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How beautiful it was! Onward we went, sleeping one day in the tent of a nomadic Lapp, another day in our bags, at other times in the gamme of a river Lapp. The weather was very changeable; one day it was clear, the next day the sky was gray. Snowy days were not uncommon. Midway between Nordkyn and Haparanda the snow was of great depth.
The land's end was nearing, and erelong I stood on the edge of Cape Nordkyn, 71° 6' 50" the most northern end of the continent of Europe, and rising majestically over seven hundred feet above the level of the sea. Before me was the Arctic Ocean, and beyond, a long way off and unseen by me, was the impenetrable wall of ice which the Long Night had built to guard the Pole.
Far to the north-east was Nordkyn, the most northern point of the mainland of Europe, gleaming rosily and faint in the full beams of the sun, and just as our watches denoted midnight the North Cape appeared to the westward a long line of purple bluff, presenting a vertical front of nine hundred feet in height to the Polar Sea.
It was time for me to leave, for I was in a hurry, and I had to travel nearly nine hundred miles before I could reach Nordkyn. When I left I put some money into the hands of the wife, and when she felt it in her hand she said, "No, no; to be paid for giving food and shelter to a person who is overtaken by a storm, is a shame. What would God think of me for doing that?
At North Cape and Nordkyn the sun disappears November 18th, and is not seen again till January 24th. That is the reason I have called the land between North Cape and the Arctic Circle "The Land of the Long Night." This "Land of the Long Night" commences at Nordkyn, or the most northern point of the continent of Europe, or at North Cape, but five miles distant on the 16th of November.
And at the Arctic Circle the sun is only completely hidden on the 22nd of December. The following table shows you the dates of the disappearance of the sun, and of its reappearance at the principal places to which we are going. Where the sun is last seen, begins at: Karasjok November 26th Vardö 22nd Hammerfest 21st North Cape or Nordkyn 18th
We sailed across the Porsanger Fjord. Far off was Nordkyn, upon the summit of which I had stood. The coast looked dreary indeed! We sailed across Laxe Fjord and doubled Nordkyn. The following day we entered a fjord and came upon a number of fishing boats that were returning from the open sea.
From there I could see North Cape. Nordkyn being the land's end, I could not go further north, so I retraced my steps southward. That afternoon we saw on the other side of a frozen lakelet the tent of some nomadic Lapps, and we made preparations to cross the lake to go and see them.
We lingered on deck, as point after point revealed some change in the dazzling diorama, uncertain which was finest, and whether something still grander might not be in store. But at last Nordkyn drew nigh, and at three o'clock the light became that of day, white and colourless. The north-east wind blew keenly across the Arctic Ocean, and we were both satisfied and fatigued enough to go to bed.
The backs of most of these were leather-cushioned. After I had looked carefully at all the sleighs, I went to the farmhouse with the Lapps and was welcomed by the Finlander who owned the place. His name was Jon. We were soon friends. The people asked me whither I was bound, and I told them that I was going as far north as the Arctic Ocean, as far as Nordkyn.
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