"Patiens pulveris atque solis,"
each of them had endured all inconveniences without any remuneration, I could not help thinking of those truthful lines of Anacreon, which he applied, to be sure, to softer emotions of the heart than those now depressing the hilarity of my companions, but the spirit of which was, nevertheless, identified with the tone of their minds:——
"Χαλεπὸν τὸ μὴ φιλῆσαι,
Χαλεπὸν δὲ καὶ φιλῆσαι,
Χαλεπώτατον δὲ πάντων,
Ἀποτυγχάνειν φιλοῦντα."
The period when I left school is gone so far with the past, that I can no longer bring back its lore, and, taking up my lexicon, translate; but, if some old Etonian will receive the signification of these four lines as I do, and allow their collective meaning to huddle in one confused lump round the base of some shattered classic column, and there remain, I shall feel thankful for the task I am spared in cracking each word into English.
The coast of Falkenborg is the most uninteresting I have yet seen; and, wherever I turn, the same low shore, with its solitary lighthouse, and thousands of gulls, meets the eye.
On Thursday morning we left melancholy Falkenborg for Gottenborg; but, having understood that at Kongsbacka some salmon-fishing might be obtained, we made up our minds to stop there for a few hours, and ascertain the truth of our information; for once deceived at Falkenborg, R—— and P—— had no fancy for being deceived at Kongsbacka also. A fine breeze favouring us, every stitch of canvass the Iris could carry was crowded on her, and at three o'clock the same afternoon we found ourselves off Kongsbacka, and threatened with a calm. A solitary boat put off from a solitary shore, and, rowing alongside, a man tendered his services as a pilot; but replying to our inquiries for "lax[2]," that there were not any, we thanked him for his ingenuousness, and declined his assistance.
The appearance of the sky, and the quarter whence the wind came, promising a clear night and a good run, the helm was put hard up, and we stretched away from the land to get a wide offing before sunset, and to stand in a fairer course to Gottenborg. At six o'clock, however, the wind died away, and before the sun bade us "good night," not a ripple, far as the eye could roam, curled the ocean, on which, like a pool of quicksilver, the vessel appeared to stick. So smooth, so bright, so still, was the sea, that, when the sun's lower limb dipped in the west, his dilated disc, drawn out longitudinally, seemed like a blazing column, inlaid in the water, and extending from the horizon to the yacht's channels.
Either a gentle current of air or tide, which was imperceptible to us, drifted the yacht into the bay again; but, beyond the inconvenience of being land-locked, no danger threatened us; for the coast in the neighbourhood of Kongsbacka is bold, and the water unfathomable within a few feet of the rocks. The bay itself, not enlivened by a house, or sign of human habitation anywhere, was grand, surrounded on three sides by rocky mountains, and studded here and there with islands, perfectly white from the multitude of gulls which were perched on them.
The bay was so calm that we could see a great way along the water. A black speck, like a hat, caught our attention; and, having nothing else to do, P—— and I rowed in the jolly-boat to it; and, when we reached it, were as much puzzled to make out its purpose as we were at a distance to conjecture its form. It turned out to be a small keg attached to a long line; and we imagined, at the first glance, it was the component part of a salmon-net; but salmon, we knew on the other hand, though of the sea, were not to be caught in it. P—— seized hold of the keg; and, both together, we commenced hauling in the line as fast as we could. The lapse of a little time brought us to the end of it, and some dozen lobsters began flapping their goose-like tails in our faces. We took two out of the trap for our trouble, and let down the rest to wait the coming of their rightful owner.
The stars now came forth, one by one, to gaze about them, but slunk back slyly when their Queen, still youthful with increasing horns, peeped over the eastern wave at us; and when, in her first glance of splendour, she cast a strong white light on the rocky shore encircling the bay, its calm, clear water, taking a greener tint from the wooded sides of the mountains, looked like an emerald set in silver. The scene was still, and purely beautiful. The cutter lay like a log on the water, the reef-points rattling on the main-sail like a shower of small shot; and, every time he heard the sound, the man at the helm would raise his eyes aloft, and, fixing them steadily on the gaff-topsail for a minute or two, turn round and scan the horizon; and then, walking to the quarter, moisten his forefinger in his mouth, and hold it above his head.