h would seem to show that it must be the mouth of some
long-extinct volcano. Neither glacial action nor any other physical
agent known to us can have dug an abrupt hole eight or ten hundred
feet deep; and yet there are also some dry valleys in Norway whose
bottoms are considerably below that of the sea. The river Mesna
tumbles boisterously into the lake close to Lillehammer. A walk
beside its thickly-wooded banks brings to view many beautiful
cascades and waterfalls, some of which are worthier of a visit than
many of the more famous falls of Scandinavia. On all the important
inland routes not furnished with railroad or steamboat transit
Government supports a system of postal service, whereby one can
easily travel in almost any desired direction. On such excursions the
keen air and free exercise are apt to endow the traveller with an
excellent appetite, which Norwegian fare is not quite calculated to
assuage. However, the milk is almost always good, and eggs are
generally to be had. Even hard black bread will yield to a hammer,
after which it can be soaked in milk and thus rendered eatable. One
does not come hither in search of delicate and appetizing food, but
rather to stand face to face with Nature in her wildest and most
rugged moods. The pleasures of the table are better sought in the big
capitals of southern Europe or America, where "rich food and heavy
groans go together."

As to the fauna of Norway, the reindeer, the bear, the wolf, the fox,
and the lynx about complete the list of indigenous animals. The
ubiquitous crow abounds; and fine specimens of the golden eagle, that
dignified monarch of the upper regions, may occasionally be seen
sailing through the air from cliff to cliff, across the fjords and
valleys. At certain seasons of the year this bird proves destructive
to domestic fowls and young lambs. But we escaped in Norway the
almost inevitable legend of a young child having been carried off by
an eagle to its nearly inaccessible nest; that story is still
monopolized by Switzerland. For some reason not quite understood by
the author, the mischievous magpie is here held as half sacred. That
is to say, the country people have a superstition that any injury
inflicted upon these birds entails misfortune upon him who causes it;
and yet the Government offers a premium for their destruction.
Magpies appear to be as much of a nuisance in Norway as crows are in
India or Ceylon, and to be quite as unmolested by the