Bv §K <{ *n ^rea'i5 tbofe ufually in England, but a continued
j “ .glare o f red light. We arrived at length upon the Gulf,
“ croffed a iheet o f ice many miles in length, and fome fmall
‘ ‘ rocky iilands, upon one.of which my driver fuddenly
“ turned into the yard o f a peafant’s cottage, and hopped.
“ I foon perceived that he had loft his way : inquiry .being
“ in vain qn my part, as I could not fpeak.the language, I
“ encouraged him by figns to endeavour to regain the
“ track ; he complied, but with fuch ill humour, that he
“ drove againft a rock, and again overfet me, though fortu-
“ nately without any bad confequence; he then pafled by
“ a narrow way through a wood, and foon arrived at the edge
M o f the ill and. I liftened eagerly for the found o f the
“ other fledges, but to no purpofe; then, anxioufly looking
“ around me, I defcried at fome diftance the boughs which
« mark the road over the ice, and, inftantly pointing it out,
“ we purfued the path, and after feveral miles overtook my
“ companions, determined never again to lofe fight o f the
•“ laft fledge. In crofling, however, another ifland, the fledge
“ which immediately preceded mine fuddenly flopped : we
“ had again loft the way, but foon recovered it, and joined
•“ the party.”
Upon Varifala we found a comfortable village : the inhabitants
were Fins, and fpokeonly the Finniih tongue.
Feb. 14. We fat out early : the weather was hazy and
unpromifing, and a ftrong breeze began to freihen. The poft
was about 18 miles in length : we pafled many fmall iflands
and rocks; fome covered with underwood, and fprinkled
with villages ^ others were nothing but bare granite, without
a Angle habitation or .tree. In a few places the ice of
,the gulf was a fmooth iheet; in others it was roughly frozen
in waves and large mafles. The v.aft .extended plain of ice,
.broken
b r o k e n in a b r u p t r id g e s , t h e b o u n d le f s and d r e a r y t r a c k c h a p .
m a r k e d o n l y b y a l in e o f t r e e s a n d b o u g h s , a n d t h e r u g g e d ■ / ■
ro c k s f t a r t in g , u p o n e v e r y f id e , a f fo r d e d o n e o f t h e m o f t
d e fo la te f c e n e s im a g in a b l e .
We changed horfes at Brando,, an ifland which Contained
fix o r feven villages, a church, fome arable land, and fmall
woods.. About three We arrived upon the ifland Cumlin,
36 miles from Varifala; and as the next poft was above
thiity miles, we prudently took up our quarters in a peafant’s
cottage, rather than again encounter the hazards o f a journey
by night. The peafants were well clothed the men wore
long cloth coats lined'with fheep-ikin ; the women a ftriped
kind o f woollen fluff, o f mixed colours, chiefly green, white,
and red : they feemedvery honeft ;. and our fervants had
no occafion to- employ the fame vigilance in watching-the-
lugg3ge as was requifite in Ruflia*. The cottages, were-
built like thofe in Ruflia, with whole trees piled one upon the.’
other, and mortaifed and terianted at each extremity; the
timbers o f feveral were fawed on the outfide in the form of:
planks. They generally contain two or three apartments,,
fmall, but neat and clean ; have all brick chimnies, and a
emicircular fire-place high and narrow, in which the wood:
* placed upright, and by means o f birch-bark inftantaneoufly-
kindled. The villagers poffeffedmany conveniences of life,,
which we did not meet with in Ruffiafparticularly beds, and
a greater variety o f houfehold furniture.
While our dinner was preparing, we ftrolled to a windmill
fituated on an eminence, from whence we commanded;
aTull view o f the ifland, which feemed a huge pile of: rocks
of red and grey granite. Near the village we obferved
breeor four fields which had beenfown with rye, and at a.
* See V o l. I . p. 256, ,
little:'