14 A JOURNEY TO FINMARK. 



7ialis, UmhellifercBj Asters, &;c., grew here luxuriantly pell- 

 niell, and little reminded one of the 70° north latitude. 



The mountain range which borders the Altenthal on the 

 western side, the Skaaddavara, has a length of from 4 — 5 miles, 

 and, according to Leopold von Buch, a height of 1321 feet. 

 The principal stone of which this and also the other mountains 

 in the Alten district consist is, according to Yon Buch, a coarse 

 splitting quartz, which often alternates with a dark blackish- 

 grev slate, of slight lustre. The Skaaddavara falls very 

 abruptly to the north and east, and especially towards the 

 south. Towards its southern end it shows several ruor^ifed 

 peaks. In the numerous hollows we find lakes, some large, 

 some small, which have their exit in small valleys or steep 

 ravines. In these small valleys we find, even at a height of 

 about 900 feet, birch trees still luxuriant ; and one small fir 

 tree, even at a height of 800 feet. Generally the surface is 

 bare, covered with small pebbles and pieces of rock, where 

 only a very scanty and miserable vegetation exists, consisting 

 of species of Empetrum, Vaccinium, and poor grasses. But 

 there are some heathy spots, generally of a more marshy 

 character, which are covered with a thick carpet of vegeta- 

 tion, where mosses and species oi Em pet rum and Vaccinkivi 

 prevail. We also find here beautiful Alpine plants, sparingly 

 a small Rhododendron^ more frequently Andromeda Syp- 

 noides, Salix Jierbacea, &c. Towards the west the Skaad- 

 davara sinks towards the well-wooded Mathisdal, which 

 is j)artially filled up by a large lake, the Mathisvand. To 

 the south this valley is connected with the Ejbydal, and to- 

 wards the north it runs to the Kaafjord, where the English 

 have very large copper-mining works. Beyond Kaafjord 

 and Talvik rises a very high mountain, covered with per- 

 petual snow, the Storvandtsfjeld, the height of which we 

 estimate as at least 3000 feet. Skaaddavara itself was nearly 

 all covered with snow at the beginning of June, and it was 



