Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-21

the beginning to the end of the journey as
Is the universal custom of winter travellers
there. Curious as 1t seemed at first to me.
this is the only feasible way. Owing to the
tremendous cold passengers. who. of course.
cannot keep warm by means of exercise.
must dress very warmly, warmly, In
fact. that the weight of their clothing alone
would tire them beyond endurance.
Before got into the sleigh its bottom
was we'll covered with hay. which was
heaped up at the rear end to serve as pill
low for my head. A blanket came next,
and over it a reindeer skin. tanned with the
hair on, and the hairy side up. Next came
the passenger-myself Acting on the di-
rections of my driver. 1 attired myself in
two pairs of heavy drawers and two pairs
of stockings and a pair of thick trousers.
Over these l drew on a pair of long felt
Russian boots. l put on three thick wooden
shirts. and over them a sweater. Outside
skin. with the hair inside; over that a cloth
coat almost as thick and as stiff as a
board. and over that great heavy wolfskin
coat. with the hair outside.
ION my hands / wore two pairs of nit
tens on my head a soft, thick Persian wool
cap that pulled down over my ears. When
the wolfskin coat was on and its collar
pulled up the air could get to my face only
at my eyes, and the lids of them were CON-
stantly freezing shut all day, the tenn
perature was so keen.
Dressed as have described, l lay down
in the Sleigh after which the driver COW
cred me with a great sheepsk1n robe, and
over that he spread a thick horse blanket,
which he tucked in about me- exactly as
your mother used to tuck you when she
put you to bed in your childhood days.
THE driver dressed much in the same
fashion, but not quite so heavily. He could
not lie down as l did but had to sit while
driving on a sort of stationary stool. He
could not have sat all day burdened with
as great weight of raiment as 1 was, but
he was able to get some exercise In his
no., t,,rr ha otnG
short-stocked long-lashed whip, and this
helped him keep warm Occasionally. too,
he could get out of the sleigh and run
alongside. Later on in the journey he often
had to get out and push the sleigh up the
hills and through the drifts.
ST remember no journey of any sort that
was as pleasant to me as this long jour
ney' to I.apland. Though the air was bit
terly cold. as I have said, it was intensely
dry. and this fact, together with my ex-
ceptionally warm wrappings, kept me en-
tirely comfortable.
More than half of the time the stars were
shining in perfectly cloudess skies of deep
est blue and so large and brilliant that 1
cannot describe the appearance. Then. too.
the great north glow-you call it the Aurora
Borealis, / think-was constantly on dis
play.
II wish I were a poet, and then l might
invent phrases that would make a picture
in your mind of the marvellous appearance
of the Aurora that saw on that trip. Long
| streamers reached to the very highest point
| of the sky, not only from directly north,
but from the east and west as well. even
| from the southeast and southwest, some
| times coming from all points of the COM
| pass, in fact, except directly south
"Once the sky seemed to be one vast glow
ing canopy of light not simply white light,
but light of every primary color shade and
combination. There were greens and blues
and reds, puppies, pinks. yellows and
mauves in the most wonderful variety, and
the brilliance of it all was positively be-
yond the power of any sentences I can
frame to tell.
LAS l lay in the sleigh listening to the
tinkling of the three bells on my own horse
| mingling with the tinkling of the bells on
the other horses we were meeting con-
stantly. looking up at the brilliant stars or
the still more brilliant polar glow, thought
1 had never before beheld' such unearthly
beauty.
MY driver was much more intelligent
man than might be expected from his call