x.] TOUR IN NORWAY, 1851. 341 



One other scientific journey remains to be recorded, 

 the last ever undertaken by James Forbes. A total 

 eclipse of the sun took place in 1851, visible only in 

 northern latitudes, and he had fixed on Bergen in Norway 

 as a suitable spot for its observation : the more so, as 

 the journey would enable him to examine some of the 

 Norwegian glaciers, and ascertain whether their pheno- 

 mena were similar to those presented by the glaciers of 

 the Alps. He sailed from Hull to Christiania on the 

 night of the 21st of June, and after an eight days' 

 journey overland from Christiania to Throndhjem, he 

 took the steamer for Hammerfest. 



iling down the Throndhj em-fiord they gained the 

 open sea, and threaded their way among the countless 

 islands which fringe the coast of Norway. ' We passed 

 the Arctic circle three hours ago/ he writes to Mrs. 

 Forbes. ' It wants but a few minutes of midnight, but 

 the sun has not yet set on a glorious scene : wild moun- 

 tains, rocks, and islands of most fantastic form, with 

 wide snow-fields in the distance glowing with the red of 

 the midnight sun. . . . We have been singularly fortu- 

 nate in weather; the sea, even in places where it is quite 

 open, as smooth as glass, and the nights so bewitching 

 that it is scarcely possible to drag oneself to bed. I 

 seen a great many glaciers, and although I have 

 as yet set foot on one, I have formed a very exact 



a of them/ 



To M. BERNARD STUDER. 



'. . . Tin- earlier part of the voyage was chiefly re- 



liable for the surprising prevalence of " roches in"- 



all along the coast, but as we approached the 



ircle, the fiords and inlands assumed a grandeur 



EOT which I was not prepared. At Alton (a few hours' 



1 ' I left the >hip ; fur as I could 



: would lint vjM-nd fourteen days there, I was 



_Ced to take tin- same steamer mi In r return K 



iring which time 1 examined the country a little, 



mished me, and the oenei-al char* 



