A HOLIDAY IN NORTHERN REGIONS. 1828
My father appears to have had a long leave between the two commands, in
the _Alacrity_ (1826) and the _Alligator_ (1829), during which commands
he was employed in the Mediterranean, with a roving commission--a free
lance, in short--to put down piracy and watch the War of Independence
between the Greeks and the Turks. He never let the grass grow under his
feet, so off he started with his friend Walrond on a roving tour
through the greater part of Scandinavia, and his journals contain a
daily record, extending over nearly six months. He crossed the
Dovrefeld Range between Norway and Sweden (a journey seldom undertaken
to-day), and in 1828 the lack of travelling facilities was exceptional.
The energy and resource of my father's character and his great powers
of observation appear to great advantage in these journals, and there
are many facts which I shall endeavour to relate as far as possible in
his own graphic words.
He was greatly impressed by the kindness and hospitality he received
from all classes in both countries with the exception of one district
near Gottenborg, where he met with some outrageous conduct on the part
of a postmaster, who either thought he was robbed, or else fully
intended to rob his guest.
He was honoured by interviews with King Charles John IV, better known
as Bernadotte, Napoleon's Field-Marshal and founder of the present
royal dynasty of Sweden, and it is worthy of note that as far back as
1828, Norway was chafing under the Union with Sweden which was brought
about by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814 and has so lately been dissolved.
On the 10th of May 1828, Captain Yorke started from the Customs House
Wharf on the Thames, in a small steamer of 300 tons. Steam navigation
being then in its infancy the vessel was of great interest to the
traveller, who notes that she had 'two very fine engines of 40 horse
power!'
The passage to Hamburg took exactly fifty-five hours. It is curious in
the light of eighty years' commercial progress to read that 'The
commerce on the Elbe has no comparison with that of the Thames.' Then
follows a difficulty with the Customs officer, who, unaware of the
habits of British sportsmen, was horrified to find gunpowder among the
captain's baggage, a discovery which necessitated an appeal to the
British Consul and entailed a delay of several days.
Kiel was reached on 14th of May, and after exploring the pretty little
town the two friends took the Caledonian steam packet for Copenhagen.
This little steamer was built as a pleasure boat for James Watt, and
had run nine years making much money for her owner though a very 'bad
boat.'
At Copenhagen Captain Yorke was much impressed by the royal palace of
Frederiksborg, with its chapel where are crowned the Kings of Denmark,
and its pane of glass on which Caroline Matilda [Footnote: Sister of
George III, Queen of Christian VII. She was entrapped into a confession
of criminality to save the life of her supposed lover Struensee, who
was afterwards beheaded. She was condemned to imprisonment for life in
the Castle of Zell, and died there aged twenty-four in 1775.] had
scratched, 'O keep me innocent; make others great.' His professional
interest was kindled by the Trekroner Battery which he visited in a
boat, and of which he noticed both the strong and the weak points. He
failed to get into the dockyard, though here again he was careful to
note the number of ships of the line, frigates, and launches afloat;
but the royal stud of 700 horses and the riding school struck him most.
On the 20th of May our travellers reached Elsinore, and crossing over
in an open boat to the Swedish coast they landed at Helsingborg.
My father was a good sportsman, and fishing was his favourite sport. It
was combined with that love of scenery which was one of his
characteristics, and his first fly was thrown in a beautiful river at
Falkenborg, rented by two Englishmen who paid £300 a year for it. Here
he remarks that the Swedes 'are poor, honest, and exceedingly good
natured.'
'I believe,' he wrote, 'that much of the great civility we received
arose from our travelling as we did, without speaking or understanding
the language, with no servant and no carriage, taking the common
conveyances of the country. Our fare, chiefly fish, black bread, and
brandy. The country round Falkenborg is barren, with cultivated spots
here and there.
'After leaving Falkenborg we experienced a great change in the
character of the people. Kindness and honesty were changed for
ill-looks and petty extortions. On a bridge between Moruss and Asa, the
woman who kept it and our drivers charged a double toll, and drank the
overplus in schnapps before our faces! Our vehicle is changed from four
wheels to two, so we now travel in little wooden gigs and four horses,
forming a pretty cavalcade.
'We arrived at Gottenborg about 1 P.M., dined _table d'hôte_ and left
at four. We passed along the banks of the Wener, a superb river. The
vessels that trade from Gottenborg to the Wener See pass up this river.
To pass the falls a canal is cut through the solid rock, with two
locks. I saw a vessel of 80 tons go through. Considerable saw mills are
erected here, the timber cut up, the lumber is just marked, launched
down and the owners look out for themselves.
'The Wener shows one of the finest works of art perhaps in the world!
To navigate this river at the falls it has been necessary to cut a
canal for one English mile at least through mountains of solid rock,
and has eight locks. The mountains are granite and basalt. There is a
cut through the rock also parallel with the river. This cut is useless,
for there is in it a fall of sixty feet perpendicular, so that what it
was made for it is difficult to conceive.'
Between Trolhätta and Gottenborg our travellers were detained four
hours on the road. The reason for this detention is fully explained in
a letter my father wrote to Sir Joseph Yorke a month or two later, from
which I make the following extract:
'While the servants were shifting our luggage at Gottenborg I went into
the house to get change for a three dollar Banco Note. On receiving the
change I found it was only two Dollar Rix Geld, a depreciated currency,
after which I offered, with a remonstrance, a two dollar 'Banco' note.
The woman took it, and was then possessed of five dollar Banco, for
which I could get no further exchange than the two Rix Geld before
mentioned, neither would she return my money. I took the first
opportunity of snatching it from her, first the two dollar note and
then the three, and pushing the small change lying on the table towards
her, walked out of the house. Having managed to pay the horses we
wished to proceed but the driver refused to go, under the plea that I
had taken three dollars from the woman of the house, and they would not
move till I returned it. Neither threats nor entreaties prevailed, and
we remained about two hours till the Postmaster arrived in person. I
appealed to him, it was useless, and I saw no alternative but to offer
him the three dollars, making him understand as well as I could, that
he being Postmaster was responsible, and that I should acquaint the
authorities at Gottenborg of his conduct in taking from me three
dollars which neither belonged to him nor the woman of the house. He
looked at the note and threw it on the table, then left the inn, and in
a minute returned with a pair of screw irons to which was attached a
chain, himself and another laid hold of me, and attempted to force my
hands into them.
'By this time we had all come out of the house. I struck right and left
and effectually released myself. We were set on by the seven or eight
men standing by, and though successful in repelling their attack,
seeing my servant badly wounded and that iron instruments were
beginning to be used, I thought it better to suffer myself to be
secured, which was done by screwing my hands into the irons and making
me fast by padlocking the chain to a part of the room. In this
situation I remained for about half an hour, the Postmaster preparing
to accompany us, which he did taking me with him in his car as a
prisoner. On a remonstrance from Walrond on the tightness of the screws
from which I suffered dreadfully, he took off the irons before getting
into the car, but he was armed.
'On arriving at Lilla Edet, we were taken before a magistrate, showed
our passports and were dismissed, after refusing to compromise the
affair for five dollars. This is the story and a very strange one it
is. The King has ordered a process to be begun against the men. I can
make no comment upon it. The reason for such treatment it is impossible
to conceive.'
But on arriving at Gottenborg, I find my father called on the Governor,
and found him justly very indignant, and he declared the Postmaster
should go to prison for three years with hard labour, exclaiming at the
same time, '_Nous ne sommes pas des Barbares, monsieur._'
Changing vessels of passage twice, my father arrived at Christiania.
'Xtiania fiord is deep and the town is situated at the head of it. Part
of the passage of the fiord is very narrow among the small islands, and
the water very deep. Though Christiania is but a poor town compared
with other northern towns, yet its environs may boast of more beauty
than perhaps any capital in the universe.'
My father finds the politeness of the inhabitants expensive, and says,
'in walking the streets of northern towns, you can wear out a good hat
in three days.'
In return they received the greatest civility from two
fellow-passengers who took them to call on Count Plater, the
Stadt-Holder or Governor of Xtiania, who was an admiral in their navy
and spoke excellent English; also on Count Rosen.
'Went to see the Storthing in the morning. Strangers were admitted to
the Gallery on requesting a ticket from the Police!'
My father writes:
'The origin of this Constitution, (now such a thorn in the side of the
King,) was in the reign of the Danish Prince Christian, who himself
assembled a body of the people to consult on the affairs of State at
the moment previous to Norway and Sweden falling under the power of
France. The body thus met, constituted themselves into a perpetual
assembly for the government of the country, and by their prudence and
independence, it is now permanently established (1828) and never were a
people more attached to their constitution.' Dining with Count Plater
the Viceroy of Norway, at 3 P.M., he met forty people, all the
Ministers of State and great officers in full dress with their 'orders'
on; also three peasant Labour Candidates in the costume of their
country, being Members of the Storthing. He also met Count Videll, a
'most fascinating person' who, being asked as to the purchase of a
carriage, replied politely, 'I will give you one'; and he sent it,
saying, 'It is nothing, I have plenty.' The valley of the Drammen he
beheld from the mountain of their descent, 'charm and awe' by turns are
the sensations of the travellers, and this led them on to Kongsberg, at
one time famous for its silver mines, but the mines not being worked
and the timber trade also decreasing, the population went with it and
was then only 4000. The travellers went down the only silver mine then
worked, in the dress of a miner, walked through a horizontal gallery a
mile long till they came to the shaft, and descended two storeys but
could not proceed, the fire being just lit below.
'This mine returns about £1250 sterling of silver per ann. Sixty miners
are employed at £14 a year each! Bears, wolves and reindeer abound in
this vicinity. There is plenty of iron, not worked, and gold has also
been found in Kongsberg. From thence to Topam(?) we were surprised to
find ourselves driven up to the door of a gentleman's place, out came
Jack Butler, and the master of the house, pressing us to walk in; after
excuses and proper hesitation we accepted, and found ourselves in a
room with people at supper, ladies pretty ones too, who spoke English!
'The fact is that Topam, of which we had heard so much, is a
gentleman's place; after dinner we were shown to our room (one only was
vacant). Walrond had a bed and I slept in my cloak.'
Next day they engaged a well-organised _chasse_. My father pronounces
Topam (?) the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. 'Mr. Benker of
Berlin, their host, purchased it from the King of Sweden for £150,000.
It is the only thing on this scale in Europe.'
The travellers now returned to Christiania, apparently to be received
by the King. They intended dining with their old friend Count Plater,
but the King commanded them to dine with him. After waiting some time
they were ushered in by Baron Lamterberg, the head Chamberlain, and
after a few minutes the King entered--(here follows the interview in
Captain Yorke's own words):
'I apologised for being in plain clothes instead of uniform or court
dress; he replied, "I do not want to see the dress but the man, I am
glad to see you both." He then addressed his conversation in different
topics, viz.: policy of Sweden, change of ministry in England, the
navy, the country, and the mines of Sweden; all of which he enlarged
much on.
'He remarked, speaking of England, "That she must have a strong
government or things would not go right in a turn of affairs which he
seemed to think must soon come. A strong government is absolutely
necessary for England." He asked me if _I_ thought that much order or
signals could be attended to after a naval fight had once begun? I
answered, "I thought it depended much on the weather, and which fleet
had the weather gage. With a strong wind and the weather gage I thought
a well-conducted fleet could keep in good order, as long as spars
stood." We stayed with the King for an hour before dinner which was
served at half-past five, after taking schnapps and anchovies, &c. (at
which preparation the King did not appear, they being served at side
tables). The company, about thirty generals, Colonels and Officers of
State, were scattered about in different rooms; the King suddenly
entered and took his seat; everyone did the same, nothing was said; he
fell to work, a very good dinner. I sat opposite the King who never
spoke, or even changed his countenance, or his knife and fork, which
were of gold, and wiped them himself on bread.
'He ate of many dishes, and drank claret and Seltzer water. The plate
was silver except what he had, the glass plain except his, and the
knives and forks were wiped and given to us again. Dinner over, coffee
was served and he talked to me, hoped to see me at Stockholm, bowed to
the company and retired. The King is a perfect gentleman and man of the
world, elegant in his manners and dress, the most intelligent
countenance, and very upright, and good looking in feature.'
I have before noted that my father had really no evening dress or
uniform and was sorely put to it what to do, when he remembered he had
given his servant Jack Butler an old black coat, so he borrowed it for
the occasion, Butler remarking 'that it looked as good as new, as he
had blacked the seams with ink.' This was told to the Chamberlain, who
repeated it to the King, who went into a paroxysm of laughter.
June 13.--We now come to the parting with Walrond, faithful friend and
companion, and sad was the leave-taking. Both were sorry to part, my
father with a long and dreary journey before him alone in a strange
land. As before, he seems to have been most hospitably treated wherever
he halted. Excellent rooms and good food were provided. Between this
and Brejden (? Trondhjem) he passed by the wooden monument erected to
Sinclair, who was there shot. The Norwegians say that silver bullets
were cast on purpose to kill him. Here also they murdered forty Scots,
prisoners, in cold blood. Between Brejden (?) and Langan Pass, the spot
where the action was fought, 700 Scots fell. The pass is, even with a
good road, very narrow, and the mountain above and below nearly
perpendicular; at the foot runs the Langan, a rapid stream. The
Norwegians held the heights, and with them a handful of men might
defeat the enemy.
In crossing the summit and then the descent of the Dovrefeld Range, he
suffered much fatigue both to the eye and limb, 'for never did my eye
wander over so desolate a waste as the summit of these mountains, the
peaks covered with snow, and spots of deep snow in the valleys.' Not a
vestige of herbage or tree to be seen on the northern summit, nor for
one Swedish mile of the descent; then begins the stunted birch, next
the Scotch fir, and 'towards the end of the day our eyes were cheered
by the sight of pines.'
'The inhabitants of the Post-houses are the cleanest people I have
seen, and one is surprised by meeting clocks, carved, painted and
gilded, and walls covered with inscriptions or rudely painted figures.
All their utensils are well scrubbed, and as white as wood can be made.
They wear plaid and recall in their delivery the people of the Scotch
Highlands.'
Here comes another description of meals, the table at the latter being
covered with 'glass, flowers and sweets,' _Diner à la Russe_, now so
completely our own fashion. 'A general welcome to the board is first
given, and on rising from table we shake hands all round and the words,
"much good may it do you" often accompanies this greeting.' This again
reminds one of the German _gesegnete Mahlzeit_.
Captain Yorke continues his inquiries by visiting the Arsenal at
Trondhjem which he finds in good order with stores and gunpowder in
small quantities. Twenty gunboats are here laid up in houses built for
the purpose, everything connected with them in good repair. They have a
large lug sail with a mast that falls down. How quaint all these
descriptions must appear to sailors of modern times!
'Besides the Arsenal, the King's Regalia was inspected with laudable
curiosity. It distinctly belonged to Norway, but was made at Stockholm
for the coronation of the present King in the old Church. A very
gorgeous affair, the jewels (pearls) no diamonds, and the other stones
in the crown chiefly amethysts. The Bernadotte family, on the whole, is
not popular in Norway. Sport is always mingled with hospitality and
entertainments; a vast quantity of eider duck is everywhere on the
water, and to take a boat and go out on the Fiord with a gun, is one of
the delights of this most delightful tour. It is curious to see the
affection of the old ones for the brood, which they never will forsake
and so fall an easy prey to the fowler.'
Trondhjem was left with much regret. The pictures, the old town with
its hospitality, the fishing for trout and shooting of eider duck with
the gorgeous scenery left an indelible impression, but night beginning
to darken at twelve put the traveller in mind that time was passing
with rapidity and that to effect the journey before him he must depart.
The next point of general interest is a visit to a family of Laplanders
a mile up the mountains. Herick Anderson, the head or chief of his
family, received the whole party, consisting of Captain Yorke, a friend
(Mr. Charter), and their servants, with 'great delight.'
They were milking the deer, so the travellers could not have arrived at
a more fortunate moment. Five hundred of these animals were enclosed in
a circular space with birch trees cut down and made into a temporary
fence, so giving a good opportunity for looking at the animal. It is
about the height of our common fallow deer, but much stronger and
larger in make, large necks and feet, large-boned legs, with immense
antlers covered with flesh and skin, a dark mouse colour, coat thick,
most even and beautiful to look at. The milk is rich beyond any ever
tasted. They dined with the Laps on reindeer soup and bouillie, scalded
milk and cheese--a characteristic meal. The scalded milk was delicious,
but so rich they could hardly eat it.
They also had a fine sight of Lapland deer dogs, and bought one for
10s.; I suppose that quarantine was not invented then!
After a good deal of brandy drinking the travellers departed with some
difficulty, for the Finns got so riotous that it was with force they
got them from the horses' heads, holding on to the bridles to prevent
their departure.
The Diet at Stockholm (November 1828) was opened with great pomp and
ceremony. My father was present and went in the suite of Lord
Bloomfield, our Minister at the Swedish Court. The ceremony began at 10
A.M., the King and Crown Prince going in state to the church where
divine service was performed. From there a procession to the palace.
The nobles, Ministers of State, &c., with bands of music met them, the
King and Crown Prince walking under a canopy with their crowns on their
heads. Then followed Foreign Ministers with their suites, then twelve
men in armour with large helmets (a bodyguard established by Charles
XII), and more burghers, clergy, and peasants; guards on one side,
artillery on the other, and on entering the square of the palace, the
Horse Guards lined the way. The King took his seat on the throne at the
upper end of the Riks Salon, the Crown Prince on his right a little
below him; the Ministers of State at the foot of the throne, behind
officers of the household, below in a semicircle the guards in armour.
At each side on seats the members of the Diet, in a gallery on the left
sat the Queen and Princess Royal with their ladies. In another gallery
opposite the throne sat the Foreign Minister and strangers of
distinction. The King then delivered his speech to the Crown Prince,
who read it, silence being obtained by the chief minister striking his
baton three times on the ground (which reminds one of a beadle in a
Roman Catholic ceremony!).
The marshal of the ceremony also struck his baton three times on the
ground--the signal for the speakers from the Diet to deliver their
respective addresses, after which the whole procession left the Riks
Salon as it came.
'Carl Johan did the King to admiration, though he looked weary and
distressed.
'The Prince was more at his ease, he put one in mind of the pictures we
see of our old Saxon Kings, the crown being made to that shape.'
On November 17 my father received a summons from the King at 7 P.M.,
and was most kindly received.
'He first conversed on Norway, and asked about the new road between
Norway and Sweden. "You, I think, have been in Egypt," said he, "the
Pasha is a most extraordinary man?" I replied, "One of the most
extraordinary men in the world." "Egypt is well governed, is it not?"
"Perhaps so, sire, to answer the Pasha's own ends, but horridly
tyrannised over, and the people dreadfully oppressed." "But they are a
barbarous people, and must be ruled with severity, are they not?"
"True, sire, barbarous, yet his system of Government must militate
against his own wishes; for example, he would fain contend with your
manufactures in the market, yet he will not allow the manufacturer to
work for himself, and do his best to get the best price, but will have
the article made for his own sale, paying only so much a day for his
labour." "Perhaps," said the King, "in Egypt the people are slaves, but
in Europe, Kings are the only slaves. In England and Sweden, your King
and I myself are the only slaves. Eh? is it not so?"
'"If your Majesty will use any other word than slave, I shall be happy
to agree."
'"What word can I use?" he said. "It is true, I am the only slave in
Sweden. Now, Captain Yorke, do you suppose that Egypt could be governed
by a representative government?"
'My answer was immediate, "Impossible, sire."
'"There, Count Welterdick, do you hear that?" Turning to the courtiers
and Lord Bloomfield, he ejaculated with considerable force, "There,
there, you are right, sir--you are right!" During all this conversation
the King seemed considerably excited. The Diet had just met and things
had not gone there so as to please him. After a few more commonplace
observations he said, "Good evening. The Queen wishes to see you below,
go to her, and dine with me before you leave us."'