138 A SPEING AND SUMMEK IN LAPLAND. 



air-hole. They creep in, and lie pretty warm and 

 snug till they begin to feel drowsy, when they 

 must at once rouse themselves, go on again, and 

 dig another hole ; and so they go on till they find 

 their track. The great thing is to avoid becoming 

 exhausted ; for in that case, if sleep comes on a 

 man, it will be the sleep of death ; but it is not so 

 dangerous if sleep should overtake a man while he 

 is fresh, for he might then possibly live for days in 

 the snow, and be taken out alive, in which case he 

 might recover, and live even for a few years ; but 

 he will never be the same man again afterwards, 

 and in all probability will soon die of consumption. 

 This is what I have since been told by practical 

 men, and they all agreed that, considering the 

 deep, loose state of the snow, and the coldness of 

 the night, I had a very narrow escape. 



But to return to my Lapland diary. The 

 potatoes were planted by June 3rd, and in about a 

 week's time the country was indeed beautiful to 

 behold. All the lowlands were covered with the 

 light silvery foliage of the willow, and wild flowers 

 of every hue (many of them strangers to me) met 

 the eye at every step. But I missed many of my 

 little home favourites, for the daisy, the cowslip, 

 the violet, and the lily of the valley appeared to 

 be strangers here. A little rain fell in the begin- 



