low them. In
the shadows near us, it was quite impossible to detect the boundary
between the substance and its counterpart. In the afternoon we passed
the mouth of the northern arms of the fjord, which strike into the heart
of the wildest and grandest region of Norway; the valley of Justedal,
with its tremendous glaciers, the snowy teeth of the Hurunger, and the
crowning peaks of the Skagtolstind. Our course lay down the other arm,
to Laerdalsoren, at the head of the fjord. By five o'clock it came in
sight, at the mouth of a valley opening through the barren flanks on the
Fille Fjeld. We landed, after a voyage of ten hours, and found welcome
signs of civilisation in a neat but exorbitant inn.

Our boatmen, with the exception of stopping half an hour for breakfast,
had pulled steadily the whole time. We had no cause to be dissatisfied
with them, while they were delighted with the moderate gratuity we gave
them. They were tough, well-made fellows, possessing a considerable
amount of endurance, but less actual strength than one would suspect.
Braisted, who occasionally tried his hand at an oar, could pull them
around with the greatest ease. English travellers whom I have met inform
me that in almost every trial they find themselves stronger than the
Norwegians. This is probably to be accounted for by their insufficient
nourishment. Sour milk and oaten bread never yet fed an athlete. The
proportions of their bodies would admit of fine muscular development;
and if they cannot do what their Viking ancestors once did, it is
because they no longer live upon the spoils of other lands, as they.

CHAPTER XXXII.

HALLINGDAL--THE COUNTRY-PEOPLE OF NORWAY.

There are two roads from Laerdalsoren to Christiania, the eastern one
passing through the districts of Valders and Hadeland, by way of the
Little Miosen Lake and the Randsfjord, while the western, after crossing
the Fille Fjeld, descends the long Hallingdal to Ringerike. In point of
scenery there is little difference between them; but as we intended
visiting the province of Tellemark, in Southern Norway, we chose the
latter. The valley of the Fille Fjeld, which we entered on leaving
Laerdalsoren, is enclosed by wild, barren mountains, more isolated and
irregular in their forms than the Hardanger and Dovre Fjelds. There were
occasional precipices and dancing waterfalls, but in general the same
tameness and monotony we had found on the Sogne Fjord. Down the bed of
the va