The National tribune., 1891-06-25

tain on the bsidge (which he does not visit
often, and two men at the wheel instead Of
one, glided in and out and around the rocky
islands ant through unsupported passes be-
! tween the cliffs
Many times our way seemed completely
closed and rs we looked mp at the towering
crags on every side il would appear very GER
tam That the only way out Of our rock bound
| environment must be by retreat, when some
/ unnoticod indentation in the cliff wOuld widen
and deepen little, aud as we approached il
Wonld at last open into narrow passage whose
deep waters, green as emerald, would bear US
through, aud possibly leave us in another maze
OF mountain islands and sea more intricate
| than the one we had just escaped.
Inc sunsets IN this region have some mark
/ ed peculiarities which have never heard mem
TONED, and j wonder at it, for these strange
| features seem worthy Of note. Ia the first
place, the fact that the northern portion of the
eciptic is in this latitude so nearly parallel TO
the horizon, causes the sun 10 glide along the
] horizon for half an hour after il touches il be-
! lore II IS entirely set Instead Of going plump
down as IN our latitudes, the sun here
HEsTTATEs AND FOOLS AROUND
the longest possible time before going 10 rest,
ana when fairIy gone as you think, he will
suddenly pull apart the curtains aud take am
other sqnint at the world; and this may occur
hail a dozen times before his final departure
-
| such peculiar hue just before dropping into
The sea- lie looks ont Of one eve and then out
oi The other, and owing 60 the very thin layers
or stratihcations of cloud rising over these
northern oceans, when the sun is sufficiently
low that we see him through these strata which
are presented 10 us edgewise or between them
rs between the Stats of window-blnd when
turned horizontally, Of course il cuts off the
Top and II cuts off the bottom, and these strata
notch the sides OF the suns disc, and generally
each side alike. So that, instead of departing
with "A full fair, round face toward us il as
sumes great many different shapes. and in
deed, all Imaginable shapes from round TO
square.
The explanation here given is without au-
thority, but having observed it closely both i'm
The setting and rising of the sun. I am satisfied
that the phenomena can be explained in no
other way. As all on board saw these varied
forms which the sun assumed at the same
Time and alike il is quite certain that they
were actual and real, aud not at all like the
FANcIFUL coNcEITs
which many people have as to the changing
forms of the clouds
All the beautiful and grand scenery we have
seen since sighting the coast is now completely
dwarled by the magnificent mountains covered
with snow, which we passed on our way TO and
from the great glacier called Svartesen. This
great arm Of ice comes quite down TO the sea,
aud presents, aside from its grandeur a better
ILLUSTRATION OF the scOOping-Out processes Of ice
aud also Of glacial abrasion, than / have ever
Seen in the Alps.
From y scientific standpoint, it is worth a
visit 10 Norway just 10 witness what this one
glacier has done and is doing ih this way. Its
motion Is about ID feet per annum, aud it has
pushed aud is still pushing and roofing i'm the
earth IN grand fashion, and IL will be a long
long time before IL will have sufficiently rcccded
from the sea TO follow the ordinary vocation of
the modern glacier-that Of morane building
1T Is In every way a splendid specimen of the
earlier tyne
Alter full inspection Of this great glacier,
and again embarking upon the Domino our
next - hours was through ford straits and
DAYS, with mountain scenery on all sides. In
most cases these were of sufficient hight 20 be
covered with snow aud sufficiently near 10 Us
10 seem 10 be much higher than they really
were.
On this night the sun, for the Brst tiue on
our Journey, did not set al all, but
SKINNED ALONG
tho northern horizon, and at the lowest point
was within two or three diamcters OF the same,
when II began 10 rise, and 50 at last we were
in the region of perpetual day. The impression
Is very strange 10 see the sun moving from
west 10 east along the whole northern horizon,
aud, rising little higher it then takes again
ITS accustomed path 20 the south but ian
this part Of its course IL il az no point high
M the heavens, as in the temperate zone Al
ready we had lost after only five days Of con.
unued light, almost all notion of morning and
evening and Of dates, and were il not for meal
times We should have hardly known when 10
retire for sleep or when to arise
Ia he