othing in the Tropics, equals the
magnificence of the Polar skies. The twilight gave place to a moonlight
scarcely less brilliant. Our road was hardly broken, leading through deep
snow, sometimes on the river, sometimes through close little glens, hedged
in with firs drooping with snow--fairy Arctic solitudes, white, silent
and mysterious.

By seven o'clock we reached a station called Juoxengi. The place was
wholly Finnish, and the landlord, who did not understand a word of
Swedish, endeavoured to make us go on to the next station. We pointed
to the beds and quietly carried in our baggage. I made the usual signs
for eating, which speedily procured us a pail of sour milk, bread and
butter, and two immense tin drinking horns of sweet milk. The people
seemed a little afraid of us, and kept away. Our postilion was a silly
fellow, who could not understand whether his money was correct. In the
course of our stenographic conversation, I learned that "_cax_" signified
two. When I gave him his drink-money he said "_ketox!_" and on going out
the door, "_huweste!_"--so that I at least discovered the Finnish for
"Thank you!" and "Good-bye!" This, however, was not sufficient to order
horses the next morning. We were likewise in a state of delightful
uncertainty as to our future progress, but this very uncertainty gave a
zest to our situation, and it would have been difficult to find two
jollier men with frozen noses.

CHAPTER VIII.

ADVENTURES AMONG THE FINNS.

We drank so much milk (for want of more solid food) at Juoxengi, that in
spite of sound sleep under our sheepskin blankets, we both awoke with
headaches in the morning. The Finnish landlord gave me to understand, by
holding up his fore-finger, and pronouncing the word "_ux_," that I was
to pay one _rigsdaler_ (about 26 cents), for our entertainment, and was
overcome with grateful surprise when I added a trifle more. We got
underway by six o'clock, when the night was just at its darkest, and it
was next to impossible to discern any track on the spotless snow.
Trusting to good luck to escape overturning, we followed in the wake of
the _skjutsbonde_, who had mounted our baggage sled upon one of the
country sledges, and rode perched upon his lofty seat. Our horses were
tolerable, but we had eighteen miles to Pello, the next station, which
we reached about ten o'clock.

Our road was mostly upon the Tornea River, sometimes taking to the woods
on either side, to cut of