N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y of N O R W A Y .
The peafaats ufually give the cows daily a little lalt, Hvhiöh
faftens the teeth, and whets the ftomach * ; and fometimes a lalt
herring, which they apprehend is a treat to the cow, as well as to
an human creature. But on the contrary, • a lalt mackarelj/tho
it be his food, is found pernicious to them, as well a£ the
pickle,
S E C T. Ill
Sheep are called here Smaler -fo and. in feme places Souer j they
differ, lt> far as I obferve, but little from the Danilli j I therefore
fhall not detain myfèlf with a defcription of them. There are
feme brought Over from England j this has been done --with a
view of propagating the Englilh Kind, hut they degenerate here,
and in the third or fourth generation they are but, very little
preferable to our own. Mr. Peter Dais acquaints us, in his
Poetical Defcription of Nordland’s Amt-, p. 106, that there are
found in the iflands quantities of wild fheep, which never go into
any houfc, or have any thing to do with mankind, excepting
when they are annually catched to be fhearcd ||. He confirms
alfo what has been faid about their fa t ; that; it is found on
the external parts, and that it covers the itóh like a warm
Cufhion.
In regard to the fheep in Farfe, according to Hr. Lucas
Debe’s Account, p. 116, ftanding in the winter wider the foow,
and eating one anorher’s wool, which is perceived above the
fnow by the warm damp that arifes, I fball not affirm it on my
own knowledge, tho’ it may be believed from many analogous
accidents j and is ftrengthened by Mr. Anderfcn, L ; " C.
$. xxix. who fpeaks of a Topho Ovino Noryagico, or a hair-ball,
which is found in the ftomach of the Norway fheep. It.-is to
be obferved, that the fame kind of ball is alfo found in cow«, and
* As For the pernicious epidemic dijea£, ^wfrick has raged fevera} years thrp’ moft
parts of Europe, Norway has, thro’ the1 mercy of the Almighty, been JfflflfepaWïe
from it ï but that die fame, or frwne odier has been known here (when it pieafed .the
Almighty to punifh) is to be %en m Cdaus Wormifls’k AeCpunt in hra-Mufeuai, p.
333, where it ftands, that Anno id f i , died- .alone in Nordefiord, which has ||ye
parHhes, towards of 4000 oxen and cows Of the pe&lants, exclufive of the clergy’s
and others. _ '
-f- According to D. Nic. Horrebow’s account, this is the name of a fhepherd in
Mand; but here we call the iheep Soi ' • ’iV
t Concerning the before-named Udgangfvadre, or the rams, they take their Food,
■ winter and .fiimmer, on the Nordland Iflands ; and 1 am allured by one o f my
correfpondents, that they grow much larger and fatter than any other, - and that
their wool is cleaner and better; fo that the owner has the greateft profit or advantage
of them; and that, by a natural inftinét, they take up «heir quarters at that corner of
the land, from whence the wind will come dié next day; which fignal or mfrk the
fca-faring’people find to be invariably true. 1
N A T O R A L H I S T O R Y of N O R ÏV A Y.
i$ coinpofod of the hair fwallöwed, which Ricks to the tongue,
when thefe creatures lick one another. Of fheep’s dung, and the
middle bark of Elder boiled in cream, the Norway peafent prepares
a good false &f burns : i | the fore be full of mattèt or
water,' then they, ftrew the dried-dung powdered upon it, which
helps . greatly. iGdats 'and kids are hurtful animals to the
•(voods'and trees ; thé country people here are very fond of, and
keep too many of them* j For they, before all other creatures,
labour to get at food and houtifhment, climbing the rocks, and,
to men, inaccéffible places in the fflountains and cliffs, and fteep
heights. Wherever graft is to be found they will get at-it, where
no other graft-feeding creature can; but fometimes they get them-
felves into fuch a dangerous fifüation, that they can neither gö
backwards or forwards, up or down." In this cafe the goat rUns
to the very edge, and there ftands braying^ the Norway peafent
then, to fove his goat, ventures himfolf often in fuch a réarmer,
as another man would uot for the beft friend; they fuflèr thém-;
fclves to be let down by a rope bf a hundred fathom or more,
as I have already mentioned; in another place.
- The beft goats arc ihNordland and in Sundmoar; they rmi
wild in many places, wintfer arid furtaner, in the fields, till the^
are ten or twel-v4 i years old ; and when the peafent, theif owners
is to catch them, he muft either do it by feme fnare, or fihoot
them f . They are fo bold, that if a .wolf comes toward them
alone they wont gov^ut of his wajpj a'hd i f they havé dogs with
them, they will refill: a whole herd. They frequently attack
ferpeutsand when they are bit by them, the owner warms
their own milk, and wafhes the fore with i t : they commonly
nèvenge themfelvcs foverely Upon' thé fèrpént who Bites them i
for they eat him up, tho1 they plague therttfelves a great while
* From ÏSergén-aJone there is fhipp’d off annually. yöjpt Soufop raiy .gpats ikins,
éüeSifihre of feveral thoufand which Ure dreïftd here for Süfmn,, Coftiuan, and RWfia
leather,. fajt hence very good; Svluëh manufaifture might fréfe feègreatly Odcoiif^ged,
oy drcffing all the Ikins here before they are lent out.
1 Ne^ï Róftad, in the manor of Lattens, there is a flat and naked field, the foil
almoft 'white, with grey ftripes. The earth here is found, .jhy experieace, tef have
fomewhat inic cif ,a poifonous quality,, fatal to, goats and kids, and to them alone,-
Other creatures may fafely go over it, but thefe muft not fet a foot upon it ; fo fooa
as they do they drop down, ftretch out their legs, and t^eir tongue hangs put of
their mouth; and they die if they have notinftant help. Neither grafs or any green
dung grows üpön i t ; the vèty ffones have that quality. The Cdhuftorial Affeffor Fsifcs
allures .us, that in the midft. of winter it has not that effeft.;; in autumn it it the
ftrongeft. I don’t know whether this may be aferibed to a damp, as the famous
Grotto del Cane, near the lake Agnano in the Neapolitan dominions, according to
Miflon, and others; who fay, that, a dog no fooner fteps ïn'dian he dies, if not
immediately dragged out and thrown into that lake.
before