The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1877-11-15
The MaeIstrOni.

A recent number of the Spectator con-
tains the following account of this fam
GUS whirlpool, which detracts somewhat
from the terrors that romance has woven
about it.
We have read or heard of Edgar Poe's
fantasy on the subject, we had also heard
of a Norwegian captain who said he knew
of no such whirlpOOl--had never heard
of it, in fact, except from English tour
lists There was room for such magma
tive interest between these two extremes,
and some risk was really worth running
to enable us to judge for ourselves. We
had our pilot, who had brought us from
Bergen, we had the master and owner of
the "Activ," who had a wife and six
children and the uninsured "Activ" be-
sides; but 10 make assurance trebly sure,
we allowed the pilot to stop at the
village nearest to the dreaded thing, and
take on board a fisherman able to tell us
exactly what we might or might not do
with it. The scenery of this village,
SkoOrVag, was wild in the extreme, all
rock and ravine, with sharp teeth of ser
rated crags, which reminded me of the
! Coolin hills in Skye. Our fisherman
| guide came on board as we were finishing
luncheon. He liked the job immensely +;
| "the tide was just right" but whether
| for our safety or for the display of the
| MaelstrOm's character l could not make
/ out, but hoped that something between
| the two was meant. A very few min
utes' steaming around the point OF
| Mosknes put this question and the
powers of the Activ'; to the test. The
Ioughness, only a gentle slide over a
rather big wave at first, almost immedi-
ately increased TO a violent pitching, a
| tar "a
bled about the deck, everything went
astray which could not hold or be held
tight, and the captain and proprietor OF
| the ACTIVE" looked as if be would not
| let his boat NEEDLE with the MaelstrOm
again if he could help it. 1t was like
| the race of Portland or of Attorney in a
stiff breeze, the sailors said. | thought
OF the strength of our engine-thirty
horsepower, ! beli6Ved--and hoped that
the MaelstrOm was not going to be worse,
and that getting the vessel around for
our return would be managed nicely.
However, we ran right through, and
looked at the receeding precipices of the
Lofodens from the seward side, then
took a wide sweep, and ran through the
race again, which was a tTifie quieter
when we had the tide with US. The
widest forms of rock and mountains
would add nothing to the terrOrs of such
a scene as this strait between MOsknGS
and VoerO would present in wild weather
We, however, could afford to marvel at
the height and steepness of the Lofodeu
wall, two thousand feet clear on the one
side, and the pitiless, sharP-tOothed rock;
OF NIOsKna, on the other, with their base
lost in the bright mist of raging waves "a
misty light which shone far away in the
western sun, over dark, wavy line o.
rushing waters. There certainly was q
MaelstrOm, the ebb and flow Of so large
a body of water as the VestfoId through
so small strait. and the sudden and
enormous increase in the depth of the
sea between the two islands forming g
mighty Niagara, in fact, below the sur.
face, being sufficient cause. Fortu
nately, as in the case of many another Of
natures terrible things, it does not inter
tere much with man and his work
Fishermen, though their business lies
perilously near, know its humors well
and when and how to avoid them.