nd held in profound awe
by all the little urchins of the neighborhood. He speaketh unknown
tongues; he diveth into the depths of abstruse sciences; he talketh
with the air of one burdened with much learning; he "argueth the
cycles of the stars from a pebble flung by a child;" he likewise
teacheth reading, writing, and arithmetic, and applieth the rod to the
juvenile seat of understanding, as shown on the preceding page.

Soon after leaving Storkterstad, a station about two days' journey
from Lillehammer, on the main road to Trondhjem, I passed through a
very steep and rugged defile in the mountains, with jagged rocks on
the right and the foaming waters of the Logen on the left, where my
attention was called by the skydskaarl to a small monument by the
roadside hearing an inscription commemorative of the death of Colonel
Sinclair. If I remember correctly, a fine description is given of this
celebrated passage by Mogge, whose graphic sketches of Norwegian
scenery I had frequent occasion to admire, during my tour, for their
beauty and accuracy. I fully agree with my friend Bayard Taylor, that
the traveler can find no better guide to the Fjelds and Fjords of this
wild country than "Afraja" and "Life and Love in Norway." Laing has
also given an interesting account of the massacre of Colonel
Sinclair's party. From his version of this famous incident in
Norwegian history it appears that, during the war between Christian
the Fourth of Denmark and Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, while the Danes
held the western coast of Norway, Colonel Sinclair, a Scotchman,
desiring to render assistance to the Swedes, landed at Romsdalen, on
the coast, with a party of nine hundred followers. Another detachment
of his forces landed at Trondhjem. It was their intention to fight
their way across the mountains and join the Swedish forces on the
frontier. Sinclair's party met with no resistance till they arrived at
the pass of Kringelen, where three hundred peasants, hearing of their
approach, had prepared an ambush. Every thing was arranged with the
utmost secrecy. An abrupt mountain on the right, abounding in immense
masses of loose rock, furnished the means of a terrible revenge for
the ravages committed by the Scotch on their march from Romsdalen. The
road winds around the foot of this mountain, making a narrow pass,
hemmed in by the roaring torrents of the Logen on the one side and
abrupt cliffs on the other. Across the river, which here dashes wi