And those on the land were probably afraid, for he saw how
a big giant stood on the highest point of the island and raised his
arms--as if in despair over all the misfortune that should come to him
and his island.
The boy was not a little terrified when he noticed that Akka began to
descend right over that particular island! "No, for pity's sake! We
must not light there," said he.
But the geese continued to descend, and soon the boy was astonished that
he could have seen things so awry. In the first place, the big stone
blocks were nothing but houses. The whole island was a city; and the
shining gold specks were street lamps and lighted window-panes. The
giant, who stood highest up on the island, and raised his arms, was a
church with two cross-towers; all the sea-trolls and monsters, which he
thought he had seen, were boats and ships of every description, that lay
anchored all around the island. On the side which lay toward the land
were mostly row-boats and sailboats and small coast steamers; but on the
side that faced the sea lay armour-clad battleships; some were broad,
with very thick, slanting smokestacks; others were long and narrow, and
so constructed that they could glide through the water like fishes.
Now what city might this be? That, the boy could figure out because he
saw all the battleships.
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