chap, in T O S P IT 8 B E R G EN 31 



Troldtind, from whose main backbone buttress ridges de- 

 scend, each rising to a mighty tower before sinking to 

 its foot, feathery with young green birch, by the margin 

 of the deep blue fjord. These towers are truly Alpine, 

 almost Himalayan, in style though not in scale. The snow 

 slopes and couloirs upon them were striped with the tracks 

 of many falling stones. Valleys, white to the water's edge 

 with deep winter snow-beds, intervened between the but- 

 tress ridges. Each opened in turn as we passed, till one 

 came deeper and between walls bolder and loftier than the 

 rest. Its floor lies far beneath the waters, which, flowing 

 in, form within the heart of the mountains the famous 

 Trold Fjord. Mr. With, manager of the Vesteraalen Com- 

 pany, who has a keen eye for beauty and delights to share 

 the joy of it with his companions, caused the steamer to 

 enter this beautiful place for our delight. The spring snow, 

 lying low down to the water's edge, added, I fancy, to the 

 dignity of the scene, for the sun shone brightly upon it, so 

 that the end of the fjord, and the cirque of mountains 

 closing it in, looked like some giant palace of silver seen 

 through the narrow entrance, with its mighty door-posts of 

 dark precipitous rocks. The end of the fjord was a pool, 

 so calm in the bright day, with snow gullies and waterfalls 

 descending to it, each in its place mirrored below. The 

 ship turned slowly round, almost grazing the banks, and 

 steamed out again, leaving this sanctuary of Nature for a 

 while polluted with our smoke. How poor a return man 

 makes to Nature for her gifts ! 



Advancing up the Raftsund, cirques and precipices suc- 

 ceeded one another, and couloirs and snow-slopes seamed 

 by falling stones. At the end of the sound came a large, 

 open area of water, whence many smaller sounds radiate. 

 Brilliant it was, with the water so still, the air so bright, and 

 the fine ring of mountains all around. We were to behold 



