Ch. i. in Norway. 267 



It is not to be doubted, that the general preva- 

 lence of the preventive check to population, owing 

 to the state of society which has been described, 

 together with the obstacles thrown in the way of 

 early marriages from the enrolments for the army, 

 have powerfully contributed to place the lower 

 classes of people in Norway in a better situation, 

 than could be expected from the nature of the 

 soil and climate. On the sea-coast, where, on ac- 

 count of the hopes of an adequate supply of food 

 from fishing, the preventive check does not prevail 

 in the same degree, the people are very poor and 

 wretched ; and, beyond comparison, in a worse 

 state than the peasants in the interior of the 

 country. 



The greatest part of the soil in Norway is abso- 

 lutely incapable of bearing corn, and the climate 

 is subject to the most sudden and fatal changes. 

 There are three nights about the end of August, 

 which are particularly distinguished by the name 

 of iron nights, on account of their sometimes blast- 

 ing the promise of the fairest crops. On these 

 occasions the lower classes of people necessarily 

 suffer ; but as there are scarcely any independent 

 labourers, except the housemen that have been 

 mentioned, who all keep cattle, the hardship of 

 being obliged to mix the inner bark of the pine 

 with their bread is mitigated by the stores of 

 cheese, of salt butter, of salt meat, salt fish, and 

 bacon, which they are generally enabled to lay up 

 for the winter provision. The period in which 

 the want of corn presses the most severely is ge- 



