NORWAY IN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT.
"Clear away the first cutter!" shouted the first lieutenant of the
Young America, from whose deck the catastrophe to the second cutter
had been observed.
"All the first cutters!" piped the boatswain, with an energy inspired
by the stirring occasion.
"That was very carelessly done," said Mr. Lowington, whose attention
had been called to the scene.
"The steamer ran within a couple of rods of the island," added Captain
Cumberland. "I saw the fourth lieutenant order the boat to shove off;
I suppose he did it to prevent the swash of the steamer from grinding
the cutter on the rocks."
"What is he doing among those rocks?" asked the principal.
"I don't know, sir. He landed Mr. Mapps and the doctor, and was
ordered to wait for them. I don't see why he went over to that
island."
The second lieutenant was directed to take charge of the first cutter;
Peaks, the adult boatswain, and Bitts, the carpenter, were ordered to
go also, to render any assistance which might be required in succoring
the stove boat. The cutter shoved off, her twelve oars struck the
water together, and the crew gave way with an energy which caused
their oars to bend like twigs, while the barge leaped through the
water as though it was some monster of the deep goaded to his utmost
to escape the wrath of a more potent pursuer.
"With a will, my lads!" shouted the coxswain. "Steady! Keep the
stroke, but use your muscle!"
"There's a job for you, Bitts," said the boatswain, as the Norwegian
took the second cutter in tow.
"And a heavy job it will be, too," replied Bitts. "I wonder there is
anything left of the boat."
"The steamer stopped her wheels, and backed some time before she
struck, or there would not have been much left of the boat, or her
crew," added Peaks. "Thank God, the boys are all safe."
"It's a lucky escape for them."
"So it was; and we needn't say anything about the boat."
"The steamer is going ahead," said the carpenter.
"No matter for that, so long as the boys are all safe," replied Peaks.
The people in the steamer seemed to take no notice of the first
cutter, appearing not to understand that it had come out for the
wrecked crew. But as the boat pulled towards her, she cast off the
cutter in tow.
"Steamer, ahoy!" shouted Norwood, the second lieutenant, as he saw the
cutter cast adrift.
She made no reply, but hoisted a flag, on which appeared the word
"Post," with something else which none in the first cutter could
understand.
"She's a mail boat," said the boatswain; "and I suppose she intends to
say she is in a hurry."
"Does she mean to carry off the crew of that boat?" demanded the
second lieutenant, not a little vexed at the conduct of the
Norwegians.
"She will not carry them far," suggested Dunlap, the coxswain.
"She may take them to Bergen."
"I think not, sir. If she is a mail steamer, she stops at all the
ports on the coast. I don't think she will carry them far. Very likely
they will be sent back, on some other steamer, before night," added
Dunlap, who had studied the coast of Norway more carefully than the
lieutenant in command.
"First cutter, ahoy!" shouted De Forrest, on the island.
"On shore!" replied Norwood. "We can't catch the steamer--that is
certain; steer for the island, coxswain."
The first cutter ran up to the rocky island, and as soon as the bow
touched the rocks, De Forrest leaped into the fore-sheets. He was
nervous and excited, feeling, perhaps, that he had failed in his duty,
and was, therefore, responsible for the accident to the second cutter.
From feeling that he had circumvented his crew in carrying out some
unexplained trick, he realized that he had led them into a trap, from
which they had narrowly escaped with their lives.
"What are you doing on this island, De Forrest?" asked Norwood, as the
discomfited officer took his place in the stern-sheets, and the boat
shoved off again.
The second lieutenant declared that he had come over to the island to
prevent his crew from running away, or from carrying out some trick
whose existence he suspected, but whose nature he could not
comprehend.
"Sanford wanted I should go ashore at the town, and offered to look
out for the crew while I did so," he continued. "Of course I wouldn't
leave my crew; but I told them that half of them might go on shore and
take a walk. None of them wanted to go, and then I was satisfied they
were up to something. I went on the island for the sole purpose of
watching them. I wanted to know what their plan was."
"Well, what did you discover?"
"Nothing at all. I saw that steamer coming, and I ordered Sanford to
shove off, so that her swash should not damage the boat."
"I don't believe they intended to play any trick," added Norwood. "You
are too suspicious, De Forrest."
"Perhaps I am; but fellows that have been at sea for a month are
rather glad of a chance to stretch their legs on shore. They wouldn't
do so, when I told them they might; and I don't believe such a thing
was ever heard of before. Besides, they all looked as though they were
up to something, and just as though they had a big secret in their
heads."
"Perhaps you were right, but I don't believe you were," said Norwood,
too bluntly for good manners, and too bluntly for the harmony of the
officers' mess.
"I suppose I am responsible for the smashing of the second cutter, but
I was trying to do my duty," replied De Forrest, vexed at the implied
censure of his superior.
"If you had staid at the pier this could not have happened."
"But something else might have happened; and if my crew had run away,
I should have been blamed just as much," growled the second
lieutenant.
"You were too sharp for your own good--that is all. But I don't mean
to blame you, De Forrest," said Norwood, with a patronizing smile.
"Perhaps I should have done the same thing if I had been in your
place."
"Stand by to lay on your oars!" shouted the coxswain, as the boat
approached the water-logged second cutter. "Oars!"
The crew stopped pulling, and levelled their oars.
"In, bows! Stand by the boat-hooks!" continued the coxswain; and the
two forward oarsmen grasped the boat-hooks, and took their station in
the fore-sheets. "Hold water." And the ten oars dropped into the water
as one, checking the onward progress of the cutter.
The bowmen fastened to the second cutter, and recovering her painter,
passed it astern to the coxswain, who made it fast to a ring on the
stern-board. By this time the steamer, with the luckless crew of the
stove boat, had disappeared behind an island. The first cutter pulled
back to the ship, and De Forrest immediately reported to the first
lieutenant, and explained his conduct in presence of the principal and
the captain. He detailed his reasons for supposing his crew intended
to run away, or to play some trick upon him.
"I think you have done all that a careful and vigilant officer could,
De Forrest; and so far as I can see, you are free from blame," replied
Mr. Lowington.
The fourth lieutenant glanced at Norwood.
"Just what I said," added the latter, in a low tone.
"If you made any mistake, it was in leaving your boat at the island,"
continued the principal.
"Just exactly my sentiments," whispered Norwood. "I don't blame the
fourth lieutenant, but I shouldn't have done just as he did."
"Where is that steamer bound?" asked Mr. Lowington of the pilot, who
had not yet left the ship, and was really waiting to be invited to
supper.
"To Christiania, sir," replied the pilot, who, like all of his class
on the coast of Norway, spoke a little English.
"Where does she stop next?"
"At Lillesand."
"How far is that?"
"About two miles."
"Two miles! Why, it is farther than that to the sea," exclaimed Mr.
Lowington.
"He means Norwegian miles," suggested one of the instructors, who was
listening with interest to the conversation.
"True; I did not think of that. A Norwegian mile is about seven
English miles. It is fourteen miles, then, to Lillesand."
With the assistance of Professor Badois, who acted as interpreter, the
pilot explained that the steamer which had just left was several hours
late, and would go that night to Frederiksvaern, where the steamers
from Bergen and Christiania made connections with the boat for
Gottenburg and Copenhagen. The Christiania steamer would reach
Christiansand the next evening, and the boys who had been carried
away could return in her.
"Why did she carry them off? It would not have taken five minutes to
land them," added the principal.
"She was very late, and her passengers for Gottenburg and Copenhagen
would lose the steamer at Frederiksvaern if she does not arrive in
season," the pilot explained through Professor Badois.
But Mr. Lowington was so grateful that the crew of the second cutter
had all escaped with their lives, that he was not disposed to be very
critical over the conduct of the Norwegian steamer. The boys were
safe, and would return the next night at farthest. The accident was
talked about, during the rest of the day, on board of all the vessels
of the squadron. The officers and seamen on board of the ship had
witnessed the accident, and had seen all the crew of the second cutter
go over the bows of the steamer. They had not observed, in the
excitement of the moment, that ten, instead of nine, had left the
wrecked boat; and as Ole Amundsen was dressed precisely like the crew,
his presence in the cutter was not even suspected.
The first cutter was sent to the town for Dr. Winstock and Mr. Mapps,
and in an hour or two the excitement had entirely subsided. The
routine of the ship went on as before, and as there was little work to
be done, the absentees were hardly missed.
At half past eight the next morning, the signal, "All hands, attend
lecture," was flying on board of the Young America. The boats from
the Josephine and the Tritonia came alongside the ship, bringing all
the officers and crews of those vessels. Paul Kendall and lady, and
their friends, were brought off from the shore; Shuffles and his wife
also appeared, and a further delegation from each of the yachts asked
admission to the ship to hear the lecture, or rather to attend the
exercise in geography and history, for the occasion was even less
formal than on the first cruise of the ship. The steerage was crowded,
after the boatswain had piped the call, and Mr. Mapps was doubtless
duly flattered by the number of his audience. On the foremast hung a
large map of Sweden and Norway.
"If you please, young gentlemen, we will begin with Scandinavia," said
the professor, taking his place near the foremast, with the pointer in
his hand. "What was Scandinavia?"
"The ancient name of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark," replied one of the
students.
"The barbarous tribes from the northern part of Europe at different
times invaded the southern sections, conquering various other tribes,
occupying their territory, and thus mingling with all the people from
whom originated the present nations of Europe. Thus, in remote ages,
the Scandinavians, among others, by their conquests and their
emigration, have contributed largely to the modern elements of
society. With this explanation we will look at Scandinavia in detail,
beginning with Norway. Between what degrees of latitude does it lie?"
"Between forty and ninety," replied an enthusiastic youth.
"True--quite right; and a safe answer. If you had said between one and
ninety, the answer would have been just as good for any other country
as for Norway. I would like to have the jacket fit a little closer."
"Between fifty-eight and seventy-one, north," answered one who was
better posted.
"Exactly right; about the same latitude as Greenland, and our
newly-acquired Alaska. Our ship is anchored in the same parallel as
the northern part of Labrador, and one degree south of the southern
point of Greenland. But it is not as 'cold as Greenland, here,' the
temperature being some twelve degrees milder, because the warm waters
of the Gulf Stream are discharged upon its shores. You know its
boundaries. It is one thousand and eighty miles from the Naze to the
North Cape, and varies from forty to two hundred and seventy miles in
width. How many square miles has it?"
"One hundred and twenty-three thousand square miles."
"Or a little larger than the six New England States, New York, and New
Jersey united. The country is mountainous, and abounds in picturesque
scenery. Precipices, cataracts, and rushing torrents are very numerous
in the central and northern parts. The Voeringfos is a waterfall, and
the Rjukanfos, near the central part, are cataracts of about nine
hundred feet perpendicular descent; but of course the volume of water
is not very large. The highest mountains are between eight and nine
thousand feet high. Norway has an abundance of rivers, but none of
them are very long. The coast, as you have seen, is fringed with
islands, which, with the numerous indentations, form a vast number of
bays, straits, channels, and sounds, which are called _fjords_ here.
One of the principal of these is Christiania Fjord, which you will
ascend in a few days. The country also abounds in lakes, which, as in
most mountainous regions, are very narrow, being simply the widenings
of the rivers. The largest of these is Mioesen Lake, fifty-five miles
long, and from one to twelve wide.
"The soil is not very good, and the Norwegians are not progressive
farmers. They cling to the methods of their sires, and modern
improvements find but little favor among them. The winter is long, and
the summer short; but by a provision of provident nature, the crops
mature more rapidly than in some of the southern climes, as grain has
been reaped six weeks after it was sowed. The principal crops are the
grains; but the supply is not equal to the demand, and considerable
importations are received from Denmark and Russia. In the south the
farmers devote themselves to stock-raising, while in the north the
Lapps derive nearly all the comforts of life from the reindeer, the
care of which is their chief industry.
"The extensive product of pine and fir have created a vast trade in
lumber, which constitutes three fourths of the exports to the United
Kingdom, and a considerable portion of the inhabitants in the wooded
districts are employed in cutting, sawing, and sending to market the
wealth of the forests. Next in importance to this are the fisheries,
which yield about five million dollars a year. Cod, haddock, and
herring are cured for exportation, and are an important source of
revenue. Besides these, the roe of the cod is sent to France, Italy,
and Spain, as bait for sardines. Norway supplies London with lobsters.
Norway iron, as well as Swedish, is very celebrated; but the mines are
poorly managed, as are those of copper and silver.
"The kingdom of Norway is divided into eighteen provinces, which are
called Amts. Its population, in 1865, was one million seven hundred
thousand, showing an increase of about two hundred thousand in ten
years. The government is a constitutional monarchy."
"I thought it was a part of Sweden," said one of the students.
"Not at all. The King of Sweden is also the King of Norway; but each
country has its own independent and separate government. Each has its
own legislature, makes its own laws, and raises and expends its own
revenues. The king exercises his functions as ruler over both kingdoms
through a council of state, composed of an equal number of Swedes and
Norwegians, whose duty it is to advise the sovereign, and, in
accordance with a peculiar feature of monarchy, to take the
responsibility when any blunder is made; for "the king can do no
wrong." If anything is wrong, some one else did it. Having the same
king, who rules over each nation separately, is the only connection
between Norway and Sweden. The former pays about one hundred and
twenty thousand dollars of his civil list, and he is obliged to reside
in Norway during a small portion of each year.
"The constitution of Norway is one of the most democratic in Europe.
The legislative and part of the executive power is vested in the
Storthing, which means the 'great court,' composed of the
representatives of the people. The king has but little power, though
he has a limited veto upon the acts passed by the legislative body. He
can create no order of nobility, or grant any titles or dignities. The
members of the Storthing are elected indirectly by the people; and
when they assemble, they divide themselves into two houses,
corresponding to our Senate and House of Representatives. All acts
must pass both chambers, and in case of disagreement, the two bodies
come together, and discuss the subject.
"The religion of Norway is Lutheran, and few of any other sect are to
be found; formerly, no other was tolerated, but now religious freedom
prevails, though Jesuits and monks of any order are sternly excluded.
The clergy, who are generally very well educated, have an average
income of about a thousand dollars a year, and I think are better paid
than even in our own country. The people are well instructed, and one
who cannot read and write is seldom found.
"The early history of Norway is that of most of the countries of
Europe--a powerful chief subjugated his neighbors, and united the
tribes into a nation. Harold the Fair-haired, whose father had
conquered the southern part of the country, fell in love with Gyda,
the daughter of a petty king, who refused to wed him till he had
absolute sway over the entire country. Pleased with the lady's spirit,
he vowed never to cut or comb his hair till all Norway lay at his
feet. It appears that he eventually had occasion for his barber's
services, and wedded the lady. This was in the ninth century; and the
victories of Harold drove many of the Norsemen, or Northmen, to seek
their fortunes in other lands. They discovered and colonized Greenland
and Iceland, and even established settlements on the continental
portion of North America. Traces of them have been found on the Gulf
of St. Lawrence, and some claim that they founded settlements farther
south. They figure largely in the early history of England and
Scotland, and even carried their piratical arms into Russia, Flanders,
France, Italy, and other territories.
"A son of Harold, who had been educated in England, brought
Christianity into Norway; but, it was three centuries before the new
faith had established itself. Like the Hindoos, Greeks, and Romans,
the ancient Scandinavians had a mythology, upon which their religion
was based. They believed that in the beginning all was chaos, in which
was a fountain that sent forth twelve rivers. These streams flowed so
far from their source that the waters froze, and the ice, defying the
modern law of nature, sank till the fathomless deep was filled up. Far
south of the world of mist, in which this miracle was wrought, was a
world of fire and light, whence proceeded a hot wind that melted the
ice, from the drops of which came the ice-giant, whose name was Ymir,
and from whom proceeded a race of ice-giants. From the wedding of the
ice and heat of the two extremes of the world came a cow, from which
ran four streams of milk, the food of the ice-giants. While this
wonderful beast was licking the salt stones in the ice, which formed
her diet, a quantity of human hair grew out of them, and the next day
a human head was developed, and then appeared a whole man. Boer, the
son of this man, married a daughter of one of the ice-giants, and they
had three children, the oldest of whom was Odin, who became the rulers
of heaven and earth, because they were all good, while the children of
Ymir, the ice-giant, were evil. Then, as now, the Good and the Evil
were at war. Finally the ice-giant was slain, and being thrown into
space, the world was created from his body; his blood forming the sea
and the rivers; his flesh the earth; his hair the grass; his bones the
rocks; his teeth and broken jaws the stones; and of his head the
heavens, at the four ends of which were placed four dwarfs, called
North, South, East, and West. Of this giant's brains, thrown into the
air, they formed the clouds, while of the sparks from the land of fire
were made the stars.
"As the sons of Boer, who, you must remember, were the gods of heaven
and earth, were walking on the shore of the sea, they discovered two
blocks, whereof they created a man and a woman. Odin gave them life
and souls, while his brothers endowed them with other human faculties
and powers. Odin was the Jupiter, the chief, of the northern gods. He
is the god of song and of war, and was the inventor of the Runic
characters, or alphabet. He was the ruler of Valhalla, the home of
heroes slain in battle. There is much more that is curious and
interesting in the mythology of the Scandinavians, which I must ask
you to read for yourselves.
"Olaf II. propagated Christianity with fire and sword. He demolished
the temples of paganism, and founded Trondhjem, or Drontheim, as it is
called on our maps. His successor, St. Olaf, followed his example,
till his cruelty excited a rebellion, and Canute the Great, of
Denmark, landing in Norway, was elected king. Olaf fled into Sweden,
where he organized an army, and attempted to recover his throne; but
he was defeated and slain in a battle near Trondhjem. His body was
found, a few years later, in a perfect state of preservation, which
was regarded as a miracle, and Olaf was canonized as a saint. His
remains are said to have wrought many miracles, and up to the time of
the Reformation, thousands of pilgrims annually visited his shrine at
Trondhjem. Even in London churches were dedicated to this saint.
"Canute gave Norway to his son Sweyn, who, upon the death of his
father, was dispossessed of the throne by Magnus I., the son of St.
Olaf. He was succeeded by Harold III., a great warrior, who founded
Osloe, now Christiania. After Olaf III. and Magnus III. came Sigurd,
who, in 1107, made a pilgrimage of four years to Jerusalem, with a
fleet of sixty vessels, and distinguished himself in the holy wars.
His death was followed by civil dissensions, until Hako IV. obtained
the throne. He lost his life in an attempt to retain the Hebrides
Islands, claimed by Scotland. Then war with Denmark, the monopoly of
trade by the Hanse towns, and a fearful plague, which depopulated
whole sections, produced a decline in the national prosperity of
Norway. Hako VI., who died in 1380, had married the daughter of the
King of Denmark, and the crown of Norway descended to his son, Olaf
III., of Denmark, in whom the sovereignties of Norway and Denmark were
united. Olaf was succeeded by his mother Margaret, celebrated in
history as 'the Semiramis of the North.' She conquered Sweden, and
annexed it to her own dominions. By the 'Union of Calmar,' signed by
the principal nobles and prelates of the three Scandinavian kingdoms,
the three crowns were united in one person, the subjects of each to
have equal rights. This compact was disregarded, and Norway was
hopelessly oppressed by the ruler. The Union, however, continued till
1623; but Norway was subject to Denmark till 1814.
"When the allied powers of Europe, which were engaged in putting down
the first Napoleon, rearranged the map of Europe, the destiny of
Norway was changed. Russia wanted Finland, and she offered Norway in
compensation for it to Sweden, with the further condition that
Bernadotte should join the allies. He accepted the terms, and the King
of Denmark was compelled, by force of arms, to cede Norway to Sweden.
The Norwegians would not submit to the change, and declared their
independence. Prince Christian, of Denmark, who was then governor
general of Norway, called a convention of the people at Eidsvold, and
a new constitution was framed, and the prince elected King of Norway.
Bernadotte invaded Norway with a Swedish army, while the allies
blockaded the coast. Resistance was hopeless, and as Sweden offered
favorable terms, Christian abdicated, and an arrangement was
immediately effected. The constitution was accepted by the king, and
Norway became an independent nation, united to Sweden under one king.
Bernadotte became King of Sweden and Norway under the title of Charles
XIV., John. He refused the Norwegians a separate national flag; but
when he attempted to alter the constitution to suit his own views, the
Storthing resolutely and successfully resisted his interference. This
body abolished titles of nobility--an act which the king vetoed; but
three successive Storthings passed the law, and thus, by the
constitution, made it valid in spite of the veto. The Norwegians were
not to be intimidated even by the appearance of a military force, and
have ever been jealous to the last degree of their rights and
privileges as a nation.
"Bernadotte was succeeded by his son Oscar I., who gave the Norwegians
a separate national flag; and he flattered the vanity of the people by
allowing himself to be styled the 'King of Norway and Sweden' in all
public acts relating to Norway, instead of 'Sweden and Norway.' In
1859, Oscar was succeeded by his son Charles XV., who is now the King
of Sweden and Norway. In the history of Denmark and Sweden, more will
be said of this kingdom.
"In French, Norway is _Norvege_; in German, _Norwegen_; in Spanish,
_Noruega_; and _Norge_ in the Scandinavian languages. Now, I dare say
you would like to visit the shore."
The professor closed his remarks, and the several boatswains piped
away their crews.