JSE tbc Hutbot ct tbte Volume. 
 
 LOVES IN THE TROPICS. 
 i2mo. Cloth. Jl.OO. 
 
 A MODERN AGRIPPA, and PATIENCE BARKER, 
 nmo, Cloth. $1.25. 
 
A Holiday 
 
 IN 
 
 Spain and Norway 
 
 By 
 
 Caroline Earle White 
 
 Author of 
 
 Love in the Tropics," and lt A Modern Agrippa and 
 Patience Barker' ' 
 
 * 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 J. B. Lippincott Company 
 
 Mdcccxcv 
 
 1~)n>7 
 
 h=> 
 

 Copyright, 1895, 
 
 BY 
 
 J. B. Lippincott Company. 
 
 Printed by J. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U.S.A. 
 
I 2* 2- 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 These letters were written often in the 
 hurry of rapid travel, when the writer was 
 obliged at times to leave and return to 
 them, her train of thought being broken, 
 consequently they may appear somewhat 
 discursive. They give, however, a cor- 
 rect picture of the countries which they 
 describe, countries as yet rarely visited 
 by the majority of American tourists, and 
 hence may prove interesting. 
 
 C. E. W. 
 

SPAIN 
 
Cordova, May 9, 1894. 
 
 Deab . 
 
 At last we are in Spain, the country 
 which we have so much desired to visit for 
 several years, — sunny Spain, the land 01 
 romance and song, the scene ol the long 
 contest for supremacy between the Moors 
 and the Christians, a struggle that has 
 left its ineffaceable marks here, not only 
 in the abandoned and desecrated works 
 of art, but in its effect upon the character 
 and customs of the people. We entered 
 at Barcelona, the Liverpool of Spain, nearly 
 two weeks ago, and spent several days 
 there. It is the most prosperous city oi 
 the kingdom, and most resembles one of 
 our American towns in the bustle and air 
 of business which pervade the community, 
 but in the attractions of great works of 
 art, and the monuments of by-gone ; 
 it is behind all the rest of its r, It 
 
 possesses an exceedingly fine opera house, 
 
8 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 where one evening we attended the per- 
 formance. It was hero that, last Novem- 
 ber, the bomb was thrown by one o( the 
 
 anarchists which killed twenty two people 
 and wounded more than fifty more. In 
 seeing the spot where this occurrence took 
 place, and hearing the details, we realized 
 
 more than ever before the wickedness o{ 
 the species oi warfare which consists in 
 killing and wounding innocent men ami 
 women and children. It" anarchists wish 
 to advance their cause, and to lighten the 
 evils under which the working-classes 
 labor, they must choose some other means 
 than these. It is said that ever since the 
 bomb was thrown in the opera house at 
 Barcelona many oi the people, and the 
 aristocracy in particular, have refrained 
 from going there. The evening that we 
 attended the performance there were 
 guards posted, all around the building and 
 through the galleries. On the first of 
 May there were six thousand soldiers col- 
 lected in the city, in order to quell a dis- 
 turbance, provided any should occur; but 
 
SPAIM AND NORWAY 9 
 
 everything passed off quietly. The annual 
 exhibition of paintings was open while we 
 were there, but, judging from most of the 
 pictures which we saw, we should say that 
 art is now in Spain at a very low ebb. 
 Wishing to continue our journey along 
 the eastern coast as far as there was any 
 railroad to permit of our doing so, we left 
 Barcelona in the morning and late in the 
 afternoon reached Tarragona. 'I I)': Span- 
 ish trains go very slowly, and, when they 
 arrive at a place, do riot seem to be in any 
 hurry to leave it. The mails go with each 
 train in a separate car marked "correos," 
 rmd there is a box with a slit on the out- 
 side of each mail car, called in Spanish 
 "buzon," in which at the different stations 
 people can deposit tli^ir letters as they 
 would in a post-offjse. The mails arc 
 also distributed at each station ; and we 
 were much amused, on one occasion, 
 while the train appeared to be waiting an 
 indefinite time "with no one getting off or 
 getting on, at seeing one of the officials 
 reading aloud a letter to a peasant, who, 
 
IO A UOW PAY IN 
 
 as we supposed, had just received it, and 
 was unable to read or write. These im- 
 mensely long stops at some of the trifling 
 wayside stations, we have never been able 
 to comprehend. 
 
 Tarragona is a curious old town, beau- 
 tifully situated on a height overlooking the 
 Mediterranean. The inhabitants are very 
 poor, and the houses, of a Moorish or 
 Eastern appearance, are unattractive in 
 their exterior. The visits oi strangers 
 there must be like those o\ angels, " tew 
 and far between," judging from the man- 
 ner in which we were received, for, when 
 we went out to see the old cathedral in 
 which was the tomb o( Godfrey oi Bouil- 
 lon, we were soon followed by a crowd o( 
 children, going everywhere that we went, 
 precisely as if we had been a travelling cir- 
 cus or menagerie. Finding such notoriety 
 somewhat embarrassing, we soon con- 
 cluded to return to the hotel, though not 
 until we had carefully inspected the curi- 
 osities oi the cathedral. One respect in 
 which it differed from others we have seen 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY I I 
 
 was that all its huge pillars were covered 
 with hangings of the finest tapestry, rep- 
 resenting sacred subjects, all embroidered 
 by the nuns of Tarragona. The next day 
 we left there for Valencia. The first part 
 of the long journey we skirted the coast 
 as we had done between Barcelona and 
 Tarragona, and had our eye:, gladdened 
 by a constant view of the blue Mediter- 
 ranean ; but after a time the railway struck 
 inland,,and we were soon travelling through 
 groves of orange trees well nigh as thick 
 as leaves in Vallombrosa. We had hith- 
 erto soon mostly olivo trees and vineyards, 
 where the grape-vines were cut down to 
 the height of a little over a foot, together 
 with occasional fields of grain ; but as we 
 neared Valencia, we beheld little butorange 
 trees, most of them in blossom and some 
 bearing fruit The air was redolent with 
 their fragrance, and we enjoyed to the 
 utmost our first experience of such travel. 
 We found Valencia, where we stayed a 
 couple of days, a city of considerable im- 
 portance as a seaport, but otherwise pos- 
 
\ HOLIDAY IN 
 
 ng few attractions, although we were 
 
 . ople were unusually s< 
 
 and friendly. There, as in Barcelona, the 
 
 custom pi availed of driving Rocks of goats 
 
 • the stiwus. and stopping them at 
 
 certain places in order to give their milk 
 
 to waiting customers, Each goat is pre 
 
 vided with a bell hanging from a strap 
 
 around its neck, as well as a nui.vle to 
 keep it from eating up all the tender plants 
 along the line of its march, to say nothing 
 
 of hand hills and paper boxes. When it 
 rains, these valuable animals are provided 
 with an India-rubber, tightly-fitting blanket 
 or cover to prevent their taking cold. 
 
 They are milked out in the street any- 
 where apparently that any one comes up 
 with a pitcher or bowl desiring a supply 
 o( the lacteal fluid. The tinkling oi the 
 
 bells around their necks forms aw impor- 
 tant feature in the city noises every morn 
 ing d\\d evening, and is likely to disturb 
 the matutinal slumbers of those who 
 hear it for the first time. In Valencia, in 
 addition to the usual droves o( goats, 
 
IPA1 '■'■' / 1 3 
 
 a appeared upon the scene, some of 
 the inhabitants evidently preferring l 
 milk to that of their smaller relal 
 
 reas every goat was furnished with a 
 small bell, every cow had a huge one 
 around her neck, giving forth the most 
 unmusical sound possible, and attached to 
 her side, by means of straps or ropes, 
 walked \\<-r latest offspring, in the shape 
 of a young bull All these little bulls 
 were muzzled, but at stated intervals the 
 muzzles were removed, and they were 
 allowed to refresh themselves at the ma- 
 ternal fount \*v(:ry cow was invariably 
 accompanied by her son, a custom, the 
 reason for which we could not divine until 
 
 as suggested to us that cows have 
 sometimes a habit of refusing to let '. ; 
 their milk until they know that a portion 
 of it at least is to contribute to the nour- 
 ishing of their offspring. AH these curious 
 sights in the heart of a great city inter- 
 ested us extremely, while at the same time 
 our hearts were saddened with the reflec- 
 tion that all these little bovines were being 
 
14 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 roared for the purpose of affording a holi- 
 day amusement, by their tortures, suffer- 
 ing, and death in the bull-ring, to a cruel, 
 
 excited crowd oi spectators. Ice appears 
 to be almost an unknown substance in 
 Spain, and, as the weather at this time oi 
 the year is very warm, there arises the 
 necessity not only oi obtaining milk fresh 
 at one's door, but oi having a market 
 every day in the week. The market 
 square on Sunday in Valencia was the 
 most busy and animated spot in the whole 
 city, and many of the stalls were not closed 
 till three or four o'clock in the afternoon. 
 Meantime the churches were well filled, 
 for a more devout nation than the Span- 
 iards can hardly be found on the face of 
 the erlobe. In the great cathedrals several 
 masses are going on at the same time 
 until ten or eleven o'clock every day in 
 the week, and in the smaller churches 
 there is at least one mass every hour. 
 We heard a beautiful musical service on 
 Sunday morning' in Valencia. It appeared 
 to be what is called the " Office of the 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 1 5 
 
 Blessed Virgin/' Two fine male voi 
 in the choir sang a portion of a hymn, and 
 the congregation responded by singing 
 the remainder, with the organ for an ac- 
 companiment. When we left Valencia, as 
 we could no longer follow the sea-coast, 
 the railroad not yet being built, we decided 
 to go to Cordova. It was a long, uninter- 
 esting and tiresome journey, lasting nearly 
 twenty-four hours. Travelling all night 
 on a Spanish railway, even if in a first- 
 class carriage, is not paradisiacal. We 
 shudder to think of what it must be in a 
 second-class conveyance. Soon after leav- 
 ing Valencia, our eyes were greeted with 
 an unusual sight, that of a large number 
 of rice fields. They were all covered with 
 water to the depth of two or three inches, 
 recalling to our minds what we had heard 
 of the unhealthfulness of rice cultivation. 
 The country after a time became evidently 
 less fertile, as we could see from the nature 
 of the crops, and during the greater part 
 of the day our road led through the arid 
 and rather desolate province of La Man- 
 
1 6 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 cha, famous for being the theatre of the 
 life and exploits of Cervantes' hero. The 
 land, being less rich than some of that 
 we had passed through, furnished a favor- 
 able soil for wild flowers, which grew in 
 profusion. We thought we had never 
 seen anything more beautiful than the 
 masses of the rich scarlet poppy inter- 
 spersed with a delicate blue flower re- 
 sembling a convolvulvus, which grew in 
 great quantities, and small yellow dande- 
 lions. The road-sides were a glory. Their 
 loveliness reconciled us to the absence of 
 the fertile, well-cultivated fields on which 
 we had gazed so long. We reached here 
 about eleven o'clock in the morning, and, 
 after taking our mid-day meal and an after- 
 noon siesta, started out on a tour of in- 
 spection. Our steps were, of course, im- 
 mediately directed towards the great 
 wonder of Cordova, the famous mosque, 
 now changed into a Catholic cathedral. 
 Though we had read of it all our lives, 
 we were unprepared for the marvellous 
 sight that burst upon our view as we en- 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 1 7 
 
 tered. It is of such immense dimensions 
 that it appeared to us even larger than 
 St. Peter's at Rome, and in whatever direc- 
 tion we turned our eyes we saw before 
 us a sea of arches supported by delicate, 
 slender pillars, yet in nothing like confu- 
 sion, but arranged so symmetrically, that 
 wherever we turned there lengthened out 
 before us a wide vista with columns on 
 both sides stretching out almost inter- 
 minably. We were conducted by the 
 sexton to a portion of the edifice which 
 was to the Moslem the Holy of Holies, 
 and where the arabesques upon the arches 
 and walls were of the most superb de- 
 scription. Here there was an inner cir- 
 cular chamber with a fluted ceiling all cut 
 out of one piece of marble, surrounded 
 with inscriptions from the Koran engraved 
 in stone, the floor of which, although nearly 
 as hard as the solid rock, was worn in a 
 groove by the pilgrims to the mosque, 
 who used to walk around it seven times 
 in imitation of the ceremonies at Mecca. 
 This mosque was constructed purposely 
 
iS A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 with a view to its being used as a sacred 
 shrine, and answering, instead of Mecca, 
 as a spot to which the faithful might make 
 an annual pilgrimage. This wonderful 
 work of art was greatly impaired in the 
 beauty of its interior by the Christians, who, 
 when they gained possession of it in the 
 fourteenth century, covered a large por- 
 tion of the delicate arabesques on the 
 walls with a thick coat of plaster. There 
 is now being an attempt made to remove 
 this plaster and restore the sacred edifice 
 to its former condition. 
 
 Grenada, May 12, 1S94. 
 
 Dear . 
 
 In all the places we have seen in Spain, 
 none has pleased us so much as Cordova. 
 Although the houses are of an Eastern 
 simplicity externally, with bare white walls 
 and little balconied windows, they are very 
 attractive on account of their charming 
 court-yards, generally filled with plants or 
 flowers. Every house, except those of 
 
SPAIN ANO NORWAY I9 
 
 the very humblest order, is built with a 
 square vestibule, having a brick or stone 
 
 floor, and with heavy wooden outside doors 
 that are kept wide open except at night 
 This vestibule leads into the court-yard 
 with a gate between, the upper half of 
 which is of open iron work, allowing 
 passers-by to look through and see the 
 flowers. Even the houses which have not 
 the court-yard, have the little balconies 
 outside the windows filled with geraniums, 
 ro ' >, and other flowering plants. The 
 roses o r Spain have been a wonder to us 
 throughout our journey, and the same in 
 Italy. Not only their beauty, but their 
 cheapness is amazing to American minds. 
 In Florence we could buy two or three 
 dozen rose buds in a bunch (and those of 
 the finest varieties, such as we raise in hot 
 houses at home) for six or eight cents. 
 The cleanliness of Cordova is remarkable 
 as well as the aesthetic taste of its inhab- 
 itants. We walked through its streets 
 early in the morning, and everywhere they 
 were being washed ; not only the side- 
 
20 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 walks, but the middle of the streets, the 
 width of the whole being usually about 
 twelve feet. There was the inevitable 
 bull-ring in this as in all other towns of 
 Spain, but we passed it by with as little 
 notice as possible, to avoid the unpleasant 
 suggestions caused by the sight. As we 
 were leaving Cordova on our way here, 
 we perceived some trouble in the railway 
 carriage next to ours, and presently we 
 heard some alarming screams. After a 
 moment's reflection, we concluded that it 
 must be an insane person who was being 
 conveyed to a hospital, but upon inquiry 
 we learned from the guard that it was a 
 drunken woman. This surprised usgreatly, 
 as we had never seen an intoxicated man 
 in Spain, much less a woman, but inquiring 
 farther, we learned that it was an English 
 woman. She was accompanied by one of 
 her own countrymen with whom she was 
 travelling, and she was evidently just 
 getting over a spree. This occurrence 
 caused something of a sensation, and a 
 Spanish officer who was in our carriage 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 21 
 
 entered into conversation with those of 
 our party who could speak Spanish. He 
 was from Cordova, and told us a great 
 deal of the character and customs of the 
 people of his native town. He said that 
 their habits of thrift and cleanliness had 
 descended to them from the Moors who 
 so long inhabited Cordova, and that in 
 many other respects they showed the in- 
 fluence of Moorish customs. The women, 
 he said, were extremely modest and re- 
 tiring, fond of seclusion, and preferring 
 the company of their own to that of the 
 opposite sex. Referring to the drunken 
 woman in the neighboring carriage, he 
 told us that in Cordova intoxication in 
 females indicated the very extreme of deg- 
 radation. No woman could sink lower 
 than that. He mentioned, as an instance 
 of the retiring habits of his towns-women, 
 that a short time before he had gone on 
 a little excursion with a small party of 
 friends. There were some ladies among 
 them, who enjoyed themselves very much 
 until some strangers entered the railway 
 
22 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 carriage. They were gentlemen, but still 
 they were strangers, and their presence 
 made the ladies so uncomfortable that 
 they insisted upon going into another car- 
 riage where they could be by themselves. 
 We were passing at that time through a 
 beautifully cultivated country with a long 
 stretch of fertile fields on each side of the 
 road. Our companion told us that it all 
 belonq-ed to the Duke of Medina Coeli, 
 that as far as the eye could reach the land 
 was his, and that he was enormously rich. 
 We took the opportunity of asking him 
 something we had long wished to know, 
 — viz., whether the men who farmed the 
 lands did it in shares, or in what manner 
 they were paid for their work. He re- 
 plied that they were compensated by a 
 certain fixed sum, which never varied, so 
 that they were sure of a maintenance in 
 case the crops failed, or the taxes were 
 increased. The farming, although very 
 rude instruments were often used, that is, 
 rude in comparison with ours at home, 
 appeared to be remarkably well done, and 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 23 
 
 we were told that this excellent method 
 of cultivating the ground had also been 
 taught to them by the Moors. There are 
 often droughts of considerable length here 
 and irrigation is very common. All the 
 orange orchards that we have seen have 
 been kept constantly moistened by arti- 
 ficial means, and, as I said before, the rice 
 fields that we saw were covered with water 
 to a depth of several inches. Until we 
 came here to Grenada, we never saw a 
 forest tree, unless we could consider as 
 such a few scattered Lombardy poplars. 
 Poor Spain has been denuded of almost 
 all her forests. Orange and olive trees 
 there are in great abundance, but they 
 do not attain to any considerable height. 
 After such a deprivation, it was all the 
 more delightful to us to see the quantity 
 of magnificent elms here at Grenada. 
 Our hotel, the " Siete Suelos," looks right 
 out upon the Alhambra. As we sit in the 
 garden taking our morning coffee or our 
 dejeuner a la fourchette, we are only sepa- 
 rated by a wall from the historic pile. The 
 
24 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 roads in every direction around the Al- 
 hambra are bordered with these splendid 
 trees, sent out here from England, and 
 which cast so thick a shade that no other 
 protection from the sun is necessary. The 
 morning after our arrival we started at 
 once, after taking our coffee, for the Al- 
 hambra. There is a large settlement of 
 gypsies here, and we had not gone far 
 before one of the women approached, 
 begging to be allowed to tell our fortunes. 
 We resisted her importunities for some 
 time, but she was so attractive, with her 
 black eyes and white teeth contrasting 
 brilliantly with her dark skin, that at last 
 we yielded, and allowed her to tell the 
 fortune of an unmarried member of our 
 party. The fortune, when it was told, was 
 much in the style of such performances 
 generally; but, after it was done, she pro- 
 posed, if her payment was supplemented 
 with another piece of silver, to tell us a 
 fortunate number in the lottery. We de- 
 clined, at the same time telling her that 
 we did not approve of lotteries. This was 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 2$ 
 
 evidently a height of morality far beyond 
 her comprehension, and we left her in a 
 state of bewilderment. I do not propose 
 to say much of the Alhambra, since it is 
 the one thing in Spain with which Amer- 
 icans are particularly well acquainted. The 
 writings of Washington Irving have made 
 our country people feel at home here, if 
 nowhere else. We were conscious of a 
 little feeling of disappointment in seeing 
 it for the first time. It did not seem to 
 us so wonderful as the mosque at Cordova, 
 still, we thought many parts of it magnifi- 
 cent, particularly the Court of Lions and 
 the Hall of the Ambassadors. The grand 
 hall where Queen Isabella received Chris- 
 topher Columbus and promised him her 
 jewels to aid him in his undertaking — 
 when setting out for the journey which re- 
 sulted in the discovery of America — had 
 an especial interest for us, as well as the 
 smaller room with the fountain in the 
 middle where all the Abencerrages who 
 had incurred the displeasure of the Sul- 
 tan Boabdil were decapitated, their blood 
 
26 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 mingling with the water of the fountain. 
 There are many other places of -interest 
 here that we have visited, — the beautiful 
 church dedicated to the famous Portuguese 
 saint, St. John of God, and which contains 
 his remains, the still handsomer Cartuja 
 belonging- to the monastery of the Car- 
 thusians, and the chapel of the Cathedral 
 where are interred Ferdinand and Isabella, 
 and their daughter Joanna, with her hus- 
 band, Philip of Austria. A gentleman in 
 our party descended into the vault and 
 touched the coffins of the royal couples, 
 but the effort being attended with consider- 
 able discomfort, the ladies did not attempt 
 it. The sight of Joanna's effigy in marble 
 recalled the sad story of the unfortunate 
 queen, and we seemed to see before us 
 the melancholy procession, continued dur- 
 ing weeks of stormy and bitter weather, 
 when she bore the body of her beautiful, 
 intensely beloved husband from Austria 
 to Spain, where it found a resting-place at 
 last in the chapel where we beheld it. The 
 loss of her consort, joined with her grief 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 2J 
 
 at his indifference to her, when she loved 
 him so devotedly, bereft her of reason, 
 
 and, after the death of her father and 
 mother, she was kept in confinement for 
 many years by her son, Charles the Fifth, 
 never recovering her faculties so long as 
 she lived. In the same chapel we were 
 shown the casket in which Queen Isabella 
 placed the jewels that were sold for the 
 benefit of Columbus, and some ecclesiasti- 
 cal vestments worn by Cardinal Mendoza, 
 as well as other objects of interest. One 
 of the greatest pleasures that we have 
 had in connection with the Alhambra is 
 the ascent of the Torre de la Vela, and 
 the magnificent view we had from its sum- 
 mit, the beauty of which was greatly in- 
 creased by the snow mountains of the 
 Sierra Nevada. On one side lay all 
 Grenada at our feet, on the other the 
 great vega or plain stretched out before 
 us, with its fertile, well-cultivated fields, 
 and the river Genii wandering along its 
 whole length. The day was beautiful, 
 and the air as well as the prospect so 
 
2S A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 agreeable that we spent an hour or two 
 on top of the tower. We shall not soon 
 forget Grenada, with its Alhambra and its 
 gypsies and its groves of elms. It has 
 also some celebrated gardens, which we 
 have visited and found them most attract- 
 ive, barring a little stiffness in the arrange- 
 ment of the tlower-beds and walks. No- 
 where has the appearance of the people, 
 of the men especially, impressed us more 
 favorably than at Cordova. The officer 
 who was our travelling companion, said 
 that it was an unusually aristocratic city, 
 mentioning with considerable pride that 
 there were twenty-six noble families re- 
 siding within its walls. We were inclined 
 to believe there was something in what he 
 said, from the fact that one afternoon, while 
 we were in the great mosque or cathedral, 
 we had seen the funeral of a citizen who 
 held some public office, and we were im- 
 pressed with the appearance of the men 
 attending it. One of them, whom we par- 
 ticularly noticed, had the head and face of 
 an Apollo. He was a man about fifty 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 20, 
 
 years of age, with a perfectly Greek pro- 
 file, a figure worthy of his face, and a 
 high-bred air; at the same time modest 
 and quiet as if perfectly unconscious of 
 his attractions. Women do not attend fu- 
 nerals in Spain, There are peculiar cus- 
 toms in connection with their going to 
 church which it takes a stranger a little 
 while to learn. It is " de rigueur" to have 
 on a black dress and to wear a mantilla 
 when at mass. In the streets and at en- 
 tertainments we see them sometimes with 
 bonnets, but never in church. The younger 
 women take to bonnets kindly, but some 
 of the older ones refuse ever to wear 
 them. They evidently look upon them as 
 a corrupting influence, which, if not re- 
 pelled and kept at bay, may lead to a de- 
 terioration of morals. We have heard so 
 much of the Spanish mantilla and of its 
 picturesqueness, that we expected to find 
 it enhancing the good looks of its wearer, 
 but this is by no means the case. A pretty 
 bonnet or hat is in our opinion ten times 
 as becoming. Now we must start for 
 
30 A H011 PAY IN 
 
 Gibraltar and rangier, ami say good-bye 
 to you for the present. 
 
 Tangier, Morocco, M.n 15, 1 So 4. 
 Dear . 
 
 Every American should come to Tan- 
 gier, it" he wishes to see the exact opposite 
 oi everything that he has ever beheld or 
 known in all his life before. One can 
 easily imagine upon arriving here that he 
 is suddenly transplanted by a friendly 
 genie and set down in the midst oi a 
 scene from the Arabian Nights. There is 
 no road either in or around the city, con- 
 sequently such a thing as a carriage is 
 unknown. Everybody rides on a horse, 
 a mule, or a donkey, unless he prefers 
 Shanks's mare. The streets are all very 
 narrow and paved with cobble stones, put 
 down more unevenly than even those in 
 the streets of Philadelphia, so that much 
 exercise in the way oi walking is not bal- 
 samic to the feet. 'Through these narrow 
 streets, particularly the principal one oi 
 
IPA1 WM 31 
 
 the town, pours a motley ass':mbJa^ of 
 
 >s, Moors. n in coarse, light 
 
 cotton garments, with their faces covered 
 up excepting the eye s, negroes, Jews, 
 Europeans, and Ai orses, m 
 
 donkeys, camels, and dogs, all mixed up 
 in inextricable confusion. Everyl 
 
 9 in the middle of the street (there 
 being, as a general thing, nowhere 
 jo walk), and is consei tntinually 
 
 under the nose of a horse 01 e, or 
 
 pushed aside bya donkey* Why we 
 not been run over before th 
 foot, or why we I .- v': over sc 
 
 body else when on a mule, is a standing 
 
 irel. Everything is so utterly and en- 
 tirely different from all to which we have 
 Loon accustomed that we were conscious 
 of a feeling of surprise in seeing that the 
 dogs and cats looked just '■. at 
 
 The ho r : nearly all of plain 
 
 whifc d exteriors, two stories high, 
 
 etimes with pretty good sized w 
 on the second floor; sometimes with 
 nothing but slits in the wall, only large 
 
$2 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 enough to allow the entrance of an in- 
 finitesmal quantity of light and air. It 
 may be that these have open court-yards, 
 or are lighted in some other way ; as we 
 did not enter them, we cannot say. \Ye 
 have, however, gone into the lower story 
 of some that are very pretty, with large 
 halls and ornamented columns and ceil- 
 ings in die Moorish style of architecture. 
 A great many of the houses have shops 
 under them. These shops are the most 
 curious places imaginable. They are like 
 little booths, having no windows, and get- 
 ting all their light from the open door-way. 
 There are no chairs in them, and the 
 Moors, who are their possessors, either 
 stand or squat, cross-legged, upon the 
 floor. We entered one, to-day, larger 
 and of a more pretentious appearance. 
 In order to reach it we went into an en- 
 trance like that of a private house, then 
 through one or two hall-ways, and finally 
 out into the inevitable court-yard with a 
 tessellated marble floor and open to the 
 sky. On one side of this court-yard was 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 33 
 
 the shop, on the others the living rooms 
 of the family of the proprietor. lie was 
 a Jew from Tetuan, and was of a very 
 sociable and friendly disposition. This 
 was evinced, in the first place, by his mak- 
 ing us acquainted with all his family, his 
 wife at the head and a number of small 
 children bringing up the rear. We were 
 looking for embroideries, and we mark; a 
 small purchase, not enough to have 
 allowed any great amount of profit, so we 
 must attribute it to his natural benevolence 
 that, on the way out, he invited us to walk 
 in and seat ourselves in what we suppose 
 was his parlor. A music-box was then 
 set going for our edification, and some re- 
 freshment was served to us in the shape 
 of a kind of preserved fruit and glasses 
 of cordial, the last emblematic, we thought, 
 of the welcome we had received. We 
 considered that, upon the whole, we could 
 not have had better treatment even at the 
 hands of a Christian. Yesterday we had 
 our first mule ride in Tangier. Each mule 
 was accompanied by an attendant in the 
 3 
 
34 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 shape of an Arab man or boy, and in ad- 
 dition we had a guide, who went with us 
 on foot We rode first through the main 
 street of the town and out of the grate 
 into the great market-place, which is always 
 a scene of the most immense activity, tu- 
 mult, and confusion. Here sit a line of 
 women in the portion of the ground (for 
 it is all on the bare ground and not in any 
 enclosed or covered space) nearest to the 
 wall of the town, selling vegetables and 
 coal ; beyond them an immense number 
 of donkeys being loaded and unloaded; 
 beyond them, again, droves of cattle, 
 brought from the interior, to be sent away 
 in boats to Gibraltar and Cadiz, and a 
 little farther on, a quantity of camels just 
 arrived from the desert, lying down to 
 rest themselves after their long journey, 
 in many cases the young ones lying at the 
 side of their mothers. In the midst of 
 this medley are men going around selling 
 cakes and other eatables, musicians seated 
 on the ground making" a series of dis- 
 cordant sounds supposed to be attractive, 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 35 
 
 and which certainly attract a large crowd 
 to witness the performances of a snake- 
 charmer, and everywhere through it all, 
 beggars, beggars, beggars. The scene is 
 one that upon all occasions, or at least 
 when we have seen it, is simply indescrib- 
 able. With the aid of our shouting at- 
 tendants, we made our way through it, 
 and were conducted to several places of 
 interest, the most remarkable among them 
 being that of the harem of the governor. 
 Only the ladies of our party were allowed 
 to enter here. We found five or six in- 
 mates, one being evidently a servant. Of 
 the others, the eldest was much the hand- 
 somest, but all had very fine eyes. They 
 were dressed in the Eastern costume, with 
 sashes very low down around their waists, 
 and some soft white stuff around their 
 heads. Their apartments consisted of 
 several rooms around an open court-yard, 
 all with beautifully tessellated floors in dif- 
 ferent colored stone. There was not a 
 chair anywhere, but low divans or couches 
 were spread around in the different rooms, 
 
36 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 on which the women sat or reclined. They 
 all sprang up as we entered and a lively- 
 conversation ensued, they speaking Arabic 
 and we English. Neither party under- 
 stood a word that the other said, so we 
 did not make our visit a very long one. We 
 then went to the prison, which is a woful 
 place. We were allowed to look through 
 a hole at the inmates, who were seated on 
 the bare ground, in a wretched damp, 
 dark, dirty place, making straw baskets. 
 We gave a shilling to the guard seated at 
 the door of the prison, although he did 
 nothing for us, because we were told to 
 do so by our guide ; but we bought no 
 baskets of the poor prisoners, which we re- 
 gretted most sincerely afterwards, when we 
 heard that the government, which confines 
 them in such a terrible place, gives them 
 nothing to eat, so that, were it not for 
 the charity of visitors, they would starve 
 to death. It is reported that such has 
 been the fate of some of these miserable 
 captives. The tales that we hear of the 
 cruelty and tyranny of the government 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 37 
 
 are almost incredible. An English lady, 
 who has lived there for a number of years, 
 told us that no Moor dares to have a 
 handsome house exteriorly, or anything 
 that would give rise to the suspicion that 
 he has much money, as there would be, in 
 such a case, some charge trumped up 
 against him, and he would be thrown into 
 prison and kept there until almost the 
 last farthing had been squeezed out of 
 him. For the same reason, an agricul- 
 turist has no incentive to any great effort 
 in cultivating the ground, or raising any- 
 thing extra in the way of crops, as it 
 would at once be supposed that he was 
 making money, and he would be pounced 
 upon by the government. The poverty 
 and dirt and squalor are indescribable, 
 and yet, in spite of it all, there is a pic- 
 turesqueness and air of romance and a 
 glamour that can be found nowhere but 
 in the East. After leaving the jail we 
 rode onto a hill which gave us a fine view 
 of the city, and then descended to the sea- 
 shore, where the setting sun gilding the 
 
2>& A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 tops of some of the hills on the opposite 
 side of the bay, and leaving others in 
 shadow while it cast a rosy light on the 
 softly lapping waves of the Mediterranean, 
 made a picture which filled us with delight. 
 We stopped in Gibraltar a couple of days 
 before crossing over here. From Grenada 
 we went to Algeciras, only a short distance 
 from Gibraltar, on a new railroad lately 
 finished. This portion of the road is in 
 English hands, and is under the manage- 
 ment of a Scotchman named Morrison. 
 We met on the way a gentleman whose 
 acquaintance we had made before in going 
 from Tarragona to Certoza. He told us 
 that he was travelling in Spain for the 
 purpose of obtaining information with re- 
 gard to the life and career of Pedro de 
 Luna, a Spaniard, who was made Pope 
 under the title of Benedict the Thirteenth, 
 and afterwards declared schismatic by the 
 Council of Constance. During the time 
 that he occupied the Papal throne, he 
 founded the University of St. Andrews in 
 Scotland, and this gentleman, who was a 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 39 
 
 Scotchman, was endeavoring on behalf of 
 the university to learn something more 
 than has hitherto been known of its orig- 
 inator. On this journey to Algeciras, we 
 had the finest scenery that we have been 
 favored with anywhere in Spain. For 
 some distance the mountains and ravines 
 were quite as fine as anything we have 
 seen in the Austrian Tyrol, and even sug- 
 gested the magnificent journey over the 
 St. Gothard pass. A few miles from Al- 
 geciras we came to some beautiful forests 
 of cork trees. Their aspect was most 
 refreshing, as we had seen no tall trees, 
 except at Grenada, since entering Spain. 
 These cork woods are a great place of 
 resort for picnic parties from Gibraltar, 
 and there was one in them at the time we 
 arrived, waiting for our train to take them 
 home. At Algeciras there is a pier built 
 out into the sea, so that we could at once 
 go on board the little steamer that was 
 to take us over to Gibraltar. This pier, 
 which is the only one to be found any- 
 where in that part of the Mediterranean, 
 
40 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 is the result of the efforts of Mr. Morrison, 
 who, as we have said, is the manager of 
 the road. He told a friend of ours that, 
 for some months after the pier was built, 
 his life was in danger on account of the 
 indignation of the boatmen at having their 
 means of a livelihood interfered with. 
 Everywhere else, at Gibraltar, Tangier, 
 and Cadiz, we had to leave the steamer 
 and get out into little boats to be rowed 
 or sailed ashore. It is most annoying and 
 even dangerous when there is a strong 
 wind and the surf is high. At Tangier 
 the passengers have frequently to be car- 
 ried ashore on the backs of slaves. It 
 seemed to us very surprising that the 
 British government, which has done so 
 much at Gibraltar and done it so well, 
 building fortifications and a sea-wall of so 
 magnificent a character, should have no 
 pier, and consequently subject all visitors 
 to such inconveniences. Gibraltar pleases 
 us very much, as it had done on a previ- 
 ous visit. Al thou eh we did not have the 
 curious sight which greeted us before, of 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 4 1 
 
 little donkeys a few days old being carried 
 about in panniers on the backs of their 
 mothers, we saw much else that was in- 
 teresting. The Sunday afternoon that we 
 were there we had one of the finest ocean 
 drives that has ever fallen to our lot. It 
 was to Europa Point, which juts out into 
 the sea close to a high rock rising pre- 
 cipitously from the waves to the height 
 of between one and two hundred feet. It 
 seemed strange to us to get back to 
 pounds, shillings, and pence, after having 
 had pesetas and reals so long; but we had 
 only just become accustomed to the Eng- 
 lish money, when we came over here where 
 there is such a mixture that it is difficult 
 to find out what you owe for anything. 
 Sometimes it is shillings, sometimes pese- 
 tas, sometimes francs, and then there is a 
 currency peculiar, to Morocco, of which we 
 do not even know the name. On the way 
 over from Gibraltar, we noticed in the boat 
 two youths of a brown complexion, dressed 
 handsomely in the Moorish costume, who 
 we judged were persons of some distinc- 
 
42 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 tion. The sequel proved that we were 
 correct, for after awhile our Scotch friend, 
 who was very familiar with everything re- 
 lating to Morocco, having spent much 
 time there, recognized them as the sons 
 of the Shereef of Wasan. In a short time 
 their mother appeared, and our friend, who 
 was acquainted with her, presented all our 
 party to her. She was a white woman 
 from England, who had gone to Morocco 
 to take the position of governess in a 
 family of note, and there had made the 
 acquaintance of the aforesaid native prince, 
 the Shereef of Wasan, who proposed to 
 her to become one of his wives. She con- 
 sented, thinking, no doubt, that the posi- 
 tion of the wife of a noble Moor, even if 
 one among many, was preferable to that 
 of a poor governess. We were not of 
 the same way of thinking, but it was she 
 who had to make the choice, not we. 
 When we landed at Tangier, the arrival of 
 the two elegantly apparelled youths caused 
 a great sensation, and, although the rain 
 was falling heavily, they were followed by 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 43 
 
 a crowd as they made their way through 
 the streets on foot, of course, as there 
 seemed to be no other means of locomo- 
 tion practicable, to their abode. We 
 hoped that we might be able to enter a 
 mosque here, but we find that it is not 
 allowed. We have heard, however, the 
 call at sunset from the priest, followed by 
 a chorus of voices, " There is no God but 
 Allah, and Mahomet is His prophet !" 
 Even the animals in the streets seem to 
 partake of some of the curious habits of 
 the people. The dogs lie down flat in the 
 road, right in the way of donkeys, horses, 
 mules, and all the passers-by, and go 
 sound asleep, so sound that they look as 
 if they were dead. If a dog in our coun- 
 try should do such a thing, we should 
 think he had softening of the brain. The 
 donkeys, too, poor, ill-used creatures, are 
 so familiar with the human race that, as 
 Cowper says, " their tameness is shocking 
 to view." One day, when I was going 
 down a slight incline in the street, on 
 the uncomfortable cobble-stones, I felt 
 
44 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 something with a rather heavy foot step- 
 ping on my dross behind me. As the 
 garment in question was not very long, I 
 thought how unpleasantly near some man 
 must be to me, and turned around to re- 
 monstrate, when, behold, it was a donkey. 
 We must quit, however, this interesting 
 place, with its delightful climate and its 
 many contradictions of pleasure and dis- 
 comfort, and go to Cadi.: in order to com- 
 plete our Spanish tour. 
 
 Skvu if, May 23, 1S94. 
 
 Dear . 
 
 This is one of the most interesting 
 cities of Spain, and we have found so 
 much to see, beside being very comfortable 
 in an unusually nice hotel, that we have 
 been here nearly a week, and do not in- 
 tend to leave until after the celebration of 
 the festival of Corpus Christi, which takes 
 place to-morrow. We have been told 
 that nowhere in Spain, indeed, nowhere in 
 the whole world, is Corpus Christi cele- 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 45 
 
 brated as it is here. There is a wonderfully 
 curious ceremony, which is to be seen no- 
 where but here— a dance by the young men 
 and boys of the choir, which is to take 
 place after mass, and when this is over 
 there is to be a grand procession through 
 the principal streets of the city. Strangers 
 are staying over to-morrow to witness the 
 unusual spectacle, and seats in balconies 
 and windows along the route of the pro- 
 cession are bringing a high price. Awnings 
 are being put up to protect those march- 
 ing underneath from the sun, — or rain, in 
 case the weather should not be propitious, 
 — and the whole city is beginning to put 
 on an air of animation and excitement. I 
 am sorry to say that the ceremonies, or 
 shall I say festivities, of the day, are to be 
 terminated by a bull-fight in the afternoon. 
 Not only here, but in Grenada, and I do 
 not know how many other places, there 
 are to be bull-fights, or, as the Spaniards 
 call them, " corridas de toros," to-morrow 
 afternoon. The following notice that I 
 have copied is one that is posted up at the 
 
46 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 entrance to our hotel where everybody 
 can read it : 
 
 " The first grand bull-fight in Grenada 
 [first of the season, it means] will take 
 place on the 24th of May, Corpus Christi, 
 when six fine bulls, bred by Senor D. Ed- 
 uardo Miuro, of Seville, will be killed, the 
 matadors being the celebrated swordsmen, 
 Mazzantini and Lagartijillo. 
 
 " The second grand bull-fight follows on 
 Sunday, 27th of May, when six fine bulls, 
 bred by Senor D. Jose Orozeo, will be 
 killed, the matadors being the famous 
 swordsmen, Guarrita and Bombita." 
 
 An American acquaintance of ours pass- 
 ing along one of the principal streets 
 lately saw a crowd collected, and, going 
 up to find out what was the matter, saw 
 posted up the head of a. bull, killed in a 
 " corrida" lately, which had been bred by 
 the Duke of Veragua (the guest of the 
 United States, last summer), and which 
 had performed such wonders in killing 
 three horses outright that his head had 
 been preserved for exhibition. The Pope 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 47 
 
 has just been dealing a blow at this cher- 
 ished institution of the Spaniards, but it 
 will endure many blows, we imagine, before 
 it succumbs, it is so deeply rooted in the 
 affections of the Spanish people. It is 
 almost inconceivable that any amusement 
 involving such horrible cruelty should be 
 so popular with a people who seem, as a 
 general thing, kind and gentle, but so it 
 is. We are very glad, however, to have 
 met with several Spaniards who object to 
 it strongly, and have made a gesture of 
 repulsion when asked if they were going 
 to the bull -fight to-morrow. "God 
 never leaves himself without a witness in 
 any people or nation," so we are told in 
 Holy Writ. We came all the way from 
 Tangier to Cadiz by steamboat, and a 
 more uncomfortable journey we hope 
 never to have to take again. It occupied 
 about five hours, and we were all more or 
 less sea-sick. The Mediterranean is beau- 
 tiful to look at, but very unpleasant to 
 sail on. There appears to be always, even 
 when it is the most quiet, a slight swell, 
 
48 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 very favorable to "mal de mer." We 
 noticed it at Tangier when we went out 
 in a row-boat on the bay, on a lovely even- 
 ing with very little wind. 
 
 Upon arriving in Cadiz, we had to leave 
 the steamer and be taken to the shore in 
 a small sail-boat, and then to pass the cus- 
 tom-house. We thought for once that we 
 would try a purely Spanish hotel, as all 
 of those that we have patronized hereto- 
 fore have been more or less French in 
 their style of cooking and in their general 
 management. We were very glad that we 
 did so, as it was an experience we liked 
 to have once, if not oftener, so we went 
 to the " Cuatro Naciones." Nearly all 
 the dishes at the dejeuner and dinner had 
 garlic in them. It spoiled the fish for us, 
 but we liked the salad, in which there was 
 a plentiful supply, better than any we have 
 had. Some of the streets here have very 
 curious names. Our hotel in Cadiz was 
 in Isabella la Catolica, and we have noticed 
 others that seem strange to us, such as 
 Angel de Sevadra, Reyes Catolicos, Fer- 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 49 
 
 nan Caballero, and the one we are in here 
 is Mendez Nunez. Most of the streets 
 are so narrow in all the cities of Spain, 
 except perhaps Madrid, that two carriages 
 cannot pass each other, so that certain 
 ones are marked " Entrada de carruajes" 
 (entrance for carriages), and others, "Sa- 
 lida de carruajes" (exit for carriages). On 
 the way from Cadiz here in the train, we 
 saw the immense salt works, which begin 
 just after leaving that city. Large square 
 or quadrangular basins are built, into which 
 the sea-water is introduced and left to 
 stand for some time, when the salt is ob- 
 tained by evaporation. Great masses of 
 it in a pyramidal shape stood at the side 
 of the road, some of them so immense as 
 to suggest the pyramid of Cheops. Salt 
 is here, as in Italy, a government monop- 
 oly, and there are shops for the sale of 
 salt and tobacco alone. The country here, 
 in the southwest of Spain, is less attractive 
 than that we have seen before. We 
 noticed one novelty in the shape of hedges 
 of the aloe or century plant, varied occa- 
 
50 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 sionally by a variety of the cactus, which 
 grows to a considerable height, and has 
 immense leaves with yellow blossoms 
 growing out of the leaves, as in all the 
 cactus family. These, with a date palm 
 here and there, made the vegetation as- 
 sume quite a tropical appearance. Cadiz 
 is a pretty, neat-looking city, with few at- 
 tractions in the way of sight-seeing. Here 
 it is different. One of the most noted of 
 the places of interest in Seville is the Al- 
 cazar, a Moorish palace in the style of the 
 Alhambra, and even more beautiful we 
 thought, although not so picturesquely 
 situated. It is right in the heart of the 
 city, close to the great cathedral. The Hall 
 of Ambassadors is superb, and another 
 very beautiful room is that in which one 
 of the Spanish infantas was born. Very 
 fine and extensive gardens partially sur- 
 round the building, of which a number of 
 the walks are so arranged that, when the 
 water is turned on, fountain-like sprays 
 are thrown up into the air from little holes 
 at even distances all along the pavement, 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 5 1 
 
 cooling the air and laying any dust that 
 may have settled there. The cathedral is 
 very fine, but we could not see it to ad- 
 vantage, as it is in process of repair on 
 account of the destruction caused by the 
 earthquake six years ago. Several of the 
 immense pillars were so much injured that 
 a considerable portion of the ceiling fell 
 in, and it is a work of years to replace it. 
 It is in this cathedral, in one of the chapels, 
 that we found the celebrated picture, by 
 Murillo, of St. Anthony of Padua, in which 
 the figure of St. Anthony was cut out 
 several years ago by a man who concealed 
 himself in the church, and carried to New 
 York and there exposed for sale. The 
 theft was discovered and the portion of 
 the picture that was taken returned here, 
 and has been most skilfully restored to its 
 original place. The bell-tower of the 
 cathedral, called the Giralda, is one of the 
 most beautiful in the world. On the top, 
 acting as a weather-cock by pointing to- 
 ward the direction in which the wind blows, 
 is a figure of Faith, so skilfully constructed 
 
52 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 that it turns with the lightest breeze, al- 
 though it weighs between two and three 
 thousand pounds. The ascent of the 
 Giralda is not made by steps, but by a 
 gradual incline, so it is not at all fatiguing 
 to go to the top. When there, a fine view 
 can be obtained of the city and surround- 
 ing country ; but it is vastly inferior to that 
 from the Torre de Vela in Grenada, there 
 being no mountains to diversify the scene. 
 In the Museum here are a number of fine 
 paintings by Murillo, who was born in 
 Seville, and to whom his native city does 
 honor in various ways. There is a fine 
 statue of him in front of the Museum. 
 One of the curiosities of Seville is a house 
 purporting to be an exact copy of that of 
 Pontius Pilate in Jerusalem. We were 
 told that it was precisely like it, and we 
 entered full of faith ; but when we saw a 
 building covered with Moorish ornamenta- 
 tion, we began to doubt, and the climax 
 of our incredulity was reached when we 
 were shown an inlaid table that we were 
 assured was the exact counterpart of that 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 53 
 
 on which the thirty pieces of silver were 
 laid down when they were paid to Judas 
 Iscariot. From that moment we were 
 ready to leave, voting in our own minds 
 the whole thing a farce. Much more in- 
 teresting and worthy of consideration we 
 found the ruins of the Colosseum at Italica, 
 a few miles from Seville. They are re- 
 markably well preserved and much in the 
 style of the Roman Colosseum. We were 
 shown the dens under ground where the 
 lions and tigers were kept, and the open- 
 ings through which they dashed into the 
 amphitheatre, the room where the gladi- 
 ators prepared themselves for contest, 
 and another which purported to be that 
 where the Christians, who were to be 
 thrown to the wild beasts, were confined. 
 The Roman emperors are said to have 
 been born at Italica, and what surprised 
 us still more was to learn that Pontius 
 Pilate was a Spaniard. This did not pre- 
 vent his being a Roman subject, as he was 
 born in that part of Spain which at that 
 time belonged to Rome. 
 
54 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 We went, one day, to the great tobacco 
 factory of Seville. It gives occupation to 
 six thousand women and girls, although 
 some of them, we are told, are very poorly 
 paid. Many of them are mothers, and 
 take their babies or young children with 
 them to the factory. When walking 
 through the different rooms and watching 
 the operation of making the cigars and 
 cigarettes, we saw numerous little ones 
 lying asleep at the side of their mothers. 
 Some of the girls ma k e as higfh as four 
 thousand cigarettes in a day. Of course 
 we had Carmen in our minds from the 
 time we entered the building until we left 
 it. It was in Seville that the tobacco fac- 
 tory, in which she is represented in the 
 opera to have worked, was situated. A 
 few of the girls that we saw were pretty, 
 the majority not at all so. We think that 
 Mark Twain, when he described in his 
 " Innocents Abroad" the women of Seville 
 as so beautiful, must have drawn largely 
 on his imagination. The Spanish women 
 generally, that we have seen, have not 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 55 
 
 impressed us in the way of looks. They 
 have very little expression or play of 
 feature, and that little they lessen by 
 covering their faces with powder. The 
 prettiest girl we have met since entering 
 Spain is our chambermaid at this hotel, 
 who rejoices in the name of Pepa and who 
 does not powder. That custom appears 
 to be confined mostly to women of the 
 higher classes. 
 
 The Hotel de Madrid, where we are 
 staying, is said to be the best in all Spain. 
 It certainly is the best that we have seen. 
 It is patronized by the Princess Eulalia 
 and her husband, Don Antonio, the son 
 of the Duke of Montpensier, when they 
 come here in the winter to visit the 
 Dowager Duchess of Montpensier, who 
 lives in a fine palace near the river. The 
 principal drive of Seville is past this palace 
 and then along the bank of the Guadal- 
 quivir. We were there yesterday, and 
 were surprised to see among the eques- 
 trians so many little boys. We saw one 
 on a pony's back who did not look over 
 
56 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 four or five years old, and a number only 
 on spirited horses which they managed 
 admirably. When we leave here for 
 Madrid, we must start at six o'clock in 
 the evening, and spend all night in the 
 car. It is one of the unpleasing peculiar- 
 ities of travel in Spain that nearly all the 
 express trains leave at night, and, " nolens 
 volens," one is obliged to take them when 
 going a considerable distance, as, if one of 
 the day trains should be chosen, it would 
 be all day and all night, too. Not only 
 does the express for Madrid leave at night, 
 but that from Madrid to San Sebastian, so 
 that we have the prospect before us of two 
 such journeys. A peculiarity of the pas- 
 senger trains in Spain, and there is the 
 same in France also, is, that a narrow ledge 
 or platform runs all around them, on which 
 the conductor walks while visiting the 
 different cars to examine or collect the 
 tickets. We have always thought it dan- 
 gerous and felt afraid of some accident, 
 and our apprehensions were verified in 
 going from Grenada to Algeciras. The 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 57 
 
 train stopped suddenly in the open coun- 
 try. There was at once a great excite- 
 ment among the passengers, who could 
 not imagine what had happened, but pres- 
 ently we were told the conductor had 
 fallen off and had struck on his head. 
 Fortunately he was not seriously hurt, and 
 after a delay of a quarter of an hour we 
 started again. It was suggested by some 
 one that perhaps the reason why the trains 
 in Spain go so slowly is that the conduct- 
 ors may escape being killed when they 
 fall off. This arrangement, like many 
 others over here, would not suit our 
 people very well. 
 
 Dear . 
 
 We have now reached the northern 
 boundary, and when we quit this pretty 
 watering-place our Spanish trip will be 
 over. We stayed in Seville to witness 
 the ceremonies of Corpus Christi, and 
 then went on to Madrid. We were much 
 pleased with the curious dance that we 
 saw in the cathedral on the morning of 
 
58 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 the great feast, a performance that takes 
 place nowhere in the world but in Seville. 
 The consecrated host was exposed upon 
 the altar, and ten boys danced before it 
 for nearly half an hour. The boys were 
 beautifully dressed and had castanets, which 
 they used at intervals. The dance was a 
 slow one, of the nature of a minuet, and 
 the boys sang, as they danced, the same 
 air that was played by the orchestra. The 
 procession, which began immediately after 
 the dance, though very fine in some re- 
 spects, was a little disappointing. There 
 was a great display of silver and em- 
 broideries and fine vestments, but it did 
 not seem so imposing as the simple pro- 
 cessions we have at home, when the priest 
 carries through the church the Blessed 
 Sacrament, and little girls dressed as 
 angels strew flowers in its path, while the 
 altar boys immediately precede it, con- 
 stantly throwing incense from their cen- 
 sers. The eve of Corpus Christi the city 
 was beautifully illuminated. As is the 
 case at all Spanish festivals, women were 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 59 
 
 cooking and selling in the streets bunue- 
 los, a kind of doughnut fried in fat, which 
 they kept hot by means of little furnaces. 
 There was an immense crowd walking 
 about, but every one seemed good-natured 
 and disposed to be well behaved. We 
 were obliged to admit that so great a 
 throng of people in the streets at home 
 would not have been so orderly. Late in 
 the afternoon of Corpus Christi we left for 
 Madrid, which we reached about ten the 
 next morning. All the Spanish cities we 
 had hitherto seen had been more or less 
 of the same type, and all possessed the 
 national characteristics, but we found, to 
 our surprise, Madrid entirely different. 
 The streets are as remarkably wide as 
 those of the other cities are narrow. 
 There are statues and fountains and gar- 
 dens galore, but there is nothing distinctive 
 about it. It might be Paris or New York 
 or Berlin, or any of the modern cities of 
 the world. It is very handsome, but did 
 not interest us greatly. We like narrow 
 streets and antique houses, and ruins and 
 
60 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 all the signs of age. As soon as possible 
 we visited the famous picture gallery so 
 renowned for its paintings by Murillo and 
 Velasquez. There are also several Raph- 
 aels and Andrea del Sartos, and a large 
 number of Riberas. This gallery we 
 found the greatest place of attraction in 
 Madrid, but the Armory proved also ex- 
 tremely interesting. It is probably the 
 finest collection of armor of different styles 
 and epochs in the world. We saw several 
 complete suits that were worn by Charles 
 the Fifth, some that were made for Philip 
 the Second and his son Don Carlos, one 
 that was made for Don John of Austria, 
 and a number worn by Philip the Fourth. 
 We saw also the sword of Isabella the 
 Catholic. Why she had a sword, we do not 
 know, but there it was before our eyes ; so 
 we were obliged to believe it. We drove 
 one afternoon in the beautiful park called 
 "El Retiro," and, before entering it, we 
 saw the Queen with the little King, who 
 were on their way to the church that they 
 visit every Saturday afternoon. The open 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 6 1 
 
 carriage in which they sat had outriders, 
 and in addition was preceded and followed 
 by a number of mounted soldiers in gay 
 uniforms. The Queen was tastefully 
 dressed in a lilac bonnet and lilac silk 
 dress or wrap. She has never worn any 
 color but black or white or purple since her 
 husband's death. The little King, who is 
 eight years old and a delicate-looking child, 
 was dressed mostly in white, with a wide- 
 brimmed white straw hat. We should 
 have known them, I think, even without 
 " all the pomp and circumstance of state" 
 that surrounded them, from seeing their 
 photographs, which are sold in all the 
 book-stores, and are excellent likenesses. 
 I must retract what I said in a former let- 
 ter about the beauty of Spanish women, 
 so far as Madrid is concerned. We saw 
 a number of very handsome girls while 
 driving, and were impressed with the idea 
 that it was rare to see on such an occa- 
 sion so great an amount of good looks. 
 We left Madrid on Saturday evening, and 
 stopped at Burgos at five o'clock in the 
 
62 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 morning, in order to see the great cathe- 
 dral. We found that it differed from 
 others we have visited in having its mas- 
 sive pillars adorned with statues, skil- 
 fully carved out of solid stone. These 
 statues stand out all around the upper 
 portions of the pillars, and have a very 
 curious and beautiful effect. The stone- 
 work of the cathedral throughout is won- 
 derful. We should have been better able 
 to enjoy it if it had not been so early in 
 the morning when we saw it, after a par- 
 tially sleepless night. Its beauty was 
 much interfered with, in our opinion, by 
 having the choir placed in the middle of 
 the church, and entirely preventing the 
 grand effect that one has in great Gothic 
 cathedrals, when standing at the entrance 
 and looking up the nave to the high altar. 
 It is this view which is so magnificent in 
 the Cologne cathedral. There was little 
 else of interest in Burgos, and the hotels 
 are said to be very poor, so, after remain- 
 ing a few hours, we came on here. But 
 few of the hotels in Spain are really good ; 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 6$ 
 
 with the exception of the Hotel de Madrid, 
 in Seville, we did not find one to which 
 we could give anything like unqualified 
 praise. The food and cooking in most of 
 them are poor, according to American 
 ideas. We should sometimes have found 
 it difficult to take enough to satisfy our 
 hunger, had it not been for the oranges 
 which were always on the table at the 
 dejeuner and dinner, and which were, as a 
 general thing, delicious. The milk used 
 is usually goat's milk, which is very un- 
 palatable in its natural state, but which, 
 when boiled, answers very well for coffee 
 and for all ordinary cooking purposes. 
 The butter and cheese made from it are 
 not agreeable to the American taste. In 
 some places, however, we succeeded in 
 getting cow's milk. The want of ice 
 makes a great difference in the meat. It 
 has to be cooked so fresh that it is hard 
 and tough. We saw at least one estab- 
 lishment for the manufacturing of artificial 
 ice ; and we were told that it was not dear, 
 so why it does not come into general use 
 
64 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 we can't imagine, unless it is because the 
 people have become so accustomed to 
 doing without it, they don't desire any 
 change. I have not yet spoken of one 
 important institution in Spain, that of the 
 Guarda Civil. This is a band of picked 
 men taken from the soldiery, and selected 
 on account of their courage and other fine 
 qualities. Some of them were on every 
 train by which we travelled, and they are 
 placed wherever there is need of them 
 throughout the country. We were told 
 that before the establishment of this guard, 
 lawlessness prevailed, and that robberies 
 on the trains were of frequent occurrence. 
 Now that is all changed, and order and 
 good government appear to be found 
 everywhere. The Queen is said to have 
 shown herself a most efficient ruler, 
 and to have finally brought over to her 
 side so eminent an advocate of republi- 
 canism as Emilio Castellar. For all that, 
 she is not very popular with the people at 
 large, principally because she is not a 
 Spaniard. I was talking with a Spanish 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 65 
 
 lady in Barcelona on the subject, and I 
 said I could not understand why the Queen 
 was not more popular, if she were so good 
 a woman and so excellent a ruler. " Why, 
 you would not like," she replied, " to have 
 a foreigner, President of the United States, 
 to rule over you." This certainly was an 
 "argumentum ad feminam," and for a 
 moment I was silenced, but, after a little 
 reflection, I told her that I did not believe 
 I should mind it, provided he were de- 
 voted to republican principles and to the 
 true interests of our country. The Queen 
 and her son have certainly a noble dwel- 
 ling place. The Royal Palace at Madrid 
 is said to be the finest kingly residence in 
 Europe. We could not go over it, be- 
 cause it is only exhibited to strangers 
 when the Queen is not there ; but we 
 stood in the great square in front and 
 looked down upon the beautiful view of 
 the valley lying before us and the Guada- 
 marra mountains in the distance. As to 
 whether the palace is the finest in Europe, 
 there may be some difference of opinion, 
 5 
 
60 A HOLIDAY IN SPAIN AND NORWAY 
 
 but there can be little doubt that few have 
 such a panorama of loveliness stretched 
 out before the gaze of their inhabitants. 
 The Queen in summer comes here to San 
 Sebastian, where she has a villa, and of 
 which she is said to be very fond. It is a 
 romantic, rock-bound coast, a little in the 
 style of Newport, with a short stretch of 
 beach, where the bathers disport them- 
 selves. We start soon for the frontier on 
 our way to Lourdes, and so good-bye to 
 old Spain, which, in spite of all its draw- 
 backs, its bull-fights, its want of education 
 among the inhabitants, and the low rank 
 it takes among the nations, is to many a 
 land of enchantment and delight. 
 
NORWAY 
 
Balholm, Sognefiord, Norway, July 20, 1894. 
 
 Dear . 
 
 One week ago, to-day, we began our 
 travels in this land of lakes, fiords, and 
 mountains, of glaciers and avalanches. 
 We first came over from England, cross- 
 ing in the steamer El Dorado from Hull 
 to Stavanger, and a week ago we began 
 our present trip from Stavanger in the 
 south to Molde in the north — a journey 
 which includes most of the finest scenery 
 of Norway — by going through the fiord 
 on which Stavanger is situated to Sand. 
 There we took one of the vehicles of the 
 country, the stohlkjaerre with a fine Nor- 
 wegian pony, and were driven by a small 
 boy to Oosen on the Sudal lake. Oosen 
 is a small place, containing only a few 
 houses, two of which are rustic hotels. 
 We chose the more attractive-looking one 
 of the two, but found our entertainment 
 of a most primitive character. We could 
 
 69 
 
JO A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 not obtain any supper until nine o'clock, 
 and then found the " piece de resistance" 
 to be reindeer, which some of our party 
 did not incline to eat. The bread was 
 very poor, the tea and coffee, ditto, but 
 with some crackers and poached eggs, we 
 managed to make a meal. What was 
 lacking in creature comforts was com- 
 pensated for by picturesque surroundings. 
 Directly opposite our lodging place, eu- 
 phemistically termed a hotel, a cliff rose 
 precipitously from the lake to the height 
 of ten or twelve hundred feet. It pre- 
 sented a sheer, straight wall of rock, just 
 such, was remarked by one of the party, 
 as would have suited a South Sea Islander 
 for one of his famous leaps. The water 
 below was of a deep blue, and of the ex- 
 treme clearness which characterizes most 
 of the lakes and mountain streams in 
 Norway. I cannot imagine anything more 
 pellucid than this beautiful water ; there is 
 not a suspicion of mud or dirt connected 
 with it, and in its purity and loveliness it 
 seems to me emblematic of the character 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY ' 7 1 
 
 of the people which strikes us as abound- 
 ing in charming qualities. They have not 
 yet been contaminated by coming into 
 contact with the outside world, but whether 
 this will long be the case, with such an 
 influx of tourists, as is now taking place, 
 appears rather doubtful. We have seen 
 but one beggar since entering Norway, 
 and the relief is great to those who have 
 been afflicted as we have in Italy and Spain 
 and Morocco with a legion of mendi- 
 cants. 
 
 Leaving Oosen the next morning, we 
 went in a little steamer through the beau- 
 tiful Sudal lake to Naes, where we took 
 our dinner, and there hiring a vehicle, we 
 proceeded through the wonderful Brat- 
 lands dal or valley to Horre. There are 
 no railroads anywhere in this part of the 
 country with the exception of one from 
 Vosswanger to Bergen, so there is noway 
 of travelling except by boats when on the 
 water and carriages on land. These latter 
 are of three kinds,— the landau drawn ^ by 
 two horses and the stohlkjaerre and cariole 
 
72 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 by one. The cariole is a peculiar vehicle, 
 consisting of one small seat and a long 
 narrow stretch of board for the legs of 
 the occupant, which are extended lon- 
 gitudinally and protected by a slightly 
 raised piece of wood in front. In both 
 this and the stohlkjaerre the driver sits 
 or stands behind, unless the passenger 
 chooses to drive himself. The stohlkjaerre 
 is somewhat similar to the cariole, except 
 that it has a seat wide enough for two 
 persons, and a place in front, like ordinary 
 vehicles, for the feet. The landau is the 
 same as a landau everywhere, with a top 
 that can be drawn up or let down at will. 
 In all of these carriages there is a small 
 space behind for light baggage, but not 
 for trunks. Very few persons travel with 
 trunks, but those who do, are obliged to 
 have an extra cart or wagon in which to 
 carry them, as their extra weight would 
 be too much for the stout little ponies 
 when ascending the hills. Although it 
 was raining when we entered the Brat- 
 lands dal, as it had been doing most of 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 73 
 
 the time since we arrived in Norway, the 
 beauty of the scenery rendered us insen- 
 sible to all considerations of discomfort. 
 We were lost in admiration at what we 
 saw around us, — a narrow gorge with high 
 cliffs on either side, rising sometimes to 
 an astonishing height, a mountain torrent 
 rushing through it with an almost deafen- 
 ing roar, foaming and boiling, so that 
 sometimes for a quarter of a mile we 
 could see nothing but spray and foam, 
 except when on the edge it ran a little 
 more quietly, flowing into pools and shal- 
 lows, and giving us an opportunity to see 
 its exquisite emerald green color. At 
 times it was nearly on a level with the 
 road, at others so far beneath it as to be 
 almost out of sight, the precipitous wall of 
 the chasm on the other side from the road 
 rising higher and higher than before, and 
 increasing, if that were possible, the sub- 
 limity of the view. I have been in the 
 Bernese Oberland, and over the St. 
 Gothard pass, as well as in the Tyrol and 
 in some of the finest scenery of the Rocky 
 
74 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 Mountains, but I was never more im- 
 pressed, I think, than by this charming 
 valley. 
 
 Upon arriving at Horre, or Breifond, as 
 it is sometimes called, we found the hotel 
 very full, as is generally the case, this 
 being just at the height of the tourist 
 season, but we were so fortunate as finally 
 to secure a room. We were waited upon, 
 as we have been elsewhere, by girls in the 
 native costume, — viz., a white muslin cor- 
 sage with full sleeves, and over it a red 
 sleeveless jacket, reaching only to the 
 waist, with straps over the shoulders and 
 much ornamented in front. This is worn 
 with a black skirt and usually the addition 
 of a white apron. Most of the Nor- 
 wegians are fair, with very light hair, so 
 much so, that it is a matter of remark 
 when we see among the waitresses one 
 with dark hair. 
 
 Leaving Breifond the next morning, we 
 had a long drive by stohlkjaerre to Odde, 
 on the Hardanger fiord, where we arrived 
 about the middle of the afternoon. Our 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 75 
 
 way at first led over the Horrebraekker 
 pass, and to reach it we were obliged to 
 ascend a mountain so high that, by the 
 time we reached the top, we found our- 
 selves surrounded by snow. The gentle- 
 men of our party walked up the moun- 
 tain, the ladies accompanying them a por- 
 tion of the distance, but were unable to 
 make the whole ascent on foot. It was 
 while walking up this mountain that we 
 made our first acquaintance with the 
 lemming, an animal peculiar to the Scandi- 
 navian peninsula. A little creature sud- 
 denly ran out before us from its hole in 
 the rocks. We were lost in astonishment, 
 never having seen the like before. It 
 partook of the characteristics of the 
 guinea-pig, the ground squirrel, and the 
 mole, and yet was not either. It was very 
 small, with four short legs, and a mere 
 apology for a tail, covered with brown 
 fur except on the back, where it was beau- 
 tifully marked with white and brown alter- 
 nating. It ran rapidly, and soon hid itself 
 behind a stone. We have seen numbers 
 
J6 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 of them since then, and have learned that 
 they abound in Norway. They are grami- 
 nivorous, feeding mostly on seeds and roots. 
 The reindeer is perhaps their greatest 
 enemy, often killing them, not for their 
 flesh, but for the vegetable matter in their 
 stomachs. They have a singular habit, it 
 is said, of sometimes collecting together 
 in herds and travelling towards the west ; 
 when reaching a river, they swim across 
 it. Finally, they arrive at the sea, when, 
 not knowing apparently the difference, 
 they plunge into it, and after swimming 
 for some time are drowned. 
 
 The road over the Horrebraekker pass 
 had just been cleared of snow everywhere 
 except in one place, where we were all 
 obliged to get out of the carriages and 
 walk over the frozen surface. The scenery, 
 though so different from that of the day 
 before, had its own peculiar charm. The 
 snow, in many places five and six feet 
 deep, had begun to thaw under the in- 
 fluence of a summer sun, and everywhere 
 streams of the purest, clearest water were 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 77 
 
 flowing down the hills. In one spot, where 
 there was a hollow among the mountains, 
 they had formed a lake of the same beau- 
 tiful green color that characterizes the 
 mountain streams. Descending finally 
 into the valley, we stopped at Odde, where 
 we remained over Sunday. On the way, 
 we stopped to see the Laate foss, an un- 
 usually fine waterfall, which we admired 
 more than any we have seen. It is in 
 several tiers, there being one descent 
 above another, and it finally divides and 
 ends in two cascades of a magnificent 
 height, separated from each other by a 
 huge rock. 
 
 Odde is a great tourist centre, and, 
 being at the head of the Sor fiord, there 
 is a constant communication by steamer 
 between it and Bergen. It has a pretty 
 little church, to which scarcely any one 
 went the Sunday we were there. It is 
 the custom of the surrounding country 
 for the people to attend this church in 
 their native costume once in three weeks. 
 The married women wear a peculiar 
 
78 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 white cap or head-dress, made with a 
 border, into which a stiffener is intro- 
 duced so as to make it stand out all 
 around the face. It then descends in the 
 back in several stiff rolls nearly to the 
 waist. We regretted greatly that the 
 Sunday we were there did not happen 
 to be the right one to give us an oppor- 
 tunity to see them. There are two favor- 
 ite excursions from Odde, — one to the 
 Buar brae, a glacier which is an offshoot 
 from the Folgefond, and the other to a 
 water-fall called the Skaegedals foss, which 
 is one of the largest in Europe, but which 
 several who had been there told us they 
 did not admire so much as the Laate foss. 
 I must explain that " foss" is the Norwe- 
 gian word for cataract, " brae" for glacier. 
 " dal" for valley, and " vaud" for water or 
 lake. 
 
 Upon leaving Odde, we drove to Vos- 
 sewangen, where we took the train for 
 Bergen. This is the only railroad in the 
 western part of Norway, and is a model 
 of engineering skill. It is only seventy 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 79 
 
 miles long, but cost an immense amount 
 of money on account of the difficulty of 
 cutting through the mountains nearly 
 every foot of the way. Short as it is, it 
 has fifty-five tunnels. It took us about 
 three hours to reach Bergen. Upon 
 arriving, we went to Holt's Hotel, which 
 is considered the best in the city, and is 
 pleasantly situated near the public park, 
 where a fine band plays every evening in 
 summer from nine o'clock until eleven. It 
 seems strange that it should begin at such 
 an hour and continue so late, but every- 
 thing in Norway, so far as the even- 
 ings are concerned, is late, which we at- 
 tribute to the extreme length of the days, 
 causing nine o'clock to seem as seven 
 does in our country. Dinner is usually 
 in the middle of the day and supper at 
 eight or half-past eight o'clock. This 
 would be very inconvenient were there 
 places of entertainment to be attended 
 in the evenings, but there did not appear 
 to be any. 
 
 We stayed a day and a half in Bergen, 
 
80 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 and found it an interesting city, very 
 picturesquely situated. We were par- 
 ticularly charmed with the street called 
 the Torv Almenigen or Market Square. 
 It is short and extremely wide, with the 
 markets occupying the lower portion of 
 it, and at either end a background of 
 mountains rising up in silent majesty 
 like sentinels guarding the city. A 
 statue to a prominent Norwegian named 
 Christie ornaments the centre of this 
 interesting street. There are a good 
 many fine shops both here and in the 
 Strand Gade, containing a great variety 
 of articles of the celebrated Norwegian 
 silver work, and other industries of the 
 country. We visited the picture-gallery, 
 but it is not one of remarkable merit. 
 Upon leaving Bergen we returned to 
 Vossewangen, and there took a carriage 
 for Stalheim. This time we had a landau 
 with two horses; but it did not seem to be 
 any easier for them to draw two persons 
 (our party was for the nonce reduced to 
 two) than it has been for the little Nor- 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 8 1 
 
 wegian pony that we usually have. This 
 breed of ponies is remarkable. They 
 appear to possess great strength and en- 
 durance, climbing hills like a cat, and 
 always sure-footed and reliable. They 
 are mostly of a light roan or cream color. 
 They are accustomed to walk slowly up 
 hill, but they make the descent of all ex- 
 cept the very highest with the greatest 
 rapidity. The manner in which they 
 dash down the hills makes me hold my 
 breath, and reminds me of stories I have 
 heard of the way in which the old stage- 
 coaches were driven. Nothing but coast- 
 ing or tobogganing can compare with it. 
 These charming ponies are fat and in 
 good condition in every respect, and seem 
 to be very well treated by their drivers, 
 a whip being scarcely ever used upon 
 them. They are driven generally by 
 boys, but sometimes by men, and occa- 
 sionally by women or little girls. It 
 seemed very strange to us the first time 
 we saw a little maiden of eleven or twelve 
 years of age get up behind a cariole to 
 
 6 
 
82 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 conduct a gentleman on the next stage of 
 his journey. 
 
 We reached the hotel at Stalheim in 
 the middle of the afternoon and remained 
 until the next morning. This is one of 
 the most celebrated places in Norway, 
 and nothing that we have seen, except 
 the Bratland's dal, has pleased us so much. 
 Situated on a mountain, surrounded by 
 sister peaks rearing their heads still 
 higher towards the heavens and looking 
 down upon the Eredal, the hotel com- 
 mands a magnificent view. As we ap- 
 proached it, the Eredal appeared to be 
 a mere gorge or opening in the moun- 
 tains, but upon coming nearer we could 
 see that it was a splendid valley, narrow 
 throughout its whole extent and grad- 
 ually growing wilder and more sombre, 
 but at Stalheim of sufficient width to 
 allow of the cultivation of a number of 
 fields bearing the usual crops of oats, 
 barley, and potatoes. Nothing else ex- 
 cept grass will apparently do well in these 
 latitudes. The climate is too cold for 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 8$ 
 
 wheat, and there does not seem to be an 
 attempt on the part of any one to have 
 a vegetable garden. There is, conse- 
 quently, a great deficiency in this impor- 
 tant part of the cuisine. We have con- 
 stantly the finest fish — salmon and trout 
 as well as other varieties — in great abun- 
 dance, a moderate supply of meat, that 
 placed before us being sometimes beef, 
 sometimes reindeer or kid, as the case 
 may be, but no vegetables of any account 
 beside potatoes, and very little fruit. 
 
 Leaving Stalheim the next morning, 
 we walked down the mountain, the result 
 being an attack of lameness on the part 
 of one of us, from the excessive use of 
 muscles unaccustomed to such exertion, 
 and then drove through the magnificent 
 Eredal to Gutwangen, where we took the 
 steamer on the Sognefiord for this place, 
 — Balholm, — beautifully situated near the 
 head of one of the arms of the fiord. The 
 air is very mild here, the fiord a charm- 
 ing place for water excursions, so that it 
 is a very popular spot with the English, 
 
84 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 some of whom come to reside during the 
 summer. After our arrival, about three 
 o'clock in the afternoon, we hired a row- 
 boat, and spent an hour and a half on the 
 fiord in a most enjoyable manner. From 
 Balholm it is customary to go into the 
 Fierland fiord, another arm of the bay, 
 and make an excursion to the Jostedal 
 brae, the largest glacier in Europe. It 
 covers an immense area of ground, and 
 extends its branches in twenty-four points 
 down towards the level of the lakes and 
 fiords. Those who are not strong enough 
 to climb to its summit to view it in all its 
 glory, can have their vision gladdened, 
 when sailing on the neighboring waters, 
 by a sight of these immense spectral arms 
 lighting up the landscape with their glit- 
 tering white surfaces, while on near in- 
 spection the great mass of ice is found to 
 be of a beautiful blue color. Balholm is 
 such a charming spot, we were loath to 
 leave it ; but the length of the trip we had 
 yet to make did not allow us to linger 
 there any longer. 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 85 
 
 Hellesilt, July 24, 1894. 
 Dear . 
 
 We arrived last evening at this little 
 village on the Nord fiord, after a day of 
 hard travel, including a sail of several 
 hours in the morning on the Nord fiord, 
 and the whole of the rest of the day, ex- 
 cept when we stopped to get our dinner, 
 in driving- on the road. It was rather 
 fatiguing, but not enough so to prevent 
 our enjoying a good night's rest after it. 
 
 Upon leaving Balholm we went in the 
 steamer on the Sognefiord to Vadheim, 
 and there we took stohlkjaerres for Forde. 
 It was a long drive, and nearly the whole 
 of it in a hard rain. Every day since we 
 came to Norway it has rained more or 
 less, generally more, until to-day. So 
 much wet weather has interfered con- 
 siderably with our comfort, being out of 
 doors so much as we have been, from 
 morning till night ; but if, instead of rain, 
 we had been troubled with dust, it might 
 have been even more disagreeable. We 
 
S6 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 had a remarkably fine horse — one, as we 
 suppose, of the celebrated Forde breed — 
 in our stohlkjaerre, and we dashed down 
 the hills faster than ever before. When 
 we reached the hotel at Forde in a very 
 moist condition, we were greeted by two 
 young men of our acquaintances, two 
 Americans, who were travelling together, 
 and who had preceded us by a few hours. 
 They had left Vadheim the afternoon be- 
 fore and had gone as far as Sande, where 
 they spent the night. They told us of an 
 adventure they had on the way, which 
 came near ending seriously. They had 
 only gone a short distance from Vadheim, 
 when they perceived a boulder, which had 
 come down from the mountains and fallen 
 or rolled directly into the middle of the 
 road. The roads in Norway are narrow 
 at best, bordered on one side or both, 
 instead of a fence, with large granite 
 stones, set three or four feet apart, as pro- 
 tection against accident. In this case the 
 road on one side was at the foot of the 
 mountains, and on the other was on the 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY &7 
 
 edee of an embankment or cliff, where 
 there was a descent of about twenty-five 
 or thirty feet to the ground below. When 
 our friends found their way stopped by the 
 great stone or boulder, they were in doubt 
 what course to pursue. It was entirely too 
 heavy to be rolled aside, so they had to 
 devise some other plan. They got out of 
 their stohlkjaerre and decided that they 
 would eet the driver to lead the horse 
 around the boulder, while they held up the 
 two outside wheels of their vehicle, which 
 hung over the cliff in mid-air, and so they 
 thought they would conquer the difficulty. 
 But they reckoned without their host in 
 supposing they could do so, for, in the 
 attempt, one of the wheels on the inside 
 struck the boulder, and in an instant the 
 horse and carriage went down the thirty 
 feet, — the men, however, escaping. They 
 feared the horse was killed or seriously 
 injured, but in a little while he appeared 
 to have recovered from the shock, and to 
 be as well as ever. They had an hour 
 of hard work before they could get their 
 
88 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 stohlkjaerre up the bank, and they arrived 
 at Sande about midnight. 
 
 We stayed only one night at Forde, and 
 the next morning drove to Nedre Vasen- 
 den, where we took a little steamer and 
 went on the picturesque Jelstervaud to 
 Skei or Skej, as it is sometimes spelled. 
 We were troubled, as usual, with rain, 
 which kept coming in upon us, although 
 our boat had an awning, so that we were 
 not sorry to disembark at Skei and remain 
 until the next day. As that was Sunday, 
 we concluded to take a little rest, and did 
 not leave until the afternoon. This gave 
 us an opportunity to see the peasantry 
 driving by to their church, which was at a 
 little distance from the hotel, for morning 
 service. The native costume which they 
 wore was quite different from that at Odde. 
 There the married women had stiff white 
 caps, which set out from the head like an 
 aureole and descended in several pieces 
 behind nearly to the waist. Here they 
 wore peaked black velvet or stuff caps, 
 which stood up some distance above their 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 89 
 
 heads like a bishop's mitre, and were 
 finished with a ruche where they came 
 close to their faces. The unmarried girls 
 in both places seemed to prefer dark- 
 colored handkerchiefs of some cotton 
 material tied over their heads. The dress 
 of a bride is very singular in this part of 
 Norway. She wears a metal crown on 
 her head and numerous ornaments, in- 
 cluding sometimes a looking-glass, on her 
 breast. 
 
 Some of the customs of the people are 
 peculiar, one of the most so, that of shak- 
 ing hands with a person who gives them 
 anything or does them a favor. We are 
 many times a day called upon to go through 
 with this ceremony with the drivers of our 
 stohlkjaerres, or the boatmen who have 
 rowed us on the lakes. It wounds their 
 feelings extremely if any one refuses to 
 grasp their proffered hand, and we are very 
 careful to respond always cordially to their 
 advances. We often wish they knew a 
 little more English than they do. The 
 little they can say is spoken with such an 
 
90 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 excellent pronunciation and accent that it 
 is very misleading. Every day we flatter 
 ourselves that we have secured a driver 
 with whom we can have some conver- 
 sation. He will say, for example, " How 
 far do you want to go ?" or, " This is a good 
 horse," alluding to the merits of the steed 
 he wishes us to engage, almost as well and 
 with as little foreign accent as we could 
 utter it. At once we are delighted, — forwe 
 never learn by previous experience, — and 
 think that now we have found a treasure. 
 Then some such conversation as this will 
 occur. As we come to a lake, we say, 
 " Driver, what is the name of this lake ?" 
 
 "Lake, yes." 
 
 " But I did not ask you if it was a lake. 
 I could see that myself. I asked you its 
 name ?" 
 
 " Don't understand." 
 
 Presently we begin again. " Driver, are 
 there any bears in these mountains ?" 
 
 " Mountains, yes." 
 
 " But, driver, what we asked you is, are 
 there are any bears, bears (baaren, for we 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 9 1 
 
 invariably fall into German when we are 
 desperate, with a conviction that it must 
 make the matter clear to them) in these 
 mountains ?" 
 
 " Don't understand." 
 
 So it is with everything. Sometimes, 
 instead of saying that they " don't under- 
 stand," they take refuge in silence, and 
 reply not a word. We have determined 
 to learn some Norwegian phrases, so that 
 we shall not be so utterly nonplussed ; but 
 we are beginning rather late, I fear, to 
 improve our knowledge of Norsk, as they 
 call it. Although the pronunciation of 
 English is, as we have said, so remarkably 
 good here, the people seem to have a dif- 
 ficulty in learning the language perfectly. 
 Even those who profess to know it well 
 enough to write advertisements are not 
 proficient, as is evident from some of the 
 notices posted around in the different 
 places. In this hotel there is one in the 
 second story hall, telling what should be 
 done by the guests in case of fire. It con- 
 cludes by saying that they will find a stair- 
 
92 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 case at the end of the house which leads 
 on to the " hig-way," meaning, of course, 
 highway. Another that we have heard of 
 says that a certain house for the entertain- 
 ment of guests is most conveniently situ- 
 ated for the " see-worthy" mountains in 
 the neighborhood. In the hotel where 
 we stopped in Bergen, the following was 
 posted on the wall in every room : " Trav- 
 ellers are requested, in order to safe 
 guard the mutual comfort, not to indulge 
 in vociferous language after twelve o'clock 
 at night." " Vociferous language," we 
 thought good, and we wondered what 
 sort of guests they were in the habit of 
 having, it being the first hotel in Bergen. 
 On Sunday afternoon, we left the friends 
 who had been travelling with us for sev- 
 eral days at Skei and went in a stohlk- 
 jaerre to Sandene, on the Nord fiord. 
 The ordinary way of continuing the jour- 
 ney to Molde, a point of great interest, 
 is to drive to Utvik on the same fiord, 
 and afterwards cross over to Faleide. As 
 the road, however is very hilly between 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 93 
 
 Egge and Utvik, we decided, after reach- 
 ing Egge, to make a little detour and go 
 by the way of Red and Sandene, which 
 would insure us a comfortable drive. We 
 were very glad that we did so, as it af- 
 forded us an opportunity of seeing a most 
 beautiful lake in the neighborhood of 
 Sandene, called Bradheim's vaud. The 
 road, which for some distance ran along 
 a height above the lake, was so finely 
 made that it was in itself an object of 
 interest. The rocks which towered above 
 our heads were of the finest granite, and 
 bore everywhere the marks of the blast- 
 ing that had been necessary in order to 
 build the road. The lake itself, however, 
 proved the greatest attraction, not so 
 much on account of its surroundings, 
 which are not so striking as those of 
 many others, but from the exquisite light- 
 green color of the water, for which we 
 could not at first account, as it was differ- 
 ent from anything we had ever seen before 
 in any part of the world. We found, 
 upon regarding it more closely, that the 
 
94 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 supply of the lake was largely due to a 
 river running into it of the same peculiar 
 light-green, and came to the conclusion 
 that the color of the river was caused by 
 the whitish, milk-like water, such as comes 
 from a glacier mixing with the usual blue 
 of the mountain streams. Owing to the 
 cause, whatever it was, the lake was not 
 so transparent as others we have seen, 
 but this was more than compensated by 
 the unchanging beauty of its color. In the 
 other lakes and fiords on which we have 
 sailed the appearance changes, owing to 
 the presence or absence of sunlight, and 
 they are sometimes of an attractive color, 
 at other times gray and dull-looking ; but 
 the water in Bredheim's vaud was un- 
 varyingly beautiful. We enjoyed the 
 drive very much in spite of our usual 
 attendant, the rain, and reached Sandene 
 in time for supper. Yesterday morning 
 we took a steamer on the fiord as far as 
 Faleide, and from there, as I have said, 
 had a long drive, changing horses several 
 times to this place, Hellesilt, on the same 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 95 
 
 fiord. The lemmings seem to be unusu- 
 ally abundant in this neighborhood, and 
 as we were nearing this village we saw 
 them constantly running across the road 
 a little ahead of our carriage. They have 
 apparently so little fear of man it speaks 
 well for the humanity of the Norwegians. 
 All these stopping-points of our journey 
 are set down on the map in such a man- 
 ner as to make them seem of consider- 
 able importance; and we are always 
 amazed upon reaching them to find that 
 they consist of from ten to twenty houses, 
 and occasionally can only boast of five or 
 six. If they have ten houses, one of them 
 will be a hotel ; if twenty, there will prob- 
 ably be two houses of entertainment. 
 This village is very prettily situated. 
 There is a fine view of the fiord in front, 
 and at the side of the hotel, only a short 
 distance from it, a mountain river dashes 
 down a rocky descent, making an im- 
 posing waterfall. We are going to re- 
 main here until to-morrow, so as to go 
 this afternoon into the Geiranger, a 
 
96 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 branch of the Nord fiord, which is said 
 to be remarkably fine. There is a book 
 of photographs of Norwegian scenery in 
 the drawing-room here ; but they do not 
 usually attract us in the least, from the 
 fact that they so inadequately depict what 
 they are intended to represent. No pho- 
 tographs can do justice to the subject. 
 Everything in Norway is on so grand a 
 scale that the productions of the camera, 
 fine as many of them are, fall far short 
 of the reality, and consequently we feel 
 that we should prefer to have no repre- 
 sentation of beauties that would only be 
 belittled thereby, but trust to our memory 
 to preserve unimpaired the recollection 
 of all the grandeurs we have witnessed. 
 
 Molde, July 30, 1894. 
 
 Dear . 
 
 Everywhere that we have been in Nor- 
 way the farmers have been making hay. 
 The grass was cut about the time we 
 arrived, and ever since they have been 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 97 
 
 trying to dry it, rather a difficult matter it 
 would seem in the districts where we have 
 had so much rain. The manner in which 
 they dry it is to put it on to frames and 
 change it frequently. These frames are 
 made by standing a number of stakes in 
 the ground about three feet apart, and 
 then fastening to them longitudinally other 
 stakes, or sometimes wires, by means of 
 the flexible stems of plants or the long 
 fibres of roots. These frames become so 
 heavy with all the grass hung upon them 
 that they sometimes have to be supported 
 by additional stakes driven into the ground 
 a short distance away, propped against 
 them. Everywhere we go that we see 
 farms of fields under cultivation they are 
 full of these frames. Another thing we 
 often see, and which has interested us 
 very much, is the number of wires reach- 
 ing from the top of a high cliff or moun- 
 tain and fastened by a windlass in the 
 valley below near farm-houses, so that 
 grass or hay can be sent down on them, 
 as well as milk, fire-wood, and sometimes 
 7 
 
98 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 other articles. In the early summer the 
 cows are driven up into the mountains to 
 pasture, as is done in Switzerland, and 
 they do not come down again till the 
 autumn is at hand, hence some means is 
 needed of sending their milk to the val- 
 leys below. We were very desirous of 
 seeing a can of milk come down over the 
 wire, and one day our wish was gratified. 
 We heard a whizzing noise, and, looking 
 over at a little distance to where a farm- 
 house stood, we saw the can descending 
 quickly, but not too much so. There is 
 some arrangement acting like a brake 
 which prevents it from coming too fast. 
 The oats are now ripe, and are beginning 
 to be cut and fastened upon long upright 
 sticks to dry. As I have said before, the 
 only crops are oats, barley, hay, and po- 
 tatoes. Never, even in Southern Norway, 
 did we see anything else. We cannot 
 imagine why more vegetables are not 
 planted. If the climate is too cold for 
 wheat, we should think it possible to raise 
 turnips and onions without any difficulty. 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY 99 
 
 Most of the lighter part of the farm work 
 is done by women, the ploughing of the 
 fields and the cutting of the crops being 
 usually undertaken by the men. We saw 
 about three times as many women as men 
 at work in the fields during the season 
 that we were there. 
 
 The farmers seem to be a contented 
 sort of people; indeed, an absence of 
 greed appears a characteristic of the 
 nation. A gentleman whom we have met 
 in travelling said that he had the following 
 conversation with a farmer, one of those 
 occasionally to be seen who speak Eng- 
 lish. Our friend said to him, " You must 
 make very little money by your farm- 
 ing." 
 
 "Yes," was the reply; "but we don't 
 want money." 
 
 " Why, you need it for your clothes." 
 
 " No ; we weave the cloth at home and 
 make our clothes." 
 
 " But your hats ?" 
 
 " Our hats ? Why, my wife makes the 
 felt and then the hats." 
 
IOO A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 "Well, you must buy your carts and 
 
 wagons. 
 
 " No ; we cut down the trees and get 
 the wood, and make our wagons all at 
 home." 
 
 " How about the harness for your 
 horses ? you certainly buy that." 
 
 " No ; we have the hides of our cattle, 
 and make the leather ourselves for our 
 shoes and our harness." 
 
 "Well, the bits? you don't make them, 
 do you ?" 
 
 " No ; there we have to use some 
 money. We must buy the iron for our 
 axles and the tires of the wheels as well 
 as for the bits; but in my father's time 
 we used oaken bits, and for my part I 
 think them just as good as the iron ones." 
 
 There are a great many little farms, 
 consisting often of only a few fields, on 
 the sides of the mountains and in every 
 spot where it is possible to cultivate the 
 ground. We have been interested to 
 know whether these belong to the men 
 who plough and till the soil, and have 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY IOI 
 
 found upon inquiry that they do. The 
 land in every case has been in the family 
 for generations, and it is left always to 
 the eldest son, or, where there are no 
 sons, to the eldest daughter, so that the 
 property may be preserved intact. 
 
 Before leaving Hillesilt, where my last 
 letter was written, we had the pleasure 
 of visiting the Geiranger fiord, which is 
 one of the wonders of Norway. The 
 fiord is full of tortuous windings, and so 
 narrow that it appears at a little distance 
 as if there could not possibly be room to 
 pass in places where the tremendous 
 cliffs coming down to the water's edge 
 seem to meet each other; yet, upon 
 nearer approach, there is always a slight 
 opening disclosed wide enough for the 
 passage of the steamer. There are 
 several waterfalls, but not of great vol- 
 ume, and they did not impress us nearly 
 so much as the immense height of the 
 cliffs and their peculiar shape. Some of 
 these fiords are in places, it is said, several 
 thousand feet in depth, which fact is calcu- 
 
102 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 lated rather to add to the timidity of a ner- 
 vous person when rowing or sailing over 
 them. The next day we left Hillesilt, 
 and succeeded, with some difficulty, in 
 reaching here about ten o'clock in the 
 evening. We went in a steamer on the 
 fiord as far as Soholt, and there we landed 
 and took stohlkjaerres for Vestnaes on 
 the other side of the fiord from Molde. 
 The drive was delightful, particularly so 
 when the road led along the fiord. Molde 
 is in a sheltered situation, and, although it 
 is several degrees north of St. Petersburg, 
 the vegetation is comparatively luxuriant. 
 The same can be said of Vestnaes ; and 
 the drive, as we approached it, seemed as 
 if it might be through a gentleman's park. 
 The grass and trees were fresh and green, 
 as they would be with us in May. When 
 we arrived at Vestnaes, we found that the 
 little steamer which runs between that 
 place and Molde would not make another 
 trip that evening. The hotel-keeper at 
 Vestnaes would doubtless have been glad 
 if we had passed the night there, but we 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY IO3 
 
 were very anxious to go on to Molde, 
 and resolved to try a row-boat. We 
 secured three rowers and a rather poor, 
 leaky boat with a small sail, as there did 
 not seem to be any better one, and began 
 our trip of eleven miles. The fiord, 
 which was so wide that it seemed almost 
 like the open sea, was in some places 
 very rough, and our trip was a long one. 
 The wind, what there was of it, was dead 
 ahead, so that we had to depend more 
 upon our oars than upon our canvas. 
 We were surprised to find that our men 
 did not understand the management of 
 the sail better. They attempted to steer 
 directly for Molde, which brought the 
 wind dead ahead, and consequently the 
 sail could not help us at all. One of our 
 party, an excellent amateur sailor, re- 
 mained silent until he could endure it no 
 longer, and then proposed to the men by 
 means of gestures, for they understood 
 no English except a few words, to let him 
 take the helm. As they made no oppo- 
 sition, he seated himself in the middle of 
 
104 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 the boat, which is where the Norwegians 
 steer, and soon succeeded by his good 
 management in increasing our rate of 
 speed. This want of a thorough knowl- 
 edge of boat-sailing on the part of our 
 men, which we have had occasion to re- 
 mark again and again while here at Molde, 
 astonished us the more, as we had seen 
 such superb seamanship on the part of the 
 officers of the steamers on the lakes and 
 fiords. We had a specimen of it on the 
 fiord just after leaving Stavanger on the 
 first day of our trip. The steamers carry 
 the mails, and it is often necessary for 
 them to come up to each other in order 
 to make an exchange of postal matter. 
 We saw a steamer coming, and our boat 
 at once slackened its speed and prepared 
 to go alongside, which it did in the most 
 skilful manner. We could not have be- 
 lieved that it would go so close as it did — 
 within a distance of two or three inches 
 from the other — and yet not touch or even 
 graze it. While an exchange of mails 
 was being effected, a third steamer came 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY IO5 
 
 alongside of ours in a similarly masterful 
 manner. 
 
 Our trip to Molde was a long one in 
 spite of the improved management of the 
 sail, and was a hard pull for the men, there 
 being five passengers in the boat, and yet 
 their price for the whole number was four 
 kroner, a kron being equivalent to our 
 quarter of a dollar. 
 
 We thought it was too little, and insisted 
 upon giving them two kroner more, to 
 which they objected, saying it was too 
 much, but they finally accepted it. This 
 incident affords an example of the want 
 of acquisitiveness on the part of the Nor- 
 wegians, of which I have before spoken. 
 We noticed it in everything relating to 
 money. We began by paying the man or 
 boy or girl, as it might happen to be, who 
 drove our stohlkjaerre, a "pour boire" at 
 least twice as large as that mentioned in 
 the guide-books as the proper sum to pay. 
 There was never any pleasure manifested 
 at this extra consideration, nor did they 
 seem to care whether we gave them the 
 
106 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 usual amount or twice as much. This 
 entire want of avarice, joined to the truth- 
 fulness, honesty, industry, and cleanliness 
 of the Norwegians, has caused us to 
 form the high opinion of the national 
 character which I expressed in my first 
 letter. 
 
 Upon arriving at ten o'clock in the 
 evening, we found comfortable quarters 
 at the Alexandra Hotel, and settled our- 
 selves here for the coming week or ten 
 days. Molde is a rather pretty seaside 
 town, the Brighton of Norway. It is 
 beautifully situated on the north side of 
 the Molde fiord, and commands a splendid 
 view of an extensive chain of mountains, 
 among them some of the highest in the 
 Romsdal and other valleys. We spent 
 most of the day after our arrival in walk- 
 ing through the town and making our- 
 selves acquainted with our new surround- 
 ings. There are two celebrated excursions 
 from here, — one to the Romsdal and the 
 other to the Eikisdal. As we wished to 
 make them both, we concluded to begin 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY IO7 
 
 with the Romsdal, and to start for there 
 on the next day. The boat which was to 
 take us to Andalasnaes, the beginning 
 of the Romsdal, did not leave until three 
 o'clock in the afternoon. We should like 
 to have started earlier, in order to get 
 through the Romsdal to Ormien the same 
 night, but we were obliged to accommo- 
 date our movements to those of the boat. 
 We reached Andalasnaes a little before 
 eight o'clock, and remained at the hotel 
 for supper. It was a clear, beautiful night, 
 and, as we could see the scenery of the 
 Romsdal to great advantage, we decided 
 to go through to Ormien the same night. 
 We knew it would keep us up very late, 
 but we felt uncertain as to what the 
 weather might be the next day. More- 
 over, it is never dark, so that in most re- 
 spects we can travel as well at night as in 
 the day. We had with us several friends 
 who came to the same decision as our- 
 selves, so that we had quite a cavalcade 
 of carioles and stohlkjaerres making their 
 way through the Romsdal in the "wee 
 
108 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 sma' hours ayont the twal." The tre- 
 mendous cliffs on each side of the valley 
 frowned down upon us, but did us no 
 harm. They had not always been so 
 considerate, judging from the tremendous 
 boulders that were scattered around on 
 both sides of the road. 
 
 One of the most interesting sights in 
 the Romsdal was these immense masses 
 of rock in such numbers and confusion 
 that they seemed as if they might have been 
 playthings thrown about by the Titans of 
 old. Some of them were as large as a 
 four-story house. What a tremendous 
 shock to the earth must have been given 
 when one of these came down from the 
 mountain. An acquaintance of ours told 
 us that on one occasion he witnessed the 
 fall of a comparatively small boulder. As 
 it alighted, it was driven several feet into 
 the earth, then jumped a distance of ten 
 feet in the air, and went rolling along over 
 the ground till it finally settled itself in 
 the position it was to keep for all time. 
 
 We did not arrive at Ormien, our stop- 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY IO9 
 
 ping-place, until a few minutes before two 
 o'clock, but we found the rustic hotel 
 lighted and some one ready to receive us, 
 which was a great comfort, as we had 
 feared that every one would have retired. 
 We slept during the remainder of the 
 night, and, after an eight o'clock break- 
 fast, returned through the Romsdal to 
 Andalasnaes. The morning was not 
 clear, and the tops of all the mountains 
 were obscured by clouds, so that we were 
 very glad to have seen the famous valley 
 on the preceding evening in a clear and 
 brilliant atmosphere. 
 
 We stopped at two stations to rest and 
 feed the horses, and at one of them, 
 called Horgheem, we found the view up 
 the valley particularly beautiful. After 
 dining at Andalasnaes, we went on board 
 the steamer and returned to Molde, reach- 
 ing here about supper-time. 
 
IIO A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 MOLDE, AugUSt 2, 1894. 
 
 Dear . 
 
 We returned last evening from our 
 excursion to the Eikisdal, having given 
 only two days to it, whereas three is the 
 time usually allotted by tourists. We 
 found that if we went to Noste, the village 
 by which we enter the Eikisdal, and re- 
 turned the same way, it would certainly 
 require three days, and we had not so 
 much time at our disposal, so we resolved 
 to reach Noste in another manner, — viz., 
 by stohlkjaerre and row-boat, leaving here 
 on Tuesday morning and returning by the 
 steamer which leaves Noste Wednesday 
 afternoon. This plan we carried out after 
 various adventures "by flood and field," 
 and saw the Eikisdal satisfactorily. We 
 left here a little after eight o'clock, and 
 after a long drive, the first part of which 
 was very agreeable, as it was along the 
 Fannestrand, — a beautiful road along the 
 fiord and the fashionable drive of Molde, 
 — we reached the village of Tjelde, on the 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY III 
 
 Lange fiord, about three in the afternoon. 
 At a small station called Eide, — there 
 appear to be several Eides in Norway, — 
 where we stopped some time to rest and 
 feed the horse, we received a most friendly 
 greeting, — not from any member of the 
 human family, but a quadruped in the 
 shape of a fine young heifer. We were 
 seated under the trees in the shade, to 
 escape the heat of the midsummer sun, 
 when this gentle creature advanced toward 
 us and placed her nose against our hands. 
 Acting upon the hint, we rubbed her head 
 and neck, which seemed to give her the 
 greatest pleasure. It was difficult to 
 satisfy her, and we were kept busy strok- 
 ing her during a considerable portion of 
 our stay. Even after we had discontinued 
 our caresses she would not leave us, but 
 lay down on the grass close to our feet so 
 lonof as we remained. I never had the 
 same experience elsewhere, and I thought 
 what a striking illustration it afforded of 
 the kindness with which animals are treated 
 in Norway, and which induces affection and 
 
112 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 a want of timidity on their part. I have 
 never seen horses so well cared for and 
 so much considered anywhere else. They 
 are driven, as a general thing, without 
 either check- rein or blinders ; they are 
 scarcely ever struck with the whip, and 
 are so well fed and groomed that it is a 
 pleasure to look at them. There are 
 drinking troughs placed along the roads 
 at intervals, and they are allowed to drink 
 as much and as often as they desire. 
 Having no check-reins they can easily help 
 themselves, and to the grass growing by 
 the wayside whenever they have an oppor- 
 tunity. When going up the hills, of which, 
 as may be supposed, there are a great 
 many, the driver always gets out and walks, 
 and very often the passengers do likewise. 
 The good result of all this care is shown 
 in the amount of work the stout little 
 ponies can do without any apparent in- 
 jury. They are frequently driven between 
 twenty and thirty miles in one morning or 
 afternoon, but are stopped on the way to 
 be fed and rested. The friendly relations 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY II3 
 
 that exist between them and their drivers 
 are most agreeable to witness. When 
 stopping for a momentary halt before 
 going up a steep hill, their drivers often 
 go to them and rub their heads and stroke 
 them, speaking at the same time a few 
 encouraging words. 
 
 Upon reaching Tjelde at about three 
 o'clock, we sought a hotel, but could find 
 nothing but a little farm-house, where we 
 succeeded with considerable difficulty in 
 getting, not a dinner, but a simple meal 
 of boiled eggs and bread and milk, with 
 some freshly-picked currants. We then 
 engaged two boatmen to row us over to 
 Noste, a distance of about eleven miles. 
 
 Our party by this time was reduced to 
 two, so that we did not need so many 
 rowers. After much delay, we were set- 
 tled with our baggage in the ugly, un- 
 wieldy boat, but had only gone a short 
 distance when we found that the water 
 was fairly pouring in upon us through the 
 bottom. It came in so fast that it kept 
 one person constantly busy baling it out. 
 
114 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 This did not look at all hopeful, nor was 
 it reassuring to timid persons, which, 
 fortunately, we were not. The boatmen 
 themselves seemed shortly to realize that 
 this would not do, and told us by signs — 
 for they could not speak a word of Eng- 
 lish — that they were going back to the 
 shore to get another boat. This was ac- 
 complished, much to our satisfaction, after 
 considerable delay, and then we gave our- 
 selves up to the enjoyment of the eleven- 
 mile row. It was very pleasant at first, 
 but became almost intolerable before we 
 reached Noste on account of the cramped 
 position in which we were kept. We were 
 rowed out of the Lange fiord, a branch of 
 the great Molde fiord, into another branch, 
 at the end of which Noste is situated. 
 We found a comfortable hotel there, and 
 took the usual eight o'clock supper. After- 
 ward we had a charming drive with a very 
 spirited pony through a beautiful valley to 
 Overaas, at the end of the Eikisdal-vaud 
 or lake, where we proposed to pass the 
 night. We found lodgings, but of the 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY II5 
 
 most primitive character, there being no 
 looking-glass in our room, and the stairs 
 by which we ascended being little better 
 than a ladder. At breakfast we had only 
 steel forks and plated spoons to eat with, 
 but the provender was very good. The 
 situation of Overaas is beautiful in the 
 extreme, and, as we walked out after 
 breakfast, the grandeur of all the sur- 
 roundings drew from us expressions of 
 the most enthusiastic admiration. We 
 thought, in fact, this entrance to the Eikis- 
 dal-vaud more striking than the lake itself, 
 when we came to sail on it. We chartered 
 the little steamer, which is kept to make 
 the round of the lake for the benefit of 
 tourists, and had it all to ourselves. We 
 had heard so much of the Eikisdal-vaud 
 that we were a little disappointed, the 
 reality not equalling our expectations. 
 The Romsdal is the finer excursion of the 
 two, although there are many very attrac- 
 tive points in connection with the Eikisdal. 
 We finished the tour of the lake at 
 noon, and were able to catch the steamer 
 
Il6 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 from Noste, which brought us back here 
 at a little after eight o'clock. This is our 
 last day in Molde, as to-morrow we start 
 for Bergen, to take passage the next day 
 on the El Dorado back to England. 
 
 We have been much gratified at hearing 
 that, from one of the most drunken coun- 
 tries in Europe, Norway has become one 
 of the most sober, and this is attributed 
 mainly to the excellent result of the Goth- 
 enberg system. This prevents the tavern- 
 or bar-keepers from making any profit on 
 the sale of alcoholic liquors, so that they 
 have no motive for urging their custom- 
 ers to drink. It affords, however, to the 
 people the greatest facilities for obtaining 
 light wine and beer, care being taken by the 
 government to have all the beer examined 
 to see that it is kept pure and free from 
 alcohol. This excellent beer, which con- 
 tains probably less alcohol than any other 
 in the world, is drunk in quantities, but has 
 no intoxicating effect, and yet it satisfies 
 the people, so that they seldom seek for 
 stronger beverages. A great desire is 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY I I 7 
 
 felt on the part of some to introduce this 
 system in England, the Bishop of Ches- 
 ter favoring it particularly, as he is an 
 ardent advocate of the Gothenberg method 
 of regulating the liquor traffic, and we 
 hope that the experiment may be tried. 
 
 Bergen, August 4, 1894. 
 
 Dear . 
 
 We arrived here yesterday about one 
 o'clock, having sailed from Molde at five 
 on the previous afternoon. The sail was 
 a beautiful one, taking us among the nu- 
 merous islands on the coast of Norway. 
 We never saw anything like it, — islands to 
 the right, to the left, in short, everywhere, 
 some of them inhabited, others nothing 
 but barren rocks. They looked most 
 lovely in the evening light cast by the 
 setting sun, which colored them with a 
 purple sheen and transfigured the whole 
 scene. During the night we passed a 
 boat stranded on one of the islands. We 
 soon ascertained that it was the tourist 
 
Il8 A HOLIDAY IN 
 
 steamer Miowera, which left England a 
 few days before with above a hundred 
 and fifty passengers. They had only 
 been out a few days when, through some 
 mistake of the pilot, she ran upon the 
 rocks. All the passengers were saved, 
 and were taken in boats to another 
 island, where they remained until a pass- 
 ing steamer carried them to Bergen. 
 When we arrived at our hotel, we found 
 several of them staying there. The 
 Canadian Australian company, to which 
 the Miowera belonged, finally furnished 
 them with another steamer, and the 
 greater part of the passengers continued 
 their journey, the remainder, some of 
 whom were English and some Ameri- 
 cans, giving up the tour and returning to 
 their respective countries. 
 
 This morning we have visited the Han- 
 seatic Museum, which we missed when 
 we were here before, and found it most 
 interesting. It is an exact representation 
 of one of the houses of the German 
 merchant princes at the time the Ger- 
 
SPAIN AND NORWAY H9 
 
 mans ruled in Norway, and the poor in- 
 habitants of the country were oppressed 
 in every possible way, not being allowed 
 to hold any offices or accept any employ- 
 ment except of a menial kind. These 
 merchants had under them a foreman and 
 apprentices, and the latter were treated in 
 anything but a merciful manner, judging 
 from the rope's end, knotted and with 
 nails fastened in it, with which we were 
 told they were beaten. The merchants, 
 so long as they remained in Norway, 
 were not allowed to marry, so that there 
 should be no mixture with the Norwe- 
 gians. If they desired to take upon them- 
 selves family relations, they were obliged 
 to return to Germany. They had no fire 
 in their bedrooms, nor any, apparently, in 
 their offices, even in winter. In every 
 "garden," as it is called in Norwegian, 
 which means court or alley, there was one 
 general assembling-room for the inhabi- 
 tants of the different houses, and there 
 a fire was kept. The beds resembled 
 bunks, and all opened with doors like 
 
120 A HOLIDAY IN SPAIN AND NORWAY 
 
 closets in the wall. The only articles of 
 any beauty were the great brazen basin 
 and kettle suspended over it, containing 
 water for toilet purposes. 
 
 We leave to-day in the steamer El 
 Dorado for England, looking back upon 
 our sojourn in Norway with much pleas- 
 ure, and bidding good-by with regret to 
 a country so full of natural beauty and a 
 people so gifted with noble and attractive 
 traits of character. 
 
 THE END. 
 
A Holiday 
 
 IN 
 
 Spain and Norway 
 
 By 
 
 Caroline Ear/e White 
 
 Authir of 
 
 "Love in the Tropics" and "A Modern Agrippa and 
 Patience Barker" 
 
 # 
 
 L22 1395 
 
 % 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 J. B. Lippincott Company 
 
 Mdcccxcv