Part 8 (2/2)

The sun was visible on that night till very near twelve, when a small cloud hid it from the sight. It was however above the horizon[12]. In winter the sun does not rise above the horizon, but at the solstice it becomes visible. Could it be seen from the pole?

The young women in Finland have much more swelling bosoms than those of Lapland; the latter accord best with the description of the poet,

”_Quales cruda viro puella servat._”

(_Mart._ lib. 8. ep. 63.)

_August 7._

The town of Tornea stands on a small island, inhabited close to the sh.o.r.e on the south-west side. I call it an island, because it is bounded on the north by a swamp; on the south-east by the great river of Tornea; on the west and south-west by an arm of the sea, like a large river in appearance, but so shallow that no vessel can approach within a mile of the town on that side. This arm of the sea was formerly the _king's road_, (a channel obliged to be kept open,) but now it is almost dry in summer time, on the north side, towards the swamp.

I ascended the steeple from whence his majesty king Charles the Eleventh saw the sun at midnight on the 14th of June, 1694.

_August 8._

Nothing worth notice occurred.

_August 9._

Leaving Tornea, I proceeded to Kimi, where is a large salmon fishery, for which this place is remarkable, as Liminge is for its meadows, and Storlionis for its cornfields, but the last yield the greatest profit.

_August 10._

I stayed at the house of the princ.i.p.al clergyman in Kimi till the 11th.

This day I gathered a sort of Pink, _Caryophyllus_, with reflexed petals of a purplish colour, divided into many segments almost to their base.

The claws, not contracted at the summit, bear on the upper side, at the bend, a tuft of dull-coloured hairs. (This was the beautiful and fragrant _Dianthus superbus._) Also a _Salix_ with appendages at the base of its leaves. (What species this was, does not appear.) At the sh.o.r.e of the great river grew _Alsine repens_, _foliis gramineis_, (_Stellaria uliginosa_, _Fl. Brit._ 476. _Engl. Bot. t._ 1074.)

Lying-in women at this place are accustomed to drink brandy seasoned with pepper, partly for the sake of its intoxicating quality, by way of a narcotic, and partly to bring on the labour pains. The clergyman's wife told me an infallible method, as she said, to prevent the pains which often follow childbirth. When the woman's first child is born, and the umbilical cord divided, a spoonful of the blood is given her to swallow. This is to be practised at every succeeding labour, and I was a.s.sured that each would be rendered more easy, without any after pains.

In East Bothnia, as well as in Medelpad, it is customary to have the dairy superintended by a superior female servant, called the _fabodar_, who receives for each cow one pound of b.u.t.ter and one of cheese, besides a pound of _mesosmor_. (See _v._ 1. 197.)

To obtain a greater quant.i.ty of b.u.t.ter, the milk is set by, either in a cellar or in a double-walled house, to be kept as cold as possible, for at least two days, or so long as that it will not stick to the finger.

The milk will not turn sour, but will become very thin and blue, while the cream collects on the top, of considerable thickness and in great perfection. The cream being taken off, and put into the churn, often proves so rich, that after it has been churned but a short time, if the churn be laid on one side nothing will run out. It is no small labour to churn such cream.

Of the remaining milk cheese is made, being warmed before it is coagulated. If the milk has begun to turn sour, it will not do for this purpose. Such thin milk as this is not very fit for eating, but the whey which separates from it in the making of cheese, is by some people made into _syra_. (See _v._ 1. 243. _n._ 11.) This is done merely by putting it, when cool, into a vessel or cask, when, if set by for a considerable time, it will become extremely tough. Most usually however it is boiled, and then kept for two or three days, when, some new milk being added, it is boiled up again to the consistence of flummery, and then set by in some kind of vessel. If it remains for a long while without being touched, it grows hard, and becomes _mesosmor_. (_v._ 1. 243. _n._ 12.) The blue milk above mentioned may be boiled like fresh milk, and does not readily turn sour.

_Gos-mjolk_, or rather _Gas-mjolk_, (from the Swedish verb _gasa_, to work or ferment,) is made as follows. The b.u.t.ter-milk is set by in a tub till it begins to ferment, when about a third or fourth part of the quant.i.ty of fresh milk is added, the whole being allowed to work once more. A serum by this time is formed at the bottom, which is drawn off by means of a c.o.c.k or tap, in the bottom of the tub, and used immediately for food. A similar portion of fresh milk is then put to the remainder, when more whey is, in due time, deposited. This practice is repeated from time to time for the s.p.a.ce of a fortnight, at the end of which the milk in the tub becomes of a thick consistence, and is excellent eating.

_Servet-mjolk_ (Napkin Milk) is made by taking a quant.i.ty of sour milk just beginning to ferment, when bubbles, like hydatids as it were, are formed between the cream and the milk. This is cut across in various directions, and the thicker substance taken off and hung up in a napkin, that the liquid part may drain away. What remains in the napkin acquires a firm consistence, and is eaten along with fresh sweet cream.

EAST BOTHLAND.

_August 11._

I departed from the house of the chief clergyman of Kimi, whose name is Forbus or Forbers, and that of his wife Christian.

<script>