, and thence drive across the
neck of land to the Sogne Fjord, through the finest and most varied
scenery imaginable, returning to Bergen, if needs be, by steamer down
the Sogne Fjord. Or, if there be a few days to spare, one can steam
across the head of the Sogne Fjord from Gudvangen to Laerdalsoeren, and
thence again take _carriole_ or _stolkjaerre_ to the Fillefjeld, and so
visit the wildest of Norway's mountain districts, the Jotunheim--the
Home of the Giants.

CHAPTER XIV

ARCTIC DAYS AND NIGHTS

Everyone has read of the midnight sun and of the sunless winter of the
North. They are features of all tales of Arctic exploration. Yet, in
order to see the sun shining at midnight or to experience pitch-dark
days, it is not necessary to be actually a seeker after the North
Pole. Sunny nights and black winter days may be enjoyed, or otherwise,
even in Norway, but only in the Far North--within the Arctic Circle.

It is not quite easy to realize what things are like right away up
in the North, as it were, on the top of the world, and why things
are as they are is difficult to explain without entering into a host
of scientific details. We will, therefore, avoid a long discussion
about the movements of the earth and suchlike matters, and merely
mention certain facts. At the North Pole itself there is continuous
day for six months of the year, and continuous night for the other
six months, while on the line known as the Arctic Circle the sun
shines at midnight once, and once only, in the year, and during one
entire day of twenty-four hours in the winter it does not rise above
the horizon at all. South of the Arctic Circle there is no such thing
as midnight sun or as a day without sunrise.

As far as Norway is concerned, a considerable tract of country lies
within the Arctic Circle--in fact, an area rather larger than that
of Ireland--so it is not very difficult to find a place where the
midnight sun can be seen for a period in the summer-time, and where
in the winter some of the days are really dark. Of course, to see
the midnight sun it is necessary to be at the place selected at the
right time, and even then there is always the chance of the sky being
clouded over, and no sun visible. For the latter reason travellers
with plenty of leisure endeavour to go as far North as possible,
so as to be almost certain of seeing the great sight.

Nowadays everything is made easy for everybody, and steamers take
passenge