Ch. -i. in Norway. 265 



kill their own beef and mutton, import their own 

 grocery stores ; and the farmers and country peo- 

 ple in general spin their own flax and wool, and 

 weave their own linen and woollen clothes. In the 

 largest towns, such as Christiana and Drontheim, 

 there is nothing that can be called a market. It 

 is extremely difficult to get a joint of fresh meat; 

 and a pound of fresh butter is an article not to be 

 purchased, even in the midst of summer. Fairs 

 are held at certain seasons of the year, and stores 

 of all kinds of provisions that will keep are laid 

 in at these times; and, if this care be neglected, 

 great inconveniencies are suffered, as scarcely 

 any thing is to be bought retail. Persons who 

 make a temporary residence in the country, or 

 small merchants not possessed of farms, complain 

 heavily of this inconvenience ; and the wives of 

 merchants, who have large estates, say, that the 

 domestic economy of a Norway family is so ex- 

 tensive and complicated, that the necessary super- 

 intendance of it requires their whole attention, 

 and that they can find no time for any thing else. 

 It is evident, that a system of this kind must 

 require a great number of servants. It is said 

 besides, that they are not remarkable for diligence, 

 and that to do the same quantity of work more 

 arc necessary than in other countries. The con- 

 sequence is, that in every establishment the pro- 

 portion of servants will be found two or three 

 times as great as in England ; and a farmer in the 

 country, who in his appearance is not to be dis- 

 tinguished from any of his labourers, will some- 



