umbling down of some
rocks from an overhanging cliff. The jolting is enough to dislocate
one's vertebrae; and I had a vague feeling all the time during the trip
that the locomotive would jump off the track, and dash her brains out
against some of the terrible boulders of granite that stood frowning
at us on either side as we worried our way along from station to
station.

It was nearly dark when we came to a saw-mill by the roadside. The
scenery is pretty all the way from Christiania, but not very striking
till the train passes the narrow gorge in which the saw-mill is
situated, where there is a tunnel of a few hundred feet that
penetrates a bluff on the left. Emerging from this, we are close upon
the charming little village of Eidsvold, one of the loveliest spots in
this land of beauty. A few minutes more brought us to the
station-house, where the railway ends. Here we found ourselves at a
good hotel, picturesquely situated on the bank of the Wormen, a river
flowing from the Miosen Lake.

At eleven o'clock on a fine Sunday forenoon I took my departure from
Eidsvold on board one of the little lake steamers. These vessels are
well managed, and not inconveniently arranged, but they are so very
small that on particular occasions, when there is an unusual pressure
of travelers, it is difficult to find room for a seat. Owing to the
facilities afforded by the railway from Christiania, an excursion to
Lillehammer is the most popular way of passing a Sunday during the
summer months, and this being the height of the season, the crowd was
unusually great. It also happened that two hundred soldiers, who had
served out their time, were returning to their homes in the interior,
so that there was no lack of company on board. If the soldiers were
somewhat lively and frolicsome, it was nothing more than natural under
the circumstances. A good many were intoxicated--at the idea, perhaps,
of getting home once more, and their songs and merry shouts of
laughter kept every body in a good humor. I am unable to account for a
curious fact, which I may as well mention in this connection. Whenever
the authorities of any country through which I chance to travel have
occasion to send their troops from one point to another, they
invariably send them upon the same boat or in the same railway train
upon which I have the fortune to take passage. There must be something
military in my appearance, or some natural propensity for bloodshed in
my nature