LUND UNIVERSITY 63 



He took the boat in the morning with the rest 

 of the pilgrims, chiefly small traders, and rowed across 

 the lake southward, leaving Stehag far off on the 

 right hand. After landing the party the boatmen set 

 to work with their fishing-nets and tackle. They had 

 bunches of flowers tied to their masts ; the country 

 people had them tied to their staves and in their hats : 

 nowadays they tie blossoming branches and bouquets 

 to the railway-carriages, such is their fondness for 

 flowers, their welcome to the spring. 



The trees were bare here, the range of low hills looked 

 purply-blue behind them. Linnaeus was surprised to 

 see Sk&ne's broader aspect so wintry. It was nothing 

 like our usual idea of hot summer bursting upon Sweden 

 all at once ; this was certainly a slow-moving spring. 

 What huge narcissus bouquets the people carry ! and yet 

 what shawls, and wraps, and thick frieze coats they wear ! 

 Larks and thrushes sang to welcome the abundant 

 flowers, which were much more plentiful than leaves. 

 On the hill-slopes everywhere were wild flowers in pro- 

 fusion cowslips, orchis and marsh-marigolds, whose 

 unfolding is the signal for the cuckoo to arrive and 

 the roach to spawn. One field was blue with pansies ; 

 blackthorn blossom peeped out among the boulder 

 fences ; the birches were just dressed in tiny amber leaf, 

 the cherry-blossom was in its first freshness, and the 

 gardens at Eslof were masses of variegated and early 

 flowers. It was a pleasant journey through varied pleas- 

 ing country, presenting, besides the ordinary wooden 



