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248 THROUGH NORWAY WITII A KNAPSACK.
The scenery of this fiord is very grand; very much
like the lake of Lucerne at its wildest portions, and
quite equal to it. At the distance, glimpses of the
.Tustedal snow-fields are obtained.
The Naero Fiord, a branch of the Sogne Fiord, is
grander than any part of the lake of Lucerne. It is the
grandest lake I have ever seen. The name of narrow
fiord well describes its chief characteristic. It is an
irregular sea-filled gorge between perpendicular rocks
rising to a height of 3,000 feet or more: Murray says
5,000 feet, but this, I think, is an excessive estimate.
The summits of the mountains are probably about that
height, but not the walls that dip into the salt lake.
It was curious to see porpoises and a grampus rolling
about in such an apparently inland lake as this. Eagles
are not uncommon hereabouts: I saw two in the course
of the day. The boatmen call them the " <?>»,"
pronounced " earne," the same name, and apparently the
same species, as the Scottish eagle.
I landed at Gudvangen in the afternoon. This is the
port of the Naerodal, or narrow valley, a continuation
of the same rock-walled valley as the Naero Fiord, but
with a river at the bottom, instead of a branch of the
sea. The hostess of Gudvangen was not a pleasant
specimen: she brought me a very skinny allowance of
fish and bread, and charged a mark for it—the which
mark she clutched with a miserly expression that was
quite picturesque in its way. Murray’s unfavourable
criticism of this establishment appears to be quite
correct.
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