Between 1838 and 1844, the Finnish ethnographer and linguist Matthias Alexander Castrén undertakes a series of research trips. These journeys take him to Lapland, Karelia, and northern Russia as far as Siberia. The arduous journey, undertaken without the comforts of civilization, confronts the researcher with realities that he had previously only known from literature: he is overwhelmed by the magnificent, wild, and untamed nature, and is impressed by his direct encounters with the indigenous inhabitants of these landscapes and their ways of life. Castrén closely observes how they sustain their meager livelihoods through reindeer herding, fishing, hunting, and limited trade, makes notes on their languages and customs, listens to their legends and traditions, shows interest in their religious practices, and critically observes the existential threats posed by colonization to the Sámi, Karelians, Samoyeds, and Ostyaks. The sober perspective of the field researcher, the joy of storytelling, and Castrén's subtle humor make reading this colorful travelogue an intense experience, already tinged with sorrow over the gradual disappearance of the peoples living on the fringes of civilization.