220 Crossing the Line 



1793, continued 



the branches except a tuft at the top, thus rendering it very conspicuous. The 

 name of the passenger was then carved on the trunk, and ever after the spot 

 was called after him. As the crew paddled off, the lob stick was saluted with 

 three cheers and the discharge of guns, the honored passenger, of course, 

 being expected to acknowledge the compliment by a treat at the first oppor- 

 tunity. ( p. 66-67. ) 



. . . not a Httle of the description of the voyageur in this book has been 

 derived from McDonnell's unpublished diary. ( p. 163. ) 



(Grace Lee Nute. The voyageur. New York, 1931. ) 



The quotations from The Voyageur are printed here witli the permission of Miss Nute. 



D — CROSSING IN SCANDINAVIAN WATERS 



The principal entrance to the Baltic is the Sound (0resund). It is rather 

 narrow. At Elsinore (Helsing0r), where it is only 4 kilometres broad, the 

 Danish kings built the strong castle Kronborg ( originally called Krogen ) and 

 demanded, after about 1420, a tax or toll from every ship that passed by, the 

 Sound Dues, 0resundstold (until 1857). From the tax rolls, preserved almost 

 complete since before 1500, we can realize what a vast number of ships every 

 year passed along this international sea-street. Until the peace of 1660 both 

 sides of the Sound belonged to the Danish crov^oi; since then Sweden has 

 possessed the eastern side, the province of Skâne. 



The Danish coasts are rather low, but at the north-eastern entrance to the 

 Soimd a promontory arises directly from the sea, the Cape Kullen ( kulle = 

 mountain ) . This mountain can be seen at a great distance over the sea and 

 must have made a certain impression on the sailors who came from the North 

 Sea and the Kattegat going to the Baltic. It caught the eye and got the signi- 

 ficance of a distinct signpost or frontier-mark of stone between the Kattegat 

 and the Baltic. We must admit that this place was well fitted for the ceremony 

 of sea-baptism. The young sailors or those who had never passed this impor- 

 tant place before had to be initiated, in order never to forget this remarkable 

 point of the voyage and to be introduced into the guild of the old sailors that 

 had passed here before. The sailors and passengers were baptized or, if they 

 did not want this, had to pay a certain amount, for which was bought ale, 

 brandy or wine, in order that the old hands could admit the young ones into 

 their company — generally speaking, for it was of coinrse no real company 

 with written laws and membership, only a fictitious 'company-of-those-who- 

 had-passed-KuUen'. The ceremony was in Danish called h0nse for Kullen. 

 The word h0nse (Swedish hönsa) means: give a certain amount for drinks 

 and food to the comrades, so that the giver can be admitted to their company. 

 When people have drunk and eaten together, they will be friends and 

 colleagues, and the new ones will be recognized as members with the same 

 rights as the old ones. In the German League of the Hanse the same custom 

 must have taken place (German: hänseln, hensen). Travellers on land also 



