CHAPTER X. 
LAKES. 
A MARKED feature of Norwegian scenery not to. be -over- 
looked is the lakes. There, as elsewhere, lakes- are, as 
they are generally—I had almost said universally—a mere 
expansion of a river.. Seldom, if ever, is its. source only a 
spring in its depths. One or. more rivers or rivulets flow 
into it and feed it, filling the hollow or valley to .over- 
flowing, and a different name may be given to: the.out- 
flowing stream than. that borne by any one of the feeders, 
but this does not affect the fact that the lake is only an 
expansion of one of these, and a receiver of its affluents at 
that place. 
A lake known to most tourists in Norway is the Miosen 
lake, not far from Christiania, lying by the highway. 
leading thence to the Dovrefjeld and the western coast. 
The Miosen lake is reached from Christiania by a railway 
which passes through a rich fertile valley, with a pretty 
river winding along it, and then plunges through some 
dense forests of tall pines, with stems so straight and 
uniformly tapering that they appear like huge fishing- 
rods. Their bark has a fine rich colour, which reflects 
the sunlight, and fills the whole atmosphere between the 
labyrinth of bare poles with a warm tinge, similar to that 
produced by stained-glass windows in the aisles of a 
Gothic cathedral. 
The Eidsvold station of the railway is beautifully situated 
on:the river which flows from the Miosen lake to the Glom- 
men;:and thence a steamer, formerly owned chiefly by one: 
of our:countrymen, famous in his day, by . whom: the. rail: 
