The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

110 SCANDINAVIA.temperate Europe.But the skog, or wild forest, with its chaos of rocks and densethickets of trees and shrubs, presents quite a special character. The granite orporphyry blocks heaped uj> in confusion are nearly everywhere covered with athick mossy carpet, elder and raspberry bushes spring from their interstices,while the roots of tall pines, firs, alders, and birches creep snake-like amidstthe fragments. The pathway is soon lost in this labyrinth of rocks and trees,the dreaded wilderness formerly haunted by the troll, or " evil one," where thebenighted wayfarer met the terrible skogfrau, or " woman of the thicket."The Swedish woodlands occupy about two-fifths of the country, while Norway,owing to its greater mean elevation, is far less rich in forests, which here coverFig. 57. Store-houses in the Hitterdal.no more than one-fifth of the whole area. The pines of Gefle, on the banks ofthe Dal, have long been in demand, as furnishing the best material for masts.But the very extent of the forests has hitherto caused a reckless consumption forfuel, building, and manufacturing purposes, which, combined with the exporttrade, has already cleared vast spaces. Along the line of railway between Malmoand Stockholm woods are still everywhere met, interrupted by lakes and cultivatedtracts. But the magnificent beech and oak forests of the sagas have disappeared.In South Norway also forests worthy of the name occur only in the more inaccessibledistricts, and many iron-smelting works have already been abandoned for