B° ° K little vdiftance a ■ fmall wood o f firs and birch; in the other
— ,— 'parts we could difcover nothing but juniper and mofs. Be-
iide the hut in which we were lodged, it contained a
church and a few flattered cottages. The inhabitants of
.Cumlin fpoke the Swedifh language. The fevere froft of
the preceding day was lucceeded by a fudden thaw, accompanied
with rain and fleet; and in the evening a violent
hurricane came on; we heard on all fides the cracking of
the ice founding like the explofions o f thunder, and which
alarmed us with the dread o f being detained in fo dreadful
•a fp o t: for if, as we had reafon to: apprehend, the ice had
been broken up, it could not have been palled in fledges;
and a continuance o f the thaw for a fortnight at leaft would
have been requifite before any communication by water could
have been formed with the continent or neigoh bouringOiflands.
The wind inereafing to a rnoft violent degree towards
midnight, and the noife from the burfting o f the ice
. redoubling, we imagined that a confiderable delay was una-
. yoidable; and began to inquire whether the inhabitants were
furnifhed with fuilicient provifions to fupply our wants and
their own. We were happy to find that four cows, a few hogs,
and poultry, and a large ftore o f hard bread, which they bake
twice in the year, were more than fufficient to remove all
apprehenfions o f famine during a much longer period than
we were likely to remain upon the ifland. Fortunately,
however, we did nqt put thefe refources to the te ft: towards
morning the wind fubfided, and the rents in the ice
not appearing dangerous, we were able to continue our route
at fun-rife. It was a rnoft delightful day ; in the morning
the mercury in the thermometer ftood at two degrees above
freezing.point, and at noon rofe to five ; the fun fhone with
fuch brightnefs, and the weather was fo clear and warm, that
we
J O U R t T 0 « T O C K f l O L >M.
we rnight-almpft havelmaginecl it-to ;have beenfummer, i;f we vhap.
had not been undeceived by the -frozen mafs around us, *
On the preceding day the whole -fcenery was uniformly enveloped
with fnow, which having been melted, the furface
-of the Gulf l>ecame a pure expanfo of ic e : the fliftance to
•the -next poft was about 35 miles, .and .much lets diverfifled
with iflanfts than the parts whiqh we had paged previous
to our arrival ^t .Cumlin. In one place we-traverfed a level
greet o f ice, at leaft ten miles in length, unbroken with a
Jingle pocjc -or ifland ; but as the late ftorm had produce,cl
feveral apertures, and as the thaw greatly inoreaied, -we wqnt
-on with caution, and were preceded by an inhabitant q.f
Cumlin for ©ur guide, who carried a hatchet .and plumbing
iron : with the former he ©ocaflonall.y cut the ice, and witg
the latter he mealured its thioknefs, in order - t o afoertain
Avhether it was fuffidently ftrong to fupport our fledge.?.
In fome places he made a cenfideraMe -circuit - t o syoid an
aperture; often called out to the drivers to keep at fome
diftance from -each other; and repeatedly warned them to
follow the precifo track which he purfued. -In this manner
he conduced us in about eight hours, and -without the
leaft accident, to the Ifte o f Aland.
Aland, which gives to this clutter o f iflands the general
appellation o f the files o f Aland, is about 40 miles in length,
-and froin 12 to 16 in breadth: -it contains many villages, and
about 50,000 inhabitants; they fpeak the Swedifh language,
•but are included in the government o f Finland, both as to fpi-
ritual and temporal affairs. The bafis of the foil feemed to be
granite, of the fame nature with the fhores o f Finland, and of
the numerous iflands which we had lately traverfed; and the
whole afleinblage of them looked like a ridge of rocks, which
• JI- T i had