reaching rocky coast, towards which we were being driven at such
speed! A Norwegian pilot came to meet us in a small boat, and,
with experienced hand, assumed control of the Thetis, whereupon
in a very short time I was to have one of the most marvellous and
most beautiful impressions of my life. What I had taken to be a
continuous line of cliffs turned out on our approach to be a
series of separate rocks projecting from the sea. Having sailed
past them, we perceived that we were surrounded, not only in
front and at the sides, but also at our back, by these reefs,
which closed in behind us so near together that they seemed to
form a single chain of rocks. At the same time the hurricane was
so broken by the rocks in our rear that the further we sailed
through this ever-changing labyrinth of projecting rocks, the
calmer the sea became, until at last the vessel's progress was
perfectly smooth and quiet as we entered one of those long sea-
roads running through a giant ravine--for such the Norwegian
fjords appeared to me.

A feeling of indescribable content came over me when the enormous
granite walls echoed the hail of the crew as they cast anchor and
furled the sails. The sharp rhythm of this call clung to me like
an omen of good cheer, and shaped itself presently into the theme
of the seamen's song in my Fliegender Hollander. The idea of this
opera was, even at that time, ever present in my mind, and it now
took on a definite poetic and musical colour under the influence
of my recent impressions. Well, our next move was to go on shore.
I learned that the little fishing village at which we landed was
called Sandwike, and was situated a few miles away from the much
larger town of Arendal. We were allowed to put up at the
hospitable house of a certain ship's captain, who was then away