THE FIR TRIBE. 



331 



force than it had previously done, upon which 

 a sudden noise arose in the half -burnt forest, such 

 as I can only compare to what may be imagined 

 among a large army attacked by an enemy. We 

 knew not whither to turn our steps ; the smoke 

 would not suffer us to remain where we were, 

 and we durst not turn back. It seemed best 

 to hasten forw^ard in hopes of speedily reaching 

 the outskirts of the w^ood, but in this w^e were 

 disappointed. We ran as fast as we could, in 

 order to avoid being crushed by the falhng trees, 

 some of which threatened us every minute. 

 Sometimes the fall of a large trunk was so sudden 

 that we stood aghast, not knowing which way 

 to turn to escape destruction, and throwing our- 

 selves entirely on the protection of Providence. 

 In one instance a large tree fell exactly between 

 me and my guide, who walked not more than a 

 fathom from me ; but, thanks to God, we both 

 escaped in safety. We were not a httle rejoiced 

 when this perilous adventure terminated, for we 

 had felt all the while hke a couple of outlaws in 

 momentary fear of surprise."* 



The burning of these forests, however, is in- 

 correctly attributed to the effects of lightning. 

 Fires of this kind have been traced to the careless- 

 ness of the Laplanders and boatmen on the rivers, 

 who, using German tinder to light their pipes, 

 suffer it to fall in an ignited state among the dry 

 leaves and moss. They also leave large fires 

 burning, which they have kindled in the midst 

 of the woods to drive aw^ay the mosquitoes ; and 

 in either of these ways the fire is easily commu- 

 nicated to the surrounding trees. 



* Lachesis Lapponica. 



