Lachesis Lapponica; Or, A Tour in Lapland, Volume 1Linné, Carl von
History
Lachesis Lapponica; Or, A Tour in Lapland, Volume 1
Linné, Carl von
Lapland -- Description and travel; Natural history -- Lapland
I observed that in these forests plants of the natural family of
_bicornes_ (with two-horned antheras) predominated over all others, so
that the Heath, _Erica_, in the woods, and _Andromeda_[5], in the
marshes, were more abundant than any thing else. Indeed we meet with few
other plants than _Vaccinium Myrtillus_ and _Vitis-Idæa_, _Arbutus
Uva-Ursi_, _Ledum palustre_, &c. The same may be said of the upper part
of Lapland.
[5] It is a curious circumstance that Linnæus in his MS. here has
the word _Daphne_; but his remark is not in any respect applicable
to that genus, and he evidently can mean only _Andromeda polifolia_.
He had not as yet named either of these genera in print. The origin
of _Andromeda_ will be explained hereafter, and the fanciful idea
which gave rise to it had not perhaps at this time occurred. He
therefore now either intended to call this plant _Daphne_, or he
accidentally wrote one name by mistake for the other, having both in
his mind.
The spiders had now spread their curious mathematical webs over the
pales and fences, and they were rendered conspicuous by the moisture
with which the fog had besprinkled them.
The Red-wing (_Turdus iliacus_), the Cuckoo (_Cuculus canorus_), the
Black Grous (_Tetrao Tetrix_), and the Mountain Finch (_Fringilla
Montifringilla_), with their various notes made a concert in the
forest, to which the lowing herds of cattle under the shade of the trees
formed a base. The weather this morning was delightfully pleasant.
_Lichen islandicus_ grows abundantly in this forest.
After travelling about a mile and half from Hamränge I arrived at the
river Tonna, which divides Gestrickland from Helsingland, and empties
itself into the bay of Tonna. The abovementioned lake, called by the
inhabitants Hamränge Fjärden, extends almost to the sea. I was told it
did actually communicate with the ocean. At least there is a ditch in
the mountain itself, whether the work of art or nature is uncertain,
called the North Sound, hardly wide enough to admit a boat to pass. This
is dammed up as soon as the hot weather in summer sets in, to prevent
the lake losing too much water by that channel, as the iron from several
founderies is conveyed by the navigation through this lake.
HELSINGLAND.
I had scarcely travelled a quarter of a mile beyond the river when I
observed a red earth close to the road, which promises to be very useful
in painting, if it should prove sufficiently plentiful, and capable of
being cleansed from its impurities. The people at the next post-house
informed me that the same earth, but of a much better quality, was found
in the parish of Norrbo.
The Common and Spruce Firs (_Pinus sylvestris_ and _P. Abies_) grow here
to a very large size. The inhabitants had stripped almost every tree of
its bark.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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