Finland. borg, 
—y—" mouth of the rapid 
fyland. 
awolax. 
i 
contains six. 
FINLAND. 
the capital of the 
province, a trading town at the 
‘river Ulea, with a : 
very bad har- 
bour, containing about 4000 inhabitants, and celebrated 
for its exports of salmon and tar ; Tafwartland, or Ta- 
vastia, situated to the eastward of Finland Proper, is 
about 80 leagues in length from south-west to north- 
east, and between 20 and 30 in breadth. It is the most 
fertile and beautiful district in Finland, but is very thin- 
ly inhabited, and poorly cultivated. It is mountainous 
towards the north; and towards the south full of lakes, 
one of which, named: Pajana, is 80 miles long, and 15 
broad, _ Its principal and almost only town is Tamast- 
thus, or Kroneborg, a small place, situated in a fertile 
on the banks of a lake, about 28 miles N. E. of 
bo. _— - 4 4 . 
Nyland stretches along the north coast of the Gulf 
of Finland about 40 leagues, and is between 15 and 18 
in breadth from north to south. It is level, fertile, and 
and designed as a bulwark against the encroachments 
of the Russians; Borgo, a but ancient town, about 
10 leagues eastward of the last mentioned, pleasantly 
situated on a hill, and containing a university, or rather 
academy, tt by seven professors ; Lovisa, or De- 
gery, formeny the frontier town between Russia and 
inland, in the midst of a remarkably stony or 
rather rocky country, but provided with a very conve- 
nient harbour. 
Sawolax, an inland province to the north of Nyland, 
extends about 70 leagues from north to south along the 
confines of Russia, and about 30 from west to east. It 
is covered with forests, rivers and lakes. The lake of 
Saima, which is nearly 160 miles in length, and 25 at 
its breadth, lies partly in this province, and 
within the Russian territories, and has a com- 
oe lake La by ee plage: acd 
river Voxen. . Its cipal town, ot, is situa 
ie: wom ot : 
which lies on the south-east extremi- 
ty of Finland, is naturally fertile, but thinly inhabit- 
ed, and almost destitute of cultivation. Its chief town 
is i aarp of oe Kexholme, 
once belonging to this provinee, have |} been inclu- 
ded. im Russian Finland. ™ 4 
Russian Finland, forming the province of Wybourg, 
was ceded by Sweden, partly in 1791, ae thivjaned of 
Nystadt, and ly in 1741, by the treaty of Abo; and 
icts,—W ybourg, Fredericksham, Wil- 
manstrand, Nyslot, K e, and Sardobol. The 
whole of Finland, indeed, is now to be included by the 
geographer, within the wide extent of the Russian em- 
pire. . pa mts the scene of many bloody 
struggles between the 
349 
} ing vessels, though its stream is so rapid, that 
b Py riegat down 0 Fa at the rate of 18 English 
miles in the hour ; the Cano, which s Biorneborg; 
the Aurajoki at Abo, about 100 yards broad, and re- 
markable for its muddy waters; the Kymen, which 
flows into the middle ofthe Gulf of Finland, and forms 
the boundary between Swedish and Russian Finland. 
‘The mountains of Finland often contain a brown mix- 
ture of felspar and mica. Lead ore is found in various 
parts, and a ferruginous earth from which iron is ex- 
tracted. There are, in many places, very extensive fo- 
rests, and one particularly to the north of Abo, about 
80 miles in length. Great devastations are occasioned 
in these forests by the tempests of winter, which seem 
to find access to the very centre of the wood, by de- 
scending in the manner of a tornado, and which tear up 
by the roots, or break in the middle of the trunk, or 
bend to the earth, the most enormous pines. Fre- 
quently also similar ravages are committed by confla- 
ions, occasioned by the carelessness of the peasants 
in smoking their pipes and making fires in the woods ; 
and sometimes, it is su , intentionally kindled, 
from an interested motive, as the inhabitants are allow= 
ed to cut down, for their own use, any trees in the 
= forests, which have been injured by the burning. 
he climate and seasons of Finland vary consider- 
ably in different parts of the country, according to their 
latitude and situation. At Uleaborg, which is the most 
northerly town, the winter commences in October and 
continues to the end of April. The spring is limited to 
the month of May ; the summer begins in June, and 
lasts three months; the autumn, like the spring, is con~ 
Finland. 
—_—~_ 
Mountains, 
Forests, 
Climaie. 
fined to one month, and both commences and termi« . 
nates in ber. ca oer — vex t ae 
are pretty 4 icu about the middle of Au-. 
gust ; and in se eaedaen of July, the pot herbs in the 
no have been known to ~e Lon the frost. 
rom the beginning of summer, however, the progress 
of v ion, as in most other northern latitudes, is re- 
markably rapid ; and there have been instances of grai 
being sown and reaped in the neighbourhood of Ulea- 
, in the space of six weeks. In the southern parts 
of country, near the Gulf of Finland, the heat in 
summer is equal to what is generally experienced in 
Portugal; and the long continuance of the sun above 
the horizon increases the temperature above that of 
more southern countries. At Uleaborg, the middle 
temperature of the four seasons, according to a mean 
rtion of 12 years, was found to be in winter 10 
below zero, in spring and. autumn six degrees 
above the ing point, and in. summer 15°. 
The surface of the country, besides what is occupied 
by large lakes and forests, is frequently covered with 
marshes and masses of stone; but not more so than other 
ek Seed, ag i Eat percep is a 
ess fertile an 8. soil is generally of a san 
nature, pee nay ph the cn papee. 4 
of riyulets, that,the proper earthy mould is tobe seen. 
Finland, however, ts to the view many rich pas- 
tures, and fields of grain, icularly of rye, oats, bar. 
ley; and even wheat. The principal exports of the 
country are salt, iron, copper, pitch, tar, deals, rye, 
butter, oil of seals, skins, tallow,. salt-beef, dried fish, 
and vessels built of fir ; but the mode of agriculture and 
kinds of produce are so similar to those of Sweden in 
general, that we refer to the account of that country for 
-@ more particular statement, on the subject... It may 
here, however, be remarked, as a curious circumstance, 
that the Finnish plough is of a very ancient model, and 
Soil. 
