22 TEAVEL, ADVENTUKE, AND SPOKT. 



supposed to be uninhabited, but we found a Lapp 

 there who had passed the whole winter snaring 

 ptarmigan, of which he had about 120. How any 

 mortal could exist in. such a place without a single 

 companion, not even a dog, throughout the long and 

 dark winter months, is extraordinary. Without any 

 intellectual pursuit to occupy him indoors, and sub- 

 sisting entirely on ptarmigan, without even a morsel 

 of bread the whole time, his life must have been 

 frightful ; but so little was the man removed from 

 the brute beast, that he showed not the slightest sign 

 of pleasure at seeing a human face again. 



Quickly getting ready a cold lunch and swallowing 

 a cup of hot coffee, we were soon equal to attempt- 

 ing the remaining thirty miles before us. Strangely 

 enough there was a stream of running water close to 

 the hut, and we were informed that it never froze, 

 even in the coldest weather, though the lake from 

 which it flows is frozen seven months of the year. 

 As there was no rapid fall, this circumstance was 

 inexplicable to ITS, the more so as the water was not 

 perceptibly warmer than the snow and ice around it. 



The man who had lived there during the winter 

 begged to be allowed to tie his poolk to one of our 

 spare deer (he having none), while he himself accom- 

 panied us on snow-shoes ; and as he seemed to be 

 very anxious to leave Malasjok, we consented, stipu- 

 lating, however, for a payment of twelve ptarmigan. 

 Being uncommonly thick-headed even for a Lapp, he 



