LXVIII 
SEA. 
DYERENDES. 
Cuatn oF Ise 
LANDS. 
Tipes. 
RIVERS. 
Ni Of Ri Wi Ab we 
weftern point of Sondmor, then wifds’ north-eaft to its extremity at the North: 
Cape. High and precipitous rocks compofe the front, with a fea generally from 
one to three hundred fathoms deep wafhing their bafe *. Multitudes of narrow. 
creeks penetrate deep into the Jand, overfhadowed by ftupendous mountains. The 
fides of thefe chafms have depth equal to that-of. the adjacent fea ; but in the 
middle is a channel called Dybrendes, 1. e. deep courfes, from fifty to a hundred  fa= 
thoms broad, and of the difproportionable depth of four hundred +, feemingly 
time-worn by the ftrength of the current from the torrent-rivers which pour 
into them. Fifh innumerable refort to their edges. “Fhefe creeks are, in-many 
places, the roads of the country ; for the vallies which traverfe it are, often fo 
precipitous as to be impervious, unlefs by water. Some, which.want thefe con- 
veniences, are left uninhabited by reafon of the impoffibility of conveying to 
and from them the articles of commerce. i 
Millions of iflands, large and fmall, fkerries, or rocks, follow the greateft 
part of this wondrous coaft. The iflands are rude and mountanous, and foar corre 
fpondent to the Alps of the oppofite continent. Thofe of Leeffart, on the north: 
fide of the dreadful whirlpool Mael/irom, engraven by Le Bruyn, give a full 
idea of the nature of the coafts {. The fea near the iflands is fo deep and rocky, . 
that the Norwegian kings caufed vaft iron rings to be faftened with lead § to the 
fides, to enable fhips to moor in fecurity, or to: affift them in warping out. A 
few of the former give fhelter to the fifhermen and their fmall ftock of cattle ; 
the reft rife in columns of grotefque forms. On the outfide of thefe natural: 
counterfcarps, are multitudes of Aaubroe, or fea-breakers, longitudinal banks of 
fand, running north and fouth, from the diftance of four to fixteen leagues 
from the continent, and from ten to fifteen fathoms below the furface of the 
water ; the haunts of myriads of ufeful fihh. 
The tides off the Naze, and moft of the coafts of Norway, are very inconfider- 
able. “At the North Cape, the fpring tides have been obferved to rife to the 
height of eight feet one inch; the neap to fix feet eight inches j. Mr. Wil- 
liam Fergufon, an able pilot, who had often the conduct of our fleets in the 
North fea, informed me, that on the Naze, and many other parts of Norway, the 
tides were hardly perceptible, except with ftrong wefterly winds, when they rofe 
two or three feet, and fell with the eafterly winds. 
Into the ends of moft of the Dybrendes rufh the furious rivers, or rather tor- 
rents, of the mountains; ufelefs for navigation, but moft fingularly advantageous 
® Ponteppidan, 1. + The fame, 1. 68. t Le Bruyn’s Voyages, i. tab. 16 § Olaus 
Magnus, Gent. Septentr. lib. ti. c, xi. || Mr. Bayley, in Phil. Trazf. lix. 270. 
3 for 
