ruinous state of the bridges. Some¬ 
times he had recourse to riding on 
horseback; but,unfortunately, the steed 
was often as ill-conditioned as the road : 
a meagre stumbling animal, accoutred 
with an unstuffed saddle, and no bri¬ 
dle ; the place of this last article being 
supplied by a rope, which was fastened 
round the under jaw. 
He had reached the southernmost 
province of Lapland, called Umea 
Lapmark, by the end of May ; but the 
tardy spring had not yet visited that 
remote district. Every one exhorted 
him not to persist in prosecuting his 
journey. He was told it was impossi¬ 
ble to proceed far in the tract of 
country to which his course was direct¬ 
ed, whilst the roads were inundated, 
and the rivers swollen by the melting of 
the winter’s snows, as they always are 
during the summer months. Linnaeus, 
however, was not to be discouraged; 
