assembled party did not present a very gay
appearance for the state colour is black. A
black bombazine or alpaca dress, or better
still, a black silk, is the true adornment of
gentility. A sumptuary law ordains black to
be worn at Court to avoid the greater expense
of coloured dresses ; and, it is still very
generally, though not universally, the colour
in request for balls. Dinner being ready,
we proceeded in couples to the dining-room.
The host and hostess were seated near the
middle of the table, on which were placed
merely the dishes of the sweet course dressed
with flowers, and the cover for each person.
There appeared to be no order in the handing
round of the dishes. Fish was followed by
meat, and afterwards fish-pudding (that is,
fish beaten up in a mortar until it is of the
consistency of cream,) made its appearance.
The vegetables were quite curiosities : young
potatoes were swimming in parsley and butter,
mixed up with very small carrots. Peas
were served in their pods, equally disguised
in a rich gravy ; and all were handed about
and eaten by themselves, not after our mode,
as adjuncts to the meat. Soon after we were
all seated, the toasts began. The host began
them, raising his glass and saying, " Velkommen
til bords ! " (Welcome to the board !) and
after this beginning they were kept up briskly.
Toasts, though nearly abolished in good
society in the towns and more fashionable
places, appear to be still very general in the
provinces of Norway ; and, in the instance of
which I am speaking, they were perpetually
proposed during the couple of hours we spent
at table. It is not the custom in Norway for
the ladies to retire before the gentlemen, but
all rise together ; moreover the signal for
retirement is not given by the lady of the
house, for that would be considered an almost
incredible piece of rudeness and inhospitality.
The feast is closed by the guests themselves,
through the chief of them, who proposes
" Tak for Maden" (Thanks for the meal) ; and
this toast being drunk by all, the wondrous
scraping of chairs on the bare boards which
ensues, announces that the sitting is over.
Not so the ceremonies which belong thereto ;
each gentleman escorts his lady back into the
reception-room, and then everybody shakes
hands, first with the host and hostess, saying
again " Tak for Maden" and, afterwards,
with everybody else. This is an embarrassing
form for a stranger, who, among so many,
finds it far from easy to remember which
hands he has shaken, and which hands remain
to be sought.

This done, coffee was served, and we
dispersed about the garden and grounds, sauntering
at our pleasure. By degrees, as the
evening closed in, most of us began to
reassemble in the large room in which we had
dined. There a free space was cleared for
dancing, and thereinto fresh guests were
constantly arriving. While standing about
and talking in this room, my arm was
suddenly seized by no less grave a personage
than the Rector of the University of
Christiania, who, without speaking, led me into the
large open space in front of the house, and
placed me in the midst of a circle who were
playing at a game nearly resembling our
English "Puss in the Corner." He then
bade me follow his example in taking a part.
I was much rejoiced to see this wholesome
fun heartily kept up by the old as well as by
the young. This sport was followed by a
game called Eukemand, or the widower, which
was played in the following manner: — Several
couples placed themselves in file, all the ladies
on the right hand of the gentlemen. One
gentleman — the Eukemand — stood at the
head of the column, and called out, " Sidste
par ud " (Last pair out) ; on which they
rushed forward to the front, either keeping
to their respective sides, or crossing, to deceive
the Eukemand; whose endeavour was to
catch the lady before her partner could seize
her, in which case he took her for his own,
and left the disappointed gentleman to take
his place as Eukemand. This game appeared to
be a favourite, and gave rise to abundant mirth.

Music and dancing were our next amusements:
not much of the music, except in so
far as it was subservient to the dancing ; for
people either could not or would not —
certainly they did not — sing or play. The
dancing was made up chiefly of waltzes.
Something like a country-dance was
attempted ; but it was not kept up with much
spirit. In some parts of Norway, but very
generally in Sweden, occasional servants have
to perform a duty which would astonish the
ladies whose suburban feasts in this country
are helped through with the aid of the
green-grocer, or by a man from the confectioner's.
It is expected of a waiter, not only that he
should be able to announce names in a
sonorous voice, to hand dishes rapidly, to
change plates quickly, to help wine adroitly,
to be staid and respectable in his conduct in
the kitchen; but that he should be a good
musician! When the dishes have been
cleared away and the cloth has been removed,
after he has been handing about the delicacies
of the season, the coffee, and in summer, the
ices; he again appears, music in hand, to
perform on the piano-forte. The Norsk and
Swedish amateurs deem it beneath the dignity
of the High Art music to which they aspire
to perform mere Terpsichorean tunes. Dance
music is therefore delegated to waiters, some
of whom perform Musard's Quadrilles,
Strauss's and Lanner's Waltzes, and Jullien's
Polkas, in a style which would astonish even
those who in this country belong to "High Life
Below Stairs." After dancing, the party had
frequent recourse to some game or other to
enliven them. "French blind-man's buff,"
and " hunt the ring," accompanied by music,
were both in request, and shared in by as
many as could find room in the circle. Punch,
by no means badly brewed, was constantly