I have never seen such a variety of carriages as I met with here.
The commonest and most incommodious are called Carriols. A carriol
consists of a narrow, long, open box, resting between two immensely
high wheels, and provided with a very small seat. You are squeezed
into this contrivance, and have to stretch your feet forward. You
are then buckled in with a leather apron as high as the hips, and
must remain in this position, without moving a limb, from the
beginning to the end of your ride. A board is hung on behind the
box for the coachman; and from this perch he, in a kneeling or
standing position, directs the horses, unless the temporary resident
of the box should prefer to take the reins himself. As it is very
unpleasant to hear the quivering of the reins on one side and the
smacking of the whip on the other, every one, men and women, can
drive. Besides these carriols, there are phaetons, droschkas, but
no closed vehicles.
The carts which are used for the transport of beer are of a very
peculiar construction. The consumption of beer in Christiania is
very great, and it is at once bottled when made, and not sold in
casks. The carts for the transport of these bottles consist of
roomy covered boxes a foot and a half high, which are divided into
partitions like a cellaret, in which many bottles can be easily and
safely transported from one part to another.
Another species of basket, which the servants use to carry such
articles as are damp or dirty, and which my readers will excuse my
describing, is made of fine white tin, and provided with a handle.
Straw baskets are only used for bread, and for dry and clean
provisions.
There are no public gardens or assemblies in Christiania, but
numerous promenades; indeed, every road from the town leads to the
most beautiful scenery, and every hill in the neighbourhood affords
the most delightful prospects.
Ladegardoen is the only spot which is often resorted to by the
citizens by carriage or on foot. It affords many and splendid views
of the sea and its islands, of the surrounding mountains, valleys,
and pine and fir groves. The majority of the country-houses are
built here. They are generally small, but pretty, and surrounded by
flower-gardens and orchards. While there, I seemed to be far in the
south, so green and verdant was the scenery. The corn-fields alone
betrayed the north. Not that the corn was poor; on the contrary, I
found many ears bending to the ground under their weight; but now,
towards the end of August, most of it was standing uncut in the
fields.
Near the town stands a pine-grove, from which one has splendid
views; two monuments are raised in it, but neither of them are of
importance: one is raised to the memory of a crown-prince of
Sweden, Christian Augustus; the other to Count Hermann Wenel
Jarlsberg.
JOURNEY TO DELEMARKEN.
All I had hitherto seen in Norway had gratified me so much, that I
could not resist the temptation of a journey to the wildly romantic
regions of Delemarken. 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. The richness and variety of the scenery are almost
oppressive, and would be an inexhaustible subject for the painter.
The vegetation is much richer than I had hoped to find it so far
north; every hill, every rock, is shaded by verdant foliage; the
green of the meadows was of incomparable freshness; the grass was
intermingled with flowers and herbs, and the corn-fields bent under
their golden weight.
I have been in many countries, and have seen beautiful districts; I
have been in Switzerland, in Tyrol, in Italy, and in Salzburg; but I
never saw such peculiarly beautiful scenery as I found here: the
sea every where intruding and following us to Drammen; here forming
a lovely lake on which boats were rocking, there a stream rushing
through hills and meadows; and then again, the splendid expanse
dotted with proud three-masters and with countless islets. After a
five hours' ride through rich valleys and splendid groves, I reached
the town of Drammen, which lies on the shores of the sea and the
river Storri Elf, and whose vicinity was announced by the beautiful
country-houses ornamenting the approach to it.
