182 AMERICAN LUMBER IN FOREIGN MARKETS. 



CLIMATE. 



This district lies between the fifty-eighth and the sixty- second and 

 one-half degrees north latitude, and is bounded on the south by the 

 Skager-Rack and sheltered from the sea by numerous small islands scat- 

 tered along the coast and extending to the Swedish border. On the 

 northeast and west it is surrounded by chains of high mountains, some 

 of which rise to over 8,000 feet. The yearly mean temperature on the 

 coast is between 42 and 44 F., but declines to 41 in this city, which 

 is situated at the head of the long Christiania Fjord and has more of 

 an inland climate. 



While the winters are generally mild on the coast, where the ther- 

 mometer has never gone below 5 above zero, in Ohristiania the mer- 

 cury has sometimes fallen to 22 below zero, and in the northern section 

 of this district it is often as low as 40. But the cold waves are seldom 

 of long duration. 



The greatest heat and cold are found in the inland districts, while 

 on the coasts the winters are mild and the summers cool. The mean 

 temperature of the coast within this district is given for the month of 

 July as between 57 and 63 F. In this city the summer heat some- 

 times rises to 90 F. 



The difference noted in atmospheric temperature between the inland 

 district and the coast, also applies to the dampness of the air. The 

 average humidity on the coast is, as a rule, much greater than farther 

 up in the country. Everywhere the greatest humidity prevails during 

 the winter, and the month of May is marked by great dryness. The 

 amount of annual rain at Ghristiania is only 0.5 meter to 2 meters at 

 Bergen on the western coast, and it falls even to 33 centimeters on the 

 mountains to the north of this district. Heavy fogs often occur here 

 in winter. Neither wind nor rain is of great force or duration in this 

 district. Thunderstorms are of rare occurrence in this section of Nor- 

 way. 



GENERAL BUILDING. 



Wood is generally used for housebuilding, owing to its abundance 

 and cheapness, even in cities of some importance. In the principal 

 cities, however, Christiania, Bergen, and Drontheim, there are great 

 restrictions laid on its use and brick houses are now the rule. The 

 material used in the interior of dwelling houses, as for floors, stair- 

 cases, window casings, etc., continues to be wood. The roofs are 

 generally covered with tiles, and, lately, in the cities also with slate. 



Shipbuilding has from time immemorial been one of the principal 

 industries of this country, and the interesting copy of the ancient 

 Viking ship of a thousand years ago, which was lately sailed over 

 from Norway to the World's Fair at Chicago, bears witness to the 

 great skill of the old Norse shipbuilders. At the end of 1892 the 

 Norwegian merchant marine numbered 7,506 vessels, of an aggregate 



