Tímarit Þjóðræknisfélags Íslendinga - 01.01.1966, Page 69

WESTWARD JOURNEY
51
Briem’s textbook in English, first
edition, as well as a letter from the
sheriff at Seydisfjord to the Danish
Consul in Hull, England. Both of
these stood him in good stead. But
what was most precious (next to the
silver dollars) was the unfailing
courage and the energy with which
he was blessed. These were traits
which characterized the majority of
the Icelanders that immigrated to
America during those years. We
boarded the ship one evening and
were immediately directed below
deck to the bow of the ship. Here
we made ourselves as comfortable
as we could among the sacks of wool.
Never will I forget the constant
dampness and the stench there,
which was always noticeable when
one came down from the deck above.
The following morning the ship
'veighed anchor. The progress out of
the fjord to the open sea was slow
°wing to the unfavorable direction
°f the wind. We did not pass the
headland at Dalakjalki until about
sunset. My grandmother immediate-
^ became very seasick during the
niorning, and I became nauseated as
the day wore on. It was then that I
Pleaded with my grandfather to take
Us back and abandon for all time the
í°urney to America. The dear old
^nan could, however, not be persuad-
e<^) for he never became sick or
hownhearted. I was sick all that
u|ght and the following day and the
u^ght thereafter. From then on I
Sradually began to recover and my
Srandfather often took me up on
e°k and down to the captain’s cabin
0 which Matthildur had been as-
s|gned. She never dressed from the
tirne We left Iceland until we arrived
in England. She just lay in her bed
closet by the cabin door. Whenever
I came there, Matthildur was eating
and when she was finished she began
to vomit all she had eaten. Then she
began to drink water which was al-
ways at hand and then she laughed.
When she had drunk she began to
eat anew, vomit, drink and laugh
but always lay in her bed closet
with the curtain half-drawn. Matt-
hildur was approximately eighteen
yars old, beautiful in appearance and
undoubtedly of very light-hearted
disposition. My grandmother was of
the opinion that she had been en-
gaged to the captain, but I was con-
vinced that my dear grandmother
had no actual evidence other than
the fact that Matthildur was for-
tunate enough to be allowed the use
of the captain’s cabin.
Four men constituted the ship’s
crew: the captain, a helmsman a
seaman and the cook. The captain
was a tall man with a heavy beard
(auburn as I recall). He was very
kind to us and tried to do all that
was in his power to make us com-
fortable during the voyage. The
helmsman was small of stature,
blackwhiskered stern and brisk in
manner. The seaman was a round-
faced, clean-shaven man, constantly
smiling. Clearest of all, however, are
my recollections of the cook. He was
about seventeen years of age, a
sturdy lad, fair-haired, of ruddy
complexion, and I am certain he had
no other traits than those of kind-
ness and goodness. He was always
exceptionally good to me and gave
me a variety of good food when I
was alone with him in the kitchen.
He showed me a multitude of pic-