Reikiavik, and could not well mistake oiir little
bark for anything but a yacht.
It Avas now too late in the night to think of
running into the bay or harbour, and as it turned
out, it Avas considered a fortunate circumstance that
it Avas loo late; for at an early hour the folloAving
morning the wind had veered completely round,
and Avas bloAvlng fresh directly on the shore. The
Aveather, indeed, suddenly underAvent a sad change :
a dense mist accompanied Avith rain set in, and we
could not see the shore though it Avas close to us,
and we began to be under some apprehension that
onr boat, Avhich Ave had sent on shore to land the
pilot from Stappen, Avould not be able to find the
yacht again.
All the hope I had entertained of examining this
remarkable coast, and viewing those extraordinary
basaltic caves and columns Avhich. have attracted
the attention of former travellers, Avas uoav at an
end. The Aveather was most unfavourable, and
continued to grow AVorse, so that one thing only
remained for us to do, and that Avas to beat off the
land as fast as possible, and make the best of our
Avay back to Reikiavik.
Onr passage Avas far from being so agreeable as
it had been the preceding day on our way to
Stappen. The clear sky was h o a v shrouded in
dense clouds, the atmosphere thick Avith mist or
fog, the rain fell, aud the Avind bleAV— add to all
which the difference of being in eager pursuit after
a highly interesting object on the one day, and
the mortification of being totally frustrated in the
attainment of that object on the next,— and onr
disappointment Avill readily be felt.
Before Ave reached the end of onr little voyage
it bleAV very hard, and the sea Avas running so high
as to cause the yacht to be tossed about even more
than on any part of the voyage from England, and
we had then encountered some pretty heavy seas.
The motion was so rough and irregular, that some
of the sailors cA'en Avere seasick, and amongst the
rest the oldest seaman in the vessel, who told me,
in a half-angry tone, that he had been upAvards of
twelve years in the king's service, and had never
before been troubled Avith such a disagreeable complaint.
I t Avas next to impossible for the men to
keep on their legs in the fore part of the vessel
below deck, and the poor cook got sadly knocked
about in the execution of his duties, to the no
small amusement of the sailors, who, ill at ease
themseRes, seemed to enjoy a joke at his expense.
Some idea of the pitching of the vessel may be
formed, when it is stated that she dipped her jib-
boom Avith such force under Avater as to snap it
asunder, its height, Avhen the vessel Avas on an even
keel or in still water, being not less than thirty feet
from the surface. This Avas the only spar we
carried aAvay during the Avhole of our voyage. It
will readily be imagined that Ave made but s I o a v