56 A SPEING AND SUMMER IN LAPLAND. 



town. We made the acquaintance here of a jolly 

 sporting parson, who had the cure of Old Lulea, 

 and we called and breakfasted with him on our 

 way up to Quickiock next morning. They have a 

 corps of sharpshooters up here, and I saw a stand 

 of very fair rifles at the house of the parish clerk, 

 who is chief of the company. The country around 

 Lulea looked flat and dreary, the forests stunted 

 and small ; in fact, I was altogether disappointed 

 with the landscape the ivhole way up — nothing at 

 all like what I imagined Lap scenery would be. 

 But, hold hard ! we are hardly in Lapland yet. 



It was a lovely morning when we left Lulea, and 

 our whole day's journey lay oyer the ice. As yet 

 we had no trouble about horses, for our road had 

 all along been on the king's highway, and the post- 

 masters up were bound to furnish us with horses 

 at day-book price. But when we reached a little 

 village called Boden, about twenty-eight miles 

 from Lulea the posting ended, and we were then 

 obliged to trust to the civility of the peasant to 

 furnish us with horses. Boden is the post town 

 for Iockmock and Quickiock ; the post comes from 

 Lulea twice a week to Boden ; goes from Boden to 

 Iockmock every fortnight, and from Iockmock to 

 Quickiock once a month. In winter the post is 

 carried by a man on skiddor, in the summer it is 

 rowed in a boat ; and although the letters are 



