Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XX. Across the Taimyr Peninsula
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and of there being almost always more or less wind on
the tundra. It is true that when we had to sleep in the
open air we shivered with cold when we awoke, but we
never took cold, thanks to the pure air.
Travelling more or less night and day over these vast wastes
of snow for weeks together is a constant strain both on the
muscles and nerves, so that with a monotonous diet of
frozen fish, reindeer-meat, and mouldy rye-bread, it becomes
excessively fatiguing in the long run. But, on the other hand,
the night-travel behind good reindeer, beneath the flaming
northern lights, and with the indescribable spell of the far
north upon one, affords a unique delight unknown to
civilised life; and even the terrible storms, the chance of
wolves, and the various dangers of these far-off lands are
not without a certain peculiar attractiveness—especially
when they become a matter of retrospection. Then, again,
there is the pleasure of coming in contact here and
there with genuine good heathens, undefiled by
civilisation, honest and excellent people, rendering you all the
services they can as a matter of honour and duty, never
bargaining, and expecting as a matter of course that you
will treat them in the same way.
On the Taimyr tundra, however, as we came further and
further westward, we more and more found that the influence
of so-called “civilisation” had affected the natives. We
were once more in a land where we had to bargain
beforehand with the people; not that this, however, caused us
any special difficulty, for our drivers, as we found out,
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