Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.
Did you ever pore over an atlas and dream about those obscure fragments of land floating in the frozen seas off the extremities of northern Russia? Did you ever fantasise about living in a simpler and more heroic age, when large areas of the world were still terra incognita, and when Russia was still a Tsarist empire and a land of wonder and romance?
Well, if you did, you will enjoy this book as much as I did. Especially if you add an interest in the flora and fauna of the High Arctic. There is even a bit of humour too, as the euphoniously named author takes with him a stout and simple Anglo Saxon youth who plays the Watson to his Holmes.
Kolguev Island is no longer a mysterious terra nullius for me. I was there in my imagination, 100 years ago, sharing the beauty and the danger of the landscape with Mr Trevor-Battye, his companion, and the Siberian natives.