The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1880-07-28
It,erresnonaenee Of the New York Times.l

AT THE NORTH CAPE, june 70 H''V "o
arc at the end OF the earth, realizing 10 tue
letter the school.boy's vision after an over.
dose Of Thanksgiving turkey: II dreap.
sba, I was a.sit,in' on the top OF the
world. and the world commenced gl,un,
smaller and smaller and smaller, III AZ
lat ,bere was nothin' teft but me-.
STRICTLY speaking, the panorama Is NOT
remarkable for variety, consisting chiefly OF
gray rocsks a. bare as the teeth OF saws
and almost as much alike. But however
little diversity there may he In the scene,
shore Is certainly no lack OF IL In the spec
t.tors, for our steamer is sveritable Noah,s
ark. Two Italian Counts, whose whole
baggage seems 10 consist Of case OF claret
and another OF canned meats; three Amer
lean ladies', facing the ordeal oil the weather
AS womanfully as they face that OF inc din-
per-table; brother OF the "R'de 10
Khiya,r Captain Burnaby, as pleasant
fellow as II ever has been my GOOD for-
time 10 meet. who has treasured as an heir
loom the letter written by Washington to
his ancestor in 176l.
TWO soUTHEREERs,
who seem 10 rise and set alternately, like the
stars OF Castor and Polux, one getting up
lust as the other Is forced 10 lie GOWN
Scotch surgeon from Boston, deilghiing us
IL
recent visit 10 the Trondbiem leprosy nos
initial: a German student, out for his sum.
mer holiday, whose huge, wide-awake ana
pasty yisage suggests a dIsb'coyer Just raised
from suet dumping; bali dozen native
fishermen, going northward for the season
n swedish steward, and, above all, genu-
inc Norwegian skipper-the Jolly Captain
Bjornstad-to whom / hereby tende: my
acknowledgment as the most obBgins and
hospitablc captain any traveller could de-
sire.
1t Is well for us, however, that we form
so complete n society in ourselves, Tor
nothing less could resist the crushing ef-
feet OF the dead world that we have entered.
The brightest and clearest day can do little
TO soften the 2rimness of these cold gray
rocks and lonely seas {; but when 'secn be-
meath the gloomy shadow OF the gathering
storm, the desolation OF this cutlawed re-
gion becomes absolutely overwhelming.
NOT TREE, NOT SHRUB,
hardly blade Of grass, is TO be seen upon
the bare, bleak sides OF innumerable cliffs,
heaving up their gaunt outline against the
darkening sky and the endless succession
of barren mountains oyerbuDg by the cold,
dead whiteness Of the eternal snow, the
gray, Ieaden sky overhead, the sullen, life
less waters beneath, the tremendous I0nell-
ness, the grim ghostly silence. crush one
with a sense OF overpOweiiDg Isolation,
feeling as II the earth and all that breatbed
upon 1t were dead, and only yourself left
living, living on. In these wild re-
gions the sudden bursting OF the
northern storm is the grandest sight
conceivable. First comes the ominOus
moaning through the still air, and deepen
Ing gloom overhead like the shadow OF some
81 hor IL n rrrSh mr.
roar, aud in one moment you are deafencd,
blinded, and slraDged all at once. and the
whole mir is one whirl OF binding spray
and driving mist, through which the huge
cliffs loom like newy-creaied worlds start
ing into being. The roar OF the wind
through the cleft rocks seems 10 shake the
very earth, while the grim treble and bass
mingle the sharp musketry OF the patlering
hail. and the deep, booming cannonade OF
the breakers upon
The sTORM.IASHED CLIFF BELOW.
Amid such surroundings one begins TO |
understand the old Scandinavian religion |
that wonderful creed which CARLYLE charac. |
tersticaly said he would adopt at once
were be ever TO abiure Christianity. How |
mean and paltry would appear amid these
tremendous solitudes the dainty diyinilies |
OF the South-a curly-bearded Joye, sleek |
Apollo, dapper Mercury, round.limbed |
Venus. The sterner fancy of the Norseman |
deifed rot light and beauty, but cold and |
darkness and storm. His frowning preci- |
pices and roaring seas were tit back. |
ground TO tGe group OF mighty figures that
live forever III the pages OF the Edda.
Thor rending the rocks with his hammer,
Heimda making earth and sky echo 10 the
blast of his warb horn, Surtur's tery sword
"melting the mountains in his WRATH"
Odln scattering the clouds Of heaven with
the rush OF bis giant charger. Among
these grim memories il was go0dly thing
TO hear, in the heart Of Odn's dreary king
dom, the grand old words Of the familiar
liturgy read in praise CT one greater than
Odin, "Oh. We lee and Snow. less We The |
Lord. praise Hsm, and magnify Him for |
ever"
OUR FIRST GREAT EVENT
after leaving Trondbiem was the explora-
ton OF Torghatten lTorg's hiatt, a noun
tain which has The shape of an enormous
hat, a likeness greatly increased BY its
having hole right through it, the usual
ornament of hat bE these ATTITUDES. This
hole, many feet in diameter by two hun
dred yards long, is attributed by Professor
Airy TO "the degradation of great mass
or'vein OF mica.' and by the natives % an
arrow shot at bis runaway sweetheart, from
distance of one hundred and five Eaglish |
miles, by Morse giant OF old tine, with |
such force as TO traDstiX not only |
the lady but the mountain as well. |
i leave my readers 10 prefer which
ever explanation strikes chem as the |
more probable, merely observing that the |
native story is slngularly confirmed hy the
fact OF the archer's petritied figure, one
thousand feet high, being stM visible ca
actly OAe hundred and five miles from the
pierced mountain, thus proving that The
giant TOR the legend) possessed remarkable
skill with the long-bow. Whether this tlln-
mel really bears out the rapturoUs deScrip-
lions Of ms two grelt poets, Murray and
Baedeser, is not for me 10 say; The only 1
thing | csn. confidently affirm about il is
that l have not seen it myself. Our party
began 10 scatter from the very outset, and ri
went right 70 the summit without troubling Il
myself about the hole at all, but fancy we
all realized pretty exactly the traditional pro-
gramme OF
hQUNTAIN ASCENT,
which Is very much as followsi You start
With iauniy step and general air Of being
able 10 scale ChiinboraZo or the Himalaya,
but condescendingto this little thing in de-
fault OF better. Toward the end OF the first
hour the jauntiness az your step Is not quite
80 apparent, and you become aware OF an
invisible hand pinching your left side. and
4 plum OF monstrols size sticking half way =
down your throat. Presently you lind ,,
yourself taking such an absorbing interest
In the scenery that YOU are impelled TO halt !
~