We now come to a broader stretch of fjord: larger valleys open out to the view, and the sky seems brighter. This open space crossed, more frequent signs of civilization meet the eye. The farms are larger and the stretches of cultivated land are more extensive.
We now discern hayfields, cornfields, and potato patches. The houses and farmsteads are larger and more substantial, showing that there is a more prosperous people in these inner parts of the fjord.
Frequent waterfalls are passed, some of which send their spray even over the steamer's deck as they leap down the precipitous cliffs. Torrents come with a noisy swing down the steep valleys, turning in their course many a tiny wooden corn-mill.
Everything around seems full of life, and pleasant sounds meet the ear—the murmur of rocky becks, the tinkling of sheep and cattle bells, the plash of busy oars on the clear silvery water—and the merry voices of children are heard as they play on the pebbly strand near by. The eye is refreshed by the sight of the bright cottages which are embosomed in their own little orchards surrounded by green fields, and a background of richly wooded slopes leads up to the blue mountains above and beyond. An ancient church reposing in its quiet domain gives the keynote to the whole—one of harmony, simplicity, and Arcadian peace.
As we gaze on such a scene, it seems to have the power to fascinate and to hold us, as though in the grip of some unseen force of fairy magic, and from which we tear ourselves almost unwillingly away.
The scenery increases in grandeur the farther we penetrate, and the mountains and valleys are more densely wooded. We dip into narrow branches or ramifications of the main fjord, where beautiful vistas open out, and as we sail down Gloppen Fjord to the hamlet of Sandene the views are especially charming.
From Visnæs, at the northern extremity of the innermost branch of the main Nord Fjord, we can drive along the banks of a noted salmon river and visit the beautiful Strynsvand. This lake is quite surrounded by magnificent mountains, on which lie extensive glaciers, Skaalan, on our right, being the most conspicuous. Around this lake are many large farms; some are situated high up the mountains in apparently inaccessible places. Here also wild valleys open out in all directions, and continue their ravines up to the bases of the glaciers. At the foot of one of these ravine-like valleys, and just underneath the massive Skaalan, and in a picturesque situation by the lake's margin, stands the little church of Opstryn.