78 Prof. Hausmann 07i the Physiognomy of Scandinavia. 



the Swedish plains not only more beautiful than ours, but un- 

 questionably much more interesting. 



The mountainous country in Sweden, likewise, is remarkably 

 distinguished from that in Northern Germany. In the former 

 we do not see the beeches and oaks which so adorn our Elm *, 

 our Deister •[•, and our Soiling J ; there we find no river, which, 

 like our Weser, gives animation to a long, gently curved val- 

 ley. The greatest part of the mountainous land in Sweden — 

 and by far the greater part of Sweden is mountainous — is inter- 

 sected by mountain chains in the most various directions, which 

 at one time extend their branches around greater or less caul- 

 dron-shaped valleys, at another time they enclose narrow ravines. 

 The bottom of the above broad valleys generally contains the 

 reflecting surface of a lake ; while, on the contrary, the ravines 

 are watered by forest streams which tumble tumultuously over 

 the rocky masses. Rugged walls of rock rise from their banks ; 

 while the more gentle acchvities of the mountains which en- 

 close the broader valleys, are covered with dense pine forests, 

 which pass over the mountain ridges, and extend into other 

 valleys. Sometimes this gloomy forest is supplanted by more 

 agreeable birch wood, or it retires and encloses a group of 

 fields and meadows, which surround the neat cottage of a pea- 

 sant. More rarely a small village, with its picturesque church 

 spire, varies the scene. 



The remarkable height and beauty of the (Pinus Abies) 

 spruce fir, and of the (Pinus sylvestris) Scots fir, in most parts 

 of Sweden, leads us very soon to the conviction, — that nature 

 has appointed these two species of evergreen trees to flourish in 

 the north as their peculiar country. Whether it is, that the 

 care of the forests is there committed entirely to nature, their ex- 

 tent is in general far more remarkable than in our regions, where 

 they are so much taken care of by art. The darker, but more 

 pure green of the spruce fir, is varied in the forests by the lighter 

 and more bluish green o'f the Scots fir. This latter tree, which 

 in the sand plains of Northern Germany is generally found on- 



• Elm, a mountain ridge in the neighbourhood of Brunswick. 



f Deister, a mountain ridge in the neighbourhood of Hanover. 



X Soiling, a mountainous district between the Weser and the Leine. 



