by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER IV.
NORWAY IN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT.
"Clear away the first cutter!" shouted the first lieutenant of theYoung America, from whose deck the catastrophe to the second cutterhad been observed.
"All the first cutters!" piped the boatswain, with an energy inspiredby the stirring occasion.
"That was very carelessly done," said Mr. Lowington, whose attentionhad been called to the scene.
"The steamer ran within a couple of rods of the island," added CaptainCumberland. "I saw the fourth lieutenant order the boat to shove off;I suppose he did it to prevent the swash of the steamer from grindingthe cutter on the rocks."
"What is he doing among those rocks?" asked the principal.
"I don't know, sir. He landed Mr. Mapps and the doctor, and wasordered to wait for them. I don't see why he went over to thatisland."
The second lieutenant was directed to take charge of the first cutter;Peaks, the adult boatswain, and Bitts, the carpenter, were ordered togo also, to render any assistance which might be required in succoringthe stove boat. The cutter shoved off, her twelve oars struck thewater together, and the crew gave way with an energy which causedtheir oars to bend like twigs, while the barge leaped through thewater as though it was some monster of the deep goaded to his utmostto escape the wrath of a more potent pursuer.
"With a will, my lads!" shouted the coxswain. "Steady! Keep thestroke, but use your muscle!"
"There's a job for you, Bitts," said the boatswain, as the Norwegiantook the second cutter in tow.
"And a heavy job it will be, too," replied Bitts. "I wonder there isanything left of the boat."
"The steamer stopped her wheels, and backed some time before shestruck, or there would not have been much left of the boat, or hercrew," added Peaks. "Thank God, the boys are all safe."
"It's a lucky escape for them."
"So it was; and we needn't say anything about the boat."
"The steamer is going ahead," said the carpenter.
"No matter for that, so long as the boys are all safe," replied Peaks.
The people in the steamer seemed to take no notice of the firstcutter, appearing not to understand that it had come out for thewrecked crew. But as the boat pulled towards her, she cast off thecutter in tow.
"Steamer, ahoy!" shouted Norwood, the second lieutenant, as he saw thecutter cast adrift.
She made no reply, but hoisted a flag, on which appeared the word"Post," with something else which none in the first cutter couldunderstand.
"She's a mail boat," said the boatswain; "and I suppose she intends tosay she is in a hurry."
"Does she mean to carry off the crew of that boat?" demanded thesecond lieutenant, not a little vexed at the conduct of theNorwegians.
"She will not carry them far," suggested Dunlap, the coxswain.
"She may take them to Bergen."
"I think not, sir. If she is a mail steamer, she stops at all theports on the coast. I don't think she will carry them far. Very likelythey will be sent back, on some other steamer, before night," addedDunlap, who had studied the coast of Norway more carefully than thelieutenant in command.
"First cutter, ahoy!" shouted De Forrest, on the island.
"On shore!" replied Norwood. "We can't catch the steamer--that iscertain; steer for the island, coxswain."
The first cutter ran up to the rocky island, and as soon as the bowtouched the rocks, De Forrest leaped into the fore-sheets. He wasnervous and excited, feeling, perhaps, that he had failed in his duty,and was, therefore, responsible for the accident to the second cutter.From feeling that he had circumvented his crew in carrying out someunexplained trick, he realized that he had led them into a trap, fromwhich they had narrowly escaped with their lives.
"What are you doing on this island, De Forrest?" asked Norwood, as thediscomfited officer took his place in the stern-sheets, and the boatshoved off again.
The second lieutenant declared that he had come over to the island toprevent his crew from running away, or from carrying out some trickwhose existence he suspected, but whose nature he could notcomprehend.
"Sanford wanted I should go ashore at the town, and offered to lookout for the crew while I did so," he continued. "Of course I wouldn'tleave my crew; but I told them that half of them might go on shore andtake a walk. None of them wanted to go, and then I was satisfied theywere up to something. I went on the island for the sole purpose ofwatching them. I wanted to know what their plan was."
"Well, what did you discover?"
"Nothing at all. I saw that steamer coming, and I ordered Sanford toshove off, so that her swash should not damage the boat."
"I don't believe they intended to play any trick," added Norwood. "Youare too suspicious, De Forrest."
"Perhaps I am; but fellows that have been at sea for a month arerather glad of a chance to stretch their legs on shore. They wouldn'tdo so, when I told them they might; and I don't believe such a thingwas ever heard of before. Besides, they all looked as though they wereup to something, and just as though they had a big secret in theirheads."
"Perhaps you were right, but I don't believe you were," said Norwood,too bluntly for good manners, and too bluntly for the harmony of theofficers' mess.
"I suppose I am responsible for the smashing of the second cutter, butI was trying to do my duty," replied De Forrest, vexed at the impliedcensure of his superior.
"If you had staid at the pier this could not have happened."
"But something else might have happened; and if my crew had run away,I should have been blamed just as much," growled the secondlieutenant.
"You were too sharp for your own good--that is all. But I don't meanto blame you, De Forrest," said Norwood, with a patronizing smile."Perhaps I should have done the same thing if I had been in yourplace."
"Stand by to lay on your oars!" shouted the coxswain, as the boatapproached the water-logged second cutter. "Oars!"
The crew stopped pulling, and levelled their oars.
"In, bows! Stand by the boat-hooks!" continued the coxswain; and thetwo forward oarsmen grasped the boat-hooks, and took their station inthe fore-sheets. "Hold water." And the ten oars dropped into the wateras one, checking the onward progress of the cutter.
The bowmen fastened to the second cutter, and recovering her painter,passed it astern to the coxswain, who made it fast to a ring on thestern-board. By this time the steamer, with the luckless crew of thestove boat, had disappeared behind an island. The first cutter pulledback to the ship, and De Forrest immediately reported to the firstlieutenant, and explained his conduct in presence of the principal andthe captain. He detailed his reasons for supposing his crew intendedto run away, or to play some trick upon him.
"I think you have done all that a careful and vigilant officer could,De Forrest; and so far as I can see, you are free from blame," repliedMr. Lowington.
The fourth lieutenant glanced at Norwood.
"Just what I said," added the latter, in a low tone.
"If you made any mistake, it was in leaving your boat at the island,"continued the principal.
"Just exactly my sentiments," whispered Norwood. "I don't blame thefourth lieutenant, but I shouldn't have done just as he did."
"Where is that steamer bound?" asked Mr. Lowington of the pilot, whohad not yet left the ship, and was really waiting to be invited tosupper.
"To Christiania, sir," replied the pilot, who, like all of his classon the coast of Norway, spoke a little English.
"Where does she stop next?"
"At Lillesand."
"How far is that?"
"About two miles."
"Two miles! Why, it is farther than that to the sea," exclaimed Mr.Lowington.
"He means Norwegian miles," suggested one of the instructors, who waslistening with interest to the conversation.
"True; I did not think of that. A Norwegian mile is about sevenEnglish miles. It is fourteen miles, then, to Lillesand."
With the assistance
of Professor Badois, who acted as interpreter, thepilot explained that the steamer which had just left was several hourslate, and would go that night to Frederiksvaern, where the steamersfrom Bergen and Christiania made connections with the boat forGottenburg and Copenhagen. The Christiania steamer would reachChristiansand the next evening, and the boys who had been carriedaway could return in her.
"Why did she carry them off? It would not have taken five minutes toland them," added the principal.
"She was very late, and her passengers for Gottenburg and Copenhagenwould lose the steamer at Frederiksvaern if she does not arrive inseason," the pilot explained through Professor Badois.
But Mr. Lowington was so grateful that the crew of the second cutterhad all escaped with their lives, that he was not disposed to be verycritical over the conduct of the Norwegian steamer. The boys weresafe, and would return the next night at farthest. The accident wastalked about, during the rest of the day, on board of all the vesselsof the squadron. The officers and seamen on board of the ship hadwitnessed the accident, and had seen all the crew of the second cuttergo over the bows of the steamer. They had not observed, in theexcitement of the moment, that ten, instead of nine, had left thewrecked boat; and as Ole Amundsen was dressed precisely like the crew,his presence in the cutter was not even suspected.
The first cutter was sent to the town for Dr. Winstock and Mr. Mapps,and in an hour or two the excitement had entirely subsided. Theroutine of the ship went on as before, and as there was little work tobe done, the absentees were hardly missed.
At half past eight the next morning, the signal, "All hands, attendlecture," was flying on board of the Young America. The boats fromthe Josephine and the Tritonia came alongside the ship, bringing allthe officers and crews of those vessels. Paul Kendall and lady, andtheir friends, were brought off from the shore; Shuffles and his wifealso appeared, and a further delegation from each of the yachts askedadmission to the ship to hear the lecture, or rather to attend theexercise in geography and history, for the occasion was even lessformal than on the first cruise of the ship. The steerage was crowded,after the boatswain had piped the call, and Mr. Mapps was doubtlessduly flattered by the number of his audience. On the foremast hung alarge map of Sweden and Norway.
"If you please, young gentlemen, we will begin with Scandinavia," saidthe professor, taking his place near the foremast, with the pointer inhis hand. "What was Scandinavia?"
"The ancient name of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark," replied one of thestudents.
"The barbarous tribes from the northern part of Europe at differenttimes invaded the southern sections, conquering various other tribes,occupying their territory, and thus mingling with all the people fromwhom originated the present nations of Europe. Thus, in remote ages,the Scandinavians, among others, by their conquests and theiremigration, have contributed largely to the modern elements ofsociety. With this explanation we will look at Scandinavia in detail,beginning with Norway. Between what degrees of latitude does it lie?"
"Between forty and ninety," replied an enthusiastic youth.
"True--quite right; and a safe answer. If you had said between one andninety, the answer would have been just as good for any other countryas for Norway. I would like to have the jacket fit a little closer."
"Between fifty-eight and seventy-one, north," answered one who wasbetter posted.
"Exactly right; about the same latitude as Greenland, and ournewly-acquired Alaska. Our ship is anchored in the same parallel asthe northern part of Labrador, and one degree south of the southernpoint of Greenland. But it is not as 'cold as Greenland, here,' thetemperature being some twelve degrees milder, because the warm watersof the Gulf Stream are discharged upon its shores. You know itsboundaries. It is one thousand and eighty miles from the Naze to theNorth Cape, and varies from forty to two hundred and seventy miles inwidth. How many square miles has it?"
"One hundred and twenty-three thousand square miles."
"Or a little larger than the six New England States, New York, and NewJersey united. The country is mountainous, and abounds in picturesquescenery. Precipices, cataracts, and rushing torrents are very numerousin the central and northern parts. The Voeringfos is a waterfall, andthe Rjukanfos, near the central part, are cataracts of about ninehundred feet perpendicular descent; but of course the volume of wateris not very large. The highest mountains are between eight and ninethousand feet high. Norway has an abundance of rivers, but none ofthem are very long. The coast, as you have seen, is fringed withislands, which, with the numerous indentations, form a vast number ofbays, straits, channels, and sounds, which are called _fjords_ here.One of the principal of these is Christiania Fjord, which you willascend in a few days. The country also abounds in lakes, which, as inmost mountainous regions, are very narrow, being simply the wideningsof the rivers. The largest of these is Mioesen Lake, fifty-five mileslong, and from one to twelve wide.
"The soil is not very good, and the Norwegians are not progressivefarmers. They cling to the methods of their sires, and modernimprovements find but little favor among them. The winter is long, andthe summer short; but by a provision of provident nature, the cropsmature more rapidly than in some of the southern climes, as grain hasbeen reaped six weeks after it was sowed. The principal crops are thegrains; but the supply is not equal to the demand, and considerableimportations are received from Denmark and Russia. In the south thefarmers devote themselves to stock-raising, while in the north theLapps derive nearly all the comforts of life from the reindeer, thecare of which is their chief industry.
"The extensive product of pine and fir have created a vast trade inlumber, which constitutes three fourths of the exports to the UnitedKingdom, and a considerable portion of the inhabitants in the woodeddistricts are employed in cutting, sawing, and sending to market thewealth of the forests. Next in importance to this are the fisheries,which yield about five million dollars a year. Cod, haddock, andherring are cured for exportation, and are an important source ofrevenue. Besides these, the roe of the cod is sent to France, Italy,and Spain, as bait for sardines. Norway supplies London with lobsters.Norway iron, as well as Swedish, is very celebrated; but the mines arepoorly managed, as are those of copper and silver.
"The kingdom of Norway is divided into eighteen provinces, which arecalled Amts. Its population, in 1865, was one million seven hundredthousand, showing an increase of about two hundred thousand in tenyears. The government is a constitutional monarchy."
"I thought it was a part of Sweden," said one of the students.
"Not at all. The King of Sweden is also the King of Norway; but eachcountry has its own independent and separate government. Each has itsown legislature, makes its own laws, and raises and expends its ownrevenues. The king exercises his functions as ruler over both kingdomsthrough a council of state, composed of an equal number of Swedes andNorwegians, whose duty it is to advise the sovereign, and, inaccordance with a peculiar feature of monarchy, to take theresponsibility when any blunder is made; for "the king can do nowrong." If anything is wrong, some one else did it. Having the sameking, who rules over each nation separately, is the only connectionbetween Norway and Sweden. The former pays about one hundred andtwenty thousand dollars of his civil list, and he is obliged to residein Norway during a small portion of each year.
"The constitution of Norway is one of the most democratic in Europe.The legislative and part of the executive power is vested in theStorthing, which means the 'great court,' composed of therepresentatives of the people. The king has but little power, thoughhe has a limited veto upon the acts passed by the legislative body. Hecan create no order of nobility, or grant any titles or dignities. Themembers of the Storthing are elected indirectly by the people; andwhen they assemble, they divide themselves into two houses,corresponding to our Senate and House of Representatives. All actsmust pass both chambers, and in case of disagreement, the two bodiescome together, and discuss the subject.
"The religion of Norway is Lutheran, and few of any other sect are
tobe found; formerly, no other was tolerated, but now religious freedomprevails, though Jesuits and monks of any order are sternly excluded.The clergy, who are generally very well educated, have an averageincome of about a thousand dollars a year, and I think are better paidthan even in our own country. The people are well instructed, and onewho cannot read and write is seldom found.
"The early history of Norway is that of most of the countries ofEurope--a powerful chief subjugated his neighbors, and united thetribes into a nation. Harold the Fair-haired, whose father hadconquered the southern part of the country, fell in love with Gyda,the daughter of a petty king, who refused to wed him till he hadabsolute sway over the entire country. Pleased with the lady's spirit,he vowed never to cut or comb his hair till all Norway lay at hisfeet. It appears that he eventually had occasion for his barber'sservices, and wedded the lady. This was in the ninth century; and thevictories of Harold drove many of the Norsemen, or Northmen, to seektheir fortunes in other lands. They discovered and colonized Greenlandand Iceland, and even established settlements on the continentalportion of North America. Traces of them have been found on the Gulfof St. Lawrence, and some claim that they founded settlements farthersouth. They figure largely in the early history of England andScotland, and even carried their piratical arms into Russia, Flanders,France, Italy, and other territories.
"A son of Harold, who had been educated in England, broughtChristianity into Norway; but, it was three centuries before the newfaith had established itself. Like the Hindoos, Greeks, and Romans,the ancient Scandinavians had a mythology, upon which their religionwas based. They believed that in the beginning all was chaos, in whichwas a fountain that sent forth twelve rivers. These streams flowed sofar from their source that the waters froze, and the ice, defying themodern law of nature, sank till the fathomless deep was filled up. Farsouth of the world of mist, in which this miracle was wrought, was aworld of fire and light, whence proceeded a hot wind that melted theice, from the drops of which came the ice-giant, whose name was Ymir,and from whom proceeded a race of ice-giants. From the wedding of theice and heat of the two extremes of the world came a cow, from whichran four streams of milk, the food of the ice-giants. While thiswonderful beast was licking the salt stones in the ice, which formedher diet, a quantity of human hair grew out of them, and the next daya human head was developed, and then appeared a whole man. Boer, theson of this man, married a daughter of one of the ice-giants, and theyhad three children, the oldest of whom was Odin, who became the rulersof heaven and earth, because they were all good, while the children ofYmir, the ice-giant, were evil. Then, as now, the Good and the Evilwere at war. Finally the ice-giant was slain, and being thrown intospace, the world was created from his body; his blood forming the seaand the rivers; his flesh the earth; his hair the grass; his bones therocks; his teeth and broken jaws the stones; and of his head theheavens, at the four ends of which were placed four dwarfs, calledNorth, South, East, and West. Of this giant's brains, thrown into theair, they formed the clouds, while of the sparks from the land of firewere made the stars.
"As the sons of Boer, who, you must remember, were the gods of heavenand earth, were walking on the shore of the sea, they discovered twoblocks, whereof they created a man and a woman. Odin gave them lifeand souls, while his brothers endowed them with other human facultiesand powers. Odin was the Jupiter, the chief, of the northern gods. Heis the god of song and of war, and was the inventor of the Runiccharacters, or alphabet. He was the ruler of Valhalla, the home ofheroes slain in battle. There is much more that is curious andinteresting in the mythology of the Scandinavians, which I must askyou to read for yourselves.
"Olaf II. propagated Christianity with fire and sword. He demolishedthe temples of paganism, and founded Trondhjem, or Drontheim, as it iscalled on our maps. His successor, St. Olaf, followed his example,till his cruelty excited a rebellion, and Canute the Great, ofDenmark, landing in Norway, was elected king. Olaf fled into Sweden,where he organized an army, and attempted to recover his throne; buthe was defeated and slain in a battle near Trondhjem. His body wasfound, a few years later, in a perfect state of preservation, whichwas regarded as a miracle, and Olaf was canonized as a saint. Hisremains are said to have wrought many miracles, and up to the time ofthe Reformation, thousands of pilgrims annually visited his shrine atTrondhjem. Even in London churches were dedicated to this saint.
"Canute gave Norway to his son Sweyn, who, upon the death of hisfather, was dispossessed of the throne by Magnus I., the son of St.Olaf. He was succeeded by Harold III., a great warrior, who foundedOsloe, now Christiania. After Olaf III. and Magnus III. came Sigurd,who, in 1107, made a pilgrimage of four years to Jerusalem, with afleet of sixty vessels, and distinguished himself in the holy wars.His death was followed by civil dissensions, until Hako IV. obtainedthe throne. He lost his life in an attempt to retain the HebridesIslands, claimed by Scotland. Then war with Denmark, the monopoly oftrade by the Hanse towns, and a fearful plague, which depopulatedwhole sections, produced a decline in the national prosperity ofNorway. Hako VI., who died in 1380, had married the daughter of theKing of Denmark, and the crown of Norway descended to his son, OlafIII., of Denmark, in whom the sovereignties of Norway and Denmark wereunited. Olaf was succeeded by his mother Margaret, celebrated inhistory as 'the Semiramis of the North.' She conquered Sweden, andannexed it to her own dominions. By the 'Union of Calmar,' signed bythe principal nobles and prelates of the three Scandinavian kingdoms,the three crowns were united in one person, the subjects of each tohave equal rights. This compact was disregarded, and Norway washopelessly oppressed by the ruler. The Union, however, continued till1623; but Norway was subject to Denmark till 1814.
"When the allied powers of Europe, which were engaged in putting downthe first Napoleon, rearranged the map of Europe, the destiny ofNorway was changed. Russia wanted Finland, and she offered Norway incompensation for it to Sweden, with the further condition thatBernadotte should join the allies. He accepted the terms, and the Kingof Denmark was compelled, by force of arms, to cede Norway to Sweden.The Norwegians would not submit to the change, and declared theirindependence. Prince Christian, of Denmark, who was then governorgeneral of Norway, called a convention of the people at Eidsvold, anda new constitution was framed, and the prince elected King of Norway.Bernadotte invaded Norway with a Swedish army, while the alliesblockaded the coast. Resistance was hopeless, and as Sweden offeredfavorable terms, Christian abdicated, and an arrangement wasimmediately effected. The constitution was accepted by the king, andNorway became an independent nation, united to Sweden under one king.Bernadotte became King of Sweden and Norway under the title of CharlesXIV., John. He refused the Norwegians a separate national flag; butwhen he attempted to alter the constitution to suit his own views, theStorthing resolutely and successfully resisted his interference. Thisbody abolished titles of nobility--an act which the king vetoed; butthree successive Storthings passed the law, and thus, by theconstitution, made it valid in spite of the veto. The Norwegians werenot to be intimidated even by the appearance of a military force, andhave ever been jealous to the last degree of their rights andprivileges as a nation.
"Bernadotte was succeeded by his son Oscar I., who gave the Norwegiansa separate national flag; and he flattered the vanity of the people byallowing himself to be styled the 'King of Norway and Sweden' in allpublic acts relating to Norway, instead of 'Sweden and Norway.' In1859, Oscar was succeeded by his son Charles XV., who is now the Kingof Sweden and Norway. In the history of Denmark and Sweden, more willbe said of this kingdom.
"In French, Norway is _Norvege_; in German, _Norwegen_; in Spanish,_Noruega_; and _Norge_ in the Scandinavian languages. Now, I dare sayyou would like to visit the shore."
The professor closed his remarks, and the several boatswains pipedaway their crews.
