Chapter I: Front Matter

The Land of the Long Night

The

Land of the Long Night

By

Paul Du Chaillu

Author of "The Viking Age," "Ivar the Viking," "The
Land of the Midnight Sun," "Exploration
in Equatorial Africa," etc.

_Illustrated by M. J. Burns_

New York
Charles Scribner's Sons
1901

_Copyright, 1899,_ BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS.

University Press: JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.

_TO_

_EX-CHIEF JUSTICE CHARLES P. DALY_

_As I write this dedication, dear Judge Daly, a flood of recollections comes over me of unbroken friendship and great kindness on your part and that of your wife, whose memory I venerate and cherish. This friendship has never faltered for a moment, but has grown stronger and stronger as the years have rolled by. Fortunate is the man who wins for himself two such friends! I have never ceased to remember the warm interest you and your noble-hearted wife took from the first in my explorations in Africa. I can only give you in return love and devotion for all the kindness I have experienced at your hands._

_Your devoted friend,_

_PAUL DU CHAILLU._

_September 1, 1899._

Introduction

MY DEAR YOUNG FOLKS:

Friend Paul has led many of you into the great Equatorial Forest of Africa. We met there many strange and wild tribes of men, and lived among cannibals and dwarfs or pygmies. We hunted together, and killed many elephants, fierce gorillas, leopards, huge crocodiles, hippopotami, buffalos, antelopes, strange-looking monkeys, wonderful chimpanzees of different varieties,--some of them white, others yellow or black,--and many other kinds of animals.

In this book I am going to take you to a very different part of the world. I am going to lead you towards the far North, to "The Land of the Long Night,"--a land where during a part of the year the sun is not seen, for it does not rise above the horizon, and in some parts of the country does not show itself for sixty-seven days, during which time the moon, stars, and the aurora borealis take its place.

"The Land of the Long Night" is a land of darkness, of snow, of wind, and at times of intense cold; and we shall have a long journey before us, and shall have to change horses and vehicles at many post stations, and at those places we shall get meals and lodgings.

When once in "The Land of the Long Night," we shall roam far and wide--east, west, north--over a vast trackless region, covered with deep snow, drawn by reindeer instead of horses, and sometimes we shall walk or run with skees, which are the snowshoes of that country, and very unlike those used by our Indians.

We shall sleep on the snow in bags made of reindeer skins, follow the nomadic Laplander and his reindeer, live with him and sleep in his _kata_ or tent. We shall hunt wolves, bears, and different kinds of foxes and other animals, and sail and fish on the stormy Arctic seas.

We shall have plenty of fun, in spite of the snow, the terrific wind, and the cold we shall encounter; and, thanks to the houses of refuge which we shall find in our times of peril, we shall not perish in these Arctic regions. But woe to the man who wanders in that far northern land without a guide or without knowing where these houses or farms of refuge are to be found, for he will surely succumb in some one of the storms that are certain to overtake him.

We shall cross the Swedish and Norwegian mountains of the far North, which rise to a height of several thousand feet, and come to the desolate shores of the Arctic Ocean, and there live among the people.

In a sunny room at the Marlborough in Broadway I have written this book. It is a dear little room, made bright at night with electric lights, and full of delightful reminiscences of cheerful evenings with friends, all kinds of knick-knacks, tin horns, "booby" prizes, mugs, etc.,--souvenirs of frolics at which I have had fine times. My two windows look out on the roof of a church; it is all I can see; the noise of a wheel never reaches my ears. It is an ideal room to write books in.

I am surrounded by pictures of boys and girls, and many older friends; they look down upon me and cheer me, and when I write they all seem to say, "Go on, Paul," and at other times, they cry, "Stop, Paul, you have written enough to-day; go and take a walk, go and see people and life, dine with friends; you will work much better to-morrow. 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.' We shall be here to welcome you when you come back."

How good it is to have friends, no matter how humble some of them are. I love them all. No one ever has too many friends, and life without them is not worth having.

Now, as I am ready to lay down my pen, I draw a long breath--"The Land of the Long Night" is ready for the printer. I am just thinking: all my books have been published in New York, and all but two have been written, in the dear old city.

Your friend,

PAUL DU CHAILLU.

Contents

Chapter Page

I. On the Way to "The Land of the Long Night."--Homesick.--Tempted
to Return.--Girls and Boys Say "No; Go on, Go on,
Paul."--Decide to Continue my Journey.--Winter Coming
On.--Don Warmer Clothing.--From Stockholm North. 1

II. Snow Land.--A Great Snowstorm.--Fearful
Roads.--Snow-ploughs.--Losing the Way.--Intelligence of
the Horses.--Upset in the Snow.--Difficulty of Righting
Ourselves.--Perspiring at 23 Degrees below Zero.--Houses
Buried in the Snow. 9

III. Halt at a Farmhouse.--Made Welcome.--A Strange-looking
Interior.--Queer Beds.--Snowed In.--Exit through the
Chimney.--Clearing Paths.--I Resume my Journey.--Reach
Haparanda. 17

IV. Good Advice from the People of Haparanda.--Warned against
Still Colder Weather.--Different Costume Needed.--Dressed
as a Laplander.--Lapp Grass for Feet Protection. 29

V. What the Arctic Circle is.--Description of the Phenomenon of
the Long Night.--Reasons for its Existence.--The Ecliptic
and the Equinoxes.--Length of the Long Night at Different
Places. 36

VI. Fine Weather Leaving Haparanda.--Windstorms succeed.--A
Finlander's Farm.--Strange Fireplace.--Interior of a
Cow-House.--Queer Food for Cattle.--Passing the Arctic
Circle. 40

VII. Skees, or the Queer Snowshoes of the North.--How They Are
Made.--Learning to Use Them.--Joseff's Instructions.--Hard
Work at First.--Going Down Hill.--I Bid Joseff Good-bye. 48

VIII. A Primitive Steam Bath House.--How the Bath was
Prepared.--What are the Twigs for?--I Ascertain.--Rolling
in the Snow.--Fine Effect of the Bath. 56

IX. How the Laps and Finns Travel.--Strange-looking
Sleighs.--Different Varieties.--Lassoing
Reindeer.--Description of the Reindeer. 60

X. Harnessing Reindeer.--The First Lessons in Driving.--Constantly
Upset at First.--Going Down Hill with Reindeer.--Thrown
Out at the Bottom.--Queer Noise Made by Reindeer Hoofs. 66

XI. The Last Days of the Sun.--Beginning of the Long Night.--A
Mighty Wall of Ice.--The Long Night's Warning Voice--The
Aurora Borealis and its Magnificence. 73

XII. The Snow Getting Deeper.--Lapp Hospitality.--A Lapp
Repast.--Coffee and Tobacco Lapp Staples.--Babies
in Strange Cradles.--How the Tents are Made.--Going
to Sleep with the Mercury at 39 deg. Below. 77

XIII. Toilet with Snow.--A Lapp Breakfast.--Lapp Dogs. Talks
with my Lapp Friend about the Reindeer.--Their Habits
and Various Forms of Usefulness. 89

XIV. Moving Camp.--Another Great Blizzard.--A Remarkable
Sight--Deer Getting their Food by Digging the
Snow.--How Reindeer are Butchered. 99

XV. Watching for the Reappearance of the Sun.--The Upper Rim
First Visible.--The Whole Orb Seen from a Hill.--Days
of Sunshine Ahead. 109

XVI. Wolves the Great Foe of the Lapps.--How the Reindeer are
Protected against Them.--Watching for the Treacherous
Brutes.--Stories of their Sagacity. 112

XVII. In Search of Wolves.--A Large Pack.--They Hold a
Consultation.--Their Fierce Attack on the
Reindeer.--Pursuing Them on Skees.--Killing the
Chief of the Pack. 122

XVIII. Great Skill of the Lapps with Their Skees.--Leaping over
Wide Gullies and Rivers.--Prodigious Length of Their
Leaps.--Accuracy of Their Coasting.--I Start Them by
Waving the American Flag. 129

XIX. We Encounter More Wolves.--My Guide Kills Two with
his Bludgeon.--A Visiting Trip with a Lapp
Family.--Extraordinary Speed of Reindeer.--We
Strike a Boulder.--Lake Givijaervi.--Eastward Again. 136

XX. The Lapp Hamlet of Kautokeino.--A Bath in a Big Iron
Pot.--An Arctic Way of Washing Clothes.--Dress and
Ornaments of the Lapps.--Appearance and Height of
the Lapps.--Givijaervi.--Karasjok. 142

XXI. Leave Karasjok still Travelling Northward.--The River
Tana.--River Lapps.--Filthy Dwellings.--On the Way
to Nordkyn.--The Most Northern Land in Europe. 150

XXII. Leave Nordkyn.--Frantic Efforts of the Reindeer to Keep
their Footing on the Ice.--The Bear's Night.--Foxes
and Ermines.--Weird Cries of Foxes.--Building Snow
Houses.--Shooting-boxes.--Killing Foxes.--Traps for
Ermines.--A Snow Owl. 155

XXIII. Jakob Talks to Me about Bears.--The Bear's Night.--Watching
a Bear Seeking for Winter Quarters.--They Are Very
Suspicious.--I Tell a Bear Story in my Turn. 165

XXIV. Preparations for Crossing the Mountains to the Arctic
Ocean.--Decide to Take the Trail to the Ulf Fjord.--Houses
of Refuge.--A Series of Terrific Windstorms in the
Mountains.--Lost.--Gloomy Reflections.--A Happy Reunion. 170

XXV. A Dangerous Descent.--How to Descend the Mountains.--The
Most Perilous Portion of the Journey.--Exhaustion of the
Reindeer.--All Safe at the Bottom.--Arrival at the Shore
of the Arctic Sea. 183

XXVI. Sail on the Arctic Ocean.--The Brig _Ragnild_.--AEgir and
Ran, the God and Goddess of the Sea.--The Nine Daughters
of AEgir and Ran.--Great Storms.--Compelled to Heave To. 190

XXVII. A Dark Night at Sea.--Wake of the _Ragnild_.--Thousands
of Phosphorescent Lights.--A Light Ahead.--An Arctic
Fair.--A Fishing Settlement.--How the Cod are
Cured.--Fish and Fertilizer Fragrance. 199

XXVIII. Among the Fishermen.--Their Lodgings and How They
Look.--What They Have to Eat.--An Evening of Talk
about Cod, Salmon, and Herring.--The Immense Number
of Fish.--A Snoring Match. 205

XXIX. Departure for the Fishing Banks.--Great Number of
Boats.--More than Five Thousand Oars Fall into the
Water at the Same Time.--Quantities of Buoys and
Glass Balls.--A Notable Catch of Cod. 211

XXX. A Great Viking Sea Fight.--Svein King of Denmark, Olaf King
of Sweden, Erik Jarl of Norway, against King Olaf
Tryggvasson of Norway.--They Lie in Ambush.--Magnificent
Ships.--The _Long Serpent_.--Ready for the Fight.--The
Attack.--The _Jarn Bardi_.--Defeat of Olaf Tryggvasson. 219

XXXI. Sailing along the Coast of Finmarken.--Hammerfest, the
Most Northern Town in the World.--Schools.--Fruholmen,
the Most Northern Lighthouse in the World.--Among the
Sea Lapps.--Men and Women Sailors. 227

XXXII. A Sea Lapp Hamlet.--Strange Houses.--Their
Interiors.--Summer Dress of the Sea Lapps.--Primitive
Wooden Cart.--Animals Eat Raw Fish.--I Sleep in a Sea
Lapp's House.--They Tell Me to Hurry Southward. 232

XXXIII. Comparison of Finmarken with Alaska.--The Two
Lands Much Alike.--What Must be Done for
Alaska.--Colonization.--Importation of
Reindeer.--Protection of Fisheries.--Houses of Refuge. 241

XXXIV. Preparation to Leave the Arctic Coast.--Great Danger of
Encountering Melting Snow, or Rivers Made Dangerous by
the Ice Breaking.--Reindeer Come.--Farewell to the Sea
Lapps.--I Leave for More Southern Land. 244

XXXV. We Enter a Birch Forest.--The Reindeer are Soon
Fagged.--Sleep on the Snow.--The Rays of the Sun Melt
through the Snow.--Great difficulty in Travelling.--Meet
Herds of Reindeer.--Reindeer Bulls Fight Each Other. 249

XXXVI. Variable Weather.--Snowy Days.--An Uninhabited House of
Refuge.--Animals Changing the Color of their Fur.--Mikel
Tells Me about a Bear.--Killing the Bear.--Hurrying on
over Soft Snow and Frozen Rivers.--The Ice Begins to
Break.--Pass the Arctic Circle. 256

List of Illustrations

"Your friend, Paul Du Chaillu." _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE

"On the road were many snow-ploughs at work levelling the snow." 8

"The husband suddenly disappeared through the trap-door and soon
came back with potatoes and a big piece of bacon." 20

"The boys got hold of my hands and pulled me through." 24

"It was, indeed, a fearful wind storm." 40

"Paulus, try again!" 54

"The man had to use all his strength." 64

"I was shot out of the sleigh." 68

"At noon I saw the sun's lower rim touching the horizon." 72

"What a strange abode these nomadic Lapps have!" 80

"I went outside the tent with my host." 92

"They were really working hard for their living." 104

"The Lapp passed him like a flash and gave him a terrible blow." 124

"It was a fight for life!" 128

"Suddenly I saw them fly through the air." 132

"I advanced cautiously." 160

"The mist was so thick that I could not see ahead." 172

"We remained seated on the ground, back to back." 180

"Once in a while I gave a look towards the ugly precipice." 184

"I am clad in the garb of a fisherman." 190

"I saw a big towering wave rolling towards the stern of the
ship." 194

"It is hard work to haul in the nets." 212

"We sailed towards North Cape." 228

"He sat on his haunches and looked at us, uttering a tremendous
growl." 262

The Land of the Long Night