PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURNEY. 19 



tiana in Norway, thence to Bergen, and from that 

 place he will obtain a passage by steamer right up 

 to Hammerfest or Vardoe. The journey from 

 Hull to Gothenburg will occupy three days ; from 

 that place to Stockholm, three more ; thence to 

 Happaranda, four more. 



But it is a very different affair for the natu- 

 ralist or collector, especially if eggs are his prin- 

 cipal object. He will require to be up at his head- 

 quarters early in April, and he must necessarily 

 steam up in the autumn, before the winter sets 

 in, and brave the rigours and monotony of a Lap 

 winter ; or he must adopt my plan, and sledge up 

 during the winter taking care that he is not too 

 late, for the snow melts all at once when the thaw 

 sets in (and this happens long before the ice goes 

 in the rivers) ; and just at this time travelling is 

 dangerous, troublesome, and laborious. I was 

 lucky enough to hit the identical time. I left 

 Gardsjo on March 24, and reached Quickiock on 

 April 16, and the sledging was good the whole 

 way up, save for six English miles. Had I waited 

 another week I should have had little or no sledg- 

 ing till I reached Hernosand ; and such a journey 

 at this time of year, on these dreadful pea- 

 sants' carts, over bad roads, could have been 

 scarcely borne by any one save a Swedish mail- 

 man or a genuine " gutta-percha" boy. 



