Norway and its glaciers, visited in 1851; followed by journals of excursions in the high Alps of Dauphiné, Berne and Savoy

Front matter

J iUNITED STATES OF AMERICA.;

V

NORWAY AND ITS GLACIERS

Contents

Page

Preliminary Chapter ....... xvii

NO K WAY.

CHAPTER II. Sneeh^ettan — Dovre-Field to Throndhjem (Drontheim) . 19

Route from Jerkind to Sneehaettan — The Ascent — Height of Sneehsettan — The View from the Top — Return to Jerkind — Kongsvold — The Vaarstige — Action of Glaciers — Maintenance of the Roads in Norway — Travelling in Spring — Drivstuen — Aamoselv — Geology of the Dovre- Field according to Naumann — The Rivers Oerkel and Guul — Throndhj em .

viii

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III. Page

Character of Northern Norway — Leave Throndhjem by Steamer — Vaers — Torghattan — Its Cavern — Roches Moutonnees — Yachts — The Seven Sisters — CExtind — Enter the Arctic Circle — Glaciers of Fondal — Bodo — Scenery of Vest-Fiord and the Lofodden Islands — Arrival at Tromso.

Chapter IV

Tromso — Visit to Lapp Encampment — Voyage continued — Ulfs-Fiord — Lyngen- Fiord — Pippertind Glacier — Skjservo — Glacier of Kaagen — Qvenanger-Fiord and Mountains — Serene Midnight — Jokuls-Field and Glaciers — Arrival at Kaa -Fiord (Alten) — Climate — Character of the Country — Excursion to Bosekop and Alten River — The Quaens — Return Voyage.

CHAPTER V. Bergen . \ • ~ . . . . . . ylfm

Leave Throndhjem — Molde — Aalesund — Homeln — Entrance of Sogne-Fiord — Glacier Markings — Singular Passage of Alversund — Arrival at Bergen — Aspect and Situation of the Town — Climate — Total Eclipse of the Sun on the 28th July 1851 — Ancient Total Eclipse at Stiklastad.

CHAPTER VI. The Hakdanger-Fiord . . . . . . .119

Land Journey to Oos — Oos to Teroe — Reception at the Inn — Kvi ndherred - Fiord - Rosendal — Traces of Ancient Glaciers — Method of catching Salmon — Moranger-Fiord Bondhuus — The Glacier and its Moraine — Oevrehuus — Passage of the Glacier of the Folgefond 1o Tockheim — Odde — The Sor-Fiord — Ullensvang — U tne — Graven — Scenery — Vossevangen.

CONTENTS.

IX

CHAPTER VII. Page

Vinje to Gudvangen — The Narce-Fiord — Singular and Wild Scenery — Lekanger — The Systrand — Fjserlands-Fiord and its Glaciers — Reach Stolum — The Suphelle Glacier described — Its remarkably Low Level — Return to Lekanger — Standing Stones of Nargla — Sogndal — Ancient Moraine — Geology and Fine Scenery — Solvorn on the Lyster-Fiord — Ronneid — Arrive at Justedal.

Chapter VIII

Justedal — The Fillefield . . . . . . . ^ 160

The Krondal — Glacier of Berset — Its Veined Structure — Dirt-Bands — And probable Annual Progress — Its Moraines — Modern Decrease of the Glaciers of Justedal — Leave the Krondal — Remarkable Roches Moutonnees — Nygaard Glacier — Its Position and Size — Its Structure compared to the Swiss Glaciers — Its Ancient Moraines — Return to Solvorn — Scenery of the Sogne-fiord to Lasrdalsoren — Carriole Journey to Christiania — Farther remarks on Travelling in Norway — Church at Borgund — The Fillefield — Little Miosen Lake — Arrive at Christiania— Return to England.

Chapter IX

On Some Points in the Physical Geography of Norway,

Chiefly Connected with its Snow-Fields and Glaciers . 185

Introductory Remarks. § 1. On the Configuration of Norway — Its Ground Plan — Its Mountainous Districts or Fields are usually Plateaux — Large Proportion of Elevated Area — The Kjolen Mountains — Their existence denied by some Geographers — Three Sections of Norway. § 2. On some peculiarities of the Climate of Norway — Less severe than commonly supposed, or than any other Land in the same Parallel — The Causes of this — The Summer and Winter Curves of equal Temperature — Contrast of

A

X

CONTENTS.

Pa«k

the two sides of the Peninsula. § 3. On the Position of the Snow-Line in Norway — Mainly determined by the Summer Temperature — Particulars of Observations on the Subject — On the Limit of Growth of the Birch — Influence of the Sea in depressing the Snow-Line — Table of Results.

Chapter X

On some Points in the Physical Geography of Norway, chiefly connected with its Snow Fields and Glaciers — Continued from Chapter ix. ........ 217

§ 4. Essay towards an Enumeration of the Principal Snow Fields and Glaciers of Norway. § 5. The Glaciers of Norway compared with those of Switzerland — Analogy perfect — Differences less than might be expected from Difference in Latitude — Due chiefly to the different Relief of the Country. § 6. On the former Extension of Glaciers in Norway — Moraines of Ancient Glaciers first described by Esmark — Similar to those of Switzerland and other Countries — Change of Climate necessary to cover Norway with Snow and Ice not Excessive. § 7. On some Observations desirable to be made. § 8. On some peculiarities of the Scenery of Norway — Waterfalls.

EXCURSIONS IN THE ALPS.

CHAPTER I. Narrative of Excursions in the Alps of Dauphine in 1839 and

1841 255

Boundaries of the District described — Mountains of Oisans — Their Geological Peculiarities — Hot Springs — Allevard — Les Sept Laux — Allemont — Bourg d' Oisans — Valley of the Romanche — Valley of St. Christophe — Venos — Fall of a Mountain — Village of St. Christophe — Scene from Les Etages — Mont Oursine — Hamlet of La Berarde.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IT.

Page

Excursions in the Alps of Dauphtne — Continued . . . 274

Cross the Col de Sais, exceeding 10,000 feet — Glacier de la Condamina — Descent to La Chapelle — Passage of the Col de Celar — Glacier and Dangerous Precipices — Entraigues — Ville de Val Louise — Mont Pelvoux — Monestier — Col de Lautaret — Superposition of Gneiss to Lias — La Grave — The Scenery — Combe de Malaval — Passage of the Col des Infernets — Remarks on the Geology of the Montagnes de l'Oisans.

CHAPTER III. Excursion on the Glaciers of the Bernese Alps, preceding the

Engagement with M. Agassiz — Residence on the Glacier of the Lower Aar — Topography of the Bernese Oberland and the Glaciers originating near the Finsteraarhorn — Two Panoramas — Excursion from the Grimsel to Glacier of Aletsch in Valais — Departure — The Glacier and Col of the Oberaar — Descent on the Glacier of Viesch — Caverns in the Neve — Enormous Block of Stone on the Moraine — Arrival at the Chalets of Marjelen — Preparation for the Ascent of the Jungfrau.

CHAPTER IV. The Ascent of the Jungfrau ...... 323

History of attempts to ascend the Jungfrau — Departure from the Chalets of Marjelen — Lake and Glacier of Aletsch — Prospect of the Range of the Jungfrau — The Firn or Neve — The Ascent commences — Passage of the Great Crevasse — Col of the Roth Thai reached — Final ascent of 800 feet on a Slope of Ice — The Summit described — The View, and Stupendous Cloud — Return to the Chalets by Moonlight — The lower portion of the Glacier of Aletsch described — Its termination in the Ravine of Naters — Arrival at Briegg.

Xll

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER V. Page

Narrative of the Passage of the Col de Salena, from the

Valley of Chamouni to that of Ferret in 1850 . . 330

Peculiarities of the Chain of Mont Blanc — Glacier of Le Tour little visited — Leave the Col de Balme — Ascend the Glacier — Its Features — Attain the Ridge — Its unexpected Elevation — Exceeds the Col du Geant — Proposed as an Experimental Station — Descent on the Glacier of Salena — Fine Protogine — Topography — Difficult Route — Sudden Fog — Extrication — Reach Orsieres in the Val Ferret.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

M APS.

Page

Map of Norway, shewing the general Distribution of Perpetual

Snow . . . . . . At the end of the Volume.

Map of the Ymes-field . . . . . . . 225

LITHOGRAPHIC VIEWS.

Glacier of Bondhuus Vaarstige, Dovre-Field Mountains near Folden-Fiord Kafte-sund, Lofodden Qvenanger Tinderne Glaciers of the Niis-Fiord Suphelle Glacier, Fjserland .

Nygaard Glacier, Justedal Valley of La Berarde, Dauphine The Jungfrau, from the Glacier of Aletsch

Frontispiece.

WOOD ENGRAVINGS.

Entrance of the Rafte-sund, Lofodden ..... xvii

Torghattan , ...... 39

Lovunden and Threnen Islands ...... 50

XIV

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Pagr

Blaamands-Field ........ 56

Lapp Encampment ........ 68

Kaagen Island .......... 77

Kaa-Fiord, from Mr. Thomas's House ..... 86

Terraces at Quaenvig ....... 92

The Fja?rlands-Fiord . . , . . . ' . . 143

Sogndals-Fiord, from Nargla Tune ..... 154

Plan of the Glaciers of Krondal ... . . . . 165

Little Miosen Lake 182

Three Sections of Scandinavia . . . . . . 197

Scene at La Berarde, Dauphine ...... 255

Mont Pelvoux, from Val Louise . . . . . . 274

The Bernese Alps from the North and South . . . . 301

Section of a Crevasse . . . . . . . . 317

Sketch of the Top of the Jungfrau . ... . . 321

Plan of ditto 321

The Glacier du Tour, from the Aiguille de la Gliere, Chamouni . 330

Plan of the Glacier of Salena ...... 335

CORRECTIONS AND ADDITIONS.

Page 5. I have, it seems, over-estimated the population of Christiania. Mr. A. K. Johnston states that at the latest census in 1845 it was only 31,703.

Page 209. On the snow limit at Sulitelma. I find that in Wahlenberg's original work (Berattelse, page 48), the snow line is fixed at 4100 French feet at Quickjock, on the east of the Sulitelma range, and at 3100 on the western slopes. The mean, or 3600 feet, is evidently the authority for Von Buch's 1169 metres. I am still rather at a loss to reconcile this with Wahlenberg's own statement of four years' later date, which I have quoted in the text from his Flora Lapponica that 3300 is the average height of the snow line in Lapland. If so, the observation at Quickjock must be exceptional. On the whole, we may perhaps admit that the adopted snow line in the text is somewhat underrated for lat. 70°.

ENTRANCE OK THE RAPTE-SUND, LOPODDEN ISLANDS.— See p. 62.

J AM anxious that the intention of this work should not be misunderstood.

None I hope will suspect me of the presumption of writing a systematic account of a country like Norway — so vast in extent, so difficult to explore, and so full of interest — founded on the impression of only a single summer's tour. The journey had been looked forward to for many years. When accomplished, it was with an unavoidable restriction as to time ; I had no thoughts of publishing a book as the result. Should I succeed in acquiring information of any value on the formation of glaciers in Norway (a subject to which I had previously devoted much attention) a paper communicated to one of our scientific societies, and printed

a xviii

IN TKODUCTOKY EEMAKKS.

in their transactions, seemed all that was desirable for making it known. To this course, however, an objection occurred from the nature of the materials I had collected. Not the least important part of these (as I considered) was a series of sketches of the glaciers and snow fields of Norway throughout the entire range of latitude in which they occur, namely, between the 60th and 70th parallels. Of these I know of only one that has been engraved, or rather lithographed, so as to give any idea of this great natural feature of Scandinavia. I did not think it reasonable to request any of our publishing societies to give these illustrations in the careful and expensive style which I thought requisite.

In the meantime, anxious to preserve all the impressions I could of a hasty, but to me most interesting and suggestive journey, immediately on my return home I began to extend my notes and to compare and correct my inferences by studying some of the best topographical works, particularly the Gcea JSforvegica of Keilhau and his colleagues. This occupation I continued and completed as an agreeable employment during a tedious convalescence from illness. When it was finished, I reverted to the idea of describing the glaciers of Norway, with the aid of sufficiently detailed landscape illustrations. I explained the circumstances to the Messrs. Black of Edinburgh, the enterprizing publishers of my former work on the Alps, who willingly undertook the publication both of MS. and Plates, exactly in the form which I requested of them. During printing, the earlier chapters have been somewhat expanded, so as to take off some of the meagreness of the original notes, at the risk of repeating occasionally information to be found in previous books of travels.

MOTIVES FOE THIS PUBLICATION.

XIX

Had it seemed at all probable that I might return to Norway and prosecute my enquiries with, all the incomparable advantages of a second visit — first impressions having been defined and corrected by intermediate study — I should probably have avoided publication, at least in this form. But a pretty long experience in such matters has convinced me that they act wisely and well, who, having used their opportunities to the best of their power, communicate the results of their observations to the world without waiting for a period (never perhaps to arrive) when they may themselves have the credit of completing and perfecting them. It is better, whilst the freshness of recollection is undimmed — and the mind is in a position to draw a correct parallel between older and quite recent observations, and thus give to our descriptions the necessary development — to throw into them whatever there may be of value in our peculiar experience or habits of investigation, and frankly to invite our fellow labourers to do in our stead what we would gladly have done but for some inevitable want of health, leisure, or opportunity. Were this course more generally followed in the sciences, both of observation and experiment, I am persuaded that, by grasping at less we should attain more — even in personal reputation — and should unquestionably advance the interests of knowledge.

It is with feelings thus unambitious that I submit these pages to the reader. If the journey was too rapid to allow of my accomplishing a great deal, it yet enabled me to see distinctly how much remains to be done to promote our acquaintance with the physical geography of Norway, even in the more limited aspects in which it is considered in the present work. Much indeed has been done by the labours of the excellent geologists and geographers whom Norway

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

still possesses, by Keilhau, by Munch, by Vibe, as well as by Esniark, Christian Smith, and Hertzberg, whom she has lost. Scandinavia has produced one physical geographer of the first order, Wahlenberg, the De Saussure of the north, and his labours were worthily extended by the penetrating and gifted Leopold von Buch ; but there is still room for more to be done, especially with reference to the progress of science in the last forty years. The climate of Norway, one of the most interesting in the world, has been very partially ascertained, though a slight impulse from the scientific authorities at Christiania would readily establish a chain of meteorological stations. The size of the country is so immense, and, in many parts, objects of interest are so thinly scattered, that it is to the Norwegians themselves that we look for fuller information as to the topographical intricacies of vast fields and fiords which are at present hardly known, and which yet unquestionably include many interesting peculiarities.* The highest mountain in Norway, the Galdhopiggen or Ymes-field, if it be indeed the highest, has been known but a few years, and is as yet measured, I believe, only by estimation. There are many glaciers which probably no man of science or intelligent traveller has ever seen, and amongst these it is possible that there may be some larger than any now known in Norway, or presenting other remarkable peculiarities. One which I have myself described, perhaps for the first time (the Suphelle-Brae), possesses singularities such as I have nowhere else seen.

* Some materials exist, generally but little known, in the form of local periodica] works of a statistical or scientific character, published at Christiania, in the Danish language. For a reference to, and extracts from some of the more interesting of these, I am indebted to the kindness of my friends there.

NORWEGIAN HOSPITALITY.

XXI

I have effaced from these pages nearly all that was gratefully recorded in my notes of the individual instances of generous hospitality and friendly interest which are extended throughout Norway to even the passing stranger, with unstinting hand and heart. In one or two instances, where the individuals acted in an official as well as private capacity, I have allowed myself to mention names. And I take advantage of the exception to express my sincere acknowledgments to Mr. drowe, the worthy representative of England as Consul-General at Christiania, and to his family, for the unwearied kindness and important assistance which I received from them during both my visits to the capital. In the case of private Norwegian gentlemen, I feel that I have no right to mention names, or to describe them by implication. I know that their delicacy shrinks from it, and that they consider their traditional hospitality as a privilege, and not as constituting a debt, least of all one which can be cancelled by its mere publication. Of society, therefore, as I saw it in Norway, I shall not be expected to say anything except in the most general terms.

But I may here express my frank acknowledgments for the important information respecting the physical geography of Norway, and its snow-fields in particular, which has been courteously communicated to me (chiefly from unpublished sources) by Professors Munch, Keilhau, and Langberg of Christiania, and by Captain Vibe of the Norwegian Eoyal Engineers. Though the ninth and tenth chapters of this work were written before much of this information reached me, they have been since thoroughly revised, and much additional information has been added in the form of footnotes. On the whole, it is not presumptuous to believe that these chapters contain nearly the sum of xxii

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

what is yet known connected with the snow-line and existing glaciers in Norway. It is to the liberality of my friends at Christiania that it owes this completeness.

In the spelling of names of places, I have usually followed the Gcea Norvegica, though not invariably ;, nor is that work always consistent throughout. In fact, in a country like Norway, many names are spelt merely by ear. The northern capital, Drontheim, as it is usually called in England, I have written as I find it in official documents, Throndhjem. The words fjeld and fjord, so frequent in the composition of local names, signifying mountain, and lake or firth, I have written field and fiord, as more conformable to English usage, though it may be questioned whether it is desirable to do so. I may observe, in passing, that j in Danish or Norwegian is ahvays equivalent to the English y, and that the harsh-looking combination hj has nearly the same sound. In attempting to pronounce the language, the beginner should also bear steadily in mind that aa has the power of o in cold.

A considerable number of heights have been approximately ascertained in Norway (nearly all by the barometer), and many of these are referred to in this work. The old Norwegian, which is almost the same as the German or Rhenish foot, is almost exactly three per cent, longer than the English foot, and this proportion has been used in the reductions, and the heights given merely to the nearest Ten feet. Indeed, greater nicety would have been absurd, as very few heights in Norway are ascertained within 50 feet, and probably the greater part not within 100. The Norsk mile is equal to about seven English.

In every case, where miles or feet are mentioned in this work without farther qualification, English miles and feet are

ALPINE JOURNALS— ILLUSTRATIONS.

intended. Fahrenheit's scale is also used for the thermometer.

As a principal object of these pages has been to connect my observations on the glaciers of Switzerland and Savoy with those which I have made in the north of Europe, I have thought it a suitable addition to the volume to incorporate three narratives of alpine journeys of older date, which all refer to the wildest and most ice-bound regions of that noble chain. These were written at the time the journeys were made, or soon after, in the same detail, and nearly in the same words as they are now presented to the reader. They seemed to me to be worthy of preservation, and I am not likely to find a more natural occasion for publishing them. The first excursion — that in the Alps of Dauphine — refers to a region as little known as the remoter parts of Norway itself. The Mont Pelvoux, the highest between Mont Blanc and the Mediterranean, of which I made the circuit nearly twelve years ago, is indeed as little frequented now as it was then. The narrative of the ascent of the Jungfrau, performed the same year in company with M. Agassiz, is now for the first time printed nearly verbatim from my journals. The account of the crossing of the chain of Mont Blanc by an undescribed pass higher than the Col du Geant, may be considered as a supplement to my former researches in Savoy. This journey was of much later date than the two former ones ; and, indeed, was the last which I made in the Alps.

The illustrations in this volume are all taken from my own sketches. My thanks are certainly due to Mr. Charles Haghe, for the extraordinary fidelity, as well as skill, with which they are transferred to stone. I may safely affirm, that if there be any exaggeration in these plates, it is I who xxiv

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

am responsible for it ; ° but I believe there is not. I fear that 1 cannot speak with quite equal confidence as to the woodcuts, in a few of which the outlines have not been correctlyrendered.

The map of Norway accompanying the volume has been constructed with reference not only to the tour, but to the account of the Physical Geography, in Chapters IX. and X. It will be found, I believe, to give a more correct representation both of the outlines and relief of the country, than is to be found in many maps of more pretension.

I shall gratefully receive, through my Publishers, information respecting matters on which I have expressed myself doubtfully, or have recommended to the research of others ; still more, of course, on those, concerning which I may have inadvertently made mistakes.

JAMES D. FORBES.

Clifton, Bristol, May 1853.

* Neither Mr. Haghe nor myself are altogether answerable for the precise tints used in printing. I regret to observe that, in some copies at least, the colour of two of the illustrations has been accidentally overcharged.

Chapter I. Hull To Christiania— Christiania To The Dovre-field

THE LINDESNAES— ASPECT OF THE NORWEGIAN COAST — THE CHRISTIANIA-FIORD — TOWN OF CHRISTIANIA — ITS POSITION —APPEARANCE — PRETENSIONS — CHARACTER OF ITS CLIMATE — ASPECT OF SURROUNDING COUNTRY — DEPARTURE FOR THRONDHJEM (DRONTHEIM) — CARRIOLE TRAVELLING— THE MIOSEN LAKE— GULBRANDSDAL— REMARK- ABLE ABSENCE OF TILLAGES IN NORWAY— INN AT TOFTE— ASCENT OF DOVRE-FIELD — ITS ASPECT— ARRIVE AT JERKIND.

I left England in the Courier steamship, bound from Hull to Christiania, in the night of the 21st June 1851. After a stormy passage across the North Sea, the coast of Norway was in view early on the morning of the 24th. Notwithstanding a heavy sea from the north-west, we made the headland of Lindesnaes with precision, and were soon in comparatively smooth water. It was with great interest and curiosity that I surveyed the southern coast of Norway, about Christiansand and Arendal. The first impression was rather one of disappointment. The character of the scenery here is remarkably monotonous. Hills of a thousand feet high, or less, devoid of boldness, and with but few and narrow intervening valleys, form the mainland — whilst a multitude of small islands, which range along the coast, are undistinguishable from it when viewed

B

CHRISTIANIA TO DOVRE-FIELD.

from the sea, owing to the want of any decided relief or variety of character.

The gloomy weather added, no doubt, to the monotony of the scene; and our distance from the shore being greater than I at first sight believed, led me to underrate the elevation of the land. It was only by observing how slowly objects seemed displaced by the motion of the ship, that I became aware of the real scale of the country which I now saw for the first time ; and on closer observation, I perceived that the low, rounded, and rocky hills, which I at first had believed to be bare, were almost everywhere covered, or at least dotted over, with woods of pine, which, descending almost to the shore, gave a peculiarity of character to the scenery, at the sametime that it afforded a scale by which to estimate its magnitude. These forests distinguish this part of Norway from those of the Hebrides, which it in other respects resembles. The gneiss islands of Tiree and Coll occurred to my mind the moment that I saw the Norwegian coast, which is less than a degree and a-half of latitude farther north, and doubtless the same causes have produced the similarity of character, acting in like circumstances. Both belong to that great gneiss formation so prevalent in Norway, and also in Scotland, with which few rocks can compare in their resistance to atmospheric action and mechanical force. In both cases they have been subjected for ages to the action of the most tremendous seas which wash any part of Europe, and they have probably been abraded by mechanical forces of another kind, which have given the rounded outlines to even the higher hills, but the exact nature of which is yet subject to great doubt.

The same wooded and undulating character prevails

CHRISTIANIA.

all tlie way to Ckristiania. The entrance of the Christiania-fiord is marked by a lighthouse on the island of Fserder, which singularly resembles Inchkeith in the Firth of Forth ; but the short night had set in long before we reached the capital. On my return southwards I saw the fiord more perfectly. My impression, however, was the same, that its beauty has been overrated. The monotony of the forms, the continuity of the woods, the absence of almost the smallest sea-cliff or sandy bay, weary the eye, even though the scene is continually changing, and the shores ever verdant. An exception must be made, however, in favour of the immediate environs of Christiania, where the fiord expands into an exceedingly irregular basin, the coasts are steeper, and, at the sametime, varied by the aspect of cultivation and of deciduous trees; where numerous detached houses enliven the low grounds, and the more distant hills have a bolder character.

Christiania itself is seen to advantage from the fiord, as well as from many places in its environs. It is built on an agreeable slope, facing the south.. Its suburbs are intermingled with wood. The old castle of Aggershuus, picturesque in form, adorned with fine trees, and standing on a bold promontory, commanding at once the fiord and the greater part of the town, has a striking effect. The city graduates into the country by means of innumerable villas, built usually in commanding situations, which remind one of the environs of Geneva. Indeed, there is something in the entire aspect of the town and surrounding scenery, which is exceedingly pleasing and peculiar. The traveller who is acquainted with the aspects of middle and southern Europe finds himself at a loss to draw a comparison. The clearness of the air, the warmth of the sun, and a certain

CHRISTIANIA TO DOVKE-FIELD.

intensity of colour which clothes the landscape, involuntarily recall southern latitudes, and even the shores of the Mediterranean. But the impression is counteracted by the background of pine forest, which reminds him of some of the higher and well-wooded cantons of Switzerland, to which the varied outline of the fiord — which may compare, in irregularity with the lake of the four cantons — lends an additional resemblance ; yet again we miss the background of alpine peaks and perpetual snows.

Wherever the traveller may choose to fancy himself, his last idea would probably be (what is really the fact) that he is here in the latitude of the Shetland Islands, nearly in the parallel of Lerwick, and a degree north of Kirkwall. Some tourist, in a moment of spleen, has chosen to draw a comparison between the county town of Orkney and the capital of Norway, in favour of the former ; but the comparison is too absurd to be regarded as more than a jest — the only point of superiority of Kirkwall, its noble cathedral (which it owes besides to a Norwegian architect and Norwegian builders), being quite incapable of concealing the manifest inferiority in every other quality of beauty, greatness, or convenience, granted by nature, or attained by art. Every one naturally refers what he sees in other countries to the standard of home, and the contrast of southern Norway to the extreme northern parts of Great Britain, came upon me perpetually, with a force which added great zest to the scenery of a country already in all respects new to me. Shetland, treeless and bare, covered for the most part with morasses, and abounding in inaccessible cliffs, is enveloped, even in summer, by frequent fogs, and rarely enjoys an entire day of sunshine ; in winter, on the other hand, it boasts of a climate as mild as

CHRISTIANA — CLIMATE.

that of Avignon, and little colder in the month of January than Florence, which is 17° farther south — its capital little better than a fishing village with one street, which a carriage, (did carriages exist) could with difficulty traverse. But here, on the same parallel, and only 12° of longitude farther east, we see the Aggershuus Amt, in which Christiania is placed, verdant with superabundant forests, not only of spruce and pine, but with nearly all the ordinary trees of an English demesne — the plane and sycamore, the ash and elm, and even (though more rarely), the beech and oak, growing to a full stature and luxuriant in foliage, besides all common kinds of fruit-trees and flowering shrubs, such as lilac, which yield in luxuriance and colour to none in England. Then, during summer, a sky for weeks together unclouded, with a temperature often oppressive, and in winter, a clear and constant cold, unfelt in any part of Britain, and sometimes approaching that of Bussia. We here find, also, a city of at least forty thousand inhabitants,! with wide and rectangularly built streets (unfortunately, however, with a pavement no way superior to that of Kirkwall, and far inferior to that of Lerwick) ; a seat of government, with a royal palace, which, if its architecture is no ornament to the town, is of a size quite equal to the occasion 5 the Storthing hall, or house of Commons ; a great and flourishing university, with excellent museums, library, and astronomical and magnetical observatories attached to it, and reckoning amongst its professors many of the highest merit, and several of a European repu-