The stations where they are bound by law to give you a fresh horse within half an hour are called fast, in distinction from others called slow, where the farmers do not have the horses on hand, but must send to the neighboring farms for them, and the traveller is sometimes kept waiting several hours. The charge at the slow stations is a little over four cents a mile; the horses are equally good and fast, but it is often very tedious waiting for them. The slow stations are now rarely found except in out-of-the-way districts.
The station is generally a large farm house, which in more frequented places has grown into an inn or hotel; and at most of them one finds good food and lodging, everything neat and comfortable, and the charges extremely reasonable.
The stolkjærre is an open two-wheeled cart, generally destitute of springs, with a seat accommodating two persons. The baggage is of necessity limited in quantity, and is placed in the rear, with a bag of oats for the horse strapped on top, and above all is perched the Skydsgut (post boy) or Pige (girl), ranging from twelve to twenty years old, and at times a woman or a man takes the place of the boy or girl, who jump down to open gates, walk up the hills, getting on again with surprising ease, no matter how fast the horse is going. Two persons in a stolkjærre pay a fare and a half; if alone you pay a single fare, and the boy or girl sit beside you and drive if you desire them to, but they always offer you the reins on starting. In case two ladies occupy the stolkjærre, who are unaccustomed to driving, the boy or girl drives from behind the seat. The carrioles are genuine bachelor arrangements, with a small seat for one person, the baggage strapped on a bar behind, upon which sits the boy. The carrioles are much easier riding than the stolkjærre, and being lighter the horses travel much faster, but they seem to be disappearing from many sections, and the solitary traveller is often forced to take a stolkjærre, which is the same price for one person.
It is said that the natives themselves are giving up the use of the carrioles, but their scarcity is partly due to a firm of tourist purveyors in Bergen, called Bennett, who have obtained control of all the carrioles along many of the routes of travel, and furnish carrioles of their own, which are really superior to, and more comfortable than, those belonging to the natives. You must pay an extra charge for a Bennett carriole. Many travellers rent them for their whole tour through Norway, but they generally prove an elephant which eats its own head off, from the numerous charges for transportation across fjords in row boats and steamers, and the expense of returning them to the starting point when the journey is finished.
Many ladies seem especially to enjoy carrioling, and if they do not care to drive, the boy in the rear drives for them.
The horses are small, generally of a light cream color, the manes trimmed short and standing up straight like a zebra’s; they are wonderfully sure footed, and it is seldom that one shies, or that the driver has any trouble or any accident occurs. They are slow walkers and not very fast travellers, five to seven miles per hour being the average gait on a tolerably level road; they travel much better when following a good leader than when by themselves, and know at once who holds the reins, showing better speed when the boy or girl is driving and talking to them in Norse, than when urged on with the whip by a tourist talking in a foreign tongue. The natives treat them very kindly and stop any attempt at abuse or overdriving by strangers. Towards the end of the travelling season the horses naturally become tired and lazy, but you are often given a fine animal which it is a delight to drive.
By this old-fashioned way of travelling one becomes quite well acquainted with the simple, kind-hearted people, and their mode of living; also in passing through the country in this leisurely manner, its grand scenery and striking characteristics are indelibly fixed upon memory. There is a delightful feeling of independence, and freedom from all hurry and anxiety; when you come to a fine bit of scenery, or anything of especial interest, you stop as long as you desire; and in climbing the hills you have plenty of time to enjoy the views, or a chance to rest yourself by walking, if cramped from riding. In fact, a journey by stolkjærre or carriole has all the advantages of a pedestrian tour, without the attendant fatigue.
But the greatest charm of a trip through Norway lies in the people themselves. They inherit their free, independent nature from the Vikings and Norsemen of old, and are as democratic in character as in government; they have an independent parliament, regulating everything pertaining to the affairs of the country, and are like a republic owning allegiance to Sweden. The absence among them of the servility and obsequiousness that one finds among the common people of most of the European nations is refreshing, especially to an American; but though they impress you with the feeling that they are men, with rights and privileges which should be respected, they are neither familiar nor presuming in their intercourse with strangers. They are as unsophisticated and genuine as children, sincere and honest in their dealings, and extortion is almost unknown.
They lack the outward politeness of the bowing and fawning hotel keepers and waiters, so often encountered among other nations, nor have they an unending supply of polite words and forms; but you are always received with a true politeness, which is the expression of genuine kindness coming from the heart, and the best of everything available is placed at your disposal. They are intelligent, well educated, and uniformly religious, and to one who could speak their language, the journey would have an added pleasure, as they are very sociable and communicative; even across the barrier of a foreign language they send the impression of an especial interest in you, and a desire that you should be favorably impressed with their country; those who can speak English, or who are able to understand your feeble Norwegian, are ever ready to impart information.