But I Had
Confidence In The Upright Character Of The Norwegians, And Drove On
Quietly, Devoting My Attention Entirely To The Reins Of My Little
Steed, Which I Had To Lead With A Sure Hand Over Hill And Valley,
Over Ruts And Stones, And Along Precipices.
I heard no sound but
the rushing of the mountain-river, which leaped, close beside us,
over the rocks, and was heard rushing in the far distance.
We did not arrive at Bolkesoe until ten o'clock at night. When we
stopped before an insignificant-looking peasant's cot, and I
remembered my Icelandic night-accommodations, whose exterior this
resembled, my courage failed me; but I was agreeably disappointed
when the peasant's wife led me up a broad staircase into a large
clean chamber furnished with several good beds, some benches, a
table, a box, and an iron stove. I found equal comforts on all the
stations of my journey.
There are no proper hotels or posthouses on the little-frequented
Norwegian roads; but the wealthy peasants undertake the duties of
both. I would, however, advise every traveller to provide himself
with bread and other provisions for the trip; for his peasant-host
rarely can furnish him with these. His cows are on the hills during
the summer; fowls are far too great a luxury for him; and his bread
is scarcely eatable: it consists of large round cakes, scarcely
half an inch thick, and very hard; or of equally large cakes
scarcely as thick as a knife, and quite dry. The only eatables I
found were fish and potatoes; and whenever I could stay for several
hours, they fetched milk for me from the hills.
The travelling conveniences are still more unattainable; but these I
will mention in a future chapter, when my experience will be a
little more extensive.
August 26th.
I could not see the situation of the town of Bolkesoe till daylight
to-day, for when I arrived the darkness of night concealed it. It
is situated in a pretty wooded vale, on a little hill at whose foot
lies a beautiful lake of the same name.
The road from here to Tindosoe, about sixteen miles, is not
practicable for vehicles, and I therefore left my carriol here and
proceeded on horseback. The country grows more quiet and
uninhabited, and the valleys become real chasms. Two lakes of
considerable size form an agreeable variety to the wildness of the
scenery. The larger one, called the Foelsoe, is of a regular form,
and above two miles in diameter; it is encircled by picturesque
mountains. The effect of the shadows which the pine-covered
mountain-tops throw on the lakes is particularly attractive. I rode
along its shores for more than an hour, and had leisure to see and
examine every thing very accurately, for the horses here travel at a
very slow pace. The reason of this is partly that the guide has no
horse, and walks beside you in a very sleepy manner; the horse knows
its master's peculiarities by long experience, and is only too
willing to encourage him in his slow, dull pace. I spent more than
five hours in reaching Tindosoe. My next object of interest was the
celebrated waterfall of Rykanfoss, to reach which we had to cross a
large lake. Although it had rained incessantly for an hour, and the
sky looked threatening, I at once hired a boat with two rowers to
continue my journey without interruption; for I anticipated a storm,
and then I should not have found a boatman who would have ventured a
voyage of four or five hours on this dangerous lake. In two hours
my boat was ready, and I started in the pouring rain, but rejoiced
at least at the absence of fog, which would have concealed the
beauties of nature which surrounded me. The lake is eighteen miles
long, but in many parts only from two to three miles wide. It is
surrounded by mountains, which rise in terraces without the least
gap to admit a distant view. As the mountains are nearly all
covered with dark fir-groves, and overshadow the whole breadth of
the narrow lake, the water seems quite dark, and almost black. This
lake is dangerous to navigate on account of the many rocks rising
perpendicularly out of the water, which, in a storm, shatter a boat
dashed against them to pieces, and the passengers would find an
inevitable grave in the deep waters. We had a fresh and a
favourable breeze, which blew us quickly to our destination. One of
the rocks on the coast has a very loud echo.
An island about a mile long divides the lake into equal parts; and
when we had passed it, the landscape became quite peculiar. The
mountains seemed to push before each other, and try whose foot
should extend farthest into the sea. This forms numerous lovely
bays; but few of them are adapted for landing, as the dangerous
rocks seem to project every where.
The little dots of field and meadow which seem to hang against the
rock, and the modest cottages of the peasants, which are built on
the points of the most dangerous precipices, and over which rocks
and stones tower as mountains, present a very curious appearance.
The most fearful rocks hang over the huts, and threaten to crush
them by falling, which would inevitably carry cottage and field with
them into the sea. It is difficult to say whether the boldness or
the stupidity of the peasants induces them to choose such localities
for their dwellings.
From the mountains many rivers flow into the lake, and form
beautiful falls. This might only have been the case at that time,
because it was raining incessantly, and the water poured down from
all sides, so that the mountains seemed embroidered with silver
threads. It was a beautiful sight; but I would willingly have
relinquished it for a day of sunshine. It is no trifle to be
exposed to such a shower-bath from morning till night; I was wet
through, and had no hope for better weather, as the sky was clouded
all round.
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