198 frORESTKY OF NORWAY. 



By Forrester it is mentioned that in some cases two 

 years have been occupied in the transport to the sea of 

 the timber cut in the upper mountains. From this some 

 idea may be formed of the difficulties which have to be 

 overcome, and which are overcome, by the indomitable 

 industry of the people. 



I have stated what I saw and learned of timber floatage 

 Torristal, or Otter-elv [ante. p. 4], and what I saw of 

 the floatage of timber on the Glommen [ante. p. 10]. 



There, as elsewhere, logs are transported from the spat 

 where they are felled to the banks of the nearest stream, 

 and marked with the initials of the owner. On the melt- 

 ing of the ice they are pushed into the current, and the 

 contributions of many affluents find their way to the river, 

 which may at the time be covered with the floating masses, 

 which become more or less compactly interlaced, till some 

 projecting rock in the bank or the river bed arresting 

 some, others are impeded and stopped in their course, and 

 ultimately many thousands, it may be, are stopped, and 

 piled up in a confused heap. It is perilous work to break 

 up the piled mass, and set the logs afloat upon the stream 

 again. In doing so, ' the men employed go about balancing 

 themselves on detached logs in the middle of the stream, 

 pushing . on each log by means of a boat-hook, till at last 

 the mass of logs hanging together begins to be disturbed 

 and shake, and then comes the struggle for the men to 

 regain the shore. The skill which the men display in dis- 

 entangling the logs, the agility with which they run about 

 and maintain their balance on the floating logs, as well as 

 on those which are fixed, the intelligence which they apply 

 to the separation and setting afloat again of all those 

 interlaced logs, and, in fine, the courage with which they 

 face all these perils, are all of them worthy of admiration.' 

 The statement is cited from the report by Dr Broch. 



The author of the work entitled Frost and Fire, to 

 which I am indebted for the sketch of logs performing the 



