observed it as a memorable thing and which he would not have believ'd from any one had he not seen it himself that in the year 1616 June 24 going to the Church of Thor he saw the trees budding and the grass coming up green out of the ground and within a fortnight after he saw the Plants full blown and the leaves of the trees at their perfection as if they had known how short the Summer was to be and therefore made such hast to enjoy it Their soil is generally neither very fertile nor barren but between both full of flints stones and rocks every where appearing high by whose unevenness and roughness the rest of the ground about is useless The ground is generally very soft and slabby by reason of the many Lakes and Rivers overslowing yet would it be sit either for tillage or pasture if any would be at the pains and charge of draining it Ol. Petrus saies of the Southern part lying under the same climate and influence of the Heavens with Bothnia that 't is as apt to bear any grain as the Western Bothnia it self but this is not without a concurrence and aptitude likewise of the soil and he himself confesses in Chap. 12th that the Land is stony sandy uneven overrun in some places with briars and thornes and in others nothing but hills moores fennes and standing waters which are not the qualities that usually commend Land for agriculture Then as to his urging its verdant and rich pastures it doth not follow that all Land which yields much grass should be equally capable of bearing good corn Yet doth the Land afford plenty of grass and that so good that their Cattel are fatned much cheaper and sooner with it than any other thing as also divers hearbs but particularly 't is happy in all kind of pot-hearbs There are many large Woods and Forests especially towards Norway but not very thick likewise steep rocks and high mountaines called Doffrini upon whose naked tops by reason of the violence of the winds to which they are exposed never yet grew tree Below these hills lie most pleasant Vallies in which are clear fountaines and rivulets innumerable which emtying themselves into the rivers at length are carried into the Bothnic Sea Their water is clear sweet and wholesome only their Forests abound with stinking and standing Pools This Country Winter and Summer hath an incredible number of all kinds of wild beasts especially the lesser sorts which suffice not only for their own use but to drive a great trade with their neighbours They have Birds also of all sorts very many but Fish in such abundance that a great part of the Natives are entirely fed by them But of all these we shall speak in their proper places I will add no more here but this that the Description of old Finland or Scritofinnia by the Ancients is the same which hath bin given here of Lapland to confirm what I said before that these Countries differ only in name and not in nature and situation We come now to its Division CHAP. IV. Of the Division of Lapland THoSE who have writ of Lapland mention disserent divisions of it Saxo in his 5th Book and elswhere speaks of two Laplands and after him Johannes Magnus tells us that both the Laplands are joined together Southward I suppose in that division they had respect to their situation and meant the Eastern and the Western Lapland for so Damianus Goes who seems to borrow from Joh. Magnus expresses it Lapland saith he is divided into the Eastern and the Western separated from each other by the Bothnic Sea From whence we may gather that that part of the Country which lies on one side of the Bothnia was called the Eastern Lapland and that which lies on the other the Western Besides this division of Lapland there is another taken from the places most frequented by the Inhabitants For one part thereof lying along the Coasts of the Ocean is from thence called Sioefindmarken that is the maritime Lapland the other lying higher on the Continent Fioeldmarken that is inland Lapland tho by some they are called simply Findmarken and Lappmarken This last division Pet. Claud gives us in his 27th Chapter All the Sea Coasts saith he Northward and Eastward as far as Findmarkia reaches are possest by the Siaefinni or maritime Finlanders but the mountainous and champaign Country by the Lapfinni from thence named Lapmarkia or Wildfindlandia that is wild or savage Findland Where he calls one part of the Country Lapmarckia the other Findmarckia the one lying along the shore and bordering on the Sea the other mountainous woody and savage upon the Terra firma And this too may be worth our notice that Wildfinland with him is that which others call Lappmarkia I suppose because the Natives live by hunting as those of the other do by fishing For he presently adds There are many thousands in that place that feed on nothing but the flesh of wild Beasts And indeed some there are with whom those only pass for the true Laplanders as Samuel Rheen who in his 2d Chapter of his forementioned Book tells us that besides the Scrickfinni so he calls them that with Pet. Claud. are Sioefinnes there are other true Laplanders that live on nothing but rain deer And so from the Natives feeding on wild Beasts Lapland properly so called is also stiled Wildfindland in opposition to Findmarkia whose Inhabitants live both on Fish and Cattel And yet there may be given another reason for the imposition of this name from the many woods of that Country Olaus Magnus in more places then one calls the natives men that dwell in woods or Savages as in the title of his 3d Chapt. of his 4th Book which is Concerning the fierceness of the Savages or those that dwell in woods in which Chapter he describes the Laplanders And in the following Chapter he says that the wild Laplanders are clothed with rich skins of several Beasts The Baron Herberstenius also in his History of Moscovy calls them Savage Laplanders who tho they dwell says he on the Sea Coast in little Cottages and lead a brutish kind of life are yet more civilized then the Savages of Lapland whence 't is plain that by the Findlanders living near the Sea he means those that others call Sioefinnes and by the Savage Laplanders those that possess the inland Country who he thinks were so called from their wildness and barbarity And by and by he adds that by converse with Strangers who come thither to trade they begin to lay aside their Savage nature and become a little more civilized Afterwards he calls them Diki Loppi which name the Moscovites give them at this time as hath been shewed elswhere There is also a 3d Division of Lapland that respects the several Princes to whom the Country is in subjection And this Andr. Buraeus intends when he tells us The greatest part of Lapland viz. the Southern and inland
Country belongs all to the Kingdom of Sweden The maritime tract that lies on the Ocean and is called Findmark whose Inhabitants the Sioefinni or maritime Findlanders are so named from their living by fishing to Norway The rest of them that dwell from the Castle of Warhuus to the mouth of the white Sea are subject to the Russians which part the Swedes call Trennes the Natives Pyhinienni and the Russians Tarchana voloch Of their subjection to these severall Princes we shall speak when we come to treat of their Government and also of those parts that belong to Norway or Denmark and Russia At present we shall only mention the division of that part which is under the Swedes and is named by Buraeus the Southern and inland Lapland and by Petr. Claud. Lappmarkia properly so called This is divided into six lesser parts called marker or lands tho Buraeus chuses to render them Territories or Provinces Each of these have their distinct names and are called Aongermandlandslapmark Vmalappmark Pithalappmark Lulalapmark Tornalapmark Kiemilapmark So Samuel Rheen in his first Chapter That part of Lapland which belongs to Sweden is divided into the Kiemensian Tornensian Lulensian Pithensian Umensian and Angermanlandensian Lapmark Buraeus mentions but five of these Provinces viz. Vmalappmark Pithalappmark Lulalapmark Tornelapmark and Kimilapmark comprehending Angermandlandslapmark under Vmalapmark not that they are one and the same Province but because they are both governed by one Lieutenant Each of these Provinces take their name from Rivers that run thro the midst of them as Wexionius in his description of Swedland assures us As for their situation Angermanlandslapmark borders upon Andermannia and Jemtia to this joins Vmalapmark next to that is Pithalapmark and then Lulelapmark all of them lying Westward reaching on one side to that ridg of Hills that divides Swedland from Norway and on the other side to the Western Bothnia Northward of them lies Tornelapmark and extends it self from the fartheh corner of the Bay of Bothnia all along the North Sea called by Seamen Cape Noort Next to this lies Kimilapmark winding from the North toward the East and bounded on one side by the Eastern Bothnia on another side by that part of Lapland that belongs to Russia and on a third side by Cajania and Carelia Moreover these Provinces we are speaking of are subdivided into lesser parts called by the Swedes Byar as Samuel Rheen tells us and are equivavalent to our Shires and the Pagi of the Ancients So in Caesar we meet with Pagus Tigurinus and Pagi Suevorum which were not Villages or Country Towns but large parts of a Country such as the Greeks called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used in ancient times in the division of Aegypt Hence the Glossary renders the ancient Toparchiae Pagus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 There are several of these Pagi or Shires in each Province except Angermanlandslapmark which makes but one Pagus vulgarly called Aosahla Vmalapmark hath four Vma Lais or Raanby Granby and Vapsteen Pithalapmark seven Graotreskby Arfwejerfsby Lochteby Arrieplogsby Wisierfby Norrvesterby Westerby Lulalapmark five Jochmoch Sochjoch Torpinjaur Zerkislocht and Rautomjaur Tornelapmark eight Tingawaara Siggewaara Sondewara Ronolaby Pellejerf Kiedkajerf Manstalka Saodankyla Kithilaby So that all the Territories or Provinces are divided into 33 Byars In each of these there are several Clans or Families which the Swedes call raekar each of which have a certain allotment of ground assign'd them for the maintenance of themselves and their Cattel not in the nature of a Country Farm with us but of a very great length and bredth so as to include Rivers Lakes Woods and the like which all belong to one Clan or family In every Biar there are as many allotments as there are families that can live of themselves and are not forced by poverty to serve others In the Byar called Aosahla there are about 30 of these Clans or families in others more or less according as they are in bigness which all have their several names tho 't is not worth while to repeat them And thus much shall suffice of the third division of Lapland not lately made except that under Charles IX some Clans had certain allotments assign'd them but derived from very ancient time as appears from hence that neither the Laplanders have known nor the Swedes given them any other since the Country hath bin under their subjection Nor are the words modern or taken from any thing that may give any cause to suspect them of novelty which I the rather observe that from hence the native simplicity agreable to the antiquity of the Nation may appear CHAP. V. Of the Laplanders in reference to the inclinations temper and habit of their minds and bodies IT is almost peculiar to this People to be all of them of low stature which is attested by the general suffrage of those Writers who have described this Country Hence the learned Isaac Vossius observes that Pygmies are said to inhabit here and adds that they are a deformed People but in truth their feature and proportion is good enough and that they are not distorted sufficiently appears from their great agility of body and fitness for active emploiment Nor need we dispute of this since in Sweden we see them every day among us and can observe no defect in any kind or deformity by Lomenius unjustly ascribed to them Ol. Mag. and Tornaeus esteem their young women indifferently handsome and of a clear skin which I have often seen my self for they take great care to preserve their natural beauty which the men neglect to do and therefore if they are less amiable then the other Sex it is to be imputed to their choice not nature To which we may add the length of their frosts and the bitterness of the Air against which they neither arm themselves sufficiently with clothes nor know how to do so besides the smoak which continually fills their cottages empairs very much their natural complexion which is the reason why most of the men also are so swarthy And as they are generally short they are also very lean and 't is rare to see a fat man amongst them for the cold that prevents their growing tall dries up likewise their moisture and makes them apt to be slender They are also very light in respect of their bulk and stature which comes from their not eating any Salt if we will believe Ol. Petr. And thus much may be said in general of the frame and condition of their bodies As for their particular parts they have thick heads prominent foreheads hollow and blear eyes short flat noses and wide mouths Their hair is thin short and flaggy their beard stragling and scarce covers their chins The hair of both Sexes is generally black and hard very seldom yellow their breasts broad slender wasts spindle shanks and swift of foot They are very strong in their limbs so that in a bow which a Norwegian can scarce half bend they will draw an arrow
sleeping under a rock he immediately dispatcht away a Gan that cleft the rock asunder and tumbled it upon him This happened in the time of Petrus Claud. not long before he wrote his History Some of the Conjurers are contented only with the power to expell that Gan out of men or beasts which others send This is remarkable among them that they can hurt no man with their Gan except they first know his parents name Now all that the Finlanders and Finlappers of Norway effect by their Gan the Laplanders do by a thing they call Tyre This Tyre is a round ball about the bigness of a wallnut or small apple made of the finest hair of a beast or else of moss very smooth and so light that it seems hollow its colour is a mixture of yellow green and ash but so that the yellow may appear most I had one of these given me by Mr John Otto Silverstroem Warden of the Colledge belonging to the metals and Master of the Mines at Saltzburg and Frahlune This is the figure of it This Tyre they say is quickened and moved by a particular art it is sold by the Laplanders so that he that buies it may hurt whom he pleases with it They do perswade themselves and others that by the Tyre they can send either Serpents Toads Mice or what they please into any man to make his torment the greater It goes like a whirlewind and as swift as an arrow and destroies the first man or beast that it lights on so that it often mistakes Of these we have too many instances in this time which are too long to insert here having therefore done with all or at least the chiefest matters concerning their sacred and superstitious rites or worship we proceed to other affairs CHAP. XII Of the Government of the Laplanders WE come now to their secular affairs which are either public or private we will treat first of the public to which belong the form and constitution of their Government This in former times before they were named Laplanders was in this manner they were subject to no neighbouring Country but were governed among themselves yet so as to be subject to a King they chose out of their own Nation Most of them or at least those which bordered on Norway and dwelt near the Sea were under this kind of Government in the time of Harauld Harfager King of Norway cotemporary with Ericus the Conqueror King of the Swedes this was 900 years after Christ he conquered the greatest part of Norway except these Finlanders The King that reigned over them at that time was named Mottle This account was questionless taken from Haralds expedition into Biarmia and his ruining all that Countrey except the part belonging to these Finlanders In those times the name of Laplanders was neither used nor known as I have shewn elsewhere but they retained that of their ancestours which was also common to all of the same extraction Their condition was not much altered after that they took this name which was when they first sent out Colonles into the inland Countries on the farther part of the mountains which divide Swedland from Norway For they that went out had certainly some Leader whom without doubt they chose for King after they had taken possession of those Countries and I believe they would scarcely submit to any other power whilst that he was living and this seems the more probable because no one in those daies would undertake the conquest of a company of poor beggarly fugitives who dwelt among Woods and Deserts in continual snow and the greatest extremity of cold This was the Moscovites opinion of them who tho they dwelt near them scarcely knew their nature and disposition and thought it madness to set upon them with a small party and an adventure of little profit and less honour to raise an Army against a Country already distressed by poverty For this reason the Laplanders enjoied their own customs for a long time The first King of Sweden that had any thoughts of conquering them was Ladulaus the great who florished about the year 1277 who because it seemed difficult to bring them under the Crown of Sweden promised those that would undertake the conquest the government over them He thought it too expensive to make a public war upon them when they were to be dealt with as wild beasts yet however could not endure that a neighbouring People dwelling almost in the heart of his Country for they possessed at that time as far as the Bay of Bothnia should refuse obedience to his Kingdom Wherefore he thought upon the before mentioned project and proposed great advantages to private persons upon which the Birkarli their neighbours readily engaged themselves and effected their enterprize no less successfully In this design the plot of a particular person was most remarkable as is related by Ericus and recorded by John Buraeus One single man of the Birkarli went towards Lapland to way-lay the Laplanders in their return from Birkala at this time no one inhabited on the North side of that allotment and ordered his wife to cover him over with snow in the middle of the way where the Laplanders must necessarily pass over him They came in the night time and by their passing over him he knew there were fifteen which were the chief among them and to whom the rest were in subjection when they were gone he immediately arose out of the snow and going some shorter way set upon them at unawares as they passed by one by one which is their usual way in travelling and slew them one after another None of those that followed perceived the first men slain it being in the night time and each of them at some distance from the others till the last man finding his fellows killed made a stout resistance but the Birkarla by the assistance of his wife got the victory and slew him likewise Thus the most powerfull of them being slain the rest readily submitted Some think the Birkarli deluded them by a pretended truce and that before it was expired they assaulted them not suspecting then the least danger and killing several subdued the Countrey as far as the Northern and Western Oceans We may easily collect from the truce mentioned here that before their subjection to the Swedes by the Birkarli there was some kind of war betwixt both besides it was shewn above that Ladulaus could not bring them under his Crown This perhaps may be Zeiglers meaning when he describes them as a warlike People and free for a great time that they also withstood the Arms of Norway and Sweden till they were forced at last to yeild but what Zeigler imputes to their valour proceeded only from the contemt they were then in as is plain from the opinion the Moscovites gave of them And there is little reason to suppose the Swedes were not of the same since they were overcome only by the allotment of Birkala and
this complaint was made to Gustavus who thereupon committed Henricus Laurentii to prison and confiscated most of his estate taking then the tribute from the Laplanders into his hands and granted to all People free trading with them This Henricus Laurentii was without doubt in that time the head of the Birkarli and I believe the brother of David Laurentii who together with Jonas Nicolas concluded the Treaty with Gustavus in the name of the Birkarli in the year 1528 for setling the tribute and other affairs From hence we may collect they lost their priviledges not long after this Contract now it was not only just to deprive them of those priviledges which they abused in oppressing others but prudent as well from the jealousy of too great a power granted to private persons over so large and populous a part of the Kingdome as out of consideration of its wealth which was more necessary to the Kings for driving out the common enemy ane establishing the Kingdomes liberty then to maintain the pride of the Birkarli who besides their injustice were inconsiderable both in number and strength Gustavus the first having thus deposed the Birkarli sent Deputies to gather the tribute and manage all things in the Kings name the Deputies are called by the Swedes Lappfougder by the Laplanders Konunga Olmai that is the Kings men of these there is mention made in the patent granted by Gustavus the first to Mr Michael the first Priest in Lapland in 1559 the words are to this purpose We command all the Inhabitants of Lapland as well Deputies as others c. These had at first the charge of all public affairs as will appear in the following Chapter as for collecting taxes as executing justice among them But afterwards when Charles the ninth divided the Countrey into several parts and formed it into better order more were added to the former for examining causes convicting of criminals and other such like things till at last the state of Government was little different from what it is now Next under the King they have a Provincial Judge called by the Swedes Lagman under him one of the Senators Vnderlagman next an Interpreter of the Laws Laglaesaren and divers others which enquire into causes and do justice then they have a Governour of the Province Landzhoefdingh a head over the Laplanders Lappafougten their Officers who perform all other duties In this manner the Laplanders are now governed by the Swedes CHAP. XIII Of the Judicatures and Tributes of the Laplanders AFTER the manner of their Government and the discipline they live under we descend to those affairs that are managed by it which belong either to the Courts of Judicature or to the Tribute I can scarce find any mention of the former Their own Kings when they were a free Nation exercised this autority and kept the jurisdiction in their own hands but when the Birkarli ruled them it depended altogether on their plesure Zeigler makes no mention of any Judges among them but saies that if any dispute happened that was dubious it was referred to the Courts in Swedland I suppose he means the more weighty controversies which the Birkarli could not or did not dare to decide But these were very rare with them for great crimes as theft rapine murder adultery or such like are seldom committed and scarce known by the Laplanders They neither borrow nor lend mony being content with what they possess of their own which are commonly the occasions of quarrels in other Nations and maintain so many Lawyers The chief sin they are guilty of is their magical superstition which since their embracing Christianity is forbidden by the Laws and is not so frequent as formerly After that Gustavus the first had deposed the Birkarli and given them governors of their own they lived under better discipline and greater diligence was used in seeing Justice done but Charles the ninth was the first that took care to have them instructed in the Swedish Laws and that they should regulate themselves accordingly This charge was given by the same King in his instructions to Laurentius Laurentii Governor of Lapland dated from Stockholm on the 10th of Oct. 1610 wherein he commanded him to govern those of Vma Pitha and Luhla according to the Swedish Laws and to protect them from all injuries There are at present in Lapland three Governors and as many Courts of Judicature the first is called Anundsioeense or Angermansian the other Vhmensian Pithensian and Luhlensian the other is the Tornensian and Kiemensian Over these are particular Governors who in the Kings name pass Sentence but in the presence of a Judge and a Priest where it is observable that they added Priests to the Governors to restrain them from doing injustice by the autority of their presence Now as to the time when these Courts were called it is a doubt but I believe it was at the Fair times when they met about all public business this was commonly twice in a year viz. in Winter and Summer according to an order of Charles the ninth's It is now in January and February They were held in the same places where they kept their Markets and Fairs which were determined in each particular County as will appear by and by Now we come to the Tribute they paid which at first was only skins of beasts paid not by the Laplanders but the Birkarli yet only as an acknowledgement of their subjection to the Crown of Sweden Buraeus calls it naogra timber graoskin graoskin signifies gray Squirrils skins of which color the Squirrils were constantly in the Winter timber denotes the number of the skins which were fourty tied together in a bundle It is uncertain how many of these bundles the Birkarli gave but in the Contract with Gustavus the first those of Luhla and Pitha were engaged to pay 8 which makes in all 360 skins besides two Martins skins Those also of Torne were taxed with the same number and shortly after this number was doubled by an agreement made in 1528. But after the Birkarli had lost their priviledges for the forementioned reasons and the King received the tax by Commissioners for himself it is very probable some more alteration were made In the year 1602 they paid instead of skins every tenth Rain-deer and one tenth of all their dried fish which is clear from the commands given by Charles tc-his Deputies Olaus Burman and Henry Benegtson at Stockholm on the 22d of July in the same year to require the tribute in this manner that so the Laplanders might know what and how much they were to pay for it seems that from Gustavus the first 's time till then the Governors used no constant method in raising it but sometimes demanded skins at other times other sorts of goods that seemed most necessary for present use so that by this uncertainty the tribute grew very heavy upon the Inhabitants and their Governors took occasion from it to exact what they pleased
he is describing those Laplanders which live near Muscovy whereas the rest can have plenty enough out of the rivers The best sort they have is Salmon for which Olaus Magnus saith there is not better fishing in any part of Europe then in the Bothnic towards Lapland whose mountains send down vast rivers of fresh water against which the Salmons come in such shoales and with such vigor that the Fishermen find them at the head of the river on the top of the mountains Samuel Rheen too prefers these fish before all the rest and saith that they swim up all rivers that they are able and come down again about St Matthews tide And that it is much worse when it returns then when it went up which seems to be because t is wearied and spent in strugling against the stream and engendring which it alwaies does in those parts of the river which are most remote from the Sea when he comes up the river they call him Salm at his return lax The 2d sort of fish are Pikes Olaus Magnus speaking of this saith that in Lapland there are marshes of fresh water 400 Italian miles in length and 100 in bredth in which there is such abundance of Pike and other fish that they do not only supply 4 Kingdomes but are dried and transported farther into Germany to be sold these fish alwaies use fresh water and are every where known having long heads the lower jaw hanging out many sharp teeth which the Germans call Hecht They are found sometimes to exceed men in length Olaus affirms that if they have fresh water and food enough they will attain to 8 foot in length The 3d sort are those which the Swedes call Syck not much differing from the Carp only they have longer mouths and not so broad they are commonly not so big as carps but in Lapland they are found extraordinary sometimes weighing 10 or 12 pounds The 4th sort is Abbor which is with us a perch this is very plentiful too and frequently of an incredible bigness There is to this day in a Chappel at Luhlah kept one of their heads dried which is from the top to the under jaw 2 spans thick There are found water-weezels red and white chiefly in the pools near the Sea Samuel Rheen speaks of 2 sorts which the Swedes call Raeding and Aerlax whether they are any where else found I know not Rheen thus describes the first sort Raeding has its name from the red color on the lower part of its belly The latter is very like a Salmon but not so big Some take them for Salmons not come to their full growth but this is an error for these fishes are taken in pools which are on every side parted from the Sea and are known never to have any Salmons I had rather refer them to the trout or Trutta because it scarce differs in shape only the Trouts flesh is redder and softer Besides these there are many other fish in Lapland but not regarded because they serve not for food for which reason I pass them over only Olaus Petrus gives us this doubtful account of their names Salario Cobitis Barbatula Rubellio Borbocha ocutala Prasinus Cyprinus Cobitis aculeata This Country breeds not many reptiles no serpents but this is meant of the upper Regions towards the Norway Mountains for in the low woody places they are found tho not many There are but few insects as for fleas they are quite unknown but they receive much injury from gnats which infest man and beast especially the Rain-deers which upon that account are driven away to the top of the highest Mountains The men arm themselves against them by keeping a continual smoak in the house If they sleep they put a blanket over their body and head when they go abroad they put on a garment made of hides and on their heads cloth caps I have bin told by the Natives that many to defend themselves from this insect dawb their faces all over except their eies with refine and pitch Besides these there are great wasps which trouble the Rain-deers and sting them so deep that sometimes they leave marks behind them even when the beast is flayed those little holes which they make with their stings the vulgar call Kaorme The only remedy for the Raindeer against these is smoak which if not present they dip themselves in water and let this suffice for their Animals CHAP. XXXI Of the Laplanders Trees and Plants I descend from their Animals to their Trees and Plants with which they are well stored tho Jovius observes that they have no fruit Trees as Apple Pear c. neither have they any wild Trees which will not bear the cold as Oak Beach which Ol. Pet. takes notice of but adds that they have plenty of Pine and Fir Juniper and Birch Service tree and Willow Alder and Dog-tree the Asp and Ollar but these Trees do not grow every where for the Mountains called the Fells between Norway and Lapland bear no Trees at all Pet. Claud. thinks the reason of that to be the continual storm of wind that is on them but perhaps a truer reason may be the extremity of cold The ground that lies near the Mountains is thick set with Woods with this distinction that the parts next them bears nothing but Birch tree remarkable for their thickness and height and pleasant prospect Nature having contrived them so regularly that they seem afar off to be some pleasant Garden The soil more distant from those Hills besides Birch-trees hath Fir and Pitch which seems like some new kind of wood composed of these three sorts Besides these there are very few others found in Lapland Shrubs especially Currans or Ribes are very frequent but they regard not these because perhaps the tast is unpleasant especially of those which bear Black-berries which are more numerous than the others The Junipers grow thick being very tall and comely This Country yields all manner of Berries the chief are those which the Swedes call Hiortron some Dew-berries or the Norway Berry whose species is the same that grows on Brambles each Berry being divided as it were into graines of a pale yellow color beginning to be red as they ripen These commonly grow in marshy places They creep on the ground and are sustained by little props so that they ought not to be reckoned among shrubs The Berries are very wholsome and are a present remedy for the Scurvy The Inhabitants delight to eat them with their flesh and salt meats as I mentioned before They have a sort of black Berries called by the Swedes Halton according to Olaus Pet. also the thin leaved heath that bears a Berry which some call ground Ewe the Swedes Kraokebaer the lesser black Berries called in Swedland Lingon and the lesser black Berries called Blaobaer all which Olaus Pet. takes notice of speaking of their manner of dressing meat particularly of the Heath-berries whence it appears that these Berries were as
Torna whether it is carried to be beaten into bars and rods at the forge at Koenge A 3d vein of the same mettal is found in Pelziwachin at Lulha but of these the two first only are digged I heard in 1671. of a Golden mine but because there was no certainty I will not insist upon it I mention it because there are some that affirm that it was found in Swedeland in the time of Gustavus the first but this was divulged by an uncertain Author as appears by the event for to this day nothing more has bin heard of it CHAP XXXIII Of their Stones Jewels and Pearls I Come now to their stones which are very large and many of an ash colour but rough hard and intractable not to be reduced by any instrument to shape for use Besides these there are others often found on the shores which represent the shape of an animal These the inhabitants esteem much and adore them for Gods under the name of Stoorjuncare In Torne-Lapmark near the mine Junesuando on the banks of Torno there are found yellow plain stones of a circular figure like mony about the bigness of a half crown which look like dirt but are as hard as flints Dn. Grape in his papers makes mention of them I will set down a draught of them marked with the letter B. In the mine it self there are found stones in the perfect shape of Octaedra polished and worked by nature herself but very small not exceeding the bigness of a nut and somtimes less I have put down their figure with the letter C It is not certain whether the loadstone be found in this Country tho Olaus Mag. speaks of mountains under the pole which some have thought do breed the stone his words seem to intimate loadstones as big as mountains but 't is certain he cannot mean Lapland for that has none such yet there are those who affirm that the loadstone is found there As for pretious stones they have them frequently Buraeus mentions jewels and afterwards he adds Diamond Amethyst and Topaz By diamonds he means transparent stones or Chrystal they are found big and little sticking up and down upon the rocks and craggs some are as big as Childrens heads such as I saw the Illustrious Gabriel de la Galdie Chancellour of this kingdom have they have six sides ending like a pyramid tho some of them are imperfect the colour in some is bright and clear not inferior to Chrystal in other dull and spoiled with flaws some are pure others have veins like cracks branching out every way they serve the inhabitants for flints when they have occasion to light a candle and yield more fire if striken with a steel than the flints themselves I have now in a Lapland pouch some Chrystal which they made use of for flints The Jewellers polish and cut their Chrystals with such art that somtimes they are taken for true Diamonds by those that have skill I have drawn the greater sort of Chrystal in the native bigness shape marked with the letter A. Buraeus mentions Amethysts next some of which I saw brought out of Lapland but so pale and spotted that they were scarce comparable to those that come out of Bohemâ—a tho I hear since that there are much better found cut rarely The same thing is to be said of the Topaz one of which I have in my study in every thing like a Chrystal only the colour inclines to a yellow I am told that none of the rest doe shine so much as those that come from other places which is the fault of almost all the jewels of this Nation not being so apt to bare lively brisk colours as the eastern jewels doe To this head I reduce all Pearls and Margarites tho they be not stones Some rivers in Lapland produce these therefore there are certain inhabitants appointed to dive and search for them such as was John Peterson mentioned by S. Rheen who first found the Silver mine at Nasasiael he is called een diamontzbryeare sampi partefoekiare i. e. one that finds and cuts pearls Which tho out of this Country are not contemptible it cannot be denied but that most of them want that liveliness which the oriental Pearls have tho some are found as good and in bigness and shape exceeding them There are found some not come to perfection half round and half slat the round part being bright the other yellow and dull I saw one a few years agoe brought out of Bothnia so exactly round with such fresh colours that a certain woman offered an 120. crowns for it a Jeweller assured me that if he had another as good he would not sell both for 500. They are bred not of such shells as are in the east broad plane and almost circular like Oister but longer and hollower like Muscle shels and not in the Sea but in Rivers as may be gathered from Olaus Magnus Those that are not come to perfection stick within the shells but those that are perfect are loose and drop out when the shell is opened CHAP. XXXIV Of their Rivers LApland if any Country is well watered with springs and rivers the most noted are those from whence the particular marches and regions have their names as Umeao Pitheao Luhleao Torneao and Kimeao these spring from the Norway mountains and are encreased by several less rivers unburdening themselves at last into the Bothnick Sea Vindela fills Vmeao and Skiellefle Pitheao Luhleao swallows a less river of the same name and Kimeao is encreased by Avilaiocki which it self is no small river for there are numberless rivulets which run into it So Luhleao which has a double stream the lesser receives Pyrrijaus Kardijoch and it is the same case with the greater called Stoor-Luhleao and Tornaeo which is filled with the river Kaeungemae Taengeleao and others And so it is with all the great rivers which upon that account are so impetuous and big that they yield to few in the world and because they run through hilly and uneven Countrys and are stopt by several dams wears they force their way over precipices with a great noise and in those places are not navigable Such is the sluce at Lughlens called Muskaumokke and another named Sao likewise Niometsaski i. e. an Hares leap so called because the river Lughla runs between two mountains so near that an Hare may leap over The like Cataracts are found at Torna the most remarkable is called terrafors near the Norway mountains Next Caengerbrooks-fors then Lappia-fors then three more meeting in an head called by one name Paelloforser next Kettille-fors and lastly Kukula-fors near Torna Although these Cataracts are a great hindrance to sailers yet they are advantagious to the mettal-melters and afford an incredible plenty of Fish Besides these rivers there are abundance of pooles so numerous that but few can be named one is Lulafraesk by Lughla by which Lughleao the greater runs Next Lugga and Sabbaig all abounding with
to avoid the injury of the weather Rheen and Ol. Pet. describe their march on this wise They go to the brinks of a River where they find the bark of Pine or Birch trees on which they trust themselves and venture to launch forth pricking up their tailes for sailes Thus they are carried at the mercy of the wind till it overturns them and their bark Their body is of that nature that it will not sink but being drowned is driven to shore where very often great numbers are taken up and their skins if they are found soon enough are as sit for use as ever but tho such an accident as this sweeps away most of them yet the few that are left preserve the species and multiply very soon for each Squirrel brings forth 4 5 or more at a time And those are all the Beasts which S. Rheen mentions But besides these there are others such as are the Sables which Olaus Magnus calls Zabelli their skins Johnston in his History of Animals commends Olaus saith that their skins were made use of by the Lapland Women especially by the Brides to adorn themselves with them and that there is but small plenty of them in these parts Some make this beast like a weezel others especially Scaliger like the Martin and indeed he seems to be in the right both to the bulk and shape of it Their color the nearer it comes to black is the more esteemed There are found several all white such as we have often seen the Muscovian Embassadors bring over to the King for a most singular present By which Adamus Bremensis in his Scandinavia seems to have understood white Martins There are also Ermins which are found only among the Laplanders Jovius first wrote of them that they were good exchange for any sort of Merchandize These Ermins are nothing but white weezels having the end of their tails black Johnston takes notice thereof out of Albertus Magnus he calleth the beast Erminius which is the same thing with Armelinus and Hermelinus differing neither in bigness nor nature from the weezel the color argues nothing for he has that only in Winter but in Summer is of a bright yellow It is as greedy of Mice as the Weezels are whence the Sweeds call it Lekat I am unwilling to call it with Scaliger a Swedland Mouce Among these I had rather reckon a little sort of beast which they call Lemmus which Olaus Magnus saith the Ermins feed on Samuel Rheen speaks of a sort of Mice found in Lapland which they call Mountain Mice or Lemblar which Wormius describes with short tails and staring hair and not unlike a Mouce I will speak little of their color which Olaus saies is various Samuel Rheen affirms it red who observes too that they come of a sudden and cover the ground with their multitude Olaus observes that this is alwaies in stormy weather and thinks that it rains these creatures but is all together in a doubt whether they are brought thither by the winds or bred in the clouds Wormius thinks plainly that they are bred in the clouds but the learned Isaac Vossius in his notes to Pomponius Mela corrects him and saies the reason why these animals are supposed to fall from the Clouds is because they use not to appear but immediatly after rain they creep out of their holes either for that they are sill'd with water or because this creature thrives much in rain which opinion seems most probable to me These creatures are very bold never making their escape when Passengers come by but keep on their way and make a noise like the barking of a dog they fear neither club nor sword but if any one strike at them they turn again and bite It is observable in them that they never go near or do any mischeif in any hut sometimes they set upon one another being divided as it were into two armies this the Laplanders take to be an omen of future war in Swedland and gather whence the enemy will come by observing whence those animals first moved that provoked the rest These creatures have their enemies too first the Ermines as I mentioned before then the Foxes which bring a great number of these into their holes hence the Laplanders have no small disadvantage for the Foxes using this sort of sood most regard not the baits which they lay to catch them Thirdly the Rain-deers devour them and lastly the dogs which eat only the fore part of them These creatures never live if they chance to eat any herb grown after they had tasted it before sometimes they perish otherwise as being choaked in the Hedges or dropping into water The last sort of beasts are hares which are esteemed for their white skin especially in the winter at which time they are as white as the Foxes they change their color every year alwaies turning white towards this season for which tho many reasons may be given I think this is most considerable that Nature and Providence designed it least when the ground was quite cover'd with Snow their color might easily discover them and they being equally oppressed by man and beast should be quite destroy'd For which reason too probably some birds at that time are white Olaus Magnus testifies the same of hares that immediatly after Autumn they begin to grow white and at that time are frequently taken half white and half not but in the midst of the Winter they are all white as before CHAP. XXX Of their Birds and Fish I COME now to the Birds of which here is great store Samuel Rheen mentions these Swans Geese Ducks Lapwings Snipes all sorts of water Birds and wild fowl as Heathcocks Stock-doves Partridges Woodcocks he makes a distinction between water fowle and those that are bred in Woods and proves that they abound with each sort because the country has so many pools ponds and woods Of these birds some are in other countries some only in these Northern parts Swans Geese and Ducks are known every where he means wild ducks for they have no tame ones Olaus Petri takes notice of the same thing It is remarkable in these wild soul that they come from the South into the North where they build their nests hatch and breed up their young ones which is not frequent elsewhere I believe it is because they do not find such security nor plenty of food in other places The Snipes I suppose are scarce found any where else their back and head are black and most part of their wings white on their breast and belly red bills very long and set with teeth short feet and red with skin between their claws as all water fowle have As you may see in the next page The next is their Fish of which they have incredible store Zeiglerus saies their draughts are so great that they are forced to transport some of them into other Countries Jovius speaks too of great plenty they reap from the Seas because