Durango semi-weekly herald., 1901-09-09

every summer to see it. The sea.
son Is very short-limited to seven
weeks-and during that time every
steamer on the line is crowded. Ex.
cursion steamers come from Hamburg
and other ports. while those who are
fortunate enough to own private
yachts consider this the most attrac-
tive of cruises. But at the risk of Of
Tending the steamship managers am
impeelled to say that the great major
ity of people who make this journey
are doomed to disappointment. The
midnight sun is usually seen once, and
sometimes two or three times dur
ing the cruise. but is very seldom Wis
ible from the North Cape, where peo-
pie most desire to see it.
| II the steamship companies could
regulate the winds and the other pecu-
liar features of the climate nobody
would be disappointed. The sky is
usually clear during the summer sea-
son from or o'clock in the morn
ing until or 4 o'clock in the after
noon, when a northerly breeze usu-
| ally springs up, and the warm air
| from the gulf stream, meeting the cold
air from the arctics, condenses the
moisture they carry and forms thick.
heavy clouds which hide the sun and
bring great disappointment to the
| traveller. Last year the officers of
the steamer upon which we sailed
saw the midnight sun but twice from
the North Cape, although the men in
charge of the restaurant at the top of
tha mn oil cd hnt bn,
were able to see it frequently.
The North Cape is in the same lati-
tude as Cape Barrow the northern
mostlimit of Alaska, 71:10:40. The
same parallel runs north OF Hudson5 g
Bay and through the middle of Green
land. Iceland, which was a Norwe-
sian colony for a thousand years, is
directly west of Trondhjem, and the
language is said to be spoken there
with greater purity than at hom=.
The nearest land from the coast at
Bergen is the Shetland Islands, where
The people still talk Norwegian.
Twenty-four hours sailing beyond are
the Farce Islands. Sailing south
from the Shetland Islands are the
Orkneys, the Hebrides and the Isle
of Man, which were Norwegian colon
les for several centuries and were
stations on the western route of the
Vikings who visited America, Nor
wegian kings ruled in Dublin for 300
years, and they civilized Normandy.
Directly north of the North Cape is
Franz Josef Land, about three hun
lred miles distant; about 200 miles
northwest of Spitzenberg; about the
same distance in the opposite direc-
tion is Nova Zembla, and perpetual
ice begins about $50 miles away.
Russia, Sweden and Finland lie On
the eastern limits of Norway. Lap
land lies like a wedge between Nor
way and Sweden, desolate trackless
waste of 100000 square miles, with
less than $4,000 inhabitants, who are
lomadic Lapps and Films. An arm
of the sea of the same width or a
high chain of mountains could not fur
nish a more effective boundary.
Physically Lapland is an offshoot Of
the Tundra belt of the polar region
-snow-covered from 200 to $50 days
Of each year, and the lakes solid ice
from October to June. Nevertheless
in the same latitude. under the in
tiuences of the gulf stream, whose
course lies along the western shores
of Norway, grain, strawberries and
vegetables are grown.
curious place is Hjelmso-Stauren
a mighty cliff of granite, rising from
the ocean near the North Cape, prec-
pitous wall nearly 1000 feet in height
whose surface is broken by inches and
shelves and little crevices evidently
caused by the disintegration of the
rock. The sea birds of the arctics
nave found it a great convenience,
md make it their headquarters. The
wall is protected from the wind by its
peculiar position, and the instinct of
he feathered population of this re
gion has taught them that it is the
safest place that they can find Hence
every little niche contains nest.
Nobody knows how many there are,
but during the season when the birds
are mating and nesting and until the
little ones are old enough to take
care of themselves the cliff is cover
ed with them. 1t is the largest avi-
ary that anyone ever dreamed of, and
one of the most interesting places Wis
tied by the tourist steamers that run
TO the North Cape.
The captain gives to the passengers
notice OF his approach, creeps up to
| the side of the cliff as quietly as a
steamer can go. and when in the prop
er position blows the whistle, fires a
cannon, lets off a lot of skyrockets and
makes as big noise as possible,
which frightenes the birds and every
thing with wings rises shrieking into
the air. The sky is filed with them
like cloud of smoke covering the yes
sci for few minutes until they scat
ter ino the air, and after while re-
cover their courage and come back
gradually to their nests and congratu-
late themselves upon their escape
from death and disaster "A photo
graph cannot give any kind of an idea
of the scene. The birds are so small
| and the rock is so large that they are