Tuesday, August 13, 1839 Travel Journal

1839

August

Tuesday 13

3 1/2 

..

Off at 4 3/4 – On board at 4 40/.. (Fahrenheit 61° and very fine morning at 4 1/2)

The Prinds Carl, Captain ______ off at 5.  Squeamish in about an hour – Beautiful fjord – At 6 returned to the covered deck or eating room and dozed – The men breakfasted at 8 – and Ann had tea – I dozed on till 9, when Ann and I ate about 1/4 of our rice cakes.

At 9 1/2 took up one and set down 20 or 30 passengers,  among them 3 naval officers whose boat came from their 18 gun brig lying by –

At 10 20/.. stopped again near another little landing place at Moss and here about 20 more passengers left us – Moss very picturesque – a mere suburb scattered at the water’s edge, the white church on higher ground behind – The town small – Everywhere fir-forests feathering down often to the water’s edge.  Rock, hill, mountain, all covered with fir – Land close to us on both sides now as generally – Numerous islands – Perhaps we passed the Drammen fjord about 10 – about 20 minutes before stopping off Moss – Very fine scenery – rock and forest –

Sick about 12 – at 12 1/2, another passenger left us – and we pass a little town with long line of wooden buildings, all along the water.

At 1 1/2 to 2 3/4, dinner, and the Captain very civilly came up afterwards and talked some time – Ann and I at the lesser of the 2 tables – Pease soup, boiled salmon – roast beef and veal cut into slices, and both together on one dish – Sponge cake, roll of almond cake, melon, almonds, and raisins all handed round – The cakes and melon and dessert was down the middle of the table from the first –

Sick and returned all my dinner at 3 1/4, and sat as before, leaning over the vessel’s side till 4 –

Landed at 4 10/.. in 2 or 3 minutes, and on board again at 5 1/4 – 10 or 12 minutes before heavy rain.

Very picturesque little wood built town with its large grande place – citadel or garrison – arsenal and line of drydocks with several small vessels in them on the stocks – The long line of wood-built red painted dry (covered) docks along the water’s edge might be taken for a line of warehouses – Little battery whitewashed tower – At a little distance in the water – Shallow apparently on the Southwest of the tower – Singular mammelonné bare granite low mountains all round about the little town – Neat little whitewashed church – No sign of an Inn – We walked about, glad at the hour’s release from our steamer – A great many of our passengers left us, ladies and gentlemen, and drove over in carriages (between cart and carriage ) of the country – The scenery is very beautiful all the way – Difficult to say where it is best –

Now at 6, off again (still rain) and the motion and I must be sick again ?

The scenery – The town, in mist and rain, beautiful – But as one of the gentlemen is observing, hopes we shall be clear of the rocks before dark – Oh! Yes! Long before –

90 horsepower – Always go 2 sea miles German miles, (15 to a degree = 4 1/2 + not quite 1/8 mile English) per hour – We have come today about 10 English miles an hour –

I had hardly written the above when I found myself squeamish, and about 1/2 hour after, about 6 1/4, sick again – Sat 1/2 hour on one wet barrel (the rain just over) close to the helm.

WYAS Finding Number SH/ML/TR/12/0025