LAPLAND. 99 



moss. In fact, the Lap forests in general present 

 a strange contrast to the deep forests of Werm- 

 land and Dalecarlia. The branches of the fir trees 

 all grow in a slanting direction downward, and as 

 they are for the most part dead and jagged — 

 although the trees are small — it is no easy matter 

 to climb them. The meadows and lower grounds 

 are covered with thick plantations of a species of 

 willow, through which, in many places, it is im- 

 possible to force one's way, and immediately above 

 them the forests are composed of fir. We see 

 very little pine here, and what few pines we do 

 see are generally blighted and bare. The higher 

 we ascend the fell sides the smaller become the 

 forests, till at length we miss the fir altogether, 

 and reach the birch district. On leaving this we 

 come to the fell birch, which, exposed as the trees 

 are to the cutting wind in all directions, assumes 

 every fantastic shape. At first the fell birch 

 grows to a height of about four feet, but when we 

 come higher up the fells it dwindles to a mere 

 bush, and at length becomes nothing more than a 

 creeper, matted and tangled on the ground. But 

 the dwarf willow (Salix Herbacea), the smallest 

 shrub in the world, grows on some of the fells as 

 high as the dwarf birch. Above this the fells 

 assume their true character, and are covered with 

 lichens or mosses, and, in many places, with peren- 



