& À 1 1 R A L H I S T Ö R Ÿ bf
Arfiong the fillfli-water lakes*, through which thëfe ri-vefs run,
-the nioft noted are Ryflvand ; in Nordland, Snaaien, the lake
Selboë, thegr-eatef and'lefler Mioesf Slii^vand, Sperdille, Rand’,
Vbffeft,.- Saiëh, Mbdum, Lùndÿ Nbrfoe, Hyidfoe ; Farifvaftd,
Oeyevand, àhd feveral others, the fituations ö f which may- fee' found
in-'tfië maps. My prefent defign requires me only to bbfdrêè," that
Ithefe lakes "abound in fifli, and are navigj&Mfe}! iihbhfe -bp-necéfi-
fitÿ, for large veffelsi THe hiftory o f Norway even ’ififorms üsiof
fleets fitted out,- and Wars carried on M'fliëfe inland fcàs, betwixt
thefdrigs and their competitors -f\ In fome o f them are alfo floUt-
irig iflands, 'or parcels 'ó f land about thiîty oif forty ells in length,
with trees growing^ on them, which havmgpbeeâ Separated from
the main land, ar^Bfiven about as thé wind fell^and #frên'tlöfe
to the fhore, àre flibvéd o ff with â1 ^odè.-*Theÿ afe'faid'to gtoiv®,
as-if Were,v by the aoûeffîéii -bf reeds, grafs, weed«, and die lik e
fobftanccs. Both thé Pliny«, :êlp ëêiâiy "the ’ ion
the like curiofities in Italy, winch Kircher has alfo thought worth
notice, in his Mundus-Subterraneus, lib. v. -cap. 2. particularly the
floating iflands on the lake di Bagni, or Solfatafa, .four mile* from
T ivoli j- and, in my opinion, they are nrft Afferent I from *¥hgfe
which I havefeveral times feen in thus country, particôl|$jpfû
1749, on my return from Cfcriftiania, when thé rains had frvelled
the iiver near Nitfond tofüch a degree,- that it overflowed a con-
fiderabïe'traéf on both fides o f the valley, rifing afrovfe th ir tie s o f
the middling trees, and carrying^ away great quantities ofëarai and
wood, feme o f which fluted along fide o f my boat. Yet this is not
a matter of'fo iriuch -wonderWwhat-is ca!1m<,9ieêM lfS ^ ^ vÆ ich
Is frequently met with on, the falt-water, in the creeks ; thefe are
level clods compofed o f fea-gyafs, twigs, and the foam o f ëré'fea,
upon which, the fifliermen fay, certain fea-fowls lay their eggs. I f
this be matter o f faâ,: k muft be acknowledged another inftance
o f the providence and wife di^)bfition o f th é Creator.
* M. Sche*)ck?ier, in his treatife on the Menfuration of the Height o f Mouötains,’
ju&dcmfly Ihews the wife difpofition o f Providence, ini pfbyldihg for rivers, eipeci-
ally in mountainous countries, room to fubficte and break the violence o f their
■ fall or courte, in the lakes „where they fpread their waters. Without this'proviiion,
they might by their inundations- in' fumm.er, when the fnows , inek.on.thé ifipun-
tajns,. oceafion great damage, to. the grafs and corn in die yalljes beneàth. Philofonh,
TranfaS;.’ Yol, xxxv. N° 1 . ' r
: f 'Svêraî'veàéîs'of confidence’Êurden are $fi’ ufed' in Paris-Yand,, and ( a m
others, for the carriage of goods, efpecially for the ufe of the founderies. -
SECT .