1807. ] 
distress, at which the pilot and the boat- 
men could not restrain their tears. Af- 
ter several questions concerning the cause 
of their erief, we were infurmed that the 
last time these men had visited the place, 
the good woman was in pertect health, 
but on the day of their departure, she 
had a stroke of apoplexy, which deprived 
her of speech, in which state she had. 
ever since remained. ‘Tiiis scene, which 
to some readers may perhaps appear ri- 
diculous, was, at the moment, highly in- 
teresting. ‘The tears of thesc brave Nor- 
wegians, who with a smile would have 
confronted dangers the most appalling, 
prove that true courage consists not in 
obduracy, and that human nature in all 
its primitive vigour is susceptible of the 
‘ tenderest sensations. 
When these einotions of grief had 
somewhat subsided, the old woman made 
a sign to sit, or rather to lie, down on the 
rem-deers’ skins, which had been spread 
for us on straw; and her daughter-in-law 
presented as with milk as gracefully as 
though she had been a shepherdess of 
Arcadia. We would fain have remained 
Jonger in this interesting asylum, but one 
of the boatmen came to inform us that 
the wind was favourable, a circumstance 
of which it was necessary to avail our- 
selves, 
We continued our voyage between 
a F 
which were almost covered with snow. 
Towards evening, the wind increased to 
such a degree that the pilot advised us to 
Jand on the first accessible shore, lest 
we should happen to be in the strait of - 
Qvalesund, at the return of the tide, 
where our loss would be inevitable, should 
a tempest overtake us. 
We complied with his advice, but not 
without regret, as it was essential that we 
should’ make the best use of our time. 
Having soon found a bay, encircled with 
a plain, on which were sdme fishermen’s 
huts, we landed, and pitched our tent on 
the beach, that we might be ready to 
embark the first favourable moment; but 
the wind encreasing in violence, and be- 
coming more and more contrary, we were 
obliged to pass the whole night and the 
following day in this place. This inter- 
val I spent partly in finishing some of the 
drawings Thad previously made, partly 
in walking on the beach, killing snipes, or 
seeking shells. My fetlow-traveller was; 
meanwhile, engaged in collecting plants 
and insects. With respect to the latter 
elass,in particular, Lain uader the necessity 
Aecount of a recent Voyage to the North Cape.: 
heaven-kissing” mountains, some of 
548 
of acknowledging my ignorance. The chief 
cause of it is, perhaps, to be ascribed to. 
the following circumstance:—Having be- 
gun tomake acollection of insects in that 
happy period of life when all impressions 
are strong and profound, [ caughta very 
large butterfly, which I considered as a 
treasure. After an absence of a week, 
the first thing I did was to visit my cal- 
lection, and, on opening the drawer which 
contained this butterfly, [ found it still 
alive, writhing its body and clapping its 
wings. ‘The effect of this sight will ne- 
ver be eifaced from my recollection, 
though it had been no wonder, if many 
succeeding ones had made me forget it; 
atter endeavouring to put an end to the 
torments of the insect by the most speedy 
death, I passed several nights in remurse, 
‘and sice that moment have always felt 
excessiverepugnance to torture any living 
creature. Were the case to be argued, 
has man any right to inflict, at pleasure, 
the most cruel torments on beings the des 
gree of whose sensibility it is impossible 
to calculate with certainty; and is not 
the remorse of childhood the voice of 
nature, to which, from the unfortunate 
habit of stifling it, we become totally ins 
sensible in a more mature age? 
The violence of the wind having 
somewhat abated, our boatmen resoly~ 
ed, at all hazards, to proceed. The 
passage of Qvalesund, or Hvalesund, the 
Strait of Whales, was actually attended 
with considerable danger, and that of 
Qvalefiord with sull greater. Here we 
were overtaken by the return of the tide, 
which we bad been solicitous toavoid: the 
waves trom the open sea came crowding 
one upon the other to the entrance of 
the strait, and met the current, pro- 
ducing a violent, and confused motion, 
The oars touched the water only on one 
side at once: we made no way, nor durst 
we make use of our sail; while the sea 
was so rough as to threaten to dash our 
httle bark to pieces, her timbers alread 
beginning to crack. The pilot, at length, 
declared, that he could no longer with- 
stand its turbulence, and that, at all hae 
zards, the sail must be set up, which was 
instantly done by one of our brave row~ 
ers. ‘The mast, bending with the vio- 
lence of the wind, now almost touched 
the water, which Legan to enter on that. 
side; but the vessel gliding along with 
incredible velocity, we were soon out of 
danger, and under the shelter of a moun- 
tain. Had it not been for this beld man-. 
ceuvie we should prebably have seen- 
the 
