NATURAL HISTORY ^NORWAY. 3 f 



mains to this day ; the fnow which had thus fallen from the ad- 

 jacent mountains, not diiTolving the year after, was further gra- 

 dually increafed, and hardened by lying, the Situation being high, 

 and hemmed in among the mountains. Many lives were loft, in 

 this difafter, of which no memorial would remain, were not the 

 truth of the ftory, which was at firft much doubted, ftill con- 

 firmed by feveral utenfils, as fciflars, knives, bafons, &c. brought 

 to light by a rivulet which runs under the fnow; an inconteftable 

 evidence that this fpot was formerly clear of fnow, and inhabited* 

 Such difafters, God be praifed, are feldom heard of; and the per- 

 petual mows which always cover the fummits of the higheft moun- 

 tains, may, notwithftanding, be juftly faid to be rather neceflary 

 and advantageous, than abfolutely detrimental; and thus may be 

 reckoned among the bleflmgs of providence. Experience iilences 

 all cavils on this head, the fnow being known, by age, to be- 

 come fo firm and indurated, that a horfe's fhoe makes no impref- 

 fion on it; and as it yields very gradually to the fun, it is thus fpar- 

 ingly difpenfed for the daily benefit of the inhabitants beneath, 

 except in a damp foutherly wind, which penetrating the mow, 

 the mountains pour down whole torrents. Thefe accumulated 

 fnows thus become conftant fprings for promoting vegetation in 

 the champaign grounds, and when thefe fprings are too early ex- 

 haufled, the grafs and corn inevitably fuffer, and are fometimes 

 withered for want of moifture. Another convenience of thefe cur-^ 

 rents, and likewife of their impetuous defcent, is, that they drive 

 great numbers of little mills, every farm-houfe * having its own 

 mill. A third advantage of them redounds to the oxen, cows, 

 fheep, and goats, which in fummer are turned out upon the 

 mountains for pafture, where they are fo extremely tormented with 

 the heat, with gnats and mufketoes, that they run about reo-ard- 

 lefs of danger, and in this frenzy many have loft their lives, fall- 

 ing down the precipices ; this lays the peafants under a necef- 

 fity, where no fnow is near, of building fheltering places for the 

 cattle ; but if any fnow-hill be in fight, the cattle move towards 



* In the eaftern provinces, which are lefs mountainous, the people not Only la- 

 bour under a great fcarcity of water, but in feveral parts, the mills are at a great 

 diftance ; but this evil might be remedied, if hanging wheels were ufed inftead of 

 fixed ones •, there are but few places where a fufficient water might not be found for 

 shofe, which require fo much lefs than the others now in ufe. 



Part I, K \* 



