22 FOUESTKY OF NORWAY. 



7000 to 8000 feet high, being too steep to hold snow on 

 their surface, and attracting powerfully the sun's rays, the 

 slight coating of snow is soon melted. We were disposed 

 to linger long in view of this glorious spectacle, and it was 

 with difficulty our guide drew us away. Our path lay 

 down the Koldedal, soon coming among birch woods, and 

 afterwards entering the most splendid fir forest I ever met 

 with. Gigantic trees lay about in all stages of decay ; 

 some stood scathed, with naked arms bleaching in the 

 weather; others were vigorous and of enormous growth. 

 One we measured was nearly four feet in diameter. And 

 to increase the grandeur of the forest scene, the peaks of 

 the Hurungerne were seen rising above the pines in the 

 background.' 



Such are the woodlands of Norway. By one traveller, 

 Norway is spoken of as a land ' whose only charm is to be 

 found in her dim mountains, her silent forests, and her 

 lonely lakes/ 



Another, Edward Price, an artist, who traversed the 

 land and looked upon every scene with an artist's eye, 

 speaks of. Norway as a country 'which surpasses every 

 country of Europe in the depths of its fiords, and in the 

 grandeur of its forests and forest scenery.' Having landed 

 at a distant point, and traversed the land, chiefly on foot, 

 seeing thus much which could not otherwise have been 

 seen in the course of his tour, he reached the capital ; 

 and of what he saw as he approached it he thus .writes : 

 ' Luxuriant pasturage and crops, giving rich promise of an 

 abundant harvest, lay on every side. Wood was no longer 

 the great staple of the land, but was scattered over a 

 charming undulating country only in such quantity as 

 served to shelter the fields and beautify the landscape ; 

 nor was it now confined to fir, but included all the variety 

 of trees which we are accustomed to find in the temperate 

 altitudes. The Christiania Fiord, spotted with its islands, 

 and seemingly environed with its finely wooded banks, 

 formed innumerable bays and creeks, all calm and pellucid 

 beneath the warm rays of the noonday sun.' 



