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OUTHIER’S JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. 291
near being drowned : as all the ill that followed the accident was only his fear, we did
nothing but laugh at it, and kept ourfelves alive by our gaiety.
Monday, the twentieth, the {moke was ftill thicker; it was diftinguifhable in every
quarter. In dry weather, as it was then, the mountains of the country often take fire,
which communicates in an inftant to the dry mofs, and fpreads prodigioufly ; fometimes
three weeks elapfe before it is extinguifhed. The fmoke of thefe fires extends over the
eulph, hides the beacons from the pilots, and frequently caufes fhipwreck. ‘This fhewed
us how wifely we had aéted in not lofing time in Sweden and at Torneo, and in nearly
completing our trigonometrical obfervations before this fmoke was common, which would
not allow the perception of diftant objeéts, fuch as the points of our triangles were. Meffrs.
Clairaut and Camus returned in the evening to fup and fleep with us on the mountain.
Tuefday, the twenty-firft, the exprefs fent to Horrilakero having reported that the
fignal there was burnt, Peter, the fervant which the ambaflador gave, an intelligent man,
and who knew the centre of the fignal, departed with fix men to re-conftrué it. We
never failed to take exaétly the centre of our fignals, and in the obfervation of the angles
to make the interfe€tion of the two reflectors of the inftrument anfwer to it. When
we left a fignal, ifit was on a rock, we made a mark at the centre on the rock; and we
made more fure of it, by taking its diflance and direGtion from certain neighbouring
trees and rocks, of which frequently we preferved a copy in the regifter of our obfer-
vations. If the fignal was placed on the ground, or we were any ways able to drive a
ftake in at the centre, we did fo, and on leaving the place we covered it with a large
ftone; it is thus we had acted at Horrilakero.
Madame Brunia fent to us on the mountain a difh of hafhed meat, and one of green
peas; but they were fo much fugared and feafoned with lemon-peel, according to the
tafte of the country, that we could not eat it.
At four o’clock in the afternoon the fmoke was difperfed, and we took the two angles
remaining. At nine o’clock we went down to fleep at M. Brunius’s, where we found
letters announcing the arrival of the fextant, which M. Celfius had ordered in England,
and which was to ferve us to examine the diftances of fome {tars from the zenith.
The next day, Wednefday, the twenty-fecond, early in the morning, we all went to
the northern fignal of the bafe : we caufed it to be rebuilt in as folid a manner nearly as
the houfes of the country are wont, preferving in a ferupulous manner the fame centre.
We had only to take the angle between Avafaxa and the fouthern fignal of the bafe,
and were not able to effect this, owing to the {moke, till four in the afternoon ; we were
even obliged to fend aman to fpread a very white cloth over the fignal. At nine o’clock
we returned to fup and fleep at M. Brunius’s: his houfe was the beft retreat we met
with ; it was placed nearly in the middle of the fpace comprifed by our triangles, and
very near the northern extremity of our bafe: we always found there three rooms,
that we could occupy without inconvenience to the family, which was very numerous.
‘They furnifhed us abundantly with every thing neceflary for our fuftenance, and every
one there exerted himfelf to ferve us. The good father, old and blind; the mother
of the fame age ; their fon and fon-in-law, with their family and fervants, formed a very
‘natural reprefentation of a houfe of the ancient patriarchs. Hofpitality is exercifed
pretty generally throughout the country: if want of reft, or dread of bad weather, at
"any time induced us to take refuge in a houfe, the mafter, before we could fay any
thing to him, fometimes even without an interpreter to make ourfelves under{tood, im-
mediately opened for us an apartment, apparently deftined for ftrangers only, and re-
mained ftanding looking at us, his family aflembled about him, and every one quickly
haftened to wait on us. If it were in the fmalleft degree cold, fire was immediately
PP2 kindled ;
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