LULEÅ. 249 



The natives of the country tan their lea- 

 ther with birch bark, buying hides of the 

 colonists for this purpose. The hides, after 

 being plunged into warm water, are buried 

 in some out-of-the-way corner of the hut, 

 and taken up every day till the hair begins 

 to separate, which is then scraped off with 

 a roundish knife. The recent inner bark 

 of the birch, cut into small pieces, is then 

 boiled in common water for half an hour ; 

 in which liquor, when partly cooled, the 

 skin is immersed. On the two following 

 days it is taken out, the liquor warmed, 

 and the skin replaced. Afterwards it is 

 dried in the open air in the shade. This 

 leather is much better and softer than what 

 the colonists themselves prepare, but these 

 last-mentioned people are very tenacious of 

 their own modes and customs. 



Near the margin of the river various 

 species of Willow, which I had already 

 gathered and described, were growing in 

 high beauty, and contributed greatly to 

 the ornament of its banks. The neigh- 



