Seebohm was a knowledgeable ornithologist who occasionally mentions books and reading on his long trips in Siberia. In his Preface he compares his earlier volume on Siberia in Europe (1876?) to these later travels in which he had no expert birder: It is possible, however, that the general reader may not regret the change, and may find the
Siberia in Asia: A Visit to the Valley of the Yenesay in East Siberia….
- Arctic Reading: Russia
Siberia in Europe: A Visit to the Valley of the Petchora in North-East Europe.
- Arctic Reading: Russia
p. 3-4: My friend Harvie-Brown had been collecting information about the river Petchora for some time, and it was finally arranged that we should spend the summer of 1875 there together. We were under the impression that, ornithologically speaking, it was virgin ground, but in this we afterwards discovered that we were mistaken. So far as we were able to ascertain, no Englishman had travelled from Archangel to the Petchora for 250 years. In that curious old book called ‘Purchas his Pilgrimes,’ published in 1625, may be found the narrative of divers merchants and mariners who visited this river between the years 1611 and 1615 for the purpose of establishing a trade there in furs and skins, especially beaver, for which Ust-Zylma on the Petchora was at that time celebrated.