yS HEROES OF SCIENCE. 



a change was perceptible, and soon, from the lofty 

 heights, he beheld the ample forests of Norway 

 lying far beneath. The whole appearance of the 

 country was perfectly green, and, notwithstanding 

 its vast extent, looked like a garden in miniature. 

 The descent was slow and long protracted, but at 

 length he reached the plains, of which he had 

 enjoyed so glorious a' prospect. " Nothing (he ex- 

 claims) could be more delightful to my feelings 

 than this transition from all the severity of winter, 

 to the warmth and beauty of summer. Oh ! how 

 most lovely of all is summer ! The verdant herb- 

 age, the sweet-scented clover, the tall grass reaching 

 up to my arms, the grateful flavour of the wild 

 fruits, and the fine weather that welcomed me at 

 the foot of these Alps, seemed to refresh me both 

 in mind and body." 



Here Linnaeus found himself close to the sea- 

 coast, and he went to sea in a boat to search for 

 the natural productions of that element. He would 

 fain have approached the celebrated whirlpool, 

 called the Maelstrom, but he found no one willing 

 to venture it. On the 13th of July, he arrived at 

 the parsonage house of Rorstadt, from the occupant 

 of which, himself a traveller and a naturalist, Lin- 

 naeus received a cordial welcome. A rather signi- 

 ficant entry in Linnaeus' diary tells us that here, 

 "in this far distant nook of the wide peopled 

 earth," the young enthusiast found an object of 

 surpassing interest. " The pastor (he says) has a 

 handsome daughter, named Sarah Rask, eighteen 



