24th. Close to Rödbäck there lies a fine big meadow, completely flat were it not for the hundreds of tree-covered grassy banks. All along the road and by the river, which shortly arrives at the town of Umeå, there are mineral springs full of ochre and covered with a silvery scum. I believe that Rödbäck has taken its name from their red sediment. There is a mineral spring flowing from a hill close to Rödbäck that several people have died from drinking (see Rudbeck the Elder, who has given the number of inhabitants as 82 instead of 28).
UMEÅ, quite a little town now, is situated on this river, which provides access for vessels from the sea and has to be crossed by ferry. Umeå has not yet fully recovered from the damage it suffered when it was totally burnt down as a result of enemy bombardment.
The Umeå ferryman – a Charon, grey-haired, bald, muscular etc., in an old grey coat, just as described by Rudbeck.
I called on Provincial Governor Baron Grundel, who is a model of piety and received me most kindly. He showed and told me a variety of interesting things.
He had a number of ‘Loxias’ or ‘conirosores’ [crossbills] in a cage. They ate pine-cones with enormous skill, picking them up in their mouths, holding them with their feet and taking out the seeds with their crossed bills.
In the marsh outside the window I saw a ‘Motacilla flava’ [Blue-headed Wagtail] and ‘Hirundines’ [Swallows]. He had also had ‘Hortulanes’ or snow buntings, which often sell for a ducat in France and can also be got in Skåne. There have been plenty of ruffs this summer.
He showed me fox pelts, some blueish, some black, and some from cross-foxes ie. yellow but going over to black on the shoulders and across the hindquarters. He had recently sent a live wolverine to the king, and he had tamed an otter so well that when holes were cut in the ice to allow it to go back into the lake it did not want to go. Nor would it eat live fish.
In his garden he showed me goosefoot, lettuce, cabbage (white cabbage does not mature easily here though red cabbage does well), ‘Nasturt.’ [Garden Cress], ‘Barbarea’ [Common Wintercress], ‘Cochlear’ [Horse-radish], ‘Portulacca’ [Purslane], ‘Crespinus’ [Barberry], ‘Sambucus’ [Elder], ‘Opulus’ [Guelder rose], ‘Syringa’ [lilac], ‘Cucumis’ [cucumber], spinach, ‘Aquilegia’ [Columbine], ‘Cepa’ [onion], leeks, chives, ‘Carophylli barbat.’ [Sweet William], ‘Grossularia’ [gooseberry], ‘Ribes’ [currant].
Potatoes do not get any bigger than poppies here; tobacco will only produce seed with the greatest of care and in the best years. ‘Phaseolus pumila’ [Dwarf French Bean] grows well but ‘scandens’ [Kidney Bean] never grows. ‘Paba’ [Broad Bean] likewise. ‘Pisum’ [Pea] will not come to maturity. ‘Rosa’ [rose], ‘Malus’ [apple], ‘Pyrus’ [pear] and ‘Prunus’ [plum] do not grow wild but may cultivated without great difficulty. ‘Radicula’ [cress], ‘Sinapi’ [White Mustard], ‘Raphanus rust, et hort.’ [Wild Radish and Garden Radish]. Podless peas excellently.
Piteå: leeks, chives, ‘Barbarea’ [Common Wintercress], ‘Aquilegia’ [Columbine], ‘Ptarmica’ [Sneezewort], ‘Lychnis coron.’ [catchfly]4, ‘Cochlearia’ [Horse-radish], ‘Ribes’ [currant], ‘Grossularia’ [gooseberry], ‘Crespinus’ [Barberry], ‘Rosa sylv.’ [rose]5, ‘Levisticum’ [lovage]; bad for ‘Cerasus’ [cherry], ‘Pomus’ [apple], ‘Prunus’ [plum].
The barley was now beginning to shoot up but there were a few places where it had still not been sown.
The governor gave me a very curious piece of information about the clay among the sandhills. He said that it increases along with the waxing moon and decreases with the waning moon, so that if you dig while the moon is waxing you get clay, whereas when the moon is waning you get sand.
He said that the aurora borealis may be seen during the day and that, even in the day, it moves quickly in front of the clouds, expanding at one moment and contracting at the next.
25th. I found an ‘Ephemera cauda biseta’ [Mayfly] down by the shore.
As soon as I entered Vasterbotten, I noticed that all the people had a kind of short boot called “kängor” on their feet. At first I was convinced that they were clumsy but soon discovered that it was much easier to walk in them than in any other kind. What’s more, they do not let in water even if you wade in up to the ankle. Furthermore, unlike other boots, they do not have seams that burst and no buckles are necessary. They are suitable both as boots and as shoes, so that a ploughman does not need to buy boots for his work. The price of ordinary boots is at least 9 daler.
Norwegian boots are 5 daler, but these can be bought for only 2 daler. In fact, all the leather that is cut up to make boot-soles is saved here, since a thick sole of 3 or 4 layers of leather is unnecessary. Heels are not needed since nature, which no one has yet managed to improve on, has not given human beings high heels. And it is quite apparent that people here walk as lightly and nimbly in these “kängor” as they do in bare feet.