THROUGH LAPLAND. 
33 
die adjoining land. Here we made a large fire, in order to drive 
away the infects, that we might take our dinner with comfort. 
The country around offered a fcene very uncommon, and to us 
quite new. The mofs on which the rein-deer feeds covers the 
whole ground, which is flat, and only fkirted by hills at forae dis¬ 
tance ; but thefe hills alfo are clothed with this mofs. The co¬ 
lour of the mofs is a pale yellow, which, when dry, changes to 
white : the regularity of its fliape, and the uniform manner in 
which the furface of the ground is decked with it, appears very 
Angular and linking: it has the femblance of a beautiful carpet. 
Thefe plants grow in a fhape nearly odiagonal, and approaching 
to a circle ; and as they clofely join each other, they form a kind 
of mofaic work, or embroidery. The white appearance of the 
country, which thence arifes, may for a moment make you ima- 
'gine that the ground is covered with fnow; but the idea of a win¬ 
ter fcene is done away by the view of little thickets in full green, 
which you perceive fcattered here and there, and Hill more by the 
prefence of the fun and the warmth of his rays. As this mofs is 
very dry, nothing can poffibly be more pleafant to walk upon, nor 
can there be any thing fofter to ferve as a bed. Its cleannefs and 
whitenefs is tempting to the fight, and when we had put up our 
tent, we found ourfelves in every refpedt very comfortably lodged. 
I had many times before met with this mofs, but in ho place had 
I found it fo rich. It was the only produce here, which nature 
foemed to favour and fupport: no other herb was growing near it, 
nor any other vegetable on the fpot, except a few birch-trees, 
Vol. II. F with 
