North in which I have travelled, after a great fall o f fnow, is to
place a fort o f triangle o f wood, the bafe o f which may be about
eight or ten feet, on rollers, where the paffage is to he, and to have
this frame drawn forward along the middle by hories or oxen, the
acute angle or apex.of the triangle being placed foremoft. In this
manner the fnow lying on the middle of-the way is pufhed to the
fides, and a paffage is thus rendered eafier for the fledges that come
after. But this triangle removes or diminilhes only the quantity
o f fnow in the middle o f the road, fo that the travellers who afterwards
may pals that way make another ru tto r furrow, proportion-
able to the width .of their fledges : and as the fecond follows always
the track o f the firft, this furrow, in the courfe o f time, and
by new falls o f fnow accumulating on the fides, becomes fo deep,
that it forms a kind.of cafe which admits only fledges o f the fame
dimenfion. Having weighed all thefe difficulties, and every ob*
ftacle and difadvantage we could think of, we refolved to content
©urfekyes with fuch fledges o f the peafants, as we might obtain
from one poft-houfe to another, and to travel in this manner as
far as Abo, where we might purchafe Finland fledges in the country
itfelf, and purfue our journey in our own equipage, fuch as it
would be, in order to avoid the inconvenience o f fo frequently
moving and flowing ,o*jr luggage. W e flattered ourfelves that
this expedient was the heft, and fet out perfectly fatisfied with
the refolutian we had taken.
W e departed from Stockholm on the 16th o f March, 1709, at
/even o’clock in the morning, palling through the north gate.
Enyeloped
"Enveloped in pellces o f Ruffian bears’ flrins, our heads clofely
covered with fur caps, and our hands in gloves lined with wool or
fur, we found no reafon to complain of: cold the whole way to
Griflehamn, where we arrived on the fame evening. T h e Iky was
covered with clouds and dark, and confequently our journey was
difmal, or at leaft gloomy. The firft objedt that prefented itfelf
to our view on leaving Stockholm behind us, was the gardens of
Haga, already mentioned, with the lake which in the fummer fea-
fon forms fo great an embellilhment to this delightful retreat. It
was no longer that delicious paradife, that pleafure ground tufted
with trees in leaf, and adorned with ihrubberies and coppice wood,
through which the winding paths, under a plealing ihade, imperceptibly
conducted the vilitor to fome fountain, or to the vaulted
roof o f fome little temple, or fome cabin, the alylum o f fimplicity
and lo ve : it was the ikeleton, or, more properly, the inanimated
carcafe o f that garden. All the fine contrivances o f art which
were made ule o f to captivate the eye, and to fill the mind with
a plealing fenfation o f furprize and fatisfadtion; thole means that
were called in aid to improve the beauty o f the place, and to
conceal its faults; all thefe fccrets by which you were kept in a
ftate o f ignorance o f what could afford no gratification if known
or feen, were now, by the mercilefs feverity o f the feafon, cruelly
revealed. A fad and mournful nakednefs was vilible throughout
the whole. Thofe temples and retreats to which you were led
through many meandering ways and turns, and which were lb
fituated as to deceive the imagination by the idea that they were
V o l . I. A a placed