NOTES ON TRAVEL 235 



Ramsay dated his first letter from the S.S. Thyra off 

 Faroe, 3rd August, 1895 : 



ICELAND 



" The ship's company consists of Ker, a bright young American 

 named Hanson, who is head of a manufactory of telegraphic 

 switches and cables at Berlin. He plays a Spanish guitar and 

 sings ' quite a number ' of nigger melodies, one ' the golden 

 slippers ' well worth hearing. There is a Danish student of law, 

 a nice young fellow. There are several Icelanders, but all speak 

 Danish, and I am getting my ear attuned to that unmel odious 

 language. The American has a Danish wife and speaks the 

 lingo. He picked her up in Iceland about 10 years ago, when 

 he spent a winter there. There is a Brummagem gent of sallow 

 complexion, a man named Howell, author of a Tour in Iceland. 

 He is going off to the mountainous volcanic regions in the east 

 to explore further. There is a man of unknown origin and 

 foreign accent, of little speech ; evidently a foreigner settled 

 in Scotland. A young schoolmaster who has been ill ; and three 

 ladies whom I haven't seen since the day before yesterday. One 

 is an Icelander and wears the cap, if cap it can be called. She 

 is like this [sketch supplied here]. She has been a very beautiful 

 woman, but is no longer quite young. She has come to meet 

 her sister from Winnipeg. The third lady is a Norwegian gover- 

 ness, going to take charge of two little Norwegian girls in the 

 N. of Iceland. I had some talk with her, but she has disappeared 

 for a day as have most of the others. We have had the fiddles 

 on the tables since yesterday morning. The captain is a pleasant 

 young fellow, but at present is not approachable on account of 

 the fog. . . . 



9 p.m. We are now lying off Thorshavn, a much larger place, 1 

 as it appears in the twilight, for it is near 10 and still quite light 

 to see by. The Gudstjienst (guess that) is at 11 to-morrow and 



1 Than Trangisvaag, where they landed. See Prof. Ker's narrative. 



