Hubert Smith

“ On those still clear Norwegian nights, full of mystic light, lovely in their starlight stillness, the mind seemed enthralled, in a thousand pleasing fancies; the music of the waterfall; the voices on the breeze. The melody of nature, produced impressions we can never forget.
Norway is not the country for the sybarite, fainéant, and the flâneur; it is the home of the hardy mountaineer, the angler, the reindeer hunter, and nomad wanderer, the lover of nature and nature’s works in her wildest and most beautiful forms. ”

“ Esmeralda makes a dash at our beautiful donkey; her dark eyes flash fire. The spirit of the young English lady pales before her. If the young English lady had been there, it is probable she would have learned a lesson in humanity. We interposed. Fancy a studious, thoughtful, wanderer of nature, staying, for the moment, the torrent of impetuous feeling of the tall handsome gipsy-girl, Esmeralda, about to overwhelm the beautiful Puru Rawnee, at the edge of a wooded steep, in the mizzling rain, of a Norwegian summer’s eve! Gipsies are creatures of impulse. ”

“ Noah was now quite well. Tea is a grand restorer of failing energy. Esmeralda was at once active in our tent arrangements. All things must have their place.
“Now, Mr. Smith, look sharp, or I must give you a severe doing,” and Esmeralda’s dark eyes flashed fire, and sparkled with merriment and witchery. Sometimes, when we were a careless lounger about the tents, she would say, “Dableau! you are going in and out, in and out, and never doing anything.”
Then Noah might be heard, “What are you at, Zachariah; can’t you see where you are going to? I think you are making yourself too much of a man!” ”

“ Giving the attendant a few skillings, we returned to our pleasant room at the quiet “gjœstgiver-gaard.” How dreamy we felt at eve, as we watched from our window the lights and shadows on the Lake Mjösen. A gilded surface in the evening sun—how full of beauty—one seemed to view the imagery of other worlds. There is in nature more than art can tell, or language render. Not a leaf but has its history, a flower its tale, nor a sound without its music to the mind. ”

“ The aftens-mad consisted of soup, made of our last ham bones, Liebig’s essence, pea-flour, rice, and bread.
There is something delightful in the closing evening of the wild forest; the murmuring waters are below us; Esmeralda has gone into our tent; our visitors are gone. As we linger near, we can perceive that our Hobbenengree is surprised at the confusion in which we have left our things; she has turned aside our blue curtain, with its zig-zag braid, as she enters. ”

“ As to our tea Ole had acquired such a taste for it, that we doubt whether he will ever again be able to do without it. Our meal consisted of soup, boiled bacon, the mysterious piece of dried meat, potatoes and fladbröd.
When we looked over the maps after dinner with Ole, we could not help being astonished at the étendue and wonderful extent of wild mountain terrain scarcely explored by the Alpine Club. What a network of deep gorges, glens, valleys, lakes, and glaciers, out of which rise hundreds of steep and rugged peaks; very many have never been ascended and are scarcely known. ”

“ When he was gone, Noah and Zachariah were dispatched to seek a camp-ground, lower down the hill, nearer to Krœmmermoen. We were now above the deep and charming valley of Lille Bang. The rain drizzled down occasionally, as we stood on the broken ground, at the edge of a deep, wooded steep. One donkey lay down with its load. Esmeralda in her long cloak, paced the wet turf, hot, and fiery. Our beautiful Puru Rawnee had given her some offence. It seldom rains but it pours. The Tarno Rye had escaped a young English lady, and now our Puru Rawnee, was to be knocked down by the heroine of our book. ”

“ Another laid hold of our iron kettle-prop outside, and it was amusing to see the earnest discussion that was going on as to its use. An intelligent man with a benign smile made a motion with it, as if making holes in the ground, and whilst pointing to the tent-rods looked at us for confirmation. He was evidently much gratified by our nod of assent. The centre of attraction were the donkeys; party after party from Lillehammer swept by our tents along the broken ground, to the spot where our donkeys stood. ”

“ Then came the tall form of Noah with his Alpine stock, and deer-stalking hat, set jauntily on one side. Noah was an admirable fellow for loading and packing; he had much improved since our campaign last summer; never out of temper, with plenty of energy and determination. By our side walked Esmeralda, in her long tweed cloak, fastened round her waist, small hat and feather, and thick boots studded with nails. Our guitar, in a light cover, was slung over her shoulder, whilst we carried, in a light cover, made on purpose, her tambourine, with our courier bag. ”

“ As we were taking our lunch we became the subject of much interest to the road men and some boys; to some of the men we gave tobacco. After the meal our gipsies played their music, whilst we lounged, looking at the beautiful scene before us. The road men appeared to enjoy themselves quite as much as we did—they sat on the roadside, smoking their pipes and listening.
It was not long before we were en route, and being still in sight of the river Noah and Zachariah were sent to fish. Esmeralda and myself made the best of the way with the donkeys towards Laurgaard. ”

“ We had noticed a steep, and lofty wooded knoll on our left, above the broken river of the ravine. On our return to it, we found an open space on its summit to pitch our tents. It was a beautiful camp-ground; a thicket of firs secluded us; we had bilberry bushes and juniper, heath and moss in luxuriance. A steep and lofty bank of loose stones, covered with moss, sloped steeply to the river. From our camp we could command a view of the road crossing the river. At the side of the stream, on the opposite side the forest road, some green turf gave excellent pasture for our donkeys. ”

“ With all their waywardness, and restlessness of spirit, we had the elements for rapid action, and a physical energy, with which to push through any obstacle. Veblungsnœs, it was determined, should be our Ultima Thule, and striking our tents on Monday morning, we 292 should seek new scenes in the wild Norwegian fjelds. Still wandering south—still on our homewards route, our little band of hardy nomads, would have to brace themselves to fresh exertion. What a vast expanse of mountain, glen and forest lay before us, which we must traverse, before we again reached the sea. ”

“ With our Alpine stocks, tents, and baggage, donkeys and gipsies, we slowly ascended the road to Lillehammer. How delightful in the freshness of the early morning to commence our nomadic wandering of many days. Laing says, in his excellent work on Norway,34 “A young and clever English sportsman, especially if he had a taste, also, for any branch of natural history, ought to pass a summer very agreeably with his rifle, fishing-rod, and his tent, among the fjelde and lakes, encamping where fancy and sport might lead him, and carry all his accommodation on a couple of ponies.” ”

“ Tents were struck, donkeys packed; at a quarter past seven o’clock we were en route. Esmeralda was as lively as possible. We were all in excellent spirits, our donkeys stepping out bravely with their loads. Our beautiful Puru Rawnee leads the way, the hawk bells jingling on its light collar of scarlet bocking. At every place we passed, we had a rush of the country peasants to see us. It was amusing to observe their eagerness to be in time, as they left their occupations in hot haste to gaze upon our donkeys. ”

“ Many of the houses have very small windows, which do not open, and they are therefore closed winter and summer. The musketos and flies and heat are kept out, but then it is generally at the cost of fresh air, that invaluable health-producer, too lightly estimated. The room had a trap-door in the floor, with a ring to it, which somehow we always connect with a scene of mystery; some adventure requiring to be worked out with a melodramatic dénouement. The reindeer-hunter’s wife furnished us with some butter, two eggs, and some fladbröd, for which we paid one mark three skillings. ”

“ What a picture study! wild valley, night-fall, two excited gipsies, ourself arbitrator, trout lying near on the turf, hanging rock, camp fire, gipsy girl standing by the tents, roar of river, dark gloom of precipices above our camp. Can we forget the scene? About ten o’clock several peasant girls arrived to lend more romance to the evening incidents. One or two old men in red caps also arrived. The night was beautiful; we sat down on the turf outside our tents, Zachariah boshamengro (gip., violin-player) , myself with castanets, and Esmeralda with her tambourine. ”

“ We sat out late by our tents, writing our notes; the long evenings of clear light, enabled us often to snatch those hours which in England, would be quite dark. The gipsies, before we retired to rest, had their dose of brimstone and treacle, and with many anticipations, we were soon buried in repose.
All was stir and bustle. Up, Noah!—up, Zachariah!—vand! All were moving before six. Eggs, bread, butter, and tea for breakfast. Esmeralda had been unwell all night. Our gipsies had been living well, and without their usual exercise. Esmeralda was evidently bilious. ”

“ Gipsies, whatever their faults may be, have boundless affection for their offspring, perhaps too much so. A promise is a promise; we kept ours. Our music ceased in the valley of Laurgaard, and we wished our visitors all good-by. Many lingered by the donkeys as we retired to our tent, and watched the picturesque valley before us. The delightful stillness seemed to give to our musings a charm and novelty 191 only experienced in tent life. Then we heard the sound of merry voices in the road below; a children’s game; the peasant boys united to keep the girls from coming up the bank to the road. ”

“ The donkeys were soon relieved of their burthens. It is astonishing how soon men accustomed to camp life in the mountains, quickly avail themselves of all material. With a few roots, and some dry turf, our water soon boiled over a camp fire. We had never failed during our campaign. There is, besides, something very cheerful in seeing your fire in the shades of evening, on the shore of a lake. Our spirits were soon as gay as usual. After our tea, fladbröd and butter, Ole made himself comfortable under a rock. ”

“ After tea we gave the peasants, who collected at our tents, some music. How we enjoyed the picturesque scene; wild nature seems to give singular inspiration. The music of a mountain land has a melody peculiar to itself. It seems to come forth from the deepest recesses of the heart,—those fine vibrations in nature, which seem but the echoes of other worlds. First we sang them our gipsy song with violin and guitar accompaniment; then the “Mocking Bird.” Afterwards we played a number of airs. Sometimes we played the tambourine with the gipsies, sometimes the castanets. ”