general description whatever. He was travelling in Lycksele Lapland
between 64° and 65° o f north latitude. The season was the second and
third of June, and he was endeavouring to penetrate into the interior
of the country by sailing up the river Utntea.
“ At length we came to a sort of bay or creek of the river, which
we were under the necessity of wading through. The water reached
above our waist, and was very cold. In the midst o f this creek was
so deep a hole that the longest pole could scarcely fathom it. We had
no resource but to lay a pole across it, on which we passed over at the
hazard o f our lives ; and indeed when I reached the other side, I congratulated
myself on having had a very narrow escape. A neighbouring
mountain affords grey slate; but of a.loose and brittle kind.
“ We had next to pass a marshy track, almost entirely under water,
for the course of a mile, nor is it easy to conceive the difficulties of the
undertaking. At every step we were knee-deep in water ; and i f we
thought to find a sure footing on some grassy tiift, it proved treacherous
and only sunk us lower. Sometimes we came where no bottom was
to be felt, and were obliged to measure back our weary steps. Our
half-boots were filled with the coldest water, as the frost in some places
still remained in the ground. Had our sufferings been inflicted as a capital
punishment, they would, even in that case, have been cruel.
What then had we to complain of? I wished I had never undertaken
my journey, for all the elements seemed adverse. It rained and blowed
hard upon us. I wondered that I escaped with life, though certainly
not without excessive fatigue and loss o f strength.
“ After having thus for « long time gone in pursuit of my new Lapland
guide, we reposed ourselves about six o’clock in the morning,
wrung the water out of our clothes, and dried our weary limbs, while
the cold north wind parched us as much xin one side as the fire scorched
us on the other, and the gnats kept inflicting their itings. I had now
my fill of travelling.
“ The whole landed property of the Laplander, who owns this
track, consists chiefly of marshes, here called styga. A divine could
never describe a place of future punishment more horrible than this
country, nor could the Styx o f the poets exceed it. I may therefore
boast o f having visited the Stygian territories.
“ We now directed our steps towards the desert o f Lapmark, not
knowing where we went.
“ A man who lived nearest to the forlorn spot just described, but
who had not been at it for twenty years past, went in search o f some
one to conduct me farther, while I rested awhile near a fire. I wished
for nothing so much as to be able to go back by water to the place
from whence I came; but I dreaded returning to the boat the way we
had already passed, knowing my corporeal frame to be not altogether
of iron or steel. I would gladly have gone eight or ten miles (sixty or
seventy English) by a dry road to the boat, but no such road was here
to be found. The hardy Laplanders themselves, born to labour as the
birds to fly, could not help complaining, and declared they had never
been reduced to such extremity before. I could not help pitying them.
“ A marsh called Lyckmyran (lucky marsh), but which might more
properly be called Olyckmyran (unlucky marsh), gives rise to a small
rivulet, which takes its course to Lycksele, and abounds in ochre.
The water is covered with a film. I am persuaded that iron might be
found there.
“ We waited till about two o’clock in the afternoon for the Laplander
I had sent on the expedition above mentioned, who at length
returned quite spent with fatigue. He had made the requisite inquiries
at many o f the huts, but in vain. He was accompanied by a
person whose appearance was such that at "first I did not know whether
I beheld a man or a woman. I scarcely believe that any practical
description of a fury could come up to the idea which this Lapland
fair one excited. It might well be imagined that she was truly of
Stygian origin. Her stature was very diminutive; her face o f the
darkest brown, from the effects of smoke; her eyes dark and sparkling;
her eye-brows black; her pitchy coloured hair hung loose about her
head, .and on it she wore a flat red cap; she had a grey petticoat; and
from her neck, which resembled the skin o f a frog, were suspended a