512 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1813. 



Guyra, not less than twenty feet 

 in thickness, were thrown down. 

 As a natural consequence of the 

 opening of the mountains, which 

 are the great reservoirs of water, 

 some rivers were observed to have 

 considerably increased. Many high 

 jnountains were rent right across 

 the centre, and that called La 

 Silla has sunk more than sixty 

 fathoms. 



It is difficult to say wliat will be 

 the close ofthis dreadful event: it 

 may be hazarded as a conjecture, 

 however, that it will end in the 

 opening up of one or more vol- 

 canoes : in the mean time the un- 

 fortunate inhabitanlsof these coun- 

 tries, attached to their native soil, 

 and not wishing to abandon the 

 ashes of their fathers, have with 

 great labour erected rude habita- 

 tions, in which they await with 

 stoicism and resignation the termi- 

 nation of their calamities; 



J. H, S. 



Description of Drontheim in 



Norway. 



From Von Buck's Travels. 



In the south of Norway, and in 

 Denmark, it is generally understood 

 that no traveller returns from Dron- 

 theim without feeling a sort of 

 enthusiasm for the reception he 

 there met with. Fmm this num- 

 ber I must certainly not be ex- 

 cluded ; for who could be insensi- 

 ble to repeated acts of the most 

 hearty kindness, to a politeness 

 that anticipates every want, that is 

 always affecting and never op- 

 pressive? Who would not be filled 

 with gratitude at seeing so many 

 worthy men anxiously labouring 



to make the time you spend in 

 Drontheim a time of gladness? 

 This warmth of heart, this con- 

 viviality and sympathy, appear to 

 be characteristic of the inhabitants 

 of this town. They are in fact by 

 no means foreign to the character 

 of the whole nation, and are here 

 displayed as we might expect to 

 find them among men of higher re- 

 finement and cultivation. 



But how are we to account for 

 the refined tone which prevails in 

 the societies of this place, for the 

 graceful and attractive manners, 

 and the taste which greatly ex- 

 ceed any thing we met with in 

 Christiania ? This is more than we 

 expect, and more than we have a 

 right to expect; for Drontheim 

 lies in fact very high northwards, 

 and is separated by numerous ob- 

 stacles, great distance, and high 

 and impassable mountains, from 

 the other parts of the world. The 

 general prosperity of the place 

 may have greatly contributed to 

 this, and perhaps also the fortu- 

 nate circumstances that almost all 

 the generals and superintendents 

 (Stiftsamtmannern) sent here from 

 Denmark have been distinguished 

 for their worth and superior po- 

 liteness. We must own, however, 

 that this circumstance is not in ge- 

 neral of such universal influence. 

 Probably this superiority of dispo- 

 sition may have arisen from some 

 accidental circumstance, the con- 

 sequences of which still con- 

 tinue to operate. May heaven 

 grant that this character of the 

 noble inhabitants of Drontheim 

 remain long uncorrupted ! It is 

 indisputably true, that in no dis- 

 trict of Norway is there such an at- 

 tachment to their country, suchtrue 

 patriotism, and public spirit as in 



