Chapter 9

CHAPTER IX.

ICELAND! BUT WHAT NEXT?

The day for our departure arrived. The day before it our kind friendM. Thomsen brought us letters of introduction to Count Trampe, theGovernor of Iceland, M. Picturssen, the bishop's suffragan, and M.Finsen, mayor of Rejkiavik. My uncle expressed his gratitude bytremendous compressions of both his hands.

On the 2nd, at six in the evening, all our precious baggage beingsafely on board the _Valkyria,_ the captain took us into a verynarrow cabin.

"Is the wind favourable?" my uncle asked.

"Excellent," replied Captain Bjarne; "a sou'-easter. We shall passdown the Sound full speed, with all sails set."

In a few minutes the schooner, under her mizen, brigantine, topsail,and topgallant sail, loosed from her moorings and made full sailthrough the straits. In an hour the capital of Denmark seemed to sinkbelow the distant waves, and the _Valkyria_ was skirting the coast byElsinore. In my nervous frame of mind I expected to see the ghost ofHamlet wandering on the legendary castle terrace.

"Sublime madman!" I said, "no doubt you would approve of ourexpedition. Perhaps you would keep us company to the centre of theglobe, to find the solution of your eternal doubts."

But there was no ghostly shape upon the ancient walls. Indeed, thecastle is much younger than the heroic prince of Denmark. It nowanswers the purpose of a sumptuous lodge for the doorkeeper of thestraits of the Sound, before which every year there pass fifteenthousand ships of all nations.

The castle of Kronsberg soon disappeared in the mist, as well as thetower of Helsingborg, built on the Swedish coast, and the schoonerpassed lightly on her way urged by the breezes of the Cattegat.

The _Valkyria_ was a splendid sailer, but on a sailing vessel you canplace no dependence. She was taking to Rejkiavik coal, householdgoods, earthenware, woollen clothing, and a cargo of wheat. The crewconsisted of five men, all Danes.

"How long will the passage take?" my uncle asked.

"Ten days," the captain replied, "if we don't meet a nor'-wester inpassing the Faroes."

"But are you not subject to considerable delays?"

"No, M. Liedenbrock, don't be uneasy, we shall get there in very goodtime."

At evening the schooner doubled the Skaw at the northern point ofDenmark, in the night passed the Skager Rack, skirted Norway by CapeLindness, and entered the North Sea.

In two days more we sighted the coast of Scotland near Peterhead,,andthe _Valkyria_ turned her lead towards the Faroe Islands, passingbetween the Orkneys and Shetlands.

Soon the schooner encountered the great Atlantic swell; she had totack against the north wind, and reached the Faroes only with somedifficulty. On the 8th the captain made out Myganness, thesouthernmost of these islands, and from that moment took a straightcourse for Cape