fituated a mile from the former, which is more convenient. In
the year 1 794 fix fhips were employed for foreign and three for
home trade.
In the year 179 0, Wafa conliiled o f three hundred and eighty-
four houfes and houfe-fteads, four hundred and fifty-five families,
eleven hundred and fifty-five citizens paying taxes, o f between
fifteen and fixty years o f age. T he number o f males was in all
two thoufand one hundred and feventy-fix. The town is bound
to equip nine failors for the royal navy. The revenue o f the maritime
cultom-houie for the year 1784 was eighteen hundred
.and fifteen rix dollars.
In the vicinity o f the town are fprings o f mineral water, called
Gultavus’s wells, after the prefent prince royal: they were firil
difcovered in the year 1 750. Sinqe the royal tribunal was eilab-
liihed here, a new high road has been made by order o f his ma-
jeity, which goes through the pariihes o f Happo, Alajauoi, Saure-
javoi, and from Haukas to Cuopio, a town o f Savolax. Having
paid our compliments to the prefident and governor, we had pre-
fently an invitation to dine with them. T hey made it their bufi-
nels to invite the moil intereiling fociety o f Wafa to meet u s :
they treated us magnificently, and in the fame ftyle o f ceremony
that we had experienced at Stockholm; for here, as in other
countries, the towns o f the provinces always look up to, and iludy
to imitate the manners, o f the capital.
It feemed to me like a dream to meet here, a lady lb amiable,
lo well informed, and fo polilhed in her manners as we found the
wife
wife o f the prefident o f the court of juflice : ihe underltands
Italian and French, and has acquired a tafte for the beauties o f out
bell Italian poets.
I faw at the houfe o f the prefident a very intelligent and con-
verfable clergyman. W e had much converfation concerning the
Finlanders, efpecially on the fubjedt o f their poetry, and he mentioned
a variety of intereiling particulars. Speaking o f LmnæuS
with whom he had been well acquainted at Upfala, he had much
to fay on the character o f the Swedilh naturahll, and dwelt particularly
on the extreme vanity which that great man feems to
have carried to the moll difgufting length. He related to me
fome anecdotes which gave llrong indieatiohs o f that weaknefs.
A lady o f the province o f Uplàla, who had never been beyond its
boundaries, applied to a friend of Linnseus for a letter o f recommendation,
that ihe might have an opportunity o f making the
acquaintance o f this eminent character, and at the fame time fee
his colleétion. T he philofopher received her with much pôlité-
nefs, and as he was ihewing her the mufeunl, the good lady was
fo filled with afloniihment at the light o f an alTemblage o f fuch
a number o f different objedls, upon each o f which Linnæüs had
always fomethirig to remark, that ihe exclaimed with a figh, I Ho
longer Wonder that Liunaus is fo Well known over the Whole ptoVinbe
o f Upfala! Linnæus, who inftead of the province o f Upfala eXpod-
ed to hear the whole univerfe, was ib ihoeked, that hë would ihew
her nothing more o f the mufeuffl, and fent the lady away quite
confounded at the change o f bis humour, and at the fame time
I i 2 - firmly