DALECARLIA. 



561 



Dalecarlia. course, crossing Nerike and part of West Gothland, and 

 "— "Y""* ' ending at the northern part of the Lake Wetter. The 

 principal lake in Dalecarlia is Siljar, Sillian, or Sion, 

 which is seven Swedish miles long, and about a quarter 

 of a mile broad. The river Dal runs through this lake. 

 Agnail- According to Mr Marshall, the country in the neigh- 



bourhood of Hedmora, a considerable commercial town, 

 is almost completely barren. The peasants cultivate 

 and inclose small fields round their cottages, merely 

 for the subsistence of their families. The soil is not 

 hard, and a single ox or cow is sufficient to draw the 

 plough. A very small quantity of wheat is reared, the 

 principal productions being oats, barley, and beans. 

 Their cattle are small, but strong. In the neighbour- 

 hood of Grodoeu, they often sow and reap in seven 

 weeks, and Mr Marshall informs us that he has seen 

 fields as beautiful as those in England. The proprietors 

 of the forests have established agents, who employ the 

 peasants in cutting down the wood, for the purpose of 

 making pitch, turpentine, and charcoal; and though 

 they are good workmen, yet they earn only about nine 

 sols Tournois, which, with the produce of their farms, 

 is sufficient to support them. In the vicinity of Lynna, 

 agriculture is in a more advanced state. There are some 

 farms that consist of about 70 English acres, and even 

 some that contain 300. 

 Mines. Dalecarlia is celebrated for its rich mines. The fa- 



mous copper mines of Fahlun will be fully described 

 under that article. About a quarter of a mile from the 

 town of Sather, upon the lake of Linster, is the copper 

 mine of Boisberg. In the same part of the country is 

 the silver mine of Silfwerberg, which was formerly 

 celebrated ; but the pits, which are very large, are now 

 filled with water. It was worked with great success 

 in the reign of Queen Margaret, who granted it several 

 privileges. The ore in the eastern part of the mine 

 contains from 28 to 30 grains of gold for every pound 

 of silver. 



Eldfal, which is celebrated for its porphyry mines, is 

 situated on the north of the Lake Siljar, and a little to 

 the east of the river Dal. Huge blocks of porphyry are 

 raised, and afterward hewn and polished on the spot, 

 and many of the finest ornaments of Stockholm are 

 formed of it. It is also manufactured into candlesticks, 

 vases, paint-boxes, and other utensils, which are sold in 

 the metropolis. This manufactory, which is under the 

 eare of Mr Hjelm, is the most complete in Sweden. 



For a full account of the mineralogy of Dalecarlia, 

 we are under particular obligation to Dr Thomson, who 

 lately (1812) visited and examined that province. The 

 following description of the province, which we have 

 copied literally from Dr Thomson's Travels, as it is 

 unsusceptible of abridgment, is principally taken from 

 Hisinger's Mineral Geography of Sweden. 

 Miueralo- " In the south aud south-east part of the province, in 

 ry- the parishes of Rattoiks, Mora, Venjans, and Malungo, 



the rocks consist of the 6ame species which are found in 

 other parts of Sweden at a similar height ; namely, red 

 and grey granite, (gneiss) mica slate, primitive lime- 

 stone, and sometimes, though rarely, primitive trap. In 

 the north and north-west portions of the same parishes, 

 we find these covered by beds of rocks, which belong 

 chiefly to the transition class. These consist of gravel, 

 conglomerate, hard flinty alpine sandstone, over which 

 for a considerable extent he h'alleflinta* and jasper por- 



phyry, transition greenstone, greenstone porphyry, por- 

 phyry breccia, and transition clay slate; all lying in 

 beds, which approach more or less to the horizontal po- 

 sition. A conglomerate, consisting of sandstone breccia, 

 and breccia saxosa, lies over this alpine chain of rocks 

 in the Svackufjall, Elgshognan, Salfj'all, Mossevola, 

 &c. which lie partly in Sweden and partly in Norway. 

 Farther down, in the parish of S'a'rn, is found alpine 

 sandstone. Over this, in the parish of Elfvedal, within 

 the division of eastern Dalelf, there is an extensive tract 

 of transition porphyry, porphyry breccia, and transi- 

 tion greenstone, which continues over a part of the pa- 

 rishes of Mora and Orssa. Round western Dalelf, in 

 the parish of Lima, are found alpine sandstone, clay 

 slate, trap, and trap porphyry, all belonging to the 

 transition rocks. 



In the parishes of Rattvik, Ore, Orssa, Mora, and 

 Sophia Magdalena, there occur beds of transition rocks, 

 consisting of sandstone, limestone, clay slate, and marl 

 slate, interspersed with petrifactions, and of posterior 

 formation to the preceding rocks, which they in part 

 cover. Respecting this tract, the following observa- 

 tions may be made. 



1. The aspect of the surface is usually uneven, some 

 few plains excepted, as for example, the sandy plain 

 between Rattvik and Boda chapel ; that between Dalby 

 and Furndal, in the parish of Ore ; the plain of Ska- 

 tunge, and the north part of Sollerbn. The beds of 

 limestone at Vika and Vomhus, in the parish of Mora, 

 are likewise disposed into plains. Finally the surface 

 is broken into alternate heights and vallies, the beds of 

 which either constitute oblong or level ridges, as those 

 about Boda and Osmundsberg; or they fill up hol- 

 lows and precipices consisting of older rocks, the flanks 

 of which, to a greater or smaller extent, consist of these 

 beds. This is the case at Digerberg, in Orssa by Ska- 

 tunge chapel, and at a height between Vikarby and the 

 church of Rattvik, &c 



The heights round the lakes of Siljar and Orssa are 

 very low : at Vomhus, Vika, Omon, near Sollerbn, and 

 at the foot of Digerberg, they lie almost on a level with 

 the surface of the water, and probably constitute the 

 bottom of the lake Orssa. On the other hand, at Gle- 

 karna in Rattvik, they occur, according to Cronstedt, 

 nearly 200 fathoms above the surface of the lake Sil- 

 jar, and at Osmundsberg they are still higher. 



The boundaries and circumferences of the different 

 beds can hardly be ascertained with accuracy, on ac- 

 count of the forests and alluvial earth with which they 

 are covered. That part of the lake Siljar which is cal- 

 led Rattvik is surrounded with beds of limestone, which 

 lie over rocks of granite and mica slate, from Osb'ack, 

 five-eighths of a Swedish mile south from Rattvik 

 church, to Ick-on in the same parish. From Rattvik- 

 these beds are continued in a north-easterly direction 

 to Boda chapel, and they may be seen still farther north 

 in the parish of Ore. They are found likewise in Ratt- 

 vik near Be'ackby, Alsorby, Kyrkan, Vikarby, Oiga, 

 Ostbjbrka, and the village of Glisk'arna. 



Beds of limestone are found likewise in the parish of 

 Mora, by Vomelf and Vomhus chapel, and near the vil- 

 lage of Vika and Selbacks. The beds found at Vika . 

 are a continuation of those at Sollerbn. 



Sollerbn parish and that of Sophia Magdalena consist 

 for the most part of a flat round height of red granite 



Dalecarlia. 



Mineralo- 

 gy* 



* This word, used by Cronstedt, is applied in Sweden to quartz, horastone, and compact felspar. 

 fel»par and clay porphyry. 



VOL. VII. PART II. 4 B 



The porphyry alluded to is 



