THE JOURNEY UP. 73 



dishabille and curl-papers, and the same old lady 

 "figged" out in the evening in opera costume. 

 The fells do not, however, long wear their summer 

 livery, and the Spaniard was perhaps not so far 

 wrong when he described the climate of the north 

 as six months white winter, three months black 

 winter, and three months green winter. 



The dull haze of a winter's afternoon (for 

 although it was the middle of April it was just as 

 much winter here as December in England) hung 

 over the village, and the whole prospect looked 

 cheerless enough as we drove on the ice up to the 

 priest's house, which was to be our head- quarters 

 for the season. We had now come as far into the 

 country as we could on sledge, and we could not 

 have travelled a Swedish mile further if we had 

 wished, anyhow except on foot. 



To sum up our journey, we left Gardsjo on 

 March 24, .and reached Quickiock on April 16, 

 having been little more than three weeks on the 

 road; and although the journey at this time of 

 the year is very monotonous, with but little change 

 of scene, it was far less troublesome than I had 

 imagined it would have been. We met with every 

 attention on the road, and goad night- quarters 

 and excellent provisions wherever we stopped. 

 The distance in all was a little more than 1,000 

 English miles. About fifty miles per day was our 



