THE START 95 



it was that one of Norway's most famous naturalists, a 

 lonely pastor far removed from the outer world, made his 

 great discoveries. Here I myself first groped m}' way 

 along the narrow path of zoological research. 



It was a wondrous evening. The lingering flush of 

 vanished day suffused the northern sky, while the moon 

 hung large and round over the mountains behind us. 

 Ahead lay Alden and Kinn, like a fairyland rising up 

 from the sea. Tired as I was, I could not seek my berth ; 

 I must drink in all this loveliness in deep refreshing- 

 draughts. It was like balm to the soul after all the tur- 

 moil and friction with crowds of stransjers. 



So we went on our way, mostly in fair weather, occa- 

 sionally in fog and rain, through sounds and between 

 islands, northward along the cost of Norway. A glorious 

 land — I wonder if another fairway like this is to be found 

 the whole world over.'^ Those never-to-be-forgotten 

 mornings, when nature wakens to life, wreaths of mist 

 glittering like silver over the mountains, their tops soar- 

 ing above the mist like islands of the sea ! Then the day 

 gleaming over the dazzling white snow-peaks! And the 

 evenings, and the sunsets with the pale moon overhead, 

 white mountains and islands lay hushed and dreamlike as 

 a youthful longing! Here and there past homely little 

 havens with houses around them set in smiling green 

 trees ! Ah ! those snug homes in the lee of the skerries 

 awake a lonsfinor for life and warmth in the breast. You 

 may shrug your shoulders as much as you like at the 



