chasms and sparkling water-courses, that all idea of monotony is lost in the
general grandeur of the scenery.
Suddenly the magnificent fiord which separates Stromöe and Naalsae, the two
principal islands of the group, from each other, opened out upon us. Sweeping
round a bold headland into this, we at once found ourselres surrounded by lofty
hills, whose bases, broken up into every variety of cliff and cavern, formed the
water-line, whilst their summits might be seen, far in the background, stretching
beyond an alternating series of ridges and chasms, until they attained the height
of from 1500 to 2000 feet.
In some of the more elevated hollows large drifts of dazzling snow still lingered,
and gave token of a late and boisterous winter. Strange to say, these
drafts were principally obseiwable on the southern slopes.
But the most charming feature was the constant succession of torrents and
cascades which dashed impetuously downwards to the fiords, and looked in the
distance like so many Imng streams of alabaster; whilst around the summits of
the ranges whence they sprung the layers of grey mist hung for a moment or
two, as if clasping them in a parting embrace, and then glided away, or became
dissipated in the atmosphere around.
Continuing our course along the fiords, which were rarely less than from
one to two miles across, we speedily reached Thorshaven, the chief town of the
Faroe Islands, took on board a pilot, and finally came to anchor, about noon, at
the entrance to the little land-locked bay of Westmannshaven.
Haring hired a boat, and satisfied my curiosity by a ramble ashore, I devoted
the remainder of the afternoon to dredging.
July 6.—Too foggy yesterday to leave the anchorage and get to sea again.
Towards evening the rain, which came down in torrents during the afternoon,
cleared off. I sat up till midnight, and at that hour took a sketch of the village
and harbour. The pink tints left by the setting sun were still visible on some
clouds that floated away behind the western range of hills, and it seemed almost
npossible to believe that night was so far advanced.
Up anchor and away at 7 A..M. The morning gave promise of fine weather;
but it soon became foggy again, and we were accordingly doomed to lose all
save a partial glimpse of the famed promontory of “ Mühlen Head.” But even
this glimpse afforded an idea of its grandeur ; for, steering along almost within
SUSPIRIA DE PROFUNDIS. 3
stone’s-throw of the shore, wo could discern its perpendicular character, and the
mighty blocks of detached cliff standing out from the main mass like outworks to
some Titanic fortress. In ten minutes after catching our parting view of this
towering headland, we were running along merrily with a clear blue sky overhead
and sunshine; so that the demon of the Faroese mist only remained
faithful to his own traditions.
Several soundings have been taken today; hut these are of no interest, being
from shoal water. Although it is blomng fresh from N.W. almost directly
in our teeth, the last cast was “ up and down ”— showing how admirably a fixed
position may be maintained under steam, even in bad weather. Another
sounding is going on whilst I write. I t is midnight, and yet the light streams
down through my cabin windows.
July 9.—The weather, which has been bad enough for the past two days,
threatens to become still worse. This is provoking ; for under more favourable
circumstances we should, ere this time, have sighted the coast of Iceland, somewhere
in the vicinity of Ingolfshofde, and been near enough to the land to see
Hecla and the new volcano which bui'st into activity in May last. As it is, the
ship has been kept well clear of the land, and we shall, in all probability, lose a
very grand spectacle.
From five to six soundings have been taken daily, the intervals varying from
a few miles, in the neighbourhood of the coast-lines, to a degree, or thereabouts,
at mid-distance between them. In the examination of the material brought up,
my time has been so fully occupied, that anything like a few hours’ continuous
rest is out of the question.
Already my views, regarding the extension of animal life to much greater
depths than is usually allowed, have received a certain degree of confirmation.
In a sounding (No. 15) taken yesterday, at a point about two-thirds of the
distance between the Faroes and Iceland, the Conical Cup* brought up, from a
depth of 682 fathoms, a piece of quartz-rock about an inch square, several irag-
inents of basalt, an old and much-worn fragmentary valve of Pollici'pes, a
minute pellet of mud about the size of a pea, a calcareous Serpula-tahe—about
* For a description, of this and other forms of Sounding apparatus alluded to in the Diary, the reader
is referred to the Chapter on Sounding and Sounding Apparatus. The organisms referred to will be
found described in the Chaptci-s devoted to Natural History.
b 2