THE MIDNIGHT SUN.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 1524, 26 March 1886, Page 3

THE MIDNIGHT SUN.

The icenery around the Svroholt Rock is full of interest Away in the distance to the East is Nordkyn, the real northernmost point of the mainland of Europe. To the north-west is the North Cape, reached after a few hours' sail. The vessel is anchored off the very steep ascent by which the top of the cliff, about one thousand feet high, is reached. We landed on midsummer night, the sea being perfectly still, the sky perfectly clear. The snow had only very recently melted, and the path was damp and slippery in places. We landed in the ship's boats and four company, about fifty in number, struggled up the steep ascent, reaching the top about 11 1 it. It is a level, stony upland, as dreary and desolate a spot as can well be imagined. The ftorms of countless ages have worn the cliffs facing north and west into imposing form*, but they seem to have brought the top of the cliff into a dull, uniform level. There is nothing picturesque in the landscape. It is bare and barren to a degree that renders it almost oppressive. In all directions the eye can rest upon only windswept rocks or the seemingly limitless ocean. Behind is a wilderness; before, the Polar Sea. On the top of the Cape is the obelisk erected in commemoration of the visit of Oscar 11. in 1873, and we reached it shortly before midnight. Away in front of Us lay the Arctic Ocean, with the surface perfectly smooth and unruMed ; behind us, as far as the eye could see, stretched the bleak, barren uplands. The sun was high in the heavens, at an elevation of 12 degrees to 15 degrees above the horizon, and shining brilliantly as it does about half-past six on a June evening in lower latitudes. Just before midnight a slight crimson or reddish light appeared, a faint suspicion, as it were, of coming sunset, but not to be compared for beauty and impressive* ness with the fairy light that flooded the landscape it Hwitidhivn, It wis

a moment of great interest As midnight drew near the members of the party collected around the obelisk. In our company were included many nationalities—Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, England, Scotland, and the United States were all well represented. From widely scattered homes and by widely different routes we had been brought together for a few moments on the northernmost spoke in Europe. When the sun reached his lowest point, tbe whistle of the steamer a thousand feet below told us that it was midnight. We behaved as such gatherings on such occasions generally do. We built a cairn; we left a flag flying; we sang " God save the Queen," "My country, 'tis of thee," and " Auld lang syne " ; we cheered Her Majesty, the President of the United States, and the King of Norway and Sweden, and the captain and officers of the Sverre Sigurdsson, who had so skilfully guided the ship through very intricate and dangerous channels, and whose unfailing courtesy added so much to the interest and pleasure of the voyage. — Norwegian Picturesque, by Richard Lovett.