CH A P T E R X X V I .
Maupertniss Description o f Tortte — Acc'oilnt' o f this Town, by the
Author— The Climatei— View o f the Sun at Midnight— P r o f peel,
from the Church o f Lower Tornea— Harbour o f Tornea-— State
o f the Bothnian G u lfin this Vicinity— Trdde o f'th e Tovon-—
Some Travellers mentioned that htrbe v ifie d ': TdrHtd— Infcfiptibns
prefitved in the Church tit JiilasjeHii,
T ^ R O M the time that Maupertuis,J and the otlicr French aca-
demiciaris, travelled into this country to meafurc a degree,
as a mean o f afcertaining the adual figure o f the earth, Tornea
emerged from its obfcurityy and is now well known to all the
world; T he firft advance i t made •‘tdwards1, fame was not in its
favour. Maupertuis’s defcription o f it, which he read in the academy
at Paris, infpired every breaft with tender cdmmiferatidrt for
the poor inhabitants, who had the misfortune to be born in'ta
miferable a town. “ The, town o f Tornea,” he lays,1 “ on our
“ arrival there on the 30th o f December, prelented an afpeft trlily
“ frightful. The low houies, from bottom to top, were funk in
“ the fnow, which hindered the light from entering in by the
“ windows, while the fnow always falling; or ready to fall, ob-
“ itrucied the rays o f the fun, which was feldom vifible even for
“ a few
“ a few minutes at mid-day. In the month o f January the cold
“ was fo great, that the thermometers o f Reaumur, which fell
“ 14 degrees below the freezing point at Paris during the great
“ froft o f the remarkable winter o f 17 °9, here fell to 37 degrees.
“ Spirits o f wine froze. On opening the door o f a warm room,
jgj the external air rufliing in, inftantly converted the vapour within
I into a llecce o f fnow. On going out o f the room, one’s breaft
“ was as it were, .torn by the air : every moment there appeared, in
“ the cracking noife made by the burfting o f the wood o f the
“ houfes, threatening fvmptoms that thp intepfenefs;o f vthe. cold
« would be ftill farther increafed., T rom the folitude that reigned
“ in the ftreets, one would have fuppofed all the inhabitants to
“ be dead: in lhprt, at Tqrne|Lthere ytp re, to be.,fQenI;peribns.w'hp
“ had,been mutilated fome had loft their, kgs and
‘/„arm?'. The cold,, always; very .great in .thdfr.pariS, waftjoftemfo
“ fevepe as. to, prove fatal to thofe wdyo werp.cxpofed to it. A fud-
“ .den tempelt o f fnow. at .times, rpenacgd tftdh.greater danger.
“ .Thejrtvindi^eemed tohlov&at.onpcjfrQmiivieryLquarter o f heaven,
“ and with fuch violence,; as, to throw down the chimneys of
“ houfes. Any. onewho ihould be caught in fuch a ftorm in the
“ country, would, in vain endeavour to find his way by means o f
“ his acquaintance, with places, or marks made by trees. He is
“..blinded.by the fnow,,and plunges into fome abyfs it he move
“ a ftep.”
I f the academician draws a frightful pifture o f Tornea, which
he faw only in winter, we. are in a condition to fupply its counterpart