off the exact sweep from shoulder to shoulder, at which -after those many oscillations, up and down, which the female corsage has undergone since the time of the first Director-good taste has finally arrested it.

I happened to be particularly interested in the above important question; for up to that moment I had always been haunted by a horrid paragraph I had met with somewhere in an Icelandic book of travels, to the effect that it was the practice of Icelandic women, from early childhood, to flatten down their bosoms as much as possible. This fact, for the honour of the island, I am now in a position to deny; and I here declare that, as far as I had the indiscretion to observe, those maligned ladies appeared to me as buxom in form as any rosy English girl I have ever seen.

It was nearly nine o'clock before we adjourned from the "Reine Hortense" to the ball. Already, for some time past, boats full of gay dresses had been passing under the corvette's stern on their way to the "Artemise,' looking like flower-beds that had put to sea,-though they certainly could no longer be called a parterre ;and by the time we ourselves mounted her lofty sides, a mingled stream of music, light, and silver laughter, was pouring out of every port-hole. The ball-room was very prettily arranged. The upper-deck had been closed in with a lofty roof of canvas, from which hung suspended glittering lustres, formed by bayonets with their points collected into an inverted pyramid, and the butt-ends serving as sockets for the tapers. Every wall was gay with flags,-the frigate's frowning armament all hid or turned to ladies' uses: 82-pounders became sofas-boarding-pikes, balustrades-pistols, candlesticks the brass carronades set on end, pillarwise, their brawling mouths stopped with nosegays; while portraits of the Emperor and the Empress, busts,

A BALL ON BOARD.

125

colours draped with Parisian cunning, gave to the scene an appearance of festivity that looked quite fairy-like in so sombre a region. As for our gallant host, I never saw such spirits; he is a fine old greyheaded blow-hard of fifty odd, talking English like a native, and combining the frank open-hearted cordiality of a sailor with that graceful winning gaiety peculiar to Frenchmen. I never saw anything more perfect than the kind-almost fatherly courtesy with which he welcomed each blooming bevy of maidens that trooped up his ship's side. About two o'clock we had supper on the main-deck. I had the honour of taking down Miss Thora, of Bessestad; and somehow-this time, I no longer found myself wandering back in search of the pale face of the old world Thora, being, I suppose, sufficiently occupied by the soft, gentle eyes of the one beside me. With the other young ladies I did not make much acquaintance, as I experienced a difficulty in finding befitting remarks on the occasion of being presented to them. Once or twice, indeed, I hazarded, through their fathers, some little complimentary observations in Latin; but I cannot say that I found that language lend itself readily to the gallantries of the ball-room. After supper dancing recommenced, and the hilarity of the evening reached its highest pitch when half a dozen sailors, dressed in turbans made of flags (one of them a lady with the face of the tragic muse), came forward and danced the cancan, with a gravity and decorum that would have greatly edified what Gavarni calls "la pudeur municipale."

At 3 o'clock A.M. I returned on board the schooner, and we are all now very busy in making final preparations for departure. Fitz is rearranging his apothecary's shop. Sigurdr is writing letters. The last

strains of music have ceased on board the " Artemise; the sun is already high in the heavens; the flowerbeds are returning on shore,-a little draggled perhaps, as if just pelted by a thunder-storm; the "Reine Hortense" has got her steam up, and the real, serious part of our voyage is about to begin.

I feel that my description has not half done justice to the wonders of this interesting Island; but I can refer you to your friend Sir Henry Holland for further details; he paid a visit to Iceland in 1810, with Sir G. Mackenzie, and made himself thoroughly acquainted with its historical and scientific associations.

CONCLUDING ACT.

SCENE. R. Y. S. Foam: astern of the Reine Hortense.

DRAMATIS PERSONE.

VOICE OF FRENCH CAPTAIN, COMMANDING R. H.

LORD D.

DOCTOR.

WILSON.

Voice of French Captain.-"Nous partons."

Lord D

"All ready, Sir!"

Wilson to Doctor (sotto voce).—“Sir!"
Doctor.-"Eh ?"

Wilson." Do you know, Sir?"

Doctor.-"What?"

Wilson.-"Oh, nothing, Sir;-only we're going to the hicy regions, Sir, ain't we? Well, I've just seen that ere brig as is come from there, Sir, and they say there's a precious lot of ice this year! (Pause.) Do you know, Sir, the skipper showed me the bows of his vessel, Sir. She's got seven feet of solid timber

FEARFUL SUGGESTIONS.

127

in her for ard: we've only two inches, Sir!" (Dives below.)

Voice of French Captain (with a slight accent).-" Are you ready?"

"Ay, ay, Sir! Up anchor!"

LETTER VIII.

START FROM

REYKJAVIK-SNAEFELL-THE LADY

BERSERK TRAGEDY-THE CHAMPION OF BREIDAVIK-ONUNDER FIORD THE LAST NIGHT-CROSSING THE ARCTIC CIRCLE-FÊTE ON BOARD THE "REINE HORTENSE -LE PÈRE ARCTIQUE-WE FALL IN WITH THE ICE-"THE SAXON DISAPPEARS-MIST-A PARTING IN A LONELY SPOT-JAN MAYEN-MOUNT BEERENBERG -AN UNPLEASANT POSITION-SHIFT OF WIND AND EXTRICATION"TO NORROWAY OVER THE FAEM"-A NASTY COAST-HAMMERFEST.

Hammerfest, July.

BACK in Europe again,-within reach of posts! The glad sun shining, the soft wind blowing, and roses on the cabin table,-as if the region of fog and ice we have just. fled forth from were indeed the dream-land these summer sights would make it seem. I cannot tell you how gay and joyous it all appears to us, fresh from a climate that would not have been unworthy of Dante's Inferno. And yet-had it been twice as bad, what we have seen would have more than repaid us, though it has been no child's play to get to see it.

But I must begin where I left off in my last letter,-just, I think, as we were getting under way, to be towed by the "Reine Hortense" out of Reykjavik Harbour. Having been up all night,—as soon as we were well clear of the land, and that it was evident the towing business was doing well,