CHARLES. "Bergen, one of the principal towns of Norway, stands on the North Sea: it is seated in the centre of a valley, forming a semicircle round a small gulf of the sea. On the land side it is defended by mountains; and on the other, by several fortifications. This city is chiefly constructed of wood, and has been many times destroyed by fire. So dreadful was the last conflagration, in 1771, that it is said the flames were visible in the Isles of Shetland, or at least the red lurid glare of them in the sky." MR. WILTON. "There are silver mines in Norway; but the iron mines are the most profitable. We have to thank Norway for the magnet, of such inestimable value to the navigator." GEORGE. "Papa, who found out the use of the magnet?" MR. WILTON. "Flavio Gioia was the author of the great discovery of the property of the magnet, about the year 1302. He was a citizen of Amalfi, a town in Naples." EMMA. "Is there not a destructive little animal, native of Norway, called a lemming?" MR. BARRAUD. "It is called the lemming, or Norwegian mouse; it comes from the ridge of Kolen; and sometimes spreads desolation, like the locust. These animals appear in vast numbers, proceeding from the mountain towards the sea, devouring every product of the soil, and, after consuming everything eatable in their course, they at last devour each other. These singular creatures are of a reddish color, and about five inches in length." EMMA. "We may now return to our station in Lancaster Sound, pass Croker's Bay, and enter Barrow's Straits which wash the shores of North Devon." GEORGE. "In the New Archipelago, north of Barrow's Straits, are the Georgian Isles. They are numerous, and the principal are Cornwallis, Bathurst, and Melville. The latter is the largest, being 240 miles long, and 100 miles in breadth." MR. BARRAUD. "Here is another dreary land where no tree or shrub refreshes the eye. The climate is too cold for any person to live there; and, from its vicinity to the magnetic meridian, the compass becomes useless, remaining in whatever position it is placed by the hand." EMMA. "Prince Regent's Inlet will lead us into Bothnia Gulf, thence through Fury and Hecla Straits,[11] which are between the peninsula of Melville and Cockburn Island, we can enter Foxes Channel, pass through Frozen Straits, and launch on the great waters of Hudson's Bay." [Footnote 11: So named because these two vessels were here frozen up from October 20th, 1822, to August 8th, 1823.]