1839: scraps
Tall Såmund's letters arrived long after he posted them, and some, no doubt, went astray. "We stayed overnight with Longlegs Halvor at Breidalen, then the next day headed off on the long journey," read the first one. "Over the ridges on the old high tracks to Kongsberg in Numedal. But when we arrived at the gathering place Nattestad had spoken of, we found the emigrants had left the day before. 'Next dale over,' folk told us, 'Follow the river downstream. You may catch them up.' And we did, within a day or two. They hadn't gotten our last message that we wanted to join them. Nattestad questioned us closely on the funds we had with us. 'Ship captains don't extend credit,' he says, but we had plenty for our passage. After traveling a week, today we reached the seaside at a town called Drammen. I've never seen so many buildings crowded up next to each other! There must be fifteen or twenty. Can you imagine?"
The next letter came a week later. "Nattestad had arranged passage aboard an old bark named Emilie, but Captain Anchersen told us at the dock that he could carry no more than one hundred passengers, and there were too many of us. Almost everyone else in Nattestad's group is from Numedal, so we, as outsiders, are among the ones trimmed from the expedition. Some of the others are heading home again, but me and the boys are going to wait for the next ship to Amerika. Word is that there's one setting sail a month from now. We're looking to hire out on nearby farms to earn our keep, though in the meantime, the tavern keeper is trying his hardest to persuade us to stay on at his lodgings. He keeps a decent table. Some of the food is rather outlandish, but you should taste the fresh cod!"
That envelope included several scraps of paper, one for each of the children. Little Såmund proudly read his aloud to his teacher, Anne of Byggland, who helped seven-year-old Aslaug sound out her words. Asla, as everyone called the girl, had just started her schooling that year. Four-year-old Halvor carried his note around wherever he went until it became so grubby no one could read it for him. By that time, though, he -- and everyone else in the family -- had the short message memorized.
Several weeks passed, then Gunnhild received another letter, hastily scrawled by Laki. "Far says to send you word. A fellow I met here by the name of Søren Bache helped us get passage on the Skogsmand, and we will sail on the next tide. He and his friend Johannes Johansen say they're going to chronicle the whole journey. They've already arranged for the printing press Tiden at Drammen to put out the account they send home, and distribute it up and down the coast. Should help people make up their minds about emigrating! Oh, the bell's clanging. Must run for the dock. Far sends his love! Laki the Rover."
Gunnhild folded the letter slowly and set it in her trunk, letting her fingers linger for a moment before closing the lid. She knew she would hear nothing now for several months -- but with all the plentiful, never-ending farm chores ahead, the time would speed past.
.
BEHIND THE SCENES
The Emilie was a weather-worn bark rumored, at that time, to be 150 years old, and with a tonnage of probably 225 tons, according to An Immigrant Shipload of 1840, by C.A. Clausen.
Søren Bache and Johannes Johansen sailed out of Drammen on the Skogsmand, under Captain Rundberg, on July 15, 1839, and arrived at Providence, Rhode Island, on September 2. Their letter to friends and family back home in Norway was printed in the spring of 1840.
Source: Norwegian-American Historical Association: https://naha.stolaf.edu/
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top