268 NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY* 



obferved before ; nor would they choofe to eat it conftantly, 

 for the leaven which is always put in rye-bread would not agree 

 with their ftomachs. This our Norwegian foldiers find by ex- 

 perience, when they are commanded to march far from home, 

 and receive, the bread (which is provided by the government) that 

 is baked for the regiment ;, which always purges them pretty 

 feverely at firft. 

 fiat-food. Oats, in moft of the provinces, is the beft grain, and is larger, 

 whiter, and fuller, here than that of other countries. Of this 

 the peafant makes his bread, but not in the form of the loaves 

 of rye-bread, which they call ftumpe-brod, but in flat round 

 cakes, about as big as a fmall difh, and extremely thin, this they 

 call ftad-brod * They bake it upon a round iron plate, or a 

 flat ftone fet over the fire ; they roll out a handful of dough with 

 a rolling-pin, to the extent of the iron plate, and before it is quite 

 enough on one fide, they turn it with a fmall flick made for that 

 purpofe. Thefe cakes are foon baked, fo that the baker, who 

 is generally a woman, can difpatch enough in one day to laft a 

 whole year ; for this fort of bread will not mould or fpoil, if kept 

 in a dry place. Some reckon the oldeft to be beft ; and in for- 

 mer times, file ufed to be efteemed a good %ufewife that faved 

 for her fon's wedding, a piece of bread that flie had baked for 

 his chriftening. 



If grain be fcarce, which generally happens, after a fevere 

 winter, the peafants are obliged to have recourfe to an old cuftom, 

 as a difagreeable, but fure method of prefer ving life. Their bread, 

 in time of fcarcity, is made thus,, they take the bark of the fir- 

 tree, boil it and dry it before the fire, then they grind it to meal 

 and mix a little oatmeal with it ; of this mixture, they make a 

 kind of bread, which has a bitternefs and a refinous tafte, and 

 does not afford that nourifhment,, that their ufual bread does. 

 However, there are feme people, that think it is not right to difufe 

 this fort of bread entirely, and even in plentiful years they fome- 

 times eat a little of it, that they may be prepared againft a time 

 of fcarcity, which by the goodnefs of providence, does not hap- 

 pen in a century f. 



Our 



* In Mingrelia and Georgia, and thofe parts, jurt fuch bread is ufed. Us ont du 

 pain mince comme du papier. Cheval. Chardin, Voyage en Perfe, tome i. p. 186. 



-j- In the province of Bergen, which is the moft barren, we have the leaft reafon to 

 complain of the want of corn ; for by the continual trade our merchants carry on to 



Den- 



