32 THE FOREST LANDS OF FINLAND. 



which were presented by the place. Many years after this 

 he mentioned to Mr Finlayson, a Scotsman resident in St. 

 Petersburg, the opinion he had then formed and still held. 

 Mr Finlayson gave further consideration to the matter, 

 visited the place, formed his plans, applied for and received 

 pecuniary assistance from the Government, and erected 

 mills for spinning cotton, with other appliances. Now it 

 is called by the Finns, with some measure of pride, the 

 " Finnish Manchester." Many years ago the census showed 

 that it had at the time some 2000 inhabitants, of whom 

 160 were employed in a paper manufactory, and 700 in a 

 woollen manufactory. Judging from the appearance pre- 

 sented by the town, the numbers must have been very 

 greatly increased since then. 



In other cases the fall, though more like the rapids of 

 Imatra than a precipitous cascade, is so much less impetuous 

 that it does not prevent navigation from the upper reaches 

 to the sea. Thus is it with the upper rapids of the Ulea, 

 by which the waters of the lake of that name find their 

 way into the Gulf of Bothnia at Uleaborg, where, at the 

 mouth of the river, King John III. of Sweden, in 1570, 

 built a castle so named as the Castle on the Ulea river. 

 This castle was destroyed by lightning in 1793; but 

 meanwhile there had sprung up around it a village which, 

 becoming an important centre of trade, municipal privileges 

 were granted to it in 1605. Ship-building is here carried 

 on to some extent, and there is a considerable trade, prin- 

 cipally with England, in tar and deals. The Tjar-Hoff, or 

 tar depot, sometimes contains upwards of 100,000 barrels 

 of tar. Rapids are numerous on the river ; there are five 

 rapids the Meri-Koski opposite to the town. The boats 

 by which barrels of tar are brought down from the interior 

 by the river Ulea are described as made of the thinnest 

 boards, which bend like paper. When shooting the rapids, 

 they require to be, and they are, most skilfully managed. 

 My friend and fellow-voyager on Lake Saima, the Rev. Mr 

 Nicolson, had on another occasion some experience of this. 



