76 Prof. Hausniann on the Physiognomy of Scandinavia, 



place a crooked fir tree, creeping into view. It is but seldom that 

 the wearied gaze is enlivened by a friendly thicket of birch, still 

 seldomer by a clear brook, accompanied with green meadows, or 

 a village concealed by overshadowing oak trees. In the neigh- 

 bourhood of the Elbe, the sandy heaths become more hilly ; and 

 this increases the farther we advance into Holstein and Schles- 

 wig. The sand now becomes more mixed with clay, and con- 

 sequently more favourable for the growth of corn and large 

 leaved timber, particularly the beech. The hills which, ar- 

 ranged in waving lines, wind through the country, here and 

 there enclose lakes ; these, surrounded by beautiful beech-woods, 

 form the great charm of the districts of Plon and Eutin. 

 In Jutland, particularly in its western and northern parts, sand 

 and heath again obtain the superiority. On Fyen, Seeland, and 

 the smaller Danish islands, vegetation succeeds wonderfully, and 

 delights the eye, during the greater part of summer, with a fresh 

 bright green, which may be ascribed to the greater humidity of 

 the atmosphere and of the soil. The most beautiful beech- 

 woods, together with fruitful fields and luxuriant meadows, vary 

 the scene in this part of Denmark. Small lakes, likewise, as 

 well as prospects of the sea, which burst on the sight, com- 

 municate variety and life to the landscape. 



The southern part of Shonen, in its relation to the neighbour- 

 ing countries, shows a great resemblance to Zealand, and with 

 which it was probably at one time united. But when we 

 reach the 56th degree of north latitude, behind an elevated land 

 still covered with large-leaved timber, and which traverses 

 Schonen from south-east towards north-west, the country then 

 acquires an entirely new appearance, and assumes the character 

 which it retains more or less throughout the whole of Sweden. 

 We see solid rocks, clothed partly with innumerable lichens, 

 and partly covered by a shght layer of earth, which permits the 

 growth only of pine timber with horizontal roots, or of birch 

 trees, which are in abundance. These rocks form either plains, 

 hilly country, or high mountain ranges. The valleys situated 

 between the rocky hills, are watered by numberless smaller 

 and larger lakes, which are generally united with each other 

 and with the sea, by means of rivers. The lakes are to be con- 

 ^ered as expansions of the rivers ; and some of them, as the 



