Captain Young sailed from Berufiord on the 17th day of August, and
arrived at Reikiavik, the capital of Iceland, on the 21st day of
August, and after making enquiries as to the coasts, he says, “I then
determined to examine Hvalfiord, as from its situation it appeared
to have the advantage over any place in Faxe Bay, and on the 27th I
proceeded up that fiord, sounding it as far as ‘Maria Havn,’ a small
harbour and salmon river on the south shore, 7 miles from the entrance
of the fiord. The least depth of water in the channel of the fiord is
14 fathoms, with deeper water both outside and in, the general depth
being 18 to 20 fathoms, soft mud. The cable could be taken into Maria
Havn through soft mud, on a sandy beach in a land-locked position.
Hvalfiord is protected from a heavy sea breaking into it by the shoals
of ‘Vestrhran’ and ‘Sydrahraun’ in Faxe Bay, and on which there is
less water than in the shoalest part of the channel of the fiord. The
bays in the fiord are sometimes covered with thin ice, but the fiord
itself never freezes, and with reference to drift-ice on this part
of the coast, I cannot do better than quote the words of Sir Leopold
M‘Clintock. ‘Faxe Bay never freezes over, and I can find no record of
drift-ice within, since 1683. Merchant vessels come and go throughout
the winter.’”