THE LAND. 271 



and the same hnge single mast with its one unwieldy 

 square sail. 



Presently a boat shot alongside and a sedate seaman 

 stepped on board a blue-eyed, fair-haired, sallow man 

 with knee-breeches and long stockings, rough jacket, no 

 vest, a red night-cap, and a glazed hat on the top of it. 

 This was the pilot. He was a big, placid-looking man of 

 about forty, with a slouching gait and a pair of immensely 

 broad shoulders. We found that he had been away north 

 for several weeks, piloting a vessel of some sort beyond 

 the Arctic circle. He was now close to his home, but our 

 signal had diverted him from his domestic leanings, and, 

 like a thorough sea-monster, he prepared, at a moment's 

 notice, for another voyage. 



The obvious advantage that a yachter has over the 

 voyager by steamboat is, that he can cast anchor when 

 and where he pleases, and diverge from his course at will. 

 Thus he discovers unsuspected points of interest and 

 visits numberless spots of exquisite beauty, which, I 

 verily believe, lie thickly hidden among these isles, as 

 completely unknown to man (with the exception of a few 

 obscure native fishermen in the neighbourhood) as are 

 the vast solitudes of Central Africa. The yachter may 

 sail for days, ay, for weeks, among these western islands, 

 imbued with the romantic feelings of a Mungo Park, a 

 Livingstone, or a Robinson Crusoe ! 



This is by no means a wild statement. When we con- 

 sider the immense extent of the Norwegian coast, the 

 umumerable friths of all sizes by which it is cut up, and 



