18 



CHAPTER II. 



THE ARCTIC (AND ANTARCTIC) ZONE. 



FROM LAT. 72 TO THE AECTIC (AND ANTARCTIC) CIRCLE. 



A MOST unpromising field for a botanical excursion the 

 countries in this zone may seem, at first sight, to present ; 

 our notions of them are perhaps, in most respects, rather 

 indefinite, about the extreme north of Siberia for instance. 

 As regards Lapland indeed we know at least so much more, 

 that its name cannot be mentioned without raising images 

 in our minds of reindeer and reindeer-sledges, and diminutive 

 people living almost in the dark for weeks together. In like 

 manner, Greenland is associated in our thoughts with whale- 

 fishing and bears, and we have a general idea of some tribes 

 of Esquimaux that inhabit the northern coast of North 

 America. 



We are therefore the more indebted to the patient labours 



