iioor, fometimes even fmall glafs v/in- dows, but no fire-place. On both fides of this long lobby are four rooms, two on each fide, of which (d) is tlic Idtchcn, (e) the room made ufe of to eat in, (fj tha dairy, and (g) the fervant's room : thefe rooms have neither ceilings nor floors, and the walls are feldoni or nev^r lined. The windows are made of the chorion (itkiiar- btigur) andf;ninios of flieep (^■vrJzbe/gur), or ths membranes which furround the womb of the ewe. '1 hefc are ftretched over a hoop, and laid over an opening in the roor, upon which a wooden fhutter is let down, if the weather be ftormy. Tiiey have not even a chimney in the kitchens, and only lay their fuel between three (tones, and th;; fmoke iflues from a fquare hole in the roof. Befides this houfe, they have a booth or filed to keep their filh in (^comma), fometimes another for their clothes, &c. &c. anJ not far off the (fable for their cattle. In the poorer fort of houfes, they employ fjr the windows the inner membrane of the (fomach of animals, and which tiiey call Jlicsna ; this is not fo tranfparent as the beforementioned membrane. LETTER IX. — TO mrs. carlson. Of the Food of the Icelanders. Gothenburg, ]\Iarch 20. Though it cannot afford any great p!er.fure to examine the manner in which the- Icelanders prepare their food, particularly after having fo lately tailed at your table all the dainties of the four parts of the globe ; I will, neverthelefs, perform my promiic in communicating to you a defcripiion of it. iMethinks I fee you fometimes difdaining- their di(hes ; but, I aflure ycu, an Icelander is not lefs happy for being unable to feafon his food wuh the produdions of a diftant climate ; he is content with what nature af- fords him, fatisfies the cravings of his ftomach, and enjoys his health, whihl we fre- quently furfeit ourfelves by feafling on delicacies, and loathe the mod wholefome food. Tile larders and pantries of the Icelanders are feldoni fo well (lored as to contain every one of the articles at one time, which I am going to mention ; fome of them, however, they mull be abfolutely provided with, as their food entirely confilts of the following articles. Bread of feveral forts, chiefly four blfcuit * from Copenhagen ; but they have not much of tliis, as it is too dear for. them ; they content themfelves therefore with pro- viding it for weddings, and other entertainments. Some, infiead of it bake themfelvcs bread of flour of rye, though they likewife get fome from Copenhagen. The maantr • In moll northern countries the inhabitants live on rye bread ; the flour taken to prepare it is feliiom bolted, ar.d it is commonly prepared with four ferment or Itven, wliich gives the bread an acidulated tafte, difagreeable, and refilling the llomachs of weait perfons, but palatable and ivholtfome to thofe of a ilrong conlUtution. 'j.'he four pafle communicates an agreeable ac idity to this bread; and ns tiie northern cli- mates, on account of their long winters, and rhc confinement of pet)ple in heated rooms fall ot noxious efflu- via, as well on account of the chiefly fidt-meat diet of the inh.i'- tants, make tlie people inclir.ed to the fcurvy; this acidulated bread, tlie four crout. and in Ruffia their four drink called G«(i/>, afford fuclv powerful antiftptics, th.ii with the diet here defcribed, the fcurvy feldom or ever gains ground among the people. Thefe t> ur bifcuits, no doubt, arc likewife made of rye flour, or of rye and wheat mixed together, ground without bolting, and acidulated by fermentation with (our levea. 10 ia gqS " VON TROIl's LETTERS ON ICELANP. in which they bake it is thus : the flour is mixed with feme fermented whey (fyra), and kneaded into dough, of which they make cakes one foot in breadth, and three inches thick ; thefe are boiled in water or whey, and then dried on a hot ftonc, or an iron plate. Flour of Fidl^rds (rock-grafs* ), a cafk of which well cleaned and packed cofls a rix- dollar ; it is fidl wafhed, and then cut into fmall pieces by fome, though the greater number dry it by fire or the fun, then put it into a bag, in which it is well beaten, and laftly worked into flour by ftamping. Flour oi Kornfyra \ is prepared in the fame manner, as well as tlie two other forts of wild corn meli(r\, by feparating it from thechafl^,by pounding, and laftly grinding it. Sttrt fmoer (four butter). The Icelanders feldom make ule of frelh or fait butter, but let it grow four before they eat it : in this manner it may be kept twenty years, and even longer ; and the Icelanders look upon it as more wholefome and palatable than the butter ufed amongfl; us. It is reckoned better the older it grows, and one pound of it then is as much valued as two pounds of trefh butter. Siring, or whey boiled to the confilfence of four milk, and preferved for the winter. Fifli of all kinds, both dried in the fun and in the air, and either faked or in winter frozen : tho'e prepared in the laft manner are preferred by many. The flefli of bears, flieep, and birds, which is partly falted, partly hung or fmoaked, and fome preferved in caflis, with four fermented whey poured over it. Mifoji, or v^hey boiled to cheefe, which is very good. But the art of making other kinds of good cheefe is loft, though fome tolerably palatable is fold in the ealt quarter of Iceland. Bcina J}rhig, bones and cartilages of beef and mutton, likewife bones of cod, boiled in whey, till they are quite dilTolved ; they are then left to ferment, and are eat wilh- n^ilk. Sk)'r, the curds from which the whey is fqueezed, are preferved in cafks, or other veflels ; they are fometimes mixed with black crow-berries, {cmpctriim baLxis 7iigris) or juniper berries, and are likewife eat with new milk. Syra is four whey, kept in caflis, and left to ferment, which, however, is not thought fit for ufe till it is a year old. Blanda is a liquor made of water, to which a twelfth part of/yi-a is added. In winter It is mixed with the juice of thyme, and of the black crow-berries, or the empelnon nigrum. They likewife eat many vegetables §, fome of which grow wild, and others are cul- tivated ; as alfo fliell-fini || and mufl:irooms ^. The * Lichen Iflanilicus, FI. Snec. 1085. Fl. Lappon. 145. \ Poly^'oniini Eillorta. J (1) Arunda areiiarai, (i) arundo follorum lateribiis convoliiti's. \ The following catalogue of plants ufcd for food in Iceland is taiten from lliejonrnev of l.'ggert Olaf- fcn: Rumex acetofa, in the Icelandic language called - Sura. - - - digynus, - . - 0!,:/s Sum. - - - patientia, ... He'imis imk. Taraxacum, - - • Aeitt fifill. Carex Lin. plnp;uicnla, Lifia grai, ufed againft the dyfentery. Trifoliuni pratenfe floic albo. Potcntilla argentea, A'lura. PI ntago mjiitima Li N. foliis Hnearlhus, - Kotlar:un^a. Angeliea aichaiigclira, Huonn ; JElle kuonn. Lichen Iflandicus, F'talla graus. - • Lichenoides, Khuungur. Lichen VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. - 657 The Icelanders In general eat three meak a day, at feven in the morning, at two ia the afternoon, and at nine in the evening. In the morning and evening they commonly eat curds mixed with new milk, and fometimes with juniper berries, and thole of empetrum nigrum. In fome parts they alfo have pottage of fialgras, which, I allure you, is very palatable ; vallidnifli, or curdled milk, boiled till it becomes of a red colour ; fciddmijolk, or new milk, boiled a long while. At dinner, their food confids of dried tifli, with plenty of four butter. They alfo fometimes eat frefh fifli, and, when pofllble, a little bread and checfe with them. It is reported by fome, that they do not eat any fifli till it is quite rotten ; this report, per- haps, proceeds from their being fond of it when a little tainted : they however, fre- quently eat fifli which is quite frefli, though in the fame manner as the reft of their food, often without fait. On Sunday, and in harveft-tlme, they have broth made of meat, which Is often boiled infyra^ inftead of water j and in winter they eat hung or dried meat. Their common beverage is milk, either warm from the cow, or cold, and fometimes boiled : they likewife make butter-milk, with or without water. On the coafts they generally drink Mr/ztfe *, and four milk ; which Is fold, after it is fklmmed, at two - fifths of a rix-dollar a calk : fome likewife fend for beer from Copenhagen, and fome others brew their own. A few of the principal inhabitants alfo have claret and coffee. The common people fometimes drink a kind of tea, which they make from the leaves of Holta-follyg t and Spudwell |. This is the ufual manner of life In Iceland. In all countries the living of the poor differs effentlally from that of the rich ; and If an Iceland gentleman can afford to eat meat, butter, fliark, and whale, the peafants are obliged to content themfelves with fifli, blanda, milk, pottage of rock-grafs, and belna-Jlriug. Though the Icelanders cannot in general be fnid to be in want of neceffary aliment, yet the country has feveral times been vlfited by great famines : thefe, however, have been chiefly owing to the Green- land floating-Ice, which, when it comes in great quantities, prevents the grafs from growing, and puts an entire ftop to their fifliing. I need not acquaint you, that we were not neceflltated to fubmit to their manner of life during our ftay in Iceland. Inllead of blanda we drank port, and feveral other • In tlie Elfdalln of Wermeland in Sweden, the common beverage of the country people is milk, mixed with water, and called by thtm Blanda. f Dryas oftopetala. % Veronica ofTicinales. Lichen Coraloides, Krada, Niveus, Martu^grm. - - Leprofus, Ceilna-Jhnf. Arundo Areaaria, Melur. . - folionmi lateribus convolutis. Cochlearia, Sharfa-kaal. Plantago anguftifolia, Sclgreje. Epilobium tertagonum, Purj)ura-llomJ}ur. Polygonum blftorta, Kornfura. Sifymbtium, Lin. K altar -ha! [am. II Veiilrofa ctafTa, KuJicfjMkuJiel. Domiporta, Kudurigur, kujuiigur, kungur. Mytulus, Kratlingur. - - - Major, Ada. •J Agaricus caulefccns, pileo albo, JEtte-fveps. . - - fupra pileo piano, JEttc-Jvepr. < - lubconvcxo, Reyde-kula. - - - of an unknown fort, Bleiiula. VOL. I. I ■ 4 P forts g^8 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. forts of good wine ; and a French copk prepared for us fome favoury diflies, and ex- cellent puddings. However, as we wiflied to try every thing, we prevailed upon the phyfician Blame Paulfen, who had invited us to dinner, to entertain us after the Icelandic manner. We did not forget the good Swedifh cuftom of taking a glafs of brandy before dinner, which was here genuine ; we had only once Danifli diftilled corn-brandy, which was ferved up with bifcuit, cheefe, and four butter. In the middle of the table was placed a difli with dried filh cut fmall ; the other diflies were a piece of good roaft mutton, broth with/ym, and a difh of falmon-trouts, &c. &c. We eat with a very good appe- tite ; but the four butter and dried fifli were not often applied to : on the whole, we eat a greater quantity of bread than the Icelanders generally do. So elegant an entertainment could not be without a defert ; and for this purpofe fome flefli of whale and fliark {hjfkal') was ferved. This is either boiled or dried in the air, looks very much like rulty bacon; and had fo difagreeable a tafte, that the fmall quantity we took of it, drove us from the table long before our intention. Moll probably you already thank me for my entertainment, and are happy to fee the end of my letter. LETTER X. — TO chevalier ihre. Of the Employment of the Icelanders, and their Chronology. Stockholm, Sept. 6, 1774. The Icelanders principally attend to fifliing, and the care of their cattle. On the coafts the men employ their time in fifliing, both fumnier and winter ; on their return home, when they have drawn and cleaned their fifli, they give them to their wives, whofe care it is to dry them. In the winter, when the inclemency of the weather prevents them from fifliing, they are obliged to take care of their cattle, and fpin wool. In fummer they mow the grafs, dig turf, provide fuel, go in fearch of fheep and goats that were gone ailray, and kill cattle. They likewife full their zvadmat, or coarfe cloth ; for which purpofe they make ufe of urine, which they alfo employ in walhing and bucking, inftead of foap and pot aflies. The men likewife prepare leather, for which they ufe maid-ttrt (fpiraca ulmaria) inftead of birch-rind. Some few work in gold and filver, and others are inftrucTted in mechanics, in which they are tolerable proficients. As a proof of this, I need only mention a fledge which a peafant contrived fome years ago in the form of a fliip with fails, and large enough to contain four or five per- fons, that would fail in the winter fcaion, in an even country. Unluckily two of his fons, in failing home from church, overturned, and broke the whole carriage to pieces. On the weft fide of the country they make veflels of floating wood, large enough to contain from three to twelve tons, and make their charge according to the fizeof the veffel, from four to fix dollars. The women prepare the fifli, take care of the cattle, manage the milk and the wool, few, fpin, and gather eggs and down. When they work in the evening, they ufe, in- ftead of an hour-glafs, a lamp, with a wick made oi' fva (epilobium) dipt in train-oil, which is fo contrived as to burn four, fix, or eight hours. Their VON TROIL'S LETTERS ON ICELAND. Scn Their u-ork is In fome nieafure determined by their bya-lag, or by-laws * of their vil- lages, in which the quantity of work they arc bound to perform in a day is prefcribed to them : they fcldoni do fo mucli work now, fo that it is called only mcdelmmu vdrk, or the work of a man of middling ftrength. According to this prefcription, a man is to mow as much hay in one day, as grows on thirty fathoms fquare of manured foil, or forty fathoms fquare of land not manured, or he is obliged to dig feven hundred pieces ot turf eight feet long and three broad. If fo much fnow falls as to reach to the horfes bellies, which they call quedfn'w, he is to clear away daily the fnow for a hundred flieep. A woman is to rake together as much hay as three men can mow, or to weave three yards of ivadmal a-day. The wages of a man are fixed at four dollars, and twelve yards of ivadmn! ; and thofe of a woman at two dollars, and five yards oiwadmal. When men are fent a fifli- ing out of the country, there is allowed to each man, by the bya-lag, from the twenty- fifth of September to the fourteenth of May, fix pounds of butter, and eighteen pounds of dried fifh every vi-eek. This may appear to be too great an allowance ; but it mull be remembered, that they have nothing befides to live upon. When they are at home, and can get milk, &c. &c. every man receives only five pounds of dried fifh, and three quarters of a pound of butter a-week. As the divifion of time among the Icelanders is not determined according to the courfe of the fun, but by their work, this is perhaps the mod proper place to fay fomething of it. Though they have, like us, four different feafons, they only count two ; the fummer, which begins the Thurfday before the fixteenth of April ; and the winter commences on the Friday before the eighteenth of Odober. During the firfl; feafon they perform their fuinmer-work, and in the latter attend to their winter amufe- ments. Thefe two feafons are afterwards divided into twelve months, as with us, which have their common names ; but in antient records, and among the lower clafs of people, are called, \, Midfvetrar. 2. Fo/lugangs 7iu ^. lafndaegra 7n. 4. Stwiarm. ^. Fat' daga m. 6. JNbttleyfu m. 7. Midfwnar m. 8. Heyauna m. 9. Jdrafta m. 10. Slaairnnar m. 11. Ridtidar 7n. \2. Skam?ndeigris m. Day and night are not divided into a certain number of hours, but into the following divifions : Otta is with them three o'clock in the morning ; Midur morgon or Herdis rifmal, five o'clock ; Dag- wfl/, half paft eight ; Haadeye, eleven; iS'bwi, three in the afternoon ; Midur a/iofi, Cix. in the morning ; Nattmall, eight ; and Midnatt, twelve o'clock at night. When they want to know what o'clock it is, they attend to the courfe of the fun, and the flux and reflux of the fea ; but generally they make ufe of an art to difcover the fun by their fingers. Watches are very rare among them j every pealant, how. ever, has an hour-glafs. * •' By-laws are faid to be orders made in court-leets or court barons, by common afTent, for the good of thofe that make them, farther than the public law binds." yllleibury. Sec jfo/jn/on's Diif. Though this may probably be the prefent meaning of the word By-law, it is not, however, tlie original meaning of the word ; for it is derived from the old Saxon word by or byt, ilgnifying a town, from tlie Gothic word lo, to inhabit ; and agreeable to this are many Englifti names of towns, vl/. y/jh-l/y, ll^/.il-Ly, Sec. Sec. Hy-laiv, theiefore, fignified formerly laws made by townfhips, and by diftriits belonging to a town, or to a leet, which amounted fometimcs to a third part of a (hire. Thefe laws were mnde by common alfent, and for tl'.e good of tliofe that made them, which is, or ought to be, the chief aim of all laws, and they extend farther than the public law binds ; bccaufe the law of the land mull be general, and cannot provide for all particular cafes ot fingle towns and dillrifts. The fpecial regulations and rcHriflions, therefore, made by the common alTent of the towns-people, for the common good of that particid.'.r town, beyond the law of the land, are ^^•Aj'rt'x, laws of the iy' or toivn. The Icelandic word bya-hi^. fignifies l.Tws of villages or townfhips ; and it confirms the fignification wc have given to the Engliih word by-law. 4 p 2 LETTER 66o VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. LETTER XI. — TO chsvalier bach. Of the Difcafcs in Icclatid. Stockholm. 0£t. i, 1775. You require, Sir, that I fhould give you fome account of the difeafes comnTon in Ice- land. I will obey your commands, though it is more the province of a phyfician to undertake the fubjeft, as it requires fo much exaftncfs and penetration. As I have been fo happy as to be unacquainted with any dii'eafe from my own ex- perience, I have as little endeavoured to gain any knowledge by reading fuch books as treat of them ; you will therefore pardon me if my account is not very perfect. The climate of the country, and the purity of the air, contribute very much to make the Icelanders ftrong and healthy, though their food and way of life frequently pro- duce the contrary effeft. Young children, for example, are not fuckled more than two or three days, and afterwards brought up with cows milk, which, in times of dearth, is mixed with flour and water. I remember to have heard, that this is alfo cuftomary in fome parts of Finland ; but a diflerent manner of living may render that unwholefome in Iceland, which is lefs dan- gerous in another place : and I think I may fafely venture to affirm, that the food and mode of living in Iceland do not contribute to the ftrength of the inhabitants. One feldom meets with any of them above fifty or fixty years of age, and the greater part are attacked in their middle age by many grievous complaints. It is remarkable that among the female fex, who there, as almoll every where elfe, live to a greater age than the men, thofe particularly attain to an advanced life who have had many children. There are a great many of this clafs, as the women are com- monly very fruitful ; and it is no rare thing to meet with a mother who has had twelve or fifteen children. Among the difeafes that are moft prevalent, the fcurvy (^Skyrbuigar) is the mofl common. In fome, it makes its appearance in the fame manner as with us, but in others it produces the moft dreadful fymptoms, and is then called liktraad, or leprofy, which, however, differs from that horrid difeafe fo common in the Eaft. Its firft ap- pearances are, fwellings in the hands and feet, and fometimcs alfo in other parts of the body ; the fkin becomes fliining and of a bluifh caft, the hair falls off, the fight, tafte, fmell, and feeling are weakened, and often quite loft ; biles appear on the arms, legs, and face ; rofpiration becomes difficult, and the breath fatid ; aching pains are felt in all the joints, a breaking-out fpreads over the whole body, and is at laft converted into wounds, which generally terminate in death. The Icelanders make nfe of antiicorbutic decoftions, likewife baths, with turnips boiled in them ; but chiefly mercurial remedies, by means of which the difeafe may be removed in its beginning. 1'hls difeafe is not contagious, but very obftinatc ; and it is remarkable, that two generations may be entirely free from it, when it fliall appear in the third. It does not always prove mortal, though many are tormented with it twenty or thirty years. _ * The gout (jorviirk) moft men have in their hands who go out a-fifliing probably bc- caufc they are obliged to handle and manage the wet fifliing tackle in cold weather. The VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. 66t The St. Anthony's fire, in Icelandic a ama, is pretty common. They make ufe of earth-worms (anamadkiir) to cure it, which they bind alive on the wounded part ; and when they become dry, others are applied till the difeafeis removed. _ The jaundice, in Icelandic gmt/J'ot ; the fever, kvefsot ; the pleuril'y, tiik, which is fometimes infcdious, and then is called landfarfot, or an infedious difeafc, is frequently got by cold ; lownefs of fpirits, carcinoma infantum, in Icelandic krabbc, a atumcin the fpleen, and obftruftions, are very common. In later years the rickets made their ap- pearance; and the venereal difeafc was not known among them till the year 1753. Befides the antifcorbutic plants, which arc to be found in plenty in Iceland, they have a number of hot baths, which are of great benefit in the cure of thefe difeafes. There is an apothecary's (hop eftabliflied on the ifland, and four hofpitals for the poor •and leprous, the care of which is committed to their molt (kilful phyficians, with proper alliflants. LETTER XII. — TO chevalier ihre. OfFijlnng and Foivling, and the Breed of Cattle in Iceland. Stockholm, Odober 3, 1774. The inhabitants who live near the coafis employ themfelves nearly all the year in filhing ; and even thofe who live in the inland parts of the country come to the fea- fhore at certain feafons of the year. Every mailer of a family has a particular fifiilng- drefs, and is obliged to furnifh one to his fervant as foon as he puts out to fea. They are made of fheep or calves flsins, which, in manufafturing, are frequently rubbed over with train-oil. They confift of the following articles : leiflrahrakur are breeches and (lockings all in a piece, which come up pretty high above the hips, and are laced on very tight ; Jlackur, a wide jacket fafl:ened round the neck and the middle of the waifl ; taatillar, or coarfe fulled {lockings, or fliff worfled ; and fjofkor, or water-flioes, of thick leather. Their boats are commonly fmall, and only contain from one to four men, with thefe they fifli near the fliore ; but with their larger boats, which are made to contain from twelve to fixteen men, and are provided with fails, they frequently venture from four to eight miles from the fhore. In thefe veffels they always carry a man extraordinary, whom they cdllformann. He fits at the helm ; and the others, who are called haafcttcrs, obey his commands. At his call they all aflcmble at an appointed time near the veflel, provided with knives, fifhing- lines, and other proper tackle : they make ufe of fhells, and fometimes the flefh of qua- drupeds and birds for bait. I, As foon as the boat is off the fliore, they all take oft' their hats and caps, pray for good fuccefs, and recommend themfelves to the divine proteftion by a prayer and hymn, which they call vararfaungiir, and then fland out to fea. As foon as they are come to a place where they expefl: a good draught, two of them fit down at the helm, to pre- vent the boat's being moved out of its place by the current, and to take care that the filhing-lincs are not entangled. In this manner they continue fifliing the whole day ; and when the boat will not contain any more fi(h, they cut off the heads of all the fifli they have caught, which they throw into the fea, together with their entrails. This not only enables them to carry a greater number of lifli afliore, but alio invites many infeds to the place, which affords good bait. it ' At 6(52 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. , At their return all the fifli are brought afliore, and divided into equal fhares : one fhare belongs to the owner of the boat, though he fliould not be out at fea with them, and this is cxWcd /A'ij>leiga (^fiipjhire) ; another is given to him who fat at the helm ; a third to him who governed the fails ; in a word, every fifher gets a fhare. But this equal dlvifion is only made with thefmaller fifli ; for if any one in the boat is fo fortu- nate as to catch a turbot or other valuable fifli, it is immediately cut into pieces, and the three beft given to him who caught it. As foon as they have thus Ihared them, eveiy one cuts off the heads of his fifli, draws them, and after cutting them up from top to bottom on the fide of the belly, takes out the back-bone from that part where it is fixed to the head, down to the third joint below the heart. If the weather be fuch as to give them hopes of drying their fifh next day, they lay them with the flefhy fide facing one another ; but if the -weather is unfavour- able, they lay [the pieces on a heap with the fkinny fide uppermoft, and this they call lagga i kafe ; if they lie too long in this pofition (one above another) they fpoil, and are then fold to the merchants at a lower price, under the denomination of kafadjijh. When the weather is fair, thefe pieces are fpread feparately on flones, or on the fliore, and are frequently turned by the women, till they are entirely dry ; this often requires a fort- night's time, and fometimes more. The fifh prepared in this manner are called fiat- fjkur Cflat-fifh). In fome parts they do not dry the fifh on flones or on the fhore ; but after they have ripped them up, place them in rows on flones which are laid crofs-wife in a houfe built for that purpofe ; thefe huts are called hiallur in Iceland, and fomewhat refemble the Iheds in which fmiths Ihoe horfes. Thefe fifh are called hengi-fijkur, or hung-fifh. The fifli they principally catch is cod, of which they have feveral different forts, under the names of ihyrj/i-liugur, npfe, ijk, l^t^gf^ kcrla, &c. &c. Befides thefe they have foles, flounders, herrings, falmon, falmon-trout, trouts, and feveral others. Of the trouts it has been obferved, that when they come up the rivers and brooks, and approach the hot fprings, they are fond of flaying in the lukewarm water, where they grow fo fat as to be fcarcely eatable. It is unneceffary to fay that the feas, as well as the rivers and lakes, abound with fifh : I will therefore only mention the whale, of which there are feveral forts, divided by the natives into two claffes, thofe with and thofe without tuflcs. The firfl are again divided \r\io fiidisjijkiir, fmooth-bellied, and reydarjijliur^ or wrinkle- bellied. Among the Jkidis fjkur, who have whale-bone inftead of teeth, ih&JIettbakr, whofe back is flat, is the largefl ; and fome have been caught one hundred yards in length. The hnufiibakr has a hump on his back, and is next in fize, being from feventy to eighty yards long.- Of all the known whales, the Jlci/>ercidur, which belongs to the clafs of the rcydarfijlur^ is thought to be the largefl, as there are fome one hundred and twenty yards in length. Then follow the hrafn reydur and the andarnefia ; they are all confidered as very dainty food ; and the Icelanders fay, the flefli has the tafle of beef. The whales which have teeth inflead of whalebone, are alfo divided into two claffes, thofe that are eatable and thofe that are not. To the firfl clafs belong the hn^fen, hny. dingur, humifijkur ^ and haahyrningur : to the lafl, to which the name of illwhale (bad whales) is given, are reckoned the rodkammingtir and Jiaahvalur. Thefe are forbidden as food by fome ancient regulations, and particularly by the church laws. The Ice- landers believe that the firfl fort are very fond of human flefli, and therefore avoid fifh- ing in fuch places where they appear. The other kinds of whales are fometimes flruck with harpoons, and fometimes caught with nets. The Icelanders, however, feldom venture to attack the larger ones, as their 5t boats VON TROIL S LETTERS ON ICELAND. 66t boats are fniall, and they unprovided with inftruments proper for that purpofe. They ftand in fo great dread of fonie of them, that when out at fca they are afraid to mention even their names, and carry dung, brimeftone, juniper-wood, and fome other articles of the fame nature in their boats, in order to terrify and prevent their too near approach. Notwithftanding, it now and then happens that they catch fome of the largcfl: fort, which is done when the fifli approach too near the fhore at high water, and are unable to return as faft as the water ebbs, where they are killed with flones and lances. In this manner they had cauglit a large whale the year before our arrival at liafnefiord. To their fifhery likewife may be I'eckoned the catching of liadop, which is very confi- derable in fome parts. They have four forts of them, rojitingiir, vadc-fdur, blaudu-fcUer, and gran-felur. They are fatteil in winter, and yield three or four pounds of fat, of which each pound produces feven quarts of oil : in fummer, on the contrary, they are very lean. Their flefli is eaten, and their fat fold at five yards a pound. The fkin is fold by weight, at the rate of fixty yards for twenty pounds. Though the fituation of Iceland renders it extremely proper for fifliing, the fifhery has decreafed very much lately ; which is partly owing to the many foreign fliips which yearly come to fifh in thofe parts, and partly to the want of men, as the number of people has decreafed greatly. But I believe the chief caufe is the monopoly of the trading company, which very much oppreffes the country. If the people had more encouragement, there would be more emulation and diligence amongfl them than at prefent ; for they are obliged to fell a vaett, or five pounds of dried fifli to the company, at the rate of five-fixths of a dollar, which they fell in Ham- borough, where the greateft part of what is caught in Iceland is ufually fent, for five banco-dollars. Next to fifliing the principal fupport of the Icelanders is the breeding of cattle. Their beeves are not large, but very fat and good. It has been reported by fome, though without foundation, that there are none among them with horns : it is true, however, that they feldom have any. They keep their large cattle at home in their yards the greater part of the year, thou"-h fome have places appropriated to them in the mountains, which they call fati-, where they fend their cattle during the fummer, till the hay harveft is over. They have a herdfman to attend them, and two women to milk them, and make butter and cheel'e. It is common to meet with oxen running wild about the mountains, which are however drove home in autumn, as every one knows his own by a particular mark put upon them. The principal food of the cattle is hay, and they reckon a ftack of hay for a cow's winter provifion ; one (tack confifts of thirty cocks of hay grown on manured land, and forty cocks grown on unmanured land. When there is a fcarcity of fodder, they feed them in fome parts with Jlecnl/itr, a kind of fiflij which, together with the heads and bones of cod, is beaten fmall, and mixed with one quarter of chopped hay. The cattle are fond of it, and yield a good deal of milk after it ; but yet it is faid to have a bad tafte : they only make ufe of this food in time of need. Their cows yield four quarts of milk a day, though they have fome that give from eight to fourteen in twenty-four hours. A cow that yields from fix quarts is reckoned a good one, and muft not ftand dry above three weeks before flie calves. A young calf is fed with milk for ten days or a fortnight, afterwards the milk is mixed with water and chopped hay, and at laft they give it whey inflead of milk. The ufual price of a cow, as well as of a horfe, is one hundred and twenty yards, thirty of which make a dollar. However, fometimes the better fort of horfes are fold for 664 "^'ON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. for eight or ten dollars. They have yet Icfs trouble with their horfes than their cows ; for though Ibme faddle-horfes are kept in ilables during winter, the greater number of thcni are obliged to provide for their own fublilVence, and when they cannot find this on land, they go in fearch of fea-weeds on the coafls ; but when a great quantity of fnovr has fallen, the natives are obliged to clear it away for them. There is no breed of cattle fo much attended to in Iceland as that of fheep. As thefe can eafily find fubfiilence there, the Icelanders look upon it as lefs troublefome and lefs expenfive to breed them ; and there are many peafants who have between three and four hundred flieep. Before the epidemical dil'eafe, which raged among the Iheep from 1740 to 175c, it was not uncommon to fee flocks of one thoufand or twelve hundred, , the fole property of one perfon. I \\ ill not venture to examine whether it would be more advantageous to hufbandry to keep more cows than flieep ; but as the inhabitants feem to be more inclined to breed- ing t)f flieep, it would be well if fuch regulations were made as might enable them to cultivate it with more advantage. This has really been thought of by government ; for about twenty years ago they fent Baron Haflfer, a Swede by birth, to Iceland for that purpofe. He made feveral regulations, and invented and prepared a kind of powder, as a cure for the difeafes among flieep, which is very much made ufe of there, as well as in Denmark and Nor- way. They fpeakof him every where in Iceland, as of a man who had great knowledge in this branch of hufbandry, and a fincere defire to redrefs all defefts. I know not if the report was well founded which was fpread all over the country, that the trading company endeavoured to obllruct him in the execution of this defign ; fo much however is certain, that the country has reaped little or no benefit from Baron Hallfer's depofitions. The Icelandic flieep differ from ours in feveral particulars ; they have fl:raight ears (landing upright, a fmall tail, and it is common to meet with flieep that have four or five horns : in fome places they are kept in fl;ables during winter, but they are generally left to feek their food themfelves in the fiel.ds. It is remarkable that they are fond of hiding themfelves in caves (of which there are a great many in Iceland) in fl;ormy, tempelluous weather. But when they cannot find any retreat during a heavy fall of fnow, they place themfelves all in a heap, with their heads to the middle, and bent towards the ground, which not only prevents them from being fo eafily buried under the fnow, but facilitates the owner finding them again. In this fituation they can remain feveral days ; and there have been examples of their hav- ing been forced by hunger to gnaw ofl:" each other's wool ; which forming into balls in their floniachs, prcfently deflroys them. They are however generally foon fought for ;ind difengaged. There are no wild flieep, as has been pretended by fome, for they all have their owners, who keep an exadt account of them ; and when they are driven to the mountains, they are icarcely ever without a flicpherd to attend upon them. 'i heir food is grafs and herbs, and the fcurvy-grals {cocJjkar'ui) in particular makes them fo fat, that they yield more than twenty pounds of fat. They reckon one oafli of dunged hay, and two not dunged, for a flieep's winter provifion. When there is a bad crop, they are obliged to put up with fifli bones chopped, as well as the other cattle. Good iheep give from two to fix quarts of milk a day, of which both butter and cheefe is made ; it has likewifc a good tafle when boiled. The principal profit they have from their flieep arifes from the wool ; this is not fliorn off as among us, but remains on till the end of May, when it loofens of itfelf, and is llripped ofl' at once like aikin, and is then called Vllafall, The whole body is by this lime VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. C6 ^ time covered apjain with new wool, which is qate fliort and fine, and of better qviality than the Swedilh. It continues to grow the whole funnner, and becomes coarfer and ftiffer towards autumn ; it is likewife fmooth and glolFy, fomewhat riffembhng camel's hair, but more fliaggy. This covering cnal^les the flieep to fupport the rigours of winter ; but after they have loli their w ool, if the fpring proves a wet one, they take care to few apiece of coarfe cloth round the ftomach of the weakefl:, and thofe that have Icafl wool. A good fheep, againfl which no exceptions can be made, muft, according to their by- laws, at lead alford four pounds of wool, and it is not uncommon for them to produce more. It is not unufual for an ewe to have two lambs at a time, and fometimes even three ; they then take away one lamb from the mother, and give it to another who has loft hers. When the lambs are too weak to follow the mother, they are kept at home and fed upon milk, which is done by means of a quill and a wet piece of fldn. The price of fix ewes, from two to four years old, together with their lambs and wool, is four dollars in autumn, according to the land-tax : a wether of tour years old is fold for one dollar ; but it is the cuftom for a merchant to pay only five marks. If any body fells a lamb ready killed, it is valued according to the quantity of fat which it has, at the rate of two marks for every pound. The fiefli alone, without the head, feet, en- trails, fat, fkin, and wool, is valued at twenty yards, and the bye-laws fix the price of a * pound of dried mutton at half a yard. The Ikin is fold by weight, after the rate of thirty fifli for ten pounds. They have goats in fome places, but they are few in number ; and, upon enquiry, I found the reafon to be that they do not thrive in a country where there is no wood. Befides thefe animals they have three Idnds of dogs in Iceland.^^r bundar, or lumbar^ fliag dogs ; and dyrhandar and dvcrghundar ; as alfo tame and wild cats, which lalt are called urdarketter ; rats, white and brown foxes, fome of which eat grafs, and are on that account called gras iofur. To root out thefe animals, the king has fet a pre- mium of a rixdoUar upon every ten fox fkins that are fold to a merchant. The natives have likewife made an agreement, that whofoever deftroys a fox's hole, together with the fox, the flie fox, and their young, is to receive one rix-dollar, which the neighbours colleft among themfelves. Rein-deers were not known here formerly; but by governor Thodal's order, thirteen heads were fent from Norway in 1770, by M. Perenfon, merchant : ten of which died before they reached Iceland, for want of proper care ; the three remaining ones thrive extremely well, and had calved three times before we came there : they do not want for food, as the country abounds with mofs. After having treated of their fifhery, and the breed of their cattle, I think this a very proper place to fay fomething of their birds, which, particularly in regard to thofe of the aquatic kind, are very important to them. They are found in great abundance every where on the coaft ; but the greateft number by far are caught in the few places where they breed. The eggs the Icelanders make ufe of themfelves, as likewife of the flefli, which is eaten by a great many ot them ; but with the feathers and down they carry on a very confiderable trade. It would be unneceiTary to mention all the difterent forts of birds, efpecially as there is fcarcely any country where fo many kinds, and fuch great numbers of them, are to be met with as in Iceland. Among the great abundance of geefe, water-fawls, ducks, &c. &c. I will however fay fomething of the fwan and the eider-bird. It is known that the fwan belongs to the clafs of birds of paflage ; their numbers in- creafe very much towards winter, though there is no fcarclty of ihem at any time, as VOL. I. 4 Q •'^^ 666 VON TROII.*S LETTERS ON ICELAND, the greater part of the young breed conflantly remain there. In fpring we may often fee an hundred of them In a flock, and frequently many more ; and It Is then thought that part of them advance yet further to the north, and makes but a veiy flioi-t (lay in Iceland. During fummer they refort to the lakes ; but when winter approaches, and they begin to freeze, tht y remove to the fea-fliores. Their eggs are gathered in the beginning of fpring, which are large, and fald to be very palatable. In Augud, when they lofe their feathers, they are hunted on the lakes, where they are to be found at that time, with dogs trained to catch them alive. They are faid to fing very harmonioufly in the cold dark winter nights ; but though it was in the month of September when I was upon the ifland, I never once enjoyed the pleafure of a fmgle fong. An old fwan has a filhy taftc, but the young ones are reckoned among the bell eatable fowls. The eider-bird is yet more ufeful to the natives, who confider it as a kind of treafure; and it is feldoni heard that a prudent houfe-keeper flioots or kills any of them. I'he eider-birds generally build their nefts on little iflands not far from the fhore, and fometimes even near the dwellings of the natives, who treat them with fo much kindnefs and circumfpeftion, as to make them quite tame. In the beginning of June they lay five or fix eggs, and it Is not unufual to find from ten to fixteen eggs in one neft together, with two females, who agree remarkably well together. The whole time of laying continues fix or feven weeks, and they are fond of laying three times in different places: in the two firft, both the eggs and down are taken away, but in the laft place this is fel- dom done. Thole to whom one of thefe places belong, vlfit it at leaft once a week. When they come to the nell, they firft carefully remove the female, and then take away the fuperfluous down and eggs, after which they replace the female on the remain- lYio- ones, when flie begins to lay afrefh, and covers her eggs with new down which (he has plucked from herfelf : when Ihe has no more down left, the male comes to her aifillance, and covers the eggs with his down, which is white, and eafily dlltlnguiflied ■from the fetnale's ; where it is left till the young ones are hatched, who In an hour afterwards quit the nefl: together with the mother, when it is once more plundered. The beft down and the mofi: eggs are got during the firft of their laying ; and it has in general been obferved, that they lay the greateft number of eggs in rainy weather. As long as the female fits, the male is on the watch near the fliore ; but as foon as the young are hatched, he leaves them. But the mother I'emalns with them a cciifiderable time after ; and it is curious to fee how {he leads them out of the neft as foon as they creep out of the eggs, and goes before them to the fhore, whilft they trip after her: when fhe comes to the water-fide, flie takes them on her back, and fwims with them for the fpace of a few yards, when fhe dives, and the young ones, who are left floating on the water, are obliged to take care of themfelves. One feldoni fees thefe birds on land afterwards, for they generally live In the damp rocks in the fea, and feed on infers and fea-weeds. One female, during the whole time of laying, generally gives half a pound of down, which Is however reduced to one half after it is cleanled. The down is divided into ihang-duitn ;fea-weed down) and gras-duim (grafs down). The laft fort is thought to be the beft, and Is cleanfed in the following manner ; fome yarn Is ftreaked in a fquare compartment round a hoop, on v,'hich the down is laid. A pointed piece of wood is then movred backwards and forwards on the lower fide of the yarn thus ftreaked, •which caufes the coarfer feathers to fall through, while the fine down remains on the yarn. Down plucked from dead eider-birds is of little worth, becaufe it has then loft the greateft part of its elafticity ; for this reafon It is of little value in Iceland. The other fort VON TROIl's tETTERS O^ ICELANDi 667 fort is fold at forty-fivc fifh a pound when cleanfed, and at fixteen fifln when not cleanfcd. There arc generally exported every year on the company's account one thoufand five hundred or two thouiand pounds of down cleanfed and not cleanfed, cx- clufive ot what is privately exported by foreigners. In the year 1750, the Iceland company fold as much in quantity of this article, as amounted to three thoufand fevcii hundred and forty-five banco-dollars, bcfides what was lent direftly to Gluckftadt. Among the land birds that arc eatable, ptarmigans are not to be forgotten, and are caught in great numbers. Falcons alio abound in the ifland, of which there are three forts : they are purchafed by the royal falconers, who give fifteen dollars a-picce for the white, ten for thofe that are darker, and feven for the grey. LETTER XIII.— TO chevalier ihre. Of the Trade in Iceland. Stockholm, Nov. 12, 1774. . The Iceland trade has been fubje£t to many revolutions. Till the year 1 408 the Norwegians were almoft the only nation who failed to Iceland, and bought all the fifli the Icelanders did not confume or export in their own fhips. The Englifli afterwards had this trade till the Reformation, when it fell into the hands of the Germans, and was peculiarly advantageous to the Hamburghers. But Chriftian IV. who had the improvement of the "whole Danilh trade very much at heart, likewife direfted his at- tention towards Iceland. He prohibited the trade of the Hans-towns thither in the year 1602, and bellowed it on Copenhagen, Malmo, and fome other towns at that time fubjed to the crown of Denmark. The Iceland company at Copenhagen was, however, not eftabliflied till the year 1 620, after the king had once more prohibited the trade of the Hans-towns to Iceland in 161 9. This company continued till the year 1662, when it was fupprelfed by afpecial order. What contributed to this was the great damage done in Iceland by fome pirates in 1627, who carried away great numbers of its inhabitants; the greater pai't of whom wei'c, however, redeemed by the king nine years after. The king refented this fo much the more, as the Iceland company had not only undertaken to provide the country with all neceifary articles, but likewife to protect it. This circumllance produced a difagreeable efteQ to the company, which was, that thofe who had fhares in the flocks of one thoufand dollars, only received five hundred ; and thofe who had fliares of two hundred dollars, received not the lead: confideration. The company paid a certain fum to the king for every haven, and two rix-dollars to the governor for every Ihip. It was likewife obliged to contribute fomething to the king's magazines on the Wcll- mann's Iflands. I'he trade of every haven w^as aftei'wards difpofed of to the highefl: bidder once in every fix years; but fince 1734 it has been in the poflelfion of a trading company, who have a grant of it, for which they pay a duty of fix thoufand dollars a year to the king. They fend from twenty-four to thirty fliips thitlier every year, loaded with corn, bread, wine, iron, and wood, he. he. and they export in return from twenty-two ha- vens, fifli, flefli, butter, blubber, fkins, wool, and woollen manufactures, w hich thev ex- change againft the merchandize they have brought thither according to a tax publiflied in the year 1702. It is difiicult to determine whether the company gains much by this trade or not; fo much at lead is certain, that the Icelanders lofe by it ; for the Dutch, dllregarding or evading the tax, import much better goods than the company. 4 Q 3 For 668 VON TROIl's tETTERS ON ICELAND. For this •reafon the Icelanders fell a confiderable quantity of fifli to them privately, though feveral Dutch fhips have been confifcated on account of carrying on a fmug- gling trade. The agents of the Iceland company are aware of this, by the fmall flock that remains for their purchafe, with which they are much diffatisfied. There is a market kept every year at Hraundals-retter, to which thofe refort who live up the country : they exchange butter, cloth, and fheep, for fifh, blubber, and other articles of that kind. At Reikavik there is a woollen manufactory, where ten or twenty workmen are employed : one likewife meets with a few looms here and there ; and many more might be eftablilhed amongft the peafants, if encourage- ment was given them. Danifh money is current in the country, but the whole flock of ready money cannot amount to many thoufand dollars. Their accounts are not all kept in money, but according to yards and fifhes : forty-eight fifhes, each fifh reckoned at two pounds, make one rix-dollar, and twenty-four yards make one likewife. You may buy a horfe for one hundred and fifty fifh, and a farm for fix thoufand yards. A 'vatt is one hundred pounds, and zfaering ten. They reckon one hundred and fixty-three quarts to a tun, and five to a kuttur. The Icelandic ell is as big as the Hamborough ell, three of which make a fathom. LETTER XIV.— TO chevalier ihre. Of the Icelandic Literature, Stockholm, Dec. 4. 1774. The hiftory of antient times fhews us that our anceflors did not defpife arts and fciences, though they peculiarly diftinguifhed themfelves by valour and heroic deeds. Their religion, mixed with fables, was, however reduced to fome rule ; and their fyflem of morality, though not the purefl and bed ; yet inculcated certain virtues, which were in vain fought for among the more enlightened Greeks and Romans. The long voyages they made without knowing theufe of the compafs, is a proof of their having been much better acquainted with allronomy and geography, than could have been expefted. Phyfic, and particularly furgery, mud have been held in high efteem among fo warlike a nation, though I quellion very much whether any perfon could now fubmit to the manner of curing an external hurt, fuch as was pratlifed among ■' the ancients. Their invention exhibits itfelf in riddles, hiitory, and poetry ; and how highly thtfe were valued among them, may be proved by many examples, of which I fhall only mention Egil's poem, in praife of Erick Blodoxe king of Norway, by which he favcd his life ; and Hiarne's epitaph on king Erode, on account of which he is faid to have been made king of Denmark. Though it cannot be entirely afcertained, that Odin brought the Runic characters to the north ; yet it is proved almofl beyond a doubt, that they were known among us in the fifth and fixth centuries. The art of writing was alfo known here, if not certain, at lead, as early as among the Franks and Germans ; the former had no let- ters before they began to make ufe of the Latin ones in the fixth century, and the latter were likewife unacquainted with them before the time of Charlemain. Their tade for riddles, (lories, and poetry, the Icelanders alfo brought along with them from their native country, to the ifland where they are now fettled ; and whilft thefe traces of fcience diminilhed in Norway, on account of the troubles which (hook the whole north during feveral centuries, they not only preferved themfelves in Ice- land, which was not expofcd to fo many dillurbances, but the care of their fafety likewife excited the inhabitants to apply themfelves to the Itudy of hidory, that they 8 might VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. , 66g might by it be informed of the defigns of their powerful neiglibours, antl take the bcfl and mod neceffary moafiires to oppofe triofe wlio only wiflied for an opportunity of fub- jeding them to their yoke. It is true they had no fchools or public feminaries for the inflruftion of youth in the fciences, before the introduftion of the Chrifliau religion ; but it was, however, not altogether neglefted, for they took great pains, bcfides inuring the bodies of their young men to feats of ftrength and agiiity, and teaching them fuch exercifes as enabled them to defend themfelves and their countrymen, to iiiftruft them alfo in hiftory, re- ligion, and law. Thence we find in their ancient chronicles frequent mention of per- fons who had made confiderable progrefs in thefe fciences, and even before they re- ceived the Chridian religion there were a number in the country well verfed in the laws. In their frequent voyages, before the ufe of the compafs {Le'itarjlain) was known to them, thc'y difcovered new countries, when driven out of their courle, which were how- ever deferted almoft as foon as difcovered : however, fome, if not all of them, havebeea difcovered in later times. Thus Bjorn Herjulfson, in a vopge he made to fee his father in Greenland, was driven by a ftrong north-wind upon a flat woody country, from whench he afterwards reached his father, after a long and troublefonie voyage, without thinking any more of his new difcovery. After the death of his father, he again returned to Norway ; where the account of his voyage raifed an inclination in Leifer to go in fearch of this country. He therefore fet fail with thirty-five men, and at firfl; landed on a mountain- ous country covered with fnow, without the leaft appearance of verdure : from whence he continued his voyage, and came to another country which was flat and woody ; this he named Markland. He fet fail again with a north-eaft wind, and in two days time arrived at an ifland which lay north of the continent. He now entered weflward into a ft.raight where his fliip {truck on the fand at low water ; he then had it drawn afhore with cables, and having built a houfe, remained there tne whole winter : here they did noi experience the leafl; cold, and the grafs only grew a little reddifh in win- ter. The da)s were not of fo unequal a length as in Iceland ; and the fun appeared above the horizon on the fliortefl day, both when they breakfafted and at fupper-time. The vine and wheat both grew wild, and this occafioned their giving the name of Vine- land to the country. This gives us room to conjedture that he advanced pretty far towards the fouth of America. They afterwards carried on a trade with the natives of the country, whom they called Skralingar, for a long time, which, however, ceafed at laft, and the country, and even its name, are now totally forgotten. Poetry formerly flouriflied very much in Iceland ; Egil Skalla Grimfon, Cormak Og- mundfon. Glum Gierfon, Thorleif, Jarlar Skald, Sighvatr, Thordfon, Guiilaug Orm- ftunga, and Skad Ralfn, are celebrated as great poets. The art of writing was not, however, much in ufe till after the year looo. It is true the Runic characters were known in the country before that period, and mofl probably brought thither from Norway. Though we have no reafon to believe they were cut upon rt;ones, as was prattifed among us (no Runic ftones having been found there, whofe age reaches to to the times of paganifm) ; they ufed, however, to fcratch them on bucklers, and fometimes on their ceilings and walls : and the Laxdaela Sugj makes mention of one Olof of Hiardarhult, who had a large houfe built, on the beams and rafters of which remarkable itories are faid to have been marked, in the fame manner as Thorkil Hake cut an account of his own deeds on his bedftead and chair. That Runic charaders were made ufe of before the introdudion of the Chriltian religion, may be proved by Olof 670 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. Glof Tiyggwaflbn's Saga, where he makes mention of a man, whofe name was Oddni, who, being dumb, made known, by means of Runic characters, that he had been infulted by Ivar, his father's gueft. After the reception of the Chriftian religion in the year 1000, thefciences took ano- ther form. The Latin charafters were immediately adopted ; as the Runic alphabet, which only confiits of fixteen letters, was found infufficient. The firft Icelandic bifliop Illeif, founded a fchool at Skallholt ; and foon after they founded four other fchools, in which the youth were inftrufted in the Latin tongue, divinity, and fome parts of theoretic philofophy. Jonas Ogmundffon, firft bifliop of Hoolum, fent to Gothland in the year 1 1 20 for one Gifle Finfon to fuperintend the fchool at Hoolum. Arngrim Jonfon, on this occafion, mentions a remarkable circumflance in his Crymogaca, p. 108. of the architeft Thorodr, who, as he was employed in building the cathedral church at Hoolum, paid fo much attention to the grammatical leflbns given to the fchool-boys, as to make a confiderable progrefs in them himfelf. The fame author alfo mentions, that the bifhop, who was a learned and zealous man, having one day furprized one of the fcholars in reading Ovid's letters, and book De Arte Amandi, was fo incenfed thereat as to ftrike the book out of his hand. At a time when no great knowledge of the Latin language could be expefted even in Sweden, an Icelander however was found of fufficient capacity and learning to inftrucl the young people to read and underftand the Latin poets. But notwithftanding the fciences were there only in their infancy, thofe who defired to make greater progrefs in them, ftudied in foreign univerfities. Giflur Ifleifson ftudied at Erfurt; and many reforted to Paris, as Samundr Sigfuflbn did, from whence they were called ParifJdarkar (Paris- writers). Many, however, whofe names are become celebrated, have only ftudied in Iceland : as a proof of which, I will only mention the two moft famous Icelandic writers Arc Frode and Snorre Sturlefon. It may therefore be affirmed that Iceland, from the introduction of the Chriftian religion there till the year 1 264, when it became fubjeft to Norway, was one of the few countries in Europe, and the only one in the north, where the fciences were cultivated and held in efteem. This period of time has alfo produced more learned men than at any other period fmce. We need only read their ancient chronicles, to be convinced that they had great knowledge in morality, philofophy, natural hiflory, and aftronomy. Thev had tolerably clear ideas of divinity, and ufed to read the Fathers : but their poetical and hiftorical produftions, in particular, have bid defiance to time, even when igno- rance was again beginning to refume her empire. It would be an eafy matter to men- tion a number of poets who diftinguiflied themfelves, not only in Iceland and the Ork- neys, but iikewife at the Swedifh, Danifli, Norwegian, and Englifli courts, as the /f^/- dartal (or lift of poets) contains no lefs than two hundred and forty : but it will be fuperfluous to mention here any more than the three principal ones, viz. Snorre Stur- lefon, who was beheaded in the year 1241, in the fixty-third year of his age, at Reik- holt in Iceland; Olafr Iluitafkald, who died in 1259; and Sturla Tiiordfon, who made his exit in 1284. Some extracts of the works of thefe authors are infertcd in fome printed and manufcript chronicles. Of much greater importance are their fayings or hiflories, the utility and authenti- city of which have caufed fo many diiputes : for if they have been confidercd by fome as furc and irreverfible fupporters of the hiftory of our forefathers, they have been looked upon by others as abfurd inventions and falfehoods, which belong to the fame clafs as the hiftory of the knight Finke, Fortunatus, the horned Siegfried, and other old women's tales. This laft opinion is no lefs unreafonable, than an exccfs of veneration paid to them would be inconfiderate and rafh. When they are confulted with circumfpec- 1 1 tion VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. 67 1 tlon and judgment, tliey are undoubtedly of great ufe, fo much the more, as they are the only remaining monuments of the antient northern hiitory ; and indeed fome of them are written with great judgment and perfpiculty. The Ara: IVodcs Schedce were written fmce 1 122, and are the mod antient Icelandic accounts extant. The writings of Sturlefon, Gunlaug, Odde, and feveral others, are all of them works that will never be loft or hurt by time ; and I do not find any thing in them which fhould induce us to deny them the fame credit that we fo implicitly give to the writings of Tacitus and Livy. No one can doubt, that even thofe authors in the compilation of their hiftories, which have been confidered as patterns of language, have made ufe of the information of other writers. Nor Iiave our Icelandic hiflorians been remifs in this ; for Sturlefon himfelf quotes Are Thiodolfr, the langfcdgatal, or genealogical table, and fome ancient fongs in which their kings were celebi'ated ; from which indeed he compiled his ac- counts. . The Icelanders were remarkably ftudlous in preferving the memory of their ancef- tnrsj and it was the molt agreeable occupation in their meetings an ' affemblies, to repeat thofe hil'tories and poems for which their great men had been renowned, as was the practice among the Greeks. Add to this, the contents and compofition of the wri- tings themfelves, which plainly prove, that the authors have not been inclined to relate marvellous llories ; and it would be unjuft to refufe them that reliance on their veracity, which we without hefitation beltow on other writers of the fame clafs. The greateft part of their works were compofed in the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries ; and fome of them have even appeared in print. I have a lift of thefe hiftories in my polTeflion ; and though they are by no means of the fame degree of merit, it will perhaps not be difagreeable to you to have a copy of it, as it is not only a proof of their love of fcience, but likewife of their apphcation. As a frelh inftance of their accuracy and affiduity in ftudy, I mud likewife mention their chronicles, in which they recorded whatever happened of importance both in Ice- land and abroad. Thefe annals are in general confidered as more authentic than their fayings. Semundrand Are Frode were the firfl who introduced them, and they have fmce been continued down to our days. The following are confidered as the beft. 1. Tlatcyar Annal, which reaches to the year 1395, '^'^'^ of which 2. Vatnsfiardar Jnnalis a fupplement which extends to 1660. 3. Skallholt. 4. Hold. 5. Odda. 6. Biiirns a Skardzaa to 1645, of ^'hich 7. Hefts Anna!, which goes down to the year 1718, is a fupplement. HrafnagUs Anna! begins where the lait leaves off, and continues to 1754. 8. Odds Ejrikfonar a fitium to 1680. 9. Annales Regii, which go to the year 1341. JO. Hirdjtora. 1 1 . Laugjuanna. 12. Bifiupa, 13. Annales antiqui. 14. Annales vetuttiorcs go to the conclufion of ''the thirteenth century. BjarncHaU' dorfon's annal, as I have been informed, begins about the middle of the feventh cen- tury, and reaches quite down to 1772. But 6/2 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. But even here the fcicnces have been fubjeft to the fame revolutions, which they have ■experienced every where eife. The luftre in which they had maintained themielves fo long, was fucce-ded by tiie mod profound obfcurity. To give a clearer idea of this, I fliail borrow the exprellions'of the learned bifliop of Sakilholt, Dr. Finneus, on this occafion, who compares the ftate of the fcienccs in Iceland to the four flages of human life, in his well-written Hift. Eccl. Iflandins. Their infancy extended to the year 1 056 when the introdudion of the Chriftian religion produced the firft dawn of light. They were in their youth till 1110, when fchools were firft eftabiiflied, and the education and Inflruftion of youth began to be more attended to than before. Their manly age lafted till about the middle of the fourteenth century, when Iceland produced the greatefl; number of learned men. Old age appeared towards the 'end of this fame fourteenth century, when thefclences gradually decreafed, and were almoil entirely extinft, no work of any merit appearing. Hiltory «ow drooped her head, their poetry had no relifli, and all other fciences were enveloped In darknefs. The fchools began to de- cay, and in many places they had none at all. It was very uncommon for any one to un? ICELAND. 6y^ Their alphabet confifts of the fame letters as ours, except the (th), which charafter we have loft, together with the pronunciation ; the Englifli have yet preferved it, though foreigners find it dillicuk to pronounce. We have an Icelandic grammar of Runolph Jonfon, printed in 4to. at Copenhagen in 1 65 I : it was alfo printed in Hickefii Elementa hnguarum feptentrionalium, Oxford 1688, and again in his Thcfaurus, Oxford 1703. But the manufcript of Jonas Mag- nufens's Grammatica Iflandica, which you, Sir, poflefs, is more complete, and deferves to be publiflied, as likewife Eggert Olien's Orthographia Iflandica. The niofl ancient Icelandic diftionary we have is the Wormii Specimen Lcxici Runici, compiled by Magnus Olafsen, which was publilhed in folio, at Copenhagen, in 1650. After- wards Gudmundi Andreae Lexicon Iflandicum was publiflied by Refenius at Co- penhagen, in quarto, in the year 168?. This was followed by Verelii Index lingua! vet. Scyto-Scandicae, which Rudbeck caufed to be printed in folio, at Upfala, 1 69 1, and by two Lexica Latina Iflandica, both publiflied in quarto at Copenhagen, the one in 1 734, and the other in 1738 ; to thefe Rugman'sMonofyllaba Iflandica Lat. Explicata, Upfala, 1676, in oftavo, may be added. In the library at Upfala was a copy of a manufcript Lexicon Ifl. Lat. which I have brought with me from Iceland. In the antiquity archives is likewife a very ample work of Gudmundr Olafsen, which has been augmented and reduced to order by iVIr. AflTeflbr Gagnerus, which will however mofl; probably never be printed for want of a publifher. It is to be lamented that Runolph Jonfon never was able to publifli his Lexicon Iflandicum, though a privilege was granted him for that pur- pofe in May 1650 : we may however foon expedl to have fomething more perfeft on this fubjedt, as the Collegium Magnaeanum in Copenhagen have promifed to continue the important indexes, with which they have fupplied the Krijinifs and Gunlaug Orm- Jiunga Sagas. LETTER XV.— TO chevalier ihre. Of Printing in Iceland. Stockholm, Sept. 12, 1774. I HAVE faid in my lafl: letter that the art of printing was introduced in Iceland fliort time before the Reformation. But as many may be furprifed that books were printed there fo early, I fliall endeavour to treat more at large in this of the diflx-rent printing-oflices in Iceland. One of the mofl; famous, but at the fame time moft illiterate and turbulent bifliops in Iceland, was John Arefon, bifliop of Hoolum. He made ufe of many arts, and parti- cularly of his zeal for the Roman Catholic religion, to undermine the king's power, and hinder the progrefs of the reformation. His plots however fucceeded fo ill, that he was beheaded in 1 550. As this man was extremely ignorant, and had not the lead knowledge of the Latin language, which was however made ufe of in letters of excom- munication, and other ordinances, he commiflioned a friend to procure him a perfon well verfed in Latin, who might at the fame time efliablifli a printing-office. For this pur- pofe John Mathieflbn, a native of Sweden, was recommended to him, and he arrived in Iceland between 1527 and 1530. I cannot determine with certainty whether he was in orders at his arrival in Iceland ; however I am inclined to believe it, from the appellation of Sira being given him after his arrival, vi'hich is a term applicable to the clergy. The bifliop immeciiately appointv;J him to the prebendary of BrideboIfl:ad and Velhirhopi, which fituation he enjoyed till 4 R a his 676. VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. his death in 1567, when at a very advanced age, Befides feveral other children he left a fon whofe name was John, who was a printer there in the time of bifhop Guth- randr : he was fucceeded in the printing-office by his fon Brandur. John Bradtfon, fon of the latter, died in an advanced age in 16S1, as provoft of flytarnas. His fon John Jonfon,a clergyman, died in the fame place in 1732. This whole family is now reduced to poverty. The printing-office was immediately eftabliflied ; and in 1531 John Mathieflbn printed the firft book in Iceland, which was the Breviarium Nidarofienfe. There was like wife an edition of this book printed at Dronthiem, the editor of which was arch- bifliop Erick Walkendorf, which is now very Icarce. I do not remember to have feen this edition mentioned anywhere, except in the twenty-eighth number of the Danilh Magazine, where a copy of it is faid to be in the library of Mr. Klevenfeldt. But in regard to the Icelandic edition, it is generally believed that not a fingle copy of it re- mains, fince the only one I ever heard of was in Arnas Magnaei's library, which was confumed in the fire at Copenhagen in 1728. Befides the Breviarium Nidarofienfe, he printed the Handbok Prosjla ''an ecclefiaftical manual), Luther's Catechifin, and other books of the fame fort. Printing however did not go on very well till 1574, when bifhop Guthrandr Thorlakfon ordered new types to be brought thither ; whereupon, amongfl: other books, the Icelandic bible ap- peared in print in folio, in the year 1584. The printing-office was at this period fo well provided with types, that two preffes were employed, exclufive ofthofe at Hoolum, where feveral books were printed and publifhed about that time. The Icelandic code of laws was printed in 1578, at Nupufell, twelve miles from Hoolum, as likewife the Viti Theodori Summaria in 1589. The printing-office at Hoolum was taken from Thord Thorlakfon in 1685, and transferred to Skallholt, where one-and-forty different books were printed : the firfl of which was Paradyfar Lykell, likewife Forfadra Bok in 1686 ; and the laft, Boenabok Sira Thordar Bardarfonar Med Vika Saung Olearii. utl. af Sira Steines, in 1697. But in the beginning of this century, the printing-office was again removed to Hoolum, after bifhop Bjorn Thorleiflbn had bought it, together with the privileges granted to it, for five hundred dollars ; and the firfl book publifhed on the revival of printing at this place, was the Paraphrafis Medit. Dr. John Gerhardi, 1703. Since this time, fome hiftorical books, among which I will mention the Life of Guflavus Landkrona, publifhed at Hoolum, in 8vo. 1756, tranflated from the Swedifh into the Icelandic language, have always been publifhed here ; the greatefl part of them however are religious books. A new privileged printing-office has likewife lately been eftablifhed at Hrappfey, by Olafr OlfTen, where feveral valuable books have already been printed. A lift of Icelandic books might perhaps not be improper in this place ; but as I am unable to furnifh you with a complete one, I did not think it worth while to fend you a catalogue of about three hundred that I am acquainted with ; of which number, how- (ever, I am happy to have upwards of one hundred now in my library. LETTER XVI.— TO chevalier ihre. Of the Remains of Antiquity in Iceland. DEAR SIR, Stockholm, December 21, 1774. How infinitely happy fhould I be, were I able to fatisfy your curiofity in refped to the great number of remarkable and ancient monuments with which Iceland is fuppofed 1 to VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. hjj to abound ; but this is out of my power : all the information I can give you amounts to no more than that the country is fo dcflitute of them, that it is in vain to go in fearcli of any antiquities dcferving the leaft notice. There are however fome ruins of an old caftle near Videdal, which was formerly about two hundred perches in circumference : the remains on the north fide are about twenty fathoms in height, though they arc very low towards the fouth. Near the parfonage Skaggcftad, at Laugernas, are likewife fome ruins of a leiTer caftle, but it is not known by whom, or when it was built. In other places are remains of heathen temples, viz. at Midfiord, Godale, Vidvik, and others : at Hegranas is a kind of ancient place of execution ; there are alfo feveral burying-places from the times of paganifm, among which I fliall only mention Thorleif Jarlafkalds, fituate on a fmall ifland in the Oxaraa. Some old fwords and helmets have likevi'ife been found, but they have not cleared up any part of hiftory. On the heaths of Thiugmans and Threkyllis are two great Hones (landing upright, which moft pro- bably have been eredted as monuments to the memory of fome deceafed perfons, ac- cording to Odin's regulation. This cuftom, which was long pradlifed in the north, has from thence been brought to Iceland ; though it was not ufual in Sweden till a long time after to put any infcription on the monument. I have been told, that fome years ago forty fmall figures of brafs were found in the ground near Flatey, reprefenting ani- mals and other objefts ; but unfortunately they fell into I he hands of people who did not know their value, confequently they have been all lofl. There are no other monuments remaining of Sturlefon, befides his writings, but a mount over-grown with grafs at Reikholt, which is faid to have been raifed from the ruins of his houfe ; Stuliaiga Reitur, the burying-place of his family ; and at a little dif- tance from them, Snorra Lang, one of the fineft baths in Iceland. This bath, which is large enough to contain fifty perfons at one time, is mured in with a wall of bafalt, and concreto thermarum ; it has a fmooth level bottom, and is furrounded with benches. In Sturlefon's time a long covered paffage led from thence to the dwelling-houfe, fo that the bathers retire from the bath without being expofed to the cold. The fpring is at forty paces diitance, and is called Scribia, and the water from it is conveyed to the bath through a conduit made of ftones. At the end of this conduit is a hole in a rock, which is fhut with a fpigot and faucet, and through which you let in as much warm water as you think fit ; this, when too hot, may eafily be cooled by water from an ad- joining brook. Thefe are almofl the only ancient monuments Iceland affords, and all, as you will readily allow, are of very little importance. There are no ancient manufcripts, Ice- landic fagas, or hiftorical traditions or accounts, to be met with, the ifland having been entirely ftripped of them, owing to the zeal and induftry of the antiquarians and others, who formerly reforted in numbers to this country, for the fole end of coUeding them. The honour of having firft begun to colled them belongs to Sweden : the firfl who undertook it was Jonas Rugman, who went to Iceland in 1661, at the expence of the court of Sweden, where he obtained a number of manufcripts, which laid the foundation for the colieftion of Icelandic original records, that are contained in the Swedifh archives of antiquities. Encouraged by his example, Thormundr Thorvifon likewife went to Iceland, furnifhed with an order from King Frederick III., of the twenty-feventh of May 1662, to the bifhops Bryniolf, SvenfTon, and Gifle Thorlakfon, to aflifl him in coUefting Icelandic manufcripts. After the eftabliflimcnt of the college, it was propofed to fend Peter Salan to Iceland ; but this did not take place, though they gained their point fome time after, in i68o, by nvean« 6/5 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. means of Gudmundr Olfon, who prevailed upon his brother Helge Olfon to leave Ice- land and come to Sweden, whither he brought a confiderable number of manufcripts. Gi'cat additions were afterwards made to thefe collettions by Arngrim Johnfon, Jonas "Wigfufen, Lopt Jofephen, Gudmund Gudmunderfon, and Thorvaldr Brockman, who were all employed as tranflators by the college of antiquities. Jonas Eghardfen, Magnus Bcnedidfen, Uleif Thorleiffen, Ejnar Ejnarfm, Arnas Hakanfen, Francis Jacobfen, and Thord Thorlakfon have alfo very much enriched the collection, both when the college of antiquities was at Upfala, and when it was afterwiwds transferred to Stockholm. The attention of the Danifh court was at laft excited: King Chridian V., in 1685, difpatched Thomas Bartholin to Iceland with an order to the bailiff Heidemann, to aflilt him in collecting Icelandic antiquities : he forbad at the fame time, in the Itricteft man- ner, any manufcripts, hiltories, or other accounts relating to Iceland, to be fold to fo- reigners, or carried out of the country. Stockholm, as well as Copenhagen, became therefore poflTeft of a confiderable num- ber of Icelandic writings ; but the latter court not fatisfied with what they had already obtained, difpatched Arnas IVIagniius and Paul Widalin to Iceland in 1712; where they fought fur whatever might remain there with fuch extreme care, that it is almoft im- poifible to get fight of any manufcript hiftory in the whole country ; and notwithftand- iiig the pains I have taken, I could only obtain an imperfe£t copy of the Sturlunga Saga, which I purchafed. It is in vain, therefore, that one now enquires for ancient Icelandic chronicles in Ice- land ; for befides the fine collection in the Swedifh archives of antiquities, there is a very admirable collection of them in the library of the academy at Copenhagen, which was a gift of Arnas Magnaus ; befides feveral fmall collections of lefs importance in the hands of private perlbns. I have already mentioned the Icelandic hiftories which have been publifhed : fome of them have been printed in Iceland, among which thofe printed at Skallholt are very rare ; but the greatefl: part have been publifhed in Sweden, though fometimes from very imperfeft manufcripts. Olof Rudbeck the elder, Verelius, the two Peringfkolds, Ren- hielm, Biorner, Salan, and Brokman, have however acquired a great deal of merit by the care and diligence which they bellowed upon them. None of thefe editions how- ever can be compared, in puint of elegance and criticifm, to thofe publiflied in Copen- hagen, by the Magnaanian college, the continuation of which is expected with great impatience by the literary world. LETTER XVII. — to baron axel lejonhuswud. Of the Icelandic Poetry. Stockholm, Dec. 12, 1775. It is with the utmoft plcafure that I prepare to obey your commands, in communi- cating to you a fliort account of the Icelandic poetry ; I only lament that my circura- fcribed knowledge on a fubjett which is furroundcd with fo many obfcurities, will not permit me to make my account as perfect as I could wifli, and as the importance of the fiibjeft requires j I regret this inability fo much the more, as I am to fubmit my thoughts to the eye of fo great a connoifleur ; but if even my obfervations fliould not be very important, I willconfole myfclf for it, as they will, however, be a proof of my readinefs to comply with your wilhes. Though the opinion of fome men of learning, that writing in verfe has been earlier pradtifed in Europe than writing in profe, may appear extraordinary at firft, yet it 8 feems r VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND, 679 fpcms more probable upon nearer examination. The poets among the Greeks and Romans were more ancient than their hidorians and mod celebrated oi-ators. The time when profe firfl began to be written among thefe nations, may be afcertained with tolerable accuracy ; but it is ahnofl impoflible to determine the age of poetry among them, as it is far more ancient than ihe fiege of Troy and the Olympic games. In the fame manner we know that the firft work in profe among the Romans was the fpeech of Appius Caegius, to the fenate and Roman people in the i2sth Olympiad; in which he advifes them to refufe the conditions of peace offered by Pyrrhiis, when it is certain that poetry had been known and cultivated among them long before. This need not be wondered at, when we recollect that lonti; before the knowledge of letters could have become general in Europe, many aclions might, however, have been thought worthy to be configned to pollerity. How great an affidance muft it have been to the memoz-y, when the remembrance of an event, deftined to be refcued from oblivion, was preferved in words compofed according to a certain meafure, where it might be determined, even by the ear alone, if any word had been omitted or altered. The laws of the ancient Germans were written in verfe, and the llanzas in which they were compofed were generally fung. The French monarch, induced by the favoucable reception given to every poetical work, caufed the Bible to be tranilated into verfe in the ninth century : from the fame motive Ottfricd, a Benediftine monk in Alface, tranf- lated the four Evangelifts into German verfe about the fame period. Thus we fee that poetry is extremely ancient among all nations; and in Sweden it may be conddered as a legacy of Odin, who firft brought it thither. In ancient times there was no king or chief, or any other man of note, who had not his own Ikald or poet, who was obliged to be prefent on all important occafions, to remark whatever was worthy of attention, and to relate it in fongs. He was prefent at battles in the Skoldborg, or in the midft of the braveft warriors, that he might behold with his own eyes thofe aftions which were to be recorded : at their banquets he was obliged to animate the guefts with happy inventions and poetical encomiums on their deceafed heroes. Thefe poets were every where held in high efteem ; they were conllantly admitted to the king's prefence, and frequently were both his generals and mi- nifters. They were czWed JfiaUr, which Chevalier Ihre derives from Jiia/, reafonor pru- dence, from whence the expreflion of Jhialamdn, wife men. They were likewife called fpek'tngr, iromfpeke, wifdom, from whence the Englifh word to fpeak, derives its origin. To the fongs of thefe poets we owe the firft accounts of the Swedifh hiftory, and cannot therefore deprive them of the honour Tacitus beftows on them in calling them antiquiliimum annalium genus. Our ancient traditions are hkewife filled with thefe fongs, which we cannot alter or rejeft as worthlefs, though they are, for the moft part, unintelligible to us. The caufe of this is, firft, that the (kalds purpofely compofed their fongs with fo much art, that they were not only unintelligible to the vulgar, of which we find examples in Geila Sturfonar, Viga Glum, and Greltis's Sagas ; but they were not even underftood by the greateft poets, of which Gretter's hiRory gives us a proof. They were, fecondly, accuftomed to tranfpofe the order of the words in their fongs in fo ftrange a manner, as neceflarily augmented the obfcurity. I will only mention one exan.ple of this from Renhjelm, where the words, to follow in their natural order, ought to have been ranged according to the number placed over them : Hilmir 68o VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. I 289 Hilmir vann at ho/mi 5 7 <5 . Hiahn-JJiotb rothni hlothi 3 '4 »5 13 Huat ofduldu thejf hoeldar 4 10 II 12 Hoerd oc aujlur t goerthom 18 20 17 19 7?o_g-j /'n? Recka laegir 10 22 21 Riikur valkcra lijki 23 24 27 Herjiefnir let hrofnum 25 26 28 Hold Jiaemingia goldit. ■ They had, thirdly, a particular poetical language (Skaldjkaparmal) which was very copious, but could not be made ufe of in common life. This language probably made one of the principal parts of their ftudies in thofe times, as they were not infenfible of its beauty and elegance. Thus for example there are upwards of fifty fynonymes of the word bolja, billow or wave. And Chevalier Ihre quotes Lopt Guttormfon's Lyodalykil (a love-fong) in which there are many different appellations, which all ex- prefs the word woman. I fhall borrow a few lines of this poem, which are mentioned in the Edda among the krifigaheiti, and which prove how far thefe poets went in their Antonomafias. Heingi eg hamri kringdan Hang a riupu tangar. Grimnis fylgs a galga Gynnung bruar linna. The natural difpofition of thefe words is this : Eg heingi hamri kringdan linna gynnung a hang riupu bruar tangar, a Grymnis fylgs galga ; which means, " I hang the round beaten gaping fnake on the end of the bridge of the raountain bird, at the gallows of Odin's fliield." To find the fenfe of thefe words, Tlr. Ihre obferves, that by the gallows of Odin's fhield is meant the arm, on which it is ufual to hang on the fhield. By the •word ripa is underftood a falcon, for a fkaid has the permifTion of putting one genus for another. The bridge of the falcon is the hand, on which the falconer places him, and its end or tong ^ tongue^ is the finger. The gaping round beaten fnake means a ring ; and coafequently this long ftory means no more than, I put a ring on my finger. Fourthly,' to make themfclves flill more intelligible, when two words had the fame found, the Skalds were allowed 'he liberty of putting the periphrafis of the one for the other : for example, the word i:of fignifies a horfc's hoof or foot ; but the fame word likewife means decency, moueration, underflanding ; and to exprefs this the horfe's hoof was frequently made ufe of. But the principal diiliculty in the explanation of this ancient poetry proceeds from the extreme incorreftnefs of the manufcripts of our Sagas, particularly of the poetry, which cannot be read correftly without great atten- tion, Thefe are the caufes why the greater part of the.verfes in their Sagas, publifhed either VON TROIL's LETTKRS on ICELAND. 6tl either in Iceland itfelf or in Sweden, cannot be undcrllood ; only very few arc capable of comprehending them; that it is howevijr poflible, is proved by the new editions of Krilinis Saga, Landnamabok, and fevcral others. The provoft Gunnar Paulfen in Iceland is particularly diRiiiguiflied for his great knowledge in this branch of literature. The difficulties we meet with in afcertaining the true fenfc of thefe ancient poems, is likewife the caufe of the contempt with which we confider thefe few remains of the genius of the ancients. I will readily acknowledge that they have no poem which could be propofed as a pattern of wit and elegance ; yet it cannot be denied, but that very fublime thoughts and expreffions, and fometimes very beautiful comparifons, are to be met with in them : and it is impoflible to read the dying Lodbrok's Biarkamal, Eigils, Hofud, Laufn, and Ejvindrs, Haconarma, without pleafure, befides feveral others. They chofe for the fubjeft of their poetry whatever happened in common life ; how- ever they principally occupied themfelves in compofing fongs in praifc of the actions of their great men ; in which they are accufed of not being over fcrupulous in bellowing their flatteries. We have feveral poems exilling on various fubjecls, among which there is a tolerable epic one on Charles and Grim, befides another on Hialmar. They have likewife fome fatirical pieces, which they ufed to call tiidvifor and the undertaking ef the author was named yrkia nid ; but there are no traces of their having had the lead idea of theatrical performances. From what has been faid, it may be imagined, that there is no language which alloxvs a poet fo much liberty as the Icelandic ; and indeed there is no language fo rich in poetical expreffions as this : it muft not however be thought that it is confined by cer- tain rules J on the contrary, I believe there is no profody fo copious as the Icelandic, as, according to the Edda, they had no lefs than a hundred and thirty-fix difil-rent forts of verfifications (in Icelandic hattur) each of which had its particular rules. However it will be extremely difficult nay almofl impoffible, to fay any thing certain on this fubjeft, before we have a true explanation of that part which treats of it in the third volume of the Edda. The Edda is one of the moft celebrated remains of antiquity, and yet it has hitherto been very imperfcdly known. It has generally been confidered as the mythology of the ancients, and the Volufpa and Havamal have been forced upon it, as two of its vo- lumes, though they do not in the leafl; belong to it. But Chevalier Ihre has thrown more light on this affair : in his printed letter to Mr. Lagerbring, he has attentively examined the manufcript of the Edda, in the library at Upfala, and clearly proves that it is nothing more than an introduftion to Icelandic poetry, confifung of three parts : the firft, daemifagor, is an extradl from the Hiftoria mythica veteriiin : the fecond, hcnnlngar, is a mere ^rarium poeticum ; and the third, Hods grchicr, contains the Icelandic profody, &e. &:c. The fo-called dczm'ifagornc^ are for the moft part tranf- lated into the Swedilh language by Goranfon, but the tranflation is very incorreft. Refenius has likewife publilhed them, together with the Ke7iningr,rne in Latin. But the third part, which deferves no Icfs attention, has not yet appeared in print ; and it is much to be wilhed that Chevalier Ihre would give it to the public, as there are fo few befides himfclf capable of doing it juflice. The various conjedtures which have been formed concerning the true author of the Edda, have been no lefs erroneous than thofe relating to the fubjcd of the book itfelf. It has generally been thought that Samundr Sigfufon, who died in 1 133, wrote a very ample work, entitled the Edda, which treated of many important fubjefts, and was in a manner a magazine of all human knowledge ; of which however fcarce one third VOL. I, 4 s has 682 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. has ever been preferved, and tranfmitted to us in the prefent Edda. But Chevalier Ihre afTerts, that the Edda we now are in pofTelhon of, has not been extrafted from any one more ancient, but that it has originally been compofed by Snorre Sturlefon. The difficulties and objetflions vthich have been made againfl; this opinion by the learned Arnas Magnaus, and afterwards by profeflbr Schlofern, caneafity be removed ; for mofl: probably Sturlefon's Edda has been continued by the monk Gunlaug, as Bjorn of Skardfaa fuppofes, or rather by Olafr Hvitafkald. It is not therefore furprif- ing, that lomething in praife of Sturlefon fhould be inferted ; and it may eafily be ex- plained from hence, why the author called Waldeniar king of Denmark, his mafler. It is difficult to determine the true nature of the ancient Icelandic poetry; however to give you fome idea of it, I will fay fomething of the verfification moit frequently ufed among them, and which was called drottquade (king's fong). It was divided into flanzas, each of which confided of four couplets, and each of thefe couplets was again compofed of two hemifticks, of which every one contained fix fylliibles : and it was not allowed to augment this number, except in cafes of the greateft neceflity. Thefe hemifticks confift of three or four feet, according to the different forts of verfification, and fometimes of more, in proportion to the fhortnefs of the fyllablcs. Befides this, the Icelandic poetry requires two other things, viz. words with the fame initial letters, and words of the fame found. I'his aflbnance is called bending, and is either more or lefs ; in the firft cafe it is called adalhending, and in the fecond, JkotU iiending. This you may clearly fee by the following example : Auftur londumfor undann Alvaldur fa er gaf fcaldum, Hann feck gagn at gunne, Gunntror da flog mergum, Slydurtungur let flingra Sverd leiks reigenn ferdar, Sende grammurad grundu GuUvvarprthi fnarpann. Here it muft firfl be obferved, that there is in every couplet a fyllable which governs the whole verfe, rader quaedinni, which is almofl always the firft word in the fecond hemiftich ; and two words in the firft hemiftich muft begin with the fimie letter, if it is a confonant ; but when it is a vowel, one vowel may be put for another. Thus, for example, in the above ftanza the following words are thofe which govern each verfe, confiftingof two lines or hemiftichs, 7-adar qucdandi, in the firft verfe, the word alvadur, becaufe it begins with a vowel, has, in the firft hemiftich of this verfe, the words aujitir and undann ; in the fecond verfe gunb'orda, you find gagn and gunne in its firft half; in the third \er(e fvcrd, whence in the firft hemiftich jlydurtungitr and Jliiigra -y in the fourth verfe, gull-varpathi, which requires gramur and grundu in its firft half. Secondly, one finds in the firft hemiftich of each verfe Tl Jkotthending, or two words, which have equal confonants with unequal vowels, fuch as are in the firft verfe londumy vndann ; in the fecond hann, gunn ; in the thin\,JIydurtungur,JIi?igra ; and in the fourth, fcendc, grundu But in the lecond hemiftich of each verfe is an adalhcnding, where two words have both equal confonants and vowels, in the above-mentioned ftanza : words of this kind are in the firft verfe alvakl Jhaldumm ; in the fecond verfe gunhorda, nior^ gum ; in the third \er[c fverd, ferdar ; and in the fourth vftrk gulvarpathi, fnarpann ; confcquently in a ftanza, which, like the above, confifts of thirty words, above one half of VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. 5?3 of Its peculiar properties are contained in the impofilbility of changing one word for another, or tranfpofing it, without making a great alteration in the whole verfe. Theie alTonanccs, or hendingars, are generally found in the firfl: and lad word of each line : fomctimes however the one affonant word is placed in the middle of the line, as in the inltarce of the word londum in the firlt hemiitich of the firfl verfc. This confonance of founds mufl: be confidercd as the neceflary ornament of a regular verfe by the ancient Skalds: the greater this uniformity is, the more the verfe ap- proaches to perfeclion ; it likewife ferves them as a guide in fmging their verfes. We alfo fmd fomething of this fort in the Latin poets : Virgil fays, — tales cafus Caffandra canebat. And another poet, Dum dubitat natura marem faceretve puellam, Nates es o pulcher paene puella puer. This has likewife been remarked by Boxhorn, who at the fame time quotes from Giraldus Cambrenfis, that this was alfo cuftomary among the ancient Cambrians, and in England : fo that it feems to have been the opinion of mod nations, that the elegance of poetry required this harmony of founds. For this reafon the Canibi'ians fay, Digawn Duw da y unie Wrth bob ctybwylh parawd. And the Englifli, God is together gamman and wifdome. David Rhaefus confirms this in his Gramraatica Cambro-Brytannica, printed in folio, London 1592, and quotes feveral paflages from their verfes, which have a great deal of refemblance with the A£'«^/«^^r of the Icelandei's. I know not whether the agreement of the initial letters, cuftomary in the poetry of the Findlanders, might not likewife be mentioned here, as a proof of the fame cuftom being obferved there as in Iceland : I will therefore infert a paffage from Calamnii's Congratulation to the late king Adolphus Frederic, on his undertaking a voyage to Finland, Kofta kulki kuningamme Adolph Fredric armollinen Meidan maalla matkulteli, Kaicki vereni venahti, Kaicki lukahti lihani, Eltae virteni viritin, Kannoin minum kandeleni, Ifaen iftuimen c.chen, Kaicki vallan kamarihin : lofta atvin andimia^ But this carries me too far from my fuhject. Though we (Jo not find any rhymes in our mofl ancient poetry, it may however, be faid with certainty that they are older than the introduction of the Chriftian religion. Skulc Ejnarfon is therefore wrongfully accufed 4 82 of €84 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. of having introduced the ufe of rhymes, which is now become fo general, that except England, which has preferred its blank verfe, no nation in Europe is pleafed with verfes that do not rhyme. The art of rhyming, which is by no meane effential to poetry, and ftill lefs ufeful, as it only ferves to make it more difficult, was borrowed, it is not impro- bable, from the ancient northern fkalds, and has now fpread itfelf beyond Europe ; fo that rhyming is become as univerfal as the complaint, that the number of verfifiers in- creafes in the fame proportion as the number of poets decreafes. Baretti relates, that he heard a Mofambique fong in rhyme, from fome negroes at Madrid. Gages fays the fame of the Mexicans ; and Nixbuhr mentions that the Arabs are great rhymers. To conclude, I here prefent you with a fpecimen of an Icelandic poem which Rug- man compofed on the death of count Magnus de la Gardia. It was printed at Up- fala ; but is become fo fcarce, that I doubt whether any perfon in Sweden has a printed copy of it: it may at the fame time ferve to fhew the nature of a drottquade, as the author has obferved almofl: all the rules which conftitute one. Aut er i feggia foti Saknar manns i ranni Gret ylgur Ragnvald rytto Rom-ftamir haukar fromafl Kund Lodbrokar ; kiendo Kuillinda valir illra : • Kuoldrido klarar hreldoft Kueid ari mar faft reidar Tijd fiello tar af giodi Tafnlaufir septo hrafnar. Thuarr og vid theiagils dauda Thydur morg bnid, i hijdi Skreidaft thui berfi fkiasdur Skiott marti grads, of otta : Ox odum falu faxa Frar miog or leiptri tara Huarma beckur ad hrockin Hraut gron a baudar nauti. Greto fkinlaus agisetann Gripdijr heidingia fuipuls Verdar of fasdo fordum Fleinthings allvakran kingJa : Og i oglodum huga Undo fier menn og hrundir Seims kuado mundar foma Sieirrhuor huit malar thuerru ^ Heidingiar ef fua hedins Harmadu kuanar barma StUlir fier giordi flala Stijrir og Eida hirufl : Thars i malmgufti giera Grad thuarr og vod til brada Varga kna vund oborgid Vas, thaut rafn i afi. lo . Hvad VON TROIL's letters on ICEtANt>.' 685 Hvad baeri ofs er crum Urdarbrunns tha alkunnir Sira Jofurs thefs fara Sueita dagliga neitum ? Og i bans erum faugru Orda vidkutedi vordnir Uppfraeddir ad vier hreppa Allundum gledi haa ? Bferi ofs ey bliugum vera Breiflcleika holdfins veikan Tijitt fyri fionir fetda Synd flya, dygd i nijafl: ? Hel med thui hroka ftoli Hreikir fier a faul bleikum Akuedr ymfra thioda Andlat med quifti bandar^ Hel vaegir hauldum eigi Hrijfur or theffo lijfi Kejfara, Klerk og Rafir Karlmenfko fuUa Jarla : Altignum aniint fagnar Og kot-af-ropa throti Kurteifa kappa berfa Kielling leggur ad velli. Dasmi framm daglig koma. Drijir hel verk at nijo Audlinga aburt leidir Ofs dauggvar tara fofli : Mannlunga msetfta fangar Med fier hertekna hiedan Fserir og furdum ftorum Fiaurleftir meingid befta. Sidpridi, fasmd og heidur, Somligigur dygdar blomi, Mangiasfka, vinfael minning, Metrda fremd ofgietin, Frijdleikur, fegurd, audur, Fraekn, aft, og hyller dafto Hel med fier dregur i duala Deyr the gott mannord eije. Einn nu af aefi banni Afgieck raud moens brecku Mastur altygin ytum JE tregandi laegir ; Kurreis, vis, kiasnn, til vurt^ Kin-ftor lof dunga vinur Haborin Jarl og Herra Haukilandar malar grandi. 686 VON troil's letters on Iceland. Dyr Magnus Delagardi Dygdhiir.Odains bygde Akurs vift ai var rekin, Er nara nift illfkiptiii : Mord hauxa tall haiis ferdi Fridoftum brecko hlijda Sorg ftora iua og morgum Sleedir lax hrunduin Iccdo. Thar fie ofs tho ad eyrir Thad hann i gudi gladur Als trsed holds goto greida Grand fyrtift vondra anda ; Hirdur i Gimlis gardi Glatt fingur og famklingir Utvauk um Eingla fueituni Endalault lof miuk raullo. EPITAPHIUM. Conditur hoc tumulo juvenili mortuus asvo Magnus, de Magna Gardia gente fatus. In multos canus dignus qui viveret annos, Hei mihi ! quod juvenis concidit ante diem. Hujus enim ingeniuni cepit non terra. Quid inde ? Tollite Ca;licolas, reddite Catlicolre. Die tumulum ipeflans oculo properante viator : Magno Tuo Cineri fit pia terra levis. Jonas rugmanI •Sciipfit U^faliae anno 1667, die 14 Februarii. Letter XVIII. — to professor bergman. Of the Volcams in Icelatid. Stockholm, Sept. i, 1773. Having received the colleftion I made in Iceland of the fpecimens of the different fubflances of which their volcanos are compofed, I take the liberty offending it to you ; adding at the fame time a Ihort account of thefe burning mountains, which is in part extracted from Icelandic writers, and partly founded on what I heard from the natives, as well as from my own obfervations ; and which I do not thi. k unworthy of your clofer examination. Indeed it is much to be lamented, that fince of late fuch care and application have been beltowed on the Iludy of natural hiftory, io little attention has been paid to the operations of Nature in this remarkable ifland ; for hith. rto a very fiiiall number of the many volcanos arc yet fully known ; but that we fliould be more igno- rant in regard to the wonderful hot fpouting water-fprings with which the country abounds, is very extraordinary ; not to mention many other uncomnion appearances in nature. My time and attention have been too much confined and taken up to give you fo coniplrtc an account of the curiofities of Iceland as they defervc ; but I flatter mvfclf notwithdandini;, hat you will give a favourable reception to the few obfervations I fhall make, though they fliould not be fo important as might be expected. We may hope 2 to VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. 687 to fee this fubjc£l: treated upon more at large, when you have tunc and opportunity to compare the effefts of fire in Iceland, with fimilar ones in other parts of the world. I will not venture to determine how far the opinion of fomc men of learning is founded on truth, that all mountains have taken their rife either from fire or water. How probable foever this opinion may appear, of which we can find no traces in the mod remote times, and the mofl ancient authors ; yet it would be very difficult, nay almolt impoflille, to eftablifli it by experience : but be this as it may, 1 will venture to pronounce, that Iceland has been formed by eruptions of fire. It is no uncommon event for iflands to be proiuced in this manner ; we have many examples of it ; but the fize and extent of Iceland, in comparifoa to other iflands,. which owe their origin to the famecaufe, may raife foine doubts againft the reception of this hypothefis. Nor can it be denied, that this, as well as feveral forts of (tone which are to be found there, and which do not bear any diRinft marks of the effects of fire, are likewife calculated to confirm thefc doubts. Again, I fee nothing to hinder me from confidcring Iceland as produced by fire, when I refieci: that the ground in all parts of the ifland, and particularly near the fea-(hore, confifts of lava or tujfa, which is frequently covered with other forts of flones, as at Lundo, and even with a hard kind of moor-fl:one (^faxum'), or with feveral flrata of different kinds of earth and flones, as at Laugarnces, where the lava is fourteen feet in depth ; when I find befides, that thofe rocks which have no traces of fire are compounded of fand mixed with finall pieces of fpar, which may eafily be produced, in two or three thoufand years, fince the lava has laid the foundation ; I am (till more inclined to fupport this opinion. I am not however fo credulous as to believe, that the whole ifland was produced at once by fire ; but I rather conjefture that it has been the work of fome centuries, by feveral cliffs and rocks having been produced at different times, whofe points have been conneded by new eruptions, and which have formed the bafis of the whole ifland. It is very difficult to determine, whether this fuppolltion has any real foundation or not ; however I think myfelf authorized to believe it, as well from the arched figure into which the flreams of lava have generally formed themfelves, as from the pro- bable connedions of the fea and the volcanos there : I likewife believe, that from hence it may befl be explained, why feveral ii]ands have been fwallowed up in great earthquakes, as a building may foonefl: be deftroyed by tearing away the pillars on which it reffs. Thus I go further back with regard to the eruptions of fire in Iceland, than the common tradition among the vulgar people there, who believe that the firfl inhabitants of the country, whom they fuppofe to have been Chi-iftians and Iriffimen, were fo much opprefl'ed by the Norwegian colonifts, that they were forced to leave the country, which they firfl fet fire to, to revenge themfelves. We cannot however determine, till after the arrival of the Norwegians, how often the eruptions of fire have hap-- pened. But this nation has prel'erved with great care whatever concerned their place of refidence or habitation. The firfl eruption of fire, mentioned by the antient records, is the Ildborgar braun, immediately after the arrival of the Norwegians on the well: fide of the ifland, in tfie ninth century. But it is not remarked as any thing extraordinary, only that the fire broke out near a farm belonging to Thore ; and a ftretch of lava, or a braun, of three miles in length, and two and a half in breadth, remains to this day as a monument of. it. After this there are no eruptions mentioned till the year 1000, when the Chrillian religion was introduced there. At a time when the chiefs of the country were afl'em- bled, to eonfult about the reception of the Chrillian religion, information was brought 6S3 VON troil's letters on jceland. that fire was thrown out at Plow. The heathens confidered this as a proof of the wrath of their gods, on which account they were refolved to refufe the new religion ; but this refolution was over-ruled by Snorre Code's afldng them, " On whom did the gods diiplay their wrath, when thofe rocks on which we now ftand were on fire ?" I'he Icelandic chronicles mention m;iny inftances of fiery eruptions obferved in diffe- rent places during the fpace of eight hundred years * ; it is therefore difficult to con- •ceive how Ilorrebow, who has been in the country himfelf, could affirm, that fire is emitted only from them vei^ rarely, and in few places. To be fcnfible of the dreadful efl>Sts of fire, the country itfelf need only be con- fidered. The mountains are almofl entirely compofed of lava and iuffa, and the plains are crufted over with braun, or tracts of lava, which are, however, in many places covered with earth or turf. The accounts which we have of certain eruptions of fire, alfo informs us, that they have always laid wade large tradts of land, either more or lefs. I will not in tliis place mention the damages done to the inhabitants by the afhes thrown from the volcanos, which frequently covered the fields for a fpace of twenty or thirty miles in length, and half a yard in height, and by which the cattle fuffered very much, as it caufed them to lofe their teerh, and frequently to drop down dead for want of food ; and when they have been killed, pummice has fometimes been found in their liver and bowels. I will only name fome of the places fituate neareft to the volcanos, that have been utterly dellroyed by their effects. This has been partly done by violent earthquakes, which generally preceded the eruption ; and partly by inunda- tions of water from the ice melted by the fire ; and laftly, by the quantity of glowing afhcs and ftones thrown from the mouths of the volcanos, and the ftreams of burning matter which flowed down on all fides. In 131 1 eleven farms were confumcd near Roidekamb, and as many more near Tol- ledyngr ; and in 1366,7031 Lillehered. Heckla defiroyed two in 1374J feven in 1390 ; and eighteen in one day in 1436. In the fame manner five farms were laid wafte near Myrdais Jokul in 1660, and (till more in 1693 '^'-'^^ Heckla. In 1727, at lead fix hundred flieep and one hundred and fifty horfes were killed near Myrdais Jokul, by the flood and the pieces of ice which rulhed down with it. In i}'28, many farms were defl;royed near Krafle, and a large lake called Myvatn, was entirely dried up, into which the ftreams of fire that rolled from the mountains, flowed during fome years, and formed a traft of lava of four miles in length, and one and a half in breadth. In 1755 Kattlegiaa laid wafte fix parifties ; and in the fame year the laft eruption of Heckla ravaged a tradl many miles to the north-eaft. It is not therefore to be doubted, but that the fire rages here with as much, and per- haps more violence than Vefuvius, yEtna, and pther volcanos ; notwithftanding which, I fee no foundation for the opinion of fome people, who affirm that there is a communi- cation between the volcanos of Iceland and Italy ; it might be maintained with as much foundation that Kattlegiaa and Tenerift", or Krafle and Lima, communicate. But before I quit this fubjeft I will mention a circumftance which is related both by Egbert Olafsen and Jacobfen. The laft time that Kattlegiaa emitted fire, a flafli of light- ning, as it were, burft from the flame, and pierced through the clifl's which intercepted its way. The fame lightning in one place killed eleven horfes, three of which were in a ftable ; a farmer was alfo killed by it near the door of his room ; his upper cloaths, • The clironiclos give a lifl of fixty-three eruptions at Heckla and other places, from the year jooo to lf€6; of which twcnty-thice were eniptions of mount Heckla only. which VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. 689 which were woollen, remained entirely unhurt, but his fliirt and waldcont, which were both of linen, were burnt ; and when his cloaths were pulled off, it was found that the flefh and fkin on the right fide were confumed to the very bones. The inaid-fervant, who wanted to afTid him in faving the cattle, was likewife ftruck by the lightning, but did not die till fevcral days after, during which time flic fuffered incxpreflible torture. It is likewife faid, that when flie put on her cloaths, they were finged by the glutinous fires, which cleaved to her body. At firfl I hefitated to believe this as true ; but when I read in your Cofmography that Braccini had obferved, in 16] i, that a column of fmokc from Vefuvius extended over feveral miles of the country, from which deadly lightning proceeded ; and that the fame happened in 1767, when the iron rods erected in Naples became eleclric whenever Vefuvius emitted fire, I am the more inchned to believe that there is fomething eledrical in this kind of fire, as the fame phasnomena appear in thun- der and lightning. LETTER XIX. — to professor bergman. Of the Voleanos in Iceland. Stockholm, September 21, 1774. It fcarcely ever happens that the mountains begin to throw out fire unexpeftedlv ; for befides a loud rumbling noife, which is heard at a confiderable diftance, and for feveral days preceding any eruption, and a roaring and cracking in the part from whence the fire is going to burfl forth, many fiery meteors are obferved, but unattended in ge- neral with any violent concuffion of the earth ; though fometimes earthquakes, of which the hiftory of the country affords feveral inftances, have accompanied thefe dreadful conflagrations. Among the traces left by thefe eruptions, are particularly the clefts which are fre- quently to be met with, the largeft of which is Almennegiaa, near the water of Tingalla ; it is very long, and one hundred and five feet in breadth. The direftion of the chaim itfelf is from north to fouth : its weftern wall, from which the other has been perpen- dicularly divided, is one hundred and feven feet fix inches in height, and confills of many ftratas (each of which is about ten inches in height) of lava, grown cold at different times, as may eafily be difcovered by the apparent crufl, which is full of blifters, of a darker brown, and not fo much compreffed as the remaining part of the mafs of lava. The eaftern wall is only forty- five feet four inches in height ; and that part of it which is diredly oppofite to the highefl: part on the other fidej is no more than thirty-fix feet five inches high. It is likewife confidered as a fign of an impending eruption, when fmall lakes, rivulets, and ftreams dry up. Some perfons believe that it does not contribute a little to haften the eruption, when the mountain is fo covered with ice, that the holes are (topped up through which the exhalations, &c. often found a free paffage. Though it is by no means my opinion that this contributes much to it, it cannot be denied, that the fire is generally contained in thefe mountains covered with ice, or, as they are called in the country, yc/tzz/j-. The firft thing that is ufualiy obferved, before a new eruption of fire, is the burflin"- of the mafs of ice with a dreadful noife, whence it is called in Icelandic Jukla-bliod (Jo- kul's Sound) and Jokla brejlar. Flames then burfl forth, and lightning and balls of fire iffue with the fmoke, which are feen feveral miles off. With the llames proceed a number of larger and fmaller VOL. I. 4 T ftonts. SgO VON TROIl's LETTERS ON ICELAND. ftones, which are fometimes thrown to an incredible diftance. I have feen a round ftone near Nafeirholt, about a mile from Heckla, which was an ell in diameter, and had been nrown there in the lad eruption of Heckla. Egbert Olafsen alfo relates, that at the lad eruption of Kattlegiaa, a done which weighed two hundred and ninety pounds was thrown to the didance of four miles. A quantity of white pumice-done is alfo thrown up with the boiling waters ; and it is believed, with great probability, that the latter proceeds from the fea, as a quantity of ialt fufficient to load feveral horfes has frequently been found after the mountain has dif- continued burning. I'hen follows generally brown or black pumice-done, and lava, with fand and adies. The lava is feldom found near the opening, but rather it/ffh, or loofe afhes and grit; and indeed the greater p'c-.rt of the Icelandic mountains confids of this matter, which, when it is grown cold, generally takes an arched form, fome admirable proofs of which may be feen in the cleft at Allmanagiaa : the upper crud frequently grows hard and folid, whild the melted matter beneath it continues liquid ; this forms great cavities, whofe walls, bed, and roof are of lava, and where great quantities of ftaladite of lava are found. There are a great number of thefe caves in Iceland, fome of which are very large, and are made ufe of by the inhabitants for flieltering their cattle. I will here only take notice of the cave of Surtheller, as the larged of all : it is between thirty-four and thirty- fix feet in height ; its breadth is from fifty to fifty-four feet, and it is tive thoufand and thirty-four feet long. It would be both tedious and difficult to clafs the different compofitions of fire in thefe places, as it is not eafily difcovered to which they belong : for example, jafper, of which great quantities of red and black are found inclofed in the lava, and mixed with it ; I will therefore only name thofe which have been evidently produced by the fire. Fird, iujfa, a done, feruminated afhes and grit, which fometimes is found mixed with lava, bafalt, and other forts of dones, and having been moidened by the fpouting of water, grows hard by heat and length of time. Secondly, iavn, is that kind of done which has been melted by the violence of the fire, and varies according to the difference of the date in which it ferved as food to the fire. This lava is fometimes found folid, and at others porous and full of bladders and holes ; in the infide it is filled up with opaque and brittle fquare crydals of a dead white, or with green drops of glafs, which decay after they have been long expofed to the air. The colour of the lava is black, dark blue, purple, reddifh brown, or yellowifli, but oftened black or red. Where the fire has operated very itrongly, it is, as it were, glazed, and looks like refin. In the frames or great tracts of lava it is fometimes obferved, that the crud in growing cold has laid itfelf into folds; but generally it forms itfelf into a refemblance of a rope or cable, fometimes lengthways, and at others in the form of a circle, like unto a great cable rolled together ; and generally fo, that its thickncfs continually augments from the centre to the periphery. To this clafs 1 mud alfo count a black folid matter, which ftrikes fire againd fleel, and fometimes takes the forms of trees or branches: fome people have been inclined to think they are petrified trees, but I am rather of opinion that it is a real jafper. Thirdly, pumice, black, red, and even white, which lad has mod probably been difcoloured by the boiling water. Fourthly, agate ; I preferve the received name, though it is really nothing more than burned glafs. In fome few places it is found white, tranfparent, and almofl in the form of crydal. The bluifh fort is alfo rare, but found in large pieces : the mod common is the black agate, which is found gtnei'ally in dratas, or in fmall neds, and fometimes almolt in the fliape of crydal, in 8 oval. rON TROIl's LETTBRS on I(.'£LANDi ffrjj oval, fqiiaro, or pentagonal forms. The aftronomer, Mr. Ejnar JTonfon, has made ufe of this black glafs in his tubes, both in Copenhagen and in Iceland, for the obfervatioa of the I'un, and has found them greatly preferable to the darkened glafs. The green agate is found rather coarfer and more reddifli, like thick bottle glafs : it is called hraflinniibroJcon. Brimftone, which may be confidered as the proper fuel of the fire, is found in great abundance, pure and mineralized : in the north, principally at Hufewick, and in the fouth at Kryfewick, there are white brimftone mines which are called Namas. I lliall referve the bafalts ibr a particular letter. LETTER XX. — To professor bercman. 0/ Mount Heck/a. Stockholm, September 7, 1773. The caufe of Heekla (or, as it is called in the country, Hcckla-fiaW) having been more noticed than many other volcanos of as great extent, and no lefs wonderful and in- ftruflive, may partly be afcribed to its having vomited fire fo frequently, and partly to its fituation, which expofes it to the fight of all the fliips failing to Greenland and North America : as we confidered it with greater attention than any other volcano on the ifland, I will gi?e you a defcription ot the ftate in which we found it on the twenty- fourth of September 1772. After we had feen many trads of lava, among which Garde and Wvalupe Hraune were the mod confiderable, we purfued our journey to the foot of the mountain. We had a tent pitched here, where we propofed to pals the night, to enable us to afcend the mountain with greater ipirits in the morning. The weather was extremely favourable, and we had the fatisfaftion of feeing whatever we wifiied, the eruption only excepted. The mountain is fituated in the fotithern part of the Ifland, about four miles from the fea-coaft, and is divided into three points at the top, the higheft of which is that in the middle, and is, according to an exadl obfervation with Ramfden's barometer, five thoufand feet higher than the fea. We made ufe of our horfes, but were obliged to quit them at the firfl opening from which the fire had burft. This was a place fur- rounded with lofty glazed walls, and filled with high glazed cliffs, which I cannot com- pare with any thing I ever faw before. A little higher up we found a great quantity of grit and fi:ones, and dill farther on another opening, which though not deep, however defcended lower down than that of the higheft point. We thought we plainly obferved evident marks of hot boilhig water in this place. Not far from thence the mountains began to be covered with fnow, fome fmall fpots excepted, which were bare. We could not at firft difccrn the caufe of this difference, but foon found that it proceeded from the vapour which arofe from the mountain. As we afcended higher, thefe fpots became larger ; and about two hundred yards from the fummit we found a hole of about one yard and a half in diameter, from which fo hot a fteam exhaled, that it prevented us from afcertaining the degree of heat with the ther- mometer. The cold now began to be very intenfe, as Fahrenheit's thermometer, which was at 54" at the foot of the mountain, fell to 24°. The wind was alfo become fo violent, that we were fometimes obliged to lie down to avoid being thrown iuto the moft dreadful precipices by its fury. 4 T 3 We 6gZ VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. We were now arrived at one of the highefl: fummits, when our condudor, who did not take great pleafure in the walk, endeavoured to perfuade us that this was the highefl: part of the mountains. We had jufl; finifhed our obfervations, and found by them that Ramfdcn's barometer flood at 24-238, and the thermometer, fixed to it, at 27°, when happily the clouds divided, and we difcovered a dill higher fummit. We loft no time in deliberation, but immediately afcended it, and when at the top difcovered a fpace of ground, about eight yards in breadth, and twenty in length, entirely free from fnow ; the fand was however quite wet, from its having lately melted away. Here we experi- enced, at one and the lame time, a high degree of heat and cold, for In the air Fahren- heit's thermometer was conftantly at 24", and when we fet it down on the ground, it rofe to 153. The barometer was here at 22-247, and the thermometer at 38. We could not with fafety remain here any longer, though we were very much in- clined to it ; and defcended, after having confidered the laft opening there, one of the fides of which was entirely overturned, and the other quite covered with afhes and grit. In our return we obferved three confiderable openings, in one of which every thing looked as red as brick. From another the lava had flowed in a ftream of about fifty yards in breadth, which the Icelanders call Stenna, or Stone Flood ; and at fome diftance from thence the ftream divided into three broad arms. Further on we found a large circular opening, at the bottom of which we obferved a mountain in the form of a fugar- loaf, in throwing up of which the fire feemed to have exhauftcd itfelf. The laft eruption of mount Heckla happened in 1766 ; it began the fourth of April, and continued to the feventh of September following. Flames proceeded from it in December 1771, and in September 1772, but no flowing of lava, &c. The mountain does not confift of lava, but chiefly of fand, grit, and aftics, which are thrown up with the ftones, partly melted, and partly difcoloured by the fire. We like- wife found feveral forts of pumice, and among them one piece with fome fulphur in it. The pumice was fometimes fo much burnt, that it was as liglit as tow ; their form and colour was fometimes very fine, but at the fame time fo foft, that it was difficult to remove them from one place to anotlier : of the common lava we found both large pieces and fmall bits, as likewife a quantity of black jafper, burned at the extremities, and refembling trees and branches. Among the ftones thrown out of the mountain we faw fome flate of a deep red colour. LETTER XXI. — to professor bergman. Of the hot f pouting Water-fprings in Iceland. Stockholm, Od. 3, 1774. Among all the curiofitiesin Iceland, which nature prcfents to the eyes of an attentive fpeflator to raife his admiration, nothing can be compared to the hot fpouting water- fprings with which this country abounds. The hot fprings at Aktn, Carldiad, Bath, and Switzerland, and feveral others which ?rc found in Italy, are confidered as very re- markable ; but to my knowledge, except in the laft-mentioned country, the water no where becomes fo hot as to boil ; nor is it any where known to be thrown fo high as at the hot fpouting water-fprings in Iceland. All tliofc jets d'cau which have been contrived with fo much art, and at fo enormous an expence, cannot by any means be compared with thefe. The water- works at Herren- haufcn throw up a finglc column of water, of half a quarter of a yard in circumference, to the height of about fcvcnty feet ; thofe on the Winterkaftcn, at Can"c!, throw it up, but in a much thinner column, one hundred and thirty feet j and the jet d'eau at St. Cloud, which VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. 693 which is thought the greatefl: amongfl all the French water-works, cafts up a thin column eighty feet into the air : whilft fomc fprings in Iceland pour forth columns of water, of feveral feet in thicknefs, to the height of many fathoms ; and many affirm, of feveral hundred feet. But without relying upon what has been faid by others of thefe wonderful phasno- niena of nature, I think niyfclf happy to have contemplated with mine own eyes the mofl remarkable of thefe fprings, which has enabled me to give you an accurate ac- count of it. I only beg leave to fay fomcthing of them in general, before I treat of that which I faw in particular. Thefe fprings are of unequal degrees of heat. From fome the water flows gently as from other fprings, and it is then called laug, a bath ; from others, it fpouts boiling water with a great noife, and is then called hvcr or kittcl (keffcl). Though the degree of heat is unequal, yet I do not remember ever to have obferved it under 1 88 of Fahren- heit's thermometer. At Laugarnas we found it at 188, 191, 193. At Geyfer, Rcy- kum, and Laugarvatn 212 ; and in the laft place, in the ground, at a little hot vein of water, 213 degrees. It is very common for fome of the fpouting fprings to clofe up, and others to fpring up in their (lead ; there are likevvife frequent traces of former bvcrs, where at prefent not a fingle drop of water is to be feen. Many remember to have feen inftances of this ; and Egbert Olafsen relates, that in 1 753 a new bver broke forth at Reikakio, feven fathoms in breadth, and three in depth, at the diflance of fifty fathoms from an old fpring, which had been flopped up by a fall of earth. Frequent earthquakes and fubter- ranean noifes, heard at the time, caufed great terror to the people who lived in the neighbourhood. All thefe hot waters have an incrufting quality, fo that we very commonly find the exterior furface from whence it burfts forth covered with a kind of rind, which almoft refembles chaced work; which we at firft took for lime ; but we foon became dubious of this, as it did not ferment with acid ; but we hope that you. Sir, will foon refolve us. This cruft is in general very fine ; but it is, however, moft pure and clear at the fpout- ing fprings i for at the others, where the water flows, the parts precipitated by the water are fometimes mixed with earth, which makes the crull appear darker. At the hvers it is very difficult, nay almoil: impollible, to examine within the opening the difpofuion of the paflage which the water has formed, both by reafon of the heat of the water, and the violence with which it is forced out. One may, however, with con- fidence judge of the great by the fmall : and it gave us the greater pleafure, as we had an opportunity at Laugarnas to examine the vein of water itfelf a confiderable way under the crult. The water had in this place taken its courfe through a bright grey clay, the furface of which was covered with a white rind ; but was on the fide nearefi the clay, quite fmooth, and crifped on the upper fide. The vein flowed a good way under this crult, through a canal formed of a fmiilar matter ; and the whole canal was filled with cryf- tals, which had a very pleafing eft'edl. I had not time to examine their nature and form on the fpot, as they were very fmall ; but I expeft a more particular account of this fubjeft from you, as you will find feveral fpecimens of them in the colledion I font you. We could not, however, purfuc the courfe of the water very far, as we were obliged to leave it to its fubterranean paflages, through w hich nature had feduced it from its refervoirs, where heated by the warmth, and comprelTed by the exhalations, it at lad burlts from itsprifon, by gulhing forth at another place, in order to make way for its vapours. The 694 "^ON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. The water in fome places taftes of fulphur, and in others not ; but when drank as foon as it is cold, taftes like common boiled water. The inhabitants ufe it, at particular times for dying; and were they to adopt proper regulations, it might be of (till greater ufe. Victuals may alfo be boiled in it, by putting it into a pot covered, and boiling it till a certain quantity is evaporated. Milk held over this Vvater when boiling becomes fweet, owing, moll probably, to its exceflive heat ; as the fame effedl: is produced by boiling it a long time over the fire. They have begun to make fait, by boiling fea- water over it, which, when it is refined, is very fine and good. The cows which drink of it yield a great quantity of good milk. Egbert Olafsen informs us, that the water does not become troubled when alkali is thrown into it, nor does it change colour from fyrup of violets. I do not know what degree of credit ought to be given to Horre- bow, who afferts, that if you fill a bottle at one of the fpouting fprings, the water con- tained in the bottle will boil over two or three times during the time the fpring throws it forth, and if corked too foon the bottle will burfl. Though it cannot be denied that thefe fprings have fome communication with the Icelandic volcanos, yet they are feidom found very near them, but are difperfed through- out the whole country. For this reafon, hot fprings are found among the mountains, and even on the top of the ice mountains ; as on Torfa Jockul, where a great number of hot fprings are to be met with : and among them two large hvers, which throw up the boiling water to a great height. There is likewife a lukewarm fpring near Haadegis Hnuk, on Gutlands Jokul, at the foot of the mountain, with many traces of former h'vers. There are even in the fea hot fpouting fprings, which can only be approached at Jow water ; as at Reyka-fiord in ll'a-fiord, where four fprings may be obferved in the water by the afcending Ream, and one hver on the furface of the water. There are alfo two others in the Oddbiarnar fhonls, (till more at Drapfkar, and a great number at Sando, Urdholm, lleykey, and on the flat iflands. To give a better idea of the fitua- tion of thefe fprings, 1 will give a lift of them, which I will endeavour to make as to- pographical as poilible. In Borgarfiord's Syffel, near Leyraa, not far from the foot of the mountain of Skardlheides, we met with the firft hver, which is, however, not a very ftrong one j and not far from it there is a finall bath. At Lunda Reykiadal there is a hver and a bath ; and near a farm-yard, Varma-Lakiar-Mula, a warm fpring and a bath. A little farther to the noith is the valley of Reykholts, which is two miles and a half in breadth, in the bottom of which hot baths are every where to be met with. This fpot may be difcovered at fevcral miles diilance by the vapours which exhale every where from the hot water, and unite in the air, refembling a prodigious fmoke arifing from fome vol- cano. The thrive principal bvcrsm this place are, Tunguhvcr, Aa-hver, and Scribla ; the lad: furnilhcs water to Snorralaug, Snorre Sturlefon's bath, which is efteemed the belt in Iceland. From this place there is no hot fpring to be met with northward for a very large tract, till you come to Sneefield's Cape, where there is a lukewarm fpring rear the farm called Lyfehol, in Stadefvcit : at this place many remains of ancient bvers are to be feen. Still further to the north, in Dale Sylfel, is a warm bath with fome fprings. In Soling's Valley, and further on, near the farm Reyka-holer, in Reykianas, are inany (Irong bvcn ; particularly three very large ones, the mofl confiderable of which isKrabianda. From thence we came to the hot fprin;;s of Flatdarna, Oddfbiar- marfkar, and Dnipfkar ; and afterwards vifited thofe at Talknefiord, Arnarfiord, and Ifa-fiord in Rcyka-fiord, where there is a ftrong fpouting fpring. After we had pafl Cape Nord, or the northern extremity of Iceland, we met with fome warm fprings at Reykar-fiord ; others, together with a fine bath, at Biarnar-fiord, near Kaldadarna : at Hruta- VOV TROlI.'s LETTERS ON ICELAND. 695 Hruta-fiorden there is a great b-cer called Reike-hver, and another as large at Midfiorden, calkd Rcixalaug. When you go from hence i'outhward into the country, you will find a number of boiling fprings at Hverevalle, three of which f'pout the water high into the air with a prodigious noife j ftill further to the fouth there is a hvcr near Geitland's Jokul. If we turn again to the north, we find hot fprings at Blanda, others near the haven at Skaga-Strand, and flill more at a little diftance from thence at Ska pa- fiord en ; one of which falls from a rock thirty feet high. To the call there are hot fprings in many places of Vadle Syffel, as at Olafs-fiordr, Langaland, Kriflnas, and Hrafnegil ; but in Thingo SyfTel there are fprings of both forts (baths and hvers) in great number, and of confiderable dimenfions. The hvers in Reykia Valley deierve to be particularly men- tioned, amongft which Oxe and Badftotu are the largeft. On the eafl; fide of the country there are no confiderable hvers, though warm fprings are to be found in Selar, Laugarvalle, Ratukells, and Fliots valleys ; and on the loutli, on Torfa Jukul. We then proceeded to Skallholt, where there are many fprings ; about a mile from thence the hvers, called Reikholt and Grafa, both which fpout very high. The next hver is Geyfer, which I fliall afterwards mention more minutely. Not far from this laft is Laugervatn, a fmall lake, round which a number of warm fprings may be obferved, and eight boiling ones. The road now leads us to the hvers, at Oelves, which is thought to be the largeft in all Iceland ; the moll remarkable of which are Geyfer and Badftofu. Here is alfo a dry hver, from which water formerly proceeded, but now emits only fteam through its mouth ; the heat of which however is fo great, that a pot of water placed over the opening boils in a very fhort time. We met with fpouting fprings at Krufevik. in Gullpringe Syflel, the hver Eine, the hvers at Reikianas, and feveral at Langarnas in Kiofar Syffel. From this lift, which, however, is far from containing all the warm fprings in Ice- land, you may judge, Sir, of the prodigious number that we met with. Near moll of them are warm baths, each of which merits a particular examination and defcription. Eggert Olafsen and Biarne Paulfen have made very curious obfervations on feveral of them ; but I only beg leave to mention fome which I made at Geyfc-r, where is the largell of all the fpouting-fprings in Iceland, or perhaps in the known world. Ihefe obfervations were made the twenty-firfl of September 1772, from fix o'clock in the morning till feven at night. Among the hot fprings in Iceland, feveral of which bear the name of geyfer, there are none that can be compared Vvith that which I am going to dcfcribe, though the beft defcription will fall very Ihort of it. It is about two days journey from Htckli, not far from Skallholt, near a farm called Haukadal. Here a poet would have an opportunity of painting a picture of whatever Nature has of beautiful and terribL' united, by deli- neating one of its mofl uncommon ph:i noniina : it would be a fubjocl worthy of the pen of a Thompfon to tranfport the reader, by poetical imagery, to the fpot which is here prefented to the eye. Reprefent to yourfelf a large field, where you fee on one fide, at a great diftance, high mountains covered with ice, whofe fummits are generally wrapped up in clouds, fo that their fharp unequal points become invifible. This lofs however is compenfated by a certain wind, which caufes the clouds to fink, and cover the mountain itfelf, when its fummit appears as is were to reft upon the clouds. On the other fide, Heckla is feen, with its three points covered with ice, rifing above the clouds, and with the fmoke which afcends from it, forming other clouds at fome diftance from the real ones : and on another fide is a ridge of high rocks, at the foot of which boiling 696 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. boiling water from time to time gufhcs forth ; and further on extends a marfli of about half a mile in circumference, where are forty or fifty boiling fprings, from which a va- pour afccnds to a prodigious height. In the midlt of thefe is the greatefl: fpring gcyfer, which deferves a more exaft and particular account. In travelling to the place, about a quarter of a mile from the bver, from which the ridge of rocks near it ftill divided us, we heard a loud roaring noife, like the rufliing of a torrent, precipitating itfelf from ftupendous rocks. We alked our guide what it meant ? he anfwered, it ^'■ds.geyfer roaring ; and we foon faw with our naked eyes what before appeared almofl incredible. The depth of the opening or pipe from which the water gufhes cannot well be deter- mined ; for fometimcs the water funk down feveral fathoms, and fome feconds paffed before a Hone which was thrown into the aperture, reached the furface of the water. The opening itfelf was pcrfeftly round, and nineteen feet in diameter ; it ended above in a bafon which was fifty-nine feet in diameter ; both the pipe and the bafon were co- vered with a rough ftalaftic rind, which had been formed by the force of the water ; the uttermoft border of the bafon is nine feet and an inch higher than the pipe itfelf. The water here fpouted feveral times a day, but always by flarts, and after certain Intervals. The people who lived in the neighbourhood told us, that they rofe higher in cold and bad weather than at other times ; and Egbert Olafsen and feveral others affirm, that it fpouted to the height of fixty fathoms. Mofl; probably they only gueffed by the eye, and on that account their calculation may be a little extravagant ; and indeed I doubt that ever the water was thrown up fo high, though I am much inclined to believe, that it fometimes mounts higher than when we obferved it. I will here infert an account, how high the water was thrown the day that we were there, which I hope will not be difagreeable to you. We obferved the height thus : every one in the company wrote down at each time that the water fpouted, how high it appeared to him to be thrown, and we afterwards chofe the medium. The firfl: column marks the fpoutings of the water, in the order in which they follow one another ; the fecond, the time when thefe eft'ufions happened ; the third, the height to which the water rofe j and the lafl:, how long each fpouting of water continued. No. Time. Height. Dnration. 1 At VI 42 m. 30 feet om. 20 f. 2 — 51 — 6 — o 20 3 VII 6 — 6 — o 10 4 — 31 — 12 — o 15 5 — 51 — 60 — o 6 6 VIII 17 — 2+ — - o 30 7 — 29 — 18 — o 40 8 — 36 — 12 — o 40 The pipe was now for the firfl: time full of water, which ran flowly into the bafon. No. Time. Heiglit. Duration. 9 IX 25 — 48 — I 10 10 X 16 — 24 — I 00 XII 35 minutes we heard, as it were, three difcharges of a gun under ground, which made it fliake, the water immedi- ately flowed over, but funk again inflantly. II 8 the water flowed over the border of the bafon. n III VON TROIL S LETTERS ON ICELAND. 697 N" Time. Ill Height. Duiation. 1 5 we again heard fevcial fubterraneous noifcs, though vet fo llrong as before. 43 the water flowed over very ftrongly during a whole minr.-:e. 49 we again heard many loud fubterraneous difcharges, not only near the fpring, but alfo from the neighbouring ridge of rocks, where the water fpouted. 51 — 92—4 DO After this great effort, the water funk down very low into the pipe, and was entirely quiet during feveral minutes, but it foon began to bubble again j it was however not thrown up into the air, but only to the top of the pipe. II IV VI N^ Hours. Min. N« Hours. Min. I 5 7 18 5 42 2 5 91 19 5 43i 3 5 lo;. 20 5 47 4 5 •3r 21 5 48I 5 5 I4I i2 5 49 6 5 i7 23 5 30 i 7 5 i8j- 24 5 Sir S 5 20^ 25 5 54 9 S 21| 26 5 37 i 10 5 23i 27 5 59 1 1 5 271 28 6 10 12 5 30I 29 6 »9 »3 5 3'i 30 5 23 »4 5 33^ 31 6 26 15 5 35 32 6 29 16 5 36 33 6 3a «7 5 38 The force of the vapours which throw up this water is excefllve ; it not only prevents the flones which are thrown into the opening from finking, but even throws them up to a very great height, together with the water. I mult not forget to mention a very curious circumftance : when the bafon was full of water, we placed ourfelves before the fun in fuch a manner, that we could fee our fhadows in the water, ever)' one obferved round the fliadow of his own head (though not round the heads of the others) a circle of almoft the fame colours which compofe the rainbow, and round this another briglit circle : this mod probably proceeded from the vapours exhaling from the water. I re- member to have feen fomething fimilar to it when travelling in the fummer, particularly in the meadows, and it is fooneft obferved when riding on horfcback, or in a carriage, when you have your fliadow on one fide. Not far from this place, another fpring at the foot of the neighbouring ridge of rocks fpouted water to the height of one or two yards each time. N° Hours. Mill. 1 3 45 2 3 471 3 5<^l 4 Sii 5 55 6 571 VOL, I. N" Hours. Min. 7 4 8 4 -> J 9 5i JO 8i 1 1 »«5 12 14 4 u The 698 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. The opening through which this water iHued was not fo wide as the other : we ima- gined it pofTible to flop up the hole entirely by throwing large ftones into it, and even flattered ourfclvcs that our attempt had fucceeded ; but to our great aftoniflimcnt the water gulhed forth in a very violent manner, which fliews how little the weak efforts of man avail, when they endeavour to prefcribe bounds to the works of nature. We haflcned to the pipe, and found all the ftones thrown afide, and the water playing freely throucih its former channel. In thefe large fprings the waters were hot in the highcfl: degree, and tafted a little of fulphur, but in other refpecls were pure and clear. In thefmaller fprings in the neigh- bourhood the water was tainted ; in fome it was as muddy as that of a clay-pit, in others as white as milk ; and yet there are a few fprings where the water forces itfelf through a fire underneath as red as blood. I have already obferved, that near mofl of thefe fprings and I'vcis there are baths, which are frequently vifited by the natives : there are alio in many places dry and fweating-baths. Eggert Oiafsen mentions one of thefe baths at Huufevik, in North Iceland ; and I had the curiofity of feeing one of them at Tliibfaarholt, not far from Skallholt, which confifled of a hut raifed of earth, into which hot fleams arofe from many holes. Fahrenheit's thermometer, which was at 57 degrees in the open air, rofe to 93 in the hut whilfl it was open, and when it was placed in one of the little openings the fleam arofe to 1 25. LETTER XXII. — to professor bergman. Of the Pillars of Bafalt. Stockholm, June 6, 1773. Among the effects of fire, fome of which are extremely dreadful, and all of them very extraordinary and remarkable, none have in latter times attracted more attention than thofe large regular pillars known by the name of Bafalts. 1 here had formerly been hardly any places obferved in Europe where this kind of flone was found, the Giant's Caufeway excepted ; and the greater part of our mineralo^ilLs have, if I am not miflaken,confidered them as a kind of cryflalization. Mr. Defmarcts was the firll who maintained, in a dilfertation prcfented to the Ereiich academy of fciencfs, that they were produced by fire, wherein he dcfcribed fome bafalts found near St. Sandour, in Au- vergue. This opinion at firfl appeared almofl abfurd to our natural hiflorians, as it was not believed that volcanos had ever been in thefe places where bafalt pillars were found. This new difcovery however occafioned a more exad: enquiry concerning other places where thefe pillars are met with. All thefe enquiries only ferved to confirm Mr. Defmaret's opinion, by proving that thefe bafalt pillars muft have been produced by fubterraneous fires. There is no one furely will entertain the lead doubt of a fubterraneous fire having formerly exiiled where thefe pillars now iland, as at Stolpenllein in Meilfen ; near Lau- ban in Lufatia ; in Bohemia ; near I-eignitz in Silefia ; near Brandau inllcllia; in Sicily; near Bolfenna, I\IontebeHr>, and St. Forio in Italy ; near St. Lucas in the dif- trict of St. Vicenza ; near Monte Rolfo in the Paduan dillricl:, and Monte Diavolo in . the mountains of Verona ; in Lower Languedoc ; in Iceland, and in the weftcrn iflands of Scotland ; which you, Sir, have all mentioned in your Cofmography. Alfo in St. Giovanni, Monte Cailcllo, Ivlonte Nuovo, IMonte Olivcto, near Cad.ur Idris ia Wales, 13 in VON TROIl's letters 0>i ICELAND. 6^() inEnp;land, alaiod every where in the Vclay and Auvergnc, where wh(;le to\vn«,asCiii!lac and St. Flour, are built upon thefe pillars. But as this matter has not yet been fully invefligated, and it cannot be determined with certainty in what manner thefe pillars are formed, though they are known to be produced by fire, perhaps it will not be dif- agrecable to you, it I fay fomething of the many bal'alt pillars in Ic^'land, as well as of thofe in the ifle of Staffa, which you will readily acknowledge to be more fmgular than any thing nature ever produced of this kind. It is well known that thefe pillars are very common in Iceland, and fome account is alfo given of them in the Phyfical Dcfcription publiflied of the country. The lower fort of people imagine thefe pillars have been piled upon one another by the giants, who made ufe of fupernatural force to cfled it, whence they have obtained the name of the Trolla-hland Trel/koni-gardr/r in feveral places. They have generally from three to feven fides, and are from four to fix feet in thickncfs, and from twelve to fixteen vards in, length, without any horizontal divifions. But fometimes they are only from fix inches to one foot in height, and they are then very regular, as thofe at Videy, which are madv^ life of for windows and door-pofls. In fome places they onlv peep out of the mountains here and there among the lava, or flill ottener among tujf'a ; in other places they are quite overthrown, and only pieces of broken pillars appear. Sometimes again they ex- tend two or three miles in length without interruption. In the mountain called Glock- enberg in Snefialdfnas, this kind of ilone appears in a manner very diflerent from any other place in Iceland ; for on the top the pillars lie quite horizontally, in the middle they are floping, and the lowefl: are perfedlly perpendicular ; in fome places they are bent as a femi-circlc, which proves a very violent ellecl: of the fire on the pillars already ftanding, as in mofl; places, or at leaft in a great many, they are entirely perpendicular, and by their form and fituation, that they have even been burnt in a perpendicular di- reftion. As to the matter of which the Icelandic bafalts are compofed, it is in fome places fimilar to that ot which the pillars at Stalfa confifi:, though in others it is more porous, and inclines more to grey. And who knows, if an attentive and curious naturalift, who had both time and talents requifite for fuch an undertaking, might not eafily trace all the gradations between the coarfeft lava and the fineft pillar of bal'alt ? I mvfelf faw I'ome of this lafl fort at Videy, which were folid, of a blackiih grey, and compofed of feveral joints. And not far from thence, at Laugarnlis, near the fea-lhore, I faw a porous glaffy kind of (tone, confequently lava, but was fo indiiUnctly divided, that I was a long- time undetermined, whether I fliould confuier it as pillars or not ; but at length the rell of the company, as well as myfelf, were perfuaded that they really were fuch. But I will poitpone the examination of the matter of which thefe pillars confift, and of the manner in which they are formed, till fuch time as I have given you the promifed de- fcription of the ifle of Staffa. A piece of good fortune procured us the pleafure of being the firfl who ever examined thefe wonders of nature with an attentive eye. Among all thofe who have publiflied defcriptions of Scotland, there are none except Buchanan, whofe account, however, is very imperfect, that mentions a fingle fyllable of thefe pillars. Mr. Pennant, an inde- fatigable and experienced naturalifl, in the fame year that we vifited this ifland, made a tour to Scotland to examine the natural produclions of that country, but was prevented by a contrary wind trcm going to StalTa. Moll probably we Ihould not have come there neither, if the ufual ebb and flood, which is very flrong between the weltern iflands of Scotland, had not forced us in our way to Iceland, on the twelfth of Augull in the night, to call anchor in the found, between the iHo of Mull and Morveru on the conti- 4 u 2 nent, 7oa VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. nent, exaftly oppofite to Drumnen, the feat of Mr. Maclean. We were immediately invited to land, and breakfafted there, with that hofpitality which charafterifes the inha- bitants of the Highlands of Scotland. Mr. Leach, another guefl of Mr. Maclean, gave us many particulars of thefe pillars, which he had vifited a few days before. Mr. Banks's dcfire of information could not refift the offer of this gentleman to accompaHy us to Staffa ; we therefore went on board our long-boat the fame day, and arrived there at nine o'clock in the evening. It was impoflible for our furprife to be increafed, or our curiofity to be fuller gratified, than they were the next morning when we beheld the no lefs than beautiful fpeftacle which nature prefented to our view. If we even with admiration behold art, according to the rules prefcribed to it, obferv- ing a certain kind of order, which not only ftrikes the eye, but alfo pleafes it ; what muft be the eifed produced upon us when we behold Nature difplaying, as it were, a re- gularity which far furpaffed every thing art ever produced ! An attentive fpeftator will fmd as much occafion for wonder and aftonifhment, when he obferves how infinitely fhort human wifdom appears, when we attempt to imitate Nature in this as well as in any other of her grand and awful produflions. And though we acknowledge Nature to he the miftrefs of all the arts, and afcribe a greater degree of perfection to them, the nearer they approach and imitate it, yet we fometimes imagine that fhe might be im- proved, according to the rules of architefture. How magnificent are the remains we have of the porticos of the antients ! and with what admiration do we behold the colonnades whicli adorn the principal buildings of our times ! and yet every one who compares them with Fingal's Cave, formed by Nature in the ifle of Staffa, muft readily acknowledge, that this piece of Nature's ar- chitefture far furpaffes every think that invention, luxury, and tafle ever produced among the Greeks. The ifland of Staffa* lies weft of Mull, three miles N. E. of Jona or Kolumb-Kill, and is about a mile in length, and half a mile in breadth : it belongs to Mr. Lauchlan Mac-Quarie. On the weft fide of the ifland is a fmall cave, where there is a very con- venient landing-place, but where no regular bafalt figures are to be met with. To the fouth of this cave are fome narrow pillars, which, inftead of ftanding upright, are all inclined, and look like fo many pieces of an arch. Further on you leave a fmall grotto on your right hand, which is not compofcd of pillars, though they appear more diftinctly and larger above it, and in one place rcfemble the interior timber-work of a fhip. Diredly oppofite to it, only a few yards diftant, is the peninfula of Bo-fcha-la, which entirely confifts of regular though lefs pillars, that are all of a conical figure. Some of them lie horizontally, others incline as it were to the central point, as to the upper end, but the greater number are perfeftly perpendicular. The ifland itfelf, op- pofite to Bo-fcha-la, confifts of thick columns or pillars, which are not however very high, as they gradually decreafe in approaching to the water, and extend into the fea as far as the eye can reach. You may walk upon thefe with great cafe, as from one ftep of a ftaircafe to another, till you come to Fingal's, or more properly fpeaking, to Fiuhix Mac Coul's grotto or cave, which enters into the mountain from N. K. to E. This cave confifts of very regular pillars, which to a great extent on both fides, and in the moft interior part, fupport an arched vault, compofed of the obtufe points of • Mr. Banks's account of tliLi ifland, as communicated by that iiitclligcnt gentleman to Mr. Pennant, and inlcrttd in his Tour in Scotland, and Voyage to the Ijcbiides in i^'z, is too curiouj to be omitted, as it is not only very intereili ig in itfelf, but is an undeniable proof of the accuracy and liilclity with which our author, Dr. Troil, has treated of the various (ubjciis contained in this publication ;— the editor deems it therefore unneceffary to apologize for fubjoining an extraft of it to this letter. pillars VON TROIL S LETTERS ON ICELAND. 70I pillars crowded clofc together. The bottom of the cave, which is filled with clear frefh water feveral feet in depth, is likevvifc covered with innumerable pieces of pillars, which compofe its floor. The colour of the pillars is of a bLickifli grey ; but betwern the joints there is a yellow (laiadic quarry rind exhaled, which lerves to make thefe diviiions more diflinci, and produces an agreeable effect to the eye, by the manv diffe- rent modulations of colour. It is fo light within the cave, that one can diflin^uifh the innermon. range of pillars perfectly well frdni withou". The air in it is very pure and good, as it is conllaiuly changed by the rifmg and fallmg of the water during the tide. Very far into the cave there is a hole in the rock, fomewhat lower than the furface of the water flanding in it, which makes a plcafing kind of noife on every flux and r& flux of the tides. One may walk in mod parts of the cave on the broken points of fofne pillars arifing above the furface of the water, but it is mofl convenient to go in a boat. We made the following meafurements of the cave : F. 10 F. I. The length, from the fartheft of the baliUt pillars, which from the t fhore formed a canal to the cave - - 1 2 i 6 .f'-^^* From the commencement of the vault to the end of the cave 250 . o J The breadth of its entrance - - . 5"? 7 Of the interior end - - . 20 o The height of the vault at the entrance of the cave . 1 17 6 Of ditto, at the interior end - - 70 o The height of the outermoft pillar in one corner . 39 6 The height of another, in the north-weft corner . 54 o The depth of the water at entrance - 180 Of the infide end - . . 90 Above the cave was a ftratum of a flone mixed with pieces of bafalt. We made the following meafurements : F. I. From the water to the foot of the pillars - - 36 8 Height of the pillars - - . -12 6 Height of the arch or vault above the top of the pillars . 3 J 4 The ffratum above th's . . . "^i 4 From hence, a httle fiirthernorth-wefl:, we met with the largeft pillars which are to be found in the whole ifland. The place on which they flood was likewife quite free, fo that we were enabled to examine it. The followin_Lj was the refult of our mea- furement : The wedcrn corner of Fingal's Cave : 1. From the water to the foot of the pillars 2. Height of the pillars . _ , 3. The ftratum above them - . . Farther weftward : 1. The ftratum beneath the pillars 2. Height of the pillars 3. The ftratum above Still more weftward : 1. Stratum beneath the pillars . . . 2. Height of the pillars 3. The ftratum above them - , Still F. r. 12 10 37 66 3 9 1 1 54 6i G 6 '7 50 51 I I 702 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. Still more to the weft : F. I. I. Stratum beneath the pillars - . 19 8 2* Height of the pillars - - *! ? i 3. The ftratum above - - 54 7 The ftratum beneath the pillars here mentioned, is evidently iuffa, which had been heated by fire, and feems to be interlarded, as it were, with fmall bits of bafalt ; and the red or ftratum above the pillars, in which large pieces of pillars are fometimes found ir- regularly thrown together, and in unequal directions, is evidently nothing elfe but lava. Though a prodigious degree of fire muft formerly have been requifite to pro- duce this upper ftratum, yet there are not the leaft traces in its exterior, the pillars having been removed by it, for the whole enormous raafs refts upon them. , When you move farther on, and pals the northern fide of the illand, you come to Corinorant's Cave, where the bed beneath the pillars is raifcd, and the pillars them- felves decreafe in height : they are, however, tolei'ably diftinct, till you are pail a bay which extends very far into the country, on the fide of which the pillars entirely difappear. The mountains here confift of a dark brown ftone, of which I cannot alHrm with certainty whether it is lava or not, and v.'here not the leaft regularity is to be obferved ; but as foon as you pafs the fouth-eaft fide of the ifland, the ftones begin again to affume a regular figure, though fo gradually, that it is fcarcely perceptible at firft, till at laft, the regular and crooked pillars again appear with which I began my defcription. The pillars have from three to fev^n fides, but the greater number have five or fix, and fo crouded together, that a heptagonal pillar is furrounded \\\\\\ feven others, which join clofely to its feven fides. In fome places, however, there are little infignifi- cant openings, but they are filled up with qitarz, which, in one place, had even made its way through a number of pillars, though without in the lealt dellroying their i-e- gularity. The pillars confift of many joints or pieces, of about a foot in height, which fo exaftly fit upon one another, that it is difficult to introduce a knife between the interftices. The upper piece was generally concave, fometimes flat and rarely con- vex ; if the upper joint was flat, the lovvell was fo likewife, but when it was excavated, the lower one was rounded and reverfed. The fides of the pillars are not all equally broad. The following meafurements were taken of four pillars : N' I. with 4 fides. F. i it fide » - Diameter 2d - ' ' 3d 4th ... N" II. with 5 fides. ift fide - - Diameter 2d - - 3d - - 4th - - - 5th - No. 111. with 6 fides. ift fide - - Diameter 2d ... 3d - . - r. I. 5 I 6 I 10 10 I 5 7i 8 10 2 2 2 2 4th 703 F. I. 1 I I 2 2 2 9 2 10 2 4 I 10 2 1 I 1 6 I 3 VON TROIL S LtTTERS ON ICRLANO. 4th . . - 5th 6th N° IV. with 7 fides. ift fide » - Diameter 2d - 3d ... 4th - - . 5th - 6th - - . 7th ... The pillars are all over as finooth, and as fharp cornered as thofe of the Giant's Caufeway; their colours are generally black, though the external fides fometimes in- cline to yellow, as their furfaces are bleached by the weather. As to their grain and lubfiance, they entirely refemble, and are molt probably the fame original fubltancc as the Icelandic agate. As I have nothing remaining of it, I cannot examine what effect borax and other alloys, or aqua-fortis, and the like, would have upon it : what is the nature of its proper gravity, and what polilh it will admit of, it would, notwithftand- ing, be ufeful to be informed of in order to compare it with fimilar kinds of ftone from other parts. But in what manner have thefe regular pillars been produced ? It is the received opinion that the fire has been acceil'ary to it : you have yourfelf remarked. Sir, that it mufl either have been a matter which had been melted by fire, and burd afterwards, and that then a liquid, which we are yet unacquainted with, mufl have produced their regular cryltaline figures ; or elfe it nmft have been, as you have likewife obferved, a kind of earth, which, after having been foftened by the exhalations arifing from a fubter- raneous fire, its whole uiafs was forced out of its fituation, and alfumed this regular form as it grew dry. I have noticed this difiinct and regular appearance in dried clav, and even in fiarch when dried in a cup or bafon. For it may be demonftrated that they are not cryftuls formed by Nature, by their not being produced as all other cryllals are, by external appofition (perappofitionem)nor in any other matrix, as isconnnon among cryfials. It would be very difficult to determine whether the matter of which thefe prifmatic pillars confifl, burfl into the regular forms alter it was melted, and was growing cold, or whilft it was drying, as you feem inclined to believe : I cannot deny that my eyes have prepoffelTcd me in favour of the firft opinion, in all thole places \\ here I have I'een any of thefe pillars ; but as fo many objections may be offered againfl this opinion, I am obliged to leave the matter undetermined. The following may, however, ferve as a proof, that I did not, without due foundation, believe them to be a kind of lava, which burll in growing cold and hard. Firft, you find both in the ifland of Staffa and many other places, that the pillars Rand on lava or tufflx, and are furroundcd by this matter. Secondly, at Staffa, there was a large ftratum above the pillars, in which there were many pieces of thefe pillars irregularly thrown among one another, which leaves us to conjefture that they mult have been more in number, and higher after an old eruption of fire, but that a I'ubfequcnt eruption had overthrown them, and mixed them with the whole mafs. Thirdly, we found one of thefe pillars, on breaking it, lull of drops, almoll like a lactile or dripping flone ; and none furely will pretend a bafalt to be of fuch a compofition. Fourthly, I have formerly laid, that the pillars in fome places 704 VON TJIOIL's letters on ICELAND. places refemble the infide timber-work of a fhip ; that is to fay, thefe pillars which mofi: probably were quite flrait at firft, in falling received this crooked inclination ; nor were it alone the joints of the outermoil or lowefl fide which warped a little, but each ftone was bent fingly. Fifthly, we found on the fliore at Hiflra, near Skallholt, a piece of bafalt, with a piece of glafs flicking in it, in the fame manner as granate formed cryftals are found in the bal'alts at Bolfenna, which are like thofe that abound in the lava of Ice- land and Italy. And laftly, a kind of ftone near Langarnas in Iceland, which was much coarfer, and more glaffy than the common bafalts, and evidently was lava burfl into polycdrous and regular figures, though not quite fo regular as the above-mentioned pillars. What I have here faid, might eafily induce one to imagine that the bafalt, after having been melted, and was grown hard again, had been burfl: into fuch pillars. But two objec- tions, which you raife againft this opinion, are difficult to be removed. Firft, this mat- ter melts fo eafily, that it becomes glafs without difficulty, before the blow-pipe for aflaying ; whence it feems that this mafs muft neceffarily have been changed to glafs, if it had been expofed to fo a great fire as that of an eruption. But may one fafely judge of an experiment made in miniature before the blow-pipe of the workings of Nature at large ? Might not, perhaps, an addition we are unacquainted with, have prevented the mafs from becoming glafs, and caufe it to break into thefe regular figures though we cannot now determine wherein this addition confifted ? Secondly, we find that the trapp * in Weft-Gothland, which both in appearance and fubftance fo much refembles bafalts, though it does not form itfelf into pillars, ftands on flate ; and how could this trapp have been formed by the fire, without, at the fame time, kindling the bed, which 16 of fo combuftible a nature ? But fliould not, perhaps, the fire be able to form the trapp into pillars ? Perhaps all bafalt pillars may have been a mafs of trapp in the in- fide of the earth, which, having been liquified during an eruption, was thrown up, and fplit into pillars ? But, Sir, 1 fear to fatigue you with my conjectures and queftions ; it would, however, be very agreeable to me and other naturalifls, if you would kindly communnicate to us your thoughts on this fubjedft. This would, no doubt, enable us to judge with more certainty of bafalts, which at prefent engages the attention of the curious in general, and all naturaliits in particular. ACCOUNT OF THE ISLAND OF STAFFA, COMMUNICATED BY JOSEPH BANKS, ESQ. IN the found of Mull we came to anchor (Augufl 12, 1772) on the Morvern fide, rppofite to a gentleman's houfe called Drumnen : the owner of it, Mr. Maclean, hav- ing found out who we were, very cordially afl-ccd us afliore, we accepted his invitation, and arrived at his houfe ; where we met an Englifli gentleman, Mr. Leach, who no fooner faw us, than he told us, that about nine leagues from us was an ifland, where he believed no one even in the highlands had been, on which were pillars like thofe of the Giant's Ckiullway : this was a great objcft to me who had wiflicd to have feen the caufcway itfelf, would time have allowed : I therefore rcfolved to proceed direttly, efpeciall'y as it was juft in the way to the Columb-kill ; accordingly having put up two * A kind of (lone in Linn. Syfl. Nat. Mineralogy. 8 days roN troil's letters on ICELAND. ;o5 days' provifions, and my little tent, we put off in the boat about one o'clock for our in- tended voyage, having ordered the fhip to wait for us in Tobir-inore, a very fine har- bour on the Mull fide. At nine o'clock, after a tedious pafiage, having had not a breath of wind, we arrived, under the diredion of Mr. Maclean's ion and Mr. Leach. It was too dark to fee any- thing, fo we carried our tent and baggage near the only houfe upon the ifland, and be- gan to cook our fuppers, in order to be prepared for the earlieft: dawn, to enjoy that which from the converfation of the gentlemen we had now raifed the highefl; expecia- tions of. The impatience which every body felt to fee the wonders we had heard fo largely de- fcribed, prevented our morning's relt ; every one was up and in motion before the break of day, and with the firft light arrived at the S. W. part of the ifland, the feat of the mofl remarkable pillars ; where we no fooner arrived, than we were (Iruck with a fcene of magnificence which exceeded our expeftations, though formed, as we thought, upon the mofl fanguine foundations : the whole of that end of the ifland fup- ported by ranges of natural pillars, moflly above fifty feet high, {landing in natural colon- nades, according as the bays or points of land formed themfelves : upon a firm bafis of folid unformed rock, above thefe, the ftratum, which reaches to the foil or furface of the ifland, varied in thicknefs, as the ifland itfelf formed into hills or vallies ; each hill, which hung over the columns below, forming an ample pediment ; fome of thefe above fixty feet in thicknefs, from the bafe to the point, formed by the floping of the hill on each fide, almoif into the fliape of thofe ufed in architeclure. We proceeded along the fliore, treading upon another Giant's Caufeway, every flone being regularly formed into a certain number of fides and angles, till in a fliort time we arrived at the mouth of a cave, the mofl magnificent, I fuppofe, that has ever been defcribed by travellers. The mind can hardly form an idea more magnificent than fuch a fpace, fupported on each fide by ranges of columns ; and roofed by the bottoms of thofe, which have bee^ broke off in order to form it ; between the angles of which a'yellow flalagmitic matter has exuded, which ferve to define the angles precifely, and at the fame time vary the colour TV'ith a great deal of elegance ; and to render it flill more agreeable, the whole is lighted from without ; fo that the farthefl extremity is very plainly feen from without; and the air within being agitated by the flux and reflux of the tides, is perfedly dry and whole- fome, free entirely from the damp vapours with which natural caverns in general abound. We aflied the name of it ; faid our guide. The cave of Fiuhn : what is Fiuhn ? faid we. Fiuhn Mac Coul, whom the tranllator of Oflian's works has called Fingal. How fortunate that in this cave we fliould meet with the remembrance of that chief, whofe exiflence, as well as that of the whole epic poem, is almofl: doubted in England ! Enough for the beauties of Staffa ; I fhall now proceed to defcribe it and its produc- tions morephilofophically. The little ifland of Stafia lies on the wefl coafl of Mull, about three leagues N. E. from Jona, or. the Columb-Kill: its greatefl length is about an Englifli mile, and its breadth about half a one. On the wefi fide of the ifland is a fmall bay, where boats generally land : a little to the fouthward of which the fird appearance of pillars are to be obferved ; they are fmall, and infliead of being placed upright, lie down on their fides, each forming a fegment of a circle ; from thence you pafs a fmall cave, above which, the pillars now grown a little larger, are inclining in all directions : in one place in particu- lar a fmall mafs of them very much refemble the ribs of a fhip : from hence having VOL. I. 4 X pafled yoS VON TROIl's LETTERS OM ICELAND. pafled the cave, which if it is not low vpater, you mun; do in a' boat, you come to the firfl: ranges of pillars, which are (till not above half as large as thole a little beyond. Over againfl; this place is a fmall ifland, called in Erfe Boo-JIm-Ia, feparated from the main by a channel not many fathoms wide : this whole ifland is compofed of pillars without any ftratum above them ; they are (till fmall, but by much the neateft formed of any about the place. The firft divifion of the ifland, for at high water it is divided into two, makes a kind of a cone, the pillars converging together towards the centre : on the other, they are in general laid down flat : and in the front next to the main, you fee how beautifully they are packed together ; their ends coming out fquare with the bank which they form : all thefe have their tranfverfe feclions exaft, and their furfaces fmooth, which is by no means the cafe with the large ones, which are cracked in all directions. I much queltion, however, if any one of this whole ifland of Boo-fha-la is two feet in diameter. The main ifland oppofite to Boo-fha-la, and farther towards the N, W. is fupported by ranges of pillars pretty ereft, and though not tall (as they are not uncovered to the bafe) of large diameters ; and at their feet is an irregular pavement, made by the up- per fides of fuch as have been broken off, which extends as far under water as the eye can reach. Here the forms of the pillars are apparent ; thefe are of three, four, five, fix, and feven fides ; but the numbers of five and fix are much the molt prevalent^ The largeft I meafured was of feven ; it was four feet five inches in diameter*. The furfaces of the large pillars in general are rough and uneven, full of cracks in all directions ; the tranfverfe figures in the upright ones never fail to run in their true directions : the furfaces upon which we walked were often flat, having neither concavity nor convexity ; the larger number however were concave, though fome were very evidently convex : in fome places the interfaces within the perpendicular figures wer« filled up with a yellow fpar ; in one place a vein paffed in among the mafs of pillars, carrying here and there fmall threads of fpar. Though they were broken, and cracked through and through in all direftions, yet their perpendicular figures might eafily be traced ; from whence it is eafy to infer, that whatever the accident might have been thac caufed the diflocation, it happened after the formation of the pillars. From hence, proceeding along Ihore, you arrive at Fingal's Cave, which runs into % rock in the diredion of N. E. by E. by the compafs. Proceeding farther to the N. W. you meet with the higheft range of pillars, the magnificent appearance of which furpafTes all defcription : here they are bare to their very bafis ; and the ftratum below them is alfo vifible : in a fhort time it rifes many feet above the water, and gives an opportunity of examining its quality. Its furface is rough, and has often large lumps of ftone flicking to it, as if half immerfed ; itfelf, when broken, is compofed of a thoufand heterogeneous parts, which together have very much the appearance of a lava ; and the more fo, as many of the lumps appear to be of the very fame ftone of which the pillars are formed : this whole ftratum lies in an in- clined pofition, dipping gradually towards theS. E. Hereabouts is the fituation of the higheft pillars. The ftratum above them is uniformly the fame, confifting of numberlefs fmall pillars, bending and inclining in all direftions, fometimes fo irregularly, that the ftones can only be faid lo have aa inclination to affume a columnar form ; in others more regular, but never breaking into, or difturbing the ftratum of large pillars, whofe tops every where keep an uniform and regular line. • As Mr. Banks's meafuremeiit and dimciifions of theft and other remarkable pillars, and of Fingal's Cave, agree even to a Tingle figure with thofe given by our accurate Author in this work, the repetition «f them would have been ufckfs j for which reafon they are omitted. 1 o Proceeding VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. 707 Proceeding now along fliore round the north end of the inand,you arrive at Oiia 71a fcarve, or the Cormorant's Cave: here the (Iratum under the pillars is Hfted up very high ; the pillars above it are confiderably lefs than thofe at the N. W. end of the ifland, but ftill very confidcrable. Beyond is a bay, which cuts deep into the ifland, rendering it in that place not more than a quarter of a mile over. On the fides of this bay, efpe- cially beyond a little valley, which almofl: cuts the ifland into two, are two ftages of pil- lars, but fmall ; however, having a flratum between them exactly the fame as that above them, formed of innumerable little pillars, fhakcn out of their places, and leaning in all direftions. Having paflied this bay, the pillars totally ceafe : the rock Is of a dark-brown (lone, and no figns of regularity occur till you have pafled round the S. E. end of the ifland (a fpace almofl as large as that occupied by the pillars), which you meet with again on the weft fide, beginning to form themfelves irregularly, as if the ftratum had an inclination to that form, and foon arrive at the bending pillars where I began. The ftone of which the pillars are formed is a coarfe kind of bafalts, very much re- femblingthe Giant's Caufeway in Ireland, though none of them are near fo neat as the fpecimens of the latter, which I have feen at the Britifh Mufeum, owing chiefly to the colour, which in ours is a dirty brown, in the Irifli a fine black : indeed the whole pro- ■duffion feems very much to referable the Giant's Caufeway, with which I fliould wil- lingly compare it, had I any account of the former before me. Thus much we have taken from Mr. Banks's account of the ifland of StafFa — which Mr. Pennant aflTures the public, in a note to his Tour in Scotland (p. 269), was copied from his Journal, concluding in thefe words : " I take the liberty of faying (what by this time that gentleman, meaning Mr. Banks, is well acquainted viith) that Stafta is a genuine mafs of bafalts, or Giant's Caufeway ; but in moft refpe£ts fuperior to the Irifh in grandeur." We think Mr. Pennant might have fpared his reader this information, as Mr. Banks in his account informs us, that it is a Giant's Caufeway formed of coarfe bafalts. LETTER XXIII. — from chevalier ihre to dr. troil. Concenwig the Edda. SIR, Upfala, Odober I, 1776. According to your requefl, I fend you an anfwer to the objeftions made by Mr. Schloczer againft my opinion of the Edda, which, together with a tranflation of my letter to Mr. Lagerbring, on the fubjcft of a manufcript of the Icelandic Edda, is, as you know, inferted in that gentleman's Icelandic hiftory. It gives me great pleafure to find that my thoughts on thefe fubjefts have been exa- mined by men of learning in Germany, by which means a number of falfe notions which had been formed on the fubjed and defign of this book have been removed ; and I am very happy to receive any objeftions which may tend to convince me that I have been miftaken. Though I now refume the pen, it is not fo much with any immediate defign to refute thofe objeiftions which have been made agsrinft me, as to give thofe accounts and expla- nations which have been required of me, and which I think myfelf more capable of doing than any other perfon, as I can command the codex whenever I think proper. Mr. Schloczer and I propofe the fame end to ourfelves, namely, the inveftigation of truth. Mr. Schloczer's firft objedion is, that I have not given a complet* defcription of the 4x2 manufcript. 7o8 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. manufcript, Its fize, &c. He is perfeftly right in this point, and I will briefly endeavour to repair this difficulty ; but firit, I mud obferve a diplomatic defcnption was not fo much required in that letter, as I had direfted my attention more to the contents of the book than its external appearance. I intended to (hew what was the view of the author of the Edda in compofing this work, what parts belonged to^it, and which did not, wherein our manufcript difiered from Refenius's edition, whence the book had obtained the name of Eddee, &c. &c. and its diplomatical defcriptions would have afforded no information in any of thefe articles. This letter was befides not addreffed to any foreign man of learning, but to one of my learned countrymen, well verfed in ancient literature, who had frequently had this manufcript in his own hands, and examined it, and was perhaps better ac- quainted with it than myfelf. It would have been very fuperfluous to tell him, it was written in ancient chai'acters, in the Icelandic language, on parchment. But to oblige Mr. Schloczer, and perhaps many others, I will inform them that this codex, as I faid before, is written upon parchment, the colour of which is dark brown, which may proceed partly from its old age, and partly perhaps from its having been long kept, and made ufeof in the Icelandic fmokey rooms. It is in very good preferva- tion, and in general legible. It is true, there are fome round holes in the parchment, but thefe feem to have been there at firft, as no part of the text is loft by them. The lize is a fmall quarto, one finger in thicknefs, containing fifty four leaves and a half, ci one hundred and nine pages, befides a white leaf before, and one behind, on which there are however fome bad figures, of which thefe on the firft reprefent Gangleri, with Her- jafuhar and Thridi, who refolve queftions. The characters are old, and when compared with many others, feem to prove that the copier lived about the beginning of the four- teenth century : but all this is of very httle importance. Mr. Schloczer believes his fubfequent queftions may give more light in fettling the principal point, as they tend to difcover who was the author of the Edda, and what really belongs to it. He is therefore more curious to know what is contained in this codex. Mr, Schloczer believes he has fo much more reafon for putting this queftion, as I myfelf have hinted, that befides Demifagor, Koeninggar, and Liodfgreinir, it contained a lift; of Icelandic lagmen, and a langfedgatal or genealogy of Sturlefon's anceftors. He therefore defires to know it this codex is not a magazine of all kinds of Icelandic works, which have been accidentally collefted into one volume, and bound together ? I anfwer to this, if the cafe were thus, Mr. Schloczer might have expected from a man who afted with candour and ibme knowledge of the matter before him, that he would not have omitted this circumftance. I therefore now declare that there is nothing elfe in it, but what has already been mentioned ; unlets I add, that p. 92 and 93, after the author has dcfcribed the general rules of poetry, and the nature of letters, and the copier has left half a blank page before he writes the names of all the different forts of verlification ufed in the Ice- landic poetry, another hand has patched in a fteganographical writing, of which I did not know what to make during a long time, and indeed I did not take great pains to decyphcr it. 1 will however give a fpecimcn of it : dfxtfrb fcrkptprhs hfnfdkth Jkt pmnkbxs hprh. As I was reading in Vanly's Bibliotheca Anglo Saxonica, I accidentally met with a limi- lar colleiflion of confonants, with a key affixed to it, which flievvcid that the whole fecret confifted in placing, inftcad of each vowel, that confonant which in the alphabet follov/cJ next t(j it ; alfo inltead of ^/, f, /, 0, m, y, the letters />,/, k, p, .v, =;, were put ; and ac- cording to this rule the afore-mentioned riddle fignified, Dextera fcriptoris benedida fit omnibus hoiis. 6 I afterwards VON TROIL S LETTERS ON ICKLAND. 709 I afterwards found the fame kind of fteganography mentioned in a little work afcribed to Rhrabanus Maurus, under the title of De Inventione Litterarum, and which is lo celebrated on account of the proof contained in it of the runes of the Marcomans. After letters became more univerfally known among the people, the fubtle monks how- ever, defirous of knowing fomething which the vulgar were unacquainted with, invented various myflerious ways of writing in this manner, which they not only make ufe ol among themlelves, but introduced in their public writings. This tafte met with ad- mirers among our anceflors in Sweden, and thence we fmd fo many kinds of what are called villriines, which were unintelligible to the vulgar. See in the Bautil, N' 25, 205, ?3i» 361, 539' 568, 571, 572,581, 648, 748, 767, 817, 819, 822, 1001, 10.88, and many more in Vormius. Perhaps what we call among us beljtnge runes, have alfo no other origin, as the greater part of them only differ from the common runes, by having the ftaff taken away. It is however remarkable that our gravers of runes even made ufe of this cryptography in monuments erected to the memory and honour of the deceafed. It is further afked, if there are any external or internal traces of the copier having confidered all the above-mentioned pieces, or at lead the three firft parts as a connected work ? The anfwer to this may be found in the title of the book, which is at length in the Goranfon edition, and runs thus : Bok theffi heiter Edda. Henne hever fam fetta Snorri Siurlo f. epter theim hoelti, fern her er Ihipat. En fyrfl: fra Afum ok yrai ; tharnaeft fkalld fkapar mal ok heiti marga hluta. Sidaz hcettartal, er Snorri hever ort um Hakon k. ok Skula Hertuga ; that is, This book is called Edda ; and has been compofed by Snorre Sturlefon, in the manner it now flands, viz. firft of the afes and ymi, afterwards the language of poetry, and its appellations of various things. Laftly, a differtation of the veriificatipns Snorre made upon King Hakan and Duke Skule. I mentioned in my letter to Mr. Lagerbring, that the Rubric was written in a later hand ; which is right fo far as has been added after the Edda itfelf was begun, which may be fcen by the narrow fpace left for it, fo that it has forced the copier to bring the laft line into that immediately preceding it. Befides, I clearly perceived that the manu- fcript was very old, and that no reafonable eye-witnefs could believe it was written in 1541, as Mr. Schloczer conjeftures. But as it had been written with red ink, which had preferved its colour better than the black, I then believed the hand had been fome- what younger ; but as I have now very minutely compared the writing in the Rubric with that of the Edda, I think I may fafely affirm, that they are both written by one and the fame hand. From hence it follows, that he who copied the Edda confidered the above-mentioned articles, and no others, as effential parts of it. I am come to the principal queftion, whether Sturlefon is the author of the Edda? Here Mr. Schloczer feems to have taken moft pains, to prevent me from deceiving the learned world in this point. Becaufe Mr. Schloczer has found that moft antiquarians exprefs themfelves with a kind of circumfpedtion when they fpeak of the Edda and its author, and inftead of pofi- tively declaring Sturlefon the author, as Arngrim and fome others have done ; only fay, Creditur, exiflimatur auclor fuilfe ;_ that is, ho believes the matter to be at lead dubious, if not totally groundlefs. I will notinfift upon it, that there is at leaft more affirmation than negation in thefe expreflions, efpecially as it is ufual, on mentioning an evidently falfe op nion, lo add, falfo creditur, or fomething fimilar. For Mr, Schloczer bimfelf remarks very judici. oufly. 7*1 VON TROIi^'s LETTERS ON ICELAND. oufly, thr.t the opinion of thefe men is of very little importance, when they alledge no grounds for it. He therefore believes himfelf entitled to maintain with certainty, that Sturlefon has falfely been thought the author of the Edda. To fupport his opinion, he mentions three arguments in different places, which I muft now examine more clofely. The firfl: argument is to be met with in p. 39, where Mr. Schloczer fubmits it to confideration, whether the ferious Snorre, overcharged with ftate affairs, could be fup- pofcd to have had time, and did not think it beneath his dignity to write Aerarium poc- ticum, and become the predeceflbr of Weinreich ? Here I will only obferve, that Snorre ■was not conltantly lagman, and that he might have compiled this work before he ob- tained this dignity, or in the interval between the firft and fecond adminiftration of this confiderable charge ; and laflly, even in its vacancies. Neither Mr. Schloczer nor I are able to determine how much time the management of a lagman's office requires. I'hey hold feveral yearly court-days or affizcs, after which I have always underfliood tliat they are entirely free and difengaged ; fo that I may fairly infer that the lagmen are not troubled with the examination of tedious records, or are employed in any extra- ordinary works. We find many Icelandic lagmen who have been poets laureats in Sweden and Norway, as Marcus Skaggafon, Sturle Thordarfon, and others. If Mr. Schloczer's argument was conclufive, he might go ftill farther, and prove that Sturle- fon could neither have written the Heimflcringia, or hiflory of the northern kings, which required ten times more time, and more laborious difqulfitlons, than the Edda. Mr. Schloczer founds his fecond argument on his believing it incredible, that any one in the golden age of poetry in Iceland fliould prefume to advance fuch abfurd things as 1 have done in my letter. He therefore believes the Edda to be a production of later times, when poetry was in its decline in Iceland. To underfland the whole force of this argument, it mufl be known that Mr. Schloczer divides the Icelandic literature into three periods ; the fimpler period, from the begin- ning to the introduction of Chriflianity ; the golden period, from the introduction of Chriflianity to the clofe of the thirteenth century, when the black death or the great plague, as well as the fubjeftion of the Icelanders to the crown of Norway, checked the progrefs of poetry ; and the laft, from that period to the prefent. I will not ftriCtly ex- amine this divifion, though I cannot comprehend that the introduftion of Chriflianity could contribute to the improvement of poetry ; and flill lefs, if the diger-death, which raged in the middle of the fourteenth century, produced the fame eSeO. on the furviving poets, as on the cultivation of the country and its population. But this I am clear of, that any one wlio would attempt to clafs the Icelandic poets with any degree of cer- tainty, mufl be perfectly well acquainted with their language, and be able to weigh the faculties of their minds againfl each other. It fignlfies very little under what particular dynafly the poetry of the Chinefe moft fiourifhed, fo long as we are able to underfland their poems without the afTiflance of an interpreter. As to the paffages of Icelandic poets, which I have quoted in different places, they prove not a tittle of what Mr. Schloczer pretends they do. For Lopt GutormfTon's verfes are not in the Edda ; and though the other fong is to be met with in Refenius's edition of it, yet it is not in the Upfala manufcript. It is therefore not known to what period they belong ; and they cannot by any means be made ufe of as proofs to fhew that Snorre was not the author of the Edda. It is highly proper to be well acquainted with a fubjeCt before one ventures to treat of it. I will by no means prefume to defend all the phrafcs I have made ufe of; though it is well known that cufiom has introduced them into every language, which were they tranllated VON TROIl's letters ok ICELAND. 7II tranflated into other langunges, would not only lofe their original beauty, but appear aukvvard and gracelcfs. For example, it would not be believed that to tread the ftars under foot fignificd to be exalted and happy ; nor would any one be underftood who would, to exprefs a doubtful ftatc of mind, call it hanging water. And thcfe phrafcs, not to mention an infinity of others, were however in conftant practice amonrr the Latins. But as to our ancient anceftors in particular, who indubitably originated from the eaft, they no doubt brought their allegorical expreflions from thence. And, in my opinion, the fondnefs of the ancients for riddles did not contribute a little to thefe metaphors in fpeech ; for their merit frequently confided in the mod perverted ex- preflions, which in procefs of time were revived and admired as beauties. AVe are not permitted the liberty to judge without didiuftion in mere matters of tade and genius, though they widely differ from what is pradifcd in other nations. Mr. Schloczer takes this third and lad, and perhaps word argument, from the contradidion which I have obferved between the Edda and Snorre's Heimfkringla. I wanted to diew in my lettei", that the ancients by their Af^ard meant the town of Troy ; and this I can prove, by the one having maintained the fiime things of Afo-ard as the other does of Iroy. My opinion therefore is, that Troy and Afgard mud ne- ceffarily fignify one and the fame place, unlefs we admit that Sturlefon has contra- difted himielf. It may be eafily apprehended, that what I have mentioned by no means implies that there was a contradiftion between the Edda and HeimH^ringla, but only that the above cited place had been called by two different names. Mr. Schloczer can- not pofTibly be ignorant of the meaning of argumentationes ab abfurdo. Hitherto I have mentioned the arguments with which ]Mr. Schloczer endeavours ta fhew, that Sturlefon is not the author of the Edda ; but now to prove the contrary orv my fide, I will content myfelf with one fingle argument, which is of fuch a nature as to make all other unnecelfary. In the fuperfcription fubjoined to our Codex, the copier roundly affirms Sturlefon to be the author of this work ; and his tedimony is fo much the more undeniable, as the nature of the copy itfelf proves, that it cannot be later than the fourteenth century ; and that an Icelander had made it on the fpot, who certainly would not have thought it worth his attention and time to copy a work, if he had not known the author of it. That this was the general opinion of the Icelanders, I think may be proved thus ; that though various conjectures are generally made concerning the author of an anonymous work, there are hardly any except Sturlefon mentioned as the author of the Edda. I cannot on this occafion pafs over in filence what I have read in p. 326 of the Da- nifli Journal, which Mr. Lilie publifhed in 1756; namely, that the celebrated Arnas Magnaus, in a written account left us by Sumundr Trode, was of the fame opinion as Mr. Schloczer, that Sturlefon was not the author of the Edda. The arguments which he makes ufe of feem to carry fome weight with them- that in the lad part of the Edda, called Liodfgreinir or Skallda, Sturlefon is not only quoted but alfo recommended as a pattern to the poets ; and that in this part mention is like- wife made of the kings Hakan Hakanfon, Magnus, Erich, and Hakan Magnudbn, who all lived later than Snorre. This argument at firll fight feems to be decifive, but lofes its whole force upon a nearer examination. The true date of matter is this : In the beginning of Liodfgreinir the author of the Edda fays, that he has three diffe- rent heads to treat upon ; viz. the rules of poetry, its licences (licentia peotica), and its faults (vitia carminum)yi//«/«_g-, kifc, ^nd fyrerbodning. The two firfl of thefe fubjeds are perfe(^lY difculfed in the Liodfgreinir, but the lafl is wanting, A later writer has attempted 712 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND, attempted to make up this deficiency, and has therefore made a fupplement to Sturle- fon's Edda. It is not in the lead extraordinary that he fhould have mentioned Sturle- fon, and given him his merittd fliare of praife ; but that this fupplement does not belong to the genuine Edda, is proved by the Upfala manufcript, where it is entirely wanting. In this manner it may be explained what is faid of the late kings : they are never mentioned in the Edda ; and I am much miftaken if Arnas Magnaus has not taken them from the Skaldeta!, or lift of poets, where they are all taken notice of. This Skaldetal was no more than a fupplement to the Edda, as I fliall make appear pre- fently. If therfore the learned Magnaus had ever feen our codex, he certainly would not have entertained this opinion. In regard to thefe appendixes, I am perfeftly convinced that the catalogue of L^^.Wifn and the Langfedgetal, or genealogy, are the works of Sturlefon himfelf. The lubjecl contained in them refers entirely to Snorre, who was both lagman and a defcendant of the Sturlunga family. The Aettnrtal, or genealogical table, which from the beginning defcends in a ftrait line from the fathers' and mothers' fide to the fons, at Sturle ex- tends to all the children, and daughters' children ; yet in fome inftances even there not to all thefe, but moft probably to thofe only who were alive when this genealogical table was compofed. The fame is to be obferved in the catalogue of the Lagmen, where it is very accurately mentioned how long every one of them poffelTed their place : but at the family of Snorre the catalogue ftops, without obferving how long they main- tained this charge the laft time. It is therefore impoflible that this genealogy fhould have been compofed before Snorre's time ; nor is it lefs improbable that any one fhould have omitted, in later times, to add the fixteen years during which Snorre was lagman the laft time ; or that he fhould have forgot to mention this circumftance of him in the whole lift of lagmen, who was the moft confiderable of them all. I will in this place add, that it was very common, not only in the north, but even in other parts, to fubjoin fuch lifts, genealogical tables, and the like, to larger works, in order to refcue them from oblivion, and prevent their being totally loft to pofterity. In the fame manner the copier of our Weft Gothic law had added to it a Konungn Ldngd, or lift of kings, as likewife a lift of the biftiops of Skara and Langmanner in \Veftgoth- land. Are Erode has in like manner affixed his genealogy to his Schedis, or IJlandiga bok, and feveral others. It is more difficult to determine fomething conclufive concerning the third appendix, or Skaldctal, 1 have always been of opinion, that it was begun by Snorre, as it com- monly follows the Edda, and that it was afterwards augmented by one or more perfons : Vormius did the fame by a poem written by Saxo Hiserne, who obtained by that com- pofition the regal dignity in Denmark, though as a Dane he was not properly intitled to be placed in the lift of Icelandic poets. That this catalogue was the work of feveral hands may, in my opinion, be perceived by more than one indication : immediately in the beginning it is faid, that Starkotter was the firft of the fkalds, whofe verfes the people had learned by heart ; and in the end a certain Ulfvcr bin Oarge is cited as the firft, who, according to Mr. Schoning, lived in the fecond century, and confequently muft have been feveral centuries older than the above-mentioned Starkotter. Thele two accounts can hardly be fuppofed to proceed from one and the fame author. It is befides incontrovertible, that what is faid of the laft Norwegian kings correfponds not with the time of Snorre. It would be of cffential fervice if a man of Mr. Suhm's merit and abilities would critically examine this Skaldatal, and compare it with Vor- mius's lift of poets, which dift'ers fo widely from it in feveral points. The VON troil's letters on icel.^nd, 713 This at leafl may be perceived by every one, that the flcalds therein mentioned have not all lived in the thirteenth centui7 ; but that a great part of them exilled in the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries. The two hundred and thirty ikalds, who, ac- cording to Mr. Schloczer's reckoning, lived in the thirteenth century, may be confidcr- ably reduced in number, by one and the fame (kald being mentioned in three or four different places, as if he had been in the fervice of as many mailers. It is very remark- able that fome of thefe fkalds, as Oltar Svartc, Sigvatur Thordarfon, and others, have been received as poets laureat in all the three northern courts. Nor is it lefs remarkable, that fome of thcfc Icelandic Ikalds were taken into pay at the Englifli court, by kings Athelftan and Etheldred : this would require an examina- tion to difcover how their SkaldJ^aparmal, or poetical language, could be underftood in a foreign country, as both languages, without thefe poetical figures, differ fo widely from each other, as is evident from the remains of both. It is laftly alked, if there are any internal or external marks, from which it might be gueffed that the three parts of the Edda mentioned by me belong together, and form one work ? But this qucrtion is anfwered by the title quoted above, wherein all the. parts are clearly enumerated. In regard to the third part, called Liodfgreinir, Mr. Schloczer defires to know how this title fuits to an ars poetica ? I have already in fome meafure anfwered this queflion in my letter to Mr. Lager- bring, by citing the (Irange titles the ancients fometimes prefixed to their books. How- ever, that a clearer idea may be formed of what relates to this appellation, it lliould be obferved, that Sturlefon immediately in the beginning divides all founds or tones into three kinds. The firft he calls vittlaus hliod, or the found of inanimate things, as of thunder, waves, wind, and the hke; to the fecond he reckons the founds of irrational animals ; and to the laft, the articular founds of men, which are produced by means of the tongue, the palate. Sec. He then fpeaks of the found of the letters, how fome are long, others fhort ; fome confonants, and others vowels and diphthongs : he then proceeds to the rules of profody, and whatever elfe belongs to the Icelandic Jkaldjhap or poetry. From hence it may be feen what has given rife to this appellation ; Liodfgre'inir lite- rally fignifying no more than didinftion of founds. Sturlefon has given as flrange a title to this northern hiffory, which he calls bcimjhringla ; and this from no other reafon, but becaufe it was the firlt word with which the book began. LETTER XXIV. — from chevalier back to dr. troil. Of the Icelandic Scurvy. SIR, Stockholm, June 12, 1776. The accounts with which you have favoured us of the difeafes which mofllv abound in Iceland nmft be of univerfal fervice to tlie Swedes, When I had the pleaJ'ure and happincfs of converfing with you on this fubject, my attention was peculiarly raifed by the information you gave me of the Icelandic fcurvy, and of its dreadful confe- tjuenccs on thofe perfons who were afiected with it. ^Vhat Mr. Peterfen calls the Icelandic fcurvy, is the true elephanriafis, which is nearly jelated to the Icproly. Celfus has defcribed it in the days of Augullus under the name ■of elephamiafis ; and yet Aretaius has treated more fully upon it, in feet. 5, under the .fame name. It is more terrible than any other difeafe, producing frequentlv a dread- VOL. I. 4 Y tul J- 14 TON TROIL's letters ON ICELAND. ful end : It gives a difgufting appearance to the patient, as the body by its colour, roughnefs, and fcaly appearance, reiembles the fsin of an elephant. Whoever com- pares your defcription and Mr. Peterlt-n's of this difeafe with that of the ancients, will not find it an eafy n-satter to take the Icelandic fcurvy for any thing elfe but the ele- phanliafis. In my opinion, both Ettmuller and Bocrhaave, and his famous commen- tator baron van Swieten, would have done better not to call the elephantiafis the higheft degree of the fcurvy 5 or if they had not confounded thele two difeal'es, fo different in their beginning, progrefs, nature, and remedies. Thofe among us who have written of the theory of difeafes, have with more pro- priety given the name of fcurvy where a gradual increafing languor takes place, toge- ther with a bleeding, (linking and putrid breath, and many coloured blackifh blue fpots on the body, particularly round the roots of the hair, and which principally pro- ceeds from corrupted fait animal food, and the want of vegetables. The elephantiafis, on the other hand, which is alio called Lepra Jrabum, is rather an hereditary difeafe ; the ikin becomes thick, unequal, gloffy, and lofes its fmoothnefs; the hair falls off, languor and want of feeling take place in the extremities : the face becomes difgufting and full of biles, and the patient gets a hoarfe nafal voice. In the real leprofy (im- petigo, lepra Grsecorum) the fkin becomes wrinkled and full of fcales, which feem to be llrewed with bran, often burft, itch exceedingly, and are filled with a watery moifture. Mr. Sauvage mentions feveral forts of elephantiafis ; but it is a queffion whether they all differ or not, as he might have multiplied their number. 1 believe that the elephantiafis mentioned by Cleger in his Eph. Nat. Curiof. and Sauvage's Javanefe elephantiafis are very like the Icelandic. At leaft, it is certain that the elephantiafis in Madeira, which Dr. Thomas Heberden dcfcribcs in the firft volume of his Medical Tranfa£tions, almoft one hundred years after Cleger, is entirely the fame. It is very remarkable that this difeafe has preferved its nature fo perfectly in the mod northern parts during more than a hundred years, and remained entirely finiilar to that in the hotted climates. It appears the fame difeafe, at IVIartigues in Provence, has been defcribed by Dr. Johannes in the firft volume of the Medical Obfervations and Inqui- ries ; and that it has been in the Ferro Iflands, may be fcen in the firft volume of Bar- thohn's A£lis Hafn. The difeafe obfervcd in Norway, which Mr. Anthony Rob. Martin defcribes in the Tranfaftions of the Swedifh Royal Academy of Sciences, in the latter end of the year 1760, may hkewife be reckoned amongft this clafs ; as alfo that which appeared in feveral parts of Sweden, and of which Mr. Affeffor Odhelius gives an account in the third part of theie Tranfaftions for the year 1774; all thefe may very properly be com- pured to Mr. Sauvage's Elephantiafis Lcgitima. It was belitved in the moft early times, that this difeafe had taken its rife in Egypt ; but Lucretius pofitively fays, that it was tirft difcovered on the banks of the Nile. In Celfus's time it was not at all known in Italy ; but Pliny relates, that it was firft brought into that country by an army of Pompey, from Egypt and Syria, but did not remain there long. In the twelfth century it was brought to Europe the fecond time by the crufaders, and is .frequently mentioned in the publications of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries : it was not however very violent in the fifteenth and fixteenth centuries; and in the feventeenth century it feems to have entirely difappeared in England, France, and Italy, when all the lazar-houfes, which had been built on pur- pofe to receive patients infected with this difeafe, became ufelefs. But VON TROU, S LETTERS ON ICELAND. 715 But how did this dreadful difcafe conic from the fouth, where the difeafes con- nected with an irruption arc mod frequent, fo far to the north ? Could it not alfo have happened by means of the crufades, our forefathers in the north having had likewife the honour to partake of them ? nay, even the Icelanders were not excluded from a fhare. The oldcft Iceland writings give us examples of the elephantiafis in Norway^ and other northern countries, as may be feen in the fird volume of Olafsen's Voyage to Iceland, page 172. But it flill remains a query, whether it was the true fcurvy or not, which the learned author found mentioned for the firft time, under the ancient Norway and Icelandic name oiJl-\rhiients founded on due obfervations ; and fhall not hefitate to confefs my ignorance, wherever thefe guides in the fl;udy of nature ceafe their inftrudlions. I do not, however, reject all conjeftures and propofed opinions, whenever they lead to new refearchcs, provided they are offered as mere con- jeftures, and not obtruded on us as certain truths, or determined opinions. From what I have hitherto faid, you will, I believe, conceive my method ; therefore I fhall enter upen the fubjeft, and briefly treat of it under feparate heads, in the follow- ing manner. Of the Hot Springu Your defcription of the Icelandic fprings, the moft extraordinary which have hither- to been difcovered in the known world, was extremely agreeable to uie, partly on ac- count of the furprizing force of them, and partly on account of the great light obtaiacd in mineralogy by the cruftated {tones formed in them. How thefe fprings may be ac- counted for, I hope I have fufficiently explained in another place * ; 1 fliall, therefore, entirely pafs it over here. But now 1 will communicate to you what I could not then underitand, namely, the true nature of thefe depofitions. You have presented me with the following fubftances from the Geyfer: f. Thefubftance of which the water has prepared itfelf a bafon to run from. — It confifts of a hard, rough, greyiOi, and irregular flaty, and generally martial cruftated ftone, over which a covering of fmall cryftallizations has formed it(e!f, that refembles the lichen fruticulofus, or rather the Stahllteindrufe found in the Wefterfilverberg ; that is called the flos ferri or Eifen bluthe. Thefe precipitations are opaque, without of a whitifli grey, blacker within, and plainly fhew the formation of feveral crufls on one another. Each of thefe flos ferri, as well as the cruftated ftone, has the hardnefs of a flint ; however they are not fo compaft or (trong as to ftrike fire with the fleel. The ftrongeft acids, the fluor acid not excepted, are not fufticient with a boiling heat to diflblve this fubftance. It diflblves very little if at all by the blow-pipe with the fufible alcalij a little more with borax, and makes a ftrong effervefcence with fal fodae. Thefe effetts are peculiar only to a filiceous earth, and therefore there remains no doubt concerning the real nature of this cruftated ftone. Neverthelefs, I have melted it in the crucible ; firft, by weight, with half as much alcaline fait, and like wife with three times as much ; and have obtained in the firft cafe a fixed glafs, and in the fecond one, which in diffolving, yielded a common liquor filicum. The glafs of the cruftated ftone is of a more yellowifli brown than that of the cryftallizations ; and this difference is caufed by the greater quantity of irony particles. 2. The porous cruftated ftone or finter, which is found in the moor furrounding the border of the bafon, is light, whitifh, and here and there fpotted with a ruft colour : it * Ininy Phyfika bt/krifning ora Jordklotet, ult. edit. 8 is ■J20 VON TROIl's letters ON ICELANS. is evidently an incruftation upon mofs and fimilav fubflances, which have been decayed by length of time, and left thofe cavities. In regard to its compofition, it is of a filiceous nature as the preceding, and alfo perfeftly fimilar in rcfpeft to fire and diffolvents. I have already mentioned the folution of the flint in fal fodas with the blow-pipe; and as I fliall hereafter have frequent occafion to refer to it, I will in this place relate the whole procefs. The late direftor of the mines [berg?na/iare\ Mr. Cronlledt, makes mention of this fait in his Mineralogy, but it is very feldom ; and he confiders it as lefs proper for ufmg with the blow-pipe, becaufe it is too foon imbibed by the coals. It certainly does not afford a very good folution upon coals, and I therefore made ufe of a filver fpoon, made on purpofe ; by which method I have been able to make good ufe of the fal fodee, which in his examinations of the different kinds of earth in this manner, is very ferviceable, and even indifpenfably neceflary, as I Ihall hereafter prove more at large, in a little differtation on the blow-pipe, and its proper ufe. I have frequently inferted a fuppofition in my printed works, that though the filiceous earth cannot be dilfolved in the ufual manner in water, yet it might with the help of a great degree of heat ; and that this really happened at Geyfer, is evidently proved by the above defcribed cruflated flone. The hot water forms of itfelf the large filiceous bafon from which it iffiies out of the fubftance, that is in a dilfolved ftate at the firfl:, but quickly precipitates on account of the heat decreafing in the open air. The heat of the water was not examined with the thermometer, till fuch time that the baion was filled, when it was neverthelefs found at a hundred degrees, according to the Swedifh meafure. Jt is in all probability much greater under the earth ; for its running through cooler channels, and its fpouting afterwards into the air to a great height, mufl neceffarily very much diminifli the heat on account of the great difperfion. This quick depofiticn produces both the opacity and irregular form of this ftone, and prevents the particles from being fo clofely united, as might have been expefted from the degree of the hardnefs of each, fuppofing the folvent power had diminilhed more gradually. Mr. Schcele has difcovered the formation of the flint ; and I niyfelf have found out, within thefe two years, a method of obtaining, with the help of fome fluor acid, thirteen precipitated cryllals of the fize of fmall peas. This artificial pebble in all experiments, both in the wet and dry method, and even in the focus of a burning-glafs, in a piece that I fent to Mr. Macquer, difcovered exaftly to him the fame qualities as the natural one. All thefe circumftances, therefore, prove that the pebble is a faline earth, which is compofed of fluor acid, and an original fubltance exifling in the watry exhalations. It is not quite fimple ; but however I have not been able to confider it as any other than an elementary earth : indeed my judgment is, that it cannot be compounded from any other principle. I do not in this place mean a finer or coarfer powder, by the denomination of earth, as is genei-ally undcrltood under this appellation ; but 1 take the word in a chemical fenfe, to exprcfs a fixed principle, which is obtained in analyfing any fubltance, and that can- not be difiblved in boiling water, after the niceft mechanical divifion. It is well known that the diflblubility of any fubitance maybe lell'ened by certain compofitions ; and that a folvent can better attack the fubfiance, according to tne extent of its furface; and that laltly, water in an open veflel will not admit of any greater degree of heat than one hundred degrees, according to the Swedifh thermometer. A fubftance may, by this rule, be dilfoluble by itfelf, after having gone through a preparatory cleanfing, or a chemical ftparation, or with the afiiftance of a greater degree of heat, though it may be indilfo- luble without any preparation, or with the ui'ual method of boiling j and it is with a view to this circumftance that I call the flint a kind of fait earth. 13 I have VON TROIL S LETTERS ON ICEl.ANU. ^21 I have likewife examined the fubflances you colledlcd in the morafs near the Geyfer, and have found them to be the following : 3. A dark-red bole, which became darker in the fire, but was afterwards a little at- trafted by the magnet. It crumbled into pieces in the water, and is fine and tough to the touch. 4. A bluifh-gray clay, which contains green vitriol of decayed pyritce. 5. A brighter grey fort, which did not feem to contain any vitriol. 6. A white or yellowifh clay, with ruft-fpots. All thefe forts become very hard in the fire, and take a good deal of time before they liquify. The laft, when it foftcns, is harfli and more fandy to the touch than the preceding forts. The different forts of flone colle£led at Laugarnas are of another nature : nor does the water here fpout out of a bafon, but through many fmall openings in the earth. 7. A whitifli irregular plated crufl, which often grows on the outfide into fmall glo- bular blunt points. This in acids gives a fudden fermentation, that inmiediately ceafes without its being any otherwife attacked. It dilfolves vviih borax by the blow-pipe with great difficulty, and without motion, but with a loud eflervefcence with fal foda; It is confequently a filiceous mafs outwardly covered with lime, and has fixed itfelf on the following fubftance. 8. A folid irregular plated and broken crufi, of a dark colour, but in many places tinged with bright blue fpots. It becomes quite fmooth in cutting, almofl like flone marie, but docs not crumble in water, nor does it become foft in it ; with acid it flicws an effervefcence which foon ceafes ; with the blow-pipe it grows hard, fcarcely melts at the thinnefl edges, and is attacked with fome motion both by borax and fufible urinous fait and fal foda;, but is not entirely diffolved by any of them. 9. The fubflance found at the bottom of the brook, which carries ofi"the water that gufliesout, is brown, fpongy, and compofed of pretty hard flakes and threads, that are covered with fine glaffy cryflallizations. Thefe are clear only in fome few places; but lofe their brown colour, both in fire and marine acid, and become quite clear. The fmall cryRals puff up very much under the blow-pipe, almofl like borax ; they float in bubbles on the furface, and are diffolved with great difliculty by borax ; they are attacked by fill fodte with a flrong ebullition : it is the fame with the more folid flakes, but they do not pufi" up fo flrongly as the cryRallization. Thefe feveral qualities here mentioned evidently fhew, that this cruflated flone confifls of zeolite. 10. From Reykum you fent me calcareous fj^ar in lumps, that are extirnally rounded, as if they had been tolled backwards and forwards by the water, and rubljcd againft hard bodies. In them there are fmall greyifli green cryflallizations, that dilfolve by the blow-pipe to a black flag ; the fal foda: caufes fome eflervefcence in them, but docs not diflTolve them ; they are likewife attacked with fome emotion by fufible urinous fait. 1 1. A loofe, tubulofe, whitifh crufl:ated fl,onc, or an incruflation cavernous, and with ImpreflTions of leaves, ftalks, and the like. As to its nature it is filiceous ; but feems at the fame time to contain a dilferent fiibflance, as il diflblves more flowly w ith fal fodic. The fpring which here burfts forth in a very floping diredion towards the horizon, according to your account, depofits a kind of fulphureous greafe by its hot fleam on the cavities of the upper fide ; but I have found no fpccimtn of this in the collecliou you communicated to me. From what I have hitherto faid, we may gather, that the Icelandic hot fprings con- tain very diflerent fubflances from what are to be met with in other placs of the fame fort, efpccially filiceous earth. VOL. I. 4 z There 722 VON TROIl's LETTERS ON ICELAND. There is no lime at all near the Geyfer ; but at Laugarnas there are fome fliint traces of it, partly as an external covering, and partly as conftituent parts in the zeolite, of which more will be laid hereafter. The balls of lime found at Reykum are moll pro- bably thrown out by the fpring, and have been rounded on the furface by the friction. Of the Eruptions of Fire. I HAVE in another * place treated pretty extenfively of the dreadful devaftatlons caufed by fubterraneous fires on the furface of the earth in many parts of the world, both in regard to their caufes and effefts ; I have therefore not any thing to add in this place but what particularly relates to Iceland, and what may ferve to explain the erup- tions which have happened there from time to time. Whether Iceland is to be confidered as entirely produced by volcanos, is aqueftion which moft probably will remain unrefolved many years. It is true. Sir, that according to the accounts you have collefted there, the volcanos have raged in a great many places, and that the whole country is in a manner covered with traces of their deftruftive ef- fefts : we alfo learn, from undeniable fads, that new iflands have been produced by volcanos in many places. But all this proves not any thing more than that the molt dreadful effects have been produced by fiery eruptions in Iceland. To determine this queftion, it would be indifpenfably neceffary that a naturallll fhould thoroughly examine all Iceland. If a granite, or any other ftone or berg-art, was found in folid rocks, and not feparate or in loofe fragments, which may have been brought thither from diftant parts, 1 Ihould entirely diffent from your opinion. But be- fore thefe and the like difcoveries were made, I believe no conclufions could be drawn. I may venture to maintain with more certainty, that your colleftion confirms what I before concluded from other reafons, viz. that in all volcanos pyrites are found, which on decompofing produce heat and fire ; and likewife flate that, penetrated with bitumen, ferves to feed the fire. 12. The flate which you have brought from Iceland fplits into thin plates, which dif- cover many forts of impreffions, particularly of leaves ; the colour is black, and it is c'xadtly of the fame nature as the common aluminous flate. I -5. The two pieces of furturbrand, or foflil wood, which you brought with you, bear evident marks of a vegetable compofiiion ; and I may almofl affirm, with perfect cer- tainty, that the largeft is a kind of pinus abies ; on the outfide are barks and branches, and in the infide all the rings of the fap appear : the leflTer is a piece of rind without wood ; both are black, quite foft, eafily take fire, and flame in burning. After the flame is extinguiflied, one hundred parts aftbrd forty-two parts of coals, which after being only calcined yield two parts of yellovvifli-brown earth, that is attracted by the magnet, and partly diflblvcs with acids : it makes fome eftervefcence with borax and fufible urinous fait ; the fal fodas alfo caufes a little ebullition at firfl:, but does not entirely dif- folve it. Your conjeflure, Sir, concerning the manner in which the furturbrand is produced, does not feem improbable. I have already obferved a long time with furprife, that fiflies, othoceratites, lituites, woodj ^'c. &c. which are to be found in flate, have beeii comprcfled or flatted, whilft they prefcrve their entire form and roundnefs in lime. This fame circumftance may be obferved in the two pieces defcribed above, efpecially in the larger, which is only an inch and a half in thicknefs; though it is nineteen inches * Vcrlds belkiifn, # 149. in VON TROIL S LETTERS ON ICELAND. 723 in length, and thirteen in breadth. Tlie outfide of it has no marks of any rounduefs, but is quite flat. An exceeding great weight is required to prefs a fliclv to a flat plate ; and I cannot conceive how the mofl immenfe beds, which muft neceflTarily have been foft when fpread over it, could ever produce this cflect. Ihe caufe of this is yet undif- covercd, and will probably remain fo a long time; however fomething may bs found there which feems to fliew, that the bituminous flate has been produced in the fame manner, as it has not only penetrated the fubflance of the flate, but every thing elfe which has been laid upon it, for it may yet be obtained by means of didillation. But by what means has this been brought thither? How could it be imbibed by the clay, in cafe this was under water, which however feems to be undeniable, from the prodigious number of marine animals which are found buiied ? and how could the inciofed bodies have been prefled down horizontally ? All thefe problems I cannot as yet anfwer fatis- faftorily, much lefs explain with any degree of certainty. 14. Very coarfe, heavy, and hard lava, full of bladders, almofl; black, intermixed with while grains refembling quarz, which in fome places have a figure not very unlike a fquare. The black matter is not attrafted by the magnet ; but if a piece of it is held againft ji compafs, the needle vifibly moves. When tried in the crucible, it yields from ten to twelve pounds of iron in every hundred w eight : it does not diiTolve in the leafl: with fal foda;, with great difficulty with borax, and hardly vifible by fufible urinous fait. It feems to contain a great deal of clay-earth in its compofition, which may be extraded by all folvents of acids. It is well known that this earth, when it is entirely free from any other mixture, may by means of heat and drying be brought to that degree of hardnefs, as to give fire with a fl:eel, which proceeds from the parts being brought clofer together, and contracted in a fpace only half as large. By being thus contracted, it obtains a folidity and hardnefs j and befides, thefurface is fo much diminiflied,in proportion to the whole raafs, that the water cannot penetrate any farther to foften it. We have almofl daily opportunities in the ftudy of chemiftry of convincing our- felves, that a fubflance with a fmall furface cannot be changed in any manner by liquid folvents ; but may liowever be attacked by them, in proportion to the diflJerent decrees of pulverization ; nay, even a fubftance which cannot be reduced by the finell mecha- nical divifion, may frequently be feparatcd, as much as is neceflary, by a chemical one ; that is to fay, by a preceding folution in another folvcnt. The attraction is here in pro- portion to the extent of the furface ; and the larger this is, the (Irongcr will be the at- tack : confequently I cannot believe that any clay, petrified by heat or flow drying, can have undergone any effential change, but only that its parts have fo contrafted them- felves as to give it the hardnefs of a flint to prevent it from imbibing any vifible quantitv of water. But as foon as it has been diflblved by any acid whatever, and its parts have by this means been brought out of its former contradtion, to the requifite degree of finenefs and expanfion, it becomes as foft as before, without the acid contributing anv more to it than has been faid,as all kinds of acids fucceed equally well. I have a very good alfortment of the lava of Solfatera, by which it is very evident that the fulphureous acid, which had penetrated the black lava, deprived it gradually, partly of its combufl;ible quality, and had alfo whitened it (to cffeft which other fubllances, particularly filk, are likewife expofed to fulphureous exhalations , and pai-tly had re- duced it by folution, either to a perfect allum, or at leafl: to the common nature of any loofe clay. I have likewife produced all thefe eflecls with aqua-fortis, or any other acid, in a lava which had not yet fuffered any change. 4 z 2 The 724 VON TROIL S LETTERS ON ICELAND. The white, which pofleflcs more or lefs of thofe tranfparent grains or rays with which the lava is chequered, do not feem to be of the nature of quarz, as they cannot be at- tacked by fal ibdce ; they are however, with fome difficulty, diffolved by borax and fufible urinous fait. Thefe effefls are perfeftly fimilar to thofe produced upon the diamond, ruby, faphirq, topaz, and hyacinth. The chryfolite, garnet, turmaline, and fhirl, can neither be dif- folved by fal foda:, though they are fomewhat attacked by it, when reduced to a fine powder ; and upon the two lafl mentioned ones it produces a flight eflervefcence. On this account it is poflible that the precious ilones of mount Vefuvius, which are fold at Naples, are nearer related to the real precious flones than is generally imagined. I c. A finer kind of lava, quite porous within, and entirely burnt out, and confiderably lighter on that account than the preceding ones. I have not found any fuch grains in it refembling quarz. 16. The fo called Icelandic agate. This is of a black or blackifli-brown colour, and i little tranfparent at the thin edges like glafs, and gives fire with the Heel. It cannot eafily be melted by itfelf, but becomes white, and flies in pieces. It can hardly be dilTolved in the fire by fufrble urinous fait ; but it fucceeds a little better with borax, though with fome difficulty : with fal {odx it diilblves very little, though in the firft moments fome ebullition is perceived, and the whole mafs is afterwards reduced to powder. From hence it may be concluded, that the Icelandic agate has been produced by an exceflive fire out of the lava defcribed in N^ 14. I have found no cryflals of this glafs in the collection. If any perfon has fuch in their pofTelTion, they fliould be examined to fee if they are exadly of the fame nature and fubflance with the above defcribed agate, and if their form has not been produced accidentally by burfling afunder. 17. More or lefs light, fpongy, and burnt-out pumice (lone, particularly black and reddifli-brown. Quarz cryftalsare fometimcs found in them ; but oftener the rays and grains refembling quarz. Stones thrown out of the volcano, grey or burnt brown, which feem to confiflof a hardened clay mixed with filiceous earth. They are fprinkled with rays and grains re- fembling quarz, and fome few flakes of mica. They fufe with great difficulty in the fire ; wiih fal fodae they fliew fome effervefcence at firff, but however it foon ceafes : the parts refembling quarz do not produce any motion at all. From this we may conclude, that the lava mentioned in N° 14, principally originates from this mafs. The other loofe flones which 1 have received from you, Sir, to all appearance have no abfolute connexion with the eruptions of fire, though fome have been fufpeiled of it, 1 will enumerate them here feparately. ! 9. Red and green jafpcr, which, in fome places where it is broken, is quite fmooth and fhining ; this circumllance dillinguiflies it from the common jafper, which is dull and clay-like where it is broken. It has bcfides all the qualities of true jal'per ; llrikes fire with the fteel, does not melt in the mofl violent fire, but is diffolved by fal fodx with an effervefcence, &c. &c. As to the fmoothnefs of fome parts, it cannot proceed from a commencing fufion, as it becomes black and dark in a weaker fire. We here only find a new link in the connedcd chain of nature, by which the jafpcr is united with the flint. There is no black jafpcr in your colledion ; but the pieces, which to appearance comes nearefl to it, belong to the clafs of the trapp, and fliall be defcribed hereafter. 20. Grey, greenifh flate, refembling jafpcr, that gives fparks with the fleel, is at- tacked with a quick effervefcence by fal fodai, but not farther diffolved by it. In fome places VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. 725 places are grains refcmbling quarz, which are eafily dilTolvcd in fufible urinous fair, but do not fliew the leafl; effervefcence in fal Iodic. 2 1 . The fmall cryflals, faid to refemble cocks-combs ; they are nothing but a different appearance or change of the heavy fpar. 22. A chalcedon cruft with fniooth prominencies, like what they call haematites : this is diflblved with the utmofl: difficulty by fufible urinous fait, with more eafe by borax, and with a violent etfcrvefcence by fal foda", exadtly as the flint. 23. Zeolite ; two kinds : the one is folid, white, and internally, as it were, compofed of globofe parts, in which rays proceeding from the center appear that refemble fine threads. This fort fwells a little by the blow-pipe, diffolves perfectly with borax, feparatcs in fal fods with fome effervefcence, but foon ceafes, and leaves fome part undiffolved. rhe other fort confilts of a plate, which in colour and break refemblcs a caruelian : it has a quantity of fmall prominencies in it, filled with irregular white cryllals, and fome of the cavities are filled with a loofe-grained and brownifh-red fubftance. The fubffance refembling a caruelian becomes white in the fire, bubbles up, and be- comes fufible. The cryllalline fubftance becomes more frothy in the fire than the carnclian, and has all the qualities of the zeolite. The iandy fubftance hardly fwells ; is diffolved with difficulty by borax, and is at- tacked at firft with a fudden effervefcence by fal foda'. As it is not uncommon even in the profeffors of morality to pafs from one wrong ftep to another, fo are we not without examples of this kind in thofe who make nature their ftudy. Ten years ago it was a general opinion that the furface of the earth, together with the mountains upon it, had been produced by moillure. It is true, fome declared the fire to be the firft original caufe, but the greater number paid little attention to this opinion. Now, on the contrary, that a fubterraneous fire had been the principal agent gains ground daily : every thing Is fuppofed to have been melted even to the granite. My own fentiments with regard to it is this, that both the fire and water have cc-ntri- buted their (hare in this operation, though in fuch a proportion, that the force of the former extends much further than the latter ; and, on the contrary, that the fire has only worked in fome parts of the furfiice of the earth. It is not an eafy matter to explain how the granite, which confifts of clear quarz- cryftals, folid field-fpar, and glimmer (wiai) with flat fcales, has been able to fupport a fufion, without the quarz burfting, or becoming opaque. This is yet lefs to be conceived of the field-fpar, that becomes foft and liquid in a weak fire, and has a dull appearance. The gliuunor fplits Its fcales aCumler in the fire, and frequently twills them together again in a very different manner from that in which they appear in the granite. Notwithitanding all this, if the granite is confidered as a produdlion of the fire, it need not be wondered at that the zeolite has likewlfe been com- prehended in this fuppofitlon. I vi'ill allow that cryftals may be produced by the dry method, and I know feveral ways of obtaining them, both by fufion and fublimation ; but I can never be ptrfuaJed that the zeolite has been produced by the affiftance of fire. It is true, that fbmetimes they are found in loofe ftones, and In fuch places where volcanos had formerly raged': it is likewlfe found in folid rocks that have never been expofed to thele fires, "as at Guftavenberg in Jerntland. If more forts than one are alfo certainly free from all fufpicion of having been fubjecT: £0 fufion, how is It poffible, without the cleareft proofs, to luppofe that the whole genus has 726 VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. has been fubjeiSt to it ? If the Icelandic zeolite has been prepared by fire, we may juftly queftlon how it can produce above five quarts in twenty-five of water in diitilling. This may likewife be applied to all the other forts, though they generally contain lefs water, and the red fort from Adelfors only one quart in twenty-five. 1 his is evidently the water of crydallization, in proportion to which each kind fwells more or lefs by the blow-pipe. The Icelandic and Feroe zeolites are moft fubject to this, almoft like borax ; the Adelfors zeolite fwells much lefs, and that from Upland, and feveral other forts, fo little, that it ceafes in a moment ; and even then produces fo fraali an expanfion of fpace, that it is fcarcely perceivable to the eye. Since therefore all zeolites contain this water of cryflallization, which is neither found nor expeftcd in the produdions of fire, it feems to me to be undeniable, that they have been produced in the way of moifture ; befides the zeolites do not confifl; of a finiplc particular kind of earth, but of three difierent forts which are mixed together, and in a manner the one dilTolved by the other, in confequence of which thei conneclion cannot be confidered as an original earth. In all, the greateft part ccnfiftsof filiceous earth, the next is argillaceous earth, and the leall part is calcareous earth. The two laft forts may be diffolved by acids, and then precipitated by alkah volatile cauflicum, by which the argillaceous earth, but not the calcareous earth, after being feparated from the firil by filtrating, may be precipitated by fal foda;. In this manner I have found that the zeolites delcribed above, contain 48 in 1 00 of filiceous earth, 22 of pure argillaceous earth, and from 12 to 14 of calcareous earth. If thcfe numbers were added together, and reckoned with what it contains of water, the produce is fomething more than 1 00. This furplus proceeds from the calcareous earth, that enters into the zeolite without fix^-d air, with which it is afterwards impreg« nated during the precipitation. Other zeolites contain exactly the fame fubftances, only in different proportions. Of thofe which I have hitherto examined, the Jemtland zeolite contains the greateft quantity of calcareous earth, that is to fay, 16 parts in 100, and that from Feroe the lead, namely. Sin 100. The red zeolite from Adelfors contains the greateft; quantity of filiceous earth to wit 80 in 100, and the Icelandic the leaft, to wit 48 in 100. The zeolite from Feroe contains moft argillaceous earth, namely, about 25 in 100, and that from Adelfors the leaft, or about 9 in too. When the origuial compofition of any kind of ftone is thus known, it is not difficult to determine its qualities. The zeolites at firft froth and fw-ell in the fire, the caufe of which has been already explained. They afterward fufe more or lefs perfeftly. The fwapparara may be reduced to a clear glafs, and the Upland red zeolite can hardly be brought to give any figiis of vitri- fication on the furface. It is well known that quarz, pure argillaceous earth and lime, cannot feparately be made to fufe, nor two and two mixed together in many cafes ; but when all three are compounded, they are more or lefs inclined to fufion. One part of pure argillaceous earth, with one part of lime, and two and a half to three parts of quarz, afford a mix- ture, which is eafieft brought to fufe. If the compofition of the zeolites is compared with this mixture, they are found to be fufible in the fame meafure as the proportion of their conftituent parts approaches more or It-fs to the above-mentioned compofition. They are more ftrongly attacked by fal foda; than by borax, or fufible urinous fait, bccaufc there is in all moft filiceous earth, which is beft diffolved by the folid alkaline fait in the dry way, Laftly, VON TROiL S LETTERS OK ICEI.AMD. 727 I-;iftly, fcvcml forts have the quality of yiclcling JLllIes, tlrat is to fay, they change a pro- portionable quantity of acid to a femi-tranfparcnt congealed mafs, which refcmblcsajully. I'hefe congelations may in general be produced in dill'crent ways ; fometime the men- flruum by length of time lofesits power, when the diOolved part is attacked gradually, though impeifetftly diflblved, fo that in a manner it remains fufpcndcd IiaU dinolved, and after fomc evaporation at la(l congeals to a tough coherent fubflaiice. This frequently happened in dilfolving tin in marine acitl, or aqua regia, when the inflammable fub- ftancc decreafes too much, and by that means weakens the conncdion between tha metal and the folvent. Sometimes a kind of gelatinous congelation is produced by an imperfedl prcclpita- tion. For inftance, when the liquor filicum is united with a certain quantity of acid, fo that the fdiceous earth is not entirely feparated, but remains fufpended in the liquor. This much refembles a circumflance exhibited by fome zeolites, wnich I will now more fully explain. yVs the red zeolite of Adelfors produces this efFeft more clearly than anv other, it fliall ferve as an inflance of it. After this is feparated and freed as much as poflible from calcareous fpar, three or four tea-fpoons full of it muft be thrown into a wine glafs half filled with common aqua-fortis ; when after a fhort time the whole folution will be found in the form of a reddifli gelatinous fubfbnce, that nothing of it runs out if even the glafs is turned. To difcover the caufe of this, I have taken fome of the clearefl: jelly, and diflblved it with boiling water in a glafs mortar, and left it to dry on a filtering paper after a perfeft filtration, by which means the place which it occupied •was incredibly diminifhed. I then tried this fubfl;ance with acids, but it was not at all attacked, and did not melt in the flu'ongeft fire alone. The fufible urinous fait hardly attacked it ; borax diflblved it, though with difficulty ; but fal fodce diflTolved it perfectly with a flirong eflervefcence. In confequence of this the gelatinous fubfl^ance chiefly confifl:s of filiceous earth expanded in the highefl; degree. But by what means has this indiflToluble fubftance been introduced into a folvent ? We have before obferved, that the Adelfors zeolite contains eighty parts in a hun- dred of filiceous earth, nine and a half of argillaceous earth, and fix and a half of cal- careous earth free from fixed air ; all which fubllances are united as clofe as poffible. If therefore the powder is thrown into an acid, and remains there during fome time, the argillaceous and calcareous earths are immediately attacked by it ; but thefe are in- ternally conneded with the filiceous earth, and confequently take a confiderable part of it half diflTolved into the fpungy and f.vollen flate, which all fubfliances generally ex- hibit in the moment of precipitation. The fame thing happens when a refinous gum is laid into fpirits of wine ; part of the gum, together with the refin, is then immediately diflTolved by the fpirits of wine on account of its connexion, though the firfl: alone can- not be diflTolved by it at all. If a fuflicient quantity of water or acid is added before the liquor begins to congeal, no congelation enfues, but the filiceous earth falls in loofe flakes to the bottom, which evidently proves that the folvent, in regard to its quantity and flrength, mufl: be confined within certain limits. An addition of fome ch. Ik in- creafes its tendency to gelatinous congelations, partly becaufe the folutiou becomes more broken and folid, and partly by means of bubbles of fixed air, which attach thcm- felves to the fpungy filiceous powder, and makt it lighter ; whence the zeolite of Adel- fors in this cafe feems to have an advantage over every other fort, on account of the lime-fpar naturally mixed with it ; the principal part however no doubt depends on the feveral parts which compofe it. Some forts afford only a gelatinous fubltance after a preparatory calcination j the caufe of which nioit probably is this, that the calcareous 1 1 earth 728 VON TROIL's letters on ICELAND. earth has not before been enough united with the fillceous earth, at leafl: not with the whole of it. It is well known that lime and quarz, when expofed to the operation of a fire, that has only caufed them to bake together, neverthelefs afterwards yield a gelatin- ous fubftance. Alcaline fait mixed with fand afl'ords a fimilar demi concretion, as when we calcine pot-afhes ; on which account the cleared folution a long while after precipitates filiceous powder, in the fame proportion that the alcaline fait attracts fixed air, with which it preferably "unites itfelf. This generally produces a gelatinous con- gelation, when the water is faturated with alcaline fait, and alfo is well charged with filiceous earth. For the fame caufe, clay, fpathofe fluor, and other fubftances, hard to bediflblved in acids, may be brought to a gelatinous congelation, when they have before by fufion been united with alcaline fait, borax, or calcareous earth : calcareous earth by itfelf never gives a gelatinous fubftance in acids, confequently it can fo much the lefs become a filiceous earth by this method, as has however been thought by fome, who would foon rclinquifli their opinion if they would only make experiments themfelves j where there is no flint before, it cannot pofllbly be propofed by any other acid, but that which is obtained from fpathofe flour. But at prefent this is enough of the zeolite, of which I have treated more extenfively, as it is found in great abundance in Iceland, and is fuppofed by fome to be produced in the dry way ; but I hope that this matter is at prefent entirely determined, not only by its fpparation, but alfo by its produftion, which happens daily in the water. See N^ II. I have for feveral years paft endeavoured to difcover the number as well as the nature of the original kinds of earth. In the year 1758 Mr. Cronfledt counted nine ; if he had lived longer for the benefit of the fciences, he would no doubt have redtified this account. In confequence of my experiments I have difcovered the following fix forts : 1. Calcareous earth, which after being faturated by acid of vitriol affords a kind of gypsum. 2. Terra ponderofa, which with acid of vitriol gives a ponderous fpar, and in feveral refpefls is very different from the calcareous earth. 3. Magnefia, which, together with acid of vitriol, produces the Englifli or Epfom fait. Thefe three kinds arc generally found faturated with fixed air, and they are on that account fubjccl to an effcrvefccnce with fironger acids. 4. Argillaceous earth, which, together with the vitriolic acid, produces allum. The common argillaceous earth is always mixed with filiceous earth, but the fort here meant mufi be entirely pure. 5. Siliceous earth, which is not attacked by any acid yet known, the flour acid ex- cepted. In the dry way it can be diffolved with a third part of its weight of fixed alkali to a tranfparent falling glafs, which at firfl is affccled with a llrong eftervefcence. 6. Gemmcous earth, that is not attacked by any known acid, and clearly difiinguiflies itfelf from the preceding forts, by its being entirely indiffoluble, and being fubjeft to a weaker effcrvefccnce in the fire with fixed alcali. It is found in all the gems or pre- cious flones. I have in vain made ufe of various methods to feparate thcfc earths into more fimple principles, and to all appearance others would have no better fuccefs than I have had : if they arc really compounds, they are at lead fiinple in regard to the method known among us of feparating fubftanccs, and do not arife from one another. Whatever has therefore been objeftcd to this opinion from prejudice, cannot fubfifl after experiments 4 have VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. 729 have been made upon that fubjcd. We mufl not pretend to improve nature according to our notions, but endeavour to diftinguifh all kinds of fubftances which have fufiicicnt and lading marks of diftindions. No certain origin can be made unlefs the feparation and compofuion of them, which may be relied on, has been made before. All the dif- ferent forts of (lone and earth, hitherto known, are compofed of one or more of the fix principal forts before- mentioned, which fhall be proved more at large in another place, as foon as I am able to make fome experiments that require repetition. Of the Bafalts. OF all the mountains hitherto known, there are without doubt not any more re- markable than thofe that are compofed of angular pillars. A few years ago only one or two of this kind were known ; but new ones are daily difcovered, which is a plain proof how much our attention requires being rouzed to prevent it from flumbcring, even on the moft: important occafions. It cannot much be doubted that there has been fome connexions between thcfe pil- lars, and the effefts of a fubterraneous fire, as they are found in places where the figns of fire are yet vifible ; and as they are even found mixed with lava, tophus, and other fubftances produced by fire. The caufe of the regular form of thefe pillars is a problem which we have hitherto been unable to folve fatisfadlorily. This difficulty has appeared fo infurmountable to fome, that they have thought it impofiible to be the effeds of Nature, and have con- fidered them as works made by human hands : this idea betrays the utmoft ignorance in regard to the true nature of thefe mountains of pillars, and does not even deferve a refutation. As far as we know. Nature makes ufe of three methods to produce regular forms in the mineral kingdom, namely, that of cryftallization or precipitation : fecondly, the crufting or fettling of the external furface of a liquid mafs whilft it is cooling : and, thirdly the burfting of a moift fubftance whilft it is drying. The firft method is the moft common, but to all appearance nature has not made ufe of this in the prefent cafe. Cryftals are feldoni or never found in any confiderabic quantity running in the fame diredion, but either inclining from one another, or, what is ftill more common, placed towards one another in feveral Hoping diredions. They are alfo generally feparatcd a little from one another, when they are regular ; the nature of the thing likewife requires this, becaufe the feveral particles, of which the cryftals are compofed, muft have the liberty of following that power which affeds their regular difpofition. The bafalt columns, on the contrary, whofe height are frequently from thirtv to forty feet, are placed parallel to one another in confiderable numbers, and fo clofe together that the point of a knife can hardly be introduced between them. Bcfides, in moft places, each pillar is divided into feveral parts or joints, which feem to be placed upon one another ; and indeed it is not uncommon for cryftals to be formed above one another in different layers, when the folvent has been vifibly diminifhcd at different times ; but then the upper cryftals never fit fo exadly upon the lower ones as to produce conneded prifms of the fame length and depth as all the ftrata taken toge- ther, but each fti-atum feparately forms its own cryftals. How then can the Giant's Caufeway in the county of Antrim, Fingal's Cave at Stafta, and all other afl'emblages of pillars of the fame kind, be confidered as cryftal- lizations ? Precipitation, both in the wet and dry manner, requires that the particles VOL. 1. 5 A fliould 730 VON troil's letters -on Iceland. fhould be free enough to fix themfelves in a certain order ; and as this is not prafti- cable in a large melted mafs, no cryflallizations appear in it, except on its furface, or in its cavities. Add to this, that the bafalts in a frefh frafture, do not fhew a plain fmooth furface under the microfcope, but appear fometiines like grains of a different magnitude, and at other times refemble fine rays running in different direftions, which does not cor- refpond with the internal ftruiElure of the cryftals, which I have endeavoured to examine in another place. From what I have hitherto mentioned, the opinion that the bafalts have been pro- duced by cryflallization, becomes at leafl: lefs probable, whether we admit the wet or dry method. But I mufl: not omit that the fpars exhibit a kind of cryflallization, which, at firfl fight, refembles a heap of bafalts, but, upon a clofe examination, a very great difference is obferved. The form of the fpar is every where alike, but the ba- lalts differ from one another in point of fize and number of fides ; the former, when broken, confifls of many fniall unequal cubes, but the bafalt does not feparate in regular parts, kc. &c. Nature's fecond method to produce regular forms is that of crufting the outer fur- face of a melted mafs. By a fudden refrigeration Nature, to effect this purpofe, makes ufe of polyedrous and irregular forms. If we fuppofe a confiderable bed, which is be- come fluid by fire, and fpread over a plain, it evidently appears that the furface mufl firfl of all lofe the degree of heat requifite for melting, and begin to congeal ; but the cold requifite for this purpofe likewife contrafts the uppermofl congealed ftratum into a narrower fpace, and confequently caufes it to feparate from the remaining liquid mafs, as the fide expofed to the air is already too ftiff to give way. In this manner a flratum is produced running in a parallel direftion with the whole mafs, others ftill are produced by the fame caufe, in proportion as the refrigeration penetrates deeper. Hence we may, in my opinion, very plainly fee how a bed may be divided into ftrata. In the fame manner the refrigeration advances on the fides, which confequently divides the ftrata into polyedrous pieces of pillars, which can hardly ever be exaftly fquare, as the ftrongeft refrigeration into the inner parts of the mafs advances almoft in a diagonal line from the corners. If we add to this, that a large mafs cannot be equal throughout its compofitlon, nor every where liquid in the fame degree, it will be eafy to difcover the caufe of feveral irregularities. If the depth of the bed is very confiderable, in proportion to its breadth, prifmatic pillars, without crofs divifions, are produced, at leaft length- ways, from the uppermofl furface downwards. The third way is perfeftly fimilar to the preceding in refpeiSl to the effefl, but is diffe- rent from it by the mafs being foaked with water, and by the burfting of it afunder, being the effeft of the contraftion whilft it is drying. If we fuppofe fuch a bed to be fpread over a level fpace, the drying advances in the fame manner as the refrigeration in the former cafe. T'his feparation into ftrata properly happens when a confiderable quantity of clay enters into the whole compofition, becaufe the clay decreafcs more than any other kind of earth in drying. We muft now examine which of thefe tvvo ways may beft ferve to explain the manner in which the bafalts are produced, for it is hardly poflible that they fliould liave been formed by cryftallization. However well founded the opinion may appear of deducing them from a melted fub- flance, feveral very confiderable objedions however may be raifed againft it, which I ihall not forget to mention. It feems therefore more credible to me, that they have been 13 produced VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. y^\ produced out of their fubftance whilft it was yet foft, or at lead not too hard to be jbftened by exhalations. If we therefore fuppofe that a bed is fpread over a place where a volcano begins to work, it is evident that a great quantity of the water always prcfent on thefe occafions, is driven upwards in exhalations or vapours ; thefe, it is well kno^n, poiTefs a penetrating foftening power, by means of which they alfo produce their firft effed ; but when they are increafed to a fufficient quantity, they force this tough moid fubftance up-wards, which then gradually falls, and during this time burlls in the man- ner defcribed above. ' My reafons for this opinion arc thefe ; firft, we do not find the internal grain of the bafalts melted or vitrified, which however foon happens by fufion, and for wiiich pur- pofe only a very fmall degree of fire is requifitc. It confequently is very hard to ex- plain how this fubftance could have been fo Huid, that no traces of bubbles appear in it (at lead I have not been able to difcover any, after the niced examination into the Scotch and Icelandic bafalts) and yet when broken appear dull and uneven. I know very well that lava is feldom vitrified within j but the great number of bubbles and pores which are found in the whole mafs, are more than fufficient proofs that it has not been perfedly melted to its fraalled parts, but has only been brought to bj near fluid. Secondly, the bafalts fo much refemble the finer trapp, both in refpeft to their grain and original compofition, that ihey can hardly be didiaguidied in fmall frag- ments, as will be more plainly proved in the comparifon which I will make hereafter. See N* 24. But the trapp in all probability has never been melted, at lead not in thofe parts where I have had opportunities of examining it. Almod in all the wed Gothic dratified mountains, the uppermod dratum is trapp ; and it mud be well obfervcd, that it always lies upon black allum flate. Is it there- fore credible that this fubdance, which in many places extend above a hundred yards, can have been perfeftly melted, without caufing the flate lying beneath it to lofe fome part of its blacknefs, even in thofe places where they touch one another, as this effeft may be produced in a fmall culinary fire ? There is befides a finer kind of trapp, which is generally found in veins or loads, and frequently in very ancient mountains, where not the lead traces of fubterraneous fire are to be feen. The bafalt mountains fecm to be very ancient, at lead I do not know that the age of any one is afcertained. Should they then be fo old, that the fubdance of the trapp was not yet perfedly hardened, when were they produced ? Befides, we frequently find to this day clayey fubdances at a great depth, which are fo foft that they may be fcraped by the nail, but afterwards become very hard when expofed to the air. There have without doubt been many eruptions of fire on the ifle of Staffa, as the fuuation of the pillars and their being removed out of their places evidently prove. You, Sir, have likewife brought a very clear proof of this from thence, which is a piece of bafalt, that on the exteriorly is full of hollows, and in a manner burnt. A hard fubdance, when expofed to a degree of heat infuflicient to melt the whole piece, may, however, be attacked by it in fome parts of the furface mod liable to be- come fluid. The mixture of a large mafs is feldom every where fo uniform, that fome parts fliould not be more liable to melt than others. Crooked pillars may be produced as well by the drying as the refrigeration of a liquid mafs ; for this purpofe it is only neceflary that the furface diould be bent, as the ftratum always runs in a parallel diredion with it. 5 A 2 From 733 VON TROIL S LETTERS ON ICELAND. From what I have hitherto faid, you will perceive it is my opinion, that the bafalts have been produced by the affiflance of a fubterraneous fire, but that it is not yet de- termined whether they have been rent afunder after the fufion, or by drying : this lad however appears more credible to me on account of the reafons I have mentioned. For to fpeak ftridly, the fubflances inclofed in the bafalts, though they fliould even be volcanic, do not yet with certainty prove a preceding fufion, as a fubftance foftened by water may be as proper for it as one fufed by fire. I am however very far from being inclined to maintain my opinion any farther than it agrees with certain experiments and experience. Truth will fooner or later be difcovered ; and I know nothing more derogatory to the honour of a natural hiflorian, than having wilfully obflrufted its paffage. I will now give a more full defcription of the bafalts and different kinds of trapp which you have brought from Staffa and Iceland. 24. Bafalt from Staffa. — The piece prefented to me is a prifmatic hexagonal frag- ment, three fides of which are almofl of equal dimenfions, and are connefted with one another ; two others are larger, and are feparated from one another by the fixth and fmalleft ; it is a little concave at the top, and convex at the bottom. Trapp is generally found in fquare irregular cubes, whence it has moft probably obtained its denomination, on account of lome fimilarity with flones made ufe of for flair-cafes. It is alfo found in prifmatic triangular forms, though rarely, as alfo in the form of immenfe pillars. Of this kind are thofe called TraeleTlenar, oppofite Bragnum, at the foot of the Hanneberg, which have feparated themfelves from the remaining part of the bed ; and in 1759, when I firfl faw them, formed an angle of about eight degrees with the plumb-line. The bafalt from Staffa, when newly broken, is of a blackifli grey, fhining, and fmall fcaled ; and I have difcovered with the microfcope fome fmall white particles fprinkled up and down. The fined trapp is perfeftly fimilar when broken, only of a lighter colour, which proceeds from the greater quantity of white particles. The furface decays to a grey yellow loofe cruft, which lofes itfelf in the more folld mafs. The fine trapp decays in the fame manner. The bafalt w hen firuck with the fteel hardly gives fire, though a fpark may now and then be obtained with difficulty. This fame circumftance may be obferved of the trapp. Its fpecific weight is about 3000, and that of the trapp about 2990. It becomes very beautiful by cutting, polifliing, and grinding. 1 jkewife the more fine kind of trapp. It yields an afli-coloured powder. The trapp yields rather a powder of a more light colour. It foon melts to black glaffy flags. The trapp likewife. The bafalt is attacked by foda: with an effervefcence which foon ceafes, and, though fome feparation cnfues, the greater part however remains undiffolved. Borax per- fectly folves it without clfervcfcence, and gives a clear iron-coloured glafs. It isfolved with great difficulty by fufible urinous fait, and whilft cooling becomes of a whitifh grey, and not tranfparent. Uhe fame clleds are produced by thefe acids upon the trapp. 7 One VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. 73J One hundred parts of bafalt very finely powdered, and feveral times digcflcd with frefli aqua rcgia, and then well wafhed and dried, leave fixty-eight parts undidblvcd. The remainder ot this fliews a little eiFervefccnce before it unites with the fal fodac, and diflolves very little. It is diflTolved witli eale by bopax, and with difficulty by fufible urinous fait. It feems therefore to be a mixture of filiceous and gemmeous earth. The folution gives by precipitation with lixivium fanguinis as much Pruffian blue as is equal to twenty-fix parts in one hundred of iron ; though the bafalt, by being tried in the ufual manner in the crucible, does not yield above ten in one hundred. This proves that lixivium fanguinis affords the moft exact method of affiiying iron ore. When at lad the folution is precipitated with cauftic volatile alkali, after the iron has been feparated by lixivium fanguinis, faturated with acid, pure argillaceous earth is obtained. Sometimes a little calcareous earth appears after a preceding precipitation ; when diffolved fal foda; is added ; but fometimcs not the fmallefl: traces of it can be drfcovcr- ed, even with the acid of fugar, which is however the fafeft method hitherto known of difcovering it. The calcareous earth feems therefore to be accidental. 'I'his is how- ever very certain, that the interfaces between the pillars are fometimes found filled up with calcareous fpar. The trapp is exaftly of the fame nature, and contains nearly the fame allay, fo that the experiments differ only one or a half part in one hundred. The mofl; cofiderable difference con fills in the calcareous earth appearing here more vifibly, fo that generally a flight effervefcence is obferved when an acid is poured on the powder. 25. Bafalt from Hvitara, near Skalholt, in Iceland. — The piece in my poflfeflion is too fmall to difcover its form ; only a part of the outfide can be diftinguiilied. When frefh broken it refembles the bafalt from Stafl'a, though fomething may be obferved in it which is very feldom difcovered in the laft. Thefe are fmall round cavities, not larger than pins' heads, thinly fcattered in fome places, as Ukewife on the outfide. All thefe cavities are filled up with a white, green, or brown powder. May not thefe perhaps have been fome particles of a fubfiiance, which eafily difTclv- ing was become liquid, though the whole mafs had not a fufficient degree of heat to melt it ? But whence can thefe cavities be filled with this powder ? In the midfl of fo folid a mafs, no decay feems to be poffibie. The fubflance of the bafalt itfelf produces a little efTervefcence with fal fodce, and feparates without being vifibly diffolved. It diffolvcs in borax, as Ukewife in fufible urinous fait, although with more difficulty. By the common method of proving it in the crucible it yields ten parts in one hundred of iron. The fame circumflances may be obferved in trying the powder that fills up the cavities ; it only feems to melt a little eafier than the folid fubftance furrounding it. 26. The bafalt from Langarnas perfedly refembles coarfe trapp, though it has more white particles, and fometimes cryftallizations as large as a cherry-fione ; the dark grey and white parts prove to be entirely of the fame nature by the blow-pipe, becomes fluid by itfelf, and produces a fudden effervefcence with fal fodas, but without being quite dilTolved by it : it is exaftly as the preceding fort. 27. Black, folid, gloffy trapp, knotty within, and refembling wood in its internal flrufture, being full of filaments. Many pieces are grown to a crufl: of pumice on one fide or another, though their edges are quite frefii and fmooth ; whence we may con- clude, that they themfelves have not been melted, but have either been thrown into the lava. 73 »• VON TROIl's letters on ICELAND. lava, which was already burnt out, or that the lava has flowed over them : fome part of it however feems to have been more attacked by the fire. The manner in which the fire and acids operate upon this trapp, is exaftly the fame as with the preceding bafalt. There are likewife fome grains fcattered in it refembling quarz, which are not folved by fol foda:, nor does it caufe any effervefcence ; borax and fufible urinous fah entirely diffolves them, though flowly. 28. A compacl dark brown trapp from Vido, the furface of which is glalTy and uneven, as if it had been made fluid by fire. It muft alfo be obferved, that cryftalhza- tions of frcfh pyrites are frequently found in thefe glafly rough pieces. The glafly fubflance eafily becomes fluid with fome ebullition, aimofl; like fhirl j befides, it ex- hibits the fame circumflances with acids as the preceding. You will fee. Sir, by this long letter, that in the eruptions in Iceland argillaceous and filiceous fubftances have been principally concerned, as has been the cafe in other parts. I know very well that Mr. Beaume maintains, that filex might be made to afford allum with acid of vitriol after it has been diffolved in liquor filicum with fal fodse. But when the fufions are made in veffels which contain no argillaceous earth, no allum can be obtained with acid of vitriol, which, however, may be obtained when the vegetable alkali is kept fluid during a confiderable time in a common crucible, becaufe the alkali diflblves fome part of the veflTel itfelf. Pure filiceous earth is entirely indiflToluble by itfelf in acid of vitriol, let it be treated in any manner whatfoever. Let this account of thefe dreadful devaftations be fufficient. Homo natura; minifl:er et interpres, tantum facit et intelligit, quantum de naturx ordine, re vel mente obfervaverit, nee amplius fcit aut potefl. Baco. RELATION ( 735 ) RELATION OF A VOYAGE IN THE NORTH SEA, ALONG THE COASTS OF ICELAND, GREENLAND, EERRO, SHETLAND, THE ORCADES, AND NOR- WAT, MADE IN THE TEARS 1767 AND i-j^fi, BT M. DE KERGUELEN TREMAREC, OF THE ROYAL MARINE ACADEMY IN FRANCE, LIEUTE- NANT, COMMANDER OF THE FRIGATES LA FOLLE AND L'HIRON. BELLE. PREFACE. HIS Majefty being defirous that encouragement and protefllon fliould be given to the cod fifhery on the coa(t: of Iceland, carried on between the months of April and Sep- tember, the Due de Praflin, minifler and fecretary of flate for naval affairs, difp itcheJ the frigate La FoUe to a itatlon oft" Iceland, to preferve good order among the French filhermen, to proted them, and to furnifh them with any fuccours they might require. Towards the end of January 1767 I received an order at Bred from the Due de Praflin, to repair to court upon his majefly's fcrvice. I fet off immediately, arrived at Verfaillcs, and prefented myfelf to the minider, who informed me that he had appointed me to the command of the frigate La Folle, of twenty-fix guns, and two hundred men, for the objed I have before defcribed. Although I mufl neceffarily on this cruize be fubje£t to much fatigue and inconvenience, the novelty of it, and the inclination which from my moft tender infancy I had always felt for cruizing, occafioned me an indefcribable fatisfadion. M. Rodier, firft clerk in the navy-oflice, communicated to me fundry do- cuments and regulations relative to the filhery in queftion. On the fame fubjecl I had the honour of feeing the prefident Ogier, who during his embalTy to Denmark, obtained confiderable information on this branch of commerce, and had amicably fettled fomc difputes which had arofe upon the occafion of it. He had the kindnefs to impart to me all the elucidation I could require : he informed me that the King of Denmark had granted to a company eflablilhed at Copenhagen the exclufive privilege of trading with Iceland ; that every foreign vcird, or even Danifh, not belonging to the company, was liable to confifcation if found upon the coafts of Iceland ; that the company kept cruizers to maintain its rights, and to capture any veflel infringing them ; that thefe cruizers thi-ee years before, had made themfelvcs mailers of two fliips from Dunkirk, which were fold at Copenhagen ; that thefe two (hips had been fiflilng for cod upon the coafl; of Iceland, and were furprlfed In a harbour by the cruizers, with wool and other contraband articles on board, but being ambalTador at the time he had reclaimed them, and had them re- ftored with all colls and interefl;. The Due de Praflin ordered me to Dunkirk, to con- fer with the gentlemen of the chamber of commerce on the means of encouraging the fifliery, and fecuring fuccefs, by eflablifhing regulations and a difcipline by which the men were to abide. After taking the meafures neceflary at Dunkirk, and choofing two failors well acquainted with the coafts of Iceland, I returned to Verfailles for my lad orders from the Due de Praflin, and proceeded afterwards to Breft to equip my frigate : on the firft of April fhe was taken into dock to be careened j fhe came out again on the third, and the fourth her equipment began ; in order to haften which, I divided the operation among my officers. M. Duchaftel, who was my fecond lieutenant, had the care of the ftowage, and general infpedion with Pvl. de la Martllliere, mid/hipman ; lieutenant Le Chevalier Ferron, had the infpcftion of provifions, with Moflrs. Pchan and Le Rouge, midfhipmen ; M. Lerondel and Le Chevalier Menycau, midfhipmen, looked to the guns and ammunition j and Mcflrs. Dorvault and Meiiyeau, fenior, to the fails jT^S kerguklen's voyage to the north. fails nnd rigging. By the exertions of thefe officers, whofe talents cannot be too highly praifed, my frigate was entirely equipped in four days, with fix months provifion on board. She fell down to the road-dead on the eleventh of April, where I anchored in ten fathoms water, with bottom of mud and fand, mooring her E. S. £. and W. N. W. with a heavy anclior. Being moored, I fet Point Porzic at W. quarter S. W. five de- grvces S., and Round Ifland at S. quarter S. E. four degrees E. This is the bed anchor- age in the road ; it is called La Foffe, on account of the bottom rifmg from the middle j but as it is at fonie little diftance from the port, it is moftly frequented by large veffels. Nothing interefting occurred to me in the road till the twenty-firfl, when I experi- enced a heavy gale of wind from the S. S. W. During my ftay there I exercifed the {hip's company in the rigging, and at the great guns. M. Duchaftel made out the roll for the watch, and engaging ; that for engaging was made after a manner which ought to be generally adopted : it diflributed, for example, to the ftarboard watch the uneven guns, one, three, five, feven, and to the larboard watch the even ones, two, four, fix, eight. By this means a veflel can never be taken by furprife ; for the watch on duty on the deck may by night and day ferve half the guns : flie may prepare on a fudden as well to fire from both fides, on giving the word (larboard to the Itarboard, and larboard to the larboard fide. To conclude, the watch may exercife at the guns, without waking thofe who have turned in. FIRST PART. Containing the Courfe from Breji to Iceland. I RECEIVED my inftruflions from court the twenty-fixth of April 1767, and the next day, the twenty-feventh,! left Brefl roads at nine in the morning, at the beginning of flood tide, and with a very weak N. E. wind; as I got off the land it became Itronger : at five in the evening we made Ufliant, bearing E. N. E. five leagues and a half diftant. I ftecred all night W. N. W. to make an offing, and feeing by the weather that the eaft- erly winds were likely to continue, I kept the point ahead at N. N. W., in order to reach Cape Clear. The twenty-eighth, at noon, I was by obfervation in lat. 48° 46', and long. 10° 3' W. from Paris. At fun-fet I noticed the variation of the compafs to be 20° towards the W. The twenty-ninth, at half pad eight in the morning, after hav- ing run forty-five leagues by the log in the preceding day, I difcovered Cape Clear. At ten o'clock, IMiffin-head bearing N. N. E. five leagues diffant, I founded and found fixty-five fathoms water, the bottom a muddy fand mixed with pebbles. Afterwards I deered N. W. quarter W. On the tvventy-ninth, at noon, I found the lat. 51° 5', and long. 12° 24' W. M. Boutanguoy, my fird pilot, obferved 21° of variation in the morning. I remarked that M illen-head was abetter land to make for than Cape Clear, on account of its being higher, and more eafy to perceive. I took notice of the Schyl- lings illands, which I found badly laid down in the map of M. Bellin, naval engineer, engraved in 1751. Thefe iflands dretch more to the W. and W. S. W. than they are deicribed to do in that chart. On running from Cape Clear to the Schyllings, I noticed a fenfible current to the N. E. After doubling thefe iflands, I kept the Cape at S. S. E. On the thirtieth, at noon, I obferved the polar height was 52" 44', and by calculation 14' 54' W. longitude from Paris. At noon I deered N. N. E., the wind S. E., but light, and a fine lea. On the fird of May I was by reckoning in lat. 53° 18', and I found it by obfervation Si 3°'> which gave a difference in twenty-four hours of twelve minut'Sj t'lis could not kerguelen's voyage to the north. 737 not have arlfen from the log-line, the knots of which were made at a dlflance of forty, feven feet fix inches : this diftance is correct, the fea-lcague being reduced by the gentlj- nien of the academy of fcitnces to 2850 toifes, from their finding in 1672 that a degree in the celeflial fphere was equal to 57000 toifes on the earth. If the third part of 2850 be taken, it will give 950 toifes of the Chatelet at Paris, or 5700 royal feet, which di- vided by twelve, yields forty-feven feet and a half, the diftance or interval of each knot on the log-line. The difference could not proceed from the half-minute glaffes either, which I proved the correftnefs of by comparing them with each other, and by a watch I had which pointed the feconds. Thefe fmall glaffes, the purpofe of which is to mea- fure the diftance paffed over on the log-line during their run, which is half a minute, cannot be proved too frequently, for the change of weather from dry to humid alone jiiay occafion a confiderable variation ; and one fingle fecond error in half a minute will caufe a difference of thirty leagues in a run of a thoufand. It would be ufelefs to enter into minutias on this matter lb often noticed, and particularly by M. Dechabert, at pre- fent captain of a frigate, who in his Journal of a Voyage to North America difplays all the caufes of errors in navigation. It is fufficient to obferve that the 1 2' difference of the latitude did not arife either from the log-line or the half-minute glaffes, but from the currents, which I reckon to run N. E. in this quarter, owing to the bay of Galway, the bearing of the coaft, which is N. and S., and the S. W. winds, which almolt conti- nually blow in this latitude, all which fliould neceffarily determine the currents runnint^ to the N. E. I found next day again a difference N. between the height by obfervation and that by reckoning, and perceived tide-banks and fea-weed, the direction of which were N. E. and S. W., which confirmed me in my opinion. I noticed the fame day 22° 50' varia- tion at fun-iet ; a ffiort time previous to which we had a moft pleafing fight. The rays of the fun broken and refletted by dark clouds on the horizon, reprefented at a diftance, apparently of two leagues, a rapid river, which feemed to precipitate itfelf in cafcades of different colours, azure, filver, and gold. The third, fourth, and fifth, nothing particular occurred ; the winds were variable, and I made mofl advantageous tacks : until the third, the wind had been S. E. On the fixth, afttr keeping all day a N.N. E. courfe, the wind blowing hard and frefli, with a rough fea, the main and fore-top-fails reefed ; as foon as the evening came on I flood under bare poles, not wifhing to make way till day-light, thuiking mylelf five leagues to the S. S. E. of a fand-bank, as defcribed in the Dutch charts. The feventh at noon, I found myfelf by obfervation in lat. 56' 41', and long. 16° 15' W. of Paris. The eighth, at night, a violent gale of wind came on from the eaft, with a dreadful fea ; it fnowed and hailed, and was colder than what we find it at Paris in the fharpefl winters. I then recoUeded the application made by M. de Frezier in the fame circuni- ftances, when doubling Cape Horn, of the thought of Horace : Meliufne fluftus Ire per longos fuit, an recentes Carperc flores ? Or gives them more delight A dangerous voyage o'er the diltant main, Or gath'ring floivers from the tranquil plain ? In truth, there is fome difference between- the fmiling 'days of May, fuch as we expe- rience in France, and the rigorous weather we had to undergo ; and when I compared the comfort of a Ufe on Ihore with a tolerable competency, to the tirefomenefs of the VOL. I. 5 B fea. 73$ kergueLen's voyage rb the north» fea, efpecially in bad weather, I wondered that any man enjoying a fufficiency could be induced to truft himfelf twice to the mercy of the winds and billows : fortunately for this condition of life, one hour of fair weather obliterates the remembrance of days of danger and toil. The ninth, we had the fame weather, the wind was equally boiflerous, and the fea as tremendous as before ; I Aill kept all fails reefed : once 1 attempted to fet the main-top- gallant and the mizen, in order to pafs by day-light the latitude of another bank marked on all the Dutch charts, and the cxiftence of which the experienced pilots I had on board aflured me had been verified by the lofs of feveral vciTcls ; but I was obliged to haul in the main-top-gallant. This bank, according to the Dutch accounts, extends from N. to S. eleven leagues, and from E. to W. about five leagues I caufed it to be marked on our charts. I do not affirm there being any very high flielving or dangerous fand in this pofition ; but I am pcrfuaded, from the prodigious number of birds, the multitude of them of thofe fpecies which only refort to fliallows, and from the frequent flriking of the waves againfl; the veflel, that there is a bank there. Several times during the day, and in the evening, I founded, but without finding a bottom : when exhaufted by the bad weather, and the violent rolling to which we had been fubjecl: for two days, I was anxious to get fome reft, and laid down, after ordering the officer of tha watch to found at midnight ; which was done. After letting out fixty-five fathoms of line, they cried bottom, becaufe the lead did not draw any longer ; but as the tallow with which the lead is loaded to take the impreilion of the bottom fliewed nothing, they thought they might have been deceived, and did not wake me, which I had ordered them to do, in cafe of finding bottom. I conjecture that we palTed the edge of the bank, and fa- thomed it, and which perfaades me was the cafe : on examining by day-light the large end of the lead to which the tallow is applied, I found adhering to it fome fine grains of fand, the roughnefs of which was diftinguifliable by the finger ; and I conceive that the violent agitation of the waves might have wafhed the lead on heaving it up, and the more eafily from the grains of fand being very fine and mixed with mud. The tenth and eleventh, the fame weather dill continued, violent call: winds and very high fea. On the eleventh at noon, I was by reckoning in 61° 20' latitude, and longitude 19° 30' wcftward of Paris, in the afternoon the wind veered to the S. E. j it was lefs impetuous, I deemed the weather notwithftanding too bad to make land, but at four o'clock feeing feveral vcflels called Doggers, vs'hich went before the wind to the N. W. ; I judged that they who were fifliermen going to Iceland had fallen in the day before, and recognized theiflesofl'Vrro, and fatisfied with refpeft to their pofition, they bent their courfe to fall in with the iflandsof Wefterman, which are to the S. of Iceland. The courfe of thefe doggers, and the tirefomenefs ofthe bad weather, engaged me to go before the wind. I did not, like the fifhcrmen, however, keep diredly before the wind, but fleered N. N.W., in order to make land higher up, that is to l;iy, more to the eail than the Wefterman iflands. I kept on this tack all night, and until five the next morning, the twelfth of May, when 1 made cape Heckla ; I then fleered W. N. W. for the Wefterman iflands, which I faw ut eight o'clock. I took an altitude at noon, and from the difference of latitude by obfervation from that of bearings, I found that on the large chart of M. Bellin, pub- liflied in 1767, the coaft was laid down in genei-al 8' more to the S. than what it ought to be. Oil" cape Heckla, in the morning, we noticed the variation of the compafs was 29°. I obfcrved that cape Heckla had two points ftretching from E. to W. We faw alfo mount Heckla, which is nearly in the N. W., correded by the cape. The volcano of kerguelen's voyage to the north. 7^^^ of this mountain, one of the mofl confiderable on earth, is known from its frequent, and foinctinies terrible, eruptions: towards the clofe of this journal I fliall fpeak of it more particularly. Between cape lleckla and the "Weflerman iflands the land falls in in the bay, owing to which I underlland there is a good anchorage. Above all, behind the wellern point of cape Hcckla there are excellent moorings, well flieltercd : to go up them requires a fouth or wefterly wind. There are many palTages between the Wef- terman iilands, but they arc little known, being unfrequented, except by Iceland fidier- men ; neverthelefs fome fifliing fmacks lay oil there to filh, and I law a dogger from Dunkirk which had in a week's time caught feventy tons of cod there. A violent cur- rent runs between all theic iflands ; they appeared to me to ftretch more to the S. W. than what they are defcribed in the French and Dutch maps. The diftance bf the Wederman iflands to the weftern point of Heckla is well laid down on the chart of IVI. Bcllin. The currents run to the W. N. W. from cape Heckla to the ifle of Birds ; but in the midft of thcfe iflands they run N. W. with dreadful eddies. At new and full moon it is high water at eleven o'clock. Between the Wederman iflands and the point of Iceland contiguous to the ifle of Birds, there is anchorage under flielter from the N. wind ; but if the wind fliould happen to change, it is neceifary to w^eigh anchor imme- diately and put out to fea. All this coaft is very healthy, and there is a very fine paf- fage through the middle of the ifles of Birds. About twenty leagues to the S. of the weRern point of Iceland there is a heap of rocks, which form a low and dangerous ifland ; it was not defcribed in our charts, but is known to the Dutch : it has often been feen. An inhabitant of Iceland, a man of great fenfe and learning, who has frequently been to Copenhagen, and who has even wrote an abi-idged account of the natural hiftory of Iceland, has often fpoke to me of this dangerous ifland, only defcribed in Dutch charts. Having fent him a large French chart of Iceland, on which I had marked with pencil the fituation of this heap of rocks according to the Dutch ; he wrote to thank me in Latin, which was the lan- guage through the medium of which I was enabled to enjoy his learned and inftruclive converfation ; and fpeaking of this ifland this was his remark : " Laetus video te ipfum notavilfe fcopulos quos ipfe femel vidi tranfeundo." I fee with pleafure that you have noticed the rocks, which I faw alfo in failing by. On the twelfth, at fix in the evening, the winds began to blow pretty ftrongly from the N. E. I fteered N, W. quarter W., with no canvafs out, in order that I might not pafs by the ifles of Birds before day-light. The wind drove us nine knots, that is to fay, three leagues an hour, without a fail up. At two in the morning, lying N. and S. of the molt weftern of the iflands, according to reckoning, I was defirous of carrying fail to haul the wind ; but as it was too violent, I was obliged to be content with the main and mizen-fail part reefed. The thirteenth, by obfervation at noon, I was in lat. 6t^' 15', and by reckoning in long. : 6 15' W. of Paris. In the night between the thirteenth and fourteenth the wind became furious ; I low. ered the mizen-yard to reef in the fail, and at one in the morning the force of the wind was fo great that the waves could not rife, and the fea was covered with foam. A matter which aflonifhed me was to fee in the height of the gale thoufands of birds co- vering the furface of the main, unappalled by tlie approach and motion of the veifel : the force of the wind had driven them 1 imagined from the iflands of Birds. This continual violent weather began to try my frigate, which was an old one ; fhe leaked, and we were obliged every two hours to keep at the pump. The apprehenfion of being obliged to make a port without being able to complete my miffion began to give me 5 B 2 uneafinefs ; 740 kerguelen's voyage to the north. uneafinefs ; but on the fifth the gale abated, the thermometer, wliich the day before was four degrees below the freezing point, was now three degrees higher, from which I drew an aufpicious foreboding of finer weather : in effecl, the wind changed to the S. E., blowing a little frefh, by eight in the evening, when I reckoned myfelf S. of the largelt of the ifles of Birds, at eleven leagues diftant. I (leered towards the north to fall in with it ; but I faw no ifland, doubtlefs from the currents to the well being ftronger than what I had efteemcd them. AVhenN. of the iflands of Birds, which I conjedured myfelf to be from the run I had made, as well as from there being a calmer fea, the confequence of being between lands, I fleered N. E. to fall in with the coafl:, and to make it the fooner. The fixteenth, at eight o'clock in the morning, diftant fifteen leagues, I defcried mount Jeugel, bearing N. E. This mountain, or rather cape, which advances far to fea, rifes very high above the horizon ; I think it may be difcerned in fair weath(^r twenty leagues at fea. It mult be remarked, that as the high lands of Iceland are almoft wholly and continually covered with fnow, and referable each other in colour, in order to diftinguifli one from the other, refpecl muff be had to their height and fhape. Hav- ing taken the latitude under this cape, I found by its bearings that it is rightly laid down in the charts ; but its northern point is not fufficiently far ftretched out upon them to theN. N. E. The currents here run N. ; the variation 31°. Between the iflands of Birds and cape Jeugel, there is a large bay, called the Bay of Hannefiord ; it is little known to the filhermen, and my examination of it was reftrifted to finding that feveral fine rivers empty themfelves into it, and that to the S. of this bay there is an ifland under which there is good anchorage, flieltered from all winds, in four fathoms water. Continuing my courfe to the N. E., at two o'clock, I made the point of Brederwick, or Brederfiord. The gulph of Brederwick, which is between the point bearing that name and mount Jeugel, is very fpacious and very deep. It is twelve leagues wide at the mouth, and receives many large rivers : there are in it many iflands, behind which I am perfuaded there muft be excellent anchorage, but they are not luiown. The fifli- ermen even have not frequented this before the three lafl years : there is notwithiland- ing a quantity of cod caught here. When the winds are northerly, there is a good mooring at the northern part of the bay, in from fifteen to twenty fathoms water, with a fandy bottom : fliips frequently anchor here, but it is fafe only during the prevalence of northerly winds. The feventeenth, in the morning, the wind eaflerly, I flood in towards point Breder*. wick, which much not be approached nearer than to two cables length, on account of a fand or flielve which flretches out to fea from that point. When I had doubled it, I diftinguifhed, notwithflanding the fog, more than fourfcore fifliing vefl'els. 1 fleered for the middle of them, confiding half of French, half of Dutch, and hoiited a white and blue flag at the fore-top (the fignal agreed Upon) to make myfelf known. 1 fpoke fe- veral French fiHiermen, in order to learn news of the fleet, and what the fuccel's of the fifliery. I fpoke a Dcnmarker, from whom I learnt that he had already taken ten lafts, a confidcrable quantity for a month's fifiiing, for a latl is fourteen tons. lie added, that he had taken fix lafl:s in the Wefl;erman iflands, where he only Hopped a week. There is 32° variation at the point of Brederwick : weobferved it many times, as well by correfponding elevations, and by meridional obfcrvalions ; for every body knows that when the polar elevation is great, the ealtern and weltern obfervations are not to be de- pended on. The eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth, the winds continually varied ; they were fometinaes N. E., then S. W., at times light, at others violent^ In thefe latitudes there is kerguei.en's voyage to the north. 741 is always a great inflability in the wintis; they however moflly blow N. E. and S. £. 'I'hefe three days were employed in rcconnoitering the coad, and in taking beariiigs, and making remarks on the diredlion of the fliores. The twenty-firfl the wind was W., and not perceiving more than two or three veflcls, I bore N. N. W. to feek the fleet. At ten o'clock in the morning, fix or feven leagues from the land, I perceived the fea white before me to the horizon. The two pilots for thofe coads which I had on board aflured me that this whitenefs was nothing but the lea itfelf which was frozen. I continued my courfe N. N. \V. to take a nearer view, and getting within half a league of it I fatisfied myfelf, the fea appearing wholly frozen in one folid mafs, extending from the N. W. of the compafs as far as to the North Cape, which was at E. S. E. I tacked immediately to avoid the danger, and warn the fleet of it. The year before the flrait between Greenland and Iceland had been entirely frozen over all the fummer. T cannot here refrain from making fome reflexions on this frozen fea, and on the mountains of ice which are found on the north fea during voyages from Europe to North America, and fometimes on doubling cape Horn. Some have been met with which, like iflands or rather continents, appear to be many leagues in length, and elevated more than two hundred feet above the furface of the water. How are we to account for thofe enormous maflcs .'' Every body knows that the total ceflTation of motion in infenfible particles caufes cold, and that cold is the immediate and true caufe of the formation of ice ; that there are other fubordinate and accidental caufes, fuch as fpirits of fait and nitre, which, expanded in the air, occafion even in the midfl of fum- mer fuch ex'reme cold as to freeze lakes and rivers. Thus the north wind in the northern hemifphere, and the fouth wind in the fouthern hemifphere, contribute to cold and the forming of ice, becaufe they bring from the poles corpufcles or cold particles, which penetrating the furfaces of bodies fufpend the motion of the imperceptible par- ticles. I fliall enter into fome detail to develop the different caufes of cold and ice. I compute, in the firfl: place, on the exlfl;ence, as a bafe, of an setherial matter, ex- tremely fubtle and aftive, which furrounds and penetrates in a larger or fmaller decrree all liquid fubfl;ances ; if its motion be leflened, its fpring become weak, fo that it be no longer able to overcome the refiltance of the integral parts of the liquid (that is, which caufes the cold), ice will be produced ; thus the formation of ice is the immediate refult of the diminiflied motion of the fubtle matter which conO:itutes fire and hear. Let us now examine the accidental caufes. Salt, nitre, faltpetre, thefe make up the firfl: accidental caufe of the formation of ice. In places where they abound the air be- comes loaded with them, they penetrate the pores of liquids like fo many fmall wedges, they clofe the paflages againfl: the entrance of the grofs particles of the fubtile matter, ftop the motion of the imperceptible particles of liquids, and thus harden and convert them into ice. It is thus that in certain caverns, whole neighbourhood abounds in nitre, pyramids of ice are formed, as in a cave near the village of Chaux, five leagues from Beran9on, where three were found in the month of September 171 1, of fifteen feet in height *. Wind I confider to be the fecond caufe of ice. Many perfons imagine the wind to be an obftacle to the formation of ice ; it is true, when it has much hold of an extenfive furface of water, as of rivers, lakes, and feas, it frequently hinders them from freezing while it continues to agitate them, and deprives the integral parts of the liquid from uniting together, notwithfl:anding it is certain that for the mofl; part wind ought to accelerate freezing, as I am about to explain. In cold weather, approaching to frofl:, a dry wind, fuch as the N. E. in our climate, contributes • Hiftoirc de I'Acad. 1712. p. 22. to 742 KERGUELEn's VOYAGE TO THE NORTrf. to freezing ; for the air which is at reft on the furface of a liquid, participates by de- grees of the coldnefs thereof, and keeps at that temperature ; fo that the fubtil matter which circulates in the interftices of the liquid, and the motion of which is always in proportion to the motion of that which immediately furrounds it, is not yet fiifficiently weakened to admit of freezing taking place ; but if the communication of cold to the furface of the liquid be haftened by a violent impulfion of the air, which immediately adjoins its furface, and fubftituting (which the wind does) a more cold and denfe air, fuch as is requifite for occafioning congelation, the fubtil exterior matter impofed on the liquid will be weakened, and by this means, that in the interior as well, which mult neceflarily lofe in its aclion as much as the external, in order to preferve an equilibrium. Neverthelcfs, fhould the frelh airs remain at reft, freezing would not fucceed ; but if continually cold air in fucceflion fliould drive away that which preceded it, until that which fliould be of a temperature to excite freezing fhould be in contact ; it is evi- dent, that ultimately it muft communicate its frigidity to the liquid, and paralize the motion of the internal matter fo as to occafion froft; thus wind produces froft, as a fan excites in our frame the fenfation of coolnefs, by expelling from around us the airs warmed by our fecretions and breatiiing. The third accidental caufe of the formation of ice, is the diminution of the exterior heat of the fun, arifing from the diftance of its fource, the oblique and ungain difpofi- tion of the furface which receives its rays, and, laftly, the interpofition of vapours, and denfe and dark atmofphere, fuch as a fog, which in meafure intercepts its rays. It is to be obferved as well, that the obliquity of the globe caufes the folar rays to be inter- cepted by a greater column ot air. There are befides many other accidental caufes, fuch as climate, local circumftances, and the fuppreflion of the central afpirations, or vapours, which are continually arifing from the bofom of the earth. Many naturalifts, and particularly a celebrated acade- mician, M. Dortous de Mairan, have maintained the theory of a central fire. From this fliort differtation, and from examination of circumftances, it is eafy to conceive that the fca may freeze in the neighbourhood of the poles, even as far as forty leagues from the fliore * ; and that confiderable maffes of ice may be met with at fea ; but how are we to account for the pyramids, the iflands, and towering heaps of ice of fix or eight leagues in length which are found floating ? Thefe mountains of ice, formed at firft by the union of different maffes, owe their height to fnow, and rain, frozen on its reaching them ; and I am inclined to imagine, that when become of a certain fize, they always increafe in bulk. A learned Englilhman, who wrote in the middle of the laft century, adopted the idea of their being perpetual, efpecially near the poles, and computed that they role fo high as to caufe the figure of the earth to be fenfibly lengthened thereby at the extremities of its axis f : it is on this theory that he explains the elliptic appearance of the ftiadow of the earth on the diik of the moon in two eclipfes, the one obferved by Kepler, the other by Tycho Brahc ; but all thefe reafon- ings are unfounded. The fea is not frozen round the poles for a greater diftance than fifteen or twenty leagues from land, and themount?ins of ice which various navigators have feen, have no more effed in altering the rotundity of the globe, than five or fix grains of millet floating on the furface of a globe of four or five feet in diameter. The twenty-fecond, the wind was N. W., a very frelh gale, the weather foggy with a heavy fea ; and peceiving every appearance of a tempeft, I decided on making land to ■take flielter in the gulph of Patrixfiord. At eleven in the morning, during a moment's » Memoircs dc Trcvoux. f Mr. Childrey's Hiftory of the Singularities of Scotland. I clearnefs. KERGUELEN 6 VOYAGE TO THE N'ORTH. 743 clenrncfs, I f;uv feveral vcftels which were making for dift'cront ports to nii'eld thcmfelvc* from the threatened {lorni. For my part, I preferred the gulph of Patrixfiord, becaufe one of the directors of the Danifh company refided there, and the whole of the coaft offered fo fccure a road that, ufing an expreflion of Virqil, we may juflly denominate it, " Sedes tutiflima navi." I entered the gulpii, founding all the way, 1 found continually from thirty to thirty-five fathoms water with a muddy bottom, and when I had doubled the warehoufes of the company, which I left to leeward a quarter of a league diflant, I anchored in twenty-two fathoms, with a muddy bottom. I flopped with the anchor a-peak for fometime, while we founded all round the frigate, and, when I found no dan- ger to be apprehended, I let out eighty fathom of cable, and moored S. E. and N. \V. 1 then bore N. N. E. upon tlie warehoufes of the director, the pyramids of flone which are the point of the gravel lying N. five degrees E., and the firii: point out of the gulph bearing N. W. a quarter N., five degrees N. I could have anchored nearer the fliore more deep in the inlet, but it would not have been fo advantageous a pofition to fail from. The proper time to anchor is on bearing N. and S, of the point of gravel. As foon as my frigate was moored, I went to the direftol- of the Danifh company, whom I informed that the bad weather had forced me to anchor there ; that the king of France had fent me to preferve a proper dilcipline and good order among the fiflier- men, and to hinder their trading with the inhabitants of Iceland, or doing any thing which might be confidered as infringing the privileges of the company. 'Ihe director received me with a cool civility, and did not appear to give much credit to what I faid. It had been told him, that there were three French frigates in that latitude, for the pur- pofe of proteding a fmuggling trade with the inhabitants, and that we certainly had bad defigns ; but very foon he was diffuaded from fuch an opinion, and convinced of the contrary. The order which I preferved quickly deftroyed the wrong imprefTions which had been ftamped on his mind refpeding us. I always kept a guard in my row-boats, never fuffered any but the officers to go on flaore, and, for any thing I wanted, addrelTed myfelf to the direiftor. The day after my arriving in the bay, the wind being flill N. W., the fky clear, and the weather fufficiently mild, I founded the roadfted, and took bearings. For feveral days I continued the fame employment. I determined the pofition of the principal points by means of a rule with copper mountings, furnifhcd with a telefcope, and con- trived to form apian of the bay, on which reliance may be placed, as well for lufSn^- as for anchoring, although not laid down with the nicefl precifion. The twenty-ninth, at noon, a violent gale of wind arofe from the N. E. which lafled forty-eight hours. As I was moored at the foot of a high mountain which co- vered the ftation, the fea did not run very high ; but the fwiftnefs of the clouds, and the whiflling of the wind in the rigging fliewed the force of the gale. The cold was intolerable; Reaumur's thermometer was on the thirtieth at 4" below o. The ftorm drove to the entrance of the bay feveral large fragments of ice, detached in all proba- bility from the frozen ocean, which I had had fight of. The fight of thefe iflets of ice furprized me lei's than the information which I received of the road of Patrixfiord having been, as it were covered with ice on the fourteenth of IVIay. This is however what the diredor told me, as well as feveral of my officers. The florm occafioned thirty-fix fifliing veflels, French and Dutch, to go into port ; feveral of which had re- ceived damage, which I caufed to be repaired with diligence ; fo that in three days fuch as had been injured were in condition to return to fea. SECOND J-44 KERGUELEN S VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. SECOND PART. Contain'mg a Defcription of Iceland. During my flay in Iceland, I neglcfted nothing in making myfelf acquainted with \\ liat was remarkable in this ifland, luch as the mode of living of its inhabitants, their manners, their religion, and government. I paid attention to all thefe, and the fre- quent converfations which 1 had with Mr. Olave, who had dwelt a long time at Patrix- tiord, and who was very learned, gave me information on every fubjed which can be gratifying to the reader relative to this country. Some writers have fpoken of this ifland but merely from the report of a few fifhermen, or failors, very ill informed, and very incapable of giving due regard to things. Mr. Anderfon, burgomafler of Ham- bourg, who publiflied the natural hiftory of the country in German, obtained all that he collecled relative to Iceland from the oral teftimony of fifliermen. Mr. Horrebows alfo has given the world an hiftorical and phyfical defcription of the ifland, in the Ger- man tongue, with critical obfervations on the hiftory of Mr. Anderfon. Thefe two authors frequently contradid each other. We have as well a defcription of Iceland by Pieriere, author of the fyllem of Piedamites. Thefe are the three writers who have furnilhed us with any knowledge of Iceland ; but as all their hiftories are replete with errors, I conceive that the reader will not objeft to a more exact and faithful account here offered him. I fliall follow the fteps ot Mr. Horrebows, who was born a Dane, and is beft informed. The ifland of Iceland is fituated in the north fea, between 63° and 6^°, N. Latitude, and between 15" and 30' W. of Paris. The etymology of the word is derived from Ice and land. The frolt, which isfo fevere, and in the mountains, which are conftantly covered with fnow and ice, gave origin to the word. Iceland is one hundred and thirty leagues long, of twenty-five to a degree, and feventy leagues wide ; it is only feventy-eight fea-leagues diitant from Ferro, and thirty-five from Greenland ; which, on the coaft oppofite to Iceland, is inacceflible, from the ice and rocks which furround it. Hiftory does not pofitively fix the period of the difcovery of Iceland ; fome writers have taken it to be the Thule of the ancients mentioned by Virgil, lib. I. Georg. I rather imagine this Thule to be Ireland, one hundred and fixty-four leagues from Ice- land. Angrinus Jonas, author of the Icelandic Chronicles, refutes the opinion of writers, efpecially Pontanus, who contended for Iceland being the ancient Thule, in his Spicimcn Ijlandicum. This ifland was difcovered in 798 by Nadocus, who called it Sneeland, on account of the great quandty of fnow with which it was covered. In 872 a Swede, named Gardanus, oblervcd it more particularly. The followuig year a Norwegian pirate, called Flocco, gave it the name of Iceland ; and in the year 874 Ingulf, or Ingultus, a Norwegian nobleman, took refuge here, in confequence of having killed two barons of his country. He found it uncultivated, and very thinly inhabited ; he is faid to have been its lirll king. Every thing 1 have faid flicws that Iceland was very little known, and the firft ideas we have had of the country originated in Mr. Anderfen and Mr. Horrebows. The maps of this ifland have been hitherto very dcfcdtive. Europe had no other map of it than that of Andrew Velleius, a Dane, engraved in 1585, copied by the Dutch in i6y8, and by Mr. Bellin in 1751, for his reduced chart of the North Sea. This fliilful hydrographer, whole ul'eful labours have furniftied us \\ith fo fine a col- lection of plans and charts of every kind, prefentcd me with a map of this ifland on a 2 large kerguelen's voyage to the north. 745 large fcale, reduced from a greater drawn by Danifli furvcyors from aftual obfervation, and finifhed in 1734 ; I found it however very bad and highly dangerous. In my two voyages I neglefted nothing in correcting it ; and I flatter niyfelf that all navigators will be perfedly fatisfied with that which Mr. Bellin is about to publifli from my remarks and obl'ervations. Iceland is as it were nothing but a heap of mountains and rugged rocks, which cut each other in parallel lines nearly in the direftion of the cardinal points ; but between thefe rocks and mountains are fine vallies furnifhing good paflure for flocks. Thefe mountains are almoft all barren, and continually covered with ice and fnow. Many of the mountains are volcanic, but the niofl; famous in the ifland, and even in the whole world, is that called Heckla : in 1766 it vomited forth fuch a prodigious quantity of flones that the fea was covered with them for twenty leagues from the (hore in the fouthern part. It is nowife furprifing that thefe flones fhould float, penetrated as they iire by fo violent a fire that it confumes all their folid parts. The mountains which are continually covered with fnow are called Joekul, or Jeckelen ; they yield in the fum- mer large torrents, whofe troubled and dirty waters exhale a moft fetid finell. In the neighbourhood of thefe Joekelen there are fome mountains more lofty, but on which ice is not perpetually found, doubtlefs on account of faltpetre in them, which caufes it to thaw. A fingular circumftance is noticeable in the Joekelen, they increafe, diminifli, become higher and lower daily ; every pafllng moment adds to or takes from their iliape; fo that if dcfirous of following the fteps of any one who the day before (hould have travelled among them, the traces are fuddenly lofl at the bottom of an enormous accumulation of ice, which it is impofllble to traverfe ; and if it be pafled by a circuitous route to the right or left, the fteps of the traveller are diftinguilhable again at the fame elevation, and in the fame line as the former track, which is a proof of the non-exidence of the mafs of ice upon the previous day ; it muft be confefTed this phenomenon is fingular. That travelling is difficult in this country, from this is eafily deducible, there is no road for carts or carriages ; the mode of travelling and tranfporting of eff^tTis is by horfes ; but in many places there is no means of advancing except on foot, when the merchants are obliged to carry every thing on their backs : add to which, the traveller is not fecure of being able to pafs one year by the fame route he did the preceding ; for thaws fometimes feparate rocks in twain, which prefents an invincible obftacle, and torrents rufhing from the mountains, precipitate into the roads heaps of ftones, which cover and render them impaflable. Iceland at this time contains more than feventy thoufand fouls : before that terrible peftilence, known by the name of the black plague, which ravaged the .whole of the north, in the middle of the fourteenth century, it was much more populous. The Ice- landic annals make no mention of this calamity, it is only known by oral tradition, that the infedlion exilled in the valleys, covered with a heavy dew, and that as a prefervative from death, it was requifite to fly to the higheft rocks. The maritime part is better peopled than the interior, on account of the prodigious quantity of fifli w hich refort to the coafts, and the facility of trading with the veflTels of the company eft abhflied in difi"erent ports. It would be much more populous were it not for the frequent earthquakes which have oftentimes deftroyed numbers of the in- habitants, and whatever M. Horrebow, who ridicules M. Anderfon for his remarks on the deftrudive igneous eruptions and earthquakes may fay, the recital of M. Horrebow himfcif will (hew whether or no thefe fires are matters to be lightly efleemed. This is his own relation of them. " In 1726 fome fliocks of an earthquake were pcr- voL. 1. 5 c ceived r 74$ KERGUELEN*S VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. ceived in the northern diftrifts ; after thefe a confiderable mountain, called Krafle began with a dreadful noife to vomit forth fmoke, fire, aflies, and ftones. Horrible fight for thofe who dwelt in the neigiibourhood, and particularly for two travellers who happened to be pafling below the mountain ! To them however, from there being no wind, not any accident occurred, the ignited ftones cafl up by the mountain falling back, perpendicularly. It continued burning for two or three years; and, in 1728, the fire communicated to fome mountains of fulphur fituated near the volcano ; they burnt for fome time until the mineral matter had melted, and formed a river of fire which run from the mountain towards the fouth. The inhabitants eftabliflied on the borders of a great lake, called My-Varne, three leagues diftant from the mountain, were apprehen- five of this burning river, which continued advancing towards their abode. They took away the wood of their houfes to remove to fome other fpot ; at length it continued its courfe, and proceeded to the farms and the lake before mentioned. There it over- turned, burnt, and confumed a farm, called Reikchild, its meadows, and two other farms, named GrofF and Fragrenes, fituated on the lower fhore of the lake. It at length difcharged itfelf i'nto the lake My-Varne with a frightful noife, caufing an ebul- lition, a frothy whirlpool in the highell degree horrible." From this defcription of Mr. Horrebow, who certainly did not exaggerate, for he was very much inclined, being a Dane, to leflcn the phyfical vices of an ifland belonging to Denmark, fome judgment may be formed of the volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes, to which Iceland is liable : it is certainly true, that it is fubjedl to all forts of cataftrophes. Mountains are feen to fink in an inftant, and lakes form ; Joekelen, or ice mountains, to melt, and throw out fire, uniting the double horror of flood and conflagration. Springs of hot water are found in feveral diftrifts of Iceland. MefTrs. Horrebow and Anderfon agree upon the fingular effefts of many of thefe fprings, but the moft curious of all thefe fountains is that fituated near a farm called Raycum, in the diftrict of Huzevig. There are three hot fprings diftant from each other about thirty toifes ; the water boils in each alternately. They rife from a flat furface ; two of them throw up water fi'om the midft of ftones to the height of eighteen inches : the third has a round opening of the fize of a brewer's vat, and throws up water ten feet high. What is furprifing, thefe fprings only play alternately, and after having boiled three times, which ferves as a notice to thofe who are nigh to retire. It is remarkable, that when a ilone of whatever dimenfions is caft into them, the force of the ebullition is fo great as to throw it back. M. Olave informed me, that the inhabitants of the neighbourhood of thefe hot fprings ufe them for cooking their meat and fiOi, and that travellers heat water in them for making tea. Marble is found in fome parts of the ifland, and cryftal frequently in the rocks. The cryftal of Iceland poflefl'cs the faculty of doubling the objects which are feen through ir. Mr. Horrebow conceives it to be rather a lapis fpecularis thnn a cryftal. He is miftaken, as well as others, who have imagined it, from its leafy tiffue, to be a fort of talc. Seme have reckoned it in the number of fclcnites ; but it is dcmondrated to be a calcareous (par, which care muft be taken in ranking with other fubitances refcmbling it. The excellent work of Huygens on light may be confulted upon this fubjcct: with the Memoirs of the /Academy of Sciences, for the year 1710, p. -4'. Iceland contains in its bowels mines of copper and iron ; and I myfelf have often found pure maflcs of thefe metals in the mountains. M. Horrebow cenifits, that large lumps of filver arc frequently found ahnoft at the furface of the eai'th j this I never law, »or ever I. card oi any body's fii.ding. Brimftonc kerguelen's voyage to the north. 747 Biiinftone Is met with both in the plains and mountains. It is difcovcrcd by the vapours rifmg from the earth, and in the vicinity of hot fprings. It is always covered with a itratum of llime, or fund. It is of ditrcrcnt colours, white, yellow, green, red, and blue. It is not neceflary to dig lower than three or four feet to find exceeding good fulphur. Thofe places are preferred where there are fmall eminences at the fummit of which is a focus by which a hot vapour exhales. At a fhort didance from the eminence fulphur is met with in fmall detached lumps, but it is under the eminence itfelf that it is found the mofl compaft and in the greateft quantity. I'hc workmen who dig the ful- phur mine?, take efpecial care to envelop their ihoes with coarfe woollen rags, in order to preferve their feet from the heat ; in fact the brimftone, when frefli brought from the mine, is fo hot, that it is impollible to keep it in the hand. M. Ilorrebow criticifes M. Andcrfon upon his faying that no wood is found on the ifland ; he then gives an account of two or three forells which he affirms are more than half a league in circumference. For my part I never favv any wood, and have been told that there is none other than brainbles and fmall buflies, fuch as thorns and juniper : but nature, always beneficent, makes up this deficiency by the prodigious quantity of v\ ood which the lea throws on Ihore in feveral parts of the ifland. On the coaits where this advantage is wanting the inhabitants make their fires of turf, and the refufe of fifh, dipped in oil made from cods' liver. In many places old roots ai-e dragged from the ground, which proves that the ifland was formerly covered with wood. M. Olave fhevved me pieces of a fingular kind of wood found in fand, and at times in the midfl of Hones. 1'his wood, to which he gave the l,atin name of lignum fcjfde, is black, heavy, and refemblcs ebony. The Icelanders call it fcbivartzen brand, black brand. It is found both in broad and narrow pieces, and always among rocks fur- rounding it. This wood, if it be wood, deferves the particular attention of naturaliflis. I give here the fubftance of what M. Olave fays of it in one of his letters. " Some per- sons rank fofiil wood among the clafs of petrefaftions, but improperly, perhaps owing to their not having feen it itfelf. The nature of it, in which it bears refemblance to wood, of fplitting, being cut, and receiving a fine polifh, fufficiently proves the contrary. Neverthelcfs this foflll genus is not wood, nor vegetable, fince it does not poflefs proper veflTels for the reception of alimentary juices, nor either throws out roots below, or fpx-eads its branches above the earth. It is called black brand by the Icelanders. It thruds itfelf from the fifl'ures of dirty rocks, either abounding in bark, or for the mod part earthy ; on the infide it is curious for its very fine grain, which runs in the courfe of its length ; in its mod internal part, where mod perfed, it is wavy, and does not yield to ebony. Hence it is turned by the inhabitants of the towns into dands for cafkets, tables, &c. Heavier than any other wood it finks in water, is not liable to rot, nor eafy to be confumed by fire, burning like earth. In its fubdance it bears refemblance to wood, in its origin to minerals ; whence can it be that in Iceland, where it was fird pro- duced it fliould be fo long unknown, and its nature for fo long a time be unexplored ? How comes it that a matter fo curious has not been thought worthy the trouble of more diligent enquiry ?" The reader may not be difpleafed with my producing this fragment of a letter which may ferve to make him acquainted with the nature of this foflil wood. A botanid would find much to obferve in Iceland. I fliall not detail the numerous falutary plants which the earth produces in large quantities, many of them unknown ia France ; thefe matters are not in my way, but I could not refrain noticing, while I ad- mired the wife bounty ot Providence, that thofe fimples the mod neceflary to the in- habitants were the mod; common, fuch as garlick, forrel and cochlearia ; excellent pre- fervatives ajainft the fcurvy, which is the mod prevalent malady of the country. An- 5 c s gelica 748 ' K'erguelen's voyage to the north. -gelica as well is met with everywhere, it grows fo plenteoufly that the inhabitants often live upon it themfelves, and give it to their cattle; it is moreover of a mod exquifite ^avor, and extraordinary fize. But the mod fmgular and valuable pl^t is that which is found upon the rocks, it is a fpecies of mofs which very much refembles lungwort, or ladies* wild-wort. Many Ice- landers make flour of it which they prefer to wheat ; it is called by them j^a/la-gras, or ,rock-grafs. M. Olave fending me at the fame time a handful of it, thus fpeaks in praife of the plant in one of his letters. " I fend to you Sir, a herb which refembling lung's- wort ferves among the Icelanders as a fuccedaneum for bread, it is called Iceland mofs, and grows on the rocks of the loftier mountains, fo that with truth we may fay, God gives us bread from flones. It never grows in earth or foil of any defcription, nor carts forth roots. It affords us a noble feaft ; the powder of it, taken mod: frequently in milk, is fo pleafant and falubrious, that I prefer it to every kind of flour ; it is befides an excellent ftomachic, and a mod fafe medicine in dyfentery." The reader will perceive that M. Olave, who is well verfed in botany, attributes highly falutary qualities to this plant. - Pulfe and fruit do not grow in Iceland, owing to the excefllve cold, according to M. Anderfon; and notwithftanding what M. Horrebow may fay, who affirms that he ate currants from the garden of the governor of Befefted,. I believe it to be as difficult to raife turnips in Iceland, as pine apples at Paris. It is at this time impoffible to grow corn there ; and the regulations refpefting agriculture, which are ufed as an authority for the fuppofition of its having been formerly cultivated, do not prove the fa£t ; for the ■wifdom of legiflators, every day provides for occurences that never happen. There are no wild beafls in Iceland. Sometimes bears are brought over on fheets of ice from Greenland; but as foon as they land and are perceived, they are fhot, or killed with javelins: they come over of different colours, black, white, filvered, and ftriped, •but never have time to multiply. The only undomefticated animals in Iceland are foxes. They are black, blue, red, and white. In order to coUeft a number of thefe animals the inhabitants place in the •fields a dead fheep or horfe, whofe carcafe exhaling a flrong fmell to a great diftance, draws together the foxes around it ; fomewhere in the neighbourhood the i'porfman fixes himfelf, having beforehand built a place from which he can fee, without being feen, and whence he is enabled to kill four or five foxes at a fhot. There is a plenty of horfes in Iceland, of a fmall race, coming, according to M. Anderfon, from Norway ; according to M. Horrebow from Scotland ; probably neither is in the right. However that may be, they are ftrong and fwift. In the mountains are thoufands of them, which for feveral years never enter a fl:able ; they poflfefs the indindt of breaking the ice in order to get their food. The faddle horfes are kept in the ftable all the winter ; but when an inhabitant wants any for labour, he fends his fervants into the mountains who gather them together, and take them with halters. The horfes taken in the mountains at five years old generally become the handforaefl and mofl vigourous of any. The Icelanders raife numerous flocks of fliecp. Every farm has its flock, and fome farmers have as many as five flieep walks. In fbme diflridts they are left to wander all the year about, and even during the winter, in the mountains. The only precaution ufed is to feparate and take into folds the yearlings, who not being fo well fleeced as the older fheep, would not be able to fupport the cold. Thefe animals are obliged to make a hole in the fnow in order to get to their pafture : it is a very precarious pofTef- .fion to Jie inhabitants, who oftentimes lofe the fruit of all their cares in an infiant. 2 Whea KERGUELEN S VOYAGE TO THE NOXTH. 749 When it fnows and the wind is violent whole flocks, obliged to yield to its violence, are driven to the fea fliore, whence a racceflional tempert: carries them oft" to fea. M. Horrebow reports his having feen fome wiiich the force of the wind had taken four leagues out to fea. It often happens when the fiieep are in the fields in winter time while it fnows and freezes, they huddle themfelves together, their fleece then becomes frozen in fuch manner that they cannot feparate, having above them more than twenty feet depth of fnow. In this fituation they remain until the weather allows of their being fought for and releafed. At times they are fafely relieved, at others they are fmothered by the weight of fnow, or fl:rangled by the foxes, which are always perfecuting them. A fingularity which appears fabulous is related by M. Anderfon. He fays that when the fheep are obliged to remain fome days in the fnow, hunger caufes them to feed on their wool, and that they fubfifl; themfelves in this manner until they meet -with fuccour. This I have rayfelf been affured in the country is a faft ; I was even further informed that when the farmers difcovers any pofleflTed of this mania, he kills them, as it is injuri- ous to the fleece of the others, which is their only proteftion from the cold. The wool of the fheep is very fine, but varies in quality according to the quarter of the ifland, which is of great extent. Iceland has plenty of bulls and cows of fmall fize. The bulls have a game flavour, the cows give a quantity of milk*, fome ten gallons a day of an excellent quality, it is both meat and drink for the fick ; fliimmed, it forms the principal beverage of thofe who are well, it is called then^yr^. It becomes four as it gets old ; it is then eftieemed good and wholefome : when too frefli they even mix the juice of forrel with it. The game of Iceland confifl;s of woodcocks, fnipes, and partridges. The partridge called by the natives riper is white, it is larger than ours, and has its feet covered with a down fimilar to that of the rabbit : partridges in Lapland are white plumed as w^ell, and as large as thofe of Iceland. The Icelanders fhoot them, or take them in nets. Iceland is full of an infinite number of birds of prey of every kind, fuch as eagles^ vultures, hawks, falcons, owls, crows, and many others, both with difl;inguifliing names, and without them. Of all of them the falcon is befl: worthy attention. It is met with, white, a light grey, and grey. It is well known that the falcons of Iceland are the belt, they are larger and ftronger than thofe of other countries, and hawk for more than a dozen years. The King of Denmark fends for fome every year. He gives two guineas, of our money for a grey falcon, and feventy (hillings for a white one. There is plenty of aquatic fowls, fuch as fwans, geefe, ducks, plovers, &c., but the mofl: remarkable, and the mofl; gainful to the inhabitants is the duck which yields the eiderdown. This duck brings two-fold profit to the inhabitants ; it lays excellent eggs, which it may be made to renew three times, and it gives a precious down. This bird forms the infide of its nefl: of the down which it tears from its breafl:, after- wards it lays three or four eggs ; the inhabitant to whom the neft belongs takes away the down, and the eggs ; the female ftrips herfelf again, and lays other eggs, which a fecond time are taken away : the male then (trips its breaft of down, and the female lays eggs for the third time ; but thefe are left her, fince if taken away the third time (he would lay no more and would leave the difl:ri(Si:, which would be an unfortunate event, and a confiderable lofs ; as the young ones the fucceeding year return to multiply on the place which gave them birth. M. Anderfon relates that he had been told that the Icelanders put a fl;ick half a yard long into the nefl: of thefe ducks, in order to make the female lay as many eggs as would cover the height of the ftick in order to hatch them. * Fos want of hay the inhabitants feed their cattle on the refufe of filh boiled. I am 75° -rerguelen's voyage to ths north. "I am furprlzed that M. Anderfon could repeat fuch idle tales, for my part all that I re- late is credible. During our flay in Iceland we killed a number oi thefe birds both male and female, and 1 remarked that the down taken from the male, which has many white feathers, is much more fine and delicate than that of the female. The quantity of fifh of every fort with which Iceland abounds is aftonifhing : they are fifhed for all the year about ; but the mod fuitabie feafon is from March to Sep- tember. The fifhery produces herrings, cod, haddock, hollebut, foles,. plaice, maids, mackarel, ray fifh, kc. All thefe fifh are well known, but we caught of them fomc unufually large ; a maid one day, for example, which weighed three hundred pounds. The moft fingular fifli of this ifland is that we call the wolf-filli, which the Icelanders rxdimejieen bit (ftone-eater) ; when opened it is always found full of little flones or gravel : it feeds alfo upon fmall cod, which it is continually purfuing. As often as the weather will allow, the Icelanders go fifliing in the bays, or even as far as a league or two to fea ; they embark for the purpofe in fmall boats, which are called by them yaza/s. The moft common and moft advantageous fifh for the inhabitants is the cod, which they know by the name of forfcb ; it is their principal article of barter ; they maintain themfelves by exchanging it againft whatever they have occafion for. It is this fifli that the French and Dutch go to fifh for in the months from March to September. The veffels they ufe are called doggers, and are of about an hundred tons burthen. The fifhery begins at the head-land of Bederwick, and ends at the point of Langcnefs, going round by the North cape and the ifland of Grims. The people fifh with the hook, which is furnifhed with a bit of raw meat, or the heart of a fifh newly taken. The French and Dutch doggers ufually fifh at the diftance of five or fix leagues from fhore, in forty to fifty fathoms water. Many veffels even go fifteen leagues to fea, and fifh in one hundred fathoms water. When the cod is taken the head is cut off; it is well waflied and cured, and afterwards put in cafks with rock or Liibon fait. I'hus is this fifhery carried on, which employs annually about eighty French and two hundred Dutch fhips. Cod fifli thus prepared is white and delicate, rock fait contributing to prefcrve its whitenefs, not precipitating a dirty fediment, like French fait. It is furprifing, on noticing the great quantity of cod that is annually taken on the great bank, in the north, &c. that the fea fhould not be exhaufted ; but a naturalift, who had the patience to enumerate the eggs of a cod, and who found in one only 9,344,000 eggs, has fufficiently fatisfied us that its increafe muft exceed its deftrudion. After the cod, the moft common fifh is the herring, along the coafts, and throughout the north fea, the fifhery of which is infinitely produdlive to t!', hyperborean nations. This fifli is fo numerous, that it is calculated that the whole t .-^en by the fifliermen of the north, bears proportion to the number which populate the fea as one to a million only. This fifhery fupports more than one hundred thoufand people in Holland. M. Huet values the annual produce of the Dutch fifhery at twenty-five millions, of which feventeen millions are gain, and the expences eight. Doot affirms that in 1688 the number of four hundred and fifty thou- fand Dutchmen were employed in the herring-fifliery and its concerns. A great number of whales are met with, particularly in the fummer, on the coaft of Iceland. 1 have fcen twelve or fifteen together, five or fix leagues from fliorc, north of Bird's ifland ; I fired about twenty cannon-fhot at them to exercife my gunners, and wounded feveral. In Iceland they catch a quantity of falmon ; and in the lakes, fuch as the myvarne, of which I have before fpoken, numbers of excellent trout are met with, which the inhabitants dry and fait. Eels as well are very common j but the Icelanders have a particular antipathy to them. After icercuelen's voyage to the north. 7-51: . After defcnbing the produ<5l:ions of the ifland, it is fit I fhould notice the conftitution, labours, and private life of the Icelanders. Thefe people are of a common fize, and robuft nature, enjoying their health admirably ; a manly education, a fober, frugal, and laborious life, no doubt contribute to give them tliis temperament. They are moftly nimble and well made, have fme teeth, am.! generally light hair. The women are not of lb flrong conftitution as the men ; their occupations are very light, they work and prepare the wool, and th* ir mofl: laborious employment is hay-making. Their labours are not fo eafv nor fo fortunate as M. Anderfon defcribes ; they do not proceed to bathe, and refume their diffrent work immediately after laying-in. In the different places I refided at in the country my furgeon delivered feveral, and always with the fame diffi- culty, and I know that they alivays kept their bed for a week. I have even been in- formed that for want of midwifes, furgeons, and neceffary afliftance, many women are loft. The Icelanders h:we no good furgeons, nor fkilful phyficians ; neverthelefs after " fifty years of age thty are much in need of them ; it is then that they begin to be at- tacked by diforders and infirmities. A man of eighty years of age is feldom feen on the ifland. They die chiefly from complaints in the breaft, the fcurvy, and ob(tru£lions. They call almoft all the diforders which are fatal by the common title oi landfarfak. They have an hereditary complaint differing little from the leprofy, but not contagious. It vill perhaps appear furprifiiig that the Icelanders, whom I have defcribed fo vigorous, fhould become infirm fo foon ; but refpecf muft be had to their rude occupations, and the fedentary life they lead. They have no public exercife, no games, no dancing, and both by night and day in fifhing are fubjeft to the inclemency of the weather ; or if they inhabit the interior, they never leave their home without getting wet at feet, from the number of rivulets and torrents which fall from the mountains covered with ice and fnow. The Icelanders bring up their children with great tendernefs, and do not wean them earlier than in France. M. Anderfon is deceived in imagining that they do not fuckle more than eight or ten days ; but (without offence to M. Horrebows) he is cor- reft in (fating that when a child is carried to be baptifed, a bit of linen dipped in milk is put into its mouth : I have feen and can certify the truth of this. Their mode of bring- ing up their children furprifed me ; they put them in breeches at the end of two months. I have obferved that the life of an Icelander was fober and frugal : the reader may form an eftimate of it from their meals ; they live during the fummer principally oa cod's heads, and in the winter on fheep's heads: they cut off the heads of the cod to dry or fait the fifh, and they are moftly confumed at home. A common family make a meal of three or four cods' heads boiled ia fea-water : they boil every thing. The fheep's heads which they confume in the winter are the remnants of the mutton they fait for trading with. They put them in a kind of vinegar for keeping. The vinegar is made fromfkimmed milk, the juice of forrel, and other ftrong herbs. All their diflies are cooked without either fait or fpice ; butter is the only fauce : milk however is their principal food. Bread is very uncommon in Iceland ; the poor are unacquainted with it, living on dried fifh alone : thofe in eafy circumftances eat bread on high days, fuch as wedding and baptifmal days, and where particular company vifit, &c. This bread is brought from Copenhagen : it confifts of broad thin cakes, or fca-bifcuits, made of rye flour, and extremely black. The drefs of the Icelanders, particularly the women, is fingular : Ido not fpeak of the officers of the law who come from Denmark, and who drefs after the manner of their country, but only of the inhabitants of Iceland. The men drefs in much the fame manner as feamen ; they have a jacket fliaped like a coat, and a good cloth waiftcoat, uith breeches of the fame. They have four and even fix rows of buttons to their waift- 6 coat^ 752 KERGUELEN S VOYAGE TO THE KORTH. coit; and as they are always of metal, either copper or filver, they ferve for ornament. The filhermen wear above it a coarfe fmooth waiftcoat, and a large fkin jacket of leather or (lieep's fkin ; they rub this over with the oil of fifh's liver or greafe to keep out the rain, and preferve it. The reft of the body they cover with a fort of pantaloons of leather, which fupplies the place of breeches, ftockings, and Ihoes. They have large flapped hats, which keep them from the inclemency of the weather when they go a fifh- ing. The women wear gowns, jackets, and aprons made of a cloth manufaftured in Iceland, called wadmel : over their jacket they wear a very wide robe, pretty much re- fembling that worn by the Jefuits, but it does not reach down fo low as the petticoats, which are expofed. This robe is of a different colour, moftly black, and is named hcmpe ; it is trimmed with a velvet binding, or fome other ornament. The rich wear down the front of their hempe feveral ornaments of filver. They trim the bottom of their aprons and petticoats as well, and the feams of their jackets with filk ribbon, gal- loon, or velvet, of a different colour. They wear a ftift collar three or four fingers wide. This collar, or necklace, is always of a very fine ftuft', or velvet embroidered with gold or filver. Their head-drefs refembles a cone, or a fugar-loaf, of two or three feet high ; it confills of a kerchief of very coarfe cloth, which Hands ereft, and is covered over by another finer kerchief, forming the figure I have mentioned. Both men and women wear fhoes of ox's or Ihecp's fkin tanned, and fevved together by the women. Their flioes have no heels, but are faftened to the inftep by fmall ftraps. MefTrs. Horrebow and Anderfon do not agree about the dwellings of the Icelanders. The firft, who fees every thing in a brilliant point of view, defcribes the houfes of the rich ; the latter, who only wrote from the relation of fifhermen frequenting the coafts, piftures the cabins of the poor. The defcriptions of the former are too magnificent ; the account of the other is not very wide of truth. Entering a houfe, fays M. Horre- bow, you meet with a deep palfage, fix feet wide, at the top of which are crofs rafters roofed over. In the palTage, from fpace to fpace, are round openings to admit the light; they are clofed with fmall panes of glafs, or more commonly by fmall cafk hoops, over which is ftretched a parchment made from the bladders of bulls and cows : this parch* ment is called hinne ; it is very tranfparent. At the end of this paffage is the common entrance to the houfe. In the front ot it is a room fourteen ells long by eight broad, which the Icelanders call the ftove ; this apartment is generally the working room : the women drefs the wool, make cloaths, and do other houfehold work in it. At the end of this there is moftly a bed-room for the mafter and miftrefs of the houfe : above, the women L-rvants fleep, and the children. There is ufually befides two other apartments on each fide the paffage ; one a kitchen, another a pantry, the third a daii-y, and the fourth and laft, a bed-room near the entrance of the paffage for the men fervants : this apartment is with them called Skaule. In the roof of every room are openings as in the paffage, for the admiflion of light through frames of hinne ; but the work room is ordi- narily lighted through two glafs windows: befides thefe different apartments, the gene- rality have befides, adjoining the (kaule, a parlour to receive (trangers in. Near the dwelling-houfe they have a fmall building, aWsd forge, where all their works are carried on. Every inhabitant, in addition to thefe, has his liable, his cow-houfe, and fheep- pen. The Icelanders do not houfe their hay, but place it on a high fpot, furrounding it with a di ch, ftacked in heaps fix feet high and fix fquare. They place thefe Hacks at fmall diftances from each other, which they cover with turf in a floping diredion, fo as to carry off the rain to the ditch. Tnis is the defcriptiou I\Ir. Horrebow gives of the common houfes of the Icelanders ; afterwards he wainfcots the apartments, and orna- ments them with glaffes and furniture. The richeft people of the country, it is true, }iaYc kercuelen's voyage to the voRTrt. y^^ hnve their houfos portioned out in the manner above mentioned, but without pnnnclling, glafles, or gaudy furniture. The rooms, the bed-chambers, or even the parlours ap- propriated to the reception of flrangers, are rarely floored : a table, fome cheils or ward- robes, and a flove, thcfe complete the furniture of the mofl eafy ; the poor and the fifhermen have only a wretched cabin, half underground, the lower part of which is occu- pied by cattle, and the upper part feparated only by a few flraggling planks, ferves for the refidence of the mafters, their children, and fervants : for the reft, all the houfes are covered with turf. Nevcrthelefs in towns, fuch as Hoolum and Skallholt, the houfes of the bifliops and mayors are built of brick, (lone, and wood, and are covered with planks ; but they are very expenfivc, fince almoft all the materials are brought from Copenhagen. A heap of houfes fcattered at diflance is called a town with them. The Icelanders are not fo vicious as Mr. Anderfon relates, nor fo virtuous by much as M. Horrebow afferts them : they are good-natured, mild, humane; but lazy, mif- truftful, and drunkards. The faftors of the Danifli company, who have warehoufes on different parts of the coafl:s, give them brandy in exchange for dry fi(h, wool, and other merchandize of the country ; and this trade furnifhes the inhabitants with the means of inebriation. They did not appear to me to be courageous : I have however been informed that there are Icelanders among the troops of the King of Denmark : they are good failors for coafting. The Dutch, who attend the fifliery, frequently en- tice them to ferve on board their velTeis. They are judicious, fond of the arts and fciences, play much at chefs, and are greatly attached to the game. Many of them whom I met with fpeak Latin : numbers of them go to fludy at Copenhagen, and with fuccefs. There are as well colleges at Skallholt and Hoolum, to which the Icelanders fend their children, who mod of them make progrefs in liberal knowledge. In the year looo they were plunged in the darknefs of idolatry. They paid divine worfliip to Jupiter, under the name of Thor, and to Mercury, under the title of Odin : thefe were their only divinities. The Catholic rehgion was fome time after eftabliflied, but infucceeding times baniflied by Chriflian III. of Denmark : at prefent they are Lu- therans of the church of Augftourg. This doftrine was not edabliflied among them without bloodflied. A Catholic bifliop, of the ftrifleft virtue, at the head of a powerful party, refifted the progrefs of error ; he maintained himfelf for a long time, but became the vidim of his zeal, it cofting him his life. The Icelanders trade with a company of Copenhagen, which has an exclufive privi- lege, the price of a certain confideration paid to the king. This company, which I have before mentioned, eflablifhcs factors or direftors in every part, who have warehoufes full of goods, which in courfe of the year they fell to the inhabitants. This continual and daily fale does not hinder a great confumption every year at the arrival of every vefTel in either of their ports. The articles of exportation confifl of dry fifli, fait mutton, fait beef, butter, fifli oil, tallow, wool in the greafe, wadmel, fine and coarfe jackets, woollen (lockings and gloves, fheep and foxes' (kins, fulphur, feathers, and edder-down. The articles of importation confifl of all forts of iron ware, dry bread, beer, brai'yJv, fluffs, flour, fifhing-tackle, planks, carpentery, tobacco, and horfe-flioes. The Icelanders barter the productions of their country againil whatever they need. Money is fcarcely known among them. All fales, all contrails, in one word, all bufmefs is negociated for fifli, and with fuch every thing is paid for according to valuation : an ell of pig-tail to- bacco is the price of a fifli. Thus fifli and tobacco may be confidcred as the money of the ifland. The government of Iceland remains to be mentioned. This ifland is divided in four parts, or provinces, the northern, the eaflern, the fouthern, and the weftern, governed VOL. I. 5 D bv 754 kerguelen's voyage to the north. by baiiiffs. There are eighteen or twenty cantons, each of which comprifes fifteen or fixteen parifhes. All thefe panfhes are direfted by two bifhops ; one governs the northern, the other the fouthern part. The feat of the fovereign council is Beflelted, under the diredlion of a grand bailiff, who refides there. The king, for the receipt of taxes, maintains a fencfchal at the fame place. Thefe two principal officers render an account to the governor-general, who dwells at court. This is the whole of what is in- terefting, without extending beyond the bounds I have prefcribed to rnyfelf, which I can fay of Iceland. I now take up the thread of my journal. THIRD PART. Containing the Courfe from Iceland to Bcrgben ; Defcription of Berghen., of Norway, and the People fituated North of Norway, As I had ordered all the fifhing veflels which the gale of wind of the twenty-ninth of May had obliged to take fhelter at Patrixfiord, to inform the whole fleet that I fhould remain a fortnight longer in that road, in order to be nearer to render them affiftance, and that they might not be under neceffity of groping for me, as it were, in foggy wea- ther, I remained in the famepofition to the fifteenth of June. I fliall here remark, that any king's fliip which may be feat to proted the filhery, can never be more effeSually ferviceable than by giving a general rendezvous to all veflels who may fl:and in need of fuccour or repairs ; for the fifliery of Iceland is fo extcnfive, that it would require four frigates for its protedHon ; and there are in thefe climates fuch thick fogs, that it is fometimes impoflible to perceive a velfel at the difl:ance of muflcet fliot. The fifteenth of June, in the morning, in the profpecl: of a fouth wind, I caufed a fmall anchor with a towing line to be heaved out to the S. S. W. to be the better enabled to raife it eafily and quickly either from the frigate, or by means of my long-boat. The flrength of the anchorage, the depth of water, and the projedion of the inlet, inclined me to this expedient. It was calm all day, I weighed my two main anchors in the after- noon, and at nine in the evening, the wind fouthing, I fet fail. I did not fhip my oared cutters before I was out the points, left it fliould have fallen calm, and I have need of them to tow me. I forgot to obferve that fouth of the fouthern point of Patrixfiord, out- fide, is an inlet of yellow fand, which ferves as a mark at four leagues diftant, and is a beacon on that fide. The fixteenth, I took bearings along the coaft. The feventeenth and eighteenth, the wind varied from W. N. W. to S. W. a light breeze, and foggy. The nineteenth, being in that part of the fea, and on the precife fpot where formerly were feveral iflands^ under the name of Goubermans, I founded and found one hundred and forty fathoms of water, muddy bottom, mixed with herbs. The flietch of thefe iflands was taken by fome Danifli engineers, who drew the map of Iceland. The iflanders relate that they formerly confilted of nine ; that they were no more than four leagues from the main ifland, and that they were fwallowed up dur- ing an earthquake : what is certain refpeding them is, that they are noticed in all maps, and that there now remains no veftige ot them, their former refidence being that part of the coafl: where now is the greatell depth of water. It is not more difficult to ima- gine that thefe iflands may have been fwallowed up by an earthquake, or owing to fubterrancous fires, than to conceive, as doe^a celebrated naturaliil *, that Iceland itfelf * Egetliardus Ola. de Igne Subterranco^ page 14. kerguelen's voyage to the north. 755 is the produ£lion of a volcano, thus being a child of the earth. The fame day at noon, having taken tlie hititude, I perceived myfelf cxadlly upon the line of the polar circle . 1 was defirous of continuing my courfe towards the north ; but was flopped by a chain of ice which extended from the North Cape as far as the eye could diftinguifli to the N. W. I did not choofe to cxpofe myfelf to it with a frigate of a weak defcription, which was leaky, and which from its length was difficult to navigate amid iflands of ice. I thought it therefore expedient to veer about to the fouth ; and as I was obliged to go ii:to fome port in order to take in wood and provifions, I preferred Berghen in Norway, whilft the fiftiing veflels were employed in feeking a paflage between the iee to reach the ifle of Grims and the point ot Langernefs. On the twentieth, at midnight, as we were fleering W. S.W., to pafs at large the ifland. of Birds, the wind N. E., and the weather foggy, a cry from the forecaftle warned us of being upon the ice. At the fameinftant I i'aw on the ftarboard luarter large pieces, which made part of a bank of ice, the extremities of which were before me. I imme- diately brought the fliip to larboard, to double it with the wind, and paifed fo nigh that I flruck againfl feveral detached fragments, but without damage, although the frigate received rather rude fliocks from the contact. It may not be ufelefs here to mention fome expedients which may be of fervice to ihofe who fliould for the firfi; time be en- tangled in ice. It is no ways wonderful that fuch perfons fliould be intimidated at the fight of thefe enormous mafl'es, which will frequently break of themfelves about them with a horrid crafli : their dread however will difappear on learning that vefTels have frequently taken fhelter amid the ice, and that navigators frequently refort to it for pro- teQion from ftorms, on account of the fea being always fmooth when furrounded by it ; amidfl it the veflel rides as if in harbour : but it is requifite to guard the outfide of the fhip with the ends of old cables, mattrafl'es, or paillaffes. A Ihip may even be moored along-fide a piece of ice, fixing in it iron crows of five feet long, to which fmall cables are faflened at head and flern, taking care to make them tight on board by means of the capftan. In the abfence of iron crows, graplins and iron bars are made ufe of, which are driven into the ice with mallets. The fails are taken in and brailed, and a fhip rides there as well as bcfide a wharf. Care mufl be taken not to moor to a mafs of ice of too much elevation, fince fuch are often fubjecl to break and roll over. When the fight of an opening in the ice, a change of wind, or the neighbourhood of fliore, induce to go about, the velTel is fleered by help of her lafhings, the fame as in port. If defirous of breaking way, either to enter or to go out, two fpare top-mafls are taken, the thicker ends of which are lafhed to the mizen-chain wales, and the two fmall ends are made to form a fork before the prow, which fork is fupported by lafliing under the bowfprit : this fork ferves to feparate the ice in front of the veflel. If it be not confidered proper to ufe this tackling, a fragment of ice is chofen in a fmall degree more elevated than the prow, which is fleered upon under eafy fail, and when got under the cutwater, all fails are fet. This lump of ice driven by the vefTel, drives forward in its turn all thofe which obftruft the way of the fhip, which by this means receives no injury. The twenty-firfl, twenty-fecond, and twenty third, the wind continually varying, and the fea running high, I fleered S. S. W. and S. W. quarter S. ; and the twenty-third, at midnight, reckoning myfelf ten leagues W. of the Birds' ifland, I founded and found two hundred and five fathoms water, with fand as black as gunpowder. The quality of the bottom brought to mind what I had heard the captain of a fifhing veflfel fay, that he had met with a rock N. W. of Birds' ifland, at a diflance of feven leagues ; that he had founded all round and found twenty fathoms water, with a bottom of black fand. 5 D 2 The -^5^ kerguelen's voyage to the north. The refemblance of the bottom which I found with that of the environs of the rock, feems to confirm the exiftence of it. Before leaving Iceland, it is right I fhould impart to the reader the knowledge I was enabled to acquire of the ports fituated weft and north of the ifland. I fliall begin with Adelfiord, north of Lulbaye, and fliall continue the fame to the point of Langernefs. Adelfiord, or the bay which bears that name, is very extenfive and deep, but the an- chorage is bad for large veffels, as the coaft is rugged, and it is neceflary to anchor clofe to the fhore. The fiftiing veffels lying at anchor have the poop fo near the land, that the failors go on fhore by means of a plank laid from the fhip's fide. The bay of Direfiord is as fine and as large as that of Lutbaye ; there is no danger in entering it, care being taken of the fqualls of wind which come from the gorges, as I before mentioned in fpeaking of Patrixfiord. The anchorage is good every where for veffels of war. Al; the bottom of the bay are two points in the fhape of a fugar-loaf, which at fea are taken for two pyramidal iHands, and which mark the bay of Direfiord on coming from fea. The bay of Weft Norderfiord is as extenfive as the preceding ; there is good anchor- age in the firft inlet to larboard on entering, but it is fuitable to thofe veffels only which mean to fail ?gain direftly, for fhelter it is better to proceed higher up. In the middle of the bay there is twenty five fathoms water ; but at the extremity the anchorage is in lixteen to eighteen fathoms, with good bottom : there are rocks both on the larboard and ftarboard quarter on entering, but they are all above water. The bay of Pikhol is too open, it is fit only for fifhing veffels or corvettes, the an- chorage is clofe to the minifter's houfe, where there is fhelter under the north point. The bay of Bolk-Bogt is more properly a gulph than a bay; it is little known. The fifliermen feldom proceed up it ; notwithftanding an owner or mafter told me, that he had once failed to the bottom of the bay, and that behind a point of land which pro- jcfts, he found mofl excellent anchorage below the houfe of the laftor of the com- pany. He even faid, if he were obliged to winter in Iceland, he fhould prefer this fpot to any. The roads of Seertel Bay are very fine, there is excellent anchorage for all fhipping : a fhip may anchor to ftarboard on entering after doubling a point, but the beft anciior- age is at the foot of a remarkable cliff at the bottom of the Roadfted. Thefe roads are diftinguifhable by a hill of grey fand, perceptible at a great diftance. In the bay of Radkol there is anchorage in twelve fathoms water, with a fandy bot- tom. There is fhelter from the wind on the fouth and the eaft, but with a N. or W. wind a veffcl would be much expofed. The roads of Rakbaye are very large and very good ; fifty veffels of war might eafily anchor in them ; the beft place for cafting anchor is at the extremity of the bay, on tha fouth fide, half a league from fhore. Drift wood is met with here, caft on fhore by the fea. In going out of Rakbaye the North Cape is on the ftarboard quarter. Eaftward of the North Cape, on the fide of the gulph of Orgel Bokt, there is a cafcade or river,, which falls in large volumes of foam, and with a confiderable noife ; it is a land's mark on the coaft. This cafcade or river is called Watalope. Ill the whole of the gulph of Orgel Bogt, there is only the bay of eaft Nordefiord, where a frigate can take refuge ; its anchorage is to ftarboard on entering, two cables' length from the cabins of the Icelanders. The fifliermen go for anchorage to the bot- tom of the bay ; but they muft pafs a bar, over which at low water there is only twelve feet depth. The fea throws wood on fliore here alfo ; a river emptiee itfelf into kerguelbn's voyage to the north. 757 this bay which abounds in falmon. At the caftern point of the gulph there is a reef, or chain of rocks, which proceeds farther out than is noticed in the Dutch maps. Eaftward of this reef four iflands are diftinguiflied pretty high, and very lofty, the fourth is at the entrance of Klipbayc, where there is anchorage clofe to fhore, either on the (larboard or larboard quarter ; but heed mufl be taken of a large bank in the middle of the bay, and which does not allow of luffing. Eaflward of the four iflands a large flat ifland is feen, called Ulakiland, at the foot of which weflward there is an anchorage. This ifland is in the S. one quarter S. E. correfted, from the ifle ot Grimr, where the anchorage is in the fouthern part. There is flielter from the north, but a veflel there mufl be prepared to fail upon its blowing S. E. or S. W. The tides run very flrong, the direciion of them E. and W. Good anchorage is found at the point of Roodchoke, in ten fathoms, with fandy bottom, fouth of a round rock, which is fafe and very diflingfliable ; fheltered from S. E. winds. There is befides good anchor- age at Oudeman, fafe from all winds, to S., but when it veers to the N. the fliip mufl change her birth. This is the fummary of what I learned from experience in my own veflel, and from feveral fifhermen with whom I frequently converfed on this fubjeft. Lower down 1 fliall fpeak of the roads and ports of the eafl fide. 1 do not conceive that any one will be lurprifed in reading this journal at noticing my entrance, whether by night or day into all the ports of Iceland. No one is ignorant that under the poles there is fix months of day, and the fame length of night ; that the nearer the poles are approached, the longer the days and the nights, according to the feafbn of the year. Every one knows alfo, that the fun gives its light by refraftion when below the horizon ; and that this is called twilight ; that that which precedes the rifing is called the dawn, or morning twilight, and that that follows its fetting is named the twilight, or evening twilight ; moreover, that the farther the obferver proceeds from the equator, the longer the twilight. Thus it may readily be conceived, that in Iceland, which extends north- ward as far as to the polar circle, by favour of the twilight a continual day reigns from May to September, fo as to enable a perfon to read and wTite at midnight, and that the fun does not fet below the horizon for eight days before and eight days after the fum- mer folflice : that is to fay, from the twelfth of June to the firft of July. The twenty fourth the wind varied, making the entire circle of the compafs ; fomc- times gentle and at others violent, but continually a heavy fea. I fleered S. one quarter S. W. ; and the twenty-fifth at noon was in latitude 6o° 58', and longitude W. of Paris 19° 30'. By the map I perceived I was 3''E. of Ferro, i 10 leagues dillanf, ac- cording to the chart of Mr. Bellin ; and acording to the Dutch charts, from the fame flation, Ferro bore E. N. E. 42 leagues diilant, making a difference of 68 leagues, or nearly 7° in that latitude. The rock at S. of thcfe iflands, according to Mr. Bellin, is. in latitude 61° 17' : according to the Dutch 61° 44' v that is to fay, 27" more N. Thefe- dift'erenees as weD in latitude as longitude furprifed me, and made me befitate as to the- courfe to fleer. I refolved, at length, to make the fouthern point of the ifles of Ferro, according to the latitude dcfcribed by Mr. Bellin. I fleered accordingly an(f obferved the variation of the needle in the evening to be the fame as the day before, 2 v" 30'. The twenty-fixth at noon, having made 43 leagues of way under a frefh breeze from the E S. E., I obferved the latitude to be the fame as the day before, 63° 58',, and the longitude 14" 58'. As I had no diflerence of latitude after having fleered E. S. E. for twenty-four hours with great circumfpeQion, I conjeclured that the difl'e- rence arofe from two points of wind, or 22° 30'. The twenty-feventh, at three o'clock in the morning, having run E. one quarter S. F. ■R-ith a N. and N. N, W, wind from the twenty-fixth at noon, the wind frefli with a high fea> 75^ kerguelen's x'syage to the north.' fea, we made the Ferro Ifles. I paffed two leagues foQth of a rock laying fouth of the iflands, and diftant from them by appearance about a league. I perceived breakers at half a league from this rock. At noon I took an elevation under the land, and found, after making a back obfervation to try my former by, after noticing the bearing, and cafling my log-book, that thefe iflands are correftly laid down in Mr. Bellin's map. We found 1 8° of variation from two correfponding elevations. After doubling the ifles of Ferro, I direfted my courfe to the northward to make the Shetland Ifles ; but not falling in with them on the twenty-eighth, at four in the morning, and judging by the way 1 had made, that I muft have paflTed them, (for I had continually fleered E. one quarter S.F.) I tacked to the S. E. one quarter E. to proceed to Berghen. I believe that the currents carried me towards the north in my paflage from the ifles of Ferro to Shetland, I mufl obferve as well that in the paflTage I had two floods to one ebb tide. The twenty-ninth the wind frefli and ftrong from the N. W., the fea very heavy, with a thick fog. In fuch weather I was not defirous of encountering the coafl:s of Norway. I kept under main and forefail, and employed myfelf in taking foundings, waiting for more favourable weather. 1 he thirtieth, at five o'clock in the morning, the weather brightening and the wind becoming lighter, I fleered E. S. E. with a north wind to make land ; but obferving at noon that 1 was in latitude 59° 12', I faw that 1 was too far to S. to enter by the way of Cruxfiord, which is the fliortefl and the mefl ufual paflage ; I worked to windward, it blew N., and I fleered N. E. As I was by obfervation iS' more to the fouth than by my log, I fought for the caufe of this difference in the pofition of the iflands, and the coafls of the north, which, by the manner of their lyine, govern the following courfe of currents. At flood the tide flows from thg W. S. W. upon the ifles of Shetland, and, changing its direftion on ebbing, flows S. S. E. varying its courfe according to the line of the coafl^, as far as to the ftraights of Dover, but the waves meeting here with another flood, flow back, and throw themfelves upon the coafls of Jutland, which fends them back to Cape Derneus, from vi/hich they take their courfe, direction, and motion, ac- cording to the pofition of the coafl:s of Norway : this, according to my opinion, is the caufc of the current, which runs always to the fouth on the coaflis of Shetland, and that which runs always north on thofe of Norway : this general movement not interfering with the ebb and flow incident to each particular fpot. It is here that I fhould notice the obfervations I made for knowing with certainty, by founding, whether a fliip be ap- proaching the coalf of Shetland, or Norway, which is of confequence, and intcrcfl:ing tor thofe veflTels which cruife or navigate thefe feas, almoil continually over fliadowcd with fogs. When in the middle of the channel between the ifles of Shetland and the coafl; of Norway, or but little dillant from the middle, there are 65, 70, and 75 fathoms of water, clean and fine fand. On nearing Shetland the depth does not diminifli, it ra- ther incrcafes in different places ; but the bottom is different, the fand is larger, darker, and mixed more with gravel the clofer you get to'fliore. On the contrary, when approach- ing the coalls of Norway, the depth of water fenfibly incrcafes, the bottom changes, be- coming more muddy, and this mud becomes lefs dark as you go near the coafl of Norway. This channel is called the Great Tun by mariners, and the pafl"age between the Arcades and the Shetland Ifles in the north or fouth of the little ifland Fairehil, which it in uie middle, is. called the Little Tun. The firfl: of July, at three o'clock in the morning, having fleered E. N. E. with very little wind from the N. from the preceding noon, I made land; it was pcrfedly calm, J o and kerouelen's voyage to the north. 759 and nature was as it wore aflecp ; but the fun appearing above the horizon re-animated her, and brought us a breeze ; this is what is frequently experienced in the torrid zone ; the reafon of it is this. During the whole of the day, the fun by its heat expands and caufes to rife from the plains, and above all from the furface of the foa, aqueous particles and bubbles of rarified air, which it attracts to a diftance from the earth. Thofe which afccnd the laff, fall again almofl immediately after fun-fet, they approach each other in their fall, and caufe that firft coolncfs of the evening which is called ferenity ; but all the other particles which in the long courfc of the day, have furmounted the grofs airs, and be- come in equilibrium with the fin't (trata of that air in afuperior region, remain fufpend- ed there during the calm of night ; at funrlfing the firft rays of heat being felt by the chilled and contrafted air, necellarily dilute it. One niafs of air expanded by the heat drives on another, which meets with refiRance from a third ; this motion of the air be- comes a wind, and the atmofphere is affe£led by it in a lefs or greater degree. At eight o'clock, being yet three leagues from fliore, fome Norwegian pilots came on board, who informed me that I was a great deal to the fouth of the padage of Cruxfiord, but that there was a paffage two leagues north of where I was, and that if by luffing, I could get up thefe two leagues, (for the wind was north,) they would take me into good anchorage, where I might wait for a fouth wind to get into Berghen. I luffed therefore to head the wind. At noon I obferved the latitude ; and at four o'clock a ftorra arofe, which determined the pilots to make the land, in order to feek the pad- age to the north of the ifle of Bommel ; through which they fleered me to anchor at Ingefon. As the anchorage is difficult on the coad of Norway, that is to fay, on the currents of Berghen, and as they require great precaution, I fhall detail the methods I made ufe of in anchoring ; it would be proper to inform the reader firft, what obfer- vations I made on the coaft. I firft alTured myfelf by three obfervations of the variation : the one an eaftern, the other by azimuth, and the third meridional. The agreement of thefe three obfervations ftiewed me that the variation of the needle was 17° 50' on the coaft of Norway, under the ifle of Bommel. I took the latitude at noon, and from the bearings I found the ifle of Bommel to be 13' more north, than what it is fet down in the large chart of the Neptune. On my fecond voyage, I made the fame obfervation, and found the whole of the coaft of Norway, to be 15' more north, than what it is defcribed in the above-men- tioned chart. In fliort, I remarked that the exterior grounds, and bed of the channel of Berghen, almoft wholly refemble each other. There are every where rocks of the fame elevation, fafhioned and craggy alike ; which renders making land a difficult matter, as nothing fhort of perfect experience can enable a perfon to know where to make for land. It may be faid that in an extent of twelve leagues of coaft on the fide where I made for fhcre, there is only mount Bommel in the ifland of that name, that is diftinguifliable from others. The obje£ts of the condnent feldom ferve for land-marks, on account of their being generally hid by fogs, and covered with fnow, befides being greatly in land. There are feveral paffages to enter the canal or river of Berghen. From the ifle of Schuttnefs to the town of Berghen, is fixteen Danifh miles, about ninety Englifh, and in this extent of the coaft, there are eight paffages to enter the canal. In coming from the fea to the north of Berghen, there are alfo two paflTagcs much fre- quented, the moft northerly of which is only fix Danifli miles from the town. North of thefe are fome other paffages, but they are fo little known, fo little frequented, and fo difScultj that they arc not worth mentioning. Thefe 7^0 kerguelek's voyage to the north. Thefe are the names of all the paffages beginning with the mod fouthefly ; i" Stavangerfiord near Stavanger, fixteen Danifli miles from Berghen ; 2= Schuttnefs, which is the beginning of the canals, fourteen miles diftant ; ;^° Udeiro thirteen miles ; 4= Bommelfiord eleven miles ; 5° SolmenRord five miles ; 6° Papefiord four miles j 7' Cruixfiord three miles ; 8" Jettefiord nearly three miles weft of the town. The two paffages or openings which are frequented at the north of the town, are 1° Ilerlefiord ; this paffage is between two iflands advancing fome diftance into the fea, known by the names of Henne and Fever, five miles from the town ; 2° Foensfiord ; there is in the middle of the fecond paffiige a little lofty iiland, called Holmen Graac. It ferves as a land mark : this paffage is fix miles from Berghen. It will be feen by what I have obferved that it is better to make land fouth of the town, on account of their being in that quarter more paffages than in the north, befides which, they are more pradicable, and the currents run towards the north, the whole length of the coaft ; in other refpects the wind muft decide ; .the beft latitude at which to make land I confider to be 59° 40'. A veffel may make for land without apprchenfion ; it is very fafe, the coaft of Nor- way prefents a dreadful afped every where, it is a continued chain of rocks, the fight of which makes one fhudder ; but nothing fliould prevent making for them ; for as I be- fore obferved, a fliip may range very clofe under them, and when at two leagues from fliore, pilots always come out, unlefs there happens a ftorm ; but in fine weather they proceed even as far as three leagues to get on board a fhip : they row with all their might as well, to be firft, for the firft boat which touches the veffel with an oar, has a right to furnifli a pilot, the others then return, but not without afking for bifcuit or brandy, of which they are extremely fond. I have before obferved that the land may be approached at all times, however when the weather is foggy, with a ftrong W. N. W. wind, unlefs the cafe were urgent I would not advife making for fhore, feeing that there is no fliifting from a W. N. W. wind. I return to my anchorage at Ingefon, and as all anchoring in the river of Berghen requires care, I fhall defcribe the method I ufed at Ingefon ; it will ferve as inftrudion for all veffels which may be going to Berghen ; that port, which of all in the North Sea yields the greateft refources, there being a maft yard, a capital rope warehoufe, and plenty of provifions. By chance a veffel may be obliged to enter the paffages without pilots, either owing to the fuperiority of an enemy's veffel, or to ftorms, and what I am about to obferve will be of great utility. On coming from fea with a north wind, keeping Mount Bommel at fix to eight leagues diftant at S. E. the fliip muft continue its way ftcering as clofe to the wind as poilible, in order to keep before the wind, and north of the ifle of Bommel. At about a league from fhore, an opening will be feen between the rocks, which is the paffage of *Solmcnfiord, five miles from Berghen. Imagining the reader at the entrance of the paffage I recommend him the expedient I made ufe of. The wind was northerly, I kept clofe to the iflots and rocks in the north, which I paffed at two cables' length, in order to avoid the ftones which are in the middle of the paffage under water, and which 1 left to ftarboard going before the wind. At a quarter of a league from the ifle of Rootholm, I made in ftiore to coaft round this ifland, till I fhould difcover an opening to leeward. I then bore up for the inlet ftcering S. and S. quarter S. E. I went up this creek, and when about a cable's length from the bottom of the bay, I caft anchor to larboard, I put the helm to ftarboard, to round to the wind, letting the cable run. As • This pafTage is nearly a league wide ; on my fecond voyage I luffed up it. 4 Ijbon kerouelek's voyage to the north. 761 foon ns I had anchored, and the frigate rode at her moorings, I fent a tow-rope aOiore to the^caftward, which was laflicd auern to flarboard : by this means the vcffel does not iay with the current, but it is fecure. The main-anchor is heaved into eighteen fathom water, fand and gravelly bottom ; there is fix fathoms below the vefTcl, and as the bottom rifcs in a Hoping manner, there does not need more than forty-five fathoms of cable out, comprifing the platting. The tow-line is moored to a rock on fliore cut for the purpofe. Great care muft be taken to plat the cable, and examine it often, for there are rocks in many places at the bottom. The tide does not run llrong. The difference of high and low water is eight feet ; the tides are cf fix hours. I forgot to obferve that five-and- twenty fathoms of bitter muft be ufed in anchoring, and to recommend to be always ready to let out cable fo as to ride eafy on the wind. Moreover it will be neceflary to have another anchor in referve, ready to be caft, in cafe the firft fliould not hold. It is needlefs to advife the coming to an anchor with as httle wind as poflible. I obferved that a veflel is fufficiently wtll moored with a tow-rope aftern ; for as foon as the wind fouths, fhe fets fail for Bcrghen. If the wind fliould happen to blow S. S. W.. it would be prudent to have a fecond tow-rope to larboard, on the weftern fide. When about to fail, a veflel muft pay out tow-rope while heaving at the capflan. The anchor is weighed and catted, the topfails and mizen-topfails are then tallied, the tow-rope is paid out, or cut, and an oared boat fent afliore to bring it after. The fecond and third, we had a dead calm. I employed myfelf in taking a draft of this road, or rather this bafon. At mufquet fliot from this anchorage, as well as near all others along the river, you meet with a tavern, provided with meat, fifti, eggs, milk, beer, and in fliort every thing the country affords. The fourth, at nine in the evening the wind S. with fog, wc failed from Ingefon for Berghen. We made nearly eight leagues among the rocks, which we pafled very clofe to, during a thick fog that almoft entirely obicured the feeble glimmering of twilight. On the road the pilots made me notice feveral anchorages, both to ftarboard and lar- board, as well for large, as fmall vefl'els. The fifth, at four o'clock in the morning, the wind at S. E. but weak, we anchored atBehoriaven, nearly three fea leagues from Berghen. The ftarboard anchor was caft in twenty fathoms water, fandy bottom, with flint ftones. As foon as the frigate rounded, I fent two tow-ropes a-lhore to two iron rings fixed for the purpofe of veflels to moor to, there are fimilar rings along all the canals of Berghen, wherever there is anchorage ; for it muft not be conceived that a veflTel can anchor any where although, enclofed by land and rocks ; fometimes it is requifite to proceed three or four leagues to get to an anchor, on account of their being not lefs than eighty to one hundred fa- thoms water between one anchorage and another. At two o'clock in the afternoon we had a weak S. wind, and failed, when under fail it veered to W. N. W. and N. W. I had great ditiiculty in doubling the laft point, which forms the entrance of the bay of Berghen on the fide ®f the weft, at which point there is a buoy to mark a funken rock. In the middle of the bay, a league from the anchorage, we experienced a violent current which prevented our advancing, and kept us as it were at anchor, notvi'ithftanding we had a good wind, and all fails fet ; this current was occafioned by the ebb-tide emptying itfelf from the two bays, the one north, the other fouth, of the citadel. I manned all the boats of the frigate, and fent them before to tow her. By dint of rowing, with all fails fet, I made fliift to pafs this current, which otherwife might have carried me on to th and it yet wanted four or five inches of low water, I Immediately lafhed a tow-rope to a dead-head, which was out with my anchor, and which ferved to fliew where to weigh it. I pumped out my water, and heaved at the tow-rope, as well as the cable, but all in vain. We were obliged to wait for the flood-tide. This accident would not have happened if the Norwegian pilots had caft anchor more to the north, as I wiflied them in fixteen fathoms water. It only occafioned us however a great deal of trouble, and owing to the care of M. Duchatel and my officers, we had no confufion, which in fimilar cir- cumftances is extraordinary. When afloat I heaved my main-anchor and got to the en- trance of the port, my great flream-anchor was in ten fathoms water, fand, and gravelly bottom ; my bower-anchor, S. E. of the firfl; in fix fathoms, muddy bottom. I fent a tow-line a-fliore, which I moored to the poll of the Corps de Garde, and a fmall anchor to N. E. Thefe precautions made me perfectly fecure, but I was furrounded by a number of merchant veffels, and that is not a proper mooring for a large frigate. Ships of war in general anchor at Sandvick, they go entirely into port, where they ride in four moorings ; but when defirous of going thus far into port, and get within the citadel, it is required that the powder fliould be landed. To avoid the rock on which I ftruck, it is efl^ential to notice 'a buoy which points out the place it lays in. What deceived my experienced pilots, was the buoy's having been carried away two hours before by a Dutch veflfel, which ftruck as well as I did on the fame rock ; but in cafe the buoy fhould not be feen, it mud be remembered that the rock lays S. E. half a cable's diftance from a buoy, which fervesas a dead-head to moor to. As foon as I had arrived, I fent an officer to pay my refpefts to the governor of the town, who hves in the caflle, and the next day accompanied by my flafF I paid him a vifit. We went as well to fee Mr. Defchiel, grand bailiff of the city, and territory of Berghen. He loaded us with kindnefs, and offered to render every fervice of which we flood in need. We did not meet with fo favourable a reception from the people. The merchants, workmen, and all thofe to whom we had recourfe for what the frigate wanted, treated us coolly. They fled before us in the ftreets, and even refufed in the public markets to fell to my maitre d'hotel. We owed this reception to the bad con- daSt of fome captains of privateers, who under the title, and in the uniform of his majefly's officers, which they had the impudence to take upon them, had during the laft war committed fo many exceffes in this town, that the grand bailiff, fearing we might meet with infult, thought right to pub'lifh that we were truly pofTelfed of the king's commiffion, recommending civility towards us. Our mode of afting and the difcipline we maintained, foon (hewed them who we were. A failor having ftolen a lilvcr fpoon out of an ale-houfe in a fit of drunkennefs, I caufed him to be dipped from the main- yard for three fucceffive days, and but for the intercefBon of all the ladies at a grand fupper given by Mad. Defchiel, hispunifhment would have been of longer duration. I gave a dinner on board the frigate to Mad. Defchiel, and all the principal ladies, to the ftaff-major, the officers in garrifon, and all the principal perfons of the place. This dinner which was fucceeded by a ball, fpread a gaiety through every quarter of the town, where the healths of the Kings of France and Denmark were drank, under the difcharge of the cannon of the frigate ; notwithflanding this, the people could with difficulty forget, that a Frenchman, the captain of a fine veffel, or who reprcfentcd him- felf in that character, had threatened upon a refufal of fome indifcreet demand, to fire upon the citadel, and that upon feveral occafions their women had met with infult from them. I cannot kerguelen's voVaoe to -The north. 76 j. I cannot here refrain from a reflexion on the high idea that the public entertains of certain intriguers, whofe merit confifts in their praifing themfelvcs ; who propofe the grandeft fchemes, becaufe they run no other rifk than that of falling back into the no- thing from which they are (ludious of raifing themfelves, and whom we every day fee fail in their enterprises withftiame, although fupported by an ignorant cabal, prejudiced againfl: the royal navy. The proofs of this blind prevention are but too widely fpread. Even in the Encyclopedia moft indecent abfurdities are to be founded under the head marine. An abflrad from a work intituled Reflexions of a Citizen on the Navy, is inferted there. This is the work of an officer, a merchant of Dieppe. The rank of this man fufficiently fhcws that he is a blackener of the charafters of his majefty's officers. He fays, " the gentleman failor takes no pride in his occupation, he defpifes feamanffiip, &c." I muft however do juftice to his fentiments, when fpeaking of war and armaments, " The captain" he fays, " ought to be compleatly mafter of the fighting his fhip, &c. To wage war with the Englifh, their commerce mufl: be attacked, andourfelves be fatisfied with preferving our pofleffions ; it is precifely playing with a chance of lofmg, and none of gaining, to a£l otherwife : it is againfl the Englifli commerce alone, that we fliould wage war ; no durable peace with this nation can be expe£ted without following this polity. Let England tremble for her trade in a war with us, this is the important point. The enemy in the war of 1744, made conliderable infurances on our merchant veflels, in this war few, and thofe at very heavy premiums. Why fo, becaufe they imagined that a war on the continent would caufe us to negled our navy, and they were in the right ; it is the finances alone of the enemy which fupport her navy, and its finances depend upon her trade; let us then make war on her commerce, and on her commerce only. Take a colony from the Englifh, they murmur ; ruin their trade, they will revolt. We have three hundred leagues of fea-coafl to proteft. This cafe requires a confider- able navy — what ! Are veffels requifite to guard our fliores ? Delufive error ! We want foldiers only for that purpofe, a hundred and fifty thoufand men fhall be put in arms for faving's fake, neverthelefs the fhores will be infulted ; a hundred and fifty thoufand men are clad in arms, and it is evident that twenty-five lail of ^the line at Breft, and fifteen thoufand men near that place, will be fufficient to prevent any - fuch confequence ; nay, any thing except the prejudice in favour of foldiers." It is vifible that this feaman is pofleffed of judgment, although he does not difplay the neceffity of a navy, with equal eloquence with Mr. Thomas, in his eulogy of Duguay Trouin. How- ever, that orator guided by an excufable prejudice, feeing that he had never frequented the fea-ports of his majefty ; lets efcape him fome critiques in favour of the merchant veffels, to the injury of the king's fhips. Labouring under the fame prejudice, a monk has manufactured an hiflorical journal of a voyage to the Madeira iilands in 1763 and 1764. The editor of this infipid journal, printed at Berlin in 1769, feems to have left his convent for no other purpofe than to reap in another hemifpherean ample harvefl of lies, and inveftives. Returning to Europe, he takes pleafure in pouring the coarfe poifon of his gracelefs pen upon the navy, in a digreffion which contains as many blun- ders as phrafes. " On the fifteenth of June 1764," Aiys the ftupid Ton of St, Benoit, ** a vefTel is feen to windward in the N. W., the Jlag and pennant is hoijled, a fag is plaited and hoifed, and ive lay clofe to the vaiiid ; in fpite of all thefe pretended lignals, the vcffel continues its courfe" This learned Cenobite imagines that a veffiel, who fliould fo ad can be no other than a French veflel. Upon this his bile inflames, his love for his country and the commonweal puts in his mouth a violent diatribe againft a navy which he ought to refpeft j but in what order has this monk learnt, that a love for one's country is fliown by exclaiming in a Hottentot dialect, that " the licenfe of the reds, caufes the fla- 5^2 very yS^. KERGUELEn's VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. very of the blues, that tlie officers of the royal navy polTefs prejudices which raife them much above the profeffion of failors, and make them imagine it unneceffary to learn the art of feamanlhip in order to pradlife it, &:c." If this paper-flainer had read the ordonnr.nces of the marine, he would have known that there are fchools eflablifhed for the education of young people in this art ; if he had been at any of the fea-ports, he mufl: have feen officers applying themfelves to the theory, and anxiouily defirous of re-^ ducing this theoiT to practice ; if he had taken the trouble to feek for information, he might have learnt that it is neceffiiry before a man can become a captain of a merchant veffel, that he fliould have made at leaft two voyages on board of a king's fhip, and obtain fatisfaOiory credentials from his commanders ; which pre-fuppofes -that it is on board thefe veffels alone that proper difcipline, and a perfect knowledge of the neceflary fubordination and fervice at fea, can be acquired ; and that the officers in the navy are the competent judges of the merchants' captaius : had he failed on board veffels truly commanded by his majefly's officers, he would not have affirmed that " every veffel is obliged to ftrike when a king's fhip orders her to do fo, by firing a gun and bringing round the pennant to the maft, at the part it ought to be, according to the rank of the officer commanding the king's fhip." He would have known that the pennant is hoifted, and not brought round, and that a merchant veffel is not obliged to ftrike, but to bring to, in order to receive orders. If he had refided in a fea-port, he might have learnt the language of a profeffion which, had he poffeffed any modefty, he mufl: have been per- fuaded is a neceffary acquifition to him who profeffes to give leffons ; he would have feen how highly the Barts, the Duguai Trouins, and the Caffards are refpefted : all thefe great men were entitled to the flations they held on board the king's fhips; they had fought in defperate engagements, made many fkilful manceuvres, taken ffiips of war from the enemy ; let any one prefent himfelf after fuch ftriking recommendations, and certainly he will be received with as much welcome as diltinftion. Notwithflanding the officers of the royal navy are much above fuch paltry afperfions as thofe lanced from fo palfied an arm, as that of the traveller to the Malucca iflands, I have not been able to reftrain the firfl: boilings of anger which the reading of the fan;idious volume of that monk-errant occafioned me. During the fiay I made at Berghen I founded, and caufed to be founded, the port, the roadfled, and the neighbourhood of the town ; refpecting which I fhall fay more in fucceffion, intending now to give a defcription of the town and territory of Berghen. I Ihall even fay fomething of Denmark, Norway, the Laplanders, the Samoiedes, and other people of the north of this fecond kingdom, which are but little known, and of whom many fabulous tales have been related. As I have converfed with and received my in- formation from perfons of education who have travelled in that country, receiving from the fountain-head my accounts, I think they will meet with eflimation. The city of Berghen, formerly Biorginn, capital of the diocefe of that name, is the largeft and moft confiderable trading city of Norway ; it is fituated at the bottom of a valley, furrounded and defended by fevcn large mountains : its fortifications on the fea- fide do not deferve mention. Formerly there were thirty churches and convents in Berghen ; at prefent there are only four pariHi churches, three of which are Danifh, and one German, The churches are built of Hone, as well as the houfes of the noble- men, confuls, and principal merchants. The molt remarkable building is the cuftom- houfe, at the entrance of the port. There is a Latin fchool founded in 1544, and en- dowed by Peter the biffiop : its revenues were encreafed by Frederic II. and his fuccef- fors. At this time it maintains twelve ftudents in philofophy, mathematics, hiftory, and the French language. The marine fchool was formerly fufficiently numerous, but it is fallen into decay. Berghen ''kerguelen's vota«e to the korth. ?6c Berghen formerly had the privilege of coining; this fhc retained until 1575. As yet there is prefcrved in the cabinet of medals at Copenhagen, one which was ftruck herein the reign of Eric. The city was built in t 070 and 1071. Several councils have been held here. As the greatcfh part of Berghen is built of wood, this town has fre- quently been a prey to the flames : it was burnt in 1 248 ; eleven churches were reduced to aflies : the fame misfortune happened to it in 1472, in 1623, in 1640, in 1702, and in 1756; at this lalt fire fixteen hundred houfes were deftroyed. The city is very extenfive. The ftreets are not ftraiqht, and are irregularly paved with large and fmall ftones, but are kept very clean. The houfes, although built of wood, afford a very pleafmg appearance, from the diverfity of colours with which they are painted : they are extremely pretty within ; no gold or filver is feen, but the furniture is neat, and agreeably fmiple. The city of Berghen may contain three thoufand houfes, and more than twenty thou- fand inhabitants : the inhabitants of Hamburg, Lubeck, and Bremen, annually refort there for the fifhery. The religion of the country is Lutheran, of the creed of Augfburg, known in Ger- many by the title of Evangelical ; it is the religion of the fovereign, and prevails through all the poffeffions of the King of Denmark. All other religions are tolerated (but with- out allowance of public worfhip)^ provided they do not diflurb the commonweal. Every inhabitant, whatever may be his religion, or flation in life, enjoys equally the protection of the government ; no one undergoes vexation for confcience fake. As to the manners of the inhabitants of Berghen, it is difBcult to fatisfy the reader on that article, for it is compofed of different nations ; many Germans and Scotch have fuccefiively come to ellabliih themfelves here, arfd intermarried with the natives : in ge- neral the men are ftrong and robuft, little polifhed, although affable to ftrangers from intereft. There is but little nobility at Berghen ; mofl of the inhabitants are merchants or tradefmen, dealing by wholelale or retail. There are however fonie diftinguiflied families, but they are very few in number. The women are in general fond of work ; they employ themfelves in their houfehold affairs, and in commerce; they are not addicted to luxury ; they receive ftrangers, to whom they are partial, with courtefy, and particularly the French, who are very wel- come vifitants; which occafioiis on the part of the hiifbands a great jealoufy of them. The Norwegian women are handfome, but not well informed : more politenefs is met with in other parts of Norway, but throughout the country Bacchus and Ceres find more votaries among the men than Venus, They are fond of fpirits, and fmoak a great deal. They make up affemblies, confifling wholly of men, and prefer them, which they call ejlaminet, to the fociety of the ladies ; this engages them in turn to revenge themfelves without ceremony, by the help of more amiable and gallant ftrangers. The garrifon of Berghen is compofed of one battalion of regular troops, one free company of one hundred and fifty men, and a fmall detachment of artillery, making together fix hundred men. The commerce of the city of Berghen confifts of all forts of fifh, fat merchandize, fkin?, and wood. Thefe commodities are produced in the provinces north of Berghen. The haven is fife and goodj and can hold a large number of vefiels of every dimenfion. It has an additional advantage of never freezing, and being always navigable. The buriihers of Berghen have about eighty velTels employed in external commerce, and with which they trade through the ocean, in the Mediterranean, in the North lea, and in the Baltic. Befides, upwards of one thoufand velfels of different nations arrive there, bringing fait, grain, flour, brandy, and other commodities. They alfo fend feveral 1 o vclTels 766 kercuelen's voyaoe to the north. vefTels to Greenland t is y8o kerguelen's voyage to the north. IS a ridge of recks about it. There is alfo a good paffage to it between the iflands of Soult-Ronalza, and Biirra, but it is very narrow. It is dangerous to attempt it, unlefs with a fure and favourable wind. South of Pomona the tide runs S.E. at new and full, and the difference of high and low water, is twelve feet. The port of Durlbund is on theN. E. of Pomona, within Mull-head, the moft eaftern point, and a league from the W. of the point. MuU-head is a very high and diflin- guifhable land ; it is befides healthy and rugged. There are two rocks to the E., and. two others to the N. N. W., but they are very nigh the fhore. The entrance of the port of Durfound is nearly a mile wide ; the middle muft be taken on account of fome rocks underwater clofe to land, particularly towards the point to larboard of the entrance. After doubling this point you enter the port, where there is anchorage every where ; but to be beft fbeltered vefTels lay weft of the point of Neflin, which is that of the ftar- board on entering, where you anchor in five fathoms water. Small veffels go to the fouth of Durfound, into a creek called Market-bay, where they anchor in three fathoms. Care muft be taken refpefting the height of tide on entering this creek ; for in the middle of it there is a bank on which there is no more than five feet depth at low water. Neap and fpring-tides rife twelve feet at Durfound, ordinary tides but eight feet. I'heport of Kirkwall is north of Pomona ; to get at it by the eaft you muft take the paffage of Stronfafirth, fouth of the ifland Stronfa, and north of MuU-head. You muft near the cape, pafs before Durfound, between the north of Pomona and the fouth of the ifle of Schapinftia, leaving the ifland called Elgarholm to ftarboard, and that of Thievef- holm to larboard. As foon as you have paffed the latter ifland fteer S. S. W., to avoid a rock a mile to theN. W. of Thieveftiolm, on which there is but fix feet at low water. Afterwards fteer S. quarter S. W., to enter the road of Kirkwall, where you anchor in fix or eight fathoms water. You may get nearer the town at the bottom of the bay ; there is better flielter, but it is not fo eligible a ftation to fail from. There is excellent anchorage a league and a half to the weft of Kirkwall, called Monoo's Bay : but as there are rocks to ftarboard and larboard on entering, the middle of the channel muft be kept : it would even be a prudent precaution to take a praftifed pilot of the place oa board ; they are always to be found. The ifland Roufa is north of Pomona ; it is of fmall extent, but the lands are very high. Between Roufa and Pomona the currents are very violent. Eaft of Roufa is the anchorage called Wire-found : to enter it, coming from the eaft, you muft pafs through Stronfafirth ; but inftead of keeping to the fouth of Shapinflia, you muft keep to the north, having the iflands Warms and Grain to ftarboard, after •which you fteer W. S. W., to have the ifland of Egilflia, and thofeof Wire and Roufa, to larboard : it is between Roufa and Egilflia that the anchorage of Wire-found is in fix or feven fathoms water. The entrance of this anchorage is without danger ; all that is neceifary is to avoid certain rocks which extend a mile from fhore to the fouth of Egilfha : to clear them it is rcquifite to keep half a league from the point, and to keep clofe to the ifle of Wire, which has given name to the Sound. To anchor well in Wire- found, you muft keep St. Agnes church in the ifle of Egilflia at N. E. and by E. The tide does not run ftrong in this road, which is greatly frequented by fiflicrmcn, who refort to Iceland. You may get out of Wire-found by a fmall paffage north of the an- chorage, between the ifland of Roufa and the iflet of Stocknefs. In this paffage there are four fathoms water, but it is very narrow. On leaving this pafs you enter Weftra- firth, or the ftrait of Weftra : the currents are very violent, particularly at high tides. On going through the canal, attention muft be paid to keeping clofe to Roufa, becaufo towards the middle of it, S. W. of Weftra, there are very dangerous rocks underwater. When dcfirous of leaving Wire-found towards the weft, keeping the ifles of Wire and 2 Pomona kerouelen's voyage to the north. 781 Pomona to larboard, care mufl be taken to keep in with Roufa ; and when an ifland is perceived, called by the natives Inhalla, you muft ftcer to come up to it on the fouth, and leave it to (larboard, on account of there being no pafl'age north of the ifland : it requires a good deal of wind to Hem the current in this pafl'age. You may aifo reach Wire-found coming from the cafl: by the paflage of Sanda-found. This paflage in between the iilands of Sanda and Stronfa, leaving Sanda and Eda to (larboard, and Strenfa and Schapinfha to larboard. After defcribiug the padagcs and anchoring-placcs which arc in the interior of the Orcades, I fliall make mention of what concerns the exterior, which is not lefs impor- tant to veflels which may be driven upon the coafls. I fhall begin by the fouthern part, or flrait of Pentland, which is, as I believe I mentioned, between Scotland and the Or- cades. On coming from the eail to make this paflage, an ifland, which is at the en- trance, muft be kept at a mile's diftance ; it is the fame thing whether a-head of it north or fouth. After pafling this ifland it is requifite to fteer through mid-channel, and rather keep clofe to the Orcades than the Scotch coaft, on account of many rocks under water on the Scotch fide ; but after reaching the fouth fide of the ifle of Hoy, an ifland in the middle of the ftrait is to be kept at W. quarter S. W. When at no greater diftance than a league and a half from this ifland, nothing remains to be apprehended from the Scotch fide : it is the fame whether this ifland be pafl'ed on the north or fouth fide, there being twenty-five fathoms water on both fides. When this ifland, called Stroma, is paflfed by, the channel opens, and the currents are lefs forcible. Stroma mufl not be coailed too near, as it is furrounded with rocks. N. N. E. of Stroma, in the ifle of Hoy, there is a creek with anchorage in four fathoms water. On the eaft fide of the Orcades the fhores are tolerably fafe ; almoft every where there is thirty fathoms water at half a league from the fliore. On luffing near her fliores, one may prolong a tack ■without apprehenfion when the wind is ftrong j but when there is a chance of a calm a greater diftance muft be kept, for fear of being carried away by the currents. On the eaftem fide of the Orcades, the point of Sanda is the only dangerous one ; neverthclefs the rocks from this point advance no more than half a league to fea towards the N. E.. North of this point there is a fmall ifland, which is only fafe on the fouth fide ; there a veflel may anchor to take flicker from a north wind. This ifland is called North Ro- naldfa. North of the ifle of Sanda there are two rocks under water near to fliore ; but two leagues from the north point, and N. quarter N. W. of it there is a dangerous rock above low water. Any vefTel may anchor north of the ifle of Edda, fouth of a fmall and perfectly fafe ifland, called Kale of Edda. At the north point of Weftra there are rocks a quarter of a league from fhore ; but the fouth part of this point affords a creek, open to the eaft, •where a frigate may anchor under flielter from the W. or N. W. A league N. E. of this anchorage is the ifland of Papa Weftra, furrounded by rocks on the weft, north, and eaft : they extend more than a quarter of a league on the eaftern fide. The weftern fhores of the Orcades are for the moft part very fafe : they may be coafted as clofe as you pleafe ; but care muft be taken of the currents which run through the ftraits. I obfervcd in 1768 on thefe coafls 20" 40' of variation in the needle. I muft not forget to notice that there are rocks, about ten leagues weft of the Orcades, about lat. 59° 2' or 3' : there is one above water ; they are called the Stacks. A league north of thefe are others, three fathoms under water. It is high water at the Orcades at full and new moon at forty-five minutes paft two. Between the Orcades and Shetland there is a fmall ifland, called Fair-ifle. As this ifland is in the nuddle of a much frequented palTagc, called the Tun, I paid particular at- tention 7?2 KERGUELEn's voyage to TH5 KORTH.' tention to it: Fair-iile is placed on the chart of M. Bellin, engraved in 1757, in lat. 59* 30'. According to my obfervations it is 3' more Ibutherly. Thisifland is pretty high, it may be feen ten leagues off in fine weather ; it is fafe, particularly towards the fouth and eafl. On the north and weft fide there are fome rocks, but they are near the fliore. On my fecond voyage I coafted this ifland, a fliort league from fliore, on its fouth fide, and remarked a beautiful verdant plain and feveral houfes, the latter of which were dif- tinguiflied by their whitenefs. It appeared to me that it is in this fpot, at the foot of the hill, that the anchorage is as marked in the Dutch charts ; for the coaft goes flielv- ing in in this place, fo that a veflel muft neceflarily be flieltered from all winds from the N. W. round to the N. E. Fair-ifle may be about fix leagues round. The houfes which I faw on this ifland announce its being inhabited ; and fea-faring men have affiired me that finding themfelves in fine weather within a league of fhore, the inhabitants had come off in boats to the privateer, on board which thev were to fell them eggs and fowls, and offering them flieep very cheap. We know befides that Fair-ifle is fertile in barley, and in good paftures. According to my obfervations, the variation at Fair-ifle was 19° and its long, weft of Paris 3'^ 29'. North of Fair-ille are fituated the Shetland ifles, which are but feven or eight leagues diftant. Thefc are very lofty ; they arc varioufly laid down in the Dutch, French, and F.nglifli charts, fo much fo as to agree in no fliape one with the other. Many days are required to be pafled upon the coafts in examining them, in taking their bearings, and in making obfervations of latitude and longitude, in order to appreciate the defedls of their different plans, and make correclions of the iflands. I was not able to efteft thefe purpofcs, having a diftinft miflion to attend to ; but from fuch remarks as I was enabled to make, and the converfations I have had with different navigators, whofe accounts I have compared with the notes of M. Bellin, and thofe of Routier the Dutchman, I have been able to give fome infight to the navigation of the coafts, and the entry of the dif- ferent ports. As to the difference in refpeft of the pofition and figure of the iflands, according to the French Neptune and the Dutch chart, I fiiall remark that the French chai-t is more exacl in the latitude ; but that I give the preference to the Dutch for the reprefentation of the figure, and bearings of the land, of as many as 1 had the opportu- nity of feeing. Neverthelefs Fulo is very ill placed in the Neptune of 1757, with refpe(fl to its latitude. This ifland is there laid down in 60° 19' ; and from three fucceflive obfervations, made in I'lght of and very near the land, I found it lay in lat. 60° 3'. Fulo ifland is ten miles weft of the Shetland iflands ; it is very high, we dcfcrying it at fixteen leagues diftance. It is the moft remarkable and beft land-mark of all the Shet- land iflands : when feen at eight or ten leagues diftant, it has the relemblance of a flip- per y it is very healthy, and a veflel may boldly pals between it and the other Shetland iflands, for in the channel there is more than two leagues to luft" up in. On this ifland I obferved the variation of the needle was i8' 30'. Eighteen leagues weft of Fulo I have met with eighty fathoms water, with bottom of large fand, of a grey colour, with black fpots : as you approach the land, the fand is more mixed with gravel and (lone ; and at four leagues from the ifland there are feventy fathoms water, bottom gravel and black ftones. Eaft of this ifland are the Shetland iflands, on the number of which au- thors do not agree ; but there are only three large ones, the principal of which is called the Mainland. The climate of thefe iflands is fimilar to that of the Orcades ; the land produces equally well both barley and oats ; the paftures are very good. Fifliing, herds of cattle, flocks of flieep, and cows, make up the wealth of the inhabitants. Thefc iflanders are of Norwegian origin. Their language is a Gothic dialeft, partaking of the Danifli, and particularly of the Englifli language. They make turf-fires, as there is no 1 3 wood kerguelf.n's vovagi! to the north. ' 7^^ U'ood grows on any of the iflands. They follow the reformed religion. Thcfe iflands are well peopled ; above all, round the coalls, which prefent fevcral bays, creeks, ports, and anchorages. Mainland ifland is feventeen leagues long from N. to S., and five leagues from E. to W. at an average. This ifland alone includes more ports and anchorages than the iflands of Yelle, Unfl:, and all the others together. I fliall fpeak. of thofc only oven which are in Mainland, the others not being frequented, nor fit to receive vclTels of any burthen, as well that fhips of any defcription abfolutely require pilots of the place for fleering them. Let us begin with the fouthern part of Mainland, where there is anchorage for a fquadron of ten veflTels north of a fniall ifland called Pard-ifle. The en- trance into this road is either by the E. or W. of this ifland, which is fafe ; and the an- chorage is in trwelve to fixteen fathoms water, bottom of large fand. This road is at the extremity of a very high and diftinguiihable cape, called Swineburger-bead, This is the bell in this part. Mr. Bellin defignates three other anchorages between this cape and cape Fitzul, which is the moft weftern point of the fouthern lands, but thefe an- choring places are bad, being cxpofed to hurricanes of wind, which render the feas dreadful. There is only Ouendale-bay which can receive large veflels. It is large and fpacious ; there is an eafy entrance, and an eafy way out. On all the weftern fide there is only one road fit to receive veflels of war, it is that which the Dutch call Magny- fiord. Its entrance is three leagues N. of the cape, called Fitzul by the French. On the eaftern part are the befl: ports and anchorages. Four leagues N. of Sv/ineburger- head, towards the E., a little ifland is feen, called Connix ifle, which with the large ifland, forms an excellent road, called Hamburger-haven ; there is eight fathoms wa- ter ; it may be entered by the N. or by the S. : but the beft harbour of the whole of the Shetland Ifles is that of Laerwyck, which is four leagues more to the N. than the laft. The roads of Laerwyck would contain a whole fleet. Every year about St. John's day, five hundred fifliing veflels are feen anchored before the town of Laerwyck. The Dutch, who every year refort to thefe coafts for the herring fifliery, call thefe roads the Great-bay, or Brafla-found, on account of the ifland of Brafla, which forms the harbour and protefts it from the eaft winds. To enter Brafla-found from the fouth, Brafla muft be left to ftarboard at a cable's length, and the courfe be continued up the channel till you come before the town of Lcerwick, where there is anchorage in five, ten, or fifteen fathoms, according as you go^iear to, or keep dillant from fiiore. North of the town are the veftigcs of a fort which commanded the roads, and which was defiroyed by Mr. Bart. The entrance of the road of Laerwyck is cafily known by Nofs ifland, which is alfo called Flanging-cllff", on account of a remarkable rock which hangs over into the fea, forming a natural vault. This ifland is eaft of Brafla, and ferves as a landmark for the port of Laerwyck; the fleet enters fouth of Bralfa, and the eddy confequently carries them to the fouth. 1 he tide is ftronger towards the north of the channel, and the pafl"age more diflicult. This Is the mode of getting out through the paflage called North Sound, and thefe the precautions neceflfary to be taken. I ob- ferved that the flood bore to the north. You fteer fo as to leave to ftarboard a fmall ifland, called the Holm of Cruefter, at about a mile's diftance, on account of the rocks which are under water at half a quarter of a league to the weft of the ifland. When this ifland is paft, and bears E. quarter S. E., there is nothing further to be ap- prehended from the rocks called Fabarre. You continue your courfe, keeping mid- channel, until you perceive the channel begin to narrow ; then, in order to avoid a bank, which is in the middle of the narroweft part of the channel, and over which there is but twelve feet at low water, you muft pafs by either on the one or the other fide of 784 kerguelem's voyage to the north. of this bank : if you near the ifland of Braffa, you muft keep at two cables' diftatlce, but if tlie weilern fide be kept, you may near the fliore to within half a cable, on ac- count ot its being very fafe ; when through this channel the road becomes wide, but k)on after it becomes much narrower than before. It is requifite then to fleer well and fail by an iflet or rock called Scotland, in preference to coafling of BrafTa; becaufe in this part Braffa has rocks under water about it, which extend for a mile from fliore. AVhen you have doubled Scotland and the mofl northern point of Braffa, the paffage is very good between the rocks called the Brothers and Green ifland, which you have to larboard, and the ifland of Beofter, north of Brafla, which is left to flarboard. When tiie ifland of Beofler is failed by, the paflage of North found is gone through, and you are at liberty to take what courfe may fuit. North of Brafla ifland, between it and the point of Mainland, called Mull of Enwick, the fea forms a large bay, where are four good anchoring places, called Deals Woe, Laxford-woe, Webfler-woe, and Catford-woe. I fhall not give a defcription of the three firfl:, which can only receive merchant veifels or corvettes ; but the anchorage of -Catford-woe, which is the moft northerly of the four, is alio the mofl confiderable ; it forms three creeks, which afl'ord three good ports, the one is E. 8. E., the other W. N. W., and the third N. Thefe ports can receive any veflels of war, and afford flielter from all winds. The anchorage is in from three to fifteen fathoms water, accord- ing as you near the land. When from the eaflern fide of the Shetland iflands you are defirous of entering one of thefe ports, you muft fleer for the ifle of Nofs and the Hanging- cliff, afterwards bear N. W. to pafs between Grcen-ifland, which is left to flarboard, and the rocks called the Brothers, which are left to larboard. Or, if the wind ferve better, you may pafs between Green-ifland to larboard and Houfe Stack and •Glatnefs to flarboard. From Swineburger-head to Nonefs, the flood-tide runs to the north ; from Nonefs to Bralla, and from Brafla to Catford-woe S. S. E. The ebb- tide runs in a contrarv direftion. On the wefl;ern fide the flood-tide runs fouth from Swineburger-head to Scalluwa, and the ebb-tide runs north. 1 have now to fpeak of the foundings for making land. I have already obferved, that, on approachhig thefe iflands, the bottom, which is always large fand, is more mixed with gravel and ftones. All round thefe iflands at about four leagues diflance, there are leventy-five fathoms water. It muft however be obferved, that on the eaftern fide there are three or four pits or wells where there is more than a hundred fathoms water. Four leagues north of the Unft ifland, the mofl northern of the Shetland iflands, during my fecond voyage, I took an obfervation in fine weather, and found that the moft northerly highlands of Unft lay in latitude 60° 44'. The highlands of Shet- land are not very lofty ; they may however be difcerned ten leagues at fea. Twelve leagues eaft of thefe iflands I noticed the variation iS" 42'. I now take up my journal. The twenty-ninth of Auguft I vtos forty leagues from the iflands of Ferro. The rock at the north of thefe iflands, called the Bifliop, was fouth of me, dillant as defcribed. The thirtieth, weak winds varying from S. E. to S. W., a fine fea, and continuation of foggy weather. I kept the clofeft I could, whether the larboard or ftarboard tack, to make the fouth, and endeavour to fall in with the ifland Enkeuyfen. I founded every now and then becaufe I faw eddies or whirlpools made by the tides, but I could find no bottom. The thirty-firft, a fouth wind rather frefli, a thick fog ; I ordered the oflicer on watch at the beginning of the iiiglit to bring to till morning, but if the wind increafed to haul kerguelen's voyage to the north. 785 haul it. The wind getting round to the eaft and blowing hard, the officer of the watch came to inform me, that he had taken in the forcfail on account of its blowing hard from the eaft to E. S. E. with a very high fea. As the wind was favourable for re- turning to France, as 1 had not feen any thing of the fifliing vcflels for fonie days, as the feafon for the fifhery was far advanced, and the continual fogs did not allow of my rendering any further alliftance to the Ficnch fhips, I fteered W. S. W., forefails and topfails fet to pafs between Iceland and the iflands of Ferro, and thence to continue my courfe for Breft. The titft of September, the wind eaft very frefti at noon, I took an obfervation, and found myfelf in latitude 60° 8', and in longitude by reckoning 15° 58' W. of Paris. The middle of the bank of which I fpoke in the beginning of my journal bore W.- quarter S. W. exaQly, twenty-five leagues diftant, and the ifland of Rokol at the S., forty-five leagues diftant : the ifland of Rokol is not marked in any French chart, but I am certain of its exiftence. I have requefted M. Bellin to infertit; its fituation is in latitude 57° s°'i ^^^ longitude 1 6° o' W. This ifland is very healthy ; it is a fharp rock, which, at four leagues diltance, looks like a fliip ; it has frequently been miftook for one. Eaft of Rokol ifland, a quarter of a league away from fhore, is a rock under water, with breakers. Under nearly the fame latitude as Rokol, but much more to the W., is another ifland. It is Bufs Ifland ; it is not either on the French charts, but it exifts in latitude 58° o', longitude 28' W. On the night between the firft and the fecond, we faw an Aurora Borealis, which afibrded us the moft beautiful fpeftacle that nature can difplay. From ten in the evening until one in the morning, the heavens were on fire throughout the ardic hemifphere, the night was as brilliant as the day ; I read a letter at midnight as eafily as I could have done at noon. We firft of all faw 3 luminous cloud in the form of an arch, which occupied half the firmament. From this about eleven o'clock rofe columns perpendicular to the horizon, and altemately white and red. The upper part of thefe columns towards midnight changed into flieaves of a flame colour, from the centre of which arrows of light ifl'ued into the air like rockets ; at length after midnight, thefe columns, which were arranged with fuch admirable fym- metry, were confounded all at once in a brilliant chaos of cones, pyramids, radii, (heaves, and globes of fire. This celeftial appearance difappeared gradually ; but the air was full of light even till day. Phenomena of this defcription have been feen in all ages and countries ; but what are their origin ? Why are they obferved towards the north ? As every one is allowed to have his own fyftem, I Ihall hazard a conjedure on the probable caufe of the aurora bore- alis, called fo from its luminoufnefs refembling that of dawn, although more com- monly known by the name of the northern lights, on acccount of their being feen in the north, imo, 1 imagine the matter of the aurora borealis to be the fame as that of lightning or eledricity. 2do, That the diurnal motion of the earth occafions a continual flux of this matter towards the poles ; which makes thefe meteors moft vifible in the neighbouring regions, pio. That a certain denfity, temper, and particular conftitution of air be requifite to caufe to approach, heap together, and comprefs the igneous particles fo as by their fermentation to produce thofe {heaves, rockets, and luminous columns which are peculiar to the aurora borealis, 4to, That all the rapid movements, the lateral divergencies, the fudden appearance of columns, &c. refult from their mutual and al- ternate attraction and repulfion, a natural property of eledric fire, as is proved by the alternate attraQion and repulfion of gold leaves and light bodies by eledrical globes. 5/13, That if this meteor appear but rarely, it is becaufe the air poflefles feldoni the re- quifite denfity, or is properly conftituted to produce it. VOL. I. 5 n The 786 - ~ kerguelen's voyage to the north. The moft celebrated philofophers have long maintained an opinion that the element of fire was difperfed throughout exiftence, and that folid and fluid bodies were abun- dantly impregnated with igneous particles. I conceive that the sether of Newton, the elementary fire of Boerhaave, and eleftric fire, are the fame fubftance, whofe different effeds vary in proportion to the impulfe, agitation, direftion, ftrength and quantity of the affembled matter ; hence the aftion of the fun on this fubftance produces the double advantage of light and heat. Thus the attrition of a globe of glafs reunites a certain quantity of it, which managed and directed with art, produces the various phenomena of eleftricity. Thus the fudden and violent coUifion of two hard bodies elicits fparks, and the continual fridion of two bodies of whatfoever defcription they may be, excites and originates elementary fire in fufficient quantity to inflame and confume any com. buftible matter expofe to its aftion. When a great quantity of particles of fire is accumulated in condenfed clouds which comprefs and drive them together, the particles of fire then ftriking the one againfl: the other, inflame, fparkle, kindle into a blaze, and burft with explofion the prifon which inclofes them. Hence the flafh of lightning and the thunder clap ; and if the lightning be feen before the thunder be heard, it is becaufe the vibrations which expand from the igneous matter are more rapid of flight than the undulations of the air which bring us the found. When clouds have lefs denfity ; when they pafs over fpace more lightly and more freely ; when they contain only a fmall quantity of the particles of fire, then, fiiould they unite and clafli together, they kindle into flame without explofion ; they produce that filent lightning, and thofe falling flars which fhine and difappear. When the atmo- fphere is not too much overfpread with clouds, and that they have no more than the denfity requifite for fufl^aining and leading on the particles of fire in their fphere of mutual attraftion, without keeping them in, without heaping or prefllng them, then no explofion fucceeds ; but the particles of fire inflame in the open air, and according to the different figures, though diff"erent confifl:ence of the inflammable matter, and the diff'erent refradions of light, thofe globes, pyramids, radii, flieaves, and columns diffe- rently coloured of the aurora borealis are feen. The identity of the eflence of light- ning and that of eleftricity, which has latterly been difcovered, and whofe refpeftive efieds are very various, greatly fupports the hypothefis, that the light of the fun, of lightning, electric phenomena, common fire, are only different effedls of the fame caufe differently a£led upon, difpofed, modified and circumflanced. Thefe aurorje boreales are greatly ufeful to the inhabitants of the polar regions ; it feems as if nature was defirous by them to make amends for the abfence of the fun, and the privation of his beams. The fecond of September, having fleered S. W. for twenty-four hours, the wind going round from S. E. to N. by degrees, I took the latitude at noon, and found it 58 2', and longitude 17° 10' W. by reckoning. I was too much to the weft to make Rokol ifland, which is diflinguifliable at no greater diflance than four or five leagues. Not feeing this ifland, I conjectured that my reckoning was good, for had I been ten leagues more to the caft, I muft have feen it ; and if, on the contrary, I had been the- fame diflance niore to the weft, I fhould have feen fome part of Iceland. The third, fourth, and fifth, and the fixth,the wind veered backwards and forwards from fouth to wcfl:, blowing very frcfh and a ftrong fca. When it blew from the welt i fleered fouth, when from the Ibuth, weft, in order to take advantage of the W. and S. W. winds. The fixth, at noon, the wind fkipped round to the W. N. W. in an in- ftant. Latitude 51° 10', longitude 16° 52' W. of Paris. After taking the latitude, I fteered S. quarter S. W., in order, before night-fall, to get ibuth of the rocks called 7 Brazil, kerguelen's voyage to the north. 7S7 Brazil, which are laid down in the Dutch charts in latitude 52% and in thofe of M. Bellin in 51". At fix o'clock, the wind blowing frefli from the N. W., having; pafled the latitude of Brazil, I fleered S. S. E., keeping rather more to the eail as I advanced towards the fouth. The feventh at noon I was in latitude 48' 50' j Ufliant bearing E. 4^ S., feventy- cight leagues diftant. The eighth, at eight in the morning, having fleered continually E. S. E, from yef- terday noon, the wind W. and frefli, I changed my courfe to S. E. quarter E., on ac- count of the wind veering to S. W., and the poflibihty of its getting to the S., as well becaufe I had to millrufl the currents of the channel, that is to fay, of the flood-tide, which is ilronger than the ebb : I founded at four in the morning, and met with one hundred fathoms water, bottom red fand, with pieces of broken fhining fhells. At noon I was in latitude 48° 2 1', Ufhant bearing E. 4° N., twenty-feven leagues diflant. I continued fleering S. E. quarter E. till half paft four, when I founded. I found ninety fathoms water, bottom of fand, not red and fliells not fo much broken as in the morn- ing. This founding and my reckoning placed me in the direftion of W. quarter S. W. of Ufliant, eighteen to twenty leagues diflant. At feven o'clock the wind became W. the weather milder, the flcy clear, I fleered north, in order to keep before the ebb-tide, and at ten o'clock S. S. W. to take advantage of the flood. At the opening of the Iroife the tides run S. W. and N. E. The ninth, at two in the morning I founded, finding the fame depth, and fame bottom, I fleered E. quarter S. E. the wind blowing W. N. W. very frefh, a fine fea, but cloudy weather with fome rain, falling at the bounds of the horizon, which the wind was bring- ing towards us. At noon I fell in with Ufhant laying N. E. five leagues diflant, there was one hour of flood to come, I hoiflcd all fail to take advantage of the tide, and an- chored in Brefl roads at five o'clock. Thus finifhed my firfl voyage, in which I have inferted fome obfervations made on my fecond voyage ; but as I could not include the whole, I have fubjoiaed them in the form of a fupplement to the four parts, which have been read before. SUPPLEMENT TO THE FOUR PARTS OF THE RELATION OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH SEA. Containing Return to Iceland ; pajjing between Birds ijland ; abridged j^ccount of Green- land ; Defer iption of the Port of Brandfoom in Norway ; Remarks on the Soundings, and Navigation of the Dogger-Bank ; Entrance into Oflend ; Notes relative to entering ths Port and that of Dunkirk ; Return to Breft through the Channel. , AS foon as the frigate La FoUe was difmantled, I fet off to render an account of my miflion to the Duke de Prailin. This niinifter informed n:e that I mufl make ready to repeat ths voyage in the fpring. I rcquefled of him in preference to a frigate the cor- vette I'Hindrolle, of fixteen fix-pounders, with a complement of one hundred and twenty men ; on account of fuch a vellel being the fittefl for the operations which I had planned. I repaired to Brefl at the end of April to begin equipping the vellel. The tenth of May, I was in the roads, and 1 only waited for a f"air wind to fet fail. The Duke dePraflin was fo obliging as to grant me the two firfl officers I had on board LaFolle, MeiTrs. Dachatel, and the Chevalier Perron, two officers full of zeal and genius ; M. le Chev. Bernard de Marigny, an officer of diftinguiflicd merit, gave proofs 5 a 2 of 788 kerguelen's voyage to the north. of his attachment to the fervice in joining us. He had recently commanded a king's fhip, and the fatigue of a new voyage full of hardfhips, had nothing in it to deter him. 1 had for the fourth officer M. Soyer de Vaucouleur, mafler of a fire-fliip, who had com- manded feveral privateers, a man of the beft difpofition. I left Breft the fifteenth of May, 1768, with a weak E. wind ; my intention was to pafs by St. George's channel, but the wind which came round to the N , blowing very frefh, and continuing feveral days prevented me : I pafled to the weft of Ireland, as on my firft voyage ; I kept however more clofely in fhore, on account of the banks and high bottoms, which I before noticed. Nothing interefting occurred before the twenty-feventh, at eight in the evening. We had a frefh gale from the weft with a heavy fea ; and were fteering north, when we perceived before us a tide-bed, covered with fea weed and foam ; we were rtiortly in the midft of it, and the fea, every where elfe running very high, was here as calm and as even as in a pond ; except thefurface of the fea's trembling and boiling up the current, bearing us with rapidity to windward. I immediately brought to and founded ; we found no bottom, but I am perfuaded we were in the neighbourhood of rocks, the more fo from our being by reckoning between Rokol and St. Kilda iflands : there is anchorage in eighteen fathoms water fouth eaft of the largeft of the St. Kilda iflands, and a paifage between that, and the one which lays N. quarter N. E. of it. In cafe of need a veffel may anchor in this channel in twenty-fix fathoms water, fand and ftony bottom. The thirty-firft, fteering north to make land, cape Heckla bearing by eftimation N. W. twenty leagues diftant, we encountered a furious gale of wind from the eaftward, with a thick fog. As the weather was unfeafonable for making land, and as I had a long way to make to the weft, I refolved on bearing W. N. W. and N. W. quarter W. before the wind, till the weather fhould change and the fky appear. My intention being in cafe the weather fliould not clear up, to fteer under bare poles, and ftand to fea till fuch time, as I ftaould find myfelf in the longitude of Birds' iflands. The firft of June, the wind fell towards night, but the fog continued very thick, which caufed me to keep on the fame tack, under eafy fall. The fecond, in the morning the fky being fomewhat clear, the wind ftill E. I fteered N. E. quarter N. in order to make land. At noon I found myfelf in latitude 63^ 20', and continued the fame courfe ; at length, at two o'clock in the afternoon we made the Birds' iflands. That which is neareft to fhore bore N. E. quarter E., four leagues diftant, and another weft of the former bore N. W. I continued fome time fteering N. E. quarter N. for the purpofe of getting in fhore, at length I bore away at N. quarter N. E., to fall in with the iflands, and pafs between the firft and the fecond, on the fide of the main land. The two iflands are full two leagues afunder. I found in this paflTage tide-beds and eddies, which made a dreadful noife. The diredlion or courfe of the tides is N. W. and S. E. North of the two iflands between which I failed, I perceived the pafTage between the main-land and the firft ifland ; it appeared to me fcarcely a league wide ; on account of the currents, it ought not to be attempted ex- cept with a ftrong and leading wind. A little north of thefe two iflands, I faw three others at fea, which appeared to me to bear'W. quarter N. W. of the former. All thefe iflands are but iharp and inacceffible rocks. I continued my courfe N. quarter N. E. to fall in with Mount Jeugel, and afterwards get under Bredervick point, where all the fifhermen were aflembled. The fourth, I anchored at Patrixfiord, where I remained fome days to give to the French vefTels what afliftance they needed. I fay nothing here of the bearings of the anchorage, or what relates to it having already mentioned it before. After remaining X eight kercuelen's voyage to the north. 789 eight days Dt Patrixfiord, I made ready to depart for Berghen in Norway, to take in a month's piovifions ; but before I leave the weftcrn part of Iceland, it will b3 proper to fay fomething of Greenland, the land moft contiguous to Iceland. Refpecling Greenland we have only an imperfccl: knowledge Some geographers look upon it to this day as an ifland, others as a peninfula. This country was dif- covered by a perfon of the name of Gunbiorn, and made more particularly known by Eric, furnamed Red-head in 982. The green paftures of the country caufed him to call it Greenland. He faw favages there, who doubtlefs had paffed over there from America, but of the origin of which there is nothing certain. The king of Norway beirig informed of this difcovery, caufed miffionarics to be fent over with a colony. The Greenlanders in 1256, revolted againft King Magnus, but this prince afTifled by the Danes, reduced them again to fubjeftion in 1261. The black plague which ravaged all the north, interrupted navigation to Greenland, and for two ages the coun- try remained entirely forgot. Martin Frobiflier left England in 1576, to attempt to reach Greenland, but the ice did not allow of his landing until 1577. He gave his name to a ftrait in latitude 63°. In 1585 John Davis went more to the north, and gave his name to a ftrait which he difcovercd. Chriftian IV. in 1005, fent three veflels thither, which eftablifhed a trade with the Greenlanders, five of whom were brought to Copenhagen, but died of grief at being feparated from their country ; the next year five fhips were difpatched, and in 1616 this prince difpatched Captain Munck with two veffels for Hudfon's Bay, in order to difcover a north-weft paffage. It is Captain Munck who gave the name of Farewell to the cape, which forms the fouth part of Greenland. In 1636 fome merchants of Copenhagen fent two veffels to Davis's ftraits, who trafficked with the Greenlanders and brought back a large quantity of gold duft. It is not known for what reafon this trade was difcontinued by the Danes to 17 18, when a clergyman full of zeal, obtained an order from the king to go over to Greenland with all his family. His name was Egede, and all the Greenlanders to whom he preached the gofpel, had the higheft veneration for him. In 1731 the King of Denmark recalled all his fubjeds from Greenland. Egede alone remained with all his family. The king fent thither again in 1734, and at this time the commerce of Greenland is carried on by the general company of Copenhagen, which every year difpatches three Ihips to that country. The coafts of Greenland are difficult of accefs on account of the {helves and ice which furround them. It is even affirmed that Frobifher's ftraits are at this day fo full of ice, that its exiftence is difputed. The eaftern part of Greenland, which is oppofite to Iceland is entirely inacceflible, owing to the ice floats which come from Spitzbergen, and which even ftiut the paffage fometimes between Iceland and Greenland, which is thirty-five leagues wide. This happened in 1766, in that year it has been already ob- ferved the fifhing veffels were never able to double cape North. The climate of Greenland is cold, and the weather very inconftant and variable. In the vallies, the ground confifts of marfties and turf, and the mountains, which are fo many fliarp rocks, are covered with ice and fnow ; trees are met with here in no greater abundance than in Iceland. There are in Greenland feveral mountains of Amianthus. . Very fmall white hares are found here, and rein-deer, but which have no refemblance to the Lapland rein-deer. . The foxes there are grey, w hite, and blue ; bears are met with, but which no ways refemble the bears of other countries, they have more fupplenefs, and are more nimble. No other birds are feen but thofe called Riper by the Icelanders, which build their nefts in the higheft rocks ; but as well as in Iceland, there 79© kergtjelen's voyage to ths north, there are quantities of aquatic fowl. Tlie rivers are full of trout and falmon, and on the coafl: plenty of fiili and whales are caught. The Greenlanders are fmall of ftature, grofs and fat, they have all of them black hair, and red and brown countenances ; they are fuhjecl to colds in the head, to the fcurvy, to complaints of the eyes and the breafl. They knew nothing either ofphy- ficians or furgeons, they have priefts, who ferve them as well for philofophers and doc- tors, for whom they entertain the highefl: refpefl-, and whom they frequently confult. The language of the Greenlanders much refembles that of the Efquimaux Indians, who inhabit North America. Their drefles are made of birds' feathers, rein-deer Ikins, and feals fkins fewed together with the guts of them. The Greenlanders have huts for the winter, and in the fummer live in tents ; their huts are fimilar to thofe of the poor Ice- landers ; their tents are made of feals' fkins. They make but one meal which is at night. They live upon hares, kids, fea-dogs, different forts of birds, and fifh, and drink nothing but water. Neither arts nor fciences are to be met with among the Greenlanders ; their trade confifts in lard, whalebone, unicorns' horns, kid lldns, rein- deer, fea-dogs, and foxes. They take, in barter, linen and other necefl'aries. Thefe people have a fort of religion ; they acknowledge a fupreme Being, believe the fouls of the dead afcend to heaven, and go a hunting there, and that the bodies remain to rot in. the earth ; women are buried alive as foon as they appear to be in a dying (late. The above is all that is mod: interefling of the hiitory and manners of the Green- landers, there remains I fliould fpeak of their boats for fifliing, and their manner of filhing and navigating. Hunting and fifliing are the only occupations of a Greenlander. They fifli in their lakes, rivers, and rivulets, but their principal fifhing is in the fea ; where they catch whales, unicorns, and fea-dogs, cod, and other fifli, which abound upon the coafl. Their hooks were formerly of bone, but they have fteel hooks now which the Danes bring them. Their lines are made of Imall fplinters of whalebone, and their calling nets of deer's guts twilled, the harpoon which they ufe for flriking the whales, is furnifhcd with a forked bone, or a pointed Hone, fome have alfo harpoons of iron, which they barter for with the Danes giving them oil and greafe in exchange. As thefe poor people have but little wood and iron, they make ufe of the precaution of faftening to the middle of every harpoon which they throw, the bladder of a fea-dog, that if the harpoon fliould not flrike the fifh or detach itfelf from it, it may float on the " water, and be readily found again, this expedient was known to the fifhermen of the Atlantic Ocean, for Opien in his Halieuticon fpeaks of it, lib. V. v. 177. " They dart, fays he, large facks blown up by the breath, and fallened to a cord, immediately at the fifh, as it is ^bout to plunge." The arrows which the Greenlanders ufe, are armed as well either with bone or fharp flones, and they exercife themfelvcs in drawing the bow, from their tendercfl infancy. The inhabitants of the new ifland on which M. Bougain- ville landed lately in the South Sea, not having any iron, make ufe of bone for heading their arrows, of fcales and fhells for knives, and I'harp ilones for felling of trees ; thefe examples fliew that neceflity is the mother of invention, and that induflry is every where alike. The canoes or boats, in which the Greenlanders embark for the fifliery, are made of wood failened together by traver es, joined with thin flips of whalebone at dif- ferent diflances. They are lined with the fkin of feals, well fewed together with ani- mal fibres inflead of thread, and the joints are well greafed to prevent water from pene- trating. 'J hefe canoes are of diiferent fizcs. Some are capable of carrying twenty per- fons with their arms and baggage ; and a good quantity of fifli or whales' blubber. Thefe canoes have a fail made of the bowels of the whale, fplit and dried, and fewed one kerguelen's voyage to the north. 791 one fo the other. Iliflorians informs us, that this mode of navigating is conimori among all the northern people that have been difcovered. Scheffer cites feveral examples in his work, De Militia Navali Veterum. The Mufctum Regiwn Danicum, and the authors which M. Hafeeus refers to in his diifertation de Leviathan Jobi may be con- fulted. I have obferved that the Greenlanders had no knowledge of arts and fcienccs. They are unable to count farther than twenty-one. They count by moons. It is by the courfe of that planet they compute the return of the whales, and other fifli to their coaft. The fifteenth of June, I failed from Patrixfiord to go to Norway ; it was during this run that I founded, and made the obfervations on the Shetland iflands, and the Orcades, which I have before detailed to the reader; I paflTed fouth of Fair ifle in the little Tuns, and afterwards directed my courfe towards the fliores of Norway. The firfl of July, in the morning I made land. I took the latitude at noon, five leagues north of the rocks or iflands which are called Utfires ; and found thefe iflands to be placed too far fouth by 15' in the Neptune. On the Utfires, pilots are to be met with for the Berghen roads. I fhall not enter into any further account of the bearings of this coaft, all that was neceflary to fay having been mentioned before. At two o'clock in the afternoon, being about three leagues from fliore, Norwegian pilots came on board, who made me lufF up to make the pafl!age of Rooth-holm ; but the wind, which blew but gently from the north, at length entirely died away, and we had calm all the night long. The fecond, at three o'clock in the morning, a feeble wind arofe in the N. E., with a thick fog : we luffed under the land, keeping always a league from fliore ; and by ten o'clock it clearing up, we entered the above-mentioned paflTage of Rooth-holm, through which I pafled the year before ; but inftead of proceeding up it as far as Ingefon, as on our firfl; voyage, we anchored in the port of Brandfoom, which is wefl of Ingefon : it is larger, and the entrance more commodious. The entrance of Brandfoom is known by an ifland, in the fliape of a pye, at the opening of the port, and which is very healthy : three veflels of war may moor there in fafety. There is always a fine fea, and no wind. is felt there. This port, is to ftarboard on pafllng to the north of Bomel ; it is pof- fible to enter it by any wind from the N. W. to the E. A vefTel mooring there fliould cafl: anchor in fifteen to twenty fathoms, with gravelly bottom, and fend a fmall anchor with a tow-line on fhore from the fl:ern, fouth of the llream-anchor. The third, it rained, the flcy was overcafl;, and the wind blew frefli from the fouth, I failed at two in the afternoon to get up to Berghen. After proceeding three or four leagues a calm came on, and we were obliged to be towed by all our boats to get to an anchorage. The fourth, in the morning, a light wind arofe from the S. S. W. : I got under fail, and anchored at Berghen at half pafl; two, in the fame place I had done in the frigate La Folle. After having taken in what provifions and rcfrefliments I required, I left Berghen on the twenty-fourth of July, and went out through the northern paflTage, as I had done the year before to return to Iceland. The thirtieth, at night, confidering myfelf twelve leagues S. E. of Langernefs, the wind northerly, with fog, I founded, but found no bottom, and brought-to. 1 ordered the officer of the watch to found every two hours during the fog, and to lleer W.N. W. if itdifperfed fufficiently for difcerning the difliance of three leagues. The thirty-firfl;, at five in the morning, we faw land j I continued my courfe to get near it, but the wind blew very faintly from the north. At noon I found the latitude 66° 26'. "We faw in the afternoon a number of doggers, or fifliing veflfels, all of whom that 792 kerguelen's voyage To the north. that I fpoke told me there was nothing new in the fleet. We had feven or eight days of fine weather, which I employed in founding and taking bearings. The tenth of Auguft, feeing the appearance of bad weather, I got off the coaft. The twelfth and thirteenth, we had a gale of wind from the S. W., with a terrible fea. We brought-to with the ftay-fails fet, and in this attitude my veflel bore very well. From the thirteenth the wind was continually changing, with foggy weather ; at length, on the nineteenth, feeing the weather did not clear up, and that the feafon was advanced, I run for the Shetland iflands. The twenty-fourth, being by log fifteen leagues E. N. E. of Boquenefs, I founded and found fixty fathoms water, muddy bottom. I continued my courfe four leagues, on the W. N. W. tack, and found, on founding, feventy fathoms water, with a muddy fand. I purfued my way under the fame breeze, and confidered myfelf four leagues eaft of the middle of cape Boquenefs ; I did not perceive it ; I founded and found fifty fathoms water, bottom fine fand mixed with mud : I then fteered S. quarter S. E. to fall in with the Dogger-bank, with a very frefli breeze from the north, as the horizon was clear, and cape Boquenefs very high, and as I had fpoken to feveral herring- fifhers, who told jne they were twelve leagues from land, I am furprifed at not having feen Boquenefs, and I thence conceive it to be more north than is marked in the French chart. This chart places it in lat. ^y° 32', but the Dutch charts place it in lat. 57° 58'. At the point of Boquenefs is a Imall bank, which the Dutch call Vatterburg, which fignifies rat's-tail, on account of its figure. On this bank there is at low water three fathoms water ; there is a paffage ajleague wide between the bank and the (hore. South of Boquenefs an ifland is perceived, and feveral rocks, and near them there is anchorage in ten fathoms water, fhel- tered from all winds from the north. The currents run fouth along all thefe coafts. The twenty-fixth, at noon, I took the foundings on the Dogger-bank, and from that inftant I did not ceafe heaving the lead till I reached the banks of Oftend. As the detail of the different courfes I took in founding would be tedious, I fhall only defcribe the founding, and the points of latitude and longitude. TABLE OF SOUNDINGS FROM THE NORTH-WEST EXTREMITY OF THE DOGGER- BANK TO THE BANKS OF OSTEND. Lat. Long 55" 9' 55 3 54 59 54 56 54 53 54 50 54 53 54 54 54 48 54 44 54 39 54 35 E. 54 33 54 3» 54 30 54 20 Long. W, from Paris. o 59 grey fand with black fpots 55 lame bottom 52 fame 50 flint and fmall fl;ones 47 ditto 39 ditto 34 ditto 1 9 ditto 2 1 ditto 14 ditto 7 ditto 2 ditto 6 fine fand and (hells 9 fine fand 1 8 fame, extremity of Dogger-bank 33 fine white fand and Ihells Fathoms. 26 21 20 18 14 »5 iS 18 18 17 »5 15 »4 12 18 26 54' 7' Lat. Long. E. 54' 7' 41 53 54 40 S3 50 40 53 47 39 53 35 32 53 17 23 53 10 21 53 7 21 53 5 20 53 18 52 46 '5 52 26 46 52 '4 47 22 10 40 51 50 28 KERGUELEn's V0YA02 TO THE NORTH. 793 from Parii. Fathoms. large fand and fmall pebbles - 28 fame bottom - - 24 muddy fand - - 51 fame - - - 22 fame - - - 20 fine red fand mixed with black - 18 the fame - - - 25 the fame - - - 20 fine white fand (white bank) - 17 the fame - - - 22 fine grey fand - - 28 red and grey fand - - 25 fame bottom - - 17 fine fand - - - 19 fand and fmall gravel - 20 The variation of the needle 1 9". I traverfed the Dogger-bank, and the banks fouth of this firft, taking foundings every hour, of which the table is annexed. Veflels which are paffing over the Dog- ger-bank fliould take the middle of it as much as pofTible, for on the eaftern fide the currents are violent, and run to the Categat ; and on the weftern fide there is no more than eight or nine fathoms water, which occafions furges fo much the more dan- gerous, as the bottom is large gravel and fmall pebbles. South of the middle of the Dogger-bank there is twenty-five to thirty fathoms water, muddy bottom. Ten leagues fouth of the middle of the Dogger-bank is the -jjhite water ; the bottom is of white fand, and there is fixteen or feventeen fathoms water. Five leagues eafl: of this bank the Well-bank is met with, the bottom of which is of ftone ; there are eighteen fathoms water on it. Weft of this bank the bottom, which is a yellow fand and black gravel, increafes to twenty-two fathoms. A little lower down are the Lemon-banks, very dan- gerous ; on thefe there is no more than one' fathom at low water. Many veffels are annually loft there. The middle of Lemon is about feven leagues N. N. E. of Yar- mouth. The banks of Yarmouth alfo are to be guarded agalnft. By all that I have obferved, it muft be evident that the weft fide of the Dogger-bank is very dangerous. Incalms, fliips anchor on the Dogger-bank to wait for wind and tide. The fifhing vef- fels of Dunkirk, decked boats of thirty-five tons, anchor there in all weathers ; they pay out three hundred fathoms of cable, and meet frequently dreadful gales of wind while at anchor. By accident fometimes a veflel is loft in this manner : the veflels on tacking fall foul of their cable, and on the after-tack run again upon, when, ftiould the cable pafs under the keel, the veffel is fometimes overfet. The twenty-eighth of Auguft, at three o'clock in the morning, having founded and found twenty-four fathoms water, with fandy bottom, and being within the firft of the Fle- mifli banks, I caft out a fmall anchor to wait for the tide. At fix o'clock the wind blew frefli from the E. S. E. I fet fail and fteered S. S. W. At nine o'clock I faw the towew of Oftend, which bore S. quarter S. W,, five leagues diftant. I continued running S. S. W., on account of the Hood running Ilrongly to the eaft. At noon the towers bore fouth, two-thirds of a league from me. I fired three guns to caufe pilots to come on board, who were remifs ; and at half paft noon I entered between the jetties. The tide began to ebb from the port, which made mc run the hazard of being driven on a VOL. I, c I bank 794 K'Ejicuelen's voyage To the- north. bank to {larboard on entering. Luckily a floop belonging to the port was there, which quickly carried a lafliing to the moorings of the eaflern or larboard fide of the jetties on entering. On coming from the north to make Oftend, two towers at firfl are diftin- guiflied, the largeft of which has a fteeple, and belongs to the parifli chmxh ; the other, which is terminated by a gallery, is that of the clock of the towil-houfe. In making the land the one muft be kept in line with the other, until you reach the buoy, which is at the weilern extremity of the traverfe, on which is a little red flag ; this mufl be kept to larboard : you then (leer for the eailern jetty, which is the fafeft, and which you mufl: keep clofe to, whether in coming in or going out. At high water you pafs over the Stroom and the Traverfe : on thefe two banks the water rifes eighteen feet. A pilot, kept for the purpofe, takes care at half-flood to hoift a fmall blue flag, in order to fliew that fmall velfels can enter. To give information to large veflels that they may enter, he hoifls a large blue flag, on which there is an eagle. When none is hoifted, it is a fign of there not being fufficient water ; in that cafe, if the fhip be at fea, fhe muft either tack or caft aachor : a veffel may anchor in the roads, or moor on the Stroom j and W. N. W. of the Traverfe, in fix or feven fathoms water, with fandy bottom. The fpring-tides rife nineteen feet, and neap-tides fourteen feet. At low water there is but iix or feven feet on the Stroom. The mode of avoiding it is to keep the two towers open, by about the fpacc of the fize of the hrgeft tower, which muft be kept to the eaft. At the eaflern point of that bank there are three fathoms water. There is only three feet water on the Traverfe, or bar, and even but two a little eaft of the jetty, at the end of the moorings. In fhort, to enter Oftend, great attention muft be paid to the time of high water, which is at twelve o'clock in that port, and new and full at three o'clock tipon the banks out at fea. Attention muft be paid as well to the flood running with rapidity E. N. E., on which account a fhip fhould fteer a little within the eaftern jetty, and manage the fails according to the wind. The entrance of the port, or of the jetties,, is S. S. E. and N. N. W. ; but after having paflTed the bank on the ftarboard quarter on entering, the port makes an elbow, and bears to the S- 8. W. If a veffel be obliged ta enter into port without a pilot, and if the wind be ftrong, flie muft be ready to caft an- chor on the ftarboard fide as foon as fhe has paffed the bank which is at the entrance of the port, and laid the vefl'el S. S. W. ; for in cafe of not anchoring, (he would be carried away by the current to the mud-banks at the bottom of the port. Oftend is very com- modious for every fliip under forty guns j but it keeps filling up every day, particularly fince a dam has been thrown up to prevent the overflowing of Polder St. Catherine, which is nearly two thoufand five hundred acfes of new well cultivated land. In this fpace, lately overflowed by the tide, the fineft bafin in the univerfe might be conftrufted, by forming a fluice in the middle of the dam, made thirty years ago to oppofe the inun- dation. The Oftenders will be able to cleanfe and excavate their port as much as they pleafe by means of the waters which they may dam up after flood in the Sandfort. In refpeft to the bank on the infide of the jetties to ftarboard on entering, it is eafy to dcftroy it, by making an elbow upon the eaftern jetty to change the direftion of the drifts, by an angle of reflexion equal to the angle of incidence : the waters of the fme fluice of Schlick, although very diftant and badly placed, would be fufficient to carry away the bank. If this fluice had been placed nearer to the trading port, at the entrance of the canal of Bruges, its defence and its ufe v/ould have been united; inftead of which, it is of very httle fcrvice where it is towards cleanfing the port, and very difficult to pro- tect from the attacks of an enemy. I'hc town of Oftend is fmall, but very pretty ; it rendered iti'elf famous during the wars of the Low Countries. Oftend takes its name from its fituation ; as it is at the extremity of Flanders, on the eaftern fide, it is callisd Oftend kerguelek's voyage to the north. 795 Oflend (Eaft-end). Oflend particularly-^gnalized iifelf by the fiege which It fulbinei in 1601 againft the archduke. This fiege,\vhich lafted three years, began in the month of July 1 601 ; and the town did not capitulate until September 1604. There ptrifhed during the fiege fifteen colonels, feven marlhals, five hundred and fixty-five captains, cloven hundred and fixty- fix lieutenants, three hundred and twenty-two enfigns, four thoufand nine hundred and eleven ferjcants, nine thoufand one hundred and fixty-fix corporals, fix hundred and ten anfpaffades, fifty-four thoufand three hundred and fixty- fix foldiers, fix thoul'and and eleven failors, eleven hundred and ninety-fix women and children ; making in the whole feventy-eight thoufand perfons and upwards. Oftend only began to be fortified in 1 572. It was however a town knowTi for feveral ages be- fore ; for it is feen in the grand Flandere Chronicle, that Robert de Frife, eighteenth count of Flanders,died in 1093, after reigning twenty-two years, and built thirty churches, dedicated to St. Peter, the firft of which was eredled at Oftend. The abridgment of the Fiemifli Chronicle fpeaks alfo of Oftend, in mentioning Philipes Elfaten, fixteenth count of Flanders, who died in 1 1 9 1 , and who caufed to be hung and expofed along the coaft, from Blankemberg to Oftend, eighty Norman gentlemen, who had feized upon fome Ihips belonging to the princefs of Portugal his wife. In the time of Philipes Elfaten, there was taken on the coaft near Oftend a fea-monfter, forty feet long, with eight large fins. Jaques Marchantiers, in his defcription of Flanders, book I. page 79, fays, ia fpeaking of this monfter, Rojlro aquilino, cr'ijld gladiata ; the expreflion crifta gladiata, makes me conceive it to have been a kind of fword-fifh ; perhaps it was a particular fpecies. After repairing my veflel at Oftend, and refrefhing my crew, I made difpofitions to continue my courfe to Breft, the twelfth of September. The thirteenth, at noon, the wind blew pretty frefli from the eaft, the weather over^ caft, I left the port, keeping clofe to the eaftern jetty. When outfide the jetties we fleered weft, to pafs to the fouth of the buoy, which is at the extremity of the bank be- fore the port. After paffing this buoy we bore W. N. W. and W. S. W., coafting along ihore, three quarters of a league diftant, till we got oppofite to Nieuport, which we rounded, keeping rather farther from fiiore. At four o'clock we direded our courfe fouth, to avoid the point to the eaft of Brae, and gain the entrance of the roai of Dun- kirk on the eaftern fide. When wide of the Brae on the eaft, a v^el is defirous of nearing the land to gain the channel, the tower of St. Catherine (hould be kept in line ■with the two towers of Bergues, keeping however thofe of Bergues a little to the eaft of that of St. Catherine, which is the only tower on the coaft in this neighbourhood. Knowing by founding, or the increafed depth of water, that we had pafled the point eaft of the Brae, and that we were in the channel at the entrance of the road, we fteered N. W. and N. quarter W., under top-fails^ to look for our anchorage. At half paft: four o'clock we caft anchor in feven fskthoms water, with a bottom of muddy fand, and •we moored caft and weft, the fame bottom and fame fundings. Being moored, the battery bore S, quarter S. W., and the tower of Dunkirk S. 1 ought not to forget to oblerve, that in going from Oftend to Dunkirk there is a channel more fecure and eafy than that which we took, particularly for a veflel like I'Hirondelle : a veffel has need to coaft the fhore at no more than a quarter of a league diftant, and take care in rounding the bank which is at the entrance of Nieuport. The road of Dunkirk is good, on account of tnere being but little water (fix, feven, eight, and nine fatlioms), and the ground hold- ing well. This road would hold the largeil fleet \ it is fliutonly by a fand-bank, called the Brae, on which at low water there is but one fathom water, and which in fome places even is diy. The winds the moft to be appreheftdcd in this road are thofe from 512 P^ yg6 kerouelen's voyage to the north, the W. N. W. to the N. E. The fea there frequently runs very high, particularly when the wind blows from the W. N. W., on account of the furges entering by the weftem paffage. This is the mod likely wind to make the anchors drive and break the cables, efpecially in flowing tides, for then (hips have at the fame time to fuftain the power of the wind and the impulfe of the flood. Dunkirk is celebrated for its antiquity, its port, and the revolutions It has undergone. About fixty years before the Chriflian asra, the people inhabiting the coafts of the fea where Dunkirk now is fituated, were called Diabintes. This name, which is latinized, is derived from the German, in which language it is thus written : Die hap inden j figni- fying, navigating in a port of a fecure form, or navigating in a port of the fliape of a hatchet. The Morini were their neighbours, that is to fay, the people of Boulogne, Calais, St. Omer, Therouane, and Aire; and thofe of Bergues, Honfchoot, Furnes, Dixmude, and Nieuport, were called Menapii : thefe three people went to meet Caifar on his conquering Gaul, and gave him battle on the banks of the Sambre : it remained for a long time undecided, and C^far gained it only by means of a confiderable rein- forcement which he had received during the engagement ; notwithfl:anding this his lofs was fo great, that he was unable to fubjugate thefe people until the following year, whea he again fought with and defeated them. Csefar conquering them, left them Corvinius for governor. The Romans confl:ru£ted feveral fortrefles, among others that of Caflel, fix leagues from Dunkirk inland, where the governor of the Low Countries ufed to refide. The village of Mardyck, which has been made a good fortrefs, is fituated a league and a half, or thereabouts, from Dunkirk ; it has given the name to feveral camps and battles ; it was formerly the celebrated Portus Iccius, of which Ccefar fpeaks in his Commentaries, who has even retained the name ; the Sieur Chifflet has drawn a plan of it, with an ample defcription. He fays, that in the time of Cjefar the greater part of this country was covered with wood, and overflowed in different parts, and that there were only fome banks or roads raifed above the marlhes, which led to the fea-fhore ; the fea then extended as far as to a town called Cithieu. This town was afterwards named St. Omer's, from the name of a bifliop of Therouane, who built a church and feveral houfes there for the refidence of the poor of his diocefe, and to enable them to live by the trade of the place. After his death, the relics of the faint being tranfported to Cithieu, his name was given to the church, and the town which was afterwards built. St. Viiftricius, bifliop of Rouen, was the firfl: who came to preach the Chriflian reli- gion on the coad of Dunkirk, in 396. The lafl: of the Romans were driven out by Meroue, who fubjugated this province to France, in 450. St. Eloi came to preach the faith in 646, and made fome fl:ay there, which brought over a number ofprofelytes j he built a pretty large church there on the downs, where for fome time a number of tifliermen and poor people were collefted together. This place was foon frequented by a number of the Chriftians of the neighbourhood : the name of Dunkirk v/as given to this church, and to the town which was afterwards built on tliat fpot ; the word kerke fignifying church in the Teutonic language, from which the Flemifli is derived. The Low Countries were governed for a long time by foredcrs appointed by the kings of France. Baldwin, in 864, was forefl:er of Tlandcrs, or the Low Countries, having run way with and married Judith, daughter of Charles the Bald, who forgave him his conduct:, and I'anctioned his marriage j he became the firfl count of Flanders, the king making this country a county referving a homage to France. The number of the inha- bitants of Dunkirk augmenting every day, from the commodioufnefsof its natural port, Baldwin III. furrounded it with a wall in 906, to proted the inhabitants from the inroads of kerguelen's voyage to the north. 797 cf banditti. They addldcd themfelves to trade and filhing, and embellifhcd and added to the convenience of the port. Philip of AlHice built fevcral vefTels of war there, to go with to the Holy Land. In 1 170 the Norman pirates, for the mofl part gentlemen, interrupted their commerce, by ftoppin^ their veifels in the channel ; they detained and even plundered the Princefs of Portugal, who was on her voyage to marry Count Phi- lippes in Flanders. Philippes fitted out a ftrong fleet at Dunkirk, which he fent after them, and was fortunate enough to take them all and carry them into Dunkirk, where they were condemned to death, as 1 have before obferved in fpeaking of Oltend. This defeat endeared the Duukirkers to their fovereign, who granted them many privileges and exemptions. In 1232 Dunkirk being fold to Godfrey de Conde, bifhop of Cam- bray, on condition of reverting after his death to the count of Flanders, he very much enlarged and deepened the port, and conftrudted two jetties, proceeding a good diftanco out to fea. Dunkirk was feparated from the county of Flanders, and erected into a private lord- fhip by Robert of Bethune, in favour of Robert of CafTel his fon, who built a caftle, and eftabliflied a magiftracy. He founded three brotherhoods of crofs-bow-men, bow-men, and gunners, to exercife the citizens, and perfeft them in the ufe of arms : dying with- out a fon, his only daughter Jolanda married a duke of Bar. This alliance gave its firft arms to Dunkirk. In 1382, the people of Ghent revolting from their fovereign, called the Englifli to their afliftance, and feized upon the town of Dunkirk ; but Charles VI., King of France, retook it the fame year, and reftored it to its lord. In 1403, the v;alls and fortifications, damaged by the fieges it hadfuftained, were re- paired, and the ditches greatly deepened. In 1436, the Englifli took Dunkirk. In 1 440, a church was built at the foot of the tower built a fliort time before, to fcrvs as a pharos and belfry for the parifli. Among many great men which this town has produced is Nicholas Vanderhclle, a great theologian, four times redeur magtiifique of the univerfity of Louvain ; Cornelius Schepper, a great philofopher and politician, who under Francis I. was profeflTor of phi* lofophy and mathematics at Paris. He was chofen by Charles V» to watch over his in» terelts with the major part of the princes of Europe, and was twice appointed ambalfador to Sultan Solyman : he was greatly beloved by the learned. The fifliery being from earlieft time tlie principal trade of the town, in i ^32 five hundred bulTes or veflTels, from fifty to fixty tons, dcfigned for filhing in the north, be- longed to this port : every one of thefe vefTels had among the lines with which they fiflied, one called the holy line ; all the fifli caught by it were fold for the benefit of the church : out of thefe gifts the church, which was burnt in 1 558, was rebuilt in 1 560. In the war between France, Spain, and I'^ngland, in 1 558, madhal Termes with feven- teen thoufand men fet down before Dunkirk : there were in garrifon in the place at the time no more than four hundred men ; it was taken by allault and pillaged, and many of the citizens were maflacrcd. Bergues iuftered the fame fate. The pillage in thefe- towns and in the neighbourhood was fo great, that a cow was fold in the French camp for two or three fous, and ihirty-eight horned beads for a gold crown : the bells were- even broken, in order to take away the pieces, the enemies of France having coUcclcd an army in the neighbourhood of St. Omer's, for the purpofe of attacking the French., Marflial Termes was difpofed to retreat, and fet fire to feveral parts of the town, in order to complete the delfruftion of what had efcaped the rage of the foldiery ; tha church, the convents, and almolt the whole town, were confunied by the flames, as well as. 798 kerguelen's Voyage to the north. as feveral veflcls were laden with booty, which were detained by contrary winds 'n the port. After thefe exceffes he departed to join the main army, but Count Egment, the general of the Spaniards, came up with fifteen thoufand troops, and a large number of peafants, who cut to pieces the army of Marflial Termes, making him with the chief of his ftaff prifoners. In 1583 the town of Dunkirk was taken by the confederates, and retaken the fame year by the Duke of Parma, who greatly repaired the port, and built there fever A veflcls of war, among others, fourteen commanded by vice-admiral Wacken, wh ch made many Dutch prizes ; the following year, the proprietors of thefe veflels made a number of prizes, which they conducted into port, notwithftanding it was blockaded by a Dutch fquadron. Charles Dauwere and his fon John were the chiefs of thefe fleets of privateers ; they were both of them intrepid, and very fl^ilful in manoeuvres. This caufed the fquadron of the Dutch, which had coft a great deal for little advantage, to draw off". About this time the Spanifli fleet arrived in the channel, named the InvhiciblCy which was difperfed by a ft:orm ; many fhips periflied at fea, others were lofl; on the fhores of France and England, and the fad remains of this fleet were fortunately con« duded back to Spain through the fltill of Michael Jacobs, a Dunkirker, an excellent feaman ; neverthelefs the Dunkirkers did not ceafe fitting out privateers, and making confiderable prizes of Dutchmen and Zealanders. Thefe riches drew a number of fo- reign failors to Dunkirk. The ardour of the Dutch for blockading Dunkirk was re- doubled, fending even a hundred veflels before it ; which however did not hinder the privateers from fl:ealing out under favour of night, and, owing to the lightnefs of their veflels, proceeding in making prizes in the North Sea, They were attacked by a large fliip of war, commanded by the Vice-admiral Anthonifen, but who was not then on board. In his abfence, the commander feeing himfelf difabled, half his crew wounded, and the enemy already boarding his fliip, fet fire to the powder-room, and blew himfelf up ; at the fame time doing confiderable damage to the Dunkirkers. The town was fortified with new works, and privateering continued. In 1595, one captain of a privateer brought into the port of Dunkirk as many as thirty mafters of bufles and other veflels, which he was fatisfied with ranfoming for more than two hundred thoufand livres ; aa enormous fum for that age. Another, named Koftcr, returning to Dunkirk after ran- foming feveral veflels, was furrounded by a Dutch fleet ; he fought defpei-ately, and difabled feveral veflels ; at length, prefled upon at all fides, he fet fire to the magazine, and blew himfelf up, together with the fliips which were boarding him. The Cardinal Archduke Albert of Aufliria, ,who replaced the Duke of Parma, being defirous of fignalizing his acceflion to the government of the Low Countries, laid fiege to Calais in 1596, which he carried in a little time ; this acquifition was of great ad- vantage to cruizing againft the enemy. The Dutch, interefted in hindering, fent four- teen large veflfels to anchor before Dunkirk, while nine others kept the fea to intercept the veflels defirous of entering. Calais was given up to the French by the treaty con- cluded in 1598, between France and Spain; in fpite of the Dutch fquadron prizes ar- rived in fatety, and the engagements which took place, were fought with fo much the more obfiinacy from each party hanging their prilbners. In 1609 a truce was concluded for twelve years between the Dutch and Spaniards. At the end of it the privateers, aflifled by nine Spanifli veflels, ruined the Dutch com- merce. In i6i2 the citadel of Mardyck was conflrufted to flicker Dunkirk from the infults of its enemies, in this year John Jacobfon ot Dunkirk, a captain in the navy, com- inanding the St. Vincent of a hundred and fifty mon, on going out of port with two Spanifli kercuelen's voyage to the north. 799 Spanlfb VefTels commanded by Spaniards, was attacked about four hours after leaving the jettys, by nine Dutch men of war, whicli furrounded and engaged the St. Vincent ; his two companions made their efcape. Jacobfon maintained the unequal fight for thirteen hours, funk two of the velfels, and did great damage to the others, but, reduced to two or three mtn, the rcfl: being either killed or wounded, he was boarded by fifty of the enemy, when he let fire to the magazine, and blew them up with himfelf: the explofion was fo violent, that one of the Dutch vefl'cls was difmafled, and another was in great danger from the falling of feme heavy pieces of brafs cannon which had been blown up, and alighted on the deck ; all the rell were in a fad plight. The enemy ia this engagenient loll more than four hundred men. This lofs, far from difpiriting the Dunkirkers, only inflamed them with a defire to revenge their companions. The Sieurs Wandewalle, father and fon, equipped eighteen veflels, which, in conjunftion with others, made more than fix hundred prizes, of which fix were veffels of war of the largefl: fize ; from the prizes captured by four veffels only of Wandewalle, the tenth, which belonged to the king of Spain, came to more than a hundred thoufand florins ; and in fpite of the blockade of the town, which the Dutch maintained continually, the cruizers ruined their fifliery and their trade. In 1626 the profits of the privateering were eftimated at more than 10,000,000 f. In 1629 the Dunkirkers made prize of ninety-one veflels richly laden ; without including ranfoms, and fhips which they burnt in Norway and other places. Matthew Rombout, a Dunkirker, vice-admiral of the Spaniards, fought Admiral Peter Hein ; the latter loft his life. He was much regretted by the Dutch. Tired at length with their continual loflTes, after depriving Admiral Drop of his commifiion, who com- manded before Dunkirk, they augmented their fleet to eighty fail, in order to blockade the place entirely ; but, getting too clofe to Macrdyck, the cannon from the fortrefs played on them with fo well direfted a fire, they were fain to retire, after fuftaining confiderable damage. War being declared in 1635 between France and Spain, the Dunkirkers made prize of fourteen French fhips at once, laden with wine ; and fome days after, Captaia Nordman captured eleven others. Admiral Colaert, a Dunkirkman, commanding fe- venteen veflTels of war, burnt more than a hundred and fifty Dutch bufles, convoyed by a fquadron ; the admiral's fhip itfelf was deftroyed, and the vice-admiral was carried prifoner to Dunkirk. One of the moft confiderable prizes was that of the famous French pirate Loutre ; fhe mounted eighteen guns, had made prize of feventeen veflels, which had been funk after taking out their moil precious effeds ; there was on board this veflTel feventeen thoufand florins, fix thoufand piaftres, one hundred and twenty-two pounds of filver in ingots, a coffer full of filver plate, and a great quantity of precious itones. In 1636 the fame Colaert took and conduced to Dunkirk the Dutch admiral Haute Been, or Wooden-leg. This Colaert was in the Spanifti fervice for thirty-fix years, took from the enemy one hundred and nine velfels, and twenty-feven fhips of war, bearing colledively more than one thoufand five hundred pieces of cannon ; he died at Dun- kirk in 1637. The great number of prifoners brought into the town caufed a plague, by which numbers of perlbns perilhed. The owners of privateers made fortunes not- withftanding Van Tromp commanded the blockade of the port. In 1640 the circum- ference of the lower town was enlarged, in order to furnifla dwellings for the increafed. number of inhabitants ; fo greatly did the equipments from the place attrad population. It was in 164 c that Don Pedro de Leon, governor of Dunkirk, obliged Vice-admiral Matthew Rorabout to go out of port with his fquadron to afilft the Spaniards againft 6 the §oo kerguelen's vovage to thb north," Portugucfc, u'ho had revolted. This governor, a general officer on fliore, knew ling of the difficulty of paffing through the enemy's fleet, fuperior in number, which the Port nothing . . ^ ^ . - laid between Gravelines and the town. He would not liften to the reprefentations of Rombout, who, forced to obey, was defeated as he had predifted, and killed in the engagement after having fought with the greatefl: refolution. A part of his fquadron was taken, the other was obliged to fly. His death gave as much concern to the Spa- niards, as pleafure to the Dutch, who feared him greatly. A defcendant in a dired line of this Admiral Rombout went two voyages with me as a pilot. In 1642 Jofeph Pieters, vice admiral, being with five veffels and a long-boat in the roads of Vivaros in Spain was attacked at eleven o'clock in the morning by twenty-four French veflels and eight galleys ; the French admiral's fhip, carrying fixty-fix guns, was fo ill treated that he was obliged to withdraw. The battle lafl.ed till night, during which the Dunkirk man made fliift to efcape with his fix veflTels. In 1 645 the French attacked the fort of Mardyck, which capitulated after fix weeks fiege. But the governor of Dunkirk having aflembled all the feamen and fome troops, took it again during a winter's night. It was taken again by the French in 1 646, after a fiege of twenty-one days. That of Dunkirk immediately fucceeded ; the Prince of Conde made himfelf mafter of it in lefs than a month, notwithfl:anding it was vigoroufly defended by the Marquis de Lede, who was obliged to capitulate, all fuccour being cut oft' both by fea and land. He furrendered with military honours. In 1652, during the civil wars of France, the Archduke Leopold retook it, and gave the government of it to the Marquis de Lede, who had before fo well defended it. In 1656 theEnghfli, united with French and Dutch, made war with Spain. The Dunkirkers, joined to thofe of Oftend, took a whole fleet of Englifh fhips, confifliing of forty-four fail, and a few days alter thirty-three others. In 1657 Marflial Turenne, with fome Englifh troops, took the fort of Mardyck. He gave it up to the Englifli, who fent there a fleet laden with a quantity of materials to ■fortify and render it in fome meafure impregnable. They put fifteen hundred men in garrilon in it. In 1658 Marflial Turenne invefl;ed Dunkirk, the king joined him with a powerful army. The Spaniards, under the conduct of Don John of Auftria and the Prince of Conde, endeiU'oured to throw fiiccours into the place, but they lofl: the battle of the Downs ; and the Marquis de I^ede dying of the wounds which he received, the garrifon capitulated on the twenty-fifth of June, after fix weeks fiege. The next day the Spanifli garrifon went. The king entered it the fame day in the morning, and in the after- noon gave up the place to the Englifli, on condition of fuftering the town to enjoy all its privileges ; thus in lefs than a day it faw itfelf fucceffively under the domination of three crowns. The privateers of Dunkirk and Odend had taken during the war more than two thoufand five hundred veflels. The Englifli caufed a ftrong citadel to be con- llructed, inftead of Fort Leon, and greatly ftrengthened the town ; which was fold to the French in 1662 for the fuin of five millions of livres, through the negoti- ation of the Conite D'Efl;rades. The king made his entry ii)to it the fecond of De- cember, maintained its privileges, and made it a free port. In 1665 new fortificarions were conitrucicd, and the citadel improved. In 1680 the foundations of the Fort Ril- bau. Fort Verd, and Fort dc Bonne Efperance were laid, which were perfedled, and projected far out to lea. The king often came to fee the works, which lafted from ten to eleven years, 'ihe bafon was conflrutted in 1686. In 1688 France was at war with the Dutch, the Englifh, and the Spaniards, during which the Dunkirkers fitted out a number of privateers. In 1689 M. Bart, ordered to 4 efcort kerguelen's voyage to the north. 8oi vkort a fleet of fourteen merchant vefTsls to Havre, went on board a frigate of twenty- dghtguns, and with M. Forbin under his orders of iixteen guns, they met with two Englifh fhips of forty-eight and forty-two guns, and fought them fufficiently long to give time to the convoy to purfue its courfe ; but, both wounded, one hundred and forty men difabled, and their veflels complete wrecks, they were taken. The lofs of the Englifh velfels was fo great, that the command of their venils devolved to a boat- fwain's mate, all the officers being killed in the engagement. The two French captains efcaped from prifon fome time afterwards. The firfl: fitted out a veflel and made many prizes. He entirely deflroyed the fifliery of the Dutch, and made a defccnt in England near Newcaflle, with fevcn frigates, burnt there two hundred houfes, and carried back booty to Dunkirk of the value of fifty thoufand livres. Some days after he failed again with three frigates, cruifed in the North, where he took a Dutch fleet, efcorted by three veflels of war, fought the latter, took one, and put the other two to flight, after having greatly damaged them. He came back to Dunkirk with the whole fleet, laden with wheat, barley, iron, pitch, &c. France having purchafed a large quantity of wheat in the north in 1694, M. Bart was ordered to go and convoy the fleet, confifting of a hundred and odd fail of veflels. This fleet failed under efcort of three Swedifli and Danifli fliips, and was taken near the Texel on the twenty-eighth of June, by the commodore Hidde Vries, commanding a fquadron of eight fliips of war ; but the twenty -ninth of June, M. Bart falling in with it, attacked the Dutch with fo much bravery, that in lefs than half an hour the commodore was taken, commanding a vcfl'el of fifty-eight guns, another of fifty, and a third of thirty- fix were captured, as well as the five others much fliattered, which betook themfelves to flight and efcaped. He retook the whole fleet ; he conduced to Dunkirk the three veflels and thirty of the merchantmen, the reft made for their deftination in difl'erent ports of France. The commodore died of his wounds fliortly after his arrival. This fervice rendei-ed to France at a time of extraordinary fcarcity of wheat corn, engaged his majefty to ennoble M. Bart, who had been honoured with the crofs of St. Louis, fome time before for other exploits. The eleventh of Auguft 1695, the enemy with one hundred and fourteen fail under the orders of Admiral Barclay, attempted to bombard the town, they fent in feveral fire-fhips loaded with combuftibles for burning the forts and jettys ; but they were driven back by the well fuftairted fire of the forts, and by the vigilance of M. Derlingue, who commanded in the harbour, and went out with feveral boats to grapple the fire- fhips, launched againft the forts and jettys, and condud them to ftations where they might burn out, without doing any injury. M. Bart commanded at Fort Efperance, M. de St. Claire at Chateau Vcrd. The enemy threw more than one thoufand two hundred bombs, and a number of carcaflTes between eight o'clock in the morning and feven in the evening without doing any damage : ten bombs fell in the Rilban, they killed an oflicer there ; another bomb which fell in I'ort Verd, did no more than dig its grave ; one of the enemy's frigates having grounded on a bank at low water, M. Derlingue went with his boats to it, and made prifouers of its crew, in fpite of the firing of the enemy. This expedition was expenfive to the enemy without profit. The preceding year they made a fimilar attempr. In 1696, JVI. Bart failed from Dunkirk, and took a Dutch fleet in the north, of one hundred and fix fail ; fixty-one of which he ranfomed, after carrying by boarding five veflels of war, which convoyed the fleet. He was made Chef d'Efcadre in 1697 ; and failed the fifth of September, with fix veflels and a frigate to tranfport the Prince de •Conti to Poland, notwithfl;anding an enemy's fquadron fuperior in number, which vox,. I. 5 K "^ could 8o2 KERGUELEN's VOyAOE TO THE NORTH. could not cut him off, he arrived at Dantzig the twenty-fixth, and brought this prince .back again to Dunkirk, November the eleventh following ; circumftances not having anfwered the hopes which the Poles had made this prince conceive. While this was happening, the peace of Ryf>vick was made ; during this war the privateers of Dunkirk had made prizes of the collective value of twenty-two million of livres. In 1701 war broke out afrefli ; Fort Blanc was conftrufted. M. Bart being ordered to fit out a fquadron, applied himfelf to it with fuch aftivity, that a pleurify carried hiin to the grave, the twenty-feventh of April 1702, aged fifty-two years, and generally re- gretted. His fon Andrew followed the fteps of his father ; he diftinguifhed himfelf under M. de St. Pol, who commanded a fquadron in the north, and under M. de Forbin, who fucceeded M. de St. Pol, he being killed in 1705, in an engagement in which his fquadron had the advantage. M. Bart by his fervices, reached the rank of vice- admiral. In 1712, peace being concluded, the fluices, forts, and fortifications of Dunkirk were demoliihed. During this war the Dunkirkers brought in one thoufand fix hundred prizes ; which fold for more than thirty millions of livres, exclufive of veffels carried into other ports of France. In 1 7 14, the canal and port of Mardyck were dug, to carry off the waters of the country ; this port Is half a league from Dunkirk to the weft, befide the ancient P^Iar- dyck. Two fluices were made to admit ftilps, but in 17 17 the largeft was deftroyed, and only the fmaller one of fixteen feet was preferved for letting off the water. By this canal, which ended at Dunkirk, commerce was carried on, but at a heavy expence, in fpite of the Englifti. A dam had been thrown acrofs the port, between the town and citadel, but a furious wind having driven the fea with violence agalnfb it. It gave way fhortly before 1720, and was entirely carried away. Navigation was began upon it, and forts and jettys, in fafcinage, were conftrufted on it In 1 744, and the town was furrounded with a rampart of turf; but the forts were demoliflied at the peace of 1748. After this peace, a dyke was made to carry off the water from the ditches of the town, which had become ftagnant. The laft war the flulce of Bergues was re-eftabllflied, and the bafin, and forts In ^cinage were conftruded clofe to the fea ; but at the peace the forts were demollfhed, the bafin, and the dyke, leaving the flulce of Bergues for carry- ing off the water. The twenty-fourth of September, at nine intne morn: ^.j, having two-thirds of flood- tide, the wind weak from the fouth, I failed from the road of Dunkirk to return to Breft, by the channel. We fleered at firft W. quarter N. W. and W. N. W., to get out of the road which terminates E. and W., with the points of Brae. A vcffel is known to be weft of Brae, when the belfry de petite Sainte Is in a line with the buoy of Mardyck, as well that It Is eaft of Brae, when the belfry of St. Catherine is in a line with the towers of Bergues. After going out of the roads by the paffage of the weft, and about to make for the Straits of Dover ; you muft fteer W. N. W. and N. W. quarter W. to avoid the Snow, a bank which is dry, and which muft be left to larboard ; you muft neither fteer more N. than N. W. quarter W. for fear of falling In with the Breban, on which there is but three feet of water, in certain parts at low water ; but no rilk Is run In fteering W. N. W. and N. W. quarter W. You know that you are clear, that Is to fay, weft of the banks, when you have the tower of St. George, which is flat. In a line with a fmall down, which looks like an illand, or when the great tower of Gravelines bears S. quarter S. W. of the compafs. At noon on the twenty-fourth, I was in that pofitlon, Ig ht wind ; but having the ebb for me I made way. The tides are twelve hours long at Dunkirk, eleven and half at Calais, and three in the middle of the 4 ftrait. kercuelem's voyage to the north. 8o^ ftralt. From noon to fix o'clock I bore wefl, all fails fet, the wind S. E. weak. At fix o'clock I made Cape Grines, bearing S. 4 W. three leagues diflant, andthecaiUe of Dover bearing N. N. W. four leagues diftant ; whence I took ray departure, fleering W. quarter S. W. and W. S. W. The twenty-fifth, at day break, I was five leagues from the Englifli coaft, and by log I ought to have been eight leagues; the flood- tide, which we had from feven o'clock till midnight, had doubtlefs carried us to the north. At noon Beachy-head, on the coaft of England, bore north by the compafs, diflant four leagues and a half, I obferved the variation 19' 52'. From noon till two o'clock we had a vi«£ak S. S. W. wind ; I fleered weft ; at two o'clock the wind getting round to the W., and the tide ebbing, I fleered S. S. W. At fix o'clock Beachy-hcad bore N. N. E. eight leagues diftant. At feven o'clock, being high water, and perfectly calm, I anchored a finall anchor in twenty-fix fathoms water, bottom gravel and broken fhells. I then caft the log, which fliewed me the tide i^an three kaots. At eleven o'clock the wind blowing S. S. W. I failed, fteerin j weft. The twenty-fixth at noon, I made Cape Barfleur, which bore S. W. quarter W., feven leagues diftant. I took the altitude, and found myfelf in latitude 50° o', longitude 0° 18' W. of Paris. From noon to five o'clock a weak S. wind. I fteered W. quar- ter N. W. with all fails fet. At five o'clock, being the beginning of flood, I caft the Itream anchor in thirt5'.feven fathoms, bottom fniall pebbles and fhells. Being at anchor, cape La Hogue bore S. S. W. 5°. W. fix leagues diftant. The tide ran five knots at halfpaft feven. At eight o'clock, my anchor breaking at the middle of the fhank, I fet all fails ; at the fame time coiling all my towing ropes. I fteered W. quarter N. W. to ftem the cur- rent ; at ten o'clock I fteered W. N. W. and N. W. quarter W. not to get near the Cafkets ; at midnight perceiving diftinftly the fires of the Cafkets, I fteered W. N. W. ; at four o'clock I made a tack to the W. S. W,, and at feven o'clock the wind being S. E., I fteered S. W. to make the coaft of Brittany. The twenty-feventh at noon, I was in latitude 49" 30' and longitude 6° 3'. The fame day at fun-rife I found the vari- ation 19° 45'. From noon till four o'clock I fteered S. W. The wind frefh from the S. E. At four o'clock perceiving land, which by the tack I was upon I kept from, I flood clofer in order to make it before night. At fix o'clock the largeft of the feven iflands bearing S. S. E. four leagues diftant, I fteered W. and kept all night under eafy fail. The twenty-eighth at five o'clock in the morning, I kept clofe to fhore. At feven o'clock I laid N. and S. of Abrevrack. I continued running along the coaft, and at nine o'clock I got into Le Four, where, meeting with contrary winds, I lufled till eleven o'clock, when the flood obliged me to caft a fmall anchor in twenty-fix fathoms water, gravelly bottom, a league to the S. S. W. of a rock called le Four. I failed at five o'clock in the afternoon, but night obliged me to anchor at the Blanc Sablon. The twenty-ninth, at feven in the morning, weak and variable winds from the fouth fide, I failed and paflcd by favour of the current againft the wind, the great and little eVinotierre. I anchored in Breft roads at fix in the evening, and the next day my veflfel ntered into port to be difarmed. 5 K 2 THE ( 8o4 ) THE VOTAGE OF THE RIGHT HONOURJBLE GEORGE EARL OF CUMBER. LAND TO THE AZORES*, ETC. WRITTEN Br THE EXCELLENT MA- THEMATICIAN AND ENGINEER MASTER EDWARD WRIGHT. [Hakluyt, II. 155. Second Part ] THE Right Honourable the Earl of Cumberland having at his own charges pre- pared his fmall fleet of four fails only, viz. the Vidory, one of the Queen's fiiips royal j the Me'j and Margaret, fmall fhips, (one of which alfo he was forced foon after to fend home a^ain, finding her not able to endure the fea,) and a fmall caravel ; and having aflembled together about four hundred men (or fewer) of gentlemen, foldiers, and failors; embarked himfelf and them, and fet fail from the Sound of Plymouth in Devonfliire, the eio-hteenth day of June 1389, being accompanied with thefe captains and gentlemen which hereafter follow : Cnptain Chriftopher Lifter, a man of great refolution, captain Edward Carelefs, alias Wright, who in Sir Francis Drake's Weft Indian voyage to St. Domingo and Carthagena was captain of the Hope; captain Bofwell, M. Mervin, M. Henry Long, M. Partridge, M. Norton, M. William Mounfon, captain of the Meg, and his vice-admiral, now Sir William Mounfon, M. Pigeon, captain of the caravel. About three days after our departure from Plymouth we met with three French fliips, whereof one was of Newhaven, another of St. Malo's and fo finding them to be leaguers and lawful prizes we took them, and fent two of them for England, with all their loading, which was fifh for the molt part from Newfoundland, faving that there was part thereof diftributed amongft our fmall fleet, as we could find fliowage for the fame ; and in the third all their men were fent home into France. The fame day and the day following we met with fome other fliips, whom (when, after fome conference had with them, we perceived plainly to be of Rotterdam and Embden, bound for Ro- chelle) we difmiflfed. The twenty-eight and twenty-ninth days we met divers of our Englifli fliips, return- ing from the Portugal voyage, which my Lord relieved with victuals. The thirteenth day of July, being Sunday, in the morning, we efpied eleven fliips without fight cf the coall of Spain, in the height of 39°, whom we prefently prepared for, and provided to meet them, having firfl: fet forth captain Mounfon in the Meg, before us, to defcry whence they were. The Meg approaching near, there pafled fome fhot betwixt them, whereby, as alfo by their admiral and vice-admiral putting forth their flags, we perceived that fome fit'ht was likely to follow,. Having therefore fitted ourfelves for them, we made what hafl:e we could towards them, with regard always to get the wind of them, and about ten or eleven of the clock we came up to them with the Vidory. But, after fome few Jiiot and fome little fight paflTed betwixt us, they yielded themfelves, and the mailers of them all came aboard us, fhevving their feveral paflports from the cities of Hamburg and Lubeck, from Bremen, Pomerania, and Calice. They had in them certain bags of pepper and cinnamon, which they confefled to be the goods of a Jew in Lifbon, which fliould have been carried by them into their country to his fadtor there ; and fo finding it by their own confcfllon to be lawful prize, the fame was foon after taken and divided amongfl: our whole company, the value where- of was efleemed to be about four thoufand five hundred pounds, at two fliilllings the,- pound. • Thcfc ifiet properly belong to Europe, as lying nearer Portugal than any other country. Sec Pinkerlon'a Modern Geog. vol. i- p. 601, TJie CUMBERLANU's VOYAGE TO THE AZORES. goC The feventeenth day the ibrefaid fliips were difmHTcd, but fcvcn of then- men that were willing to go along with us for failors, we took to help us, and fo held on our courfe for the Azores. The firfl; of Auguft, being Friday, in the morning, we had Tight of the iHand of St. Michael, being one of the eaftermofl of the Azores, towards which we failed all that day, and at night having put forth a Spanilh flag in our main-top, that fo they might the lefs fufped us, we approached near to the chief town and road of that ifland, where we efpied three fhips riding at anchor and fome other veflcls : all which we determined to take in the dark of the night, and accordingly attempted about ten or eleven of the clock, fending our boats well manned to cut their cables and havvfers, and let them drive into the fea. Our men coming to them found that one of thofe greatefl: fhips was the Falcon of London, being there under a Scottifh pilot, who bore the name of her as his own. But three other fmall Ihips that lay near under the caftle there, our men let loofe and towed them away unto us, mofl of the Spaniards that were in them leaping over- board, and fwimming to fliore with loud and lamentable outcries ; which they of the town hearing were in an uproar, and anfwered with the like crying. The caftle dif- charged fome great fhot at our boats, but fhooting without mark by reafon of the dark- nefs, they did us no hurt. The Scots likewife difcharged three great pieces into the air to make the Spaniards think they were their friends and our enemies, and fhortly after the Scottifh mafler, and fome other with him, came aboard to my Lord, doing their duty, and offering their fervice, &c. Thefe three fhips were fraught with wine and fallad-oil from Sivil. The fame day our caravel chafed a Spanifli caravel to fhore at St. Michael, which carried letters thither, by which we learned, that the caraks were departed from Tercera eight days before. The feventh of Auguft we had fight of a little fhip, which we chafed towards Tercera with our pinnace (the weather being calm), and towards evening we overtook her • there were in her thirty tons of good Madeira wine, certain woollen cloth, filk, taffeta &c. The fourteenth of Augufl we came to the ifland of Flores, where we determined to take in fome frefh water and frefh vitluals, fuch as the ifland did afford. ^ So we manned our boats with fome a hundred and twenty men, and rowed towards the fhore • whereto when we approached, the inhabitants that were affembled at the landing-place put forth a flag of truce, whereupon we alfo did the like. When we came to them, my Lord gave them to underftand by his Portugal inter- preter, that he was a friend to their king Don Antonio,, and came not any way to injure them, but that he meant only to have fome frefli water and frefh victuals of them, by way of exchange for fome provifion that he had, as oil, wine, or pepper, to which they prefently agreed willingly, and fent fome of their company for beeves and fheep, and we in the mean feafon marched fouthward about a mile to Villa de Santa Cruz, from- whence all the inhabitants young and old were departed, and not any thing of value • kft. We demanding of them what was the caufe hereof, they anfwered, fear ; as their ufual manner was when any fhips came near their coaft. We found that part of the ifland to be full of great rocky barren hills and moun- tains, little inhabited, by>eafon that it is molefted with fhips of war, which might partly appear by this town of Santa Cruz, (being one of their chief towns,) which was all ruinous, and (as it were) but the relicks of the ancient town, which had been burned about two years before by certain Englifli fliips of war, as the inhabitants there reported. At evening as we were rowing towards the Viftory, a huge fifh purfued us for the fpace well nigh of two miles together, diftant for the moft part from the boat's flern 2 not 8o6 Cumberland's voVage to the azorss, not a fpear's length, and fometiraes fo near that the boat ftruck upon him, the tips of whofe fins about the gills (appearing oftimes above the the water) were, by elHmation, four or five yards afunder, and his jaws gaping a yard and a half wide, which put us in fear of overturning the pinnace, but, God be thanked (rowing as hard as we could) we efcaped, ' When we were about Flores, a little fliip, called the Drake, brought us word that thft caraks were at Tercera, of which news we were very glad, and fped us thitherward with all the hafte we could ; and by the way we came to Fayal Road the feven and twentieth day of Auguft, after funfet, where we efpied certain fhips riding at anchor, to whom we fent in our ikiff, with captain Lifter and captain Mounfon, in her, to difcover the roaders: and, left any danger fhould happen to our boat, we fent in likewife the Sawfie-Jack and the fmall caravel ; but the wind being off the fhore, the fliips were not able to fet it fo nigh as the Spaniards ride, which neverthelefs the boat did, and clapped a (hip aboard, of two hundred and fifty tons, which carried in her fourteen caft pieces, and continued to fight alone with her for the fpace of one hour, until the coming up of other boats to the refcue of her, which were fent from the fhips, and then afrefli boarding her again, one boat in the quarter, another in the hawfe, we entered her on the one fide, and all the Spaniards leaped overboard on the other, fave Juan de Palma the captain of her and two or three more, and thus we became poffeffors of her. This fhip was moored to the caftle, which fliot at us all this while : the only hurt which we received of all this fliot was this, that the mafter of our caravel had the calf of his leg fhot away. This fliip was laden with fugar, ginger, and hides, lately come from St. Juan de Puerto-Rico ; after we had towed her clear off the caftle, we rowed in again with our boats, and fetched out five fmall (hips more ; one laden with hides, another with elephants* teeth, grains, cocoa- nuts, and goats' (kins, come from Guinea, another with woad, and two with dog-fifti ; which two laft we let drive in the fea, making none account of them. The other we fent for England the thirtieth of Auguft. At the taking of thefe prizes were conforted with us fome other fmall men of war, as mafter John Davis, with his ftiip, pinnace, and boat, captain Markeftjury with his fliip, whofe owner was Sir Walter Raleigh, the bark of Lime, which was alfo conforted with us before. The laft of Auguft, in the morning, we came in fight of Tercera, being about fome nine or ten leagues from fliore, where we efpied coming towards us a fmall boat under fail, which feemed fomewhat ftrange unto us, being fo far from land, and no fliip in fight, to which they might belong : but coming near, they put us out of doubt, ftiewing they were Engliflimen (eight in number) that had lately been prifoners in Tercera, and, finding an opportunity to efcape at that time, with that fmall boat, committed themfelves to the fca, under God's providence, having no other yard for their main-fail but two pipe ftaves tied together by the ends, and no more provifion of viftuals than they could bring in their pockets and bofoms. Having taken them all into the Vidory, they gave us certain intelligence, that the caracks were departed from thence about a week before. ThuS; being without any further hope of thofe caraks, we refolved to return for Fay- al, with intent to furprife th-e town ; but until the ninth of September, we had either the wind fo contrary, or the weather fo calm, that in all that time, we made fcarce nine or ten leagues' way, lingering up and down not far from Pico. The tenth of September, being WedncI'day, in the afternoon, we came again to Fayal Road. Whereupon iniinediatciy my Lord fcnl captain Lifter, with one of Graciofa, (whom captain Mounlbn had before taken,) and fome others, towards Fayal, whom cer- tain Cumberland's voyage to the Azores. 807 tarn of the inhabitants met in a boat, and came with captain Lifter to my Lord, to whom he gave his choice : either to fufFer him quietly to enter into the platform there with- out refiftance, where he and his company would remain a fpace with<3ut offering any injury to them, that they (the inhabitants) might come unto him, and compound for the ranfom of the town : or elfe to ftand to the hazard of war. With thefe words they returned to the town ; but the keepers of the platform an- fwered, that it was againft their oath and allegiance to king Philip to give over without fight. Whereupon my Lord commanded the boats of every fliip, to be prefently manned, and foon after landed his men on the fandy fhore, under the fide of an hill, about half a league to the northward from the platform : upon the top of which hill certain horfemen and footmen fhewed themfelves, and other two companies alfo ap- peared, with enfigns difplaycd, the one before the town upon the fliore by the fca-fide, which marched towards our landing-place, as though they would encounter us ; the other in a valley to the fouthwards of the platform, as if they would have come to help the townfmen : during which time, they in the platform alfo played upon us with great ordnance. Notwithftanding, my Lord (having fet his men in order) marched along the fea-{hore, upon the fands, betwixt the fea and the town towards the platform for the fpace of a mile or more, and then the fliore growing rocky, and permitting no further progrefs without much difficulty, he entered into the town, and palfed through the ftreet without refifl:ance, unto the platform ; for thofe companies before mentioned, at my Lord's approaching, were foon difperfed, and fuddenly vaniftied. Likewife they of the platform, being all fled at my Lord's coming thither, left hint and his company to fcale the walls, to enter and take poflfeffion without refiftance. Jn the mean time our fliips ceafed not to batter the ferefaid town and platform with great fliot, till fuch time as we faw the red-crofs of England flourifliing upon the fore- front thereof. This Fayal is the principal town in all that ifland, and is fituate direftly over againft the high and mighty mountain Pico, lying towards the W. N. W., from that mountain, being divided therefrom by a narrow fea, which at that place is by eftimation about fome two or three leagues in breadth, between the ifles of Faval and Pico, The town contained fome three hundred houfeholds ; their houies were fair and ftrongly builded of lime and ftone, and double covered with hollow tiles much like our roof-tiles, but that they are lefs at the one end than at the other. Every houfe almoft had a ciftern or well in a garden on the back-fide : in which gar- dens grew vines (with ripe clufters of grapes,) making pleafant fliadows, and tobacco, now commonly known and ufed in England, wherewith their women there dye their faces reddifn to make them feem frefti and young : pepper, Indian and common ; fig- trees bearing both white and red figs : peach-trees not growing very tall : orimges, lemons, quinces, potatoe roots, &c. Sweet wood (cedar, I think,) is there very com- mon even for building and firing. Wy Lord, having poffelfed himfelf of the town and platform, and being careful of the prefervation of the town, gave commandment, that no mariner nor foldier fliouid enter into any houfe to make any fpoil thereof. But efpecially he was careful that" the churches and houfes of religion there fliouid be kept inviolate, which was accordingly performed through his appointment of guarders and keepers for thofe places : but the reft of the town, either tor want of the former inhibition, or for defirc of Ipoil and prey, was rifled and ranfacked by the foldiers and mariners, who fcarcely lett any houfe unfearched, out of which they took fuch things as liked them, as cheftsoffweetwood, chairs, cloth, coverlets, hangings, bedding, apparel ; and further ranged into the counuy, where fome So$ 'Cumberland's voyage to the azores. Tome of them alfo were hurt by the inhabitants. The friary there containing and iiiaintaiuing thirty Francifcan friars (among whom we could not find any one able to fpeak true Latin,) was builded by a friar of Angra in Tercera of the fame order, about ihe year of our Lord 1506. The tables in the hall had feats for the one fide only, and were always covered, as ready at all times for dinner or fupper. From Wednefday in the afternoon, at which time we entered the town, till Saturday night, we continued there, until the inhabitants had agreed and paid for the ranfom of the town two thoufand ducats, molf part whereof was church-plate. AVe found in the platform eight-and-fifty iron pieces of ordnance, whereof three- and-twenty (as I remember), or more, were ready mounted upon their carriages, be- tween barricadoes, upon a platform towards the fea-fide ; all which ordnance we took, and fet the platform on fire, and fo departed : my Lord having invited to dinner in the Vidory, on the Sunday following, fo many ot the inhabitants as would willingly come (fave only Diego Gomes the governor, who came but once only to parley about the ranfom); only four came, and were well entertained, and folemnly difmilfed with found of drum and trumpets, and a peal of ordnance : to whom my Lord delivered his letter, fubfcribed with his own hand, importing a requefl to all other Engliflimen to abftaiii from any further molefting them, fave only for frefli water and visuals neceflfary for their intended voyage. During our abode here (viz. the eleventh of September) two men came out of Pico, which had been prifoners there : alfo at Fayal we fet at liberty a prifoner tranflated from St. Jago, who was coufin to a fervant of Don Anthonio King of Portugal, in England: thefe prifoners we detained with us, C3n Monday we lent our boats afhore for frefli water, which (by reafon of the rain that fell the former night,) came plentifully running down the hills and would other- wife have been hard to be gotten there. On Tuefday likewife^ having not yet fuffi- ciently ferved our turns, we fent again for frefli water, which was then not fo eafy to be gotten as the day before, by reafon of a great wind ; which in the afternoon in- creafed alfo in fuch fort, that we thought it not fafe to ride fo near the land ; where- upon we weighed anchor, and fo departed N. W. and by W., along the coafl: of Fayal ifland. Some of the inhabitants coming aboard to us this day, told us, that always about that time of the year fuch winds W. S. W. blew on that coaft. This day, as we failed near St. George's Ifland, a huge fifli lying fl:iU a little under water, or rather even therewith, appeared hard by a-head of us ; the fea breaking upon his back, which was black coloured, in fuch fort as deeming at the firft it had been a rock, and the (hip fl:emming diredly with him, we were put in a fudden fear for the time : till foon after we faw him move out of the way. The fixteenth of September, in the night, it lightened much, whereupon there fol- lowed great winds and rain, which continued the feventeenth, eighteenth, nineteeth, twentieth, and twenty-firfl; of the fame. The twenty-third of September we came again into Fayal-road to weigh an anchor, which (for hafle and fear of foul weather we had kft there before, where we went on fliore to fee the town, the people (as we thought) having now fettled themfelved there again : but notwithftanding many of them through too much diftruflfulnefs, departed and prepared to depart with their packets at the firlt light of us ; until fuch time as they were alfurcd by my Lord, that our coming was not any way to injure them, but efpecially to have frefli water, and fome other things needful for us, contenting them for the fame. So then we viewed the town quietly, and bought fuch things as we defired for our money, as if we had been in luigland. And they hcfped to fill us in frefli water, re- ceiving for their pains fuch latisfatlion as contented them. The ■ of Uli J.i- ■ the Azjic .~:t, ^:' An.-i\i Blount Bra.; tl Scc.'i^tr: :h ■ M.JSrasil jrom S.£. lie S'Marj: I..^nJ^m,-fuifuhH fy IwnamoMMul'fr.Km'^/'rnv.i'atifrfuvttrfyw.iScJ. Cumberland's voyage to the Azores. 809 The twenty-fifth day we were forced again to depart from tlience before wo had fufficiently watered, by reafon of a great tempell that fuddciily arofc in the night, infomuch, that my lord himfelf, foon after midnight, raifcd our men out of their cabins to weigh anchor, himfelf alfo together with them hauling at the caplten, and after cheer- ing them up with wine. The next day we fent our caravel and the Sawfie- Jack to tlie road of St. Michael, to fee what they could efpy : we following after them upon the twenty-feventh day, plying to and fro, came within fight of St. Michael, but by contrary winds, the twenty- eight, twenty-ninth, and thirtieth days we were driven to leeward, and could not get near the ifland. The firfl of Odober we failed alongft Tercera, and even againft: Brazil (a pro- montory near to .*ngra, the flrongeft town in that ifland) we efpied fonie boats coming to the town, and made out towards them; but being near to land, they ran to (hore and efcaped us. In the afternoon we came near to Graciofa, whereupon my lord forthwith fent cap- tain Lifter to the iilanders, to let them underftand that his defire was only to have water and wine of them, and fome frefli viduala, and not any further to trouble them. They anfwered they could give no refolute anfwer to this demand, until the governors of the ifland had confulted thereupon, and therefore defired him to fend again to them the next day. Upon the fecond day, eai-ly in the morning, we fent forth our long boat and pin- nace, with empty cafl^s, and about fome 50 or 60 men, together with the Margaret, and captain Davis his fliip ; for we now wanted all the reft of our conforts. Juft when our men would have landed, the iflanders fhot at them, and would not fuffer them. And troops of men appeared upon land, with enfigns difplayed to refift us : fo our boats rowed alongft the fliore to find fome place where they might land, not \yith too much difadvantage ; our fhips and they ftill Ihooting at the iflanders : but no place could be found where they might land without great peril of lofing many of their lives, and fo were conftrained to retire without receiving any anfwer, as was promifed the day before. We had three men hurt in this conflift, whilft our boats were to- gether in confulting what was beft to be done : two of them were ftruck with a great fhot, (which the iflanders drew from place to place with oxen) wherewith the one loft his hand, and the other his life within two or three days after : the third was fliot into his neck with a fmall fliot, without any great hurt. With thefe news our company returned back again at night, whereupon prepara- tion was made to go to them again the next day ; but the day was far fpent before we could come near them with our fliip : neither could we find any good ground to an- chor in, where we might lye to batter the town, and further we could find no landing place, without great danger to lofe many men ; which might turn not only to the overthrow of our voyage, but alfo put the queen's fliip in great peril for want of men to bring her home. Therefore my lord thought it beft to write to them to this effett : that he could not a little marvel at the inhumanity and cruelty which they had fliew- ed towards his men, feeing they were fent by him unto them in peaceable manner, to receive their anfwer, which they had promifed to give the day before : and that were it not for Don Antonio, their lawful king, his fake, he could not put up fo great injury at their hands, without jull revQngement upon them : notwithftanding for Don Antonio his fake, whofe friend he was, he was yet content to fend to them once again for their anfwer : at night captain Lifter returned with this anfwer from them ; that their gunner Ihot off one of their pieces, which was charged with powder only, and VOL. I. 5 L was 8io Cumberland's voyage to the Azores. vas flopped ; which our men, thinking it had been fiiot at them, fhot again, and fo began the light : and that the next morning they would fend my lord a refolute anfwer to his demand, for as yet they could not know their governors* mind herein. The next morning there came unto us a boat from the fhore with a flag of truce, wherein were three of the chief men of the ifland, who agreed with my lord that he fliould have of them 60 butts of wine, and frefli victuals to refrefli himfelf and his company withal : but as for trefli water they could not fatisfy our need therein, having them- felves little or none, faving fuch as they faved in veflels or cilterns when it rained, and that they had rather give us two tuns of wine than one of water ; but they requefted that our foidiers might not come on fliore, for they themfelves would bring all they had promifed to the w-ater-fide, which requeft was granted, we keeping one of them aboard with us until their promife was performed, and the other" we fent to flicre with our empty cafks, and fomc of our men to help to fill, and bring them away with fuch other p-rovifion as was promifed : fo the Margaret, captain Davis his fliip, and another of Weymouth, ftaid riding at anchor before the town, to take in our provi- fion. This fliip of Weymouth came to us the day before, and had taken a rich prize, (as it was reported) worth fixteen thoufand pounds, which brought us news that the Weft Indian fleet was not yet come, but would come very fliortly. But we with the Victory put off to fea, and upon Saturday the fourth, we took a French fhip of St. Malo, (a city of the unholy league) laden with fifli from Newfoundland ; which had been in fo great a tempeft, that fhe was conftrained to cut her niainmaft overboard for her fafety, and was now coming to Graciofa to repair herfelf. But fo hardly it befel her, that flie did not only not repair her former lofles, but loft all that remained unto us. The chief of her men we took into our own fliip, and fent fome of our men, ma- riners and foidiers, into her to bring her into England. Upon the Sunday following at night, all our promifed provifion was brought unto us from Graciofa; and we friendly difmilfed the iflanders with a peal of ord- nance. Upon Monday, Tuefday, and Wednefday, we plyed to and fro about thefe iflands, being very rougfi weather. And upon Thurfday at night, being driven fome three or four leagues from Tercera, we faw 15 fail of the Weit Indian fleet coming into the haven at Angra in Tercera. But the wind was fuch that for the fpace of four days after, though we lay as clofe by the wind as poflible, yet we could not come near them. In this time we loft our late French prize, not being able to lie lb near the wind as we, and heard no more of her till we came to England, where fhe fafely ar- rived. Upon Monday we came very near the haven's mouth, being minded to have run in amongft them, and to have fetched out fome of them if it had been poflible : but in the end this enterprize was deemed too dangerous, confidering the ftrength of the place where they rode, being haled and toweJ in nearer the town, at the firft fighl of our approaching, and lying under the protetlion of the calfle of Brazil on the one fide, (having in it five-and twenty pieces of ordnance) and a fort on the other fide, wherein were thirteen or fourteen great brafs pieces. Befides, when we came near land, the wind proved too fcant for us to attempt any fuch enterprize. Upon Tuefday the fourteenth, we fent our boat to the road to found the depth, to fee if there were any anchoring place for us, where we might lie without fhot of the caftle and fort, and within fhot of fome of thole. fliips, that we might either make them come out to us, or fink them where they lay. Our boat returned, having found out fuch a place as we deiired, but the wind would not fufl^er us to come near it, and a.'uiii if we could have anchored there, it was thought likely that they would rather run them- 2 felves CUMBiiRLANO's VOYAGE TO THE AZORES. 8 11 felves a-grounJ to fuve their lives and liberties, and foiiie of their goods, than conic forth to lofe their liberties and their goods to us their enemies. So we ihot at them to fee if we could reach them, but it fell far fhort. And thus we departed, thinkinf it not probable that they would come forth fo long as we watched them before the ha- ven's mouth, or within fight of them. For the fpace of five days after we put off to fea, and lay without fight of them ; and fent a pinnace to lie out of fight clofe by the fliore, to bring us word if they fliould come forth. After a while the pinnace returned and told us, that thofe fliips in the haven had taken down their fails, and let down their top-mafts : fo that we fuppofed they would never come forth, till they perceived us to be quite gone. Wherefore, upon the twentieth, hearing that there were certain Scottifh fhips at St. -Michael, we failed thither, and found there one Scottilh roader, and two or three more at Villa Franca, the next road, a league or two from the town of St. Mi- chael, to the eafl-wards: of whom we had for our relief fome fmall quantity of wine (viz. fome five or fix butts of them allj and fome frefh water, but nothing fufficient to ferve our turn. Upon Tuefday the one-and-twcntieth, we fent our long-boat to fliore for frefli water at a brook, a little to weflwards from Villa Franca. But the inhabitants efpying us, came down with two cnfigns difplayed, and about fome hundred-and-fifty men armed, to withftand our landing. So our men having fpent all their powder upon them in attempting to land, and not being able to prevail at fo great odds, returned frufti-ate. From hence we departed towards St. Mary's Ifland, minding to water there and then to go tor the coafl; of Spain. For we had intelligence that it was a place of no great force, and that we might water there very well : therefore, upon Friday follow- ing, my lord fent captain Lifter, and captain Amias Prefton, now fir Amias Prefton (who not long before came to us out of his own fliip, and flie lofing us in the night, he was forced to tarfy flill with us) with our long-boat and pinnace, and fome fixty or feventy (hot in them, with a friendly letter to the iflanders, that they would grant us leave to water, and we would no further trouble them. So we departed from the Viftory for the ifland, about nine of the clock in the fore- noon, and rowed frefhly until about three o'clock afternoon. At which time our men being foraewhat weary of rowing, and being within a league or two of the fliore, and lour or five leagues from the Vidory, they cfpied (to their refrefliing) two fliips riding at anchor, hard under the town, whereupon, having fliifted fome fix or i'even of our men into captain Davis his boat, being too much peftered in our own, and detain- ing with us fome twenty fliot in the pinnace, we made way towards them with all the fpeed we could. By the way as we rowed, we faw boats paffing betwen theroadersand the fliore, and men in their fliirts fwimming and wading to fliore, who, as we perceived afterwards were labouring to fet thofe fhips faft on ground, and the inhabitants as bufily preparing thcmielves for the defence of thofe roaders, their ifland, and themfelves. \Vhen we came near them, captain Lifter commanded the trumpets to be lounded, but prohi- bited any fliot to be difchargcd at them, until they had direclion from him : but fome of the company, either not well perceiving or regarding what he faid, immediately upon the found of the trumpets difcharged their pieces at the iflanders, which, for the molt part, lay in trenches and fortified places, unfeeii to their own bed advantage : who immediately fliot likewife at us, both with finall and great (hot, without danger to themfelves : notwithftanding, captain Lifter earneftly haftened forward the failors 5^ ^ ' that 8i2 Cumberland's voyage to the Azores. that rowed, who began to flirink at that fliot flying fo faft about their ears, and him- felf firfl entering one of the fhips that lay a little farther froni the fhore than the other, \vc fpeedily followed after him into her, flill plying them with our fliot. And having cut in funder her cables and hawfers, towed her away with our pinnace. In the mean time captain Davis his boat overtook us, and entered into the other fhip, which alfo (as the former) was forfaken by all her men : but they were conftrained to leave her, and to come again into their boat (whilfl fhot and (tones, from fliore, flew faft among them) finding her to flick fo faft a-ground that they could not ftir her ; which the townfinen alio perceiving, and feeing that they were but few in number, and us (bufi- ed about the other fliip) not coming to aid them, were preparing to have come and taken them. But they returned unto us, and fo, together, we came away towards the Victory, towing after us the prize that we had now taken, which was lately come from Brazil, laden with fugar. In this fight we had two men flain, and fixtccn wounded : and as for them, it is like they had little hurt, lying, for the moft part, behind flone walls, which were builded one above another hard by the fea fide, upon the end of the hill, whereupon the town flood betwixt two vallles. Upon the top of the hill lay their great ordinance (fuch as they had) wherewith they fliot leaden bullets, whereof one pierced through our piize's fide, and lay flill in the fliip without doing any more harm. The next day we went again to the fame ifland, but not knowing before the incon- venience and difadvantage of the place where we attempted to land, we returned fruf- trate. The fame night, the twenty-fifth, we departed for St. George's Ifland for frcrti water, whither we came on Monday following Oftober twenty-feven ; and having ef- pied where a fpout of water came running down, the pinnace and long-boat were pre- fently manned, and fent under the conduft of captain Prefton, and captain Munfon, by whom my lord fent a letter to the iflanders as before, to grant us leave to water only, and we would no further trouble them : notwithftanding, our men coming on fliore, found feme of the poor iflanders, which for fear of us, hid themfelves amongfl; the rocks. And on Wcdnefday following, our boats returned with frefli water, whereof they brought only fix tuns for the Viftory, alledging they could get no more, thinking (as it was fuppofed) that my lord having no more provlfion of water and wine, but only 1 2 tuns, would not go for the coaft of Spain, but ftralght for the coaft of Eng- land, as many of our men greatly defired : notwithftanding my lord was unwilling fo to do, and was minded the next day to have taken in more water : but through roughnefs of the feas and wind, and unwillingnefs of his men, it was not done. Yet his honour purpofed not to return with fo much provlfion unfpent, and his voyage (as he thought) not yet performed in fuch fort, as might give fome reafonable content- ment orTatisfaftion to himfelf and others. Therefore, becaufe no more water could now conveniently be gotten, and being un- certain when it would be gotten, and the time of our ftaying aboard alfo uncertain, the matter being referred to the choice of the whole company, whether they would tarry longer till we might be more fuflicicntly provided of frefli water, or goby the coaft of Spain for England, with half fo much allowance of drink as before, they wil- lingly agreed that every mefs fliould be allowed at one meal, but half fo much drink as they were accuflomed, (except them that were fick and wounded) and fo to go for England, taking the coaft of Spain in our way, to fee if wc could that way make up our voyage. Upon Cumberland's voyage to the Azores. 813 Upon Saturday thirty-firfl:, we fent the Margerct (becaufe ftie leaked much) direftly for England, together with the prize of" Brazil which we took at St. Mary, and in them fome of our hurt and wounded men, or otherwife fick, were fent home as they defired, for England : but captain Monfon was taken out of the Mcgg into the Vidtory. So we held on our courfe for the coaft of Spain, with a fair wind and a large, which before we feldom had. And upon Tuefday following, being the fourth of November, we efpied a fail right before us, which wc chafed till about three o'clock in the after- noon, at which time, we overtaking her, flic flruck fail, and being demanded who was her owner, and from whence fhe was, they anfwered, a Portugal, and from Per- nanbuck in Brazil. She was a fliip of fome hundred and ten tons burden, freighted with four hundred and ten chelf s of fugar, and fifty kintals of Brazil-wood ; every kintal containing one hundred pound weight : we took her in latitude nine-and-twenty degrees, and about two hundred leagues from Lifbon, vveftwards : Captain Frcfton was prefeiitly fent unto her, who brought the principal of her men aboard the Viftory, and certain of our men, mariners, and foldiers were fent aboard her. The Portugals of this prize told us that they faw another fliip before them that day, about noon. Having therefore difpatched all things about the prize aforefaid, and left our long-boat with captain Davis, taking his lefTer boat with us, we made way after this other fhip with all the fails we could bear, holding on our courfe due E., and giving order to captain Davis his fliip and the prize, that they fliould follow us due E , and that if they had fight of us the morning following, they fhould follow us, if not, they fliould go for England. "i'he next morning we efpied not the fail which we chafed, and captain Davis his fhip and the prize were behind us out of fight : but the next Thurfday, the fixth, (being in latitude -58' 30', and about 60 leagues from Lifbon^ wefl:wards) early in the morning captain Prefl;on defcried a fail, fome two or three leagues a head of us, after which, we prefently hafl;ened our chafe, and overtook her about eight or nine of the clock before noon. She came lately from St. Michael's road, having been before at Brazil, laden with fugar and brazile. Having fent our boat to bring fome of the chief of their men aboard the Viftory j in the mean time, whilft they were in coming to us, one out of the main top efpied another fail a head, fome three or four leagues from us. So, immediately upon the return of our boat, having fent her back again with fome of our men aboard the prize, we purfued fpeedily this new chace, with all the fails we could pack on, and about two o'clock in the afternoon overtook her : flie had made provifion to fight with us, having hanged the fides of the fliip fo thick with hides (wherewith efpecially fhe was laden) that mufket fliot would not have pierced them : but when we had difcharged two great pieces of our ordnance at her, fhe Itruck fail, and approaching nearer, we afking of whence they were, they anfwered from the Eaff Indies, from Mexico, and St. Joan de Lowe (truly called Ulkua). This {hip was of fome three or four hundred tons, and had in her kven hundred hides, worth ten fliil- lings a piece : fix cherts of cochineal, every chell holding one hundred pound weight, and every pound worth fix and twenty fliillings and eight pence, and certain chefl;s of fugar and China difhes, with fome plate and filver. The captain of her was an Italian, and by his behaviour feemed to be a grave, wife, and civil man ; he had put in adventure in this fhip, five and twenty thoufand ducats. We took him with certain other of her chiefefl men (which were Spaniards) into the Viftory ; and captain Lifter with fo many other of the chiefefl: of our mariners, foldiers, and fiiilors as were thought fufficient, to the number of twenty or thereabouts, wereient into her. hi the mean time (we flaying) our prizes which followed after, came up to us. bl4 CUMIiERLANI^'s VOYAGE TO THE AZORES, \is. And now we had our hands full, and with joy fhaped our courfe for England, for io it was thought meeteft, having now fo many Portugals, Spaniards, and French- men amongfl: us, that if we Ihould have taken any more prizes afterwards, we had not been well able to have manned them without endangering ourfelvcs. So about fix of the clock in the afternoon (when our other prize had overtaken us) we fet fail for Eng- land. But our prizes not being able to bear us company without fparing them many of our fails, which caufed our fhip to roll and wallow, that it was not only very trou- blefome to us, but, as it was thought, would alfo have put the main maft in danger of falling overboard : having acquainted them with thefe inconveniences, we gave them diredion to keep their courfes together, following us, and fo to come to Portfmouth. We took this laif prize in the latitude of 39°, and about 46 leagues to the weftwards from the Rock. She was one of thofe 16 Ihlps which we faw going into the haven at Angra in Ter- cera, October eighth. Some of the men that we took out of her told us, that whilfl: we were plying up and down before that haven, as before was fhewed, expeftlng the coming forth of thofe fhips, three of the greateft and befl: of them, at the appointment of the governor of Tercera, were unladen of their treafure and merchandilc, and in every of them were put three hundred foldicrs, which were appointed to have come to lay the Viclory aboard in the night, and take her ; but when this Ihould have been done, the Victory was gone out of their fight. Now we went merrily before the wind with all the fails we could bear, infomuch, that in the fpace of twenty-four hours, we failed near 47 leagues, that is feven fcore Englifli miles, betwixt Friday at noon and Saturday at noon, (notwithflanding the fhip was very foul, and much grown with long being at fca> which caufed fome of our company to make accompt they would fee what running at tilt there fliould be at Whitehall upon the queen's day. Others were imagining what a Chriftmas they would keep in England with their (hares of the prizes we had taken. But fo it befel, that we kept a cold Chriftmas with the Bifliop and his Clerks (rocks that lye to the weft- wards from Sylly, and the weftern parts of England) : for foon after the wind fcanting came about to the caftwards (^the worft part of the heavens for us from which the wind could blow) in fuch (ort, that we could not fetch any part of England. And hereupon alfo our allowance of drink, which was fcant enough before, was yet more fcanted, bccaufe of the fcarcity thereof in the fliip. So that now a man was allowed but half a pint at a meal, and tiiat many times cold water, and fcarce fweet. Not- withftanding this was a happy ftate in comparifon of that which followed ; for from half a pint we came to a quarter, and that Lifted not long neither ; fo that by rcafon of this great fcarcity of drink, and contrariety of wind, we thought to put into Ire- land,, there to relieve our Tvants. But when we came near thither, lying at Hull all night, (tarrying for the dayli;^ht of the next morning, whereby we might the fafe- lyer bring our ftiip into fomc convenient harbour there) we were driven fo far to lee- ward that we could fetch no part of Ireland, fo as with heavy hearts and fad cheer, we were conftraincd to return back again, and expcd till it ftiould pleafe God to fend us a fair wind either for Knglam! or Ireland. In the mean time we were allowed every man three or four fpoonsfull of vinegar to drink at a meal ; for other drink we had none, faving only at two or three meals, when we had inltead hereof as much wine, r.hich was wringcd out of wine-lees that remained. With this hard faro (for by rea- fon of our great want of drink we durft eat but very little) we continued for the fpace of a fortniglu or thereabouts; faving that now and then we feafted for It in the mean time; and that was when there fell any liail or rain; the hail-ftones we gatiiered up, and Cumberland's voyage to the Azores. 8/5 ^nd did cat them more plcafantly than if they had been the fweeteft comfits in the world ; the rain-drops were f'o carefully laved, that fo near as we could, not one was loft in all our fhip. Some hanged up fheets tyed with cords by the four corners, and a weight in the midft that the water might run uown thither, and fo be received into fome veflel fet or hanged underneath ; fome that wanted fheets, hanged up napkins and clouts, and watched tliem till they were thorough wet, then wringing and fucking out the water. And that water which fell down and wafhed the filth and foiling of the fhip, trod under foot, as bad as running down the kennel many times when it raincth, was not loft I warrant you, but watched and attended carefully (yea fometimes with ftrife and contention) at every fcupper hole, and other place where it ran down, with difhes, pots, cans, and jars, whereof fome drank hearty draughts even as it was, mud and all, without tarrying to cleanfeor fettle it : others cleanfed it firft,but not often, for it was fo thick and went fo flowly through, that they might ill endure to tarry fo long, and were loth to loofe too much of fuch precious fluff; fome licked with their tongues (like dogs) the boards under feet, the fides, rails, and mafts of the fhip ; others that were more ingenious, faftened girdles or ropes about tlie mafts, dawbing tallow betwixt them and the maft, (that the rain might not run down between) in fuch fort, that thofe ropes or girdles hanging lower on the one fide than on the other, a fpout of leather was faftened to the lower part of them, that all the rain drops that came running down the maft, might meet together at that place, and there be received. He that got a can of water bythefe means, was fpoken of, fued to, and envied as a rich man, " Quam pulchrum digito monjlrari ct dicier hie eft /"' Some of the poor Spaniards that we had taken (who notwithftanding had the fame allowance that our own men had) would come and crave of us, for the love of God, but fo much water as they could hold in the hollow of their hand ; and they had it notwithftanding our great extremity, to teach them fome humanity, inftead of their accuftomed barbarity, both to us and other nations heretofore. They put alfo bullets of lead into their mouths to flake their thirft. Now in every corner of the fhip were heard the lamentable cries of fick and wounded men, founding woefully in our ears, crying out and pitifully complaining for want of drink, being ready to die, yea many dying for lack thereof; fo as by reafon of this great extremity, we loft many more men, than we had done all the voyage before ; having before this time been fo well and fufficiently provided for, that we lived in a manner as well and healthfully, and died as few as if we had been in England, whereas now lightly every day fome were caft overboard. But the fecond day of December, 1589, was a feftivalday with us, for then it rained a good pace, and we faved fome pretty ftore of rain water (though we were well wet for it, and that at midnight) and filled our fkins full befides ; notwithftanding it were muddy and bitter with wafhing the fhip, but, (with fome fugar which we had to fweeten it withal) it went merrily down, yet remembered we and wifhed for with all our hearts many a conduit, pump, fpring, and ftream of clear fweet running water in England : and how miferable we had accounted fome poor fouls whom we had feen driven for thirft to drink thereof, and how happy we would now have thought ourfelves if we might have had our fills of the fame ; yet fhould we have fared the better with this our poor fealting, if we might have had our meat and drink (fuch and fo much as it was) ftand quietly before us : but befides all the former extremities, we were fo tofTed and turmoiled with fuch horrible ftormyand tempeftuous weather, that eveiy manhad belt hold faft his can, cup, and difh in his hands, yea and himfelf too, many times by the ropes, rails, or fide, of the fhip, or elfe he ftiould foon find all under feet. Herewith 8i6 Cumberland's voyage to the Azores. Herewith our main fail was tore from the yard, and blown overboard quite away into the fea, without recovery, and our other fails fo rent and torn (from fide to fide, fome of them) that hardly any of them efcaped whole. The raging waves and foaming furges of the fea, came rolling like mountains one after another, and overraked the wade of the fliip like a mighty river running over it, whereas in fair weather it was near twenty feet above the water, that now we might cry out with the princely prophet, Pfahn 107, V. xxvi. " They mount up to heaven, and defcend to the deep, fo that their foul melteth away for trouble : they reel to and fro, and (tagger like a drunken man, and all their cunning is gone." With this extremity of foul weather, the fhip was fo tofled and fhaken, that by the cracking noife it made, and by the leaking which was now much more than ordinary, we were in great fear it would have fliaken in funder, fo that now alfo we had juft caufe to pray a little otherwife than the poet, though marring the verfe, yet mending the meaning. Deus maris et call, quid enim nifi vota fupcr/unt Solvere, quajfata parcito membra ratis. Notwithftanding it pleafed God, of his great goodnefs, to deliver us out of this dan- ger. Then forthwith a new main fail was made and faftened to the yard, and the red repaired as time and place would fuft'er, which we had no fooner done, but yet again we were troubled with as great extremity as before, fo that again we were like to have loft our new main fail, had not mafter William Antony, the mafter of the lliip, him- felf, (when none elfe would or durft) ventured, with danger of drowning, by creeping along upon the main yard (which was let down clofe to the rails) to gather it up out of the fea, and to faften it thereto, being in the mean while oft-times ducked overhead and ears into the fea. Thefe ftorms were fo terrible, that there were fome in our company, which confeffed that they had gone to fea for thefpace of twenty years, and had never fecn the like, and vowed that if ever they returned fafe home, they would never come to fea again. The laft of November at night, we met with an Englifh fhip, out of which (becaufe it was too late at night) it was agreed that we fliould have had the next morning, two or three tons of wine, which, as they faid, was all the provifion of drink they had, fave only a butt or two which they muft needs referve for their own ufe : but after that, we heard of them no more, till they were fet upon ground on the coaft of Ireland, where it •appeared that they might have fpared us much more than they pretended they could, fo as they might well have relieved our great necefiities, and have had fufficient for them- felvcs befides, to bring them into England. The firft of December at night, we fpake with another Englifh Ihip, and had fome beer out of her, but not fufficient to carry us into England, fo that we were conftrained to put into Ireland, the wind fo ferving. The next day we came to an anchor, not far from the St. Kelmes, under the land and wind, where we were fomewhat more quiet, but (that being no fafe harbour to ride In) the next morning we went about to weigh anchor, but having fome of our men hurt at the capften, we were fain to give over, and leave it behind, holding on our courfe to Ventre haven, where we fafely arrived the fame day, that place being a very fafe and convenient harbour for us, that now we might fmg, as we had juit cau^c, " they that go down to the fea, ice." 13 So Cumberland's voyage to the Azores. 817 So foon as we had ancliored hove, my lord went forthwith to fhore, and brought frefli water, and frcfli viduals, as muttons, pigs, hens, &c. to refrcni liis company withal. Notwithltanding himfelf had lately been very weak, and tailed of the fame extremity that his company did : for in the time of our former want, having a little frefli vratei" left him remaining in a pot, in the night it was broken, and the water drunk and dried up. Soon after the fick and wounded men were carried to the next principal town, called Dingenacufli, being about three miles diftant from the forefaid haven, where our Ihip rode, to the eaftward, that there they might be the better refreflied, and had the chirurgicns daily to attend upon them. Here we well refreftied ourfelves, whilft the Irifh harp founded fweetly in our ears, and hei'e we, who for the former extre- mities were in a manner half dead, had our lives (as it were) reftored unto us again. This Dingenacufli is the chief town in all that part of Ireland, It confiftcth but of one main ftreet, from whence fome ("mailer do proceed on either fide, it hath had gates (as it feemeth) at cither end, to open and fliut as a town of war, and a callle alfo. The houfes are very ftrongly built with thick ftone walls, and narrow windows like unto caflles: for as they confefl'ed, in time of trouble, by reafon of the wild Irifli or otherwife, they ufed their houfes for their defence, as cailles. The caftle, and all the houfes in the town, fave four, were won, burned, and ruinated by the carl of Defmond. Thefefour houfes fortified themfelves againft him, and withdood him and all his power perforce, fo as he could not win them. There remaineth yet a thick ftone wall that pafleth overthwart the midfl: of the flreet which was a part of their fortification. Notwithltanding whilft they thus defended themfelves, as fome of them yet alive confeffcd, they were driven to as great extremities as the Jews, befieged by Titus, the Roman emperor, infomuch that they were conftrain- ed to eat dead men's carcafes for hunger. The town is now again fomewhat repaired, but in effett there remain but the ruins of the former town. Commonly they have no chimnies in their houfes, excepting them of the better fort, fo that the fmoak was very troublefome to us, while we continued there. Their fuel is turfs, which they have very good, and whins or furs. There groweth little wood thereabouts, which maketh building chargeable there : as alfo want of lime (as they reported) which they are fain to fetch from far, when they have need thereof. But of ftones there is ftore enough, fo that with them they commonly make their hedges to part each man's ground from other ; and the ground feemeth to be nothing elfe within but rocks and ftones ; yet it is very fruitful and plentiful of grafs, and grain, as may appear by the abundance of kine and cattle there : infomuch that we had good muttons (though fomewhat lefs than ours in England) for two fhillings or five groats a piece, good pigs and hens for three-pence a piece. The greatelt want is induftrious, painful, and hufbandly inhabitants, to till and trim the ground ; for the common fort, if they can provide fufficient to fcrve from hand to mouth, take no further care. Of money (as it feemeth) there is very fmall ftore amongft them, which perhaps was the caule that made them double and treble the prices of many things we bou<'ht of them, more than they were before our coming thither. Good land \^'as here to be had for four-pence the acre, yearly rent. There are mines of allum, tin, brafs, and iron. Stones we faw there as clear as cr) flal, naturally fquared like diamonds. That part of the country is all full of great mountains and hills, from whence came running down the pleafant llreams of fweet frefli running water. '1 he natural hard- voL. I. J M nefs 8i8 Cumberland's voyage "to the azorks. ncfs of that nation appeared in this, that their fmall children run ufually in the midd of winter up and down the ftreets bare-footed and bare-legged, with no other apparel (many times) fave only a mantle to cover their nakednefs. The chief officer of their town, they call their fovereign, who hath the fame office and authority among them that our mayors have with us in England, and hath his ferjeants to attend upon him, and bear the mace before him as our mayors. We were fir ft entertained at the fovereign's houfe, which was one of thofe four that withftood the earl of Defmond in his rebellion. They have the fame form of common praver word for word, in Latin, that we have here in England. Upon the funday the fovereign cometh into the church with his ferjeant before him, and the fheriff and others of the town accompany him, and there they kneel down every man by himfelf privately to make his prayers. After this they rife and go out of the church again to drink, which being done, they return again into the church, and then the minifter be- ginneth prayers. Their manner of baptizing differeth fomething from ours : part of the fervice belong, ing thereto, is repeated in Latin, and part in Irifli. The minifter taketh the child in his hands, and firft dippeth it backwards, and then forwards, over head and ears into the cold water, in the midft of winter, whereby alfo may appear their natural hardnefs, (as before was fpecified). They had neither bell, drum, nor trumpet, to call the pa- rifhioners together, but they expedt till their fovereign come, and then they that have any devotion follow him. They make their bread all in cakes, and for the tenth part, the bakers bake for all the town. We had of them fome ten or eleven tons of beer for the Victory, but it proved like a prefent purgation to them that took it, fo that we chofe rather to drink water than it. The twentieth of December we loofed from hence, having well provided ourfclves of frefli vrater, and other things necelTary ; being accompanied with Sir Edw. Dennle, his lady, and two young fons. This day in the morning, my lord going afhore to difpatch away fpeedily fome frefh water, that remained for the Vidory, the wind being very fair for us, brought us news that there were fixty Spanifli prizes taken and brought to England. For two or three days we had a fair wind, but afterwards it fcanted fo, that (as I faid before) we were fain to keep a cold Chriltmas with the bifhop and his clerks. After this we met with an Englifli fliip, that brought us joyful news of ninety-one Spanifli prizes, that were come to England, and forrowful news withal, that the lafl and beft prize we took, had fuffered fliipwfeck at a place upon the coaft of Cornwall, which the Cornifh men call Als Efferne, that is Hell-cliff, and that captain Lifter, and all the men in the ftiip were drowned, fave five or fix, the one half Englifli, the other Spanifli, that faved themfelvcs with fwimming ; but notwithftanding much of the goods were faved, and referved for us, by fir Francis Godolphin, and the worfliipful gentle- men of the country there. My lord was very forry for captain Lifter's death, wifliing that he had loft his voyage to h.ave faved his life. The twenty -ninth we met with another fliip that told us the fame news, and that fir Martin Froblflier, and captain Reymond had taken the admiral and vice-admiral of the fleet that we efpied going to Tercera haven. But the admiral was funk with much leaking, near to theldy Stone, a rock that iieth over agayift Plymouth found, and the men were faved. 7 This KVESHAM's VOYAOE to the AZORES. 8ig This fliip alfo certified us that captain Prefton's (hip had taken a prize laden with filver. My lord entered prefently into this fliip, and went to Falmouth, and we held on our courfe for Plymouth. At night we came near to the Ram-head Cthe next cape weflwards from Plymouth found) but we were afraid to double it in tlie night, mif- doubting the fcantnefs of the wind. So we Hood ofl' to fea half the night, and towards the morning liad the wind more large, and made too little fpare thereof, that partly for this caufe, and partly through miftaking of the land, we were driven fomuch to lee- wards, that we could not double that cape : thei-efore we returned back again, and came into Falmouth haven, whei-e we ftruck on ground, in feventeen feet water : but it was a low ebb, and ready again to flow, and the ground fofr, fo as no hurt was done. Here with gladnefs we fet foot again upon the Englilh ground, (long defired) and refreflied ourfelves with keeping part of Chriftmas upon our native foil. ^ FOrJGE TO THE AZORES WITH TJ^O PINNACES, THE ONE CALLED THE SERPENT, AND THE OTHER, THE MART SPARKE OF PLTMOUTH, BOTH OF THEM BELONGING TO SIR WALTER RALEIGH; WRITTEN BF JOHN EVES HA AI, GENTLEMAN, WHEREIN WERE TAKEN THE GOFER- NOR OF THE ISLE OF SAINT MICHAEL, AND PEDRO SARMIENTO, COFERNOR OF THE STRAITS OF MAGALANES, IN THE TEAR i^S6. [Hakluyt, Vol. II. p. I20. Second Part.] THE tenth of June 1 586, we departed from Plymouth with two pinnaces, the one named the Serpent, of the burden of thirty-five tons, and the other the Mary Sparke of Plymouth, of the burden of fifty tons, bothof them belonging to fir Walter Ralegh knight ; and directing our courfe towards the coafl of Spain, and from thence towards the Ifles of the Azores : we took a fmall bark laden with fumack and other commo- dities, wherein was the governor of St. Michael's Ifland, being a Portugal, having other Portugals and Spaniards with him. And from thence we failed to the Ifland of Graciofa, to the wefl:ward of the Ifland of Tercera, where we defcried a fail, and bear- ing with her, we found her to be a Spaniard : but at the firft, not greatly refpecling whom we took, fo that we might have enriched ourfelves, which was the caufe of this our travail, and for that we would not be known of what nation we were, we difplayed a white filk enfign in our main top, which they feeing, made accompt that we had been fome of the king of Spain's armadas, lying in wait for Englifh men of war : but when we came within fliot of her, we took down our white flag, and fpread abroad the crofs of St. George, which when they faw, it made them toflyasfafl: as they might : but all their hafl:e was in vain, for our fliips were fwifter of fail than they, which they fearing, did prefently cafl: their ordinance and fmall fhot, with many let- ters, and the draft of the Straits of Magelan into the fca, and thereupon immediately we took her: wherein we alfo took a gentleman of Spain, named Pedro Sarmiento, governor of the Straits of Magelan : which faid Pedro we brought into England with us, and prefented him to our fovereign lady the queen. After this, lying oft" and about the iflands, we defcried another fail, and bearing after her, we fpent the main maft of our admiral : but yet, in the night, our vice ad- rairal took her, being laden with fifli from Cape Blank, the which ihip we let go again 5 M 2 for 820 Evesham's voyage to the Azores. for want of men to bring her home. The next day we defcried two other fails, the one a fhip, and the other a caravel, to whom we gave chace, which they feeing, with all fpeed made in under the Ifle of Graciofa, to a certain fort there for their fuccour, where they came to an anchor, and having the wind of us, we could not hurt them with our fliips, but we having a fmall boat, v,hich we called a light-horieman, wherein myfelf was, being a mufqueter, and four more with calivers, and four that rowed, came near unto the fliore againit the wind, which, when they faw us come towards them, they carried a great part of their merchandife on land, whither alio the men of both veflels went and landed, and as foon as we came within muiket fliot, they began to fhoot at us with great ordnance and fmall fliot, and we likewife at them : and in the end we boarded one flup, wherein was no man left, fo we cut her cables, hoifled her fails, and fent her away with two of our men, and the other fcven of us palTed more near unto the fhore, and boarded the caravel, which did ride within a (tone's cad from the fliore, and fo near the land that the people did cafi: flones at us, but yet in defpight of them all, we took her, and one only negro therein ; and cutting her cables in the hawfe we hoifled her f;uls, and being becalmed under the land, we were con- flrained to row her out wiih our boat ; the fort ftill fliooting at us, and the people on land with mufkets and calivers, to the number of one hundred and fifty or thereabout : and we anfwered them with the fmall force we had; in the time of which ourfhooting, the (hot of my mufket being a crols-bar-fhot, happened to ftrike the gunner of the fort to death, even as he was giving level to one of his great pieces, and thus we parted from them without any lofs or hurt on our fide. And now, having taken thefe five fails of fhips, we did as before, turn away the fliip with the fifli, viithout hurting them, and from one of the other fliips we took her main mad to ferve our admiral's turn, and fo fent her away, putting into her, all the Spaniards and Portugals, (faving that gentle- man, Pedro Sarmiento, with three other of the principal men and two negroes,) leaving them all within fight of land, with bread and water fufficlent for ten days, if need were. Thus fetting our courfe for England, being off the iflands in the height of 41° or tTiereabout, one of our men being in the top, defcried a fail, then ten fail, then fifteen, whereupon it was concluded to fend home thofe prizes we had, and fo left in both our pinnaces, not above fixty men. Thus we returned again to the fleet \we had defcried, where we found twenty-four fail of fhips, whereof two of them were caraks, the one of twelve hundred; the other of a thoufand tons, and ten gallons ; the red were fmall fhips and caravels, all laden with treafure, fpices, and fugars, with which twenty-four fliips, we, with two fmall pinnaces did fight, and kept company the fpace of thirty-two hours, continually fighting wiih them, and they with us; but the two caraks kept flill betwixt the fleet and us, that we could not take any one of them, fo wanting powder, we were forced to give them over againd our wills, for that we were all wholly bent to the gaining of fome of them, but neceflity compelling us, and that only for want of powder, without lofs of any of our men, (which was a thing to be wondered at, confi- dering the inequality of number,) at length we gave them over. Thus, we again fet our courle tor England, and fo came to Plymouth within fix hours after our prizes, which wc fent away forty hours before us, where we were received with triumphant joy, not only with great ordnance ihen fliot off, but with the willing hearts of all the people of the town, and of the country thereabout ; and we not fparing our ordnance (with the powder we had left) to requite and aniwer them again. And from thence we brought our prizes to Southampton, were fir Walter Raleigh being our owner, rewarded us with our fhares. Our FLICKe's voyage to the AZORES. 82 1 Our pnzes were laden with fugars, elephants' teeth, wax, hides, rice, Briifil, and cnfer, as by the teftimony of John Evelhham himfelf, Captain Whiddon, Thomas Raiiiford, Bcjamiu Wood, William Cooper, mailer, William Cornilh, mafler, Thomas Drake, corpoial, John Ladd, gunner, William Warelield, gunner, Richard Moon, John Drew, Richard Cooper of Harwich, William Beares of Ratcliffe, John Row of Saltafli, and many others, may appear. A REPORT OF MASTER ROBERT FLICKE, DIRECTED TO MASTER THOMAS BROMLEY, MASTER PIC HARD STAPER, AND MASTER CORD ALL, CON- CERNING THE SUCCESS OF A PART OF THE LONDON SUPPLIES SENT TO Mr LORD THOMAS HOWARD TO THE ISLES OF THE AZORES, 1591. [fl.. K1.UYT, Vol. II. p. 176. Second Part.] WORSHIPFUL, my hearty commendations unto you premifcd : by my laflofthe twelfth of Augufl; from this place, 1 advertifed you particularly of the accidents of our fleet until then. It remaincth now to relate our endeavours in accomplifliing the order received for the joining with my Lord Thomas Howard, together with the fuccefs we have had. Our departure from hence was the feventeenth of Auguft, the wind not ferving before. The next day following I caufed a flag of counfel to be put forth, whereupon the captains and marters of every fliip came aboard, and I acquainted them with my commiirion, firmed by the Right Honourable the Lords of Her Majefty's Coun- cil ; and with all the advertifements of Sir Edward Denny, of my Lord's determination to remain threel'core leagues to the well of Fayal, fpreadmg north and fouth, betwixt thirty-feven and a half, or thirty-eight and a half degrees. And, not finding him in this height, to repair to the Ifles of Flores and Corvo, where a pinnace of purpofe Ihould ftay our coming until the laft of Auguft, with intent afrer that day to repair to the coaft of Spain, about the height of the Rock, fome twenty or thirty leagues off the fhore. The which being advifedly confidered of, having regard unto the fliortnefs of time, by reafon of our long abode in this place, and the uncertainty of the weather to favour us it was generally holden for the belt and fecureft way to meet with my Lord, to bear with the height of the Rock, without making any ftay upon the coaft, and fo dircdly for the iflands, which was accordingly fully agreed and performed. The twenty-eighth day we had fight of the Burlings, and the twenty-ninth, being thwart of Peniche, the wind ferving us, without any ftay we direfted our courfe weft for the iflands. The thirtieth day we met with captain Royden in the Red Role, fometime called the Golden Dragon, feparated from my Lord of Cumberland in a ftorm : who certified us of fifty fails of the Spanifti king's armadas to be gone for the iflands, but could not inform us any news of my Lord Thomas Howard, otherwife than upon prefuuipiion to remain about the iflands, and fo we continued our courfe, the wind ftanding with us. The fourth of September we recovered Tercera, and ranged along all the iflands, both on the fouth and north fides the fpace of four days: during which time it - . . „ to the weftwards we defcried a fail out of our main-top, and in the afternoon between two and §21 FLICKE's voyage to the AZORES. and three of the clock, having raifed her hull, the weather became calm, fo tha1*the fhip could not fetch her. I fent off my lliiff thoroughly manned, furniflied with fliot and fwords, the Cherubin, and the Margaret and John doing the like. Upon this the fail flood off again, and the night approaching, our boats loll her and fo returned. In this our purfuit after the fail, the Centurion being left a-fl:ern, the next morning we miffed her, and fpent that day plying up and down feekingher. And for as much as every of the fliips had received order, that, if by extremity of weather or any other mifchance they fhould be fevered from our fleet, they fhould meet and join at Flores, we, accord- ing to the inftruftions of Sir Edward Denny, proceeded to the finding of my Lord Tliomas Howard, being in theheight appointed, and not able to hold the fame by reafon. of extreme tempefls which forced us to the ifles of Flores and Corvo, which we made the fourteenth day in the morning, and there alfo joined again with the Cen- turion, whofe company before we had loll : who declared unto us, that the twelfth day, being the fame day they loft us, they met with five and-forty fails of the Indian fleet. The fame night, upon thefe news, we came to an anchor between Flores and Corvo, and the morrow folio ,ving at the break of day, a flag of counfel being put out, the captains and mafters came aboard me : where, for the defire to underfland fome tidings of my Lord, as alfo the fupplying of our want of water, it was thought good to fend our boats furniflied on Ihore, under the conduct of captain Brothers, and then it was alfo ordered, after our departure thence, to range along the fouth fides of the iflands, to the end we might either undeffliand of my Lord, or elfe light on the Indian fleet ; and, in the mifllng of our purpofe, to direct our courfe for Cape Saint Vincent. The boats, according to the forefaid determination, being fent on fliore, it chanced that the Coflly, riding uttermoft in the road, did weigh to bring herfelf more near among us for the fuccour of the boats fent off", and in opening the land difcovered two fails, which we in the roads could not perceive : whereupon flie gave us a warning- piece, which caufed us to wave oS our boats back, and before they could recover our fliips, the defcried fliips appeared unto us, towards the which we made with all hafl:e, and in a very happy hour, as it pleafed God. In that we had not fo foon cleared the land, and fpoken with one of them, which was a bark of Brillol, who had alfo fought my Lord in the heights appointed, and could not find him, but a violent florm arofe, in fuch a manner, as if we had remained in theroad, we had been in danger of perifliing: and the fame extremely continued during the fpace of threefcore hours. In which Itorni 1 was feparated from our fleet, except the Cherubin and the Coftly, which kept com- panv wiih me. And fo failing among the iflands, I viewed the road of Fayal, and finding no roadei"s there, went direftly for the ifle of Tercera. The nineteenth in the morning, coming unto the fame with intent to edge into the road, a temped arofe and fcanted the wind, that we could not feaze it : from the which being driven, we fell among certain of the Indian fleet, which the faid (torm dif- perfed, and put them from the road : whereupon myfelf with the other two fliips in company gave feveral chaccs, and thereby lofl: the company each of other. In following our chace above noon we made her to (trike and yield, being a Portugal, laden with hides, falfa-perilla, and anile. At this very inflant we efpied another, and taking our prize with us followed her, and fomewhat before night obtiined her, named the Conception, Franeifco Spinola being captain, which was laden with hides, cocho- nillio,and certain raw filk; and for that the feas were fo growen, as neither with boat nor fliip they were to be boarded, we kept them till fit opj)ortunity. The fame night, a Httle before day, there happened anotlier into our company, luppofing us by our two prizes to be of their fleet, which we until the morning diflemblcd. The PLICKE's voyage to the AZORES. 825 The twentieth clay, m the morning, the fail being fliot fomewhat a-head of us, hav- ing a fpecial care for the lafe keeping of the two former ; we purpofcd to caufe our prizes to' put out more fail, thereby to keep them near in giving chace to the other : unto the which the mafler would not hearken nor be perfuaded, but that they would follow us ; by the which his wilfulnefs by fuch time as we had caufed the other to yield, and fent men on board, the Conception, Francifco Spinola captain, being brought aftern, and having gotten the wind of us, flood oif with all her fails bearing, fo as we were forced to make a new chace of her ; and had not the wind enlarged upon us we had loft her. In the purfuit before we recovered her, and brought ourfelves again in company of our other prizes, the whole day was fpent, and by this means we lofl: the opportunity of that day, the weather fitly ferving to board the Portugal prize, which was in great diftrefs, and made requeft to take them, being ready to fmk, and, as we well perceived, they ceafed not to pump day and night j the which fhip to all our judgments the fame night periflied in the fea. The one-and-twenty day, the Conception, whereof Francifco Spinola was captain, being alfo in a leak, and the fame ftill increafing, notwith (landing the continual pump, ing, in fuch fort as not to be kept long above water, I took and difcharged out of her two-and-forty cherts of cochonillio and filks, and fo_ left her with eleven feet water ia hold, and her furniture and four thoufand feven hundred hides unto the feas. The other prize, which we have brought into the harbour, is named Noflra Sennora de los Remedies, whereof Francifco Alvares is captain, laden with fixteen chefts of cochonillio, certain fardels of raw fdk, and about four thoufand hides» Upon the dif' charge of the goods your worfliips fliall be particularly advertifed thereof. In the boarding of the prizes the diforder of the company was fuch, as that they letted not prefently befides the rifling of the Spaniards, to break open the chefls and to purloin fuch money as was in them : notwithftanding that it was ordered at convenient leifure to have gone aboard myfelf, and there, in the prefence of three or four witnefles, to have taken a juft account thereof, and the fame to have put in fafe keeping, according to the effefts of articles received in this behalf. And whereas there were alfo certain fums of money taken from the company which they had thus purloined and embezzled, and the fame with fome other parcels brought aboard my fliip, amounting unto two thoufand one hundred and twenty-nine pezoes and a half, the company, as pillage due unto them, demanded to have the fame Ihared, which I refufed, and openly at the main-maft read the articles formed by my lord trea- furer and my lord-admiral, whereby we ought to be direfted, and that it was not in me any way to difpofe thereof until the fame were finally determineii at home. Hereupon they mutinied, and at lafl: grew into fuch fury, as that they would have it or elfe break down the cabin, which they were alfo ready to put in practice, whereby 1 was forced to yield, lell the Spaniards which we had aboard, being many, perceiving the fame, might have had fit opportunity to rife againfl; us, which, after their brawls were appeafed, they fought to have put in execution. By the lafl advice from Caftile, the general of the king's armada, which is lately come to fea, hath received commandment to join his fleet with thofe erf the Indies, and for to flay altogether atTeicera till the fifteenth of OiSlober; for that fixpataches, with feven or eight millions of the king's treafure, will come by that time, or elfe they flay their coming from Havanna until Januai7 next, or the king's further pleafure therein to be known. Thefe pataches are faid to be of three hundred tons the piece, and to carry thirty pieces of brafs, and alfo of fail reported to have the advantage of any fliipping. rhere 824 Ralegh's report of an engagement. There perifhed of the Indies fleet, funk in the fea before their coming to Flores, eleven fails, \'^'hercof the general was one, and not one man f:ived. And it is by the Spaniards themfelves pre-fuppofed, that the Itorms which we had at Flores and at Tercera have devoured many more of them, whereof in part we were eye-witneffes : and fo, what by the feas and our men of war, I prefume that of feventy-five fails that came from Havana, half of them will never arrive in Spain. The eleventh day of Oftobcr, at night, we came to anchor in the found of Plymouth, and the next morning with our prize came into Cattewater, for which God be thanked ; for that a vehement florm arofe, and with fuch fury increafed, as that the prize was forced to cut over her main-mad, otherwife with the violence of the ftorm, her ground- tickle being bad, fhe had driven on fhore, which was the moft caufe that moved me to put in here ; intending now here to difcharge the goods without further adventure, and have certified thus much unto my lord-admiral, and therewith alio deiired to under- ftand the direction of the lords of the counfel, together with yours, iufomuch as my lord Thomas Howard is not returned. How the reft of our conforts, which were feparated from us, have fped, or what prizes they have taken, whereof there is much hope, by reafon of fcattering of the Weft Indian fleet, as yet we are able to fay nothing. And thus, expecting your anfwer, and for all other matters referring me unto the bearer, captain Furtho, I end. Your worfliip's loving friend, ROBERT FLICKE. Plymouth, the twenty-fourth of Odober 1591. A REPORT OF THE TRUTH OF THE FIGHT JBOUT THE ISLES OF AZORES, THE LAST OF AUGUST 1591, BETWIXT THE REVENGE, ONE OF HER MA. JESTTS SHIPS, AND AN ARMADA OF THE KING OF SPAIN: PENNED BT THE HONOURABLE SIR WALTER RALEIGH, KNIGHT. [Hakluyt, II. i6>,'. Second Part.] BECAUSE the rumours are diverfely fpread, as well in England as in the Low Countries and elfcwhere, of this late encounter between her Majelly's fliips and the ar- mada ot Spain ; and that the Spaniards, according to their ufual manner, fill the world with their vainglorious vaunts, making great appearance of victories, when, on the con- trary, themfelves are moft commonly and fliamcfuUy beaten and diflionoured, thereby hoping to p, (Tc's the ignorant multitude by anticipating and forerunning falfe reports : it is agreeable with all good reafon, for manifcltation of the truth, to overcome falsehood and untrurh, that the beginning, continuance, and fuccefs of this late honourable en- counter of Sir Richard Greenvil, and other her majefty's captains, with the armada of Spain, fliould be trulv let down and publiflicd without partiality or falfe imaginations. And it is no marvel that the Spaniard fhould feek by falfe and flandorous pamphlets, ad- vifoes, and letters, to cover their own lofs, and to dero>.',ate from others their due ho- nours, efpecially in this fight being performed far olf; feeing they were not afiiamed in the year 1588, when they purpofed the invafion of this land, to publifli in fundry lan- 8 guages 1 raleoh's report or an engagement. 825 puagcs in print, great victories in words, wliich they ploailcJ to Iiavc obtaincc4 againit this realm ; and fpread the lame in a molt falfclort over all parts of France, Italy, and elfewhere. When fhortly after it was happily nvanifertcd in very deed to all nations, how their navy, which they termed invincible, confifting of 140 fail ot Ihips, not only of their own kingdom, but itrcngthened with the greateft Argofies, Portugal carack-s, Florentines, and huge hulks of other countries, were by 30 of her majcdy's own Hiips of war, and a few of our own mcixhants, by the wife, valiant, and advantageous con- du£l of the Lord Charles Howard, high admiral of England, beaten and fliulHed to- gether; even from the Lizard in Cornwall firft to Portland, wiierc they fhamctully left don Pedro de Valdcs, with his mighty ihip ; from Portland to Cales, where they loft Hugo de Moncado, with the gallias of which he was captain, and from Cales, driven with fquibs from their anchors, were chafed out of the fight of England, round, about Scotland and Ireland. Where, for the fympathy of their barbarous rei:gion, hoping to find fuccour and afliitance, a great part of them were cruflied againll the rocks, and thofe other that laiided, being very many in number, were notwithftanding broken, flain, and taken, and fo fent from village to village coupled in halters, to be fliipped into England. "Where her majeify of her princely and invincible difpofi- tion, difdaining to put them to death, and fcorning either to retain or entertain them, they were all fent back again to thair countries, to witnefs and recount the worthy atchicvements of their invincible and dreadful navy ; of which the number of lol- diers, the fearful burthen of their fliips, the commander's name of every Iquadron, with all other their magazines of provifions, were put in print as an army and navy unrefillible, and difdaining prevention. With all which fo great and terrible an olten- tation, they did not, in all their failing round England, fo much as fink or take one Ihip, bark, pinnace, or cockboat of ours ; or ever burnt fo much as one (heepcot of this land. Whereas on the contrary, fir Richard Drake, with only 800 foldicrs not long before, landed in their Indies, and forced Sant-Jago, Santo Domingo, Carta- gena, and the forts of Florida. And after that fir John Norris marched from Peniche in Portugal, with a handful of foldiers to the gates of Lilbon, being above 40 Englifh miles. Where the earl of Eifex himfcif and other valiant gentlemen braved the city of Lilbon, encamped at the very gates ; from whence, after many days abode, finding neither promifed party, nor provifion to batter, they made retreat by land, in defpight of all their garrifons. both of horfe and foot. In this fort I have a little digrcffed from my firlt purpofe, only by the necefTary comparifon of their and our aftions : the one covetous of ho- nour without vaunt of oltentation ; the other fo greedy to purchafe the opinion of their own affairs, and by falfe rumours to refifl; the blalts of their own diflionours, as they will not only not blulh to fpread all manner of untruths ; but even for the lead ad- vantage, be it but for the taking of one poor adventurer of the Englifh, will celebrate the victory with bonfires in every town, always fpending more in faggots than the pur- chafe was worth they obtained. When as we never thought it worth the confumption of two billets, when we have taken eight or ten ot their Indian fliips at one time, and twenty of the Brazil fleet. Such is the dilTerence between true valour and oltentation, and between honourable adions, and frivolous vain-glorious vaunts. But now to return to my purpofe. The Lord Thomas Howard, with fix of her majefty's fhips, fix victuallers of Lon- don, the bark Ralegh, and two or three other pinnaces, riding at anchor near unto Florcs, one of the weflierly iflands of the Azores, the lad of Auguft in the afternoon, had intelligence by one captaia Middleton of the approach of the Spanilh armada. VOL. I. 5 N Which 826 RAtEGH's REPORT OF AN ENGAGEMENT. "Which Middleton, being in a very pood failor, had kept them company three days be- fore, of good purpofe, both to diicover their forces the more, as alfo to give advice To my Lord Thomas of their approach. He had no fooner delivered the news, but the fieefwas in fight : many of our fliips' companies were on fliore in the ifland, fome providing ballaft for their fliips ; others filling of water and refrelhing therafelves from the land with fiich things as they could either for money or by force recover. By rea- fon whereof our fhips being all peftered, and romaging every thing out of order, very light for want of ballail, and that which was moft to our difadvantage, the one half part of the men of every fhip fick, and utterly unferviceable ; for in the Revenge there were ninety difeafed ; in the Bonaventure, not fo many in health as could handle her main-fail. For had not twenty men been taken out of a bark of fir George Ca- rey's, his being commanded to be funk, and thofe appointed to her, fhe had hardly ever recovered England. The refl, for the mofl part, were in httle better ftate. The names of her majelty's (liips were thefe, as followeth : the Defiance, which was admi- ral, the Revenge vice-admiral, the Bonaventure, commanded by captain Crofle, the I.ion by George Fenner, the Forefight by M. Thomas Vavafour, and the Crane by Duffild. The Forefight and the Crane being but fmall fhips ; only the other were of the middle fize ; the reft, befides the bark Ralegh, commanded by captain Thin, were viftuallers, and of fmall force or none. The Spanifh fleet having fhrouded their approach by rcafon of the ifland, were now fo foon at hand, as our fhips had fcarce time to weigh their anchors, but fome of them were driven to let flip their cables and fet fail. Sir Richard Grenvill was the lafl that weighed, to recover the men that were tlpon the ifland, which otherwife had been loft. The lord Thomas with the reft very hardly recovered the wind, which fir Richard Grenvill not being able to do, was per- fuadcd by the mafter and others to cut his main-fail, and caft about, and to truft to the failing of the fhip ; for the fquadron of Sivil were on his weather-bow. But fir Richard utterly refufed to turn from the enemy, alledging that he would rather choofe to die, than to diflionour himfelf, his country, and her majefty's fliip, perfuading his company that he would pafs through the two fquadrons in defpight of them, and en- force thofe of Sivil to give him way. Which he performed upon divers of the fore- rnoft, who, as the mariners term it, fprang their lufl', and fell under the lee of the Revenge. But the otlier courfe had been the better, and might right well have been anfwercd in fo great an impoflibility of prevailing. Notwithftanding out of the greatnefs of his mind he could not be perfuaded. In the mean while as he attended thofe which were neareft him, the great San Philip bdng in the wind of him, and com- ing towards him, becalmed his fails in fuch fort, as the fliip could neither make way, nor feel the helm : fo huge and high carged was the Spanifh fliip, being of a thoufand and five hundred tons ; who after laid the Revenge aboard. When he was thus be- reft of his fails, the fliips that were under his lee luffing up, alfo laid him aboard ; of which the next was the admiral of the Bifcaines, a very mighty and puiflTant fhip, com- manded by Brittandona. The faid Philip carried three tier of ordnance on a fide, and eleven pieces in every tier. She fliot eight forth right out of her chafe, befides thofe of her ftern ports. After the Revenge was entangled with this Philip, four other boarded her ; two on her larboard, and two on her ftarboard. The figlit thus beginning at three o'clock in the afternoon, continued very terrible all that evening. But the great San Philip hav- ing received the lower tier of the Revenge, difcharged with crofT-bar-fhot, fliifted herfelf wiih all diligence from her fides, utterly mifliking her firfl entertainment. Some fay that the fhip foundered, but we cannot report it for truth, unlefs we were aflfured. The raleoh's report of an emcaoemeht. tij The Spanifli fliips were lilled with companies of folJiers, in fome two hundred, befides the marlnerR ; in fonie five, in others eight hundred. In ours there were none at all . befidcji tile aiiiriners, but the fervarits of tlic coiiini;indcrSj and fonie few voluntary gen- tlemen only. After many interchanged vollies of great ordnance and fmall fnot, the Spaniards dcliberntcd to enter the Revenge, and made divers attempts, hoping to force her, by tlic inukiiudes of thtir armed foldiers and mufkcteci-s, but were dill rcpulfed again and again, and at all times beaten back into their own fliips, or into the feas. In the beginning of the fight, the George Noble, of London, having received fome fliot thi-ough her, by the armadas, fell under the lee of the Revenge, and afked fir Richard x\hat he would command him, being but one of the viduallers, and of fmall force : fir Richard bid him fave himfelf, and leave him to his fortune. After the fight had thus, without intermiflion, continued while the day laflcd, and fome hours of the night, many of our men were llain and hurt, and one of the great gallions of the armada, and the admiralof the hulks both funk, and in many other of the Spanifli fhips great flaughter was made. Some write that fir Richard was very dangeroully hurt almofl: in the begin- ning of the fight, and lay fpeechlefs for a time ere he recovered. But two of the Re- venge's own company, brought home in a fliip of Lime from the iflands, examined by fome of the lords, and others, aflirmed that he was never fo wounded as that he forfook the upper deck, till an hour before midnight ; and then being fhot into the body with a niulketashe was a drefilng, was again fliot into the head, and withal his chirurgion wound- ed to death. Thisagreeth alfo with an examination taken by fir Francis Godolphin, of four other mariners of the fame fliip being returned, which examination, the faid fir Fi-ancis lent unto mailer William Killegrue, of her majefty's privy chamber. But to return to the fight, the Spanifli fliips which attempted to boai'd the Revenge, as they were wounded and beaten off, fo always others came in their places, flie having never lefs than two mighty gallions by her fides, and aboard her: fo that ere the morning, from three of the clock the day before, there had fifteen feveral armadas af- failed her ; and all fo ill approved their entertainment, as they were by the break of dav, far more willing to hearken to a compofition, than hallily to make any more aflaults or entries. But as the day encreafed, fo our men decreafed ; and as the light grCw more and more, by fo much more grew our difcomforts; for none appeared in fight but ene- mies, faving one fmall fliip called the Pilgrim, commanded by Jacob Whiddon, wiio ho- vered all night to fee the fuccefs ; but in the morning bearing with the Revenge, was hunted like a hare amongfl many ravenous hounds, but efcaped. All the powder of the Revenge to the lafl: barrel was now fpent, all her pikes broken, forty of her befl: men flain, and the mod part of the refl: hurt. In the beginning of the fight ihe had but one hundred free from ficknefs, and four fcore and ten fick Jaid in hold upon the ballafl:. A fmall troop to man fuch a fliip, and a weak garrifon to refifl: fo mighty an army. By thofe hundred all was fufiained, the vollies, boardings, and enterings of fifteen fliips of war, befides thofe which beat her at large. On the contrary, the Spanifli were always fupplied with foldiers brought from every fquadron : all manner of arms and powder at will. Unto ours there remained no comfort at all, no hope, no fupply either of fliips, men, or weapons; the mafl.s all beaten overboard, all her tackle cut afunder, her upper work altogether rafed, and in eflecl evened fiio was with the water, but the very foundation or bottom of a fliip, nothing being left overhead, either for flight or defence. Sir Richard finding himfelf in this diflirefs, and unable any longer to make refifl:ance, having endured, in this fifteen hours fight, the alTault of fifteen feveral armadas, all by turns aboard him, and by eflimation eight hundred fliot of great artillery, befides many afTaults and entries ; and that the fliip and 5 N 2 hirafeif 828 Ralegh's report of an engagement. himfelf mull: needs be pofleired by the enemy, who were now all cafl in a ring round about him (the Revenge not able to move one wav or other, but as flie was moved with the waves and billows of the fea) conunanded the mailer gunner, whom he knew to be a molt refokite man, to fplit and fmk the fliip ; that thereby nothing might remain of glory or viftory to the Spaniards ; feeing in ib many hours hght, and with fo great a navy they were not able to take her, having had fifteen hours time, above ten thou- fand men, and t"itty and three fail of men of war to perform it v>'ithal ; atui perfuaded the company, or as many as he could induce, to yield themfelvcs unto God, and to the mercy of none elfc ; but as they had, like valiant refolute men, repu'fed fo many enemies, they fliould not now fliorten the honour of their nation, by prolonging their lives for a few hours, or a few days. The mailer gunner readilycondefcended, and divers others ; but the captain and the mailer were of another opinion, and befought fir Richard to have care of them ; alledging that the Spaniard would be as ready to enter- tain a compofition, as they were willing to offer the fame ; and that there being divers fiiflicient and valiant men yet living, and whofe w ounds were not mortal, they might do their country and prince acceptable fervice hereafter. And whereas fir Richard had alledged that the Spaniards flioukl never glory to have taken one fliip of her majelty, feeing ihey had fo long and fo notably defended thcmfclves ; they anfwered, that the fliip had fix feet water in hold, three fliot under water, which were fo weakly flopped, as with the fir ft working of the fea, flie mufl needs fink; and was befides fo cruflied aixi bruifed, as fiie could never be removed out of the place. And as the matter was thus in difpute, and fir Richard refufing to hearken to any of thofe reafons ; the mafter of the Revenge (while the captain won unto him the greater party) was conveyed aboard the General Don Alfonfo Ba9an ; who (finding none over hafiy to enter the Revenge again, doubting left fir Richard would have blown them up and himfelf, and perceiving by the report of the mafter of the Revenge his dangerous difpofition,) yielded that all their lives ftiould be faved, the company fent for England, and the better fort to pay fuch reafonable ranfom as their citate would. bear, and in the mean feafon to be free from galley or imprifonment. To this he fo much the rather condefcended as well, as I have faid, for fear of further lofs and mifchief to thcmfelves, as alfo for the defire he had to recover fir Richard Greenvil ; whom for his notable valour he feemed greatly to honour and admire. When this anfwer was returned, and that fafety of life was promifed, the common fort being no,.' at the end of their peril, the moft drew back from fir Richard and lYte mafter gunner, being no hard matter to diffuade men from death to life. The maf- ter gunner finding himfelf and fir Richard thus prevented and maftered by the greater number, would have flain himfelf with a fword had he not been by force withheld, and locked into his cabin. Then the general fent many boats aboard the Revenge; and divers of our ni'-n, fearing fir Richard's difpofition, ftole away aboard the General and other fliips. Sir Richard thus overmatched, was fent unto by Alfonfo 639311 to remove out of the Revenge, the fhip being marvellous unfavoury, filled with blood and bodies of dead, and wounded men like a flaughter-houfe. Sir Richard anfwere*'9 and entries of fo many i'oUiicrs. All which and more is confirmed by a Spanilli cap- tain of the fame armada, and a prclent aclor in the fipht, who being fevered from the reft in a (torm, was by the Lion of London, a fmall fliip, taken, and is now priloner in London. The general commander of the armada was don Alfonfo Bagan, brother to the mar- quis of Santa Cruz. The admiral of the Bifcaine fquadron was Britandona. Of the fquadron of Sivil, the marquis of Arumburch. The hulks and fly-boats were com- manded l-y Luis Coutinho. There were flain and drowned in this fight well near one thoufand of the enemies, and two fpecial commanders, don Luis de Sant John, and don George de Prunaria de Mallaga, as the Spanifli captain confefleth, bcfides divers others of fpecial account, whereof as yet report is not made. The admiral of the hulks and the Afcenfion of Sivil were both funk by the fide of the Revenge ;. one other recovered the road of St. Michael, and lunk alio there ; a fourth ran herfelf with the fliore to fave her men. Sir Richard died as it is faid, the fecond or third day aboard the General, and was by them greatly bewailed. What became of his body, whether it was buried in thefea or on the land we know not : the comfort that remaineth to his friends is, that he hath ended his life honorably in refpect of the reputation won to his nation and country, and of the fame to his pollerity, and that being dead, he hath not outlived his own honour. For the reft of her majefty's fhips that entered not fo far into the fight as the Re- venge, the reafons and caufes were thefe. There were of them but fix in all, whereot two but finall (hips ; the Revenge engaged paft recovery ; the ifland of Flores was on the one fide, 53 fail of the Spanifh, divided into fquadrons on the other, all as full filled with foldiers as they could contain ; almoft the one half of our men fick and not able to ferve ; the fhips grown foul, and fcarcely able to bear any fail for want of bal- laft, having been fix months at the fea before. If all the reft had entered, all had been loft ; for the very hugenefs of the Spanifh fleet, if no other violence had been cfi:ered, would have cruflied them between them into fhivers. Of which the dilhonour and lofs to the queen had been far greater than the fpoil or harm that the enemy could any way have received. Notwithftanding it is very true, that the lord Thomas would have entered between the fquadrons, but the reft would not condefcend ; and the mafter of his own ftiip oflfered to leap into the fea nuher than to condud that her ma- jefty's fhip and the reft to I e a prey to the enemy, where there was no hope nor pof- fibility either of defence or victory. Which alio in my opinion had ill forted or an- fwered the difcretion and truft of a general, to commit himfelf and his charge to an allured deftruclion, without hope or any likelihood of prevailing : thereby to dimiuifli the ftrength of her majefty's navy, and to enrich the pride and glory of the enemy. The Forefight of the queen's, connnanded by M. Thomas Vavilbr, performed a very great fight, and ftaid two hours as near the Revenge as the weather would permit, not forfaking the fight, till he -^as like to be encompali'ed by the fquadrons, and with great difficulty cleared himfelf.. The reft gave divers volhes of fliot, and entered as far as the place permitted, and their own neceifities, to keep the weather gage of the enemy, until they were parted by )ught. A few days after the fight was ended, and the Englifti. prifoners difperfed into the Spanilli and Intiia fhips, there arofe ib great &> ftorm from the W. and N. W. that all the fleet was difiK^ried, as well the Indian fleet, which were then come unto them, as the reft oft c armada that attended their arrival, of which 14 fail together with the Revenge, and in her 200 Spaniards, where caft away upon the ifle of St. Michael. So it pleafcd them to honour the burial of that re- nowned fl)ip the Revenge, not fuilering, her to periili alone, for the great honour flic atchieved. S30 Ralegh's report of an ekcagement. atchleved in her lifetime. On the reft of the iflands there were caft away in this ftorm fifteen or fixteen more of the fhips of war ; and of an hundred and odd fail of the India fleet, expefted this year in Spain, what in this tempeft, and what before in the bay of Mexico, and about the Bermudas, there were 70 and odd confumed and loft, with thofc taken by our fhips of London, befides one very rich Indian fhip, which fet her- felf on fire, being boarded by the Pilgrim, and five other taken by mailer Wats his fliips of London, between the Havana and Cape St. Antonio. The fourth of this month of November we received letters from the Tercera, affirming that there arc three thoufand bodies of men remaining in that ifland, faved out of the periflied fhips ; and that by the Spaniards' own confeflion, there are ten thoufand caft away in tlys florm, befides thofe that are periftled between the illands and the main. Thus it hath pleafed God to fight for us, and to defend the juftice of our caufe againft the ambitious and bloody pretences of the Spaniard, who feeking to devour all nations, are them- felves devoured. A manifold teftimony how unjuft and difpleafing their attempts are in the fight of God, who hath pleafed to witnefs, by the fuccefs of their aifairs, his mif- like of their bloody and injurious defigns, purpofed and prad'tiled againft all Chriftian princes, over whom they feek unlawful and imgodly rule and empire. One day or two before this wreck happened to the Spanifti fleet, when as fome of our prifoners defired to be fet on fhore upon the iflands, hoping to be from thence tranfported into England, which liberty was formerly by the general promifed : one Morice Fitz John, fon of old John of Defmond,a notable traitor, coufin german to the late earl of Defmond, was fent to the Englilh from fhip to fhip, to perfuadethcm to ferve the King of Spain. The arguments he ufed to induce them were thefe. The increafe of pay which he promifed to be trebled : advancement to the better fort : and the exercife of the true Catholic religion, and fafety of their fouls to all. For the firft, even the beggarly and unnatural behaviour of thofe Englifti and Irifli rebels, that ferved the king in that prefent aftion, was fufiicient to anfwer that firft argument of rich pay. For fo poor and beggarly they were, as for want of apparel they Itripped their poor countrymen prifoners out of their ragged garments, worn to nothing by fix months fervice, and fpared not to defpoil them even of their bloodv fliirts, from their wounded bodies, and the very flioes from their feet ; a notable teftimony of their rich entertain- ment and great wages. The fecond reafon was hope of advancement if they ferved well, and would continue faithful to the king. But what man can be fo blockiflily ig- norant ever to expe£t place or honour from a foreign king, having no other argument or perfuafion than his own difloyalty ; to be unnatural to his own country that bred him ; to his parents that begat him, and rebellious to his true prince, to whofe obe- dience he is bound by oath, by nature, and by religion ? No, they are only affurcd to be employed in all defperate enterprizes, to be held in fcorn and difdain even among thofc whom they ferve. And that ever traitor was either trufted or advanced 1 could never yet read, neither can 1 at this time remember any example. And no man could have lefs become the place of an orator for fuch a purpole, than this Morice of Defmond. For the earl his coufin being one of the greatelt fubjeds in that kingdom of Ireland, having almoft whole counties in his poft'elhon ; fo many goodly manors, caftles, and lordlhips ; the count palatine of Kerry, five hundred gentlemen of his own name and family to follow him, befides others (all which he and his anceftors polTeired in peace for three or four hundred years,) was in lei's than three years after his adhering to the Spaniards and rebellion, beaten from all his holds, not fo many as ten gentlemen of his name left living ; himfelf taken and beheaded by a foldierof his own nation, and his land given by a parliament to her majeftv, and polTefled by the Englilh : his other coufin Sir John of rai.egh's report or aw ekgagement. 831 of Defmond taken by niafler John Zouch, and his body h;inp;ed over the gates of his native city to be devoured by ravens : the third brother Sir James hanged, drawn, and quartered in the fameplace. If he had withal vaunted of his fucceCsof his own houfe, no doubt the argument would have moved much, and wrought great efFecl ; which becaufc he for that prefent forgot, I thought it good to remember in his behalf. For matter of religion it v,x)uld require a particular volume, if 1 fliould fet down how irre- Kgioufly they cover their greedy and ambitious pretences, with that veil of piety. But furel am, that there is no kingdom or commcMiweath in all Kurope, but if they be re- fcmncd, they thrn invade it ftir religion fake: it it be, as they term Catholic-, they pre- tend title ; as if the kings of Caftile were the natural heirs of all the world : and fo be- tween both, no kingdom is unfought. Wher, the little hope there was of receiving fuccour ; th;!t a part of his men had ahvady i"u:-- rendcred, and given account of ills diftrefs ; the greater part of thofe remaining being ready to do the fame ; fonie dying of hunger and thirft, and the wounded for want of being drefled ; fome of the furgeons having gone over to the enemy, and the others having loft tlfcir unguents ; he ailembled his captains, who entreated him to propofc terms, and preferve thofe who were dying hourly to no avail,- and this being refolved upon among them, and hearing from a particular friend, a knight of Malta, who was with the army, that the enemy was In motion to force his entrenchments, and who entreated him to have fome pity on him, and fend immediately a perfon to treat : they chofc the commander, Du Mayet, for that purpofe, who having proceeded to the Spa- niards, made propolals as advantageous as If we had been on equal terms : he was, in confequencc, fent back again by them with derifion, without any other anfwcr than that it was a great folly and a temerity on the part of the French, whofe lives were In their hands, inilead of humiliating themfelves to aik for them, and render at difcretion ; to propofe to make the boldeft and bed conditions. They ordered the commander, Du Mayet, to withdraw immediately, and informed him he Ihould have a reply to his impertinent requefts, carried by fifteen thoufand fighting men. Notwithltanding this, Don Pedro de Padilhe did not difcontinue writing to the conunander De Challe, but acquainted him that having fent one of his ofilccrs who had no reafon in his propofals, he had confequently returned without concluding any treaty, which from the arietflilon he bore towards him, and the regard he had for his life, he had hoped would have been concluded ; that the Marquis de Santa Cruz had begged and forbid his people to fpeak to him any more about capitulating with the French, as he would fee the end of them for their obftlnacy; however, that if he would immediately fend fome other perfon, more yielding than the commander Du Mayet, the whole company of Spanlfli Cava- liers would entreat the marquis to liften to him ; that he had forefeen that his reliance upon the cowardly Portuguefe coming to rally about him, would be the caufe of his lofs; and that he had nothing to expect on that fcore : for the purpofe of certifying as 'much to him, he fent him the letter which the commander had difpatched to the Portu- guefe captain Francifco, which had afterwards been fent by him to the marquis, accom- panied wuh an offer of his fervices to ruin the French ; that he committed hlmfclf much in courting that wretched race, having been already deceived by them ; and which if joined to his force could not prevent his ruin. Hereupon the commander having com- municated with his captains, felecled M. Angernaques, Mjitrc dc Camp, to whoni he gave full jx)wer to treat of his furrender ; he immediately departed, and his arrival caufed the army to halt, which was on Its march from the city of Angra, to force the French entrenchments ; and although M. Angarnaques required feveral things which he had no hopes of obtaining, he, neverthelefs, with great difficulty, concluded the follow- ing treaty, i. That the fald marquis promifed the fald commander and his people fliould be allowed to return to France with their I'words. 2, That he would hire vef- fels, properly viclualled, for their tranfport with their baggage: (which would not much encumber the backs of the French, they having loll every thing; preferving no more than the cloaths they had on on the day of battle.) Ami 3, That the faid niar- quis, on account of the doubt entertained of his faith, fliould fwcar upon the Holy Evan- gelilts, to obferve the treaty which he fliould fign, with the principal oflicers of his armv. This was done, and thefe articles agreed to and llgned, were cairied t.i the commander, who was on his way -vlth his troops towards Angra, where the fi'.id army was. At about a quarter of a league he was honourably met by the moft confiderablj officers, arid allured by the before mentioned Padilhe, on the part of the marquis, that he might 5 !• 3 now ^44 ^^ chaste's voyage to tercera. now eftcem himfelf among his mofl: faithful brothers and friends. They gave him a h rfe, as he was on foot at the head ot his troop, and rr.ufed fevcral gentlemen who followed the commander to mount behind thorn on their horfds, pr^'ceeding to the ciiy. where quarters and provifions for the French were already provided, the fame as for the Spaniards. The commander rode on direft to the houfe of the marquis, who received him with great politenefs, obferving to him afterwards, that he was furprized that a man of his quality, and fo brave, fliould have ventured himfelf in a place fo diftant from his own country, and with fo iitile hope of preibrving it or even his own life and honor, being accompanied by fo few men ; and to afllil the mod con- temptible nation upon earth, the Portugucfe ; by the anfwer of the commander un- deritandin;^ .".at he was gr'^atly afflided, and hurt at his fate, as he told the marquis; that had the reprefentations made by the king Don Anthony to the king his mailer, and the queen mother been true, his enterprize would not have met with fuch an ad- verfe delliny, but that he fhould have hindered the landing, and taking of the ifland ; as he would yet have done if the galleys had not reached the coalt, where, Don An- thony had a.Tured them, there was not depth of water for them to navigate, and the Por- tugucfe had not abandoned him ; and that he lamented exceedingly that he had not died in the engagement, and fo been fpared the misfortune which had befallen him, which would be a fubjeft of afihclion to him as long as he lived ; the marquis obferv- ed ; In good truth Mr. de Cbajle it would be doing too much wrong to the French nation }iot to allow their high courage and -valorous enterprize, but you mujl grant that thsy are frequently inconfulerate^ and too hajiy, as IJliotdd ejieem them to be in this injlance, but for the apparent reafons which you alledge ; what, however, furpri-x.es me is to hear you mif- jiame good fortune bad ; for as you were deceived in the principal point of your intention, which is no fault of yours, this I conftder alone as your misfortune; on the other hand I eJlccm you -very fortunate to recover what was lofi, that is to fay your lives, and bearing away only great renoiun acc^uired among us, as we have been witncffes that you and yours have done even more than your duty, on as wellr companions at Tercera, to which place they were carried by the faid count, and treated in the fame manner as the others. Upon their arrival, the commander de Chafl:e entreated the marquis to fe.lfd the conditions of the capiiulatioii, and furnifli him with veflTels and provifions for tranf- portiiig him to the coail of France, tofjether with his people, which the marquis pro- 8 mifed DK ClfASTE's VOYAGE TO TKRCKRA. 847 iTiift'd fliouKl be done on the fucceeding day. The next day the marquis ordered Don Pedro de Padilhe to tell the commander de Chafte, tliat he muil proceed with his peo- ple to LKbon, where he Ihould be embarked for France, as he had not the power of forwarding him from tliere, not having a fuflicient number of veifels to tranfport his army back ; with this the conunander was obliged to acquiel'ce, in Ipite of all dil'puie to the contrary. However, wlide wailing from day to day for the departure of the army, he was informed by fonie of his captains, that the Spaniards endeavour-'d to feducc them to join them, with their troops, in order to be preient at a battle vvliich the king Philip meant to give the moors at Larache, where Don Sebaftian was killed four years before, and lull the day. On the fame day the coni.mander being invited t ) the quarters of Don Pedro de Toledo where the principal captains of the army were ad'em- bled, was repeatedly prelfed to be gay, and enjoy hiaifelf, on account of his appearing fad and cad down at his bad fortune ; upon which fubjcct, Don Lopez de Foidquoal, Ma'itre de Camp, general of the army, thus expreiled himf-lf : Monf. de Cbajlc, in my opinion^ you have no rcafon to grieve in tl)e mamier you do ; feeing that, in this in/lance, Jiothing has occurred but -jShat has been advantageous to you. livill refer the fiat emcnt of your adven- tures to the judgment of. the mofi experienced warriors in the world ; I am certain, upon explaining every circumjlance, that they can form no other idea thereof, than fuch as is en- tertained by myfef and my companions ; which is, that although youfhould have had all the good fortune pojfible againjl us, you could not appear in a braver or more honourable light, nor better have ftgnalized your renown than you have done, in having fought with, and kept a wholejirong and numerous army employed for an entire day, withfuch a handful of men, who cheerfully expofed themfelves in the fight, with fixed arms advancing to give a floock to our foldiers, and meeting their Jleel with refolution, to bathe their ozon in the blood of ours ; killing a great number of our braveji men, notwitl.^ianding your bein^ abandoned by the Portuguefe, and their chief, withfome of your own defertedfrom you to us, informing us of your dijlrefs ; in this pofition, engaging the marquis de Santa Cruz to enter into terms with vou, notwithHanding the information received of your being a prey to thirft and hunger, which were deflroying your people, and faving your lives from abfolute condemnation ; for my part, I think we were too eafy, that it would have been an eternal affront and Jlain upon the ho- }iour of our nation, if we had had the difgrace to have granted beyond what zve have done ; and that you have to thank God for the ajjijiance he has afforded you, and that you are at prefcnt in the hands of men of honour, from whom you receive every court efy you can dcftre. The commander thanked him very humbly for his politenefs, and faid : I Jhould be the mofi ungrateful of beings, if I were not to [hew proper fentiments, when oppor- tunity may offer, for the honour and kindnefs jhewn me : but as the French are incapa- ble of concealing what is uppertnoj'i, as in the inftance of myfclf, I Jhall freely obfcrve, that all the careffes and kind treatment Jhewn us, are done with a dcftgn of which I canwA ap- prove ; what, for two days back, has given me greater caufe of vexation, is the hearing that your captains were f educing my and their men to go to the battle of Larache ; which I give the more credit to, from the marqids having already begun to break the treaty of capi- tulation, putting off the embarkation of my men for France, which f}:)ould have taken place from this ifland to Lifbon ; which is done more to induce us to make a party in this battle, thanfro?n any want ofvcffels, as he fays ; or, if this be not the caufe, it is for the purpofe of playing off fame villainy upon me and mine ; breaking his engagements entirely. He is not, however, to conceive, that although Ijhould be forced to go to Lifbon, I Jhall the more be pcrfuaded, either willingly, or by conjiraint, to go to the /aid battle / for, rather than dofo, J wotdd flab myfelf in fifty places, as lamfure would all my companions, except we were ordered to proceed, by the king my mafler; to whom I Jhall go to render an account of my condud. S^S I>n CHASTENS VOYAGE TO TfiRCERA. condud. To lo/c one's life or fort tor:, 1 confidcr but little ; not fo of my honour, ivhich would be forfeit, -were I to ad oiherwife ; or elf c the circumflancc would ferve to immorta- lize the want of faith of Spaniards, in Jhewing that a general of an army with all the prin- cipal men of your nation, were devoid theref, as you are in the fair road to dcmorjlraic. Upon this, they all anfwered : Monf. de Cha/ie, you do us an injury in entertaining ft) bad an opinion of our faith ; do not, for an inflant, imagine unlefs it be by voluntary confcnt of you felf, arid your people to accompany us to the glorious battle of Larache, -jchere every good chriflian ought to be prefent to oppofe the infidels ; that the marquis nvould on any ac- count oblige you, nor even break his treaty with you ; and if he fmdd be f difpcfed, cur honour is fo precious to us, we zvoidd rather forfeit our li-ves, than fuffcr him to do fo. After this they immediately writed on the marquis, to whom they repeated the obfer- vations made by the commander, on his want of faith, in taking him to Lifbon after promifmg him fliipping from Tercera to return to France. They reprefentcd to him, that if fuch were his intentions, the commander would have caufe to complain ; and that he would compromife not only his own reputation, but that of the whole Spauifli nation. They befought him to keep his faith and promife, and fliip the French from the ifland, before the Spaniards failed : which the marquis agreed to do, upon con- dition that the commander fhould leave le Sieur d'Anguaraques, the Maitre de Camp, with four captains and their companies ; not being able to embark the whole for want of veffels. The commander, upon learning this, repaired to the marquis, and told him, that in the capitulation no mention of hoftages was made ; that fuch condufl was a retraftation of promife ; and that, if he by lorce or authority fhould be conrtrain- ed to abide by thofe conditions, it (hould bo himfelfwho would remain as an hoftage, and make good his retreat, running his chance. I'he marquis anfwered : Monf. de Chajle, leave me the hoflagcs-I have required ; 1 ejieem you too inuch to confent to your ruin, as Ifoould do, if remaining as an hoftage, you were to anfwer for the diforder which pur foldiers might be guilty of, on pajpng through the territories of the king of Spain my ma/icr, from bad conduct : you mufl embark tomorrow with your people, in three Bifcayan vcjfcls, each of four hundred tons, and a bark for your fick and wounded ; thefefhall be at your dif- pofal, with provifions and people to conduct you to the French fhorcs in the neighbourhood of Fonterabia ; and as foon as I hear of the treatment which the f aid Bifcayans may have re- ceived, and of their arrival in port, I will not fail to pip the remainder of your people, which however, Jfliall take to Lifbon : this is all I can do for you ; and on which I am refolved. Very well, faid the connnander, " thejlrongefl, as you do, make the hnu,fir.. When taking leave, he affured him of failing with his people. The next day which was Saturday, 14th Augull, they went ahoard in fuch con- fufion, that the velfels were full of French foliiicrs or iailors, ami a great number were concealed belonging to the companies which remained as hoflages, being appre- henfive that this would be their laft chance ; which was the caufe of a greater part dying of hunger and thirft, or the bloody flux at fca, as we were two months on the voyage which we reckoned upon efleding in a fortnight, if the v.indhad been favoura- ble ; but being contrary, and the veffels bad, we were in danger of foundering on Tuefday the fcvcnteenth of the fame month, and the men were confcquently fo much aflccled, that feveral dead were thrown into the fea, the remainder bv:ing very ill of the bloody flux ; the confequence of the diflrefs ihey had to combat with in the mountain of Tercera, before the capitulation, and on board continuing to live fb wretchedly, that they had nothing to drink but a Imall four wine, flinking water, broken bif- cuit made four years before at IVIilan, hanl as a ftone, and hall worm eaten, and fome fnoilt fait fifli J io that the belt entertainment the poor fellows who were fkk and wounded DE CIIASTE's voyage TO TERCERA. 849 wounded couU obtain, was a piece of bifcuit boiled in an earthenware pot in ftlnking water ; and of this fo fmali a quantity, as fcarce to be perceptible when fwallowcd. This caufed fo great a mortality th;it more than two hundred psrifhed. Tuefday, twenty-fourth )f the fame month, the vell'el, on board of which was the commander, was near fmkug, owing to the defp' 'ration of a failor, who, lying under the cabin either vexed atliving fo miferably, or in anguifli from the pain he experienced from a fliot which had brdcen his leg, forced open a plank of the velTcl ; in which there was al- ready two feetof water, and but for theaihllance of the failors who perceived the leak, the veflel had aeen lolt. The fame veflel, the next day, was a fecond time in danger from fire, whi:h the French failors, running to the part where fome drunken Bifcayans had been regiling themfelves, extinguifhed ; thefe latter were accuifomed to cook and enjoy thenfelves in prefence of the poor French, who with joined hands, at times, would entreat I morfel of them for the love of God, which they paid fmall attention to, mocking their diftrefs ; and frequently, on paffing by them, would give them kicks in the belly and he reins, telling them they were dogs and fwine to have blood voided by them bclov. How the pcor fickwere treated, who died while lying one upon another in every cor- ner of the vefel, without being able to move, or help themfelves, may be imagined. Frequently fpeaking of the moft wicked nations, I have heard them compared to the Bifcayans, but from experience I can affirm that they are the moft barbarous and leaft friendly people upon earth : the commander was even intormed one day that the Bif- cayans had thiown a French gentkman overboard, who was yet alive ; and having no- ticed this to the captain of the ih'ip, as well as the reft of their bad conduct, he anfwered him that he was fo much hurt at having to carry people fo much afflicted, as were the French on boird his fliip, that he wifhed the devil might fmk her, with all that fee contained: notwithftanding this infolence, the commander armed himfelf with patience, in confideration of thofe who remained as hoftages behind, who might fuffer for any puniftiment inflided on this wicked Bifcayan and his companions, which the commander had yet the power to inflift. Friday following, the twenty-feventh of the fame month, they began to difcover the feacoaft of Gallicia, where being defirous of touching at Cape Finifterre, to take in water at the neareft village, fuch a violent ftorm arofe that moft of the failors pre- pared to throw themfelves overboard, in order to fwim to fhore, but God calmed the tempeft, their vefTel pafllng within a foot or thereabouts of the rocks. During the whole day they were unable to make the land ; but the next day they caft anchor in a bad road of a village called Maujy, where feveral Frenchmen thinking it a remedy for their ficknefs, went to drink at a fpring, and after filling themfelves four or five died upon the fpot : on this account the commander caufed them to be re-embarked. A great number of the foldiers, upon returning on board, befought their commander to difcharge them, and in order to obtain their requeft the more readily, they pretended to have made a vow to go to St. James's Qf Gallicia, fix or fevcn leagues diftaut, in order that they might be out of danger. The commander reprefented to them their. bad health, and the rifque they ran in pafling through Spain, of being knocked on the head, that it would be much better to wait two days longer, in which time it was to be hoped the N. E. wind, which prevented the continuance of their voyage, would change, that in that cafe, in twice twenty-four hours they mit;ht run 160 leagues, which was our diftance from the French coaft, which by land it would take them two months to travel over: he affured them further that in cafe the wind faould not become favourable, he was refolved upon running the fame riik as themfelves, being thereunto VOL. I. -52 obliged 850 EE ciiaste's voyage to tercera. obliged from the fcarcity of provifion, which was fo great, that the portbn of each fol- dier was reduced to about as much of Ainking water as could be contaned in the hol- low of the hand, and about the fize of a walnut of bifcuit per day. But the com- mander being importuned to difcharge them, gave his confent for that Durpofe to one hundred and twenty, the greater part of whom died in Spain, owing tQ the bad treat- ment they received, or theillnefs under which they laboured. Tuefday, fixteenth of the month, the contrary wind appearing to change, gave an opportunity for weighing anchor, and fetting fail, after the captain had put feven or eight cafks of water on board ; but in leaving the roads a fog arofe, accompanied by a great ftorm which fhattered the main ma(t, and fliivered all the fails in fuch manner, that we all imagined we were at the end of our afflitlions ; 01 this occafion the Bifcayan captain fhewed the bafenefs of his foul, and his avarice; far full of rage he exclaimed, God / wilt thou at loft make me lofe my dear fhip ivhieh ei/l me ten thou- J'and franks ; rather than fo, let the devil take me. On this occafion, all the others aboard invoked the affiftance of the Almighty, who again preferved tliem from this misfortune, and quelled the ftorm ; which feparated the two other vefbls and barks from the commander, and drove them, the commander Du Mayet, wlo was in one, into Valentia, in Spain ; thirty-fix leagues diftant from the commander; aptain Carles, of Bordeaux, to the iflands of Bayonne, twenty- four leagues diftant ; and captain Cam- pagnol, who was with the fick on board the bark, away to fea a confid«rable diftance from the commander; this contrary wind which became more and more violent, toifed them about nearly a fortnight, during which time ten or twelve bodies were daily thrown overboard, from the commander's veflel, which had no longer any thing to eat on board, and very little to drink ; fo that without the interpofition of the Almighty, who by earneft prayer was induced to fend a favourable wind, we were upon the point of cafting lots who fhould be devoured by the reft. After two days and one night m this condition, they arrived at the part of the town of Gueytarge to which the Bifcayan captain belonged, where they immediately obtained bread and water, through the medium of a French gentleman who was better provided than his companions, and who lent the commander money. It was ten leagues by fea from there to Fontarabia, to which place the Bifcayan captain was ordered to condudt us; he however told the commander, that he had not determined to carry him any farther, but that he might go by land if he pleafed ; upon this the commander immediately gave advice to the governor of Fontara- bia, informing him of the little refpeft ftiewn by the Bifcayan to the orders of the marquis of Santa Cruz, and that owing to hisnegleft his people were dying. Immediately upon this, the governor fent a man to the Bifcayan, ordering him upon pain of death to proceed inftantly to the village of Andaye, oppofite to Fontarabia, there being only a fmall arm of the fea between, which feparates France from Spain. He accordingly im- mediately prepared floops and boats to carry the commander and his people to Fonta- rabia, and as they werepafling this little arm, a Spanifti gentleman came on the part of the governor, to offer to the commander provifinns, money, horfos, and cloaths, ftating that he had diredtions from his Spanifli Majcllv, to fhew every kindnefs in his power to him, and to his people ; the commander thanked him but accepted nothing of him, but horfes to tranfport him and thofe who were the moft ill to Bayonne, about ten or twelve leagues diftant. At length they landed at the village of Andaye, on the fourth of Odober, where the inhabitants of the place feeing them arrive fo miferable and ragged, received them into their houfes and treated them in the beft manner they wc-reable ; the next morning the greater part of them brought their mules, and aifcs, to carry them to the trembling bridge, three leagues from there ; and fome women 4 and DE CHASTe's voyage TO TERCERA. 851 and girls of the place accompanied them, as in this neighbourhood they are veiy cha- ritable. The commander as well received great kindnci's in this place ; and accommo- dated in tlie hofpital of St. Jean de Luz, which is adjoining, a great number of them ; continuuig to have others in the hofpitals, and charitable houfes, along the road to Bay- onne, ten or twelve leagues diftant ; where the greater part died ; the others came as far as to the gates of Bayonne, to whom the captain gave fix hundred crowns, to enable them to reach their houfes, which he borrowed, caufing them to be accommodated with carts from fpace to fpace throughout Gafcony, by the medium of Le Sieur de Pafliere, governor of Bayonne, who furniflied them with a commiirary to guide theia, and provide them quarters. The commander having thus provided for his people, took poll at Bayonne aforefaid to proceed to Paris, in order to render account of his Goniiniffion ; and killing the hand of the queen mother, from whom he had exprefsly re- ceived the orders for this expedition, he prefented her with an ahflradl of this relation, adding. Madam, 1 kiiozu very well that in relating my adventure, Imiijl neccffarih occupy too great a length of time upon cifuhjed ithich can be but little agreeable to your Miijejly ; I am extremely hurt Madam that my voyage was not undertaken with as much Jucccfs in its favour as I had inclination to give greater fatisfa^ion to your Majefiy : Tou will fee if you pleafe Madam %vhat has been didated by truth in this paper ; if you conceive that a fear for my own life can have made me forget for an injlant the duty I owe your Majefiy, I bring you my head to anfwerfor it. To which her Majefiy replied, Monfteur le Commandeur, I know you are too honcji a man to have failed in your duty, I thank you for the affedion which I know you bear towards 7nyfervice, and I rcferve to myfelf a good difpofition towards feeking the means of promoting your welfuFe. KND OP THE FIRST VOLUME. .Stviihi:i and Preftcii, . rfintcrf-Surcct, London. University of Caiifomia SOUTHERN REGIONAL LiBRARY FACiLITY 405 Hiigard Avenue, Los Angeies, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which It was borrowed. TE 0^^ OCT 16 13 Mi HEC'O c.t- J\iUQ^ '95 CT 2 7 1997 2 ,