I saw no flies in Lapland, but in Norway the houses are full of them. I was however no longer infested with swarms of gnats.

At the place where I stopped to rest after my fatiguing journey, they gave me Sword-fish (Xiphias Gladius) to eat, which very much resembled Salmon in flavour. It was of a large size, with a dorsal fin continued from the middle of the back to the tail.

July 12.

The next day it blew so very hard that I did not venture to leave this place by sea. I took a walk in the morning on the beach, it being low water, and noticed various marine productions. Several species of Fucus were attached either to stones or shells, as well as UlvÆ and ConfervÆ. Barnacles (Lepas Balanus and L. Balanoides) were seen sticking to large stones, at present left by the tide. I noticed also several univalve and bivalve shells of various sizes. The Strombus (Pes pelecani) with and without its dilated lip; also some small Crabs, and other things. I gathered a viviparous avenaceous grass (what this was cannot be ascertained). Here likewise I noticed several Zoophytes, and among them the three following MedusÆ.

1. Medusa (capillata) of an octagonal shape, with notched angles. The annexed figure shows its under side. The whole is transparent like glass. There are eight pair of rays, within which the disk, and other rays at the base of the former, are all covered with minute scaly prickles, ranged in concentric circular rows. The outer feelers, which look like the stamens of a flower, are sometimes snow-white, sometimes of a reddish flesh-colour, and crisped. Within these is a central cluster of longer feelers, resembling pistils.

2. Medusa (aurita) orbicular, with four little hearts in the middle. This is also entirely pellucid like glass, except that the little heart-shaped marks are red, each with a transparent cavity in its centre. There are four crisped auricles, or feelers, between them.

3. Medusa (cruciata) orbicular, marked with a white cross. Entirely of a glassy transparency, but marked with a white cross which completely divides it into four parts. There are no feelers, nor could I discern any vestige of a mouth. Can this be in the state of an egg?

One object of the Laplanders who accompanied me hither, to Torfjorden, was the purchase of brandy. They drank it in the first place as long as they could stand on their legs, and having brought with them a number of dried reindeer bladders, these were subsequently all filled with brandy, tied up, and carried away by them. Their general custom is to use small cups, about one third the size of a spoon, by means of which each Laplander in his turn will often contrive to swallow a whole quartern of brandy.

When the Laplanders mean to appear in full dress, they attire themselves in white walmal cloth, (see p. 137,) without any lining, and their jacket is ornamented with a high blue collar with a brown edge, the whole collar being stitched over and over with thread. The cloth for this part costs a dollar, copper money, extraordinary for every ell, on account of the brown edge. Eight ells make a jacket, so that the whole comes to as much as a small garment of reindeer skin.

They complained to me about the sale of their manufactures, which they are now obliged to dispose of at too low a rate. They would willingly allow twenty per cent. profit to the merchants of Stockholm, giving them a preference that they might be enabled to pay the duties, nor would they then listen to applications from any other quarter.

The Lapland women are accustomed to sew all the clothes and shoes, and to cook all such articles of food as are made of milk; but the men dress the meat, fish, and fowl. If the housewife happens not to be at hand, the preparation of the milk dishes falls upon the husband, but not otherwise. The Laplanders in this part of Norway, who have become cultivators of the ground, use scythes whose upper end rests on a projecting piece of wood set on the ground, as on a pivot, another piece opposite to it serving for a handle.

This was a very hot day, with a few drops of rain in the afternoon.

The weather being now calm, we ventured to go out to sea in a boat, in order to search for the natural productions of that element. We soon caught, with a hook and line, plenty of Sey-fish (Gadus virens). These were about ten inches long, very smooth, fat and tender, covered with extremely minute scales. The back was of a darkish green, the belly white. The mouth toothed, like that of a perch. Some of these fish had sticking to them several RemorÆ, or rather Pediculi marini of Frisch, of which I preserved specimens. (LernÆa Assellina?) The fish themselves were so numerous and so voracious, that we had no sooner thrown out the hook, letting it float after the boat, than they swallowed it so quick that we could hardly take them out fast enough. The next day however, the sky being very clear, we had no such success. The hook we used was of steel, without any kind of bait, and yet we caught above sixty fish in all.

Torfiolme, where I now was, is entirely encompassed by lofty mountains covered with snow. Between their summits dark grey clouds were stationed here and there, so that the base of each mountain, as well as the summit itself, was clear. These clouds, or vapours, at length gradually subsided.

Close to the borders of the bay or creek, are many little sequestered villages scattered among the hills. Each has but a small valley adjoining, and consequently not above a cornfield or two within its district, with a very small portion of pasture-ground attached to each house, though possibly there might be more further off, which I could not perceive. The inhabitants therefore would scarcely be able to subsist, were it not for the vast plenty of fish within their reach, which serves them for food and for sale. The sea here not only abounds with a great variety of species, but the individuals of each are also uncommonly numerous. The people were continually talking to me about the whale fishery.

I had here an opportunity of seeing how salmon are caught. Some piles are placed in the mouth of a little creek or cove, adjoining to a small fence or row of pales. Close to this a perpendicular net is placed in the water, in a curved position, one end being fastened to the shore, the other to two cords, while the middle is floated out, by means of a buoy in the mouth of the creek, towards the sea. When the fish swim up the creek to a certain distance, they are entrapped in this net, the cords being pulled by two people stationed in a hut adjoining, built for the purpose of watching the net.

The plant here called Missne, and used for food by the people, is the Water Dragons (Calla palustris); while that given to cattle is the Menyanthes (trifoliata). Horses are fed with the finest tops of the twigs of spruce fir, chopped extremely small, and mixed with an equal quantity of barley. Such feed is used only in times of great scarcity, but it is very excellent provender.

The church of this place is but small.

The herbs I collected hereabouts were Mesomora (Cornus suecica) with a proliferous blossom. Spergula marina with spatulate petals, ten stamens, and three very short pistils. (Arenaria peploides). Apium palustre (Ligusticum scoticum). Trifolium with a monopetalous flower, of a white colour, (T. pratense). Muscipula montana minima (perhaps Gypsophila muralis, see Fl. Lapp. n. 171). Gramen triticeum maritimum, flore glauco, (Elymus arenarius? see Fl. Lapp. ed. 2. n. 34). Glaux (maritima). A Fucus in long strips, resembling flax; with many other species of that genus. Filum marinum, in aqu villosum. Coronopus with dotted leaves (a variety of Plantago maritima). There were numerous Echini (Sea Urchins), as well as PatellÆ (Limpets), and Balani (Barnacles); all so abundant on the shore that we could scarcely walk without treading upon them. I noticed likewise some kinds of Star-fish (Asterias), with many Corallines, and petrified Corals. (See LinnÆus's dissertation, entitled Corallia Baltica, Amoen. Acad. v. 1. 74.)

In the evening we arrived at the parsonage house of Rorstad, the residence of Mr. John Rask, Pastor Secundarius, and chaplain to the king. He has been in the West Indies, as well as Africa, and has published an account of his voyage, in which various fishes and plants are described in a very interesting style. He gave me a friendly reception. He has a handsome daughter named Sarah Rask, eighteen years of age. She seemed to me uncommonly beautiful. I must not omit to write to him hereafter; for, according to his account, he never expected to see an honest Swede. I wish Mr. Ingerald[63] may come and visit our neighbourhood, that I may have an opportunity of testifying my gratitude for his kindness, which otherwise I can never repay.

July 14.

In the morning I took leave of Mr. Rask, and returned with the master of the boat to Torfjorden. I had now before me the whole of this western Archipelago, and was told that, if we were to steer our course directly westward, we should arrive at Greenland. The conversation on our passage turned much upon a certain West Gothlander, who had been guilty of some treacherous conduct, and told various falsehoods. (To this the above conversation of Mr. Rask probably alluded).

Tun-bread, as it is called in Westbothnia, is made of barley and chaff in the following manner. After threshing, they sift the corn through a large cribble, which retains not only the grain and chaff, but not unfrequently a small quantity of straw. This is dried and ground. The rich grind the corn alone; others one third part barley, with two of chaff; others again one of chaff to two of barley. The meal thus procured is moistened with cold water into a paste or dough, without being allowed to go into a state of fermentation, and without any yeast. Cold water is preferred to warm, the latter rendering the dough too brittle. The dough, being of a soft consistence, is then well kneaded on a table. A handful of it is sufficient to make one cake, though no person would suppose that so small a quantity could make so large a cake as afterwards appears. This lump of dough is spread out flat on a table, not with a rolling-pin, but with the hands and a flat trowel or shovel. A considerable quantity of flour is sprinkled over the surface, and the whole mass is extended till it becomes as thin as a skin of parchment. It is then turned by means of a very large shovel, after being previously pricked all over with an instrument made on purpose, and composed of a large handful of the wing feathers of ptarmigans, partridges, or some such birds. The other side, when turned uppermost, is subsequently pricked in the same manner. The cake is then put into the oven, only one being ever baked at a time. The attendance of a person is necessary, to watch the cake, and move or lift it up occasionally, that it may not burn. Much time indeed is not required for the baking. When sufficiently done, the cake is hung over a bed-post, or some kind of rail, and the two sides hang down parallel to each other. Other cakes when baked are hung near to, or over, the first. When the whole are finished, they are laid by, one upon another, in a large heap, till wanted.

Some people make bread of the bark of fir-trees. For this purpose they choose the bark of such trees as are of a large size, with but few branches, because the branches, as well as the younger trees, are more resinous, and therefore more strongly flavoured. The bark taken from the lower part of the tree is esteemed the best. The hard external coats require to be carefully removed. Stores of this bark are often laid by for winter use. Previously to its being ground into four, it is laid over a slow fire in order to be warmed thorough, and rendered more friable, for it becomes by this means much thickened and very porous. It is next ground and baked, in the same manner as the barley above mentioned. The dough made of fir bark is more compact than barley dough, and almost as much so as that made of rye; but the bread has a bitterish taste.

Missen bread is made of the Water Dragons (Calla palustris). The roots of this plant are taken up in spring, before the leaves come forth, and, after being extremely well washed, are dried either in the sun or in the house. The fibrous parts are then taken away, and the remainder dried in an oven. Afterwards it is bruised in a hollow vessel or tub, made of fir wood, about three feet deep; as is also practised occasionally with the fir bark. The dried roots are chopped in this vessel, with a kind of spade, like cabbage for making sour kale (sour crout), till they become as small as peas or oatmeal, when they acquire a pleasant sweetish smell; after which they are ground. The meal is boiled slowly in water, being continually kept stirring, till it grows as thick as flummery. In this state it is left standing in the pot for three or four days and nights. Some persons let it remain but twenty-four hours; but the longer the better, for if used immediately it is bitter and acrid; both which qualities go off by keeping. It is mixed for use, either with the meal made of fir bark, or with some other kind of flour, not being usually to be had in sufficient quantity by itself; for the plant is, in many places, very scarce, though here in such abundance that cart loads of it are collected at a time. This kind of flummery, being mixed with flour, as I have just mentioned, is baked into bread, which proves as tough as rye-bread, but is perfectly sweet and white. It is really, when new, extremely well-flavoured. Cattle Misne (Menyanthes trifoliata) is very seldom used for making bread, being too bitter; but the roots are given to domestic cattle, who devour them fresh. This plant grows plentifully in all the rivers of this country, as well as in the neighbouring marshes.

NordskbrÖd, Norway bread, is made either entirely of rye flour, or of barley with a third part rye. The dough is prepared with cold water, and kneaded a long while, till it does not stick to the hands. Afterwards it is flattened with a rolling-pin of a round shape, but furrowed longitudinally, which is turned by the hands as fast as possible. The edges of the dough, thus spread out, are repeatedly turned in, and the whole, laid carefully on a table, makes a very even cake, as thin as paper, though smoothed with such a rolling-pin. It is baked on an iron made on purpose, being moved about and turned during the process, and subsequently smoothed and polished with a bunch of the heads of rye straw dipped in water.

In times of great scarcity, when nothing better is to be had than seeds of Spurrey, (Spergula arvensis,) from the fields, these seeds, after being dried, are ground and baked, along with a small proportion of corn. The bread thus made proves blackish, but not bad.

A kind of cheese is made of sour milk in this part of Norway, for which the following is the receipt.

Take any quantity of sour milk, and boil it till a thick sediment subsides. Then strain it through a linen cloth, so as to get rid of the thin watery part, when the remainder will be of the consistence of flummery. This last must be put into a covered vessel, and allowed to stand by eight days; after which it must be mixed with cream, and stirred about in a plate, or some other convenient vessel; when it should be moulded into an obtuse conical shape, and set by in a cool place, covered up from the air. Should it happen to break, or fall in pieces, it must be stirred up and moulded over again. Leave it till it becomes sufficiently dry, which very often requires a month or two, when a rugged and cellular crust will be formed on the surface, which must be taken off before the cheese is eaten.

As I was rambling about among the hills and gathering strawberries, I perceived a Laplander carrying a fowling-piece, who seemed in pursuit of birds. Indeed I had scarcely noticed him till I heard the report of his gun, when I turned about and observed him to be very near me, though lower down on the hill. The ball struck against a large stone at a very small distance from the spot where I stood. God be praised that it did not hit me! The fellow ran away, and I never saw him after, but I immediately returned home.

July 15.

In this part of Norway the fields are not enclosed, wood for stakes or pales being very scarce. There is no distinction between the meadow or pasture grounds and the forests, except that the latter are rather more bushy and besprinkled with a few trees, while the former are quite bare. The meadows, and even the roads, are mown, as well as fed, and yet both abound with tall grass. A woman always attends the cattle, which are not driven home at night, nor when milked, but enclosed within a moveable paling or pen. This is continually removed from one spot to another, in order to manure the ground. Horses are permitted to range at large. Hogs are yoked. The cows are milked thrice a day, morning, noon and evening. Flocks of sheep and goats are allowed to follow the cows.

Some persons hereabouts use stoves made of lapis ollaris, (Talcum Ollaris,) as well as boiling-pots of the same material. The stoves are without chimneys, like a small flue with an oven. The fire is always kindled in the oven, when the intention is to make the room warm, and the people make use of burning coals when they are going to bake; but they never bake in the oven. All the smoke mounts to the cieling, and finds its way out by a hole made for the purpose in the centre; but this renders the cieling perfectly black. When the smoke does not escape readily, it is necessary to make a draught by opening the door of the house. The reason given for this contrivance is, that if there were a regular chimney, too much heat would escape that way. But surely such an excuse is very lame, for much more heat must escape by opening the door. The hole in the roof is closed at pleasure, by means of a square cover, fixed transversely to the end of a pole, which is lifted up from within.

Clay and stone abound in this neighbourhood. The walls of the houses are never built perpendicularly, although timbered; for every beam is crooked, both withinside and without. The barns are small and low, furnished with threshing-floors.

It is impossible to traverse the Lapland alps in winter, for the following reasons. In the first place, the cold is so intense that nobody could endure it. Next, no reindeer are, at that season, on the alps, but in the forests, the only place where they can procure any food. Thirdly, no reindeer could pass the alps at a stretch, the distance being too great; and lastly, it would not be possible for a traveller to carry with him the requisite supplies of clothes and provisions. For these reasons it is generally the custom to travel over this country either in summer or autumn.

There are numerous obstacles to the cultivation of this alpine tract. The intense cold of its winters, which exceeds that of any other country. From the snow lying so long on the ground, the parts exposed to the north are incapable of any culture. Frosts are frequent even in summer. The days are dark in winter. The weather is always moist. The soil is of a turfy kind, composed of mosses decayed by frost, impregnated with standing water. Good black vegetable mould is not to be met with. Lofty trees cannot be raised, on account of the excessive violence of the wind; hence there is a great scarcity of wood.

It is customary for those in our part of Sweden who fancy themselves indisposed, to frequent watering-places, or mineral springs, during the heat of summer. For my own part, I have, thank God! for several years enjoyed tolerable health, except a slight languor, or other trifling indisposition. But as soon as I got upon the alps, I seemed to have acquired a new existence. I felt as if relieved from a heavy burthen; and after having spent a few days in the low country of Norway, though without having committed the least excess, I found my languor or heaviness return. When I again ascended the alps, I revived as before, to which the pure and well ventilated atmosphere did not a little contribute. It is a prevailing opinion that, at a great elevation, the air is so much thinner, as to render it necessary to breathe through wet sponges held to the nose and mouth. I can aver that the difficulty of breathing is only caused by the exertion of climbing the mountains, as a person who runs fast, or uses any other violent exercise, oppresses his lungs by accelerating the circulation of the blood.[64]

Did not the barometer show the pressure of the air to be less in such elevated places, it would seem contrary to reason that it should be so, upon the following principles. We know these alps to be higher than any other hills, as no current runs across them. The streams on the western side take their course down to the western ocean, while those on the east run into the sea on that side. If we take into consideration the abundance of cascades formed by these alpine torrents, in their way to the sea, the stupendous elevation of the hills will be the more evident, not only on that side but on the opposite one also. When therefore the wind blows over this country, whether from the sea or the land, the air, having to pass such great heights, must of course be more condensed by meeting with such an obstruction. Thus moreover its force is increased, as well as the sensation of cold which it gives. The air being rendered, by whatever cause, more compact or dense, will account for its frequently freezing in these places, during the hottest summer. Cold consists in the compression, and heat in the rarefaction of the air[65], hence it seems to follow that the air is not more rare upon mountains.

But, to return to the subject of watering-places, I am persuaded that those who could undertake a journey to this alpine country, would derive full as much benefit from coming hither to drink snow water, as from frequenting mineral springs, especially such as are situated in low, foggy, marshy places. One thing at least would be in their favour, that they could not so readily find means to transgress the rules of temperance, usually prescribed, if not observed, at a watering-place, by being tempted to drink strong ale or other spirituous liquors after dinner.

The exquisite purity and good flavour of water always depend on the snow, which tends to preserve water as salt does meat. We all know how soon water is spoiled by keeping in a warm place, and, on the contrary, how long it may be preserved in a cold one. The Laplanders treasure up the snow water as if it were the choicest wine. I have observed of late that water-drinking is becoming more common in Stockholm, as among the Portuguese; but how different is the water, as well as the climate! The Lapland water is indeed uncommonly grateful to the palate.

When lately sailing on the coast of Norway, I was amused by observing my Lapland attendant, who, as soon as he grew warm, dipped his koxa, or ladle, into the sea, in order to drink as usual; but he was much disappointed on finding the water salt instead of fresh. These people always carry a large ladle about them, for the purpose of drinking spring water, whenever they find themselves heated or thirsty, which they do without apprehension of any bad consequences. I often practised the same during my journey. Indeed, were it not for the abundance of this fine water, nobody could travel in Lapland, for there are no houses of refreshment. Bacchus and Ceres are both unknown there, though Venus meets with due honours. The greater part of the springs and rivers originate in the snow water of the alps; hence the latter are twice or thrice as full when the weather is warm in that part of the country.

I one day showed a Laplander some of the drawings in my manuscript journal. He was alarmed at the sight; took off his cap, made a bow, and remained with his head inclined, and his hand clapt to his breast, mumbling some words to himself, and trembling as if he was going to faint away[66]. Many people are afraid of a Jack in a box.

A curious stratagem was related to me in Norway, as practised upon the Laplanders, by a person commissioned to take from them their magical drums and idols. Having procured information of any Laplander who kept such things concealed, he first requested to have them brought forth. This their owner refused. After having long used entreaties, to no purpose, he laid hold of one of the Laplanders' arms, slipped up the sleeve of his jacket, and so contrived at length as to open a vein. The Laplander was near fainting, and, entreating him to spare his life, promised to bring the drum required; upon which the arm was bound up immediately. This plan has been frequently pursued with success[67].

In the course of my tour, my guide having one day conducted me to his next neighbour, the latter was just about shifting his quarters, and therefore could not take charge of me. The former would not attend me any further, though I paid him well for his trouble, and entreated him not to desert me. I was obliged therefore to menace him with my hanger, upon which he took to his heels. He did not however succeed in his attempt to escape, for my servant soon caught him. His fears overcame him, and he promised, trembling, to accompany me as I wished. Observing that he very often turned his head about, I made him walk before me. As soon as we came to the residence of another Laplander, and before I had well entered the hut, he set out running, not back again the way we had come, but towards the mountains, so that the devil himself could not have caught him, and leaving both his money and his civility behind him. This is a proof that severity is not the best way of dealing here. My interpreter told me, that if the man had seen a gun cocked and presented at him, he would not have suffered a hundredth part of the alarm that he did.

Many of the curious plants, of which I had in Lapmark found here and there a solitary individual, as a great rarity, were common enough in Norway. Hence I concluded that their seeds had been brought down by the torrents, the chief of them being aquatics, as the (Pedicularis) Sceptrum-Carolinum, Astragalus (alpinus), Acetosa with a notched leaf (Rumex digynus), the white Pedicularis (sylvatica) as well as the purple, the Asphodel (Tofieldia palustris, Fl. Brit. 397,) &c.

[64] This opinion of LinnÆus coincides with what M. de Saussure observed in ascending Mont Blanc. We cannot say so much in favour of his subsequent theory.