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OUTHIER’S JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. EG:
in the fhape of a triangle, drawn by ahorfe, with the moft acute angle foremolt, fo
that the fides encreafing to the end, ranged the fnow on both fides. “Chole machines,
each of which was fo heavy that one horfe could fcarcely draw it, did not however fink
deep enough into the fnow, and had not all the effect, which the country people gave
us reafon to expect, fo that we made no further ufe of them.
As foon as we had arrived at the northern extremity of our bafe, between ten and
eleven o’clock, we concerted together, to begin exactly at the centre of the fignal, and to
go on the ice from the fhore fome toifes diftant from the fignal : we then divided into
two parties, each confifting of four meafurers. Each of us had a pencil; fome made
ufeiof paper, others hung a flip of board to theirneck, on which to mark a ftroke with
their pencil every time they laid down their rod. We did not truft thefe rods to any of
the country people, nor even to our fervants; they only fupported one end of them to
help usin carrying them; one of us always holding the other, and taking care to unite
exattly the nail which ended it, with that at the extremity of the one before. We had
the precaution to mark our rods, that they might fucceed in the fame order ; already we
had meafured 700 toifes at half paft two, when night coming on, we returned to the
houfe of M. Brunius. That day it was exceeding cold; the thermometer was at 18°
below the freezing point. While we were upon the bate, M. le Monnier drinking fome
brandy out a filver cup, his tongue was glued to it in fuch a manner as to tear off the
fkin.
Saturday the twenty-fecond it became milder, it fnowed a little till noon; it did not
however interrupt our meafuring ; even till three o’clock, the weather became open,
enabling us to fee fufficiently well.
Sunday the twenty-third was very mild and clear; while we were on the bafe at noon,
we faw the fun entire, elevated about a quarter of a degree, that is to fay, about halfits
diameter above the horizon, in the direétion of the river; we faw it as well on Tuefday
the twenty-fifth ; it rofe at half-paft eleven, and fet half an hour after noon. ‘The
weather continued fine and moderate on Monday, Tuefday, and Wednefday. Meffrs.
De Cederftrom and Meldecreutz came to fee us meafure, and remained with us Tuefday
and Wednefday.
Wednefday the twenty-fixth in the evening the cold increafed ; we all fuffered greatly
m returning to M. Brunius’s, from which we now proceeded as far as full two
French leagues. We got into our fledges, heated by the exercife of meafuring, and
proceeded two leagues in this ftate without moving our limbs, and expofed to an ex-
treme cold ; notwithftanding which none of us was materially injured ; ’tis true M. de
Maupertuis had fome of his toes froft nipped ; and I for fome weeks felt pain in my fin-
gers; but this was little to what we had a right to apprehend. Wednefday evening the
thermometer was at 15° below the freezing point, and Thurfday at 25°.
On the twenty-feventh, there was yet one part of the bafe to meafure which was not
planted with ftakes; Meffrs. Clairaut and Camus went to fix them, while M. de Mau-
pertuis and myfelf undertook a fhort but terrible excurfion.- On taking obfervations
of the angles at Avafaxa, we had omitted to take the height of a tree which entered into
the angles obferved. This could not caufe any fenfible error in our obfervations, but
M. de Maupertuis was too fcrupulous to pafs over the flighteft matter. We therefore
afcended Avafaxa, drawn in pulkas by rein-deer: they are fledges made like {mall
boats, pointed before, and ending ia keel which is only two or three inches broad.
The Laplanders have fledges of this defcription five or fix feet long, which are ufed for
tranfporting their dry fifh, and rein-deer fkins; but thofe common among the inhabi-
tants for travelling, which were what we made ule of, are at moft only four feet long ;
the
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