Dredging at Drobak. 209 



good tea and a hearty laugh at the sequel to our 

 journey." 



As to the temper and treatment of Norwegian 

 horses, du Chaillu gives an account which very well 

 coincides with the observations made above. " A 

 horse," he says, " as soon as he comes to the foot of a 

 hill, stops when he thinks it is time for the people to 

 get out, turns his head towards the vehicle to see that 

 every one is off, and then ascends. If all are not out, 

 he waits, and when urged by the voice, or by a slight 

 harmless touch of the whip, he seems quite astonished, 

 and often during the ascent stops and turns his head, 

 as if to say to the remaining occupant, * Why don't you 

 get out ? ' The farmers and their families invariably 

 walk up-hill ; hence the horses are disagreeably sur- 

 prised when their load remains, especially when the 

 whip slightly touches them on the back. From one 

 station to another the driver often stops, cuts his black 

 bread into small pieces, gives them to the horse, 

 caresses him, treats him, to a handful of hay, and then 

 continues his route. This kind treatment not only 

 speaks well for the people, but it also makes the 

 horses exceedingly gentle and docile ; vicious ones 

 are seldom found." * There is a fine lesson in all that 

 for those who care to learn it. 



Another pleasurable excursion which the Robertsons 

 took was to Drobak, on Christiania Fiord, where they 

 enjoyed a day's dredging in forty fathoms depth, and 

 fished up some " good things " in the naturalist's sense 

 of that expression. The bottom was mud, shells, 

 gravel, and coral debris. The beach at this place was 



* "The Land of the Midnight Sun," vol. i. p. 59. 



P 



