It was twelve o’clock. Our gipsies obtained some water for our tea at the Vik Station from their private supply. A servant girl, and man, with some children from the station, brought our donkeys some grass. It was a kindly thought. The sun was warm as we sat amid the rocks and heath. Whatever faults our gipsies have they are not tainted with Fenianism or Communistic ideas. They have ever held for Monarchy, and even among themselves, they have from time to time, their kings and queens. Our gipsies are extremely ignorant of political philosophy. They do know that her Majesty Queen Victoria, is the Queen of England. The names of Disraeli and Gladstone had not yet reached them.[126] They have no Romany words for political regeneration; they take no interest in the rights of man. Let them follow their wild nomadic life, they are satisfied. The Queen has worse subjects than our gipsies. It is possible that tall Noah, would answer a political philanthropist, much in the words of the “needy knife-grinder,”—“I shall be glad to drink your honour’s health, in a pot of beer, if you will give me sixpence, but, for my part, I never love to meddle with politics, sir.”
It is probable that tall Noah might be answered in the well-known words of the philanthropist,—“Wretch, whom no sense of wrongs can rouse to vengeance; sordid, unfeeling reprobate, degraded, spiritless outcast!”
Then we can only say it would be very inconvenient for the philanthropist, if he was within a mile of tall Noah’s tent.
Our middags-mad consisted of tea, bread, butter, and cheese.[127] At half-past three o’clock we were once more en route for the Krogkleven. Descending the hill by the Vik Station, the master of the station came out. We halted the donkeys for him to see them. He is a very pleasant man. The station seems very comfortable. It is mentioned, that there is good fishing near.
Reaching the shore of the Steens Fjord, a storm seemed to be gathering. Then, as we came to a fisherman’s house, and saw him leave with his boat, and nets, we deemed it a sure harbinger of calm weather. Soon after the threatened storm cleared away. We crossed the bridge over the Steens Fjord to Sundvolden.
The magnificent cliffs of the Krogkleven were now above us. A man pointed out the Kongen’s Udsigt or King’s View. At Sundvolden they accommodate travellers. The house seems large and commodious. They have a pleasure garden, with a small fountain, but we observed that the garden lacked taste in arrangement, and freshness, and beauty in flowers.
When our cavalcade passed the large open space in front of the station, a tall, pale, young Norwegian, apparently belonging to the house, said to Noah, with some authority, “Hvor fra reisen de.”[128] Noah, who was in advance, probably did not understand, or as usual, did not answer every inquisitive question, and kept pushing on. Immediately after we commenced the steep ascent to the heights of the Krogkleven. It is generally said, that the ascent to the Kongen’s Udsigt takes about an hour. Very shortly afterwards, we were overtaken by the pale young Norwegian, with an elder companion, who took off his hat, and bowed. He said, in excellent English, that he had seen an account of us in the newspapers. He owned a farm in the neighbourhood, and wished to buy one of our donkeys. Explaining that we had already promised one as a present, and that we should probably take the other two to England, after a short conversation he left. The road was most picturesque. It would have been a sad omission, had we left Norway, without returning by this route. In about three-quarters of an hour, we reached the house at the top of the gorge. A woman lives in the house, which being near the King and Queen’s View, is used for the temporary reception of travellers, and pic-nic parties. From the large open space, at the summit of the ascent, the main road, now level and flat, passes through the forest towards Christiania. A track leads through the woods on one side to the Kongens Udsigt,[129] and on the other to the Dronning’s Udsigt.[130] At the summit of the ascent near the house, a large board is fixed up, upon which is painted the figure of a navvy, with his spade; an iron box is placed under, with a narrow slit, to receive money, for the benefit of the men who made the road. We read de haute voix, for the satisfaction of Esmeralda, the following inscription:—
Oh, I have roamed o’er many lands, but never yet have seen
Nature’s face so grand and fair, as in this land, I ween.
And from this cleft, how calmly grand, the varied beauties vie—
The nestling hamlet, glassy lake, and mountain towering high.
’Tis true! ’tis worth a pilgrimage; but why not smooth the way?
Help us, my friend; yon box, your mite, it shall be, as you may.
We gave a mark. The inscription is also written in Danish and German.
From this point we were now only twenty-one English miles from Christiania.