104 LULEAN LAPLAND. 



At Piirkijaur I hired a man to show me 

 the manner of fishing for pearls, for which 

 I agreed to pay him six dollars. He made 

 a raft of five timhers as thick as my body, 

 and two fathoms in length. At each end 

 was a staple to which the anchor was at- 

 tached. This anchor was nothing more 

 than a stone, tied round with twigs of birch 

 that it might not be lost, to which he fast- 

 ened a cord, about two fathoms in length, 

 made of birch twigs. He was likewise fur- 

 nished with a pole of the same length, 

 which served him to steer his raft, as it 

 floated along the strong current. The 

 bottom of the river is not easily seen at any 

 great depth ; but when he could distinctly 

 perceive it, he dropped his stone anchor, 

 fixing the upper end of the rope to the 

 staple on the raft, by which it became sta- 

 tionary. Whenever he wished to examine 

 another spot, he weighed anchor, and re^ 



was descending one of the great rivers of Lapland." 

 The synonym of Morison at least, which he has thus 

 by memory applied, proves to be erroneous. 



