Transcriber's note:Inconsistent spelling has been preserved, especially in the Finnish andSwedish snippets found throughout the book. Only obvious errors have beencorrected, and a listing of those can be found at the end of this e-text. 

THROUGH FINLAND IN CARTS

[Illustration: MRS. ALEC TWEEDIE. ]

THROUGH FINLAND IN CARTS

BYMRS. ALEC TWEEDIE

AUTHOR OF"MEXICO AS I SAW IT, " ETC. 

[Illustration]

THOMAS NELSON & SONSLONDON, EDINBURGH, DUBLINAND NEW YORK

TO MY HUSBANDALEC

TO MY DEAREST FRIENDSIR JOHN ERIC ERICHSEN, BART. , F. R. S. , LL. D. 

TO MY FATHERDR. GEORGE HARLEY, F. R. S. , F. R. C. P. 

ALL OF WHOM DIED SUDDENLY WITHIN A SPACE OF FIVE MONTHSI DEDICATE THESE PAGES IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCEOF THEIR LOVING INTEREST IN MY WORK

CONTENTS

 CHAP. PAGE

 I. OUR FIRST PEEP AT FINLAND 11

 II. A FINNISH COUNTRY-HOUSE 43

 III. FINNISH BATHS 64

 IV. A NIGHT IN A MONASTERY 84

 V. SORDAVALA, OR A MUSICAL FESTIVAL 112

 VI. "KALEVALA, " AN EPIC POEM 136

 VII. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 169

 VIII. IMATRA'S ROARING CATARACT 197

 IX. "KOKKO" FIRES 210

 X. WOMEN AND EDUCATION 219

 XI. A HAUNTED CASTLE 238

 XII. PUNKAHARJU 265

 XIII. THE LIFE OF A TREE 275

 XIV. THROUGH SAVOLAX IN CARTS 288

 XV. ON WE JOG 309

 XVI. A "TORP" AND "TORPPARI" WEDDING 335

 XVII. TAR-BOATS 365

 XVIII. DESCENDING THE RAPIDS 381

 XIX. SALMON--ULEÅBORG 406

 XX. A FASHIONABLE WATERING-PLACE 434

 APPENDIX. 

 QUESTIONS OF NATIONALITY AND POLITICS 448

PREFACE

When I was first approached by Messrs. Nelson and Sons for permission topublish _Through Finland in Carts_ in their shilling series, I feltsurprised. So many books and papers have jostled one another along mypath since my first journey to Finland, I had almost forgotten thevolume. 

Turning to an old notebook, I see it was published in 1897 at sixteenshillings. It appeared in a second edition. The demand still continued, so a third edition, entirely revised and reprinted, was published at acheaper rate. Others followed, and it now appears on the market at thereduced price of one shilling. Cheapness generally means deteriorationof goods, but cheapness in books spells popularity. 

Since the last revise appeared, a few years ago, I had not opened thepages of this volume; and strange though it may seem, I took it up tocorrect with almost as much novelty as if it had been a new book by someone else. An author lives with his work. He sees every page, everyparagraph, by day and by night. He cannot get away from it, it hauntshim; yet once the bark is launched on the waters of Fate, other thingsfill his mind, and in a year or two he forgets which book contains somespecial reference, or describes some particular thought. This is notimagination but fact. The slate of memory would become too full andconfused were such not the case. 

Finland has been progressing, and yet in the main Finland remains thesame. It is steeped in tradition and romance. There are more trains, more hotels, larger towns; but that bright little land is still bravelyfighting her own battles, still forging ahead; small, contented, welleducated, self-reliant, and full of hopes for the future. 

Finland has Home Rule under Russia, and her Parliament was the first toadmit women members. 

For those interested in the political position of Finland, an appendix, which has been brought up to date in every way possible, will be foundat the end of this volume. 

 E. ALEC TWEEDIE. 

LONDON, _Easter 1913_. 

THROUGH FINLAND IN CARTS

CHAPTER I

OUR FIRST PEEP AT FINLAND

It is worth the journey to Finland to enjoy a bath; then and not tillthen does one know what it is to be _really_ clean. 

Finland is famous for its baths and its beauties; its sky effects andits waterways; its quaint customs and its poetry; its people and theirpluck. Finland will repay a visit. 

Foreign travel fills the mind even if it empties the pocket. Amusementis absolutely essential for a healthy mind. 

Finland, or, as the natives call it in Finnish, _Suomi_, is a country oflakes and islands. It is a vast continent about which strangers untillately hardly knew anything, beyond such rude facts as are learnt atschool, viz. , that "Finland is surrounded by the Gulfs of Finland andBothnia on the South and West, and bordered by Russia and Lapland on theEast and North, " and yet Finland is larger than our own England, Scotland, Ireland, aye, and the Netherlands, all put together. 

When we first thought of going to _Suomi_, we naturally tried to procurea Finnish guide-book and map; but no guide-book was to be obtained inall London, except one small pamphlet about a dozen pages long; while atour best-known map shop the only thing we could find was an enormouscardboard chart costing thirty shillings. No one ever dreamed of goingto Finland. Nevertheless, Finland is not the home of barbarians, as somefolk then imagined; neither do Polar bears walk continually about thestreets, nor reindeer pull sledges in summer--items that have severaltimes been suggested to the writer. 

Nothing daunted by want of information, however, we packed up our trapsand started. 

We were three women, my sister, Frau von Lilly--a born Finlander--andthe writer of the following pages. That was the beginning of the party, but it increased in numbers as we went along--a young man here, a younggirl there, an old man, or an old woman, joined us at different times, and, alas, left us again. 

Having made charming friends in that far-away land, and picked theirbrains for information as diligently as the epicure does the back of agrouse for succulent morsels, we finally--my sister and I--jogged homeagain alone. 

This looks bad in print! The reader will say, "Oh, how disagreeable theymust have been, those two, that every one should have deserted them!"but this would be a mistake, for we flatter ourselves that we reallyare rather nice, and only "adverse circumstances" deprived us of ourfriends one by one. 

Love and Friendship are the finest assets in the Bank of Life. 

Grave trouble had fallen at my door. Life had been a happy bounteouschain; the links had snapped suddenly and unexpectedly, and solace andsubstance could only be found in work. 

'Tis often harder to live than to die. 

Immediate and constant work lay before me. The cuckoo's note trilledforth in England, that sad, sad note that seemed to haunt me and speedme on life's way. No sooner had I landed in _Suomi_ than the cuckooscame to greet me. The same sad tone had followed me across the ocean toremind me hourly of all the trouble I had gone through. The cuckoo wouldnot let me rest or forget; he sang a song of sympathy and encouragement. 

It was on a brilliant sunny morning early in June that the trim littleship _Urania_ steamed between the many islands round the coast to enter, after four and a half days' passage from Hull, the port of_Helsingfors_. How many thousands of posts, growing apparently out ofthe sea, are to be met with round the shores of Finland! Millions, wemight say; for not only the coast line, which is some eight hundredmiles in length, but all the lakes and fjords through which steamerspass are marked out most carefully by wooden stakes, or near the largetowns by stony banks and painted signs upon the rocks of the islands. Sometimes the channels are so dangerous that the little steamers have toproceed at half-speed, carefully threading their way in and out of theposts, as a drag at Hurlingham winds its course between barrels at thefour-in-hand competitions. 

Many places, we learnt, are highly dangerous to attempt at night, onaccount of these stakes, which are put down by Government boats in thespring after the ice has gone, and are taken up in November before itforms again, because for about seven months all sea traffic isimpossible. Sometimes the channels are so narrow and shallow that thescrew of the steamer has to be stopped while the vessel glides throughbetween the rocks, the very revolutions of the screw drawing more waterthan can be allowed in that particular _skär_ of tiny islands and rocks. At other times we have seen the steamer kept off some rocky promontorywhere it was necessary for her to turn sharply, by the sailors jumpingon to the bank and easing her along by the aid of stout poles; or again, in the canals we have known her towed round particular points by the aidof ropes. In fact, the navigation of Finland is one continual source ofsurprise and amazement. 

Finland is still rising out of the sea. Rocks that were marked withpaint one hundred and fifty years ago at the water's edge, now show thatthe sea has gone down four or five feet. This is particularly noticeablein the north: where large ships once sailed, a rowing boat hardly findswaterway. Seaports have had to be moved. Slowly and gradually Finlandis emerging from the waters, just as slowly and gradually the people aremaking their voice heard among other nations. 

Few people in Great Britain realize the beauties of Finland. It is flat, but it is fascinating. It is a land of waterways, interspersed withforests. The winter is very cold, the summer very hot; the winter verydark, the summer eternal light. _Helsingfors_ is one of the mostpicturesque harbours in the world. It is not like anywhere else, although it resembles Stockholm somewhat. It is so sunny and bright inthe summer, so delicious in colourings and reflections, that the primarythought of the intricate watery entrance to the chief capital is one ofdelight. 

The first impressions on entering the Finnish harbour of _Helsingfors_were very pleasing; there was a certain indefinable charm about thescene as we passed in and out among the thickly-wooded islands, or divedbetween those strong but almost hidden fortifications of which theRussians are so proud. Once having passed these impregnable mysteries, we found ourselves in more open water, and before us lay the town withits fine Russian church of red brick with rounded dome, the Finnishchurch of white stone, and several other handsome buildings denoting aplace of importance and considerable beauty. We were hardly alongsidethe quay before a dozen Finnish officials swarmed on board to examinethe luggage, but no one seemed to have to pay anything; a small ticketstuck on the baggage saving all further trouble. 

Swedish, Finnish, and Russian, the three languages of the country, werebeing spoken on every side, and actually the names of the streets, withall necessary information, are displayed in these three different formsof speech, though Russian is not acknowledged as a language of Finland, the two native and official languages being Swedish and Finnish. Onlythose who have travelled in Russia proper can have any idea of the joythis means to a stranger; it is bad enough to be in any land where onecannot speak the language, but it is a hundred times worse to be in acountry where one cannot read a word, and yet once over the border ofRussia the visitor is helpless. Vs becomes Bs, and such generalhieroglyphics prevail that although one sees charming tram-carseverywhere, one cannot form the remotest idea where they are going, soas to verify them on the map--indeed, cannot even tell from the writtenlettering whether the buildings are churches or museums, or only musichalls. 

Finnish is generally written with German lettering, Swedish with Latin, and the Russian in its own queer upside down fashion, so that even in aprimitive place like Finland every one can understand one or other ofthe placards, notices, and signs. 

Not being in any particular hurry, we lingered on the steamer's bridgeas the clock was striking the hour of noon--Finnish time, by the way, being a hundred minutes in advance of English time--and surveyed thestrange scene. Somehow _Helsingfors_ did not look like a Northerncapital, and it seemed hard to believe, in that brilliant sunshine, that for two or three months during every year the harbour is solidlyice-bound. 

Yet the little carriages, a sort of droschky, savouring of Petersburg, and the coachmen (_Isvoschtschik_) certainly did not come from anySouthern or Western clime. These small vehicles, which barely hold acouple of occupants and have no back rest, are rather like largeperambulators, in front of which sits the driver, whose headgear wasthen of beaver, like a squashed top hat, very broad at the top, narrowing sharply to a wide curly brim, which curious head-covering, well forced down over his ears, is generally ornamented with a blackvelvet band, and a buckle, sometimes of silver, stuck right in thefront. 

Perhaps, however, the most wonderful part of the _Suomi_ Jehu's attirewas his petticoat. He had a double-breasted blue-cloth coat fasteningdown the side, which at the waist was pleated on to the upper part ingreat fat folds more than an inch wide, so that from behind he almostlooked like a Scheveningen fishwife; while, if he was not fat enough forfashionable requirements, he wore an additional pillow before andbehind, and tied a light girdle round his waist to keep his dress inplace. 

All this strange beauty could be admired at a very cheap rate, forpassengers are able to drive to any part of the town for fifty _penniä_, equal to fivepence in English money. These coachmen, about eighty inchesin girth, fascinated us; they were so fat and so round, so packed inpadding that on hot days they went to sleep sitting bolt upright ontheir box, their inside pillows and outside pleats forming their onlyand sufficient support. It was a funny sight to see half a dozen_Isvoschtschiks_ in a row, the men sound asleep, their arms folded, andtheir heads resting on their manly chests, in this case cuirassed with afeathery pillow. 

Drawing these Finnish carriages, are those strange wooden hoops over thehorses' withers so familiar on the Russian droschky, but perhaps mostextraordinary of all are the strong shafts fixed inside the wheels, while the traces from the collar are secured to the axle itself outsidethe wheel. That seemed a novelty to our mind any way, and reminded us ofthe old riddle, "What is the difference between an inside Irish car andan outside Irish car?" "The former has the wheels outside, the latterhas the wheels inside. "

At the present day much of this picturesqueness has passed away, andcoachmen and chauffeurs in Western livery and the motor taxi-cab havelargely replaced them. 

Queer carts on two wheels were drawn up along the quay to bear thepassengers' luggage to its destination, but stop--do not imagine everyone rushes and tears about in Finland, and that a few minutes sufficedto clear the decks and quay. Far from it; we were among a Northernpeople proverbially as dilatory and slow as any Southern nation, for inthe extreme North as in the extreme South time is _not_ money--nay, morethan that, time waits on _every_ man. 

Therefore from the bridge of our steamer we heard much talking instrange tongues, we saw much movement of queerly-dressed folk, but wedid not see much expedition, and before we left Finland we found thatthe boasted hour and forty minutes advance on the clock really meantmuch the same thing as our own time, for about this period was alwayswasted in preparations, so that in the end England and Finland wereabout quits with the great enemy. Three delightful Finnish proverbs tellus, "Time is always before one, " "God did not create hurry, " "There isnothing in this world so abundant as time, " and, as a nation, Finnsgratefully accept the fact. 

Every one seemed to be met by friends, showing how rarely strangersvisited the land. Indeed the arrival of the Hull boat, once a week, wasone of the great events of _Helsingfors_ life, and every one who couldwent down to see her come in. 

A delightful lady--a Finlander--who had travelled with us, and had toldus about her home in Boston, where she holds classes for Swedishgymnastics, was all excitement when her friends came on board. Shetravels to _Suomi_ every year, spending nearly three weeks _en route_, to enjoy a couple of months' holiday in the summer at her father'sparsonage, near _Hangö_. That remarkably fine specimen of his race, HerrS----, was met by wife, and brother, and a host of students--for hereturned from Malmö, victorious, with the Finnish flag. He, withtwenty-three friends, had just been to Sweden for a gymnasticcompetition, in which Finland had won great honours, and no wonder, ifthe rest of the twenty-three were as well-made and well-built as thishardy descendant of a Viking race. 

Then again a Finnish gentleman had to be transhipped with his family, his horses, his groom, and his dogs, to wait for the next vessel toconvey them nearer to his country seat, with its excellent fishing closeto Imatra. He was said to be one of the wealthiest men in Finland, although he really lived in England, and merely returned to his nativecountry in the summer months to catch salmon, trout, or grayling. 

Then--oh yes, we must not forget them--there were the emigrants, nearlysixty in number, returning from America for a holiday, though a fewdeclared they had made enough money and would not require to go backagain. There are whole districts of Finlanders in the United States, andexcellent settlers they make, these hardy children of the North. Theyhad been ill on the voyage, had looked shabby and depressed, but, asthey came within sight of their native land, they appeared on deckbeaming with smiles, and dressed out wondrous fine, in anticipation oftheir home-coming. 

But were they excited? Not a bit of it. Nothing excites a Finn. Althoughhe is very patriotic he cannot lightly rise to laughter or descend totears; his unruffled temperament is, perhaps, one of the chiefcharacteristics of his strange nature. 

Yes, every one seemed met by friends on that hot June day; and we werelucky too, for our kindly cicerone, Frau von Lilly, who had tempted usto Finland, and had acquaintances in every port, was welcomed by herbrother and other relations, all of whom were so good to us that we lefttheir land many weeks afterwards with the most grateful recollections ofoverwhelming hospitality. 

Our welcome to Finland was most cordial, and the kindly greetings madeus feel at once at home among a strange people, none of whose threelanguages we could talk; but, as one of them spoke French, anotherEnglish, and a third German, we found no difficulty in getting along. Such servants as knew Swedish easily understood the Norwegian words wehad learnt sufficiently well to enable us to get about during twoenjoyable and memorable visits to Norway, [A] although strangeexplanations and translations were vouchsafed us sometimes; as, forinstance, when eating some very _stodgy_ bread, a lady remarked, "It isnot good, it is unripe dough" (pronounced like cough). 

We looked amazed, but discovered that she meant that the loaf was notsufficiently baked. 

As we drove along in the little droschky we passed the market, adelightfully gay scene, where all the butchers wore bright pink blousesor coats, and the women white handkerchiefs over their heads. We bumpedover cobble stones and across tram lines, little heeded by the numbersof bicyclists, both men and women, riding about in every direction, forFinland was in the forefront in the vogue for bicycle-riding. It wasmost amusing to notice the cycles stacked in the railway vans of thatnorthern clime, while on the steamers it is nothing extraordinary to seea dozen or more cycles amongst the passengers' luggage. In the matter ofsteamers, the companies are very generous to the cyclist, for he is notrequired to take a ticket for his machine, which passes as ordinarybaggage. 

Although we supply the Finlanders with machines, we might take a lessonfrom them in the matter of registration. At the back of every saddle inlarge figures was engraved the number, bought at the time ofregistration for four marks (three shillings and fourpence), consequently, in case of accident or theft, the bicycle couldimmediately be identified; a protection alike for the bicyclist and theperson to whom through reckless riding an accident is caused. 

_Helsingfors_, although the capital, is not a large town, having only150, 000 inhabitants, but there are nearly five thousand registeredbicycles plying in its streets. The percentage of riders is enormous, and yet cycling is only possible for about five months every year, thecountry being covered with snow and ice the rest of the time. Here wepass a Russian officer, who is busy pedalling along, dressed in his fulluniform, with his sword hanging at his side. One might imagine a swordwould be in the way on a cycle; but not at all, the Finland or Russianofficer is an adept in the art, and jumps off and on as though a swordwere no more hindrance than the spurs which he always wears in hisboots. There is a girl student--for the University is open to men andwomen alike, who have equal advantages in everything, and among thelarge number who avail themselves of the State's generosity are manycycling dames. 

The Finlander is brave. He rides over roads that would strike terrorinto our souls, for even in towns the cobble stones are so awful that noone, who has not trudged over Finnish streets on a hot summer's day, canhave any idea of the roughness. A Finlander does not mind the cobbles, for as he says, "they are cheap, and wear better than anything else, and, after all, we never actually live in the towns during summer, sothe roads do not affect us; and for the other months of the year theyare covered with snow, so that they are buried sometimes a foot or twodeep, and then sledges glide happily over them. "

It is over such stones that the cyclist rides, and the stranger pausesaghast to see him being nearly bumped off his machine--as we haveourselves bumped towards the bottom of a steep hill when coasting--andnot apparently minding it in the least, judging by the benign smileplaying upon his usually solemn physiognomy. He steers deftly in and outof the larger boulders, and soon shows us that he is a thorough masterof his iron steed. 

All the students of both sexes wear the most charming cap. In shape itclosely resembles a yachting cap; the top is made of white velvet, thesnout of black leather, and the black velvet band that encircles thehead is ornamented in front by a small gold badge emblematic of theUniversity. No one dare don this cap, or at least the badge, until hehas passed his matriculation examination. 

White velvet sounds thriftless; but in Finland, in the summer, it isvery hot and dry; in fact, the three or four months of summer are reallysummer in all its glory. It is all daylight and there is no night, sothat June, July, and August seem one perpetual midsummer day. Fortravelling or country rides, the Finland student wears a small linencover over his white velvet cap, which is made to fix on so neatly thatthe stranger does not at first detect it is a cover at all. In thewinter, the white cap is laid aside, and a black velvet one takes itsplace. 

Among the lower orders the women work like slaves, because they must. Women naturally do the washing in every land, and in the Finnishwaterways there are regular platforms built out into the sea, at such aheight that the laundresses can lean over the side and rinse theirclothes, while the actual washing is performed at wooden tables, wherethey scrub linen with brushes made for the purpose. 

Yet it seemed to us strange indeed to see women cleaning the streets;huge broom in hand they marched about and swept the paths, while a wholegang of female labourers were weeding the roadways. 

Women in _Suomi_ do many unusual things; but none excited our surpriseso much as to see half a dozen of them building a house. They werestanding on scaffolding plastering the wall, while others werecompleting the carpentry work of a door; subsequently we learnt therewere no fewer than six hundred women builders and carpenters inFinland. 

The Finns, though intellectually most interesting, are not as a ruleattractive in person. Generally small of stature, thickset, with highcheek-bones, and eyes inherited from their Tartar-Mongolian ancestors, they cannot be considered good-looking; while the peculiar manner inwhich the blonde male peasants cut their hair is not becoming to theirsunburnt skins, which are generally a brilliant red, especially aboutthe neck where it appears below the light, fluffy, downy locks. Fat menare not uncommon; and their fatness is too frequently of a kind to makeone shudder, for it resembles dropsy, and is, as a rule, the outcome ofliqueur drinking, a very pernicious habit, in which many Finlandersindulge to excess. There are men in _Suomi_--dozens of them--so fat thatno healthy Englishman could ever attain to such dimensions; one of themwill completely occupy the seat of an _Isvoschtschik_, while the amountof adipose tissue round his wrists and cheeks seems absolutelyincredible when seen for the first time, and one wonders how any chairor carriage can ever bear such a weight. Inordinately fat men arecertainly one of the least pleasing peculiarities of these northernnationalities. 

Top hats seemed specially favoured by Finnish gentlemen. 

Flannel shirts and top hats are, to an English mind, incongruities; butin _Suomi_ fashion smiles approvingly on such an extraordinarycombination. At the various towns, therefore, mashers strolled aboutattired in very bright-coloured flannel shirts, turned down flannelcollars, trimmed with little bows of silken cord with tassels to fastenthem at the neck, and _orthodox tall hats_. 

The Finnish peasant women are as partial to pink cotton blouses as theRussian peasant men are to red flannel shirts, and the bright colours ofthe bodices, and the pretty white or black handkerchiefs over theirheads, with gaily coloured scarves twisted round their throats, add tothe charm of the _Helsingfors_ market-place, where they sit in rowsunder queer old cotton umbrellas, the most fashionable shade for whichappears to be bright blue. 

The market is a feature in Finland, and in a measure takes the place ofshops in other countries. For instance, waggons containing butcher'smeat stand in rows, beside numerous carts full of fish, while fruit andflowers, cakes and bread-stuffs in trucks abound. Indeed, so fully arethese markets supplied, it seems almost unnecessary to have any shops atall. 

The old market folk all drink coffee, or let us be frank at once and saychicory, for a really good cup of coffee is rare in Finland, whereaschicory is grown largely and drunk everywhere, the Finlanders believingthat the peculiar bitter taste they know and love so well is coffee. Pure coffee, brewed from the berry, is a luxury yet to be discovered bythem. 

As we drove along, we noticed at many of the street corners large andsonorous bells made of brass, and furnished with chains to pull them. Wewondered what this might mean, and speculated whether the watchman wentround and rang forth the hours, Doomsday fashion. 

On asking information we were told--

"They are fire-bells, very loud, which can be heard at some distance. "

"But does not a strong wind cause them to ring?"

"No; they must be pulled and pulled hard; but you had better not try, oryou may be fined heavily. "

So we refrained, and pondered over the fire-bells. 

It is as necessary to have a passport in Finland as in Russia. Butwhereas in Russia a passport is demanded at once, almost before one hascrossed the threshold of an hotel, one can stay in a Finnish town forthree days without having to prove one's identity; any longer stay in ahotel or private house often necessitates the passport being sent to thepolice. It is a most extraordinary thing that a Finn should require apassport to take him in or out of Russia; such, however, is the case, and if a man in _Wiborg_ wishes to go to St. Petersburg to shop, see atheatre, or to spend a day with a friend, he must procure a passport forthe length of time of his intended visit. This is only a trifle;nevertheless it is a little bit of red-tapism to which the Finlandermight object. But it may have its advantages, for the passportrigorously keeps anarchists, socialists, Jews, and beggars out of_Suomi_. 

Until 1905, the press was severely restricted by the Censor, though notto the same extent as in Russia itself, where hardly a day passeswithout some paragraph being obliterated from every newspaper. Indeed, in St. Petersburg an English friend told us that during the six years hehad lived there he had a daily paper sent to him from London, and thatprobably on an average of three days a week, during all that time, itwould reach him with all political information about Russia stamped out, or a whole page torn away. 

We ourselves saw eight inches blackened over in _The Times_, and aboutthe same length in that day's _Kölnische Zeitung_ and _IndependenceBelge_ totally obliterated in Petersburg. We received English paperspretty regularly during our jaunt through Finland, and what amazed usmost was the fact that, although this black mark absolutely obliteratedthe contents, no one on receiving the paper could have told that thecover had been tampered with in the least, as it always arrived in itsown wrapper, addressed in the handwriting we knew so well. It remainedan endless source of amazement to us how the authorities managed to pullthe paper out and put it in again without perceptibly ruffling thecover. 

It is not unknown for a Finnish paper, when ready for delivery, to havesome objection made to its contents, in which case it must not bedistributed; consequently, a notice is issued stating that such and sucha paper has been delayed in publication, and the edition will be readyat a later hour in the afternoon. The plain meaning of which is thatthe whole newspaper has been confiscated, and the entire editionreprinted, the objectionable piece being taken out. _Presshinder_ is byno means uncommon. 

Unfortunately "a house divided against itself falleth, " which is aserious hindrance to progress. That _Suomi_ is divided, every one whohas studied Finnish politics must know. With its Russian rule, itsFinnish and Swedish proclivities, and its three languages, the countryhas indeed much to fight against. 

For those who are interested in the subject of its Home Rule, anAppendix will be found at the end of this volume. 

Very important changes have of late taken place in Finland. Less thanhalf a century ago the whole country--at least the whole educatedcountry--was still Swedish at heart and Swedish in language. From SwedenFinland had borrowed its literature and its laws until Russia steppedin, when the Finn began to assert himself. The ploughman is now educatedand raising his voice with no uncertain sound on behalf of his owncountry and his language, and to-day the greatest party in theParliament are the Social-Democrats. 

The national air of Finland is _Maamme_ or _Vårt Land_ in Swedish ("OurLand"). 

The words were written by the famous poet, J. L. Runeburg, in Swedish, which was at that time the language of the upper classes, and translatedinto Finnish, the music being composed by Frederick Pacius. In Finnishthe words are--

MAAMME

 Oi maamme, Suomi, synnyinmaa, soi sana kultainen! Ei laaksoa, ei kukkulaa, ei vettä rantaa rakkaampaa, Kuin kotimaa tää pohjainen, maa kallis isien. 

 On Maamme köyhä, siksi jää jos kultaa kaipaa ken. Sen kyllä vieras hylkäjää, mut meille kallein maa on tää Kans' salojen ja saarien se meist' on kultainen. 

 Ovatpa meistä rakkahat kohinat koskien, Ikuisten honkain huminat, täht' yömme, kesät kirkkahat Kaikk', kaikki laulain loistaen mi lumes' sydämen. 

 Täss' auroin, miekoin, miettehin isämme sotivat, Kun päivä piili pilvihin tai loisti onnen paistehin, Täss' Suomen kansan suurimmat he vaivat kokivat. 

 Ken taistelut ne kaikki voi kertoilla kansan tään, Kun sota laaksoissamme soi ja halla nälän tuskat toi? Sen vert' ei mittaa yksikään ei kärsimystäkään. 

 Täss' on se veri vuotanut edestä meidänkin, Täss' ilonsa on nauttinut ja tässä huoltain huokaillut Se kansa, jolle muinoisin kuormamme pantihin. 

 Täss' olla meidän mieluist' on ja kaikki suotuisaa; Vaikk' onni mikä tulkohon, meill' isänmaa on verraton. Mit' oisi maassa armaampaa, mit' oisi kalliimpaa?

 Ja tässä' täss' on tämä maa, sen näkee silmämme; Me kättä voimme ojentaa, ja vettä, rantaa osoittaa, Ja sanoa: kas tuoss on se, maa armas isäimme!

 Jos loistoon meitä saatettais vaikk' kultapilvihin, Miss' itkien ei huoattais' vaan tähtein riemun sielu sais, Ois tähän kurjaan kotihin halumme kwitenkin. 

 Totunuden, runon kotimaa, maa tuhatjärvinen, Elomme sulta suojan saa, sä toivojen ja muistoin maa, Ain' ollos onnen vaihdellen, sä vapaa, riemuinen. 

 Sun kukoistukses' kuorestaan kerrankin puhkeaa; Viel' lempemme saa nousemaan sun toivos, riemus loistossaan, Ja kerran laulus' synnyinmaa, korkeemman kaiun saa. 

When the _Maamme_ is sung every one rises, the men take off their hats, and nearly all those present join in the song, their demeanour beingmost respectful, for a Finn is nothing if not patriotic. 

Another very popular air is the following, written by Zachris Topelius, whose fairy tales are now being translated into English--

 SINUN MAASI (_Finnish_)

 Laps' Suomen, älä vaihda pois Sun maatas ihanaa! Sill' leipä vieraan karvast 'ois Ja sana karkeaa. Sen taivas, päiv' on loistoton, Sen sydän sulle outo on. Laps' Suomen, älä vaihda pois Sun maatas ihanaa!

 Laps' Suomen, kaunis sull' on maa Ja suuri, loistokas. Veet välkkyy, maat sen vihoittaa, Sen rant 'on maineikas. Yö kirkas, päivä lämpöinen Ja taivas tuhattähtinen, Laps' Suomen, kaunis sull 'on maa Ja suuri, loistokas. 

 Laps' Suomen, armas maasi tää Siis muista ainiaan! Sull 'onnea ja elämää Ej muuall' ollenkaan. Jos minne tiesi olkohon, Niin juures' synnyinmaassas' on Laps' Suomen, armas maasi tää Siis muista ainiaan!

 DITT LAND (_Swedish_)

 O barn af Finland, byt ej bort Din ädla fosterjord! En främlings bröd är hårdt och torrt, Och klanglöst är hans ord. Hans sol är blek, hans himmel grå, Hans hjerta kan ej ditt förstå. O barn af Finland, byt ej bort Din ädla fosterjord. 

 O Finland's barn, ditt land är godt, Ditt land är stort och skönt. Dess jord är grön, dess haf är blått, Dess strand af ära krönt. Dess natt är ljus, dess sol är klar, Dess himmel tusen stjernor bar. O Finland's barn, ditt land är godt, Ditt land är stort och skönt. 

 Och derför, barn af Finland, minns Ditt ädla fosterland! Ej ro, ej lif, ej lycka finns I fjerran från dess strand. Hvarhelst din väg i verlden går, Din rot är der din vagga står. Och derför, barn af Finland, minns Ditt ädla fosterland!

 THY LAND[B] (_English_)

 O child of Finland, wherefore fly Thy noble Fatherland? The stranger's bread is hard and dry, And harsh his speech and hand; His skies are lead, his heart is dead Thy heart to understand. O child of Finland, wherefore fly Thy noble Fatherland?

 O Finland's heir, thy land is fair And bright from bound to bound; Her seas serene; no gayer green On tree or lea is found. Her sun's a blaze of golden rays, Her night an eve star-crowned. O Finland's heir, no land more rare Or nobly fair is found. 

 Then, child of Finland, ne'er forget Thy noble Fatherland; For peace of mind is not to find Upon a stranger's strand. To that bright earth that gave thee birth Thou owest heart and hand. Then fealty swear to Finland fair, Our famous Fatherland. 

We dined at several restaurants in _Helsingfors_; for, in the summer, the Finlanders live entirely out of doors, and they certainly make themost of the fine weather when they have it. Perhaps our brightestdining-place was on the island of _Högholmen_, to which little steamersply continually; but as we arrived at the landing-stage when a vesselhad just left, we engaged a boat to row us across. It was a typicalFinnish boat, pointed at both ends, wide in the middle, and a lovingcouple sitting side by side rowed us over. They were not young, and theywere not beautiful; in fact, they looked so old, so sunburnt, and sowrinkled, that we wondered how many years over a hundred they hadcompleted. But, judging by the way they put their backs into the work, they could not have been as ancient as they appeared. 

[Illustration: OUR SHIP IN WINTER. ]

One of the first words one hears in Finland is _straxt_, which means"immediately, " and we soon found it was in universal use. No order iscomplete without the word _straxt_ as an addition, and, naturally, thestranger thinks what a remarkably punctual and generally up-to-time sortof people the Finns must be. But the voyager seems born to bedisappointed. No Finn ever hurried himself for anybody or anything; theword _straxt_ means, at least, a quarter of an hour, and the visitor mayconsider himself lucky if that quarter of an hour does not drag itselfout to thirty minutes. 

A man asks for his bill. _Straxt_ is the reply. He suggests his luggagebeing fetched downstairs, reminds the landlord that the _kärra_ (littlecarts) were ordered for noon, now long past. 

"_Straxt, straxt_, " is smilingly answered, but the landlord does notmove--not he; what is to be gained by being in a hurry? why fidget? anhour hence is quite as good as the present quickly fleeting by. Sosoothing his conscience by the word _straxt_, he leisurely goes on withhis work, and as "like master, like man, " those below him do not hurryeither, for which reason most things in Finland are dominated more bychance than ruled by time. 

It is annoying, it is often exasperating, but there is a superb calm, orshall we say obstinacy, about the Finnish character that absolutelyrefuses to be bustled, or hurried, or jostled. 

They are a grave, solid people, who understand a joke even less than theScotch, while such a thing as chaff is absolutely unintelligible tothem. Life to the Finns seems a serious matter which can be onlyundertaken after long thought and much deliberation. They lose muchpleasure by their seriousness. They sing continually, but all theirmusic is sad; they dance sometimes, but the native dances are seldomboisterous as in other lands. They read much and think deeply, forunlike the Russians, only 25 per cent. Of whom can read, in Finland bothrich and poor are wonderfully well educated; but they smile seldom, andlook upon jokes and fun as contemptible. Education is one constantenquiry, and knowledge is but an assimilation of replies. 

The men and women enjoy great freedom. Educated in the same schools, they are brought up to ignore sex; the young folk can go out for a wholeday together, walking or snow-shoeing, skating or sledging, and achaperon is unheard of; yet in all social gatherings, as an antithesisto this, we find an unexpected restraint. At a party the men allcongregate in one room, or at one end of the table, leaving the womendesolate, while the young of both sexes look askance at one another, and, in the presence of their elders, never exchange a word, in spite oftheir boasted freedom. Society is paradoxical. 

More than that, by way of discouraging healthy chatter and fun among theyoung people, the elder folk always monopolise conversation, two personsinvariably discussing some particular point, while twenty sit silentlyround listening--result, that young men and women know little of oneanother if they only meet in society, and the _bon camaraderie_ supposedto result from the system of mixed education is conspicuous by itsabsence. Everything is against it. The very chairs are placed round aroom in such a way that people must perforce sit in a circle--thatdreaded circle which strikes terror into the heart of a British hostess. Even on the balconies an enormous table, with chairs packed closelyround it, is constantly in evidence, so that the circle is even to befound there, with the consequence that every one sits and stares atevery one else, except the people who may or may not keep up aconversation. The strange part of the whole arrangement is thatFinlanders do not understand how prim they really are socially, and talkof their freedom, and their enormous emancipation, as they sit at table, where the greater number of those present never dare venture to sayanything, while the young men and women rarely even sit together. Theyapparently make up for lost time when away from their elders. 

The people are most hospitable, to strangers particularly so, andcertainly the flowers and the books and sweets we were given, to saynothing of invitations received to stay in houses after an hour'sacquaintance, to dine or sup, to come here or go there, were quitedelightful. They are generous to a remarkable degree, and hospitablebeyond praise. This is a Northern characteristic like honesty; both ofwhich traits are sadly lacking in the Southern peoples. Kindness andthoughtfulness touch a warm chord in the heart of a stranger, and makehim feel that Finland is a delightful country, and her people thestaunchest of friends. But, after this divergence, let us return to ourfirst drive. 

Those slouching men in long jack boots, butchers' blouses of white andshapeless form, are Russian soldiers. Soldiers, indeed! where is thesmartness, the upright bearing, the stately tread and general air ofcleanliness one expects in a soldier? These men look as if they had justtumbled out of their beds and were still wearing night-shirts; even theofficers appeared strange to our English ideas, although medals adornedtheir breasts and swords hung at their sides even when bicycling. 

"Do you mix much with the Russians?" we asked one of our new friends. 

"Hardly at all; they have conquered us, they rule us, they plant wholeregiments among us, and they don't even take the trouble to understandus, or to learn our language. No, we keep to ourselves, and they keepto themselves; our temperaments are so different we could never mix. "

And this is true. The position of Alsace-Lorraine towards Germany ismuch the same as that of Finland towards Russia. Both have beenconquered by a country speaking another language to their own, and oftotally foreign temperament to themselves. After forty years the peopleof Alsace-Lorraine are as staunchly French as before, and the sameapplies to the position of the Finlanders. 

Life in _Helsingfors_ is very pleasant for strangers in the summer; butfor the natives it has no attraction. Accustomed to a long and ice-boundwinter, the moment May comes every family, possessed of any means, flitsto the country for three or four months. All the schools close fortwelve weeks, and the children, who have worked hard during the longdark winter, thoroughly enjoy their holiday. Summer comes suddenly andgoes swiftly. The days then are long, as the nights are short, for inthe north of Finland there is a midnight sun, and even in _Helsingfors_, during June, he does not set till about eleven, consequently it remainslight all night--that strange weird sort of light that we English folkonly know as appertaining to very early morning. As we sat finishingsupper about ten o'clock at the Kapellet, we were strongly reminded ofthe light at three A. M. One morning, only a week or two before, when wehad bumped to Covent Garden to see the early market, one of London'sleast known but most interesting sights, in our friendly green-grocer'svan, with Mr. And Mrs. Green-grocer for sole companions. 

The Kapellet is a delightful restaurant in the chief street of_Helsingfors_, standing among trees, under which many seats and tablesare placed, and where an excellent military band plays during mealtimes. Strange meal times they are too, for, after early coffee androll, every one breakfasts between ten and twelve on meats with beer orwine, not an egg and fish breakfast such as we have, but a regular solidmeal. Finlanders in towns dine from two to four, and sit down to supperbetween eight and ten, so that they have three solid meat meals aday--probably a necessity in such a climate--and drink wines and spiritsat each of these functions, which so closely resemble one another thatthe stranger would have difficulty in knowing which was supper and whichwas breakfast. 

In the summer mostly men frequent the Kapellet, for their wives andfamilies are away at their villas on the islands. Apparently any one canbuild a villa on any island, and the moment he does so, like RobinsonCrusoe, he is master of the situation. One does not require to pay morethan a trifle for the site, and a beautiful wooden house can be erectedin about two months for two or three hundred pounds. Parents who arewell off generally have a nice island and a comfortable house, and whentheir sons and daughters marry, they build thereon small villas forthem; thus whole families, scattered during the greater part of theyear, come together every summer. 

For this reason family life in Finland is delightful. There are manythousand islands--millions, one might almost say--and therefore plentyof room for all. Finland is like a sponge; the lakes and islands beingrepresented by the holes. 

We lived in a flat at _Helsingfors_. Frau von Lilly's brothers had adelightful _étage_, with a dear old housekeeper, and thither we went. Mina looked after our wants splendidly, and smiled upon us all day asstrange sort of beings because we liked so much _hett vatten_ (hotwater). She was always opening our door and walking in, for no one everdreams of knocking in Finland; standing before us, her hands folded onher portly form, she smiled and smiled again. _Mycket bra_ (very nice), we repeated incessantly to her joy--but still she stayed, whetheranxious to attend to our wants or to have a look at Englishwomen andtheir occupations we know not; one thing, however, is certain, thatwithout a word in common we became fast friends. Her beautifullypolished floors made us afraid to walk across them, and the large rooms, broad beds, and lots of towels came as a real treat after nearly fivedays at sea. Every one lives in flats in the towns, there are only a fewprivate houses, and therefore long stone flights of stairs lead to the"appartement" as they do in Germany, while the rooms, with theirenormous stoves and endless doors, remind one continually of _dasVaterland_. 

From our flat, which stood high, we had a most glorious view. Immediately in front was the students' club, while beyond were theParliament Houses, charming churches, the fine park given to the town byHenrik Borgström, the lovely harbour, the fortifications, and the deep, dark sea. 

As the sun set we revelled in the glories visible from our balcony, andthoroughly enjoyed the charms of the Northern night. Midnight suns mustbe seen to be understood, the gorgeous lights are enthralling. Our soulswere steeped in that great silence. 

It is during such nights as these that vegetation springs intoexistence. A day is like a fortnight under that endless sky of light. Hence the almost tropical vegetation that so amazed us at times in thisice-bound land. For though the Gulf of Bothnia is frozen for manymonths, and the folk walk backwards and forwards to Sweden, the summerbursts forth in such luxuriance that the flowers verily seem to havebeen only hiding under the snow, ready to raise their heads. The land isquickly covered by bloom as if kissed by fairy lips. And the corn isripe and ready for cutting before the first star is seen to twinkle inthe heavens. 

Just outside our window, which looked away over the Russian and Lutheranchurches to the sea, we watched a house which was being built with someinterest. The town stands either on massive glacial rocks, or, in otherparts that have been reclaimed from the sea, on soft sand; in the lattercase the erection has to be reared on piles. For the foundation of thehouse mentioned, long stakes, about twenty feet in length, were driveninto the ground. Above this pile a sort of crane was erected, from whichhung a large heavy stone caught by iron prongs. Some twenty men stoodround the crane, and with one "Heave oh!" pulled the stone up to thetop, where, being let loose, it fell with a tremendous thud upon thehead of the luckless pile, which was driven with every successive blowdeeper into the earth. When all the piles were thus driven home, four orfive feet apart, rough bits of rock or stone were fitted in betweenthem, and the whole was boarded over with wood after the fashion of aflooring, on top of which the house itself was built. The men worked allday and all night in relays at the job. 

_Helsingfors_ is very advanced in its ideas; it then had electric lighteverywhere, telephones in each house, and so on; nevertheless, it onlypossessed one large carriage, and that was a landau which belonged tothe hotel. In this splendid vehicle, with two horses and a coachmanbedecked like an English beadle, we went for a drive, and so remarkablewas the appearance of our equipage that every one turned round to lookat us, and, as we afterwards learned, to wonder who we could possiblybe, since we looked English, spoke German, and drove out withFinlanders. 

Many happy days might be passed in _Helsingfors_, which contains museumsand various places of interest. But it is essentially a winter town, and, as all the smart folk had flown and the windows were as closelybarred as those of London in August and September, we hurried on togayer and quainter scenes, which unfolded many strange experiences, orthis summer trip to Finland would never have been written. 

During the ten weeks we were in _Suomi_ we slept in twenty-six differentbeds. Beds did we say? Save the mark! We slept under twenty-sixdifferent _circumstances_, would be more to the point, for our nights ofrest, or unrest, were passed in a variety of ways--in beautiful brassbedsteads with spring mattresses; in wooden boxes dragged out until theybecame a bed, the mattress being stuffed with the _luikku_ or _ruopo_plant, which makes a hard and knotty couch. We slept in the bunks ofships, which for curiosity's sake we measured, and found seldom exceededeighteen inches in width; we lay on the floor with only a rug dividingus from the wooden boards; or we reposed on a canvas deck-chair, whichoriginally cost about five shillings in London; we even dozed on the topof a dining-room table; and last, but not least, to avoid givingourselves up as a meal to unwelcome visitors, we avoided bedsaltogether, and slept on the top of a grand piano, or, more properlyspeaking, an old-fashioned spinet, the notes of which gave forth a hardand tinny sound when touched. 

It must not be imagined from this that there were not beds, for bedswere generally procurable, lots of beds, in fact, the mattresses piledone on the top of another. BUT--well, we preferred the spinet!

FOOTNOTES:

[A] _A Winter Jaunt to Norway. _

[B] Translated from the Swedish by Alfred Perceval Graves. 

CHAPTER II

A FINNISH COUNTRY-HOUSE

A seventeen hours' trip in the _Kaiser Wilhelm_ along the coast broughtus from _Helsingfors_ to _Wiborg_. The passage lay between innumerableislands, and every landing-place was thickly strewn with wood ready forexport. 

Finland is a primitive country, and we could not help smiling at thespectacle of a family removal. When changing residences it is evidentlynot considered necessary to pack up anything, consequently the entirecontents of a house were put on board and removed from the ship withoutany wrappings whatsoever. The mattresses and the blankets were not eventied together. Pictures were all left loose, looking-glasses stooduncovered, yet, thanks to the gentleness and honesty of the Finnishsailors, nothing appeared to get broken, and when we left the quay wesaw the owner of these chattels standing complacently in the midst ofhis household gods, from which, judging by the serenity of his smile, nothing had been stolen or lost. 

As we neared _Wiborg_ we were all excitement as to what a visit to acountry-house would be like, especially as we were going amongstrangers, having been most hospitably invited to stay with therelations of our Finnish friend on their summer island-home of_Ilkeäsaari_. 

As the _Kaiser Wilhelm_ hove-to alongside the quay, we were warmlywelcomed by the English and American Consuls and Baron Theodore vonB----. There were many passengers, but not much luggage, andconsequently, by the time we had exchanged a few words of greeting, wediscovered that every one of our boxes and bags had been placed singlyin state on the seat of separate _droschkies_. The row of fiveRussian-dressed cabbies were much disappointed when they found that themany fares they had anticipated were not in store for them, and that allthe luggage was to go upon one cart sent for the purpose, while thesolitary landau and pair in waiting was our host's private carriage, intended to bear us some three hours' drive to his quaintly situatedresidence. 

Passing the old castle of _Wiborg_ with its modern red roof and manycenturies of Swedish history, then the palace of the Governor, to saynothing of numbers of villa residences further on, where the folk of St. Petersburg--only two hours distant by train--settle down for the summerto enjoy sea-bathing, we plunged into a charming pine-wood, throughwhich the roadway was so narrow that the trees literally swished thecarriage as it passed. Drawing up suddenly we discovered that a stretchof water divided us from our island home, and as we were in a carriage, and there was no bridge, it seemed for a moment as if further progresswere impossible. 

Nothing of the kind, however, the carriage was calmly driven on to akind of wide barge made for the purpose, the horses' noses beingreflected in the water into which they peered. So clear were thereflections that evening, that the butterflies fluttering overhead wereso distinctly visible in the water that it seemed almost impossible tobelieve them other than denizens of the lake along with the fishes. 

The picturesque-looking man, wearing a pink cotton shirt and slouch hat, who had been waiting for our arrival, came on to the floating bridgebeside us, and by means of pulleys and ropes, to work which he turned ahandle, ferried us across to the opposite bank. This was a privatearrangement and very ingenious, and away we trotted merrily through thepines, the earth, moss-grown and fern-strewn, intersected here and thereby massive boulders of rock. 

So rocky indeed was the road in parts that the carriage was driven overhuge blocks of granite, while distinct marks of past glacial movementwere everywhere visible. 

Ah! there was the house, much larger than a villa, entirely made ofwood, except for the stone foundations containing the cellars. The solidtrees of which it was built were painted white, so that it looked verysunny and cheerful. A flight of wooden steps led to the front door, andto the numerous balconies by which, Finnish fashion, the house wasnearly surrounded. 

The warmest welcome awaited us; we were received as though we had beenold and dear friends, instead of total strangers from a foreign land. Our host, the Captain and his Fru, were, luckily for us, excellentGerman scholars; indeed all the family spoke that language fluently, while some of the members could also speak English. 

Our hostess's first exclamation when we arrived at her beautiful countryhome was an inquiry as to the contents of the large hold-all. 

"Rugs, " we replied, "and fur coats. "

"Rugs and fur coats, " she exclaimed in amusement. "What for?"

"To wear, of course, " we answered. 

"Did you think Finland was cold, then?" she asked. 

"Certainly, " we returned, "so we have each brought a rug and a fur-linedcoat. "

She laughed and said, "Far better to have brought cotton frocks. "

It was our turn now to be amazed, and we asked her what she meant bycotton frocks. 

"Why, do you not know that our summer is much hotter than it is inEngland--it is shorter, but much warmer. "

We were surprised. But she was right, as subsequent events proved, andour bundle of rugs was an everlasting joke during the whole of ourjourney through _Suomi_, for having brought them we would not part withthem, although during the whole of June, July, and August, we neverundid them once nor opened an umbrella, except one night whiledescending the famous _Uleå_ rapids, when, if we had owned all the fursin Britain, we could not have kept ourselves warm, so impregnated withcold damp was the atmosphere. 

The island _Ilkeäsaari_ is the scene of a huge family gathering eachsummer, after a truly Finnish fashion, for besides the big house, whichis a sort of rendezvous for every one, the married sons and daughtershave also their own summer residences within a stone's throw; theparents' house is a general dining-hall on Sundays and sometimes onother days also. 

Could any more delightful household be imagined? Clever and interestingin every way, with advanced ideas and wide interests, their home almostcosmopolitan in its English, French, and German literature, the elderfolk ready and willing to chat on any theme in several tongues, thechildren talking Finnish to the servants, French to their governess, orSwedish to their parents, it was altogether an ideal family life inevery sense, and more than charming to the strangers to whom_Ilkeäsaari_ opened its doors and gave such a kindly welcome. 

It is only in the homes of the people, rich and poor, one can learnanything of their characteristics. One may live in the large hotels ofLondon, Paris, St. Petersburg, or Rome, and yet know almost nothing ofthe nations in whose midst we find ourselves. Food is much the same allover Europe, waiters wear regulation black coats and white ties, drawing-rooms and reading-rooms contain _The Times_, the _KölnischeZeitung_, or the _Novóe Vremya_; and when, guide-book in hand, we walkthrough the streets to visit the museums, we imagine we are learning theinnermost lives of the people, of whom we generally know mighty little. One week in the smallest private house teaches us more than a month inthe largest hotel in the world. "All very well, " says the reader; "buthow are we to get into the private houses?"

Ah, there is the rub. We must open our own doors first; we must learnsome languages, that golden key to travel, and when foreigners come intoour midst with introductions, we must show them our homes and our livesif we want them to do the same for us. As it is, that humiliating cry isalways sounding in our ears--

"English people never speak anything but English, and they areinhospitable to strangers; they are a proud nation and cold. "

It is a libel, a hideous libel; but one which is, unfortunately, believed all over the Continent by foreigners not thoroughly acquaintedwith English folk in their own homes. 

English, being the language of commerce, is fast becoming the languageof the world, in spite of its imperfections; but to enjoy a country onemust be able to converse in its own tongue. 

The Finnish summer is not long, but it is both light and warm, theaverage temperature being as much higher than our own as it is lower inwinter, and the people certainly enjoy both seasons to the full. Everycountry-house is surrounded by balconies, and on them all meals areserved in the summer. We were fortunate enough to dine in many familycircles, and to see much of the life of the rich, as well as the life ofthe poor. 

One of the greatest features of a high-class Finnish meal is the_Smörgåsbord_. On a side-table in every dining-room rows of littleappetising dishes are arranged, and in the middle stands a large silverurn, _brännvin_, containing at least a couple of liqueurs or schnapps, each of which comes out of a different tap. Every man takes a smallglass of brandy, which is made in Finland from corn, and is very strong. No brandy is allowed to be imported from Russia or _vice versâ_, a rulevery strictly adhered to in both countries. Having had their drink andprobably _Skålat_ ("I drink your health") to their respective friends, each takes a small plate, knife, and fork from the pile placed close athand, and helps himself to such odds and ends as he fancies beforereturning to the dining-table to enjoy them. Generally four or fivethings are heaped on each plate, but as they are only small delicaciesthey do not materially interfere with the appetite. Usually in summerthe _Smörgåsbord_ contains--

_Salt_, _graf lax_, raw or smoked salmon. 

_Rädiser_, radishes. 

_Ost_, cheese of various kinds, shaved very thin and eaten with blackbread and butter, _Bondost_ and _Baueruk_ being two favourite kindsamong the peasantry. 

_Kaviar_, which is quite excellent and unlike anything we have inEngland, being the whole eggs of the sturgeon instead of a messy blackcompound. 

_Renstek_, smoked reindeer, which is not nearly so nice as it is wheneaten fresh in the winter in Norway. 

_Ägg_, cold hard-boiled eggs cut in slices and arranged with sardines oranchovies. 

_Ost omelette_, a delicious sort of custard or omelette, made withcheese and served hot, although everything else on the side-table iscold. 

Mushrooms cooked in cream is another favourite dish. 

Then small glass plates with slices of cold eel in jelly, salmon injelly, tongue, ham, potted meat, etc. , complete the _Smörgåsbord_, whichis often composed of fifteen or twenty dishes. 

These delicacies are many of them delicious, but as the same thingsappear at each meal three times a day, one gets heartily sick of them inthe end, and, to an English mind, they certainly seem out of place atbreakfast time. 

There are many excellent breads in Finland--

_Frankt bröd_ is really French bread; but anything white is called_Frankt bröd_, and very good it is, as a rule. 

_Råg bröd_, or rye bread, is the ordinary black bread of the country, made in large flat loaves. 

_Hålkaka_, the peasants' only food in some parts, is baked two or threetimes a year, so they put the bread away in a loft or upon the kitchenrafters; consequently, by the time the next baking day comes round it isas hard as a brick. A knife often cannot cut it. It is invariably sour, some of the last mixing being always left in the tub or bucket, that thenecessary acidity may be ensured. 

_Knäckebröd_ is a thin kind of cake, made of rye and corn together, something like Scotch oatcake, with a hole in the middle, so that itmay be strung up in rows like onions on a stick in the kitchen. Whenthin and fresh it is excellent, but when thick and stale a dog biscuitwould be equally palatable. 

_Wiborgs kringla_, called in Finnish _Wiipurin rinkeli_, is a greatspeciality, its real home and origin being _Wiborg_ itself. It is a sortof cake, but its peculiarity is that it is baked on straw, some of thestraw always adhering to the bottom. It is made in the form of a truelover's knot, of the less fantastic kind, and a golden sign of thisshape hangs outside to determine a baker's shop; even in Petersburg andin the north of Finland a modified representation of the _Wiborgskringla_ also denotes a bakery. 

Having partaken of the odds and ends mentioned, the ordinary mid-daymeal or dinner begins, usually between two and four o'clock. 

The hostess, who sits at the head of the table, with her husbandgenerally on one side and her most honoured guest on the other, with twohuge soup-tureens before her, asks those present whether they will havesoup or _filbunke_, a very favourite summer dish. This is made fromfresh milk which has stood in a tureen till it turns sour and forms asort of curds, when it is eaten with sugar and powdered ginger. Itappears at every meal in the summer, and is excellent on a hot day. Itmust be made of fresh milk left twenty-four hours in a warm kitchen forthe cream to rise, and twenty-four hours in the cellar, free fromdraught, to cool afterwards. The castor sugar is invariably served in atall silver basin--that is to say, the bowl, with its two eleganthandles, stands on a well-modelled pillar about eight or ten incheshigh, altogether a very superior and majestic form of sugar basin. 

There are two special drinks in Finland--one for the rich, the other forthe poor. 

_Mjöd_ is one of the most delicious beverages imaginable. It is notchampagne, and not cider, but a sort of effervescing drink of paleyellow colour made at the breweries, and extremely refreshing on a hotday. It costs about one shilling and sixpence a bottle, sometimes more, and is often handed round during an afternoon call with the coffee and_marmelader_, the famous Russian sweetmeats made of candied fruits. 

The other drink is called in Swedish _Svagdricka_, but as it is really apeasant drink, and as the peasants speak Finnish, it is generally knownas _Kalja_, pronounced "Kal-e-yah. " It looks black, and is really smallbeer. Very small indeed it is, too, with a nasty burnt taste, and thenatives up-country all make it for themselves, each farm having half adozen or twenty hop poles of its own, which flavours the _Kalja_ for thewhole party for a year, so its strength of hop or amount of bubble isnot very great. 

From the middle of June till the middle of July we ate wild strawberriesthree times a day with sugar and cream! They simply abound, and verydelicious these little _Mansikka_ are. So plentiful are they that_Suomi_ is actually known as "strawberry land. "

There are numbers of wild berries in Finland; indeed, they are quite aspeciality, and greet the traveller daily in soup--sweet soups beingvery general--or they are made into delicious syrups, are served ascompôte with meat, or transformed into puddings. 

Here are a few of them--

 Finnish. Latin. 

 _Mansikka_ _Fragaria vesca_ Wild strawberries, found in profusion everywhere. 

 _Mesikka_ _Rubus arcticus_ Red, with splendid aroma. Liqueur is made from them. 

 _Vaatukka_ _Rubus idaeus_ Wild raspberry. 

 _Lakka_ _Rubus chamaemorus_ Black. Often made into a kind of black juice, and taken as sweet soup. 

 _Mustikka_ _Vaccinium myrtillus_ (Wortleberries)--Black. Often made into soup of a glorious colour. 

 _Puolukka_ _Vaccinium vitis idaea_ (Red whortleberry)--Like a small cranberry. Eaten with meat. 

 _Juolukka_ _Vaccinium uliginosum_ A common black kind of berry, not very eatable. 

 _Herukka_ _Ribes nigrum_ Cranberry. 

 _Karpalo_ _Vaccinium occycoccus_ This berry is not gathered in the autumn, but is left under the snow all the winter, ready to be picked in spring when the snow melts, as the fruit is better when it has been frozen. It keeps in a tub for months without any preparation, and is particularly good as a jelly when eaten with cream. 

 _Muurain_ (Swedish, _Hjortron_) In appearance is like a yellow raspberry; grows in the extreme north in the morasses during August. It is a most delicious fruit, with a pine-tree flavour. 

"Will you have some sweetbread?" we were once asked, but as we weredrinking coffee at the moment we rather wondered why we should be goingback to the _éntrees_--our stupidity, of course. Sweetbread is the namegiven to all simple forms of cake in Finland; a great deal of it iseaten, and it is particularly good. 

At dinner, hock, claret, or light beer are drunk as a rule; but atbreakfast and supper, beer and milk are the usual beverages, the latterappearing in enormous jugs--indeed, we have actually seen a glass onethat stood over two feet high. 

After dinner, coffee is immediately served with cream, not hot milk;after supper, tea is generally handed round, the hostess brewing it atthe table. 

Beside her stands a huge _samovar_, which is really a Russian urn, andnot a teapot as generally supposed. Inside it are hot coals or coke, round the tin of which is the boiling water, while above it stands theteapot, kept hot by the water below. It is generally very good tea, forit comes from China in blocks through Siberia, but it is much betterwhen drunk with thin slices of lemon than with milk. As a rule, it isserved to men in tumblers, and to women in cups, an etiquette with anunknown origin. It is pale-straw colour, and looks horribly weak, and soit is, but with lemon it forms a very refreshing beverage. 

At the end of each meal every one at the table goes and shakes handswith the host and hostess and says "_tack_" (thank you); certainly apretty little courtesy on the part of strangers, but rather monotonousfrom children, when there are many of them, as there often are inFinland, especially when the little ones cluster round the parents orgrandparents as a sort of joke, and prolong the "_tack_" for anindefinite period. 

Then the men smoke; seldom the women, for, although so close to Russia, Finnish women rarely imitate their neighbours in this habit. The eldermen smoke tremendously, especially cigarettes, fifty or sixty per diembeing nothing uncommon. In fact, this smoking has become so terrible acurse that there is now a movement among the students, most of whom seemto be anti-smokers, against tobacco, so perhaps the new generation maynot have such black teeth and yellow fingers. 

But to return to the first impressions of our country-house. Thebalconies are made very wide so as to admit a dining-table, and as theroofs of the houses project a couple of feet beyond the balcony, inorder to throw the winter's snows on to the ground instead of allowingthem to block up the verandahs, there is plenty of shade; that isoccasionally increased by hanging curtains of red and white stripedcanvas, which can be drawn together, and form quite a little room. Theywere the jolliest, happiest meals in that island home! Every one spokeGerman--the language we all knew best in common--and conversation, jokes, and merriment never flagged as we sat facing that glorious viewof pine-wood and water, while the lilac (just two months later than inEngland) scented the air, or the hawthorn afforded shelter for endlessbirds who were constantly singing. Among the most notable cries was thatof the friendly cuckoo. Fourteen, and even twenty, of us often dinedtogether--the daughters, sons, husbands, wives, and children from theother houses frequently gathering round the father's board. And in thecool of the evening we usually went for a row on the lake. 

Every one boats in Finland. Two or three sailing boats, and some dozenrowing skiffs and canvas _kanots_ of different sizes, lay upon theCaptain's water, and at all times and seasons some person was away inone of them, or down at the bathing house enjoying a so-called sea-bath, although it was not really salt water, being more of an inland lake. Canoeing is one of the great sports of Finland, and yet it is onlywithin the last ten years that these _kanots_ have come in suchuniversal use, although no country was ever better fitted for thepurpose, for it is one series of long lakes joined together by beautifulrivers. Dr. August Ramsay must be termed the Father of Finnish canoeing, for it was his book on the subject that made the sport so fashionable. Funnily enough, these Finnish canoes are always made of canvas stretchedover ribs of wood. They are two and a half to three feet wide and sometwenty feet long; therefore they are pretty solid and can be used with asail. An Englishman fond of the sport cannot do better than take asummer jaunt to Finland, and with his canoe travel through some of themost beautiful parts of that captivating country. 

Finlanders lead a very jolly, independent, happy life during the summermonths. They seem to throw off their cares and responsibilities and tomake up their minds to enjoy the long, balmy days, and, as they are notdevoured by the midges which eat up strangers alive, they have nought toruffle the even tenor of their way. 

After supper, when the day's work is over, and the great heat has gone, boating parties are made up, and, in the brilliant midnight sunsets, they glide in and out of the islands, visit distant friends, singing thewhile some of the delightful melodies for which their land is justlyfamous. 

Even as far back as 1896, when I paid my first visit to Finland, andwhen telephones were barely in general use in England, _Suomi_ was aheadof us. 

The great excitement in the homes was the ring of the telephone bell andthe Swedish cry, "Hulloa! ring up so and so, " which at first we imaginedwas being translated into English for our benefit. Telephones are verycheap there, costing about a couple of pounds a year, and they areuniversal; for, like Norway, Finland was one of the first countries tobe riddled with them, and a delightful luxury they are, for by theirmeans one can live out of the world, and yet be in it. 

In those early days of telephones strange things happened. _Pekka_ wasmadly in love with _Ilma_, a wondrously beautiful maid. He heard rumoursthat she was trifling with another. He could not stand the torture evenfor a few hours, and so "rang up" the mansion of the family _Heikkilä_. 

Joy, he heard the voice of _Ilma_ in answer, and said, "Is it you, dearone? I, _Pekka_, am here. "

A soft sigh replied. 

"Are you glad to hear _Pekka_--do you care for him just a little?"

"Yes, " sighed the fair maid. 

"Darling, it is not true you care for _Armas Merikanto_?"

"No, no!" she cried. 

"You like me--you love me?"

"Yes, " she softly murmured. 

"Will you be my wife?"

"I will, _Pekka_. "

Overjoyed, _Pekka_ almost hugged the wooden box that brought him suchglad tidings. 

"When may I come to see you, darling--my little wife?"

"Come, _Pekka_--come for dinner at three o'clock. "

A few more sweet nothings, and, quite enraptured, he returned to hisdull office routine. At three o'clock, spick and span, with a goldenring in his pocket, he presented himself at the house of the_Heikkiläs_. 

In the salon stood the mother. He went towards her to receive hermotherly congratulations. She rushed forward to meet him, as all goodmothers-in-law should, and, throwing herself into his arms, she cried--

"Take me, _Pekka_, dearest _Pekka_; I am yours till death. "

"Mine?"

"Yes. I have loved you long, darling _Pekka_, and I am ready wheneveryou can fix a day for our marriage!"

Tableau!

_Moral_--beware of telephones!

Matrimony generally expects too much and gets too little. Courtshipproved the same in this case. 

The first thing that strikes a stranger on entering a Finnishcountry-house is the mats, placed at the foot of every staircase andoutside every door. They are made of the loose branches of the pine-treeneatly laid on the top of one another to form an even round mat, thesebranches being so constantly renewed that they always give off adelicious fresh smell. The next surprise is the enormous white porcelainstove or oven found in every room; so enormous are these _kakelugn_ thatthey reach the ceiling, and are sometimes four feet long and three orfour feet deep. The floors of all the rooms are painted raw-siennacolour, and very brightly polished. To our mind it seems a pity not tostain the natural wood instead of thus spoiling its beauty, but yellowpaint is at present the fashion, and fashion is always beautiful, somefolk say. In winter carpets and rugs are put down, but during summer therooms are swept daily (at all events in the country) with a broom madeof a bundle of fresh, green birch leaves--somewhat primitive, but veryefficacious, for when the leaves are a little damp they lick up dust ina wonderful manner. These little brooms are constantly renewed, beingliterally nothing more than a bundle of birch boughs tied tightlytogether. They cost nothing in a land where trees grow so fast that itis difficult for a peasant to keep the ground near his house free fromtheir encroachments. 

In truth, Finland is utterly charming. Its lakes, its canals, itsrivers, its forests, are beautiful, and its customs are interesting. Itis primitive and picturesque, and its people are most kind andhospitable, but--and oh! it is a very big _but_ indeed, there exists aFinnish pest. 

Strolling through those beautiful dark pines and silver birch woods, heis ever by one's side; sailing or rowing over the lakes, that Finnishdemon intrudes himself. Sitting quietly at meals, we know the fiend isunder the table, while, as we rest on the balcony in the evening, watching a glorious sun sinking to rest an hour before midnight, hewhispers in our ears or peeps into our eyes. He is here, there, andeverywhere; he is omnipresent--this curse of Finland. He is very small, his colour is such that he is hardly visible, and he is sly and crafty, so that the unwary stranger little guesses that his constant and almostunseen companion will speedily bring havoc to his comfort and dismayinto his life. The little wretch is called _Mygga_ in Swedish or_Itikainen_ in Finnish, the Finnish words being pronounced exactly asthey are written, in the German style of calling i, e, etc. 

In English he is a mosquito of a very virulent description, and inFinland he is a peculiarly knowing little brute, and shows a hideouspartiality for strangers, not apparently caring much for the taste ofFinnish blood. 

He loves Englishwomen as inordinately as they loathe him, and, personally, the writer suffered such tortures that her ankles became hotand swollen, and at last, in spite of lavender oil, ammonia and camphorbaths, grew so stiff that walking became positively painful, and herears and eyes mere distorted lumps of inflamed flesh! Therefore, dearlady reader, be prepared when you visit Midgeland to become absolutelyhideous and unrecognisable. When a kindly servant brings a rug to windround your legs under the dinner-table on the balcony, gladly acceptthat rug. 

There are not merely mosquitoes but--but--that awful experience must betold in another chapter. 

As a town _Wiborg_ is nothing to boast of. There is nothing veryremarkable about any ordinary Finnish town, with the exception of thecapital, _Helsingfors_, where all the best buildings are centered andbuilt of stone. Most of the towns are modern and generally ugly, because, being of wood, they are so apt to be burnt down, thatarchitects give neither time nor thought to their structural beauty, or, even when not so destroyed, the original houses--which seldom last overa hundred years--have fallen out of repair and been replaced byundecorative wooden structures. Stone houses are few and far between, and, as a rule, the wooden dwellings are only one storey high, becausefires in such low buildings are more easily extinguished, and, land notbeing of much value, the space required for such edifices can easily beafforded. These wooden dwellings are usually painted dark red in thesmaller towns, and lighter shades in the larger, while here and thereon the walls are to be seen iron rosettes and other queer sort ofornaments, really used as a means of keeping the house together. No one, not even a Finn, could call the average native town beautiful, althoughsome excellent stone educational buildings are springing up here andthere. 

The capital is charmingly situated and has several very nice buildings, and is therefore an exception, but even in the case of _Wiborg_ the shopwindows are small and uninviting, the streets are shockingly laid withenormous boulder stones and sometimes even bits of rock, whilepavements, according to our ideas, hardly exist. 

The religion being Lutheran there are no beautiful churches, only simplewhitewashed edifices, extremely plain inside, with an organ at one end, an altar and perhaps one picture at the other. In the case of _Kuopio_(which town possesses a Bishop) the cathedral is only lighted bycandles, and, during the service, a man goes round continually puttingout those that have burnt too low with a wet sponge tied to the end of astick!

One of the chief characteristics of the towns, most noticeable to astranger, is that none of the windows are ever open. The Finn dreadsfresh air as much as he dreads _daily_ ablutions, and therefore any rooma stranger enters at any hour is certain to be stuffy and oppressive. 

One day in _Wiborg_, overcome with the intense heat, we went into aconfectioner's where ices were provided, to get cool. Imagine our horrorto find that the double windows were hermetically sealed, although thecafé invited the patronage of strangers by placards stating "ices werefor sale. " What irony! To eat an ice in a hothouse as a means of gettingcool. 

_Wiborg_ has a big market, and every day a grand trade is done in thatlarge open space, and as we wandered from one cart of meat to another ofvegetables or black bread, or peeped at the quaint pottery or marvellousbaskets made from shavings of wood neatly plaited, our attention wasarrested by fish tartlets. We paused to look; yes, a sort of pasty theshape of a saucer was adorned in the middle with a number of small fishabout the size of sardines. They were made of _suola kala_ (saltedfish), eaten raw by the peasants; we now saw them in _Wiborg_ for thefirst time, though, unhappily, not for the last, since these fishtartlets haunted us at every stage of our journey up country. 

What weird and wonderful foods one eats and often enjoys whentravelling. 

Strange dishes, different languages, quaint customs, and unexpectedcharacteristics all add to the charms of a new land; but it requiresbrains to admire anything new. 

Fools are always stubborn, even in their appreciation of the beautiful. 

CHAPTER III

FINNISH BATHS

No one can be many days in Finland without hearing murmurs of thebath-house. 

A Finnish bath once taken by man or woman can never be forgotten!

A real native bath is one of the specialities of the country. Even inthe old songs of the _Kalevala_ they speak of the "cleansing and healingvapours of the heated bath-room. "

Poets have described the bath in verse, artists have drawn it on canvas, and singers have warbled forth its charms; nevertheless, it is not everytraveller who has penetrated the strange mystery. Most strange and mostmysterious it is. But I anticipate. 

Every house in the country, however humble that house may be, boasts its_bastu_, or bath-house, called in Finnish _Sauna_. As we passed alongthe country roads, noting the hay piled up on a sort of tent erectionmade of pine trunks, to dry in the sun before being stowed away intosmall wooden houses for protection during the winter, or nearly droveover one of those strange long-haired pigs, the bristles on whose backsreminded one of a hog-maned polo pony, one saw these _bastus_continually. Among the cluster of little buildings that form the farm, the bath-house, indeed, stands forth alone, and is easily recognisable, one of its walls, against which the stove stands, being usually black, even on the outside, from smoke. 

Every Saturday, year in, year out, that stove is heated, and the wholefamily have a bath--not singly, oh dear, no, but altogether, men, women, and children; farmer, wife, brothers, sisters, labourers, friends, andthe dogs too, if they have a mind; so that once in each week the entirepopulation of Finland is clean, although few of them know what dailyablutions, even of the most primitive kind, mean, while hot water isalmost as difficult to procure in _Suomi_ as a great auk's egg inEngland. 

Naturally any institution so purely national as the Finnish _bastu_ wasworth investigating--in fact, could not be omitted from our programme. Bathing with the peasants themselves, however, being impossible, wearranged to enjoy the extraordinary pleasure at a friend's house, wherewe could be duly washed by one of her own servants; for, be itunderstood, there is always one servant in every better-classestablishment who understands the _bastu_, and can, and does wash thefamily. 

When _she_ is washed, we unfortunately omitted to inquire. In towns, such as _Helsingfors_, there are professional women-washers, who go fromhouse to house to bathe and massage men and women alike. Theirs is aregular trade, and as the higher class of the profession receive about ashilling for "attending" each bath given at a private house, theemployment is not one to be despised. Neither is it, as proved by thefact that there are over 300 public bathing-women in little Finland. 

On the eventful night of our initiation, supper was over, thehouse-party and guests were all assembled on the balcony, the womenengaged in needlework, and the men smoking cigarettes, when _Saima_, theFinnish servant, arrived to solemnly announce in a loud tone that theEnglish lady's bath was ready. Taking a fond farewell of the family, Imarched solemnly behind the flaxen-haired _Saima_, who had thoroughlyentered into the spirit of the joke of giving an English lady a Finnishbath, neither the bather nor attendant being able to understand one wordof what the other spoke. Down an avenue overshadowed by trees weproceeded, getting a peep of a perfectly glorious sunset which bathedone side of the lake in yellow hues, while the other was lighted by anenormous blood-red moon, for in those Northern climes there are manystrange natural effects far more beautiful than in the South. It was awonderful evening, and I paused to consider which was the morebeautiful, the departing day or the coming night, both of which werefighting for supremacy. 

_Saima_ would brook no delay, however, so I had to hurry on. Immediatelybefore us was the _bastu_--a wee wooden house like a small Swiss châlet, the outer room, where I undressed, containing a large oven. The innerroom boasted only one small window, through which the departing day didnot shine very brilliantly, luckily for my modesty. Its furniture wasonly a large-sized tin bath filled with cold water, opposite to whichwere seven very wide wooden steps like a staircase, twelve feet wideperhaps, the top step forming a kind of platform where there was justroom to sit without one's head touching the tarred ceiling above. Thesteps and the platform were covered with straw--Finnish fashion--for thegreat occasion. 

I wondered what next, but had not much time for speculation, for_Saima_--who only took off her outer dress--grasped me by the hand, herface aglow with the intense heat, led me up the wooden staircase, andsigned her will that I should sit on the straw-strewn platform aforehonourably mentioned. 

Oh, the heat! Many of us know Turkish baths; but then we take themgradually, whereas in the _bastu_ one plunges into volcanic fires atonce. Blinking in the dim light, I found that beside us was abrick-built stove, for which the fire, as I had noticed while disrobing, is in the outer chamber, and when the washing-woman threw a pail ofwater upon the surface of the great heated stones, placed for thepurpose inside the stove, the steam ascended in volumes, and thetemperature went up, until I exclaimed, in one of the few Swedishsentences I knew, "_Mycket hett_" (very hot), at which agonised remark_Saima_ laughed uproariously, and, nodding and smiling, fetched anotherpail of water from the cold bath, and threw its contents on the brickfurnace in order that more steaming fumes might ascend. Almost stifled Iblinked, and gasped, and groaned by turns, repeating again and again, "_Mycket hett_, " "_alltför hett_" (too hot), "_Tack så mycket_" (thankyou), in tones of anguish. Much amused, _Saima_--who, be it understood, was a Swedish-speaking Finn--stood smiling cheerfully at mydiscomfiture; but, happily, at last she seemed to think I might have hadenough, for, after waving my hands hopelessly to the accompaniment of"_Nej tack, nej tack_" (no thank you), she apparently understood anddesisted. 

A moment later, through the steam, her smiling face ascended the stairs, with a pail of hot water in one hand, and a lump of soft soap in theother, on which was a large bundle of white fibre, something like hemp. Dipping this in the pail, she soon made a lather with the soap, and, taking up limb after limb, scrubbed hard and long--scrubbed until myskin tingled, and in the damp mysterious heat I began to wonder how muchof my body would emerge from the ordeal. This scrubbing was a longprocess, and if the Finns wash one another as industriously as _Saima_washed me, no one in Finland should ever be dirty, although most of themmust lose several skins a year. Pails of water were then thrown over me, over the straw, over everything, and I heard the soapy water gurglingaway into the lake below, which was covered with yellow and whitewater-lilies. Lilies cannot object to soap, or they would never bloom inFinland as they do. 

"_Mycket bra_" (very good), I called again and again, hoping thatappreciation might perhaps make _Saima_ desist, as the exclamations atthe heat did not seem to alarm her. More water was thrown on to thesteaming bricks, and _Saima_ retired, returning immediately with a greatbundle of birch leaves, tied up with a string, such as I had often seenher on former occasions sweeping the floors with. Dipping the branchesof the birch into a pail of hot water she proceeded to beat her victimall over! Yes, beat me, beat me hard. She laughed, and I laughed; butthe more I laughed the harder she thumped, till the sharp edges of theleaves left almost a sting, while the strong healthy _Saima_ beat meharder and harder, dipping the leaves into hot water continually, andgrinning cheerily all the time. 

The peasantry in Finland are occasionally good enough to wash oneanother, and stories are told of a dozen of them sitting in rows on thewooden steps, each man vigorously beating his neighbour with birchboughs. 

At harvest time, when the heat is very great, and the work very hard, labourers have a bath _every night_! Frequently, after our wonderfulexperience at _Ilkeäsaari_, we saw, while journeying farther into thecountry, shoals of human beings strolling off to enjoy their _bastu_ or_Sauna_. 

It was a weird and wonderful experience. I was really beginning to feelthe heat dreadful after an hour, and was confident the blood must begalloping through my veins. Finally the good-tempered Finnish maidappeared to be of the same mind, for she fetched a pail of cold water, and, pouring a good drop on my head--which made me jump--she dipped herbirch branches therein and switched them over me. Had I followed trueFinnish fashion I should then have taken a midnight plunge straight intothe lake outside--or in winter taken a roll in the snow--but, our bathbeing rather more aristocratic, I only descended the slippery steps, really gasping with the heat and treatment, and jumped into that bath ofcold water previously mentioned; before--clad only in burning hottowels--returning to the outer room to dress. 

I puffed and panted, and, quite exhausted, longed for a Turkish divanand quiet rest before, robed in fur coats and thick under-garments, Itrotted home to bed. 

The bath was taken, the mystery unravelled; I had been washed accordingto native ideas and customs, and understood what the whole thing meant. Some pleasures are too nearly allied to pain to be really pleasant. 

Whether it was the heat, or exhaustion, or the loss of one skin or many, I know not; but after a glass of _mjöd_, that most delicious andrefreshing of Finnish drinks, I slept splendidly--the first time afterweeks of anxiety and grief--and felt fit next morning for any amount ofhard work, even for a journey to Russia through Finland, though we didnot speak or understand the language of either country. Adversity maydevelop character, but it is mighty unpleasant. 

The Finnish peasant thinks nothing of being seen by his friends or hisneighbours in a state of nature, _apropos_ of which peculiarity awell-known general told us the following story--

He had been inspecting a district, and for his benefit parades, etc. , were held. Some hours afterwards he went for a ride, and on returning tothe village he passed a _Sauna_, where the folk were enjoying theirprimitive kind of Turkish bath. According to the usual custom one of themen came out to dress himself; but, having left his clothes in a littlepile some twenty feet from the _Sauna_ door, he had hardly looked outhis things when he noticed that the general was upon him. Though not inthe least confused by the fact of his nakedness, for which he made noapology, he nevertheless exclaimed in tones of horror, "The general! thegeneral!" and began rummaging among the articles on the ground, till atlast he pulled forth a wig, which, all in a hurry, he clapped on hishead wrong side up, then standing proudly erect he saluted the generalas he passed. 

The poor fellow evidently considered his wig of much more importancethan his shirt. Modesty is a matter of climate and custom, just asmorals are a matter of geography. 

Another amusing story is told of an elegant Englishman who had heard somuch of Finnish baths that he determined to try one; having arrived atsome small town, he told the _Isvoschtschik_ to go to the _bastu_. Awaythey drove, and finally drew up at a very nice house, where he paid thetwopence halfpenny fare for his cab, rang the bell, and was admitted bya woman servant. He only knew half a dozen words in Swedish, butrepeated _bastu_ to the smiling lass, being surprised at the eleganceof the furniture in the room into which he had been shown. The girlsmiled again and left him. However, thinking it was all right, heproceeded to undress, and, having entirely disrobed, he stood ready tobe escorted into the bath, and accordingly rang for the woman to comeand wash and massage him. A few moments later the door opened, and avery beautiful young dame stood before him. She was no masseuse, but thewife of the pastor, into whose house he had come by mistake owing to hiswant of knowledge of the pronunciation of the language. Tableau!

We had many curious experiences when bathing in the lakes, and seemed toexcite as much interest in the peasantry of Finland as a Chinaman withhis pigtail would in a small country village in England. At _Sordavala_, for instance, there was a charming little bath-house belonging to ournext host, for which we got the key and prepared to enjoy a swim. Abathing-dress was not to be bought for love or money. No one had everheard of such a thing, but my sister's modesty forbade her appearingwithout one so near a town, and, now that we had left our kind hostessat _Ilkeäsaari_, she could no longer borrow one. Through the town of_Sordavala_, therefore, we marched from shop to shop until we lightedupon a sort of store where linen goods were procurable. Blue andwhite-striped galatea exactly suited the purpose, as it would be lightfor packing, and the colour could not run. We bought it, we paid for it, and home we marched. In less than an hour that gown was cut out by theaid of a pair of nail scissors, without any kind or sort of patternwhatever, and was sewn up ready for use. Out my sister went to bathe, triumphant; but so rare was a bathing-dress that the onlookers thoughtthe English lady had fallen into the water by mischance with all herclothes on. 

My sister had hardly taken a plunge from the spring-board into the waterbelow, before every man, woman, and child in the neighbourhood beganexclaiming one to the other, "The English lady has tumbled in, " and, absolutely, before the bather's head could appear again from the depthsof the water they had all run to the bank to have a look at thephenomenon, more prepared to rescue her from drowning than to see herswimming far out into the lake with clothes on. Of course their interestwas heightened by the appearance of the dress and cap, for even thebetter-class Finlanders very rarely wear any covering on their bodieswhile bathing, and as the women never dive or swim under water a cap isnot necessary to keep their hair dry. They evidently considered mysister and her attire something remarkably funny. 

Again at _Iisalmi_, another place of some importance, when we went downto the bath-house we found it surrounded by dozens of boys of all agesand descriptions, who were enjoying themselves gamboling in the water. 

A Finnish gentleman of the town, to whom we had an introduction, kindlycame with us to unlock the door and see that everything wassatisfactory, and he quickly explained to the boys they must go awayinto the next cove as strange ladies were about to bathe. Veryreluctantly they went, and, wishing us good-bye and a pleasant dip, hewent too. 

We undressed, donned our aquatic attire, plunged into the water, todiscover, in a few moments, a row of grinning spectators, varying in agefrom three years old to thirty, sitting up on the banks like monkeys ina cage, thoroughly enjoying the joke. They laughed and they chatted, they pointed, they waved their arms, and they evidently considered ourperformances most extraordinary. 

These are only two instances out of many, for everywhere we went wecaused interest and amusement. 

One of our party through Northern Finland was a magnificent swimmer. Hehad a cheery way of jumping into a boat, rowing himself far out into thelake, and then taking a header which excited the admiration of allbeholders. At _Kuopio_ he rowed far out as was his usual habit, whilethe old women of the bath-house watched his performance from the shore. One minute went by, and he did not reappear; two minutes went by, andthey still did not see his head. "He is drowned, he is drowned, " theyshrieked in despair, and great was the hubbub and dismay which ensuedbefore he came up again smiling some distance from the spot where he hadoriginally plunged from the boat. Besides being a strong swimmer, he wasa remarkable diver, and if two minutes and a half be the length of timea human being can breathe under water, then we can safely say twominutes and a half was the length of time he always stayed, for in everytown we halted he invariably caused consternation in the heart of someone, who thought the stranger in their midst had gone to a watery grave. He preferred the boat for the sake of his dive, but, as a rule, everyone in Finland bathes from the bath-houses, where there are little roomsfor undressing, in front of which a big stretch of the lake is walled inas a swimming bath. A penny is the usual charge, and an extra penny forthe towel. 

Although every Finlander bathes, as, indeed, they must do during theirhot summers, every Finlander does not swim, and it is a remarkable thingthat among the women, who go daily--sometimes twice a day--to theswimming bath, most of them will sit on the steps or haul themselvesround by means of a rope, and never learn how to keep themselves afloatwithout artificial help. 

Walking through the park at _Kuopio_ one day with the BaronessMichaeloff, my attention was arrested by the extraordinary number of anthills we passed. 

"They are used for baths, " she explained. 

"For what?" I asked, thinking I could not have heard aright. 

"For baths, " she repeated; "formerly these _muurahais kylpy_ (ant-heapbaths) were quite commonly employed as a cure for rheumatism and manyother ailments; but now I fancy it is only the peasants who take them, or very old folk, perhaps. "

"Can an ant bath be had here?"

"Certainly. But surely you don't think of taking one?"

"Indeed I do, though. I am trying all the baths of Finland, and anant-heap bath must not be omitted, if it is possible to have such athing. "

The kindly lady laughed heartily as she said, "Mais, Madame, est-ce quepossible que vous vouliez prendre un de ces bains?"

"Certainment, cela me fait plaisir, " I replied, and accordingly we thenand there marched off to the bath-house to see how my desire might bestbe accomplished. 

The whole matter did not take long to arrange. Next day, at ten o'clock, the _muurahais kylpy_ bath was to be ready, and, in spite of all thechaff round the governor's dinner-table that night about my queerexperiment, nothing daunted I presented myself at the appointed hour. The head _Fröken_, who luckily spoke German, explained that my bath wasready. 

Into a dear little room I went, and lo, the hot water in the bath wasbrown! while, floating on the surface, I saw a small linen sack, shapedlike a pillow-case, securely tied at the end. The cushion contained theant-heap, on which boiling water had been poured, so that the animalswere really dead, the colour of the water having come from their bodies, and the room was impregnated with the odour of pines. 

Did I shiver at the thought? Well, a little, perhaps; nevertheless, Itumbled into the warm water, and was scrubbed Finnish fashion by theold bath-woman, with her scrubbing brush, her soft soap, her birchbranches, and, afterwards, her massage (given under the water), the_Fröken_ sitting all the while on the sofa, chatting affably, anddescribing how the peasants omitted the sacks and simply threw theant-heap _au naturel_ into the bath. 

The small room had two doors--one opening into the passage, and one intothe douche-chamber, which also served for another bathroom. Presentlythe first of the doors opened, and a girl, without apology, entered andtook away a sponge. Did this intrusion make me feel shy? Well, you see, one gets over shyness after being washed like a baby once or twice; butshe had hardly disappeared before the other door opened, givingadmission to a second woman, who came in and deposited a towel; a momentlater some one else appeared, and after a good stare departed; then camea fourth on some pretext or other, and I was beginning to think of thequeer stories told of Japan, where the whole paper wall slides back, andthe natives enjoy the spectacle of English folk bathing, when yet afifth came into the room. This was too much, and I asked the _Fröken_why they had all forgotten so many things. 

She laughed merrily. 

"I'm afraid it's curiosity to see an English lady having an ant-heapbath, so please don't be angry, " and she laughed again. 

A spectacle, verily! But who could be angry with such innocent people? Ihad come to try a strange Finnish bath which interested me--why shouldthey not come to see a queer Englishwoman if it amused them? Flingingshyness to the winds, therefore, I smiled and grinned at the next womanwho entered as though I liked being on view and she went away happy. 

What was a _muurahais kylpy_ like? Candidly, it resembled any otherordinary warm bath, only the water was very black, and there was astrange aromatic odour about it; but there was nothing horrible in theexperience, although I had a good douche--three kinds of good douches infact--for the sake of peace of mind afterwards. 

A douche is delightful, especially on a hot day, and the bath-woman wasparticularly anxious that I should try the various kinds arranged fromthe floor, the ceiling, and the walls of the room. 

"But, " I explained to the lady with a good deal of patting andgesticulation, "hair a yard long cannot be wet every day, even in thesummer time, and to have a shower-bath was impossible, as she could notlend a cap. "

She looked distressed, but she was not going to be beaten, and beckoningfor me to wait, she departed, returning a few minutes afterwards with asmall white china basin; this she put on her head upside down, to showme that it would serve the purpose of a cap, and holding the rim withboth hands she moved it round and round, in a way which indicated thatwherever the water of the shower-bath was falling most was the side tomove the basin to. 

It was an original idea this shower-bath trick, and it answered verywell, but then baths in Finland are an art, and Finland without itsbath-houses would not be Finland at all, so I had the shower feelinglike a plum pudding inside a basin. 

The reason that the _muurahais kylpy_ bath is efficacious for rheumatismand of strengthening property is due to the amount of formic acid theants contain. Added to which, these industrious little animals live uponthe pine needles, and therefore suck all the strength from the mostjuicy part of the turpentiny pine, and, as we all know, turpentine ismuch employed in all kinds of embrocation used for rheumatism, lumbago, and sprains. Soon we shall give up these appliances in favour ofinoculation maybe. 

The next strange bath we experienced was in a waterfall, and was yetmore remarkable. Yes, in a real waterfall where a tremendous volume ofwater dashed down about ten feet. It was at _Kajana_, a town lying on astretch of the famous _Uleå_ rapids. The real fall is about forty feet, over which not even the tar-boats--described in a later chapter--dareventure; consequently, two locks, each containing twenty feet of water, have been made for their use. No one could swim, even in the calmerwaters above or below the locks, because of the cataracts, so abath-house has been erected beside the fall, to which the water isbrought, by means of a wooden trough, to a sort of small chamber, whereit rushes in. That waterfall bath was a most alarming place. It wasalmost dark as we entered the little chamber through which the waterpassed. 

How shall we describe it? It was a small room about eight or ten feetsquare, with a wooden floor and walls. The top of the wall facing us didnot join the roof by about a foot, so as to enable the water to rush in, and the bottom of the wall behind us did not reach the floor by anotherfoot, so as to allow the water to rush out. Some half-dozen stairsdescended from the platform on which we stood to the floor below, but asthe only light came in where the falling water was always dripping, thewalls were soaking wet, and therefore quite black. It was dull andmystic to say the least of it. Once the full force of the water wasturned on by the large wooden arm, it poured in with such tremendousforce from about ten feet above, that in a moment the floor below was abubbling, seething, frothing pool, and as we descended the steps intothis bath, now some two or three feet deep, the force of the stream wasso great that we had actually to hold on by the rail of the stairs tokeep our feet at all on the slippery floor below. It was a lovelysensation. A piece of bacon bubbling about in the fat of the frying-panmust experience something like the same movement as we did, bobbing upand down in this rapidly flowing stream. It almost bumped us over, itlifted us off our feet, and yet, as the water swirled round us, thefeeling was delicious, and its very coldness was most enjoyable afterthe heat outside, and the dust we had travelled through. 

As we grew courageous and accustomed to the darkness, we walked moreunder the fall itself, but the water, simply thumping on our backs andshoulders, came with such force, that we felt exactly as if we werebeing well pummelled with a pair of boxing-gloves, or being violentlymassaged, a delicious tingling sensation being the result. It washed ourhair and rinsed it in a way it had never been rinsed before; but theforce of the water was so great that it was impossible to keep our wholehead under the fall for more than a second at a time, as it almoststunned us. The volume was so strong that it would have rendered usquickly insensible. We women all emerged from the waterfall-bath likedrowned rats; or, to put it more poetically, like mermaids, feelingsplendidly refreshed, and wider awake than we had probably ever felt inour lives before. The magnitude and force of that waterfall-bath makesme gasp even now to remember. It requires a stout heart to standunderneath it; nevertheless, how delicious the experience to thetravel-stained and weary traveller, who had been suffering from tropicalsun, and driving for days along dusty roads in springless carts. 

We four women had taken the opportunity of washing our powdered hair, the accumulation of many days' dust, back to its natural colour, and, aswe all possessed locks which fell considerably below our waists, theywould not dry in five minutes, therefore, each with a towel over hershoulders, we came up on to the little pier, hat in hand, and our hairhanging down our backs. It certainly was somewhat primitive to sit allin a row, with our backs to the sun, on the fashionable promenade orpier of the town. But the town was not big, and the fashion was notgreat, and we gradually screwed up our courage, and finally walked homethrough the streets in the same way, carrying our hats, with towels overour shoulders for cloaks. That was all very well, but when we reachedthe small hotel the dinner was already on the table, for we had dalliedso long over our bath that our gentlemen were impatiently waiting forour advent, and persuaded us not to stop to dress our hair as they werestarving, so down we sat, just as we were, to partake of the meal. 

But one hardly ever does anything uncommon or a little out of theordinances of society, in this world, without being sorry for itafterwards, and having put off struggling with knots, tangled plaits, and hair-pins, until after dinner, we were horrified when the dooropened and three unknown men marched in to join our meal. There was noescape; we were caught like rats in cages. What on earth they thought ofstrange women sitting in towels, and with dishevelled locks, we dare notthink. Imagine our confusion. 

One was a lieutenant in the army; he was young and shy, and hisdiscomfiture at the scene was even greater than our own. The secondproved to be a delightful man; a young engineer who was employed inplanning the route for the new railway to _Kajana_. He told us that hehad been for over a month travelling through the forests and bogs of thecountry, surveying for the best route for the projected line, and thatthe wooden staves we had noticed so often along the road, as we drovefrom _Kuopio_, were the marks laid down as the most suitable directionfor the railway to take. 

He had heard of us, for some peasants had told him, with greatexcitement, that morning that a party of eight people were drivingthrough _Savolax_, and some of them were English. Poor man, he told usof his sufferings in the bogs, and how in some of the low-lyingdistricts the mosquitoes had tormented him so awfully that he had beenquite ill. Even Finlanders suffer sometimes, it would seem; thereforestrangers need not complain. Sir Ronald Ross has done so much toobliterate the malaria-carrying mosquito, perhaps he would like to turnhis attention to Finland and Lapland where mosquitoes are a veritablecurse to enjoyment if not to health. 

In spite of our dishevelled locks, we after all enjoyed a very pleasantmeal. 

CHAPTER IV

A NIGHT IN A MONASTERY

Having torn ourselves away from our kind friends at _Ilkeäsaari_ for atime, and digressed from our story to describe Finnish baths, we mustnow own that the prospect of a night in a monastery was veryexciting--more especially when that monastery chanced to belong toRussia, and to stand alone on an island in the middle of the great_Ladoga_ lake, which no doubt once joined together the White Sea and theGulf of Finland. It is the largest lake in Europe, and celebrated alsofor the cold temperature of its water, which, in spite of its vast size, is always more or less frozen over in winter. It never warms in summer, and therefore there can be little or no bathing around its shores. 

_Sordavala_, where we embarked--of which more anon--is Finnish, staunchFinnish, while _Valamo_, where we landed, is a Russian monastery;therefore no love exists between the two centres, and few arrangementsare made for the comfort and transport of strangers, with the resultthat a couple of steamers go and come as they like; no one knew whenthey would start, and much less when they would return. Nevertheless, onone eventful Sunday morning, the longest day of the year, we werehoisted on board the _Baallam_ (the V, true Russian fashion, had turnedinto a B) from our little boat below, and seated ourselves comfortablyon the vessel which belongs to the famous monastery. Though we had beenin many ships, manned by many types of sailors, from the swarthy Moor tothe short sturdy Icelander, the agile Italian to the fearless Norseman, we here encountered a class of sailor we had never seen before. 

He was tall and lank and lean; he wore a sort of long gown of blackcloth, green on the shoulders with age, and frayed at the elbows, whilea girdle of plaited wool encircled his waist. He had no collar or cuffs, but his feet were encased in long sea-boots, which peeped out from underhis petticoats, and his hair--well, his hair hung over his shouldersalmost to his waist, and on his head was placed a high round black-clothcap. He was like no class or form of sailor we had ever seen before. Hewas something weird and uncanny. His face was neither bronzed by the seanor tanned by the sun, but had an unhealthy pallor about it, and hissunken eyes looked wistfully over a world of which he seemingly knewnothing. Yet he was a sailor, this antithesis of a Jack Tar, and he wasalso--a Russian monk! His hands were none of the cleanest, his clothesnone of the sweetest; but it was not salt water that made them so--itwas oil and age. 

We were well armed with an introduction to the _Igumen_ or head of themonastery, the sort of cardinal or bishop of the island. And we werealso provided with a large basket of provisions, since no one can getanything at _Valamo_ except such food as the monks eat and cookthemselves, not but that their food is generally good enough as simplefare goes; but at the precise time of our visit there happened to be agreat fast in the Greek Church, during which it is impossible to secureeven milk and butter, the monks being forbidden such luxuries. The onlythings obtainable were black bread, soup made from cabbage, groats, asort of buck-wheat porridge cooked in oil, and small beer or tea. Onsuch diet or on potato soup, the seventy monks and four hundredprobationers live for _six weeks_ in the height of summer, as well as atEaster and other festivals. Oil is used profusely in cooking at suchperiods as a sort of penance. At other seasons milk and butter areallowed, fish is eaten on Sundays, and more farinaceous and vegetablefoods enjoyed, although strong beer, wine, and meat are never touched. 

Knowing the difficulty of getting food of any kind during one of thesestrict fasts, and not being particularly devoted to rancid oil, we askeda friend to be sure and order for us a good basket of eatables, and, among other things, a fowl. 

It may be well to mention that Frau von Lilly accompanied us on our tripto _Sordavala_, _Valamo_, and _Imatra_, acting as guide, cicerone, andfriend. Being an excellent linguist, and well versed in the manners andcustoms of her country, her aid was invaluable; indeed, it is to her weowe much of the success of our summer jaunt to Finland. At _Sordavala_, however, we were joined for a few days by a young Finlander, whosefamily name is a household word in _Suomi_, and who, though stillyouthful, having inherited the wisdom of his ancestors, and kindlypatronising ways, proved such an excellent courier, organiser, andcompanion, that in joke we christened him "Grandpapa, " finding hiswisdom far beyond his years. 

Poor Grandpapa! How we teased the youth, how we imposed upon his goodnature; but through it all he emerged victorious, and has thegratification of knowing he finally escorted two Englishwomen throughsome of the wild untrodden paths of his native land, and shipped themfor home, alive and well, and none the worse for strangeexperiences--experiences not unmixed at times with a spice of danger. 

Such were our travelling companions, joined later by Grandpapa'shandsome sisters, and a very delightful student, whose father is one ofthe best-known men in Finland; to say nothing of a young baron, amagister, and a General, who accompanied us for a day or two atdifferent points along our route, and then left us again, to attendother calls of duty; often our party increased to six, eight, or ten, sowe were always well looked after. 

To Grandpapa was entrusted the ordering of a fowl for _Valamo_, for theparty of four. 

"What? A whole fowl?" he asked. 

"Certainly. Surely you would not provide half a fowl for four people, would you?"

"No. But I might provide four fowls for one person, which would be moresuitable. "

We smiled a sickly smile, at what we supposed to be an attempt atFinnish humour too profound for our weak intellects to grasp, or perhapsour smile veiled the hidden sarcasm we felt within at such poor fun. 

Grandpapa forgot the fowl; but in his sleep he suddenly awoke from adreadful nightmare, during the horrors of which that cackling creatureglared upon him in the enormity of his sin. Next morning he was upbefore the chickens' elderly friends, the cocks, began to crow, and erethey had completed their morning song, well--the stock of the farmyardwas lessened. 

Before we steamed away from the little pier, the basket of eatablesarrived, and we went off happy in the possession of a fowl, sardines, cold eggs, tea, white bread and butter, a large bottle of milk, to saynothing of a small cellar of birch-bark plaitings which formed abasket, containing Lager beer and soda water. All this, as written down, may seem a too goodly supply, but be it remembered we were three healthywomen who had to be provisioned for thirty-six hours; Grandpapa did notcome with us to the monastery. 

Two hours' steam over the northern portion of that enormous lake broughtforty islands, which form a group called _Valamo_, in sight, with thegreat white and blue-domed Russian church standing out clearly against alovely sky. This building took four years to finish. The monks builtnearly all of it themselves, made the bricks, carved the wood, paintedthe walls, ceilings, etc. , and did all the goldsmith's work for lampsand altars. It is very massive, very great, catholic in its gaudy style, but sadly wanting tone. Much may, however, be accomplished by the kindlyhand of time, which often renders the crudest things artistic, as itgently heals the wounds of grief. 

We were struck by the size of the place; close beside the monastery andlarge church was a huge building, a sort of hotel for visitors, containing two thousand beds! They are small rooms and small beds, 'tistrue, but at times of great pilgrimages and Greek festivals they arequite full. No one pays; hospitality, such as it is, is free; thevisitor merely gives what he likes to the church on leaving. But themonks, who dispense hospitality gratis, do a roaring trade inphotographs and rosaries, and are very pressing to sell them tostrangers, not that they need be, as the monastery is noted for itsriches. It certainly does not display any sign of wealth on the backs ofits inhabitants, for some of their long coats looked green and yellowwith age, and we were not surprised at their shabby appearance when welearned that they each only had one coat a year in which to do all theirwork, no matter how dirty that work might be. Are they not there tomortify the flesh and learn economy? What is the want of raiment whencompared with the wants of the soul?

They are given triennially an enormous thick fur coat, cap, and gloves, so their wardrobes are not large, and some of the men seem to takelittle interest in keeping even their few garments clean or tidy. 

Beyond this hostelry with its two thousand beds, which was built by themonks to house their better-class visitors, is yet another largebuilding for the use of the poorer pilgrims, who sometimes come inhundreds at a time to do penance at this famous monastery. Besides thetwo vast barracks for strangers, are stables for eighty horses, a shedfor sixty cows, large gardens, piers, and storehouses, so that _Valamo_is really a huge colony, a little world, not entirely inhabited by men, however, for many of the pilgrims are women, while several of thescrubbers and cleaners in the hostelries are old wives. 

Leaving the boat we walked up a hill, and then up some wide steps, behind the white stone copings of which purple and white lilac noddedand scented the air. This staircase was more like one in the famousBorghesa Gardens at Rome than anything we could have expected to meetwith in the north-east of Europe, mid-way between Britain and Siberia. Passing under an archway we found ourselves in a huge courtyard; justopposite to where we stood was the refectory. On the right the church, Or rather two churches, for the one is really built over the other, appeared looking very imposing. All around the quadrangle were thecells. Each monk had one for himself, as well as a novice to attend onhim, such are his privileges; in the other cells two novices are housedtogether, and have to take it in turns to keep their small andcomfortless abode clean and tidy. 

It was a wondrous sight that met our view. The mid-day meal was justover when we arrived, four hundred and seventy men were streaming outof the dining-hall. How strange they looked, each man clothed in a longblack robe like a catholic priest, and each wearing his beard unshavenand his hair long, for, in imitation of our Lord, they let their hairgrow to any length, never touching it with steel; the locks of some fewfell almost to their waist, but, as a rule, a man's hair does not seemto grow longer than his shoulders, although cases have been known whereit has reached the knee. Strange to say, at _Valamo_ most of the monkshad curls, and a lovely sort of auburn seemed the prevailing colour oftheir hair. If they had only kept it nicely, the wavy locks and prettywarm colour would have been charming, but in most instances it was dirtyand unkempt. Their faces and hands were as dirty as their coats, andaltogether the idea that cleanliness is next to godliness seemed to betotally wanting in that island; still there were exceptions, and two ofthem luckily fell to our lot. 

We stood on the steps of the church transfixed. It seemed such a strangescene. It was no religious ceremony, merely the return of the monks andnovices from their mid-day meal in the refectory, but yet the spectaclewas fascinating. 

Out of the door came the great _Igumen_; his face was kindly, and hislocks hung over his shoulders. His cloth hat almost covered his eyes, and his long black veil fell behind him like a train. A crucifix and across lay upon his breast, and he walked with the stately tread of aPope. He was followed by his monks clad in the same high straight clothhats--like top hats in shape but minus the brim--from which also fellblack-cloth veils. When in church long-trained skirts are added by themonks, who remain covered during most of the service; every one elseuncovering. 

On walked the _Igumen_ with lordly mien, monks, novices, and pilgrimsbowing and crouching before him, some of them kneeling and touching theground with their foreheads many times, others kissing his hands, oreven the hems of his garments. Each and all were pleading for some holyprivilege. 

The lower grades followed the priests respectfully. Novices of themonastery kissed the ordinary monks' hands, for the latter of course areholy and worthy of much reverence, or the monks and novices fell uponone another's necks as they did in the old Bible days. We thought atfirst they were kissing, but we soon saw their lips merely touched firstone shoulder and then another, a more usual salutation than a handshakein the monastery. Such obeisance from man to man was wonderful, and theoverpowering delight in the faces of the pilgrims was striking, as theyaccomplished the deeds of reverence they had come so many hundreds ofmiles shoeless to perform. Sometimes as many as three thousand pilgrimsarrive in one day. 

To the great _Igumen_, as he neared his door, we gave our letter ofintroduction; he quickly glanced at it, then, turning to a handsomeyoung novice standing near, spoke a few words, and, with a wave of hishand, a sweet smile and distant bow, passed on. 

Forward came the young man. He was about six feet high, thin andlithesome, very cleanly and gentlemanly in appearance, with the mostbeautiful face imaginable, the sort of spiritual countenance one findsin the old masters when they strove to represent St. John, and his softauburn hair fell on his shoulders with a round curl at the end. He was atype of a beautiful boy, twenty years of age perhaps. 

Doffing his black cloth cap, he said--

"Vielleicht die Damen sprechen deutsch?" (Perhaps the ladies talkGerman?)

"Gewiss" (certainly), we answered, only too delighted to be addressed ina language we knew amongst those Russian-speaking folk. 

Then he continued, "If you allow me I will show you our homes. The_Igumen_ has put me entirely at your disposal. "

He spoke so charmingly and so fluently, we could not refrain from askinghim where he had learnt to speak such excellent German. 

"My mother is German, " he replied, "but my father is Russian, and, therefore, I must belong to the Orthodox Church. " Of course, it is aknown fact that if the father belongs to the Greek Church all thechildren must belong to that church, and once Greek always Greek. 

He seemed to have a sad look in his eyes as he said this, and we askedif he liked being in the monastery. "Of course. Certainly. It is quiteof my own free will. "

He laid great emphasis on _my own free will_, but, somehow, there was aring in his voice that made us feel there was more force than truth inthe assertion, and, being urged by curiosity, we led the conversationback to the same theme later in the day. 

He took us to the guest's apartment first. We passed under a largearchway, where, bidding us wait a moment, he ran on to a couple ofpriests, who were sitting like sentinels at either side of astaircase, and, after some parley with them, returned and explained hehad arranged for us to have room No. 25. 

We discovered subsequently that all the women's rooms were on the firstfloor, and those of all the men on the second; husbands and wivesinvariably being separated. 

Our guide courteously asked us to follow him, and, accordingly, down along and somewhat dark corridor we wandered to No. 25. The walls of thegallery were plainly whitewashed, and ornamented only by an occasionalsmall picture of a saint, before which most passers-by paused andcrossed themselves. 

No. 25 proved to be but a tiny room, a sort of long cupboard, containingthree little wooden beds, two chairs, and one stool, which latter servedas a wash-hand stand; there was besides a small table in the window, andpositively nothing else. It could not have been more sparsely furnished, and it could not have been smaller, for there was only enough space topass up and down between the beds. It savoured of a ship's cabin, yet itwas the honoured guest-chamber of a monastery where hospitality coupledwith strict simplicity reigned. 

Ere leaving us with the most gracious of bows, our new friend explainedhe would return anon. 

At once we unpacked our small bundle, and arranged our luncheon basket, so that on our return, in an hour's time, after visiting the gardens, for which our novice had gone to fetch the key, we might have somethingto eat. 

When we re-entered our tiny chamber for that festive meal, we askedBrother Sebastian, who had meantime charmed us by his gracious kindlyways, if he would join us. 

He looked sadly and wistfully at the viands, ere he answered, "No, thankyou, Gnädige Frau--I must not. "

There really seemed no harm in feeding the poor ill-nourished monk, so, spite of the refusal, we begged him out of sheer humanity to change hismind, and have some of our precious chicken. 

"I ought not to eat with strangers, " he replied. "A little tea andbread, however, I will take, if you please; such small luxuries areallowed in fasting time, but I must not have any sardines or fowl, orcheese, or butter, or milk, thank you, " he continued, as we handed eachin turn. 

It seemed as though we had been reckoning without our host. Where, oh!where, was the much-discussed chicken? Each parcel we opened proved tobe something else, and we looked from one to the other amazed. Grandpapawas not there to ask, but Grandpapa had told us the story of his dream, a mere phantasy of crowing chanticleers, and we began to fear he hadnever ordered that chicken at all. 

We were really getting more than anxious when the last parcel--a verysmall one--lay in its white paper at the bottom of that basket. 

Even Brother Sebastian began to share our anxiety and sorrow, as heconsolingly told us no meat, fish, or fowl was to be procured for loveor money on the Island. Slowly and sadly we undid that little parcel, and lo! happily sitting on the white paper were three small pigeons. 

"No chicken, but small pigeons, " we exclaimed--"how ridiculous; why, they are so tiny there is nothing on them. "

Yet it turned out the creatures were not pigeons but the typical fowlseaten in Finland during the month of July. Almost as soon as the babychicken has learnt to walk about alone, and long before he is thepossessor of real feathers, his owner marks him for slaughter; he iskilled and eaten. Very extravagant, but very delicious. A Hamburger fowlor a French poussin is good and tender, but he is nothing to be comparedwith the succulent Finlander, whose wishing-bone is not one inch long. 

Having devoured a whole fowl for my dinner, I brought away the smallbone as a memento of a ravenous appetite--unappeased by an entire springchicken. 

Brother Sebastian smiled at the incident, and we tried to persuade himto change his mind and join us; he looked longingly at the modestdainties which seemed to bring back recollections of the days when helived in the world, and enjoyed the pleasures thereof, but he onlysaid--

"Besten Dank, meine Dame, but my conscience will not let me eat suchluxuries. I cannot take more than the Church allows in fast times--thetea and bread is amply sufficient, for this is white bread, and that isa delicacy I have not tasted for years; all ours is black and sour. Ishould like to eat a sardine, but my conscience would kill meafterwards, you see. "

As we did not wish to kill the unsophisticated youth, we pressed him nofurther. 

What a picture we made, we four, in a far-away chamber of the _Valamo_Monastery with that beautiful boy sitting on the queer coverleted couch. 

He told us that three years previously he had "made a fault. " We did notask of what nature, and he did not say; he only stated that his fatherwho was a high official in the Russian Army, had, on the advice of thepriest, sent him here to repent. 

"Was it not very strange at first?"

"Yes, for you see we live in Moscow, and my father knows every one, andthere are many grand people always at our house. It seemed difficult tome because most of the inmates here are peasants, and once within themonastery walls we are all equal; we are all men, and God's servants. Rank counts as nothing, for no one knows our names except the _Igumen_himself. When we enter we give up our garments, our money, our identity, and clothe ourselves as servants of the Church until we leave again, ortake the vows of monks and give up the world for ever. "

"How do you become monks?" we inquired, interested. 

"We cannot do so till we are thirty years of age--we are novices atfirst, and free to go away, but at thirty we can decide to take thevows, give up all we possess, and dedicate our lives to the Church, ifwe desire to do so. Then our name is struck off the police rolls. "

"You are lost, in fact?"

"Yes, lost to the world, for although while novices we can get awayoccasionally for a time on important business, once we become monks itis hardly possible to obtain leave of absence. A monk, " he continuedproudly, "wears a tall hat, has a room to himself, is waited upon by aprobationer, sits at the upper table, and leads a much easier life asregards all kinds of work. "

He had spoken such splendid German, this fine young fellow with thesympathetic eyes, through which his very soul shone, that we againcomplimented him. 

"I used to speak some French, " he said; "for we had a French governess, as children, and always spoke that language in the nursery; but since Ihave been here there has been so little occasion to employ it, I havequite forgotten that tongue. Indeed, in four years--for I have stayedsome months beyond my time of punishment--I find even my German, which, as I told you, is my mother's language, getting rusty, and I am not surethat I could write it in _Latenischen-Buchstaben_ now at all. "

"What a pity, " we exclaimed, "that you do not read French and German soas to keep your knowledge up to date. "

"We are not allowed to read anything that is not in the CloisterMonastery, " he replied, "which for the most part only containstheological books, with a few scientific works, and those are written inRussian, Hebrew, Slavonic, and Greek, so I have no chance, you see. "

"Do you mean to say you have no opportunity of keeping up the knowledgeyou already possess?"

"Not that kind of knowledge. I love botany, but there are no booksrelating to botany here--so I am forgetting that also. We never read, even the monks seldom do. "

"But you have the newspapers, " we remarked, horrified to think of ayoung intellect rotting and mouldering away in such a manner. 

"I have not seen a newspaper for nearly four years, never since I camehere. We are not allowed such things. "

"But you said you were sent here for only three years' punishment--howdoes it happen you have remained for nearly four?"

"Because I chose to stay on; you see I have lost touch with the world. My parents sent me here against my will, now I stay here against theirwill, because they have unfitted me by the life I have led here for thatfrom which I came. "

We listened appalled. 

"Will you tell me some news, kind ladies?" he added, the while amournful look came into his face, "for, as the _Igumen_ said I mighttake you round to-day and stay with you, I should like to hearsomething to tell the others to-night. "

"What sort of news?" we asked, a lump rising in our throats as werealised the sadness of this young life. Gently born and gently bred, educated as a gentleman, for nearly four years he had mixed with thosebeneath him, socially and intellectually, until he had almost reachedtheir level. He lived with those by birth his inferiors, although hekept himself smart and clean and tidy. 

"Oh!" he said, "I remember Home Rule was written about when I last sawthe papers. Home Rule for Ireland like one has in Finland. "

Hardly believing in his total innocence of the outer world, we asked--

"Does no one ever really see a paper in this monastery?"

"The _Igumen_ does, I think, no one else; but I did hear, throughvisitors, that our young Tzarwitch had been made Tzar lately. "

Oh! the pity of it all. Talking to this beautiful boy was like speakingto a spirit from another world. 

We ransacked our brains as to what would interest an educated young man, whose knowledge of the events that had engrossed his fellows for fourwhole years was a perfect blank. 

"Have you heard of horseless carriages and flying machines?" we asked. 

"No. What are they; what do you mean? Don't joke, please, because everytrue word you say is of value to me, you see, " he said, in an almostbeseeching tone, with a wistful expression in his eyes. 

It was very touching, and we almost wept over his boyish pleasure at ourdescription of modern doings. We told him of everything and anything wecould think of, and he sat, poor lad, the while sipping tea without milkor sugar as though it were nectar, and eating white bread, as if themost tasty of French confections. 

"You _are_ good to me, " he said; "you are kind to tell me, " and tearssparkled in his eyes. 

"Why, why, " in distress we asked him, "do you stay here?"

"It is very nice, " he said, but we heard that strange ring again in thevoice of that beautiful boy. 

"But to live here is selfish and wrong; you live for yourself, you donot teach the ignorant, or heal the sick; you bury yourself away fromtemptation, so there is no virtue in being good. Ignorance is notvirtue, it is knowledge tempered by abstinence that spells victory. Youare educated in mind and strong in body; you could do much finer workfor your God by going into the world than by staying at _Valamo_. Youought to mix among your fellows, help them in their lives, and show thema good example in your own. "

"You think so?" he almost gasped, rising from his seat. "So help me, God! I have been feeling as much myself. I know there is something wrongin this reposeful life; I feel--I feel sometimes--and yet, _I am veryhappy here_. " A statement it was quite impossible to believe. 

We spoke to him very earnestly, for there was something deeply touchingabout the lad, and then he repeated he was free to go if he chose. Heexplained that when his penance was performed and he was free to leave, some months before, he had become so accustomed to the life, so afraidof the world, that he chose to remain. But that, latterly, doubts beganto trouble him, and now, well, he was glad to hear us talk; it had donehim good, for he never, never before talked so much to strangers, and itwas perhaps wrong for him to do so now. If such were the case, mightHeaven forgive him. 

"But come, " he finished, as though desirous of changing the subject, "Imust show you our refectory. "

We had become so entranced by the boy, his doubts and fears, that werose reluctantly to follow the gaunt youth, whose bodily and mentalstrength seemed wasting away in that atmosphere of baleful repose. 

He showed us the great dining-hall where the wooden tables were laid forsupper. There were no cloths; cloths being only used for greatfeast-days, and the simplicity was greater than a convict prison, andthe diet far more strict. Yet these men chose it of their own free will. No wonder our starving classes elect to live in prison at the country'sexpense during the cold winter months, and to sleep in our public parksduring the summer; such a life is far preferable, more free and yet wellcared for than that of the Russian monk. 

Little brown earthenware soup plates, with delicious pale-green glazedchina linings, stood in front of every monk's place. Benches withoutbacks were their seats, and tall wooden boxes their salt-cellars. Oneach table stood a couple of large pewter soup-tureens filled with smallbeer; they drink from a sort of pewter soup ladle, which they replace onthe edge of the pot after use. 

What about germ disease in such a place, O ye bacteriologists? Butcertainly the average monk looks very ill, even when presumably healthy!

In the olden feudal days in England meals were arranged in precisely thesame way, as may be seen to-day in College Halls at the Universities orthe London Temple. Here in the Monastery the raised dais at the end wasoccupied by the _Igumen_, seated on a chair of state; his most importantmonks were next him, then came the lower grades, and below the woodensalts sat the novices and apprentices. 

Three meals a day are served in this hall, a long grace preceding andclosing each, and a certain number of the younger men are told off towait on the others, which they have to do as silently as possible, whileportions of the Bible are read out by a monk during each meal from ahigh desk. 

After leaving the dining-room we went over the workshops, where inwinter everything of every sort is made; these four hundred and seventymen--if they do not work for the outer world--work for themselves andtheir island home. They build their churches and other edifices, makethe bricks and mortar, their coats and clothes, their boots and shoes, mould their pottery, carve their wooden church ornamentations, shapethem in plaster, or beat them in metal. There are goldsmiths andjoiners, leather tanners and furriers, amongst them, and during the longdreary frozen winters they all ply these trades. Verily a small body ofsocialists, each working for the general good of the little colony. 

It is then they make the sacred pictures, the _ikons_ for which themonastery is famous, which, together with rosaries and photos, are soldduring the summer months to visitors. When these things are disposed ofthe monks count their profits and make their bills by the aid ofcoloured balls on a frame, such as children sometimes learn to countwith. There are five red balls on one bar, five yellow on another, etc. , and by some deft and mysterious movement of these balls the monk, likeany ordinary Russian shopkeeper, quickly makes up his bills and presentshis account. 

"You must come in one of our pilgrim boats to another of our islands, "said our friend Sebastian, to which proposal we readily agreed. 

What a boat it was! Talk of the old Viking ships that sailed to Americaor Iceland, and held a couple of hundred persons. The _Valamo_ pilgrim'sboat did not fall far short in bulk and capacity of those old historiccraft. Six oars on each side, and three or four men at each, with plentyof room in the well, or at the stern and bows, for another hundredpersons to stow themselves away. We were not pilgrims, and the _Igumen_had kindly ordered a steam launch to tug us. Some fifty or sixty othervisitors took advantage of the occasion and accompanied us on our "waterparty. "

It was certainly very beautiful and most unique. Monks in all ages andall countries have ever seemed to pitch upon the most lovely spots ofmother earth in which to plant their homes, and our friends at _Valamo_were not behind in this respect. 

We were amazed at the beautiful waterways, constantly reminding us ofthe backwaters in the Thames. On the banks we passed farms;splendid-looking creameries, where all the milk was now being made intobutter or cheese for the winter--luxuries denied, as has been saidbefore, to _Valamo_ during the fasting season. 

We came to a primitive pier, where the trees hung right over the sides, the leaves dipping into the water. It was very secluded, very beautiful, and wonderfully reposeful. Our path lay through a lovely wood, wherewild flowers grew in profusion, among them a kind of wild orchid with adelicious perfume, and the small wild arum lily. It is strange that suchrare plants should grow there, when one remembers that for six or eightmonths of the year the land is ice-bound. On the island we visited asmall church, within the sacred precincts of which no woman's foot daretread, but we had a peep at another chapel where a hermit once lived. Henever spoke to any one for seven years, and slept nightly in his coffin, in which he was not buried, however, it being necessary to keep thearticle for visitors to gaze upon. 

On our return we much enjoyed a cup of tea in our cloister chamber, where the Russian _samovar_ was boiling in readiness. It was not longere the sonorous monastery bell tolled six, and every one turned towardsthe church for service, which was to last till about nineo'clock--service of that duration being a daily occurrence. Every onestands the whole of the time. After nine o'clock the monks and novicesgo to bed, but at three A. M. The great bell rings and they all have toget up again for another service, which lasts for two or three hoursmore. Altogether at _Valamo_ about five or six hours out of everytwenty-four are spent in prayer. 

During the winter months every one in the monastery has to be present atboth the day and night services, namely, stand or kneel on bare flags inthe church for the time just mentioned. In summer the authorities arenot so strict, and provided all attend the service every night, and thesecond one two or three times a week, nothing is said about a couple orso being missed. 

Being a monastery church, all the men stood on one side, the women, visitors, and pilgrims on the other, during the service at which we werepresent. Afterwards, in the Greek Churches in St. Petersburg, we foundthat the sexes were not divided in this manner. 

It was the first time we had participated at a Russian service, and thechief impression left on our minds was the endless movement of thecongregation. They were everlastingly crossing themselves, not once, buttwo or three times running, and every few minutes they all did it again;then about every twelfth person would kneel down, and putting his handson the floor before him touch the ground with his forehead like theMohammedans when they pray to the Prophet, and tell their beads as truemonks tell theirs. One man we watched go down _forty times running_ andcross himself three times between each reverence! A penance, no doubt, but a penance unlikely to do any one much good, at least so we could nothelp thinking. 

Again, a woman, a poor fat old pilgrim, who got on her knees with thegreatest difficulty, remained with her forehead on the ground for atleast five minutes, till we really began to wonder if she were dead; butat last she rose after some trouble, for we had to help her up, and wefervently hoped that was the end of her penance, poor old soul. Not abit of it; a quarter of an hour afterwards she was down again and whenwe left she was still praying. Then a strange-looking sort of priestcame and stood beside us, instead of joining the other men who clusteredround the _Igumen's_ throne or before the altar. After scrutinising himfor some time, surprised at a man standing among the women, wediscovered _he_ was a _she_ come on a pilgrimage to pray. She of strangegarb was an abbess!

The reverence in the Greek Church is far more living than it now is inthe Church of Rome, though outwardly both are so much alike to theoutsider. The Catholic priests cannot marry, while the priests in theGreek Church may do so. 

We were getting very tired of standing listening to the monotonousreading of the psalms, watching the priests walking about in their longblack robes, taking their hats off and on, and endlessly kneeling orbowing to the great _Igumen_ who stood during the whole ceremony on acarved wooden throne covered with scarlet velvet. The singing was veryunequal. The choirs came in from both sides of the altar twice, andformed themselves into a half circle on the floor of the church--aschoirs used to do at the representations of the Greek plays of old. Wewere well-nigh suffocated with incense and the strange odour thatemanates from a Russian peasant, and had begun to think of those queerlittle wooden beds in which we were to pass the night--and what acontrast the primitive cell was to that gorgeous glittering church--whenwe saw our "beautiful boy" beckoning to us. 

We followed him out. 

"I have bad news for you, " he said; "your boat for to-morrow is to leaveto-night--in half an hour. "

"Why?" we asked, aghast. 

"The other passengers desire to leave to-night and proceed by way of the_Holy Island_ back to _Sordavala_; they all wish it, so the captain isgoing. "

"But is there no other boat for us?"

"None to-morrow, " he replied. 

"But it was arranged to leave to-morrow, " we faltered. "We took ourtickets on that understanding; we have unpacked here; we are preparedfor a night in a monastery, and have given up our rooms at _Sordavala_. "

"It is of no avail, " he said; "the greatest number carry the day here, and the others all want to go. I have done my best, but it is of nouse. "

We rushed to our cloister-chamber, bundled our things into a bag, andmarched off to the boat, sorry indeed to miss our night in themonastery, and still more sorry to leave that beautiful youth behind onhis island home, an island which rises solitary from one of the deepestparts of the vast _Ladoga_ lake--rises like a pyramid over a thousandfeet through the water, and yet remains almost hillless on thesurface, though covered with dense foliage. As we glided over theperfectly still water, we saw the blue domes of the new church in thesunlight, towering above the woods like the guardian angel of theisland. 

We had made friends with several of the monks who spoke a little Frenchor German, and who came to see us off and wish us a pleasant journey. They followed our steamer along the banks and waved good-bye again andagain, especially Brother Sebastian, who had spent nearly twelve hoursin our company during that glorious summer day. 

What would become of him, we wondered. Would he waste his life amongthose men, so few of whom were, socially or intellectually, his equals, or would he return to the world?

Drops of water make the ocean, and grains of sand build up the universe:would he, atom though he was, return to his position in society, lead anhonest, noble, virtuous life, and by his influence help his nation?

_Holy Island_ was perhaps more beautiful than _Valamo_, and although sonear to _Valamo_ the natural features were entirely changed. Here therocks rose straight out of the water for a hundred feet or more, like aperpendicular wall, but lying very much deeper under the sea, as theiceberg does--they were such strange rocks, they looked as if they weresliced down straight by man's hand, instead of being nature's own work. We landed and walked along a wonderful pathway, hewn out of the side ofthe solid rock, from which we looked sheer down into the water below;here and there the path was only made of wooden plankings, which joinedone rock to another over some yawning chasm below. Suddenly we came upona cave, a strange wee place about fifteen feet long and four wide, wherea holy friar had once lived and prayed, although it was so low he wasunable to stand upright. An altar still remains with its ever-burninglamp, but the religious element was rather spoilt, when a couple ofmonks met us and asked the gentlemen for cigars, though smoking isprohibited by their sect. 

On this island the wild arum lilies we had before noticed grewprofusely, while the vegetation everywhere was beautiful, and yet eightor ten feet of snow covered the ground all through the long winter. Aswe left _Holy Island_, it was past ten o'clock at night, and yet whatcould that be? We were far away from land, and still there seemed to beland quite close to us. What could it mean? It was a mirage. Such amirage is sometimes seen on the vast _Ladoga_ lake as in the plains ofEgypt, and vastly beautiful it was. A fitting ending to a strangelybeautiful day we thought, as we softly glided over the water. 

It was the longest day of the year, and when at eleven P. M. We neared_Sordavala_ the sun had not set. Its glorious reflections and warmcolourings stirred our hearts' inmost depths, and bathed us in a sweetcontent as we sat silent and awed, dreaming of the strangely patheticstory of that beautiful boy. 

CHAPTER V

SORDAVALA, OR A MUSICAL FESTIVAL

Terror had entered our souls when we read in the _Nya Pressen_, the daybefore leaving for the musical festival at _Sordavala_, the following:"_Sordavala_ has only thirteen hundred inhabitants, and some tenthousand people have arrived for the _Juhla_. They are sleeping onfloors and tables, and any one who can get even a share in a bed must bemore than satisfied. Food cannot be procured, and general discomfortreigns. " This was not cheerful; indeed the prospect seemed terrible, more especially when, after getting up at five o'clock, and driving somemiles to _Wiborg_, we arrived at the station only to find the traincrammed from end to end, and not a chance of a seat anywhere. Confusionreigned, every one was struggling with every one else for places, andthe scrimmage was as great as though it were "a cheap trip to Margateand back" in the height of the season. There were only second andthird-class carriages, with a sort of fourth, which was said to hold"forty men or eight horses, " and had no windows, but was provided withrough benches and odd boxes for the passengers to sit on. In such aterrible railway carriage all the members of the brass band travelledwith their music stands and instruments. 

We ran from end to end of the platform in despair. It was the only trainof the day, and _full_. Even Frau von Lilly, with all her Swedish andall her Finnish, could not succeed in finding places. At last anofficial stepped forward, and, touching his hat, remarked--

"There are no seats to be had in any compartment, but, as so manypersons desire to go on, we shall probably send a relief train in anhour. "

"Are we to wait on the chance of 'probably'?"

"Yes, I think you must. In fact, I am almost sure you must; but in anycase you cannot go in that; it is just off. "

And sure enough away steamed number one before the stolid Finns couldmake up their minds to despatch number two; nevertheless, an hourafterwards the relief train was ready and comparatively empty, so wetravelled in peace. 

All these slow arrangements and avoidances of committal to anyannouncement of fact, constantly reminded us of Scotland--indeed, it isquite remarkable how closely a Finn and a Highlander resemble each otherin appearance, in stolid worth, and dogged deliberation; how they eatporridge or _gröt_, oatcake or _knäckebröd_, and have many other strangelittle peculiarities of manner and diet in common. 

We got under weigh at last, and settled down for a few restful hours ina comfortable Finnish railway carriage. The train, ever dignified anddeliberate of pace, had just passed _Jaakkima_ in the South-East ofFinland, almost due North from Petersburg. The heat was great that Juneday, and here and there, as the engine puffed through the pine forests, dense columns of smoke rising from the woods near the railway linesalarmed all who beheld, and warned the neighbouring peasants to digtrenches, which alone could stay the fierce flames, rapidly gatheringforce, that meant destruction. 

At many stations we paused, not necessarily for passengers to alight orascend, but to stock our engine with fuel. There, stacked high and wideand broad, was the wood cut into pieces about two feet long, intended tofeed our locomotive, and a couple of men were always in readiness tothrow it into the tender as quickly as possible, compatible with theslowness of the Finn. 

The heat in the train was so intense that it made us feel drowsy, but, as we fortunately had the end compartment in the corridor-carriage, wewere able to open the door and get a breath of air. A bridge somewhatinsecure-looking joined us to the next waggon, and a very amusing scenepresented itself. The guard was flirting with a Finnish maid, a typicalpeasant, with a comely figure, set off by a well-fitting bodice. She hadhigh cheek-bones and a wondrous round moon face; a large, good-temperedmouth filled with beautiful teeth, a good complexion, and weak, thin, straight flaxen hair, combed back from a very high forehead. She worethe usual handkerchief over her head. Had she been dark instead of fair, judging by the width of her face and the lines of her eyes, she mighthave been a Chinese; but to an English mind she appeared anything butbeautiful, although clean and healthy looking. She, like many others ofher class, had the neatest hands and feet imaginable, although thelatter were encased in black mohair boots with elastic sides, a veryfavourite foot-covering in Finland. 

All along the line there ran a sort of tumbledown wooden fencing, loosely made, and about four or five feet high, meant to keep back thesnow in winter. The very thought of snow was refreshing on that broilingday. 

As we gasped with the heat, and pondered over the scrambled meal at_Jaakkima_, we listened to the strangely sad but entrancing singing of anumber of peasants in the next waggon, all bound like ourselves for_Sordavala_, although they were really rehearsing for the Festival, while we were drowsily proceeding thither merely as spectators. 

How they flirted those two on the bridge outside our carriage. Spite ofthe hard outlines of her face, and her peculiarly small Finnish eyes, the maiden managed to ogle and smile upon the guard standing with hishands upon the rail; so slender was the support, that it seemed as if hemight readily fall off the train and be killed by the wheels below. Theflirtation was not only on her side, for presently he took her hand, afat little round hand, with a golden circle upon one of the fingers, which denoted betrothal or marriage, and pressed it fondly. We could notunderstand their Finnish speech; but there is a language comprehensibleto all, in every clime. That the pair were in love no one could for amoment doubt, and that they heeded nothing of those quaint old Finnishchants, distinctly audible from the opposite carriage, was evident, forthey talked on and on. 

We passed _Niva_; here and there the waters of a lake glinted in thesunshine, or a river wound away to the sea, strewn with floating wood, as though its waters were one huge raft. 

The singing ceased; save the merry laugh of the Finnish girl, nothingbut the click-cluck-click of the wheels was audible. The guard leanedover her, whispered in her ear, then, as if yielding to some suddenimpulse, pressed her to his heart; and, still to the accompaniment ofthat endless click-cluck-click, implanted a kiss on her full round lips. For a moment they stood thus, held in warm embrace, muttering thosesweet nothings which to lovers mean all the world. 

Suddenly the door behind them opened, and one of the singers, nervousand excited from the long practice of his national airs, came upon thebridge to let the gentle zephyrs cool his heated brow. 

All smiles, this sunburnt blonde, whose hair fell in long locks, cut offstraight, like the ancient saints in pictures, stood before us--his pinkflannel shirt almost matching the colour of his complexion. 

In a moment all was changed; his happy smile vanished into a glance ofdeadly hate, the colour fled from his face, leaving him ashy-pale, fireliterally shot from his eyes as he gazed upon his affianced bride; buthe did not speak. 

His hand violently sought his belt, and in a moment the long blade ofone of those Scandinavian _puukko_--knives all peasants use--gleamed inthe sunshine. For an instant he balanced it on high, and then, with ashriek more wild than human, he plunged the blade deep down into hisbetrothed's white breast. 

Like a tiger the guilty guard sprang upon him; madly they fought whilethe girl lay still and senseless at their feet, a tiny stream of bloodtrickling from her breast. 

Northern rage once roused is uncontrollable; and there, on the bridge ofthe moving train, those two men struggled for mastery, till--yes, yes--the light railing gave way, and together the hater and the hatedfell over the side, and were cut to pieces by the wheels. 

What a moment! a groan, a piercing shriek, rent the air!

Then, with a gasp, hot and cold, and wet by turns, I woke to find it wasall a dream!

 * * * * *

The run to _Sordavala_ proved a hot and tedious journey of seven hours, but even dusty railway journeys must come to an end, and we arrived atour destination in Eastern Finland about three o'clock. 

The crowd at the country station was horrible, and the clamour for cabs, carts, and the general odds and ends of vehicles in waiting to transferus to our destination, reminded us much of Ober Ammergau on a smallerscale. 

This _Sordavala_ festival is really the outcome of an old religiousceremony, just as the Welsh Eisteddfod is a child of Druidical meetingsfor prayer and song. In ancient days bards sang and prayed, and now bothin Finland and in England the survival is a sort of musical competition. 

Our Eisteddfod, encouraged by the landed proprietors of Wales, forms auseful bond between landlord and tenant, employer and employed. It isheld yearly, in different towns, and prizes are given for choir singing, for which fifty to a hundred voices will assemble from one village, allthe choirs joining together in some of the great choruses. Rewards arealso given for knitting, for the best national costumes, for solosinging, violin and harp playing, for original poems in Welsh, and forrecitations. 

In Finland the competition, strangely enough, also takes place once ayear, and dates back to the old _Runo_ Singers, who orally handed downthe national music from generation to generation. Each time the Festivalis, as in Wales, held in a different town, the idea being to raise thetastes of the populace, and to encourage the practice of music among athoroughly musical people. Clubs or choirs are sent from all corners ofFinland to compete; the old national airs--of which there are hundreds, ay thousands--are sung, and that unique native instrument the _Kantele_is played. For hundreds of years these _Runo_ Singers have handed on thesongs of their forefathers by word of mouth, and have kept their historyalive. 

It was _Elias Lönnrot_ who collected these _Kantele_ songs. For yearsand years he travelled about the country gathering them together by earand word of mouth, and, having weeded out the repetitions, he edited thefamous epical _Kalevala_, and later collected quantities of other lyricballads from the heathen times, and published them as _Kanteletar_. Thusmuch ancient music and verse was revived that had almost been forgotten. But of this we must speak in the next chapter. 

That Finland is thoroughly musical may be inferred from the dozens ofchoirs sent to the _Sordavala_ Festival from all parts of the country. The peasant voices, in spite of being but slightly trained, or at allevents trained very little, sing together wonderfully. Indeed, it wassurprising to find how they could all take their proper parts, and keepto them; but the supreme delight, perhaps, of the Festival was thestudent corps, composed of fifty men from the University of_Helsingfors_, who sang together most beautifully, the choir beingconducted by one of themselves. They had some glorious voices amongthem, and as they sang the national airs of Finland, marching backwardsand forwards to the park, their feet keeping time with their music, theeffect of their distant singing in the pine-woods was most enthralling. 

Strangely enough, when they went to sing on the public platform raisedin the park for the occasion, they wore evening dress and white gloves. Dress-clothes are somewhat of a rarity in Finland, as they are in manyother continental countries; but there they stood in a semicircle on thedais, each man with his white velvet student cap in his hand, and, tothe spectators, standing a little in the distance, the effect ofsnowy-white shirt, white gloves, and white cap shown up in the glancingsunbeams by black clothes, was somewhat funny. 

The performers met with tremendous applause, and certainly deserved it. Although German students often sing beautifully, and are indeed famousfor their rendering of the _Volkslieder_, those from _Helsingfors_ sangas well if not better. 

We often dined at the same hotel where they lodged, during the week, andwhen they marched in they sang a grace. After they had finished theirdinner, they generally, before leaving, sang two or three songs byspecial request of visitors dining at the various tables. 

Morning, noon, and night those students sang! Small bands of them wentto meet the trains coming in, if they expected friends, and stood uponthe platform lustily singing their welcome. They went to see otherfriends off, and, amidst much doffing of caps, they sang farewell songs. They marched in torchlight processions--although the torches were notvery successful when all was daylight--and everywhere they went they metwith the greatest enthusiasm. 

Modern singing at the Festival, in parts and glees, was very good, showing the great musical talent of the people, while especiallydelightful were the out-of-door concerts. Another charm of the Festivalconsisted in the exhibition of peasants' work. 

As we entered the museum where we were to hear the _Kantele_ Concert, we stood transfixed. At a bare wooden table a quite, quite old man withlong-flowing locks was sitting with his elbows on the boards, his handsstretched over his _Kantele_, which he was playing delightfully. 

The small flat musical instrument reminded one of the zither of Tyrol, while the strange airs bore some similarity to the bagpipe music ofScotland, at least in time, which, like the piper, the old man beat withhis foot. His blue eyes were fixed on the wall opposite, with a strange, weird, far-off look, and never for one moment did he relax his gaze. Heseemed absolutely absorbed by his music, and as the queer old figure--asort of Moses with his long beard--played his native instrument, amidthe quaint trappings of the museum for background, we felt enthralled bythe sombre surroundings and curious apparition, who might have been_Wäinämöinen_ himself, the mythological god of music in Finland. 

Others followed; they all played charmingly, and their usually sombrefaces seemed quite changed by the sounds of music. Music has alwaysplayed an important part in the history of Finland--for good be itowned, and not, as Tolstoi suggested, to arouse the vilest passions. 

Look at the faces of the people dowered with such legends. The _Runo_Singers live in another world from ours. Theirs is the land of poetryand romance; theirs the careless, happy dream of life. The things ofthis world, the sordid littleness, the petty struggles, the very fightfor bread, they wot not of, for they are content with little. Socialismand Syndicalism have not robbed them of life's joys. 

They sit and sing, and dream. See the far-away look on yon man'sfeatures; see how intensely he gazes on some vision painted visibly forhim on the blank wall. His very face and mind seem transported to otherrealms. As the song rises and falls his expression alters, and when hestrikes those stirring chords on the _Kantele_ and speaks of bloodshedand war his whole being seems changed. 

We noticed one peculiarity with the _Runo_ Singers, viz. , that eachvocalist repeated the whole line twice. For instance--

"The old man fished. " All the others took up the word "fished, " and thenevery one present sang the whole of the line a second time in companywith the original singer, again repeating the word _fished_ at the endalone. After that the original singer took up the next line by himself, his friends repeating the last word, ere joining him in the repetitionof the line itself. 

This seemed to be a speciality, for we noticed it again and again, and, as the performers all chanted well together, the effect was delightful;at the same time the practice unduly lengthens the progress of thesongs, some of which go on for hours in a dull, monotonous recitative. 

We always had to cross the river at _Sordavala_ whenever we went out todinner, or attended any of the concerts, as our home was on one bank andthe representations and restaurant on the other, and one old Russianboatman was particularly attentive in waiting about for us at the hourswhen he thought it likely we should require to be ferried over. His barkwas decorated, like all the other craft at _Sordavala_, with silverbirch, which, as we knew, is sacred in Finland, and great branches ofits silver boughs were cut to ornament the _kuiru_ (native boats). Itwas wonderful what a pretty effect this gave, for they were not littleboughs, but great branches stuck on the rowlocks in such a manner as tomake the boat appear a veritable bower. When several craft were on thewater together, they had the effect of a beautiful picture, with the redand pink shirts of the boatmen, and the white or black handkerchiefsover the women's heads. 

Our old Russian was a wonderful-looking individual, with shaggy grislylocks which fell in regular ringlets upon his shoulders--the sort of manone would love to paint. Every wrinkle upon his face was italicised bydirt, and his faded red shirt appeared a dream of colour for an artist'seye. He was much interested in us all, and at last he ventured to askFrau von Lilly where the ladies came from. 

"England, " she replied in Russian. 

"Ah! I know about England, " he returned; "it has many big towns, andthey are strong towns. England is much afraid that our Tzar might takethose big towns. "

"Do you think so?"

"Yes, _I know_; but the ladies do not look English, they are so dark. Isit the fierce sun of their country that has burned them so black?"

We laughed; we had heard of many things, but not often of "the fiercesun of England. "

"_You_ are not English?" he went on, addressing our friend. 

"No, " replied Frau von Lilly, "I am a Finlander. "

"You? Why, you speak Russian, and you are dark, too; your face is notlike a Finn's, it is not wide enough, and your hair is too black. He, "pointing to Grandpapa, "is a Finlander, and looks like one. "

Fancy such observations from an old Russian boatman. The same wonderfulinterest in our concerns and welfare was, however, evinced on all sides. The whole town of _Sordavala_ had positively thrilled with excitementwhen the Committee of the Fête learned that some English people werecoming to their Festival. Instantly that Committee wrote to say theywould do everything they could for the visitors' "komfort, " which theycertainly did. They gave us the best rooms in the place, they openedtheir museums for us that we might view them, privately, they gave us_Runo_ singing entertainments with ourselves for sole audience, theyfound seats for us in the theatre when every seat was sold, and theytreated us in all ways as though we had been princesses. But everythingwe said was noted, and everything we did cautiously watched; thereforefor a short time we tasted something of the horrors of that publicitywhich must be the bane of existence to royalty. 

Long after we had left _Sordavala_ we happened to refer to that townwhen conversing with some friends. 

"Isn't it amusing?" one of them observed. "I saw in the paper the otherday that some English people who went to _Sordavala_ for the Festival, had written beforehand a letter to the Manager of the Committee to say"they required a suite of apartments, not higher than the third floor, with a bathroom. "

We could not help smiling. It was the old story of "The Three BlackCrows" over again! We had been the only English people at the Festival, we had never written a line ourselves to any member of the Committee; anative friend had done so for us, however, saying "that rooms would berequired for three ladies, two English, and one Finnish. "

One of the features of the Festival which interested us the most was arepresentation, at a little improvised theatre, of a typical modernFinnish play, by Finnish actors. 

_Anna Liisa_ was the piece chosen, because it was a peasant drama. It iswritten by one of Finland's greatest dramatists--perhaps the greatest inthe Finnish language--and a woman!

It was only a small impromptu theatre, packed to suffocation by a mostwonderfully sympathetic audience, but as the play was veryrepresentative, we give a slight sketch of the subject. 

The curtain rose on a little peasant log-hut with its huge chimney, where over a small native stove heated by wood, pots were boiling. 

Fixed to a chair was a spinning machine, made of wood and shaped like anumbrella, which twisted round and round, while the bride-elect, withher fair hair hanging down in a plait, sat upon the stage. 

Her fiancé says how happy they will be in three weeks when they aremarried; but _Anna Liisa_, although desperately in love with herbetrothed, hangs back, and refuses to sit upon his knee. At last_Johannes_ coaxes her to his side, and expresses huge delight at theprospect of their future. He tells her how he loves her with anever-fading love, is certain of her goodness, and that she has neverloved any one else; he warmly praises her virtue; but, nevertheless, ashe speaks, she shudders. Immediately an old woman comes in (_Husso_), the mother of _Mikko_, a man with whom _Anna Liisa_ had formerly hadsome relations; her words are of evil import, for she tells the girl ifshe marries _Johannes_, who has just left the room, she will do herharm. 

_Anna_ pretending not to care, the old woman becomes furious andthreatens her. 

"I shall tell of your intrigue with my son. I have but to whisper ofa----"

"Mother, no, no. "

"But I can, and I will, and more than that, may speak of----"

The girl implores, tells of her real, honest love for _Johannes_, beseeches _Mikko's_ mother to hold her peace, but the woman is obdurate. 

_Anna_ suffers tortures when left alone with her little sister, becausethe girl will talk of the delights of the coming wedding, and how niceit would be if _Anna Liisa_ had a child for her to dress like a doll. The bride's father and mother, who know nothing of their daughter'sintrigue, come and drink coffee, and like true peasants they pour thecoffee into a saucer, and putting a bit of sugar into their mouthsimbibe the beverage through it, supporting the saucer on five fingers. Thus happily they all sit together--a real representation of life in apeasant home. In the midst of it all the former lover, _Mikko_, who wasonce a servant on the farm, comes in and is very insulting to thebridegroom-elect, and very insinuating to _Anna Liisa_. At last_Johannes_ gets angry; threats ensue. _Mikko_ says "that he was onceengaged to a girl and intends to have her" (looking pointedly at _AnnaLiisa_). It seems as if the whole story would be revealed, but at thatmoment the little sister rushes in to say _Mikko's_ horse has run away, and he goes off, leaving the bride and bridegroom alone, when the formerimplores _Johannes_ to trust her always and in everything, which hepromises to do, greatly wondering the while at her request. 

When the second act opens the father and mother are discussing before_Anna Liisa_ her own virtues. They say what a good wife their child willmake, they lay stress upon her honesty, integrity, and truthfulness, andwhile the words sink into the guilty girl's heart like gall andwormwood, she sits and knits with apparent calmness. At last, however, the parents leave the room, and while she is thinking of following them, in comes _Mikko_. Finding herself alone with _Mikko_ the poor girlentreats him to leave her, to leave her in peace and happiness to marrythe man she loves, and if possible to forget her guilty past. 

"If you marry me you will get peace, " he says. 

"No. Nor shall I ever know peace again, " she replies; "but I may havesome happiness. "

At this moment her fiancé enters the room. _Mikko_ seizes theopportunity to tell him there is a secret between them that will disturbthe happiness of all his future life. The girl appeals to _Mikko_ bylooks and gesticulations, but each time he manages to evade her gaze, and utters such strange insinuations that at last _Johannes_ exclaims--

"This is too much!" and a desperate quarrel ensues. 

_Anna Liisa_ wishes to speak alone with _Mikko_. To this _Johannes_objects, thinking that _Anna Liisa_ ought not to have any secret with_Mikko_ unknown to him. 

Then the whole family bundles home, having been to the store to buythings for the approaching festival. 

"The matter is so, " says _Mikko_, "that _Anna Liisa_ was my bride fouryears ago. And now I come to take her, but that fellow has in themeantime----"

_The Father. _ "Your bride! That's a lie. "

_The Mother. _ "Good gracious! You want me to believe all kinds ofthings--_Anna Liisa_--who then was only fifteen years old. Don't listento such things, _Johannes_. They're only senseless chat. I'll warrantthat they have no foundation whatever. Besides, others would certainlyhave noticed had any such relations existed between them. "

_Mikko. _ "It was not noticed. We succeeded in concealing it so well thatnobody had the slightest idea. "

_The Father. _ "Shut up, _Mikko_, ere I get furious. That my daughtershould have secret intrigues with a groom. Fie, for shame! How dare youspread such vile slander. Had it concerned any other!--But _Anna Liisa_, whom everybody knows to be the most steady and honourable girl in thewhole neighbourhood. That you can be so impudent. For shame, I say oncemore. "

_Mikko. _ "Ask _Anna Liisa_ herself if I have spoken truth or falsehood. "

_The Father. _ "Can't you open your mouth, girl? Clear yourself from suchdisgusting insults. "

_The Mother. _ "Defend yourself, _Anna Liisa_. "

_Johannes. _ "Say that he lies, and I will believe you. "

Matters have gone too far. The disclosure cannot be put off. 

Broken-hearted she only exclaims--

"Oh, good God!"

_Mikko_ in his mad rage fetches his old mother, who corroborates all hehas said, and tells the story of _Anna Liisa's_ guilt, adding--

"And she could have been put in prison. "

"Why?" they all cry in chorus. 

"Because she murdered her child. "

_Anna Liisa_ says nothing for a time, but finally she falls on her kneesbefore her father and implores his pardon. Then she confesses thateverything the woman has said is true, even the accusation that shemurdered her own child. 

Her father snatches up a hatchet and tries to kill her, in which attempthe would have succeeded had not _Mikko_ interfered and dragged her away. 

When the third act opens the father, mother, and fiancé are founddiscussing the situation, and finally deciding to let their friends cometo the congratulatory festival on first reading of the banns, andpretend that nothing unusual had happened. Afterwards they couldrearrange the relationship. 

The mother, who had been watching _Anna Liisa_, is afraid of her curiousapathetic behaviour, and looks out of the window, when she sees hersetting off in a boat, apparently with the purpose of self-destruction. She and the fiancé rush off to save her and bring her home. The girlexplains in wild despair how she thought she saw her child under thewater, and intended to jump in and rescue him. She raves somewhat likeOphelia in _Hamlet_, but her former lover _Mikko_ comes back to her, andwhispers in her ear. She rejects him violently. 

"Let me get away from here, " she murmurs to her mother, "let me getaway, " and a very sad and touching scene ensues. 

The little sister bounds in straight from church, and says how lovely itwas to hear the banns read, and to think the wedding was so near. Shedecorates the room with wreaths of pine branches, and festoons of thebirch-tree, such festoons as we make into trails with holly and ivy forChristmas decorations. She jumps for joy as the guests begin to arrive, and in this strange play the father actually thinks it right for hisdaughter to marry _Mikko_, her seducer, whom he welcomes, and theyarrange affairs comfortably between them. 

This is very remarkable. In most countries it would be considered rightfor the father to expel his daughter's lover from his house; but in thisplay of _Minna Canth's_ she draws a very Finnish characteristic. 

"_Se oli niin sallittu_" ("It is so ordained") is a sort of mottoamongst this Northern people. Whether it is that they are phlegmatic, wanting in energy, fatalists, or what, one cannot say, but certain it isthat they sit down and accept the inevitable as calmly as the Mohammedandoes when he remarks: "It is the will of Allah. "

The festivities proceed. An old fiddler and more peasants appear. Themen sit down on one side of the room, the women on the other, and theformer lover, _Mikko_, thinking himself the bridegroom-elect, cheerfullyinvites every one to dance. The old fiddler strikes up a merry air, andthey dance the _jenka_, a sort of schottische, joyously. Gaietyprevails, the girl's father being apparently as happy as his guests, when the door opens and the rector of the parish and other distinguishedguests enter. 

"Where is the bride?" it is asked. 

No one knew exactly how to answer; _Johannes_ no longer wishes to marryher, and she refuses to marry her former lover, _Mikko_. 

Again the priest asks: "Where is the bride?"

After waiting some time the door opens slowly. _Anna Liisa_ enters andis greeted--as is usual on such occasions--by cries of _Eläköön, eläköön_ (let her live!) in chorus. Answering with the unusual words:"Let God's Holy Spirit live in us!" the girl advanced into the room andstood before them, robed in the black gown which it is the fashion forpeasant brides in Finland to wear. The clergyman addressed her as abride. 

"I am not a bride, " she replies, as she stands sadly alone in her blackrobe. 

"What do you mean? the banns have just been read, " he asks. 

"All is broken off between _Johannes_ and me, " she tragically replies, and then, turning to the clergyman, she says: "My conscience won't keepit any longer; for four years long I have----"

_Mikko_ and his mother try all they can to prevent her speaking. 

But the clergyman, seeing the girl wishes to say something, thrusts themaside and exhorts her to proceed. 

"I am a great sinner, " says the girl tremulously. A breathless silenceseizes every one present as _Anna_ continues, "Four years ago I had achild, in the forest yonder, and, I, poor creature, I killed it. "

At this juncture a bailiff, who chanced to be of the company, rises andinquires if her parents knew this at the time. 

"No, " she answers in her clear and dulcet tones, "they knew nothing. "

Turning to her heartbroken parents with great earnestness, she says:

"Father and mother, do not grieve for me! Do not sorrow! I am not introuble any more. You see how glad I am. Never in my life have I feltso happy. "

_Johannes_ (touched). "_Anna Liisa_----!"

_The Father. _ "Don't you then consider the disgrace you have broughtover our gray hair?"

_Anna Liisa. _ "I repent. Forgive me! Oh, that I could once make goodwhat I have done wrong!"

The Mistress of Ristola and other guests express their sympathy with theparents. 

_Mikko_ (aside to _Husso_). "There's nothing more to be done. Thingsmust have their course. Let us be off!"

 [_Exeunt. _

_The Father. _ "Oh, that I could get into my grave! That's my only hope. "

_Rector. _ "Not so, dear friends, not so! You have no reason for sorrowat this moment, but gladness and joy. The Spirit of God has been workingin your daughter and has gained the victory. Do not look upon thismatter as the world does, but from a higher standpoint. Until to-day_Anna Liisa_ has erred. Now she has found the right way. Let us thankand praise the Lord of Heaven!"

_Mistress of Ristola. _ "Yes, it is truly so. It is a chastisement forthe flesh, but not to the spirit. "

_The Father. _ "We are shortsighted, we human beings. We do not alwayscomprehend the purposes of the Almighty. "

_The Mother. _ "And the earthly mind always seeks to govern. "

_Rector. _ "Let us strive the more to progress in the life of the Spirit, and by God's help we can win like _Anna Liisa_ (grasping _Anna Liisa's_hand). Yes, go in peace, my child. Go where your conscience compels youto go, and the Heavenly Father strengthen you that you may hold out tothe end. We did congratulate you on a less important change in externallife, but a thousand times more warmly do we congratulate you on thechange in your inner life. "

_Doctor. _ "I agree with the Rector. Good-bye!"

_Anna Liisa_ (embracing first her father and then her mother). "Good-bye, father! good-bye, mother! good-bye! Good-bye all!"

_Chorus. _ "Good-bye, we wish you happiness. "

_Johannes. _ "_Anna Liisa_, won't you bid me farewell?"

_Anna Liisa. _ "Certainly! Good-bye, _Johannes_. "

_Johannes. _ "The Lord keep you, _Anna Liisa_. But one word more--you areas pure and good in heart as I thought you from the first. "

_Anna Liisa. _ "Thank you for your kindness. . . . I have found everlastinglife and happiness. Now, Mr. Bailiff, I am ready, give me the severestpunishment you can. I am ready to meet it all. "

_Rector. _ "She is following the everlasting road. Blessed is she. "

 _Curtain. _

The idea of this very strange play has been undoubtedly taken from oneof Tolstoi's well-known books, but _Minna Canth_ herself is a greatwriter. She seizes the subtleties of life, draws character with a stronghand, and appreciates the value of dramatic situations. No wonder theFinlanders admire a woman who writes in their own tongue, and feelproud of her as one of themselves. 

Never have I seen an audience weep so much as the audience wept thatnight at the _Suomalainen Teaatteri_ (Finnish Theatre): they positivelysobbed. Was it that they seldom saw a play, or was it that the generallyphlegmatic Finn once roused is really intensely emotional?

Possibly if the fact were known, the minds of those spectators were notso actively engaged in criticism, that they could not appreciate healthyenjoyment. But as much cannot be said for a fashionable blasé audience, which is too bored to care to be entertained. 

CHAPTER VI

"KALEVALA, " AN EPIC POEM

Many strange customs still linger in East Finland, probably because theinhabitants, far removed from civilisation, cling tenaciously to thetraditions and usages of their forefathers. As a fitting endingtherefore to the _Sordavala_ Festival, an accurate representation of anative wedding of a hundred years ago was given, perhaps for the reasonthat the performers were thus naturally enabled to introduce many of thebridal songs contained in their great epic poem, _Kalevala_, and theircollection of lyric poems called _Kanteletar_. 

The open-air stage was cleverly arranged, and the performance provedreally a dramatic representation of music we had heard the delightful_Runo_ singers chanting for days. They were old _Runo_ bards, however, and as it was feared their voices would not reach the eight or tenthousand people assembled in the open-air arena, younger and strongerfolk had been taught the different roles by them. 

The wedding festivities were unlike anything to which we are accustomed. They began with a formal betrothal. In a log hut sat the bride's family, the mother spinning at one of the wooden erections so closely resemblingan oar. The father and his friends were meantime gathered round a tabledrinking small beer (_Kalja_) from large wooden pots, or rather buckets, called _haarikka_. Each man helped himself out of the _haarikka_ bydipping into that vessel the usual wooden spoon and sipping itscontents, after which performance he replaced the spoon in the bucket. 

Thus happily occupied sat the family till the bridegroom and his friendsarrived. 

It is not considered proper for an intending bridegroom ever to proposein person, consequently a spokesman has always to be employed, whoexpatiates on the many excellent qualities possessed by the modestlover. 

Even the spokesman, however, deems it strict etiquette at first toprevaricate concerning the real nature of his errand, and consequentlythe actor told a cock-and-bull story about the purchase of a horse;rather a transparent bit of make-believe considering the matter had beenquietly arranged previously. 

At last, after some ridiculous talk about that imaginary horse, a formalrequest was made for the daughter's hand, and finally the bride herselfappeared, solemnly led in as if a prisoner. 

Silent and alone, with head bent sadly down, she stood in the middle ofthe room till asked if she were willing "To marry this man?" when, without looking up, she answered "Yes. "

Then the "weeping woman" who is hired for such occasions--just as indays, happily gone by, English families used to hire mutes forfunerals--put her arm round the bride's waist, and, with bowed head, swinging her body to and fro the while, began in a most melancholy voiceto sing "The Bride's Lament to her Home. " The paid professional chantsthe words of the _Kalevala_, which are supposed to embody every bride'ssentiments, implores her parents not to hurry her away. She begs herbrother to keep her, not to let the breach between them be so large asthe _Ladoga_ lake; might she remain even so long in her father's houseas it will take to catch the fish and cook them. 

After that she was placed in a chair, and her mother, with pomp andgravity, undid her "maiden plait, " her loosened hair denoting that shecould no longer be regarded as a maiden. All her relations came andpulled at her hair, which fell over her shoulders, to assure themselvesthe plait was really undone. Then the _weeping woman_, swaying to andfro as before, sang another dirge over her--a most melancholy form ofbetrothal, we thought--and finally put a white linen cap on the bride'shead, trimmed with lace, which completely concealed her face. Thuscovered, the bride and the weeping woman sat side by side on chairs, when, still swaying their bodies as if in unutterable grief, theyrecited more bridal songs, all of the same dreary character. Finally, the bride had a verse sung for her by the weeping woman addressed to herparents, to each of whom she clung in turn. Her father, mother, brothers, sisters, etc. , were singly poetically addressed after thefollowing doleful but remarkable fashion:--

 O the anguish of the parting, O the pain of separation, From these walls renowned and ancient, From this village of the Northland, From these scenes of peace and plenty, Where my faithful mother taught me, Where my father gave instruction To me in my happy childhood, When my years were few and tender! As a child I did not fancy, Never thought of separation From the confines of this cottage, From these dear old hills and mountains; But, alas! I now must journey, Since I now cannot escape it; Empty is the bowl of parting, All the fare-well beer is taken, And my husband's sledge is waiting, With the break-board looking southward, Looking from my father's dwelling. 

 How shall I give compensation, How repay, on my departure, All the kindness of my mother, All the counsel of my father, All the friendship of my brother, All my sister's warm affection? Gratitude to thee, dear father, For my father life and blessings, For the comforts of thy table, For the pleasures of my childhood! Gratitude to thee, dear mother, For thy tender care and guidance, For my birth and for my culture, Nurtured by thy purest life-blood! Gratitude to thee, dear brother, Gratitude to thee, sweet sister, To the servants of my childhood, To my many friends and playmates!

 Never, never, aged father, Never, thou, beloved mother, Never, ye, my kindred spirits, Never harbour care nor sorrow, Never fall to bitter weeping, Since thy child has gone to strangers, To the meadows of _Wäinölä_, From her father's fields and firesides. Shines the Sun of the Creator, Shines the golden Moon of _Ukko_, Glitter all the stars of heaven, In the firmament of ether, Full as bright on other homesteads; Not upon my father's uplands, Not upon my home in childhood, Shines the Star of Joyance only. 

 Now the time has come for parting From my father's golden firesides, From my brother's welcome hearth-stone, From the chambers of my sister, From my mother's happy dwelling; Now I leave the swamps and lowlands, Leave the grassy vales and mountains, Leave the crystal lakes and rivers, Leave the shores and sandy shallows, Leave the white-capped surging billows, Where the maidens swim and linger, Where the mermaids sing and frolic; Leave the swamps to those that wander, Leave the cornfields to the plowman, Leave the forests to the weary, Leave the heather to the rover, Leave the copses to the stranger, Leave the alleys to the beggar, Leave the courtyards to the rambler, Leave the portals to the servant, Leave the matting to the sweeper, Leave the highways to the roebuck, Leave the woodland-glens to lynxes, Leave the lowlands to the wild-geese, And the birch-tree to the cuckoo. Now I leave these friends of childhood, Journey southward with my husband, To the arms of Night and Winter, O'er the ice-grown seas of Northland. 

All this must have seemed very sad to the bridegroom, who sat dumb in acorner, a perfect nonentity. 

Moral for all young men--Never get married in Finland. 

The second scene represented the wedding. It was the bridegroom's house. They had been to the church, and he was bringing her home. The guestswere assembled to receive her, some were baking cakes in great haste, others arranging the pots of _Kalja_, all excited and joyful. 

At last some one rushed in to say "They are coming, they are coming, "and immediately appeared a procession of peasants with the bride andbridegroom _hand in hand_. She wore a dark-red cashmere gown with ahandsomely embroidered white apron, and large round silver brooch, suchas the Highlanders of Scotland use to fasten their kilt; but she wasstill covered by the linen cap with its lace adornments, which hung overher face. She was solemnly escorted to a seat by the table, and onlyraised this veil when the meal began. After "the breakfast" was over, four young men and four girls danced a sort of lancers, with grandvariations, and executed gymnastic feats--frog dancing and a sort ofHighland-reel step--very pretty and very quaint. The bride andbridegroom did not join in the measure--both sat solemn as judges;indeed, a _Karjalan_ wedding is a monstrously sad affair for thebridegroom, at all events, for he plays a rôle of no importance, whileit must be a melancholy business for the bride. 

The men's dresses were of ordinary cloth with bright-coloured linenshirts, and leather boots turned up at the toe, the soft leather legsreaching nearly to the knees, the last two or three inches being laced_behind_, so as to enable the wearer to pull them on. The sisters of thebride wore crowns composed of plain bands of various-colouredribbons--nearly a quarter of a yard high in front, but diminishingtowards the back, where the ends of the ribbons hung below the waist. 

The words of the bride's lament are so strange, that we give some ofthem from _Kalevala_, thinking every man who reads the lines willsympathise with the wretched bridegroom, and every woman wish to have asdevoted a husband as the young man is exhorted to make. 

But alas! there comes a day of reckoning, when he may "instruct her witha willow, " and even "use the birch-rod from the mountains. "

THE BRIDE'S FAREWELL

 Bridegroom, thou beloved hero, Brave descendant of thy fathers, When thou goest on a journey, When thou drivest on the highway, Driving with the Rainbow-daughter, Fairest bride of _Sariola_, Do not lead her as a titmouse, As a cuckoo of the forest, Into unfrequented places, Into copses of the borders, Into brier-fields and brambles, Into unproductive marshes; Let her wander not, nor stumble On opposing rocks and rubbish. Never in her father's dwelling, Never in her mother's courtyard, Has she fallen into ditches, Stumbled hard against the fences, Run through brier-fields, nor brambles, Fallen over rocks, nor rubbish. 

 Magic bridegroom of _Wäinölä_, Wise descendant of the heroes, Never let thy young wife suffer, Never let her be neglected, Never let her sit in darkness, Never leave her unattended. Never in her father's mansion, In the chambers of her mother, Has she sat alone in darkness, Has she suffered for attention; Sat she by the crystal window, Sat and rocked, in peace and plenty, Evenings for her father's pleasure, Mornings for her mother's sunshine. Never mayest thou, O bridegroom, Lead the Maiden of the Rainbow To the mortar filled with sea-grass, There to grind the bark for cooking, There to bake her bread from stubble, There to knead her dough from tan-bark. Never in her father's dwelling, Never in her mother's mansion, Was she taken to the mortar, There to bake her bread from sea-grass. Thou should'st lead the Bride of Beauty To the garner's rich abundance, There to draw the till of barley, Grind the flower and knead for baking, There to brew the beer for drinking, Wheaten flour for honey-biscuits. 

 Hero-bridegroom of _Wäinölä_, Never cause thy Bride of Beauty To regret her day of marriage; Never make her shed a tear-drop, Never fill her cup with sorrow. Should there ever come an evening When thy wife shall feel unhappy, Put the harness on thy racer, Hitch the fleet-foot to the snow-sledge, Take her to her father's dwelling, To the household of her mother; Never in thy hero-lifetime, Never while the moonbeams glimmer, Give thy fair spouse evil treatment, Never treat her as thy servant; Do not bar her from the cellar, Do not lock thy best provisions. Never in her father's mansion, Never by her faithful mother Was she treated as a hireling. 

 Honoured bridegroom of the Northland, Proud descendant of the fathers, If thou treatest well thy young wife, Worthily wilt thou be treated; When thou goest to her homestead, When thou visitest her father, Thou shalt meet a cordial welcome. 

 Censure not the Bride of Beauty, Never grieve thy Rainbow-maiden, Never say in tones reproachful, She was born in lowly station, That her father was unworthy; Honoured are thy bride's relations, From an old-time tribe her kindred; When of corn they sowed a measure, Each one's portion was a kernel; When they sowed a cask of flax-seed, Each received a thread of linen. Never, never, magic husband, Treat thy beauty-bride unkindly, Teach her not with lash of servants, Strike her not with thongs of leather; Never has she wept in anguish, From the birch-whip of her mother. Stand before her like a rampart, Be to her a strong protection, Do not let thy mother chide her, Let thy father not upbraid her, Never let thy guests offend her; Should thy servants bring annoyance, They may need the master's censure; Do not harm the Bride of Beauty, Never injure her thou lovest; Three long years hast thou been wooing, Hoping every month to win her. 

 Counsel with the bride of heaven, To thy young wife give instruction, Kindly teach thy bride in secret, In the long and dreary evenings, When thou sittest at the fireside; Teach one year, in words of kindness, Teach with eyes of love a second, In the third year teach with firmness. If she should not heed thy teaching, Should not hear thy kindly counsel, After three long years of effort, Cut a reed upon the lowlands, Cut a nettle from the border, Teach thy wife with harder measures. In the fourth year, if she heed not, Threaten her with sterner treatment, With the stalks of rougher edges, Use not yet the thongs of leather, Do not touch her with the birch-whip. If she should not heed this warning, Should she pay thee no attention, Cut a rod upon the mountains, Or a willow in the valleys, Hide it underneath thy mantle, That the stranger may not see it, Show it to thy wife in secret, Shame her thus to do her duty, Strike not yet, though disobeying. Should she disregard this warning, Still refuse to heed thy wishes, Then instruct her with the willow, Use the birch-rod from the mountains, In the closet of thy dwelling, In the attic of thy mansion; Strike her not upon the common, Do not conquer her in public, Lest the villagers should see thee, Lest the neighbours hear her weeping, And the forests learn thy troubles. Touch thy wife upon the shoulders, Let her stiffened back be softened; Do not touch her on the forehead, Nor upon the ears, nor visage; If a ridge be on her forehead, Or a blue mark on her eyelids, Then her mother would perceive it, And her father would take notice, All the village-workmen see it, And the village-women ask her: "Hast thou been in heat of battle, Hast thou struggled in a conflict, Or perchance the wolves have torn thee, Or the forest bears embraced thee, Or the black-wolf be thy husband, And the bear be thy protector?"

 * * * * *

 By the fireplace lay a gray-beard, On the hearth-stone lay a beggar, And the old man spake as follows:-- "Never, never, hero-husband, Follow thou thy young wife's wishes, Follow not her inclinations, As, alas! I did, regretful; Bought my bride the bread of barley, Veal, and beer, and best of butter, Fish and fowl of all descriptions, Beer I bought, home-brewed and sparkling, Wheat from all the distant nations, All the dainties of the Northland; But this all was unavailing, Gave my wife no satisfaction, Often came she to my chamber, Tore my sable locks in frenzy, With a visage fierce and frightful, With her eyeballs flashing anger, Scolding on and scolding ever, Ever speaking words of evil, Using epithets the vilest, Thought me but a block for chopping. Then I sought for other measures, Used on her my last resources, Cut a birch-whip in the forest, And she spake in terms endearing; Cut a juniper or willow, And she called me 'hero-darling'; When with lash my wife I threatened, Hung she on my neck with kisses. " Thus the bridegroom was instructed, Thus the last advices given. 

 * * * * *

 Then the Maiden of the Rainbow, Beauteous bride of _Ilmarinen_, Sighing heavily and moaning, Fell to weeping, heavy-hearted, Spake these words from depths of sorrow: "Near, indeed, the separation, Near, alas! the time for parting, Near the time of my departure; Fare thee well, my dear old homestead, Fare ye well, my native bowers; It would give me joy unceasing Could I linger here for ever. Now farewell, ye halls and portals Leading to my father's mansion; It would give me joy unceasing Could I linger here for ever. "

[Illustration: GROUP OF RUNO BARDS. ]

What a delightful representation! A beautiful scene of peasant life ahundred years ago. The charm of the singing in the open air, the peopledressed in the old costumes, the scene really correct, old spinningwheels, etc. , having been borrowed from the museum for the purpose. 

It was a charming picture, one well worth retaining on the retina ofmemory. 

It was the last day; the _Karjalan_ wedding was over, and all thechoirs, numbering altogether nearly a thousand voices, sang chants andhymns most beautifully, their combined voices being heard far throughthe woods and across the lakes. 

It was really a grand spectacle, those thousand men and women on theplatform, comprising peasants, farmers, students, professors, allbrought together merely to sing, while below and on the opposite hillthree thousand seats were filled by a mixed audience, behind whom again, among the pine-trees, sat several thousand more. As a final effort theconductor called upon every one to join in the National Anthem. Up roseten thousand or twelve thousand persons, and, as one man, they sangtheir patriotic verses beneath the blue canopy of heaven. It waswonderful; to a stranger the harmony of the whole was amazing; indeed, so successful did it prove, that national song after national song wassung by that musical audience. We looked on and marvelled. Musicattracts in Finland, for from end to end of the land the people areimbued with its spirit and feel its power. 

The sun blazed, the pine cones scented the air, the birds sang, and wefelt transported back to old Druidical days when people met in the openfor song and prayer. It was all very simple, but very delightful, andthe people seemed to most thoroughly enjoy hearing their national airs;the whole scene again reminded us of Ober Ammergau, or of a Highlandout-of-door Communion Service. 

Alas! the Finnish national dress has almost disappeared, but at the_Sordavala_ Festival a great attempt was made to revive it at theenormous open-air concerts in the public park, where some of the girls, lying or sitting under the pine-trees on the hill opposite listening tothe choir singing, wore the dress of _Suomi_. 

The national colours are red and yellow, or white and bright blue, andmuch dispute arises as to which is really right, for while the heraldrybook says red and yellow, the country folk maintain blue and white. White loose blouses of fine Finnish flannel seemed most in favour, witha short full underskirt of the same material; geometrical embroideryabout two inches wide in all colours and patterns being put round thehem of the short dress as well as brace fashion over the bodice; in somecases a very vivid shade of green, a sort of pinafore bodice with alarge apron of the same colour falling in front, was noticeable; theembroidery in claret and dark green running round all the border lines;at the neck this embroidery was put on more thickly, and also at thewaist belt. Round the apron hung a deep and handsome fringe; altogetherthe dress with its striking colours and tin or silver hangings was verypleasing. Unfortunately the girls seemed to think that even when theywore their national dress they ought to wear also a hat and gloves;although even the simplest hat spoils the effect. 

At the back of the wood, where we wandered for a little shade and quietrest, we found our dear friends the "_Runo_ singers. " The nameoriginated from the ancient songs having been written down on sticks, the _Runo_ writing being cut or burnt in, this was the bards' only formof music. Now these strange musical memoranda can only be found inmuseums. Our _Runo_ singers, delighted with the success of themarriage-play they had coached, welcomed us warmly, and at once rose toshake hands as we paused to listen to their _kantele_ playing and quaintchanting. 

It may be well to mention that the Finnish language is very remarkable. Like Gaelic, it is musical, soft and dulcet, expressive and poetical, comes from a very old root, and is, in fact, one of the most interestinglanguages we possess. But some of the Finnish words are extremely long, in which respect they excel even the German. As a specimen of what aFinnish word can be, we may give _Oppimattomuudessansakin_, meaning, "Even in his ignorance. "

The language is intensely difficult to learn, for it has sixteen cases, a fact sufficient to appal the stoutest heart. However, there is onegood thing about Finnish, namely, that it is spoken absolutelyphonetically, emphasis being invariably laid on the first syllable. Forinstance, the above word is pronounced (the "i" being spoken as "e")Oppi-ma-tto-muu-des-san-sa-kin. 

Finnish possesses a _you_ and a _thou_, which fact, though it cannotlighten the difficulties, does away with the terrible third personinvariably in use in Swedish, where people say calmly:

"Has the Herr Professor enjoyed his breakfast?"

"Yes, thanks, and I hope the Mrs. Authoress has done the same. "

By the Swedish-speaking Finns it is considered the worst of ill-breedingfor a younger person to address an elder as "you, " or for strangers tospeak to one another except in the manner above indicated. 

Finnish is one of the softest of tongues, and of all European languagesmost closely resembles the _Magyar_ or Hungarian. Both of these comefrom the Ugrian stock of _Agglutinative_ languages, and therefore theyalways stick to the roots of the word and make grammatical changes bysuffixes. Vowels are employed so incessantly that the words are roundand soft, and lend themselves easily to song. There are only twenty-twoletters in the Finnish alphabet, and as _F_ is very seldom employed, even that number is decreased. The use of vowels is endless; the dottedö, equivalent to the French _eu_, being often followed by an e or i, andthereby rendered doubly soft. 

Finns freely employ _thou_ and _thee_, and add to these forms ofendearment numerous suffixes. Human names, all animals, plants, metals, stones, trees--anything, in fact--can be used in the diminutive form. 

Finnish is almost as difficult to learn as Chinese. Every noun hassixteen cases, and the suffixes alter so much, one hardly recognises themore complicated as the outcome of the original nominative. It takes, therefore, almost a lifetime to learn Finnish thoroughly, although thestructure of their sentences is simple, and, being a nation littlegiven to gush, adverbs and adjectives are seldom used. 

As an example of Finnish, we give the following table made out at ourrequest, so that we might learn a few sentences likely to prove usefulwhen travelling in the less-frequented parts of the country--everyletter is pronounced as written. 

 FINNISH. ENGLISH. 

 _Hyvää huomenta. _ Good morning. _Hyvää iltaa. _ Good evening. _Hyvää päivää. _ Good day. _Hyvää yötä. _ Good night. _Hyvästi. _ Adieu. _Jumalan haltuun. _ God be with you. _Kuinka voitte?_ How are you? _Olkaa niin hyvä. _ Be so kind. _Pyydän_, or _olkaa niin hyvä_. Please; yes, please. _Kiitoksia. _ Thank you. _Kiitän. _ I thank you. _Saisinko minä vuoteen. _ I want a bed. _Saisinko minä yösijaa?_ Can I stay the night? _Saisinko luvan tietää mitäruokaa May I know what there is to teillä on?_ eat? _Saisiko täällä ruokaa?_ Can we get anything to eat? _Saisiko täällä juomaa?_ Can we get anything to drink? _Paljoko se maksaa?_} What does it cost? _Mitä se maksaa?_ } _Mitä olen velkaa?_ What do I owe you? _Mitä olemme velkaa?_ What do we owe you? _Me tahdomme lähteä_ We would like to leave at one (or _matkustaa_) _kello yksi. _ o'clock. _Millä tunnilla saavumme perille?_ At what time will we arrive? _Kuinka kaukana se on?_ How far is it? _Onko sinne pitkältä?_ Is it far from here? _Olkaa hyvä tuokaa vielä lihaa. _ Please bring some more meat. _Kuulkaa?_ Do you hear? _Heti. _ Quick. 

 FINNISH. ENGLISH. FINNISH. ENGLISH. 

 _Maitoa. _ Milk. _Leipää. _ Bread. _Voita. _ Butter. _Kahvia. _ Coffee. _Sokeria. _ Sugar. _Kaloja. _ Fish. _Munia. _ Eggs. _Olutta. _ Beer. 

The foregoing are all in the objective case; in the nominative theywould be:--

 _Liha, Maito, Leipä, Voi, Kahvi, Sokeri, Kala, Muna, Olut. _

The numeration table is as follows:--

 _Yksi. _ 1. _Kaksi. _ 2. _Kolme. _ 3. _Neljä. _ 4. _Viisi. _ 5. _Kuusi. _ 6. _Seitsemän. _ 7. _Kahdeksan. _ 8. _Yhdeksän. _ 9. _Kymmene. _ 10. _Kaksikymmentä. _ 20. _Kaksikymmentä yksi. _ 21. _Kaksikymmentä kaksi. _ 22. _Kolme kymmentä. _ 30. _Neljä kymmentä. _ 40. _Viisi kymmentä. _ 50. _Sata. _ 100. _Kaksisataa. _ 200. _Kolme sataa. _ 300. _Tuhat. _ 1000. _Kaksi tuhatta. _ 2000. _Kolme tuhatta. _ 3000. _Miljoona. _ 1, 000, 000. _Tuhat kahdeksansataa yhdeksänkymmentä kuusi. _ 1896. 

To show the difficulties of the declensions, we take, as an example, theordinary word land. 

Declensions of the word Maa=Land. 

 SINGULARIS. PLURALIS. 

 _Nominativus. _ maa. Maa-t. _Genetivus. _ maa-n. Mai-den. _Ackusativus. _ maa-n. Maa-t. _Instructivus. _ maa-n. Mai-n. _Essivus. _ maa-na. Mai-na. _Partitivus. _ maa-ta. Mai-ta. _Translativus. _ maa-ksi. Mai-ksi. 

 Inner local cases. 

 _Inessivus. _ maa-ssa. Mai-ssa. _Elativus. _ maa-sta. Mai-sta. _Illativus. _ maa-han. Mai-hin. 

 Outer local cases. 

 _Adessivus. _ maa-lla. Mai-lla. _Ablativus. _ maa-lta. Mai-lta. _Allativus. _ maa-lle. Mai-lle. _Abessivus. _ maa-tta. Mai-tta. _Komitalivus. _ mai-ne. 

Is such a declension not enough to strike terror to the stoutest heart?

But now to return to the _Kalevala_ itself, which is said to be one ofthe grandest epic poems in existence. The word _Kalevala_ means "Land ofheroes, " and it is undoubtedly a poem of nature-worship. It points to acontest between Light and Darkness, Good and Evil, and in this case theLight and Good are represented by the Finns, the Darkness and Evil bythe Laps. Although it is a poem of nature-worship, full of mostwonderful descriptions--some of the lines in praise of the moon and sun, the sea and water-ways, the rivers and hills, and the wondrous pineforests of Finland, are full of marvellous charm--it also tells thestory of love, and many touching scenes are represented in its verses. 

"It is unlike other epics, " says Edward Clodd, "in the absence of anyapotheosis of clique or clan or dynasty, and in the theatre of actionbeing in no ideal world where the gods sit lonely on Olympus, apart frommen. Its songs have a common author, the whole Finnish people; the lightof common day, more than that of the supernatural, illumines them. "

Before going further, it may be well to mention how the _Kalevala_ cameinto existence. Finland is thinly peopled, but every Finn is at heartmusical and poetical; therefore, far removed from the civilised world, they made songs among themselves--fantastic descriptions of their owncountry. By word of mouth these poems were handed on from generation togeneration, and generally sung to the accompaniment of the _kantele_ ina weird sort of chant. By such means the wonderful _Sagas_ of Icelandwere preserved to us until the year 1270, when they first began to bewritten down on sheepskins, in Runic writing, for Iceland at that dateshone as a glorious literary light when all was gloom around. By meansof tales, and poems, and chanted songs, the Arabian Nights stories, sodearly loved by the Arabs, which as yet have not been collected as theyshould have been, are related even to-day by the professionalstory-tellers we have seen in the market-places of Morocco. 

Professor _Elias Lönnrot_, as mentioned in the last chapter, realisingthe value to scholars and antiquaries of the wonderful poems of Finland, so descriptive of the manners and customs of the Finns, set to work inthe middle of the nineteenth century to collect and bring them out inbook form before they were totally forgotten. This was a tremendousundertaking; he travelled through the wildest parts of Finland;disguised as a peasant, he walked from village to village, fromhomestead to homestead, living the life of the people, and collecting, bit by bit, the poems of his country. As in all mythological or gipsytales, he found many versions of the same subject, for naturally verseshanded on orally change a little in different districts from generationto generation. But he was not to be beaten by this extra amount of work, and finally wove into a connected whole the substance of the wondroustales he had heard from the peasantry. This whole he called _Kalevala_, the name of the district where the heroes of the poem once existed. Gramophones will in future collect such treasures for posterity. 

In 1835 the first edition appeared. It contained thirty-two runos orcantos of about twelve thousand lines, and the second, which waspublished in 1849, contained fifty runos or about twenty-two thousandeight hundred lines (seven thousand more than the _Iliad_). 

There is no doubt about it, experts declare, that the poems or verseswere written at different times, but it is nearly all of pre-Christianorigin, for, with the exception of a few prayers in the last pages, there are few signs of Christian influence. 

No one knows exactly how these poems originated. Indeed, the _Kalevala_is unique among epics, although distinct traces of foreign influence mayoccasionally be found, the Christian influence being only noticeable inthe last runos when the Virgin's Son, the Child Christ, appears, afterwhich advent _Wäinämöinen_ disappears for unknown lands. With thisexception the entire poem is of much earlier date. 

The last runo is truly remarkable. 

"_Mariatta_, child of beauty, " becomes wedded to a berry--

 Like a cranberry in feature, Like a strawberry in flavour. 

 * * * * *

 Wedded to the mountain berry

 * * * * *

 Wedded only to his honour. 

 * * * * *

 I shall bear a noble hero, I shall bear a son immortal, Who will rule among the mighty, Rule the ancient _Wäinämöinen_. 

 * * * * *

 In the stable is a manger, Fitting birth-place for the hero. 

 * * * * *

 Thereupon the horse, in pity, Breathed the moisture of his nostrils, On the body of the Virgin, Wrapped her in a cloud of vapour, Gave her warmth and needed comforts, Gave his aid to the afflicted To the virgin _Mariatta_. There the babe was born and cradled, Cradled in a woodland manger. 

This shows Christian origin!

_Wäinämöinen's_ place is gradually usurped by the "Wonder-babe, " and theformer departs in this stanza--

 Thus the ancient _Wäinämöinen_, In his copper-banded vessel Left his tribe in _Kalevala_, Sailing o'er the rolling billows, Sailing through the azure vapours, Sailing through the dusk of evening, Sailing to the fiery sunset, To the higher landed regions, To the lower verge of heaven; Quickly gained the far horizon, Gained the purple-coloured harbour, There his bark he firmly anchored, Rested in his boat of copper; But he left his harp of magic, Left his songs and wisdom sayings To the lasting joy of _Suomi_. 

Thus old _Wäinämöinen_ sails away into unfathomable depths. 

The _Kalevala_ has, up to the present time, been a much-neglected poem, but there is now an excellent English translation by Martin Crawford, anAmerican by birth, from which we have taken the liberty of quoting. Mr. Andrew Lang has charmingly discoursed on the great national poem of theFinns, and Mr. Edward Clodd, who wrote a delightful series of articlesin _Knowledge_ on the same subject, has kindly placed his notes in myhands. 

There is no doubt about it that the fantastic mythology of the Finns hasnot received as much attention as it deserves. "Although mythology andtheology are one, " says Mr. Clodd, "we find among the ancient Finns theworship of natural objects, all living things being credited with life, and all their relations being regarded as the actions of the mightypowers. "

Naturally in a country so undisturbed and isolated as Finland, fantasticmythology took firm root, and we certainly find the most romantic andweird verses in connection with the chief heroes of the _Kalevala_, namely, _Wäinämöinen_ and _Ilmarinen_, who broadly resemble the Norsedemigods Odin and Thor. 

After any one has been to Finland, he reads the _Kalevala_ withamazement. What pen could describe more faithfully the ways of thepeople? Every line is pregnant with life. Their food, their clothing, their manners and customs, their thoughts and characteristics are allvividly drawn, as they were hundreds of years ago, and as they remainto-day. 

When we peep into the mysteries of the _Kalevala_ and see how trees aresacred, how animals are mythological, as, for instance, in theforty-sixth rune, which speaks of the bear who "was born in landsbetween sun and moon, and died not by man's deeds, but by his own will, "we understand the Finnish people. Indeed the wolf, the horse, the duck, and all animals find their place in this wondrous _Kalevala_; and dreamstories are woven round each creature till the whole life of Finland hasbecome impregnated by a fantastic sort of romance. 

The _Kalevala_ opens with a creation myth of the earth, sea, and skyfrom an egg, but instead of the heroes living in some supernatural homeof their own, they come down from heaven, distribute gifts among men, and work their wonders by aid of magic, at the same time living with thepeople, and entering into their daily toils. 

It is strange that the self-developing egg should occur in the_Kalevala_ of Northern Europe, for it also appears among the Hindoos andother Eastern peoples, pointing, maybe, to the Mongolian origin of theFinnish people. 

The way the life of the people is depicted seems simply marvellous, andthe description holds good even at the present time. For instance, theselines taken at hazard speak of spinning, etc. --

 Many beauteous things the maiden, With the spindle has accomplished, Spun and woven with her fingers; Dresses of the finest texture She in winter has upfolded, Bleached them in the days of spring-time, Dried them at the hour of noonday, For our couches finest linen, For our heads the softest pillows, For our comfort woollen blankets. 

Or, again, speaking of the bride's home, it likens the father-in-law toher father, and describes the way they all live together in Finland evento-day, and bids her accept the new family as her own--

 Learn to labour with thy kindred; Good the home for thee to dwell in, Good enough for bride and daughter. At thy hand will rest the milk-pail, And the churn awaits thine order; It is well here for the maiden, Happy will the young bride labour, Easy are the resting branches; Here the host is like thy father, Like thy mother is the hostess, All the sons are like thy brothers, Like thy sisters are the daughters. 

Here is another touch--the shoes made from the plaited birch bark, socommonly in use even at the present time; and, again, the bread madefrom bark in times of famine has ever been the Finnish peasant's food--

 Even sing the lads of Lapland In their straw-shoes filled with joyance, Drinking but a cup of water, Eating but the bitter tan bark. 

 These my dear old father sang me When at work with knife or hatchet; These my tender mother taught me When she twirled the flying spindle, When a child upon the matting By her feet I rolled and tumbled. 

To-day, Finnish women still wash in the streams, and they beat theirclothes upon the rocks just as they did hundreds, one might saythousands, of years ago and more--for the greater part of _Kalevala_ wasmost undoubtedly written long before the Christian era in Finland. 

 Northlands fair and slender maiden Washing on the shore a head-dress, Beating on the rocks her garments, Rinsing there her silken raiment. 

In the following rune we find an excellent description of the land, andeven a line showing that in those remote days trees were burned down toclear the land, the ashes remaining for manure--a common practice now. 

 Groves arose in varied beauty, Beautifully grew the forests, And again, the vines and flowers. Birds again sang in the tree-tops, Noisily the merry thrushes, And the cuckoos in the birch-trees; On the mountains grew the berries, Golden flowers in the meadows, And the herbs of many colours, Many lands of vegetation; But the barley is not growing. 

 _Osma's_ barley will not flourish, Not the barley of _Wäinölä_, If the soil be not made ready, If the forest be not levelled, And the branches burned to ashes. Only left the birch-tree standing For the birds a place of resting, Where might sing the sweet-voiced cuckoo, Sacred bird in sacred branches. 

One could go on quoting passages from this strange epic--but suffice itto say that in the forty-sixth rune _Wäinämöinen_ speaks to _Otso_, thebear--

 _Otso_, thou my well beloved, Honey eater of the woodlands, Let not anger swell thy bosom. 

 _Otso_ was not born a beggar, Was not born among the rushes, Was not cradled in a manger; Honey-paw was born in ether In the regions of the Moonland. 

 With the chains of gold she bound it To the pine-tree's topmost branches. There she rocked the thing of magic, Rocked to life the tender baby, 'Mid the blossoms of the pine-tree, On the fir-top set with needles; Thus the young bear well was nurtured. 

 Sacred _Otso_ grew and flourished, Quickly grew with graceful movements, Short of feet, with crooked ankles, Wide of mouth and broad of forehead, Short his nose, his fur robe velvet; But his claws were not well fashioned, Neither were his teeth implanted. 

 Swore the bear a sacred promise That he would not harm the worthy, Never do a deed of evil. Then _Mielikki_, woodland hostess, Wisest maid of _Tapiola_, Sought for teeth and claws to give him, From the stoutest mountain-ashes, From the juniper and oak-tree, From the dry knots of the alder. Teeth and claws of these were worthless, Would not render goodly service. Grew a fir-tree on the mountain, Grew a stately pine in Northland, And the fir had silver branches, Bearing golden cones abundant; These the sylvan maiden gathered, Teeth and claws of these she fashioned, In the jaws and feet of _Otso_ Set them for the best of uses. 

 Taught him how to walk a hero. 

 He freely gave his life to others. 

These are only a few stanzas taken haphazard from _Kalevala_, but theygive some idea of its power. 

At the Festival we met, among the Runo performers, a delightful woman. About forty, fat and broad, she had a cheerful countenance and kindlyeyes, and she sang--if such dirges could be called singing--old Finnishsongs, all of which seemingly lacked an end. She was absolutelycharming, however, perfectly natural and unaffected, and when we got herin a corner, away from the audience, proved even more captivating thanbefore the public. 

First she sang a cradle song, and, as she moaned out the strange music, she patted her foot up and down and swayed her body to and fro, asthough she were nursing a baby. She was simply frank too, and when askedto sing one particular song exclaimed--

"Oh yes, I can sing that beautifully; I sing it better than any one onthe East Coast of Finland. "

Abundant tears shed for no sufficient cause--for no cause at all, indeed--would seem to be a characteristic of these lady vocalists. 

The singer of the bear legend wore a beautiful red-brocaded cap. Infact, her attire was altogether remarkable; her skirt, a pretty shade ofpurple shot with gold silk, was cut in such a way as to form a sort ofcorset bodice with braces across the shoulders, under which she wore awhite chemisette. A beautiful, rich, red silk apron, and a set ofwell-chosen coloured scarves drawn across the breast completed hercostume and added to the fantastic colouring and picturesqueness of thewhole. She was very friendly; again and again she shook hands with usall in turn, and, during one of the most mournful of her songs, she satso close to me that her elbow rested in my lap, while real tears courseddown her cheeks. It was quite touching to witness the true emotion ofthe woman; she rocked herself to and fro, and mopped her eyes with aneatly folded white cotton handkerchief, the while she seemed totallyoblivious of our presence and enwrapped in her music. When she hadfinished she wiped away her tears, and then, as if suddenly recalledfrom another world, she appeared to realise the fact that we werepresent, and, overcome with grief, she apologised most abjectly forhaving forgotten herself so far as to cry before the strange ladies!This was no affectation; the woman was downrightly sorry, and it was notuntil we had patted her fondly and smiled our best thanks that she couldbe pacified at all and believe we were not offended. 

In her calmer moments she drew, as we thought, a wonderful purse fromunder her apron--a cloth embroidered thing with beads upon it. Great wasour surprise to discover that it contained snuff, from which she helpedherself at intervals during the entertainment, never omitting to offerus some before she took her own pinch. 

This unexpected generosity reminded us of an incident that occurredwhile crossing the Grosser Glockner mountain in the Tyrol, when we wereovertaken by a violent snowstorm. Being above the snow line the cold andwind were intense. One of the guides, feeling sorry for us and evidentlythinking we looked blue with cold, produced from his _rucksack_ a largeflask which contained his dearly loved schnapps. He unscrewed the corkand gravely offered it to us each in turn. There was no glass, nor didhe even attempt to wipe the rim, although but an hour before we had seenall the guides drinking from the same bottle. 

This equality of class is always to be found in lands where civilisationhas not stepped in. "Each man is as good as his neighbour" is a motto inthe remote parts of Finland, as it is in the Bavarian Highlands andother less-known parts. What the peasants have, they give freely; theirgoodness of heart and thoughtfulness are remarkable. 

The _Runo_ woman, who wept so unrestrainedly, had most beautiful teeth, and her smile added a particular charm to her face. When she was notsinging she busied herself with spinning flax on the usual wooden oar, about five feet long and much carved and ornamented at one end. On thetop, at the opposite end, was a small flat piece like another oar blade, only broader and shorter, fixed at such an angle that when she sat downupon it the carved piece stood up slant-wise beside her. Halfway up theblade some coloured cotton bands secured a bundle of flax, while in herhand she held a bobbin on to which she wove the thread. 

She was never idle, for, when not occupied in singing to us, she spenther time spinning, always repeating, however, the second line of theother performers. 

Another woman danced with her head bent low, a very strange slow shuffleround and round, something like an Arab measure, but after a while shebroke into a sort of waltz. The dancing, like the _Runo_ music, wasprimitive. 

These _Runo_ singers could but be regarded as a connecting link betweenthe present and the past. 

Here were people, the representatives of generations gone before, whohad handed down by word of mouth the runes of that wonderful epic, the_Kalevala_. Just such folk as these had sat during long winters in theirsmall wooden huts, practically windowless; besides, it was generally toocold to put back the wooden shutter, used for economy instead of glass, for more than a few moments at a time; they had sat in the dusk chantingthe songs of their land, the mystic lines of which they had sucked inalmost with their mother's milk, until music and verse filled their verysouls. The weird, the wild, the fantastic, had become their nature. Themind loves to dwell on the supernatural, the unreal; and in thoselonely, dreary, darkened lives mythological legends flourished asmushrooms in a cellar. The population literally feasted on the mythical, just as the twentieth century society revels in Christian Science, Theosophy, or New Thought. 

As the women applied the scrutcher to the flax, or carded the wool, theydreamed wild dreams of ghosts and goblins, and repeated to themselves, in queer chant, the stories of the sacred bear, or those beautiful linesto the sun and the moon to be found in _Kalevala_. They lived again with_Ahti_, the Finnish sea god, otherwise called _Lemminkäinen_; or thehusband invoked the aid of charms, as at his work he recited how_Lemminkäinen_ reached _Pohjola_ but to quarrel and fight, and relatedverses showing how he finally cut off the head of the representativechampion of the beautiful _Louhi_. Or wild stories of an ox with athousand heads engrossed their fancy, and they lingered fondly over thetales of the hundred horns to plough up the land. Or, again, the oldwife would chime in with the weird rune where _Wäinämöinen's_ harp blewinto the sea, when a boat was manned with a thousand oars to fetch itback, but _Wäinämöinen_ destroyed that boat by means of magic. 

_Louhi_ then changed herself into an eagle, with claws and scythes ofiron, and wondrous breastplate, while on her wings she bore aloft athousand armed men, and upon her tail sat a hundred archers, and tenupon every feather. 

 With one wing she sweeps the heavens, With the other sweeps the waters. 

This is cleverly represented in a picture by _Gallén_, a well-knownFinnish artist. 

In another stirring verse, the poem goes on to tell how _Louhi_ swoopeddown upon the heroes, when desperate battle ensued for the treasureunder dispute. 

Wounded and exhausted, _Louhi_ threw the treasure into the sea ratherthan surrender it, emblematic still in the tenacity of the Finnishrace. 

CHAPTER VII

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

Such are the manners and customs of the past; now let us take a look atthe _Suomi_ of to-day, that we may better understand the life of thepeople before we start on our trip in carts through the interior of thatenchanting but far-away land. 

For some hundreds of years Finland belonged to Sweden, and the stamp ofSweden is to be found on its inhabitants; especially among thearistocracy, who still speak that language in their homes. But in 1808Russia stepped across the frontier, seized Finland, annexed it as herown, and a year later the King of Sweden renounced all his claims. 

Since Finland was ceded to Russia, the Russian sovereigns, as GrandDukes of Finland, have on the whole faithfully observed the pledgesgiven to the Grand Duchy by Alexander I. , though, especially in recentyears, they have been frequently broken. 

It was because the Finlanders behaved so well that the Tzar concededmuch, and left them their independent constitution and their LutheranChurch. The Tzar is really the Grand Duke of Finland. TheGovernor-General is President of the Senate, which is the real ExecutiveBody in Finland. The Diet has no executive power; only legislativeauthority. It is composed of four Houses--the Nobles, the Clergy, theBurghers, and the Peasants. The members of Parliament meet every thirdyear, and have the power of voting money, altering the constitutionallaws of the country, and regulating commercial enterprise. 

Since 1863 has come the renaissance of Finland. Art, literature, industry, commerce, and politics have revived. The people saw themselvesonce more a nation conscious of its own gigantic tenacity of soul, prompted with a knowledge of its destiny, though sneered at, andthreatened on all sides by famine, contempt, and absorption. Finland islike a man who has slept long and suddenly wakes up refreshed, withrenewed vigour to work. That is why he has come so much forward in thelast quarter of the century, and is now prepared to make giganticstrides. Learned, artistic, commercial, and athletic societies sprangup, each imbued with a fresh and sincere national enthusiasm. Tournaments were held for _ski_, rifle-shooting, yachting, and othersports. Attention was called to the ancient songs and national music, and the great musical festivals, such as was held at _Sordavala_, werereinstated. 

Parliament began meeting regularly, and hope beamed brightly. Nevertheless danger is lurking within and without, for the Finlandersspeak three languages; the _Finlanders_ themselves only speak Finnish, the more educated people speak Swedish, and in official circles theymust know Russian, a language which has been forced upon them; whilethe great Russian people are ready to overwhelm and absorb, and marchover them to new fields. Still, as a Finlander truly said to the writer, "The destiny of a people is in the hands of the Lord, and Finland hascourage in God;" and therefore it is possible a great future may be instore for that beautiful country, beautiful whether we peep at_Tavasland_, _Karelen_, or _Österbotten_. 

The people in _Tavasland_ are fair-haired, slow, but exceedinglytenacious, and also somewhat boorish. Here the principal towns, manufactures, etc. , are to be found. Many of the inhabitants speakSwedish, and all have been influenced by Sweden. 

The following little anecdote gives some idea of the character of thenatives of _Tavasland_:--

A fortress was besieged by the Russians in 1808. After a severe struggleit was at last taken by assault, when the Russians discovered thatfifty-five out of the sixty defenders were dead. _But none had yielded!_

The people are determined and persevering, and it is no uncommon thingfor a lad to follow the plough until he is thirteen years of age, reading for his school and his university, and finally taking his M. A. Degree, and even becoming a Professor. 

The people of the _Karelen_ district are quicker and of lighter heart. They are nearer to Russia, and the Russian influence is distinctly seen. They are not so cleanly or so highly educated as the rest of thecountry, but they are musical and artistic. 

One must remember the word Finn implies native peasant; the upperclasses are called Finlanders. Until lately the two spoken languages ofFinland represented two parties. The Finns were the native peasants whoonly spoke Finnish, the Radical party practically--the upper classes whospoke Swedish among themselves were known as _Svecomans_, and roughlyrepresented the Conservatives. But since the serious troubles early inthe twentieth century, these two parties have been more closely drawntogether against Russia, and _Finlander_ is the common name for bothFinnish-speaking and Swedish-speaking people. _Finn_ is often used assynonymous with Finlander. There are Swedish peasants as well asFinnish; and while the Finn speaks only Finnish, the Finlander only knewSwedish until quite lately, except what he was pleased to call "KitchenFinnish, " for use amongst his servants; but every year the Finlander islearning more and more of his native language, and Swedish bids fair tobe relegated to the classics as far as Finland is concerned. 

The _Fennomans_ take interest in, and work for the Finnish language, literature, and culture; while the _Svecomans_, who are principallycomposed of the old Swedish families, try to maintain the old Swedishculture in Finland. 

Since 1899 Finland's relations with Russia and the defence of theFinnish Constitution is the principal question in politics. 

Party strife is terrible. It would be far better if the _Fennomans_ and_Svecomans_ tried to remember that their real object is the same, namely, the welfare of their own country, and turned their attentiononly in that direction instead of to petty and often ridiculouspolitical squabblings. 

It is wonderful to note how democratic the people are in Finland. Eachpeasant is a gentleman at heart, brave, hasty, independent, and heexpects every one to treat him as his equal. 

Few persons are rich in Finland according to English lights, but manyare comfortably off. It would be almost impossible there to live beyondone's income, or to pretend to have more than is really the case, forwhen the returns are sent in for the income tax, the income of eachindividual is published. In January every year, in the _Helsingfors_newspapers, rows and rows of names appear, and opposite them the exactincome of the owner. This does not apply if the returns are less than£200 a year; but, otherwise, every one knows and openly discusses whatevery one else has. 

Very amusing to a stranger, but horrible for the persons concerned. Fancy Jones saying to Brown, "Well, old chap, as you have £800 a year, Ithink you could afford a better house and occasionally a new suit ofclothes;" and even if Jones didn't make such a remark, his friendfeeling he thought it!

It is the fashion for each town to select a committee in December forthe purpose of taxing the people. Every one is taxed. The tax is calleda _skatt-öre_, the word originating from the small coin of that name, and each town decides whether the _öre_ shall be charged on two hundredor four hundred marks. Let us take as an example a 400-mark _öre_(tax). The first four hundred marks are free; but payment is required onevery further four hundred, and so on. For instance, if a man has 16, 000marks, he pays nothing on the first four hundred, and has thereforethirty-nine sets of four hundred to pay for, which is called thirty-nine_skatt-öre_. If overtaxed, the aggrieved person can complain to a secondcommittee; and this sometimes happens. The tax varies very much; in someof the seaport towns, which receive heavy dues, the _öre_, whichincludes parochial rates, is very low. In _Wiborg_ they have had to payas much as fifteen marks on every four hundred; but as a rule it isless. 

The habit of publishing the returns of all the incomes began about 1890, and is now a subject of much annoyance--as much annoyance to a Finlanderas the habit of never knocking at the door to a stranger. No one everthinks of knocking at a door in Finland. People simply march in, and asfew doors possess bolts, the consequences are sometimes appalling, especially to English people, who go through more daily ablutions thanmost nations, and prefer to do them in private. During our visit to_Sordavala_, for the Musical Festival, we had some curious experiencesin connection with boltless doors. We were located at the brewer's. Nowthis was a great favour, as he was a private individual who cheerfullygave up his beautiful salon upholstered in red velvet "to the Englishladies, " but, unfortunately, this sumptuous apartment was reached by asmaller chamber where a man had to sleep. Not only that, but thesleeping apartment of the man was really a passage which conducteddirectly into the _Konttoori_ or office of the brewery. As far as theman was concerned, this did not so much matter; eventually he becamequite accustomed to hearing his door suddenly opened and seeing astranger with an empty basket on his arm standing before him anddemanding the way to the _Konttoori_ (which is pronounced, by the bye, exactly in the same manner as an Irishman says _country_), when with awave of the hand he indicated the office. But for us it was different. One morning, when the gentleman occupant of the passage was away and wewere in the early stage of dressing, our door opened, and a fat burlyman dashed into the middle of our room, where he stood transfixed, aswell he might. 

"Go away, " we exclaimed. He heeded not. We waved and indicated, with thehelp of a brandished stocking, our desire that he should leave ourapartment. But the stolidity of a Finn is always remarkable, and theappearance of strange Englishwomen in somewhat unusual attire appearedreally to fascinate the gentleman, who neither moved nor spoke, onlysimply stared. "Go away, " we repeated, gesticulating more violently thanbefore. The situation was intensely awkward, and it seemed to us asthough hours instead of moments had passed since the entrance of ourburly friend, and we were just wondering how on earth we were to get ridof him, when slowly, as though rolling the letters round his mouth, hepronounced the word _Konttoori_. 

"Yes, go into the country, " we answered, pointing vehemently in thedirection of that oft-inquired-for office. Very solemnly and quietly heturned round and marched out of the door--let us hope much impressed andless disconcerted by the interview than we had been. Once we were rid ofhim, we sat down and laughed so immoderately over the scene that the_bed_, one of those wooden collapsable affairs, peculiar to the country, on which my sister was sitting, completely gave way, and she wasdeposited upon the floor. The peals of merriment that followed thissecond misadventure apparently aroused the interest of some othervisitor outside, for again the door opened and a youth of aboutseventeen stood before us. This was really getting too much of a goodthing, for what may be considered a joke once becomes distressing ifrepeated a second time, and absolutely appalling on a third occasion. 

However, as we could not understand him, and he could not understand us, we wished him good-morning, and gently waved him away. Eleven times inthe course of five days did odd men and women thus rush like avalanchesinto our room, all having mistaken the way to the _Konttoori_. 

Another peculiarity of the Finlander is that he never shakes hands. Heseizes one's digits as though they were a pump handle, and warmly holdsthem, wrestles with them, waggles them, until the unsuspecting Britisherwonders if he will ever again be able to claim his hand as his own. Inthis way the gentleman from the Grand Duchy is demonstrative with hisacquaintances; he is very publicly devoted also to his wife, fondlingher before his friends. On the other hand, he seldom kisses his mother, and never his sisters. Indeed, all the outward affection seems reservedfor husbands and wives; daughters seldom kiss their parents, andbrothers and sisters rarely even shake hands. This struck us asparticularly strange, because the members of an English family generallygreet one another warmly when meeting for breakfast, especially parentsand children; yet in Finland, as a rule, they hardly take any notice ofone another. A certain son we knew kissed his mother's hand on theoccasion of leaving her for some weeks, while he merely nodded to hisbrothers and sisters standing around. 

Another strange freak, in a land where there is no night for two orthree months, is that the better houses never have shutters, and seldomblinds, at the windows; therefore the sun streams in undisturbed; andwhen a room has four windows, as happened to us at _Sordavala_, thelight of day becomes a positive nuisance, and a few green calico blindsan absolute godsend; indeed, almost as essential as the oil of cloves orlavender or the ammonia bottle for gnat bites, or the mosquitohead-nets, if one sleeps with open windows. Mosquitoes have fed upon mein tropical lands, but they are gentlemen in comparison with the roughbrutality of the mosquitoes of the far North; there their innings isshort and violent. 

It is indeed a strange experience to sleep with one's head in a sort ofmeat safe, for that is what these unsightly green muslin bags calledmosquito nets resemble. They are flat on the top, with a sort of curtainhanging down all round, which one ties neatly under one's chin beforeretiring to rest. Behold a beautiful lady--for all ladies are as certainto be beautiful when they write about themselves, as that authoressesare all old and ugly, which seems to be a universal idea in the eyes ofthe public generally--behold then a beautiful lady enveloped in a largeunwieldy and very wobbly net head-covering, of such a vivid green huethat the unfortunate wearer looks jaundiced beneath! Well, they had oneadvantage, they saved some bites, and they afforded us much amusement;but becoming they were not. 

In our strange chamber, with its four windows only protected by whitemuslin blinds from the fierce glare of that inquisitive sun, that seemedto peer in upon our movements all day and all night, we endured a smallmartyrdom, till we begged the maid to make our beds the reverse way;that is, to put the pillows where one's feet are usually to be found, asby this means the wooden bedstead kept a little of the light out of ourweary eyes. No one can realise the weariness of eternal light until hehas experienced it, any more than he can appreciate the glaring effectsof everlasting day. We stayed with our kind friends at _Sordavala_ forsome days, and were a great source of interest to the servant, who, oneday screwing up her courage, curiosity having got the better of hershyness, thus addressed a person she thought could furnish the requiredinformation--

"Is it part of the English ladies' religion to sleep the wrong wayround?"

"No, " was the reply; "what do you mean?"

"Is it in their worship that they should sleep with their heads towardsthe sun?"

"Certainly not; how did such an idea get into your head?"

"Every night the English ladies have made me make their beds the wrongway round, and I thought perhaps it was one of their religious customs. "

We were much amused when this conversation was repeated to us. Such anotion as keeping the sun out of one's eyes had never entered the girl'shead. Apparently Finlanders cannot have too much sunlight; probably byway of contrast to the darkness they live in during the long winter, forbe it remembered that in the far North, where we travelled later, thesun disappears altogether in December and January, and winter every yearlasts for eight or nine months. 

We were surprised to find that every basin is left by the housemaid withcold water in it, and there it stands waiting at all seasons; but such athing as warm water is considered positively indecent, and the servantgenerally looks as if she would fall down with amazement at the mentionof such a strange thing being wanted. 

In quite a large hotel at which we were once staying, the landlord beingthe only person who could speak anything except Finnish, we asked himat night if he would be so kind as to explain to the housemaid that wewished to be called at half-past seven the following morning, when weshould like her to bring us hot water. 

"Certainement, Madame, " he replied, and bowing low took his leave. 

After a few minutes we heard a knock at the door (the door actuallypossessed a bolt or he would not have knocked), and on opening it wefound the landlord. 

"Pardon, Madame, but how much hot water do you want for grog?"

"No, no, " we answered; "to wash with. "

He looked amazed; evidently he was more accustomed to people drinkingtumblers of hot water--for grog--than he was to our requiring it forwashing purposes. 

Finland has much to learn in the way of sanitation, and yet more as tothe advisability of a daily bath, for while even in hotels they give onean enormous carafe, which might be called a giraffe, its neck is solong, filled with drinking water surrounded by endless tumblers, thebasin is scarcely bigger than a sugar bowl, while the jug is about thesize of a cream ewer. 

Very, very tired one night we arrived at a little inn. The beds were notmade, and, knowing how long it took a Finn to accomplish anything of thekind, we begged her to be as quick as possible, as we were dead beat. She pulled out the wooden bed, she thumped the mattress, and at last shewent away, we hoped and believed to fetch the sheets. She remainedabsent for some time, but when she returned it was not with the sheets;it was with what to her mind was far more important, viz. , a tin tray onwhich were arranged _four glass tumblers and a huge glass bottle full offresh water_, which she had been to the bottom of the garden to pumpfrom a deep well!

We often pondered over that water subject, and wondered whether Finnshad nightly carousals with the innocent bottle, or whether drinking_aqua pura_ is a part of their religion, as the housemaid had thoughtsleeping with our heads the wrong way was a part of ours!

Our minds were greatly exercised also as to why the pillows were so hardand often gave forth such a strange smell, but that mystery was one daysolved. When driving along a pretty road, we saw masses of soft whitecotton flower waving in the wind, the silvery sheen catching thesunlight and making it look like fluffy snow. This we were told was_luikku_, the Latin name of which is _Eriophorum angustifolium_. Womenwere gathering it and packing it into a sack. 

"That, " explained our Finnish friend, "is used for stuffing the pillowsand sometimes even beds. "

"Really?" we returned; "then that is why they are so hard and lumpy. "

"Oh, but there is another plant even less soft than the _luikku_, whichis employed for the same purpose. It grows at the water's edge and is akind of rush. "

This plant turned out to be _ruoko_ (_Phragmites communis_), a commonspecies of water shrub in Finland; after its dark red flowers haveturned silvery gray, they look beautiful swaying with the wind, the longreed-like leaves making a pretty swish at the water's edge as they bend. Going up the canals it is quite strange to notice how, when the steamersucks the water from the sides to her screw, the _ruoko_ sways and bowsits head down to her, and, as she passes on, it lifts its majestic headagain, and gently sways down the other side as though to bid the shipfarewell. 

In the summer months, when things often have to be done in a hurry, getting in the hay or reaping the harvest, for instance, since themoment the weather is propitious and the crop ripe no time must be lost, or a night's frost may prove destructive to all the crops, it is verycommon to have a _talkko_. 

A _talkko_ is a sort of popular amusement at which a great deal of workis done. The farmer invites all his friends to help him clear a ryefield, for example. They all come in eager haste, and generally have asort of picnic. Work proceeds much quicker in company than alone, andwhile they reap with old-fashioned sickles, they chat and laugh and singtheir national songs, eat and make merry on small beer, that terribleconcoction which we explained before is called _Kalja_, which they drinkout of the same spoon, regardless of disease germs. 

The corn and rye when cut are put on pine-tree trunks to dry. They sawdown the small pines, chop off the branch a foot from the trunk, plantthem in a line along the field, and loosely throw their crop over thesestumps exposed to the sun and wind; then, after binding by hand, carrythem on sledges--summer sledges--to the farmstead, where thrashing, alsoby hand, completes the business of harvesting. 

Farm work is very primitive still in parts of Finland; the small plough, behind which the native plods, guiding it in and out of the stones, which his small sturdy pony drags, is a long and tedious business. 

A _talkko_ relieves labour much; and thus it comes to pass that, afterJones and party have helped Smith on Monday, Smith and party help Joneson Tuesday; a very socialistic arrangement, like many others in _Suomi_. 

From the poor the rich have taken a hint, and where, in England, we havework parties for bazaars, or to make garments for the village clubs, inFinland they have a _talkko_. Especially is this the custom just beforeChristmas time, when many presents have to be got ready, and all thegirl friends assemble and prepare their little gifts for distribution onChristmas Eve. On this night there is much festivity. A tree is lightedeven in the poorest homes, and presents are exchanged amid much feastingand merriment. 

Christmas comes in the winter, when snow and ice are everywhere;therefore the richer folk drive to their balls and parties in sledges, rolled up in furs, and big skating-parties are the order of the day. 

It is amusing at these gatherings to hear the young people all callingone another by their Christian names, and as some of the real Finnishnames are musical and pretty, we give a few of the most usual--

 MEN. 

 Onni Ilmari Yrjö (George) Väinö Armas Aarne Arvo Reijo Esko Heikki (Henry) Urpo Eero (Eric) Mauno (Magnus) Lauri (Laurence) Vilho (William) Toivo Pekka (Peter) Ahti (Kalevala) Sampsa " Antero " Youko " Kullervo " Kalervo " Untamo " Kammo " Nyyrikki " Osmo " Valio Ensi

 WOMEN. 

 Aino Saima Helmi Aili Kyllikki Eine Aura Sirkka Lempi Siviä Rauha (Friede, Irene) Hellin Ainikki (Kalevala) Ilpotar " Inkeri " Louhi " Lyyli, or Lyylikki Mielikki (Kalevala) Tellervo " Tuulikki " Hilja Tyyne Suoma Alli Impi Laina Ilma Iri

 SURNAMES. 

 Aaltola Vuorio Lallukka Ritola Aitamurto Haapaoja Häkli Sutinen Pösö Matikainen Koskinen Piispanen Pilvi (a cloud) Vitikka Vipunen (Kalevala) Korhonen Lyytikäinen Päivärinta Päiviö Makkonen Porkka Rahkonen Ojanen Reijonen Alkio Teittinen

Winter in the South of Finland generally sets in about the last week ofNovember, and when it comes is usually very severe, while the nights arelong and the days short. As a rule the air is dry, and therefore thatdelightful fresh crispness, which is so invigorating, prevails, as itdoes in Norway, where, one day when we were with Dr. Nansen at Lysaker, the thermometer registered 9° below zero Fahr. , yet we found it far lesscold than England on a mild damp day. 

The mean temperature of the North of Finland is 27° Fahr. , and round_Helsingfors_ in the South, 38° Fahr. 

As November advances every one in the Southern districts looks forwardeagerly to black ice; that is to say, that the ice should form beforethe first fall of snow covers the land. This often happens, and then thelakes, the rivers, and all round the coast, rapidly freeze some inchesthick, the surface being as flat as a looking-glass, unless the wind hasseriously disturbed the ice much while forming, and Finland becomes oneenormous skating-rink from end to end. Every one throughout the countryskates--men, women, and children. Out they come in the early morning, and, with some refreshments in their pockets, they accomplish visits andjourneys which, to the uninitiated, seem impossible. Fifty or sixtymiles a day can be managed on skates, and even the peasantry availthemselves of this opportunity of enjoying sport, and, at the same time, accomplishing a vast amount of friendly visiting and work. It is duringthis black ice that the ice-boats are most in requisition; for thebumpiness so often experienced when snow has settled on the frozensurface does not exist, and the ice-boats' speed, which is tremendous atall times, becomes absolutely terrific and wildly exciting, as we knowfrom our experiences in Holland. 

However, Finland is not always so fortunate, and sometimes the frost andsnow come together; and then, although the peasantry, as in Holland, skate over the waterways to market and on business, the better-classfolk, who skate for amusement, betake them to rinks. 

Roadways are marked out on the ice in Finland the same as in Norway;that is to say, little holes are dug along the would-be path into whichsmall fir-trees are stuck, and therefore these impromptu roads look likelittle avenues. 

In the case of an ice-rink, fir-trees are planted all round the edge ina veritable wall, to keep out the non-paying public. Bands play in theafternoon and evening, and when it becomes too dark to see by nature'slight, electric lamps are kindled, and the place becomes a regularrendezvous, not only for skaters, but for onlookers, who walk about onthose bright starlight evenings, chatting to their friends, sippingtheir coffee, and listening to the music. 

As a rule, in Finland they go in more for distance than figure-skating, as is also the case in Holland, Norway, etc. , where long distances haveto be traversed, and speed is of more importance than style. Still, inthe Finnish towns, where people skate on rinks merely for amusement, some beautiful figure-skating may be seen. 

Once a Finnish lady went over to Paris and received the sum of £120 amonth for giving entertainments in figure-skating. All Paris wascharmed, and Finland naturally felt proud. 

Sledging, of course, is everywhere necessary in Finland in the winter, and only those who have enjoyed the delights of a drive, with a goodhorse briskly passing through the crisp air to the tingling of sleighbells, can realise its delights. 

_Skidåkning_ is also much in vogue, but in Finland it is not sodangerous as in more mountainous countries. In Norway _ski_ areabsolutely essential. There the snow lies so deep on the mountains andin the valleys that the peasantry could never get about at all were itnot for their _ski_. But in Finland the country is so much flatter, andthe lakes so much more numerous, that people can walk on the hard-frozensurface readily. Therefore the peasantry--except in certaindistricts--do not use _ski_ so much as a necessity, as for pleasure andsport. The upper classes go on _skidor_ as constantly as they skate. They get up competitions; they go for whole days' expeditions into thecountry, and, on their "wooden shoon, " enjoy themselves thoroughly inthe winter months. 

In a _Winter Jaunt to Norway_, I described a jump of eighty-eight feetmade on these strange snow-shoes, and the _ski_ themselves, asfollows:--

 It is perhaps a bold statement to call _ski_-racing one of the finest sports of the world, but to our mind it undoubtedly is, and one which requires wondrous pluck and skill, and for a man to jump eighty-eight feet from a height, with a pair of _ski_ securely fixed on his feet, requires some courage!

 They are utterly unlike Canadian snow-shoes, because they are required for a very hilly country, and over a great depth of snow. An ordinary-sized man's _ski_ are eight or nine feet long. They are only about 4½ inches wide, and an inch at the thickest part, that is to say, immediately under the foot, but towards either end they taper to half this thickness. As a rule they are both the same length, and pointed upwards at the toes; but in some of the Norwegian valleys and in Finland, one _ski_ is much longer than the other, and that one is usually quite flat. 

 In the middle of this plank-like piece of wood, which is split with the grain to stand the great strain often imposed upon it, and never sawn at all, the toes are fastened by a leather strap. Another strap goes round the heel in a sort of loop fashion, securing the foot, but at the same time giving the heel full play. A special _ski_ boot is worn over enormously thick horsehair stockings. This boot has no hard sole at all, and, instead of being sewn at the sides, the large piece of thick leather which goes under the foot is brought well over the top and secured to what might ordinarily be called a leather tongue. At the back of the boot is a small strap, which is used to fasten the _ski_ heel-strap securely to the boot. Once fixed on the _ski_, the foot is so secure no fall can loosen it, and the only way to extricate the foot is to undo the three straps. Outside these huge ungainly hair stockings and strangely comfortable boots very thick gaiters are worn. It is very necessary to keep the feet and legs warm in such a cold land as Norway, where the mercury freezes oft-times in the thermometers, and snow six or seven feet deep covers the land sometimes for months. Such cold sounds appalling, but it is quite the reverse. The air is absolutely dry, and there is seldom any wind. 

 At the given word, No. 1 rushed from the plateau on the hilltop, down the hill itself. The pace, in consequence of the steepness, was tremendous. On he came; on to the little platform built out from the mountain-side he rushed; then, with a huge spring, his legs doubled up, and whirling his arms like a windmill to keep his balance, he jumped. 

 Oh, what a moment of profound excitement! Would he regain his footing all that distance below? Balancing himself for a moment in the air after his jump, he regained his footing, and sped away down the hillside, stopping himself by a sharp turn of the _ski_ as he was nearing the loudly applauding spectators. One after another they came, and at least 50 per cent, succeeded in landing on their feet and speeding away. 

 The longest jump of all was 26½ metres, that is to say, nearly 88 feet, and this was done by Ustvedt; but he did not regain his footing. Ingemann Sverre, who jumped 22 metres, and landed on his feet to continue his course, won the king's cup and the ladies' purse. 

 We looked on and marvelled. 

 Since then a hundred and twenty feet is the record jump. Strange as it may seem, _ski_ was a word practically unknown in England. 

Such competitions are now held in Finland, where _ski_ soon promise tobe as fashionable as in Norway. _Ski_ are called--

 In Swedish _Skida_, plural _Skidor_. In Finnish _Suksi_, " _Sukset_. 

They are almost the same as the Norwegian shoes, excepting that theyalways have an inward curve under the foot, and seldom have aheel-strap. The heel-strap is only necessary for jumping or for goinguphill, and as there is little jumping and no hills to speak of inFinland, the shoe, being curved up at the toe like a Chinaman's, issufficient to keep the _Sukset_ on the feet. 

Bears, as said before, do not walk hourly in the streets of Finland. Nevertheless, bears do exist, and in the Northern and Easterly districtsin considerable numbers. It is in winter that the bear-hunts take place, and, having discovered the whereabouts of the monarch of the forest, theFinlander disturbs him from his winter sleep, either by smoke or by theaid of dogs, and then for days follows him over the snow. The bear is anadept at walking through snow, but man on _sukset_ is his match. Aftercircling bruin in parties, or chasing him alone, the bear generallyfalls in the end to some sportsman's gun. It is a great day when thedead bear is brought back to the village, and one usually celebrated bya triumphal procession, merry-making, and a grand feast, followed bymuch singing of the national songs, handed down from father to son, andthrilling tales of wondrous acts of daring at bear-hunts, for, as wehave seen, in the _Kalevala_ the bear is a great subject for the poet'sverse. The man who fired the fatal shot is, on the occasion of thebear-feast, naturally the hero, and for him it is an occasion to begratefully remembered. Every Finn speaks with profound admiration andbated breath of _Mårten Kitunen_, who during his life killed a hundredand ninety-eight fully-grown bears, besides innumerable young ones. Itmust not be imagined from this that bear-killing is an easy sport; onthe contrary, it is extremely dangerous, for the fatigue and perils of_skidåkning_ the wild forests, with a very low temperature, for hoursand hours is in itself a perilous pastime. Frost-bite is by no meansuncommon, and, of course, in such cold, it is impossible to sit down andrest, lest that drowsy sleep, so dreaded in northern climates, shouldtake hold of the weary man and gradually lull him into his last slumber. Nevertheless, women, who in Finland are particularly enterprising, sometimes take part in bear-hunts, and it is on record that several havethemselves shot fully-grown animals. No mean achievement for a woman;but Finnish women are go-ahead, and have given the world a lead bygaining admittance to Parliament. 

Many women stalk the deer in Scotland, and some have made wonderfulbags, but then, although stalking often necessitates many weary hours'walking, there is not in Scotland such severe and perilous cold to dealwith. In Finland many ladies shoot, and when a hare is killed the cryof _All's Tod_ rings through the forest, and sounds almost asinspiriting as the cry of the hounds at home. 

Tobogganing is another great institution in Finland, and as the hills inthe South are not steep enough for a really good spin, the Finlandersput up a _Kälkbacke_ or _Skrinnbacke_, in imitation of their Russianfriends, and enjoy rattling spins, and moments of intense excitement, gliding down these dangerous routes. They are really switchbacks made ofice and snow, and as they are steep, the pace is terrific. 

In summer yachting is one of the great institutions of Finland, and wewere lucky enough to be in _Wiborg_ at the time of the great racebetween _Wiborg_ and _Helsingfors_ for the Yacht Cup. 

It was a delightful day, and a large steamer having been chartered byour host, whose son was the President of the _Wiborg_ Yacht Club, heinvited his friends to see the race. We were a very merry party of fortyor fifty, as we steamed away from the _Wiborg_ pier to where the twoyachts were to meet. 

The _Menelik_ belongs to _Wiborg_; the _Thelma_ to _Helsingfors_. The_Menelik_ is a lugger, built in _Wiborg_ at the yard of Hackman Company, although designed by Arthur E. Payne of Southampton. She is a two and ahalf rater. 

The _Helsingfors_ boat was designed by Charles Sibbick in Cowes, England. 

The Yacht Club in _Helsingfors_ began its existence in 1876, and iscertainly in a very flourishing condition. The course was a long one, and the two best days' sailing out of three secures the Cup. The firstday was a trial to the patience of the steersmen. It was a dead calm;such a calm as one seldom meets with, and not until the afternoon didthe faintest breeze spring up, while even then the sailing so farexceeded the seven hours' time allowed that the day was drawn as ablank. 

But, as onlookers, we enjoyed ourselves immensely; there were numbers ofsteamers like ourselves on pleasure bent, the umpire's boat, and severalrowing boats which had managed to come out so far to sea, the day beingcalm. The end was all that our kind host could wish, for the _Menelik_won by three minutes. Yachting and canoeing are fine pastimes in thisland of waterways. 

Dancing is a very popular form of entertainment in Finland, and oftenindulged in by old and young. It is quite a custom on Saturday eveningfor the young folk from various villages to meet together at someworkmen's recreation room, or at one of the larger farms, and have aball. One of the best specimens of such an entertainment we chanced tosee was at the old-world city of _Åbo_. About a mile from the town a newpark has been opened, in the arrangements of which our friend, the Chiefof the Police, took the greatest interest, and to it, after a charminglittle dinner, he escorted us to see the peasant ball in full swing. 

Every Saturday at six o'clock it begins; and, as some sort of restraintis necessary, the sum of one penny is charged to each would-be dancer. 

In the middle of the park is a large _kiosk_, big enough for acouple of hundred folk to pirouette at a time. It has a roof supportedby pillars, but there are no side walls. A couple of fiddlers wereplaying hard when we entered, and a cornet coming in at odd minutescomposed the band, and, until midnight, the couples twirled and whiskedround and round the wooden floor. Why should not something of the kindbe allowed in our parks from seven to twelve in the evening at a chargeof a few pence?

The great national dance of the country is called the _jenka_. It ismore like a schottische perhaps than anything else; and really it wasextraordinary to see how well these peasants danced, and how they beattime. Thoroughly they entered into the spirit of the thing, the polka, waltz, and _jenka_ being all danced in turn, until the park closed. 

Writing letters in Finland is an expensive amusement. Every epistle, notdelivered by private hand, costs twopence for transmission; rather ahigh rate for home postage, considering that foreign letters only cost afourth more. Postcards cost one penny, whether for home or foreign use. 

This high rate of postage seems very remarkable, considering the almostuniversal adoption of my father's old friend's (Sir Rowland Hill)enlightened suggestion that a penny would pay. 

We learn that during the year 1896 our English post-office passed1, 834, 200, 000 letters and 314, 500, 000 postcards; and, writing on thesame subject, the Duke of Norfolk said, "The penny letter has long beenknown to be the sheet anchor of the post-office, and it is interestingto record that no less than 95 per cent. Of the total number of inlandletters passed for a penny each. " Fifteen years later everyEnglish-speaking land could be reached by a penny stamp. 

Finland might take the hint and institute a penny post; but we hope shewill not send some fifty thousand letters _unaddressed_, as we Englishdid, their valuable contents amounting to several thousands of pounds!

The quickest postal route to Finland is _viâ St. Petersburg_; butletters are often delayed to be searched, and they are not unfrequentlylost, so that all important epistles are best registered; and oneFinnish family, some of whose relations live in Germany, told us theynever thought of sending letters either way without registering themfirst. 

Finland has her own stamps, but all letters passing direct from Russiato Finland, or Finland to Russia, must have special stamps upon them, the Tzar having forbidden the Finnish stamps to be used on letters goingout of Finland, which is contrary to Finnish laws. 

Telegrams from or to Finland are ruinous. Even in _Suomi_ itself theycost a small fortune, and outside they are even worse; but then no onetelegraphs to any one in the territory, for almost every person has atelephone, which can be annexed from town to town, and those who havenot telephones can go to a public office in every village and expend apenny on their message, therefore in that respect the Finns are inadvance of us. 

We were amused to find the Finlanders very inquisitive. This is as mucha trait in their character as their stubborn obstinacy, their intensetruthfulness, or their wondrous honesty. And a Finn runs a Scotchmanvery hard in evading a straightforward answer. 

"Does the train leave at two?"

The question is replied to by the Scot, "Maybe it does;" but theFinlander says, "It is advertised to do so;" thus getting out of adirect answer, for where the Englishman would say "Yes" or "No" if heknew, the other two nations would never dream of doing such a thing. Theinhabitants of this Grand Duchy are, as has been stated, wondrouslyinquisitive. The peasant asks where you come from the moment he sees youare a stranger, and the better-class folk soon turn the traveller intheir midst inside out with questions. They ask not only "Where do youcome from?" but, "Where are you going?" "What is your business?" "Haveyou a husband, wife, father, mother, brother, sisters, " and so on. Oneinquiry is piled upon another, just as is the custom in the UnitedStates, where a railway journey is like a query and answer column. 

The Finns do it all most good-naturedly, 'tis true, but occasionally itis inconvenient nevertheless. 

Finns are very intense; they are men of few words; slow to anger, andslower to forgive. They never do anything in a hurry. Life is veryserious to them, and they endure great privations with patience. Theynever trifle; flirtation they abhor; and chaff they simply do notunderstand. They are honest to a degree, kindhearted, respect law andorder, and love peace. They are more than hospitable; they are, in fact, overpoweringly generous in their invitations to the veriest stranger;they are kind in their dealings with foreigners--doing their best toentertain them, to understand their speech, although often speaking fouror five languages themselves, and to show them all they can of theirland, of which they are immensely proud. 

They have none of the beauty, brilliancy, or charm of the South; but allthe sterling assets and good qualities of the North. 

CHAPTER VIII

IMATRA'S ROARING CATARACT

The scenery of Finland is, as a rule, neither grand nor impressive. Ithas not the mountains of Switzerland topped with everlasting snow, northe rocky fjords of Norway; no dear little Tyrolese chalets, nor sweetEnglish cottages set in fair gardens, no splendid stretches ofemerald-green sward, and iron-bound coast scenery such as is the delightof the tourist in Ireland, nor purple-crowned hills as in Scotland;nevertheless, it has a charm of its own, and can boast more lakes, canals, and rivers, all connected in some marvellous way, than any ofthe countries mentioned. 

It is indeed a land of many thousand lakes, and one might add many, manythousand islands. There are large islands covered with pine forests, tiny solitary rocky islets, on which perchance a house has been builtfor a pilot; mere patches of earth islands, where flourishes onesolitary pine, that looks from a distance as if it were actually growingon the surface of the water. 

Round the coast line there are dangerous and hidden haunts wheresmuggling goes on to a large extent, while, when traversing the inlandlakes, big steamers have to keep to certain routes marked bybuoys--sometimes merely by sticks. 

Except in the far North the country is very flat, and even in the Northa few hundred feet is the limit of the highest land. Further South evenless elevation is found, although the country is by no means souniformly level as Holland, Denmark, or Russia. 

One can travel nearly all over Finland in steamers, and very comfortablesteamers they are too, with nice little cabins and good restaurants. Provided with one's own deck-chair, many pleasant days can be passed onthe calm waters round the coast, or the yet calmer lakes and canalsinland, where one marvels at the engineering skill and the wonderfulsteering powers of English-speaking captains of Finnish birth. 

We decided on our way back from _Sordavala_ to stop at the famouscataract of _Imatra_. It was one of the few railway journeys we madeduring our jaunt in Finland, for we always went by water for choice, andit proved somewhat remarkable. 

Can there be such a thing as a musical train? If so, verily the namewould apply to that by which we travelled. The passengers were made upof odds and ends; among them were most of the students who had takenpart in the Festival, a great many representatives of various choirs, some of the athletes who had charmed us with their gymnastic exercises, for which the country is famous, and several visitors like ourselves. Ofcourse, these folk never previously practised singing together, butafter Professor Dickenson, standing on the platform, had returned thankson behalf of the visitors for their cordial reception in _Sordavala_, which speech was replied to by the Mayor of the town, some one calledupon the audience to sing the national air "_Maamme_. " The voices roseand fell immediately. Heads were poked out from carriage windows inorder that lusty throats might sing their beloved air. All at once threestudents on the platform waved their caps on high, and a regular musicalperformance ensued. To a stranger it seemed a remarkable demonstration. 

Supposing the occupants of an English train were suddenly called upon tosing "God save the King, " what would be the result? Why, that more thanhalf the passengers would prove so shy they could not even attempt it;another quarter might wander about the notes at their own sweet will, and, perhaps, a small percentage would sing it in tune. But then, justthink, the Finns are so imbued with music, and practise socontinually--for they seem to sing on every conceivable occasion--thatthe sopranos naturally took up their part, the basses and the tenorskept to their own notes, and perfect harmony prevailed. 

Not content with singing half a dozen songs while waiting for the trainto get under way, many carriage loads sang off and on during the wholeseven hours of the journey to _Andrea_, where we changed in order tocatch a train for _Imatra_. Having an hour to spare at this junction, awalk was suggested along the railway line. This was not at all sodangerous a feat as might be imagined, for although only a single line, trains ran so very seldom that pedestrians might walk up and down forhalf a day and never see one. 

We wandered with a delightful man whose rôle it was to act asinterpreter between the Finnish and Swedish languages in the House ofCommons, a position called _tulkki_ or translator, just as Canada usesinterpreters for English and French. 

We were amazed to find him conversant with all kinds of Englishliterature; he spoke with familiarity of Dickens, Thackeray, Shakespeare, twelve of whose plays, by the bye, have been translatedinto Finnish and performed at the theatre, and he was even acquaintedwith the works of Rudyard Kipling, Swinburne, Browning, and Mrs. HumphryWard. With equal aptitude he discussed Daudet and Zola, Tolstoi andTourgenieff, and, to our astonishment, we found that although he spokeonly indifferent German, he could read English, French, German, andRussian authors in the original. 

As we wandered down the railway line, our attention was arrested by anextraordinary carriage which stood on a siding. A sort of engine was infront, but, behind, a glass house composed the remainder of the waggon. We had never before seen anything like it, and wondered if it could bean observatory on wheels, until we noticed that in the forepart of thetrain was a snow-plough, such as is to be seen on every engine in Norwayduring mid-winter, a plough which closely resembles an Americancow-catcher. 

"That, " remarked our friend, "is a Finnish snow-plough. It is with thegreatest difficulty we can keep the lines clear in winter, and it is notsufficient to have an ordinary snow-plough attached to the engine, therefore, just as ice-breakers endeavour to keep the port of _Hangö_open during winter, so these snow-ploughs ply to and fro along therailway lines, throwing up vast heaps of snow on each side, until theymake a wall sometimes ten or twelve feet high. These walls form a sortof protection to the trains, and gradually become so hard that, by theend of the winter snow, they might be built of stone, they are sostrong. "

There are not many railways in Finland, the first being laid in 1862;with the exception of private ones, which are narrow, they all have thewide Russian gauge. 

Speaking of the ice-breaker at _Hangö_, we may say that, in spite of allendeavours to keep the only winter port of Finland open during the coldmonths, ice sometimes gains the mastery, and for several weeks thatFinnish port becomes closed. 

Our friend was a most interesting companion, and explained something ofthe mysteries of the University. He told us that it was first founded in1640 at _Åbo_, but in 1829, when _Åbo_ was burnt to ashes and manythousand volumes were destroyed, it was considered advisable to move theUniversity to _Helsingfors_, a town which at that time had a largerpopulation than the older capital. 

"You see, " he said, "we have no Court here, no great wealth, but fewnobility, and, therefore, every one and everything is centred round ourUniversity. It comprises four faculties--Theology, Law, Medicine, andPhilosophy. "

"What does your title of _Magister_ mean?" we ventured to ask. 

"It is equivalent to your M. A. , " he said; "but our degrees are onlygiven every fourth year, when we keep up much old-fashioned pomp. Crowdsof people come to see the ceremony, and all the successful candidates, as they receive their degrees, are given, if they are Master of Arts, agold ring, if doctors, a silk-covered hat, while on their heads a crownof laurels is actually placed. It is an old custom for each man tochoose one from among his lady friends to be his _wreath-binder_, andshe is supposed to undertake the making of his laurel crown. This wasall very well so long as men only took the degree, but great jokes havearisen since women have stepped in, because ladies naturally think it isonly right that men should weave their laurel-wreaths. "

"And do they?"

"I believe they do. If not actually with their own hands, theysuperintend the making of such wreaths for their lady friends, whom wewelcome to our University with open arms. "

When we had arrived at _Andrea_, on our journey to _Imatra_ from theRussian frontier, out tumbled a number of cyclists, who found to theirdistress that it would be necessary to wait about half an hour tocontinue their journey. It was overpoweringly hot; these young studentsstood on the platform discussing the situation, and at last theydecided to cycle the twenty or thirty miles instead of waiting for thetrain. They took off their coats and strapped them on to the handles oftheir machines, and in pretty flannel shirts, gaily chaffing andlaughing, off they started for their ride. We rather pitied them, as wesaw them start under those melting sun's rays, and preferred our ownidea of a quiet stroll. 

At last we heard the whistle of our train, and had to scamper back alongthe railway line in order to secure our seats. 

We crawled along, in the usual fashion of Finnish trains, to theworld-renowned _Imatra_. Arrived at the hotel, which is built beside theroaring cataract, where thousands of tons of water rush and tear fromJanuary to December, we went into the dining-room to order dinner, andthere, sitting round the table in the best of spirits, were thestudents, who had actually ridden quicker from _Andrea_ than our trainhad brought us. 

Parts of Finland are very beautiful, and travelling through the countryis a most interesting experience; but, at the same time, there are noneof the excellent motor roads such as we find in France or Germany. It isnot a good country for motorists, waterways being its chief attraction, and its boat service is excellent; but the roads, although well markedby sign-posts and mile-stones (kilometres), are certainly not good. 

Oh! the joy that night of being in a real hotel, with a real brassbedstead and a real spring mattress, to say nothing of once againseeing a proper sized wash-hand basin and jug. 

Above the roar of the seething waters, fretting at our very feet, clapsof thunder made themselves heard, and rain descended in torrents, whilevivid, flashes of lightning lit up the wondrous cataract of _Imatra_. 

Thunderstorms are quite common in those parts, and we felt glad of thatone, as it did something to dispel for a time the oppressive heat. 

Next morning the scene was changed, and as we looked in calm weatherfrom the balcony window, we were fascinated by the vast volume of waterdashing ceaselessly on its ruthless way below. 

Later, sitting on a rocky boulder, we gazed in awe at the scene beforeus. This was _Imatra_. This is one of the three famous falls which formthe chain of a vast cataract. This avalanche of foam and spray, thisswirling, tearing, rushing stream, this endless torrent pursuing itswild course, year in, year out--this was _Imatra_, one of the strongestwater powers in the world--the Niagara of Europe. 

Not a waterfall in the real sense of the word, for within the space ofhalf a mile the water only actually falls about forty feet; but thatnarrow channel, scarcely twenty yards across, with its rock-bound walls, is daily washed by thousands and thousands of tons of foaming water, poured into it from the quickly flowing _Vuoksen's_ wide waters. 

As we sat and contemplated one of the grandest efforts of creation, thiswonderful compression of a vast river into a narrow gorge, we realisedhow small is the power of man compared with the mighty strength ofnature. See how the waves, which can be likened only to the waves of thesea in time of storm, as if in fury at their sudden compression, rushover that rock, then curl back, and pause in the air a moment beforetearing on, roaring and hissing with rage, to the whirlpool farther downthe stream. See how they dash from side to side, see how the spray risesin the air for the dainty sunlight to play among its foam. Hear thenoise, like that of thunder, as a great angry white horse dashes downthat storm-washed chasm. This is strength and force and power, this isbeauty and grandeur. This is _Imatra_, one of Finland's gems set in aregal crown. 

Such a scene enters one's very soul; such grand majestic power, suchmight, such force, inspire one with lofty feelings, and make one realisea greater power, a greater strength than our poor world can give. Are wenot all the better for looking on such scenes? These vast glories ofnature, however, should be viewed in peace to enable the spectator toenjoy their greatness and to receive their full influence. Niagara ismore vast--and Niagara is boarded by chimneys and men's villainy. _Imatra_, if humbler, therefore, is almost more impressive. 

Yet the hand of the Philistine is, alas! to be found even in primitiveFinland. As the modern Roman lights his glorious Colosseum with red andpurple fires, so the Finn illumines his wondrous falls with electriclight; spans it by the most modern of modern bridges, and does not evenattempt to hide "the latest improvements" by a coating of pine trunks. Worse still, he writes or carves his name on every bench and on numerousrocks, and erects hideous summer-houses built of wooden plankings andtin, where the knotted pine-tree would have been as useful and twice aspicturesque. 

Finland, pause! If you wish to entice travellers to your shores, tobring strangers among you, keep your beautiful nature unspoiled, or, where change is absolutely necessary, try to imitate nature's ownmethods by using the glorious trees around you, instead of iron and tinshaped by man's hand; pause before you have murdered your naturalloveliness by ghastly modernity, or you will be too late. 

Attend to your sanitation if you will--that requires seeing to badly;provide more water and more towels for travellers who are accustomed towash themselves in private, but don't imagine hideous modern erectionswill attract tourists, they but discourage them. 

_Imatra_ is glorious. _Wallinkoski_, the lower fall, is morepicturesque, perhaps, but both are wonderful; they are worth journeyingfar to see, and holding in recollection for ever. We have nothing likethem anywhere in Britain. The Falls of Foyers are as crumbs in a loaf ofbread when compared with _Imatra_. The fall at Badgastein is as nothingbeside Finland's great cataract; _Hönefos_ in Norway a mere trifle. InEurope _Imatra_ stands alone, with _perhaps_ the exception of itssolitary rival, _Trollhättan_ in Sweden, the exquisite beauty of whichis already marred by the sacrilegious hand of the Philistine. 

Above all, Finland, you should not allow St. Petersburg to light herstreets with your water power; there is enough water in _Imatra_ tolight half Europe--but keep it for yourselves, keep it as a pearl in abeautiful casket. _Imatra_ is one of Finland's grandest possessions. 

It seems impossible that salmon could live in such a cataract, but yetit is a fact that they do. 

Verily, Finland is a paradise for fishermen. A paradise for lines androds, reels and flies, for masters of the piscatorial art; there are tobe found freshwater lakes, and glorious rivers full of fish. Some callit the heaven of anglers, and permission to fish can easily be obtained, and is absurdly inexpensive. 

The best-known spot is _Harraka_, near _Imatra_, because the EnglishFishing Club from St. Petersburg found sport in those wonderful watersuntil they acquired _Varpa Saari_, an island a little farther down theriver. 

The _Saimen Lake_ is about 150 miles long, and the river _Vuoksen_, which forms _Imatra_, joins this fishing water with the famous _Ladoga_, the largest lake in Europe, which again empties itself into the sea bythe _Neva_. This is not a fishing-book, or pages might be written ofhappy hours spent with grayling or trout with a fly, or spinning from aboat with a minnow. 

Kind reader, have you ever been driven in a _Black Maria_? That is, webelieve, the name of the cumbersome carriage which conveys prisonersfrom one police-station to another, or to their prison home? We have;but it was not an English _Black Maria_, and, luckily, we were neveranywhere taken from one police-station to another. Our _Black Maria_ wasthe omnibus that plies between _Imatra_ and _Rättijärvi_, some twentymiles distant, where we travelled in order to catch the steamer whichwas to convey us down the famous _Saimen Canal_ back to our delightful_Ilkeäsaari_ host, in time for the annual _Johanni_ and the wonderful_Kokko_ fires, more famous in Finland to-day than the Baal firesformerly were in Britain. 

It was a beautiful drive; at least we gathered that it would have been abeautiful drive if we had not been shut up in the _Black Maria_. As itwas, we were nearly jolted to death on the hardest of hard wooden seats, and arrived stiff, sore, and tired, with aching backs at _Rättijärvi_. 

A good dinner, however, soon made us forget our miseries, though itreally seemed as if we had come in a prison van, when, the moment our_Black Maria_ drew up at the small inn, a man rushed down the steps, seized upon our poor friend the _Magister_ and began, violentlygesticulating, to explain something about money. 

What on earth had the poor _Magister_ done that he should be jumped onin this way? Were we criminals without our knowledge, and was this ourjailor who stood gesticulating, and scowling, and waving his arms aboutin excitement? We felt we must immediately produce our passports toprove our respectability, and, strong in our knowledge of innocence, were quite prepared to maintain our rights of freedom in spite of theappearance of any limb of Finnish law. 

After all, it proved to be a mere flash in the pan. Explanation was soonvouchsafed. We had driven that morning in a private carriage to_Wallinkoski_ to see the wonderful fall below _Imatra_, and thelandlord, having forgotten to charge that journey in the bill, hadallowed us to leave _Imatra_ without paying for his beautiful equipage;discovering his mistake, however, as soon as our backs were turned, hehad telephoned to the inn that we should send back the money by _BlackMaria_. Though we had so dishonestly departed without paying our justdebts, nothing worse came of the matter. 

We might have been locked up in a Finnish prison!

We paid in coin for the carriage, and by our profound gratitude to the_Magister_ and Grandpapa, who had added so ably to our enjoyment. Ourtime together for the moment was over, and once more my sister and Iwere alone. 

CHAPTER IX

"KOKKO" FIRES

As we stood on the little pier at _Rättijärvi_, waiting for the steamerwhich was to bear us down the beautiful _Saimen Canal_, we were somewhathorrified to find that the only other probable passengers were two men, both of whom were practically unable to keep on their feet. In honour ofthe day they had apparently been having a jollification, and it willever remain a marvel to us that they did not tumble over the side of thepier--which had no railing--into the water beneath. 

It seemed almost impossible, under the circumstances, to believe that inthe rural districts of Finland generally there are no licensed houses, except in a few health resorts, where a medical man is stationed. Alsoat a few railway stations _bona fide_ travellers may be supplied. Thereis a strict law against importing spirits at all into Finland, while ifmore than ten litres are sent from one place to another in the countrythey are "subject to control. " Indeed, no person, unless licensed tosell spirits, is allowed to keep more than six litres in his house forevery grown-up individual living in the establishment; and the samerigorous rules that apply to spirits are enforced against liqueurswhich, when tried at a temperature of 15° Celsius, are found to containmore than twenty-two per cent. Of alcohol. 

The temperance regulations are most stringent, and yet we arereluctantly obliged to own we saw a vast amount of drunkenness in_Suomi_. Small wonder, then, that the moment women became members ofParliament the first thing they did was to legislate for the diminutionof this lack of sobriety. 

The Civic Authorities can, and do, give the whole trade of wine, spirits, and liqueurs as a monopoly for two consecutive years tocompanies who undertake to sell, not for their own gain, but "in theinterests of morality and sobriety;" three-fifths of the profits beingpaid to the town for general purposes of usefulness, and the remainingtwo-fifths to the State. 

As regards beer--in the country the County Councils rule the selling, inthe towns the Civic Authorities. The brewers are, however, allowed tosell beer, provided they do not give more than twenty-five litres to oneperson. 

The Senate or the Governor can, in some cases, grant special licenses, to sell wines and spirits to bathing-places, steamers, etc. , --from allof which careful, not to say stringent, regulations, it may be inferredthat Finland is rigorous as regards the drink question; whereforestrangers feel all the more surprised to meet inebriates so constantly, as we must, unfortunately, admit was the case when we were in Finland. 

The two men rolling about at the end of the pier and, singing lustily, sadly disturbed our peace of mind, for my sister and I were going backto _Ilkeäsaari_ alone, and as they seemed likely to be our onlycompanions, we felt a couple of hours spent in such society would berather more than we cared for. They might be affectionate or abusive, orthey might even commit suicide, they were so deadly drunk. 

Ah! what was that? Emerging from a lock came a bower of greenery ratherthan a steamer. The little ship was literally covered, not only withbranches, but with whole birch-trees, and very pretty she looked as sheglided towards us, decorated for the famous _Juhannus-ilta_ (MidsummerDay). 

Taking hasty farewells of Grandpapa and the _Magister_, whom we were tomeet again a week or two later, we hurried on board, and found to ourjoy that the unsteady Finlanders were not allowed to follow us. With apuff and a whistle the steamer left such undesirable passengers behind, and the last we saw of them was fighting and struggling with oneanother, each man apparently imagining, in his muddled imbecility, thathis own companion had kept him from going on board, whereas in realitythe ticket-collector, now safely journeying with us, was the soleoffender. 

It is a delightful journey down the famous _Saimen Canal_, and there wasa particular charm about it that night, because, as evening advanced, great beacon fires illuminated the scene. 

This _Canal_, which took eleven years to make, is very beautiful. Itpasses through twenty-eight locks, generally with a fall of about ninefeet for each; that is to say, the entire fall is nearly three hundredfeet. The canal is only wide enough for one ship to pass at a time, except at the _crossing_ places; and when steamers pass up or down, allother traffic has to draw into one of these sidings. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful night as we glided over thatwonderful achievement of engineering skill. The locks were only justlarge enough to admit our steamer, and it really seemed as if but a fewinches at either end and at the sides were to spare. 

It was Midsummer Day; the greatest day of the whole year in a Finn'sestimation. Hence the decorations. We passed steamers all gailyfestooned with the sacred birch, as our own little ship, and huge bargesof wood ornamented in similar fashion floating down to the sea. Picturesque little girls, with handkerchiefs tied over their heads, wererunning about on the banks selling wild strawberries. They were dressedin long skirts, which hung to their ankles, and wore no shoes orstockings. 

In spite of the terrific thunderstorm on the previous night, thethermometer had stood all day at about 96° in the shade. As we glidedalong, a lurid black sky looked threatening behind us, while forkedlightning--such forked lightning as we had never seen before--playedgames in the heavens. And yet, at the self-same time, on the other sidewas to be seen one of the most glorious sunsets that can possibly beimagined; one of those marvellous bits of colour which make those whobehold it feel how inadequate are brush and canvas to reproduce suchglorious tones. 

These Finland skies and glorious nights, almost midnight suns, in June, July, and August, are worth the journey. The sunrises and sunsets of theArctic are more beautiful than in the Tropics. 

We were now returning to finish our visit at _Ilkeäsaari_, and, it beingthe Finnish Midsummer Day, we had been compelled to hurry our trip from_Sordavala_ somewhat, so as to be back in time to see the famous pagan_Kokko_ fires. 

As is well known, it was--till comparatively recent times--the customeven in England to light on St. John's Eve _Bael_ or _Baal_ fires, whichwere really a survival of pagan Sun Worship. All over Finland _Bael_fires are still lighted on _Juhannus-ilta_ (Midsummer Eve). 

The people look forward from year to year to these _Kokko_ fires, as_Juhanni_ is the great festival both for rich and poor. All is bustleand confusion on the 23rd of June, preparing for the event. Then comesthe lighting of the _Kokko_, and, later in the evening, the _bond-dans_or ball--no one apparently going to bed that night--which ball isfollowed by a universal holiday. 

As to the origin of the _Kokko_ fires, no one in Finland seems verycertain. The custom must be a very ancient one, though it is continueduniversally in that little-known country to the present day. As a rule, the bonfire is lit on the top of a hill, or in places where there iswater at the water's edge, preferably on a small island, or sometimes ona raft which, when ignited, is floated out over the surface of thelake. 

The 24th of June being about the brightest day in a land where, at thattime of year, it is everlasting daylight, the effect of the brilliantartificial illumination is marred in consequence of the absence of agloomy, weird, and mysteriously indistinct background of night, the skyin those high latitudes being, during the summer nights, never darkerthan it is in England at dawn. Nevertheless, the _Kokko_ are so big thatthey assert themselves, and as we sailed down the canal we must havepassed a dozen or more of those flaming beacons. It is difficult toestimate their size. Wood in Finland is comparatively valueless; tar isliterally made on the premises; consequently old tar-barrels are placedone on the top of another, branches, and even trunks of trees, surmountthe whole, and the erection is some twenty or thirty feet high before itis ignited. Imagine, then, the flames that ascend when once the magicmatch fires the much-betarred heap. 

For hours and hours those _Kokko_ fires burnt. Indeed, it would beconsidered ill luck if they did not smoulder through the whole of thenight. And it is round such festive flames that the peasant folks gatherto dance and sing and play games, and generally celebrate the festivalof the ancient god _Bael_. The large landed proprietors invite theirtenantry to these great ceremonies, and for hours before it is time tolight the fire, boats are arriving laden with guests. 

When we landed about ten o'clock on the private pier at _Ilkeäsaari_, atwhich we had asked our captain to set us ashore, we were warmly met byour former hostess, and told that their _Kokko_ was ready and onlywaiting our arrival to be ignited. So away we all sped to the other sideof the island to see the fun. 

All the members of the family had assembled--some thirty or fortypeople, in fact, for Finland is famous for big families--and tables ofcakes and coffee were spread at a point from which every one could seethe enormous _Kokko_, as high as a haystack, standing on a lonely rockin the water. The boatmen went off and lighted it, having thrownturpentine over the dried branches, and stacked up tar-barrels, so thatit might the more readily catch fire, and in a few moments huge volumesof smoke began to ascend, and the flames danced high into the heavens. Great tongues of fire leapt and sprung on high, only to be reflected inall their glory in the smooth waters below. Peering down an avenue ofpine-trees to the lake beyond, that fire looked very grand--a splendidrelic of ancient heathenism. 

Every one sang as the _Kokko_ burst into flame. The General of thegarrison, the dapper young lieutenant, the dear old grandmother, the menand women students of the party in their pretty white caps, the childrendressed as dear little Swedish peasants--all joined the choruses; whilebehind were the servants and the real peasants themselves. The tenantshad come over the water to enjoy the fun at their master's home in boatsso gaily decorated and garnished with huge boughs of the sacredbirch-tree that the boat itself was almost hidden. Finnish singing isgenerally rather weird chanting, sad and melancholy, but not without astrange fascination, and the way a number of odd people in that hugeassembly could sing together, each taking his or her own part, withoutany previous practice, again showed the marvellous amount of musicinborn in the Finlander. 

It was a beautiful night. The rich shades of the sunset fighting thewarm colours of the flames, the gurgling of the water, and the surgingof the peasants' boats, or the swish of their oars as they rowedto the festival in gay holiday attire, was something to beremembered--something picturesque and almost barbaric. The surroundingswere poetical, the scene weird, the music delightful, and a glowinglustre overspread it all as the ascending flames shed lurid lights onthe faces of the spectators, while the rocks on which we stood reflectedthe warm colours caught by the trunks of the pine-trees, whose topssoared heavenwards as though trying to kiss the fleeting clouds. 

Laughter and merriment rent the air, as youth mingled with age, richeswith poverty, in true happiness, for was it not _Juhannus-ilta_--a nightwhen all must be gay!

Gradually, as the time wore on, the fires burnt low, the lights andreflections became less and less distinct on the water, the shadows ofevening fell, and the dew of night was in the air; then, and not tillthen, did we repair to a huge room adjoining the house, used for thegrandchildren to play in during summer, or for weddings and such likefestivals, and here the family, the guests, the servants, and thepeasants danced. It was like a tenants' ball at a Scotch castle or Irishdomain, with a touch of greater novelty. Finnish dances are strange; ayoung man spies a young woman, he rushes at her, seizes her by thewaist, dances lustily, and then lets her go as if she were a hot potato. But that night there was a hero--a real live hero--the native of aneighbouring village, who had been away in America for seven years, andjust returned rich and prosperous, and full of adventures, to hisfatherland. His advent had been awaited with keen interest by all thevillage maids; rivalry for his favours ran rife. Every girl in the placewas dying to talk to him, to dance with him, and he, in return, toldthem "how beautiful every woman was in America, how they talked, andsang, and danced, and laughed, and how America was enchanting, " untilall the maids grew jealous. 

We slipped off to bed at midnight, tired after our tedious journey, andanxious to read quietly the bundles of letters from folk at home, whichhad been awaiting our return, but the _bond-dans_ went on tillbreakfast-time, for a Finn who cannot dance the _jenka_ all through themidsummer night is not considered worthy of his country. 

The festivals continued all the next day for those who were not toosleepy to enjoy them. 

CHAPTER X

WOMEN AND EDUCATION

Before describing our own life in a haunted castle, with its joys andits fears, we must pause and reflect on two of the most importantfactors in Finnish life--the position of women, and the excellence ofeducation. For it is the present advancement of both that will make afuture for _Suomi_, and even to-day can teach us much. 

In 1890 the population of Finland numbered two and a half millions, which included--

 Females 1, 208, 599 Males 1, 171, 541 _________ Total 2, 380, 140

In 1908 the figures were--

 Females 1, 515, 916 Males 1, 496, 933 _________ Total 3, 012, 849

These figures show that there has been a large preponderance of thefemale sex, and though in the last twenty years this surplus hasdiminished by one half, it may perhaps in some measure account for thewonderful way in which women have pushed themselves to the front andceased to look upon matrimony as the only profession open to the sex. 

The system of public instruction is making rapid progress. The expensesof primary education are divided between the State and the Communes, while those of the higher education generally fall on the State. 

The Finnish University, founded in 1640, is maintained by the latter, and includes four faculties. 

In 1870 the first woman matriculated at the University, three yearslater another followed suit, but until 1885 they were alone, when twoothers joined them. It was very difficult in those days to obtainpermission to enter for the matriculation; as will be seen, there are atpresent a large number of female students, several of whom have takendegrees in medicine, dentistry, arts, law, and science. 

The woman question is now one of great moment in Finland, but the firstbook published on the subject only appeared in May 1894. This _Calendarof Women's Work_ was really a great undertaking, and the statistics andmaterials to complete it were collected by more than a thousand agentsof both sexes, the Senate giving a grant of three thousand marks to payfor the printing expenses. Its object was, by giving careful tables ofemployment, and names and addresses of employers, to enable young womenreadily to find a vocation. 

Beginning by a historic sketch, it showed how Finnish linen was famousas early as 1552, and how taxes were paid by such means at that time. 

It pointed out the present great desire to increase home industries, andstated that out of five hundred and thirty parishes applied to, fourhundred had sent to the Women's Association asking for help in theformation of schools, or loan of patterns and models, implements andtools. 

It noticed how, in 1890, a vast number of women were employed upon theland: 8580 peasants, 2516 farmers, 5631 cottagers, and 76, 857agricultural servants; we must remember Finnish women are physicallystrong and well-fitted for agricultural work. 

It showed how dairy work was being much taken up by women, who tendedthe cows, milked them, made the butter, for which they obtained prizes, and went on to notice how gardening was being developed in the country, and how it might further be undertaken with advantage. 

There are in 1912 fourteen dairying schools, thirty-seven schools forthe care of cattle, and twelve housekeeping and gardening schools--allfor women. 

In fact, one cannot travel through Finland without being struck by theposition of women on every side. It may, of course, arise from the factthat the Finns are poor, and, large families not being uncommon, it isimpossible for the parents to keep their daughters in idleness; and asno country is more democratic than Finland, where there is no court andlittle aristocracy, the daughters of senators and generals take up allkinds of work. Whatever the cause, it is amazing to find the vast numberof employments open to women, and the excellent way in which they fillthese posts. There is no law to prevent women working at anything theychoose. 

Amongst the unmarried women it is more the exception than the rule tofind them idle, and instead of work being looked upon as degrading, itis admired on all sides, especially teaching, which is considered one ofthe finest positions for a man or woman in Finland. And it is scientificteaching, for they learn how to impart knowledge to others, instead ofdoing it in a dilatory and dilettante manner, as so often happenselsewhere. 

We were impressed by the force and the marvellous energy and splendidindependence of the women of _Suomi_, who became independent workerslong before their sisters in Britain. 

All this is particularly interesting with the struggle going on nowaround us, for to our mind it is remarkable that so remote a country, one so little known and so unappreciated, should have thus suddenlyburst forth and hold the most advanced ideas for both men and women. That endless sex question is never discussed. There is no sex questionin Finland, _men and women are practically equals_, and on that basissociety is formed. Sex equality has always been a characteristic of therace, as we find from the ancient _Kalevala_ poem. 

In spite of advanced education, in spite of the emancipation of women(which is erroneously supposed to work otherwise), Finland is noted forits morality, and, indeed, stands among the nations of Europe as one ofthe most virtuous. 

There is no married woman's property act, all property being ownedjointly by husband and wife. This is called the marriage right. 

In the excellent pamphlet printed for the Chicago Exhibition, we findthe following:--

 MARRIAGE

 _Marriageable Age. _--According to the law which is now in force, a girl need be no more than fifteen years of age in order to be marriageable. Very few girls, however, marry at such an early age. Among the peasantry, women, as a rule, marry earlier than they do among the cultivated classes. 

 _The Solemnisation of Marriages. _--According to the law of 1734, which remained valid until 1864, a spinster could not marry without the consent of her father, or, if he were dead, of her mother. Both parents being dead, this duty devolved upon the eldest male member of the family. 

 In the year 1864 (31st October) a law was enacted according to which girls, after their twenty-first year, are free to marry without the consent of either father or mother. For a marriage to be lawful the banns must be read from the pulpit on three several Sundays, and the marriage ceremony must be performed by a clergyman. 

 _Statutes of 1889. _--In the statutes of 1889 the law on antenuptial marriage agreements was altered to the advantage of the wife. By means of antenuptial agreements a woman may now not only retain as her special property whatever she possessed before marriage, and whatever she may have, after marriage, inherited, received as a gift, or as a legacy, but she may also _reserve for herself the right of taking charge of and managing her own property and the income thereof_. 

In 1908, a law was passed enacting that no girl under the age ofseventeen years should marry. How much wiser than in England. 

As soon as the marriage ceremony has been performed, "the husbandbecomes the natural guardian of his wife, " is responsible for her andmanages _their_ property. 

In spite, however, of a woman being under the legal guardianship of herhusband, there is probably no country where women are held in morereverence and respect than in Finland. While in Germany the middleclass _Hausfrau_ takes a back seat, hardly speaking before her lord andmaster, and being in many cases scarcely better than a general servant(of the Jack-of-all-trades and master of none class), doing a littlecooking, seeing to the dusting and cleaning, helping make the beds, washthe children, and everlastingly producing her big basket of_Handarbeit_, the Finnish woman, although just as domesticated, is lessostentatious in her performance of such duties, and, like her sisters inEngland, attends to her household matters in the morning, according to aregulated plan worked out for herself; trains her servants properly, and, having set the clock going for the day, expects the machinery towork. Every decent household should be managed on some such plan, and weall know that the busier the woman the more comfortable, as a rule, shemakes her home; the mere fact of her having an occupation, inspiresthose about her to work. Added to which, the busy woman knows order andmethod are the only means by which satisfactory results can possibly beobtained, and that order and method which she has acquired herself sheis able to teach her less-educated domestics, or anyway inspire themwith it. 

Idle people are always apparently busy; but it is the business ofmuddle, while really busy people always have time for everything, andkeep everything in its place. 

Finnish ladies are thoroughly well educated. They are musical andartistic, beautiful needle-women, manage their homes well, and theyhave read enough to join in any discussion in which they take aninterest. They are, consequently, treated by their husbands as equals, and although until 1907 they had no political rights, women were muchemployed in government services. They were not debarred from becomingmembers of the great societies. For instance, as far back as 1897, amongthe two hundred and twelve Fellows that composed the GeographicalSociety of Finland there were seventy-three women, yet in 1913 our RoyalGeographical Society shrieked at the idea of woman entering theirportals. The Swedish Literary Society, with thirteen hundred members, has eighty-two women on its books. The same with the philanthropicsocieties, music, art, etc. In fact, all doors are open to women. 

Ladies have done much for the cause of temperance, and in allphilanthropic movements they are busy; they have organised schools forthe deaf, dumb, blind, and crippled, and look after night shelters, mothers' unions, ragged unions, rescue homes, working homes forchildren, benevolent societies, etc. 

The pamphlet, speaking of unmarried women, also says--

 _Rights of Unmarried Women enlarged. _--In 1864 (on the 31st of October) _the position of unmarried women_ was improved. According to the law that was then enacted, an unmarried woman--

 1. When she has reached her fifteenth year, may take charge of whatever she may earn. 

 2. When she has reached her twenty-first year she may manage her own property, if she chooses to do so, provided that she informs the court of her intention. 

 3. When she has reached her twenty-fifth year she is of age, and may manage her own property without informing the court thereof. 

 _Rights of Inheritance. _--In the beginning of the Swedish rule our country probably conformed to the old Swedish laws and regulations, according to which women had a right to _inherit property_ only in cases where there were no male heirs. 

 _Legislation of Birger Jarl: Women inherited one-third. _--In the middle of the thirteenth century, Finnish (as well as Swedish) women were awarded the right of inheriting _a third part_ of the property left by their parents, whereas two-thirds accrued to the male heirs. For this improvement our women were indebted to Birger Jarl, the great Swedish legislator and statesman, who bears an honoured name in our history. 

 Many exceptions, however, were made to this rule. Where the father was a landowner, for instance, the principal estate always descended to the son, whereas the daughter had to be content with some smaller estate of less value, or with part of the personal property. 

 _Legislation of 1734: Daughters and Sons of Town People, etc. , inherit Equal Shares. _--Such was the state of things for several centuries, till it was at last changed somewhat for the better when the law of 1734 came into force. This law decreed that the sons and daughters of commoners living in towns, and those of the clergy, were to inherit _equal shares_. The daughters of the nobility and of all landowners in the country, however, remained in the same position as before. 

 _Law now in force: Daughters and Sons inherit Equal Shares. _--This lasted nearly one and a half centuries, until _in all classes of society_ the daughters received the right of inheriting _equal shares_ with the sons, which they did, according to a law enacted on 27th June 1878. _Hence Finnish women now possess the same rights of inheritance as men. _ The latter, however, still in some cases have the advantage over women; _e. G. _ where there is landed property to be inherited and the principal estate cannot be conveniently divided, then the brother or male heir is entitled to purchase the sister's part. The benefit thus accruing to the son injures the position of the daughter, in case the brother is a spendthrift or unable to pay the sum which represents her share of the paternal estate. Among the peasantry it is still customary to buy off the daughter with a small sum of money, regardless of what the true value of the estate may be, or with part of the personality, so that the male heir may have the whole of the estate. 

Divorce is somewhat uncommon in Finland. Indeed, next to Belgium, thatcountry shows the smallest number of divorced marriages; still divorcemay be granted on the following grounds:--

 On the plea of adultery. It is not, however, enough for the guilty party to acknowledge his or her guilt, which must be fully proved, as well as the time when, the place where, and the person with whom, it was committed. 

 If either husband or wife have, after the betrothal but before the marriage, committed adultery with some one else, and this is made known after marriage, the innocent party may claim a divorce, if he or she demand it. 

 The law is in this respect severer with women than with men; for if a husband be informed of his wife having been seduced by some one else before her betrothal with him, he has the right to claim divorce from her, but the wife has not the same right _vice versâ_. 

 On the plea of deliberate desertion or prolonged absence. If either husband or wife absent himself or herself from home and do not return within a year after, the other party having inserted in the official newspapers of the country an advertisement calling on him or her to return, the one who remained at home has the right to sue for a divorce. 

Far more marriages are marred by incompatibility of temper than byactual immorality, and, surely, if two people find they have made amistake, and are irritants instead of sedatives to one another, theyshould not be left to champ and fret like horses at too severe a bit, for all their long sad lives--to mar one another's happiness, to worrytheir children, and annoy their friends. Our hideously cruel separationorders merely encourage immorality. Finland shows us an excellentexample. The very fact of being able to get free makes folk lessinclined to struggle at their chains. If life is intolerable to Mrs. Jones in Finland, away she goes by herself; at the end of a year Mr. Jones advertises three times in the paper for his wife or forinformation that will lead to his knowing her whereabouts; no oneresponds, and Mr. Jones can sue for and obtain a divorce without any ofthose scandalous details appearing in the press which are a disgrace toEnglish journalism. 

 If either husband or wife be sentenced to imprisonment for life. 

 Besides these cases, which are set forth in the law as sufficient causes for divorce, there are other circumstances in consequence of which a marriage may be dissolved, --but only by means of direct application to the Emperor and Grand Duke of Finland, who may grant it as a favour. A divorced wife is considered as a widow; she has no more duties toward her husband, and can dispose of her person as well as of her property. A divorced couple may peaceably settle all about the children; but if they cannot do this, the innocent parent is entitled to take charge of them. Both parents must contribute means for their maintenance and education. 

Since 1906, women in Finland have had exactly the same political rightsas men. Practically every man and woman over twenty-four years of agemay not only vote for Parliament, but is also eligible as a member. Atthe election of 1907, nineteen women members were returned; this numberhas fluctuated, however, and in 1912 there are but fourteen womenmembers. 

They also have municipal rights. Unmarried women, widows, and divorcedwomen, provided they submitted to the necessary conditions, were giventhe municipal vote in 1873. Women are members of School Boards, Poor LawGuardians, and are eligible as members of several other municipal andparochial Boards; but they may not be chosen for Town Councils or thecorresponding councils in rural parishes. In 1908 the Diet passed a newlaw concerning the municipal vote, giving equal rights to men and women, but that law being very Radical had--four years later--not received thesanction of the sovereign. 

In the matter of education Finland is most advanced; and the fees all upthe scale from folk-schools to the University itself are extremely low. 

The folk-schools in 1910 were attended by 188, 479 children, which was6. 11 per cent. Of the population. The same year there were 2677 femaleteachers and 2222 male teachers in the folk-schools. Every countryCommune has at least one permanent folk-school, but most have several. There are besides these, ambulatory schools, where teachers visit remotevillages and hold classes, in order that children may not suffer bybeing a long distance from a folk-school. 

Besides the folk-schools there are secondary schools, most of themleading up to the University. These numbered, in 1912, one hundred andtwenty-seven. Seventy-four of them are mixed schools, and twenty-sevenfor boys only, the other twenty-six being for girls. 

Many preparatory schools exist under private auspices, over which thereis no State inspection. 

The better-class children go to the secondary schools, though they areopen to all classes, the fees being only thirty-two shillings per annum, with a reduction for brothers or sisters, and 20 per cent. Of the wholenumber of pupils are received free of charge. In the private schools theannual fee varies, but rarely rises above ten pounds. 

In Helsingfors the salaries for teachers in folk-schools are differentfor men and women, the latter receiving from 2000 to 3000 marks a year, and the men from 2400 to nearly 4000 marks per annum. 

In the country Communes, however, salaries are now the same for men andwomen; but a teacher with a family dependent on him receives a bonus inaddition to the salary, and this applies to men and women equally. 

Could anything be better? Truly, a eugenic doctrine in the best sense. Could we in England not learn one of our many needed lessons ineducation from Finland on this point? All are entitled to a pensionafter thirty years' service. 

Beyond the folk-schools are practical continuation classes forneedlework, cooking, weaving, household work, and book-keeping. 

And then, again, there are People's Colleges for both sexes aged abouteighteen, for the advancement of culture and knowledge, and to kindlenoble impulses. 

One of these People's Colleges was established by a woman for women, andhas now obtained a grant from the public funds. 

Besides all the foregoing there are normal institutes or seminaries forfolk-school teachers of both sexes; six of these seminaries are forFinnish folk-school teaching, and two for Swedish ones. 

The instruction is free, candidates must be eighteen years of age, andthe subjects are:--Biblical history and the Bible, Christianity andmoral philosophy, popular psychology, pedagogics and the science ofteaching, school-keeping, the mother tongue and the reading of suitableworks in it, mathematics, geography, history, the statistics of Finland, natural history, calligraphy, writing of short essays, drawing andmodelling, singing and instrumental music, elementary anatomy, physiology, and the care of small children according to the laws ofhygiene. To all this long list there are added for female students, instruction in needlework and weaving, housekeeping, and gardening; andfor the male, _slöjd_, gardening, and fieldwork. 

There are also State high schools for girls doing excellent work. 

THE AMOUNT OF SALARIES AT THE STATE HIGHSCHOOLS FOR GIRLS. 

 +-------------------------------+---------+------------+-----------+ | | No. Of | Salary-- | Salary | | | Lessons | Marks | increased | | | a Week | (Finnish | after | | | | currency). | fifteen | | | | | years. | +-------------------------------+---------+------------+-----------+ | Lady Principal (lodgings free | | | | | of charge) | 14 | 2000 | 3200 | | Teachers (female) | 20 | 1800 | 3000 | | Assistant Teachers (female)-- | | | | | Drawing and Calligraphy | 10 | 1000 | 1600 | | Singing | 7 | 700 | 980 | | Gymnastics | 15 | 1500 | 2400 | | "Kollega" (male or female) | | | | | Senior | 22 | 3800 | 6200 | | "Kollega" (male or female) | | | | | Junior | 22 | 3600 | 6000 | +-------------------------------+---------+------------+-----------+

In _Helsingfors_ and _Wiborg_, where the living is more expensive thanin other Finnish towns, the principals and the lady teachers (but notthe "kollegas") are in receipt of an addition to their salaries. Thusin _Helsingfors_ a lady principal receives from the beginning 2800marks, and after fifteen years' service, 4000. 

Although this does not sound high remuneration, it must be rememberedthat salaries and expenses are proportionately low in _Suomi_. 

Every woman entering the University must obtain permission from theChancellor. He always grants it now, though formerly he often refused. There are, in 1912, 730 women out of a total of 3030 students--that is, 24 per cent. 

There is no general annual fee at the University; at matriculation everystudent pays thirty-six shillings, and there is a small extra charge forthe use of the laboratories; and, of course, students needing specialinstruction in any particular subject pay their professor a separatefee, about a pound per annum. In addition there are small fees for theexaminations. 

Men and women pay exactly the same, and enter for the same examinations, working side by side. The first woman to take a degree at the University(_bacca laureate_) was _Fröken Emma Irene Aström_ in 1873, when she wasappointed professor (_lector_) at one of the seminaries for theeducation of folk-school teachers. 

In 1884 the Finnish Women's Association was formed, having obtainedpermission from the State for their name. Their object is to work forthe elevation of their sex, intellectually and morally, and to betterwomen's social and economical position. 

Thirty years have seen the formation of many such societies; perhaps thegreatest of them is an association called "Martha, " similar to ourEnglish Mothers' Union. Its purpose is to approach the different classesand to heighten the standard of life among the poor by developing thewomen's ability in housekeeping and educating their children. It isspread all over the country, and has more than a hundred and fiftyaffiliated associations. 

As we have already noticed, women follow many occupations which in theBritish islands are regarded as entirely men's employments--bricklaying, carpentry, paper-hanging, slaughtering, ship-loading, were all to befound in the returns, when I was in the country, under _women's work_. In public offices they were constantly employed long before women inBritain were recognised as capable of doing clerical work on a largescale; and even now, while our banks are staffed entirely by men, womenin Finland are largely employed as clerks in banks as well as ininsurance offices. They monopolise the telephone, and are in greatrequest as compositors. 

But turning to the more domestic duties of women; the Finns are asthorough in these as in other branches of education. It was at one timerather a fashion for the young ladies of Finland to go over to Swedenand enter what is called a _Hushållskola_, the literal translation ofwhich is a "household school. " They are taught cooking, laundry-work, weaving, dressmaking, house-maid's work, everything, in fact, that awoman could possibly want to know if she were left without anyservants, or even on a desert island. They are practically instructedhow to garden, they are sent marketing, they are taught to fish, and, having landed their prey, how to clean and cook it. In fact, they arefitted to be maids-of-all-work, skilled labourers and sportsmen, at oneand the same time. 

The full course occupies about eighteen months, and met with suchsuccess in Sweden that Finlanders have now organised several_Hushållskola_ in Finland itself. 

In 1799 one _Wibeleins_ started a sort of technical education scheme. Heprinted books to further the weaving trade, gave prizes for spun thread, etc. , to encourage the old trade then dying away--for women in the timeof _Kalevala_ wove, embroidered, spun, and worked in silver and bronze, at least so say the bards. Indeed, in 1529, _Åbo_ linen was so famousthat it was always used by the King of Sweden, therefore it is notsurprising that weaving is still quite a pastime among Finnish ladies, and every cottager knows how to ply her shuttle. Where it has falleninto disuse women go about the country to teach and revive the decayingindustry. 

It is very sad when old trades disappear in rural districts, for nothingcan take their place. No modern factories are started near at hand toemploy the folk, and the result is they give up their old occupationsand too often do not take to new instead. For instance, the once famouslace of _Raumo_, formerly sent in large quantities to Sweden and Russia(the thread came from England), was almost a forgotten art; but as withus, care has been taken to restore these old local industries, and_Raumo_ lace-making is now in a most flourishing state. 

The many employments open to women do not make the more fortunate forgetthose in trouble. Nursing the sick is a favourite profession in Finland, the emolument varying from two to six hundred marks per annum, inaddition to board, etc. 

Massage is a very old institution, so ancient that every village sincethe olden times has had at least one rubbing woman, as they call her. Inthe country they are generally given food in payment, but in towns fromtwenty-five penni to a mark for the time occupied. So many women domassage that really every one seems to know something about it, and onealmost feels that massage must have originated in _Suomi_. It iscertainly a great feature of Finnish life; and in addition to thesemassage women, who work for next to nothing, and who are merely peasantwomen, there are now everywhere in Finland highly trained masseuses, or, as they prefer to be called, "sick-gymnasts. "

The University maintains courses, lasting for three years, for thetraining of such "sick-gymnasts, " and the pupils are very often ladiesfrom the best families. A qualified "sick-gymnast" often gets aremunerative practice, and may make an annual income of 10, 000 marks ormore. 

The physical development of women is given a high place in the schoolcurriculum in Finland, as was instanced in the Olympic games atStockholm in 1912, when a group of Finnish girls proved by theirsuppleness of body and gymnastic proficiency that the traditions ofSouthern Greece are ably maintained to-day in Finland in the North. 

One must not leave the subject of women in _Suomi_ without touching upontheir achievements in literature and the sister arts. 

The earliest woman writer was _Sarah Wacklin_ (1790-1846), who has lefta valuable record of Finnish life in the first years of the nineteenthcentury. Her successors took up the question of the rights of women, andtheir emancipation; and the works of _Mrs. Fredrika Runeberg_(1807-1879) and _Miss Adelaide Ehrnroth_ both set forth the arguments ofthe cause most strongly, not only in articles and pamphlets, but innovels of a high standard. 

Since then many women have entered their names on the roll of thecountry's literature, and, strangely enough, the two girls I chaperonedthrough Finland--for, of course, being married I could act as achaperone--were so inspired by the work of writing and its manifoldinterests, that both of them took to the pen later, and one is knownto-day as _Paul Waineman_, and the other as _Baroness Léonie Aminoff_. 

When we went to _Kuopio_ we hoped to meet _Minna Canth_, oneof the first Finnish writers in the country, whose powers as a dramatistwe had learnt at _Sordavala_. We inquired where she lived, and foundthat she had a drapery store. 

Every one in Finland works in some way, and, all work being consideredhonourable, the shopkeeper is equal to the noble. 

_Minna Canth's_ husband died some years ago, and being left with afamily, she started this store, and certainly, when one realised thatshe was a woman with children to look after, that she wrote much--whichwe know takes time--it is perfectly wonderful how she could find energyand leisure to look after her shop. Yet it was so, and the business wasin a most flourishing condition. 

Finnish lady artists for the first time received international prizesand medals at the great World's Exhibition in Paris in the year 1889. 

Of the achievements of Finland's women artists during the last twentyyears I must not write in detail, for Finland has forged ahead in art asin other matters. At the time of my first visit, few Finnish women haddevoted themselves to sculpture, and only one--_Miss Sigrid afForselles_--had accomplished really good work. But to-day she no longerstands alone. 

Already we see the first generation that benefited by the recognition ofthe power of women enjoying the prime of early manhood and womanhood;and it is certain that in the enormous upheaval in the old order ofthings that is going on all over the world, _Suomi_ will hold her own inthe forefront of education, for the learning of the mother must prove avaluable asset in moulding the characters of the citizens of thefuture. 

CHAPTER XI

A HAUNTED CASTLE

The bells rang! It was four A. M. When the ship _Concordia_, which hadbeen our home for thirty-six hours, arrived at _Nyslott_, one of thesmall towns which are sparsely scattered over Finland. 

_Nyslott_ is famous for two things: its very modern "bath cure"accompanied by a "kasino"--of which French watering-places need have nojealousy--and, by way of extreme from such modernity, its otherattraction is an old ruined castle, built originally in 1475. The castleis the most perfect left in Finland, and its position is certainly themost picturesque, for it stands quite alone on an island of rock, roundwhich the current forms endless whirlpools. It is built with sharpbuttresses, and once had five towers, of which, alas, only three remain, but those three are very perfect. 

What stories that castle could tell of wars and sieges, of Russian andSwedish possessors, of Catholic and Lutheran sway, and of cruelty toohorrible to dwell upon, although one cannot help realising itspossibilities after entering the little dark cell in which two men werebuilt up to live together in darkness and in hunger till death endedtheir sufferings. 

The Roman Catholic Chapel still remains; windowless, save for a smallhole over the stone altar, which certainly suggests artificial lighthaving been thrown from behind on some sacred relic or picture--atheatrical effect not unknown to that faith. Its uneven stone floor, andits niches for the sacramental cup, all remain in weird darkness toremind one of ages long gone by. In turn the Castle has been Catholic, Lutheran, and Greek--so three persuasions have had their sway, and eachhas left its mark. 

Our thoughtful friend, Grandpapa, whom we had left a fortnight before at_Rättijärvi_, was waiting for us at _Nyslott_, or rather, a moment afterthe ship stopped at the quayside in the early dawn of morning, hearrived, accompanied by a man in a boat, one of those regular Finnishboats pointed at each end known as a _kuiru_. 

"Where are we to live?" we called, over the side. 

"In the Castle, as you wished, " was the reply; and overjoyed at theprospect of anything so romantic, we quickly transferred ourselves andour baggage into the boat below. 

"I'm very anxious about this arrangement, " said our youthful old friend. "When I arrived a fortnight ago, and found there was not a room to behad in the town, I was in despair; after wandering from house to house, again I beseeched the little hotel to take me in; but even their sofaswere occupied. However, determining not to leave _Nyslott_ till I hadseen the famous castle, I got a boat and rowed across. _Veni, vidi, vici_--for I persuaded the watchman to put me up for the night, andthere I am still. When, yesterday, I could find no habitation for you, Ireluctantly telegraphed that the town was full and I was only put up bythe _Vahtimestari_ of the Castle. Imagine my horror when I got yourreply--'_Arrive_ 4 A. M. , _arrange stay Castle_. '"

"Were you so very much horrified?" we laughed. "We thought it would besuch fun, and so delightfully romantic. "

"It was no fun to me. I felt utterly taken aback, and went off toconsult an artist friend, who was painting the queer old place. 

"'Nonsense, my dear fellow, ' he said, 'you can't lodge ladies in thisbarrack. It's all very well for two watchmen, or for you, if you like, to rough it--but for women--nonsense, it is impossible. '

"'But, ' I remarked, 'they are very enterprising, and one of them, who iswriting a book, loves queer corners, odd experiences, and native life. '

"'I daresay, ' replied he, 'but this Castle, I repeat, is impossible, especially for Englishwomen, who are all accustomed to much luxury. '

"Back into the town I went again to try for rooms, but without success. What was to be done? You were on the way, time was growing short, and Ihad arranged nothing. So once more to my watchman I returned and toldhim my awful dilemma, and the depths of my despair. He so thoroughlyentered into the spirit of the thing, that he promised to do the best hecould, and in an hour's time he had arranged for extra towels and a fewnecessaries to be sent over from the town. "

"Delightful!" we exclaimed; "what a dear man! It is like a romance in astory book. "

"But my story is not finished, " Grandpapa replied, with a rueful face;"we had set to work to sweep, and brush, and clean with a will, in orderto make the room more worthy of its occupants, when the _Vahtimestari_suddenly said--

"'I'm afraid, after all, you will have to go and get permission from theMayor, or I may get into trouble for allowing ladies to sleep in thisruined Castle. '"

Here was an adventure. Our hearts quailed a little as we waitedbreathlessly for the finish of the story. 

"I got into the boat, " went on our friend, "pulled on shore, and set offto the Mayor, in order to obtain permission for you to sleep there. Atfirst he sternly refused. 

"'Ridiculous!' he said, 'bats and owls, goblins and ghosts! that is nota fit home for ladies--ridiculous, and quite impossible. '

"I explained and argued, told him how enterprising you were, and howwell versed in travel, and at last he gave in, saying, 'Well, the oldCastle has withstood many sieges, and it is hard it must give in withoutpowder or shot to two Englishwomen. '

"Thus his reluctant permission was granted, and away I came triumphant. You are to have the watchmen's room, they the kitchen, and I am tosleep in the Lutheran Church, which chances to have a roof. "

We were delighted, and at once started for our haunted Castle. We rowedaway to our island home, and, when we appreciated the difficulty ofsteering through the fast-running whirlpool, to the only gate with itsfine portcullis, we realised we were indeed on adventure bent. 

It was barely dawn, and as we swept over the seething waters, and stoodunder the ancient archway, we felt like Mary Queen of Scots before thegates of Fotheringay. 

We were indeed triumphantly triumphant. Far from the whistle of a train, right in the interior of Finland, standing beneath the portals of afamous castle virtually ruined and uninhabited--we felt at home. 

The streaks of early morning sunlight lent enchantment to the romanticsurroundings, as we wandered along queer passages, where the wallsvaried from five to fifteen feet thick, peeped into cellars anddungeons, and bending our heads under Norman arches, at last entered thefirst courtyard. We saw mysterious winding staircases, generally spiral, leading up and down into deep dark mystery. Certainly so far the ruinsdid not look as though they would protect any one from wind and rain, and we passed on, through walls that seemed impregnable, to ruinedchambers, utterly roofless, in and out of which pigeons were flyinghappily at their sweet will. 

The second courtyard was gravelled; but round its sides tangled beds ofsyringa in full flower, red and black currants nearly ripe, pretty wildroses and lilac almost looked homely, while white and yellow margueritesshadowed dear little wild strawberries, and a general air of naturalnessprevailed. We had reached the very centre of our enchanted castle! Howoften had this courtyard been the scene of revelry, of tournaments andjoustings, at which lovely woman had smiled and distributed her favoursfrom the surrounding battlements. 

"There is your room, " exclaimed Grandpapa at last, pointing to a modernlittle bit of building erected for the custodian's use, in which, sureenough, was a real glass window. 

Up the modern steps we mounted, to find a nice big room, poorlyfurnished, 'tis true, with one bed and a garden seat, two wooden chairsand a long wooden school bench, a table on which stood a brownearthenware bowl, and a large glass water carafe, that glass bottlewhich had haunted us since we set foot in Finland. The bench was to doduty for washstand and the impedimenta thereto. The wooden floor wasdelightfully scrubbed, and what mattered the simplicity when all was sodelightfully clean!

Lo and behold, a bouquet of flowers stood in a tumbler on the table, thevotive offering of the Finnish custodian himself; a charming welcome tohis English visitors. 

Out of this large bare chamber led a dear little kitchen, and fartheralong a passage and up some stairs we came to the old church--capableof seating a couple of hundred persons, although it did not reallypossess a single seat--which was to serve as Grandpapa's bedroom. Churches invariably do service for sleepers even to-day in Iceland, where hotels are practically non-existent, except in two or threeinstances, and even habitations are few and far between. [C]

So this was to be for a brief space our home; a real, wild, weird, romantic home, seated on its rocky island away from the world, away fromevery sign of life save pigeons or bats; full of grim spirits--iftradition were to be believed--and nightly walked by strange women andblood-stained men--for stories there are in plenty concerning the greatCastle of _Olavin Linna_ as the Finns call it, at _Savonlinna_, theFinnish name for _Nyslott_. 

We wandered everywhere: we peered into all the mysteries. Verily a ruin. Mounting to an upper floor by the solid stone steps outside, we foundourselves in another chamber, the roof of which was supported byrafters, through the thick walls of which a long dark passage led usround two sides of the courtyard, passing a small tower by the way fromwhich we could see yet another court, whose wide grass-grown rampartsoverhung the rapidly-flowing current of the lake. 

Here was the hall of the knights, a long and dark chamber--so dark, infact, that we wondered how any one had ever been able to see clearly init. On all sides were rooms and pitch-black dungeons, for at the timethe Castle was built (1475) the powers-that-were thought nothing ofshutting people up in dark little holes, where they left them to die, and the _Olavin Linna_ seems to have been particularly rich in suchchoice chambers. From where we stood, a few steps up a winding staircaseled us to a big tower containing a large round room, called the ladies'drawing-room. The dames of that period certainly had a glorious view allround for miles and miles, although they were far removed from the lifegoing on below. From this point of vantage we saw how the Castleliterally covered the whole of the rock, and occupied a most commandingposition where three lakes met. As we wandered down again, we chancedinto a queer sort of chamber, wherein half a dozen weird stragglingtrees struggled to exist. It was almost dark; the storms of winter couldrustle through those blank windows, and the trees were white, and gray, and sickly--more like phantoms than real trees--so queer and witheredand pale and anæmic were their leaves, and yet they stood eight or tenfeet high, showing they had boldly struggled for life. 

After having thus gained a general idea, snatched a sort of bird's-eyeview of this strange Castle, we returned to our room and investigatedits capabilities. 

There was _one_ small bed, already honourably mentioned, and a gardenseat--one of those well-known benches made of thin wooden laths, with arounded uncomfortable seat and back. 

"Could we manage with such meagre accommodation?" Grandpapa askedtimorously, "or must another bed be hired; that is to say, if anotherbed can be hired, or bought, in a town already overcrowded. "

We looked at our friend's troubled face, and, feeling we had alreadycaused him a sad amount of inconvenience, valiantly replied, "We willmanage. " And manage we did. 

To the "elderly scribe" was allotted the bed, a very finely carvedwooden erection; but let me at once own that, although I had slept onhay in a tent in other lands, passed a night on a dining-room table, several on the floor, and in deck-chairs, I never slept in anythingquite so "knobby" as that extraordinary bed. A lump here, and a lumpthere, always seemed to select the most inconvenient part of one's frameto stick in, and sometimes getting on a nerve quite numbed the spot. After the first night I asked the _Vahtimestari_ to turn and knead themattress, which he cheerfully promised to do, and no doubt did. But allhis turning and pounding was perfectly useless, so after a secondrestless night, which left me beautifully black and blue from head tofoot, I determined to investigate the mysteries of that bed for myself. 

When I removed the under-sheet a bewildering problem was solved. On thetop of the mattress lay an enormous coat, lined throughout with blacksheepskin. Its double-rolled collar had made a huge ridge down themiddle of my back, across which a thick waist-belt had notunsuccessfully tried to form a bridge--the sleeves could only beaccounted mountains, while innumerable buttons had left their impress onevery inch of my body! I felt very sorry for my flesh that morning!

Four nights passed on a hard garden seat does not sound entrancing;nevertheless, on such a non-captivating couch, my sister, helped by rugsand a pillow, slept the sleep of the just, and of youth. 

Her "plank bed" may have been--nay, certainly must have been--hard, andthe Castle certainly was primitive, but everything, bedding included, was spotlessly clean, and, after all, cleanliness and a quiet consciencecompensate for much--anyhow she slept; that is a fact for which I canvouch. 

During the first night of our stay at _Nyslott_ one of us lay anddreamed a semi-waking dream, in which the old rock--Nature'sfortress--appeared in the lake bleak, bare, grim, and lonely until 1475, when the first stones of _Olavin Linna_ were laid. After that the scenesuddenly shifted, and the bloody battles of 1743, when _Nyslott_ wastaken by the Russians, were again fought for the benefit of a newspectator, only, as it seemed, for the Castle to be given back fouryears later to Finland! A very curious reminiscence to occur to anyperson's mind between "sleeping and waking. " Later on, that over-tiredtraveller mused dreamily on the three periods of history, picturedscenes during the two hundred and sixty-eight years of Swedishsovereignty, the half century under Russian sway, and the more modernhappenings under Finnish rule, its troubles practically ended in 1871, from which date they have been but a souvenir in the history of Europe. 

_Olavin Linna_ was the spot around which three different races met andstruggled; the Russians, the Finns, and the Swedes. The Russians withtheir superior numbers, their riches, and their sharpness, pushed theFinns towards the North and took their country, the now northern half ofRussia in Europe. The Swedes came and conquered the Slavs; founded adynasty and called their State Russia (_i. E. _ Sweden, _Ruotsi_ being theFinnish name for Sweden to this day). The Swedes also conquered theremaining part of ancient Finland, and introduced Christianity, and thestrong and freedom-loving Scandinavian law. 

The struggle now remained between the Scandinavians and theSlavs--between a democratic and courageous race and an oligarchic anddiplomatic one. Then our Castle--our own--for had we not conqueredit?--was built on the frontier to resist the inroads of the Slavs. Butagain the Russians were triumphant. Sweden succumbed, while Russia tookthe remainder of ancient Finland. Since then Russia has become a greatpower. 

Alexander I. Granted to that part of Finland, imbued with Scandinavianlaw, the privilege of considering itself a nation, and continuing itsformer laws and government. Under this state of things the country grewprosperous. It arose and shook itself from its dormant existence of theprevious six hundred years, collected its own traditions, and workedhard for education, so that it might continue a distinct race. 

Then was built the large modern red brick schoolhouse at _Savonlinna_--afortress of learning to take the place of the old Castle, and to teachthe people that "the pen is indeed mightier than the sword. "

One of us twain dreamed again! Saw the Castle built by _Erik Tott_, amember of one of the greatest Finnish-Swedish families, and read theinscription--

 _Anno Domini 1475 leth iag Erik Axelsson Ridder i Lagnö, bygia thette Slåt, Gud till loff, Christum, helga Christna tro till styrkielse, och thå var hustra min Elin Götstaffsdotter i Lagmansöö. _

Translation--

 Anno Domini 1475 let Erik, son of Axel Knight of Lagnö, build this Castle to the Glory of God, to strengthen the Holy Christian Faith in Christ: and then was my wife's name Elin, daughter of Götstaff[D] in Lagmansöö. 

That weary traveller saw the indignation at its erection at _Nyslott_, just within the Russian limits of the frontier, saw the five splendidtowers finished, of which three now remain, and the _Bastion Dick_properly rebuilt. 

And then all grew suddenly dark, and, in a deeper sleep, that dreamergroped along the gloomy subterranean passage, said to run from the clocktower to the town, seemed to hear the rushing water, a hundred andtwenty feet deep at this point, tearing like a cataract overhead, peeredinto those many strange dark chambers, and hearkened, appalled, to thepiercing shrieks of those two wretched men bricked up together inyonder small chamber, in darkness till death brought relief. 

What a life, and what a death! Four stone walls round a room about sixfeet by ten--with an earthen floor and a low ceiling--no window forlight, no stove for warmth in that bitterly cold land. 

Half waking from troubled slumber the weary traveller shivered to thinkof the horror that had been enacted so close to her elaborately carvedbedstead and its lumpy mattress. 

How hot it still was! The day had been almost tropical, but it is amerciful provision of Providence that all days, even one beginning atfour A. M. , must end at last, and as I, the nineteenth century traveller, the "elderly scribe, " aroused myself sufficiently to shake off thoseterrible visions of a cruel past, I realised it was getting on formidnight. I heard our friend going to rest in his chapel-chamber, and, turning over, tried to go to sleep. How quiet everything was! Except forthe gnawing of the rats or mice under the floor--no unusual sound in anold castle, of course--and so unconsciousness came--I slept--yes, Islept--till----

Ah! what was that! Was it? yes, it was--some one calling; and yet itcould not be. 

The custodians had both retired to their kitchen to rest I knew--for hadI not heard them trudging upstairs to seek their improvised couches longbefore?--and yet, most certainly, a loud strange call had broken thesilence of night. Was it, really uttered by a human being, or could itbe--no, no, of course not. A spirit? Ridiculous! The very idea waspreposterous, and, lying down again, I argued how absurd were suchfears, how I had been simply dreaming; over-fatigued after a long day'stravel--how, in fact, my mind was disorganised, and the best thing to dowas to fall asleep at once. At that moment a tremendous peal of thunderbroke overhead, while, simultaneously, the whole room was flooded withlight. It played over the walls, it danced over the floor, and then aclap more tremendous than the first seemed to shake the very building. Yet through the roll of heaven's artillery I heard that hideous weirdcry distinctly audible. 

Starting up again in response, I began to think sleeping in a hauntedcastle was not such fun after all; that there _must be_ something veryuncanny about _Nyslott_, more especially when a strange door creaked onits hinges, that sort of rasping squeak one associates with the openingof a door generally kept firmly closed--and muffled feet pattered overthe stairs. 

Nearer came the sound, nearer, yet nearer. My heart jumped into mymouth, it ceased almost to beat as the strange footsteps stopped on thevery threshold of our room. "Oh!" I gasped, thinking that in anothermoment spirit fingers would turn the handle, and a ghostly figure enterthe room. What form would it take? Would the phantom be man orwoman--tall or short--an assassin, murderer, or victim? Yes, the stepshad ceased at our very door, and the next moment they would be upon us. 

But after that brief pause the muffled patter passed on, it became moreand more indistinct, and again all was still. 

What a relief! it was perhaps nothing after all--imagination, hallucination probably, but nothing real--nothing any way to fear. 

Stay though! The voice, a voice, another voice unheard before, spoke inmurmured accents, and then a deeper bass than that which had previouslycalled shouted again and again in muffled reply. 

This was too horrible!

It must be a ghost; nay, not even a single ghost but two, and whatchance had one poor living woman and a sleeping girl against such oddsfrom the spirit land?

The whole thing, even at _Nyslott_, seemed too terribly impossible; so Ipinched myself to make sure I was awake, only to hear the awfulfootsteps--duplicated--_coming back_! By this time my sister was awake, and lazily asking "What is the matter?"

"H-st-st, " I answered under my breath. 

Thud, thud--the mysterious footsteps drew nearer and nearer--

They were almost again at our door, when absolutely petrified by fear, and clammy by reason of the awful _Nyslott_ stories we had been told, wetwain sat up straight feeling creepy and cold all over. 

The footsteps came on apace, and we held our breath, thinking our timehad come; but was it? could it be? Yes, yes, thank heaven it was! Werecognised the voice of _our own custodian talking softly to hiscomrade_. 

It was no ghost after all! only the under _Vahtimestari_ who, havingspent the evening on shore, shouted as usual to be admitted. It was hisstrange voice echoing through those empty corridors and vaultedchambers that had waked us from our first sleep. His cries not beingheard by reason of thunder roaring and rolling, he had called and calledagain with increasing energy till admitted. 

What an unromantic ending to a most weird story, with every surroundingat hand, every element ready except the actual ghost himself! A happyending. Stay, now it is over, I almost wish the ending had been lesshappy and more romantic. 

Woman is seldom satisfied, and man never! One woman, however, I am notashamed to say, was never in all her previous life so frightened asduring that midnight hour at _Nyslott_. 

Happy days followed after this terrifying episode. We explored darkchambers with a candle and matches, we cooked coffee on the stove forbreakfast, and boiled eggs in an enormous tea-kettle, aided in ourpleasant toil by two smiling much-interested watchmen, and afterwardsate our meal among tangled shrubs in a courtyard shaded from the sun'sheat by a linden tree. 

We idled generally; wrote letters, scribbled up our diaries, chatted ormade sketches in the _Bastion Dick_ with its eight windows, each ofwhich are at the narrow end of a wall measuring fifteen feet thick, thusforming the deep recesses of a large octagonal chamber with long benchesstretching down the side of each of the fifteen feet walls. A wondrousand remarkable hall, always cool even on a hot day with its windowlesslook-outs over that beautiful lake. 

Up the centre of this huge hall was a column of solid masonry comingfrom the chamber below, and rising some thirty feet to support thearched roof. 

We enjoyed it all; but, be it owned, the life was very primitive, and tomany people would have seemed ghastly. 

For dinner (which is always between two and four in Finland), we wereobliged to cross to the _Kasino_ or _Societetzhuset_ (Hotel), ourcommissariat and _chef de cuisine_ not rising to the requirements ofsuch a meal. 

We learnt how ugly ordinary small Finnish towns are, with theirone-storey wooden houses, ill-paved roads, totally devoid of sidepaths--how very like cheap wooden Noah's arks, such as children have;all straight and plain with glaring windows painted round with whitepaint, no gardens of any kind, while every casement is blocked with abig indiarubber plant. Generally they possess a huge stone or brickschool-house, large enough to contain all the thousand inhabitants inthe district, instead of the town's two hundred children, but then it isbuilt ready for contingencies. 

All this hideous inartistic modernity contrasted sadly with the massivebeauty and vast strength of our castellated home. 

_Nyslott_, as already said, is famous for its baths, which are a greatinstitution, and charmingly arranged--douche baths, steam, mud, swimming, etc. , and about forty or fifty little private rooms, somecontaining sofas--and at least a dozen women to attend to the comfortof visitors. They are regular Finnish bathing-women, wearing theordinary uniform of their calling, viz. A thick blue serge skirt, redflannel outside stays, opening at the lacing in front and showing thewhite cotton chemise that is _de rigueur_, cut low at the neck and withquite short sleeves, a very pretty simple dress that allows greatfreedom to the arms when massaging, one of the important items of everyFinnish bath. 

We always returned to our castellated home for our evening meal, and, armed with a basket containing sardines, bread, butter, cold tongue, orham, delicious cakes or fruit for dessert, we thoroughly enjoyedourselves. 

Our table in the courtyard was gray with age, and notched with theinitials of young Philistines of former generations. We had no cloth, why should we; our forefathers ate without cloths and were happynevertheless. We had a large brown earthenware pot, such as is used as abread pan in England, at the head of the table filled with milk, whichwe served by dipping a cup into its depths. A mat of birch bark was ourbread trencher, a cabbage leaf our butter dish, for although we hadplates and knives and forks, cups and tumblers, there were not enough toaccommodate the many articles displayed upon our liberal board. 

The pigeons generally joined us at our meal, and seemed to know when wesallied forth in solemn procession, each with a black tin tray, whatcoming event was casting its shadow before, for they began to arrivewhenever they heard the first rattle of cups and saucers. Our featheredfriends guessed intuitively that scraps would immediately follow thepleasant music, more delectable than any the Castle had hithertofurnished. If our bedroom was quaint, our youthful Grandpapa's wasquainter. 

Never was there a more strange sleeping-chamber than the old churchwhere Grandpapa reposed on a mattress on the floor. It was a long narrowroom with windows on both sides, the only place which boasted realwindows except our own room, and the wee kitchen in that rambling old_Olavin Linna_. 

Although this church had been Catholic, Lutheran, and Greek, and thenLutheran again, all that remained of decoration were the remnants of analtar, at the far end, above which hung a large picture of theCrucifixion, and below a representation of the Lord's Supper; both badlypainted, if one might judge from the scant colour remaining on thecanvas. On one side stood a pulpit with a top like an extinguisher, muchthe worse for wear; formerly it had been painted all over with brightcolours, the panels of the saints being surrounded by garish festoonsand queer designs. In the opposite corner of the room was a veryremarkable representation of Our Lord, with the five foolish virgins onone side, and the five wise ones on the other. It was a truly wonderfulpicture, for all the arms were out of drawing and all the heads too bigfor the bodies, and every one of the faces hideous. But even morewonderful than all the rest was the dado painted on a wooden panellingwhich ran round the church. The background was pale green, and thepersons represented were prophets, apostles, and saints in the mostrude form of art. Finnish art about a hundred and fifty years agoclosely resembled the very earliest examples known of the Italian, onlyit was yet a hundredfold more primitive. But then, we presume, thevillage artist had never really seen a good picture in his life, and hadnothing to go by. 

On the panels were the following:--

_P. Isak_ (P. Standing for Pylia = saint), dressed in a blue kilt, withblack top boots, a red cape, and a black billycock hat!

_P. Jacob_, who was next to him, wore brown knickerbockers and longstockings, a red and blue plaid, and a red felt hat. 

_P. Samuel_ had a hat like a Jewish Rabbi and a long black cloak. 

_Judas Iskariot_ a most wonderful red head and beard, and carried in hishand a Finnish peasant's tobacco pouch. 

But the most wonderful was _Noak_ or Noah in blue and white tartanknickerbockers with a short kilt above them, carrying a red cloak andblack slouch hat _over his arm_. 

At the end of the room, opposite the altar, was a sort of wide woodenstair, on which prisoners used to sit during service at the commencementof the nineteenth century. 

We bathed in that hot weather from the rock on which _Nyslott_ is built, and enjoyed the cool water amazingly. To find a safe spot, however, fromwhich to make our plunge proved a difficulty, and one we had to solvefor ourselves. 

Leaving the main and only entrance of the Castle, and descending somewide steps leading to the water edge, bathing dresses and towels inhand, we found a little ledge of stone-work barely twelve inches broad, just above the level of the lake. Literally only a foothold. Any nervousperson inclined to turn giddy would hardly have dared to venture alongsuch a path at all. But it led to the only spot where we could stand onsolid earth outside the Castle walls, so completely did the edificecover the rock on which it was built. A gust of wind at the turn of thetower almost blew us over, it was so sudden and unexpected. 

After climbing on in this way for a short while we came to a little covebetween two towers, with enough land for three or four trees to findsoil to grow on, and beneath them a perfect bed of wild strawberries. Itwas a very small and very primitive bath chamber, but trees affordedshade from the sun's powerful rays, and two massive walls shut us infrom curious eyes. 

Near the Castle gate the water was smooth, but the current round otherparts of the battlements was great, and almost baffled the wonderfulswimming powers of Grandpapa and his friend, the delightful student whojoined us at _Nyslott_, fresh from his newly-won honours at theUniversity. They swam round it--but they had a struggle to accomplishtheir feat. 

Our student was a great acquisition to the party, though many scenes welived together were not altogether devoid of embarrassment. We spokeEnglish, French, and German, but he knew no language that we knew. Forhis University work he had learned book-German, and could read it well, but he had never heard it spoken, and his tongue had never framed thewords. Still, with this solid foundation, we soon taught him, and at theend of the three weeks that he spent with us, we flatter ourselves hisGerman was _excellent_! Many a laugh we had over his deliciously amusingstruggles, and, in spite of being a Finlander, he laughed too. 

We also had many quaint linguistic adventures with our "hotel keeper. "

That custodian was a poet--a real live poet. He used to disappear forhours; and we wondered where he was, until one fine day, as we rowedhome to our enchanted Castle, we saw a man on the top of the watch towerwaving his arms and gesticulating with dramatic gestures into space. This was our _Vahtimestari_. From his exalted position, with one of themost beautiful panoramas eye could wish lying at his feet--resting on afamous battlement, that had withstood the ravages of love and war--heevolved his magic verse. Truly no scene could be more inspiring, nomotive more sublime, for even we humble humdrum matter-of-factEnglishwomen felt almost inspired to tempt the poet's muse. But happilyno--our friends are spared--the passion was but fleeting. 

One day our _Vahtimestari_ met us all smiles. We could not quiteunderstand what he meant, but Grandpapa and our student told us somestrange news as soon as the _Vahtimestari_ had imparted it to them. 

It seemed that a party of people had rung the bell on the shore for theCastle boat to go to fetch them, so, accordingly, our nocturnal host hadgone across to earn his penny per head for ferrying them over. A papa, mamma, son, and daughters, with a couple of acquaintances, comprised theparty. They calmly owned they had not come to see the Castle--they hadseen it before. They had come to see the English ladies. Was it reallytrue that two Englishwomen were staying there as the papers stated? Hadthey actually come from London? What were they like? What did they do?And why on earth did they sleep among the ghosts and hobgoblins?

Then, in a hushed voice and with subdued breath they asked--

"Are they mad?"

"No, " the man answered, "he didn't think they were, they seemed muchlike other folk. "

"Could they talk. "

"Not Finnish; but they understand a little Swedish, and talk French andGerman with their friends. "

"Did they do anything very remarkable or strange?"

"No. They cook their breakfast, and afterwards eat it; write, work, sketch, and bathe; in fact, they are ordinary people and seem quitesane. "

"Could they see the strange ladies?"

"He was afraid not, as they were on shore. "

"Might they see where they slept?"

"Certainly, " replied the _Vahtimestari_. 

And on reaching the room they exclaimed--

"Why, this is an ordinary room with windows, how very disappointing, "whereupon, much distressed and disillusioned, they turned and departed. 

At this very time we were walking on the promenade in front of thebath-houses, where a nice fat comfortable-looking old gentleman stoodbefore me, and cap in hand asked in English--

"Excuse me, do you like Finland?"

"Very much, " I replied, smiling at the question; "but why do you ask?"

"I am a Finn--we all are Finns, and we are very proud of our country, about which most of Europe knows nothing, or at least next to nothing, and I am desirous to hear what you think of it all?"

"I am delighted with it. But again I must ask why you inquire?"

"Because we all know about _you_ from the newspapers (not one word ofwhich we could read ourselves), and we are very anxious you should likeus and our land, and tell the people in England we are not barbarians asthey suppose. Please excuse my speaking to you, but I am the spokesmanof many, who will be delighted to hear you are satisfied, and wish you apleasant journey. If a stranger may be so bold--I thank you for coming. "

"Finland certainly deserves to be better known, " I replied. 

"You think so? oh, I am glad;" and after a few minutes more conversationhe said, "I hope you will enjoy _Punkaharju_. "

"How do you know I am going to _Punkaharju_?"

"I heard so, and that you are actually living in our Castle, and thatyou are going through the country to _Uleåborg_. "

I almost collapsed; but he was so nice and so smiling I dared not beangry at his somewhat inquisitive interest in my movements. 

On another occasion it was an elderly general who calmly sat down andaddressed me in German, in order to inquire what I was going to write, how I was going to write it, and when it would appear. 

These are only three instances of several, all showing the keen interestof the people that the land may be known and the Finlander a littlebetter understood than he is by half the world to-day, who seem toimagine him to be a cross between a Laplander and an Esquimo--instead ofwhat he really is, a very cultured gentleman. 

My sister eased the troubles of life for me by kindly doing the packing;but once, so she says, virtue seized me in a rigid grip--and I packed. 

It was at _Olavin Linna_--at our Castle. We were leaving next day, andone Gladstone had to be filled with things we did not want for a shorttime, and the other to be packed with everything we requiredimmediately. 

I worked hard. Sorted everything; filled the Gladstone with clean linen, guide books, foods, papers, etc. , strapped it, and then, feeling the incarnation of industry and pride, threw myselfon that precious deck-chair to rest and read. 

Presently my sister danced into the room. I told her of my virtue, received her congratulations and thanks, beamed with delight at mysuccess, and answered her question as to the whereabouts of her bathingcap that "I had never seen it. "

"Strange, " she said, "I feel sure I left it on the window-sill to drylast night as usual, and it has gone, and I want a swim. "

We both looked. We went down into the courtyard and scrambled among thelilac bushes immediately below the window. Finally, we decided it hadbeen left on the tree at the bathing ground the night before. So off shewent round that dangerous edge to find the cap. It was not there. 

We called Grandpapa--Grandpapa called the _Vahtimestari_--the_Vahtimestari_ called his under man; every one explained to every oneelse what was missing. At last the custodian remarked--

"Oh, now I understand what you mean; that sponge bag which lies besidethe bathing dresses to dry; I didn't know what you meant by 'cap tobathe. '"

"Yes, yes, that is it, " replied Grandpapa; "where is it?"

"I don't know. "

"But it must be found. This lady dives and swims under water, and herlong hair would get wet without it. "

And so we looked, and looked, and all looked again. 

"Let us go and buy another, " remarked my sister in desperation. 

"Impossible, " replied our student, who had now joined in the search, "you might get one in _Helsingfors_, but nowhere else. "

We were in despair. Before evening the whole town had heard of theEnglish ladies' strange loss, and the bathing cap was as much commentedupon as though it had been a dynamite bomb. 

Confession, they say, is good for the soul. Then let me own my sin. Thenext day that bathing cap was found--_I had packed it up_!

Wherefore my sister on all inconvenient occasions says--

"Yes, she packed _once_; she put away everything we wanted, and left outeverything we had no use for. "

How cruelly frank one's relations are!

 * * * * *

Alas! my haunted Castle is restored, and the revels of the ghosts andthe goblins are now disturbed by the shrieks and snorts of the modernlocomotive. 

FOOTNOTES:

[C] A Girl's Ride in Iceland. 

[D] Götstaff is old Finnish for Gustavus. 

CHAPTER XII

PUNKAHARJU

Every one we met in Finland told us to make a point of seeing_Punkaharju_, just as strangers in London might be advised to visit theTower, though in this case the great show was not a historical place, the work of men's hands, but a freak of Nature in one of her mostcharming moods. 

_Punkaharju_ being only a short distance from _Nyslott_, we proceededthither in a small steamer supposed to start at noon. 

By one of those lucky chances that sometimes occur in life, we happenedto arrive at the steamer half an hour before the time she was advertisedto sail, and were, to say the least of it, barely on board before awhistle sounded, when away we went. We were amazed at this proceeding, and, taking out our watches, discovered it still wanted _twenty_ minutesto the time printed in the newspapers and on the advertisement at thebath-house. 

It was only another instance showing that punctuality is absolutelyconsidered of no value in Finland, for the steamer actually did starttwenty minutes before its appointed hour, and no one then or after madethe slightest complaint. 

Imagine our Flying Scotchman speeding North even one minute before theadvertised hour!

Having been told that _Punkaharju_ was very full during the summerholiday season, we had therefore asked our charming student friend, whopreceded us by a day, to kindly engage rooms to await our arrival. Whatwas our surprise when we arrived at the little pier, not only to meethim beaming with smiles as he hurried to say he had secured rooms, butto find a lady who had travelled with us some days before from _Wiborg_and spoke English well, warmly welcoming us, the while she exclaimed--

"I found the Hotel was so full when I came that I told the landlordrooms would be required to-night, for I did not wish you to bedisappointed. "

She was a stranger, and her thoughtfulness was very kind. The plotthickened, however, a moment afterwards, when the Russian General, whohad also travelled for a whole day on a steamer with us, arrived in hisscarlet-lined uniform, and, saluting profoundly, begged to inform Madamehe had taken the liberty of bespeaking rooms "as the Hotel was veryfull. "

This was somewhat alarming, and it actually turned out that three suitesof rooms had been engaged for us by three different people, each out ofthe goodness of his heart trying to avoid the dreadful possibility ofour being sent away roofless. No wonder our host, thinking such a numberof Englishwomen were arriving, had procured the only carriage in theneighbourhood and ordered it and a cart to come down to the pier andawait this vast influx of folk. Although the Hotel was not a hundredyards actually from where we stood, everybody insisted on our gettinginto the little carriage for the honour of the thing, and my sister andI drove off in triumph by a somewhat circuitous route to the Hotel, onlyto find all our friends and acquaintances there before us, as they hadcome up the short way by the steps. 

Even more strange was the fact that each one of our kind friends hadtold a certain Judge and his wife of our probable arrival, and promisedto introduce the strange English women to them, while, funnily enough, we ourselves bore an introduction from the lady's brother, so, beforeany of our _compagnons de voyage_ had time to introduce us, we hadalready made the acquaintance of the Judge and his wife through thatgentleman's card. They were all exceedingly kind to us, and wethoroughly enjoyed our short stay among them. Such friendliness is verymarked in Finland. 

_Punkaharju_ is certainly a strange freak of Nature. Imagine a series ofthe most queerly-shaped islands all joined together by a naturalroadway, for, strange to say, there is a ridge of land sometimesabsolutely only the width of the road joining these islands in aconnective chain. For about five miles these four or five islands arebound together in this very mysterious manner, so mysterious, in fact, that it seems impossible, as one walks along the roadway, to believe itis nature's freak and not man's hand that has made this extraordinarythoroughfare. It is most beautiful in the wider parts, where, therebeing more land, the traveller comes upon lovely dells, while the mostmarvellous mosses and ferns lie under the pine trees, and the flowersare beautiful. 

No wonder _Runeberg_ the poet loved to linger here--a veritableenchanted spot. 

The morning after our arrival we had a delightful expedition in a boatto the end of the islands; but as a sudden storm got up, in the way thatstorms sometimes do in Finland, we experienced great difficulty inlanding, and were ultimately carried from the boat to the beach insomewhat undignified fashion. However, we landed somehow, and most of usescaped without even wet feet. Just above us was a woodman's house, where our kind Judge had ordered coffee to be in readiness, and thitherwe started, a little cold and somewhat wet from the waves that hadentered our bark and sprinkled us. On the way we paused to eat wildstrawberries and to look at the ancient Russian bakeries buried in theearth. These primitive ovens of stone are of great size, for a wholeregiment had been stationed here at the time of the war early in thelast century when Russia conquered Finland. And then we all sat on thebalcony of the woodman's cottage and enjoyed our coffee, poured from adear little copper pot, together with the black bread and excellentbutter, which were served with it. 

On that balcony some six or eight languages were spoken by our Finnishfriends, such wonderful linguists are they as a nation. At the end ofour meal the wind subsided and out came the most brilliant sunshine, changing the whole scene from storm to calm, like a fairy transformationat the pantomime. 

We walked back to the Hotel, and the Finlanders proved to be right. As abeautiful bit of quaint nature, _Punkaharju_ equals some of the finestpasses in Scotland, while its formation is really most remarkable. 

A ridiculous incident happened that day at dinner. Grandpapa, like agreat many other persons in Finland, being a vegetarian, had gone to therubicund and comfortable landlord that morning and explained that hewanted vegetables and fruit for his dinner. At four o'clock, the timefor our mid-day meal, we all seated ourselves at table with excellentappetites, the Judge being on my left hand and his wife on my right. 

We had all fetched our trifles from the _Smörgåsbord_, and there ensueda pause before the arrival of the soup. Solemnly a servant, bearing alarge dish, came up to our table, and in front of our youthful Grandpapadeposited her burden. His title naturally gave him precedence of usall--an honour his years scarcely warranted. The dish was covered with awhite serviette, and when he lifted the cloth, lo! some two dozen eggswere lying within its folds. 

"How extraordinary, " he said; "I told the landlord I was a vegetarian, and should like some suitable food; surely he does not think I am goingto eat this tremendous supply of eggs. "

We laughed. 

"Where is our dinner?" we asked, a question which interested us muchmore than his too liberal supply. 

"Oh! it will come in a moment, " he replied cheerfully. 

"But did you order it?" we ventured to inquire. 

"No, I cannot say I did. There is a _table d'hôte_. "

Unmercifully we chaffed him. Fancy his daring to order his own dinner, and never inquiring whether we were to have anything to eat or not; he, who had catered for our wants in the mysteries of that castle home, sobasely to desert us now. 

He really looked quite distressed. 

"I'm extremely sorry, " he said, "but I thought, being in a hotel, youwere sure to have everything you wanted. Of course there is a _tabled'hôte_ meal. "

At this juncture the servant returned, bearing another large dish. _Our_dinner, of course, we hoped. Not a bit of it. A large white china basin, full of slices of cucumber, cut, about a quarter of an inch thick, ascucumber is generally served in Finnish houses, again solemnly paused infront of Grandpapa. He looked a little uneasy as he inquired for _ourdinner_. 

"This is for the gentleman, " she solemnly remarked; and so dish numbertwo, containing at least three entire cucumbers for the vegetarian'sdinner, was left before him. Another pause, and still our soup did notcome; but the girl returned, this time bearing a glass dish on a longspiral stand filled with red stewed fruit, which, with all solemnity, she deposited in front of Grandpapa. 

His countenance fell. Twenty-four eggs, three cucumbers, and about threequarts of stewed fruit, besides an enormous jug of milk and an entireloaf of bread, surrounded his plate, while we hungry mortals werewaiting for even crumbs. 

Fact was, the good housewife, unaccustomed to vegetarians, could notrightly gauge their appetites, and as the gentleman had ordered his owndinner she thought, and rightly, he was somebody very great, andaccordingly gave him the best of what she had, and that in largequantities. 

After dinner, which, let us own, was excellent, we had to leave our kindfriends and drive back in the soft light of the night to _Nyslott_, forwhich purpose we had ordered two _kärra_ (Swedish for cart), _karryts_(Finnish name), a proceeding which filled the Judge and his wife withhorror. 

"It is impossible, " they said, "that you can drive such a distance inone of our ordinary Finnish _kärra_. You do not know what you areundertaking. You will be shaken to death. Do wait and return to-morrowby the steamer. "

We laughed at their fears, for had we not made up our minds to travel acouple of hundred miles through Finland at a not much later date bymeans of these very _kärra_? Certainly, however, when we reached thedoor our hearts failed us a little. 

The most primitive of market carts in England could not approach thediscomfort of this strange Finnish conveyance. There were two wheels, undoubtedly, placed across which a sort of rough-and-ready box formedthe cart; on this a seat without a back was "reserved" for us. The bodyof the _kärra_ was strewn with hay, and behind us and below us, andbefore us our luggage was stacked, a small boy of twelve sitting on ourfeet with his legs dangling out at the side while he drove the littlevehicle. 

Grandpapa and I got into one, our student friend and my sister into theother, and away we went amid the kindly farewells of all the occupantsof the hostelry, who seemed to think we were little short of mad toundertake a long tiring journey in native carts, and to elect to sleepat our haunted castle on an island, instead of in a proper hotel. 

We survived our drive--nay more, we enjoyed it thoroughly, although soshaken we feared to lose every tooth in our heads. It was a lovelyevening, and we munched wild strawberries by the way, which we boughtfor twopence in a birch-bark basket from a shoeless little urchin on theroad. We had no spoon of course; but we had been long enough in Finlandto know the correct way to eat wild strawberries was with a pin. The pinreminds us of pricks, and pricks somehow remind of soap, and soapreminds us of a little incident which may here be mentioned. 

An old traveller never leaves home without a supply of soap; so, naturally, being _very_ old travellers, we started with many cakes amongour treasured possessions. But in the interior of _Suomi_, quitesuddenly, one of our travelling companions confided to us the fact thathe had finished his soap, and could not get another piece. My sister'sheart melted, and she gave away our last bit but one, our soap havinglikewise taken unto itself wings. He was overjoyed, for English soap isa much-appreciated luxury in all foreign lands. Some days went by andthe solitary piece we had preserved grew beautifully less and less; butwe hoped to get some more at each little village we came to. We did notlike to confide our want to our friend, lest he should feel that he haddeprived us of a luxury--we might say a necessity. 

Every morning my sister grumbled that our soap was getting smaller andsmaller, which indeed it was, while the chance of replacing it grew moreand more remote. Her grief was so real, her distress so great, that Icould not help laughing at her discomfiture, and, whenever possible, informed her that I was about to wash my hands for the sake of enjoyingthe last lather of our rapidly dwindling treasure. At last she becamedesperate. 

"I don't care what it costs, " she said; "I don't care how long it takes, but I am going out to get a piece of soap, if I die for it. "

So out she went, and verily she was gone for hours. I began to think shehad either "died for it, " or got into difficulties with the language, orbeen locked up in a Finnish prison!

I was sitting writing my notes, when suddenly the door was thrown open, and my sister, her face aflame with heat and excitement, appeared with alarge bright orange parcel under her arm. 

"I've got it, I've got it, " she exclaimed. 

"Got what--the measles or scarlet fever?"

"Soap, " she replied with a tragic air, waving the bright orange bag overher head. 

"You don't mean to say that enormous parcel contains soap?"

"I do, " she replied. "I never intend to be without soap again, and so Ibought all I could get. At least, " with a merry twinkle and in anundertone, she added, "I brought away as little as I could, afterexplaining to the man for half an hour I did not want the enormousquantity he wished to press upon me. "

Dear readers, it was not beautiful pink scented soap, it was not made inParis or London; heaven only knows the place of its birth; it gave forthno delicious perfume; it was neither green, nor yellow, nor pink, tolook upon. It was a hideous brown brick made in Lapland, I should think, and so hard it had probably been frozen at the North Pole itself. 

But that was not all; when we began to wash, this wondrous soap whichhad cost so much trouble to procure--such hours in its pursuit--wasevidently some preparation for scrubbing floors and rough householdutensils, for there was a sandy grit about it which made us clean, certainly, but only at the expense of parting with our skin. 

My poor sister! Her comedy ended in tragedy. 

CHAPTER XIII

THE LIFE OF A TREE

What different things are prized in different lands!

When walking round a beautiful park on an island in _Suomi_, the wholeof which and a lovely mansion belonged to our host, he pointed withgreat pride to three oak trees, and said--

"Look at our oaks, are they not wonderful?"

We almost smiled. They were oaks, certainly, perhaps as big incircumference as a soup plate, which to an English mind was nothing; butthe oak, called in Finnish _Jumalan Puu_, or God's tree, is a greatrarity in _Suomi_, and much prized, whereas the splendid silver birchesand glorious pines, which call forth such praise and admiration fromstrangers, count for nothing, in spite of the magnificent luxuriance oftheir growth. 

The pine is one of the most majestic of all trees. It is so superblystately--so unbending to the breeze. It raises its royal headaloft--soaring heavenwards, heedless of all around; while the silveryfloating clouds gently kiss its lofty boughs, as they fleet rapidlyhither and thither in their endless chase round this world. Deep anddark are the leaves, strong and unresisting; but even they have theirtender points, and the young shoots are deliciously green and sweetscented. Look at its solid stem--so straight that every maiden passingby sighs as she attempts to imitate its superb carriage, and those verystems are coloured by a wondrous pinky hue oft-times; so pink, in fact, we pause to wonder if it be painted by Nature's brush, or is merely awhim of sunset playing upon the sturdy bark. 

Look beneath the pine; its dark and solid grandeur protects and fostersthe tenderest of green carpets. See the moss of palest green, its longfronds appearing like ferns, or note those real ferns and coarserbracken fighting the brambles for supremacy or trying to flout thatlittle wild rose daring to assert its individuality. 

Pines and silver birches flourish on all sides. 

Everything or anything can apparently be made of birch bark inFinland--shoes, baskets, huge or small, salt bottles, flower vases--evenan entire suit of clothing is hanging up in _Helsingfors_ Museum, manufactured from the bark of the silver birch. 

The bark thus used, however, is often cut from the growing tree, butthis requires to be carefully done so as not to destroy the sap. As onedrives through the forests, one notices that many of the trees havedark-brown rings a foot or more wide round their trunks, showing wherethe bark has been stripped away. The ribband for plaiting is made, as arule, about an inch wide, although narrower necessarily for fine work, and then it is plaited in and out, each article being made double, sothat the shiny silvery surface may show on either side. Even babychildren manipulate the birch bark, and one may pass a cluster of suchsmall fry by the roadside, shoeless and stockingless, all busilyplaiting baskets with their nimble little fingers. We often marvelled attheir dexterity. 

What were those packets of brown paper securely fixed to the top of longpoles all over that field, we wondered?

"Why, sheets of birch bark, " answered our friend, "put out to dry in thesun for the peasants to plait baskets and boxes, shoes and satchels, such as you have just seen; they peeled those trees before cutting themdown. "

On another of our drives we noticed bunches of dried leaves tied at thetop of some of the wooden poles which support the strangely tumbledownlooking wooden fences which are found everywhere in Finland, and servenot only as boundaries to fields but also to keep up the snow. 

"What are those dead leaves?" we asked the lad who drove our _kärra_. 

"They are there to dry in the sun, for the sheep to eat in the winter, "was his reply, with which we ought to have rested satisfied; butthinking that was not quite correct, as they were in patches round somefields and not in others, we asked the boy of the second springlessvehicle the same question. 

"Those, " he said, "are put up to dry in the sun round the rye fields, and in the autumn, when the first frost comes and might destroy thewhole crop in a single night, they are lighted, and the warmth and thewind from them protect the crops till they can be hastily gathered thenext day. "

This sounded much more probable, and subsequently proved perfectlycorrect. These sudden autumn frosts are the farmer's terror, for hiscrops being left out one day too long may mean ruin, and that he willhave to mix birch bark or Iceland moss with his winter's bread to eke itout, poor soul!

The export of timber from Finland is really its chief trade. 

 +-----+------------------+--------------+----------------------+ | | Export of Wood, | Wood Pulp. | Paper, chiefly made | | | Cubic Metres | Kilograms. | from Wood Pulp. | | | (about 36 Cubic | | Kilograms. | | | Feet). | | | +-----+------------------+--------------+----------------------+ |1874 | 843, 031 | 3, 116, 139 | 1, 317, 021 | |1884 | 1, 229, 008 | 9, 326, 288 | 8, 464, 841 | |1894 | 1, 722, 322 | 33, 802, 916 | 17, 675, 856 | |1895 | 2, 704, 126 | 35, 548, 000 | . . | |1896 | 2, 136, 888 | 39, 096, 000 | . . | +-----+------------------+--------------+----------------------+

In 1909, 5, 073, 513 cubic metres of wood were exported, and 192, 373, 500kilograms of pulp and paper. 

From this table it will be seen that a large quantity of pulp isexported, likewise a great deal of paper, and chiefly to our owncountry. 

England exports to Finland somewhat, but very little, of her ownproduce, unfortunately; tea, coffee, sugar, and such foreign wares beingtranshipped from England and Germany--principally from the latter toFinland. The foreign inland trade of _Suomi_ is chiefly in the hands ofthe Germans. "Made in Germany" is as often found on articles ofcommerce, as it is in England. Well done, Germany!

We gained some idea of the magnitude of the Finnish wood trade whenpassing _Kotka_, a town in the Gulf of Finland, lying between_Helsingfors_ and _Wiborg_. 

Immense stacks of sawn wood were piled up at _Kotka_, and in the bay layat least a dozen large ships and steamers, with barges lying on eitherside filling them with freight as quickly as possible for export toother lands. 

The trees of Finland _are_ Finland. They are the gold mines of thecountry, the props of the people, the products of the earth; the moneybags that feed most of its two million and a half of inhabitants. Thelife of a Finnish tree is worth retailing from the day of its birthuntil it forms the floor or walls of a prince's palace or a peasant'shut. To say that Finland is one huge forest is not true, for thelakes--of which there are five or six thousand--play an important part, and cover about one-sixth of the country, but these lakes, rivers, andwaterways all take their share in the wood trade. Some of the lakes arereally inland seas, and very rough seas too. Tradition says they arebottomless--anyway, many of them are of enormous depth. Tradition mightwell say the forests are boundless, for what is not water in Finland isone vast and wonderful expanse of wood. 

Now let us look at the life of a tree. Like Topsy "it growed;" it wasnot planted by man. Those vast pine forests, extending for miles andmiles, actual mines of wealth, are a mere veneer to granite rocks. Thatis the wonderful part of it all, granite is the basis, granitedistinctly showing the progress of glaciers of a former period. 

Such is the foundation, and above that a foot or two of soil, sometimesless, for the rocks themselves often appear through the slight covering;but yet out of this scant earth and stone the trees are multiplied. 

Standing on the top of the tower of the old castle--alas! so hideouslyrestored--at _Wiborg_, one can see for miles and miles nothing but lakesand trees, and as we lingered and wondered at the flatness of the landour attention was arrested by patches of smoke. 

"Forest fires, one of the curses of the land, " we learned. "In hotweather there are often awful fires; look, there are five to be seenfrom this tower at one moment, all doing much damage and causing greatanxiety, because the resin in the pines makes them burn furiously. "

"How do they put them out?" we asked. 

"Every one is summoned from far and near; indeed, the people comethemselves when they see smoke, and all hands set to work felling treestowards the fire in order to make an open space round the flaming woods, or beating with long poles the dry burning mass which spreads the fire. It is no light labour; sometimes miles of trenching have to be dug asthe only means whereby a fire can be extinguished; all are willing tohelp, for, directly or indirectly, all are connected with the woodtrade. "

Here and there where we travelled, the forests were on fire--firesluckily not caused by those chance conflagrations, which do so much harmin Finland, but duly organised to clear a certain district. Matters arearranged in this wise: when a man wants to plough more land, he selectsa nice stretch of wood, saws down all the big trees, which he sledgesaway, the next set (in point of size) he also hews down, but leaveswhere they fall, with all their boughs and leaves on, till the sun driesthem. Then he makes a fire in their midst, the dried leaves soon catch, and in a few hours the whole acreage is bare except for the tree trunks, which are only charred and serve later for firewood. All the farm hands, often augmented by neighbours, assist at these fires, for although a manmay wish to clear two or three acres, if the flames were not watched, they would soon lay twenty or thirty bare, and perhaps destroy an entireforest. The ashes lie on the ground and become manure, so that when, during the following summer, he begins to plough, the sandy soil isfairly well-fed, and ultimately mildly prolific. He is very ingeniousthis peasant, and takes the greatest care not to let the flames spreadbeyond his appointed boundary, beating them with huge sticks, asrequired, and keeping the flames well in hand. The disastrous forestfires, caused by accidental circumstances, spoil the finest timber, andcan only be stayed in their wild career, as we remarked elsewhere, bydigging trenches, over which the roaring flames cannot pass. Such firesare one of the curses of Finland, and do almost as much harm as aflight of locusts in Morocco. 

"How old are those trees we see, twenty or thirty years?"

Our friend the _Kommerserådet_ smiled. 

"Far, far more, " he replied; "speaking roughly, every tree eight inchesin diameter twenty feet from the ground is eighty years old, nine inchesninety years, ten inches a hundred years old, and so on. "

We were amazed to think that these vast forests should be so old, for ifit took so long for a tree to grow, and so many millions were felledevery year, it seemed to us that the land would soon be barren. 

"Not at all, " our friend replied; "a forest is never cleared. Only treeswhich have reached a proper girth are felled. In every forest but acertain number of trees are cut each year, so that fresh ones are in acontinuous stream taking their places. "

Rich merchants possess their own forests, their own saw-mills, their ownstore houses, and even their own ships; but the bulk of exporters payfor cut timber. In hiring a forest the tenant takes it on lease for somany years with the right to fell all trees so soon as they reachcertain dimensions. The doomed trees are marked, and now we must followtheir after course. 

In the autumn and winter they are felled and left for the first fall ofsnow, when they are dragged, sometimes two or three logs one behind theother fixed together with iron chains, to the nearest open road forfurther conveyance by sledge when the snow permits. 

No single horse could move such a weight in summer, but by the aid ofsledges and snow all is changed, and away gallop the little steeds downthe mountain side, pushed forward at times by the weight behind. By thismeans the trees are conveyed to the nearest waterway. 

Then the logs are stamped with the owner's registered mark and rolledupon the ice of lake or river, to await the natural transport of spring. Once the ice thaws the forests begin to move, for as "Birnam Woodmarched to Dunsinane, " the Finnish forests float to other lands. 

Imagine the helter-skelter of those thousands of trees over the roaring, rushing waterfalls, or along the rapidly flowing cataracts and floodedrivers. To prevent these wooden horses getting caught-up on the banksalong their watery course, men with long poles "personally conduct" hugebatches to the coast, or, where they are likely to get fixed, a sort ofwooden fencing is built in the river to direct their course. On, on theyvoyage, those soldiers of the forest, for hundreds of miles to thecoast, till, finally arriving at such an enormous wood export town as_Kotka_, they meet their doom. 

Wherever the chain of waterways is composed of large lakes, the logs areconveyed to the coast by means of enormous rafts. It is really mostingenious; head and tail into a ring half-a-mile or more incircumference float the pine trees, coupled together by iron clamps. Inside these the newly-cut logs, which look like a rope of sausages, are thrust end on end, until they make a perfectly solid floor floatingon the surface of the water. Now, as a raft of this kind contains manythousand logs, which means a considerable amount of money value, it isconveyed to the coast with the greatest care. At one end a small houseis built on the raft itself, on which live the two or three men who haveto escort this floating island across the lakes, attend to the logs thatget out of place, or secure the fastenings of the outside wood whichbinds the whole together. 

Naturally it takes some weeks for such a vast island to reach the coast, and as it is sometimes necessary for various reasons to stop on thejourney, a horse goes on the raft so as to let down or pull up theanchor when necessary. It is truly wonderful to think that on a floatingmass of tree trunks, merely bound together by a primitive barrier oroutside ring, men should live for weeks, and a horse should have itsstabling. Yet such is the case, and many times during our three months'summer sojourn in Finland we passed these floating islands wending theirway to the coast. 

Of course, it is understood rafts can only travel over the vast lakes, and that on rivers the wood must go separately in the manner beforedescribed. But in such a river as the _Uleå_, where the salmon fishingis of as great importance, if not greater than wood, the latter are onlyallowed to pass down until the day when salmon fishing commences. On thecompletion of the floating season the stock logs at _Kotka_ often amountto a million pieces. That alone gives some idea of this wonderfulindustry. About a mile above _Kotka_ the logs are received by thefloating inspector and his trained sorters, who separate and distribute, according to the marks thereon, the logs to their respective owners. 

Large floating houses await their arrival, and as the back part of thesesheds are divided by half a dozen or so openings leading into the waterpens, the men at work quickly turn the timber over, see the owners'names, and by means of a pole steer it into the space belonging to thatowner, so that in time each water pen becomes filled with the treesbelonging to its proprietor. 

All this time the steam saw-mills are waiting for their prey, and, likethe pigs at Chicago who come out smoked and cooked hams, according totradition, the trees that go in have half a dozen saws run into them atonce, and out come boards and planks of various thicknesses and widths. The middle bit--the plum of the cake--is the worst in this instance, forit contains the heart, which is bad wood for working as it splits andtwists on drying; the rest is converted into deals, battens, and boards. The outside slab pieces are made into staves for barrels, while thegeneral odds and ends that remain behind are used as fuel for engines, steamboats, or private house consumption in Finland, where coal beingpractically unknown, wood takes its place. 

The sawn wood is stacked up for miles and miles along the waterside toseason ready for export, and, as a rule, the Finnish owners sell theirtimber with the clause that it should be ready to be shipped at "firstopen water, " when away go the pines, cargo after cargo, the best beingsent to England, and other qualities to France, Germany, etc. Thus fromFinland comes much of the wood that makes our floors, our window frames, our railings, and our doors, and lights our daily fires--it enters thepeasant hut, and it finds a place in the royal palace. 

Another big trade is birch--a class of wood cut up into reels andbobbins for England; and yet another is aspen, which wood is supplied toSweden in large quantities to make matches. Not only are matches pureand simple made enormously in Sweden; but when leaving Gothenburg on ourhomeward journey we saw hundreds of large cases being put on board oursteamer. Although very big, one man carried a case with ease, much toour surprise, for anything so enormous in the way of cargo was generallyhoisted on board with a crane. What a revelation! These cases containedmatch boxes, which are sent by thousands every week to England. 

There is an enormous export of wood spirit made from sawdust; yet eventhen, until lately, it was difficult to get rid of the superfluoussawdust, a great deal of which was burned away in large furnaces. Sawdust now plays an important rôle in the trade of Finland, and silkfactories have been started, for pulp; for our French friends have foundthat beautiful fabrics can be made from wood, which takes dye almostbetter than silk woven by a painstaking little worm, only costs afraction of the money, and sells almost equally well. 

So that wood for building purposes, for matches or fuel, pulp for paper, sawdust for spirit and silk, are the outcome of the life of a Finnishtree. People can be clothed in wood, get drunk on wood, read print onwood, and get warmed and their food cooked by wood. 

CHAPTER XIV

THROUGH SAVOLAX IN CARTS

We were in despair!

By the kindness of the Governor of the district everything had beenarranged for a drive of a couple hundred miles through some of theprettiest parts of the country from _Kuopio_ to _Iisalmi_. We were tohave a carriage with a hood (a rare honour) and two horses, to dawdle aswe liked by the way, and just order our vehicle when and as we wantedit, so that we might really peep into the homes of the people, as wellas avail ourselves of the Baron's many kind introductions. But late onthe afternoon before that named for leaving, our cicerone Grandpapafound it was imperative for him to remain a couple of days longer in_Kuopio_ to receive his sisters who were to join our party, therefore wefound ourselves stranded so far as his escort was concerned. 

"How were we two Englishwomen to travel alone through the very centre ofFinland, where no one spoke a word except his own language?" asked theGovernor. 

"Perfectly, " we replied; "we can travel anywhere, so far as that goes, by signs and with a map; but, of course, we shall _learn_ nothingmore than what we can see with our eyes, for we shall not know how toask for information, and therefore half the pleasure and interest of thejourney will be lost. "

[Illustration: BURNING THE FORESTS. 

(After Eero Järnefelt. )]

"Were I not compelled to go on an official journey to-morrow, " repliedthe fine, tall, and charming Governor, "I should come myself--as it is, will you accept the escort of my son?"

"Willingly, thankfully, " we replied. 

Baron George spoke French, German, and Swedish, and was a good Finnishscholar besides. _He_ was to have gone on a bicycle tour that veryafternoon, but kindly altered all his plans to pass a couple of days asour guide, cicerone, and friend, and a third on his return journeyalone. 

Accordingly we started at nine A. M. On the next morning, and drove oversixty miles through Finland during the two following days, by a routesoon to be followed by railway engines, for it had already been surveyedfor that purpose, and little posts here and there denoted the projectedroute. 

Seen off by the Governor's family, who had shown us the greatesthospitality and kindness during our stay in _Kuopio_, we were peeped atby half the town as we started; for English people, and a hooded vehicledriving through _Savolax_ was no mean event, especially when these samevisitors had been entertained by the Governor of the district. 

After a spin of five kilometres, or about two and a half English miles, we reached the _lossi_, and our adventures began. A mile and a half ofwater had to be crossed; naturally there was no bridge, nor was thereany friendly ice on those hot days, therefore a _lossi_ or boat, ratherlike a river barge, conveys passengers--a _rara avis_--horses, andcarriage right over that wide expanse of lake. Our hearts sank when wesaw the boat. It was simply a shell, without seats or even a platformfor the carriage. The old boat was big, but our equipage appeared evenbigger, and we looked on in dismay, wondering how on earth we were everto get across unless we took half a dozen journeys, in bits, to and fro. 

Afterwards our dismay turned to admiration at the skill with which thewhole thing was accomplished. First, our pair of mustard-colouredponies, with long tails, big bodies and small legs--who, by the bye, went splendidly for two long days--were unharnessed, their primitivetrappings, much mended with string and rope, being thrown into ourcarriage; then two planks of wood were laid from the empty boat to thetop step of the landing-stage on which we stood, men, seizing each ofthe four wheels, slowly trundled the heavy carriage along those planksto the barge's side. So far so good; but the boat was in the water, andthe carriage some feet higher up on the pier; more planks being speedilyarranged, however, it was most cleverly slipped down the pier's side onthem, and after others had been placed the right distance apart for thewheels to stand on, into the boat itself. So there our victoria--if wemay call our vehicle by so grand a name--stood right across the boat, its pole and bar being reflected in the lake, over which they hung onthe one side, the luggage and hood of the vehicle projecting over thewater on the other. 

As though accustomed to such strange feats, those "mustard pots" walkeddown the steps of the primitive pier, lifted their feet over the boat'sside most dexterously--as a lady in fine shoes might daintily cross somemuddy road--and stood head and tail next the carriage. 

A Finnish pony is a marvel. He has no chest, is so narrow, one almostwonders, when standing before his head, where his body can really be. Hehas fine legs with good hoofs and fetlocks; he looks ill-groomed andill-cared for, his tail is long and bushy, and his mane unkempt. Yet hegoes up hill or down dale at a good pace (averaging six miles an hour), and he will do thirty miles easily in a day and not turn a hair. Theyare wonderful little animals these mustard-coloured steeds of Finland, and as agile and sure-footed as a cat, although not so famous as thefast trotters of _Suomi_. 

Then we three got in and sat down, in what little space remained, finding room on planks placed between the wheels. We certainly made aboat full, and a queer cargo we were. 

Two women "ferrymen" found room to row in front, the coachman attendedto his horses, one of which was inclined to be restive, while a man, whose flaxen hair was so light it looked positively white against hisred burnt neck, stood rowing behind us; and thus in three-quarters of anhour we reached the other side, in as wonderful a transport as thetrains we had seen put on steamers in Denmark, Sicily, or the States, but much more exciting and primitive. 

Gaily and cheerfully, meantime, we discussed the prospects of our visitto Lapland; for the Northern part of Finland is the country of reindeerand Laps, and thither we had made up our minds to go as a fitting finishto our summer jaunt. From _Uleåborg_ we were to take the steamer to_Tornea_, and there to commence a drive which promised to be mostinteresting, if a little cold and perhaps not quite so pretty as ourlong journey through _Savolax_ in _kärra_ or carts. 

We drove on through lovely scenery till twelve o'clock, when we arrivedat a post-house for luncheon. 

What a scene met our eyes! An enormous kitchen, a wooden-floored, ceilinged and walled room about thirty feet square, boasting fivewindows--large and airy, I was about to say, but it just missed beingairy because no fresh breeze was ever allowed to enter except by thedoor. At one end was the usual enormous fireplace, with its largechimney and small cooking stove, into which wood had continually to bepiled, coal being as unknown to the inland Finn as the sea-serpentitself. At the other end of the room, opposite the fireplace, was alarge wooden table with benches arranged along two sides, at which thelabourers were feeding, for the one o'clock bell hanging above the roofhad just been rung by the farmer, and they had all come in for theirmid-day meal. It was really a wonderful scene; five men wearing colouredshirts, and four women, with white handkerchiefs over their heads, weresitting round the table, and between each couple was a small wooden, long-handled pail, from which the pair, each duly provided with a woodenspoon, were helping themselves. Finnish peasants--and until lately evenFinnish town servants--all feed from one pot and drink from one bowl intruly Eastern fashion. The small wooden receptacle, which really servedas a basin, contained _piimää_ or skimmed milk that had gone sour, acomposition somewhat allied to _skyr_, on which peasants live inIceland, only that _skyr_ is sheep's milk often months old, and _piimää_is cow's milk fairly fresh. This _piimää_ with sour black bread andsalted but uncooked small fish (_suolo-kala_) is the peasant's fare, yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow, almost always the same! These peoplenever taste meat, unless it be for a treat salted, while freshvegetables are unknown, cabbage even being a luxury. Each labourerpulled his _puukko_ (knife) from its sheath at his waist--alas, toofrequently pulled in anger--and cutting hunks of brown bread, dragged afish like a sardine (only it was dry and salt) from another wooden tub, and cutting off bits ate them together, after the fashion of a sandwich, helping himself every now and then with a wooden spoon to a lump of thesour milk, or, when his companion was not doing the same, raising thepail--the wooden walls of which were half an inch thick--to his lips anddrinking the more watery part of his harmless liquor. 

_Haili_ also haunted us in every peasant home. It is another species ofsmall fish which the peasants eat raw, a little salt being its onlypreparation. They seem to buy or catch _haili_ by the ton, and thenkeep them for months in the cellar. We were always seeing them eat these_haili_, which looked something like sprats, and tasted ineffably nasty. On high days and holidays they partake of them accompanied with bakedpotatoes; but potatoes are somewhat rare, and therefore the fish onblack bread alone constitutes the usual meal. Sometimes better-classfolk eat _haili_, but then they have them grilled on charcoal; these arerich people, for coal is as great a luxury to them even as potatoes tothe poor. 

They seemed very happy, those men and women who had been up and hard atwork in the fields since three or four in the morning, and would nothave finished their day's labour till between eight and nine P. M. , forthe summer is short, and while it lasts the peasant gets little or nosleep, his entire livelihood depending upon almost incessant work duringthe light warm days. I believe many people only sleep for a couple ofhours during the summer light, and make up for it in the provinces inwinter when it is dark. It was the 10th of July; the hay was cuteverywhere, and thrown up on the wooden palings erected for thatpurpose, or the old pine trees stuck here and there, to dry before beingpiled up on little sledges that were to convey it to the nearest woodenshanty, to be stacked for winter use. 

Sledges convey the hay crop in the summer along the roadways, wherewheels would be dragged from their axles by the stones and rocks. 

A year or two ago, when hay was very scarce in England, quantities weresent over from Finland, and excellent it was, full of clover and sweetflowers, for although only grown in patches--sometimes even scraps bythe roadside--the quality of the crop repays the enormous patience andlabour necessary to produce it. 

Finland's wild flowers are renowned, and the hay is full ofsweet-scented blossoms. 

The peasant farmer at whose _majatalo_ we halted was a rich man, and hadlet out some of his farms to people in a smaller way, who in return hadto give him fourteen days' labour in the year whenever he demanded them, also many bags of rye--in regular old feudal style--for money did notpass between them. Just as well, perhaps, considering that Finnish moneya couple of hundred years ago weighed several pounds--indeed itsunwieldiness may have been the origin of this exchange of labour forland. We actually saw an old coin over two feet long and one foot widein the _Sordavala_ Museum. It is made of copper about one-eighth of aninch thick, with uneven edges as though it had been rolled out like apiece of pastry, and bears the name Kristina 1624-1654, with one coinstamped in the middle about the size of a florin, and one at each of thecorners. How delightfully easy travelling must have been in those dayswith a hundred such useful little coins in one's possession. Paper moneynow takes their place. 

There were many more coins half that size, the earliest being a CarlXI. 

All through the year the peasant farmer recently referred to employedsix hands, and he told us that the men earned a hundred and twenty marksa year (£5), and a woman fifty or sixty (£2), with clothes, board, andlodging. It did not seem to be very grand pay; but then the labourershad no expenses, and were, judging from their appearance, well caredfor. 

Later, when wandering round the homestead, we found a shed full ofsledges, filled with hay and covered by coarse woven sheets, made by thefamily (for every decent house spins and weaves for itself), and inthese the hired labourers slept. It was all very primitive, butwondrously clean. 

In truly Finnish fashion the family was varied. First we saw an agedmother, a delightful old soul, whose husband was dead and whose eldestson therefore worked the farm. He had a wife and five children, thelatter being all much of an age. He also had a sister with her invalidhusband, and his younger brother and one child--so that there wereseveral relationships under the same roof, let us hope proving "Union isStrength, " although we hardly think the English temperament would carefor such family gatherings. 

In the kitchen-dining-room was a baby in a cradle, and another sort ofcrib was hanging from the ceiling by cords, the infant lying in a kindof linen pocket on a pillow. 

We were much amazed to see a patent process by which the infant in thecradle was being fed. It was a wooden bed, in shape like an old Germanone, and at one side of it projected an arm of wood curved round insuch a way that it came up from the side of the cradle and bent almostover the child's face. Great was our amazement to find that a cow hornwas fixed into this wooden arm, so that the thin part of the hornreached the baby's mouth, while the thick part stood up three or fourinches above the hole in the wood in which it was resting. Was it a toy, we marvelled, because, if so, it seemed remarkably dangerous to haveanything so hard in such near proximity to a baby's face, but great wasour surprise on closer examination to find it was a feeding-bottle. 

The horn was hollow, and on the thin end was a primitive teat of linen, through which the baby was drawing the milk poured in at the top of thisnovel feeding-bottle. 

In a corner of the same room was a wonderful frame on rollers to teach achild to walk. There was a small round hole through which the infant waspulled, so that the polished ring supported it under the armpits, fromthat rim four wooden pillars slanted outwards, being bound together atthe bottom by other pieces of wood securely fixed to four rollingcastors. In this the child could move; and the little brat rolled aboutfrom side to side of the uneven flooring, securely held up in its woodencage. A small child of five was peeling potatoes, specially dug up inour honour, beside a wooden bucket, while a cat played with a kitten, and a servant girl--for well-to-do farmers have servants--made blackbread in a huge tub, the dough being so heavy and solid that she couldnot turn it over at all, and only managed to knead it by doubling herfists and regularly plunging them to the bottom with all her strength. Her sunburnt arms disappeared far above her elbow, and judging by theway the meal stuck to her she found bread-making very hard work. Finlanders only bake every few weeks, so the bread is often made with ahole and hung up in rows from the ceiling, or, if not, is placed on thekitchen rafters till wanted. This bread is invariably sour--the nativeslike it so--and to get it rightly flavoured they always leave a littlein the tub, that it may taste the next batch, as sour cream turns thenew cream for butter. She was not a bad-looking girl; Dame Nature hadbeen kinder to her than to most of her sex in Finland. 

Somehow that scene did not look real--it had a kind of theatricaleffect. The surroundings were too like a museum; the entry of thelabourers after the chiming of the bell closely resembled a stageeffect--the old grandmother, the children, the bright cotton shirtsand skirts, the wondrous fireplace, the spinning-wheel andweaving-frame--yes, it all seemed too picturesque, too full of colour, and too well grouped to be an event in our commonplace every-day life. Yet this was merely a peep at a Finnish home, in which just such a sceneis enacted every day--a home but little off the beaten tracks, and onlya short distance from steamboats and trains. The way to understandanything of a land or its people is to leave the tourist route and peepinto its homes for one's self. 

In Finland there are always post-stations about every eight or twelvemiles, according to requirements or capabilities of the peasantry, wherehorses and beds can be procured. They are called _majatalo_ in Finnish, or _gästgivferi_ in Swedish. Well-to-do farmers are chosen for the post, because they can afford better accommodation to strangers, and generallythere are one or two who apply for the honour, more than for the hundred(or two hundred marks in some instances) subsidy they get for keeping upthe _majatalo_. 

The Governor of the Province then has to choose the most suitableapplicant, settles the charge for food and beds, according to the classof accommodation, and writes them out officially (in three languages) oncards, to be hung up in the rooms, provides the farmer with a_Päiväkirja_, or Daybook, in which it says: "Two horses must always beready, and two carts, or if an extra turnout be required, double faremay be charged. " Fourteen penni the kilometre (or about twopencehalfpenny a mile) is the ordinary charge for a horse and trap, a roomand a bed are sixty penni, an ordinary meal sixty, coffee ten, and soon; so that the prices are not ruinous. Indeed, travelling in theinterior of Finland is altogether moderate, when done as the Finns do itby posting, but a private carriage is an enormous expense, and, on thewhole, it is just as dear to travel in _Suomi_ as in Normandy, Brittany, or the Tyrol. Of course it is not so expensive as London, Paris, orVienna. How could it be, where there are none of the luxuries of thesevast cities? Every one has to sign the _Päiväkirja_, stating fromwhence he came, whither he goes, and how many horses he had. Complaintsare also entered, and the book has to go periodically to the Governorfor inspection. So the whole posting arrangement is well looked after. 

We fared very well at our first _majatalo_, but of course we had to waitover an hour before we got anything to eat. One always must in Finland, and, although a trial to the temper at first, it is a good lesson inrestraint, and by degrees we grew accustomed to it. One can getaccustomed to anything--man is as adaptable as the trees. 

We had black bread--nothing else can be got in peasant homes--and anyone who cannot accept its sourness, and one might add hardness, mustprovide himself with white bread from the towns. We got excellent butterof course--the smallest home has good butter and milk in Finland, wherethe little native cows can be bought for sixty or a hundred marks. Theylive on what they can find in the summer, and dried birch leaves, moss, or an occasional "delikatess" of hay in the winter. We had alsodeliciously cold fresh milk, that and coffee being the only drinksprocurable, as a rule, and a small fish with a pink skin like a mullet, fresh out of the water, was served nicely fried in butter, the farmerhaving sent a man to catch it on our arrival. 

There was cold bacon, too poisonous in appearance to touch, and hoteggs, but no egg-cups, of course. We bumped the round heavy end of theeggs, and stood them up on our plates, native fashion, and felt we hadlearnt a trick that might be useful when egg-cups fell short in England. In fact, before we left our peasant homes, we had begun to look upon anegg-cup as a totally unnecessary luxury, and to find ourselves socapable of managing without one, that the egg no longer ran out at thewrong end, as it did at first in our inexperienced hands, but behaved asevery well-behaved egg ought to do--that is to say, sit up on its endand appear as if it liked it. 

One terrible-looking dish adorned our table on this and many occasions. It was pike--caught, cleaned, opened, salted, and kept till wanted; apiece, being laid flat on a plate to be served, is cut in thin slicesand spread on bread and butter by those who care to eat the luxury. Atthe bone it was red, and gradually tapered away to a whitegelatinous-looking stuff. We never dared venture upon this choice rawdish. It had a particularly distasteful appearance. As there was no_filbunke_, made of sour unskimmed milk, which we had learnt to enjoy, we had to content ourselves with _piimää_, the skimmed milk curdled; butas we were visitors, and not peasants, tumblers of fresh cream had beenpoured over it, and with sugar it tasted really excellent. It was aprimitive dinner, but with fresh fish and eggs, milk and cream, no oneneed starve, and we only paid fivepence each for our mid-day meal, sucha sum being fixed on the tariff. Our dear comfortable old hostess wasfascinated by our presence, and sat smiling and blinking beside us allthe time, her hands, folded over her portly form below the shortstraight cotton jacket she wore, were raised occasionally toretie her black silk head-covering. Again and again shemurmured--"_Englantilaiset_" (Englishwoman), and nodded approval. 

Poor Baron George, our kindly cicerone, had to answer all her questionsabout England, our age, size, weight, height, the price of our clothing, why our hair was so dark--an endless subject of inquiry among thepeasantry--and to ply her with questions from us in return. 

It was with real regret we left these folk, they were so honest andsimple, so far removed from civilisation and its corrupting influenceson their thoughts, that they and their life seemed to take us back acouple of centuries at least. 

The family came out and shook hands with us on leaving; but not beforethey had one and all sat down in our grand carriage, just to see what itwas like. Individually, we thought it a ramshackle old chaise, butfurther acquaintance with the springless native carts made us look backat that victoria as if it were the Lord Mayor's Coach!

It is no uncommon thing for the roofs of the houses in _Savolax_ to bethatched with thin strips of wood an inch or so wide, similar to our oldshingle roofs in the west of England. At _Wiborg_ we were shown, amongthe curiosities of the town, a red-tiled roof, which Finlanders thoughtas wonderful as we thought their wooden thatch. These were quite commonformerly, but are now condemned by the Insurance Companies. 

Such is life. What we eat, others despise; what we think beautiful, others find hideous; what we call virtue, other lands consider vice;what to us is novel and interesting is to others mere commonplace; themore we travel, and the more we read, the less we find we know; exceptthat there may be good and use in all things, and that other men andwomen, with whom we have not one idea in common, are quite as clever orgood as ourselves--more so, perhaps. 

"Why, what is that? Three stone chimneys without any house, " weexclaimed, seeing three brick erections standing bleak and alone in themidst of a dreary waste. 

"Ah, " replied Baron George, "that is one of the sad sides of Finnishlife. Those three stone chimneys are the only remains of what was once athree-roomed house. All the dwellings, as you know, are entirely builtof wood, except for the brick chimneys. These three great gaunt towersmean fire, and perhaps starvation. One of those little houses will burnto the ground in an hour, on a dry windy night, and all the toil ofyears, all the wealth of its proprietor, the home of his family, bereduced to the few ashes you see on the ground, while the clock marksone short hour. "

It seemed horrible. Those three chimneys looked so gaunt and sad. Wherewere the folk who had lived beside them, cooked beneath them, and spenttheir lives of grief or joy?

Outside every house in Finland stands a large wooden ladder, tall enoughto reach to the top of the roof, for fire is very common, and generallyends in everything being demolished by the flames. Buckets of water, passed on by hand, can do little to avert disaster, when the old woodenhome is dry as tinder and often rotten to the core. 

Again our attention was arrested as we jogged along by the earth mounds;those queer green mounds that look like graves in a countrychurch-yard, which are so common in Iceland, where they grow so closetogether, there is often hardly room for a pony's feet to pass between, but on the origin of which scientists disagree. The grass-grownsand--sand as beautiful and silvery as the sand of Iona, but here was nosea, although it had left its deposits in ages long gone by--wasbeautifully fresh and green. 

Iceland moss, too, grows in profusion--a very useful commodity for thepeasants, who plug out the draughts between the wooden walls of theirhouses with it, or make it into a kind of medicinal drink, as theBuckinghamshire peasant makes her nettle tea from the wondrous stingingnettles that grow five feet high in some of the lovely lanes of woodedBucks. 

Iceland moss, indeed, has taken the place of bread in times of famine, for that or the bark of the pine tree has been ground down many timesinto flour and mixed with a little rye for the half-starved peasants'only sustenance. 

With all their sufferings and their hardships, can one be surprised thatthey take life seriously?

That evening at ten o'clock--but it might have been seven judging by thebrilliancy of the sunset--we rowed on the lake, accompanied by agrandson of Finland's greatest poet, _Runeberg_. 

It really was a wonderful night; we English have no idea of thegorgeousness of long July sunsets in Finland, just as we little dream ofthe heat of the day, or the length and beauty of the evenings. It is inthese wondrous sunny glows, which spread themselves like a mantle, thatthe hundreds of miles of lakes and thousands and thousands of islandslook their best. And there are many such evenings. Evenings when onefeels at peace with all the world, and one's thoughts soar higher thanthe busy turmoil of the crowded city. 

It is these wonderful nights that impress the stranger most of all inFinland. There is something to make even the most prosaic feel poetical. There is a dull dreariness, a sombre sadness in the scene, and at thesame time a rich warmth of colouring, a strength of Nature that makeseven the least artistic feel the wonders of the picture spread outbefore them, and, withal, a peacefulness, for these vast tracts ofuninhabited land mean repose. Those numerous pine forests, denotingquiet, and the wide, wide canopy of Heaven, unbroken by mountain orhill, give one an idea of vast extent and wild expanse. 

Finland is reposeful; and has a charm about it which is particularly itsown. 

It was on such an evening as this that we rowed over the wide deepwaters of _Maaninka_, as still as a mirror, to the little white church, with its tower soaring out of the pines, on the other side. We had beenjoined by several new friends, all anxious to show us their church; but, individually, our happiness was a little spoilt by the fact that theboat was leaking badly, and we could positively see the water rising inher bottom. Up--up--up--the water crept. 

We had been in many curious boats before, and had become quiteaccustomed to folding our petticoats neatly up on our laps, but thisboat filled more rapidly than usual, and we did not run for the banktill six or eight inches of water actually covered her bottom. It roseapace, and before we reached the shore our feet and our skirts were wellup on our seats for safety, and, verily, we were well-nigh swamped. 

Out we scrambled; the men immediately beached the frail bark, and asthey did so the water all ran away. "What an extraordinary thing, " wethought, and when they pulled her right on to shore we saw the lastdrops disappearing from the boat. 

"Why, the plug is out, " one of them exclaimed, and, sure enough, theplug was out! In the bottom of every Finnish boat they have a roundhole, and this round hole contains a large cork or plug, so that whenthe craft fills with water, as she invariably does from a leak, orspray, or other causes, they merely pull her up on to the shore, takeout the plug, and let the water run away. But in this particular casethe plug had never been put in, or had somehow got lost, and we actuallyrowed across a lake with the water rising at the rate of about half aninch a minute. 

We scrambled up over the slippery pine needles to the crest of thelittle eminence on which the church stood, and found ourselves in themost primitive of churchyards. There was no attempt at law or order, forthe graves had just been put down between the trees wherever there wasroom for them. We noticed a painted clock on several of the woodentombstones, evidently intended to indicate the exact hour at which theperson lying under the sod had died. For instance, it would stand attwenty-two minutes to four o'clock, which was the precise moment thedead man expired, carefully noted by the exactitude of the Finns, whoare very particular about such matters. In the newspapers, for example, it is stated, "Johanson died, aged 46 years 11 months and 4 days, " andthis record of the number of days is by no means uncommon. They are amost exact nation. 

The _Maaninka_ church, like so many others in Finland, has itsimportant-looking bell-tower standing quite a distance away from themain building. We climbed to the top after some persuasion, andcertainly our trouble was repaid by a glorious view. 

But, alas! every Finlander has a hobby, and that hobby is that at everypoint where there is a view of any sort or description, in fact, onemight say where there is no view at all, he erects an _Aussichtsturm_. These outlook towers are a bane of existence to a stranger. One goes outto dinner and is taken for a walk round the island. At every conceivablepoint is an outlook tower, generally only a summer-house, but, alas, there are usually some steps leading to the top which one toils up, andhas the fatigue of doing so without any reward, as they are not highenough to afford any better view at the summit than one has at the base. 

To go to the top of St. Peter's in Rome, St. Paul's in London, the IsaakChurch in Petersburg, the Citadel at Quebec, or the Castle ofChapultepec in Mexico, is worth the fatigue, but to toil up twenty stepson a hot summer's day and clamber down again, to repeat the operation aquarter of a mile farther on, and so _ad lib. _, becomes somewhatmonotonous, and one begins to wish that every outlook tower in Finlandmight be banished from the country. Stop, once we ascended an outlooktower that more than rewarded our labour. It was at _Kuopio_, which townwe had just left--perhaps the most beautifully situated in allFinland--and as the night when we arrived chanced to be particularlybrilliant, the view from the top of that outlook tower will be longtreasured in remembrance. 

To many of us the recollection of the past is a storehouse of preciousgems; the realisation of the present is often without sparkle; yet theanticipation of the future is fraught with glitter, and the crown ofhappiness is ever before our eyes. 

CHAPTER XV

ON WE JOG

It is difficult for strangers to travel through the heart of Finland, for every person may not be so lucky as to be passed on from onecharming friend to another equally delightful, as we were; and, therefore, we would like to suggest the formation of a guides' bureau at_Helsingfors_, where men and women teachers from the schools--who arethoroughly well educated and always hold excellent social positions inFinland--could be engaged as couriers. These teachers speak English, French, and German, and would probably be glad to improve that knowledgefor a few weeks by acting as friendly guides for a trifling sum inreturn for their expenses. 

It is only a suggestion, but the schools being closed in June, July, andAugust, the teachers are then free, and voyageurs are willing toexplore, though their imperfect knowledge of Finnish prevents theirpenetrating far from steamers and trains. 

As we drove towards _Lapinlahti_ we were surprised by many things: thesmallness of the sheep, generally black, and very like those of_Astrakhan_; the hairiness of the pigs, often piebald; the politenessof the natives, all of whom curtsied or took off their hats; thedelicious smell the sun was drawing out of the pine trees, and, perhapsmore wonderful still, the luxuriance of gorgeously colouredwild-flowers, which are often as beautiful as in spring-time inSwitzerland or Morocco; the numbers of singing birds, and, above all, the many delicious wild berries. The wild strawberries of Finland inJuly are surprising, great dishes of them appear at every meal. Parishas learnt to appreciate them, and at all the grand restaurants of Pariscultivated "wild strawberries" appear. In Finland, the peasant childrenslice a foot square of bark from a birch tree, bend it into the shape ofa box without a lid, then sew the sides together with a twig by the aidof their long native knives, and, having filled the basket, eagerlyaccept a penny for its contents. Every one eats strawberries. Thepeasants themselves half live on them, and, certainly, the wild berriesof Switzerland are far less numerous, and not more sweet than those ofFinland. 

As evening drew on smoke rose from the proximity of the homesteads, andwe wondered what it could be, for there are never any trees near thehouses. 

These are the cow-fires, lighted when the animals come to be milked. Thepoor creatures are so pestered and tormented by gnats and flies--ofwhich Finland has more than her share--that fires are kindled towardsevening, a dozen in one field sometimes, where they are to be milked, tokeep the torments away. The cows are wonderfully clever, they know thevalue of the fires, and all huddle close up to them, glad of the restfulreprieve, after the worry they have endured all day. Poor patientbeasts, there they stand, chewing the cud, first with one side of theirbody turned towards the flames and then the other, the filmy smoke, theglow of the fire and the rays of the sunlight, hiding and showingdistinctly by turns the girls and their kine. The dairymaids come withtheir stools to milk their soft-eyed friends, and on blazing hot summerevenings they all sit closely huddled round the fires together. 

These milkmaids have some strange superstitions still lurking in theirbreasts, and the juice of the big birch tree is sometimes given to cowsto make them yield better butter. 

_Lapinlahti_ is a typical Finnish village, and had at least onenewspaper of its own, so advanced were the folk, even at the time of myfirst visit. 

Outside the little post-station we were much amused to read on a board"528 kilos. To St. Petersburg, 470 kilos. To Uleåborg. " But we were moreamazed on our return from a ramble, prepared to grumble that the mealordered an hour before was not ready, when the host walked into theroom, and, making a most polite bow, said in excellent English--

"Good day, ladies. "

"Do you speak English?" we asked. 

"Certainly. I think I ought to after doing so for sixteen years. "

We were immensely surprised. Who could have expected to find in theinterior of Finland a peasant landlord who was also an English linguist?He seemed even more delighted to see us, than we were to have anopportunity of learning something concerning the country from onespeaking our own tongue so perfectly, for it is a little difficult tounravel intricate matters when the intermediary is a Swedish-speakingFinlander, who has to translate what the peasant says into French orGerman for your information, you again retranslating it into English foryour own purposes. 

Our host spoke English fluently, and it turned out that, having been asailor like so many of the Finns, he had spent sixteen years of his lifeon board English vessels. He preferred them, he said, as the pay wastwice as good as on the Finnish boats. 

He told us that many of his countrymen went away to sea for a few yearsand saved money, the wise ones bringing it home and investing it in aplot of land; "but, " he added, "they do not all succeed, for many ofthem have become so accustomed to a roving life, and know so little offarming, that they cannot manage to make it pay. I have worked very hardmyself, and am getting along all right;" and, looking at hissurroundings, we certainly thought he must be doing very well indeed. 

The most remarkable rocking-chair we had ever seen in our lives stood inhis sitting-room. The Finlanders love rocking-chairs as dearly as theAmericans do, but it is not often that they are double; our host's, however, was more than double--it was big enough for two fat Finlanders, or three ordinary persons to sit in a row at the same time, and itafforded us some amusement. 

As there is hardly a house in Finland without its rocking-chair, sothere is seldom a house which is not decorated somewhere or other withelk horns. The elk, like deer, shed their horns every year, and asFinland is crowded with these Arctic beasts, the horns are picked up inlarge quantities. They are handsome, but heavy, for the ordinary elkhorn is far more ponderous in shape and weight and equal in width to aScotch Royal. The ingenuity of the Finlander is great in making thesehandsome horns into hat-stands, umbrella-holders, stools, newspaper-racks, and portfolio-stands, or interlacing them in such amanner as to form a frieze round the top of the entrance hall in theirhomes. A really good pair will cost as much as twenty-five shillings, but when less well-grown, or in any way chipped or damaged, they can bebought for a couple of shillings. 

A Finnish hall, besides its elk-horn decorations, is somewhat of acuriosity. For instance, at one of the Governor's houses where wechanced to dine, we saw for the first time with surprise what werepeatedly saw again in Finland. Along either wall was a wooden standwith rows and rows of pegs upon it for holding hats and coats. Therewere two pegs, one below the other, so that the coat might go beneath, while the hat resting over it did not get hurt. But below each of thesepegs, a few inches from the floor, was a little wooden box with an openside. They really looked like forty or fifty small nests for hens to laytheir eggs in, and we were very much interested to know what they couldbe for. What was our surprise to learn they were for goloshes. 

In winter the younger guests arrive on snow-shoes (_skidor_), butduring wet weather or when the road is muddy, during the thaws ofspring, they always wear goloshes, and as it is considered the worst oftaste to enter a room with dirty boots, the goloshes are left behindwith the coat in the hall. This reminded us of Henrik Ibsen's home inChristiania, where the hall was strewn with goloshes. So much is thisthe fashion that we actually saw people walking about in indiarubber"gummies, " as our American friends call them, during almost tropicalweather. Habit becomes second nature. 

Whether that meal at _Lapinlahti_, with its English-speaking landlord, was specially prepared for our honour or whether it was always excellentat that _majatalo_ we cannot say, but it lingers in remembrance as oneof the most luxurious feasts we had in the wilds of _Suomi_. 

The heat was so great that afternoon as we drove towards _Iisalmi_--twoor three inches of dust covering the roadways--that we determined todrive no more in the daytime, and that our future expeditions should beat night; a plan which we carried out most successfully. On futureoccasions we started at six in the afternoon, drove till midnight, and perhaps did a couple or three hours more at four or five in themorning; think of it!

After peeping into some well-arranged Free Schools, looking at a collegefor technical education, being invited with true Finnish hospitality tostay and sleep at every house we entered, we drew up at the next_majatalo_ to _Lapinlahti_. It was the post-house, and at the same timea farm; but the first thing that arrested our attention was thesmoke--it really seemed as if we were never to get away from smoke forforest-burning or cow-milking. This time volumes were ascending from the_sauna_ or bath-house, for it was Saturday night, and it appeared as ifthe population were about to have their weekly cleansing. The _sauna_door was very small, and the person about to enter had to step up over afoot of boarding to effect his object, just as we were compelled to doon Fridtjof Nansen's ship the _Fram_, [E] when she lay in Christianiadock a week or two before leaving for her ice-drift. In the case of the_Fram_ the doors were high up and small, to keep out the snow, as theyare likewise in the Finnish peasants' homes, excepting when they arrangea snow-guard or sort of fore-chamber of loose pine trees, laid wigwamfashion on the top of one another, to keep back the drifts. We hadhardly settled down to our evening meal--in the bedroom of course, everything is done in bedrooms in Finland, visitors received, etc. --before we saw a number of men and women hurrying to the _sauna_, where, in true native fashion, after undressing _outside_, alldisappeared _en masse_ into that tremendous hot vapour room, where theybeat one another with birch branches dipped in hot water, as describedin the chapter on Finnish baths. In _Kalevala_ we read of these mixedbaths thus--

 So he hastened to the bath-house, Found therein a group of maidens Working each upon a birch broom. 

When this performance was over they redressed _outside_, which is acustom even when the ground is deeply covered with snow. 

Our host, a finely-made young fellow, fondly nursing a baby of about twoyears old, seeing our interest in everything, was very anxious we shouldjoin the bath party, and begged Baron George to tell us of its charms, an invitation we politely but firmly refused. He showed his home. Whenwe reached a room upstairs--for the house actually possessed twostoreys--we stood back amazed. Long poles suspended from ropes hung fromthe ceiling, and there in rows, and rows, and rows, we beheld clothing, mostly under-linen. Some were as coarse as sacking; others were finer;but there seemed enough for a regiment--something like the linen we oncesaw in a harem in Tangier, but Tangier is a hot country where change ofraiment is often necessary, and the owner was a rich man, while Finlandis for most part of the year cold, and our landlord only a farmer. Themystery was soon explained; the farmer had to provide clothing for allhis labourers--a strange custom of the country--and these garments wereintended for eight or nine servants, as well as a large family. Moreover, as washing in the winter with ice-covered lakes is a seriousmatter, two or three big washes a year are all Finns can manage, thespring wash being one of the great events in their lives. The finerlinen belonged to the master's family, the coarser to the labourers, andthere must have been hundreds of articles in that loft. 

When we left the room he locked the door carefully, and hung up the keybeside it. This is truly Finnish. One arrives at a church; the door islocked, but one need not turn away, merely glance at the woodwork roundthe door, where the key is probably hanging. It is the sameeverywhere--in private houses, baths, churches, hotels; even in moreprimitive parts one finds the door locked for safety--from what peril weknow not, as honesty is proverbial in Finland--and the key hung upbeside it for convenience. 

Why are the northern peoples so honest, the southern peoples suchthieves?

Our night's lodging disclosed another peculiarity;--nothing is moremysterious than a Finnish bed. In the daytime every bed is shut up. Thetwo wooden ends are pushed together within three feet of one another, kaleidoscope fashion, the mattress, pillows, and bedclothes beingdoubled between; but more than that, many of the little beds pull alsoout into double ones from the sides--altogether the capacities of a_Suomi_ couch are wondrous and remarkable. Yet, again, the peasants'homes contain awfully hard straight wooden sofas, terrible-lookingthings, and out of the box part comes the bedding, the boards of theseat forming the _soft_ couch on which weary travellers seek repose, andoften do not find it. 

Finnish beds are truly terrible; for wood attracts unpleasant things, and beds which are not only never aired, but actually packed up, arescarcely to be recommended in hot weather. One should have the skin of arhinoceros and no sense of smell to rest in the peasant homes of _Suomi_during the hot weather. Seaweed was formerly used for stuffingmattresses on the coast in England; indeed some such bedding stillremains at Walmer Castle; but the plant in use for that purpose in thepeasant homes of Finland gives off a particularly stuffy odour. 

The country and its people are most captivating and well worth studying, even though the towns are nearly all ugly and uninteresting. Hospitalityis rife; but the peasants must keep their beds in better order and learnsomething of sanitation if they hope to attract strangers. As mattersare, everything is painfully primitive, spite of the rooms--bedsexcepted--being beautifully clean. 

In winter, sportsmen hunt the wild bear of Finland; at all seasons elkare to be seen, but elk-hunting was legally forbidden until quiterecently. There are long-haired wild-looking pigs roving about thatmight do for an impromptu pig-stick. There are feathered fowl inabundance, and fish for the asking, many kinds of sport and many kindsof hunts, but, alas, there is a very important one we would all gladlydo without--that provided by the zoological gardens in the peasant'sbed. Possibly the straw mattresses or _luikko_ may be the cause, or theshut-up wooden frames of the bedstead, or the moss used to keep therooms warm and exclude draughts, still the fact remains that, while thepeople themselves bathe often and keep their homes clean, their beds areapt to shock an unhappy traveller who, though he have to part with allhis comforts and luggage on a _kärra_ ride, should, if he value hislife, stick fast to insect powder and ammonia, and the joyful preventiveof lavender oil. 

Well we remember a horrible experience. We had driven all day, and weredead tired when we retired to rest, where big, fat, well-nourished brownthings soon disturbed our peace; and, judging by the number of occupantsthat shared our couch, the peasant had let his bed out many times over. Sitting bolt up, we killed one, two, three, then we turned over andtried again to sleep; but a few moments and up we had to sit once more. Keating had failed utterly--Finnish bed-fiends smile at Keating--four, five, six--there they were like an advancing army. At last we couldstand it no longer, and passed the night in our deck-chairs. Thosefolding deck-chairs were a constant joy. In the morning we peeped at thenice linen sheets; sprinkled on the beds were brown-red patches, hereand there as numerous as plums in a pudding, each telling the horribletale of murders committed by English women. 

We had to rough it while travelling from _Kuopio_ to _Uleåborg_. Ofteneggs, milk, and black bread with good butter were the only reliableforms of food procurable, and the jolting of the carts was rathertrying; but the clothes of the party suffered even more thanourselves--one shoe gradually began to part company with its sole, onestraw hat gradually divided its brim from its crown, one of the men'scoats nearly parted company from its sleeve, and the lining inside toreand hung down outside. We had not time to stop and mend such things aswe might have mended, so we gradually grew to look worse and worse, ourhair turning gray with dust, and our faces growing copper-coloured withthe sun. We hardly looked up to West End style, and our beauty, if weever possessed any, was no longer delicate and ethereal, but ruddy androbust. We were in the best of health and spirits, chaffing and laughingall day long, for what is the use of grumbling and growling overdiscomforts that cannot be helped--and half the joy of _compagnons devoyage_ is to laugh away disagreeables at the time, or to chat overcurious reminiscences afterwards. 

_Never less alone than when alone_ is a true maxim; but not fortravelling; a pleasant companion adds a hundredfold to the pleasures ofthe journey, especially when the friendship is strong enough to standthe occasional strains on the temper which must occur along wilduntrodden paths. 

On that memorable drive through _Savolax_ in Northern Finland, we paid asomewhat amusing and typical visit to a _Pappi_ (clergyman) at a_Pappila_, or rectory. These country _Luthersk Kyrka_ (Lutheranchurches) are few and far between, a minister's district often extendingeight or ten miles in every direction, and his parishioners thereforenumbering about six or eight thousand, many of whom come ten miles ormore to church, as they do in the Highlands of Scotland, where the FreeKirk is almost identical with the Lutheran Church of Finland. In bothcases the post of minister is advertised as vacant, applicants send innames, which are "sifted, " after which process the most suitable areasked to come and perform a service, and finally the _Pappi_ of Finland, or minister of Scotland, is chosen by the people. 

There is seldom an organ in the Finnish country churches, and, untilAndrew Carnegie gave some, hardly ever in the Scotch Highlands--eachreligion has, however, its precentor or _Lukkari_, who leads thesinging; both churches are very simple and plain--merelywhitewashed--perhaps one picture over the altar--otherwise noornamentation of any kind. 

On one of our long drives we came to a village proudly possessing achurch and a minister all to itself, and, being armed with anintroduction to the _Pappi_, we arranged to call at the _Pappila_. 

"Yes, " replied a small boy with flaxen locks, "the _Pappi_ is at home. "Hearing which good news in we went. It was a large house for Finland, where a pastor is a great person. There were stables and cow-sheds, agranary, and quite a nice-sized one-storeyed wooden house. We marchedinto the salon--a specimen of every other drawing-room one meets; thewooden floor was painted ochre, and polished, before each window stoodlarge indiarubber plants, and between the double windows was a layerof Iceland moss to keep out the draughts of winter, although at the timeof our visit in July the thermometer stood somewhere about 90° Fahr. , asit often does in Finland during summer, when the heat is sometimesintense. Before the middle window was the everlasting high-backed primsofa of honour, on which the stranger or distinguished guest is alwaysplaced; before it the accustomed small table, with its white mat lyingdiamond fashion over the stuff cloth cover, all stiff and neat; also atother corners of the room were other tables surrounded by half a dozensimilarly uncomfortable chairs, and in the corner was that rocking-chairwhich is never absent from any home. Poor Finlanders! they do not evenknow the luxury of a real English armchair, or a Chesterfield sofa, butalways have to sit straight up as if waiting to eat their dinner--veryhealthy, no doubt, but rather trying to those accustomed to less formaldrawing-room arrangements. But then it must be remembered thateverything is done to encourage general conversation in Finland, and therooms seem specially set out with that object. 

In a moment one of the three double doors opened, and a lady of middleage, wearing a cotton gown, entered, and bade us welcome. She could onlyspeak Finnish, so although we all smiled graciously, conversation cameto an untimely end, for Finnish is as unlike English, French, German, oreven Swedish, as Gaelic is to Greek. Happily the _Pappi_ soon appeared;a fine-looking man with a beard and a kindly face. He spoke Swedish, andcould understand a few German words; so he spoke Swedish, we spokeGerman very slowly, and the conversation, although, as may be imagined, not animated, was quite successful, particularly as it was helpedoccasionally by a translation from our cicerone, who could talk Frenchfluently. We were particularly struck by a splendid old clock, wondrously painted, which stood in a corner of the room. A grandfather'sclock is a very common piece of furniture in Finland, and in many of thefarmhouses we visited we saw the queer old wooden cases we love so wellin England, painted with true native art. Just as the Norwegians loveornamenting their woodwork with strange designs, so the Finns arepartial to geometrical drawings of all descriptions; therefore cornercupboards, old bureaus, and grandfather clocks often come in for thisform of decoration. Another favourite idea is to have a small cup ofshot on the writing-table, into which the pen is dug when not inuse--and sand is still used in many places instead of blotting-paper. 

While the _Pappi_ was explaining many things, his wife had slipped away, as good wives in _Suomi_ always do, to order or make the coffee, becauseno matter at what time one pays a visit, coffee and cakes invariablyappear in about half an hour; it is absolute rudeness to leave beforethey come, and it is good taste to drink two cups, although not such anoffence to omit doing so as it is to leave a Moorish home withoutswallowing three cups of sweet mint-flavoured tea. 

We were getting on nicely with our languages, endlessly repeating_Voi_, _Voi_, which seems to be as useful in Finnish as _so_ in German, helped by a good deal of polite smiling, when a door opened and mammareturned, followed by a boy of seventeen, who was introduced as "ourson. " We got up and shook hands. He seized our finger, and bowed hishead with a little jerk over it--that was not all, however, for, as ifdesirous of dislocating his neck, he repeated the performance with asecond handshake. This was extra politeness on his part--two handshakes, two jerky bows; all so friendly and so homely. 

By the time he had finished, we realised that another boy, a littleyounger, was standing behind ready to continue the entertainment. 

Then came a girl, and seven small children, all brushed up and madebeautiful for the occasion, marched in in a row to make acquaintancewith the _Englantilaiset_, each, after he or she had greeted us, quietlysitting down at one of the other tables, where they all remainedplacidly staring during the rest of the visit. A circle is consideredthe right thing in Finland, and the old people alone talk--the youngfolk listening, and, let us hope, improving their minds. Coffee came atlast; a funny little maid, with her hair in a long plait, brought in atray, with a pretty embroidered cloth, a magnificent plated coffee-pot, luscious cream, and most appetising cakes, something like shortbread, and baked at home. We ate and we drank, we smiled upon the homely kindhostess, we shook hands with her, and all the children in a row onleaving, and the pastor, with a huge bunch of keys, accompanied us tosee his church, which, funnily enough, we could only reach by the helpof a small boat--all very well in the summer when boats can go, or inthe winter when there is ice to cross, but rather disheartening at themid-seasons, when crossing becomes a serious business and requires greatskill. There was a "church boat" lying near by, a great huge cumbersomesort of concern that twelve people could row at a time, and two or threetimes as many more stand or sit in, and on Sundays this boat plied toand fro with the congregation. The church boats are quite an institutionin Finland. They will sometimes hold as many as a hundred persons--likethe old pilgrim boats--some twenty or thirty taking the oars at once. Itis etiquette for every one to take a turn at rowing, and, as the churchis often far away from the parishioners, it is no unusual thing for thechurch boat to start on Saturday night, when the Sabbath is reallysupposed to begin, and it is quite a feature in the life of _Suomi_ tosee the peasants arriving on Saturday evening straight from their workat the waterside, at the appointed time for starting to their devotions, with their little bundles of best clothes. They are all very friendly, and as they row to the church they generally sing, for there is nooccasion on which a number of Finns meet together that they do not burstinto song. This weekly meeting is much valued. 

Arrived at the church, they put up for the night at the homesteads roundabout, for be it understood the church is often some distance even froma village; or, if balmy summer, they lie down beneath the trees and, under the brilliant canopy of heaven, take their rest. 

When morning comes the women don their black frocks, the black or whitehead-scarves, take their Bibles--neatly folded up in whitehandkerchiefs--from their pockets, and generally prepare themselves forthe great event of the week. When the church service, which lasts somehours, is over, they either turn up their skirts, or more often than nottake off their best things and, putting them back into the littlebundle, prepare to row home again. 

The church boats are, of course, only used in the summer; in the winterthe route is much shortened by the universal snow and ice, which makesit possible to sledge over land or sea alike, and make many short cuts. On a later date we went to a Sabbath service at a _Luthersk Kyrka_, anda very remarkable affair it proved. As we drove up to the church aboutone o'clock, we found over a hundred _kärra_ or native carts standingoutside. In these funny "machines, " as our Scotch friends would rightlycall them, many of the congregation had arrived, and, after having tiedtheir horses to the railings outside, gone in to service. The churchheld nearly four thousand people, and every man and woman present was apeasant. The building was crowded to excess, the sexes being divided bythe centre aisle. Nearly every one wore black, that being considered theproper wear for Sundays, weddings, and festivals, especially for themarried women, who also wore black silk handkerchiefs over their heads. Each woman carried a large white handkerchief in her hand, upon whichshe leaned her head while praying. Subsequently we found that all thefemales rolled their prayer-books up in these cloths while carrying themhome. 

Service had begun at ten, so that three hours of it was over when wearrived, and the Communion, which lasted another hour and a half, wasabout to begin. The place was packed, the day very hot, and the peasantatmosphere a little oppressive. We were much struck by the children;mere babies actually being nursed by their mothers, while elder urchinswalked in and out of the building--going sometimes to have a game withvarious other little friends amidst the graves outside, plaitingdaisy-chains, or telling fortunes by large ox-eyed daisies. The menwalked out also and enjoyed a pipe or gossip with a neighbour, and therewas that general air of freedom which prevails in a Roman CatholicChurch during divine service; nevertheless, the intense simplicity, thedevotion, the general inclination to moan and weep, reminded us of theHighland Kirk. But it was very surprising to hear the Pastor tell hiscongregation that at a certain day he would be at an appointed place toreceive grain, butter, potatoes, calves, etc. The clergymen are paid in"kind, " which to them is a suitable arrangement, as they are generallypeasants' sons and well able to attend to their own glebes; but it didsound funny to hear a clergyman, standing in the pulpit, talk of butterand eggs. 

When the congregation stood up we naturally stood up with them. TheFinlanders are short, and for two women five feet seven or eight high, with hats on the tops of their heads, suddenly to rise, amazed acongregation the female members of which were seldom taller than fivefeet one or two, and wore nothing on their heads but a flathandkerchief. We felt like giraffes towering over the rest of thepeople, and grew gradually more and more ashamed of our height and hats, simple though the latter were. How we longed to be short and have ourheads covered with black silk handkerchiefs like the rest of the folkaround, so as to be unnoticeable in their midst. 

We felt we were a very disturbing influence; for, gradually, those whohad not noticed our entrance began to realise there was somethingstrange in the church, and nudged their friends to look at two tallwomen--dark into the bargain--each with a hat on her head. Theirsurprise might be forgiven, for to them we must have appeared strangeapparitions indeed. In that church there was no organ, but a young mangot up and started the singing, just as a precentor does in theHighlands; having once given them the tune, that vast congregationfollowed his lead very much at their own sweet wills. 

For our own part, certainly, we came away much impressed by theirdevoutness, and not a little touched and interested by the simplicity ofthe Lutheran service. 

When we came out some of the men, who had previously slipped away, werebeginning to harness their ponies in order to drive very possibly tenmiles. Little groups were also forming to enjoy the luncheons brought inhandkerchiefs, ere starting to walk back long distances to their homes. 

Verily, we might have been in Scotland; there were the gossips round thechurch doors, the plate to hold the pence, covered with a white cloth, ay, and even the dogs were waiting; there were the women lifting uptheir black skirts, inside out, exactly as her Highland sister whenattired in her best gown. How like in many characteristics the twonations are. 

It seems ridiculous to be always writing of the intense heat in Finland, but as it is generally supposed to be a cold country, where furs andrugs are necessary even in the summer, we could not help being struck bythe fact of the almost tropical temperature, at times, which weencountered all through June, July, and August. No wonder people hadlaughed at our fur coats on arrival. It is a fact that although inFinland the winters are terribly long and severe, the summers areextremely hot. 

Just before reaching _Iisalmi_ we turned in at the gate of _HerrStoehman_, a large gentleman-farmer to whom we had an introduction, andpaid a most pleasant visit. He was a delightful man, hospitalitypersonified; and his wife at once invited us to stay with them, utterstrangers though we were. 

He has a sort of agricultural college, in the dairy department of whichwe were specially interested. Our host takes twenty peasants at a time, who remain for a two years' course. In the summer they are taughtpractical farming out of doors, in the winter theoretical, indoors. 

It was a wonderful institution, splendidly organised, well kept, andquite a model in its way. Indeed, it is amazing to see how advanced theFinlanders are in all matters of technical education, and there is nodoubt but that the future of _Suomi_ will be the outcome of the presentteaching. 

Adjoining was a _Mejeri_, where a dozen women Were being instructed inbutter and cheese-making. The butter all goes to England, while thecheese is an excellent _copy_ of our own cheddar, which we have almostforgotten how to make. 

Poor old Albion!

Butter and cheese-making is quite a new trade, pursued with energy inFinland. 

Until about 1880 co-operative dairying was almost unknown in Denmark, and now Denmark is a rich country which has established over twothousand creameries, and sends to England alone some £7, 000, 000 worth ofbutter annually, to say nothing of eggs and bacon. 

Finland not having been slow to see the extent to which Denmark hadsucceeded, _Mejeris_ were established here and there over the land forthe making of butter and cheese; indeed, there were in 1912 sevenhundred and fifty-four of them in existence. 

Imagine our surprise when driving along a country road, right in thewilds of Finland, to see a vast herd of cows being driven home to bemilked; yet this happened several times. 

"Where are they going?" we asked on one occasion; "how can so fewfamilies require so much milk?"

"They are going to the creamery, " was the reply. "This neighbourhoodcould not use the milk, which is all made into cheese, and the creaminto butter, to be exported to England. "

Being much interested in the subject, having written a pamphlet _Danish_versus _English Buttermaking_, we of course stopped to see thecreamery, and were amazed to find it conducted on the latest scientificDanish principles, and, although established little over a year, in fullworking order. 

The proprietor only owned sixty cows, but he had the milk sent in from ahundred more, and exactly as they return the skim milk in Denmark, sothey return it in Finland. By a careful process of autumn calving, theFinnish dairymen manage to have most milk in the winter, when they makebutter, which they send seventy miles by sledge to the nearest railwaytrain, to be borne hence to _Hangö_, the only port in Finland that isopen during the winter months. There it meets a steamer which conveys itto England. 

In 1874, there were exported about 5, 159, 885 kilograms (about 2 lbs. ). 

In 1909, this quantity had doubled itself, the amount exported being11, 632, 200 kilograms. 

Of this, Great Britain took the larger share, her import of Finnishbutter being of the value of twenty-four million marks, while Russia'sonly reached four million marks. 

Formerly all the butter was sent to Russia; but Russia, like every othercountry, except England, woke up and began making her own butter. Finland, however, does not suffer, she merely ships to England direct, or through Denmark to England instead, and the trade in ten years hastrebled itself. 

Few of us in England realise what a large sum goes out of this countryevery day for butter consumed by a people unable to make it forthemselves. England imports vast quantities of butter from Normandy, Brittany, Australia, and the Argentine, and much comes from Denmark, towhich country Finland is a fair rival. 

We stayed at the _Mejeri_ late into the night, for we were always makingmistakes as to time in that bewilderingly everlasting daylight. Afterweeks of eternal light, one begins to long for the peace of darkness. 

One of my sister's greatest joys, and one of my greatest discomforts, was a kodak. Now, a large kodak is one of those hard uncomfortablethings that refuses to be packed anywhere; it takes up too much room ina Gladstone bag, it is apt to get broken in the rug-strap, and, therefore, the wretched square box invariably has to be carried at allinconvenient times and seasons. However, as there were no photographs tobe procured of Northern Finland, and my sister declared there was notime for me to make any sketches, we decided to struggle with thekodak, and I tried to bear the annoyance of its presence in theanticipation of the joy of future results. My sister kodaked here andkodaked there; she jumped out of the little cart and made snap-shots ofold peasants and older houses, of remarkable-looking pigs andfamine-stricken chickens. In fact, she and the kodak were here, there, and everywhere, and glorious reproductions were anticipated. Each dayshe exclaimed, "What a mercy we have not to wait for you to sketch. Why, I can do twenty or thirty pictures while you do one. " I felt the reproofand was silenced. 

Then came a day when the roll of a hundred had to be changed. We allknow the everlasting cry, the endless excuse for bad photographs. "Yousee, the light got in;" and generally the offender, we learn, is someruthless custom-house official, who cares nothing for travel and lessfor art, and whose one joy is unearthing cigars and disturbing ladies'hats. This time "the light got in" with a vengeance. For a couple ofdays my wretched sister endeavoured to find a place to change that roll, but in a land where there is continual day it is absolutely impossibleto find night!

We inquired for cellars, we even sought for a cave--all unsuccessfully;and so the night we left the _Mejeri_ she decided that the roll _must_be changed, and darkness secured somehow. There were two windows to ourbedroom; we had two travelling rugs; one was pinned up over each window, but the light streamed in above and below and round the curtains. Wethen pinned up our skirts, but even that was not sufficient; we addedbodices to the arrangement, the length of the sleeves filling upinconvenient cracks, but the light still streamed under and above andround the two doors. We laid pillows on the floor, and got rid of thatstreak of illumination; we stuffed the sides and top with towels, buteven then there was a wretched grayness in our chamber which forbodeill. 

"I know, " exclaimed my sister, "I shall get under the bed. " But as thebed was of wood and very low, she only succeeded in getting her own headand the kodak beneath its wooden planks, while I carefully built her inwith blankets and eider-downs, and left her to stifle on a dreadfullyhot night with a nasty-smelling little lamp under the mattresses. 

She groaned and she sighed, but at last she emerged triumphant, if veryhot, from the undertaking. Particularly happy in the result of ourmidnight performances, she started another roll, and felt assured thatshe had a hundred excellent photographs of the life of the people in theinterior of dear old Finland. Only after we returned to London did theterrible truth reveal itself; the light had indeed got in, and one afteranother of the films, as they were taken from their bath, disclosednothing but gray blackness!

The laugh (and the cry) was on my side now. Why, oh why, had I notpersevered with the sketches, instead of only doing one at our midnighthaven of rest in the _Uleåborg_ rapids?

FOOTNOTES:

[E] Described in _A Winter Jaunt to Norway_. 

CHAPTER XVI

A "TORP" AND "TORPPARI" WEDDING

Like most Finnish towns, _Iisalmi_ proved somewhat disappointing. Wewaited a day or two, to rest, to collect letters and answer them, tobathe and mend our clothes, and then gladly jogged on again. 

Our start from _Iisalmi_ for _Kajana_ was somewhat remarkable. Havingdined and enjoyed our coffee, we had ordered the _kärra_ for fiveo'clock, when it was cooler, well knowing that, in consequence of theFinns' slowness, it would take at least an hour to pack our luggageaway. The queer little two-wheeled vehicles drove into the courtyard. They had no springs, and no hood to protect us from the rain or sun; butwere merely fragile little wooden carts, such as are used by the nativesthemselves. The seat was placed across them dog-cart fashion, and behindit and under it the luggage had to be stowed. Verily, we were startingthrough Finland in carts!

On this occasion our party mustered six in all; therefore, as a _kärra_holds but two, three of these primitive little vehicles were requiredfor our accommodation. We were very anxious to dispense with theservices of the coachmen, two of them at all events, as we had oftendone before, for it seemed quite ridiculous, considering we always droveourselves, to take two men with us who were not wanted, and whose extraweight told on a long country journey. But not a bit of it; no amount ofpersuasion could induce them to stop behind. They were looking forwardto the trip with pleasurable excitement, and evidently consideredtravelling with English ladies a special honour. The amount of talkingand discussing and arranging that went on over this simple matter isappalling to think about even now. First of all they said there was toomuch luggage, although they had already interviewed the luggage the daybefore. Then they declared that if they took it they must be paid tenmarks extra for doing so; then they packed all the heavy articles intoone _kärra_, and all the light into another, and finally came to theconclusion that this plan would not answer, and unpacked everythingagain. It really became ridiculous at last, and we sat on the steps ofthe little hostelry and roared with laughter to see them shaking theirfists first at each other, and then at our unoffending Finnish friends, while measuring the Gladstones or thumping the rugs. All this fuss wasabout three Gladstones, a small dress-basket, only the size of a suitcase, a bundle of rugs, and a basket full of provisions!

By half-past six, however, matters were amicably settled, and thepatient little ponies, which had stood perfectly still throughout thesquabble, feeling us mount into our places, started off at a fullgallop out of the town almost before we had caught the reins. Sheerbravado on the part of the ponies, or one might perhaps better saytraining, for it is the habit of the country to go out of towns with adash, and enter after the same fashion. 

As a rule, the coachman sits on the floor at the feet of the off-sideoccupant of the _kärra_, holding the reins immediately over thesplash-board, and dangling his feet somewhere above the step. If he doesnot do this, he hangs on by his eyelashes behind, balanced on the top ofthe luggage. 

Our men, or rather lads, afforded us much amusement before we partedwith them two days later, for their interest in us was quite wonderful, and, finding that we were surprised at many things to which they werequite accustomed, they began showing off every trifle with the air ofprinces. When they came to a friend's house on the route they invited usto enter, consequently we drank milk with many queer folk, and pattedthe heads of numerous native children. 

After our gentlemen friends had finally paid these coachmen and giventhem their tips at _Kajana_, some days later our sitting-room door burstopen, and in the three solemnly filed, cap in hand, looking somewhatshy, and formally went through the process of handshaking with us all inturn. If the warmth of their affections was meant to be conveyed by thestrength of their grip, they must have loved us very much indeed, forour fingers tingled for an hour afterwards; but the funniest part ofall, perhaps, was the whisper of one in my ear. Finnish was hislanguage; I did not understand a word and shook my head; when, puttinghis mouth still closer to my ear, he murmured the words again. Alas! Icould not understand, and he knew it; yet his anxiety was so great hetried and tried again to make me comprehend. "Take me to England, " atlast I understood was the translation of the words the nervous youth, with many blushes and much twirling of his cap, kept repeating. Butfirmly and decisively I declined the honour, and he left quitecrestfallen. 

The tenant farmer, who often pays his rent in labour, is called a_torppari_, and his house a _torp_. He can only be likened to thecrofters in the poorer parts of Scotland; but where the crofter buildshis house of stone, the _torppari_ erects his of wood; where the crofterburns peat and blackens his homestead absolutely, the _torppari_ useswood, and therefore the peat reek is missing, and the ceilings and wallsmerely browned; where the crofter sometimes has only earth for hisflooring, the _torp_ is floored neatly with wood, although that wood isoften very much out of repair, the walls shaky with age, extra lumps ofIceland moss being poked in everywhere to keep out the snow and rain. 

Before the door was a sort of half wigwam made of tree trunks, standingoutwards with the top end leaning against the house; this was to protectthe door from the winter snows, to make a sort of screen in fact, sothat it need not be dug out every day as is sometimes necessary. Thedoor itself was only about three feet high, and began a foot from theground, --another plan to keep back the encroaching snow. Yet these_torps_ are very superior, and the inhabitants much richer than thosewretched folk who dwell in the _Savupirtti_, a house without a chimney. 

There are many such queer abodes in Finland, more especially in the_Savo_ or _Savolax_ districts there yet remain a large number of these_Savupirtti_, the name given to a chimneyless house in the nominativesingular in Finnish, famous as we know for its sixteen cases, which soalter the original that to a stranger the word becomes unrecognisable. 

To a foreigner these _Savupirtti_ are particularly interesting, and aswe drove through the country we peeped into several of such curioushomesteads, all more or less alike, and all absolutely identical intheir poverty, homes which in 1912 only exist in the most remotedistricts. 

Seeing a queer tumbledown little hovel without a chimney by the wayside, we called "_bur-r-r_" to the pony, which, like all good Scandinavianhorses, immediately drew up, and, throwing down the knotted blue cottonreins, we hopped out, our student friend proceeding to take the top railoff the gate to admit of our clambering over the remaining bars. Thesestrange loose fences are a speciality of Finland, and although they lookso shaky and tumbledown, they withstand the winter storms, which is noslight matter. The same loose fences are to be found in the UnitedStates or Canada, but there they are made zig-zag, and calledsnake-fences. In Finland, the gates do not open; they are simply smallpine trunks laid from one fence to the other, or any chance projectingbough, and when the peasant wants to open them, he pulls them out andwrecks the whole fragile construction. It saves locks and hinges, evennails, or, the native equivalent, tying with silver-birch twigs; but itis a ramshackle sort of contrivance nevertheless. 

In we went to see a chimneyless cot. See, did we say? Nay, we could notsee anything until our eyes became accustomed to the dim light. It was atiny room, the stove occupying almost half the available space; therewas no proper chimney; the hole at the top did not always accomplish thepurpose for which it was intended, consequently the place was black withancient smoke, and suffocating with modern fumes. The floor was carpetedwith whole birch boughs, the leaves of which were drying in theatmosphere as winter fodder for the one treasured cow. For the cow is agreater possession to the Finn than his pig to the Irishman. The otherquarter of the room contained a loom, and the space left was so limitedwe were not surprised that the dame found her little outside kitchen ofmuch use. Two very small windows (not made to open) lighted theapartment; so how those folk saw during the long dark winter days was amystery to us, for they made their own candles, they said, just asEnglish folks formerly made dips, and we all know the illumination fromdips is uncertain and not brilliant. Still smoke, want of ventilation, and scarcity of light did not seem to have made them blind, although ithad certainly rendered them prematurely old. 

Beyond was the bedroom, so low that a man could only stand upright inthe middle; the wooden bed was folded away for the day, and the roughwooden table and bench denoted signs of an approaching meal, for a blackbread loaf lay upon the table, and a wooden bowl of _piimää_ was athand. 

Standing on the little barley patch which surrounded the house, we saw asort of wigwam composed of loose fir-tree trunks. They leant against oneanother, spread out because of their greater size at the bottom, andnarrowed to a kind of open chimney at the top. This was the housewife'sextra kitchen, and there on a heap of stones a wood fire wassmouldering, above which hung a cauldron for washing purposes. How likethe native wigwam of Southern climes was this Northern kitchen--in thelatter case only available during the warm weather, but then the familywashing for the year is done in summer, and sufficient _rågbröd_ alsobaked for many months' consumption. Before we had finished inspectingthis simple culinary arrangement, the housewife arrived. She was noblushing maid, no beautiful fresh peasant girl. Blushing, beautifulmaids don't exist in Finland, for which want the Mongolian blood or theclimate is to blame, as well as hard work. The girls work hard beforethey enter their teens, and at seventeen are quite like old women. Thegood body who welcomed us was much pleased to see visitors in herlittle _Savupirtti_, and delighted to supply us with fresh milk, for, inspite of their terrible poverty, these _torppari_ possessed a cow--whodoes not in Finland?--wherein lies the source of their comparativewealth. The Highland crofter, on the other hand, rarely owns even a pig!

Naturally the advent of three _kärra_ created considerable sensation, and the old woman had immediately hurried to call her husband, so thathe also might enjoy a look at the strangers. Consequently, he stood inthe doorway awaiting our arrival. 

Of course they neither of them wore any shoes or stockings. Even thericher peasants, who possess shoes or fur-lined boots for winter use, more often than not walk barefoot in the summer, while stockings areunknown luxuries, a piece of rag occasionally acting as a substitute. 

The old lady's short serge skirt was coarsely woven, her white shirt wasloose and clean, her apron was striped in many colours, after the nativestyle, and all were "woven by herself, " she told us with great pride. Onher hair she wore a black cashmere kerchief. Her face might havebelonged to a woman of a hundred, or a witch of the olden days, it wasso wrinkled and tanned. Her hands were hard and horny, and yet, afterhalf an hour's conversation, we discovered she was only aboutfifty-five, and her man seventy. But what a very, very old pair theyreally seemed. Weather-beaten and worn, poorly fed during the greaterpart of their lives, they were emaciated, and the stooping shouldersand deformed hands denoted hard work and a gray life. They seemed veryjolly, nevertheless, this funny old pair. Perhaps it was our arrival, orperhaps in the warm sunny days they have not time to look on the darkside of things while gathering in the little tufts of grass that growamong the rocky boulders, drying birch leaves for the cow for winter, attending to the small patch of rye--their greatest earthlypossession--or mending up the _Savupirtti_ ere the first snows ofOctober are upon them, that made them so cheerful. 

The old woman was much more romantically inclined than the man. TheFinnish character is slow and does not rush into speech; but a friendlypat on one grandchild's head, and a five-penni piece to the other, madeour hostess quite chirpy. "May God's blessing accompany your journey, "she said at parting; "may He protect the English ladies. "

We got into cordial relations by degrees, and our friend the student, seeing a piece of woven band hanging up, asked its use. 

"Ah, " she answered, "that was one of the pieces the bridegroom gave tohis groomsmen. "

She was greatly delighted at our evident interest in her concerns, andtold us how her son, when about twenty, met with a girl of anothervillage, and took a fancy to her. (By law a girl must be fifteen, and aboy eighteen, and able to prove they have something to live on beforethey can marry. )

"He saw her many times, and decided to ask her to be his wife, " shecontinued. "He had met the girl when he was working at her father'shouse, so he sent a _puhemies_, or spokesman, to ask for the girl'shand. "

This personage is generally chosen from among the intended bridegroom'sbest friends, as in the days of _Kalevala_, and usually is possessed ofa ready tongue. The _puhemies_ still plays a very important rôle, fornot only does he ask for the girl's hand (while the suitor sits like amute), but he is obliged to help at the wedding ceremony and feast, andalso has to provide, from his own purse, brandy and coffee for all theguests. 

After the proposal was accepted, our old friend told us there was anexchange of rings, her son got his bride such a splendid wide goldband--much wider than hers--and it was arranged that they would marrywhen the man had collected enough goods, and the girl had wovensufficient linen and stuffs to stock the little home. 

"Of course, " exclaimed the voluble old lady, "my son gave the_kihlarahat_. "

"What is that?" we asked. 

"Why, it is a sort of deposit given to the girl's father to show hereally means to marry the girl. A cow, or something of that sort, denotes he is in earnest, and my son also gave money to the girl herselfto buy things for their future household. "

"How long were they engaged?"

"Two years--for we are poor, and it took that time to collect enough toget married. Ah, but the marriage was a grand thing, it was, " and theold hag chuckled to herself at the remembrance. 

All these things and many more the proud mother told us, till at lastshe became completely engrossed in the tale of her son's wedding. He washer only boy, and she talked of him and of his doings with as much prideas if he had been the greatest hero of this or any century. She informedus how, a month before the wedding, the young couple had gone to thepastor dressed in their best, the _puhemies_, of course, accompanyingthem, and there arranged to have the banns read three Sundays in thebride's district. We were struck by this strange resemblance to our owncustoms, and learnt that the publication of banns is quite universal inFinland. 

"The wedding was here, " she went on, warming to her narrative, "for, naturally, the wedding always takes place at the bridegroom's house. "

Looking round at the extremely small two-roomed hovel, we wondered howit was possible to have _läksiäiset_ or _polterabend_, as our Germanfriends call the festival before the wedding, at this bridegroom'shouse, for the one little sitting-room and the one little bedroomcombined did not cover a larger space of ground than an ordinarybilliard table. 

"It is a very expensive thing to get married, " she continued, "and myson had to give many presents to the _Appi_ (father-in-law), _Anoppi_(mother-in-law), _Morsianpiiat_ (bridesmaids), _Sulhasrengit_(groomsmen), etc. "

Knowing the poverty of the place and the distance from a town wheregoods could be purchased, we enquired the sort of presents he gave. 

"To all the bridesmaids, " she said, "he gave _Sukat_ (stockings), thatbeing the fashion of the country, to the groomsmen he gave _paita_(shirts), to his mother-in-law, the _Anoppi_, he gave _vaatteet_(dress), and to the _Appi_ he gave a _vyö_ (belt). Then to various otherfriends he distributed _huivit_ (head handkerchiefs), " and altogetherthe wedding became a very serious drain on the family resources. 

"But oh! it was a lovely time, " she exclaimed rapturously. "A wedding isa splendid thing. We had a feast all that day and the next day, and thenthe priest came and they were married. "

"Did many friends come to the wedding?" we ventured to ask. 

"Oh yes, certainly, every one we knew came from miles round. Somebrought a can of milk, and some brought corn brandy, and others brought_gröt_ (porridge), and _Järvinen_ had been to _Iisalmi_, so he broughtback with him some white bread. Ay, it was a grand feast, " and sherubbed her hands again and again, and positively smacked her lips at therecollection of the festival. "We danced, and ate, and sang, and mademerry for two days, and then we all walked with my son and his bride tothat little _torp_ on the other side of the wood, and left them there, where they have lived ever since. "

"Do you generally stay long in the same house in Finland?"

"Of course, " she replied, "I came here when I was a bride, and I shallnever leave it till I am a corpse. "

This led to her telling us of the last funeral in the neighbourhood. Aman died, and, according to custom, he was laid out in an outhouse. Thecoffin, made by a peasant friend, was brought on a sledge, and, itbeing March with snow on the ground--"to the rumble of a snow sledgeswiftly bounding, " as they say in _Kalevala_. The corpse on the fourthday was laid in the coffin, and placed in front of the house door. Allthe friends and relatives arrived for the final farewell. Each in turnwent up to the dead man; the relations kissed him (it will be rememberedthe royal party kissed the corpse of the late Tzar before his funeral inthe Fortress Church at St. Petersburg), and his friends all shook him bythe hand. Then the coffin was screwed down, laid across a pony's back, to which it was securely strapped, and away they all trudged to thecemetery to bury their friend. 

She went on to tell us of a curious old fashion in Finland, notaltogether extinct. During the time that a corpse is being laid out andwashed, professional women are engaged to come and sing "the corpsesong. " This is a weird melancholy chant, joined in by the relations asfar as they are able, but chiefly undertaken by the paid singers. Thisconfirmed what two of the _Runo_ singers at _Sordavala_ had told us, that they were often hired out to perform this lament, and, as we weremuch interested in such a quaint old custom, we asked them at the timeif they would repeat it for us. They seemed delighted. The two womenstood up opposite one another, and each holding her handkerchief overher eyes, rolled herself backwards and forwards, slowly singing themelancholy dirge the while. They had a perfect fund of song these _Runo_women, of whom our friend at the _Savupirtti_ constantly reminded us;we told her that they had recited how _Wäinämöinen_ had made himself a_Kantele_ out of the head of a pike, and how he had played upon it sobeautifully that the tears had welled to his own eyes until they beganto flow, and as his tears fell into the sea the drops turned intobeautiful pearls. 

We asked the old dame if she could sing?

"Oh yes, " and without more ado this _prima donna_ sang a song about agirl sitting at a bridge waiting for her lover. It ran--_Annuka_, themaid of _Åbo_, sat at the end of the bridge waiting for a man after herown mind, a man with tender words. Out of the sea came a man, a wateryform out of the depths of the waves with a golden helmet, a golden cloakupon his shoulders, golden gloves upon his hands, golden money in hispockets, and bridal trinkets such as formerly were given to all Finnishbrides. 

"Will you come with me, _Annuka_, fair maid of _Åbo_?"

"I do not want to, and I will not come, " she answers. 

_Annuka_, the maid of _Åbo_, sits at the end of the bridge, and waitsfor a man after her own mind, a man with tender words. 

Out of the sea comes a man, a watery form out of the depths of the waveswith a silver helmet, a silver cloak upon his shoulders, silver glovesupon his hands, silver money in his pockets, and silver bridal trinkets. 

"Will you come with me, _Annuka_, fair maid of _Åbo_?"

"I do not want to, and I will not come, " she answers. 

_Annuka_, the maid of _Åbo_, sits at the end of the bridge, and waitsfor a man after her own mind, a man with tender words. 

Out of the sea comes a man, a watery form out of the depths of the waveswith a copper helmet, a copper cloak upon his shoulders, copper glovesupon his hands, copper money in his pockets, and copper bridal trinkets. 

"Will you come with me, _Annuka_, fair maid of _Åbo_?"

"I do not want to, and I will not come, " she answers. 

_Annuka_, the maid of _Åbo_, sits at the end of the bridge, and waitsfor a man after her own mind, a man with tender words. 

Out of the sea comes a man, a watery form out of the depths of the waveswith an iron helmet, an iron cloak upon his shoulders, iron gloves uponhis hands, iron money in his pockets, and iron bridal trinkets. 

"Will you come with me, _Annuka_, fair maid of _Åbo_?"

"I do not want to, and I will not come, " she answers. 

And then came a poor man, whose only wealth was bread. It is not gold, nor silver, nor copper, nor iron, but bread that is the staff of life. This is emblematical, to show that money does not make happiness, and so_Annuka_, the maid of _Åbo_, takes him, and sings--

"Now I am coming to you, my husband. _Annuka_, the maid of _Åbo_, willbe happy now, and happy evermore. "

Many old Finnish songs repeat themselves like this, and most of them arevery sad. 

Our dear old woman was moved to tears as she sang in her squeaky voice, and rocked herself to and fro. 

As she sang a butterfly flew past us, and was quickly joined by asecond, when a small fight ensued, the pretty creatures coming togetheras though kissing one another in their frolicsome short-lived glee, andthen separating again, perhaps for ever. 

"_Ukonkoira_" (butterflies), remarked the old woman, beaming withpleasure. Then our student explained that the butterfly was looked uponas sacred, and its flight considered a good omen. 

We had been much impressed by our old dame; her innocence and childishjoy, her love of music, and her God-fearing goodness were most touching. 

We cannot repeat too often that the Finn is musical and poetical to thecore, indeed, he has a strong and romantic love for tales and stories, songs and melody, while riddles are to be met with at every turn, andthe funny thing is that these riddles or mental puzzles often mostmercilessly ridicule the Finns themselves. 

No language, perhaps, is richer in sayings than the Finnish. When a Finnsees any one trying to perform some feat beyond his power, and failing, he immediately laughs and cries, "_Eihän lehmä puuhun pääse_" (the cowcannot climb a tree). Or, when speaking of his own country as superiorto every other land, he invariably adds, "_Oma maa mansikka muu maamustikka_" (my own land is a strawberry, all other lands arebilberries). 

These proverbs and riddles, of which there are some thousands, are thesolace of the winter evenings, when the old folk sit opposite oneanother in the dark--more often than not hand in hand--each trying whowill give in first and find his store of riddles soonest exhausted. Infact, from childhood the Finn is taught to think and invent by means ofriddles; in his solitude he ponders over them, and any man who evolves agood one is a hero in his village. They meet together for "riddleevenings, " and most amusing are the punishments given to those whocannot answer three in succession. He is sent to _Hymylä_, which issomething like being sent to Coventry. 

He is given three chances, and if he can answer none every one sings--

 _Hyys hyys Hymylään! Kun et sitäkään tiedä. _

Meaning, "Well, well, off you go to Coventry as punishment forignorance. "

Then the poor delinquent is made to play the fool. He is set on a chairin the middle of the room, dressed up as fancy pleases the audience. Hisface is often absurdly painted, and after enduring every indignity, tothe amusement of his friends, he is escorted from the room to ponderover the answers to the riddles. How they chaff him. Does he enjoy_Hymylä_? Are the dogs howling and the children running away? If hewants to come back he had better harness a mouse to his carriage, find acat to act as coachman, and a saucepan for a sledge. He must washhimself with tar and paint himself with feathers. 

And so they chaff and laugh on during those long winter evenings, intheir badly-lighted homes, where books are still rare. 

Every one in Finland can read to-day, but the first Finnish book waspublished in 1542, by _Mikael Agricola_, the Bishop who made the firsttranslation of the New Testament; but they cannot read much in theirdimly-lighted houses during the long winters, and therefore it is thatthey sing so constantly, and repeat mythical rhymes, or riddles andproverbs, which our host and hostess declared they loved. 

Their _Savupirtti_ and land did not belong to them, the latter told us. The actual owner was a farmer who let it out in various _torps_. Ourparticular friend, the _torppari_, paid him one-third of all he made offhis holding, and gave him besides eight days' work during theyear--being called upon for this manual contribution whenever the farmerwas himself most pressed. 

This particular little chimneyless house lay eighteen kilometres from_Iisalmi_, where the nearest shops were to be found. The poor old womantold us that she had had nine children, out of which number she had lostseven. When we considered the smallness of her home, the terrible wantof ventilation and sanitation, the poverty of the people, and thehardness of their lives, we were not in the least surprised at herstatement, but we marvelled much at the mother having survived all shemust have gone through. 

She made a wonderful picture as she sat on the wooden bedstead, her barefeet playing a tattoo on the wooden floor, while her clean clothesseemed absolutely to shine against the darkness of the wall behind her. 

Although so far removed from civilisation, and from luxuries of anykind, the old couple knew how to read, and they had one or two treasuredbooks. Poor as they were, they, like every other native peasant, possessed a _Piplia_ (Bible), a _Katkismus_ (catechism), a _Virsikirja_(hymn-book), and an _Almanakka_ (almanac). 

We ventured to ask the good soul if she ever read them. "Of course, " shereplied, "or what should we do at the _lukukinkerit_?"

"And what may that be?" we asked, surprised; only to learn that in thewinter months the priests travel about by means of sledges from one bigpeasant's house to another, where the smaller _torpparis_ all assemble, and there hold an examination of the people in order to ascertain theirholy knowledge. 

The peasants rather dread these _lukukinkerit_, as the priest asks themdifficult questions, which it is considered an absolute disgrace not tobe able to answer satisfactorily. As we know, this was formerly thecustom in Scotland, and severe punishments were given to those who couldnot answer rightly, and prove themselves thoroughly versed in Biblehistory. This custom is now practically done away with in Scotland, although the examination for the communion, which takes place twice ayear in the Highlands, partakes somewhat of the same nature. In Finlandthe winter examinations are very serious matters, and therefore it isthat the Bible, prayer-book, and hymn-book are to be found in everypeasant's home, while a profound knowledge of their contents is general. 

Besides examining the folk on religious subjects, the priest alsoseverely tests their reading capabilities, for no one can be married inFinland unless he be able to read to the satisfaction of his spiritualadviser. This means that all Finland can read. Yet in Russia, near by, only a quarter of the population know how to read, and far fewer canwrite, and they still count by beads. 

As we turned to leave the little homestead, we noticed some apparentlydead birch-trees planted on both sides of the front door, and knowingthe birch and ash were still considered more or less sacred by thepeasant, we wondered what such a shrubbery could signify--why, when thetrees were dead, they had not been thrown away. Everything else lookedfresh and green, so we were more than surprised to notice their crumpledbrown leaves, and eventually asked how it came about that these twoyoung trees were dead. 

"It was my husband's _Nimipäivä_ (name-day) lately, " said the old body, "and of course we went to the forest and cut down two birch-trees, andstuck them into the ground by the front door to bring him luck. "

The name-day, be it understood, is an important event in Finnish familyhistory, a festival equivalent to our birthday rejoicings; and in thecase of the father or mother, the children generally all assemble ontheir parent's name-day. The richer folk have a dinner or a dance, orsomething of that kind--the poor a feast; but all decorate their frontdoor with birch-trees, in honour of the occasion, while those who havethe means to do so exchange presents. 

Our dear old lady was almost tearful when we left, and, asking our namesmost affectionately, tried again and again to pronounce thequeer-sounding _Tweedie_ and _Harley_. A bright idea struck us; we wouldshow her the words written, and thereupon we gave her our cards. Thiswas too much joy. Fancy any one actually having her name on a card. Thenshe turned the extraordinary bits of pasteboard over and over, andseizing our hands, kissed them to show her gratitude. Afterwards shewent to her cupboard, and producing a white handkerchief, one of thoseshe kept for conveying her Bible to and from church, carefully wrappedthe cards round and round, and promised to keep them always inremembrance of her strange visitors. 

It was really wonderful, driving along the roads, how near our three_kärra_ kept to one another; sometimes, indeed, they were so close thatwe could all converse conveniently. This answered very well, but when, by chance or design, they got about twenty or thirty yards apart, thedust kicked up by the horse in front was so fearful that we sufferedmuch, and it was really amusing at the end of each day to see howcompletely our hair was powdered, and note the wonderful gray hue ourfaces had assumed, eyelashes, eyebrows and all. I was wearing a blackdress, on the lapels of which it afforded amusement to my companions toplay a game of _noughts and crosses_ with their fingers amid theaccumulated dust. It was extraordinary, considering the thickness of thesand, for it was more sand than dust that lay upon the roads, that ourponies could go so well; and when the sun was at its height the heat wasso fearful, and the number of mosquitoes and horseflies so appalling, that this inconvenience, coupled with the dust, still made it absolutelyimpossible at times for us to pursue our journey during the mid-dayhours; but those glorious northern evenings made up for all thediscomfort. 

The roads themselves were wonderfully straight, and as there is a redpost every kilometre (or half mile), we could tell how far we wentwithout even turning our heads, because we could count five or six postsat the same time, so straight was the way. 

As we proceeded farther North the country became more hilly, and ourlittle animals would stop and walk up steep inclines; having reached thesummit, however, they were wont to gallop full speed to the bottom. 

We reached a most charming _majatalo_. It was near midnight, and, as itis one of the best in Finland, it was decided that we should there spenda night. It was only the pretence of a night, however, for the coachmandeclared it would be quite impossible to drive during the heat of thefollowing day, and, consequently, We must start again on our way at fourin the morning at the very latest. 

Here at last, thank heaven, we found a _majatalo_ which was _properlyinspected_. There were iron bedsteads and clean mattresses, and, havingsuffered so terribly as we had done, it seemed very bad luck that wecould not enjoy more than three hours' rest in such delightful quarters. While our supper, which consisted of milk, coffee, eggs, and deliciousbutter, supplemented with the white bread we brought with us, was beingprepared, we had a look into the large farmhouse where our host himselflived. 

Instead of the family being in bed, as in an ordinary English farm theywould be at midnight, a girl was sitting in the corner making butterwith an old-fashioned churn of the wooden-handled type, which you pullup and down to use. There had evidently been a great baking that day orthe day before, for the farm kitchen seemed to contain hundreds ofloaves, which were stacked on the floor, piled on the table, and strewnon benches, not yet having been suspended by means of strings from theceilings and rafters. 

We thoroughly enjoyed that evening meal, sitting on the balcony, orrather large porch of the little annexe kept for strangers; one and allagreed no nicer butter, sweeter milk, or more perfect cream--of whichthey brought us a quart jug--could be found anywhere, and thattravellers must indeed be hard to please who could not live for a fewdays on such excellent farm produce, even though they might have todispense with the luxuries of fish, flesh, and fowl. 

Three A. M. Is a little early to turn out of bed, but when one istravelling through the wilds one must do many trying things, so we allgot up at that hour, which, judging by our feelings, seemed to us stillmidnight. The sun, however, was of a different opinion, he was up andshining brilliantly long before any of us. 

We had previously told our Finnish student the joke of having tried toorder hot water over night, and, after much explanation and manystruggles to make her understand, how the girl had returned with ateacup full of the boiling liquid, and declared that the greatesttrouble we were forced to encounter in Finland was to get any water towash with, more especially warm. 

He smiled, but was not daunted. We heard him up early, and imagined hewas arranging things with the coachman and ordering breakfast--for wecannot ever be sufficiently grateful to our Finnish friends for theirkindness and thoughtfulness in managing everything for our comfort fromthe first day of our stay in Finland till the last; but he had done morethan this, and apparently made up his mind that we should never, whilehe travelled with us, have cause to accuse Finland again of being unableto produce _Hett vatten_!

At three A. M. A knock came at the door--a most unusual form ofproceeding in a country where every one walks in without thispreliminary--and, having opened it in reply, we found a buxom maidstanding with an enormous jug of boiling water, and a yet more enormouswooden pail, such as one might require for a family wash, full of thesame boiling liquid, and a tub outside the door from which volumes ofsteam were rising. It was for the English ladies, she said. 

Our student had paid us out, and we felt ashamed and sorry. 

As we sat at breakfast we watched a girl drawing water from the well. Every house in Finland, be it understood, has its well, over which is araised wooden platform something like a table with a hole in the middlefor the bucket to pass through. A few feet back a solid pillar stands onthe ground, through the fork-like top of which a pine-tree trunk isfixed, generally about thirty feet long. It is balanced in such a waythat at the one end of it a large stone is tied to make it heavy, whilesuspended from a fine point, standing in mid-air, appear a series ofwooden posts joined together by iron hasps so as to form a long chain orcord, to the bottom end of which the bucket is attached. Thus the bucketwith its wooden string is, when filled with water, equivalent in weightto the stone at the other end of the pump. In fact, the whole thing ismade on the principle of a pair of scales. 

The girl seized the empty bucket, pulled it over the hole, and, hangingon to the jointed poles with all her weight, sent the bucket down somethirty feet into the well below. By this time the stone at the far endof the pole was up in mid-air. When she thought the bucket was full shelet go, and immediately it began to rise at the same time as the stoneat the other end began to descend, and in a moment the beautifulwell-water reached the surface. Such pumps as these are to be found allover Finland, and their manufacture seems a speciality of the country. 

We had considerable fun over the coffee cups at breakfast, for every oneof them had written round its border love passages and mottoes inFinnish--another instance of how the love of proverbs and mottoes isnoticeable everywhere throughout the country. Our gentleman friends hadgreat jokes over these inscriptions, but they unkindly refused to tellus what they really meant. 

We had learnt a good deal of Finnish from sheer necessity, and couldmanage to order coffee or milk, or to pay what was necessary, but ourknowledge of the language did not go far enough for us to understand thewonderful little tales printed round the coffee cups from which wedrank. Again we were given silver spoons. 

For once we really started at the hour named, and at four o'clock, witha crack of the whip, our ponies galloped out of the yard of the mostdelightful _majatalo_ we had ever slept in. On we drove through theearly hours of the morning, everything looking fresh and bright, thebirds singing, the rabbits running across the road. As we passed fieldswhere the peasants were gathering in their hay, or ploughing with anold-fashioned hand-plough, such as was used in Bible days and is stillcommon in Morocco, we wondered what Finnish peasants would think of allour modern inventions for saving labour, especially that wonderfulmachine where the wheat goes in at the top and comes out corn at oneend, chaff in the middle, and straw, bound ready for sale, at the other. We drove on till nine o'clock, by which time we were all ready foranother meal. Jogging along country roads aids digestion, and by nine wehad forgotten we had ever eaten any breakfast at all. We had reallyarranged to spend some hours at our next halting-place, in fact not toleave until the cool of the evening, so as to rest both our horses andourselves, and be saved the glare and the heat. But tired as our animalsseemed, and weary though we were, that station proved impossible. We hadto stay for a couple of hours, for it would have been cruel to ask theponies to leave sooner, but we were indeed thankful that we had notarranged to spend the night in such an awful hole. To relate the horrorof that _majatalo_ would be too fearful a task. Suffice it to sayeverything was filthy, and we felt sick at heart when drinking milk andcoffee at the place. Worse still, our white bread had come to an end, and we had to eat some of the native rye bread. The housewife and allthe women in the house being terrible even to look upon, it seemedperfectly awful to eat bread that they had made, but yet we were sohungry. Reader, pity our plight. 

Though the sun was blazing, we dare not sit inside, for the little tuftsof hair tied round the legs of the tables a foot and a half from thefloor found here practical use. These fur protectors are often used in_Suomi_ to keep insects from crawling up the legs of the table, but, inthis case, when we bent down to look at the bit of ba-lamb's fur sotied, we saw to our horror that it was full of animal life. Calling theattention of one of our Finnish friends to this fact, he told us thatthere was a saying that none of these creepy things would come across_filbunke_, and that a friend of his, travelling in these Northernparts, had on one occasion been so pestered that he fetched a wooden mugof _filbunke_, and with a wooden spoon made a ring on the floor with thesoured milk, inside which he sat in peace, the crawling things remainingon the outside of his charmed circle. 

"And, " he added, laughing, "we will go and fetch _filbunke_, if youlike, and then you can all sit inside rings of your own. "

"No, " we replied, "instead of doing that, let us get away from here asquickly as possible. "

Out we sallied, therefore, to ask the coachman how soon he could beready to drive on to _Kajana_. 

How typical. There was one of the lads, aged thirteen, lying on hisback, flat out on the wooden steps of the house, smoking hard at anative pipe; his felt hat was pulled down over his eyes, his top bootswere standing beside him, and over them hung the rags he used forstockings. 

"Go on, " he said. "Oh! we cannot go on till this afternoon, it's toohot. "

"But, " remonstrated Grandpapa, "it is not so very far to _Kajana_, andthe ladies are anxious to get to the end of their journey. "

"Quite impossible, " he replied, "the horses must rest. "

Wherein he certainly was right; the poor brutes had come well, and, after all, whatever the horrors and inconveniences may be to oneself, one cannot drive dumb animals to death, so, therefore, at that_majatalo_ we stayed, weary and hungry prisoners for hours. Only thinkof it!

Oh, how glad we were to shake the dust of that station from our feet, and how ridiculous it seemed to us that such dirty untidy folk couldexist in the present day, to whom "Cleanliness is next to godliness" wasan unknown fact. 

We found some amusement, however, for the family had just received in abox-case a sewing-machine--a real English sewing-machine. A "traveller"had been round even to this sequestered spot, possessed of sufficienteloquence to persuade the farmer to buy his goods, and it certainly didseem remarkable that in such a primitive homestead, with itsspinning-wheel and hand-loom in one corner, a sewing machine and a newAmerican clock should stand in the other. 

On we jogged; but, be it owned, so many consecutive days' driving and sofew hours' rest, in carts without springs or seats and without backs, were beginning to tell, and we were one and all finding our backbonesgetting very limp. The poor little ponies too began to show signs offatigue, but luckily we at last reached a hilltop which showed we weredrawing close to the end of our _kärra_ journey. We pulled up for awhile to give the poor creatures time to breathe, and for us to see thewide-spreading forests around. The view extended for miles and miles, and undulating away to the horizon, nothing appeared but pine-trees. 

No one can imagine the vastness, the black darkness, the sombregrandness of those pine forests of Finland. 

Then the descent began; there were terribly steep little bits, where theone idea of the ponies seemed to be to fly away from the wheels thatwere tearing along behind them. We held on tightly to the blue knittedreins, for the descents in some places were so severe that even thosesure-footed little ponies were inclined to stumble--fatigue was thecause, no doubt;--but if our own descent were exciting, it was yet morealarming to look back at the _kärra_ following, too close for comfort, behind us, literally waggling from side to side in their fast andprecipitous descent, encircled by clouds of dust. 

_Kajana_ at last. What a promised haven of rest after travelling fordays in springless carts, happily through some of the most beautiful andinteresting parts of Finland. 

CHAPTER XVII

TAR-BOATS

Tar hardly sounds exciting; but the transport of tar can be thrilling. 

We were worn out and weary when we reached _Kajana_, where we were theonly visitors in the hotel, and, as the beds very rapidly provedimpossible, we women-folk confiscated the large--and I supposeonly--sitting-room as our bed-chamber. A horsehair sofa, of a hardold-fashioned type, formed a downy couch for one; the dining-table, covered by one of the travelling-rugs, answered as a bed--rather of theprison plank-bed order--for number two; and the old-fashioned spinet, standing against the wall, furnished sleeping accommodation for numberthree. We had some compunctions on retiring to rest, because, after ourluxurious beds had been _fixed up_, as the Americans would say, wediscovered there was no means whatever for fastening the door, --it was, as usual, minus bolts and locks; but as _Kajana_ was a quiet sleepylittle town, and no one else was staying in the hotel but our ownmen-folk on the other side of the courtyard, weary and worn out with ourjolty drive, and our waterfall bath, we lay down to rest. We were allhalf asleep when the door suddenly opened and in marched two men. Theystood transfixed, for of course it was quite light enough for them tosee the strange positions of the three occupants of the sitting-room;and the sight scared them even more than their appearance surprised us, for they turned and fled. We could not help laughing, and wondering whatstrange tales of our eccentricities would enliven the town that night. 

Descending the rapids of the _Uleåborg_ river in a tar-boat is one ofthe most exciting experiences imaginable. Ice-boat sailing in Holland, _skilöbnung_ (snow-shoeing) in Norway, tobogganing in Switzerland, horse-riding in Morocco--all have their charms and their dangers--but, even to an old traveller, a tar-boat and a cataract proved new-foundjoys. There is a vast district in Finland, about 65° North latitude, extending from the frontier of Russia right across to _Uleåborg_ on theGulf of Bothnia where tar plays a very important rôle; so important, infact, that this large stretch of land, as big or bigger than Wales, ispractically given over to its manufacture and transport. 

After leaving _Kuopio_, as we had travelled Northwards towards Lapland, the aspect of the country altered every twenty miles. It became far morehilly, for Finland, as a whole, is flat. The vegetation had changedlikewise, and we suddenly found ourselves among tracts of dwarf birch sofamiliar to travellers in Iceland. 

As we had driven on towards _Kajana_ we had repeatedly passed pine-treesfrom which part of the bark was cut away, and, not realising we were nowin _tar-land_, wondered at such destruction. 

The history of the tar, with which we are so familiar, is very strange, and not unmixed with dangers. Pine-trees, growing in great forests wherethe bear, wolf, and elk are not unknown, are chosen for its production. The first year the bark is carefully cut away from the ground as high asa man can reach, except on the northern side of the tree, where a striptwo inches wide is left intact. Now this strip is always the strongestpart of the bark because it faces northwards, and it is, therefore, leftto keep the tree alive and to prevent it from drying. All the rest ofthe trunk remains bare, shining white and silvery in the sunlight, andforms a thick yellow juice, which oozes out of the tree, and smellsstrongly of turpentine. This ultimately makes the tar. 

The next year the same process is repeated, except that then the bark ispeeled higher up the tree, the strip on the northern side always beingleft as before to keep the sap alive. The tenacity of the life of barkis wonderful, as may be seen at a place like Burnham Beeches, where, inmany cases, all the inside of the tree has practically gone, and yet thebark lives and the tree produces leaves. 

This treatment goes on for four, and sometimes five, years, until mostof the tree is stripped. It was in this naked condition the pines firstattracted our attention, for a barkless tree covered with a thick yellowsap, to the uninitiated, is an unusual sight. In October, or early inNovember, of each year the selected pines are duly cut down, and later, by the aid of sledges, they are dragged over the snow through theforests to the nearest _tervahauta_ (kiln), there to be burnt into tar. 

So cold is it in this part of the world during winter that thethermometer often drops to 30° or 40° Fahr. Below freezing-point, andthen the hard-worked little horses look like balls of snow, the heatfrom their bodies forming drops at the end of their manes, tails, andeven their long coats, for their hair grows to an even greater lengththan the Shetland ponies. At last their coats become so stiff they arenot able to move, so they often have to be taken indoors and thawed bythe oven's friendly warmth. 

These sturdy little beasts gallop over the hardened forest track, dragging their wood behind them--for without the aid of snow to levelthe roads, or ice to enable the peasants to make short cuts across thelakes, little trade could be done. The winter comes as a boon and ablessing to man in those Northern realms; all transport is performed byits aid, sledges travel over snow more easily than wheels over roadlessways, and _sukset_ or ski and snowshoes traverse snow or ice morerapidly than the ordinary summer pedestrian. 

Suffocated with heat and dust, we were ourselves bumping along in aspringless _kärra_, when our attention was first arrested by--what? letus say a huge basin built on piles. This was a _tervahauta_ or tar-kiln, which looked like an enormous mushroom turned upside down, standing on athick stem of wooden piles, only in this case the mushroom was ninety ora hundred feet in circumference, and the stem at least fifteen feetwide. 

As we have nothing at all like it in England, it is difficult todescribe its appearance. Think of a flattened basin or soup-plate madeof pine-trees and covered over with cement, so that an enormous firemay burn for days upon it. In the middle, which slopes downwards like awine funnel, is a hole for the tar to run through into a wooden pipe, which carries it to the base of the kiln; passing along to the outside, the wooden pipe is arranged in such a way that a barrel can be put atthe end to receive the tar. This vast basin has to be very solidly builtin order to withstand the weight of wood--sometimes over a hundred treesat a time--and also the ravages of fire, therefore it is securelyfastened and supported at the edges by whole trunks of trees boundtogether with cement. Once built, however, it lasts for years, and, therefore, most tar-farmers have a _tervahauta_ of their own. 

The felled timber, having been sawn into pieces about a yard long inorder that they may be conveniently packed on the sledges, arrive at thekiln before spring, so that by June all is ready for the actualmanufacture of the tar itself. The _tervahauta_ basin is then packed asfull as it is possible to stack the wood, which is always laid round themiddle in order to leave a hole in the centre free to receive the tar. By the time the mass is ready it looks like a small hillock, and is madeeven more so in appearance by being thickly covered over with turf, thatit may be quite air-tight, and that a sort of dry distillation may goon. Fires are then lighted at different points round the edge, to theend that the interior may catch fire, the process being aided by a trainof old tar which runs from the burning point to the centre, as dynamiteis laid prior to an explosion. By this means the whole huge bonfireshortly begins to smoulder. 

The fire burns for ten days and nights, during which time it is neverleft, a man always staying beside the _tervahauta_ to see no accidentdisastrous to the tar happens. As the heat inside increases, the targradually begins to drop through the wooden pipe into barrels below, andfrom sixty to two hundred of them may be extracted from one kiln load. Needless to say, one man cannot move the filled barrel and replace itwith an empty one, so, whenever such a change becomes necessary, bymeans of a shrill whistle he summons a companion to his aid; at othertimes he sits alone and watches for hours together the smoulderingflames. 

Making the barrels is another Finnish trade, and the peasants, whomanufacture them in winter, get from eightpence to tenpence each, forthey have to be very strong. It is, indeed, much more difficult to makea tar-barrel than a water-cask. 

Here ingenuity has to come to the peasant's aid; each barrel, whenfilled, weighs about four hundred pounds, and has to be conveyed fromthe forest country to the nearest waterway or town. Finns rise to theoccasion, however. They take thick pieces of wood, on to which a kind ofaxle is securely attached, and adjusting them by means of ingenious pegsfixed at both ends of the barrel, where the side pieces of wood projectbeyond the actual top and bottom, the cask itself practically becomesits own wheels. Wooden shafts are fixed from the axle to the horse'scollar, and though, with his queer load, the little ponies are notbeauties to look at, they are marvels to go, trotting along over treetrunks and stony boulders to the nearest waterway, the barrelsfollowing--carriage and wheels in one. 

After many vicissitudes this tar arrives at the end of its landjourney--but if that be on the frontier of Russia, it may still have twohundred and fifty miles of river, lake, and rapid to traverse before itreaches _Uleåborg_, where it is transhipped to England, America, andGermany. 

It had been arranged that we were to descend the wonderful rapids from_Kajana_ to _Uleåborg_, a day and a half's journey; but we wanted totaste something of the ascent as well, --there is no _down_ without an_up_, and we thought we should like to try both. The tar-boats that godown the _Oulunjoki_ river, heavily laden with their wares, take two orthree days, and have to come up again empty; this is the heaviest andmost tiring part of the whole performance to the boatmen, and cannot beaccomplished under two or three weeks. They sometimes bring back fivehundred or six hundred pounds of salt or flour, for although they takedown twenty-five or thirty times as much as this in weight, they cannotmanage more on the return journey, when, to lighten the boat as much aspossible, they even take off the top planks or bulwarks and leave thembehind at _Uleåborg_, putting new bulwarks a foot broad made ofhalf-inch plank before the next downward voyage. 

A tar-boat is a very peculiar craft, and, when one sees it for thefirst time, it seems impossible that anything so fragile can travel overtwo hundred miles by river, rapid, lake, and cataract. The boats aregenerally from thirty-five to forty-five feet long, but never more thanfour feet wide, or they could not be steered between the rocks of theswirling cataracts. They are pointed at both ends like a gondola, but itis not the narrowness and length that strike terror into the heart of astranger, but rather the thinness of the wood of which they are built. The boat is made of the planks of well-grown trees, which planks, thoughover a foot wide, are sawn down to three-quarters of an inch thick, sothat in the strongest part only three-quarters of an inch dividespassengers and crew from the water, that water being full of rocks andswirling whirlpools. Four planks a foot wide and three-quarters of aninch thick, as a rule, make the sides of a tar-boat, not nailed, be itunderstood, but merely _tied_ together with pieces of thin birch twig!Holes are bored, the birch threaded through, securely fastened, andthen, to make the whole thing water-tight, the seams are well caulkedwith tar. This simple tying process gives the craft great flexibility, and if she graze a rock, or be buffeted by an extra heavy wave, shebends instead of breaking. 

From all this it will be inferred the boat is extraordinarily light, orit could never be got home again--but when twenty-four or twenty-eightbarrels, each weighing four to five hundred pounds, are in it, the watercomes right up to the gunwale, so an extra planking of a foot wide istied on in the manner aforementioned, to keep the waves out, and thatplanking is only half an inch thick. Therefore the barrels are onlydivided from the seething water by three-quarters of an inch, and thewaves are kept back by even a slighter barrier. 

It is amazing that such a long fragile craft can survive that torrent ofwater at all. 

When the last boats go down in October, ice has already begun to form, and they frequently suffer very much from its sharp edges, for whichreason the perils of those late journeys are often hideous. When thetar-barrels reach _Kajana_ from the forests they are only worth fromtwelve to eighteen marks each, and if one considers the labour entailedto get them there, it seems remarkable that any profit can be made outof the trade. Very cleverly the heavy tubs are lifted by a crane intothe boat, which is just wide enough to take them in twos and twoslengthwise--three or four perhaps being placed on the top of all. Thebiggest cargo consists of twenty-eight barrels. Before the tubs arereally shipped they are tested, as wine is tested, to see that thequality is all right, and that they are worth the perilous carriage. Somany of these boats ply backwards and forwards during July, August, September, and October, that sometimes as many as a hundred will pass_Kajana_ in one day. This gives some idea of the industry and itsenormous importance to that vast tract of country. Indeed, from 50, 000to 70, 000 barrels find their way down the _Uleåborg_ river alone duringthese months. 

Owing to the courtesy of _Herr Fabrikor Herman Renfors_, to whom theGovernor of the Province had kindly given us an introduction, we went amile and a half up the rapids and through a couple of locks in hisprivate tar-boat, just for the experience. The heat being tropical, wedid not start till six P. M. , when we found _Herr Renfors_ waiting at theentrance to the first lock, as arranged, in a real tar-boat, which hewas steering himself, for, being an enthusiastic fisherman, he goes outalone for days at a time, and can steer up or down the rapids as well asany pilot. No one who has not seen a rapid can realise the nerve thisrequires. Seats had been roughly put in for us to sit on, otherwise, asa rule, except for the oarsmen's bench and the barrels, these boats areabsolutely empty. Our friend, the steersman, sat at the bow, and with asort of oar, held in position by a rope of plaited straw fixed a littleon one side, guided the fragile bark. First we had to go into a lock. Any one acquainted with a nice wide shallow Thames lock may think heknows all about such matters; but in reality he does nothing of thekind. For this Finnish lock, and there are two of them close together, is very long, forty-five feet being required for the boat alone, andnearly as much for the rush of water at each end to prevent that singleboat being swamped. As the rise of water is over twenty feet, the lockis some forty feet deep and only six or seven feet wide. The walls aretarred black, and, although the sun blazed outside, when we entered thislong narrow vault the air struck chill and cold, and it was so dark andweird that it seemed like going into an underground cellar, or anelongated coffin. As those massive wooden doors closed behind us, wefelt as though we were about to be buried alive in a well, or wereenacting some gruesome scene fitted for Dante's wondrous pen when dippedin ink of horror. The gates slammed. The chains grated. The two oarsmensteadied the boat by means of poles which they held against the sides ofthose dark walls, the steersman with another pole kept her off the newlyshut massive wooden door--and then--oh! we gasped, as a volume of waterover ten feet descended a little in front of us, absolutely soaking theoarsmen, and showering spray over every one. 

It was a wonderful sensation; we were walled in, we were deep in thelock, and as the water poured down in two falls, for there was aplatform half way to break its tremendous force, our boat bobbed up anddown like a cockle-shell. We felt an upset meant death, for no one couldpossibly have climbed up those steep black walls, still less swum oreven kept his head above such volumes of water. 

Up, up, up, we went until we had risen over twenty feet, which dwindledto nothing when the door opened at the end of the waterfall and weglided out into the world of sunshine, to see our friend the old castlebefore us again, the pine-trees on the banks, and the funny littlewooden town on our right. Verily a transformation scene--a return tolife and light and air, after water and darkness. 

Before us was a small rapid, and, having rowed up under the lee of theland, it was perfectly marvellous to see how the boat was suddenlyturned right across the bubbling water, and steered like a gliding eelin and out of waves and spray to the other side, which we reached bymeans of hard pulling, without losing more than thirty or forty feet bythe strong current. Here came another lock, and several minutes wereagain spent in rising another twenty feet, before we were at a level tocontinue our course. Then came a stretch which could be rowed, although, of course, the stream was always against us; but two stalwart Finnssitting side by side pulled well, and on we sped until the next rapidwas reached, when out we all had to bundle, and the fragile craft had tobe towed, as the strength of the water made it impossible to row againstit. There was a path of rocky boulders, uneven and somewhat primitive, such a towing path being always found beside the rapids, as the oarsmenhave to get out and tow at all such places. Therefore, when returninghome from _Uleåborg_, the sailors have to row either against the stream(one long tract, however, being across a lake where it is possible tosail), or else they have to walk and pull. No wonder it takes them threeweeks to make the voyage. 

Having landed us, the two oarsmen pulled with a rope, but as the boatwould have been torn to pieces on the rocks beside the bubbling water, the steersman had to keep her off by means of a long pole; and hard workhe evidently found it, bending the whole weight of his body in theprocess, straining every nerve at times. It is terrific exertion to geteven such a light thing as a tar-boat over such places, and in a mileand a half we had to get out four times as well as pass through the twolocks (there are but four on the whole river), and we only reached thepilot station after working a whole hour and a half, which gave us agood idea of the weariness of toiling up stream, and the wonders ofcoming down, for we retraced the same route in exactly fourteen minutes. 

We crossed the famous rapid, described in _Kalevala_ as the scene whereone of the heroes went swirling round and round; we watched womensteering with marvellous agility and skill, and there, on the bank, wesaw a stalwart Finn, with an artistic pink shirt, awaiting our arrivalto pilot us down again, our host preferring to employ a pilot for thedescent when he had any one on board besides himself. 

The pilot was a splendidly made young fellow of twenty-four; a verypicture, with his tan trousers, and long brown leather boots doubledback under the knee like a brigand, but ready to pull up to the thighwhen necessary. On his felt cap he wore a silver badge with the lettersL. M. Clearly stamped. "What do they mean?" we asked. 

"L. M. Is an abbreviation for _laskumies_ or pilot--it means that he is acertified pilot for this stream, " replied _Herr Renfors_, "and as thereare ladies here I am going to get him to take the boat down--ladies aresuch a responsibility, " he laughed, "I dare not undertake the task. "

We soon entered into conversation with this picturesque Finn, and foundhis father was also a _laskumies_, and that as a boy he always went withhim, steering the boat down when he was fourteen, although he did notget his badge till he was eighteen years of age. As soon as he got it hemarried, and now had two children. These pilots only receive theirbadges after careful examination from the government, and, the pay beinggood, and the position considered a post of honour, they areeagerly-sought-for appointments. 

"How wildly exciting it is, " we exclaimed, as we whirled round corners, waves dashing into our boat only to be baled out with a sort of woodenspoon. 

"I make this little journey sometimes twenty times in a day, " hereplied; "but I can't say I find it very entertaining. "

Sometimes we simply gasped--especially when nearing _Kajana_, and weknew we had to go under the bridge before us, while the youth wassteering apparently straight for the rocks on the shore. Destructionseemed imminent, the water was tearing along under the bridge at anawful rate, but he still steered on for the rocks; we held ourbreath--till, at the eleventh and three-quarter hour, so to speak, thepink-shirted Finn quietly twisted his steering pole, and under thebridge we shot and out at the other side quite safely. 

We breathed again!

Pilots are only necessary for the rapids, and they receive one mark forthe shorter and two marks for the longer stretches, one of which isthirteen miles in length, so that a boat between _Kajana_ and _Uleåborg_has to pay ten marks for its pilots, which they are bound by law tocarry. On some of the stretches there are as many as twenty-four pilotsto each rapid. 

Our experience of a tar-boat but whetted our appetite, and we lookedforward, all pleasurable anticipation, to our descent to the coast. 

The next morning at seven A. M. We left _Kajana_ in a very smallsteamboat to cross the great _Oulujärvi_ lake, and arrived about twelveat _Waala_, where our own tar-boat was awaiting us. We were struck, aswe passed over the lake, to see a veritable flower-garden upon thesurface of the water. The lake is so wide that at times we quite lostsight of one shore; yet these small flowers, something like primroses, only white, with their floating roots, were everywhere, looking almostlike snow upon the water! We passed boats sailing down with tar, thewind being with them, and we passed empty boats rowing up. They never gohome the entire way under three weeks, and even coming down the rapids, if the wind is against them, they may take several days to reach_Uleåborg_. Whereas, with wind to help them across the lake, they can godown laden in a little over two days all the way from Russia. Oncestarted on the downward route they seldom rest until their journey iscompleted, for it is important for each boat to do three voyages fromRussia during the season, if possible, and more, of course, from shorterdistances. 

We were horrified to find that a large number of women and children wereemployed on the water. Rowing or towing such heavy boats is a seriousmatter; and to see a couple of women, or a woman and a child, doing thework, the husband, brother, or other male relative steering where noprofessional pilot is necessary, made us feel sick at heart. Such workis not fit for them, and in the case of young girls and boys must surelybe most injurious. When returning home the poor creatures often pulltheir boat out of the water and, turning her on one side, spend thenight under her sheltering cover. 

The tar-boats ply a dangerous trade; but our own experiences must bedescribed in another chapter. 

CHAPTER XVIII

DESCENDING THE RAPIDS

In our case it took twenty-nine hours without sleep to descend therapids, for we left _Kajana_ at seven A. M. On Thursday morning, and onlyreached _Uleåborg_ at mid-day on Friday. The journey is perfectlywonderful, but should only be undertaken by people blessed with strongnerves and possessed of iron constitutions. From _Kajana_ to _Uleåborg_one travels down the splendid _Oulu_ river and across the _Oulujärvi_lake, joining the river again on the other side of _Waala_. 

It was indeed an experience, in more ways than one. The first hours wespent in a small steamer, too small to carry a restaurant, so, let it beunderstood at once, provisions must be taken for the whole journey, unless the traveller wishes starvation to be added to his otherhardships. 

The _Oulujärvi_ lake is a terror to the tar-boats, for it is one of thelargest lakes in Finland, and when there is a storm the fragile tar-boatis forced to hug the land for safety, or draw up altogether and lie-tountil the storm has spent itself. Many of these small craft have beentaken unawares when out in the middle of the lake, and come to signalgrief accordingly. Then again, in times of dead calm, the heavily-ladenboat does not even have the benefit of the quickly-running water to bearher on her way, and the three occupants of the vessel have to row theentire distance, for the steersman, no longer requiring to guide herwith his enormous pole, ships it and rows at the side with oneoar, --with which at the same time he guides. These steering poles arereally remarkable; they are about twelve or fifteen feet long, and aresimply a solid trunk of a pine tree as wide as a man's hand can grasp atthe thinnest end, broadening out, and trimmed in such a way that theyform a kind of flat solid paddle at the other end. The weight of thesepoles is overpowering, even when slipped through the ring of plaitedtree branches which keeps them in place, and makes them easier to holdsecurely. When the cataracts are reached, even these strong poles shiverwith the force of the water, and the steersman has all his work to do tocombat the rushing waters; his whole bodily weight must be brought tobear in order to fight those waves and steer his craft safely throughthem. Every muscle is strained to meet the power of those swirlingwaters. 

No praise we can give is too high for the skill of the pilot of therapids, no admiration too great, for it is to that and his physicalstrength, to his power and calmness, to his dexterity and boundlessknowledge of hidden dangers and unexpected horrors, that the safety ofour lives is due, and, when we peeped occasionally at our steersman aswe flew over the great rapid, where for over an hour every nerve, everyfibre of his body was strung to agonising pitch, we looked and wondered. His eyes were fixed steadfastly before him, and as he flung all theweight of his body on to his pole, the whole boat trembled, but in asecond obeyed his bidding and twisted whither he wished. Second, did wesay? half-second, quarter-second, would be more accurate, for the bow ofthe boat was guided at giddy speed to within a few feet of a rock, andjust as she was about to touch, twisted off again for us to ride oversome crested wave, or fly down some channel which just cleared thedeath-trap. 

By such means we zig-zagged from side to side of the river, which at thecataracts is generally nearly a quarter of a mile broad, and in thecalmer stretches widens out to half a mile and more. 

Speaking of pilots and their wondrous skill, in the autumn of 1912, byImperial decrees, the Finnish Pilot Department was transferred to theRussian Ministry of Marine. So marvellous, so dexterous has been thework of the Finnish pilots for generations of inherited knowledge, thatan Englishman can but quake at the advisability of such a change. Finland was so indignant that half the pilots stationed on the coast andthe islands--about five hundred men--resigned _en bloc_. The famouspilot school at _Helsingfors_ no longer exists. 

These pilots used to mark out the ship routes every spring so cleverlythat shipwrecks were rare; but in the summer of 1912 the new Russianstaff made such endless mistakes and omitted so many risky channelsthat a great many disasters followed on the coast, though not seriousones. Luckily, the regular Finnish passenger steamers have not suffered, as they all carry their own pilots. 

Strategical considerations have been officially adduced for theRussification of the Finnish pilot service; but the wisdom of thisstrategy may be open to doubt. In time of war the passages nearer thecoast will naturally be of the greatest strategic importance, and itwould seem highly unsafe to confide the navigation of war-vessels to thenew Caspian pilots, who cannot possibly in a few years acquire anintimate knowledge of these extremely difficult waters. The new measuredispenses with the services of those men who, born and bred on the spot, and having the advantage of generations of traditional knowledge, canalone with safety do pilot service, especially in time of war, whenguiding beacons and rock-marking poles and buoys are removed, and thereis nothing to guide the navigator except that knowledge which has becomesecond nature to the pilot trained to do service in his own home waters. 

But we are digressing. 

We arrived at _Waala_--a cluster of small houses--about 11. 30, and, landing from our little steamer, found that although our tar-boat hadbeen ordered and everything was ready owing to the kindness of theinspector of the district, who himself came to see us off, we could notget really under way before one o'clock. All the luggage had to bepacked into the boat, --not much luggage, be it said, for, beyond thereach of the railways, one bag or suit-case per person is all that ispossible (less is preferable), as that can go into one of the little_kärra_ (carts), or can be carried by a peasant when necessary. Travelling through the interior and northern parts of Finland isroughing it indeed, and when it comes to being away from thepost-stations (where carriages and horses are procurable, and generallyfairly good), and sleeping in a real peasant's house, then one realiseswhat discomfort means, and for cleanliness prefers to sit on a hardwooden chair all night for safety's sake. 

At last we were, all six (for this number composed our party), seated, some on Gladstones, some on an enormous rug case, some on nothing, orsomething equally uncomfortable, but all of us as low down as possible, such being the inspector's orders, as our weight steadied the boat, and, being below the water's level, kept us from getting wet from the spray, although we found, by experience, it did not prevent our shipping wholeseas, and getting thoroughly soaked. 

"The wind is against you, " remarked the inspector, "which is a pity, asit will occupy much longer time, and you will get more wet, but by threeA. M. (fourteen hours) you ought to reach _Muhos_, where you can snatch afew hours' sleep before going on in the little steamer that will takeyou down the last stretch of the river to _Uleåborg_. "

It was bad enough, in theory, to sit fourteen hours within the crampedprecincts of a tar-boat with one's knees up to one's chin, like anEastern mummy, but it was nothing to what in practice we reallyendured. However, we luckily cannot foresee the future, and with lighthearts, under a blazing sun, we started, a man at the stern to steer, awoman and a boy in the bow to row, and ourselves and our goods securelystowed away--packed almost as closely as herrings in a barrel. 

Directly after leaving _Waala_, within a few minutes in fact, we came tothe _Niska Koski_ rapid. Six miles at flying speed; six miles tearingover huge waves at break-neck pace; six miles with a new experienceevery second; six miles feeling that every turn, every moment must beour last. 

No one could dream of the excitements of speeding six miles in such along fragile craft, in which we crouched so low our faces were almostlevel with the seething surface of the rapid. Turning here and twistingthere between rocks or piled-up walls of stone, absolutely seeing andfeeling the drop of the water, as one bounded over a fall--such anexperience cannot be described. As those massive waves struck the boat, and threw volumes of water into our laps, we felt inclined to shriek atthe speed at which we were flying. Wildly we were tearing past thebanks, when, lo!--what was that? A broken tar-boat; a mere scatteredmass of wooden beams, which only a few hours before had been a boat likeour own. 

In spite of the marvellous dexterity of the pilots, accidents happensometimes; and that very morning, the wind being strongly against theboats descending, a steersman venturing a little too near a hiddenrock, his frail craft was instantly shattered to pieces. Thetar-barrels, bubbling over the water like Indian corn over a fire, werepicked up many miles below; but, as the accident happened near thewater's edge, the crew were luckily saved. 

That journey was a marvellous experience; one of the most exciting andinteresting of the writer's life; not only did it represent a wonderfulforce of nature, but an example of what skill and a cool head can do;for what man without both could steer a boat through such rapids--suchcataracts? Those rapids at Montreal seemed far less imposing to meafterwards. 

At times the waves looked as if they were really returning upon us, yetin reality we were going with the stream, but the rocks below made themcurl back again. Along the stream several crews were toiling andstraining at their towing ropes to get their empty boats to _Kajana_. Oh, what work in that heat! No wonder they all dreaded that returnjourney. Toiling along the bank were the wretched men and women makingtheir way back towards Russia. The strangely uneven stone wall alongwhich they pulled their tar-boat looked as if it would cut their poorbare feet to pieces. Two generally tugged at the rope, a third keepingthe boat off the wall by means of a long pole; and for a fortnight orthree weeks they tugged and pulled their empty boat, or in calmerstretches sailed or rowed back the route along which we were now flyingat such lightning speed. 

Then came two hours of calm rowing along a beautiful stretch of river, where rocks and pine-trees rose straight from the water's edge, andqueer little gray houses denoted peasants' homesteads, peeping out amongthe almost yellow rye-fields, or the newly gathered hay crops. Smallblack and white curly sheep gambolled in the meadows--those very sheepwhose coats are so famous as _Kajana Lambs_, rivalling even RussianAstrakhan. 

Imagine a fall of two hundred feet of water in a long, thin, fragileboat; yet such is possible at _Pyhäkoski_, another of the rapids, duringa stretch of cataract about thirteen miles long--as an average, thesewondrous falls are about a quarter of a mile broad, sometimes more, sometimes less. They are indeed most truly marvellous. 

It was a perfect evening as we neared _Pyhäkoski_. The wind had fallen, and when, after passing a rapid, we drew up by the bank to enjoy ourevening meal, the sun at 9. 30 was just beginning its long set. We hadleft _Waala_ at 1. 30, and been travelling in the boat cramped by theposition all the time, so were beginning to feel the pleasant pangs ofhunger. With a pine wood behind us, where bilberries, just ripeningamong the ferns, covered the ground, we six friends--four Finlanders andtwo English--made a very happy party. Oh, the joy of stretching ourlimbs and standing erect once more. We cooked our tea by the aid of aspirit-lamp, ate hard-boiled eggs and some most delicious cold trout, devoured whole loaves of white bread and butter, and were feeling ashappy as possible--when suddenly the glorious golden orb shining throughthe skies of evening, was reflected in flaming colour nearer home, for, lo! the lamp in the tea-basket exploded with a terrific bang and atongue of flame which brought us all to our feet in an instant. Here wasa calamity to occur on such a dry night, in a long rainless summer, andin a pine forest, too, where if the trees once ignited, flames mightspread for miles and miles, causing incalculable damage. We all knew thedanger, and each prepared to assist in putting out the fire. Grandpapa, with the agility of a cat, seized the burning basket and threw it andits contents bodily into the river--great was the frizzle as it touchedthe water, and greater the noise as plates and spoons clattered into thestream. They were of little value in comparison to the prevention of aforest fire. 

Poor man, he was wet to his knees standing in the water, and he lookedalmost as if he had been taking a mud bath by the time he succeeded inrescuing what was possible of our crockery and plate. But, undoubtedly, he prevented much serious damage of valuable property by his promptaction. The remainder of our meal was lost, and our delightful basket, that had travelled in many lands, destroyed. It had never failedbefore--but we afterwards unravelled the mystery. The _Apothek_, whom weasked to supply us with some methylated spirit, not understanding ourrequest, had substituted something which did not suit the lamp. 

"All's well that ends well, " however, so we will say no more about hismistake, save that we lost our second cup of tea, and went hungry tobed. 

Never, never did any one behold more wonderful reflections than were tobe seen that night on the _Uleå_ river. As the empty boats passed up aquiet reach sufficiently shallow to permit of punting, the reflectionsof the coloured shirts and poles, of the old brown boats and the cheeryfaces on board, were as distinct in the water as the things themselves. Every blade of grass found its double in that mirror-like stream, everyrock appeared darker and larger below than it did above the water; butour admiration was distracted by mosquitoes, --when we drew up at a small_torp_ to take up a fresh pilot, who was to steer us safely over thefamous _Pyhäkoski_ rapids. By this time it was 10. 30 on an August night, and the sun just above the pine tops, which seemed striving to soar highenough to warm themselves in its glorious rich colourings, and we fearedit might be too late, and the mist too dense, to attempt such adangerous passage. Half a dozen pilots assembled on the bank--theirday's work being over--declared it was perfectly safe, as safe at leastas it ever can be, therefore, after shipping our man, away we rowed--theriver having broadened again to three-quarters of a mile, so that itlooked like a lake. 

A small child offered us a little wooden tub of luscious yellow berries, _suomuurain_ (Finnish), _Hjortron_ (Swedish), for a mark--the same wouldhave cost about eight marks at _Helsingfors_--which we gladly bought andate as we drifted along. Those delicious northern delicacies, with ataste of the pine-tree, greatly refreshed us. We had made up our mindsearly in the day, that as we could not take more than four or fivehours' rest, to sleep on the bank, and make a large fire to keep awaythe mosquitoes. The weather was all that could be wished; indeed, theheat of the day had been so great we had all sat with whitepocket-handkerchiefs hanging from under our hats and down our necks tokeep off the blazing sun, no parasols being possible when correctsteering meant life or death. In fact, we had decided to manage the bestsort of "camp out" we could with a coat each and a couple of Scotchplaid rugs among us all. The prospect seemed more pleasant than a one ortwo-roomed _torp_ shared with the _torppari's_ family; for we hadsuffered so much in strange beds already, and had woefully regrettedmany times not having brought hammocks, which we might have slung out ofdoors on those splendid June and July nights, and slept in peace underthe daylight canopy of heaven. Accordingly, a camp on the bank had beenvoted and passed by unanimous acclamation. 

No artist's brush could reproduce such a scene. In the foreground aroaring seething mass of water denoted strength and power, beyond lay astrange hazy mist, like a soft gauze film, rising in the sudden chill ofevening from the warmed water, and the whole landscape was rendered moreweird and unreal in places by the wild white spray which ascended, asthe waves lapped some hidden or visible rock lying right across ourcourse. Farther on, the river was bordered by pine and fir-trees, through the stems of which the departing sun shone, glinting here andthere upon the bark; the warm shades of the sky dappled with red andyellow, painted by a Mighty Hand, were well in keeping with the "HolyStream, " as this rapid is called by the peasants living along itsshores. 

A mystic scene of wondrous beauty; more and more the vapours rose, untila great soft barrier seemed erected before us, almost as high as thetrees; dense at their roots, tapering away to indistinctness at theirtops, where the sunset glow lay warm and bright upon their pricklybranches. 

It reminded one of glorious evenings in Switzerland, where snow-cladpeaks soar above the clouds, their majestic heads rising as it were fromnothingness. That night on the _Uleå_ river, this strong, strange, mistyfog was very remarkable--such a contrast to the intense heat of the day, so great a contrast to the marvellous clearness which had preceded it, so mystic after the photographic distinctness of a few hours before. 

A shriek from our steersman, and we found we were flying madly towards asort of wooden pier; we held our breath, it seemed so close. In the mistwe were almost upon it before we saw our danger; but when the pilotshouted, the oarsmen instantly shipped. Even when going through therapids it should be explained that two men in the bows keep rowingcontinuously to help to steady the boat; but on the occasion inquestion, just when the agony point was reached, they lifted their oars, and we swung round a corner--not to sudden death as we fully expected, but into a comparatively calm stretch of water; where, lo! we foundbefore us a white bank. It was vapour, mist, fog, what you will; but acold evening, after a day of intense heat, had clothed the river inthick white clouds, impenetrable to the sight--cold, clammy, terrifyingto a stranger. 

"It is impossible, " exclaimed the oarsman to our Finnish-speakingfriends; "I thought I could get you to _Muhos_ to-night, but until thatfog lifts we can go no farther, it is not safe. I can do no more. Itwould mean death. "

Here was a prospect. We had been eleven hours in the boat, for it wasnow midnight. We had been grilled all day and burnt with the heat, andnow we were perished with wet from the wash of the waves, and cold fromthe damp chill air. We could not lie on the ground--no fire would igniteamid such soaking grass; what was to become of us we did not know. 

We wanted experiences, and we had got them, more than we bargained for. Who could have imagined such a day would turn to such a night? Whoindeed!

We all looked at each other, we all sighed. One suggested sitting as wewere all bolt upright, with the boat moored to some bank--others thoughta walk might prove an agreeable change--the wisest held their tongues, thought much, and said little. 

We were in the middle of the stream, when, without a word ofexplanation, our steersman suddenly turned the bow of our frail barkright across the water, and with one rush her nose hit the bank; ourspeed was so great that we were all shaken from our seats, as the boatbounded off again, but the pilot was an old experienced hand, and, bysome wondrous gymnastic feat, he got her side sufficiently near the bankfor our boy, with a rope in his hand, to spring upon _terra firma_ andhold us fast, without shattering our bark completely to pieces with theforce of our sudden arrival. 

"Is this fog usual?" we asked the pilot. 

"No, very unusual, only after such intense heat as we have had to-day. If I had not landed you at this spot and now, another yard would havemade doing so impossible, for this is the top of the _Pyhäkoski_ rapid, the most dangerous of all, and it is thirteen miles long. "

What a plight! Hungry, tired, miserable, cold, to be suddenly turned, whether we wished it or not, out of our only refuge and home. 

"Close by here, " he continued, "is a peasant's house--you must go therefor some hours. "

We looked; but the fog was so thick we could see nothing, therefore, without a word of remonstrance, we followed our pilot, plodding throughgrass soaked in moisture which reached to our knees, feeling verychilled, wet, and weary, but all trying to keep stout hearts and turncheery faces to misfortune. 

Yes, there--as if sent as a blessing from heaven--we saw a little housepeeping through the fog. 

We went to the door; we knocked, we knocked again. No answer. We shookthe door; it was locked. We called; no one replied. We walked round thehouse and tried the windows--all closed, securely closed. We knocked andcalled louder than before. Still no answer. 

What disappointment! The house was deserted. On the very eve of shelterwe were baffled. Was it not enough to fill our hearts with despair? Wecould not go back, for we had nowhere to go; we could not sit on thebank, for that fog brooded evil. Some one suggested bursting open thedoor, for shelter we must have, and began rattling away with thatpurpose, when, lo! a voice, an awful voice called "_Hulloa!_"

"It is haunted, " exclaimed some one; "it is a ghost, or a spirit orsomething. Do let us go away--what a horrible place. "

"It is a phantom house, " cried another, "this is not real--come, come--come away. "

But the voice again called "_Hulloa!_"

The sound seemed nearer, and looking round we saw a white apparitionstanding in a darkened doorway on the other side of the garden, a figureclad in white approached through the mist; it was very ghostly. Was ithallucination, the result of exhausted minds and bodies, weak from wantof food, and perished with wet and cold, or was it--yes, it _was_--aman. 

We could have hugged that delightful Finn, our joy was so great at hisappearance, key in hand ready to open the door. He did so; a delicioushot air rushed upon us--it seemed like entering a Turkish bath; but whena second door was opened the heat became even more intense, for thekitchen fire was still alight, and, as if sent as an extra blessingfrom above, the coffee-pot was actually on the hob, filled and ready forthe peasants' early morning meal. Could anything be moreprovidential--warmth and succour--food, beds, and comfort!

Like savages we rushed upon the coffee-pot, blew the dying embers intoflame, took off our soaking shoes and stockings and placed them besidethe oven, pattering barefoot over the boards; we boiled milk, which wasstanding near, and drank the warming, soothing beverage. 

All this took time, and, while the others worked, the writer made ahurried sketch by the daylight of midnight at the "Haven of Refuge, " aswe christened our new abode. 

The kitchen, or general living-room, was, typically Finnish. The largeoven stood on one side furnished with the usual stone stairs, up whichthe family clamber in the winter months, in order that they may sleep onthe top of the fireplace, and thus secure warmth during the night. 

On the other side we noticed a hand-loom with linen in it, which thegood housewife was weaving for her family. Before it was a wooden tub, wherein flour for making brown bread was standing ready to be mixed onthe morrow; in front of it was a large wooden mortar, cut out of a solidtree trunk. 

The light was dim, for it was midnight, and, although perfectly clearoutside, the windows of the little gray house were so few and so smallthat but little light could gain admittance. 

This but added to the weirdness of the scene. It all seemed unreal--thedim glow from the spluttering wood, freshly put on, the beautifulshining copper coffee-pot, the dark obscurity on the top of the oven. The low ceiling with its massive wooden beams, the table spread for theearly breakfast--or maybe the remnants of the evening meal--with abeer-hen full of _Kalja_, a pot, rudely carved, filled with _piimää_ orsoured milk, and the salted fish so loved by the peasantry--there allthe necessaries and luxuries of Finnish humble life were well inevidence. 

The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive, for in those homesteads thewindows are never opened from year's end to year's end--indeed, most ofthem won't open at all. 

In a corner hung a _kantele_, the instrument to which the Finns singtheir famous songs as described. This romantic chamber, with itspicturesque peasant occupants and its artistic effect, merely wanted theaddition of the music of Finland to complete its charm, and the farmermost kindly offered to play it for us. 

In his white corduroy trousers, his coarse white shirt--the buttons ofwhich were unfastened at the throat--and the collar loosely turned back, showing a bronzed chest, he looked like an operatic hero, the while hesat before his instrument and sang some of those wondrous songs dear tothe heart of every Finn. He could hardly have been worthy of his landhad he failed to be musical, born and bred in a veritable garden of songand sentiment, and the romance of our midnight arrival seemed to kindleall the imagination in this man's nature. While he played the _kantele_, and the pilot made coffee, the old wife was busying herself in preparingfor our meal, and we were much amused at her producing a key and openingthe door of a dear old bureau, from which she unearthed some wonderfulchina mugs, each of which was tied up in a separate pocket-handkerchief. They had various strange pictures upon them, representing scenes inAmerica, and it turned out that they had been brought home as a gift tohis parents by a son who had settled in the Far West. 

We were indeed amazed when we were each handed a real silver spoon--nottin or electro--but real silver, and very quaint they were too, for thebowls were much bigger than the short handles themselves. These luxurieswere in keeping with the beautiful linen on the beds, made by the oldwoman, and the wonderful white curtains in front of the windows, alsowoven by the housewife, who had likewise crocheted the lace thatbordered them. 

They had not those things because they were rich; for, on the contrary, they were poor. Such are the ordinary Finnish farmers' possessions;however small the homestead, linen and window curtains are generally tobe found. So many comforts, coupled with the bare simplicity of theboards, the long benches for seats, and hard wooden chairs, did not leadus to expect the comic tragedy to follow. 

It was one A. M. , and we were all feeling quite merry again, after ourwarm coffee and milk, as we spread one of the rugs on the floor of thekitchen for the gentlemen--the boatmen lying on the boards--and carriedour larger rug into the second room for the ladies, rolling our cloaksup into pillows, for the heat from the oven was so great that we did notwant them. We lay down in our steaming clothes, which we dare not takeoff, to snatch a few hours' sleep, until the fog should kindly lift andenable us to get a couple of hours farther on our way to _Muhos_, fromwhich place the little "cataract steamer" was to start at seven A. M. For_Uleåborg_. 

"Good-night--not a word, " the last caution added because every onewanted to say how merciful it was that we had found such delightfulshelter, warmth, and even food. 

Obediently we settled down and prepared to enjoy our much-needed rest. Aquarter of an hour passed; first one turned uneasily, and then another;the first one sighed, and then the second; first one spoke, and thenanother; first one rose and went to the window, and then another. Couldit be? No--yes--no! Oh the horror of it! the place was alive!

Only a quarter of an hour, yet we were bitten nearly to death, for wehad made the personal acquaintance of a species of pest too horrible toname. It really was too much, we felt almost inclined to cry, thesituation was so terrible. We could not go outside, for malaria and agueseemed imminent; we could not go on in our boat, for the rapids weredangerous in fog, death-traps in fact--what, oh, what were we to do?

We heard movements in the kitchen. We called. The answer said "Come in, certainly, " and we entered to find our men's hair literally standing onend as they stood, rug in hand, scanning the floor, over which a perfectzoological garden was promenading as coolly as flies on a hot summer'sday over a kitchen ceiling--and we had no shoes or stockings on. 

There were small red animals creeping sideways, there were little brownanimals hopping, there were huge fat round beasts whose death left anunpleasant odour, there were crawling gray creatures, and every one wasan enormous specimen of its kind, and--yes, 'tis true--they were therein millions. 

It seems loathsome to write, but it was worse to see and feel, and onemust write it, for the would-be traveller among the peasant homes ofFinland ought to know what he may expect. Enchanting as the country is, interesting and hospitable as are its peasantry, the Finns must learnhow to deal with such a curse, or no one will dare to enter anydwelling, until the tourist club opens shelters everywhere and suppliesiron beds and good mattresses, and a capable woman to look after themall and keep them clean. Even the enthusiastic fisherman could not standsuch bedfellows. 

Six wooden chairs were placed in two rows in the small porch, and therein the cold wet early morning air we sat as quietly as circumstanceswould permit, for leaving the heated rooms did not mean leaving ourtormentors. 

We drew our coats round our shivering forms, we blew upon our chilledfingers to get up the circulation, we stared out at blank gray fogthick with malaria and ague. 

Now came a revelation. The occupants of this house never slept in itduring the hot weather. Why? Simply because they could not. Even theythemselves could not stand the vermin, and therefore, like many otherpeasants of Finland, they lie in the hayloft in the summer months forpreference, and that was where our friend had come from to give us helpand succour, as we fondly believed, when he appeared like a benevolentapparition in that darkened door-way. 

During all our horrors the farmer slept. 

"We must not tell the people of the house what has happened, " said ourgood-hearted student; "they would be most awfully offended, and there isno knowing what they might do with defenceless travellers in such anout-of-the-way spot. "

"But we must pay them, " I observed. 

"Of course, " agreed Grandpapa, "but we need not tell them that we havesat up on these chairs surrounded by a carpet of hay all night. "

"But they will know, " I ventured to remark. "We cannot clear away allthis hay even if we move the chairs. "

"I have it, " said the student, after a long pause, during which we hadall sought an excuse to enable us to depart without hurting the farmer'sfeelings, "I will tell them that we sat up here because the ladieswanted to see the sunrise. "

"Just so, " we all assented, gazing abstractedly towards the _west_ atthe black wall of the opposite barn, which totally obstructed all viewof any kind, even if the fog had not made a sunrise an absolutelyridiculous suggestion. But we were all so weak and worn out that if anyone had suggested the _sunset_ at three in the morning, we would stillhave said, "Just so. "

Luckily, one forgets the disagreeables of life unless they have anamusing side as this had. 

Pleasant memories linger. 

First one of us got up and went to see if there was the slightest chanceof the mist clearing--another peeped at a little baby calf standingalone in a shed, where it nearly had a fit with fright at the unexpectedsight of visitors--another walked round the house to see if the mist wasclearing on the opposite side, and then all sat down dejectedly in a rowagain on those hard wooden seats. At last, when it was really time toleave, with an effort of will we made up our mind to go back to thebedroom to fetch an umbrella and a hat which had been left behind. Itwas lighter now, and as we stooped to pick up the umbrella, that hadfallen upon the ground, we started back in horror, for a perfect colonyof every conceivably sized and shaped crawling beast was walking overthe floor. Gathering up our skirts we flew with winged feet from thathaunted chamber, but not before we had seized upon the hat, which hadlain upon the table, and out of which hopped and crawledenormous--well--we left that house as noiselessly as we had come, leftit surrounded in fog, without waking a soul, after putting the moneyupon the table in payment for our night's lodging. We left, glad toshake its dust and its _etceteras_ from our feet; but it will everremain in our minds as a bad dream, a dream of another world, the worldof insect land, into the mysteries of which we never wish to peep again. 

The most wonderful bit of our journey was yet to come. The waves weretoo short and jumpy for the waves of the sea, and the boat too fragilefor a sea boat, yet we did not even gasp now, we had got so accustomedto drenchings, and our nerves were steadier, if over-wrought, as wedanced and plunged over these waters. 

For some four or five miles the _Pyhäkoski_ rapid is narrower than thosehigher up the river, and sheer rocks rise straight from the water's edgeand pine-trees skirt these on either side, literally growing out of theboulders without any apparent roots. It is a grand and wonderful passagewaterway: and one the return boats cannot manage at all, there being notowing path, so that the oarsmen have to put their boats on carts anddrive them across the land. This is not an easy job, because the lengthand fragility of the boats mean risk of breaking their backs. Great careis therefore required. 

The mist disappeared as the sun rose, and the birds began to sing gailyas we skipped and jumped over the seething waters, till at last we sawbefore us a solid wall of high steep rock, rising perpendicularlyseventy or eighty feet from the water. Our steersman made straight forits hard cold base, round which whirled a roaring cataract. Surely thistime death stared us in the face. Had he gone to sleep or lost hissenses, or was he paralysed with fatigue?

On, on, on we went; we glanced round anxiously to see what had happenedto the man. He sat motionless, his eyes staring wildly before him, looking hardly human. Our hearts seemed positively to stand still as theboat's bow got within eight or nine feet of that massive wall, goingstraight for it, at a pace no one could believe who has not visited thespot and felt the horror of it. 

We seemed on the very brink of eternity, gazing into the unknown, and asthe drowning man reviews his whole life in a second, we in like mannersaw our past, and peered into the future. 

Our paralysing fear was fleeting; another moment and our boat's headflew to the left, our craft quivered all over, and then head first downthe rapid she plunged into the swirling pool, with a feeling as if shewere going up on the other side of the dancing waves. 

The danger was past, and our steersman's recently grim face assumed alook of happy content. 

This rock, be it explained, is the most dangerous point between Russiaand the Gulf of Bothnia; many and many a tar-boat has been shattered andlives lost at this spot, as it stands at a corner of a sharp turn of thecataract, and a regular whirlpool is always seething at its base--thewater forming a fall of two or three feet--swirling round and going upagain like a sort of wave. There is only one possible way to pass insafety, and that is to take the boat right up to the rock and turn, whenalmost too late, with such dexterity that the boat descends on thefalling wave at so wild a pace that she crosses the whirlpool tooquickly to be sucked under, and then bounds away safely on the oppositebreaker. 

It was horrible--but it was grand. 

We sat still and silent. 

CHAPTER XIX

SALMON--ULEÅBORG

To say we were tired hardly describes the situation. We were absolutelyexhausted. So exhausted, in fact, were we, after our late experiences, that when--twenty-eight hours after leaving _Kajana_, twenty-eight hoursof constant strain--we got into the little steamer at _Muhos_ which wasto convey us the last part of our journey to _Uleåborg_, we wereliterally worn out. This steamer plied to and fro on a wide stretch ofthe famous _Uleå_ river, where the stream was quick and yet not acataract. It was only a little vessel, without a cabin of any kind, andwith hard uninviting wooden benches running along its stern end for theaccommodation of passengers. We went on board before she started, and, feeling that we at last had a chance to rest, lay down all sixspeechless on the floor or the benches of the little boat, our headssupported merely by a rug or a travelling bag, and apparently fellasleep at once, for when we woke it was to find that a dozen peasantshad assembled on board, all of whom were eagerly discussing us andstaring at the sight of six exhausted strangers, whom report told themhad descended the famous rapids the previous night with considerabledanger. Even that short sleep refreshed us somewhat, and, but for thediscomforts we had brought away with us from the hideous little grayhouse, we might have dreamed on for hours. 

Oh, how glad we felt as our little droschkies drew up in front of thegrand-looking stone hotel at _Uleåborg_, which proved as uncomfortableinside as it was magnificent in appearance outside. 

Having secured our rooms, out we all sailed with our little bundles ofclean clothes packed under our arms, and as quickly as possible made ourway to the public bath-houses, feeling that it would require all thebath-women in Finland to make us clean again. 

If ever self-control in this world had been required, it had been calledupon when we endeavoured, during the last hours of that horriblejourney, to sit still and smile, and try and look comfortable. 

Lapland! When we had talked of Lapland, kind friends had lookedsurprised, and in subdued tones and hushed whispers asked us if we knewwhat Lapland in the summer meant?

"There are many inhabitants in a Lap's hut, " they said, "and although inthe winter such things are kept in subjection by the cold, we shouldnever dream of crossing over the border into Lapland in the summertime. "

We had laughed their fears to scorn, and remained determined to pursueour way towards the Tundras and the land of the Samoyads, but ourfriends were right and we were wrong. Now, after our recent experiences, we decided, with one accord, that wild horses and millions of goldenpounds could not drag us through Lapland in summer, knowing the sort ofhorrors we should have to encounter, and which we had already endured tosuch an extent that we felt degraded, mentally, morally, and physically. A mosquito bite is perhaps the most hurtful of all. There is poison init, and that means pain; but these other things, although not soharmful, are so loathsomely filthy that one feels ashamed to be one'sself, and to hate one's own very existence. 

Surely there can be no inhabited house duty in Finland, or the Statewould indeed be rich. 

The _Uleåborg_ salmon is among the most famous in the world. Seeing thefish caught is very interesting, especially when the _take_ happens tobe about two hundred. The _Uleå_ river is wide, and for a hundred ormore miles up its course are the famous rapids, which we had beenfortunate enough to descend alive, as described in the last chapter. Howthe salmon manage to swim against such a force of water must ever remaina marvel; but they do, and the fishing near _Waala_ and various otherstretches is excellent. In the winter months all but the waterfalls--andeven some of them--are frozen solid; it is during these spells of coldthat trees are thrown on to the ice to be conveyed, free of charge, to_Uleåborg_ on the rushing waters of spring. Not dozens, but thousandsand tens of thousands of trees are carried by such means down to thecoast. This goes on until the 10th of June, and, therefore, it is notuntil then that the salmon piers, with their nets, can be put up. Accordingly, every year on that day in June sixty men start workat _Uleåborg_, and in eight days erect two barriers, about threehundred yards apart, each crossing the entire stream, except for onespot left clear for the boats to pass through. These piers are verysimple, and one wonders that such fragile erections can withstand theimmense rush. Wooden staves are driven into the ground with greatdifficulty, planks are laid upon them, and then large stones are piledup which keep all steady, the whole thing being bound together by ropemade of birch-tree branches. 

On either side of the barrier are the nets, perhaps a hundredaltogether, or twenty-five a side on each of the pier erections. Theyresemble nets on the Thames or anywhere else, except that they are muchlarger, being intended to catch big fish. 

We were so fascinated the first time we went to see the salmon caught, that we returned the second day to watch the performance again. Welittle dreamed that our curiosity in their fishing was exciting equalinterest in the _Uleåborg_ folk. Such, however, was the case, as anotice afterwards appeared in the paper to say that the English womenhad been twice to look at the salmon-catching, had appeared muchinterested in what they saw, and had asked many questions. It was a goodthing we were not up to any mischief, as the Finnish press was so fondof chronicling all our doings. 

At five o'clock every morning and evening, the nets are lifted, and, asa rule, about a hundred fish are taken each time, although we werefortunate enough to see a catch of nearly twice that number. Some ofthem were little--weighing only two or three pounds--but the averageappeared to be about twenty pounds, while one or two of the salmonturned the scale at forty. 

About a dozen men assembled on the bank, all smoking their everlastingpipes, some who had been lying asleep on the grass being roused fromtheir slumbers, for it was five in the afternoon and time for them tostart on their "catch. " Each wooden pier was to be tackled by half adozen men in a tar-boat, and, as we were particularly anxious to seethis done, I persuaded one of the men to let me join his party, which heonly allowed me to do after I had faithfully promised to sit perfectlystill. I have described what cockly things these tar-boats are, evenfilled with their barrels or luggage for ballast, but when perfectlyempty, as they always are when they go to fetch the salmon except forthe weight of half a dozen men, it is a perfect marvel they do notupset. They are not so long, however, as those used for the rapids, although they are pointed the same at both ends, and the planks areequally wide and thin and as quaintly tied together. Off I went to thefarthest end of one of these long wooden vessels; the boat was punted tothe desired spot, the water apparently not being very deep at thatpoint, and, having brought their craft up sideways against the woodenerection with its nets, the men who had run along the top of the pier--asomewhat dangerous proceeding--drew the net sluices up one by one sothat the men in our boat might get at the salmon, while one of her crew, with a long stick and a hook at the end, pulled the net from the bed ofthe river. It was most awfully exciting; sometimes the meshes would comeup with half a dozen fish in them, sometimes disappointment awaited thefishermen, for they got nothing. But what struck me as particularlystrange was the fact that half the salmon were dead and half were alive;apparently the dead ones had been in the net some hours (more thantwelve was impossible as the nets had been taken up at five A. M. ). Twoor three hours' captivity, however, with such a tremendous weight ofwater passing over them was enough to knock the life out of any fish. Itwas a trying moment when a monster salmon, struggling frantically, waspulled half into our boat; but the men cleverly speared them or knockedthem on the head with a large mallet, which killed them instantly. Erehalf an hour elapsed we had emptied all the nets along our pier, andwith the boat well filled with beautiful shining fish, we returned tothe little landing-stage from which we originally started. 

As those fish--nearly two hundred in number--lay on that small woodenpier they made a mighty show, and it seemed wonderful to consider thatseventy or eighty salmon had been taken at the same spot only a fewhours previously, while one hundred and twenty-five miles farther up theriver something between fifty and a hundred are netted daily. 

Everything was managed in the most business-like fashion, and with greatcleanliness. Two men, one on either side of the pier, sat on tubs turnedupside down and, each with a knife in his hand, proceeded to clean thefish. They cut its throat, and, with the most marvellous rapidity, cleansed it, the mysteries from the interior being put aside for sale tothe poor; then another man came forward and, picking up the fish thusprepared, washed it most carefully in the stream. In a very short spaceof time the whole catch of salmon were lying cleaned and washed upon thedripping pier. They were then put on trucks or wheelbarrows and rolledup to the ice-house. Here all the fish were accurately weighed, thenumber of kilos. Being entered in a ledger, and, after sorting out thelarge from the small, they were packed into ice in enormous wooden tubs, and within a couple of hours most of them were on their way to St. Petersburg. 

The net fishing ends during the last days of August, when the nets andthe piers have to be taken away and packed up carefully for thefollowing summer's use. 

It was at this salmon ground that my sister and I were much amused attwo little incidents. 

We were sitting on a wooden bench, waiting till all should be ready, when one of the fishermen came and stood before us. He was smoking andhis hands were in his pockets as he paused within a few feet of us in amost leisurely manner. He did not do so rudely, although perhapssomewhat awkwardly. As he was evidently a Finlander we felt unable toconverse with the gentleman, and therefore merely smiled. 

"You speak English?" he said in that language. 

"Certainly, " we replied, somewhat taken aback. 

"So do I, " he rejoined. 

As he was a poor-looking person, with tattered clothing and a Finnishcountenance, we were somewhat amazed, and we asked if he were aScotchman, that type more closely resembling the Finn than the Saxonrace. 

"No, " he replied, "I am a Finn, but was a sailor for years, and I havebeen over to America as an emigrant. "

"You speak English wonderfully well, " we answered, really surprised atthe purity of the man's accent. 

"Yes, " he said, "I was several years in America, where I lost all themoney I had made at sea. It took me a long time to collect enough tocome home again, but I have just come back, and if not richer, anyway Ihope I'm wiser. " And he thereupon began to explain the advantages anddisadvantages of emigration. 

Imagine in the far North, almost on the borders of Lapland, beingaddressed in our own tongue by a man in rags. We were astonished; yetall over Finland one meets with sailors who speak the King's English, and in _Uleåborg_ we were struck with the fact on two otheroccasions--the first being when the man at the helm of a small pennysteamer addressed us, and the second when a blue-coated policemanentered into conversation. 

This shows how universal our clumsy grammarless language is becoming. But still, although English is the language of commerce, and withEnglish one can travel all over the world, better than with any othertongue, the only way really to enjoy and appreciate voyaging in foreignlands is either to speak the language of the people, or, if that cannotbe managed, to have some one always at hand capable and willing totranslate. 

Knowledge of the language of a country is a golden key to enjoyment. 

As we left the salmon ground a lady, who had apparently been watchingthe proceedings from afar, desiring to know more of such strange beingsas the "two English ladies, " advanced, and, on the trifling pretext ofasking if we had lost our way, addressed us in excellent French. 

We thanked her, and replied we had been for several days in _Uleåborg_and knew our way quite well; but she was not to be baffled--she came tohave a talk and she meant to have it--therefore she walked beside us thewhole way back to the hotel, giving us little bits of information, though much more inclined to ask us questions than to answer those towhich we were really in need of replies. 

Will any one deny that the Finlander is inquisitive? Perhaps the readerwill be inquisitive too when he learns that unintentionally we made amatch. Nevertheless, the statement is quite true. We, most innocent andunoffending--we, who abhor interference in all matrimonial affairs--we, without design or intent, made a match. 

It came about in this way. 

By mere chance I chaperoned a charming and delightful girl down the Gulfof Bothnia. Her coming with us was only decided upon during the lastfive minutes of our stay, and her clothes were positively repacked onthe platform of the station to enable her to do so at all. 

We had been given introductions to a delightful Baron at one of thetowns _en route_ to _Hangö_, and having arrived at our destination, andnot being masters of the language, we asked our maiden fair to kindlytelephone in her own language and acquaint the Baron with the fact ofour arrival. She did so; they were strangers, and each heard the other'sdulcet tones for the first time through the mechanical mysteries of thetelephone. The Baron joined us an hour later, he invited us to dinner, he escorted us about, he drove us to a park, he sat beside us in theevening while we drank coffee and admired the view. He came to see usoff the following day, he gave us books and flowers as a parting gift, and we left. 

Pangs of remorse fill my soul as I write these lines. For thetwenty-four hours we remained in that town I monopolised this delightfulBaron. I plied him with questions, I insisted on his showing meeverything there was to be seen of interest, and telling me many thingsI wished to know about his country, and, with regret, truth compels meto repeat, that, so dense were my powers of perception, I monopolisedhim almost entirely, while he must have been longing to be alone withthe girl he had fallen in love with at first sight--or at first hearing. 

We left Finland shortly after this, but had hardly reached our nativeshore before a letter from the charming girl arrived, in which she said, "Fancy, the Baron turned up here the other day, and the day after hisarrival he proposed, I accepted him, and we shall be married by the endof the month. "

Comment is needless. Romance will have its sway in spite of denseEnglishwomen and stupid writers, who do not see what is going on undertheir noses, in their search for less interesting information elsewhere. 

From romance to reality is but a span, and fishermen, and their name islegion, may be glad to learn a little about the fishing in Finland, andthat the best rivers lie in the governor's province of _Wiborg_. Thereare lake salmon, trout, and grayling; minnows and sand-eels arespecially favoured as bait. 

In the Government district of _St. Michael_ excellent sport is also tobe found, especially _Salmo eriox_ and trout. Dead bait is chiefly used. But a large stretch of this water is rented by the _Kalkis fisk Klubb_. 

In the district of _Kuopio_ permission to fish may be obtained fromHenriksson, the manager of a large ironwork at _Warkaus_ and _Konnus_. Silk bait and Devon minnows prove most useful. 

In the province of _Uleåborg_ salmon of every kind can be caught at_Waala_, where there is a charge of ten marks (eight shillings) for theseason. There are also trout and grayling, and the ordinary Englishflies and minnows are the best bait, Jock Scott, Dry Doctor, Zulu, andshrimp being great favourites. Sportsmen can put up at _Lannimalio_, or_Poukamo_, at the peasants' small farms; but information is readilygiven by the English Consul at _Uleåborg_, who, although a Finlander, knows English well. 

At the town of _Kajana_ two marks a day is charged for trout andgrayling fishing, but in the adjacent rivers, _Hyrynsalmi_ and_Kuusamo_, the fishing is free. 

On the borders of Russia, at _Kem_, the best grayling fishing perhaps inthe world is to be found. 

The sport generally begins on the 1st April, and ends at _Waala_ on 15thSeptember, and at _Kajana_ a few days later. 

Practically all the fishing is free, and when not so, the charge ismerely nominal. Near _Waala_ salmon up to 50 lbs. , grayling 5½ lbs. , or trout 18 lbs. Are not uncommon. 

There is no netting except at two points on the _Uleå_ river, and thereis a great move nowadays to take the nets off from Saturday to Monday tolet the fish free. 

_Herman Renfors_ was then the best fisherman in Finland. He told us thatduring five days, in September 1885, --things are not nearly so good asthis nowadays--he caught the following:--

 Sept. 9. 18 Grayling weighing 19 lbs. 8 Salmon, 5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 9, 24, 31 = 93 " -------- 112 lbs. " 10. 18 Grayling weighing 21 lbs. 7 Salmon, 4, 5, 6, 16, 27, 30, 40 = 128 " -------- 149 lbs. " 11. 18 Grayling weighing 16 lbs. 5 Salmon, 7, 18, 26, 36, 52 = 139 " -------- 155 lbs. " 12. 6 Grayling weighing 6 lbs. 8 Salmon, 5, 5, 6, 7, 14, 29, 30, 43 = 139 " -------- 145 lbs. " 13. 6 Grayling weighing 6 lbs. 6 Salmon, 4, 2, 5, 31, 32, 33 = 107 " -------- 113 lbs. Total in five days 674 lbs. ========

Verily a record. His sister made his flies; and the salmon which weighed52 lbs. He got with a salmon-spoon of his own make. He uses aspinning-rod 11 feet long, or a fly-rod 14 feet long. We saw him fishingin the famous rapids, and never shall we forget the dexterity of histhrow, or the art of his "play. " He once caught 1600 lbs. Of fish inthree weeks. Masters of the piscatorial art, does not envy enter yoursouls?

But this is digression, and our narrative demands that we proceed totell how a twopenny fare in a little steamboat from _Uleåborg_ broughtus to the tar stores. On a Finnish steamboat one often requires change, so much paper money being in use, and the plan for procuring it issomewhat original. In neat little paper bags change for half a mark or awhole mark is securely fastened down, the colour of the bag indicatingthe amount of money it contains, therefore there can be no cheating. Ifone wants a mark changed the ticket-collector immediately produces alittle sealed envelope containing a mark in pence, and having opened itone pays him whatever may be due. 

From fifty thousand to seventy thousand barrels of tar are depositedevery summer by the boats which shoot the _Uleå_ rapids upon the quaynear the town. What a sight! There they were piled two and three highlike pipes of wine in the great London vaults, but in this case thebarrels were not under cover, but simply lay on a quay that was railedin. Every barrel had to be tested before final shipment, and when wearrived a man was going round for this purpose trying each cask afterthe bung had been extracted. He wore high boots, and carried hisink-bottle in his boot leg as the London brewer carries his ink in hiscoat pocket. Then a helper, who followed behind, thumped in the bungwhile the foreman made his notes in a book, and in a few minutes a manor a woman came and rolled the barrel away. Those employed in the taskwore strong leather gloves with no fingers--only a thumb, and so tarredthey were absolutely hard, as also their boots from walking over thetarry ground. And yet all the faces were beautifully clean, and theclothes almost spotless. 

The ground at these stores is literally sodden with tar, though here andthere little drains are cut in order to collect it; the air beingpermeated by its wholesome smell. 

Fancy if such a quay caught fire. Fancy those thousands of barrels inflames--and yet a famous admiral once set fire to this very tar store inthe name of England; a little act of destruction that Finland has neverquite forgiven Great Britain. 

After spending some days in _Uleåborg_, it became necessary to make aforward movement--not towards Lapland, as originally intended, for thathad been vetoed as impossible in summer. We were still hundreds, wemight almost say thousands, of miles from home, when we arranged toleave our pleasant quarters on the following afternoon for _Hangö_. 

What a truly national experience! First of all, the Petersburg steamer, by which we were to travel, though announced to start at three P. M. , never left its moorings till 4. 40. Only one hour and forty minutes late, but that was a mere trifle to a Finn. The cargo was taken on board up tothe very last minute--eighteen enormous barrels of salmon (twice orthrice the size of eighteen-gallon casks of beer), five hundred rolls ofleather, which, having come as raw skins from America, had been dressedin _Uleåborg_, ready for _Riga_, whither the consignment was bound, alsoa hundred big baskets, made of the plaited bark so common in Finland, filled with glue, likewise the product of a leather factory. 

One thing amazed us immensely; viz. That our steamer was allowed to liealmost alongside of the tar stores we had so lately visited. With theaid of only one single spark from her chimney all those barrels wouldquickly be ablaze. However, the genial English-speaking captain, as wellas the British Consul who had come to see us off, set our minds at restby explaining that the steamer only burnt coal, no wood-burning boatbeing allowed near the tar--the coal making few sparks and wood many. Fancy, coal! we had not seen or heard of coal for weeks; all the trains, the houses, and the steamboats, burn wood only, except the large shipsthat go right out to sea, and they could not burn wood, because of itsbulk, unless they dragged a dozen barges behind them to give acontinuous supply on the voyage. 

Another Finnish scene was being enacted around us. About a dozenemigrants were leaving their native land by way of _Hangö_, where theywere to change steamers for England, and pass thence to America. Theyhad paid seven or eight pounds each for their passage money, and weregoing off to seek their fortunes in a new world--going to a strangecountry, speaking another tongue than their own, going away from allthey had on earth, from friends, relations, associations, going full ofhope, perchance to fail! Some years later, when I was in the States, Ilearned what excellent emigrants these Finlanders make, and howsuccessful they generally become, but they looked so sad that day thatour hearts ached for them as they sat on their little boxes and bundleson the quays, among the sixty or seventy friends who had come to seethem off. The bell rang; no one moved. It rang again, when each said tothe other _Hyvästi_ (good-bye), and with a jaunty shake of the hand allround, the emigrants marched on board, and our ship steamed away, without a wet eye or a smothered sob. 

Will nothing move these people? Is it that they hide their feelings, oris it that they have none to conceal?

The stoicism of the Finn is one of his strongest characteristics. 

As we passed out of the harbour our thoughts recurred to heart-breakingfarewells on board P. And O. And Orient steamers, where the partings aregenerally only for a few years, and the voyagers are going to landsspeaking their own language and to appointments ready waiting for them. How strange is the emigrant, and how far more enigmatical the Finn. 

Our steamer _Åbo_ was delightful, quite the most comfortable we chancedon in Finland; the captain, a charming man, fortunately spoke excellentEnglish, although over the cabin door was written a grand specimen of aSwedish word--_Aktersalongspassagerare_, meaning first-class passengersaloon. 

Although the _Åbo_ plied from _Uleåborg_ to Petersburg, and was a largepassenger steamer, she stopped at many places for two or three hours ata time, in order to take in passengers and cargo, while we lay-to atnight because of the dangers of the coast, and waited half a day at_Wasa_, one of the most important towns in Finland. The train journeyfrom _Uleåborg_ to _Åbo_ occupies thirty hours, while the steamerdawdles placidly over the same distance for three days and a half. 

Have you ever travelled with a melon? If not, you have lost a delightfulexperience--please try. At one of the many halting-places on our way to_Hangö_, we were wandering through the streets on a very hot day, whenin a shop window some beautiful melons attracted our attention. 

"Oh!" exclaimed my sister, "we must have one, how cool and refreshingthey look. "

"What shall we do with it?" I asked. 

"Send it down to the steamer, " was her reply, "it will be so nice onboard. "

We accordingly went in, bought the melon with the help of our bestSwedish, for here, being opposite Sweden, that language was still invogue; we explained it was to go to the _ångbåtshytt_ (cabin) numberten, and left cheerfully. 

We returned to our steamer home; while leaving the harbour we remainedon deck, and it was not until late in the evening, when the ship beganto roll considerably, that we went below. At the head of the cabinstairs a most extraordinary odour greeted our senses; as we neared ourcabin the smell increased; when we opened the door we were nearlyknocked down by the terrible scent of the melon which had looked socharming in the shop window. Though very hot all day, as the weather hadbeen decidedly rough for some hours, the port-hole was closed, thereforethe melon had thoroughly scented the queer little cabin. 

"This is impossible, " I exclaimed. "I never smelt anything sooverpowering in my life, except a cod-liver oil factory in Iceland. Wecannot sleep in such an atmosphere. "

My sister looked crestfallen. 

"It is rather strong, " said she pensively; "shall we put it outside?"

"No, " I replied, "if we, who bought it, cannot endure the smell, how arethe wretched occupants on the other side to put up with such aninconvenience?"

"Then we must eat it, " she remarked with conviction, and, undoing thepaper and cutting a slice, she proceeded solemnly to devour that melon. Strangely enough, in spite of its overpowering odour, the fruit tasteddelicious, for, be it owned, I ate some too, and when we had enjoyed ourfeast we opened the port-hole and threw its rind into a watery grave. Wehad not been long in bed before we heard a great commotion outside--anappeal to the stewardess, then angry words, and at last a regular row. Dare we own the cause? _It was our melon!_

No one knew it was our melon, but half awake, holding on to keep in ourbunks at all, we lay and listened to the angry discussion, feeling itcould serve no good purpose if we got up to confess a dead and buriedsin. Nevertheless, that melon lay long on our consciences. We will nevervoluntarily travel with one again. 

We did not fall asleep till we had pulled up for the night. As we lay wereviewed our past experiences, and thought over the towns of _Suomi_. _Uleåborg_, which we had just left, is perhaps the most northerly townof any importance in Europe, and, after _Helsingfors_, it is the mostimposing in Finland. _Wiborg_, which from its position is on the highroad to Russia, ought to be handsome also and have good stone buildings, but it is not handsome, and has few good buildings. _Willmanstrand_ ismerely a collection of small wooden houses, some barracks, andnumberless tents for camping out. _Nyslott_ is scattered, and of noimportance were it not for its Castle and its new bath-house. _Kuopio_is perhaps the most picturesquely situated inland town in Finland, andthe view from _Puijo_, a hill of some height behind the township, isreally good on a fine night. It is extensive, and gives a wonderful ideaof the lakes and islands, rivers and forests of which Finland iscomposed. _Iisalmi_ is nothing--hardly possesses an hotel, in fact--and_Kajana_ not much better, although the rapids make it of great interest. _Sordavala_, as a town, is simple, neither beautifully situated norinteresting, except as a centre of learning, for it possesses wonderfulschools for men and women. _Tammerfors_ may be called the Manchester ofFinland; but the towns are really hardly worth mentioning as towns, being all built of wood and utterly lacking historical interest. Thetowns are the weak part of Finland. 

The water-ways are the amazement of every traveller; the people mostinteresting. That both have a charm, and a very distinct charm, cannotbe denied, and therefore Finland is a country well worth visiting. Forthe fisherman there is splendid sport. For the gun there is much game, and in some parts both are free. To the swimmer there are endless spotsto bathe; in a canoe the country can be traversed from end to end. Forthe botanist there are many interesting and even arctic flowers. For theartist there are almost unequalled sunsets and sky effects. For thepedestrian there are fairly good roads, --but for the fashionable touristwho likes Paris, London, or Rome, there is absolutely no attraction, anda Saratoga trunk could not find lodging. There are a few trains and manyboats in parts, but, once away from these, the traveller must rough itin every sense; leave all but absolutely necessary luggage behind, andkeep that well within bounds; and prepare to live on peasant's fare, such as fish, milk, coffee, eggs, black bread and butter (all of whichare excellent). He must never be in a hurry, must go good-naturedly andcheerfully to work, and, above all, possess a strong constitution thatcan endure eight or ten hours' jolting a day in carts without springs. Such travelling is the only way to see the country, and learn the habitsand customs of the people, the _Karelen_ and _Savolax_ districts beingespecially worth visiting by any one who has such objects in view. 

At length we dropped off to sleep, feeling our visit had been well worththe little inconveniences we laughed away. Finland is much to bepreferred for a holiday than many better-known countries. 

At different little towns along the Gulf of Bothnia the steamer stoppedin answer to a "call, " and some passenger clambered on board from asmall boat, which mode of proceeding reminded us of the ships that goround Oban and Mull and such Scotch ports, where the same sort of thinggoes on, the letters being dropped by the vessel as she passes. 

At _Jacobstad_, our first real halting-place, we stayed six hours totake on board many barrels of tar made in the neighbourhood, chicory, etc. Beside our boat, two large steamers (German and English) were beingladen with wood. Britain was taking some thousands of solid staves, about five feet long, for the coal-pits at home, where they are used assupports. Germany's importation was planks, probably for buildingpurposes. Women were doing all the work; they were pushing truck-loadsalong a railway line, lifting the staves one by one on to a primitivesort of truck-like arrangement that could be dragged on board by thecrane, and heavy work it appeared, although they did not seem to mindmuch. The English boat was already full, but the wood was being stackedup on the deck as high as the bridge. As she was a steamer, it seemedhardly profitable to burn coal to convey wood to Britain! All round theharbour, if we can give it such a name, were rafts still in the water, or stacks of wood in a more advanced condition ready for export. Therafts were being taken to pieces now they had reached the coast; menstanding to their waists in water loosened the ties, while horses pulledthe pine-tree trunks on shore. Finns have no time to idle in the summer, for it is during those four or five months that everything must be done, and sufficient money earned to keep them for the rest of the year. Luckily the days are long, and certainly the peasantry take advantage ofthe light, for they seem to work hard for eighteen or twenty hours at astretch. 

_Wasa_ is celebrated for its beautiful girls; and remembering thatduring eight or nine weeks in Finland we had seen no pretty peasants, and only about as many good-looking girls of the better class as couldbe counted on the fingers of both hands, full of pleasant anticipationwe went on shore to see these beauteous maids--and--there were none. Thetown was deserted, every one had gone away to their island or countryhomes, and no doubt taken the pretty girls with them. At all events theyhad left _Wasa_, which, to our surprise, was lined by boulevards oftrees, quite green and picturesque, stone houses here and there, and anoccasional villa; and if we did not find lovely females, we saw manywith tidy heads, an adjunct as important to a woman as a well-shavedchin to a man. _Wasa_ was one of the nicest-looking towns of Finland. 

Every one in it spoke Swedish. For weeks we had been travelling throughparts of the country where Finnish was the only tongue, but here we werein another atmosphere. Soon after leaving _Uleåborg_ we found thepeasants speaking Swedish. In winter they can walk over the Gulf ofBothnia to Sweden, so it is hardly to be wondered at that they preservetheir old language. It is the same all the way down the coast to_Helsingfors_. Of course we went to the baths at _Wasa_; we always dideverywhere. There are no baths in hotels or on board ships, but eachtown has its warm baths, and its swimming-baths railed off on thewater-side, and there are regular attendants everywhere. 

Lo! in the swimming-bath two mermaids played and frolicked when weentered, and, let us own at once, they were two very beautiful girls--sobeautiful, in fact, that we feel we ought to retract our remarks anentthe lack of loveliness in the female sex. Somewhat hungry after our dipwe went to the café--and to another surprise. The girl behind thecounter was lovely. Well--well--here was the third beauty in one day, and all hidden from masculine gaze, for two had been at the ladies'swimming-bath, and the third was in a café for ladies only. Poor men ofFinland, how much you have missed!

We asked for rolls and butter and jam, with a cup of coffee, as we werenot dining till 3. 30. The lovely maid opened her eyes wide. 

An endless source of amusement to the natives was the Englishwomeneating jam. Although they have so many wonderful berries in Finland, andmake them into the most luscious preserves, they eat the sweetened onesas pudding and the unsweetened with meat, but such a thing as eating_Hjortron_ on bread and butter was considered too utterly funny an idea. At the little café at _Wasa_ the brilliant notion seized us of havingwhite bread, butter, and _Hjortron_ preserve. Our kind Finnish friendgave the order, and the pretty girl repeated--

"_Hjortron?_ But there is no meat. "

"We don't want any meat; but the ladies would like some jam with theircoffee. "

"Then shall I bring you cream to eat it as pudding?" she asked, stillmore amazed. 

"No, " was the reply, "they will eat it spread on bread and butter. "

"What! _Hjortron_ on bread and butter!" the waitress exclaimed. "Impossible!"

And to her mind the combination was as incongruous as preserves eatenwith meat would be to the ordinary English peasant, or as our mint sauceserved with lamb seems to a foreigner, who also looks upon our rhubarbtart as a dose of medicine. 

Another thing that surprised the folk was that we always wanted salt. Itis really remarkable how seldom a Finlander touches it at all; indeed, they will sit down and calmly eat an egg without even a grain of salt. Perhaps there is something in the climate that makes it less necessaryfor them than other folk, because we know that in the interior of someparts of Africa, the craving for salt is so dreadful that a native willwillingly give the same weight in gold for its equivalent in salt. 

We stopped at _Åbo_, the ancient capital of Finland, justly proud of itsstone cathedral. Two things struck us as extraordinary in this building. The first were long words painted on several of the pews--"_FörNattvardsgäster Rippiwäkä warten_, " which, being translated intoEnglish, notified "For those who were waiting for the communion. "

The second thing was a mummy, almost as old as the cathedral itself, which was begun in the year 1258 by Bishop Heinrich. Stay, yet a thirdthing caught our attention--the Scotch names on the monuments, thedescendants of which people still live in Finland. Many Scotch settledin _Suomi_ centuries ago, and England has the proud honour of havingsent over the first Protestant bishop to Finland. 

We saw marvellous mummies--all once living members of some of the oldestfamilies in Finland; there they lie in wondrous caverns in the crypt, but as formerly tourists were wicked enough to tear off fingers and soforth in remembrance of these folks, they are now no longer shown. However, that delightful gentleman, the Head of the Police, who escortedus about _Åbo_, had the mysterious iron trapdoor in the floor uplifted, and down some steep steps--almost ladder-like, with queer gutteringtallow dips in our hands--we stumbled into the mummies' vault. Themummies themselves were not beautiful. The whole figure was there, it istrue, but shrivelled and blackened by age. The coffins or sarcophagi inwhich they lay were in many cases of exquisite workmanship. 

We cannot dwell on the history of the cathedral, which has played suchan important part in the religious controversies of the country, anymore than we may linger among the mummies and general sights of therespective towns, because this in no way purposes to be a guide-book. All information of that kind is excellently given in Dr. August Ramsay'sadmirable little guide to his own land, which has been translated intoseveral languages. For the same reason we must pass over the interestingcastle--not nearly so delightful though as our dear old haunted pile at_Nyslott_--with its valuable collection of national curiosities, amongwhich figures an old-fashioned flail, used until comparatively moderntimes, to beat the devil out of the church. 

It was at _Åbo_ we were introduced to one of the greatest delicacies ofFinland. 

Crayfish, for which the Finnish word is _rapu_, appear to be found innearly all the lakes and rivers in the south and middle of Finland. Oh, how we loved those crayfish. There is a close season for them whichlasts from the 1st of May until the 15th of July, but immediately afterthe latter date they are caught by the tens of thousands and sent inlarge consignments to St. Petersburg, Stockholm, and even Berlin. Catching these little crayfish is not only a profession, but also agreat source of amusement to young and old among the better class. 

At night, or the early morning, is the best time for the sport. A mantakes ten or more sticks, to the end of each of which he fastens a pieceof string about thirty to fifty centimetres long. To this string hesecures a piece of meat, which, be it owned, is considered by the littlefish a more dainty morsel when slightly tainted. These sticks he fixesto the bank or holds in his hands, so that the piece of meat is belowthe surface of the water. Having secured what may be called all hisfishing-rods safely at a certain distance, he wanders along the banksobserving carefully where a crayfish is hanging on to a piece of meat byits claws. When such is the case he quickly gets hold of a landing-net, and placing it under its little black shell lifts the animal out of thewater. Then he goes to the next stick, and generally the crayfish catchon so quickly, he is busily employed the whole time going from one rodto another. The more professional catchers have a net under the bait, but that is not really necessary. Young men and women thoroughly enjoythese crayfish parties, where it is said the maidens sometimes catchother fish than the _rapu_. 

It was really amazing, in the market-place at _Åbo_, to see the largebaskets filled with these little crayfish. Think of it, ye gourmands. They were not sold singly or even by the score, but by the hundred; anda hundred of them cost fourpence. When one remembers the enormous pricepaid in Paris for _bisque_ soup, and the expense of _écrevisse_, generally, one feels what a fortune ought to lie in those baskets. Butsuch is life. We either have too much or too little of everything. 

CHAPTER XX

A FASHIONABLE WATERING-PLACE. 

One cannot be long in Finland during the summer without being asked "Areyou going to _Hangö_?"

"See Rome and die" seems there to be transformed into "See _Hangö_ andlive. "

"Where is _Hangö_, what is _Hangö_--why _Hangö_?" we at last inquired indesperation. 

The Finlander to whom we spoke looked aghast, and explained that "not tohave heard of _Hangö_ was a crime, not to have been to _Hangö_ amisfortune. "

Accordingly, desiring to do the correct thing before leaving the land ofthousands of lakes, we took the steamer from the ancient town of _Åbo_, to the modern fashionable watering-place of _Hangö_. 

It was ten o'clock at night when we arrived from _Åbo_, and were metwith warm welcome by kind friends on the quay, with whom we drove to thehotel, as we thought, but that was quite a mistake. We were at _Hangö_, and within five minutes the _Isvoschtschik_ stopped before a pavilionwhere music was jingling inspiriting tunes; up the steps we werehurried, and at the top found ourselves, travel-stained and tired, inthe midst of a wild and furious Finnish, or, to speak more properly, Russian ball. 

It was a strange spectacle. At first we thought that some sixty orseventy sailors from the four Russian men-of-war lying in the harbourhad been let out for the evening, their blue serge blouses and lighterlinen collars with white stripes having a familiar air, still it seemedstrange that such smart ladies, in dainty gowns, hats flowered in Paris, and laces fingered in Belgium, should be dancing with ordinaryable-bodied seamen. Ere long we discovered these sailors were cadets, ormidshipmen, as we should call them, among the number being two Russianprinces and many of the nobility. Then there were officers in navaluniform, elderly Generals--who had merely come in to have a look--cladin long gray coats lined with scarlet; small persons wearing top-bootsand spurs, with linen coats and brass buttons, who smilingly said theywere "in the Guards, " although their stature hardly reminded us of theirEnglish namesakes! girls in shirts and skirts and sailor hats, got upfor the seaside and comfort, who looked as much out of place in thisCasino ballroom as many high dames appeared next morning while wanderingdown to the "Bad Hus" to be bathed in mud or pine, their gorgeous silklinings and lace-trimmed skirts appearing absolutely ridiculous on thesandy roads or beach. To be well-dressed is to be suitably dressed, and_Hangö_, like many another watering-place, has much to learn in the wayof common sense. 

It was Sunday. The ball had begun as usual on that evening at seven, andwas over about eleven; but while it lasted every one danced hard, andthe youngsters from the ships romped and whirled madly round the room, as youth alone knows how. We all get old very soon--let us enjoy suchwild delights while we may. 

No one with a slender purse should go to _Hangö_, not at least unless hehas made a bargain with an hotel, or he will find that even a littleFinnish watering-place ventures to charge twelve marks (9s. 9d. ) a dayfor a small room, not even facing the sea (with 1 mark 50 penni for_bougies_ extra), in a hotel that has neither drawing-room, billiard-room, nor reading-room. But it must again be repeated thatFinland is not cheap, that travelling indeed is just as expensive thereas anywhere else abroad, more expensive, in fact, than in some of theloveliest parts of the Tyrol, or the quaintest districts of Brittany andNormandy. And perhaps the most distressing part of the whole business isthe prevalent idea that every Englishman must be immensely rich, andconsequently willing to pay whatever ridiculous sum the Finns may chooseto ask--an idea which cannot be too soon dispelled. 

_Hangö_ is certainly a charming spot as far as situation goes, and liesin more salt water than any other place in Finland, for it is thenearest point to the German Ocean, while during the winter months it isthe only port that is open for Finland and Northern Russia--even this isnot always the case, though an ice-breaker works hard day and night todisperse the ice, which endeavour generally proves successful, or thewinter export of butter, one of Finland's greatest industries, would bestopped and perhaps ruined. Not only _Hangö_ but all the southern coastof Finland shelters the summer houses of many of the aristocracy ofRussia. 

Out to sea are islands; skirting the coasts are splendid granite rocks, showing the glacial progress later than in other lands, for Finlandremained cold longer than our own country. Pine-trees make a sort ofpark thickly studded with wooden villas of every shape and size, somegray, some deep red, all with balconies wide enough to serve fordining-rooms, though the pretty villas themselves are often only onestorey high. It is very difficult in such a seaside labyrinth to findone's friends, because most of the houses are nameless, and many are noteven on roads--just standing lonely among the pines. They are dearlittle homes, often very picturesque and primitive, so primitive that itutterly bewilders any stranger, unaccustomed to such incongruities, tosee a lady in patent leather shoes and silk stockings, dressed as ifgoing to Hurlingham or the Bois de Boulogne, emerge from one of them anddaintily step through sand to the Casino--walking hither and thither, nodding a dozen times a day to the same acquaintances, speaking toothers, gossiping over everything and everybody with a chosen few, whileher daughter is left to play tennis with that Finnish girl's idea of allmanly beauty, "a lieutenant, " or knocks a very big ball with a verysmall mallet through an ancient croquet hoop, that must have come out ofthe ark--that is to say, if croquet hoops ever went into the ark. 

_Hangö_ is a dear, sweet, reposeful, health-giving, primitive place, spoilt by gay Russians and would-be-fashionable Finns, who seem to aimat aping Trouville or Ostend without the French _chic_, or the Parisian_gaieté de coeur_. 

Wonderful summer evenings, splendid effects of light and shade on thewater, beautiful scenery, glorious dawns and sunsets--everything wasthere to delight the poet, to inspire the painter, to tempt the worldlyto reflect, but no one paused to think, only nodded to another friend, laughed over a new hat, chaffed about the latest flirtation, and passedon. 

After studying many over-gowned ladies, we turned by way of contrast tothe ill-dressed emigrants leaving this famous port. It certainly seemsstrange, considering the paucity of skilled labour in Finland, that somany of the population should emigrate. In fact, it is not merelystrange but sad to reflect that a hundred folk a week leave their nativecountry every summer, tempted by wild tales of certain fortune which thesteamship agents do not scruple to tell. Some of the poor creatures dosucceed, it is true, but that they do not succeed without enduring muchhardship is certain; whereas Finland wants skilled labourers badly, andother countries could spare them well. For instance, in the largegranite factory at _Hangö_ some four hundred men are always employed, and paid extremely well, yet skilled labour of the sort is difficult toget--emigration being presented on all sides as a golden lure. Graniteis found all over Finland; indeed, _Suomi_ has risen from the sea on abase of granite, green, gray, red, and black, all of fine quality. 

Five million roubles were paid for the wonderful _Denkmal_ to be erectedat the Kremlin in Moscow as a memorial of Alexander the Second. Thestatue itself was entrusted to Russia's most famous sculptor, but thepedestals, stairs, etc. , we saw in process of manufacture at _Hangö_. Wewere shown over the works by a professor well known as a mathematician, and were much interested to see how Finlanders cut and polish granitefor tombstones, pillars, etc. The rough stone is generally hewn intoform by hand, somewhat roughly with a hammer and mallet, then it is cutinto blocks with a saw really made of pellets of steel powder. 

Very slow and laborious work it is, and requires great exactitude. Oftenwhen the cutting is nearly accomplished some hidden flaw disclosesitself, and a stone that had appeared of great value proves to be almostworthless; or the men when chipping the rough granite may suddenly finda flake too much has been chipped off by mistake, which involves notmerely the loss of that block but of the labour expended on it. 

Finnish granites are chiefly exported to Russia, but Scotland takes afew of the gray. Many of the great Russian churches contain beautifulspecimens. 

Some of the more experienced workers earn as much as ten and twelveshillings per diem--higher pay being given to the best polishers. Flatpolishing can be done by machinery, but one of the four pedestalsintended to support the great Alexander monument was being polishedround the crevices by three men, who had spent twenty-two days doingthose few square feet, and on which, when we left, they were still atwork. 

An afternoon we spent on one of the ships of the Russian squadron provedthoroughly enjoyable. The Admiral kindly invited us on board, and showedus over his vessel. The squadron at that time at _Hangö_ consisted offour ships, two of which were utilised for training, one receiving youngcadets from twelve to fourteen years of age, and the other, older ladswho were waiting to be sent off as officers. 

They arrange their naval training differently in Russia from what we doin England. That is to say, for six summer months cadets live on boardthe training-ships, but the six winter months are spent at the Collegein St. Petersburg, where they learn the theoretical part of theireducation. 

A boat came to fetch us manned by twelve oars, all cadets, as well asthe steersman who stood at the stern. They were the most charming ladsimaginable, and during the following days we saw much of them, andlearnt to appreciate their delightful manners, and to wonder more andmore at their linguistic accomplishments. Several of them spoke Englishadmirably, most knew French well, and some German. On an Englishtraining-ship, or, indeed, an English man-of-war, should we be likely tofind such a large percentage acquainted with any language but their own?When we asked them how it was they were able to converse in foreigntongues so fluently, they invariably replied they had an English nurseor French governess in their home when young. 

"But, " we returned, "although you learnt it when children, how have youmanaged to keep it up as men?" For we know how our English schoolboysforget such languages as they learn at home, or are taught French andGerman on some hideous principle at school, which leaves them utterlyincapable of understanding or speaking a word when they go out into theworld. 

"Oh, " they answered, "we take great trouble to remember what we learntwhen young, for a man must know something more than his own language. Weall read foreign papers or books whenever we get an opportunity. "

They were delightful young fellows, although we must own their dress atfirst somewhat surprised us, for they were clothed in our ordinaryseamen's clothes--a white blouse and blue sailor collar, with white ducktrousers, being their attire by day, or the same in blue serge by night. 

They were unaffectedly proud of their ship, and showed us over it withgreat _éclat_, but we must confess that, although the Russians speakmore languages than our own sailors, or officers for that matter, anEnglish man-of-war seemed to us in every way smarter and better keptthan a Russian. 

Between decks was a piano, and the Russian Admiral suggested that someof the boys (many of whom were Finlanders) should play the _Balalaika_, the great national instrument, which is something like a triangularguitar, and emits sweet sounds. One lad at once sat himself down to thepiano, and five others fetching their _Balalaika_, played some of thequaint national airs of Russia. Then a young man performed mostwonderfully on the violin, and it turned out that they had greatconcerts among themselves--music and chess being two of their chiefrecreations. 

Every cadet wore round his neck a silver or gold chain with a littlecross attached, for each member of the Greek Church has such bestowed inthe following manner:--

A christening was about to take place at the Isaak in St. Petersburg. Never having seen the rite of baptism performed in a Greek church, wesat at the golden base of a colossal Finnish granite pillar waiting. There was the font--a large silver bath on a pedestal, big enough tohold a child of eight or ten. Round its edges were placed four candles, three of which were lighted. At a table near sat a long-haired priest, with a kindly face, who was taking down all the details of the childrenfrom the respective fathers, of whom there were five. The first was ayoung officer. He came forward when called upon, and produced from apocketbook his passport, which every Russian carries about with him toprove his identity, his marriage certificate, etc. From the churchdocuments the statistics of Russia are taken, for it is the priests whosupply all such information. Into a book, therefore, our kindly-facedpriest copied the father's and mother's names, the child's baptismalname, adding the name of the Saint given to the child when received intothe Church. On the father's passport of identity he entered the child'sname, date of birth and baptism, afterwards duly signing the document. All this took a long time, and we were struck by the fact that one ofthe five fathers, a most respectable-looking person, could not write andhad to put his x. One often hears of Russian lack of education, butcertainly it is difficult to conceive that, in any other civilisedcountry, an individual of the same rank--for he appeared to be worthsome hundreds of pounds a year--could have been found unable to writehis own name. 

While all this was going on, the verger, if we may so call a uniformedgentleman in attendance, made himself busy in going from nurse to nursecollecting the baptismal garments. Each woman had brought a coverlet--asort of white bedspread, and a small linen and lace chemise. A blueribbon was run round the neck of the latter for a boy, and a pink onefor a girl. Another small ribbon, on which hung a gold cross--the giftof the respective godfather--was placed round the child's neck as ablessing from the Church, and it was this we noticed every cadetwearing, no Russian ever going without. While this ceremony was inprogress, the five babies, each one of which was only two or three daysold, for infants must be baptized before they reach the age of eightdays, yelled more or less--and no wonder. 

At last all was ready; the five fathers gathered round the font, eachholding the white coverlet into which he was to receive his new-bornbaby straight from the blessings of the Church, and between them stoodthe respective nurses holding their small charges. The priest donned agorgeous robe, read the baptismal service, and went from infant toinfant, crossing their heads, their hands, their feet with sacred oil, each baby lying naked the while in the coverlet its nurse had broughtfor the purpose. After another prayer he proceeded--hot water havingbeen added to the font--to baptize them, and very cleverly he managedthis extremely difficult undertaking. Putting his right hand on thechest and under the arms of the infant, he lifted the small nudespecimen of humanity gently, and, with a muttered prayer, turned itupside down, dipping its head three times right into the water of thefont, while with his left hand he splashed the pure lymph all over itsback. Of course, the baby howled at such ablutions--what infant wouldnot, for they were well-nigh sufficient to drown it--but he held eachtiny creature securely and kindly till he placed it wet and dripping inits father's arms. The idea being that the father should receive hischild back cleansed from sin by the hands of the Church. 

Each nurse, when relieved of her charge, arranged the new coverlet underthe father's chin and over his hands, as foreigners do their serviettesat table, and each man--especially the shy young officer--received thedripping squalling baby therein with an agonised expression ofcountenance. The father was obliged to hold his kicking and yellinginfant till the priest had "dressed it in the clothes of the Church, " byslipping the little chemise over its head and clasping the ribbon andcross round its neck. Even then, however, all was not ended. The infantshad still to receive Holy Communion, there being, we understand, noconfirmation ceremony in the Greek Church. This the priest administeredby simply putting a small spoonful of mixed wine and water into eachchild's mouth. When this had been done the five fathers gave the fiveinfants back to their nurses, who dressed them up and took them home. 

New-born babies have their troubles in Russia, for such a christeningmust be a grave trouble indeed, and thus they receive their cross, whichthey have to carry to the grave. Beneath the low-necked blouses of ourcadets the chain was distinctly visible. 

The Russian mazurka being a great institution, we asked our friend theAdmiral, before leaving his ship, if his cadets might dance it for us. 

"Certainly, " he said. And they did, but as the decks were small and thedance intricate, we entreated the Admiral to let them come on shore onenight and dance it at the hotel. He very kindly agreed, so after eatingthe most delicious Russian sweets (_marmalada_) in his cabin, served ona great round meat dish, and congratulating him on his wonderfulEnglish, which he spoke most fluently, we left. 

It is said no one can learn the Russian mazurka unless brought up to itfrom childhood; and, certainly, the figures are more intricate than thecotillion. Some of the steps resemble the Scotch reel or barn dance, especially when the dancers beat time with their heels, and we certainlythink the swinging measure of the mazurka is often more knack thanknowledge. 

The ladies float through most of it, holding their arms on high as inthe days of the old French minuet, but the men perform many moreelaborate steps to a rattling time and tune. The Russian mazurka is avery long performance--indeed, it may go on all night; and as there aremany figures, and all intricate, some one has to lead by word of mouth. 

When one hears a man roaring for the first time in a ballroom, it soundssomewhat extraordinary, and yet this is the sort of thing which goes onduring a Russian mazurka or quadrille. 

"Ladies and gentlemen turn. "

"Ladies in the middle. "

"Gentlemen gallop round. "

"Men on their knees. "

"Ladies dance round them, " etc. These commands being given incessantlyfor an hour, or perhaps two, until the unfortunate director is worn outand weary, and hoarse into the bargain. 

It is a gift to be a good director, and any man who shows aptitude forthis rôle has generally little time to dance, and has to work very hardduring the evening's entertainment. 

There is no doubt about it that the mazurka, when danced by statelycourt folk, is a very elegant and beautiful form of the terpsichoreanart, although when young people get together it is apt to degenerateinto something of a romp. 

It was with sincere regret that we left _Hangö_, for to us leaving_Hangö_ meant leaving Finland. Three months previously we had landed onthose shores, strangers in a little-known country, where we met withwarm friends, whose hospitality we enjoyed more than it is possible tosay. 

We were tired and weary, for we had travelled far and seen much, andlearnt, we hope, not a little. If in this endeavour to give ourimpressions of _Suomi_ as we saw it we have failed, the kind friendsdwelling on the borders of Lapland and Russia must forgive us, andremember that few books exist by which to correct our impressions. Theymust not forget, either, that all our information was gleaned either bymeans of observation, and naturally English eyes look at many thingsdifferently from Finnish, or by the willing translations of those wemet, who always had to speak what to them was a foreign language, andgenerally, indeed, almost always, a strange one to us. We were thereforeboth at a disadvantage, and we cannot help smiling as we remember someof our struggles to understand properly what the dear folk wished toimpart. 

Our eyes were tired with sights, our minds were chaotic with strangeideas and tongues, but yet we felt how misunderstood that beautifulcounty is, how well worthy of careful study, and what a delightful newfield it opens up to the traveller who, though he believes he "knows allEurope, " yet has omitted _Suomi_, one of her quaintest gems. 

The days of prophecy are over; but as these pages are about an old-worldland, a land that like Rip van Winkle has been sleeping, we may perhapsbe allowed to predict that, having at last wakened from her longslumber, _Suomi_ will rise to distinction, for this younger generationof Finlanders, as Ibsen says, is now "knocking at the door" of nations. Finnish women are the most advanced in the world to-day. All honour tothem, and all congratulations to their wise men. Great women help tomake great nations. 

APPENDIX

QUESTIONS OF NATIONALITY AND POLITICS IN 1912

Finland has suffered. 

Finland is suffering under Russian rule, but surely Russia will soonrealise what a valuable people the Finlanders are, and bring the bannerof reconciliation instead of further antagonism into their land. 

Finland is a wonderful little country and her people are strong. 

The conquest of Finland by Sweden (1157-1323) placed the former countrywithin the limits of European culture. From that time the Finnish nationhas been included within the ranks of the civilised countries of WesternEurope. 

Finland has from olden times had a mixed population. Large portions ofthe country were inhabited by Lapps, and to judge from archæologicalfinds and other data, there was a Scandinavian population in the Southand West. The Finns seem to have come into the country from the East andthe South, crossing the Gulf of Finland. The Lapps were gradually drivenfarther to the North, and it also appears that, in many parts, theScandinavian element was absorbed into the more numerous Finnishpopulation, but after the Swedish conquest the Swedes in Finland werereinforced by immigration from Sweden. 

Owing to the scanty information that has come down to us on thecondition of the ancient Finns in heathen times, before the Swedishconquest, very little is known about their ancient institutions. It isevident, however, that they were divided among themselves into hostileclans, without a common bond of union. They lived partly on isolatedfarms, partly in village communities, and were governed by elected orhereditary chiefs; they pursued agriculture, made iron out of nativeores, traded by sea, were doubtless pirates like the ScandinavianVikings, and had special trading places, which were frequented even byforeigners. Among the Scandinavians the Finns were known for their skillin making arms and by their witchcraft. As to the latter belief, it had, doubtless, its origin in the old Finns' Shaman rites, but was alsonourished by their Runic songs, in which faith in the supernatural powerof the wise but hidden _word_ prevailed. 

The Swedish conquest united the Finnish clans under one government, andthus formed the unity of the Finnish nation. The free politicalinstitutions of Sweden were introduced into Finland, where they soontook up their abode owing to the support of the large class of freepeasantry which had existed from olden times. In 1362 the inhabitants ofFinland, through their representatives, received the right to take partin the election of kings in Sweden, and Finland was now placed on anequal footing with other parts of the Swedish realm. Representatives ofthe Finnish nobility, clergy, burghers, and peasants were sent to theSwedish parliament (_Riksdag_). This naturally formed a strong safeguardfor the independence of the peasantry, which, in Finland, as also attimes in Sweden, was repeatedly threatened by a powerful aristocracy. 

The great advantages that the Swedish government brought with it forFinland were accompanied, however, by a drawback that gradually became aheavy burden. The Finnish language was set aside. Swedish being thelanguage of administration, it was exclusively used in all governmentoffices, courts of justice, and, by degrees, it became the language ofculture and education. The growing literature appeared in Swedish, andwas naturally inaccessible to the mass of the people. In the churches, however, the services were held in Finnish. In 1548 the New Testamentwas published in Finnish translation, and a hundred years later atranslation of the whole Bible was printed. Other books also weregradually published in Finnish, the selection being chiefly of areligious or economic nature. At the meetings of the _Riksdag_ therepresentatives of Finland repeatedly insisted that measures should betaken to induce officials and judges to learn Finnish. These demands, however, the justice of which was always acknowledged in theory, rarelyproduced any practical results. 

Situated between two rival realms, Sweden and Russia, Finland became, atshort intervals, the scene of bloody wars which were conducted by thosestates against each other. Great parts of the country were therebydesolated, and the population diminished. An era remarkable in thisrespect was the great Northern war (1700-1721), at the end of which thepopulation of Finland was reduced to a third, and its devastated landdivided between hostile powers. Another division of the country (1743)only contributed still more to weaken the national strength. All thatremained of this strength was required to maintain the union withSweden, which was apparently the only salvation of the nation'sexistence. 

Such was the state of affairs when Finland, after a heroic defence, wasconquered (1809) by Russia. The high-minded and liberal Emperor, Alexander I. , considered that the new conquest could not be betterpreserved than by attaching his new subjects with bonds of affection tohimself. To this end he summoned the representatives of the Finnishpeople to a parliamentary meeting at Borgå, where the Estates assembledon March 22, 1809. At this meeting--the Diet of Borgå, as it isgenerally called--the Emperor announced his intention to confirm theSwedish Constitution, hitherto enjoyed by Finland, as valid for theGrand Duchy. In the following survey of the political institutions ofFinland we venture to quote somewhat freely from Senator L. Mechelin'sexcellent book, _A Précis of the Public Law of Finland_, translated fromthe French original into English by Mr. Charles J. Cooke, formerlyBritish Consul in Finland. 

The Emperor signed, on March 27, the following declaration to theinhabitants of Finland:--

 FRENCH ORIGINAL. 

 Les destinées de la Providence nous ayant fait prendre en possession le Grand Duché de Finlande, Nous avons voulu, par l'acte présent, confirmer et ratifier la Religion et les Lois fondamentales du Pays, ainsi que les privilèges et droits, dont chaque classe dans le dit Grand Duché, en particulier, et tous les habitants en général, qu'ils aient une position élevée ou inférieure, ont joui jusqu'ici selon la Constitution. Nous promettons de maintenir tous ces avantages et les lois fermes et inébranlables dans leur pleine force. 

 ENGLISH TRANSLATION. 

 Providence having placed us in possession of the Grand Duchy of Finland, We have desired, by the present act, to confirm and ratify the Religion and fundamental Laws of the Land, as well as the privileges and rights, which each class in the said Grand Duchy, in particular, and all the inhabitants in general, be their position high or low, have hitherto enjoyed according to the Constitution. We promise to maintain all these benefits and laws firm and unshaken in their full force. 

Two days later, at a solemn audience held in the Cathedral, the Tzarreceived the homage of the Estates as Grand Duke of Finland. The Estatestook the oath of fealty to the new sovereign, and affirmed, at the sametime, the inviolability of the Constitution; the Emperor's declarationwas read aloud, the document was delivered into the custody of theMarshal of the Nobles; after which a herald of noble birth stood beforethe throne and proclaimed: "Vive Alexandre I. , Empereur de toutes lesRussies et Grand-duc de Finlande!"

The ceremony concluded with a speech from the Emperor, in the Frenchlanguage, bearing witness to the sentiments with which he had receivedthe homage and oath of the country's representatives, and testifyingthat it was an _Act of Union_ that had just been effected. 

The Emperor and Grand Duke submitted to the Diet propositions on thefour following questions:--

 1. The organisation of the Government of the land, or the institution of a State Council. 

 2. Taxes and finance. 

 3. Military organisation. 

 4. Monetary system. 

Thus was Finland's new destiny inaugurated. 

The conqueror found himself in the presence of a people firmly attachedto their political institutions and their civil laws, the liberalprinciples of which had taken root in the minds and habits of thecitizens. To have employed physical force in order to incorporate thiscountry with Russia would not have accorded with the Emperor's personalviews, nor conduced to the immediate pacification which the politicalinterests of the Empire necessitated. Hence Alexander preferred an "Actof Union. " He confirmed the old Constitution, and summoned therepresentatives of the nation, so as to establish, conjointly with them, the new order of things. 

The Finlanders, foreseeing the final issue of the war and theimpossibility of a return to the past, could not hesitate to meethalf-way the proposals of the Emperor Alexander, who had given them, asa security for the future, the most formal assurance to maintain theformer Constitution. In Sweden the king had been dethroned; the Swedishgovernment had no more power over Finland; the Finnish Estates, electedand assembled according to law, could alone at that moment representwith perfect right the Finnish people. Hence the authority they madeuse of in binding the inhabitants of the country by the oath taken tothe new sovereign, on the basis of the Constitution confirmed by him, was acknowledged both by the Emperor and the people. The Emperorexpressed this in his manifesto "to all the inhabitants of Finland, "published at Borgå, April 4, 1809. No protest was heard in the country. 

The union thus established was clearly defined by the Emperor, not onlyin the above-mentioned speech of 29th March and his speech at theconclusion of the Diet, on July 18, 1809, but also on otheroccasions--for example, in the manifesto of March 27, 1810, concerningthe militia, from which we extract the introduction:--

"His Imperial Majesty's Gracious Manifesto. 

"From the moment that, through the Will of Providence, Finland's destinywas entrusted to Us, it has been Our aim to rule that land in conformitywith the liberties of the Nation and the rights assured to it by itsConstitution. 

"The proofs of devotion the Inhabitants have given Us since the Oath ofFealty, which they tendered to Us of their perfect free will throughtheir Representatives assembled at the Diet, have only conduced tostrengthen Us in that purpose. 

"All the steps We have hitherto taken, with regard to the internaladministration of the Country, are simply a consequence of and anaddition to that fundamental idea. The maintenance of the Religion andthe Laws, the summoning of the Estates to a general Diet, the formationof a State Council in the Nation's midst, and the inviolability of thejudicial and administrative authority, afford sufficient proofs toassure the Finnish Nation (_Finska Nationen_) of its political existenceand the rights appertaining thereto. "

As has been said above, one of the questions submitted by Alexander I. To the Diet was the establishment of a State Council, to carry out thegovernment of the country. The statutes for this Council were issued onAugust 18, 1809, and its name was in 1816 changed to Imperial Senate forFinland; in the manifesto, in which this change of name was effected, the Emperor took the occasion to repeat his "assurance of a separateConstitution of the country, under Our Sceptre and that of Oursuccessors. "

According to the Constitution, the Emperor and Grand Duke is assisted inthe work of governing Finland by the Senate, the Governor-General, andthe office of the Finnish Secretary of State residing in St. Petersburg. 

The Emperor and Grand Duke has the right, in criminal matters, topardon, to commute the penalty of death, to pronounce the rehabilitationof and to return forfeited property. He commands the military forces, provides for the defence of the country, declares war, concludestreaties of peace, of alliance, and so forth. He appoints to the higheroffices of State. He has the right of conferring titles on persons whohave particularly well merited of the Sovereign or of the country; hemay also raise nobles to the rank of Baron or Count. By means ofnaturalisation the Emperor may grant to foreigners and Russian subjectsthe status of Finnish citizens. 

The Senate is composed of two departments--that of Justice, which is thesupreme tribunal, and the Administrative Department, which manages thegeneral administration of the country. The two departments, united, formthe "Plenum" of the Senate. The Governor-General presides both over thePlenum and over each of the departments, which is composed, generally, of ten members, including the Vice-President. The AdministrativeDepartment comprises the following sections--Judicial matters, HomeAffairs, Finance, Control, Public Worship and Instruction, Agriculture, Communications, Commerce and Industries. There should also be a sectionfor military matters, but since the Finnish army has been disbanded, aswe shall see later on, this section no longer exists. 

Each of these sections has a Senator at its head, besides which, twoSenators are deputy heads of the Home Affairs and Finance sections; theVice-President and one of the members of the Administrative Departmenthave no portfolios. The number of the Senators is not always, however, brought up to this full complement. 

The Plenum of the Senate is composed of the President and all theSenators, or, according to the nature and importance of the business athand, of four Senators from each department, besides the President. 

In the absence of the Governor-General, one of the Vice-Presidentstakes the chair; in the Departments, the oldest Senator present presidesat the Plenum. 

The Senators are appointed by the Emperor for a period of three years, at the expiration of which their appointment may be renewed. All theSenators of the Department of Justice, and at least two of the membersof the Administrative Department, ought to be competent to discharge thefunctions of a Judge. 

All matters to be discussed are reported upon byReferendary-Secretaries, except financial questions, the report of whichis entrusted to the Controllers of the Financial Departments of theSenate. The Referendary-Secretaries and the Controllers are appointed bythe Emperor. 

All cases are decided by a majority of votes, the President having acasting vote should there be an equal division. 

In the sections of the Administrative Department the Head Senator alone, or his deputy, decides as to the resolutions to be taken on the reportof the Referendary-Secretary, or of the Controller. 

The Procurator-General has the right of being present at the sittings ofthe Senate, without, however, voting, or taking part in thedeliberations. He is appointed by the Emperor, as is also his deputy andassistant. 

The Senate has a permanent committee for the preparation of projectedmeasures, working under the guidance of a Senator, appointed by theSenate, for each legislative measure with which the committee ischarged. The Plenum of the Senate appoints the members of the committeefor a period of three years. 

Under the Constitution, Finland has the right to a separate armyorganisation. For a long time after Finland was united to Russia, nosoldiers were raised in Finland, since it was considered that thecountry, which had suffered so much under the war, should be for sometime to come relieved of every military burden. Later on, however, Finnish troops were organised under the old Swedish military tenuresystem, and in 1878 a new military law came into force, having been dulypassed by the Diet and received Imperial sanction. Under this law, personal military service was compulsory for every Finnish citizen;every able-bodied man had to serve either with the colours, or in thereserve, or the militia. None but Finnish citizens could enter the army. The Governor-General was Commander-in-Chief of the troops. How this armywas dissolved will be stated later on. 

We have several times referred to the Governors of Provinces, so it maybe well here to enumerate a few of their duties:--

The Governor's functions are very numerous. He must see to the publicorder and safety, and to the maintenance of roads and bridges. He is thehead of the provincial police branches. He executes the sentences oftribunals. He orders the levying of distresses and executions. Hesupervises, by means of Crown inspectors, the tenants of Crown lands. Headministers the State grain stores. He controls the collection of directtaxes and excises, and the administration of the provincialpay-offices. He presides over the higher recruiting commission. He isthe agent of the Senate in all matters for which the province has nospecial officials or agents. The decisions of the Communes in certaincases require the Governor's sanction. He directs the attention of theSenate and of the Governor-General to any measures calculated to promotethe prosperity of the province. He presents every year, to the Emperorand to the Senate, a report on the condition of the province entrustedto him. The functions of the Governor place him in communication, notonly with the Home Section, but also with the other sections of theAdministrative Department of the Senate. 

Legislation in Finland is of a twofold nature. It is an inheritance ofthe old Swedish Constitution, which, it will be remembered, remainedvalid in Finland after 1809, that the Sovereign exercises legislativepowers, by means of administrative ordinances, in certain minor matters, described as "cases of economy and order. " This, however, forms anexception to the general rule, under which legislation must be carriedout by the Sovereign and the representatives of the people conjointly. The Constitution also provided, as it stood up till 1869, that itdepended solely on the Sovereign to convoke the representatives, whenever a legislative measure, requiring the co-operation of therepresentatives, was found desirable. The new rulers of Finland were, therefore, not by law compelled to convoke the Diet, and so it happenedthat no Diet was held until the time of Alexander II. , when the Estatesof Finland assembled in 1863. In 1869 a Law of the Diet was issued, andinvested with the sanctity of a fundamental law. The old Swedish systemof four Estates, or orders--the nobles, the clergy, the burgesses, andthe peasantry--was retained. By this law, the summoning of the Diet wasno longer left to the good-will of the monarch, but the Diets were to beperiodical, and the Estates to be convoked at least every five years. But the Diet still had no other right of initiative than by means of"petitions" to the Sovereign to present to the Estates a Bill on suchquestions as, in the opinion of the Diet, required legislative measures. The right of initiative, by way of "motions, " was to a considerableextent granted to the Diet under Alexander III. , in 1886. 

The new Law of the Diet, of July 20, 1906, has materially changed thecomposition of the Diet. It now consists of one Chamber only, the numberof members being two hundred. The sessions of the Diet are annual. Theright of initiative by way of motion has been extended to all questionswithin the legislative competence of the Diet except questions affectingthe fundamental laws (of which this new law is one) and the organisationof the defence by land or by sea. On these questions, however, the Diethas the right to "petition" the Sovereign. 

The members of the Diet are elected for a period of three years, butbefore the expiration of this period the Diet may be dissolved by orderof the Sovereign. The elections take place, under an elaborate system ofproportional voting, and the franchise is extended to every Finnishcitizen, man or woman, who is twenty-four years old or more. Disqualified to vote are persons who serve in the active army; who standunder tutelage; who have not been inscribed as Finnish citizens duringthe three years preceding the election; those who during the twopreceding years have failed to pay their taxes, unless this omission isdue to want of means; who are in permanent receipt of poor relief;undischarged bankrupts; persons condemned to ignominious punishment;finally, persons convicted for corrupt practices are disfranchised for aperiod of six years. The electorate in Finland now amounts to some1, 200, 000 persons, or about forty per cent, of the total population. Women as well as men are eligible as members of the Diet. 

It is a fundamental principle of the Finnish Constitution that thecountry shall be governed with the assistance of native authoritiesonly. 

 * * * * *

A brief survey of party politics in Finland will, perhaps, now be ofinterest. 

At its union with Russia, Finland presented a country where the upperclasses spoke a language different from that used by the majority of thepeople. This majority, with a language that had no place in theadministration of the country, did not consist of serfs or farm-hands, but of free landowners with their own servants and labourers. That sucha state of things could not last long soon became clear to everythoughtful person. 

Already during past centuries the scientific and lighter literature, although written in Swedish, had been inspired by a national spirit. Henrik Gabriel Porthan, Professor of the University of Åbo, had devotedhis life to deep researches into the history, language, and folklore ofthe Finnish people, and a great many of his disciples followed in hisfootsteps. 

The cultured Finn, spite of his Swedish mother-tongue, had alwaysconsidered himself a member of the Finnish nation. The alteredcircumstances, on which Finland entered subsequent to her union with themighty Russian Empire, had the effect of inspiring earnest patriots withthe gravest anxiety. 

Was there any possibility for Finland to maintain its home policy, or, indeed, its national life? If such a possibility existed, could it belooked for anywhere else than in a unanimous and national feeling? Theanswer to these questions may be found in the famous words of a youngUniversity teacher, Arvidsson: "Swedes we are no more, Russians wecannot become, therefore let us be Finns!"

The national consciousness gathered fresh impulse from the appearance ofthe great national epic, _Kalevala_, songs descending from heathentimes, written down by Elias Lönnrot from the lips of the people, asdescribed in a former chapter. In no less degree was the nationalfeeling intensified by the great poet, Johan Ludvig Runeberg. In hispoems, inspired by a glowing love for the Finnish fatherland, heglorified the courage, faithfulness, and honour of the Finnish people. Although written in Swedish, the poems, successfully translated, havebecome the property of the whole population. 

With the awakening national feeling it is natural that specialattention should be directed to the cause of the long neglected Finnishlanguage. One of the earliest and most important champions of thislanguage was Johan Wilhelm Snellman, who advocated his cause with greatvigour and skill in his two journals, first the _Saima_ (1844-1847), and_Literaturblad för allmän medborgerlig bildning_[F] (1847-1863). Snellman's activity was of epoch-making importance for Finland. Withmuch penetration he proved that the existence of the Finnish peopledepended on the preservation and development of the language spoken bythe bulk of the population. He maintained that the West-Europeancivilisation, that had been imparted to the Finnish nation, would nevertake firm root if only supported by a small upper class--it ought tobecome the property of the whole people. An educated, Finnish-speakingclass must be created, and to this end schools established in which thepupils could receive their instruction in Finnish. The Finnish languagemust be introduced in government offices, courts of justice, and so on. 

Snellman's ideas were embraced with enthusiasm by large portions of theeducated classes, particularly so by University students. Snellman'scampaign was not conducted without opposition. His career commenced atthe period of bureaucratic reaction characteristic of the _régime_ ofNicholas I. In 1850 the draconic edict was issued by which thepublication of all other books than those of a religious or economicnature in the Finnish language was forbidden. This somewhat preposterousedict had soon to be repealed, and Snellman's work gained morerecognition. He was appointed Professor of Philosophy in 1856, and amember of the Senate in 1863. In the same year an ordinance was issuedby which the Finnish language was admitted to Government offices andCourts of Justice, but it was not as yet recognised as a language withequal rights with Swedish. In the meantime the language question came toform the dividing line between the two principal parties in the homepolitics of Finland. 

As explained in Chapter VII. , the champions of the Finnish language weredubbed _Fennomans_, while those who advocated the position of Swedishwere known as _Svecomans_. The strife between the two parties was attimes very bitter, especially between the extreme wings of the parties. The extremists on the Finnish side wanted the Finnish tongue tosupersede the Swedish, which was to be reduced to the position of atolerated local language. The moderates on both sides found a _modusvivendi_ in the equality of rights of the two languages. On the whole, the Svecoman party recognised the justness of the Finnish claims, butadvocated vigorously the necessity of preserving the Swedish language, which, besides being the mother tongue of a considerable portion of thepeasantry in Finland, possessed historic rights as the language of thehigher culture in the country, and forms the link of communication withScandinavian, and the whole West European civilisation. The Svecomansgave a warning against a too hasty introduction of the Finnish languageinto official use before its undoubted lack of an official terminologyhad been properly filled. The Fennomans, again, admitting the soundnessof this objection, set to work at the development of Finnish, and theiruntiring efforts have borne excellent fruits, so that at the presenttime it not only is well equipped with a legal phraseology, but iscapable of serving the demands of cultured literature and science. Onepoint of difference between Fennomans and Svecomans consisted in this, that the former, naturally impatient to effect a full recognition oftheir language, insisted that the language question should be settled bymeans of an administrative ordinance, which could be done much quickerthan by a law duly passed by the Diet. This latter procedure might takeyears, considering the long intervals at that time between the sessionsof the Diet, even if the Diet, in which then the Swedish elementpredominated, would pass such a Bill. The Svecomans, again, preferredthe second course, as being constitutionally sounder, and they alsopointed to the dangerous precedent an administrative procedure wouldinvolve. The opposition of the Svecomans was also to some degree atleast based on their reluctance, especially on the part of officialsbelonging to an older generation, to acquire knowledge of an extremelydifficult language, and a language which was still in official making. The resistance offered by the extremists of the Svecoman party to theestablishment of new Finnish secondary schools was certainly not totheir credit. 

It is impossible to follow here the language struggle in Finland in allits vicissitudes. At present, Finnish and Swedish form the two officiallanguages in Finland, with a natural preponderance of Finnish, as thelanguage of the majority. Every one aspiring to an official position inFinland must possess a sufficient knowledge of both languages. In someposts, Russian is also required, and the plan is now contemplated in St. Petersburg to supersede both Swedish and Finnish with Russian in all themore important Departments, though the Russian-speaking population inFinland only amounts to a few thousand people. 

To a stranger like myself this seems a curious idea, hardly worthy of sogreat a country as Russia. 

The language question is no longer the dominant factor in Finnish partypolitics; but before we proceed to an account of the new partydivisions, it will be necessary to give a brief sketch of the recentpolitical history of the Grand Duchy. 

Whereas under Alexander II. The Constitution of Finland had beenrespected, and its liberties even to some degree extended, attempts weremade under Alexander III. To over-ride the Finnish laws, but these didnot affect questions of greater importance. At that time not only wasFinland at peace, but Russia herself had not begun that terriblestruggle which later kept her in an iron grip--the universal socialisticunrest from which the whole world is suffering. 

When, in 1894, Nicholas II. Ascended the throne, he signed, as had allhis august predecessors, the Act of Assurance, in which he promised tomaintain the Constitution. 

For some time everything went on smoothly, until 1898, when GeneralBobrikoff was appointed Governor-General of the Grand Duchy, and gravemisgivings began to be entertained in Finland. General Bobrikoff waspreceded by a reputation of being the principal agent in theRussification of the Baltic Provinces, and it soon appeared that he wassent to Finland on a similar mission. 

Simultaneously with General Bobrikoff's appointment, the Finnish Estateswere summoned to an extraordinary session in January 1899, and in thesummons it was said that a Bill for a new military law would bepresented to them. The Bill, when it arrived in the Diet, turned out tobe entirely subversive of the existing military organisation, and tendedto a complete denationalisation of the Finnish army; it contained noprovision as to the limitation of recruits to be taken out annually forservice with the colours, and their number might be increased five oreven six times, as compared with the number taken out under the old law. It soon became evident that the Diet would not accept this Bill, andwhile the deliberations were still in a preliminary stage, an eventhappened which was to mark a new epoch in the recent history of Finland. 

A "Gracious Manifesto, " dated February 15, 1899, was published, by whichthe legislative competence of the Finnish Diet was limited to minorlocal affairs, and the general effect of which was an overthrow of theFinnish Constitution. It is impossible to describe adequately theexcitement created in Finland by this entirely unexpected measure. Meetings of protest were held everywhere, and in the course of a fewweeks a monster address was signed by over half a million people, orabout half of the adult population. A mass deputation of five hundredpersons, representing all the parishes in Finland, went to St. Petersburg to present the address to the Tzar. 

But it was not received by him. 

The immediate effect of the "February Manifesto" was that the FinnishDiet was no longer required to exercise its legislative powers on theArmy Bill, but it was declared that the Estates had only to give their"opinion" on the matter. 

The Diet refused to submit to this curtailment of the constitutionalrights of the country, and drew up a counter proposal, which, whilemaintaining the national character of the army, provided for aconsiderable increase of the Finnish troops. This proposal, as may havebeen expected, did not receive the Sovereign's sanction, and in 1901 anew Military Law was issued by means of an Imperial Decree, based almostentirely on the original Bill, which had been refused by the Diet. 

When this new Army Edict was to be enforced it met with a vigorousopposition. The would-be recruits, summoned to the annual levies, failedin large numbers to put in their appearance. One of the effects of thisopposition was the disbandment of the existing Finnish regiments. 

In the meantime--both before and after the promulgation of the ArmyEdict--a long series of ordinances were issued, and other measures takenwhich were not only unconstitutional in principle, but also in directconflict with the common law of the land, too numerous to be recorded indetail in this brief summary. We may here mention only the introductionof the Russian language in public departments, the appointment ofRussians to important public posts, such as provincial governorships, the transfer of administrative powers from the Senate to the person ofthe Governor-General. To all these measures a "passive resistance" wasorganised in Finland. 

It was inculcated on the minds of the people that every Finnish citizen, whether in an official position or not, affected by any illegalmeasures, should refuse to comply, and should act in accordance onlywith the indisputably legal rights of the country, irrespective ofthreats of punishment. Finland was struggling for her rights. 

That this resistance would provoke repressive measures was fullyexpected, and the expectations were amply fulfilled. Scores ofofficials, though legally irremovable except by trial and sentence, weresummarily dismissed; judges equally summarily removed; numerousdomiciliary visits were paid by the Russian police and gendarmes topersons suspected of tendencies of opposition; illegal arrests wereeffected. 

The newspapers were ruthlessly persecuted. In the years 1899 to 1901scores of newspapers were suspended for short periods, and twenty-fourwere permanently suppressed. 

In 1903 General Bobrikoff procured for himself dictatorial powers inFinland, of which he availed himself freely. Among other things, morethan fifty Finlanders, many of them belonging to the most prominentcitizens of the Grand Duchy, were exiled or deported to Russia. Some ofthe deportations, however, happened after the death of GeneralBobrikoff. 

On June 16, 1904, a young official, Eugen Schauman, who had never beenknown to take an active interest in politics, shot General Bobrikoffdead, and immediately afterwards killed himself. A few weeks later, onJuly 28, M. De Plehve fell the victim of a plot of Russianrevolutionaries, aided and abetted, it appears, by agents of the Russiansecret police. M. De Plehve combined with his office of Russian Ministerof the Interior the post as Secretary of State for Finland, which, bythe way, also was illegal, as this post should be filled by a Finlander. 

Thus two of the most prominent enemies of Finland were no longeramong the living. M. De Plehve's immediate successor, PrinceSviatopolsk-Mirski, was a humane and liberal-minded man. The newGovernor-General in Finland, Prince Obolenski, also was a man of a farless aggressive type than General Bobrikoff. Shortly after his arrivalin Finland more lenient methods in dealing with Finland were adopted. Inthe autumn of 1904 the Diet was convoked, and those of the exiles whowere either members by right of birth of the House of Nobles, or hadbeen elected to either of the other Houses, were allowed to return. 

At this time Russia was involved in the disastrous war with Japan. Thegrave difficulties which the Government experienced from the repeateddefeats in the Far East were further enhanced by the revolutionarymovement at home. At the end of October 1905 a general strike wasproclaimed in Russia, which resulted in the Tzar's manifesto of October30, in which the establishment of a Constitutional Government in Russiawas promised. The same day a general strike broke out in Finland. Allgovernment offices, schools, industrial establishments, restaurants, public-houses, and shops were closed. The railway service, and to agreat extent the steamship service, stopped; so also the telephones andthe supply of electric light. Only a few telegraph lines were inoperation. In the towns, the tramways and cabs no longer moved in thestreets. Only the water and food supply was kept going. In Helsingfors, a deputation of leading citizens went to Prince Obolenski, and urged himto resign his post. The same demand was directed to the members of theSenate, who were too much compromised on account of their submissivenessto General Bobrikoff's _régime_. 

On December 31, 1904, the Diet had adopted a "Humble Petition" to theTzar for the restitution of Finland's constitutional rights, but noanswer had been forthcoming. This petition was now brought to the Tzar'snotice, and on November 4, 1905, he signed a Manifesto, in which hegranted the petition and repealed all the more important of theprevious unconstitutional measures. The Manifesto of February 15, 1899, was to be "suspended until the questions therein contained shall bearranged by an act of legislation. " At the same time, the Diet wasconvoked for December 20, 1905. 

The importance of this Diet is only surpassed by that held at Borgå in1809, almost a century before, and it is equalled only by the Diet of1863. It was the last Diet held under the system of four Estates, sitting in separate houses, and the last remnant of this time-honoured, venerable, but certainly somewhat cumbrous Swedish system ofrepresentation disappeared. For at this Diet the new law of the Diet, ofwhich a brief account is given above, was adopted in May 1906. Duringthe "Bobrikoff era, " or "Era of Oppression, " as the preceding years werecalled in Finland, women had done excellent service in the organisationof the passive resistance movement, and largely for this reason men wereready and willing that the suffrage should be extended to women on thesame conditions as to men themselves. No vulgar rioting was necessary. Finnish men were wide-minded enough to see that as regards brains, employment, and politics, there should be no such question as sex. 

The proportional system of voting was also adopted without anyopposition. 

The same year the principles of the freedom of the Press, of assemblies, and of associations were guaranteed by a law, invested with the sanctityof fundamental laws, which, for their repeal or alteration, require aqualified majority. 

We can now return to the question of parties in Finland. Already beforethe commencement of the "Bobrikoff era, " the Fennoman party had split upinto two groups known as the Old-Finnish and the Young-Finnish party. The latter professed more liberal views on various questions, as inregard to religion and social problems. The Svecoman party had to aconsiderable extent abandoned its opposition to the Finnish claims, butit still remained as representing the interests of the Swedishpopulation in Finland. When the Russian attacks first commenced, allparty divergences were sunk into oblivion, and the country provided thespectacle of a completely united nation. General Bobrikoff was too muchof a tactician to be pleased with this state of affairs, and he began toplay up to the Old-Finns, not without success. Among other things, hefilled all public posts, vacated by their former occupants, who hadeither resigned on constitutional grounds or had been dismissed, exclusively with Old-Finns. 

The Swedish and Young-Finnish parties now entered on a powerful partyalliance, and formed the "constitutional" _bloc_, which was also joinedby many influential members of the Old-Finnish party, and stronglysupported by the great masses, who had previously exercised very littlepolitical influence, and from the ranks of which the recent SocialDemocratic party was later on to be recruited. 

It was by this _bloc_ that the passive resistance campaign wasprincipally carried on. The leaders of the Old-Finnish party adopted apolicy of yielding to General Bobrikoff's demands, by which they hopedto save some remnants of the Finnish rights. The party was to someextent disfigured by a number of office hunters, but on the whole it wasactuated by patriotic motives. General Bobrikoff was well aware that theOld-Finns at heart were much opposed to his policy, but from theirsubmissive attitude, and their readiness to waive constitutionalobjections in return for temporary advantages, he took occasion torepresent to the Tzar that his policy had the "support of the mass ofthe people. "

When by the law of 1906 the suffrage was extended to the great masses ofthe people, two new parties arose. The most numerous of all parties inFinland is now the Social Democratic party, which is strongly opposed tothe Russian demands. So also is the Agrarian Reform party, which takesup a radical platform in questions of land legislation, and is closelyallied to the Young-Finns, with some leanings towards Socialism. A smallgroup is formed by the "Christian Labourers. "

Since 1906 no less than five elections have been held, and their resultsmay be seen from the following table:--

 Agrarian Social Swedish Reform Christian Democrats. Old-Finns. Young-Finns. Party. Party. Labourers. 1907 80 59 26 24 9 2 1908 83 54 27 25 9 2 1909 84 48 29 25 13 1 1910 86 42 28 26 17 1 1911 80 43 28 26 16 1

The reason why so many elections have taken place--practically everyyear--though the members are elected for three years, is that the Dietshave been dissolved by Imperial command, because they have protestedagainst new breaches of the Constitution. Some of the more importantinstances may here be recorded. In June 1908 the Russian Council ofMinisters was invested with far-reaching powers to interfere in thebusiness both of the Finnish Senate and the Diet. In 1910 the RussianLegislature adopted a proposal, presented by the Tzar, and sanctioned byhim on June 30, which provided that a vast number of questions, specified in the new law, were withdrawn from the competence of theFinnish Diet. Legislation on such questions was henceforward transferredto the Russian Legislature, and the Diet was placed in a position togive its opinion on them only. When a law relating to Finland was to bediscussed in the Russian Duma or Council of State, Finland was to berepresented by four members in the former, and two members in the latterChamber. The Finnish Diet declared that it could not recognise the newlaw as legal, since it was unconstitutionally enacted, and in substanceconstituted a breach of Finnish laws. 

In February 1912 the Russian Legislature passed a law, by which Russianscoming to Finland were to enjoy all the rights accruing to Finns withoutacquiring Finnish citizenship. A serious question of principle isinvolved in this new measure, since it amounts to the negation of aseparate Finnish citizenship, which has hitherto been recognised by theRussian rulers even in their dealings with foreign powers. One of theobvious motives for this law is to make it possible to appoint Russianofficials to Finnish posts. Several such appointments have already takenplace. In August 1912 the members of the Wiborg Town Court werearrested, and brought to St. Petersburg to be tried before a RussianCourt for having refused to apply the law just mentioned. 

The people of Finland are awaiting with grave anxiety furtherdevelopments in the present Russian policy. 

I am only an outsider, but I have travelled a little both in Finland andRussia. It seems to me that the characters of the two peoples are sofundamentally different, they should each have free hands; and thatRussia, while retaining Finland as part of the Russian Empire, shouldallow her the administration of her own affairs, which she has alwaysshown herself so capable of exercising. 

 THE END. 

FOOTNOTES:

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Transcriber's Note:

The following corrections have been applied to this text:

The national air of Finland is _Maamme_ or _Vårt Land_ inSwedish ("Our Land"). "Vårt" was printed as "Vart" in the original. 

for in those Northern climes there are many strange natural effectsfar more beautiful than in the South. "there are" missing in the original. 

with a bathroom. " Nested opening quotes are closed with one closing quote. 

_Me tahdomme lähteä_ (or _matkustaa_) We would like to leave at one_kello yksi. _ o'clock. "Me tahdomme" lähteä was printed as "Meetahdommlähteä" in the Original. 

_Viisi kymmentä. _ 50. "kymmentä" missing in the original

_Kolme sataa. _ 300. "sataa" was printed as "soloa" in the original. 

_Tuhat kahdeksansataa yhdeksänkymmentä kuusi. _ 1896. "kuusi" was missing in the original. 

Let us take as an example a 400-mark _öre_ (tax). "us" was printed as "as" in the original. 

and iscertainly in a very flourishing condition. "flourishing" was printed as "flourishng" in the original. 

for my sister and I were going backto _Ilkeäsaari_ alone "Ilkeäsaari" was printed as "Ilkeâsaari" in the original. 

and for the male, _slöjd_, gardening, and fieldwork. "slöjd" was printed as "slojd" in the original. 

When we went to _Kuopio_ we hoped to meet _Minna Canth_ "Kuopio" was printed as "Koupio" in the original. 

lined throughout with black sheepskin. "througout" was printed as "thoughout" in the original. 

feeling the incarnation of industry and pride, "feeling" was printed as "fealing" in the original. 

coupled with the baresimplicity of the boards "simplicity" was printed as "simplictiy" in the original. 

Accordingly, every year on that day in June sixty men start workat _Uleåborg_ "every" was printed as "ever" in the original. 

we explained it was to go to the _ångbåtshytt_(cabin) number ten "ångbåtshytt" was printed as "angbat shytt" in the original. 

par l'acte présent "présent" was printed as "present" in the original. 

ont joui jusqu'ici selon la Constitution "jusqu'ici" was printed as "jusqu' ici" in the original. 

maintenir tous ces avantages "ces" was printed as "ses" in the original. 

afford sufficient proofs to assure the Finnish Nation "proofs" was printed as "poofs" in the original.