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OUTHIER’S JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. 313
us for guides, made a large fire, and the rein-deer were digging in the fnow, and feed.
ing on the mofs they found. ‘The cold was fo extreme that the fnow did not melt be-
fore the fire, nor afoot from it. On going down the mountain our Laplanders cau.
tioned us to plunge our ftick into the fnow as deep as we could, to leffen the velocity of
the fledges, and to prevent their continually falling on the hind legs of the rein-deer,
which were faftened tothem. When we were at the bottom of the mountain, our
Laplanders left their own fledges at Narki, and each guide feated himfelf on the fore-
part of a fledge, and kept it poifed with fingular addrefs. We went all the way to the
houfe of M. Brunius without once overturning, and very rapidly.
M. Muritius, belonging to the chart and map office of Stockholm, arrived at Torneo,
and came to fee us continue and compleat our meafurement of the bafe, and returned
again to Torneo. We meafured in two diftin& parties as before noticed ; the refult of
the meafurement of one was 7406 toifes, 5 feet 4 inches, of the other 7406 toifes, 5
feet exaCtly. The fecond party in meafuring fixed in the ice a ftake at every 100
toifes. M.de Maupertuis, Camus, and myfelf went on Saturday the twenty-ninth, and
Sunday the thirtieth, to be certain that no error had occurred in the number of the
hundreds, and meafured with a long chord of 50 toifes, the whole length of the bafe.
We completed this at three o’clock in the afternoon of Sunday ; a quantity of {now fell
with a bleak north wind, M. de Maupertuis with M. Helant fet off for Torneo, to which
place Mefirs. Clairaut, Le Monnier, Sommereux, and Herbelot, had gone the F riday
before. M. Camus and myfelf returned to M. Brunius whom we left on Monday
morning the thirty-firlt, accompanied by M. Celfius, and two fervants, and arrived at
Torneo at feven o’clock in the evening. It was very fine in the morning and fufficiently
temperate, but at four in the afternoon, a very cold South wind blew, with fnow.
Tuefday the firft of January was véry fine but very cold: the thermometer re-
mained for a long time at 20°, and even fell fo low as 22° below the freezing point.
Wednefday morning the fecond, the thermometer of mercury was at 28°, and that of
{pirit of wine at 25°. On the evening of the fame day, the cold increafed, the thermo-
meter of mercury was at 314, and a bottle of ftrong French brandy was quickly frozen,
We heard the wood of which the houfes are built, in the night crack with a great noife.
The noife refembled that of mufquetry. In fpite of this dreadful cold, the inhabitants
travel a great deal, and feem to prefer this feafon for their bufinefs.
Thuriday the third, it fnowed in quantities: at night the fky was clear, and Friday
morning, the fourth, it was covered with aurora borealis; the thermometers were at 2 5?
and.28°, which they continued to be at, on Saturday the fifth, the day on which they
kept Chriftmas, which they call Jule; the inhabitants pafled a great part of the day at
church, and the reft in their houfes, very much retired, and occupied with reading, or
finging the pfalms and canticles of the church.
The thermometer of mercury in the evening was 31°, and Sunday morning the fixth
33°. Anentire bottle of French brandy was frozen ina room withouta fire. The
evening of the fame day, the thermometer was at 37°, while that of {pirit of wine was
but at 29°, and this laft was frozen on Monday morning the feventh, and had rifen to
the temperature of the cellars of the obfervatory. M. de Mavpertuis carried it into his
room in this ftate; immediately after thawing, it fell a great deal, and afterwards rofe
to the temperature of the apartment. The weather became milder in the evening, and
the thermometer of mercury was at 25°, a quantity of {now fell with a South wind.
M. de Maupertuis had begun at the houfe of M. Brunius, while we were nieafuring
the bafe, an experiment, which he repeated feveral times at Torneo, to alcertain if the
toifes, and rods of wood, were lengthened or fhortened by the different temperatures of
VOL; I. S6 air:
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