he mountain. The Kola Peninsula was carefully explored
by Finnish Expeditions in 1887-1892.

The climate of Lapland is not everywhere uniform, but in general
it is bleak and raw. Winter begins about the end of September and
continues till May. It is colder inland than by the ice-free shores
of the Northern Ocean, where the warm currents of the Gulf Stream
moderate the cold. And yet the severity of the weather does not
injuriously affect the health or longevity of the inhabitants.
The winter roads are well set in by the end of October (or early
in November), the snow-fall during the winter months amounting
to seven quarters, or four feet one inch. The Polar night lasts
from the 25th of November to the 15th of January, but the darkness
is not by any means so great as one would imagine. The white of
the snow gives a certain glimmer of light, and the frequent and
prolonged flashes of Aurora Borealis set the heavens in a blaze as
with clouds of fire, turning night into twilight, as it were, and
by their brilliancy and beauty making some amends to the natives
for the absence of the sun's rays. It is easy even to read by their
light; while each day, about noon, there is enough daylight for an
hour or so to enable one to dispense with candles. So that under
the name of Polar Night should be understood not the total absence
of light, but rather the season when the sun no longer appears
above the horizon. It begins to show itself again about the 17th
of January, gradually rising higher and higher as the days advance.

[Illustration: REINDEER TRAVELLING]

Snow vanishes from the plains towards the middle (or end) of May,
but remains the whole year round in the gorges of the mountains.
The rivers are clear of ice about the beginning (or middle) of
May, and within a month from that time the first shoots of verdure
begin to appear on the meadows and hill-sides. The sun never sets
from the 24th of May to the 21st of July. There is neither twilight
nor night,--the long Arctic Day has set in. During this period the
sun warms the soil only at noon, simply shining for the rest of
the day, seemingly a golden orb without heat. Summer, beginning
about the middle (_i. e._, end) of June, barely lasts two months.
By July flowers are already shedding their blossoms, their rapid
growth being aided by the unbroken daylight.

Any attempts at agriculture in such a climate are, of course, foredoomed
to failure, but along the river banks some fair