124 



THE POLAR WORLD. 



on the solitary beacli. On advancing farther to the north, the aspect of nature 

 becomes more and more stern, vegetation diminishes, man is more rarely seen, 

 and the traveller feels as if he were ou the point of entering the gloomy re- 

 gions of perpetual death. 



With the sole exception of Archangel, Drontheira is the most populous and 

 important town situated in so high a latitude as 63° 24'. Although the cradle 

 of ancient Scandinavian history, and the residence of a long line of kings, it looks 

 as if it had been built but yesterday, as its wooden houses have frequently beeti 

 destroyed by fire. The choir of its magnificent cathedral, built in the eleventh 

 century, and once the resort of innumerable pilgi-niis who came flocking to the 

 shrhie of St. Olave from all Scandinavia, is the only remaining memorial of the 

 old Tronyoni of tiie Norse annalists and scalds. The modern town has a most 

 pleasing and agreeable ap[)earance, and the lively colors with which the houses 

 are painted harmonize with the prosperity of its inhabitants, M'hich is due in a 

 great measure to its thriving fisheries, and to the rich iron and copper mines in 

 its neighboi-hood. The tall chimneys of many smelting-huts, iron foundries, 

 and other manufactories, bear evidence that modern industry has found its way 

 to the ancient capital of Norway. In point of picturesque beauty, the bay, on a 

 peninsula of which the town is situated, docs not yield to that of Naples. Up 

 and down, in every direction, appear the villas of the merchant, and sliijis of 

 all burden riding at anchor in the bay, and boats passing and repassing. In a 

 small island of the bay, fronting the town, is the celebrated castle of Munkholm, 

 where in former times many a prisoner of state has bewailed the loss of his 

 liberty. Here, among others, Greiffeiifeld, who had risen from obscurity to the 

 rank of an all-powerful minister, was incarcerated for eighteen years (1G80-98.) 

 At Ilildringen, where the potato is still cultivated Avith success, and bai'ley 

 ripens every four or five years, begins the jDrovince of Nordland, which extends 

 from 05° to 69° 30' N. lat. The mostly uninhabited isles along the coast are 

 called "Holme," when rising like steep rocks out of the water, and " Viire" 

 when fiat and but little elevated above the level of the sea. The latter are the 



breeding-places of numberless sea-fowls, whose 

 eggs yield a welcome harvest to the inhabitants 

 of the neighboring mainland or of the larger 

 islands. A well-stocked egg-var is a valuable 

 addition to a farm, and descends from father 

 to son, along with the pasture-grounds and the 

 ^% herds of the paternal land. When the propri- 

 etor comes to plunder the nests, the birds re- 

 £y^--^ main quiet, for they know by experience that 

 ir ^-vFl *^"b' t^^^ superfluous eggs arc to be removed. 

 But not unfrequently strangers land, and leave 

 WSl| \| ; I i\ not a single q^^^ behind. Then all the birds, 

 sevei-al thousands at once, rise from their nests 

 and fill the air with their doleful cries. If such 

 disasters occur repeatedly they lose courage, and, abandoning the scene of their 

 misfortunes, retire to another var. Most of these birds are sea-gulls [3Iaasfagl, 



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THE PUFFIN. 



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