The anchor was weighed, and the sails, unfolding themselves like giant wings, wafted us gently out of the harbour of Copenhagen.

No parting from children, relations, or old-cherished friends embittered this hour.

With a glad heart I bade adieu to the city, in the joyful hope soon to see the fulfilment of my long-expected journey.
The bright sky smiled above us, and a most favourable wind filled our sails.

I sat on deck and revelled in the contemplation of scenes so new to me.

Behind us lay spread the majestic town; before us the Sound, an immense natural basin, which I could almost compare to a great Swiss lake; on the right and left were the coasts of Sweden and Denmark, which here approach each other so closely that they seem to oppose a barrier to the further progress of the adventurous voyager.
Soon we passed the little Swedish town of Carlscrona, and the desolate island Hveen, on which Tycho de Brahe passed the greater portion of his life, occupied with stellar observations and calculations.