THE MIDNIGHT SUN, AS SEEN FROM THE NORTH OF ICELAND. Extracts from the Notes of an Iceland Tourist. At one o’clock sharp we started from Leith. We left Inchkeith behind us, the Bell Rock, and by-and-by the Pentland Firth. Of the Faroe Islands we saw but little, as we passed pretty far west; and, altogether, there is but little to record of the first three days of our journey, beyond that they were spent most pleasantly. On Wednesday morning, the 27th, when we came up on deck, we were much gratified at seeing land again. We were approaching the eastern coast of Iceland, and at nine o’clock were only a mile off the land. We kept close to the shore all day long, and a picture as grand as it was unique lay before us. The coast here is very rugged. Firth upon firth cuts deep into the country, divided from each other by mountainous ridges that often attain a height of 3000 feet. There were no trees, and there was no grass, but the barrenness itself was pleasing to the eye. It was, fortunately enough, so completely different from what we are accustomed to see at home, that we all enjoyed it immensely. At about six o’clock in the evening we reached the north-east cape; called the Langaness, or long cape. It stands upon a peninsula some thirty miles in length, and is remarkably handsome. It is a perfectly level table-land, about four miles long, by half-a-mile wide, and 150 feet high. The basaltic rocks come perpendicularly down on all sides, and, as there are no blind rocks, the water lashes against them with unbroken fury, and presents a sight that in itself would be worth the whole journey. The entire day had been lovely. Hardly any wind was blowing, and the few clouds, that in the morning had given some relief to the landscape before us, had melted away with the declining sun. We were all on deck that night, to watch when the sun would set. That there would be no visible difference in the daylight, we knew from the experience of the last two days; but as we were now at the highest latitude that we would reach (66 deg. 40 sec.), some .eight miles inside the Arctic circle, there was a good deal of hope that the sun might perhaps not set at all. Deeper and deeper it sank, assuming a fiery red colour, and painting the snow-covered mountains with the most delicate touches of pink and purple. However, when it came within 2 deg. of the horizon, it seemed to stop on its down- ward course, and before we knew of anything we heard eight bells. Here was twelve o’clock at night, and the sun right in the north a considerable distance above the water, not a cloud on the sky, not a wrinkle on the water, not a sound to disturb the exquisite picture. Was it a wonder that we could not leave the deck ? As the sun slowly rose again, a quantity of light .feather-clouds gathered on the northern half of the sky, which were all fringed with crimson and gold, while the sky itself ran through all the shades, from the palest yellow in the north, to the deepest purple over the island to the south of us.

(1) Front Board
(2) Front Board
(3) Front Flyleaf
(4) Front Flyleaf
(5) Page [1]
(6) Page [2]
(7) Page [3]
(8) Page [4]
(9) Page [5]
(10) Page [6]
(11) Page [7]
(12) Page [8]
(13) Illustration
(14) Illustration
(15) Page [9]
(16) Page [10]
(17) Page [11]
(18) Page [12]
(19) Page [13]
(20) Page [14]
(21) Page 1
(22) Page 2
(23) Page 3
(24) Page 4
(25) Page 5
(26) Page 6
(27) Page 7
(28) Page 8
(29) Page 9
(30) Page 10
(31) Page 11
(32) Page 12
(33) Page 13
(34) Page 14
(35) Page 15
(36) Page 16
(37) Page 17
(38) Page 18
(39) Page 19
(40) Page 20
(41) Page 21
(42) Page 22
(43) Page 23
(44) Page 24
(45) Page 25
(46) Page 26
(47) Page 27
(48) Page 28
(49) Page 29
(50) Page 30
(51) Page 31
(52) Page 32
(53) Page 33
(54) Page 34
(55) Page 35
(56) Page 36
(57) Page 37
(58) Page 38
(59) Page 39
(60) Page 40
(61) Page 41
(62) Page 42
(63) Page 43
(64) Page 44
(65) Page 45
(66) Page 46
(67) Page 47
(68) Page 48
(69) Page 49
(70) Page 50
(71) Page 51
(72) Page 52
(73) Page 53
(74) Page 54
(75) Page 55
(76) Page 56
(77) Page 57
(78) Page 58
(79) Page 59
(80) Page 60
(81) Page 61
(82) Page 62
(83) Page 63
(84) Page 64
(85) Page 65
(86) Page 66
(87) Page 67
(88) Page 68
(89) Page 69
(90) Page 70
(91) Page 71
(92) Page 72
(93) Page 73
(94) Page 74
(95) Page 75
(96) Page 76
(97) Page 77
(98) Page 78
(99) Page 79
(100) Page 80
(101) Page 81
(102) Page 82
(103) Page 83
(104) Page 84
(105) Page 85
(106) Page 86
(107) Page 87
(108) Page 88
(109) Page 89
(110) Page 90
(111) Page 91
(112) Page 92
(113) Page 93
(114) Page 94
(115) Page 95
(116) Page 96
(117) Page 97
(118) Page 98
(119) Page 99
(120) Page 100
(121) Page 101
(122) Page 102
(123) Page 103
(124) Page 104
(125) Page 105
(126) Page 106
(127) Page 107
(128) Page 108
(129) Page 109
(130) Page 110
(131) Page 111
(132) Page 112
(133) Page 113
(134) Page 114
(135) Page 115
(136) Page 116
(137) Page 117
(138) Page 118
(139) Page 119
(140) Page 120
(141) Page 121
(142) Page 122
(143) Page 123
(144) Page 124
(145) Page 125
(146) Page 126
(147) Page 127
(148) Page 128
(149) Page 129
(150) Page 130
(151) Page 131
(152) Page 132
(153) Page 133
(154) Page 134
(155) Page 135
(156) Page 136
(157) Page 137
(158) Page 138
(159) Page 139
(160) Page 140
(161) Page 141
(162) Page 142
(163) Page 143
(164) Page 144
(165) Page 145
(166) Page 146
(167) Page 147
(168) Page 148
(169) Page 149
(170) Page 150
(171) Page 151
(172) Page 152
(173) Page 153
(174) Page 154
(175) Page 155
(176) Page 156
(177) Page 157
(178) Page 158
(179) Page 159
(180) Page 160
(181) Page 161
(182) Page 162
(183) Page 163
(184) Page 164
(185) Page 165
(186) Page 166
(187) Page 167
(188) Page 168
(189) Page 169
(190) Page 170
(191) Page 171
(192) Page 172
(193) Page 173
(194) Page 174
(195) Page 175
(196) Page 176
(197) Page 177
(198) Page 178
(199) Page 179
(200) Page 180
(201) Page 181
(202) Page 182
(203) Page 183
(204) Page 184
(205) Page [1]
(206) Page [2]
(207) Page [3]
(208) Page [4]
(209) Page [5]
(210) Page [6]
(211) Page [7]
(212) Page [8]
(213) Rear Flyleaf
(214) Rear Flyleaf
(215) Rear Board
(216) Rear Board
(217) Spine
(218) Fore Edge
(219) Scale
(220) Color Palette