any abode he could offer
us for the night.

We strolled on; and, in a few minutes, a cottage, with thatched roof,
and standing lonelily at the base of one of the high mountains, by which
we were surrounded, loomed through the grey tint of evening.

Its outward appearance at first, I must confess, staggered my sense of
comfort and cleanliness very wonderfully; and its internal arrangements
did not at all help to quiet my apprehensions. In one corner of the room
into which we were shown, stood a bedstead. Implements of cookery were
scattered negligently about the floor, and on a huge hob bubbled a huge
saucepan. The presence of salt-herrings and other dried fish, the common
Norwegian diet, could, by no art, be concealed. The ceiling was so low,
that I could hardly stand upright with my hat on; and the floor being
strewed with juniper leaves, the smell of which, though not ungrateful
in itself, aided by the villainous compound of stale tobacco smoke, in
no way prepossessed me in favour of the cottager's nicety; and, finally,
to consummate the discomfort, the small windows were closed as tightly
as a coffin, while the evening teemed with all the sultriness of an
oriental latitude.

R---- and P---- enjoyed my long face, and each, seating himself on the
only two deal chairs, laughed immoderately at my doleful complaints. The
gaunt Norwegian, the owner of this humble dwelling, made such comical
grimaces, and winked his little eyes so frequently and eruditely, in
endeavouring to fathom their mirth, that I could not restrain myself,
and took a conspicuous part in the joke. After arranging, through King,
who had come with us, as forming one of the boat's crew, where and how
we should sleep, we went into the open air, and R---- and P----,
lighting their cigars, again entered into conversation with the
Anglo-Norwegian regarding the sports of the country. He told us, with
brightening eyes, that, at the top of the mountain, which towered in the
rear of our cot, a large bear had been seen for some weeks past, and his
depredations had been so extensive, that the peasantry many miles round
were terrified out of their wits. This was something to hear; but the
old man went on to say, that a bait, consisting of a dead horse, had
been laid, and he doubted not, but that in a day or two a shot might be
had at the brute. After this narrative our sporting curiosity had
reached its zenith; and mutually promising to meet at a certain hour on