Part 15

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]

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

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.

[65] Here the effects are mistaken for causes.

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.

[66] This simple Laplander certainly took Linnaeus for a conjurer, and the book for something equivalent to the magical drum of his own country, to which he resorts, in time of doubt or trouble, with as much confidence as a devotee to the shrine of a saint, or any other "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].

[67] A notable method of converting these poor people from pagan superstitions, and of exemplifying the mild and just spirit of the Christian religion! This bleeding was as effectual as that practised by the grand inquisitor upon a king of Spain, who showed symptoms of humanity at an auto da f[e']; even without the flogging superadded in the latter case, which the pious crusader against Lapland drums did not find necessary.

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.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

_Printed by Richard Taylor and Co., Shoe Lane, London._

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Transcriber's Notes

Changes made to the text (in the case of typographical errors) are as follows:

Page 66: added missing semi-colon ("... terminated in the fore part by the plough-share; ...")

Page 83: changed "grea" to "great" ( ... except the perfect flatness and great breadth of the surface of each, ...)

Page 158 (Footnote [36]) changed period to comma after page reference (... see _p. 130_, that "it was a trifle not worth thinking about.")

Page 167 deleted spurious apostrophe after "winter" (... that they might have a supply of it during the winter frosts?)

Page 192 changed "Where-ever" to "Wherever" (Wherever these hillocks abounded, ...)