



Produced by Larry B. Harrison, ellinora, Bryan Ness and
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MIDNIGHT SUNBEAMS.

[Illustration]




                           MIDNIGHT SUNBEAMS
                                  OR
                    BITS OF TRAVEL THROUGH THE LAND
                            OF THE NORSEMAN

                                  BY
                       _EDWIN COOLIDGE KIMBALL_

                                BOSTON
                     CUPPLES AND HURD, PUBLISHERS




                                  To
                            WALTER H. CAMP,
     In memory of years of friendship, this book is affectionately
                              dedicated.




PREFACE.


The following sketches of a journey in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark
are given to the public in the hope that their perusal will furnish
information concerning the people, and attractions, of countries which
are being visited by Americans more and more each succeeding year.
While they may impart some useful knowledge to intending travellers
over the same ground, it is hoped as well that they will furnish
entertainment to those who travel only through books.

The memories of the days passed in the North are so sunny and
delightful, that I wish others to enjoy them with me; and if the reader
receives a clear impression of the novel experiences and thorough
pleasure attending a journey through Norseland, and partakes, if only
in a limited degree, of my enthusiasm over the character of the people
and the imposing grandeurs of nature, the object of this book will be
accomplished.

  E. C. K.




CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER I.
  _COPENHAGEN AND ENVIRONS._
                                                               PAGE
  LÜBECK—JOURNEY TO COPENHAGEN—HERR RENTIER—BERTEL
  THORVALDSEN—MUSEUMS—AN EVENING AT THE TIVOLI—SOUVENIRS OF
  HAMLET—A FAMOUS MOTHER-IN-LAW—THE FREDERIKSBORG PALACE—AN
  AIMLESS WIDOW                                                  15


  CHAPTER II.
  _ACROSS SWEDEN BY THE GOTHA CANAL._

  A DAY AT GOTHENBURG—THE GOTHA CANAL—LIFE ON THE
  “VENUS”—KEEPING OUR MEAL ACCOUNTS—THE TROLLHÄTTA
  FALLS—PASTORAL SCENERY—SWEDISH BOARDING-SCHOOL
  GIRLS—LAKE MÄLAR                                               41


  CHAPTER III.
  _IN AND ABOUT STOCKHOLM._

  THE ISLANDS AND FEATURES OF THE CITY—THE WESTMINSTER ABBEY
  OF SWEDEN—INTERESTING MUSEUMS—LEADING CITY FOR
  TELEPHONES—SCENES AT EVENING CONCERTS—THE MULTITUDE OF
  EXCURSIONS—DOWN THE BALTIC TO VAXHOLM—ROYAL CASTLES ON THE
  LAKE—UNIVERSITY TOWN OF UPSALA                                 57


  CHAPTER IV.
  _RAILWAY JOURNEY TO THRONDHJEM._

  SWEDISH RAILWAYS AND MEAL STATIONS—AMONG THE SNOW
  BANKS—THE DESCENT TO THRONDHJEM—THE SHRINE OF ST.
  OLAF—NORTH CAPE STEAMERS                                       75


  CHAPTER V.
  _THE NORWEGIAN NORDLAND._

  THE EVER-PRESENT SALMON—A CHEESE EXHIBITION—THE BLESSED
  ISLAND BELT—TORGHÄTTA AND THE SEVEN SISTERS—SCENES WITHIN
  THE ARCTIC CIRCLE—VISIT TO THE SVARTISEN GLACIER—COASTING
  ALONG THE LOFODEN ISLANDS—SEA FOWL AND EIDER DUCKS—REINDEER
  SWIMMING ACROSS THE FJORD                                      89


  CHAPTER VI.
  _FROM TROMSÖ TO THE NORTH CAPE._

  THE SIGHTS OF TROMSÖ—A VISIT TO A WHALE-OIL FACTORY—THE
  MOST NORTHERN TOWN IN THE WORLD—BIRD ISLANDS IN THE
  ARCTIC OCEAN—A PICNIC AT THE BASE OF THE NORTH CAPE—THE
  MIDNIGHT SUN—PERPLEXITIES OF PERPETUAL DAY                    111


  CHAPTER VII.
  _THE VOYAGE BACK TO THRONDHJEM._

  THE LYNGEN FJORD—LAPP ENCAMPMENT IN THE TROMSDAL—A SMUKE
  PIGE—LAPP HUTS AND BABIES—REINDEER, AND THEIR MANIFOLD
  USES—LOADING CATTLE—FAREWELL APPEARANCE OF THE MIDNIGHT
  SUN—SCENES AMONG THE STEERAGE                                 133


  CHAPTER VIII.
  _MOLDE AND THE ROMSDAL._

  CHRISTIANSUND—RESTING AT MOLDE—LEPROSY IN NORWAY—FIRST
  CARRIOLE DRIVE—STRUGGLING WITH THE NORSE LANGUAGE—WALK
  THROUGH THE ROMSDAL                                           151


  CHAPTER IX.
  _A MOUNTAIN WALK._

  STEAMBOAT SERVICE—A NIGHT IN A MOUNTAIN SÆTER—PRIMITIVE
  ACCOMMODATIONS—A TALKATIVE FARMER—RIDING HORSEBACK UNDER
  DIFFICULTIES—AN EXHAUSTING TRAMP AND A TRIAL OF  PATIENCE—UP
  THE GEIRANGER FJORD TO MEROK—APPROACH TO HELLESYLT            169


  CHAPTER X.
  _ACROSS COUNTRY DRIVE._

  POSTING SYSTEM AND MANNER OF TRAVELLING IN THE
  INTERIOR—CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NORWEGIANS—A DAY’S
  CARRIOLING—A MORNING WALK—RIVAL INNKEEPERS—SCENES IN THE
  HAY FIELDS—OUR THIRD DAY’S RIDE—RESTING AT SANDE              187


  CHAPTER XI.
  _ON AND ABOUT THE SOGNEFJORD._

  A DAY ON THE SOGNEFJORD—EVENING SCENES AT A NORWEGIAN
  HOTEL—CARRIOLING THROUGH THE LAERDAL—BORGUND CHURCH—THE
  GRANDEURS OF THE NAERÖFJORD AND WALK THROUGH THE
  NAERÖDAL—OUR DRIVE TO VOSSEVANGEN—A MORNING WALK TO EIDE      211


  CHAPTER XII.
  _THE HARDANGER FJORD._

  A SABBATH AT VIK—ROAD BUILDING—VISIT TO THE VÖRINGSFOS—ODDE
  ON THE SÖRFJORD—EXCURSION TO THE SKJÆGGEDALSFOS—THE
  BRUARBRÆ—FROM ODDE BY STEAMER TO BERGEN                       231


  CHAPTER XIII.
  _BERGEN._

  OUR EXPERIENCES IN THE “WEEPING CITY”—SCENES IN THE FISH
  MARKET—RAINY WALKS ABOUT TOWN—A BENEFICIAL LICENCE
  SYSTEM—VOYAGE ACROSS THE NORTH SEA—UP THE RIVER MAAS TO
  ROTTERDAM                                                     253


  CHAPTER XIV.
  _EXPENSES AND PRACTICAL HINTS._

  WHAT DID IT COST?—THE ROUTE AND TIME ALLOWED FOR THE
  JOURNEY—CLOTHING AND FOOD—LADIES TRAVELLING ALONE—THE
  RESULT OF POLITENESS AND CONSIDERATION—CONCLUSION             267




COPENHAGEN AND ENVIRONS.




CHAPTER I. _COPENHAGEN AND ENVIRONS._

    LÜBECK—JOURNEY TO COPENHAGEN—HERR RENTIER—BERTEL
    THORVALDSEN—MUSEUMS—AN EVENING AT THE TIVOLI—SOUVENIRS OF HAMLET—A
    FAMOUS MOTHER-IN-LAW—THE FREDERIKSBORG PALACE—AN AIMLESS WIDOW.


It was on a charming day in June, after an hour’s railway ride from
Hamburg, that we arrived at Lübeck—the starting point of our journey
through Scandinavia. Lübeck is the smallest of the three independent
Hanseatic towns of the German Empire, both Hamburg and Bremen far
surpassing her in size and importance, yet at one time she stood at the
head of the Hanseatic League—the alliance of the great commercial towns
of North Germany.

Architecturally, Lübeck is one of the most interesting places in
Germany. You enter the town from the railway station through the
Holstenthor, a wonderful mediæval gateway of red brick and terracotta,
and soon reach the market-place, on two sides of which rises the
venerable Rathhaus, a Gothic building in brick, with many gables,
turrets and quaint spires; extending underneath it is the Rathskeller,
remarkable for its well-preserved vaulting, as well as for its
excellent Rhine wines and claret. The chimney piece in the apartment,
where wedding festivities were formerly celebrated, bears the following
inscription—a genuine bachelor sentiment—_Mennich man lude synghet wen
me em de Brut bringet; weste he wat men em brochte, dat he wol wenen
mochte_ (Many a man sings loudly when they bring him his bride; if he
knew what they brought him, he might well weep).

On one side of the square is the handsome modern post-office
constructed in the mediæval style; here and there in the quiet streets
we