at Night The name of Feroe by which these Islands are called is probably derived from a Danish Word which answers to our Ferry Now Feroe consisting of many Islands where one must cross with Boats and Ferries 't is likely enough that from thence this Land might be called Feroe When Grimar Camban a famous Pirate or Sea-robber came first to these Islands he found them uninhabited And the truth is in those times when Piracy was honourable the very Orcades as well as the Isles of Schetland were but the Mansions of Robbers and Pirates But in the Reign of Pulcricomus King of Norway many considerable Men with their Wives and Children Goods and Moveables took their Habitation in the Feroe Islands which Name was then known in Norway They are in number 17 inhabited Islands besides several Holmes or Islets Amongst which these are the largest viz. Stromoe and Osteroe Northward then Suderoe Southward Next to which in bigness you will find North-Eastward Calsoe Cunoe Bordoe Videroe Suinoe Fuloe then West of Stromoe Waagoe and betwixt Stromoe and Suderoe Sandoe The Whole extends it self from North to South about 60 miles and from East to west 40. The Inhabitants talk of a Floating Island that their Ancestors and themselves have seen during some Hours on the North of these Islands Where they discerned Hills and Dales on it and running Rivers gliding through the green Valleys Perhaps it might be the same which Paul Badsted a Skipper discovered in April Anno 1611 about eleven Leagues South-east of Feroe Islands Who together with two Clergy-men that came along with him to Feroe related how being by stormy Weather driven out of their course to the South thereof perceived an Island and how being come near it they saw it perfectly green with Grass towards the Sea-side with Rocks and Clifts near the Land They saw Rivers running through the Island with high Hills and Promontories not unlike in all Circumstances to the Islands of Feroe But perceiving no other Islands by it they found themselves to be deceived and so made to the North. The Island of Enckhupson found by the Hollanders under the 65 degree of Northern Latitude 45 Leagues North-west of Feroe seems to confirm that Opinion since it is no more to be found My Author leaves it modestly to every one's Judgment whether such a mass of hard Rocks could float If they were says he of the nature of a Pumice stone it might be so but then it would ever float The Ancients indeed did believe Delos a floating Island till such time as it gave Birth to Diana and to Apollo As for floating Islands in fresh Water grown together with Roots and covered with loose Earth decked with Grass 't is a Thing not to be deny'd There was such a one upon a Lake near Mosco when I was there an Attendant on the Right Honourable the Earl of Carlisle in his Embassy from the King to Czar of Moscovy Suinoe one of the second Rate Islands is believed by the Inhabitants to have been a floating Island and they are of opinion that if one could come to the Island that has been so often seen and cast a piece of Steel upon it the Island would remain fast Which agrees with the Diver's superstitious Practice who lay steel upon what they find at the bottom of the Sea that Spirits may not remove it My Author is a little Incredulous as to the point of floating Islands and takes it for a meer Illusion of the Devil But if a little Castoreum has the virtue to drive down a great Whale into the bottom of the Sea why can't there be some secret Thing in Nature to bear up an Island floating But to come home to our Feroe Islands they are in themselves but high Rocks rising out of the Sea and strangely divided from each other by deep and rapid streams of Water 'T is true the Valleys and the sides of the Hills are almost every where covered about two foot thick of Earth which produces abundance of Grass and not a little Corn. In Summer the Air is temperatly warm not very hot at any time neither is the Winter very cold considering the Climate It seldom freezes there a month together neither is the Frost then so hard as to produce Ice in the open Inlets Wherefore all Horse and Sheep keep the Fields during the whole Winter and seldom come under shelter The cause of such mild Air is the Sea Which being warm both by its saltness and perpetual motion does ever produce warm Vapours that temper the Air and take away the rigour of its coldness But then the Air being moist and the Clouds watery from thence proceed such strange Storms and terrible Winds as if the Hills would be torn to pieces Winds that sometimes tear up the Stones from the ground turn up the earthen Crust from the Rocks and roll it together as one might a piece of Lead Which stormy Winds are very variable and come in terribly by Gusts according as the Gaps are between the Tops of the Hills where the Winds gather and throng themselves through with a wonderful Force And yet sometimes during such a Storm a Thing almost Incredible those that live in the Valleys under those Mountains are in so still a condition that you may go from one House to another with a Light burning But 't is observable that before the said impetuous Wind comes to blow at that furious rate the Houses crack and make a noise as if they would fall down Tho afterwards they are not much moved even in the stress of Weather In short there is no Place more subject to Whirlwinds than these Islands Which consisting of Hills so high that the Wind can't blow streight forwards but now hits against one corner then against another and so against a third it happens that those stormy Winds meeting one another struggle as it were for Passage and fight together Thus having a long time stormed about between the Hills it comes down over the Inlets where they whirl round about a great way into the Sea In which case a Boat must presently let fall its Sails or else it is overturned And Ships sometimes have been lost through those Gusts from the Mountains 'T is observed now and then on Land that when it is pretty good Weather one of those Whirlwinds will come on a sudden so furious as to beat a Man down from his Horse sometimes Man and Horse and strike down those that go on foot But such as are used to the Country can easily perceive its coming by the terrible Bustle it makes amongst the Clifts while it is still Weather below Then the Rider alights from his Horse and lays himself on the Ground This is that sort of Whirlwind which the Greeks called Eenephias that is a Storm breaking out of the Clouds Which happens often at the Cape of Good Hope Where the People do no sooner perceive a little Cloud over the Table-Mount a certain Presage of
a terrible Whirlwind but they run amain to their Ships and drive 'em off from the Land so to preserve themselves and their Shipping The Story of Anderson a Priest of Suderoe one of the chief Islands of Feroe is so prodigious a Story that it is almost past belief Travelling to Sumboe one of his Parishes he came to Sumboe Horse a Clift above 200 fathoms high This Clift has several points by reason of which besides the heighth of the Hill whether the Wind blows to or from the Land there may be caused a strong Whirlwind The Priest being come near the edge of the Promontory there came a strong Whirlwind that took and carried away both Him and his Horse But a stronger Whirlwind coming directly against it threw him again on the Land without any hurt Here is also the Hurricane or Whirlwind so common in the West Indies and called in Greek Typhon This is formed in the Clouds from whence it strikes down with such a sudden and mighty Whirl that it tears all to pieces Sometimes out of the Land it takes up Trees Bushes Stones Flesh and what else it meets with as out of the Sea it draws up such an incredible quantity of Water as to make deep Cavity's in the Sea till it runs together again And what Fishes are then in that Water are drawn up by such a Whirlwind and let fall in another place Thus it comes to pass sometimes that it rains Stones Flesh Mice and in Norway their Lemmers In Kolter a small Island on the West side of Stromoe there is a Hill at least 200 Fathoms high on the highest top of which a World of Herrings were found spread along These without doubt were carry'd by a Whirlwind thither the Sea when most boysterous seldom casting any Fish on land For as in stormy Weather Birds hide themselves in Trees Holes and Nests so the small Fishes when the Sea grows too strong for them float on the Deep to save themselves there as long as the Storm lasts The Winds that naturally blow here are West and Southwest especially in the Spring and Summer And it frequently happens that on the side of the Land where the Wind blows there is Rain and bad Weather whilst on the other side 't is fair and clear The Reason of which is the great height of the Land Here is no Thunder in Summer says my Author but the other Seasons are not free from it In short the Air of Feroe is very wholsom free from Pestilence Infection and contagious Diseases And how can it be otherwise where there is so much Wind and Thunder to purifie the Air Besides that a running Stream flows almost by every Man's House washing away all Impurities that might infect the Air. To which add the salt Vapours of the Sea which keep the Air from Corruption as Salt it self keeps Bodies from Putrefaction From the Air I proceed now to the Water And the first that offers it self to our Consideration is the Sea which surrounds these Islands on every side and is sometimes a Terror to them as you may guess by the following Exemples Kolter the little Island aforesaid is exposed on the West side to the open Sea and there is towards the Main a Promontory thirty Fathoms high Yet the Sea does almost every Winter break over it with a Western Wind and that in such Quantity that the Inhabitants are sometimes in danger of being drowned On a corner of the same Promontory there lay formerly a large Stone six foot long and four foot thick and broad Which Stone the proud Sea tumbled about and threw some Paces off from the place where it lay before This my Author urges for a perfect Truth a thing more to be wondred at than easie to conceive After a great Storm when the Fishers row out to fishing the Sea is still so agitated inwardly that the Fishers sometimes can see no Land The Tides are the same here as in other Places where it ebbs six hours and flows the like space of time Yet their Course is different according as they beat against the Rocks and Points of Land and as the Ground is under them Eastward the Water rises but three Fathoms but Westward it rises seven though the distance be but forty miles that way And one may easily perceive the Sea to rise higher at West of Suderoe than at East though the Land where it is broadest be not above eight miles broad Between these Islands there run also many strong Currents and that in several manners according as the Necks or Points of Land meet against the Streams and according to the Situation of the said Land Which causes especially in Winter when there is a Storm and the Wind blows against the Tide a terrible and turbulent Sea For then the Sea does raise and tumble it self about and breaks so strongly against the Land that no Ship hardly can get safe over even where it is deep enough Now these Grounds with breaking Waves are called Buffs in the Language of Feroe And it is observable that in bad Weather the Sea breaks three or seven times together without ceasing and then resteth some time Therefore when the Inhabitants come to a breaking Place and must needs over it they lye still till the Buff has broken and then get over it speedily with their Boat But the Sea breaks also in still Weather when it is very warm or when there will be Frost or Snow Also when a Boat goes over too near the Land Which strange Motion of the Sea has given occasion to the Inhabitants to think that the Sea is sensible and that those Breaking Places cannot endure the Iron of a Boat But let us see in short our Danish Writers Philosophical Reflections upon it As to the Seas breaking up a certain number of times he looks upon 't as an Arcanum Naturae and only says that happens by the Providence of God who has created all things according to Weight Measure and Number And for the breaking of them against warm Weather or against a North-Wind and Snow thus he states the Case All Motion says he that happens between the Elements and other Beings that have neither Sense nor Life does happen by a magnetical Sympathy or Antipathy And this he proves by the Load-stone by Antidotes Metals and Minerals At last he concludes thus Though the Elements says he are in their Nature so contrary to one another yet the one will not nor can be without the other suffering each other by a Temperature And when this is wanting so that there be either excess or defect then Nature suffers and is moved by Antipathy By which Reason this unexpected Motion doth happen in the Water over those Grounds called Buffs For it is seen in Feroe that in still Weather when the Air is warm so that there arises a Fog from the Sea rendring the Air dusky not only the Currents run much swifter and stronger than at other times but also the
Sea grows stormy and the Buffs break Which hapneth because of that Antipathy that is between Water and Warmth in its Excess whereby Water suffereth in its Nature So when in Winter there will come a strong Frost and Snow the Currents grow stronger the Sea beats and the Buffs arise though it be never so still Weather The Reason is because cold Weather alters the temper of the Water and takes off from its natural warmth So that it cannot keep its innate fluidity but must contrary to its own nature let it self be changed to a standing rigid matter called Ice Which Change this Element perceives before-hand and accordingly moves it self by the virtue of its magnetical Antipathy But for the Buffs to break when there comes a Boat over them this perhaps has a far more hidden Cause Though it may happen by a magnetical virtue of these Grounds about which they break So that the Loadstone by its sympathy attending the Iron of the Boat the shallow Water not being able to indure it rises it self upon it As nature has wonderfully framed the Shell of a Snail so she forms the like figures in the Air for Whirlwinds and in the Ground for Whirl-pools Feroe a Land of Prodigies has no less than three Whirl-pools The one between these three North-East Islands Videroe Suinoe and Bordoe not very dangerous The other South of Sandoe dangerous when there is a Storm or a strong Stream The third at South of Suderoe running about Sumboe Munk very terrible and dangerous of it self especially when there is a Storm and a strong Current For then it draws to it self and swallows up whatever comes near it Neither can a Ship avoid it if she approaches it too near as I might bring Instances of it And yet when it is still Weather a mild Sea and the reflux of the Stream folks will venture themselves to fish thereon John Jonason of Suderoe is said to be the first that durst undertake to row over this Whirlpool and to fadom it According to his Relation there are four several round Circles of Ground about it with Channels between and a deep hole in the middle The uppermost Ground is from eight to twelve fathom deep and the lowermost from eighty to ninety On the East-side where the Ground begins there is a Gulf where the stream runs in as through a Sluce And on the South-side of the Hole there arises out of the Water a Rock ten fathoms high called Sumboe-Munk with six lesser Rocks North of that which rise a little above the Water On these Rocks the Compass turns round even as the Whirlpool and is so spoiled that afterwards it is of no use To this purpose my Author makes mention of a Ship which coming too near Sumboe-Munk all the Compasses in the Ship were spoyled And so had been the Voyage too had not a Sea man of the Ship by chance had a Loadstone wherewith he touched the Compasses a new As for fresh Water 't is a wonderful thing to see a Cluster of such small Islands as these in the midst of the Ocean so well furnished as they are with well-tasted and wholsom Water So that there is scarce a Cottage but there runs along a Spring-water a Rivulet or Brook whose Water is generally colder in Summer than in Winter And yet there is but one healing Spring viz. in Osteroe the Water whereof is much warmer in Winter than other Water and will keep a whole Year without Corruption But the Inhabitants have no great occasion for it neither is it easy to come at In the Island Suderoe there is a little Lake pretty high on the Mountain that ebbs and flows with the Sea Thus having done both with the Air and Water of Feroe let us now take a prospect of the Land I said before that these Islands in themselves are onely some high Rocks arising out of the Sea and covered with a thin portion of Earth that is usually not above two foot thick Which portion of Earth do's not only produce a great plenty of Grass but of Corn. And indeed in several Places Grass is found so plentiful and withal so juicy that Oxen feed thereon all the year round and grow extreamly fat As for the Corn could the Land be tilled every where as in other Places it would go beyond other Countreys of the same bigness But here a Countrey-man cannot sow above one or two Tuns of Corn. Now for one Tun of Seed in many places they reap again twenty or thirty Tuns especially in the South Islands Here is nothing sowed but Barley for other Seeds will not come to maturity and there being but little of that sowed there is the more ground for Pastures 'T is very remarkable that the North and North-east Parts are the most fruitful and produce the finest Pastures as if the cold North or North-East Winds could cause more fertility than the South or South-West which are warm and moist as having more the Sun's assistance And whereas the old Grecians called the West-wind Zephirus as that which caused Life in Plants here as in Greenland we find the contrary in Pastures Which may be attributed to the Saltpeter there is in North-East Rain and Snow For Salt is a main Ingredient to make the Earth fertile and 't is well known that Dunghils where the Urine of Cattel remains and rots are best for dunging In Feroe they usually take Sea-weeds from the shore and lay them on heaps to rot therewith to dung their Ground which then bears abundance of Corn. One would think that in these Northern Islands those Parts where the Sun shines most should be the most fruitful But it proves otherwise those Places that lye less open to the Sun being the most fertile And indeed the fruitfulness of the Earth does not so much depend upon its being near the Sun as from its own Constitution and natural warmth by virtue whereof the Plants have their growing motion The Sun 's warming of the Earth in the Day-time would prove but fatal to Plants if the Night did not cool and moisten what the Sun has dry'd in the day And in the Torrid Zone nothing could grow for the heat of the Sun if the Night there being almost as long as the Day did not by its Cooling and Dew qualifie the Day 's scorching Heat And 't is observable that here in the midst of Summer when in two Months time there is almost no Night Corn grows but very little though it rains or Herbs though they be watered in dry weather But when the Nights begin to be longer both Corn and Herbs grow more in a Night and Day than otherwise in fourteen As Denmark is praised for its Scurvy-grass Norway for its Gentiane and Chamaemorus and Iseland for its Angelica so Feroe ought to bear the Prize for its Rhodian Root Whose Water being distilled is found in odour and taste to be most like Rose-water Here grows also abundance of Tormentill Scurvy-grass and