LAPLAND. 105 



when lie gradually rose and assumed his wonted 

 splendour. A large herd of reindeer, accompanied 

 by a troop of Laps with their hounds, were cross- 

 ing the yalley below us, and this completed the 

 wild character of a scene such as Teniers might 

 have loved to paint. 



Never did I feel my own insignificance so 

 much as when I descended the fell, and left 

 this grand scene behind me. Place man in 

 cities, among his finest works of art, among 

 his manufactories and machinery ; bid him 

 jostle his way through the human crowd among 

 whom he lives, and his lip may curl with pride 

 and self-satisfaction as he gazes triumphantly on 

 some master-stroke of ingenuity, or chuckles at 

 the success of some mighty speculation. It is 

 then that he rises, as it were, in his own estima- 

 tion, superior to his fellow man, and for the mo- 

 ment seems almost to forget that he is mortal. 

 But place such a one in a scene like this, at the 

 hour of midnight, and let him see if his self-pride 

 will not receive a check ! He will now be able 

 to compare the most stupendous works of his 

 hands with the works of nature, and then let 

 him strike a balance. His choicest work of art 

 can scarcely vie in beauty with the meanest mid 

 flower he heedlessly crushes under foot ; and as 

 for his boasted superiority over his fellow-man, 



