HIALTLANDIA. 
75 
One old fellow wearing a crafty look, who appeared 
very destitute indeed, declared that he had lost two 
whole days in anxiously looking out for our arrival, 
that he hoped we would employ him as pilot; and, 
after three hours’ persistently appealing for the berth, 
he obtained his object; but, the moment he gained 
this advantage, he made the fullest use of it by charg¬ 
ing an exorbitant price for his services. 
Then we got away ; and, instead of going outside, 
we went through the northern passage. Any one 
desirous of comprehending the strange scenery of this 
coast will find curious information in the pages of the 
poet Drayton, in his “ Poly-olbion/’ who thus invoked 
the local genius of the Shetland Archipelago, whom 
Scandinavian writers, prisco sermone, were wont to 
name Hialtlandia :—• 
“ Go tliou before us, still thy circling shores about, 
And in this wandering maze help to conduct us out,— 
Wise Genius ! by thy help, that so we may descry 
How thy fair mountains stand, and how thy valleys lie.” 
We need hardly, then, dilate upon the run our 
schooner made through this intricate passage. Fitful 
Head was rendered strangely v\ r eird-looking in the 
distance by a wreath of white mist wrapped around 
it like a solid-looking covering. The continual change 
of scenery, as we bore up against the strong current 
