The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

94 H'AXDINAVIA.day at thirteen different points on the coast, and on the shores of Lakes Malar,Iljelmar, "Wetter, and Wener.As to the cause of these upheavals, some ha\e regarded them as localphenomena, others associating them with various disturbances of the surface inEurope, or with the vital forces of the whole planetary system.Many causes mayeven be at work, at times neutralising each other, at times co-operating, thoughthe period for deciding these points with certainty has not yet arrived.The Scandinavian Lakes.The irregularity of these oscillations is perhaps mainly due to the unfinishedstate of the peninsula on both maritime slopes. The chief geological function ofthe running waters is to regulate the slopes by giving them a parabolical curvefrom the source to the mouth of the streams. The differences of level, theperturbations of the coast, the thousand phenomena associated with the planetaryeconomy, have everywhere prevented the rivers from completing this work ; butnowhere is the irregularity of the river beds greater than in Scandinavia.Theygenerally form a series of terraces rather than a uniform curve, and to the unequalupheaval of the land must, at least in part, be attributed the formation of so manylacustrine basins.The numerous pools and lakes on the Norwegian plateaux and upper valleyshave already been referred to.Towards the Arctic Ocean the escarpments are toolittle developed to retain many lakes in their granite basins, while those occurringat their base are merely detached remnants of fiords. But on the Swedish side,and the Norwegian slopes facing the Kattegat and Skager Rak, the surface iseverywhere dotted over with bodies of still water.Here they are relatively morenumerous than in any other European region except- South Finland, occupyingabout one-thirteenth of the whole area of the peninsula. In certain Swedishdistricts, especially Sodermannland, between Stockholm and Norrkoping, the lakesare so common that they are hold in no more account than trees of the forest." When God severed land and water," says a local proverb, " He forgot Sodermannland."Nearly the whole of South Sweden has remained in a similar chaotic state,the water surface occupying over one-eighth of the entire area. Most of the lakeshores are houseless, silent pine, birch, and oak forests, rarely relieved by thesongster's note, reflecting their foliage in the greenish waters, or dyed a reddishhue by the tannin of the heather. Sedgy or reedy tracts encircle their borders,while elsewhere huge blocks detached from the neighbouring cliffs raise theircrests above the surface. No sail enlivens the dreary waste of waters ; nothingrecalls the presence of man except a solitary bark moored to the shore, or the bluesmoke of an isolated cottage in some neighbouring glade.The extent of the stagnant waters is known to have been considerably reducedduring the historic period, a result due partly to river action levelling rocky ledgesand sweeping away moraines and ;isar, partly to the hand of man here and thereconstructing drainage works. The numerous fortified enclosures met on the hill-