Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-09-27
A FREAK OF NATURE,
And the Curious Norwegian Legend Con-
nected Therew with.

The first morning we sighted the lit
tie island Mountain of Lecko, whose
stony outlines are those of n giantess
turned to stone, and miles beyond we
came to the Island of Torghaetta,
which is the most wonderful freak of
Nature along the Norwegian coast. We
saw it from afar as a giants hat float
ing on the water, huge crown and
brim of bare granite, the brim rising
well above the water and the crown
more than 800 feet high. pierced nearly
at the top with hole that runs through
the granite crown like a tunnel. Sail
ing toward it on the placid blue water,
the eye came in line with the tunnel
and we saw straight through it to the
sky beyond. This window through the
mountain was reached by Il long climb
from the other side, and when we reach
ed the opening in the mountain there
was view through it as through tele-
scope of the sea with n score of islets be-
You'd. The sides of the tunnel are as
square and true as if they had been
blasted out by a miner, and beginning
with a height of siXty-tWo feet the floor
drops until at the lower end the vaulted
passage Is over 200 feet in height, The
word torghaetta means "a market hat"
such as is worn by the peasants, now
and in the age of legends was worn by
the bad brother of the giantess of Lecko.
The brother had Intercepted the mes
sengers from the giantess' lover, Hest
mand, and kept the pair apart for so
long a time that the lover, finally en-
20 oh q l,
while he was in bathing one day and
pierced his hat and skull both The
arrows flight was something like 100
miles from Hestmand's bow to the foot
of the giantess, where it finally fell,
and she seeing the light through the
aperture in her brothers hat, turned
him and Hestmand and herself all TO
stone in her despair. The trio are now
chief objects of interest along this
stretch of coast, the natives lift their hats
in mock reverence to the giantess as
they pass by, and the tourist tiutters the
leaves of his red-guide book, and put
ting his finger impressively on the page
recites the tradition and the measure
ments to the nearest ear. The tourist
steamers always stop to land passen-
gers who want to climb up to the tun-
mel, and the women and children from
the neighboring farms go with pitchers
of milk to sell to the breathless climb
ers, ON the way Behind several of the
largest powders that we rounded on
the upward climb stood women with
trays of glasses filled with milk; women
as still, stolid, and impassive as if the
giantess had turned them to stone as
well, all tlaxen-headed, blue-eyed, and
with the universal headgear of the
country a pointed handkerchief
drawn tightly over the back of the head
and tied under the chin. At the en-
trance of the tunnel man had estab-
lished himself with bench for count
er. on which he displayed battered old
silver mugs, cups and spoons, silver
rings and ornaments, which constitute
the stock in trade of half the curio shops
in Norway, for the reason that the
peasants have always turned their mon
ey into such things instead of boarding
it in the plain coins. -Nor1Oay Letter in
81. L0atiS GLO6e-Dem0crdt.