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TRAVELS OF EHRENMALM. 453
A large river overflown ravages, it is true, cultivated fields; fometimes carries away
hamlets with their inhabitants and flocks ; deftroys the provifions of one year, the crops
of another, and the refources of feveral. But this river has produced during ages an
immente population, by the fertility of its banks, by navigation and commerce ; it has
iven water to the cattle who manure the land, and afford food to man; it has fupplied
the inhabitants of its fhores with fith : if it had not fed the regions which it traverfes,
we fhould not behold them covered with fields, towns, rich and populous cities. Happy
therefore are the ftates which are watered by great rivers, if the inhabitants know how
to take advantage of the benefits they offer, and provide againft the difafters they may
occafion! Egypt has fubdued the Nile: the Po, the Rhone, the Loire, and Garonne,
are they more formidable? Every where do the waters require the afliftance of art,
either to become ufeful, or to prevent their being prejudicial to mankind.
It feems even as if Nordland fhould rather expect its fubfiftence from the waters than
the land: it fearcely poflefles any other foil fit for cultivation than thofe which are
marfhy. Near Refilla is feen a hill covered with bufhes, which are only fit for burn-
ing ; it is the moft elevated part of the environs: the foil is good, but uncultivated, be-
caufe it is overfpread with ftreams, which render it miry. Nearly in all Nordland, each
peafant pofleffes a fmall water-mill, the wheels of which are horizontal. Water even
which refufes to the culture of lands, lends at leaft its affiftance to the labour of man.
Between Liens and Iunfila the lands, nearly all ftony, are covered with mofs and
wood; they could procure timber, if they had the means of conveying it. A merchant
of Hernofand has attempted to procure fome: during the winter he had fome cut and
carried to the river fide ; then about the middle of fummer, at the greateft {wells of the
waters, he had his wood thrown into it in pieces: the river has brought feveral of
them to the place he wifhed; but many others have been {topped by the finuofities of
the river: perhaps another {weil will bring the remainder of his cargo of wood. This
method of conveyance would be ufeful to navigation ; for in thofe woods there are found
trees which appear very fit for mafts: it is true that they are in general injured by the
inclemency of the feafons; many are frozen, beat down by the wind, or at leaft broken ;
the greater part is cracked.
The cold which is injurious to the trees, is yet more fatal to the corn. The inha-
bitants of all the country to the north of Refilla are unable to derive from the land
either any thing for fuftenance or to pay duty: the nights there are fo cold, when the
corn ripens, that it is often frozen and irrecoverably loft. ‘The parifhes of Liens and
Junfila have few hamlets which are not expofed to this calamity. The greater part
therefore of the inhabitants of this diftrict, and the parifh of Afehle, give themfelves up
to the care of their cattle, in which confift all their riches; that is, which afford fubfift-
ence to the culivator, and duty to the ftate.
From Iunfila to the village of Hellan, in the parifh of Afehle, we traverfed for four
miles marfhes, woods, and mountains: we followed for fome time by water the wind-
ings of the river, in the places where there were no falls.
Thofe kinds of channels where the calm of the waters is not interrupted by any fall, are
called in the Nordland language Seh/es. Stark is a name given to the intervals of water
where the current is {tronger, but not fufficiently rapid, to prevent the paflage of vetlels:
thofe where the waters, without falling, run with fufficient rapidity to carry away every
‘thing, are called For/s : laftly, they give the name of Fa// to thofe where the waters are
precipitated, from whatever height they fall. This is a land as much negleGed by na-
ture, and difregarded by man, as that of which the unequal declivity occafions fo irre-
VOL, 1. ZZ. gular
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