Everybody who has taken the trouble to make the journey, of course,
advises other people to do the same, and insists that it is worth the
time, money, and fatigue it costs, on the same principle as the fox
that lost his tail in a trap wanted all the other foxes to cut off
their tails. There is one train each way daily, but it runs very
slowly,--about fifteen or eighteen miles an hour,--and stops a long
time at the stations. The cars are comfortable. The road belongs to
the government, and was built in the '90's for the transportation of
ore from the iron mines, which was previously hauled by cart in summer
and reindeer sledges in winter, to the ports of Lulea and Allapen, a
distance of about one hundred and forty miles.

When it is recalled that two-thirds of the inhabitants of Norway live
upon the coasts and fjords, the large part which water traffic plays
in the economy of the country will be easily understood. The coast
being well protected by a chain of islands, the skjaergaard, both
travel and commerce are carried on by means of small open boats. The
fjord rowboats, as a rule, are light and pointed, with upright and
high prow, and they carry a square sail. They are light to row, and
they go capitally before the wind. There is an extensive government
posting system on the coasts, fjords, and inland lakes, similar to
that along the public highways already described. The tariff from
fast stations for a four-oared boat and sail with two rowers is about
twelve cents a mile; eighteen cents for three rowers and a six-oared
boat, and twenty-four cents a mile for a boat with eight oars and four
rowers. The tariff is decided by the size of the boat and not by the
number of passengers. The rowers are not infrequently girls and women.

The large fjords and lakes have ample steamboat facilities, the coast