LYCKSELE LAPLAND. 159 



these huts or tents were suspended dried 

 fish, cheese, clothes, pots and various 

 utensils. There were neither walls nor 

 doors, consequently no locks to protect 

 them. 



At length meeting with a very long shelvy 

 contraction in the river, we were obliged 

 to quit our boat, and go by land in search 

 of a Laplander to serve as my guide further 

 on, whom we expected to find at a place a 

 mile distant. But it appeared to me full a 

 mile and half, over hills and valleys, rivu- 

 lets and stones. The hills were clad with 

 Ling and with Empetrum, which entangled 

 our feet at every step ; not to mention the 

 trees lying in all directions in our way, and 

 over which we were obliged to climb. The 

 marshy spots were not less difficult to pass 

 over. The Bog-moss {Sphagnum) afforded 

 but a treacherous support for our feet, and 

 the Dwarf Birch (Bctula nana) entangled 

 our legs. 



I could not help remarking that all the 

 fibres of the full-grown pine trees seemed 



