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.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 235 of 329
Words from 62649 to 62907
of 87606
