14 LETTERS FROM HIGH LATITUDES. [V, 



clown. By midnight it blew a gale, which continued without 

 intermission until the day we sighted Iceland ; sometimes 

 increasing to a hurricane, but broken now and then by sudden 

 lulls, which used to leave us for a couple of hours at a time 

 tumbling about on the top of the great Atlantic rollers — or 

 Spanish waves, as they are called — until I thought the ship 

 would roll the masts out of her. Why they should be called 

 Spanish waves, no one seems to know ; but I had always 

 heard the seas were heavier here than in any other part of 

 the world, and certainly they did not belie their character. 

 The little ship behaved beautifully, and many a vessel twice 

 her size would have been less comfortable. Indeed, few 

 people can have any notion of the cosiness of a yacht's 

 cabin under such circumstances. After having remained 

 for several hours on deck, in the presence of the tempest, — 

 peering through the darkness at those black liquid walls of 

 water, mounting above you in ceaseless agitation, or tum- 

 bling over in cataracts of gleaming foam, — the wind roaring 

 through the rigging, — timbers creaking as if the ship would 

 break its heart, — the spray and rain beating in your face, — 

 everything around in tumult, — suddenly to descend into the 

 quiet of a snug, well-lighted little cabin, with the firelight 

 dancing on the white rosebud chintz, the well-furnished 

 book-shelves, and all the innumerable nick-nacks that deco- 

 rate its walls, — little Edith's portrait looking so serene, — 

 everything about you as bright and fresh as a lady's boudoir 

 in May Fair, — the certainty of being a good three hundred 

 miles from any troublesome shore, — all combine to inspire 

 a feeling of comfort and security difficult to describe. 



These pleasures, indeed, for the first days of our voyage, 

 the Icelander had pretty much to himself. I was laid up 

 with a severe bout of illness I had long felt coming on, and 

 Fitz was sea-sick. I must say, however, I never saw any 

 one behave with more pluck and resolution ; and when we 

 return, the first thing you do must be to thank him for 

 his kindness to me on that occasion. Though himself 

 almost prostrate, he looked after me as indefatigably as if 



