NATURAL HISTORY of NORWAY. 27 



moifture. Thus thefe deficiencies, in refpecf. to vegetation, are lap- 

 plied by the rain which continually moiflens the little earth 

 we have. Indeed, in moft places, the rain would not be fufficient 

 without the mafles of fnow on the tops of the mountains, or 

 when thefe are wanting, the many pieces of {landing-water on 

 their ridges, which fometimes by fubterraneous oofings, fome- 

 times by gentle flreams, thoroughly water the earth, and afford a 

 conftant reirefhment to the parched fides of the mountains. 

 Whereas, in the vale of Guldbrand, and other parts where the 

 rains are not fo frequent, and the mountains not fo fleep or 

 thick fet as here, the water is conveyed into the fields by trenches, 

 and thrown upon the cultivated ground with fhovels, as is prac- 

 tifed in Perfia, and other hot countries. A fecond benefit of this 

 wet and rainy weather, efpecially when calm withal, and chiefly 

 in fpring, is, that it gives fifhermen the advantage of larger 

 draughts ; for in clear and open weather the herrings, fkates, &c. 

 which are every year taken here, and in Nordland, to the amount 

 of many tuns of gold, are generally fhy of venturing near the 

 fhore, and into the bays, but in rainy or hazy weather, the fifher- 

 men meet with numberlefs fhoals of them. 



SECT. XIV. 



In the preceding articles, I have fhewn the diverfities of the nor- 

 thern air, in refpedt to cold and heat, frofl and thaws, both in 

 thofe provinces which are equidiflant from the line, and in the 

 eafl and weft parts of the country, and it is the fame in refpeft 

 to fogs and rains. Filefield ufually makes a very remarkable dif- 

 ference betwixt us and our nearer! eaftern neighbours, in the pro- 

 vince of Valder, infomuch that when it is foul weather with them, 

 with us it is fair, and fo vice verfa. The courfe of the air, when 

 impelled againft the higheft mountains, is checked, for it feldom 

 afcends to pafs over them. Of this I was an eye-witnefs in my Dir«%rf ' 

 return from Chriftiania in 1749, when travelling on the 24th ™«ZZ«. 

 of June over the higheft part of thofe mountains, I obferved XT "* 

 thick rain-clouds hanging over Valders, which we had left, 

 and where it had been rainy for feveral days ; upon the hill 

 we had a little fleet, but in the valley of Laerdale, where 

 we arrived at our defcent from the mountain, the weather was 



Part I. t 



1 warm 



