ALTEN, HAMMERFEST, &C. 481 



and lie down upon the shelf, which is covered with birch boughs. 

 The woman who attends the bath then hands you up a large 

 rod, dipped in hot water, with which you are to whip yourself 

 well all over ; she, in the meantime, throwing water on the 

 stones to increase the steam. To do the thing properly, you 

 ought to lie there till a most copious burst of perspiration takes 

 place ; but after I had endured two volleys of steam, I could 

 bear it no longer, and roaring out to the old lady, " Ikke 

 mere" (no more), I descended the ladder as fast as possible. 

 On coming down you step into a large tub of hot water, and 

 are very carefully washed with soap from head to foot. You 

 then wrap yourself in a sheet, and go to the open air, or into 

 the house, where you must sit undressed till the perspiration 

 subsides. We all agreed that the affair was rather disagree- 

 able than otherwise ; but this was in a great measure owing to 

 the steam being combined with the suffocating wood smoke. 

 A very little alteration in building the furnace with a chimney 

 would obviate the inconvenience. 



Although the heat in the bath was very great, and its situa- 

 tion very open and exposed, we felt no inconvenience on 

 coming into the open air. I much regret that I had not a ther- 

 mometer with me, in order to have ascertained the temperature 

 of the interior of the bath. I have described the operation at 

 some length, as what we saw and heard of the baths, differed 

 much from the account given by Aeerbi. 



\2th. — Kambled about Bossekop, sketching, &c., and in the 

 evening returned to Kaafiord. 



\Sth. — We were much amused at witnessing the public 

 flogging of a man, who had been detected in purloining some- 

 thing from the Company's store. It took place opposite the 

 store, just after the miners had been paid their weekly wages, 

 consequently there was a numerous assemblage. The culprit 

 did not even take off his jacket, and he received a few blows 

 across the back with a stout rope. It was altogether a very 

 ridiculous affair, and, as a gentleman present remarked, any 

 English sailor would have taken the same punishment for a 

 glass of grog. 



lUh. — Early in the morning a large party started for Talvig, 

 where the parish church is situated, a distance by water of 

 about twelve miles. 



The principal object of our visit was to be present at the 



