Northern Husbandry
5th Oct. Departed thence. The arable fields in Finland are splendid; big and very flat fields; look like those in Östergötland.
6th. We went aboard the mail boats. There was red rock at BRANDÖN and after that the whole of ÅLAND consisted of the same red rock; indeed, a whole castle such as KASTELHOLM for instance (now falling into ruin) was built of the same stone.
The womenfolk use ‘Lichenoides saxatile’ [lichen] for dyeing.8 It produces a brown colour, a colour resembling human excrement. They boil the moss in water without alum, though some add a little orellin. They only use it to dye woollen homespun or stockings.
They have sealskin shoes, like short boots.
7th. I arrived at Åland Castle in the evening; plenty of Sea Buckthorn along the road.
8th. Crossed the Åland Sea.
9th. Near EDSBRO: 1. ironworks for various mines that have opened recently in Roslagen. 2. upright stones had been erected as gravestones at the church. 3. NB. ‘Juniper’ on hillocks by the furnaces and the church. They stood there just like cypresses, growing thick, close together and tall.
10th. Towards 1 o’clock in the afternoon I arrived safely in Uppsala.