FAROE ISLANDS. 
369 
ing us, the prospect was a little extended, when, 
suddenly, a tremendous precipice towering almost 
over our mast-head, appeared within a quarter of 
a mile to leeward of us. The sea broke with pro¬ 
digious force against its base, and in some places 
threw up columns or jets of water to the height 
of more than a hundred feet. The partial obscu¬ 
ration of the summit of the cliff, which could just 
be discovered peeping through the clouds,—the 
forbidding blackness of the rocks,—the magnitude 
and elevation of the precipice, which is stated to 
be 2400 feet perpendicular,—the foaming of the 
waters,—the raging of the storm,—the universal 
gloom and obscurity around us,—and the threat¬ 
ening of danger, though rather apparent than real, 
formed altogether one of the most truly sublime 
scenes I ever witnessed. 
These islands are visited by an extraordinary 
share of thick and stormy weather. I have seen 
them repeatedly; but it was almost always under 
similar circumstances. On passing under their 
lee in the spring of 1821 , the whole range of 
islands was continually capped with a dense mass 
of gloomy clouds. These clouds extended to lee¬ 
ward, or to the westward, as far as the eye could 
reach, and frequently emitted showers of rain and 
heavy squalls; while both to the northward and 
southward of the land, the sky was comparatively 
