LINN^US. 7^ 



some ptarmigans, those hardy inhabitants of the 

 bleak mountain tops. A pretty Httle incident, 

 recorded by Linnaeus, shows so kind a heart that 

 it must not be omitted here. '' The little Alpine 

 variety of the ptarmigan was now accompanied by 

 its young. I caught one of these, upon which the 

 hen ran so close to me that I could easily have 

 taken her also. She kept continually jumping 

 round and round me, but I thought it a pity to 

 deprive the tender brood of their mother ; neither 

 would my compassion for the mother allow me 

 long to detain her offspring, which I returned to 

 her in safety." 



After a long and wearisome journey along these 

 mountain passes, the traveller reached one of the 

 cottages of the country. Here the inhabitants, 

 sixteen in number, received him kindly, and gave 

 him two reindeer skins to sleep between. In the 

 morning some hundreds of reindeer came home to 

 be milked, and it amazed the stranger to perceive 

 that, although to his eyes they were all perfectly 

 alike, yet each of the herd had its appropriate 

 name, and was readily distinguished by the owners. 



Steering his course south-west, Linnaeus pro- 

 ceeded to the lofty ice mountains, or '* main ridge 

 of the country," which he had no sooner reached, 

 than a storm overtook him, accompanied by a 

 shower of thin pieces of ice, which soon encrusted 

 his garments. The cold was intense, and the whole 

 country was one dazzling waste. No sooner, how- 

 ever, had he crossed the summit of the ridge than 



