THE NORTH SWEDISH PROVINCES 141 



I attribute this to the soil, and could not but admire it 

 as the pruning of nature. 



' At Laby (one and a quarter Swedish mile further) 

 the forest abounds with the Spanish whortleberry, 

 now in blossom. Next came a large and dreary pine 

 forest in which the herbaceous plants seemed almost 

 starved ; the soil hardly two inches deep above the 

 sand bore heather, and some lichens of the tribe 

 called coralloides. The Golden Saxifrage } was now in 

 blossom.' 



He speaks of a runic monument near the posting- 

 house, but the inscription had already been copied. 



' Opposite Yfre is a little river, the water of which 

 would at this time have hardly covered the tops of my 

 shoes, though the banks are at least five ells in height. 

 Near the church of Tierp runs a stream whose bank 

 on the side where it curves is very high and steep. The 

 great power of a current, in the way it undermines the 

 ground, is exceeding visible at this place. It now grew 

 late, and I hastened to Mehede, two and a half miles ' 

 [S.] ' farther, where I slept.' 



He travelled this day over seven and a half Swedish 

 miles, or about fifty English miles. 



1 May 13. Here the yew grows wild. The forest 

 abounds with yellow anemone, hepatica, and wood- 

 sorrel. Here for the first time I heard the cuckoo. 



' Having often been told of the cataract of Elf 

 Carleby, I thought it worth while to go a little out of 

 1 Chrysosjjlenium alternifolium. 



