At the foot of one of these deep gorges, and romantically situated, is the small hamlet and church of Underdal. To the left, farther up the fjord, stands Aurland, or Vangen, the principal village in the fjord parish ("vasbygd") of Aurland. The small stone church here, it will be observed, has an unusually high-pitched gable and steeply sloping roof.
From the head of this Aurlands Fjord, by ascending the Flaamsdal (the valley of the swollen river), magnificent views are obtained out over the fjord.
The road up this grand valley terminates at Myrdal Station, on the new Bergen-Christiania Railway, and near the Hallingdal entrance to the long Gravehalsen tunnel, amid mountain scenery of overwhelming grandeur and sublimity.
CHAPTER V
THE SOGNE FJORD (continued)
At Frönningen a profitable business is done in tree-felling. Large forests of pine and fir clothe the steep sides of the mountains here, and modern saw-mills are erected at the foot of a torrent by the margin of the fjord.
Seen from here, the glaciers of Fresvik and Rambæren, both over 5,000 feet high, stand out boldly against the sky.
A very charming effect of sunshine and shower won my attention near here one afternoon in the month of May. Immediately in front of the steamer, and from the mountains on one side of the fjord to those on the other, stretched a most vivid rainbow; the snow-capped mountains of Lyster were faintly visible beneath the arc, through a misty veil of rain-gauze. As the steamer proceeded the rainbow appeared to retire, so that we were not to sail under the beautiful arc-en-ciel on that occasion. Instead, we were presently enveloped in driving rain, and to pace the wet and slippery decks was no longer an enjoyable occupation. The mountain-forms were all wiped out by the rain-curtain, and, from a state of comparative calmness, the waters of the fjord became almost as choppy as the open sea.