braid me, till half-past two, with such epithets as, "an old
woman," "a shocking cockney," "a fellow only fit to wear white kid
gloves," "a Regent Street swell," "a land lubber," "a milk sop," and a
multitude of other curious idioms, that rather made me merry than
clashed with my pride.

About ten o'clock, I received a note from the Consul, intimating that a
party of ladies desired to see the yacht, and requested he might bring
them on board. I replied that I could, in the absence of R----,
undertake to say how cordially he would have granted his permission, and
flatteringly he would have felt the compliment, had he been present, and
I begged that the Consul would act as if the vessel were his own. Three
hours afterwards, I saw several boats, filled with ladies, shoot out
from a little bay, on the starboard bow of the yacht, and gliding as
swiftly through the smooth water as the two rowers to each boat could
force them, soon clustered round the gangway. Thirteen young ladies, the
Consul being the only gentleman among them, jumped lightly on board; and
as they followed, interminably, one after the other, I never felt the
responsibility of any position so impressively, as I did the present
one. The young ladies, however, were all Norwegian, except one; so that
I had not much trouble in talking to them, their native tongue, or the
German, being the only two languages they could understand, and of both
of which I was almost ignorant.

Although I could not enter into conversation with them, I felt it was my
bounden duty to contribute by some device, or the other, to the
entertainment of these young ladies. Knowing the partiality of my own
countrywomen to music, I hazarded the idea, that the Norwegian ladies
were filled with an equal admiration for waltzes and polkas; and being
fortunately possessed of two very large musical boxes, I wound them up.
When these boxes began to play, my fair visitors were much delighted
with their ingenious mechanism, and for some short time listened to them
with wonder and delight; but at last, in harmonious movement to their
sweet notes, these children put their little arms round each other's
waists and began to dance. The elder girls, catching the mood, clasped
their companions by the hand, and begged them to join the merry group.
In ten minutes not one girl was sitting still; and she who could not get
a partner, placed her arms a-kimbo, and whirled up and down the deck
alone.

A Norwegian