I was indeed told that it would be a
difficult undertaking for a female, alone and almost entirely
ignorant of the language, to make her way through the peasantry.
But I found no one to accompany me, and was determined to go; so I
trusted to fate, and went alone.
According to the inquires I had instituted in respect to this
journey, I anticipated that my greatest difficulties would arise
from the absence of all institutions for the speedy and comfortable
progress of travellers. One is forced to possess a carriage, and to
hire horses at every station. It is sometimes possible to hire a
vehicle, but this generally consists only of a miserable peasant's
cart. I hired, therefore, a carriol for the whole journey, and a
horse to the next station, the townlet of Drammen, distant about
twenty-four miles.
On the 25th August, at three o'clock in the afternoon, I left
Christiania, squeezed myself into my carriage, and, following the
example of Norwegian dames, I seized the reins. I drove as if I had
been used to it from infancy. I turned right and left, and my horse
galloped and trotted gaily on.
The road to Drammen is exquisite, and would afford rich subjects for
an artist. All the beauties of nature are here combined in most
perfect harmony.
