CONTOUR OF THE COUNTRY. 231 



Finland ; it is more marked on the northern parts of the 

 Gulf of Finland. In the stretch of land in which it is 

 most apparent mainly between Tornea and Wasa, it is 

 calculated to be proceeding at the rate of 4-J feet per 

 century ; the south coast has risen within the hundred 

 years 2 feet, or, more exactly, 1*93 feet. Let the thoughts 

 go back some 700 years, when the country was first- 

 conquered by the Swedes, at which time the coast was in 

 some places 14 feet, and in some 31J feet higher than it is 

 now, and what a different aspect must the country have 

 presented. And could we carry our thoughts forward to a 

 remote future we might possibly reach a time when Fin- 

 land shall have freed herself altogether from the grasp of 

 the sea, and what are now gulfs that of Bothnia and that 

 of B'inland alike shall have shrunk to narrow and 

 insignificant channels, fed only by the rivers flowing into 

 them. 



1 Both in this which may be called Finland proper, and in 

 theNyland, we meet with rising grounds and sheets of water. 

 These gradually become more numerous and more exten- 

 sive as we advance into the interior, and to the east, until 

 at length we step from one height to another, and from 

 one lake to another, until fancy suggests, as we look upon 

 inland seas and rivers, bedecked with innumerable islets, 

 that it must be some marine landscape upon which we 

 gaze. Thus does the eastern portion of Finland present a 

 striking contrast to the western ; and while the coast, with 

 its cultivated fields, and romantic island studded creeks, 

 has lured the Swedish settler by its natural resemblance 

 to his home, the highlands have an impress of earnest- 

 ness, firmness, and sincerity, corresponding to the peculiar 

 national character of the Finnish people.' 



The reference made by Dr Helm to the upheaval of the 

 land seems to me to require some illustration. Such 

 changes in the altitude of portions of the earth's surface 

 are not unknown elsewhere. In a volume entitled 



