2>«>S.V. 118., Aprils. '68.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



283 



scanty in the extreme. In the winter, however, 

 the great cod fisheries take place, and from two to 

 three thousand boats, with about twenty thousand 

 men, are constantly employed during the months 

 of January, February, and March. If our tourists 

 were able to converse with the natives, they 

 would soon hear enough of the dangers of the 

 dreaded Moskoe-strom, though the cross-current 

 at the mouth of the Sallenfiord is still more feared 

 by the Norwegian boatmen. 



The dangerous current and supposed whirlpool 

 of the maelstrom lies at the south end of the Lof- 

 foden isles, between the islets of Moskenes and 

 Vaeroe. Its real perils are produced by the 

 tremendous current that rushes in and out of the 

 Great Westfiord that lies between the Loffodens 

 and the western coast of Norway. Dangerous 

 currents are thus occasioned between most of the 

 LofFoden isles, such as the Galstrom, the Nap- 

 strom, and the Gimstrom ; but the chief current is 

 directed between Moskenes and Vaeroe, consti- 

 tuting the famous Malstrom. When the wind 

 blows from certain quarters, and particularly from 

 the north-west, and meets the returning tide in 

 the Strait, the whole sea between Moskenes and 

 Vaeroe is thrown into such agitation that no boat 

 could live in it for a moment. In calm weather 

 it is only three-quarters of an hour before the 

 flood tide that the boatmen venture to cross ; for, 

 with the stillest and most glassy water outside, the 

 Malstrom is dangerously agitated, except at the 

 period above mentioned. The " set" of the tide 

 through the Strait is at first towards the south- 

 east ; it then, after the flood, turns from the south 

 towards the south-west, and, finally, towards the 

 north-west; so in twelve hours the circle of the 

 current is completed. This is rather a slow pro- 

 ceeding on the part of a whirlpool, but the agita- 

 tion of the current arises from an immense body 

 of water being forced by the flowing tide into the 

 narrow passage between the isles. In addition to 

 this the depth decreases most suddenly as the 

 stream enters the Straits. Outside, on the west 

 of the Loffodens, the soundings show a depth of 

 one hundred to two hundred fathoms, while in 

 the Straits, and in the Westfiord, it suddenly 

 shoals to sixteen to thirty fathoms, and the whole 

 weight of water from the North Sea is suddenly 

 compressed between the cliffs of Moskenes and 

 Vaeroe. As to the stories of ships being swal- 

 lowed up in the vortex, they are simply fables ; 

 but any ship that became involved in the current 

 would probably be driven on the sunken rocks 

 and reefs in the Strait, if it did not founder from 

 the fury of the waves. The Malstrom is quite out 

 of the track of the Nordland " Jaegts" with their 

 odoriferous cargo of dried fish, and no other ves- 

 sels are called upon to take this course. Nor are 

 whales ever sucked down by the greedy whirlpool, 

 though the following circumstances may account 

 for this part of the legend. 



On the Island of Flagstadt, which lies a little 

 to the north of Moskenes, there is a narrow inlet 

 called Qualviig between the rocks opposite to the 

 farm-house of Sund. This inlet or passage is at 

 first extremely deep, and then suddenly shoals to 

 about sixteen feet. In this narrow cleft a very 

 considerable number of whales have within the 

 memory of man run themselves ashore. We know 

 not what attraction draws these generally wary 

 animals to this narrow creek, but once in the 

 canal it is impossible for the whale to retreat, as 

 he requires a large space to turn his body, and 

 grounding with the falling tide the huge monster 

 is left there to struggle with his fate. Large 

 whales are known to have lived eight days in this 

 natural trap, and the people say their bellowings 

 and struggles were fearful to behold. About the 

 beginning of the. present century an enormous 

 male " fish " was fast embayed here, and ere the 

 sun was set he was followed by his mate, who 

 shared his imprisonment and death. This hap- 

 pened at the time that Mr. Sverdrup occupied the 

 farm of Sund, and from the goodluck that befel 

 him, from twenty whales and more being stranded 

 here during his occupancy, he obtained the sur- 

 name of the " King of the Loffodens." 



Edward Charlton, M.D. 

 7. Eldon Square, Newcastle-on-Tyne. 



PLAYS AT PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



(2"^ S. v. 198.) 



The Rev. H. B. Wilson, in his History of M&T' 

 chant Tailors' School, states that, in 1762, Garrick 

 was present at the representation, by the pupils, 

 of the Eunuchiis. On this occasion, Nathaniel 

 Moore played Thraso, with such ability that Gar- 

 rick made him an offer of an engagement, which 

 seems to have been attractive to Moore, but which 

 was declined by his family. On a subsequent day, 

 Townley (the son of the head-master), who played 

 Pamphila in the above-named piece (a lady who 

 has nothing to say), introduced a great novelty 

 into these performances by singing the ode of 

 Anacreon, commencing with 



" XaAejrb;' to |U.r} i^iX^(rai, 

 XaAeJToi' 6e <cal <|>iA^<7ai," — 



to the air of " Vol amante ! " Moore's translation 

 of this ode — 



" Yes — loving is a painful thrill, 

 And not to love'more painful still," — 



would be as easy to sing to the once popular 

 Italian air of " Voi amante" as the original Greek 

 of the bard of Teos. Wilson farther states that 

 Silvester, at one of these school plays, 6nacted in 

 the epilogue a lawyer from Scotland. This re- 

 presentation was very successful, and Wilson 

 adds, that the actor " little thought that in after- 



