MEMOIR OK XlNNiKUS. 



w'Im) withheld tlie iestiiiaonial, «id intiWuoed him as his ijirivate 

 pupil. '^ 



Looking at this apparentLy bo unfavouo'able a JbegiMuma^ of life, fit 

 seaiBS almost incredible .that rtJiis backward scholar, who (could not Ik 

 ifflduced to leajrn any thing, should have, in after-life, stood m so higii 

 arauk as a man of science, that his fame attracfted to the out-of-waiy 

 kingdom of Sweden, jjupils from all. quarters of the world, in the sa;Eoe 

 wa-y as his diatinguisJiod countryBaan Berzelius, tlie .cliemist, is doing 

 at the present itiwe. One od" ithe first ewtorprises of anoment under- 

 taken by the youn^ JLiumseue, was an .exjpeditioB to explore Laplaaad, 

 under the patronage, and at the expense, of the Royal Academy. 



On account <i>f the :season the journey could not be commenced foe- 

 foix; tlxe*j4'ing; aad JUinnseus did not set out before the i3th May, 

 1 732. He commenced the journey in high spii'its, and in love with 

 nature ; ti-avelled <m liorseback ; and carried his whole baggage o« 

 his back.. It may be worth while to describe his dress and implements 

 in his own woids, fr^^m the narrative laid before the Academy of 

 Sciences : " My clotlies consisted of a light coat of West Gothland 

 limsey-wolsey cloth, witliout folds, linGd with red shalloon, liaving 

 sioall cuffs, aad collar lOf shag ; Leather breeches ; a round wig ; a 

 green leather cap ; and a pair of half-boots. I carried a small lea- 

 thern bag lialf an ell in length, but somewhat kss in breadth, fur- 

 nished on one sid« with hooks and «yes, so that it could open and 

 shut at pleasure. This bag contained one shirt, two pair of false 

 sleeves, tAVo half-shirts, an inkstand, pencase, microscope, and spying 

 g'lass ; a gauze cap, to protect me occasionally from the gnats ; a comb ; 

 my journal ; and a parcel of paper, stitched together, for drawing 

 plants, both in folio ; my manuscript ornithology. Flora Uplandica, 

 and Characteres Generici. I wore a hanger at my side ; and car- 

 ried a small fowling-piece ; as well as an octangular stick, graduated 

 for the purpose of measuring. My pocket-book contained a passport 

 from the Governor of Upsala, and a recommendation from the Aca- 

 dcuiy." During the rest of this excursion, he made use of the mode 

 (;f travelling which was best suited to the roads and passes, and per- 

 formed the gi'eater part of it on foot. Many hardships were neces- 

 sarily undergone from the climate and nature of the country. His 

 life was often periled in crossing rapid rivers, upon the rude boats or 

 rafts constructed by the inhabitants, and endangered in a dreary waste 

 of almost unbounded snow, where the tracts of the rein-deer, and the 

 degree of heat retained by their dung, were the only guides to the huts 

 of their masters ; and he was even once fired on, by a native on the 

 coast of Finmarck. Notwithstanding these difficulties, he has eulo- 



