CHAP.

II.

Carleby.

scenes of active life, which we everywhere saw,
denoted a thriving population;-a rich harvest
getting in; pitch manufactories; tar moving
towards the Gulph; vessels lying off, ready to
take in their cargoes; tub-makers;-such was
the prospect of industry displayed, on all sides,
as we came in view of Ny Carleby; affording the N
most pleasing and picturesque appearance of
any town in Sweden or Finland. Its churches
and light spires towering above the other build-
ings, and the whole rising above a winding
river, in the midst of beautiful clumps of trees
and hop-grounds, producing as fine hops as any
in England, delighted us. We entered the town
beneath an arch erected over the Custom House,
with, Gustavus the Third, inscribed above
it, in honour of whom it was erected. The
streets, however, are narrow and ill-paved: our
little waggon had never been put to so severe a
trial, as in the shaking and jolting we expe-
rienced in passing to the inn. The houses here
are, almost all of them, in the ochre uniform of
the Swedish towns. We made diligent search, at
the apothecaries, and in the shops, for books; and
found several, used as waste paper, for wrapping
drugs and candles: they were Latin theological
controversies, unworthy of a better fate.

The next day, August 25, as we were going

II.

CHAP. from Ny Carleby to Minsala, we saw a funeral procession. Excepting that the mourners were more merry than usual, and that the whole train moved in an irregular and disorderly manner, the appearance was the same that we see in England. This being Sunday, we met fifty carts at a time, with families hastening to church. From Minsala we came to Aravais. In this stage we observed the Linnæa borealis, still in flower. Our journey was enlivened by the occasional views we had of the inlets of the Gulph, and of the beautiful islands off the coast covered with trees. Here, as in Angermanland, it is customary for the women to sit astride upon their horses, exposing their bare legs to public view. Going from Aravais, to Kofjocki and Murkais, we had thunder-storms. Fahrenheit's therm. 62°. The soil here produced oats, turnips, flax, and cabbages. Proceeding through Satila to Wickas, it rained the whole way. We met some of the prettiest girls we had ever seen, returning from church in carts. Leaving Wickas, we came to WASA. Just before we arrived at Wasa, we saw a superb white edifice fronting the road, which had been erected by the late king, Gustavus the Third. The peasants said it was a House of Parliament, and that there were two in Finland: the members reside at Wasa, or in the neighbourhood.

Wasa.

II.

An inscription on the south side of this building CHAP. informed us that it was erected in the twelfth year of the reign of Gustavus.

WASA (or perhaps Vasa, for so it is pronounced) has a romantic situation, in the midst of rocks and trees. It has seventeen streets, at right angles, and of great breadth. The number of families amount nearly to five hundred. It exports rafters, deals, pitch, tar, rye, butter, seal-oil, skins, and tallow2. Vessels of fir are constructed here for sale. It has two harbours, the old and the new. Here is a manufactory of woollen cloth, and some tanneries. Tobacco is cultivated, and prepared for use, in all the neighbourhood of this place. The Swedish language only is spoken. We could not find in Wasa a person capable of reading even the Pater-Noster in Finnish. The same prevalence of the Swedish language may be observed the whole way from Ny Carleby to Abo. The streets are of great length, but have a deserted appearance: no person is seen moving in them. The Judge of the Province resides here: there is a Town-hall; and several good houses belonging

(2) Tuckey's Marit. Geog. Vol. I. p. 325. See also Acerbi's Travels, Vol. I. p. 239. Lond. 1802. for a more particular account of Wasa: and for the description of a Winter Journey from Wasa to Uleåborg, see Chap. XVII. of the same work.

II.

CHAP, to the Counsellors. The Governor behaved with great politeness to us, and granted an order for boats to convey us across the Quarken to Umea. We determined to venture in the small open boats of the country, according to the custom of the peasants, who run in them from one small island to another, as the weather serves. Pheasants here were so common, that they were sent to our table both at dinner and supper. A pin-maker lodged in the room opposite to ours; and the noise of his wheels was a proof of his industry, as it continued, without any intermission, the whole time we staid. Sounds more musical attracted our notice to a performer on an instrument called a Hummer, or called Half-harp, something like a guitar. The form Hummer. of it was semicircular; the strings, eight in

Musical

Instrument

number, being all towards the diameter, and the air-hole nearer to the arch. Of the eight strings, half served, by their vibration, to supply a bass accompaniment to the air performed upon the other four. The instrument being placed on a table, the performer, playing upon the four strings, made use of two quills; pressing the strings in different parts with one of the quills, while he struck four of them with the other'.

(1) Dr. Fioti Lee has a model of the Finland Lyre, called Äändelet, or The Kendel. It differs much from this instrument; but resembles, in

having

CHAP.
II.

Leaving Finland for the present, our observations upon this country and its inhabitants will not terminate here; as we shall have occasion to renew them, in the conclusion of this part of our travels, during our journey from Stockholm to Petersburg. We had now to cross the Gulph of Bothnia, and, after visiting the mountainous parts of SWEDEN, to traverse the whole of NORWAY. Upon the twenty-ninth of August we left Wasa, for this purpose; and went by land as far as Iskmo. It rained hard the whole day. We put up for the night in a wretched hovel by the water-side. At Iskmo, a grand wooden house was building, facing the sea, for the President of Wasa. Here we found the Stone-bramble, or Rubus saxatilis of Linnæus, which grows upon the sides of mountains and in stony places in the North of England, especially in Yorkshire, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. The Swedes call it Tågbär. The next morning we embarked in a very Passage of small open boat; and, with a favourable wind, ken. attempted the passage of the Quarken. Having cleared the south-eastern side of the Isle of Isle of Björkō. Björkö, or Birch Island, the wind suddenly veered,

having only five strings, that which we have before described, in Chap.XII. of the preceding Volume, and as depicted in the Vignette to the same Chapter. The kind of Lyre modelled by Dr. Lee is always made of the wood of the Al, or Betula alnus: its length is commonly from 1 to 2 Swedish ells.

the Quar