As each drop of water would
increase the splendour of the waterfall.
After three hours and a half's rowing we reached Haukaness-am-See,
where it is usual to stop a night as there is a pretty farm here,
and the distance from the fall is still considerable.
August 27th.
My first care in the morning was the weather; it was unchanged, and
the experienced peasants prophesied that it would remain wet. As I
would not return nor wait for better weather, I could only take to
my boat again, put on my half-dried cloak, and row on boldly.
The termination of the lake, which we soon reached, was already
sufficient to compensate for my perseverance. A high mountain
advances into the lake, and divides it into two beautiful bays. We
entered the left bay, and landed at Mael, which lies at the mouth of
the river Rykaness. The distance from Haukaness is a little more
than two miles. I had to mount a horse to reach the waterfall,
which was yet eleven miles distant. The road runs through a narrow
valley, which gradually narrows still more until it can only contain
the river; and the traveller is obliged to ascend the heights and
grope on along the sides of the mountains. Below in the vale he
sees the foam of the waves surging against the rocks; they flow like
a narrow band of silver in the deep chasm. Sometimes the path is so
high that one neither sees nor hears the river. The last half mile
has to be journeyed on foot, and goes past spots which are really
dangerous; numerous waterfalls rush from the mountain-sides, and
have to be crossed on paths of tree-trunks laid alongside each
other; and roads scarcely a foot wide lead along giddy precipices.
But the traveller may trust unhesitatingly to his guide's arm, who
has hitherto led every one in safety to his destination.
The road from Haukaness to the waterfall must be the finest that can
be imagined on a bright sunny day; for I was enchanted with the
wildly-romantic scenery in spite of the incessant rain and my wet
clothes, and would on no consideration have missed this sight.
Unfortunately the bad weather increased, and thick fogs rolled down
into the valleys. The water flowed down from the mountains, and
transformed our narrow path into a brook, through which we had to
wade ankle-deep in water. At last we reached the spot which
afforded the best view of the fall. It was yet free from mist, and
I could still admire the extraordinary beauty of the fall and its
quantity of water. I saw the immense mountain-rock which closes the
valley, the tremendous pillar of water which dashes over it, and
rebounds from the rock projecting in the centre of the fall, filling
the whole valley with clouds of spray, and concealing the depth to
which it descends. I saw this, one of the rarest and of the most
magnificent of natural beauties; but alas, I saw it only for a
moment, and had scarcely time to recover from the surprise of the
first view when I lost it for ever! I was not destined to see the
single grandeurs of the fall and of the surrounding scenery, and was
fain to be content with one look, one glance. Impenetrable mists
rolled from all sides into the wild glen, and shrouded every thing
in complete darkness; I sat on a piece of rock, and gazed for two
hours stedfastly at the spot where a faint outline of the fall was
scarcely distinguishable through the mist sometimes this faint trace
even was lost, and I could perceive its vicinity only by the
dreadful sounds of the fall, and by the trembling of the rock
beneath my feet.
After I had gazed, and hoped, and raised my eyes entreatingly to
heaven for a single ray of sunshine, all in vain, I had at last to
determine on my return. I left my post almost with tears in my
eyes, and turned my head more backwards than forwards as we left the
spot. At the least indication of a clearing away of the fog I
should have returned.
But I retired farther and farther from it till I reached Mael again,
where I sadly entered my boat, and proceeded uninterruptedly to
Tindosoe. I arrived there towards ten o'clock at night. The wet,
the cold, the want of food, and, above all, the depressed and
disappointed state of my mind, had so affected me, that I went to
bed with a slight attack of fever, and feared that I should not be
able to continue my journey on the following day. But my strong
constitution triumphed over every thing, and at five o'clock in the
morning I was ready to continue my journey to Bolkesoe on horseback.
I was obliged to hurry for fear of missing the departure of the
steamer from Christiania. The journey to Delemarken had been
represented to me as much shorter than I found it in reality; for
the constant waiting for horses, boats, guides, &c. takes up very
much time.
August 28th.
I had ordered my horse to be ready at five o'clock, but was obliged
to wait for it until seven o'clock.
Although I made only a short trip into the interior, I had
sufficient opportunities for experiencing the extortions and
inconveniences to which a traveller is liable in Norway. No country
in Europe is so much in its infancy as regards all conveniences for
locomotion. It is true that horses, carriages, boats, &c. can be
had at every station, and the law has fixed the price of these
commodities; but every thing is in the hands of the peasants and the
publicans, and they are so skilled in tormenting the traveller by
their intentional slowness, that he is compelled to pay the two-fold
tax, in order to proceed a little more quickly.
