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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:16:45 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:16:45 -0700 |
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diff --git a/25371-h/25371-h.htm b/25371-h/25371-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8962a47 --- /dev/null +++ b/25371-h/25371-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,15953 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Northern Travel, by Bayard Taylor. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .5em; + text-indent: 1em; + } + h1 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h5,h6 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + h2 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* centered and coloured */ + } + h3 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* centered and coloured */ + } + h4 { + text-align: center; font-family: garamond, serif; /* all headings centered */ + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + a {text-decoration: none} /* no lines under links */ + div.centered {text-align: center;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 1 */ + div.centered table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;} /* work around for IE centering with CSS problem part 2 */ + ul {list-style-type: none} /* no bullets on lists */ + ul.nest {margin-top: .15em; margin-bottom: .15em; text-indent: -1.5em;} /* spacing for nested list */ + li {margin-top: .15em; margin-bottom: .15em;} /* spacing for list */ + + .cen {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} /* centering paragraphs */ + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 95%;} /* small caps, smaller font size */ + .noin {text-indent: 0em;} /* no indenting */ + .note {margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} /* footnote */ + .blockquot {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 5%;} /* block indent */ + .right {text-align: right; padding-right: 2em;} /* right aligning paragraphs */ + .img {text-align: center; padding: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} /* centering images */ + .tdr {text-align: right;} /* right align cell */ + .tdc {text-align: center;} /* center align cell */ + .tdl {text-align: left;} /* left align cell */ + .tdlh {text-align: left; padding-left: 1.5em; text-indent: -1.5em;} /* hanging indent for TOC */ + .tdlt {text-align: left; vertical-align: top;} /* left align, top align */ + .tr {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; margin-top: 5%; margin-bottom: 5%; padding: 1em; background-color: #f6f2f2; color: black; border: dotted black 1px;} /* transcriber's notes */ + .tdrb {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;} /* right align cell */ + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; right: 2%; + font-size: 75%; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers */ + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 90%;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right; font-size: 90%;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: text-top; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + .poem span.i8 {display: block; margin-left: 8em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + .poem span.pn { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; right: 2%; + font-size: 75%; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0em; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal;} /* page numbers in poems */ + .poem span.i13 {display: block; margin-left: 13em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Northern Travel, by Bayard Taylor + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Northern Travel + Summer and Winter Pictures of Sweden, Denmark and Lapland + +Author: Bayard Taylor + +Release Date: May 7, 2008 [EBook #25371] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NORTHERN TRAVEL *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Barbara Kosker, Linda McKeown +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h1>NORTHERN TRAVEL.</h1> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h1>NORTHERN TRAVEL.</h1> +<br /> +<br /> +<h2>BAYARD TAYLOR.</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> + +<div class="img"> +<a href="images/frontis.jpg"> +<img border="0" src="images/frontis.jpg" width="60%" alt="The Vöring Foss." /></a> +<p class="cen" style="margin-top: .2em;">The Vöring Foss.</p> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h3>NEW YORK : G. P. PUTNAM.</h3> + +<h3>1859.</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h1>NORTHERN TRAVEL:</h1> + +<br /> +<br /> +<h2>Summer and Winter Pictures</h2> + +<br /> +<br /> +<h3>OF</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<h2>SWEDEN, DENMARK AND LAPLAND,</h2> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h3>BY</h3> +<br /> +<h2>BAYARD TAYLOR.</h2> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h3>NEW YORK :</h3> +<h3>G. P. PUTNAM, 115 NASSAU-STREET.</h3> +<h3>1859.</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h4><span class="smcap">Entered</span> according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by</h4> +<h4><span class="smcap">G. P. Putnam</span>,</h4> +<h4>In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York.</h4> + +<br /> +<br /> + +<hr /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + +<p>This book requires no further words of introduction than +those with which I have prefaced former volumes—that my +object in travel is neither scientific, statistical, nor politico-economical; +but simply artistic, pictorial,—if possible, +panoramic. I have attempted to draw, with a hand which, +I hope, has acquired a little steadiness from long practice, +the people and the scenery of Northern Europe, to colour +my sketches with the tints of the originals, and to invest +each one with its native and characteristic atmosphere. In +order to do this, I have adopted, as in other countries, a +simple rule: to live, as near as possible, the life of the people +among whom I travel. The history of Sweden and +Norway, their forms of Government, commerce, productive +industry, political condition, geology, botany, and agriculture, +can be found in other works, and I have only touched +upon such subjects where it was necessary to give <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>completeness +to my pictures. I have endeavoured to give photographs, +instead of diagrams, or tables of figures; and desire +only that the untravelled reader, who is interested in the +countries I visit, may find that he is able to see them by +the aid of my eyes.</p> + + +<p class="right">BAYARD TAYLOR.</p> +<span class="smcap">London</span>: November, 1857.<br /> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="80%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="90%"> </td> + <td class="tdr" width="10%">Page</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">A WINTER VOYAGE ON THE BALTIC</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Embarking at Lübeck—Put into a Hut—The Company on + Board—Night on the Baltic—Ystad—A Life Lost—Stopped by + Ice—A Gale—The Swedish Coast—Arrival at Dalarö—Conscientious + Custom-House Officer</td> + <td class="tdrb">13</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">STOCKHOLM—PREPARATIONS FOR THE NORTH.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Departure in Sleds—A Meteor—Winter Scenery—Swedish Post- + Stations<br />—View of Stockholm—Arrival—Stockholm Weather—Swedish + Ignorance of the North—Funds—Equipment</td> + <td class="tdrb">21</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">FIRST EXPERIENCES OF NORTHERN TRAVEL.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">A Swedish Diligence—Aspect of the Country—Upsala—A Fellow- + Passenger—The Northern Gods—Scenery—Churches—Peasant's + Houses—Arrival at Gefle—<i>Förbud</i> Papers—Speaking + Swedish<br />—Daylight at Gefle—A Cold Italian—Experience of + <i>Skjuts</i> and <i>Förbud</i>—We reach Snow—Night Travel—An + Arabic Landlord—A Midnight Chase—Quarters at Bro—The Second + Day—We reach Sundsvall</td> + <td class="tdrb">27</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">A SLEIGH RIDE THROUGH NORRLAND.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Sundsvall and the Norrlanders—Purchase Sleighs—Start again— + Driving on the Ice—Breakfast at Fjäl—Twilight Hymn—Angermannland + —A Bleak Day—Scenery of Norrland—Postillions—Increase of Cold + —Dark Travel—The Norrland People—The Country and its Products + —Northern Thanks—Umeå—The Inn at Innertafle</td> + <td class="tdrb">39</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">PROGRESS NORTHWARD—A STORM.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Christmas Temperature—First Experience of intense Cold—Phenomena + thereof—Arctic Travel—Splendour of the Scenery—The Northern + Nature—Gross Appetites—My Nose and the Mercury Frozen—Dreary + Travel—Skellefteå and its Temple—A Winter Storm—The Landlady + at Abyn—Ploughing out—Travelling in a Tempest—Reach Piteå.</td> + <td class="tdrb">50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">JOURNEY FROM PITEÅ TO HAPARANDA.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Torment—Under the Aurora Borealis—A Dismal Night—Around the + Bothnian Gulf—Forest Scenery—Månsbyn—The Suspicious Iron-Master + —Brother Horton and the Cold—A Trial of Languages—Another + Storm—New Year's Day—Entrance into Finland—The Finns—Haparanda</td> + <td class="tdrb">62</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CROSSING THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Medical Treatment—The Kind Fredrika—Morals in the North—Our + Quarters at Haparanda—Vain Questions—Start for Lapland—Arctic + Daylight—Campbell's Torneå—A Finnish Inn—Colours of the Arctic + Sky—Approach to Avasaxa—Crossing the Arctic Circle—An Afternoon + Sunset—Reception at Juoxengi</td> + <td class="tdrb">72</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Page ix]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">ADVENTURES AMONG THE FINNS.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Journey up the Torneå—Wonders of the Winter Woods—Lapps and + Reindeer—My Finnish Vocabulary—A Night Journey—Reception at + Kengis—Continue the Journey—Finnish Sleds—A Hard Day—The + Inn at Jokijalka—Its Inmates—Life in a Finnish Hut—An Arctic + Picture—A Frozen Country—Kihlangi—A Polar Night—Parkajoki—We + reach Muoniovara.</td> + <td class="tdrb">83</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">LIFE IN LAPLAND.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Reception at Muoniovara—Mr. Wolley—Our Lapland Home—A Finnish + Bath—Send for Reindeer—A Finnish House—Stables—The Reindeer + Pulk—My first Attempt at driving Reindeer—Failure and Success + —Muonioniska—View from the Hill—Fears of an old Finn—The + Discovery of America—A Lapp Witch—Reindeer Accident</td> + <td class="tdrb">98</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">A REINDEER JOURNEY ACROSS LAPLAND.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Preparations for the Journey—Departure—A lazy Deer—"Long + Isaac"—An Auroral Spectacle—A Night at Palajoki—The Table-Land + of Lapland<br />—Sagacity of the Deer—Driving a wild Reindeer—Polar + Poetry—<br />Lippajärvi—Picture of a Lapp—The Night—A Phantom + Journey—The Track lost—A Lapp Encampment—Two Hours in a Lapp + Tent—We start again—Descent into Norway—Heavy Travel—Lapp Hut + in Siepe—A Fractious Reindeer—Drive to Kautokeino</td> + <td class="tdrb">101</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">KAUTOKEINO—A DAY WITHOUT A SUN.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Lapland Etiquette—The Inn—Quarters at the Länsman's—Situation + of Kautokeino—Climate—Life—Habits of the Population—Approach + of Sunrise—Church Service in Lapland—Cold Religion—Noonday + without Sunrise—The North and the South—A Vision—Visits of the + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span>Lapps—Lars + Kaino—A Field for Portrait-painting—Character of + the Lapp Race—<br />Their present Condition—The religious Outbreak at + Kautokeino—<br />Pastor Hvoslef—A Piano in Lapland—The Schools—Visit + to a Gamme</td> + <td class="tdrb">126</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE RETURN TO MUONIOVARA.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Advantages of Lapp Costume—Turning Southward—Departure from + Kautokeino—A Lapp Hut—Religion—The Reindeer—Their Qualities + —Treatment by the Lapps—Annoyances of Reindeer Travel—<br />Endurance + of Northern Girls—The Table-Land—The "Roof of the World"—Journey + to Lippajärvi—Descent to the Muonio—Female Curiosity—The Return + to Muoniovara—Prosaic Life of the Lapps—Modern Prudery</td> + <td class="tdrb">141</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">ABOUT THE FINNS.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Change of Plans—Winter in Lapland—The Finns—Their Physical + Appearance—Character—Drunkenness—A Spiritual Epidemic— + Morality—Contradictory Customs—Family Names and Traditions + —Apathy of Northern Life—The Polar Zone—Good Qualities of the + Race—An English Naturalist</td> + <td class="tdrb">154</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">EXPERIENCES OF ARCTIC WEATHER.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Departure from Muoniovara—50° below Zero—A terrible Day—An + Arctic Night—Jokijalka again—Travelling down the Torneå—A + Night at Kardis—Increase of Daylight—Juoxengi—A Struggle for + Life—<br />Difficulty of keeping awake—Frozen Noses—The Norseman's + Hell—Freezing Travellers—Full Daylight again—Safe Arrival at + Haparanda—Comfort—The Doctor's Welcome—Drive to Torneå—The + Weather</td> + <td class="tdrb">164</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">INCIDENTS OF THE RETURN JOURNEY.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Mild Weather!—Miraculous Scenery—Näsby—Swedish <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span>Honesty + —Adventures at Luleå—Northern Sleds—Piteå—Accident at + Skellefteå—The Norrland Climate—A damp Swede—Travelling + in a Tempest—A Norrland Inn—Character of the People—Their + Houses</td> + <td class="tdrb">177</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CONCLUSION OF THE ARCTIC TRIP.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Warmth and Daylight—Swedish Linen—The Northern Women—Progress + Southward—Quarrel with a Postillion—A Model Village—Rough + Roads—Scarcity of Snow—Arrival at Stockholm—Remarks on Arctic + Travel—Scale of Temperature—Record of Cold</td> + <td class="tdrb">187</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">CHAPTER XVII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">LIFE IN STOCKHOLM.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Stockholm—Its Position and Appearance—The Streets and Houses— + Manner of Living—Swedish Diet—Stockholm in Spring—Swedish + Gymnastics—A Grotesque Spectacle—Results of Gymnastics—Ling's + System—The Swedish Language—Character of the Prose and Poetry— + Songs—Life in Stockholm</td> + <td class="tdrb">197</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">CHAPTER XVIII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">MANNERS AND MORALS OF STOCKHOLM.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Hospitality of the Swedes—Northern Frenchmen—Stockholm Manners + —Dress—Conventionalism—Taking off the Hat—Courtesy of the + Swedish—An Anecdote—King Oscar—The Royal Family—Tendency to + Detraction—The King's Illness—Morals of Stockholm—Illegitimate + Births—Sham Morality—Causes of Immorality—Drunkenness—An + Incident</td> + <td class="tdrb">210</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">CHAPTER XIX.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">JOURNEY TO GOTTENBURG AND COPENHAGEN.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Appearance of Spring—Departure from Stockholm—The Gotha Canal + —Vreta Kloster—Scenery of the Wener—European Ideas concerning + America—A Democratic Nobleman—The Gotha River—Gottenburg—<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span>The + Giant's Pots—The Cattegat—Elsinore—The Sound Dues—Copenhagen + and its Inhabitants—Thorwaldsen—Interview with Hans Christian + Andersen—Goldschmidt—Prof. Rafn.</td> + <td class="tdrb">222</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">CHAPTER XX.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">RETURN TO THE NORTH.—CHRISTIANIA.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Visit to Germany and England—The Steamer at Hull—The North Sea + —Fellow-Passengers—Christiansand—The Coast of Norway—Arrival + at Christiania—Preparations for Travelling—The Carriole—Progress + of Christiania—Beauty of its Environs</td> + <td class="tdrb">235</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">CHAPTER XXI.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">INCIDENTS OF CARRIOLE TRAVEL.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Disinterested Advice—Departure—Alarm—Descending the Hills—The + Skyds System—Krogkleven—The King's View—Country and Country + People—Summer Scenery—The Randsfjord—A Cow-Whale—The Miösen + Lake—More than we bargained for—Astonishing Kindness—The Lake + from a Steamer</td> + <td class="tdrb">242</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">CHAPTER XXII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">GULDBRANDSDAL AND THE DOVRE FJELD.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Lillehammer—A Sabbath Morning—A Picture of Dahi—Guldbrandsdal + —Annoyances of Norwegian Travel—The Lougen River—Cataracts<br />—The + Station at Viik—Sinclair's Defeat—Pass of the Rusten—The Upper + Valley—Scenery of the Dovre Fjeld—Solitude of the Mountains— + Jerkin—Summit of the Fjeld—Nature in the North—Defile of the + Driv—A Silent Country—Valley of the Orkla—Park Scenery—A + Cunning Hostess—Solidity of Norwegian Women</td> + <td class="tdrb">254</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII">CHAPTER XXIII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">DRONTHEIM.—VOYAGE UP THE COAST OF NORWAY.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Panorama of Drontheim—Its Streets and Houses—Quarters at the + Hotel—Protestant High Mass—Norwegian Steamers—Parting View of + —<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiii" id="Page_xiii">[Pg xiii]</a></span>Drontheim—The Namsen Fjord—Settlements on the Coast—The Rock + of Torghätten—The Seven Sisters—Singular Coast Scenery—The + Horseman—Crossing the Arctic Circle—Coasting Craft—Bodö—An + Arctic Sunset</td> + <td class="tdrb">269</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV">CHAPTER XXIV.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE LOFODEN ISLES.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Habits of the Arctic Summer—The Lofoden Islands—Mosköe—The + Myth of the Maelström—The Lofoden Fishermen—Improvement in + the People—Lofoden Scenery—The Rasksund—Disappearance of + Daylight—Character of the Scenery—Tromsöe at Midnight</td> + <td class="tdrb">281</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV">CHAPTER XXV.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">FINMARK AND HAMMERFEST.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Visit to the Lapps—Scenery of Tromsdal—Phenomena of the Arctic + Summer—The Lapp <i>Gammes</i>—A Herd of Reindeer—The Midnight + Sun and its Effect—Scenery of the Alten Fjord—Pastor Hvoslef—Mr. + Thomas and his Home—Altengaard—A Polar Bishop—An Excited + Discussion—Whales—Appearance of Hammerfest—Fishy Quarters</td> + <td class="tdrb">289</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI">CHAPTER XXVI.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE MIDNIGHT SUN.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Plans of Travellers—Ship for the Varanger Fjord—Scenery of + Mageröe—Miraculous Provision for human Life—Fisheries on the + Coast—The Porsanger Fjord—Coast Scenery—Sværholtklub—Rousing + the Sea Gulls—Picture of the Midnight Sun—Loss of a Night—The + Church of the Lapps—Wonderful Rock-painting—Nordkyn</td> + <td class="tdrb">300</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII">CHAPTER XXVII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE VARANGER FJORD—ARCTIC LIFE.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">The Tana Fjord—Another Midnight—Desolation—Arctic Life—The + Varanger Fjord—The Fort of Vardöhuus—Arrival at Vadsö—Summer + there—More of the Lapps—Climate and Delights of Living—Rich + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xiv" id="Page_xiv">[Pg xiv]</a></span>Fishing—Jolly young Englishmen—Daylight Life—Its Effects, + physical and Moral—Trees of Hammerfest—An astronomical Monument</td> + <td class="tdrb">310</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII">CHAPTER XXVIII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE RETURN TO DARKNESS—NORWEGIAN CHARACTER.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Splendour of the Northern Coast Scenery—Growth of Vegetation + —Government of the Lapps—Pastor Lamers and his Secession— + Religion in the North—An intelligent Clergyman—Discussions on + Board—Starlight and Lamp-light—Character of the Norwegians + —Their national Vanity—Jealousy of Sweden</td> + <td class="tdrb">321</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX">CHAPTER XXIX.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">DRONTHEIM AND BERGEN.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Trouble at Drontheim—Valley of the Nid—The Lierfoss—Picture + of Christiansund—Molde and Romsdal—The Vikings and their + Descendants—The Rock of Hornelen—Rainy Bergen—A Group of + Lepers—Norwegian Filth—Licentiousness—Picture of Bergen—Its + Streets—Drunkenness—Days of Sunshine—Home-sick for Hammerfest + —The Museum—Delays and dear Charges</td> + <td class="tdrb">330</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX">CHAPTER XXX.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">A TRIP TO THE VÖRING-FOSS</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Parting View of Bergen—Lovely Scenery—Interested Kindness—The + Roads of Norway—Uncomfortable Quarters—Voyage on the Osterfjord + —Bolstadören—Swindling Postillions—Arrival at Vossevangen— + Morning Scenery—Agriculture in Norway—Destruction of the Forests + —Descent to Vasenden—A Captain on Leave—Crossing the Fjeld—The + Shores of Ulvik—Hardanger Scenery—Angling and Anglers—Pedar + Halstensen—National Song of Norway—Sæbö—A stupendous Defile— + Ascent of the Fjeld—Plateau of the Hardanger<br />—The Vöring-Foss—Its + Grandeur—A Sæter Hut—Wonderful Wine</td> + <td class="tdrb">341</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xv" id="Page_xv">[Pg xv]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI">CHAPTER XXXI.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">SKETCHES FROM THE BERGENSTIFT.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Peder's Embarrassment—His Drowning—The Landlady—Morning at + Ulvik—A Norwegian Girl—Female Ugliness—Return to Vossevangen + —Indolence—Detention at Stalheim—Scenery of the Naerödal— + Postillions—On the Gudvangen Fjord—The Sogne Fjord—Transparency + of the Water—The Boatmen</td> + <td class="tdrb">359</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXII">CHAPTER XXXII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">HALLINGDAL—THE COUNTRY-PEOPLE OF NORWAY.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Roads to Christiania—Southern Sunshine—Saltenaaset—The Church + of Borgund—Top of the Fille Fjeld—Natives on Sunday—Peculiar + Female Costume—Scarcity of Milk and Water—The Peak of Saaten—A + Breakfast at Ekre—Hallingdal—Wages of Labourers—Valley Scenery + —How <i>Förbuds</i> are sent—General Swindling—Character of the + Norwegians for Honesty—Illustrations—Immorality—A "Cutty Sark" + —Charms of Green</td> + <td class="tdrb">370</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIII">CHAPTER XXXIII.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">TELLEMARK AND THE RIUKAN-FOSS.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">The Silver Mines of Kongsberg—Roads in Tellemark—Bargaining + for Horses—The Inn at Bolkesjö—Sleeping Admonitions—Smashing + Travel—Tinoset—The Tind Lake—A Norwegian Farm-House—The + Westfjord-dal and its Scenery—Ole Torgensen's Daughter—The + Valley—A Leper—Defile of the Maan Elv—Picture of the Riukan-Foss + —Its Beauty—A Twilight View—Supper at Ole's—The Comprehension + of Man—A singular Ravine—Hitterdal—How respectable People live + —The old Church—Return to Christiania</td> + <td class="tdrb">383</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXIV">CHAPTER XXXIV.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">NORWAY AND SWEDEN.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Norwegian Honesty—The Country People—Illicit Connections—The + Icelandic Language—Professor Munck—The Storthing—The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_xvi" id="Page_xvi">[Pg xvi]</a></span>Norwegian + Constitution—The Farmer-State—Conversation between a German + Author and a Swedish Statesman—Gottenburg—A Fire—Swedish + Honesty and Courtesy—The Falls of Trollhätten</td> + <td class="tdrb">398</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXV">CHAPTER XXXV.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">A TRAMP THROUGH WERMELAND AND DALECARLIA.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Our Route—Leaving Carlstad—The Scenery—Valley of the Klar Elv + —Ohlsäter—Wedding Arches—Asplund—A Night Journey—Adventures + in search of a Bed—Entrance into Dalecarlia—The Farmers at + Tyngsjö—Journey through the Woods—The People at Westerdal—The + Landlord at Rågsveden—The Landlady—Dalecarlian Morality—A + Läsare—The Postillion—Poverty—A Dalecarlian Boy—Reception at + Kettbo—Nocturnal Conversation—Little Pehr—The female Postillion + —The Läsare in Dalecarlia—View of Mora Valley</td> + <td class="tdrb">407</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + <td class="tdc"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXVI">CHAPTER XXXVI.</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">LAST DAYS IN THE NORTH.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlh">Mora Scenery—"The Parsonage of Mora"—The Magister—Peasants + from Upper Elfdal—Scenery of the Siljan—Hymns on Board—Opinions + of the Läsare—Their Increase—Conversation with the Peasants— + Leksand—The Domprost Hvasser—Walk in the Garden—Dalecarlian + Songs—Rainy Travel—Fahlun—Journey to Upsala—The Cholera—The + Mound of Odin—<i>Skål</i> to the Gods—The End of Summer in + Stockholm—Farewell to the North</td> + <td class="tdrb">425</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +<h2><a name="NORTHERN_TRAVEL" id="NORTHERN_TRAVEL"></a>NORTHERN TRAVEL,</h2> +<h3>ETC.</h3> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h2>A WINTER VOYAGE ON THE BALTIC.</h2> + +<p>We went on board the little iron Swedish propeller, <i>Carl +Johan</i>, at Lübeck, on the morning of December 1, <span class="smcap">A.D.</span> +1856, having previously taken our passage for Stockholm. +What was our dismay, after climbing over hills of freight +on deck, and creeping down a narrow companion-way, to find +the cabin stowed full of bales of wool and barrels of butter. +There was a little pantry adjoining it, with a friendly +stewardess therein, who, in answer to my inquiries, assured +us that we would probably be placed in a <i>hut</i>. After further +search, I found the captain, who was superintending the +loading of more freight, and who also stated that he would +put us into a hut. "Let me see the hut, then," I demanded, +and we were a little relieved when we found it to be a state-room, +containing two of the narrowest of bunks. There +was another hut opposite, occupied by two more passengers, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span>all that the steamer could carry and all we had, except a +short deck-passenger, who disappeared at the commencement +of the voyage, and was not seen again until its close.</p> + +<p>The day was clear and cold, the low hills around Lübeck +were covered with snow, and the Trave was already frozen +over. We left at noon, slowly breaking our way down the +narrow and winding river, which gradually widened and +became clearer of ice as we approached the Baltic. When +we reached Travemünde it was snowing fast, and a murky +chaos beyond the sandy bar concealed the Baltic. The +town is a long row of houses fronting the water. There +were few inhabitants to be seen, for the bathing guests had +long since flown, and all watering places have a funereal air +after the season is over. Our fellow-passenger, a jovial +Pole, insisted on going ashore to drink a last glass of Bavarian +beer before leaving Germany; but the beverage had +been so rarely called for that it had grown sharp and sour, +and we hurried back unsatisfied.</p> + +<p>A space about six feet square had been cleared out among +the butter-kegs in the cabin, and we sat down to dinner by +candle-light, at three o'clock. Swedish customs already +appeared, in a preliminary decanter of lemon-colored brandy, +a thimbleful of which was taken with a piece of bread and +sausage, before the soup appeared. The taste of the liquor +was sweet, unctuous and not agreeable. Our party consisted +of the captain, the chief officer, who was his brother-in-law, +the Pole, who was a second-cousin of Kosciusko, and +had a name consisting of eight consonants and two vowels, +a grave young Swede with a fresh Norse complexion, and +our two selves. The steward, Hildebrand, and the silent +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>stewardess, Marie, were our attendants and purveyors. +The ship's officers were rather slow and opaque, and the +Swede sublimely self-possessed and indifferent; but the Pole, +who had been condemned to death at Cracow, and afterwards +invented cheap gas, was one of the jolliest fellows alive. +His German was full of funny mistakes, but he rattled +away with as much assurance as if it had been his native +tongue. Before dinner was over, we were all perfectly well +acquainted with each other.</p> + +<p>Night had already set in on the Baltic; nothing was to +be seen but snow; the deck was heaped with freight; the +storm blew in our teeth; and the steamer, deeply laden, +moved slowly and labouriously; so we stretched ourselves on +the narrow bunks in our hut, and preserved a delicate regard +for our equilibrium, even in sleep. In the morning the +steep cliffs of Möen, a Danish island, were visible on our +left. We looked for Rügen, the last stronghold of the worship +of Odin in the Middle Ages, but a raw mist rolled +down upon the sea, and left us advancing blindly as before. +The wind was strong and cold, blowing the vapory water-smoke +in long trails across the surface of the waves. It was +not long, however, before some dim white gleams through +the mist were pointed out as the shores of Sweden, and the +<i>Carl Johan</i> slackened her speed to a snail's pace, snuffing +at headland after headland, like a dog off the scent, in order +to find her way into Ystad.</p> + +<p>A lift of the fog favored us at last, and we ran into the +little harbor. I walked the contracted hurricane deck at +three o'clock, with the sunset already flushing the west, +looked on the town and land, and thought of my friend Dr. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span>Kane. The mercury had fallen to 16°, a foot of snow covered +the house-roofs, the low, undulating hills all wore the +same monotonous no-color, and the yellow-haired people on +the pier were buttoned up close, mittened and fur-capped. +The captain telegraphed to Calmar, our next port, and +received an answer that the sound was full of ice and the +harbor frozen up. A custom-house officer, who took supper +with us on board, informed us of the loss of the steam-ship +Umeå, which was cut through by the ice near Sundsvall, +and sunk, drowning fifteen persons—a pleasant prospect for +our further voyage—and the Pole would have willingly +landed at Ystad if he could have found a conveyance to get +beyond it. We had twelve tons of coal to take on board, +and the work proceeded so slowly that we caught another +snow-storm so thick and blinding that we dared not venture +out of the harbor.</p> + +<p>On the third morning, nevertheless, we were again at sea, +having passed Bornholm, and were heading for the southern +end of the Island of Oland. About noon, as we were sitting +huddled around the cabin stove, the steamer suddenly stopped. +There was a hurried movement of feet overhead—a +cry—and we rushed on deck. One of the sailors was in the +act of throwing overboard a life buoy. "It is the Pole!" +was our first exclamation. "No, no," said Hildebrand, with +a distressed face, "it is the cabin-boy"—a sprightly, handsome +fellow of fourteen. There he was struggling in the +icy water, looking toward the steamer, which was every +moment more distant. Two men were in the little boat, +which had just been run down from the davits, but it seemed +an eternity until their oars were shipped, and they pulled +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>away on their errand of life or death. We urged the mate +to put the steamer about, but he passively refused. The +boy still swam, but the boat was not yet half-way, and +headed too much to the left. There was no tiller, and the +men could only guess at their course. We guided them by +signs, watching the boy's head, now a mere speck, seen at +intervals under the lowering sky. He struggled gallantly; +the boat drew nearer, and one of the men stood up and +looked around. We watched with breathless suspense for +the reappearance of the brave young swimmer, but we +watched in vain. Poor boy! who can know what was the +agony of those ten minutes, while the icy waves gradually +benumbed and dragged down the young life that struggled +with such desperate energy to keep its place in the world! +The men sat down and rowed back, bringing only his cap, +which they had found floating on the sea. "Ah!" said +Hildebrand, with tears in his eyes, "I did not want to take +him this voyage, but his mother begged me so hard that I +could not refuse, and this is the end!"</p> + +<p>We had a melancholy party in the cabin that afternoon. +The painful impression made by this catastrophe was +heightened by the knowledge that it might have been prevented. +The steamer amidships was filled up to her rail +with coal, and the boy was thrown overboard by a sudden +lurch while walking upon it. Immediately afterwards, lines +were rove along the stanchions, to prevent the same thing +happening again. The few feet of deck upon which we could +walk were slippery with ice, and we kept below, smoking +gloomily and saying little. Another violent snow-storm +came on from the north, but in the afternoon we caught +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>sight of some rocks off Carlscrona, and made the light on +Oland in the evening. The wind had been blowing so +freshly that our captain suspected Calmar Sound might be +clear, and determined to try the passage. We felt our way +slowly through the intricate sandbanks, in the midst of fog +and snow, until after midnight, when only six miles from +Calmar, we were stopped by fields of drift ice, and had to +put back again.</p> + +<p>The fourth morning dawned cold and splendidly clear. +When I went on deck we were rounding the southern point +of Oland, through long belts of floating ice. The low chalk +cliffs were covered with snow, and looked bleak and desolate +enough. The wind now came out of the west, enabling us +to carry the foresail, so that we made eight or nine knots, in +spite of our overloaded condition. Braisted and I walked +the deck all day, enjoying the keen wind and clear, faint +sunshine of the North. In the afternoon, however, it blew +half a gale, with flurries of mingled rain and snow. The +sea rose, and the steamer, lumbered as she was, could not be +steered on her course, but had to be "conned," to keep off +the strain. The hatches were closed, and an occasional sea +broke over the bows. We sat below in the dark huts; the +Pole, leaning against the bulkhead, silently awaiting his +fate, as he afterwards confessed. I had faith enough in the +timidity of our captain, not to feel the least alarm—and, +true enough, two hours had not elapsed before we lay-to under +the lee of the northern end of Oland. The Pole then +sat down, bathed from head to foot in a cold sweat, and +would have landed immediately, had it been possible. The +Swede was as inexpressive as ever, with the same half-smile +on his fair, serious face.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>I was glad to find that our captain did not intend to lose +the wind, but would start again in an hour or two. We +had a quieter night than could have been anticipated, followed +by a brilliant morning. Such good progress had been +made that at sunrise the lighthouse on the rocks of Landsort +was visible, and the jagged masses of that archipelago of +cloven isles which extends all the way to Torneå, began to +stud the sea. The water became smoother as we ran into +the sound between Landsort and the outer isles. A long +line of bleak, black rocks, crusted with snow, stretched before +us. Beside the lighthouse, at their southern extremity, +there were two red frame-houses, and a telegraph station. +A boat, manned by eight hardy sailors, came off with a pilot, +who informed us that Stockholm was closed with ice, and +that the other steamers had been obliged to stop at the little +port of Dalarö, thirty miles distant. So for Dalarö we +headed, threading the channels of the scattering islands, +which gradually became higher and more picturesque, with +clumps of dark fir crowning their snowy slopes. The midday +sun hung low on the horizon, throwing a pale yellow +light over the wild northern scenery; but there was life in +the cold air, and I did not ask for summer.</p> + +<p>We passed the deserted fortress of Dalarö, a square stone +structure, which has long since outlived its purpose, on the +summit of a rock in the sound. Behind it, opened a quiet +bay, held in a projecting arm of the mainland, near the extremity +of which appeared our port—a village of about fifty +houses, scattered along the abrupt shore. The dark-red +buildings stood out distinctly against the white background; +two steamers and half a dozen sailing crafts were moored +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>below them; about as many individuals were moving quietly +about, and for all the life and animation we could see, we +might have been in Kamtchatka.</p> + +<p>As our voyage terminated here, our first business was to +find means of getting to Stockholm by land. Our fellow-passengers +proposed that we should join company, and +engage five horses and three sleds for ourselves and luggage. +The Swede willingly undertook to negotiate for us, and set +about the work with his usual impassive semi-cheerfulness. +The landlord of the only inn in the place promised to have +everything ready by six o'clock the next morning, and our +captain, who was to go on the same evening, took notices of +our wants, to be served at the two intervening post-stations +on the road. We then visited the custom-house, a cabin +about ten feet square, and asked to have our luggage examined. +"No," answered the official, "we have no authority +to examine anything; you must wait until we send to +Stockholm." This was at least a new experience. We +were greatly vexed and annoyed, but at length, by dint of +explanations and entreaties, prevailed upon the man to +attempt an examination. Our trunks were brought ashore, +and if ever a man did his duty conscientiously, it was this +same Swedish official. Every article was taken out and +separately inspected, with an honest patience which I could +not but admire. Nothing was found contraband, however; +we had the pleasure of repacking, and were then pulled +back to the <i>Carl Johan</i> in a profuse sweat, despite the intense +cold.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h2>STOCKHOLM.—PREPARATIONS FOR THE NORTH.</h2> + + +<p>On the following morning we arose at five, went ashore +in the darkness, and after waiting an hour, succeeded in +getting our teams together. The horses were small, but +spirited, the sleds rudely put together, but strong, and not +uncomfortable, and the drivers, peasants of the neighborhood, +patient, and good-humoured. Climbing the steep bank, we +were out of the village in two minutes, crossed an open common, +and entered the forests of fir and pine. The sleighing +was superb, and our little nags carried us merrily along, at +the usual travelling rate of one Swedish mile (nearly seven +English) per hour. Enveloped from head to foot in our fur +robes, we did not feel the sharp air, and in comparing our +sensations, decided that the temperature was about 20°. +What was our surprise, on reaching the post-station, at +learning that it was actually 2° below zero!</p> + +<p>Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the darkness decreased, but +the morning was cloudy, and there was little appearance of +daybreak before nine o'clock. In the early twilight we were +startled by the appearance of a ball of meteoric fire, nearly +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span>as large as the moon, and of a soft white lustre, which +moved in a horizontal line from east to west, and disappeared +without a sound. I was charmed by the forest +scenery through which we passed. The pine, spruce, and +fir trees, of the greatest variety of form, were completely +coated with frozen snow, and stood as immovable as forests +of bronze incrusted with silver. The delicate twigs of the +weeping birch resembled sprays of crystal, of a thousand airy +and exquisite patterns. There was no wind, except in the +open glades between the woods, where the frozen lakes spread +out like meadow intervals. As we approached the first station +there were signs of cultivation—fields inclosed with +stake fences, low red houses, low barns, and scanty patches +of garden land. We occasionally met peasants with their +sleds—hardy, red-faced fellows, and women solid enough to +outweigh their bulk in pig-iron.</p> + +<p>The post-station was a cottage in the little hamlet of +Berga. We drove into the yard, and while sleds and horses +were being changed, partook of some boiled milk and tough +rye-bread, the only things to be had, but both good of their +kind. The travellers' room was carpeted and comfortable, +and the people seemed poor only because of their few wants. +Our new sleds were worse than the former, and so were our +horses, but we came to the second station in time, and found +we must make still another arrangement. The luggage +was sent ahead on a large sled, while each pair of us, seated +in a one horse cutter, followed after it, driving ourselves. +Swedish horses are stopped by a whistle, and encouraged by +a smacking of the lips, which I found impossible to learn at +once, and they considerately gave us no whips. We had +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>now a broad, beaten road, and the many teams we met and +passed gave evidence of our approach to Stockholm. The +country, too, gently undulating all the way, was more thickly +settled, and appeared to be under tolerable cultivation.</p> + +<p>About one in the afternoon, we climbed a rising slope, and +from its brow looked down upon Stockholm. The sky was +dark-gray and lowering; the hills were covered with snow, +and the roofs of the city resembled a multitude of tents, out +of which rose half a dozen dark spires. On either side were +arms of the Mälar Lake—white, frozen plains. Snow was +already in the air, and presently we looked through a screen +of heavy flakes on the dark, weird, wintry picture. The +impression was perfect of its kind, and I shall not soon forget +it.</p> + +<p>We had passed through the southern suburb, and were +descending to the lake, when one of our shafts snapped off. +Resigning the cutter to the charge of a stout maiden, who +acted as postillion, Braisted and I climbed upon the luggage, +and in this wise, shaggy with snowy fur, passed through the +city, before the House of Nobles and the King's Palace, and +over the Northern Bridge, and around the northern suburb, +and I know not where else, to the great astonishment of +everybody we met, until our stupid driver found out where +he was to go. Then we took leave of the Pole, who had +engaged horses to Norrköping, and looked utterly disconsolate +at parting; but the grave Swede showed his kind heart +at last, for—neglecting his home, from which he had been +absent seven years—he accompanied us to an hotel, engaged +rooms, and saw us safely housed.</p> + +<p>We remained in Stockholm a week, engaged in making +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span>preparations for our journey to the North. During this +time we were very comfortably quartered in Kahn's Hotel, +the only one in the capital where one can get both rooms +and meals. The weather changed so entirely, as completely +to destroy our first impressions, and make the North, which +we were seeking, once more as distant as when we left Germany. +The day after our arrival a thaw set in, which +cleared away every particle of snow and ice, opened the +harbor, freed the Mälar Lake, and gave the white hills +around the city their autumnal colors of brown and dark-green. +A dense fog obscured the brief daylight, the air was +close, damp, and oppressive, everybody coughed and snuffled, +and the air-tight rooms, so comfortable in cold weather, +became insufferable. My blood stagnated, my spirits descended +as the mercury rose, and I grew all impatience to +have zero and a beaten snow-track again.</p> + +<p>We had more difficulty in preparing for this journey than +I anticipated—not so much in the way of procuring the +necessary articles, as the necessary information on the subject. +I was not able to find a man who had made the +journey in winter, or who could tell me what to expect, and +what to do. The mention of my plan excited very general +surprise, but the people were too polished and courteous to +say outright that I was a fool, though I don't doubt that +many of them thought so. Even the maps are only minute +enough for the traveller as far as Torneå, and the only +special maps of Lapland I could get dated from 1803. The +Government, it is true, has commenced the publication of a +very admirable map of the kingdom, in provinces, but these +do not as yet extend beyond Jemteland, about Lat. 63° +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>north. Neither is there any work to be had, except some +botanical and geological publications, which of course contain +but little practical information. The English and +German Handbooks for Sweden are next to useless, north of +Stockholm. The principal assurances were, that we should +suffer greatly from cold, that we should take along a supply +of provisions, for nothing was to be had, and that we must +expect to endure hardships and privations of all kinds. +This prospect was not at all alarming, for I remembered +that I had heard much worse accounts of Ethiopia while +making similar preparations in Cairo, and have learned that +all such bugbears cease to exist when they are boldly faced.</p> + +<p>Our outfit, therefore, was restricted to some coffee, sugar, +salt, gunpowder, lucifer-matches, lead, shot and slugs, four +bottles of cognac for cases of extremity, a sword, a butcher-knife, +hammer, screw-driver, nails, rope and twine, all contained +in a box about eighteen inches square. A single +valise held our stock of clothing, books, writing and drawing +materials, and each of us carried, in addition, a double-barrelled +musket. We made negotiations for the purchase +of a handsome Norrland sleigh (numbers of which come to +Stockholm, at this season, laden with wild-fowl), but the +thaw prevented our making a bargain. The preparation of +the requisite funds, however, was a work of some time. In +this I was assisted by Mr. Moström, an excellent valet-de-place, +whom I hereby recommend to all travellers. When, +after three or four days' labour and diplomacy, he brought +me the money, I thought I had suddenly come in possession +of an immense fortune. There were hundreds of bank-notes, +and thousands of silver pieces of all sizes—Swedish paper, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>silver and copper, Norwegian notes and dollars, Danish +marks, and Russian gold, roubles and copecks. The value +belied the quantity, and the vast pile melted away so fast +that I was soon relieved of my pleasant delusion.</p> + +<p>Our equipment should have been made in Germany, for, +singularly enough, Stockholm is not half so well provided +with furs and articles of winter clothing as Hamburg or +Leipsic. Besides, everything is about fifty per cent dearer +here. We were already provided with ample fur robes, I +with one of gray bear-skin, and Braisted with yellow fox. +To these we added caps of sea-otter, mittens of dog-skin, +lined with the fur of the Arctic hare, knitted devil's caps, +woollen sashes of great length for winding around the body, +and, after long search, leather Russian boots lined with +sheepskin and reaching half-way up the thigh. When rigged +out in this costume, my diameter was about equal to +half my height, and I found locomotion rather cumbrous; +while Braisted, whose stature is some seven inches shorter, +waddled along like an animated cotton-bale.</p> + +<p>Everything being at last arranged, so far as our limited +information made it possible, for a two months' journey, we +engaged places in a diligence which runs as far as Gefle, +120 miles north of Stockholm. There we hoped to find +snow and a colder climate. One of my first steps had been +to engage a Swedish teacher, and by dint of taking double +lessons every day, I flattered myself that I had made sufficient +progress in the language to travel without an interpreter—the +most inconvenient and expensive of persons. +To be sure, a week is very little for a new language, but to +one who speaks English and German, Swedish is already +half acquired.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + + +<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h2>FIRST EXPERIENCES OF NORTHERN TRAVEL.</h2> + + +<p>The diligence was a compact little vehicle, carrying four +persons, but we two were so burdened with our guns, sword, +money-bag, field-glass, over-boots and two-fathom-long +sashes, that we found the space allotted to us small enough. +We started at eight o'clock, and had not gone a hundred +yards before we discovered that the most important part of +our outfit—the maps—had been left behind. It was too +late to return, and we were obliged to content ourselves with +the hope of supplying them at Upsala or Gefle.</p> + +<p>We rolled by twilight through the Northern suburb. +The morning was sharp and cold, and the roads, which had +been muddy and cut up the day before, were frozen terribly +hard and rough. Our fellow-passengers were two Swedes, +an unprepossessing young fellow who spoke a few words of +English, and a silent old gentleman; we did not derive +much advantage from their society, and I busied myself with +observing the country through which we passed. A mile +or two, past handsome country-seats and some cemeteries, +brought us into the region of forests. The pines were tall +and picturesque in their forms, and the grassy meadows +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>between them, entirely clear of snow, were wonderfully green +for the season. During the first stage we passed some inlets +of the Baltic, highly picturesque with their irregular wooded +shores. They had all been frozen over during the night. +We were surprised to see, on a southern hill-side, four peasants +at work ploughing. How they got their shares +through the frozen sod, unless the soil was remarkably dry +and sandy, was more than I could imagine. We noticed +occasionally a large manor-house, with its dependent out-buildings, +and its avenue of clipped beeches or lindens, looking +grand and luxurious in the midst of the cold dark fields. +Here and there were patches of wheat, which the early snow +had kept green, and the grass in the damp hollows was still +bright, yet it was the 15th of December, and we were +almost in lat. 60° N.</p> + +<p>The houses were mostly one-story wooden cottages, of a +dull red color, with red roofs. In connection with the +black-green of the pine and fir woods they gave the country +a singularly sombre aspect. There was little variation in +the scenery all the way to Upsala. In some places, the soil +appeared to be rich and under good cultivation; here the +red villages were more frequent, and squat church-towers +showed themselves in the distance. In other places, we had +but the rough hills, or rather knobs of gray gneiss, whose +masses were covered with yellow moss, and the straggling +fir forests. We met but few country teams on the road; +nobody was to be seen about the houses, and the land seemed +to be asleep or desolated. Even at noon, when the sun came +out fairly, he was low on the horizon, and gave but an +eclipsed light, which was more cheerless than complete darkness.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>The sun set about three o'clock, but we had a long, splendid +twilight, a flush of orange, rose and amber-green, worthy +of a Mediterranean heaven. Two hours afterwards, the +lights of Upsala appeared, and we drove under the imposing +front of the old palace, through clean streets, over the +Upsala River, and finally stopped at the door of a courtyard. +Here we were instantly hailed by some young fellows, +who inquired if we did not want rooms. The place did not +appear to be an inn, but as the silent old gentleman got out +and went in, I judged it best to follow his example, and the +diligence drove off with our baggage. We were right, after +all: a rosy, handsome, good-humored landlady appeared, +promised to furnish us with beds and a supper, to wake us +betimes, and give us coffee before leaving.</p> + +<p>The old gentleman kindly put on his coat and accompanied +us to a bookstore on the public square, where I found +Akrell's map of Northern Sweden, and thus partially replaced +our loss. He sat awhile in our room trying to converse, +but I made little headway. On learning that we +were bound for Torneå, he asked: "Are you going to buy +lumber?" "No," I answered; "we are merely going to see +the country." He laughed long and heartily at such an +absurd idea, got up in a hurry, and went to bed without +saying another word. We had a supper of various kinds of +sausage, tough rye bread, and a bowl of milk, followed by +excellent beds—a thing which you are sure to find everywhere +in Sweden.</p> + +<p>We drove off again at half-past six in the morning moon +light, with a temperature of zero. Two or three miles from +the town we passed the mounds of old Upsala, the graves of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>Odin, Thor and Freja, rising boldly against the first glimmerings +of daylight. The landscape was broad, dark and +silent, the woods and fields confusedly blended together, and +only the sepulchres of the ancient gods broke the level line +of the horizon. I could readily have believed in them at +that hour.</p> + +<p>Passing over the broad rich plain of Upsala, we entered +a gently undulating country, richer and better cultivated +than the district we had traversed the previous day. It was +splendidly wooded with thick fir forests, floored with bright +green moss. Some of the views toward the north and west +were really fine from their extent, though seen in the faded +light and long shadows of the low northern sun. In the +afternoon, we passed a large white church, with four little +towers at the corners, standing in the midst of a village of +low red stables, in which the country people shelter their +horses while attending service. There must have been fifty +or sixty of these buildings, arranged in regular streets. In +most of the Swedish country churches, the belfry stands +apart, a squat, square tower, painted red, with a black upper +story, and is sometimes larger than the church itself. The +houses of the peasants are veritable western shanties, except +in color and compactness. No wind finds a cranny to enter, +and the roofs of thick thatch, kept down by long, horizontal +poles, have an air of warmth and comfort. The stables are +banked with earth up to the hay-loft, and the cattle enter +their subterranean stalls through sloping doorways like +those of the Egyptian tombs.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding we made good progress through the day, +it was dark long before we reached the bridge over the Dal +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span>Elv, and of the famous cascades we saw only a sloping white +glimmer, between dark masses of forest, and heard the noise +of the broken waters. At Elfkarleby we were allowed +twenty minutes for dinner—boiled salmon and beefsteak, +both bad. I slept after this, until aroused by the old Swede, +as we entered Gefle. We drove across a broad bridge, +looked over vessels frozen into the inlet of the Gulf, passed +a large public square, and entered the yard of the diligence +office. A boy in waiting conducted us to a private house, +where furnished rooms were to be had, and here we obtained +tea, comfortable beds, and the attendance of a rosy servant-girl, +who spoke intelligible Swedish.</p> + +<p>My first care the next morning, was to engage horses and +send off my <i>förbud</i> papers. We were now to travel by +"<i>skjuts</i>" (pronounced shoos), or post, taking new horses at +each station on the road. The <i>förbud</i> tickets are simply +orders for horses to be ready at an appointed time, and are +sent in advance to all the stations on the road, either by +mail or by a special messenger. Without this precaution, +I was told, we might be subjected to considerable delay. +This mode of travelling is peculiar to Sweden and Norway. +It has been in existence for three or four centuries, and +though gradually improved and systematized with the lapse +of time, it is still sufficiently complex and inconvenient to +a traveller coming from the railroad world.</p> + +<p>Professor Retzius had referred me to the botanist Hartman, +in case of need, but I determined to commence by +helping myself. I had a little difficulty at first: the people +are unused to speaking with foreigners, and if you ask them +to talk slowly, they invariably rattle away twice as fast as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span>before. I went into a variety shop on the public square, +and asked where I could engage horses for Sundsvall. +After making myself understood, as I supposed, the clerk +handed me some new bridles. By dint of blundering, I +gradually circumscribed the range of my inquiries, and +finally came to a focus at the right place. Having ordered +horses at six the next morning, and despatched the <i>förbud</i> +tickets by the afternoon's mail, I felt that I had made a +good beginning, and we set out to make the tour of Gefle.</p> + +<p>This is a town of eight or ten thousand inhabitants, with +a considerable shipping interest, and a naval school. It is +a pretty place, well built, and with a neat, substantial air. +The houses are mostly two stories high, white, and with +spacious courts in the rear. The country around is low but +rolling, and finely clothed with dark forests of fir and pine. +It was a superb day—gloriously clear, with a south wind, +bracing, and not too cold, and a soft, pale lustre from the +cloudless sun. But such a day! Sunrise melting into +sunset without a noon—a long morning twilight, a low, +slant sun, shining on the housetops for an hour or so, and +the evening twilight at three in the afternoon. Nothing +seemed real in this strange, dying light—nothing but my +ignorance of Swedish, whenever I tried to talk.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon, we called on the Magister Hartman, +whom we found poring over his plants. He spoke English +tolerably, and having made a journey through Lapland +from Torneå to the Lyngen Fjord, was able to give us some +information about the country. He encouraged us in the +belief that we should find the journey more rapid and easy +in winter than in summer. He said the Swedes feared the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span>North and few of them ever made a winter journey thither, +but nothing could stop the Americans and the English from +going anywhere. He also comforted us with the assurance +that we should find snow only six Swedish (forty English) +miles further north. Lat. 60° 35' N., the 17th of December, +and no snow yet! In the streets, we met an organ-grinder +playing the Marseillaise. There was no mistaking the jet-black +hair, the golden complexion and the brilliant eyes of +the player, "<i>Siete Italiano?</i>" I asked. "<i>Sicuro!</i>" he +answered, joyously: "<i>e lei anche?</i>" "Ah," he said, in +answer to my questions, "<i>io non amo questo paese</i>; <i>è +freddo ed oscuro</i>; <i>non si gagna niente</i>—<i>ma in Italia si +vive</i>." My friend Ziegler had already assured me: "One +should see the North, but not <i>after</i> the South." Well, we +shall see; but I confess that twenty degrees below zero +would have chilled me less than the sight of that Italian.</p> + +<p>We were at the inn punctually at six in the morning, but +our horses were not ready. The <i>hållkarl</i>, or ostler, after +hearing my remonstrances, went on splitting wood, and, as +I did not know enough of Swedish to scold with any profit, +I was obliged to remain wrathful and silent. He insisted +on my writing something (I could not understand what) in +the post-book, so I copied the affidavit of a preceding traveller +and signed my name to it, which seemed to answer the +purpose. After more than half an hour, two rough two-wheeled +carts were gotten ready, and the farmers to whom +they belonged, packed themselves and our luggage into one, +leaving us to drive the other. We mounted, rolled ourselves +in our furs, thrust our feet into the hay, and rattled out of +Gefle in the frosty moonlight. Such was our first experience +of travelling by <i>skjuts</i>.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>The road went northward, into dark forests, over the +same undulating, yet monotonous country as before. The +ground was rough and hard, and our progress slow, so that +we did not reach the end of the first station (10 miles) until +nine o'clock. As we drove into the post-house, three other +travellers, who had the start of us, and consequently the first +right to horses, drove away. I was dismayed to find that +my <i>förbud</i> had not been received, but the ostler informed +me that by paying twelve skillings extra I could have horses +at once. While the new carts were getting ready, the postman, +wrapped in wolf-skin, and with a face reddened by the +wind, came up, and handed out my <i>förbud</i> ticket. Such +was our first experience of <i>förbud</i>.</p> + +<p>On the next station, the peasant who was ahead with our +luggage left the main road and took a rough track through +the woods. Presently we came to a large inlet of the +Bothnian gulf, frozen solid from shore to shore, and upon +this we boldly struck out. The ice was nearly a foot thick, +and as solid as marble. So we drove for at least four miles, +and finally came to land on the opposite side, near a sawmill. +At the next post-house we found our predecessors +just setting off again in sleds; the landlord informed us that +he had only received my <i>förbud</i> an hour previous, and, +according to law was allowed three hours to get ready his +second instalment of horses, the first being exhausted. +There was no help for it: we therefore comforted ourselves +with breakfast. At one o'clock we set out again in low +Norrland sleds, but there was little snow at first, and we +were obliged to walk the first few miles. The station was a +long one (twenty English miles), and our horses not the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>most promising. Coming upon solid snow at last, we +travelled rather more swiftly, but with more risk. The +sleds, although so low, rest upon narrow runners, and the +shafts are attached by a hook, upon which they turn in all +directions, so that the sled sways from side to side, entirely +independent of them. In going off the main road to get a +little more snow on a side track, I discovered this fact by +overturning the sled, and pitching Braisted and myself out +on our heads. There were lakes on either side, and we made +many miles on the hard ice, which split with a dull sound +under us. Long after dark, we reached the next station, +Stråtjära, and found our horses in readiness. We started +again, by the gleam of a flashing aurora, going through +forests and fields in the uncertain light, blindly following +our leader, Braisted and I driving by turns, and already +much fatigued. After a long time, we descended a steep +hill, to the Ljusne River. The water foamed and thundered +under the bridge, and I could barely see that it fell in a +series of rapids over the rocks.</p> + +<p>At Mo Myskie, which we reached at eight o'clock, our +horses had been ready four hours, which gave us a dollar +banco <i>väntapenningar</i> (waiting money) to pay. The landlord, +a sturdy, jolly fellow, with grizzly hair and a prosperous +abdomen, asked if we were French, and I addressed him +in that language. He answered in English on finding that +we were Americans. On his saying that he had learned +English in Tripoli, I addressed him in Arabic. His eyes +flashed, he burst into a roaring laugh of the profoundest +delight, and at once answered in the majestic gutturals of +the Orient. "<i>Allah akhbar!</i>" he cried; "I have been +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span>waiting twenty years for some one to speak to me in Arabic, +and you are the first!" He afterwards changed to Italian, +which he spoke perfectly well, and preferred to any foreign +language. We were detained half an hour by his delight, +and went off forgetting to pay for a bottle of beer, the price +of which I sent back by the <i>skjutsbonde</i>, or postillion.</p> + +<p>This <i>skjutsbonde</i> was a stupid fellow, who took us a long, +circuitous road, in order to save time. We hurried along +in the darkness, constantly crying out "<i>Kör på!</i>" (Drive +on!) and narrowly missing a hundred overturns. It was +eleven at night before we reached the inn at Kungsgården, +where, fortunately, the people were awake, and the pleasant +old landlady soon had our horses ready. We had yet sixteen +English miles to Bro, our lodging-place, where we +should have arrived by eight o'clock. I hardly know how +to describe the journey. We were half asleep, tired out, +nearly frozen, (mercury below zero) and dashed along at +haphazard, through vast dark forests, up hill and down, +following the sleepy boy who drove ahead with our baggage. +A dozen times the sled, swaying from side to side like a +pendulum, tilted, hung in suspense a second, and then +righted itself again. The boy fell back on the hay and +slept, until Braisted, creeping up behind, startled him with +terrific yells in his ears. Away then dashed the horse, down +steep declivities, across open, cultivated valleys, and into the +woods again. After midnight the moon rose, and the cold +was intenser than ever. The boy having fallen asleep again, +the horse took advantage of it to run off at full speed, we +following at the same rate, sometimes losing sight of him +and uncertain of our way, until, after a chase of a few miles, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span>we found the boy getting his reins out from under the +runners. Finally, after two in the morning, we reached +Bro.</p> + +<p>Here we had ordered a warm room, beds and supper, by +<i>förbud</i>, but found neither. A sleepy, stupid girl, who had +just got up to wait on a captain who had arrived before us +and was going on, told us there was nothing to be had. +"We <i>must</i> eat, if we have to eat <i>you</i>," I said, savagely, for +we were chilled through and fierce with hunger; but I might +as well have tried to hurry the Venus de Medici. At last +we got some cold sausage, a fire, and two couches, on which +we lay down without undressing, and slept. I had scarcely +closed my eyes, it seemed, when the girl, who was to call us +at half-past five o'clock, came into the room. "Is it half-past +five?" I asked. "Oh, yes," she coolly answered, "it's +much more." We were obliged to hurry off at once to avoid +paying so much waiting money.</p> + +<p>At sunrise we passed Hudiksvall, a pretty town at the +head of a deep bay, in which several vessels were frozen up +for the winter. There were some handsome country houses +in the vicinity, better cultivation, more taste in building, +and a few apple and cherry orchards. The mercury was +still at zero, but we suffered less from the cold than the day +previous, and began to enjoy our mode of travel. The +horses were ready at all the stations on our arrival, and we +were not delayed in changing. There was now plenty of +snow, and the roads were splendid—the country undulating, +with beautiful, deep valleys, separated by high, wooded hills, +and rising to bold ridges in the interior. The houses were +larger and better than we had yet seen—so were the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>people—and +there was a general air of progress and well-doing. +In fact, both country and population improved in appearance +as we went northward.</p> + +<p>The night set in very dark and cold, threatening snow. +We had an elephant of a horse, which kicked up his heels +and frisked like an awkward bull-pup, dashed down the hills +like an avalanche, and carried us forward at a rapid rate. +We coiled ourselves up in the hay, kept warm, and trusted +our safety to Providence, for it was impossible to see the +road, and we could barely distinguish the other sled, a dark +speck before us. The old horse soon exhausted his enthusiasm. +Braisted lost the whip, and the zealous boy +ahead stopped every now and then to hurry us on. The +aurora gleamed but faintly through the clouds; we were +nearly overcome with sleep and fatigue, but took turns in +arousing and amusing each other. The sled vibrated continually +from side to side, and finally went over, spilling +ourselves and our guns into a snow-bank. The horse stopped +and waited for us, and then went on until the shafts +came off. Toward ten o'clock, the lights of Sundsvall +appeared, and we soon afterwards drove into the yard of the +inn, having made one hundred and fifty-five miles in two days. +We were wretchedly tired, and hungry as bears, but found +room in an adjoining house, and succeeded in getting a supper +of reindeer steak. I fell asleep in my chair, before my +pipe was half-finished, and awoke the next morning to a sense +of real fatigue. I had had enough of travelling by <i>förbud</i>.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h2>A SLEIGH RIDE THROUGH NORRLAND.</h2> + +<p>Sundsvall is a pretty little town of two or three +thousand inhabitants, situated at the head of a broad and +magnificent bay. It is the eastern terminus of the only +post-road across the mountains to Trondhjem (Drontheim) in +Norway, which passes through the extensive province of +Jemteland. It is, consequently, a lively and bustling +place, and has a considerable coasting trade. The day after +our arrival was market-day, and hundreds of the Norrlanders +thronged the streets and public square. They were all +fresh, strong, coarse, honest, healthy people—the men with +long yellow hair, large noses and blue eyes, the women with +the rosiest of checks and the fullest development of body +and limb. Many of the latter wore basques or jackets of +sheepskin with the wool inside, striped petticoats and bright +red stockings. The men were dressed in shaggy sheepskin +coats, or garments of reindeer skin, with the hair outward. +There was a vast collection of low Norrland sleds, laden +with butter, cheese, hay, and wild game, and drawn by the +rough and tough little horses of the country. Here was +still plenty of life and animation, although we were already +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>so far north that the sun did not shine upon Sundsvall the +whole day, being hidden by a low hill to the south. The +snowy ridges on the north, however, wore a bright roseate +blush from his rays, from ten until two.</p> + +<p>We called upon a merchant of the place, to whom I had +a letter of introduction. He was almost the only man I +met before undertaking the journey, who encouraged me to +push on. "The people in Stockholm," said he, "know +nothing about Northern Sweden." He advised me to give +up travelling by <i>förbud</i>, to purchase a couple of sleds, and +take our chance of finding horses: we would have no trouble +in making from forty to fifty English miles per day. On +returning to the inn, I made the landlord understand what +we wanted, but could not understand him in return. At +this juncture came in a handsome fellow; with a cosmopolitan +air, whom Braisted recognised, by certain invisible signs, as +the mate of a ship, and who explained the matter in very +good English. I purchased two plain but light and +strongly made sleds for 50 <i>rigs</i> (about $14), which seemed +very cheap, but I afterwards learned that I paid much more +than the current price.</p> + +<p>On repacking our effects, we found that everything liquid +was frozen—even a camphorated mixture, which had been +carefully wrapped in flannel. The cold, therefore, must +have been much more severe than we supposed. Our supplies, +also, were considerably damaged—the lantern broken, +a powder-flask cracked, and the salt, shot, nails, wadding, +&c., mixed together in beautiful confusion. Everything +was stowed in one of the sleds, which was driven by +the postilion; the other contained only our two selves. We +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>were off the next morning, as the first streaks of dawn +appeared in the sky. The roads about Sundsvall were +very much cut up, and even before getting out of the town +we were pitched over head and ears into a snow-bank.</p> + +<p>We climbed slowly up and darted headlong down the +ridges which descend from the west toward the Bothnian +Gulf, dividing its tributary rivers; and toward sunrise, came +to a broad bay, completely frozen over and turned into a +snowy plain. With some difficulty the <i>skjutsbonde</i> made +me understand that a shorter road led across the ice to the +second post-station, Fjäl, avoiding one change of horses. +The way was rough enough at first, over heaped blocks of +ice, but became smoother where the wind had full sweep, and +had cleared the water before it froze. Our road was marked +out by a double row of young fir-trees, planted in the ice. +The bay was completely land-locked, embraced by a bold +sweep of wooded hills, with rich, populous valleys between. +Before us, three or four miles across, lay the little port of +Wifsta-warf, where several vessels—among them a ship of +three or four hundred tuns—were frozen in for the winter. +We crossed, ascended a long hill, and drove on through fir +woods to Fjäl, a little hamlet with a large inn. Here we +got breakfast; and though it may be in bad taste to speak +of what one eats, the breakfast was in such good taste that +I cannot pass over it without lingering to enjoy, in memory, +its wonderful aroma. Besides, if it be true, as some shockingly +gross persons assert, that the belly is a more important +district of the human economy than the brain, a good meal +deserves chronicling no less than an exalted impression. +Certain it is, that strong digestive are to be preferred to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>strong thinking powers—better live unknown than die of +dyspepsia. This was our first country meal in Norrland, of +whose fare the Stockholmers have a horror, yet that stately +capital never furnished a better. We had beefsteak and +onions, delicious blood-puddings, the tenderest of pancakes +(no <i>omelette soufflée</i> could be more fragile), with ruby raspberry +jam, and a bottle of genuine English porter. If you +think the bill of fare too heavy and solid, take a drive of +fifteen miles in the regions of Zero, and then let your +delicate stomach decide.</p> + +<p>In a picturesque dell near Fjäl we crossed the rapid +Indal River, which comes down from the mountains of +Norway. The country was wild and broken, with occasional +superb views over frozen arms of the Gulf, and the deep +rich valleys stretching inland. Leaving Hernösand, the +capital of the province, a few miles to our right, we kept the +main northern road, slowly advancing from station to station +with old and tired horses. There was a snow-storm in +the afternoon, after which the sky came out splendidly clear, +and gorgeous with the long northern twilight. In the +silence of the hour and the deepening shadows of the forest +through which we drove, it was startling to hear, all at +once the sound of voices singing a solemn hymn. My first +idea was, that some of those fanatical Dissenters of Norrland +who meet, as once the Scotch Covenanters, among the +hills, were having a refreshing winter meeting in the woods; +but on proceeding further we found that the choristers were +a company of peasants returning from market with their +empty sleds.</p> + +<p>It was already dark at four o'clock, and our last horses +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>were so slow that the postilion, a handsome, lively boy, +whose pride was a little touched by my remonstrances, failed, +in spite of all his efforts, to bring us to the station before +seven. We stopped at Weda, on the Angermann River, the +largest stream in Northern Sweden. Angermannland, the +country which it drains, is said to be a very wild and +beautiful region, where some traces of the old, original +Asiatic type which peopled Scandinavia are yet to be traced +in the features of its secluded population. At Weda, we +found excellent quarters. A neat, quiet, old-fashioned little +servant-girl, of twelve or fourteen, took charge of us, and +attended to all our wants with the greatest assiduity. We +had a good supper, a small but neat room, clean beds, and +coffee in the morning, beside a plentiful provision for +breakfast on the way, for a sum equal to seventy-five cents.</p> + +<p>We left at half-past seven, the waning moon hanging on +the horizon, and the first almost imperceptible signs of the +morning twilight in the east. The Angermann River +which is here a mile broad, was frozen, and our road led +directly across its surface. The wind blew down it, across +the snow-covered ice, making our faces tingle with premonitory +signs of freezing, as the mercury was a little below +zero. My hands were chilled inside the fur mittens, and I +was obliged to rub my nose frequently, to prevent it from +being nipped. The day was raw and chilly, and the temperature +rose very little, although the hills occasionally +sheltered us from the wind. The scenery, also, grew darker +and wilder as we advanced. The fir-trees were shorter and +stunted, and of a dark greenish-brown, which at a little +distance appeared completely black. Nothing could exceed +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>the bleak, inhospitable character of these landscapes. The +inlets of the Bothnian Gulf were hard, snow-covered plains, +inclosed by bold, rugged headlands, covered with ink-black +forests. The more distant ridges faded into a dull indigo +hue, flecked with patches of ghastly white, under the lowering, +sullen, short-lived daylight.</p> + +<p>Our road was much rougher than hitherto. We climbed +long ridges, only to descend by as steep declivities on the +northern side, to cross the bed of an inland stream, and then +ascend again. The valleys, however, were inhabited and +apparently well cultivated, for the houses were large and +comfortable, and the people had a thrifty, prosperous and +satisfied air. Beside the farmhouses were immense racks, +twenty feet high, for the purpose of drying flax and grain, +and at the stations the people offered for sale very fine and +beautiful linen of their own manufacture. This is the +staple production of Norrland, where the short summers are +frequently insufficient to mature the grain crops. The inns +were all comfortable buildings, with very fair accommodations +for travellers. We had bad luck with horses this day, +however, two or three travellers having been in advance and +had the pick. On one stage our baggage-sled was driven +by a <i>poike</i> of not more than ten years old—a darling fellow, +with a face as round, fresh and sweet as a damask rose, the +bluest of eyes, and a cloud of silky golden hair. His successor +was a tall, lazy lout, who stopped so frequently to +talk with the drivers of sleds behind us, that we lost all +patience, drove past and pushed ahead in the darkness, +trusting our horse to find the way. His horse followed, +leaving him in the lurch, and we gave him a long-winded +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>chase astern before we allowed him to overtake us. This +so exasperated him that we had no trouble the rest of the +way. <i>Mem.</i>—If you wish to travel with speed, make your +postilion angry.</p> + +<p>At Hörnäs they gave us a supper of ale and cold pig's +feet, admirable beds, and were only deficient in the matter +of water for washing. We awoke with headaches, on account +of gas from the tight Russian stove. The temperature, at +starting, was 22° below zero—colder than either of us had +ever before known. We were a little curious, at first, to +know how we should endure it, but, to our delight, found +ourselves quite warm and comfortable. The air was still, +dry, and delicious to inhale. My nose occasionally required +friction, and my beard and moustache became a solid mass +of ice, frozen together so that I could scarcely open my +mouth, and firmly fastened to my fur collar. We travelled +forty-nine miles, and were twelve hours on the way, yet felt +no inconvenience from the temperature.</p> + +<p>By this time it was almost wholly a journey by night, +dawn and twilight, for full day there was none. The sun +rose at ten and set at two. We skimmed along, over the +black, fir-clothed hills, and across the pleasant little valleys, +in the long, gray, slowly-gathering daybreak: then, heavy +snow-clouds hid half the brief day, and the long, long, dusky +evening glow settled into night. The sleighing was superb, +the snow pure as ivory, hard as marble, and beautifully crisp +and smooth. Our sleds glided over it without effort, the +runners making music as they flew. With every day the +country grew wilder, blacker and more rugged, with no +change in the general character of the scenery. In the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>afternoon we passed the frontier of Norrland, and entered +the province of West Bothnia. There are fewer horses at +the stations, as we go north, but also fewer travellers, and we +were not often detained. Thus far, we had no difficulty: +my scanty stock of Swedish went a great way, and I began +to understand with more facility, even the broad Norrland +dialect.</p> + +<p>The people of this region are noble specimens of the +physical man—tall, broad-shouldered, large-limbed, ruddy +and powerful; and they are mated with women who, I venture +to say, do not even suspect the existence of a nervous +system. The natural consequences of such health are: +morality and honesty—to say nothing of the quantities of +rosy and robust children which bless every household. If +health and virtue cannot secure happiness, nothing can, and +these Norrlanders appear to be a thoroughly happy and +contented race. We had occasional reason to complain of +their slowness; but, then, why should they be fast? It is +rather we who should moderate our speed. Braisted, however, +did not accept such a philosophy. "Charles XII. was +the boy to manage the Swedes," said he to me one day; "he +always kept them in a hurry."</p> + +<p>We reached Lefwar, our resting-place for the night, in +good condition, notwithstanding the 22° below, and felt +much colder in the house, after stripping off our furs, than +out of doors with them on. They gave us a supper consisting +of <i>smörgås</i> ("butter-goose"—the Swedish prelude to a +meal, consisting usually of bread, butter, pickled anchovies, +and caviar flavored with garlic), sausages, potatoes, and milk, +and made for us sumptuous beds of the snowiest and sweetest +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>linen. When we rose next morning it was snowing. +About an inch had fallen during the night, and the mercury +had risen to 6° below zero. We drove along in the dusky +half-twilight toward Angesjö, over low, broad hills, covered +with forests of stunted birch and fir. The scenery continued +the same, and there is no use in repeating the +description, except to say that the land became more cold +and barren, and there seemed to be few things cultivated +except flax, barley and potatoes. Still the same ridges +sweeping down to the Gulf, on one hand, the same frozen +bays and inlets on the other, and villages at intervals of +eight or ten miles, each with its great solid church, low red +belfry and deserted encampment of red frame stables. +Before reaching the second station, we looked from a wooded +height over the open expanse of the Gulf,—a plain of snow-covered +ice, stretching eastward as far as the eye could +reach.</p> + +<p>The day gradually became still and cold, until the temperature +reached -22° again, and we became comfortable in +the same proportion. The afternoon twilight, splendid with +its hues of amber, rose and saffron, died away so gradually, +that it seemed scarcely to fade at all, lighting our path for +at least three hours after sunset. Our postilions were all +boys—ruddy, hardy young fellows of fourteen or fifteen, who +drove well and sang incessantly, in spite of the cold. They +talked much with us, but to little purpose, as I found it +very difficult to understand the humming dialect they spoke. +Each, as he received his <i>drickpenningar</i> (drink-money, or +gratuity), at the end of the station, expressed his thanks by +shaking hands with us. This is a universal custom +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span>throughout the north of Sweden: it is a part of the simple, +natural habits of the people; and though it seemed rather +odd at first to be shaking hands with everybody, from the +landlord down to the cook and the ostler, we soon came to +take it as a matter of course. The frank, unaffected way +in which the hand was offered, oftener made the custom a +pleasant one.</p> + +<p>At Stocksjö we decided to push on to a station beyond +Umeå, called Innertafle, and took our horses accordingly. +The direct road, however, was unused on account of the +drifts, so we went around through Umeå, after all. We +had nearly a Swedish mile, and it was just dark when we +descended to the Umeå River, across whose solid surface we +drove, and up a steep bank into the town. We stopped a +few moments in the little public square, which was crowded +with people, many of whom had already commenced their +Christmas sprees. The shops were lighted, and the little +town looked very gay and lively. Passing through, we kept +down the left bank of the river for a little distance, and then +struck into the woods. It was night by this time; all at +once the boy stopped, mounted a snow-bank, whirled around +three or four times, and said something to me which I could +not understand. "What's the matter?" I asked; "is not +this the road to Innertafle?" "I don't know—I think not," +he said. "Don't you know the way, then?" I asked again. +"No!" he yelled in reply, whirled around several times +more, and then drove on. Presently we overtook a pedestrian, +to whom he turned for advice, and who willingly acted +as guide for the sake of a ride. Away we went again, but +the snow was so spotless that it was impossible to see the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span>track. Braisted and I ran upon a snow-bank, were overturned +and dragged some little distance, but we righted +ourselves again, and soon afterwards reached our destination.</p> + +<p>In the little inn the guests' room lay behind the large +family kitchen, through which we were obliged to pass. +We were seized with a shivering fit on stripping off our +furs, and it seemed scarcely possible to get warm again. +This was followed by such intense drowsiness that we were +obliged to lie down and sleep an hour before supper. After +the cold weather set in, we were attacked with this drowsy +fit every day, toward evening, and were obliged to take +turns in arousing and stimulating each other. This we +generally accomplished by singing "From Greenland's icy +mountains," and other appropriate melodies. At Innertafle +we were attended by a tall landlady, a staid, quiet, almost +grim person, who paid most deliberate heed to our wants. +After a delay of more than two hours, she furnished us with +a supper consisting of some kind of fresh fish, with a sauce +composed of milk, sugar and onions, followed by <i>gryngröt</i>, +a warm mush of mixed rice and barley, eaten with milk. +Such was our fare on Christmas eve; but hunger is the +best sauce, and our dishes were plentifully seasoned with it.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h2>PROGRESS NORTHWARDS.—A STORM.</h2> + + +<p>We arose betimes on Christmas morn, but the grim and +deliberate landlady detained us an hour in preparing our +coffee. I was in the yard about five minutes, wearing only +my cloth overcoat and no gloves, and found the air truly +sharp and nipping, but not painfully severe. Presently, +Braisted came running in with the thermometer, exclaiming, +with a yell of triumph, "<i>Thirty</i>, by Jupiter!" (30° of +Reaumur, equal to 35-1/2° below zero of Fahrenheit.) We +were delighted with this sign of our approach to the Arctic +circle.</p> + +<p>The horses were at last ready; we muffled up carefully, +and set out. The dawn was just streaking the East, the +sky was crystal-clear, and not a breath of air stirring. My +beard was soon a solid mass of ice, from the moisture of my +breath, and my nose required constant friction. The day +previous, the ice which had gathered on my fur collar lay +against my face so long that the flesh began to freeze over +my cheek-bones, and thereafter I was obliged to be particularly +cautious. As it grew lighter, we were surprised +to find that our postilion was a girl. She had a heavy +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>sheepskin over her knees, a muff for her hands, and a shawl +around her head, leaving only the eyes visible. Thus +accoutred, she drove on merrily, and, except that the red of +her cheeks became scarlet and purple, showed no signs of the +weather. As we approached Sörmjöle, the first station, we +again had a broad view of the frozen Bothnian Gulf, over +which hovered a low cloud of white ice-smoke. Looking +down into the snowy valley of Sörmjöle, we saw the straight +pillars of smoke rising from the houses high into the air, +not spreading, but gradually breaking off into solid masses +which sank again and filled the hollow, almost concealing +the houses. Only the white, handsome church, with its tall +spire, seated on a mound, rose above this pale blue film and +shone softly in the growing flush of day.</p> + +<p>We ordered horses at once, after drinking a bowl of hot +milk, flavored with cinnamon. This is the favourite winter +drink of the people, sometimes with the addition of +brandy. But the <i>finkel</i>, or common brandy of Sweden, is a +detestable beverage, resembling a mixture of turpentine, +train oil, and bad molasses, and we took the milk unmixed, +which admirably assisted in keeping up the animal heat. +The mercury by this time had fallen to 38° below zero. +We were surprised and delighted to find that we stood the +cold so easily, and prided ourselves not a little on our powers +of endurance. Our feet gradually became benumbed, +but, by walking up the hills, we prevented the circulation +from coming to a stand-still.</p> + +<p>The cold, however, played some grotesque pranks with us. +My beard, moustache, cap, and fur collar were soon one undivided +lump of ice. Our eyelashes became snow-white +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>and heavy with frost, and it required constant motion to +keep them from freezing together. We saw everything +through visors barred with ivory. Our eyebrows and hair +were as hoary as those of an octogenarian, and our cheeks +a mixture of crimson and orange, so that we were scarcely +recognizable by each other. Every one we met had snow-white +locks, no matter how youthful the face, and, whatever +was the colour of our horses at starting, we always drove +milk-white steeds at the close of the post. The irritation +of our nostrils occasioned the greatest inconvenience, and as +the handkerchiefs froze instantly, it soon became a matter +of pain and difficulty to use them. You might as well attempt +to blow your nose with a poplar chip. We could not +bare our hands a minute, without feeling an iron grasp of +cold which seemed to squeeze the flesh like a vice, and turn +the very blood to ice. In other respects we were warm and +jolly, and I have rarely been in higher spirits. The air was +exquisitely sweet and pure, and I could open my mouth (as +far as its icy grating permitted) and inhale full draughts +into the lungs with a delicious sensation of refreshment and +exhilaration. I had not expected to find such freedom of +respiration in so low a temperature. Some descriptions of +severe cold in Canada and Siberia, which I have read, state +that at such times the air occasions a tingling, smarting +sensation in the throat and lungs, but I experienced nothing +of the kind.</p> + +<p>This was arctic travel at last. By Odin, it was glorious! +The smooth, firm road, crisp and pure as alabaster, over +which our sleigh-runners talked with the rippling, musical +murmur of summer brooks; the sparkling, breathless <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>firmament; +the gorgeous rosy flush of morning, slowly deepening +until the orange disc of the sun cut the horizon; the +golden blaze of the tops of the bronze firs; the glittering of +the glassy birches; the long, dreary sweep of the landscape; +the icy nectar of the perfect air; the tingling of the roused +blood in every vein, all alert to guard the outposts of life +against the besieging cold—it was superb! The natives +themselves spoke of the cold as being unusually severe, and +we congratulated ourselves all the more on our easy endurance +of it. Had we judged only by our own sensations we +should not have believed the temperature to be nearly so +low.</p> + +<p>The sun rose a little after ten, and I have never seen +anything finer than the spectacle which we then saw for +the first time, but which was afterwards almost daily repeated—the +illumination of the forests and snow-fields in +his level orange beams, for even at midday he was not more +than eight degrees above the horizon. The tops of the +trees, only, were touched: still and solid as iron, and covered +with sparkling frost-crystals, their trunks were changed +to blazing gold, and their foliage to a fiery orange-brown. +The delicate purple sprays of the birch, coated with ice, +glittered like wands of topaz and amethyst, and the slopes +of virgin snow, stretching towards the sun, shone with the +fairest saffron gleams. There is nothing equal to this in +the South—nothing so transcendently rich, dazzling, and +glorious. Italian dawns and twilights cannot surpass those +we saw every day, not, like the former, fading rapidly into +the ashen hues of dusk, but lingering for hour after hour +with scarce a decrease of splendour. Strange that Nature +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>should repeat these lovely aerial effects in such widely different +zones and seasons. I thought to find in the winter +landscapes of the far North a sublimity of death and desolation—a +wild, dark, dreary, monotony of expression—but I +had, in reality, the constant enjoyment of the rarest, the tenderest, +the most enchanting beauty.</p> + +<p>The people one meets along the road harmonise with these +unexpected impressions. They are clear eyed and rosy as +the morning, straight and strong as the fir saplings in their +forests, and simple, honest, and unsophisticated beyond any +class of men I have ever seen. They are no milksops either. +Under the serenity of those blue eyes and smooth, fair faces, +burns the old Berserker rage, not easily kindled, but terrible +as the lightning when once loosed. "I would like to +take all the young men north of Sundsvall," says Braisted, +"put them into Kansas, tell them her history, and then let +them act for themselves." "The cold in clime are cold in +blood," sings Byron, but they are only cold through superior +self-control and freedom from perverted passions. Better +is the assertion of Tennyson:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"That bright, and fierce, and fickle is the South,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And dark, and true, and tender is the North."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>There are tender hearts in the breasts of these northern men +and women, albeit they are as undemonstrative as the English—or +we Americans, for that matter. It is exhilarating +to see such people—whose digestion is sound, whose nerves +are tough as whipcord, whose blood runs in a strong full +stream, whose impulses are perfectly natural, who are good +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>without knowing it, and who are happy without trying to +be so. Where shall we find such among our restless communities +at home?</p> + +<p>We made two Swedish miles by noon, and then took a +breakfast of fried reindeer meat and pancakes, of which we +ate enormously, to keep up a good supply of fuel. Braisted +and I consumed about a pound of butter between us. Shriek +not, young ladies, at our vulgar appetites—you who sip a +spoonful of ice-cream, or trifle with a diminutive <i>meringue</i>, +in company, but make amends on cold ham and pickles in +the pantry, after you go home—I shall tell the truth, though +it disgust you. This intense cold begets a necessity for fat, +and with the necessity comes the taste—a wise provision of +Nature! The consciousness now dawned upon me that I +might be able to relish train-oil and tallow-candles before +we had done with Lapland.</p> + +<p>I had tough work at each station to get my head out of +my wrappings, which were united with my beard and hair +in one solid lump. The cold increased instead of diminishing, +and by the time we reached Gumboda, at dusk, it was +40° below zero. Here we found a company of Finns travelling +southward, who had engaged five horses, obliging us to +wait a couple of hours. We had already made forty miles, +and were satisfied with our performance, so we stopped for +the night. When the thermometer was brought in, the +mercury was frozen, and on unmuffling I found the end of +my nose seared as if with a hot iron. The inn was capital; +we had a warm carpeted room, beds of clean, lavendered +linen, and all civilised appliances. In the evening we sat +down to a Christmas dinner of sausages, potatoes, pancakes, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>raspberry jam, and a bottle of Barclay and Perkin's best +porter, in which we drank the health of all dear relatives +and friends in the two hemispheres. And this was in West +Bothnia, where we had been told in Stockholm that we +should starve! At bedtime, Braisted took out the thermometer +again, and soon brought it in with the mercury +frozen below all the numbers on the scale.</p> + +<p>In the morning, the landlord came in and questioned us, +in order to satisfy his curiosity. He took us for Norwegians, +and was quite surprised to find out our real character. +We had also been taken for Finns, Russians and Danes, +since leaving Stockholm. "I suppose you intend to buy +lumber?" said the landlord. "No," said I, "we travel +merely for the pleasure of it." "<i>Ja so-o-o!</i>" he exclaimed, +in a tone of the greatest surprise and incredulity. He +asked if it was necessary that we should travel in such cold +weather, and seemed reluctant to let us go. The mercury +showed 25° below zero when we started, but the sky was +cloudy, with a raw wind from the north-west. We did not +feel the same hard, griping cold as the day previous, but a +more penetrating chill. The same character of scenery +continued, but with a more bleak and barren aspect, and +the population became more scanty. The cloudy sky took +away what little green there was in the fir-trees, and they +gloomed as black as Styx on either side of our road. The +air was terribly raw and biting as it blew across the hollows +and open plains. I did not cover my face, but kept up such +a lively friction on my nose, to prevent it from freezing, +that in the evening I found the skin quite worn away.</p> + +<p>At Daglösten, the third station, we stopped an hour for +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>breakfast. It was a poverty-stricken place, and we could +only get some fish-roes and salt meat. The people were all +half-idiots, even to the postilion who drove us. We had +some daylight for the fourth station, did the fifth by twilight, +and the sixth in darkness. The cold (-30°) was so keen +that our postilions made good time, and we reached Sunnanå +on the Skellefteå River, 52 miles, soon after six o'clock. +Here we were lodged in a large, barn-like room, so cold that +we were obliged to put on our overcoats and sit against the +stove. I began to be troubled with a pain in my jaw, from +an unsound tooth—the commencement of a martyrdom from +which I suffered for many days afterwards. The existence +of nerves in one's teeth has always seemed to me a superfluous +provision of Nature, and I should have been well +satisfied if she had omitted them in my case.</p> + +<p>The handmaiden called us soon after five o'clock, and +brought us coffee while we were still in bed. This is the +general custom here in the North, and is another point of +contact with the South. The sky was overcast, with raw +violent wind—mercury 18° below zero. We felt the cold +very keenly; much more so than on Christmas day. The +wind blew full in our teeth, and penetrated even beneath +our furs. On setting out, we crossed the Skellefteå River +by a wooden bridge, beyond which we saw, rising duskily in +the uncertain twilight, a beautiful dome and lantern, crowning +a white temple, built in the form of a Greek cross. It +was the parish church of Skellefteå. Who could have expected +to find such an edifice, here, on the borders of Lapland? +The village about it contains many large and handsome +houses. This is one of the principal points of trade +and intercourse between the coast and the interior.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>The weather became worse as we advanced, traversing +the low, broad hills, through wastes of dark pine forests. +The wind cut like a sharp sword in passing the hollows, and +the drifting snow began to fill the tracks. We were full +two hours in making the ten miles to Frostkage, and the day +seemed scarcely nearer at hand. The leaden, lowering sky +gave out no light, the forests were black and cold, the snow +a dusky grey—such horribly dismal scenery I have rarely +beheld. We warmed ourselves as well as we could, and +started anew, having for postilions two rosy boys, who sang +the whole way and played all sorts of mad antics with each +other to keep from freezing. At the next station we drank +large quantities of hot milk, flavored with butter, sugar and +cinnamon, and then pushed on, with another chubby hop-o'-my-thumb +as guide and driver. The storm grew worse and +worse: the wind blew fiercely over the low hills, loaded with +particles of snow, as fine as the point of a needle and as hard +as crystal, which struck full on our eyeballs and stung them +so that we could scarcely see. I had great difficulty in keeping +my face from freezing, and my companion found his +cheek touched.</p> + +<p>By the time we reached Abyn, it blew a hurricane, and +we were compelled to stop. It was already dusk, and our +cosy little room was doubly pleasant by contrast with the +wild weather outside. Our cheerful landlady, with her +fresh complexion and splendid teeth, was very kind and attentive, +and I got on very well in conversation, notwithstanding +her broad dialect. She was much astonished at +my asking for a bucket of cold water, for bathing. "Why," +said she, "I always thought that if a person put his feet +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>into cold water, in winter, he would die immediately." +However, she supplied it, and was a little surprised to find +me none the worse in the morning. I passed a terrible +night from the pain in my face, and was little comforted, +on rising, by the assurance that much snow had fallen. +The mercury had risen to zero, and the wind still blew, +although not so furiously as on the previous day. We +therefore determined to set out, and try to reach Piteå. +The landlady's son, a tall young Viking, with yellow locks +hanging on his shoulders, acted as postilion, and took the +lead. We started at nine, and found it heavy enough at +first. It was barely light enough to see our way, and we +floundered slowly along through deep drifts for a mile, +when we met the snow-plows, after which our road became +easier. These plows are wooden frames, shaped somewhat +like the bow of a ship—in fact, I have seen very fair clipper +models among them—about fifteen feet long by ten feet +wide at the base, and so light that, if the snow is not too +deep, one horse can manage them. The farmers along the +road are obliged to turn out at six o'clock in the morning +whenever the snow falls or drifts, and open a passage for +travellers. Thus, in spite of the rigorous winter, communication +is never interrupted, and the snow-road, at last, +from frequent plowing, becomes the finest sleighing track in +the world.</p> + +<p>The wind blew so violently, however, that the furrows +were soon filled up, and even the track of the baggage-sled, +fifty yards in advance, was covered. There was one hollow +where the drifts of loose snow were five or six feet deep, and +here we were obliged to get out and struggle across, sinking +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>to our loins at every step. It is astonishing how soon one +becomes hardened to the cold. Although the mercury stood +at zero, with a violent storm, we rode with our faces fully +exposed, frost-bites and all, and even drove with bare hands, +without the least discomfort. But of the scenery we saw +this day, I can give no description. There was nothing but +long drifts and waves of spotless snow, some dim, dark, +spectral fir-trees on either hand, and beyond that a wild +chaos of storm. The snow came fast and blinding, beating +full in our teeth. It was impossible to see; the fine particles +so stung our eyeballs, that we could not look ahead. +My eyelashes were loaded with snow, which immediately +turned to ice and froze the lids together, unless I kept them +in constant motion. The storm hummed and buzzed through +the black forests; we were all alone on the road, or even +the pious Swedes would not turn out to church on such a +day. It was terribly sublime and desolate, and I enjoyed it +amazingly. We kept warm, although there was a crust of +ice a quarter of an inch thick on our cheeks, and the ice in +our beards prevented us from opening our mouths. At one +o'clock, we reached the second station, Gefre, unrecognisable +by our nearest friends. Our eyelashes were weighed down +with heavy fringes of frozen snow, there were icicles an inch +long hanging to the eaves of our moustaches, and the handkerchiefs +which wrapped our faces were frozen fast to the +flesh. The skin was rather improved by this treatment, but +it took us a great while to thaw out.</p> + +<p>At Gefre, we got some salt meat and hot milk, and then +started on our long stage of fifteen miles to Piteå. The +wind had moderated somewhat, but the snow still fell fast +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>and thick. We were again blinded and frozen up more +firmly than ever, cheeks and all, so that our eyes and lips +were the only features to be seen. After plunging along +for more than two hours through dreary woods, we came +upon the estuary of the Piteå River, where our course was +marked out by young fir-trees, planted in the ice. The +world became a blank; there was snow around, above and +below, and but for these marks a man might have driven at +random until he froze. For three miles or more, we rode +over the solid gulf, and then took the woods on the opposite +shore. The way seemed almost endless. Our feet grew +painfully cold, our eyes smarted from the beating of the fine +snow, and my swollen jaw tortured me incessantly. Finally +lights appeared ahead through the darkness, but another +half hour elapsed before we saw houses on both sides of us. +There was a street, at last, then a large mansion, and to +our great joy the <i>skjutsbonde</i> turned into the courtyard of +an inn.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h2>JOURNEY FROM PITEÅ TO HAPARANDA.</h2> + + +<p>My jaw was so painful on reaching Piteå, that I tossed +about in torment the whole night, utterly unable to sleep. +The long northern night seemed as if it would never come +to an end, and I arose in the morning much more fatigued +and exhausted than when I lay down. It was 6° below +zero, and the storm still blowing, but the cold seemed to +relieve my face a little, and so we set out. The roads were +heavy, but a little broken, and still led over hills and +through interminable forests of mingled fir and pine, in +the dark, imperfect day. I took but little note of the +scenery, but was so drowsy and overcome, that Braisted at +last filled the long baggage-sled with hay, and sat at the +rear, so that I could lie stretched out, with my head upon +his lap. Here, in spite of the cold and wind, I lay in a +warm, stupid half-sleep.</p> + +<p>It was dark when we reached Ersnäs, whence we had +twelve miles to Old Luleå, with tired horses, heavy roads, +and a lazy driver. I lay down again, dozed as usual, and +tried to forget my torments. So passed three hours; the +night had long set in, with a clear sky, 13° below zero, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>a sharp wind blowing. All at once an exclamation from +Braisted aroused me. I opened my eyes, as I lay in his lap, +looked upward, and saw a narrow belt or scarf of silver fire +stretching directly across the zenith, with its loose, frayed +ends slowly swaying to and fro down the slopes of the sky. +Presently it began to waver, bending back and forth, +sometimes slowly, sometimes with a quick, springing motion, +as if testing its elasticity. Now it took the shape of a bow, +now undulated into Hogarth's line of beauty, brightening +and fading in its sinuous motion, and finally formed a +shepherd's crook, the end of which suddenly began to +separate and fall off, as if driven by a strong wind, until +the whole belt shot away in long, drifting lines of fiery +snow. It then gathered again into a dozen dancing fragments, +which alternately advanced and retreated, shot +hither and thither, against and across each other, blazed out +in yellow and rosy gleams or paled again, playing a thousand +fantastic pranks, as if guided by some wild whim.</p> + +<p>We lay silent, with upturned faces, watching this wonderful +spectacle. Suddenly, the scattered lights ran together, +as by a common impulse, joined their bright ends, twisted +them through each other, and fell in a broad, luminous +curtain straight downward through the air until its fringed +hem swung apparently but a few yards over our heads. +This phenomenon was so unexpected and startling, that for +a moment I thought our faces would be touched by the +skirts of the glorious auroral drapery. It did not follow +the spheric curve of the firmament, but hung plumb from +the zenith, falling, apparently, millions of leagues through +the air, its folds gathered together among the stars and its +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>embroidery of flame sweeping the earth and shedding a pale, +unearthly radiance over the wastes of snow. A moment +afterwards and it was again drawn up, parted, waved its +flambeaux and shot its lances hither and thither, advancing +and retreating as before. Anything so strange, so capricious, +so wonderful, so gloriously beautiful, I scarcely hope to see +again.</p> + +<p>By this time we came upon the broad Luleå River, and +were half an hour traversing its frozen surface, still watching +the snow above us, which gradually became fainter and +less active. Finally we reached the opposite shore, drove +up a long slope, through a large village of stables, and past +the imposing church of Old Luleå to the inn. It was now +nearly eight o'clock, very cold, and I was thoroughly +exhausted. But the inn was already full of travellers, and +there was no place to lay our heads. The landlord, a +sublimely indifferent Swede, coolly advised us to go on to +Persö, ten miles distant. I told him I had not slept for two +nights, but he merely shrugged his shoulders, repeated his +advice, and offered to furnish horses at once, to get us off. +It was a long, cold, dreary ride, and I was in a state of +semi-consciousness the whole time. We reached Persö about +eleven, found the house full of travellers, but procured two +small beds in a small room with another man in it, and +went to sleep without supper. I was so thoroughly worn +out that I got about three hours' rest, in spite of my pain.</p> + +<p>We took coffee in bed at seven, and started for Rånbyn, +on the Råneå River. The day was lowering, temperature +8-1/2° below zero. The country was low, slightly undulating +with occasional wide views to the north, over the inlets of +the gulf, and vast wide tracts of forest. The settlements +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>were still as frequent as ever, but there was little apparent +cultivation, except flax. Rånbyn is a large village, with a +stately church. The people were putting up booths for a +fair (a fair in the open air, in lat. 65° N., with the mercury +freezing!), which explained the increased travel on the road. +We kept on to Hvitå for breakfast, thus getting north of +the latitude of Torneå; thence our road turned eastward at +right angles around the head of the Bothnian Gulf. Much +snow had fallen, but the road had been ploughed, and we +had a tolerable track, except when passing sleds, which +sometimes gave us an overturn.</p> + +<p>We now had uninterrupted forest scenery between the +stations—and such scenery! It is almost impossible to +paint the glory of those winter forests. Every tree, laden +with the purest snow, resembles a Gothic fountain of bronze, +covered with frozen spray, through which only suggestive +glimpses of its delicate tracery can be obtained. From +every rise we looked over thousands of such mimic fountains, +shooting, low or high, from their pavements of ivory and +alabaster. It was an enchanted wilderness—white, silent, +gleaming, and filled with inexhaustible forms of beauty. +To what shall I liken those glimpses under the boughs, into +the depths of the forest, where the snow destroyed all +perspective, and brought the remotest fairy nooks and +coverts, too lovely and fragile to seem cold, into the glittering +foreground? "Wonderful! Glorious!" I could only +exclaim, in breathless admiration. Once, by the roadside, +we saw an Arctic ptarmigan, as white as the snow, with +ruby eyes that sparkled like jewels as he moved slowly and +silently along, not frightened in the least.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span>The sun set a little after one o'clock, and we pushed on +to reach the Kalix River the same evening. At the last +station we got a boy postilion and two lazy horses, and were +three hours and a half on the road, with a temperature of +20° below zero. My feet became like ice, which increased +the pain in my face, and I began to feel faint and sick with +so much suffering and loss of rest. The boy aggravated us +so much by his laziness, that Braisted ran ahead and cuffed +his ears, after which he made better speed. After a drive +through interminable woods, we came upon the banks of the +Kalix, which were steep and fringed with splendid firs. +Then came the village of Månsbyn, where, thank Heaven, +we got something to eat, a warm room, and a bed.</p> + +<p>While we were at supper, two travellers arrived, one of +whom, a well-made, richly-dressed young fellow, was ushered +into our room. He was a <i>bruk-patron</i> (iron-master), so the +servant informed us, and from his superfine broad-cloth, +rings, and the immense anchor-chain which attached him +to his watch, appeared to be doing a thriving business. He +had the Norse bloom on his face, a dignified nose, and +English whiskers flanking his smoothly-shaven chin. His +air was flushed and happy; he was not exactly drunk, but +comfortably within that gay and cheerful vestibule beyond +which lies the chamber of horrors. He listened to our conversation +for some time, and finally addressed me in imperfect +English. This led to mutual communications, and a +declaration of our character, and object in travel—nothing +of which would he believe. "Nobody can possibly come +here for pleasure," said he; "I know better; you have a +secret political mission." Our amusement at this only +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>strengthened him in his suspicions. Nevertheless he called +for a bottle of port wine, which, when it came, turned out +to be bad Malaga, and insisted on drinking a welcome. +"You are in latitude 66° north," said he; "on the Kalix, +where no American has ever been before, and I shall call my +friend to give a <i>skål</i> to your country. We have been to +the church, where my friend is stationed."</p> + +<p>With that he went out, and soon returned with a short, +stout, broad faced, large-headed man of forty or thereabouts. +His manner was perfectly well-bred and self-possessed, and +I took him to be a clergyman, especially as the iron-master +addressed him as "Brother Horton." "Now," said he, +"welcome to 66° north, and prosperity to free America! +Are you for Buchanan or Fremont?" Brother Horton +kept a watchful eye upon his young friend, but cheerfully +joined in the sentiment. I gave in return: "<i>Skål</i> to +Sweden and the Swedish people," and hoped to get rid of +our jolly acquaintance; but he was not to be shaken off. +"You don't know me," he said; "and I don't know you—but +you are something more than you seem to be: you are +a political character." Just then Braisted came in with the +thermometer, and announced 24° of cold (Reaumur). +"Thousand devils!" exclaimed Brother Horton (and now I +was convinced that he was not a clergyman), "what a thermometer! +How cold it makes the weather! Would you +part with it if I were to give you money in return?" I +declined, stating that it was impossible for us to procure so +cold a thermometer in the north, and we wanted to have as +low a temperature as could be obtained.</p> + +<p>This seemed to puzzle the iron-master, who studied awhile +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>upon it, and then returned to the subject of my political +mission. "I suppose you speak French," said he; "it is +necessary in diplomacy. I can speak it also"—which he +began to do, in a bungling way. I answered in the same +language, but he soon gave up the attempt and tried +German. I changed also, and, finding that he had exhausted +his philology, of which he was rather proud, especially +as Brother Horton knew nothing but Swedish, determined +to have a little fun. "Of course you know Italian," +said I; "it is more musical than German," and forthwith +addressed him in that language. He reluctantly confessed +his ignorance. "Oh, well," I continued, "Spanish is equally +agreeable to me;" and took up that tongue before he could +reply. His face grew more and more blank and bewildered. +"The Oriental languages are doubtless familiar to you;" I +persisted, "I have had no practice in Arabic for some time," +and overwhelmed him with Egyptian salutations. I then +tried him with Hindustanee, which exhausted my stock, but +concluded by giving him the choice of Malay, Tartar, or +Thibetan. "Come, come," said Brother Horton, taking his +arm as he stood staring and perplexed—"the horses are +ready." With some difficulty he was persuaded to leave, +after shaking hands with us, and exclaiming, many times, +"You are a very seldom man!"</p> + +<p>When we awoke, the temperature had risen to 2° above +zero, with a tremendous snow-storm blowing. As we were +preparing to set out, a covered sled drove in from the north, +with two Swedish naval officers, whose vessel had been frozen +in at Cronstadt, and who had been obliged to return home +through Finland, up the eastern coast of the Bothnian Gulf. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>The captain, who spoke excellent English, informed me +that they were in about the same latitude as we, on Christmas +day, on the opposite side of the gulf, and had experienced +the same degree of cold. Both of them had their noses +severely frozen. We were two hours and a half in travelling +to the first station, seven miles, as the snow was falling +in blinding quantities, and the road was not yet ploughed +out. All the pedestrians we met were on runners, but even +with their snow skates, five feet long, they sank deep enough +to make their progress very slow and toilsome.</p> + +<p>By the time we reached Näsby my face was very much +swollen and inflamed, and as it was impossible to make the +next stage by daylight, we wisely determined to stop there. +The wind blew a hurricane, the hard snow-crystals lashed +the windows and made a gray chaos of all out-of-doors, but +we had a warm, cosy, carpeted room within, a capital dinner +in the afternoon, and a bottle of genuine London porter +with our evening pipe. So we passed the last day of A. D. +1856, grateful to God for all the blessings which the year +had brought us, and for the comfort and shelter we enjoyed, +in that Polar wilderness of storm and snow.</p> + +<p>On New Year's morning it blew less, and the temperature +was comparatively mild, so, although the road was very +heavy, we started again. Näsby is the last Swedish station, +the Finnish frontier, which is an abrupt separation of races +and tongues, being at the north-western corner of the Bothnian +Gulf. In spite of the constant intercourse which now +exists between Norrland and the narrow strip of Finnish +soil which remains to Sweden, there has been no perceptible +assimilation of the two races. At Näsby, all is pure <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>Swedish; +at Sängis, twelve miles distant, everything is Finnish. +The blue eyes and fair hair, the lengthened oval of the face, +and slim, straight form disappear. You see, instead, square +faces, dark eyes, low foreheads, and something of an Oriental +fire and warmth in the movements. The language is +totally dissimilar, and even the costume, though of the same +general fashion, presents many noticeable points of difference. +The women wear handkerchiefs of some bright color +bound over the forehead and under the chin, very similar to +those worn by the Armenian women in Asia Minor. On +first coming among them, the Finns impressed me as a less +frank and open hearted, but more original and picturesque, +race than the Swedes. It is exceedingly curious and interesting +to find such a flavour of the Orient on the borders of +the Frigid Zone.</p> + +<p>The roads were very bad, and our drivers and horses +provokingly slow, but we determined to push on to Haparanda +the same night. I needed rest and medical aid, my +jaw by this time being so swollen that I had great difficulty +in eating—a state of things which threatened to diminish +my supply of fuel, and render me sensitive to the cold. We +reached Nickala, the last station, at seven o'clock. Beyond +this, the road was frightfully deep in places. We could +scarcely make any headway, and were frequently overturned +headlong into the drifts. The driver was a Finn, who did +not understand a word of Swedish, and all our urging was +of no avail. We went on and on, in the moonlight, over +arms of the gulf, through forests, and then over ice again—a +flat, monotonous country, with the same dull features repeated +again and again. At half-past nine, a large white +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>church announced our approach to Haparanda, and soon +afterwards we drove up to the inn, which was full of New-Year +carousers. The landlord gave us quarters in the +same room with an old Norrlander, who was very drunk, +and annoyed us not a little until we got into bed and pretended +to sleep. It was pretence nearly the whole night, on +my part, for my torture was still kept up. The next morning +I called upon Dr. Wretholm, the physician of the +place,—not without some misgivings,—but his prescription +of a poultice of mallow leaves, a sudorific and an opiate, +restored my confidence, and I cheerfully resigned myself +to a rest of two or three days, before proceeding further +northward.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h2>CROSSING THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.</h2> + + +<p>I was obliged to remain three days in Haparanda, applying +poultices, gargles, and liniments, according to the doctor's +instructions. As my Swedish was scarcely sufficient for the +comprehension of prescriptions, or medical technicalities in +general, a written programme of my treatment was furnished +to Fredrika, the servant-maid, who was properly impressed +with the responsibility thereby devolving upon her. Fredrika, +no doubt, thought that my life was in her hands, and +nothing could exceed the energy with which she undertook +its preservation. Punctually to the minute appeared the +prescribed application, and, if she perceived or suspected any +dereliction on my part, it was sure to be reported to the +doctor at his next visit. I had the taste of camomile and +mallows in my mouth from morning till night; the skin of +my jaw blistered under the scorching of ammonia; but the +final result was, that I was cured, as the doctor and Fredrika +had determined.</p> + +<p>This good-hearted girl was a genuine specimen of the +Northern Swedish female. Of medium height, plump, but +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>not stout, with a rather slender waist and expansive hips, +and a foot which stepped firmly and nimbly at the same +time, she was as cheerful a body as one could wish to see. +Her hair was of that silky blonde so common in Sweden; +her eyes a clear, pale blue, her nose straight and well +formed, her cheeks of the delicate pink of a wild-rose leaf, +and her teeth so white, regular and perfect that I am sure +they would make her fortune in America. Always cheerful, +kind and active, she had, nevertheless, a hard life of it: she +was alike cook, chambermaid, and hostler, and had a cross +mistress to boot. She made our fires in the morning darkness, +and brought us our early coffee while we yet lay in bed, +in accordance with the luxurious habits of the Arctic zone. +Then, until the last drunken guest was silent, towards midnight, +there was no respite from labour. Although suffering +from a distressing cough, she had the out-door as well as the +in-door duties to discharge, and we saw her in a sheepskin +jacket harnessing horses, in a temperature 30° below zero. +The reward of such a service was possibly about <i>eight</i> +American dollars a year. When, on leaving, I gave her +about as much as one of our hotel servants would expect for +answering a question, the poor girl was overwhelmed with +gratitude, and even the stern landlady was so impressed by +my generosity that she insisted on lending us a sheepskin +for our feet, saying we were "good men."</p> + +<p>There is something exceedingly primitive and unsophisticated +in the manners of these Northern people—a straight-forward +honesty, which takes the honesty of others for +granted—a latent kindness and good-will which may at first +be overlooked, because it is not demonstrative, and a total +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>unconsciousness of what is called, in highly civilised circles, +"propriety." The very freedom of manners which, in some +countries, might denote laxity of morals, is here the evident +stamp of their purity. The thought has often recurred to +me—which is the most truly pure and virginal nature, the +fastidious American girl, who blushes at the sight of a pair +of boots outside a gentleman's bedroom door, and who +requires that certain unoffending parts of the body and +articles of clothing should be designated by delicately circumlocutious +terms, or the simple-minded Swedish women, +who come into our bedrooms with coffee, and make our fires +while we get up and dress, coming and going during all the +various stages of the toilet, with the frankest unconsciousness +of impropriety? This is modesty in its healthy and +natural development, not in those morbid forms which +suggest an imagination ever on the alert for prurient images. +Nothing has confirmed my impression of the virtue of the +Northern Swedes more than this fact, and I have rarely felt +more respect for woman or more faith in the inherent purity +of her nature.</p> + +<p>We had snug quarters in Haparanda, and our detention +was therefore by no means irksome. A large room, carpeted, +protected from the outer cold by double windows, and heated +by an immense Russian stove, was allotted to us. We had +two beds, one of which became a broad sofa during the day, +a backgammon table, the ordinary appliances for washing, +and, besides a number of engravings on the walls, our window +commanded a full view of Torneå, and the ice-track +across the river, where hundreds of persons daily passed to +and fro. The eastern window showed us the Arctic dawn, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>growing and brightening through its wonderful gradations +of color, for four hours, when the pale orange sun appeared +above the distant houses, to slide along their roofs for two +hours, and then dip again. We had plentiful meals, consisting +mostly of reindeer meat, with a sauce of Swedish +cranberries, potatoes, which had been frozen, but were still +palatable, salmon roes, soft bread in addition to the black +shingles of <i>fladbröd</i>, English porter, and excellent Umeå +beer. In fact, in no country inn of the United States could +we have been more comfortable. For the best which the +place afforded, during four days, with a small provision for +the journey, we paid about seven dollars.</p> + +<p>The day before our departure, I endeavored to obtain +some information concerning the road to Lapland, but was +disappointed. The landlord ascertained that there were +<i>skjuts</i>, or relays of post-horses, as far as Muonioniska, 210 +English miles, but beyond this I could only learn that the +people were all Finnish, spoke no Swedish, were miserably +poor, and could give us nothing to eat. I was told that a +certain official personage at the apothecary's shop spoke +German, and hastened thither; but the official, a dark-eyed, +olive-faced Finn, could not understand my first question. +The people even seemed entirely ignorant of the geography +of the country beyond Upper Torneå, or Matarengi, forty +miles off. The doctor's wife, a buxom, motherly lady, who +seemed to feel quite an interest in our undertaking, and was +as kind and obliging as such women always are, procured +for us a supply of <i>fladbröd</i> made of rye, and delightfully +crisp and hard—and this was the substance of our preparations. +Reindeer mittens were not to be found, nor a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>reindeer +skin to cover our feet, so we relied, as before, on plenty +of hay and my Scotch plaid. We might, perhaps, have had +better success in Torneå, but I knew no one there who +would be likely to assist us, and we did not even visit the +old place. We had taken the precaution of getting the +Russian <i>visé</i>, together with a small stock of roubles, at +Stockholm, but found that it was quite unnecessary. No +passport is required for entering Torneå, or travelling on +the Russian side of the frontier.</p> + +<p>Trusting to luck, which is about the best plan after all, +we started from Haparanda at noon, on the 5th of January. +The day was magnificent, the sky cloudless, and resplendent +as polished steel, and the mercury 31° below zero. The +sun, scarcely more than the breadth of his disc above the +horizon, shed a faint orange light over the broad, level +snow-plains, and the bluish-white hemisphere of the Bothnian +Gulf, visible beyond Torneå. The air was perfectly +still, and exquisitely cold and bracing, despite the sharp +grip it took upon my nose and ears. These Arctic days, +short as they are, have a majesty of their own—a splendor, +subdued though it be; a breadth and permanence of hue, +imparted alike to the sky and to the snowy earth, as if +tinted glass was held before your eyes. I find myself at a +loss how to describe these effects, or the impression they +produce upon the traveller's mood. Certainly, it is the +very reverse of that depression which accompanies the Polar +night, and which even the absence of any real daylight +might be considered sufficient to produce.</p> + +<p>Our road was well beaten, but narrow, and we had great +difficulty in passing the many hay and wood teams which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>met us, on account of the depth of the loose snow on either +side. We had several violent overturns at such times, one +of which occasioned us the loss of our beloved pipe—a +loss which rendered Braisted disconsolate for the rest of the +day. We had but one between us, and the bereavement +was not slight. Soon after leaving Haparanda, we passed a +small white obelisk, with the words "Russian Frontier" +upon it. The town of Torneå, across the frozen river, +looked really imposing, with the sharp roof and tall spire of +its old church rising above the line of low red buildings. +Campbell, I remember, says,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Cold as the rocks on Torneo's hoary brow,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">with the same disregard of geography which makes him +grow palm trees along the Susquehanna River. There was +Torneå; but I looked in vain for the "hoary brow." Not +a hill within sight, nor a rock within a circuit of ten miles, +but one unvarying level, like the western shore of the +Adriatic, formed by the deposits of the rivers and the +retrocession of the sea.</p> + +<p>Our road led up the left bank of the river, both sides of +which were studded with neat little villages. The country +was well cleared and cultivated, and appeared so populous +and flourishing that I could scarcely realise in what part of +the world we were. The sun set at a quarter past one, but +for two hours the whole southern heaven was superb in its +hues of rose and orange. The sheepskin lent us by our +landlady kept our feet warm, and we only felt the cold in +our faces; my nose, especially, which, having lost a coat of +skin, was very fresh and tender, requiring unusual care. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>At three o'clock, when we reached Kuckula, the first station, +the northern sky was one broad flush of the purest violet, +melting into lilac at the zenith, where it met the fiery skirts +of sunset.</p> + +<p>We refreshed ourselves with hot milk, and pushed ahead, +with better horses. At four o'clock it was bright moonlight, +with the stillest air. We got on bravely over the level, +beaten road, and in two hours reached Korpikylä, a large +new inn, where we found very tolerable accommodations. +Our beds were heaps of reindeer skins; a frightfully ugly Finnish +girl, who knew a few words of Swedish, prepared us a +supper of tough meat, potatoes, and ale. Everything was +now pure Finnish, and the first question of the girl, +"<i>Hvarifrån kommar du?</i>" (Where dost thou come from?) +showed an ignorance of the commonest Swedish form of +address. She awoke us with a cup of coffee in the morning, +and negotiated for us the purchase of a reindeer skin, which +we procured for something less than a dollar. The <i>hus-bonde</i> +(house-peasant, as the landlord is called here) made +no charge for our entertainment, but said we might give +what we pleased. I offered, at a venture, a sum equal to +about fifty cents, whereupon he sent the girl to say that he +thanked us most heartily.</p> + +<p>The next day was a day to be remembered: such a glory +of twilight splendors for six full hours was beyond all the +charms of daylight in any zone. We started at seven, with +a temperature of 20° below zero, still keeping up the left +bank of the Torneå. The country now rose into bold hills, +and the features of the scenery became broad and majestic. +The northern sky was again pure violet, and a pale red +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>tinge from the dawn rested on the tops of the snowy hills. +The prevailing color of the sky slowly brightened into lilac, +then into pink, then rose color, which again gave way to a +flood of splendid orange when the sun appeared. Every +change of color affected the tone of the landscape. The +woods, so wrapped in snow that not a single green needle +was to be seen, took by turns the hues of the sky, and +seemed to give out, rather than to reflect, the opalescent +lustre of the morning. The sunshine brightened instead of +dispelling these effects. At noon the sun's disc was not +more than 1° above the horizon, throwing a level golden +light on the hills. The north, before us, was as blue as the +Mediterranean, and the vault of heaven, overhead, canopied +us with pink. Every object was glorified and transfigured +in the magic glow.</p> + +<p>At the first station we got some hot milk, with raw +salmon, shingle bread and frozen butter. Our horses were +good, and we drove merrily along, up the frozen Torneå. +The roads were filled with people going to church, probably +to celebrate some religious anniversary. Fresh ruddy faces +had they, firm features, strong frames and resolute carriage, +but the most of them were positively ugly, and, by contrast +with the frank Swedes, their expression was furtive and +sinister. Near Päckilä we passed a fine old church of red +brick, with a very handsome belfry. At Niemis we changed +horses in ten minutes, and hastened on up the bed of the +Torneå to Matarengi, where we should reach the Arctic +Circle. The hills rose higher, with fine sweeping outlines, +and the river was still half a mile broad—a plain of solid +snow, with the track marked out by bushes. We kept a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>sharp look-out for the mountain of Avasaxa, one of the +stations of Celsius, Maupertius, and the French Academicians, +who came here in 1736, to make observations determining +the exact form of the earth. Through this mountain, +it is said, the Arctic Circle passes, though our maps +were neither sufficiently minute nor correct to determine +the point. We took it for granted, however, as a mile one +way or the other could make but little difference; and as +Matarengi lies due west of Avasaxa, across the river, we +decided to stop there and take dinner on the Arctic Circle.</p> + +<p>The increase of villages on both banks, with the appearance +of a large church, denoted our approach to Matarengi, +and we saw at once that the tall, gently-rounded, isolated +hill opposite, now blazing with golden snow, could be none +other than Avasaxa. Here we were, at last, entering the +Arctic Zone, in the dead of winter—the realization of a +dream which had often flashed across my mind, when lounging +under the tropical palms; so natural is it for one extreme +to suggest the opposite. I took our bearings with a +compass-ring, as we drove forward, and as the summit of +Avasaxa bore due east we both gave a shout which startled +our postilion and notably quickened the gait of our horses. +It was impossible to toss our caps, for they were not only +tied upon our heads, but frozen fast to our beards. So here +we were at last, in the true dominions of Winter. A mild +ruler he had been to us, thus far, but he proved a despot +before we were done with him.</p> + +<p>Soon afterwards, we drove into the inn at Matarengi, +which was full of country people, who had come to attend +church. The landlord, a sallow, watery-eyed Finn, who +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>knew a few words of Swedish, gave us a room in an adjoining +house, and furnished a dinner of boiled fish and barley +mush, to which was added a bottle labelled "Dry Madeira," +brought from Haparanda for the occasion. At a shop adjoining, +Braisted found a serviceable pipe, so that nothing +was wanting to complete our jubilee. We swallowed the +memory of all who were dear to us, in the dubious beverage, +inaugurated our Arctic pipe, which we proposed to take +home as a <i>souvenir</i> of the place, and set forward in the +most cheery mood.</p> + +<p>Our road now crossed the river and kept up the Russian +side to a place with the charming name of Torakankorwa. +The afternoon twilight was even more wonderful than +that of the forenoon. There were broad bands of purple, +pure crimson, and intense yellow, all fusing together into +fiery orange at the south, while the north became a semi-vault +of pink, then lilac, and then the softest violet. The +dazzling Arctic hills participated in this play of colors, +which did not fade, as in the South, but stayed, and stayed, +as if God wished to compensate by this twilight glory for +the loss of the day. Nothing in Italy, nothing in the +Tropics, equals the magnificence of the Polar skies. The +twilight gave place to a moonlight scarcely less brilliant. +Our road was hardly broken, leading through deep snow, +sometimes on the river, sometimes through close little glens, +hedged in with firs drooping with snow—fairy Arctic solitudes, +white, silent and mysterious.</p> + +<p>By seven o'clock we reached a station called Juoxengi. +The place was wholly Finnish, and the landlord, who did +not understand a word of Swedish, endeavoured to make us +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>go on to the next station. We pointed to the beds and +quietly carried in our baggage. I made the usual signs for +eating, which speedily procured us a pail of sour milk, bread +and butter, and two immense tin drinking horns of sweet +milk. The people seemed a little afraid of us, and kept +away. Our postilion was a silly fellow, who could not understand +whether his money was correct. In the course of +our stenographic conversation, I learned that "<i>cax</i>" signified +two. When I gave him his drink-money he said +"<i>ketox!</i>" and on going out the door, "<i>hüweste!</i>"—so that +I at least discovered the Finnish for "Thank you!" and +"Good-bye!" This, however, was not sufficient to order +horses the next morning. We were likewise in a state of +delightful uncertainty as to our future progress, but this +very uncertainty gave a zest to our situation, and it would +have been difficult to find two jollier men with frozen noses.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h2>ADVENTURES AMONG THE FINNS.</h2> + + +<p>We drank so much milk (for want of more solid food) at +Juoxengi, that in spite of sound sleep under our sheepskin +blankets, we both awoke with headaches in the morning. +The Finnish landlord gave me to understand, by holding up +his fore-finger, and pronouncing the word "<i>üx</i>," that I was +to pay one <i>rigsdaler</i> (about 26 cents), for our entertainment, +and was overcome with grateful surprise when I added a +trifle more. We got underway by six o'clock, when the +night was just at its darkest, and it was next to impossible +to discern any track on the spotless snow. Trusting to good +luck to escape overturning, we followed in the wake of the +<i>skjutsbonde</i>, who had mounted our baggage sled upon one +of the country sledges, and rode perched upon his lofty seat. +Our horses were tolerable, but we had eighteen miles to +Pello, the next station, which we reached about ten o'clock.</p> + +<p>Our road was mostly upon the Torneå River, sometimes +taking to the woods on either side, to cut off bends. The +morn was hours in dawning, with the same splendid transitions +of colour. The forests were indescribable in their +silence, whiteness, and wonderful variety of snowy <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>adornment. +The weeping birches leaned over the road, and +formed white fringed arches; the firs wore mantles of ermine, +and ruffs and tippets of the softest swan's down. Snow, +wind, and frost had worked the most marvellous transformations +in the forms of the forest. Here were kneeling +nuns, with their arms hanging listlessly by their sides, and +the white cowls falling over their faces; there lay a warrior's +helmet; lace curtains, torn and ragged, hung from the +points of little Gothic spires; caverns, lined with sparry +incrustations, silver palm-leaves, doors, loop-holes, arches +and arcades were thrown together in a fantastic confusion +and mingled with the more decided forms of the larger trees, +which, even, were trees but in form, so completely were they +wrapped in their dazzling disguise. It was an enchanted +land, where you hardly dared to breathe, lest a breath might +break the spell.</p> + +<p>There was still little change in the features of the country, +except that it became wilder and more rugged, and the settlements +poorer and further apart. There were low hills on +either side, wildernesses of birch and fir, and floors of level +snow over the rivers and marshes. On approaching Pello, +we saw our first reindeer, standing beside a hut. He was +a large, handsome animal; his master, who wore a fur dress, +we of course set down for a Lapp. At the inn a skinny old +hag, who knew a dozen words of Swedish, got us some bread, +milk, and raw frozen salmon, which, with the aid of a great +deal of butter, sufficed us for a meal. Our next stage was +to Kardis, sixteen miles, which we made in four hours. +While in the midst of a forest on the Swedish side, we fell +in with a herd of reindeer, attended by half-a-dozen Lapps. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>They came tramping along through the snow, about fifty in +number, including a dozen which ran loose. The others +were harnessed to <i>pulks</i>, the canoe-shaped reindeer sledges, +many of which were filled with stores and baggage. The +Lapps were rather good-looking young fellows, with a +bright, coppery, orange complexion, and were by no means +so ill-favoured, short, and stunted as I had imagined. One +of them was, indeed, really handsome, with his laughing +eyes, sparkling teeth, and a slender, black moustache.</p> + +<p>We were obliged to wait a quarter-of-an-hour while the +herd passed, and then took to the river again. The effect +of sunset on the snow was marvellous—the spotless mounds +and drifts, far and near, being stained with soft rose colour, +until they resembled nothing so much as heaps of strawberry +ice. At Kardis the people sent for an interpreter, +who was a young man, entirely blind. He helped us to get +our horses, although we were detained an hour, as only one +horse is kept in readiness at these stations, and the neighbourhood +must be scoured to procure another. I employed +the time in learning a few Finnish words—the whole travelling-stock, +in fact, on which I made the journey to +Muonioniska. That the reader may see how few words of +a strange language will enable him to travel, as well as to +give a sample of Finnish, I herewith copy my whole vocabulary:</p> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Vocabulary"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">one</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">üx</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">two</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">cax</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">three</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">kolma</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">four</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">nelia</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">five</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">viis</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">six</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">oos</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">seven</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">settima</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">eight</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">kahexa</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">nine</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">öhexa</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">ten</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">kiumene</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">a half</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">puoli</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">horses</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">hevorste</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">immediately</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">varsin</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">ready</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">walmis</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">drive on!</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">ayò perli!</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">how much?</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">guinga palia</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">a mile</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">peligorma</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">bread</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">leba</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">meat</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">liha</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">milk</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">maito</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">butter</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">voy</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">fire</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">valkär</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">a bed</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%" colspan="2">sängu (Swedish)</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">good</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">hüva</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">bad</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%">páhá</td> + <td class="tdl" width="20%"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p>We kept on our way up the river, in the brilliant afternoon +moonlight. The horses were slow; so were the two +<i>skjutsbonder</i>, to whom I cried in vain: "Ayò perli!" +Braisted with difficulty restrained his inclination to cuff +their ears. Hour after hour went by, and we grew more +and more hungry, wrathful and impatient. About eight +o'clock they stopped below a house on the Russian side, +pitched some hay to the horses, climbed the bank, and summoned +us to follow. We made our way with some difficulty +through the snow, and entered the hut, which proved to be +the abode of a cooper—at least the occupant, a rough, shaggy, +dirty Orson of a fellow, was seated upon the floor, making +a tub, by the light of the fire. The joists overhead were +piled with seasoned wood, and long bundles of thin, dry fir, +which is used for torches during the winter darkness. There +was neither chair nor table in the hut; but a low bench ran +around the walls, and a rough bedstead was built against +one corner. Two buckets of sour milk, with a wooden +ladle, stood beside the door. This beverage appears to be +generally used by the Finns for quenching thirst, instead of +water. Our postilions were sitting silently upon the bench, +and we followed their example, lit our pipes, and puffed +away, while the cooper, after the first glance, went on with +his work; and the other members of his family, clustered +together in the dusky corner behind the fireplace, were +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>equally silent. Half an hour passed, and the spirit moved +no one to open his mouth. I judged at last that the horses +had been baited sufficiently, silently showed my watch to +the postilions, who, with ourselves, got up and went away +without a word having been said to mar the quaint drollery +of the incident.</p> + +<p>While at Haparanda, we had been recommended to stop +at Kingis Bruk, at the junction of the Torneå and Muonio. +"There," we were told, "you can get everything you want: +there is a fine house, good beds, and plenty to eat and drink." +Our blind interpreter at Kardis repeated this advice. +"Don't go on to Kexisvara;" (the next station) said he, +"stop at Kengis, where everything is good." Toward +Kengis, then, this oasis in the arctic desolation, our souls +yearned. We drove on until ten o'clock in the brilliant +moonlight and mild, delicious air—for the temperature had +actually risen to 25° above zero!—before a break in the +hills announced the junction of the two rivers. There was +a large house on the top of a hill on our left, and, to our +great joy, the postilions drove directly up to it. "Is this +Kengis?" I asked, but their answers I could not understand, +and they had already unharnessed their horses.</p> + +<p>There was a light in the house, and we caught a glimpse +of a woman's face at the window, as we drove up. But the +light was immediately extinguished, and everything became +silent. I knocked at the door, which was partly open, but +no one came. I then pushed: a heavy log of wood, which +was leaning against it from the inside, fell with a noise +which reverberated through the house. I waited awhile, +and then, groping my way along a passage to the door of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>the room which had been lighted, knocked loudly. After a +little delay, the door was opened by a young man, who +ushered me into a warm, comfortable room, and then quietly +stared at me, as if to ask what I wanted. "We are travellers +and strangers," said I, "and wish to stop for the night." +"This is not an inn," he answered; "it is the residence of +the <i>patron</i> of the iron works." I may here remark that it +is the general custom in Sweden, in remote districts, for +travellers to call without ceremony upon the parson, magistrate, +or any other prominent man in a village, and claim +his hospitality. In spite of this doubtful reception, considering +that our horses were already stabled and the +station three or four miles further, I remarked again: "But +perhaps we may be allowed to remain here until morning?" +"I will ask," he replied, left the room, and soon returned +with an affirmative answer.</p> + +<p>We had a large, handsomely furnished room, with a sofa +and curtained bed, into which we tumbled as soon as the +servant-girl, in compliance with a hint of mine, had brought +up some bread, milk, and cheese. We had a cup of coffee +in the morning, and were preparing to leave when the +<i>patron</i> appeared. He was a short, stout, intelligent Swede, +who greeted us courteously, and after a little conversation, +urged us to stay until after breakfast. We were too hungry +to need much persuasion, and indeed the table set with +<i>tjäde</i>, or capercailie (one of the finest game birds in the +world), potatoes, cranberries, and whipped cream, accompanied +with excellent Umeå ale, and concluded with coffee, +surpassed anything we had sat down to for many a day. +The <i>patron</i> gave me considerable information about the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>country, and quieted a little anxiety I was beginning to feel, +by assuring me that we should find post-horses all the way +to Muonioniska, still ninety-five miles distant. He informed +me that we had already got beyond the daylight, as +the sun had not yet risen at Kengis. This, however, was +in consequence of a hill to the southward, as we afterwards +found that the sun was again above the horizon.</p> + +<p>We laid in fuel enough to last us through the day, and +then took leave of our host, who invited us to visit him on +our return. Crossing the Torneå, an hour's drive over the +hills brought us to the village of Kexisvara, where we were +obliged to wait some time for our horses. At the inn there +was a well forty feet deep, with the longest sweep-pole I +ever saw. The landlady and her two sisters were pleasant +bodies, and sociably inclined, if we could have talked to +them. They were all spinning tow, their wheels purring +like pleased lionesses. The sun's disc came in sight at a +quarter past eleven, and at noon his lower limb just touched +the horizon. The sky was of a splendid saffron hue, which +changed into a burning brassy yellow.</p> + +<p>Our horses promised little for speed when we set out, and +their harness being ill adapted to our sleds increased the +difficulty. Instead of hames there were wide wooden yokes, +the ends of which passed through mortices in the ends of the +shafts, and were fastened with pins, while, as there was no +belly-bands, the yokes rose on going down hill, bringing our +sleds upon the horses' heels. The Finnish sleds have +excessively long shafts, in order to prevent this. Our road +all day was upon the Muonio River, the main branch of the +Torneå, and the boundary between Sweden and Russia, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>above the junction. There had been a violent wind during +the night, and the track was completely filled up. The +Torneå and Muonio are both very swift rivers, abounding +in dangerous rapids, but during the winter, rapids and all, +they are solid as granite from their sources to the Bothnian +Gulf. We plunged along slowly, hour after hour, more +than half the time clinging to one side or the other, to prevent +our sled from overturning—and yet it upset at least a +dozen times during the day. The scenery was without +change: low, black fir forests on either hand, with the +decorative snow blown off them; no villages, or signs of life, +except the deserted huts of the wood-cutters, nor did we +meet but one sled during the whole day. Here and there, +on the banks, were sharp, canoe-like boats, twenty or thirty +feet long, turned bottom upward. The sky was overcast, +shutting out the glorious coloring of the past days. The +sun set before one o'clock, and the dull twilight deepened +apace into night. Nothing could be more cheerless and dismal: +we smoked and talked a little, with much silence +between, and I began to think that one more such day +would disgust me with the Arctic Zone.</p> + +<p>It was four o'clock, and our horses were beginning to +stagger, when we reached a little village called Jokijalka, +on the Russian side. The postilion stopped at a house, or +rather a quadrangle of huts, which he made me comprehend +was an inn, adding that it was 4 <i>polàn</i> and 3 <i>belikor</i> (a +fearfully unintelligible distance!) to the next one. We +entered, and found promise enough in the thin, sallow, +sandy-haired, and most obsequious landlord, and a whole +herd of rosy children, to decide us to stop. We were +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>ushered into the milk-room, which was warm and carpeted, +and had a single narrow bed. I employed my vocabulary +with good effect, the quick-witted children helping me out, +and in due time we got a supper of fried mutton, bread, +butter, and hot milk. The children came in every few +minutes to stare at our writing, an operation which they +probably never saw before. They would stand in silent +curiosity for half an hour at a time, then suddenly rush out, +and enjoy a relief of shouts and laughter on the outside. +Since leaving Matarengi we had been regarded at all the +stations with much wonder, not always unmixed with mistrust. +Whether this was simply a manifestation of the +dislike which the Finns have for the Swedes, for whom they +probably took us, or of other suspicions on their part, we +could not decide.</p> + +<p>After a time one of the neighbors, who had been sent for +on account of his knowing a very few words of Swedish, was +ushered into the room. Through him I ordered horses, and +ascertained that the next station, Kihlangi, was three and a +half Swedish miles distant, but there was a place on the +Russian side, one mile off, where we could change horses. +We had finished writing, and were sitting by the stove, consulting +how we should arrange the bed so as to avoid +contact with the dirty coverlet, when the man returned and +told us we must go into another house. We crossed the +yard to the opposite building, where, to our great surprise, +we were ushered into a warm room, with two good beds, +which had clean though coarse sheets, a table, looking-glass, +and a bit of carpet on the floor. The whole male household +congregated to see us take possession and ascertain whether +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>our wants were supplied. I slept luxuriously until awakened +by the sound of our landlord bringing in wood to light +the fire. He no sooner saw that my eyes were open than he +snatched off his cap and threw it upon the floor, moving +about with as much awe and silence as if it were the +Emperor's bedroom. His daughter brought us excellent +coffee betimes. We washed our faces with our tumblers of +drinking water, and got under way by half-past six.</p> + +<p>The temperature had changed again in the night, being +28° below zero, but the sky was clear and the morning +moonlight superb. By this time we were so far north that +the moon did not set at all, but wheeled around the sky, +sinking to within eight degrees of the horizon at noonday. +Our road led across the river, past the church of Kolare, +and through a stretch of the Swedish forests back to the +river again. To our great surprise, the wind had not blown +here, the snow still hung heavy on the trees, and the road +was well beaten. At the Russian post-house we found only +a woman with the usual troop of children, the eldest of +whom, a boy of sixteen, was splitting fir to make torches. +I called out "<i>hevorste!</i>" (horses), to which he made a +deliberate answer, and went on with his work. After some +consultation with the old woman, a younger boy was sent +off somewhere, and we sat down to await the result. I called +for meat, milk, bread, and butter, which procured us in +course of time a pitcher of cold milk, some bread made of +ground barley straw, horribly hard and tough, and a lump +of sour frozen butter. There was some putrid fish in a +wooden bowl, on which the family had breakfasted, while an +immense pot of sour milk, butter, broken bread, and straw +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>meal, hanging over the fire, contained their dinner. This +was testimony enough to the accounts we had heard in +Stockholm, of the year's famine in Finland; and we seemed +likely to participate in it.</p> + +<p>I chewed the straw bread vigorously for an hour, and +succeeded in swallowing enough to fill my stomach, though +not enough to satisfy my hunger. The younger children +occupied themselves in peeling off the soft inner bark of the +fir, which they ate ravenously. They were handsome, fair-skinned +youngsters, but not so rosy and beautiful as those +of the Norrland Swedes. We were obliged to wait more +than two hours before the horses arrived, thus losing a large +part of our daylight. The postilions fastened our sleds +behind their own large sledges, with flat runners, which got +through the snow more easily than ours. We lay down in +the sledge, stretched ourselves at full length upon a bed of +hay, covered our feet with the deerskin, and set off. We +had gone about a Swedish mile when the postilions stopped +to feed the horses before a house on the Russian side. +There was nobody within, but some coals among the ashes +on the hearth showed that it had been used, apparently, as a +place of rest and shelter. A tall, powerful Finn, who was +travelling alone, was there, smoking his pipe. We all sat +down and did likewise, in the bare, dark hut. There were +the three Finns, in complete dresses of reindeer skin, and +ourselves, swaddled from head to foot, with only a small +segment of scarlet face visible between our frosted furs and +icy beards. It was a true Arctic picture, as seen by the pale +dawn which glimmered on the wastes of snow outside.</p> + +<p>We had a poor horse, which soon showed signs of breaking +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>down, especially when we again entered a belt of country +where the wind had blown, the trees were clear, and the +track filled up. At half-past eleven we saw the light of the +sun on the tops of the hills, and at noon about half his disc +was visible. The cold was intense; my hands became so stiff +and benumbed that I had great difficulty in preventing them +from freezing, and my companion's feet almost lost all feeling. +It was well for us that we were frequently obliged to +walk, to aid the horse. The country was a wilderness of +mournful and dismal scenery—low hills and woods, stripped +bare of snow, the dark firs hung with black, crape-like moss, +alternating with morasses. Our Finnish postilions were +pleasant, cheerful fellows, who insisted on our riding when +there was the least prospect of a road. Near a solitary hut +(the only one on the road) we met a man driving a reindeer. +After this we lost all signs of our way, except the almost +obliterated track of his pulk. The snow was deeper than +ever, and our horses were ready to drop at every step. We +had been five hours on the road; the driver said Kihlangi +was "<i>üx verst</i>" distant, and at three, finally, we arrived. +We appreciated rather better what we had endured when we +found that the temperature was 44° below zero.</p> + +<p>I at once ordered horses, and a strapping young fellow was +sent off in a bad humor to get them. We found it impossible, +however, to procure milk or anything to eat, and as the +cold was not to be borne else, we were obliged to resort to a +bottle of cognac and our Haparanda bread. The old woman +sat by the fire smoking, and gave not the least attention to +our demands. I paid our postilions in Norwegian <i>orts</i>, +which they laid upon a chair and counted, with the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>assistance +of the whole family. After the reckoning was finished +they asked me what the value of each piece was, which gave +rise to a second general computation. There was, apparently, +more than they had expected, for they both made me a formal +address of thanks, and took my hand. Seeing that I had +produced a good effect I repeated my demand for milk. +The old woman refused, but the men interfered in my +behalf; she went out and presently returned with a bowl +full, which she heated for us. By this time our horses had +arrived, and one of our new postilions prepared himself for +the journey, by stripping to the loins and putting on a clean +shirt. He was splendidly built, with clean, firm muscle, a +white glossy skin, and no superfluity of flesh. He then +donned a reindeer of <i>pösk</i>, leggings and boots, and we started +again.</p> + +<p>It was nearly five o'clock, and superb moonlight. This +time they mounted our sleds upon their own sledges, so +that we rode much higher than usual. Our way lay up the +Muonio River: the track was entirely snowed up, and we +had to break a new one, guided by the fir-trees stuck in the +ice. The snow was full three feet deep, and whenever the +sledge got a little off the old road, the runners cut in so that +we could scarcely move. The milk and cognac had warmed +us tolerably, and we did not suffer much from the intense +cold. My nose, however, had been rubbed raw, and I was +obliged to tie a handkerchief across my face to protect it.</p> + +<p>While journeying along in this way, the sledge suddenly +tilted over, and we were flung head foremost into the snow. +Our drivers righted the sledge, we shook ourselves and got +in again, but had not gone ten yards before the same thing +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>happened again. This was no joke on such a night, but we +took it good-humouredly, to the relief of the Finns, who +seemed to expect a scolding. Very soon we went over a +third time, and then a fourth, after which they kept near us +and held on when there was any danger. I became very +drowsy, and struggled with all my force to keep awake, for +sleeping was too hazardous. Braisted kept his senses about +him by singing, for our encouragement, the mariner's +hymn:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Fear not, but trust in Providence,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wherever thou may'st be."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Thus hour after hour passed away. Fortunately we had +good, strong horses, which walked fast and steadily. The +scenery was always the same—low, wooded hills on either +side of the winding, snowy plain of the river. We had +made up our minds not to reach Parkajoki before midnight, +but at half-past ten our track left the river, mounted the +Swedish bank, and very soon brought us to a quadrangle of +low huts, having the appearance of an inn. I could scarcely +believe my eyes when we stopped before the door. "Is this +Parkajoki?" I asked. "<i>Ja!</i>" answered the postilion. +Braisted and I sprang out instantly, hugged each other in +delight, and rushed into the warm inn. The thermometer +still showed -44°, and we prided ourselves a little on having +travelled for seventeen hours in such a cold with so +little food to keep up our animal heat. The landlord, a +young man, with a bristly beard of three weeks' growth, +showed us into the milk room, where there was a bed of +reindeer skins. His wife brought us some fresh hay, a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>quilt and a sheepskin coverlet, and we soon forgot both our +hunger and our frozen blood.</p> + +<p>In the morning coffee was brought to us, and as nothing +else was to be had, we drank four cups apiece. The landlord +asked half a <i>rigs</i> (13 cents) for our entertainment, and +was overcome with gratitude when I gave him double the +sum. We had the same sledges as the previous night, but +new postilions and excellent horses. The temperature had +risen to 5° below zero, with a cloudy sky and a light snow +falling. We got off at eight o'clock, found a track partly +broken, and went on at a merry trot up the river. We +took sometimes one bank and sometimes the other, until, +after passing the rapid of Eyanpaika (which was frozen +solid, although large masses of transparent ice lay piled like +rocks on either side), we kept the Swedish bank. We were +in excellent spirits, in the hope of reaching Muonioniska +before dark, but the steady trot of our horses brought us +out of the woods by noon, and we saw before us the long, +scattering village, a mile or two distant, across the river. +To our left, on a gentle slope, stood a red, two-story building, +surrounded by out-houses, with a few humbler habitations +in its vicinity. This was Muoniovara, on the Swedish +side—the end of our Finnish journey.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h2>LIFE IN LAPLAND.</h2> + + +<p>As we drove up to the red two-story house, a short man +with dark whiskers and a commercial air came forward to +meet us. I accosted him in Swedish, asking him whether +the house was an inn. He replied in the negative, adding +that the only inn was in Muonioniska, on the Russian side, +a mile or more distant. I then asked for the residence of +Mr. Wolley, the English naturalist, whose name had been +mentioned to me by Prof. Retzius and the botanist Hartman. +He thereupon called to some one across the court, +and presently appeared a tall, slender man dressed in the +universal gray suit which travelling Englishmen wear, from +the Equator to the Poles. He came up with extended hand, +on hearing his own language; a few words sufficed for explanation, +and he devoted himself to our interests with the +cordiality of an old acquaintance. He lived with the Swede, +Herr Forström, who was the merchant of the place; but +the wife of the latter had just been confined, and there was +no room in his house. Mr. Wolley proposed at first to send +to the inn in Muonioniska, and engage a room, but afterwards +arranged with a Norsk carpenter, who lived on the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>hill above, to give us quarters in his house, so that we might +be near enough to take our meals together. Nothing could +have suited us better. We took possession at once, and +then descended the hill to a dinner—I had ventured to hint +at our famished condition—of capercailie, cranberries, soft +bread, whipped cream, and a glass of genuine port.</p> + +<p>Warmed and comforted by such luxurious fare, we climbed +the hill to the carpenter's house, in the dreary Arctic twilight, +in the most cheerful and contented frame of mind. +Was this, indeed, Lapland? Did we, indeed, stand already +in the dark heart of the polar Winter? Yes; there was +no doubt of it. The imagination could scarcely conceive a +more desolate picture than that upon which we gazed—the +plain of sombre snow, beyond which the black huts of the +village were faintly discernible, the stunted woods and bleak +hills, which night and the raw snow clouds had half obscured, +and yonder fur-clad figure gliding silently along beside his +reindeer. Yet, even here, where Man seemed to have settled +out of pure spite against Nature, were comfort and +hospitality and kindness. We entered the carpenter's house, +lit our candles and pipes, and sat down to enjoy at ease the +unusual feeling of shelter and of home. The building was +of squared fir-logs, with black moss stuffed in the crevices, +making it very warm and substantial. Our room contained +a loom, two tables, two beds with linen of voluptuous softness +and cleanness, an iron stove (the first we had seen in +Sweden), and the usual washing apparatus, besides a piece +of carpet on the floor. What more could any man desire? +The carpenter, Herr Knoblock, spoke some German; his +son, Ludwig, Mr. Wolley's servant, also looked after our +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>needs; and the daughter, a fair, blooming girl of about +nineteen, brought us coffee before we were out of bed, and +kept our fire in order. Why, Lapland was a very Sybaris +in comparison with what I had expected.</p> + +<p>Mr. Wolley proposed to us another luxury, in the shape +of a vapour-bath, as Herr Forström had one of those bathing-houses +which are universal in Finland. It was a little +wooden building without windows. A Finnish servant-girl +who had been for some time engaged in getting it in readiness, +opened the door for us. The interior was very hot +and moist, like an Oriental bathing-hall. In the centre was +a pile of hot stones, covered with birch boughs, the leaves of +which gave out an agreeable smell, and a large tub of water. +The floor was strewn with straw, and under the roof was a +platform extending across one end of the building. This +was covered with soft hay, and reached by means of a ladder, +for the purpose of getting the full effect of the steam. +Some stools, and a bench for our clothes, completed the arrangements. +There was also in one corner a pitcher of +water, standing in a little heap of snow to keep it cool.</p> + +<p>The servant-girl came in after us, and Mr. W. quietly +proceeded to undress, informing us that the girl was bathing-master, +and would do the usual scrubbing and shampooing. +This, it seems, is the general practice in Finland, and is +but another example of the unembarrassed habits of the +people in this part of the world. The poorer families go +into their bathing-rooms together—father, mother, and +children—and take turns in polishing each other's backs. +It would have been ridiculous to have shown any hesitation +under the circumstances—in fact, an indignity to the honest +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>simple-hearted, virtuous girl—and so we deliberately undressed +also. When at last we stood, like our first parents +in Paradise, "naked and not ashamed," she handed us +bunches of birch-twigs with the leaves on, the use of which +was suggested by the leaf of sculpture. We mounted to +the platform and lay down upon our backs, whereupon she +increased the temperature by throwing water upon the hot +stones, until the heat was rather oppressive, and we began +to sweat profusely. She then took up a bunch of birch-twigs +which had been dipped in hot water, and switched us +smartly from head to foot. When we had become thoroughly +parboiled and lax, we descended to the floor, seated ourselves +upon the stools, and were scrubbed with soap as +thoroughly as propriety permitted. The girl was an +admirable bather, the result of long practice in the business. +She finished by pouring hot water over us, and then drying +us with warm towels. The Finns frequently go out and +roll in the snow during the progress of the bath. I ventured +so far as to go out and stand a few seconds in the +open air. The mercury was at zero, and the effect of the +cold on my heated skin was delightfully refreshing.</p> + +<p>I dressed in a violent perspiration, and then ran across to +Herr Forström's house, where tea was already waiting for +us. Here we found the <i>länsman</i> or magistrate of the +Russian district opposite, a Herr Bràxen, who was decorated +with the order of Stanislaus for his services in Finland +during the recent war. He was a tall, dark-haired man, +with a restless light in his deep-set eyes, and a gentleman in +his demeanor. He entered into our plans with interest, and +the evening was spent in consultation concerning them. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>Finally, it was decided that Herr Forström should send a +messenger up the river to Palajoki (forty miles off), to +engage Lapps and reindeer to take us across the mountains +to Kautokeino, in Norway. As the messenger would be +absent three or four days, we had a comfortable prospect of +rest before us, and I went to bed with a light heart, to wake +to the sixth birthday I have passed in strange lands.</p> + +<p>In the morning, I went with Mr. Wolley to call upon a +Finn, one of whose children was suffering from inflamed +eyes, or snowthalmia, as it might be called. The family +were prolific, as usual—children of all sizes, with a regular +gradation of a year between. The father, a short, shock-headed +fellow, sat in one corner; the mother, who, like nine-tenths +of all the matrons we had seen between Lapland and +Stockholm, gave promise of additional humanity, greeted us +with a comical, dipping courtesy—a sudden relaxing and +stiffening again of the muscles of the knees—which might +be introduced as a novelty into our fashionable circles. +The boy's eyes were terribly blood-shot, and the lids swollen, +but a solution of nitrate of silver, which Mr. W. applied, +relieved him greatly in the course of a day or two. We +took occasion to visit the stable, where half a dozen cows +lay in darkness, in their warm stalls, on one side, with two +bulls and some sheep on the other. There was a fire in one +corner, over which hung a great kettle filled with a mixture +of boiled hay and reindeer moss. Upon this they are fed, +while the sheep must content themselves with bunches of +birch, willow and aspen twigs, gathered with the leaves on. +The hay is strong and coarse, but nourishing, and the reindeer +moss, a delicate white lichen, contains a glutinous <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>ingredient, +which probably increases the secretion of milk. +The stable, as well as Forström's, which we afterwards +inspected, was kept in good order. It was floored, with a +gutter past each row of stalls, to carry off the manure. +The cows were handsome white animals, in very good condition.</p> + +<p>Mr. Wolley sent for his reindeer in the course of the +morning, in order to give us a lesson in driving. After +lunch, accordingly, we prepared ourselves for the new sensation. +I put on a poesk of reindeer skin, and my fur-lined +Russian boots. Ludwig took a pulk also, to assist us in +case of need. These pulks are shaped very much like a +canoe; they are about five feet long, one foot deep, and +eighteen inches wide, with a sharp bow and a square stern. +You sit upright against the stern-board, with your legs +stretched out in the bottom. The deer's harness consists +only of a collar of reindeer skin around the neck, with a +rope at the bottom, which passes under the belly, between the +legs, and is fastened to the bow of the pulk. He is driven +by a single rein, attached to the base of the left horn, and +passing over the back to the right hand of the driver, who +thrusts his thumb into a loop at the end, and takes several +turns around his wrist. The rein is held rather slack, in +order that it may be thrown over to the right side when it +slips to the left, which it is very apt to do.</p> + +<p>I seated myself, took proper hold of the rein, and awaited +the signal to start. My deer was a strong, swift animal, +who had just shed his horns. Ludwig set off first; my deer +gave a startling leap, dashed around the corner of the house, +and made down the hill. I tried to catch the breath which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>had been jerked out of me, and to keep my balance, as the +pulk, swaying from side to side, bounced over the snow. It +was too late; a swift presentiment of the catastrophe flashed +across my mind, but I was powerless to avert it. In another +second I found myself rolling in the loose snow, with the +pulk bottom upward beside me. The deer, who was attached +to my arm, was standing still, facing me, with an expression +of stupid surprise (but no sympathy) on his face. I +got up, shook myself, righted the pulk, and commenced +again. Off we went, like the wind, down the hill, the snow +flying in my face and blinding me. My pulk made tremendous +leaps, bounding from side to side, until, the whirlwind +suddenly subsiding, I found myself off the road, deep overhead +in the snow, choked and blinded, and with small snow-drifts +in my pockets, sleeves and bosom. My beard and +eyebrows became instantly a white, solid mass, and my face +began to tingle from its snow-bath; but, on looking back, I +saw as white a beard suddenly emerge from a drift, followed +by the stout body of Braisted, who was gathering himself +up after his third shipwreck.</p> + +<p>We took a fresh start, I narrowly missing another overturn, +as we descended the slope below the house, but on +reaching the level of the Muonio, I found no difficulty in +keeping my balance, and began to enjoy the exercise. My +deer struck out, passed the others, and soon I was alone on +the track. In the grey Arctic twilight, gliding noiselessly +and swiftly over the snow, with the low huts of Muonioniska +dimly seen in the distance before me, I had my first true experience +of Lapland travelling. It was delightfully novel +and exhilarating; I thought of "Afraja," and the song of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>"Kulnasatz, my reindeer!" and Bryant's "Arctic Lover," +and whatever else there is of Polar poetry, urged my deer +with shouts, and never once looked behind me until I had +climbed the opposite shore and reached the village. My +companions were then nowhere to be seen. I waited some +time before they arrived, Braisted's deer having become +fractious and run back with him to the house. His crimson +face shone out from its white frame of icy hair as he shouted +to me, "There is nothing equal to this, except riding behind +a right whale when he drives to windward, with every +man trimming the boat, and the spray flying over your +bows!"</p> + +<p>We now turned northward through the village, flying +around many sharp corners, but this I found comparatively +easy work. But for the snow I had taken in, which now +began to melt, I got on finely in spite of the falling flakes, +which beat in our faces. Von Buch, in his journey through +Lapland in 1807, speaks of Muonioniska as "a village with +an inn where they have silver spoons." We stopped at a +house which Mr. Wolley stated was the very building, but +it proved to be a more recent structure on the site of the +old inn. The people looked at us with curiosity on hearing +we were Americans. They had heard the name of America, +but did not seem to know exactly where it was. On leaving +the house, we had to descend the steep bank of the +river. I put out my feet to steady the pulk, and thereby +ploughed a cataract of fine snow into my face, completely +blinding me. The pulk gave a flying leap from the steepest +pitch, flung me out, and the deer, eager to make for home, +dragged me by the arm for about twenty yards before I +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>could arrest him. This was the worst upset of all, and far +from pleasant, although the temperature was only zero. I +reached home again without further mishap, flushed, excited, +soaked with melted snow, and confident of my ability +to drive reindeer with a little more practice.</p> + +<p>During the first three days, the weather was raw, dark, +and lowering, with a temperature varying from 9° above to +13° below zero. On the morning of the 14th, however, the +sky finally cleared, with a cold south wind, and we saw, for +the first time, the range of snowy mountains in the east. +The view from our hill, before so dismally bleak and dark, +became broad and beautiful, now that there was a little +light to see it by. Beyond the snowy floor of the lake and +the river Muonio stretched the scattering huts of Muonioniska, +with the church overlooking them, and the round, +white peak of Ollastyntre rising above his belt of black +woods to the south. Further to the east extended alternate +streaks of dark forest and frozen marsh for eighteen miles, +to the foot of the mountain range of Palastyntre, which +stood like a line of colossal snow-drifts against the soft +violet sky, their sides touched by the rosily-golden beams of +the invisible sun. This and the valley of the Torneå, at +Avasaxa, are two of the finest views in Lapland.</p> + +<p>I employed part of my time in making some sketches of +characteristic faces. Mr. Wolley, finding that I wished to +procure good types of the Finns and Lapps, kindly assisted +me—his residence of three years in Muoniovara enabling +him to know who were the most marked and peculiar personages. +Ludwig was despatched to procure an old fellow +by the name of Niemi, a Finn, who promised to comply +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>with my wishes; but his ignorance made him suspicious, +and it was necessary to send again. "I know what travellers +are," said he, "and what a habit they have of getting +people's skulls to carry home with them. Even if they are +arrested for it, they are so rich, they always buy over the +judges. Who knows but they might try to kill me for the +sake of my skull?" After much persuasion, he was finally +induced to come, and, seeing that Ludwig supposed he was +still afraid, he said, with great energy: "I have made up +my mind to go, even if a shower of knives should fall from +heaven!" He was seventy-three years old, though he did +not appear to be over sixty—his hair being thick and black, +his frame erect and sturdy, and his colour crimson rather +than pale. His eyebrows were jet-black and bushy, his eyes +large and deep set, his nose strong and prominent, and the +corners of his long mouth drawn down in a settled curve, +expressing a melancholy grimness. The high cheek-bones, +square brow, and muscular jaw belonged to the true Finnish +type. He held perfectly still while I drew, scarcely moving +a muscle of his face, and I succeeded in getting a portrait +which everybody recognised.</p> + +<p>I gave him a piece of money, with which he was greatly +delighted; and, after a cup of coffee, in Herr Knoblock's +kitchen, he went home quite proud and satisfied. "They do +not at all look like dangerous persons," said he to the carpenter; +"perhaps they do not collect skulls. I wish they +spoke our language, that I might ask them how people live +in their country. America is a very large, wild place. I +know all about it, and the discovery of it. I was not there +myself at the time, but Jenis Lampi, who lives in Kittila, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>was one of the crew of the ship, and he told me how it happened. +Jenis Lampi said they were going to throw the +captain overboard, but he persuaded them to give him three +days, and on the third day they found it. Now I should +like to know whether these people, who come from that +country, have laws as we have, and whether they live as +comfortably." So saying, Isaaki Anderinpoika Niemi departed.</p> + +<p>No sooner had he gone than the old Lapp woman, Elsa, +who had been sent for, drove up in her pulk, behind a fast +reindeer. She was in complete Lapp costume—a blue cloth +gown with wide sleeves, trimmed with scarlet, and a curious +pear-shaped cap of the same material, upon her head. She +sat upon the floor, on a deerskin, and employed herself in +twisting reindeer sinews, which she rolled upon her cheek +with the palm of her hand, while I was sketching her. It +was already dark, and I was obliged to work by candle light, +but I succeeded in catching the half-insane, witch-like expression +of her face. When I took the candle to examine +her features more closely, she cried out, "Look at me, O son +of man!" She said that I had great powers, and was capable +of doing everything, since I had come so far, and could +make an image of her upon paper. She asked whether we +were married, saying we could hardly travel so much if we +were; yet she thought it much better to be married and stay +at home. I gave her a rigsdaler, which she took with joyful +surprise, saying, "What! am I to get my coffee and tobacco, +and be paid too? Thanks, O son of man, for your great +goodness!" She chuckled very much over the drawing, saying +that the dress was exactly right.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span>In the afternoon we took another reindeer drive to Muonioniska, +paying a visit to Pastor Fali, the clergyman whom +we had met at Forström's. This time I succeeded very well, +making the trip without a single overturn, though with +several mishaps. Mr. Wolley lost the way, and we drove +about at random for some time. My deer became restive, +and whirled me around in the snow, filling my pulk. It was +so dark that we could scarcely see, and, without knowing the +ground, one could not tell where the ups and down were. +The pastor received us courteously, treated us to coffee and +pipes, and conversed with us for some time. He had not, as +he said, a Swedish tongue, and I found it difficult to understand +him. On our way back, Braisted's and Ludwig's deers +ran together with mine, and, while going at full speed, B.'s +jumped into my pulk. I tried in vain either to stop or drive +on faster; he trampled me so violently that I was obliged to +throw myself out to escape his hoofs. Fortunately the +animals are not heavy enough to do any serious harm. We +reached Forström's in season for a dinner of fat reindeer +steak, cranberries, and a confect of the Arctic raspberry.</p> + +<p>After an absence of three days Salomon, the messenger +who had been sent up the river to engage reindeer for us, +returned, having gone sixty miles before he could procure +them. He engaged seven, which arrived the next evening, +in the charge of a tall, handsome Finn, who was to be our +conductor. We had, in the meantime, supplied ourselves +with reindeer <i>poesks</i>, such as the Lapps wear,—our own +furs being impracticable for pulk travelling—reindeer mittens, +and boas of squirrel tails strung on reindeer sinews. +The carpenter's second son, Anton, a lad of fifteen, was +engaged to accompany us as an interpreter.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h2>A REINDEER JOURNEY ACROSS LAPLAND.</h2> + + +<p>We left Muoniovara at noon on the 15th, fully prepared +for a three days' journey across the wilds of Lapland. We +were about to traverse the barren, elevated table-land, which +divides the waters of the Bothnian Gulf from those of the +Northern Ocean,—a dreary, unfriendly region, inhabited +only by a few wandering Lapps. Even without the prevalence +of famine, we should have had difficulty in procuring +food from them, so we supplied ourselves with a saddle of +reindeer, six loaves of rye bread, sugar, and a can of coffee. +The carpenter lent us a cup and saucer, and Anton, who felt +all the responsibility of a boy who is employed for the first +time, stowed everything away nicely in the broad baggage +pulk. We found it impossible to procure Lapp leggings and +shoes at Muoniovara, but our Russian boots proved an admirable +substitute. The <i>poesk</i> of reindeer skin is the +warmest covering for the body which could be devised. It +is drawn over the head like a shirt, fitting closely around +the neck and wrists, where it is generally trimmed with +ermine, and reaching half-way below the knee. A thick +woollen sash, wrapped first around the neck, the ends then +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>twisted together down to the waist, where they are passed +tightly around the body and tied in front, not only increases +the warmth and convenience of the garment, but gives it a +highly picturesque air. Our sea-otter caps, turned down so +as to cover the ears and forehead, were fastened upon our +heads with crimson handkerchiefs, and our boas, of black and +red squirrel tails, passed thrice around the neck, reached to +the tips of our noses. Over our dog-skin mittens we drew +gauntlets of reindeer skin, with which it was difficult to pick +up or take hold of anything; but as the deer's rein is twisted +around one's wrist, their clumsiness does not interfere with +the facility of driving. It would seem impossible for even +Arctic cold to penetrate through such defences—and yet it +did.</p> + +<p>Herr Forström prepared us for the journey by a good +breakfast of reindeer's marrow, a justly celebrated Lapland +delicacy, and we set out with a splendidly clear sky and a +cold of 12° below zero. The Muonio valley was superb, +towards sunrise, with a pale, creamy, saffron light on the +snow, the forests on the tops of the hills burning like jagged +masses of rough opal, and the distant range of Palastyntre +bathed in pink light, with pure sapphire shadows on its +northern slopes. These Arctic illuminations are transcendent; +nothing can equal them, and neither pen nor pencil can +describe them. We passed through Muonioniska, and kept +up the Russian side, over an undulating, wooded country. +The road was quite good, but my deer, in spite of his size +and apparent strength, was a lazy beast, and gave me much +trouble. I was obliged to get out of the pulk frequently +and punch him in the flanks, taking my chance to tumble in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>headlong as he sprang forward again. I soon became disgusted +with reindeer travelling, especially when, after we had +been on the road two hours and it was nearly dark, we +reached Upper Muonioniska, only eight miles. We there +took the river again, and made better progress to Kyrkessuando, +the first station, where we stopped an hour to feed +the deer. Here there was a very good little inn, with a bed +for travellers.</p> + +<p>We had seven reindeer, two of which ran loose, so that we +could change occasionally on the road. I insisted on changing +mine at once, and received in return a smaller animal, +which made up in spirit what he lacked in strength. Our +conductor was a tall, handsome Finn, with blue eyes and a +bright, rosy complexion. His name was Isaac, but he was +better known by his nickname of <i>Pitka Isaaki</i>, or Long +Isaac. He was a slow, good-humoured, prudent, careful fellow, +and probably served our purpose as well as anybody we +could have found. Anton, however, who made his first journey +with us, was invaluable. His father had some misgivings +on account of his timidity, but he was so ambitious to +give satisfaction that we found him forward enough.</p> + +<p>I have already described the country through which we +passed, as it was merely a continuation of the scenery below +Muonioniska—low, wooded hills, white plains, and everywhere +snow, snow, snow, silence and death. The cold increased +to 33° below zero, obliging me to bury my nose in +my boa and to keep up a vigorous exercise of my toes to prevent +them from freezing, as it is impossible to cover one's +boots in a pulk. The night was calm, clear, and starry; but +after an hour a bank of auroral light gradually arose in the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>north, and formed a broad arch, which threw its lustre over +the snow and lighted up our path. Almost stationary at +first, a restless motion after a time agitated the gleaming +bow; it shot out broad streamers of yellow fire, gathered +them in and launched them forth again, like the hammer of +Thor, which always returned to his hand, after striking the +blow for which it had been hurled. The most wonderful appearance, +however, was an immense square curtain, which +fell from all the central part of the arch. The celestial +scene-shifters were rather clumsy, for they allowed one end +to fall lower than the other, so that it over-lapped and doubled +back upon itself in a broad fold. Here it hung for probably +half an hour, slowly swinging to and fro, as if moved +by a gentle wind. What new spectacle was in secret preparation +behind it we did not learn, for it was hauled up so bunglingly +that the whole arch broke and fell in, leaving merely +a pile of luminous ruins under the Polar Star.</p> + +<p>Hungry and nearly frozen, we reached Palajoki at half-past +nine, and were at once ushered into the guests' room, a +little hut separated from the main building. Here, barring +an inch of ice on the windows and numerous windy cracks +in the floor, we felt a little comfort before an immense fire +kindled in the open chimney. Our provisions were already +adamantine; the meat was transformed into red Finland +granite, and the bread into mica-slate. Anton and the old +Finnish landlady, the mother of many sons, immediately +commenced the work of thawing and cooking, while I, by the +light of fir torches, took the portrait of a dark-haired, black-eyed, +olive-skinned, big-nosed, thick-lipped youth, who gave +his name as Eric Johan Sombasi. When our meal of meat, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>bread, and coffee had been despatched, the old woman made +a bed of reindeer skins for us in one corner, covered with a +coarse sheet, a quilt, and a sheepskin blanket. She then took +her station near the door, where several of the sons were already +standing, and all appeared to be waiting in silent curiosity +to see us retire. We undressed with genuine Finnish +freedom of manner, deliberately enough for them to +understand the peculiarities of our apparel, and they never +took their eyes from us until we were stowed away for the +night in our warm nest.</p> + +<p>It was snowing and blowing when we arose. Long Isaac +had gone to the woods after the reindeer, and we employed +the delay in making a breakfast off the leavings of our supper. +Crossing the Muonio at starting, we entered the +Russian territory and drove up the bed of the Palajok, a +tributary stream which comes down from the north. The +sky became clearer as the dawn increased; the road was +tolerably broken, and we sped merrily along the windings of +the river, under its tall banks fringed with fir trees, which, +loaded with snow, shone brilliantly white against the rosy +sky. The temperature was 8° below zero, which felt unpleasantly +warm, by contrast with the previous evening.</p> + +<p>After a time we left the river and entered a rolling upland—alternate +thickets of fir and birch, and wastes of frozen +marsh, where our path was almost obliterated. After +more than two hours' travel we came upon a large lake, at +the further end of which, on the southern side of a hill, was +the little hamlet of Suontajärvi. Here we stopped to bait +the deer, Braisted's and mine being nearly fagged out. We +entered one of the huts, where a pleasant woman was taking +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>charge of a year-old baby. There was no fire on the hearth, +and the wind whistled through the open cracks of the floor. +Long Isaac and the woman saluted each other by placing +their right arms around each other's waists, which is the +universal manner of greeting in Finland. They only shake +hands as a token of thanks for a favour.</p> + +<p>We started again at noon, taking our way across a wilderness +of lakes and snow-covered marshes, dotted with +stunted birch-thickets. The road had entirely disappeared, +but Eric of Palajoki, who accompanied us as an extra guide, +went ahead with a strong reindeer and piloted us. The +sagacity with which these animals find the track under a +smooth covering of loose snow, is wonderful. They follow +it by the feet, of course, but with the utmost ease and rapidity, +often while going at full speed. I was struck by +the sinuous, mazy character of our course, even where the +ground was level, and could only account for it by the supposition +that the first track over the light snow had followed +the smoothest and firmest ridges of the marshes. Our progress +was now slow and toilsome, and it was not long before +my deer gave up entirely. Long Isaac, seeing that a change +must be made, finally decided to give me a wild, powerful +animal, which he had not yet ventured to intrust to either +of us.</p> + +<p>The deer was harnessed to my pulk, the rein carefully +secured around my wrist, and Long Isaac let go his hold. +A wicked toss of the antlers and a prodigious jump followed, +and the animal rushed full tilt upon Braisted, who was next +before me, striking him violently upon the back. The +more I endeavored to rein him in, the more he plunged and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>tore, now dashing against the led deer, now hurling me over +the baggage pulk, and now leaping off the track into bottomless +beds of loose snow. Long Isaac at last shouted to me +to go ahead and follow Eric, who was about half a mile in +advance. A few furious plunges carried me past our little +caravan, with my pulk full of snow, and my face likewise. +Now, lowering his neck and thrusting out his head, with +open mouth and glaring eyes, the deer set off at the top of +his speed.</p> + +<p>Away I went, like a lance shot out from the auroral +armoury; the pulk slid over the snow with the swiftness of +a fish through the water; a torrent of snow-spray poured +into my lap and showered against my face, until I was completely +blinded. Eric was overtaken so quickly that he had +no time to give me the track, and as I was not in a condition +to see or hear anything, the deer, with the stupidity of +his race, sprang directly upon him, trampled him down, and +dragged me and my pulk over him. We came to a stand +in the deep snow, while Eric shook himself and started +again. My deer now turned and made for the caravan, but +I succeeded in pulling his head around, when he charged a +second time upon Eric, who threw himself out of his pulk +to escape. My strength was fast giving way, when we came +to a ridge of deep, loose snow, in which the animals sank +above their bellies, and up which they could hardly drag us. +My deer was so exhausted when we reached the top, that I +had no further difficulty in controlling him.</p> + +<p>Before us stretched a trackless plain, bounded by a low +mountain ridge. Eric set off at a fast trot, winding hither +and thither, as his deer followed the invisible path. I kept +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>close behind him, white as a Polar bear, but glowing like a +volcano under my furs. The temperature was 10° below +zero, and I could have wished it ten degrees colder. My +deer, although his first savage strength was spent, was still +full of spirit, and I began to enjoy this mode of travel. +We soon entered the hills, which were covered with thickets +of frozen birch, with here and there a tall Scotch fir, completely +robed in snow. The sun, which had showed about +half his disc at noon, was now dipping under the horizon, +and a pure orange glow lighted up the dazzling masses of the +crystal woods. All was silver-clear, far and near, shining, +as if by its own light, with an indescribable radiance. We +had struck upon a well-beaten track on entering the hills, +and flew swiftly along through this silent splendour, this +jewelled solitude, under the crimson and violet mode of the +sky. Here was true Northern romance; here was poetry +beyond all the Sagas and Eddas that ever were written.</p> + +<p>We passed three Lapps, with heavy hay-sleds, drawn by a +reindeer apiece, and after a time issued from the woods upon +a range of hills entirely bare and white. Before us was +the miserable hamlet of Lappajärvi, on the western side of +the barren mountain of Lippavara, which is the highest in +this part of Lapland, having an altitude of 1900 feet +above the sea. I have rarely seen anything quite so bleak +and God-forsaken as this village. A few low black huts, +in a desert of snow—that was all. We drove up to a sort +of station-house, where an old, white-headed Finn received +me kindly, beat the snow off my poesk with a birch broom, +and hung my boa near the fire to dry. There was a wild, +fierce-looking Lapp in the room, who spoke some Norwegian, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>and at once asked who and what I was. His head was covered +with a mop of bright brown hair, his eyes were dark +blue and gleamed like polished steel, and the flushed crimson +of his face was set off by the strong bristles of a beard +of three weeks growth. There was something savage and +ferocious in his air, as he sat with his clenched fists planted +upon his knees, and a heavy knife in a wooden scabbard +hanging from his belt. When our caravan arrived I transferred +him to my sketch-book. He gave me his name as +Ole Olsen Thore, and I found he was a character well +known throughout the country.</p> + +<p>Long Isaac proposed waiting until midnight, for moon-rise, +as it was already dark, and there was no track beyond +Lippajärvi. This seemed prudent, and we therefore, with +the old woman's help, set about boiling our meat, thawing +bread, and making coffee. It was necessary to eat even +beyond what appetite demanded, on account of the long distances +between the stations. Drowsiness followed repletion, +as a matter of course, and they gave us a bed of skins in +an inner-room. Here, however, some other members of the +family were gathered around the fire, and kept up an incessant +chattering, while a young married couple, who lay in +one corner, bestowed their endearments on each other, so that +we had but little benefit of our rest. At midnight all was +ready, and we set out. Long Isaac had engaged a guide, +and procured fresh deer in place of those which were fatigued. +There was a thick fog, which the moon scarcely +brightened, but the temperature had risen to zero, and was +as mild as a May morning. For the first time in many +days our beards did not freeze.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>We pursued our way in complete silence. Our little caravan, +in single file, presented a strange, shadowy, mysterious +appearance as it followed the winding path, dimly seen +through the mist, first on this side and then on that; not a +sound being heard, except the crunching of one's own pulk +over the snow. My reindeer and myself seemed to be the +only living things, and we were pursuing the phantoms of +other travellers and other deer, who had long ago perished +in the wilderness. It was impossible to see more than a +hundred yards; some short, stunted birches, in their spectral +coating of snow, grew along the low ridges of the +deep, loose snow, which separated the marshes, but nothing +else interrupted the monotony of the endless grey ocean, +through which we went floundering, apparently at haphazard. +How our guides found the way was beyond my comprehension, +for I could discover no distinguishable landmarks. +After two hours or more we struck upon a cluster +of huts called Palajärvi, seven miles from Lippajärvi, which +proved that we were on the right track.</p> + +<p>The fog now became thicker than ever. We were upon +the water-shed between the Bothnian Gulf and the Northern +Ocean, about 1400 feet above the sea. The birches became +mere shrubs, dotting the low mounds which here and +there arose out of the ocean of snow. The pulks all ran +in the same track and made a single furrow, so that our +gunwales were generally below the sea-level. The snow +was packed so tight, however, that we rarely shipped any. +Two hours passed, and I was at length roused from a half-sleep +by the evidence of our having lost the way. Long +Isaac and the guide stopped and consulted every few <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>minutes, +striking sometimes in one direction and sometimes +in another, but without any result. We ran over ridges of +heavy, hard tussocks, blown bare of snow, which pitched our +pulks right and left, just as I have bumped over the coral +reefs of Loo-Choo in a ship's cutter. Then followed deep +beds of snow-drifts, which tasked the utmost strength of +our deer, low birch thickets and hard ridges again, over +which we plunged in the wildest way possible.</p> + +<p>After wandering about for a considerable time, we suddenly +heard the barking of a dog at some distance on our left. +Following the welcome sound, we reached a scrubby ridge, +where we were saluted with a whole chorus of dogs, and +soon saw the dark cone of a Lapp tent. Long Isaac aroused +the inmates, and the shrill cry of a baby proclaimed that +there was life and love, even here. Presently a clumsy +form, enveloped in skins, waddled out, and entered into conversation +with our men. I proposed at once to engage a +Lapp to guide us as far as Eitajärvi, which they informed +us was two Norwegian (fourteen English) miles farther. The +man agreed, but must first go off to the woods for his deer, +which would detain us two hours. He put on his snow-skates +and started, and I set about turning the delay to profit +by making acquaintance with the inmates of the tents. +We had now reached the middle of the village; the lean, +wolfish dogs were yelling on all sides, and the people began +to bestir themselves. Streams of sparks issued from the +open tops of the tents, and very soon we stood as if in the +midst of a group of volcanic cones.</p> + +<p>The Lapps readily gave us permission to enter. We +lifted the hanging door of reindeer hide, crept in, stumbling +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>over a confused mixture of dogs and deerskins, until we +found room to sit down. Two middle-aged women, dressed +in poesks, like the men, were kindling a fire between some +large stones in the centre, but the air inside was still as cold +as outside. The damp birch sticks gave out a thick smoke, +which almost stifled us, and for half an hour we could +scarcely see or breathe. The women did not appear to be +incommoded in the least, but I noticed that their eyes were +considerably inflamed. After a time our company was +increased by the arrival of two stout, ruddy girls of about +seventeen, and a child of two years old, which already wore +a complete reindeer costume. They were all very friendly +and hospitable in their demeanour towards us, for conversation +was scarcely possible. The interior of the tent was +hung with choice bits of deer's hide, from the inside of the +flanks and shoulders, designed, apparently, for mittens. +Long Isaac at once commenced bargaining for some of them, +which he finally purchased. The money was deposited in +a rather heavy bag of coin, which one of the women drew +forth from under a pile of skins. Our caps and Russian +boots excited their curiosity, and they examined them with +the greatest minuteness.</p> + +<p>These women were neither remarkably small nor remarkably +ugly, as the Lapps are generally represented. The +ground-tone of their complexion was rather tawny, to be +sure, but there was a glowing red on their cheeks, and their +eyes were a dark bluish-grey. Their voices were agreeable, +and the language (a branch of the Finnish) had none of that +barbaric harshness common to the tongues of nomadic tribes. +These favorable features, nevertheless, were far from <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>reconciling +me to the idea of a trial of Lapp life. When I saw +the filth, the poverty, and discomfort in which they lived, I +decided that the present experience was all-sufficient. +Roasting on one side and freezing on the other, with smarting +eyes and asphyxiated lungs, I soon forgot whatever there +was of the picturesque in my situation, and thought only of +the return of our Lapp guide. The women at last cleared +away several dogs, and made room for us to lie down—a +more tolerable position, in our case; though how a whole +family, with innumerable dogs, stow themselves in the compass +of a circle eight feet in diameter, still remains a mystery.</p> + +<p>The Lapp returned with his reindeer within the allotted +time, and we took our leave of the encampment. A strong +south wind had arisen, but did not dissipate the fog, and for +two hours we had a renewal of our past experiences, in +thumping over hard ridges and ploughing through seas of +snow. Our track was singularly devious, sometimes doubling +directly back upon itself without any apparent cause. +At last, when a faint presentiment of dawn began to glimmer +through the fog, the Lapp halted and announced that he +had lost the way. Bidding us remain where we were, he +struck off into the snow and was soon lost to sight. Scarcely +a quarter of an hour had elapsed, however, before we heard +his cries at a considerable distance. Following, as we best +could, across a plain nearly a mile in diameter, we found +him at last in a narrow dell between two hills. The ground +now sloped rapidly northward, and I saw that we had crossed +the water-shed, and that the plain behind us must be the +lake Jedeckejaure, which, according to Von Buch, is 1370 +feet above the sea.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>On emerging from the dell we found a gentle slope before +us, covered with hard ice, down which our pulks flew like +the wind. This brought us to another lake, followed by a +similar slope, and so we descended the icy terraces, until, in +a little more than an hour, some covered haystacks gave evidence +of human habitation, and we drew up at the huts of +Eitajärvi, in Norway. An old man, who had been watching +our approach, immediately climbed upon the roof and removed +a board from the chimney, after which he ushered us +into a bare, cold room, and kindled a roaring fire on the +hearth. Anton unpacked our provisions, and our hunger +was so desperate, after fasting for twenty hours, that we +could scarcely wait for the bread to thaw and the coffee to +boil. We set out again at noon, down the frozen bed of a +stream which drains the lakes, but had not proceeded far +before both deers and pulks began to break through the ice, +probably on account of springs under it. After being +almost swamped, we managed to get up the steep snow-bank +and took to the plain again, making our own road over +ridge and through hollow. The caravan was soon stopped, +that the pulks might be turned bottom upwards and the ice +scraped off, which, like the barnacles on a ship's hull, +impeded their progress through the snow. The broad plain +we were traversing stretched away to the north without a +break or spot of color to relieve its ghastly whiteness; but +toward the south-west, where the sunset of an unrisen sun +spread its roseate glow through the mist, arose some low +mounds, covered with drooping birches, which shone against +the soft, mellow splendor, like sprays of silver embroidered +on rose-colored satin.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>Our course, for about fifteen miles, lay alternately upon +the stream (where the ice was sufficiently strong) and the +wild plain. Two or three Lapp tents on the bank exhibited +the usual amount of children and dogs, but we did not think +it worth while to extend the circle of our acquaintance in +that direction. At five o'clock, after it had long been dark, +we reached half a dozen huts called Siepe, two Norwegian +miles from Kautokeino. Long Isaac wished to stop here +for the night, but we resolutely set ourselves against him. +The principal hut was filthy, crowded with Lapps, and filled +with a disagreeable smell from the warm, wet poesks hanging +on the rafters. In one corner lay the carcases of two +deer-calves which had been killed by wolves. A long bench, +a table, and a rude frame covered with deerskins, and serving +as a bed, comprised all the furniture. The usual buckets +of sour milk, with wooden ladles, stood by the door. No +one appeared to have any particular occupation, if we except +the host's wife, who was engaged with an infant in +reindeer breeches. We smoked and deliberated while the +deers ate their balls of moss, and the result was, that a stout +yellow-haired Lapp youngster was engaged to pilot us to +Kautokeino.</p> + +<p>Siepe stands on a steep bank, down which our track led +to the stream again. As the caravan set off, my deer, which +had behaved very well through the day, suddenly became +fractious, sprang off the track, whirled himself around +on his hind legs, as if on a pivot, and turned the pulk +completely over, burying me in the snow. Now, I had +come from Muoniovara, more than a hundred miles, without +being once overturned, and was ambitious to make the whole +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>journey with equal success. I therefore picked myself up, +highly disconcerted, and started afresh. The very same +thing happened a second and a third time, and I don't think +I shall be considered unreasonable for becoming furiously +angry. I should certainly have committed cervicide had +any weapon been at hand. I seized the animal by the horns, +shook, cuffed, and kicked him, but all to no purpose. Long +Isaac, who was passing in his pulk, made some remark, +which Anton, with all the gravity and conscientiousness of +his new position of interpreter, immediately translated.</p> + +<p>"Long Isaac says," he shouted, "that the deer will go +well enough, if you knew how to drive him." "Long Isaac +may go to the devil!" was, I am sorry to say, my profane +reply, which Anton at once translated to him.</p> + +<p>Seating myself in the pulk again, I gave the deer the rein, +and for a time kept him to the top of his speed, following +the Lapp, who drove rapidly down the windings of the +stream. It was quite dark, but our road was now somewhat +broken, and for three hours our caravan swiftly and silently +sped on its way. Then, some scattered lights appeared in +the distance; our tired deers leaped forward with fresher +spirit, and soon brought us to the low wooden huts of Kautokeino. +We had travelled upwards of sixty miles since +leaving Lippajärvi, breaking our own road through deep +snow for a great part of the way. During this time our +deers had not been changed. I cannot but respect the provoking +animals after such a feat.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h2>KAUTOKEINO.—A DAY WITHOUT A SUN.</h2> + + +<p>While in Dresden, my friend Ziegler had transferred to +me a letter of introduction from Herr Berger, a merchant of +Hammerfest, to his housekeeper in Kautokeino. Such a +transfer might be considered a great stretch of etiquette in +those enlightened regions of the world where hospitality requires +certificates of character; but, in a benighted country +like Lapland, there was no danger of very fine distinctions +being drawn, and Ziegler judged that the house which was +to have been placed at his disposal had he made the journey, +would as readily open its doors to me. At Muoniovara, I +learned that Berger himself was now in Kautokeino, so that +I needed only to present him with his own letter. We arrived +so late, however, that I directed Long Isaac to take us +to the inn until morning. He seemed reluctant to do this, and +I could not fathom the reason of his hesitation, until I had +entered the hovel to which we were conducted. A single +room, filled with smoke from a fire of damp birch sticks, +was crammed with Lapps of all sizes, and of both sexes. +There was scarcely room to spread a deerskin on the floor +while the smell exhaled from their greasy garments and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>their unwashed bodies was absolutely stifling. I have travelled +too much to be particularly nice in my choice of +lodgings, but in this instance I instantly retreated, determined +to lie on the snow, under my overturned pulk, rather +than pass the night among such bed-fellows.</p> + +<p>We drove on for a short distance, and drew up before a +large, substantial log-house, which Long Isaac informed me +was the residence of the <i>Länsman</i>, or magistrate of the district. +I knocked at the door, and inquired of the Norwegian +servant girl who opened it, where Herr Berger lived. +Presently appeared a stout, ruddy gentleman—no less than +Herr Berger himself—who addressed me in fluent English. +A few words sufficed to explain everything, and in ten minutes +our effects were deposited in the guest's room of the +Länsman's house, and ourselves, stripped of our Polar hides, +were seated on a sofa, in a warm, carpeted room, with a +bountiful supper-table before us. Blessed be civilisation! +was my inward ejaculation. Blessed be that yearning for +comfort in Man, which has led to the invention of beds, of +sofas, and easy chairs: which has suggested cleanliness of +body and of habitation, and which has developed the noble +art of cooking! The dreary and perilous wastes over which +we had passed were forgotten. With hearts warmed in both +senses, and stomachs which reacted gratefully upon our +hearts, we sank that night into a paradise of snowy linen, +which sent a consciousness of pleasure even into the oblivion +of sleep.</p> + +<p>The Länsman, Herr Lie, a tall handsome man of twenty-three, +was a native of Altengaard, and spoke tolerable English. +With him and Herr Berger, we found a third <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>person, +a theological student, stationed at Kautokeino to learn +the Lapp tongue. Pastor Hvoslef, the clergyman, was the +only other Norwegian resident. The village, separated +from the Northern Ocean, by the barren, uninhabited ranges +of the Kiölen Mountains, and from the Finnish settlements +on the Muonio by the swampy table-lands we had traversed, +is one of the wildest and most forlorn places in all Lapland. +Occupying, as it does, the centre of a large district, over +which the Lapps range with their reindeer herds during +the summer, it is nevertheless a place of some importance, +both for trade and for the education, organization, and proper +control of the barely-reclaimed inhabitants. A church +was first built here by Charles XI. of Sweden, in 1660, although, +in the course of subsequent boundary adjustments, +the district was made over to Norway. Half a century +afterwards, some families of Finns settled here; but they +appear to have gradually mixed with the Lapps, so that +there is little of the pure blood of either race to be found +at present. I should here remark that throughout Norwegian +Lapland the Lapps are universally called <i>Finns</i>, and +the Finns, <i>Quäns</i>. As the change of names, however, +might occasion some confusion, I shall adhere to the more +correct Swedish manner of designating them, which I have +used hitherto.</p> + +<p>Kautokeino is situated in a shallow valley, or rather basin, +opening towards the north-east, whither its river flows +to join the Alten. Although only 835 feet above the sea, +and consequently below the limits of the birch and the fir +in this latitude, the country has been stripped entirely bare +for miles around, and nothing but the scattering groups of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>low, dark huts, breaks the snowy monotony. It is with +great difficulty that vegetables of any kind can be raised. +Potatoes have once or twice been made to yield eight-fold, +but they are generally killed by the early autumn frosts before +maturity. On the southern bank of the river, the +ground remains frozen the whole year round, at a depth of +only nine feet. The country furnishes nothing except reindeer +meat, milk, and cheese. Grain, and other supplies of +all kinds, must be hauled up from the Alten Fjord, a distance +of 112 miles. The carriage is usually performed in +winter, when, of course, everything reaches its destination +in a frozen state. The potatoes are as hard as quartz pebbles, +sugar and salt become stony masses, and even wine assumes +a solid form. In this state they are kept until wanted +for use, rapidly thawed, and immediately consumed, +whereby their flavour is but little impaired. The potatoes, +cabbage, and preserved berries on the Länsman's table were +almost as fresh as if they had never been frozen.</p> + +<p>Formerly, the place was almost entirely deserted during +the summer months, and the resident missionary and Länsman +returned to Alten until the Lapps came back to their +winter huts; but, for some years past, the stationary population +has increased, and the church is kept open the whole +year. Winter, however, is the season when the Lapps are +found at home, and when their life and habits are most characteristic +and interesting. The population of Kautokeino +is then, perhaps, about 800; in summer it is scarcely one-tenth +of this number. Many of the families—especially +those of mixed Finnish blood—live in wooden huts, with +the luxury of a fireplace and chimney, and a window or two; +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>but the greater part of them burrow in low habitations of +earth, which resemble large mole hills raised in the crust of +the soil. Half snowed over and blended with the natural +inequalities of the earth, one would never imagine, but for +the smoke here and there issuing from holes, that human +beings existed below. On both sides of the stream are rows +of storehouses, wherein the Lapps deposit their supplies and +household articles during their summer wanderings. These +structures are raised upon birch posts, each capped with a +smooth, horizontal board, in order to prevent the rats and +mice from effecting an entrance. The church is built upon +a slight eminence to the south, with its low red belfry standing +apart, as in Sweden, in a small grove of birches, which +have been spared for a summer ornament to the sanctuary.</p> + +<p>We awoke at eight o'clock to find a clear twilight and a +cold of 10° below zero. Our stay at Muoniovara had given +the sun time to increase his altitude somewhat, and I had +some doubts whether we should succeed in beholding a day +of the Polar winter. The Länsman, however, encouraged us +by the assurance that the sun had not yet risen upon his residence, +though nearly six weeks had elapsed since his disappearance, +but that his return was now looked for every day, +since he had already begun to shine upon the northern hills. +By ten o'clock it was light enough to read; the southern +sky was a broad sea of golden orange, dotted with a few +crimson cloud-islands, and we set ourselves to watch with +some anxiety the gradual approach of the exiled god. But +for this circumstance, and two other drawbacks, I should +have gone to church to witness the Lapps at their religious +exercises. Pastor Hvoslef was ill, and the service consisted +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>only of the reading of some prayers by the Lapp schoolmaster; +added to which, the church is never warmed, even in +the coldest days of winter. One cause of this may, perhaps, +be the dread of an accidental conflagration; but the main +reason is, the inconvenience which would arise from the +thawing out of so many antiquated reindeer garments, and +the effluvia given out by the warmed bodies within them. +Consequently, the temperature inside the church is about +the same as outside, and the frozen moisture of the worshippers' +breath forms a frosty cloud so dense as sometimes to +hide the clergyman from the view of his congregation. Pastor +Hvoslef informed me that he had frequently preached in +a temperature of 35° below zero. "At such times," said he, +"the very words seem to freeze as they issue from my lips, +and fall upon the heads of my hearers like a shower of snow." +"But," I ventured to remark, "our souls are controlled to +such a degree by the condition of our bodies, that I should +doubt whether any true devotional spirit could exist at such +a time. Might not even religion itself be frozen?" "Yes," +he answered, "there is no doubt that all the better feelings +either disappear, or become very faint, when the mercury +begins to freeze." The pastor himself was at that time suffering +the penalty of indulging a spirit of reverence which +for a long time led him to officiate with uncovered head.</p> + +<p>The sky increased in brightness as we watched. The +orange flushed into rose, and the pale white hills looked +even more ghastly against the bar of glowing carmine which +fringed the horizon. A few long purple streaks of cloud +hung over the sun's place, and higher up in the vault +floated some loose masses, tinged with fiery crimson on their +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span>lower edges. About half-past eleven, a pencil of bright red +light shot up—a signal which the sun uplifted to herald +his coming. As it slowly moved westward along the hills, +increasing in height and brilliancy until it became a long +tongue of flame, playing against the streaks of cloud we +were apprehensive that the near disc would rise to view. +When the Länsman's clock pointed to twelve, its base had +become so bright as to shine almost like the sun itself; but +after a few breathless moments the unwelcome glow began +to fade. We took its bearing with a compass, and after +making allowance for the variation (which is here very +slight) were convinced that it was really past meridian, and +the radiance, which was that of morning a few minutes before, +belonged to the splendours of evening now. The +colours of the firmament began to change in reverse order, +and the dawn, which had almost ripened to sunrise, now +withered away to night without a sunset. We had at last +seen a day without a sun.</p> + +<p>The snowy hills to the north, it is true, were tinged with +a flood of rosy flame, and the very next day would probably +bring down the tide-mark of sunshine to the tops of the +houses. One day, however, was enough to satisfy me. You, +my heroic friend,<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> may paint with true pencil, and still +truer pen, the dreary solemnity of the long Arctic night: +but, greatly as I enjoy your incomparable pictures, much as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>I honour your courage and your endurance, you shall never +tempt me to share in the experience. The South is a cup +which one may drink to inebriation; but one taste from the +icy goblet of the North is enough to allay curiosity and +quench all further desire. Yet the contrast between these +two extremes came home to me vividly but once during this +journey. A traveller's mind must never stray too far from +the things about him, and long habit has enabled me to +throw myself entirely into the conditions and circumstances +of each separate phase of my wandering life, thereby preserving +distinct the sensations and experiences of each, and preventing +all later confusion in the memory. But one day, +at Muoniovara, as I sat before the fire in the afternoon +darkness, there flashed across my mind a vision of cloudless +Egypt—trees rustling in the hot wind, yellow mountain-walls +rising beyond the emerald plain of the Nile, the +white pencils of minarets in the distance, the creamy odour +of bean-blossoms in the air—a world of glorious vitality, +where Death seemed an unaccountable accident. Here, Life +existed only on sufferance, and all Nature frowned with a +robber's demand to give it up. I flung my pipe across the +room and very soon, behind a fast reindeer, drove away from +the disturbing reminiscence.</p> + +<p>I went across the valley to the schoolmaster's house to +make a sketch of Kautokeino, but the frost was so thick on +the windows that I was obliged to take a chair in the open +air and work with bare hands. I soon learned the value of +rapidity in such an employment. We spent the afternoon +in the Länsman's parlor, occasionally interrupted by the +visits of Lapps, who, having heard of our arrival, were very +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>curious to behold the first Americans who ever reached this +part of the world. They came into the room with the most +perfect freedom, saluted the Länsman, and then turned to +stare at us until they were satisfied, when they retired to +give place to others who were waiting outside. We were +obliged to hold quite a levee during the whole evening. +They had all heard of America, but knew very little else +about it, and many of them questioned us, through Herr +Berger, concerning our religion and laws. The fact of the +three Norwegian residents being able to converse with us +astonished them greatly. The Lapps of Kautokeino have +hitherto exalted themselves over the Lapps of Karasjok +and Karessuando, because the Länsman, Berger, and Pastor +Hvoslef could speak with English and French travellers in +their own language, while the merchants and pastors of the +latter places are acquainted only with Norwegian and +Swedish; and now their pride received a vast accession. +"How is it possible?" said they to Herr Berger, "these men +come from the other side of the world, and you talk with +them as fast in their own language as if you had never +spoken any other!" The schoolmaster, Lars Kaino, a one-armed +fellow, with a more than ordinary share of acuteness +and intelligence, came to request that I would take his portrait, +offering to pay me for my trouble. I agreed to do it +gratuitously, on condition that I should keep it myself, and +that he should bring his wife to be included in the sketch.</p> + +<p>He assented, with some sacrifice of vanity, and came +around the next morning, in his holiday suit of blue cloth, +trimmed with scarlet and yellow binding. His wife, a short +woman of about twenty-five, with a face as flat and round +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>as a platter, but a remarkably fair complexion, accompanied +him, though with evident reluctance, and sat with eyes +modestly cast down while I sketched her features. The circumstance +of my giving Lars half a dollar at the close of +the sitting was immediately spread through Kautokeino, and +before night all the Lapps of the place were ambitious to +undergo the same operation. Indeed, the report reached the +neighboring villages, and a Hammerfest merchant, who +came in the following morning from a distance of seven +miles, obtained a guide at less than the usual price, through +the anxiety of the latter to arrive in time to have his portrait +taken. The shortness of the imperfect daylight, however, +obliged me to decline further offers, especially as there +were few Lapps of pure, unmixed blood among my visitors.</p> + +<p>Kautokeino was the northern limit of my winter journey. +I proposed visiting Altengaard in the summer, on my way +to the North Cape, and there is nothing in the barren tract +between the two places to repay the excursion. I had +already seen enough of the Lapps to undeceive me in regard +to previously-formed opinions respecting them, and to take +away the desire for a more intimate acquaintance. In features, +as in language, they resemble the Finns sufficiently to +indicate an ethnological relationship. I could distinguish +little, if any, trace of the Mongolian blood in them. They +are fatter, fairer, and altogether handsomer than the nomadic +offshoots of that race, and resemble the Esquimaux (to +whom they have been compared) in nothing but their rude, +filthy manner of life. Von Buch ascribes the difference in +stature and physical stamina between them and the Finns +to the use of the vapor bath by the latter and the aversion +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>to water of the former. They are a race of Northern gipsies, +and it is the restless blood of this class rather than any +want of natural capacity which retards their civilisation. +Although the whole race has been converted to Christianity, +and education is universal among them—no Lapp being +permitted to marry until he can read—they have but in too +many respects substituted one form of superstition for +another. The spread of temperance among them, however, +has produced excellent results, and, in point of morality, they +are fully up to the prevailing standard in Sweden and Norway. +The practice, formerly imputed to them, of sharing +their connubial rights with the guests who visited them, is +wholly extinct,—if it ever existed. Theft is the most usual +offence, but crimes of a more heinous character are rare.</p> + +<p>Whatever was picturesque in the Lapps has departed +with their paganism. No wizards now ply their trade of +selling favorable winds to the Norwegian coasters, or mutter +their incantations to discover the concealed grottoes of +silver in the Kiölen mountains. It is in vain, therefore, +for the romantic traveller to seek in them the materials for +weird stories and wild adventures. They are frightfully +pious and commonplace. Their conversion has destroyed +what little of barbaric poetry there might have been in their +composition, and, instead of chanting to the spirits of the +winds, and clouds, and mountains, they have become furious +ranters, who frequently claim to be possessed by the Holy +Ghost. As human beings, the change, incomplete as it is, +is nevertheless to their endless profit; but as objects of interest +to the traveller, it has been to their detriment. It +would be far more picturesque to describe a sabaoth of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>Lapland +witches than a prayer-meeting of shouting converts, +yet no friend of his race could help rejoicing to see the latter +substituted for the former. In proportion, therefore, as the +Lapps have become enlightened (like all other savage tribes), +they have become less interesting. Retaining nearly all +that is repulsive in their habits of life, they have lost the +only peculiarities which could persuade one to endure the +inconveniences of a closer acquaintance.</p> + +<p>I have said that the conversion of the Lapps was in some +respects the substitution of one form of superstition for +another. A tragic exemplification of this fact, which produced +the greatest excitement throughout the North, took +place in Kautokeino four years ago. Through the preaching +of Lestadius and other fanatical missionaries, a spiritual +epidemic, manifesting itself in the form of visions, trances, +and angelic possessions, broke out among the Lapps. It +infected the whole country, and gave rise to numerous disturbances +and difficulties in Kautokeino. It was no unusual +thing for one of the congregation to arise during church service, +declare that he was inspired by the Holy Ghost, and +call upon those present to listen to his revelations. The +former Länsman arrested the most prominent of the offenders, +and punished them with fine and imprisonment. This +begat feelings of hatred on the part of the fanatics, which +soon ripened into a conspiracy. The plot was matured +during the summer months, when the Lapps descended towards +the Norwegian coast with their herds of reindeer.</p> + +<p>I have the account of what followed from the lips of +Pastor Hvoslef, who was then stationed here, and was also +one of the victims of their resentment. Early one morning +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>in October, when the inhabitants were returning from their +summer wanderings, he was startled by the appearance of +the resident merchant's wife, who rushed into his house in +a frantic state, declaring that her husband was murdered. +He fancied that the woman was bewildered by some sudden +fright, and, in order to quiet her, walked over to the merchant's +house. Here he found the unfortunate man lying +dead upon the floor, while a band of about thirty Lapps, +headed by the principal fanatics, were forcing the house of +the Länsman, whom they immediately dispatched with their +knives and clubs. They then seized the pastor and his +wife, beat them severely with birch-sticks, and threatened +them with death unless they would acknowledge the divine +mission of the so-called prophets.</p> + +<p>The greater part of the day passed in uncertainty and +terror, but towards evening appeared a crowd of friendly +Lapps from the neighbouring villages, who, after having +received information, through fugitives, of what had happened, +armed themselves and marched to the rescue. A fight +ensued, in which the conspirators were beaten, and the prisoners +delivered out of their hands. The friendly Lapps, unable +to take charge of all the criminals, and fearful lest some +of them might escape during the night, adopted the alternative +of beating every one of them so thoroughly that they +were all found the next morning in the same places where +they had been left the evening before. They were tried at +Alten, the two ringleaders executed, and a number of the +others sent to the penitentiary at Christiania. This summary +justice put a stop to all open and violent manifestations +of religious frenzy, but it still exists to some extent, +though only indulged in secret.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>We paid a visit to Pastor Hvoslef on Monday, and had +the pleasure of his company to dinner in the evening. He +is a Christian gentleman in the best sense of the term, and +though we differed in matters of belief, I was deeply impressed +with his piety and sincerity. Madame Hvoslef and +two rosy little Arctic blossoms shared his exile—for this is +nothing less than an exile to a man of cultivation and intellectual +tastes. In his house I saw—the last thing one would +have expected to find in the heart of Lapland—a piano. +Madame Hvoslef, who is an accomplished performer, sat +down to it, and gave us the barcarole from Massaniello. +While in the midst of a maze of wild Norwegian melodies, +I saw the Pastor whisper something in her ear. At once, to +our infinite amazement, she boldly struck up "Yankee Doodle!" +Something like an American war-whoop began to +issue from Braisted's mouth, but was smothered in time to +prevent an alarm. "How on earth did that air get into +Lapland!" I asked. "I heard Ole Bull play it at Christiania," +said Madame Hvoslef, "and learned it from memory +afterwards."</p> + +<p>The weather changed greatly after our arrival. From 23° +below zero on Sunday evening, it rose to 8-1/2° above, on Monday +night, with a furious hurricane of snow from the north. +We sent for our deer from the hills early on Tuesday morning, +in order to start on our return to Muoniovara. The +Lapps, however, have an Oriental disregard of time, and as +there was no chance of our getting off before noon, we improved +part of the delay in visiting the native schools and +some of the earthen huts, or, rather, dens, in which most of +the inhabitants live. There were two schools, each <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>containing +about twenty scholars—fat, greasy youngsters, swaddled +in reindeer skins, with blue eyes, light brown or yellow hair, +and tawny red cheeks, wherever the original colour could be +discerned. As the rooms were rather warm, the odour of +Lapp childhood was not quite as fresh as a cowslip, and we +did not tarry long among them.</p> + +<p>Approaching the side of a pile of dirt covered with snow, +we pushed one after another, against a small square door, +hung at such a slant that it closed of itself, and entered an +ante-den used as a store-room. Another similar door ushered +us into the house, a rude, vaulted space, framed with +poles, sticks and reindeer hides, and covered compactly with +earth, except a narrow opening in the top to let out the +smoke from a fire kindled in the centre. Pieces of reindeer +hide, dried flesh, bags of fat, and other articles, hung from +the frame and dangled against our heads as we entered. The +den was not more than five feet high by about eight feet in +diameter. The owner, a jolly, good-humoured Lapp, gave +me a low wooden stool, while his wife, with a pipe in her +mouth, squatted down on the hide which served for a bed +and looked at me with amiable curiosity. I contemplated +them for a while with my eyes full of tears (the smoke being +very thick,) until finally both eyes and nose could endure no +more, and I sought the open air again.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> This was written in Lapland; and at the same time my friend Dr. +Elisha Kent Kane, of immortal memory, lay upon his death-bed, in +Havana. I retain the words, which I then supposed would meet his +eye, that I may add my own tribute of sorrow for the untimely death of +one of the truest, bravest, and noblest-hearted men I ever knew.</p></div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h2>THE RETURN TO MUONIOVARA.</h2> + + +<p>While at Kautokeino I completed my Lapp outfit by +purchasing a scarlet cap, stuffed with eider down, a pair of +<i>bœllinger</i>, or reindeer leggings, and the <i>komager</i>, or broad, +boat-shaped shoes, filled with dry soft hay, and tightly +bound around the ankles, which are worn by everybody in +Lapland. Attired in these garments, I made a very passable +Lapp, barring a few superfluous inches of stature, and +at once realized the prudence of conforming in one's costume +to the native habits. After the first feeling of awkwardness +is over, nothing can be better adapted to the Polar +Winter than the Lapp dress. I walked about at first with +the sensation of having each foot in the middle of a +large feather bed, but my blood preserved its natural warmth +even after sitting for hours in an open pulk. The <i>bœllinger</i>, +fastened around the thighs by drawing-strings of reindeer +sinew, are so covered by the poesk that one becomes, for all +practical purposes, a biped reindeer, and may wallow in the +snow as much as he likes without the possibility of a particle +getting through his hide.</p> + +<p>The temperature was, nevertheless, singularly mild when +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>we set out on our return. There had been a violent storm +of wind and snow the previous night, after which the mercury +rose to 16° above zero. We waited until noon before +our reindeers could be collected, and then set off, with the +kind farewell wishes of the four Norwegian inhabitants of +the place. I confess to a feeling of relief when we turned +our faces southward, and commenced our return to daylight. +We had at last seen the Polar night, the day without a sunrise; +we had driven our reindeer under the arches of the +aurora borealis; we had learned enough of the Lapps to +convince us that further acquaintance would be of little +profit; and it now seemed time to attempt an escape from +the limbo of Death into which we had ventured. Our +faces had already begun to look pale and faded from three +weeks of alternate darkness and twilight, but the novelty +of our life preserved us from any feeling of depression and +prevented any perceptible effect upon our bodily health, such +as would assuredly have followed a protracted experience of +the Arctic Winter. Every day now would bring us further +over the steep northern shoulder of the Earth, and nearer to +that great heart of life in the south, where her blood pulsates +with eternal warmth. Already there was a perceptible +increase of the sun's altitude, and at noonday a thin upper +slice of his disc was visible for about half an hour.</p> + +<p>By Herr Berger's advice, we engaged as guide to Lippajärvi, +a Lapp, who had formerly acted as postman, and professed +to be able to find his way in the dark. The wind +had blown so violently that it was probable we should have +to break our own road for the whole distance. Leaving +Kautokeino, we travelled up the valley of a frozen stream, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>towards desolate ranges of hills, or rather shelves of the +table-land, running north-east and south-west. They were +spotted with patches of stunted birch, hardly rising above +the snow. Our deer were recruited, and we made very good +progress while the twilight lasted. At some Lapp tents, +where we stopped to make inquiries about the ice, I was much +amused by the appearance of a group of children, who +strikingly resembled bear-cubs standing on their hind legs. +They were coated with reindeer hide from head to foot, with +only a little full-moon of tawny red face visible.</p> + +<p>We stopped at Siepe an hour to bait the deer. The single +wooden hut was crowded with Lapps, one of whom, +apparently the owner, spoke a little Norwegian. He knew +who we were, and asked me many questions about America. +He was most anxious to know what was our religion, and +what course the Government took with regard to different +sects. He seemed a little surprised, and not less pleased, to +hear that all varieties of belief were tolerated, and that no +one sect possessed any peculiar privileges over another. (It +is only very recently that dissenters from the Orthodox +Church have been allowed to erect houses of worship in +Norway.) While we were speaking on these matters, an +old woman, kneeling near us, was muttering prayers to herself, +wringing her hands, sobbing, and giving other evidences +of violent religious excitement. This appeared to be a +common occurrence, as none of the Lapps took the slightest +notice of it. I have no doubt that much of that hallucination +which led to the murders at Kautokeino still exists +among the people, kept alive by secret indulgence. Those +missionaries have much to answer for who have planted the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>seeds of spiritual disease among this ignorant and impressible +race.</p> + +<p>The night was cold and splendidly clear. We were +obliged to leave the river on account of rotten ice, and took +to the open plains, where our deers sank to their bellies in +the loose snow. The leading animals became fractious, and +we were obliged to stop every few minutes, until their +paroxysms subsided. I could not perceive that the Lapps +themselves exercised much more control over them than we, +who were new to the business. The domesticated reindeer +still retains his wild instincts, and never fails to protest +against the necessity of labour. The most docile will fly +from the track, plunge, face about and refuse to draw, when +you least expect it. They are possessed by an incorrigible +stupidity. Their sagacity applies only to their animal +wants, and they seem almost totally deficient in memory. +They never become attached to men, and the only sign of +recognition they show, is sometimes to allow certain persons +to catch them more easily than others. In point of speed +they are not equal to the horse, and an hour's run generally +exhausts them. When one considers their size, however, +their strength and power of endurance seem marvellous. +Herr Berger informed me that he had driven a reindeer +from Alten to Kautokeino, 112 miles, in twenty-six hours, +and from the latter place to Muoniovara in thirty. I was +also struck by the remarkable adaptation of the animal to +its uses. Its hoof resembles that of the camel, being formed +for snow, as the latter for sand. It is broad, cloven +and flexible, the separate divisions spreading out so as to +present a resisting surface when the foot is set down, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span>falling together when it is lifted. Thus in snow where a +horse would founder in the space of a hundred yards, the +deer easily works his way, mile after mile, drawing the +sliding, canoe-like pulk, burdened with his master's weight, +after him.</p> + +<p>The Lapps generally treat their animals with the greatest +patience and forbearance, but otherwise do not exhibit any +particular attachment for them. They are indebted to them +for food, clothing, habitation and conveyance, and their +very existence may therefore almost be said to depend on +that of their herds. It is surprising, however, what a number +of deer are requisite for the support of a family. Von +Buch says that a Lapp who has a hundred deer is poor, and +will be finally driven to descend to the coast, and take to +fishing. The does are never made to labour, but are kept +in the woods for milking and breeding. Their milk is rich +and nourishing, but less agreeable to the taste than that of +the cow. The cheese made from it is strong and not particularly +palatable. It yields an oil which is the sovereign +specific for frozen flesh. The male deer used for draft are +always castrated, which operation the old Lapp women perform +by slowly chewing the glands between their teeth until +they are reduced to a pulp, without wounding the hide.</p> + +<p>During this journey I had ample opportunity of familiarising +myself with reindeer travel. It is picturesque +enough at the outset, but when the novelty of the thing is +worn off nothing is left but a continual drain upon one's +patience. Nothing can exceed the coolness with which your +deer jumps off the track, slackens his tow-rope, turns around +and looks you in the face, as much as to say: "What are +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span>you going to do about it?" The simplicity and stupidity +of his countenance seem to you to be admirably feigned, and +unless you are an old hand you are inevitably provoked. +This is particularly pleasant on the marshy table-lands of +Lapland, where, if he takes a notion to bolt with you, your +pulk bounces over the hard tussocks, sheers sideways down +the sudden pitches, or swamps itself in beds of loose snow. +Harness a frisky sturgeon to a "dug-out," in a rough sea, +and you will have some idea of this method of travelling. +While I acknowledge the Providential disposition of things +which has given the reindeer to the Lapp, I cannot avoid +thanking Heaven that I am not a Lapp, and that I shall +never travel again with reindeer.</p> + +<p>The aberrations of our deer obliged us to take a very +sinuous course. Sometimes we headed north, and sometimes +south, and the way seemed so long that I mistrusted the +quality of our guide; but at last a light shone ahead. It +was the hut of Eitajärvi. A lot of pulks lay in front of it, +and the old Finn stood already with a fir torch, waiting to +light us in. On arriving, Anton was greeted by his sister +Caroline, who had come thus far from Muoniovara, on her +way to visit some relatives at Altengaard. She was in +company with some Finns, who had left Lippajärvi the day +previous, but losing their way in the storm, had wandered +about for twenty-four hours, exposed to its full violence. +Think of an American girl of eighteen sitting in an open +pulk, with the thermometer at zero, a furious wind and +blinding snow beating upon her, and neither rest nor food +for a day! There are few who would survive twelve hours, +yet Caroline was as fresh, lively, and cheerful as ever, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>immediately set about cooking our supper. We found a +fire in the cold guest's room, the place swept and cleaned, +and a good bed of deerskins in one corner. The temperature +had sunk to 12° below zero, and the wind blew through +wide cracks in the floor, but between the fire and the reciprocal +warmth of our bodies we secured a comfortable sleep—a +thing of the first consequence in such a climate.</p> + +<p>Our deer started well in the morning, and the Lapp +guide knew his way perfectly. The wind had blown so +strongly that the track was cleared rather than filled, and +we slipped up the long slopes at a rapid rate. I recognised +the narrow valley where we first struck the northern streams, +and the snowy plain beyond, where our first Lapp guide lost +his way. By this time it was beginning to grow lighter, +showing us the dreary wastes of table-land which we had +before crossed in the fog. North of us was a plain of unbroken +snow, extending to a level line on the horizon, where +it met the dark violet sky. Were the colour changed, it +would have perfectly represented the sandy plateaus of the +Nubian Desert, in so many particulars does the extreme +North imitate the extreme South. But the sun, which never +deserts the desert, had not yet returned to these solitudes. +Far, far away, on the edge of the sky, a dull red glimmer +showed where he moved. Not the table-land of Pamir, in +Thibet, the cradle of the Oxus and the Indus, but this lower +Lapland terrace, is entitled to the designation of the "Roof +of the World." We were on the summit, creeping along +her mountain rafters, and looking southward, off her shelving +eaves, to catch a glimpse of the light playing on her +majestic front. Here, for once, we seemed to look down on +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>the horizon, and I thought of Europe and the Tropics as +lying below. Our journey northward had been an ascent +but now the world's steep sloped downward before us into +sunshine and warmer air. In ascending the Andes or the +Himalayas, you pass through all climates and belts of vegetation +between the Equator and the Pole, and so a journey +due north, beyond the circle of the sun, simply reverses the +phenomenon, and impresses one like the ascent of a mountain +on the grandest possible scale.</p> + +<p>In two hours from the time we left Eitajärvi we reached +the Lapp encampment. The herds of deer had been driven +in from the woods, and were clustered among the birch bushes +around the tents. We had some difficulty in getting our +own deer past them, until the Lapps came to our assistance. +We made no halt, but pushed on, through deeper snows than +before, over the desolate plain. As far as Palajärvi we ran +with our gunwales below the snow-level, while the foremost +pulks were frequently swamped under the white waves that +broke over them. We passed through a picturesque gorge +between two hills about 500 feet high, and beyond it came +upon wide lakes covered deep with snow, under which there +was a tolerable track, which the leading deer was able to find +with his feet. Beyond these lakes there was a ridge, which +we had no sooner crossed than a dismally grand prospect +opened before us. We overlooked a valley-basin, marked +with belts of stunted birch, and stretching away for several +miles to the foot of a bleak snowy mountain, which I at +once recognised as Lippavara. After rounding its western +point and turning southward again, we were rejoiced with +the sight of some fir trees, from which the snow had been +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>shaken, brightening even with their gloomy green the white +monotony of the Lapland wilderness. It was like a sudden +gleam of sunshine.</p> + +<p>We reached Lippajärvi at twelve, having made twenty-eight +miles of hard travel in five hours. Here we stopped +two hours to cook a meal and change our deer, and then +pushed on to reach Palajoki the same night. We drove +through the birch woods, no longer glorious as before, for +the snow had been shaken off, and there was no sunset light +to transfigure them. Still on, ploughing through deep seas +in the gathering darkness, over marshy plains, all with a +slant southward, draining into the Muonio, until we reached +the birchen ridge of Suontajärvi, with its beautiful firs +rising here and there, silent and immovable. Even the +trees have no voices in the North, let the wind blow as it +will. There is nothing to be heard but the sharp whistle of +the dry snow—the same dreary music which accompanies +the African simoom. The night was very dark, and we +began to grow exceedingly tired of sitting flat in our pulks. I +looked sharp for the Palajok Elv, the high fir-fringed +banks of which I remembered, for they denoted our approach +to the Muonio; but it was long, long before we descended +from the marshes upon the winding road of snow-covered +ice. In vain I shifted my aching legs and worked my benumbed +hands, looking out ahead for the embouchure of +the river. Braisted and I encouraged each other, whenever +we were near enough to hear, by the reminder that we had +only one more day with reindeer. After a long time spent +in this way, the high banks flattened, level snows and woods +succeeded, and we sailed into the port of Palajoki.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>The old Finnish lady curtsied very deeply as she recognised +us, and hastened to cook our coffee and reindeer, and +to make us a good bed with sheets. On our former visit +the old lady and her sons had watched us undress and get +into bed, but on this occasion three buxom daughters, of ages +ranging from sixteen to twenty-two, appeared about the time +for retiring, and stationed themselves in a row near the door, +where they watched us with silent curiosity. As we had +shown no hesitation in the first case, we determined to be +equally courageous now, and commenced removing our garments +with great deliberation, allowing them every opportunity +of inspecting their fashion and the manner of wearing +them. The work thus proceeded in mutual silence until +we were nearly ready for repose, when Braisted, by pulling +off a stocking and displaying a muscular calf, suddenly +alarmed the youngest, who darted to the door and rushed +out. The second caught the panic, and followed, and the +third and oldest was therefore obliged to do likewise, though +with evident reluctance. I was greatly amused at such an +unsophisticated display of curiosity. The perfect composure +of the girls, and the steadiness with which they watched +us, showed that they were quite unconscious of having +committed any impropriety.</p> + +<p>The morning was clear and cold. Our deer had strayed +so far into the woods that we did not get under way before +the forenoon twilight commenced. We expected to find a +broken road down the Muonio, but a heavy snow had fallen +the day previous, and the track was completely filled. Long +Isaac found so much difficulty in taking the lead, his deer +constantly bolting from the path, that Anton finally relieved +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>him, and by standing upright in the pulk and thumping +the deer's flanks, succeeded in keeping up the animal's spirits +and forcing a way. It was slow work, however, and the +sun, rolling his whole disc above the horizon, announced midday +before we reached Kyrkessuando. As we drove up to +the little inn, we were boisterously welcomed by Häl, Herr +Forström's brown wolf-dog, who had strayed thus far from +home. Our deer were beginning to give out, and we were +very anxious to reach Muoniovara in time for dinner, so we +only waited long enough to give the animals a feed of moss +and procure some hot milk for ourselves.</p> + +<p>The snow-storm, which had moved over a narrow belt of +country, had not extended below this place, and the road was +consequently well broken. We urged our deer into a fast +trot, and slid down the icy floor of the Muonio, past hills +whose snows flashed scarlet and rose-orange in the long +splendour of sunset. Hunger and the fatigue which our +journey was producing at last, made us extremely sensitive +to the cold, though it was not more than 20° below zero. My +blood became so chilled, that I was apprehensive the extremities +would freeze, and the most vigorous motion of the muscles +barely sufficed to keep at bay the numbness which attacked +them. At dusk we drove through Upper Muonioniska, +and our impatience kept the reindeers so well in motion that +before five o'clock (although long after dark,) we were climbing +the well-known slope to Herr Forström's house at Muoniovara. +Here we found the merchant, not yet departed to +the Lapp fair at Karessuando, and Mr. Wolley, who welcomed +us with the cordiality of an old friend. Our snug room +at the carpenter's was already warmed and set in order, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>after our reindeer drive of 250 miles through the wildest +parts of Lapland, we felt a home-like sense of happiness and +comfort in smoking our pipes before the familiar iron stove.</p> + +<p>The trip to Kautokeino embraced about all I saw of Lapp +life during the winter journey. The romance of the tribe, +as I have already said, has totally departed with their conversion, +while their habits of life scarcely improved in the +least, are sufficiently repulsive to prevent any closer experience +than I have had, unless the gain were greater. Mr. +Wolley, who had been three years in Lapland, also informed +me that the superstitious and picturesque traditions of the +people have almost wholly disappeared, and the coarse mysticism +and rant which they have engrafted upon their imperfect +Christianity does not differ materially from the same +excrescence in more civilised races. They have not even (the +better for them, it is true) any characteristic and picturesque +vices—but have become, certainly to their own great advantage, +a pious, fanatical, moral, ignorant and commonplace +people. I have described them exactly as I found them, and +as they have been described to me by those who knew them +well. The readers of "Afraja" may be a little disappointed +with the picture, as I confess I have been (in an artistic +sense, only) with the reality; but the Lapps have lost many +vices with their poetic <i>diablerie</i>, and nobody has a right to +complain.</p> + +<p>It is a pity that many traits which are really characteristic +and interesting in a people cannot be mentioned on account +of that morbid prudery so prevalent in our day, which +insults the unconscious innocence of nature. Oh, that one +could imitate the honest unreserve of the old travellers—the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>conscientiousness which insisted on telling not only the truth, +but the whole truth! This is scarcely possible, now; but at +the same time I have not been willing to emasculate my accounts +of the tribes of men to the extent perhaps required by +our ultra-conventionalism, and must insist, now and then, on +being allowed a little Flemish fidelity to nature. In the description +of races, as in the biography of individuals, the +most important half of life is generally omitted.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h2>ABOUT THE FINNS.</h2> + + +<p>We remained but another day in Muoniovara, after our +return from Kautokeino, and this was devoted to preparations +for the return journey to Haparanda. My first intention +had been to make an excursion across the country to +the iron mountains of Gellivara, thence to Quickjock, at the +foot of the Northern Alp, Sulitelma, "Queen of Snows," +and so southward through the heart of Swedish Lappmark; +but I found that such a journey would be attended with +much difficulty and delay. In the first place, there were no +broken roads at this season, except on the routes of inland +trade; much of the intermediate country is a wilderness, +where one must camp many nights in the snow; food was +very scarce, the Lapps having hardly enough for their own +necessities, and the delays at every place where guides and +reindeer must be changed, would have prolonged the journey +far beyond the time which I had allotted to the North. I +began to doubt, also, whether one would be sufficiently repaid +for the great fatigue and danger which such a trip +would have involved. There is no sensation of which one +wearies sooner than disgust; and, much as I enjoy a degree of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span>barbarism in milder climates, I suspected that a long companionship +with Lapps in a polar winter would be a little +too much for me. So I turned my face toward Stockholm, +heartily glad that I had made the journey, yet not dissatisfied +that I was looking forward to its termination.</p> + +<p>Before setting out on our return, I shall devote a few +pages to the Finns. For the principal facts concerning +them, I am mostly indebted to Mr. Wolley, whose acquaintance +with the language, and residence of three years in +Lapland, have made him perfectly familiar with the race. +As I have already remarked, they are a more picturesque +people than the Swedes, with stronger lights and shades of +character, more ardent temperaments, and a more deeply-rooted +national feeling. They seem to be rather clannish and +exclusive, in fact, disliking both Swedes and Russians, and +rarely intermarrying with them. The sharply-defined +boundaries of language and race, at the head of the Bothnian +Gulf, are a striking evidence of this. Like their distant +relatives, the Hungarian Magyars, they retain many distinct +traces of their remote Asiatic origin. It is partly owing to +this fact, and partly to that curious approach of extremes +which we observe in nature no less than in humanity, that +all suggestive traits of resemblance in these regions point to +the Orient rather than to Europe.</p> + +<p>I have already described the physical characteristics of the +Finns, and have nothing to add, except that I found the +same type everywhere, even among the mixed-blooded Quäns +of Kautokeino—high cheek-bones, square, strong jaws, full +yet firm lips, low, broad foreheads, dark eyes and hair, and +a deeper, warmer red on the cheeks than on those of the rosy +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>Swedes. The average height is, perhaps, not quite equal to +that of the latter race, but in physical vigor I can see no +inferiority, and there are among them many men of splendid +stature, strength, and proportion. Von Buch ascribes the +marked difference of stature between the Finns and the +Lapps, both living under precisely the same influences of +climate, to the more cleanly habits of the former and their +constant use of the vapor-bath; but I have always found that +blood and descent, even where the variation from the primitive +stock is but slight, are more potent than climate or +custom. The Finns have been so long christianised and +civilised (according to the European idea of civilisation), +that whatever peculiar characteristic they retain must be +looked for mainly in those habits which illustrate their +mental and moral natures. In their domestic life, they +correspond in most particulars to the Swedes of the same +class.</p> + +<p>They are passionate, and therefore prone to excesses—imaginative, +and therefore, owing to their scanty education, +superstitious. Thus the religious element, especially the +fantastic aberrations thereof engendered by Lestadius and +other missionaries, while it has tended greatly to repress the +vice, has in the same proportion increased the weakness. +Drunkenness, formerly so prevalent as to be the curse of Lapland, +is now exceedingly rare, and so are the crimes for which +it is responsible. The most flagrant case which has occurred +in the neighborhood of Muoniovara for some years past, was +that of a woman who attempted to poison her father-in-law +by mixing the scrapings of lucifer matches with his +coffee, in order to get rid of the burden of supporting him. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>Although the evidence was very convincing, the matter was +hushed up, in order to avoid a scandal upon the Church, +the woman being a steadfast member. In regard to drunkenness, +I have heard it stated that, while it was formerly no +unusual thing for a Finn to be frozen to death in this condition, +the same catastrophe never befell a Lapp, owing to +his mechanical habit of keeping his arms and feet in +motion—a habit which he preserves even while utterly stupefied +and unconscious.</p> + +<p>A singular spiritual epidemic ran through Polar Finland +three or four years ago, contemporary with the religious excitement +in Norwegian Lapland, and partly occasioned by +the same reckless men. It consisted of sobbings, strong +nervous convulsions, and occasional attacks of that state of +semi-consciousness called trance, the subjects of which were +looked upon as having been possessed by the Spirit, and +transported to the other world, where visions like those of +John on Patmos, were revealed to them. The missionaries, +instead of repressing this unhealthy delusion, rather encouraged +it, and even went so far as to publish as supernatural +revelations, the senseless ravings of these poor deluded people. +The epidemic spread until there was scarcely a family +some member of which was not affected by it, and even yet +it has not wholly subsided. The fit would come upon the +infected persons at any time, no matter where they were, or +how employed. It usually commenced with a convulsive +catching of the breath, which increased in violence, accompanied +by sobbing, and sometimes by cries or groans, until +the victim was either exhausted or fell into a trance, which +lasted some hours. The persons who were affected were +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>always treated with the greatest respect during the attack +no one ventured to smile, no matter how absurd a form the +visitation might take. The principle of abstinence from +strong drinks was promulgated about the same time, and +much of the temperance of the Finns and Lapps is undoubtedly +owing the impression made upon their natures by +these phenomena.</p> + +<p>The same epidemic has often prevailed in the United +States, England and Germany. The barking and dancing +mania which visited Kentucky thirty or forty years ago, +and the performances of the "Holy Rollers," were even +more ludicrous and unnatural. Such appearances are a +puzzle alike to the physiologist and the philosopher; their +frequency shows that they are based on some weak spot in +human nature; and in proportion as we pity the victims we +have a right to condemn those who sow the seeds of the pestilence. +True religion is never spasmodic; it is calm as the +existence of God. I know of nothing more shocking than +such attempts to substitute rockets and blue lights for Heaven's +eternal sunshine.</p> + +<p>So far as regards their moral character, the Finns have +as little cause for reproach as any other people. We found +them as universally honest and honourable in their dealings +as the Northern Swedes, who are not surpassed in the world +in this respect. Yet their countenances express more cunning +and reserve, and the virtue may be partly a negative +one, resulting from that indolence which characterises the +frigid and the torrid zone. Thus, also, notwithstanding +physical signs which denote more ardent animal passions +than their neighbors, they are equally chaste, and have as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span>high a standard of sexual purity. Illegitimate births are +quite rare, and are looked upon as a lasting shame and disgrace +to both parties. The practice of "bundling" which, +until recently, was very common among Finnish lovers, very +seldom led to such results, and their marriage speedily removed +the dishonour. Their manners, socially, in this respect, +are curiously contradictory. Thus, while both sexes +freely mingle in the bath, in a state of nature, while the +women unhesitatingly scrub, rub and dry their husbands, +brothers or male friends, while the salutation for both sexes +is an embrace with the right arm, a kiss is considered grossly +immodest and improper. A Finnish woman expressed +the greatest astonishment and horror, at hearing from Mr. +Wolley that it was a very common thing in England for a +husband and wife to kiss each other. "If my husband were +to attempt such a thing," said she, "I would beat him about +the ears so that he would feel it for a week." Yet in conversation +they are very plain and unreserved, though by no +means gross. They acknowledge that such things as generation, +gestation and parturition exist, and it may be that +this very absence of mystery tends to keep chaste so excitable +and imaginative a race.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding their superstition, their love of poetry, +and the wild, rich, musical character of their language, there +is a singular absence of legendary lore in this part of Finland. +Perhaps this is owing to the fact that their ancestors +have emigrated hither, principally within the last two centuries, +from the early home of the race—Tavastland, the +shores of the Pajana Lake, and the Gulf of Finland. It +is a difficult matter to preserve family traditions among +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>them, or even any extended genealogical record, from the +circumstance that a Finn takes his name, not only from his +father's surname, but from his residence. Thus, Isaaki takes +the name of "Anderinpoika" from his father Anderi, and +adds "Niemi," the local name of his habitation. His son +Nils will be called Nils Isakipoika, with the addition of the +name of his residence, wherever that may be; and his family +name will be changed as often as his house. There may be +a dozen different names in the course of one generation, and +the list soon becomes too complicated and confused for an +uneducated memory. It is no wonder, therefore, that the +Finn knows very little except about what happened during +his own life, or, at best, his father's. I never heard the +Kalewala spoken of, and doubt very much whether it is +known to the natives of this region. The only songs we +heard, north of Haparanda, were hymns—devout, but dismal. +There must be ballads and household songs yet alive, +but the recent spiritual fever has silenced them for the +time.</p> + +<p>I was at first a little surprised to find the natives of the +North so slow, indolent and improvident. We have an idea +that a cold climate is bracing and stimulating—<i>ergo</i>, the +further north you go, the more active and energetic you +will find the people. But the touch of ice is like that of +fire. The tropics relax, the pole benumbs, and the practical +result is the same in both cases. In the long, long winter, +when there are but four hours of twilight to twenty of darkness—when +the cows are housed, the wood cut, the hay +gathered, the barley bran and fir bark stowed away for bread, +and the summer's catch of fish salted—what can a man do, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>when his load of wood or hay is hauled home, but eat, gossip +and sleep? To bed at nine, and out of it at eight in +the morning, smoking and dozing between the slow performance +of his few daily duties, he becomes at last as listless +and dull as a hibernating bear. In the summer he has perpetual +daylight, and need not hurry. Besides, why should +he give himself special trouble to produce an unusually large +crop of flax or barley, when a single night may make his +labours utterly profitless? Even in midsummer the blighting +frost may fall: nature seems to take a cruel pleasure in +thwarting him: he is fortunate only through chance; and +thus a sort of Arab fatalism and acquiescence in whatever +happens, takes possession of him. His improvidence is also +to be ascribed to the same cause. Such fearful famine and +suffering as existed in Finland and Lapland during the winter +of 1856-7 might no doubt have been partially prevented, +but no human power could have wholly forestalled it.</p> + +<p>The polar zone was never designed for the abode of man. +In the pre-Adamite times, when England was covered with +palm-forests, and elephants ranged through Siberia, things +may have been widely different, and the human race then +(if there was any) may have planted vineyards on these +frozen hills and lived in bamboo huts. But since the geological +<i>émeutes</i> and revolutions, and the establishment of the +terrestrial <i>régime</i>, I cannot for the life of me see whatever +induced beings endowed with human reason, to transplant +themselves hither and here take root, while such vast spaces +lie waste and useless in more genial climes. A man may +be pardoned for remaining where the providences of birth +and education have thrown him, but I cannot excuse the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>first colonists for inflicting such a home upon centuries of +descendants. Compare even their physical life—the pure +animal satisfaction in existence, for that is not a trifling +matter after all—with that of the Nubians, or the Malays, +or the Polynesians! It is the difference between a poor +hare, hunted and worried year after year by hounds and +visions of hounds and the familiar, confiding wren, happiest +of creatures, because secure of protection everywhere. Oh +that the circle of the ecliptic would coincide with that of +the equator! That the sun would shine from pole to pole +for evermore, and all lands be habitable and hospitable, and +the Saharan sands (according to Fourier) be converted into +bowers of the Hesperides, and the bitter salt of the ocean +brine (<i>vide</i> the same author) become delicious champagne +punch, wherein it would be pleasure to drown! But I am +afraid that mankind is not yet fit for such a millennium.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile it is truly comforting to find that even here, +where men live under such discouraging circumstances that +one would charitably forgive them the possession of many +vices, they are, according to their light, fully as true, and +honest, and pure, as the inhabitants of the most favoured +countries in the world. Love for each other, trust in each +other, faith in God, are all vital among them; and their +shortcomings are so few and so easily accounted for, that +one must respect them and feel that his faith in man is not +lessened in knowing them. You who spend your lives at +home can never know how much good there is in the world. +In rude unrefined races, evil naturally rises to the surface, +and one can discern the character of the stream beneath its +scum. It is only in the highest civilisation where the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>outside +is goodly to the eye, too often concealing an interior +foul to the core.</p> + +<p>But I have no time to moralise on these matters. My +duty is that of a chronicler; and if I perform that conscientiously, +the lessons which my observations suggest will need +no pointing out. I cannot close this chapter, however, without +confessing my obligations to Mr. Wolley, whose thorough +knowledge of the Lapps and Finns enabled me to test the +truth of my own impressions, and to mature opinions which +I should otherwise, from my own short experience, have hesitated +in stating. Mr. Wolley, with that pluck and persistence +of English character which Emerson so much admires, +had made himself master of all that Lapland can furnish to +the traveller, but intended remaining another year for scientific +purposes. If he gives to the world—as I hope and trust +he will—the result of this long and patient inquiry and investigation, +we shall have at last a standard authority for +this little-known corner of Europe. We were also indebted +to Mr. Wolley for much personal kindness, which I take +pleasure in acknowledging in the only way he cannot prevent.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h2>EXPERIENCES OF ARCTIC WEATHER.</h2> + + +<p>We bade a final adieu to Muoniovara on the afternoon of +the 24th of January, leaving Mr. Wolley to wait for June +and the birds in that dismal seclusion. Instead of resuming +<i>skjuts</i>, we engaged horses as far as Kengis from Herr Forström +and a neighbouring Finn, with a couple of shock-headed +natives as postillions. Our sleds were mounted upon two +rough Finnish sledges, the only advantage of which was to +make harder work for the horses—but the people would have +it so. The sun was down, but a long, long twilight succeeded, +with some faint show of a zodiacal light. There was a +tolerable track on the river, but our Finns walked their horses +the whole way, and we were nearly seven hours in making +Parkajoki. The air was very sharp; my nose, feet and hands +kept me busily employed, and I began to fear that I was becoming +unusually sensitive to cold, for the thermometer indicated +but 15° below zero when we started. At Parkajoki, +however, my doubts were removed and my sensations explained, +on finding that the temperature had fallen to 44° +below.</p> + +<p>We slept warmly and well on our old bed of reindeer skins, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>in one corner of the milk-room. When Braisted, who rose +first, opened the door, a thick white mist burst in and rolled +heavily along the floor. I went out, attired only in my shirt +and drawers, to have a look at the weather. I found the air +very still and keen, though not painfully cold—but I was +still full of the warmth of sleep. The mercury, however, +had sunk into the very bulb of the thermometer, and was +frozen so solid that I held it in the full glare of the fire for +about a minute and a half before it thawed sufficiently to +mount. The temperature was probably 50° below zero, if +not more—greater than any we had yet experienced. But +it was six o'clock, and we must travel. Fortifying ourselves +with coffee and a little meat, and relying for defence in case +of extremity on a bottle of powerful rum with which we had +supplied ourselves, we muffled up with more than usual care, +and started for Kihlangi.</p> + +<p>We devoted ourselves entirely to keeping warm, and +during the ride of six hours suffered very little except from +the gradual diminution of our bodily temperature. It was +a dreary journey, following the course of the Muonio between +black, snow-laden forests. The sun rose to a height +of seven or eight degrees at meridian; when we came over +the same road, on our way north, he only showed half his +disc. At Kihlangi the people recognised us, and were as +well disposed as their stupidity would allow. The old +woman cooked part of our reindeer joint, which, with half a +dozen cups of strong coffee, brought back a comfortable +warmth to our extremities. There were still twenty-four +miles to be traversed; the horses were already exhausted, +and the temperature only rose to -42° at midday, after +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>which it fell again. We had a terrible journey. Step by +step the horses slowly pulled us through the snow, every +hour seeming lengthened to a day, as we worked our benumbed +fingers and toes until the muscles were almost +powerless, and yet it was dangerous to cease. Gradually +the blood grew colder in the main channels; insidious chills +succeeded, followed by a drowsy torpor, like that which is +produced by a heavy dose of opium, until we were fain to +have recourse to the rum, a horrid, vitriolic beverage, which +burned our throats and stomachs like melted lead, yet gave +us a temporary relief.</p> + +<p>We almost despaired of reaching Jokijalka, on finding, +about ten o'clock at night, that our postillions had taken us +to the village of Kolare, and stopped before a large log +house, where they seemed to think we would spend the +night. Everybody had gone to bed, we knew not where we +were, and had set our hearts upon the comfortable guest's +room at Jokijalka. It was impossible to make the fellows +understand me, but they saw that we were angry, and after +a short consultation passed on. We again entered the +snowy woods, which were dimly lighted up by an aurora behind +us—a strange, mysterious, ghastly illumination, like +the phosphorescent glow of a putrefying world. We were +desperately cold, our very blood freezing in our veins, and +our limbs numb and torpid. To keep entirely awake was +impossible. We talked incessantly, making random answers, +as continual fleeting dreams crossed the current of our consciousness. +A heavy thump on the back was pardoned by +him who received it, and a punch between the eyes would +have been thankfully accepted had it been necessary.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span>At last, at last, Kolare church on the river bank came in +sight; we crossed to the Russian side, and drove into the +yard of the inn. It was nearly midnight, 47° below zero, +and we had been for seventeen hours exposed to such a temperature. +Everybody had long been asleep. Locks and +bolts are unknown, however, so we rushed into the family +room, lit fir splinters, and inspected the faces of the sleeping +group until we found the landlord, who arose and kindled +a fresh fire in the milk-room. They made us coffee and a +small bed, saying that the guest's room was too cold, which +indeed it was, being little less than the outside temperature. +On opening the door in the morning, the cold air rushed in +as thick and white as steam. We had a little meat cooked, +but could not eat enough, at such an early hour, to supply +much fuel. As for taking anything with us for refreshment +on the road, it was out of the question. One of our Finns +turned back to Muoniovara with the laziest horse, and we +got another from our Russian landlord. But it was a long, +long journey to the next station (twenty miles), and the +continuance of the extreme cold began to tell upon us. +This part of the road was very heavy, as on the journey +up—seemingly a belt of exposed country where the snow +drifts more than elsewhere.</p> + +<p>At Kexisvara we found two of the three pleasant women, +who cooked our last fragment of reindeer meat, and sent off +for horses to Kardis. We here parted with our other Finn, +very glad to get rid of his horse, and take a fresh start. +We had no difficulty now in making our way with the +people, as they all recognised us and remembered our overpayments; +besides which, I had enlarged my Finnish <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>vocabulary +at Muoniovara. Our horses were better, our sledges +lighter and we were not long in reaching the iron-works at +Kengis, which we passed at dusk. I should willingly have +called upon the hospitable <i>bruk-patron</i>, but we were in too +great a hurry to get out of the frigid zone. We were +warmed by our meal, and sang lustily as we slid down the +Torneå, finding its dreary, sparsely-settled banks cheerful and +smiling by contrast with the frightful solitudes we had left. +After some hours the postillion stopped before a house on the +Swedish bank to hay his horses. We went up and found a +single inhabitant, a man who was splitting fir for torches, +but the conversation was limited to alternate puffs from our +pipes. There was a fine aurora behind us—a low arch of +white fire, with streamers radiating outward, shifting and +dancing along its curve.</p> + +<p>It was nearly ten o'clock before we reached Kardis, half +unconscious from the cold. Our horse ran into the wrong +place, and we lost sight of the baggage-sled, our only guide +in the darkness. We could no longer trust the animal's instinct, +but had to depend on our own, which is perhaps truer: +at least, I have often found in myself traces of that blind, +unreasoning faculty which guides the bee and the bird, and +have never been deceived in trusting to it. We found the +inn, and carried a cloud of frozen vapor into the kitchen +with us, as we opened the door. The graceful wreaths of +ice-smoke rolled before our feet, as before those of ascending +saints in the old pictures, but ourselves, hair from head to +foot, except two pairs of eyes, which looked out through icy +loop-holes, resembled the reverse of saints. I told the landlord +in Finnish that we wanted to sleep—"<i>mia tarvi nuku +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>á</i>." He pointed to a bed in the corner, out of which rose a +sick girl, of about seventeen, very pale, and evidently suffering. +They placed some benches near the fire, removed the +bedding, and disposed her as comfortably as the place permitted. +We got some hot milk and hard bread, threw some +reindeer skins on the vacant truck, and lay down, but not to +sleep much. The room was so close and warm, and the +dozen persons in it so alternately snoring and restless, that +our rest was continually disturbed. We, therefore, rose early +and aroused the lazy natives.</p> + +<p>The cold was still at 47° below zero. The roads were so +much better, however, that we descended again to our own +runners, and our lively horses trotted rapidly down the +Torneå. The signs of settlement and comparative civilisation +which now increased with every mile were really cheering. +Part of our way lay through the Swedish woods and +over the intervening morasses, where the firs were hung with +weepers of black-green moss, and stood solid and silent in +their mantles of snow, lighted with a magnificent golden +flush at sunrise. The morning was icy-clear and dazzling. +There was not the least warmth in the sun's rays, but it was +pleasant to see him with a white face once more. We could +still stare at him without winking, but the reflection from the +jewelled snow pained our eyes. The cold was so keen that +we were obliged to keep our faces buried between our caps +and boas, leaving only the smallest possible vacancy for the +eyes. This was exceedingly disagreeable, on account of the +moisture from the breath, which kept the squirrel tails constantly +wet and sticky. Nevertheless, the cold penetrated +through the little aperture; my eyes and forehead were like +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span>marble, the eyeballs like lumps of ice, sending a sharp pang +of cold backward into the brain. I realised distinctly how +a statue must feel.</p> + +<p>Beyond Pello, where we stopped to "fire up," our road +lay mostly on the Russian side. While crossing the Torneå +at sunset, we met a drove of seventy or eighty reindeer, in +charge of a dozen Lapps, who were bringing a cargo from +Haparanda. We were obliged to turn off the road and +wait until they had passed. The landlord at Juoxengi, who +was quite drunk, hailed us with a shout and a laugh, and +began talking about Kautokeino. We had some difficulty +in getting rid of his conversation, and his importunities for +us to stay all night. This was the place where they tried +to make us leave, on the way up. I replied to the landlord's +torrent of Finnish with some choice specimens of Kentucky +oratory, which seemed to make but little impression on him. +He gave us excellent horses, however, and we sped away +again, by the light of another brilliant auroral arch.</p> + +<p>Our long exposure to the extreme cold, coupled as it was +with lack of rest and nourishment, now began to tell upon +us. Our temperature fell so low that we again had recourse +to the rum, which alone, I verily believe, prevented us from +freezing bodily. One is locked in the iron embrace of the +polar air, until the very life seems to be squeezed out of him. +I huddled myself in my poesk, worked my fingers and toes, +buried my nose in the damp, frozen fur, and laboured like +a Hercules to keep myself awake and alive—but almost +in vain. Braisted and I kept watch over each other, +or attempted it, for about the only consciousness either +of us had was that of the peril of falling asleep. We talked +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span>of anything and everything, sang, thumped each other, but +the very next minute would catch ourselves falling over the +side of the sled. A thousand dreams worried my brain and +mixed themselves with my talk; and the absurdities thus +created helped to arouse me. Speaking of seeing some +wolves in the woods of California, I gravely continued: "I +took out my sword, sharpened it on the grindstone and dared +him to come on," when a punch in the ribs stopped me. +Another time, while talking of hippopotami in the White +Nile, I said: "If you want any skins, you must go to the +Hudson's Bay Company. They have a depôt of them on +Vancouver's Island." Braisted gave me much trouble, by +assuring me in the most natural wide-awake voice that he +was not in the least sleepy, when the reins had dropped from +his hands and his head rocked on his shoulder. I could +never be certain whether he was asleep or awake. Our only +plan was not to let the conversation flag a minute.</p> + +<p>At Torakankorwa we changed horses without delay, and +hurried on to Matarengi. On turning out of the road to +avoid a hay-sled, we were whirled completely over. There +was no fun in this, at such a time. I fell head foremost +into deep snow, getting a lump in my right eye, which completely +blinded me for a time. My forehead, eyebrows, and +the bridge of my nose were insufferably painful. On reaching +Matarengi I found my nose frozen through, and considerably +swollen. The people were in bed, but we went into +the kitchen, where a dozen or more were stowed about, and +called for the landlord. Three young girls, who were in +bed in one corner, rose and dressed themselves in our presence +without the least hesitation, boiled some milk, and gave +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>us bread and butter. We had a single small bed, which kept +us warm by obliging us to lie close. Sometime in the +night, two Swedes arrived, who blustered about and made +so much noise, that Braisted finally silenced them by threats +of personal violence, delivered in very good English.</p> + +<p>In the morning the mercury froze, after showing 49° below +zero. The cold was by this time rather alarming, especially +after our experiences of the previous day. The air was +hazy with the fine, frozen atoms of moisture, a raw wind +blew from the north, the sky was like steel which has been +breathed upon—in short, the cold was visible to the naked +eye. We warmed our gloves and boots, and swathed our +heads so completely that not a feature was to be seen. I +had a little loophole between my cap and boa, but it was +soon filled up with frost from my breath, and helped to keep +in the warmth. The road was hard and smooth as marble. +We had good horses, and leaving Avasaxa and the polar circle +behind us, we sped down the solid bed of the Torneå to +Niemis. On the second stage we began to freeze for want of +food. The air was really terrible; nobody ventured out of +doors who could stay in the house. The smoke was white +and dense, like steam; the wind was a blast from the Norseman's +hell, and the touch of it on your face almost made you +scream. Nothing can be more severe—flaying, branding with +a hot iron, cutting with a dull knife, &c., may be something +like it, but no worse.</p> + +<p>The sun rose through the frozen air a little after nine, +and mounted quite high at noon. At Päckilä we procured +some hot milk and smoked reindeer, tolerable horses and a +stout boy of fourteen to drive our baggage-sled. Every one +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>we met had a face either frozen, or about to freeze. Such a +succession of countenances, fiery red, purple, blue, black almost, +with white frost spots, and surrounded with rings of +icy hair and fur, I never saw before. We thanked God +again and again that our faces were turned southward, and +that the deadly wind was blowing on our backs. When we +reached Korpikilä, our boy's face, though solid and greasy +as a bag of lard, was badly frozen. His nose was quite +white and swollen, as if blistered by fire, and there were frozen +blotches on both cheeks. The landlord rubbed the parts +instantly with rum, and performed the same operation on +our noses.</p> + +<p>On this day, for the first time in more than a month, we +saw daylight, and I cannot describe how cheering was the +effect of those pure, white, brilliant rays, in spite of the iron +landscape they illumined. It was no longer the setting light +of the level Arctic sun; not the twilight gleams of shifting +colour, beautiful, but dim; not the faded, mock daylight +which sometimes glimmered for a half-hour at noon; but +the true white, full, golden day, which we had almost forgotten. +So nearly, indeed, that I did not for some time suspect +the cause of the unusual whiteness and brightness. Its +effect upon the trees was superb. The twigs of the birch +and the needles of the fir were coated with crystal, and +sparkled like jets of jewels spouted up from the immaculate +snow. The clumps of birches can be compared to nothing +but frozen fountains—frozen in full action, with their showery +sheaves of spray arrested before they fell. It was a wonderful, +a fairy world we beheld—too beautiful to be lifeless, +but every face we met reminded us the more that this was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>the chill beauty of Death—of dead Nature. Death was in +the sparkling air, in the jewelled trees, in the spotless snow. +Take off your mitten, and his hand will grasp yours like a +vice; uncover your mouth, and your frozen lips will soon +acknowledge his kiss.</p> + +<p>Even while I looked the same icy chills were running +through my blood, precursors of that drowsy torpor which +I was so anxious to avoid. But no; it <i>would come</i>, and I +dozed until both hands became so stiff that it was barely +possible to restore their powers of motion and feeling. It +was not quite dark when we reached Kuckula, the last station, +but thence to Haparanda our horses were old and lazy, +and our postillion was a little boy, whose weak voice had no +effect. Braisted kept his hands warm in jerking and urging, +but I sat and froze. Village after village was passed, but +we looked in vain for the lights of Torneå. We were +thoroughly exhausted with our five days' battle against the +dreadful cold, when at last a row of lights gleamed across +the river, and we drove up to the inn. The landlord met +us with just the same words as on the first visit, and, strange +enough, put us into the same room, where the same old +Norrland merchant was again quartered in the same stage +of tipsiness. The kind Fredrika did not recognise us in +our Lapp dresses, until I had unrobed, when she cried out in +joyful surprise, "Why, you were here before!"</p> + +<p>We had been so completely chilled that it was a long +time before any perceptible warmth returned. But a generous +meal, with a bottle of what was called "<i>gammal scherry</i>" +(though the Devil and his servants, the manufacturers of +chemical wines, only knew what it was), started the flagging +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>circulation. We then went to bed, tingling and stinging in +every nerve from the departing cold. Every one complained +of the severity of the weather, which, we were told, had not +been equalled for many years past. But such a bed, and +such a rest as I had! Lying between clean sheets, with my +feet buried in soft fur, I wallowed in a flood of downy, delicious +sensations until sunrise. In the morning we ventured +to wash our faces and brush our teeth for the first time in +five days, put on clean shirts, and felt once more like responsible +beings. The natives never wash when the weather +is so cold, and cautioned us against it. The wind had fallen +but the mercury again froze at 47° below zero. Nevertheless, +we went out after breakfast to call upon Dr. Wretholm, +and walk over the Torneå.</p> + +<p>The old Doctor was overjoyed to see us again. "Ah!" +said he, "it is a good fortune that you have got back alive. +When the weather was so cold, I thought of you, travelling +over the Norwegian <i>fjeller</i>, and thought you must certainly +be frozen to death." His wife was no less cordial in her +welcome. They brought us ale and Swedish punch, with +reindeer cheese for our frozen noses, and insisted on having +their horse put into the sled to take us over to Torneå and +bring us back to dinner. The doctor's boy drove us, facing +the wind with our faces exposed, at -42°, but one night's +rest and good food enabled us to bear it without inconvenience. +Torneå is a plain Swedish town, more compactly +built than Haparanda, yet scarcely larger. The old church +is rather picturesque, and there were some tolerable houses, +which appeared to be government buildings, but the only +things particularly Russian which we noticed were a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>Cossack +sentry, whose purple face showed that he was nearly +frozen, and a guide-post with "150 versts to Uleaborg" +upon it. On returning to the Doctor's we found a meal +ready, with a capital salad of frozen salmon, <i>bouillon</i>, ale, +and coffee. The family were reading the Swedish translation +of "Dred" in the <i>Aftonblad</i>, and were interested in +hearing some account of Mrs. Beecher Stowe. We had a +most agreeable and interesting visit to these kind, simple-hearted +people.</p> + +<p>I made a sunset sketch of Torneå. I proposed also to +draw Fredrika, but she at once refused, in great alarm. +"Not for anything in the world," said she, "would I have it +done!" What superstitious fears possessed her I could not +discover. We made arrangements to start for Kalix the next +day, on our way to Stockholm. The extreme temperature +still continued. The air was hazy with the frozen moisture—the +smoke froze in solid masses—the snow was brittle and +hard as metal—iron stuck like glue—in short, none of the +signs of an Arctic winter were wanting. Nevertheless, we +trusted to the day's rest and fatter fare on the road for +strength to continue the battle.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h2>INCIDENTS OF THE RETURN JOURNEY.</h2> + + +<p>We left Haparanda on the 30th of January. After six +days of true Arctic weather—severer than any registered by +De Haven's expedition, during a winter in the polar ice—the +temperature rose suddenly to 26° below zero. We were +happy and jolly at getting fairly started for Stockholm at +last, and having such mild (!) weather to travel in. The +difference in our sensations was remarkable. We could +boldly bare our faces and look about us; our feet kept warm +and glowing, and we felt no more the hazardous chill and +torpor of the preceding days. On the second stage the +winter road crossed an arm of the Bothnian Gulf. The +path was well marked out with fir-trees—a pretty avenue, +four or five miles in length, over the broad, white plain. +On the way we saw an eruption of the ice, which had been +violently thrown up by the confined air. Masses three feet +thick and solid as granite were burst asunder and piled atop +of each other.</p> + +<p>We travelled too fast this day for the proper enjoyment +of the wonderful scenery on the road. I thought I had exhausted +my admiration of these winter forests—but no, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span>miracles will never cease. Such fountains, candelabra, +Gothic pinnacles, tufts of plumes, colossal sprays of coral, +and the embodiments of the fairy pencillings of frost on +window panes, wrought in crystal and silver, are beyond the +power of pen or pencil. It was a wilderness of beauty; we +knew not where to look, nor which forms to choose, in the +dazzling confusion. Silent and all unmoved by the wind +they stood, sharp and brittle as of virgin ore—not trees of +earth, but the glorified forests of All-Father Odin's paradise, +the celestial city of Asgaard. No living forms of vegetation +are so lovely. Tropical palms, the tree-ferns of Penang, the +lotus of Indian rivers, the feathery bamboo, the arrowy areca—what +are they beside these marvellous growths of winter, +these shining sprays of pearl, ivory and opal, gleaming in +the soft orange light of the Arctic sun?</p> + +<p>At Sängis we met a handsome young fellow with a moustache, +who proved to be the <i>Länsman</i> of Kalix. I was +surprised to find that he knew all about us. He wondered +at our coming here north, when we might stay at home +thought once would be enough for us, and had himself been +no further than Stockholm. I recognised our approach to +Näsby by the barrels set in the snow—an ingenious plan of +marking the road in places where the snow drifts, as the +wind creates a whirl or eddy around them. We were glad +to see Näsby and its two-story inn once more. The pleasant +little handmaiden smiled all over her face when she saw us +again. Näsby is a crack place: the horses were ready at +once, and fine creatures they were, taking us up the Kalix +to Månsbyn, eight miles in one hour. The road was hard +as a rock and smooth as a table, from much ploughing and +rolling.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>The next day was dark and lowering, threatening snow, +with a raw wind from the north-west, and an average temperature +of 15° below zero. We turned the north-western +corner of the Bothnian Gulf in the afternoon, and pushed +on to Old Luleå by supper-time. At Persö, on the journey +north, I had forgotten my cigar-case, an old, familiar friend +of some years' standing, and was overjoyed to find that the +servant-girl had carefully preserved it, thinking I might +return some day. We drove through the streets of empty +stables and past the massive church of Old Luleå, to the inn, +where we had before met the surly landlord. There he was +again, and the house was full, as the first time. However +we obtained the promise of a bed in the large room, and +meanwhile walked up and down to keep ourselves warm. +The guests' rooms were filled with gentlemen of the neighborhood, +smoking and carousing. After an hour had passed, +a tall, handsome, strong fellow came out of the rooms, and +informed us that as we were strangers he would give up the +room to us and seek lodgings elsewhere. He had drunk just +enough to be mellow and happy, and insisted on delaying his +own supper to let us eat first. Who should come along at +this juncture but the young fellow we had seen in company +with Brother Horton at Månsbyn, who hailed us with: +"Thank you for the last time!" With him was a very +gentlemanly man who spoke English. They were both accompanied +by ladies, and were returning from the ball of +Piteå. The guests all treated us with great courtesy and +respect, and the landlord retired and showed his surly face +no more. Our first friend informed me that he had been +born and brought up in the neighborhood, but could not recollect +such a severe winter.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>As we descended upon the Luleå River in the morning we +met ten sleighs coming from the ball. The horses were all +in requisition at the various stations, but an extra supply +had been provided, and we were not detained anywhere. +The Norrland sleds are so long that a man may place his +baggage in the front part and lie down at full length behind +it. A high back shields the traveller from the wind, and +upon a step in the rear stands the driver, with a pair of reins +as long as a main-top-bowline, in order to reach the horse, +who is at the opposite end of a very long pair of shafts. In +these sleds one may travel with much comfort, and less danger +of overturning, though not so great speed as in the short, +light, open frames we bought in Sundsvall. The latter are +seldom seen so far north, and were a frequent object of +curiosity to the peasants at the stations. There is also a +sled with a body something like a Hansom cab, entirely +closed, with a window in front, but they are heavy, easily +overturned, and only fit for luxurious travellers.</p> + +<p>We approached Piteå at sunset. The view over the broad +embouchure of the river, studded with islands, was quite +picturesque, and the town itself, scattered along the shore +and over the slopes of the hills made a fair appearance. It +reminded me somewhat of a small New-England country +town, with its square frame houses and an occasional garden. +Here I was rejoiced by the sight of a cherry-tree, the most +northern fruit-tree which I saw. On our way up, we thought +Piteå, at night and in a snow-storm, next door to the North +Pole. Now, coming from the north, seeing its snowy hills +and house-roofs rosy with the glow of sunset, it was warm +and southern by contrast. The four principal towns of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>West and North Bothnia are thus characterised in an old +verse of Swedish doggerel: Umeå, <i>the fine</i>; Piteå, <i>the +needle-making</i>; Luleå, <i>the lazy</i>; and in Torneå, <i>everybody +gets drunk</i>.</p> + +<p>We took some refreshment, pushed on and reached Abyn +between nine and ten o'clock, having travelled seventy miles +since morning. The sleighing was superb. How I longed +for a dashing American cutter, with a span of fast horses, a +dozen strings of bells and an ebony driver! Such a turnout +would rather astonish the northern solitudes, and the +slow, quaint northern population. The next day we had a +temperature of 2° above zero, with snow falling, but succeeded +in reaching Skellefteå for breakfast. For the last +two or three miles we travelled along a hill-side overlooking +a broad, beautiful valley, cleared and divided into cultivated +fields, and thickly sprinkled with villages and farm-houses. +Skellefteå itself made an imposing appearance, as the lofty +dome of its Grecian church came in sight around the shoulder +of the hill. We took the wrong road, and in turning +about split one of our shafts, but Braisted served it with +some spare rope, using the hatchet-handle as a marlingspike, +so that it held stoutly all the rest of the way to Stockholm.</p> + +<p>We went on to Burea that night, and the next day to +Djekneboda, sixty miles farther. The temperature fluctuated +about the region of zero, with a heavy sky and light +snow-falls. As we proceeded southward the forests became +larger, and the trees began to show a dark green foliage +where the wind had blown away the snow, which was refreshing +to see, after the black or dark indigo hue they wear +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span>farther north. On the 4th of February, at noon, we passed +through Umeå, and congratulated ourselves on getting +below the southern limit of the Lapland climate. There +is nothing to say about these towns; they are mere villages +with less than a thousand inhabitants each, and no peculiar +interest, either local or historical, attaching to any of them. +We have slept in Luleå, and Piteå, and dined in Umeå,—and +further my journal saith not.</p> + +<p>The 5th, however, was a day to be noticed. We started +from Angersjö, with a violent snow storm blowing in our +teeth—thermometer at zero. Our road entered the hilly +country of Norrland, where we found green forests, beautiful +little dells, pleasant valleys, and ash and beech intermingled +with the monotonous but graceful purple birch. +We were overwhelmed with gusts of fine snow shaken from +the trees as we passed. Blinding white clouds swept the +road, and once again we heard the howl of the wind among +boughs that were free to toss. At Afwa, which we reached +at one o'clock, we found a pale, weak, sickly young Swede, +with faded moustaches, who had decided to remain there +until next day. This circumstance induced us to go on, +but after we had waited half an hour and were preparing to +start, the weather being now ten times worse than before, he +announced his resolution to start also. He had drunk four +large glasses of milk and two cups of coffee during the +half hour.</p> + +<p>We went ahead, breaking through drifts of loose snow +which overtopped our sleds, and lashed by the furious wind, +which drove full in our faces. There were two or three +plows at work but we had no benefit from them, so long as +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>we were not directly in their wake. Up and down went +our way, over dark hills and through valleys wild with the +storm, and ending in chaos as they opened toward the Bothnian +Gulf. Hour after hour passed by, the storm still increased, +and the snow beat in our eyes so that we were completely +blinded. It was impossible to keep them open, and +yet the moment we shut them the lashes began to freeze together. +I had a heavy weight of ice on my lids, and long +icicles depending from every corner of my beard. Yet our +frozen noses appeared to be much improved by the exposure, +and began to give promise of healing without leaving a red +blotch as a lasting record of what they had endured. We +finally gave up all attempts to see or to guide the horse, but +plunged along at random through the chaos, until the postillion +piloted our baggage-sled into the inn-yard of Onska, +and our horse followed it. The Swede was close upon our +heels, but I engaged a separate room, so that we were freed +from the depressing influence of his company. He may have +been the best fellow in the world, so far as his heart was concerned, +but was too weak in the knees to be an agreeable associate. +There was no more stiffness of fibre in him than in +a wet towel, and I would as soon wear a damp shirt as live +in the same room with such a man. After all, it is not +strange that one prefers nerve and energy, even when they +are dashed with a flavour of vice, to the negative virtues of +a character too weak and insipid to be tempted.</p> + +<p>Our inn, in this little Norrland village, was about as +comfortable and as elegant as three-fourths of the hotels in +Stockholm. The rooms were well furnished; none of the +usual appliances were wanting; the attendance was all that +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>could be desired; the fare good and abundant, and the +charges less than half of what would be demanded in the +capital. Yet Stockholm, small as it is, claims to be for +Sweden what Paris is to France, and its inhabitants look +with an eye of compassion on those of the provinces. Norrland, +in spite of its long winter, has a bracing, healthy climate, +and had it not been for letters from home, facilities +for studying Swedish, occasional recreation and the other +attractions of a capital, I should have preferred waiting in +some of those wild valleys for the spring to open. The people, +notwithstanding their seclusion from the world, have a +brighter and more intelligent look than the peasants of Uppland, +and were there a liberal system of common school education +in Sweden, the raw material here might be worked +up into products alike honourable and useful to the country.</p> + +<p>The Norrlanders seem to me to possess an indolent, almost +phlegmatic temperament, and yet there are few who do +not show a latent capacity for exertion. The latter trait, +perhaps, is the true core and substance of their nature; the +former is an overgrowth resulting from habits and circumstances. +Like the peasants, or rather small farmers, further +north, they are exposed to the risk of seeing their summer's +labours rendered fruitless by a single night of frost. Such +a catastrophe, which no amount of industry and foresight +can prevent, recurring frequently (perhaps once in three +years on an average), makes them indifferent, if not reckless; +while that patience and cheerfulness which is an integral +part of the Scandinavian as of the Saxon character, +renders them contented and unrepining under such repeated +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>disappointments. There is the stuff here for a noble people, +although nature and a long course of neglect and misrule +have done their best to destroy it.</p> + +<p>The Norrlanders live simply, perhaps frugally, but there +seems to be little real destitution among them. We saw +sometimes in front of a church, a representation of a beggar +with his hat in his hand, under which was an iron box, +with an appeal to travellers to drop something in for the +poor of the parish; but of actual beggars we found none. +The houses, although small, are warm and substantial, mostly +with double windows, and a little vestibule in front of the +door, to create an intermediate temperature between the +outer and inner air. The beds, even in many of the inns, +are in the family room, but during the day are either converted +into sofas or narrow frames which occupy but little +space. At night, the bedstead is drawn out to the required +breadth, single or double, as may be desired. The family +room is always covered with a strong home-made rag carpet, +the walls generally hung with colored prints and lithographs, +illustrating religion or royalty, and as many greenhouse +plants as the owner can afford to decorate the windows. +I have seen, even beyond Umeå, some fine specimens of cactus, +pelargonium, calla, and other exotics. It is singular +that, with the universal passion of the Swedes for flowers +and for music, they have produced no distinguished painters +or composers—but, indeed, a Linnæus.</p> + +<p>We spent the evening cosily in the stately inn's best room, +with its white curtains, polished floor, and beds of sumptuous +linen. The great clipper-plows were out early in the morning, +to cut a path through the drifts of the storm, but it was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>nearly noon before the road was sufficiently cleared to enable +us to travel. The temperature, by contrast with what +we had so recently endured, seemed almost tropical—actually +25° above zero, with a soft, southern breeze, and patches of +brilliant blue sky between the parting clouds. Our deliverance +from the Arctic cold was complete.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h2>CONCLUSION OF THE ARCTIC TRIP.</h2> + + +<p>On leaving Onska, we experienced considerable delay on +account of the storm. The roads were drifted to such an +extent that even the ploughs could not be passed through in +many places, and the peasants were obliged to work with their +broad wooden spades. The sky, however, was wholly clear +and of a pure daylight blue, such as we had not seen for +two months. The sun rode high in the firmament, like a +strong healthy sun again, with some warmth in his beams +as they struck our faces, and the air was all mildness and +balm. It was heavenly, after our Arctic life. The country, +too, boldly undulating, with fir-forested hills, green and +warm in the sunshine, and wild, picturesque valleys sunk +between, shining in their covering of snow, charmed us completely. +Again we saw the soft blue of the distant ranges +as they melted away behind each other, suggesting space, +and light, and warmth. Give me daylight and sunshine, +after all! Our Arctic trip seems like a long, long night +full of splendid dreams, but yet night and not day.</p> + +<p>On the road, we bought a quantity of the linen handkerchiefs +of the country, at prices varying from twenty-five to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>forty cents a piece, according to the size and quality. The +bedding, in all the inns, was of home-made linen, and I do +not recollect an instance where it was not brought out, fresh +and sweet from the press, for us. In this, as in all other +household arrangements, the people are very tidy and cleanly, +though a little deficient as regards their own persons. Their +clothing, however, is of a healthy substantial character, and +the women consult comfort rather than ornament. Many +of them wear cloth pantaloons under their petticoats, which, +therefore, they are able to gather under their arms in wading +through snow-drifts. I did not see a low-necked dress or a +thin shoe north of Stockholm.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"The damsel who trips at daybreak<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is shod like a mountaineer."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Yet a sensible man would sooner take such a damsel to wife +than any delicate Cinderella of the ball-room. I protest I +lose all patience when I think of the habits of our American +women, especially our country girls. If ever the Saxon +race does deteriorate on our side of the Atlantic, as some +ethnologists anticipate, it will be wholly their fault.</p> + +<p>We stopped for the night at Hörnäs, and had a charming +ride the next day among the hills and along the inlets of the +Gulf. The same bold, picturesque scenery, which had appeared +so dark and forbidding to us on our way north, now, +under the spring-like sky, cheered and inspired us. At the +station of Docksta, we found the peasant girls scrubbing +the outer steps, barefooted. At night, we occupied our old +quarters at Weda, on the Angermann river. The next morning +the temperature was 25° above zero, and at noon rose to +39°. It was delightful to travel once more with cap-lappets +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span>turned up, fur collar turned down, face and neck free, and +hands bare. On our second stage we had an overgrown, insolent +boy for postillion, who persisted in driving slow, and +refused to let us pass him. He finally became impertinent, +whereupon Braisted ran forward and turned his horse out +of the road, so that I could drive past. The boy then seized +my horse by the head; B. pitched him into a snow-bank, +and we took the lead. We had not gone far before we took +the road to Hernösand, through mistake, and afterwards +kept it through spite, thus adding about seven miles to our +day's journey. A stretch of magnificent dark-green forests +brought us to a narrow strait which separates the island of +Hernösand from the main land. The ice was already softening, +and the upper layer repeatedly broke through +under us.</p> + +<p>Hernösand is a pretty town, of about 2000 inhabitants, +with a considerable commerce. It is also the capital of the +most northern bishopric of Sweden. The church, on an +eminence above the town, is, next to that of Skellefteå, the +finest we saw in the north. We took a walk while breakfast +was preparing, and in the space of twenty minutes saw +all there was to be seen. By leaving the regular road, however, +we had incurred a delay of two hours, which did not +add to our amiability. Therefore, when the postillion, furiously +angry now as well as insolent, came in to threaten us +with legal prosecution in case we did not pay him heavy +damages for what he called an assault, I cut the discussion +short by driving him out of the room, and that was the last +we saw of him. We reached Fjäl as the moon rose,—a +globe of silver fire in a perfect violet sky. Two merry boys, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>who sang and shouted the whole way, drove us like the +wind around the hay to Wifsta. The moonlight was as +bright as the Arctic noonday, and the snowy landscape flashed +and glittered under its resplendent shower. From the +last hill we saw Sundsvall, which lay beneath us, with its +wintry roofs, like a city of ivory and crystal, shining for +us with the fairy promise of a warm supper and a good +bed.</p> + +<p>On the 9th, we drove along the shores of the magnificent +bay of Sundsvall. Six vessels lay frozen in, at a considerable +distance from the town. Near the southern extremity +of the bay, we passed the village of Svartvik, which, the +postillion informed us, is all owned by one person, who carries +on ship-building. The appearance of the place justified +his statements. The labourers' houses were mostly new, +all built on precisely the same model, and with an unusual air +of comfort and neatness. In the centre of the village stood +a handsome white church, with a clock tower, and near it the +parsonage and school-house. At the foot of the slope were +the yards, where several vessels were on the stocks, and a +number of sturdy workmen busy at their several tasks. +There was an air of "associated labour" and the "model +lodging-house" about the whole place, which was truly refreshing +to behold, except a touch of barren utilitarianism +in the cutting away of the graceful firs left from the forest, +and thus depriving the houses of all shade and ornament. +We met many wood-teams, hauling knees and spars, and +were sorely troubled to get out of their way. Beyond the +bay, the hills of Norrland ceased, sinking into those broad +monotonous undulations which extend nearly all the way to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>Stockholm. Gardens with thriving fruit-trees now began +to be more frequent, giving evidence of a climate where man +has a right to live. I doubt whether it was ever meant that +the human race should settle in any zone so frigid that fruit +cannot ripen.</p> + +<p>Thenceforth we had the roughest roads which were ever +made upon a foundation of snow. The increase in travel +and in the temperature of the air, and most of all, the +short, loosely-attached sleds used to support the ship-timber, +had worn them into a succession of holes, channels, and +troughs, in and out of which we thumped from morning till +night. On going down hill, the violent shocks frequently +threw our runners completely into the air, and the wrench +was so great that it was a miracle how the sled escaped fracture. +All the joints, it is true, began to work apart, and the +ash shafts bent in the most ticklish way; but the rough little +conveyance which had already done us such hard service +held out gallantly to the end. We reached Mo Myskie on +the second night after leaving Sundsvall, and I was greeted +with "<i>Salaam aleikoom, ya Sidi!</i>" from the jolly old +Tripolitan landlord. There was an unusual amount of +travel northward on the following day, and we were detained +at every station, so that it was nearly midnight before +we reached the extortionate inn at Gefle. The morning +dawned with a snow-storm, but we were within 120 miles of +Stockholm, and drove in the teeth of it to Elfkarleby. The +renowned cascades of the Dal were by no means what I expected, +but it was at least a satisfaction to see living water, +after the silent rivers and fettered rapids of the North.</p> + +<p>The snow was now getting rapidly thinner. So scant +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span>was it on the exposed Upsala plain that we fully expected +being obliged to leave our sleds on the way. Even before +reaching Upsala, our postillions chose the less-travelled +field-roads whenever they led in the same direction, and +beyond that town we were charged additional post-money +for the circuits we were obliged to make to keep our runners +on the snow. On the evening of the 13th we reached +Rotebro, only fourteen miles from Stockholm, and the next +morning, in splendid sunshine, drove past Haga park and +palace, into the North-Gate, down the long Drottning-gatan, +and up to Kahn's Hotel, where we presented our sleds to +the <i>valet-de-place</i>, pulled off our heavy boots, threw aside +our furs for the remainder of the winter, and sat down to +read the pile of letters and papers which Herr Kahn brought +us. It was precisely two months since our departure in +December, and in that time we had performed a journey of +2200 miles, 250 of which were by reindeer, and nearly 500 +inside of the Arctic Circle. Our frozen noses had peeled +off, and the new skin showed no signs of the damage they +had sustained—so that we had come out of the fight not +only without a scar, but with a marked increase of robust +vitality.</p> + +<p>I must confess, however, that, interesting as was the +journey, and happily as we endured its exposures, I should +not wish to make it again. It is well to see the North, even +<i>after</i> the South; but, as there is no one who visits the +tropics without longing ever after to return again, so, I imagine, +there is no one who, having once seen a winter inside +the Arctic Circle, would ever wish to see another. In spite +of the warm, gorgeous, and ever-changing play of colour +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>hovering over the path of the unseen sun, in spite of the +dazzling auroral dances and the magical transfiguration of +the forests, the absence of true daylight and of all signs of +warmth and life exercises at last a depressing influence on +the spirits. The snow, so beautiful while the sunrise setting +illumination lasts, wears a ghastly monotony at all other +times, and the air, so exhilarating, even at the lowest temperature, +becomes an enemy to be kept out, when you know +its terrible power to benumb and destroy. To the native of +a warmer zone, this presence of an unseen destructive force +in nature weighs like a nightmare upon the mind. The +inhabitants of the North also seem to undergo a species of +hibernation, as well as the animals. Nearly half their time +is passed in sleep; they are silent in comparison with the +natives of the other parts of the world; there is little exuberant +gaiety and cheerfulness, but patience, indifference, +apathy almost. Aspects of nature which appear to be hostile +to man, often develop and bring into play his best +energies, but there are others which depress and paralyse his +powers. I am convinced that the extreme North, like the +Tropics, is unfavourable to the best mental and physical +condition of the human race. The proper zone of man lies +between 30° and 55° North.</p> + +<p>To one who has not an unusual capacity to enjoy the +experiences of varied travel, I should not recommend such a +journey. With me, the realization of a long-cherished +desire, the sense of novelty, the opportunity for contrasting +extremes, and the interest with which the people inspired me, +far outweighed all inconveniences and privations. In fact, +I was not fully aware of the gloom and cold in which I had +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>lived until we returned far enough southward to enjoy eight +hours of sunshine, and a temperature above the freezing +point. It was a second birth into a living world. Although +we had experienced little positive suffering from the +intense cold, except on the return from Muoniovara to Haparanda, +our bodies had already accommodated themselves +to a low temperature, and the sudden transition to 30° +above zero came upon us like the warmth of June. My +friend, Dr. Kane, once described to me the comfort he felt +when the mercury rose to 7° below zero, making it pleasant +to be on deck. The circumstance was then incomprehensible +to me, but is now quite plain. I can also the better realise +the terrible sufferings of himself and his men, exposed to a +storm in a temperature of -47°, when the same degree of +cold, with a very light wind, turned my own blood to ice.</p> + +<p>Most of our physical sensations are relative, and the mere +enumeration of so many degrees of heat or cold gives no idea +of their effect upon the system. I should have frozen at +home in a temperature which I found very comfortable in +Lapland, with my solid diet of meat and butter, and my +garments of reindeer. The following is a correct scale of +the physical effect of cold, calculated for the latitude of 65° +to 70° North:</p> + +<p><i>15° above zero</i>—Unpleasantly warm.</p> + +<p><i>Zero</i>—Mild and agreeable.</p> + +<p><i>10° below zero</i>—Pleasantly fresh and bracing.</p> + +<p><i>20° below zero</i>—Sharp, but not severely cold. Keep your +fingers and toes in motion, and rub your nose occasionally.</p> + +<p><i>30° below zero</i>—Very cold; take particular care of your +nose and extremities: eat the fattest food, and plenty of it +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span><i>40° below</i>—Intensely cold; keep awake at all hazards, +muffle up to the eyes, and test your circulation frequently, +that it may not stop somewhere before you know it.</p> + +<p><i>50° below</i>—A struggle for life.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>* We kept a record of the temperature from the time we left Sundsvall +(Dec. 21) until our return to Stockholm. As a matter of interest, I subjoin +it, changing the degrees from Reaumur to Fahrenheit. We tested +the thermometer repeatedly on the way, and found it very generally reliable, +although in extremely low temperature it showed from one to two +degrees more than a spirit thermometer. The observations were taken +at from 9 to 8 <span class="smcap">A. M.</span>, 12 to 2 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>, and 7 to 11 <span class="smcap">P. M.</span>, whenever it was +possible.</p></div> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%"> </td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%"><i>Morning.</i></td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%"><i>Noon.</i></td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%"><i>Evening.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">December 21</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 6</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">--</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">December 22</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 6</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">--</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 3</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">December 23</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-22</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-29</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-22</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">December 24</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 6</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-22</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-22</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">December 25</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-35</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-38</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">mer. frozen.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">December 26</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-30</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-24</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-31</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">December 27 (storm)</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-18</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-18</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-18</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">December 28 (storm)</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">December 29</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 6</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-13</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-13</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">December 30</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 6</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-13</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-22</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">December 31 (storm)</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 3</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 9</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 1, 1857</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 3</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 3</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 3</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 2</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 6</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 6</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 3</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-30</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-22</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-22</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 4</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-18</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">--</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-22</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 5</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-31</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-30</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-33</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%"></td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%"></td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%"></td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%"></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 6</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-20</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 4</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 7</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 4</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+18</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 8</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+18</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">--</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-11</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 9</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-28</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-44</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-44</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 10 (storm)</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 5</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">--</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 2</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 11 (storm)</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 2</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 5</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 12 (storm)</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 5</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 4</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 4<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 13 (storm)</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 5</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 5</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 5</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 14</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 6</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-13</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 64</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 15</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 8</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-13</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-33</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 16</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 9</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-10</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-11</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 17 (fog)</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 18</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-10</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-18</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-23</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 19 (storm)</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 3</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 3</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 9</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 20</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+20</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">--</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 6</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 21</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 4</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 22</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 2</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 6</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-13</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 23</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-13</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 3</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-13</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 24</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-15</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-22</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-44</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 25 mer. froz.</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-50?</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-42</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">mer. frozen</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 26</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-45</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-35</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-39</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 27 frozen</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-47?</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-45</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-35</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 28 frozen</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-49?</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-47</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-44</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 29</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-47?</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-43</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-43</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 30</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-27</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-11</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-35</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">January 31</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-17</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-16</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 7</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 1</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 9</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">-13</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 2</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 2</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 6</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 3</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 4</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 9</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">zero.</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">- 3</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 5 (storm)</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 3</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 3</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 3</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 6</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+25</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+25</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+18</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 7</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+14</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+18</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 8</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+25</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+39</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+22</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 9</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+ 5</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+22</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+16</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 10</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+25</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+37</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+37</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 11</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+34</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+34</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+32</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 12</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+32</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+37</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+23</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 13</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+16</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+30</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+21</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="40%">February 14</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+25</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+30</td> + <td class="tdc" width="20%">+25</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h2>LIFE IN STOCKHOLM.</h2> + + +<p>The Swedes are proud of Stockholm, and justly so. No +European capital, except Constantinople, can boast such picturesque +beauty of position, and none whatever affords so +great a range of shifting yet ever lovely aspects. Travellers +are fond of calling it, in the imitative nomenclature of +commonplace, the "Venice of the North"—but it is no Venice. +It is not that swan of the Adriatic, singing her death-song +in the purple sunset, but a northern eaglet, nested on +the islands and rocky shores of the pale green Mälar lake. +The <i>Stad</i>, or city proper, occupies three islands, which lie +in the mouth of the narrow strait, by which the waters of +the lake, after having come a hundred miles from the westward, +and washed in their course the shores of thirteen hundred +islands, pour themselves into the outer archipelago +which is claimed by the Baltic Sea. On the largest of +these islands, according to tradition, Agne, King of Sweden, +was strangled with his own golden chain, by the Finnish +princess Skiolfa, whom he had taken prisoner. This was +sixteen hundred years ago, and a thousand years later, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>Birger +Jarl, on the same spot, built the stronghold which was +the seed out of which Stockholm has grown.</p> + +<p>This island, and the adjoining <i>Riddarholm</i>, or Island of +the Knights, contain all the ancient historic landmarks of +the city, and nearly all of its most remarkable buildings. +The towers of the Storkyrka and the Riddarholm's Church +lift themselves high into the air; the dark red mass of the +<i>Riddarhus</i>, or House of Nobles, and the white turrets and +quadrangles of the penitentiary are conspicuous among the +old white, tile-roofed blocks of houses; while, rising above +the whole, the most prominent object in every view of +Stockholm, is the <i>Slot</i>, or Royal Palace. This is one of +the noblest royal residences in Europe. Standing on an immense +basement terrace of granite, its grand quadrangle of +between three and four hundred feet square, with wings (resembling, +in general design, the Pitti Palace at Florence), is +elevated quite above the rest of the city, which it crowns as +with a mural diadem. The chaste and simple majesty of +this edifice, and its admirable proportions, are a perpetual +gratification to the eye, which is always drawn to it, as a +central point, and thereby prevented from dwelling on whatever +inharmonious or unsightly features there may be in the +general view.</p> + +<p>Splendid bridges of granite connect the island with the +northern and southern suburbs, each of which is much greater +in extent than the city proper. The palace fronts directly +upon the <i>Norrbro</i>, or Northern Bridge, the great thoroughfare +of Stockholm, which leads to the Square of Gustavus +Adolphus, flanked on either side by the palace of the Crown +Prince and the Opera House. The northern suburb is the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>fashionable quarter, containing all the newest streets and +the handsomest private residences. The ground rises gradually +from the water, and as very little attention is paid to +grading, the streets follow the undulations of the low hills +over which they spread, rising to the windmills on the outer +heights and sinking into the hollows between. The southern +suburb, however, is a single long hill, up the steep side of +which the houses climb, row after row, until they reach the +Church of St. Catherine, which crowns the very summit. +In front of the city (that is eastward, and toward the Baltic), +lie two other islands, connected by bridges with the northern +suburb. Still beyond is the Djurgård, or Deer-Park, a +singularly picturesque island, nearly the whole of which is +occupied by a public park, and the summer villas of the +wealthy Stockholmers. Its natural advantages are superior +to those of any other park in Europe. Even in April, when +there was scarcely a sign of spring, its cliffs of grey rock, its +rolling lawns of brown grass, and its venerable oaks, with +their iron trunks and gnarled, contorted boughs, with blue +glimpses of ice-free water on all sides, attracted hundreds +of visitors daily.</p> + +<p>The streets of Stockholm are, with but two or three exceptions, +narrow and badly paved. The municipal regulations +in regard to them appear to be sadly deficient. They +are quite as filthy as those of New-York, and the American +reader will therefore have some idea of their horrid condition. +A few <i>trottoirs</i> have been recently introduced, but +even in the Drottning-gatan, the principal street, they are +barely wide enough for two persons to walk abreast. The +pavements are rough, slippery, and dangerous both to man +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>and beast. I have no doubt that the great number of cripples +in Stockholm is owing to this cause. On the other +hand, the houses are models of solidity and stability. They +are all of stone, or brick stuccoed over, with staircases of +stone or iron, wood being prohibited by law, and roofs of +copper, slate or tiles. In fact, the Swedes have singularly +luxurious ideas concerning roofs, spending much more money +upon them, proportionately, than on the house itself. You +even see wooden shanties with copper roofs, got up regardless +of expense. The houses are well lighted (which is quite +necessary in the dark streets), and supplied with double +windows against the cold. The air-tight Russian stove is +universal. It has the advantage of keeping up sufficient +warmth with a very small supply of fuel, but at the expense +of ventilation. I find nothing yet equal to the old-fashioned +fireplace in this respect, though I must confess I prefer the +Russian stove to our hot-air furnaces. Carpets are very +common in Sweden, and thus the dwellings have an air of +warmth and comfort which is not found in Germany and +other parts of the Continent. The arrangements for sleeping +and washing are tolerable, though scanty, as compared +with England, but the cleanliness of Swedish houses makes +amends for many deficiencies.</p> + +<p>The manner of living in Stockholm, nevertheless, is not +very agreeable to the stranger. There is no hotel, except +Kahn's, where one can obtain both beds and meals. The +practice is to hire rooms, generally with the privilege of having +your coffee in the morning, and to get your meals at a +restaurant, of which there are many, tolerably cheap and +not particularly good. Even Davison's, the best and most +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>fashionable, has but an ordinary <i>cuisine</i>. Rooms are quite +dear—particularly during our sojourn, when the Diet was +in session and the city crowded with country visitors—and +the inclusive expenses of living were equal to Berlin and +greater than in Paris. I found that it cost just about as +much to be stationary here, as to travel with post-horses in +the Northern provinces. The Swedes generally have a cup +of coffee on getting out of bed, or before, a substantial +breakfast at nine, dinner at three, and tea in the evening. +The wealthier families dine an hour or two later, but the +crowds at the restaurants indicate the prevailing time. Dinner, +and frequently breakfast, is prefaced with a <i>smörgås</i> +(butter-goose), consisting of anchovies, pickled herrings, +cheese and brandy. Soup which is generally sweet, comes in +the middle and sometimes at the end of dinner, and the +universal dessert is preserved fruit covered with whipped +cream. I have had occasion to notice the fondness of the +Swedes for sugar, which some persons seem to apply to almost +every dish, except fish and oysters. I have often seen +them season crab soup with powdered sugar. A favourite +dish is raw salmon, buried in the earth until it is quite sodden—a +great delicacy, they say, but I have not yet been +hungry enough to eat it. Meat, which is abundant, is +rarely properly cooked, and game, of which Sweden has a +great variety, is injured by being swamped in sauces. He +must be very fastidious, however, who cannot live passably +well in Stockholm, especially if he has frequent invitations +to dine with private families, many of whom have very excellent +cooks.</p> + +<p>My Swedish friends all said, "You should see Stockholm +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>in summer! You have passed the worst part of the whole +year among us, and you leave just when our fine days begin." +I needed no assurance, however, of the summer charm of the +place. In those long, golden evenings, which give place to +an unfading twilight, when the birch is a network of silver +and green, and the meadows are sown with the bright wild +flowers of the North, those labyrinths of land and water +must be truly enchanting. But were the glories of the +Northern Summer increased tenfold, I could not make my +home where such a price must be paid for them. From the +time of our arrival, in February, until towards the close of +April, the weather was of that kind which aggravates one +to the loss of all patience. We had dull, raw, cloudy skies, +a penetrating, unnerving, and depressing atmosphere, mud +under foot, alternating with slushy snow,—in short, everything +that is disagreeable in winter, without its brisk and +bracing qualities. I found this season much more difficult +to endure than all the cold of Lapland, and in spite of +pleasant society and the charms of rest after a fatiguing +journey, our sojourn in Stockholm was for a time sufficiently +tedious.</p> + +<p>At first, we lived a rather secluded life in our rooms in +the Beridarebansgatan, in the northern suburb, devoting ourselves +principally to gymnastics and the study of the Swedish +language,—both of which can be prosecuted to more advantage +in Stockholm than anywhere else. For, among the +distinguished men of Sweden may be reckoned Ling, the +inventor of what may be termed anatomical gymnastics. +His system not only aims at reducing to a science the muscular +development of the body, but, by means of both <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>active +and passive movements, at reaching the seat of disease +and stimulating the various organs to healthy action. In +the former of these objects, Ling has certainly succeeded; +there is no other system of muscular training that will bear +comparison with his; and if he has to some extent failed +in the latter, it is because, with the enthusiasm of a man +possessed by a new discovery, he claimed too much. His +successor, Prof. Branting, possesses equal enthusiasm, and +his faith in gymnastics, as a panacea for all human infirmities, +is most unbounded. The institution under his charge +is supported by Government, and, in addition to the officers +of the army and navy, who are obliged to make a complete +gymnastic course, is largely attended by invalids of all ages +and classes.</p> + +<p>Neither of us required the system as a medical application. +I wished to increase the girth of my chest, somewhat +diminished by a sedentary life, and Braisted needed a +safety-valve for his surplus strength. However, the professor, +by dint of much questioning, ascertained that one of us +was sometimes afflicted with cold feet, and the other with +headaches, and thereupon clapped us both upon the sick +list. On entering the hall, on the first morning of our attendance, +a piece of paper containing the movements prescribed +for our individual cases, was stuck in our bosoms. +On inspecting the lists, we found we had ten movements +apiece, and no two of them alike. What they were we +could only dimly guess from such cabalistic terms as "<i>Stödgångst</i>," +"<i>Krhalfligg</i>," "<i>Simhäng</i>," or "<i>Högstrgrsitt</i>." +The hall, about eighty feet in length by thirty in height, +was furnished with the usual appliances for gymnastic <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>exercises. +Some fifty or sixty patients were present, part of +whom were walking up and down the middle passage with +an air of great solemnity, while the others, gathered in various +little groups on either side, appeared to be undergoing +uncouth forms of torture. There was no voluntary exercise, +if I except an old gentleman in a black velvet coat, +who repeatedly suspended himself by the hands, head downwards, +and who died of apoplexy not long afterwards; every +one was being exercised upon. Here, a lathy young man, +bent sideways over a spar, was struggling, with a very red +face, to right himself, while a stout teacher held him down; +there, a corpulent gentleman, in the hands of five robust assistants, +was having his body violently revolved upon the +base of his hip joints, as if they were trying to unscrew him +from his legs; and yonder again, an individual, suspended +by his arms from a cross-bar, had his feet held up and his +legs stretched apart by another, while a third pounded vigorously +with closed fists upon his seat of honour. Now and +then a prolonged yell, accompanied with all sorts of burlesque +variations, issued from the throats of the assembly. +The object of this was at first not clear to me, but I afterwards +discovered that the full use of the lungs was considered +by Ling a very important part of the exercises. Altogether, +it was a peculiar scene, and not without a marked +grotesque character.</p> + +<p>On exhibiting my <i>matsedel</i>, or "bill of fare," to the first +teacher who happened to be disengaged, I received my first +movement, which consisted in being held with my back +against a post, while I turned my body from side to side +against strong resistance, employing the muscles of the chest +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>only. I was then told to walk for five minutes before taking +the second movement. It is unnecessary to recapitulate the +various contortions I was made to perform; suffice it to say, +that I felt very sore after them, which Professor Branting +considered a promising sign, and that, at the end of a month, +I was taken off the sick list and put among the <i>friskas</i>, or +healthy patients, to whom more and severer movements, in +part active, are allotted. This department was under the +special charge of Baron Vegesach, an admirable teacher, +and withal a master of fencing with the bayonet, a branch +of defensive art which the Swedes have the honour of originating. +The drill of the young officers in bayonet exercise +was one of the finest things of the kind I ever saw. I +prospered so well under the Baron's tuition, that at the end +of the second month I was able to climb a smooth mast, to +run up ropes with my hands, and to perform various other +previous impossibilities, while my chest had increased an +inch and a half in circumference, the addition being solid +muscle.</p> + +<p>During the time of my attendance I could not help but +notice the effect of the discipline upon the other patients, +especially the children. The weak and listless gradually +straightened themselves; the pale and sallow took colour +and lively expression; the crippled and paralytic recovered +the use of their limbs; in short, all, with the exception of +two or three hypochondriacs, exhibited a very marked improvement. +The cheerfulness and geniality which pervaded +the company, and of which Professor Branting himself was +the best example, no doubt assisted the cure. All, both +teachers and pupils, met on a platform of the most absolute +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>equality, and willingly took turns in lending a hand wherever +it was needed. I have had my feet held up by a foreign +ambassador, while a pair of Swedish counts applied the +proper degree of resistance to the muscles of my arms and +shoulders. The result of my observation and experience +was, that Ling's system of physical education is undoubtedly +the best in the world, and that, as a remedial agent in all +cases of congenital weakness or deformity, as well as in +those diseases which arise from a deranged circulation, its +value can scarcely be over-estimated. It may even afford +indirect assistance in more serious organic diseases, but I do +not believe that it is of much service in those cases where +chemical agencies are generally employed. Professor Branting, +however, asserts that it is a specific for all diseases whatsoever, +including consumption, malignant fevers, and venereal +affections. One thing at least is certain—that in an +age when physical training is most needed and most neglected, +this system deserves to be introduced into every civilised +country, as an indispensable branch in the education +of youth.</p> + +<p>I found the Swedish language as easy to read as it is difficult +to speak correctly. The simplicity of its structure, +which differs but slightly from English, accounts for the +former quality, while the peculiar use of the definite article +as a terminal syllable, attached to the noun, is a great impediment +to fluent speaking. The passive form of the verb +also requires much practice before it becomes familiar, and +the mode of address in conversation is awkward and inconvenient +beyond measure. The word <i>you</i>, or its correspondent, +is never used, except in speaking to inferiors; <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>wherever +it occurs in other languages, the title of the person addressed +must be repeated; as, for example: "How is the +Herr Justizråd? I called at the Herr Justizråd's house this +morning, but the Herr Justizråd was not at home." Some +of the more progressive Swedes are endeavouring to do away +with this absurdity, by substituting the second person plural, +<i>ni</i>, which is already used in literature, but even they only +dare to use it in their own private circle. The Swedes, especially +in Stockholm, speak with a peculiar drawl and singing +accent, exactly similar to that which is often heard in +Scotland. It is very inferior to the natural, musical rhythm +of Spanish, to which, in its vocalisation, Swedish has a +great resemblance. Except Finnish, which is music itself, +it is the most melodious of northern languages, and the mellow +flow of its poetry is often scarcely surpassed by the +Italian. The infinitive verb always ends in <i>a</i>, and the language +is full of soft, gliding iambics, which give a peculiar +grace to its poetry.</p> + +<p>It is rather singular that the Swedish prose, in point of +finish and elegance, is far behind the Swedish poetry. One +cause of this may be, that it is scarcely more than fifty years +since the prose writers of the country began to use their +native language. The works of Linnæus, Swedenborg, and +other authors of the past century must now be translated +into Swedish. Besides, there are two prose dialects—a conversational +and a declamatory, the latter being much more +artificial and involved than the former. All public addresses, +as well as prose documents of a weighty or serious +character, must be spoken or written in this pompous and +antiquated style, owing to which, naturally, the country is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>almost destitute of orators. But the poets,—especially men +of the sparkling fancy of Bellman, or the rich lyrical inspiration +of Tegner, are not to be fettered by such conventionalities; +and they have given the verse of Sweden an +ease, and grace, and elegance, which one vainly seeks in its +prose. In Stockholm, the French taste, so visible in the +manners of the people, has also affected the language, and a +number of French words and forms of expression, which +have filtered through society, from the higher to the lower +classes, are now in general use. The spelling, however, is +made to conform to Swedish pronunciation, and one is +amused at finding on placards such words as "<i>trottoar</i>," +"<i>salong</i>," and "<i>paviljong</i>."</p> + +<p>No country is richer in song-literature than Sweden. The +popular songs and ballads of the different provinces, wedded +to airs as original and characteristic as the words, number +many hundreds. There are few Swedes who cannot sing, +and I doubt whether any country in Europe would be able +to furnish so many fine voices. Yet the taste for what is +foreign and unaccustomed rules, and the minstrels of the +cafes and the Djurgård are almost without exception German. +Latterly, two or three bands of native singers have +been formed, who give concerts devoted entirely to the country +melodies of Sweden; and I believe they have been tolerably +successful.</p> + +<p>In these studies, relieved occasionally by rambles over the +hills, whenever there was an hour's sunshine, and by occasional +evenings with Swedish, English, and American friends, +we passed the months of March and April, waiting for the +tardy spring. Of the shifting and picturesque views which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>Stockholm presents to the stranger's eye, from whatever +point he beholds her, we never wearied; but we began at last +to tire of our ice-olation, and to look forward to the reopening +of the Gotha Canal, as a means of escape. Day +after day it was a new satisfaction to behold the majestic +palace crowning the island-city and looking far and wide +over the frozen lakes; the tall, slender spire of the Riddarholm, +soaring above the ashes of Charles XII. and Gustavus +Adolphus, was always a welcome sight; but we had seen +enough of the hideous statues which ornament the public +squares, (Charles XII. not among them, and the imbecile +Charles XIII. occupying the best place); we grew tired of +the monotonous perambulators on the Forrbro, and the tameness +and sameness of Stockholm life in winter: and therefore +hailed the lengthening days which heralded our deliverance.</p> + +<p>As to the sights of the capital, are they not described in +the guide-books? The champion of the Reformation lies in +his chapel, under a cloud of his captured banners: opposite +to him, the magnificent madman of the North, with hundreds +of Polish and Russian ensigns rustling above his +heads. In the royal armory you see the sword and the +bloody shirt of the one, the bullet-pierced hat and cloak of +the other, still coated with the mud of the trench at +Fredrickshall. There are robes and weapons of the other +Carls and Gustavs, but the splendour of Swedish history is +embodied in these two names, and in that of Gustavus Vasa, +who lies entombed in the old cathedral at Upsala. When +I had grasped their swords, and the sabre of Czar Peter, +captured at Narva, I felt that there were no other relics +in Sweden which could make my heart throb a beat the faster.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h2>MANNERS AND MORALS OF STOCKHOLM.</h2> + + +<p>As a people, the Swedes are very hospitable, and particularly +so toward foreigners. There is perhaps no country in +Europe where travellers are treated with so much kindness +and allowed so many social privileges. This is fortunate, as +the conventionalities of the country are more rigid than the +laws of the Medes and Persians. Nothing excites greater +scandal than an infraction of the numberless little formalities +with which the descendants of the honest, spontaneous, +impulsive old Scandinavians have, somehow or other, allowed +themselves to be fettered, and were not all possible allowance +made for the stranger, he would have but a dismal time of +it. Notwithstanding these habits have become a second +nature, they are still a false nature, and give a painfully stiff +and constrained air to society. The Swedes pride themselves +on being the politest people in Europe. Voltaire called +them the "Frenchmen of the North," and they are greatly +flattered by the epithet. But how much better, to call +themselves <i>Swedes</i>?—to preserve the fine, manly characteristics +of their ancient stock, rather than imitate a people so +alien to them in blood, in character, and in antecedents. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>Those meaningless social courtesies which sit well enough +upon the gay, volatile, mercurial Frenchman, seem absurd +affectations when practiced by the tall, grave, sedate Scandinavian. +The intelligent Swedes feel this, but they are +powerless to make headway against the influence of a court +which was wholly French, even before Bernadotte's time. +"We are a race of apes," said one of them to me bitterly. +Gustavus III. was thoroughly French in his tastes, but the +ruin of Swedish nationality in Stockholm was already commenced +when he ascended the throne.</p> + +<p>Stockholm manners, at present, are a curious mixture of +English and French, the latter element, of course, being +predominant. In costume, the gentlemen are English, with +exaggeration. Nowhere are to be seen such enormously tall +and stiff black chimney-pots (misnamed <i>hats</i>), nowhere such +straight-cut overcoats, descending to the very heels. You +might stick all the men you see into pasteboard cards, like a +row of pins, so precisely are they clothed upon the same +model. But when you meet one of these grim, funereal +figures, he pulls off his hat with a politeness which is more +than French; he keeps it off, perhaps, while he is speaking; +you shake hands and accept his invitation to enter his house. +After you are within, he greets you a second time with the +same ceremonies, as if you had then first met; he says, "<i>Tak +for sist!</i>" (equivalent to; "thank you for the pleasure of +your company the last time we met!") and, after your visit +is over, you part with equal formality. At dinner the guests +stand gravely around the table with clasped hands, before +sitting down. This is repeated on rising, after which they +bow to each other and shake hands with the host and hostess. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>Formerly they used to say "I thank you for the meal," a +custom still retained in Denmark and Norway. Not long +ago the guests were obliged to make a subsequent visit of +ceremony to thank the host for his entertainment, and he +was obliged to invite them all to a second dinner, in consequence +thereof; so that giving one dinner always involved +giving two. Fortunately the obligation was cancelled by +the second, or the visits and dinners might have gone on +alternately, <i>ad infinitum</i>.</p> + +<p>At dinners and evening parties, white gloves and white +cravats are invariably worn, and generally white vests. The +same custom is observed at funerals, even the drivers of the +hearse and carriages being furnished with resplendent white +gloves for the occasion. I have a horror of white cravats, +and took advantage of the traveller's privilege to wear a +black one. I never could understand why, in England, +where the boundaries of caste are so distinctly marked, a +gentleman's full dress should be his servant's livery. The +chimney-pots are no protection to the head in raw or very +cold weather, and it required no little courage in me to appear +in fur or felt. "I wish I could wear such a comfortable +hat," said a Swede to me; "but I <i>dare not</i>; you are a traveller, +and it is permitted; but a Swede would lose his +position in society, if he were to do so." Another gentleman +informed me that his own sisters refused to appear in the +streets with him, because he wore a cap. A former English +Consul greatly shocked the people by carrying home his own +marketing. A few gentlemen have independence enough to +set aside, in their own houses, some of the more disagreeable +features of this conventionalism, and the success of two or +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>three, who held weekly soirees through the winter, on a more +free and unrestrained plan, may in the end restore somewhat +of naturalness and spontaneity to the society of Stockholm.</p> + +<p>The continual taking off of your hat to everybody you +know, is a great annoyance to many strangers. A lift of +the hat, as in Germany, is not sufficient. You must remove +it entirely, and hold it in the air a second or two before you +replace it. King Oscar once said to an acquaintance of +mine, who was commiserating him for being obliged to keep +his hat off, the whole length of the Drottning-gatan, in a +violent snow-storm: "You are quite right; it was exceedingly +disagreeable, and I could not help wishing that instead +of being king of Sweden, I were king of Thibet, where, according +to Huc, the polite salutation is simply to stick out +your tongue." The consideration extended to foreigners is, +I am told, quite withdrawn after they become residents; so +that, as an Englishman informed me, Stockholm is much +more pleasant the first year than the second. The principle, +on the whole, is about the same as governs English, and +most American society, only in Sweden its tyranny is more +severely felt, on account of the French imitations which +have been engrafted upon it.</p> + +<p>I do not wish to be understood as saying a word in censure +of that genial courtesy which is characteristic of the +Swedes, not less of the <i>bonder</i>, or country farmers, than of +the nobility. They are by nature a courteous people, and +if, throughout the country, something of the primness and +formality of ancient manners has been preserved, it the +rather serves to give a quaint and picturesque grace to +society. The affectation of French manners applies <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>principally +to the capital, which, both in manners and morals, +can by no means be taken as a standard for the whole country. +The Swedes are neither licentious, nor extravagantly +over-mannered: the Stockholmers are both. During the +whole of our journey to Lapland, we were invariably treated +with a courtesy which bordered on kindness, and had +abundant opportunities of noticing the general amenity which +exists in the intercourse even of the poorest classes. The +only really rude people we saw, were travelling traders, +especially those from the capital, who thought to add to +their importance by a little swaggering.</p> + +<p>I recollect hearing of but a single instance in which the +usual world-wide rules of hospitality were grossly violated. +This occurred to an English traveller, who spent some time +in the interior of the country. While taking tea one evening +with a prominent family of the province, he happened +to make use of his thumb and fore-finger in helping himself +to a lump of sugar. The mistress of the house immediately +sent out the servant, who reappeared after a short time with +another sugar-bowl, filled with fresh lumps. Noticing this, +the traveller, in order to ascertain whether his harmless +deviation from Swedish customs had really contaminated +the whole sugar-bowl, sweetened his second cup in the same +manner. The result was precisely the same: the servant +was again sent out, and again returned with a fresh supply. +The traveller, thereupon, coolly walked to the stove, opened +the door, and threw in his cup, saucer, and tea-spoon, +affecting to take it for granted that they never could be used +again.</p> + +<p>Speaking of King Oscar reminds me that I should not +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span>fail to say a word about this liberal and enlightened monarch. +There is probably no king in Europe at present, who +possesses such extensive acquirements, or is animated by a +more genuine desire for the good of his kingdom. The +slow progress which Sweden has made in introducing needful +reforms is owing to the conservative spirit of the nobility +and the priesthood, who possess half the legislative power. +I do not believe there is a greater enemy to progress than +an established church. Oscar is deservedly popular throughout +Sweden, and I wish I could believe that his successor +will exhibit equal intelligence and liberality. During my +stay I saw all the members of the Royal Family frequently, +and once had an informal self-presentation to the whole of +them. I was descending the stairway of Kahn's Hotel one +afternoon, when a tall, black-bearded, Frenchy gentleman +coming up, brushed so close to me in the narrow passage +that he received the full benefit of a cloud of smoke which I +was ejaculating. It was the Crown Prince, as a servant +whispered to me, but as my cigar was genuine Havana, and +he is said to be a connoisseur of the article, there was no +harm done. As I reached the street door a dragoon dashed +up, preceding the carriages containing the Royal Family, +who were coming to view Professor Enslen's panoramas. +First, the Crown Princess, with her children; she bowed +gracefully in answer to my greeting. The Princess Eugenia, +a lady of twenty-seven, or thereabouts, with a thoroughly +cheerful and amiable face, came next and nodded, +smiling. With her was the Queen, a daughter of Eugene +Beauharnais, a handsome woman for her years, with the +dark hair and eyes of her grandmother, Josephine. King +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>Oscar followed, at the head of a company of officers and +nobles, among whom was his second son, Prince Oscar, the +handsomest young man in Stockholm. He wore his Admiral's +uniform, and made me a naval salute as he passed. +The King is about medium height, with a symmetrical head, +a bold, finely-cut nose, keen, intelligent eyes, and a heavy +grey moustache. There was something gallant, dashing, +and manly in his air, despite his fifty-seven years. He gave +me the impression of an honest, energetic and thoroughly +accomplished man; and this is the character he bears +throughout Sweden, except with a small class, who charge +him with being insincere, and too much under the influence +of the Queen, against whom, however, they can find no +charge, except that of her Catholicism.</p> + +<p>I was sorry to notice, not only in Stockholm, but more +or less throughout Sweden, a spirit of detraction in regard +to everything Swedish. Whenever I mentioned with admiration +the name of a distinguished Swede, I was almost +always sure to hear, in return, some disparaging remark, or +a story to his disadvantage. Yet, singularly enough, the +Swedes are rather sensitive to foreign criticism, seeming to +reserve for themselves the privilege of being censorious. +No amount of renown, nor even the sanctity which death +gives to genius, can prevent a certain class of them from +exhibiting the vices and weaknesses of their countrymen. +Much the severest things which I heard said about Sweden, +were said by Swedes themselves, and I was frequently +obliged to rely upon my own contrary impressions, to protect +me from the chance of being persuaded to paint things +worse than they really are.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>Just before leaving Stockholm I made application, +through the Hon. Mr. Schroeder, our Minister Resident, +and Baron Lagerheim, for the privilege of an interview +with the king. A few days previously, however, he had +been attacked with that illness which has obliged him to +withdraw from the labours of government, and was advised +by his physicians to receive no one. He sent me a very kind +message, with an invitation to renew my request as soon as +his health should be restored. Gentlemen who had opportunities +of knowing the fact, assured me that his health +broke down under an accumulation of labour and anxiety, +in his endeavours to bring the question of religious liberty +before the Diet—a measure in which he had to contend with +the united influence of the clergy, the House of Peasants, +whom the clergy rule to a great extent, and a portion of the +House of Nobles. It is not often that a king is in advance +of the general sentiment of his people, and in losing the services +of Oscar, I fear that Sweden has lost her best man. +The Crown Prince, now Prince Regent, is said to be amiably +weak in his character, rather reactionary in his views, +and very ambitious of military glory. At least, that is the +average of the various opinions which I heard expressed concerning +him.</p> + +<p>After speaking of the manners of Stockholm, I must not +close this chapter without saying a few words about its morals. +It has been called the most licentious city in Europe, +and, I have no doubt, with the most perfect justice. Vienna +may surpass it in the amount of conjugal infidelity, but certainly +not in general incontinence. Very nearly half the +registered births are illegitimate, to say nothing of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>illegitimate +children born <i>in</i> wedlock. Of the servant-girls, +shop-girls, and seamstresses in the city, it is very safe to say +that scarcely ten out of a hundred are chaste, while, as rakish +young Swedes have coolly informed me, many girls of respectable +parentage, belonging to the middle class, are not much +better. The men, of course, are much worse than the women, +and even in Paris one sees fewer physical signs of excessive +debauchery. Here, the number of broken-down young men, +and blear-eyed, hoary sinners, is astonishing. I have never +been in any place where licentiousness was so open and +avowed—and yet, where the slang of a sham morality was +so prevalent. There are no houses of prostitution in Stockholm, +and the city would be scandalised at the idea of allowing +such a thing. A few years ago two were established +and the fact was no sooner known than a virtuous mob arose +and violently pulled them down! At the restaurants, young +blades order their dinners of the female waiters, with an arm +around their waists, while the old men place their hands unblushingly +upon their bosoms. All the baths in Stockholm +are attended by women (generally middle-aged and hideous, +I must confess), who perform the usual scrubbing and shampooing +with the greatest nonchalance. One does not wonder +when he is told of young men who have passed safely through +the ordeals of Berlin and Paris, and have come at last to +Stockholm to be ruined.<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>It is but fair to say that the Swedes account for the large +proportion of illegitimate births, by stating that many unfortunate +females come up from the country to hide their +shame in the capital, which is no doubt true. Everything that +I have said has been derived from residents of Stockholm, +who, proud as they are, and sensitive, cannot conceal this +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>glaring depravity. The population of Stockholm, as is +proved by statistics, has only been increased during the last +fifty years by immigration from the country, the number of +deaths among the inhabitants exceeding the births by +several hundreds every year. I was once speaking with a +Swede about these facts, which he seemed inclined to doubt. +"But," said I, "they are derived from your own statistics." +"Well," he answered, with a naïve attempt to find some +compensating good, "you must at least admit that the Swedish +statistics are as exact as any in the world!"</p> + +<p>Drunkenness is a leading vice among the Swedes, as we had +daily evidence. Six years ago the consumption of brandy +throughout the kingdom was <i>nine gallons</i> for every man, +woman, and child annually; but it has decreased considerably +since then, mainly through the manufacture of beer and +porter. "<i>Bajerskt öl</i>" (Bavarian beer) is now to be had +everywhere, and is rapidly becoming the favourite drink of +the people. Sweden and the United States will in the end +establish the fact that lager beer is more efficacious in preventing +intemperance than any amount of prohibitory law. +Brandy-drinking is still, nevertheless, one of the greatest +curses of Sweden. It is no unusual thing to see boys of +twelve or fourteen take their glass of fiery <i>finkel</i> before dinner. +The celebrated Swedish punch, made of arrack, wine, +and sugar, is a universal evening drink, and one of the most +insidious ever invented, despite its agreeable flavor. There +is a movement in favor of total abstinence, but it seems to +have made but little progress, except as it is connected with +some of the new religious ideas, which are now preached +throughout the country.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>I have rarely witnessed a sadder example of ruin, than one +evening in a Stockholm café. A tall, distinguished-looking +man of about forty, in an advanced state of drunkenness, was +seated at a table opposite to us. He looked at me awhile, +apparently endeavoring to keep hold of some thought with +which his mind was occupied. Rising at last he staggered +across the room, stood before me, and repeated the words of +Bellman:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Så vandra våra stora män'<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Från ljuset ned til skuggan."<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A wild, despairing laugh followed the lines, and he turned +away, but came back again and again to repeat them. He +was a nobleman of excellent family, a man of great intellectual +attainments, who, a few years ago, was considered one +of the most promising young men in Sweden. I saw him +frequently afterwards, and always in the same condition, but +he never accosted me again. The Swedes say the same +thing of Bellman himself, and of Tegner, and many others, +with how much justice I care not to know, for a man's +faults are to be accounted for to God, and not to a gossiping +public.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> The substance of the foregoing paragraph was contained in a letter +published in <i>The New-York Tribune</i> during my travels in the North, and +which was afterwards translated and commented upon by the Swedish +papers. The latter charged me with having drawn too dark a picture +and I therefore took some pains to test my statements, both by means of +the Government statistics, and the views of my Swedish friends. I see +no reason to change my first impression: had I accepted all that was told +me by natives of the capital, I should have made the picture much darker. +The question is simply whether there is much difference between the +general adoption of illicit connections, or the existence of open prostitution. +The latter is almost unknown; the former is almost universal, the +supply being kept up by the miserable rates of wages paid to female servants +and seamstresses. The former get, on an average, fifty <i>rigsdaler</i> +($13) per year, out of which they must clothe themselves: few of the +latter can make one rigsdaler a day. These connections are also encouraged +by the fact, that marriage legitimates all the children previously +born. In fact, during the time of my visit to Stockholm, a measure was +proposed in the House of Clergy, securing to bastards the same right of +inheritance, as to legitimate children. Such measures, however just they +may be so far as the innocent offspring of a guilty connection are concerned, +have a direct tendency to impair the sanctity of marriage, and +consequently the general standard of morality. +</p><p> +This, the most vital of all the social problems, is strangely neglected. +The diseases and excesses which it engenders are far more devastating +than those which spring from any other vice, and yet no philanthropist +is bold enough to look the question in the face. The virtuous shrink +from it, the vicious don't care about it, the godly simply condemn, and +the ungodly indulge—and so the world rolls on, and hundreds of thousands +go down annually to utter ruin. It is useless to attempt the extirpation +of a vice which is inherent in the very nature of man, and the +alternative of either utterly ignoring, or of attempting to check and +regulate it, is a question of the most vital importance to the whole human +race.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> "Thus our great men wander from the light down into the shades."</p></div> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h2>JOURNEY TO GOTTENBURG AND COPENHAGEN.</h2> + + +<p>I never knew a more sudden transition from winter to +summer than we experienced on the journey southward from +Stockholm. When we left that city on the evening of the +6th of May, there were no signs of spring except a few +early violets and anemones on the sheltered southern banks +in Haga Park; the grass was still brown and dead, the trees +bare, and the air keen; but the harbour was free from ice +and the canal open, and our winter isolation was therefore at +an end. A little circulation entered into the languid veins +of society; steamers from Germany began to arrive; fresh +faces appeared in the streets, and less formal costumes—merchants +and bagmen only, it is true, but people of a more +dashing and genial air. We were evidently, as the Swedes +said, leaving Stockholm just as it began to be pleasant and +lively.</p> + +<p>The steamer left the Riddarholm pier at midnight, and +took her way westward up the Mälar Lake to Södertelje. +The boats which ply on the Gotha canal are small, but neat +and comfortable. The price of a passage to Gottenburg, a +distance of 370 miles, is about $8.50. This, however, does +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>not include meals, which are furnished at a fixed price, +amounting to $6 more. The time occupied by the voyage +varies from two and a half to four days. In the night we +passed through the lock at Södertelje, where St. Olaf, when +a heathen Viking, cut a channel for his ships into the long +Baltic estuary which here closely approaches the lake, and in +the morning found ourselves running down the eastern shore +of Sweden, under the shelter of its fringe of jagged rocky +islets. Towards noon we left the Baltic, and steamed up +the long, narrow Bay of Söderköping, passing, on the way, +the magnificent ruins of Stegeborg Castle, the first mediæval +relic I had seen in Sweden. Its square massive walls, and +tall round tower of grey stone, differed in no respect from +those of contemporary ruins in Germany.</p> + +<p>Before reaching Söderköping, we entered the canal, a +very complete and substantial work of the kind, about eighty +feet in breadth, but much more crooked than would seem to +be actually necessary. For this reason the boats make but +moderate speed, averaging not more than six or seven miles +an hour, exclusive of the detention at the locks. The +country is undulating, and neither rich nor populous before +reaching the beautiful Roxen Lake, beyond which we entered +upon a charming district. Here the canal rises, by +eleven successive locks, to the rich uplands separating the +Roxen from the Wetter, a gently rolling plain, chequered, +so far as the eye could reach, with green squares of springing +wheat and the dark mould of the newly ploughed barley +fields. While the boat was passing the locks, we walked +forward to a curious old church, called Vreta Kloster. +The building dates from the year 1128, and contains the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>tombs of three Swedish kings, together with that of the +Count Douglas, who fled hither from Scotland in the time +of Cromwell. The Douglas estate is in this neighbourhood, +and is, I believe, still in the possession of the family. +The church must at one time have presented a fine, venerable +appearance: but all its dark rich colouring and gilding +are now buried under a thick coat of white-wash.</p> + +<p>We had already a prophecy of the long summer days of +the North, in the perpetual twilight which lingered in the +sky, moving around from sunset to sunrise. During the +second night we crossed the Wetter Lake, which I did not +see; for when I came on deck we were already on the Viken, +the most beautiful sheet of water between Stockholm and +Gottenburg. Its irregular shores, covered with forests of fir +and birch, thrust out long narrow headlands which divide it +into deep bays, studded with wild wooded islands. But the +scenery was still that of winter, except in the absence of ice +and snow. We had not made much southing, but we expected +to find the western side of Sweden much warmer than +the eastern. The highest part of the canal, more than 300 +feet above the sea, was now passed, however, and as we descended +the long barren hills towards the Wener Lake I found +a few early wild flowers in the woods. In the afternoon we +came upon the Wener, the third lake in Europe, being one +hundred miles in extent by about fifty in breadth. To the +west, it spread away to a level line against the sky; but, as +I looked southward, I perceived two opposite promontories, +with scattered islands between, dividing the body of water +into almost equal portions. The scenery of the Wener has +great resemblance to that of the northern portion of Lake +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span>Michigan. Further down on the eastern shore, the hill of +Kinnekulle, the highest land in Southern Sweden, rises to +the height of nearly a thousand feet above the water, with a +graceful and very gradual sweep; but otherwise the scenery +is rather tame, and, I suspect, depends for most of its beauty +upon the summer foliage.</p> + +<p>There were two or three intelligent and agreeable passengers +on board, who showed a more than usual knowledge +of America and her institutions. The captain, however, as +we walked the deck together, betrayed the same general impression +which prevails throughout the Continent (Germany +in particular), that we are a thoroughly <i>material</i> people, +having little taste for or appreciation of anything which is +not practical and distinctly utilitarian. Nothing can be +further from the truth; yet I have the greatest difficulty in +making people comprehend that a true feeling for science, +art, and literature can co-exist with our great practical +genius. There is more intellectual activity in the Free +States than in any other part of the world, a more general +cultivation, and, taking the collective population, I venture +to say, a more enlightened taste. Nowhere are greater sums +spent for books and works of art, or for the promotion of +scientific objects. Yet this cry of "Materialism" has become +the cant and slang of European talk concerning America, +and is obtruded so frequently and so offensively that I +have sometimes been inclined to doubt whether the good +breeding of Continental society has not been too highly +rated.</p> + +<p>While on the steamer, I heard an interesting story of a +Swedish nobleman, who is at present attempting a practical +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>protest against the absurd and fossilised ideas by which his +class is governed. The nobility of Sweden are as proud as +they are poor, and, as the father's title is inherited by each +of his sons, the country is overrun with Counts and Barons, +who, repudiating any means of support that is not somehow +connected with the service of the government, live in a continual +state of debt and dilapidation. Count R——, however, +has sense enough to know that honest labour is always +honourable, and has brought up his eldest son to earn his +living by the work of his own hands. For the past three +years, the latter has been in the United States, working as +a day-labourer on farms and on Western railroads. His experiences, +I learn, have not been agreeable, but he is a young +man of too much spirit and courage to give up the attempt, +and has hitherto refused to listen to the entreaties of his +family, that he shall come home and take charge of one of +his father's estates. The second son is now a clerk in a +mercantile house in Gottenburg, while the Count has given +his daughter in marriage to a radical and untitled editor, +whose acquaintance I was afterwards so fortunate as to make, +and who confirmed the entire truth of the story.</p> + +<p>We were to pass the locks at Trollhätta in the middle of +the night, but I determined to visit the celebrated falls of +the Gotha River, even at such a time, and gave orders that +we should be called. The stupid boy, however, woke up the +wrong passenger, and the last locks were reached before the +mistake was discovered. By sunrise we had reached Lilla +Edet, on the Gotha River, where the buds were swelling on +the early trees, and the grass, in sunny places, showed a +little sprouting greenness. We shot rapidly down the swift +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span>brown stream, between brown, bald, stony hills, whose forests +have all been stripped off to feed the hostile camp-fires of +past centuries. Bits of bottom land, held in the curves of +the river, looked rich and promising, and where the hills fell +back a little, there were groves and country-houses—but the +scenery, in general, was bleak and unfriendly, until we drew +near Gottenburg. Two round, detached forts, built according +to Vauban's ideas (which the Swedes say he stole from +Sweden, where they were already in practice) announced our +approach, and before noon we were alongside the pier. Here, +to my great surprise, a Custom-house officer appeared and +asked us to open our trunks. "But we came by the canal +from Stockholm!" "That makes no difference," he replied; +"your luggage must be examined." I then appealed to the +captain, who stated that, in consequence of the steamer's +being obliged to enter the Baltic waters for two or three +hours between Södertelje and Söderköping, the law took it +for granted that we might have boarded some foreign vessel +during that time and procured contraband goods. In other +words, though sailing in a narrow sound, between the Swedish +islands and the Swedish coast, we had virtually been in +a foreign country! It would scarcely be believed that this +sagacious law is of quite recent enactment.</p> + +<p>We remained until the next morning in Gottenburg. +This is, in every respect, a more energetic and wide-awake +place than Stockholm. It has not the same unrivalled +beauty of position, but is more liberally laid out and kept +in better order. Although the population is only about +40,000, its commerce is much greater than that of the capital, +and so are, proportionately, its wealth and public spirit. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span>The Magister Hedlund, a very intelligent and accomplished +gentleman, to whom I had a letter from Mügge, the novelist, +took me up the valley a distance of five or six miles, to a +very picturesque village among the hills, which is fast +growing into a manufacturing town. Large cotton, woollen +and paper mills bestride a strong stream, which has such a +fall that it leaps from one mill-wheel to another for the +distance of nearly half a mile. On our return, we visited a +number of wells hollowed in the rocky strata of the hills, to +which the country people have given the name of "The +Giant's Pots." A clergyman of the neighbourhood, even, +has written a pamphlet to prove that they were the work of +the antediluvian giants, who excavated them for the purpose +of mixing dough for their loaves of bread and batter for +their puddings. They are simply those holes which a pebble +grinds in a softer rock, under the rotary action of a current +of water, but on an immense scale, some of them being +ten feet in diameter, by fifteen or eighteen in depth. At +Herr Hedlund's house, I met a number of gentlemen, whose +courtesy and intelligence gave me a very favourable impression +of the society of the place.</p> + +<p>The next morning, at five o'clock, the steamer Viken, +from Christiania, arrived, and we took passage for Copenhagen. +After issuing from the <i>Skärgaard</i>, or rocky archipelago +which protects the approach to Gottenburg from the +sea, we made a direct course to Elsinore, down the Swedish +coast, but too distant to observe more than its general outline. +This part of Sweden, however—the province of +Halland—is very rough and stony, and not until after +passing the Sound does one see the fertile hills and vales of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>Scania. The Cattegat was as smooth as an inland sea, and +our voyage could not have been pleasanter. In the afternoon +Zealand rose blue from the wave, and the increase in the +number of small sailing craft denoted our approach to the +Sound. The opposite shores drew nearer to each other, and +finally the spires of Helsingborg, on the Swedish shore, and +the square mass of Kronborg Castle, under the guns of +which the Sound dues have been so long demanded, appeared +in sight. In spite of its bare, wintry aspect, the panorama +was charming. The picturesque Gothic buttresses and +gables of Kronborg rose above the zigzag of its turfed outworks; +beyond were the houses and gardens of Helsingör +(Elsinore)—while on the glassy breast of the Sound a fleet +of merchant vessels lay at anchor, and beyond, the fields and +towns of Sweden gleamed in the light of the setting sun. +Yet here, again, I must find fault with Campbell, splendid +lyrist as he is. We should have been sailing</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"By thy <i>wild and stormy steep</i>,<br /></span> +<span class="i8">Elsinore!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">only that the level shore, with its fair gardens and groves +wouldn't admit the possibility of such a thing. The music +of the line remains the same, but you must not read it on +the spot.</p> + +<p>There was a beautiful American clipper at anchor off the +Castle. "There," said a Danish passenger to me, "is one +of the ships which have taken from us the sovereignty of the +Sound." "I am very glad of it," I replied; "and I can only +wonder why the maritime nations of Europe have so long +submitted to such an imposition." "I am glad, also," said +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>he, "that the question has at last been settled, and our privilege +given up—and I believe we are all, even the Government +itself, entirely satisfied with the arrangement." I +heard the same opinion afterwards expressed in Copenhagen, +and felt gratified, as an American, to hear the result attributed +to the initiative taken by our Government; but I also +remembered the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, +and could not help wishing that the same principle might be +applied at home. We have a Denmark, lying between +New-York and Philadelphia, and I have often paid <i>sand</i> +dues for crossing her territory.</p> + +<p>At dusk, we landed under the battlements of Copenhagen. +"Are you travellers or merchants?" asked the Custom-house +officers. "Travellers," we replied. "Then," was the answer, +"there is no necessity for examining your trunks," and +we were politely ushered out at the opposite door, and drove +without further hindrance to a hotel. A gentleman from +Stockholm had said to me: "When you get to Copenhagen, +you will find yourself in Europe:" and I was at once struck +with the truth of his remark. Although Copenhagen is by +no means a commercial city—scarcely more so than Stockholm—its +streets are gay, brilliant and bustling, and have +an air of life and joyousness which contrasts strikingly with +the gravity of the latter capital. From without, it makes +very little impression, being built on a low, level ground, +and surrounded by high earthen fortifications, but its interior +is full of quaint and attractive points. There is already +a strong admixture of the German element in the population, +softening by its warmth and frankness the Scandinavian +reserve. In their fondness for out-door recreation, the Danes +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span>quite equal the Viennese, and their Summer-garden of +Tivoli is one of the largest and liveliest in all Europe. In +costume, there is such a thing as individuality; in manners, +somewhat of independence. The Danish nature appears to +be more pliant and flexible than the Swedish, but I cannot +judge whether the charge of inconstancy and dissimulation, +which I have heard brought against it, is just. With regard +to morals, Copenhagen is said to be an improvement upon +Stockholm.</p> + +<p>During our short stay of three days, we saw the principal +sights of the place. The first, and one of the pleasantest +to me, was the park of Rosenborg Palace, with its +fresh, green turf, starred with dandelions, and its grand +avenues of chestnuts and lindens, just starting into leaf. +On the 11th of May, we found spring at last, after six +months of uninterrupted winter. I don't much enjoy going +the round of a new city, attended by a valet-de-place, and +performing the programme laid down by a guide-book, nor +is it an agreeable task to describe such things in catalogue +style; so I shall merely say that the most interesting things +in Copenhagen are the Museum of Northern Antiquities, +the Historical Collections in Rosenborg Palace, Thorwaldsen's +Museum, and the Church of our Lady, containing the +great sculptor's statues of Christ and the Apostles. We +have seen very good casts of the latter in New-York, but +one must visit the Museum erected by the Danish people, +which is also Thorwaldsen's mausoleum, to learn the number, +variety and beauty of his works. Here are the casts +of between three and four hundred statues, busts and bas +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>reliefs, with a number in marble. No artist has ever had so +noble a monument.</p> + +<p>On the day after my arrival, I sent a note to Hans Christian +Andersen, reminding him of the greeting which he had +once sent me through a mutual friend, and asking him to +appoint an hour for me to call upon him. The same afternoon, +as I was sitting in my room, the door quietly opened, +and a tall, loosely-jointed figure entered. He wore a neat +evening dress of black, with a white cravat; his head was +thrown back, and his plain, irregular features wore an expression +of the greatest cheerfulness and kindly humour. I +recognised him at once, and forgetting that we had never met—so +much did he seem like an old, familiar acquaintance—cried +out "Andersen!" and jumped up to greet him. "Ah," +said he stretching out both his hands, "here you are! Now +I should have been vexed if you had gone through Copenhagen +and I had not known it." He sat down, and I had a +delightful hour's chat with him. One sees the man so plainly +in his works, that his readers may almost be said to know +him personally. He is thoroughly simple and natural, and +those who call him egotistical forget that his egotism is only +a naïve and unthinking sincerity, like that of a child. In +fact, he is the youngest man for his years that I ever knew. +"When I was sixteen," said he, "I used to think to myself, +'when I am twenty-four, then will I be old indeed'—but now +I am fifty-two, and I have just the same feeling of youth as +at twenty." He was greatly delighted when Braisted, who +was in the room with me, spoke of having read his "Improvisatore" +in the Sandwich Islands. "Why, is it possible?" +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span>he exclaimed: "when I hear of my books going so far +around the earth, I sometimes wonder if it can be really true +that I have written them." He explained to me the plot of +his new novel, "To Be, or Not To Be," and ended by presenting +me with the illustrated edition of his stories. "Now, +don't forget me," said he, with a delightful entreaty in his, +voice, as he rose to leave, "for we shall meet again. Were +it not for sea-sickness, I should see you in America; and +who knows but I may come, in spite of it?" God bless +you, Andersen! I said, in my thoughts. It is so cheering +to meet a man whose very weaknesses are made attractive +through the perfect candour of his nature!</p> + +<p>Goldschmidt, the author of "The Jew," whose acquaintance +I made, is himself a Jew, and a man of great earnestness +and enthusiasm. He is the editor of the "North and +South," a monthly periodical, and had just completed, as he +informed me, a second romance, which was soon to be published. +Like most of the authors and editors in Northern +Europe, he is well acquainted with American literature.</p> + +<p>Professor Rafn, the distinguished archæologist of Northern +lore, is still as active as ever, notwithstanding he is well +advanced in years. After going up an innumerable number +of steps, I found him at the very top of a high old building +in the <i>Kronprinzensgade</i>, in a study crammed with old +Norsk and Icelandic volumes. He is a slender old man, with +a thin face, and high, narrow head, clear grey eyes, and a +hale red on his cheeks. The dust of antiquity does not lie +very heavily on his grey locks; his enthusiasm for his studies +is of that fresh and lively character which mellows the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span>whole nature of the man. I admired and enjoyed it, when, +after being fairly started on his favourite topic, he opened +one of his own splendid folios, and read me some ringing +stanzas of Icelandic poetry. He spoke much of Mr. Marsh, +our former minister to Turkey, whose proficiency in the +northern languages he considered very remarkable.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h2>RETURN TO THE NORTH.—CHRISTIANIA.</h2> + + +<p>I was obliged to visit both Germany and England, before +returning to spend the summer in Norway. As neither +of those countries comes within the scope of the present work, +I shall spare the reader a recapitulation of my travels for +six weeks after leaving Copenhagen. Midsummer's Day +was ten days past before I was ready to resume the journey, +and there was no time to be lost, if I wished to see the midnight +sun from the cliffs of the North Cape. I therefore +took the most direct route, from London, by the way of +Hull, whence a steamer was to sail on the 3rd of July for +Christiania.</p> + +<p>We chose one of the steamers of the English line, to our +subsequent regret, as the Norwegian vessels are preferable, +in most respects. I went on board on Friday evening, and +on asking for my berth, was taken into a small state-room, +containing ten. "Oh, there's only <i>seven</i> gentleman goin' in +here, this time," said the steward, noticing my look of dismay, +"and then you can sleep on a sofa in the saloon, if +you like it better." On referring to the steamer's framed +certificate, I found that she was 250 tons' burden, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span>constructed +to carry 171 cabin and 230 deck passengers! The +state-room for ten passengers had a single wash-basin, but I +believe we had as many as four small towels, which was a +source of congratulation. "What a jolly nice boat it is!" +I heard one of the English passengers exclaim. The steward, +who stood up for the dignity of the vessel, said: "Oh, +you'll find it very pleasant; we 'ave only twenty passengers, +and we once 'ad heighty-four."</p> + +<p>In the morning we were upon the North Sea, rolling +with a short, nauseating motion, under a dismal, rainy sky. +"It always rains when you leave Hull," said the mate, "and +it always rains when you come back to it." I divided my +time between sea sickness and Charles Reade's novel of +"Never too Late to Mend," a cheery companion under such +circumstances. The purposed rowdyism of the man's style +shows a little too plainly, but his language is so racy and +muscular, his characters so fairly and sharply drawn, that +one must not be censorious. Towards evening I remembered +that it was the Fourth, and so procured a specific for +sea-sickness, with which Braisted and I, sitting alone on the +main hatch, in the rain, privately remembered our Fatherland. +There was on board an American sea-captain, of Norwegian +birth, as I afterwards found, who would gladly have +joined us. The other passengers were three Norwegians, +three fossil Englishmen, two snobbish do., and some jolly, +good-natured, free-and-easy youths, bound to Norway, with +dogs, guns, rods, fishing tackle, and oil-cloth overalls.</p> + +<p>We had a fair wind and smooth sea, but the most favourable +circumstances could not get more than eight knots an +hour out of our steamer. After forty-eight hours, however, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span>the coast of Norway came in sight—a fringe of scattered +rocks, behind which rose bleak hills, enveloped in mist and +rain. Our captain, who had been running on this route +some years, did not know where we were, and was for putting +to sea again, but one of the Norwegian passengers offered +his services as pilot and soon brought us to the fjord +of Christiansand. We first passed through a <i>Skärgaard</i>—archipelago, +or "garden of rocks," as it is picturesquely +termed in Norsk—and then between hills of dark-red rock, +covered by a sprinkling of fir-trees, to a sheltered and tranquil +harbour, upon which lay the little town. By this time +the rain came down, not in drops, but in separate threads or +streams, as if the nozzle of an immense watering-pot had been +held over us. After three months of drouth, which had +burned up the soil and entirely ruined the hay-crops, it was +now raining for the first time in Southern Norway. The +young Englishmen bravely put on their waterproofs and +set out to visit the town in the midst of the deluge; but as +it contains no sight of special interest, I made up my mind +that, like Constantinople, it was more attractive from without +than within, and remained on board. An amphitheatre +of rugged hills surrounds the place, broken only by a charming +little valley, which stretches off to the westward.</p> + +<p>The fishermen brought us some fresh mackerel for our +breakfast. They are not more than half the size of ours, +and of a brighter green along the back; their flavour, however, +is delicious. With these mackerels, four salmons, a +custom-house officer, and a Norwegian parson, we set off at +noon for Christiania. The coast was visible, but at a considerable +distance, all day. Fleeting gleams of sunshine +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>sometimes showed the broken inland ranges of mountains +with jagged saw-tooth peaks shooting up here and there. +When night came there was no darkness, but a strong golden +gleam, whereby one could read until after ten o'clock. We +reached the mouth of Christiania Fjord a little after midnight, +and most of the passengers arose to view the scenery. +After passing the branch which leads to Drammen, the fjord +contracts so as to resemble a river or one of our island-studded +New England lakes. The alternation of bare rocky +islets, red-ribbed cliffs, fir-woods, grey-green birchen groves, +tracts of farm land, and red-frame cottages, rendered this +part of the voyage delightful, although, as the morning advanced, +we saw everything through a gauzy veil of rain. +Finally, the watering-pot was turned on again, obliging even +oil cloths to beat a retreat to the cabin, and so continued +until we reached Christiania.</p> + +<p>After a mild custom-house visitation, not a word being +said about passports, we stepped ashore in republican Norway, +and were piloted by a fellow-passenger to the Victoria Hotel, +where an old friend awaited me. He who had walked with +me in the colonnades of Karnak, among the sands of Kôm-Ombos, +and under the palms of Philæ, was there to resume +our old companionship on the bleak fjelds of Norway and on +the shores of the Arctic Sea. We at once set about preparing +for the journey. First, to the banker's who supplied me +with a sufficient quantity of small money for the post-stations +on the road to Drontheim; then to a seller of <i>carrioles</i>, +of whom we procured three, at $36 apiece, to be resold to +him for $24, at the expiration of two months; and then to +supply ourselves with maps, posting-book, hammer, nails +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>rope, gimlets, and other necessary helps in case of a breakdown. +The carriole (<i>carry-all, lucus a non lucendo</i>, because +it only carries one) is the national Norwegian vehicle, +and deserves special mention. It resembles a reindeer-pulk, +mounted on a pair of wheels, with long, flat, flexible ash +shafts, and no springs. The seat, much like the stern of a +canoe, and rather narrow for a traveller of large basis, slopes +down into a trough for the feet, with a dashboard in front. +Your single valise is strapped on a flat board behind, upon +which your postillion sits. The whole machine resembles +an American sulky in appearance, except that it is springless, +and nearly the whole weight is forward of the axle. +We also purchased simple and strong harness, which easily +accommodates itself to any horse.</p> + +<p>Christiania furnishes a remarkable example of the progress +which Norway has made since its union with Sweden +and the adoption of a free Constitution. In its signs of +growth and improvement, the city reminds one of an American +town. Its population has risen to 40,000, and though +inferior to Gottenburg in its commerce, it is only surpassed +by Stockholm in size. The old log houses of which it once +was built have almost entirely disappeared; the streets are +broad, tolerably paved, and have—what Stockholm cannot +yet boast of—decent side-walks. From the little nucleus of +the old town, near the water, branch off handsome new streets, +where you often come suddenly from stately three-story +blocks upon the rough rock and meadow land. The broad +<i>Carl-Johansgade</i>, leading directly to the imposing white +front of the Royal Palace, upon an eminence in the rear of +the city, is worthy of any European capital. On the old +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span>market square a very handsome market hall of brick, in +semi-Byzantine style, has recently been erected, and the +only apparent point in which Christiania has not kept up +with the times, is the want of piers for her shipping. A +railroad, about forty miles in length, is already in operation +as far as Eidsvold, at the foot of the long Miösen Lake, on +which steamers ply to Lillehammer, at its head, affording +an outlet for the produce of the fertile Guldbrandsdal and +the adjacent country. The Norwegian Constitution is in +almost all respects as free as that of any American state, and +it is cheering to see what material well-being and solid progress +have followed its adoption.</p> + +<p>The environs of Christiania are remarkably beautiful. +From the quiet basin of the fjord, which vanishes between +blue, interlocking islands to the southward, the land rises +gradually on all sides, speckled with smiling country-seats +and farm-houses, which trench less and less on the dark +evergreen forests as they recede, until the latter keep their +old dominion and sweep in unbroken lines to the summits +of the mountains on either hand. The ancient citadel of +Aggershus, perched upon a rock, commands the approach to +the city, fine old linden trees rising above its white walls +and tiled roofs; beyond, over the trees of the palace park, +in which stand the new Museum and University, towers the +long palace-front, behind which commences a range of villas +and gardens, stretching westward around a deep bight of the +fjord, until they reach the new palace of Oscar-hall, on a +peninsula facing the city. As we floated over the glassy +water, in a skiff, on the afternoon following our arrival, +watching the scattered sun-gleams move across the lovely +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>panorama, we found it difficult to believe that we were in +the latitude of Greenland. The dark, rich green of the foliage, +the balmy odours which filled the air, the deep blue +of the distant hills and islands, and the soft, warm colors +of the houses, all belonged to the south. Only the air, fresh +without being cold, elastic, and exciting, not a delicious +opiate, was wholly northern, and when I took a swim under +the castle walls, I found that the water was northern too. It +was the height of summer, and the showers of roses in +the gardens, the strawberries and cherries in the market, +show that the summer's best gifts are still enjoyed here.</p> + +<p>The English were off the next day with their dogs, guns, +fishing tackle, waterproofs, clay pipes, and native language, +except one, who became home-sick and went back in the +next steamer. We also prepared to set out for Ringerike, +the ancient dominion of King Ring, on our way to the +Dovre-fjeld and Drontheim.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<h2>INCIDENTS OF CARRIOLE TRAVEL.</h2> + + +<p>It is rather singular that whenever you are about to start +upon a new journey, you almost always fall in with some +one who has just made it, and who overwhelms you with all +sorts of warning and advice. This has happened to me so +frequently that I have long ago ceased to regard any such +communications, unless the individual from whom they come +inspires me with more than usual confidence. While inspecting +our carrioles at the hotel in Christiania, I was accosted +by a Hamburg merchant, who had just arrived from +Drontheim, by way of the Dovre Fjeld and the Miösen +Lake. "Ah," said he, "those things won't last long. That +oil-cloth covering for your luggage will be torn to pieces in +a few days by the postillions climbing upon it. Then they +hold on to your seat and rip the cloth lining with their long +nails; besides, the rope reins wear the leather off your dashboard, +and you will be lucky if your wheels and axles don't +snap on the rough roads." Now, here was a man who had +travelled much in Norway, spoke the language perfectly, and +might be supposed to know something; but his face betrayed +the croaker, and I knew, moreover, that of all fretfully +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span>luxurious men, merchants—and especially North-German +merchants—are the worst, so I let him talk and kept my +own private opinion unchanged.</p> + +<p>At dinner he renewed the warnings. "You will have +great delay in getting horses at the stations. The only way +is to be rough and swaggering, and threaten the people—and +even that won't always answer." Most likely, I thought.—"Of +course you have a supply of provisions with you?" +he continued. "No," said I, "I always adopt the diet of the +country in which I travel."—"But you can't do it here!" +he exclaimed in horror, "you can't do it here! They have +no wine, nor no white bread, nor no fresh meat; and they +don't know how to cook anything!" "I am perfectly aware +of that," I answered; "but as long as I am not obliged to +come down to bread made of fir-bark and barley-straw, as +last winter in Lapland, I shall not complain."—"You possess +the courage of a hero if you can do such a thing; but +you will not start now, in this rain?" We answered by +bidding him a polite adieu, for the post-horses had come, +and our carrioles were at the door. As if to reward our +resolution, the rain, which had been falling heavily all the +morning, ceased at that moment, and the grey blanket +of heaven broke and rolled up into loose masses of cloud.</p> + +<p>I mounted into the canoe-shaped seat, drew the leathern +apron over my legs, and we set out, in single file, through +the streets of Christiania. The carriole, as I have already +said, has usually no springs (ours had none at least), except +those which it makes in bounding over the stones. We had +not gone a hundred yards before I was ready to cry out—"Lord, +have mercy upon me!" Such a shattering of the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span>joints, such a vibration of the vertebræ, such a churning of +the viscera, I had not felt since travelling by banghy-cart in +India. Breathing went on by fits and starts, between the +jolts; my teeth struck together so that I put away my pipe, +lest I should bite off the stem, and the pleasant sensation of +having been pounded in every limb crept on apace. Once +off the paving-stones, it was a little better; beyond the hard +turnpike which followed, better still; and on the gravel and +sand of the first broad hill, we found the travel easy enough +to allay our fears. The two <i>skydsbonder</i>, or postillions, +who accompanied us, sat upon our portmanteaus, and were +continually jumping off to lighten the ascent of the hills. +The descents were achieved at full trotting speed, the horses +leaning back, supporting themselves against the weight of +the carrioles, and throwing out their feet very firmly, so as +to avoid the danger of slipping. Thus, no matter how steep +the hill, they took it with perfect assurance and boldness, +never making a stumble. There was just sufficient risk left, +however, to make these flying descents pleasant and exhilarating.</p> + +<p>Our road led westward, over high hills and across deep +valleys, down which we had occasional glimpses of the blue +fjord and its rocky islands. The grass and grain were a +rich, dark green, sweeping into a velvety blue in the distance, +and against this deep ground, the bright red of the +houses showed with strong effect—a contrast which was subdued +and harmonised by the still darker masses of the evergreen +forests, covering the mountain ranges. At the end of +twelve or thirteen miles we reached the first post-station, at +the foot of the mountains which bound the inland prospect +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>from Christiania on the west. As it was not a "<i>fast</i>" station, +we were subject to the possibility of waiting two or +three hours for horses, but fortunately were accosted on the +road by one of the farmers who supply the <i>skyds</i>, and +changed at his house. The Norwegian <i>skyds</i> differs from +the Swedish <i>skjuts</i> in having horses ready only at the fast +stations, which are comparatively few, while at all others +you must wait from one to three hours, according to the distance +from which the horses must be brought. In Sweden +there are always from two to four horses ready, and you are +only obliged to wait after these are exhausted. There, also, +the regulations are better, and likewise more strictly enforced. +It is, at best, an awkward mode of travelling—very +pleasant, when everything goes rightly, but very annoying +when otherwise.</p> + +<p>We now commenced climbing the mountain by a series of +terribly steep ascents, every opening in the woods disclosing +a wider and grander view backward over the lovely Christiania +Fjord and the intermediate valleys. Beyond the +crest we came upon a wild mountain plateau, a thousand +feet above the sea, and entirely covered with forests of spruce +and fir. It was a black and dismal region, under the lowering +sky: not a house or a grain field to be seen, and thus +we drove for more than two hours, to the solitary inn of +Krogkleven, where we stopped for the night in order to visit +the celebrated King's View in the morning. We got a tolerable +supper and good beds, sent off a messenger to the +station of Sundvolden, at the foot of the mountain, to order +horses for us, and set out soon after sunrise, piloted by the +landlord's son, Olaf. Half an hour's walk through the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span>forest +brought us to a pile of rocks on the crest of the mountain, +which fell away abruptly to the westward. At our +feet lay the Tyri Fjord, with its deeply indented shores and +its irregular, scattered islands, shining blue and bright in +the morning sun, while away beyond it stretched a great +semicircle of rolling hills covered with green farms, dotted +with red farm-houses, and here and there a white church +glimmering like a spangle on the breast of the landscape. +Behind this soft, warm, beautiful region, rose dark, wooded +hills, with lofty mountain-ridges above them, until, far and +faint, under and among the clouds, streaks of snow betrayed +some peaks of the Nore Fjeld, sixty or seventy miles distant. +This is one of the most famous views in Norway, +and has been compared to that from the Righi, but without +sufficient reason. The sudden change, however, from the +gloomy wilderness through which you first pass to the sunlit +picture of the enchanting lake, and green, inhabited hills and +valleys, may well excuse the raptures of travellers. Ringerike, +the realm of King Ring, is a lovely land, not only as +seen from this eagle's nest, but when you have descended +upon its level. I believe the monarch's real name was +Halfdan the Black. So beloved was he in life that after +death his body was divided into four portions, so that each +province might possess some part of him. Yet the noblest +fame is transitory, and nobody now knows exactly where +any one of his quarters was buried.</p> + +<p>A terrible descent, through a chasm between perpendicular +cliffs some hundreds of feet in height, leads from Krogkleven +to the level of the Tyri Fjord. There is no attempt here, +nor indeed upon the most of the Norwegian roads we <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>travelled, +to mitigate, by well-arranged curves, the steepness of +the hills. Straight down you go, no matter of how breakneck +a character the declivity may be. There are no drags +to the carrioles and country carts, and were not the native +horses the toughest and surest-footed little animals in the +world, this sort of travel would be trying to the nerves.</p> + +<p>Our ride along the banks of the Tyri Fjord, in the clear +morning sunshine, was charming. The scenery was strikingly +like that on the lake of Zug, in Switzerland, and we +missed the only green turf, which this year's rainless spring +had left brown and withered. In all Sweden we had seen +no such landscapes, not even in Norrland. There, however, +the <i>people</i> carried off the palm. We found no farm-houses +here so stately and clean as the Swedish, no such symmetrical +forms and frank, friendly faces. The Norwegians are +big enough, and strong enough, to be sure, but their carriage +is awkward, and their faces not only plain but ugly. +The countrywomen we saw were remarkable in this latter +respect, but nothing could exceed their development of waist, +bosom and arms. Here is the stuff of which Vikings were +made, I thought, but there has been no refining or ennobling +since those times. These are the rough primitive formations +of the human race—the bare granite and gneiss, from which +sprouts no luxuriant foliage, but at best a few simple and +hardy flowers. I found much less difficulty in communicating +with the Norwegians than I anticipated. The language +is so similar to the Swedish that I used the latter, with a +few alterations, and easily made myself understood. The +Norwegian dialect, I imagine, stands in about the same relation +to pure Danish as the Scotch does to the English. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span>To my ear, it is less musical and sonorous than the Swedish, +though it is often accented in the same peculiar sing-song +way.</p> + +<p>Leaving the Tyri Fjord, we entered a rolling, well-cultivated +country, with some pleasant meadow scenery. The +crops did not appear to be thriving remarkably, probably +on account of the dry weather. The hay crop, which the +farmers were just cutting, was very scanty; rye and winter +barley were coming into head, but the ears were thin and +light, while spring barley and oats were not more than six +inches in height. There were many fields of potatoes, however, +which gave a better promise. So far as one could +judge from looking over the fields, Norwegian husbandry is +yet in a very imperfect state, and I suspect that the resources +of the soil are not half developed. The whole country +was radiant with flowers, and some fields were literally +mosaics of blue, purple, pink, yellow, and crimson bloom. +Clumps of wild roses fringed the road, and the air was delicious +with a thousand odours. Nature was throbbing +with the fullness of her short midsummer life, with that +sudden and splendid rebound from the long trance of winter +which she nowhere makes except in the extreme north.</p> + +<p>At Kläkken, which is called a <i>lilsigelse</i> station, where +horses must be specially engaged, we were obliged to wait +two hours and a half, while they were sent for from a distance +of four miles. The utter coolness and indifference of +the people to our desire to get on faster was quite natural, +and all the better for them, no doubt, but it was provoking +to us. We whiled away a part of the time with breakfast, +which was composed mainly of boiled eggs and an immense +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>dish of wild strawberries, of very small size but exquisitely +fragrant flavour. The next station brought us to Vasbunden, +at the head of the beautiful Randsfjord, which was +luckily a fast station, and the fresh horses were forthcoming +in two minutes. Our road all the afternoon lay along the +eastern bank of the Fjord, coursing up and down the hills +through a succession of the loveliest landscape pictures. +This part of Norway will bear a comparison with the softer +parts of Switzerland, such as the lakes of Zurich and Thun. +The hilly shores of the Fjord were covered with scattered +farms, the villages being merely churches with half a dozen +houses clustered about them.</p> + +<p>At sunset we left the lake and climbed a long wooded +mountain to a height of more than two thousand feet. It +was a weary pull until we reached the summit, but we rolled +swiftly down the other side to the inn of Teterud, our destination, +which we reached about 10 <span class="smcap">P.M.</span> It was quite light +enough to read, yet every one was in bed, and the place +seemed deserted, until we remembered what latitude we were +in. Finally, the landlord appeared, followed by a girl, whom, +on account of her size and blubber, Braisted compared to a +cow-whale. She had been turned out of her bed to make +room for us, and we two instantly rolled into the warm +hollow she had left, my Nilotic friend occupying a separate +bed in another corner. The guests' room was an immense +apartment; eight sets of quadrilles might have been danced +in it at one time. The walls were hung with extraordinary +pictures of the Six Days of Creation, in which the Almighty +was represented as an old man dressed in a long gown, with +a peculiarly good-humoured leer, suggesting a wink, on his +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>face. I have frequently seen the same series of pictures in +the Swedish inns. In the morning I was aroused by Braisted +exclaiming, "There she blows!" and the whale came up +to the surface with a huge pot of coffee, some sugar candy, +excellent cream, and musty biscuit.</p> + +<p>It was raining when we started, and I put on a light coat, +purchased in London, and recommended in the advertisement +as being "light in texture, gentlemanly in appearance, and +impervious to wet," with strong doubts of its power to resist +a Norwegian rain. Fortunately, it was not put to a severe +test; we had passing showers only, heavy, though short. +The country, between the Randsfjord and the Miösen Lake +was open and rolling, everywhere under cultivation, and apparently +rich and prosperous. Our road was admirable, and +we rolled along at the rate of one Norsk mile (seven miles) +an hour, through a land in full blossom, and an atmosphere +of vernal odours. At the end of the second station we struck +the main road from Christiania to Drontheim. In the station-house +I found translations of the works of Dickens and +Captain Chamier on the table. The landlord was the most +polite and attentive Norwegian we had seen; but he made us +pay for it, charging one and a half marks apiece for a breakfast +of boiled eggs and cheese.</p> + +<p>Starting again in a heavy shower, we crossed the crest of +a hill, and saw all at once the splendid Miösen Lake spread +out before us, the lofty Island of Helge, covered with farms +and forests, lying in the centre of the picture. Our road +went northward along the side of the vast, sweeping slope of +farm-land which bounds the lake on the west. Its rough +and muddy condition showed how little land-travel there is +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span>at present, since the establishment of a daily line of steamers +on the lake. At the station of Gjövik, a glass furnace, +situated in a wooded little dell on the shore, I found a young +Norwegian who spoke tolerable English, and who seemed +astounded at our not taking the steamer in preference to our +carrioles. He hardly thought it possible that we could be +going all the way to Lillehammer, at the head of the lake, +by the land road. When we set out, our postillion took a +way leading up the hills in the rear of the place. Knowing +that our course was along the shore, we asked him if we +were on the road to Sveen, the next station. "Oh, yes; it's +all right," said he, "this is a new road." It was, in truth, a +superb highway; broad and perfectly macadamised, and +leading along the brink of a deep rocky chasm, down which +thundered a powerful stream. From the top of this glen we +struck inland, keeping more and more to the westward. +Again we asked the postillion, and again received the same +answer. Finally; when we had travelled six or seven miles, +and the lake had wholly disappeared, I stopped and demanded +where Sveen was. "Sveen is not on this road," he +answered; "we are going to Mustad!" "But," I exclaimed, +"we are bound for Sveen and Lillehammer!" "Oh," said +he, with infuriating coolness, "<i>you can go there afterwards!</i>" +You may judge that the carrioles were whirled +around in a hurry, and that the only answer to the fellow's +remonstrances was a shaking by the neck which frightened +him into silence.</p> + +<p>We drove back to Gjövik in a drenching shower, which +failed to cool our anger. On reaching the station I at once +made a complaint against the postillion, and the landlord +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>called a man who spoke good English, to settle the matter. +The latter brought me a bill of $2 for going to Mustad and +back. Knowing that the horses belonged to farmers, who +were not to blame in the least, we had agreed to pay for +their use; but I remonstrated against paying the full price +when we had not gone the whole distance, and had not intended +to go at all. "Why, then, did you order horses for +Mustad?" he asked. "I did no such thing!" I exclaimed, +in amazement. "You did!" he persisted, and an investigation +ensued, which resulted in the discovery that the Norwegian +who had advised us to go by steamer, had gratuitously +taken upon himself to tell the landlord to send us +to the Randsfjord, and had given the postillion similar +directions! The latter, imagining, perhaps, that we didn't +actually know our own plans, had followed his instructions. +I must say that I never before received such an astonishing +mark of kindness. The ill-concealed satisfaction of the +people at our mishap made it all the more exasperating. +The end of it was that two or three marks were taken off +the account, which we then paid, and in an hour afterwards +shipped ourselves and carrioles on board a steamer for +Lillehammer. The Norwegian who had caused all this +trouble came along just before we embarked, and heard the +story with the most sublime indifference, proffering not a +word of apology, regret, or explanation. Judging from this +specimen, the King of Sweden and Norway has good reason +to style himself King of the Goths and Vandals.</p> + +<p>I was glad, nevertheless, that we had an opportunity of +seeing the Miösen, from the deck of a steamer. Moving +over the glassy pale-green water, midway between its shores, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>we had a far better exhibition of its beauties than from the +land-road. It is a superb piece of water, sixty miles in +length by from two to five in breadth, with mountain shores +of picturesque and ever-varying outline. The lower slopes +are farm land, dotted with the large <i>gaards</i>, or mansions +of the farmers, many of which have a truly stately air; beyond +them are forests of fir, spruce, and larch, while in the +glens between, winding groves of birch, alder, and ash come +down to fringe the banks of the lake. Wandering gleams +of sunshine, falling through the broken clouds, touched here +and there the shadowed slopes and threw belts of light upon +the water—and these illuminated spots finely relieved the +otherwise sombre depth of colour. Our boat was slow, and +we had between two and three hours of unsurpassed scenery +before reaching our destination. An immense raft of timber, +gathered from the loose logs which are floated down the +Lougen Elv, lay at the head of the lake, which contracts +into the famous Guldbrandsdal. On the brow of a steep +hill on the right lay the little town of Lillehammer, where +we were ere long quartered in a very comfortable hotel.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<h2>GULDBRANDSDAL AND THE DOVRE FJELD.</h2> + + +<p>We left Lillehammer on a heavenly Sabbath morning. +There was scarcely a cloud in the sky, the air was warm +and balmy, and the verdure of the valley, freshened by the +previous day's rain, sparkled and glittered in the sun. The +Miösen Lake lay blue and still to the south, and the bald +tops of the mountains which inclose Guldbrandsdal stood +sharp and clear, and almost shadowless, in the flood of light +which streamed up the valley. Of Lillehammer, I can only +say that it is a commonplace town of about a thousand inhabitants. +It had a cathedral and bishop some six hundred +years ago, no traces of either of which now remain. We +drove out of it upon a splendid new road, leading up the +eastern bank of the river, and just high enough on the +mountain side to give the loveliest views either way. Our +horses were fast and spirited, and the motion of our carrioles +over the firmly macadamised road was just sufficient to keep +the blood in nimble circulation. Rigid Sabbatarians may +be shocked at our travelling on that day; but there were +few hearts in all the churches of Christendom whose hymns +of praise were more sincere and devout than ours. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>Lougen roared an anthem for us from his rocky bed; the +mountain streams, flashing down their hollow channels, +seemed hastening to join it; the mountains themselves +stood silent, with uncovered heads; and over all the pale-blue +northern heaven looked lovingly and gladly down—a +smile of God upon the grateful earth. There is no Sabbath +worship better than the simple enjoyment of such a +day.</p> + +<p>Toward the close of the stage, our road descended to the +banks of the Lougen, which here falls in a violent rapid—almost +a cataract—over a barrier of rocks. Masses of water, +broken or wrenched from the body of the river, are +hurled intermittently high into the air, scattering as they +fall, with fragments of rainbows dancing over them. In +this scene I at once recognised the wild landscape by the +pencil of Dahl, the Norwegian painter, which had made +such an impression upon me in Copenhagen. In Guldbrandsdal, +we found at once what we had missed in the +scenery of Ringerike—swift, foaming streams. Here they +leapt from every rift of the upper crags, brightening the +gloom of the fir-woods which clothed the mountain-sides, +like silver braiding upon a funeral garment. This valley +is the pride of Norway, nearly as much for its richness as +for its beauty and grandeur. The houses were larger and +more substantial, the fields blooming, with frequent orchards +of fruit-trees, and the farmers, in their Sunday attire +showed in their faces a little more intelligence than the people +we had seen on our way thither. Their countenances +had a plain, homely stamp; and of all the large-limbed, +strong-backed forms I saw, not one could be called graceful, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span>or even symmetrical. Something awkward and uncouth +stamps the country people of Norway. Honest and simple-minded +they are said to be, and probably are; but of native +refinement of feeling they can have little, unless all outward +signs of character are false.</p> + +<p>We changed horses at Moshûûs, and drove up a level +splendid road to Holmen, along the river-bank. The highway, +thus far, is entirely new, and does great credit to Norwegian +enterprise. There is not a better road in all Europe; +and when it shall be carried through to Drontheim, the terrors +which this trip has for timid travellers will entirely disappear. +It is a pity that the <i>skyds</i> system should not be +improved in equal ratio, instead of becoming even more inconvenient +than at present. Holmen, hitherto a fast station, +is now no longer so; and the same retrograde change +is going on at other places along the road. The waiting +at the <i>tilsigelse</i> stations is the great drawback to travelling +by <i>skyds</i> in Norway. You must either wait two hours or +pay fast prices, which the people are not legally entitled to +ask. Travellers may write complaints in the space allotted +in the post-books for such things, but with very little result, +if one may judge from the perfect indifference which the station-masters +exhibit when you threaten to do so. I was +more than once tauntingly asked whether I would not write +a complaint. In Sweden, I found but one instance of inattention +at the stations, during two months' travel, and expected, +from the boasted honesty of the Norwegians, to meet +with an equally fortunate experience. Travellers, however, +and especially English, are fast teaching the people the usual +arts of imposition. Oh, you hard-shelled, unplastic, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>insulated +Englishmen! You introduce towels and fresh water, +and tea, and beefsteak, wherever you go, it is true; but you +teach high prices, and swindling, and insolence likewise!</p> + +<p>A short distance beyond Holmen, the new road terminated, +and we took the old track over steep spurs of the mountain, +rising merely to descend and rise again. The Lougen River +here forms a broad, tranquil lake, a mile in width, in which +the opposite mountains were splendidly reflected. The +water is pale, milky-green colour, which, under certain effects +of light, has a wonderful aerial transparency. As we +approached Lösnäs, after this long and tedious stage, I was +startled by the appearance of a steamer on the river. It is +utterly impossible for any to ascend the rapids below Moshûûs; +and she must therefore have been built there. We +could discover no necessity for such an undertaking in the +thin scattered population and their slow, indifferent habits. +Her sudden apparition in such a place was like that of an +omnibus in the desert.</p> + +<p>The magnificent vista of the valley was for a time closed +by the snowy peaks of the Rundan Fjeld; but as the direction +of the river changed they disappeared, the valley contracted, +and its black walls, two thousand feet high, almost +overhung us. Below, however, were still fresh meadows, +twinkling birchen groves and comfortable farm-houses. +Out of a gorge on our right, plunged a cataract from a +height of eighty or ninety feet, and a little further on, high +up the mountain, a gush of braided silver foam burst out of +the dark woods, covered with gleaming drapery the face of a +huge perpendicular crag, and disappeared in the woods again, +My friend drew up his horse in wonder and rapture. "I +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>know all Switzerland and the Tyrol," he exclaimed, "but +I have never seen a cataract so wonderfully framed in the +setting of a forest." In the evening, as we approached our +destination, two streams on the opposite side of the valley, +fell from a height of more than a thousand feet, in a series +of linked plunges, resembling burnished chains hanging +dangling from the tremendous parapet of rock. On the +meadow before us, commanding a full view of this wild and +glorious scene, stood a stately <i>gaard</i>, entirely deserted, its +barns, out-houses and gardens utterly empty and desolate. +Its aspect saddened the whole landscape.</p> + +<p>We stopped at the station of Lillehaave, which had only +been established the day before, and we were probably the +first travellers who had sojourned there. Consequently the +people were unspoiled, and it was quite refreshing to be +courteously received, furnished with a trout supper and excellent +beds, and to pay therefor an honest price. The +morning was lowering, and we had rain part of the day; +but, thanks to our waterproofs and carriole aprons, we kept +comfortably dry. During this day's journey of fifty miles, +we had very grand scenery, the mountains gradually increasing +in height and abruptness as we ascended the Guldbrandsdal, +with still more imposing cataracts "blowing their +trumpets from the steeps." At Viik, I found a complaint +in the post-book, written by an Englishman who had come +with us from Hull, stating that the landlord had made him +pay five dollars for beating his dog off his own. The complaint +was written in English, of course, and therefore useless +so far as the authorities were concerned. The landlord +whom I expected, from this account, to find a surly, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>swindling +fellow, accosted us civilly, and invited us into his +house to see some old weapons, principally battle-axes. There +was a cross-bow, a battered, antique sword, and a buff coat, +which may have been stripped from one of Sinclair's men +in the pass of Kringelen. The logs of his house, or part +of them, are said to have been taken from the dwelling in +which the saint-king Olaf—the apostle of Christianity in +the North,—was born. They are of the red Norwegian +pine, which has a great durability; and the legend may be +true, although this would make them eight hundred and +fifty years old.</p> + +<p>Colonel Sinclair was buried in the churchyard at Viik, +and about fifteen miles further we passed the defile of +Kringelen, where his band was cut to pieces. He landed in +Romsdal's Fjord, on the western coast, with 900 men intending +to force his way across the mountains to relieve Stockholm, +which was then (1612) besieged by the Danes. Some +three hundred of the peasants collected at Kringelen, +gathered together rocks and trunks of trees on the brow of +the cliff, and, at a concerted signal, rolled the mass down +upon the Scotch, the greater part of whom were crushed to +death or hurled into the river. Of the whole force only two +escaped. A wooden tablet on the spot says, as near as I +could make it out, that there was never such an example of +courage and valour known in the world, and calls upon the +people to admire this glorious deed of their fathers. "Courage +and valour;" cried Braisted, indignantly; "it was a +cowardly butchery! If they had so much courage, why did +they allow 900 Scotchmen to get into the very heart of the +country before they tried to stop them?" Well, war is full +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span>of meanness and cowardice. If it were only fair fighting on +an open field, there would be less of it.</p> + +<p>Beyond Laurgaard, Guldbrandsdal contracts to a narrow +gorge, down which the Lougen roars in perpetual foam. +This pass is called the Rusten; and the road here is excessively +steep and difficult. The forests disappear; only +hardy firs and the red pine cling to the ledges of the rocks; +and mountains, black, grim, and with snow-streaked summits, +tower grandly on all sides. A broad cataract, a +hundred feet high, leaped down a chasm on our left, so near +to the road that its sprays swept over us, and then shot under +a bridge to join the seething flood in the frightful gulf +beneath. I was reminded of the Valley of the Reuss, on the +road to St. Gothard, like which, the pass of the Rusten leads +to a cold and bleak upper valley. Here we noticed the +blight of late frost on the barley fields, and were for the first +time assailed by beggars. Black storm-clouds hung over +the gorge, adding to the savage wildness of its scenery; but +the sun came out as we drove up the Valley of Dovre, with +its long stretch of grain-fields on the sunny sweep of the +hill-side, sheltered by the lofty Dovre Fjeld behind them. +We stopped for the night at the inn of Toftemoen, long +before sunset, although it was eight o'clock, and slept in +a half-daylight until morning.</p> + +<p>The sun was riding high in the heavens when we left, +and dark lowering clouds slowly rolled their masses across +the mountain-tops. The Lougen was now an inconsiderable +stream, and the superb Guldbrandsdal narrowed to a bare, +bleak dell, like those in the high Alps. The grain-fields +had a chilled, struggling appearance; the forests forsook +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span>the mountain-sides and throve only in sheltered spots at +their bases; the houses were mere log cabins, many of which +were slipping off their foundation-posts and tottering to +their final fall; and the people, poorer than ever, came out +of their huts to beg openly and shamelessly as we passed. +Over the head of the valley, which here turns westward to +the low water-shed dividing it from the famous Romsdal, +rose two or three snow-streaked peaks of the Hurunger +Fjeld; and the drifts filling the ravines of the mountains +on our left descended lower and lower into the valley.</p> + +<p>At Dombaas, a lonely station at the foot of the Dovre +Fjeld, we turned northward into the heart of the mountains. +My postillion, a boy of fifteen, surprised me by speaking +very good English. He had learned it in the school at +Drontheim. Sometimes, he said, they had a schoolmaster +in the house, and sometimes one at Jerkin, twenty miles +distant. Our road ascended gradually through half-cut +woods of red pine, for two or three miles, after which it +entered a long valley, or rather basin, belonging to the table +land of the Dovre Fjeld. Stunted heath and dwarfed juniper-bushes +mixed with a grey, foxy shrub-willow, covered +the soil, and the pale yellow of the reindeer moss stained +the rocks. Higher greyer and blacker ridges hemmed in +the lifeless landscape; and above them, to the north and +west, broad snow-fields shone luminous under the heavy folds +of the clouds. We passed an old woman with bare legs and +arms, returning from a <i>söter</i>, or summer châlet of the shepherds. +She was a powerful but purely animal specimen of +humanity,—"beef to the heel," as Braisted said. At last a +cluster of log huts, with a patch of green pasture-ground +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>about them, broke the monotony of the scene. It was +Fogstuen, or next station, where we were obliged to wait +half an hour until the horses had been caught and brought +in. The place had a poverty stricken air; and the slovenly +woman who acted as landlady seemed disappointed that we +did not buy some horridly coarse and ugly woolen gloves of +her own manufacture.</p> + +<p>Our road now ran for fourteen miles along the plateau of +the Dovre, more than 3000 feet above the level of the sea. +This is not a plain or table land, but an undulating region, +with hills, valleys, and lakes of its own; and more desolate +landscapes one can scarcely find elsewhere. Everything is +grey, naked, and barren, not on a scale grand enough to be +imposing, nor with any picturesqueness of form to relieve +its sterility. One can understand the silence and sternness +of the Norwegians, when he has travelled this road. But I +would not wish my worst enemy to spend more than one +summer as a solitary herdsman on these hills. Let any disciple +of Zimmerman try the effect of such a solitude. The +statistics of insanity in Norway exhibit some of its effects, +and that which is most common is most destructive. There +never was a greater humbug than the praise of solitude: it +is the fruitful mother of all evil, and no man covets it who +has not something bad or morbid in his nature.</p> + +<p>By noon the central ridge or comb of the Dovre Fjeld +rose before us, with the six-hundred-year old station of +Jerkin in a warm nook on its southern side. This is renowned +as the best post-station in Norway, and is a favourite +resort of English travellers and sportsmen, who come +hither to climb the peak of Snæhätten, and to stalk <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>reindeer. +I did not find the place particularly inviting. The +two women who had charge of it for the time were unusually +silent and morose, but our dinner was cheap and well gotten +up, albeit the trout were not the freshest. We admired the +wonderful paintings of the landlord, which although noticed +by Murray, give little promise for Norwegian art in these +high latitudes. His cows, dogs, and men are all snow-white, +and rejoice in an original anatomy.</p> + +<p>The horses on this part of the road were excellent, the +road admirable, and our transit was therefore thoroughly +agreeable. The ascent of the dividing ridge, after leaving +Jerkin, is steep and toilsome for half a mile, but with this +exception the passage of the Dovre Fjeld is remarkably +easy. The highest point which the road crossed is about +4600 feet above the sea, or a little higher than the Brenner +Pass in the Tyrol. But there grain grows and orchards +bear fruit, while here, under the parallel of 62°, nearly all +vegetation ceases, and even the omnivorous northern sheep +can find no pasturage. Before and behind you lie wastes of +naked grey mountains, relieved only by the snow-patches on +their summits. I have seen as desolate tracts of wilderness +in the south made beautiful by the lovely hues which +they took from the air; but Nature has no such tender fancies +in the north. She is a realist of the most unpitying +stamp, and gives atmospheric influences which make that +which is dark and bleak still darker and bleaker. Black +clouds hung low on the horizon, and dull grey sheets of rain +swept now and then across the nearer heights. Snæhätten, +to the westward, was partly veiled, but we could trace his +blunt mound of alternate black rock and snow nearly to the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>apex. The peak is about 7700 feet above the sea, and was +until recently considered the highest in Norway, but the +Skagtolstind has been ascertained to be 160 feet higher, and +Snæhätten is dethroned.</p> + +<p>The river Driv came out of a glen on our left, and entered +a deep gorge in front, down which our road lay, following +the rapid descent of the foaming stream. At the +station of Kongsvold, we had descended to 3000 feet again, +yet no trees appeared. Beyond this, the road for ten miles +has been with great labour hewn out of the solid rock, at +the bottom of a frightful defile, like some of those among +the Alps. Formerly, it climbed high up on the mountain-side, +running on the brink of almost perpendicular cliffs, +and the <i>Vaarsti</i>, as it is called, was then reckoned one of +the most difficult and dangerous roads in the country. Now +it is one of the safest and most delightful. We went down +the pass on a sharp trot, almost too fast to enjoy the wild +scenery as it deserved. The Driv fell through the cleft in +a succession of rapids, while smaller streams leaped to meet +him in links of silver cataract down a thousand feet of cliff. +Birch and fir now clothed the little terraces and spare corners +of soil, and the huge masses of rock, hanging over our +heads, were tinted with black, warm brown, and russet +orange, in such a manner as to produce the most charming +effects of colour. Over the cornices of the mountain-walls, +hovering at least two thousand feet above, gleamed here and +there the scattered snowy <i>jötuns</i> of the highest fjeld.</p> + +<p>The pass gradually opened into a narrow valley, where +we found a little cultivation again. Here was the post of +Drivstuen, kept by a merry old lady. Our next stage <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span>descended +through increasing habitation and culture to the inn +of Rise, where we stopped for the night, having the Dovre +Fjeld fairly behind us. The morning looked wild and +threatening, but the clouds gradually hauled off to the eastward, +leaving us the promise of a fine day. Our road led +over hills covered with forests of fir and pine, whence we +looked into a broad valley clothed with the same dark garment +of forest, to which the dazzling white snows of the +fjeld in the background made a striking contrast. We here +left the waters of the Driv and struck upon those of the +Orkla, which flow into Drontheim Fjord. At Stuen, we +got a fair breakfast of eggs, milk, cheese, bread and butter. +Eggs are plentiful everywhere, yet, singularly enough, we +were nearly a fortnight in Norway before we either saw or +heard a single fowl. Where they were kept we could not +discover, and why they did not crow was a still greater mystery. +Norway is really the land of silence. For an inhabited +country, it is the quietest I have ever seen. No wonder +that anger and mirth, when they once break through the +hard ice of Norwegian life, are so furious and uncontrollable. +These inconsistent extremes may always be reconciled, +when we understand how nicely the moral nature of man +is balanced.</p> + +<p>Our road was over a high, undulating tract for two stages, +commanding wide views of a wild wooded region, which is +said to abound with game. The range of snowy peaks behind +us still filled the sky, appearing so near at hand as to +deceive the eye in regard to their height. At last, we came +upon the brink of a steep descent, overlooking the deep glen +of the Orkla, a singularly picturesque valley, issuing from +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span>between the bases of the mountains, and winding away to +the northward. Down the frightful slant our horses plunged +and in three minutes we were at the bottom, with flower-sown +meadows on either hand, and the wooded sides of the +glen sweeping up to a waving and fringed outline against the +sky. After crossing the stream, we had an ascent as abrupt, +on the other side; but half-way up stood the station of +Bjærkager, where we left our panting horses. The fast +stations were now at an end, but by paying fast prices we +got horses with less delay. In the evening, a man travelling +on foot offered to carry <i>förbud</i> notices for us to the remaining +stations, if we would pay for his horse. We accepted; +I wrote the orders in my best Norsk, and on the following +day we found the horses in readiness everywhere.</p> + +<p>The next stage was an inspiring trot through a park-like +country, clothed with the freshest turf and studded with +clumps of fir, birch, and ash. The air was soft and warm, +and filled with balmy scents from the flowering grasses, and +the millions of blossoms spangling the ground. In one +place, I saw half an acre of the purest violet hue, where the +pansy of our gardens grew so thickly that only its blossoms +were visible. The silver green of the birch twinkled in the +sun, and its jets of delicate foliage started up everywhere +with exquisite effect amid the dark masses of the fir. There +was little cultivation as yet, but these trees formed natural +orchards, which suggested a design in their planting and +redeemed the otherwise savage character of the scenery. +We dipped at last into a hollow, down which flowed one of +the tributaries of the Gûûl Elv, the course of which we +thence followed to Drontheim.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span>One of the stations was a lonely <i>gaard</i>, standing apart +from the road, on a high hill. As we drove up, a horrid old +hag came out to receive us. "Can I get three horses soon?" +I asked. "No," she answered with a chuckle. "How +soon?" "In a few hours," was her indifferent reply, but the +promise of paying fast rates got them in less than one. My +friend wanted a glass of wine, but the old woman said she +had nothing but milk. We were sitting on the steps with +our pipes, shortly afterwards, when she said: "Why don't +you go into the house?" "It smells too strongly of paint," +I answered. "But you had better go in," said she, and +shuffled off. When we entered, behold! there were three +glasses of very good Marsala on the table. "How do you +sell your milk?" I asked her. "That kind is three skillings +a dram," she answered. The secret probably was that she +had no license to sell wine. I was reminded of an incident +which occurred to me in Maine, during the prevalence of the +prohibitory law. I was staying at an hotel in a certain +town, and jestingly asked the landlord: "Where is the +Maine Law? I should like to see it." "Why," said he, "I +have it here in the house;"' and he unlocked a back room +and astonished me with the sight of a private bar, studded +with full decanters.</p> + +<p>The men folks were all away at work, and our postillion +was a strapping girl of eighteen, who rode behind Braisted. +She was gotten up on an immense scale, but nature had expended +so much vigour on her body that none was left for her +brain. She was a consummate representation of health and +stupidity. At the station where we stopped for the night +I could not help admiring the solid bulk of the landlady's +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>sister. Although not over twenty four she must have +weighed full two hundred. Her waist was of remarkable +thickness, and her bust might be made into three average +American ones. I can now understand why Mügge calls his +heroine Ilda "the strong maiden."</p> + +<p>A drive of thirty-five miles down the picturesque valley +of the Gûûl brought us to Drontheim the next day—the +eighth after leaving Christiania.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<h2>DRONTHEIM.—VOYAGE UP THE COAST OF NORWAY.</h2> + + +<p>Our first view of Drontheim (or <i>Trondhjem</i>, as it should +properly be written) was from the top of the hill behind +the town, at the termination of six miles of execrable road, +and perhaps the relief springing from that circumstance +heightened the agreeable impression which the scene made +upon our minds. Below us, at the bottom of a crescent-shaped +bay, lay Drontheim—a mass of dark red, yellow, +and brown buildings, with the grey cathedral in the rear. +The rich, well cultivated valley of the Nid stretched behind +it, on our right, past the Lierfoss, whose column of +foam was visible three miles away, until the hills, rising +more high and bleak behind each other, completely enclosed +it. The rock-fortress of Munkholm, in front of the city, +broke the smooth surface of the fjord, whose further shores, +dim with passing showers, swept away to the north-east, hiding +the termination of this great sea-arm, which is some +fifty miles distant. The panorama was certainly on a grand +scale, and presented very diversified and picturesque features; +but I can by no means agree with Dr. Clarke, who +compares it to the Bay of Naples. Not only the rich <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>colours +of the Mediterranean are wanting, but those harmonic +sweeps and curves of the Italian shores and hills have +nothing in common with these rude, ragged, weather beaten, +defiant forms.</p> + +<p>Descending the hill between rows of neat country-houses, +we passed a diminutive fortification, and entered the city. +The streets are remarkably wide and roughly paved, crossing +each other at right angles, with a Philadelphian regularity. +The houses are all two stories high, and raised +upon ample foundations, so that the doors are approached by +flights of steps—probably on account of the deep snows during +the winter. They are almost exclusively of wood, solid +logs covered with neat clap-boards, but a recent law forbids +the erection of any more wooden houses, and in the course of +time, the town, like Christiania, will lose all that is peculiar +and characteristic in its architecture. A cleaner place can +scarcely be found, and I also noticed, what is quite rare in +the North, large square fountains or wells, at the intersection +of all the principal streets. The impression which Drontheim +makes upon the stranger is therefore a cheerful and +genial one. Small and unpretending though it be, it is full +of pictures; the dark blue fjord closes the vista of half its +streets; hills of grey rock, draped with the greenest turf, +overlook it on either side, and the beautiful valley of the +Nid, one of the loveliest nooks of Norway, lies in its rear.</p> + +<p>We drove to the Hotel de Belle-Vue, one of the two little +caravanserais of which the town boasts, and were fortunate +in securing the two vacant rooms. The hotel business +in Norway is far behind that of any other country, except +in regard to charges, where it is far in advance. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>Considering +what one gets for his money, this is the most expensive +country in the world for foreigners. Except where the rates +are fixed by law, as in posting, the natives pay much less; +and here is an instance of double-dealing which does not +harmonise with the renowned honesty of the Norwegians. +At the Belle-Vue, we were furnished with three very meagre +meals a day, at the rate of two dollars and a half. The attendance +was performed by two boys of fourteen or fifteen, +whose services, as may be supposed, were quite inadequate to +the wants of near twenty persons. The whole business of +the establishment devolved on these two fellows, the landlady, +though good-humoured and corpulent, as was meet, +knowing nothing about the business, and, on the whole, it +was a wonder that matters were not worse. It is singular +that in a pastoral country like Norway one gets nothing but +rancid butter, and generally sour cream, where both should +be of the finest quality. Nature is sparing of her gifts, to +be sure; but what she does furnish is of the best, as it comes +from her hand. Of course, one does not look for much culinary +skill, and is therefore not disappointed, but the dairy +is the primitive domestic art of all races, and it is rather +surprising to find it in so backward a state.</p> + +<p>My friend, who received no letters, and had no transatlantic +interests to claim his time, as I had, applied himself +to seeing the place, which he accomplished, with praiseworthy +industry, in one day. He walked out to the falls of the +Nid, three miles up the valley, and was charmed with them. +He then entered the venerable cathedral, where he had the +satisfaction of seeing a Protestant clergyman perform high +mass in a scarlet surplice, with a gold cross on his back. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span>The State Church of Norway, which, like that of Sweden, +is Lutheran of a very antiquated type, not only preserves +this ritual, but also the form of confession (in a general way, +I believe, and without reference to particular sins) and of +absolution. Of course, it is violently dogmatic and illiberal, +and there is little vital religious activity in the whole country. +Until within a very few years, no other sects were tolerated, +and even yet there is simply freedom of conscience, +but not equal political rights, for those of other denominations. +This concession has perhaps saved the church from +becoming a venerable fossil, yet one still finds persons who +regret that it should have been made, not knowing that all +truth, to retain its temper, must be whetted against an opposing +blade. According to the new constitution of Norway, +the king must be crowned in the cathedral of Drontheim. +Bernadotte received the proper consecration, but +Oscar, though King of Norway, has not yet seen fit to +accept it. I once heard a Norwegian exclaim, with a sort +of jealous satisfaction: "Oscar calls himself King of Norway, +but he is a king without a crown!" I cannot see, however, +that this fact lessens his authority as sovereign, in the +least.</p> + +<p>There is a weekly line of steamers, established by the +Storthing (Legislative Assembly), to Hammerfest and around +the North Cape. The "Nordkap," the largest and best of +these boats, was to leave Drontheim on Saturday evening, +the 18th of July, and we lost no time in securing berths, as +another week would have made it too late for the perpetual +sunshine of the northern summer. Here again, one is introduced +to a knowledge of customs and regulations <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>unknown +elsewhere. The ticket merely secures you a place on +board the steamer, but neither a berth nor provisions. The +latter you obtain from a restaurateur on board, according to +fixed rates; the former depends on the will of the captain, +who can stow you where he chooses. On the "Nordkap" +the state-rooms were already occupied, and there remained +a single small saloon containing eight berths. Here we did +very well so long as there were only English and American +occupants, who at once voted to have the skylight kept open; +but after two Norwegians were added to our company, we lived +in a state of perpetual warfare, the latter sharing the national +dread of fresh air; and yet one of them was a professor +from the University of Christiania, and the other a physician, +who had charge of the hospital in Bergen! With this +exception, we had every reason to be satisfied with the vessel. +She was very stanch and steady-going, with a spacious airy +saloon on deck; no captain could have been more kind and +gentlemanly, and there was quite as much harmony among +the passengers as could reasonably have been expected. Our +party consisted of five Americans, three English, two Germans, +and one Frenchman (M. Gay, Membre de l'Academie), +besides a variety of Norwegians from all parts of the +country.</p> + +<p>Leaving our carrioles and part of our baggage behind us, +we rowed out to the steamer in a heavy shower. The sun +was struggling with dark grey rain-clouds all the evening, +and just as we hove anchor, threw a splendid triumphal iris +across the bay, completely spanning the town, which, with +the sheltering hills, glimmered in the rosy mist floating +within the bow. Enclosed by such a dazzling frame the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>picture of Drontheim shone with a magical lustre, like a +vision of Asgaard, beckoning to us from the tempestuous +seas. But we were bound for the north, the barriers of +Niflhem, the land of fog and sleet, and we disregarded the +celestial token, though a second perfect rainbow overarched +the first, and the two threw their curves over hill and fortress +and the bosom of the rainy fjord, until they almost +touched our vessel on either side. In spite of the rain, we +remained on deck until a late hour, enjoying the bold scenery +of the outer fjord—here, precipitous woody shores, +gashed with sudden ravines; there, jet-black rocky peaks, +resembling the porphyry hills of the African deserts; and +now and then, encircling the sheltered coves, soft green fields +glowing with misty light, and the purple outlines of snow-streaked +mountains in the distance.</p> + +<p>The morning was still dark and rainy. We were at first +running between mountain-islands of bare rock and the iron +coast of the mainland, after which came a stretch of open +sea for two hours, and at noon we reached Björö, near the +mouth of the Namsen Fjord. Here there was half a dozen +red houses on a bright green slope, with a windmill out of +gear crowning the rocky hill in the rear. The sky gradually +cleared as we entered the Namsen Fjord, which charmed +us with the wildness and nakedness of its shores, studded +with little nooks and corners of tillage, which sparkled like +oases of tropical greenness, in such a rough setting. Precipices +of dark-red rock, streaked with foamy lines of water +from the snows melting upon their crests, frowned over the +narrow channels between the islands, and through their +gaps and gorges we caught sight of the loftier ranges <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>inland. +Namsos, at the head of the fjord, is a red-roofed +town of a few hundred inhabitants, with a pleasant background +of barley-fields and birchen groves. The Namsen +valley, behind it, is one of the richest in this part of Norway, +and is a great resort of English salmon-fishers. There +was a vessel of two hundred tons on the stocks, and a few +coasting crafts lying at anchor.</p> + +<p>We had a beautiful afternoon voyage out another arm of +the fjord, and again entered the labyrinth of islands fringing +the coast. Already, the days had perceptibly lengthened, +and the increased coldness of the air at night indicated our +approach to the Arctic Circle. I was surprised at the +amount of business done at the little stations where we +touched. Few of these contained a dozen houses, yet the +quantity of passengers and freight which we discharged and +took on board, at each, could only be explained by the fact +that these stations are generally outlets for a tolerably large +population, hidden in the valleys and fjords behind, which +the steamer does not visit. Bleak and desolate as the coast +appears, the back country has its fertile districts—its pasture-ground, +its corn-land and forests, of which the voyager +sees nothing, and thus might be led to form very erroneous +conclusions. Before we had been twenty-four hours out +from Drontheim, there was a marked change in the appearance +of the people we took on board. Not even in the +neighborhood of Christiania or in the rich Guldbrandsdal +were the inhabitants so well-dressed, so prosperous (judging +from outward signs, merely), or so intelligent. They are in +every respect more agreeable and promising specimens of +humanity than their brothers of Southern Norway, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>notwithstanding +the dark and savage scenery amidst which their lot +is cast.</p> + +<p>Toward midnight, we approached the rock of Torghätten, +rising 1200 feet high, in the shape of a tall-crowned, battered +"wide-awake," above the low, rocky isles and reefs which +surround it. This rock is famous for a natural tunnel, +passing directly through its heart—the path of an arrow +which the Giant Horseman (of whom I shall speak presently) +shot at a disdainful maiden, equally colossal, in the old +mythological times, when Odin got drunk nightly in Walhalla. +We were all on the look-out for this tunnel, which, +according to Murray, is large enough for a ship to go through—if +it were not some six hundred feet above the sea-level. +We had almost passed the rock and nothing of the kind +could be seen; but Capt. Riis, who was on deck, encouraged +us to have a little patience, changed the steamer's course, +and presently we saw a dark cavern yawning in the face of +a precipice on the northern side. It was now midnight, but +a sunset light tinged the northern sky, and the Torghätten +yet stood in twilight. "Shall we see through it?" was the +question; but while we were discussing the chances, a faint +star sparkled in the midst of the cavernous gloom. "You +see it because you imagine it," cried some; yet, no, it was +steadfast, and grew broad and bright, until even the most +sceptical recognised the pale midnight sky at the bottom of +the gigantic arch.</p> + +<p>My friend aroused me at five in the morning to see the +Seven Sisters—seven majestic peaks, 4000 feet high, and +seated closely side by side, with their feet in the sea. They +all wore nightcaps of gray fog, and had a sullen and sleepy +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>air. I imagined they snored, but it was a damp wind driving +over the rocks. They were northern beauties, hard-featured +and large-boned, and I would not give a graceful +southern hill, like Monte Albano or the Paphian Olympus, +for the whole of them. So I turned in again, and did not +awake until the sun had dried the decks, and the split, +twisted and contorted forms of the islands gave promise of +those remarkable figures which mark the position of the +Arctic Circle. There was already a wonderful change in +the scenery. The islands were high and broken, rising like +towers and pyramids from the water, and grouped together +in the most fantastic confusion. Between their jagged pinnacles, +and through their sheer walls of naked rock, we could +trace the same formation among the hills of the mainland, +while in the rear, white against the sky, stretched the snowy +table-land which forms a common summit for all. One is +bewildered in the attempt to describe such scenery. There +is no central figure, no prevailing character, no sharp contrasts, +which may serve as a guide whereby to reach the imagination +of the reader. All is confused, disordered, chaotic. +One begins to understand the old Norse myth of these stones +being thrown by the devil in a vain attempt to prevent the +Lord from finishing the world. Grand as they are, singly, +you are so puzzled by their numbers and by the fantastic +manner in which they seem to dance around you, as the +steamer threads the watery labyrinth, that you scarcely appreciate +them as they deserve. Take almost any one of +these hundreds, and place it inland, anywhere in Europe or +America, and it will be visited, sketched and sung to distraction.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span>At last we saw in the west, far out at sea, the four towers +of Threnen, rising perpendicularly many hundred feet from +the water. Before us was the <i>Hestmand</i>, or Horseman, +who bridles his rocky steed with the polar circle. At first, +he appeared like a square turret crowning an irregular mass +of island-rock, but, as we approached a colossal head rounded +itself at the top, and a sweeping cloak fell from the broad +shoulder, flowing backward to the horse's flanks. Still, there +was no horse; but here again our captain took the steamer +considerably out of her course, so that, at a distance of a +mile the whole enormous figure, 1500 feet in height, lay +clearly before us. A heavy beard fell from the grand, Jupitolian +head; the horse, with sharp ears erect and head bent +down, seemed to be plunging into the sea, which was already +above his belly; the saddle had slipped forward, so that the +rider sat upon his shoulders, but with his head proudly lifted, +as if conscious of his fate, and taking a last look at the +world. Was it not All-Father Odin, on his horse Sleipner, +forsaking the new race which had ceased to worship him? +The colossi of the Orient—Rameses and Brahma and Boodh—dwindle +into insignificance before this sublime natural +monument to the lost gods of the North.</p> + +<p>At the little fishing-village of Anklakken, near the +Horseman, a fair was being held, and a score or more of +coasting craft, gay with Norwegian flags, lay at anchor. +These <i>jægts</i>, as they are called, have a single mast, with a +large square sail, precisely like those of the Japanese fishing +junks, and their hulls are scarcely less heavy and clumsy. +They are the Norwegian boats of a thousand years ago; all +attempt to introduce a better form of ship-building having +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>been in vain. But the romantic traveller should not suppose +that he beholds the "dragons" of the Vikings, which +were a very different craft, and have long since disappeared. +The <i>jægts</i> are slow, but good seaboats, and as the article +haste is not in demand anywhere in Norway, they probably +answer every purpose as well as more rational vessels. +Those we saw belonged to traders who cruise along the +coast during the summer, attending the various fairs, which +appear to be the principal recreation of the people. At any +rate, they bring some life and activity into these silent solitudes. +We had on board the effects of an Englishman who +went on shore to see a fair and was left behind by a previous +steamer. He had nothing with him but the clothes on his +back, and spoke no Norsk: so the captain anxiously looked +out for a melancholy, dilapidated individual at every station +we touched at—but he looked in vain, for we neither saw +nor heard anything of the unfortunate person.</p> + +<p>All the afternoon, we had a continuation of the same +wonderful scenery—precipices of red rock a thousand feet +high, with snowy, turreted summits, and the loveliest green +glens between. To the east were vast snow-fields, covering +the eternal glaciers of the Alpine range. As we looked up +the Salten Fjord, while crossing its mouth, the snows of Sulitelma, +the highest mountain in Lappmark, 6000 feet above +the sea, were visible, about fifty miles distant. Next came +the little town of Bodö where we stopped for the night. It +is a cluster of wooden houses, with roofs of green sod, containing +about three hundred inhabitants. We found potatoes +in the gardens, some currant bushes, and a few hardy +vegetables, stunted ash trees and some patches of barley. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span>The sun set a little before eleven o'clock, but left behind him +a glory of colours which I have never seen surpassed. The +snowy mountains of Lappmark were transmuted into pyramids +of scarlet flame, beside which the most gorgeous sunset +illuminations of the Alps would have been pale and tame. +The sky was a sheet of saffron, amber and rose, reduplicated +in the glassy sea, and the peaked island of Landegode in +the west, which stood broad against the glow, became a mass +of violet hue, topped with cliffs of crimson fire. I sat down +on deck and tried to sketch this superb spectacle, in colours +which nobody will believe to be real. Before I had finished, +the sunset which had lighted one end of Landegode became +sunrise at the other, and the fading Alps burned anew +with the flames of morning.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<h2>THE LOFODEN ISLES.</h2> + + +<p>The northern summer soon teaches one fashionable habits +of life. Like the man whose windows Sidney Smith darkened, +and who slept all day because he thought it was night, +you keep awake all night because you forget that it is not +day. One's perception of time contracts in some mysterious +way, and the sun, setting at eleven, seems to be no later than +when he set at seven. You think you will enjoy the evening +twilight an hour or two before going to bed, and lo! the +morning begins to dawn. It seems absurd to turn in and +sleep by daylight, but you sleep, nevertheless, until eight or +nine o'clock, and get up but little refreshed with your repose. +You miss the grateful covering of darkness, the sweet, welcome +gloom, which shuts your senses, one after one, like the +closing petals of a flower, in the restoring trance of the night. +The light comes through your eyelids as you sleep, and a +certain nervous life of the body that should sleep too keeps +awake and active. I soon began to feel the wear and tear +of perpetual daylight, in spite of its novelty and the many +advantages which it presents to the traveller.</p> + +<p>At Bodö we were in sight of the Lofoden Islands, which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>filled up all the northern and western horizon, rising like +blue saw-teeth beyond the broad expanse of the West Fjord, +which separates them from the group of the shore islands. +The next morning, we threaded a perfect labyrinth of rocks, +after passing Grotö, and headed across the fjord, for Balstad, +on West-Vaagöe, one of the outer isles. This passage +is often very rough, especially when the wind blows from +the south-west, rolling the heavy swells of the Atlantic into +the open mouth of the fjord. We were very much favoured +by the weather, having a clear sky, with a light north wind +and smooth sea. The long line of jagged peaks, stretching +from Væröe in the south west to the giant ridges of Hindöe +in the north east, united themselves in the distance with the +Alpine chain of the mainland behind us, forming an amphitheatre +of sharp, snowy summits, which embraced five-sixths +of the entire circle of the horizon, and would have certainly +numbered not less than two hundred. Von Buch compares +the Lofodens to the jaws of a shark, and most travellers +since his time have resuscitated the comparison, but I did +not find it so remarkably applicable. There are shark +tooth peaks here and there, it is true, but the peculiar conformation +of Norway—extensive plateaus, forming the summit-level +of the mountains—extends also to these islands, +whose only valleys are those which open to the sea, and +whose interiors are uninhabitable snowy tracts, mostly above +the line of vegetation.</p> + +<p>On approaching the islands, we had a fair view of the +last outposts of the group—the solid barriers against which +the utmost fury of the Atlantic dashes in vain. This side +of Væröe lay the large island of Mosköe, between which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span>and a large solitary rock in the middle of the strait dividing +them, is the locality of the renowned Maelström—now, +alas! almost as mythical as the kraaken or great sea +snake of the Norwegian fjords. It is a great pity that the +geographical illusions of our boyish days cannot retrain. +You learn that the noise of Niagara can be heard 120 miles +off, and that "some Indians, in their canoes, have ventured +down it, with safety." Well, one could give up the Indians +without much difficulty; but it is rather discouraging to +step out of the Falls Depôt for the first time, within a +quarter of a mile of the cataract, and hear no sound except +"Cab sir?" "Hotel, sir?" So of the Maelström, denoted +on my schoolboy map by a great spiral twist, which suggested +to me a tremendous whirl of the ocean currents, +aided by the information that "vessels cannot approach +nearer than seven miles." In Olney, moreover, there was +a picture of a luckless bark, half-way down the vortex. I +had been warming my imagination, as we came up the +coast, with Campbell's sonorous lines:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Round the shores where runic Odin<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Howls his war-song to the gale;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Round the isles where loud Lofoden<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whirls to death the roaring whale;"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">and, as we looked over the smooth water towards Mosköe, +felt a renewed desire to make an excursion thither on out +return from the north. But, according to Captain Riis, +and other modern authorities which I consulted, the Maelström +has lost all its terrors and attractions. Under certain +conditions of wind and tide, an eddy is formed in the strait +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span>it is true, which may be dangerous to small boats—but the +place is by no means so much dreaded as the Salten Fjord, +where the tide, rushing in, is caught in such a manner as +to form a <i>bore</i>, as in the Bay of Fundy, and frequently +proves destructive to the fishing craft. It is the general +opinion that some of the rocks which formerly made the +Maelström so terrible have been worn away, or that some +submarine convulsion has taken place which has changed +the action of the waters; otherwise it is impossible to account +for the reputation it once possessed.</p> + +<p>It should also be borne in mind that any accident to a +boat among these islands is more likely to prove disastrous +than elsewhere, since there are probably not a score out of +the twenty thousand Lofoden fishermen who pass half their +lives on the water, who know how to swim. The water is +too cold to make bathing a luxury, and they are not sufficiently +prepossessed in favour of cleanliness to make it a duty. +Nevertheless, they are bold sailors, in their way, and a +tougher, hardier, more athletic class of men it would be difficult +to find. Handsome they are not, but quite the reverse, +and the most of them have an awkward and uncouth +air; but it is refreshing to look at their broad shoulders, +their brawny chests, and the massive muscles of their legs +and arms. During the whole voyage, I saw but one man +who appeared to be diseased. Such men, I suspect, were +the Vikings—rough, powerful, ugly, dirty fellows, with a +few primitive virtues, and any amount of robust vices. We +noticed, however, a marked change for the better in the common +people, as we advanced northward. They were altogether +better dressed, better mannered, and more independent +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span>and intelligent, but with a hard, keen, practical expression +of face, such as one finds among the shoremen of New-England. +The school system of Norway is still sadly deficient, +but there is evidently no lack of natural capacity among +these people. Their prevailing vice is intemperance, which +here, as in all other parts of the country, is beginning to +diminish since restrictions have been placed upon the manufacture +and sale of spirituous liquors, simultaneously with +the introduction of cheap and excellent fermented drinks. +The statistics of their morality also show a better state of +things than in the South. There is probably no country +population in the world where licentiousness prevails to such +an extent as in the districts of Guldbrandsdal and Hedemark.</p> + +<p>A voyage of four hours across the West Fjord brought +us to the little village of Balstad, at the southern end of +West-Vaagöe. The few red, sod-roofed houses were built +upon a rocky point, behind which were some patches of +bright green pasture, starred with buttercups, overhung by +a splendid peak of dark-red rock, two thousand feet in +height. It was a fine frontispiece to the Lofoden scenery +which now opened before us. Running along the coast of +West and East Vaagöe, we had a continual succession of +the wildest and grandest pictures—thousand feet precipices, +with turrets and needles of rock piercing the sky, dazzling +snow-fields, leaking away in cataracts which filled the ravines +with foam, and mazes of bald, sea-worn rocks, which +seem to have been thrown down from the scarred peaks in +some terrible convulsion of nature. Here and there were +hollows, affording stony pasturage for a few sheep and cows +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span>and little wooden fisher-huts stood on the shore in the arms +of sheltered coves. At the village of Svolvær, which is +built upon a pile of bare stones, we took on board a number +of ladies in fashionable dresses, with bonnets on the +backs of their heads and a sufficiency of cumbrous petticoats +to make up for the absence of hoops, which have not +yet got further north than Drontheim. In seeing these unexpected +apparitions emerge from such a wild corner of +chaos I could not but wonder at the march of modern civilisation. +Pianos in Lapland, Parisian dresses among the +Lofodens, billiard-tables in Hammerfest—whither shall we +turn to find the romance of the North!</p> + +<p>We sailed, in the lovely nocturnal sunshine, through the +long, river-like channel—the Rasksund, I believe, it is called—between +the islands of East-Vaagöe and Hindöe, the largest +of the Lofodens. For a distance of fifteen miles the strait +was in no place more than a mile in breadth, while it was +frequently less than a quarter. The smooth water was a +perfect mirror, reflecting on one side the giant cliffs, with +their gorges choked with snow, their arrowy pinnacles and +white lines of falling water—on the other, hills turfed to +the summit with emerald velvet, sprinkled with pale groves +of birch and alder, and dotted, along their bases, with the +dwellings of the fishermen. It was impossible to believe +that we were floating on an arm of the Atlantic—it was +some unknown river, or a lake high up among the Alpine +peaks. The silence of these shores added to the impression. +Now and then a white sea-gull fluttered about the cliffs, or +an eider duck paddled across some glassy cove, but no sound +was heard: there was no sail on the water, no human being +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>on the shore. Emerging at last from this wild and enchanting +strait, we stood across a bay, opening southward to the +Atlantic, to the port of Steilo, on one of the outer islands. +Here the broad front of the island, rising against the roseate +sky, was one swell of the most glorious green, down to the +very edge of the sea, while the hills of East-Vaagöe, across +the bay, showed only naked and defiant rock, with summit-fields +of purple-tinted snow. In splendour of coloring, the +tropics were again surpassed, but the keen north wind +obliged us to enjoy it in an overcoat.</p> + +<p>Toward midnight, the sun was evidently above the horizon, +though hidden by intervening mountains. Braisted and +another American made various exertions to see it, such as +climbing the foremast, but did not succeed until about one +o'clock, when they were favoured by a break in the hills. +Although we had daylight the whole twenty-four hours, +travellers do not consider that their duty is fulfilled unless +they see the sun itself, exactly at midnight. In the morning, +we touched at Throndenaes, on the northern side of +Hindöe, a beautiful bay with green and wooded shores, and +then, leaving the Lofodens behind us, entered the archipelago +of large islands which lines the coast of Finmark. +Though built on the same grand and imposing scale as the +Lofodens, these islands are somewhat less jagged and abrupt +in their forms, and exhibit a much more luxuriant vegetation. +In fact, after leaving the Namsen Fjord, near +Drontheim, one sees very little timber until he reaches the +parallel of 69°. The long straits between Senjen and +Qvalö and the mainland are covered with forests of birch +and turfy slopes greener than England has ever shown. At +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span>the same time the snow level was not more than 500 feet +above the sea, and broad patches lay melting on all the +lower hills. This abundance of snow seems a singular incongruity, +when you look upon the warm summer sky and +the dark, mellow, juicy green of the shores. One fancies +that he is either sailing upon some lofty inland lake, or that +the ocean-level in these latitudes must be many thousand +feet higher than in the temperate zone. He cannot believe +that he is on the same platform with Sicily and Ceylon.</p> + +<p>After a trip up the magnificent Maans Fjord, and the +sight of some sea-green glaciers, we approached Tromsöe, +the capital of Finmark. This is a town of nearly 3000 inhabitants, +on a small island in the strait between Qvalö and +the mainland. It was just midnight when we dropped anchor, +but, although the sun was hidden by a range of snowy +hills in the north, the daylight was almost perfect. I immediately +commenced making a sketch of the harbour, with +its fleet of coasting vessels. Some Russian craft from Archangel, +and a Norwegian cutter carrying six guns, were also +at anchor before the town. Our French traveller, after +amusing himself with the idea of my commencing a picture +at sunset and finishing it at sunrise, started for a morning +ramble over the hills. Boats swarmed around the steamer; +the coal-lighters came off, our crew commenced their work, +and when the sun's disc appeared, before one o'clock, there +was another day inaugurated. The night had vanished +mysteriously, no one could tell how.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<h2>FINMARK AND HAMMERFEST.</h2> + + +<p>The steamer lay at Tromsöe all day, affording us an +opportunity to visit an encampment of Lapps in Tromsdal, +about four miles to the eastward. So far as the Lapps were +concerned, I had seen enough of them, but I joined the party +for the sake of the northern summer. The captain was kind +enough to despatch a messenger to the Lapps, immediately +on our arrival, that their herd of reindeer, pasturing on the +mountains, might be driven down for our edification, and +also exerted himself to procure a horse for the American +lady. The horse came, in due time, but a side saddle is an +article unknown in the arctic regions, and the lady was +obliged to trust herself to a man's saddle and the guidance +of a Norseman of the most remarkable health, strength, and +stupidity.</p> + +<p>Our path led up a deep valley, shut in by overhanging +cliffs, and blocked up at the eastern end by the huge mass of +the fjeld. The streams, poured down the crags from their +snowy reservoirs, spread themselves over the steep side of +the hill, making a succession of quagmires, over which we +were obliged to spring and scramble in breakneck style. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>The sun was intensely hot in the enclosed valley, and we +found the shade of the birchen groves very grateful. Some +of the trees grew to a height of forty feet, with trunks the +thickness of a man's body. There were also ash and alder +trees, of smaller size, and a profusion of brilliant wild +flowers. The little multeberry was in blossom; the ranunculus, +the globe-flower, the purple geranium, the heath, and +the blue forget-me-not spangled the ground, and on every +hillock the young ferns unrolled their aromatic scrolls +written with wonderful fables of the southern spring. For +it was only spring here, or rather the very beginning of +summer. The earth had only become warm enough to conceive +and bring forth flowers, and she was now making the +most of the little maternity vouchsafed to her. The air was +full of winged insects, darting hither and thither in astonishment +at finding themselves alive; the herbage seemed to +be visibly growing under your eyes; even the wild shapes of +the trees were expressive of haste, lest the winter might come +on them unawares; and I noticed that the year's growth had +been shot out at once, so that the young sprays might have +time to harden and to protect the next year's buds. There +was no lush, rollicking out-burst of foliage, no mellow, +epicurean languor of the woods, no easy unfolding of leaf on +leaf, as in the long security of our summers; but everywhere +a feverish hurry on the part of nature to do something, even +if it should only be half done. And above the valley, behind +its mural ramparts, glowered the cold white snows, which +had withdrawn for a little while, but lay in wait, ready to +spring down as soon as the protecting sunshine should +fail.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span>The lady had one harmless tumble into the mud, and we +were all pretty well fatigued with our rough walk, when we +reached the Lapp encampment. It consisted only of two +families, who lived in their characteristic <i>gammes</i>, or huts +of earth, which serve them also for winter dwellings. These +burrows were thrown up on a grassy meadow, beside a rapid +stream which came down from the fjeld; and at a little distance +were two folds, or <i>corrals</i> for their reindeer, fenced +with pickets slanting outward. A number of brown-haired, +tailless dogs, so much resembling bear-cubs that at first sight +we took them for such, were playing about the doors. A +middle-aged Lapp, with two women and three or four children, +were the inmates. They scented profit, and received +us in a friendly way, allowing the curious strangers to go in +and out at pleasure, to tease the dogs, drink the reindeer +milk, inspect the children, rock the baby, and buy horn +spoons to the extent of their desire. They were smaller than +the Lapps of Kautokeino—or perhaps the latter appeared +larger in their winter dresses—and astonishingly dirty. +Their appearance is much more disgusting in summer than +in winter, when the snow, to a certain extent, purifies everything. +After waiting an hour or more, the herd appeared +descending the fjeld, and driven toward the fold by two +young Lapps, assisted by their dogs. There were about four +hundred in all, nearly one-third being calves. Their hoarse +bleating and the cracking noise made by their knee-joints, +as they crowded together into a dense mass of grey, mossy +backs, made a very peculiar sound; and this combined with +their ragged look, from the process of shedding their coats +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span>of hair, did not very favourably impress those of our party +who saw them for the first time. The old Lapp and his +boy, a strapping fellow of fifteen, with a ruddy, olive complexion +and almost Chinese features, caught a number of the +cows with lassos, and proceeded to wean the young deer by +anointing the mothers' dugs with cow-dung, which they +carried in pails slung over their shoulders. In this delightful +occupation we left them, and returned to Tromsöe.</p> + +<p>As we crossed the mouth of the Ulvsfjord, that evening +we had an open sea horizon toward the north, a clear sky, +and so much sunshine at eleven o'clock that it was evident +the Polar day had dawned upon us at last. The illumination +of the shores was unearthly in its glory, and the wonderful +effects of the orange sunlight, playing upon the dark +hues of the island cliffs, can neither be told nor painted. +The sun hung low between Fuglöe, rising like a double +dome from the sea, and the tall mountains of Arnöe, both of +which islands resembled immense masses of transparent purple +glass, gradually melting into crimson fire at their bases. +The glassy, leaden-coloured sea was powdered with a golden +bloom, and the tremendous precipices at the mouth of the +Lyngen Fjord, behind us, were steeped in a dark red, mellow +flush, and touched with pencillings of pure, rose-coloured +light, until their naked ribs seemed to be clothed in imperial +velvet. As we turned into the Fjord and ran southward +along their bases, a waterfall, struck by the sun, fell in fiery +orange foam down the red walls, and the blue ice-pillars of +a beautiful glacier filled up the ravine beyond it. We were +all on deck, and all faces, excited by the divine splendour of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span>the scene, and tinged by the same wonderful aureole, shone +as if transfigured. In my whole life I have never seen a +spectacle so unearthly beautiful.</p> + +<p>Our course brought the sun rapidly toward the ruby +cliffs of Arnöe, and it was evident that he would soon be +hidden from sight. It was not yet half-past eleven, and an +enthusiastic passenger begged the captain to stop the vessel +until midnight. "Why," said the latter, "it is midnight +now, or very near it; you have Drontheim time, which is +almost forty minutes in arrears." True enough, the real +time lacked but five minutes of midnight, and those of us +who had sharp eyes and strong imaginations saw the sun +make his last dip and rise a little, before he vanished in a +blaze of glory behind Arnöe. I turned away with my eyes +full of dazzling spheres of crimson and gold, which danced +before me wherever I looked, and it was a long time before +they were blotted out by the semi-oblivion of a daylight +sleep.</p> + +<p>The next morning found us at the entrance of the long +Alten Fjord. Here the gashed, hacked, split, scarred and +shattered character of the mountains ceases, and they suddenly +assume a long, rolling outline, full of bold features, but +less wild and fantastic. On the southern side of the fjord +many of them are clothed with birch and fir to the height of +a thousand feet. The valleys here are cultivated to some +extent, and produce, in good seasons, tolerable crops of potatoes, +barley, and buckwheat. This is above lat. 70°, or +parallel with the northern part of Greenland, and consequently +the highest cultivated land in the world. In the +valley of the Alten River, the Scotch fir sometimes reaches +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>a height of seventy or eighty feet. This district is called +the Paradise of Finmark, and no doubt floats in the imaginations +of the settlers on Mageröe and the dreary Porsanger +Fjord, as Andalusia and Syria float in ours. It is well that +human bliss is so relative in its character.</p> + +<p>At Talvik, a cheerful village with a very neat, pretty +church, who should come on board but Pastor Hvoslef, our +Kautokeino friend of the last winter! He had been made +one of a Government Commission of four, appointed to investigate +and report upon the dissensions between the +nomadic Lapps and those who have settled habitations. A +better person could not have been chosen than this good +man, who has the welfare of the Lapps truly at heart, and +in whose sincerity every one in the North confides.</p> + +<p>We had on board Mr. Thomas, the superintendent of the +copper works at Kaafjord, who had just resigned his seat in +the Storthing and given up his situation for the purpose of +taking charge of some mines at Copiapo, in Chili. Mr. +Thomas is an Englishman, who has been for twenty years +past one of the leading men of Finmark, and no other man, +I venture to say, has done more to improve and enlighten +that neglected province. His loss will not be easily replaced. +At Talvik, his wife, a pleasant, intelligent Norwegian +lady, came on board; and, as we passed the rocky portals +guarding the entrance to the little harbour of Kaafjord, +a gun, planted on a miniature battery above the landing-place, +pealed forth a salute of welcome. I could partly understand +Mr. Thomas's long residence in those regions, when +I saw what a wild, picturesque spot he had chosen for his +home. The cavernous entrances to the copper mines <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>yawned +in the face of the cliff above the outer bay below, on the +water's edge, stood the smelting works, surrounded by labourers' +cottages; a graceful white church crowned a rocky +headland a little further on; and beyond, above a green +lawn, decked with a few scattering birches, stood a comfortable +mansion, with a garden in the rear. The flag of Norway +and the cross of St. George floated from separate staffs on +the lawn. There were a number of houses, surrounded with +potato-fields on the slope stretching around the bay, and an +opening of the hills at its head gave us a glimpse of the fir +forests of the inland valleys. On such a cloudless day as +we had, it was a cheerful and home-like spot.</p> + +<p>We took a friendly leave of Mr. Thomas and departed, +the little battery giving us I don't know how many three-gun +salutes as we moved off. A number of whales spouted +on all sides of us as we crossed the head of the fjord to Bosekop, +near the mouth of the Alten River. This is a little +village on a bare rocky headland, which completely shuts +out from view the rich valley of the Alten, about which the +Finmarkers speak with so much enthusiasm. "Ah, you +should see the farms on the Alten," say they; "there we +have large houses, fields, meadows, cattle, and the finest +timber." This is Altengaard, familiar to all the readers of +Mügge's "Afraja." The <i>gaard</i>, however, is a single large +estate, and not a name applied to the whole district, as those +unfamiliar with Norsk nomenclature might suppose. Here +the Catholics have established a mission—ostensibly a missionary +boarding-house, for the purpose of acclimating arctic +apostles; but the people, who regard it with the greatest +suspicion and distrust, suspect that the ultimate object is the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span>overthrow of their inherited, venerated, and deeply-rooted +Lutheran faith. At Bosekop we lost Pastor Hvoslef, and +took on board the chief of the mission, the Catholic Bishop +of the Arctic Zone—for I believe his diocese includes Greenland, +Spitzbergen, and Polar America. Here is a Calmuck +Tartar, thought I, as a short, strongly-built man, with sallow +complexion, deep-set eyes, broad nostrils, heavy mouth, +pointed chin, and high cheek-bones, stepped on board; but +he proved to be a Russian baron, whose conversion cost him +his estates. He had a massive head, however, in which intellect +predominated, and his thoroughly polished manners +went far to counteract the effect of one of the most unprepossessing +countenances I ever saw.</p> + +<p>M. Gay, who had known the bishop at Paris, at once entered +into conversation with him. A short time afterwards, +my attention was drawn to the spot where they stood by +loud and angry exclamations. Two of our Norwegian +<i>savans</i> stood before the bishop, and one of them, with a +face white with rage, was furiously vociferating: "It is not +true! it is not true! Norway is a free country!" "In this +respect, it is not free," answered the bishop, with more coolness +than I thought he could have shown, under such circumstances: +"You know very well that no one can hold office +except those who belong to your State Church—neither a +Catholic, nor a Methodist, nor a Quaker: whereas in France, +as I have said, a Protestant may even become a minister of +the Government." "But we do not believe in the Catholic +faith:—we will have nothing to do with it!" screamed the +Norwegian. "We are not discussing our creeds," answered +the bishop: "I say that, though Norway is a free country, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>politically, it does <i>not</i> secure equal rights to all its citizens, +and so far as the toleration of religious beliefs is concerned, +it is behind most other countries of Europe." He thereupon +retreated to the cabin, for a crowd had gathered about +the disputants, and the deck-passengers pressing aft, seemed +more than usually excited by what was going on. The +Norwegian shaking with fury, hissed through his set teeth: +"How dare he come here to insult our national feeling!" +Yes, but every word was true; and the scene was only another +illustration of the intense vanity of the Norwegians in +regard to their country. Woe to the man who says a word +against Norway, though he say nothing but what everybody +knows to be true! So long as you praise everything—scenery, +people, climate, institutions, and customs—or keep +silent where you cannot praise, you have the most genial +conversation; but drop a word of honest dissent or censure, +and you will see how quickly every one draws back into his +shell. There are parts of our own country where a foreigner +might make the same observation. Let a Norwegian travel +in the Southern States, and dare to say a word in objection +to slavery!</p> + +<p>There is nothing of interest between Alten and Hammerfest, +except the old sea-margins on the cliffs and a small +glacier on the island of Seiland. The coast is dismally +bleak and barren. Whales were very abundant; we sometimes +saw a dozen spouting at one time. They were of the +hump-backed species, and of only moderate size; yet the +fishery would doubtless pay very well, if the natives had +enterprise enough to undertake it. I believe, however, there +is no whale fishery on the whole Norwegian coast. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span>desolate hills of Qvalö surmounted by the pointed peak of +the Tjuve Fjeld, or "Thief Mountain,"—so called because +it steals so much of the winter sunshine,—announced our +approach to Hammerfest, and towards nine o'clock in the +evening we were at anchor in the little harbour. The summer +trade had just opened, and forty Russian vessels, which +had arrived from the White Sea during the previous week +or two, lay crowded before the large fish warehouses built +along the water. They were all three-masted schooners, the +main and mizen masts set close together, and with very +heavy, square hulls. Strong Muscovite faces, adorned with +magnificent beards, stared at us from the decks, and a jabber +of Russian, Finnish, Lapp, and Norwegian, came from +the rough boats crowding about our gangways. The north +wind, blowing to us off the land, was filled with the perfume +of dried codfish, train oil, and burning whale-"scraps," with +which, as we soon found, the whole place is thoroughly saturated.</p> + +<p>There is one hotel in the place, containing half a dozen +chambers of the size of a state-room. We secured quarters +here with a great deal of difficulty, owing to slowness of +comprehension on the part of an old lady who had charge +of the house. The other American, who at first took rooms +for himself and wife, gave them up again very prudently; +for the noises of the billiard-room penetrated through the +thin wooden partitions, and my bed, at least, had been slept +in by one of the codfish aristocracy, for the salty odour was +so pungent that it kept me awake for a long time. With +our fare, we had less reason to complain. Fresh salmon, +arctic ptarmigan, and reindeer's tongue were delicacies which +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span>would have delighted any palate, and the wine had really +seen Bordeaux, although rainy weather had evidently prevailed +during the voyage thence to Hammerfest. The town +lies in a deep bight, inclosed by precipitous cliffs, on the +south-western side of the island, whence the sun, by this +time long past his midsummer altitude, was not visible at +midnight. Those of our passengers who intended returning +by the <i>Nordkap</i> climbed the hills to get another view of +him, but unfortunately went upon the wrong summit, so +that they did not see him after all. I was so fatigued, from +the imperfect sleep of the sunshiny nights and the crowd of +new and exciting impressions which the voyage had given +me, that I went to bed; but my friend sat up until long +past midnight, writing, with curtains drawn.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<h2>THE MIDNIGHT SUN.</h2> + + +<p>Most of the travellers who push as far north as Hammerfest +content themselves with one experience of the midnight +sun, and return with the same steamer to Drontheim. +A few extend their journey to the North Cape, and, once a +year, on an average, perhaps, some one is adventurous +enough to strike across Lapland to Torneå. The steamers, +nevertheless, pass the North Cape, and during the summer +make weekly trips to the Varanger Fjord, the extreme +eastern limit of the Norwegian territory. We were divided +in opinion whether to devote our week of sunshine to the +North Cape, or to make the entire trip and see something +of the northern coast of Europe, but finally decided that the +latter, on the whole, as being unfamiliar ground, would be +most interesting. The screw-steamer Gyller (one of Odin's +horses) was lying in the harbour when we arrived, and was +to leave in the course of the next night; so we lost no time +in securing places, as she had but a small cabin and no +state-rooms. Nevertheless, we found her very comfortable, +and in every respect far superior to the English vessels +which ply between Hull and Christiania. Our fellow +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>travellers were all returning to Drontheim—except three +Norwegian officers on their way to make an official inspection +of the fortress of Wardöhuus—and the last we saw of them +was their return, an hour past midnight, from making a +second attempt to see the sun from the hills. The night +was somewhat obscured, and I doubt if they were successful.</p> + +<p>When I went on deck on the morning after our departure, +we were in the narrow strait between the island of +Mageröe, the northern extremity of which forms the North +Cape, and the mainland. On either side, the shores of bare +bleak rock, spotted with patches of moss and stunted grass, +rose precipitously from the water, the snow filling up their +ravines from the summit to the sea. Not a tree nor a +shrub, nor a sign of human habitation was visible; there +was no fisher's sail on the lonely waters, and only the cries +of some sea-gulls, wheeling about the cliffs, broke the +silence. As the strait opened to the eastward, a boat appeared, +beating into Kjelvik, on the south-eastern corner +of the island; but the place itself was concealed from us +by an intervening cape. This is the spot which Von Buch +visited in the summer of 1807, just fifty years ago, and his +description would be equally correct at the present day. +Here, where the scurvy carries off half the inhabitants,—where +pastors coming from Southern Norway die within a +year,—where no trees grow, no vegetables come to maturity, +and gales from every quarter of the Icy Sea beat the last +faint life out of nature, men will still persist in living, in +apparent defiance of all natural laws. Yet they have at +least an excuse for it, in the miraculous provision which +Providence has made for their food and fuel. The sea and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span>fjords are alive with fish, which are not only a means of +existence but of profit to them, while the wonderful Gulf +Stream, which crosses 5000 miles of the Atlantic to die +upon this Ultima Thule in a last struggle with the Polar +Sea, casts up the spoils of tropical forests to feed their fires. +Think of arctic fishers burning upon their hearths the +palms of Hayti, the mahogany of Honduras, and the precious +woods of the Amazon and the Orinoco!</p> + +<p>In the spring months, there are on an average 800 vessels +on the northern coast, between the North Cape and Vadsö, +with a fishing population of 5000 men on board, whose +average gains, even at the scanty prices they receive amount +to $30 apiece, making a total yield of $150,000. It is only +within a very few years that the Norwegian Government +has paid any attention to this far corner of the peninsula. +At present, considering the slender population, the means of +communication are well kept up during eight months in the +year, and the result is an increase (perceptible to an old +resident, no doubt) in the activity and prosperity of the +country.</p> + +<p>On issuing from the strait, we turned southward into the +great Porsanger Fjord, which stretches nearly a hundred +miles into the heart of Lapland, dividing Western from +Eastern Finmark. Its shores are high monotonous hills, +half covered with snow, and barren of vegetation except +patches of grass and moss. If once wooded, like the hills of +the Alten Fjord, the trees have long since disappeared, and +now nothing can be more bleak and desolate. The wind +blew violently from the east, gradually lifting a veil of grey +clouds from the cold pale sky, and our slow little steamer +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span>with jib and fore-topsail set, made somewhat better progress. +Toward evening (if there is such a time in the arctic +summer), we reached Kistrand, the principal settlement +on the fjord. It has eight or nine houses, scattered +along a gentle slope a mile in length, and a little red +church, but neither gardens, fields, nor potato patches. A +strip of grazing ground before the principal house was yellow +with dandelions, the slope behind showed patches of +brownish green grass, and above this melancholy attempt +at summer stretched the cold, grey, snow-streaked ridge +of the hill. Two boats, manned by sea-Lapps, with square +blue caps, and long ragged locks of yellow hair fluttering +in the wind, brought off the only passenger and the mails, +and we put about for the mouth of the fjord.</p> + +<p>Running along under the eastern shore, we exchanged +the dreadful monotony through which we had been sailing +for more rugged and picturesque scenery. Before us rose a +wall of dark cliff, from five to six hundred feet in height, +gaping here and there with sharp clefts or gashes, as if it +had cracked in cooling, after the primeval fires. The summit +of these cliffs was the average level of the country; and +this peculiarity, I found, applies to all the northern shore +of Finmark, distinguishing the forms of the capes and +islands from those about Alten and Hammerfest, which, +again, are quite different from those of the Lofodens. "On +returning from Spitzbergen," said a Hammerfest merchant +to me, "I do not need to look at chart or compass, when +I get sight of the coast; I know, from the formation of the +cliffs, exactly where I am." There is some general resemblance +to the chalk bluffs of England, especially about +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>Beachy Head, but the rock here appears to be mica-slate, +disposed in thin, vertical strata, with many violent transverse +breaks.</p> + +<p>As we approached the end of the promontory which +divides the Porsanger from the Laxe Fjord, the rocks became +more abrupt and violently shattered. Huge masses, +fallen from the summit, lined the base of the precipice, +which was hollowed into cavernous arches, the home of +myriads of sea-gulls. The rock of Sværholtklub, off the +point, resembled a massive fortress in ruins. Its walls of +smooth masonry rested on three enormous vaults, the piers +of which were buttressed with slanting piles of rocky fragments. +The ramparts, crenelated in some places, had mouldered +away in others, and one fancied he saw in the rents +and scars of the giant pile the marks of the shot and shell +which had wrought its ruin. Thousands of white gulls, +gone to their nightly roost, rested on every ledge and cornice +of the rock; but preparations were already made to disturb +their slumbers. The steamer's cannon was directed towards +the largest vault, and discharged. The fortress shook with +the crashing reverberation; "then rose a shriek, as of a city +sacked"—a wild, piercing, maddening, myriad-tongued cry, +which still rings in my ears. With the cry, came a rushing +sound, as of a tempest among the woods; a white cloud +burst out of the hollow arch-way, like the smoke of an +answering shot, and, in the space of a second, the air was +filled with birds, thicker than autumn leaves, and rang with +one universal, clanging shriek. A second shot, followed by +a second outcry and an answering discharge from the other +caverns, almost darkened the sky. The whirring, rustling +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>and screaming, as the birds circled overhead, or dropped like +thick scurries of snow-flakes on the water, was truly awful. +There could not have been less than fifty thousand in the +air at one time, while as many more clung to the face of the +rock, or screamed from the depth of the vaults. Such an +indignation meeting I never attended before; but, like many +others I have heard of, the time for action was passed before +they had decided what to do.</p> + +<p>It was now eleven o'clock, and Sværholt glowed in fiery +bronze lustre as we rounded it, the eddies of returning birds +gleaming golden in the nocturnal sun, like drifts of beech +leaves in the October air. Far to the north, the sun lay in +a bed of saffron light over the clear horizon of the Arctic +Ocean. A few bars of dazzling orange cloud floated above +him, and still higher in the sky, where the saffron melted +through delicate rose-colour into blue, hung light wreaths of +vapour, touched with pearly, opaline flushes of pink and +golden grey. The sea was a web of pale slate-colour, shot +through and through with threads of orange and saffron, +from the dance of a myriad shifting and twinkling ripples. +The air was filled and permeated with the soft, mysterious +glow, and even the very azure of the southern sky seemed to +shine through a net of golden gauze. The headlands of this +deeply-indented coast—the capes of the Laxe and Porsanger +Fjords, and of Mageröe—lay around us, in different degrees +of distance, but all with foreheads touched with supernatural +glory. Far to the north-east was Nordkyn, the most northern +point of the mainland of Europe, gleaming rosily and +faint in the full beams of the sun, and just as our watches +denoted midnight the North Cape appeared to the westward—<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>a +long line of purple bluff, presenting a vertical front of +nine hundred feet in height to the Polar Sea. Midway between +those two magnificent headlands stood the Midnight +Sun, shining on us with subdued fires, and with the gorgeous +colouring of an hour for which we have no name, since it is +neither sunset nor sunrise, but the blended loveliness of both—but +shining at the same moment, in the heat and splendour +of noonday, on the Pacific Isles.</p> + +<p>This was the midnight sun as I had dreamed it—as I had +hoped to see it.</p> + +<p>Within fifteen minutes after midnight, there was a perceptible +increase of altitude, and in less than half an hour +the whole tone of the sky had changed, the yellow brightening +into orange, and the saffron melting into the pale vermilion +of dawn. Yet it was neither the colours, nor the +same character of light as we had had, half an hour <i>before</i> +midnight. The difference was so slight as scarcely to be +described; but it was the difference between evening and +morning. The faintest transfusion of one prevailing tint +into another had changed the whole expression of heaven +and earth, and so imperceptibly and miraculously that a +new day was already present to our consciousness. Our +view of the wild cliffs of Sværholt, less than two hours before, +belonged to yesterday, though we had stood on deck, in +full sunshine, during all the intervening time. Had the +sensation of a night slipped through our brains in the +momentary winking of the eyes? Or was the old routine +of consciousness so firmly stereotyped in our natures, that +the view of a morning was sufficient proof to them of the +preëxistence of a night? Let those explain the phenomenon +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span>who can—but I found my physical senses utterly at war +with those mental perceptions wherewith they should harmonise. +The eye saw but one unending day; the mind +notched the twenty-four hours on its calendar, as before.</p> + +<p>Before one o'clock we reached the entrance of the Kiöllefjord, +which in the pre-diluvial times must have been +a tremendous mountain gorge, like that of Gondo, on the +Italian side of the Simplon. Its mouth is about half a mile +in breadth, and its depth is not more than a mile and a half. +It is completely walled in with sheer precipices of bare rock, +from three to five hundred feet in height, except at the very +head, where they subside into a stony heap, upon which some +infatuated mortals have built two or three cabins. As we +neared the southern headland, the face of which was touched +with the purest orange light, while its yawning fissures lay +in deep-blue gloom, a tall ruin, with shattered turrets and +crumbling spires, detached itself from the mass, and stood +alone at the foot of the precipice. This is the <i>Finnkirka</i>, +or "Church of the Lapps," well known to all the northern +coasters. At first it resembles a tall church with a massive +square spire; but the two parts separate again, and you have +a crag-perched castle of the middle-ages, with its watch-tower—the +very counterpart of scores in Germany—and a +quaint Gothic chapel on the point beyond. The vertical +strata of the rock, worn into sharp points at the top and +gradually broadening to the base, with numberless notched +ornaments and channels fluted by the rain, make the resemblance +marvellous, when seen under the proper effects of light +and shade. The lustre in which we saw it had the effect of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>enchantment. There was a play of colours upon it, such as +one sees in illuminated Moorish halls, and I am almost afraid +to say how much I was enraptured by a scene which has not +its equal on the whole Norwegian coast, yet of which none +of us had ever heard before.</p> + +<p>We landed a single passenger—a government surveyor apparently—on +the heap of rocks beyond, and ran out under +the northern headland, which again charmed us with a glory +peculiarly its own. Here the colours were a part of the substance +of the rock, and the sun but heightened and harmonised +their tones. The huge projecting masses of pale yellow +had a mellow gleam, like golden chalk; behind them +were cliffs, violet in shadow; broad strata of soft red, tipped +on the edges with vermilion; thinner layers, which shot up +vertically to the height of four or five hundred feet, and +striped the splendid sea-wall with lines of bronze, orange, +brown, and dark red, while great rents and breaks interrupted +these marvellous frescoes with their dashes of +uncertain gloom. I have seen many wonderful aspects of +nature, in many lands, but rock-painting such as this I never +beheld. A part of its effect may have been owing to atmospheric +conditions which must be rare, even in the North; +but, without such embellishments, I think the sight of this +coast will nobly repay any one for continuing his voyage +beyond Hammerfest.</p> + +<p>We lingered on deck, as point after point revealed some +change in the dazzling diorama, uncertain which was finest, +and whether something still grander might not be in store. +But at last Nordkyn drew nigh, and at three o'clock the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span>light became that of day, white and colourless. The north-east +wind blew keenly across the Arctic Ocean, and we +were both satisfied and fatigued enough to go to bed. It +was the most northern point of our voyage—about 71° 20', +which is further north than I ever was before, or ever wish +to be again.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<h2>THE VARANGER FJORD.—ARCTIC LIFE.</h2> + + +<p>When we awoke, after six hours' sleep, with curtains +drawn to keep out the daylight, our steamer was deep in +the Tana Fjord, which receives the waters of the Tana +River, the largest Lapland stream flowing into the Arctic +Ocean. The greater part of the day was consumed in calling at +two settlements of three houses each, and receiving and +delivering mails of one letter, or less. The shores of this +fjord are steep hills of bare rock, covered with patches of +snow to the water's edge. The riven walls of cliff, with +their wonderful configuration and marvellous colouring, +were left behind us, and there was nothing of the grand or +picturesque to redeem the savage desolation of the scenery. +The chill wind, blowing direct from Nova Zembla, made us +shiver, and even the cabin saloon was uncomfortable without +a fire. After passing the most northern point of +Europe, the coast falls away to the south-east, so that on +the second night we were again in the latitude of Hammerfest, +but still within the sphere of perpetual sunshine. Our +second night of sun was not so rich in colouring as the first, +yet we remained on deck long enough to see the orb rise +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>again from his lowest dip, and change evening into morning +by the same incomprehensible process. There was no golden +transfiguration of the dreadful shore; a wan lustre played +over the rocks—pictures of eternal death—like a settled +pallor of despair on Nature's stony face.</p> + +<p>One of the stations on this coast, named Makur, consisted +of a few fishermen's huts, at the bottom of a dismal rocky +bight. There was no grass to be seen, except some tufts +springing from the earth with which the roofs were covered, +and it was even difficult to see where so much earth had +been scraped together. The background was a hopelessly +barren hill, more than half enveloped in snow. And this +was midsummer—and human beings passed their lives +here! "Those people surely deserve to enter Paradise +when they die," I remarked to my friend, "for they live in +hell while upon earth." "Not for that," he answered, "but +because it is impossible for them to commit sin. They +cannot injure their neighbours, for they have none. They +cannot steal, for there is nothing to tempt them. They +cannot murder, for there are none of the usual incentives +to hate and revenge. They have so hard a struggle merely +<i>to live</i>, that they cannot fall into the indulgences of sense; +so that if there is nothing recorded in their favour, there is +also nothing against them, and they commence the next life +with blank books."</p> + +<p>"But what a life!" I exclaimed. "Men may be happy +in poverty, in misfortune, under persecution, in life-long +disease even, so that they are not wholly deprived of the +genial influences of society and Nature—but what is there +here?" "They know no other world," said he, "and this +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>ignorance keeps them from being miserable. They do no +more thinking than is necessary to make nets and boats, +catch fish and cook them, and build their log-houses. +Nature provides for their marrying and bringing up their +children, and the pastor, whom they see once in a long +time, gives them their religion ready made." God keep +them ignorant, then! was my involuntary prayer. May +they never lose their blessed stupidity, while they are +chained to these rocks and icy seas! May no dreams of +summer and verdure, no vision of happier social conditions, +or of any higher sphere of thought and action, flash +a painful light on the dumb-darkness of their lives!</p> + +<p>The next day, we were in the Varanger Fjord, having +passed the fortress of Vardöhuus and landed our military +committee. The Norwegian shore was now low and tame, +but no vegetation, except a little brown grass, was to be +seen. The Russian shore, opposite, and some twenty-five +or thirty miles distant, consisted of high, bold hills, which, +through a glass, appeared to be partially wooded. The +Varanger Fjord, to which so important a political interest +has attached within the last few years, is about seventy +miles in depth, with a general direction towards the south-west. +The boundary-line between Norwegian and Russian +Finmark strikes it upon the southern side, about half-way +from the mouth, so that three-fourths, or more, of the waters +of the fjord belong to Norway. There is, however, a wonderful +boundary-line, in addition, drawn by Nature between +the alien waters. That last wave of the Gulf Stream which +washes the North Cape and keeps the fjords of Finmark +open and unfrozen the whole year through, sweeps <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>eastward +along the coast, until it reaches the head of Varanger +Fjord. Here its power is at last spent, and from this +point commences that belt of solid ice which locks up the +harbours of the northern coast of Russia for six months in +the year. The change from open water to ice is no less +abrupt than permanent. Pastor Hvoslef informed me that +in crossing from Vadsö, on the northern coast, to Pasvik, +the last Norwegian settlement, close upon the Russian frontier, +as late as the end of May, he got out of his boat upon +the ice, and drove three or four miles over the frozen sea, to +reach his destination.</p> + +<p>The little fort of Vardöhuus, on an island at the northern +entrance of the fjord, is not a recent defence, meant to check +Russian plans in this quarter. It was established by Christian +IV. nearly two and a half centuries ago. The king +himself made a voyage hither, and no doubt at that time +foresaw the necessity of establishing, by military occupation, +the claims of Denmark to this part of the coast. The little +fortress has actually done this service; and though a single +frigate might easily batter it to pieces, its existence has kept +Russia from the ownership of the Varanger Fjord and the +creation (as is diplomatically supposed,) of an immense naval +station, which, though within the Arctic waters, would at +all times of the year be ready for service. It is well known +that Russia has endeavoured to obtain possession of the +northern side of the fjord, as well as of the Lyngen Fjord, +near Tromsöe, towards which her Lapland territory stretches +out a long arm. England is particularly suspicious of these +attempts, and the treaty recently concluded between the +Allied Powers and Sweden had a special reference thereto. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>The importance of such an acquisition to Russia is too obvious +to be pointed out, and the jealous watchfulness of +England is, therefore, easy to understand. But it is a +singular thing that the conflicting forces of Europe find a +fulcrum on a little corner of this dead, desolate, God-forsaken +shore.</p> + +<p>About ten o'clock we reached Vadsö, the limit of the +steamer's route. Here we had intended taking a boat, continuing +our voyage to Nyborg, at the head of the fjord, +crossing thence to the Tana, and descending that river in +season to meet the steamer in the Tana Fjord on her return. +We were behind time, however, and the wind was light; the +people informed us that we could scarcely carry out the project; +so we reluctantly gave it up, and went ashore to spend +the day. Vadsö is a town of about 800 inhabitants, with a +secure though shallow harbour, which was crowded with +fishing vessels and Russian traders from the White Sea. It +lies on the bleak hill-side, without a tree or bush, or a +patch of grass large enough to be seen without close inspection, +and its only summer perfume is that of dried fish. I +saw in gardens attached to one or two houses a few courageous +radishes and some fool-hardy potatoes, which had ventured +above ground without the least chance of living long +enough to blossom. The snow had been four feet deep in +the streets in the beginning of June, and in six weeks it +would begin to fall again. A few forlorn cows were hunting +pasture over the hills, now and then looking with melancholy +resignation at the strings of codfish heads hanging +up to dry, on the broth of which they are fed during the +winter. I took a walk and made a sketch during the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>afternoon, +but the wind was so chill that I was glad to come back +shivering to our quarters.</p> + +<p>We obtained lodgings at the house of a baker, named Aas, +who had learned the art of charging, and was therefore competent +to conduct a hotel. In order to reach our room, we +were obliged to pass successively through the family dwelling-room, +kitchen, and a carpenter's workshop, but our windows +commanded a full view of a grogshop across the way, +where drunken Lapps were turned out with astonishing +rapidity. It was the marriage month of the Lapps, and the +town was full of young couples who had come down to be +joined, with their relatives and friends, all in their gayest +costumes. Through the intervention of the postmaster, I +procured two women and a child, as subjects for a sketch. +They were dressed in their best, and it was impossible not +to copy the leer of gratified vanity lurking in the corners of +their broad mouths. The summer dress consisted of a loose +gown of bright green cloth, trimmed on the neck and sleeves +with bands of scarlet and yellow, and a peculiar head-dress, +shaped like a helmet, but with a broader and flatter crest, +rounded in front. This, also, was covered with scarlet cloth, +and trimmed with yellow and blue. They were greatly +gratified with the distinction, and all the other Lapps, as in +Kautokeino, would have willingly offered themselves. I +found the same physical characteristics here as there—a +fresh, ruddy complexion, inclining to tawny; bright blue +eyes, brown hair, high cheek-bones, and mouths of enormous +width. They are not strikingly below the average size, +Heine says, in one of his mad songs:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"In Lapland the people are dirty,<br /></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> +<span class="i0">Flat-headed, and broad-mouthed, and small<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They squat round the fire while roasting<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their fishes, and chatter and squall;"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">which is as good a description of them as can be packed into +a stanza. On the present occasion they were all drunk, in +addition. One of them lay for a long time at the door, with +his legs doubled under him as he fell, the others stepping +over his body as they went in and out. These poor creatures +were openly and shamelessly allowed to drug themselves, +as long as their money lasted. No wonder the race is becoming +extinct, when the means of destruction is so freely +offered.</p> + +<p>Vadsö, although only forty miles from Vardö, at the +mouth of the fjord, has a much drier and more agreeable +climate, and the inhabitants are therefore loud in praise of +their place. "We have no such fogs as at Vardö," say +they; "our fish dry much better, and some years we can +raise potatoes." For the last four or five years, however, +the winters have been getting more and more severe, and +now it is impossible to procure hay enough to keep their +few cattle through the winter. We had on board a German +who had been living there five years, and who appeared well +satisfied with his lot. "I have married here," said he; "I +make a good living with less trouble than in Germany, and +have no wish to return." Singularly enough, there were +also two Italian organ grinders on board, whom I accosted +in their native language; but they seemed neither surprised +nor particularly pleased. They dropped hints of having +been engaged in some political conspiracy; and one of them +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>said, with a curious mixture of Italian and Norsk words +"<i>Jeg voglio ikke ritornare</i>." I said the same thing ("I +shall not return") as I left Vadsö.</p> + +<p>We sailed early the next morning, and in the afternoon +reached Vardö, where we lay three hours. Here we took +on board the three officers, who had in the meantime made +their inspection. Vardöhuus is a single star-shaped fort, +with six guns and a garrison of twenty-seven men. During +the recent war, the garrison was increased to three hundred—an +unnecessary precaution, if there was really any danger of +an attack to be apprehended, so long as the defences of the +place were not strengthened. One of the officers, who had +gone out fishing the night previous, caught eighty-three +splendid cod in the space of two hours. It was idle sport, +however, for no one would take his fish as a gift, and they +were thrown on the shore to rot. The difficulty is not in +catching but in curing them. Owing to the dampness of +the climate they cannot be hung up on poles to dry slowly, +like the <i>stock-fish</i> of the Lofodens, but must be first salted +and then laid on the rocks to dry, whence the term <i>klip</i> +(cliff) fish, by which they are known in trade.</p> + +<p>At the mouth of the Tana we picked up four Englishmen, +who had been salmon fishing on the river. They were sunburnt, +spotted with mosquito bites, and had had little luck, +the river being full of nets and the fjord of seals, between +which the best of the salmon are either caught or devoured; +but they spoke of their experience with true English relish. +"Oh, it was very jolly!" said one: "we were so awfully bitten +by mosquitoes. Then our interpreter always lost everything +just before we wanted it—think of his losing our +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span>frying-pan, so that we had to fry in the lids of our kettles; +He had a habit of falling overboard and getting nearly +drowned before we could pull him in. We had a rough +time of it, but it was very jolly, I assure you!" The young +fellows meant what they said; they were all the better for +their roughing, and I wish the spindle-shanked youths who +polk and flirt at Newport and Saratoga had manliness +enough for such undertakings.</p> + +<p>We reached Hammerfest on the last day of July, and re-occupied +our old quarters. That night the sun went below +the horizon for the first time in eight days, but his depth +was too slight to make any darkness visible. I was quite +tired of the unending daylight, and would willingly have +exchanged the pomp of the arctic midnight for the starlit +darkness of home. We were confused by the loss of night; +we lost the perception of time. One is never sleepy, but +simply tired, and after a sleep of eight hours by sunshine, +wakes up as tired as ever. His sleep at last is broken and +irregular; he substitutes a number of short naps, distributed +through the twenty-four hours, for the one natural repose, +and finally gets into a state of general uneasiness and discomfort. +A Hammerfest merchant, who has made frequent +voyages to Spitzbergen, told me that in the latitude of 80° +he never knew certainly whether it was day or night, and +the cook was the only person on board who could tell him.</p> + +<p>At first the nocturnal sunshine strikes you as being wonderfully +convenient. You lose nothing of the scenery; you +can read and write as usual; you never need be in a hurry, +because there is time enough for everything. It is not +necessary to do your day's work in the daytime, for no night +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span>cometh. You are never belated, and somewhat of the stress +of life is lifted from your shoulders; but, after a time, you +would be glad of an excuse to stop seeing, and observing, and +thinking, and even enjoying. There is no <i>compulsive</i> rest +such as darkness brings—no sweet isolation, which is the +best refreshment of sleep. You lie down in the broad day, +and the summons, "Arise!" attends on every reopening of +your eyes. I never went below and saw my fellow-passengers +all asleep around me without a sudden feeling that something +was wrong: they were drugged, or under some unnatural +influence, that they thus slept so fast while the sunshine +streamed in through the port-holes.</p> + +<p>There are some advantages of this northern summer which +have presented themselves to me in rather a grotesque light. +Think what an aid and shelter is removed from crime—how +many vices which can only flourish in the deceptive atmosphere +of night, must be checked by the sober reality of daylight! +No assassin can dog the steps of his victim; no +burglar can work in sunshine; no guilty lover can hold +stolen interviews by moonlight—all concealment is removed, +for the sun, like the eye of God, sees everything, and the +secret vices of the earth must be bold indeed, if they can +bear his gaze. Morally, as well as physically, there is safety +in light and danger in darkness; and yet give me the darkness +and the danger! Let the patrolling sun go off his beat +for awhile, and show a little confidence in my ability to +behave properly, rather than worry me with his sleepless +vigilance.</p> + +<p>I have described the smells of Hammerfest, which are its +principal characteristic. It seemed to me the dreariest place +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>in the world on first landing, a week previous; but, by contrast +with what we had in the meantime seen, it became +rather cheerful and comfortable. I was visiting a merchant +after our return, and noticed with pleasure a stunted ash +about eight feet high, in an adjoining garden. "Oh!" said +he, in a tone of irritated pride, "we have plenty of trees +here; there is quite a forest up the valley." This forest, +after some search, I found. The trees were about six feet +high, and some of them might have been as thick as my +wrist. In the square before the merchant's house lay a crowd +of drunken Lapps, who were supplied with as much bad +brandy as they wanted by a licensed grogshop. The Russian +sailors made use of the same privilege, and we frequently +heard them singing and wrangling on board their White Sea +junks. They were <i>unapproachably</i> picturesque, especially +after the day's work was over, when they generally engaged +in hunting in the extensive forests of their beards, and +exercised the law of retaliation on all the game they caught.</p> + +<p>A long street of turf-roofed houses, whose inhabitants may +be said to be under the sod even before they die, leads along +the shore of the bay to a range of flakes redolent of drying +codfish. Beyond this you clamber over rocks and shingles +to a low grassy headland, whereon stands a pillar commemorating +the measurement of a meridian line of 25° 20', from +the Danube to the Polar Sea, which was accomplished by +the Governments of Austria, Russia, and Sweden, between +the years 1816 and 1852. The pillar marks the northern +terminus of the line, and stands in lat. 70° 40' 11.3". It +is a plain shaft of polished red granite, standing on a base +of grey granite, and surmounted by a bronze globe, on which +a map of the earth is roughly outlined.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<h2>THE RETURN TO DARKNESS.—NORWEGIAN CHARACTER.</h2> + + +<p>I do not intend to trace our return, step by step, down the +Norwegian coast. The splendid weather which prevailed +during our upward voyage, enabled us to see all the interesting +points, leaving only those parts which we missed in the +few hours devoted to sleep, to give a little novelty to our +return. During the whole trip we had not a drop of rain,—the +rarest good fortune in these latitudes,—and were +therefore twice enabled to enjoy, to the fullest extent, the +sublime scenery of the Lofoden Isles and the coast of Nordland. +This voyage has not its like in the world. The +traveller, to whom all other lands are familiar, has here a +new volume of the most wonderful originality and variety, +opened to him. The days are illuminated pages, crowded +with pictures, the forms and hues of which he can never +forget. After I returned to the zone of darkness, and recovered +from the stress and tension of three weeks of daylight, +I first fully appreciated the splendours of the arctic sun. +My eyes were still dazzled with the pomp of colour, and the +thousand miles of coast, as I reviewed them in memory, with +their chaos of island-pyramids of shattered rock, their <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>colossal +cliffs, their twisted fjords, and long fjeld-levels of eternal +snow, swam in a sea of saffron and rosy light, in comparison +with which the pale blue day around me seemed dull and +dead. My dream of the North, in becoming a reality, has +retained the magical atmosphere of dreams, and basks in the +same gorgeous twilight which irradiates the Scandinavian +sagas.</p> + +<p>I was particularly struck during the return, with the +rapid progress of summer—the flying leaps with which she +clears her short course. Among the Lofodens, the potatoes +were coming into blossom, and the rye and barley into head; +the grass was already cut, in many places, and drying on +poles, and the green of the woods and meadows showed the +dark, rich character of southern lands. Owing to this rapidity +of growth, all the more hardy varieties of vegetables +may be successfully cultivated. Mr. Thomas informed me +that his peas and beans at Kaafjord (lat. 70° N.) grew three +inches in twenty-four hours, and, though planted six weeks +later than those about Christiania, came to maturity at the +same time. He has even succeeded in raising excellent +cauliflowers. But very few of the farmers have vegetable +gardens, and those which I saw contained only radishes and +lettuce, with a few useful herbs. One finds the same passion +for flowers, however, as in Northern Sweden, and the +poorest are rarely without a rose or a geranium in their +windows.</p> + +<p>Pastor Hvoslef, who was again our fellow-traveller for a +few hours, gave me some interesting information concerning +the Lapps. They are, it seems, entitled to the right of suffrage, +and to representation in the Storthing, equally with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>the Norwegians. The local jurisdiction repeats on a small +scale what the Storthing transacts on a large one, being entirely +popular in its character, except that the <i>vogts</i> and +<i>länsmen</i> (whose powers are somewhat similar to those of +our judges and country magistrates) are not elected. But +each district chooses from among its inhabitants a committee +to confer upon and arrange all ordinary local matters. +These committees, in turn, choose persons to constitute a +higher body, who control the reciprocal relations of the several +districts, and intervene in case of difficulties between +them. The system is necessarily simpler and somewhat +more primitive in its character than our local organisations +in America; but it appears at present to answer every purpose. +The heavy responsibility resting upon judges in Norway—the +severity of the checks and penalties by which their +probity is insured—probably contributes to make the administration +of the laws more efficacious and easy. The +Lapps are not a difficult people to govern, and much of the +former antagonism between them and the poorer classes of +the Norwegians has passed away. There is little, if any, +amalgamation of the two races, nor will there ever be, but +there is probably as little conflict between them as is compatible +with the difference of blood.</p> + +<p>At Tromsöe, a tall, strong, clerical gentleman came on +board, who proved to be the noted Pastor Lamers, one of +the first if not the very first Clergyman in Norway, who has +refused to receive the government support—or, in other +words, has seceded from the Church, as a State establishment, +while adhering to all its fundamental doctrines. It is +the first step towards the separation of Church and State, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span>which must sooner or later come, in Norway and in Sweden. +He has a congregation of three hundred members, in Tromsöe, +and is about organising a church at Gibostad, on the +island of Senjen. He has some peculiar views, I believe, in +relation to the baptism of children, and insists that the +usual absolution dealt out by the Pastors is of no effect +without full confession and the specification of particular +sins—but in other respects he is entirely orthodox, retaining +even the ceremonial of the Eucharist. This, in the Lutheran +church of Norway, comes so near to the Roman Catholic +doctrine of transubstantiation, that one cannot easily perceive +any difference. Instead of bread, an unleavened wafer +is administered to the communicants, the priest saying, as +he gives it, "This is the <i>true</i> body and blood of Jesus +Christ." Mr. Forrester, a devout admirer of the Church, +which he thinks identical with that of England in all its +essentials, says, "The Lutherans reject the Romish doctrine +of transubstantiation, but they hold that of a spiritual and +ineffable union of the divine nature with the elements, the +substance of which remains unchanged. This is called <i>consubstantiation</i>." +Verily, the difference between tweedledum +and tweedledee—one being as absurd as the other.</p> + +<p>No one, coming from a land where all sects stand upon +an equal footing, and where every church must depend for +existence on its own inherent vitality, can fail to be struck +with the effete and decrepit state of religion in Sweden and +Norway. It is a body of frigid mechanical forms and ceremonies, +animated here and therewith a feeble spark of spiritual +life, but diffusing no quickening and animating glow. +I have often been particularly struck with the horror with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>which the omission of certain forms was regarded by persons +in whom I could discover no trace of any religious +principle. The Church has a few dissensions to combat; +she has not been weakened by schism; but she is slowly ossifying +from sheer inertia. The Reformation needs to be reformed +again, and perhaps the tardy privileges granted to +the <i>Haugianer</i> and <i>Läsare</i>—the northern Methodists—may +result in producing a body of Dissenters large enough to excite +emulation, action, and improvement. In Norway, the +pastors have the best salaries and the easiest places of all +government officials. Those who conscientiously discharge +their duties have enough to do; but were this universally +the case, one would expect to find the people less filthy, +stupid, and dishonest than they are in many parts of the +country. A specimen of the intelligence of one, who is now +a member of the Storthing, was communicated to me by a +gentleman who heard it. The clergyman advocated the +establishment of telegraph lines in Norway, "not for the +sake of sending news," said he, "that is of no consequence. +But it is well known that no wolf can pass under a telegraph +wire, and if we can get lines put up throughout the +country, all the wolves will be obliged to leave!" Of course, +I do not mean to assert that the Norwegian clergymen, as a +body, are not sincere, zealous, well-informed men. The evil +lies rather in that system which makes religion as much a +branch of government service as law or diplomacy; and +which, until very recently, has given one sect an exclusive +monopoly of the care of human souls.</p> + +<p>I had a strong desire to converse with Pastor Lamers in +relation to the stand he has taken, but he was surrounded by +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>a crowd of persons during his stay on board, and no opportunity +presented itself. The sensation which his presence produced, +showed that there are restless elements at work in the +mind of the people. The stony crust is beginning to heave +and split at last. Even the deck-passengers gathered into +little groups and talked earnestly. Two gentlemen near me +were discussing the question of an Established Church, one +contending, that a variety of sects tended only to confuse, +perplex, and unchristianise the uneducated, unthinking class, +while the other asserted that this very class adhered most +tenaciously to whatever faith had been taught them. At +this moment a woman standing near us exclaimed: "There +were false prophets in all times, and there are false prophets +now! We must beware of them!"—the earnestness of her +speech affording a good comment on the argument just produced. +Whatever may be the popular opinion concerning +the course of Pastor Lamers, I could not but notice the +marked respect displayed by every one who approached him.</p> + +<p>In passing Hindöe we saw two magnificent golden eagles +wheeling around one of the loftiest cliffs. The wind blew +strongly from the south-west, increasing until we had what +sailors call a dry gale in crossing the West Fjord, but it +abated the next day and by the late twilight we recrossed +the arctic circle. This night there was great rejoicing on +board, at the discovery of a star. We had not seen one for +a month, and some of the passengers coming from Finmark +had been more than two months in daylight. While we +were all gazing upon it as upon some extraordinary phenomenon, +a flood of yellow lamp-light suddenly streamed +through the cabin skylight. The sky was still brilliant +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>with sunset in the north, but it was dark enough to see to +sleep. We could not yet cover ourselves all over, even as +with a cloak; still there was a shelter and friendly covering +for the helpless body. Our sleep became sound and regular, +and its old power of restoration was doubly sweet, since we +had known what it was to be deprived of it.</p> + +<p>Our fellow-passengers, after leaving Carlsoe, where the +young Englishmen stopped to hunt, were almost exclusively +Norwegian, and this gave us further opportunities of becoming +acquainted with some peculiarities of the national +character. Intelligent Norwegians, especially those who +have travelled, are exceedingly courteous, gentlemanly, and +agreeable persons. The three officers on board were men of +unusual intelligence and refinement, and we considered ourselves +fortunate in having their company during the entire +voyage. The <i>landhand lare</i>, or country merchants, and +government officials of the lower ranks, exhibit more reserve, +and not unfrequently a considerable amount of ignorance +and prejudice. Perhaps the most general feature of the +Norwegian character is an excessive national vanity, which +is always on the alert, and fires up on the slightest provocation. +Say everything you like, except that Norway in any +respect is surpassed by any other country. One is assailed +with questions about his impressions of the scenery, people, +government, &c.—a very natural and pardonable curiosity, +it is true, and one only demands in return that his candour +be respected, and no offence taken. This, however, is rarely +the case. If there is no retaliatory answer on the spot, you +hear a remark days afterwards which shows how your mild +censure has rankled in the mind of the hearer. My friend +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span>was asked by a passenger whether he did not think the +women of Finmark very beautiful. It was impossible to +answer in the affirmative: the questioner went off in high +dudgeon, and did not speak to him again for several days.</p> + +<p>In the Varanger Fjord, we had pretty freely expressed +our impressions of the desolate coast. Afterwards on returning +past the grand cliff scenery of Nordkyn, we were +admiring some bold formation of the rocks, when a Norwegian +came up and said, in a tone of angry irony: "Ah, +you find a little to admire at last, do you? You find <i>some</i> +beauty in our country, after all?" So in regard to the +government. The Norwegians may be justly proud of their +constitution, which is as republican in its character as our +own. There is so much in the administration of the government +which every one must heartily commend, that they +should be less sensitive in regard to minor faults. This +sensitiveness, however, is partly accounted for, when we remember +that for four hundred years Norway was a Danish +province, and that only forty-three years ago she leaped at +once from subjection to a freedom such as no other country +in Europe enjoys. The intense pride and self-glorification +of the people resembles that of a youth who for the first +time assumes a dress-coat and standing collar. King Oscar, +on his accession to the throne, gave the country a separate +national flag, and nowhere does one see such a display of +flags. All over the land and all along the shores, the colours +of Norway are flying.</p> + +<p>Jealousy of Sweden and dislike of the Swedes are inherited +feelings, and are kept alive by a mutual prejudice on +the part of the latter people. One cannot but smile a little +at the present union of Sweden and Norway, when he finds +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>that the countries have separate currencies, neither of which +will pass at its full value in the other—separate tariffs, and +of course Custom-house examinations between the two, and, +if the Norwegians had their way, would have separate diplomatic +representatives abroad. Yet the strength of Norway +is undoubtedly in her alliance with Sweden: alone, she +would be but a fourth-rate power. Enough has been done +to satisfy her national feeling and secure her liberties against +assault, and it is now time that this unnecessary jealousy +and mistrust of a kindred race should cease. The Swedes +have all the honesty which the Norwegians claim for themselves, +more warmth and geniality of character, and less +selfish sharpness and shrewdness. Mügge tells a story of a +number of Swedes who were at a dinner party in Paris, +where the health of "the King of Sweden and Norway" was +proposed and drunk with great enthusiasm. One glass was +observed to be untouched. It belonged to a Norwegian, who, +when called upon for an explanation, said: "I cannot drink +such a toast as this, but I will drink the health of the King +of Norway, who is also King of Sweden!"</p> + +<p>One cannot find fault with a people for their patriotism. +I have always admired that love of <i>Gamle Norge</i> which +shines through Norwegian history, song, and saga—but when +it is manifested in such ridiculous extremes, one doubts the +genuineness of the feeling, and suspects it of being alloyed +with some degree of personal vanity. There are still evils +to be eradicated,—reproaches to be removed,—reforms to +be achieved, which claim all the best energies of the best +men of the country, and positive harm is done by concealing +or denying the true state of things.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + +<h2>DRONTHEIM AND BERGEN.</h2> + + +<p>We spent another day and a half in Drontheim, before +reshipping in the steamer for Bergen. With the exception +of a trip to the Lierfoss, or falls of the Nid, however, it +was by no means a satisfactory sojourn. The hotel was +full, and we could only get quarters in the billiard-room, +through which other guests were continually passing and +repassing. Two small boys were quite inadequate to the +service; the table d'hote was the scantiest I ever saw, and +the charges at the rate of three dollars a day. The whole +of Sunday was consumed in an attempt to recover our carrioles, +which we left behind us on embarking for Hammerfest. +The servants neglected to get them on Saturday evening, +as we had ordered, and in the morning the man who +had the key of the warehouse went into the country, taking +it with him. The whole day was spent in searching and +waiting, and it was only by unremitting exertions that we +succeeded in putting them on board in the evening. Owing +to this annoyance, I was unable to attend service in the +cathedral, or even to see the inside of it.</p> + +<p>Our drive to the Lierfoss, in the evening, was an <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span>exquisite +enjoyment. The valley of the Nid, behind Drontheim, +is one of the most carefully cultivated spots in Norway. +Our road led up the stream, overlooking rich levels of grain +and hay fields, studded with large and handsome farm-houses, +while the lower slopes of the hills and the mound-like knolls +scattered along their bases, were framed to the very summit, +steep as they were. The whole scene was like a piece of +landscape gardening, full of the loveliest effects, which were +enhanced by the contrast of the grey, sterile mountains by +which the picture was framed. The soft, level sunshine, +streaming through the rifts of broken thunder-clouds in the +west, slowly wandered over the peaceful valley, here lighting +up a red-roofed homestead, there a grove in full summer +foliage, or a meadow of so brilliant an emerald that it seemed +to shine by its own lustre. As we approached the Lierfoss, +the road was barred with a great number of gates, before +which waited a troop of ragged boys, who accompanied +us the whole of the way, with a pertinacity equal to that +of the little Swiss beggars.</p> + +<p>The Nid here makes two falls about half a mile apart, +the lower one being eighty, and the upper one ninety feet in +height. The water is of a dark olive-green colour, and +glassy transparency, and so deep that at the brink it makes +huge curves over the masses of rock in its bed without breaking +into the faintest ripple. As you stand on a giant boulder +above it, and contrast the swift, silent rush with the thundering +volume of amber-tinted spray which follows, you feel +in its full force the strange fascination of falling water—the +temptation to plunge in and join in its headlong revelry. +Here, however, I must admit that the useful is not always +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span>the beautiful. The range of smoky mills driven by a sluice +from the fall had better be away. The upper fall is divided +in the centre by a mass of rock, and presents a broader and +more imposing picture, though the impetus of the water is +not so great.</p> + +<p>The coast between Drontheim and Bergen is, on the +whole, much less striking than that further north; but it +has some very grand features. The outer islands are, with +few exceptions, low and barren, but the coast, deeply indented +with winding fjords, towers here and there into sublime +headlands, and precipitous barriers of rock. Christiansund, +where we touched the first afternoon, is a singularly picturesque +place, built on four islands, separated by channels in +the form of a cross. The bare, rounded masses of grey rock +heave up on all sides behind the houses, which are built +along the water's edge; here and there a tree of superb +greenness shines against the colourless background, and the +mountains of the mainland, with their tints of pink and +purple, complete the picture. The sun was burningly hot, +and the pale-green water reflected the shores in its oily gloss; +but in severe storms, I was told, it is quite impossible to +cross from one island to another, and the different parts of +the town sometimes remain for days in a state of complete +isolation. I rose very early next morning, to have a view of +Molde and the enchanting scenery of the Romsdals-fjord. +The prosperous-looking town, with its large square houses, +its suburban cottages and gardens, on the slope of a long +green hill, crowned with woods, was wholly Swiss in its appearance, +but the luminous morning vapors hovering around +the Alpine peaks in the east, entirely hid them from our +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span>view. In this direction lies the famous Romsdal, which +many travellers consider the grandest specimen of Norwegian +scenery. Unfortunately we could not have visited it +without taking an entire week, and we were apprehensive +lest the fine weather, which we had now enjoyed for twenty-four +days, should come to an end before we were done with +the Bergenstift. It is almost unexampled that travellers +make the voyage from Drontheim to the Varanger Fjord +and back without a cloudy day. While we had perpetual +daylight, the tourists whom we left behind were drenched +with continual rains.</p> + +<p>Aalesund is another island port, smaller than Christiansund, +but full as picturesque. The intense heat and clearness +of the day, the splendour of the sunshine, which turned +the grassy patches on the rocks into lustrous velvet, and +the dark, dazzling blue of the sea belonged rather to +southern Italy than to Norway. As we approached Bergen, +however, the sky became gradually overcast, and the evening +brought us clouds and showers. Not far from Aalesund +was the castle of Rollo, the conqueror of Normandy. +All this part of the coast is Viking ground: from these +fjords went forth their piratical dragons, and hither they +returned, laden with booty, to rest and carouse in their +strongholds. They were the buccaneers of the north in +their time, bold, brave, with the virtues which belong to +courage and hardihood, but coarse, cruel, and brutal. The +Viking of Scandinavian song is a splendid fellow; but his +original, if we may judge from his descendants, was a +stupid, hard-headed, lustful, and dirty giant, whom we should +rather not have had for a companion. Harold Haarfager +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span>may have learnt in Constantinople to wash his face, and +comb his beautiful hair, but I doubt if many of his followers +imitated him. Let us hope that Ingeborg changed +her dress occasionally, and that Balder's temple was not +full of fleas; that Thorsten Vikingsson placed before his +guests something better than <i>fladbröd</i> and rancid butter; +and that Björn and Frithiof acted as honestly towards +strangers as towards each other. The Viking chiefs, undoubtedly, +must have learned the comfort of cleanliness and +the delights of good living, but if such habits were +general, the nation has greatly degenerated since their +time.</p> + +<p>We stayed on deck until midnight, notwithstanding the +rain, to see the grand rock of Hornelen, a precipice 1200 +feet high. The clouds lifted a little, and there was a dim, +lurid light in the sky as our steamer swept under the awful +cliff. A vast, indistinct mass, reaching apparently to the +zenith, the summit crowned with a pointed tour, resembling +the Cathedral of Drontheim, and the sides scarred +with deep fissures, loomed over us. Now a splintered spire +disengaged itself from the gloom, and stood defined against +the sky; lighter streaks marked the spots where portions +had slid away; but all else was dark, uncertain, and sublime. +Our friendly captain had the steamer's guns discharged +as we were abreast of the highest part. There +were no separate echoes, but one tremendous peal of sound, +prolonged like the note of an organ-pipe, and gradually +dying away at the summit in humming vibrations.</p> + +<p>Next morning, we were sailing in a narrow strait, between +perpendicular cliffs, fluted like basaltic pillars. It +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>was raining dismally, but we expected nothing else in the +neighbourhood of Bergen. In this city the average number +of rainy days in a year is <i>two hundred</i>. Bergen weather +has become a by-word throughout the north, and no traveller +ventures to hope for sunshine when he turns his face +thither. "Is it still raining at Bergen?" ask the Dutch +skippers when they meet a Norwegian captain. "Yes, blast +you; is it still blowing at the Texel?" is generally the response.</p> + +<p>We took on board four or five lepers, on their way to the +hospital at Bergen. A piece of oil-cloth had been thrown +over some spars to shield them from the rain, and they sat +on deck, avoided by the other passengers, a melancholy picture +of disease and shame. One was a boy of fourteen, upon +whose face wart-like excrescences were beginning to appear; +while a woman, who seemed to be his mother, was +hideously swollen and disfigured. A man, crouching down +with his head between his hands, endeavoured to hide the +seamed and knotted mass of protruding blue flesh, which +had once been a human face. The forms of leprosy, elephantiasis, +and other kindred diseases, which I have seen in +the East, and in tropical countries, are not nearly so horrible. +For these unfortunates there was no hope. Some +years, more or less, of a life which is worse than death, was +all to which they could look forward. No cure has yet +been discovered for this terrible disease. There are two +hospitals in Bergen, one of which contains about five hundred +patients; while the other, which has recently been +erected for the reception of cases in the earlier stages, who +may be subjected to experimental courses of treatment, has +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>already one hundred. This form of leprosy is supposed to +be produced partly by an exclusive diet of salt fish, and +partly by want of personal cleanliness. The latter is the +most probable cause, and one does not wonder at the result, +after he has had a little experience of Norwegian filth. It +is the awful curse which falls upon such beastly habits of +life. I wish the Norwegians could be made Mussulmen for +awhile, for the sake of learning that cleanliness is not only +next to godliness, but a necessary part of it. I doubt the +existence of filthy Christians, and have always believed that +St. Jerome was atrociously slandered by the Italian painters. +But is there no responsibility resting upon the clergymen of +the country, who have so much influence over their flocks, +and who are themselves clean and proper persons?</p> + +<p>Bergen is also, as I was informed, terribly scourged by +venereal diseases. Certainly, I do not remember a place, +where there are so few men—tall, strong, and well-made as +the people generally are—without some visible mark of disease +or deformity. A physician of the city has recently endeavoured +to cure syphilis in its secondary stage, by means +of inoculation, having first tried the experiment upon himself; +and there is now a hospital where this form of treatment +is practiced upon two or three hundred patients, with +the greatest success, as another physician informed me. I +intended to have visited it, as well as the hospital for lepers; +but the sight of a few cases, around the door of the +latter establishment, so sickened me, that I had no courage +to undertake the task.</p> + +<p>Let me leave these disagreeable themes, and say that Bergen +is one of the most charmingly picturesque towns in all the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>North. Its name, "The Mountain," denotes one of its most +striking features. It is built upon two low capes, which +project from the foot of a low mountain, two thousand feet +high, while directly in its rear lies a lovely little lake, about +three miles in circumference. On the end of the northern +headland stands the fortress of Berghenhuus, with the tall +square mass of Walkendorf's Tower, built upon the foundations +of the former palace of King Olaf Kyrre, the founder +of the city. The narrow harbour between is crowded with +fishing-vessels,—during the season often numbering from six +to eight hundred,—and beyond it the southern promontory, +quite covered with houses, rises steeply from the water. A +public grove, behind the fortress, delights the eye with its +dark-green mounds of foliage; near it rise the twin towers +of the German Church, which boasts an age of nearly seven +hundred years, and the suburbs on the steep mountain-sides +gradually vanish among gardens and country-villas, which +are succeeded by farms and grazing fields, lying under the +topmost ridges of the bare rock. The lake in the rear is +surrounded with the country residences of the rich merchants—a +succession of tasteful dwellings, each with its garden and +leafy arbours, its flowers and fountains, forming a rich frame +to the beautiful sheet of water. Avenues of fine old lindens +thread this suburban paradise, and seats, placed at the proper +points, command views of which one knows not the +loveliest. Everything has an air of ancient comfort, taste, +and repose. One sees yet, the footsteps of mighty Hansa, +who for three centuries reigned here supreme. The northern +half of Bergen is still called the "German Quarter," +and there are very few citizens of education who do not +speak the language.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>With one or two exceptions, the streets are rough and +narrow. There are no quaint peculiarities in the architecture, +the houses being all of wood, painted white or some +light colour. At every door stands a barrel filled with +water, to be ready in case of fire. Owing to the great number +of fishing-vessels and its considerable foreign trade, +Bergen is a much more lively and bustling place than either +Christiania or Drontheim. The streets are well populated, +and the great square at the head of the harbour is always +thronged with a motley concourse of fishermen, traders, and +country people. Drunkenness seems to be a leading vice. +I saw, at least, fifty people, more or less intoxicated, in the +course of a short walk, one afternoon. The grog shops, +however, are rigidly closed at six o'clock on Saturday evening, +and remain so until Monday morning, any violation or +evasion of the law being severely punished. The same course +has been adopted here as in Sweden; the price of brandy has +been doubled, by restrictions on its manufacture, and every +encouragement has been afforded to breweries. The beer of +Christiania is equal in flavour and purity to any in the world, +and it is now in great demand all over Norway.</p> + +<p>The day after our arrival the sky cleared again, and we +were favoured with superb weather; which might well be +the case, as the people told me it had previously been raining +every day for a month. The gardens, groves, and lawns +of velvet turf, so long moistened, now blazed out with splendid +effect in the hot August sunshine. "Is there such a +green anywhere else in the world?" asked my friend. "If +anywhere, only in England—but scarcely there," I was +obliged to confess. Yet there was an acquaintance of mine in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span>Bergen, a Hammerfest merchant, who, in this rare climax of +summer beauty, looked melancholy and dissatisfied. "I +want to get back to the north," said he, "I miss our Arctic +summer. These dark nights are so disagreeable, that I am +very tired of them. There is nothing equal to our three +months of daylight, and they alone reconcile us to the winter." +Who will say, after this, that anything more than the +fundamental qualities of human nature are the same in all +climates? But from the same foundation you may build +either a Grecian temple or a Chinese pagoda.</p> + +<p>The lions of Bergen are soon disposed of. After you +have visited the fortress and admired the sturdy solidity of +Walkendorf's Tower, you may walk into the German church +which stands open (or did, when we were there), without a +soul to prevent you from carrying off some of the queer old +carved work and pictures. The latter are hideous enough +to be perfectly safe, and the church, though exceedingly +quaint and interesting, is not beautiful. Then you may +visit the museum, which contains an excellent collection of +northern fish, and some very curious old furniture. The +collection of antiquities is not remarkable; but it should be +remembered that the museum has been created within the +last twenty years, and is entirely the result of private taste +and enterprise. One of the most singular things I saw was +a specimen (said to be the only one in existence) of a fish +called the "herring-king," about twelve feet in length by +one in thickness, and with something of the serpent in its +appearance. The old Kraaken has not shown himself for a +number of years, possibly frightened away by the appearance +of steamers in his native waters. In spite of all the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span>testimony which Capell Brooke has collected in favour of +his existence, he is fast becoming a myth.</p> + +<p>Bergen, we found, is antiquated in more respects than +one. On sending for horses, on the morning fixed for our +departure, we were coolly told that we should have to wait +twenty-four hours; but after threatening to put the law in +force against the <i>skyds-skaffer</i>, he promised to bring them +by one o'clock in the afternoon. In this city of 30,000 inhabitants, +no horses are kept in readiness at the post-station; +but are furnished by farmers somewhere at a distance. In +the matter of hotels, however, Bergen stands in the front rank +of progress, rivalling Christiania and Drontheim. The fare +is not so good, and the charges are equally high. There +are two little inns, with five or six rooms each, and one +boarding-house of the same size. We could only get one +small room, into which all three were packed, at a charge of +a dollar and a quarter per day; while for two wretched +meals we paid a dollar and a half each. The reader may +judge of our fare from the fact that one day our soup was +raspberry juice and water, and another time, cold beer, flavoured +with pepper and cinnamon. Add tough beafsteaks +swimming in grease and rancid butter, and you have the +principal ingredients. For the first time in my life I found +my digestive powers unequal to the task of mastering a new +national diet.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> + +<h2>A TRIP TO THE VÖRING-FOSS.</h2> + + +<p>After waiting only five hours, we obtained three horses +and drove away from Bergen. It was a superb afternoon, +spotlessly blue overhead, with still bluer water below, and +hills of dark, velvety verdure throbbing and sparkling in +the sunshine, and the breezes from off the fjord. We sped +past the long line of suburban gardens, through the linden +avenues, which, somehow or other, suggested to me the +days of the Hanseatic League, past Tivoli, the Hoboken +of Bergen, and on the summit of the hill beyond stopped +to take a parting look at the beautiful city. She sat at the +foot of her guardian mountain, across the lake, her white +towers and red roofs rising in sharp relief against the +purple background of the islands which protect her from +the sea. In colour, form, and atmospheric effect, the picture +was perfect. Norway is particularly fortunate in the +position and surroundings of her three chief cities. Bergen +bears away the palm, truly, but either of them has few +rivals in Europe.</p> + +<p>Our road led at first over well-cultivated hills dotted +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span>with comfortable farmhouses—a rolling, broken country +enclosed by rugged and sterile groups of hills. After +some miles we turned northward into a narrow valley +running parallel to the coast line. The afternoon sun, +shining over the shoulder of the mountain-ridge on our +left, illuminated with dazzling effect the green pastures in +the bosom of the valley, and the groves of twinkling birch +and sombre fir on the opposite slope. I have never seen +purer tints in the sunshine—never a softer transparency in +the shadows. The landscape was ideal in its beauty, +except the houses, whose squalor and discomfort were real. +Our first station lay off the road, on a hill. A very +friendly old man promised to get us horses as soon as possible, +and his wife set before us the best fare the house +afforded—milk, oaten shingles, and bad cheese. The +house was dirty, and the aspect of the family bed, which +occupied one end of the room, merely divided by boards +into separate compartments for the parents, children and +servants was sufficient to banish sleep. Notwithstanding +the poverty of the place, the old woman set a good value +upon her choice provender. The horses were soon forthcoming, +and the man, whose apparent kindness increased +every moment, said to me, "Have I not done well? Is it +not very well that I have brought you horses so soon?" +I assented cheerfully, but he still repeated the same questions, +and I was stupid enough not to discover their meaning, +until he added; "I have done everything so well, +that you ought to give me something for it." The naïve +manner of this request made it seem reasonable, and I +gave him something accordingly, though a little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span>disappointed, +for I had congratulated myself on finding at last a +friendly and obliging <i>skyds-skaffer</i> (Postmaster) in Norway.</p> + +<p>Towards evening we reached a little village on the shore +of the Osterfjord. Here the road terminated, and a water +station of eighteen miles in length lay before us. The +fjords on the western coast of Norway are narrow, shut in +by lofty and abrupt mountains, and penetrate far into the +land—frequently to the distance of a hundred miles. The +general direction of the valleys is parallel to the line of the +coast, intersecting the fjords at nearly a right angle, so that +they, in connection with these watery defiles, divide the +mountains into immense irregular blocks, with very precipitous +sides and a summit table-land varying from two to +four thousand feet above the sea level. For this reason +there is no continuous road in all western Norway, but +alternate links of land and water—boats and post-horses. +The deepest fjords reach very nearly to the spinal ridge of +the mountain region, and a land-road from Bergen to this +line would be more difficult to construct than any of the +great highways across the Alps. In proportion to her population +and means, Norway has done more for roads than +any country in the world. Not only her main thoroughfares, +but even her by-ways, give evidence of astonishing +skill, industry, and perseverance. The Storthing has recently +appropriated a sum of $188,000 for the improvement +of roads, in addition to the repairs which the farmers are +obliged to make, and which constitute almost their only tax, +as there is no assessment whatever upon landed property. +There seems a singular incongruity, however, in finding such +an evidence of the highest civilisation, in connection with the +semi-barbaric condition of the people. Generally, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>improvement +of the means of communication in a country is +in the ratio of its social progress.</p> + +<p>As we were obliged to wait until morning before commencing +our voyage, we set about procuring supper and +lodging. Some dirty beds in a dirty upper room constituted +the latter, but the former was a doubtful affair. The +landlord, who persisted in calling me "Dock," made a +foraging excursion among the houses, and, after some time, +laid before us a salted and smoked leg of mutton, some rancid +butter, hard oaten bread, and pestilential cheese. I ate +as a matter of duty towards my body, but my companions +were less conscientious. We deserve no credit for having +risen early the next morning, neither was there any self-denial +in the fact of our being content with a single cup of +coffee. The boatmen, five in number, who had been engaged +the evening before, took our carrioles apart and stowed them +in the stern, while we three disposed ourselves very uneasily +in the narrow bow. As we were about pushing off, one of +the men stepped upon a stone and shouted in a loud voice, +"Come and help us, fairies!"—whereat the others laughed +heartily. The wind was against us, but I thought the men +hugged the shore much more than was necessary. I noticed +the same thing afterwards, and spoke of it, but they stated +that there were strong currents in these fjords, setting towards +the sea. The water, in fact, is but slightly brackish, +and the ebb and flow of the tides is hardly felt.</p> + +<p>The scenery in the Osterfjord is superb. Mountains, +2000 feet high, inclose and twist it between their interlocking +bases. Cliffs of naked rock overhang it, and cataracts +fall into it in long zigzag chains of foam. Here and there +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span>a little embayed dell rejoices with settlement and cultivation, +and even on the wildest steeps, where it seems almost impossible +for a human foot to find hold, the people scramble +at the hazard of their lives, to reap a scanty harvest of grass +for the winter. Goats pasture everywhere, and our boatmen +took delight in making the ewes follow us along the +cliffs, by imitating the bleating of kids. Towards noon we +left the main body of the fjord and entered a narrow arm +which lay in eternal shadow under tremendous walls of dark +rock. The light and heat of noonday were tropical in their +silent intensity, painting the summits far above with dashes +of fierce colour, while their bases sank in blue gloom to meet +the green darkness of the water. Again and again the +heights enclosed us, so that there was no outlet; but they +opened as if purposely to make way for us, until our keel +grated the pebbly barrier of a narrow valley, where the land +road was resumed. Four miles through this gap brought us +to another branch of the same fjord, where we were obliged +to have our carrioles taken to pieces and shipped for a short +voyage.</p> + +<p>At its extremity the fjord narrowed, and still loftier +mountains overhung it. Shut in by these, like some palmy +dell in the heart of the porphyry mountains of the Sahara, +lay Bolstadören, a miracle of greenness and beauty. A +mantle of emerald velvet, falling in the softest slopes and +swells to the water's edge, was thrown upon the valley; the +barley had been cut and bound to long upright poles to dry, +rising like golden pillars from the shaven stubble; and, to +crown all, above the landing-place stood a two-story house, +with a jolly fat landlord smoking in the shade, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span>half-a-dozen +pleasant-looking women gossiping in-doors. "Can +we get anything to eat?" was the first question. "The +gentlemen can have fresh salmon and potatoes, and red wine +if they wish it," answered the mistress. Of course we +wished it; we wished for any food clean enough to be eatable, +and the promise of such fare was like the falling of manna +in the desert. The salmon, fresh from the stream, was +particularly fine; the fish here is so abundant that the landlord +had caught 962, as he informed us, in the course of one +season.</p> + +<p>We had but two miles of land before another sheet of +water intervened, and our carrioles were again taken to +pieces. The postillions and boatmen along this route were +great scamps, frequently asking more than the legal fare, +and in one instance threatened to prevent us from going on +unless we paid it. I shall not bore the reader with accounts +of our various little squabbles on the road, all of which +tended more and more to convince us, that unless the Norwegians +were a great deal more friendly, kind, and honest +a few years ago than they are now, they have been more +over-praised than any people in the world. I must say, +however, that they are bungling swindlers, and could only +be successful with the greenest of travellers. The moment +an imposition is resisted, and the stranger shows himself +familiar with the true charges and methods of travel, they +give up the attempt; but the desire to cheat is only less +annoying to one than cheating itself. The fees for travelling +by <i>skyds</i> are, it is true, disproportionably low, and in +many instances the obligation to furnish horses is no doubt +an actual loss to the farmer. Very often we would have +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span>willingly paid a small increase upon the legal rates if it had +been asked for as a favour; but when it was boldly demanded +as a right, and backed by a falsehood, we went not a stiver +beyond the letter of the law.</p> + +<p>Landing at Evanger, an intelligent landlord, who had +four brothers in America, gave us return horses to Vossevangen, +and we enjoyed the long twilight of the warm summer +evening, while driving along the hills which overlook +the valley connecting the lakes of Vossevangen and Evanger. +It was a lovely landscape, ripe with harvest, and the air full +of mellow, balmy odours from the flowers and grain. The +black spire of Vossevangen church, standing dark against +the dawning moonlight, was the welcome termination of our +long day's journey, and not less welcome were our clean and +comfortable quarters in the house of a merchant there. +Here we left the main road across Norway, and made an +excursion to the Vöring-Foss, which lies beyond the Hardanger +Fjord, about fifty miles distant, in a south-eastern +direction.</p> + +<p>Vossevangen, in the splendour of a cloudless morning, was +even more beautiful than as a moonlit haven of repose. +The compact little village lay half buried in trees, clustered +about the massive old church, with its black, pointed tower, +and roof covered with pitched shingles, in the centre of the +valley, while the mountains around shone bald and bright +through floating veils of vapour which had risen from the +lake. The people were all at work in the fields betimes, +cutting and stacking the barley. The grass-fields, cut +smooth and close, and of the softest and evenest green, +seemed kept for show rather than for use. The bottom of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span>the valley along which we drove, was filled with an unbroken +pine forest, inclosing here and there a lake,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Where Heaven itself, brought down to Earth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Seemed fairer than above;"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">while the opposite mountain rose rich with harvest fields +and farmhouses. There are similar landscapes between +Fribourg and Vevay, in Switzerland—finer, perhaps, except +that all cultivated scenery in Norway gains wonderfully +in effect from the savage environment of the barren +fjelds. Here, cultivation is somewhat of a phenomenon, and +a rich, thickly settled valley strikes one with a certain surprise. +The Norwegians have been accused of neglecting +agriculture; but I do not see that much more could be expected +of them. The subjugation of virgin soil, as we had +occasion to notice, is a serious work. At the best, the grain +harvests are uncertain, while fish are almost as sure as the +season; and so the surplus agricultural population either +emigrates or removes to the fishing grounds on the coast. +There is, undoubtedly, a considerable quantity of wild land +which could be made arable, but the same means, applied to +the improvement of that which is at present under cultivation, +would accomplish far more beneficent results.</p> + +<p>Leaving the valley, we drove for some time through pine +forests, and here, as elsewhere, had occasion to notice the +manner in which this source of wealth has been drained of +late years. The trees were very straight and beautiful, but +there were none of more than middle age. All the fine old +timber had been cut away; all Norway, in fact, has been +despoiled in like manner, and the people are but just <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span>awaking +to the fact, that they are killing a goose which lays +golden eggs. The government, so prudently economical +that it only allows $100,000 worth of silver to be quarried +annually in the mines of Kongsberg, lest the supply should +be exhausted, has, I believe, adopted measures for the preservation +of the forests; but I am not able to state their +precise character. Except in valleys remote from the rivers +and fjords, one now finds very little mature timber.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i4">"The tallest pine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of some great admiral,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p class="noin">I have not yet seen.</p> + +<p>We at last came upon a little lake, in a close glen with +walls 1000 feet high. Not suspecting that we had ascended +much above the sea-level, we were surprised to see the +gorge all at once open below us, revealing a dark-blue lake, +far down among the mountains. We stood on the brink of +a wall, over which the stream at our side fell in a "hank" +of divided cataracts. Our road was engineered with great +difficulty to the bottom of the steep, whence a gentler descent +took us to the hamlet of Vasenden, at the head of the +lake. Beyond this there was no road for carrioles, and we +accordingly gave ours in charge of a bright, active and intelligent +little postmaster, twelve years old. He and his +mother then rowed us across the lake to the village of Graven, +whence there was a bridle-road across the mountains to +a branch of the Hardanger Fjord. They demanded only +twelve skillings (ten cents) for the row of three miles, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span>then posted off to a neighbouring farmhouse to engage +horses for us.</p> + +<p>There was a neat white dwelling on the hill, which we +took to be the parsonage, but which proved to be the residence +of an army captain on leave, whom we found sitting +in the door, cleaning his gun, as we approached. He courteously +ushered us into the house, and made his appearance +soon afterwards in a clean shirt, followed by his wife, with +wine and cakes upon a tray. I found him to be a man of +more than ordinary intelligence, and of an earnest and reflective +turn of mind, rare in men of his profession. He spoke +chiefly of the passion for emigration which now possesses +the Norwegian farmers, considering it not rendered necessary +by their actual condition, but rather one of those contagions +which spread through communities and nations, +overcoming alike prudence and prejudice. He deplored it +as retarding the development of Norway. Personal interest, +however, is everywhere stronger than patriotism, and +I see no signs of the emigration decreasing for some years to +come.</p> + +<p>After waiting a considerable time, we obtained two horses +and a strapping farmer's son for guide. The fellow was +delighted to find out where we came from, and was continually +shouting to the people in the fields: "Here these are +Americans: they were born there!" whereat the people +stared, saluted, and then stared again. He shouldered our +packs and marched beside the horses with the greatest ease. +"You are strong," I remarked. "Yes," he replied, "I am +a strong Normand," making his patriotism an excuse for his +personal pride. We had a terribly tough pull up the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span>mountain, through fine woods, to the summit level of the +fjeld. The view backwards, over the lake, was enchanting, +and we lingered long on the steep, loth to lose it. Turning +again, a desolate lake lay before us, heathery swells of the +bleak table-land and distant peaks, touched with snow. +Once upon the broad, level summit of a Norwegian fjeld, +one would never guess what lovely valleys lie under those +misty breaks which separate its immense lobes—what gashes +of life and beauty penetrate its stony heart. There are, in +fact, two Norways: one above—a series of detached, irregular +masses, bleak, snowy, wind-swept and heather-grown, +inhabited by herdsmen and hunters: and one below—a +ramification of narrow veins of land and water, with fields +and forests, highways and villages.</p> + +<p>So, when we had traversed the upper land for several +miles, we came to a brink overlooking another branch of +the lower land, and descended through thick woods to the +farms of Ulvik, on the Eyfjord, an arm of the Hardanger. +The shores were gloriously beautiful; slopes of dazzling +turf inclosed the bright blue water, and clumps of oak, ash, +and linden, in park-like groups, studded the fields. Low red +farmhouses, each with its hollow square of stables and +granaries, dotted the hill-sides, and the people, male and +female, were everywhere out reaping the ripe barley and +piling it, pillar-wise, upon tall stakes. Owing to this circumstance +we were obliged to wait some time for oarsmen. +There was no milk to be had, nor indeed anything to eat, +notwithstanding the signs of plenty on all sides. My friend, +wandering from house to house, at last discovered an old +man, who brought him a bowl of mead in exchange for a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span>cigar. Late in the afternoon two men came, put us into a +shabby and leaky boat, and pulled away slowly for Vik, ten +miles distant.</p> + +<p>The fjord was shut in by lofty and abrupt mountains, +often interrupted by deep lateral gorges. This is the +general character of the Hardanger Fjord, a broad winding +sheet of water, with many arms, but whose extent is diminished +to the eye by the grandeur of its shores. Nothing +can be wilder or more desolate than this scenery, especially +at the junction of the two branches, where all signs of habitation +are shut out of sight, and one is surrounded by +mighty precipices of dark-red rock, vanishing away to the +eastward in a gloomy defile. It was three hours and a half +before we reached Vik, at the head of a bay on the southern +side. Here, however, some English fishermen were quartered +and we made sure of a supper. The landlord, of course, +received their superfluous salmon, and they were not the +men to spare a potato-field, so both were forthcoming, and +in the satisfaction of appeased hunger, we were willing to +indorse the opinion of a former English traveller in the +guest's book: "This place seems to me a paradise, although +very probably it is not one." The luxury of fishing, which +I never could understand, has taught the Norwegians to +regard travellers as their proper prey. Why should a man, +they think, pay 50<i>l.</i> for the privilege of catching fish, which +he gives away as soon as caught, unless he don't know how +else to get rid of his money? Were it not that fishing in +Norway includes pure air, hard fare, and healthy exercise, I +should agree with somebody's definition of angling, "a rod +with a fly at one end and a fool at the other;" but it is all +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span>that, and besides furnished us with a good meal more than +once; wherefore I respect it.</p> + +<p>We were now but eight miles from the Vöring-Foss, and +set out betimes the next morning, taking with us a bottle of +red wine, some dry bread, and Peder Halstensen as guide. +I mention Peder particularly, because he is the only jolly, +lively, wide-awake, open-hearted Norwegian I have ever seen. +As rollicking as a Neapolitan, as chatty as an Andalusian, +and as frank as a Tyrolese, he formed a remarkable contrast +to the men with whom we had hitherto come in contact. He +had long black hair, wicked black eyes, and a mouth which +laughed even when his face was at rest. Add a capital +tenor voice, a lithe, active frame, and something irresistibly +odd and droll in his motions, and you have his principal +points. We walked across the birch-wooded isthmus behind +Vik to the Eyfjordsvand, a lake about three miles long, +which completely cuts off the further valley, the mountains +on either side falling to it in sheer precipices 1000 feet high.</p> + +<p>We embarked in a crazy, leaky boat, Peder pulling vigorously +and singing. "<i>Frie dig ved lifvet</i>" ("Life let us +cherish"), with all the contentment on his face which is expressed +in Mozart's immortal melody. "Peder," said I, "do +you know the national song of Norway?" "I should think +so," was his answer, stopping short in the midst of a wild +fjeld-song, clearing his throat, and singing with a fervour +and enthusiasm which rang wide over the lonely lake:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Minstrel, awaken the harp from its slumbers,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Strike for old Norway, the land of the free!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">High and heroic, in soul-stirring numbers,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Clime of our fathers, we strike it for thee!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Old recollections awake our affections—<br /></span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> +<span class="i0">Hallow the name of the land of our birth;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Each heart beats its loudest, each cheek glows its proudest,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For Norway the ancient, the throne of the earth!"<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Dost thou know," said he, becoming more familiar in his +address, "that a lawyer (by the name of Bjerregaard) wrote +this song, and the Storthing at Christiania gave him a hundred +specie dollars for it. That was not too much, was it?" +"No," said I, "five hundred dollars would have been little +enough for such a song." "Yes, yes, that it would," was +his earnest assent; and as I happened at that moment to +ask whether we could see the peaks of the Halling Jökeln, +he commenced a sœter-song of life on the lofty fjeld—a song +of snow, and free winds, and blue sky. By this time we +had reached the other end of the lake, where, in the midst of +a little valley of rich alluvial soil, covered with patches of +barley and potatoes, stood the hamlet of Sæbö. Here Peder +procured a horse for my friend, and we entered the mouth of +a sublime gorge which opened to the eastward—a mere split +in the mighty ramparts of the Hardanger-Fjeld. Peder +was continually shouting to the people in the fields: "Look +here! These are Americans, these two, and the other one +is a German! This one talks Norsk, and the others don't."</p> + +<p>We ascended the defile by a rough footpath, at first +through alder thickets, but afterwards over immense masses +of rocky ruin, which had tumbled from the crags far above, +and almost blocked up the valley. For silence, desolation, +and awful grandeur, this defile equals any of the Alpine +passes. In the spring, when the rocks, split by wedges of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span>ice, disengage themselves from the summit, and thunder +down upon the piled wrecks of ages, it must be terribly sublime. +A bridge, consisting of two logs spanned across abutments +of loose stones, and vibrating strongly under our +tread, took us over the torrent. Our road, for some distance +was now a mere staircase, scrambling up, down, under, over, +and between the chaos of sundered rocks. A little further, +and the defile shut in altogether, forming a <i>cul de sac</i> +of apparently perpendicular walls, from 2000 to 3000 feet +high. "How are we to get out of this?" I asked Peder. +"Yonder," said he, pointing to the inaccessible summit in +front. "But where does the stream come from?" "That +you will soon see." Lo! all at once a clean split from top +to bottom disclosed itself in the wall on our left, and in +passing its mouth we had a glimpse up the monstrous chasm, +whose dark-blue sides, falling sheer 3000 feet, vanished at +the bottom in eternal gloom and spray.</p> + +<p>Crossing the stream again, we commenced ascending over +the débris of stony avalanches, the path becoming steeper +and steeper, until the far-off summit almost hung over our +heads. It was now a zigzag ladder, roughly thrown together, +but very firm. The red mare which my friend rode climbed +it like a cat, never hesitating, even at an angle of 50°, and +never making a false step. The performance of this noble +animal was almost incredible. I should never have believed +a horse capable of such gymnastics, had I not seen it with +my own eyes, had I not mounted her myself at the most +difficult points, in order to test her powers. You, who have +climbed the <i>Mayenwand</i>, in going from the glacier of the +Rhone to the Grimsel, imagine a slant higher, steeper, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>composed of loose rocks, and you will have an exact picture +of our ascent. We climbed well; and yet it took us just +an hour and a half to reach the summit.</p> + +<p>We were now on the great plateau of the Hardanger +Fjeld, 2500 feet above the sea. A wild region lay before us—great +swells, covered with heather, sweeping into the distance +and given up to solitude and silence. A few isolated +peaks, streaked with snow, rose from this upper level; +and a deep break on our left revealed the top of the chasm +through which the torrent made its way. At its extremity, +a mile or more distant, rose a light cloud of vapour, seeming +close at hand in the thin mountain air. The thick, +spongy soil, not more than two feet deep, rests on a solid +bed of rock,—the entire Hardanger Fjeld, in fact, is but a +single rock,—and is therefore always swampy. Whortleberries +were abundant, as well as the multeberry (<i>Rubus +chamœmorus</i>), which I have found growing in Newfoundland; +and Peder, running off on the hunt of them, was continually +leading us astray. But at last, we approached the +wreath of whirling spray, and heard the hollow roar of +the Vöring-Foss. The great chasm yawned before us; another +step, and we stood on the brink. I seized the branch +of a tough pine sapling as a support and leaned over. My +head did not swim; the height was too great for that, the +impression too grand and wonderful. The shelf of rock +on which I stood projected far out over a gulf 1200 feet +deep, whose opposite side rose in one great escarpment from +the bottom to a height of 800 feet above my head. On this +black wall, wet with eternal spray, was painted a splendid +rainbow, forming two thirds of a circle before it melted +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span>into the gloom below. A little stream fell in one long +thread of silver from the very summit, like a plumb-line +dropped to measure the 2000 feet. On my right hand the +river, coming down from the level of the fjeld in a torn, +twisted, and boiling mass, reached the brink of the gulf at +a point about 400 feet below me, whence it fell in a single +sheet to the bottom, a depth of between 800 and 900 feet.</p> + +<p>Could one view it from below, this fall would present one +of the grandest spectacles in the world. In height, volume +of water, and sublime surroundings it has no equal. The +spectator, however, looks down upon it from a great height +above its brink, whence it is so foreshortened that he can +only guess its majesty and beauty. By lying upon your +belly and thrusting your head out beyond the roots of the +pines, you can safely peer into the dread abyss, and watch, +through the vortex of whirling spray in its tortured womb, +the starry coruscations which radiate from the bottom of the +fall, like rockets of water incessantly exploding. But this +view, sublime as it is, only whets your desire to stand below, +and see the river, with its sprayey crest shining against the +sky, make but one leap from heaven to hell. Some persons +have succeeded, by entering the chasm at its mouth in the +valley below, in getting far enough to see a portion of the +fall, the remainder being concealed by a projecting rock; +and the time will come, no doubt, when somebody will have +energy enough to carry a path to its very foot. I envy the +travellers who will then visit the Vöring-Foss.</p> + +<p>A short distance above the fall there are a few cabins inhabited +by sœters, or herdsmen, whither we repaired to procure +some fresh milk. The house was rude and dirty; but +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span>the people received us in a friendly manner. The powerful +housewife laid aside her hay-rake, and brought us milk +which was actually sweet (a rare thing in Norway,) dirty, +but not rancid butter, and tolerable cheese. When my friend +asked for water, she dipped a pailful from a neighbouring +stream, thick with decayed moss and vegetable mould, and +handed it to him. He was nice enough to pick out a rotten +root before drinking, which one of the children snatched up +from the floor and ate. Yet these people did not appear to +be in want; they were healthy, cheerful, and contented; and +their filthy manner of living was the result of sheer indolence +and slovenliness. There was nothing to prevent them +from being neat and comfortable, even with their scanty +means; but the good gifts of God are always spoiled and +wasted in dirty hands.</p> + +<p>When we opened our bottle of wine, an exquisite aroma +diffused itself through the room—a mingled smell of vine +blossoms and ripe grapes. How could the coarse vintage +sent to the North, watered and chemically doctored as it is, +produce such a miracle? We tasted—superb old Chateau +Latour, from the sunniest hill of Bordeaux! By whatever +accident it had wandered thither, it did not fall into unappreciative +hands. Even Brita Halstendsdatter Höl, the +strong housewife, smacked her lips over the glass which she +drank after sitting to me for her portrait.</p> + +<p>When the sketch was completed, we filled the empty +bottle with milk and set out on our return.</p> + +<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4> + +<div class="footnote"><p class="noin"><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> Latham's translation.</p></div> + + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2> + +<h2>SKETCHES FROM THE BERGENSTIFT.</h2> + + +<p>Our return from the Vöring-Foss to the hamlet of Sæbö +was accomplished without accident or particular incident. +As we were crossing the Eyfjordsvand, the stillness of the +savage glen, yet more profound in the dusk of evening, was +broken by the sudden thunder of a slide in some valley to +the eastward. Peder stopped in the midst of "<i>Frie dig ved +lifvet</i>" and listened. "Ho!" said he, "the spring is the +time when the rocks come down, but that sounds like a big +fellow, too." Peder was not so lively on the way back, not +because he was fatigued, for in showing us how they danced +on the fjeld, he flung himself into the air in a marvellous +manner, and turned over twice before coming down, but +partly because he had broken our bottle of milk, and partly +because there was something on his mind. I waited patiently, +knowing that it would come out at last, as indeed it did. +"You see," said he, hesitatingly, "some travellers give a +drink-money to the guide. It isn't an obligation, you +know; but then some give it. Now, if you should choose +to give me anything, don't pay it to the landlord for me, +because then I won't get it. You are not bound to do so +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span>you know but <i>some</i> travellers do it, and I don't know but +you might also. Now, if you should, give it directly to me, +and then I will have it." When we reached Vik, we called +Peder aside and gave him three marks. "Oh, you must +pay your bill to the landlord," said he. "But that is your +drink-money," I explained. "That?" he exclaimed; "it is +not possible! <i>Frie dig ved lifvet</i>," &c., and so he sang, cut +a pigeon-wing or two, and proceeded to knot and double +knot the money in a corner of his pocket-handkerchief.</p> + +<p>"Come and take a swim!" said Peder, reappearing. "I +can swim ever since I fell into the water. I tumbled off the +pier, you must know, and down I went. Everything became +black before my eyes; and I thought to myself, 'Peder, this +is the end of you.' But I kicked and splashed nevertheless, +until my eyes opened again, wide enough to see where a rope +was. Well, after I found I could fall into the water without +drowning, I was not afraid to swim." In fact, Peder now +swam very well, and floundered about with great satisfaction +in the ice cold water. A single plunge was all I could endure. +After supper the landlady came in to talk to me about +America. She had a son in California, and a daughter in +Wisconsin, and showed me their daguerreotypes and some bits +of gold with great pride. She was a stout, kindly, motherly +body, and paid especial attention to our wants on finding +where we came from. Indeed we were treated in the most +friendly manner by these good people, and had no reason to +complain of our reckoning on leaving. This experience +confirms me in the belief that honesty and simplicity may +still be characteristics of the Norwegians in the more remote +parts of the country.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span>We bade a cordial farewell to Vik next morning, and set +off on our return, in splendid sunshine. Peder was in the +boat, rejoiced to be with us again; and we had no sooner +gotten under way, than he began singing, "<i>Frie dig ved +lifvet</i>." It was an intensely hot day, and the shores of Ulvik +were perfectly dazzling. The turf had a silken gloss; the +trees stood darkly and richly green, and the water was +purest sapphire. "It is a beautiful bay, is it not?" said the +farmer who furnished us with horses, after we had left the +boat and were slowly climbing the fjeld. I thought I had +never seen a finer; but when heaven and earth are in entire +harmony, when form, colour and atmosphere accord like +some rich swell of music, whatever one sees is perfect. +Hence I shall not say how beautiful the bay of Ulvik was to +me, since under other aspects the description would not be +true.</p> + +<p>The farmer's little daughter, however, who came along to +take back one of the horses, would have been a pleasant apparition +at any time and in any season. She wore her +Sunday dress, consisting of a scarlet boddice over a white +chemise, green petticoat, and white apron, while her shining +flaxen hair was plaited into one long braid with narrow +strips of crimson and yellow cloth and then twisted like a +garland around her head. She was not more than twelve or +thirteen years old, but tall, straight as a young pine, and +beautifully formed, with the promise of early maidenhood in +the gentle swell of her bosom. Her complexion was lovely—pink, +brightened with sunburnt gold,—and her eyes like +the blossoms of the forget-me-not, in hue. In watching her +firm yet graceful tread, as she easily kept pace with the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span>horse, I could not realise that in a few more years she would +probably be no more graceful and beautiful than the women +at work in the fields—coarse, clumsy shapes, with frowzy +hair, leathery faces, and enormous hanging breasts.</p> + +<p>In the Bergenstift, however, one sometimes sees a pretty +face; and the natural grace of the form is not always lost. +About Vossevangen, for instance, the farmers' daughters are +often quite handsome; but beauty, either male or female, is +in Norway the rarest apparition. The grown-up women, +especially after marriage, are in general remarkably plain. +Except among some of the native tribes of Africa, I have +nowhere seen such overgrown, loose, pendant breasts as +among them. This is not the case in Sweden, where, if +there are few beauties, there are at least a great many passable +faces. There are marked differences in the blood of the +two nations; and the greater variety of feature and complexion +in Norway seems to indicate a less complete fusion +of the original stocks.</p> + +<p>We were rowed across the Graven Lake by an old farmer, +who wore the costume of the last century,—a red coat, <i>à la</i> +Frederic the Great, long waistcoat, and white knee-breeches. +He demanded double the lawful fare, which, indeed, was +shamefully small; and we paid him without demur. At +Vasenden we found our carrioles and harness in good condition, +nothing having been abstracted except a ball of twine. +Horses were in waiting, apparently belonging to some well-to-do +farmer; for the boys were well dressed, and took +especial care of them. We reached the merchant's comfortable +residence at Vossevangen before sunset, and made amends +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span>on his sumptuous fare for the privations of the past three +days.</p> + +<p>We now resumed the main road between Christiania and +Bergen. The same cloudless days continued to dawn upon +us. For one summer, Norway had changed climates with +Spain. Our oil-cloths were burnt up and cracked by the +heat, our clothes covered with dust, and our faces became as +brown as those of Bedouins. For a week we had not a +cloud in the sky; the superbly clear days belied the old saying +of "weather-breeders."</p> + +<p>Our road, on leaving Vossevangen, led through pine-forests, +following the course of a stream up a wild valley, +enclosed by lofty mountains. Some lovely cataracts fell +from the steep on our left; but this is the land of cataracts +and there is many a one, not even distinguished by a name, +which would be renowned in Switzerland. I asked my +postillion the name of the stream beside us. "Oh," said he, +"it has none; it is not big enough!" He wanted to take +us all the way through to Gudvangen, twenty-eight miles, +on our paying double fare, predicting that we would be +obliged to wait three hours for fresh horses at each intermediate +station. He waited some time at Tvinde, the first +station, in the hope that we would yield, but departed suddenly +in a rage on seeing that the horses were already coming. +At this place, a stout young fellow, who had evidently +been asleep, came out of the house and stood in the door +staring at us with open mouth for a full hour. The postmaster +sat on the step and did likewise. It was the height +of harvest-time, and the weather favourable almost to a +miracle; yet most of the harvesters lay upon their backs +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span>under the trees as we passed. The women appeared to do +most of the out-door, as well as the in-door work. They +are certainly far more industrious than the men, who, judging +from what I saw of them, are downright indolent +Evidences of slow, patient, plodding toil, one sees truly; but +active industry, thrift, and honest ambition, nowhere.</p> + +<p>The scenery increased in wildness and roughness as we +proceeded. The summit of Hvitnaset (White-nose) lifted +its pinnacles of grey rock over the brow of the mountains on +the north, and in front, pale, blue-grey peaks, 5000 feet high, +appeared on either hand. The next station was a village +of huts on the side of a hill. Everybody was in the fields +except one woman, who remained to take charge of the station. +She was a stupid creature, but had a proper sense of +her duty; for she started at full speed to order horses, and +we afterwards found that she must have run full three +English miles in the space of half an hour. The emigration +to America from this part of Bergenstift has been very +great, and the people exhibited much curiosity to see and +speak with us.</p> + +<p>The scenery became at the same time more barren and +more magnificent, as we approached the last station, Stalheim, +which is a miserable little village at the head of the +famous Naerödal. Our farmer-postillion wished to take us +on to Gudvangen with the same horses, urging the same reasons +as the former one. It would have been better if we +had accepted his proposal; but our previous experience had +made us mistrustful. The man spoke truth, however; hour +after hour passed away, and the horses came not. A few +miserable people collected about us, and begged money. I +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span>sketched the oldest, ugliest and dirtiest of them, as a specimen, +but regretted it afterwards, as his gratitude on receiving +a trifle for sitting, obliged me to give him my hand. +Hereupon another old fellow, not quite so hideous, wanted +to be taken also. "Lars," said a woman to the former, "are +you not ashamed to have so ugly a face as yours go to +America?" "Oh," said he, "it does not look so ugly in the +book." His delight on getting the money created some +amusement. "Indeed," he protested, "I am poor, and want +it; and you need not laugh."</p> + +<p>The last gush of sunset was brightening the tops of the +savage fjeld when the horses arrived. We had waited two +hours and three quarters and I therefore wrote a complaint +in the post-book in my best Norsk. From the top of a hill +beyond the village, we looked down into the Naerödal. We +stood on the brink of a tremendous wall about a thousand +feet above the valley. On one side, the stream we had been +following fell in a single cascade 400 feet; on the other, a +second stream, issuing from some unseen defile, flung its +several ribbons of foam from nearly an equal height. +The valley, or rather gorge, disappeared in front between +mountains of sheer rock, which rose to the height of 3000 +feet. The road—a splendid specimen of engineering—was +doubled back and forth around the edge of a spur projecting +from the wall on which we stood, and so descended to the +bottom. Once below, our carrioles rolled rapidly down the +gorge, which was already dusky with twilight. The stream, +of the most exquisite translucent azure-green colour, rolled +between us; and the mountain crests towered so far above, +that our necks ached as we looked upwards. I have seen +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span>but one valley which in depth and sublimity can equal the +Naerödal—the pass of the Taurus, in Asia Minor, leading +from Cappadocia into Cilicia. In many places the precipices +were 2000 feet in perpendicular height; and the streams of +the upper fjeld, falling from the summits, lost themselves +in evanescent water-dust before they reached the bottom. +The bed of the valley was heaped with fragments of rock; +which are loosed from above with every returning spring.</p> + +<p>It was quite dark before we reached Gudvangen, thoroughly +tired and as hungry as wolves. My postillion, on +hearing me complain, pulled a piece of dry mutton out of +his pocket and gave it to me. He was very anxious to learn +whether brandy and tobacco were as dear in America as in +Norway; if so, he did not wish to emigrate. A stout girl had +charge of Braisted's horse; the female postillions always fell +to his lot. She complained of hard work and poor pay, and +would emigrate if she had the money. At Gudvangen +we had a boat journey of thirty-five miles before us, and +therefore engaged two boats with eight oarsmen for the morrow. +The people tried hard to make us take more, but we +had more than the number actually required by law, and, as +it turned out, quite as many as were necessary. Travellers +generally supply themselves with brandy for the use of their +boatmen, from an idea that they will be stubborn and dilatory +without it. We did so in no single instance; yet our men +were always steady and cheerful.</p> + +<p>We shipped our carrioles and sent them off in the larger +boat, delaying our own departure until we had fortified ourselves +with a good breakfast, and laid in some hard bread +and pork omelette, for the day. The Gudvangen Fjord, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span>down which we now glided over the glassy water, is a narrow +mountain avenue of glorious scenery. The unseen +plateaus of the Blaa and Graa Fjelds, on either hand, spilled +their streams over precipices from 1000 to 2000 feet in height, +above whose cornices shot the pointed summits of bare grey +rock, wreathed in shifting clouds, 4000 feet above the sea. +Pine-trees feathered the less abrupt steeps, with patches of +dazzling turf here and there; and wherever a gentler slope +could be found in the coves, stood cottages surrounded by +potato-fields and ripe barley stacked on poles. Not a breath +of air rippled the dark water, which was a perfect mirror to +the mountains and the strip of sky between them, while +broad sheets of morning sunshine, streaming down the breaks +in the line of precipices, interrupted with patches of fiery +colour the deep, rich, transparent gloom of the shadows. +It was an enchanted voyage until we reached the mouth of +the Aurlands Fjord, divided from that of Gudvangen by a +single rocky buttress 1000 feet high. Beyond this point +the watery channel is much broader, and the shores diminish +in grandeur as they approach the Sogne Fjord, of which +this is but a lateral branch.</p> + +<p>I was a little disappointed in the scenery of Sogne Fjord, +The mountains which enclose it are masses of sterile rock, +neither lofty nor bold enough in their forms to make impression, +after the unrivalled scenery through which we had +passed. The point of Vangnæs, a short distance to the +westward, is the "Framnæs" of Frithiof's Saga, and I +therefore looked towards it with some interest, for the sake +of that hero and his northern lily, Ingeborg. There are +many bauta-stones still standing on the shore, but one who +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span>is familiar with Tegner's poem must not expect to find his +descriptions verified, either in scenery or tradition. On +turning eastward, around the point of Fronningen, we were +surprised by the sudden appearance of two handsome houses, +with orchards and gardens, on the sunny side of the bank. +The vegetation, protected in some degree from the sea-winds, +was wonderfully rich and luxuriant. There were now occasional +pine-woods on the southern shore, but the general +aspect of this fjord is bleak and desolate. In the heat and +breathless silence of noonday, the water was like solid +crystal. A faint line, as if drawn with a pencil along the +bases of the opposite mountains, divided them from the +equally perfect and palpable mountains inverted below them. +In the shadows near us, it was quite impossible to detect +the boundary between the substance and its counterpart. +In the afternoon we passed the mouth of the northern arms +of the fjord, which strike into the heart of the wildest and +grandest region of Norway; the valley of Justedal, with its +tremendous glaciers, the snowy teeth of the Hurunger, and +the crowning peaks of the Skagtolstind. Our course lay +down the other arm, to Lærdalsören, at the head of the +fjord. By five o'clock it came in sight, at the mouth of +a valley opening through the barren flanks on the Fille +Fjeld. We landed, after a voyage of ten hours, and found +welcome signs of civilisation in a neat but exorbitant inn.</p> + +<p>Our boatmen, with the exception of stopping half an +hour for breakfast, had pulled steadily the whole time. We +had no cause to be dissatisfied with them, while they were +delighted with the moderate gratuity we gave them. They +were tough, well-made fellows, possessing a considerable +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span>amount of endurance, but less actual strength than one would +suspect. Braisted, who occasionally tried his hand at an +oar, could pull them around with the greatest ease. English +travellers whom I have met inform me that in almost every +trial they find themselves stronger than the Norwegians. +This is probably to be accounted for by their insufficient +nourishment. Sour milk and oaten bread never yet fed an +athlete. The proportions of their bodies would admit of +fine muscular development; and if they cannot do what their +Viking ancestors once did, it is because they no longer live +upon the spoils of other lands, as they.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2> + +<h2>HALLINGDAL—THE COUNTRY-PEOPLE OF NORWAY.</h2> + + +<p>There are two roads from Lærdalsören to Christiania, +the eastern one passing through the districts of Valders and +Hadeland, by way of the Little Miösen Lake and the Randsfjord, +while the western, after crossing the Fille Fjeld, descends +the long Hallingdal to Ringerike. In point of +scenery there is little difference between them; but as we +intended visiting the province of Tellemark, in Southern +Norway, we chose the latter. The valley of the Fille Fjeld, +which we entered on leaving Lærdalsören, is enclosed by +wild, barren mountains, more isolated and irregular in their +forms than the Hardanger and Dovre Fjelds. There were +occasional precipices and dancing waterfalls, but in general +the same tameness and monotony we had found on the Sogne +Fjord. Down the bed of the valley flowed a large rapid +stream, clear as crystal, and of a beautiful beryl tint. The +cultivation was scanty; and the potato fields, utterly ruined +by disease, tainted the air with sickening effluvia. The +occasional forests on the hill-sides were of fir and birch, while +poplar, ash, and linden grew in the valley. The only fruit-trees +I saw were some sour red cherries.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span>But in the splendour of the day, this unfriendly valley +shone like a dell of the Apennines. Not a cloud disturbed +the serenity of the sky; the brown grass and yellow moss +on the mountains were painted with sunny gold, and the +gloss and sparkle of the foliage equalled that of the Italian +ilex and laurel. On the second stage a new and superb +road carried us through the rugged defile of Saltenaaset. +This pass is evidently the effect of some mighty avalanche +thousands of ages ago. The valley is blocked up by tremendous +masses of rock, hurled one upon the other in the +wildest confusion, while the shattered peaks from which they +fell still tower far above. Threading this chaos in the shadow +of the rocks, we looked across the glen upon a braided +chain of foam, twisted together at the end into a long white +cascade, which dropped into the gulf below. In another +place, a rainbow meteor suddenly flashed across the face of a +dark crag, betraying the dusty spray of a fall, else invisible.</p> + +<p>On the third stage the road, after mounting a difficult +steep, descended into the valley of Borgund, in which stands +most probably the most ancient church in Norway. It is a +singular, fantastic structure, bristling with spiky spires and +covered with a scale armour of black pitched shingles. It is +certainly of no more recent date than the twelfth century, +and possibly of the close of the eleventh. The architecture +shows the Byzantine style in the rounded choir and the +arched galleries along the sides, the Gothic in the windows +and pointed gables, and the horned ornaments on the roof +suggest the pagan temples of the ante-Christian period. A +more grotesque affair could hardly be found in Christendom; +it could only be matched among the monstrosities of Chinese +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span>art. With the exception of the church of Hitterdal, in +Tellemark, a building of similar date, this is the best preserved +of the few antiquities of Norway. The entire absence +of feudal castles is a thing to be noticed. Serfdom never +existed here, and one result of this circumstance, perhaps, is +the ease with which institutions of a purely republican stamp +have been introduced.</p> + +<p>Our road still proceeded up the bottom of a rough barren +valley, crossing stony headlands on either side. At the +station of Haug our course turned to the south-east, climbing +a slope leading to the plateau of the Fille Fjeld—a +severe pull for our horses in the intense heat. The birch +woods gradually diminished in size until they ceased altogether, +and the naked plain stretched before us. In this +upper land the air was delicious and inspiring. We were +more than 3000 feet above the sea, but the summits to the +right and left, with their soft gleams of pale gray, lilac and +purple hues in the sunshine, and pure blue in shadow, rose +to the height of 6000. The heat of the previous ten days +had stripped them bare of snow, and the landscape was drear +and monotonous. The summits of the Norwegian Fjelds +have only the charm of wildness and bleakness. I doubt +whether any mountains of equal height exhibit less grandeur +in their upper regions. The most imposing features of +Norwegian scenery are its deep valleys, its tremendous gorges +with their cataracts, flung like banners from steeps which +seem to lean against the very sky, and, most of all, its winding, +labyrinthine fjords—valleys of the sea, in which the +phenomena of the valleys of the land are repeated. I found +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span>no scenery in the Bergenstift of so original and impressive +a character as that of the Lofoden Isles.</p> + +<p>The day was Sunday, and we, of course, expect to see +some evidence of it in the appearance of the people. Yet, +during the whole day, we found but one clean person—the +hostess of an inn on the summit of Fille Fjeld, where we +stopped to bait our horses. She was a young fresh-faced +woman, in the first year of her wifehood, and her snowy +chemise and tidy petticoat made her shine like a star among +the dirty and frowzy creatures in the kitchen. I should not +forget a boy, who was washing his face in a brook as we +passed; but he was young, and didn't know any better. +Otherwise the people lounged about the houses, or sat on +the rocks in the sun, filthy, and something else, to judge +from certain signs. At Haug, forgetting that it was a fast +station, where there is no <i>tilsigelse</i> (money for ordering +horses) to be paid, I handed the usual sum to the landlady, +saying: "This is for <i>tilsigelse</i>." "It is quite right," said +she, pocketing the coin.</p> + +<p>Skirting an azure lake, we crossed the highest part of the +pass, nearly four thousand feet above the sea, and descended a +naked valley to the inn of Bjöberg. The landlord received +us very cordially; and as the inn promised tolerable accommodation, +he easily persuaded us to stop there for the night. +His wife wore a frightful costume, which we afterwards +found to prevail throughout all Hemsedal and Hallingdal. +It consisted simply of a band across the shoulders, above the +breasts, passing around the arms and over the back of the +neck, with an immense baggy, dangling skirt hanging +therefrom to the ancles. Whether she was fat or lean, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span>straight or crooked, symmetrical or deformed, it was impossible +to discern, except when the wind blew. The only +thing to be said in favour of such a costume is, that it does +not impede the development and expansion of the body in +any direction. Hence I would strongly recommend its +adoption to the advocates of reform in feminine dress at +home. There is certainly none of that weight upon the +hips, of which they complain in the fashionable costume. It +is far more baggy, loose, and hideous than the Bloomer, with +the additional advantage of making all ages and styles of +beauty equally repulsive, while on the score of health and +convenience, there is still less to be said against it. Do not +stop at half-way measures, oh, fair reformers!</p> + +<p>It seems incredible that, in a pastoral country like Norway, +it should be almost impossible to procure sweet milk +and good butter. The cattle are of good quality, there is +no better grass in the world; and the only explanation of +the fact is to be found in the general want of cleanliness, +especially among the inhabitants of the mountain districts, +which are devoted to pasturage alone. Knowing this, one +wonders the less to see no measures taken for a supply of +water in the richer grain-growing valleys, where it is so +easily procurable. At Bjöberg, for instance, there was a +stream of delicious water flowing down the hill, close beside +the inn, and four bored pine-trunks would have brought it +to the very door; but, instead of that, the landlady whirled +off to the stream in her revolving dress, to wash the dishes, +or to bring us half a pint to wash ourselves. We found +water much more abundant the previous winter in Swedish +Lapland.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span>Leaving Bjöberg betimes, we drove rapidly down Hemsedal, +enjoying the pure delicious airs of the upper fjeld. +The scenery was bleak and grey; and even the soft pencil of +the morning sun failed to impart any charm to it, except the +nameless fascination of utter solitude and silence. The valley +descends so gradually that we had driven two Norsk +miles before the fir-forests in its bed began to creep up the +mountain-sides. During the second stage we passed the remarkable +peak of Saaten, on the opposite side of the valley—the +end or cape of a long projecting ridge, terminating in a +scarped cliff, from the very summit of which fell a cascade +from three to four hundred feet in height. Where the water +came from, it was impossible to guess, unless there were a +large deposit of snow in the rear; for the mountains fell +away behind Saaten, and the jagged, cleft headland rose +alone above the valley. It was a strange and fantastic feature +of the landscape, and, to me, a new form in the repertory +of mountain aspects.</p> + +<p>We now drove, through fir-woods balmy with warm resinous +odours, to Ekre, where we had ordered breakfast by +<i>förbud</i>. The morning air had given us a healthy appetite; +but our spirits sank when the only person at the station, a +stupid girl of twenty, dressed in the same bulging, hideous +sack, informed us that nothing was to be had. After some +persuasion she promised us coffee, cheese, and bread, which +came in due time; but with the best will we found it impossible +to eat anything. The butter was rather black than +yellow, the cheese as detestable to the taste as to the smell, +the bread made apparently of saw-dust, with a slight mixture +of oat-bran, and the coffee muddy dregs, with some sour +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span>cream in a cup, and sugar-candy which appeared to have +been sucked and then dropped in the ashes. The original +colour of the girl's hands was barely to be distinguished +through their coating of dirt; and all of us, tough old travellers +as we were, sickened at the sight of her. I verily +believe that the poorer classes of the Norwegians are the +filthiest people in Europe. They are even worse than the +Lapps, for their habits of life allow them to be clean.</p> + +<p>After passing Ekre, our view opened down the valley, +over a wild stretch of wooded hills, to the blue mountain +folds of the Hallingdal, which crosses the Hemsedal almost +at right angles, and receives its tributary waters. The +forms of the mountains are here more gradual; and those +grand sweeps and breaks which constitute the peculiar +charms of the scenery of the Bergenstift are met with no +longer. We had a hot ride to the next station, where we +were obliged to wait nearly an hour in the kitchen, our +<i>förbud</i> not having been forwarded from the former station +as soon as the law allowed us to expect. A strapping boy +of eighteen acted as station master. His trowsers reached +considerably above his shoulder blades, leaving barely room +for a waistcoat, six inches long, to be buttoned over his collar +bone. The characteristic costumes of Norway are more +quaint and picturesque in the published illustrations than in +the reality, particularly those of Hemsedal. My postillion +to this station was a communicative fellow, and gave me +some information about the value of labour. A harvest-hand +gets from one mark (twenty-one cents) to one and a +half daily, with food, or two marks without. Most work is +paid by the job; a strong lumber-man may make two and a +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span>half marks when the days are long, at six skillings (five +cents) a tree—a plowman two marks. In the winter the +usual wages of labourers are two marks a week, with board. +Shoemakers, tailors, and other mechanics average about the +same daily. When one considers the scarcity of good food, +and the high price of all luxuries, especially tobacco and +brandy, it does not seem strange that the emigration fever +should be so prevalent. The Norwegians have two traits +in common with a large class of Americans—rampant patriotism +and love of gain; but they cannot so easily satisfy +the latter without sacrificing the former.</p> + +<p>From the village of Göl, with its dark pretty church, we +descended a steep of many hundred feet, into Hallingdal, +whose broad stream flashed blue in the sunshine far below +us. The mountains were now wooded to their very summits; +and over the less abrupt slopes, ripe oats and barley-fields +made yellow spots of harvest among the dark forests. +By this time we were out of smoking material, and stopped +at the house of a <i>landhandlare</i>, or country merchant, to +procure a supply. A riotous sound came from the door as +we approached. Six or eight men, all more or less drunk, +and one woman, were inside, singing, jumping, and howling +like a pack of Bedlamites. We bought the whole stock of +tobacco, consisting of two cigars, and hastened out of the +den. The last station of ten miles was down the beautiful +Hallingdal, through a country which seemed rich by contrast +with Hemsedal and the barren fjeld. Our stopping-place +was the village of Næs, which we reached in a famished +condition, having eaten nothing all day. There were +two <i>landhandlare</i> in the place, with one of whom we lodged. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span>Here we found a few signs of Christianity, such as gardens +and decent dresses; but both of the merchant's shops swarmed +with rum-drinkers.</p> + +<p>I had written, and sent off from Bjöberg, <i>förbud</i> tickets +for every station as far as Kongsberg. By the legal regulations, +the <i>skyds-skaffer</i> is obliged to send forward such +tickets as soon as received, the traveller paying the cost +thereof on his arrival. Notwithstanding we had given our +<i>förbud</i> twelve hours' start, and had punctually paid the +expense at every station, we overtook it at Næs. The postmaster +came to know whether we would have it sent on by +special express, or wait until some traveller bound the same +way would take it for us. I ordered it to be sent immediately, +astounded at such a question, until, making the acquaintance +of a Scotchman and his wife, who had arrived in +advance of us, the mystery was solved. They had spent the +night at the first station beyond Bjöberg, where our <i>förbud</i> +tickets were given to them, with the request that they would +deliver them. They had punctually done so as far as Næs, +where the people had endeavoured to prevent them from +stopping for the night, insisting that they were bound to go +on and carry the <i>förbud</i>. The cool impudence of this +transaction reached the sublime. At every station that day, +pay had been taken for service unperformed, and it was +more than once demanded twice over.</p> + +<p>We trusted the repeated assurance of the postmaster at +Næs, that our tickets had been forwarded at once, and paid +him accordingly. But at the first station next morning we +found that he had not done so; and this interlinked chain +of swindling lasted the whole day. We were obliged to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span>wait an hour or two at every post, to pay for messengers +who probably never went, and then to resist a demand for +payment at the other end of the station. What redress +was there? We might indeed have written a complaint in +imperfect Norsk, which would be read by an inspector a +month afterwards; or perhaps it would be crossed out as +soon as we left, as we saw done in several cases. Unless a +traveller is very well versed in the language and in the laws +relating to the <i>skyds</i> system, he has no defence against imposition, +and even in such a case, he can only obtain redress +through delay. The system can only work equitably when +the people are honest; and perhaps they were so when it +was first adopted.</p> + +<p>Here I must tell an unpleasant truth. There must have +been some foundation in the beginning for the wide reputation +which the Norwegians have for honest simplicity of +character; but the accounts given by former travellers are +undeserved praise if applied at present. The people are +trading on fictitious capital. "Should I have a written contract?" +I asked of a landlord, in relation to a man with +whom I was making a bargain. "Oh, no," said he, "everybody +is honest in Norway;" and the same man tried his best +to cheat me. Said Braisted, "I once heard an old sailor +say,—'when a man has a reputation for honesty, watch him!'"—and +there is some knowledge of human nature in the +remark. Norway was a fresh field when Laing went thither +opportunities for imposition were so rare, that the faculty +had not been developed; he found the people honest, and +later travellers have been content with echoing his opinion. +"When I first came to the country," said an Irish <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span>gentleman +who for ten years past has spent his summers there, "I +was advised, as I did not understand the currency, to offer a +handful in payment, and let the people take what was due +to them." "Would you do it now?" I asked. "No, indeed," +said he, "and the man who then advised me, a Norwegian +merchant, now says he would not do it either." An English +salmon-fisher told me very much the same thing. "I +believe they are honest in their intercourse with each other," +said he; "but they do not scruple to take advantage of +travellers whenever they can." For my own part, I must +say that in no country of Europe, except Italy, have I experienced +so many attempts at imposition. Another Englishman, +who has been farming in Norway for several years, +and who employs about forty labourers, has been obliged to +procure Swedes, on account of the peculations of native +hands. I came to Norway with the popular impression concerning +the people, and would not confess myself so disagreeably +undeceived, could I suppose that my own experiences +were exceptional. I found, however, that they +tallied with those of other travellers; and the conclusion is +too flagrant to be concealed.</p> + +<p>As a general rule, I have found the people honest in proportion +as they are stupid. They are quick-witted whenever +the spirit of gain is aroused; and the ease with which +they pick up little arts of acquisitiveness does not suggest +an integrity proof against temptation. It is but a negative +virtue, rather than that stable quality rooted in the very +core of a man's nature. I may, perhaps, judge a little +harshly; but when one finds the love of gain so strongly +developed, so keen and grasping, in combination with the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span>four capital vices of the Norwegians—indolence, filth, drunkenness, +and licentiousness,—the descent to such dishonest +arts as I have described is scarcely a single step. There +are, no doubt, many districts where the people are still untempted +by rich tourists and sportsmen, and retain the +virtues once ascribed to the whole population: but that +there has been a general and rapid deterioration of character +cannot be denied. The statistics of morality, for instance, +show that one child out of every ten is illegitimate; and +the ratio has been steadily increasing for the past fifty years. +Would that the more intelligent classes would seriously set +themselves to work for the good of "<i>Gamle Norge</i>" instead +of being content with the poetical flourish of her name!</p> + +<p>The following day, from Næs to Green, was a continuation +of our journey down the Hallingdal. There was little +change in the scenery,—high fir-wooded mountains on either +hand, the lower slopes spotted with farms. The houses +showed some slight improvement as we advanced. The +people were all at work in the fields, cutting the year's +satisfactory harvest. A scorching sun blazed in a cloudless +sky; the earth was baked and dry, and suffocating clouds of +dust rose from under our horses' hoofs. Most of the women +in the fields, on account of the heat, had pulled off their +body-sacks, and were working in shifts made on the same +principle, which reached to the knees. Other garments they +had none. A few, recognising us as strangers, hastily threw +on their sacks or got behind a barley-stack until we had +passed; the others were quite unconcerned. One, whose +garment was exceedingly short, no sooner saw us than she +commenced a fjeld dance, full of astonishing leaps and whirls +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span>to the great diversion of the other hands. "Weel done, +cutty sark!" I cried; but the quotation was thrown away +upon her.</p> + +<p>Green, on the Kröder Lake, which we did not reach until +long after dark, was an oasis after our previous experience. +Such clean, refined, friendly people, such a neat table, such +excellent fare, and such delicious beds we had certainly +never seen before. Blessed be decency! blessed be humanity! +was our fervent ejaculation. And when in the morning we +paid an honest reckoning and received a hearty "<i>lycksame +resa!</i>" (a lucky journey!) at parting, we vowed that the +place should always be green in our memories. Thence to +Kongsberg we had fast stations and civilised people; the +country was open, well settled, and cultivated, the scenery +pleasant and picturesque, and, except the insufferable heat +and dust, we could complain of nothing.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2> + +<h2>TELLEMARK AND THE RIUKAN FOSS.</h2> + + +<p>Kongsberg, where we arrived on the 26th of August, is +celebrated for its extensive silver mines, which were first +opened by Christian IV in 1624, and are now worked by +the Government. They are doubtless interesting to mineralogists; +but we did not visit them. The guide-book +says, "The principal entrance to the mines is through a +level nearly two English miles in length; from this level you +descend by thirty-eight perpendicular ladders, of the average +length of five fathoms each, a very fatiguing task, and then +find yourself at the bottom of the shaft, and are rewarded +by the sight of the veins of native silver"—not a bit of +which, after all, are you allowed to put into your pocket. +Thank you! I prefer remaining above ground, and was content +with having in my possession smelted specimens of the +ore, stamped with the head of Oscar I.</p> + +<p>The goal of our journey was the Riukan Foss, which lies +in Upper Tellemark, on the south-eastern edge of the great +plateau of the Hardanger Fjeld. This cascade disputes +with the Vöring Foss the supremacy of the thousand waterfalls +of Norway. There are several ways from Kongsberg +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span>thither; and in our ignorance of the country, we suffered +ourselves to be guided by the landlord of our hotel. Let no +traveller follow our example! The road he recommended +was almost impassable for carrioles, and miserably supplied +with horses, while that through Hitterdal, by which we returned, +is broad, smooth, and excellent. We left on the +morning after our arrival, taking a road which led up the +valley of the Lauven for some distance, and then struck +westward through the hills to a little station called Moen. +Here, as the place was rarely visited by travellers, the +people were simple, honest, and friendly. Horses could not +be had in less than two hours; and my postillion, an intelligent +fellow far gone in consumption, proposed taking the +same horse to the next station, fifteen miles further. He +accepted my offer of increased pay; but another, who appeared +to be the owner of the horses, refused, demanding +more than double the usual rates. "How is it?" said I, +"that you were willing to bring us to Moen for one and a half +marks, and will not take us to Bolkesjö for less than five?" +"It was my turn," he answered, "to furnish post-horses. I +am bound by law to bring you here at the price fixed by the +law; but now I can make my own bargain, and I want a +price that will leave me some profit." This was reasonable +enough; and we finally agreed to retain two of the horses, +taking the postmaster's for a third.</p> + +<p>The region we now traversed was almost a wilderness. +There were grazing-farms in the valley, with a few fields of +oats or barley; but these soon ceased, and an interminable +forest enclosed us. The road, terribly rough and stony, +crossed spurs of the hills, slowly climbing to a wild <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span>summit-level, +whence we caught glimpses of lakes far below us, and +the blue mountain-ranges in the west, with the pyramidal +peak of the Gousta Fjeld crowning them. Bolkesjö, which +we reached in a little more than two hours, is a small hamlet +on the western slope of the mountain, overlooking a wide +tract of lake and forest. Most of the inhabitants were +away in the harvest-fields; but the <i>skyds-shaffer</i>, a tall +powerful fellow, with a grin of ineffable stupidity on his +face, came forward as we pulled in our horses on the turfy +square between the rows of magazines. "Can we get horses +at once?" "Ne-e-ey!" was his drawling answer, accompanied +with a still broader grin, as if the thing were a good +joke. "How soon?" "In three hours." "But if we pay +fast prices?" He hesitated, scratched his head, and drawled, +"In a <i>liten stund</i>" (a "short time"), which may mean +any time from five minutes to as many hours. "Can we +get fresh milk?" "Ne-e-ey!" "Can we get butter?" +"Ne-e-ey!" "What can we get?" "Nothing." Fortunately +we had foreseen this emergency, and had brought a +meal with us from Kongsberg.</p> + +<p>We took possession of the kitchen, a spacious and tolerably +clean apartment, with ponderous benches against two +sides of it, and two bedsteads, as huge and ugly as those of +kings, built along the third. Enormous platters of pewter, +earthen and stone ware, were ranged on shelves; while a cupboard, +fantastically painted, contained the smaller crockery. +There was a heavy red and green cornice above the bed, upon +which the names of the host and his wife, with the date +of their marriage, were painted in yellow letters. The worthy +couple lay so high that several steps were necessary to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span>enable them to reach the bed, in which process their eyes +encountered words of admonition, painted upon triangular +boards, introduced to strengthen the pillars at the head and +foot. One of these inscriptions ran, "This is my bed: here +I take my rest in the night, and when morning comes I get +up cheerfully and go to work;" and the other, "When +thou liest down to sleep think on thy last hour, pray that +God will guard thy sleep, and be ready for thy last hour +when it comes." On the bottom of the cupboard was a +representation of two individuals with chalk-white faces +and inky eyes, smoking their pipes and clinking glasses. +The same fondness for decorations and inscriptions is seen +in all the houses in Tellemark and a great part of Hallingdal. +Some of them are thoroughly Chinese in gaudy colour +and grotesque design.</p> + +<p>In the course of an hour and a half we obtained three +strong and spirited stallions, and continued our journey +towards the Tind-Sö. During this stage of twelve or thirteen +miles, the quality of our carrioles was tested in the +most satisfactory manner. Up-hill and down, over stock +and stone, jolted on rock and wrenched in gulley, they were +whirled at a smashing rate; but the tough ash and firmly-welded +iron resisted every shock. For any other than Norwegian +horses and vehicles, it would have been hazardous +travelling. We were anxious to retain the same animals +for the remaining stage to Tinoset, at the foot of the lake; +but the postillions refused, and a further delay of two hours +was the consequence. It was dark when the new horses +came; and ten miles of forest lay before us. We were ferried +one by one across the Tind Elv, on a weak, loose raft +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span>and got our carrioles up a frightful bank on the opposite +side by miraculous luck. Fortunately we struck the post-road +from Hitterdal at this place; for it would have been +impossible to ride over such rocky by-ways as we had left +behind us. A white streak was all that was visible in the +gloom of the forest. We kept in the middle of it, not +knowing whether the road went up, down, or on a level, +until we had gone over it. At last, however, the forest came +to an end, and we saw Tind Lake lying still and black in +the starlight. All were in bed at Tinoset; but we went into +the common sleeping-room, and stirred the people up +promiscuously until we found the housewife, who gave us +the only supper the house afforded—hard oaten bread and +milk. We three then made the most of two small beds.</p> + +<p>In the morning we took a boat, with four oarsmen, for +Mael, at the mouth of the Westfjord-dal, in which lies the +Riukan Foss. There was no end to our wonderful weather. +In rainy Norway the sky had for once forgotten its clouds. +One after another dawned the bright Egyptian days, followed +by nights soft, starry, and dewless. The wooded shores of +the long Tind Lake were illuminated with perfect sunshine, +and its mirror of translucent beryl broke into light waves +under the northern breeze. Yet, with every advantage of +sun and air, I found this lake undeserving of its reputation +for picturesque beauty. The highest peaks rise to the +height of 2000 feet, but there is nothing bold and decided in +their forms, and after the splendid fjords of the western coast +the scenery appears tame and commonplace. Our boatmen +pulled well, and by noon brought us to Hakenaes, a distance +of twenty-one miles. Here we stopped to engage horses to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span>the Riukan Foss, as there is no post-station at Mael. +While the old man put off in his boat to notify the farmers +whose turn it was to supply the animals, we entered the +farm-house, a substantial two-story building. The rooms +were tolerably clean and well stocked with the clumsy, heavy +furniture of the country, which is mostly made by the +farmers themselves, every man being his own carpenter, +cooper, and blacksmith. There were some odd old stools, +made of segments of the trunk of a tree, the upper part +hollowed out so as to receive the body, and form a support +for the back. I have no doubt that this fashion of seat is +as old as the time of the Vikings. The owner was evidently +a man in tolerable circumstances, and we therefore cherished +the hope of getting a good meal; but all that the old woman, +with the best will in the world, was able to furnish, was +milk, butter, oaten bread, and an egg apiece. The upper +rooms were all supplied with beds, one of which displayed +remarkable portraits of the Crown Prince of Denmark and +his spouse, upon the head-board. In another room was a +loom of primitive construction.</p> + +<p>It was nearly two hours before the old farmer returned +with the information that the horses would be at Mael as +soon as we; but we lay upon the bank for some time after +arriving there, watching the postillions swim them across +the mouth of the Maan Elv. Leaving the boat, which was +to await our return the next day, we set off up the Westfjord-dal, +towards the broad cone-like mass of the Gousta-Fjeld, +whose huge bulk, 6000 feet in height, loomed grandly +over the valley. The houses of Mael, clustered about its +little church, were scattered over the slope above the lake; +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span>and across the river, amid the fields of grass and grain, stood +another village of equal size. The bed of the valley, dotted +with farms and groups of farm-houses, appeared to be +thickly populated; but as a farmer's residence rarely consists +of less than six buildings—sometimes even eight—a stranger +would naturally overrate the number of inhabitants. +The production of grain, also, is much less than would be +supposed from the amount of land under cultivation, owing +to the heads being so light. The valley of the Maan, apparently +a rich and populous region, is in reality rather the +reverse. In relation to its beauty, however, there can be no +two opinions. Deeply sunken between the Gousta and another +bold spur of the Hardanger, its golden harvest-fields +and groves of birch, ash, and pine seem doubly charming +from the contrast of the savage steeps overhanging them, at +first scantily feathered with fir-trees, and scarred with the +tracks of cataracts and slides, then streaked only with +patches of grey moss, and at last bleak and sublimely bare. +The deeply-channelled cone of the Gousta, with its indented +summit, rose far above us, sharp and clear in the thin ether; +but its base, wrapped in forests and wet by many a waterfall—sank +into the bed of blue vapour which filled the valley.</p> + +<p>There was no Arabian, nor even Byzantine blood in our +horses; and our attendants—a stout full-grown farmer and +a boy of sixteen—easily kept pace with their slow rough +trot. In order to reach Tinoset the next day, we had determined +to push on to the Riukan Foss the same evening. +Our quarters for the night were to be in the house of the +old farmer, Ole Torgensen, in the village of Däl, half-way +between Mael and the cataract, which we did not reach until +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span>five o'clock, when the sun was already resting his chin on +the shoulder of the Gousta. On a turfy slope surrounded +with groves, above the pretty little church of Däl, we found +Ole's <i>gaard</i>. There was no one at home except the daughter, +a blooming lass of twenty, whose neat dress, and graceful, +friendly deportment, after the hideous feminines of Hallingdal, +in their ungirdled sacks and shifts, so charmed us +that if we had been younger, more sentimental, and less experienced +in such matters, I should not answer for the consequences. +She ushered us into the guests' room, which was +neatness itself, set before us a bottle of Bavarian beer and +promised to have a supper ready on our return.</p> + +<p>There were still ten miles to the Riukan, and consequently +no time to be lost. The valley contracted, squeezing the +Maan between the interlocking bases of the mountains, +through which, in the course of uncounted centuries, it had +worn itself a deep groove, cut straight and clean into the +heart of the rock. The loud, perpetual roar of the vexed +waters filled the glen; the only sound except the bleating +of goats clinging to the steep pastures above us. The +mountain walls on either hand were now so high and precipitous, +that the bed of the valley lay wholly in shadow; +and on looking back, its further foldings were dimly seen +through purple mist. Only the peak of the Gousta, which +from this point appeared an entire and perfect pyramid, +1500 feet in perpendicular height above the mountain platform +from which it rose, gleamed with a rich bronze lustre +in the setting sun. The valley was now a mere ascending +gorge, along the sides of which our road climbed. Before +us extended a slanting shelf thrust out from the mountain, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span>and affording room for a few cottages and fields; but all +else was naked rock and ragged pine. From one of the +huts we passed, a crippled, distorted form crawled out on +its hands and knees to beg of us. It was a boy of sixteen, +struck with another and scarcely less frightful form of leprosy. +In this case, instead of hideous swellings and fungous +excrescences, the limbs gradually dry up and drop off piecemeal +at the joints. Well may the victims of both these +forms of hopeless disease curse the hour in which they were +begotten. I know of no more awful example of that visitation +of the sins of the parents upon the children, which +almost always attends confirmed drunkenness, filth, and +licentiousness.</p> + +<p>When we reached the little hamlet on the shelf of the +mountain, the last rays of the sun were playing on the summits +above. We had mounted about 2000 feet since +leaving the Tind Lake, and the dusky valley yawned far +beneath us, its termination invisible, as if leading downward +into a lower world. Many hundreds of feet below the +edge of the wild little platform on which we stood, thundered +the Maan in a cleft, the bottom of which the sun has +never beheld. Beyond this the path was impracticable for +horses; we walked, climbed, or scrambled along the side of +the dizzy steep, where, in many places, a false step would +have sent us to the brink of gulfs whose mysteries we had +no desire to explore. After we had advanced nearly two +miles in this manner, ascending rapidly all the time, a hollow +reverberation, and a glimpse of profounder abysses +ahead, revealed the neighbourhood of the Riukan. All at +once patches of lurid gloom appeared through the openings +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span>of the birch thicket we were threading, and we came abruptly +upon the brink of the great chasm into which the river +falls.</p> + +<p>The Riukan lay before us, a miracle of sprayey splendour, +an apparition of unearthly loveliness, set in a framework +of darkness and terror befitting the jaws of hell. +Before us, so high against the sky as to shut out the colours +of sunset, rose the top of the valley—the level of the Hardanger +table land, on which, a short distance further, lies +the Miös-Vand, a lovely lake, in which the Maan Elv is +born. The river first comes into sight a mass of boiling +foam, shooting around the corner of a line of black cliffs +which are rent for its passage, curves to the right as it descends, +and then drops in a single fall of 500 feet in a hollow +caldron of bare black rock. The water is already foam +as it leaps from the summit; and the successive waves, as +they are whirled into the air, and feel the gusts which for +ever revolve around the abyss, drop into beaded fringes in +falling, and go fluttering down like scarfs of the richest +lace. It is not water, but the spirit of water. The bottom +is lost in a shifting snowy film, with starry rays of foam +radiating from its heart, below which, as the clouds shifts, +break momentary gleams of perfect emerald light. What +fairy bowers of some Northern Undine are suggested in +those sudden flashes of silver and green! In that dim profound, +which human eye can but partially explore, in which +human foot shall never be set, what secret wonders may +still lie hidden! And around this vision of perfect loveliness, +rise the awful walls wet with spray which never dries, +and crossed by ledges of dazzling turf, from the gulf so far +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span>below our feet, until, still further above our heads, they lift +their irregular cornices against the sky.</p> + +<p>I do not think I am extravagant when I say that the +Riukan Foss is the most beautiful cataract in the world. I +looked upon it with that involuntary suspension of the +breath and quickening of the pulse, which is the surest recognition +of beauty. The whole scene, with its breadth and +grandeur of form, and its superb gloom of colouring, enshrining +this one glorious flash of grace, and brightness, and +loveliness, is indelibly impressed upon my mind. Not alone +during that half hour of fading sunset, but day after day, +and night after night, the embroidered spray wreaths of the +Riukan were falling before me.</p> + +<p>We turned away reluctantly at last, when the emerald +pavement of Undine's palace was no longer visible through +the shooting meteors of silver foam. The depths of Westfjord-dal +were filled with purple darkness: only the perfect +pyramid of the Gousta, lifted upon a mountain basement +more than 4000 feet in height, shone like a colossal wedge +of fire against the violet sky. By the time we reached our +horses we discovered that we were hungry, and, leaving the +attendants to follow at their leisure, we urged the tired +animals down the rocky road. The smell of fresh-cut grain +and sweet mountain hay filled the cool evening air; darkness +crept under the birches and pines, and we no longer met the +home-going harvesters. Between nine and ten our horses +took the way to a <i>gaard</i> standing a little off the road; but +it did not appear to be Ole Torgensen's, so we kept on. In +the darkness, however, we began to doubt our memory, and +finally turned back again. This time there could be no +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span>mistake: it was <i>not</i> Ole Torgensen's. I knocked at various +doors, and hallooed loudly, until a sleepy farmer made his +appearance, and started us forward again. He kindly offered +to accompany us, but we did not think it necessary. +Terribly fatigued and hungry, we at last saw a star of +promise—the light of Ole's kitchen window. There was a +white cloth on the table in the guests' house, and Ole's +charming daughter—the Rose of Westfjord-dalen—did not +keep us long waiting. Roast mutton, tender as her own +heart, potatoes plump as her cheeks, and beer sparkling as +her eyes, graced the board; but emptiness, void as our own +celibate lives, was there when we arose. In the upper +room there were beds, with linen fresh as youth and aromatic +as spring; and the peace of a full stomach and a clear +conscience descended upon our sleep.</p> + +<p>In the morning we prepared for an early return to Mael, +as the boatmen were anxious to get back to their barley-fields. +I found but one expression in the guests' book—that +of satisfaction with Ole Torgensen, and cheerfully added our +amen to the previous declarations. Ole's bill proved his +honesty, no less than his worthy face. He brightened up on +learning that we were Americans. "Why," said he, "there +have only been two Americans here before in all my life; +and you cannot be a <i>born</i> American, because you speak +Norsk so well." "Oh," said I, "I have learned the language +in travelling." "Is it possible?" he exclaimed: "then you +must have a powerful intellect." "By no means," said I, +"it is a very easy thing; I have travelled much, and can +speak six other languages." "Now, God help us!" cried he; +"<i>seven</i> languages! It is truly wonderful how much <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span>comprehension +God has given unto man, that he can keep seven +languages in his head at one time. Here am I, and I am +not a fool; yet I do not see how it would be possible for me +to speak anything but Norsk; and when I think of you, it +shows me what wonders God has done. Will you not make +a mark under your name, in the book, so that I may distinguish +you from the other two?" I cheerfully complied, and +hereby notify future visitors why my name is italicised in +Ole's book.</p> + +<p>We bade farewell to the good old man, and rode down +the valley of the Maan, through the morning shadow of the +Gousta. Our boat was in readiness; and its couch of fir +boughs in the stern became a pleasant divan of indolence, +after our hard horses and rough roads. We reached Tinoset +by one o'clock, but were obliged to wait until four for +horses. The only refreshment we could obtain was oaten +bread, and weak spruce beer. Off at last, we took the post-road +to Hitterdal, a smooth, excellent highway, through interminable +forests of fir and pine. Towards the close of the +stage, glimpses of a broad, beautiful, and thickly-settled valley +glimmered through the woods, and we found ourselves +on the edge of a tremendous gully, apparently the bed of +an extinct river. The banks on both sides were composed +entirely of gravel and huge rounded pebbles, masses of which +we loosened at the top, and sent down the sides, gathering +as they rolled, until in a cloud of dust they crashed with a +sound like thunder upon the loose shingles of the bottom +200 feet below. It was scarcely possible to account for this +phenomenon by the action of spring torrents from the melted +snow. The immense banks of gravel, which we found +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span>to extend for a considerable distance along the northern side +of the valley, seemed rather to be the deposit of an ocean-flood.</p> + +<p>Hitterdal, with its enclosed fields, its harvests, and groups +of picturesque, substantial farm-houses, gave us promise of +good quarters for the night; and when our postillions stopped +at the door of a prosperous-looking establishment, we +congratulated ourselves on our luck. But (—) never whistle +until you are out of the woods. The people seemed decidedly +not to like the idea of our remaining, but promised +to give us supper and beds. They were stupid, but not unfriendly; +and our causes of dissatisfaction were, first, that +they were so outrageously filthy, and secondly, that they +lived so miserably when their means evidently allowed them +to do better. The family room, with its two cumbrous bedsteads +built against the wall, and indescribably dirty beds, +was given up to us, the family betaking themselves to the +stable. As they issued thence in the morning, in single garments, +we were involuntary observers of their degree of bodily +neatness; and the impression was one we would willingly +forget. Yet a great painted desk in the room contained, +amid many flourishes, the names and character of the host +and hostess, as follows:—"Andres Svennogsen Bamble, and +Ragnil Thorkilsdatter Bamble, Which These Two Are Respectable +People." Over the cupboard, studded with earthen-ware +dishes, was an inscription in misspelt Latin: "Solli +Deo Glorria." Our supper consisted of boiled potatoes and +fried salt pork, which, having seen the respectable hosts, it +required considerable courage to eat, although we had not +seen the cooking. Fleas darkened the floor; and they, with +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span>the fear of something worse, prevented us from sleeping +much. We did not ask for coffee in the morning, but, as +soon as we could procure horses, drove away hungry and disgusted +from Bamble-Kaasa and its respectable inhabitants.</p> + +<p>The church of Hitterdal, larger than that of Borgund, +dates from about the same period, probably the twelfth century. +Its style is similar, although it has not the same +horned ornaments upon the roof, and the Byzantine features +being simpler, produce a more harmonious effect. It is a +charmingly quaint and picturesque building, and the people +of the valley are justly proud of it. The interior has been +renovated, not in the best style.</p> + +<p>Well, to make this very long chapter short, we passed the +beautiful falls of the Tind Elv, drove for more than twenty +miles over wild piny hills, and then descended to Kongsberg, +where Fru Hansen comforted us with a good dinner. The +next day we breakfasted in Drammen, and, in baking heat +and stifling dust, traversed the civilised country between +that city and Christiania. Our Norwegian travel was now +at an end; and, as a snobby Englishman once said to me of +the Nile, "it is a good thing to have gotten over."</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2> + +<h2>NORWAY AND SWEDEN.</h2> + + +<p>We spent four days in Christiania, after completing our +Norwegian travels. The sky was still perfectly clear, and +up to the day of our departure no rain fell. Out of sixty +days which we had devoted to Norway, only four were +rainy—a degree of good fortune which rarely falls to the +lot of travellers in the North.</p> + +<p>Christiania, from its proximity to the continent, and its +character as capital of the country, is sufficiently advanced +in the arts of living, to be a pleasant resting-place after the +<i>désagrémens</i> and privations of travel in the interior. It +has two or three tolerably good and very exorbitant hotels, +and some bankers with less than the usual amount of conscience. +One of them offered to change some Prussian +thalers for my friend, at only ten per cent. less than their +current value. The <i>vognmand</i> from whom we purchased +our carrioles, endeavoured to evade his bargain, and protested +that he had not money enough to repurchase them. +I insisted, however, and with such good effect that he finally +pulled a roll of notes, amounting to several hundred dollars +out of his pocket, and paid me the amount in full. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span>English travellers whom I met had not fared any better; +and one and all of us were obliged to recede from our preconceived +ideas of Norwegian character. But enough of an +unpleasant theme; I would rather praise than blame, any +day, but I can neither praise nor be silent when censure is a +part of the truth.</p> + +<p>I had a long conversation with a distinguished Norwegian, +on the condition of the country people. He differed with +me in the opinion that the clergy were to some extent responsible +for their filthy and licentious habits, asserting that, +though the latter were <i>petits seigneurs</i>, with considerable +privileges and powers, the people were jealously suspicious +of any attempt to exert an influence upon their lives. But +is not this a natural result of the preaching of doctrinal +religion, of giving an undue value to external forms and +ceremonies? "We have a stubborn people," said my informant; +"their excessive self-esteem makes them difficult to +manage. Besides, their morals are perhaps better than +would be inferred from the statistics. Old habits have been +retained, in many districts, which are certainly reprehensible, +but which spring from custom rather than depravity. I +wish they were less vain and sensitive, since in that case +they would improve more rapidly." He stated also that the +surprising number of illegitimate births is partly accounted +for by the fact that there are a great number of connections +which have all the character of marriage except the actual +ceremony. This is an affair of considerable cost and show; +and many of the poorer people, unable to afford it, live together +rather than wait, hoping that a time may come when +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span>they will be able to defray the expenses, and legitimate the +children who may meanwhile be born. In some cases the +parties disagree, the connection is broken off, and each one +seeks a new mate. Whatever palliation there may be in +particular instances, the moral effect of this custom is unquestionably +bad; and the volume of statistics recently published +by Herr Sundt, who was appointed by the Storthing +to investigate the subject, shows that there is no agricultural +population in the world which stands lower in the scale of +chastity, than that of Norway.</p> + +<p>In the course of our conversation, the gentleman gave an +amusing instance of the very sensitiveness which he condemned. +I happened, casually, to speak of the Icelandic +language. "The <i>Icelandic</i> language!" he exclaimed. "So +you also in America call it Icelandic; but you ought to +know that it is Norwegian. It is the same language spoken +by the Norwegian Vikings who colonised Iceland—the old +Norsk, which originated here, and was merely carried thither." +"We certainly have some reason," I replied, "seeing that it +now only exists in Iceland, and has not been spoken in Norway +for centuries; but let me ask why you, speaking +Danish, call your language Norsk." "Our language, as +written and printed, is certainly pure Danish," said he; +"but there is some difference of accent in speaking it." He +did not add that this difference is strenuously preserved and +even increased by the Norwegians, that they may not be +suspected of speaking Danish, while they resist with equal +zeal, any approach to the Swedish. Often, in thoughtlessly +speaking of the language as Danish, I have heard the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span>ill-humoured +reply, "Our language is not Danish, but Norsk." +As well might we say at home, "We speak American, not +English."</p> + +<p>I had the good fortune to find Professor Munck, the historian +of Norway, at home, though on the eve of leaving for +Italy. He is one of the few distinguished literary names +the country has produced. Holberg the comedian was born +in Bergen; but he is generally classed among the Danish +authors. In art, however, Norway takes no mean rank, the +names of her painters Dahl, Gude, and Tidemand having a +European reputation. Professor Munck is about fifty years +of age, and a fine specimen of the Viking stock. He speaks +English fluently, and I regretted that the shortness of my +stay did not allow me to make further drafts on his surplus +intelligence. In the Museum of Northern Antiquities, +which is small, as compared with that of Copenhagen, but +admirably arranged, I made the acquaintance of Professor +Keyser, the author of a very interesting work, on the "Religion +of Northmen," a translation of which by Mr. Barclay +Pennock, appeared in New York, some three years ago.</p> + +<p>I was indebted to Professor Munck, for a sight of the +Storthing, or National Legislative Assembly, which was +then in session. The large hall of the University, a semi-circular +room, something like our Senate Chamber, has been +given up to its use, until an appropriate building shall be +erected. The appearance and conduct of the body strikingly +reminded me of one of our State Legislatures. The +members were plain, practical-looking men, chosen from all +classes, and without any distinguishing mark of dress. The +speaker was quite a young man, with a moustache. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span>Schweigaard +the first jurist in Norway, was speaking as we entered. +The hall is very badly constructed for sound, and I +could not understand the drift of his speech, but was exceedingly +struck by the dryness of his manner. The Norwegian +Constitution has been in operation forty-three years, and its +provisions, in most respects so just and liberal, have been +most thoroughly and satisfactorily tested. The Swedes and +a small conservative party in Norway, would willingly see +the powers of the Storthing curtailed a little; but the people +now know what they have got, and are further than ever +from yielding any part of it. In the house of almost every +Norwegian farmer, one sees the constitution, with the <i>facsimile</i> +autographs of its signers, framed and conspicuously +hung up. The reproach has been made, that it is not an +original instrument—that it is merely a translation of the +Spanish Constitution of 1812, a copy of the French Constitution +of 1791, &c.; but it is none the worse for that. +Its framers at least had the wisdom to produce the right +thing at the right time, and by their resolution and determined +attitude to change a subject province into a free and +independent state: for, carefully guarded as it is, the union +with Sweden is only a source of strength and security.</p> + +<p>One peculiarity of the Storthing is, that a majority of +its members are, and necessarily must be, farmers; whence +Norway is sometimes nicknamed the <i>Farmer State</i>. Naturally, +they take very good care of their own interests, one +of their first steps being to abolish all taxes on landed property; +but in other respects I cannot learn that their rule is +not as equitable as that of most legislative bodies. Mügge, +in his recently published <i>Nordisches Bilderbuch</i> (Northern +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span>Picture Book), gives an account of a conversation which he +had with a Swedish statesman on this subject. The latter +was complaining of the stubbornness and ignorance of the +Norwegian farmers. Mügge asked, (the remainder of the +dialogue is too good to be omitted):—</p> + +<p>"The Storthing, then, consists of a majority of coarse +and ignorant people?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Statesman.</span> "I will not assert that. A certain practical +understanding cannot be denied to most of these farmers, +and they often bestow on their sons a good education before +giving them the charge of the paternal fields. One, therefore, +finds in the country many accomplished men: how +could there be 700 students in Christiania, if there were +not many farmers' sons among them?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Author.</span> "But does this majority of farmers in the +Storthing commit absurdities? does it govern the country +badly, burden it with debts or enact unjust laws?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Statesman.</span> "That cannot exactly be admitted, although +this majority naturally gives its own interests the preference, +and shapes the government accordingly. The state has +no debts; on the contrary, its treasury is full, an abundance +of silver, its bank-notes in demand, order everywhere, and, +as you see, an increase of prosperity, with a flourishing commerce. +Here lies a statement before me, according to which, +in the last six months alone, more than a hundred vessels +have been launched in different ports."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Author.</span> "The Farmer-Legislature, then, as I remark, +takes care of itself, but is niggardly and avaricious when its +own interests are not concerned?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Statesman.</span> "It is a peculiar state of affairs. In very +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span>many respects this reproach cannot be made against the farmers. +If anything is to be done for science, or for so-called +utilitarian objects, they are always ready to give money. If +a deserving man is to be assisted, if means are wanted for +beneficial purposes, insane asylums, hospitals, schools, and +such like institutions, the Council of State is always sure +that it will encounter no opposition. On other occasions, +however, these lords of the land are as hard and tough as +Norwegian pines, and button up their pockets so tight that +not a dollar drops out."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Author.</span> "On what occasions?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Statesman.</span> "Why, you see (shrugging his shoulders), +those farmers have not the least <i>comprehension of statesmanship</i>! +As soon as there is any talk of appropriations +for increasing the army, or the number of officers, or the +pay of foreign ministers, or the salaries of high official persons, +or anything of that sort, you can't do anything with +them."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Author.</span> (To himself.) "God keep them a long time +without a comprehension of statesmanship! If I were a +member of the Storthing, I would have as thick a head as +the rest of them."</p> + +<p>On the 5th of September, Braisted and I took passage +for Gottenburg, my friend having already gone home by +way of Kiel. We had a smooth sea and an agreeable voyage, +and awoke the next morning in Sweden. On the day +after our arrival, a fire broke out in the suburb of Haga, +which consumed thirteen large houses, and turned more than +two hundred poor people out of doors. This gave me an +opportunity to see how fires are managed here. It was full +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span>half an hour after the alarm-bell was rung before the first +engine began to play; the water had to be hauled from the +canal, and the machine, of a very small and antiquated pattern, +contributed little towards stopping the progress of the +flames. The intervention of a row of gardens alone saved +the whole suburb from destruction. There must have been +from six to eight thousand spectators present, scattered all +over the rocky knolls which surround Gottenburg. The +fields were covered with piles of household furniture and +clothing, yet no guard seemed to be necessary for their protection, +and the owners showed no concern for their security.</p> + +<p>There is a degree of confidence exhibited towards strangers +in Sweden, especially in hotels, at post-stations, and on +board the inland steamers, which tells well for the general +honesty of the people. We went on board the steamer +<i>Werner</i> on the morning of the 8th, but first paid our passage +two days afterwards, just before reaching Carlstad. An +account book hangs up in the cabin, in which each passenger +enters the number of meals or other refreshments he +has had, makes his own bill and hands over the amount to +the stewardess. In posting, the <i>skjutsbonder</i> very often do not +know the rates, and take implicitly what the traveller gives +them. I have yet to experience the first attempt at imposition +in Sweden. The only instances I heard of were related +to me by Swedes themselves, a large class of whom +make a point of depreciating their own country and character. +This habit of detraction is carried to quite as great +an extreme as the vanity of the Norwegians, and is the less +pardonable vice of the two.</p> + +<p>It was a pleasant thing to hear again the musical <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span>Swedish +tongue, and to exchange the indifference and reserve of +Norway for the friendly, genial, courteous manner of Sweden. +What I have said about the formality and affectation +of manners, and the rigidity of social etiquette, in the chapters +relating to Stockholm, was meant to apply especially to +the capital. Far be it from me to censure that natural and +spontaneous courtesy which is a characteristic of the whole +people. The more I see of the Swedes, the more I am convinced +that there is no kinder, simpler, and honester people +in the world. With a liberal common school system, a fairer +representation, and release from the burden of a state +church, they would develop rapidly and nobly.</p> + +<p>Our voyage from Gottenburg to Carlstad, on the Wener +Lake, had but one noteworthy point—the Falls of Trollhätten. +Even had I not been fresh from the Riukan-Foss, +which was still flashing in my memory, I should have +been disappointed in this renowned cataract. It is not a +single fall, but four successive descents, within the distance +of half a mile, none of them being over twenty feet in perpendicular +height. The Toppö Fall is the only one which +at all impressed me, and that principally through its remarkable +form. The huge mass of the Gotha River, +squeezed between two rocks, slides down a plane with an +inclination of about 50°, strikes a projecting rock at the +bottom, and takes an upward curve, flinging tremendous +volumes of spray, or rather broken water, into the air. The +bright emerald face of the watery plane is covered with a +network of silver threads of shifting spray, and gleams of +pale blue and purple light play among the shadows of the +rising globes of foam below.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2> + +<h2>A TRAMP THROUGH WERMELAND AND DALECARLIA.</h2> + + +<p>On leaving Carlstad our route lay northward up the valley +of the Klar Elv, in the province of Wermeland, and +thence over the hills, by way of Westerdal, in Dalecarlia, +to the head of the Siljan Lake. The greater part of this +region is almost unknown to travellers, and belongs to the +poorest and wildest parts of Sweden. We made choice of +it for this reason, that we might become acquainted with +the people in their true character, and compare them with +the same class in Norway. Our heavy luggage had all been +sent on to Stockholm, in the charge of an Irish friend, and +we retained no more than could be carried easily in two +packs, as we anticipated being obliged to perform part of the +journey on foot.</p> + +<p>It rained in torrents during the day we spent in Carlstad, +and some lumber merchants of Gottenburg, who were +on their way to Fryxendal, to superintend the getting down +of their rafts, predicted that the deluge would last an entire +month. There was always a month of rainy weather at +this season they said, and we had better give up our proposed +journey. We trusted to our combined good luck +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span>however, and were not deceived, for, with the exception of +two days, we had charming weather during the remainder +of our stay in Sweden. Having engaged a two-horse cart +for the first post-station, we left Carlstad on the morning +of the 11th of September. The clouds were still heavy, but +gradually rolled into compacter masses, giving promise of +breaking away. The city is built upon a little island at +the head of the lake, whence we crossed to the mainland by +a strong old bridge. Our road led eastward through a +slightly undulating country, where broad woods of fir and +birch divided the large, well cultivated farms. The <i>gårds</i>, +or mansions, which we passed, with their gardens and ornamental +shrubbery, gave evidence of comfort and competence. +The people were in the harvest-fields, cutting oats, which +they piled upon stakes to dry. Every one we met saluted +us courteously, with a cheerful and friendly air, which was +all the more agreeable by contrast with the Norwegian reserve.</p> + +<p>At the station, Prestegård, we procured a good breakfast +of ham, eggs, and potatoes, and engaged two carts to take +us further. We now turned northward over a lovely rolling +country, watered with frequent streams,—a land of soft outlines, +of woods and swelling knolls, to which the stately old +houses gave an expression of contentment and household +happiness. At Deye we left our carts, shouldered our packs, +and trudged off on foot up the valley of the Klar Elv, which +is here a broad lazy stream, filled with tens of thousands +of pine-logs, waiting to be carried down to the Wener by +the first freshet. The scenery charmed us by its rich and +quiet beauty; it was without grand or striking features, but +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span>gently undulating, peaceful, and home-like. We found +walking very fatiguing in the hot sun, which blazed upon +us all the afternoon with a summer heat. The handsome +residences and gardens, which we occasionally passed, gave +evidence of taste and refinement in their possessors, and +there was a pleasant grace in the courteous greetings of the +country people whom we met. Towards evening we reached +a post-station, and were tired enough to take horses again. +It was after dark before we drew up at Ohlsäter, in the +heart of Wermeland. Here we found a neat, comfortable +room, with clean beds, and procured a supper of superb +potatoes. The landlord was a tall, handsome fellow, whose +friendly manners, and frank face, breathing honesty and +kindness in every lineament, quite won my heart. Were +there more such persons in the world, it would be a pleasanter +place of residence.</p> + +<p>We took horses and bone-shattering carts in the morning, +for a distance of thirteen miles up the valley of the Klar +Elv. The country was very picturesque and beautiful, well +cultivated, and quite thickly settled. The wood in the sheltered +bed of the valley was of remarkably fine growth; the +birch trees were the largest I ever saw, some of them being +over one hundred feet in height. Comfortable residences, +with orchards and well-kept gardens attached, were quite +frequent, and large sawmills along the river, which in some +places was entirely concealed by floating rafts of lumber, +gave an air of industry and animation to the landscape. In +one place the road was spanned, for a considerable distance, +with triumphal arches of foliage. I inquired the meaning +of this display of the boy who accompanied us. "Why," +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span>said he, "there was a wedding a week ago, at the <i>herregård</i> +(gentleman's residence); the young Herr got married, and +these arches were put up for him and his bride." The herregård, +which we passed soon afterwards, was an imposing +mansion, upon an eminence overlooking the valley. Beside +it was a <i>jernbruk</i>, or iron-works, from which a tramway, +some miles in length, led to the mines.</p> + +<p>Resuming our knapsacks, we walked on up the valley. +The hills on either side increased in height, and gloomed +darkly under a threatening sky. The aspect of the country +gradually became wilder, though, wherever there was cultivation, +it bore the same evidence of thrift and prosperity. +After a steady walk of four hours, we reached the village of +Råda, where our road left the beautiful Klar Elv, and struck +northwards towards Westerdal, in Dalecarlia. We procured +a dinner of potatoes and bacon, with excellent ale, enjoying, +meanwhile, a lovely view over a lake to the eastward, which +stretched away for ten miles between the wooded hills. The +evening was cold and raw: we drove through pine-woods, +around the head of the lake, and by six o'clock reached Asplund, +a miserable little hamlet on a dreary hill. The post-station +was a forlorn cottage with a single room, not of the +most inviting appearance. I asked if we could get quarters +for the night. "If you <i>will</i> stay, of course you <i>can</i>," said +the occupant, an old woman; "but there is no bed, and I +can get you horses directly to go on." It was a distance of +thirteen miles to the next station, but we yielded to the old +woman's hint, and set forward. The road led through woods, +which seemed interminable. We were jammed together into +a little two-wheeled cart, with the boy between our knees. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span>He seemed much disinclined to hurry the horse, but soon +fell asleep, and one of us held him by the collar to prevent +his tumbling out, while the other took the lines, and urged +on our slow beast. The night was so dark that we had great +difficulty in keeping the road, but towards eleven o'clock we +emerged from the woods, and found, by shaking the boy, +that we were approaching the station at last. This was a +little place called Laggasen, on the northern frontier of +Wermeland.</p> + +<p>Everybody had gone to bed in the hut at which we +stopped. We entered the kitchen, which was at the same +time the bedroom, and aroused the inmates, who consisted +of a lonely woman, with two or three children. She got up +in a very scanty chemise, lit a wooden splinter, and inspected +us, and, in answer to our demand for a bed, informed us that +we would have to lie upon the floor. We were about to do +this, when she said we could get good quarters at the <i>Nore</i>, +on the top of the hill. Her earnestness in persuading us to +go made me suspect that she merely wanted to get rid of us, +and I insisted that she should accompany us to show the way. +After some hesitation she consented, and we set out. We +first crossed a broad swamp, on a road made of loose logs, +then climbed a hill, and trudged for some distance across +stubble-fields, until my patience was quite worn out, and +Braisted made use of some powerful maritime expressions. +Finally, we reached a house, which we entered without more +ado. The close, stifling atmosphere, and the sound of hard +breathing on all sides, showed us that a whole family had +been for some hours asleep there. Our guide thumped on the +door, and hailed, and at length somebody awoke. "Can you +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span>give two travellers a bed?" she asked. "No," was the +comfortable reply, followed by the yell of an aroused baby +and the noises of the older children. We retreated at once, +and opened a battery of reproaches on the old woman for +having brought us on a fool's errand. "There is Ohlsen's," +she replied, very quietly, "I think I can get you a bed +there." Whereupon we entered another house in the same +unceremonious manner, but with a better result. A plump, +good-natured housewife jumped out of bed, went to an opposite +door, and thumped upon it. "Lars!" she cried, +"come out of that this minute!" As we entered, with a +torch of dry fir, Lars, who proved to be a middle-aged man, +got out of bed sleepily, picked up his clothes and marched +off. The hostess then brought clean sheets and pillow-cases, +and by midnight we were sweetly and blissfully stowed +away together in the place vacated by poor Lars.</p> + +<p>Nothing could exceed the kindness and courtesy of the +good people in the morning. The hostess brought us coffee, +and her son went off to get us a horse and cart. She would +make no charge, as we had had so little, she said, and was +quite grateful for the moderate sum I gave her. We had a +wild road over hills, covered with pine forests, through the +breaks in which we now and then caught a glimpse of a +long lake to the westward, shining with a steel-blue gleam +in the morning sun. There were but few clearings along +the road, and miles frequently intervened without a sign of +human habitation. We met, however, with great numbers +of travellers, mostly farmers, with laden hay-carts. It was +Sunday morning, and I could not help contrasting these +people with those we had seen on the same day three weeks +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span>previous whilst crossing the Fille Fjeld. Here, every one +had evidently been washed and combed: the men wore clean +shirts and stockings, and the women chemises of snowy +whiteness under their gay boddices. They were mostly +Dalecarlians, in the picturesque costume of the province. +We entered Dalecarlia on this stage, and the frank fresh +faces of these people, their unmistakable expression of honesty +and integrity, and the hearty cordiality of their greetings, +welcomed us delightfully to the storied ground of +Sweden.</p> + +<p>Towards noon we reached the village of Tyngsjö, a little +settlement buried in the heart of the wild woods. A mile +or two of the southern slope of a hill had been cleared away, +and over this a number of dark wooden farmhouses were +scattered, with oats and potato-fields around them. An odd +little church stood in midst, and the rich swell of a hymn, +sung by sweet Swedish voices, floated to us over the fields as +we drove up to the post-station. The master, a tall, slender +man, with yellow locks falling upon his shoulders, and a face +which might be trusted with millions, welcomed us with a +fine antique courtesy, and at once sent off for horses. In a +little while three farmers came, saluting us gracefully, and +standing bareheaded while they spoke to us. One of them, +who wore a dark brown jacket and knee-breeches, with a +clean white shirt and stockings, had a strikingly beautiful +head. The face was a perfect oval, the eyes large and dark, +and the jet-black hair, parted on the forehead, fell in silky +waves upon his shoulders. He was as handsome and graceful +as one of Vandyk's cavaliers, and showed the born gentleman +in his demeanour. He proposed that we should take +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span>one horse, as it could be gotten without delay, while two +(which the law obliged us to take and pay for, if the farmers +chose), would have detained us an hour. As the women were +in church, the postmaster himself cooked us some freshly-dug +potatoes, which, with excellent butter, he set before us. +"I have a kind of ale," said he, "which is called porter; if +you will try it, perhaps you will like it." It was, in reality, +so good, that we took a second bottle with us for refreshment +on the road. When I asked how much we should pay, he +said: "I don't think you should pay anything, there was so +little." "Well," said I, "It is worth at least half a rigsdaler." +"Oh, but that may be too much," he answered, +hesitatingly.</p> + +<p>Our postillion was a fine handsome fellow, so rosy and +robust that it made one feel stronger and healthier to sit +beside him. He did not spare the horse, which was a big, +capable animal, and we rolled along through endless forests +of fir and pine as rapidly as the sandy road would allow. +After we had gone about eight miles he left us, taking a +shorter footpath through the woods. We guessed at our +proper direction, sometimes taking the wrong road, but +finally, after two hours or more, emerged from the woods +into Westerdal, one of the two great valleys from which +Dalecarlia (<i>Dalarne</i>, or The Dales) takes its name. The +day was magnificent, clear, and with a cold north-east wind, +resembling the latter part of October at home. The broad, +level valley, with its fields and clustered villages, lay before +us in the pale, cold autumnal sunshine, with low blue hills +bounding it in the distance. We met many parties in carts, +either returning from church, or on their way to visit <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span>neighbours. +All were in brilliant Sunday costume, the men in +blue jackets and knee-breeches, with vests of red or some +other brilliant colour, and the women with gay embroidered +boddices, white sleeves, and striped petticoats of blue, red, +brown, and purple, and scarlet stockings. Some of them +wore, in addition, an outer jacket of snowy sheepskin, with +elaborate ornamental stitch-work on the back. Their faces +were as frank and cheerful as their dresses were tidy, and +they all greeted us with that spontaneous goodness of heart +which recognises a brother in every man. We had again +taken a wrong road, and a merry party carefully set us +right again, one old lady even proposing to leave her friends +and accompany us, for fear we should go astray again.</p> + +<p>We crossed the Westerdal by a floating bridge, and towards +sunset reached the inn of Rågsveden, our destination. +It was a farmer's <i>gård</i>, standing a little distance off the +road. An entrance through one of the buildings, closed +with double doors, admitted us into the courtyard, a hollow +square, surrounded with two story wooden dwellings, painted +dark red. There seemed to be no one at home, but after +knocking and calling for a time an old man made his appearance. +He was in his second childhood, but knew enough +to usher us into the kitchen and ask us to wait for the landlord's +arrival. After half an hour our postillion arrived +with four or five men in their gayest and trimmest costume, +the landlord among them. They immediately asked who +and what we were, and we were then obliged to give them +an account of all our travels. Their questions were shrewd +and intelligent, and their manner of asking, coupled as it +was with their native courtesy, showed an earnest desire for +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span>information, which we were most willing to gratify. By +and by the hostess came, and we were ushered into a very +pleasant room, with two beds, and furnished with a supper +of fresh meat, potatoes, and mead. The landlord and two +or three of the neighbours sat with us before the fire until +we were too sleepy to answer any more questions. A more +naturally independent and manly bearing I have never seen +than that of our host. He was a tall, powerful man, of +middle age, with very handsome features, which were softened +but not weakened in expression by his long blond hair, +parted on his forehead. He had the proper pride which belongs +to the consciousness of worth, and has no kinship with +empty vanity. "We have come to Dalecarlia to see the +descendants of the people who gave Gustavus Vasa his +throne," said I, curious to see whether he would betray any +signs of flattered pride. His blue eye flashed a little, as he +sat with his hands clasped over one knee, gazing at the fire, +a light flush ran over his temples—but he said nothing. +Some time ago a proposition was made to place a portrait +of Gustavus Vasa in the church at Mora. "No," said the +Dalecarlians, "we will not have it: we do not need any +picture to remind us of what our fathers have done."</p> + +<p>The landlady was a little woman, who confessed to being +forty-nine years old, although she did not appear to be more +than forty. "I have had a great deal of headache," said +she, "and I look much older than I am." Her teeth were +superb, as were those of all the women we saw. I do not suppose +a tooth-brush is known in the valley; yet the teeth +one sees are perfect pearls. The use of so much sour milk +is said to preserve them. There was a younger person in +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span>the house, whom we took to be a girl of sixteen, but who +proved to be the son's wife, a woman of twenty-six, and the +mother of two or three children. The Dalecarlians marry +young when they are able, but even in opposite cases they +rarely commit any violation of the laws of morality. Instances +are frequent, I was told, where a man and woman, +unable to defray the expense of marriage, live together for +years in a state of mutual chastity, until they have saved a +sum sufficient to enable them to assume the responsibilities +of married life. I know there is no honester, and I doubt +whether there is a purer, people on the earth than these +Dalecarlians.</p> + +<p>We awoke to another glorious autumnal day. The valley +was white with frost in the morning, and the air deliciously +keen and cold; but after sunrise heavy white vapours +arose from the spangled grass, and the day gradually grew +milder. I was amused at the <i>naïve</i> curiosity of the landlady +and her daughter-in-law, who came into our room very +early, that they might see the make of our garments and +our manner of dressing. As they did not appear to be +conscious of any impropriety, we did not think it necessary +to feel embarrassed. Our Lapland journey had taught us +habits of self-possession under such trying circumstances. +We had coffee, paid an absurdly small sum for our entertainment, +and took a cordial leave of the good people. A +boy of fifteen, whose eyes, teeth and complexion kept my +admiration on the stretch during the whole stage, drove us +through unbroken woods to Skamhed, ten miles further down +the valley. Here the inn was a little one story hut, miserable +to behold externally, but containing a neat guest's room +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span>and moreover, as we discovered in the course of time—a +good breakfast. While we were waiting there, a man came +up who greeted us in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, on +learning that we came from America. "Are you not afraid +to travel so far from home?" he asked: "how could you +cross the great sea?" "Oh," I answered, "there is no more +danger in one part of the world than another." "Yes," +said he, "God is as near on the water as on the land"—unconsciously +repeating the last words of Sir Humphrey Gilbert: +"Christ walked upon the waves and quieted them, +and he walks yet, for them that believe in Him." Hereupon +he began repeating some hymns, mingled with texts of +Scripture, which process he continued until we became +heartily tired. I took him at a venture, for an over-enthusiastic +<i>Läsare</i>, or "Reader," the name given to the Swedish +dissenters.</p> + +<p>We had a station of twenty three miles before us, to the +village of Landbobyn, which lies in the wooded wilderness +between Osterdal and Westerdal. Our postillion, a fine +young fellow of twenty-two, over six feet in height, put on +his best blue jacket and knee-breeches, with a leather apron +reaching from his shoulders to below his knees. This is an +article worn by almost all Dalecarlians for the purpose of +saving their clothes while at work, and gives them an awkward +and ungraceful air. This fellow, in spite of a little +fear at the bare idea, expressed his willingness to go with +us all over the world, but the spirit of wandering was evidently +so easy to be kindled in him, that I rather discouraged +him. We had a monotonous journey of five hours +through a forest of pine, fir, and birch, in which deer and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span>elk are frequently met with; while the wolf and the bear +haunt its remoter valleys. The ground was but slightly +undulating, and the scenery in general was as tame as it +was savage.</p> + +<p>Landbobyn was a wretched hamlet on the banks of a +stream, with a few cleared fields about it. As the sun had +not yet set, we determined to push on to Kettbo, eight or +ten miles further, and engaged a boy to pilot us through the +woods. The post-station was a miserable place, where we +found it impossible to get anything to eat. I sat down and +talked with the family while our guide recruited himself +with a large dish of thick sour milk. "Why do you travel +about the earth?" asked his mother: "is it that you may +spy out the poverty of the people and see how miserably +they live?" "No," said I, "it is that I may become acquainted +with the people, whether they are poor or not." +"But," she continued, "did you ever see a people poorer than +we?" "Often," said I; "because you are contented, and no +one can be entirely poor who does not complain." She shook +her head with a sad smile and said nothing.</p> + +<p>Our guide poled us across the river in a rickety boat, and +then plunged into the woods. He was a tall, well grown +boy of fifteen or sixteen, with a beautiful oval face, long fair +hair parted in the middle and hanging upon his shoulders, +and a fine, manly, resolute expression. With his jacket, +girdle, knee-breeches, and the high crowned and broad brimmed +felt hat he wore, he reminded me strongly of the picture +of Gustavus Vasa in his Dalecarlian disguise, in the cathedral +of Upsala. He was a splendid walker, and quite put +me, old pedestrian as I am, out of countenance. The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span>footpath +we followed was terribly rough; we stumbled over +stock and stone, leaped fallen trees, crossed swamps on tussocks +of spongy moss, and climbed over heaps of granite +boulders: yet, while we were panting and exhausted with +our exertions to keep pace with him, he walked onward as +quietly and easily as if the smoothest meadow turf were +under his feet. I was quite puzzled by the speed he kept +up on such a hard path, without seeming to put forth any +extra strength. At sunset he pointed out some clearings on +a hill side over the tree tops, a mile or two ahead, as our +destination. Dusk was gathering as we came upon a pretty +lake, with a village scattered along its hilly shore. The +post-station, however, was beyond it, and after some delay +the boy procured a boat and rowed us across. Telling us to +go up the hill and we should find the inn, he bade us good +bye and set out on his return.</p> + +<p>We soon reached a <i>gård</i>, the owner whereof, after satisfying +his curiosity concerning us by numerous questions, +informed us that the inn was still further. After groping +about in the dark for awhile, we found it. The landlord +and his wife were sitting before the fire, and seemed, I +thought, considerably embarrassed by our arrival. There +was no bed, they said, and they had nothing that we could +eat; their house was beyond the lake, and they only came +over to take charge of the post-station when their turn arrived. +We were devoured with hunger and thirst, and told +them we should be satisfied with potatoes and a place on the +floor. The wife's brother, who came in soon afterwards, was +thereupon despatched across the lake to bring coffee for us, +and the pleasant good-wife put our potatoes upon the fire to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span>boil. We lit our pipes, meanwhile, and sat before the fire, +talking with our host and some neighbours who came in. +They had much to ask about America, none of them having +ever before seen a native of that country. Their questions +related principally to the cost of living, to the value of +labour, the price of grain, the climate and productions, and +the character of our laws. They informed me that the +usual wages in Dalecarlia were 24 skillings (13 cents) a day, +and that one <i>tunne</i> (about 480 lbs.) of rye cost 32 <i>rigsdaler</i> +($8.37-1/2). "No doubt you write descriptions of your travels?" +asked the landlord. I assented. "And then, perhaps, you +make books of them?" he continued: whereupon one of the +neighbours asked, "But do you get any money for your +books?"</p> + +<p>The potatoes were finally done, and they, with some +delicious milk, constituted our supper. By this time the +brother had returned, bringing with him coffee, a pillow, +and a large coverlet made entirely of cat-skins. A deep +bed of hay was spread upon the floor, a coarse linen sheet +thrown over it, and, with the soft fur covering, we had a +sumptuous bed. About midnight we were awakened by an +arrival. Two tailors, one of them hump-backed, on their +way to Wermeland, came in, with a tall, strong woman as +postillion. The fire was rekindled, and every thing which +the landlord had extracted from us was repeated to the new +comers, together with a very genial criticism upon our personal +appearance and character. After an hour or two, +more hay was brought in and the two tailors and the postillioness +lay down side by side. We had barely got to +sleep again, when there was another arrival. "I am the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span>post-girl," said a female voice. Hereupon everybody woke +up, and the story of the two foreign travellers was told over +again. In the course of the conversation I learned that the +girl carried the post twenty English miles once a week, for +which she received 24 <i>rigs</i> ($6.25) annually. "It is a hard +business," said the hump-backed tailor. "Yes; but I am +obliged to do it," answered the girl. After her departure +we were not again disturbed, and managed to get some sleep +at last.</p> + +<p>We all completed our toilettes in the same room, without +the least embarrassment; and, with a traveller's curiosity, +I may be pardoned for noticing the general bodily cleanliness +of my various bed-fellows, especially as the city Swedes +are in the habit of saying that the country people are +shockingly dirty. We had coffee, and made arrangements +with the girl who had brought the tailors to take us back in +her cart. Our host would make no charge for the bed, and +next to nothing for our fare, so I put a bank-note in the +hand of little Pehr, his only child, telling him to take care +of it, and spend it wisely when he grew up. The delight +of the good people knew no bounds. Pehr must hold up +his little mouth to be kissed, again and again; the mother +shook us warmly by the hand, and the father harnessed his +horse and started with us. May the blessing of God be +upon all poor, honest, and contented people!</p> + +<p>Our road led between wooded hills to the Siljan-Forss, a +large iron-foundry upon a stream which flows into the Siljan +Lake. It was a lovely morning, and our postillion who was +a woman of good sense and some intelligence, chatted with +me the whole way. She was delighted to find that we could +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span>so easily make ourselves understood. "When I saw you +first in the night," said she, "I thought you must certainly +be Swedes. All the foreigners I saw in Stockholm had +something dark and cloudy in their countenances, but both +of you have shining faces." She questioned me a great deal +about the sacred localities of Palestine, and about the state +of religion in America. She evidently belonged to the +<i>Läsare</i>, who, she stated, were very numerous in Dalecarlia. +"It is a shame," said she, "that we poor people are obliged +to pay so much for the support of the Church, whether we +belong to it or not. Our taxes amount to 40 <i>rigs</i> yearly, +ten of which, in Mora parish, go to the priest. They say he +has an income of half a <i>rigs</i> every hour of his life. King +Oscar wishes to make religion free, and so it ought to be, +but the clergy are all against him, and the clergy control the +<i>Bondestånd</i> (House of Peasants), and so he can do nothing." +The woman was thirty-one years old, and worn with hard +labour. I asked her if she was married. "No," she answered, +with a deep sigh, looking at the betrothal-ring on +her finger. "Ah," she continued, "we are all poor, Sweden +is a poor country; we have only iron and timber, not grain, +and cotton, and silk, and sugar, like other countries."</p> + +<p>As we descended towards the post-station of Vik we caught +a glimpse of the Siljan Lake to the south, and the tall +tower of Mora Church, far to the eastward. At Vik, where +we found the same simple and honest race of people, we +parted with the postillioness and with our host of Kettbo, +who thanked us again in Pehr's name, as he shook hands for +the last time. We now had fast horses, and a fine road +over a long wooded hill, which was quite covered with the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span><i>lingon</i>, or Swedish cranberry. From the further slope we +at last looked down upon Mora, at the head of the Siljan +Lake, in the midst of a broad and fertile valley. Ten miles +to the eastward arose the spire of Orsa, and southward, on +an island in the lake, the tall church of Sollerön. "You +can see three churches at once," said our postillion with +great pride. So we could, and also the large, stately inn +of Mora—a most welcome sight to us, after five days on potato +diet.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a> +<br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span> +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2> + +<h2>LAST DAYS IN THE NORTH.</h2> + + +<p>Mora, in Dalecarlia, is classic ground. It was here that +Gustavus Vasa first harangued the people, and kindled that +spark of revolution, which in the end swept the Danes from +Sweden. In the cellar of a house which was pointed out to +us, on the southern shore of the Siljan Lake, he lay hidden +three days; in the barn of Ivan Elfssen he threshed corn, +disguised as a peasant; and on the road by which we had +travelled from Kettbo, in descending to the lake, we had +seen the mounds of stone, heaped over the Danes, who were +slain in his first victorious engagement. This district is +considered, also, one of the most beautiful in Sweden. It +has, indeed, a quiet, tranquil beauty, which gradually grows +upon the eye, so that if one is not particularly aroused on +first acquaintance, he at least carries away a delightful +picture in his memory. But in order to enjoy properly any +Swedish landscape whatsoever, one should not be too fresh +from Norway.</p> + +<p>After dinner we called at the "Parsonage of Mora," which +has given Miss Fredrika Bremer the materials for one of +her stories of Swedish life.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span>The <i>Prost</i>, Herr Kjelström, was not at home, but his +wife received us with great cordiality, and insisted upon our +remaining to tea. The magister——, who called at the +same time, gave us some information concerning the porphyry +quarries at Elfdal, which we were debating whether +we should visit. Very little is doing at present, not more +than ten men in all being employed, and in his opinion we +would hardly be repaid for the journey thither; so we determined +to turn southward again, and gradually make our way +to Stockholm. Fru Kjelström was one of the few Swedes I +met, who was really an enthusiastic admirer of Tegner; she +knew by heart the greater part of his "Frithiof's Saga."</p> + +<p>The morning after our arrival in Mora dawned dark and +cloudy, with a wailing wind and dashes of rain. There +were threats of the equinoctial storm, and we remembered +the prediction of the lumber merchants in Carlstad. During +the night, however, a little steamer belonging to an iron +company arrived, offering us the chance of a passage down +the lake to Leksand. While we were waiting on the shore, +the magister, who had come to see us depart, gave me some +information about the Läsare. He admitted that there were +many in Dalecarlia, and said that the policy of persecution, +which was practiced against them in the beginning, was now +dropped. They were, in general, ignored by the clerical +authorities. He looked upon the movement rather as a +transient hallucination than as a permanent secession from +the Established Church, and seemed to think that it would +gradually disappear, if left to itself. He admitted that the +king was in favour of religious liberty, but was so guarded +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span>in speaking of the subject that I did not ascertain his own +views.</p> + +<p>We had on board about sixty passengers, mostly peasants +from Upper Elfdal, bound on a peddling excursion through +Sweden, with packs of articles which they manufacture at +home. Their stock consisted mostly of pocket-books, purses, +boxes, and various small articles of ornament and use. The +little steamer was so well laden with their solid forms that +she settled into the mud, and the crew had hard poling to +get her off. There was service in Mora Church, and the +sound of the organ and choir was heard along the lake. +Many friends and relatives of the wandering Elfdalians +were on the little wooden pier to bid them adieu. "God's +peace be with thee!" was a parting salutation which I heard +many times repeated. At last we got fairly clear and paddled +off through the sepia-coloured water, watching the +softly undulating shores, which soon sank low enough to +show the blue, irregular hills in the distant background. +Mora spire was the central point in the landscape, and remained +visible until we had nearly reached the other end of +the lake. The Siljan has a length of about twenty-five +miles, with a breadth of from six to ten. The shores are +hilly, but only moderately high, except in the neighborhood +of Rättvik, where they were bold and beautiful. The soft +slopes on either hand were covered with the yellow pillars +of the ripe oats, bound to upright stakes to dry. From +every village rose a tall midsummer pole, yet laden with the +withered garlands of Sweden's fairest festival, and bearing +aloft its patriotic symbol, the crossed arrows of Dalecarlia. +The threatened storm broke and dispersed as we left Mora, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span>and strong sun-bursts between the clouds flashed across +these pastoral pictures.</p> + +<p>Soon after we left, a number of the men and women collected +together on the after-deck, and commenced singing +hymns, which occupation they kept up with untiring fervour +during the whole voyage. The young girls were remarkable +for weight and solidity of figure, ugliness of face, and +sweetness of voice. The clear, ringing tones, with a bell-like +purity and delicious <i>timbre</i>, issued without effort from +between their thick, beefy lips, and there was such a contrast +between sound and substance, that they attracted my +attention more than I should have thought possible. Some +of the men, who had heard what we were, entered into conversation +with us. I soon discovered that they were all +Läsare, and one of them, who seemed to exercise a kind of +leadership, and who was a man of considerable intelligence, +gave me a good deal of information about the sect. They +met together privately, he said, to read the New Testament, +trusting entirely to its inspired pages for the means of enlightenment +as to what was necessary for the salvation of +their souls. The clergy stood between them and the Voice +of God, who had spoken not to a particular class, but to all +mankind. They were liable to a fine of 200 <i>rigs</i> ($52) +every time they thus met together, my informant had once been +obliged to pay it himself. Nevertheless, he said they were +not interfered with so much at present, except that they were +obliged to pay tithes, as before. "The king is a good +man," he continued, "he means well, and would do us justice +if he had the power; but the clergy are all against +him, and his own authority is limited. Now they are +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span>going to bring the question of religious freedom before the +Diet, but we have not the least hope that anything will be +done." He also stated—what, indeed, must be evident to +every observing traveller—that the doctrines of the Läsare +had spread very rapidly, and that their numbers were continually +increasing.</p> + +<p>The creation of such a powerful dissenting body is a +thing that might have been expected. The Church, in +Sweden, had become a system of forms and ceremonies. +The pure spiritualism of Swedenborg, in the last century, +was a natural and gigantic rebound to the opposite extreme, +but, from its lofty intellectuality, was unfitted to be the +nucleus of a popular protest. Meanwhile, the souls of the +people starved on the dry husks which were portioned out +to them. They needed genuine nourishment. They are +an earnest, reflective race, and the religious element is deeply +implanted in their nature. The present movement, so much +like Methodism in many particulars, owes its success to the +same genial and all-embracing doctrine of an impartial visitation +of Divine grace, bringing man into nearer and tenderer +relations to his Maker. In a word, it is the democratic, +opposed to the aristocratic principle in religion. It is fashionable +in Sweden to sneer at the Läsare; their numbers, +character, and sincerity are very generally under-estimated. +No doubt there is much that is absurd and grotesque in their +services; no doubt they run into violent and unchristian extremes, +and often merely substitute fanaticism for spiritual +apathy; but I believe they will in the end be the instrument +of bestowing religious liberty upon Sweden.</p> + +<p>There was no end to the desire of these people for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span>knowledge. +They overwhelmed us with questions about our +country, its government, laws, climate, productions and +geographical extent. Next to America, they seemed most +interested in Palestine, and considered me as specially +favoured by Providence in having beheld Jerusalem. They +all complained of the burdens which fall upon a poor man +in Sweden, in the shape of government taxes, tithes, and +the obligation of supporting a portion of the army, who are +distributed through the provinces. Thus Dalecarlia, they +informed me, with a population of 132,000, is obliged to +maintain 1200 troops. The tax on land corresponded very +nearly with the statement made by my female postillion the +previous day. Dalecarlia, its mines excepted, is one of the +poorest of the Swedish provinces. Many of its inhabitants +are obliged to wander forth every summer, either to take +service elsewhere, or to dispose of the articles they fabricate +at home, in order, after some years of this irregular life, to +possess enough to enable them to pass the rest of their days +humbly at home. Our fellow-passengers told me of several +who had emigrated to America, where they had spent five +or six years. They grew home-sick at last, and returned to +their chilly hills. But it was not the bleak fir-woods, the +oat-fields, or the wooden huts which they missed; it was +the truth, the honesty, the manliness, and the loving tenderness +which dwell in Dalecarlian hearts.</p> + +<p>We had a strong wind abeam, but our little steamer made +good progress down the lake. The shores contracted, and +the white church of Leksand rose over the dark woods, and +between two and three o'clock in the afternoon, we were moored +in the Dal River, where it issues from the Siljan. The +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span>Elfdal peddlers shouldered their immense packs and set out, +bidding us a friendly adieu as we parted. After establishing +ourselves in the little inn, where we procured a tolerable +dinner, we called upon the <i>Domprost</i> Hvasser, to whom I +had a letter from a countryman who made a pedestrian +journey through Dalecarlia five years ago. The parsonage +was a spacious building near the church, standing upon the +brink of a lofty bank overlooking the outflow of the Dal. +The Domprost, a hale, stout old man, with something irresistibly +hearty and cheering in his manner, gave us both his +hands and drew us into the room, on seeing that we were +strangers. He then proceeded to read the letter. "Ho!" +he exclaimed, "to think that he has remembered me all this +time! And he has not forgotten that it was just midsummer +when he was here!" Presently he went out, and soon returned +with a basket in one hand and some plates in the +other, which he placed before us and heaped with fine ripe +cherries. "Now it is autumn," said he; "it is no longer +midsummer, but we have a little of the summer's fruit left." +He presented us to his sister and daughter, and to two +handsome young magisters, who assisted him in his parochial +duties.</p> + +<p>We walked in the garden, which was laid out with some +taste along the brow of the hill. A superb drooping birch, +eighty feet in height, was the crowning glory of the place. +The birch is the characteristic tree of Sweden, as the fir is +of Norway, the beech of Denmark, the oak of England and +Germany, the chestnut of Italy, and the palm of Esrypt. +Of northern trees, there is none more graceful in outline, but +in the cold, silvery hue of its foliage, summer can never find +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span>her best expression. The parson had a neat little bowling-alley, +in a grove of pine, on a projecting spur of the hill. +He did not disdain secular recreations; his religion was +cheerful and jubilant; he had found something else in the +Bible than the Lamentations of Jeremiah. There are so +many Christians who—to judge from the settled expression +of their faces—suffer under their belief, that it is a comfort +to find those who see nothing heretical in the fullest +and freest enjoyment of life. There was an apple-tree in +the garden which was just bursting into blossoms for the +second time. I called the Domprost's attention to it, remarking, +in a line from Frithiof's Saga:—"<i>Hösten bjuder +sin thron til varen</i>" (Autumn offers his throne to the spring). +"What!" he exclaimed in joyful surprise, "do you know +Tegner?" and immediately continued the quotation.</p> + +<p>There was no resisting the hospitable persuasions of the +family; we were obliged to take supper and spend the evening +with them. The daughter and the two magisters sang +for us all the characteristic songs of Wermeland and Dalecarlia +which they could remember, and I was more than ever +charmed with the wild, simple, original character of the +native melodies of Sweden. They are mostly in the minor +key, and some of them might almost be called monotonous; +yet it is monotony, or rather simplicity, in the notation, +which sticks to the memory. The longings, the regrets, the +fidelity, and the tenderness of the people, find an echo in +these airs, which have all the character of improvisations, +and rekindle in the heart of the hearer the passions they +were intended to relieve.</p> + +<p>We at last took leave of the good old man and his friendly +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span>household. The night was dark and rainy, and the magisters +accompanied us to the inn. In the morning it was +raining dismally,—a slow, cold, driving rain, which is the +climax of bad weather. We determined, however, to push +onward as far as Fahlun, the capital of Dalecarlia, about +four Swedish miles distant. Our road was down the valley +of the Dal Elv, which we crossed twice on floating bridges, +through a very rich, beautiful, and thickly settled country. +The hills were here higher and bolder than in Westerdal, +dark with forests of fir and pine, and swept south-eastward +in long ranges, leaving a broad, open valley for the river to +wander in. This valley, from three to five miles in width, +was almost entirely covered with enclosed fields, owing to +which the road was barred with gates, and our progress was +much delayed thereby. The houses were neat and substantial, +many of them with gardens and orchards attached, +while the unusual number of the barns and granaries gave +evidence of a more prosperous state of agriculture than we +had seen since leaving the neighborhood of Carlstad. We +pressed forward in the rain and raw wind, and reached Fahlun +towards evening, just in time to avoid a drenching +storm.</p> + +<p>Of the celebrated copper-mines of Fahlun, some of which +have been worked for 600 years, we saw nothing. We took +their magnitude and richness for granted, on the strength of +the immense heaps of dross through which we drove on approaching +the town, and the desolate appearance of the surrounding +country, whose vegetation has been for the most +part destroyed by the fumes from the smelting works. In +our sore and sodden condition, we were in no humour to go +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span>sight seeing, and so sat comfortably by the stove, while the +rain beat against the windows, and the darkness fell. The +next morning brought us a renewal of the same weather, but +we set out bravely in our open cart, and jolted over the +muddy roads with such perseverance, that we reached Hedemora +at night. The hills diminished in height as we proceeded +southward, but the scenery retained its lovely pastoral +character. My most prominent recollection of the day's +travel, however, is of the number of gates our numb and +blue-faced boy-postillions were obliged to jump down and +open.</p> + +<p>From Hedemora, a journey of two days through the provinces +of Westerås and Uppland, brought us to Upsala. +After leaving Dalecarlia and crossing the Dal River for the +fifth and last time, the country gradually sank into those +long, slightly rolling plains, which we had traversed last +winter, between Stockholm and Gefle. Here villages were +more frequent, but the houses had not the same air of thrift +and comfort as in Dalecarlia. The population also changed +in character, the faces we now saw being less bright, cheerful, +and kindly, and the forms less tall and strongly knit.</p> + +<p>We had very fair accommodations, at all the post-stations +along the road, and found the people everywhere honest and +obliging. Still, I missed the noble simplicity which I had +admired so much in the natives of Westerdal, and on the +frontier of Wermeland,—the unaffected kindness of heart, +which made me look upon every man as a friend.</p> + +<p>The large town of Sala, where we spent a night, was +filled with fugitives from Upsala, where the cholera was +making great ravages. The violence of the disease was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span>over by the time we arrived; but the students, all of whom +had left, had not yet returned, and the fine old place had a +melancholy air. The first thing we saw on approaching it, +was a funeral. Professor Bergfalk, who had remained at +his post, and to whom I had letters, most kindly gave me an +entire day of his time. I saw the famous <i>Codex argenteus</i>, +in the library, the original manuscript of Frithiof's Saga, +the journals of Swedenborg and Linnæus, the Botanical Garden, +and the tombs of Gustavus Vasa and John III. in the +cathedral. But most interesting of all was our drive to +Old Upsala, where we climbed upon the mound of Odin, +and drank mead out of the silver-mounted drinking horn, +from which Bernadotte, Oscar, and the whole royal family +of Sweden, are in the habit of drinking when they make a +pilgrimage to the burial place of the Scandinavian gods.</p> + +<p>A cold, pale, yellow light lay upon the landscape; the +towers of Upsala Cathedral, and the massive front of the +palace, rose dark against the sky, in the south-west; a chill +autumnal wind blew over the plains, and the yellowing foliage +of the birch drifted across the mysterious mounds, like those +few golden leaves of poetry, which the modern bards of the +North have cast upon the grave of the grand, muscular religion +of the earlier race. There was no melodious wailing +in the wind, like that which proclaimed "Pan is dead!" +through the groves of Greece and Ionia; but a cold rustling +hiss, as if the serpent of Midgard were exulting over +the ruin of Walhalla. But in the stinging, aromatic flood +of the amber-coloured mead, I drank to Odin, to Balder, and +to Freja.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span>We reached Stockholm on the 22nd of September, in the +midst of a furious gale, accompanied with heavy squalls of +snow—the same in which the Russian line-of-battle ship +"<i>Lefort</i>," foundered in the Gulf of Finland. In the mild, +calm, sunny, autumn days which followed, the beautiful city +charmed us more than ever, and I felt half inclined to take +back all I had said against the place, during the dismal +weather of last spring. The trees in the Djurgård and in +the islands of Mälar, were still in full foliage; the Dalecarlian +boatwomen plied their crafts in the outer harbour; the +little garden under the Norrbro was gay with music and +lamps every evening; and the brief and jovial summer life +of the Swedes, so near its close, clung to the flying sunshine, +that not a moment might be suffered to pass by unenjoyed.</p> + +<p>In another week we were standing on the deck of the Prussian +steamer "<i>Nagler</i>," threading the rocky archipelago between +Stockholm and the open Baltic on our way to Stettin. +In leaving the North, after ten months of winter and summer +wanderings, and with scarce a hope of returning again, +I found myself repeating, over and over again, the farewell +of Frithiof:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"<i>Farväl, J fjällar,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Der äran bor;</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>J runohällar,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>För väldig Thor;</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>J blåa sjöar,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Jag känt så väl;</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>J skär och öar,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Farväl, farväl</i>"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<p class="cen">THE END.</p> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span> +<hr /> +<br /> +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="catalog"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="85%"> </td> + <td class="tdr" width="15%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Irving's Life of Washington—</b></td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">I. 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THE LIBRARY EDITION, LARGE TYPE.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Complete in 5 vols., 8vo., with Maps, &c., cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">10.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Complete in 5 vols., 8vo., with Maps, &c., sheep,</td> + <td class="tdr">12.50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Complete in 5 vols., 8vo., with Maps, &c., half calf, extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">16.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Complete in 5 vols., 8vo., with Maps, &c., half calf, antique,</td> + <td class="tdr">16.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Complete in 5 vols., 8vo., with Maps, &c., full calf,</td> + <td class="tdr">20.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">IV. THE MOUNT VERNON EDITION.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">5 vols. 8vo. (like the last), with all the Illustrations + on Wood and Steel, half mor., gilt edges,*</td> + <td class="tdrb">22.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> * The 5th vol. of this ed. + will be delivered in Sept.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">V. THE ILLUSTRATED EDITION.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">(With 102 Engravings on Steel, and numerous Wood Cuts.)</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">5 vols. imperial 8vo., large paper, cloth,*</td> + <td class="tdr">20.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">5 vols. imperial 8vo., large paper, half mor., extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">30.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">5 vols. imperial 8vo., large paper, half calf, antique,</td> + <td class="tdr">30.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">5 vols. imperial 8vo., large paper, full mor., extra</td> + <td class="tdr">36.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> * The 5th vol. of this ed. + will be delivered in Sept.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">VI. THE QUARTO EDITION.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span></td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">For Amateurs, and illustrated with 102 fine Engravings on Steel, + Proofs on India paper, and about 50 on Wood.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">5 vols. 4to., folded and collated,*</td> + <td class="tdr">50.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">5 vols. 4to., folded and collated, turkey mor., extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">85.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> * Vol. 5 will be ready in September.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">VII. THE WASHINGTON ILLUSTRATIONS.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Separate.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Proofs in quarto (for 4 vols.),</td> + <td class="tdr">20.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Octavo edition, cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">5.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Octavo edition, in box,</td> + <td class="tdr">5.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Octavo edition, half calf,</td> + <td class="tdr">6.50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Octavo edition, mor. extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">8.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Proof Plates in Passe-Partouts, each,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE 5TH AND OTHER SEPARATE VOLS. OF "WASHINGTON," TO COMPLETE SETS.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">For the present any Vol. will be supplied to match the original + binding in cloth. Subscribers should complete their sets at once.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Popular Edition, green cloth, 12mo., per vol.,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Popular Edition, folded, for binding, per vol.,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Library Edition, 8vo., cloth, per vol.,</td> + <td class="tdr">2.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Library Edition, folded, for binding, per vol.,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Illustrated Edition, royal 8vo., cloth, per vol.,</td> + <td class="tdr">4.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Quarto Edition, with plates, folded, per vol.,</td> + <td class="tdr">10.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">IRVING'S (THEO.) CONQUEST OF FLORIDA. 12mo., cloth</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">IRVING'S CRAYON READING-BOOK FOR SCHOOLS. 12mo., half bound,</td> + <td class="tdr">.75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">—<i>In Preparation.</i>—</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">A CONDENSED EDITION OF IRVING'S WASHINGTON, for Schools + and School Libraries. In 1 vol. large 12mo.</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">List of the Works<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">of</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Washington Irving, Bayard Taylor, and others,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Published for the Authors,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">by</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">G. P. Putnam, N. Y.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Terms: Cash in New York.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><i>Any Book in the list will be delivered in any part of the United States, + free of expense or Postage, on receipt of the money.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="catalog"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="85%"> </td> + <td class="tdr" width="15%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><b>∴</b> <i>The Life of Washington being now complete the Publisher is prepared +to furnish sets of all the Works of Mr. Irving, uniformly bound in 21 +vols. in various styles, as in the following list.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><i>The whole have been revised, and the present editions are well printed +on good paper. Each volume has one or more steel plates or vignettes.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Irving's Whole Works—</b><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span></td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">(INCLUDING WASHINGTON),</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Revised Edition, with Steel Vignettes: neatly put up in boxes.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">A. Complete in 21 vols., 12mo cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">$27.50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">B. Complete in 21 vols., sheep,</td> + <td class="tdr">30.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">C. Complete in 21 vols., half roan,</td> + <td class="tdr">30.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">D. Complete in 21 vols., half calf, neat,</td> + <td class="tdr">43.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">E. Complete in 21 vols., half calf, extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">47.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">F. Complete in 21 vols., half calf, antique,</td> + <td class="tdr">47.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">G. Complete in 21 vols., half mor., extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">47.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">H. Complete in 21 vols., full calf, extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">55.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">I. Complete in 21 vols., full calf, antique,</td> + <td class="tdr">56.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">K. Complete in 21 vols., full morocco, extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">68.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Irving's Works—</b></td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">(OMITTING WASHINGTON),</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Same style as above, in boxes.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">L. Complete in 16 vols., with vignettes, cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">20.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">M. Complete in 16 vols., sheep,</td> + <td class="tdr">22.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">N. Complete in 16 vols., half roan,</td> + <td class="tdr">22.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><b>∴</b> The last two lines have no vignettes.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">O. Complete in 16 vols., with vignettes, half calf, neat,</td> + <td class="tdr">32.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">P. Complete in 16 vols., with vignettes, half calf, extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">35.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">Q. Complete in 16 vols., with vignettes, half calf, antique,</td> + <td class="tdr">35.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">R. Complete in 16 vols., with vignettes, half mor., extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">35.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">S. Complete in 16 vols., with vignettes, full calf, extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">40.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">T. Complete in 16 vols., with vignettes, antique,</td> + <td class="tdr">42.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">U. Complete in 16 vols., with vignettes, morocco extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">50.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> +<hr style="width: 15%" /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="catalog"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="85%"> </td> + <td class="tdr" width="15%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">NOTE.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="2">The reviews and critical notices of the Life of Washington, would fill a +large volume. The publisher supposes that any quotation from them here +is quite unnecessary.<br /> +<br /> +For all details connected with the illustrations and advertisements of +these works, the publisher is alone responsible.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Irving's Works—</b><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</a></span></td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Separate Vols., in 12mo.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">KNICKERBOCKER'S NEW YORK. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">SKETCH BOOK. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">COLUMBUS. 3 vols. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">4.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">BRACEBRIDGE HALL. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">TALES OF A TRAVELLER. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">ASTORIA. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">CRAYON MISCELLANY. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">CAPT. BONNEVILLE. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">OLIVER GOLDSMITH. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">MAHOMET. 2 vols. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">2.50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">GRENADA. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">ALHAMBRA. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">WOLFERT'S ROOST. Cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">In Cloth, Extra Gilt; for Presentation.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">KNICKERBOCKER.</td> + <td class="tdr">1.75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">SKETCH BOOK.</td> + <td class="tdr">1.75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">BRACEBRIDGE.</td> + <td class="tdr">1.75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">TRAVELLER.</td> + <td class="tdr">1.75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">GOLDSMITH.</td> + <td class="tdr">1.75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">WOLFERT'S ROOST.</td> + <td class="tdr">1.75</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Standard Books—</b></td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">LAFEVER'S ARCHITECTURAL INSTRUCTOR. Profusely Illustrated: a superb + and valuable work. 1 vol., 4to., half mor., gilt tops,</td> + <td class="tdrb">16.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">ST. JOHN'S TEXT BOOK OF GEOLOGY, new ed. 12mo., cloth,</td> + <td class="tdrb">1.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">SMITH'S (E. PESHINE) POLITICAL ECONOMY. 12 mo., cloth,</td> + <td class="tdrb">1.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">MASON'S ART MANUFACTURES. 12mo., illustrated,</td> + <td class="tdrb">2.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">COGGESHALL'S VOYAGES TO VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD. + Illustrated. 3 vols. complete in one. 8vo.</td> + <td class="tdrb">2.50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">COGGESHALL'S HISTORY OF AMERICAN PRIVATEERS. Illustrated, 8vo., cloth,</td> + <td class="tdrb">2.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">SEDGEWICK'S MORALS OF MANNERS; for Schools. 16mo., cloth,</td> + <td class="tdrb">.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">SEDGEWICK'S FACTS AND FANCIES. 16mo., cloth,</td> + <td class="tdrb">.50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Bayard Taylor's Works—</b><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</a></span></td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">TRAVELS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD. By Bayard Taylor. + 6 vols. 12 mo. With Plates. In a box, cloth,</td> + <td class="tdrb">8.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The same, sheep,</td> + <td class="tdr">9.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The same, half calf, extra,</td> + <td class="tdr">15.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The same, half calf, antique,</td> + <td class="tdr">15.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The same, with Burton's Meccah; 7 vols., cloth,</td> + <td class="tdr">9.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The same, with Burton's Meccah; 7 vols., sheep,</td> + <td class="tdr">10.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">The same, with Burton's Meccah; 7 vols., half calf,</td> + <td class="tdr">17.00</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Separate Volumes, viz.:</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">1. VIEWS A-FOOT. (Europe.) With Steel Plate. 12mo</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">2. ELDORADO. (Mexico and California). 12mo. Plates,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">3. LANDS OF THE SARACEN. (Palestine, &c.).</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">4. CENTRAL AFRICA, THE WHITE NILE, &c. Plates,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">5. INDIA, CHINA AND JAPAN. 2 Steel Plates,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">6. NORTHERN TRAVEL: Norway, Lapland, &c. Portrait and View,</td> + <td class="tdr">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">7. BURTON'S JOURNEY TO MECCAH AND MEDINAH. With Introduction by + Bayard Taylor</td> + <td class="tdrb">1.25</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="2">"Bayard Taylor is certainly a remarkable man. The more + we see of him in his writings, and the more we hear of him, the more we admire + him. He is decidedly the American traveller, and travel writer."—<i>New + Haven Courier.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="2">"As a writer of travels especially, he has never found his equal." +—<i>Buffalo Democracy.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="2">"As a vivid delineator, it would be difficult to + overmatch Mr. Taylor."—<i>Liverpool Standard.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="2">"There is no romance to us quite equal to one of Bayard + Taylor's books of travel. Fact, under his wonderful pen, is more charming than + Fiction."—<i>Hartford Republican.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"><b>Bayard Taylor's New Work—</b></td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">GREECE, RUSSIA, &c. (In Sept.)</td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdr"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><b>Washington Illustrations,</b> + <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[Pg 443]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Prints in Octavo, 15 cts. Proofs on India paper, 4to, 50 + cts. Proofs in Passe-Partout frames, each, $1.50.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Portraits.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="catalog"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">ADAMS, JOHN,</td> + <td class="tdl" width="50%">MUNROE, JAMES,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">ANDRE, MAJOR,</td> + <td class="tdl">PAULDING, JOHN,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">ARNOLD, GEN.,</td> + <td class="tdl">PHILLIPSE, MISS,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">BURGOYNE, GEN.,</td> + <td class="tdl">PUTNAM, ISRAEL,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">CLINTON, GEO.,</td> + <td class="tdl">ROCHAMBEAU, COUNT,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">CLINTON, JAMES,</td> + <td class="tdl">SCHUYLER, GEN.,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">CLINTON, SIR HENRY,</td> + <td class="tdl">STARK, GEN.,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">CORNWALLIS, LORD,</td> + <td class="tdl">ST. CLAIR, GEN.,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">ELLSWORTH, OLIVER,</td> + <td class="tdl">STEUBEN, BARON,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">GATES, GEN.,</td> + <td class="tdl">SULLIVAN, GEN.,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">GLOVER, GEN.,</td> + <td class="tdl">SUMPTER, GEN.,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">GREENE, GEN.,</td> + <td class="tdl">STERLING, LORD,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">HAMILTON, ALEX.,</td> + <td class="tdl">THOMAS, GEN.,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">HOWE, SIR WM.,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON AT 25,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlt">JAY, JOHN,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON AT 40, <span class="smcap">By C. W. Peale</span>,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">JEFFERSON, THOMAS,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGT'N, <span class="smcap">By Trumbull</span>,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">KING, RUFUS,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON, <span class="smcap">By Pine</span>,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">KNOX, HENRY,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGT'N, <span class="smcap">By Wertmuller</span>,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">KOSCIUSKO,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON, <span class="smcap">By P. Peale</span>,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">LEE, HENRY,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON, <span class="smcap">By Stuart</span>,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlt">LEE, CHARLES,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON MONUMENT, <span class="smcap">By H. K. Brown</span>,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlt">LAFAYETTE,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON MONUMENT, <span class="smcap">By Crawford</span>,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">LIVINGSTON, R. R.</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON BUST, <span class="smcap">By Houdon</span>,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlt">LINCOLN, GEN.,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON BUST, <span class="smcap">By Ceracchi</span>,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">MADISON, JAMES,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON, MRS.,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">MERCER, GEN.,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON, MRS., <span class="smcap">By Stuart</span>,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">MARION, GEN.,</td> + <td class="tdl">WARD, ARTEMAS, GEN.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">MORGAN, GEN.,</td> + <td class="tdl">WAYNE, ANTHONY,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">MORRIS, GOVERNEUR,</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON, WM.,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">MORRIS, ROBT.,</td> + <td class="tdl">WOLCOTT, OLIVER.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Views, &c.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">SITE OF WASHINGTON'S BIRTHPLACE,</td> + <td class="tdlt">NEW YORK IN 1768,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">MOUNT VERNON, Rear View,</td> + <td class="tdl">HUDSON HIGHLANDS—<span class="smcap">Oddie</span>,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">MOUNT VERNON, Front View (Vignette),</td> + <td class="tdlt">BAY OF NEW YORK,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">BRADDOCK'S BATTLE FIELD,</td> + <td class="tdl">PHILLIPSE MANOR HOUSE,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">LAKE CHAMPLAIN—<span class="smcap">Miller</span>,</td> + <td class="tdl">WEST POINT IN 1780,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlt">LAKE GEORGE—<span class="smcap">Miller</span>,</td> + <td class="tdl">HEAD QUARTERS AT TAPPAN,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlt">VALENTINE'S HILL,</td> + <td class="tdl">HEAD QUARTERS AT NEWBURGH,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl">OLD CITY HALL, NEW YORK.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Historical Scenes,</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON AS A SURVEYOR—<span class="smcap">Darley</span>.</td> + <td class="tdl">BATTLE OF TRENTON—<span class="smcap">Schuesselle</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGT'N AT FORT NECESSITY—<span class="smcap">McNevin</span></td> + <td class="tdl">BATTLE OF PRINCETON—<span class="smcap">Trumbull</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON AT WINCHESTER—<span class="smcap">Darley</span>.</td> + <td class="tdl">SCENE IN FARM HOUSE—<span class="smcap">McNevin</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON IN DISMAL SWAMP—<span class="smcap">McNevin</span>.</td> + <td class="tdl">SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE—<span class="smcap">Trumbull</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON'S FIELD SPORTS—<span class="smcap">Darley</span>.</td> + <td class="tdl">BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN—<span class="smcap">Schuesselle</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON GOING TO CONGRESS—<span class="smcap">Darley</span>.</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE—<span class="smcap">Darley</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlt">FORTIFYING BUNKER HILL—<span class="smcap">Darley</span>.</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGT'N AND LEE AT MONMOUTH—<span class="smcap">Darley</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON SUBDUING CAMP BRAWL.</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON TAKING LEAVE OF HIS OFFICERS—<span class="smcap"> + Darley</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlt">ARRIVAL OF KNOX—<span class="smcap">Darley</span>.</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION—<span class="smcap">Darley</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdlt">DECLARAT'N OF INDEPENDENCE.</td> + <td class="tdl">WASHINGTON RESIGNING HIS COMMISSION—<span class="smcap">Trumbull</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl">CROSSING THE DELAWARE—<span class="smcap">Darley</span>.</td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="catalog"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="85%"> </td> + <td class="tdr" width="15%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><i>IN PRESS.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">THE CHARACTER AND PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">By <span class="smcap">Henry T. Tuckerman</span>.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">With 12 steel plates, 8vo. $2.00. Quarto, with proof + plates. $5.00.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + <td class="tdl"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CAPT. COGGESHALL.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[Pg 444]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Voyages to Various Parts of the World.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">New edition. Illustrated.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">3 vols. complete in 1 vol. 8vo. $2.50</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="2">"Some of them of very exciting interest, and all of such + a character that the reader of the book will wish to read on and on, and will be + sorry when he has ended."—<i>Evening Post.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="catalog"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="85%"> </td> + <td class="tdr" width="15%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">History of American Privateers.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">New edition, Illustrated, 8vo. $2.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="2">This interesting and important work is highly + recommended by the Hon. Messrs. <span class="smcap">J. C. Dobbin</span> and <span + class="smcap">Isaac Toucey</span>, Secretaries of the Navy; Hon.<span class="smcap"> + Lewis Cass</span>; Hon. <span class="smcap">Hamilton Fish</span>, and other eminent + men.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="catalog"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="85%"> </td> + <td class="tdr" width="15%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">E. PESHINE SMITH.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">A Manual of Political Economy.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Designed for Popular Reading, and + As a Text Book.</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">12mo., Cloth, $1.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">New edition: used as a Text Book in several Colleges.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" colspan="2">"The object of preparing this Manual was to present to + his countrymen in a compact form the principles of what he thinks may justly be + called the American System of Political Economy, not less on the ground of its + origin than its signal agreement with our social and political organization." + —<i>Extract from the Preface.</i></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2"> </td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="centered"> +<table border="0" width="70%" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="catalog"> + <tr> + <td class="tdl" width="85%"> </td> + <td class="tdr" width="15%"> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">AMERICAN LIBRARY AGENCY.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">G. P. PUTNAM</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">Will give special attention to orders, large or small, + for any Books published in the United States, or in Europe; and will purchase in + quantities, or a single book, charging a small commission on the net wholesale + price. Orders should be accompanied by a remittance; or parcels can be sent per + Express, payable on delivery.</td> + </tr> +</table> +</div> + +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<div class="tr"> +<p class="cen"><a name="TN" id="TN"></a>Transcriber's Note</p> +<br /> + +Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in +the original document has been preserved.<br /> +<br /> +Periods were added to dollar amounts.<br /> +<br /> +Typographical errors corrected in the text:<br /> +<br /> +Page xii Guldbrandsde changed to Guldbrandsdal<br /> +Page xiii FINNARK changed to FINMARK<br /> +Page 13 Lubeck changed to Lübeck<br /> +Page 15 afterward changed to afterwards<br /> +Page 15 laboriously changed to labouriously<br /> +Page 19 Tornea changed to Torneå<br /> +Page 24 decended changed to descended<br /> +Page 25 labor changed to labour<br /> +Page 30 Freya changed to Freja<br /> +Page 33 fiord changed to fjord<br /> +Page 39 Trondjem changed to Trondhjem<br /> +Page 47 Angesjö changed to Angesjö<br /> +Page 57 Skelefteå changed to Skellefteå<br /> +Page 61 Pitea changed to Piteå<br /> +Page 62 dosed changed to dozed<br /> +Page 65 Tornea changed to Torneå<br /> +Page 74 civilized changed to civilised<br /> +Page 75 Muonioniski changed to Muonioniska<br /> +Page 109 conducter changed to conductor<br /> +Page 110 Muonivara changed to Muoniovara<br /> +Page 119 Lippivara changed to Lippavara<br /> +Page 127 civilization changed to civilisation<br /> +Page 129 fiord changed to fjord<br /> +Page 144 labor changed to labour<br /> +Page 147 plateaux changed to plateaus<br /> +Page 149 Lippajärva changed to Lippajärvi<br /> +Page 149 Palajock changed to Palajok<br /> +Page 152 civilized changed to civilised<br /> +Page 156 drunkeness changed to drunkenness<br /> +Page 157 cotemporary changed to contemporary<br /> +Page 160 Isaki changed to Isaaki<br /> +Page 162 civilization changed to civilisation<br /> +Page 166 Jokijalki changed to Jokijalka<br /> +Page 173 Korpykilä changed to Korpililä<br /> +Page 179 Mansbyn changed to Månsbyn<br /> +Page 189 Skelefteå changed to Skellefteå<br /> +Page 223 cotemporary changed to contemporary<br /> +Page 248 odors changed to odours<br /> +Page 259 Romdal's changed to Romsdal's<br /> +Page 286 Dronthiem changed to Drontheim<br /> +Page 287 Dronthiem changed to Drontheim<br /> +Page 310 lagest changed to largest<br /> +Page 313 Tromsö changed to Tromsöe<br /> +Page 328 heartly changed to heartily<br /> +Page 330 DRONTHIEM changed to DRONTHEIM<br /> +Page 330 Dronthiem changed to Drontheim<br /> +Page 336 practised changed to practiced<br /> +Page 342 naive changed to naïve<br /> +Page 343 civilization changed to civilisation<br /> +Page 353 lifve changed to lifvet<br /> +Page 360 daguerrotypes changed to daguerreotypes<br /> +Page 361 bodice changed to boddice<br /> +Page 364 inn-door changed to in-door<br /> +Page 366 Naerdöl changed to Naerödal<br /> +Page 368 except changed to expect<br /> +Page 372 labryrinthine changed to labyrinthine<br /> +Page 377 Hemsedel changed to Hemsedal<br /> +Page 378 Bjöborg changed to Bjöberg<br /> +Page 381 Naes changed to Næs<br /> +Page 393 quickeuing changed to quickening<br /> +Page 406 develope changed to develop<br /> +Page 407 Westerdale changed to Westerdal<br /> +Page 410 herregåra changed to herregård<br /> +Page 411 nothern changed to northern<br /> +Page 413 unmistakeable changed to unmistakable<br /> +Page 430 Sijan changed to Siljan<br /> +Page 431 nothern changed to northern<br /> +Page 431 pedlers changed to peddlers<br /> +Page 436 practised changed to practiced<br /> +Page 443 SURRENDERR changed to SURRENDER<br /> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Northern Travel, by Bayard Taylor + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NORTHERN TRAVEL *** + +***** This file should be named 25371-h.htm or 25371-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/3/7/25371/ + +Produced by Mark C. 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