amilies of the agents, as the assistants and
apprentices of the resident factors were pleasantly termed,
congregated here, each group at its own particular rough-hewn, wooden
table, to indulge in strong drink and pleasant gossip. When the
interests of the entire colony were to be discussed, the _AElterleute_
("seniors") from every grange would meet in the Schutting belonging to
Bremen and called _Zum Mantel._ This assemblage was called the
"Council of Eighteen," the representative of Lubeck enjoying the
greatest distinction and wielding the greatest influence among them by
reason of the hegemony exercised by his native town. When matters of
particular importance arose, or in case of a serious dispute, the
affair at issue was usually referred to the _Bergenfahrercollegium_
("the town council"), or more frequently to the general convention of
the Hansa at Lubeck.

The expenses of maintaining the colony, in view of the almost monastic
simplicity of life prevailing there and the large membership, were
naturally small. In its zenith it probably numbered about three
thousand persons, who were subjected to strict laws--as strict,
indeed, as those of any camp or monastery. No woman was permitted
within the colony, and no person was permitted out of doors after
sundown, unless, indeed, he wished to run the gauntlet of the fierce
watchdogs which guarded the reservations of the settlers. The members
and employes of the Hansa who resided here were not permitted to marry
Norwegian women, in order that their special rights and privileges
might not be endangered through intermixture with the natives. How
considerable were these special rights the reader may determine from
the fact that, during the weekly markets, the members of the Hansa
bureaus had the streets barricaded by powerful fellows who permitted
no one to interfere with the valuable privilege of priority conceded
to the Hanses in the matter of barter. Naturally enough the purchasing
price of goods was arbitrarily set by the latter under these
conditions, while the fixing of the selling price, in the absence of
all competition, was a matter of course.

That the exercise of such pressure sometimes disturbed the serenity of
the Norwegian can readily be conjectured, especially when it is
considered that the average Northman is by no means indisposed to have
a little brush with his neighbor now and then. But in such an event
the Germans usually gave tit for tat, and that with a