144 FORESTRY OF NORWAY. 



the valley narrows itself into almost a ravine, strewn with 

 'fragments rended from the mountain sides, and lined 

 with occasional terraces. Passing the farm of Svalheim, 

 you reach the Hjaelledal-Foss, a superb cascade falling in 

 a sheet of foam from a height of seven or eight hundred 

 feet, and then the Hagadal-Foss, nearly as high. The 

 river below is spanned by a frail, narrow bridge, composed 

 of two or three fir logs ; and on the other side there are a 

 few fields of barley, and a patch of potatoes. 

 Afterwards the Utland becomes very narrow, and almost 

 obstructed by huge locks masses of rock which fall every 

 year from the mountain, against which the torrent below 

 dashes wildly, filling the valley with its constant roar; 

 suddenly the valley expands again, and on the hill you 

 see the Vetti farm, where the tourist may tarry for the 

 night. 



' From the house a zig-zag path leads to the heights above 

 into the deep chasm, from whose edge, by lying flat on 

 the ground, one may venture to look into the depths below, 

 and follow the fall. Another path leads into the valley, 

 and to the foot of Vetti-Foss, or Moerk-Foss. This beau- 

 tiful waterfall is formed by a stream from two small lakes 

 at the base of the Koldedal plateau 6,510 feet high. From 

 a dark perpendicular wall, forming almost a semi-circle, 

 the stream plunges down from a height of more than a 

 thousand feet. Towards the end of summer, so small is 

 the volume of water that it falls gently in a transparent 

 column of spray, looking the more white by contrast with 

 the dark wall which forms the background. I wondered 

 that this cloud of spray could make such a volume of 

 water, rushing so violently among the rocks that it was 

 with difficulty that I crossed to the opposite bank, from 

 which a better view of the fall is obtained. The soil and 

 rocks are covered with a dark fungus, and every thing con- 

 tributed to make the spray appear whiter, I could see no 

 land beyond, and only a few birch trees on the ridge. As 

 the fall is vertical, only a small portion of the water strikes 

 upon the rocky walls. As I looked the column of spray 



