Letters from High Latitudes
Letters From High Latitudes is a travel book written by Lord Dufferin in 1856, recounting the young lord's journey to Iceland, Jan Mayen and Spitzbergen in the schooner Foam. When Dufferin was only 15 his father died. In consequence he developed a very close relationship with his mother. In the course of the voyage Dufferin created a diary in the form of letters nominally written to his mother. On his return, Lord Dufferin used those letters to write a book about his travels entitled Letters From High Latitudes. Lord Dufferin commissioned the schooner Foam with the first objective of visiting Iceland. He visited the then-minuscule Reykjavík, the plains of Þingvellir, and Geysir. While Dufferin was at Geysir Prince Napoleon arrived on the yacht Reine Hortense with his entourage. Upon his return to Reykjavík Dufferin was invited to join Prince Napoleon aboard his royal steamer La Reine Hortense. Prince Napoleon offered that the Foam be towed north as the French were on an expedition to the same region. The collier traveling with La Reine Hortense was damaged which required the French to abandon their investigations. Dufferin then set sail for Jan Mayen Island where he had to land by small boat.