p. 81, on meeting the Russian icebreaker Kapitan Markov: There were sixteen women on their ship, most in their thirties and forties. Some were very good-looking. I noticed. Some were sailors; some laundry workers. We tied to a rope a copy of Voyage to the Ice, the story of my 1977-8 expedition. It was hauled up and we received in return a guide to Leningrad’s Hermitage Museum.
p. 149: Memorable as was our reception by these friendly and generous people, I best remember something far more personal. This was when we returned to the donga and I saw Mimi naked again after so many months swaddled in unsightly clothes. I was so emotionally affected that, even after she had fallen deeply asleep, I remained at such a high pitch of excitement that, after several unavailing attempts to rouse her, I had no choice but to lie awake reading dull magazines until she came to in the morning.