THROUGH FINLAND. 
- 283 
the different effedls produced by the mufic on perfons of different 
conftitutions. One, for example, remained during the whole of 
a fonata fixed and fleadfaft, his mouth open, his eyes Raring, 
without moving his eye-lids, and apparently ftruck with a ftupid 
aftonifhment: another, on the contrary, feemed to follow every 
ftep of the melody with his whole body, and appeared to fuffer a 
fort of mufical convulfion: but the moment we began to play 
their runa every eye was drowned in tears, and the emotion was 
general. 
The runa is a piece of the moft ancient melody of Finland, 
which is ftill retained by this people, and fuited to their national 
inftrument called the harfeu, probably the original of our harp , or 
a copy of the ancient cithara of the Greeks. 
The inhabitants of Finland have certainly a very fenfitive turn 
both for mufic and poetry. Indeed it fhould feem that thefe two 
arts go together, but the Finlanders have not made the fame pro- 
grefs in mufic as in poetry, on account of the imperfection of their 
national inftrument, and the attachment and veneration with 
which they have preferved it. 
The harpu confifts of five firings ; and here we may obferve the 
firft ftep in the origin of the arts. They had no idea of giving it 
more chords than there are fingers on the hand. The chords are 
a, h, c, d, e ; and c being flat, the inftrument becomes tuned in 
a minor, the favourite note of all the northern nations. The 
chords are of metal, and not, like thofe of the violin and guitar, 
fufceptible of being modulated by the fingers of the left hand. 
O o 2 The 
