There is only one thing to be seen — the uncouth Gothic cathedral

Abo is a deserted village : a few vessels lie idly in the harbor ; one or two small hotels wait idly on the quay. In the broad, silent streets, the houses, built of wood, are only one story high and very far apart, their doorways level with the ground. There is only one thing to be seen — the uncouth Gothic cathedral ; and unless one is in a mood for horrors it may better be avoided, for in the crypt the dead stand dressed in the garb of the living, as they do in the ghastly church of the Capucines at Rome and the cemetery at Palermo.

By the captain's advice we decided on a drive to the park of Runsala, four or five miles away, which would at least take us to fresh fields and pastures new. The national "droschkies" are small, narrow, dingy one-horse vehicles which possess unlimited capacity for jolt and rattle ; are started at full gallop, and continued at as breathless a pace as if pursued by a pack of wolves. Remonstrance was hopeless, for the drivers talked Finnish, and we did not ; and moreover it is the national pace. However, the park was reached without accident ; and though it has no merit of cultivation, it affords pretty views and shaded walks. The restaurant dinner served on the veranda was rather eccentric in quality and condiment ; but on the whole this excursion is more entertaining than to sit idly on the deck while the steamer pauses in the harbor.

Mrs. S. M. Henry Davis: Norway nights and Russian days. 1887

Finnish sledge

At Hudiksvall, I procured, at the small cost of thirty-six shillings, a kind of sledge, that I had been looking out for during the whole journey, and which I recommend to those who travel so far to the north. It is that in general use in Finland, and is as convenient as the most luxurious carriage. Being narrow, it is not suited for more than one person, but is sufficiently long to admit of his lying in it at full length, and using it as a bed, if he be not inclined to try the comforts of the post-houses. The driver sits on the fore part, which is boarded over, and forms a box large enough to contain a moderate quantity of luggage. Throughout the north of Sweden, the form of the sledge varies every hundred miles, and the shape adopted in one part is unsuited to the style of country in another, but the Finnish sledge answers for hill or plain, and is rarely stopped by any depth of snow.

Arthur Dillon: A winter in Iceland and Lapland. v.2. 1840

The first intention was to replace the destroyed boats, nets, &c.

F. Uhden remarked to us that the printing of 100,000 copies, by the Bible Society, of the New Testament and the Psalms, in their own language, had made a deep impression on the Finnish people ; but after the ravages committed on the property of unarmed and unoffending fishermen and peasants, during the war, the cry was, ' Can these be the English — our friends ? ' — to which he sometimes replied, ' The English who send you the Bible are not the same persons as the English who carry on the war.'

On their return to England the two gentlemen immediately set on foot a subscription by which nearly £9,000 was raised. The first intention was to replace, as far as the money would go, the destroyed boats, nets, &c. But the failure of the crops in Finland that autumn, and the severity of the succeeding winter, rendered it necessary to expend the greater part in food. This was done, and corn, meal, potatoes, with some clothes, fishing-nets, &c, were purchased and were distributed through resident merchants and the Lutheran clergy. This work of true Christian charity produced the happiest effects. " On behalf of all the suffering poor," wrote one correspondent, " who have received food and clothes out of the £50, I beg to return you their most heartfelt thanks ; ' God bless the English gentlemen ! ' has already been uttered by many lips." "We wish," said another, "to express the joy which this subscription has excited, both amongst us and amongst all our friends who have already been informed of it, not only on account of the relief afforded, but also for the sympathy shown for our country." E. Julin, of Abo, says : " I am sure the feeling of good-will of the Finnish nation towards England and Englishmen, which certainly became weakened during the war, is now regained." Two gentlemen of Birmingham, one of them Joseph Sturge's nephew, who visited, in 1857, the places to which help had been sent, reported to the same effect. " Those feelings," they say, " of hostility and bitterness towards England which were caused by the wanton and unjustifiable destruction of private property by our cruisers during the war, are now being effectually removed by the knowledge that the friendly hand of England has been spontaneously and generously extended towards them, at a time when Finland was suffering from famine and its attendant evils.

Charles Tylor: The Faggot. 1876