Since there are 48 years between 'The Sloop', that took the first emigrants by sailing ship from Stavanger to New York, and the Valkyrien which took the last on a sailing ship from Bergen to Quebec, with 53 and 303 passengers aboard respectively, so it is important for the family that now exists, and that to come, to learn something about the Valkyrien's history. Also to learn how this, the last of that type transportation that went over the ocean, as much as the first.
   Following urging by a friend, I must give a short summary from my diary of the dangers that both the North Sea and Atlantic taught us to see through sorrow and joy and it was He who says, 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth' that came and saved us from death every time, for which many of us yet have not ceased to thank Him. The Valkyrien as far as is known to me was the last sailship to bring emigrants from Norway to America.
   But the Valkyrien's story and how God and strangers helped us in our need on our passage is not so easy to describe without being suspected and judged by some who might be tempted to think that it is self-praise and that I set myself above others and not have written more about the other passengers.
   But among the passengers there was, however, one who clearly knew more about how things went than the others and to prevent the idea that it was not him, I will carefully exclude everything that brought him respect even though it would have been an interesting chapter to hear he freed the captives and how he made every offence aboard settled in the best manner. His last act in Norway was to help in getting money for the release of a fellow passenger, J. R. from Bergen. He had been arrested by lawyer Hægstad for attempting to escape paying a mortgage of fifty 'daler'. At 10 o'clock of the last evening he came out of prison and came aboard the Valkyrien where his family was and which without the Captain's permission delayed the ship's departure for four hours after it had raised anchor.
   And to show that it is not a false assertion that the passenger who got the prisoner out of the prison was more informed about everything aboard than we others below decks, the dangers the Valkyrien met time and time again cannot be depicted in such an abbreviated form as this without me bringing him into the story as a sort of fill and against my will and until the reader wishes to know his right name, I will call him Pat.*
   The 4 year old bark, Valkyrien, whose Captain was Andreas Møller from Grimstad, and whose First Officer was Christian Krøger from Arendal, took aboard 303 emigrants and departed Bergen 1 o'clock in the afternoon of Friday the 25th April 1873.
   Pat, who for several years had been an agent for the Emigrant Office in Bergen, still has a letter of the 5th  February 1873 he received from the Company in which they informed him that two ships would be equipped for emigrant transport that year and that the price by sailship would be 32 speciedaler for adults from Bergen to Austin, Minn. and by steamship 52 speciedaler 12 skilling and through the sailship company they could also redeem the ticket with a number of English steamship lines. But since there were not more than 303 that could sail that year from Norway by sailship it was necessary to send the 30 who could not get space on the 'Valkyrien' by steamship which was cheaper than to send another ship with only another 30 emigrants to Quebec.
   The Company had hired a small steamship to tow us out to Marsteinen, 50 kilometers accompanied by the Emigrant Office's leading gentlemen, Joachim, Meier Monsen and Schrøder leading us there and then returned with the steamship.
   Even though manna did not rain upon us when we left Bergen, we did, in honour of Norway, have a good parting meal with peas, grits and boiled pork. But as soon as the Valkyrien came out on the North Sea and plunged into the deep wave troughs and was washed over the prow by the waves, the good food that had been eaten decided that it would not come along.. Not even as far as Norway's cliffs! And whenever the North Sea was not as deep at any place as it had been before, the peas and pork flew overboard everywhere and there was much moaning.
   As soon as we had come aboard the ship, there were some who became aware that there were some among us who had longer fingers than they should, and the first day after we had left Bergen it was reported to the Captain that some of the passengers had lost one thing or another even though they had been under double lock in the provisions compartment. The officers had the key and only opened the compartment once a day so the passengers could get the food they needed for the next day while in the compartment under guard, but people could also open other people's chests in which there was butter, bread, meat and many other things. A bit before these reports were made to the Captain, First Officer Christen Krøger had in some way found out that among the passengers there was a non-commissioned officer* who had been a policeman and had guarded 89 prisoners at Bergenhus fortress and he told Captain Møller immediately.
   When Captain Møller learned this he sent Krøger after the man who they imagined was a relative of "jack of all trades" and to bring him to the captain's cabin. He asked what it was about and why he should go there? Well, it was just that the Captain wished to request that he take over the position of commandant of the passengers below decks, keep the key for the provisions compartment and as a quartermaster and only opened the compartment once a day so the passengers could get the food they needed for the next day as well as issue the statutory wood and water to each family. And of the 80 male adults, who according to the ship's law, should help the sailors wash the decks and empty the ashes from the stoves, he would order 6 men to that duty every morning at 6 A.M. Also he would sell the passengers all sorts of foodstuffs they needed, that the Captain could provide from his supply, and keep an account of this until they came ashore.
   Although the man who was to answer the Captain on this question seemed to know a bit about giving orders and arresting and taking care of prisoners and similarly how to sell all sorts of goods, he was not at all prepared to answer the question immediately since he had not had more time off than two days in twelve and a half years.
   To refuse so kind a man as Captain Miller what he now requested was impossible for a man who had been a soldier under two kings. The first we knew that we had gotten a new quartermaster was when on Monday morning, the 28th of April, he opened the hatch cover on the tweendeck, he told us he was appointed as commandant below decks. Not everyone thought well of this since all his orders seemed to cause more fear than we wished to endure.
   Whether it was that a number were happy that they now had their property in the compartment in more secure hands with a soldier as guard or for other reasons will be unsaid, but most showed happiness that day, but it did not last long. It soon became apparent that after happiness comes sorrow since happiness and sorrow always alternate.
 *Fjærestad himself. OK

   At 11 o'clock Monday morning the 28th the new quartermaster was below decks with the Second Mate to log the ship's speed and the Valkyrien plowed the sea at 71⁄2 knots that watch. But by 12 o'clock the weather changed to what even the sailors call a storm. As soon as he was finished with the logging he went down to his people to see that they were in bed, turned out the lamps and went to bed; he was tired.
   For one reason or another the sailor who was on lookout had left his post and there was no warning of a  brigantine that was pushed by the wind in starboard tack and that would collide with us midships. Since our lanterns in the rigging were not as visible as in ordinary weather, the brigantine could not see us in the darkest night I have ever seen for 34 years.
   While we lay in our best sleep, between 12 and 1, we were suddenly awakened by a crash and a sound that resembled rolling thunder and that felt to us as if we had struck a mountain since our ship immediately stopped dead when the collision occurred. My berth was under the main hatch on toward side the brigantine hit. Every time the waves pushed the brigantine against our ship the Valkyrien's planking bent so far into my bed that they hit my back hard. With every slap I expected that our ship would break up since the brigantine had become so entangled that it could not break away. The brigantine was under full sail and pressed against us.
   Finally the storm separated the two ships. Instead of cutting through Valkyrien in the collision the brigantine struck the bow, snapped the bowsprit with its eight sails in three pieces and tore away the whole bow. Every time the ship bobbed under a wave water poured in so rapidly that we would have soon sunk if had we not been able to nail canvas on it to keep the water out. But the bowsprit with its sails was still attached by its lower chains to what was left of the bow and hung in a tangle under the ship. It became clear that the planking on the foreward part of Valkyrien had become quite thin.
   As soon as the collision occurred, the quartemaster jumped out of his berth and lit half the lamps but went immediately back to bed where he put his arms around his four dear ones that were in his bed. We all understood that with death follows Judgement for all those who die in unrepentance and infidelity. Besides what was visible it was impossible to say how much damage the Valkyrien had sustained, but by the amount of water that poured in every time the ship plunged, the Captain knew that we would soon sink and he ordered the terrifying command be sent down the main hatch, "Everyone on deck to board the lifeboats!"
   You who read this, even if you were not in Gethsemane with us that night, will understand what "Judgement Day Lamentation" there was as soon as that order came down the hatch for there were probably not many who felt they were prepared to meet Him who would judge both the living and the dead, when they were to meet Him on such short notice.
   And to think of saving oneself and one's naked sleeping children by going into the boats in the storm, darkness and cold demands a faith that is hardly known in the current generation. I must confess honestly I did not have it, even though I had no fear of dying under the circumstances we were in for the grace period we now had was no where as long as the robber on the cross had from when he called to the Lord for mercy until his soul left his body.
   Now that we were commanded "On deck!" there was only two choices, either die where we were or try our luck by giving ourselves as sacrifices to the four elements, wind and cold, water and dark, in a little boat on the ocean at midnight. Many who had not been rendered impotent by fear came out of their berths and bustled around my bed wishing to hear what I was going to do, die where I was or make a try for life. With my answer, many went back to their berths and we let the Lord deal with us according to His will, whether we would live or die.
   Think then, even though things looked almost hopeless, the Lord had fufilled what he promised and said, "And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me" while we who were almost dead called to the Lord for help and then there came another message down the hatch that on closer examination of the damage there was a slight hope that with the pumps we could keep the ship from sinking if we could build a dam so not all of every wave could get into the ship.
   But as soon as that message came down our brave quartermaster leaped from his bed like a cat and onto the deck to find Captain Møller to hear what hope we had in keeping alive. Supplied with good hope and comfort, he went straight back to execute the Captain's orders that he loudly shouted from a high place midships, that all males should instantly come on deck to help him save our lives. But the confusion was so great and the composure of most all gone that almost no one heard or understood that everyone had to come to try to save both body and soul from certain death.
   "Are they coming?" asked the Captain when the quartermaster came back. "Do not know, Herr Captain" was the answer. "Well, go down again and force them to come up." And with both harsh and soft words he finally persuaded 20 of the 150 men up on deck. You may  ask what was wrong with the other 130. Death had terrified them and they were raving. But with these 20 and the 15 of the crew we were able, through hard work from 3 in the morning until 8, to get all eight sails that lay under the ship up on deck. At the same time all the pumps were kept going steadily and though the men had to be changed more often than every quarter hour and still we could barely get more water out than came in after we had shut most of the waves out with the canvas.
   The first day we were on the North Sea there was a head wind so it was decided to go through the English Channel and when the collision happened we had come, so to say, at its mouth, 20 miles from land. Without a foresail getting to England went poorly, we were driven more and more toward France. But by midday we had the joy of seeing land and we raised the flag for a pilot. Then from a pilot ship, that patrolled the Channel to give such assistance, a small boat came but the seas were so heavy that they could not come close enough to bring him aboard, the pilot had to jump in the water and we threw a line to him and hauled him up.
   As soon as he was a board we sent a distress signal and a little steamer "Victoria", that cruised the Channel hoping to make money in the need and accidents of others, approached us but demanded 100 pounds - 500 daler - to tow us to land, 1 mile from the City of Dover. But since we now could save our lives without their help we refused them because of the price. Just think, how merciless! But since we were drifting closer and closer to the French coast, by afternoon they could see us from Dover that lies at a place where the Channel is narrowest between England and France. We raised our distress flag and immediately the steamship "Palmerston" came from Dover and towed us in for 45 daler - and back into the open sea for the same price. When we came to the quay in Dover, the bells in the church tower, as if in grief, tolled a slow 3.
   As a safeguard for life and property a police watch was set onboard and soldiers on the quay ashore stayed there day and night for the 10 days we lay there. A plank from the ship to the quay served as a gangplank. The quay was full of people who wished to see the pitiful state we were in. After the suffering whe had endured that last night, we certainly resembled Lazarus when Jesus called him from the tomb. We were sleepless, spiritless, sad and had not eaten for 24 hours. But no one was allowed to come aboard since it was now the police who were in command as long as we lay at Dover.

   The day after, the 30th April, the damage to the Valkyrien was assessed and a contract made with the shipbuilders to repair it for 500 daler* and to be ready a week after the contract was signed; and it was. Soon after came a petition to the Captain from the City's citizens for permission to come aboard to see how things were. That was granted and we scrubbed the decks. The next morning at 9:30 the parade began, the passengers were all in their Sunday best but had to spend the whole day in their berths, so thick was the stream of city folk that passed through the ship. Some of them took their time, gave presents to several children and inspected us as carefully as they could. The stream continued all that day and most of the next so that it was not possible to eat as long as they were there. As you will see, the petition to come aboard was not just to come to look at us.
   First on that morning, 15 fine gentlemen and ladies came aboard as representatives of the City that had collected a supply of provisions for us because our journey was longer than provisioned for. With them were four wagonloads of all sorts of foodstuffs found in Dover, even food from military supply. Nor were vegetables and condensed milk forgotten and not even the children who received 3 sacks of dried fruit and 2 big boxes of candy. Of baked goods, 1400 pounds of rusks and 300 pieces of hardtack of 15 pounds each. By my evaluation (I had the honour of distributing it to the passengers and gave the last sack of Dover bread at the railway station in Toronto in Canada) we received provisions to the value of 500 dalar* But our friends in Dover had just begun with their kindness and there would still be more and there were many small ones as well. The City had its greatest joy in whatever they could do to make us happy so that our sorrow would be diminished when we set off later on the capricious sea.
   The day the contract was signed, Captain Møller went to London, first to visit his sister who was married to a ship captain whom we met in Quebec and also to enquire about the brigantine and its owners to see if he could obtain any compensation for the damage but he failed to make contact. Fear of being without provisions since the journey now looked to be longer, they asked him to purchase 1400 pounds of hardtack for us and for this 1400 pounds the Captain was paid back by Dover because he had bought it with his own money.
   Because the Captain received money from the people of Dover for the bread that he had paid for, there were some who on the 9th of June, swore revenge on the Captain, Pat and another Mate when they came ashore and spread the shameful lie that I first heard of after I had been in America for over 20 years. That the Dover citizens had given us 500 dalar in cash, that they delivered to the Captain and that he had kept it for himself and never disclosed it to us; so goes the story. And because it is so easy to believe this to be true, and after it has spread as it has, so there are several as I understand who have taken their stand on the liar's side. Therefore it should be in Valkyrien's history that it is an absolute lie regarding the 500 dalar the Captain received. What happened aboard Valkyrien on the 16th May and the 9th, 13th and 14th June when the investigation was begun and dismissed, anyone with any knowledge of what was said those days will understand how this malicious lie about Captain Møller spread and was easily believed by many for it was cash and could have been as much as 10 daler per family.
   The Sunday we lay in Dover 6 of us went to church but it happened that the church we entered was Catholic. But we were met at the door and ushered to the last pew by the door. But think, in the pew I was assigned there were only Dover people and one of them gave me his hymn book and himself shared one with another, would we be so friendly if a foreigner, and especially if we knew he was a Catholic, had come into our church?
   On Monday the Captain again went to London to ask about the brigantine and the shipping company but could not find a trace of anything. The brigantine undoubtedly lies on the bottom of the English Channel to this day. That day, Pat and Markus S., who had been in America for 8 years, went to the Norwegian Consul to ask if under the circumstances we now found ourselves we might be due compensation from the Emigrant Company. Not unless we ran short of provisions, he said. Although the language he spoke was nothing but English, there lived in Dover a priest who was not ashamed to tell that he was descended from Norwegian blood and two days before we departed Dover he invited us to a banquet, "a great feast" with place for 318.
   At 5 in the afternoon, Wednesday the 7th May we were all festively dressed and at 5:30 the priest came down to the quay  to be our guide to the hall where we were to be treated. With a sailor and a policeman aboard and a soldier with fixed bayonet ashore, we left Valkyrien at 6 o'clock and with the priest and Captain at the head we paraded through the City's grand streets as those who had arisen from the dead. And wherever we went everyone came to their doors to see the Norwegian creatures who now for the first time after escaping death would sit around a decked table. To deal with this chapter of my diary, dear reader, is so moving that even though it is 32 years since it was first written, it is hard to do it without tears. We did not yet fully believe that we were actually alive before we went into the building and were to sit at the table. Our consciousness of what we had endured was greater as we went in than it was during that night of distress. In front of the entry to the hall there were Norwegian, English and American flags that waved as if to welcome us. As soon as we came in, a large number of able ushers seated us at the tables, all at once, 317 at 5 tables and where I sat there were 53.
   In one end of the hall there was a stage and on the walls around it were 11 flags from different nations and on the stage were 18 horn players. At the other end there were galleries that were filled with more than 100 ladies and gentlemen who wished to see if these Norwegian farmers could use knife and fork. This was the first time they had to manipulate such equipment which was obviously difficult since for all their days they were used to using 5 fingers.
   As well, the prayers and singing were as in a Norwegian farmer's banquet for the English had familiarized themselves with what was Norwegian custom.
   When we were all seated, the musicians began their program with "Sønner af Norge, det ældgamle Rige" etc. Oh, what an unexpected thing for when hearing that the blood began to stir and the tears to roll and we could not stop them even though we were at a party where there should only be happiness but our heart strings were still too tender after that night on the North Sea, life and death were still mixed within us. When the song ended the priest's father, an oldtimer who looked to be 90 years stepped before the assembly and said grace and then we began to eat.
   Then the musicians immediately began to play and played the whole time we while we ate. And even though the dishes were many and good and everything more inviting than we were used to, we ate very little - we could not - we were too full of sorrow.
   As soon as we had finished eating the ladies in the gallery came down, they resembled angels more than people - and began to pick fruit and all sorts of pastries from the tables and stuffed them into our pockets for they clearly felt that we had not helped ourselves as much as we should have. I  can say that never in our lives had our pockets been so well filled as the .ladies filled them. When we left the hall we had enough oranges and cakes to serve as ballast for Valkyrien instead of stone, had it been needed.
   Then the ladies took the children out of their mother's arms and danced with them in the air, spoke to the mothers as if they understood the language, gave the children presents and were more smiling and happy than I had ever seen before in my whole life. There was no condescension to be seen in them but the love they had for we unfortunates was without limit. For 4-5 days in a row the City's inhabitants kept soothing us both in body and soul to get us to forget how close we had been to death.
   The officers and 3 of the sailors who could speak English moved from one end to another and also Pat, who knew a few English words. But if the rest, who could not speak to them still enjoyed ourselves amongst them until 8 o'clock. Then the music began to play again and when there were exclusively Norwegian songs: "Gud velsigne Kongen god" ex-sergeant Pat joined in, as he had often done at Bergenhus when the music played there, in full voice. Immediately the officers were ready to control him but when he stopped, a young lady who stood beside him patted him on the shoulder with these words, "Good to sing, good to sing!"
   After that the preacher held a little speech in which he praised us for the quiet and mannerly conduct we had shown in the streets as well as at every place we visited during our stay in the City and this speech the Captain translated for us on the spot.
   Then the Captain gave a speech in which he thanked the priest and the City and all of those who had hosted us that evening and what they had delivered aboard for our trip, their kindness in all things and the brotherly love they had shown us who had been struck by misfortune. His words were translated to Norwegian by the First Officer from the main hatch cover when we had come back to the ship. On our return we saw a diver come out of the sea with a child who had fallen from the quay while we were at the party.
   Since we had enjoyed being with our friends as long as we wished, we then bade a heartfelt farewell and thought that we were finished with all the good they had decided to do for us but that was not so. In the morning came another wagon load with provisions of all sorts. Then the priest came with gifts of dishes for all the children who were called forth by families from the passenger list to receive their gifts, 80 in all and some got two. But the blessed priest's and the City's compassion were still not exhausted, the banquet cost the priest and the City a bit over 200 daler altogether.
   But now the hour of departure was near and the friends would soon have to separate. At morning prayers the 9th May at 8 o'clock an immense crowd stood on the quay at Dover to say a last farewell and the separation was just as moving as we departed from our dear ones in Norway but much more painful than that Friday when we left our friends in Bergen.
   But just as we were to separate from our friends and benefactors they had more to give us, remembering the children the priest came with 50 pots of fresh milk for them and distributed it himself. This was then the last gift and now these people had cause to be happy for what they had done - it is better to give than to receive - they had alleviated our sorrow in every way.
   How many prayers, sighs and tears our friends and benefactors on the quay gave that morning as we left the City no one knows but the Lord. Not an eye was dry, no face looked happy. The moment of departure had come.
   When the Palmerston began to pull on the line and the Valkyrien slowly began to slide from the quay, Pat stood on the railing and on behalf of the passengers in a farewell salute with "Long live Dover! hurra! hurra! hurra!" which was responded to be "Long live Valkyrien! hurra! hurra! hurra!" and with handkerchiefs as long as the eye could see we signalled each other the last "Farewell!"
*The daler/dalar was a speciedaler, worth a bit more than the US dollar of that time. OK

   Now we began our journey to America again after having lain 10 days in England for repairs. And as soon as we had gotten out from the City, prayers and songs were heard from several places on the ship. We began to traverse the Channel but with the wind from the south and a contrary current and tacking in that narrow belt we came close during the night to running aground (for the accident we had had was the first but not both the first and last) even though we had a pilot aboard. The Channel is a difficult place to pass through, banks and skerries everywhere.
   After 32 hours of our departure from the City we had not come further than 3⁄4 miles from Dover and because of calm and a contrary current it was necessary to anchor outside Folkestone that is close to Dover.
   Monday afternoon at 6 o'clock a 20 month old boy, Søren S. from Bergen died, his parents' only child. And 12 o'clock the next day he was placed on a bier on the flag hatch for the burial. First we sang the first two verses of hymn 623, then the coffin was lowered over the side by 4 sailors and stopped for the Captain to  conduct the graveside ceremony. Then it was sunk in the sea but the poor parents were not in condition to see it done, such a burial we were not used to and we were all deeply moved. After the burial we sang the last two verses of the same hymn.
   At 4 o'clock in the afternoon of May 15th we passed Ireland and set off on the Atlantic but the Bay of Biscay had already frightened many and several women were in bed because of seasickness. There was help for this, the best being getting them on deck so they could get fresh air. But that was not easily done, most resisted that treatment but that was of no use. The health conditions had to, first and foremost, be attended to and if a husband could not obey the order to bring his wife up on deck he could get two other men to bring her on deck by force and they walked with her arm in arm until they believed she had breathed enough of that curative medicine (for there was no doctor aboard) which could be obtained without payment, they let her go and then took another out of her bed, whether she hit or bit them - and that they did.
   They also had to hold concerts on deck to entice them up but the fact they were started exclusively to help the seasick was not known by most and those who had to be dragged up by force the day before now came up on  their own. The comedies that were played in the middle of the Atlantic were "Kongen og Dronningen" played in French, "Manden med Buxen i Læ", "Henrik tilhest paa Drommedaren" and "Viseknut paa Ruffe med Silkhatten" that were a strong enough magnet to pull those up on deck long before the performance time was posted on the kitchen door.
   In Dover, a new lock was purchased for the provision compartment for which no one else had a key. And now that the quartermaster had received extra provisions worth several hundred dollars to distribute but who did not wish to tempt  anyone to eat themselves sick from the good and unaccustomed delicacies, he had to distribute them in instalments. It became necessary to choose two fellow-passengers as assistants, A. S. from Sogn and J. F. from Hardanger since he was the judge in all matters it was duty to settle conflicts over "this and that" all day long and to weigh and measure the Captain's  provisions and keep an accountiing of it. And with assigning the work crews for each day as to which of the 80 was to be sent to the deck each morning at 6 o'clock and keeping his own diary he was in the saddle from 5 in the morning to 10 in the evening, he scarcely had enough time left over to eat. But who saw him surly or angry? Even though he served without pay and just voluntarily. On the 4th after leaving Dover and after consultation with the Captain he began to distribute the gifts we received from our friends in Dover but we did not get very much that day.
   On the 10th day after departing Dover, about 10:30 at night we were surprised by a storm and while we were taking in 7 sails, suddenly a schooner came right for us and since our lanterns on the port side had been blown out by the wind we had to, contrary to rules, fall away to make the starboard lights visible and by falling off we avoided collision but the ships' sails almost touched as we passed each other. Again we were so close to an accident for the third time, nor was it the last; we awoke by the noise since everything on the deck began to shift during the heeling. Pat immediately sprang to the deck and remained there until 1 A.M.
   On Ascension Day we also had a severe storm and the boxes and chests broke loose from their fastenings in the tweendecks and danced back and forth on the floor so violently that we almost did not know how to get them fastened again without breaking the legs of those who were brave enough to go and fix them. We had to reef 9 sails immediately and the fore topgallant sail was torn in pieces.
   The 25th May, the 6th Sunday after Easter there was also a storm and the day after as well, and both days the waves came down into steerage and there was no thought of getting anything cooked those days. One man who dared to go up on deck had a narrow escape from a wave that came onto the deck while he was trying to reach a certain place and almost washed him overboard. The wave took him across the deck to the railing port on the other side but he landed at the side of the port.
   On Whit Sunday there was nothing but prayers and hymns all day and on Whit Monday we conversed, first by signal then by voice, with an American ship on the way to Philadelphia that departed Liverpool the day we arrived at Dover.
   The 4th June, 26 days after we left Dover, we came to the Newfoundland banks at 4 in the afternoon and when we took soundings the depth was 53 fathoms. We fished with 7 lines and caught 4 fish at 15 pounds each. The following day we saw 3 icebergs but they were far away.
   At 5 in the morning the 9th June, the 26th day after we left Dover, we saw land. On the 15th June, the 52nd day after we left Bergen, we were 40 miles from Quebec and had entered the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. At 5 in the evening we raised a flag for a pilot but no one came. At 10 we lit flares made of cotton dipped in alcohol and 15 minutes later an old greybeard came aboard, 30 miles from Quebec, to conduct us to our destination. The next day we could see 54 ships in the river. We raced the Hindostan more than any other ship.
   At 9:30 in the evening June 17th we came to the quarantine station (Grosse Ile) and at 7 in the morning the examining doctor came aboard and then when he first saw that we had been in Dover we were finished there. Because of the contrary current we had to anchor 2 miles from the island from 12 to 7 in the evening, now 41⁄2 miles from Quebec and again 2 miles from Quebec. And on the 63rd day after leaving Bergen, Friday morning June 19th at 4:30 we raised anchor for the last time. We travelled as fast as a bird with a good wind and arrived in Quebec at 6 o'clock. And when the anchor hit bottom there were out doubt a mass of thanks to the Lord concluding with - Amen.
   And as soon as the anchor hit bottom the Captain ordered the quartermaster and the pilot down to the salon, where he pulled the cork out of a bottle of good wine for he had great joy that morning and without doubt greater than ours even though it was greatest day we had had in all our lives. He, who had never carried emigrants before, had brought this most priceless cargo to America and who four times altogether was threatened with failure but still brought still them to their destination. All of us who suffered with him and you who read Valkyrien's story will also understand, whether you have been in distress at sea or not.
   We had not lain in  Quebec for long before two written messages came from the fort and immediately after there came a customs officer with a proper guard. At 10 o'clock the Captain went ashore with our documents and at 2 o'clock the agent came to receive our tickets from Bergen and issue us railway passes to go further. He had his interpreter with him but they were not the nicest of people, which Pat knew very well and who had to battle with them, altogether 7 times until we came to Milwaukee. And the other passengers knew quite well that there was among them a Nils L. from Lærdal who asked Pat to accompany him to the salon and speak on his behalf to the agent. Because of a lack of money he could not get a ticket in Bergen to the place he wished be but had a steamer ticket that a friend B. in America had sent him but could not use because his family was bigger than his friend knew. Now he wished to know from the agent whether if he could use to go from here to his destination. The agent could not permit this because it was not the same company and the agent certainly could not be faulted for that. Since N. could not go further than his ticket allowed, he gave the agent the ticket he received in Bergen. Then the agent discovered that he had no ticket blanks left so 20 passengers could not get their tickets that day but after saying that they would get them in the morning, he went ashore. When he came aboard the next day to hand out the tickets, Nils again went to ask Pat to accompany him to the agent because he trusted him. The agent asked for Nils' ticket and Pat said, "You got it yesterday." "That is a lie!" said the Englishman rather sharply. "No, it is not," said Pat. There was a continuing wrangling (*) and Pat finally found the ticket and things were straightened out for a very grateful Nils.
   Finally the day came that we could say farewell to the Valkyrien and our friends aboard it with whom, like a brotherhood, we had shared both sorrow and joy in the 9 weeks from Bergen to Quebec.
   Since both the officers and crew, who were all Norwegian and were as kind and amiable people as the Lord makes, it was not easy to leave them either. But 2:30 in the afternoon the 20th June we said farewell to the Valkyrien and its crew, who in our honour had raised 19 flags and saluted us with hurrahs without end. Just as we stepped aboard the steamship that took us ashore we gave the sailors 13 daler (there were 11 of them) in tips and besides we bequeathed them filth and abandoned articles below decks. As payment for his 64 days of work, Pat received a hearty thanks from the Captain for what he had done for him and we left the Valkyrien, half smiling and half weeping.
   With the Captain, who for reason of friendship wished to accompany us to Montreal, we boarded the train at 6 in the evening and arrived in Montreal at 6 in the morning, where we stopped for 15 minutes. The Captain went through all the cars and bade all farewell with a firm handshake and good wishes. Afterward, he asked Pat to come out on the platform and told him that one night on the Atlantic, they had been close to death that we knew nothing about and that he had strongly ordered the crew not to let us know
about since we had been frightened enough.
   While in the dark of night the carpenter, the oldest sailor at about 60, was sleeping and had a dream that a steamer was approaching straight at us and would cut us amidships. He awoke from the dream not believing it was true but he could not rest before he went up on deck - and what did he see? Yes, just what he dreamt and there was just enough time to call to the helmsman to turn hard leeward. The steamship and the Valkyrien passed each other at no more than a stone's throw apart.
(*wrangling is a very abbreviated term for a lengthy and convoluted account of little relevance and was omitted)


Translated by Olaf Kringhaug
Vernon, British Columbia, Canada
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