This location is mentioned in the following paragraphs:
(§147) The road lay more or less beside the sea the whole way. I noted with compassion the beached fragments of unfortunate vessels that had been unable to propitiate Neptune with either promises or sacrifices, prayers or complaints, tears or sighs; and I recalled the student who had been so put to the test by Neptune that he preferred to travel the whole way to Stockholm on foot via Österbotten, Torneå, Västerbotten etc. rather than entrust himself to a malicious and inconstant Neptune for one or 2 days.
(§492) They told me that between 200 and 300 cattle in Torneå die during the summer when they are out to pasture on a marshy area. Could the cause perhaps be 'Circutaria'? [Fine-leaved Water Drop wort].
(§917) Aug. 1. I had intended to travel to Torneå but heavy rain and a terrible thunderstorm with its crashing and rumbling, fire and lightning kept me shut indoors the whole time.
(§925) 2nd. At GRÖTNӒS, which lies right opposite Kalix church, there is a ferry across to the church. The people of the Lule and Torne districts hold a market by the church.
(§927) Torneå
(§937) I crossed 3 ferries between Torneå and Saivis.
(§938) At 3 o'clock I arrived in Torneå.
(§941) It is usually colder in the mountains than in the country in general, eg. the Jämtland mountains are colder than Torneå even though they are 670 miles farther south. The reason for cold is, thus, not solely proximity to the pole but also the height of the land, and careful note of this should be taken. This is why the flora of northern Lapland survives the cold and why there is snow on the Alps in Italy.
(§947) 7th. The town of TORNEÅ lies on a small island, on which the settlement itself is situated by the south-west shore. I call it an island since there is a shallow lake on the north side, the great Torne river to the south-east, and an inlet of the sea running in on the south-western and western sides. This latter is like a large river but so shallow that no vessels can approach closer than about 6 miles from the town. This inlet used to be the main course of the river but that has now cut its way to the western side and the area between the inlet and the lake dries out almost completely in summer.
(§950) 9th. Travelled from Torneå to KEMI where there was a great salmon fishery - hence the saying "richer than the Kemi salmon fishery, the meadows at Limingö and the fields at Storkyros".
(§976) In Torneå they turn the earth with a spade and never use a plough. Likewise in Kemi, where only the ground intended for rye is worked with a plough.
(§985) Österbotten is a waterlogged and low-lying country with many marshy lakes, shallow forest tarns and bogs. The grass grows tall but there is still such a shortage of hay that they buy horse-dung in Torneå, boil it in the built-in cauldrons in their cookhouses and give it to the animals to eat. They also heat water and pour it on reindeer moss.
(§988) I arrived back in Torneå in the evening.
(§989) 13th. I attended a Finnish church service in the farmers' church in Torneå. I also witnessed the churching of a wife who had recently given birth - it was accompanied by the elevation of the host. I noticed that most of the Finnish menfolk had white hair or white that had become dark with time. No one had red hair, very few had black, and for the most part it was straight rather than curly.
(§998) I was told that they often hear the rolling of thunder in the mountains in winter. Cold weather in the Torneå mountains comes from the south and mild weather from the north; this is because of the sea.
(§1002) The limestone that is burnt in Kemi, Torneå and other places along the coast is of a strange composition.
(§1005) 15th. I found 'Spongia lacustris Newtonii' [aquatic fungus] by the ferry to Torneå.3
(§1007) 17th. Travelled from Torneå to Kalix by sea. The wind was against us.
(§1029) 10. There are thus no free markets here, there are merely settlement meetings where the trader and the farmer get together at what are called "meeting places". Such as: "In Kalix, the 19th Aug., annually" or "In Torne in Feb.".
(§1042) There is limestone in the skerries at Kalix and Torneå.
(§1053) In the evening I arrived in Torneå wet-through.
(§1059) 16th. Departed from Tomea.
(§1060) There are 6 ferries between Kemi and Torneå; the river at KAAKAMO ferry, which is closest to Kemi (3 1/4 miles), is the boundary between Österbotten and Västerbotten.
(§1093) BRAHESTAD, a small town, twice as big as Torneå, peninsula, situated right on the shore.
(§1115) Victuals: Almost everyone, except the poor, fishes for Baltic herring to supply their own household needs. Those who can spare time from other things in spring and autumn catch fish to sell to other people. The herring starts spawning from roughly 18th May to 16th June and is caught in nets. It then moves in among the inlets where it is caught in seine nets until the Feast of St Peter on 29th June - this is called the Great Herring Fishing (the former is called the Spring Fishing and they have not tried it yet in Torneå). Then, from St Peter's Day until after St Bartholomew's, they fish once again with nets in the usual fishing places. Herring have roe and milt the whole summer here, however.
Practical data about this location:
- Written: Torneå
- GPS (lat,lon): [65.84811, 24.14662]
- Geoname: 634093