206 LINNiEUS. 



then incurring dangers which would have damped 

 the ardour of a less enthusiastic traveller. On one 

 of these occasions^ after wandering a long time in 

 a labyrinth of marshes^ he was met by a woman, 

 whom he describes as presenting a very extraordi- 

 nary appearance : " Her stature was very diminu- 

 tive ; her face of the darkest brown^, from the effects 

 of smoke ; her eyes dark and sparkling ; her eye- 

 brows black; her pitchy-coloured hair hung loose 

 about her head, and on it she wore a flat red cap. 

 ' O thou poor man !' quoth she, ' what hard des- 

 tiny can have brought thee hither, to a place never 

 visited by any one before ? This is the first time 

 I ever beheld a stranger. Thou miserable creature ! 

 how didst thou come, and whither wilt thou go?' " 

 Linnaeus entreated her to point out some way by 

 which he might continue his journey. " ' Nay, 

 man,' said she, ' thou hast only to go the same 

 way back again; for the river overflows so much, 

 it is not possible for thee to proceed further in this 

 direction. From us thou hast no assistance to 

 expect in the prosecution of thy journey, as my 

 husband, who might have helped thee, is ill.' " The 

 traveller begged of her something to eat, and after 

 much difficulty procured a small cheese. He was 

 obliged to retrace his steps through the marshes; 

 and, when almost exhausted by hunger and fatigue, 

 at length reached the house of a poor curate, where 

 his wants were supplied. 



The bountiful provision of nature, he remarks, 

 is evinced in providing mankind with bed and 

 bedding, even in this savage wilderness. The great 

 hair-moss {Volytrichum commune), called by the 

 Laplanders romsi, grows copiously in their damp 



