4i8 



NATURE 



[March 5, 1896 



has three small towns, Hammerfest, Vardo, and Vadso, 

 each with about 2CXXd inhabitants ; the last two are 

 spoken of as astronomical stations ; in both there are 

 small second-class hotels, at which the charges are about 

 five shillings to six shillings a day. In Vardo, Hansen's 

 hotel, and rooms maybe had from Herr Holte, the baker, 

 and Herr Ness. In Vadso, Krog's hotel, and rooms 

 from Herr Lindseth. The charges for labour and 

 assistance, such as men to row a boat or to carry things, 

 are rather high in the summer-time in the whole of 

 Finmark, because work is plentiful and labourers are 

 scarce. 



Vardo lies on a little island in the Arctic Sea, but quite 

 close to the mainland ; it has a more rigorous climate 

 than any other town in Norway ; not the smallest tree will 

 thrive upon the island. Sea-fogs in summer, and the 

 tremendous storms of winter, that never cease for a single 

 day, are not at all cheering. It is not surprising that 

 business people there live with their families in Christi- 

 ania in the winter, and in summer follow the birds of 

 passage to the north. 



Vardo's sole source of income is derived from fishery. 



t 



'::eA} ^sg^i^i^^,;m^^^^p'$m::i;SiSm?^lP-2^y^ii'^'>ZAy: 



View of the coast at VardTi, ICast Finmark. 



and fish is cheap ; haddock in the season sell at 6 lb. for 

 a penny. A manufactory was started here to make dried 

 fish meal from the flesh of this fish, but the people did not 

 succeed in trying to remove the peculiar odour of dried 

 fish from the material, so they were obliged to convert their 

 works into one for the manufacture of damped fish-balls. 

 The only entertainment that I can recommend is the 

 Russian vapour bath ; it is a primitive installation. The 

 vapour is produced by throwing water on heated stones, 

 and the two women attendants whip the bathers with a 

 bunch of quick-beam rods {Pyrus auciiparia). After the 

 bath they offer, gratis, the Russian national drink, kvas, 

 which tastes like ale mixed with water. However, Vardo 

 has made progress in some respects within the last half- 

 century. It was at that time, owing to the slowness and 

 irregularity of the means of communication, so thoroughly 

 out of touch with the world, and even with Christiania, the 

 capital, that the commandant of the miniature fortress, 

 who gave instructions to his orderly that the news from 

 the capital should be laid before him every day, duly 

 received them, but, alas, they were a year old I 



NO. 1375, VOL. 53] 



Vadso lies on the mainland on the northern shore of 

 the Varanger^ord. The neighbourhood is a quite treeless 

 pasture. The houses, like those in Vardo, are of wood, 

 small and plain. On a little island opposite the town lies 

 a now abandoned whaling station. Whale fishing began 

 in the Varangerfjord ; but reckless over-fishing has driven 

 the whales from this locality, and one can foresee the 

 time when whale fishing will be a thing of the past in the 

 whole of Norway. From Vadso there is a good driving 

 road to the west, past the little town of Nessby, as far as 

 Seida on the river Tana. 



Other places which may be mentioned as stations for 

 observing the eclipse are Polmag, Utsjoki, Karasjok, 

 Kautokeino, and Karasuando. The first three may be 

 reached by the steamer, which enters the Tanafjord 

 between sixty and seventy miles east of the North Cape, 

 and sails in a southerly direction and touches at Vagge, 

 thirty-five miles from the mouth of the fjord. Vagge lies 

 near the mouth of the Tana River, and close by is Guld- 

 holm, near Tana Kirke, where boats may be hired for 

 rowing up the river to Polmag, Utsjoki, and Karasjok. 

 At Tana Kirke (church), as well as at Vardo and Vadso, 

 there are telegraph stations, where 



, astronomical time may be received 



from Christiania Observatory, but not 

 at Polmag, Utsjoki, Kautokeino, nor 

 Karasuando. 



Prof Dr. H. Mohn and Mr. 

 Schroeter, from Christiania Univer- 

 sity, will probably take their stations 

 at Vadso and Bugones, close by. In 

 Polmag the inhabitants are the most 

 civilised of the Laps ; they live in 

 wooden houses, and are compara- 

 tively cleanly. A party of observers 

 may live here for some time if they 

 bring provisions with them.i 



In Karasjok, and, so far as I know, 

 in Utsjoki also, one will get a friendly 

 reception and good food from the 

 shopkeepers. In Karasjok there are 

 about 250 inhabitants, including a 

 clergyman ; in Polmag, not so many ; 

 but how many in Utsjoki (which be- 

 longs to Finland), I do not know. 

 The way to Kautokeino, where 

 living can be had at the Nor- 

 wegian shopkeeper's, is by steamer 

 to Alten, then forty miles on horse- 

 back, and seventy miles on the 

 river by boat, which must be ordered 

 in advance. From Kautokeino one 

 may proceed to the village of Karasuando in Sweden, 

 which also is within the boundary of totality, by taking 

 a boat on the river for fifteen miles, and then on 

 horseback or by walking for thirty-five miles more. 



Another less generally known way of reaching Kara- 

 suando, because it is newer, is by steamer twice a week 

 from Tromso to Skibotten on Lyngenfjord, where comfort- 

 able accommodation can be had, thence by road thirty-six 

 miles to Lake Kilpisjarvi (half-way to which is the not 

 very comfortable stopping-place Helligskogen), then by 

 rowing-boat to Muotkavuoma in Sweden, and then by 

 road to Karasuando. The return journey from here may 

 be made either by Vitangi to Gellivara railway station, 

 about 100 miles, or by the much-frequented route 

 down the river Tornea to Haparanda on the Gulf of 



Bothnia. 



Hans Reusch, 



1 As the brown (rye) bread in general use in Norway is badly baked and 

 most unpalatable to those unaccustomed to it, and as white (wheat) bread 

 can rarely be had, especially in such places, a supply of biscuits should be 

 taken 



