chains of lofty mountains, diversified by rocks and forests of pines. In summer, the heat in this northern region is uncomfortable, and pernicious in its effect from the long duration of sun-shine. It may indeed be said that, in June and July, the inhabitants have scarcely any night, or at least any darkness; and the consequence is that milk turns sour, and fish is spoiled, in twenty-four hours.

After having proceeded northwards several days from Christiana, we arrived at romantic scenery in the neighbourhood of the village of Moss-huus. It would be difficult to pourtray with fidelity the singular and sublime prospects which presented themselves to our view, along the upper bank of the lake Mioss; and the farther we advanced, the grander the objects seemed to become, and the more they harmonized with each other. The mountains were more lofty and rugged, the trees more stately, and the waters of the river Lough more rapid. The surrounding forests, apparently as antient as the ground on which they stand, had the effect of inspiring a certain religious awe, suspended as we were between earth and sky, on a ridge of rock several hundred feet perpendicular, with a road of only ten or twelve feet in width. The first part of the lake is perhaps more striking than the rest; the river Lough, swelled by the melting snow, precipitating itself like a torrent into the basins beneath, in the midst of rocks and cataracts. On the right and left, the traveller beholds masses of green mountains crowned with forests, and rising higher and higher in picturesque forms, until they mount beyond the reach of human sight. In front, is a deep and narrow valley, resem. bling an immense ravine; while at different spots we perceive formi dable openings, proofs of the concussions of former ages. Amid these wild and desolate scenes, with what joy does the eye fix itself on traces of cultivation! Such relief happily is not wanting, the industry of the agriculturist having exerted itself wherever the soil appeared to promise success to his labours. At the top of an abrupt ridge, we behold a crop of barley almost ripe; while in the hollows below, women and children are seen making their scanty portions of hay. On the flat spots beside the lake and rivers, are some good fields of rye, oats, and occasionally of wheat. A solitary farm-house, with its red roof, is perceived sometimes half a mile up a mountain; while, farther down, we have the cheerful prospect of the hamlet and parish-church. On the low ground, and in the neighbourhood of the water, a humble cottage, covered with turf or the bark of trees, is now and then discerned: this is the dwelling of a fisherman. The tract of land which excited these observations is the entrance to the famous valley of Guldbrandal; a district remarkable, even in this primitive country, for the manners of its inhabitants, and the singularity of the appearances of nature.'

The Guldbrandal valley is about a hundred miles in length, extending northwards from Lake Mioss to the foot of the range of mountains called Dovre-fell; which, from their great height, have been called the Alps of Norway. This valley is traversed in all its extent by the river Lough, the sides of which consist frequently of masses of steep rock almost as perpendicular as a

wall. The height of these stupendous banks is much greater than it appears; since the eye, in this region of wonders, becomes so accustomed to large objects as to lose the habit of accurate measurement. The bridges consist of trunks of trees laid across the deep hollows through which the Lough holds its course. On one of these, called Strom-broe, the weight of the carriage had the effect of causing to M. Lamotte and his friends no very agreeable sensation, when on looking down they perceived that the depth was not less than a hundred feet.

The inhabitants are extremely plain in their apparel; a cap of red wool, and a coat or rather cloak of white cloth, forming their constant dress. The latter reaches down to the heels; and a red or green waistcoat is worn under it, with breeches of black leather, and stockings and mittens of woollen manufacture. Such has been for ages the humble dress of these children of nature. They appear to have something of the same predilection for a mixture of colour in their dress, which the Scotch Highlanders have for tartan. In personal stature and strength, they are inferior to the inhabitants of more level countries; their beards and eye-brows are red; their complexion is pale, and their lips are often thick. The women have delicate features, and are pale without being white: but they are frequently freckled and sun-burnt. Both sexes have, however, a great portion of gaiety, being inquisitive, familiar, and talkative. As to personal safety, no country can surpass this, since the inhabitants have no wish to be greater or richer than their forefathers. The prevailing vice is the habit of intoxication; which is sometimes carried to such excess, that the men render themselves unfit for labour at an early hour of the day. Their habits, however, are strictly religious; and it is edifying to see the punctuality with which both sexes repair to church on Sunday from a great distance. The curate or pastor, as he is called, being necessarily educated at Copenhagen, is a man of some information, and of very considerable consequence among his humble hearers. —The traveller who is fond of delicate provision, whether bread, beer, or butcher's meat, will find in this region very little to please his appetite but eggs are good and plentiful, and river-fish is likewise at command: milk is excellent: but the poultry are small in size and deficient in quantity. The beds are bad, and as full of bugs as those of Paris: no blankets are used in this country, the body being covered at night with sacking stuffed with feathers.'

Leaving these scenes of primitive manners and magnificent objects of nature, the travellers proceeded northwards to the town of Drontheim, or, as it is called in Norway, Trondheim. This place is situated in about 64° north latitude, on the side of a capacious bay formed by the river Nider. The recent discussions on the subject of the cession to Sweden of Drontheim and its territory, or, as it is called, its bishoprick, have made this part of the country an object of some attention in a political point of view. Drontheim is a finer town than might be expected

expected in so remote a quarter, being equal to Christiana in extent, and superior to it in beauty. The streets are regular and wide, and the houses in general built of brick. It is a very old city, and was long the seat of government when Norway formed a separate kingdom; and it is still the winter-residence of the principal public officers, and of the gentry of this part of Norway. When M. Lamotte was there, it had the semblance of a fortification, with respect to ramparts, cannon, and a small garrison: but war had been unknown for ninety years, and all was allowed to wear the garb of peace. Drontheim is, however, capable of considerable resistance, being very nearly insulated by the waters of the sea or of the river.

From this pleasant station, the travelling party made excursions into the interior, and were much gratified both with the hospitality of the inhabitants and the grandeur of the objects of nature. They paid a visit to the copper-mines, and flattered themselves, some time afterward, with being on the eve of ending their Norwegian tour pleasantly, and passing into Sweden, when they were suddenly arrested, and obliged to do penance for our hostile conduct to Denmark in the autumn of 1807. Being brought as prisoners to Christiana, they underwent, there and at the town of Kongsberg, or Conisberg, a confinement of some duration; though with fewer circumstances of rigour than might have been anticipated from the exasperated spirit of the people. They had excited considerable. suspicion by a frequent exercise of the pencil; an employment which admits of no interpretation from a Norwegian peasant except that of taking plans for a subsequent attack on his country. Of Kongsberg, one of the places of their detention, M. Lamotte gives the following account:

This town is situated on the right bank of a river which forms in the vicinity several cascades. The houses have in general tiled roofs, and the communication with the country on the opposite side of the river is kept up by means of two wooden bridges. As to the surrounding scenery, it is of the sombre kind, being little else than peaks of rocks without vegetation. In the neighbourhood, are silver mines of considerable repute; and the eye observes, interspersed, the scattered cottages of the miners. The popular habits and disposition are similar to those of the rest of Norway; displaying much gaiety, frankness, and fondness for conversation, accompanied by an unfortunate attachment to strong liquors: the effect of which vice seems to be visible in their physical structure, their persons possessing neither the size nor the vigour of men of greater temperance. The population of Kongsberg consists of between three and four thousand, of whom the half are Germans, and employed in the mines. They have of late been exposed to great distress, and have been obliged to apply to government in consequence of many of the mines being abandoned, the produce not paying the expence of working. • During

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During three months which we have passed in this country, the weather has been invariably fine, the appearance at night being superb, and the stars shining with a splendour seldom seen in England. It deserves to be noticed that, in consequence of the number of windows, the houses throughout Norway are commonly very light. Snow fell for the first time about the middle of October, but it is a current proverb that it falls nine times before it stays on the ground; that is, thaws are frequent until the end of November, after which the snow generally remains for five or six months.'

The travellers, having obtained their liberty on representing that they were academics performing a tour of instruction, employed the remaining interval of good weather in taking a hasty view of a part of Sweden. They visited Stockholm, Upsal, and the famous mines of Dannemora, at the distance of forty miles from the latter city, and rinety from the former. The cold now becoming intense, it was expedient to lose no time in their return; they therefore bent their course once more to Gottenburgh; and, after some detention from bad weather, they accomplished their passage home, and were landed in Suffolk in January 1808.

In the concluding part of the volume, the author makes some observations on the political, civil, and religious condition of the Norwegians; and the appendix furnishes several papers, of a very mixed description, relating chiefly to the manners, prejudices, and singularities of that people. We cannot pay M. Lamotte the compliment of having made the best disposi tion of his materials; nor even that of being sufficiently attentive to accuracy. In giving, for example, an account of the locks on the canal of Trollhätte, he says that they are eight, some of which have a fall of sixty feet;' yet he adds immediately that the fall in the whole of the locks is a hundred and ten feet.' Again, in speaking of the heat in July and August, he represents that as not disagreeable' at Gottenburgh which at Christiana he found excessive.' These inaccuracies are evidently the result of inattention; and a similar want of reflection on the principles of history has led him (p. 15.) into the common error that Norway was, in former ages, much more populous than at present. Tu nourrissois alors,' he says, ' une population beaucoup plus nombreuse; mais les pays, comme les hommes, ont aussi leur durée,' &c. His language, moreover, as far as we may judge of a foreign tongue, is not particularly elegant. Yet, altogether, the work affords considerable local information respecting a country which has hitherto been very little described. Norway, as Mr. L. justly remarks, has been merely sketched by the serious pen of Mr. Coxe, or the lighter pen of M. de la Tocnaye, who traversed its coasts. As to the erudite disserta

tions of Pontoppidan, they are less fitted, he remarks, for the public than for an academy of naturalists, or for admirers of the marvellous.

We have mentioned that the volume is illustrated by pleasing views, drawn by Sir Thomas Ackland, and we should add that they are neatly and spiritedly etched by G. Cooke. A Chart of the southern part of Norway is also given.

ART. III. Fauna Orcadensis; or, the Natural History of the Quadrupeds, Birds, Reptiles, and Fishes, of Orkney and Shetland. By the Rev. George Low, Minister of Birsa and Haray. From a Manuscript in the Possession of Wm. Elford Leach, M.D., 4to. Pp. 250. 11. 18. Boards. Longman and

F.L.S., &c.

Co. 1813.

THE

HE few authentic notices which the editor has been enabled to collect, respecting the author of this publication, may be comprized within a very narrow compass. He was born, it should seem, in the parish of Edzel, and county of Forfar, in 1746, and prosecuted his studies in the Universities of Aberdeen and St. Andrew's. When acting in the capacity of domestic tutor at Stromness, he was invited to accompany the present Sir Joseph Banks and the late Dr. Solander, in their excursion among the Orkney and Shetland isles, which those gentlemen visited on their return from the voyage which proved fatal to the unfortunate Captain Cook. On the 14th December, 1774, Mr. Low was ordained minister of the parish of Birsa and Haray, in Pomona, one of the Orkneys. In the year following, he married Miss Helen Tyrie, only daughter of a neighbouring clergyman, but who died in child-bed before another year had passed: an event which deeply affected the author's spirits, and induced him, during the remainder of his life, to cultivate with ardour the science of nature; to which he had early evinced a predilection, and in which, notwithstanding his slender resources of every description, he made a very respectable proficiency. He was encouraged

To draw up both a Fauna Orcadensis and a Flora Orcadensis. The former is now presented to the public: the latter has entirely disappeared. He likewise prepared for the press "A Tour through the Islands of Orkney and Shetland, containing Hints relating to their Ancient, Modern, and Natural History." He likewise undertook and executed a translation of Torfæus's History of Orkney. Mr. Low died in 1795.

The principal part of his MSS., including the Fauna, the Tour, and the Translation of Torfæus, together with his Zoological Collections, (in which was a specimen of ASTERIAS Caput Medusa, taken in the Orkney Seas, and now in the editor's possession,) fell into the

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hands