New-York daily tribune., 1857-04-16

bed 80 as 20 avoid contact with the dirty cover~'
when the man returned and told US We must go
into another house We crossed the YARD 70 'oe
opposite building, where TO our great SURPRISE VIC
were usbered into warm room, with two goo"
beds which had clean though coarse sheets, taoic
looking glass, and bit Of carpet on the hoor. me
whole male household congregated to see ns 'ahe
possession and ascertain whether our wants were
supplied. slept luXurousy until awakened by 'ne
sound Of our landlord bringing in wood to light the
fire. He no sooner saw that my eyes were open
than he snatched off his cop and threw it upon the
floor, moving about with as much awe and silence
as if it were the Emperor's bedroom. his
daughter brought us excellent coffee betImes we
washed our faces with our tunslers of drinking
water, and got under way by half-past SIX.
The temperature had changed again in the nlgh',
being 90 below zero, but the sky was clear ana
the morning moonlight superb. We are now so
far north that the moon does not set at all, but
wheels around the sky, sinking 10 within eight de-
grees Of the horizon at MONDAY. Our road ied
ocrOss the river, past the church OF koiare, ana
through stretch of the Swedish forests back 10
had not blown here, the snow still hung heavy on
the trees, and the road was well beaten. AT the
Russian post-house found only 3 swoman win
the u,ual troop of Children the eldest of whom,
boy of sixteen, was splitting fir to make torches
/ called cut "herOrste ~ (horses), TO which he
made deliberate answer, and went on with his
work After some consultation with the old wo-
-. 1T hara nd
We sat down to await the result. | called for
meat milk. bread and butter, which procured us
in course of time a pitcher of cold milk, some
bread made Of ground barley straw, horribly hard
and tough, and lump of sour frozen butter.
There were some putrid fish in a wooden bowl, on
which the family had breakfasted, while an i'm
mense pot of sour milk, butter, broken bread and
straw meal, hanging over the fire, contained their
dinner. This was testimony enough to the ac-
counts We had heard in Stockholm, of this year 8
famine in Finland and We seemed likely to Partl-
cipate in it.
| chcwed the straw bread vigorously for an hour,
ard succeeded in swallowing enough to I'LL my
stomach, though not enough TO satisfy my hunger
The Younger children occupied themselves in peel
ING Of the soft inner bark of the fir, which they
ate ravenousy They were handsome, tsir-sklnned
Youngsters. but not so rosy and beautiful as those
Of tbe Norrland Swedes. We were obliged to wait
more than two hours before the horses arrived,
thus losing large part of our daylight lhe pos
tlons fastened our sleds behind their own large
sledpcs. with fat runners, which get through the
snow more easily than ours. We lay down in the
sedpc stretched ourselves at full length upon bed
of hay covered our feet with the deerskin and set
off. We had gone about Swedish mile when the
postions stopped to feed the horses before house
On the Russian side. There was nobody Within
bat some Goals among the ashes on the hearth show
ed that it had been used, apparently as place OF
rest and shelter. A tall, powerful Finn, who was
travelling alone, was there, smoking his pipe. We
all sat down and did likewise, in the bare, dark
hut. There were the three Firms, in complete
dresses of reindeer skin, and ourselves, swaddlcd
from head to foot, With only small segment OF
scarlet face visible between frosted furs and icy
boards. 1t was a true Arctic picture, as seen BY
tLr pale dawn which glimmcrcd on the wastes Of
snow outside.
We had poor horse which soon showed signs
Of breaking down, especially when we again en-
tered Il belt Of country where the wind had blown,
H., trees were clear and the track filled up. At
halfpast eleven we saw the light Of the sun on the
tops of the hills, and at noon about half his disc was
visible. The cold was intense; my hands became
so stiff and benunbed that bad great difficulty in
preventing them from freezing, and my COM
lns oil II
for us that We were frequently obliged to walk,
10 aid the horse. The country was a wilderness Of
mournful and dismal scenery-low hills and woods,
strpt bare of SNOW, the dark frs hung with black,
crape-like moss, alternating with morasses. Oar
Finnish postlions were pleasant, cheerful fellows,
who insisted on our riding, when there was the
least prospect Of a road. Near q solitary hut
(thc only one on the road) we met nan
driving reindeer. After this we lost all
sipus of our way, except the almost obhterated
track Of his pulk. The snow was deeper than
ever and our horses were ready TO drop at every
step. We had been five hours on the road; the
driver said Kihangi was ar rera" dstant, and
at three, finally we arrived. We appreciated
rather better what we had endured when We found
that the temperature was "A below zero.
a, once ordered horses, and strapping young
t,l.w WAS sent off in bad hunor to get them.
We found it impossible, however, to procure milk
or anything to eat, and as the cold was not to be
borne else, We were obliged to resort to bottle of
coenac and our Uaparanda bread The old woman
sat BY the fire smoking and paid not the least at
tention TO our demands. | paid our postillions in
Norwegian orts, which they laid upon chair and
co,,nt.d with the assistance of the whole family
l.l 4.