CHAPTER II 



IJKRGEN TO TROMSO 



/wic Afth. — If I touch very lightly on these early days 

 of our venture, it is only because so many who read this 

 book will already know all about the coast of Norway — 

 will know its towns and fjords. Why therefore should I 

 tire them by descriptions of places and scenes familiar 

 from the deck of the excursion steamer ? 



But Bergen was new to me; and as the University 

 Museum was closed for repairs, I crossed the old fish- 

 market bridge and found the little Hanseatic Museum. 

 This relic of the German occupation under the Hansa 

 League is charmingly quaint, and as a revelation of the 

 life and doings of a master merchant at that time, it has 

 a very distinct interest. Dear, dear, what sly old fellows 

 they were! And so complete is this restoration that 

 you want but little fancy to see it all : the traffic in 

 commodities — bought with one set of scales but sold 

 with another (a gain to the merchant either way) ; — the 

 settlements at the office counter ; the lapses into revel 

 when business was over ; the poor 'prentices, kept hard 

 at it till late, winking at each other and peeping under 

 their eyebrows as the red-heeled shoes go up the stairs. 



