134 FORESTRY OF NORWAY. 
spent ten years in Scandinavia, and has chosen the pseudo- 
nym of An Old Bushman, author of Bush Wanderings in 
Australia, ‘ are vast morasses, many of which can never be 
traversed by the human foot, rivers and inland lakes of 
every size, fringed with the reed, the bulrush, and the 
candock, and thousands of acres of low meadow land, 
covered; with-thick, coarse grass. It is here that the 
British naturalist hegins to meet with rare and new speci- 
mens, and it is here that the eye of the traveller first 
»igazes:on: thei:fine scenery of the north: and more 
‘cbeautiful scenery than Scandinavia displays during: the 
: summer months it: would be hard to find. I have wan- 
-ndered.-over many:lands, but.scarcely ever saw a European 
‘wlandseape to vie with this.’ 
_ 1 Inthe very far north the appearance of the whole country 
‘-becomes gradually more: wild and rugged, and high moun- 
tains and ‘barren fells, covered with perennial snows, rise 
i. above tthe limits of vegetation; and tower over the forests 
which skirt their base. 
«he, greati névés,.or snow-fields of Norway, differ from 
« those-of ithe’ Tyrol and of Switzerland, in that they do: not 
-dean upon collossal mountain masses, and naked summits 
which, denominate them. They occupy, on the contrary, 
\itheelevated parts of the great.rocky plateaux, on the slopes 
‘eof which, ithey-spread out their toothed branches; and in 
«this:respect ‘ithey.resemble still the névés: which cover the 
Interior of; Greenland. 
‘Of the snow-line,.or ‘that: above which the snow lies 
‘-constantly;: Forbes writes :—‘ The occurrence of perpetual 
snow at a:certain height above the sea, in even the warmest 
«megions ofthe globe, has in:all:ages excited the curiosity 
of: geographers and naturalists. Regarded at: first as a 
“very: simple! indication of the depression. of temperature 
'-as we, ascend ‘in’ the atmosphere, it. has been carefully 
ustudied.and:applied (often erroneously) to the determina- 
«tionof ‘climate, Closer. examination -has shown that the 
« presence of perennial snow, in other words, a _predominance 
