that I had the disappointment to learn from
the captain that there was neither Mr. Borrer
on board, nor a single letter from any of my
friends in England. The vexation of such
a disappointment could not but be severely
felt; but the additional regret caused by
the idea of my being forgotten by those,
whose memory I cherished most fondly
when separated from them by a such a distance,
was done away when I found that the
Flora had left Gravesend only two days after
us, and had been detained ever since on her
passage, which occupied no less than seven
weeks.
Tuesday, T h i s > which was the day* ap-
July 25‘ pointed for the catching of the salmon
in the Lax Elbe, at a place near its
* It is to be observed, that for a few days previous to
this, nets had been placed at the mouth of the river, to
prevent the fish escaping to the sea on their return from
spawning; besides which, early in the morning of the
same day, for some considerable way up the river, other
nets were extended across from bank to bank, at intervals
of a few yards, with the view of enabling those who
are engaged in catching the fish to do it with the
greater facility.
confluence with the sea, is held as a sort of
annual festival by the natives for many miles
round, and afforded a scene of gaiety and
pleasure that I should scarcely have expected
to witness in Iceland. At ten o’clock in the
morning I repaired to the spot amidst Jiun-
dreds of natives, some on foot, but more on
horseback, all drest in their best apparel,
and presenting a truly interesting spectacle,
to which the unusual fineness of the day
contributed not a little. On every side were
to be seen the happy countenances of the
natives, and there was visible among the
different ranks of people a degree of familiarity
that is, perhaps, scarcely to be met
with in any other country ; for men, women,
and children, of all ages and conditions,
the Bishop, the Etatsroed, the Landfogued,
Amptman and Sysselman, the Midwife, the
Washer-woman, and the Tailor, were all
conversing with each other without restraint,
and on terms of perfect equality. The individuals
just enumerated, male as well as
female, were clad after the Danish fashion;
but among the rest, especially the females, the
distinction of dress was more striking ; for
whilst some, in their less ornamented cos