nt among the people of these
frost-imbued regions, whatever their seeming, when they are actuated by
such delicate tastes.

One of the most interesting subjects of study to the traveller on the
journey northward is to mark his progress by the products of the forest.
The trees will prove, if intelligently observed, a means of fixing his
position. From the region of the date and the palm we come to that of
the fig and the olive; thence to the orange, the almond, and the
myrtle. Succeeding these we find the walnut, the poplar, and the lime;
and again there comes the region of the elm, the oak, and the sycamore.
These will be 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 named. The variety of trees is the
result of altitude as well as of latitude, since there are mountain
regions of 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 fir.

From Tromsoee vessels are fitted for exploration towards the North Pole;
some for the capture of seals and walruses among the ice-fields, and
also on the coast of Spitzbergen. A small propeller is seen lying in the
harbor fitted with a forecastle gun, whence to fire a lance at whales--a
species of big fishing, so to speak, which is made profitable here.
Little row-boats with high bows and sterns flit about the bay like
sea-birds on the wing, and ride as lightly upon the water. These are
often "manned" by a couple of sturdy women who row with great precision,
their faces glowing with animation. These boats, of the same model as
that ancient Viking ship at Christiania, sit very low in the water
amidship, but are remarkable for buoyancy and the ease with which they
are propelled.

The Lapps in their quaint and picturesque costumes of deer-skins
surround the newly arrived steamer, in boats, offering furs, carved horn
implements, moccasins, walrus-teeth, and the like for sale. These wares
are of the rudest type, and of no possible use except as mementos of the
traveller's visit to these far northern latitudes. This people are very
shrewd in matters of trade, and are not without plenty of low cunning
hidden behind their brown, withered, expressionless faces. They are
small in stature, being generally under five feet in height, with
prominent cheek bones, snub noses, oblique Mongolian eyes, big mouths,