MR. MILFORD'S NORWAY.
"A HEAVY sorrow which had preyed on mind and body" directed 14r. MiLroma's thoughts to foreign travel, with a view of dissipating hal grief by occupying his attention with external objects. Having formerly travelled in Italy and the Peninsula, he determined to make a trip to Norway, not only as a variety, but with a view to shooting and salmon-fishimarsotravelling recreations. In the latter end of July 1841, Mr. RD and his sou departed from Hull, in the Norway steamer ; and reached Christiansand, with no other in- cidents than sea-sickness, and a delay of ten hours caused by a rough head-wind, which rocked the vessel more than landsmen desired, whilst it retarded her progress. In Norway, hid main Journey was to the capital, Drontheim, (or, as Mr. MiLrolin writes it, " Tronjeim," in compliance with the fashion of changing the old English spelling of the names of places, till we have no settled ortbography at all ;) and thence to the Namsen,celebrated for salmon ; on whose banks he sojourned for several weeks ; varying his sport by a journey in search of some Laplanders, whom and their rein- deer flocks he fell in with near the confines of Sweden. This, however, was merely Mr. MILFORD'S direct course. Such are now the facilities for locomotion by means of steam, that a tourist, by watching his opportunities, may penetrate the Arctic circle, and almost reach Icy Cape, according to Mr. Milmoen. The lateness of the season when he started prevented the accomplish- ment of this feat; but he pretty well explored the Southern and middle parts of Norway, on foot, on horseback, in carriole, or boat, besides surveying the rock-bound and romantic coast from Bergen to Christiana. He also visited Gottenburg and Copenhagen on his return by Hamburg ; a line of route he rather recommends, as the Hull steamers are old boats, more adapted to convey com- modities than passengers, slow goers, and not well fitted to en- counter a severe gale if they should happen to be overtaken. Mr. BARROW, one of the first who opened Norway to the mere tour- ist, has given a description of carriole-travelling, and of the romantic intermingling of mountain, forest, and fiord, in Norwegian scenery : the author of Two Summers in Norway has described its angling, with all the gusto of an enthusiast, and the fulness of knowledge which long experience gives : the country and its institutions, with the character, condition, and social life of its people, have been elaborately exhibited by Mr. LAING. Little of generic novelty I. therefore to be expected from the future Norwegian tourist ; nos will it be found in Mr. MILroieD: but he is an unaffected and a pleasant enough writer, with much good feeling, and the old- fashioned notions of the amiable "old English gentleman," though, like his class, not given to deep investigations. His style is some- times curt and superficial; but it is never stuffed. In short, there is sufficient variety of subject and of description to make Mr. Mu.- FORD's Norway and the Laplanders in 1841 a readable book ; but there is not enough of novelty or power to make it a necessary book to read.
The subjects of most interest in Mr. MILFORD'S tour are of an incidental, or almost of an accidental nature. The changes in the Tariff with regard to timber give a current interest to several scat- tered passages descriptive of the Norwegian forests and timber- trade : the author's visit to the Laplanders, though short and not telling much, gives a fresh and favourable view of a people about whom little is known in this country by the public at large ; and, having been detained by weather upwards of a fortnight in one of the many groups of islands which defend the coasts of Norway, he was enabled to observe a rather peculiar kind of people, and to witness a wedding, which few other travellers would be likely to see, because they would never sojourn on the Kora Fiord of their own free-will.
THE PEOPLE Or THE ROHS FIORD AND THEIR WEDDING PINERY.
It was during a wearisome detention of some weeks in the Kora Fiord that I had the best opportunity of rendering myself conversant with the marriage arrangement of this part of Norway.
The Kors Fiord is the Southernmost of the two friths by which vessels can approach Bergen. The navigation is somewhat intricate and dangerous : vessels have to thread their way amidst an archipelago of wild and rocky isles, which form, as it were, natural outworks or breakwaters to defend the North- west coast of Europe from the fury of a boundless ocean. As this chain of islands is not unlike the Hebrides in its relative position to the larger country, so they are similar in their wild and sterile appearance, and in the niggardness of their soil. Our ship, the Freya, named after the goddess who presides over Friday, and who answers in Northern mythology to our Venus, the immemorial patroness of sailors—" Sic te Diva patens Cypri," and so forth—though no beauty, certainly asserted her supremacy, by detaining us wind-bound above fourteen days at the back of a little rocky islet named Bakkesund. To a more wretched place no mortal was ever exiled; and yet there lived there, apparently in great contentment, a solitary old woman, whose husband was almost con- stantly at sea. I was her guest during this tedious fortnight ; and shared her dwelling with her cow, her goat, her cock, and her magpie, the sole inhabitants besides herself of her domain of Bakkesund. Indeed, I may say the goat not unfrequently shared my bed; an unwelcome intruder certainly, and an oft- kicked-out rather than an oft-invited guest.
The population of some of the other islands composing the group was rather more numerous; and as I had but little to do except watching the weather, I roamed from one sterile spot to another, and soon became familiarly accrainted with many of their inhabitants. It was the sea and not the earth which sus- tained them ; for all are fishers, men, women, and children : the net and the harpoon supply the place of the spade, the mattock, and the plough ; nor is the Norfolk husbandman more expert in tilling the soil than these contented islanders in extracting food from the deep. It was on one of these morning-' calls that I saw a fair young mermaid, if I may so call one of these sea-maidens, decked in all the glory of her bridal attire: and truly it was a sight well worthy of being seen and recorded. The young woman's father was one of the wealthiest of these peasants, and counted his possessions by his numerous boats and nets. His ancestors had occupied the same low-built dwelling for many generations—for centuries, I might say. However, there was no external show ; every thing was humble and lowly, such as might he expected in the hut of a solitary fisherman : all his pride of family was reserved for and concentrated in the display of rude silver ornaments and other antique braveries, in which his daughter was decked out on her marriage-day. His great-grandmother bad no doubt worn the self- same dress, save that from time to time further decorations had been added to the massive fabric.
The jerkin or boddice was of scarlet cloth, and fitted to the body, meeting in front only at the waist, and without sleeves; trimmed at the edges above and round the shoulders with many-coloured beads, strung together and sewed fan- tastically on the garment, and giving it a rich and not inelegant appearance. Beneath this she wore a white cambric stomacher, fastened in front with various large silver brooches, resembling rather the huge plated buckles of antique horse-furniture than the wedding-ornaments of a youthful bride: In addition to these metallic masses, she had on a necklace or collar of silver that would have weighed down a London Alderman, and over the whole a long and heavy chain of the same metal. Around her arms were armlets above the elbow, and bracelets at the wrist, all of silver, and far more remarkable for the massive solidity of ancient workmanship than for any of the delicate filigree of their texture. The petticoat, which was of dark-coloured cloth, and over which fell an apron gorgeously though rudely embroidered, was gathered into manifold plaits, and compressed at the waist beneath an immense belt or zone constructed of large silver rings and clasps,—for I know not in what other terms to describe this antique and very, cumbrous girdle. The hose and the gloves also were of scarlet, gaily embroidered, and her high shoes were fastened with large buckles of silver.
But the most singular of all was the head-gear of this maiden. A large and lofty crown of brightly-polished silver surmounted her head : it rose into various peaks or summits, and was adorned all around with rows or strings of silver coins and medals, and ornamented with ribands of divers colours, which flowed, like Northern streamers, upon her neck and shoulders. It would not be gallant to bestow so much attention on the dress and none on the wearer: suffice it, however, to say, that she was fair and comely, with all the freshness of health, and that best of charms good-humour. Some strength Na, required to wear such an attire without fatigue, and this she pea. leased; for hers was a frame that could ply the oar as easily as the needle, and both accomplishments are indispensably necessary in these wild regions. After all, and despite these metallic infringements on good taste, it was a fair sight to behold our young bride thus decked out, and seated conspicuous in the boat which was to convey her through intricate and narrow channels to the church where the simple but solemn rite would unite her in holy wedlock, and where vows would be made which would neither be broken nor forgotten. Her kinsmen, all arrayed in their best garbs, rowed the boat in which the bride was Bested, and accompanied her in other chaloupes, chanting a merry stave in unison to their oars. The bridegroom I did not see, but I have no doubt he was a miniature Potosi.
NORWEGIAN SAW-MILLS, TIMBER, AND HOSPITALITY.
We returned to Vigeland, and dined on a good-sized and well-flavoured trout. The rye-bread was so sour that I could not eat it ; but the coffee and eggs, with the wild strawberries, raspberries, and cream, were delicious.
The property at Vigeland belongs to a company, who have here several saw- mills. The wheel which moves the saw is of course turned by water, and the apparatus is very simple; there are six double and two single wheels, and twenty-two saws altogether. When any timber is wanted, the agent writes up the country for it ; and in the coarse of a week it is floated down the river, with the owner's mark upon it. It is stopped close to the mill ; where it is placed on wheels, and pushed up to the saws : the two sides are first cut off, so as to form a slab of the tree ; this is then cut into planks, which are sent down an inclined plane, and at the bottom, either arranged, and exposed to the wind, or sent floating down the stream to another station: all the outside slices are thrown away. The agent, who resided on the spot, spoke English ; and the civility of the female who had the management of the household affairs was very striking. Here we had the first instance of Norwegian hospitality ; for after we had all partaken plentifully of the good things I have enumerated, the worthy lady refused to accept any remuneration whatever. We, however, at length insisted upon her taking a small coin of the value of a shilling from each us; for which she was very grateful. * • • Wood seems to be the staple produce of the land, the source of its well- being at home and of its commerce abroad. The Norwegians, as might be ex- pected, are admirable carpenters : practice has made them perfect ; and they have rendered the material subservient to every possible purpose, with an in- genuity that is astonishing. The recent alteration in the Tariff, which has long been advocated by the most enlightened political economists of every party, will give an impetus to the languishing trade of Christiana, and draw closer the bonds of unity be- tween Norway and Great Britain. The Norwegians are already well disposed to like us, and to look with a sort of paternal pride and affection upon a nation which, once peopled by themselves, has now risen to be the leader of civiliza- tion, and to be victorious alike by sea and by land. Their great object is (saving the pun) to deal with us ; to supply us with their raw produce, which is superabundant and excellent ; and to take back in return our manufactures, which are equally cheap and good, and in which they are utterly deficient. It is impossible to predict the mutual advantages which will arise from this wise and liberal measure. Norway, indeed, will benefit the most, because she has the most leeway to make up, being to a certain degree uncivilized. Now that our ports are again to be opened, commerce will revive, and in her train assuredly will come industry, order, and wealth ; then will follow luxury, artistical and literary attainment, and all the highest ranges of social and intellectual de- velopment.
The Norwegian pines are the weed of the soil : they grow on almost soilless crags, (" moored in the rifted rock,") and planted by the band of Nature, where none but Nature could dare to place them, and where nothing but Nature's aid could support them. Their dark tone of colour is in harmony with the scenery around ; while their elfin branches, flung over the cataract, form the appropriate fringes to scenes which recall the witch and diemon glens of the Freischutz.
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