"I want a nice room for myself, another for my mother and sister, who will arrive this evening, and a place for the man," said Clyde, as the porter of the hotel touched his cap, and helped him out of the carriage.
The young man was evidently a person of some importance. The porter, the clerk, and the head waiter, who came out to receive him, bowed low. A man took his bundle, and he was ushered to a room on the ground floor. As he crossed the court, he discovered several of the Orlando's passengers in the reading-room. He had not entered his chamber before there was another arrival,--Paul Kendall and lady,--who were assigned to the next room.
THE SIGHTS OF CHRISTIANIA AND OTHER MATTERS.
As there was in Christiania much to be seen that needed explanation, the students were required to keep together, and several guides from the hotel were obtained, to conduct the party to the various objects of interest in the city. A walk through some of the principal streets brought them to the new Parliament house, which is called the _Storthingsbyggningen_. It is a fine building, but with nothing remarkable about it. In the lower house, the students seated themselves in the chairs of the members, and Mr. Mapps took the speaker's desk.
"Christiania was founded in 1624, on the site of the ancient city of Osloe, which was destroyed by fire. It is the residence of the king during his sojourn in Norway, and the new palace, which you saw on the hill, was completed for his use in 1848. The city, as you have seen, is regularly laid out, and the buildings are either of brick or stone. Formerly the dwellings were of wood, but the frequent fires caused the adoption of a law that no more wooden buildings should be erected within the precincts of the city. The place has considerable commerce, and now contains nearly sixty thousand inhabitants.
"A street here is called a _gade_, and you observe that the street and its name form one word, as Carl-Johansgade, or Charles John Street; Kongensgade, or King Street; Kirkegaden, or Church Street. The same word is used in German.
"The money of Norway is different from that of Sweden or Denmark. The specie dollar, which is generally called a 'specie,' is the unit, and contains five marks of twenty-four skillings each. A specie, or _specie-daler_, as it is written, is worth about one dollar and eight cents of our money. It is near enough for our purpose to say that a mark is twenty-two cents, and a skilling one cent. The coins in circulation are the mark, the two, the four, and the twelve skilling piece. Species and half species are coined, but paper money is generally used for large sums, each denomination being printed on a particular colored paper.