With a glad heart I bade
adieu to the city, in the joyful hope soon to see the fulfilment of my
long-expected journey.

The bright sky smiled above us, and a most favourable wind filled our
sails. I sat on deck and revelled in the contemplation of scenes so new
to me. Behind us lay spread the majestic town; before us the Sound, an
immense natural basin, which I could almost compare to a great Swiss
lake; on the right and left were the coasts of Sweden and Denmark, which
here approach each other so closely that they seem to oppose a barrier to
the further progress of the adventurous voyager.

Soon we passed the little Swedish town of Carlscrona, and the desolate
island Hveen, on which Tycho de Brahe passed the greater portion of his
life, occupied with stellar observations and calculations. Now came a
somewhat dangerous part, and one which called into action all the careful
seamanship of the captain to bring us safely through the confined sea and
the strong current,--the entrance of the Sound into the Cattegat.

The two coasts here approach to within a mile of each other. On the
Swedish side lies the pretty little town of Helsingborg, on the Danish
side that of Helsingor, and at the extremity of a projecting neck of land
the fortress Kronburg, which demands a toll of every passing ship, and
shews a large row of threatening cannon in case of non-compliance. Our
toll had already been paid before leaving Copenhagen; we had been
accurately signalled, and sailed fearlessly by. {18}

The entrance once passed, we entered the Cattegat, which already looked
more like the great ocean: the coasts retired on each side, and most of
the shifts and barques, which till now had hovered around us on all
sides, bade us "farewell." Some bent their course towards the east,
others towards the west; and we alone, on the broad desert ocean, set
sail for the icy north. Twilight did not set in until 9 o'clock at
night; and on the coasts the flaming beacons flashed up, to warn the
benighted mariner of the proximity of dangerous rocks.

I now offered up my thanksgiving to Heaven for the protection hitherto
vouchsafed me, with a humble prayer for its continuance. Then I
descended to the cabin, where I found a convenient bunk (a kind of crib
fixed to the side of the ship); I laid myself down, and was soon in a
deep and refreshing sleep.

I awoke full of health and spirits, which, however, I enjoyed but for a
short time. During the nigh