Ata quarter to nine we reached the boundary of the vegetation of the Pinus Silvestris, 2,300 feet above the parsonage, where the thermometer was still at 8° Reaumer. We selected the shortest, but steepest path, which is always more agreeable in ascending than descending. At this elevation we still found fine pastures, and abundance of juicy cloudberries, which tempted us often to quench our thirst, but they soon became dry and flavourless, and higher up we found no fruit on the plants. In several places we found the Gentiana Purpurea, which is in Norway, ironically called Sweet Root, but is in reality extremely bitter, and a wholesome Stomachic. Higher up, the pastures were dry and scorched, and on the northern sides of the hillocks, were covered with white frost. We saw numerous Ptarmigans, many of which ran unconcerned before us, while others concealed themselves, or took to flight. An old dog which accompanied us, started a hare and chased him past us; and nature looked cheerful in the midst of this desert scene.

At a quarter past eleven o'clock we reached the summit of the mountain. A cold northerly wind suddenly checked the perspiration produced by the exertion of the ascent, and threw a chill over our bodies. The thermometer had fallen to 2o 4', and I contrived with difficulty to take the elevation of the neighbouring mountains. Mount Gausta raised its naked summit far above the horizon, and the snow had entirely disappeared even from the ravine which indents it. Mount Gousta is about 600 feet higher than the Skorve mountain. Towards the east the view was bounded by the Mæl and Lie mountains, but as the apparent horizon, when the spectator is placed on so great an elevation, appears lower than the real, we could not by the eye form a correct idea of their relative height.

Mount Jörunnet is probably 150 feet higher than Mount Skorve; and the other mountains are of about the same elevation, except Mæl, which is perhaps 50 feet higher. Beyond Porsground we discerned a glittering stripe-it was the ocean, the visible part of which was upwards of 80 English statute miles distant, by which I concluded that the height of the Skorve mountain must be between 5 or 6,000 feet.

Sillejord lake was spread like a map below us, and was now disturbed by a violent gale. To the right was the continuous mountain called Brokefield, which separates the White from the Vraae lake, beyond which we could see the White mountain, and the northern part of the Nisser Lake. The mountains towards Moe and Sætersdal were conspicuous from the patches of snow which lay unmelted in the fissures. Towards the north east, and at a great distance, were two mountains entirely capped with snow, one of which I at first conceived to be Hallings Karv, or Normandsiòkulen, but our guide assured me that those mountains were in a more northerly direction, and too far distant to be seen hence. He could not however, satisfactorily explain what mountains these were; but on reference to Pontoppidan's map, they are situated where he places the Gute mountain, (a name unknown to the inhabitants of this district and Hardanger,) where Ole Johnson Moursolet, (an ingenious and enlightened farmer, from whom Professor Hanstean gained much valuable information) places the Nup mountain, which he describes as the most elevated of this range. Great quantities of snow were likewise visible in the cavities of all the distant mountains towards the Möse lake, Grungedal, Tessungdal, and the Normandslaagen lake; although the prospect was so extensive, we could discern but a very small portion of the inhabited district; nothing but mountains, one rising above the other in succession, presented themselves to the view. Our limbs were stiff with the cold, and we returned by the way of the Prophets cliff, from the top of which we looked down the ravine before described. The descent was very steep, and the loose stones rolled continually from under our tottering feet. On entering the ravine, we had beneath us a confined view of the small lake of Fladdal, the bosom of which was disturbed by angry waves, and we had a bird's-eye view of the houses and farms below.

The mountain threw a dark shadow over the ravine, and every sound reverberated on the ear. We arrived at the place where the rivulet rushes under an immense intervening rock, which is 200 feet high, and has been at some period torn from the mountains above. I perceived that another immense mass of rock is nearly separated from the main body, and it will probably one day be precipitated into the ravine or the lake below. Our path lay along a ledge of the rock which was in some parts so narrow that our almost only footing was the moss which had accumulated thereon, while beneath us was an abyss nearly 3000 feet deep.

Hence we could discern at one view all the objects which we had visited on the previous day. "The Devil's hole," with all its windings, houses, meadows, corn lands, &c., were spread beneath us, illumined by a bright sun, and all looked cheerful except the turbid lakes which swallowed all the light, without reflecting it back to the eye. At last we regained the old road, took leave of our worthy guide and his wife, and reached the Deanery at four o'clock, p. m.

We had thus consumed not quite nine hours in ascending and descending nearly 4000 english feet, which is the heigth of Skorvefield, above the Deanery, while to ascend Mount Etna, which is about 11,000 feet high, three days are generally necessary, and as long a time to ascend the first plateau of the Himmalay mountains which is about 4,500 feet above the Indiana valley. In those climates the intense heat forbids too violent exertion, while Mount Blanc which is about 8,000 feet above the Chamouni valley can be ascended in one day.

The road from Sillejord to Lake Banddal is very good. Brunkeberg church lies 1362 feet above the level of the sea, and 700 feet above the Banddal and White lakes, of which, and the beautifully wooded surrounding scenery, a fine view is hence obtained. Another good horse road leads from Brunkenberg, through the valley of Hòidalsmoe to Vinie, and thence through Grungedal, both to Suledal and Röldal on the other side of the Hardanger mountains. Numerous herds of cattle yearly traverse this road from Lower Tellemarken up to the rich pastures on the Houkelie mountains, and from its direct and (comparatively speaking) level course offers an easier communication with Bergen than any route yet discovered. Neither Banddal, nor the White lake has such fertile shores as the North lake. The rocks rise abruptly on both sides to an elevation of 2,000 feet above the level of the lakes, and the very name of "Banddal" (the accursed valley) seems to have reference to its uninviting aspect. The forests on the summit of these mountains are almost useless to the inhabitants, owing to the extreme difficulty of transporting the timber from them; they have tried the experiment of precipitating the timber over the precipices into the lake; but the trees are usually shivered and splintered in the descent, which is so rapid, that they rebound from the lake and experience repeated shocks.

The surface of the Banddal lake was now tranquil, and clear as a mirror, and we rowed up it in perfect security, under the impending mountains, and the loose stones, which however seemed ready to roll from the precipice down upon us. About seven english miles up the lake, the mountains recede, and the narrow, but fertile and prosperous, valley of Laurdal opens to the view. The church is on the northern bank of the lake, and opposite to it a road leads from Banddalslie to the Omdal coppermines and the parish of Skafse.

The valley of Laurdal is so situated as to present its sloping surface to the southern rays of the sun, which are so powerful, and accelerate vegetation to such an extent that the farmers are often tempted to sow two crops in one year, which are not unfrequently ripened and safely housed, and we were informed that three crops of corn were raised and reaped in one field in the course of the same summer at Treset farm, from which circumstances this farm obtained its present name. In the Rector's garden, on the 11th. of September we found abundance of ripe cherries, and a splendid show of flowers, and almost all the corn was housed.

According to the medium of several observations, we found the surface of the Banddal lake to be 656 rhenish (675 english) feet above the level of the sea. At the eastern extremity of the lake, the valley forms a sandy plain, from which the mountains rise precipitately to a great elevation. In the distance we perceived the Urnaasi mountain, which is in the parish of Moe, and was still covered with snow, whence I conclude it to be nearly 5,000 feet high.

In order to reach Eidsborg we had to ascend a steep eminence, and although the church is only about 1 english mile from Dal farm, (where we left our boat,) it lies 1,600 feet above the lake. Groven farm, which is only half an english mile from the church, I found by observation to be 2,200 feet above the lake. Here is a quarry of Mica slate, which forms the basis of all the rocks, from the commencement of the Lie mountains as far as the Totak Lake, where the Gneiss begins to predominate. The Mica slate is used for whetting stones, and is taken from the upper surface of the rocks, which easily splits into thin slabs of six and eight feet long. The road hence to Næsland is very bad, and becomes at last so narrow that the horse laden with our travelling equipage in panniers, could in some places hardly pass between the rocks.

The Totak river roars fearfully through a narrow rocky channel, enclosed on both sides by steep precipices, crowded with dark forests. My guide having fallen and broken my barometer, it is only by conjecture that I state the bridge at Næsland to be 1,600 feet above the level of the sea.

Næsland church is one of the smallest in the kingdom, and has much more the appearance of an isolated belfry* than a place of worship. We saw, at a distance of about three english miles, the cascade of Hyland, which falls perpendicularly nearly 600 feet, but at this distance it appeared like a mass of snow glittering amid the dark forest through which

In Norway, the bells (usually only two in number) are often suspended in separate buildings in the church-yard.-Translator.

the river runs. Beyond it the Vehuuskiærring mountain rose majestically to a height of 400 feet.

The road to Særen and Vinie is tolerably level. Særen is on the northern side of the Vinie lake, which is here barely 1,650 feet wide, and is scarcely four feet deep in any part, which is singular, considering the size of the lake, the surface of which I conjecture to be 2,250 feet above the level of the sea, as the limit of vegetation of the Scotch fir appears to be not more than 820 or 830 feet above the lake.

From Særen we took a boat to Vinie, where we found the farmers busily engaged in carrying their still green corn, being apprehensive of frost; a tolerably good road proceeds (parallel to the Grungedal lake and Ule river) through the valley of Grungedal to Voxlie, and another to Kostvedt, on the banks of the Totak lake, over a gentle eminence.

The Pinus Silvestris has here nearly attained the limit of its vegetation, and presents a stunted dwarfish appearance, while the Pinus Abies rises gigantic by its side, defying the rigour of the climate, and the violence of the storm. The branches of the latter are thick and spreading, its height is 70 to 80 feet, and its circumference 10 to 12 feet. How many years such a tree must have existed to attain such dimensions in so severe a climate! Like the cedar of Lebanon, this is the only tree in our country which flourishes so near the boundary of perpetual snow. But not a single young tree was seen to perpetuate this giant race, which, however, showed no signs of decay, and will probably outlive several future generations.

Can it really be true that our Northern climate is undergoing a change? Many circumstances seem to encourage this idea, others again to oppose it. Low, dwarf birch will in time apparently supply the place of these noble pines, and the Betula Nana already flourishes profusely beneath them. We proceeded across the Totak Lake to Rouland, which lies on a rocky plain inclining gradually down to the lake; and although apparently not higher than the territory which we had just traversed, it is perfectly naked and void of wood.

We crossed the lake from Kostvedt on the 15th of September in a sailing boat. The sail was made of woollen cloth, and our lame attempts to beat against the wind amused our boatmen, who were ignorant of such a process. The distance to the northern extremity of the lake is about 12 or 13 miles: about three miles beyond which, at a place called Ureböe, there is a remarkable, barren plain, covered thickly with loose stones. Tradition relates, that the god Thor, being in a fit of passion, struck the rock which once stood here, with his hammer, with such force, that it was precipitated into the plain, but that he lost his hammer, and having long searched for it in vain, he promised that if he could recover it he would form a road across the mountain, which promise he fulfilled by shattering the rock into the innumerable fragments which now cover the plain; whence it is called Thor's road, which we traversed for 1,200 or 1,500 paces over and between stones of all dimensions; where not a vestige of soil or vegetation is visible, which I suppose Thor did not promise to produce.

It is astonishing how horses, with heavy burthens, and cattle can cross this stony desert, and yet it is the only practicable road, up the Songa river, to the rich summer pastures. The only guide across this wilderness is the slipperiness of the surface of some of the stones, which are worn smooth by the gliding of the horses' feet, and yet it is very dangerous to wander from this path, owing to the crevices and apertures between the stones. From the lake this spot looks like a town with high roofs and numerous spires.

The Songa river traverses the further extremity of this stony valley, where it forms a wide but shallow and swampy lake, whose waters gurgle between the stones, and deposit an earthy and green slime upon their surface. As the rocks on either side are not very lofty, it is perfectly inconceivable how the valley has been thus strewed. Or why (if it is produced by the fall of a mountain) the fragments should have been so equally dispersed; for the inclination from the highest point down to the lake, does not exceed five degrees.

From one of the adjacent eminences, which I ascended, I saw a range of snow-capped mountains in the direction of Ròldal, the verdant extensive pastures on the Houkelie mountains, and the valley which lies between them and Vinie. But the high points which I saw from Mount Skorve were not here visible, owing to the intervening eminences; I have however no doubt that they are the Nupsegg and Solfond mountains, the highest of the range to the south of Hurrunger. A mountain of coarse, striped Gueiss, (which forms the basis of the whole range between Houland and the northern arm of the Mòse lake,) rises to a height of 2,000 feet to the west of the stony valley of Ureböe, and was partially covered with perennial snow.

A continuance of foggy, wet, and stormy weather obliged us now to turn our course

homewards, and we retraced our steps as far as Morgedal, where we crossed the mountains to Sælie on the banks of the Sundsbarm lake. Our guide said that there was no beaten path, and in truth we found it a most laborious and perilous journey.

The Sundsbarm lake is about the same elevation as the Totak (about 2,400 feet above the ocean.) At Salie we took water, and passed under the northern end of the Skorve mountain, which presents a much less fearful aspect than the eastern extremity, which we had previously ascended, and seen from the Sillejord lake. We passed through the extremely narrow valley of Manddal, which is watered by the Veisfidt river, and entered the following day the fertile, populous plains of Fladdal, whence we followed the main road, through the valleys of Hierdal, and Hitterdal, to Vola, where the Tind river falls into the Hitterdal lake.

Nature assumed a more cheerful, luxurious aspect at every step; the farms were well cultivated, and the houses larger, more convenient and elegant. Hitterdal church is a singular building of the 12th century; it is of wood, roofed with flat stones, and its numerous gables and spires, give it the appearance of a card house, such as children build. Under the bridge at Vola, the Tind river forms a picturesque and perpendicular fall of about sixty feet, on one side of which the rock has been excavated, and the water conducted to a corn mill, which adds to the effect of the scene. We thence crossed the barren, trackless Meehei mountain which separates this lovely, fertile, and romantic district from Kongsberg and Drammen; (a road across this mountain would be of great public benefit ;) and thence arrived safe at Christiania.

[2]

ON A NEWLY OBSERVED SPECIES OF PINGUICULA.

Mr Editor.

To the Editor of the London University Magazine.

I BEG to offer you a description of a species of Pinguicula, very common in the marshes and puddles of the Pentland hills, and, also, of the Tweed banks near Clovenford. It does not agree with any of the species mentioned by Persoon, in his Synopsis, nor with the descriptions given by the best writers on the plants of our own country. I shall first, therefore, show, in what it differs from the species indicated by their descriptions, and, then, give a minute description of the plant itself.*

Such Sir, are the principal points, in which this plant appears to differ from those described by the botanists as occuring in this kingdom. I shall now proceed to give you a description of this flower, and, in doing so, shall point out a peculiar feature in its mode of impregnation, which is common to all the Pinguicula's, but, which has not, as far as I am informed, been previously remarked. In these plants, then, Sir, instead of the pollen being scattered from the anther to the female organ, or the female organ simply bending down to receive the impregnating matter from the bursting anther; the female organ enters the anther itself in a manner, which will presently be described. I think it, also, proper to remark, that, though most writers seem agreed in calling the leaves of this tribe radical, they are not truly so, but, arise in a manner, similar to those about to be deseribed from a true stem. This variety, or new species, whichever it may be considered, since it is far more common than any other species on the Pentland Hills, where it is called by the shepherds, "Marsh Violet," I call for the sake of convenience,

PINGUICULA PENTLANDICA.

The calyx, is monophyllous, salver shaped, divided for about two thirds down into two segments an upper and a lower. These segments expand at an angle of 45o from the axis of the calyx, are ciliated, and covered externally with short-jointed hairs, each of which is terminated with a button-like gland. The upper segment is divided, two thirds down, into three equal, acute-angled teeth; the lower into two short, rounded teeth. The calyx is purple on the outside, and greenish, and polished on the inside.

The corolla, is monopetalous, funnel-shaped, spurred, twice divided half way down, into an upper and a lower lip, covered sparsely on the exterior with hairy glands, of the same description as those on the calyx, but considerably shorter.-The tube is compressed,

*See the table at the end of this article.

funnel-shaped, curved, and furnished with a spur, proceeding abruptly from it. The spur is a compressed cylinder, slightly curved outwards, and gently tapering to its extremity, at which it is jagged so as to terminate obtusely in two button-like prominences. Its length is hat of the central lobe of the under lip of the limb of the corolla: it bears the relation of 100° with the lower lip, and 45° with the stem.

The limb of the corolla, is divided into two lips, an upper and a lower, the segments of which expand at an angle of 115° from the tube. The upper lip is half the length, and two thirds the width of the lower. It is formed of two equal, oval, simple-edged segments. The lower lip is formed of three oval segments. It is covered down the tube, as far as the commencement of the orifice of the spur, on its interior surface, with jointed hairs, swollen at their extremities, pointed downwards, and about one twelfth of an inch in length.

The whole petal is purple; excepting, the base of the tube of the corolla, that part of the tube, which is under the lower lip, and, the hairy glands of the lower lip, which are all white. On the outer side of the petal are three lines, running from the commencement of the spur to each of the segments of the lower lip, and two to each of the segments of the upper lip.

The capsule, during impregnation, is pear-shaped, the length of the pistil, and with its base answering to the summit of the pear: its colour is green. After impregnation it becomes six times as large as during that process; and, takes the form of a five-sided pyramid accuminated with the same number of planes, with its edges and angles blunted, and, is of a purple colour. It is covered, or studded with a few glandular hairs, similar to those on the exterior of the calyx, is one-celled, and bursts with two valves. It has, in its centre, a conical cushion, with small depressions for receiving the seeds, which are oblong, and rough, with lines of bead-like projections, running longitudinally upon them: they are green during impregnation.

The style, is triangular, flat, of a blue colour, attached to the capsule by one of its angles, and supporting upon its summit, at each of the others a stigma, having a spongy, rounded, appearance. It is furnished with a strap-like claw behind, by which it is hooked on to the angle, formed by the bending of the tube of the corolla. This apparatus answers two purposes; it prevents the petal from falling too soon, and keeps the elastic pistil in its proper situation. The pistil during impregnation, curls over the stamens, thus keeping them in their proper situation, while the styles enter orifices on the anterior part of the anthers, expanding after their entrance, so as to fix the anthers, till the whole of the pollen is absorbed. After impregnation the pistil shrivels up and becomes brown, the petal and stamens fall; the calyx, formerly held with its axis parallel to the horizon, now stands erect; and, the capsule expands and becomes purple.

The stamens, arise from the cup, at the part next to the lower segment of the calyx, and are pressed against the upper side of the tube of the corolla. They are compressed cylinders, curved at the base, glandular, polished, and enlarged towards the apex, where the anther seems merely a continuation of them. They are of a blueish-white colour, and not attached to the petal.

The anthers, are hemispherical, are situated upon the stamens so as to seem a part of them; open anteriorly by an oblong orifice, and are yellowish, smooth, and polished. The pollen, is of a yellow hue.

The receptacle, or cup, is a small, prominent green ring, attached to the base of the calyx, bearing the stamens, the capsule, and the petal.

The flowers, are borne on the pedicels with their orifices vertically directed, and never droop. They are supported on long, cylindrical, tapering, smooth, polished pedicels: which, during impregnation, are bent down at their upper part, but, afterwards, become quite erect. These are green towards the base, purple towards the apex, and furnished with hairy glands, similar to those of the calyx, but standing at right angles to them These glands are transparant and colourless, of a greyish-white hue. The pedicels, during impregnation, are about twice the length of the leaves.

The leaves, are sessile, opposite, connate, in pairs decussating, perfect at the edges, though becoming attenuated towards them, spathulate blunt at the apex, with the edges simply inflexed, certainly not involute, expanding horizontally, keeled at the back, which is perfectly smooth, and polished, and covered on the upper surface, with glandular, jointed hairs, similar to those of the calyx, standing vertically from it. Their surface is dry, except when squeezed between the fingers, and then it becomes viscid. Their colour is yellowishgreen above, and whitish green below.

The stem, is short, half the length of the leaves, quadrangular, terminated by a common