24 THE FOKEST LANDS OF FINLAND. 



assurance they gave that we had met in what was really 

 a land of strangers. Amongst the most luxuriant were 

 wild Canterbury bells, and other species of campanula, 

 agrimony, golden rod, shepherd's rod, willow herbs great 

 and small, tormentil, silverweed, milfoil, cranberries, blae- 

 berries, goloobnitza, broosniJca, and sweinelange, in abun- 

 dance. Ferns were not awanting, and mosses there were 

 in plenty, and lichens but such lichens ! in number, 

 variety, magnitude, colouring, beauty of form, and height 

 of growth, far surpassing everything in that class of plants 

 I could previously have imagined. There were rocks 

 and rocks of such magnitude/ enamelled with them as is 

 a field in Britain with buttercups and daisies. I brought 

 away a Canina peltidea, 12 inches in diameter. With the 

 flowers named, there were very fine knapweeds, St John's 

 worts, chrysanthemums in considerable variety, and ex- 

 quisitely formed blue cornflowers, and cow-wheat ; but 

 the campanulas and lichens were what arrested the eye 

 the campanulas on this side, the lichens on yonder. 



The village in the vicinity of the Falls is a wretched 

 ruckle of old houses, inhabited apparently by the poorest 

 of the poor ; but I have seen more than one peasant 

 apparently, however, peasants from a distance, and Russian 

 not Finnish enjoying the scenery as much as did I ; 

 one peasant I still see, now launching trees into the 

 torrent, witnessing their sudden disappearance, watching 

 for their reappearance, tracing their progress with the 

 rapidity of an arrow which told of the velocity with which 

 they were carried down the stream, and of the desire of 

 the observer to catch yet another sight of the sea-serpent- 

 like body rushing on now standing in silent amaze : I 

 sympathised with his feelings, both in the one case and 

 in the other. 



Not the least exciting of the adventures of the day was 

 the crossing of the ferry, in a smooth reach between two 

 rapids, in a large boat with trees for oars trees cut at 

 one end into oar-like blades : and at the other cut so as to 

 allow of their being held and plied. There was the rapid 



