sands 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