48 A SPRING AND SUMMER IN LAPLAND. 



completely frozen, that my legs and arms were 

 paralyzed. We were half an hour before we could 

 knock the people up, and when we did get in there 

 was no fire in our room, and no supper to be had. 

 So we just cast ourselves on the bed in our clothes, 

 and lay till morning. Any shelter was better than 

 being out on so wild a night. I quite pitied the 

 peasant lad who had to take our sledges back, but 

 he did not seem to care a pin, and he had no 

 great-coat. In the night the weather completely 

 changed ; and when we started in the morning it 

 was as mild as spring. I saw the first northern 

 jay this day. By breakfast we arrived at a little 

 sea-port, called Ornskoldsvik— certainly one of 

 the prettiest little places (half town and half vil- 

 lage) we passed through on our road up ; and in 

 summer it must much resemble one of the secluded 

 little bathing villages we see on the English coast. 

 It seemed quite an oasis in the desert, and the 

 only wonder is how such a sweet little spot ever 

 got into this wilderness. I ferreted out a jolly 

 baker here, who understood a little English, of 

 whom we bought some pork for the road, for 

 which we paid 9d. per lb. (the price in Wermland 

 is 3d.) But, if pork was dear, game was cheap 

 enough : the price they asked for a large caper- 

 cailzied cock being Is., and for a willow grouse 2d. 

 We now began to see at every station that 



