ALTEN, HAMMERFEST, &C. 475 



either boiled clown with sugar, or eaten fresh, with sugar and 

 cream. In either way they are very palatable, and considered 

 very wholesome. Rubus arcticus, although abundant in some 

 spots, does not produce fruit so far north. The only other fruit 

 which ripens well, and is of frequent occurrence, is the common 

 red-currant, which is very plentiful in the moister woods. 

 The berries are gathered for preserving, but the plant is but 

 little cultivated. 



The whortleberry, Vaccinium rnyrtillus (" Blcebcvr" of the 

 natives), is also common, and sometimes eaten. The plant is 

 usually less luxuriant than with us, but the berries are, if any 

 thing, larger. Another plant of which the fruit is eaten is the 

 " Kraakebwr" {Empetrum nigrum), but it is only made use of 

 by the Laplanders. We some of us became fond of the 

 berries, which are much larger, and more juicy, than on our 

 English mountains. Some of the mountain tops afforded us 

 plenty of the fruit of Arbutus alpina, which is eatable, but not 

 very palatable. The berries are mealy and insipid, with a very 

 slight flavour of black currants. They form a very favourite 

 food for the ptarmigan. The raspberry occasionally occurs in 

 moist woods, but rarely produces fruit, neither did I observe 

 it in the gardens. 



5th. — Having heard that the skeleton of a human being was 

 lying among some rocks in the neighbourhood of Bossekop, 

 one of our party visited the spot, and possessed himself of the 

 skull. The orbit of the eye and some other parts were 

 overgrown with moss, which, on examination, proved to be 

 Splachnum mnioides. It is singular to observe how almost 

 invariably this genus delights to grow upon animal substances. 

 The skeleton was that of a Russian, who died many years 

 since on board a vessel at Bossekop. His companions not 

 wishing to take him so far as Talvig, or objecting to bury him 

 in a Lutheran church-yard, placed the body in a cleft of rock. 

 In the evening we returned to Kaafiord. 



6th. — Rambled up the valley towards Matthieson's Lake ; 

 but the extreme heat and the musquitoes conspired to prevent 

 us reaching our destination. The only birds we saw were abun- 

 dance of young fieldfares, which had just left the nest, a few 

 specimens of the cole titmouse, and some ptarmigan, which 

 were probably Lagopus Saliceti. The natives distinguish two 

 species or varieties, — the one affecting the woods, and the other 



