The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

NORWEGIAN TOWNS. 127tennis," is the oldest port in Norway, and is spoken of in the ninth century as aflourishing place, resorted to by many vessels from Denmark and " the land of theSaxons." But the spot where Laurcik now stands was also at that time animportant centre, famous for the temple of Skiringosal and the palace of Haraldthe Fair. West of the Laurvik-fiord is another inlet, where the haven ofPorsgrund serves as the outlet for Skien, the emporium of the Telemark peasantry.On the Skager Rak every town is a port. Amongst them are Kragero,protected on the east by the Jomfruland banks, jocularly spoken of by sailors as abit of Denmark shipwrecked on the Norwegian coast; Osfcrrisor ; TvedcstrandFig. 63.—Bergen.wr~Scale 1 : 100,000.n r-w:SEi^jr\^>^V* »./ :MArendal, with the largest fleet of coasters in the kingdom; Grimsfad ; LillesandChristianssund, with extensive ship-building and refitting yards, and surroundedby rich alluvial lands ;Mandal, the nearest port to the Naze. Beyond this pointthe shore trends northwards to the isthmus on which proudly stands Stavanger,the fourth largest and one of the most commercial cities in Norway.Its populationrose from less than 1,000 in the beginning of the sixteenth century to2,400 in 1800, and over 20,000 in 1875. Its prosperity is due to the herringfisheries, its woollen manufacture, and its trade. Formerly an episcopal sec, it stillboasts of a fine church in the English pointed style, dating from the twelfth andthirteenth centuries.