It comes over the head of a ravine in one perpendicular leap of four hundred and seventy-five feet, into a great basin, enclosed on three sides by bare and lofty walls of rock; the rush and roar of the white mass of foaming water is tremendous, especially as one descends over the loose, slippery rocks towards the bottom of the ravine on the opposite side of the fall, where the perpendicular walls send back the reverberations of the falling water. A dense cloud of spray rebounds against the wall, appearing, as it rises, like another fall; as we climbed over the rocks towards it, the suction of the air currents nearly bore us from our feet, and we could hardly breathe. The Vöringsfos is considered the second finest fall in Norway, and fully does the view of it repay the fatigue of the long walk.
The fall is formed by a large mountain stream, flowing over an elevated plateau until it plunges into the gorge. The natives had observed the column of spray rising above the fall, and this led to its discovery in 1821; it was always viewed from above until the Tourist Club constructed the path up the ravine.
Near the fall is a rude wooden house of two rooms, where a woman lives during the summer to sell refreshments to visitors. As we sat at the table enjoying our lunch, Mr. L. entered into conversation with her in Norwegian, and learned she was a widow; with much feeling she told him that her son, her only child, had gone to America, and was then attending Northfield College in Minnesota. When Mr. L. informed her that Northfield was not far from his home, that on his return he would visit her son and tell him of this meeting, and also promised to assist him, the mother’s joy was unbounded, and with repeated expressions of thankfulness she sent messages to her far distant son.
The horses in Norway are as sure-footed as those in Switzerland. One can make the journey on horseback both to and from the fall; it seemed a difficult undertaking for a horse to travel over such a path as we came up; on our return, as we stepped down from rock to rock like a flight of steps, and descended over steep slippery ledges, it seemed very hazardous to think of riding over them; but the horses are accustomed to the path and never fall, nor do accidents occur.
A rough and narrow path ascends the side of the ravine in such steep zigzags that it appears utterly impossible for a horse to go over it, yet our guide told us that horses came down the path loaded with great bundles of hay, cut on the plateau above.
We reached Vik just eight hours from the time we started. We returned to Eide by the same steamer, this time enjoying the scenery by the bright morning light, and, changing to a larger steamer, we proceeded down the most beautiful arm of the Hardanger, called the Sörfjord. This fjord is in great contrast to the Sogne and more northern fjords, for their walls of bleak and barren rocks are here replaced at many points by fertile and wooded sides, and the scenery is much softer and milder in character, though there are not lacking elements of grandeur, from the snowy mountains and overhanging glaciers. The beauty and variety of its scenery render it one of the most enjoyable of all the fjords. Its sides are dotted with many farm houses, some perched upon apparently inaccessible heights amid a little patch of green, their inmates living a happy and contented life, their few wants all supplied; on the east side are several pleasant settlements, with hotels for summer travellers, and well-cultivated fields sloping to the water; on the west side the great Folgefond glacier, spreading over a plateau thousands of feet high, crops over the grey rock in places, extending its crystal mass towards the fjord, while cascades formed by the melting snow flow down the lofty cliffs.
At last we perceive in the distance a small church tower; the fjord gradually narrows till it is but a few hundred yards wide, and ends at the village of Odde.
The Norwegians are very primitive in their nomenclature, applying to a place a name signifying its geographical description; thus Odde means a tongue of land, and we find it is built on a small extent of land between the fjord and a lake; Eide signifies an isthmus, Vik a creek, Naes a promontory, Mo a plain; and, the same names often recurring, in speaking of a place one must always mention the fjord upon which it is situated, to distinguish it from many others of the same name.
Odde is a favorite resort of all travellers in Norway, and its hotels are filled with guests during the summer, for it is but a day’s journey by steamer from Bergen, and is the terminus of the land route from Christiania, through the province of Thelemarken. It consists of a few houses and stores, scattered along its main street and the shore of the fjord; a small church stands in a green churchyard, and there are two hotels—one a large modern establishment, the other an enlarged inn near the steamboat pier, kept by Ole Proestsgaard, a good-hearted old farmer, where we found excellent food and comfortable rooms, with beautiful views down the fjord, and of the snowy Folgefond and encircling mountains. In the evening, as we promenaded the chief street of the village, the travellers driving up in stolkjærres, the groups about the hotel piazzas brightly illuminated with lights in colored globes, and the guides and carriole boys in the street, formed an animated scene.