hat
one hardly knows where to look in order not to miss any of the beauties
of the scenery. Here are high mountains overgrown from the bottom to the
summit with dark pine-groves; there again lovely hills, with verdant
meadows, fertile fields, pretty farmsteads and yards; and on another side
the mountains separate and form a beautiful perspective of precipices and
valleys. Sometimes I could follow the bend of a bay till it mingled with
the distant clouds; at others we passed the most beautiful valleys,
dotted with little villages and towns. I cannot describe the beauties of
the scenery in adequate terms: my words are too weak, and my knowledge
too insignificant; and I can only give an idea of my emotions, but not
describe them.

Near Walloe the country grows less beautiful; the mountains decrease into
hills, and the water is not studded with islands. The little town itself
is almost concealed behind the hills. A remarkable feature is the long
row of wooden huts and houses adjoining, which all belong to a salt-work
established there.

We entered one of the many little arms of the sea to reach the town of
Moss. Its situation is beautiful, being built amphi-theatrically on a
hillock which leans against a high mountain. A fine building on the
sea-shore, whose portico rests upon pillars, is used for a bathing
institution.

A dock-yard, in which men-of-war are built at the expense of the state,
is situated near the town of Horten, which is also picturesquely placed.
There does not seem to be much work doing here, for I only saw one ship
lying at anchor, and none on the stocks. About eight leagues beyond
Horten a mountain rises in the middle of the sea, and divides it into two
streams, uniting again beyond it, and forming a pretty view.

We did not see Christiania till we were only ten leagues from it. The
town, the suburbs, the fortress, the newly-erected royal palace, the
freemasons' lodge, &c., lie in a semicircle round the port, and are
bounded by fields, meadows, woods, and hills, forming a delightful
_coup-d'oeil_. It seems as if the sea could not part from such a lovely
view, and runs in narrow streams, through hills and plains, to a great
distance beyond the town.

Towards eleven o'clock in the forenoon we reached the port of
Christiania. We had come from Sandesund in seven hours, and had stopped
four times on the way; but the boats with new-comers, with merchandise
and letters, had always been ready, h