MEMOIR OF LINNJEUS. 77 



pole could scarcely fathom it. We had no resource 

 but to lay a pole across it, on which we passed over 

 at the hazard of our lives; and, indeed, when I 

 reached the other side, I congratulated myself in 

 having had a very narrow escape. 



" We had next to pass a marshy tract, almost en- 

 tirely under water for the course of a mile ; nor is 

 it easy to conceive the difficulties of the under- 

 taking. At every step we were knee-deep ; and if 

 we thought to find a sure footing on some grassy 

 tuft, it proved treacherous, and only sunk us lower. 

 Sometimes we came where no bottom was to be 

 felt, and were obliged to measure back our weary 

 steps ; our half-boots were filled with the coldest 

 water, as the frost in some places still remained in 

 the ground. Had our sufferings been inflicted as a 

 capital punishment, they would even in that case 

 have been cruel. What then had we to complain 

 of ? I wished I had never undertaken the journey, 

 for all the elements seemed adverse ; it rained and 

 blew hard upon us. I wondered I escaped with my 

 life, though certainly not without excessive fatigue 

 and loss of strength. 



" By four o'clock in the morning we had con- 

 quered all our difficulties, still we could not meet 

 with any Laplander; I was so exhausted that I 

 could proceed no farther without some repose. We 

 therefore struck up a fire, and having wrung the 

 water out of my clothes, I lay down by the side of 

 it in the hopes of taking a little rest ; but in this I 



