Part 5 (1/2)
The people of Scania having mowed their gra.s.s, let it lie till dry, when they rake it together.
The Smolanders dry it in a kind of shed.
The East Gothlanders range it in heaps, two and two together, in a long row.
In Upland the new-mown gra.s.s is tied up in bundles, and collected into c.o.c.ks.
In Angermannia the whole year's crop is laid by upon a kind of raised floor.
In Westbothland, after being dried in the shed, the hay is kept there for use, being laid crosswise, and cut when wanted[4].
_July 23._
This evening I took leave of the alpine part of Lapland, and returned by water from Hyttan towards Lulea.
The White, or Mountain, Fox (_Canis lagopus_) lives among the alps, feeding on the Lemming Rat or Red Mouse, (_Mus Lemmus_,) as well as on the Ptarmigan (_Tetrao Lagopus_). This White Fox is smaller than the common kind. The Ptarmigan, which the Laplanders call _Cheruna_, feeds on the Dwarf Birch (_Betula nana_), which for that reason is called _Ryprys_, or Ptarmigan-bush. At night this bird lies squat upon the snow, in the same posture as the Wood Grous (_Tetrao Urogallus_, see _vol._ 1. 179): hence a great deal of its dung is seen in the prints it makes in the snow. This mode of roosting renders the Ptarmigan an easy prey to the Fox.
The Lemming or Red Mouse, see _p._ 18, (_Mus Lemmus_,) in some seasons entirely overruns the country; devouring the corn and gra.s.s: but though these animals thus occasionally appear by millions at a time, they subsequently depart and disappear as unaccountably, so that n.o.body knows what becomes of them. They do no mischief in the houses.
The Ermine (_Mustela Erminea_) is white in winter, red in summer. This animal is seldom met with on the alps, but is very plentiful in the forests. Foxes and Wolves have destroyed the chief of the Hares. The Wolves indeed kill the Foxes.
The Shrew Mouse (_Sorex araneus_) and Common Small Mouse (_Mus Musculus_) are found in Lapmark, but no Rats (_Mus Rattus_).
Hunting the Bear is often undertaken by a single man, who, having discovered the retreat of the animal, takes his dog along with him and advances towards the spot. The jaws of the dog are tied round with a cord, to prevent his barking, and the man holds the other end of this cord in his hand. As soon as the dog smells the bear, he begins to show signs of uneasiness, and by dragging at the cord informs his master that the object of his pursuit is at no great distance. When the Laplander by this means discovers on which side the bear is stationed, he advances in such a direction that the wind may blow from the bear to him, and not the contrary; for otherwise the animal would by the scent be aware of his approach, though not able to see an enemy at any considerable distance, being half blinded by the suns.h.i.+ne. When he has gradually advanced to within gunshot of the bear, he fires upon him; and this is the more easily accomplished in autumn, as the bear is then more fearless, and is continually prowling about for berries of different kinds, on which he feeds at that season of the year. Should the man chance to miss his aim, the furious beast will directly turn upon him in a rage, and the little Laplander is obliged to take to his heels with all possible speed, leaving his knapsack behind him on the spot. The bear coming up with this, seizes upon it, biting and tearing it into a thousand pieces. While he is thus venting his fury, and bestowing all his attention, upon the knapsack, the Laplander takes the opportunity of loading his gun, and firing a second time; when he is generally sure of hitting the mark, and the bear either falls upon the spot or runs away.
_July 24._
In the huts of this neighbourhood I observed an instrument which I had no where noticed before, consisting of an oblong board, placed transversely at the end of a pole. Its use is to stir the pot while boiling.
Directly opposite to Hyttan towards the west, and on the south of the mountain of Wallivari, is a vein of fine iron ore, but hardly worth working while the roads, by which it must be conveyed to Lulea, are in so bad a state.
This night I beheld a star, for the first time since I came within the arctic circle. Nevertheless the darkness was not considerable enough to prevent my reading or writing whatever I pleased.
One of the Laplanders had caught a quant.i.ty of the fish called _Sikloja_ (_Salmo Albula_) of a large size. He stuck about twenty of them on one spit, the back of each being placed towards the belly of the next, and they were thus roasted before the fire. These fish had previously been dried, though not at all salted.
The glue used by the Laplanders for joining the two portions of different woods of which their bows are made (see _p._ 66,) is prepared from the Common Perch (_Perca fluviatilis_) in the following manner.
Some of the largest of this fish being flayed, the skins are first dried, and afterwards soaked in a small quant.i.ty of cold water, so that the scales can be rubbed off. Four or five of these skins being wrapped up together in a bladder, or in a piece of birch bark, so that no water can get at them, are set on the fire in a pot of water to boil, a stone being laid over the pot, to keep in the heat. The skins thus prepared make a very strong glue, insomuch that the articles joined with it will never separate again. A bandage is tied round the bow while making, to hold the two parts the more firmly together.
When these people undertake a short journey only, they carry no bag for provisions, the latter being stored between their outer and inner jackets, which are always bound with a girdle, being wide, and formed of numerous folds, both above and below it.
The Purple Willow-herb, or _Epilobium_ (_angustifolium_?) made the fields at this time very beautiful. The Golden-rod (_Solidago Virgaurea_) was likewise here in blossom, though not yet upon the alps, where it flowers later.
I have never yet seen any animal swim so light as the reindeer. During the dogdays the herds of reindeer, belonging to the inhabitants of the woody parts of Lapland, are very badly off for want of snow, with which those animals refresh themselves in hot weather upon the alps. Hence they const.i.tute a more valuable and thriving property to the alpine Laplanders than to any others. In the winter time, when the favourite Lichen of the reindeer (_L. rangiferinus_) cannot be got at, their keepers fell trees laden with filamentous Lichens, to serve them for food; but it scarcely proves sufficient.
The rivulet near Kiomitis Trask has a very white appearance, as if milk had been mixed with it. This the inhabitants term _kalkwatter_, or lime-water, from the colour, not from any knowledge of its cause or origin. This rivulet they told me came from the alps. It empties itself into the great river near Kiomitis, and renders the water of that river white for the s.p.a.ce of four or five miles. I noticed a similar phaenomenon at Wirijaur.
I was amused with the mode in which these Laplanders take brandy. After they have laid hold of the mug, they dip their forefingers into the liquor, and rub a little on their foreheads, as well as on the middle of their bosoms. On inquiring the reason, I was told their intention was that the brandy might not prove hurtful either to the head or breast.
Some people here were regaling themselves with fresh fish, of the kind lately mentioned (_Salmo Albula_), which having boiled into a ma.s.s like pap or flummery, they were eating out of their hands.