way precludes the extensive building of railroads,
but three thousand square miles of the kingdom are covered with lakes
which greatly facilitate inland communication. Lake Mjoesen, already
spoken of, and Randsfjord are respectively sixty and forty-five miles
long. The hundreds of fjords which indent the west coast form another
system of waterways, the four largest being the Hardangerfjord,
Sognefjord, Porsanger, and Christiania. The population concentrates
on and about these natural means of communication, and thus all are
more or less utilized. About the shores of the Trondhjemfjord are to
be seen delightful green fields and thrifty farms, vegetation
advancing as if by magic under the continuous heat of the ardent sun.
The latitude here is 64 deg. 65'. The mean annual temperature is set
down in the local statistics at 42 deg. Fahrenheit, which it will be
found by comparison corresponds with the winter temperature on the
southern coast of England.

We were here told of a system of storage for grain, long established,
but which was quite new to us, and which as a local expedient appears
to possess considerable merit. It seems that there are what is called
Corn Magazines organized in various districts, to which farmers may
send a portion of their surplus produce, and whence also they may be
supplied with loans of grain when required. The depositors receive at
the rate of twelve and a half per cent increase upon their deposit of
grain for twelve months, and the borrowers replace the quantities
advanced to them at the expiration of the same period, paying an
interest of twenty-five per cent in kind. The difference in the
amount of interest on the grain received and that loaned pays the
necessary expenses of storage and of sustaining the system. As the
sole object is the mutual benefit of all concerned, no profit above
actual expenses is demanded or considered to be desirable. The
necessity for these magazines is owing to the precarious character of
the crops,--a peculiarity of which is that there may be an abundance
in one locality, and a partial or even total failure of the crop in
another, though they may be separated by only a few miles from each
other. These granaries are fostered by the Government.

As one travels northward, it is found that farming as a permanent
occupation gradually and naturally ceases. The populace, gathered
about the fjords in small villages, devote their time to fishing,
trading in skins, rein