70 
LINNAEUS 
They descended by the steepest, southern side, 
collecting by the way all kinds of rare plants, and 
finding an owl’s nest with three young ones. 
Continuing northward the journey was not exempt 
from unpleasantness; not a single horse did he mount 
which did not fall under him, once or repeatedly, and 
on one occasion he hurt himself so that he could 
hardly mount his steed again. He found his collec¬ 
tion of minerals too troublesome to carry, so at 
Hernosand he had them packed ready to be sent to 
Uppsala. 
The road followed the coast, where Linnaeus sighted 
the fragments of a wreck. By the evening he reached 
Sundsvall and then proceeded to Fjahl, where, on the 
18th May, Ascension Day, he stayed, partly for the 
festival, partly to rest his wearied and shaken body. 
The next day he resumed his way and made a visit 
to a cave in the Brunasberg, where it was said, a 
felon lodged for a year or more, without disturbance. 
Soon after he left Medelpad and its sandy roads, and 
entered Angermanland, where big and deep streams 
showed themselves, and were troublesome to cross. 
Passing quickly by Hernosand he ferried over 
the great Angermanland river, which here forms 
a bay. 
The next day, 20th May, Linnaeus encountered 
an event which might easily have ended his journey. 
The road lay alongside a steep and high mountain, 
the Skulberg, in which there was said to be a cavern. 
He wanted to go there, but the natives said it was 
impossible; however, with great difficulty he got a 
couple of fellows to go with him to show the way. 
They ascended chiefly by dragging themselves up by 
the bushes, or stones. He was following one of the 
men, who was scrambling up a steep cliff, but when 
he saw the other man getting up better, he started to 
join the latter. Hardly had he stepped a yard to one 
side, when the first fellow dislodged a stone, which 
fell past him, with fire and smoke; a narrow escape 
