succeeded by the
larch, the fir, the pine, the birch, and their companions. After this
point we look for no change of species, but a diminution in size of
these last enumerated. The variety of trees is of course the result
of altitude as well as of latitude, since there are mountain regions
in southern Europe, as well as in America, where one may pass in a
few hours from the region of the olive to that of the stunted pine or
fir.

The staple commodities of Tromsoee are Lapps, reindeer, and midnight
sun. The universal occupation is that of fishing for cod, sharks, and
whales, to which may be added the curing or drying of the first and
the "trying out" of the latter, supplemented by the treatment of
cods' livers. From this place vessels are fitted out for Polar
expeditions, which creates a certain amount of local business in the
ship chandlery line. French, German, English, Russian, and Danish
flags were observed floating from the shipping in the harbor, which
presented a scene of considerable activity for so small a port. Some
of these vessels were fitting for the capture of seals and walruses
among the ice-fields of the Polar Sea, and also on the coast of
Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla. A small propeller was seen lying in the
stream fitted with a forecastle gun, from whence to fire a lance at
whales,--a species of big fishing which is profitably pursued here. A
huge carcass of this leviathan was stranded on the opposite side of
the harbor from where we were moored, and it is hardly necessary to
add that its decaying condition rendered the atmosphere extremely
offensive. As we lay at anchor little row-boats, with high bows and
sterns, flitted about the bay like sea-birds on the wing, and rode as
lightly on the surface of the water. These were often "manned" by a
couple of sturdy, bronzed women, who rowed with great precision and
stout arms, their eyes and faces glowing with animation. These boats,
of the same model as that thousand-year old Viking ship at
Christiania, seemed to set very low in the water amidship, but yet
were remarkable for their buoyancy, sharp bows and sterns, and the
ease with which they were propelled. The tall wooden fish-packing
houses which line the wharves suggest the prevailing industry of the
place. A long, low white building upon the hill-side also showed
that the manufacture of rope and cordage is a prominent industry of
the locality.

The Lapps in their quaint and picturesque costumes surro