appear to be well fed, and are not easily tired.

I had to pass over, I was informed, the most fertile and best
cultivated tract of country in Norway. The distance was three
Norwegian miles, which are longer than the Swedish. The roads were
very good; the farmers are obliged to repair them; and we scampered
through a great extent of country in a more improved state than any
I had viewed since I left England. Still there was sufficient of
hills, dales, and rocks to prevent the idea of a plain from entering
the head, or even of such scenery as England and France afford. The
prospects were also embellished by water, rivers, and lakes before
the sea proudly claimed my regard, and the road running frequently
through lofty groves rendered the landscapes beautiful, though they
were not so romantic as those I had lately seen with such delight.

It was late when I reached Tonsberg, and I was glad to go to bed at
a decent inn. The next morning the 17th of July, conversing with
the gentleman with whom I had business to transact, I found that I
should be detained at Tonsberg three weeks, and I lamented that I
had not brought my child with me.

The inn was quiet, and my room so pleasant, commanding a view of the
sea, confined by an amphitheatre of hanging woods, that I wished to
remain there, though no one in the house could speak English or
French. The mayor, my friend, however, sent a young woman to me who
spoke a little English, and she agreed to call on me twice a day to
receive my orders and translate them to my hostess.

My not understanding the language was an excellent pretext for
dining alone, which I prevailed on them to let me do at a late hour,