OLD WAREHOUSE AND BOATS, MOLDE
Later we read that in one place they were indeed most hospitable and caught fish enough to feed the family for eight days. What joy!
In another place he tells us that the bread, "generally made of the rind of trees, was miserable."
Again: "Bonaparte is the common theme of the Norwegians. In no country is such praise lavished on him as in this, where his power is only felt in undesigningly promoting the country's advantage—from this standpoint the Norwegians admire him and calmly survey the convulsions around them."
It is interesting to observe that at this date the writer gives the population of Norway as being under a million; now it is considerably over two millions. He remarks that the women, though strong, robust, and generally over six feet in height, are sadly wanting in feminine charms. In our days they have changed. We may suppose from practical experience that what the Norwegian women have lost in stature they have gained in beauty. The number of pretty women is well above the average.
In the fulness of time we left Molde by steamer, and so southwards along the coast, stopping for a few hours at the ruins of Aalesund, the thriving little town that was entirely burnt down in January 1904. Of the twelve thousand inhabitants who were almost all bereft of house and home, only one lost her life, and that through rashness. She was an old woman who, finding she had forgotten some cherished possession, insisted on entering the burning house to recover it. At least, this is what was told me by an inhabitant of the place; and I take it to be correct, for the Norwegians of to-day are as honest and trustworthy as were their ancestors at the beginning of last century.
We landed on this island of ruins and climbed the pretty hill which overlooks the town. Thence we obtained a magnificent view over the sea, and were able to realise the complete and terrible desolation wrought by the fire. At the time of this disaster Nico was in Norway, and the whole country rang with the praises of the Emperor William of Germany, whose immediate and practical generosity was a theme for the warmest recognition. To judge from all we heard in different parts of the country, it would appear that he has won the heart of Norway, and has made himself immensely popular with the people.