THE JOURNEY UP. 49 



peculiar breed of thick- coated dogs, whose skins 

 are valued so much in the north for lining cloaks 

 or " pells." They appear to be peculiar to this 

 district, are not unlike an Esquimaux dog in 

 appearance, but the coat is very fine and thick, 

 and of a rich black-brown colour. They are evi- 

 dently a very different race from the little prick- 

 eared, mangy-looking curs which the Laps use 

 to guard their reindeer; nor are they identical 

 with the little, stumpy, pointed-nosed, curly-tailed 

 bear-dogs, which show such sagacity and pluck in 

 the chase of old Bruin. They all appeared to be 

 in excellent condition, as sleek as moles, but seem 

 to be of little or no use when living. There is 

 something very repulsive in the idea, especially to 

 a sportsman, in fattening so faithful and useful a 

 companion as the dog to slaughter him merely 

 for the sake of the skin. We slept this night at a 

 little place called Lefuar, in certainly the finest inn 

 we had entered on the road, with carpeted floors 

 (a thing most unusual even in the Swedish gentle- 

 men's houses), and a travellers' room, furnished 

 as well as any parlour in England. In fact, the 

 further north, the better appeared to be the inns ; 

 but none came up to this. They, however, did 

 not forget to charge, and I paid 2s. for a bottle of 

 English porter. The last stage into Lefuar was 

 about nine English miles ; and as we were waiting 



