b o o k with flannel and fu r : thefe boots I generally wore in tha
. VL . carriage, but pulled off when I entered a houfe. If the wear
ther had proved uncommonly fevere, I was provided with a
kind of Iheep-ikin cafe with the wool on the infide for each
o f my legs, which reached to my waift, and was large enough
to enclofe my boots. I wrapped round my body a great coat
o f blue nankeen lined with lamb-ikin, and occafionally added
a large peliffe, or fur robe. I had a bear’s-ikin muff; and
my head was enveloped in a black velvet cap quilted with
fllk and cotton, which covered my cheeks, was tied under my
chin, and might, i f neceflary, he drawn over the face. Thus
accoutred,-I could venture to defy even the cold of. Lapland,
whither our courfe was dire ¿led.
Our train confifted o f eight fledges, including thofe appropriated
to the baggage, as, on account of the narrownefs
o f the roads, each perfon had a feparate carriage. There are
various kinds o f fledges ufed for travelling in this, country:
fome are entirely clofe; others quite open.; thofe which
we employed were partly open, and partly covered.
A fledge o f this fort is lhaped like a cradle ; its tilt, which
rifes from the hinder extremity, and proje£ts to about two
feet, was open in front, but provided with curtains, which
might be drawn and tied together whenever the weather was
fevere The outfide was fecured. with matting and oil-
lk in ; and the infide with coarfe cloth.. Within was a mat-
trafs, feather-bed, and coverlid, or quilt o f coarfe cloth. In
this travelling couch I fometimes lay extended at full length;
fometimes fat crofs-legged like a Turk ^ and at other times
raifed myfelf on a feat formed by two cuihions. Each fledge
was drawn by two horfes, which, on. account of the narrow-
* T h e reader w ill fee th e fo rm o f a fledge i a th e b a c k -g ro u n d o f tk e engra ving o f the
Ruffian p ea fa a t> ia voU I*
neis
nefs o f the roads, were harnefied one before the other. The chap.
ufual rate o f travelling is from fix to eight miles in the hour. ■ VUI’i
The motion o f the carriage over the beaten fnow was fo eafy
as to be almoft imperceptible ; and I never performed any
journey in a more commodious manner.
Though we continued our route during the night, and
there was no moon, yet an Aurora Borealis and the white-
nefs o f the fnow fupphed an agreeable fpecies o f twilight.
The road, or rather path, through which our route lay, was
fcarcely more than a yard in breadth, funk two or three feet
beneath the level o f the fnow, and hardened by the repeated
preflure o f the horfes and fledges. When two carriages
met in this narrow track, the horfes, which turned out o f
the way, funk into thefoft untrodden fnow as high as their
girths.
Feb. 4. Upon our arrival at Wiburgh about noon, we
were condudted, by the governor’s recommendation, to the
houfe o f a merchant, who entertained us in the moil hofpi-
table manner.
Ruffian Finland, which formerly belonged to the Swedes,
was partly ceded to the Ruffians by the peace o f Nyftadt in
172 1, and partly at the treaty o f Abo in 1743. This province
retains moft o f its antient privileges, with fome occasional
modifications, which have been necefiarily introduced
under the new government. The country produces, befide
pafture, rye, oats, and barley, but not fufficient for the inhabitants.
Wiburgh retains its own civil and criminal courts
of juftice : in penal cafes, not capital, the punifhments pre-
fcnbed by the provincial judicature are inflifted ; but whenever
a criminal is condemned to death, the Ruffian laws in-
teipofe, and, reprieving him from the fentence o f beheading
R r 2 ' or