A Personal Narrative of a Journey through Norway, Part of Sweden, and the Islands and States of Denmark ... Fourth edition

Front matter

January, 1837. NEW BOOKS PUBLISHED or PREPARING FOR PUBLICATION, io WHITTAKER AND Co., AVE-MARIA LANE, LONDON. TRAVELS, GEOGRAPHY, «fe.c. Two vols. 8vo., with illustrations of interesting localities and costumes, a new Map of Germany, and Frontispieces in Oil Colours, by Baxter, price 24s. cloth, lettered. SKETCHES of GERMANY, and the GERMANS; with a Glance at Poland, Hungary, and Switzerland, in 1834, 1835, and 1836. By An Englishman, Resident in Germany. *„* This work comprises a full development of the present social and political state of Germany, gathered from a long residence at Vienna ; including notices of its commercial relations and views, and the operation of the Prussian Com mercial League. Also, a Tour from the German Ocean to the Baltic ; from thence through Berlin to Warsaw, on to Silesia and Bohemia ; and through the greater part of the Austrian Empire to the Adriatic ; with a Voyage down the Danube, from Ulm into Hungary.

"All who desire to have an enlightened conductor to the almost innumerable places and objects of high interest contained within the wide circuit expressed in the title, whether the tour is to be in person or in spirit, ought to become intimately acquainted with it." — Monthly Review. " We have found the whole exceedingly pleasing.even where the author goesover familiar ground, trodden by almost every visitor to Germany, such as her capital cities, baths, and rivers. On less frequented regions he is still more agreeable, and his touches more replete with novelty and intelligence."— Literary Gazette. Fourth Edition, in one volume, revised, and illustrated by a Map of Ireland and a Chart of the Shannon, post 8vo. 12s. A JOURNEY THROUGHOUT IRELAND, during the Spring, Summer, and Autumn of 1834.

By Henry D. Inglis. " The most striking, and the most valuable characteristic of this work is its strict honesty : we have often had to lament the difficulty of obtaining accurate information respecting the state of Ire land : most writers on this subject have yielded to the prejudices of party, if not to the extent of uttering falsehood, at least to the scarcely less culpable suppression of truth. We rejoice then to have before us the evidence of a traveller like Mr. Inglis, whose work bears in every page the. stamp and impress of veracity." — Athenæum. " Written in an honest and impartial spirit."— Edinburgh Review. " Drawn by a careful and impartial mail."— Times. "He would refer to a passage in a recent work on Ireland, by Mr. Inglis, which he believed, was regarded by both sides as impartial."— Lord Stanleys Speech in the House of Commons, Ind April.

Chapter I. Page

Arrival in Norway — Mandahl — Visit to the Naze — Coasting Voyage to Christiansand — Norwegian Fashions — Striking and Novel Appearances in Nature — Arrival at Christiansand — Fish Markets — Norwegian Customs — Nationality — The National Song of Norway, &c 3

Chapter II

Journey into the Interior — Manner of Travelling — Expense of Travelling — The Horses of Norway — Appearances of the Country— Stupidity of the Natives — A Dilemma — Traits of Character — The Torris Elv — Enchanting Scenery — Another Dilemma — Sublime Prospects — Invitation to a Gentleman's House — The Mountain Airs of Norway — Its Legendary Poetry — A Norwegian Church and Minister — Morals — Heat of the Weather — Extraordinary Fertility — New Features of Nature — Patriarchal Families — Bykle — Bears and Wolves — A Midnight Walk — Sunrise CONTENTS.

Chapter III. Page

Maxims for Locomotion — An Error of the Travelling English — An Anecdote — Curious Trait of Norwegian Character — Departure from Bykle — Magnificent Scenery — Burke's Doctrine of the Sublime — Scarcity of Birds — Interior of a Cottage — A Ruin — Desolate Scene — A Forest: — Character of a Norwegian Forest — Interior of a Farm-house in Tellemarken — Costume — Sporting — The Cock of the North — Flavour of the Game — Household Furniture — Scotch Packman in Norway — Norwegian Notions of Britain — Marriages— Garden Productions^ — Manner of Cooking Peas — Abundance of Cherries — State of Agriculture, and Natural Capabilities of Norway — Indolence and Prejudices of the Natives — Corn Brandy — Longevity of the Norwegians — Marriage Scene on a Lake — Norwegian Festivals — Another Minister — An Anecdote — Wild Lily of the Valley — Scenery — A Scene among the Mountains — Cheese-making on the Mountains — The JMios Vand — Lake Prospects — A fatiguing Journey — Tind — The Louven — Approach to the Capital — Christiania 75

Chapter I. Christiania

— MISCELLANEOUS OBSERVATIONS. The Christiania Fiord, and its Environs — The City — Decline of its Trade — Country-Houses of the Citizens — A Hint to CONTENTS. IX PAGE Landscape Gardeners — The Seasons in Norway Their Pe culiarities and Changes — The Climate of Norway — Erro neous Notions respecting it — Comforts of a Norwegian House in Winter — A descriptive Sketch — Norwegian Hos pitality — Usages of Society — The Theatre — Morals — State of Religion in Norway — Obstacles to the Progress of Re ligious Knowledge — Franz Neilson, and his Sect — The Nor wegian Diet or Representative Assembly — Ludicrous Ap pearance of the Members — A Public Ball — Political Reflec tions — Difference of Climate in Christiania, Bergen, and Drontheim — Recollections of a Winter's Residence — Win ter Travelling — Transition from Winter to Spring — Prices of Provisions, &c. in Christiania — The Prison — Convicts. — The Asylum for the Insane — A Curious Case — The Burial grounds — Some Errors of Dr. Clarke — Manner of Living among the Lower Orders- — Resumption of the Personal Narrative — A Visit to Drammen — The Valley of Lier — The Vale of the Drammen — A Party to the Country — Return to Christiania 129

Chapter II

Journey to Osterdalen — Rapidity of Travelling — The Miosen Lake — The Fertility of its Shores — Stor Hammer — Amulet against Disease — Itinerant Doctors — The Glommen Elv — Its importance to Norway — The Stor Soen Gaard — Description of the House — Manner of Living in Osterdalen — Norwegian Cookery- — Condition of the Norwegian Ladies — Distinctions in Rank — Details of the Domestic Occupation of the Females — Illustrative Facts — Female Acquirements — Visiting in Norway — A Sunday Party — Recollections — Norwegian Appetites — Boating — Skill of the Ladies in this Accomplishment, and an Example of it — Character of the Lower Classes — Norwegian Servants — Illustrative Anecdotes — Houses of the Peasantry — Extraordinary Ingenuity of the Natives — The Occupations of a Peasant — Education — Crops in Osterdalen— The Feathered Tribe CONTENTS. X

Chapter III. Page

Ride to a Forest — The Operations of Felling and Floating Timber — Dimensions of Trees — The Latitudes in which different Trees flourish — Character of Forests in the Southern and in the Northern Countries — Insects — Directions to Travellers — Ants'-Nests — A Bear's Den — Bear-hunting — Uses of the Bear — Description of a Den — Cloudberries and tbeir Qualities — Reception at a Peasant's House — Sweet Soups — Trial by Jury in Norway — Details of a Trial — Night-fishing in the Reen Elv — Descriptive Scene — Immoderate Use of Coffee — Agriculture in the North-east Districts — Excellent Health of the Peasantry — State of Medicine — Reflections — Longevity of the People — Their Excesses — Anecdotes — Early State of Norway — Cleanliness of the Norwegians — Political Interests — Zoology — The Beaver — The Furia Infernalis, an Anecdote — The Norwegian Elk 198

Chapter IV. Superstitions Of Norway

Origin of Superstitious Beliefs — Causes peculiar to Nonrar — Nipen — Anecdotes and Traditions illustrative of the Belief in Nipen — The Mountain Demon — Cheese Offerings — the River Demon — A Tradition — The Wood Demon — Peculiarities of this Superstition — An Anecdote — The Tradition of " Chattering Peter" — Another Tradition — The Mine Demon — The Subterraneous People — A Story — Tradition of " The Bishop of Drontheim's Cattle" — Other Superstitions 230

Chapter V

Legendary Songs and Ballads of Norway — Specimens of a Love Song, a Drinking Song, and a War Song, translated from the CONTENTS. XI PAGE High Norse— Translation of a Forest Legend— Literary Taste in Norway— Departure from Osterdalen— Timber on the Glommen— A filthy Inn— Appearance of the Country—Ar rival at Kongsvinger_A strange Scene— Hospitality of the Natives— The Fortress of Kongsvinger— Departure for Christiania— Arrival there — Adoption of a Route to the South — A Reverie — Conclusion — Note 257

Part III

A JOURNEY FROM CHRISTIANIA, THROUGH PART OF SWEDEN, AND THE ISLANDS AND STATES OF DENMARK.

Chapter I

Departure from Christiania — Moss — Frederickstadt — Frederickshall, and Charles XII. — A Bal Bourgeois — Enter Sweden — The Roads — Resemblance of the Language to Lowland Scotch — Uddevalla — The Watchman's Song — Trolhetta, and the Falls of the Gotha — The Lake Wener — The Canal — Swedish travelling — Religion in Sweden — Honesty of the Swedes — Gottenburg — Helsinborg — The Sound — Passage to Denmark — Elsinore — View from the Ramparts — The Sound Tolls — A Danish Functionary — Cronborg Castle 285

Chapter II

Approach to Copenhagen — The Hotel — The Russians extraordinary Linguists — Habits, &c. of the King of Denmark — CONTENTS. PAGE An Anecdote — Streets — Buildings — Booksellers — Popula tion — Markets — Roeskilde — The Mausoleum of the Kings — General Aspect of Zealand — The Great Belt — Funen — Odensee — Assens — A Voyage — Sonderborg, and the Isle of Alsen — The Mainland — Sleswig — Rendsborg — Travelling in Holstein — Approach to Altona — Hamburg — Conclusion JOURNEY THROUGH NORWAY, SWEDEN, AND DENMARK. I. AN INLAND JOURNEY FROM THE NAZE TO CHRISTIANIA, THROUGH TELLEMARKEN. B JOURNEY THROUGH NORWAY, SWEDEN, AND DENMARK.

CHAPTER I.

Arrival in Norway — Mandahl — Visit to the Naze — Coasting Voyage to Christiansand — Norwegian Fashions — Striking and Novel Appearances in Nature — Arrival at Christiansand — Fish Markets — Norwegian Customs — Nationality — The National Song of Norway, &c. I consider it a fortunate circumstance for me, that I had not reached the travelling age at the time when a right of highway through Europe was purchased at Waterloo, for I should doubtless have followed the general example, and hied to France. When, how ever, some years afterwards, it hecame a question with me, in which of the countries of Europe I should commence my design of seeing the world, I selected that which was the least familiar to me, and to which the steps of the tourist had been the seldomest turned. All the world had gone to France, Switzerland, and Italy ; as much Glace d' Ananas was eaten at Tortoni's by English as by French ; it b ARRIVAL IN was nearly an equal chance, whether a chamois goat, or an Englishman, were met on the Shriekhorn ; and on the banks of the Arno, Anglicised Italian shocked the pure ear of Tuscany.

Norway was yet an unexplored country : the few travellers who had gone thither had contented themselves with skirting the sea-coast ; or, if any had penetrated into the interior, it was less with the view of exploring Norway, than with the design of reaching Lapland. It is not difficult to assign reasons why this part of Europe has been so seldom visited by the traveller ; this I have done at some length in another work '. I shall here therefore only briefly enumerate, as the most influential of these reasons, — the difficulty of conveyance thither, — the total want of accustomed comforts when there, — ignorance of the language, — and the absence of any popular object of attraction. France has her Paris, and Paris her Palais Royale ; Italy has her Rome, and Rome her monuments ; but Norway has only her dim mountains, her silent forests, and her lonely lakes.

It was at the glorious sunset of an evenino* in June, that I first saw the coast of Norway stretching in a bold outline from west to east. Norway was the first foreign land I had ever seen; but, independently of this additional cause of pleasure and excitement, the first prospect of land to a " woe worn mariner," or a sea-sick landsman, is an event 1 " Solitary Walks through Many Lands." Lond. 1828. NORWAY. 5 with which few others in this chequered life can be compared. I had been, for ten monotonous days, tossed about on the North Sea, with fair wind one hour, and foul the next ; the chief in-door comfort being coffee without milk, and sugar-candy passed from one cup to another, to sweeten it. Is it then to be wondered at, that sitting on deck the first fine evening since the commencement of my voyage, I should feel a sudden and great accession of plea sure, when I saw the sun go down behind the moun tains of Scandinavia, in place of sinking into the green level ocean ?

But there were yet twelve or fifteen miles between us and the shore, without any prospect of nearing it ; for it had fallen a dead calm. I sat and gazed, until the long twilight of a June evening, in that latitude, had faded into gray, though not into darkness — and till the breast of the still sea was crowded with the constellations that watched above. Some time after midnight, I crept on deck. The coast was still distinctly visible ; the sea was as hushed as ever, only a small ripple was heard upon the ship's side ; and already the lower stars in the north-east were beginning to " pale their ineffectual fires" before the earliest messengers of day. Next morning, the calm still continued ; — in vain, the sailors whistled to the winds — in vain, when a puff of air at times curled the water, were the sails let loose — no ripple was heard at the prow ; and in deed the current, which on the coast of Norway always sets from the east, gradually increased the B MANDAHL. distance betwixt us and the land.

But there was nothing to regret in being becalmed ; for glorious is the ocean under its multiform aspects of sublimity and beauty, whether it obey the voice of the tempest, and, rising from its slumbers, heaves its huge crested waves to the scowling sky — or whether it rest from its toil, seeming like a crystal plain, stretched be tween two azure domes. The ship, in which I had taken my passage, was bound for Christiania ; but a fine light breeze spring ing up in the afternoon, and carrying us within two or three miles of shore, I prevailed upon the captain to lie-to, and make a signal for a boat from Mandahl, a town to which we were nearly opposite : for it was quite immaterial to me from what part of Norway I should commence my journey ; and the prospect of an immediate transition from sea to land, was besides a temptation sufficient to cast the balance in favour of Mandahl.

I had soon the satisfaction of seeing a boat obey the signal, and in about half an hour it was alongside the vessel. I was soon seated in the fishing-coble, with the little luggage I had brought with me ; and, to my great satisfaction, saw the distance between me and the shore every moment diminish. As we made towards land, a little incident occurred, which is important only, as having given birth to a determination to which, in after life, I have strictly adhered. I had brought a gun with me, with the intention of now and then indulging in a shot at MANDAHL. 7 any stray animal that might chance to come in my way ; and from all that I had heard of Norway, I had every reason to think I should find some em ployment for my prowess. A flock of some kind of sea-bird was hovering over our heads ; and I thought this a good opportunity to make trial of my skill.

I fired, and one of them fell into the sea. It is impos sible to describe the doleful screaming that imme diately ensued ; instead of flying away, the birds remained fluttering above their dead companion, and evidently lamenting its fate ; so at least it appeared to me. I felt the reproach, and determined never again to merit it ; and I have kept my resolution. As I approached Mandahl, I was struck with the singular appearance presented by this first-seen Norwegian town. I found the houses painted all different colours, — red, yellow, blue, in all their various shades ; but the first seemed the favourite colour. The tide being back, it was necessary, as in some places in England, and in many places abroad, to be carried on shore by the boatmen ; and lest it should escape my memory, I may mention in this place, that the boots constantly worn by the boatmen in Norway, and which reach up to the thigh, are totally imper vious to water : the leather of which the boots are made is steeped sometimes as long as two years in oil, and it is then so thoroughly saturated, that those wearing the boots made of it may walk from morn ing till night in water without the usual consequence.

MANDAHL. The Quay at the little town of Mandahl presents a very different appearance to a stranger, from that which is to be seen at those ports in France or else where, at which the English tourist generally disem barks : no whiskered sentinels — no wrangling porters — no impertinent waiters — no important and insolent public officers — no groups of lingering strangers — no busy and bustling natives. At Mandahl all is still ness. When I was placed upon the pier and looked around me, and saw only two or three children, and one old man ; and when the boatmen had been paid their fare, and left me standing alone with my small portmanteau at my feet, I could not but feel what a solitude it is to be alone in a land of strangers. In visiting foreign countries, islanders possess one manifest advantage over the inhabitants of a continent, unless indeed the latter visit an island.

One may travel from Paris to Naples, and from Naples to St. Petersburg, without ever experiencing any lively sensations of wonder, because in travelling through countries separated from each other by artificial boun daries only, or unnavigable rivers, the shades in the character and manners of the inhabitants are as im perceptible as the lines which divide the countries ; and the features of the external world also slide gra dually into each other, so that one may pass through the most opposite extremes, both in the moral aspect of society, and in the physical appearances of nature, without being sensible of the changes. But in pass ing from one country to another by sea, there cannot MANDAHL. 9 be any indefinite gradations ; the change in character, customs, costume, and in all that strikes the senses, whether in the productions of art or nature, is sudden and infinitely surprising ; and I believe there is no traveller who will not be ready to admit, that he re tains in his mind more vivid impressions of what he has seen in countries to which he has travelled by sea, than in those to which he journeyed by land.

I am sure, at all events, that I speak as I myself feel. But I must not forget that I am still standing on the pier at Mandahl, with my portmanteau at my feet. Of the language of the country I knew but little ; and although it be true, that in a country so little frequented as Norway, the inhabitants have not that ready way of anticipating, or at least understanding the wants of a traveller, which is found so convenient by many English tourists in France ; yet, isa stranger in Norway will make up his mind to the want of some of those comforts and attentions which might possibly be had were he able to ask for them, I do not think that but a partial knowledge of the language is a very material drawback to a traveller in that part of Europe. Norway is not like Italy, where the services of a cicerone are constantly required ; without whom, indeed, we might pass by the Coliseum, and not know what stupendous monument cast its shadow across our path.

But, in Norway, our guide is the sun ; by his help, we scale the rocks and penetrate the forests; and, aided by him only, we enjoy the b5 MANDAHL. sublime glories of the Dovne Field, or the minute beauties of the changing leaf and the forest flower. I dare say I need not tell the reader, that sea-air is an admirable provocative to appetite ; and so, I believe, is novelty of scene. But whatever may be the cause, I know that, standing on the Quay at Mandahl, I soon began to feel the necessity of taking my portmanteau under my arm, and going in quest of supper. Nothing, I knew, was to be done with out the universal talisman ; so I took a few pieces of small copper coin in my hand, and going up to the children, dropped them into the lap of a little blue eyed, fair-haired damsel, six or seven years old, and at the same time pronounced the words for inn and eat ; but, whether from my defective pronunciation, or from the stupidity of the child, nothing ensued from this parley.

I next tried man and woman, and here I was more successful ; for the little maid im mediately ran off towards a woodyard at a short dis tance, and in a few minutes returned with a man, who knew enough of English to understand my wants, and who immediately conducted me to a house which he said was used as an inn by the few who stood in need of the accommodation. I received as warm a welcome as I could desire, and was con ducted to an airy clean chamber, the floor of which was strewed with the tops of young firs, — a custom strongly indicative of the woody region into which I had come, and to me not at all unpleasant from the MANDAHL. 11 smell. I afterwards found, that in the more northern parts, juniper tops are substituted for firs, which I thought no improvement. The proprietor of the house to which I had been conducted, had married a Scotswoman, who had been dead several years ; but, during the connexion, he had acquired a tolerable vocabulary of English and Lowland Scotch — an acquisition by which I of course profited.

I had my choice of either supping alone in solitary dignity in the capacity of a traveller, or with the family, in the character partly of a country man, and partly of a chance guest. I need scarcely say, that I chose the latter. I was too hungry and too sleepy, however, to profit much by this first op portunity of observing Norwegian customs. A beautiful cut of salmon, and a fowl smothered in onions, graced the suppertable : and, after having done ample justice to these, and partaken of a small bowl of ex cellent punch, I retired to my fragrant chamber. Here, as elsewhere throughout Norway, it is the custom to sleep between two eider-down beds during the cold season ; and although the weather was now extremely hot, these had not yet been superseded by the summer arrangements. I was not then aware of the practice, and only discovered the nature of my covering when I stepped into bed.

I have subse quently had ample opportunities of profiting by this Norwegian predilection for eider-down ; for, during the winter, its comfort is so pre-eminent, that it is impossible to convey any adequate idea of it to those b MANDAHL. who have never enjoyed it. But in warm weather, the case is reversed. I had not lain many minutes before I discovered, that what seemed to me at first the acme of luxury, was about to become insupportable. Sleep, " on his downy pinion," would not hover even near to my downy couch, and 1 was forced to throw off the upper covering, and spread my cloak over me. The night was indeed what we should consider hot even in England ; and before it was half over, I parted with even the covering I had. I scarcely know a more delightful reality, than the consciousness of being in bed on shore, after having been pent up for a week or two in a narrow and rocking berth at sea.

At first, it is a reality that we hardly believe in ; because the motion to which our eyes have been for some time accustomed seems communicated to every object ; the walls totter, the roof bends, and the bed heaves ; and it requires us to be thoroughly awake, in order to have a perfect conviction of the reality and the deception. Whe ther I fell asleep in the belief that I was at sea, or on shore, I cannot tell ; but I know that I slept soundly, and much longer than I had intended. 1 had not yet formed any plan of my journey in Norway, neither as to the direction of it, nor the mode in which I should pursue it. I meant to have been guided in these matters by the advice of those individuals to whom I had introductions in Christi ania ; but having disembarked at Mandahl, a certain route was, in the first instance, prescribed to me by MANDAHL. necessity, for having a letter of credit on a house in Christiania, it was necessary, of course, to go thither ; but to this requisite step a serious difficulty presented itself, — it was not much less than 200 miles to Christiania, and I had not money to carry me more than a few posts.

This difficulty I stated to mine host, who, upon glancing at my letter of credit, assured me that T should have no difficulty in obtaining money upon the security of it at Christian sand, which was distant from Mandahl only about 20 miles, and he gave me the name of an eminent house in that town to which I might apply. I had had quite as much voyaging as I desired, and was anxious that all my journeys now should be by land ; but I was told that I had better commence my inland route from Christiansand, since I was under the necessity of going thither, and take a boat next morning to that town, within the rocks; but this term requires explanation. The greater part of Norway may be said to have two coasts, an inner and an outer coast,— the former being the shore of the mainland, and the other a succession of rocky islands, of all dimensions, from a mere point to a mile or more in length, and lying, for the most part, within an English mile of the mainland.

All boats and small vessels make their coasting-voyages within the rocks ; for even when the sea without is strongly agitated, one may sail many miles through the channel, in water as smooth as a mill-pond : sometimes, indeed, if the wind be high, and blow from the sea, violent gusts come through the open ings between one rock and another, and in passing these, it is necessary to be cautious in lowering the sails. A voyage within the rocks, however, is not an unpleasant kind of excursion, and I resolved to take the advice of the innkeeper. Mandahl, the chief town (though little better than a village) of a district of the same name, is situated at the bottom of a very small bay, flanked on each side by ledges of high rocks, and backed by a rugged rocky country, partly covered with fir, and partly intersected by creeks and rivers.

It has a small export trade in fish and timber, and there is in it a workshop, from which beautiful specimens of turner-work, made from the root of the birch-tree, find their way into most of the northern towns. I had very great pleasure in examining these, and have no hesitation in saying, that the beauty of the boxes which were shown to me much exceeded that of any I have ever seen made of either mahogany or rose-wood. In the afternoon, I walked to the end of the rocks which jut into the sea to the west of the town. Seen from this point, the Naze, although twelve miles distant, seems close at hand: Every one has heard of the Naze of Norway ; we read of it when children in our first treatises upon geography, and when I now saw it so near to me I felt some inclination to visit it. I had no reason to expect any thing else than a high point of land washed by the sea ; but as the inclination was easily gratified, I resolved to indulge it, and two horses were accordingly ordered to be ready early next morning, one for my self, and the other for one of those nondescript persons generally found in every village, whose services are at the command of any body who requires them.