GREAT RIVERS OF FINLAND. 209 



can be had, and which, the long Pyhakoski rapid 

 causes to be the head of navigation. Of the four 

 English anglers who had preceded us in former years 

 no less than three have been earls, and the fourth a 

 well-known politician. If the records are to be 

 trusted, the latter obtained the best sport. Travellers 

 to Finland should avoid arriving there by way of St. 

 Petersburg, for two reasons: because the pleasantest 

 and most interesting route is that by way of Copen- 

 hagen and Stockholm, and the most direct is by sea 

 from Hull or London to Abo and Helsingfors ; and 

 also because guns, &c., cannot be taken through 

 Petersburg without detention or payment, or both. 

 There is less of such officialism in Finland, which is 

 at heart a Swedish country. 



