LAPLAND, AND LAND OF THE SAMOIDES. 67 



Under these conditions, and remembering that we are far 

 within the Arctic Circle, and that the snowfall and the 

 gales of winter must severely try the stability of the trees, 

 the number of fallen giants is not to be wondered at. But 

 though the floor of the forest wears a somewhat more 

 desolate aspect than that between Vajkijaur and Ligga, 

 the general tone of colour being gray in place of the green 

 of the grasses and mosses of the lower country, the dark 

 glossy leaves and crimson clusters of the molte-baere, the 

 bright crimson of the tiny shrubs of rowan and the deep 

 red-brown of the lichens spreading over the larger masses 

 of rock diversify the colouring of the landscape pleasantly. 

 In places we come across a small stream tinkling musically 

 over the boulders between banks fringed with aspen and 

 birch thickets, and in secluded spots find the Arctic straw- 

 berry flourishing, and bearing a rich crop of delicious 

 aromatic fruit. A walk of ten miles brings us to the Stora 

 Lule again, here a river of some two hundred yards across, 

 its deep blue waters flecked with huge masses of creamy 

 foam, the product of the mighty fall, the thunder of which, 

 echoing from out the deep canyon in which it is secluded, 

 now falls plainly on our ears. We find a boat hauled up 

 in a quiet nook among the rocks, and paddle across to the 

 left bank of the river, from which the Ananas Mountains 

 rise in a steep slope of birch forest, now ablaze with the 

 golden splendour of autumnal tints. Hence to the foot of 

 the falls is a distance of some two miles, at first a walk 

 over a smooth lawn of short sweet grass, on which we find 

 the poles, erected in circular shape, of a Lapp encampment, 

 and finally a rough scramble over huge masses of rock under 

 the lee of which thickets of Arctic raspberries afford us a 

 rich feast, the delights of which, however, are a trifle 

 marred by the clouds of mosquitoes and midges which as 

 yet have survived the early frosts. 



' As we gaze down into the deep canyon, and trace the 

 course of the river from the broad blue reach above the 

 falls, over the three great plunges and down the series of 

 rapids by which they are connected, surveying the whole 



