As the night shut in, the way-worn traveller began also to long for a good meal, and has thus recorded the result of his application, on arriving at a village where he passed the night:—“On my inquiring what I could have for supper, they set before me the breast of a cock of the woods, which had been shot and dressed some time the preceding year. Its aspect was not very inviting; but the taste proved delicious, and I found, with pleasure, that these poor Laplanders know better than some of their more opulent neighbours, how to employ the good things which God has bestowed upon them.” The bird is prepared by a process of salting and drying, and will keep even for three years, if necessary. Linnæus next proceeded up the river of Umœa as far as Lycksele, where he was hospitably received by the worthy pastor of the place; and the next day, being Whit-Sunday, he stayed there, and would fain have remained longer; but, for fear of the floods impeding his journey, he hastened his departure on the morrow, and on the 1st of June entered the territories of the native Laplanders, passing through wild forests, with no traces of roads. A more desolate picture of wretchedness than this region presented, could hardly be imagined. It was flooded by the rivers, and the bogs were utterly impassable. At every step the water was above the knees, and the feet felt the ice at the bottom. “We pursued our journey (continues the diary) with considerable labour and difficulty all night long, if that might be called night which was as light as the day, the sun disappearing for half an hour only, and the temperature of the air being rather cold.” The poor inhabitants had themselves, at this season, nothing to eat but a scanty supply of fish; for they had not begun to kill their reindeer, nor to milk them. In addition to these evils, the villainous bites of the gnats and other insects tortured the unhappy travellers, till at length he exclaims—“I had now my fill of travelling!” Gladly would he have returned by the way he came, but he could find no road back; and even the hardy Laplanders themselves, “born to labour, as the birds to fly,” could not help complaining, and declared they had never been in such extremity before. It is evident that even the robust frame of Linnæus was beginning to yield to the combined effects of fatigue, exhaustion, and hunger. He at length obtained some food which he was able to eat, and after incredible exertions succeeded in retracing his steps to the river, on which he again embarked, and returned to Umœa; having, as he ingenuously acknowledged, “with the thoughtlessness of youth, undertaken more than he was able to perform.” From Umœa, Linnæus proceeded to Pithœa, which he reached after two days’ journey, “the night being as pleasant for travelling as the day.” He notices the beauty of the fresh shoots of the spruce fir, which constitute one of the greatest ornaments of the forests which adorn this part of Sweden.