W e had the good fortune to meet here four of the moil experienced
boatmen we had feen in the whole courle of our travels.
There was one of them called Simon, whom we named by way
o f eminence, the Bonaparte of the Cataracts. It it impoffible for
me to give the reader an idea of the excellence of his tactics, his
courage, his addrefs, the juftnefs of his eye in judging from the
furface of the water the nature of the bottom, and in afcertain-
ing, with the moll fcrupulous precifion, the depth of the river.
Had it not been for the refolution and ileadinefs of this man, our
expedition mull have ended at Kollare ; for the obllacles to be
encountered between this place and Muonionifca are fo ferioully
difcouraging to common boatmen, th a t they would have refufed
to a man to conduct us any farther.
T h e paffage from Kollare to Muonionifca is a diftance of fixty-
lix miles, entirely upon the river Muonio, and conftantly in oppo-
fition to cataracts and the current. The fortitude and perfeve-
rance with which thofe people bore this long and extraordinary
labour, lhew the aftoniihing power of habit. Where the river
was too ftrong and violent for our boats, which owing to the
weight they carried drew too much water, to make good their
paffage, we were forced to difembark and haul our empty boats
along the river. T h e Finlanders who were employed in dragging
the boat, kept on the bank, leaping from ftone to ftone, and fome-
times went up to the middle in water to difengage the rope from
the rocks, where it had become entangled. Sometimes the boats
themfelves were obftru&ed in their paffage by the rocks, in which
cafe
cafe one of the men threw himfelf into the water, fwam up to
them, and fet them afloat again. At laft we came to a place
where the extreme force of the cataradt, the depth of the water,
and the obftrudtions from the rocks, rendered it to appearance altogether
impoffible to continue our progrefs. Our brave Simon
was the only perfon who thought every thing poffible. The reft
feemed difpofed to find fault with his daring projedts, which they
never leffened; but, on the contrary, magnified through their
fears. But he was always the firft to let an example of the molt
unwearied patience and adtivity ; he conftantly charged himfelf
with the execution of the moll arduous and laborious part of the
undertaking, and never propofed a thing in which he did not
referve for himfelf the moll difficult and hazardous offices it
impofed: inffiort, no perils could daunt his fpirit, no toils fet
bounds to his exertions. He hauled the boat, he difengaged it
when it ftuck f a ll; he was the firft to leap into the water whenever
occafion required, and leemed to do every thing himfelf
alone.
While our Finlanders were difplaying the moll heroic perfeve-
rance on the river and on its banks, the utmoft we could do was
to keep up with them in the adjacent wood. It was not always
poffible to follow them dole to the river, as we were not, like them,
able to jump from one rock to another. T h e current too lome-
times produced a giddinefs in the head, and we were unwilling to
wet our legs by wading through the water. Another Ipecies of fatigue
Hill awaited us in the woods: we funk here and there lb
deep