and with a long pole which they thruft to the bottom o f the river,
find their point o f refiftance, and thus pufh the boat againft the
ftream. This pole is made o f a pine, and about fifteen feet long ;
they are obliged to throw it with all their ftrength to the bottom,
in order to overcome the currrent which conflantly impels it
backwards. It is a Herculean labour ; befides, it requires infinite
practice to guide and manage the boat, forming, as circumflances
■demand, many a fharp angle, amidft a multitude o f obftacles.
T h e moft difagreeable, and at the fame time the moft dangerous
fttuation is, the man refting by accident the end o f his pole upon
a rock o f a fmooth or round furface, in the moment that he applies
to it the whole weight and force o f his body, the pole flips
from under him ; he falls in an inftant headlong into the river,
and the paffenger gives himftlf up for loft. T he Laplander, however,
quickly recovers himfelf and prepares to repeat the fame
operation ; but it fometimes happens that thè current -gets the
attendant and drives the boat a ftern. In this critical juncture
the whole addrefs of the boatman is exerted to keep the head o f
the Koat direétly oppofed to the ftream, till he is again in a condition
to pulh her forward ; and above all, to prevent her laying
her fide to the current, as in that pofition, by prefenting a larger
furface to the water, ihe would inftantly be overfct.
In order to have fome refpite from this fevere toil, the boatmen
■requefted that we would difembark and walk along the bank to
the end o f thefe cataraéls. W e were greatly overjoyed to learn
that i t was practicable to go by land, and moft cheerfully accepted
their
their propofal. T he great difficulty o f palling thofe cataracts with
a boat, containing more than two perfbns, had rendered it cuf-
tomary to perform this part o f the journey by land. T h e woods
being then impaffable, a narrow foot-path had been formed in
the direction o f the river. The impracticability o f travelling
through thofe woods proceeded from the way being obftructed by
under-wood, and the branches o f firs and pine-trees; from a
ftrong kind of mofs, which grows here in great abundance, and
fometimes two feet high ; and from deep marfhy foil, where you
are in danger every , ftep o f finking in the mire. T h e ft obftacles
impeded the paffage through the woods ; and to remedy the evil
the people had cut down trees and laid them longitudinally one
after the other, in fuch a manner that the paffenger as he walked
along the trunks was obliged carefully to attend to his centre o f
gravity, and balance himfelf like a dancer on the tight rope.
"We again changed our boat at Tortula, fix miles from Tolafis,
and purfued our voyage on the river all the way to Pello, which
is twelve miles from Tortula. Pello is a village o f four or five
peaiants houfes; from this place you fee the mountain Kittis,
famous for being the laft point where Maupertuis concluded his
trigonometrical operations, and remarkable for nothing elfe.
I ihall here prefent the reader with Mr. Swamberg’s obferva-
tions on the inaccuracy o f Maupertuis s meaiurement.* T h e ft
obfervations are found in “ A report on a journey to Lapland,
“ undertaken at the expence o f the royal academy o f fciences at
* See Maupertuis’s Works, vol, iv, page 3 3 2 .
“ Stockholm,