Norwegian Life: An Account of Past and Contemporary Conditions and Progress in Norway and Sweden
History
Norwegian Life: An Account of Past and Contemporary Conditions and Progress in Norway and Sweden
Norway -- Social life and customs; Sweden -- Social life and customs
Everybody who has taken the trouble to make the journey, of course,
advises other people to do the same, and insists that it is worth the
time, money, and fatigue it costs, on the same principle as the fox
that lost his tail in a trap wanted all the other foxes to cut off
their tails. There is one train each way daily, but it runs very
slowly,--about fifteen or eighteen miles an hour,--and stops a long
time at the stations. The cars are comfortable. The road belongs to
the government, and was built in the '90's for the transportation of
ore from the iron mines, which was previously hauled by cart in summer
and reindeer sledges in winter, to the ports of Lulea and Allapen, a
distance of about one hundred and forty miles.
When it is recalled that two-thirds of the inhabitants of Norway live
upon the coasts and fjords, the large part which water traffic plays
in the economy of the country will be easily understood. The coast
being well protected by a chain of islands, the skjaergaard, both
travel and commerce are carried on by means of small open boats. The
fjord rowboats, as a rule, are light and pointed, with upright and
high prow, and they carry a square sail. They are light to row, and
they go capitally before the wind. There is an extensive government
posting system on the coasts, fjords, and inland lakes, similar to
that along the public highways already described. The tariff from
fast stations for a four-oared boat and sail with two rowers is about
twelve cents a mile; eighteen cents for three rowers and a six-oared
boat, and twenty-four cents a mile for a boat with eight oars and four
rowers. The tariff is decided by the size of the boat and not by the
number of passengers. The rowers are not infrequently girls and women.
The large fjords and lakes have ample steamboat facilities, the coast
service between Bergen and Trondhjem being especially good. The
navigable channels of the fjords represent a coast line of twelve
thousand miles, and they are so entirely separated from the sea by
islands and reefs and obstructed at their entrances by old moraines,
that the fresh water from the melting snows and rivers lies four or
five feet deep on the surface. Small steamers ply on all the larger
fjords on which the rates are moderate and the accommodations fair. On
most of these boats a passenger pays full fare for himself and half
fare for the other members of his family, including his wife. Persons
who want to see the fjords of Norway thoroughly should take the
regular mail steamers, which call at all small ports and take a month
instead of a week for the voyage. The boats are small, but clean and
comfortable, and only occasionally have bad weather--very seldom in
summer. They wind in and out of the narrow passages, and because of
their size can navigate where the larger tourist steamers are not able
to go, and therefore the passengers on the latter miss some of the
finest scenery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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