IX.

CHAP. execrable, that we were actually employed the whole day in getting to this place, although state of the distant only three Danish miles and a half from We passed through a beautiful

Execrable

Roads be

fore the snow falls,

Christiania.

valley between Romsaas and Schesmoe, as before. The inns were bad; and this being added to the wretched state of the roads, and the little progress we were able to effect, made us think that we had acted perhaps unwisely in not waiting for the winter season, which is the best time for travelling in Scandinavia, especially when the country is not likely to offer any thing in its scenery remarkable either for its grandeur or picturesque beauty. When the snow has once fallen, and the sledge-way is open, a traveller, wrapped up in his furs, may prosecute his journey in the open air, not only with the utmost expedition, but with comfort. But we intended to visit mines; and, in our search for minerals and plants, wished to see as much as possible of the uncovered earth, before the woodlands of Norway and Sweden, their hills and their valleys, rocks, mountains, lakes, and rivers, were all shrouded in one vast sheet of ice and snow.

The next morning, Oct. 30, after a stormy night, dawned most merrily; the sun burst forth in splendour; even the feathered songsters, in

IX

this autumnal day, were still heard upon the CHAP. dripping branches :

"And forth they passe, with pleasure forward led,

Joying to heare the birds' sweet harmony,

Which, whilom shrouded from the tempests dred,
Seem'd in their song to scorne the cruell sky.
Much can they praise the trees so straight and hie,
The sayling pine, the cedar proud and tall,
The vine-prop elme, the poplar never dry,

The builder oake, sole king of forrests all,
The aspine good for staues, the cypresse funerall.

"The laurell, meed of mightie Conquerors
And Poets sage, the firre that weepeth still,
The willow, worne of forlorne paramours,
The eugh, obedient to the benders will,
The birch for shaftes, the sallow for the mill,
The myrrhe sweet, bleeding in the bitter wound,
The warlike beech, the ash for nothing ill,

The fruitful'olive, and the platane round,

The carver holme, the maple sildom inward sound."

In our first stage, this day, to a place called Hoten. Holen, we turned out of the Trönijem road, about half-a-mile from Moe, into another, upon our right, leading towards the frontier of SWEDEN: and we could but remark, at the time-as if Change in anything which had a reference to that country in ap should in some degree manifest a Swedish proaching aspect-that, from the moment this deviation occurred in our route, the roads began to

the Roads

Sweden.

IX.

Norwegian

CHAP. improve; becoming better and better afterwards, as we drew nearer to the Swedish barrier. The country here is pretty well cultivated: although undulant, when compared with the rest of Norway it is of a level nature. The road lay partly Spires of through forests. In viewing the churches of Churches. this country, if we might judge from mere similarity of form and structure, it would seem that all our spires, commonly called Gothic, with the fashion and shape of their wooden shingles, were borrowed from Norway. In every part of this country through which we have passed, they reminded us of England.

Kiölstad.

From Holen to Kiölstad, one Danish mile and a half, we journeyed over plains with good roads. The oats and peas were still standing. We observed near Holen several heaps, which we thought were antient tumuli; but could obtain no information, either from the tradition of the inhabitants, or from the history of the country, to confirm us in this belief. Before we reached Kiölstad, the prospect of an extensive rich level, highly cultivated, reminded us of parts of Surrey. From Kiölstad, where there is a good inn, we proceeded to Haberg, through a level country, having crossed a ferry. Near Cataract of Haberg there is a Cataract, which we had every reason to believe would be well worth seeing: but the storm came on again; the rain fell in

Hæberg.

FOR Fossen.

CHAP.

IX.

Ous.

torrents; and the mud was so deep, that we did not attempt to gratify our curiosity. The people at Haberg told us that it was about an English mile distant, and yet we heard distinctly the noise of its falling waters. This cataract is called Fon Fossen. They said that passengers seldom went to see it; which is probable enough, in a country where the grandest cataracts are things of common occurrence: but it is to be hoped that some future traveller, under more favourable circumstances, will not leave this water-fall unheeded. In going from Hæberg to Ous, we found the soil sandy. The inn at Ous was excellent, and the accommodations not inferior to those of Christiania; which is saying a great deal. We seemed to have escaped from the mud the moment we quitted Hæberg; for the road afterwards was very good. Here we observed some hardy urchins, with naked legs, amusing themselves by playing in a bog, totally regardless of being wet or cold. The distance from Ous to Sindby is only one Danish mile: we ran it in forty minutes. Near Sindby is a moun- Sindby. tain containing iron-ore, and also a foundry. The road was crowded with peasants, going to the fair at Kongswinger. There was a fortress situate upon an eminence above Kongswinger, which commanded the village, the road, and the river.

IX.

Appear

ance made

by a Fair

at Kings

winger.

CHAP. We were much entertained at this place, by the sight of the fair. A public fair, by collecting the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, and exhibiting them in the height of their gaiety and costume, cannot fail of being interesting to the curious traveller: it also serves to display the produce and commodities of the country. We bought here ptarmigans and moor-game, besides white bread and gingerbread. The dress of the men was singular, from its uniformity: they wore coats of white cloth, faced with red, and red cuffs; and red caps upon their heads. Many of the men were already more than "halfseas-over," though it was an early hour of the morning. There were many horses for sale, rode by rough-riders. For the rest, the appearance was pretty much that of an English fair— soldiers enlisting for fecruits, and alluring the boors by a display of their martial accoutrements; drunken loobies; pretty village-lasses; clamorous hawkers; and vagrant Italians, with cheap looking-glasses and coloured prints.

Money of the country.

Payments are made in dollars, schillings, and stivers; but in Sweden and Norway the value of schillings and stivers is very different. In Norway, a schilling is the lowest coin, and answers to our halfpenny; and stivers are a penny each. In Sweden, schillings answer to our pence, and