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+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: ASCII
+
+*** 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
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+NORTHERN TRAVEL.
+
+
+
+
+
+NORTHERN TRAVEL.
+
+
+BAYARD TAYLOR.
+
+
+[Illustration: The Voring Foss.]
+
+
+
+NEW YORK: G. P. PUTNAM.
+
+1859.
+
+
+
+
+NORTHERN TRAVEL:
+
+
+Summer and Winter Pictures
+
+OF
+
+SWEDEN, DENMARK AND LAPLAND,
+
+
+
+BY
+
+BAYARD TAYLOR.
+
+
+
+NEW YORK:
+G. P. PUTNAM, 115 NASSAU-STREET.
+1859.
+
+
+
+
+ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
+                            G. P. PUTNAM,
+ In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District
+                            of New York.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+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 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.
+
+BAYARD TAYLOR.
+
+LONDON: November, 1857.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+                                                                    Page
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A WINTER VOYAGE ON THE BALTIC.
+
+Embarking at Lubeck--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 Dalaro--Conscientious Custom-House
+Officer                                                               13
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+STOCKHOLM--PREPARATIONS FOR THE NORTH.
+
+Departure in Sleds--A Meteor--Winter Scenery--Swedish Post-
+Stations--View of Stockholm--Arrival--Stockholm Weather--Swedish
+Ignorance of the North--Funds--Equipment                              21
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+FIRST EXPERIENCES OF NORTHERN TRAVEL.
+
+A Swedish Diligence--Aspect of the Country--Upsala--A Fellow-
+Passenger--The Northern Gods--Scenery--Churches--Peasant's
+Houses--Arrival at Gefle--_Forbud_ Papers--Speaking Swedish
+--Daylight at Gefle--A Cold Italian--Experience of _Skjuts_
+and _Forbud_--We reach Snow--Night Travel--An Arabic Landlord
+--A Midnight Chase--Quarters at Bro--The Second Day--We reach
+Sundsvall                                                             27
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A SLEIGH RIDE THROUGH NORRLAND.
+
+Sundsvall and the Norrlanders--Purchase Sleighs--Start again--
+Driving on the Ice--Breakfast at Fjal--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--Umea--The Inn at Innertafle                        39
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+PROGRESS NORTHWARD--A STORM.
+
+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--Skelleftea and its Temple--A Winter Storm--The Landlady
+at Abyn--Ploughing out--Travelling in a Tempest--Reach Pitea.         50
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+JOURNEY FROM PITEA TO HAPARANDA.
+
+Torment--Under the Aurora Borealis--A Dismal Night--Around the
+Bothnian Gulf--Forest Scenery--Mansbyn--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.   62
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+CROSSING THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.
+
+Medical Treatment--The Kind Fredrika--Morals in the North--Our
+Quarters at Haparanda--Vain Questions--Start for Lapland--Arctic
+Daylight--Campbell's Tornea--A Finnish Inn--Colours of the Arctic
+Sky--Approach to Avasaxa--Crossing the Arctic Circle--An Afternoon
+Sunset--Reception at Juoxengi                                         72
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ADVENTURES AMONG THE FINNS.
+
+Journey up the Tornea--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.                                                     83
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+LIFE IN LAPLAND.
+
+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.                98
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+A REINDEER JOURNEY ACROSS LAPLAND.
+
+Preparations for the Journey--Departure--A lazy Deer--"Long
+Isaac"--An Auroral Spectacle--A Night at Palajoki--The Table-Land
+of Lapland--Sagacity of the Deer--Driving a wild Reindeer--Polar
+Poetry--Lippajarvi--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.                 101
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+KAUTOKEINO--A DAY WITHOUT A SUN.
+
+Lapland Etiquette--The Inn--Quarters at the Lansman'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
+Lapps--Lars Kaino--A Field for Portrait-painting--Character of
+the Lapp Race--Their present Condition--The religious Outbreak at
+Kautokeino--Pastor Hvoslef--A Piano in Lapland--The Schools--Visit
+to a Gamme                                                           126
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE RETURN TO MUONIOVARA.
+
+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--Endurance
+of Northern Girls--The Table-Land--The "Roof of the World"--Journey
+to Lippajarvi--Descent to the Muonio--Female Curiosity--The Return
+to Muoniovara--Prosaic Life of the Lapps--Modern Prudery.            141
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ABOUT THE FINNS.
+
+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.                                         154
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+EXPERIENCES OF ARCTIC WEATHER.
+
+Departure from Muoniovara--50 deg. below Zero--A terrible Day--An
+Arctic Night--Jokijalka again--Travelling down the Tornea--A
+Night at Kardis--Increase of Daylight--Juoxengi--A Struggle for
+Life--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 Tornea--The
+Weather.                                                             164
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+INCIDENTS OF THE RETURN JOURNEY.
+
+Mild Weather!--Miraculous Scenery--Nasby--Swedish Honesty
+--Adventures at Lulea--Northern Sleds--Pitea--Accident at
+Skelleftea--The Norrland Climate--A damp Swede--Travelling
+in a Tempest--A Norrland Inn--Character of the People--Their
+Houses.                                                              177
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+CONCLUSION OF THE ARCTIC TRIP.
+
+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.                        187
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+LIFE IN STOCKHOLM.
+
+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.                                            197
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+MANNERS AND MORALS OF STOCKHOLM.
+
+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.                                                            210
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+JOURNEY TO GOTTENBURG AND COPENHAGEN.
+
+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--The
+Giant's Pots--The Cattegat--Elsinore--The Sound Dues--Copenhagen
+and its Inhabitants--Thorwaldsen--Interview with Hans Christian
+Andersen--Goldschmidt--Prof. Rafn.                                   222
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+RETURN TO THE NORTH.--CHRISTIANIA.
+
+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.                              235
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+INCIDENTS OF CARRIOLE TRAVEL.
+
+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 Miosen
+Lake--More than we bargained for--Astonishing Kindness--The Lake
+from a Steamer.                                                      242
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+GULDBRANDSDAL AND THE DOVRE FJELD.
+
+Lillehammer--A Sabbath Morning--A Picture of Dahi--Guldbrandsdal
+--Annoyances of Norwegian Travel--The Lougen River--Cataracts--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.                        254
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+DRONTHEIM.--VOYAGE UP THE COAST OF NORWAY.
+
+Panorama of Drontheim--Its Streets and Houses--Quarters at the
+Hotel--Protestant High Mass--Norwegian Steamers--Parting View of
+--Drontheim--The Namsen Fjord--Settlements on the Coast--The Rock
+of Torghatten--The Seven Sisters--Singular Coast Scenery--The
+Horseman--Crossing the Arctic Circle--Coasting Craft--Bodo--An
+Arctic Sunset.                                                       269
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE LOFODEN ISLES.
+
+Habits of the Arctic Summer--The Lofoden Islands--Moskoe--The
+Myth of the Maelstrom--The Lofoden Fishermen--Improvement in
+the People--Lofoden Scenery--The Rasksund--Disappearance of
+Daylight--Character of the Scenery--Tromsoe at Midnight.             281
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+FINMARK AND HAMMERFEST.
+
+Visit to the Lapps--Scenery of Tromsdal--Phenomena of the Arctic
+Summer--The Lapp _Gammes_--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.        289
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE MIDNIGHT SUN.
+
+Plans of Travellers--Ship for the Varanger Fjord--Scenery of
+Mageroe--Miraculous Provision for human Life--Fisheries on the
+Coast--The Porsanger Fjord--Coast Scenery--Svaerholtklub--Rousing
+the Sea Gulls--Picture of the Midnight Sun--Loss of a Night--The
+Church of the Lapps--Wonderful Rock-painting--Nordkyn.               300
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE VARANGER FJORD--ARCTIC LIFE.
+
+The Tana Fjord--Another Midnight--Desolation--Arctic Life--The
+Varanger Fjord--The Fort of Vardohuus--Arrival at Vadso--Summer
+there--More of the Lapps--Climate and Delights of Living--Rich
+Fishing--Jolly young Englishmen--Daylight Life--Its Effects,
+physical and Moral--Trees of Hammerfest--An astronomical Monument.   310
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE RETURN TO DARKNESS--NORWEGIAN CHARACTER.
+
+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.                         321
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+DRONTHEIM AND BERGEN.
+
+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.                               330
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+A TRIP TO THE VORING-FOSS.
+
+Parting View of Bergen--Lovely Scenery--Interested Kindness--The
+Roads of Norway--Uncomfortable Quarters--Voyage on the Osterfjord
+--Bolstadoren--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--Saebo--A stupendous Defile
+--Ascent of the Fjeld--Plateau of the Hardanger--The Voring-Foss
+--Its Grandeur--A Saeter Hut--Wonderful Wine.                         341
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+SKETCHES FROM THE BERGENSTIFT.
+
+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 Naerodal--
+Postillions--On the Gudvangen Fjord--The Sogne Fjord--Transparency
+of the Water--The Boatmen.                                           359
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+HALLINGDAL--THE COUNTRY-PEOPLE OF NORWAY.
+
+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 _Forbuds_ are sent--General Swindling--Character of the
+Norwegians for Honesty--Illustrations--Immorality--A "Cutty Sark"
+--Charms of Green.                                                   370
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+TELLEMARK AND THE RIUKAN-FOSS.
+
+The Silver Mines of Kongsberg--Roads in Tellemark--Bargaining
+for Horses--The Inn at Bolkesjo--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.                             383
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+NORWAY AND SWEDEN.
+
+Norwegian Honesty--The Country People--Illicit Connections--The
+Icelandic Language--Professor Munck--The Storthing--The Norwegian
+Constitution--The Farmer-State--Conversation between a German
+Author and a Swedish Statesman--Gottenburg--A Fire--Swedish
+Honesty and Courtesy--The Falls of Trollhatten.                      398
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+A TRAMP THROUGH WERMELAND AND DALECARLIA.
+
+Our Route--Leaving Carlstad--The Scenery--Valley of the Klar Elv
+--Ohlsater--Wedding Arches--Asplund--A Night Journey--Adventures
+in search of a Bed--Entrance into Dalecarlia--The Farmers at
+Tyngsjo--Journey through the Woods--The People at Westerdal--The
+Landlord at Ragsveden--The Landlady--Dalecarlian Morality--A
+Lasare--The Postillion--Poverty--A Dalecarlian Boy--Reception at
+Kettbo--Nocturnal Conversation--Little Pehr--The female Postillion
+--The Lasare in Dalecarlia--View of Mora Valley.                     407
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+LAST DAYS IN THE NORTH.
+
+Mora Scenery--"The Parsonage of Mora"--The Magister--Peasants
+from Upper Elfdal--Scenery of the Siljan--Hymns on Board--Opinions
+of the Lasare--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--_Skal_ to the Gods--The End of Summer in Stockholm
+--Farewell to the North.                                             425
+
+
+
+
+NORTHERN TRAVEL, ETC.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+A WINTER VOYAGE ON THE BALTIC.
+
+
+We went on board the little iron Swedish propeller, _Carl Johan_, at
+Lubeck, on the morning of December 1, A.D. 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 _hut_. 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, 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.
+
+The day was clear and cold, the low hills around Lubeck 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 Travemunde 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 Moen, a Danish island, were visible on our left. We looked for
+Rugen, 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 _Carl Johan_ 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.
+
+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. Kane. The mercury had fallen to 16 deg., 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 Umea, 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.
+
+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 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!"
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 Tornea, 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 Dalaro, thirty miles distant. So
+for Dalaro 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.
+
+We passed the deserted fortress of Dalaro, 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 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.
+
+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 _Carl Johan_ in a profuse
+sweat, despite the intense cold.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+STOCKHOLM.--PREPARATIONS FOR THE NORTH.
+
+
+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 deg.. What was our
+surprise, on reaching the post-station, at learning that it was actually
+2 deg. below zero!
+
+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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 Malar 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.
+
+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 Norrkoping, 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.
+
+We remained in Stockholm a week, engaged in making 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 Malar 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.
+
+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 Tornea,
+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 deg. 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.
+
+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. Mostrom, 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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+FIRST EXPERIENCES OF NORTHERN TRAVEL.
+
+
+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.
+
+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 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 deg. N.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 Tornea, 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+Notwithstanding we made good progress through the day, it was dark long
+before we reached the bridge over the Dal 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.
+
+My first care the next morning, was to engage horses and send off my
+_forbud_ papers. We were now to travel by "_skjuts_" (pronounced shoos),
+or post, taking new horses at each station on the road. The _forbud_
+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.
+
+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 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 _forbud_ 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 Tornea 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 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 deg. 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, "_Siete Italiano?_" I asked. "_Sicuro!_"
+he answered, joyously: "_e lei anche?_" "Ah," he said, in answer to my
+questions, "_io non amo questo paese_; _e freddo ed oscuro_; _non si
+gagna niente_--_ma in Italia si vive_." My friend Ziegler had already
+assured me: "One should see the North, but not _after_ 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.
+
+We were at the inn punctually at six in the morning, but our horses were
+not ready. The _hallkarl_, 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 _skjuts_.
+
+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 _forbud_ 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 _forbud_ ticket. Such was our first
+experience of _forbud_.
+
+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 _forbud_ 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
+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, Stratjara, 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.
+
+At Mo Myskie, which we reached at eight o'clock, our horses had been
+ready four hours, which gave us a dollar banco _vantapenningar_ (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. "_Allah akhbar!_" he cried; "I have been
+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 _skjutsbonde_, or
+postillion.
+
+This _skjutsbonde_ 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 "_Kor pa!_" (Drive on!) and narrowly missing a
+hundred overturns. It was eleven at night before we reached the inn at
+Kungsgarden, 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, we found
+the boy getting his reins out from under the runners. Finally, after two
+in the morning, we reached Bro.
+
+Here we had ordered a warm room, beds and supper, by _forbud_, 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 _must_ eat, if we have to eat _you_," 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 _forbud_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A SLEIGH RIDE THROUGH NORRLAND.
+
+
+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 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.
+
+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 _forbud_, 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 _rigs_
+(about $14), which seemed very cheap, but I afterwards learned that I
+paid much more than the current price.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 _skjutsbonde_ made
+me understand that a shorter road led across the ice to the second
+post-station, Fjal, 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 Fjal, 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 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
+_omelette soufflee_ 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.
+
+In a picturesque dell near Fjal 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 Hernosand, 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.
+
+It was already dark at four o'clock, and our last horses 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 _poike_ 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 chase astern
+before we allowed him to overtake us. This so exasperated him that we
+had no trouble the rest of the way. _Mem._--If you wish to travel with
+speed, make your postilion angry.
+
+At Hornas 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 deg. 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.
+
+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
+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.
+
+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."
+
+We reached Lefwar, our resting-place for the night, in good condition,
+notwithstanding the 22 deg. 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 _smorgas_ ("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 linen. When we rose next
+morning it was snowing. About an inch had fallen during the night, and
+the mercury had risen to 6 deg. below zero. We drove along in the dusky
+half-twilight toward Angesjo, 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.
+
+The day gradually became still and cold, until the temperature reached
+-22 deg. 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 _drickpenningar_
+(drink-money, or gratuity), at the end of the station, expressed his
+thanks by shaking hands with us. This is a universal custom 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.
+
+At Stocksjo we decided to push on to a station beyond Umea, called
+Innertafle, and took our horses accordingly. The direct road, however,
+was unused on account of the drifts, so we went around through Umea,
+after all. We had nearly a Swedish mile, and it was just dark when we
+descended to the Umea 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 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.
+
+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
+_gryngrot_, 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+PROGRESS NORTHWARDS.--A STORM.
+
+
+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, "_Thirty_, by Jupiter!" (30 deg. of Reaumur, equal to 35-1/2 deg.
+below zero of Fahrenheit.) We were delighted with this sign of our
+approach to the Arctic circle.
+
+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 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 Sormjole,
+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 Sormjole, 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.
+
+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 _finkel_, 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 deg. 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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
+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.
+
+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:
+
+     "That bright, and fierce, and fickle is the South,
+     And dark, and true, and tender is the North."
+
+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 without
+knowing it, and who are happy without trying to be so. Where shall we
+find such among our restless communities at home?
+
+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 _meringue_, 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.
+
+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 deg. 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, 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.
+
+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." "_Ja so-o-o!_" 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 deg. 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.
+
+At Daglosten, the third station, we stopped an hour for 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 deg.) was so keen that
+our postilions made good time, and we reached Sunnana on the Skelleftea
+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.
+
+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 deg. 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 Skelleftea 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 Skelleftea. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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 Pitea. 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+At Gefre, we got some salt meat and hot milk, and then started on our
+long stage of fifteen miles to Pitea. The wind had moderated somewhat,
+but the snow still fell fast 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
+Pitea 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 _skjutsbonde_ turned into
+the courtyard of an inn.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+JOURNEY FROM PITEA TO HAPARANDA.
+
+
+My jaw was so painful on reaching Pitea, 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 deg. 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.
+
+It was dark when we reached Ersnas, whence we had twelve miles to Old
+Lulea, 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 deg. below zero, and
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+By this time we came upon the broad Lulea 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 Lulea 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 Perso, 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 Perso 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.
+
+We took coffee in bed at seven, and started for Ranbyn, on the Ranea
+River. The day was lowering, temperature 8-1/2 deg. 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 were still as frequent as ever, but there was little
+apparent cultivation, except flax. Ranbyn 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 deg. N., with the mercury freezing!), which
+explained the increased travel on the road. We kept on to Hvita for
+breakfast, thus getting north of the latitude of Tornea; 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 deg. 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 Mansbyn, where, thank Heaven, we got
+something to eat, a warm room, and a bed.
+
+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 _bruk-patron_ (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
+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 deg. north," said
+he; "on the Kalix, where no American has ever been before, and I shall
+call my friend to give a _skal_ to your country. We have been to the
+church, where my friend is stationed."
+
+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 deg. 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: "_Skal_ 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 deg. 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.
+
+This seemed to puzzle the iron-master, who studied awhile 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!"
+
+When we awoke, the temperature had risen to 2 deg. 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. 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.
+
+By the time we reached Nasby 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.
+
+On New Year's morning it blew less, and the temperature was
+comparatively mild, so, although the road was very heavy, we started
+again. Nasby 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 Nasby, all is pure Swedish; at Sangis, 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+CROSSING THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.
+
+
+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.
+
+This good-hearted girl was a genuine specimen of the Northern Swedish
+female. Of medium height, plump, but 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 deg. below zero. The reward of such a service was possibly
+about _eight_ 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."
+
+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 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.
+
+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
+Tornea, and the ice-track across the river, where hundreds of persons
+daily passed to and fro. The eastern window showed us the Arctic dawn,
+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
+_fladbrod_, English porter, and excellent Umea 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.
+
+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 _skjuts_, 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 Tornea, 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 _fladbrod_ 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 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 Tornea, 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 _vise_, together with a small stock of roubles, at Stockholm,
+but found that it was quite unnecessary. No passport is required for
+entering Tornea, or travelling on the Russian side of the frontier.
+
+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 deg. 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 Tornea. 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.
+
+Our road was well beaten, but narrow, and we had great difficulty in
+passing the many hay and wood teams which 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 Tornea, 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,
+
+     "Cold as the rocks on Torneo's hoary brow,"
+
+with the same disregard of geography which makes him grow palm trees
+along the Susquehanna River. There was Tornea; 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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
+Korpikyla, 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, "_Hvarifran kommar du?_" (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 _hus-bonde_ (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.
+
+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 deg. below zero,
+still keeping up the left bank of the Tornea. 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 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 deg. 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.
+
+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 Tornea. 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 Packila 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 Tornea 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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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 _souvenir_ of the place, and set forward in the most cheery mood.
+
+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.
+
+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 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 "_cax_" signified
+two. When I gave him his drink-money he said "_ketox!_" and on going out
+the door, "_huweste!_"--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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+ADVENTURES AMONG THE FINNS.
+
+
+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 "_ux_," that I was
+to pay one _rigsdaler_ (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 _skjutsbonde_, 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.
+
+Our road was mostly upon the Tornea 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 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.
+
+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. They came
+tramping along through the snow, about fifty in number, including a
+dozen which ran loose. The others were harnessed to _pulks_, 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.
+
+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:
+
+one             ux
+two             cax
+three           kolma
+four            nelia
+five            viis
+six             oos
+seven           settima
+eight           kahexa
+nine            ohexa
+ten             kiumene
+a half          puoli
+horses          hevorste
+immediately     varsin
+ready           walmis
+drive on!       ayo perli!
+how much?       guinga palia
+a mile          peligorma
+bread           leba
+meat            liha
+milk            maito
+butter          voy
+fire            valkar
+a bed           sangu (Swedish)
+good            huva
+bad             paha
+
+We kept on our way up the river, in the brilliant afternoon moonlight.
+The horses were slow; so were the two _skjutsbonder_, to whom I cried in
+vain: "Ayo 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 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.
+
+While at Haparanda, we had been recommended to stop at Kingis Bruk, at
+the junction of the Tornea 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 deg. 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.
+
+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 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 _patron_ 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.
+
+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
+_patron_ 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 _tjade_, or capercailie (one of the finest game birds
+in the world), potatoes, cranberries, and whipped cream, accompanied
+with excellent Umea ale, and concluded with coffee, surpassed anything
+we had sat down to for many a day. The _patron_ gave me considerable
+information about the 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.
+
+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
+Tornea, 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.
+
+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 Tornea, and the boundary between
+Sweden and Russia, above the junction. There had been a violent wind
+during the night, and the track was completely filled up. The Tornea 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.
+
+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 _polan_ and 3
+_belikor_ (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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+The temperature had changed again in the night, being 28 deg. 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
+"_hevorste!_" (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
+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.
+
+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.
+
+We had a poor horse, which soon showed signs of breaking 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 "_ux
+verst_" distant, and at three, finally, we arrived. We appreciated
+rather better what we had endured when we found that the temperature was
+44 deg. below zero.
+
+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 _orts_, which they laid upon
+a chair and counted, with the 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 _posk_, leggings and boots, and we started
+again.
+
+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.
+
+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 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:--
+
+     "Fear not, but trust in Providence,
+     Wherever thou may'st be."
+
+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. "_Ja!_"
+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 deg., 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 quilt and a sheepskin
+coverlet, and we soon forgot both our hunger and our frozen blood.
+
+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 _rigs_ (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 deg.
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+LIFE IN LAPLAND.
+
+
+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 Forstrom, 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 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.
+
+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
+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.
+
+Mr. Wolley proposed to us another luxury, in the shape of a vapour-bath,
+as Herr Forstrom 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+I dressed in a violent perspiration, and then ran across to Herr
+Forstrom's house, where tea was already waiting for us. Here we found
+the _lansman_ or magistrate of the Russian district opposite, a Herr
+Braxen, 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. Finally, it was decided that Herr
+Forstrom 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.
+
+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 ingredient, which probably increases the secretion of milk.
+The stable, as well as Forstrom'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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 "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!"
+
+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 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.
+
+During the first three days, the weather was raw, dark, and lowering,
+with a temperature varying from 9 deg. above to 13 deg. 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
+Tornea, at Avasaxa, are two of the finest views in Lapland.
+
+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 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+In the afternoon we took another reindeer drive to Muonioniska, paying a
+visit to Pastor Fali, the clergyman whom we had met at Forstrom'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 Forstrom's in season for
+a dinner of fat reindeer steak, cranberries, and a confect of the Arctic
+raspberry.
+
+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
+_poesks_, 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+A REINDEER JOURNEY ACROSS LAPLAND.
+
+
+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 _poesk_ 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 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.
+
+Herr Forstrom 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 deg. 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 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.
+
+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 _Pitka Isaaki_, 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.
+
+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 deg. 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 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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 deg. below zero, which felt
+unpleasantly warm, by contrast with the previous evening.
+
+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 Suontajarvi. 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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 close behind him, white as a Polar
+bear, but glowing like a volcano under my furs. The temperature was 10 deg.
+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.
+
+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 Lappajarvi, 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, 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.
+
+Long Isaac proposed waiting until midnight, for moon-rise, as it was
+already dark, and there was no track beyond Lippajarvi. 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.
+
+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 Palajarvi,
+seven miles from Lippajarvi, which proved that we were on the right
+track.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 Eitajarvi, 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.
+
+The Lapps readily gave us permission to enter. We lifted the hanging
+door of reindeer hide, crept in, stumbling 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 Eitajarvi, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+"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.
+
+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 Lippajarvi, 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+KAUTOKEINO.--A DAY WITHOUT A SUN.
+
+
+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 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.
+
+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 _Lansman_, 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 Lansman'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.
+
+The Lansman, 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 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 Kiolen 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 _Finns_, and the Finns,
+_Quans_. 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.
+
+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
+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 Lansman's table were
+almost as fresh as if they had never been frozen.
+
+Formerly, the place was almost entirely deserted during the summer
+months, and the resident missionary and Lansman 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; 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.
+
+We awoke at eight o'clock to find a clear twilight and a cold of 10 deg.
+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 Lansman, 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 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 deg. 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.
+
+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 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 Lansman'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.
+
+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] 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 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.
+
+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 Lansman's parlor, occasionally interrupted by the visits of Lapps,
+who, having heard of our arrival, were very 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 Lansman, 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 Lansman, 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 Kiolen 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 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.
+
+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
+Lansman 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.
+
+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 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
+Lansman, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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."
+
+The weather changed greatly after our arrival. From 23 deg. below zero on
+Sunday evening, it rose to 8-1/2 deg. 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 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.
+
+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.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE RETURN TO MUONIOVARA.
+
+While at Kautokeino I completed my Lapp outfit by purchasing a scarlet
+cap, stuffed with eider down, a pair of _boellinger_, or reindeer
+leggings, and the _komager_, 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 _boellinger_, 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.
+
+The temperature was, nevertheless, singularly mild when 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 deg. 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.
+
+By Herr Berger's advice, we engaged as guide to Lippajarvi, 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, 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.
+
+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 seeds of spiritual disease among this ignorant
+and impressible race.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 Eitajarvi. 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 Lippajarvi
+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
+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 deg. 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+In two hours from the time we left Eitajarvi 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 Palajarvi 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 shaken, brightening even with their gloomy
+green the white monotony of the Lapland wilderness. It was like a sudden
+gleam of sunshine.
+
+We reached Lippajarvi 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 Suontajarvi, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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 Hal, Herr Forstrom'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.
+
+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 deg. 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 Forstrom'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 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.
+
+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
+_diablerie_, and nobody has a right to complain.
+
+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 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ABOUT THE FINNS.
+
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 Quans 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
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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--_ergo_, 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, 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.
+
+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
+_emeutes_ and revolutions, and the establishment of the terrestrial
+_regime_, 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 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 (_vide_ 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.
+
+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 outside is goodly to the eye, too
+often concealing an interior foul to the core.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+EXPERIENCES OF ARCTIC WEATHER.
+
+
+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 _skjuts_, we engaged horses as far
+as Kengis from Herr Forstrom 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 deg. 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 deg.
+below.
+
+We slept warmly and well on our old bed of reindeer skins, 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 deg. 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.
+
+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 deg. at
+midday, after 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 deg. 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.
+
+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 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 _bruk-patron_, 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 Tornea, 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.
+
+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--"_mia tarvi nuku a_." 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.
+
+The cold was still at 47 deg. 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 Tornea. 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
+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.
+
+Beyond Pello, where we stopped to "fire up," our road lay mostly on the
+Russian side. While crossing the Tornea 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.
+
+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 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 depot 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+In the morning the mercury froze, after showing 49 deg. 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 Tornea 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.
+
+The sun rose through the frozen air a little after nine, and mounted
+quite high at noon. At Packila we procured some hot milk and smoked
+reindeer, tolerable horses and a stout boy of fourteen to drive our
+baggage-sled. Every one 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 Korpikila, 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 _would come_, 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 Tornea. 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!"
+
+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 "_gammal scherry_" (though the Devil and his servants, the
+manufacturers of chemical wines, only knew what it was), started the
+flagging 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 deg. below zero.
+Nevertheless, we went out after breakfast to call upon Dr. Wretholm, and
+walk over the Tornea.
+
+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 _fjeller_, 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 Tornea and bring us back to dinner. The doctor's
+boy drove us, facing the wind with our faces exposed, at -42 deg., but one
+night's rest and good food enabled us to bear it without inconvenience.
+Tornea 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 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,
+_bouillon_, ale, and coffee. The family were reading the Swedish
+translation of "Dred" in the _Aftonblad_, 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.
+
+I made a sunset sketch of Tornea. 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+INCIDENTS OF THE RETURN JOURNEY.
+
+
+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 deg. 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.
+
+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, 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?
+
+At Sangis we met a handsome young fellow with a moustache, who proved to
+be the _Lansman_ 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 Nasby 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 Nasby and its two-story inn once more. The pleasant
+little handmaiden smiled all over her face when she saw us again. Nasby
+is a crack place: the horses were ready at once, and fine creatures they
+were, taking us up the Kalix to Mansbyn, eight miles in one hour. The
+road was hard as a rock and smooth as a table, from much ploughing and
+rolling.
+
+The next day was dark and lowering, threatening snow, with a raw wind
+from the north-west, and an average temperature of 15 deg. below zero. We
+turned the north-western corner of the Bothnian Gulf in the afternoon,
+and pushed on to Old Lulea by supper-time. At Perso, 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
+Lulea, 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 Mansbyn, 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 Pitea. 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.
+
+As we descended upon the Lulea 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.
+
+We approached Pitea 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 Pitea, 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 West and
+North Bothnia are thus characterised in an old verse of Swedish
+doggerel: Umea, _the fine_; Pitea, _the needle-making_; Lulea, _the
+lazy_; and in Tornea, _everybody gets drunk_.
+
+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 deg.
+above zero, with snow falling, but succeeded in reaching Skelleftea 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. Skelleftea 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.
+
+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 farther north. On the 4th of
+February, at noon, we passed through Umea, 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 Lulea, and Pitea,
+and dined in Umea,--and further my journal saith not.
+
+The 5th, however, was a day to be noticed. We started from Angersjo,
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 Umea, 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 Linnaeus.
+
+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 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 deg. 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+CONCLUSION OF THE ARCTIC TRIP.
+
+
+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.
+
+On the road, we bought a quantity of the linen handkerchiefs of the
+country, at prices varying from twenty-five to 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.
+
+     "The damsel who trips at daybreak
+     Is shod like a mountaineer."
+
+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.
+
+We stopped for the night at Hornas, 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 deg. above
+zero, and at noon rose to 39 deg.. It was delightful to travel once more
+with cap-lappets 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
+Hernosand, 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 Hernosand from the main land. The ice was already softening,
+and the upper layer repeatedly broke through under us.
+
+Hernosand 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 Skelleftea, 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 Fjal as the moon rose,--a globe of silver fire in a perfect
+violet sky. Two merry boys, 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 "_Salaam aleikoom, ya Sidi!_"
+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.
+
+The snow was now getting rapidly thinner. So scant 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 _valet-de-place_, 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.
+
+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 _after_ 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 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 deg. and 55 deg. North.
+
+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 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 deg. 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 deg. 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 deg., when the same degree
+of cold, with a very light wind, turned my own blood to ice.
+
+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 deg. to 70 deg.
+North:
+
+_15 deg. above zero_--Unpleasantly warm.
+
+_Zero_--Mild and agreeable.
+
+_10 deg. below zero_--Pleasantly fresh and bracing.
+
+_20 deg. below zero_--Sharp, but not severely cold. Keep your fingers and
+toes in motion, and rub your nose occasionally.
+
+_30 deg. below zero_--Very cold; take particular care of your nose and
+extremities: eat the fattest food, and plenty of it _40 deg.
+below_--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.
+
+_50 deg. below_--A struggle for life.
+
+     * 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 A. M., 12 to 2 P. M., and 7 to 11 P. M., whenever it was
+     possible.
+
+                        _Morning._   _Noon._   _Evening._
+December 21                + 6          ..       zero.
+    "    22                + 6          ..        - 3
+    "    23                -22         -29        -22
+    "    24                - 6         -22        -22
+    "    25                -35         -38    mer. frozen.
+    "    26                -30         -24        -31
+    "    27 (storm)        -18         -18        -18
+    "    28 (storm)        zero.      zero.      zero.
+    "    29                - 6         -13        -13
+    "    30                - 6         -13        -22
+    "    31 (storm)        - 3         + 9        + 9
+January   1, 1857          + 3         + 3        + 3
+    "     2                - 6         - 6        - 6
+    "     3                -30         -22        -22
+    "     4                -18          ..        -22
+    "     5                -31         -30        -33
+    "     6                -20         - 4       zero.
+    "     7                + 4         +18        +25
+    "     8                +18          ..        -11
+    "     9                -28         -44        -44
+    "    10(storm)         - 5          ..        - 2
+    "    11(storm)         - 2        zero.       - 5
+    "    12, 1857 (storm)  - 5         - 4        - 4
+    "    13 (storm)        + 5         + 5        + 5
+    "    14                - 6         -13        - 6
+    "    15                - 8         -13        -33
+    "    16                - 9         -10        -11
+    "    17 (fog)          zero.      zero.      zero.
+    "    18                -10         -18        -23
+    "    19 (storm)        - 3         - 3        - 9
+    "    20                +20          ..        + 6
+    "    21                - 4        zero.      zero.
+    "    22                + 2         - 6        -13
+    "    23                -13         - 3        -13
+    "    24                -15         -22        -44
+    "    25 mer. froz.     -50?        -42    mer. frozen
+    "    26                -45         -35        -39
+    "    27    frozen      -47?        -45        -35
+    "    28    frozen      -49?        -47        -44
+    "    29                -47?        -43        -43
+    "    30                -27         -11        -35
+    "    31                -17         -16        - 7
+February  1                zero.       - 9        -13
+    "     2                + 2         + 6       zero.
+    "     3                zero.      zero.      zero.
+    "     4                - 9        zero.       - 3
+    "     5 (storm)        + 3         + 3        + 3
+    "     6                +25         +25        +18
+    "     7                +14         +18        +25
+    "     8                +25         +39        +22
+    "     9                + 5         +22        +16
+    "    10                +25         +37        +37
+    "    11                +34         +34        +32
+    "    12                +32         +37        +23
+    "    13                +16         +30        +21
+    "    14                +25         +30        +25
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+LIFE IN STOCKHOLM.
+
+
+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 Malar lake. The _Stad_, 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, Birger Jarl, on the same
+spot, built the stronghold which was the seed out of which Stockholm has
+grown.
+
+This island, and the adjoining _Riddarholm_, 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 _Riddarhus_, 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 _Slot_, 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.
+
+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 _Norrbro_, 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 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 Djurgard, 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.
+
+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 _trottoirs_ 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 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.
+
+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 fashionable, has
+but an ordinary _cuisine_. 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 _smorgas_ (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.
+
+My Swedish friends all said, "You should see Stockholm 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 "_Stodgangst_," "_Krhalfligg_," "_Simhang_," or
+"_Hogstrgrsitt_." The hall, about eighty feet in length by thirty in
+height, was furnished with the usual appliances for gymnastic
+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.
+
+On exhibiting my _matsedel_, 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 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 _friskas_, 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 _you_, or its correspondent, is never used, except in speaking to
+inferiors; wherever it occurs in other languages, the title of the
+person addressed must be repeated; as, for example: "How is the Herr
+Justizrad? I called at the Herr Justizrad's house this morning, but the
+Herr Justizrad was not at home." Some of the more progressive Swedes are
+endeavouring to do away with this absurdity, by substituting the second
+person plural, _ni_, 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 _a_, and the language is full of soft, gliding
+iambics, which give a peculiar grace to its poetry.
+
+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 Linnaeus,
+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 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 "_trottoar_," "_salong_," and
+"_paviljong_."
+
+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 Djurgard 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+MANNERS AND MORALS OF STOCKHOLM.
+
+
+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 _Swedes_?--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. 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.
+
+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 _hats_),
+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, "_Tak for sist!_"
+(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.
+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, _ad infinitum_.
+
+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 _dare not_; 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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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
+_bonder_, 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 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.
+
+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.
+
+Speaking of King Oscar reminds me that I should not 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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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
+illegitimate children born _in_ 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.[B]
+
+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
+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 naive attempt to find some compensating good, "you must
+at least admit that the Swedish statistics are as exact as any in the
+world!"
+
+Drunkenness is a leading vice among the Swedes, as we had daily
+evidence. Six years ago the consumption of brandy throughout the kingdom
+was _nine gallons_ for every man, woman, and child annually; but it has
+decreased considerably since then, mainly through the manufacture of
+beer and porter. "_Bajerskt ol_" (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 _finkel_ 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.
+
+I have rarely witnessed a sadder example of ruin, than one evening in a
+Stockholm cafe. 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:
+
+     "Sa vandra vara stora man'
+     Fran ljuset ned til skuggan."[C]
+
+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.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[B] The substance of the foregoing paragraph was contained in a letter
+published in _The New-York Tribune_ 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 _rigsdaler_ ($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.
+
+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.
+
+[C] "Thus our great men wander from the light down into the shades."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+JOURNEY TO GOTTENBURG AND COPENHAGEN.
+
+
+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.
+
+The steamer left the Riddarholm pier at midnight, and took her way
+westward up the Malar Lake to Sodertelje. 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 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 Sodertelje,
+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 Soderkoping,
+passing, on the way, the magnificent ruins of Stegeborg Castle, the
+first mediaeval 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.
+
+Before reaching Soderkoping, 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 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.
+
+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
+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.
+
+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 _material_ 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.
+
+While on the steamer, I heard an interesting story of a Swedish
+nobleman, who is at present attempting a practical 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.
+
+We were to pass the locks at Trollhatta 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 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 Sodertelje and Soderkoping, 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.
+
+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. The Magister
+Hedlund, a very intelligent and accomplished gentleman, to whom I had a
+letter from Mugge, 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.
+
+The next morning, at five o'clock, the steamer Viken, from Christiania,
+arrived, and we took passage for Copenhagen. After issuing from the
+_Skargaard_, 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 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 Helsingor
+(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
+
+     "By thy _wild and stormy steep_,
+                           Elsinore!"
+
+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.
+
+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 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
+_sand_ dues for crossing her territory.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 reliefs, with a number in marble. No artist has ever had
+so noble a monument.
+
+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 naive 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?" 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!
+
+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.
+
+Professor Rafn, the distinguished archaeologist 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 _Kronprinzensgade_, 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 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+RETURN TO THE NORTH.--CHRISTIANIA.
+
+
+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.
+
+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 _seven_
+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 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."
+
+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.
+
+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, 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
+_Skargaard_--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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 Kom-Ombos, and under the palms of Philae, 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
+_carrioles_, 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 rope, gimlets, and
+other necessary helps in case of a breakdown. The carriole (_carry-all,
+lucus a non lucendo_, 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.
+
+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 _Carl-Johansgade_,
+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 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 Miosen
+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.
+
+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
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+INCIDENTS OF CARRIOLE TRAVEL.
+
+
+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 Miosen
+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 luxurious men, merchants--and
+especially North-German merchants--are the worst, so I let him talk and
+kept my own private opinion unchanged.
+
+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.
+
+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
+joints, such a vibration of the vertebrae, 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 _skydsbonder_, 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.
+
+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 from Christiania on the west. As it was
+not a "_fast_" 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 _skyds_, and changed at his house.
+The Norwegian _skyds_ differs from the Swedish _skjuts_ 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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
+_people_ 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. To my ear,
+it is less musical and sonorous than the Swedish, though it is often
+accented in the same peculiar sing-song way.
+
+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.
+
+At Klakken, which is called a _lilsigelse_ 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 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.
+
+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 P.M. 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 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.
+
+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 Miosen 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.
+
+Starting again in a heavy shower, we crossed the crest of a hill, and
+saw all at once the splendid Miosen 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 at present,
+since the establishment of a daily line of steamers on the lake. At the
+station of Gjovik, 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, "_you can go there afterwards!_" 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.
+
+We drove back to Gjovik 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 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.
+
+I was glad, nevertheless, that we had an opportunity of seeing the
+Miosen, from the deck of a steamer. Moving over the glassy pale-green
+water, midway between its shores, 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 _gaards_, 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+GULDBRANDSDAL AND THE DOVRE FJELD.
+
+
+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 Miosen 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 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+We changed horses at Moshuus, 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 _skyds_ 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 _tilsigelse_ stations is the great drawback to travelling
+by _skyds_ 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, 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!
+
+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 Losnas,
+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 Moshuus; 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.
+
+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 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 _gaard_,
+entirely deserted, its barns, out-houses and gardens utterly empty and
+desolate. Its aspect saddened the whole landscape.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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 of meanness and cowardice. If it
+were only fair fighting on an open field, there would be less of it.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 _soter_, or summer chalet 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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 Snaehatten, and to stalk 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.
+
+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 deg., 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. Snaehatten, to the westward, was partly veiled, but
+we could trace his blunt mound of alternate black rock and snow nearly
+to the 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 Snaehatten is dethroned.
+
+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 _Vaarsti_, 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 _jotuns_ of the
+highest fjeld.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 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 Bjaerkager, 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 _forbud_ 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.
+
+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 Guul Elv, the course of which we thence followed to Drontheim.
+
+One of the stations was a lonely _gaard_, 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.
+
+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 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 Mugge calls his
+heroine Ilda "the strong maiden."
+
+A drive of thirty-five miles down the picturesque valley of the Guul
+brought us to Drontheim the next day--the eighth after leaving
+Christiania.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+DRONTHEIM.--VOYAGE UP THE COAST OF NORWAY.
+
+
+Our first view of Drontheim (or _Trondhjem_, 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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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
+Bjoro, 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
+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.
+
+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,
+notwithstanding the dark and savage scenery amidst which their lot is
+cast.
+
+Toward midnight, we approached the rock of Torghatten, 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 Torghatten 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 _Hestmand_, 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.
+
+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 _jaegts_, 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 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 _jaegts_ 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.
+
+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 Bodo 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.
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE LOFODEN ISLES.
+
+
+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.
+
+At Bodo we were in sight of the Lofoden Islands, which 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 Groto, and headed across the fjord, for Balstad, on
+West-Vaagoe, 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
+Vaeroe in the south west to the giant ridges of Hindoe 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.
+
+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 Vaeroe lay the large island of
+Moskoe, between which and a large solitary rock in the middle of the
+strait dividing them, is the locality of the renowned Maelstrom--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 Depot 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
+Maelstrom, 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:
+
+     "Round the shores where runic Odin
+       Howls his war-song to the gale;
+     Round the isles where loud Lofoden
+       Whirls to death the roaring whale;"
+
+and, as we looked over the smooth water towards Moskoe, 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 Maelstrom has lost all its terrors and attractions. Under
+certain conditions of wind and tide, an eddy is formed in the strait 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 _bore_, 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 Maelstrom
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+A voyage of four hours across the West Fjord brought us to the little
+village of Balstad, at the southern end of West-Vaagoe. 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 Vaagoe, 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 and little wooden fisher-huts stood on the shore in the arms of
+sheltered coves. At the village of Svolvaer, 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!
+
+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-Vaagoe and Hindoe, 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 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-Vaagoe, 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.
+
+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 Hindoe, 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 deg.. The long straits between Senjen and Qvalo and the
+mainland are covered with forests of birch and turfy slopes greener than
+England has ever shown. At 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.
+
+After a trip up the magnificent Maans Fjord, and the sight of some
+sea-green glaciers, we approached Tromsoe, the capital of Finmark. This
+is a town of nearly 3000 inhabitants, on a small island in the strait
+between Qvalo 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+FINMARK AND HAMMERFEST.
+
+
+The steamer lay at Tromsoe 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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
+_gammes_, 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 _corrals_ 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 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 Tromsoe.
+
+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 Fugloe, rising like a double dome from the sea, and the tall
+mountains of Arnoe, 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 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.
+
+Our course brought the sun rapidly toward the ruby cliffs of Arnoe, 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 Arnoe. 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.
+
+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 deg., 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 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
+Mageroe and the dreary Porsanger Fjord, as Andalusia and Syria float in
+ours. It is well that human bliss is so relative in its character.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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
+Mugge's "Afraja." The _gaard_, 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
+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.
+
+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 _savans_ 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,
+politically, it does _not_ 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!
+
+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 desolate hills of Qvalo 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.
+
+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 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
+_Nordkap_ 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE MIDNIGHT SUN.
+
+
+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 Tornea. 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
+travellers were all returning to Drontheim--except three Norwegian
+officers on their way to make an official inspection of the fortress of
+Wardohuus--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.
+
+When I went on deck on the morning after our departure, we were in the
+narrow strait between the island of Mageroe, 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 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!
+
+In the spring months, there are on an average 800 vessels on the
+northern coast, between the North Cape and Vadso, 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.
+
+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
+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.
+
+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 Beachy Head, but the rock here appears to be
+mica-slate, disposed in thin, vertical strata, with many violent
+transverse breaks.
+
+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 Svaerholtklub, 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 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.
+
+It was now eleven o'clock, and Svaerholt 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 Mageroe--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--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.
+
+This was the midnight sun as I had dreamed it--as I had hoped to see it.
+
+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 _before_ 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
+Svaerholt, 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 preexistence of a night? Let those explain the
+phenomenon 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.
+
+Before one o'clock we reached the entrance of the Kiollefjord, 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 _Finnkirka_, 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
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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 deg. 20', which is further north than
+I ever was before, or ever wish to be again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE VARANGER FJORD.--ARCTIC LIFE.
+
+
+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 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.
+
+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 _to
+live_, 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."
+
+"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 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!
+
+The next day, we were in the Varanger Fjord, having passed the fortress
+of Vardohuus 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 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 Vadso, 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.
+
+The little fort of Vardohuus, 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 Tromsoe, 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. 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.
+
+About ten o'clock we reached Vadso, 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. Vadso 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 afternoon, but the wind was so chill that
+I was glad to come back shivering to our quarters.
+
+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:
+
+     "In Lapland the people are dirty,
+       Flat-headed, and broad-mouthed, and small
+     They squat round the fire while roasting
+       Their fishes, and chatter and squall;"
+
+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.
+
+Vadso, although only forty miles from Vardo, 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
+Vardo," 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 said, with a
+curious mixture of Italian and Norsk words "_Jeg voglio ikke
+ritornare_." I said the same thing ("I shall not return") as I left
+Vadso.
+
+We sailed early the next morning, and in the afternoon reached Vardo,
+where we lay three hours. Here we took on board the three officers, who
+had in the meantime made their inspection. Vardohuus 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 _stock-fish_ of the Lofodens,
+but must be first salted and then laid on the rocks to dry, whence the
+term _klip_ (cliff) fish, by which they are known in trade.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 deg. he never knew certainly whether it was day or night,
+and the cook was the only person on board who could tell him.
+
+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 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 _compulsive_ 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.
+
+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.
+
+I have described the smells of Hammerfest, which are its principal
+characteristic. It seemed to me the dreariest place 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 _unapproachably_ 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.
+
+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 deg. 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 deg.
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE RETURN TO DARKNESS.--NORWEGIAN CHARACTER.
+
+
+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 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.
+
+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 deg. 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.
+
+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 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 _vogts_ and _lansmen_
+(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.
+
+At Tromsoe, 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, which must
+sooner or later come, in Norway and in Sweden. He has a congregation of
+three hundred members, in Tromsoe, 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 _true_ 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 _consubstantiation_." Verily,
+the difference between tweedledum and tweedledee--one being as absurd as
+the other.
+
+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 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 _Haugianer_ and _Lasare_--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.
+
+I had a strong desire to converse with Pastor Lamers in relation to the
+stand he has taken, but he was surrounded by 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.
+
+In passing Hindoe 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 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.
+
+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 _landhand lare_, 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 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.
+
+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 _some_ 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.
+
+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 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. Mugge 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!"
+
+One cannot find fault with a people for their patriotism. I have always
+admired that love of _Gamle Norge_ 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+DRONTHEIM AND BERGEN.
+
+
+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.
+
+Our drive to the Lierfoss, in the evening, was an 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 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
+_fladbrod_ and rancid butter; and that Bjorn 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.
+
+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.
+
+Next morning, we were sailing in a narrow strait, between perpendicular
+cliffs, fluted like basaltic pillars. It 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 _two hundred_. 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.
+
+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 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?
+
+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.
+
+Let me leave these disagreeable themes, and say that Bergen is one of
+the most charmingly picturesque towns in all the 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 testimony which
+Capell Brooke has collected in favour of his existence, he is fast
+becoming a myth.
+
+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 _skyds-skaffer_, 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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+A TRIP TO THE VORING-FOSS.
+
+
+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.
+
+Our road led at first over well-cultivated hills dotted 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 naive manner of this request made it seem reasonable, and I
+gave him something accordingly, though a little disappointed, for I had
+congratulated myself on finding at last a friendly and obliging
+_skyds-skaffer_ (Postmaster) in Norway.
+
+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 improvement
+of the means of communication in a country is in the ratio of its social
+progress.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 Bolstadoren, 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 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.
+
+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 _skyds_ 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 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.
+
+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
+Voring-Foss, which lies beyond the Hardanger Fjord, about fifty miles
+distant, in a south-eastern direction.
+
+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
+the valley along which we drove, was filled with an unbroken pine
+forest, inclosing here and there a lake,
+
+     "Where Heaven itself, brought down to Earth,
+       Seemed fairer than above;"
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+                  "The tallest pine,
+     Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast
+     Of some great admiral,"
+
+I have not yet seen.
+
+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 then posted off to a neighbouring farmhouse to engage horses
+for us.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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_l._ 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 that, and besides furnished us with a good meal more than once;
+wherefore I respect it.
+
+We were now but eight miles from the Voring-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.
+
+We embarked in a crazy, leaky boat, Peder pulling vigorously and
+singing. "_Frie dig ved lifvet_" ("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:--
+
+     "Minstrel, awaken the harp from its slumbers,
+       Strike for old Norway, the land of the free!
+     High and heroic, in soul-stirring numbers,
+       Clime of our fathers, we strike it for thee!
+     Old recollections awake our affections--
+       Hallow the name of the land of our birth;
+     Each heart beats its loudest, each cheek glows its proudest,
+       For Norway the ancient, the throne of the earth!"[D]
+
+"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 Jokeln, he commenced a soeter-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 Saebo. 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."
+
+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 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 _cul de sac_ 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.
+
+Crossing the stream again, we commenced ascending over the debris 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 deg.,
+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 _Mayenwand_, in going from the glacier of the Rhone
+to the Grimsel, imagine a slant higher, steeper, and 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.
+
+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 (_Rubus chamoemorus_), 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 Voring-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 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.
+
+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 Voring-Foss.
+
+A short distance above the fall there are a few cabins inhabited by
+soeters, or herdsmen, whither we repaired to procure some fresh milk.
+The house was rude and dirty; but 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.
+
+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 Hol, the strong housewife, smacked her lips over the
+glass which she drank after sitting to me for her portrait.
+
+When the sketch was completed, we filled the empty bottle with milk and
+set out on our return.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[D] Latham's translation.
+
+
+
+
+XXXI.
+
+SKETCHES FROM THE BERGENSTIFT.
+
+
+Our return from the Voring-Foss to the hamlet of Saebo 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 "_Frie dig ved
+lifvet_" 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 you know but _some_ 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! _Frie dig ved lifvet_," &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.
+
+"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.
+
+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,
+"_Frie dig ved lifvet_." 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+We were rowed across the Graven Lake by an old farmer, who wore the
+costume of the last century,--a red coat, _a la_ 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 on his sumptuous fare for the privations of the past three days.
+
+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."
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 Naerodal. 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
+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."
+
+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 Naerodal.
+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 but one valley which in depth and sublimity
+can equal the Naerodal--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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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 Vangnaes, a short distance to
+the westward, is the "Framnaes" 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 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 Laerdalsoren, 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.
+
+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
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+HALLINGDAL--THE COUNTRY-PEOPLE OF NORWAY.
+
+
+There are two roads from Laerdalsoren to Christiania, the eastern one
+passing through the districts of Valders and Hadeland, by way of the
+Little Miosen 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
+Laerdalsoren, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 no scenery in the Bergenstift of so original
+and impressive a character as that of the Lofoden Isles.
+
+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
+_tilsigelse_ (money for ordering horses) to be paid, I handed the usual
+sum to the landlady, saying: "This is for _tilsigelse_." "It is quite
+right," said she, pocketing the coin.
+
+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 Bjoberg. 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,
+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!
+
+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 Bjoberg, 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.
+
+Leaving Bjoberg 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.
+
+We now drove, through fir-woods balmy with warm resinous odours, to
+Ekre, where we had ordered breakfast by _forbud_. 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
+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.
+
+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 _forbud_ 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 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.
+
+From the village of Gol, 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
+_landhandlare_, 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 Naes, which we reached in a famished
+condition, having eaten nothing all day. There were two _landhandlare_
+in the place, with one of whom we lodged. 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.
+
+I had written, and sent off from Bjoberg, _forbud_ tickets for every
+station as far as Kongsberg. By the legal regulations, the
+_skyds-skaffer_ 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 _forbud_ twelve hours' start, and had
+punctually paid the expense at every station, we overtook it at Naes. 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 Bjoberg, where our _forbud_
+tickets were given to them, with the request that they would deliver
+them. They had punctually done so as far as Naes, where the people had
+endeavoured to prevent them from stopping for the night, insisting that
+they were bound to go on and carry the _forbud_. 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.
+
+We trusted the repeated assurance of the postmaster at Naes, 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
+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 _skyds_ 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.
+
+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
+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.
+
+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 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 "_Gamle Norge_" instead of being
+content with the poetical flourish of her name!
+
+The following day, from Naes 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
+to the great diversion of the other hands. "Weel done, cutty sark!" I
+cried; but the quotation was thrown away upon her.
+
+Green, on the Kroder 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 "_lycksame
+resa!_" (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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+TELLEMARK AND THE RIUKAN FOSS.
+
+
+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.
+
+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 Voring Foss the
+supremacy of the thousand waterfalls of Norway. There are several ways
+from Kongsberg 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 Bolkesjo 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.
+
+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 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. Bolkesjo, 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 _skyds-shaffer_, 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 _liten stund_" (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.
+
+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 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.
+
+In the course of an hour and a half we obtained three strong and
+spirited stallions, and continued our journey towards the Tind-So.
+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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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 Dal, half-way between Mael and the
+cataract, which we did not reach until 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 Dal, we found
+Ole's _gaard_. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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 of the birch thicket we were
+threading, and we came abruptly upon the brink of the great chasm into
+which the river falls.
+
+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
+Mios-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 below our feet, until, still further above our heads, they lift
+their irregular cornices against the sky.
+
+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.
+
+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
+_gaard_ 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
+mistake: it was _not_ 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.
+
+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 _born_
+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; "_seven_ languages! It is
+truly wonderful how much 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.
+
+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 to extend for a considerable
+distance along the northern side of the valley, seemed rather to be the
+deposit of an ocean-flood.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+NORWAY AND SWEDEN.
+
+
+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.
+
+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 _desagremens_ 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
+_vognmand_ 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 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.
+
+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 _petits
+seigneurs_, 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 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.
+
+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 _Icelandic_
+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
+ill-humoured reply, "Our language is not Danish, but Norsk." As well
+might we say at home, "We speak American, not English."
+
+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.
+
+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. 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 _facsimile_ 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.
+
+One peculiarity of the Storthing is, that a majority of its members are,
+and necessarily must be, farmers; whence Norway is sometimes nicknamed
+the _Farmer State_. 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. Mugge, in his recently
+published _Nordisches Bilderbuch_ (Northern 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. Mugge asked, (the remainder of the dialogue is
+too good to be omitted):--
+
+"The Storthing, then, consists of a majority of coarse and ignorant
+people?"
+
+STATESMAN. "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?"
+
+AUTHOR. "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?"
+
+STATESMAN. "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."
+
+AUTHOR. "The Farmer-Legislature, then, as I remark, takes care of
+itself, but is niggardly and avaricious when its own interests are not
+concerned?"
+
+STATESMAN. "It is a peculiar state of affairs. In very 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."
+
+AUTHOR. "On what occasions?"
+
+STATESMAN. "Why, you see (shrugging his shoulders), those farmers have
+not the least _comprehension of statesmanship_! 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."
+
+AUTHOR. (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."
+
+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 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.
+
+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 _Werner_ 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 _skjutsbonder_
+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.
+
+It was a pleasant thing to hear again the musical 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.
+
+Our voyage from Gottenburg to Carlstad, on the Wener Lake, had but one
+noteworthy point--the Falls of Trollhatten. 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 Toppo
+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 deg.,
+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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+A TRAMP THROUGH WERMELAND AND DALECARLIA.
+
+
+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.
+
+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 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 _gards_, 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.
+
+At the station, Prestegard, 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 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 Ohlsater, 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.
+
+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," said he, "there was a wedding a week
+ago, at the _herregard_ (gentleman's residence); the young Herr got
+married, and these arches were put up for him and his bride." The
+herregard, which we passed soon afterwards, was an imposing mansion,
+upon an eminence overlooking the valley. Beside it was a _jernbruk_, or
+iron-works, from which a tramway, some miles in length, led to the
+mines.
+
+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
+Rada, 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 _will_ stay, of course
+you _can_," 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. 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.
+
+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 _Nore_, 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 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+Towards noon we reached the village of Tyngsjo, 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 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.
+
+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 (_Dalarne_, 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
+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.
+
+We crossed the Westerdal by a floating bridge, and towards sunset
+reached the inn of Ragsveden, our destination. It was a farmer's _gard_,
+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 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."
+
+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 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.
+
+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 _naive_ 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 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 _Lasare_, or "Reader," the name given to the Swedish
+dissenters.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+We soon reached a _gard_, 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 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 _tunne_ (about 480 lbs.) of rye
+cost 32 _rigsdaler_ ($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?"
+
+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
+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 _rigs_ ($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.
+
+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!
+
+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 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 _Lasare_,
+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
+_rigs_ yearly, ten of which, in Mora parish, go to the priest. They say
+he has an income of half a _rigs_ 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 _Bondestand_ (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."
+
+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 _lingon_, 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 Solleron. "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.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+LAST DAYS IN THE NORTH.
+
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+The _Prost_, Herr Kjelstrom, 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 Kjelstrom 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."
+
+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 Lasare. 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 in
+speaking of the subject that I did not ascertain his own views.
+
+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 Rattvik, 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, and strong sun-bursts between the clouds flashed across
+these pastoral pictures.
+
+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 _timbre_, 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 Lasare, 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 _rigs_ ($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 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 Lasare had spread very rapidly, and that their numbers were
+continually increasing.
+
+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 Lasare; 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.
+
+There was no end to the desire of these people for 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.
+
+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 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 _Domprost_ 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.
+
+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 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:--"_Hosten bjuder sin thron til varen_"
+(Autumn offers his throne to the spring). "What!" he exclaimed in joyful
+surprise, "do you know Tegner?" and immediately continued the quotation.
+
+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.
+
+We at last took leave of the good old man and his friendly 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+From Hedemora, a journey of two days through the provinces of Westeras
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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 _Codex argenteus_, in the library, the original manuscript of
+Frithiof's Saga, the journals of Swedenborg and Linnaeus, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 "_Lefort_," 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 Djurgard and in the islands of Malar, 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.
+
+In another week we were standing on the deck of the Prussian steamer
+"_Nagler_," 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:--
+
+     "_Farval, J fjallar,
+       Der aran bor;
+     J runohallar,
+       For valdig Thor;
+     J blaa sjoar,
+       Jag kant sa val;
+     J skar och oar,_
+       _Farval, farval!_"
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+                      Irving's Life of Washington--
+
+
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+
+Popular Edition, green cloth, 12mo.,        per vol.,               1.50
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+IRVING'S (THEO.) CONQUEST OF FLORIDA. 12mo., cloth                  1.25
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+
+
+
+
+                            List of the Works
+
+                                   OF
+
+                    Washington Irving, Bayard Taylor,
+                               and others,
+
+
+                       Published for the Authors,
+
+                                   BY
+
+                           G. P. Putnam, N. Y.
+
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+
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+             free of expense or Postage, on receipt of the money._
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+
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+
+
+                         Irving's Whole Works---
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+
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+     A. Complete in 21 vols., 12mo cloth,                    $27.50
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+
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+
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+
+
+                                  NOTE.
+
+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.
+
+For all details connected with the illustrations and advertisements of
+these works, the publisher is alone responsible.
+
+
+                            Irving's Works---
+
+                         Separate Vols., in 12mo.
+
+     KNICKERBOCKER'S NEW YORK. Cloth,                          1.25
+     SKETCH BOOK. Cloth,                                       1.25
+     COLUMBUS. 3 vols. Cloth,                                  4.00
+     BRACEBRIDGE HALL. Cloth,                                  1.25
+     TALES OF A TRAVELLER. Cloth,                              1.25
+     ASTORIA. Cloth,                                           1.50
+     CRAYON MISCELLANY. Cloth,                                 1.25
+     CAPT. BONNEVILLE. Cloth,                                  1.25
+     OLIVER GOLDSMITH. Cloth,                                  1.25
+     MAHOMET. 2 vols. Cloth,                                   2.50
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+     LAFEVER'S ARCHITECTURAL INSTRUCTOR.
+       Profusely Illustrated: a superb and valuable work.
+       1 vol., 4to., half mor., gilt tops,                    16.00
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+       12mo., cloth,                                           1.00
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+       12mo., cloth,                                           1.00
+     MASON'S ART MANUFACTURES. 12mo., illustrated,             2.00
+     COGGESHALL'S VOYAGES TO VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD.
+       Illustrated. 3 vols. complete in one. 8vo.              2.50
+     COGGESHALL'S HISTORY OF AMERICAN PRIVATEERS.
+       Illustrated, 8vo., cloth,                               2.00
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+       16mo., cloth,                                            .25
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+
+
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+
+     TRAVELS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE WORLD.
+       By Bayard Taylor. 6 vols. 12mo. With Plates.
+       In a box, cloth,                                        8.00
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+               half calf, extra,                              15.00
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+
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+     3. LANDS OF THE SARACEN. (Palestine, &c.).                1.25
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+     5. INDIA, CHINA, AND JAPAN. 2 Steel Plates,               1.50
+     6. NORTHERN TRAVEL: Norway, Lapland, &c. Portrait
+        and View,                                              1.25
+     7. BURTON'S JOURNEY TO MECCAH AND MEDINAH.
+        With Introduction by Bayard Taylor,                    1.25
+
+"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."--_New Haven
+Courier._
+
+"As a writer of travels especially, he has never found his equal."
+--_Buffalo Democracy._
+
+"As a vivid delineator, it would be difficult to overmatch Mr. Taylor."
+--_Liverpool Standard._
+
+"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."
+--_Hartford Republican._
+
+
+                       Bayard Taylor's New Work---
+
+                      GREECE, RUSSIA, &c. (In Sept.)
+
+
+                        Washington Illustrations,
+
+Prints in Octavo, 15 cts. Proofs on India paper, 4to, 50 cts. Proofs in
+                  Passe-Partout frames, each, $1.50.
+
+                               Portraits.
+
+ADAMS, JOHN,                        MUNROE, JAMES,
+ANDRE, MAJOR,                       PAULDING, JOHN,
+ARNOLD, GEN.,                       PHILLIPSE, MISS,
+BURGOYNE, GEN.,                     PUTNAM, ISRAEL,
+CLINTON, GEO.,                      ROCHAMBEAU, COUNT,
+CLINTON, JAMES,                     SCHUYLER, GEN.,
+CLINTON, SIR HENRY,                 STARK, GEN.,
+CORNWALLIS, LORD,                   ST. CLAIR, GEN.,
+ELLSWORTH, OLIVER,                  STEUBEN, BARON,
+GATES, GEN.,                        SULLIVAN, GEN.,
+GLOVER, GEN.,                       SUMPTER, GEN.,
+GREENE, GEN.,                       STERLING, LORD,
+HAMILTON, ALEX.,                    THOMAS, GEN.,
+HOWE, SIR WM.,                      WASHINGTON AT 25,
+JAY, JOHN.                          WASHINGTON AT 40, BY C. W. PEALE
+JEFFERSON, THOS.,                   WASHINGT'N,  BY TRUMBULL,
+KING, RUFUS,                        WASHINGTON, BY PINE,
+KNOX, HENRY,                        WASHINGT'N, BY WERTMULLER,
+KOSCIUSKO,                          WASHINGTON, BY P. PEALE
+LEE, HENRY,                         WASHINGTON, BY STUART,
+LEE, CHARLES,                       WASHINGTON MONUMENT, BY H. K. BROWN,
+LAFAYETTE,                          WASHINGTON MONUMENT, BY CRAWFORD,
+LIVINGSTON, R. R.,                  WASHINGTON BUST, BY HOUDON,
+LINCOLN, GEN.,                      WASHINGTON BUST, BY CERACCHI,
+MADISON, JAMES,                     WASHINGTON, MRS.,
+MERCER, GEN.,                       WASHINGTON, MRS., BY STUART,
+MARION, GEN.,                       WARD, ARTEMAS, GEN.
+MORGAN, GEN.,                       WAYNE, ANTHONY,
+MORRIS, GOVERNEUR,                  WASHINGTON, WM.,
+MORRIS, ROBT.,                      WOLCOTT, OLIVER,
+
+
+                                Views, &c.
+
+SITE OF WASHINGTON'S BIRTHPLACE,    NEW YORK IN 1768,
+MOUNT VERNON, Rear View,            HUDSON HIGHLANDS--ODDIE,
+MOUNT VERNON, Front View,           BAY OF NEW YORK,
+  (Vignette),                       PHILLIPSE MANOR HOUSE,
+BRADDOCK'S BATTLE FIELD,            WEST POINT IN 1780,
+LAKE CHAMPLAIN--MILLER,             HEAD QUARTERS AT TAPPAN,
+LAKE GEORGE--MILLER                 HEAD QUARTERS AT NEWBURGH,
+VALENTINE'S HILL,                   OLD CITY HALL, NEW YORK.
+
+
+                           Historical Scenes.
+
+WASHINGTON AS A SURVEYOR--DARLEY.   BATTLE OF PRINCETON--TRUMBULL.
+WASHINGT'N AT FORT NECESSITY--      SCENE IN FARM HOUSE--McNEVIN.
+  McNEVIN                           SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE--TRUMBULL.
+WASHINGTON AT WINCHESTER--DARLEY.   BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN--
+WASHINGTON IN DISMAL SWAMP--          SCHUESSELLE
+  McNEVIN.                          WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE--
+WASHINGTON'S FIELD SPORTS--           DARLEY.
+  DARLEY.                           WASHINGT'N AND LEE AT MONMOUTH--
+WASHINGTON GOING TO CONGRESS--        DARLEY.
+  DARLEY.                           WASHINGTON TAKING LEAVE OF HIS
+FORTIFYING BUNKER HILL--DARLEY.       OFFICERS--DARLEY.
+WASHINGTON SUBDUING CAMP BRAWL.     WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION--
+ARRIVAL OF KNOX--DARLEY.              DARLEY
+DECLARAT'N OF INDEPENDENCE.         WASHINGTON RESIGNING HIS COMMISSION--
+CROSSING THE DELAWARE--DARLEY.        TRUMBULL.
+BATTLE OF TRENTON--SCHUESSELLE.
+
+
+                               _IN PRESS._
+                THE CHARACTER AND PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON.
+                         By HENRY T. TUCKERMAN.
+   With 12 steel plates, 8vo. $2.00. Quarto, with proof plates. $5.00.
+
+
+                            CAPT. COGGESHALL.
+
+                 Voyages to Various Parts of the World.
+
+                        New edition, Illustrated.
+
+                3 vols. complete in 1 vol. 8vo.   $2.50.
+
+"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."--_Evening Post._
+
+
+                     History of American Privateers.
+
+                  New edition, Illustrated, 8vo.    $2.
+
+This interesting and important work is highly recommended by the Hon.
+Messrs. J. C. DOBBIN and ISAAC TOUCEY, Secretaries of the Navy; Hon.
+LEWIS CASS; Hon. HAMILTON FISH, and other eminent men.
+
+
+                            E. PESHINE SMITH.
+
+                      A Manual of Political Economy.
+
+            DESIGNED FOR POPULAR READING, AND AS A TEXT BOOK.
+
+                            12mo., Cloth, $1.
+
+          New edition: used as a Text Book in several Colleges.
+
+"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."
+--_Extract from the Preface._
+
+
+                        AMERICAN LIBRARY AGENCY.
+
+                              G. P. PUTNAM
+
+Will give special attention to orders, large or small, for any Books
+published in the United States, or in Europe; and will purchase in
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+wholesale price. Orders should be accompanied by a remittance; or
+parcels can be sent per Express, payable on delivery.
+
+
+
+
+    +----------------------------------------------------+
+    | Transcriber's Note:                                |
+    |                                                    |
+    | Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in      |
+    | the original document have been preserved.         |
+    |                                                    |
+    | Periods added to dollar amounts                    |
+    |                                                    |
+    | Typographical errors corrected in the text:        |
+    |                                                    |
+    | Page  xii  Guldbrandsde changed to Guldbrandsdal   |
+    | Page xiii  FINNARK changed to FINMARK              |
+    | Page   13  Lubeck changed to Lubeck                |
+    | Page   15  afterward changed to afterwards         |
+    | Page   15  laboriously changed to labouriously     |
+    | Page   19  Tornea changed to Tornea                |
+    | Page   24  decended changed to descended           |
+    | Page   25  labor changed to labour                 |
+    | Page   30  Freya changed to Freja                  |
+    | Page   33  fiord changed to fjord                  |
+    | Page   39  Trondjem changed to Trondhjem           |
+    | Page   47  Angesjo changed to Angesjo              |
+    | Page   57  Skeleftea changed to Skelleftea         |
+    | Page   61  Pitea changed to Pitea                  |
+    | Page   62  dosed changed to dozed                  |
+    | Page   65  Tornea changed to Tornea                |
+    | Page   74  civilized changed to civilised          |
+    | Page   75  Muonioniski changed to Muonioniska      |
+    | Page  109  conducter changed to conductor          |
+    | Page  110  Muonivara changed to Muoniovara         |
+    | Page  119  Lippivara changed to Lippavara          |
+    | Page  127  civilization changed to civilisation    |
+    | Page  129  fiord changed to fjord                  |
+    | Page  144  labor changed to labour                 |
+    | Page  147  plateaux changed to plateaus            |
+    | Page  149  Lippajarva changed to Lippajarvi        |
+    | Page  149  Palajock changed to Palajok             |
+    | Page  152  civilized changed to civilised          |
+    | Page  156  drunkeness changed to drunkenness       |
+    | Page  157  cotemporary changed to contemporary     |
+    | Page  160  Isaki changed to Isaaki                 |
+    | Page  162  civilization changed to civilisation    |
+    | Page  166  Jokijalki changed to Jokijalka          |
+    | Page  173  Korpykila changed to Korpilila          |
+    | Page  179  Mansbyn changed to Mansbyn              |
+    | Page  189  Skeleftea changed to Skelleftea         |
+    | Page  223  cotemporary changed to contemporary     |
+    | Page  248  radient changed to radiant              |
+    | Page  250  odors changed to odours                 |
+    | Page  259  Romdal's changed to Romsdal's           |
+    | Page  286  Dronthiem changed to Drontheim          |
+    | Page  287  Dronthiem changed to Drontheim          |
+    | Page  310  lagest changed to largest               |
+    | Page  313  Tromso changed to Tromsoe               |
+    | Page  328  heartly changed to heartily             |
+    | Page  330  DRONTHIEM changed to DRONTHEIM          |
+    | Page  330  Dronthiem changed to Drontheim          |
+    | Page  336  practised changed to practiced          |
+    | Page  342  naive changed to naive                  |
+    | Page  343  civilization changed to civilisation    |
+    | Page  353  lifve changed to lifvet                 |
+    | Page  360  daguerrotypes changed to daguerreotypes |
+    | Page  361  bodice changed to boddice               |
+    | Page  364  inn-door changed to in-door             |
+    | Page  366  Naerdol changed to Naerodal             |
+    | Page  368  except changed to expect                |
+    | Page  372  labryrinthine changed to labyrinthine   |
+    | Page  377  Hemsedel changed to Hemsedal            |
+    | Page  378  Bjoborg changed to Bjoberg              |
+    | Page  381  Naes changed to Naes                     |
+    | Page  393  quickeuing changed to quickening        |
+    | Page  406  develope changed to develop             |
+    | Page  407  Westerdale changed to Westerdal         |
+    | Page  410  herregara changed to herregard          |
+    | Page  411  nothern changed to northern             |
+    | Page  413  unmistakeable changed to unmistakable   |
+    | Page  430  Sijan changed to Siljan                 |
+    | Page  431  nothern changed to northern             |
+    | Page  431  pedlers changed to peddlers             |
+    | Page  436  practised changed to practiced          |
+    | Page  443  SURRENDERR changed to SURRENDER         |
+    +----------------------------------------------------+
+
+
+
+
+
+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.txt or 25371.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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