height. It constitutes a part of the great northern chain of mountains
known in this country by the name o f the Doffrine hills, which separate
Sweden from Norway. But by far the greatest part o f the hills of
which Dalecarlia is composed are of a much smaller size, and are rather
entitled to the name of round-backed knolls than mountains. Their
summits are usually covered with pine-forests.. But it is proper here
to state, that I did not travel so far north as the boundary o f the province
in that direction, and that my knowledge o f Dalecarlia, in the
neighbourhood of and beyond the river Ljusne, is derived entirely from
the information of. others, and particularly from the account of
Hisinger, in his Mineral Geography o f Sweden.
From the great chain of mountains which separate Sweden from
Norway, just about the place where the mountain Fjäll stands,
there arise two subordinate chains of hills, which run through Sweden
in a south easterly direction, gradually diminishing as they proceed,
both in height and magnitude. The farthest north o f these chains
runs through the northern parts of Dalecarlia, and separates Dalecarlia,
properly so called, from Heijeodal, Helsingland, and Gestrickland, becoming
at last so low that it requires some attention to perceive it.
The other chain, which is farthest to the south, runs between Dalecarlia
and Vermeland; then taking a southern direction and becoming
exceedingly low, it crosses the whole o f . Nerike and part o f West
Gothland, and terminates at the northern extremity o f the lake Vetter:
or perhaps we may rather say that it continues along the east side of
that lake till a little on the south side of Iönköping in Smoland, from
which point one ridge runs west to Gottenburg, and another east towards
the Baltic at Kalmar. This description gives a general view of
all the hilly tract of South Sweden, except a low ridge which runs east
and west from sea to sea, at the southern extremity of Smoland, where
the peninsula becomes narrow. The reader would form a very erroneous
idea of these hills, i f he were to compare them with the ranges
of mountains in Scotland, Wales, or the north o f England. In the
greatest part of their extent they are not so conspicuous as Higbgate,
Hampstead, and Harrow upon the north side of London. When the
country is covered with wood, and your view interrupted, you may
travel for hundreds o f miles, and cross these hills in all directions without
being aware o f their existence, any farther than that you are drawn
occasionally up a slight ascent, or descend into a hollow.
The structure of Dalecarlia varies a good deal: the greatest part of
it indeed is primitive, but it contains likewise a considerable tract of
floetz country. On that account it will be necessary to be somewhat
particular in the description of it, in order to enable the mineralogist
to form to-himself a true picture of the constitution of this interesting
province.
The province of Dalecarlia, as far as I myself examined it, is entirely
primitive, consisting partly of gneiss, and partly of beds o f felspar, &c.
which appear to be subordinate to the gneiss. But unfortunately I
did not go to Elfdal, where the porphyry quarries exist, not being
aware at the time of the remarkable peculiarity of structure which distinguishes
that spot. An account o f it was published in the Memoirs
of the Stockholm Academy of Sciences in the year 1805, by Mr.
Hjelm, who examined the spot with care. This gentleman is noted
for his accuracy, and having made mineralogy the study o f his whole
life, his opinion is entitled to considerable attention. As far as I could
perceive from the conversations that I had with him, he does not seem
to have paid much attention to geognosy. But as he was well acquainted
with the appearance of rocks, and able to distinguish them by
their names, this circumstance is not sufficient to destroy his evidence.
Hisinger likewise in his Mineral Geography o f Sweden, gives a similar
account. Now he has paid more attention to geognosy than any other
person in Sweden, and has drawn up his book according to the Wernerian
principles, and has prefixed to it an introduction, in which he
gives an arrangement of rocks, not indeed the same as Werner has
given, but somewhat modified. And the porphyritic tract o f country
in Dalecarlia seems to have been the cause of his modification. He
Classes conglomerate, sandstone, newer porphyry, and alum-slate,
among the transition rocks. I saw abundance o f specimens o f the
porphyry of Elfdal in Stockholm and other places, all of them indeed.