Morning journal and courier., 1888-09-04

| Gne ocean 6lQe, as seen rom the steamer, Il peculiarly through thread of light piercing
 this gigantic pile of rock From here ths I route leads through the Toftsund, in view oi \ the Irwin Sisters of Alsters," some of whieE | is now the highest peaks among the islands I of Norway, rising more than four thousand feet in the air, with peaks far above ths clouds that. like white and feecy garment ! of shades their figures from the rude and ! curious gaze of man.
 By Thranin and Hestenando, where the Arctic circle is crossed twenty-eight hours after leaving Throndhiem, to Bodo, little I ishing town, where the first stop inside ot the Arctic circle is made, from now on ths ! snow on the mountains becomes thicker, cas- cades abound, glaciers stretching almost tc the waters edge are passed, focks upon hocks of cider ducks are seen floating on the surface of the water, while now and then, even on these snow-clad mountains, herds oi cattle are seen browsing on the seant grass and moss with which the slopes are covered Now and then a struggling fisher hut if passed or 8 little hamlet, from the midst oi whose score or more of red roofed houses rises white and glistening the spire of Scan. dinavfan church. Here in this far away northern cline changes from sunshine tc rain and from rain to sunshine are almost az numerous and frequent as the hours Of the day, for almost while we look we have passed through clouds and rain, and now behind ue the complete arc of an exceedingly brilliant rainbow stretches almost from shore to-shore of our widening fjord, the ends seemingly plunging themselves into it's depths. Hun dreds of gulls with breasts redecting the rays of the warm sun flicker silver-liks in the golden air, while the snow-clad mountains,
 Iadiant in the sunlight, seemingly surround ing us on every side, reflect back thousand lights and shades that, miHgling with the
 mellow amber of the soft sun and the rich blue waters of the fjord, form 8 picture
 grandly inspiring and beautiful beyond de- scription. -
 Shortly afterwards the passengers are
 landed in the ships boats, as all the
 landings are made, at the little village of Hus-
 ted. A stop is made long enough for visit
 to little eight-hundred-year-o church !,
 and again we are away and steaming north-
 ward At Tromso the following day stop
 is made and trip to a LaplaRder camp is
 undertaken. Herds of reindeer are in cor
 rals, but the wretched squalor and poverty
 of these people in the midst of natures
 wealth of splendors makes one sick at heart, and we are only too glad to yield to their importunities and purchase horn knife and tobacco pouch made from the skin of the reindeer and turn our backs on the wretched little wood and clay huts in which they hud- dle together, with their smoking brazier in the center, and return to our ship. Yet even with these people the same instincts, loves and affections animate their breasts that thrill those of what we call civilized people, for when one of the passengers in all appa- rent seriousness desired to buy one of the dirty, greasy. wretched little babies from it's mothers arms, she, to whom even 8 penny would have been fortune, with shake of her head, said, 'sA1l the world could not buy thatP' Her jewel indeedi A priceless gem in the lap of povertyl There are far more fishing boats at Tromro than houses, and many hundred times more dried codfsh than bath houses and boats together. The inhab- itauts do nothing else but fish, and woe be- tide them if the crop ever fail.
 Leaving Tromro toward evening we stop at the whaling station of Kralve Restling un- der the shadows of the lofty t'Iysfjeld," or 'eThief Mountain" Here the whales are taken and their biubber "tried." Some half dozen dead whales recently taken were float ing at the little dock, while the carcasses of several stripped of all save their bones and odor lay near at hand. The more courageous of the passengers visited the works on shore, but to our boat-load one trip around thes5 fragrant leviathans suf6ced, and we were ready and willing to accept as gospel truth any and all fish stories which those who die E visit the shore chose to regale us with.
 About eleven o'clock p. m. we steamed around this island and out into the open set to get our first glimpse of the midnight sun The evening was mild and pleasant. The l clouds in the sky lifted above the horizon and as the ships bell tolled eight bells and the four cannon boomed forth the midnight hour and the stars and stripes were run uI at the fore, the great fiery orb of the mid night sun shone fair in our faces to the exac! due north Above the clouds lowered sc near it that even from the ships bridge lts disc was partially obscured. All the passen- gers were crowding the deck. A solemn st lence seemed to hold them in it's spell, gol- den light sufused earth and sky, even the waters became golden hay blue, and as the sun slowly approached within diameter or two of the horizon and then lowered there, neither rising nor sinking, the impress sion of something strange, weird, uncanny and yet inconoeivably grand possessed every one, overwhelming them with sense of wonderment and helplessness, and the pres ence of some omnipotent yet unseen force pervading the universe, which had but tc command and even the planets stood still Gradually as we waited in silence the sun travelled very slowly along the horizon to' wards the east, slowly, ever so slowly as cending as it went, until at last 1t disappeared i behind the clouds, leaving but the golder trimming of it's own effulgence upon the | feeey skirt of the cloud cloak enveloping it A photographer took picture of the passen' l gers, and then as the sun rose higher anc X higher in the heavens, with sigh of regre and strange feeling of loneliness we turned our faces away into the nightless day from N Ghl6 grand ana SOl0nu bp6ClhclSy 6u4 bOOA \ even it's mantle was lost to view by the loft. \ snow-caps of surrounding mountains.
 Sunday morning we arrived at Hammer \ fest the northernmost town in Europe, W1tl \ a population of some twenty-one hundret \ souls, almost wholly engaged in the oocupa | ton of fishing. Stopping there few hour ! we continued our journey and towards even \ ing arrived at Bird Island, whose ollffs ar \ fairly alive with sea gulls. Here guns ar \ fired, whistles blown and rockets exploded \ to friohten the birds, which with sharp hiss \ ing screams fly high up into the air, thou sands and hundreds of thousands of then \ until almost the light of day is obscured
 One man lives here and dlsposes or the fys | to passing ships, with no inducements, no even possibilities, for spending money in thi X far away place, has acquired quite httl fortune, which he hoards up in this desolat \ isle.
 After disturbing again and again the birds which after their first fright soon settle bac on the cliffs, we sailed west and about ten g
 night anchored in a little bay to the north
 l east of the Island Magoroe, the northernmos ! promontory of which forms the North Cape
 I latitude seventy-one degrees and ten second
 north. The Cape is 8 bold rocky headlan \ rising straight and sheer to sn elevation (
 ! more than a thousand feet, and is the nortl
 ! ernmest point of land on the conttnen
 From here the sun's disc can be seen
 | midnight D0IWo6n buo uoy OA oAno o1
 the 3Oth day of July, weather permitting
 ! which am sorry to say does not always at
 ouiesce. An hours climb up steep patf
 way protected somewhat by ropes fastened
 iron stanchiens and the summit is reached
 ! when a walk of some three. quarters of
 | mile brings us to the brow of the precipitor
 ! North Cape, where at the highest point
 ! monument, carried up on the backs of mel
 oomnemorates the visit of Oscar H., King ! Norway and Sweden, in 1873. The top {
 ! this huge rock is indeed barren, as the Enl fish translation of the islands name ind
 cates nothing but fragments of igneous roc , strewing it's surface. Save, strange to sa, i, great punches of forget-me-nots and lit pink flowers here in this far of Arctic r |. zion to remind us of home and those N , love. Here too are the mountainside grei double buttercups as large ss goodly size , yellow rares abound, flowers which amid u warmth and luxury of civilization woul
 waste away and die, yet which might nortl , l erIv 'sborn she breast of the loveliest of VI , meu at the grandest of balls. Yet he ! where grow these lovely flowers all around
 bleak and bare and bald. A thousand fe I of perpendicular rock marking the uttermo , limit of this great continent. Beyond Il Polar sea, and across it yet scaIce three hul