would need a considerable amount of the precious
metal to tempt me into Finnish Lapland in summer-time.

Ostrobothnia, which lies immediately south of this undesirable
district, contains the towns of Tornea and Uleaborg. We will pass
on to the provinces of Central Finland, viz., Tavastland, Savolax,
and Karelia. The Finns say that this is the heart of their country,
while Helsingfors and Tammerfors constitute its brains. So crowded
and complicated is the lake system in this part of Finland that
water almost overwhelms dry land, and the district has been likened
to one huge archipelago. Forests abound, especially in Tavastland,
whence timber is exported in large quantities, while agriculture
flourishes in all these provinces. Crops are generally grown in
the valleys, while in other parts the sides and summits of the
hills are usually selected for cultivation. Large tracts of country
about here once laid out for arable are now converted into grazing
grounds, for the number of cattle is yearly on the increase.
Dairy-farming is found to be more profitable and less risky than
the raising of wheat and barley in a land where one night of frost
sometimes destroys the result of a whole year's patient care and
labour. The land is cleared for cultivation by felling and burning,
and it is then ploughed in primitive fashion and sown, but only
one harvest is generally gathered on one spot. The latter is then
deserted, and the following year another patch of virgin soil takes
its place. There is thus a good deal of waste, not only in land,
but also in trees, which are wantonly cut down for any trifling
purpose, regardless of their value or the possible scarcity in
the future of timber. Accidental forest fires also work sad havoc
at times, destroying thousands of pounds' worth of timber in a
few hours. Pine resin burns almost as fiercely as petroleum, and
it sometimes takes days to extinguish a conflagration.

Many of the poorer people in the central provinces live solely
by fishing in the lakes teeming with salmon, which find a ready
market both salted and fresh. There is plenty of rough shooting to
be had for the asking, but no wild animals of any size. In the far
north bears are still numerous, and elk were formerly obtainable.
A few of the latter still exist in the wilder parts of the country,
but it is now forbidden to kill them. Some years ago the forests of
Tavastland were infested with wolves, and during one fatal season
a