for toads accustomed to feed upon the vapors of a
dungeon. The wharves--loose masses of rock at the boat-landing--are
singularly luxuriant in the article of fish. Prodigious piles of
fish lie about in every direction. The shambling old store-houses are
crammed with fish, and the heads of fish and the back-bones of fish
lie bleaching on the rocks. The gravelly patches of beach are slimy
with the entrails of fresh fish, and the air is foul with the odor of
decayed fish. The boatmen that lounge about waiting for a job are
saturated with fish inside and out--like their boats. The cats, crows,
and ravens mingle in social harmony over the dreadful carnival of
fish. In fine, the impression produced upon the stranger who lands for
the first time is that he has accidentally turned up in some
piscatorial hell, where the tortures of skinning, drying, and
disemboweling are performed by the unrelenting hands of man.

[Illustration: FAROESE ISLANDERS.]

In addition to the standing population of Thorshavn, the
fortifications--an abandoned mud-bank, a flag-staff, and a board
shanty--are subject, in times of great public peril, to be defended by
a standing army and navy of twenty-four soldiers, one small boat, one
corporal, and the governor of the islands, who takes the field himself
at the head of this bloody phalanx of Danes still reeking with the
gore of slaughtered fish. Upon the occasion of the arrival of the
_Arcturus_--the only steamer that ever touches here--the principal
amtman, upon perceiving the vessel in the distance, immediately
proceeds to organize the army and navy for a grand display. First he
shaves and puts on his uniform; then calling together the troops, who
are also sailors, he carefully inspects them, and selecting from the
number the darkest, dirtiest, and most bloody-looking, he causes them
to buckle on their swords. This done, he delivers a brief address,
recommending them to abstain from the use of schnapps and other
intoxicating beverages till the departure of the steamer. The dignity
of official position requires that he should remain on shore for the
space of one hour after the dropping of the anchor. He then musters
his forces, marches them down to his war-skiff, from the stern of
which waves the Danish flag, and, placing an oar in the hands of each
man, he gives the order to advance and board the steamer. On his
arrival alongside he touches his cap to the passengers in a grave and
dignified manner, an