On entering one of the stove-huts of the inhabitants here, it was so hot, that I thought my nose would have been burnt off. Nevertheless, the people within seemed comfortable enough, and the boys, clad in skins, were running up and down the couch. The stove is constructed like that of a bagnio in Smoland, but upon it is piled a great heap of flat stones, to the height of a man. The old women sit in these huts half naked. Between Hyfoeda and Taftnen is a river almost navigable. In some parts, as I was told, it is nine fathoms deep, and in one place is a ferry across this river. Half a mile from hence southward, close to the road, between two small bridges which are near each other, I noticed a sand-hill of very fine sand, in differently-coloured strata, some white, others reddish-purple. In the evening I arrived at the town of Abo, which is as large as Orebro, and well built. It has often been ruined by the enemy, and often burnt down by accidental fires, which, if not occasioned otherwise, might easily happen from the stoves of the huts. I remarked that these stoves were less lofty than some I had seen, and that several stones lay loosely piled on one another above the opening, which serve to retain the heat. _September 30._ The Finnish liquor called _Lura_ is prepared like other beer, except not being boiled, instead of which red-hot stones are thrown into it. Hence its purgative quality from the iron. Here I saw a flying squirrel (_Sciurus volans_) from Tavasthia. The long black rat, with a white lower lip, catches birds, both on trees and in the water. He holds fast by his claws, and bites with his four prominent teeth. The Finlanders call this animal _Mink_. (This seems to be _Viverra Lutreola_, Faun. Suec. ed. 2. 5.) A quarter of a mile from the city is a mineral spring, of which Tillands has taken notice. (See _v._ 1. 43, _note_.) It is older than that of Medevi (near Vadstena). The current is so strong that one of the burghers of the city has built a mill, to which the water is led, but it does not always go. Near the town a mine has lately been opened, containing iron here and there, with small quantities of pyrites. The mountain itself is a black mica, immediately adjoining to the city. The library here is miserable. There are two colleges close together. _October 5._ I departed from Abo. The corn-fields of Finland are beautiful, and resemble those of East Gothland in their wide extent and level surface. There are regular ferry boats at stated times to take passengers to the isle of Aland. _October 6._ I arrived at the place, near Brandoen, where I was to go on board the ferry-boat. The shore is a red rock. Passed over to the island of Aland, the whole of which consists of the same kind of red rock. The palace of Castelholm, at present falling fast into ruins, is built of this sort of stone.