144 ^ Cruise on the S.Y. " Vcciis." 



nrrixal to the consumer in a i^erfectK' fresli condition, and does 

 away with the necessity of ice: l)iit I iniaL;'ine tliat the Herring' 

 (inlls that were perched ui)on tlie near-by houses occasionally 

 .yet a free meal. After havinj^ thorouLihly ex])lored the town. 

 ^^•hich, by tlie way, contains some very line jewellers" and 

 furriers' shops, we took a drive into the country and ins]:)ected 

 an old wooden church of a typical Xorwe.gian style of architec- 

 ture. xMy recollection of the interior is that it contained a very 

 ancient and fish-like smell. ])robably due to the pickle used in 

 preser\in,g- the wood. 1 should not like to have to sit out a lon.y 

 sermon in it. I noticed several of our Ent^lish sing'ini;" birds 

 here, including the Willow Wren and Chiff-Chaff. and of course 

 otu" Blackbird, Thrush, and Kobin were also in e\idence. The 

 most conspicuous bird was the 1 looded Crow, which we fountl 

 very common throughout southern Norway. On retiu'ning 

 on l)oard to tea. we were surprised to see that the Kaiser's 

 yacht, the H ohoizullcni, had come in and anchored close to the 

 ]' ceils. After tea we hired a l)oat and rowed around it. It 

 looked nearly as large as the X'ectis. A large cruiser and several 

 torpedo boats were in attendance. The next morning the writer 

 his pal and another friend, through slackness in getting- 

 ready, were left behind, when the launch took the rest of the 

 passengers on shore. Whilst we were kicking' our heels on 

 deck, we noticed a commotion on the Hoheiicolleni and shortly 

 afterwards a boat left the \essel for the i'ccfis. As we were 

 speculating as to who were its occupants, our German courier 

 told us that it was the Kaiser Wilhelm. This was quite enough 

 for us. as none of us had e\ev seen a real live Kaiser, so we 

 promptly stampeded for the gang; way. and arrived just in time 

 to salute him as he came on board. It may have been due to 

 the odour of sanctity in which regal persons are supposed to be 

 wrapped, or it may have been the gracious manner in which he 

 returned our salutes, but I am bound to say that the impression 

 he left upon our minds at the time was an entirely favourable 

 one. When shortly afterwards we met our fellow passengers on 

 shore, most of them were ver\- disapiiointed at having' missed 

 seeing his lm])erial Majestw The llritish nn'ddle-class ])erson 

 dearly loves a lord, and simply worships anything" in the shape 

 of a king' or kaiser. We three slackers were in great demand 



