THE JOLLY BLOODS.
I was quietly sitting in my state-room, awaiting the departure of the
steamer, when a tremendous racket on the cabin steps, followed by a
rush of feet up and down the saloon, startled me out of a pleasant
home-dream.
"Hello! What the devil! I say! Where's every body! Stoord! Blast the
fellow! Here, Bowser! What'r ye abeaout! Ho there! Where the dooce are
our berths? By Jove! Ha! ha! This is jolly!"
Other voices joined in, with a general chorus of complaints and
exclamations--"Egad! it's a _do_! No berths, no state-rooms! Ho,
Stoord! Where's my trunk? I say, Stoord, where's my fishing-rod? Hey!
hey! did you 'appen to see my overalls? I've lost my gun! 'Pon my
word, this is a pretty do! Let's go see the Agent?" "Come on!
Certainly!" "Oh, hang it, no!" "Oh yes!" "Here, Bowser! What the
devil! Where's Bowser? Gone ashore, by Jove! A pretty kettle of fish!"
Here there was a sudden and general stampede, and amid loud
exclamations of "Beastly!" and "Disgusting!" the party left the
cabin. I barely had time to see that it consisted of some four or five
fashionable tourists--spirited young bloods of sporting proclivities,
who had taken passage for Iceland. The prospect of having some company
was pleasant enough, and from the specimen I had seen there could be
no doubt it would be lively and entertaining.
Once more during the night I was aroused by a repetition of the noises
and exclamations already described. The steamer was moving off. The
passengers were all on board. We were battering our way through the
canal. Soon the heaving waters of the ocean began to subdue the
enthusiasm of the sportsmen, and before morning my ears were saluted
by sounds and observations of a very different character.
I shall only add at present, in reference to this lively party of
young "Britishers," that I found them very good fellows in their
way--a little boisterous and inexperienced, but well-educated and
intelligent. The young chap with the dog was what we would call in
America a "regular bird." He and his dog afforded us infinite
diversion during the whole passage--racing up and down the decks, into
and out of the cabin, and all over each other. There was something so
fresh and sprightly about the fellow, something so good-natured, that
I could readily excuse his roughness of manner. One of the others, a
quiet, scholastic-looking person, who did not really belong to the
party, having only met them on board, was a young collegian well
versed in Icelandic literature. He was going to Iceland to perfect
himself in the language of the country, and make some translations of
the learned Sagas.
A favorable wind enabled us to sight the Orkneys on the afternoon
following our departure from the Frith of Forth. Next day we passed
the Shetlands, of which we had a good view. The rocky shores of these
islands, all rugged and surf-beaten, with myriads of wild-fowl
darkening the air around them, presented a most tempting field of
exploration. I longed to take a ramble in the footsteps of Dr.
Johnson; but to see the Shetlands would be to lose Iceland, and of the
two I preferred seeing the latter. After a pleasant passage of two
days and a half from Grangemouth we made the Faroe Islands, and had
the good fortune to secure, without the usual loss of time occasioned
by fogs, an anchorage in the harbor of Thorshavn.
[Illustration: A DANDY TOURIST.]
[Illustration: THORSHAVN.]