ingle overturn,
though with several mishaps. Mr. Wolley lost the way, and we drove about
at random for some time. My deer became restive, and whirled me around
in the snow, filling my pulk. It was so dark that we could scarcely see,
and, without knowing the ground, one could not tell where the ups and
down were. The pastor received us courteously, treated us to coffee and
pipes, and conversed with us for some time. He had not, as he said, a
Swedish tongue, and I found it difficult to understand him. On our way
back, Braisted's and Ludwig's deers ran together with mine, and, while
going at full speed, B.'s jumped into my pulk. I tried in vain either to
stop or drive on faster; he trampled me so violently that I was obliged
to throw myself out to escape his hoofs. Fortunately the animals are not
heavy enough to do any serious harm. We reached Forstrom's in season for
a dinner of fat reindeer steak, cranberries, and a confect of the Arctic
raspberry.

After an absence of three days Salomon, the messenger who had been sent
up the river to engage reindeer for us, returned, having gone sixty
miles before he could procure them. He engaged seven, which arrived the
next evening, in the charge of a tall, handsome Finn, who was to be our
conductor. We had, in the meantime, supplied ourselves with reindeer
_poesks_, such as the Lapps wear,--our own furs being impracticable for
pulk travelling--reindeer mittens, and boas of squirrel tails strung on
reindeer sinews. The carpenter's second son, Anton, a lad of fifteen,
was engaged to accompany us as an interpreter.

CHAPTER X.

A REINDEER JOURNEY ACROSS LAPLAND.

We left Muoniovara at noon on the 15th, fully prepared for a three days'
journey across the wilds of Lapland. We were about to traverse the
barren, elevated table-land, which divides the waters of the Bothnian
Gulf from those of the Northern Ocean,--a dreary, unfriendly region,
inhabited only by a few wandering Lapps. Even without the prevalence of
famine, we should have had difficulty in procuring food from them, so we
supplied ourselves with a saddle of reindeer, six loaves of rye bread,
sugar, and a can of coffee. The carpenter lent us a cup and saucer, and
Anton, who felt all the responsibility of a boy who is employed for the
first time, stowed everything away nicely in the broad baggage pulk. We
found it impossible to procure Lapp leggings and shoes at Muoniovara,
but our Russian boots proved an admirable su