The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-04-02
FROM NORWAY.
Notes OF Travel By a Hawaiian
Concluded

lying in about the same longitude as
Constantinople or Cairo, and within
plain sight of the Russian frontier,
is the little town Of Vardo. 1t is, or
rather has been, considered as an i'm
portant military station, and in earlier
days had the honor of protecting
Norway from the grasping hand of
Russia. To this day the fortress is
kept up, but the flower clad embank-
ments and the rusty, old-fashioned
cannon don't look much like war,
and Russia has indeed very little to
fear from Vardohus. Vardo labors
under one difficulty that is scarcely
to be found elsewhere in Norway,
viz: the lack of a good natural har-
Dor, a defect that they have sought
to make good by building an artificial
sea wall across the mouth of the bay,
but the storms of winter have once
carried it away and will probably do
SO again. A few hours later and we
had reached Vadso, the terminal
point of our voyage, the last outlying
point of Norwegian trade and west
ern civilization, and where one al
ready meets strong infusion of
Finn and Russian. Russian ships
fill the harbOr, Russian traders the
streets, and the not so very distant
town of Archangel assumes some
thing of the importance of a metro.
polls.
While at Vadso I had the chance
of spending day-a Norwegian day,
extending till midnight-in the coun-
try, and was surprised to find excel
lent roads, scientifically built, we'll
graded, broad, smooth and hard, in
fact throughout Norway, even in the
toughest parts, found the roads as
rule exceedingly good. l know it
is the rule for Englishmen and others
coming from their own rich and
populous countries to find fault with
what they call the "beastly" roads of
Norway, but they should compare
them with those of other newly set.
tied countriesl OF course it is onlv
In comparatively recent times that
the uneasy professional tourist has
discovered Norway and come in I'M
expected numbers demanding the
most luxurious transportion to all
sorts of inaccessible places where the
tide OF trade did not extend, and the
ordinary Norwegian never wanted to
go, and it has not been easy for
poor people to meet SO sudden a
demand In the building of new roads,
hotels, ETC., but every year sees
marked advance, and it will not be
long before all causes of reasonable
complaint will be removed. The
roads are in the first instance built
by the Government, but are required
to be kept in repair by the land
owners through whose property they
run, a tax that in barren and I'M
populous districts must be very
severe, and l can easily imagine that
the unhappy landowner might beg
the Government to take his land in
lieu of his road tax. Throughout
the whole country there is a peculiar
but very commendable Carriole Ser
vice that forms a substitute for the
railway or the stage coach. On all
public roads, at distances only a few
miles apart, are posting stations
where the traveller is entitled to de
mand at any time conveyance by
caribbean exceedingly comfortable
and convenient little two wheeled
atfair-to the next station at fixeC
rate OF about seven cents mile. A
these stations are kept registers il
which the traveller is required to en-
ter his order and any complaints O
lnef1iclency or delay. The who'll
system is under careful Government
supervision, and I can recommend
as an exceedingly efficient and indie
pendent way of travelling through
broken and unpopulous country. an
one which deserves to be adopte
elsewhere. Some such system woul
be a great boon to Hawaii. and doe
not seem to be beyond the range {
possibility.
The outlying country about Vads
is inhabited mainly by Firms, whic
we are in the habit of chasing wit
the Lapps, but who are distinct an
much superior people, agriculture
rather than nomadic in their habit
living often in little villages an
having schools, churches, etc. We il
spected one of their houses, a quee
affair, half roof house and half cabin
with nothing but a narrow hallwa
separating the dwelling apartmer
from the COW stable-all under til
one roof. However, things wei
clean and as neat as rudeness woul
permit. In one of these, after
good deal of explaining-for eve
Norwegian is not very famlli;
language here-we succeeded in ge
ting something to eat. A buxor
matronly, good hearted lookin
woman put before us some rusk
butter and milk which / though
very palatable, but the lady of Il
party ia Norwegian was suspicion
as women commonly are, of Il
cleanliness of things.
We got back to our ship abo,
midnight. 1t was like brillia
late summer afternoon. Owing
the mountains to the north of I
where the sun is at midnight, '
couldn't see it but the whole heave
were full of the glory of it, and Il
landscape was flooded with stran
ruddy light. The town was lyil
quite still for it was night after a
and the people were asleep in spi