cept the nameless fascination of utter solitude and silence.
The valley descends so gradually that we had driven two Norsk miles
before the fir-forests in its bed began to creep up the mountain-sides.
During the second stage we passed the remarkable peak of Saaten, on the
opposite side of the valley--the end or cape of a long projecting ridge,
terminating in a scarped cliff, from the very summit of which fell a
cascade from three to four hundred feet in height. Where the water came
from, it was impossible to guess, unless there were a large deposit of
snow in the rear; for the mountains fell away behind Saaten, and the
jagged, cleft headland rose alone above the valley. It was a strange and
fantastic feature of the landscape, and, to me, a new form in the
repertory of mountain aspects.

We now drove, through fir-woods balmy with warm resinous odours, to
Ekre, where we had ordered breakfast by _forbud_. The morning air had
given us a healthy appetite; but our spirits sank when the only person
at the station, a stupid girl of twenty, dressed in the same bulging,
hideous sack, informed us that nothing was to be had. After some
persuasion she promised us coffee, cheese, and bread, which came in due
time; but with the best will we found it impossible to eat anything. The
butter was rather black than yellow, the cheese as detestable to the
taste as to the smell, the bread made apparently of saw-dust, with a
slight mixture of oat-bran, and the coffee muddy dregs, with some sour
cream in a cup, and sugar-candy which appeared to have been sucked and
then dropped in the ashes. The original colour of the girl's hands was
barely to be distinguished through their coating of dirt; and all of us,
tough old travellers as we were, sickened at the sight of her. I verily
believe that the poorer classes of the Norwegians are the filthiest
people in Europe. They are even worse than the Lapps, for their habits
of life allow them to be clean.

After passing Ekre, our view opened down the valley, over a wild stretch
of wooded hills, to the blue mountain folds of the Hallingdal, which
crosses the Hemsedal almost at right angles, and receives its tributary
waters. The forms of the mountains are here more gradual; and those
grand sweeps and breaks which constitute the peculiar charms of the
scenery of the Bergenstift are met with no longer. We had a hot ride to
the next station, where we were obliged to wait nearly an hour in the
kitchen, our _f