212 LINNiEUS. 



He remained a few days among the Laplanders^ 

 who were occupied in feeding their flocks along the 

 valleys, during which time he had an opportunity 

 of observing their manners. He then proceeded 

 over the range westward. 



At length the mountains began to present rocks 

 uncovered by snow, a glimpse of the ocean was ob- 

 tained, and soon after the scene entirely changed. 

 Arriving upon the abrupt edge of this elevated re- 

 gion, he beheld a vast expanse of forest stretching 

 towards the sea, and presenting the semblance of 

 cultivated fields. As he descended, the alpine 

 plants gradually disappeared, the climate improved, 

 and on reaching the margin of the plain, he sat 

 down to regale himself with wild strawberries. He 

 was struck with the circumstance, that the two na- 

 tives who accompanied him showed no symptoms 

 of fatigue. He attributes their superiority as walk- 

 ers to their wearing no heels on their boots, to their 

 being accustomed to running from their infancy, 

 to their exemption from hard labour, to the habi- 

 tual exercise of their muscles, to their chiefly using 

 animal food, to their not overloading their stomachs, 

 and to their being of small stature. Their conti- 

 nued health he imagines to be owing to the ex- 

 treme purity of the air, to their eating their meat 

 cold, to the excellence of the water, to their tran- 

 quillity of mind, to the absence of spirituous li- 

 quors, and to their being inured to cold from their 

 earliest days. 



Nothing could be more delightful to the feelings 

 of our traveller than this transition from the seve- 

 rity of winter to the warmth of summer. He now 

 approached the coast, and next day proceeded by 



