"The next morning we came to a place where also were several of these huts, and near which our boatmen gave us reason to hope that we should find the tents of some wandering Laplanders, and their herds of reindeer. We had almost reached the end of our journey, and we had not once seen a habitation of this kind. It was a dead calm, and we profited by the delay to gratify our curiosity. The inhabitants of the first huts assuring us that we should find the wandering Laplanders on the other side of the nearest mountain, we went forwards; but the great height of the mountains deceives the eye and diminishes distances in a surprising manner. After passing the first mountain, we had a second and a third to surmount under a most oppressive heat, and, having walked too quickly on setting out, we could scarcely proceed; but the beauty of the country overpaid our pains. In every valley a lovely brook, rivalling the freshness and purity of our most celebrated springs, poured its serpentine course under the shade of thickets, whose foliage was cherished by its stream.

"At length, amongst some rugged mountains, we found a tent of Laplanders, on the banks of a cascade which watered a verdant hill. The tents were of coarse linen, stretched round by stakes driven into the earth, in the form of a truncated cone, at the top of which

winter, the tents of the rich Laplanders are covered with thick woollen stuff or rein-deer skins; and, in order to retain the heat, are surrounded by turf without, and hung with old clothes or skins within. A woman and her child were the only persons we saw; she told us the rein-deer were at pasture, and probably at a great distance; we almost despaired of finding them, but fortune favoured us. We presently heard a gentle snorting, like that of stags, and a moment after saw a herd of upwards of sixty rein-deer coming out of a defile. A young Laplander with some dogs guided them; and, when a rein-deer straggled from the line, one of the dogs, excited by the herdsman's voice, brought it back to its place. They were driven into an inclosure formed by a fence and milked. We tasted the milk, which is as thick as cream, with an aromatic, but not unpleasant, flavour. It is so rich that more than a glass cannot be drunk at once, which is nearly the quantity given by the females at a time; so that, to sustain a moderate sized family, a great number of rein-deer must be kept. It has been before stated that a hundred and fifty are necessary to maintain such a family well. Formerly there were Laplanders who possessed three or four thousand, but at present that is rare, on account of the ravages made amongst the herds both by the wolves and by contagious disorders.

Whilst the rein-deer were confined in the inclosure, we observed how much they were tormented by an insect, called in the Lapland language Kurbma, or Korma, (Estrus tarandi), which deposit their eggs in their skins, where chrysalis

are

are formed almost as large as pigeons eggs, black and smooth as leather. It may be truly said that these poor creatures nourish their most inveterate enemies in their bosoms; but we learned that these insects are less harassing to the well-fed deer, whose fur is thicker and less penetrable. Those that we saw were very poor, and it was the season when the hair comes off. The Estrus attacks the rein-deer even in their inward parts, and in spring it frequently happens that they cough up several. On opening the rein-deer, numbers have been found under the root of the tongue. There are eleven other diseases to which the rein-deer are subject, which are differently denominated.

"We paid for our milk in brandy and regained the coast, when we pursued our voyage among mountains whose heads reached the clouds, and some of which were almost covered with snow. Towards evening the wind blew so strong that the pilot advised us to pass the night on the first shore where we could effect a landing, in order to avoid being in the streight of Qvalesund at the turn of the tide, where, if a storm should arise, our destruction would be inevitable.

"We acquiesced with regret; for it was important to us that no time should be lost. We soon found a bay retiring into a small plain, where there were some fishermen's huts. We went on shore and pitched our tent upon the bank, ready to embark, the first favourable moment; but, the wind increasing and becoming more and more adverse, we were obliged to pass the night and all the next day there. I spent the time in finishing some drawings, and walking on the shore to shoot snipes or gather shells. There was great 1814.

plenty of the Venus islandica, a shell which is considered rare, the mya truncata, patella granularis, mytilus edulis, and a species of ost ea, of which we were not able to find one perfect; this shell has never been found but in a fossil state. Mr. A. looked for plants and insects. As to the latter particularly, I am obliged to confess my ignorance; the principal cause for which is, perhaps, that, having begun a collection at that early age when all impressions are the most deep and lively, I caught a very large moth, which I thought a treasure. After an absence of eight days, my first care was to visit my collection, and, opening the drawer where the moth had been deposited, I saw it was still alive, moving its tail and fluttering its wings. The effect of that sight will never be effaced from my memory, though so many others might have sufficed to make me forget it.-I ended the tortures of the insect by the speediest death I could devise, but passed several nights in remorse; and from that time I have felt the utmost repugnance to torment any living creature. Indeed, what right has man to inflict, at his pleasure, the most excruciating pains on beings, whose sensitive faculty he certainly cannot estimate? And is not the remorse of childhood the cry of nature, to which, from the unhappy practice of suppressing it, one becomes insensible in more mature age?

"The violence of the wind being somewhat lessened, our boatmen resolved to proceed at all hazards. The passage of the Qvalesund or Hvalessund (the Streight of Whales) is in fact extremely dangerous; and that of Qvalefiord still more so, in which we found ourselves precisely at the ebbing of the tide, which we had endeavoured to avoid. The H

waves

waves, coming from the main sea, collected in heaps to enter the streight, and meeting the current, caused a violent and confused mo tion. The oars touched the water only on one side at once, we made no progress, and durst not use the sail, whilst the storm threatened destruction to our boat, which already began to crack. In fire, the pilot declared he could no longer resist the agitation, and that at all risks the sails must be hoisted, which was instantly done by one of our brave rowers. The mast, bending under the force of the wind, almost touched the water, which came in on that side; but we advanced with incredible rapidity, and were soon out of danger under the protection of a lofty mountain. But for this bold manoeuvre we might perhaps have seen the other world instead of the North Cape

"In these latitudes there are great numbers of whales, but fate had determined that we should not see any. To make up for this loss, the boatmen told us many marvellous tales respecting them.-A fisherman, pursued by a whale, and seeing that his escape was impossible, fired at the monster, who, frightened by the explosion, stopped and changed his course. Had he not adopted this lucky expedient, like another Jonah, he would inevitably have been swallowed, without the hope of a release so fortunate as that of the prophet. Whilst another was fishing with a line in very fine and calm weather, a whale suddenly rose from the bosom of the waters, took the boat on his back and broke it: the man perished in the waves. If all the accidents they related to us had really happened, our enterprise would have been somewhat rash, and few fishers

would have dared to approach these places.

"As for ourselves, having sailed all night without mishap, we reached Havösund in the morning. This is the habitation of a merchant, who was then from home, but his wife and mother received us with kindness, and gave us an excellent breakfast, after which we departed, hoping to arrive before midnight at the North Cape, which was still at the distance of two good Norwegian miles. We soon, saw the three islands called Stapperne, or Stappenöer, also called the mother and her two daughters. two daughters. These are nothing but three isolated rocks; that in the middle being larger than the others. Some caverns at their feet re-echoed the cries of the cyder, anas moltissima, the bird which furnishes down. On the west was a promontory of the Isle of Magerö, which belongs to the North Cape. The calm was profound, but the sea broke in a surf, and immense clouds arose in the, horizon, like Alps covered with snow. We learned afterwards, when at Masö, that there was the carcase of a whale on the top of the largest of the Stapperne Isles, which seemed to us almost incredible, for it is impossible that the waves should have cast it so high, and the rock is so steep that a man without a burthen cannot ascend but with infinite difficulty.

"Previously to passing the Stapperne Isles, we had for some time coasted the Isle of Maso, after which no object either to the north or west bounded the view of that magnificent expanse, which, from the eternal ice of the pole, laves the extremities of Europe, Asia, and America. The little wind that blew was often coutrary as well as the current, so that we advanced but

slowly,

slowly, sometimes by dint of rowing, sometimes by aid of the sail; and the first mile took us seven hours, during which our rowers, overcame by fatigue, often went on shore to rest themselves On one of these occasions we found, on a rock, about ten or fifteen toises in height, some eggs, shells, and sponges, as white as snow, and more brittle than common sponges. The rocks on a level with the water were covered with the buccinum glaciale, a shell rather larger than a nut, and the water was full of plants of a prodigious vegetation. I think the most prevalent were the fucus vesiculosus inflatus aculatus.

"The fair weather and the calm were favourable for us; for the least wind in these latitudes occasions a heavy swell; and the coasts of Magerö which were on our right, were for the greatest part inaccessible. Yet the sea was rough, and we rocked continually; so that, having watched the whole of the preceding night, in order to observe the remarkable objects that presented themselves to our sight, we were unable to withstand the stealing approaches of sleep. A wave suddenly breaking against the boat, flew over our heads and awoke us in surprise. The boatmen then told us, in a confused manner, that during a long nap, we had passed several promontories, and latterly a small gulf, on the shores of which were some huts, and before them a rocky point nearly resembling the North Cape, but which we still saw to the south-west. It was between five and six o'clock in the evening, and the wind had changed in our favour. The coast seemed to retire towards the east, and to leave on that side a more open view of the ocean. At last, a little after midnight, we perceived this formida

ble caps, whose rocks appeared to be of equal height, with an abrupt and perpendicular termination. At first we steered for this point, but findit perfectly inaccessible, and the sea becoming more, and more agitated, we were compelled to turn to the right, to get into a creek on the south.

"On this tack the North Cape was seen in all its grandeur. The nearest rocks appeared much higher than those of the point; and the tout-ensemble was more picturesque than from any other station. The sea, dashing against this immoveable wall, which had braved its fury from the creation of the world, roared whilst forming an animated fringe of the whitest foam. A midnight sun illuminated this spectacle not less beautiful than sublime; the shadows which enveloped the western side of the rocks deepened the effects of their rude outlines. It is difficult to judge of the height of the rocks; here every thing is on the grandest scale, and no familiar object affords a point of comparison. 1 took many sketches of the Cape, notwithstanding the motion of the boat, but we were compelled to enter the creek, the only refuge left to us in this dreadful situation.

"On landing and turning our steps to the west, we accidentally discovered a grotto formed in the rocks, whose surface was polished by the waves. Some inequalities of the rock within served us for benches, a detached stone as a table, and a spring of pure water flowed at our feet; except that there was an outlet at the bottom, through which the sea might be seen; it was precisely the grotto of the Eneid

"We had kindled a fire with some pieces of wood cast up by the waves; there was not a single tree on the coast, and no trace indicated the abode of man; a knoll of some hundred paces in circuit, and surrounded by vast hills, was the only accessible pluce.

"From the top of an eminence, towards the sea, we saw to the right an enormous mountain, which formed part of the cape, raising its barren mass to the skies; on the left, a tongue of land, surmounted by less towering rocks and beaten by the waves, shuts up the bay and does not admit even a glimpse of the ocean. One of the boatmen told us that formerly there was a church here, but I was subsequently, informed that the last fishermen's huts were at this place.

"In order to see as much as we could of the interior of the isle, we ascended to the summit of the great

mountain, and thence beheld the most fantastic scene that can be conceived. A lake on the foreground is fifteen toises above the level of the sea, and there was another on the top of one of the moontains which bordered on the first. The view is terminated by some rocky eminences covered with snow.

"At length, perceiving that the sea swelled exceedingly beyond the cape, we hastened our departure, that, in the event of a storm, we might find a more comfortable asylum. At this instant, the remembrance of the long labours we had undergone to see some hideous rocks almost excited our laughter; but, when we considered the immense space by which we were divided from the civilized world, the fatigues and still more the ennui we must experience before we could again arrive there, were our much more serious reflections."

THE

HE Sandwich Islands serve at present as a resort for all ships going to the north-west coast of America, as they can refit there and take in provisions. The islands are divided into two dominions, of which one, consisting of the islands of Otooway, Origoa, and Tagoore, is governed by Tamoory: and the other, including ail the islands to the southward, by Hamamea. Hamamea is said to be a prince of ability and courage. He is so much attached to Europeans, that their ships enter his ports, not

only without the least fear, but with a certainty of obtaining, on the best terms, every thing the place they may anchor at is capable of furnishing. By this conduct, he has not only obtained various articles of necessity for his subjects, but has even formed an army, that may be styled, compared with others among the South-Sea islands, invincible, to this, that he has upwards of fifty Europeans in his service; and so great a quantity of small guns, swivels, muskets, and ammunition, supplied by the ships of the United States, that

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