Page:Three Years in Europe.djvu/196

160 all nationalities of Europe! The American tourists of course predominated in number as they do everywhere, but there were English and Germans and French and Swiss and Norwegians and Swedes and Dutch and Hungarians, all bound for the North Cape to see the midnight sun! The presence of three tourists from far off India in these northern seas struck many on board. A Norwegian, who is an English consul, exchanged cards with us remarking that he had never met, and probably may never again meet people from Calcutta in his own native country!

The weather continued cloudy and misty, and a cold cutting wind blew from the Polar seas. The thermometer stood at 55°, but the open deck where the wind blew was much colder. We threaded our way the whole day through the creeks and islands which form the principal feature of this west coast. The rocks were barren and bleak, but occasionally in a sheltered spot we found traces of cultivation and isolated farm-houses. These seas are famous for cod and herring which are dried and then exported. The great season for cod-fishing is from December to March or April, while herring is caught later. Timber is the only other important article of export from Norway, and we saw numerous boats laden with timber sailing down towards Christiania and Bergen.

At 5 we reached Torghatten, which literally means a Market Hat. It a is rock much of the shape of an old Terai Hat, but the peculiarity about it is that there is a hollow