Man is always
debased by servitude of any description, and here the peasantry are
not entirely free. Adieu!
I almost forgot to tell you that I did not leave Norway without
making some inquiries after the monsters said to have been seen in
the northern sea; but though I conversed with several captains, I
could not meet with one who had ever heard any traditional
description of them, much less had any ocular demonstration of their
existence. Till the fact is better ascertained, I should think the
account of them ought to be torn out of our geographical grammars.
LETTER XVI.
I set out from Fredericstadt about three o'clock in the afternoon,
and expected to reach Stromstad before the night closed in; but the
wind dying away, the weather became so calm that we scarcely made
any perceptible advances towards the opposite coast, though the men
were fatigued with rowing.
Getting amongst the rocks and islands as the moon rose, and the
stars darted forward out of the clear expanse, I forgot that the
night stole on whilst indulging affectionate reveries, the poetical
fictions of sensibility; I was not, therefore, aware of the length
of time we had been toiling to reach Stromstad. And when I began to
look around, I did not perceive anything to indicate that we were in
its neighbourhood. So far from it, that when I inquired of the
pilot, who spoke a little English, I found that he was only
accustomed to coast along the Norwegian shore; and had been only
once across to Stromstad. But he had brought with him a fellow
better acquainted, he assured me, with the rocks by which they were
to steer our course, for we had not a compass on board; yet, as he
was half a fool, I had little confidence in his skill. There was
then great reason to fear that we had lost our way, and were
straying amidst a labyrinth of rocks without a clue.
This was something like an adventure, but not of the most agreeable
cast; besides, I was impatient to arrive at Stromstad, to be able to
send forward that night a boy to order horses on the road to be
ready, for I was unwilling to remain there a day without having
anything to detain me from my little girl, and from the letters
which I was impatient to get from you.
I began to expostulate, and even to scold the pilot, for not having
informed me of his ignorance previous to my departure. This made
him row with more force, and we turned round one rock only to see
another, equally destitute of the tokens we were in search of to
tell us where we were.
