Part 10 (1/2)
They catch _Sijk_ (_Salmo Lavaretus_) in a curious manner at this place.
These fish, like the common salmon, swim against the stream, and for that reason are to be caught only near large falls of the river, which they are unable to ascend. The fisherman, being furnished with a net fixed at the end of a long pole, strips himself naked up to the waist, and walks into the middle of the strongest cascade. To prevent accidents from the force of the water, a rope is often tied round his waist, the other end of which is held fast by a friend on sh.o.r.e. Thus they catch the fish below the fall.
Seals are taken by various means, being either shot with fire-arms, or caught in a net. The latter, three or four fathoms high, is made of hempen cord, as thick as a goose-quill, each mesh being two spans wide.
This net is kept upright in the water by means of oblong floats of wood, and has no stones at the bottom. Four or five such nets are frequently tied to the ends of each other, and a large stone is attached to the last, bound about with willow or osier, which serves to keep the nets steady. These are set in places where the seals are known to hide themselves, for those animals do the fishermen great damage, not only by devouring fish, but by tearing the fis.h.i.+ng nets, from the destruction of which the haunts of the seals are discovered. When a seal comes in the way of the above-described nets, he either thrusts his head between the meshes, getting more and more entangled the more he pushes forward, or, as often happens, he is caught by the foot.
On a sand-hill near the church at Tornea, grew, in great abundance, _Gramen spica triticea maritimum_, (_Tritic.u.m radice repente_, _foliis rigidis_; _Fl. Lapp. n._ 34, which, in the second edition of that work, p. 23, I have, by the persuasion of my intelligent friend Dr. Afzelius, referred to _Elymus arenarius_, and what Linnaeus here says, confirms this determination.) Its blue leaves looked quite different from all others, and very handsome. I picked some seeds from the spikes, which were as large as grains of rye. Hence I was induced to consider whether this plant might not serve as a kind of corn, to be cultivated on such dry and blowing sands, provided the proper method of managing it could be discovered, which surely would not be a very difficult task. The advantage of this would be that, by such means, many sandy tracts, where nothing else will grow, might be turned to advantage; and the perennial roots, which no other corn has, would of course save the trouble of sowing it annually. Perhaps even these roots themselves might, in hard times, serve for food.
The tall Finlander Daniel Caja.n.u.s, at Stockholm, born in this part of East Bothland, was the son of a clergyman. At his birth he was no bigger than the generality of children, and his health was very indifferent, particularly with regard to his chest, till the age of twelve or fifteen years.
I was informed that the inhabitants of this neighbourhood often hear thunder in the alps during winter.
In the alps of Tornea cold is brought by a south wind, and mild weather comes from the north, because of the sea.
The Laplanders consult several natural objects by way of compa.s.s as they travel.
1. Large Pine-trees, which bear more copious branches on their southern side than towards the north.
2. Ant-hills, the south sides of which bear gra.s.s, the northern whortle-berries.
3. Aspen trees, whose bark is rough on the north side, smooth on the opposite part.
4. Old withered Pines are clothed, on the north side, with the black _Usnea_, or filamentous _Lichen_ (_L. jubatus_).
By such marks as these they are able to find their way through pathless forests. Have we any guides so certain?
When these people kill any wild reindeer with fire-arms in summer, they lodge the carcase in a cold cellar, and cut it up as they want it for provision.
I observed a curious kind of lime-stone burnt at Kimi, Tornea, and other places round the neighbouring sea-coast.
_August 14._
A very rainy day. A silver ore from Hjortot has been a.s.sayed by the Mineral Board, and found to contain forty _per cent._ lead, but only three or four of silver.
_August 15._
Near the ferry at Tornea I picked up the Fresh-water Sponge, _Spongia lacustris_ of Newton, (_S. lacustris_; _Syst. Nat. v._ 1. 1299. Linnaeus here refers to Mr. Newton, the friend of Ray, who found the Sponge in question in the Norwich river, where it still exists. It is however denominated in Ray's _Synopsis_, _S. ramosa fluviatilis_, not _lacustris_. Linnaeus quoted from memory.)
_August 16._
In dissecting the flower of _Artemisia_ (_vulgaris_), I was struck with its very curious conformation. (This alludes to the want of a limb to the corolla of the female or marginal florets. See _Fl. Lapp. ed._ 2.
244.)
_August 17._
I went by sea from Tornea to Calix. The wind proved contrary. The islands abounded with Whortle-berries, and with the fruit of _Rubus saxatilis_. On one called Korsholm I met with a sort of _Behen_. Can it be the same with that which grows in cornfields? Their different parts are tolerably alike. This grew among the pebbles of the beach. Its calyx is oblong. Leaves narrow. Stem erect. Fruit of one cell. In other respects it resembles _Behen_. (This was _Cucubalus_ (_Behen_) variety the third, or ?, _Fl. Lapp. n._ 180. _ed._ 2. 149. _Silene maritima_, _Fl. Brit._ 468. _Engl. Bot. t._ 957. We have found it remain for many years unchanged in a garden, propagating itself by seed, though Linnaeus reports that the third year he could not distinguish his from our common _Silene inflata_, his _Cucubalus Behen_.)
CONOMICAL REMARKS CONCERNING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF TORNEA.
The soil is various, sometimes clay, sometimes sand. The corn-fields are sown every other year, and lie fallow the intermediate seasons, half of each field lying fallow, while the other half is cultivated. The former is ploughed during the whole summer, to prevent the growth of gra.s.s or weeds, which might exhaust it. Barley is sown in these open fields only.