June 5.
On the mountainous ground adjoining to the river I met with an herbaceous plant never before observed in Sweden. The flowers were not yet blown, but appeared within a few days of coming to perfection. I opened some, and found them of a papilionaceous structure. The tip of the standard, as well as of the keel, which was cloven, had a purplish hue. The whole
habit of the plant showed it to be an Astragalus (A. alpinus Fl. Lapp. n. 267. t. 9. f. 1.), which was confirmed by the last-year's pods, remaining on their stalks. I called it for the present Liquiritia minor (Small Liquorice).
By this time I became almost starved, having had nothing fit to eat or drink for four days past, neither boiled provision of any sort, nor any kind of spoon-meat. I had chiefly been supported by the dried flesh of the reindeer above mentioned, which my stomach could not well digest, nor indeed bear except in small quantities. The fish which was offered me I could not taste, even to preserve my life, as it swarmed with vermin. At length I happily reached the house of the curate, and obtained some fresh meat.
The curate here had caught the Gwiniad (Salmo Lavaretus) five palms in length, which is an unusual size. This fish is remarkable for spawning near Lycksele church about Michaelmas, but in the alps
at Christmas, advancing gradually up the river between those two periods after pairing.
The small Gwiniad (Salmo Albula) pairs under the ice at this place about Christmas. In Smoland it pairs at Michaelmas.
Reindeer milk is excellent for making cheese, a pail of about three quarts yielding a large quantity. On this account those who keep cows add a portion of it to their milk; by which method they obtain much more cheese than otherwise.
The reindeer suffers great hardship in autumn, when, the snow being all melted away during summer, a sudden frost freezes the mountain Lichen (L. rangiferinus), which is his only winter food. When this fails, the animal has no other resource, for he never touches hay. His keepers fell the trees in order to supply him with the filamentous Lichens that clothe their branches; but this kind of food does not supply the place of what is natural to him. It is astonishing how he can get at his proper
food through the deep snow that covers it, and by which it is protected from the severe frosts.