TRONDHJEM
We had a terribly long drive, through magnificent scenery, going uphill for miles; and very desolate and wild it seemed in the half light of that damp and dreary evening. Not a human being did we meet, and scarcely a dwelling was to be seen along the route. It was midnight when we reached our destination, one of the typical boarding-houses scattered all over Norway, in which inhabitants of the towns not possessing villas of their own pass a few weeks in the summer. They are called "sanatoriums," generally provide fishing, and are always amid glorious scenery. The ones that I visited were splendidly managed, and exceedingly reasonable in their charges. Marienborg, the name of the small sanatorium in which we stayed at Sælbo, is exquisitely situated above a very charming lake, and new beauties discovered themselves in whatever direction one wandered. The air is perfect, and the weather almost dependable, in the few short weeks of summer. It was now the middle of August. The hostess was carefully tending her strawberry-beds, and pointed out to us a fine specimen that was still green. The meals at this establishment may be taken, I think, as typical of those of the whole of Northern Norway. Breakfast (when you wish) consists of coffee and cream, eggs, and various odorous kinds of cheese, of which I can only remember the names of two, the reindeer cheese and the goat cheese. Dinner is at two o'clock. Salmon is a staple dish; the meat, generally mutton, is not much to boast of. The game, when one can get it, is excellent. The people seem to care little for any vegetable except potatoes. A great "feature" of the meal is the dishes of fresh berries served with an abundance of delicious cream. The milk, which is a general drink, is always skimmed. The bread is an acquired taste, cinnamon and caraway seeds being often used as a flavouring. A strange bread, which at its best form was rather pleasant, consisted of sheets of wafer-like thinness and considerable size, broken up to the requirements of the eaters. This is served with every meal. One seemed to be eating tissue paper without pulp. Though it is difficult to believe in its nourishing qualities, a Norwegian meal would be incomplete without it. Amid more gorgeous circumstances it is rejected for a delicately flavoured smooth wafer which is really pleasing with butter. In places near the sea we were delighted with the abundance of prawns and lobsters; prawns of such perfection I had never tasted before. It is very difficult to get fresh butter. As a rule it is made in the saeters in the mountains, where the cattle are kept in summer, and on account of the heat is very much oversalted before being sent down.
LITTLE GIRL OF TELEMARKEN
We stayed some time at Sælbo, as the only way to leave it was by riding along a narrow bridle-path for over a hundred kilometres, and this was not likely to be very pleasant. The only way to avoid it was by partially retracing our footsteps, and this we liked still less. Nico had become devoted to the picturesque log buildings with their delightful grass roofs studded with flowers, and even in some cases actually bearing small trees; and I had discovered a dear old woman who passed her time in knitting curious triangular gloves. She had been nurse in an English family many years before, and could speak a sort of English. She loved to tell me tales of her former charges; she did not seem to mind how much I understood, and no more did I. Her two sons were in America, whence they sent her a sufficient allowance to keep her in comparative comfort, and in addition to this she sold the gloves she passed her time in knitting. She lived all alone in a log house consisting of one large room, which served her for all purposes except sleeping (a tiny cabin built in the main wall served for that), and containing very little furniture, the peasantry in Norway having the good sense to appreciate the advantages of space. Large tables with folding legs are fixed with hinges to the wall, and when not in use are hooked up out of the way. In one corner of the room was the round whitewashed open fireplace and chimney which are characteristic of these log houses—infinitely to be preferred, from a comforting as well as a picturesque point of view, to the tall iron stoves generally in use. The stoves have their qualities, however, being narrow and made in four or five divisions above that intended for fuel, which is invariably wood. Each of these compartments has its own temperature, and is to be used with discretion for drying and heating purposes. One word of warning: do not put your boots in the partition nearest the fire.
MAKING THE DINNER—A COTTAGE INTERIOR AT SÆLBO