panion all the way, flying before me 
quavering in the air.” 
Thus, gay as the bird whose song 
cheered his path, the traveller passed 
on : now charmed with the scenery, 
and now delighted by the discovery of 
some rare plant or insect. In order to 
economize as much as possible, he trav¬ 
elled alone, except where the intrica¬ 
cies and difficulties of the road made it 
necessary to have a guide. As he pen¬ 
etrated into the forest district, and ap¬ 
proached the Lapland Alps, he found 
his course impeded by the thick growth 
of trees, whose intermingled branches 
presented a barrier, rendered yet more 
formidable by the prostrate trunks of 
the largest pine-trees, which recent 
storms had brought to the ground. Be¬ 
sides this, the country was intersected 
in every direction by streams, now 
greatly swollen, which were to be cross¬ 
ed, almost at the peril of life, from the 
