are manufactured into those soft, pleasant and dear gloves, which are sold in the shops of London as real Norway doe'-no mattercrede quod habes and it is all one to the purchaser. Our traveller here meets with a regiment of Skaters (Skielőbere) exercising, not however on their skates, as there was neither snow nor ice; but he tells us that their speed is astonishing;' that they glide along the frozen surface of the snow like lightning, and go down the steepest precipices with inconceivable veFocity. It appears, from the description and figure given of these skates, that they are little more than the common snow-shoe, six feet five inches long; and as they are covered, according to his account, with seal-skin, 'that the men may ascend the mountains with greater ease and safety, the hair preventing the skie from sliding backward,' we do not see exactly how they contrive to use them at the same time, as skates on which they glide like lightning.' The road along the coast ceases entirely at Overgaard, which consists of one solitary post-house, kept by Hans Barben, merchant, fisherman, boatinan and farmer. Mr. Brooke says, indeed, that all the roads in Norway terminate at his door, and that from thence to the North Cape, a distance of 700 miles, the only means of proceeding is by boats. At this spot, therefore, our traveller would have been as well justified as the three Frenchmen were, who travelled to the lake Tornotresck, in setting up his monumental récord, with a declaratory inscription of having reached the end of the world.* Having procured a boat and six rowers, Mr. Brooke launched upon the deep, creeping,' as he says, 'closely along the base of giant mountains, whose lofty peaks are white with the snow of ages, and too high even for the eagle to wing his daring flight.' On the left, however, or seaward, the numerous islands and rocks afford a good protection to the little skiffs, by breaking and staying the fury of the waves of a rough and tempestuous ocean. At this season of the year, however, (the month of July,) the weather is generally fine, the sea tranquil, and night unknown; and such is the transparency of the water, that the bottom, with its minutest objects, is visible at the depth of 150 feet.. * These three Frenchmen, as a testimonial of their exploit, set up the following inscription on the summit of a high mountain: Gallia nos genuit, vidit nos Africa, Gangem Hic tandem stetimus, nobis ubi defuit orbis. De Fercourt, De Corberon, Regnard. Regnard, with the usual accuracy of a French traveller, says, that from the top of this mountain, they surveyed all Lapland, the Frozen Sea, as far as the North Cape, that is about 500 miles—and all this beyond the spot 'ubi defuit orbis.' • Hanging 'Hanging over the gunwale of the boat, with wonder and delight I gazed on the slowly moving scene below. Where the bottom was sandy, the different kinds of asteriæ, echini, and even the smallest shells, appeared at that great depth conspicuous to the eye; and the water seemed in some measure to have the effect of a magnifier, by enlarging the objects like a telescope, and bringing them seemingly nearer., Now creeping along, we saw, far beneath, the rugged sides of a mountain rising towards our boat, the base of which, perhaps, was hidden some miles in the great deep below. Though moving on a level surface, it seemed almost as if we were ascending the height under us; and when we passed over its summit, which rose in appearance to within a few feet of our boat, and came again to the descent, which on this side was suddenly perpendicular, and overlooking a watery gulf, as we pushed gently over the last point of it, it seemed almost as if we had thrown ourselves down this precipice: the illusion, from the crystal clearness of the deep, actually producing a sudden start. Now we came again to a plain; and passed over slowly the submarine forests and meadows, which appeared in the expanse below; inhabited, doubtless, by thousands of animals, to which they afford both food and shelter, animals unknown to man: and I could sometimes observe large fishes of singular shape, gliding softly through the watery thickets, unconscious of what was moving above them. As we proceeded, the bottom became no longer visible; its fairy scenes gradually faded to the view, and were lost in the dark green depths of the ocean.'-pp. 196, 197. In proceeding from island to island, our traveller is incessant in his inquiries after krakens and sea-serpents, and especially the latter, concerning which, he says, he not only received accounts from governors and other highly respectable persons, but he brings the whole church to vouch for its existence, bishops, parish priests, deans, and sextons. Unfortunately, however, there is as little agreement in their respective descriptions of this sea-monster, as was the case when it took a plunge across the Atlantic, on a visit to brother Jonathan. Some state it modestly at 60 feet in length, some 150, and others 600 feet; but the sexton of Maasöe assured our traveller, that it reached from the island of Mageröe to the main, a full mile at least! Mr. Brooke, we perceive, takes all he hears on the subject for granted; and being satisfied of its existence, labours to prove that it is no other than the huge Leviathan' of scripture, and quotes the 41st chapter of Job, in support of his opinion. We do not mean to say that no such animal exists; on the contrary, we see no reason why the sea should not have its Boa Constrictor as well as the land; though, at the same time, we should not be surprized, if the American and Norwegian sea-serpents were nothing more than a line of grampuses or porpoises, heaving their broad bare backs' above the water on a calm sunny day, for it is on such only that this Norwegian monster is said to make its appearance. A bishopric A bishopric in Norway is no sinecure. At Kobberdal, our traveller met with the bishop of Nordlands, returning from his annual visitation of his diocese, which extends from lat. 64° to the North Cape in lat. 71° 10, the last and most northerly church (Kelvig) being in lat. 71° 1'. This exemplary prelate, in the discharge of this part of his duty, is said to perform annually a journey of 750 miles, wholly in boats. Mr. Brooke bears honourable testimony to the clergy of the north, as a serious, devout, and highly meritorious class. Living in the simplicity of the ancient church, and far removed from the follies of luxury and the great world, they are meek and humble; and though their pittances are small, the stranger always finds with them a home. Arduous as their duties are, whether it be to brave the storm, or to traverse the white wastes of Lapland with sledge and reindeer to a distant parish, perhaps 200 miles off, exposed to the piercing cold of the mountains, and liable to be overwhelmed constantly with the drifting snow which blows fiercely around, all this is cheerfully undergone by the northern divine, who in his manner of life may be proposed as an example to his brethren in the south.'-pp. 313, 314. Præsten Steen, the worthy pastor of Carlsoe and of Skiervöe, two small islands, is very frequently exposed to great hardships and danger in having to cross thirty miles on the ocean from island to island; yet he never neglects his duty. In the long dreary night of winter, when the cheering light of the sun is no more seen by the inhabitants of these regions, and storms swell the main; then it is that he prefers his duty to his safety, finds no excuses even from the danger, and, entering his little boat, fearlessly and cheerfully proceeds to the performance of his sacred functions.' Happy and contented with his lot, the only regret he expressed was for the want of medical advice, and instruction for the children. The inhabitants of these numerous and barren islands subsist of course chiefly on fish, with various kinds of which the ocean here teems: they receive, however, a few articles in exchange for it, chiefly from the Russians, who bring them from the White Sea, rye, meal, hemp, &c. The principal fishery is carried on at the Lofoden islands, where the stock and split fish are prepared for the markets of Holland, Spain and the Mediterranean, the yearly produce of which Mr. Brooke estimates at about £100,000 sterling; employing about 5000 boats and 25,000 men, and affording support to about four times that number. The females are not less active and efficient than the men in the management of boats. Two girls, one not exceeding fourteen, set out on a stormy day to an island seven miles off, to procure rowers for our traveller. They returned the following morning, drenched by the waves, almost exhausted exhausted by fatigue, and their little boat nearly filled with water, after buffeting all night against a sea, on which many a man would be afraid to venture.' By habit and hard living these poor girls lose all the fears and timidity of their sex. Robust and hardy in their constitutions, they become as strong as the men, and partake cheerfully with them in the hardships of a fisherman's life. Exposed to the merciless blasts of winter, and the peltings of the storm, when the day can hardly be distinguished from night, and darkness overspreads the main, they venture out with their fathers, husbands, and brothers, in a small open boat, frequently fifty miles from land, fishing without intermission day and night, till they have filled their boat; when, making their way to the nearest island, and discharging the fruits of their industry, they again return to their labour, which is continued in this manner the whole of the winter.'-pp. 228, 229. The countless multitudes of sea-fowl that frequent those frowning rocks, afford the islanders abundance of eggs during the season of breeding, and their goats supply them with milk. The eider duck, the female of which plucks her own breast for the softest down three times every year, supplies them with quilts and coverlets, far superior for retaining warmth to the thickest blankets; and no Norwegian, however poor, is without one. The insulated rock named Fugelöe, which rises 2000 feet out of the water, is so much, resorted to by the feathered race, particularly by the puffin, or Greenland parrot, that it has frequently the appearance of being covered with snow. It is so nearly perpendicular as to be almost inaccessible; yet the islanders contrive to get at the puffins, in a way which we must leave Mr. Brooke to describe :: The manner of catching them is curious, being by means of small dogs trained to the sport. The puffins sitting together in prodigious numbers, in the deep holes and clefts of the highest rocks, one of these dogs is sent in, which seizes the first by its wing. This, to prevent its being carried away, lays hold with its strong beak of the bird next to it, which in like manner seizes its neighbour; and the dog continuing to draw them out, an extraordinary string of these birds falls into the hands of the fowler. They are taken for their feathers, which are valuable. The plant angelica grows on this rock in great abundance, and is in much request among the peasants, who are very fond of it, and have no little reliance on its qualities as an antiscorbutic. On the top of the Fugeloe mountain, according to the accounts of the fowlers, who had often seen it, are the remains of a whale, lying in the same manner as on the mountain of Sandhorn.'-p. 331. Apropos of this whale. The mountain of Sandhorn, we are told, is upwards of 3000 feet high; the south side descending" nearly perpendicular to the sea, the top ending in a peak covered with eternal snow; yet on the very summit (whether upon the snow or beneath it, is not said) is the skeleton of a whale—a fact well authenticated." No authentication, however, is given; but in lieu of it, it is asked by our traveller, 'How are we to: explain so singular a phenomenon? Was it deposited there at the time of the deluge, or in subsequent ages?' As we pretend not to explain nor even to guess how or when the skeleton came there, we must be contented to give Mr. Brooke's reply to his own questions, in his own words: 'If we could suppose the former, how wonderful does it appear to us, that these bones should have lain whitening in the blast on the top of Sandhorn ever since the deluge, a period of more than 4000 years! Perhaps this very whale, when the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of Heaven opened," roving through the flood, may have lashed with his huge tail the sides of the ark, and even beheld our great antediluvian ancestor, Noah, looking to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground."'-p. 237. 66 With that friendly feeling which we entertain towards our young traveller, we hope that, in his next volume, which we understand is forthcoming, he will endeavour to rein in his somewhat too lively imagination, and not take for fact what has altogether the appearance of fable; but rather, on all future occasions, follow the prudent and pithy advice of that respectable old lady, Mrs. Glasse, first catch your fish.' Having accomplished this indispensable object, Mr. Brooke will then be at liberty to dress up the antediluvian whale to his own taste. Not to catch the fish'. was the more unpardonable here; as, by his own account, the peak might be reached from the north side.' Our traveller had frequently heard strange stories of that singular animal the lemming, (the mus Lemmus of Linnæus, and Lapland Marmot of Pennant,) and had the good fortune to meet with it on the little island of Carsloe. By his description, accompanied with a plate, it appears to be about 53 inches long; tail half an inch; ears round and small; back tawny, variegated with black; belly of a whitish yellow; which description scarcely differs from that of the Swedish naturalist. Every blade of grass,' says our traveller, was literally alive with them. When I walked to the seashore, they were there also, and were running about the small garden patch in front of the parsonage. The out-houses were filled with them.' The universal opinion among the common people, from their sudden appearance, is, that they fall from the clouds in heavy showers of rain! Like the flights of locusts in various parts of the world, they are said to march straight forward in inconceivable numbers, never suffering any obstacles to divert them from their course. 'On being stopped by a stick,' says Mr. VOL. XXX. NO. LIX. Brooke, |