The sail was lowered now, and the oars manned, and so we passed from the open into the shadow of the mighty cliffs which rose higher and higher as we rowed between them.

For half a mile the swell of the sea came with us, and then it died away, and we were on still, deep water, clear as glass, but black in the shadow of the grim and sheer rock walls.

The rhythm of the leisurely swing and creak and plash of the long oars came back to us from either side as if we rowed amid an unseen fleet, and when the men broke into the rowing song they were fain to cease, laughing, for the echoes spoiled the tune.
The fjord opened out before long, and there was another passage to the sea, up which came a little swell from the open.

The cliffs to our right had been those of a great island which lies across the mouth of the fjord itself, which we were but now entering.

And then again the cliffs closed in, and we were in the silence.