APPLICATIONS OF TIMBER. 191 



way, where the ravines are often very deep, where 

 the rivers and torrents are apt to swell high and ra- 

 pidly during rain, and where timber is abundant and 

 costs little, wooden bridges of considerable extent 

 are frequently to be found. Some of these, in 

 consequence of the wild rocks upon which they are 

 made, the large dimensions of the undressed trees, 

 and their great height above the water, have a very 

 striking appearance. The following description of 

 such a bridge is from Dr., Clarke: . 



" Before our arrival at Skale, the noise of roaring 

 waters again announced the vicinity of a cataract. 

 We were in the midst of a gloomy forest; but all at 

 once, the dark scenery of the surrounding woods 

 opened upon such a view of the Ljusna, as no pen 

 can describe: it burst upon us in all its terrific 

 grandeur; the whole tide collected from all its tri- 

 butary lakes and rivers, throughout its course from 

 the Norwegian Alps, in one vast torrent, clamour- 

 ously foaming and rushing to the Bothnian Gulph. 

 A bridge, constructed of whole trunks of fir-trees, 

 divested only of their bark, stretched across this 

 furious torrent, to the distance of one hundred yards; 

 presenting one of the most picturesque objects 

 imaginable. Above this bridge, the river is a quar- 

 ter of a mile broad; and, growing wider as it recedes 

 from the eye of a person here placed, it is distantly 

 divided by promontories, projecting from its sides 

 until they almost meet, and covered with tall trees; 

 thereby forming straits which connect it with other 

 seeming lakes, equally beautiful, beyond them; and 

 which appear more remotely terminated by a ridge 

 of mountains, closing the prospect. But, in this 

 amazing spectacle, all is freshness and animation; 

 the utmost liveliness, and light and elegance, exhi- 

 bited by th^ distant sheets of water, combined with 

 all the energy and tremendous force of the cataract, 



