The English and
German Handbooks for Sweden are next to useless, north of Stockholm. The
principal assurances were, that we should suffer greatly from cold, that
we should take along a supply of provisions, for nothing was to be had,
and that we must expect to endure hardships and privations of all kinds.
This prospect was not at all alarming, for I remembered that I had heard
much worse accounts of Ethiopia while making similar preparations in
Cairo, and have learned that all such bugbears cease to exist when they
are boldly faced.

Our outfit, therefore, was restricted to some coffee, sugar, salt,
gunpowder, lucifer-matches, lead, shot and slugs, four bottles of cognac
for cases of extremity, a sword, a butcher-knife, hammer, screw-driver,
nails, rope and twine, all contained in a box about eighteen inches
square. A single valise held our stock of clothing, books, writing and
drawing materials, and each of us carried, in addition, a double-barrelled
musket. We made negotiations for the purchase of a handsome Norrland
sleigh (numbers of which come to Stockholm, at this season, laden with
wild-fowl), but the thaw prevented our making a bargain. The preparation
of the requisite funds, however, was a work of some time. In this I was
assisted by Mr. Mostrom, an excellent valet-de-place, whom I hereby
recommend to all travellers. When, after three or four days' labour and
diplomacy, he brought me the money, I thought I had suddenly come in
possession of an immense fortune. There were hundreds of bank-notes, and
thousands of silver pieces of all sizes--Swedish paper, silver and copper,
Norwegian notes and dollars, Danish marks, and Russian gold, roubles and
copecks. The value belied the quantity, and the vast pile melted away so
fast that I was soon relieved of my pleasant delusion.

Our equipment should have been made in Germany, for, singularly enough,
Stockholm is not half so well provided with furs and articles of winter
clothing as Hamburg or Leipsic. Besides, everything is about fifty per
cent dearer here. We were already provided with ample fur robes, I with
one of gray bear-skin, and Braisted with yellow fox. To these we added
caps of sea-otter, mittens of dog-skin, lined with the fur of the Arctic
hare, knitted devil's caps, woollen sashes of great length for winding
around the body, and, after long search, leather Russian boots lined
with sheepskin and reaching half-way up the thigh. When rigged out in
this costum