1 70 THROUGH THE FIELDS WITH LIN N^ US 



journey was broad enough. Round Lapland, skirting 

 the boundaries of Norway, he returned to Upsala by 

 the eastern side of the Bothnian Gulf, having in five 

 months travelled nearly 4,000 English miles, much of 

 it on foot. That many modern travellers and sports- 

 men do the same is only to say that many people go 

 to America and many view the Pacific ' from a peak 

 in Darien ' ; but for all that there is but one Colum- 

 bus and one Cortez. Linnseus's journey is as good as 

 a guide-book even now, for the face of the country is 

 unchanged, and he is as clearly descriptive as Baedeker 

 or Murray. Even Du Chaillu scarcely reads clearer, 

 fuller, or more modern. I select such portions from the 

 two volumes as best illustrate his character and history. 

 1 May 31. The Divine service of this day being over 

 I left Lycksele for Sorsele, taking with me only three 

 loaves of bread and some reindeer tongues by way of 

 provision. I presumed that I should procure among 

 the Laplanders reindeer-flesh, cheese, milk, fish, fowl, 

 &c. Nor indeed could I well take anything more at 

 present ; for whenever we came at any shoals or falls in 

 the river my companion took our boat on his head over 

 mountains and valleys, so that I had not only my own 

 luggage to carry but my guide's likewise. At one 

 place, close to the river, was a Laplander's shop raised 

 on a round pole as high as a tall man and as thick as 

 one's arm. This pole supported a horizontal beam, 

 with two cross-pieces, which together formed the foun- 

 dation of the edifice. The walls are very thin ; the 



