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coxs’s TRAVELS IN NORWAY. 361
or fir, and muft be renewed every three or four years. 7. For fuel. 8. For manure,
by the fame procefs of burning trees and manuring the foil with the afhes, which is prac-
tifed in Sweden, and is fo deftruétive to the forefts.
Befides thefe general ules, particular trees are beneficially employed for various pur-
pofes. ‘The bark of the pine or fir, and alfo of the elm, which is not common in Nor-
way, is dried, ground, and mixed with meal, and is boiled up with other food for fwine,
who thrive much upon it. ‘The birch, which flourifhes in thefe northern regions, is no
lefs ferviceable. It is more generally ufed for fuel than any other wood. ‘The outer
bark, or the white rind, on account of its firmnefsand fap, eafily efcapes putrefaction
even inthe dampeft places, and for this reafon is employed for covering the roofs of the
houfes. This mode of roofing occafions fuch a large confumption of the outward bark,
that the birch which are felled would not fupply a fufficient quantity; it is, therefore,
not unufual to ftrip off the outward bark while the tree is ftanding, and if peeled with
care, it always grows. again. ‘he inner bark of the birch is applied like the bark of
oak’ for tanning’ hides, fifhing-nets, and fails, which it renders more durable. _ ‘This
tree alfo fupplies a kind of wine; a hole is bored in the trunk, and the liquor diftils into
a flafk placed underneath. ‘The tree fuffers little damage, if the hole is immediately
clofed by a wooden peg. ‘The twigs of the birch, as well as the elder and afpen, are
given to horfes in fearcity of fodder. A decoction of oak leaves in beer is ufed by the
peafants as a fomentation for the rheumatifm.
The general exports are tallow, butter, falt, dried fifh, timber and planks, horfes and
horned cattle, filver, alum, Pruffian blue, copper, of which the celebrated mine of Ro-
ras yields annually to the value of 67,500l.; and iron, of which the moft procuttive
mine is near Arendal.
Norway abounds in lakes and rivers, more than any country I ever vifited excepting
Switzerland. It is remarkable for the number and beauty of the bays fringed with
wood. Many of the lakes are fo large, that they appear like inlets of the fea, and the
bays fo fmall, that they appear like lakes ; but 1 am anticipating my journal.
Cuap. Il.—Fredericfhall.—Vortrefs of Fredericsftein —Obfervations on the Death of
Charles the Twelfth.—Tiftedal.—Fredericsftadt.—Chriftiana,
SEPTEMBER 4. Norway is feparated from Sweden by the bay of Swinefund,
which in this part forms a {trait between the perpendicular rocks, fo narrow as to bear
the appearance of a river, yet fo deep as to admit fhips of the greateft burden. On the
Swedifh fide our paffports were examined by a cuftom-houfe officer ; and on the oppo-
fite fhore, our baggage was flightly infpected by a Danith officer, who dwells in a com-
fortable houfe overhanging the edge of the water.
In afew miles we reached Fredericfhall, the frontier town of Norway, flanding on the
extremity of the Swinefund, at the mouth of the river Tifte. ‘The principal commerce
of the town confifts in the exportation of planks to England. ‘The wood is floated
down the ‘Tifte fometimes above one hundred Englifh miles, from the interior parts of
the country, and fawed here; fer which purpofe thirty-fix faw-mills are erected on the
banks of the river, which forms a feries of cataracts.
The harbour is fafe and commodious; but the large quantity of faw-duft from the
different faw-mills choaks the river up in many parts, and occafions an annual expence
for clearing. ‘The port poffeffes a few immunities ; goods landed for exportation pay
VOL. VI. 2A no
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