THE NORTH SWEDISH PROVINCES 161 



earth ' [across the path], ' so that it was difficult to pass 

 them. The aged pines, which for so many seasons had 

 raised their proud tops above the rest of the forest, 

 overthrown by the wrath of Juno (!), lay prostrate in 

 my way. The rivulets, which traversed the country in 

 various directions, were very deep, and the bridges over 

 them so decayed and ruinous that it was at the peril 

 of one's neck to pass them on a stumbling horse. 



Many persons had confidently assured me that it 

 was absolutely impossible to travel to Lycksele in the 

 summer season ; but I had always comforted myself with 

 the saying of Solomon (?) that ' nothing is impossible 

 under the sun.' However, I found that if patience be 

 requisite anywhere, it is in this place. To complete 

 my distress, I had a horse whose saddle was not stuffed, 

 and instead of a bridle I had only a rope, which was 

 tied to the animal's under jaw. Here and there in 

 the heart of the forest were level heathy spots, as even 

 as if they had been made so by a line, consisting of 

 barren sand, on which grew a few straggling firs and 

 some scattered plants of ling. Some places afforded 

 the perforated coralline lichen (L. uncialis), which the 

 inhabitants in rainy weather, when it is tough, rake 

 together in large heaps and carry home for the winter 

 provender of their cattle. These sandy spots, about a 

 mile ' [Swedish] < in extent, were encompassed as it were 

 with a rampart or very steep bank fifteen or twenty 

 ells in height, so nearly perpendicular that it could not 

 be ascended or descended without extreme difficulty. 



VOL. I. M 



