On the Physical Geography of Norway. 167 



the ascent of which is everywhere easy, and which attains a 

 height of only 2000 feet above the sea. About lat. 64°-3, 

 there appears to be a distinct depression in the chain, near the 

 Namsen river. In lat. 68 0, 3, which is that of the Lofoddens, 

 there is a pass across the peninsula by the lake of the Tornea 

 Trask, which is elevated no more than 1300 French feet, 

 whilst the well-known track from Alten to the head of the 

 Gulf of Bothnia, by Kautokeino, does not exceed 864 French 

 feet, according to Von Buch, and beyond this the mountains 

 never resume their continuity. A detached summit (Raste- 

 kaise) reaches 2700 feet; the North Cape itself (on the island 

 of Mageroe) attains little more than 900 feet. From this 

 point eastwards the country becomes tame and level, nor do 

 the northern parts of Russia or Siberia offer, probably, any 

 considerable elevations, with the exception of the more de- 

 pressed part of the chain of Oural. 



That the elevation of the Kjblen mountains is the result 

 of forces exerted parallel to an ideal axis, is illustrated 

 by the general uniformity of the declivity on the side of 

 Lapland. A very remarkable chain of lakes, one or more of 

 which occur upon almost every river emptying itself into the 

 Bothnian Gulf, and nearly equidistant from the coast, at a 

 level also tolerably uniform, it is believed, at from 1200 to 

 1500 feet, point out a symmetry in the fall of the ground 

 throughout nearly the whole extent of the peninsula. 



The map which accompanies this work, though on a small 

 scale, has been coustructed with great care, from a variety 

 of authorities, principally Norwegian. An attempt has been 

 made to represent the elevated plateaux which constitute the 

 high land of Norway, and to annihilate that stiff ridge of 

 mountains which figure in almost every map from the Lin- 

 desnses to the North Cape. 



I close these remarks by referring to three sections which 

 I have carefully made from the best data I could find, and 

 chiefly from the map of Keilhau already referred to, shewing 

 the transverse section of Scandinavia at three characteristic 

 places — the first or most northern (corresponding to the line 

 A B on the general map) is from the Bergs-fiord, in lat. "70'2°, 

 to Tornea, at the head of the Gulf of Bothnia. Here the 



