At last, at half-past nine the much-wished-for pilot arrives, and the _Virgo_ resumes her route towards Tromsö, the promised land.
We are now floating on a lake whose banks are clad with verdure. I behold with some amount of pleasure the objects surrounding me.
What a contrast! On the right a group of well-built, brick pilots’ houses, on the mountain slope, facing the sea. Heavy cumuli cover the summits of the rocks; above, the sky is of a pure blue, and the bright sun pours floods of golden light over the landscape.
On the left there is a church standing all alone, the rendezvous of the fishermen who inhabit the coast in summer.
The sailors are getting ready the boat which is to set us ashore, as there is no quay at Tromsö, and the _Virgo_ will remain at anchor in the roads.
The bay is getting narrower and villages succeed each other, with telegraph lines on both banks. Numerous Norwegian fishing boats are ploughing the sea. The air is pure and dry.
The _Virgo_ glides majestically over the waves like a large bird. The landscape becomes animated and really fairy-like.
At eleven o’clock we sight Tromsö with its steeple, its wooden houses and villas rising in tiers one above the other on the slope of a very fertile mountain. The pilot is still steering the _Virgo_. Objects appear larger and more distinct; there is the harbour, with its vessels at anchor.
At ten minutes past one we arrive opposite Tromsö. We drop anchor at about five furlongs from the shore. As I have already mentioned, there is no landing stage. We are already surrounded by several boats. There is M. Aagaard, the consul, coming to welcome us. Then the telegraph messenger appears, to hand Andrée a package of telegrams. Lastly there are the friends of the explorers, and the members of the Geological Commission, who are going to travel with us as far as the Ice-Fjord.
We take a seat in a boat which puts us ashore in a few minutes.
_June 14th._—We left Tromsö at 1 a.m. in splendid weather. The farewells of the inhabitants, who came flocking in crowds to cheer us, were very touching, and the _Virgo_ resumed her course towards the north.
The sun was shining so brilliantly, as I have said, that I could scarcely realize whether it was midday or midnight.