Notes on Norway, or, A brief journal of a tour made to the northern parts of Norway, in the summer of MDCCCXXXVI / by William Dawson Hooker.

  • Hooker, William Dawson, 1816-1840.
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notes on Norway, or, A brief journal of a tour made to the northern parts of Norway, in the summer of MDCCCXXXVI / by William Dawson Hooker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    All my arrangements, purchases, &c., had been completed for some days, when we received notice to send our goods and chattels on board the Harriet, which was the vessel destined to convey us to Norway. She was a well-built schooner, of about 230 tons—a rapid sailer—and one whose tout ensemble every mariner would survey with feelings of delight. On the 28th of June, our party, consisting of Mr. Christy, whose attention was chiefly directed to Botany, M r. W alker, an Entomologist, and myself, sailed from the Thames. There were also three passengers for Alten, or Kaafiord, all gentle- men in connexion with the mines of the latter place ; namely, Mr. Crowe, who is the manager of the mining establishment, and who holds likewise the office of English Consul, at Hammerfest,—the most northerly port and town in the world, —his son, Mr. J ohn Crowe, who was going to settle in the same place, and Mr. Galt, a friend of these gentlemen. After some days, we got out of the Nore, and passing Yarmouth Roads, lost sight of land. Time soon began to hang heavily on our hands, when we could discern nothing but sky and water to divert our attention ; fishing, also, be- came poor sport, as we seldom caught any thing but a few Grey Gurnards; thus, rifle and pistol-shooting at empty claret bottles swung at the yard-arm, constituted our chief amusement. When the weather was warm and calm—which it often was—we plunged into the sea to refresh ourselves, but the increasing frigidity of the water soon chilled our in- clination for bathing, which became impracticable from this cause, by the time we reached the latitude of the Shetland Islands, though the heat of the sun was quite scorching. The farther north we proceeded, the longer grew the