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272 THROUGH NORWAY WITII A KNAPSACK.
is many a noisy torrent and white cascade. I passed
several clusters of poor hovels on small alluvial flats,
where the river had once been a lake and left some soil
behind. There are some magnificent views of many
valleys seen at once, where the path follows a ledge upon
the face of a steep precipice, and thus winds round the
mountain side at a great elevation. At one part it is
bounded by a wall of rock which descends
perpendicularly to the river about 1,500 feet below: it finally
rises to the bare rocks and snow patches. Waligorski’s
map is quite wrong here, it places the road on the
opposite side of the river.
Murray’s "Handbook for Northern Europe," p. 187,
speaking of this route, describes the stage from
Selje-stadt to Skare as "the last station practicable for a
carriole." This is rather amusing to read on the spot,
as the path in some parts is a steep staircase, about
three feet wide, ascending the stony slope of a
mountain side, having an angle of about 80°. The rude steps
are about eighteen inches high. Norwegian ponies and
carrioles certainly do make the passage of some
astonishing roads, but this one is rather beyond their powers.
The summit of the range being reached at last, the
track then descends to a dark, quiet lake, at the upper or
alluvial end of which is a cluster of farms, forming a
sort of village, called Roldal. This day’s walk was
a most magnificent one.
Inquiring of the people in the fields about a lodging,
I was directed to " Robert," or to the " Prestgaard,"
i. c. the parsonage. A kind man in wooden shoes took
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