rses and flourish the whip over our shoulders; he
would not suffer the reins out of his own hands. There was something so
grotesque in our appearance that I could not avoid shrinking into myself
when I saw a gentleman-like man in the group which crowded round the door
to observe us. I could have broken the driver's whip for cracking to
call the women and children together, but seeing a significant smile on
the face, I had before remarked, I burst into a laugh to allow him to do
so too, and away we flew. This is not a flourish of the pen, for we
actually went on full gallop a long time, the horses being very good;
indeed, I have never met with better, if so good, post-horses as in
Norway. They are of a stouter make than the English horses, appear to be
well fed, and are not easily tired.

I had to pass over, I was informed, the most fertile and best cultivated
tract of country in Norway. The distance was three Norwegian miles,
which are longer than the Swedish. The roads were very good; the farmers
are obliged to repair them; and we scampered through a great extent of
country in a more improved state than any I had viewed since I left
England. Still there was sufficient of hills, dales, and rocks to
prevent the idea of a plain from entering the head, or even of such
scenery as England and France afford. The prospects were also
embellished by water, rivers, and lakes before the sea proudly claimed my
regard, and the road running frequently through lofty groves rendered the
landscapes beautiful, though they were not so romantic as those I had
lately seen with such delight.

It was late when I reached Tonsberg, and I was glad to go to bed at a
decent inn. The next morning the 17th of July, conversing with the
gentleman with whom I had business to transact, I found that I should be
detained at Tonsberg three weeks, and I lamented that I had not brought
my child with me.

The inn was quiet, and my room so pleasant, commanding a view of the sea,
confined by an amphitheatre of hanging woods, that I wished to remain
there, though no one in the house could speak English or French. The
mayor, my friend, however, sent a young woman to me who spoke a little
English, and she agreed to call on me twice a day to receive my orders
and translate them to my hostess.

My not understanding the language was an excellent pretext for dining
alone, which I prevailed on them to let me do at a late hour, for the
early dinners in Swe