NORWEGIAN TOWNS. 



127 



towns," is the oldest port in Norway, and is spoken of in the ninth century as a 

 flourishing place, resorted to by many vessels from Denmark and " the land of the 

 Saxons." But the spot where Laurvik now stands was also at that time an 

 important centre, famous for the temple of Skiringosal and the palace of Ilarald 

 the Fair. West of the Laurvik-tiord is another inlet, where the haven of 

 Porsgnmd serves as the outlet for Skien, the emporium of the Teleraark peasantry. 

 On the Skager Eak every town is a port. Amongst them are Kragcro, 

 protected on the east by the Jomfruland banks, jocularly spoken of by sailors as a 

 bit of Denmark shipwrecked on the Norwegian coast; Osferris'or ; Trcdcstrand ; 



Fig. 63.— Bergen. 



Scale 1 : 100,000. 



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# / , ii> "ii'^ wmw '"'éhw£ 



E uf Oi 



|5?2b 



1 Mile. 



Arendal, with the largest fleet of coasters in the kingdom; Grinistad ; Lillcsand; 

 Christianssund, with extensive ship-building and refitting yards, and surrounded 

 by rich alluvial lands ; Mandai, the nearest port to the Naze. Beyond this point 

 the shore trends northwards to the isthmus on which proudly stands Stairoigcr, 

 the fourth largest and one of the most commercial cities in Norway. Its popula- 

 tion rose from less than 1,000 in the beginning of the sixteenth century to 

 2,400 in 1800, and over 20,000 in 1875. Its prosperity is due to the herring 

 fisheries, its woollen manufacture, and its trade. Formerly an episcopal see, it still 

 boasts of a fine church in the English pointed style, dating from the twelfth and 

 thirteenth centuries. 



