which weighed a good ounce avoirdupois. All were provided with a knife
of one fashion or another.

In such guise did our young hunters enter the mountains of Lapland; and
commence their search after the "old man in the fur coat," as the
Laplanders term the bear.

They had taken proper measures to secure success. They had secured the
services of a guide, who engaged to conduct them to a district where
bears existed in great plenty, and where he himself lived in a state
almost as savage as the bears--for he was a true Laplander and lived in
a tent in the very heart of the mountains. He was one of those who had
no reindeer; and was therefore forced to depend on the chase for his
subsistence. He trapped the ermine and beaver--killed the wild reindeer
when he could--spent his whole life in battling with wolves and bears;
and with the skins of these animals--which he sold to the fur-traders--
he was able to supply himself with the few necessaries which such a
state of existence called for.

Under his tent of coarse _wadmal_ cloth the travellers found shelter,
and such rude hospitality as the poor Lap could afford them--in return
for which they had to live in the midst of a smoke that nearly put out
their eyes. But they knew they had entered upon an expedition, in which
many hardships were to be expected; and they bore the inconvenience with
becoming fortitude.

It is not my intention to give the details of the everyday life of the
young hunters, nor yet an account of the very many curious incidents,
which occurred to them during their sojourn in Lapland. Much was noted
down in their journal--from which this narrative has been drawn--
interesting only to themselves, or perhaps still more to their father
the baron. For him they wrote an account of everything peculiar that
they observed--such as the odd customs of the Laplanders--their mode of
travelling in sledges with reindeer--their snow-skating on the _skidors_
and _skabargers_--and, in short, a full account of the habits and
manners of these singular people. Especially, however, did Alexis
describe the objects of natural history which came under his notice--
giving such details as he drew from personal observation, or derived
from the native hunters, many of whom they encountered while engaged in
the chase of the bear.

These details, were they given in full, would fill a book of themselves.
We must content ourselves, therefore, with relating only the more
i