A Yacht Voyage to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden Part 13

"Have you ever suffered so much before?" one of us asked.

"No, Sir," he replied; "the Swedes are poor, and very little satisfies them. We feel not famine ourselves, but the animals do; and if they die now, at the beginning of summer, for want of food, what will they do when the long winter comes? There--there's another," he said, as we drove past another horse stretched near a hedge on the road, and struggling faintly for life.

"Your horses will be exterminated," I said, "if they are neglected in this wholesale fas.h.i.+on."

"Why, Sir," answered the Swede, "horses are not of much use in Sweden, for the agriculture of the country is carried on so differently to what it is in England, that a family, with their own hands, can plough and sow a sufficient quant.i.ty of land to supply their wants through the winter; and we don't buy and sell corn here, for we all have our few acres. The farmers, therefore, allow the horses to starve, in order to apply the food they would consume to the preservation of cows and sheep."

The country through which we travelled appeared dreary in the extreme: its level, sandy surface being nowhere varied by the pleasing undulation of hill and dale. This is not the general aspect of Sweden, I know; but, perhaps, I perceive this deficiency the more, being so lately arrived from Denmark, where the landscapes are soft and beautiful, while the natural gloom of its forests is relieved by the calmness of its lakes.

We reached Falkenborg at twelve, and, by dint of much loud knocking, awoke the people at an inn, or cabaret, where we slept. The following morning, as soon as it was light, we went to fish in a river near the town, but encountered the same good fortune of which we had hitherto made no complaint, considering that the mere sport of angling for salmon had brought us to Scandinavia; and up to the present moment we had not seen the scaly snout of a single fish. We murmured not; but could not resist the doubt, that the existence of salmon in Northern Europe was a reality; nor could we conceal from ourselves the absurd light in which we appeared to the simple people who each day, with mute astonishment, beheld us, late and early, in storm and calm, deliberately and untiringly flog with a long line of cat-gut their legendary streams, in the vain hope of capturing a creature not to be caught in them; and which effort on our part was, in their opinion, a striking proof of the aberration of human intelligence.

We had now travelled over a s.p.a.ce of more than a thousand miles, and were as far removed from the object of which we came in pursuit, as the first hour when we left Greenwich; and yet our diligence had been exemplary, our inquiries most minute, and our measures, in carrying out the information we received, most prompt.

R---- and P---- went on board perfectly disgusted, and ready to start on the morrow for Kongsbacka, or Gottenborg, or anywhere else. I sympathised with their disappointment, for the desire to catch salmon had amounted to a pa.s.sion; and I do not think any other feeling, even of love or hatred, sat more paramount in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s; and when I called to mind how,

"Patiens pulveris atque solis,"

each of them had endured all inconveniences without any remuneration, I could not help thinking of those truthful lines of Anacreon, which he applied, to be sure, to softer emotions of the heart than those now depressing the hilarity of my companions, but the spirit of which was, nevertheless, identified with the tone of their minds:----

"?a?ep?? t? ? f???sa?, ?a?ep?? d? ?a? f???sa?, ?a?ep?tat?? d? p??t??, ?p?t?????e?? f?????ta."

The period when I left school is gone so far with the past, that I can no longer bring back its lore, and, taking up my lexicon, translate; but, if some old Etonian will receive the signification of these four lines as I do, and allow their collective meaning to huddle in one confused lump round the base of some shattered cla.s.sic column, and there remain, I shall feel thankful for the task I am spared in cracking each word into English.

The coast of Falkenborg is the most uninteresting I have yet seen; and, wherever I turn, the same low sh.o.r.e, with its solitary lighthouse, and thousands of gulls, meets the eye.

On Thursday morning we left melancholy Falkenborg for Gottenborg; but, having understood that at Kongsbacka some salmon-fis.h.i.+ng might be obtained, we made up our minds to stop there for a few hours, and ascertain the truth of our information; for once deceived at Falkenborg, R---- and P---- had no fancy for being deceived at Kongsbacka also. A fine breeze favouring us, every st.i.tch of canva.s.s the Iris could carry was crowded on her, and at three o'clock the same afternoon we found ourselves off Kongsbacka, and threatened with a calm. A solitary boat put off from a solitary sh.o.r.e, and, rowing alongside, a man tendered his services as a pilot; but replying to our inquiries for "lax[2]," that there were not any, we thanked him for his ingenuousness, and declined his a.s.sistance.

The appearance of the sky, and the quarter whence the wind came, promising a clear night and a good run, the helm was put hard up, and we stretched away from the land to get a wide offing before sunset, and to stand in a fairer course to Gottenborg. At six o'clock, however, the wind died away, and before the sun bade us "good night," not a ripple, far as the eye could roam, curled the ocean, on which, like a pool of quicksilver, the vessel appeared to stick. So smooth, so bright, so still, was the sea, that, when the sun's lower limb dipped in the west, his dilated disc, drawn out longitudinally, seemed like a blazing column, inlaid in the water, and extending from the horizon to the yacht's channels.

Either a gentle current of air or tide, which was imperceptible to us, drifted the yacht into the bay again; but, beyond the inconvenience of being land-locked, no danger threatened us; for the coast in the neighbourhood of Kongsbacka is bold, and the water unfathomable within a few feet of the rocks. The bay itself, not enlivened by a house, or sign of human habitation anywhere, was grand, surrounded on three sides by rocky mountains, and studded here and there with islands, perfectly white from the mult.i.tude of gulls which were perched on them.

The bay was so calm that we could see a great way along the water. A black speck, like a hat, caught our attention; and, having nothing else to do, P---- and I rowed in the jolly-boat to it; and, when we reached it, were as much puzzled to make out its purpose as we were at a distance to conjecture its form. It turned out to be a small keg attached to a long line; and we imagined, at the first glance, it was the component part of a salmon-net; but salmon, we knew on the other hand, though of the sea, were not to be caught in it. P---- seized hold of the keg; and, both together, we commenced hauling in the line as fast as we could. The lapse of a little time brought us to the end of it, and some dozen lobsters began flapping their goose-like tails in our faces.

We took two out of the trap for our trouble, and let down the rest to wait the coming of their rightful owner.

The stars now came forth, one by one, to gaze about them, but slunk back slyly when their Queen, still youthful with increasing horns, peeped over the eastern wave at us; and when, in her first glance of splendour, she cast a strong white light on the rocky sh.o.r.e encircling the bay, its calm, clear water, taking a greener tint from the wooded sides of the mountains, looked like an emerald set in silver. The scene was still, and purely beautiful. The cutter lay like a log on the water, the reef-points rattling on the main-sail like a shower of small shot; and, every time he heard the sound, the man at the helm would raise his eyes aloft, and, fixing them steadily on the gaff-topsail for a minute or two, turn round and scan the horizon; and then, walking to the quarter, moisten his forefinger in his mouth, and hold it above his head.

"There's a breeze coming, Sir," he said aloud, but in an under-tone, to the mate, the officer of the watch; who, coming aft, stood looking, far and near, on the water, to observe the ripple of a coming wind.

"I see," he said; "it's springing up from the south'ard;" and, pacing the deck to and fro, he would also turn his eyes to the topmast-head every time he reached the quarter-deck of the vessel, to mark if the night-flag moved. Standing, at last, close to the helmsman,

"How's her head?" he asked.

"North, a quarter east, Sir," replied the man. After a short pause, the mate, taking another glimpse aloft, said,

"Slack off the main-sheet."

"Ay, ay, Sir," several men replied, and hurried, with a kind of trot, to comply with the command.

"How are the head-sheets?" again said the mate.

"All taut, Sir," answered a voice.

"Ease them off," was the mate's command.

"Ay, ay, Sir," the same voice answered.

"So; belay there," the mate called out to the men who were slackening the main-sail. Going up to the binnacle, he observed the compa.s.s, and addressing the helmsman, said,

"Let her break off three points."

"Very good, Sir," replied the sailor; while the mate, still keeping his eyes on the compa.s.s, watched the needle till it reached the desired point, and exclaimed quickly, when he saw the vessel fast obeying her helm,

"Now; take her up;--don't let her break off any more."

"Ay, ay, Sir."

"How's that lee runner?" the mate asked, hearing the main-sail chafe against the runner block. "Slack it off, and take a turn or two at the weather one."

"Ay, ay, Sir."

The officer then walking the deck again, all was silent as before, with the exception only of a rippling sound as the cutter began to feel a breath of air, and move through the water.

The wind fairly sprung up at midnight, and at eight o'clock in the morning, the pilot came on board. About ten miles from Gottenborg, this pilot contrived to run the yacht aground at eleven A.M., and there she stuck until half-past two P.M.; but the mishap occurred not so much through his ignorance, as through the importunity of some custom-house officers, and the lightness of the wind. We reached Gottenborg in the course of the afternoon, and, after a great deal of shouting, swearing, hauling, and entangling of rigging, the yacht was moored very pleasantly alongside the quay. We were indebted to the courtesy of the Harbour-Master for the berth we obtained, since he compelled two large American s.h.i.+ps to alter their position, and make room for us.

FOOTNOTES:

[2] "Lax," in the Swedish language, is "salmon."

CHAPTER X.

THE CASINO AT GOTTENBORG--AWKWARD DILEMMA--THE WATCHMAN AND THE NORTHERN STAR--SWEDISH ARTILLERY--THE GROVE-- AN OLD MAN'S HISTORY--THE ALARM OF FIRE--THE CARRIAGE OVERTURNED--THE RIVER GOTHA--WAs.h.i.+NG IN THE STREAM--THE NARROW STREETS--DESCRIPTION OF GOTTENBORG--ITS DECAYED COMMERCE--THE HERRING FISHERY.

R---- and P---- had expressed a wish to visit the Falls of Trolhattan, and, the Iris had scarcely touched the quay, before they started in search of a carriage to convey them to the Falls. As I knew we should sail for Christiania early on Tuesday morning, I was desirous of seeing Gottenborg, and preferred remaining where I was, and allowing R---- and P---- to go to Trolhattan without me; and I was more determined when I heard they had arranged to begin their journey at five o'clock the following morning, Sat.u.r.day. I learned nothing more about the matter until three o'clock in the morning, when, by the counterpane, blankets, and sheets being pulled off my bed, I was awakened from a sound sleep, and recovered my senses in time to hear R---- and P---- laughing, and scrambling up the companion-stairs.

I pa.s.sed the day on board, stretched at full length on the sofa, and reading; nor was it possible to employ the body more industriously, the thermometer not being much below 90. The cool evening, the bright moon, and the Casino induced me to forego all solitary confinement, and to wander in the direction of the town.

By dint of many and frequent inquiries I arrived at the Casino. This Casino resembled not the one I had visited at Copenhagen, but bore more affinity to the tea gardens of England.

There was a cottage in the centre of a flower garden, and at one extremity of another garden a building, imitative of an Indian paG.o.da, stood, appropriated to a fine band breathing, throughout the evening, all the pathos and melody of Italian music. The cottage itself was set apart for refreshment, and one might descend to a cup of coffee, or mount to the limitless command of a dinner. I had dined very early, and, feeling the effects of good digestion, desired to dine again. The persons who attended the guests were Swedish girls, as notorious for their inability to speak English, or any other language but their own, as they are conspicuous for their personal attractions. Beckoning one Hebe, whom I had selected, to come to me, I endeavoured, by every method I could devise, to inform her how hungry I was, and how I should like to have some food more edible than m.u.f.fin. She bowed her pretty head in token of her entire perception of my wishes, and, leaving the room with the agility of a fawn, returned in a short time, laden with a tray, from the level surface of which rose a tall coffee-pot that continued to taper till it kissed with its old fas.h.i.+oned lid her jet black ringlets.

Alarmed to mark at what a fearful distance I stood from my dinner, I looked wistfully round the room for some face on which I could read an example or two of the English grammar; but in vain. The poor girl observed that she had not antic.i.p.ated my desire as well as she might have, and said something to me in a tone of regret, to which I could only make reply by a partial negative and affirmative shake of my head, and committing it to the peculiar sagacity of her s.e.x to understand what I wanted. A little, stout man, something like a runt, saw the position to which I was reduced, and, coming up to me, said in broken English,

"What you want, Sir? can I do you help?"