TROUT-FISHING IN SWEDISH LAPLAND. 81 



we rowed instantly ashore, and, as Olaf was en- 

 deavouring to secure the fish with a large knife, he 

 stepped too near the edge and suddenly sank up to 

 his middle in a sort of quicksand of wood fibres and 

 bits of bark. 



Finally, after angling successfully for three hours we 

 prepared to continue the journey, having caught nine 

 trout, weighing no less than thirty-nine pounds, and 

 sixteen grayling. After a few days I reached Shellefteo, 

 on the Gulf of Bothnia, and from thence journeyed on 

 foot through the almost pathless forests, sleeping each 

 night in some farm or hamlet, until I at last came 

 upon the Umeo, in which plenty of pike may be 

 caught, but probably no trout until the upper parts 

 of it are reached. 



I came upon it at the village of Lyksele, where 

 good quarters await the traveller, but the scenery is 

 tame and the country densely timbered. Some parts 

 of the river seem to hold gwynniard, besides pike. 

 Higher up trout and char abound, as I discovered. 

 Of numerous natives with whom I came in contact, 

 my recollection of a certain old man who rowed me 

 up part of the great Umeo lake will always remain 

 the clearest, for two reasons : one being because he tried 

 to steal my frying-pan, which was carried loose, and 

 the other because his boat was almost the only one met 

 with which did not leak and required no baling out. 



After many long days of travel up the Umeo Eiver 

 I found myself at last once more among the high 

 mountains which divide Sweden from Norway, making 



G 



