MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 



483 



which the waters of the Maelar 

 were discharged, constantly en- 

 veloped during the month in a 

 thick exhalation, as if rising from 

 boiling water. 



This effect admits of an easy ex- 

 planation : a perpetual supply of 

 water takes place from under the 

 ice, great part of which (since the 

 freezing of its surface) has reas- 

 sumed a higher degree of tempe- 

 rature from the warmth of the 

 earth j the interchange of parti- 

 cles occurring in the steam, be- 

 cause they are in this way pos- 

 sessed of a different quantity of 

 heat, prevents the whole from 

 being cooled down to the point 

 necessary for congelation : the 

 declivity continually keeps up the 

 effect ; and so great a difference 

 existing between the temperature 

 of the air and that of the water 

 will occasion steam to be given 

 out from its surface at any point 

 of the thermometer. 



The wolves at this time, severely 

 pressed by famine, lost their usual 

 dread of man, and prowled fear- 

 lessly on the roads, following the 

 track of the carriages, to a great 

 distance ; in one or two instances 

 indeed they were known to ven- 

 ture, during the night, into the 

 villages in search of prey. 



All communication with Eng- 

 land, through the port of Gotten- 

 burgh, was entirely cut off j the 

 packet-boat came in sight, but 

 was inaccessible from the regions 

 of broken ice that encircled the 

 coast : an himdred guineas were 

 offered to any one that would un- 

 dertake the perilous office of 

 fetching the mails ashore ; yet 

 even this temptation was held out 

 in vain, and after waiting more 

 than a fortnight the vessel re- 

 turned to Harwich. 



On setting foot in the Aland 

 islands we passed the frontier 

 of the Russian empire, for the 

 line of their coast was settled as 

 the boundary by the treaty of 

 1809 : it is singular, that not- 

 withstanding their vicinity to 

 Stockholm, so dangerous in case 

 of a rupture, the Swedish govern- 

 ment has not reclaimed these im- 

 portant posts, for there was a time 

 when Russia could not have re- 

 fused to cede them. 



The island scenery appeared, as 

 we journeyed, even at this time, 

 beautiful; the dark lush of the fir 

 formed a strong contrast with the 

 silvery fleeces of snow that roofed 

 the forest, and the whole seemed 

 to have assumed a new charm in 

 this livery of winter. Our road 

 was an undeviating line from 

 place to place, no obstacle pre- 

 sented itself ; we passed over the 

 fields, through the woods, across 

 the ice ; hill and dale, land and 

 water, were all alike : sometimes 

 we traversed the rocky channel of 

 a deep-bedded river, at other times 

 wandered among the inlets of a 

 lake, at others again steered our 

 way between the islands over the 

 open sea. The path was traced 

 out on shore by large poles headed 

 with straw, over the ice by boughs 

 of trees, stationed at intervals, 

 drawing a long thread over its 

 surface that in some places reached 

 to the very edge of the horizon ; 

 we were skirted, indeed, by one 

 of these hedges in our passage 

 across the Delet, for the distance 

 of more than twenty English miles. 



The burden of providing these 

 necessary marks is a duty that falls 

 upon the inhabitants of the several 

 parishes respectively ; notice is 

 given at the church as aoon as the 

 ice may be reckoned secure, and 



2 12 certain 



