Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1857-07-02
Bayard Taylor in Northern Europe.
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GLIDING REMARKS ABOUTTHE
.NOPTu ft

that even the pi0WS could not DC forced
through in many places. and the peasants
were obliged to work with their broad
wooden spades. The sky, however, was
wholly clear, and pure daylight blue,
such as we had not seen for two months.-
The sun rode high in the armament,
ike strong, healthy sun again, with some
warmth in its beams, as they struck oul
faces, and the air was all m;ldness and
calm. 1t was heavenly, after our Arctic
life. Ihe country too boldly undulating,
with ir-forested hills, green and warm in
tue sunshine, and mild, picturesque val
leys sunk between, shining in their cover
ing of snow, charmed us completely. ~
gain we saw the soft blue of the distant
ranges, as they melted away behind each
other, suggesting space, and light and
warmth. Give me daylight and sunshine,
after ALL Our arctic trip seems like a
long. long night, full of splendid dreams,
hut yet night and not day,
On the road, we bought quantity OF
the linnen handkerchief of the country,
at prices varying from % to 40 cents a
piece, according to the size and quality
The bedding, everywhere along the road, is
of home made linen, and do not reccollect
an instance where it has not been brought
out, fresh and sweet from the press, for
US. In this, as in all other household ar
rangements the people are very tidy and
cleanly, though a little deficient as regards
their own persons. Their clothing, how
ever, is of heavy substantial character,
and the women consult comfort rather than
ornament. Many Of them wear cloth pan
falcons under their petticoats, which, there
fore, they are able to gather under their
arms in wading through snow drifts. l
have not seen a low-necked dress or thin
shoe north of Stockholm.
s.The damsel who trips at day break
Is shod like mountaineer;''
vet o sensible man would sooner take such
damselto wife than any delicate Cinder-
ella OF the ballroom. i protest lose all
patience when think of the habits of our
American women, especially our country
girls. Ii ever the Saxon race docs deteri-
cate on our side of the Atlantic, as some
their fault. =
Unjust confess, however, that. interest
ing as the journey has been. and happily
as we have endured its exposures, l should
not wish to make it again. 1t is well to
see the North, even after the South; but as
there is no one who visits the tropics with
out longing ever after to return again, so.
imagine, there is no one who, having once
seen Winter inside the Arctic Circle,
would ever wish to see another In spite
of the warm, gorgeous and ever-changing
play of color lowering over the path of the
unseen sun, in spite of the dazzling auro-
raj dances and the magical TRANSPORTATION
of the forests, the absence of true daylight
and OF all signs of warmth and life, exer-
cises at last a depressing influence on the
spirits The snow, so beautiful while the
sunrise-setting illumination lasts, wears a
ghastly monotony AZ other times, and the
air, SO exhilarating, even at the lowest tenn
perature, becomes an enemy to be kept out,
when you know his terrible power to be-
numb and destroy. To the native Of a
warmer zone, this presence of an unseen
destructive force in Nature weighs like a
nightmare upon the mind The inhabi-
tants of the North also seem to undergo a
species of liberation, as well as the ami
mails. Nearly half their time is passed in
sleep; they are silent in comparison with
the natives Of other parts of the world; there
is little exuberant gayety and cheerfullnes,
but patience, indifference, apathy almost.
Aspects ofNature which appear to be hos
tile to Man often develope and bring into
play his best energies, but there are others
which depress and paralyze his powers. l
am convinced that the extreme North, Ike
the Tropics, is unfavorable to the best men,
tai and physical condition of the human
race. The proper zone ofMan lies between
80 and % deg. North.
To one who has not an unusal capacity
to enjoy the experiences ofa varied travel,
l should not recommend such journey
With me, the realization of long cherished
desire, the sense of novelty, the opportuni-
ty for contrasting extremes, and the inter
ests with which the people inspired me, far
outweighed all inconvenience and priva-
tions. In fact, was not fully aware of
the gloom and cold in which / had lived
until we had returned far enough southwark
to enjoy eight hours of sunshine and TEN
perature above the freezing point. 1t was
second birth into living world AL
though we had experienced little positive
suffering from intense cold, except on the
return from Muoniovara to Haparanda,
our bodies had already accommodated
themselves to a low temperature, and the
sudden transition to 80 deg. above zero
came upon US like the warmth of June
My friend, DIR. Kane, once described to me
the comfort he felt when the mercury rose
to 7.deg. below zero, making it pleasant
:. to be on deck. The circumstance was then
hacomprehensitle to me, but it is now
quite plain. can also the better realize
the terrible suffering of himself and his men
exposed to a. storm in temperature o.
-47 deg, when the same degree of colo
with very light wind, turned my own
blood to ice. kfl1
Most of our physical sensations ase rela
tive, and the mere enumeration of so many
degrees of heat and cold give no idea O
their effect upon the system. / should hav,
frozen at home last winter at temperatur,
which found very comfortable in Lap
land, with my solid diet of meat and but
ter and my garments of reindeer The fol