Sncr"' a^r Joseph Aceiu^i 'T R X - -'^//' '^ SWEDEN, FINLANpr Aj^^TAPtA^-^^'^ TO THE J¥ O RT H CJLFE, THE YEARS 1798 AND 1799. BY JOSEPH ACERB I. Sistimus hic tandem, nobis ubi defuit orbis. IN TWO VOLUMES. ILLUSTRATED WITH SEVENTEEN ELEGANT ENGRAVINGS. VOL. I. LONDON: PRINTED FOR JOSEPH MAWMAN, IN THE POULTRY, SUCCESSOR TO MR. DILLY. 1802. Sy T. Cilletj Salisbury Square. V I DEDICATION. TO JAMES ACERBL MY DEAR FATHER, IN looking around me for a name truly great to prefix to my work, my country offered many, diftinguifhed for intelligence, for patriotifm, and even for great achievements : but the feelings of a fon prompted a different choice, and Avith emotions of gratitude and affection for the bleffings of exifr- ence, education, and example, to you I dedicate the firfl fruits of your bounties. The name of a hero or ftatefman might flatter my vanity, but your's affords a more tender gratification. Your name has not been found in the annals of Europe — I congratulate you upon it. A great name is dangerous. Your private condition S3891G iv DEDICATION. condition prefents more genuine pleafures ; retired on your eftate, you promote and cherifli the liappi- nefs of every heart around you ; and while you are occupied in the advancement of agriculture, that nobleft art, that trueft fource of national wealth and bcft contributor to human felicity, you enjoy the contentment of a peaceful and virtuous life. •During my long abfence, memory, faithful to her firft impreliions, has frequently recalled to me the pleaf- ing fcenes of my youth ; and often, amidft the noife of fplendid entertainments, and furrounded by a bril- liant crowd, I have heaved a figh, and found myfelf a ftranger and alone ! Diftance has fliarpened the re- colle6lion, and my anxious wiflies have been involun- tarily turned to your happy retreat. It is a truth confu'med by every day's experience, in individuals as well as in focieties, that they diminifh their happinefs in proportion to their departure from nature. My dirtant excurfions, my long journeys, only ferve DEDICATION. v ferve to flrengthen my defire of repofing under the Ihade of your trees, and in the bofom of domeftic retirement. Happy fhali I be Sir, if in putting thefe volumes into your hands, I may in the fmalleft degree contribute to your amufement. I feek no other fuccefs, I afk no other reward, but to convince you, that the time which I have fpent in travelhng has not been wholly loft ; and, that in changing climates and countries, I have never fwerved from the dutiful refpe6l and tendernefs with which I am, and fliall ever be. Your very afFetSlionate Son, JOSEPH ACERBI. Lomloii, Feb. J, 130'2. PREFACE. "TT may pofTibly excite curiofity to know, why a native of Italy, a country abounding in all the beauties of nature, and the fineft produdions of art, fliould voluntarily undergo the danger and fatigue of vifiting the regions of the Ard;ic Circle. He promifed to himfclf, and he was not difappointed, much gratification from contrafting the wild grandeur and fimpllcity of the North, with the luxuriance, the fmiling afpcdl, and the re- finements of his own country. He was willing to exchange, for a time, the beauties of both nature and art, for the novelty, the fublimity, and the rude magnificence of the northern climates. Nor was it probable that fuch a contrafted fcene would prove barren of in{lru<5tion, or be deftltute of amufement. There is no people fo far advanced in civilization, or fo highly cultivated, who may not be able to derive fbme advantage from being acquainted with the arts and fciences of other nations, even of fuch as are the moft barbarous. The human underflanding is benefited by cpmmunication, • viii PREFACE. communication, even with ignorance itfcif; juft as commerce and wealth derive profit from an intercourfe with poverty. Every fpecies of knowledge may be promoted by travelling into different countries : in all of them there will be found ample fcope for ob- fervatlon and refledion, natural, moral, and political. It is only by a comprehenfive and unconfined furvey of nature, external and internal, by a growing accumulation of fadls and conclufions, compared and combined with one another, that the empire of fcience is to be extended : and the moft ftriking objecfts for fuch a combination and comparifon, will probably be thofe which prefent themfelves in a fudden tranfition from one extreme to the other ; fuch as from the South to the North of Europe. It was not without the utmoft reludance, that the Author yielded to the preffing folicitations of his friends to print this work. It is the firft that he has offered to the public, and he is fenfible that it would be in vain to court for it the indulgence of his readers, if he ftiould fail of recommending hlmfelf by it to their cfleem. The firft part of thefe Travels, written for the gratification of a fmall circle, who were curious to learn the prefent ftate of arts, 8 fcienccs. PREFACE. ix fciences, and manners in Sweden, contains an account of circum- flances too bold, perhaps, to meet the public eye. But to have rc-compofed and loftcned it, by the rupprcfHon of fomc particu- lars, however pcrfonally prudent for the Author, would have been to withhold from the reader ajuil and accurate idea of the llatc of fads. It was incumbent upon him to facrifice all inferior conllderations to a refpcd: for the public and for truth. With regard to that portion of the volumes which relates to Finland and Lapland, the Author was for fomc time reftrained ffom producing it to the Public, by a motive of delicacy. Co- lonel Skioldebrand, a Swedifh officer, the companion of his tra- vels, had announced his defign of publifhing in Stockholm his drawings of pidurefque fcenery in thofe countries, accompanied with defcriptions of the objedls reprefented in his plates. The Author, therefore, fufpended his own publication from a fear of injuring the interefts of his friend. But, on obfer\-ing that the announced work made its appearance only in numbers, that it will not be completed for fome years, and what is moft material, that any degree of fuccefs which might attend the prefent pub- lication, muft only ferve to promote that of the other, all fcruples of delicacy were removed. Vol. I. b Another X PREFACE. Another motive for publifliing this book was, a dcfire of being ufeful to future travellers, whom ardent curiofity might impel to vifit the northern diftrids. Thofe parts of Europe, which are, I may fay, almoft abandoned by nature, are little known, and any information concerning them muft of courfe be acceptable. Fafhion, which extends its Influence over every thing, appears, in our day, to favour travels and expeditions to the North: and the prevalence of this may, perhaps, have been increafed by the political troubles in the South ot Europe. However this may be, fuch as travel to thofe quarters are entitled to a degree of regard and efteem which cannot juftly be claimed by thofe who vifit the South of Europe : for the hardy North does not by any means hold out the fame luxuries, the fame allurements of cli- mate, and the fame temptations to pleafure that are prefented by a more genial and inviting foil. Journeys in the North will be undertaken by thofe only who have a juft and mafculine tafte for nature, under every afpeciv CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. Paire Topogi-iiplucal Dejcri'^tloti of Stockhohn — Change frocJuced hi its Ap- pearance hy the Ice — Violence of the Cold that prevails hi JVinter — Some Ohjccls mentioned vohich are peculiar to the Winter Seafon : Water-Carts, Sledges, &c. — A Sugar-Honfe on Fire, and the curious Effcfls 5/ the Frojl — The Seafon of Summer : Country Life of the Nohility and Gentry — Their Diver/tons and Amufements — Taffton of the Swedes for Curds and Gaming — Environs of Stock- holm — Drottningholm : the Royal Palace — Annual Tournament at Drottninghohn — The Royal JPark at Stockholm — Royal Procefjion and yearly FefUval in the Park. — ~ — 35 CHAPTER IV. The Months of May and June, September and OEloher, fartindarly difagreeahle, on Account of the IVealher — Precautions agahifl the Severities of Winter, Stoves, and Warm Clothing — Amufements of the Capital in ffinter — Plays, Operas, Concerts, Balls, and AJfemhlies — An Account of the Swedifli Ladies, their Beauty, AccompliJJiments and Manners — Women of another Defcription — CharaSter of a Swedifh Petit Malt re — Spirit of Society ; Mufic .; Dinner-parties — Formality and Reflraint of Sweclifit Manners — Etiquette of the Court — Coflume of Drefs — Private Suppers given by the King and Royal Family — Tntercoutfe between the Court and the People, and their mutual Relations of Condefcenfion and Refpe£l — Great AJfemhlies at the Exchange, which are honoured hy the Prefence of the Royal Family—-Places of public Refort, and their Expences — A Club called the Society. — 57 CHAP- CONTENTS. XV CHAPTER V. Paa CharaScr of Gujlwciis III, King of Sweden — Reflections on true Glory ^ and the Virtues of a Patriot King — Arts and Sciences under Guftavus — Character of the Duke of Suderitiania, and his Condu£l during the Regency — Animal Magnetifm encouraged at Stockholm — Chara6ler of the frefent King of Sweden — State of Religion ; the Liberty of the Frefs ; and State of the Arts and Sciences in this Reign, — • — — 82 CHAPTER \T. Remarks on Academics or learned Societies — Thife eflahli/hed by Lewis XIV. in France — Effe^ of Opniotis and theoretical Prin- ciples upon the Fate of Nations — How far the public Opinion may be directed or influenced by learned Societies — More of the Charac- teriflics of ihefe Societies difplayed — Academy of Belles- Let Ires at Stockholm — Members of this Academy — The Swedifh Academy, or the Eighteen ; its Proceedings, Prizes, &c. — Members of the Swedifh Academy — Account of/ome Swedijh Poets, among whom is mentioned Mr. Torild, an Admirer and Imitator of Offian, C)7 CHAPTER Vir. The Academy of Sciences at Stockholm — The Claffes into which it is divided — Some Remarks on the Di/lribution and Arrangement of the Sciences — Abufe that prevails in admitting as Members of Li- terary Societies Perfons not properly qualified — A Liji of the Mem- bers of the Academy of Sciences at Stockholm, with Ohfervations xvi CONTENTS. Pacjc on their IVrilings and literary Chara&er — Academy of Sciences at UijaJa ; Royal Society of Sciences and Belles-Lettres at Goihen- hiirgh ; Society at Lund ; and other Societies or Academies — Col- h£lioH of Models and Machines at Stockholm — Difpofition of the Swedes for the ArLs and Sciences — Their National CharaSler. 1 1 1 CHAPTER VIII. Injlitutions for the Turpofes of Education in Sweden : Parijh Schools, Public Schools, Gymnafia, and Universities — Account of the Utii- verfity of Lund — The Profejfors and Students : the Method of teaching, and the Things that are taught — The Univerfity of Upfala — Some Intelligence of the iridividital CharaSler of fever al Profeffors — The Univerfily of Abo — General Remarks on the Siiedifh Uni~ verities — Gufiavus 111. etUcrs the Prince Royal at the Univerfity of Upfala. — — — — 138 CHAPTER IX. The annual Exhibition of PiSiurcs at Stockholm — Academy of Paint- ing and Sculpture — Account of fome diflinguifhed Painters, and their ProduBions — Some Works of the Dilettanti, — 157 CHAPTER X. Tribute of Praife to Mr. Coxe for his Account of Sweden, and for his Eagernefs in colk£Iing Information — A Hint given to Travel- lers — The general Impreffion made on the Author s Mind of the Slate of Sweden in rcfpe£l to Arts and Sciences ; Commerce and Manufanares ; and civil Freedom — The Ufe of Sledges in Winter, 8 and CONTENTS. xvii Page and the Advantages derived from it — The different Kinds of Sledges ; (ind the Roads made through the Snow — Departure from Stock- holm ; and Journey to Griflehamii — Paffage by Haga and Ulrief- dul — Deferiplion of the Gardetis of Haga in Winter — Face of the Country between Ulriefdal and Griflehamn — Foxes met with on the Road — Want of Inns or Public Hotfes — Provifions of the Peafants that attend Travellers — Character, Maimers, and do- . mejlic Condhion of the Pcafantry — — l6() CHAPTER Xr. Griflehamn — The Paffage acrofs the Gu^lf to Finlatnl dangerous in Summer fo ?/avigate, and in fJ inter frozen overfo as to bear Sledges — The Author s Journey acrofs the Ice — Difflculti<;s attending it, and Adventures that happened — Seals or Sea-Calves living o« and under the Ice — Manner of hinting them — The IJles of Aland — Sovie of them mentioned by Name : the Fortrefs of Cajllehohnen — Anecdotes from a Converfiti'^ntvith a Peafant — 182 CHAPTER XII. An Account of the Iffes of Aland — Their Situation, Name, and Hif- tory — Parijlics ami civd Regulations — Soil and Produce — The In- habitants : their Manners and Cuftoms — Natziral Hiflory : Qua- drupeds, Birds, amphibious Animals, FiJJies, Infers, Plants and Minerals — — — — 194 Vol. I. c CHAP- XVlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER Xlir. Page Arrival in Finland at the Town of Aho — Account of this City — The Library — The Univerfttj — Admiral Heding — Farther Par- ticulars of the Town of Aho ; its Situation, Streets, Buildings — The Cathedral — The Building of the Academy — The Harbour — The Inhabitants of Abo : their- Trade and Commerce — The Cajile, called Abo-hus _ — — — 205 CHAPTER XIV. Departure from Abo — Difficulty of Travelling without a Jufficient Quantity of Snow — Tra^ of Country between Abo and Yerveti- }iy]e — Condition of the Teafantry : their Mode of Life, Drejs, and domefiic Comforts — Meet with an old Minjlrel — Contrivance of putting a Sledge on Wheels — Defcription of an Aurora Borealis — Reach Yervenkyle — Account of this Hamlet — CataraS near Yer- venkyle : Appearance of it in IJ'inter — Little Birds (Turdus Cinc- tus, Lin.) near the Cataracts in IVinter-^Dexterity of the Pea- Jants in Shooting — The DwelTwg of a Peafant defcribed, and re- prefented by a Drawing — — — 2l6 CHAPTER XV. Departure from Yervenkyle — Progrefs through a large Forejl — Danger to be apprehended from Wolves — P'efliges of a Conflagra- tion in the ff'ood — FreqJienry of thefe Conflagrations, and the Caufes thereof — Devajlation occqfioned among the Trees of the Forefl by Storms — Road through the Forejl; its Inconveniencies — 8 Pajfage CONTENTS. XIX Page Pajfage over the Ice ; the Fears and Alarms with which it is at- tended — The generous Simplicity of fame Peafants who ferved as Guides — — — — 227 CHAPTER XVI. The Journey continued — Brightnefs and "Tranjparency of the Ice, ami the probable Reafon of it — Stop at Silhtnpe — Arrival at IVafa — Account of this Town : its Situation, Trade, and Inhabitants — The Tribunal for the Government of the North of Finland, at JT'afa — The Prefident and Governor — Anecdotes of Linnaus 237 . CHAPTER XVir. Departure from Wafa — Inconveniencies of the Journey over the Ice — Arrival at Ganda Carleby — Account of this Town — Proceed on the Journey : new Difficulties ariftng from the Ice — Account of Brahejlad — Arrival at Uleaborg — — 245 CHAPTER XVIII. Account of Uleaborg : Situation, Population, and Trade — Mineral Springs near Uleaborg — The Soil in the Neighbourhood of this Town, atid its mineral Produ6lions — The Climate and Seafons — Vegetation and animal Creation — — 256 CHAPTER XIX. Stay at Uleaborg protracted longer thamvas intended: Reafons af- Jigned for it — Interefting Individuals mentioned — Curious Experi- ments with Animal Magnetifm : Reflections on the extraordinary c 2 Phettomena XX ' CONTENTS. Pase Phenomena produced hy it — Advantages attending a Refidence in fniaU Country Towns — Ho/pit alily at Uleahorg — Spirit of Society at that -place — Singular Mode of Jlieixnng Regard and Friendfhip for a Stranger — — — 267 CHAPTER XX. Stay at Uleahorg continued — Cheapnefs of Living — Prejudices ahout fame Articles of Eating — Bright Nights — Sport of Shooting — Chafe of the Tetrao Urogallus — Mufical Party, and Concerts per- formed hy the Author and fome Fellow-travellers — Impreffion made hy the Power of Mufic upon the Serfihilily of ihofe that heard it — Turn of the Finhmders for Mufic and Poetry — The Ruiia, an ancient Piece of Mufic in that Country — The Harpu, a mufical Injlrument — State of Mufc in Finland — — 277 CHAPTER XXI. Influence of the Northern Climate upon the Manners and Hahits of the People — Hardjliips of Living in the North, when compared to the Southern Countries — Occupations of the Finlanders in fFinter — Their Methods of catching Fifli — The Chafe of the Bear — Mode of fliooting the Squirrel — Dangers that attend the Chafe of the Seal—An Injiance mentioned of two Finlanders that were cafi away upon the Ice while in this Purfuit — — 2S5 CHAPTER XXII. Some of the Manners and Cufioms of the Inhahitants of Finland de- Jcribed — Their Modes of Courtfliip — Ceremonies attending Mar- riage CONTENTS, XKi Page fiage — The ufe of Vapour-Baths among the People at large, and efpecially among the Peafantry — Some Particulars of this Manner of bathing — The extraordinary Tranfition from Heat to Cold which the Flnlanders can endure — — — 203 CHAPTER XXIII. The national Poetry of Finland — Runic Verfes — Turn of the Fln- landers for Poetry — Manner In which they recite their Poetical Compofitlo7is — Specimens of Flnnifh Poetry — A Funeral Elegy on the Death of a Brother — An odd Tale, called the Paldamo-Pajly — The Females particularly addicted to the Amufement of Poetry — The Jauho Runot, or Mill Songs — A heautljul Ode, or Elegy, hy a Country Girl, on the Abfence of her Lover — Lullaby of the Flnnifh Nurfes — Songs Intended for magical Piirpofesj and, among other Virtues, fuppofed alfo to poffefs that of healing Wounds, and curing Dlfeafes — This Superfiltlon prompts the Clergy to dlfcourage the Runic Poetry In which It is clad — Probability arlfing from that Clrcumfiance, and others, of the Runic Poetry falling quite Into Dlfife — — — — 300 CHAPTER XXIV. Departure from Uleaborg — Dlfficidty of travelling to the North Cape, through Lapland, In Summer — Plan adopted by the Anther and his Friends — Preparations for the Journey: an AcceJJion of two Fel- low-travellers — AffeSlng Farewell — Journey purfued — Defcrlp- tlon of a Flnlandifh Dance — Some Specimens of Mufic — Amufement at Hutta — Arrival at Kemi — — 324 CHAP- xxii CONTENTS. CHA.PTER XXV. Page The Mini/ler of the FariJJi of Kami — Environs of this Town — The River near Kemi : danger of navigating it — The Church, a mag- nificent Building — Striking Contrafi it makes with the viiferahle Huts around it — Walk from Kemi to a fhort Di/lance to look at fome Church Bells — Experiment tried by the Author of a Fin- landijlt Vapour-Bath — Some Intelligence relative to Botany and Entomology — Departure from Kemi, and arrival at Tornea 333 CHAPTER XXVr. Maupertuis's Defcriptlon of Tornea — Account of this Town, hy the Author — The Climate — Fiew of the Sun at Midnight — Profpe^ from the Church of Lower Tornea — Harbour of Tornea — State of the Boihnian Gulf in this Vicinity — Trade of the Town — Some Travellers mentioned that have viftted Tornea — Infcriptions prefervcd in the Church at Jakasjervi — — 342 CHAPTER XXVII. Rejidence at Tornea-' Some Individuals of this Place mentioned — A new Addition to the travelling Party : Enumeration of the fcien- tific Perfons that now compofedit — Departure from Tornea — Some topographical Remarks on the Environs — Face of the Country be- tween Tornea and Upper Tornea — Different Stages that are puffed — Salmon Fifhery — Particular Method of catching thefe Fifh — An old Man ferving for a Guide — A Bathing-place, after the Fin- landifli Fafltion — Hand-mills for grinding Corn— A few Plants mentioned. — — — — 353 CHAP. CONTENTS. xxiii CHAITER XXVIII. Page State of the Road from Tcrtiea to Upper Tornea — The People that inhabit this Trail of Country — Ofver Tornea, or Upper Tornea — The fuperintendent Minijier of that Parijh — Hofpitality of the Clergy, and their jittention to Travellers — Vifit to Mount Ava- faxa : the Account which Maupertuis has given of this Mountain, very accurate — Remains of Signals upon the Mountain-'^ l?7feds and Plants found on, or near Mount Avafaxa. Flora Avafaxenfis — Meal kept very long in the cold Scafon — Departure from Upper Tornea : Lofs of one fellow Traveller who returned home. 362 CHAPTER XXIX. The Travellers henceforth proceed by JVater — Strong Currents of the Rivers, occaftoned by Catara£ls — Fafs by a Salmon Fijliery : man' ner of eating Salmon raw — Difficulty of navigating ihoje Rivers — Stages on this Journey — Fafs the Ar^ic Folar Circle, near the CataraBs of Kattila Kojki — A Jhort Faffage by Land — Fello and Mount Kittis remarkable for Maupertuis" s Aflronomical Obferva- tions — Mr. Szvamberg's Remarks on the Labours of Maupertuis ; from which it appears, that his Obfervations are not to be depended on — Method of obtaining the Eggs of the Mergus Merganfor— From Kardis to Kengis — Arrival at Kengis, and Hofpitality fhewn by anInJpe£lor of the Mines — A Stone with very ancient Infcrip- tions taken Notice of by Maupertuis — Plants and InfefJs. 371 CHAP- xxiv CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXX. Page Stay at Kengis — Entertaimmnt given by the InfpcBor — The Bear- Dance, a very fatiguing fort of Amufement — Vifit from fame young • Women of the Neighbourhood ; among them one, a Native of Kol- lare, of afurprifing Degree of bodily Strength — Separation of the Travellers — The Author and another Gentleman alone proceed Northward— Geographical Notice on the River Tornea. — SQl TRAVELS TRAVELS THROUGH SWEDEN. TRAVELS THROUGH SWEDEN. CHAPTER I. Partiality and Inaccuracy of Travellers conjidered — Mode of Tra- velling in Sweden delineated, and compared with that in other Coufitries — Journey from Heljttigburg to Gothenburg — Warberg : Anecdotes of General PeckUng — Gothenburg : a Defcription of the Town, its Population and Commerce — The Inhabit a^its of GotheU' burg, their Manners and Qujloms. T)aRTIAL1TY and inaccuracy are common objej purpofe of indulging in epicurean extravagance, but from the folc motive of enjoying one another's company. The Swedifli dinner parties are expenfive arrangements of fhew and formality. It will often happen that out of forty or fifty people, who appear in con- fequence of an invitation fent with all poffible ceremony, and perhaps a week or a fortnight before the appointed day, fcarcely three or four know one another fufficiently to make the meeting agreeable. A foreigner may ftill fare worlc, and have the misfor- tune of being feated near a perfon totally unacquainted with any language but his own. Before the company fit down to dinner, they firil pay their refpefts to a fide table, laden with bread, but- ter, cheefe, pickled falmon, and liqueur, or brandy ; and by the tafting of thefe previous to their repaft, endeavour to give an edge to their appetite, and to flimulate the ftomach to perform its of- fice. After this prelude, the guefts arrange themfelves about the dinner table, where every one finds at his place three kinds of bread, flat and coarle rye bread, white bread, and brown bread. The firft fort of bread is what the peafants eat ; it is crifp and dry: the fecond fort is common bread ; but the brown, laft mentioned, has a fweet tafte, being made with the water with which the veflels in the fugar-houfes are waflied, and is the naftieft thing poffible. All the difhes are at once put upon the table, but no one is allowed to afk for what he likes beft, the diflies being handed round in regular fucceffion ; and an Englifliman has often occafion for all his patience to wait till the one is put in motion on which he has fixed his choice. The Swedes are more know- K 2 ing 68 TRAVELS ing in this refpedl, and, like the French, eat of every thing that comes before them : and although the different diflies do not feem to harmonize together, yet fuch is the force of habit, that the guests apparently find no inconvenience from the moft oppofite mixtures. Anchovies, herrings, onions, eggs, paflry, often meet together on the fame plate, and are fwallowed promifcuoufly. The fweet is alTociated with the four, muftard with fugar, con- fectionaries with fait meat or fait fifli ; in fliort, eatables are in- termingled with a poetical licence, that fets the precept of Ho- race at defiance — Sed non ut placidis coeant immitia. An Italian is not very much at a lofs at thefe feafts ; but an Eng- lifliman finds himfelf quite uncomfortable and out of his element: he fees no wine drank either with the ladies or the gentlemen during dinner; but muft take it himfelf in a folitary manner : he is often obliged to wait for hours before he can help himfelf to what he prefers to eat, and when the meat arrives, he generally thinks it not drefled plain enough, but difagreeable from the quantity of fpices with which it is feafoned. After dinner the ladies do not leave him to his bottle ; he is expeded to adjourn immediately with them to the drawing-room, where the company, after thanking the mafter and miftrels of the houfe with a polite or rather cere- monious bow for their good cheer, are regaled with tea and coffee. I have not entered into a circumftantial defcription of thefe long dinners, but only given the general outline, that I might not in- flict upon my readers that eimm, which I confcfs I have mylelf fometimes THROUGH SWEDEN. 6^ rometimes experienced when I was among the number of the guefts. In the interval between dinner and fupper, which how- ever, from the many hours that are thought neceflary for the a6ls of eating and drinking, is not long, there is no amufement whatever but playing at cards. If you cannot join in this ra- tional recreation, you are abandoned. to your fate, and may fit in fome corner of the room, indulging in meditation on whatever fubje^l you pleafe. I have already noticed the extreme paffion of the Swedes for cards; an amufement too fafcinating in all countries, but which in Sweden, efpecially among the higher orders, feems to abforb every power and faculty of the foul. The following anecdote may ferve to illuftrate it in a ftriking manner: — A nobleman of great rank having waited longer than ufual for his dinner, and feeing that no preparation was made for it, went down to call his fervants to an account, and to examine into the reafon of the delay. He found his houfehold, in imitation of their fuperiors, deeply engaged at cards. They excufed themfelves to their mafler by telling him that they were now at the moft interefting point of the game ; and the butler, who had the greateft flake, took the liberty of explaining the cale to his excellency, who could not in confcience but approve bis reafons. However, being unw^illing to wait for his dinner till the game w as decided, he fent the butler to lay the cloth, while he himfelf lat down with the other fervants, and managed the mtereil of that individual in his abfence. The 70 TRAVELS The great formality and rcftraint that prevails throughout all the polite circles of Sweden, and which are not banifhed even by the fuperabundant luxury of a northern feaft, and the jus- tice which all are inclined to do to it, may without doubt be traced to the court of Stockholm, the moft formal I believe in Europe ; nay, I had nearly faid the world : but there is un- doubtedly ftill more of rigid etiquette at the court of Pekin. The rcafon why the court of Stockholm has happened, fliali I fay, to intrench itfelf in fo many forms and ceremonies above all other courts, I have not time to enquire ; though the refearch might be curious, and perhaps capable of being illuftrated in a fatisfaftory manner, from the hiftory of the Swedifli government. Thus much we can fay, that Guftavus III, who had a very ex- alted notion of royal dignity and pre-eminence, added greatly to the firitlnefs of etiquette, though it had already attained to a very confiderable height. As I have given an account of the dinner- parties in private life, I fhall attempt to fliew the manners of the court, and fpeak of the entertainments of the royal table, which will furnifh the reader with tolerably adequate ideas of the forms that may be obferved on other fmiilar occafions. A drawing-room terminates commonly in a public fupper for the royal family, who fit alone at table, all the nobility and officers of the kingdom Handing round as mere fpe<3:ators. The ladies of the fcnators, and others of equal rank, have the privilege of being feated on ■tabowefs, placed in femicircles at a diftance from the table, in front of the king and queen. The houlhold officers of the diffe- rent THROUGH SWEDEN. 71 rent branches of the royal family fland behind the chair of the perlbnage to whom they belong : the fcnators at his Majcfty's left hand, and the ambaffadors with other foreigners of diflinttion at his right. The king fpcaks to every one according to their rank, the degree of favour they poflefs with him, or other cir- cumftances. The difhes are ferved, and the plates prefented to the royal family by an officer called gentleman of the court. The marfhal {lands diredily oppofite the king daring the whole of the entertainment, and the fteward of his Majefty's houfhold a little to the right behind him. Though the prefence of thefe officers be wholly ufelefs, it is thought neceflary to complete the group. When the king has dined, he makes a fign to the queen, and to the reft of the family, and all having anfwered with a bow, he rifes from the table, takes a moft gracious leave and withdraws to his own apartments, followed by the officers of the court. The reft of the royal family do the lame ; no one prefumes to retire before they have quitted the room. An inftance of the exadl formality of the court of Sweden was ex- perienced by the Prince Bifhop of Holftein, when he came to Stockholm on a vifit to the royal family, to who.m he is related. Before he could appear in public, he was obliged firft to wait in form upon the prime minifter. Prince Ulric Scheefter, who was to prefent him to the king as foon as he had received his ma- jefty's orders to that purpofe. By this minifter the prince bifliop was, after fome previous circumftances, introduced to the court, and met with a reception as diftant and ceremonious as if he had 73 TRAVELS had been fome foreign ambafllidor. At the public fupper he mufl have flood with other diftlnguifned foreigners among the fpedla- tors, if a fuddcn and well-timed indifpofition had not furnifhed an excufe for his abfence. The queen dowager, however, fct afide thefe troublefome niceties, which fettered the reft of the royal family, and treated the bifhop in the moft cordial manner, as the nephew of her late confort, and with thofe marks ofefteem which were due to his perfonal character. In order to give him what fhe confidered as his right, withoiit Infringing that of any one elfc, fhe ordered the places at her table to be diftributed by fealed tickets. Every one that was invited drew fuch a ticket, and placed himfelf at table according to the number written upon it ; but iht had privately given directions that the number of the place between her and the princefs fhould be referved for her kinfman, and put into the hat in which the tickets were col- ledled, after all the others were drawn out. There is one advantage attending the Swedifli court : the drefs is not half fo expenfive as that required at other courts of Europe. With three or four fuits of clothes you may appear at every drawing-room for as many years. The colour and form being once fixed, there is no admiffion of variation. The drefs of the ladies differs but little from the prefent fafhion in England, except that the flceves of their gowns arc cut in the SpaniQi man- ner. The colour muft be always black, except on gala days, when it is white. The head-drefs, ribbands, and the fmallcr articles of the toilette, are left to the fancy of the fex. The drefs of THROUGH SWEDF.N. 'j2> of the men is a compound of the Spanifh fafliion, and the na- tional coftume, which is followed by the pcafantry in the fouthern parts of Sweden. Their fmall-clothes are cut in the common manner, as in other countries, but made of the fame colour with the coat and cloak. The coat fits clofe to the body and is very fliort, buttoned quite down, and befides this, faftened about the waift with a fafli. The cloak reaches below the knee and hangs loofely on the back, though it be commonly wide enough to wrap the body up in it, as in a Spanifli cloak. The ufual colour is black. The cloak is lined with fcarlet coloured filk, made of the fame ftuft' with the fafli and waiftcoat ; and with the fame the feams of the coat are alfo covered. There is a particular ornament belonging to the coat upon the Ihoulder, which con- fifts of narrow pieces of the fame filk, faftened upon the feam that joins the fleeve to the body of the coat. This addition makes the fhoulders look broader, and often improves the appear- ance. 1 hope I fhall not be blamed for introducing thefe re- arks, as being only worthy the attention of taylors and milliners : painters, and thofe who are curious in whatever relates to that charming art, are alfo interefted in them ; for the drcfs v\ hich I have been defcribing, is the coftume adopted by the Flemifli fchool, and for this reafon defcrves to be mentioned. The Swedifli government has thought proper to fix the manner of dreffing, which in other countries, under the influence of commercial fpcculation, national volatility, and the caprice of individuals, has experienced io many changes, that it has confounded variety itfelf. Vol. I. L I will 74 TRAVELS I will farther obferve, before I quit this fubjed, that this mode of drefs gives to the Swedifh court an air of magnificence and gran- deur, more flriking than all the party-coloured glare that you meet with in other places ; in the fame manner as the imagination de- rives more pleafurc from contemplating a military corps in the plalneft uniform, than from the fight of an equal aflemblage of men apparelled in richer clothes of different hues and fafliions. This court- drefs, which may be confidered as the national uni- form, was finally eflablifhed by Guflavus III. At the fame time that the moft rigid obfcrvance of particular 'forms is exacted by the Court of Stockholm, within what we may call its own precincts, there is no country where the king and princes mix more familiarly with the people than in Sweden. This makes the contrafl the more flriking ; for it is a very different thing to be admitted to the private fuppers given by the king, and the other branches of the royal family, and to ftand as a fpectator at the public exhibition at court. The king gives fuppers in a domef^ic and friendly way, twice, and fometimes three times a Week. On opera days thefe parties are at the royal apartments in tlie opcra-houfe : on other days, at an elegant palace called Haga, or the Hague, not quite a Swedifli mile diftant from the north- aate of Stockholm, fituated on the border of a lake in the midfl of a wood : this was the favourite refidence of his late majefly. It was in a fmall pavilion, in a corner of the gardens of Haga, where the king is faid to have formed the plan of the revolution in 1772; and that fpot is ftill much vifited by the curious, as being THROUGH SWEDEN. 7j being the birth-place of a great enterprize. Foreigners who have been invited once to the king's private fuppers are, for the moft part, honoured with a general invitation. The king ufually feats himfelf between two ladies at a corner of the tabic. At Haga no fwords are worn, though the gentlemen arc othervvife dreffcd in their court uniform, which has been mentioned before. In fummcr, when the king refided for fome time at Haga, ftran- gers were alfo occafionally allied to dinner ; and it was un- derftood that they were to pafs the day, and not to leave the royal company till after fupper. In order to be invited to the king's table, a Swedifli gentleman muft at leaft have the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Younger officers arc fometimes admitted, but this is a mark of very particular favour. At thofe private fuppers no formality is obferved even towards the royal family. The queen and the princeiTes ufed to take their places about the middle of the table without any certain rule of diftinition. The two princefles give, each of them, a fupper once a week, to which ftrangers once admitted have, as at his majcfty's, a general invita- tion. The pages who wait at table, at all thefe entertainments, and who, as a badge of their office, carry a napkin under their arm, are officers of the army : thefe only attend upon the royal family. The fervants who wait on the reft of the company are perfons of low extradion, that have neither the education nor rank of gentlemen. Guftavus III. was wont to difplay a great portion of hilarity, conviviality, wit and humour, at his private entertainments. He made it a point to obferve, notice, and L 2 fav 75 TRAVELS fay fometlnng appropriate to every one prefent. The duke of Sudermania too was very attentive to the guefts ; but the prefent king, though polite and gracious, is more relerved in his manners ; and on the whole the court has exchanged its gaiety, magni- ficence, and pleafure, for an air of retirement and infipidity. The intercourfe between the court and the inferior affemblies and circles, exhibits a fingular mixture of feudal fubmiffion and veneration for the ci v and military chief, and a refped: for the per- fonal rights of all claffes and individuals in the nation ; for although a confiderable fliare of modern fervility has been introduced, yet there ftill remains evident traces of that fpirit of freedom and in- dependence which diftinguiftied the antient inhabitants of the North. Thefe venerable relicks are not quite annihilated, by the extenfion of Afiatic defpotifm, as in Ruflia and China. A hardy boldnefs of charader, created by the nature of the country they inhabit, gives to every individual a fenfe of his own refpedability and confequence, which is colledlively felt and aiTumed by whole bodies and communities. That great poet, fcholar, and philofo- pher, Milton, fomewherc obferves, that the Englifli are free, not by virtue of their written laws or conventions, but becaufc they are by nature a free people. Laws, when they arc not maintained and invigorated by the living principle of liberty, and a fenfe of juftice, foon degenerate into dead-letter : and, on the other hand, where that fpirit is llrong and adivc, laws and cuftoms are changed, qualified, and meliorated in favour of humanity. The mofb brilliant aflcmbly in Stockholm next to the court in full gala. THROUGH SWEDEN". tj gala, Is that held once a fortnight in the upper-hall of the Ex- change. It begins at fix o'clock in the evening, and continues till ten or eleven: here you fee colleifled all the rank, fafhion, and beauty that the capital can boaft of. As foon as there is a fufficient number of people aflcmblcd for country-dances the muiic begins. The hall is fpacious enough to hold nine or ten different dancing parties. There are alfo two rooms for card-tables. About eight o'clock the royal family commonly make their appearance, but without occafioning any interruption in the entertainment. The queen, with her attendants, is feated in one of the balconies. The king, princes of the blood, and princeffes, walk about the room and converfe with the company. The king generally no- tices and fpeaks to almoft every perfon in the fame manner as in the drawing-room. He does not even pafs over thofe that have not been prefented at court, of which defcription are many diftinguiflied families among the gentry, clergy, and the mercan- tile clafs, and fliews them great affability ; for though they are not of noble birth, yet their education and rcfpc there were born in Aland one hundred and nineteen illegitimate children; from 177-1 to ] 790, the number of thefe was one hundred and twenty-fix ; •which is in the proportion, for the firft twenty-five years, of one baftard child to eighty- three legitimate children ; and for the fol- lowing fixteen years, of one to fifty-three. The latter proportion, however, is in fome meafure a proof of an increafe of moral de- pravity ; though it be trifling when compared with other places, fuch as Stockholm and Abo, where one-fixth part of the children born are illegitimate; and if we take the births through Sweden we Ihall find the proportion to be one to forty-five. The people of Aland are far from being fiiperflitious ; but, for what reafon I know not, they are accufed of being of a litigious difpofition. No bears or fquirrels are to be found in thefe iflands ; and the Elk, which formerly was uncommonly numerous, is now no longer fecn in them. The animals chiefly found are wolves, (which arc faid to crofs the fea from Finland, when it has hap- pened to be frozen over) foxes, martens, hares, ermines, bats, moles, rats, mice, &c. ; otters arc but rarely met with : on- the coaft are found fcals, &c. Of birds there arc above a hundred different fpecics found in thcfc THROUGH SWEDEN. 201 thefe iflands. Amongft the fea fowl are the colymbus, the pell- can, four different forts of gulls, the didapper, the eider, and more than a dozen other of the tribe of ducks. Of amphibious animals are three fpecies of lizards, or newts, frogs, &c. Amongft the fifli are found falmon, trout, cod, had- dock, ling, perch, tench, pilchards, fprats, together with a con- fiderable number of other kinds. The infeds found in Aland amount to the number of betwixt feven and eight hundred different fpecies : among thefe we fliall only make mention of one, and that on account of its very de- ilriidlive qualities. You often find trees in great number which have been killed by this fpecies of infed; ; and, what is ftill more diftrefling and harrafling, houfes newly built have been known to fall into decay and ruin in a Ihort time, entirely by the devafta- tion of thefe pernicious animals. The Alanders pay no great attention to the culture of bees. Crawfifh are not very common in thefe iflands, and were firft brought over by the queen dowager of Guftavus the firft. The Flora Suecica reckons about fix hundred and eighty plants that are indigenous in Aland and the neighbouring iflcs ; of which number one hundred and fifty are cryptogamia. Moft of the trees common to Sweden are alfo found in Aland. Few minerals are to be met with here ; and the mountains are formed chiefly of a red kind of granite. Vol. I. D d TRAVELS T RAVELS THROUGIl F I N L A. 1> '» < 205 ) TRAVELS THROUGH FINLAND. CHAPTER XIII. Arrival in Fitiland at the Town of Abo — Accomit of this City — The Library — The Unlverjity — Admiral Hedlng — Farther Par- ticulars of the Town of Abo ; Its Situation, Streets, Buildings — The Cathedral — The Building of the Academy — The Harbour — The Inhabltatits of Abo — Their Trade and Commerce — The Cq/lle, called Aho-hiis. TN our way to Abo we paiTed near the callle named Abo-hus, ■*' {ituated at the mouth of the river Aura, upon a cape or point of land, bounded by the water on three fides.* The governor and bifhop, who generally refide at Abo, happened to be abfent when we arrived ; but we had the good fortune to be introduced to Admiral Heding, who received us with great politenefs, and * See a defcription of it, page 214. engaged 2o6 TRAVELS engaged us to pafs the greateft part of the two days we remained at Abo in his houfe. The admiral lives clofe to the caftle. We lodged at Seiffcl's, the fign of the Vidlory, where our en- tertainment was as bad as poflible ; but we were obliged to put up with it, as there was no other houfe of the fame kind in the place. The library is the only thing in the town worthy the travel- ler's notice, though it is of no great confequence. Among other curiofities they fhewed me a prayer-book printed by a peafant with wooden tablets, upon which he had cut the letters. In the fame library there is a tolerably complete collection of Swedifli medals, ancient as well as modern. The number of lludents at the univerfity amounts to about three hundred. There is but one printing prefs in the town, and only two bookfellers fhops. Their fchool of anatomy is in confiderable repute : it is not likely to want fubjefts for dlfledlion, fmcc, by a particular regula- tion, all fuch perfons as hold lands or penfions from the crown are bound to leave their bodies to be difledled at the anatomical theatre. If the fame law had been extended to phyficians and furgeons, it would not have appeared lefs rational. I made ac- quaintance with profcffor Porthaan, who Ihewed us every thing of any value in the library, and with great politenefs gave us all the information in his power rcfpefting our route through Fin- land. He alfo made us a prefent of fomc diflertations he had written on ditFcrent fubjcds concerning that country. Mr. f ranqeu gave me a precious fpecimen of national poetry, confifting THROUGH FINLAND. 207 confiftlng of a little fong compofed by a peafant girl, the fcrvant of a clergyman, who met with a difappolntment in an aflignation' with her lover. I (hall prefcnt the reader with this piece in another place, when I come to fpeak of the genius of the Fin- landers for poetry. Admiral Heding is one of the moil diftinguifhed men in Swe- den for talents, in the department of the marine. His prcfent majefty does not feem to make a proper eftimate of his merit, perhaps on account of the attachment he fhewed to the Duke of Sudermania, during his late regency. The admiral's convcrfation is infinitely interefting, accompanied however with a dry frank- nefs of manner, which on different occafions has been of preju- dice to him at court. He is known in Sweden for his perfonal courage, for his talents, for his lively repartees and ho7i mots. He has ferved in the French, Englifli, and Spanifli fleets, and fpeaks all thofe languages with equal fluency, befides the Swedifti and German ; the laft is his native tongue. Guftavus III. entertained the higheft opinion of his charadlcr, and in confideration of his eminent accompllftiments could forgive the franknefs of his con- verfation, and even his hon mots, though fometimes they were a little too highly feafoned for the palate of a king. In the affair of Wiburg, when Guflavus futfered himfelf to be blocked up. Admiral Heding's frigate, called la Folk, not being there, he told the king that he thought he fliould henceforth name her la Sage;. and when his majefty demanded his reafon — " becaufe," faid he, " fhe was too wife to get into the fame fcrape with the refl of *' the fleet in the gulf of Wiburg." 2o8 TRAVELS The city of Abo is a Stapelftad,* and belongs to the Lane ;f that is to fay, the government and diocefe of Abo. It is fituated in Oo degrees 10 minutes north latitude, upon a promontory formed by the gulfs of Finland and Bothnia. It is forty-one Swedifli miles from Stockholm, feventeen from Bjorneborg, forty- one from Wafa, fixteen from Tavaftehus, and twenty-two from Helfinfors. It Hands on the fide of the river Aurajocki, and is enclofed on all fides by hills, being itfelf in rather a low fituation. The river Aurajocki, near the town, is from about fixty to a hundred yards broad ; its waters are muddy and unfit for culinary purpofes. The town, four thoufand nine hundred and forty yards in length by two thoufand four hundred and fifty in breadth, is divided into five quarters, three of which are fituated fouth eafl: from the river, and two to the north weft, being joined by the communication of a wooden bridge. There are three open places or fquares in the town, namely, the great fquare, which is fur- rounded by different public and private buildings all of flone ; the new fquare, enclofed by wooden houfes, among which is a fort of magazine, containing materials for town buildings ; the other buildings are chiefly butchers' fhops ; and laflly, church- place : contiguous to this is the academy. The ftreets and lanes in Abo together amount to one hundred and two : the number » In Sweden the towns arc divided into Stapelftader, wliich liave permiffion to trade with foreigners ; Upflader, which have no fuch permilfion ; and Bcrgftader, which are fituated on the mountains. t The Swedifli provinces are divided into hmcs or governments, which are under their refpeftive governors. of THROUGH FINLAND. 399 of houfcs, including thofc that were building, is upwards of one thoufand one hundred ; which in 178O contained two thoufand and forty-eight families. There are no fewer than five cuftom- houfes in this city. The cathedral church of St. Henry is covered with wood in thin plates, or fliingles, laid one over the other. In length it is one hundred and fifty yards by fixty-three and a-half in breadth, and feventy-five in height. It is the only church in Abo, and is equally appropriated for the purpofe of public worfliip according to the Finlandifh and the Swedifh rituals. The Swedifli congre- gation begin their fervice at fix o'clock in the morning, that of the Finlandcrs at nine. The tower is covered with a copper roof, and furniflied with a clock, which is expofed, like all objed:s that are raifed high in the air, to be flruck with lightning : this ac- cident having befallen it on different occafions, it is now protcdied by a conductor. The academy, confifting of two flories, is built of ftone, with three auditories, and a chamber for the academical confiftory. Hard by is a faloon for gymnaftic exercifes, and over it two apart- ments for the library. The cathedral fchool is not eflentially dif- ferent from other fchools, as the bufinefs of education there is the fame with what you find in every tov\ n, namely, a little Latin and Hebrew. The honourable appellation of cathedral is given to it merely becaufe it happens to be at a place which is the re- fidence of a bifliop. The chemical laboratory and the diflcding- room are included in the fame building ; one in the firft, and the Vol. I. E e other 2IO TRAVELS other in the fecond ftorj. The cathedral occupies the centre of thofe pubhc buildings. The feat of the courts of juftice, the houfe of the prefidcnt, the cuftom-houfe, the excife-office, the town-hall, that of the council, the repofitory of the water-engines, and the houfe of the governor, are built of ftone : all the refl are conilru<5led of ■wood. Near Beckholmen, about three Englifh miles from Abo to the fouth weft, is a fmall but fafe harbour, by its depth of water capable of receiving the largelt fliipping of the town, with every convenience for loading and unloading. The fmaller veiTels, which draw only about eight or ten feet water, may proceed almoft to the bridge. The mofl ancient privileges of the city are loft ; fuch as ftill remain are dated from the time of John the third, l5Gg. To the royal tribunal refident here belong the governments of Abo, Tavaftehus, and Heinola ; it confifts of three jurifdidllons, twelve territorial judges, and ten other magiftrates. The governor m Abo, of Bijorneborg, and of Aland, as well as the bifhop of Abo, generally live in this city. Guftavus Adolphus, in the year 1O2O, eftabliflied a gymnafium for the ufe of the town. It was afterwards, in the year l04O, converted by Queen Chriftina into an academy or univerfity, and Ihe appointed the bifhop of the diocefe fub-chancellor. The aca- demics of Sweden, as has been mentioned before, have chancel- lors, fub-chancellors, and pretors. The profi fl'ors in chemiftry, anatomy, THROUGH FINLx\ND. 2 1 1 anatomvj natural hiftory and oeconomics, have been more recently appointed, for they did not belong to the original inftitution. The one laft mentioned was fubftituted in the room of a profeflbr in poetry, which it was thought proper to unite with the profcffion of eloquence. This exchange of poetry, or poetical criticifm, for oeconomics, is no unpleafmg charadteriftic of the prefent age, and a proof of the good fenfe of the Swedes, and progrcfs of real know- ledge in that country. The number of ftudents, upon an average, amounts to about five hundred and fify, abfentces included. The library owed its firft exiftence to the liberality of Queen Chriftlna : it was afterwards greatly augmented by a donation from the late General Stalhoudlke, and alfo by that of feme in- dividuals, among whom are particularly diflinguiflied Aichen- holk, counfellor of flate, who beftowed upon it a very conllder- able collecflion of books, manufcripts, ancient coins, &c. The fame kind of liberality was fliown by bifliop (afterwards arch- bifliop) Menander, who prcfented the univerfity with a large quantity of rare books, manufcripts, and fome relics of antiquity. The number of books in the library at prefent exceeds ten thou- fand volumes, and its annual fund for new purchafes is about one hundred and fifty rix dollars or crowns. The government of the town is placed in the hands of two burgo- mafters (or mayors), the one of juftice, the other of police, and fix fenators (or aldermen). Befides the court of the palace, and the inferior municipal jurifdicflions, there are a ftamp-office, an cxcife-office, a pofl-ofEce, &c. E e 2 The era TRAVELS The citizens arc divided into three claffcs or focieties, viz. of merchants, common tradefmen, and Finland burgefles. They are formed into train-bands, or a kind of militia, confifting of three companies of foot, each of about fixty or feventy men, which are placed under the command of an officer called the town- major. The city-guard is a fmall body of men (about thirty-five), who perform the common duties of watchmen, for the fecurity and quiet of the inhabitants. The town has three water-engines, and, in addition to thefe, the cathedral and academy have fix. Here alfo is an hofpital, where upwards of forty perfons can be accommodated. The lazaretto is intended for the fick that belong to the government of Abo exclufively. The Magdalen hofpital is a charitable inftitution upon a fmall fcale ; it has only an annual fund of three hundred rix dollars. This city carries on a confiderable trade, both foreign and do- meftic. In the year l/Ol, its export trade employed nineteen Ihips,* of which fourteen belonged wholly to the inhabitants of Abo. Their defti nation was to Peterfburg, Frederickfliamn, Wiburg, Reval, Riga, and Pernau ; and their cargoes confiftcd of fait, tiles, iron and nails, copper, pitch, tar, pots, and deals, to the amount of three thoufand one hundred and twenty-two rix dol- lars thirty-two fkillings. They likewife exported to Cadiz, Genoa, Lifbon, St. Ube's, Bourdeaux, and Amflerdam, iron, tar, • Mr. Peuchet, in lils Diiflionary of Commerce under the word Abo, fays, " that tlic fliips with which this town carries on its trade are wiliioiit decks ;" a very unnacouiUable miftake. pitch. THROUGH FINLAND. 213 pitch, deals, joifts, &c. to the annual amount of fcvcn thousand one hundred and elghty-feven rix dollars leven fkillings. The fame year there arrived at Abo fixteen lliips, nine of which be- longed to the citizens of the fame place, and the whole value of imports from abroad amounted to one hundred and four thoufand nine hundred fixty-feven rix dollars and fixteen fkillings. The articles imported were, two hundred and three thouland one hun- dred and forty -three pounds of tobacco, twenty-one thoufand five hundred and twenty-three pounds of coffee, ninety-feven calks of wine, one hundred and feventy-nine thoufand and forty-fix pounds of raw fugar, eighteen thoufand three hundred and fix and a half barrels of fait, fix thoufand four hundred fifty-feveri barrels of rye and wheat, four thoufand eight hundred and twenty hundred weight of hemp, a quantity of fpiceries, drugs, &c. amounting in all to eighteen thoufand one hundred and twenty- two rix dollars. Abo has various manufaftories : two of tobacco, one of fugar, three of filk-ribbands, two of cloth and futtian, one of fail-cloth, fix tan-works, fix of tile-kilns, two watch and clock manufac- tories, one paper-mill. The plantations of tobacco are an objecfl of very great confequence ; they produce not lefs than one hun- dred and fifty-two thoufand hundred weight annually. In the year l/Ol, the revenue arifing to the crown from this city amounted to four thoufand fix hundred and feventy-five rix dollars. The number of its inhabitants in the year l/Ql was eight thoufind five hundred and four. The 214 ' TRAVELS The town had been anciently built on a fpot fituated a quar- ter of a mile diltant from where it now ftands : it dates its origin from the introdudlion of chriftianity into this country. After be- ing nearly confumed by fire, it was rebuilt, and pvit under better rejTuIations, by the care and attention of Peter Brake, Rikfdrots and governor-general of Finland, about the middle of the feventeenth century. There was formerly a mint at Abo, In the time of popery this town had two monaftcries within its prccinds. From the year 1/14 until 1/21, Abo remained under the dominion of the Ruffians, from whom it experienced the m.oft cruel treatment. In the year 17-13, at the conclufion of peace between Iluffia and Sweden, this city was finally delivered from the fcverities and dangers to which it had been expofed. The caflle, in the language of the country called Abo-hus or Abo-flot, is fituated at the mouth of the river Aura, upon a cape bounded on three fides by the water : this is one of the mofl an- cient fortreffes of the country. It was well fortified under the kings, Albrecht, Charles VIII., Knutfon, and Guflavus Vafa, Be- fides four towers, which were deflined to oppofc the approach of an enemy to the harbour, it had on the fouth fide a high wall with a triple rampart of earth, and a double ditch. A new build- ing has been added to the old ftrudure, but in a different flyle of mafonry. Abo-hus was the rcfidence of Duke John, and the prifon of King Eric XIV. in the fixteenth century. The old caftle, which contains a church and a confiderable arfenal, is con- flruded of brick walls extremely folid, and furrounded by fmall earthen THROUGH FINLAND. 215 eavthen ramparts, erefted in the year 1730. It has been feveral times deftroyed in time of war by the enemy, and at other times it has fuffered from fire. Two companies of marines are at pre- fent quartered in the caftle. The other apartments are party em- ployed as magazines for corn and gunpowder, and partly fcrvc a,s a prifon for (late offenders. CHAPTER 2i6 TRAVELS CHAPTER XIV. Departure from Aho — Difficulty of Travelling witJioiit a fuffiaent Quantity of Snow — TraSi of Country betvoeen Aho and Yerveu' kyle — Condition of the Peafantry : their Mode of hife, Drefs, and domefiic Comforts — Meet with an old Minflrel — Contiivance of p7itti7tg a Sledge on Wheels — Defcription of an Aurora Borealis — Reach Yervenkyle — Account of this Hamlet — Cataract near Yer- venkyle : Appearance of it in Winter — Little Birds (Turdus duc- tus, Linn.J near the CataraSis in Winter — Dexterity of the Pea- fants in Shooting- — The DtveUing of a Peafant defcribed, and re- prefented by a Drawing. "Tl^T'E quitted Abo the 20th of March to continue our travels towards the North. In order to be free for the future from the trouble of changing our baggage at every ftage, \vc had provided ourfelves with fledges of our own. We purchafcd them at Abo, and they were of the fame defcription as thofe which the peafantry made ufe of. The winter had been extremely fevcre ; but there had not fallen a great quantity of fnow in comparifon of former years. A March fun, and fome days of thaw, had made it difappear entirely in many places. The fledge was often fuddenly ftopt, and the poor horfc made repeated efforts, without effcd. THROUGH FINLAND. 217 efFedl, to drag it over the naked and fandy foil, which funk under his feet with a fort of difagrceable crackHng noife. We were every moment obliged to leave the fledge, and walk on foot till we came to ground covered with fnow, or to a frozen lake or river. This mode of travelling at laft became extremely tircfome, but having no alternative, we endeavoured to fubmit to it cheer- fully. In many places the fnow had been melted on the middle of the road, but ftill remained on the fides and at the edge of the ditches. In thofe fituations not infrequently the love of cafe in- duced us to try the expedient of rifking the fledge on the edge of the ditch, which conftantly gave way, and our indolence availed us nothing. The horfe was unable to keep in the precife line, and conftantly drawing to one fide or to the other, we were every now and then overturned in the ditch, and plunged over the ears in the fnow. This fpecics of fledge, being extremely narrow, is very eafily overturned ; but as it is at the fame time very low% the fall is ac- companied with no manner of danger, and when the road is in a proper ftate it goes very fteadily and fafely ; but when the fun has begun to melt the fnow, and this partial thaw, as often hap- pens, is fucceeded by a frefli attack of the froft, then there is formed on the declivities of the road a poliflied mirror of ice, which occafions much trouble and difficulty to the traveller. The fledge in defcending never keeps in a dired. line, but is hitched out of its proper dire(flion by the fmalleft accident : when turned fideways, it flips all at once out of the road, and is overturned Vol. I. F f either 2i8 TRAVELS either into the ditch or againfl a tree, and fometimes twifts the horfe, and throws him down along with it. We were often obliged to get out of the fledge, but our boots being too flippery to fupport us on an inclined plane of fmooth ice, we were reduced to the neceffity of fitting down, and of Aiding gently to the bot- tom of the defcent. In the whole way from Abo to Yervenkyle the traveller finds nothing fufficiently interefting to merit a place in his journal. The country is in a great meafure flat, and it is not t'll he is about a mile from Yervenkyle that it begins to become fomewhat moun- tainous, without however prefenting him with any remarkable profpedl. The houfes of the peafants are well built, and the flranger finds every where lodging and beds ; and he may be tolerably accom- modated, if he have the precaution to carry fome conveniences along with him. You are received with great hofpitality ; the pcafant furnifhes you with whatever he has got to eat, though, in general, he can only offer you frefli and curdled milk, fait herrings, and perhaps, as before-mentioned, a little fait meat. In comparifon with thofe who travel among them they are poor, but in relation to themfelves they are rich, fnice they are fup- plied with every thing that conftitutes, in their opinion, good living. If they have more money than they have immediate ufe for, thev lay it up for fome unforcfecn emergency, or convert it into a vafe, or fome other domeftic utenfil. You mufl not be furprifed in Finland, if in a fmall wooden houfe, where you can get THROUGH FINLAND. 219 get nothing but herrings and milk, they lliould bring you water in a lilver veflel of the value of fifty or fixty rix dollars. The women are warmly clad ; above their clothes they wear a linen fliift, which gives them the air of being in a fort of undrefs, and produces an odd though not difagreeable fancy. The infide of the houfe is always warm, and indeed too much fb for one who comes out of the external air, and is not accuftomed to that tem- perature. The peafants remain in the houfe conftantly in their fhirt fleeves, without a coat, and with but a fmgle waiftcoat ; they frequently go abroad in the fame drefs, without dread either of rheumatifm or fever. We fball fee the reafbn of this when we come to fpeak of their baths. The Finlanders, who accompany travellers behind their fledges, are generally drefled in a kind of Ihort coat made of a calf's-fkin, or in a woollen fhirt, faflened round the middle with a girdle. They pull over their boots coarfe woollen (lockings, which have the double advantage of keeping them warm, and preventing them from flipping on the ice. The interior of the peafants' houfe prcfents a pidlure of con- fiderable intereft. The women are occupied in teafmg or fpinning wool for their clothing, the men in cutting faggots, making nets, and mending or conflrudling their fledges. We met at Mamola with a blind old man, having his fiddle under his arm, furrounded by a crowd of boys and girls. There was fomething refped:able in his appearance ; his forehead was bald, a long beard defcended from his chin, white as fnow, and F f 2 covered 220 TRAVELS covered his breaft. He had the look of thofe bards who are de- fcribed with lb much enthufiafm in the hiftory of the North, not one of whom probably was equal to this poor man in fcience or intelligence. His audience were not gathered round him for nothin"- : he fang verfes, and related to them tales and anecdotes ; but our prefence broke in upon the filence and tranquillity of the affembly ; every body withdrew ; children are children in all countries. The fight of ftrangers was fuch a novelty, that, for- getting the bard, they began to mock at our figure, and to laugh in our faces, while the poor mendicant finiflied by afking us, in bad Swedifh, fome halfpence or {killings in charity. Night was approaching, and vse were extremely fatigued with our amphibious mode of travelling, half on foot and half in the fledge. In this emergency I had a ftrong proof of the utility of an invention which I was fhewn in the model repofitory at Stock- holm : it was a fledge, with four wheels fufpendcd from its fides, which by means of a fpring could be placed under the fledge, and raife it from the ground ; and thus in a moment convert the fledge into a fpecies of wheel carriage. On the 30th of March towards midnight, we were fl;ill upon the road, fuffering from a cold of 1 3 degrees of Celfius, vv hen an aurora borcalis prefented us with a magnificent fped;acle, which ferved to relieve the iikfome monotony of our journey. The heavens began to appear illuminated in the quarter of the north ; prefently it aflumed a bright ruby colour, fuch as we have on a fine evening in Italy with, the fetting fun, when, as Virgil fays, and THROUGH FINLAND. 221 and as experience has often proved, a lively red as the fun goes down prognofticates fine weather for to-morrow. This pheno- menon had juft fixed our attention, when behold a luminous arch rofe over the pole. This was accompanied by various other light and fleeting arches, which fliifted from place to place every in- ftant : they were bounded here and there by vivid flames and torches, which ifliied in rapid fucccflion from the fkies, commu- nicating fire to the clouds in their vicinity, tinging their gilded edges, and exhibiting a pidure highly interefting to us, unaccuf- tomed as we were to fiich appearances. At length we had the good fortune to reach Yervenkyle, a fmall diftrid: which belongs to the univerfity of Abo, and which is let to a very obliging peafant. This man gave us a bed-chamber, accommodated us as well as he could, and contrived, by his great hofpitallty, to render three days neccflary repofe very agreeable. Some detail on this fimple and retired manfion, ftanding at a fmall diftance from a beautiful cafcade (a fituation which afforded us much interefting amufement, both as painters and fportfmen"), will not be difagreeable to my curious readers, who may be de- firous to know rather minutely the particulars of this part of Finland. Yervenkyle is a fmall village confifting of three or four families, and fituatcd upon a lake. During the winter feafon pt^ople do not pafs through this place on their way to Wafa. Our motive in coming here was to enjoy a little reft, as well as to have a view of a fine cafcade of very confiderable magnitude, which is at the dillance 2 22 TRAVELS diftance of a quarter of a league from the village. We had been extremely anxious to fee a catara6l in winter, and that of Yerven- k}le did not difappoint our expectations. It is formed by the river Kyro, which, ifluing from a lake of the fame name, precipitates itfelf through fome fteep and rugged rocks, and falls, fo far as 1 could gueis, from a height of about feventy yards. The water dafliing from rock to rock, boils and foams till it reaches the bottom, where it purfues a more tranquil courfe, and after making a large circuit lofes itfelf again between mountainous banks, which are covered with fir trees. That we might have a more commanding view of the pidure, we took our flation on a high ground, from which we had a diflant profpedl of a large trad; of country of a varied furface, and almofl wholly covered with woods of firs, the pleafmg verdure of which acquir- ing additional luflre from the folar rays, formed an agreeable con- trafl with the fnow and mafTes of ice hanging from the margin over the cafcade. The fall prefented us with one of thofe appearances which we defired much to fee, as being peculiar to the regions of the North, and which are never to be met with in Italy. The water, throw- ing itl'elf amidft enormous mafTes of ice which here and there have the afped of gloomy vaults, fringed with curious cryflallizations, and the cold being of fuch rigour as almofl to freeze the agitated ■waves and vapours in the air, had formed gradually two bridges of ice acrofs the cafcade of fuch folidity and ftrength, that men pafTed over them in perfed fecurlty. The waves raging and foaming THROUGH FINLAND. 223 foaming below with a vaft noife, were in a flate of fuch violent motion as to fpout water now and then on the top of the bridge ; a circumflance which rendered its furface fo exceedingly flippery, that the peafants were obliged to pafs it creeping on their hands and knees. We repeatedly vifited this pidurefque cafcade, and took feveral drawings of it in different points of view. We always performed this walk with guns in our hands, in cafe we fliould fall in with a hare, a fox, or a wolf, whofe numerous tracks we met with in the woods. We fought them a whole day in the heart of the foreft with a hope, and not without feme little fear, of finding thefe ferocious animals ; but were continually and perhaps happily difappolnted. We difcovercd every where marks of their ravages, fuch as the remains of animal carcafes, but never got fight of either. The probable caufe of our being difappointed in not find- ing game arofe from the necefTity we were under to fearch without a dog. Not one was to be found in the village nor in the whole neighbourhood of Yervcnkyle, which, according to the report of our landlord, was owing to the wolves fetting upon them at the very doors, and even in the houfes themfelves of the inhabitants. Being unable therefore to find either hare, fox, or wolf, we were forced to take up with fmaller game, and divert ourfelves by kill- ing thofe little birds which in the North always fly during winter near the catara(5t, and which I never faw in Italy. This fpecles is named by Linnaeus turdus cinStus. Some peafants who dwelt at a mill on the contrary fide of the bridge, 224 TRAVELS bridge, made themfelves extremely merry at our folly in fpending powder and lead on birds which in their minds were of little or no value. But as they remarked our ferious air and feeming dif- appointment at miffing them, they began to imagine that they might oblige us by killing fome on their fide, and bringing them to us. Prefently we faw one of them fetch out his gun, and, after firing his fliot, creep over the bridge to prefent us with one of thofe birds. I thanked him, but obferving that the bird wanted the head, I made him underftand that this circumftance rendered it not defirable to me, and that I wiflied to have it en- tire. I examined his gun, which I found had an old rifle-barrel, but of a very fmall bore, and that it was with a ball he had killed the bird. I then fhewed him the fmall fliot, and made figns to him that he fhould charge his piece with this. The honeft pea- fant was not a little aftoniflied at the fight of my fmall lead, which probably he had never feen before. He declined my offer, and loaded as ufual with ball, but intimated to me that he would bring me another bird with its head. My friend departed, fired his piece, and brought me a bird of the fame fpecies, which, that he might have it as entire as poffible, he had but flightly grazed under the throat. I was much furprized at the precifion ot his aim, but was afterwards affured that all the peafants flioot with thofe rifle-guns, and that they hardly ever mils their mark ; that they fend quantities of water quails and other birds killed in this manner to Stockholm ; and that they prefer this kind of fowling-piece to any other on account of its narrow bore, which is THROUGH FINLAND. 225 is found to carry to a confiderable diftance, and to require but a very fmall charge. Before taking leave of Yervcnkylc we vviflied to be made ac- quainted with the oeconomy of our hofl, and to afk him fome queftions refpeding the expences of his family, and the price of provifions in this part of Finland. Wood cofts but the trouble of cutting it down and tranfporting it. The wages of day labourers are high, being from twelve to fixteen lliillings. Our honeft pea- fant had the appearance of being very much at his eafe. What pleafure it is to fee a happy peafantry ! He had fix cows, which had produced him as many calves, and eight goats. The fmall twigs of the birch tree, which the goats feed on in winter, give a delicious odour to the place in which they are kept. He had be- fidcs eight lambs and three horfes. The cows afford him a pail of milk each day. A cow is fold for five or fix rix dollars, a calf for two, a goat for one, a roebuck only colls fixteen fkilllngs. Wheat does not thrive here, rye is five and a half rix dollars the barrel. We afked him if he had ever eaten bread made of the bark of a tree, or if he had ever been obliged to feed his cows with their own dung, mixed and feafoned with a little fait, meal and flraw; but he had been fortunate enough not to have experienced any of thefe hardfhips. The Darlicarlians, however, have been reduced to fuch extremities on different occafions. The farmflead of this good and happy man confifled of the houfe, which he himfelf occupied with his family. To the right of this there was a fmall building, cxprcf^ly allotted to flrangers, Vol. I. G g in i26 TRAVELS in which we lodged ; to the left were places for cattle. In fpcak- ing of the dwelling of a Flnnifli peafant, I think I fhall gratify the reader by the annexed engraving, reprefenting the infide of the houfe, where, at the fame time, a fcene of domeftic amufcment is exhibited, which is not infrequent among the Finnifh peafantry. One of the men is playing on the national inftrument of Finland, called the harpu (which will be defcribed more particularly here- after) while two other men, being feated' oppofite each other, and having their hands locked together, accompany the inftrument with their fong and the motion of their bodies, raifmg each other alternately from their feats. The other part of the company en- joy the fcene as fpedators. The fimple accommodation, eafe and contentment of this hof- pitable Finlander forms a ftriking contraft to the exceflive luxury of the great in Europe. It feems impoffible to behold the agri- cultural ilate of life without feeling attachment to it ; and though I am not infenfiblc to the pleafures and bleffnigs which luxurious ages produce, yet when refinements in fociety give rife to fuch fe» verifh and pernicious defires, as induce great landed proprietors to fly from the country to overgrown cities, and forfeit their influ- ence, independence, and eftates, for worthlefs pageantry and frivo- lous baubles ; and when by folly lefs excufable than Efau's, they involve in their ruin thoufands of induftrious members of fociety, we unavoidably overlook many cares and anxieties which muft at- tend this artlcfs fcene of life, and forget the exquifite enjoyments of poliflied focictics. CHAPTER THROUGH FINLAND, 227 CHAPTER XV. Departure from Yervenkyle — Progrefs llirongh a large Fore/l — Dan- ger to he apprehended from Wolves — Ve/l'iges of a Conflagration in the Wood — Frequency of thefe Cojrftagrat'iotts, and the Caufes thereof — Devaflat'ion occajtoned among the Trees of the Foreft by Storms — Road iJirongh the Foreft ; its Liconvefiiencies — Paffage over the Ice ; the Fears and Alarms with xvhich it is attended — The generous Simplicity of fome Peafants whoferved as Guides. y^N leaving the village of Yervenkyle, we came upon a wood ^^ or foreft, famous in Finland for its fize, and particularly its vaft length, which Is about eighty Englifli miles. We had to traverfe it in its full extent, and I was inclined to compofe my- felf to fleep the whole way, in order to elude the Irkfomenefs of a road that promifed fo little variety, and that I might make a proper ufe of the fuUen gloom caufed by the thlcknefs of the trees. Befides, I was confident that neither robbers nor beafts of prey would interrupt my repofe ; the firft being un- known in the country, and the fecond rarely fb prefled with hunger as to become bold enough to fet upon travellers. The only ^vild beafts to be dreaded in this wood are the wolves, which .CAcn when ftarvlng will not venture to attack a man, though they ■G g 2 may 228 TRAVELS may not fpare his horfe. But it fometimes happens that the ■wolves, in the anguifh of famine flock together, lofe their ufual timidity, and from the confidence of aflbciation become fo intre- pid as to fet upon the horfes yoked to fledges. In fuch an attack it is extremely dangerous to be overturned and left upon the road by the horfe : he naturally takes fright, and fometimes makes his efcape ; then the wolves perceiving the traveller defencelefs upon the ground, fall upon and devour him. Thefe accidents, how- ever, are not at all to be apprehended by a numerous party like our's, as the wolves keep at a diflance, and fly at the noife of fledges and the voices of feveral people. We faw abundance of their tracks every where on our route, but we did not perceive a Angle wolf, nor any ravenous animal except foxes, which ufed to look us fleadily in the face for a moment, while we amufed our- felves by whifl:]ing after them. The dreary filence and obfcurity of a thick wood, whofe branches farming a vaulted roof, cut off the traveller from a view of the fkies, and admit only faint and dubious rays of light, is always an impofmg objeft to the imagination ; the awful impref^ fion the mind experiences under this majeflic gloom, this difmal folitude, this defertion of nature, is not be defcribed. The tem- perature of the air is much milder in the interior of this wood than the external atmofphere ; a difference which is extremely perceptible to one who like us enters the wood after traverfing a lake or open plain. The only noife the traveller hears in this forefl is the burfting of the bark of the trees, from the efFc(it of the froft, which produces a loud but dull found. THROUGH FINLAND. 229 This journey was by no means fo uninterefting as I had ex- pelled it would be. Partial fires, conflagrations and tempcfts had committed frightful ravages in the bofom of this forefl, which prefented us here and there with exhibitions highly furprifmg and imprefTive. Every body has heard of the conflagrations fo fre- quent in Sweden, and in the countries of the North in general. Entire mountains and trads of feveral miles covered with woods, are liable to be devoured by flames. Much has been faid and written in order to explain the origin of thofe fires. Some have attributed them to the rays of the fun, which continue fo long above the horizon : but this is fabulous and unworthy of fcrious attention. The prefence of the fun never produced fuch an efFc<5t, and the lefs fo in Sweden and Finland, where the heat of the folar rays never rifes above fifty or fixty degrees of Celfius, which is far below the power necefTary to produce a conflagration. It has been inconteftibly proved by a feries of obfervations, that between the greatefl fummer's heat and the feverefl w inter's cold known, there is only one thirty-fecond of difference.* There are two fpecial caufes of thofe conflagrations. The fir ft is fimple and accidental, and arifes from the carelefTnefs of the peafants, who travel fmoaking their pipes through this wood, where a fpark falling upon withered leaves or plants, with the afTiflance of a little wind, cannot fail to excite fire and even flame. This is not all ; the peafants frequently make a fire in the wood, either to warm themfelves or to cook their vidluals, and are often * Lettres fur rOriglne des Sciences, &c. par M. Baillie, p. 292. too ^3© TRAVELS too negligent to extinguifli it entirely. The fecond caufe we may trace to the political conftitution and laws of the country : gene- rally fpeaking, it is in the crown forefts that thofe conflagrations take place. In many diftridls the peafants obtain their wood from the king's forefts, and pay for it a certain tax. There are precife limits within which they are permitted to cut, and they are liable to be punifhed with a fine, if they are found to proceed in their operations beyond the fixed boundaries : but if a fire happens to break out in any part of a foreft belonging to the crown, the peafantry of that diftrid. have a right to cut down and carry home fuch trees as have been injured by the burning. Thus the peafants who are in want of wood, and have too fmall a fliare in the foreft for the fupply of their demands, are prompted from an interefted motive to fet fire to it in their own neighbour- hood, being entitled to appropriate whatever trees have been touched by the flames, which arc generally in fuch abundance as to ftock a houfekeeper with wood for four, or perhaps fix years, according to the magnitude of the ravages which the foreft has fuffercd. It would appear that the government, if it were aware of the circumftance, might effetftually check thefe unlawful ads ; not fo efFedually by infliding heavy punilhments, as by ordering that the peafants lliould pay the fame fum for the ufe of the wood that might be gathered, injured by conflagration, as for that in a found ftatc ; and that till the former was ufcd they fliould not be allowed to cut any wood in the foreft. There may, however, be diflicultics in executing lijch meafurcs, which a ftranger THROUGH FINLAND. 231 flranger is not acquainted with ; and hence we will not blame the government for what may not perhaps be in its power to remedy. I faw in this forefl the dilaftrous wreck of one of thofc con- flagrations, which had devoured the wood through an extent of fix or fcven miles, and which exhibited a mofl difmal fpeftacle. You not only faw trunks and large remains of trees lying in con- fufion on the ground, and reduced to the ftate of charcoal, but alfo trees ftandlng upright, which, though they had efcaped de- ftrudlon, had yet been mifcrably fcorched : others, black and bendinii down to one fide, whlUl: in the mldft of the ruins of trunk and branches appeared a group of young trees, rifing to replace the former generation ; and, full of vigour and vegetable life, feemed to be deriving their nourifliment from the alhes of their parents. The devaftations occafioned by ftorms in the mldft of thofe forefts is ftill more impreffive, and piefents a pidure ftill more diverfified and majeflic. It feems wholly inconceivable in what manner the wind pierces through the thick affemblage of thofe woods, carrying ruin and defolation into particular dlftrids, where there is neither opening nor fcope for its ravages. Poflibly it de- fcends perpendicularly from heaven in the nature of a tornado, or whirlwind, whofe violence nothing can oppofe, and which triumphs over all refiftance. Trees of enormous fize are torn from their roots, magnificent pines, which would have braved on the ocean tempeils more furious, are bent like a bow, and touch the earth 232 .TRAVELS earth with their humbled tops. Such as might be tliought capable of making the ftouteft refiftance are the moft roughly treated ; and thofe hurricanes, like the thunder of heaven, which flrikes only the loftiefl: objeds, paffing over the young, and fparing them, be- caufe they are more pliant and flexible, feem to mark the ftrongeft and moft robuft trees of the foreft, which are in condition to meet them with a proud oppofition, as alone worthy of their rage. Let the reader fancy to himfelf three or four miles of foreft, where he is continually in the prefence of this difaftrous fpedlaclc ; let him reprefent to his imagination the view of a thick wood, where he can fcarcely fee one upright tree ; where all of them being thus forcibly inclined, arc either propped by one another, or broken in the middle of the trunk, or torn from their roots and proftrated on the ground : every where trunks, branches, and the ruins of the foreft, interrupting his view of the road, and exhibiting a fingular pidurc of confufion and ruin. There is a great road through the midft of this foreft which may be tolerably fuited for travelling in fummer ; but the peafants do not always continue upon it during the winter fcafon ; for then they find no difficulty in traverfing a lake or a river, and are not obliged to follow the windings which the great line of road naturally makes, in order to avoid accidental interruptions : they conftantly ftudy to proceed as much as poffible in a ftraight line ; and that they may not lofe themfclvcs in thofe dark and melan- choly woods, the firft who lights upon the moft convenient way, marks all the trees with an axe (as is done in America), in order to THROUGH FINLAND. 233 to point out the route to fuch as may come after him. Thofc roads, however, are full of ftones, which render travelling ex- tremely unpleafant. Our bones were feverely bruifcd by the eternal jolting of the fledge. After the embarraflments of this foreft, we received fome compenfation for our flow and tedious progrefs, by the agreeable fenfation we experienced in croffing a lake, where we feemed to fly with all the velocity our horfes were capable of, and without being in the leaft fhaken. We cou- rageoufly braved the danger of deftruftion with which the crack- ing of the ice feemed to threaten us, and difregarded the rents which ran in all diredions under our feet. We certainly fliould not have encountered the perils we were expofed to in eroding this river, had we not found travelling by land a thoufand times more fatiguing and difagrecable, both on account of the bad Hate of the furface for our mode of travelling, and the inconvenience of the ftones which fometimes made us ftart from the fledge, be- fore we were aware of the obftacle that lay in our way. It was principally between Tuokola and Gumfila that we found travelling on the river haraffing and dangerous ; and we fliould probably have periflied but for the affiftance of two peafants, who undertook to ferve us as guides, and point out to us the places ot the river where the ice was ftrongeft and in beft condition to fup- port us. Between Tuokola and Gumfila the river is extremely rapid, and the current being ftronger in fome places than in others, the ice in thofe parts is of a flender texture, fo that it was neceflary, in order to enfure our fafety, to have a perfed knowledge ot the Vol. I. H h diredion 234 TRAVELS direction of the current in fummcr. Our guides went before U9 in their fledge, and we followed clofe behind them with all the precifion which an affair of fuch delicacy and importance re- quires. Having come to a part of the river which was almoft entirely open, we thought it would be imprudent to attempt to j)afs it. We had however no alternative, but either to return and travel five or fix miles by land, with all its known inconveniencies, or palling hard by a houfe, to make our horfes leap a barrier, and drag the fledge over a heap of ftones, till we fliould arrive again at the ice of the fame river. We chofe to prefer this laft mode of proceeding ; the horfes cleared the barrier, we all gave our aflifl:ance to lift up the fledge and throw it on the other fide, and we re-embarked on the ice clofe by a little mill. Having got upon the ice, we were much furprlfed and concerned to find, that we had given ourfelves all this trouble only to reach a place where we had perils fl:ill more alarming to encounter. The river was open on both fides, and It was necefl"ary for the fledge to pafs over a crufl: of Ice which had maintained itfelf in the middle, and un- der which the water made a frightful noife. Our guides, who ven- tured on it firfl:, afliired us that there was no danger, and that when we had croflTed this piece we fliould have nothing more to fear during the remainder of our journey. It was at the moment a bitter pill to fwallow ; but it promifed to procure us much comfort afterwards. Although our guides had by this time got to the other fide, our anxiety was not dlminlflied ; we were unable to conquer the reludtance excited in our minds by the view and noife THROUGH FINLAND. 235 noife of the water, the rapidity of the current, which flicwcd it- felf at two openings, and by the apparent fragihty of the crufh of ice which was to fiipport us in the midfl of the ftream. With exemplary difcretion we embraced the wife expedient (which made our Finlandifh peafants laugh immoderately) of creeping upon our knees, paffing a hillock of ice that obftruiled our way in that humble pofture, and of Aiding on our feat to the oppofite fide, where we joined our fledge, which waited our arrival. This ridi- culous fcene was highly entertaining, and converted into mirth the terror of all our dangers. Having crofled the river at this place, our guides informed us, that we had no farther occafion for them, and that we might pur- fue our journey without the fmallcfl apprehenfion. They inftantly left us without waiting for any fort of recompence for their fer- vices ; and when we called them back and offered them money, they feemed afloniflied that we fliould think of rewarding them. One of them remained deaf to all our importunities, refufed our money with farmnefs and dignity, and went away without it. Our narrow minds, that are filled with notions of what is called refine- ment, are at a lofs to conceive how thofc people, who appear fo poor and low in our eyes, merely bccaufe they have not a coat cut after the model of our's, fhould refufc money, and fubmit to fo much toil only for the pleafure of being ufeful to others, and for the tnjipid fatisfadion of doing good. Such examples, but too rare and too little known in the pollflicd circles of great towns, arc not fb in thofe places which are far removed from a metropolis, H h 2 vvhciT 236 TRAVELS where morals have become the vidim of felfifli and corrupt paf- fions. It is the traveller, who, conftantly carrying about with him his ideas of civilization (which is often only a different name for a fyftem of refined felfifhnefs), introduces his degraded notions into the bofom of a fimple people, obliging from inftin6l, and gene- rous and beneficent from nature. We for ever confider it as in- cumbent upon us to reward every little attention with money ; and knowing no gratification equal to that of receiving pecuniary acknowledgment, we render the pureft pleafures of our nature venal by the recompences we beftow, and corrupt and debafe, by views of intereft, that fenfe of duty which is cherilhed by a fenti- ment of pleafure, and enjoyed by every moral heart upon perform- ing a good adlion to his fellow men. CHAPTER THROUGH FINLAND. t^^j CHAPTER XVI. Tfie Journey continued — Brightnefs and Transparency of the Ice, and the probable Reafon of it — Stop at Sillanpe — Arrival at Wafa — Account of this Town : its Situation, Trade, and hihabitants — The Tribunal for the Government of the North of Finland, at Wafa — The Prefident a7id Governor — Anecdotes of Linmeus. T>EFORE we reached Wafa, we were ftill not without fome -^"^ apprehenfion from traveUing on the rivers of Finland. Hitherto the ice being covered with fnow of a dirty furface, and far from (hewing the fmalleft tranfparency, made us for the mod part for- get that we went upon water ; we were now to learn what fort of fenfation we fhould experience in paffing over a river, where the ice, tranfparent as cryftal, difcovered under our feet the whole depth of the element below, infomuch that we could fee even the fmalleft fifhes. In the firft moment of furprize, having had no previous notice of the change, we fancied ourfelves inevitably loft, and that we ftiould be fwallowed up, and perifli in the awful gulf. Even the horfe himfelf was ftartled at the novelty of his fituation ; he fuddenly ftopped (hort, and feemed unwilling to go forward. But the impulfe he had acquired in travelling pufhed him forward in fpite of himfelf, and he flid, or rather ikated upon his four jointlefs legs. 238 TRAVELS legs, for the fpace of eight or ten yards This ftrange mode of travelling with a Heating horfe, upon an element where we could count the fifhes under the fledge and under the horfe's feet, was not very amufing to us, though we were already accufliomed to a road of ice. I was at fome pains to fatisfy myfclf as to the reafon why the ice was fo clear and pellucid in particular parts of the river only ; and I think I difcovered it in the united adlion of the folar rays and of the wind. The wind having fwept away the fhow and cleared the furface of the ice, the fun, at the end of March and beginning of April, having acquired confiderable force, had melted and rendered fmooth the furface, which at firft is always fomewhat rough and uneven ; this being frozen during the night, formed a mirror of the moft perfe<5l polifla. The luftre of the ice on this river is very remarkable ; had it not been for the little fhining and perpendicular fiflures, which fhewed the diameter of the ice's thicknefs, it would have been utterly impoflible for us to diftin- guifli it from the water below. Where the river happened to be of a profound depth, we could perceive our vafl diftance from the bottom only by an indiftindl greenlfli colour : the reflexion that we were fufpended over fuch aa abyis made us fliudder. Under this terrifying imprelTion, the vaft depth of the river, and dazzled by the extraordmary tranfparency and brilliancy of the ice, wc crept along the furface, and felt inclined to fliut our c}cs, or turn away our heads, that wc might be Icfs fenfible of our danger, liut when the river haj)pcned to be only a yard or two deep, we were amufcd to be able to count the pebbles at the bottom of the water, and to frighten the fiflics with our feet. THROUGH FINLAND. 239 Before our arrival at Wafa we ftill endured much bodily fatigue from the rough motion of the fledge ; and we were obliged to make a paufe at a fmall place called Sillanpe, which ferved as a flage or poft-houfc. Here we found a public houfe kept by a widow, and fo overjoyed were we to meet again with the comr forts of life, that we remained with her two whole days. Wafa is the firft town you meet with upon entering Oftro- bothnia. It is built entirely of wood, and the houfes for the greater part only confift of one flory. Wafa is a confiderable fta- pelftad, fituated under the 04th degree of north latitude. It is one hundred and lixty-two miles from Stockholm, forty-one from Abo, fourteen from Gamla Carleby, and eight and a half from Ny Carleby. The town was founded, with a parilli church, Muftafaari, by Charles IX. It was endowed with certain privi- leges in ] 6 1 1 , and named after the illuflrious houfe of Wafa, being at the fame time honoured with the permiffion of bearing the arms of that family. The late king of Sweden, Guflavus III. eftabliflied at Wafa, in the year 17/5, a tribunal, or fupremc council for the north of Finland, the inftitution of which was ce- lebrated with great pomp at Stockholm, on the 20th of June, 1 77O. In its dependance are three governments, viz. Wafa, Ule- aborg, and Knopia,* two jurifdidlions, and feven territorial judges'. The * Before this inftitution the inhabitants of thofe diftiiiut la faxi ex mica fpato que, and thus characteiifed : Conjiat faxoaggic- gato ex fpato JIavo et mica deViqueJcente fub dlo verfiis rner'idiem. And in tlie later editions it was termed, faxiim fatifcois, and defcribed in this manner : fpaiofwn micaccuinqiie falfum fatlfcem. Places 262 TRAVELS Places lying under the fame latitudes^ or where the days and nights at the foUcices are of the fame length, are faid in general to have the fame climates. With regard to the geographical cli- mate of Uleaborg, it correfponds with that of Kemi in Ruffia, of Gorodock and Kuoovatlkai in Siberia, of Cape Tfchukotfkoi Nos, towards the Frozen Sea, of St. James's in North America, of the fouthcrn cape of Greenland, of Skalholt in Iceland, and Dron- theim in Norway. By the phyfical climate Is meant the difference of cold and heat, and the condition of the weather in different places at the fame feafons. The principal and mofl general caufes of the di- verfity of phyfical climate, are the longer or fhorter continuance of the fun above the horizon, and the perpendicularity or obli- quity of his rays ; befides this, the flate of the atmofphere, which furrounds the earth to the height of ten Swedifli (or nearly feventy Englifli) miles, and which accordingly, as it is more or lefs charged with vapours, intercepts and difperlcs more or lefs of the fun- beams in their defcent to the earth. The climate is alfb modified by the fituation of places on hills or plains, near the fea or on con- tinents. The mild winter* in England are owing to the warm- nefs of the furrounding ocean, while Switzerland, lying fix degrees farther to the fouth, experiences a much greater degree of cold, on account of its topographical fituation. The fouth and fouth fouth-weft winds blowing towards Ulea- borg, along the gulf of Bothnia, arc for the moll: part warm after midfumraer till autumn; but before midfummer, as long as the gulf THROUGH FINLAND. 263 gulf is frozen over, they are always cold. The extraordinary de- gree of cold that prevails at Uleaborg is in a great meafure owing to the vafl forefls and defcrts, which retain a great portion of ice even in fummer. In proportion to the progrefs of agriculture, as water and wood are cleared away from the furface, whicli pre- vent the fun from warming the earth, it may be expcdcd that the climate of this place will become more mild and gentle. From a comparifon of obfervations made at Stockholm and Uleaborg, it appears that the heat of the thermometer of Ccl- fius, at a mean height at Stockholm throughout the whole year, is nearly 6*^ above O, whereas at Uleaborg it generally ftands at 1° 2-lOths below the freezing point; of courfe the climate of Uleaborg differs by 7^ 2-lOths. During a fpace of twenty years- the mercury at Stockholm fell feven hundred and nine times to 15 degrees, and once as far as 40 degrees below the freezing point. At Uleaborg there are two months more of winter than at Stockholm, and one third lefs of fpring. The autumn is of nearly the fame duration in both places. As to the comparative length of the autumn, this depends not only on the lingering courfe of the fun in the autumnal fblftice, but more on the fouth and fouth-weft winds which prevail in the months of Auguft, Sep- tember, 0<5lober, and part of November. Thofe winds which come from the gulf of Bothnia are warmed by the water, whicii preferves a greater degree of heat than the atmofphere. But on the contrary, in the winter feafon, when the fea is frozen, th':; ■winds which blow from the fame quarter, are cold and difagrce- able, 264 TRAVELS able, as are thofe alfo of the weft and north-weft. The eaft and north-eaft winds are in general warm in Tpring, becaufe thofe winds, after croffing the White Sea, traverfe more ti^an thirty Swedifli miles of land, covered with woods and morafles, warmed by the influence of the fun and of vegetation. But in the au- tumn the fame winds, after the marflies are frozen, are very cold. The frofts of the night during the ftimmer come on towards the end of Auguft, and fometimes even in July, as the froft in l"y>'''> which was very fevere on the 25th of July, and fpoiled all the legumens and the more delicate culinary vegetables. Notwithftanding the coldnefs of the climate the animals thrive very well, and vegetation is more rapid here than in any other place. There are inftances of grain having been fown and reaped in the fpace of fix weeks. The principal caufe of this pheno« menon is the fine nights, or rather the continual prefence of the fun. Mr. Julln, whofe name I fliall have occafion to mention in the following pages, communicated to me fome interefting obfer- vations on the climate of Uleaborg, which I think will not be deemed unworthy of a place at the end of this chapter. Soure THROUGH FINLAND. 265 Some general Signs of Spr'mg and Summer at Ulehborg, according t» twejity -four years Ohfcrvation, hy J. Jidhi. About March 5. - - The melting ice and fnow begin to trickle from the roofs of the houfes. April i. - - The fnow-bunting (emberiza nivalis, Lin.) appears. April 2j. - - The wild geefe and the birds of the lakes arrive. The papilio urticse (Lin.) makes its appearance. The lark (alanda urvenfis, Lin.) fings. The fields are bare, i. e. free from fnow. May j. - - - The white wagtail (motacilla alba, Lin.) fliews itfelf. The wheat ear, or white tail (motacilla oenanthe, Lin.) May 15 — 20. - The rivers open, and the ice melted. A beginning may be made of planting in the kitchen gardens. • May 25. - - The martin (hirundo urbica, Lin.) comes. The cuckow (cuculus canorus, Lin.) calls. The fpring corn is out. May 30. - - Marlh marigold (caltha paluflris, Lin.) flowers. Trees, for inftance the birch, (betula alba) put forth their leaves. June 12. - - Summer's warmth, of 12 degrees above o. August 10. - Night frofts begin. August 20. - Harveft begins. Winter rye (fecalo) is fown. September 25. The birch (betula alba) flieds its leaves. November 20. The ice bears ; the ground is covered with fnow. GENERAL REMARKS. 1. The Winter begins in Oftober, and lafts full feven months, or till the end of April. The Spring is fliort, and is over with the month of May. The Summer commences in June, and continues three months. Autumn takes its beginning with September, and only extends to the end of that month. 2. The greateft cold in winter is in January, and the greateft heat in fummer commonly towards the end of July. 3. The MIDDLE temperature for the whole year, if we except the periods when the feafons exert their particular influence, is about the freezing point of the ther- mometer, or, in other words, conftant winter. 4. The night frofts are fometimes pretty Iharp, efpecially from about the loth to the 20th of Auguft. July 25th, 1 785, feveral things in the kitchen gardens were bit by the froft, for example the potatoes (folonum tuberofum) and the beans (phafeolus). 5. However fliort the fummer may be in this part of the world, the grafs and corn neverthelefs grow fufficiemly ripe. There have been inftances that the corn was fown and brought in qr.ite ripe in the fpace of forty-two days. "V^ox-. I. M m T.xiracl i66 TRAVELS Extracifrom a Mcteorohgkal Journal kept at Ule'ihorg, undo- 05° l' 30" North Laihiide, by J. Julin. DEGREES OF CELSIUs's THERMOMETER. Years. 1776 1777 1778 1779 1780 1781 1782 1783 1784 1785 1786 1787 1788 1789 1790 1791 1792 179a 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 Greal_ft Heat, t Meiiiom \ 21° 22 22 21 20 20 23 20 17 25 27 25 29 30 26 2-1. 28 27 28 28 30 27 31 vjreateil Cold. — t 24° 8' — 29'^ 27 22 27 29 40 37 31 30 30 32 31 34 34 28 21 33 32 24 34 31 21 31 40 Middle Heat, t —30° 6' t 7° 7 6 7 6 6 9 7 6 9 11 21 12 16 11 11 13 13 13 Middle Cold. — — 12° 12 13 12 15 15 10 15 12 11 11 10 20 20 16 14 19 16 16 Aiid lie Temperat. — 0° 9' 2 2 2 5 9 3 4 3 1 2 5 1 9 t 5 I 1 t 1 9 t 9 t 1 8 1-2 7 t 3 1 t 1 7 t 2 1 t 4 t 10° 0' I —14° 0' t 0° 2' The middle height of t lie haro- vtefer, for tlie wliole year, is 25 inches, and 29 decimal lines. The middle height of the taa- ter descending from the at- mosphere amounts to 131 inches in the year ; which is upon an average thus, calcu- lated for die four seasons, viz. For Winter 6 deg. min. Spring 2 Summer 5 1 Autumn 5 Tlifi middle temperature of the four scnsuns is, according to a mean proportion of tv/elve years, as follows : Winter 10 deg. cold — Spring 6 deg. warm f Summer 15 deg. warm f Autum 6 deg. warm f N. B. The sign ("t") signr- fies warmth, or that the ther- mometer is above tlie freez- ing point. The sign ( — ) denotes cold, or that the thermometer is below 0. THROUGH FINLAND. 267 CHAPTER XIX. Stay at Uleaborg protra5Ied longer than was intended ; Reafons af- Jlgnedfor it — Interejiing Individuals mentioned — Curious Experi- ments with Animal Magnetifm : ReJleSlions on the extraordinary Phenomena produced by it — Advatitages attending a Rejtdence in finall Country Towns — Hofpitality at Uleaborg — Spirit of Society ■ at that Place — Singular Mode of Jhewing Regard and Friendfhip for a Stranger. TT was our firft intention to remain at Uleaborg only five days, -*- and by availing ourfelves, whilft the feafon permitted, of the ufe of the fledge, to pu(h our travels with the utmoft expedition as far northward as poffible, fo as to return in fummer, that we might thus have furveyed the country in both feafons, and wit- nefled the intcrefting procefs and ftrange fpedacle of an almoft momentary tranfition from winter to fummer. We might have beheld the whole furface of the ground covered with ice and Ihow ; have travelled with the rein-deer and roving Laplander; and in the fpace of two weeks have obferved the ice melt, the fnow vanifh, the Laplander retire into his mountains, leaves, and flowers fpring up, and the whole fyftem of vegetation difplay it- felf in all its beauty. This picture, which we relifhed fo highly M m 2 by i&8 TRAVELS by anticipation, and vvhich was fo flattering to a lively imagina- tion, yielded to the attra(5lions of Uleaborg, which promifed us pleafures and refources of a difl-erent defcription. Thq polite at- tention of Baron Silfverkielm, of Governor Carpalan, and the ac- quaintance we made of feveral other interefting charafters, and the pleafing accident of finding here two gentlemen amateurs of mufic, who, with my companion and myfelf, could execute a qiiarteiio, made us forget our plan, and convert our five days flay into that of a couple of months. It being near the middle of April, the feafon was too far advanced ; the ice began to wafle, fend lofe its flrength, and the rivers became every day lefs fafe. We fhould have run the rifk of being detained in a defert coun- try during the period of thaw, after which we mufl have allowed at leafl a week till the earth had recovered its fblidity, and the marfhy grounds had become dry. The attractive fcene of the change of feafons we might view at Uleaborg with nearly the fame advantage ; and as to the phenomena of winter, we had al- ready feen fo much of them on our journey from Stockholm, that our curiofity was nearly gratified. In lliort, we found our fitua- tion at Uleaborg fo agreeable, that we were at no lofs to difcover reafons for adapting our plan to our liking, or for juflifying our condu(ft in our own eyes. I found at Uleaborg that I might carry on a courfe of fludy in- troduftory to the natural hiflory of Lapland. An excellent op- portunity for this purfuit was afforded by Mr. Julin, apothecary at Uleaborg, who, befides a good colledion of objects in every clafs IHROUGH FINLAND. 269 clafs of the natural hiilory of Lapland and Finland, was poflcflcd of confiderable knowledge on this fubjecfl, and at the fame time took great pleafure in communicating information to thofe who were defirous of becoming acquainted with this branch of fcience. He was well provided with books, had an electrical apparatus, and amufed himfelf by making experiments in different departments of natural philofophy. The Baron Silfverkielm was a very amiable man, who had paiTed a great part of his life near the perfon of King Guftavus, had travelled, and feen much of the world. He was an excellent mechanic, amufed himfelf with chemiftry, poffeffed an admirable Engllfh electrical machine, made experiments, and was fond of reading and the fludy of belles-lettres. He was a man of no ce- remony, and (which will not be believed by every one) a moft famous magnetifer, and one of the greatefh proficients among the difciples of Mefmer. I have feen the Baron give proofs of his ■fkill in animal magnetifm, which, I confefs, fhook my incredulity a little, both in refpedl to the efficacy of his principles, and the cxiflence of the magnetic fluid, or whatever clfe it may be called, ■which is fuppofed to operate upon individuals. The effeits it produces cannot eafdy be attributed to ordinary caufes, nor fup- ported by reafbns derived from the known laws of nature. Al- though he was unable to afFedl me with his magnetical powers, yet he wrought upon perfons whofe probity and good faith I am not at liberty In any degree to queflion. He repeated to me ex- periments he had made in different places, on different individuals, and 270 TRAVELS and in dificrent circumftances ; and I find myfclf fatisfied as to the exilltace of fome natural caufe or pruiciplc which has hitherto remained unknown : it is wrapt up in obfcurity, and is as yet inexplicable to the underftanding. I am very far from attempt- ing, after the Baron's example, to account for it ; though I think that a folution of this problem may be refervcd for a period of higher improvement in the knowledge of nature, the ftudy of which has been fo fuccefsfuHy purfued, and fo rapidly advanced, in the courfe of the prefent century. I faw my fellow traveller, as incredulous as myfelf, fall into a profound fleep by the mere motion of the magnetifer's fingers ; I heard him fpeak in his fleep, and reply to whatever queftions I propofcd to him ; 1 faw him again awake by the fimple motion of the magnetifer's fingers, while I was unable to roufe him from his fomnolency, though I brought fire clofe to his hand, an experiment to which he was as infenfible as a dead body. He awoke, after fleeplng from five to fix hours, remembering nothing of what he had faid, denying obftinately that he had been afleep, and yielding with difficulty at laft to the authority of his watch, and the tcftimony of all thofe who had witnefiTed the circumftance. I might mention a number of fa<5ts relative to this fubjedt, by which 1 fliould be able to prove, that in thefc trials there could be neither connivance nor Impofture, nor previous arrangement ; but this dodrine ftill lies too much under fufplcion for me to dwell any longer upon it. I ftiall only add, that two Englifli travellers, better Informed, and, if poffible, greater infidels than myfclf rcfpcding mcfmerifm, happening THROUGH FINLAND. 271 happening to pafs by Ulcuborg at the fame time, flopped a day, that they might obferve fome of the magnetical performances. From previous concert one of them was to alfume the appearance of being affcdlcd ; but at the moment when the mn^netifer fliould fecm confident that his art had taken effect, he who was to feign himfelf afleep, at a fign given him by the other, was to awake in furprize, and thus difappoint the credulity of the operator and his audience. The experiments accordingly began : one of them was unfufceptible of the magnetic impreffion, the other was ac- tually affected, and his companion might make what figns he pleafed ; he was deaf, incapable of underftanding any thing, and in fuch a languid and lethargic Hate, that every a&. of volition was entirely fufpended. The two gentlemen will probably give fome account of their travels, and poffibly confirm the truth of my relation of thefe almoft incredible experiments. It is to be regretted, that the mefmerians in general have their minds fo heated by the extraordinary, I had almofl faid fuperna- tural, afpedl of thofe phenomena, that they fufFer themfelves to be fo hurried away by the imagination, as to mount to the fkies in order to find the phyfical caufc of thofe effects among the clouds, Inflead of confulting and inveftigating nature in the prac- tice of frequent experiments, and with that fobrlcty of mind which ought to be the faithful guide of philofophy in all her en- quiries into the caufes of things. The imagination, fafcinated and enflaved by the charm of fomething preternatural, tries,. while bewildered with confufed conceptions, to divine the meaning, the 2 72 TRAVELS the purpofe, and the end of objeds ; and while It rambles aboul in the obfcure and boundlefs regions of conjecture, the true fpirit of enquiry lofcs the thread of its obfervations and of its analyfis, and bounding from one imperfeft impreffion to another, is inca- pable of flopping to obferve, compare and judge : this was the infirmity of the good Baron. He fancied to himfcif, that the foul of the perfon aflcep was tranfported to regions of which the human mind, in conjunction with the body, can form no idea. He went into particulars flill more ridiculous, and afTerted, for inflance, that there all the fouls were drefTed in white, and that they enjoyed in that fcene of delights fuch agreeable fenfations asfurpafs all con- ception. He believed, that in that Hate of fleep they forefaw future events ; and that their fouls being exalted to a higher fphere of perception, they could fee many things that are invifible to the material organs of our imperfedl vifion. Inftead of interrogating the fleeper as to the nature of his feelings during his torpor ; in- ftead of trying to found the condition of his phyfical faculties, or queftioning him as to intelligible objeds, his queries were al- ways concerning the white robes, the paradife, and thofe elyfian fields where, according to his theory, the fouls are in the fruition of every fpecies of pleafure, ever perfedly at cafe, and clothed in their rohe de chamhre. He was defirous to receive intelligence from his anccflors, his great grandfather, or his late father ; and they very kindly, in general, fent him their compliments by the mouths of thofe couriers in white jackets. From the manner in which I have flated my remarks, the reader THROUGH FINLAND. 273 reader will be able to judge of the light in which I viewed this fubjed:. Having fucceeded in our rcfearchcs concerning the elec- trical fluid, and what is called gaha/n/m, I think it not impoffibk- but we may difcover fome other fluid, or material fubftancc, w hich fliall have its particular laws, relations and affinities. I am of opinion, that in animal magnetifm we meet with appearance:; which cannot be traced to the imagination as their caufc, nor in- deed to any caufe known or ftated by the enemies of this dodrine. The French academicians themfelves, in their report on animal magnetifm, fhew, perhaps, that they beftowed upon it neither the time nor the candour and impartiality which a fubjed; fo difficult, and fo much entangled in the groffeft prejudices, had a right to obtain from them. Upon theVhole, I conclude that we are ftill entirely in the dark as to this unknown caufe, which, though wc cannot as yet affign to it any name or determinate qualification, is not on that account lefs poffible. The proficiency of the Baron in the magnetical fcience has not met with very great fuccefs in making profelytes at Uleaborg : for though this country is removed from the centre of intcUedual improvement, yet the diffufion of knowledge has been fo univer- •fal, in the courfe of the eighteenth century, that its falutary effeds have been felt even here, and men's minds are fufficiently en- lightened to be upon their guard againft the illufions of impofture. Bcfides, the Baron is alone; he is deftitute of that co-operation which, by working on the fentiments of others, in all times afid places, by continually urging and preffing upon them a fubjed Vol. I. Nn which 274 TRAVELS which they at iirft are unwilling to believe,, renders it familiar to their thou.o'hts, and in the end commands the belief of the ere- dulous. The whole aggregate of fociety is made up of wife men and fools. The wife men- proudly rejeft a dodtrine which cannot furnifh rcafons for pretended fa-ds ; a dodlrme, the reality of which can be referred to no known caufe, and feniible to what a pitch of refinement impofture may be carried, they are prone to doubt every thing, and are for ever afraid of being duped. The half- wife are in many cafes more fceptical than even the wile ; " a little knowledge is a dangerous thing :" they will never talk or reafon on their belief: it is a maxim with them to believe as little as poffible, and thus they fet afide from levity what the former difapproved from depth of underftanding. The fools, however, are actually the moft dangerous to all founders of new do Turn of the Vtnlanders for Mufic and Poetry — The Runa, an An- cient Piece ofMiftc in that Country — The HarpUy a mnfical In- flrument — State of Mufic in Finland. /"^UR refidence at Uleaborg will ever be pleafing to our recol- ^-^ ledtion. Removed from the w^orld, far from the liftleflhefs of dilTipation, out of the reach of ceremonious vifits, our time was devoted to ftudy, to the chafe, or to the practice of mufic. Our hoftefs was labouring from morning to night to fupply us with a plentiful table, and to make our fituation comfortable in every other refpec^. She killed calves, pigs and oxen, exprefsly on our account. The moft precious fpoils of the fea and rivers were procured for us, and purchafed without regard to oeconomy ; and the reader will probably learn with fome aftonilhment, that for this rich and luxurious diet wc paid for ourfelves (two perfons) and a fervant. 27§ TRAVELS fervant, lodging, breakfaft, dinner, tea, coffee, a.nd fupper included, not quite two guineas a week. Gur fervant cooked our vi6luals in the Italian fafliion, and the people of the houfe were not a little furprifed at our manner of dining. Our good hoftels was quite uneafy to fee us dine every day on foiipe & boniUie, and it was not in our power to perfuade her that we did it from choice, and not becaufe (he had not a greater variety of good things to fet before us. She endeavoured to vary our meals with different foups every day ; one day with a milk foup, another with a foup of fago and raifms, another with a fbup of wine and milk, another with a foup of barley or rice without meat. A difficult and important difpute arofe between her and our fervant on the following fubjed: : Ihe would by no means fuffer the brains and liver of a calf or pig to be dreffed ; every creature in the houfe was fhocked at the very idea of it. They are always ufed to give the liver and brains of all animals what- .ever to the hogs, or throw them on the dunghill. We paffed un- avoidably for cannibals, or anthropophagi ; and fuch is the force of prejudice, that having preffed a perfon to tafle the brains or liver, he would not fwallow it, but fpit it out after he had tafted it. Our attempts to convince them of their error, and to fhew them the rationality of our cuftom, proved utterly fruitjcfs. They were likewife fcandalized at our eating fmall birds, fuch as larks, fnipes, thrufhcs, upon all of which we fet a great value. In thofe northern regions thefe birds enjoy a flate of unmoleftcd peace ^ad fccurity : they not only were to us delicious fare, but afforded us THROUGH FINLAND. 2.79 OS the moft agreeable fport In fliooting them : it is a divcrfion, however, but of fliort duration, lafling only from the middle of May to the middle of June. This is a period when a moft furprifmg change takes place in this country. All nature feems to awake almoft at once. That fblitude, that filence, that lethargy of creation, gives place to uni- verfal and unceaiing motion. The birds feem to arrive-from all quarters of the earth, and people the woods, the fields, the fens and marfhes, which re-echo their melody all around. The nights, equally fine and clear as the day, enabled us to prolong the plea- sures of the chafe. We ufed to dine, have our party at mufic, fup, and at ten o'clock in the evening fet out, and continue our iports in the fields till about two o'clock in the morning. The light of the night was even more friendly to our purfuit than that of the day. The folar rays did not make the fame ftrong impref- fion on our eyes, and ftill we had light enough for the purpofe of fhooting. The birds in the ccurfe of the night were much more quiet, the wild ducks flocked from the lea on their way to the lakes and rivers, and fometimcs palTed dire(flly over our heads. The rivers and lakes, as well as the marfhy ground in their vici- nity, fwarmed with ducks and fnipes of all defcriptions. Our pleafure as fportfmen was not greater than what we enjoyed as naturalifts, from the great variety of different fpecies to which the inhabitants of Italy are total ftrangers. The chafe of the bird, which Linn^us calls tetrao urogallus, was perfectly new to me. This bird is of the fize of a turkey, and 2 So TRAVELS and frequents woods of fir trees. Towards the beginning of June he fings in the night, perched on a branch, or the fummit of a tree. He has fuch extreme fagacity and cunning, that it is ahnoft impoffible to get near him, except in the moment of his iinging : then he has a convulfive motion in his head and eyes, which pre- Tcnts his feeing or hearing any thing. His chant or fong continues nearly a minute each time. The fportfman, during this fliort in- terval, moves on as faft as he can to come within fight of him, and the inftant the bird has done finging he flips behind a tree, where he muft not ftir nor even fo much as breathe, left he fliould be perceived. In this manner he continues moving forward till he gets to a proper diftance for firing at him. It is ufual in this chafe to fix upon fome fpot in the wood as a place of rendezvous for the party ; and there a large fire is kindled, the fmoke of which may be feen at a diftance. Some perfon is always left to take care of theiire, left it fliould extend too far, and his employ- ment is to -prevent its communicating with the neighbouring trees. Upon thefe occafions I had an opportunity of obferving how eafy it is to fet a whole w'ood on fire. In the woods there is a fpecies of dry mofs, which is a moft dangerous conduftor ; and if the people are not extremely careful in clearing it away all round the fire, it will fpread a conflagration to the diftance of a mile in a very fliort time. The fportfmen, who frequently make fires in the woods for fome particular purpofe, muft be reckoned among the caufes of thofe great conflagrations in Sweden and Finland, ^^hich we mentioned in a former part of this work. This THROUGH FINLAND. 281 This ipecies ot" fport had not the fame attradion tor mc as the fliooting of other birds; we were obliged to pufs the whole night in the woods ; to liftcn to the finging of the bird witli the invidi- ous ear of a fpy, to iTvulk and fupprefs our very breath, in order the better to catch the found of his voice ; and when at laft we heard him, it was neceflary we fhould employ all the cralt and artifice of a traitor, take advantage even of the fentiment of love in this poor creature, and all this for the bafe purpofe of killing him by furprife. In the chafe, as in every thing elfe, I love plain dealing ; I love to make the birds fly before me, to purfue them, and to declare war before I fire upon them. One fingle bird killed upon the wing is worth ten aflafTinated on the branch of a tree. What contributed ftill more to attach us to our rcfidence at Uleaborg was, as I have before intimated, the accident of our meeting here two gentlemen lovers of mufic, one of whom played the violoncello, the other the alto. Thus, with the affiftance of Mr. Skioldebrand, my travelling companion, who played the violin, and myfelf who played the clarinet, we were in condition to perform a quartetto tolerably well. A quartetto at Uleaborg was a phenomenon no Icfs out of the ordinary courfc of things, than the appearance of the moft aftonifliing meteor. There were pot ten perfons in the town who had ever heard mufic in four parts ; nor probably from its foundation to the day of our arrival, had a quartetto been ever executed within its bounds. The reader will calily conceive the pleafure we derived from the fimplicity of thofe good people, who looked up to us as the gods of mufic. Vol. I. O o as 2«2 TRAVELS as well as the fatisfadlion we enjoyed from a fympathy with their feelings. Uleaborg, during the time of our flay, had a concert every evening, open to every one that chofe to attend. Our audience increafed in number to fuch a degree, that we were obliged to hire an apartment larger than any room in our houfc ; and our quartetto was conftantly honoured by a numerous circle of ladies, and almoft all the gentlemen of the town. It is impoffible for me to convey an adequate idea ot the impreffion our mufic made upon our hearers. In order to make a trial of their fenfibility, and the efFeil of mufic on their paffions, we compofed on purpofe a few pieces of an eafy harmony, the movement of whofe modula- tions was natural and intelligible even to perfons unaccuftomed to the artificial refinements of mufic. We ftudied to alternate the movements of grand effed, paflTmg from the higheft forte to the loweft/z'^wo, and vice verfa, by tranfitions of furprlfe. We pre- fently faw the tears trickle from the eyes of our feeling audience. As we realized the fabulous times of Greece, our fpe<3:ators pre- fcnted a moft interefting pidure, worthy of the pencil of the moft celebrated painter. The eyes of all our hearers were turned upon us ; fome feemed to follow with every feature of the face the movements of the melody : we could read in the phyfiognomy of the Finlanders the character of the mufic we had played ; every look became ferious at forced and ftrong modulations, while foft and melodious paflagcs feemed to difpcrfe the cloud, and their countenances refumed their tranquillity. It was curious to obferve the THROUGH FINLAND. 283 the diftercnt effcds produced hy the inufic on ped'ons ot" different conftitutions. One, for example, remained during the whole of a/onata fixed and fteadfail, his mouth open, his eyes flaring, without moving his eye-lids, and apparently ftruck with a flupid aftonifliment : another, on the contrary, feemed to follow every flep of the melody with his whole body, and appeared to fuffcr a fort of mufical convulfion : but the moment we began to play their nina every eye was drowned in tears, and the emotion was general. The runa is a piece of the moft ancient melody of Finland, which is ftill retained by this people, and fuited to their national inftrument called the luirpii, probably the original of our luirp, or a copy of the ancient c'lthara of the Greeks. The inhabitants of Finland have certainly a very fenfitive turn both for mufic and poetry. Indeed it fliould feem that thefe two arts go together, but the Finlanders have not made the fame pro- grefs in mufic as in poetry, on account of the imperfection of their national inftrviment, and the attachment and veneration with which they have preferved it. The harpu confills of five firings ; and here we may obfcrve the lirfl flep in the origin of the arts. They had no idea of giving it more chords than there arc fingers on the hand. The chords arc a, hj c, d, e ; and c being flat, the inflrument becomes tuned in a minor, the favourite note of all the northern nations. The chords are of metal, and not, like thofc of the violin and guitar,, fufceptible of being modulated by the fingers of the left hand. O o 2 The 284 TRAVELS The whole compafs of their mufic confifts of five notes, and with thefe fi\'e notes they play, they dance, and recite their poetry or verfes. It is eafy to imagine the melancholy and monotonous effe<5l of their nmfic, as well as the impofTibility of improving it, until they fliall abandon this five-ftringed inftrument. But bar- barous and halt civilized nations are no lefs frugal of their mental than of their corporeal enjoyments : they can difpenfe with the refinements of mufic as eafily as they are reconciled to fimplicity and uniformity in their diet and mode of life. The introdu. Al- moft all the Finnifli pcaii\nts have a fmall houfc built on purpofc for a bath : it confifts of only one fmall chamber, in the inner- moft part of which arc placed a number of ftoncs, which arc heated by fire till they become red. On thefc ftones, thus heat- ed, water is thrown, until the company within be involved in a •thick cloud of vapour. In this inncrmofl: part, the chamber is formed into two ftories for the accommodation of a greater num- ber of perfons within that fmall compafs ; and it being the nature of heat and vapour to afcend, the fecond ftory is, of courfe, the hotteft. Men and women ufc the bath promifcuoufly, with- out any concealment of drefs, or being in the leaft influenced by any emotions of attachment. If, however, a ftranger open the door, and come on the bathers by iurprife, the women are not a little ftartled at his appearance ; for, befides his perfon, he intro- duces along with him, by opening the door, a great quantity of light, which difcovers at cnce to the view their fituation, as well as forms. Without fuch an accident they remain, if not in total darknefs, yet in great obfcurity, as there is no other w indow be- fides a fmall hole, nor any light but what enters in from feme chink in the roof of the houfe, or the crevices between tlie pieces of wood of which it is conflriufled. I often amufcd myfelf with furpriiing the bathers in this manner, and i once or twice tried to go in and join the affembly ; but the heat was fo cxceflive that I could not breathe, and in the fpace.of a minute at moft, I vcrily believe, muft have been fuffocated. I fometimes ftepped in for Vol. I. Q q a moment, 29S TRAVELS a moment, juil: to leave my thermometer in fome proper place,, and Immediately went out again, where I would remain for a quarter of an hour, or ten minutes, and then enter again, and fetch the inftrument to afcertain the degree of heat. My aflo- nifliment was fo great that I could fcarcely believe my fenfes,. when I found that thofe people remain together, and amufe them- felves for the fpace of half an hour, and fomctimes a whole hour, in the fame chamljer, heated to the 70th or 75th degree of Cel- fius. The thermometer, in contad; with thofe vapours, became fometimes fo hot, that I could fcarcely hold it in my hands. The Finlanders, all the while they are in this hot bath, con- tinue to rub themfelves, and lafti every part of their bodies with- fvvitches formed of twigs of the birch-tree. In ten minutes they become as red as raw flefli, and have altogether a very frightful' appearance. In the winter feafon they frequently go out of the bath, naked as they are, to roll themfelves in the fnow, when the cold is at 20 and even 30 degrees below zero.* They will fometimes come out, ftill naked, and converfe together, or with- any one near them, in the open air. If travellers happen to pafs by while the peafants of any hamlet, or little village, are in the bath, and their affiftance is needed, they will leave the bath, and aflift in yoking or unyoking, and fetching provender for the horfes, or in any thing elfe, without any fort of covering what- ever, while the paflenger fits fhivering with cold, though wrapped up in a good found wolfs fkin. There is nothing more wonder- • I fpeak always of the thermometer of a hundred degrees, by Celfius. ful THROUGH FINLAND. 299 ful than the extremities which man is capable of enduring through the power of habit. The Finnifh peafants pafs thus inftantancouily from an atmo- fphere of 70 degrees of heat, to one of 30 degrees of cold, a tran.- fition of a hundred degrees, which is the fame thing as going out of boiling into freezing water ! and what is more aftonifliing, with- out the lead inconvenience ; while other people are very fenfibiy affeapponia folem, " Proque cibo ac potu carnem ct lac rangiferinum " Prabuit, THROUGH FINLAND. 25^ " Prcebult, ut quondam pracbcrc folebat equinum " Tart aria. " A. de la Motraye, die 23 Junii, 1718."* No. III. " Benclic un fccolo piu tardi, fpinto pero da non minor curiofita, *' dalla Lombardia il M^rchefe Paolo Arconati Vifconti vifito qucfto " luogo ai 5 di Jugllo, 1783." No. IV. " Eft terra antiqua ubere gleba potcns, Lingones Colucreviri, Bur- " gundiam nunc Galli cognomine dicunt, haec mihi patria. Plures per- " luftravi regiones : vidit me Gcrmanus, fuperbi viderunt Britanni, et " quos dives pafcit Flandria, atram vomere qui paludem exercuerunt " Batavi, qui bibunt Viftulam Danubiumque, horrentes Aipum qui te- " nent rupes, Tiberis qui facrum colunt littus, plures que alii. Poft va- *' rios cafus et magna difcrimina rerum, polares appuli ad aras, inocci- " duum folem, rangiferorumque gelidum ubi Lapponem ubera vidi " preflantem. Curfus fuit ad locum quam Waida-Kafta dicunt, nulli^s " ubi antea penetravit viator. Multum fui et terris jaclatus et cataracflis, " multum quoque et culicibus pafTus ; rediens ex his defertis, et pro- " perans in Galliam fedes ubi fata dederunt jucundiores, Jukasjervino " hancin templo appofui infcriptioncm, 7 Julii, 1796." " Marey, a native of France, who alone have traverfed the de- fcrts of Lapland." " Tombeau de la nature efFroyables rivages " Que I'ourfe difpute encore a I'homme fauvage." t • See his Travels, vol. ii. p. 333. t Piou, in his Traeedy of Guftavus Vafa. No. V. 352 TRAVELS No. V. " Non mlhi fama fed hofpitalltatis et gratitudinis teftimonium. " S. Stewart, civis orbis 3" Julii, 1787." No. VI. " Juftice bids me record thy hofpitable fame, and teftify it by my " name. *W. Langhorn, United States of America, July 23, 1787." No. VII. " Gallia me genuit. Gallia ! lieu gloriofa, hodie contempta, eras " forfitan nihil ! Regi fidelis, patria, fub rege quondam felice, nunc " plebeiana tyrannia opprefsa, emigravi ; Magnam Brrtanniam, Hif- " paniamque cognofcebam ; primum Itaham, poftea Hungariam vidi, " Helvetiam revifens per totam Germaniam, Poloniam, Mofcoviam, " Rufllam peregrinatus, per Finlandiam Stockholmiam accefli, unde " in Lapponiam incurri, in focietate Francifci Outaveri Hifpani na- " tione, ex Nallia in regno Murcise. Hofpitium dedit venerandus ad- " modum Jukasjervenfis paftor Daniel Engelmark, cui teftimonium " gratitudinis mese hie affero." " Carolus Ricardus de Vefvrotti, vir nobilis ex Dijone in Burgundia, " Praefes in fuprema nationum curia has vifitavit regiones, die 4 Feb- *' ruarii, 1792." CHAPTER THROUGH FINL7VND. ^S3 CHAPTER XXVll. Rejidence at Toniea — Some Lidhidiiii/s of tli'is Place vient'mied — A nexv Addition to the iniveUin^ Farty : ILnnvieration of thefcien- tific Perfons that nozv covipofed it — Departure from Toniea — Some topographical Remarks on the Envirotis — Face of the Country he- ticeen Tornea and Upper Tornea — Different Stages that are pajjed — Salmon Fifhery— Particular Method of catcfmig thefe Fijli — An old Man ferving for a Guide — A Bathing-place, after the Fin- landifli Fafliion — Hand-mills for grinding Corn — A fezv Plants mentioned. "TOURING our ftay at Tornea we became acquainted with -^~-^ every perfon who was at all difpofcd to be fociable. The moft confiderabic merchant of the town is Mr. Richard, a man well acquainted with the concerns of his country, and poflefTed of a great fliare of natural good fcnfe : he has been always a rc- prcfentative in the national diet, and is the moft corpulent man I ever faw in any country. The burgomafter of Tornea was ex- tremely polite and obliging. We received civilities from the maf- ter of the town-fchool, who fpeaks French, and is a man of fomc merit : he lives, much againft his inclination, in ib remote a cor- ner of the North : he is fettered to the place by the ties of a wife' Vol. T. Z z and 354 TRAVELS and children. We likevvife had the good fortune of being in- troduced to Dr. Deutfch, a perfon of gentle and engaging man- ners, and at the fame time very fkilful in his profeffion. He is a great lover of the ftudy of natural hiftory, and had by his own in- duftry made a very pretty colledion of Swedifli and Laplandifli infeds, and one of plants : he had alfo made fome progrefs in colleding birds. He had con{lru£led a fmall eledlrical machine, and his own ingenuity had fupplied the want of thofe means which are fo eafily obtained in the more fouthern countries. Upon becoming acquainted with the Doctor, we found him fo intelligent a man, that we were defirous to induce him to become one of our party, and therefore made the propofal to him, which he accepted ; more indeed, I believe, from a love of fclence, and particularly of natural hiflory, than from any other confideration. His profeffion would not admit of a longer abfence than a fort- night ; but, to oblige us, he confcnted to go with us as far as Kengis-bruk. We now only wanted one individual to complete our caravan. We had in Mr. Caftrcin a very good botanift ; in Mr. Julin, a mineralogift ; in Dr. Deutfch, an excellent entomo- logift ; in Colonel Skioldebrand, a landfcape painter. As for me, 1 charged myfelf with the article of ornithology, and the office of digcfting the communications of my fellow-travellers, who every evening gave me the names of the fpccimens they had found, with their own obfervations upon them. Never had any journey a more promifing appearance at the outfet ; nor could Lapland ever have a chance of being explored in a manner more agree- able. THROUGH FINLAND. 355 able, more inflrudlivc, and at the fame time more ufcful. No- thing was wanting to render our travelling company quite com- pleat but one man ; this was Mr. , Secretary Swamberg, whom we faw at Tornea, and who was on his way to Lapland, being com- miffioned by the academy of fcienccs at Stockholm to afcertain the truth of the operations of Maupertuis and his colleagues, which were undertaken at the fame time that Condamine failed for South America. An aftronomer and mathematician added to our philofophical flafF would have made us the moft refpedlablc corps that ever traverfcd the mountains of Lapland. He was our friend, and dcfired nothing more fnicerely ; but the fliip which had on board his quadrant and other mathematical inftrii- ments of obfervation, was not arrived ; and its arrival was fo un- certain, that we could not hazard a delay, as our time became every hour more precious. We therefore rcfolved to depart, and proceed with all expedition to Upper Tornea, where we propofed to begin a more accurate courfe of obfervation. The peninfula of Swenfar, upon which the town of Tornea 19 fituated, has by fome been very improperly called an ijland. It is joined to the continent by a tongue of land, which, indeed, is overflowed when the river is high ; but ftill horfes in carts arc able to ford it, and the people frequently pafs it upon flepping- {lones : it cannot therefore be confidered as an ifland. From Tornea to Upper Tornea we perceived no alteration in the nature of the country, nor in the houfes or inhabitants of Finland. The convenience of travelling is the fame, and you find Z z iJ horfes ^^^6 TRAVELS horfes all the way. The road is naturally good, and kept in ex- cellent repair : but at Upper Tornca every thing terminates ; you inftantly obferve that you arc about to enter sn uncultivated countr}-, and to take leave of the civilized -world. No more horfes, no road, no lodging for paffengers, except a fort of caravan- iar}', which the merchants of Tornea have provided for their ac- commodation in travelling in winter to the ditferent fairs, which are held at places extremely remote. Without anticipating our detail, we will premife a llcctch of the country and objcds that? fell under our notice on the route to Ofver, or Upper Tornea. The environs, of Tornea are extremely naked of wood : it was in great abundance formerly ; but at prefcnt none remains, except in one di{lri(ft, where it is preferved by a proprietor for the pur- Doie of harbourinc; same. . We changed horfes at Kukko, \vhl'ch Ires at the diftance of fevcn miles from Tornca. Kukko, in the language of Finland, fignifies cock, and it is probably the name for a particular fpecies of that bird, whole crowing has fome analogy to the note of the cuckoo. The line of the road runs pretty clofe to the river Tornea. After Kukko we paffed very near to the villa of Mr. Richard, the mer- chant of Tornea, who is fond of a country life, and devoted to agricultural purfuits. He has laid out a garden, which he culti- vates with great care, and in which he has made repeated trial's to raifc various exotic fruits and plants. His gardener told us he had attempted to rear apple trees, which had taken root and fiic- ceeded for three year?, but then died. The only plant in flower when THROUGH FINLAND. 357 when we were there w as helUs pcrrciin'is ; but the toUowing grow in the neighbourhood : bcrbivis vulgaris, corylus avclhvui, tul'ipa,. ULirc'iJJds, aq)iiitgiii, torpcoluni, paoiiia, d'lantluis, r'lhcs. We agaui ehanged horfes at Frankihi, a village confifting of r. few wooden houfes, nine miles from Kukko. We faw here fomc women whofe looks were nuld and rather agreeable ; the chil- dren too of a good appearance; but we were ftruck at the fight of their bread, which is made of two thirds ftraw, cut very fmall, and one third of meal. From Frankila you fee at a dillancc the- mountain Nivavara, where ftill remains the fignal port which the French academicians ercded on its fummlt to affift in their tri- gonometrical operations. After Frankila you change horfcs Korpicula (korp'i figtiifies a w ood, kida place), a dillancc of about eight miles. In this place the river Tornea. forms a bafon of tranquil and gentle water, which fucceeds the boifterous tumult of a tall or calcade, called Matkakofki. The river prefents no pleadng view In this vicinity. We found In a houfe hard by fome peafants employed in making their fi filing nets; there was one who fmoked from fo fliort a. pipe, that my companion remarked it, faying to me in Italian, ehe p'lccola p'lppa. The Fiialander whovvas fmoaking, undcrftood perfcdly our Itahan, and repeated as he turned round to us, laugh- ing, /'/Vro //^/>o, pkco p'ippo \ p'lcco denoting in FlnlandilK the liunc as piccohi in Italian. Eight miles from Korpicuk Is the church of Kirkomeki fklrh- signifying church, tneki, a hill), fituated upon an emlneiicc. About halt 35$ TRAVELS half way the noifc of the river, which is heard at a confiderable diftance, fuggefted to us the idea of a catarad: ; and having, in confequence of this circumflance, traverfed a wood, with a pca- fant for our guide, we came to the place from which the found proceeded, and found that it was occafioned by the vehemence and rapidity of the river forcing itfelf through a narrow pafTage. Here we fell in with two or three parties fifhing for falmon, and we helped them to draw a net, which contained five or fix fifh of very confiderable fize. The common method of catching falmon in the North is by driving a palifade, which extends from one bank as far as the middle of the river, and fometimes even to the oppofite fide : between the flakes of the palifade they put branches of trees, or perhaps net-work, which hinder the falmon from afccnding the ftream, and leave only one opening where the fifli may pafs through, but where they have placed a net which is ready to re- ceive them. It is not permitted to make their lax-pata, the Fin- landifti term for the palifade, longer than a certain meafure, and they pay in proportion to its length, and alfo its proximity to the mouth of the river; for fuch as are high up the liver can only catch the falmon that efcape all the fifhers below them. This palifade, or lax-pata, is always fet where the river is moft noifj', and where it forms a fall. The people of the country flaew an in- credible dexterity in walking along thofc flakes, which the force- of the current fhakes in a furprifing manner : women and children trip over them with wonderful adroitnefs and facility. We wiflied to THROUGH FINLAND. ^^'g' to give them our afTiftancc In drawing their nets, and by a great exertion of courage, we got over almofl one third of the palifadc, but if one of my companions had not dcfiftcd in time, his head becoming giddy by the motion of the water under his feet, he mufl have dropt into the river. The children and even the men thcmfelves are fometimes too confident of their agihty, fo that fcarce a year paffes without fbme of them falling in and being drowned, the current being too ftrong for a boat to be of any ufc to them. The addrefs with which the Finlanders drive their flakes into the bottom of the river, at places where the current is extremely rapid, dcferves likewife to be noticed, as an operation highly dan- gerous as well as difficult, and to which thofe poor people fome- times fall vidims. In getting to this part of the river we went nearly an Englifli mile out of the road, where we left our horfes. Our guide, who led us acrofs a fmall wood of firs by narrow footpaths, was upon his return to vifit his covv-houfe, which flood in the midfl of the wood. We could not avoid feeling interefled for this man. He was feventy-five years of age, and had ferved in the war of Pome- rania, or, as it is commonly called, the feven years war : he fpoke German a little, had been feveral times wounded, and, as an in-. valid, had a piece of ground afTigned to him. In this fpot, fepa- rated from the world, his induflry had improved his little fortune fo as to enable him to live comfortably with his wife and chil- dren, and to feed eight cows, whofe good condition afforded him' infinite pleafure. jgo TRAVELS We took leave of our aged companion, and were purfuing our journey, when a florm and violent fall of rain obliged us to take refuge in a houfe upon an eminence on the left fide of the river. Here wc had an extenfive profpeft, which prefented to our view different diftrids of the country overflowed by the river Tornea. 'J'his houfe had a bath quite in the tafte of Finland, and wc am\)fcd ourfclvcs by looking at the men and women who entered into the bathing room. The men undrclied themfelvcs in the houfe, and ran naked into the bath, which is at a dlftance of fif- t-cnn or twenty feet from the dweliing-houfe. The women, it is true, took off their clothes in the bathing-placc itfclf, but they threw their petticoats on the outfide, and thus were obliged to come out, like fo many Eves, to put them on. They threw their clothes out of the room to prevent their becoming wet by the va- pour of the bath. When they were all in the midft of the bath, my curiofity Influenced me to run in alfo to fee what was going on, and to llation my thermometer in a corner of the bath for the purpofe of afcertaining the heat ; but it was fo infupportable, that being abfolutely unable to breathe, I made my way out as fafl: as I went in, having had fcarccly time to look around me. I twice attempted to place my thermometer in the room, but I was obliged to call my Finlandirfli interpreter, who was more accuflomed to it, and 1 found that the heat was Go degrees of Celfius. At Kirkomcki we met with what I may call an excellent lodg- ing, and a very polite landlady, who was not of the fame clafs with the pcafantry, but a relation of a merchant in Tornea. In a fmall THROUGH FINLAND. 361 a fmall houfc adjoining, I faw a kind of hand-mill to grind corn for the family : it confiftcd of two round flones, in the uppermoll of which was inferted a flick, whofe other extremity paffcd through a hole in a triangular board, which was faftened to the corner of the room. Proceeding fix miles beyond Kirkomcki, we arrived at Niemls which word fignifies, in the language of the country, a pronion- tory : here we changed horfes for the laft time. It is a groupc of fmall wooden houfes, where we faw fome little boats on the river Armesjoki : the place is a fmall dependency of Tornea. Farther on you have a view of a mountain named Luppio, which is compofed of rocks that are feemingly falling into ruins. From Niemis to Upper Tornea is eight miles : this is the laft ftage of the journey. The road is mountainous, and in fome places fo full of fand, as to render it extremely fatiguing to the horfes. We reached Upper Tornea on the eighteenth of June in the afternoon. The plants which we found in flower, in the courfe of this route, were the following : Menyanthes trifoliata Cornus fuecica Trientalis Europasa Leontodon taraxacum Betula nana Rubus chamoemorus Andromeda polifolia Rubus ar6licus. Vol. I. 3 A CHAPTER ^62 TRAVELS CHAPTER XXVIII. State of the Road from Toniea to Upper Tornea — The People that hi habit this Trail of Country — Ofver Tornea, or Upper Tornea — The Stiperintetident Mini/ler of that Tartfli — Hofpitality of the Clergy, and their Atte?ttioft to Travellers — Vi/it to Moujit Ava- faxa : the Account which Maiipertuis has give7i of this Mountain, very accurate — Remains of Signals upon the Mountain — Infers afid Plants found on, or near Mount Avafaxa. Flora Avafaxenfis — Meat kept very long in the cold Seafon — Departure from Upper Tornea : Lofs of onefelloxv Traveller who returned home. nr^HE whole of the road from Tornea to Upper Tornea is to- -*' lerably well formed, and kept, as I obferved before, in good repair, and of a fufEcient breadth to admit of travelling in any fort of carriage : it has been made in the courfe of the laft thirty years. When De la Motraye* was in this country, he was obliged to per- form his journey in a boat. Travellers Ihould contrive it fo as never to have occafion for more than four horfes at a time, as you meet with ftages where there are no more to be found. If it fliould fo happen that a greater number is wanted, the company Ihould divide into two parties, one going on a day before the * Sec his Travels. other, THROUGH FINLAND. 363 other, who will have the fame horfes after they arc returned from the firft. The country rifes into fmall hills, which here and there are covered with pine and fir-trees. In the vicinity of rivers, and in marfhy ground, the willow and birch-tree feem to be favourites of the foil. The profpeft affords nothing very interefting, except the continual prefence of the fun, which, as he never leaves the horizon, renders travelling by night extremely agreeable. The inhabitants, on the whole of this route, are of the true Finnifli race, and fpeak the genuine language of Finland ; they all have the fame habits, the fame ftature, the fame drefs, the fame wants, and the fame manner of living. Ofver Tornea, or Upper Tornea, is the parifli which has the fuperintendence of all the clergy and churches of that part of Lapland, which is in the dependence of Tornea. The head mini- fter of the parifli is the reverend Mr. Swamberg. Having paid our compliments to him, he infifted on our lodging at his houfe with our whole company, ten perfons in all. The place where travel- lers commonly Hop, is the village of Mattarange, at the diftance of about a hundred yards from the clergyman's houfe ; but Mr. Caftrein, who was of our party, being himfelf a fuperintendent, and of the fame rank with Mr. Swamberg, could not have re- mained with us, or done lefs than fleep at the houfe of a brother clergyman. There was ftill a more cogent realbn for our lodging with Mr. Swamberg, namely, that at Mattarange the accommo- dations are miferably bad, and would not have been capacious 3 A 2 enough 364 TRAVELS enough to hold all our party. Befides, it is an eftablifhed cuftom, and generally followed by every traveller throughout the Swedllh dominions, the great road excepted, to go dlredly to the clergy- man's houfe, and to afk for a chamber to lodge in, vs'ith the fame freedom as you would ufe at an inn ; for the public houfes kept by the peafants are fo very bad, that it is impoflible for decent company to ftay in them. The clergy, who, for the moft part, are wealthy, and wearied with the dull uniformity of living in thofe fequeftered regions, cut off from all focicty, are extremely happy to receive a ftranger who is acquainted with what is paffmg in the world, and with whom they may converfe of public and of private tranfadions. He is entertained in a fuperior ftyle, and treated with the moft delicious fa^-e they can procure. The clergy almoft univerfally fpeak Latin, fome few German, and as they have had a college education, you find one now and then who fpeaks a little French : with the help of thefe languages you make yourfelf underftood by the mafterof the family, but one fuffers a vaft difadvantage in not being able to fpeak, in fome de- gree, the language of the country. In the houfes of the clergy you fometlmes meet with extremely handfome and amiable young ladies, who having for the greateft part been educated in a town, or amidft: the pleafures and diffipation of the capital, return home with a certain pollfh in their manners, which is by no means cal- culated to render folitude pleafmg, or to difpofe their minds to fup- port the contrafl, and fudden change of fituations, with philofophl- cal equanimity. Thcfe young women, however, like their mothers, fpeak THROUGH FINLAND. ^65 fpcak in general only their native tongue ; and yet nothing can be more agreeable to them than the arrival of a traveller, and, above all, a young ftranger of good appearance, who can one way or another make them underftand him. His faults in fpeaking feem to be as many graces of fpeech, his ideas are always applauded as original, conftantly found entertaining, and either at once under- ftood or gueffcd. The more diftant the country from which he comes, the more intcrelling is his perfon ; they contemplate his face, furvey him from head to foot ; are unable to reftrain a fmile of pleafure in feeing him, and in hearing him fpeak : the gayety of the family diffufes itfelf from the faces of the mailers to thofc of the fervants, and even defcends to the cat and dog, which, on his account, dine and fup better than ufual. As they are at a lols to diftinguifh between a pleafant and cheerful entertainment, and that of a ufelefs and troublefome profuiion ; in order to mark their perfect good will to oblige you, they almoft fuffocate you with tea, coffee, chocolate, liqueurs, punch, and drink of all kinds, which fucceed one another, in contempt of all order, with an op- prcffive rapidity. The moment of departure is always melan- choly : you fancy it impoffible to quit a houfe where you are the objciS of fuch unwearied attention and politenefs. Sometimes the young ladies will make ufe of fbme ftratagem in order to detain you ; and I will honeftly confefs, that I have occafionally got into the carriage when my heart was well difpofed to remain. Such was the unbounded hofpitality we experienced in the houfe of the reverend Mr. Swamberg. His daughters were pretty, lively, 366 TRAVELS lively, and poflefled fome degree of natural wit. One oPthem played on the piano-forte, and tolerably well for a dilettante of that climate. There is an organift here for the fervice of the church. The organ is a pretty good one, and was the objedl of the minifter's higheft ambition, who has the honour to be clergy- man of the moft northern church in Europe that has an organ. We pafled two days in the fociety of this family, which, owing to the many different avocations that fucceeded to each other -with great rapidity, appeared very fliort. Our vifit to mount Avafaxa was the pleafantell and moft in- terefting of all our excurfions. It is concerning this mountain that Maupertuis fpeaks in his book on the theory of the earth. Our walk was very fimilar to his, dired:ed on the fame fide, and in the fame manner as it is defcribed by that academician. Our bodily labour was the fame ; and his defcription of the view from the top of the mountain is fo exadlly true, that I need only copy it to exprefs my ideas. We even faw the falcons he mentions, and which he made fome unfuccefstul attempts to kill. The accuracy of his account gave us great pleafure, and I fancied I fliould gratify the reader by placing it here. AVASAXA. " This mountain is fituated about fifteen leagues from Tornea, " on the margin of the river, from which the accefs to it is not " very eafy. The afcent lies through a foreft, reaching up nearly •' to its middle. The forefl itfclf is interrupted by a great aggre- " gate THROUGH FINLAND. 367 " gate of rocks and flippery Hones, after which you again find the " wood which formerly extended to the top; I fay formerly, bccaufc " we had all the trees cut down with which the fummit was co- " vcred. The north fide of the mountain confifts in a frightful " precipice of rocks, in which the hawks build their nefls. At " the foot of this rock runs the Tenglio, which winds round the " Avafaxa before it difcharges itfelf into the Tornea. From this " mountain the profpedl is very beautiful. Towards the fouth it " is open and unbounded, and the river Tornea is feen to a vaft " extent. On the eaft, the eye traces the Tenglio as far as its " courfe through fundry lakes. The view to the north extends " to twelve or fifteen leagues, where it is interrupted by an aflem- " blage of mountains heaped on one another, reminding the fpec- " tator of the reprefentations that are made of chaos, but among " which it would not be eafy to find one that would do juftice to " the profped; from Avafaxa." Maupert. vol. iii. 8vo. p. 1 10. On the higheft fummit of the mountain we found a quantity of the remains of burnt wood, and many fragments which the lapfe of time had rotted and reduced to decay. We imagined that they might be the relics of the trees which Maupertuis em- ployed in erecting his fignals ; but we were informed by the pea- fants, that they were left from the fignals of alarm which had been raifed in the year 1/4/, and likewife in the laft war of Fin- land. Thefe fignals confift in heaps of wood which are fet on fire to apprife the natives of the approach of an enemy. We our- fclves made a large fire for our amufement as well as to mark the 368 TRAVELS the centre of" rendezvous for the benefit of our company, who were engaged in different parts of the mountain. I will fubjoin a Uft of the different objeds of natural hiftory, which were the fruits of our induftry in the courfe of this excurfion. Insects. Papilio Ligea Papilio rubi Leptura interrogationis Tenthredo lucorum Tenthredo virens Silpha quadripuftulata Cerambyx noctis Elater teffelatus Chryfomela Lapponica Cicindela fylvatica Plants in Flower. Lycopodium complanatum Convallaria majalis Lycopodium Selago Andromeda polifolia Ranunculus auricomus Vaccinium uliginofum Mr. Julin made a lift of all the plants he could recognize on the mountain of Avafaxa, and called it Flora Avafaxenjts ; it is as follows : Geranium paluftre Anthoxanthum odoratum Bartfia alpina Achillea millefolium Andromeda polifolia Arbutus uva urfi Bctula alba Betula nana Caltha paluftris Erica vulgaris Gnaphalium ? Juniperus communis Sedum ? Lycopodium clavatum Lycopodium Selago Calla THROUGH FINLAND. 569 Caltha paliiftris Canvallaria bifolia Empctrum nigriuii Epilobium ? Populus trcmula Cornus fuccica Equifetum fylvaticum Lichen rangiterinus Mclampyrum fvlvaticum Oxalis acetofella Pinus abies Pinus fylveftrls Polytrichum ? Sorbus aucaparia Taiiacetum ? Tricntalis Europa^a Trollius EuropKUs Vaccinium myrtillus Vaccinium vitis Id.'ca Viola canina Viola paluftris Lichen geographicus Lichen tartareus ,Rubus arcticus Rubus chamasmorus Rubus Idasvis Rumex acetofella Mr. Swamberg gave us for dinner, among other things, a roaft of rein-deer, remarkable for its having kept good in his cellar eight months. The animal had been killed in the month of Novem- ber, 1798, and we ate it the 19th of June, 1799- I wifli, by mentioning this circumftance, to convey to the reader an idea of the length of winter in this country, and for how long a period it is poffiblc to prefervc iced meat found. The roall was excellent, and it had not the leaft of anunfavoury fmell ; it had no fiiult, but that of being rather dry. On the 20th of June, about midnight, we fet out from Ofvcr Tornea, and all the plcafures of our hofpitable quarters contributed to make us feel more fenfibly the pain of our departure. This pain was much cncreafed by the lofs of Mr. Caftrcin's company, who Vol. I. 3 B determined 379 TRAVELS determined to return to his family for reafons that pleaded his ex- cufe fo forcibly, that we could give no oppofition to the refolution he had taken. He had left his wife far advanced in her preg- nancy, and the fenfibility of his heart would not fuffer him to expofe himfelf to danger, nor to the contingencies of a journey, the period of which it was not eafy to calculate. This lofs was felt with real concern by all of us, and we were obliged to con- fole ourfelves on our way with pronouncing encomiums upon the excellent qualities, both of head and heart, of this clergyman^ worthy of every thing that could be faid in his praife. The whole family of Mr. Swamberg accompanied us to the river-fide, where the boat was waiting for us, and we loft fight of them, faluting them with our hats and handkerchiefs to the laO: moment. CHAPTER TOROUGH FINLAND. 37c CHAPTER XXIX. The Travellers henceforth proceed by Water — Strong Currents of the Rivers, occafioned by CataraSis — Pafs by a Salmon-Ffltery : man- ner of eating Salmon ravo — Difficulty of navigating thofe Rivers — Stages on this Journey — Pafs the ArS^tic Polar Circle, near the Cataracts of Kattila Kofki — Afhort Paffage by Land — Pello, and Mount Kiitis remarkable for Manpertnis" s Afirojiomical Obferva- tions — Mr. Swamberg's Remarks on the Labours of Mauperfuis ; from which it appears, that his Obfervatio7is ore not to be depended on — Method of obtaining the Eggs of the Mergus Merganfor — From Kardis to Kengis — Arrival at Kengis, and Hofpitalityfliewn by an InfpeSior of the Mines — A Stone with very ancient Infcrip- tions taken Notice of by Maupertuis — Plants and Infers. nr^HE wind was quite fair, and made our boat proceed with greater expedition. Our Finlandifli boatmen, unwilling to lofe fo favourable a moment for repofmg their arms, put up a fmall fail, which ferved to force us againft the current with a ve- locity fufEcicnt to carry us on at the rate of five miles an hour. The boat was fo fmall that it could hold but four perfons in all, and the conflict of the wind in furmounting the rcfiilance of the current, which was the effe<5l of catarad:s, produced fuch a fwell ?, B 2 iit .>72 TRAVELS ill the water, that it came fomctimes into the boat ; a circum- ftance which was by no means pleafant to voyagers who had fo recently changed their mode of traveUing, and who were better acquainted with the dangers of land than water. Here we are then, entered into a country where all communication by land is precluded ; no more roads, nor horfcs, nor carriages of any kind ; in a country where you may travel about four hundred miles without ever feeing either a fingle horfe, or any road. Kaulimpe is the firft village on the left bank of the river, where we changed our boat. We found here a hx-pata, or palifade for catching falmon. The people there had caught, in the courfe of the day, to the amount of three hundred pounds weight of that fifh. Wc bought one of the largeft of their falmon, and learned for the firft time to eat it raw. It is cut into flices tranfverfely and put in fait ; when falted, it is left in a wooden difli with a little water, and after three days this raw falmon is delicious eating. It is a favourite difh with the firft nobility of Stockholm, info- much that they fcldom give a fine dinner when raw falmon is not prefented on the table. This kind of provifion was a great rcfource to us during our navigation of the rivers, as we were able to preferve it a long time, and might eafily drefs it, at leaft as often as we could find the neceffary trifling ingredients. At the village Tolufis, otherwife named Juoxange, eight miles from Kaulimpe, we changed boats and boatmen for the fecond time. This voyage was ftill more tempeftuous than the former. Our men, like their predecefibrs, wiflied to take advantage of the wind, THROUGH FINLAND. 373 wind, and we afcended, with the help of a fail, amidft falls and rocks, where we cxpeded every moment to go to the bottom. It requires a mod accurate knowledge of the bed of the river to venture on this navigation ; and for this reafon it is but prudent to change boat and boatmen at each village, as the peafants are all perfcdly maflers of the channel in their refpedive bounds. At certain intervals you will find in the whole breadth of the river but one opening where the boat can pafs, and whoever is not ap- prized of it will probably run his boat amongft a thoufand rocks without fucceeding, but not without the mofh imminent danger of perifhing. Having arrived at Kattila Koiki, the boatmen took down their fail and fliewed us their addrefs in afcending againll the rapid current of the catarads. Kattila Kolki is a long feries of water- falls, formed by the flony bed of the river, and by huge rocks which rife above the furface of the water. Thefe catarads are particularly famous on the map, as being the place which cor- refponds to that divifion of the globe known by the name of the Polar Circle. To afcend in a fmall boat fuch a formidable fuc- ceffion of catarads,. where the water is almoft every where roll- ing down in foam, would at firfl fight feem impofTible ; but no- thing is impoffible to man, whom habits have rendered familiar to danger. Thofe Finlandifh Laplanders, befidcs an addrefs pe- culiar to themfelves, have what perhaps is of flill more conse- quence — the mofl perfed; coolnefs and apathy. They take their places, one at the head and the other at the ftern of their canoe, and 374 TRAVELS and with a long pole which they thruft to the bottom of the river, find their point of refiftance, and thus pufh the boat againft the ftream. This pole is made of a pine, and about fifteen feet long ; they are obliged to throw it with all their ftrength to the bottom, in order to overcome the currrent which conftantly impels it backwards. It is a Herculean labour ; befides, it requires infinite pradice to guide and manage the boat, forming, as circumftances demand, many a fharp angle, amidft a multitude of obftacles. The moft difagreeable, and at the fame time the moft dangerous fituation is, the man refting by accident the end of his pole upon a rock of a fmooth or round furfacc, in the moment that he ap- plies to it the whole weight and force of his body, the pole ilips from under him ; he falls in an inftant headlong into the river, and the pafienger gives himfclf up for loft. The Laplander, how- ever, quickly recovers himfelf and prepares to repeat the fame operation ; but it fometimes happens that the current gets the afcendant and drives the boat a flern. In this critical jundlure the whole addrefs of the boatman is exerted to keep the head of the boat diredly oppofed to the ftream, till he is again in a con- dition to pufli her forward ; and above all, to prevent her laying her fide to the current, as in that pofition, by prefenting a larger furface to the water, flic would inftantly be overfet. In order to have fome rcfpite from this fevere toil, the boatmen rcquefted that wc •would difcmbark and walk along the bank to the end of thefc catarads. We were greatly overjoyed to learn tliat it was pradlicablc to go by land, and moft cheerfully accepted their •nmOUGH FINLAND. 375- their propofal. The great difficulty of paffing thofe catarads with a boat, containing more than two perfons, had rendered it cul- tomary to perform this part of the journey by hind. The woods being then impallable, a narrow foot-path had been formed in the diredlion of the river. The impradicabiHty of travel Hng through thofe woods proceeded from the way being obftru6led by under-wood, and the branches of firs and pine-trees ; from a flrong kind of mofs, which grows here in great abundance, and ■ fometimcs two feet high ; and from deep marfhy foil, where you are in danger every flep of fmking in the mire. Thefe obftacles impeded the pafTage through the woods ; and to remedy the evil the people had cut down trees and laid them longitudinally one after the other, in fuch a manner that the pafTenger as he walked along the trunks was obliged carefully to attend to his centre of gravity, and balance himfelf like a dancer on the tight rope. We again changed our boat at Tortula, fix miles from Tolafis, and purfued our voyage on the river all the way to Pello, which is twelve miles from Tortula. Pello is a village of four or five peafants houfes ; from this place you fee the mountain Kittis, famous for being the laft point where Maupertuis concluded his trigonometrical operations, and remarkable for nothing elfe. I fhall here prefcnt the reader with Mr. Swamberg's obferva- tions on the inaccuracy of Maupertuis's mcafurement.* Thefe obfervations are found in " A report on a journey to Lapland, " undertaken at the cxpence of the royal academy of fciences at * See Maupertuis's Works, vol. iv. page 332. " Stockholm, 376 TRAVELS " Stockholm, to examine the local fituation and contiguous " grounds, where the French academicians, in the year 1/3(5, dc- " termined the length of an arch of the meridian, as it crofles " the polar circle ; with general refledion? on the figure of the " earth, and upon the neceffity of new meafurements to afcertain " exaAly the equation ; read at a public meeting of the faid " academy, on the 23d of October, 1 7Q0> by Sons Swamberg," " The aftronomcr, as well as the mathematician, are perfeclly " agreed, that the fpherical form of the earth's figure, contain> " elements that muft be taken into account, if we Avould know " from theor)' the precife quantity of the proceffion of the equi- " noxes and the nutation of the earth's axis. Thefe equations, " and otbers * in effedl lefs confiderable, but which in the courfe " of ages will be gradually developed, and will at laft become of " too much importance to be neglefted, joined to the influence " which a knowledge more or lefs perfed: of the dimenfions of " our planet has on the accuracy of a calculation of all the phe- " nomena which are in any degree concerned in the efFeds of the " parallax, have determined the learned for almoft a century and " an half, to make it one of the principal objeds of their moft pro- • In order to fatisfy ourfelves of the exiftence of fucli equations, we have only to recoiled, that the earth not being a perfcft fphere, and that the attraftion of a body, whatever be its figure, being the fum oi tlie combined attraflions of all its particles, it neceflarily follows, tliat the force by which wc are drawn to- wards the fun wiil not vary exactly in the ratio of the fquarc of the diflances, and that confequently there will be a very flow motion in the line of the apCdes, which however infenfible it may be ia the fpace of fome decades of years, is not on that account the lefs real. '' found THROUGH FINLAND. 377 found and perfevcrlng rcfcarches. The philofopher, animated by the principle which is charafteriftic of human reafon, and ' which uniformly tends to refer all knowledge to one point, to ' reduce it to fyHem, and to collecl the whole as into a focus, ' whence he may 'at one view furvey the vaft field of natural ' phenomena, perceives here a fource of difcoveries for perfe6l- ' ing to a great degree all the branches of real knowledge, and ' will endeavour to accomplifli his obje<5l, at whatever expence ' of labour and time it may coft him. But this intcreft will be- ' come ftrongcr, in proportion as he finds the relation which ' thefe purfuits, of great importance in themfelves, all bear to a ' quefi:ion, the folution of which is ftill a fecret ; namely, the ' queftion that has been ib much agitated, refpeCling the figure ' of the earth. The navigator has every moment occafion to ' know what point he occupies on the furface of the globe. For ' this purpofe, having obferved any one phenomenon in the hea- ' vens, (we will fuppofe the diftance of the moon's centre from ' a particular ftar) he ought to be able to determine by calcula- ' tion, how this fame phenomenon would appear to the eye of ' an obferver placed at the center of the earth. Confequently ' into this calculation, the equation of the earth's furface enters ' as an element, which, not being known with fufficient accu- ' racy, might eafily give occafion to an error of fome feconds ; ' and aftronomers are not ignorant of what moment fuch an * error might prove. It was with a view to difembarrafs the me- ' thod of finding the longitude at fea from thofe uncertainties, Vol. I. 3 C that 373 TRAVELS " that the board of longitude ha London propofed a prize of five " thoufand pounds (or thirty-three thoufand three hundred and " thirty-three rix dollars, more or lefs) to Avhomfoever fliould " conftrud; new tables of the moon, deduced from the principle " of univerfal gravitation ; the errors of which fliould be within " the Umits of fifteen feconds, more or lefs. But the mofl fcru- " pulous accuracy in the tables of the moon would completely " fail of its objed, fo long as the tables on the efFeds of the pa- " rallax are not proportlonably exaft. It was, among other ma- " tives, chiefly to remedy this defedl, that the moft celebrated " focieties all over Europe, and particularly the royal academy of " Paris, after the attention of the learned had been called to this •' objed: by Huygens, confidered it as one of the mofi: facrcd du- " ties they could perform for the good of humanity, to clear up " this difficult point in mathematical cofmography. For this pur- " pofe meafurements of degrees of the meridian have been planned " and executed at different times, and in different places ; which •' when properly examined, in fa Vol. I. 3 E This 394 ' TRAVELS This day, which was Sunday, paffed in mirth and feilivity. The infpedlor, to fliew the great amiability of his charader, gave us a Swedifli fong and a toaft to each glafs of punch, and it was in vain to dechne filUng a bumper. At midnight we quitted this tent to obferve, on a more elevated ground, the height of the fan as ufual ; but on this occafion the company was by no means unanimous ; not as to the fun's elevation alone, one perfbn main- taining he faw two, and others, equally confident and inebriated, that they faw no fewer than four. Inftead, however, of difcuf- fmg the merits of the queflion with intemperate warmth, though held to be a matter of ferious importance, we conducted our- felves with more prudence than the learned perhaps might have done on a fubjed: of lefs magnitude ; for we refolved to go to fleep, and adjourn the fuhverjion of the planetary iyftem till the next morning. In fliort, on the night following, at the fame hour, we were perfed;ly agreed both as to the height and number of funs. If Sunday had pafTed in all the pleafures of convivial enjoy- ment, Monday, the period fixed for our departure, was fo much the more fad and melancholy. Three of our friends took leave of us : Mr. Bellotti, Mr. Julin, and Dr. Deutfch would not, and indeed, for particular rcafons, could not, expofe themfelves to the dangers of our expedition, and chofe to return to Torneu and Uleaborg. Our plan of travels received fuch a fcvere flaock by their departure, as nothing but the moft determined refolution could refifl:. Friendfhlp and the infed;ion of example made us hcfitatc for fome time as to the propriety of pcrfifting in our en- terprife ; THROUGH FINLAND. 395 tcrprife ; but our pride could not digcfl the humiliating idea of returning to Uleaborg, to the great diverfion of our friends, who would never have done rallying us on the fubjcd;, or of boafling of their (Iige counfels, and the truth of their predidions. Colonel Skioldebrand, with his fervant, remained alone with me : his pur- pofe continued unfliaken, for his ardour was not inferior to my own. He would not be difcouraged by any difficulties in pur- fuing the objeft he had propofed to himfelf ; and I was no lefs decided as to the execution of my projedl. I mufl confefs that the idea of being the firft Italian that had ever reached the moffc northern point of Europe, was a very powerful incentive to my exertions. Before quitting Kengis, I fliall make a few geographical remarks on the river Tornea, and endeavour to give, in fome degree, a clear idea of the nature and courfe of that river, concerning which there is much confufion and error in all the maps, and even in the Swedifh accounts themfelves. The river Tornea proceeds from a lake called Tornea Trafk, as its fource. This lake is fituated among the mountains which fe- parate Norwegian from Swedifh Lapland. From that lake the river alfo takes its name. It paffes In its courfe near Kengis, where it forms two catarad;s, nearly forty feet high. It then ap- proaches the town of Upper Tornea, twifts round the little ifland of Swenfar, on which the town of Tornea is fituated, and lafl of all it makes the ifland of Bjorkon, on which ftands the church of Lower Tornea. About a mile below Kengis, the waters of the river 396 TRAVELS THROUGH FINLAND. river receive a confiderable augmentation by their jundlion with another river, which has its fource among a number of lakes and marfhes higher up than Enontekis, and bears the name of Muonio, till it lofes itfelf in its union with the'Tornea. The latter, en- riched by the Muonio, becomes of a very confiderable fize on its way to the fea, as it is ftill farther increafed by the tributary ftreams of fome rivulets which iiTuc from the lakes and marflies in its vicinity, and at lall it empties itfelf into the gulf of Bothnia. Near Kengis the banks of this river are confiderably fleeper than about Upper Tornea, and confifi: partly of a ledd'iihjhltjpar and partly of Hates of a blackifh colour, whofe angles ftand edge- ways, with an inclination to the fouth. The river Tornea is in general fubjcdl to three inundations ; namely, one in fpring, caufed by the diflblution of the ice and fnow on the montains ; the fecond in fummer, owing to fudden and violent falls of rain ; and the third in autumn, before the fet- ting in of the froft. The greateft breadth of this river, when its waters are of a mean height, is nine hundred, and its common breadth five hundred yards : its greateft depth is ten yards, and its loweft Ihoal from two to five feet. In winter it is frozen in its whole extent, and the thicknefs of the ice is from five to fome- times eight feet. EKD OF THE FIRST VOLUME. T. Gillet, PrimtT, Salifbury-ftiuarc. I UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles Thish""'' " ' 1 tvl Spb^ UKI li'-* Knr." 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