FOGGY WEATHER--FIRST VIEW OF NORWAY--CHRISTIANSAND
FIORD--ARRIVAL AT CHRISTIANSAND--DESCRIPTION OF THE
TOWN--THE TOPTDAL RIVER--EXCURSION INLAND--THE
ENTHUSIASTIC ANGLER--RUSTIC LODGINGS--HUNTING THE
BEAR--THE TRAP--THE DEATH--NORWEGIAN LIBERALITY.
Sunday, the 9th, dawned on us, tossed about on a troubled sea indeed;
for a strong wind was blowing from E.S.E. However, at eight o'clock,
just before breakfast, we sounded in thirty-five fathoms. We had
scarcely concluded this cautious operation before the wind began to
lull; and after conjecturing, both from our calculations and soundings,
that land was not far away, we were confirmed in this opinion by a thick
fog rising above the horizon on our lee beam. We went to dinner in great
glee, and, in spite of the hazy atmosphere which now surrounded us,
compensation was felt and accepted by us at the hour of six, when a
perfect calm prevailed; and our peasoup and curry were threatened, for
the first time this week, to be demolished in that gentlemanly and
collected mode which the usages of society had rendered familiar to our
observation in England.
At eleven o'clock at night the haziness cleared away, and in about half
an hour afterwards a light was seen. It was imagined to be the light at
the mouth of the Christiansand Fiord, the name of which, amidst the
bustle and joyousness of the moment, I could but indistinctly learn, and
cannot now remember. As midnight approached, our old friend the fog
gathered density, and effectually deprived us of the slightest glimpse
of the light; and we retired to rest ill at ease, plunged into the vale
of anxiety in the same ratio as we had been exalted on the peaks of
expectation and joy.
Sunday at sea retains all the monotony of the shore; for the waves seem
to show deference to the day, and move their crests with more solemnity
and order; while the sailors gather round the vessel's bows, and, in a
group, listen with wrapt attention to the sublime and poetic sentences
of prophetic Isaiah.
I cannot, in all my wanderings at sea, call to mind a tempestuous
Sabbath, nor the sailors who would profane it. Mark them! How solemnly
the shadow of thought hangs over their countenances; and how, with cheek
cradled on the hand, with pipes unsmoked in their mouths, leaning over
the bulwarks, their eyes intently riveted on the clear distant horizon,
as, carried away by the inspiration and fervour of the great prophet, a
messmate, who reads with energy of gesture, ever and anon raises his
voice, which, by its tremulous intonation, tells the deep feeling of his
heart, and the quickness with which its pulse vibrates in answer to the
burning words he utters aloud!
Monday, the 10th, the most lovely of May mornings, fanned by the softest
of south winds. Land in all its grandeur of mountain and of cloud lay
before me, the towering peaks of the mountains, capped with everlasting
snow, and piercing an atmosphere of the intensest blue.
I sat down on the after-lockers, and looked with swelling heart on the
sublime scene. As far as the eye could reach inland, mountain over
mountain, extending round half the horizon, the land of old Norway, I
had read of in my earliest years, expanded itself. On my left hand the
Naze hung, frowning, over the Northern Ocean. How memory, in a moment,
rushed back to the quaint schoolroom at Ditton, and its still quainter
little bookcases huddled up in one corner, where and whence I first
began to pronounce and find the "Lindsnes!"
Just at this instant, poor old "Sailor," who had been poking his nose
over the vessel's side, and snuffing and whining, rushed up to me, and,
placing his head in my lap, turned his eyes towards my face, and looked
as much as to say, "Are we not near our journey's end; and don't I smell
the land?" Little Jacko, too, came out of his crib, and chirped, and
chattered, and scratched himself, and rolled about on the deck in the
sunniest corners; and then, all of a sudden, up he would jump, and,
seizing hold of "Sailor's" tail, pull it as if he was hauling taut the
weather runner. How everything was replete with life; and how happiness,
without the heart's reservation, was written on every face! I cannot
conceive anything more exhilarating than a beautiful morning at sea, and
land in sight; I could have passed the remaining portion of my life
without a pang of sorrow, or a gush of joy, but with equanimity, on this
dark blue wave, surpassed only in its dark dye and eternity by the dome
on which it looked.
When I returned upon deck after breakfast, the first object that
attracted my attention was the helmsman. He smiled as soon as his eye
met mine, and raised, in recognition, his Spanish-looking hat. He was a
stout, tall, fair-complexioned man, with a mild expression of
countenance, blue eyes, a long, straight-pointed nose, high cheekbones,
and light flaxen hair flowing down almost to his shoulders. He made some
observation to me in a dialect which sounded as being a mixture of
German, Celtic, and English; but the sense of it was incomprehensible.
"Norway?" I said in reply, pointing to the land now not three miles from
us.
"Ja, ja," he answered; and, turning to King, our interpreter, begged, in
the Norwegian language, that some of the sails might be trimmed.
I need not say he was the pilot who had come on board to take us up to
Christiansand. His dress differed not from the ordinary costume of our
own pilots; but I could not help gazing on him with a feeling of mystery
and interest which cannot easily be described. His whole appearance bore
a close resemblance to all I had read and seen in pictures of the
Esquimaux; and now I have formed their acquaintance personally, I feel
assured that the Norwegians are a branch of that family.
The scenery, the nearer we approached the shore, heightened in grandeur.
Though we were now not a mile from the most bold and formidable rocks,
no harbour or creek of any kind could be seen where we might find
shelter; yet our northern guide continued to point out with his finger
and explain as well as he could in his strange but harmonious idiom, the
mouth of the Fiord, up which we were to proceed to Christiansand.
The rocks along this coast of Norway are terrific, the sea breaking and
rushing upon them with tremendous noise and fury. Nor do the waves ever
rest peaceably here: for the tides of the North Sea and of the Cattegat
both meet together at this point of the "Sleeve," and cause a fearful
swell, which, when aided at times by the wind, rises to such a great
height that vessels are obliged to run for protection into some of the
smaller fiords abounding in this quarter.
It was now mid-day, and the sun shone with more heat than I had felt in
the tropics. Indeed, everything around us reminded one so vividly of a
tropical climate, that it required some resolution to keep imagination
in subserviency. The thermometer was at 80 on deck; and our
good-tempered pilot told us it was "manga varm" in August.
At one o'clock, the gallant Iris might be seen gliding along, with her
accustomed speed and elegance, in smooth water, up the Christiansand
Fiord. As we sailed along we would now and then catch a glimpse of large
and small vessels in all directions, in full sail, wending their way
through the tributary fiords to some town in the interior. On each side
of us rose from the surface of the water, perpendicularly into the clear
sky, mountains of solid stone, covered to their very summits with no
other vegetation than the fir, which springs out of the crevices of the
rocks. We pursued our course for many miles amidst the grandest scenery,
changing like a panorama, at every point of land round which the vessel
wound, and amidst the most profound silence, which is a peculiarity of
these fiords. Ever and anon the gulls, in flocks of thousands, would
soar into the air, only the flapping of their wings echoing through
these silent mountains.
At three o'clock, as we sailed round an enormous rock about a mile high,
with not a tree or shrub of any sort on its surface, the town of
Christiansand burst upon the view.
We had no sooner anchored, and the sails were not yet furled, when
Captain P----, who was an inveterate sportsman, went ashore to gather
what intelligence he could about the salmon fishing, it being for that
amusement Lord R---- had been induced to visit Norway.
During the absence of P----, R---- and I lay down on the deck, and
feasted our eyes with the beautiful prospect around us. The novelty of
every object which met the view acted in broad contrast to England. The
cutter was soon surrounded by boats without number, of the most
primitive construction and fantastic form. One old man, wearing a
bear's-skin cap and a black frock coat, rowed off to us in the family
"pram," for the purpose of recommending his hotel to our notice, the
cleanliness and comfort of which, he said, were unquestionable; since,
to test the verity of his assertions, he handed to us a piece of paper,
not larger than the palm of my hand, containing the names of those
persons who had lodged under his roof; and the Earl of Selkirk, Sir John
Ross, Sir Hyde Parker, and one or two other eminent men stood in bold
relief and large Norwegian type. This was the only deed approximating to
British we had yet witnessed.
Christiansand is considered as a tolerably important town, and is about
half the extent of Dover. The houses are all painted a pure white
colour, which has a fine effect when brought so immediately in contrast
with the surrounding scenery. There being no ebb or flow of the sea in
this part of the earth, no beach exists, and the houses are built on
piles close to the water's edge, ships of 500 or 600 tons being moored
at the very doors of the warehouses.
I could discover only one church within the precincts of Christiansand,
and close to it a dancing academy; for the Norwegians, though they are
pious, are as partial to the recreation of a dance as any of our Gallic
neighbours; and, during the long and dark days of winter, the merchants
and other persons employed in business of any description, close their
offices, and devote their time to sleighing and dancing. The town is
clean and romantically situated, being girt on the E. and the S. by the
picturesque fiord, dotted with islands, which bears its name, and on the
N. and W. by mountains rising one above the other until the eye loses
them in the mist of distance.
The sun had already sunk beyond the mountains, when P---- returned on
board; and, near as the day seemed to its end, it was determined to
start for the Toptdal River, and proceed as far as Boom, a small village
about twelve miles from Christiansand, where a merchant of some note had
granted us permission to fish.
Fishing-rods and fishing-books, and gaffs, and landing-nets, and
everything piscatory, were pulled from their cupboards and packed up,
that is to say, tied together in three distinct bundles by the mate; and
the steward removed from the custody of the cook a large iron pot, which
he filled with potatoes, as well as a smaller copper pot for stewing,
but which, for the present, received a mustard-pot, some salt in paper,
some black pepper, three teaspoons, and a similar number of knives and
forks. A good-sized game-basket, cocked hat in shape, was then, after a
diligent search, found, brought forth, and replenished with biscuits
(for we had not, and could not buy, any bread), three pots of preserved
meats, three bottles of champagne, the same of claret, one bottle of
brandy, one of Twining's chocolate tin cases filled with tea, both green
and black, and a like, though larger, one concealed from the inquisitive
gaze some white sugar.
About six o'clock, these items were stowed at the bottom of the gig,
under the immediate superintendence of the steward, and the men, with
their oars raised aloft in the air, showed all was prepared to convey us
on our excursion. After taking leave of one or two Norwegian gentlemen
who had come on board to welcome us, with their characteristic
kindheartedness, to their country, and, with their usual unaffected
hospitality, to invite us to dine with them, we started.
We had proceeded some distance when P----, after lighting his
meerschaum, and looking the ideal of comfort and delight, commenced
rummaging the baggage of pots and baskets; and he had not given up his
energies to that occupation more than a few seconds when his pipe almost
dropped, paralyzed, from his mouth, and, with much vehemence of manner
and voice, he exclaimed,
"Hang that fellow! Just like him; he has forgotten the pot."
"What pot?" said R----.
"Why, the copper one, of course," retorted P----. "The knives and forks
are in it, and the tea and sugar."
"Avast pulling!" said the Coxswain.
"We must go back," said R----.
"Very good, my Lord. Easy, starboard oars," again said the Coxswain; and
in a quarter of an hour, we were taking the copper kettle into the gig,
which P---- placed quietly away, within his reach and sight, in the
stern sheets.
As we rowed on, our fingers (bringing to my recollection my school-days)
would occasionally be thrust over the boat's side into the water to test
its temperature; for it had been hinted to P---- at Christiansand, that
the rivers might yet be too cold for the salmon to leave the sea and
enter them.
The Toptdal River is narrow, shallow, and swift of current; so that it
is no facile task to contend with its rapidity and force. When we had
proceeded about half-way, the boat and its crew were left to contend
with the stream, and we commenced walking.
It was now seven o'clock; and, though we were sheltered from the sun's
rays by the huge mountain-shadows, the air was warm, and I felt in a
short time as greatly fatigued as if it were a dog-day in England.
P----, who, as I said before, was excessively fond of fishing, led the
van; and, as we toiled along the bank of the river, would, himself
insensible of weariness, scramble down declivities to its edge whenever
the projecting rocks formed a kind of pool, and, scrambling up to us
again, would assert with emphasis, the convincing proofs the river
showed of containing much fish. He would, likewise, plunge his hand into
the tide, and deem it temperate in the extreme.
"There now," he said, as we turned a point of land, and saw below us a
small bay formed by the indentation of the river,--"there now; do you
mean to say there's no fish there?"
"I should think there were a great many," replied R----.
The river flowed on, and brought on its surface the foam of some
neighbouring foss, floating unbroken in small lumps like soap-suds;
which, borne by the eddying stream, revolved round and round a piece of
fallen rock elevated a little above the water. P----, with the eye of a
fisherman, gazed on the little bay; and it was with difficulty we could
dissuade him from putting his rod together and having a cast. However,
we did eventually dissuade him; but he had barely gone on in front, with
his usual velocity of motion, when, at the suggestion of R----, I hurled
a good-sized stone into the centre of the pool which had so riveted
P----'s fancy.
"By Jove!" he shouted, and, starting back, "did you hear _that_? It was
a rise. Holloa!" and he hailed the boat which was struggling against the
stream on the opposite bank. He seemed now determined to throw a fly;
but the night was so near at hand, and Boom was yet so distant, that we
exhorted him to mark the spot for our return on the following day.
"Why, my dear fellow, in two minutes I shall have a bite. Walk on, I'll
follow."
"No, no;" and, after a little consideration, he assented to what we
said.
The stars now began to show themselves, and shone forth with great
brilliancy in the deep blue Heaven. The roar of the first foss, or fall,
where we intended to fish, could be heard distinctly; and, about ten
o'clock, we arrived at Boom.
We presented, on our arrival, a letter our merchant friend had written
to an old and confidential servant, to whose care he recommended us, and
desired that every facility should be afforded us in the attainment of
our sport. Although it was almost dark, we walked about with the old
Norwegian, who, in order to obtain our kind thoughts and inclinations,
told us, that he had, in his youth, been apprenticed to a carpenter at
Hull. He spoke English sufficiently well to understand what we said, and
make himself understood by us.
The first check P---- received to his ardour, was the Norwegian's
assertion, that the river was still too cold for angling; and that no
salmon had yet been seen or caught in the neighbourhood. He then
recommended us to leave Norway and go to Copenhagen, or some other
capital in the south, and enjoy ourselves until the snows in the
interior had melted, and return to Christiansand about the end of the
first week in June, when he guaranteed we should have salmon-fishing in
all its phases to our heart's content.
After a slight allusion to the letter we had delivered to him, and which
he still held crumpled and soiled in his hand, he said, that his
master's house was being painted, and he could not accommodate us as he
had been commanded; but, if we had no objection, he would lodge us for
the night at a cottage hard by. Many Englishmen, he added, had slept
there, and found the people to whom it belonged, clean, attentive, and
honest. We replied, that we were content and wearied enough to rest any
where, and were prepared to take in good part 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
the morrow, we parted with our voluble informant.
Some bread and cheese, and Bass's stout, formed our supper, and
reconciled us to our dormitory; and, while we smoked our pipes at the
now opened window, we wandered back to old England, and talked of
friends and fair ones left behind.
It was near midnight. Descending from the hills, the smell of the
evening air, impregnated with the sweet odour of a thousand wild
flowers, refreshed us, jaded as we were by a long journey, and added
delight to the novelty of our situation. The lofty mountains, too, on
either hand, seemed, with their summits, to touch the stars; and, except
the roar of a cataract, no sound interrupted the silence, which, amidst
such vast natural creations, almost amounted to pain.
Notwithstanding my many antipathies, I went to bed, and slept soundly
till the next morning, having awaked but once during the night to throw
off my eider coverlet. The Norwegians hold the eider in great
estimation, and, invariably, whether it be in summer or winter, place it
on the bed of a stranger; but I would recommend those who travel in that
part of Europe, as we did, during the three summer months, to decline
this domestic attention. The eider appears very much like a feather
mattress, but is so light, that, when used as a coverlet, you can
scarcely feel the difference between its weight and that of an ordinary
linen sheet.
At six o'clock the following morning, we were up and on the banks of the
river, which flowed within sight of the cottage windows. Our old
Norwegian, punctual to his appointment, was walking by our sides in the
joint capacity of spectator and mentor. Captain P---- threw the first
fly, and continued throwing fly after fly, various as the tints of the
rainbow, but with the same result as the Norwegian had anticipated. I
soon became grieved at seeing the river well thrashed, and left P---- to
persevere in his sport, and R----, like Charon, standing bolt upright in
a punt, rod in hand, and tackle streaming in air, to be ferried about in
search of some quiet nook for his particular diversion. Besides, it was
now nine, and I felt interiorly that breakfast would be more pleasant
than loitering on the banks of a river, pinched exteriorly by the
eagerness of a N.E. wind; for the climate of Norway, in the early part
of summer, is influenced by the same fickleness as the climate of
England; and the wind, during the night, will visit the cardinal points
of the compass, breathing as it did last night, from a warm quarter, and
will blow as it does this morning, from the opposite extreme.
I had scarcely made myself a cup of coffee, and not yet added the cream,
which encouraged the spoon to stand upright in its thickness, when R----
and P----, tired with their angling, came in. After demolishing nearly a
dozen eggs amongst us, and two capital salmon-trout, which our fast
friend, the Anglo-Norwegian, had filched from a large cistern, where
they are placed during the winter, for the benefit of his master's
table; and after imbibing cauldrons of coffee--so delicious was its
flavour--we showed and expressed great anxiety to pay Bruin the
compliments of the season, and as strangers and Englishmen to testify to
him, as loudly as we could, the repute his fat had obtained in England.
Our cicerone raised no objection; and, turning to one of his countrymen
who had entered the room to gape at us, for I could not then, and I
cannot now conceive the nature of his business, addressed him in his
native language. The man immediately disappeared, and in half an hour
returned with two rifles over each shoulder, and one pistol in his
breeches' pocket. The rifles were larger and heavier than the
fowling-pieces formerly used by our regiments of the line, and the
pistol was of the horse genus, and had a rusty muzzle and a flint lock.
However, we were going to annihilate a ruthless foe; and the clumsiness
of our accoutrements was of little moment. A few good-natured
observations passed between us and the Norseman concerning the
susceptibility and quality of the powder, for its grains were coarser
than those black beads of which ladies in England make their purses. The
said powder for security, was poured into an empty porter-bottle, and
corked down.
We started; but we had barely proceeded three-quarters of a mile before
our little Anglo-Norwegian, who had abided by our good or ill fortune
constantly from the beginning, suddenly remembered that some important
business required his presence in the low lands where dwelt industry
and peace, and accordingly recommending us to the skill of two guides,
shook hands cordially with us, and in a few minutes his ominous face and
oval form were hidden from our sight by the shrubs and stunted firs
which covered the mountain's side.
The waning of his courage did not darken ours; for, like all Englishmen,
we instantly commenced a political discussion, which terminated, after
an hour's duration, in the British fleet attacking, fatally, the
Norwegian gun-boats at Christiansand, nemine contradicente, and the two
boors grinning from ear to ear.
At length our guides, by signs, signified that silence was requisite. A
quarter of an hour more elapsed when one of them motioned us to keep
close, and going down on his hands and feet, intimated the proximity of
our game.
We were now five and thirty yards from the brow of the mountain, and,
crawling with the stealth and silence of a cat, the principal guide
reached the summit, at the same moment levelling his gun, which made us
imagine that Bruin was in full view; but gradually lowering his piece,
till the butt reached the ground, and leaning on it with both hands, the
man turned towards us, shook his head, and smiled. We were instantly by
his side.
Round a hollow piece of table-land, tending to a swamp, we saw, standing
at equal distances from each other, three sheds, constructed of long fir
poles driven into the earth and tapering, like a cone, into the air,
covered scantily with the branches of the pine or fir, and having an
only inlet by which a man, crouching, might reach the interior. In the
centre of this swamp the carcass of a horse lay, mangled and scattered
in every direction. The trunks of trees, which had been felled for the
purpose, were piled on the dead body; and this was done that the bear,
finding it too troublesome, for he is economical of labour, to remove
the body nearer to his den, would satisfy his hunger on the spot, and
offer an opportunity to overtake him at his meals; besides, the bear,
being quick of sight and shy, and so sensitive of scent that he can
smell a man at the distance of a mile or more if he approaches _with_
the wind, will frequently leave his food and as frequently return to it;
and, therefore, the Norwegians conceal themselves in the kind of sheds I
have described above, and remain for days and nights under such
precarious roofs in order to circumvent and destroy the animal.
We felt rather disappointed at not having even seen old Bruin, but a
good laugh in some degree compensated us for the fatigue we had
undergone. For my own part, armed as I was with the rusty horse pistol,
and intent on the manufacture of my own bear's grease, I had heard so
many pleasing anecdotes of the bear's noble nature, that I did not
regret his retreat had been commenced in time. These animals, unless
severely pressed by hunger, will never attack any living creature, and
will even avoid with much care those parts of the mountains where cattle
are wont to feed; and it is beyond the recollection of the oldest
inhabitant, or, indeed, the reach of tradition, when a child has been,
in the slightest degree, hurt by the Norwegian bear. On the contrary, it
is well known that these animals have met children in their track, and,
though at the time much oppressed by thirst and famine, have passed them
harmlessly by.
We sate down on a large rock, about twelve feet square, slightly
elevated above the ground, and entirely overgrown with moss. A small fir
tree, not ten inches high, grew in its centre, and the symmetry of its
diminutive trunk, rendered more beautiful by the regularity with which
its little branches sprung forth and drooped around first attracted our
notice to the spot as one where we should rest.
It was so situated that we could see for many miles around us in one
direction; but were excluded from any prospect at the other points. A
bog, filled with animalculae of all forms sporting about in the water,
which was black from long stagnation, surrounded three parts of the
rock, leaving but one approach to it, which was the side least raised
above the level of the earth. The bog, therefore, acted as a moat; and
it was with that, or some similar feeling of security, we stretched
ourselves at full length on the soft moss, and basked in the sun.
P----, as usual, drew forth his pipe, and soothing himself with its
fumes, exemplified absolute comfort and contentment in the placidity of
his countenance. R---- dangled his legs over the edges of the rock; and
I, assuming the same attitude, gazed with him on the mountains towering
and straggling, at a great distance above and beneath us.
"What a bore it is" said R----, "fagging all the way up here, and not
getting a shot at that brute."
"Why, yes," I replied, "but bears, you know, are as likely to deceive
people now-a-days, as will-o'-the-wisps did monks of yore."
"That's all very well," observed R----, "but I am no monk, and I think
those Norwegians tell a good many lies; and this dead horse has been
only pulled about up here by a herd of famished dogs, and no bear. These
fellows say there _are_ bears to make their country appear finer than it
is."
"No, no," answered P----, "the fact is, we are too late; the day is hot,
as you feel, and these animals disliking the heat, feed at daylight, and
then retire into the heart of the forest, where they can escape the
oppression of the mid-day sun."
"Always?" R---- asked.
"Of course," replied P----.
"Oh! of course;" R---- reiterated, "that may be natural philosophy, but
my way of thinking seems as natural; and I take it, that, when animals,
like men, know where food is to be found and eat for the mere walking,
sunlight and moonlight, heat and cold are alike to them."
"I know," answered P----, "these Norwegian fellows tell enormous
crammers; but you may depend upon it, if we wish to get sport we must
get up earlier."
"Well," R---- replied, "all I can say to the bears and sporting animals
in general is, that if they don't breakfast a little later, or indulge
in luncheons, they won't hear much of _me_. Fun is fun, and sport is
sport; but catch _me_ out of bed at half-past 2 A.M."
"I abide by R----," I said, "I hold his logic in high repute, since its
principle is good."
P---- replied not; but, removing the pin from his silk neckcloth,
stirred up with its sharp point the smouldering ashes of his pipe. R----
looked in silence at the surrounding scene, and then broke into an
exclamation of rapture.
"Is it not beautiful?" concurred P----, turning his eyes in the
direction of the mountains. "There is nothing in the world to be
compared to the sublimity of this scenery, defined as the outlines are
by the clearness of the atmosphere and its deep blue tint." After a
short pause he continued, "When we can see at one glance such an
immensity of space, and know that this vast tract of mountain and of
valley must be full of animal life, is not this silence awful?"
We made no answer, but tacitly complied with his observation.
The rustling of dried leaves and the sharp crack of a breaking twig now
crept upon the ear; and P----, a sportsman at all points and at all
times, had already turned in the direction whence the interruption came;
and, as I was about to speak, he grasped me convulsively by the arm,
and, without any other intimation of danger, began slowly to raise his
rifle from the ground. R---- and I immediately started up, utterly at a
loss to know the cause of his dismay.
"For God's sake!" P---- whispered, without removing his eyes from the
quarter where they had been fixed, "don't speak: here he is!"
"Here is what?" in imitative whispers, breathed R----; but, at the same
time, cocking the trigger of his rifle, "I don't see him."
"Don't fire!" again whispered P----; "take your time."
"'Don't fire!' and 'take your time,'" said R----; "but _what_ do you
see?"
"Look _there_! don't you see him--close to that old stump?"
"Oh! ah! _now_ I do. By Jove! he's a wapper!"
"Where are those fellows?" asked P----, glancing round. I guessed to
whom he alluded, and beckoned to our guides, who were sitting at some
short distance, in ignorance of our plight, but had been watching our
actions with all the attention, and listening to our conversation with
all the comprehension of persons who did not understand our language. An
instant sufficed to range them at our elbows.
P---- pointed to the spot he had already suggested as the focus of
attention, and they both saw, with the quick-sightedness of men
accustomed to live by the chase, the cause of his excitement.
"Ja! ja!" they exclaimed simultaneously, their countenances radiant with
joy, "goot."
P---- bowed his head in the affirmative; and we could not help admiring
the courage of the Norwegians, which seemed to merge into enthusiasm,
the more imminent the risk and danger of our sport became.
An enormous bear, apparently fatigued by long travel, and panting loudly
with protruding tongue, slowly stalked forth from a mound of earth which
had accumulated round the stump of a beech-tree grown to maturity, but
now decaying in the midst of rushes and briars of every sort. Bruin, no
doubt, overheard our voices, for he stopped on his way, drew in his
tongue, ceased his violent respiration; and, raising his head on high,
snuffed the air on all sides, and then placing his nose close to the
ground, kept it there for some little time. He was eighty or ninety
yards from the spot where we stood. As again his head was lifted up,
his small tuft of a tail moved quickly from right to left, revealing his
turbulence and hesitation.
"Don't let us all fire together," hinted P----, in an under tone; "but
let those Norwegians blaze away first, as we don't know anything about
their skill."
"Then, I'll follow," said R----.
"And my pistol next," I interceded.
"Very well; and I will try my luck last," said P----. "Are all ready?"
"All right," we both answered, and the two Norwegians assented with a
nod.
The bear kept moving gradually near and nearer to the bait, and
approached within a very short space of the rock where we lay hid,
thickly surrounded by the branches of the fir and beech.
"Fire!" breathed P----, lowly.
One guide, elevating his gigantic rifle, pulled the trigger. A
tremendous report was one result, and the total disappearance of the
Norwegian was the other; the fowling-piece having kicked him completely
off the edge of the rock into our natural moat, the bog. We heard the
splash of the man's body below, and thought, at first, he was killed by
the bursting of his rifle; but when his companion, who had leaped down
to his assistance, helped him, reeking and muddy, from the dominions of
the tadpole, and placed him, uninjured, though stunned, on his legs, we
could not resist a burst of merriment at his countenance of unmitigated
disgust, as the liquid filth oozed from the tips of his dependent
fingers.
The sound of our laughter alarmed Bruin, and revealed us to his sight,
and, rising immediately on his hind-legs, he commenced moving towards
the Norwegians, and hissing like a hot coal dipped in cold water.
"Hang the mud, jump up!" exclaimed P----.
"Grin and _bear_ it, old fellow," and, saying so, R---- quietly levelled
his rifle, with some misgiving, for it was of Norwegian manufacture, and
fired at the animal. Poor Bruin received the ball in his left fore-leg;
and, with a piteous moan, he instantly assumed his natural position on
all fours, and hissed and growled, and licked the blood which streamed
from the wound. The animal, nothing daunted, even in this extremity,
still moved towards us with great ferocity; and, as he came within forty
feet, P---- lodged a second bullet in his loin. The pain exasperated him
to the quick, and he rushed furiously towards the rock.
"Where's the powder?" shouted P----.
"I don't know," echoed from every one. No powder could be found; the
Norwegian having taken possession of the porter bottle, and placed it in
his pocket, had doubtlessly fallen with it into the quagmire; and they
had now absconded.
"Don't let him get up!" continued P---- emphatically.
"Not to my knowledge," R---- replied, assuming a long recognised
attitude of great military defence.
I now presented my rusty old horse-pistol at Bruin's head, at an
interval sufficient under the circumstances, of three yards, and fired
it; when, whether from having received its contents, or from alarm at
its loud report, the bear rolled over on his back; but, recovering
himself in a moment, he made an awkward spring, short of the rock, and
received, in commemoration of his false agility, a blow on the head from
the butt-end of R----'s rifle. The shock removed R----'s glazed cap from
his head, and it fell, bounding from the rock, close to Bruin's nose.
Mistaking, no doubt, this ingenious covering for R----'s especial skull,
the bear, infuriated, flew at it impetuously, and seizing it in his
mouth, shook it as an angry dog would have shaken a rag.
The blood was now fastly trickling down his tongue, which hung from his
mouth, and through his side at every pulsation, spouted, smoking, the
warm element of life. Gradually, slowly, yet reluctantly, his head
drooped towards the ground, and, faint from loss of blood, the animal,
tottering from side to side, sate, weakened as he was, upright on his
haunches, showing his teeth, and growling until the coagulated blood,
accumulating in his throat, would make him cough, and threatened
suffocation.
Descending from the rock, we came near to the dying creature, and,
striving to reach one of us, he lifted his paw, and, as he did so, lost
his balance, and tumbled over on the earth. Although, as we supposed, on
the point of death, the gallant brute still growled, and attempted to
rise again and renew the fight, but complete exhaustion denied what his
courage prompted.
The Norwegians now reappeared, and one of them knelt down to remove
R----'s cap from the bear's clutches; but the undaunted Bruin, as if
desirous of giving his countryman a final embrace, seized him round the
neck, and drew him tightly to his clotted breast. We were, of course,
alarmed a second time for the man's safety, and by great exertions tried
to release him from his perilous condition; but our efforts were not a
little crippled by the legs of the Norwegian, which he flung violently
about at every possible tangent; and one arm, moving with the rapid
oscillating motion of a steam-engine, brought the fist in sharp contact
with the other Norwegian's chest, and threw him, head over heels, into
the identical pool whence he had himself but lately escaped.
The accident was so ludicrous, that in the ecstasies of mirth, we forgot
the man lying prostrate and kicking in the arms of the bear; until, by
dint of his own exertions, he released himself, and, standing upright
before us, showed his face plastered from forehead to chin, and ear to
ear, with a multitude of withered leaves, which adhered to the blood he
had borrowed from the animal's wounds.
The poor bear was now dead; and, behaving bravely as he did to the last,
we could not help regretting his end. Though young, he almost reached an
Alderney cow in height and standard, and great power was developed in
the sinews and breadth of his chest. His coat to the touch and sight was
soft and glossy as silk.
After standing over his body for a few minutes in silent observation,
R---- wiped the gore from his cap, and placing it, shattered as it was,
on his head, we all left the bear, for the present, where he lay; and
wandering through the forest for some time, enjoyed the coolness of the
air at this great elevation, pursuing, by a circuitous route, our
descent to the cottage.
Our fame, unlike the
"Fama malum," &c., &c.
of Virgil, did, certainly, precede us with great velocity, but with
beneficial effects; for the women came forth to meet us, and looking up
in our faces, found out our eyes were beautiful, and our noses better
moulded than their own, and called us handsome "Ingerleesh;" and the
men, grasping us by the wrists, said we were brave and "goot
Ingerleesh."
One little blue-eyed girl, the elegance of her light form unaided by the
care of art, attracted my attention; and, with finger in her mouth,
sidling coaxingly to me, took my hand gently in hers, and begged in the
sweet idiom of her country, and in the earnest tones of her own sweeter
voice, that I would carry her with me to "Ingerlaand," where she would
serve me, like a slave, till she died.
The sun had long passed the meridian before the felicitations on our
success were at an end; and then, having recommended the bear's carcass
to the custody of our ancient and well-tried friend, the
Anglo-Norwegian, who promised to preserve the skin for us till our
return, (and who, by the way, was the first to meet us and thank his
pagods for our safe issue out of the skirmish,) and having made a
trifling present to our host, we packed up our pots and pans, and,
seating ourselves in the gig, were again floating on the Toptdal River.
P----'s first love, the pool, was not forgotten, for he gave it a
wistful glance in passing; but the wind drawing aft, our sail was set,
and stopping was beyond all question. We continued our course without
any interruption until we arrived at the mouth of the river, when a
sudden puff took a fancy for R----'s renowned cap, and, forcing it from
his head, raised it high in its embrace, and kept it there for a second
or two; then, as if suddenly relaxing in its caresses, tossed it
vehemently away into the water.
We all witnessed the gyrations of the cap, and saw it fall; but, before
we could row to the spot, the great _tile_ sank from repletion, and--for
ever!
The same puff in its subtlety nearly capsized us, and completely carried
away the step of the mast. No other incident befell us; and we jumped on
board the Iris as the church at Christiansand was striking six.
Wednesday, the 12th, did us the kindness of showing the aspect of Old
Norway under the effect of a different atmosphere than we had yet
inhaled; for it rained the whole day with all the accumulated
steadiness, rheumatic rawness, slowness, and obstinacy of a Scotch, or
English November mist. We did not, however, heed the weather, but rowed
round the Bay, and strolled on the islands in its vicinity, stimulated
by the hope of getting a shot at some animal, fish or bird; but no such
luck overtook us. We returned on board, wet through, after being absent
for three hours, and while removing our damp boots, concluded that we
were deceived on our first arrival, and, that Norway was the same
"humbugging" sort of a place as the rest of Europe; and, indeed, that
the whole world was subject to the identical changes of shower, fog, and
sunshine.
Some Norwegian gentleman, just at this nick of time and temper, sent on
board a salmon, a brace of black cock, and a cock of the north, as
large as a turkey, and we immediately admitted the generosity of
foreigners, particularly these Norsemen, but shut out the drizzle of
Wednesday, the 12th of May, from any kind of sympathy.