538 GEOLOGICAL MEMOIRS. 



be traced towards the S.E., preserving its horizontality, and be- 

 coming a line of erosion, the rocks being worn and removed from 

 their original position by the action of the water. A second ter- 

 race, not less horizontal, may also be noticed on the right bank of 

 the river, much narrower, but corresponding in its height above 

 the sea with the one just described, and like it terminating in a 

 line of erosion. The two were, no doubt, formerly united, and 

 have been divided by the little stream .above alluded to, and, 

 indeed, at the actual mouth of this river there is a delta, remind- 

 ing one of the ancient delta formerly deposited on the upper level 

 of the terrace, when the waters of the fjord reached to that level. 



The mean height obtained by barometrical measurement of this 

 terrace is 68*4 French metres *, and the mean of the observations 

 of this and two other terraces alluded to give 67* 4 m , as the differ- 

 ence between the actual level of the sea, and the line anciently 

 reached by the sea along the whole of the southern side of the 

 Alten-fjord. 



Other indications, however, of the same kind seem to give evi- 

 dence of the existence of a period during which the land was 

 stationary at an intermediate elevation. These indications con- 

 sist of a terrace more or less accurately parallel to the one already 

 described, and presenting an appearance analogous to that of the 

 parallel roads of Lochaber, described by Macculloch, Darwin, and 

 other English geologists. 



In the case before us this narrow shelf or road, not unlike a 

 towing path along the banks of a canal, forms a sort of ledge com- 

 paratively horizontal, and about ten yards wide, very manifestly 

 interrupting the general slope, which has an inclination of 30° or 

 40°. In other places, where the ledge is not so manifest, there is 

 still a marked alteration in the amount of slope at a certain point 

 of the descent. This line is traced from point to point, and the 

 mean of several observations gives 27* 7 m , as its height above the 

 sea-level. 



From the embouchure of the Kaafjord-elv as far as Cape 

 OskarnaBS, neither this nor the higher line of ancient sea-level were 

 observed, but the condition of the coast is unfavourable, owing to 

 the extensive mining operations carried on in the neighbourhood. 

 Cape Oskarnses itself is a hill entirely composed of transported 

 matter, of which the summit, whose height is about 40 metres, 

 does not reach the higher of the ancient lines of sea-level. It has 

 been deposited under water, and M. Keilhau considers that it may 

 possibly have been a portion of an ancient moraine, but such 

 view is improbable. The hill which forms the headland is sepa- 

 rated from the main land by a low isthmus, permitting us to trace, 

 completely round its conical summit, the indications of a bank, 

 which is here the representation of our lower line of level, and the 

 singular appearance of which has been alluded to by Sir "W. 

 Hooker in the narrative of his voyage to this country. 



* Nearly 200 feet. The most important of these measurements and the 

 general results will be found reduced to English feet in p. 541. — Ed. 



