forests exist in Norway; each proprietor cuts as much wood as he thinks proper. While the country was under the Danish dynasty, various attempts were made by that government to introduce their own system of control; and for a short period a Forest or Wood Department was established, with officers to regulate the felling-but it was soon abolished, and the quantity and quality to be felled was left to the discretion of the proprietors. Much has been said and written about the decrease of the woods, but it is now generally admitted, by those who are conversant with the subject, that the reproduction is as rapid as the consumption, and that no material decline is to be anticipated. Autumn and winter are the periods of the year when the timber is felled; and, as soon as the snow is sufficiently deep to admit of its being transported, it is conveyed to the banks of the nearest river, to await the freshets in the spring, which carry it either to the saw-mills or sea-coast, as may be required. The timber is invariably received on the banks of the river by the timber merchants, who mark what they purchase: it then remains on the banks, on account and at the risk of the purchasers, until it is transported by the freshets to the place of destination. As soon as the rivers begin to increase, proper people are sent up by the purchaser to clear the banks of the timber, and to follow its descent in order to release any that may chance to lodge on the way. Whenever lakes intervene, as is often the case, the timber is then collected into rafts, and conducted across to the opposite outlet. It is there cast adrift, and again carried along by the stream, until it reaches the place where it is to be formed into shapes, suitable to the market for which it may be intended. To Holland, where the Norway timber is chiefly in demand for piles, it is sent round. For England, on the contrary, where the demand is exclusively for building materials, with the exception of the timber required in Cornwall for the use of the mines, the balks are always squared. The principal markets for deals are England, Ireland, France, and Holland; and quantities of an inferior description are sent to Denmark.

For some years, this branch of trade has been gradually changing its course. Formerly, England was looked upon as the chief and most certain market; and, in return, England retained almost the exclusive trade in manufactures, as but few manufactured goods found their way into the country from other places. With France but little intercourse existed, and scarcely any with the German States.

From 1809, however, the period when the English protective system in favor of Canada came into operation, the decline of this trade with Eng. land commenced. Owing to the dimensions of the Norwegian timber and deals, the change pressed more heavily on Norway than on any of the neighboring States, and such property actually fell in value upwards of 50 per cent. If not entirely and immediately thrown out of the market, the Norwegian dealer labored under so many disadvantages that ultimately he was driven to seek more favorable outlets for his produce, and these he found in France, where the custom of substituting boarded for stone or brick floors was gradually gaining ground.

As the exports to England fell off, the use of British manufactures decreased in a similar proportion. Hamburgh and the German States became new markets for this description of Norwegian produce, and German manufactures superseded, in a great measure, those of England.

The following table exhibits the quantities of timber and deals exported to various countries in each year, from 1835 to 1841:

Great

Other

Years.

Britain. France. Holland. Belgium. Denmark. Hanover. countries. Total. 1835,..loads 135,987 156,842 160,097 5,317 81,733 16,012 4,442 560,430

1841,..

69,375 18,522 4,459 603,916

159,602 187,497 177,135 5,480 109,400 21,622 6,132 666,868 NOTE. The quantities exported to the several countries in 1836, 1837, 1839, and 1840, are not specified, with the exception of England.

Thus, in 1835, Holland took 28.56 per cent; France, 27.99; England, 24.27; Denmark, 14.59; and other countries 4.59 per cent of the total quantities exported. In 1838, France took 29.79 per cent; Holland, 26.85; England, 26.55; Denmark, 11.49; and other countries 5.32 per cent ;-and in 1841, France took 28.11 per cent; Holland, 26.55; England, 23.93; Denmark, 16.44; and other countries 4.97 per cent of the total exports of timber.

The annual average quantities of timber exported in the seven years from 1835 to 1841, were 618,769 loads of 50 cubic feet; which, if we include fire-wood, and articles of minor importance, such as hoops, &c., may be estimated to be worth, at the place of shipment, rather more than two millions of sp. d., or £435,000.

The fishing trade is next in importance to the timber trade, and that branch of the industry of Norway forms the chief occupation of the inhabitants of the towns on the west coast, from the Haze to the frontiers at the entrance of the White Sea; Bergen, Drontheim, Christiansand, Tromsoe, and Hammerfest, being the principal of such towns.

The exports consist of stock-fish, round and split; clip-fish, or baccalau; salted cod and halibut, in barrels and in bulk; cod-roes, salted; herrings, salted or pickled; liver and shark oil, and live lobsters. The stockfish is prepared by the fisherman in the neighborhood of the fishing-grounds, merely by drying in the open air, without salt. It is then conveyed by him to the place of shipment, and sold to the merchant. The fish-roes are prepared in the same manner by the fisherman; but the preparation of the clip-fish, (which is similar to that cured at Newfoundland,) and the pickling of the herrings, is solely at the risk of the merchant, who makes his purchases as the fish are landed, employing his own people in the ulterior preparations. The markets for the stock-fish are the Italian States, Spain, Portugal, France, and Belgium. Clip-fish are chiefly sent to Bilboa; the liver-oil to the Hanse Towns, Holland, and Belgium; the codroes exclusively to France, where they are used as ground bait, chiefly in the bay of Biscay. Sweden, Russia, and the Prussian States, take the. herrings in a pickled or salted state, in barrels ; and Denmark is also a market for them in smaller quantities. The stock-fish and clip-fish form the chief proportion of the fish trade; the herrings are second in importance; the raw and salted cod and halibut next; and lastly, the live lobsters.

The progress of the fisheries, since the year 1814, is shown in the next table, where the annual average quantities of fish exported are given in quinquennial periods, from 1815 to 1841 :

In addition to the exports here specified, raw fish are exported to some extent, but in what quantities cannot be ascertained.

Although considerable fluctuations appear in the quantities of fish exported at the different periods specified in the above table, which may, in a great measure, be attributed to the varying nature of the fishing trade, a growing increase has taken place since the year 1814.

The average of the five years from 1815 to 1819, in comparison with the average of the two years 1840 and 1841, exhibits the following results relating to the latter average :-

and in comparing the average of the fifteen years from 1815 to 1829, with that of the twelve years from 1830 to 1831, the results are as follows, in regard to the latter average :—

So that all branches of the fisheries exhibit a very considerable progress since the year 1814, with the exception of lobsters, which have materially decreased in the last of the two periods for which we have figures.

The cod fishery is carried on, with little variation, along the whole coast from Bergen to the White Sea; but the chief seat of it is near the Loffoden Islands, in the neighborhood of the much, but undeservedly, dreaded Maëlstroom; and in the months of February and March upwards of 20,000 men are occasionally engaged in this fishery, which, on the coast of Finmark, also gives employment to from 12,000 to 15,000 men during the summer, and attracts from 300 to 400 Russian vessels annually to its coast. It is to be observed that the cod-liver does not always bear the same relative proportion to the fish. There is a very striking difference occasionally in the quantity of oil the liver yields; for six hundred livers may be required one year to make a barrel of oil, when two hundred are sufficient at another period.

The most important fishery is the herring; and, although this is more fluctuating than any other branch of the fishing trade, of late it has been successful for a series of years. Like the cod, the herring fishery is car.

Not specified for these periods.

ried on at two periods of the year, in summer and winter. The chief locality of the latter is along the coast from Macegal to Bergen, and of the former from Drontheim to Hammerfest. At one time, the winter herrings had abandoned the Norwegian coast; but, since 1808, they have been regular in their annual visit.

The lobster fishery is now scarcely of sufficient importance to merit a separate notice. For the last three years, since 1841, the annual average exports have not much exceeded 500,000; and, as the consumption in the country has not increased, it is evident that this branch of the fisheries is on the decline. It is pursued along the coast from the Swedish frontiers to Christiansand, and the produce is almost exclusively reserved for the London market; lobster smacks regularly running between the Norway coast and London to receive them.

For the last seven years, since 1837, the annual average quantities of smoked salmon exported have only been 5,455 lbs. ; and of this, not above 200 lbs. have been sent annually to England, the chief market being Denmark.

In Part XII., p. 112, of Mr. Macgregor's Commercial Tariff, it is stated that for several years salmon formed an article of export, but of late years the catch has not exceeded the demand for home consumption. The decrease in this valuable article has been attributed to the swarms of sharks that have, of late years, retained possession of the banks lying off the coasts. This fact was only accidentally discovered in 1841, by the cir cumstance of two small vessels being fitted out as an experiment to try the bank fishery for cod, which had not been previously attempted; when, instead of finding the object they were in search of, these voracious animals were met with. In 1842, eight vessels were fitted out from Hammerfest, expressly for the purpose of shark fishing, and no less than 20,000 were taken, without any apparent diminution of their number. The shark oil produced was about 1,000 barrels. The total value of these fisheries is estimated at more than 3,000,000 specie dollars, or £653,000, annually. The metal trade is of a limited nature, although full seven-eighths of the produce of the copper and cobalt mines is exported: the latter in the shape of smalts and oxide of cobalt; the former in cake, sheet, and rosette copper. Equally as much iron, in various shapes, is imported into the country as is exported.. Many of the iron mines cannot be worked to advantage beyond what the local consumption may call for.

The following tables show the quantity of metals, and minerals of metals, exported in each of the years 1835 and 1841, and the annual average thereof during the seven years from 1835 to 1841 :

* The quantities of cobalt smalts exported in 1835 and 1841 only average about onetenth of the same for each of the intermediate years.

Years.

1835, 1841,

Av'ge 1835 to 1841, Per centage prop. of the average compared with '35,...

...

+740 per cent. +14 p. c. 21 p. c. +12 p. c. +63 p. c.

The results here set forth plainly prove that the exports of the mineral resources of Norway have been, with but few exceptions, materially aug. mented of late years. Of the total quantities exported in the year 1841, the chief proportion was sent to Great Britain. The total value of metals produced in Norway, including the produce of the Kongsberg silver mines, which amounts to full one-fifth of the whole, is estimated at about 1,000,000 specie dollars, or £217,500.

We will now briefly notice the fur trade, although it may be looked upon more in the light of a transit trade, than as part of the national industry. The production of the country has dwindled down to the catch of a few thousand fox-skins, a few hundred bear, wolf, otter, and seal-skins, with some of the smaller animals, annually. These are all sent to Finmark for barter with the Russians, with whom a lively traffic in these articles is carried on; chiefly, however, with otter and fox-skins, purchased in London at the sales of the Hudson's Bay Company. From London the skins are first sent to Hamburgh, where they are purchased by the Norwegian trader, who ships them to Finmark, whence the greater part of the otter and fox-skins, which form nineteen-twentieths of the fur trade, are conveyed to Moscow, and there sold to the caravan traders. The skins are ultimately taken to Keachta, to be bartered with the Chinese for tea. The value of these furs, including others of minor importance, does not exceed 100,000 specie dollars annually, or £21,700.

The value of the total exports may therefore be estimated as fol lows:

The value of the freights is added to the estimated value of the exports, as the great bulk of the articles exported are conveyed by Norwegian shipping; consequently, the advantage to that extent remains solely with the native trader and ship-owner. From the official returns, it has been estimated that the gross amount of freights earned by the transport of native produce is fully equal to 1,660,000 specie dollars, or £362,200.

We will now proceed to consider the import trade of Norway, and it will be seen that the principal articles imported are salt, grain, colonial produce, manufactures, tea, sugar, brandies, wines, provisions, hemp, flax, cotton, wool, glass, and earthen-ware.