| Show NORWAY AND SPITZ spitzbergen BERGEN leaving berlin some few weeks ago I 1 decided to make a trip along the coast of norway to the north cape and then on to Spitz spitzbergen bergen so I 1 started via copenhagen and going as far as by rall rail arriving there in the evening the next evening I 1 boarded one of the bergenske companas comp anys boats 1 I am glad my duty extends nu ni farther than writing that word I 1 found my way to my cabin finding my room mate in the land of nod playing the star spangled banner or remember the maine at a pretty lively tune knowing that no one but an american could render such tunes I 1 took the liberty to rouse him from his peace peaceful fui dreams he woke up and glared a moment at me so I 1 said we had bad ought to become acquainted with each other he then said my name is Montag nier I 1 immediately returned the favor and aad the usual followed such an aa where are you from ha have ve you been over long what boat did you come over in have a 9 rough voyage when are you going back like it over here etc etc we soon pumped each other dry becoming friends in a hurry A fellow feels at times as though he could welcome a yellow dog from america we were the only representatives of Yanke on board the neptune which was the name of our boat so we hung together pretty well all through the voyage the natio nationalists naJim of the passengers was rather mixed i a la irish stew the first day out ou t we were trying to study up a little norge lore such as the land of the ali midnight cknight I 1 sun by paul du Chail chaillou lu the land or the lapp and finn by F vincent and prof and fjords of norway towards evening we joined hands handa with three or tour four english people forming an an anglo glo american alliance tor for the time being p m we crossed the arctic cir alvi cle I 1 looked hard for the line boutmy but nay eyesight eye sight must have failed me as aa I 1 only saw land and water without a mark the event was saluted by firing four small cannons we had on board at 12 p m we had the sum in full view and from then on until we reached on our return it roust be pretty dark here during the winter months rip van winkle would have been believed in here the rocks are numerous enough to play at nine pins you can not find a more rugged coast than norway the coast survey registers islands and the captain informs me that there are many mors more so you can let imagination have full sweep as to the grandeur of norway and when you see the reality you will not be disappointed just imagine a high rugged range of mountains following along the coast as aft i a back ground with hundreds of pretty little inlets and thousands af islands in front and then the sea as far as the eye can reach it is a sight to be remembered remember ld there are but few people along the coast as its rugged nature is a drawback to farming the people live on fish and potatoes A great many have their cows and make some of the finest butter in the world going back to the midnight sun after it made its appearance a number of the passengers got full on the strength of it one especially a lawyer from newcastle was bryng to convince us that he was admiral seamore the swell of the ocean in au all my life I 1 never saw a man act the fool so well if barnum had only met him and labeled him as a curio his fortune would have been assured long ago he kept in the funny state all night anti and at dinner we had the climax of his bm mania in his trying to flirt with the bride of an austrian count we had on board what with his bowing and swift ing a misplaced eyebrow on his upper lip it was too comical to describe puck and judge cartoons take a back seat the captain soon relieved us of his company locked him up in ift his state room until morning when hie bb appeared I 1 took him aside and informed Inform td him that the austrian had bad sent him il challenge for insulting hs ho wife W V scared the life out of him he gota worked up that he hunted up the cout and apologized toward evening we vre anchored in a pretty bay with towering cliffs surrounding us on the mountain I 1 side in a a deep ravine was an I 1 immense 1 I glacier we all made ce tibe climb to it more for the exercise than anything else it was a very beaucl ful sight on arriving at the boat we got out fishing tackle and soon had some fish there Is not much epolt for a cod does not give you any trouble in landing it is just like pulling a dead weight there to is plenty of fine sw salmon mon f shing fishing I 1 in norway y but we did not have a try at them leaving the glacier we passed trough some of the afie prettiest fjords on the whole coast the next evening we arrived at a small village where we drove by carmol carniol some six miles to a lapp encampment X E looked in vain for snow huts fine skins etc but could see nothing but disgraceful wigwams with no special fedl ture about them and as for tb the lapps themselves our american Asne rican indians are princes by the side of them they are beyond a h doubt the dirtiest people un under der the face of the sun from aro appearances they never wash and as a a tor for reindeer they caty carry a very fine breed on their person which fa very numerous exceeding those in their corral they dress mainly in reindeer skins which are very greasy they most all wear a josephs coat boot of many colors which is sensational tf if wit tasty Y the reindeer we saw were not M the e noble looking animals I 1 thought them to be santa claus could do better with horses borses to draw his sledge I 1 think it would add more to his dignity mr Montag nier wanted to buy a lapp cap but I 1 objected thinking there might be a few reindeer in the seams it was well I 1 did as one of 0 our lady passengers repented buying one later on the next stop we made was at a small fishing town we left there in the evening arriving at ham merdest mer raer fest the most northern town in the world it is not much to look at there Is nothing of interest except the fact or of it being the most northern town in the world latitude 70 degrees 40 minutes the town is built entirely of timber being under the brow of a mountain which protects it from the cold arctic wind in winter time it Is quite a fishing station cod fish being dealt in largely the population is mixed yo you U can am get finns lapps rusland and nor we ire gians A great many of them are generally drunk and from all accounts cut up wickedly once in a while we left hammerfest Hammer fest about 4 and ana were at the north cape by 9 it is quite a sight approaching the cape longfellow uses these words and then before me upon the waters edge the huge and haggard shape of that unknown north cape whose form is like a wedge we went around to one side and dropped anchor then all proceeded to climb the cape to get a view of the midnight sun we pushed on over snow drifts and rocks arriving at the top pretty well tired out there is a small one ane room frame house on top where you can get champagne and crackers there is also a postbox there where you can in mallards mai ail lards as most every one does at 12 we had the sun in a bright red hue above the horizon of the arctic ocean standing as it were as A 9 guard of the north pole the photographers grap Crap hers of the midnight sun dont do it justice in the least if one could only vat put the light and color that nature gives us here on canvass but it will always be beyond us we left the cape about 2 am a an arriving at hammerfest Hammer fest in the ni morning orning of the same day four fohir of us left the neptune here boarding a smaller mailer boat bound for Spitz spitzbergen bergen arriving there two days later after a rough voyage on the arctic ocean which made me so sick that I 1 prayed for the boat to go down it was terrible I 1 to think of it the boat was very small so we were rocked in the cradle ot of the deep to perfection Spitz spitsbergen bergen is rather flat and was quite green I 1 expected it to be covered with snow but on an the contrary we did not see much snow there is one house on the uland island a small hotel here we were shown some of poor andrees balloon pictures he left never to call for the latitude is about 80 we did not stop ung and 0 how glad we were to get back on board another of the bergenske boats on the way back we touched at a whaling station where we had a close view of four large dead whales just brought to we also run in the lingen fjord which is to my esti estimation mation the finest one ta in norway two days later we arrived at where our party all split up I 1 started overland to stockholm where I 1 spent a week leaving there 1 I came on by boat to st petersburg where I 1 am britting writ ting these few lines I 1 will give you an account of st 81 petersburg in my next RAYMOND macune |
