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.,--souveni