THE JOURNEY UP. 55 



English porter and reindeer venison was our bill 

 of fare. As usual, the coffee-room was filled with 

 well-dressed men, though the hour was early. It 

 seems to me that all the business in these little 

 country towns is transacted in the public-houses. 

 We pushed on through a country remarkable for 

 nothing but its ugliness, and reached New Lulea 

 (which lies a Swedish mile nearer to the sea than 

 the old town) by three in the afternoon. It is a 

 curious fact, but it appears that the waters of the 

 Bothnia have so much receded, that the old town 

 of Lulea, which now stands a Swedish mile from 

 the new town, was at one time the port, and the 

 sea then was had over the site of the present town 

 of New Lulea. When we set off I had hardly 

 made up my mind which part of Lapland I would 

 visit ; but, as I had an introduction to a good old 

 doctor in Lulea, who knew Lapland well, I deter- 

 mined to act upon his advice. When I called upon 

 him in the evening, he strongly recommended 

 Quickiock as easy of approach, and a good station 

 for the naturalist. For Quickiock, therefore, I 

 determined to steer. This place lies about two 

 hundred English miles due west from Lulea, right 

 under the great dividing fell range between Norway 

 and Sweden. We rested the whole day in Lulea, 

 and we needed it, as we had now been fifteen days 

 on the road. Nothing much to see in this little 



