FAREWELL TO NORWAY 1 13 



here the water was shallow, and we had to proceed care- 

 fully for fear of running aground. We kept heaving 

 the lead incessantly — we had 5 fathoms of water, and 

 then 4, then not much more than we needed, and then it 

 shelved to a little over 3 fathoms. This was rather too 

 close work, so we stood out again a bit to wait till we 

 got a little nearer the place before drawing in to the 

 shore. 



A boat was now seen slowly approaching from the 

 land. \ man of middle height, with an open, kindly face 

 and reddish beard, came on board. He might have been 

 a Norwegian from his appearance. I went to meet him, 

 and asked him in German if he was Trontheim. Yes, he 

 was. After him there came a number of strange figures 

 clad in heavy robes of reindeer - skin, which nearly 

 touched the deck. On their heads they wore peculiar 

 " bashlyk "-like caps of reincalf - skin, beneath which 

 strongly marked bearded faces showed forth, such as 

 might well have belonged to old Norwegian Vikings. 

 The whole scene, indeed, called up in my mind a pict- 

 ure of the Viking Age, of expeditions to Gardarike and 

 Bjarmeland. They were fine, stalwart- looking fellows, 

 these Russian traders, who barter with the natives, giving 

 them brandy in exchange for bearskins, sealskins, and 

 other valuables, and who, when once they have a hold on a 

 man, keep him in such a state of dependence that he can 

 scarcely call his soul his own. " Es ist eine alte Ge- 

 schichte, doch wird sie immer neu." Soon, too, the 



