The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1857-05-30
COUNCIL BLUFFS, SATURDAY, NAY 80, 1857
bAYARb rAYIoR,s LETTE,Rs,

BAYARb TAYIoRs LETTERs, III
Thelast letter Of Bayard Taylor publish
ed, left him at Haparanda, at the head Of
the Bothnian Gulf. His next letter takes
him past the arctic circle, TO Ju0xengi,
whence he writes on January 9th. His last
| is dated January 10th, from q little town in
Lapland, SO that he is now fully entered
upon the field of his arctic explorations
The letter OF the 9th Of January goes on
thus
Trusting to luck, which is about the best
plan after all, we started from Haparanda
yesterday at noon. The day was magnifi-
cent, the sky cloudless and respondent as
polished steel, and the mercury 81 below
zero. The sun scarcely more than the
breadth of his disc above the horizon,
SHED faint orange light over the broad
level snow-plains, and blush white hemis-
phere If the Bothnian Gull, visible beyond
Torteaa. The air was perfectly still, and
exquisitely cold and bracing despite the
sharp grip it took upon my nose and ears.
These Arctic days, short as they are, have
a majesty of their own-a splendor, SUBJ
dued though it be; breadth and perma-
nence of hue, impaired alike to the sky and
to the snowy earth, as If tinted glass were
before your eyes. find myself Mt loss
how to describe these effects, Or the impress
ton they produce upon the travellers mood.
Certainly, it is the very reverse Of that de-
preston which accompanies the Polar night,
and which even the absence of any real day
light might be considered sufficient to pro-
duce. f
THE COUNTRY.
.
Our road led up the left bank Of the riv-
er, both sides of which were studded with
neat little villages. The country was well
cleared and cultivated, and appeared so
populous and dourishing that could scarce
ly realize in what part of the world we
were. The sun set at quarter past l, but
for two hours the whole southern heaven
was superb in its hues of rose and orange.
The sheepskin lent us By our landladay kept
our feet warm, and We only felt the cold in
our faces; my nose, especially which having
lost coat Of skin, was very fresh and ten
der, requiring unusual care. At 3 O'Clock,
when we reached Kuckula, the first station,
the northern sky was one broad flush of the
purest violet, melting into lilac at the zenith,
where it met the fiery skirts of sunset.
We refreshed ourselves with hot milk, and
pushed ahead with better horses. At 4
O'Clock it was bright moonlight, with the
stillest air. We got on bravely over the
level beaten road, and in two hours reached
Korpikyla, large new inn, where we found
very tolerable accommodations. Our beds
were heaps Of reindeer skins a frightfully
ugly Finnish girl, who knew few words Of
Swedish, prepared us supper of tough
meat, potatoes and ale. Everything was
now pure Finnish, and the first question of
the girl, "HraryTaan komnaar du?"
(Where dost thou come from y showed an
ignorance of the commonest Swedish form
Of address. She awoke us with cup of
coffee in the morning, and negotiated for US
the purchase Of a reindeer skin, which we
procured for something less than dollar.
The huSbone (house peasant and as the land
los1 is called here) made no charge for our
entertainment, but said we might give what
we pleased. | offered, at venture, sum
equal to about fifty cents, where-upon he
sent the girl to say that he thanked us most
heartily. -..
coLoRs OF ARCTIC LANDSCAPES.
To day has been day to be remembered
such a glory of twilight splendors for six full
hours was beyond all the charms of daylight
in any zone. We started at seven, with a
! temperature of 20 deg. below zero, still
keeping up the left bunk of the Torneaa.-
The country now rose into old hills, and
the features OF the scenery became broad
and ma jestic. The northern sky was again
pure violet, and pale red tinge from the
dawn rested on the tops Of the snowy hills.
The prevailing color of the sky slowly
frightened INTO lilac, then into pink, then
rose-cOlor, which again gave way to a food
Of splendid orange when the sun appeared.
Every change of color affected the tone of
the landscape. The woods, so wrapped in
snow that not single green needle was to
be seen, took by turns the hues of the sky,
and seemed to give out, rather than to re-
fleet, the opalescent lustre of the morning.
The sunshine frightened instead of dispell-
ing these effects. At noon the SUMS disc
was not more than deg. above the hori T.
zon, throwing level golden light on the.
hills. The north, before us was as blue as
the Mediterranean, and the vault of heaven
overhead, canopied us with pink. Every
object was glorihed and transfgured in the
magic glow. .a.
The afternoon twilight was even
more wonderful than that of the forenoon.
There were broad bands of purple pure
crimson and intense yellow, all fusing to-
gether into fiery orange at the south while
the north became a semi-yault Of pink, then
lilac, and then the softest violIu The daz-
zling Arctic hills participated in this play
of colors, which did not fade, as in the
South, but stayed, and stayed, as if God
wished to compensate by this twilight glory
for the loss OF the day. Nothing in Italy,
nothing in the Tropics, equals the maghif-
cence OF the Polar skies. The twilight gave
place to moonlight scarcely less brilliant.
One road was hardly broken, leading
through deep snow, sometimes on the river,
sometimes through close little glcns, hedged
in with frs dropping with snow-fairy Arctic
solitudes, white, solitude and mysterious.
SNOW AND FROST BEAUTIES.
The following extract from the last letter,
of January 10th, gives one very different
idea of the beauty of the Arctic Landscapes
from that usually entertained: II
Our road was mostly upon the Torneaa
River, sometimes taking to the woods on
either side, to cut off bends. The morn was
hours in dawning, with the same splendid
transitions of color. The forests were i'm
deseribable in their silence, whiteness, and
wonderful variety of snowy adornment.-..
The weeping birches leaned over the road
and formed white, fringed arches the frs
wore mantles of ermine and ruffs and tippets
of the softest fwan's down, snow wind and
frost had worked the most marvellous trans
formations in the forms of the forest. Here
were kneeling nuns, with arms hanging list
lessly by their sides, and the white cowls
falling over their faces; there lay war
rior's helmet; lace curtains, torn and rag
ged, hung from the points Of little Gothic
spires; caverns, lined with sparry incrusta-
tions, silver palm-leaves, door, loop-holes,
arches and arcades were thrown together in
fantastic confusion and mingled with the
more decided forms Of the larger trees,
which, even, were trees but in form, SO
completely were they wrapped in their daz-
zling disguise. 1t was an enchanted land,
where you hardly dared to breathe lest q;
breath might break the spell.
r-.. Queer Morality.
Harper's Monthly for May contains in itsl
y