maturity. With the Spruce we lose the Rosa cinnamomea, Conval laria bifolia, &c.; and the borders of the lakes are stripped of their ornaments of Arundo Phragmites, Lysimachia thyrsiflora, Galium bo reale, and Carex globularis. Here is the true station of Tussilago nivea. (Willd. Sp. Pl. v. 3. 1970.) The last beaver-houses are seen in the rivulets; and no pike nor perch is to be found in the lakes higher up. The boundary of the Spruce Fir is 3200 feet below the line of perpetual snow, and the mean temperature is about 3° of Celsius's thermometer (37% of Fahrenheit.)

"Above the line of perpetual snow, the cold is occasinally so much diminished, that a few plants of Ranunculus glacialis, and other similar ones, may now and then be found, in the clefts of some dark rock rising through the snow. This happens even to the height of 500 feet above that line. Further up, the snow is very rarely moistened: Yet some umbilicated lichens (Gyrophora), &c. still occur in the crevices of perpendicular rocks, even to the height of 2000 feet above the line of perpetual snow. These are the utmost limits of all vegetation, where the mean temperature seems to be +1,°1 of Celsius (30 of Fahrenheit.) The Snow Bunting, Emberiza nivalis; is the only living being that visits this elevated spot. "

Of the climate and weather, during the more merciful months, and in the lower regions of Lapland, some vague estimate may be formed, from the following particulars. In the province of Lycksele, towards the end of May, large pieces of ice still remained unmelted; but dwarf willows and birches were in blossom, and the note of the redwing was heard in the evening. On the first of June, the sun disappeared for half an hour only; but the wind blew very cold from the north. On the 15th of the same month, our traveller entered the town of Pithoea, just at sun-set, and went to bed with all expedition, but was quickly startled by a glare of light on the wall of his chamber. I was alarmed,' says he, with the idea of fire; but, on looking out of the window, saw the sun rising, perfectly red, which I did not expect would take place so soon. The cock crowed, the birds began to sing, and sleep was banished from my eyelids.'-At this place he observed, that some young oaks, which had been raised from acorns, were mostly killed by the winter frosts; and that the apple-trees were almost entirely destroved.

At length, on the 23d of June, we are treated with a glimpse of summer. This day and the two preceding, indeed every day since the 18th, had been bright, warm, and for the most part calm. The meadows were still fine and beautiful in their aspect, and every thing conspired to favour the health and pleasure of the beholder. If the summer be indeed shorter here than in any other part of the world, it must be allowed,

Y 2

at the same time, to be nowhere more delightful. I was never in my life in better health than at present. On the 2d of July, beautiful corn (barley, or ry 2) which had been sown on the 25th and 26th of May, had shot up so high, as to be laid, in some places, by the rain; and, on the 28th of July, harvest commenced in Lulean Lapland. The corn now cutting, though sown but a few days before midsummer, was, nevertheless, quite ripe. The cut rye was not yet ripe enough to cut; but the winter rye ripens some time before the other corn. Thus it appears that corn (barley) springs up and ripens at this ⚫ place in the space of sixty days. On the 24th of the same month, Linnæus observed a star, for the first time, since he had come within the Arctic circle, though there was not darkness enough to prevent reading or writing. At sun-rise, on the 3d of August, the marshes were all white with hoar-frost; for, in the preceding night, winter had paid his first visit, and slept in the lap of the lovely Flora.' The aurora borealis was seen at Tornea on the 18th of August, and had been visible for a week before: But, for a description of this phenomenon in all its glory, as well as of the dreadful cold which reigns even at Tornea during a long winter, we beg leave to refer our readers to the eloquent pages of Maupertuis. It deserves to be noted, that, in the Alps of Tornea, cold is brought by a south wind; and that mild weather comes from the north-a circumstance which favours the supposition, that, under the pole, there is a considerable extent of open sea.

Some very rainy and foggy days are duly commemorated in the Journal; and three or four instances of thunder storms are distinctly recorded; besides which, we are informed, that it frequently thunders in winter. We are the more desirous of noting these details; because it is commonly alleged, that thunder is a very rare occurrence in high northern latitudes, and especially in Lapland. Neither are we prepared to assert, that the forests of that country are never fired by lightning; and, in the case already quoted, the conflagration may have been caused by a bona fide discharge of the electrical fluid: But Linnæus seems not to have been aware, that the Laplanders frequently set fire to the woods, to prevent the timber from being used for the operations of mining. If they know of the existence of any metallic ore, they also studiously conceal it, that they may not be subjected to the toil of working it, to gratify the cupidity of the Swedish colonists, who pay them very ill for their labours. Högström states this fact in the strongest ternis; and adds, that a Laplander having discovered a rich mine of silver, every family of the district gave him a rein-deer, on the

express

express condition, that he would not reveal the secret to the strangers.

Taking these circumstances, then, into consideration, as well as the low state of geological science at the period when Linnæus made his observations, and his decided predilection for Botany and Zoology, we can be at no loss to account for his very crude and imperfect indications of the nature of the soil,

of its mineral productions. In the mere catalogue, however, of specimens collected in the Lapland Tour, which is set forth not without some air of parade, we had looked for a more varied and precise list than that of thirteen articles, including four varieties of real or supposed alum (for one of them has no taste), two of silver ore, various alpine micaceous stones, marl, quartz, sandstone, containing three per cent. of iron, black slate, petrified cords, and iridescent fluors. In a country whose surface is so much broken by hills and water-courses, as that of Lapland, ample stores of mineral riches may, probably, one day reward the searches of the curious; but the mining art can never be practised on an extensive and profitable scale, till regular communications be established, and the inhabitants treated with justice and humanity. Accurate observations and trials, also, should be instituted, before much expense be incurred in the excavation of the soil, or the erection of machinery; and sober calculations should be made of the number of workable days, and the quantity of attainable fuel.

In a geological point of view, we have scarcely patience to dwell for a moment on the very loose and undefined intimations which are scattered at random through the Journal. If granite, of all different kinds existing in the world, abounds every where in the forests, why not describe a few of the more rare and beautiful varieties? What scientific ideas can we possibly attach to such expressions as large red stones; a stone which appears to be of a very compound kind; mixed spar, which composes a mountain; stones all of a fossile kind; a curious stone or radiated fluor, composed of square parts; a curious iron ore; a curious kind of limestone, &c. &c.?

Various mineral springs are pointed out, in different parts of the country; and most of them, we presume, impregnated with iron, because an ochreous appearance and filmy surface are more than once mentioned. In other instances, however, we are yet in total darkness respecting their ingredients and properties. Of that, for example, near Swartlär, we are very ingenuously told, that, whatever may be its qualities, nobody has yet made any in❝quiries concerning them. Of the best which our traveller met

with

with in the north, and which is situated on the south-west side of Tornca, we should have been glad of a little more detail; but we are dismissed from the salutary fountain with the laconic information, that its water is not ill-tasted; and that it comes out, soiled, as it were, from the earth, and covered with scum, The taste of the mineral water at Ulaborg also seemed good. All these streams, however, are not to be tasted with impunity; for a gouty Dean had chalk-stones formed by tampering with the Lulean spring; and, by drinking of one of the sources at Röbäck, several persons have lost their lives.'

The enumeration and description of the various species of vegetables with which we are here presented, are far more ample and satisfactory: but our botanical readers, to whom alone they can prove acceptable, require not to be told, that they appear to far greater advantage in the Flora Lapponica, of which an excellent edition was published, not many years ago, by the learned editor of the present work. We may be permitted, however, in passing, to express our agreeable surprise at meeting with the vernal anemone, herb Paris, hops, truffles, and tobacco, in such northern latitudes, and to exhibit the following sample of Westbothnian horticulture.

In the garden the Governor showed me (May 24.) the garden orache, sallad, and red cabbage, which last thrives very well, though the white will not come to perfection here; also garden cresses, winter cresses (Erysimum barbarea, B. Fl. Sues.), scurvy-grass, chamomile, spinach, onions, leeks, chives, cucumbers, columbines, carnations, sweetwilliams, gooseberries, currants, the barberry, elder, guelder-rose and lilac. Potatoes here are not larger than poppybeads. Tobacco, managed with the greatest care, and when the season is remarkably favourable, sometimes perfects seed. Dwarf French beans thrive pretty well; but the climbing kinds never succeed. Broad beans come to perfection; but peas, though they form pods, never ripen. Roses, apples, pears, plums, hardly grow at all, though cultivated with the greatest attention. The garden, however, affords good radishes, mustard, and horse-radish, and especially leeks, chives, winter-cresses, columbines, goose-tongue (Achillea ptarmica), rose-campion (Agrostemma coronaria), scurvygrass, currants, gooseberries, barberries, wild rose, and lovage (Ligusticum levisticum), though scarcely cherries, apples, or plums.?

Some sensible observations occur on the pasture grounds of Lycksele Lapland; and the author betrays an amiable and patriotic anxiety in searching for means to prevent the recurrence of rushy plants and mosses where the soil has been reclaimed by draining. Had he lived in the present times, he would have probably recommended a dose of the curious limestone. The

colonists

colonists settled in Lapmark sow a great deal of turnip seed, which frequently succeeds. So fond are the native Laplanders of this root, that they will often give a cheese in exchange for a turnip; than which,' as the sage writer of the Journal profoundly observes, nothing can be more foolish.'

very

If we next turn our attention to the zoological items of this curious medley, the Rein-deer, as might be expected, will be found to be the most prominent object. The numerous detached notices concerning its history and economical uses, would, if strung together, compose a moderately sized pamphlet ; but they are of too multifarious a complexion to be reduced into a convenient abstract; and we pass them over in silence with the less reluctance, because their amount is already very agreeably detailed in the fourth volume of the Amanitates Academica. In this place, therefore, we shall merely beg leave to observe, that the clattering noise of the hoofs is differently explained in two different passages; that the circumstance of this herbivorous animal feeding on frogs, snakes, and lemmings, is nearly as extraordinary as the disgusting mode of mutilating the bucks in the mountainous districts of the country; and that a single wolf will sometimes kill twenty or thirty deer at a time; whereas the bear can scarcely catch one of them, unless it comes on it un

awares.

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 sunshine. When he has gradually advanced to within gunshot of the bear, he fires upon him; and this is the more casily 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 oppor