Mountains
die ftore-
houfesofpi
videncehànd,
according to pfoinife, èo recite the advantages ofmountains }
•aad<$n&fe ajfe aieaûery many, aad &rae that
fihe k%d.Èrëætar fias praîverûily, în sfônae things, cgropeaaig^d the
want o f others, which he has .thought fit to withhold from naan-
hind.
*;:iThe firii benefit of, mountains is, that' they ç^leâ ithPÆldHds
and «diflohæ them in rains, as I have akeady fhewn; likewife that
the maffes of fhow, refervoirs, arid.&rings in the' mountains, fend
down large, and final! cprrents:of water, whereby the fidds, woods,
and. catthe are refreflaed, and eyeja the fubterraneous veins of water
and tarings, which do not Jraamediately blue ftoso without the
mountains., owe then origin to them, efpgciafly veteiisre
large and .rapid, as h§® fijfiipigjtly,- ‘been
SeheiKhzer, Wolff, and other naPuraHfbu I woil4 only remark
he», that ftvcral level heaths remain barren, and. uncultivatedj
merely heeaufe, after digging deep for fprings, men can fctfipe -procure
wateyfiilficigat far. thw own tdfc, raa^havc jqp Jfodder fer
hbeir rattle at all. J am. .«lib aaf. ©pinion .that; mesj®&inrwata' is
mo» ferfiliziag than common rain-water, and whether , fratq-fiftt?
pet» effluvia, or fame other eaufe, has in it, a particular vegetative
power, as is manifejfl: not only from the qwiekhefs ofthe
grqwîh> and vigor of all kinds jf.young, trees*. partaenJarly pines,
afhes, oaks, and other trees on the .fefes' of mountains, where is very
liglepartbj a ^ Comprimes, even in arid clefts, where they are known
to thrive better than when planted in other parts j but the famé, is
likewife yifible in the cultivated parts,, wideh indeed are fmall,. but
in fiich fecundltyTlts botfiin-ftraw .ajncLmai^ the
champaign country, the marfh-lands àpa. ftæ lijcê ëxoepted. It is
alfo well known, that the furface of the hard mountains, tho’lunfit
far the plough, affords large and excellent pafturages, and tHë-pro-
perty ef the nprthem peasants in oxen, cows, fheep, and goats,
would be reduced very low, were it not for theif fpaçious range on
die fide? of the mountains’; not to mention that wild-fowl, and
beafts, do as well as the feveral hurtful animals find more refuge
and food in the mountains, than in the level country. Befides, thç
mountainous countries may he confidered âs the. ftore-houfes or
treafuries of providence, where are laid up, and from whence he
hindkr difpenfes, according to the exigencies of the world in every
' 3 \ ‘ ' ■ ag ^
thofe metals and minerals,, H which are become :fo indifpenfable in
human life, and ■ commerce,
jObliges.fome: nations 'to exchange their commodities for a fmall bit
of iron. Norway, till a «enhu^iandiiadwlf'
•accounts to havewrotight but few mines,' eoniequently’, the country
-contained treafures' out of knowledge. Since that time, matters are
ifo -improved by the affiflance, of German miners, that the' filver,
■copper, and iron mines, have produced to the amount of feveral
millions;. Olaus Magnus, would be agreeably furprifed, if he
were a witnefs of the increafe of mines,' both in his native country,
and here, beyond what He had ever imagined; for in his
time he could fay, Montes excelfi hunt, fed pro majori parte oUa Mag-
fteriles/et ari'di, in quibus nil aliud pro incolarum .commoJi u
c t confervatione gignitur, quam mexhadhrpfetiofOTunf ^
rum ubertas, qua - fetisopttlenti- feftilefqne Funt ip omrahus vite
neceffariis, forfitan et fiiperfluis. aliunde, fi libet, ctlh|hircfidfe',
unainimique rabore Ac yiribHs,-xAi"Vis dsmtrg^^ h®e.‘'natoisdqtfa*hii-
tentata fuerit, defehdendik. -Acrb eniin genus hominum eft, See."
irhefe laft words, which may confirm the oplnibn, that the inhabitants
of Sweden and Norwhy /deriVel their mtvtral' v ig ^ r
and bravery; from the .
remind jgie of -the third advantage to be- confidered here-
namelyit that th e mountains afford a fhelter h nd 'defdEreef’h o t -
feut^jfeev^ agafeft
invafions. They ferve, as has akeady been faid, for boundaries
betwixt Norway and Sweden; for from Kolen, a tbrig'cht£r5-of
mountain!, of tfk amazing height, feparates thefe two'kitigddms.
' But the experience of all ages ftiews the many mountainous (rafts
in the country to be 'natural fortreffes; for the Norway peafants,
who are. excellent markfmen, poft themfelves in rime of war on
the fteep inacceftible rocks, where, animated purely by a zeal b i '
their country, "they gall the enethy incredibly,'5 ferrie^d'^kceJ
yare-ylfb^hy nariM^hi#riy%acceffiHe't» qtekrhbfered wdth '
artillery. On this account the city 'Of'Bergen,' tho’: fortified by rtq
mom than tW-caftl'4 towards the f%ds'thaught to be in ho'great
if threat-ned oid^.by a}land-forqe> fiar,the peafants living .
in Juftedale, and other places of the' fame kind, where the otily
paffage is th ro ’ |haxrow 'defile, Could, with a handful ofmen, keep :
pART !• , . . S ' off