Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Chapter XVII
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has been proofread at least once.
(diff)
(history)
Denna sida har korrekturlästs minst en gång.
(skillnad)
(historik)
here, for though I steered considerably eastward of the
direction it indicated, I found myself much too far
north, and had an hour’s walk to the eastward along the
steep and rugged banks of the lake, before I reached its
easternmost extremity, from which the river forming
the Riukan Foss issues. This lake is very shallow, and
has apparently a rich alluvial bottom. Some thousands
of acres of land might be gained by simply lowering
the bed of the river Maan, forming its outlet. This
might be very easily done, as the river makes some
rapid descents very near to the lake, which is of great
extent, and its level limits the natural drainage of
a vast amount of surrounding country. The simple
lowering of this lake would alone drain many of the
surrounding bogs; but if, in addition to the lowering of
the Mjös Vand, the principal channels of
communication between it and these boggy regions were cut
deeper, a vast region now a noxious, boggy waste, might
be rendered as valuable as any of the existing land at
this latitude and elevation: moreover, the climate would
be greatly improved by the reclamation of so much bog
and so great a surface of stagnant pools.
On reaching the head of the river, I found no track
down the valley, as I expected, and no bridge or any
other visible means of crossing to the opposite side, on
which a track is marked on the map. I scrambled
onward through bushes, and over rocks, till I came to
a perplexing obstacle—the edge of a small precipice, a
wall of rock about fifteen feet high; rather too deep
to jump or drop down, and not sufficient to turn one
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
