The numerous pretty articles made of amber, which adorn the ladies' dressing-tables, and of which beads and ornaments for the girls are composed, are of local manufacture, amber being found in quantities on the west coast of Jutland.
In the islands of Funen and Seeland there are many grand old manor-houses belonging to the nobility, whose fine estates give employment to many peasants. A story is told of a certain noble, Christian Barnekow by name, who saved his King, Christian IV., by his heroic self-sacrifice. The King had lost his horse, and was on the point of being killed or made prisoner when Barnekow came to his rescue. Giving the King his own horse, he said, "I give my horse to my King, my life to the enemy, and my soul to God." A street in Copenhagen is called after this brave nobleman "Kristenbernikovstrade."
It is characteristic of the Danes to run words into each other, and streets in Denmark often have prodigiously long names.
[CHAPTER XIII]
[FISHERMEN AT HOME AND AFLOAT]
The class of people most lauded by their own and other nations is that of the brave and hardy fishermen of Denmark. These men are always willing to man the life-boat and to risk their lives to save those in peril on the dangerous coast of Jutland. Although hundreds of ships are wrecked on this dreaded "Jernkyst" (iron coast), their crews are invariably saved by these courageous men. The whole length of the west coast of Jutland is bleak and exposed to the storms and fogs of the North Sea. Not one single harbour of refuge can be found between Esbjerg and the Skaw. Dangerous sandbanks and massive cliffs guard the coast, making navigation both difficult and hazardous. All along this perilous coast life-saving apparatus of the newest and best type is stored in the life-boat houses placed at intervals close to the seashore. On stormy nights the watching sentinels summon by telephone the fishermen of the tiny hamlets near. At sound of a rocket the distressful cry, "A wreck, a wreck!" runs over the telephone, and immediately brave hearts and hands are putting off to the rescue, while trembling women anxiously wait their husbands' return with warm restoratives for the saved. These fishermen's wives are brave too, for it is anxious work waiting and watching. It is not to be wondered at that this merciless and cruel coast is dreaded by all seamen. How thankful they must feel when they see the great lighthouse at Grenen—the northernmost point of Jutland—and can signal "All's well!" "Alt vel! passeret Grenen" flash the lights across the water, and both passengers and crew breathe a little more freely if it has been a stormy passage. Something like eighty thousand vessels pass by this coast in a year, so you may be sure the gallant fishermen of Denmark who live on the iron coast have plenty of rescue work to do.
You should see this coast on a stormy day, more especially at Grenen, where those two mighty seas, the Skagerack and Cattegat, meet. When the tempest rages here, far as eye can see a long ridge of seething, tossing water denotes the meeting-place of the currents. The great "white horses" in battle array fight, plunge, and roar—each striving for the mastery which neither gains. This wrestling-match is a splendid spectacle to those who are safe on shore, also to those at sea if the day is clear, because they can then give the reef a wide berth. Tossing spray is thrown high into the air and wind-borne to the shore, so even at a distance from the waves you may have a salt shower-bath should you be able to "keep your legs" against the fury of the gale. The screaming gulls which fly around, dipping and rising, enjoying as only "storm-birds" can the roar and tumult of these tempestuous waters, enhance the fierce loneliness of the scene. This awe-inspiring "Nature-barrier" saddens you—even while you exult in the madness of its fury—when you think what it means on a foggy night to the poor mariner. What a comfort for the seafarer to know that there is such a famous race of fishermen here, willing and ready to man the life-boat and rescue them from the angry, engulfing waters! You would never guess these seas could be otherwise than kind when you enter their smiling depths for a swim on a calm, sunny day. How gentle and invigorating they can be the fishermen as well as the visitors know, and any morning you may see the former returning from their daily dip with dripping heads and towels along the shore. Somehow these fishermen are always picturesque. In the summer evening, sitting or lying on the sunlit beach, smoking their cutty-pipes and waiting for the time to launch their boats for the fishing, they make an impressive picture. Kindly blue eyes and weather-beaten faces look at you from under the sou'westers, while blue jerseys, long sea-boots with curled-over tops and oil-skins, complete the sea-going outfit. Fully equipped, they charm the eye of the most fastidious, and it is little wonder that they have become subjects for famous artists and poets.