A REINDEER EIDE THROUGH LAPLAXD. 51 



it would be decidedly beneficial to Eussia to get 

 these fisheries into her own hands ; and, judging 

 from the usual Muscovite perseverance and unscrupu- 

 lousness, I fear that before long that event will be a 

 fait accompli. 



We left Polmak early in the morning, having paid 

 off our Lapps and reindeer, and chartered a sleigh 

 with two ponies for each of us. We had only half 

 an hour's drive to the residence of the Polmak lens- 

 mand, where we were to breakfast, and on arriving 

 we were magnificently received. And what a 

 breakfast ! 



The host was the most cringing sycophant I ever 

 saw, and his set smile and ready bow quite disgusted 

 me. Perhaps he was only the exact counterpart of 

 most society people at home, but my long associa- 

 tion with natural beings (I mean Norwegians in 

 general, not those most natural of beings the Lapps) 

 had probably caused me to see all the more readily 

 the difference. The breakfast was really sumptuous ; 

 in fact, I do not think a better service of plate or a 

 greater variety of dishes could be met with even in 

 central Europe among people of his or even of higher 

 station. 



We finished up with a dozen of champagne, and in 

 consequence of this left the house in a sadly muddled 

 state. Indeed I must here confess that the joint 

 effects of the champagne and of the easy, rocking 

 motion of the sleigh, was to send me into a tranquil 



