Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Pages ...
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM, 351
would merely be a village. Indigence often reigns there, from the fcarcity of corn, and
the fmallnefs of the product of the fifhery : there are fucceflive years in which the earth
and the fea are equally fordid. The inhabitants of Hernofand might remedy thefe de-
feéts by the refource of labour, if it were fufficient to be miferable, in order to become
induftrious ; but they would have occafion for advances and encouragement. Perhaps
the rich part of the community gains more by the poverty of the people than by their
profperity : at leaft it is a political maxim, fufliciently {pread over Europe, to prefer the
opulence of a {mall number to the eafy circumftances of the people at large; and to
divide fociety unequally into two clafles, of which the one labours, and the cther
enjoys.
The commerce carried on by Nordland in dried and fmoked meats is one of the moft
oppofite to the profperity of that country, however advantageous it may be to the citi-
zens and peafants of northern Angherman. ‘The butter and cheefe are excellent in
that country, and they have the cruelty to kill, in order to make falt meats, many fhe-
goats and cows, which afford good milk ; but like the boy in the fable, they would have
all the golden eggs of the hen at once. Ifthe labour and induftry were direéted by
wife views; if the adminiftrators of the {tates had immediately for end the public utility,
and only employed as the means the wealth of individuals, the happinefs of all the citi-
zens would be the refult of their operations.
We left part of our equpiage at Hernofand, and we embarked on ‘a large gulf near
that town. We afterwards aicended the river of Anghermanna for eight miles and a
half, N. W. ; at its mouth it is nearly a league in width: large vefleis can only navigate
to the inn of Hanmar, where the merchants and manufacturers have eftablifhed a depot
for the iron, planks, and other materials diftributed among the manufactories of this
country. Beyond this magazine, which is five miles from Hernofand, flat-bottomed
boats are ufed.
The fields and pafture-lands bordering Anghermanie are, for the moft part, well
fituated, handfome and fertile, to the parifh of Solett, where the land confifts of a rich
and fine argil: here we meet the firft cataract of the river. This river might eafily be
rendered navigable for a much greater diftance, by conftructing a fluice, which would
ferve to raife the flat-bottomed boats to the level of the water-fall ; but as this is followed
by feveral others, only feparated by fhort intervals, the number of fluices which would
be required for the navigation of the river would incur great expences.
Near the fall of Solett, on the weftern fhore of the Anghermanna, is found a low land,
where it feldom freezes, while the elevated places are con{tantly frozen. Much farther
to the fouth the heights are not fubjeét to froft, and the low parts are commonly ex-
pofed. It may be prefumed, from this fingularity, that the nature of the foil contributes
as muchas its fituation, to the effect of the influence of the feafons.
Half a mile to the north of Solett, the Anghermanna receives the river of Adale, which
rifes in the mountains, and iffues by the Rock of Swans, near Kit/chewari. In the pa-
rifhes of Solett and Botea, a third part of the lands is every year left unemployed : the
other two thirds are fown, half with autumnal grain, half with that of {pring ; fometimes
they fow them only with the latter. The foil is rich and fertile; but without doubt cold,
fince the inhabitants warm the water they give their cattle to drink.
The country of the environs of Solett, which borders the river, is called Adal; the
appearance is very pleafing : the fhores are crowned with hills of a tolerable height, the
declivity of which is infenfible. Thefe hillocks are argillaceous, and owe partly to art
the agreeablenefs of their profpet, interlected with fields and meadows. The fhores of
the
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
