be lefs pervious to the warmth of the atmofphere. The fnow was
entirely gone on Keimio, but we obferved it lying here and there
on mount Pallas, a circumftance probably owing to the difference
of their refpeCtive elevations.
W e made various perambulations round this mountain in fearch
of birds and plants. W e found a couple of groufe ftetrao cagopus.
of L in n .) which were more than one half white ; and alfo a
couple o f emberiza nivalis, Linn, which were ju ft beginning to
change the colour o f their plumage; they were ftill almoft entirely
white.
The fiih of the lake are the following:
Salmo albula Cyprinus alburaus
Perea fluviatilis Efox lucius
Gadus lota
On our return homeward we examined the channel of the river
for fhells, in which it is not unufual to find pearls. W e found
the fpecies called my a piSlorum, but the pearls were fearcely vifible,
and in all of them fo very trifling, that we thought them, not
worth our notice. Our attendants were ailonifbed at the zeal
with which we purfued our refearches; nor had they the fmalleft
conception of their utility. The parfon himfelf was at a lofs fo
difcover what real advantages we could propole to ourfelves by the
inveftigation of infeCts and plants. Since his library was deftroyed,
he had found that he could eafily difpenfe with divinity, and fancied
he had difcovered that divinity,, viewed as a fciencC, was entirely
ufelefs, and that the fciences in general were good for nothing
thing in the world, except in fo far as they amufed the intellect,
and ferved to banifh the liftlefihefs of human life.
As we fell down the river we were prefented with fcenery altogether
different from what we had feen in afcending it. One part
of our plan ilill remained to be accompliihed, I mean that of tra-
verfing the mountains in queft o f the Laplanders and their reindeer;
but .we were io extremely fatigued, that it was deemed
more wife to return to Muonionifca. W e had made a tout of
thirty-fix miles in the fpace of twenty.hours, almoft without halting.
The heat of the weather was exceflive : Celfius’s thermometer
at noon rofe in the fhade to 27 degrees; and the gnats tormented
us inceflantly. Upon our arrival at Muonionifca, we
refumed our ufual occupations; and having enjoyed a little repofe,
we began to prepare for our departure.
Our abode at this place made fome addition to our collection
o f natural hiftory. W e obtained, among other things, feveral fpe-
cimens of the motacilla fuecica, with their eggs and neft. We got
alfo a magnificent larus, which a Laplander killed on one o f the
neighbouring lakes. I t turned out to be the larus glaucus of L in naeus.
Befides this we collected a confiderable quantity o f plants
and infeCts.
CHAPTER