CH A P T E R X-IV.
Departure from Abo— Difficulty o f Travelling -without a fujpcient
Quantity o f Snow— T ra il o f Country between Abo and Yerven-
kyle-— Condition o f the Peafantry : their Mode o f L ife, Drefs, and
domeflic Comforts—-Meet with an old Minjlrel— Contrivance o f
putting a Sledge on Wheels— Defcription o f an Aurora Borealis—
Reach Yervenky/e— Account o f this Hamlet— Catara.il near Yer-
venkyle: Appearance o f it in Winter— L ittle Birds (Turdus Cinc-
tus, L in n .) near the CataraSls in Winter— Dexterity o f the Pea-
fants in Shooting— The Dwelling o f a Peafant defcribed, and re-
prefented by a Drawing.
X 7 E quitted Abo the 20th o f March to continue our travels
towards the North. In order to be free for the future
from the trouble o f changing our baggage at every ftage, we had
provided ourfelves with fledges o f our own. W e purchafed them
at Abo, and they were o f the fame defcription as thofe which the
peafantry made ufe of. The winter had been extremely fevere;
but there had not fallen a great quantity o f fnow in comparifon
o f former years. A March fun, and fome days o f thaw, had
made it difappear entirely in many places. The fledge was often
fuddenly ftopt, and the poor horfe made repeated efforts, without
effeit,
effedl, to drag it over the naked and fandy foil, which funk under
his feet with a fort o f difagreeable crackling noifei W e were
every moment obliged to leave the fledge, and walk on foot till
we came to ground covered with fnow, or to a frozen lake or
river. This mode o f travelling at laft became extremely tirefome,
but having no alternative, we endeavoured to fubmit to it cheerfully.
In many places the fnow had been melted on the middle
o f the road, but ftill remained on the fides and at the edge of the
ditchesy In thofe fituations not infrequently the love o f eafe induced
us to try the expedient o f rifking the fledge on the edge of
the ditch, which conflantly gave way, and our indolence availed
us nothing. T he horfe was unable to keep in the precife line,
and conflantly drawing to one fide or to the other, we were every
now and then overturned in the ditch, and plunged over the ears
in the fnow.
This fpecies of fledge, being extremely narrow, is very eafily
overturned ; but as it is at the fame time very low, the fall is accompanied
with no manner o f danger, and when the road is in
a proper ftate it goes very fteadily and fafely; but when the fun
has begun to melt the fnow, and this partial thaw, as often happens,
is fucceeded by a frefh attack o f the froft, then there is
formed on the declivities o f the road a polifhed mirror o f ice,
which occafions much trouble and difficulty to the traveller. T he
fledge in defcending never keeps in a diredt line, but is hitched
out o f its proper direction by the fmalleft accident: when turned
fideways, it flips all at once out o f the road, and is overturned
V o l . I. F f either