246 SPORT IN NORWAY. 



the immediate neighbourhood of the coast. But on 

 penetrating for a few miles into the interior, out of the 

 influence of the sea air, the cold in winter is intense to 

 a degree, while the heat in the summer is equally 

 oppressive. To give but one instance. At Valle, in 

 Saetersdal, in the south-west, lat. 59 12', lying at 

 an altitude of 1,000 feet above the sea, the thermometer 

 in summer may stand at + 42 Cent., and in winter 

 fell to - 35 ! 



In these northern latitudes the winters are of course 

 very long, and the summers very short. And what 

 makes the winters still longer is that for all practical 

 purposes there is in fact really no spring. 



Winter may be said to begin about the end of 

 October, and to last till the middle of April. At this 

 period an interregnum of about three weeks occurs ; and 

 though the sun's rays have great power at mid-day, 

 and though the days are now longer than is the case in 

 England, yet the melting snow, and the great depth to 

 which the frost has penetrated into the ground, neu- 

 tralize any effect that might have been produced, and 

 every night there is a sharp frost. Thus, vegetation is 

 retarded. About the beginning or first week in May, 

 however, a change occurs. Suddenly, as if by magic, 



-(-15 -5 for the corresponding periods. At Ullensvang, in Hard- 

 anger, lat. 60 16', the mean temperature for the whole year is 

 + 7 '25 Centigrade; for the winter months I'O, and for the 

 summer + 15 16. 



