Ancient Capital of Norway. -- Routes of Travel. -- Rain! --
Peasant Costumes. -- Commerce of Bergen. -- Shark's _vs._ Cod
Liver Oil. -- Ship-Building. -- Public Edifices. -- Quaint Shops.
-- Borgund Church. -- Leprosy in Norway. -- Sporting Country. --
Inland Experiences. -- Hay-Making. -- Pine-Forest Experiences. --
National Constitution. -- People's Schools. -- Girls' Industrial
School. -- Celebrated Citizens of Bergen. -- Two Grand Norwegian
Fjords. -- Remarkable Glaciers.
Bergen is situated some two hundred miles northwest of Christiania,
and may be reached from thence by a carriole journey across the
country over excellent roads, or by steamboat doubling the Naze. The
latter route, though three times as far, is often adopted by
travellers as being less expensive and troublesome. Still another and
perhaps the most common route taken by tourists is that by way of
Lake Mjoesen, Gjoeveg, the Fillefjeld and Laerdalsoeren, on the
Sognefjord. This is called the Valders route, and affords by far the
greatest variety of scenery. It involves railroad, steamer, and
carriole modes of conveyance, and in all covers a distance of at
least three hundred and fifty miles. It will be remembered that
Bergen was the capital of Norway when it was under Danish rule, and
was long afterwards the commercial rival of Christiania. Indeed, its
shipping interests we were informed still exceed those of the
capital, the verity of which statement one is inclined to question.
The period of its greatest prosperity was in the Middle Ages and
during the century when the great Hanseatic League flourished, at
which time there was a numerous German colony resident here. The town
appears very ancient, and naturally so, as it dates back to the
eleventh century. Many of the dwellings are quaint with sharp-peaked
roofs and gable-ends toward the streets. The boats which ply in the
harbor and throng the wharves differ but little from the style of
those used by the Norse pirates a thousand years ago, and who
congregated in force about these very shores. The oldest part of the
city lies on the eastern side of the harbor where the fortress of
Bergenhuus and the double-towered Maria Kirke are situated. The
inhabitants are not amphibious, but they certainly ought to be, since
it rains here five days out of every seven. Some one has aptly called
it the fatherland of drizzle, "where the hooded clouds, like friars,
tell their beads in drops of rain." The first and foremost business
of the place, therefore, is dealing in umbrellas and water-proof
clothing. We did not observe any special crest as indicating the
corporate arms of the city, but if such a design exists, it should be
surmounted by a full-length figure of Jupiter Pluvius. We were
assured that the rain-fall here averages six feet annually. There is
a tradition of sunny days having occurred in Bergen, but much
patience and long waiting are necessary to verify it. Still there is
plenty of life and business activity in the broad clean streets, and
more especially in and about the wharves and shipping.
One sees here more of the traditional Norwegian costumes than are to
be met with either at Gottenburg or Christiania. Some of the old men
who came from the inland villages were particularly noticeable,
forming vivid and artistic groups, with their long snowy hair flowing
freely about face and neck in the most patriarchal fashion. They wore
red-worsted caps, open shirt-collars, knee-breeches, and jackets and
vests decked with a profusion of silver buttons, like a Basque
postilion. The women wear black jackets, bright-red bodices and
scarlet petticoats, with white linen aprons. On the street called the
Strandgade many Norse costumes mingle together like colors in a
kaleidoscope. Our guide pointed out one group, which was perhaps more
strongly individualized than the rest, as coming from the Tellemark
district. Various nationalities were also represented, not forgetting
the despised and much persecuted Jews, who are nearly as unpopular in
Scandinavia as they are in Germany and Russia. The Strandgade is the
longest thoroughfare in the city, and runs parallel with the harbor.
By turning to the left after reaching the custom-house and passing up
the rising ground, one reaches the Observatory, from whence a fine
view of Bergen and its environs is obtained. The dusky red-tiled
roofs crowded together, the square wooden towers of the churches
mingled with the public gardens dressed in warmest verdure, form
altogether a quaint and impressive picture. The town rises from the
bay nearly in the form of a crescent, nestling at the feet of the
surrounding hills on the west coast of Norway, between those two
broad and famous arms of the sea, the Sognefjord and the
Hardangerfjord. The first named indents the coast to a distance of
one hundred and six miles, the latter seventy miles,--the first being
north, and the last south of Bergen. The excellent situation of the
harbor and its direct steam communication with European ports give
this ancient city an extensive commerce in proportion to the number
of inhabitants, who do not aggregate more than forty thousand. A
large portion of the town is built upon a promontory, and between it
and the main-land on its north side is the harbor, which is rarely
frozen over owing to the influence of the Gulf Stream, while the
harbor of St. Petersburg, in about the same latitude, is annually
closed by ice for at least three months.
The staple commodity of Bergen is dried fish, mostly cod,
supplemented by large quantities of cod-liver oil, lumber, and wood
for fuel. It may not be generally known that a considerable portion
of what is denominated cod-liver oil is produced from sharks' livers,
which in fact are believed to be characterized by the same medicinal
qualities as are those of the cod. At any rate, with this object
sharks are sought for along the upper coast of Norway in the region
of the Lofodens, and their livers are employed as described. An
average-sized shark, we were told, will yield thirty gallons of good
merchantable oil, but the article could not obtain a market except
under the popular name of cod-liver oil. Catching the sharks is not
an employment entirely devoid of danger, as they are often found to
be large and very powerful, measuring from twenty-five to thirty feet
in length. The shark like the whale, when it is struck with the
harpoon, must at first be given plenty of line or it will drag down
the boat in its rapid descent to deep water. Sometimes the struggle
to capture the fish is a long and serious one, as it must thoroughly
exhaust itself before it will yield. When finally drawn to the side
of the boat, a heavy well-directed blow upon the nose completely
stuns the creature, and the capture is then complete. The diminution
in the number of sharks upon the coast has led to a large natural
increase in the number of herring, the catching of which forms a
special and profitable branch of Norwegian industry.
It is here at Bergen that the cargoes of fish caught on the coast at
the far North and within the Arctic Circle are packed and reshipped
to European ports. Lobsters are trapped in immense quantities just
off the coast, whence the London market is mostly supplied. We were
told that over two millions of this product were annually exported to
Great Britain. They are shipped alive to England, where owing to some
attributed excellence they are specially favored above those coming
from any other locality. The Fish Market is the great business centre
of Bergen, situated at the end of the Torv, at a small pier called
Triangelen. The fish intended for local domestic use are kept alive
in large tubs of water near the shore, and when desired by the
purchaser are scooped out with a net, killed by a sharp blow upon the
head, and sold by weight, the price being ridiculously low. Owing to
its topographical character and location, Bergen will never become a
railroad centre; its principal trade will remain in connection with
the sea alone. Ship-building is carried on here to a considerable
extent. We saw one iron steamer which was constructed and equipped in
this harbor; and a finely finished craft she was, of over a thousand
tons burden. There are some fine public squares, a People's Park,
wherein a military band plays twice a week, half-a-dozen churches, a
commodious Theatre, a Royal Palace, a Musical Institute, a Public
Library, and a Museum; but there is scarcely a trace of architectural
beauty in all Norway with the exception of the cathedral at
Troendhjem, which is formed of a mixture of orders, the Norman
predominating. The Church of St. Mary is only interesting for its
antiquity, dating as it does from the twelfth century. Its curious
and grotesque facade bears the date of 1118.
A glance at the map will show the reader that Norway is broadest
where a line drawn eastward from Bergen would divide it, giving a
width of a little over two hundred and eighty miles, while the length
of her territory is four times as great. The Gottenburg
liquor-system, as it is called, has long been adopted in this city,
and seems to operate as advantageously here as in the place of its
origin. Nevertheless, the people are what we call in America hard
drinkers, though little absolute drunkenness was observable. The
quaint little shops of the town, which are slightly raised above the
level of the street, have another and rather inferior class of stores
under them, accessible by descending steps from the thoroughfare.
This division of trade, by arranging a series of basement stores, is
so common here as to form a feature of the town; and the same is
observable in Copenhagen, where many jewelry, art, and choice retail
stores are located in the basement of the houses, with an
establishment devoted to some other line of trade above them. The
shops in Bergen are well filled with odd antique articles, mostly of
domestic use, such as old plate, drinking-cups, spoons, and silver
goblets bearing the marks of age and the date of two or three
centuries past. A little experience is apt to create considerable
doubt in the minds of inquiring travellers as to the genuineness of
these articles, which, like those found in the odd curio shops of
Japan, are very largely manufactured to order in this blessed year of
our Lord, however they may be dated.
The native jewelry is curious and some of it quite pretty, not for
personal wear, but as a souvenir. Evidences of thrift and prosperity
impress the stranger on every side, while extremes in the social
condition of the people do not appear to exist. They are neither very
rich nor very poor. There are no mendicants or idlers to be seen; all
persons appear to have some legitimate occupation. One looks about
in vain for any sign of the thirty-two churches and half-score of
convents which history tells us once made of the place a noted
religious centre and a Mecca for devotional pilgrims. The Cathedral
of St. Olaf is venerable, dating from 1248; but except its antiquity
it presents nothing of special interest to the stranger. There are
numerous handsome villas in the immediate environs, where some very
creditable landscape gardening is to be seen, while the surrounding
fields are clothed in emerald vegetation. Some new villas were
observed in course of erection, but as we continued our stroll the
sterile and rocky hills which form the background to the picture of
Bergen were soon reached. A favorite walk in the suburbs is to the
Svartediket, a lake which supplies the city with water, pure and
excellent. At Tjosanger, not far away, is one of the ancient wooden
churches of the country, almost identical with the more noted one at
Borgund. This queer old structure at the last named place now belongs
to the Antiquarian Society of Christiania, and is very curious with
its numerous gables, shingle-covered roofs, and walls surmounted with
dragons' heads. It is strangely sombre, with its dark and windowless
interior, but is the best preserved church of its kind in all Norway,
dating as it does from the twelfth century. But we were speaking of
the immediate environs of Bergen. About a mile outside of the city
there is a leper hospital, devoted solely to the unfortunate victims
of this terrible disease. Notwithstanding the persistent and
scientific effort which has been made by the Government, still it
seems extremely difficult to eradicate this dreaded pest from the
country. The too free use of fish as a food is thought by many to be
a promoting cause of leprosy. Those who are affected by it are not
permitted to marry if the disease has once declared itself; so that
as a hereditary affliction it is very properly kept in check. There
are three hospitals set aside in the country for the exclusive
treatment of those thus afflicted; one is at Molde, one at Trondhjem,
and the other we have mentioned at Bergen. Physicians say that the
disease is slowly decreasing in the number of its victims, and the
patients now domiciled in the three districts amount to but fifteen
hundred, equally divided among them. One mitigating feature of this
loathsome affliction is the fact that it is not considered to be
contagious; but those who inherit it can never escape its fatality.
The country lying between Bergen and Christiania, and indeed nearly
every part of Norway, presents great attractions to the angler, who
must, however, go prepared to rough it; but if he be a true lover of
the sport, this will enhance rather than detract from the pleasure.
The country is sparsely inhabited, and affords only the rudest
accommodations for the wandering pedestrian who does not confine
himself to the regular post-routes. The innumerable lakes, rivers,
and streams swarm with delicious fish,--trout, grayling, and salmon
being the most abundant species of the finny tribe. Many Englishmen
come hither annually, attracted solely by this sport. The disciples
of the rod who know these regions do not forget to bring with them
ample protection against mosquitoes; for these tiny creatures are in
wonderful abundance during the summer season, dividing the mastership
with that other Norwegian pest, the flea, who is here the
acknowledged giant of his tribe. Hotel accommodations even in Bergen
are nothing to boast of. Every foreigner is supposed to be craving
for salmon and reindeer meat, raw, smoked, pickled, or cooked.
A drive of a few leagues inland upon the charming roads in any
direction will fill the stranger with delight, and afford
characteristic pictures of great beauty. The farmers hang their cut
grass upon frames of wood to dry, as we do clothes on washing-day.
These frames are arranged in the mowing-fields in rows of a hundred
feet in length, and are about five feet high. The effect in the
haying season is quite striking and novel to the stranger. The
agricultural tools used upon the farms are of the most primitive
character; the ploughs are single-handed, and as awkward as the rude
implement in use to-day in Egypt. The country houses are low, the
roofs often covered with soil, and not infrequently rendered
attractive with blooming heather and little blue-and-pink blossoms
planted by Nature's hand,--the hieroglyphics in which she writes her
impromptu poetry. In the meadows between the hills are sprinkled
harebells as blue as the azure veins on a lovely face; while here and
there patches of great red clover-heads are seen nodding heavily
with their wealth of golden sweets. Farther away in solitary glens
white anemones delight the eye, in company with ferns of tropical
variety of form and color. The blossoms of the multebaer, almost
identical with that of the strawberry, are also abundant. The
humidity of the atmosphere of the west coast, and especially in the
latitude of Bergen, favors floral development. All through
Scandinavia one meets these bright mosaics of the soil with a sense
of surprise, they are so delicate, so frail, creations of such short
life, yet lovely beyond compare, born upon the very verge of eternal
frost. How Nature enters into our hearts and confides her amorous
scents through winsome flowers! In these rambles afield one meets
occasionally a peasant, who bows low, removing his hat as the
stranger passes. Without showing the servility of the common people
of Japan, they yet exhibit all their native courtesy. Now and again
the road passes through reaches of pine forest, still and aromatic,
the soil carpeted with soft yellow fir-needles, where if one pauses
to listen there comes a low, undefined murmur of vegetable and insect
life, like the sound that greets the ear when applied to an empty
sea-shell. Some wood-paths were found sprinkled with dog-violets and
saxifrage, fragrant as Gan Eden; others were daintily fringed with
purple heart's-ease, captivating in their sylvan loveliness. Of
song-birds there were none; and one could not but hunger for their
delicious notes amid such suggestive surroundings.
English is very generally spoken by the merchants of Bergen, and may
almost be said to constitute its commercial tongue. It is taught in
all the "people's schools" as they are called, of which there are
twenty supported by the town. In conversing with the citizens, they
appear to be of more than average intelligence and liberal in
opinions save for a few local prejudices. A Norwegian does not waste
much love upon Sweden or its people. There is no bitterness
expressed, but the two kingdoms united in one are still in a certain
sense natural rivals. They are only combined to sustain their mutual
political interests as it regards other nations. They have a saying
at Bergen: "We love the English, and drink tea; the Swedes love the
French, and drink coffee." Still, it is so clearly for their national
interest to remain united that there is no fear of their seriously
falling out. The Norwegian constitution is perhaps as near an
approach to a perfect democracy as can possibly be achieved under a
constitutional monarchy. This constitution is of her own making. She
has "home rule" in its fullest sense, with her own Parliament and
ministers in all departments except that of foreign affairs. She has
even her own excise, and her own taxation direct and indirect. She
contributes five, and Sweden twelve, seventeenths of the support of
the royal family. She furnishes her proper quota of soldiers and
sailors for the army and navy. In short, she makes her own laws and
appoints her own officials to enforce them. No Swede holds any
political office in Norway. The constitution was proclaimed on the
4th of November, 1814. The whole of the legislative and part of the
executive power of the realm is invested in the Storthing, which is
an emanation from and the representative of the sovereign people. So
limited is the power of the King that he can make no appointment to
public office in Norway, and over the laws passed by the Storthing he
has but a limited veto. That is to say, he may veto a bill; but the
passage of it a second time, though it may be by only a bare
majority, places it beyond his prerogative.
There are a few Moravians settled in various parts of the country,
but they are nowhere sufficiently numerous to establish organized
congregations. The doctrine of Luther seems to be almost universally
accepted, and appears to answer all the spiritual wants of the
people.
Strangers visit with more than passing interest the admirable free
industrial school for girls which flourishes and does its grand work
faithfully at Bergen. Here female children from eight to sixteen
years of age are taught practically the domestic industries under
circumstances robbed of every onerous regulation, and are to be seen
daily in cheerful groups at work upon all sorts of garments,
supervised by competent teachers of their own sex. Such a
well-conducted and practical institution cannot but challenge the
admiration of even comparatively indifferent persons. Possessed of
all these prudential and educational appreciations, it is not
surprising that Bergen has sent forth some eminent representatives
in science, art, and literature. Among them the most familiar are
perhaps Ole Bull, the famous musician; Ludwig Holberg, the
accomplished traveller; Johann Welhaven, the Norse poet; and J. C. C.
Dahl, the justly celebrated painter.
We spoke of Bergen as situated on the west coast of Norway, between
two of the most remarkable fjords in the country. The Hardanger
richly repays a visit. The beauty, grandeur, and variety of its
scenery is hardly surpassed in Scandinavia, which is so famous in
these respects in all its parts. It is easily accessible from Bergen,
as during the summer steamers sail thither three times a week, making
the entire tour of the fjord. In many respects it resembles the
Sognefjord. Though it is forty miles less in extent, it is yet the
largest fjord in superficial measurement of any on the coast. Both
are enclosed by rocky, precipitous, and lofty mountains, ranging from
three to four thousand feet in height, characterized by snow-clad
tops of virgin white, mingled with which are many extensive glaciers.
The Sognefjord is more especially important as a water-way extending
from the sea over a hundred miles inland, and averaging over four
miles in width, having in parts the remarkable depth of four thousand
feet. At its upper extremity is situated the largest glacier in
Europe. In the Hardangerfjord there are many pleasant and thrifty
hamlets near the water's edge, while broad fields of grain, thickly
growing woods, and acres of highly cultivated soil show a spirit of
successful industry seconded by the kindly aid of Nature. Wherever an
opportunity occurs, the greensward springs up in such vivid color as
to seem tropical, all the more intensified by its close proximity to
the region of ceaseless frost. The traveller who is familiar with the
Lake of Lucerne will be constantly reminded of that beautiful piece
of land-locked water while sailing up either of these remarkable,
grand, and interesting arms of the North Sea. So lofty are the
mountains, and so abruptly do they rise out of the water at certain
points, that while sailing near the shore within their deep shadow
the darkness of night seems to encompass the vessel. If one has not
time to go farther north in Norway, a visit to and careful inspection
of these two extensive fjords will give a very good idea of the
peculiarities of the entire coast. The grand fjords north of this
point are none of them more extensive, but some of the mountain
scenery is bolder and many of the elevations greater; the glaciers
also come down nearer to the coast-line and to the sea.
Let no one who tarries for a few days at Bergen fail to make an
excursion to the Folgefonden, or Hardanger glaciers. Of course an
experienced guide is necessary, as fatal accidents sometimes occur
here, particularly after a fresh fall of snow which covers up the
huge clefts in the ice. These glaciers extend about forty miles in
length by fifteen or twenty in width, here and there intersected by
enormous chasms. Hunters and adventurous climbers have many times
disappeared down these abysses, never again to be seen or heard from.
Bears and reindeer have also fallen into and perished in these
clefts. Persons who explore these glaciers wear spiked shoes as a
necessary precaution, and to aid them in creeping along the slippery,
rubbled surface of the ice. With a proper guide and reasonable care,
however, there is little danger to be apprehended, or at least no
more than is encountered by climbers among the Swiss Alps. These
glaciers, as we have shown, are not confined to the mountain regions
and elevated plateaus, but extend gradually downward in their lower
portions very near to the shore, where vegetation in strong contrast
thrives close to their borders. Farther northward the glacial effects
are bolder and more numerous; but these accessible from Bergen are
by no means to be neglected by travellers who would study
understandingly this remarkable phase of Arctic and Alpine regions.