PAINTED AND DESCRIBED BY A. HEATON COOPER ARTIST OF "THE ENGLISH LAKES" WITH TWENTY-FOUR FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1907 Published September, 1907 Black's Smaller Series of Beautiful Books THE NORWEGIAN FJORDS BY THE SAME ARTIST THE ENGLISH LAKES PAINTED BY A. HEATON COOPER DESCRIBED BY W. T. PALMER CONTAINING 75 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR PRICE 20s. NET "Every lover of the Lake District will do well to secure a copy of this beautiful book."— The Guardi

To approach the Norwegian coast at sunrise is an exceedingly enjoyable experience. Myriads of rock-islands in the sea and cloud-islands in the sky, their perspective terminating on the distant horizon in a peaked range of inland mountains, themselves like a cloud floating in golden vapour of dawn. As the rising sun burns its path upwards, the sparkling sea reflects the glory of the sky in countless hues, and the magic of morning is felt in the air, cool and clear as crystal, as the steamer slows

Hardanger Fjord is most fortunate in its means of communication, it being so easy of access by water from the towns of Stavanger and Bergen. Native fjord steamers call at all the principal places en route at least once every day, and the traveller may arrange his journey so as to include a variety of overland routes, posting by "kariol" or "stolkjerre" on good roads, engineered with great skill, through magnificent scenery. From the commencement of the seventeenth century the peasants have been

From the brilliant and heroic Viking age originate those priceless gems of early literature, the "Eddas" and "Sagas," poems and prose of the greatest beauty. The "Eddas" chronicle the exploits of pagan gods and legendary heroes, in no way historical; they are purely mythological. They convey to us in the form of poetry an idea of the pagan mythology of the North in pre-Christian times. They were written at a period following on the first settlement of Iceland, which was accomplished by pagan Cel

Sailing down the Sogne Fjord from the sea coast, the scenery gradually assumes wilder and grander proportions as we advance. At Vadeim it is just beginning to be interesting and attractive, and when we come to Balholm we enter into the finest part of the fjord. Here are prosperous farms, smiling orchards, and waving cornfields, and as an effective contrast, glacier and snow-field crown the high and steep mountains around. Tradition points to this place as the scene of the Swedish poet Tegner's "

At Frönningen a profitable business is done in tree-felling. Large forests of pine and fir clothe the steep sides of the mountains here, and modern saw-mills are erected at the foot of a torrent by the margin of the fjord. Seen from here, the glaciers of Fresvik and Rambæren, both over 5,000 feet high, stand out boldly against the sky. A very charming effect of sunshine and shower won my attention near here one afternoon in the month of May. Immediately in front of the steamer, and from the moun

The mining industry, which commenced activity in the seventeenth century, was responsible for the consumption of very large quantities of timber, and this has been going on for the last 270 years. The Kongsberg silver-mines, which are owned by the State, have alone some fifty square miles of State forest set apart for their requirements. The ore at these mines is virgin silver, occurring in lodes, and it is sometimes found in large nuggets weighing up to 200 pounds. These silver-mines were comme

The first impression we receive on approaching the fjords from the sea is perhaps not often a pleasant one, especially in dull weather. Monotonous grey rocky islands appear to look with wicked eyes on every ship that passes by them, as though expectant of another victim to embrace in the deep waters, there to be torn and mangled in their cruel fangs. Over these rocks moan everlasting breakers, whose weird dirge-like sound is blended with the wild shrieking of sea-birds till it almost appears tha

The Norwegian Established Church ("den Norske Statskirke") owes its present constitution to the Reformation, and about the middle of the sixteenth century it became by legislation the public religion of the State. It is known as the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The three creeds which together form its symbolum are the Apostolic, Athanasian, and Nicene-Constantinople. In addition to these, there are accepted the Augsburg Confession and Luther's Shorter Catechism. The kingdom of Norway is divided

Leaving now the magnificent Hjörund Fjord, we take the road from Öie to Hellesylt. Ascending the gorge of Nordangsdal, we again arrive at "Gaard" Tryggestad, at which place the road branches off for Hellesylt, and we drive down a steep, well-wooded valley along the banks of a mountain torrent. The river thunders down a rugged chasm, at times lost to sight in the mysterious depths of the gloomy, cavernous gorge; then, emerging into the open and madly plunging over huge boulders, it sends its spra