214 Lhn'its of perpetual Snow in the Korth. [March, 



miles in breadth, must, when regarded in this point of view, be 

 considerably broader. For the valleys towards the west sea are nar- 

 row winding glens, and the mountains which run along their 

 sides continue quite to the sea. 



Were the whole mountain range no higlier than the pass be- 

 tween Nystuen and Marystuev, which scarcely amounts to 3000 

 feet above the level of the sea, we should be unwilling to class it 

 along with high mountains. But the pass is a valley opening be- 

 tween high mountains, like the Gotthardt, or more accurately like 

 the low Brenner, between eternal masses of ice. If we climb but 

 a small way up the sides of this pass, we soon perceive mountains 

 covered with snow, which appear at no great distance ; and the 

 summit of Sule-Tind, an insulated cone, rises like a colossal 

 cupola, above all the neighbouring mountains. It is always oon- 

 sidered as the highest place in the neighbourhood of Filiefieldt, 

 and it commands all the declivities round about. Its sides are so 

 rocky and rugged, that we ascend to the tof) of it with difficulty. 

 The snow never leaves the foot of this mountain even in the middle 

 of summer; and no doubt would cover its sides, if its steepness 

 were not so great as to prevent it from lying. 



On the 16th of August, ISOG, at noon, the barometer stood at 

 the same time, 



. On the top of Sule-Tind at 2 1-060 inches 



Therm. 46-06° 

 At Christiana (20 feet above the sea) at . .29"74.t inches 



Therm. 68^ 



Hence the height of Sule-Tind is 5876 English feet above tlie 

 level of the sea ; and 266 1 English feet above the valley of Fille- 

 jieldt. The summ.it itself was quite free from snow, and consisted 

 of loose blocks, on which not a single moss could be perceived. 

 The circumference of this mountain is not considerable, and the 

 same remark applies to its surface. 



\\'hen we look to the south, we see no neighbouring moun,tain 

 so high as this. But the mountains towards the north, separated 

 from Sule-Tind by the valley of Filiefieldt, are higher. They may 

 perhaps exceed it in height 200, or 300 feet, and reach in some 

 places the height of 6181 English feet above the level of the sea. 

 These mountains, witli the separate names of which I am unac- 

 quainted, continue for a considerable space at a h.eight more than 

 5000 feet above the level of the sea ; and their summits arc never 

 entirely free from snow. For the wind cannot so easily drive the 

 snow from these flatter declivities, and from the less insulated and 

 hifoader summits into the valleys. Indeed the nearest valleys are 

 only a few hundred feet lower than the mountains, and the snow 

 scarcely melts in them. In such situations, the atmosphere is 

 ueitiier warmed by the melting of the snow, nor the action of the 

 sun on the ground ; and tlie temperature is always lower than upon 

 the top of insulated cones, like Sule-Ti/ui. 



If the summit of Sule-Tind, which is but of small circumfcr- 



