1814.] Limils of perpetual Snoiv in the North. 215 



we renew the impression of the striking scenery in the straits of 

 Dazio and Ghrnko. The numl)er, the grandeur, and the heiglit 

 of the watcifulls; the dark road over the abyss; the bridges 

 shaking like reeds', the rocks, tlie noise of the wild tumbling 

 streams ; altogether constitute so striking and wonderful a land- 

 scape, that Switzerland herself can exhibit few to be compared 

 with it. 



But as it happens in Switzerland, so also here, vegetation and 

 living being? gradually disappear as we proceed up the pass. In 

 the valley of liu/ders, to judge from the extensive woods of fine 

 and tallspruce and Scotch firs, with wliich it is covered, there is 

 nothing in the climate prejudicial to their growth. But in the pass 

 at tlie top of Fillcfieldt, we perceive only a few bushes of birch 

 scattered liere and there. On the sides of the pass even these dis- 

 appear, and passing through moss and coarse grass, we reach the 

 line of perpetual snow. 



The spruce tir {pinus abies) goes to a considerable height above 

 the valley of Haiders, before it disappears. Both sides of the road 

 between the churches of Etnedal and Ourdahl are covered with 

 spruce fir bushes, though its height above the level of the sea 

 amounts to 2876 feet. These, indeed, are no longer the spruce 

 firs of the valley. Small, low bushes, have already acquired a 

 great age. The little extent of their branches shows us, that at 

 this height they have far exceeded the line which climate has 

 assii^ncd for their vigorous growth. At a small elevation above this 

 height they disappear altogether. 



That spruce and Scotch firs are not to be found in the country of 

 Vang, and on the banks of the L'ltile Miosen, a deep lake not far 

 from the valley of If 'alders towards Fillefieldf, is a local pheno- 

 menon peculiar to that part of Norway, and belongs to the history 

 of the distribution of plants in Norway. But neither the climate 

 nor the soil have any tiling to do with the phenomenon. Fang, 

 and the small lake, lie only 14/6 English feet above the level of the 

 sea, and scarcely -100 feet above the lake of JVaklers. The fine 

 corn-fields upon the declivity of the mountain of Vang demon- 

 strate, that it is not the cold which has banished the spruce and 

 Scotch firs from these mountains. As they grow at Ourdahl at a 

 height of '29S 4 l:^nglish feet above the level of the sea, so might 

 they grow likewise not only at Vang, but at the summit of that 

 alpine range, from Miozen to the greatest height of the pass : for 

 Nystiur, a small inn, lies only 3,112 English feet above the level 

 of the sea. The usual causes, which spread trees over the country, 

 have failed in these high regions. The wind blows almost always 

 from the wcit coast, and very seldom from the east, over the moun- 

 tain range. Hence, perhaps, tlie reason why the whole west side 

 of Norway is destitute of spruce firs. The wind may have even 

 brought the seeds of spruces to the greatest height ot the range, 

 but the breadth may have been so great as to prevent these seeds 

 from reaching any spot where they could vegetate. Ftllejieldt it- 

 self, which from Nysluen to Maryiluen, is only two German 



