VI. common: it is more prevalent in Europe than CHAP. elsewhere, and most conspicuous in Switzerland, where " Alps on Alps arise." Consequently, the traveller who has enjoyed such sights in Switzerland, when he finds any thing similar in other countries, cannot avoid making the comparison; being touched by a feeling of gladness at the recurrence of objects inspiring the utmost degree of sublimity, and affording, by their geological phænomena, something to gratify his curiosity respecting the original formation and structure of the earth. The mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer at Sognæs, at noon, stood at 51°. We shall be careful to note the changes of temperature, by observations made at the same hour, during our passage of the Dovrefield. The farms upon these mountains, as in the Passes of the Alps, rise one above the other, until they reach the clouds. Sometimes, as in our journey from Röråås to Trönijem, we saw clouds skirting the sides of a mountain upon which there appeared villages high above the clouds. These mountains rise to the height of three thousand two Elevation hundred English feet; which is the elevation Mountains. assigned by Von Buch' to the mountains east (3) See Von Buch's Travels, p. 107. Lond. 1813. of the VI. Gammel CHAP. ward of Melhuus. The earth below them is formed into a series of tabular eminences, whose shapes are probably owing to the subjacent masses of clay-slate. They appear like the artificial ramparts of a fortification; their tops and sloping sides being covered with verdure. Upon these green mounds, farms are also stationed: the cattle belonging to each appeared in herds, grazing all the way down, and sometimes in places so steep, that we wondered how they could find a footing. We dined at Hoff; and for the first time tasted the old Norwegian cheese, called Gammel Orse, or Norske, of which the inhabitants are very fond. It resembles very excellent old Cheshire cheese, without any rankness. This kind of cheese is sometimes sent in presents to England; but the Norwegians themselves prize it so highly, that it is difficult to purchase any of it. The Gammel Orse is sometimes kept for ten years before it is brought to table. In making it, they use buttermilk, mixed with yeast. We observed, upon the circular tray in which the bread was served, an inscription in the Danish language, to the following effect: "Eat your bread with thanks to God." Orse. In going from Hoff to Birkager, we ascended a lofty and steep hill, and from the summit had a prospect of the Alps, covered with snow. The horses were entire, and without shoes. Woollen caps, made of red-worsted knit, are universally worn by the men: these are imported from Copenhagen, Almost every other part of the dress of the peasants is of their own manufacture: it is, in general, very neat and tight, and we considered it as superior to the common dress of our English labourers.' Hoff stands in the middle of the Valley of the Sogna: it is only one thousand and five feet above the level of the sea. In this road, fields of the finest verdure are seen among the trees, in the midst of which the birch appears with peculiar softness and beauty. The country produces rich crops of barley: the soil consists of a dark vegetable earth, and is very rich. Proceeding to Sundset, we descended into a wide and beautiful valley watered by the Oerkel. Hence, leaving the valley, we had a long, winding, and laborious ascent. The view below was in an eminent degree striking. The roads were stony, but our unshod stallions paced dauntlessly over them. Upon this ascent we found the Pyrola uniflora, in seed. From the summit, the view below exhibits the grandest masses of rocks, descending perpendicularly towards the valley, forming precipices nearly a thousand feet high, CHAP. VI. VI. CHAP. with fir and birch trees sprouting from their crags and fissures: whole mountains rise in the most abrupt manner from the green pastures and corn-fields by the sides of the river, and, as they tower upwards, present upon their sides the noblest forests. High above the woods appear farm-houses and cultivated lands, and, at a still greater elevation, forests; then a fleecy rack of clouds; then upland farms and forests again; and in the upmost range, glittering in æther, snow-clad summits, of all else, except their icy mantle, denuded, bleak, and bare. As the view, after extending over all their tops and shining heights, descends amidst the aërial habitations of the upland farmers, it sees, with surprise, immense herds of cattle feeding at an elevation so extraordinary, that even the actual sight is scarcely to be credited. Every hanging meadow is pastured by cows and goats; the latter often browsing upon jutties so fearfully placed, that their destruction seems to be inevitable: below are heard the cheerful bleatings of the sheep, mingled, at intervals, with the deep tones of the herdsmen's trumpets' resounding among the woods. Upland (1) The same as the Lure in Sweden; that is to say, a long trumpet, made of splinters of wood, bound together by withy. VI. Soon after we had completed the ascent of CHAP. this mountain, we descended, and arrived at Sundset. Here we found a numerous family Sundset. assembled round a large fire, all busily employed. The accommodations were cleanly. The walls of the chambers were much painted, and even the beams in the ceiling were covered with inscriptions. These inscriptions, common in Norway, are always either of a moral or religious tendency, or relate to the duties of hospitality; and in this the resemblance to the customs of the Greeks is very striking: among whose modern descendants the taste for inscriptions is still so prevalent, that moral aphorisms in Modern Greek are commonly inscribed upon their drinking-cups, and upon the handles of their knives and forks. Sundset is one thousand five hundred and seventy-eight feet above the (2) "I saw a man making a corn-shovel with an axe; and a book-case and bureau of very good carved work, which was done with a knife: some figures represented upon it were well executed. Everywhere we observe the symptoms of industry, and of a thriving people; yet beggars are not unfrequent. In the villages of Norway, if there be any miserable objects, you are sure to find them sitting by a door near the road, to extort charity. This we never saw in Sweden, which is a much poorer country. In the room at Sundset, there was a Copy of Verses upon the wall of the room, that were composed upon Mr. Bates's riding several horses at once, as at Astley's. He exhibited his feats of horsemanship at Copenhagen in the year 1769, and no doubt astonished the Danes beyond measure."-Cripps's MS. Journal. |