An old birch tree that
is supposed to be giving an account of itself says,
"'How many are the uses of my bark! Thrifty men who sit beside the
blazing hearth when my branches throw up a clear bright flame, and
follow the example of their fathers in making their own shoes and those
of their families, tan the hides with my bark. Kamschadales construct
from it both hats and vessels for holding milk, and the Swedish
fisherman his shoes. The Norwegian covers with it his low-roofed hut
and spreads upon the surface layers of moss at least three or four
inches thick, and, having twisted long strips together, he obtains
excellent torches with which to cheer the darkness of his long nights.
Fishermen, in like manner, make great use of them in alluring their
finny prey. For this purpose they fit a portion of blazing birch in a
cleft stick and spear the fish when attracted by its flickering light.'"
The children exclaimed at this queer way of fishing, but Malcolm was
very much taken with the idea of doing it by night with blazing torches,
and he thought that he would like to be a Norwegian fisherman even
better than a hermit or an Indian.
"The old tree goes on to say," continued Miss Harson, "that 'Finland
mothers form of the dried leaves soft, elastic beds for their children,
and from me is prepared the _mona_, their sole medicine in all diseases.
My buds in spring exhale a delicious fragrance after showers, and the
bark, when burnt, seems to purify the air in confined dwellings.
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