By means of a pair of wooden pincers, two fathoms in length, he laid hold of the pearl oysters (rather muscles, _Mya margaritifera_,) and drew them up. The part of the pincers below the joint or hinge was about a span long, and of three fingers breadth, hollowed out at the points, one of which was curved, the other flat. Taking the other end of these pincers in his hands, he easily directed them to the spot where he saw the shells lying. The latter were generally open, so that they might readily be discerned by the whiteness of their inside; but when the water is very much agitated, the animals immediately close their shells, though destitute of eyes or ears. The form of the shell is elliptic-oblong, with a contraction, or shallow notch as it were, about the middle of their outer margin. The man opened them by means of a whilk shell, which he thrust with violence between the valves, for it is impossible to effect this with the finger only. He introduced the point of the whilk in the centre of the base, or broader end, of the muscle, searching for the pearls chiefly towards the other end, on the inside of the valve. If the inside of the latter be white, the pearl is white; but if dark or reddish, the pearl is of the same colour. When it was first discovered that this neighbourhood produced pearls, the river at Purkijaur was the place where the principal pearl-fishery was established. But now it is nearly exhausted. When the discovery of this bed of pearl muscles was first made, it is said the shells were in such abundance that nobody could reach the bottom of them, which is far from being the case at present. There is no external sign about the shell, by which it is possible to know whether it contains a pearl or not. Consequently many thousands are destroyed to no purpose before one pearl is found. It is also a great pity that all the muscles are killed in consequence of this examination. Each pearl is either attached to the shell, or loose. They are found at all seasons of the year, and are sometimes thrown out of the shell spontaneously by its inhabitant. I witnessed at this place what appeared to me a very extraordinary phenomenon, a pike in whose stomach, when opened, was found a young duck entire. The peasant who was my companion told me he had many times seen the same thing. _July 27._ The reindeer fed with evident avidity on the great water Horsetail (_Equisetum fluviatile_), which the Laplanders call _Aske_, though it was in a dry state, and though they will not eat common hay. How unaccountably negligent are the Laplanders, not to collect in the course of summer a stack of this plant and of the Reindeer-moss (_Lichen rangiferinus_) for winter fodder! They would then have some provision for the herd, when the country is covered with an impenetrable crust of frozen snow, and not hazard the loss of all they are worth in the world.