24 A^orivay and the Norivegians 



isolated peaks scattered about these districts, are quite 

 free from the effect of sflacial "action. Some of them 

 are exceedingly precipitous in shape and imposing in 

 appearance, more so than most of the mountain ranges 

 in Switzerland, What we have said, therefore, of the 

 disappointment which the traveller experiences in 

 comparing mountainous Norway, as a Avhole, with 

 mountainous Switzerland, must not he taken to apply 

 to these exceptional ranges. 



It will be seen from the above statistics that more 

 than one-third of the area of the country lies above 

 2000 feet from the sea-level. And owing to a peculiar 

 character of Norwegian scenery, and the degree in 

 which all the light soil has been carried into the 

 valleys, this means, practically, that this area of the 

 country is not cultivable. At best it only affords some 

 mountain pastures for cattle and sheep. But of the 

 area of Norway under cultivation, and of the character 

 of the farming which obtains there, we shall have to 

 speak in a later chapter of this volume. This is enough 

 of statistics for the present. 



What Norway shares with other mountainous 

 countries, its hills, its cliffs, its everlasting water- 

 falls, its moist hill-sides carpeted with flowers, it owes 

 to geological conditions such as they have undergone ; 

 such as produced Switzerland, for example, and its 

 bordering highlands between the plains of France and 

 Lombardy. But that which is most characteristic of 

 Norway, its rounded hill-tops and its deep fjords, it owes 

 to glacial conditions almost peculiar to this country. 

 This is why I have paused to dwell upon them, and 

 why the tourist may well bear them in mind. 



