A travel writer's diary of journeys through northern ports and major cities during the war, combining landscape description, encounters with diverse social types, and observations on civilian life under strain. The account records voyages along Arctic coasts into an ice‑free harbour, stays in provincial estates and towns, and visits to urban salons and hospitals, while noting literary conversation, clergy and noble personages, and everyday people. Attention focuses on economic pressures such as rising prices and currency questions, shortages of alcoholic beverages, and the practical effects of mobilisation, all presented in a blend of travel anecdote and social reportage that conveys regional moods and prospects for peace.