Norway. — Your next journey is by sea from the Netherlands to Norway. Sailing north through the North Sea, you reach the Atlantic Ocean. This coast is the coast of Norway. Notice the great peninsula in which Norway lies. It is more than a thousand miles long. The part of this peninsula which borders the Atlantic is Norway, and the other part is Sweden.

It will be fun for you to tell something about this northern land even before you read the stories about it or look at the pictures. The following two puzzles show you how you can do this.

Christmas day and Christmas shadows. — Wherever two or more words are found in braces, { }, in the following sentences, decide which of them is the right word for that place. On a blank piece of paper write numbers in a column from 1 to 17. After 1 write the word that is the right one in the first pair of braces, after 2 the word that is the right one in the second pair, and so on.

Part 1. Look again at the pictures of Mingi in Figure 78. This shows you something about the sun and shadows in Mingi's land at noon on the days near Christmas.

At noon, on Christmas day, Mingi sees the sun {1: high/low} in the southern sky. Mingi's shadow is north of him at noon on Christmas day. It is a {2: long/short} shadow. Mingi's Christmas day is a summer day, for in Mingi's land it is always summer. His Christmas day is about twelve hours long.

Part 2. Look again at the picture of Abdullah in Figure 77. This shows you something about the sun and shadows in Abdullah's land at noon on the days near Christmas.

Abdullah lives {3: north/south} of Mingi. At noon on Christmas day Abdullah sees the sun {4: higher/lower} in the southern sky than Mingi does. Abdullah's shadow is north of him at noon on Christmas day. It is {5: longer/shorter} than Mingi's shadow on that day. Most of Abdullah's Christmas days are cool, and not cold. It is {6: longer/shorter} than Mingi's Christmas day.

Part 3. Look again at the picture of Jan in Figure 150. This shows you something about the sun and shadows in Jan's land at noon on the days near Christmas. Jan lives {7: north/south} of Abdullah. At noon on Christmas day Jan sees the sun {8: higher/lower} in the souther sky than Abdullah does. Most of Jan's Christmas days are cold. Christmas day in his land is about eight hours long. It is {10: longer/shorter} than Abdullah's Christmas day.

Part 4. The farther you are north of Mingi's home, then, on Christmas day, the {11: longer/shorter} is the day. The farther you are north of Mingi's home on Christmas day, the {12: higher/lower} is the sun in the southern sky at noon.

If you have answered Part 4 correctly you should now be ready to tell about Ivar's Christmas day without seeing a drawing of Ivar and his shadow.

Part 5. Ivar lives in the city of Bergen on the southwester coast of Norway. Ivar lives {13: north/south} of Jan. At noon on Christmas day, Ivar sees the sun {14: lower/higher} in the southern sky than Jan does. Ivar's shadow is north of him at noon on Christmas day. It is {15: longer/shorter} than Jan's shadow. Most of Ivar's Chritmas days are {16: warm/cool/cold}. Ivar's Christmas day is {17: longer/shorter} than Jan's. It is only about five hours long.

Check. — From the paragraph "Christmas day in Norway and the Netherlands" on page 116 you can find whether or not you did Part 5 correctly. It will also tell you about midwinter days in northern Norway.

A work puzzle. — Along the coast of Norway there are many mountains. In one way, then, Norway is like Switzerland, for it is very mountainous. In another way Norway is like the Netherlands, for it borders the sea. First, decide which of the following lists tells some of the kinds of work that the Swiss people do, and which one tells some of the kinds of work that the people in the Netherlands do. Norway is somewhat like both of these countries, and you will find people in Norway doing some of the things in each list. Remembering that Norway is mountainous and that it has a sea coast, make a list of all the things in these two lists which .you think you might find the people of Norway doing.

LIST I

Herding dairy cows in high pastures.
Making butter and cheese.
Raising potatoes and some grains.
Manufacturing with the help of water power.
Cutting trees on the mountain sides to make lumber.

LIST II

Catching salt-water fish.
Rearing dairy cattle on low pastures.
Making butter and cheese.
Carrying freight on canals.
Carrying freight on ocean boats.
Raising potatoes and some grains.

Check. — As you look at the pictures and read the paragraphs about Norway, you may find that you should add some things to your list or subtract some things from it. After you have studied the pictures and the text, make any changes you think you should make.

The coasts of Norway. — Norway has many hundreds of miles of sea coast. The coasts of Norway are very different, however, from the low, sandy, dune-bordered coasts of the Netherlands. In many places along the Norwegian coasts the view is much like that in Figure 152. What two words would you use to describe the land along this coast? Find the little cluster of houses near the water’s edge. Is there much or little room for buildings along such a coast? Can you find in the picture two things besides the mountains that remind you of Switzerland? In what way might one of these help the people of Norwa to make a living?

As you sail along the coast of Norway you find a great many long, narrow bays whose steep sides look like very high walls. In most places along such bays, there is no ground level enough for building sites. There also are few places where boats could land their cargoes. At the heads of many of these bays, however, there is some low land, where villages may be built. These narrow, steep-walled bays are called fiords.

Making a living from the sea. — Since there is so little low land near the sea, many of the people who live along the coast of Norway make their livings from the sea rather than from the land. They make many of their own boats. In Figure 153, you can see some small ones they have made. What material have they used? Where do you think they might get this material? Perhaps you have read stories of the Vikings and have seen pictures of Viking ships. If you have, you may be able to see one way in which some of these little boats in Figure 153 are like Viking boats. Ever since the days when the bold Vikings made long and dangerous journeys by sea, the Norwegians have continued to be brave seamen. Some of them go to sea to fish, but others go to carry goods in ships from one country to another. In Figure 154, you can see some boats that are fishing boats and others that carry passengers and freight to distant countries. Can you tell which kind of boat each one in the picture is?

The picture in Figure 154 shows a part of the harbor of Bergen, where Ivar lives. What do you see near the distant shore? In Figure 155, you can see some of the warehouses near the wharves of Bergen. In these warehouses arc stored goods which boats have brought to Norway, and other goods waiting to be shipped from Norway to other lands. Of what are these warehouses built? Do you think this material is easy or hard to get in Norwa? Why? Notice the slope of the roofs. Does this make you think there is much rain and snow, or little rain and snow in Bergen? Notice the Norwegian flag in this picture. Farther on in this book there is an interesting story of a flag of Norway.

In Figure 156, you can see a "catch" that the fishing boats have brought back. These herring have been dried. Probably some of them will be eaten in Norway, but the rest will be sent to other countries for food. By noticing the length of the herring and the length of the men’s arms you can get an idea of the size of these fish.

Farms and pastures. — Into some of the fords, near their heads, rivers flow, and in some of the river valleys there is land low enough and flat enough to be used for farms. One of these valleys you can see in Figure 157. The farms, of course, cannot be very large in such a small lowland. On most of these farms the farmers raise potatoes, oats, barley, and hay. It is too rainy here for wheat, and the summers are too short and too cool for corn. Oats and hay are raised chiefly for the cattle. The higher valleys are used mostly for hay. One of these higher valleys you éan see in Figure 158. If you did not know that this picture was taken in Norway, in what other country might you think it had been taken? Notice the racks on which the hay is drying. Why do you think the people in Switzerland and Norway use drying racks, while the people in Mediterranean lands seldom, if ever, do? How many houses can you count in this high valley?

In the summer time, many of the cattle are driven to valleys still higher than the one in Figure 158, to eat the grass in the highest pastures while the valleys such as that in Figure 158 are being used for growing hay. As in Switzerland, sheds or rude huts are built in the higher pastures to shelter the herdsmen in the summer time. From the high pastures the farmers and their families carry down milk, butter, and cheese. The women in Figure 159 are carrying milk and butter down from one of the Norwegian "alps." The white streak in the picture is a road. Why do you think it is so crooked? Where else have you seen a dairy product being carried down a mountain side? Compare the contrivance the women in Figure 159 are using with that used by the herder in Figure 134.

Using the waterfalls. — Did you not think, when you saw the waterfall in Figure 152, that the Norwegians probably use water power to run the machinery in factories? In many of the towns and cities of Norway there are large sawmills, and also factories where wood is used in making wood pulp and paper. There are many match factories, too. Do you see what wood and water power have to do with matches?

In Figure 160 is shown a street in Christiania, the largest city of Norway. On your map, find this city east .of the mountains, on the southeastern coast. From it much lumber, wood pulp, paper, and other things made from the forests of Norway are shipped to foreign countries. As the picture suggests, Christiania is an attractive, well built city. In and near it, there are many modern factories.

The water power of Norway is used, then, to run the machinery in many big mills and factories. Of course, many other things besides those made of wood are manufactured in the factories which use power furnished by some. of the many waterfalls of Norway.

Christmas day in Norway and the Netherlands. — On your map, find on the southwestern coast of Norway the dot which stands for the city of Bergen. This, you remember, is where Ivar lives. Then find, on the northern coast of Norway, the sign for the town of Hammerfest. Jens is a boy who lives in Hammerfest. Jens and Ivar both live in Norway, which is north of Jan’s home. Jens lives, however, much farther north than Ivar does, and so Jens’s Christmas day is not like Ivar’s. Ivar’s Christmas 4ay is shorter than Jan’s. All of Jens’s Christmas "day" really is night, for in Hammerfest one cannot see the sun at all on Christmas day. In Bergen the sun at noon on Christmas day is seen lower in the southern sky than it is in the Netherlands, and in Hammerfest you would expect it to be even lower than in Bergen. It is lower — so low that, even at noon, it is below the southern horizon and cannot be seen at all. Jens’s Christmas day is cold, and so is Ivar’s. Indeed, Jens does not see the sun for many days before Christmas and for many days afterward. From about the middle of November till the latter part of January, the sun is below the horizon all the time. Some of its light shows above the horizon part of the time, much as it does in your country just before sunrise, and just after sunset. Again, there is light from the moon and stars. So at times itis not altogether dark, but all this time there is no bright sunshine. Of course it is colder here during this time than it is in Bergen. Jens’s Christmas, then, comes near the middle of a night that is more than two months long.

Of all the boys about whom you have read in this chapter, Ivar has the longest sun shadow at noon on Christmas day, even though Jens lives farthest north, for Jens, of course, cannot have any sun shadow on that day.

Between Bergen and Hammerfest. — You have now found that the days near Christmas grow shorter and shorter as you go north from the Congo. Of course, as the days grow shorter, the nights grow longer. How long is the longest night where you live? In Bergen, the longest night is more than eighteen hours long. About four hundred miles farther north it is twenty-four hours long. About a hundred miles still farther north, the long night lasts for a month, and, as you know, when you are as far north as Hammerfest, the night is between two and three months long. The farther north in Norway you are, the longer are the winter nights.

The Fourth of July from the Congo to Hammerfest. — Christmas is a holiday which is celebrated in many lands. On the other hand, the Fourth of July is a special American holiday, and you would not find the children you have seen in other lands celebrating it. Suppose you were at Kanda’s home, near the Congo, on the Fourth of July, and wanted to celebrate. What kind of a day would you have? It would be warm there, just as it is at Christmas, for there it is always summer. The day would be about twelve hours long. In the land near the Congo, all the days in the year are about twelve hours long. You might expect showers sometime during the day for, as you probably remember, it rains very of ten there.

If you were in Abdullah’s home instead, your Fourth of July day would be about fourteen hours long. If you wanted to begin your celebration at sunrise, you would have to start at five o’clock in the morning. It probably would be a hot day and you would not need to fear rain, for, as you learned, most of the summer days in Egypt and in many of the other lands near the Mediterranean are without rain.

Notice this: the days in midsummer are as long as the nights in midwinter: This is true everywhere in the world, as well as in the Mediterranean lands. Show that it is true where you live. If you were in the Netherlands, then, where Christmas day is about eight hours long, the Fourth of July would be almost as long as Christmas night, or about sixteen hours long. It probably would not be so hot there as in the Mediterranean lands, and it might be cloudy or rainy.

You see, the farther you are north of Kanda’s home, the longer are the summer days. In Bergen, the Fourth of July day would be more than eighteen hours long, and in Hammerfest it would be part of a "day" more than two months long. Do you not wonder how the sun behaves in a land where it neither rises nor sets for many days, and during this period stays above the horizon all the time? At six o’clock in the morning, you could see it in the eastern sky. At noon, it would be a little higher in the sky and would be due south of you. At six o’clock in the afternoon, it would be in the western sky, lower than at noon, and at midnight you would see it still lower in the northern sky. By six o’clock the next morning it would be in the eastern sky again. So, on the fourth of July, just as on many days before and after in Hammerfest, the sun seems to travel in a great circle round the sky. The picture in Figure 161 was taken in northern Norway, exactly at midnight. Notice the sun. Is it above the southern, western, northern, or eastern horizon?

In which of all these places would you rather spend the Fourth of July? Why? Something to do. — By this time you should be able to check your answers to the Norway puzzle (j). 112), and also to do the following things:

1. Tell why Norway sometimes is called "The Land of the Midnight Sun."

2. Tell whether or not southern Norway is a land of midnight sun.

3. Show in a sand pan the chief differences between the coasts of Norway and the coasts of the Netherlands.

4. By pointing, show the path you would see the sun follow round the sky from midnight to midnight, if you were in Hammerfest in midsummer.

You probably have noticed that usually it is not so warm in the morning and in the evening, when the sun is low in the sky, as it is at noon, when the sun is high in the sky. In lands where the sun is low in the sky even at noon, the days are not so warm as they are in lands where the sun is high in the sky at noon. Does this help you see why you come to cooler and cooler lands as you go north from the Congo region? Northern Norway, then, is a colder land than southern Norway. Would you expect to find more people living in northern Norway or in southern Norway? Why? In the following paragraphs you can find out whether or not what you expected is true.

Coast towns. — Most of the people who live along the coasts of northern Norway make their living from the sea. Hammerfest is the home port of a fleet of vessels employed in the capture of seals, walruses, whales, and polar bears. Along these coasts there are also fishermen who catch herring cod, and other salt-water fish. Fish oil is made in Hammerfest from some of these fish. Other people in the coast towns make their living by carrying on trade. None of the towns are large.

Laplanders. - At some places in northern Norway, the land of the midnight sun, potatoes and barley can be grown. In other places, even grass does not grow. In some of these places the ground is partly covered with moss. Horses and cattle cannot live on this moss, but reindeer can. In Figure 162, you can see a herd of Norway reindeer, and the cold, snowy, and almost barren land in which they live. The reindeer make it possible for a few people to live even in the kind of country you see in Figure 162. Most of the people who herd reindeer in northern Norway are Lapps, or Laplanders. In Figure 163, you can see a family of these Laplanders. The poles of their tent home are made from birch trees whichthey find in the northern forests. The hole in the top is to let out the smoke from their fire. Would it be hard, or easy, to move this home? What other people have you read about who live in tents instead of houses? (P. 17., use your back button to return to this text) Why do they move from place to place? Why do you think the Laplanders live in tents? The Lapps who are reindeer herders use tents for the same reason the Arabs do, for they, too, move from place to place to find enough food for their animals. This tent is not a comfortable home in winter, however. Winter homes are built of birch boughs set close together, or of stones. Both kinds are covered with earth, and so look somewhat like caves. Winter houses cannot be moved from place to place, but the Lapps can leave them and come back to them from time to time.

Notice the shoes of the family shown in Figure 163. They are made of reindeer skin. The children’s coats are also of reindeer skin. Reindeer, then, supply part of the clothing of these people. If the picture were colored, you would find that the Lapps like to dress in bright colors. Probably the coats of the men whom you see in the picture are bright blue, and the stripes on the shoulders are red and yellow. Almost every man wears a red tassel on his cap.

Not only do the reindeer supply in part the clothing of these herders, but they carry them and their goods from place to place, for reindeer can be harnessed to sleds and driven just as horses can be. Moreover, the milk and meat of the reindeer are the chief food of these people. Northern Norway has very few people compared with southern Norway, and there would be even fewer than there are in the northern part if it were not for reindeer.

The northernmost place in the world. — Since you left Kanda’s home you have been going to lands farther and farther north. From your map (Fig. 137) you can see that there is a great sea north of Norway. As you should expect, it is a very cold sea, and it is not a very safe one on which to travel because of the ice. It is called the Arctic Ocean. In the next section of the book there is the story of a party of men who tried to go as far north as it is possible to go. From it, you can find out what you would see if you could go on to the northernmost place in the world.

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