LIFE BY THE RIVER:
Housing
The Lapps
Observations on nature
Agriculture
Food
Religious life

Pictures on architecture:
Korteniemi
Town plan of Tornio
Map of Pello

Housing

On the banks of the river only scattered houses here and there could be seen. There were nine houses in Turtola and seventeen in Pello of which some nine or ten lay quite close to each other. In Tornio town the Frenchmen lived in local burgher families, in Ylitornio they lived in the parsonage and in Pello in the Korteniemi inn and at the Puranens. In addition to this they spent several nights in various houses on their route. On his journey to Käymäjärvi Maupertuis stayed at the house of the Pellikkas in Pajala. He says it was one of the more well-to-do houses that he has seen on his whole journey. Outhier widely describes houses and buildings. They acquainted themselves thoroughly with the architectural tradition in the Tornionlaakso Valley. The drawings made on the Korteniemi Inn especially give a detailed account of the housing of that time.

The saunas and sauna bathing were naturally a source of amazement for the Frenchmen. De Maupertuis himself tried out sauna bathing. It was hot in the sauna but that was true of the farmhouse living rooms as well which were heated by ovens resembling the sauna stoves. While walking by rivers and lakes the Frenchmen saw a lot of saw and grain mills but no wind mills were seen after Tornio.

The Frenchmen's attention is also drawn to the details of clothing. The life of the people is controlled not only by the church but also by other authorities. Special civil servants walked from house to house to check that everything was all right and arranged according to the statutes.

Réginald Outhier, Journal of a Voyage to the North in the Years 1736 - 1737:
 
Observations of sauna and the farmhouse living room (p. 298)
On court yards and houses (pp. 303-304)