The traveller is told that the horse has to be
fetched from the mountain, and that he can be served in one and a
half or two hours. Thus he rides one hour, and waits two. It is
also necessary to keep the tariff, as every trifle, the saddle, the
carriage, the harness, fetching the horse, the boat, &c., has to be
paid for extra; and when the traveller does not know the fixed
prices, he is certain to be dreadfully imposed upon. At every
station a book lies, containing the legal prices; but it is written
in the language of the district, and utterly unintelligible to the
stranger. Into this book, which is examined by the judge of the
district every month, one may enter complaints against the peasant
or publican; but they do not seem to fear it, for the guide who
accompanied me to the fall of Rykanfoss endeavoured to cheat me
twice in the most barefaced manner, by charging me six-fold for the
use of the saddles and the fetching of the horse. When I threatened
to inscribe my complaint in the book, he seemed not to care, and
insisted on his demand, till I was obliged to pay him. On my return
to Mael, I kept my word, asked for the book, and entered my
complaint, although I was alone with all the peasants. It was not
so much the money which annoyed me, as the shameless imposition. I
am of opinion that every one should complain when he is wronged; if
it does not benefit him, it will make the matter more easy for his
successor.
I must confess, in justice to the peasants, that they were very
indignant when I told them of the dishonesty of their countryman,
and did not attempt to prevent my complaint.
To conclude my journey, I need only remark that, although the rain
had ceased, the sky was still covered with clouds, and the country
shrouded in mist. I therefore took the shorter road to Christiania,
by which I had come, although I thereby missed a beautiful district,
where I should, as I was told, have seen the most splendid
perspective views in Norway. This would have been on the road from
Kongsberg over Kroxleben to Christiania. The finest part is near
Kroxleben.
But the time was too short to take this round, and I returned by way
of Drammen. In the village of Muni, about five miles from
Kongsberg, where I arrived at seven o'clock in the evening, the
amiable host wished to keep me waiting again two hours for a horse;
and as this would probably have happened at every station, I was
obliged to hire a horse for the whole distance to Christiania, at a
threefold price. I slept here for a few hours, left in the night at
one o'clock, and arrived at Christiania the following afternoon at
two.
On this journey I found all those people very kind and obliging with
whom I came into no sort of pecuniary relation; but the hosts, the
boatmen, the drivers, the guides, were as selfish and grasping as in
any other country. I believe that kindness and disinterestedness
would only be found in any district by him who has the good fortune
to be the first traveller.
This little excursion was very dear; and yet I think I could now
travel cheaply even in this country, universally acknowledged to be
dear. I would go with the steamer along the coast to Hammerfest,
buy a little vehicle and a good horse there, and then travel
pleasantly, and without annoyance, through the whole country. But
for a family who wished to travel in a comfortable covered carriage,
it would be incalculably dear, and in many parts impossible, on
account of the bad roads.
The Norwegian peasantry are strong and robust, but their features
are not the most comely, and they seemed neither wealthy nor
cleanly. They were generally very poorly clad, and always
barefooted. Their cottages, built of wood and covered with tiles,
are more roomy than those of the Icelanders; but they are
nevertheless dirty and wretched. A weakness of the Norwegians is
their fondness for coffee, which they drink without milk or sugar.
The old women, as well as the men, smoke their pipes morning and
night.
Miles.
From Christiania to Kongsberg is about 41
From Kongsberg to the waterfall Labrafoss 5
From Kongsberg to Bolkosoe 14
From Bolkosoe to Tindosoe 16
From Tindosoe across the lake to Mael 16
From Mael to the waterfall Rykanfoss 11
103
CHAPTER IX
August 30th.
At seven o'clock this morning I left Christiania, accompanied by the
good wishes of my countrywoman and her husband, and went back to
Gottenburg by the same steamer which had brought me thence ten days
before. I need only mention the splendid view of a portion of
Christian's Sound - also called Fiord - which I lost on the former
journey from the darkness of the night. We passed it in the
afternoon. The situation of the little town of Lauervig is superb.
It is built on a natural terrace, bordered in the background by
beautiful mountains. In front, the fortress of Friedrichsver lies
on a mountain surrounded by rocks, on which little watch-towers are
erected; to the left lies the vast expanse of sea.
We were delayed an hour at Friedrichsver to transfer the travellers
for Bergen {50} to a vessel waiting for them, as we had stopped on
our previous journey at Sandesund for the same purpose.
This is the last view in the fiord; for now we steered into the open
sea, and in a few hours we had lost sight of land. We saw nothing
but land and water till we arrived the next morning at the Scheren,
and steered for Gottenburg.
