But Norway has another group of Alps, which Switzerland 

 has not. This is the continuous mountain range which raises its 

 snow-clad summits directly from the sea itself, in an almost un- 

 broken chain from the borders of Nordland, straight on, nearly up 

 to North Cape. 



Through six degrees of latitude these sea Alps form a continu- 

 ous wall, shutting off the inner, somewhat lower districts; and 

 ending particularly picturesquely, when they form as in Lofoten, 

 a separate branch, which bends out from the principal series, 

 and extends like a row of gigantic shark's teeth, floating upon 

 the surface of the sea, straight out into the Arctic ocean. 

 "Lofoten's wall" is seen to the greatest perfection when it is 

 viewed from the south, illuminated by the rays of an evening 

 sun, until the last points of land lose themselves far away in 

 the west, more than 60 miles* to seaward. 



At Bodo, a little south of Lofoten, but also within the Arctic 

 circle, begins Norway's Arctic region, the land of the midnight 

 sun. 



From here the course lies across fjords or through narrow 

 sounds, where the mountains which rise to over 3,000 feet, 

 are wreathed on the sea-ward side with a belt of dark-green 

 mountain-birch (Betula odovata, vav. alpigena) ; whilst their tops, the 

 whole summer through, bear the remnants of their white winter 

 dress. Near the North Cape this Nordland scenery first begins to 

 lose something of its character : the mountains become lower, 

 and North Cape itself forms a plateau with vertical cliffs down to 

 the Arctic Ocean, the height of which hardly reaches 1000 feet. 



On the eastern side of the Cape the deep fjords of Finmar- 

 ken open towards the south, and Porsangerfjord, Laxefjord, Tana- 

 fjord, and lastly Varangerfjord all cut their way, one after the 

 other, deep into the land. Here the coast scenery is quite 

 different to what we have seen hitherto. The shores are lower, 

 partly swampy, and clothed with vegetation, in some places 

 reminding one of the Tundra region in their fauna and flora ; here 

 is the home of the Arctic waders (Tringa and Totanus genera), which 

 leaving their winter quarters in Mediterranean lands and Africa, 



* 100 Kilometers. 



