3264 General Observations on Norway. 



where day perpetually reigns and darkness is unknown ; — these and 

 a thousand other charms to be found in a country so unique and 

 so glorious in its scenery, and amongst a people so primitive, surely 

 only require to be described to attract many a tourist to the shores of 

 Norway. 



I cannot close my account of Norway, without bearing grateful 

 testimony to the kind reception we invariably met with from the in- 

 habitants. We never threw ourselves upon the hospitality of private 

 persons, if auy kind of accommodation could be afforded at any sta- 

 tion, house, or inn ; but occasionally, where none such existed, we 

 were obliged to avail ourselves of the kind and friendly custom of the 

 people, and beg hospitality of the Preesten, and in all such cases we 

 met with the greatest courtesy, and a pressing invitation to prolong 

 our stay. 



On one occasion, the Preesten, who had lodged and fed us with all 

 his house could furnish, provided us on our departure with a circular 

 letter to the inhabitants of his extensive parish, bearing on the outside, 

 in most regal style, the inscription, — "To the men of Hamerboen and 

 Tufto;" beginning in the most lordly tones, "Men of Hamerboen 

 and Tufto," and desiring them to assist and furnish with all necessa- 

 ries and guide on their way, the two Englishmen who bore the letter: 

 and most kind, prompt, and cheerful was the obedience of the pari- 

 shioners to their pastor's demand; and most useful indeed did the 

 letter prove for many days, when we were traversing a valley through 

 which there was no road, and were seeking to cross a fjeld by an 

 unfrequented route, a walk of about seventy miles, and of course we 

 could find no single individual who could understand a syllable of 

 ought save his mother-tongue, and we had not then been long enough 

 in the country to know much of that. 



Undoubtedly, he who visits Norway must not expect the luxuries 

 of a more civilized country : he must be prepared for the roughest 

 fare and the roughest lodging; he must depend in a great measure on 

 his gun and his rod for the first; he must not object occasionally to 

 sleep al fresco, with the wild fjeld for the second : but if he can 

 accommodate himself to this, and can laugh at such drawbacks to 

 enjoyment as the want of many things he has hitherto considered ne- 

 cessaries of life, he cannot fail to be delighted. The artist will find 

 a most glorious subject for his pencil at every turn ; the sportsman, 

 game such as he will not meet with elsewhere; the angler, fish of such 

 weight and quantity as to satisfy the most insatiable ; the ornitholo- 

 gist, the entomologist, the botanist, the finest field for their researches, 



