THE SCANDINAVIAN FIORDS. 83 



a group resembling tlie Norwegian Skjargaard, but without mountains, and desti- 

 tute of vegetation. Ou the Baltic side there are innumerable little islets, especiallv 

 at the entrance of the gulfs and rivers north of Kalraar ; but they are mostly low 

 rocks in shallow w^ater, forming a seaward continuation of the Swedish plains. 

 To these plains belong also the two large islands of Gland and Gotland, stretch- 

 ing south-west and north-east, parallel with each other and with the axis of the 

 mainland. 



Oland, composed, like the neighbouring coast, of older chalks, seems, in fact, to 

 be merely an advanced strip of the seaboard about 80 miles long, and separated 

 from Scania by Kalmar Sound, less than 2 miles wide at its narrowest point, 

 scarcely 24 feet deep oiF Kalmar, but with a mean depth of 60 feet at both 

 entrances. Gotland, lying much farther off, is connected south-westwards with 

 the coast by the extensive Hoborg Bank, and by a sort of submarine peninsula 

 limited on either side by depths of over 160 feet. It is larger and higher 

 than Oland, with one hill 200 feet high. It is continued northward by a 

 submarine bank, on which rest the islets of Faro and Gotska Sandon. 



The ScAî<DI^^A.VIAN Fiords. 



The submarine Norwegian orography corresponds with that of the mainland. 

 Thus the Sogne-fiord, 4,080 feet deep at its entrance, occurs immediately south of 

 the lofty Justedal snow-fields, at the western foot of the Giant Mountains. The 

 Hardanger-fiord also, over 1,800 feet deep, is flanked by the Thorsnut, rising 

 5,000 feet, to the south of Bergen. In many of the fiords the cascades have an 

 unbroken fall of over 2,000 feet, seeming to fall from the skies when the brinks of 

 the precipices are shrouded in mist. At times these aerial streams are buffeted 

 or swayed by sudden gusts of wind, sprinkling the rocky cliffs with a silverv 

 spray. Many disappear in mid-air, changed to diaphanous mist, again condensing, 

 re-forming on projecting ledges, and once more evaporating before reaching the 

 surface. In winter and spring avalanches of snow and detritus are precipitated 

 from the higher gorges to the lower valleys. 



At first sight the Norwegian fiords present a very irregular appearance, 

 inlets, peninsulas, islands, and islets seeming to be entangled in inextricable con- 

 fusion. Yet a certain order soon becomes apparent, and we discover that these 

 fiords are far more uniform than the Scottish firths. Few of them expand to 

 broad estuaries, nearly all communicating with the sea through narrow channels 

 between lofty headlands. The opposite cliffs maintain a certain parallelism in 

 the midst of their regular windings, and before reaching the sea several ramify 

 into two branches enclosing an island, the projections of whose steep sides 

 correspond with the receding outlines of the mainland. Othei'S, such as the Sogne 

 and Hardanger fiords, branch off right and left, the side branches forming right 

 angles with the main channel, and themselves throwing off similar but narrower 

 branches, also at right angles. The land is thus cut up into innumerable regular, 

 or at least uniform blocks, some forming a portion of the mainland, others partly or 

 entirely surrounded by water — a strange labyrinth of plateaux, peninsulas, and 



