Frederick George Jackson (1860–1938) set out on his expedition from Vaygach Island with two objectives: to test his equipment for a future voyage much further north, and to study the Samoyeds. Although his goals seemed straightforward, they proved more difficult than expected to achieve. After being left on the island ahead of schedule without most of his food supplies, and with no interpreter, he found that his principal bargaining tool was tea, and that many of the areas he had hoped to explore were too dangerous. This account of his experiences, first published in 1895, provides a glimpse into the seemingly insuperable difficulties of a nineteenth-century Arctic expedition, and the unflappable way in which Jackson dealt with them. Including notes on distraught lemmings, Samoyed customs, and the linguistic annotations of the editor, Arthur Montefiore, this entertaining book will interest historians and curious modern-day travellers alike.
