become
monotonous after a few hours. Near Hamar, on the right, there are the
ruins of an old cathedral, burned and plundered by the Swedes in 1567.

Apart from the ordinary interest of the Miosen Lake, arising from the
quiet, pastoral character of its shores, it possessed a peculiar charm
to me, owing to the fact that, in 1755, when the great earthquake
occurred at Lisbon, its waters rose twenty feet, and suddenly
retreated. Only a few months previously I had visited the city of
Lisbon, and stood upon the very spot, where, in six minutes, over
sixty thousand souls had been buried beneath the ruins. I was now, so
to speak, following up an earthquake.

It was late at night when we arrived at the pretty little town of
Lillehammer, at the head of the lake. Leaving the steamer here, I
found myself, for the first time, beyond the limits of the English
language. A Norwegian with whom I had become acquainted on board the
boat was kind enough to walk up town with me and show me the way to
the post station, where I had some difficulty in procuring
accommodations, owing to the number of recent arrivals.

The town of Lillehammer contains twelve or fifteen hundred
inhabitants, whose principal industry consists in the lumber business.
Immense rafts are towed down the lake every day by the returning
steamers, and carried by rail from Eidsvold to Christiania. The logs
are drifted down the Logen River from the interior, and cut up at
Lillehammer and Eidsvold. Such as are designed for spars are dressed
and stripped at the latter place. There are many other points on the
lake from which supplies of timber are also transferred to
Christiania, so that, between farming, fishing, and lumbering, the
inhabitants of this region make out a very comfortable subsistence,
and generally own the lands upon which they reside. Many of them are
wealthy--for this part of the world.

Lillehammer is prettily situated on an eminence, and consists of log
and frame houses, presenting much the appearance of a Western lake
village in the United States. The view of the Miosen and its verdant
shores is very fine from the top of the hill. It was ten o'clock at
night when I arrived, although the sky was still lighted up with a
purple glow from the departed sun. Something of the wonderful scenic
beauties of the country were still visible. A party of French
tourists, who had come to Norway to make a three days' visit, set off
at this late hour to see the torrent