Due North or Glimpses of Scandinavia and Russia - Maturin Murray Ballou (best books to read all time .txt) 📗

PREFACE.

About five years ago, the Author, having then just returned from circumnavigating the globe, was induced to record his experiences of the long journey, which were published in a volume entitled "Due West; or, Round the World in Ten Months." The public favor accorded to this work led, a couple of years later, to the issuing of a second volume of travels, upon the Author's return from the West Indies, entitled "Due South; or, Cuba, Past and Present." The popular success of both books and the flattering comments of the critics have caused the undersigned to believe that a certain portion of the public is pleased to see foreign lands and people through his eyes; and hence the publication of the volume now in hand. These pages describing the far North, from which the Author has just returned,--including Norway, Sweden, Russia, and Russian Poland,--seem naturally to suggest the title of "Due North." Without permitting prejudice to circumscribe judgment in treating of Russia, the effort has been to represent the condition of that country and its Polish province truthfully, and to draw only reasonable deductions. This special reference is made to the pages relating to the Tzar's government, as it will be found that the Author does not accord with the popularly expressed opinion upon this subject.

M. M. B.
BOSTON, March, 1887.


CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.


Copenhagen. -- First Stroll in a Strange City. -- Danish Children. -- Antiquity of Copenhagen. -- English Arrogance. -- The Baltic Sea. -- Danish Possessions. -- Descendants of the Vikings. -- Covetous Germany. -- The Denmark of To-day. -- Thorwaldsen's Remarkable Museum. -- The Ethnological Museum. -- Educational Matters. -- Eminent Natives. -- Charitable Institutions. -- Antique Churches. -- Royal Palaces. -- Historical Memories. -- City Architecture. -- Zoological Gardens


CHAPTER II.


Public Amusements in Copenhagen. -- Danish Sovereigns. -- The Fashionable Promenade. -- Danish Women. -- Palace of Rosenborg. -- A Golconda of Gems. -- A Poet's Monument. -- A Famous Astronomer. -- Our Lady's Church. -- The King's Square. -- The Curious Old Round Tower. -- The Peasantry. -- A Famous Deer Park. -- Roeskilde. -- Elsinore. -- Gypsies. -- Kronborg Castle. -- The Queen's Prison. -- Hamlet and Ophelia's Grave. -- A Danish Legend



CHAPTER III.


Gottenburg. -- Ruins of Elfsborg. -- Gustavus Adolphus. -- A Wrecked Monument. -- The Girdle-Duellists. -- Emigration to America. -- Public and Private Gardens. -- A Kindly People. -- The Goetha Canal. -- Falls of Trollhaetta. -- Dainty Wild-Flowers. -- Water-Ways. -- Stockholm and Lake Maelaren. -- Prehistoric Tokens. -- Iron Mines of Sweden. -- Pleasing Episode with Children. -- The Liquor Traffic Systematized. -- A Great Practical Charity. -- A Domestic Habit


CHAPTER IV.


Capital of Norway. -- A Grand Fjord. -- A Free and Independent State. -- The Legal Code. -- Royal Palace and Gardens. -- Oscar's Hall. -- The University. -- Public Amusements. -- The Ice Trade. -- Ancient Viking Ships. -- Heathen Tombs. -- An Interesting Hostelry. -- A Steam Kitchen. -- Environs of Christiania. -- Horses and their Treatment. -- Harvest Time. -- Women's Work. -- The Saeter. -- A Remarkable Lake. -- Wild Birds. -- Inland Travel. -- Scandinavian Wild Flowers. -- Lonely Habitations. -- A Land of Alpine Heights



CHAPTER V.


Ancient Capital of Norway. -- Routes of Travel. -- Rain! -- Peasant Costumes. -- Commerce of Bergen. -- Shark's _vs._ Cod Liver Oil. -- Ship-Building. -- Public Edifices. -- Quaint Shops. -- Borgund Church. -- Leprosy in Norway. -- Sporting Country. -- Inland Experiences. -- Hay-Making. -- Pine-Forest Experiences. -- National Constitution. -- People's Schools. -- Girls' Industrial School. -- Celebrated Citizens of Bergen. -- Two Grand Norwegian Fjords. -- Remarkable Glaciers


CHAPTER VI.


Ancient and Modern Trondhjem. -- Runic Inscriptions. -- A Famous Old Cathedral. -- Local Characteristics. -- Romantic Story of King Olaf. -- Curious Local Productions. -- An Island Prison. -- Lafoss Falls. -- Corn Magazines. -- Land-owners. -- Wood-cutters. -- Forests. -- A Tumble Overboard. -- A Genuine Cockney. -- Comparative Length of Days. -- Characteristics of Boreal Regions. -- Arctic Winter Fisheries. -- The Ancient Town of Lund; the Oxford of Sweden. -- Pagan Times


CHAPTER VII.


Along the Coast of Norway. -- Education at the Far North. -- An Interesting Character. -- A Botanical Enthusiast. -- Remarkable Mountain Tunnel. -- A Hard Climb. -- The Seven Sisters. -- Young England. -- An Amateur Photographer. -- Horseman's Island. -- Ancient Town of Bodoee. -- Arctic Flowers. -- The Famous Maelstroem. -- Illusions! -- The Wonderful Lofoden Islands. -- Grand and Unique Scenery. -- Glaciers. -- Nature's Architecture. -- Mysterious Effects. -- Attraction for Artists


CHAPTER VIII.


Birds of the Arctic Regions. -- Effect of Continuous Daylight. -- Town of Tromsoee. -- The Aurora Borealis. -- Love of Flowers. -- The Growth of Trees. -- Butterflies. -- Home Flowers. -- Trees. -- Shooting Whales with Cannon. -- Prehistoric Relics. -- About Laplanders. -- Eider Ducks. -- A Norsk Wedding Present. -- Gypsies of the North. -- Pagan Rites. -- The Use of the Reindeer. -- Domestic Life of the Lapps. -- Marriage Ceremony. -- A Gypsy Queen. -- Lapp Babies. -- Graceful Acknowledgment


CHAPTER IX.


Experiences Sailing Northward. -- Arctic Whaling. -- The Feathered Tribe. -- Caught in a Trap. -- Domestic Animals. -- The Marvellous Gulf Stream. -- Town of Hammerfest. -- Commerce. -- Arctic Mosquitoes. -- The Public Crier. -- Norwegian Marriages. -- Peculiar Bird Habits. -- A Hint to Naturalists. -- Bird Island. -- A Lonely Habitation. -- High Latitude. -- Final Landing at the North Cape. -- A Hard Climb. -- View of the Wonderful Midnight Sun


CHAPTER X.


Journey Across Country. -- Capital of Sweden. -- Old and New. -- Swedish History. -- Local Attractions. -- King Oscar II. -- The Royal Palace. -- The Westminster Abbey of Stockholm. -- A Splendid Deer Park. -- Public Amusements. -- The Sabbath. -- An Official Dude. -- An Awkward Statue. -- Swedish Nightingales. -- Linnaeus and Swedenborg. -- Dalecarlia Girls. -- A Remarkable Group in Bronze. -- Rosedale Royal Cottage. -- Ancient Oaks. -- Upsala and its Surroundings. -- Ancient Mounds at old Upsala. -- Swedenborg's Study


CHAPTER XI.


The Northern Mediterranean. -- Depth of the Sea. -- Where Amber Comes From. -- A Thousand Isles. -- City of Abo. -- Departed Glory. -- Capital of Finland. -- Local Scenes. -- Russian Government. -- Finland's Dependency. -- Billingsgate. -- A Woman Sailor in an Exigency. -- Fortress of Sweaborg. -- Fortifications of Cronstadt. -- Russia's Great Naval Station. -- The Emperor's Steam Yacht. -- A Sail up the Neva. -- St. Petersburg in the Distance. -- First Russian Dinner


CHAPTER XII.


St. Petersburg. -- Churches. -- The Alexander Column. -- Principal Street. -- Cathedral of Peter and Paul. -- Nevsky Monastery. -- Russian Priesthood. -- The Canals. -- Public Library. -- Cruelty of an Empress. -- Religious Devotion of the People. -- A Dangerous Locality. -- Population. -- The Neva and Lake Ladoga. -- The Nicholas Bridge. -- Winter Season. -- Begging Nuns. -- Nihilism. -- Scandal Touching the Emperor. -- The Fashionable Drive. -- St. Isaac's Church. -- Russian Bells. -- Famous Equestrian Statue. -- The Admiralty. -- Architecture


CHAPTER XIII.


The Winter Palace. -- The Hermitage and its Riches. -- An Empress and her Fancies. -- A Royal Retreat. -- Russian Culture. -- Public Library. -- The Summer Garden. -- Temperature of the City. -- Choosing of the Brides. -- Peter's Cottage. -- Champ de Mars. -- Academy of Fine Arts. -- School of Mines. -- Precious Stones. -- The Imperial Home at Peterhoff. -- Curious and Interesting Buildings. -- Catherine's Oak. -- Alexander III. at Parade. -- Description of the Royal Family. -- Horse-Racing. -- The Empress's Companions


CHAPTER XIV.


Power of the Greek Church. -- Freeing the Serfs. -- Education Needed. -- Mammoth Russia. -- Religion and Superstition. -- Memorial Structures. -- Church Fasts. -- Theatres and Public Amusements. -- Night Revels. -- A Russian Bazaar. -- Children's Nurses in Costume. -- The one Vehicle of Russia. -- Dress of the People. -- Fire Brigade. -- Red Tape. -- Personal Surveillance. -- Passports. -- Annoyances. -- Spying Upon Strangers. -- The Author's Experience. -- Censorship of the Press


CHAPTER XV.


On the Road to Moscow. -- Russian Peasantry. -- Military Station Masters. -- Peat Fuel for the War-Ships. -- Farm Products. -- Scenery. -- Wild-Flowers. -- City of Tver. -- Inland Navigation. -- The Great River Volga. -- The Ancient Muscovite Capital. -- Spires and Minarets. -- A Russian Mecca. -- Pictorial Signs. -- The Kremlin. -- The Royal Palace. -- King of Bells. -- Cathedral of St. Basil. -- The Royal Treasury. -- Church of Our Saviour. -- Chinese City. -- Rag Fair. -- Manufactures


CHAPTER XVI.


Domestic Life in Moscow. -- Oriental Seclusion of Women. -- The Foundling Hospital. -- A Christian Charity. -- A Metropolitan Centre. -- City Museum. -- The University. -- Tea-Drinking. -- Pleasure Gardens. -- Drosky Drivers. -- Riding-School. -- Theatres. -- Universal Bribery. -- Love of Country. -- Russians as Linguists. -- Sparrow Hill. -- Petrofski Park. -- Muscovite Gypsies. -- Fast Life. -- Intemperance. -- A Famous Monastery. -- City Highways. -- Sacred Pigeons. -- Beggars


CHAPTER XVII.


Nijni-Novgorod. -- Hot Weather. -- The River Volga. -- Hundreds of Steamers. -- Great Annual Fair. -- Peculiar Character of the Trade. -- Motley Collection of Humanity. -- An Army of Beggars. -- Rare and Precious Stones. -- The Famous Brick Tea. -- A Costly Beverage. -- Sanitary Measures. -- Disgraceful Dance Halls. -- Fatal Beauty. -- A Sad History. -- Light-Fingered Gentry. -- Convicts. -- Facts about Siberia. -- Local Customs. -- Russian Punishment


CHAPTER XVIII.


On the Road to Poland. -- Extensive Grain-Fields. -- Polish Peasantry. -- A Russian General. -- No Evidence of Oppression. -- Warsaw and its Surroundings. -- Mingled Squalor and Elegance. -- Monuments of the City. -- Polish Nobility. -- Circassian Troops. -- Polish Language. -- The Jews of Warsaw. -- Political Condition of Poland. -- Public Parks. -- The Famous Saxony Gardens. -- Present Commercial Prosperity. -- Local Sentiment. -- Concerning Polish Ladies and Jewish Beauties




DUE NORTH;

OR,

GLIMPSES OF SCANDINAVIA AND RUSSIA.

CHAPTER I.


Copenhagen. -- First Stroll in a Strange City. -- Danish Children. -- Antiquity of Copenhagen. -- English Arrogance. -- The Baltic Sea. -- Danish Possessions. -- Descendants of the Vikings. -- Covetous Germany. -- The Denmark of To-day. -- Thorwaldsen's Remarkable Museum. -- The Ethnological Museum. -- Educational Matters. -- Eminent Natives. -- Charitable Institutions. -- Antique Churches. -- Royal Palaces. -- Historical Memories. -- City Architecture. -- Zoological Gardens.


Having resolved upon a journey due north, twenty days of travel over familiar routes carried the author across the Atlantic and, by the way of Liverpool, London, Paris, and Hamburg, landed him in Copenhagen, the pleasant and thrifty capital of Denmark. As the following pages will be devoted to Scandinavia, Russia, and Russian Poland, this metropolis seems to be a proper locality at which to begin the northern journey with the reader.

It was already nearly midnight when the Hotel D'Angleterre, fronting upon the Kongens Nytorv, was reached. So long a period of uninterrupted travel, night