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SPOR EN NORW A ¥a RUNNING ON SKIE. : To face p. 132. eeokT IN NORWAY, AND WHERE TO FIND IT. TOGETHER WITH A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS OF THE COUNTRY. TO WHICH IS ADDED, A LIST OF THE ALPINE FLORA OF THE DOVRE FJELD AND OF THE NORWEGIAN FERNS, &c. BY REV. M. R. BARNARD, B.A., LATE CHAPLAIN TO THE BRITISH CONSULATE, CHRISTIANIA, NORWAY, LONDON: CHAPMAN AND HALL, 193 PICCADILLY. 1864. [The right of Translation is reserved. | : LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. TO PROFESSOR RASCH, KNIGHT OF ST. OLAFS, ETC., OF THE CHRISTIANIA UNIVERSITY, THESE PAGES ARE AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED, BY HIS SINCERE FRIEND, THE AUTHOR, =+ wr. Wi) a - _ <® er oy iT A UL VLU &4U ivtil PREFACE. In the first part of this little volume it will be my endeavour to make the reader acquainted with the resources which Norway offers to the angler and the sportsman. To do this the better, I have described each Amt (province) in turn; and have, moreover, as far as was possible, given the routes to the various rivers. Hitherto a certain degree of mystery has hung, as it were, over the salmon rivers of Norway, and erroneous reports have, in consequence, been circulated concerning them. These reports have assumed two opposite forms; the one, that every yard of water is leased, and is in the hands of Englishmen, and that a man ‘might as soon expect to get a seat in Parliament, as to obtain any salmon-fishing in Norway;” and the other, that he has nothing to do but to set foot in the country, x PREFACE. when he will find salmon waiting to be caught in every river. I need not say that these ‘‘ opposite poles of belief” are both of them erroneous. The first, I presume, owes its origin to those who, knowing well the magnificent sport that is to be had in some parts, have adopted the plan of keepmg such knowledge to themselves and their own immediate circle; while the latter is the natural reaction of the former. There is no question but that the best parts of the best rivers are ‘‘taken up” for longer or shorter periods; but that a man, who is blessed with a good constitution, who does not object to locomotion, and who does not mind “roughing it” a bit, cannot meet with very fair sport, experience has shown me to be a fallacy. And, what is more, it frequently happens that the latter may meet with better sport than the former ; for the one is necessarily a fiatwre, while the other can move from place to place, and try his luck in many waters. It is more especially for this class of sportsmen that the following pages are intended; and while I fear some of the former will not be pleased at my revealing facts which have hitherto been kept very dark, I am PREFACE. Xl inclined to think that they will be favourably received by many good and true men, whose knowledge of sport in Norway has hitherto been too vague and limited to justify them in incurring the expense and trouble of a trip there. Let me, however, seize an early opportu- nity of warning my readers against forming too exalted notions of the sport a visit to Norway may be likely to afford them, as a great deal of disappointment may thus be saved. Tn a word, no “ pot-hunter” should go to Norway. On the other hand, if a man delights in glorious scenery, if the fresh mountain air and the free life form the principal charm, and he can be contented with a fair amount of sport, and will not grumble if ‘the water is in bad condition,” or all the ryper gone to anywhere else but where he happens to be, then I think a trip to Norway will do him incalculable good both in body and in mind. By the permission of my friend Dr. Schiibeler, of the Botanical Gardens at Christiania, I am enabled to give my readers a short account of the “‘ Vegetable Pro- ductions of Norway.” And as many of those tourists who visit Norway have no one especial object parti- cularly in view, but who fish a little when they can, Xli PREFACE. take up gun or rifle when an opportunity occurs, or collect specimens of wild flowers and ferns when — they can find them, I have added for their especial benefit, under the title of ‘Botanical Rambles on the Dovre Fjeld,’ (with the permission of the late talented Professor of Botany, Herr Blytt,) a list of the Alpine Flora that may be found growing there, together with some tours which will be the most likely to repay the trouble of the collector ; and have also given a short account of the ferns of Norway, which latter I am glad to see Mr. Bennett is bringing before the notice of the English public in a very practical way. In conclusion, I would only add that I can insure the authenticity of all that is herein stated, and that it has been my great object to avoid drawing too bright a picture of the resources the Fjelds, Forests, and Rivers of the country are capable of affording.* * The Author will be much obliged for any corrections or altera- tions which personal experience may suggest. GENERAL INDEX. DEDICATION. PREFACE pe caves A ete INTRODUCTORY eres CHAPTER I, Finmarken Amt Nordlands Amt wg North Throndhjems Amt South Throndhjems Amt Romsdal Amt se North Bergenhuus Amt.. South Bergenhuus Amt .. Stavanger Amt Se F s Lister and Mandals Amt.. .. Nedenes Amt oe Bratsberg Amt Jarlsberg and Laurvig ‘ae Buskeruds Amt Christians Amt Hedemarken Amt .. Agershuus Amt Smaalehnenes Amt CHAPTER II, The Wild Reindeer and Elk of Norway, their igh Haunts, and Habits Game Laws CHAPTER III. The Feathered Game of Norway .. PAGE X1V GENERAL INDEX. CHAPTER IV. PAGE Bear and Lynx Hunting eo sx «(CL 80 Tabular form showing the aie of heats Killed j in wea ene from 1846 to 1860 os ele 8 Og alee © enn aan CHAPTER V. On the Artificial Breeding of Salmon... ©.” 22922) ieaee eee oe CHAPTER VI. Sketches from Szetersdai WEEE nk UL CHAPTER VII. The Vegetable Productions of Norway .. -.. +. ss ss ee) 200 CHAPTER VIII. ) Botanical Rambles on the Dovre Fjeld, &. .. .. «.. «. «- 246 Appendix aed Wer WORE ts oo he ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF THE RIVERS. Aardals Elv NATO". Aasta.. Alten Andro Augna Aurlands Ausnes Balsfjord Bais Bevra Bevra Beieren Bergsdal Birkedals .. Bjerkedals ,. Bors . Braagna Dalen.. Dokka Drammen .. Kina .. Elvegaards.. Enningdals.. Eridsfjord .. Etne .. Etnedal Exingdal Figge or Lods Elv PAGE 79 Figge .. Fjelna. . Geiranger .. _Gjendals Glommen .. , Gudvangen .. -Guul 52 |Hadelands .. Hallingdal .. | Hartvig | Haukla | Herdals | Horningdals | lisfjord _ Jacobs | JOstedal Laagen | Langdals Lax | Lerdals Lilledals Lira Logen.. Maals Maan Mandals Mista Namsen Ely Neiden Nid Naty so Nord .. Nordals Orkla .. Osen .. Oftion.< Otteren Ougne Oy ii Pasvig | Qvinna Ranen Rauma Reisen Rena .. Rombaken .. Rytsaa Salten Sanddola Skaugdal Skjeggedals Skjeggedals Sogndal Sogne.. Sordals Staavil Staburs Steenkier .. PAGE 32 XV1 Steindals Steindals Sior": . Stor .. Stordals Stordals Stryen Suledal!s Sundals Surendal Svinna ALPHABETICAL INDEX OF THE RIVERS. PAGE 32 54 19 50 25 » a2 Taborsnes . . Talfjord Tana .. Tengs Thyda Todalen Topdals Torrisdal Trvsil or Klar Undals PAGE 13 | Valdalen 38 | Valders 10 | Vanelven 58 | Vardals 35 | Veerdals 43 | Vefsen 61 61 | Vik 78 Vingdals 62 Vosse .. Vigelands SPORT IN NORWAY, AND WHERE TO FIND IT. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. THE tourist who visits Norway for the second time will in all probability omit to take with him some articles which he found encumbrances on his first journey, and bring others which he had previously omitted. I will therefore devote a few lines to the necessary “‘ impedi- menta’’ which my own experience and that of others has suggested to me, and which may prove of service to the new-comer. But first a word or two as to the route. Two steamers (screw) leave Hull for Christiansand and Christiania, one every Friday night; the “ Scan- dinavian,” belonging to Messrs. Wilson and Son, Hull, and the “ Ganger Rolf,” a Norwegian boat. Having travelled by both of these, I should give my preference to the former, though the latter is an extremely good and clean boat, and Captain Gloersen and the first mate are most gentlemanly and obliging officers. f 2 SPORT IN NORWAY. Captain Fairburn, of the ‘‘ Scandinavian,” has been a sailor for upwards of sixty years, and is well up to his duties, and, what is more, extremely attentive to them. His employers will lose a good servant when- ever he retires into private life. An attentive steward and stewardess will be found on board, and the ewsine is all that can be desired. The average passage to Christiansand takes about forty-eight hours, and it requires from about seventeen to twenty more to Christiania. The fare is £4; return tickets, available for the whole season, are £6. There are also two steamers running between Hull and Bergen, one every ten days, I believe. The fare, if I mistake not, is £3. As most of the travelling in Norway is done en carriole, | should recommend a strong deal box in preference to a leather portmanteau, which does not get improved from the “‘skyts-boy” sitting on it. It should have a waterproof cover to guard against rain and dust, which latter enemy will otherwise penetrate through every little chink. Some leather straps should also be taken, sufficiently long to fasten the said box securely on to the dash-board behind, and leathern loops should be fixed on the covering for the straps to pass through. Next, a leather carpet-bag, which should be protected also with a waterproof cover, the opening being on the side, not on the top. ‘This can - INTRODUCTION, 3 lie between the traveller’s feet in the bottom of the earriole. And lastly, a knapsack, which will be found very useful in making short tours of a few days. I have seen some very good ones in Christiania, fixed on a light wooden frame, so as to prevent them rubbing - against the back, and thus allowing a free current of air to pass between. A long waterproof coat, and fishing-boots, or water- proof gaiters, and a sou’-wester ; also a brown holland over-all, to keep the dust out in hot weather, should be taken. And lastly, the services of a large-sized cotton umbrella, to be used either as a parapluie or parasol, will be found very acceptable. As to clothes, each one must please himself; only, it is a great mistake not to take warm clothing. And, if I may be allowed to add, every gentleman should provide himself with a presentable suit. I have seen some of our countrymen parading the streets of Chris- tiania dressed in the most shabby manner. Indeed, it isa current joke among the Norwegians that the English come out there for the purpose of wearing out their old clothes. Mr. Bennett, of Christiania, supplies tourists with carrioles, harness, bottle-cases, &c., at a moderate price, taking them back when returned at a certain deduction previously fixed upon. Thus all the inconvenience of having to shift carrioles at different stations i the inte- 4 SPORT IN NORWAY. rior, and of standing the chance of getting your inside shaken out in the rough peasant-carts will be obviated. It will be well to pay attention to the way in which he fastens the rods, &c. Mr. Bennett also provides bags for dogs, which, fastenmg underneath, form a very comfortable and convenient bed. I would recommend the traveller to do without an interpreter, if possible. I fancy that by “‘ cramming ” up a hundred words or so of Norsk beforehand, the ser-_ vices of these expensive nuisances may be dispensed with. As regards the battery, a double gun, large bore, and a rifle will be sufficient. They should both go in one case, which should also be protected with water- proof covering. The rods should be very carefully packed so as to prevent chafing ; a leather case will be found. very convenient, though I prefer a wooden one. No tourist, be his object what it may, should go without a light trout rod; one that will do up na small compass. I have bought very compact ones at Gowland’s, in Crooked Lane, and have great pleasure in recommending this shop. The experienced salmon- fisher of course knows pretty well what he should bring, and I would only, therefore, take the liberty of recommending him to bring plenty of tackle, and to have an ample supply of line, flies, and placted casting-lines. He will also bring a trout-rod or two. And I would further recommend every one to equip INTRODUCTION. 5 himself with spimning baits, &e., and to take a long and strong line for trailing out behind him when he is travelling by boat-skyts. I have known good sport to be had in this way, and it serves, moreover, to relieve the monotony of a long row. As to dogs, I should fancy a setter in preference to a pointer; but this must of course be a matter of choice. Provisions can be procured in all the large towns ; but I should recommend any one who purposes to stay some time up in the country to provide himself with sundry essences of vegetables, such as celery, &c. ; also cayenne, mustard, spices, &c. They can be procured at Fortnum and Mason’s, and will be found extremely useful articles in the fisherman’s cuzsine, who will often (always is best) have to act as his own cook. For one soon gets tired of salmon, however diversified it may be in the manner of preparing it. By the way, a bottle or two of Worcestershire sauce,* &c., should not be omitted. The steamer usually arrives in Christiania early on the Tuesday morning. The Victoria Hotel is decidedly the best, and 1s, indeed, one of the most comfortable foreign hotels I ever put up at. * The following recipe for sauce for cold salmon, copied from the ‘ Field,’ will be found very good; experto erede. “Three tablespoonsful of cream, one ditto of vinegar, one ditto of Worcestershire sauce, one teaspoonful of mustard, one ditto of white sugar, to be well mixed.” 6 SPORT IN NORWAY. I would venture to remind all tourists that Divine Service is performed every Sunday morning at eleven o'clock in a convenient building near to Mr. Bennett's house, and that the Church Establishment 7s supported by voluntary contributions. Finally, I would strongly recommend every one to lose no time in consulting Mr. Bennett after his arrival in Christiania. This gentleman, who has for many years studied the requisites of the English traveller, and who is most kind and courteous (and therefore not unfrequently treated scurvily), will supply all the information that can be needed. N.B. Every traveller should provide himself with a good map of the country, with Bennett's ‘‘ Hand- book,” price two marks, and with plenty of small change, before leaving Christiania. CHAPTER I. FINMARKEN AMT, Tus Amt, which is the northernmost and largest in Norway, is bounded on the north by the North Sea; on the north-east by Russia; east by Sweden; south by Nordland, and west by the sea. It is divided into four Fogderies—'Tromsen and Senjen in the south, Alten, Hammerfest, and E. Finmarken ; and contains a superficial area of 59,778 square miles. Magnificent salmon-fishing isto be had here. But before beginning to speak of the rivers, it will be best to devote a few lines to the route. There are two ways open to the traveller’s choice: the first, by disembarking at Christiansand and waiting for a steamer to the north, for I do not think they correspond. It is a tedious and monotonous journey. In the first place, it occupies eight days and a half from Christiansand to Throndhjem. From this latter place to Hammerfest it takes a week, and from Ham- 8 SPORT IN NORWAY. merfest to Vadso in the Varanger Fjord about three days. In all, therefore, about eighteen days and a half, at least ; and this may be considerably increased in stormy weather. Another route is by going to Christiania, and tra- velling by carriole across the Dovre to Throndhjem. And this part of the journey may thus be done in shorter time (and, moreover, give the traveller the opportunity of seeing Gudbrandsdal and the Dovre Fjeld) than by steamer northwards from Christiansand. Thus, it requires but one day from Christiansand to Christiania—usually seventeen hours—and the journey from hence to Throndhjem can be done comfortably in four days. Sportsmen bound for the northern rivers must bring tent and canteen with them all complete. A stock of provisions, tea, sugar, spirits, &c., had best be laid im either at Christiania or at Throndhjem. Musquito curtains will be found a luxury, and a veil and gloves are quite necessary for fishing. If the gloves, more- over, are too thin, they will not prove a sufficient protection. A friend of mine had the shape of the glove beautifully impressed upon his hand; for these plagues had stung it through every stitch. I will begin at the extreme north-east of this Amt. Jacos’s Env is on the Russian frontier, and runs into the mouth of the Varanger Fjord. It is an ex- FINMARKEN AMT. i) cellent salmon river. As far as I can learn, 7d has never been fished by any Englishman. I have been informed that the river literally swarms with salmon ; but as a set-off against this, that the Laps do a great deal towards spoiling the fishing by netting. It can easily be reached from Vadsd by boat-skyts, a distance of fourteen or fifteen miles. Here a tent is absolutely requisite ; provisions, too, must be taken, and an in- terpreter, and an arrangement should be made with the same boatman before leaving Vadso. Pasvia Envy, a few miles to the west, runs into Kloster Fjord, a collateral branch of the Varanger _ Fjord. Capital fishing may be had here. Salmon are only able to run up about three miles and a half, as a foss prevents their further progress. But below this some excellent sport may be had. But few English- men have ever fished here, I am inclined to think. A tent is not absolutely necessary, though always desirable. Boat-skyts can be taken from Vadsd to Piselynees, where a hunter named Clark resides, who is, I believe, of English extraction. He is a prodigy of a linguist, speaking seven different languages, I have been told. He is also Lensmand of the district, and can give excellent information as to fishmg and shooting in general in this Amt. The English sports- man who purposes fishing either in this or in Jacob's Ely, will do well to make Mr. Clark’s acquaintance 10 SPORT IN NORWAY. as soon as possible, and request him to make arrange- ments with the boatmen, &. In general, the boatmen require about half a dollar a day each. The fish, with the exception of what is consumed, should be given to the inhabitants. There are two small rivers on the opposite shore of the Varanger Fjord, south of Vardé, but I have not any information concerning them. The Nemen E xy, on the same side as Pasvig Ely, can easily be reached from Piselynes. Tents are necessary. ‘The river abounds with fish, and can be fished many miles up. The Tana Ezy. This magnificent river can be reached from Stangenzs, where the steamer stops. This station is one day’s journey short of Vard6, and is about three miles distant from the mouth of the river. Boat-skyts should be taken from Stangenes to Fjeldma, where it will be well to make inquiries of the Foged, Lensmand, or Kjobmand (merchant). Boats peculiar to the river are used in order to pass the fosses. Arrangements, too, should be made with the Foged, or with Herr Schanke, Inspector of the Fishery, as to what payment will have to be made for leave to fish. This will probably not amount to more than a few dollars per week, unless the price has been raised of late, which is by no means unlikely. A tent is absolutely requisite, and a good stock of provisions FINMARKEN AMT. LE should be taken. Fins should be employed for skyts- folk, and for interpreters. With these preliminary remarks, and only adding a recommendation that tt is best to avoid landing a fish on the Russian side of the river, 1 will proceed to give a brief account of some of the best places. Salmon run up to a distance of two hundred miles ! The first foss is Seida Foss, about forty miles up the river; the second, and the best on the whole river, is Galgo-guoika, or Kjzering Foss. The next foss is about seven miles higher up, at the mouth of the Utsjok river, where good quarters may possibly be had at the house of the pastor. The next foss is at the mouth of the Levyojok river, and the next at the mouth of the Valjijok river. After this, not many good places will be found till arriving at the Lappish village, Karasjok, or further up, in Anar Ely. At the above- named places magnificent sport may be had. Salmon of a very large size are taken, and long lines and stout tackle are absolutely requisite. At Karasjok a visit will probably be paid to the Lensmand, especially when it is mentioned that this gentleman has a capital cellar of wine, and, moreover, English beer and porter—no despicable treat in these northern latitudes. He is extremely hospitable. If he be not at home, the tra- veller has still permission to help himself, and can either leave the money there, or pay it to any Handels- 12 SPORT IN NORWAY. mand or Lensmand in Finmarken. Such liberality is of course beyond abuse ! | Above Karasjok good fishing may be had at Assebakte. A friend of mine, who has had much experience on the river, told me that he found 9—11 pv. um, and 1—6 A. M. the best times for fishing. It little matters when one sleeps in those sunlight nights ! In calm, sultry weather, the musquitoes are very troublesome: the atmosphere at times is so thick with them ‘‘ that it is almost possible to cut your name out among them” a gentleman told me. It requires a little manceuvring to keep them out of the tent. The best plan is, on entering, to close the entrance as quickly as possible, and then to commence “blowing a cloud,” when they will congregate in the top of the tent, and can thus more readily be disposed of with a damp towel, or bough of birch wood. Lax Etyv is at the bottom of the Porsanger Fjord, and is about eighty miles east of Hammerfest. It has not a very large body of water. The banks are but thinly inhabited, so that a tent is quite necessary. Salmon run up about thirty-five miles. The steamer stops at Kistrand, about twenty-five miles from the mouth. Men should be engaged at Kistra, and some arrangement be made about the fishing. Information can be obtained from the Pastor, Foged, or Handelsmand. This river will be too small to remain there all the FINMARKEN AMT. Ss summer. The fishing commences about ten miles from the mouth. The Srasurs Exv, about ten miles distant, can also be tried; and the Tanorsnms Env, a little to the left, about fourteen miles distant, can also easily be ° visited. And lastly, the Bors Env, opposite to Kistra, will at least afford some first-rate sea-trout fishing. There isa small river at the bottom of Rep Fjord, about twenty-five miles north of Hammerfest, which, I am told, is worth trying. The Anren Exv is a fine salmon river, running out into Alten Fjord. Magnificent sport has been had in it. ‘The whole of this river is leased for a number of years. Salmon run up it for twenty-five miles,-to a foss, which obstructs their further progress. It isa populous district. Little facilities have hitherto been afforded for fishing, as a portion of the inhabitants formed them- selves into a community, and exercised a monopoly for a number of years. This right, however, is questioned, and will be probably ultimately abolished, as an appeal against it will be made to the higher courts, if not otherwise set at rest. Like most of the rivers in Norway, this splendid stream is greatly mjured by the selfish and destructive proceedings of the inha- bitants in staking and dragging. The executive is now endeavouring, by means of enactments, to check 14 SPORT IN NORWAY. this evil, but the remissness of the authorities who should see that the regulations are carried out is so palpable that the law is comparatively a dead letter. There is a nice little stream about seventeen miles further out in the Fjord, by Talvig Preestegaard, where there are one or two good places. The fish do not run large there. Also two rivers at the bottom of Qvoen- anger Fjord may be tried; they often hold good fish. Char will generally take a fly greedily im all these rivers. Reisen Env, to the south of Alten, is a fine river. It lies about fifty miles east of Tromsoe, in a valley running over that distance into the interior. It has a good body of water, with several fosses of no great height. Salmon run up a long way. Owing to the character of the stream, they will not take a fly, I am informed, though they are exceedingly abundant. An acquaintance of mine travelled by land, m 1859, from Bosekop to the Reisen Ely, or rather, by land to Qvoenanger Fjord, about fifty-five English miles, and thence by boat by the islands of Spilderen and Kaago to the Reisen. ‘*I reached Reisen,” he informed me, “at 6p. M., and got excellent quarters at Landhandler Lund’s; at ten, walked about two English miles up the river to investigate it (in fact, the main reason of my expedition). The water was very thick, and they told me it was often soin summer. The first fishing place is about fourteen English miles up the river, and FINMARKEN AMT. 15 there is a still better one at from twenty to thirty miles up. Ata distance of about sixty to seventy miles from the mouth, there is a foss where I heard that salmon were very plentiful, and that the river was always clear there; but that unluckily it cannot be fished from a boat, and the rocks are so high that if you hook a fish from land you cannot gaff him. Very few Englishmen seem to have tried this river. One has noted in the book at Lund’s (1857) that he had had good sport. But nobody seems to have tried up by the above-named foss. The great drawback to the Reisen is evidently the mud. I know but too well from experience what a plague that is, especially in the short salmon season of the north. If I ever come back there I will try and get above the source of the mud, up to the foss, and see whether it be not possible to fish the pool. I should think there would be but little chance of sport before the end of June.” The steamer stops at Skjerve Island, about twenty miles from the mouth of the river. This island is of tolerable size, containing the parish church and the parsonage house. There is good ryper shooting in the neighbourhood. Skipotn Envy, in Lynge Fjord, is a nice river, and is well worth a trial; there is a station here. Also Bats Fsorp Envy, not far distant. They are both small univers, but hold salmon. 16 SPORT IN NORWAY. The Maats Ety is a fine salmon river, south of Tromsoe. Its banks are thickly inhabited. I believe the greater part, if not all of it, to be engaged. Salmon run up thirty miles. The steamer stops at Maalsnes, at the mouth of the river. It is one of the best-cultivated districts in Finmark. ' A few miles to the south of this there are two small rivers, running out into the Fjord opposite to Kloven, two stations short of Maalsnes. | The northern rivers are of course later than those in the south. I believe the best time for the Alten and the Tana is about the second week in July. “‘ A knowledge of the waters, which experience alone can give, is needful to insure success in the northern rivers, otherwise days are lost m fishing places where there are no fish. Early in the season the deep pools - below the fosses and rapids are best. Later on the fish take to the strongest streams, and m autumn lie above the largest falls and rapids. Here it requires nerve, good boatmen, and stout tackle. In such places, by a skilful stroke at the moment of hooking your fish, you may succeed in turning him up stream, otherwise you lose him to a certainty. It is hazardous work, and requires experience.” Game in Finmarken is principally confined to ryper, hares, and ducks. The reindeer, of which many will be seen, are for the most part tame, the property of the NORDLANDS AMT. 17 Lapps. Elk are not found, Excellent ryper-shooting may be had on Karlsé, Loppené, Hadselé and Houko near Tromsoe. As many as fifty brace a day have been bagged! Iam of opinion that but very little shooting is to be had now-a-days on the mainland. Some twenty years ago black game were numerous, but they are cer- tainly not so at the present day. On the islands, how- ever, wonderful sport may be had. The steamer stops at the first two islands, where tolerable accommodation may be found. Bears are numerous, the average number killed being 22,8 per annum. Some parts of Finmarken are first-rate for bear hunting. A Norwegian pastor who resided in the N.E. towards the Russian frontier, told a friend of mine that “there was a hill in his parish where I might feel certain of seeing a bear any day I went there. The people,” he added, “were afraid to meddle with them.” The island of Senjen is noted for bears; and I should say there possibly might be some fishing to be had there. The valley of the Reisen also is good for bears. NorpLaNps AMT. This large province is bounded on the south by north Throndhjems Amt, east by Sweden, north by Fin- marken, and on the west by the sea. It is divided into three Fogderies—Helgeland in the south, Salten in the C 18 SPORT IN NORWAY. north, and Lofoten, Vesteraalen, including the islands. It contains 31,576 square miles. Unfortunately, my information concerning this Amt is very scanty; in fact, north of the Vefsen river it is comparatively a ‘‘ terra incognita.” The means of communication in the interior are but small, there being scarcely any roads at all; so that there is but little wonder that sportsmen have frequented places in pre- ference which were more accessible, and which afforded fewer impediments to locomotion. But that a visit to Nordland would be found ex- tremely remunerative I entertain not the slightest doubt; though, at the same time, I do not think any single river, with the exception of the Vefsen, to be ca- pable of showing permanent sport. In the extreme north, in Ofoten Fjord, there are one or two small rivers which may possibly afford sport ; but I am afraid to say that such will be the case. I will, however, name them. The first is Harrvie Ey, a small river running into Harjangen Fjord, a branch of the Ofoten Fjord. A few miles south of this come Rombaken Fjord and Bais Fjord, into which two rivers of the same names respectively flow. Again, a little to the south is Envecaarps Eny, running into Sjomen Fjord. Be- tween the mouth of the Ofoten Fjord and Tys Fjord there are several small rivers; but I regret to say I can NORDLANDS AMT. 19 give no information about them. But for those who wish to explore in these parts, Lédingen would be the station at which to quit the steamer. In Tys Fjord-there is a small river at the bottom of Kjobs Fjord. In North Folden Fjord there are also a few small rivers; and the Gsenpats Etv, Svor Exy, in South Folden Fjord, and one or two others, may be tried. I should imagine that these rivers have in all probability never been fished by Englishmen. The steamer stops at Bod6, at the mouth of the Salten Fjord, whence the Brrzren Exv can easily be reached by boat-skyts. Though a small river, it is said to be avery good one. It has been fished by Englishmen ; but whether taken up or not I cannot say with cer- tainty. A little to the east of this is a small river running out at a place named Sandvig, and again to the east, Santen Ey. I believe that very good sport may at times be had in this river. Between this and the Ranen Fjord there are several small rivers, but concern- ing which I know literally nothing. Kobberdal is the stopping-station for this fjord, whence boat-skyts can be taken. The Ranen Ety at the extremity of this fjord is, I am informed, an excellent river in comparison with its size. Salmon, however, are only able to ascend a very inconsiderable distance ; in fact not more than one mile. Within this space the fishing is said to be something marvellous. 20 SPORT IN NORWAY. My informant, a Norwegian pastor, a skilful fisherman himself, tells me that he is of opinion that no English- man has ever fished here. I have since learnt that this river was fished by an Englishman about ten years ago, but with what success I cannot say. I believe, how- ever, that he considered the state of the water extremely variable. Above the foss, which prevents the fish going higher up, there is very superior trout-fishing to be had. The Daten Env, Bserkepats Envy, and Ryrsaa, all in this fjord, are capable at times of affording fair sport. So that I am inclined to think, taking everything into consideration, the exploration of these rivers will not prove time lost. And lastly, there is a small river running into this fjord about one mile and a half above Mo Church. The property owning the fishing, which is well spoken of, is named Selfors, Opposite to the mouth of the Vefsen, a small river named the Drevsz may be tried. The Versen Ey, which runs into Vefsen Fjord, is a good salmon stream. The salmon go up it only about seven miles, a foss preventing their further progress. I had been under the impression that salmon ran up this river to the distance of twenty-two miles. Indeed, [ have repeatedly been told as much; and this but affords an additional proof as to how very guardedly one should receive hearsay information, The name of the second foss, which is, in fact, about that distance from NORDLANDS AMT. Zi the mouth, is “‘ Lax Fossen;” and this has probably given rise to the idea that salmon may be found higher up the river. My informant, who has himself fished the river, tells me that he considers it next to im- possible for salmon to get over the lower foss, though some of the inhabitants averred that they did so late in the season: this, however, he seems to doubt; and indeed the information afforded by the Bonder is seldom to be relied on. The fishing in the Vefsen is very limited in extent. There are only two pools of any consequence—one immediately below the foss, and the other about one mile lower down. Occasionally mag- nificent sport may be had; but it is a very uncertain river, and is very liable to be flooded, when it becomes so thick as to render fishing impossible. Moreover, during the latter part of July there is usually too little water, which, added to the quantity of timber that is constantly being floated down it, renders the likelihood of obtaining sport very precarious. The fishing is let on lease. Sannesden is the nearest station for the Vefsen. In the extreme south there is a small river, VARDALS Etv, in Bindalen parish, also a small river at the end of Lang Fjord. There are several small rivers running into Vel Fjord, a little to the north, which hold salmon. I have, as it will be noticed, been extremely cautious about recommending rivers in this province, as my in- 2? SPORT IN NORWAY, formation has been so scanty; but there is nothing I would like better myself than to devote a summer or two to the Nordland rivers. Some little salmon fishing may, I am told, be got in the Lofoten islands. Thus, in Dverberg parish, in Ando, near the church, fair sport may at times be got. In Sortlands parish, in Hindo, there is a tolerably sized stream running by a property named Osyold Gaard. Also in Vest Vaagen there is a small river running by Borge parsonage, where the fishing is said to be good. I merely mention these rivers in case any traveller should find himself among these beautiful islands, where there is so much to admire in the grandness of the scenery. The shooting in this Amt is not considered very good. And to begin with bears. Nordland stands at the head of all the Amts in the country in this respect. The average number killed is 3474; but owing to the density of the forests it is almost impossible to find them. Elk deer are not found; and the same may be said of rem as in Finmarken, none that they are nearly all tame herds. The shooting on the islands is well spoken of. I have not been able to learn much about the shooting in Saltdal, and in the Ranen valley, but have been told that it is good. This, however, I cannot guarantee. A friend of mine who has shot for two seasons in the NORTH THRONDHJEMS AMT. 23 valley of Vefsen gives the shooting to be had there a rather bad character. ‘I have shot a few caper- calzie, some woodcocks, ducks, plovers, &c., but I don’t think, in two seasons, I saw more than a brace of ryper —no hjerper, though nearly every day I was through the woods or on the fjelds, and had good dogs. I once crossed the fjelds from the Vefsen to Hals Fjord, about twenty-five English miles, and saw no game of any description, though, I must add, I had no dog with me at the tme. Very good ryper-shooting may, however, be had on the Lofoten isles.” Norta THRoNDHJEMS AMT. This Amt is bounded on the east by Sweden, south and west by South Throndhjem Amt and the sea, and north by Nordlands Amt. It contains about 178 square miles, and is divided into three Fogderies— Stér and Vardals in the south, Inderoen in the middle, and Numedal in the north. Proceeding from Throndhjem, which is situate in the extreme north of South Throndhjems Amt, the first river we come to is Srorpats Ey. There is a station at Helle on this river, where also there is a ferry, about sixteen miles east of Throndhjem. It is an early river: the salmon go up about twenty-eight miles to Nustad Foss. It rises very rapidly, and is frequently flooded. 24 SPORT IN NORWAY. Properties owning the fishing are Vernes Preestegaard, Hove, and Ofsti near the mouth. The inhabitants fish a good deal themselves, both with rod and net. The next river of any importance is Vmrpats Ey, a short distance to the north of Levanger, between which place and Throndhjem there is steam communication. Salmon go up to Vuku, where the road to Stockholm, running through the beautiful and well-cultivated val- ley of Veerdal, crosses it. Here it commences to be precipitous. The best time for fishing in this river is early in July. It is about thirty miles distant from Helle, mentioned above. The best fishing is high up in the river. The trout- fishing is said to be very good in this river. About twenty-five or twenty-six miles to the north is the famous Stenkjer, where the river from Snaasen Vand empties itself into the Throndhjem Fjord. The scenery in this neighbourhood is surpassingly beautiful ; and as the fishing is also first-rate, it cannot be too highly recommended to the notice of sportsmen. There is a good station at Stenkjer; and here the fishing is excellent. The right of fishing on this river belongs to a Fru Gram, owner of a property named By, with the ex- ception of the last mile and a half, which belongs to Hegge Gaard. The portion of the river between Fossum Vand and the lake above, though short, is NORTH THRONDHJEMS AMT. Zo) capable of affording excellent sport. Whoever fishes in this part will do well to secure the services of one Henrik, a Huusmand, living at Fossum Plads; he is a good fisherman, and is well acquainted with the river. Every information about the fishing in this river can be obtained from Herr Moe, a merchant residing at Stenkjeer. The Avena Ety, running into the last a short distance above Stenkjzr, will probably afford good sport. Salmon go a long way up it. Helge will be found a fair station to put up at. The fishing under Fossum Foss is said to be very superior. The Fiaez or Lops Exv is also a likely stream: the » right of fishing belongs to the following properties— Bruun, Léd, and Ryg. The Anpro Etyv, running in at the northern ex- tremity of Snaasen Vand, which is forty miles long, abounds with trout of a large size. There are several small rivers on the western coast of the Throndhjem Fjord, which may occasionally afford sport, é. g., at Lexviken, Mosvik, and Ostvik north of Stenkjer. This last-named place can be reached by carriole from Stenkjer in a very short time, and is on the direct road to the Namsen. At Overgaard, two stations beyond this, at the 26 SPORT IN NORWAY. bottom of Lyngen Fjord, a branch of the Namsen Fjord, fishing can be had in the Oy river. From this place, which is about thirty miles from the mouth of the Namsen, the traveller will meet a small river, the Braacna Exy, running through Bang- dalen. It is a nice little river, and is perhaps capable of affording occasional sport. The Namsen Exv, so noted for its splendid fishery, rises in Nams Vand, 1,300 feet above the level of the sea, and runs with many bends and turns in a south- westerly, and subsequently in a westerly course. Its length is about 120 miles. It can either be reached by steamer from Throndhjem, or by the route of Stenkjer, just named. As may be supposed, it is a very rapid stream, and very liable to be flooded. Indeed, the water will rise from twenty to twenty-four feet in an incredibly short time. Ata distance of about forty-two miles from its mouth is the magnificent Fiskum Foss, one of the most majestic falls in the whole country, being 580 feet broad, and 156 feet high. The fishing immediately below this is, beyond com- pare, superb. The fishing in this river does not properly begin before arriving at Vie, about twenty-five miles from the mouth, the part below this being too deep to allow of salmon taking a fly. The middle of June is the earliest NORTH THRONDHJEMS AMT, 24 period at which one can begin fishing. I had thought July to be the earliest time, but have been told by a friend of mine, who has had much experience in the northern rivers, that he is of opinion that the best fishing may be had in the Namsen before July. “From my experience of the northern rivers,” he writes me word, ‘I should say that in most of them the season begins about the middle of June, and fish may often be killed still earlier ; and although you do not get nearly so many fish as in July, yet their average size is © much greater. I have noticed also that the fish are usually better hooked in the earlier part of the season, and that the proportion of lost fish gradually increases as it advances. Another advantage of June fishing is that you are not troubled with grilse.” It is extremely difficuit to say how much of this river is actually leased. It may be taken up from Fiskum Foss as far as Grongs Prestegaard ; but I much doubt whether pastor Rambeck, who owns part of the best fishing near Fiskum Foss, has let his right away. All the way down to Vie the river abounds with magnificent pools, and as the road runs by it, informa- tion can be readily gleaned at the different stations. (For further remarks the reader is referred to Murray's ‘ Handbook,’ p. 206.) It is necessary to have experienced boatmen on this river, to insure sport, two for each boat. These have 28 SPORT IN NORWAY. the privilege of claiming what they call their specze fish, z.e., a dollar for every fish above a certain weight. Moreover, the tackle used must be extra strong, and the lines must be long ones. Plaited gut casting lines should always be used in preference to twisted ones. That distinguished fisherman, Sir H. Parker, killed on this river a salmon of sixty pounds weight after a little more than an hour’s battle. ‘‘ It was caught on anum- ber six or seven hook; wings, two golden tippets dyed ’ erimson, sprigged with mallard, teal, golden pheasant, and Argus pheasant ; horns, blue macaw; head, black ; body, claret pig’s wool; tag, red mohair, ribbed gold twist. ... On the same day he bagged nine others, one of forty pounds; one thirty pounds; one eighteen pounds; one fifteen pounds; and the rest from eight pounds downwards.” Perhaps a better day’s sport has never been known! I believe that little of this river is permanently engaged.” Should there, however, be no opportunity for fishing in any part of this noble river, which I much question, the Sanppona Env, which runs into it near Grong, should be tried: it is a fine river. On the opposite shore there is the Bsor Exy, running out of Eids Vand. Good fishing may be had here. Saimon go up as far * Vide Appendix. NORTH THRONDHJEMS AMT. 29 as Hoiland. The station at Romstad above this will be found to afford fair accommodation. ) Proceeding northwards by the road the Oy Exv, near Oy station, should be tried. On the southern shore of Indre Foldens Fjord there are several small rivers which no doubt will occasionally yield sport; but I have been unable to gather any certain information concerning them. Fishing can be had in a river running into Oplo Fjord in Kolvereid parish; and there is a nice little river running in at the end of Sor Salten Fjord. After leaving Oy the next station is Kongsmoen on the Oy river. The fishing here is well spoken of. There is a small river I omitted to mention running into Veterhuus Botn, a little north of Namsos. 1 believe its name is AusNzs Exy. I have heard that fair sport may occasionally be had. I have heard of there being fishing in a river at Aafjord, belonging, I believe, to the pastor. With regard to trout-fishing, it may be remarked that all the above-named rivers will show excellent sport, especially the Namsen, above Fiskum Foss. But few, however, would come so far merely for the sake of such small fry. In Stordal and Verdal Fogderies black game, caper- calzie, and ryper are plentiful, but reindeer are not so humerous, 30 SPORT IN NORWAY. In the neighbourhood of Snaasen Vand rein are more plentiful, and excellent capercalzie, black game, and ryper shooting may be had. On the islands duck and wild fowl are abundant. In the northern parts of this Amt reindeer are abundant, but elk are scarce. Red deer may be found on Otterden, which is easily reached from Namsos. The ryper shooting on this island is excellent. Overhalden, in Grongs parish, is a good neigh- bourhood for ryper, capercalzie, and black game; and tolerable ryper shooting is to be had on Gjed Fyeld in the same parish. | Bears are rather numerous; 30,5 bemg the average number killed per annum. Lynxes are also often met with. Soutn THrRonDHJEMS AMT. This Amt borders on Sweden to the east: on the south it is bounded by Hedemarken and Christians Amts; on the west by Romsdal Amt; and on the north by Throndhjem Fjord and north Throndhjems Amt. It contains 145 square miles. The Guu Exv is a renowned salmon river. It rises to the north of Roraas, and runs with a north-westerly course to Sokns, where it crosses the Throndhjem road over the Dovre Fjeld ; thence it turns to the north, and falls out into an arm of the fjord some few miles to the SOUTH THRONDHJEMS AMT. 31 south-west of Throndhjem. The steamer to the north touches at Throndhjem. (For other routes, vide Bennett’s ‘Handbook of Routes,’ 1, 2, and 3.) Salmon go up this river about forty miles to Svelget in Aalen parish. A great portion of the fishing in this river is usually taken up, as, for instance, at Soknes. At Bogen, a few miles east of this, the fishing is well spoken of, and at Rogstad. As the road runs by the river all the way, there may possibly be found a few places where leave to fish can be had. Its tributaries, the Emva Exv, running into it near Bogen, the Havuxna, and Sraavm, a few miles to the west, should be tried. The Orxia Env had formerly a bad reputation, owing to certain parties having met with poor sport one season. It is, however, an excellent salmon river, and is capable of showing very good sport. Salmon go up in it to Havdals Foss in Rennebo parish, south of Meldal. A branch road from Flaa runs by it (vzde Bennett’s ‘ Handbook of Routes,’ 2). At Fandrem, near its mouth, good fishing is to be had, and also in the neighbourhood of Gumdal, where there is an exceedingly good station. But perhaps the best place on the whole river is at Langseter, about fourteen miles above Fandrem. Hereabouts there are at least twenty or thirty pools. Good quarters can also be had; but I believe most, if not all, of the fishing in this river to be taken. 3 SPORT IN NORWAY. - The early part of July is the best season, I have been told, for fishing this river, but should think it might be tried earlier, At Kirkeszeter there is a likely river running from a lake into Hevne Fjord. The Sxavepant Exy, north-west of Throndhjem, is also a good river, though small, in Statsbygd parish. Good fishing may be had at Uddue station, where there is a foss, immediately below which capital sport may be had. Above the foss the trout-fishing is all that could be wished. The steamer from Throndhjem stops here, A few miles to the north of this there is a small stream named the Norp Ety, which may sometimes yield fair sport. Further again to the north are three small rivers close together, Norpats Exv, Srorpats Ey, and Sdérpats Env, They may probably be worth trying. They can be easily reached from Valdersund, where the steamer to the north stops. Beyond this, again to the north, there is a small river running into the fjord in Bjérnor parish. The steamer stops near this also. And in the extreme north of all is the Stempats Ey, which may perhaps at times be worth the fishing. Returning now to Throndhjem there is the Nip Exyv, which, though it affords but small space for fishing, is yet, for that little, first-rate. Salmon go up to Leer Foss, about three miles and a half above Throndhjem, Immediately below the foss there is a SOUTH THRONDHJEMS AMT. Oo magnificent pool, and good sport may be had _ here. The fish run large, and have been taken up to forty pounds in weight. The river in question belongs to a gentleman of the name of Overston. The trout-fishing in the above-named rivers is unquestionably good. Good trout-fishmng may be had in Tuypa Exv, running into the east end of Selbo Sden; and as the road runs by it for a long way, fair accommodation may be obtamed. The fishing also in Selbo 86 is highly spoken of by Belton in his ‘Two Summers in Norway.’ There is also good trout-fishing to be had some few miles from Roraas. The apothecary in this (so-called) town, who is an ardent disciple of the gentle art, will sive the stranger much useful information. If I remember right, he speaks English. Ptarmigan are abundant in this neighbourhood. Driystuen, on the Dovre Fyeld, will be found an ex- cellent station to put up at. Good ryper-shooting can be had here, and reindeer are not unfrequent. At Opdal, a few stations higher up, where the road branches off to Sundal, the shooting is well-spoken of ; also at Sogndal and Budal. Good shooting, too, can be had in Orkedal (Gumdal is a good station to put up at) and on the heights surrounding the Guul Valley. At Selb, also, good sport is to be had. Doubtless the shooting over the whole of this Amt is good; but I D ae SPORT IN NORWAY. have confined myself to those localities concerning which I have reliable information. On Hitteren, red-deer shooting may be had (vde Murray’s ‘ Handbook,’ p. 255); but they are rapidly diminishing in number, and will ere long, in all pro- bability, become extinct on that island. “In 1861,” a gentleman informs me, ‘I did not certainly see more than one-third of the number I had seen three years” before. The reason evidently is, that they are over- hunted by the proprietors, whom the ready market afforded by the steam communication with 'Throndhjem tempts to convert their venison into dollars. It is on this account, also, that there are no good heads on the whole island.” Red-deer shooting is, moreover, rather expensive work. In the first place, leave must be obtained of the proprietor, who not only expects the quarry, but a payment of three dollars for every deer that may be killed, and one dollar for the guide; and after all it is but tame work compared with reindeer hunting. In the north-western part of this island a fair sprinkling of black game and capercalzie may be found. yper are scarce, though there may be some on the sea side of the island. There is a great deal of marshy ground, where one would naturally imagine snipe to resort in great numbers, but I am not aware that they do come there. A friend of mine writes me word that in 1858 he + ROMSDAL AMT, oo explored the valley of Orkedal to the source of the river, for the express purpose of investigating the shooting, and that he is of opinion that good general sport may be had in it. ‘“‘Several points,” he adds, “might be named as head-quarters. I think Kalstad might be as good as any, which, though not so good a station as Gumdal, is better situated for sport. At Haarstad, a small but pretty comfortable station, we were told that at Neerskoven. seven miles distant, there was excellent ryper-shooting, and a Szter close by. Lower down the valley hares were said to be very plentiful, but we could not find any; perhaps because we had no “hare-hunde.” Neverdalen * would, I have no doubt, be a very good point, and the station is tolerably comfortable. The trout-fishing ought to be particularly good there, and the river is close to the station-house.” The steamers to the north stop at Hayn Hitteren. I forget what the average of bears is for this Amt, but in 1860 thirteen were killed; in 1859, nine; in 1858, five ; in 1857, six; in 1856, fifteen. Romspat Amr. This Amt is, I should say, held in higher estimation, both by tourist and sportsman, than any in Norway. Abounding in beautiful scenery of a varied nature, * Neverdalen is, however, over the border, in Hedemarken Amt. 36 SPORT IN NORWAY. smiling and fertile valleys, lofty mountains, brawling cascades, and noble rivers, it presents to the tourist in search of the picturesque all that can be desired ; while the ample facilities of its rivers and fields offer to the sportsman abundant employment. ‘The valley of the Rauma is considered to be the most beautiful of the many beautiful valleys of Norway. Its noble mountains, with their alpine peaks, lend a charm to it which the tamer, though still lovely, aspect of Gudbrandsdal fails to impart. I doubt much whether any mountain pass in Switzerland can surpass it. Pages and pages might be written on it, and still signally fail to convey but a very feeble impression of what a personal inspection would produce. But as in writing these pages it has been my deter- mination not to be led astray by a love for the pictu- resque, but simply to confine myself to such facts as may be of use to the lover of sport, 1 must turn aside from such temptation, and endeavour to act up to my purpose. Romsdal Amt is bounded on the north and east by S. Throndhjem Amt; on the south by 8. Bergenhuus Amt; and on the west by the sea. It contaims 125 sqnare miles, and is divided into three Fogderies— Sondmér in the south, Romsdal in the middle, and Nodmor in the north. If not pressed for time, the sportsman will do well ROMSDAL AMT. Sif to travel vd Christiania, so as not to miss the scenery of the Mésen and of Gudbrandsdal. This Amt is intersected by three principal valleys— Romsdal, Sundal, and Surendal, named after the rivers flowing through them. In the extreme south there are many small rivers, which may be worth trying, as sport is occasionally, though by no means always, to be had in them. And as many of them are not named in the map, I will, as far as I can, supply the omission by mentioning their names. And first at VANELVEN, in the extreme south-west of Sondmor, there is a small river, about thirteen miles long. A little to the east of this is Brrxepats ELy, fallmg out into the fjord near Kile, where there is a station. It runs from a lake, and its course is only seven miles. It can easily be reached from Néstad, near Horningdals Vand, which will be mentioned in the following Amt. To the west of this there is a small stream running into the bottom of a fjord. In the Hjérrendfjord, to the west of the last-named fjord, there is a likely-looking stream running out at Oie, where there is a station. All these rivers can be best and most easily reached by the steamer between Bergen and Throndbjem, which stops at Volden. Hjorrenfjord can be reached by carriole from this place. 38 SPORT IN NORWAY. To the east of this fjord is Nordals Fjord, which contains some likely rivers. At Strand, half-way down on the western shore, there is a good stream, and one also immediately opposite at Stordalen. There are stations in the immediate neighbourhood of either river. A little to the south the fjord branches off, one arm going to the right, the other to the left. In the former there isa very good river, VALDALEN Exy, running out at Sylte. It can be fished about seven miles up, and salmon will take a fly very eagerly here. At the extreme end of this arm there are two small rivers, Herpats Exv and Tatrsorp Env; as. they are within easy access from Sylte by boat, they might be tried. In the former of these, at about a distance of four miles from the mouth, tolerable fishing may be had. In the other arm, the Sunelven Fjord, the Lanapats Eny, at the extreme end, is a good river. It is only about seven miles long. Stadeims Gaard owns the fishery. ‘There is an excellent pool under a foss about two miles from the mouth, A little to the east is the GrerRANGER Env; it is about ten miles in length. There is now steam communication between Hellesyldt at the end of this fjord and Aalesund. (For further information, vide Bennett's ‘Handbook.’) At Eidevik, a few miles due east of Aalesund, where the steamer stops, there is a small river which may be tried. ROMSDAL AMT. 39 Let it be distinctly understood that I by no means wish it to be inferred that salmon-fishing can be en- joyed in all of the above-named rivers. But that fair sport is occasionally to be had in some of them, I am quite convinced. And to the sportsman who is pos- sessed of a good constitution, and not adverse to loco- motion, the proximity of the above-named rivers to each other may afford him an opportunity of testing the greater part of them. And as all the best fishing in this Amt is hired, he must be content to put up with what he can get, forming a residue, by the way, by no means to be despised. We now come to Molde, at the mouth of the Romsdal Fjord, a stopping station for the steamers to the north. A small steamer runs up the fjord to its extreme end at Veblungsnes, for the route of which, vide Bennett’s ‘ Handbook.’ In the neighbourhood of Molde there is some good trout-fishing to be had. The view from this place over the mountains of Romsdalen is truly magnificent. Before arriving at Veblungsnes there are one or two small rivers, which, I am told, occasionally will yield a little sport; thus at. Vold, a few miles to the west of the above village. “That district of the western coast of Norway which is bounded by Romsdal on the west and Sundal on the east, affords an unrivalled field to the sportsman, or to 40 SPORT IN NORWAY. the tourist in search of the picturesque. Three noble rivers, equal in their volume of water, and in the length of their course, drain this mountainous region, and fall respectively into the Romsdal, Lange, and Sundal Fjords.” We will first consider the Rauma. This fine river rises in Leesjoveerks Vand, near Holager. This lake, which is seven miles long, and 2,050 feet above the level of the sea, is the source of two rivers, the Laagen flowing to the south, and the Rauma to the north. This is a most remarkable instance, and is worthy of note; for not only is it a rare thing for two large rivers to flow in contrary directions from one and the same source, but the Laagen, by falling into the Midsen at Lillehammer, from the other end of which, at Minde, the Vormen ultimately flows into the Glommen, the whole southern part of the country between Frederickstadt and Veblungsnes is rendered insular. The Ravma is a first-class salmon river, and abounds with salmon of a large size. Salmon go-up to Ormen Foss, about twenty-one miles from the mouth: about fourteen miles lower down is another foss, below which the fishing is first-rate; for though many salmon do undoubtedly surmount this first obstacle, yet by far the greater part remain below. But for the last seven miles, down nearly to Veblungsnes, the fishing is truly magnificent, and for four miles immediately below the foss, ROMSDAL AMT. 4] second, perhaps, to none in Norway. Thirty-two fish have been killed in one day by two rods immediately below the fall. The water is generally discoloured by snow, but this does not prevent the fish from rising. Good and cheap quarters can be had at Veblungsnes ; and if * the services of one Jérgen Erichsen, residing there, can be obtained, he will be found a good pioneer. About half a dollar a day will be sufficient remunera- tion. He is well acquainted with every pool in the river. The greater part of this fishing is taken up; but there are still portions where excellent sport can be had by asking permission of the proprietors, and paying a small sum. Landmark, who lives a few miles above Veblungsnes, and at whose house most comfortable accommodation may be had, owns a part of the Rauma, and will let the fishing. A little to the north-east of Veblungsnzs there isa ~ small river, Iisrsorp Envy, running out at Hei, which may be worth trying. About twenty miles to the east of the Rauma is the Ermwsrsorp Eny, which rises in the mountains about Lesjde, and empties itself into an offshoot of the Lange Fjord. About five miles from the sea it passes through a lake’ fourteen miles long; and the fishing lies wholly between this lake and the mouth of the river. It abounds in fine pools and rapids. The fish in this river attain a large size, since, if they succeed 49 SPORT IN NORWAY. in passing the few traps on the river, they obtain complete safety in the deep waters of the lake: thus a larger number escape, year after year, than if they had to run the gauntlet of every trap~ between the mouth of the river and its source. Only a few pass through the lake and find their way into the river above. In 1860, 2569 Ibs. of salmon were taken here by one rod in thirty-nime days’ fishing, giving an average of nearly 66 lbs. per day. In the month of August the river abounds in sea-trout, and in some seasons the large lake-trout find their way into it. The scenery of this district is extremely grand. The valley is wider and more highly cultivated than Roms- dal, while the mountaims which enclose it are scarcely inferior in height. ‘‘ For its size,” writes my in- formant, “‘the lake is perhaps the finest in Europe, ~ equalling in its whole extent the most romantic parts of the Lake of Lucerne.” Near Botten, on a branch of the Sundals Fjord, there is a small river running down from the Skaar Fyeld. It is best reached by carriole from Molde wa Hide, on the Fanne Fjord. Littepats Envy, a small river a little to the north- west of Sundals Elv, may at times, perhaps, be found to show sport. The Sunpats Ey rises on the Dovre Fjeld, near Drivstuen, and falls into the Sundals Fjord. At Aune, ROMSDAL AMT. 43 two stations above Drivstuen, the road to Throndhjem branches off to the left, and follows the course of the river to its mouth. It abounds in salmon, sea-trout, and brown trout. After heavy rains, however, it is scarcely fishable, as it becomes discoloured from the marly character of its banks at a particular spot. Moreover, the pools are inconveniently distant from each other, and there are no opportunities afforded for the salmon to congregate in a small space. Salmon go up to Gjora, about twenty miles up the river. They may, perhaps, get further up, but I am inclined to think there can be no fishing above this place, as here the river passes through a narrow gorge, and becomes, in fact, a torrent. The scenery of this valley is very grand, though not equal to that of Romsdal or Eridsfjord. The fishing by Hoaas is taken up; but I should fancy leave can be got to fish higher up stream. This, however, can be ascertained at any of the stations on the river, North of this river are the Topaten Etv, running out at Kveernset, and the Svinna Ety; and between the former of these and Sundals Fjord isa river running into Ulvuna Fjord. They are, I believe, capable of showing sport. Again further to the north is the SurenpaL Exy, a capital salmon river. From Honstad downwards, 44 SPORT IN NORWAY. where it is jomed by the Vinepats Envy, there is excellent fishing to be had. I cannot say what part of this river is taken up. The trout-fishing in this river and its tributaries is well spoken of. The road to Christiansund runs through Surendal, so that’ fair accommodation can be had on the route. The Bavra Etv, a little to the north of Surendal Ely, is a likely-looking stream. It is about eleven miles long. ‘There are also some smaller rivers running into the Vinje Fjord, im the extreme north of this Amt, of which the Fsrtna Etv is the most likely. From Vinje there is a direct road to Throndhjem, through Orkedal, from which it is distant about thirty miles. P Reindeer shooting may be had on the eastern fjelds im Séndmor Fogderie, in the extreme south of this Amt, called Lang Fjelds; and indeed all the terrain between Sunelven Fjord and Hjorrenfjord will well repay a visit. For those who purpose hunting in this district, Herdal will be found a good place for head- quarters. The fjelds also between this and Nordals Fjord are said to be very good. Ryper and black game are abundant, and ptarmigan are always found on the heights. Red deer may be found on the islands Sulo, Hareidsland, and Gurské. Larsnes, on this latter island, is a stopping-place for the steamers to the north. ROMSDAL AMT. 45 Reindeer shooting can also be had on the Romsdal Fjeld, Troltinderne, and Bréste Fjeld. On the fjelds opposite Veblungsnes fair ryper shooting may be had on the low scrub on the mountain side; while ducks, and occasionally snipe, are to be found on the low marshy ground near the village. Indeed, the whole terrain from Romsdal to Surendal consists of good shooting ground, and many oppor- tunities for reindeer hunting may be had. It may be remarked that the most favourite localities for reindeer are treated of in a: separate chapter devoted to the “history, haunts, and habits” of this noble animal. Red deer may also be found orf Smolen, the northern- most island belonging to this Amt, and on Erlvaagé. It is not unlikely that there may also be other islands, besides the above named, where these animals may be found; but I have only mentioned those concerning which I had certain and reliable information. The steamer to the north stops at Ed6, a small island a little to the south of Smédlen. In Surendal, ryper, black game, and hares are abundant. The average number of bears killed in this Amt is 174 per annum. Veblungsnes would be excellent head-quarters for any one ambitious of killing a bear ; they are numerous in the neighbourhood, and there are several good hunters hereabouts. Lynxes, more- over, are not uncommon. It will thus be seen that 46 SPORT IN NORWAY. good general shooting is to be had; but the sportsman must be prepared to rough it if he hopes to be suc- cessful. NortH BrercEenuuvus AMT. This Amt is bounded on the north by the last named ; on the south by South Bergenhuus; on the east it touches on. Buskerud and Christians Amts ; and on the west it is bounded by the sea. It is divided into two Fogderies, Yttre and Indre Sogn in the south, and Sondfjord and Nordfjord in the north. In the south it is intersected by the Sogne Fjord from west to eas. This noble fjord, which has many collateral branches, is about 120 miles in length. The coast is frmged with numerous islands, between which and the mainland the steamers to the north wend their way. Salmon are to be found in all the rivers running into the Sogne Fjord. To begin at the extreme end. The Lerpats Ey running out at Lerdalséren, is a good salmon river, and abounds with fish, though they do not attain a very large size. lLerdalséren can be reached either by steamer from Bergen, or by the route of the Fille Fjeld, vid Christiania. (Vide Bennett's ‘Handbook,’ pp. 18, 44.) The fishing in this river belongs to the properties Tinjum, Moe, and Lysne. That in the NORTH BERGENHUUS AMT. 47 neighbourhood of Lysne Gaard is very good. The latter part of June will be found to be the best time for this river, and the fishing is best near the mouth. Lerdalséren is an excellent station, and the station- master is very civil and obliging. Aarpats Ey, running into a fjord of the same name, a little to the north of Lerdalsoren, is often capable of affording excellent sport; but the quantity of water in this river is very irregular. It is best after a good deal of rain has fallen. Fish have been taken, I am informed, up to forty pounds in weight. When the water is very low, salmon run up into a lake which is about five miles in length, and from thence find their way up a river running in at the other end for , about three miles anda half. In the autumn the salmon- trout-fishing to be had in this river is exceedingly fine. I believe the fishing here to be engaged, but am not certain. I do not think it was in 1860. I do not know whether fishing can be had in the Jéstedal river near Lyster in the Gaupne Fjord; but it is a likely- looking stream, though, of necessity, a late one, owing to its running down from the glaciers. It is about thirty miles north of Lerdalséren, whence it can be reached by boat-skyts. (For an account of the glaciers vide Murray’s ‘ Handbook,’ p. 165.) In Sogndals Fjord, to the west of this, is the Aaro Exy, which, though not of great extent, yet has a large 48 SPORT IN NORWAY. mass of water. Salmon of an unusually large size have been taken here. I have heard of fish weighing forty- four pounds being captured in this river. They are a beautifully clean fish. This also is a late river, and cannot be fished with success before the middle of July, as the water which comes down from the glaciers is so intensely cold that the salmon will not rise to the fly. I believe this fishing to be engaged. Aurtanps Ey, running into a branch of the fjord east of Nerddal, abounds with salmon of a large size SCENE IN AURLANDS FJORD. The water in this river is very irregular, and: the fishing is best after a flood. July is the earliest period NORTH BERGENHHUUS AMT. 49 at which it can be fished. Sea-trout of a very large size are taken here; and late in the autumn splendid sport may be had. This river is let on lease. There is a small river in the same fjord, at the extreme end, which should be tried. It is called the Monpa Exy. Salmon of a large size may be taken here, but the water 1s very variable. It is only after a flood that fishing can be had. Ina dry season the river would be a total failure. Moreover, it is terribly trapped. Most of the fishing belongs, I believe, to an ‘‘ex-M.P.,” Thorstein Fretheim. In Narédal salmon-fishing may occasionally be had. Gudvangen is a fair station, though not first rate. In the lower part of the Gudvangen river, late in the season, there are a great number of sea-trout, and indeed most of the rivers running into the Sogne Fjord and its branches will be found to afford good sea-trout fishing. A fly with a light-blue body and gold tinsel can be recommended for these fish. Jt may be re- marked that the scenery about here is grand in the extreme. A little way up the valley, the traveller, who is making his way to Bergen by land, will pass Stal- heim. The road up the mountain is of a most extra- ordinary “corkscrew nature,” and is a fine specimen of Norwegian engineering skill. On either side of the road are two fine fosses which add considerably to the beauty of the landscape. 50 SPORT IN NORWAY. There may be possibly some small streams further seawards in the Sogne Fjord; but I think I have named all that are worth mentioning. There is a small river running out at Eidevik in Sondfjord, a little to the north ; but I have not met with any one who has ever tried it. It may very likely hold fish. There are some small streams between this and Nordfjord ; and I much doubt whether they have ever been fished. I can hazard no information about them. But in Nordijord there are many good opportunities for the salmon-fisher. The steamer to the north stops at Bryggen at the mouth. The river from Horningdals Vand, running into the fjord, is said to abound with salmon. The river running into the Gloppen Fjord at Sandene, a little to the south, frequently holds good fish. It is named Sror Exy. A little to the east, Srryen Eny, coming from Op- struen Vaud, can also be conveniently tried. It is a likely stream, though small. There are several smaller ' rivers in this fjord and its branches; but I have been unable to gather any information concerning them. In the extensive ranges of mountains in the neigh- bourhood of Lerdal, Jéstedal, Lyster, and Urland good reindeer hunting may be had. -Aardal would be a particularly good point from which to make expeditions after reindeer. A very clever and NORTH BERGENHUUS AMT. 51 intelligent hunter named Hans Natvik, who lives near by, can be highly recommended. On the neighbouring _ Yelds he usually kills many deer himself every season, and is well acquainted with the whole terrain between this and Tyen Vand. Sletterust is the best point from which to hunt this, which is one of the best districts for reindeer in the whole country. Tents are, however, almost a seme qua non, as the Seeters, as is universally the case in the Bergen Stift, are very bad and dirty. A friend writes me word that he crossed the fjeld from Lerdal to Aardal, and that in coming down through the thick scrub which covers the steep sides of the mountains above Vik, his guide informed him that very many bears had been killed there. On the whole there is scarcely a better prospect of sport anywhere in Norway than in the neighbourhood of Aardal. Elks are not found in this Amt. In Indre Sogn ryper are numerous, and, indeed, abound on all the fjeld sides in low serub. Caperealzie are common in the woods about Kaupangor and Fronningen on the opposite sides of the Sogne, Fjord in Indre Sogn; and Jostedal abounds in black game. Indeed, I do not hesitate to say that general shooting is pretty good in nearly every part of this Amt; and I have only given prominence to places where I have been in- formed it is superior. Near Horningdals Vand also the shooting is very fair. 5? SPORT IN NORWAY. Ducks and all manner of wild fowl will be found in plenty along the coast. The average number of bears killed is 14,5 per annum. For bear-hunting Lerdalsoren would be admirable head-quarters. In 1860 a hunter living at Qvikne, on the Lerdals Fjord, succeeded in killing in the spring of GUDVANGEN sTATION. that year three bears at Aerdal. ‘There is a great deal of thick wood here. Bears are also frequently seen in Ténjums Dal, about seven miles from Lerdalsoren, and often commit havoc amongst the sheep and pigs. There are some stone huts in the valley; and if one were to establish oneself there for a while, say in May, SOUTH BERGENHUUS AMT. 53 before the people come up to the seters, an un- commonly good chance of getting hold of a bear might be had. It is rather stiffish walkmg on the mountain- sides above Tonjums Dal, but the ground is very favourable for seeing bears. . SourH Brercennuvs Amr. This Amt is bordered on the south by Stavanger Amt ; on the east by Bratsberg and Buskeruds Amt; and on the west by the sea. It contains 141 square miles, and is divided into two Fogderies, Séndhordland and Hardanger, Nordhordland and Voss. On the east it is separated from Hallingdal and Nummedal by a chain of mountains, Langfjelde, which in places attain an alti- tude of 5,400 feet above the sea. The magnificent Hardanger Fjord intersects this Amt from south-west to north-east, the scenery of which is perhaps the grandest and wildest in the whole country (vide Murray’s ‘Handbook,’ p. 178; Bennett’s ditto, pp. 25, 26); and as there is weekly steam commu- nication with Bergen, a passage of but a few hours, its beauties may readily be explored, The fishing in this Amt is by no means unimportant In the extreme south there is a small river called Erne Etv, which can be tried; and there is a likely-looking stream running out into a fjord at Fjere, a few miles to the north-east. But neither of these is of much im portance. 54 SPORT IN NORWAY. About half-way up the Hardanger Fjord at Vikor, on the northern shore, there is a small river, the STEINDALS Exy. As the steamer from Bergen, from which it is about fifteen hours, stops at Ostensjo, a few miles to the north, it might be tried. Here is the magnificent Ostud Foss, a waterfall of about 700 feet in height (wide Murray’s ‘ Handbook,’ Dad 0). In Sor Fjord, a. collateral branch of the Hardanger Fjord, some fishing may at times be had near Kin- servik, on the eastern shore. The steamer stops at Utne, at the mouth of this fjord, whence boat-skyts can be taken. At Odde, the extreme end, there is a small river which may hold salmon. This place may be reached in thirty hours from Bergen by the steamer. The Folge Fond is in the immediate neighbourhood. The SksEGGEDALS Exv, running out at Tyssedal, a very few miles higher up, is a nice little stream. Much sport with salmon in the above-named rivers cannot be guaranteed, but there is little doubt that they may occasionally prove worth trying ; and as they are in the midst of the most glorious scenery imaginable, the casual tourist may find it worth while to bear them in mind. From their nature, and owimg to the irregularity of their water, they must be best after heavy rains. The river at Vik, running out in Eidfjord, the SOUTH BERGENHUUS AMT. na extreme end of the Hardanger, is a nice little river. Good sport has often been had here. This place is within easy distance of the magnificent Voring Foss, and the scenery in the neighbourhood is of that savage grandeur which can rarely, if ever, be seen in any other parts of Europe (vide Murray, p. 169). At Ulvik, where the steamer algo stops, a little to the north of ‘Vik, and at Ose, between the two named places, the rivers may be tried. Proceeding down the fjord again in the direction of Bergen, there are one or two small rivers which may perhaps at times afford sport, eg., at Strandvik, Haalandsdal. A small river running out at Samnanger, a few miles east of Bergen, in a branch of the Strande Fjord, may also be tried. In Berespan Exny, a few miles to the north of Bergen, salmon-fishing may occasionally be had. The Vossz Env is a remarkably fine stream. It consists of two arms, one rising near Opheim, and the other near Lange Lake. These meet at Vossevangen, near the church, and pass through Vangs Vand, and Eyvanger Vand. Capital salmon-fishmg may be had at Bolstadoren. This latter is a good station, and the river has been much fished by Englishmen. Whether it is leased now I do not know; when I was there five summers ago it was open. Salmon of a large size may be taken, and the trout-fishing is first rate. 56 SPORT IN NORWAY. Further northwards is the Exinepan Ey: it is a very likely-looking stream. There is also another river a little above this running out at Mo. In both of these I believe fair fishing may be had. Some of the best reindeer ground is to be found in the eastern parts of this Amt. The neighbourhood of Vikor, on the Hardanger Fjord, at Graven, Ulvik, Kinservik, and on the large and extensive range of mountains towards Hallingdal and Nummedal, and to the east of Vossevangen, will be found usually to abound with these animals. Red deer are found on some of the islands off the coast. Ryper, too, are generally plentiful. As the forests in this Amt are comparatively of small dimensions, black game and capercalzie are not so numerous as elsewhere. Of elks, I believe there are none. ‘The average number of bears annually killed is small, being only 111. I had always been at a loss to understand why the number of bears killed annually in this Amt was so small; but I have been given to understand, on good authority, that the smallness of the returns must not in this case be taken as any evidence of their scarcity. ‘On the contrary,” writes my informant, “I am inclined to think that in some parts of the Hardanger country, they are more numerous than in any other part of Norway. The reason is, that the peasants here know nothing at all about bear-hunting, and, in fact, STAVANGER AMT. a7 seem afraid to venture on it. In one part near Ulvig, where I hunted bears unsuccessfully in 1860, I learnt that a year or two before a bear had been committing great depredations ; and that the farmers had actually subscribed and sent all the way to Romsdal for an experienced hunter, who remained there all the summer. He was, however, no more successful than myself. “Kvery year the bears commit grievous havoc in many parts of the Hardanger country. There is no difficulty in hearing of them almost anywhere; but without a regularly trained bear-dog, which is not to be had in that part of the country, it is almost hopeless to think of finding them, at least in summer. “Properly prepared for the campaign, and able to devote plenty of time to it, the bear-hunter would, I am confident, find the mountains bordering the Hardanger Fjord a noble field for operations.” STAVANGER Amt. This Amt is bounded on the south and west by the sea ; on the north by South Bergenhuus; and on the east by Lister and Mandals Amt, and Nedenes Amt. It is divided into two Fogderies, Jeedderen in the south, and Ryfylke in the north. Its superficial area is about 76 square miles. This Amt will be found to present but few attractions 38 SPORT IN NORWAY. to the salmon-fisher ; but still some sport may be had with a little looking for it. Beginning in the extreme south, there is a small river running through Sogndal, a few miles north of Hekke Fjord. Salmon-fishing is to be had here at times; it belongs to Keg parsonage. Salmon may also be found in Trenes River, and in Ovens River, in the parish of Ekersand. They had better be fished near their mouths. In Ficcz Ety, a little to the south of Stavanger, some fair fishing may occasionally be had. It is a small river, but the fish go up it for a long distance. Schjefveland will be found to be a comfortable station to put up at. In Sunepats Ezy, running out at Sand mto one of the arms of the Bukn Fjord, fishing may be had. Salmon go up to the extreme end of Suledals Lake. Vicepats Envy, a little more to the west of. this, is said to hold salmon. To the north-east of Stavanger there are several small streams in the parish of Strand and Hjelmeland ; but I have been able to learn but little concerning them. Those who wish to try their luck hereabouts had best inquire of Dr. Stan Juris Baade, who is a government inspector of salmon g, or of Herr Candidatus fisheries. Both these gentlemen live in Stavanger. It may, however, be remarked of all the rivers in STAVANGER AMT. ; 59 this Amt, that they are very short, and that they rise very suddenly afterrain. Moreover, the timber-floating which is constantly going on in them will be found such a serious annoyance as to render the fishing anything but profitable. And even when the water may be clear of such impediments, the fish are so extremely shy as to take a fly very unwillingly. The neighbourhood of Stavanger being totally devoid of wood, much shooting cannot be expected in this part. Hares are, however, tolerably plentiful. In the autumn immense flocks of snipes visit the neigh- bourmg marshes, when excellent sport may be had. Reindeer are found in the neighbourhood of Hole, south-east of Stavanger, and of Aardal and Suledal, and on the fjelds forming the eastern frontier. Red deer may be found in Skjold, on the borders of South Bergenhuus Amt in the extreme north, also in Hin- deraa, Vikeland, and Imsland parishes near Sand. In these districts ryper are generally plentiful, black game not abundant, but a good sprinkling of snipes, plovers, and hares may be found. Here also the white, black, and blue fox may be met with. All along the sea- coast good opportunities for wild-fowl shooting may be found. In the spring, shortly before breeding-time, thousands of eider-duck congregate in the fjords. Bears are not numerous, the average number killed amounting only to two a year. In the summer of 1862 60 SPORT IN NORWAY. two young lads managed to kill a bear under rather peculiar circumstances in the neighbourhood of Sta- yanger. A bear had been committing great havoc among the sheep and cattle for some time past, and had somehow managed to elude the hunters. So the two youths in question determined to try their luck, and see if they could not brmg Bruin to book for his misdeeds. Armed with two old rusty fowling-pieces they set off one morning in quest of him, and after searching about for some time were fortunate enough to espy the bear. When within about thirty yards they each let fly. One of the guns, however, refused to go off, but the other fortunately inflicted a mortal wound, or else they might not have escaped so easily. Finding that the animal © was unable to attack them they now advanced, and one of them, picking up a good-sized stone, hurled it at the beast, intending, if possible, to kill it. Meanwhile, the other one had reloaded his piece, and, discharging it m Bruin’s ear, put him hors de combat. Lister AND Manpats Amt, This. Amt is bounded on the north and east by Nede- nes Amt; on the south by the sea; and on the west by the last-named amt. It contains about 43 square miles, and is divided LISTER AND MANDALS AMT. 61 into two Fogderies, Lister and Mandal. Its principal towns are Christiansand and Mandal. _ Five valleys intersect Mandals Fogderie—Topdal, Torrisdal, Sogndal, Mandal, and Undal—all running nearly parallel with each other, and separated the one from the other by mountain ranges of no great altitude. Mandals Fogderie contains many and very im- portant salmon fisheries. And first, the Toppats Exy, a continuation of OrrerEN Exy—the river which runs through Szetersdal—is a fine salmon stream. Salmon go up in it to Boen Foss. A part of this river is owned by an Englishman who has a property on it; but whether all the fishing is taken up, or not, I cannot say with certainty. It abounds with fish, but they are generally of small size, and of poor quality. The names of the several properties which have the right of fishing on this river are Gustnes on the western shore of Topdal Fjord, Tved, Boen, Kjevik, and Drangholt. More accurate information can, however, be obtained in Christiansand. It is an early river, and can for the most part be fished from land. Bright- coloured flies are recommended. The Torrispat Env, a little to the west, is a large river. Salmon go up to Vikelands Foss, beyond which they cannot pass. Quarters and fishing may be had at Vigelund, which is an exceedingly good station. The fishery belongs to Consul Vildt, a Swiss gentleman, 62 SPORT IN NORWAY. who takes great interest in the propagation and breed- ing of salmon. This gentleman resides in or near to the town, and will, I am told, give permission to fish. A small payment will, however, probably have to be made. It is a very rapid stream, and the fishing is principally from boats. It is, moreover, somewhat later than the Topdal Ely. Large dull-coloured flies, with a little tinsel, are recommended. The Soene Env is a small river, but is, perhaps, worth trying. The Manpats Ey, running out by Mandal, was formerly a very celebrated salmon river; but bag-nets, poaching, &c., have considerably deteriorated it. It might however, with good management, be still made one of the best in the south of Norway. Some fair fishing may still be had on it. The principal fosses are Kjole Foss, Aase, Noddings, and Skjerveland. Quarters and fishing may perhaps be had at the pro- perties Holme, Osteboe, Skinsnees, Langelund, Moe, and Hesaae. Mr. Lloyd recommends B or B B hooks, fur bodies, with mixed wings. In many parts a boat is not requisite. It may be fished up to Nes Vand, a little above Lovland, where there is a good station. About seven miles from Mandal to the west is Unpats Eny. Salmon go up in it to the upper Oidne Lake. It is an early river, and abounds with fish. Quarters and fishing may probably. be had at Vigeland, LISTER AND MANDALS AMT. 63 Skofteland, and Vigmosstad. It may be remarked that it is not a large river, and has not many casts. About ten miles to the west of this is Lynepan Ey. Salmon run up a distance of about eleven miles, to a foss named Qvas Foss.’ Properties owning the fishing are Qveevik, Qvelland (about a mile and a half above the church). Bergsaker, where the road crosses it, is a fair station. The accommodation in this district is not all that might be desired; but if lovely scenery can in any way make up for this deficiency, there is abundant compensation. Further to the west is the Qviyna Eny. Salmon can go up init to Rafoss. The road to Hekke Fjord crosses it at Fede, a good station, where fishing can be had. Itis a fine river, and has many lkely-looking pools. I do not know whether it is engaged. The Lrra Ezy, a little to the west, is noted for its fine trout-fishing. It ismore than probable that sal- mon may be found in it, but of this I am doubtfnl. I may remark that all the above-named rivers will afford good sport to the trout-fisher. Elk are not found in this Amt. In the fjelds around Siredal reindeer hunting may be had, and good ryper and black-game shooting. On many parts of the coast, snipe and woodcock shooting may be enjoyed. Towards the end of May and be- ginning of June, myriads of barnacle geese may be 64 SPORT IN NORWAY. ' found along the coast; and in the fjords. The best general shooting will be found in Siredal. The average number of bears killed in this amt is 2,4 per annum. NeEpenzs Amr. This Amt is bounded on the north and east by Bratsberg Amt; on the south by the sea; on the west by Lister and Mandals Amt; and on the north by Stavanger Amt, and a small portion of South Bergenhuus Amt. It contains about 90 square miles. The principal rivers are the Nid, Topdals, and the Otteren. The latter of these, as mentioned above, flows into the sea at Christiansand, under the name of the Torrisdals Ely. It is divided imto two Fogderies, Nedenzs and Raabygdelag. The salmon and trout fishing in this Amt are very insignificant. The Nip Env, near Arendal, used formerly to be famous for its salmon-fishing, especially below a foss named Rygende Foss; but of late years it has much deteriorated, and I should scarcely think it worth while going out of the way for, to try. The OrrereN Exy, in Setersdal, is said to afford good trout-fishing ; but the fact is, Setersdal has been so little be-travelled, that even Norwegians know but little about it. The inhabitants of this valley are a BRATSBERG AMT. 65 very peculiar race of people, totally unlike what are ~ met with in other parts of the country.* The Toppats Exy, and its tributary the Sxszaqu- DALS Envy, will also afford tolerable trout-fishing, while the lakes are said to abound with good fish. The shooting in Setersdal is exceedingly good ; ryper, black game, and hares are abundant, while the quantum of bears it yields is by no means insignificant, the annual average throughout this Amt being 2143. The scenery in this valley is very wild and romantic ; but the dirty habits of the Satersddlen (the inhabitant of a valley is called Délen) are proverbial, and have tended, almost as much as its previous inaccessibility, to render it comparatively an unknown district. BrRaTsBERG AMT. This Amt is bounded on the north and east by Buske- ruds Amt; on the east and south by Jarlsberg Amt and the sea; and on the west by Nedenes, and South Bergenhuus Amts. It is divided into three Fogderies—Nedre Thele- marken, Bamle, and Ovre Thelemarken ; and contains some of the most picturesque scenery in Norway. Being but a poor district, the accommodation to be met with is none of the best; and as poverty and dirt * The habits and customs of this peculiar people will be treated of in a separate chapter. F 66 SPORT IN NORWAY. seem generally to bear a direct proportion to each other, neither can be said to form an exception to the rule. The salmon-fishing in this Amt is extremely unim- portant. In fact, I believe the river running up by Skien is the only place where salmon are taken; but I feel pretty confident, from the nature of the water, that no rod-fishing is to be expected here. On the other hand, it offers numerous facilities to the trout-fisher. A glance at the map will show that it abounds with lakes large and small, and tributary streams; but I shall confine myself to those in which I have fished myself, or of which I have reliable information. The eastern end of Bandags Vand by Strengen, where there is an exceedingly comfortable station, and where the landlady thoroughly understands how to make an Englishman comfortable, will be found to afiord some excellent sport. The shortest route to this place is by steamer from Christiania to Skien, thence by carriole to Fjzrestrand, a distance of only a few miles, on Nordséen, and by steamer to Ulefoss, which place is only a two to three hours’ journey, along one of the best chausées in the country, to Strengen. A steamer goes from this place to Dale, the extreme end of Bandags Vand, along the wildest and most desolate scenery imaginable. The river running into the lake here is a magnificent trout-stream, and has some pools BRATSBERG AMT. 67 which an ardent fisherman will rejoice to wet his line in. Very large trout can be taken, and those fond _ of spinning will find good sport by rowing to and fro across the mouth of the river where it debouches into the lake. The famous Mjés Vand can be reached in one day across the mountains from Dale, and in July will afford excellent sport; but as it is nearly 3000 feet above the level of the sea, it is extremely cold up there. Most of the “Rak Orret” is made from trout caught in this lake; which article of food, perhaps, vies with “Gammel Ost” in its smelling qualities, but is con- sidered a bonne bouche and “ appetite tickler” by most Norwegians. Excellent trout-fishing, too, is to be had in Nisser Vand, a large lake running nearly at right angles to Bandags Vand. The direct road from Thelemarken to Arendal runs along its eastern banks. The fish here are aS pink as salmon, and are most delicious eating. Of the lakes and rivers in the extreme north of this Amt I know nothing, but they must afford good fishing ; but lying so far from any road, and the want of any- thing like decent accommodation, must prove a serious drawback to the tourist sportsman. In fact, all through Thelemarken, the stations are, with but few exceptions, disgustingly dirty, and deficient in aught to stay the traveller’s stomach but flad-bréd and grid. Even the 68 SPORT IN NORWAY. mere tourist in search of the picturesque will find a light trout-rod an excellent accompaniment. Only, verbum sap., when he catches his trout, let him, unless he has a very powerful stomach, superintend the cooking of them himself. The Maan Ety, flowing from the Mjés Vand into Tin Soen, is a good river. On this, and nearer to Mjés Vand, is the famous Riukan Foss. Near Hitterdal, famous for its quaint ship-like church, good trout-fishing may be had. I have mentioned but few of the lakes and rivers in this province; but those I have named are the most accessible, and are generally considered the richest in fish. (For routes to Thelemarken, wide Murray, p- 195, and Bennett’s ‘ Handbook,’ p. 28.) The shooting over the whole of this Amt is generally good. The neighbourhood of Strengen abounds with hares, snipe, and black game. Ryper are plentiful on all the fjelds. Reindeer are numerous on the fjelds about Tinds, Vinge, and Moe (a few miles west of Dalen), and in the northern parts of Ovre Thele- marken. The magnificent Gausta Fjeld, the highest mountain in the south of Norway (6000 feet), is never without a good sprinkling of rein. Bears are numerous throughout the province; the average number killed being 3311 per annum; and I JARLSBERG AND LAURVIG AMT. 69 would almost recommend any one desirous of enjoying some bear-hunting to select this Amt in preference to any other in the whole of Norway. JARLSBERG AND LAauryic AMT. This Amt is bounded on the east by the Christiania Fjord; on the south by the sea; on the west by Bratsberg ; and on the north by Buskernds Amt. It contains 184 square miles. The only river of any importance is the Locegv, which enters this Amt on its north-eastern frontier, and flows into the sea near the town of Laurvik. The Logen is an excellent salmon stream, and was con- sidered by Sir H. Parker to be second to none in the whole country. Salmon run up to Vittingfoss, in Sandsver, Buskeruds Amt, their further progress up the river being impeded. Kjzro Foss and Vigelstad Foss are considered the best places on the whole river. The water hereabouts is somewhat later than it is lower down. Some portion of this river is taken up by an English gentleman who has bought a property; but there are still places, I believe, open to engagement. The shooting in this Amt is not good, as it is one of the most populous in Norway. Reindeer are not found, for the country is flat; neither, I believe, are elk. In the wooded parts of Laurdal some black game 70 SPORT IN NORWAY. may be found; but unless bound for the Logen, the sportsman who expects to find much employment for rod or gun will be disappointed both as regards the fishing and shooting. Bears are not often met with, the average number killed beg only 211. BuskeErRups Amt, This Amt borders to the north on Christians Amt and North Bergenhuus Amt; to the west on South Bergenhuus Amt; to the south on Bratsberg and Jarlsberg Amts ; and to the east on Agershuus Amt and the Christiania Fjord. It is divided into three Fogderies —Buskerud, Ringerike and Hallingdal, and Nummedal. Its superficial area is about 1054 square miles. With the exception of the Drammen river and the small portion of the Logen river alluded to in the last, salmon are not found in this Amt. A great many salmon go up to Hougsund, a few miles above Dram- men; but from the nature of the water I should scarcely think it possible that they will rise to a fly. I have been told, but will not vouch for the truth of it, that some salmon-fishng may be had in a small river running out by Lier, about seven miles east of Dram- men. There is, however, excellent trout-fishing to be had BUSKERUDS AMT. Fis. in many parts of this Amt. And first I would name Honefoss, about thirty miles from Christiania. The road to it runs by the beautiful Tyri Fjord, at the foot of the famous Krokleven. At Honefoss there is a comfortable little inn, a little below the last foss. Two rivers meet here, the one coming from the Rands Fjord, and the other from Spendilen, and united, flow into the Tyri Fjord. Some very nice fishing may be had at this place, both with fly, and—later on in the summer—by spinning. ‘Trout of a large size are often taken. The fishing all the way up the Spendilen river is good. The other river, from the Randsfjord, will well repay exploring. About ten miles up from Hoénefoss there is an excellent part near a flour-mill, situate in the middle of a forest. Both above and below the foss, by which the mill stands, good fishing is to be had. Being within such easy distance from Christiania, these rivers cannot be too highly recommended to the fisherman who has not much time at his disposal in the country. The Hatirepat River runs some miles west of Honefoss, and enters the Tyri Fjord a little below Modum. It is a fine river, and abounds with trout. And as the road runs near it up to the Kréderen lake, about fourteen miles from its mouth, accommodation (such as it is) can readily be found. A short distance below Modum is Bjérndal, where 72 SPORT IN NORWAY. fair fishing can be had on the Drammen river. From this place skyts should be taken to Tingelstad, on the Eggedal river, which may be fished up to Medalen. The road runs by it all the way. Good trout-fishing may be had in the Logen river, already spoken of, all the way up to Opdal: the road runs by it to this place. And further up this river the fishing is good, but the accommodation very inferior. The north-western part of this Amt, owing to its inaccessibility, is but little known to the fisherman; but should dirt, fleas, | and poor fare not prove insuperable impediments, there is little question but that capital sport may be found. In the southern part of this Amt the shooting is poor; but both in Hallingdal and Nummedal excellent ryper-shooting may be had. Opdal will be found a tolerable and convenient station as head-quarters. In the north and north-western parts reimdeer are numerous, especially on Reensfjeld, Hemsedals Fjeld ; in the extreme north, Nystols Fjeld and Halling- skarven. Elk are rare. Bears, principally in the northern districts, are not uncommon. The ayerage number killed is 1412. In 1860, however, 23 bears were killed in this Amt. CHRISTIANS AMT, 73 CHRISTIANS AMT. This province borders on the Midsen lake, Hede- marken, and Agershuus Amts, on the south and east; on the north it is bounded by Romsdals Amt, and part of South Throndhjem Amt; and on the west and south by Romsdals and Buskeruds Amt. It is divided into three Fogderies—Thoten, Valders, and Gudbrandsdal. Its principal rivers are the Laagen and Rauma, which have their source at either end of Leesje Vand, as men- tioned above. The Laagen, which flows into the Miésen at Lilleham- mer, has many tributaries ; among the most important of which is the Otta Ely, which falls into it at Kvin- gelen, a mountain pass, famous in the annals of Nor- wegian history for the massacre of Colonel Sinclair. (Vide Murray’s ‘ Handbook.’) The trout-fishing in the Laagen is not held in high esteem. A great quantity of the large lake-trout are taken in traps at Hunnerfoss, about ten miles north of Lillehammer. Valders is situate in the southern part of this Amt, and is extremely rich in vegetation and smiling land- scape. The beautiful Randsfjord, formed by the con- fluence of the Dokka and Etnedal rivers, is about 50 miles long, and 290 feet above the level of the sea. The Valders River rises near Nystuen, the extreme top of the Fille Fjeld, and flows with a south-westerly 74 SPORT IN NORWAY. course through Aadalen, Spendilen lake, and joms the Hadeland river, as mentioned above, at Hénefoss in Ringerike., Fair fishing may be had in the Etmedal and Dokka rivers. In Vaage Vand, and its tributary the Bevra Ely, some very superior trout-fishing may be had, especially in the neighbourhood of Lom at its western extremity. Jerkin, on the Dovre Fjeld, will afford ample employ- ment for the trout-fisher, though the fish do not generally run large. In fact, there is scarcely a lake or river in the whole of this large Amt but will afford some amusement. In the fjelds around Lesje, Laurgaard, and Vaage, rein- deer are numerous, and ryper abundant. Laurgaard and Breendehaugen are very comfortable and favourite stations for sportsmen. The Jotun Fields, a little south of Vaage Vand, were noted for their quantities of reindeer; and Lomseggen, at the western end of this Vand, is perhaps the best terrain of all. Reindeer used formerly to be much more numerous in the Vaage district of the Jotun Fjelds, but seem to have diminished of late years. Altogether, I should say, to insure success, Lomseggen and the western side of the Jotun Fjelds are the most likely places. | In the neighbourhood of Lille Midsen, a few stations short of Nystuen, excellent shooting is to be had. HEDEMARKEN AMT. 715 Jerkin is a very favourite station for sportsmen, and good ryper-shooting is to be had here, and, in fact, at times all over the Dovre and its collateral branches. Indeed, the whole terrain between Gudbrandsdal and Valders will afford ample sport; but the accommodation to be got is questionable. Elk were formerly numerous in this Amt, but are now only to be found in the largest forests, west of the Randsfjord. The average number of bears killed is - wt 15° 814 HEDEMARKEN Amr. This large and important province is bounded on the north by South Throndhjem Amt; on the west by Christians Amt; on the east by Sweden; and on the south by Agershuus Amt. The Glommen river trayerses it from north to south, till it reaches Konsvinger, when it takes a turn to the west. The Orkla river runs through its north-western parts, and the Trysil, or Klar Elv, its eastern part. This latter river runs out of Fermund Sden, and empties itself into the Wenern lake. This province abounds in immense forest tracts, the principal of which are in the southern and eastern districts. The Hedemarken Boénder are a very superior class to those found in other parts of the country; many of them are exceedingly wealthy. ‘They are extremely 76 SPORT IN NORWAY. hospitable; and, as a class, are much more lively in their manners than their brethren from other parts of the country, insomuch that they are called “the Frenchmen of Norway.” The accommodation to be met with throughout Osterdalen is very superior to that found in the western parts of the country, both as regards general cleanliness and fare. | The same may also be said of the seters, which in many districts are so extremely dirty, and so thickly inhabited by lively creatures of all sorts, as to render a stay in them extremely precarious. The general scenery in this province is not im- posing: there are no fosses or picturesque valleys to charm the traveller, though the interminable forest tracts present to the eye a majestic appearance not to be found elsewhere. It is probably owing to this circumstance that Hedemarken has, comparatively, been but little visited; travellers to the north generally selecting the more picturesque route of the Dovre Fyeld. But in point of trout-fishing and general shooting combined, I should decidedly give the palm to this Amt before any other in the whole of Norway. It would, in my opinion, be quite worth the tra- veller’s while to select this route either on going to or returning from the north. Neither need the scenery HEDEMARKEN AMT. TT of the Dovre Fjeld be missed, as a cross road from Neby in Ténset runs through Foldalen to Jerkin. I do not think much of the Glommen as a fishing river, noble stream though it be. Atall events I have never had, neither have I heard of others having, much sport in it. Its tributary, the Rena Exv, however, which rises in Ovre Rendalen, and flows through Storséen, and falls into the Glommen near Aamot, is a splendid trout-stream. It may be fished all the way up from the Glommen, but is best from Diseet upwards. At this place there is a very clean and comfortable station, close to the river, and capital sport may be had here. Above this is Lonszet, at the southern end of the lake. The station here is kept by a wealthy Bonde, and is all, barring musquitoes, that the sportsman can desire. The charges, moreover, as is almost universally the case in Osterdalen, are very moderate. Trout and orayling of a large size may be taken. In 1861, two Englishmen bagged in one day, fair fishing, rather over 120 Ibs. of trout and grayling at this place. The lake is about thirty miles in length, and a small steamer plies up and down daily. At the northern end at Akre the fishing is also excellent; but the ac- commodation, unless one can get quarters at a Bonde’s Gaard, is not nearly as good as at Lénset. There is no fishing to be had higher up in Rendalen than this, 78 SPORT IN NORWAY. The fishing at Lonszt is to my mind superior to that at Akre, not only because there is a much larger extent of water, but because there are not so many boys constantly flogging the water as is the case at the northern end. At the very time that the large bag above named was made at Lonsat, I was at the northern end of the lake, and had but poor sport in comparison. The water was too high. But I discovered, and the experience of the natives confirmed me in my inference, that the fishing at Akre is best when the river is low, and at Lonseet when it is high, and wice versd. Atten- tion to this may possibly prevent disappointment. The Misra Exv, a brawling and impetuous mountain stream, flows into the Rena at Akre. It abounds in splendid fish ; but owing to its steep sides and general inaccessibility, is rather a difficult river to fish. Capital fishing may be had in the Storsden by rowing backwards and forwards across the mouth of the Rena. I have taken several fine trout and large pike here, spinning. The Trysin, or Knar Env, running out of Femund Séen, is a magnificent river, and has been rarely visited by Englishmen. When I was there about three years aco, I was told that I was the second Englishman who had ever fished in it. It can be best reached from Akre or Lonset across the mountains. A guide and HEDEMARKEN AMT. 79 a pony are indispensable. The journey takes about ten hours, and is as lonely and rugged as mountain felds covered with nothing but reindeer moss can make it. Ona clear day the Dovre may be distinctly seen in the distance; and the snow-capped top of Snehetten stands out in bold relief when the atmo- sphere is clear. The guide will require three dollars, including the pony; at least I had to pay that sum. A short distance below Femund Séen the fishing is of a most superior class; and though a good deal of netting is done, yet it is a district so thinly inhabited that there are but few to interrupt the angler. A tent, though desirable, is not absolutely requisite. Very fair quarters, and a boarded bedroom, with a bedstead and clean sheets all to yourself (!), are to be had at Sundeth Gaard—a luxury not always to be had in outlying districts. Trout of a very large size may be taken. The fishing is best from boats, as the river, "is broad. These two rivers, the Klar and the Rena, are decidedly the best rivers in the whole province. The Osen Env, fallmg into the Rena a short distance before this latter empties itself into the Glommen, is a nice trout-stream ; and the Aasta Exy, falling into the Glommen near Bjornstad, is a very likely-looking stream, and has some remarkably fishy-looking pools. 80 SPORT IN NORWAY. Of the other rivers in this Amt I know nothing, and will not, therefore, hazard any information. The general shooting in this Amt is first-rate. For elk deer, Osterdalen, Rendalen, and Solér are the best districts in the whole of Norway, and will be more especially alluded to in the chapter on elk-hunting. The mountain plateau between Rendalen and Trysil frequently abounds with reindeer. The lofty Sdlen Fjeld, midway between the two, is seldom, if ever, without them. A short distance from here there is a most comfortable and convenient ster. Capercalzie are numerous in all the forests, and hjerper are ex- tremely abundant. Good ryper-shooting may be had near Roraas, Tolgen and Trysil. Stor Elvedalen will be found an exceedingly good place for the sportsman, and comfortable quarters may be had. . Shot guns are never used by the peasants in Oster- dalen or Rendalen, so that for this reason better shooting may be had. Kongsvinger and its neighbour- hood will afford good sport, and is within easy distance on the new branch of railway from the capital. ‘¢Tn the autumn of 1859,” a friend writes me word, ‘“‘T made an exploring expedition through the forest country between the valleys of the Glommen and the Klar, and then into Sweden towards Dal Elv. This country lies to the north of that mentioned by Lloyd, and the greater portion of it had never before, I believe, HEDEMARKEN AMT. 81 been explored by any traveller. It is a wild and thinly-inhabited district, and the game is consequently but little disturbed. Bears seem to be pretty numerous in parts, and elks also. I think Gammel Lérdalen, on the Loren Ely, a tributary of the Swedish Vestre Dal Ely, would be the best head-quarters. Tolerable ac- commodation is to be had at Eric Lordalens, and a capital bear-hunter, Johann Persen, lives close by. There were a great many wild ducks on the Loren Ely, between Gammel and Ny Lérdalen. I was greatly pleased with the boats on the Loren, and the admirable way in which they are managed. The boats are very similar in form to some of the North American canoes ; and I thought that Eric and his nephew handled their poles almost as cleverly in the rapids as my old friends in New Brunswick used to do among those of the Nessissiquit. In some parts of this eastern forest district | found black game very abundant, particularly on the eastern side of the Osen Sd; it was, however, no easy matter to get shots at them.” Bears are tolerably numerous. In 1861, an officer in the Norwegian army, and an ardent sportsman, had the unprecedented good luck of shooting three bears in one day in Osterdalen. The average number killed is 12% per annum. 82 SPORT IN NORWAY. AGERsHUUs AMT. This province, the capital of which is Christiania, situate at the head of the Christiania Fjord, is bounded on the north-east by Hedemarken Amt; on the north- west by Christians Amt; and on the south-west by Buskeruds Amt, and the Christiania Fjord. It contains 404 square miles, and is divided into three Fogderies. Its scenery, though not grand, has a pleasing interchange of hill, dale, and plain, with extensive forest ranges. The principal rivers are the Vormen, running from the Midsen at Minde into the Glommen at Nes, and flowing into the Oyeren lake. The fishing in this Amt is very insignificant. To say that salmon are not found in it would be, strictly speaking, incorrect ; but for all practical purposes there is no place worth trying. And though trout may be found in every stream and little ‘“beek,” yet no sport is to be had, I may say, in any river in the whole of this province. The Nordmarken lakes, about fourteen or fifteen miles from Christiania, in the middle of an extensive vange of forest, contain many fine trout. Leave must, however, first be got from the proprietor, Baron Wedel, who preserves the fishing very strictly. Being, how- AGERHUUS AMT. 83 ever, within such easy distance, it is much fished by the ‘‘ cockaigne” of the capital ; and as the accommoda- tion in the forest cabins is as bad as well can be, it is scarcely worth while visiting, especially when much better places can be reached in as short a time. The fishing is entirely from boats, though many hundreds of small trout may be taken in the rivers. The northernmost of these lakes, Sandungen, the baron reserves for his own and his friends’ fishing. At Hidsvold, the terminus of the railway, and about forty-two miles from town, capital grayling-fishing may be had in the Vormen in the month of August; and good quarters may be found at Olsen’s hotel, in the same building as the station. Eidsvold is a convenient and central situation, as it is only three hours from town by rail, and about six by steamer from Lillehammer, the north end of the lake. It is a rarity to catch a trout here, but the grayling-fishing is really superior, In the Oyeren Lake the Perca luscio perea, pike perch (gjors, norsk) may be taken. This rare and peculiar fish attams a large size, and is frequently taken up to thirty pounds in weight. It is a quick- growing fish, and is excellent for the table. For further and fuller accounts, the reader is referred to Lloyd’s ‘Scandinavian Adventures,’ vol. 1. p. 27. Reindeer are not found in this Amt. Elk may 84 SPORT IN NORWAY. occasionally be met with in the forests in the neigh- bourhood of Hidsvold. The Nordmarken forests used formerly to be great strongholds for feathered game ; but proximity to the capital, in a country too where the game-laws cannot be strictly enforced, has of late years considerably deteriorated them. Ryper are not found in this Amt. Fair woodcock-shooting may be had in the spring near Hidsvold, and in the autumn the Vormen swarms with ducks. Excellent snipe-shooting may be had on some small islands at the northern end of the Oyeren lake. They are mostly the solitary snipe. I have heard of as many as forty couple being lulled in the day. Of late the peasants have become rather tenacious, and the stranger may get warned off. They shoot themselves now-a-days (a few years back and they would never have dreamed of letting fiy at a bird on the wing), and have rather a good plan for beating the ground. Two persons take hold of a long and heavy rope, one at either end, and let it drag on the ground. The shooter walks in the middle. The end of July and beginning of August is the best time, just before they commence mowing. ‘The route to the Oyeren is by rail to Lille Strémmen, and thence by boat for about ten miles down the river. It is easy to get back to Christiania the same evening. SMAALEHNENES AMT. 85 Bears are rarely met with in this amt, 12 of a bear being the average per annum. In severe winters, lynxes have been killed near Christiania. SMAALEHNENES AMT. This Amt is bounded on the north by Agershuus Amt; on the east by Sweden; and on the west and south by the sea and Sweden. It is very flat, and has extensive tracts of plain. In an agricultural point of view it is very important, as it contains more tillable land than any province in Nor- way. Its superficial area is 353 square miles. The Glommen river intersects it from north to south, and in its course through the northern part forms eighteen falls of no great height, and then flows tranquilly till it reaches Sarpsborg, where it forms the grand Sarpfoss, 320 feet above the sea. Salmon go up to this foss, but I have never heard of their taking the fly. In the neighbourhood of Frederickshald, memorable for the death of Charles XII., some fair salmon-fishing may be had in the Enninepats Env, flowing into Ide Fjord near Berby. Berby Gaard owns the fishing, where leave may probably be obtained. The shooting in this Amt is insignificant, neither rein, elk, nor ryper being found. Bears are seldom met with, and form an almost inappreciable average. 86 SPORT IN NORWAY. CHAPTER II. . THE WILD REINDEER AND ELK OF NORWAY, THEIR HISTORY, HAUNTS, AND HABITS.* - Prernars of all sport (let us exclude lion and tiger hunting—hear-shooting is comparatively tame), that of hunting the wild reindeer is the most inspiriting, and possesses the greatest attractions. Glorious sport as salmon-fishing may be and is, yet, to come up on the fjelds after having been pent up in the valleys for six weeks, and to breathe the pure, fresh mountain air, affords a relief to body and mind which experience alone can fully appreciate. Grouse are generally abundant (not the red grouse of Scotland, though I believe they are exactly the same species, the difference in plumage being only caused by climatic influences), and ptarmigan may be found everywhere on the high fjelds. But reindeer-hunting is the peculiar charm of the mountains of Norway. Iam not goimg to indulge * This account of the reindeer has lately appeared in the ‘ Field.’ THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. S7 in any hypothesis as to the orthographical way of spelling the word, therefore, reader, free your minds from any alarm on that score. First, let me tell you something of the history of the reindeer in Norway, which, thanks to Mr. Asbjornsen (with whose writings Mr. Dasent has made the reading public well acquainted), I am able to do. Like all other ruminant animals in Europe, the reindeer was formerly much more numerous than at the present day. It was plentiful in Germany in the days of Julius Casar. That distinguished individual, great general as he undoubtedly was, was not much of a sportsman, for he seems to have had a very confused idea of what the reindeer was, and to have confounded it with the elk and the wild ox, all of which animals he speaks of having found in the Hercynian forest. In the Louvre at Paris there is a mosaic which represents a reindeer feeding by the side of a river, the banks of which are thickly covered with fir. It is supposed to have been executed to commemorate some victory of the Romans in Germany. Cesar also mentions that the Germans used reindeer skins for clothing. They must, therefore, have been very abundant; a fact which is most satisfactorily confirmed by the fossil remains of horns and bones which are found in the old peat-bogs up to the Baltic Sea. From the northern parts of the continent of Ger- 88 SPORT IN NORWAY. many—but long before Ceesar’s time—the reindeer had wandered northwards as far, indeed, as the province of Scania, which was at that time connected with Germany ; for not only in that province, but in Born- holm, Zealand, and in other places of Denmark, bones and horns have been discovered similar in all respects to those of the animal which is now to be found on the mountains of Norway. But it is tolerably clear that the fossil remains just alluded to did not proceed from the Norwegian family. Neither did the German stock extend further north than Scania; for no traces or fossil remains are found in all the intervening terrain between Scania and the province of Nordland, whilst they are numerous in those districts immediately south of Scania. The reindeer, then, must have first invaded Norway by a different route, and at a later period. Indeed, it was not till after the land between the Gulf of Bothnia and the White Sea had appeared above the surface of the water. In remote ages, when the Siberian plains which now border on the Arctic Ocean were still immersed, the reindeer’s original home was in the high alps of Central Asia. Simultaneously with the appearance of land above the surface, it is assumed that they began to migrate westwards, keepmg to the high lands of Finland, which traverse that country, and which are, THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 89 in fact, a collateral branch of the mountain ranges of Norway. By this same route, too, the Lapps un- questionably made their first appearance into Norway. Indeed, the very existence of this extraordinary people seems to have been mysteriously connected with that of the reindeer; and it is more than probable that the reindeer served as their pilots from the remote parts of Asia to the mountain ranges of Norway, while at a later period, again, the paths made by deer and Lapps from the fjords to the fjelds served as tracks for the Gothic race on their wandering up from the coast into the interior. This seems to be the only reasonable solution of the fact that, in the alluvial deposits of Scania, fossil remains of reindeer are found bearing incontestable signs of being the remains of animals exactly similar to those now existing on the fields of Lapland and Norway, whilst in the intermediate parts not a single fossil remain has ever been discovered. The wild reindeer may be found on the high fjelds of Norway as far south as lat. 60°, wherever the altitude is above the limit of the willow and the birch, viz., about 3,400 feet. They are more numerous in the west and south-west of the mountain plateaux than in the north-east, probably owing to the absence of Lapps in those parts, who hunt them whenever and wherever they can. Neither is the wolf, the Lapp’s constant 90 SPORT IN NORWAY. companion, so numerous as in the north-eastern dis- tricts, where the mountains are skirted by inter- minable masses of forest, and where the wolves have their regular home. On the fjelds between Christiania and the province of Bergen, and in the Sztersdal fjeld, in the province of Christiansand, reindeer are more numerous than in any other part of the country. Incredible numbers of them are occasionally to be seen about Roldal and Voxli. Professor Nilsson, in his ‘ Scandinavian Fauna,’ says “that in the beginning of June, 1826, he was told that the fjelds for the breadth of about three and a half miles were so thickly covered with these animals that they resembled an immense flock of sheep. The does had just calved, and the young ones were following their dams. The herd extended so far that the eye could distinguish neither beginning nor end. Ulti- mately they divided into three parts,” &. This account recalls to mind the statements of the countless herds of antelopes in Africa, or of the buffalo in America, so often dwelt on by travellers. That branch of the Langfjeld which is bounded on the north by the Hallingjokul, and on the south by Nubseggen, is one of their favourite resorts, Some years ago it was by no means rare to meet with herds consisting of several hundreds here; and I have been only recently informed by a gentleman (now Professor THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 91 of Mineralogy at the Christiania University) who spent his youth in these parts, and had been, moreover, a very skilful hunter, that he once saw a_ herd numbering between 5,000 and 10,000! Such sights are of course rare, and perhaps less common now than ever. In that extensive mountain tract which includes the highest fjelds of Norway, between Gudbrandsdal, Val- ders, and Bergen Stift, by the Bygdin and Gjendin Lakes, and on Lesjo and the Romsdal Fjeld, large herds of reindeer may be found the whole year round; and it is no uncommon sight in the autumn to see herds numbering. several thousands, whilst on the Rundene and on the Dovre Feld, between MHallingdal and Leerdal, herds of from 500 to 1,000 deer are frequently seen. It often happens that, owing to wind and weather, the too-frequent attention of hunters, and the incessant persecutions of their old enemies the wolves, the reindeer entirely disappear from one district and appear in preponderating numbers in another. Although, as above stated, they are to be found on all the high lands from the North Cape to Setersdal (z.e., through 10° of latitude), yet it is especially in the great continuous mountain ranges or plateaux, where the snow lies the summer through on the fjeld sides, that the reimdeer properly have their home. 92 SPORT IN NORWAY. But, from the causes I have referred to above, they seldom remain on any one spot for a long time; indeed, they are constantly on the move, so that it by no means follows that they will be found in the same parts two consecutive years. ‘The Dovre Fjeld, with its branches to the east, west, and south, is one of their favourite haunts. The Jotun Fjeld is probably the central point of that family, the divisions of which roam through the north-western parts of Gudbrandsdal, Valders, Nordfjord, Sondfjord, and Sogn. The im- mense plateau lying south of the road from Hallingdal to the Sogne Fjord, and containmg numerous snow- capped mountains, the western declivities of which are covered with Hardanger glaciers or Folgefond, is not so sharply separated from the Jotun Fjeld, as to prevent the tribes which properly belong to each range at times intermingling with each other. On the extensive ranges between Hallingdal, Nummedal, and Thele- marken in the east, and Voss, Hardanger, and Ryfylke in the west, large quantities of reindeer are to be met with. From the interior arms of the Hardanger Fjord the sportsman will perhaps reach the best terrain for hunting more readily than by any other route; but the want of anything like decent accommodation must prove a serious drawback to the amateur, unless he comes provided with a tent and canteen all complete. At Lien and Argehoved, near the Mjés lake, in THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 93 Ovre Thelemarken, between Lanefjeld and Nubseggen, there are fine tracts for reindeer. Indeed, the in- habitants of these districts are “‘ mighty hunters,” and subsist principally on venison. Also from Lerdal, Lyster, Jostedal—branches of the Sogne Fjord—good opportunities for sport may be had; but here, too, the accommodation is extremely deficient. Maristuen, above Lerdal, one station short of Nystuen, the highest part of the Fille Fjeld, will, however, afford good accommo- dation, and is an excellent place to put up at for those who purpose hunting in the Sulitind Fjeld; and Fortun, the highest pomt in Lyster, is a good station for those who wish to hunt on the Hurrung Feld. Nystuen (not to be confounded with the one above), at the head of Valders, will also be found to afford decent accommodation. Laurdal, in Gudbrandsdal, is a favourite resort for Englishmen (excellent general shooting is to be had in the vicinity) ; but it has been so much shot over during the last two or three years that it may be questionable whether good sport is to be relied on there. The fjeld round Vaage parish will afford good sport, and especially Lomseggen, at the western extremity of the lake. The plateau between Rendalen and Trysil, on the borders of Sweden, is occasionally good for reindeer. The accommodation in the seters of this district is 94 SPORT IN NORWAY. excellent ; indeed, no other part of the country can vie with Osterdal for the comfort, cleanliness, and good fare to be met with.* Though wild reindeer are certainly to be met with in Finmark and in Nordland, yet they are comparatively few in number. Most of the deer in these provinces are tame, and belong to the Lapps. It has been computed that they amount to over 28,000 head. To the Lapp the reimdeer is his sole possession, so that it is needless to say how jealously they are guarded. Indeed, there is a heavy penalty for shooting one of them purposely ; and I would recommend no English- man to indulge in eccentricities, for the Lapps occasion- ally take the law into their own hands, as the following history will show :— “‘Some years ago a number of convicts escaped from the fortress at Vardohuus. In order to obtain food they had recourse to killing tame reindeer. This exasperated the Lapps beyond measure. They tracked these unfortunate poachers from place to place, slowly, but as surely as the bloodhound follows on the track of a runaway slave. For years nothing was heard of them, till at last their blanched skeletons were found, bearing evident signs that their former immates had fallen into the hands of their remorseless and avenging pursuers.” Therefore, I repeat (verb. sap.), be careful * Vide Appendix. THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 95 how you meddle with reindeer in Finmark. The Lapps are good shots, and very handy with their rifles. I shall now, after having given the principal habitats (and I may state that my information has been derived directly from several of the best and most experienced Norwegian hunters), allude to the habits of the wild reindeer, together with some occasional re- marks as to the manner of hunting them, which will, I think, prove of general use; but, before doing so, I would venture to caution any Englishman against going up the fjelds too lightly clad. We are not as a nation given to muffle up, and are rather apt to run into the opposite extreme. But for reindeer hunting it is quite necessary to have thick and warm clothing ; for it often happens that the sportsman will have to lie concealed for hours behind a rock after having got into a tre- mendous perspiration, and the sharp mountain air, and now and then a snow-storm (by no means a rarity at high altitudes in August), not to speak of a drench- ing rain, rapidly reduce the temperature of the body, and a severe cold may be the result. Prudence is ab- solutely necessary; for to be laid up with a rheumatic fever, with no better accommodation than a seeter can afford, and the attendance of a ster pige (girl), whatever be her charms (and I confess I never could detect them), out of reach of a doctor, and 1,000 miles from home, is not the most pleasmmg predicament to find oneself in. - 96 SPORT IN NORWAY. The reindeer is unquestionably the most numerous of the large game of Norway, the red deer and elk being comparatively few in number. Yet, in proportion to their number, the quantity which falls a prey to the hunter’s rifle is very unimportant ; for they frequent the most inaccessible parts of the country, and nature has, moreover, provided them with extremely sensitive organs of smell.* It is of course a matter of extreme difficulty, and in fact only approximately possible, to ascertain with any degree of precision the numbers of wild reindeer which are annually slaughtered. But when one takes into consideration the quantity of venison which is to be found in almost every house in those districts which are frequented by these ani- mals, bearing in mind that nearly every farmer is a hunter, some of whom kill as many as fifty head per annum (not unfrequently ten on a single excursion), it cannot be computed at less than between 2,000 and 3,000 yearly. Such being the case, there must at least be from 20,000 to 30,000 wild reindeer in Norway, in order to admit of such a yearly diminution. Perhaps it would be nearer the mark to estimate it at nearly double this number ; for it is hard to suppose that one in every ten is annually killed; and this is the more * An old Norwegian hunter told a friend of mine that he believed great numbers perished annually by falling into the crevices of the glaciers, and that these, added to what the wolves killed, far out- numbered those which fell a prey to the hunter’s rifle. THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 97 probable when it is borne in mind that the flocks of tame deer in Finland and Nordland amount to 28,000 head, as above stated.* During the winter months the reindeer keep to the high fjelds. Their food at this time consists almost entirely of remdeer moss and other lichens. Occa- sionally they descend into the regions of the birch and willow to eat the bark from the trees; but in spring they commence to migrate downwards from their lofty altitudes to visit the grassy dales in the vicinity of the seeters, while further on in the summer they may often be seen grazing in the valleys between the high fjelds. Occasionally they may be seen in early summer grazing * Mr. Asbjornsen is my authority here; but I must confess the number reputed to be killed annually seems exaggerated. Mr. A. speaks of one Hans Mo, “ who annually killed from 40 to 50 head ;” and of a hunter on the Dovre, “ who annually sells reindeer hides to the value of 70 dollars, which must have been supplied by at least 40 deer.” (N.B. May not some of these have been purchased?) On this point a friend writes me word, who has had much practical ex- perience on the fjelds of Norway: “I was told a few years ago of one of the Gudbrandsdal hunters, who had been out six weeks, having killed six deer, as a wonderful instance of luck. B. tells me of a first-rate Vaage hunter, who once killed 13 in a year, and he says that the great man of all, ‘Old Joe,’ who is I suppose, par excellence, the ‘mighty hnnter’ of Norway, who has been at it without cessation for fifty years, living almost all his life up in the high fjelds amongst the deer, has slain in his half-century between 500 and 600. I think one may judge also from the success of our English sportsmen. I have three or four in my eye now, first-rate stalkers and capital shots, who have spent several seasons on the fjelds, with sport varying from zero to, I think, nine head as the maximum ever reached, and I am sure any one of them would con- sider five deer in a season as ample recompense for all his toil.” H 98 SPORT IN NORWAY. quietly amongst the cattle. Should the musquitoes prove very troublesome the does. betake themselves again to the regions of snow; but the old bucks, whose hides are not usually of such a delicate texture, find the sweet grass in the lowlands too attractive to be re- linquished for the sake of a few troublesome gnats, and get uncommonly plump and fat. If the summer is an uncommonly rainy one, as has been the case for the last three years, the numerous fungi which the moisture draws forth seduces them into the Scotch and spruce fir forests, where they grow in abundance. They begin to shed their coats about the latter part of July, previously to which they are of a greyish-white colour ; whilst the operation is going on, dappled; and afterwards a dark greyish-brown. A full-grown buck measures about six to seven feet in length, and about four feet in height. A very large buck might, perhaps, reach four feet six inches. The head is rather elongated, the nozzle thick, the eyes large and prominent (expressively beautiful, I always think), the ears about six inches in length, and oval. There are two beautiful specimens in the Zoological Museum at the University of Christiania. One of these, which is a very fine one, was shot by a friend of mine on the fjelds, a few miles south of Elstad station in Gudbrandsdal. It was the year of the coronation; . and consequently the station-masters were often put THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 99 to their wits’ ends to provide something better than *‘ fladbrod,” thick milk, and boiled trout for the royal personages and their suites. One day (it was a Saturday) my friend, who was, as his custom every year is, bivouacking on the fields in the neighbourhood, received an urgent and pressing message from the station-master, praying him to send ‘by the following Monday at the latest ten brace ot grouse. Now, the message did not arrive till late on the Saturday evening. What was to be done? Hither he and his companion must go out on the Sunday, which they were not in the habit of doing, or else her Majesty would not get much of a dinner, that was certain. “Necessitas non habet leges;” and so off they started early on the following morning. Blush not, reader, if you happen to be a strict Sab- batarian ! for the nonce, loyalty seemed to have been the predominant feeling in their minds; and if it will at all add to your satisfaction, let me hasten to tell you that they determined as soon as ever they had each shot five brace (for they were to go in different directions) to return home and atone for their misdeeds by a little penance. JI don’t feel at liberty to tell you what this penance was to consist in, but will leave it to your imagination to find out. Well, off they started. The elder of the two had soon accomplished his task; and not tempted by the tameness of the birds to follow 100 SPORT IN NORWAY. them up, returned, according to agreement, to head- quarters. No sooner had he got back than he began to look about for his companion, who had not yet ap- peared. After waiting a little time, and offerimg up a cloud of incense, he espied his friend walking slowly, and apparently as if he had been unsuccessful, home- wards. ‘‘ What! not got anything? Well, we must go out again. It will not do to let her Majesty go without her dinner,” &c., &c. But while he thus held forth a sly leer came over his younger companion’s face, and his frequent glances behind made him also look in that direc- tion. “ Halloa! what is that ? why, ‘Gud bevar mig!’ ” It was a magnificent reindeer, a buck with royal antlers! Like Jacob of old, he had found his quarry close to hand, within a mile of their quarters, and was fortunate enough to get near him and bring him down. There was no need to go after ryper then—a venison haunch would be more appreciated than grouse. And so there was rejoicing in the camp. The animal was flayed ; the haunch and the five brace of grouse at once sent off to the station; and so it came to pass that the queen had a better dinner that day than on any other on her route up to Throndhjem. As it was such a noble animal, and the circumstances under which it was shot so in- teresting, the skin was sent to the University ; and there you may see it for yourself, and if you ask for the history of it you will find my statement corroborated. THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 101 On the under side of the neck the hair is long and hangs down in a peculiar manner. It has a short tail, covered sparsely with short stiff hairs. Generally, the reindeer is somewhat smaller than the red deer, and its legs are shorter and appear to be more nimble. While the tame reindeer seldom attains a greater weight than 130 to 140 pounds, the wild bucks are often found the double of this. I have heard of two bucks being shot on the Lasjé Fjeld weighing about 324 pounds each. The outer layer of fat on one of them weighed forty- eight pounds ! The antlers are smooth, rounded off, and flat on the inside ; those of the doe are of the same form as the bucks, only smaller. The periods at which they shed their horns differ greatly. The old bucks usually shed theirs before Christmas, whilst the does and young bucks do not shed them till the spring. In the former, they begin to grow again in the summer, and are then covered with a soft hairy coating of skin. By the middle of September they are perfectly developed, and have now become hard and firm. At this time they may often be seen rubbing their antlers against sandbanks, in order to get rid of the coating of skin, which hangs down in long strips, and stamping with their hoofs on them till their horns are quite bare. During this operation they frequently lose a great deal of blood. Should the weather be sunny their 102 SPORT IN NORWAY. antlers assume a blood-red appearance; but if rainy they are quite white. But towards the rutting season the horns of the bucks are often of a darkish-brown hue, owing to the does “staling” upon them. In the case of the young bucks the above operation takes place later on in the season, and of the does last of all. Hjorthéis, in his description of Gudbrandsdal, speaks of “a smaller deer, which he considers to be the roe, and which, he says, is sometimes to be met with in large flocks.” With all due deference to the dis- tinguished naturalist, this statement is, I am inclined to think, incorrect; for the roe deer cannot live under the same conditions of climate as the reindeer, and has, moreover, never been found in Norway. Stull, several of the peasants believe in their existence, though their testimony is no more to be relied on than that of Hjorthois or the worthy Pontoppidan. The phenomenon of the appearance of these smaller animals has been a sore puzzle to Scandinavian natur- alists; but it is now generally supposed that they have been reindeer which have haunted the loftiest and most inaccessible regions, where a severe climate and scanty nourishment have been ill calculated to produce physical development; or else, that they have been © stragelers from tame herds, and have subsequently relapsed into their original wildness. Tither of the THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 103 above suppositions is certainly a far more reasonable conclusion to arrive at than to have to believe in the existence of the roe in Norway. As has been above remarked, the tame reindeer are considerably smaller than the wild. Moreover, the reindeer found in Spitzbergen are much smaller than the wild remdeer in Norway, though belonging to one and the same species. It is a well-known fact that a difference of 500 feet in altitude brings one to a tem- perature and vegetable growth corresponding to those existing under a latitude 200 miles further north. Now, according to this computation, thé reindeer which frequent the highest parts of the Jotun Fjeld (which is two, three, or perhaps four thousand feet above the plateaux in the east and south-eastern parts) should correspond in size with those found 850 to 1,700 miles further to the north, which brings one to about to Spitzbergen.* Indeed, in the valleys of the Jotun Fjeld, whose peaks rear their summit up through endless masses of ice and snow which never melts, a Polar climate and a vegetation similar to that in Spitzbergen is found to exist. But to come back to our subject. In the summer the food of the reindeer consists mainly of grass, leaves, buds of birch, &c., and moss. It seems especially to have a predilection for acid and bitter plants. The * And yet some large bucks have been killed in the Jotun Field. 104 SPORT IN NORWAY. Ranunculus glacialis, called by the peasants ‘rein flower,” is a great favourite with it. This beautiful and delicate little plant seems to be the advanced guard of the flower world towards the regions of perpetual snow. It is found on the very edge of the glaciers, and is as pale as the melting snow itself. Its bud has a reddish tinge, like to that which the rays of the setting sun cast over a boundless waste of snow. It is a lovely flower to be placed so high up out of ken of the civilised world. No insect seeks for honey within its corolla; no butterfly ventures up to these ice-bound regions. It is peculiarly the reindeer’s flower. They will even scrape the snow away with their hoofs to find it; and wherever the hunter sees the ‘‘rein flower” is untouched, he may take it as a sign that there are no deer in the neighbourhood. Besides this, the bitter Gentiana lutea, called in Thelemarken “ rein sorrel ;’ Dryas octopetala, or “ rein grass ;” the Cerastiwm, the Rumex digynus, and the buds and leaves of the dwarf birch, Betula nana, are eagerly devoured by them. But in winter the rein- deer moss is almost their sole food, and of this nature has bestowed a plentiful and inexhaustible supply. During the winter the herds usually graze only where there is snow. The largest and strongest bucks go in front, and scrape away the snow with their hoofs ; for, beg deprived of their only natural means of ee tt 1 THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 105 defence, they are unable to withstand the vicious pokes in the ribs which they receive from the does. This is the reason why the old bucks, after having shed their horns, separate from the main herd. The reindeer is an uncommonly sure-footed animal ; it runs with as great ease over the steepest slopes as on the level plain, Its broad hoofs keep it from sinking deep into the snow, and thus it does not so frequently fall a prey to the wolf as the long-legged elk, who gets completely bogged directly he attempts to make a run for it. Its general hardiness, and the smallness of its requirements, render it admirably adapted to the rugged and inhospitable regions it inhabits. Some twenty years ago the experiment was made of keeping tame reindeer herds in several parts of Hallinedal, the Fille Fjeld, Hardanger, &c. At first the plan was found to answer, but gradually the animals diminished and died away from various causes, so that they have now quite disappeared. The causes alluded to were as follows:—The tame herds attracted large flocks of wolves, which found the animal in a domesticated state a comparatively easy prey; many also got enticed away by their wild brethren ; and, lastly, the Bonder complained that they spoiled the grass for their cattle in the neighbourhood of the seters: for it is a known fact that cows, sheep, &c., will not graze where a herd of reindeer has been 106 SPORT IN NORWAY. feeding. Thus, in about fifteen years from their firs introduction into those parts, they were entirely era- dicated. I shall now speak of the manner in which the Norwegians hunt them. It should, however, first be remarked that reindeer always travel against the wind, their sensitive organs of smell enabling them to detect an enemy at a long distance. Whenever, therefore, a westerly wind, for instance, has prevailed for any length of time, the hunter may expect to find them on the westward side of their favourite haunts, and so on. The sportsman will find these remarks of general use. The regular Norwegian hunter, whose principal sub- sistence depends on venison, builds himself a hut of stone and earth in the tract he intends to hunt, always selecting a place where there is sufficient pasture for his horse. From this hut he sallies forth in the morning, returning at night if the chase has not led him too far away, when either he must bivouac under the lee of some rocky ledge, or seek, if possible, the friendly shelter of a neighbouring seter. He is usually provided with a telescope, and takes his dog with him, a little wiry terrier sort of a dog, with long pointed nose, short ears, and curly tail. Unless itis a prodigy it is held ina leash. These dogs have a remarkably keen scent, and when well tramed are a THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 107 very valuable acquisition. I have known as much as 107., and even more, given for one, which, though perhaps a small sum in an English sportsman’s eyes, is a little fortune to a Norwegian hunter. They can scent a deer a surprisingly long way off, when they give unmistakeable signs to their master that they are on trail. I have known them scent deer three miles distant when the wind has been blowing fresh. They seldom or never give tongue, but should one ever transgress in this way, besides sundry pokes and kicks, accompanied by such a volley of oaths* as only a Norwegian, I think, is capable of evolving, it has to submit to the indignity of a muzzle. To insure sport an Englishman should always have an experienced hunter and dog with him ; for otherwise he may come plump into the very middle of a herd, but out of shooting distance. Moreover, if a deer be wounded, the dog is then of inestimable service, for he will follow it and rarely fail to bring it to bay. When a hunter has succeeded in killing a deer, he immediately proceeds to flay it, takes the entrails out, * T think the following specimens, which require a tolerable acquaintance with the language to be able to understand, will con- firm this opinion. The Bonder seem to have an ascending scale, beginning with a simple “—— take you” to ‘‘ May the boil your heart’s blood ;” ‘May he play a game of five-card loo in your sinful bowels;” “May he cut up your liver and lights into such small pieces that the lice may have to go on their knees to eat them up ;” with many intermediate ones, but this is the climax! 108 SPORT IN NORWAY. and quarters it. He then wraps the skin round the venison, and buries it in a hole in the ground, care being taken to prevent the gluttons and foxes from paying it a visit, by heaping heavy stones uponit. He then hurries home for his horse, and carries it away the following morning. Reindeer principally rely on thew keen sense of smell to guard against surprise. The sight of a human being does not seem to cause them much alarm. I once shot at a reimdeer which was a long distance off, and missed. Directly I had fired the animal stopped and quietly scrutinised me, then trotted off for a hundred yards or so, and stopped again. It was monstrously tantalising, for I had plenty of time to reload, only I was far out of shooting - distance. Sir J. Franklin remarks this peculiarity in the North American reindeer. ‘‘ Their curiosity,” he writes, ‘‘ often causes them to come close up and wheel round the hunter.” In the rutting time the Lapps frequently tie up a couple of tame does to serve as decoys, while they themselves lie in ambush. In the middle of the day the remdeer take their siesta, always selecting for this purpose as inaccessible a place as possible. It is then almost an impossibility to get within shot of a herd, as some of their number always do duty as sentinels. THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. 109 When a herd is on the move it is worse than useless to lie in their road, as their sharp noses readily detect danger, and they will start off in wild flight; and it is of little avail to endeavour to follow them in their rear. Should the herd disappear over a hill, the enthusiastic and inexperienced hunter will think “ now is the time to push on ;” but not so the cool old hand, for he knows well, from dearly-bought experience, that after having disappeared as above said, they wniversally throw out three or four of their rear guard, which retrace their steps till they come back to the top of the hill down which the main body has only just gone. ‘These remain there for some minutes, carefully examining the whole country in their rear; and not - until they have satisfied themselves that there is no cause for apprehension will they quit the spot. They then scamper back and rejoin their companions, who are awaiting them out of shot of the summit of the said hill. Many and many a chance has been lost by incautiously appearing too soon from behind one’s hiding place. The best and only safe way of coming within shot of a herd that is on the move is to approach them on the flank. But great caution is necessary lest a straggler gets wind of you. The above remarks I have been favoured with by a friend of mine, a very experienced hunter, and they will, I hope, prove useful. 110 SPORT IN NORWAY. To the mountaineer the wild reindeer is of in- estimable value, its flesh, hide, antlers, marrow, fat, &c., all being employed in several branches of domestic economy. When dried in the wind, the flesh is often used as a substitute for bread. The learned but not very trustworthy bishop, Pontoppidan, speaks of a use to which the antlers are put :—* When the reindeer shed their antlers, and the new ones begin to appear, they are covered with a sort of skin, and are so soft that they can be cut with a knife like a sausage, and are considered a great delicacy. Hunters eat them raw for lack of provision when on the high fjelds.” ‘This is not very improbable (as at this period the antlers consist of a web of small blood-vessels and stringy fibres), especially when it is borne in mind that hunters will not unfrequently take a draught of the blood from the fresh killed animal in lack of better nourishment. But the following remark of the worthy prelate is not quite so easily to be swallowed. He says: ‘ There is a worm generated under the outer skin of the antlers, which it eats off when they have attained their full > size ;” and that ‘‘they have a peculiar hole in the eyelid to peep out of when they cannot hold their eyes open on account of the drifting snow; a proof,” adds his reverence, ‘‘ of the wise providence of the Creator.” Reindeer venison is an extremely wholesome and nu- tritious food. In flavour it very much resembles that ‘O1LL ‘d anf oF THE WILD REINDEER OF NORWAY. Fit of the red deer, but is somewhat darker in colour; it should be soaked for twelve hours previously to being roasted or baked, in vinegar and water. Unless it is well larded it will eat somewhat dry, and it should be served up with a sauce made of sour ‘cream. I have never eaten better sauces than those made by Norwegian cooks. Our English game would, in my opinion, be much improved by them. The following is the receipt of the sauce with which they serve up all sorts of game, and it cannot be too strongly re- commended :— RECEIPT FOR SAUCE USED WITH GAME, &c.—Game in Norway is always baked in an iron saucepan over a hot plate ; a lump of butter is put im with it, and, when this has melted, about a tablespoon of water is added. It must be constantly stirred, and more water added as required. When the bird, or whatever it be, is done, the gravy is poured into a clean frying-pan, then one or two tablespoonfuls of sow cream are added, and the whole stirred about till it boils; it is seasoned with pepper and salt to taste. Sour cream is preferable to sweet cream. Game, &c., should always be well larded. When the rutting season approaches (about the middle of September), the flesh of the bucks begins to have a strong and unpleasant flavour. That of the does is, however, eatable till over Christmas. Young 1 SPORT IN NORWAY. venison is best in August. I would recommend any one who has a fancy to try what rein venison is like to write word to Mr. Bennett, of Christiania, who I am sure would, with his usual affability, execute any commission. There are few things better than a venison steak before it has been frozen; but this is only to be had up the country, as the Bénder wait till the frost has set in before sending it to the Christiania market. | One word of advice to novices, and I have done. Do not shoot a deer before the 1st of August, and don’t take pot-shots at fabulous distances! THE ELK IN NORWAY. 113 THE ELK IN NORWAY. In olden times, when the population of Europe was considerably less than at the present day, and when the climate withal was much colder, and but little land, comparatively, under cultivation, the elk-deer was com- mon in Central Europe. Julius Cesar speaks of it as being found in the Hercynian forest; and, indeed, the Romans knew of its existence in Scandinavia, with which country they had commercial relations, and where they also had regular agents established. The Greeks, however, do not seem to have been acquainted with it, if we may take the absence of any allusion to it in the works of Aristotle or Herodotus as a negative proof. The elk has long since disappeared from Germany. I believe 1746 is the date when the last elk was shot in Saxony. In company with the reindeer, the elk made its appearance in the peninsula of Scandinavia at a time when the province of Scania was connected with the continent of Germany. Judging from the numerous fossil remains that have been found in the peat-bogs and morasses of Scania, it may be inferred that elk-deer were formerly very numerous here, and also of a larger size than the animals now existing. And even in the mediaeval ages they must have been tolerably plentiful I 114 SPORT IN NORWAY. in these parts, for among the remains of slaughtered animals which a few years ago were discovered in the vicinity of the convents in that province, elk bones and horns were found in abundance, bearing evident marks of the knife or saw of the cook. But gradually, as the land was reclaimed and put under cultivation, and, in consequence, became more thickly inhabited, the elk-deer seem to have shifted their quarters more towards the north, where the immense ranges of forest and wild mountain tracts afforded an insuperable (in those days) hindrance to the advance of civilization. It appears from some very old documents that the elk-deer is mentioned as one of the “ noxious animals” in one of the provinces of Sweden ; it may therefore be assumed that it was numerous in those days. At the present day it is found in Sweden, south of the province of East Gothland, and is more numerous in Jemteland, . Herjedal, and Dalarne, than in any other parts of the country. Angermannland is its northernmost boun- dary. It is not found, I believe, above the limit of Scotch fir, or about 3,000 feet above the sea. Before proceeding to speak of its former and present habitats in Norway; it may be mentioned that elk-deer may be found in Finland, Lithuania, and Russia from the White Sea to the Caucasus. It is also found in the forests of Siberia to the river Lena, and im the neigh- THE ELK IN NORWAY. TEL) bourhood of the Altai Mountains. In parts of North America it is found in comparatively large numbers. The elk was formerly found much further north in Norway than is the case at the present day, and was also much more numerous. But towards the middle and latter part of the eighteenth century its numbers were considerably reduced. It was hunted remorselessly ; and as its flesh, hide, &., were extremely valuable, especially in a cold climate, where provisions were scarce, and warm clothing at a premium, it is not very surprising that “everybody’s hand was against” the poor creature. At that time it could not look to the law for protection, and had therefore to trust only to the compassion and better feelings of the Norwegian Bonde. Of course there were some few cases where attempts at protection were made, but these were few and far between; and even the marvellous tales which were current and were firmly believed by the Norwegian peasantry (who are even now-a-days far more ready to trust in the supernatural than the natural), e. 7., ‘‘ that elks, when wounded, have been known to make for the nearest farm-house, and have then sprung on to the roof, where they have knelt down and begged for their life,” did not prove a sufficient safeguard. By the beginning of the present century it was tolerably evident that the elk-deer would soon take its 116 SPORT IN NORWAY. rank among the animals of bygone days. In fact, between the years 1810 and 1830 there were only about three places where they were to be found, namely, im some parts’ of the province of Throndhjem and in Oster- dalen. Fortunately, government now stepped in, and in 1818 passed a law that not a single elk should be killed for the next twenty years. In 1845 this strin- gent but necessary enactment was again modified, and now the law stands as follows:—that ‘“elks can only be killed between August lst and November Ist, and then only one on each separate property, under a penalty of forty dollars.” This law is, however, fre- quently broken. For the penalty is so laid that half goes to the informer, half to the poor-box of the district in which the elk is shot. Thus if A. shoots an elk at an unlawful time, his brother B. has nothing to do but cut off to the nearest Foged, or magistrate, and lay an information against him, and recover half the fine ; and as the flesh and hide, &c. are quite worth that sum, the poacher is not a loser, and has the fun into the bargain. The penalty is to be raised shortly, and several alterations, in fact, are to be made in the game laws * of Norway. As may be imagined, it could be no very difficult — thing to eradicate animals of such size from the face * These will be found at the end of the chapter. THE ELK IN NORWAY. uo i of any country. Mr. Asbjérnsen instances a case in point, where the elk was formerly numerous, and is now non inventus. And that is in the Aland Isles, where, “ during the Finnish war, they were so plentiful that the army was provisioned with elk venison instead of beef.” During the last twenty years, however, elk-deer have been steadily on the increase, not only owing to the protection afforded them by the law, but because they have abandoned the more northerly and easterly dis- tricts for quarters where the wolf has not been in such large numbers. And though many have been, espe- cially during the last few winters, shot at unlawful times, yet the indignation that was then evinced, and the publicity that was given to the cases, have done a good deal towards stopping this poaching. A few years ago, elk were numerous in the Trysil forests, which adjoin Sweden. But so were the wolves ; and these committed such havoc amongst them as to drive them more to the westward. Besides Namdal, and some other places in Throndh- jem Stift (diocese), elk-deer may almost always be found throughout Osterdal, in Solérs, on the borders of Sweden, in the valley of the Glommen, Odal, Vingers, and in some of the forests of Romerige and Smaale- nene. . They are not unfrequently seen in the forests near 118 SPORT IN NORWAY. Eidsvold, about forty-two miles from Christiania, and in many parts of Hedemarken. The engineer of the new railway from from Stor-Hamar (half-way up the Midsen lake) to Grundszt, told me that one of the first trains they ran on that line nearly proved the death of a magnificent elk. Somehow or other it had got on the line as the train was coming up, and being unused to the strange appearance “of a great long thing with a green and red head puffing and skreeking like anythink,” as the Yorkshireman said, it stood as if entranced to gaze on the strange phenomenon ; and had not the engine-driver pulled up in time, it would in all probability have been run over. Last autumn, 1862, two elk-deer astonished us in Christiania by making their appearance in the suburbs of the town. They had swum over a branch of the fjord, and had found their way into a man’s kitchen-garden, much to the alarm of sundry old women and several little children. One of them ultimately got killed, I regretted to hear. Before proceeding to speak of their habits, manner of living, &c., I would strongly recommend any Eng- lish sportsman who feels desirous of having an elk- hunt to make a note of the following hints. By bearing them in mind he may stand a good chance of success. Let him then go by train from Christiania to Lille Strom, half an howr’s trip, and from thence take the THE ELK IN NORWAY. 119 branch line to Kongsvinger, getting out at Skarnes. Next, he must find his way by carriole to Stormoen, and inquire at the post-office for one ‘‘ Frederik Olsen Knauserud, in Nordre Odal under Tannes.” He is an old and experienced hunter, and has shot not only numbers of elk, but more bears have fallen to his rifle, I have been told, than is the case with any other Norwegian. He is well up to the craft; has a good dog ; and as “ Nordre Odal” is, perhaps, the very best place for elk in the whole country, it is not unlikely that some good sport may be had. Some friends of mine hunted there last autumn, and saw three or four elk, if not more, killing two. The principal food of the elk consists of the leaves of young birch shoots, the bark of different kinds of trees, grass, and young twigs. The birch, mountain ash, and willow tribe seem to constitute their favourite food. Of grasses, they like those the best which grow in marshy places; and the Caltha palustris is perhaps above everything else their most delicate morsel. In the rutting season they are said to devour eagerly the Ledwm palustre, which plant is supposed to excite their amatory propensities. When hard pressed, and when their favourite food is scarce, they will eat the berries and shoots of the juniper, Scotch, and occasion- ally the spruce fir, fungi, and lichens. Unripe corn proves an attraction which they cannot 120 SPORT IN NORWAY. resist ; and then their visits undoubtedly cause a great deal of damage to the farmer, almost as much perhaps as the depredations of an elephant in a rice-field in India, But as soon as ever the corn begins to ripen, and the halm to harden, they discontinue their incur- sions. While grazing, they place their fore feet far back, and bend the body over. During the winter time they eat the twigs of birch, willow, and ash; and in lieu of these, remdeer moss. Two contrary opinions have been held in Norway as to whether the elk committed injuries among the forest trees or not. Some asserted that it did an incalculable amount of harm to the young trees; others, that it was quite harmless. As is usually the case with ex- treme opinions, both are wrong. In comparison with its large body, the elk requires but little food. For with increasing years it becomes idle and lazy in its habits. It rests during the night, never feeding in the dark, except when the moon is shining very brightly. Moreover, like the cow and the sheep, a considerable time is occupied in chewing the cud. During the rutting season, the males are very savage, and dire are the conflicts that take place be- tween them to gain the affections of the female. From their great length of leg they are enabled THE ELK IN NORWAY. 121 to lash out tremendously with their hind feet ; but they usually defend themselves against wolves, dogs, &c., with their fore feet, aiming their blows with the rapidity of lightning, and so turning the hoof as to strike the enemy with the sharp point. The pairing season lasts about three weeks. At this time the male and female always select the loneliest and most inaccessible spot possible in the middle of the thickest part of the forest—not more than fifty or sixty feet square—and never leave it on any account, except when frightened away ; and even then they are sure to return thither after the lapse of a few hours. During this season, the male may frequently be heard to emit a curious sound with its long lips, resembling a sharp crack, accompanied by a snorting like that of a fright- ened horse, only much louder and stronger. As the calving time draws near, the female retires into the loneliest spot she can find, always selecting one which is thickly overgrown with bushes. Half an hour or so after its birth, the calf attempts to stand up, being usually helped to get on its legs by its mother’s nose. The young ones suck the dam till after the following rutting season; in fact, as long as there is any milk to be had. When they get a good size, they kneel down like lambs in performing this operation; and when they have grown too big even to suck comfortably in 1232 SPORT IN NORWAY. this posture, they will lie flat down on their backs. They continue to follow the mother till the third year. The females evince great affection for their young, and have even been known to attack human beings when an attempt has’ been made to deprive them of them. But it seldom happens that the young calves are captured, for they are tolerably fleet of foot. If hunted they will turn, and run in a ring like a hare; and if brought to bay by a dog will lash out vigorously with their fore feet. The female goes with young about nine months, and brings forth towards the middle of June. The first time she has only one calf, but subsequently two, and occasionally three, but very rarely. The calves are not spotted at their birth, but are of a light- brown colour. The elk is a first-rate swimmer, and goes ahead through the water with great velocity, making the water hiss and foam again. It is also able to traverse swamps without sinking into the mire. If the ground be very soft, it has recourse to an artful expedient. As soon as it begins to feel itself sinking, it sits down on its hams, stretches out its fore legs, and regularly “punts” itself along; but should it happen that the swamp is too soft even to admit of this, it adopts the same plan as the mountain ponies do under similar emer- gencies. It throws itself over on one side, draws its THE ELK IN NORWAY. 123 feet together, and kicks them out simultaneously with great violence, and thus manages to jerk itself along. In this way it is enabled to cross places where even the wolf gets completely nonplussed. But on the smooth ice it is perfectly helpless. No cat on walnut- shells, or donkey on stilts, ever looked half so ridiculous as does an elk on the ice. It falls down directly it begins to move, and owing to its length of leg is unable to rise again. The specimen that may be seen stuffed in the Zoological Museum at the Christiania Univer- sity was shot when on the ice on the river Glommen, in Odalen, a few winters back. The elk can run very quickly; but their powers of endurance are not nearly so great as those of the reindeer. They very seldom break into a gallop, except when suddenly alarmed, but usually maintain a long swinging, lurching kind of trot. The neck is then stretched out, so that the nose is carried parallel with the ground, by which the horns are brought backwards on each side of the neck. In trotting, the hind feet strike against the soles of the fore feet, and produce a clicking sound similar to that often heard in horses. When suddenly startled they go off in a straight direction, trampling down everything that comes in their way ; and their course may be tracked for a long distance by the breaking of twigs and the snapping of branches. A full-grown elk will weigh from 700 to 124 SPORT IN NORWAY. 900 pounds, so that it may be readily imagined that the momentum generated cannot be trifling. Reader, when first you went out covert-shooting as a youth, can you not recall to mind how your heart went ‘“‘pit-pat” as a beater shouted, ‘Look out; hare!” or “ Mark cock!’ Can you not remember how the whirring sound of the first pheasant, as it came down quickly with the wind across the ride where you were stationed, raised your excitement to the most frantic pitch ? If you can still recall these feelings, you have a faint, but a very faint idea of what it is to hear the sound of breaking boughs coming straight towards you in the middle of a dense Norwegian forest. Now is the time to be steady, and keep that heart of yours from throbbing and bumping as if it would jump clean out of your breast. Ten to one you will miss if it be the first time you have been out elk-hunting. I did (though that is no reason why you should). I could no more have fired than have done—I don’t know what impossibility. I stood like the cockney who had never fired a shot before in his life, when invited down to the country to shoot pheasants. Admiration of the pretty “ long-tailed” creatures quite got the better of him, to the intense disgust of the gamekeeper. The Swedes have a very apt term for the feeling which such sights produce in the tyro’s breast, viz., “‘ skogs-frossa.” And I believe no ‘young sportsman, THE ELK IN NORWAY. Hp at all events, will be able to see a majestic elk for the first time in his life, in its native wilds, without being attacked with this fever in a greater or less degree. When a flock of elks is proceeding through a forest, and no danger is anticipated, they usually go one after the other, like a flock of sheep. Probably this modus eundt is common to all ruminant animals. Strict order is preserved in the line of march ; the oldest goes in front, then the female, while the young calves bring up the rear. So closely do they follow on each other's heels, that each one rests its nose on its predecessor’s loins. When trotting, their footmarks are nearly in a right Ime, and when they gallop all four feet come down nearly together. Those of the male are shorter and thicker at the end than those of the female. This is caused by the former spreading the foot out, and by the latter compressing it. I know nothing more interesting than to watch an experienced hunter with his dog on elk trail. No backwoodsman of North America, such as Cooper loved to dwell upon, went more cautiously to work than does the regular Norwegian hunter. If you want to see a man’s soul in his work, just study his method of proceeding the first time you get an opportunity. See how carefully he examines the leaves and young shoots 126 SPORT IN NORWAY. of that birch, and judges by the nibbled leaves how long it is since the elk was there; watch him turning up the dead leaves and scrutinizing a footmark; look at him crawling along cat-like on all fours to get a peep over yonder knoll. Neither is his dog idle; he enters into the sport heartily. Those deep-drawn sniffs, which would make you think the animal would suddenly collapse, indicate plainly that an elk is not far off. Now he stands up on his hind legs, and sniffs away among the birch leaves, where an elk’s nose has been, not so very long before. Now he tugs away against the collar as if he would pull you along fifty miles an hour. You are close to your game. ‘Tread very softly ; a crackling twig or a rolling stone may mar the labour of a whole day, ay, of two or three. It is intensely exciting work—much more so than in reindeer-hunting, because your horizon of vision is so limited, and you may be close on an elk before you know it. The dung of the elk is soft in summer, resembling that of a cow; in winter it is hard, and looks more like a bunch of large nuts than anything else. They are possessed of very acute senses, but their powers of smell are not nearly so delicate or so great as those of the reindeer. Judging from the widely-dis- tended nostril one would think the contrary to be the case. On the other hand, their eyesight is extremely THE ELK IN NORWAY. ee quick ; and this again is remarkable, for in comparison to the size of the body the eye is very small. But lest this should not prove a sufficient compensation for their defective organs of smell, Nature has granted them a most extraordinarily keen sense of hearing. And it is principally for this reason that they are so difficult of approach. When resting, they select rising grounds, where eyes, nose, and ears will be most likely to give them timely notice of approaching danger. When the weather is thick and foggy they will keep to the densest part of the forest, but resort to more open spots on clear and frosty days. The Norwegian hunters use large-bored rifles in elk, reindeer, and bear hunting: these are usually made up in the country, and are not, therefore, remarkable for external beauty and finish. Still many of them carry well. Within the last two or three years, how- ever, the Kongsberg rifle is getting gradually dispersed over the whole country. It is a breech-loader; and doubtless many of my readers will have noticed speci- mens at the late Exhibition. The barrel is on the Whitworth principle; and the breech-loading part is after their own invention, and is to my mind a most clumsy and unpractical contrivance. However, they are very cheap, costing only about three pounds. The infection of rifle-shooting has reached Norway 128 SPORT IN NORWAY. and Sweden; there is scarcely a village that has not its shooting club. Little wonder if the number of native hunters increase ! Some of the old hunters will tell marvellous tales. Up in the country the peasants are extremely super- stitious, and would, I verily believe, sooner give cre- dence to anything very unlikely than to a plain matter- of-fact history. For instance, Mr. Asbjornsen relates : ‘“‘T have been told that it is worse than useless to aim at an elk’s forehead unless at very close quarters; and in exemplification of this interesting assertion was in- formed that a man once shot seven times at an elk. All seven balls struck the animal in the forehead, and all seven glanced off in different directions. The sug- gestion that it was not owing to any extraordinary thickness of skull, but to weak powder, was, I need scarcely add, pooh-poohed.” According to an old saying, the elk-hunter must not only have a firm and steady hand, a sure eye, and a trusty rifle, but he must also be possessed of a hard heart. A dying elk, they say, looks at his murderer in a most reproachful and pitiful manner. I have read of a man who had killed several elks in his time. One day, when out hunting, he came upon a couple, and took aim at the largest one. ‘The ball struck the animal ina mortal part, but it did not immediately fall to the ground. Meanwhile, it kept getting weaker and THE ELK IN NORWAY. 129 weaker from loss of blood, which gushed forth from the wound, but still kept its eyes steadily fixed on the man, looking at him im a most reproachful manner. Moved with compassion, he stepped forward to put an end to the poor beast’s sufferings with his ‘‘ tolle-kniv,” when just as he was going to give the coup de grice, the animal cast such a look at him that he was obliged to turn aside till it was dead. Meanwhile, the second elk, as is often the case, had returned to look after its companion. Here was a chance! Two elks in one day is not such a despicable bag to one gun. But the ordeal through which his nerves had recently passed had completely upset him, so that he could not find in his heart to shoot it. Then and there he made a solemn vow that as long as he lived he would never raise gun any more against an elk, for it seemed to him as if he had for all the world been guilty of murder. The memory of the scene haunted him, I suppose, like the killing of the albatross did the ‘‘ ancient mariner.” Now-a-days in Norway the elk is, I believe, uni- versally hunted with a single dog, trained for the purpose, held in hand. Last autumn, however, two were shot in Odalen by a party of hunters who adopted the plan of ‘‘ driving,” 2. e., of stationmg themselves in a line at suitable distances from each other, and employing a number of beaters and dogs to drive them in their direction. One of these animals weighed K 130 SPORT IN NORWAY. from 80 to 90 ‘ bismerpund, the ‘bismerpund’ being 13} pounds English, But im Sweden they have many different methods ; for an account of which the reader is referred to Lloyd’s imteresting work on sport. Many elks are killed, mostly at unlawful times, on ‘¢ skie ”—of which, for the benefit of those of the unini- tiated, I will give a brief description. They consist of two long pieces of wood—those made of seasoned ash are best—about ten feet long, and four to five inches wide in the middle. They taper in front, and ultimately terminate in a point, being slightly turned up towards the toe, after the manner of a Chinese shoe. I believe they are peculiar to Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Itis the wniversal method of getting about during the winter: in fact, the tremendous depth of the snow in many places would render any other mode of gomg on foot impracticable. It requires long ex- perience to be able to manage them properly; and to be able to hunt on skie is an art that can only be acquired after years of practice. I believe Mr. Lloyd was one of the few Englishmen who was ever perfectly at home on them. To see a practised “skie-léber ” (runner) is really a very fine sight. He will go down the steepest places with the rapidity of an arrow, his body slightly bent forward, holding im both hands a staff about six feet in length, the bottom end pointed to 5 THE ELK IN NORWAY. Mey the ground behind him at an angle of 45° (about). And though going at such a tremendous velocity, he can steer clear of stumps or trees with marvellous nicety, often jumping as much as eighteen feet when occasion requires it. On Sunday the peasants may often be seen in off- lying districts, for instance, in parts of Thelemarken, where there are no roads, coming to church, men, women, and boys; the women frequently carrying babies on their backs, gipsy fashion. In the north, the Lapps, I have been told, leave the babies outside the church to keep them warm. They dig a hole in the snow, and pop them in, leaving a dog to keep guard against any wolves. A friend of mine told me that he has often passed a comfortable night under the snow in preference to going into the filthy huts in parts of Finland. But it is of course dangerous to do so unless well wrapped up, or if the clothes be wet. The practised ‘‘ skie-lober ” binds his skie to his foot so as to prevent their slipping ; but for a tyro this would be highly dangerous, as a broken leg or sprained ankle may, and does, frequently, result from travelling with the “‘ skie”’ fastened. It is a most exhilarating exercise; the rapidity with which one rushes through the clear frosty air has a most wonderful effect on the system. The great danger to guard against is catchmg cold, which from the 132 SPORT IN NORWAY. violent perspiration it educes may easily be the case. In Christiania it is usually the custom for parties of cadets, students, &c., to go out long excursions on Sunday, and have steeple-chases. The accompanying sketch, taken from the illustrated newspaper of the Norwegian capital, may suffice to give an idea of it. I should add that even on level ground seven or eight miles an hour, and even more, can readily be accom- plished by a good runner. But I must pull up. Let me see, I was saying many elk are killed on “skie.” Their long legs stick in the snow, so that it is not difficult to come up with ~ them. Many, too, fall victims to the wolves at this season, which are able to run over the snow without sinking very deep, though even these are easily over- taken by the hunter when equipped with his snow ** skie.” In the winter of 1848-49 there were killed, unlaw- fully, in Vaaler, no less than 140 elks. Though many elks are still shot unlawfully, yet instances (exceptional, undoubtedly) do occasionally occur where the most extraordinary scrupulousness has been evinced by the parties concerned, to the ad- vantage of the elk. I remember reading in the “ Mor- genblad,” a winter or two ago, about the capture of an elk which was enjoying a swim in a small lake some miles from Christiania. It had been seen from shore, THE ELK IN NORWAY. 13s and at once every boat was put in requisition. A whale chase could scarcely have been more exciting. In the bows of each boat a man was stationed, with a long rope like a lasso, ready to fling it round the animal’s horns the first opportunity. After much dodging and doubling, one of the boats eventually succeeded in getting fast, and at once proceeded to tow the poor beast to land, nolens volens. “In the multitude of counsellors the city is safe,” says an old proverb; it proved so at all events with the elk. Had there been fewer participators, the odds would, I think, have been decidedly against its getting off so easily. But as it was, the general feeling prevailed that it would be highly imprudent to resort to extreme measures in the presence of so many witnesses, unless the fortunate crew could first succeed in gaining the ear of the nearest functionary of the law. A council was held. “ What shall we do with it, now we have got it?” “Ask the Foged, of course,” said some one, brimming over with admiration for the laws of his country, especially for those relatmg to the preservation of game. So a message was sent to the Foged. ‘‘ Elk captured ; what shall we do with it?” ‘Let him go,” was the brief reply ; and thus the elk luckily escaped this time. I heard of another instance which amused me not a little. An old woman had occasion one fine morning to row across a river to a place where a man had tt SPORT IN NORWAY. bought a small piece of ground. She had scarcely got half way over when she perceived an elk on the op- posite side, standing at about the distance of eighty paces from the door of the man’s cabin. It seemed as if meditating on a swim. Thinking it a pleasant sight, she “easied all,” and sat looking at the noble beast. But soon other feelings than those of admiration began to be awakened within her breast. Winter would soon be coming on, and a good supply of elk’s meat would be no bad thing, leaving the uses to which hide, horns, fat, &c., &c., could be put out of the question. By dint of signs and gesticulations she managed to make the owner of the house acquaimted with the proximity of the animal. The man, who was himself an ardent hunter, but at the same time rather nervous about incurring a penalty of forty dollars, deemed it, however, prudent in the first place to consult his book and ascertain whether it was all right. Whether it was or not the story does not relate. But at all events his consultation ended in his bringing out his rifle; and he was just proceeding to stalk the elk after the most approved fashion when another difficulty occurred to him, the animal was not on his property. So in he went to have another look at the law. Mean- while the elk, becoming aware that something was between ‘‘ the wind and his nobility,” and not relishing the appearance of the old woman in the boat, quietly THE ELK IN NORWAY. 135 trotted off into the forest. Awful was the wrath and excitement of the old lady, who saw all her fond hopes thwarted by the stupidity of Ole (somehow or other everybody seems to be called Ole), whom she declared she would bang well with her oars if she got within reach of him. Amongst other plans to which poachers have re- course the followmg is perhaps the most general, and most successful :— The whereabouts of an elk having been ascertained, one of the party, usually the one who is the best shot, conceals himself on the nearest hill. For the elk- deer when startled instinctively makes off to the first piece of rising ground in the immediate neighbourhood, whence it can have a good look out-on all sides. Meanwhile the rest of the party ‘“‘rmg” the animal, and if they are unable to get a shot, one of them makes a slight noise just sufficient to startle it, but not so as to terrify it. The elk at once makes off to the hill in question, where it in all probability meets with its end. Some poachers, I am told, are able to entice the elk close to them during the pairing season by means of some peculiar call. As above stated, the usual way of hunting elk in Norway is with a dog held in a leash. When the dog has got scent of an elk, which it frequently 136 SPORT IN NORWAY. will do at long distances, the hunter gives himself up entirely to its guidance, still holding it im hand; for it is rarely that a dog arrives at such a pitch of “canine education” as to be allowed his liberty. When they have approached near to the place where the animals are supposed to be, the dog is tied up to a tree while his master proceeds alone to stalk them. In case one is killed the same method is observed in flaying, quartering, &c., as described before in the case of the reindeer. But so extremely quick of hearing are they, that it often happens that the labour of a whole, or even two or three days’ hunting is rendered useless by the snapping of a twig or the rolling of a stone. As may therefore be supposed, rough and stormy weather is more propitious to elk-hunting than calm and still weather. I firmly believe, and several hunters with whom I have spoken have confirmed my opinion, that a double-barrelled smooth bore is much better adapted for this manner of hunting than a rifle; for it generally happens that you can only get a snap shot between an opening in the trees, and as a smooth bore will throw a bullet with tolerable accuracy for seventy or eighty paces, beyond which distance an elk, except when found in the open, is rarely shot, and is, moreover, much easier to take a snap shot with than a rifle, it appears THE ELK IN NORWAY. 137 only reasonable that preference should be given to it. Those who meditate elk-hunting will do well to practise snap shots both with rifle and gun (say at forty or fifty yards, and even more) at a target; and if they can only procure that extremely ‘“‘rara avis in terris,” a dead donkey, stuff him with straw, and put him on stilts, they will have the nearest approach I know of to the real thing. The following account of moose-hunting in Nova Scotia, furnished me by a gentleman who has had practical experience both in that country and in Norway, will, I think, be found interesting :— “ There are three ways of hunting the moose in Nova Scotia, ‘ ergeping,’ ‘calling, and hunting on ‘snow shoes.’ I have had no experience of the last, not having remained in those parts late enough in the year ; but I believe it is but poor sport, as the wretched moose sinking in the snow must sooner or later be run down, and you can get a shot at ten yards if you like. “Creeping” (2.¢., followmg in autumn with In- dians by the track, or stalking) is the true sport, and I believe is only practised in Nova Scotia. “The Micmaces are first-rate hunters. I had the best, I believe, in the province, though he was getting rather old. His instinct, for such it seemed, was mar- vellous. I was out for about three weeks in the woods in Nova Scotia in the latter part of September and 138 SPORT IN NORWAY. beginning of October with two Micmac Indians.. Captain H—, a most experienced sportsman, kindly came out with me for the first few days to ‘set me going. The following is an extract from my diary of our first day’s hunting :— “September 16th, 1857.—Up before daylight—a fine day with cool breeze—very good, they said, for ‘creeping.’ We set off in high hopes before sunrise, and in about an hour Joe found a fresh moose-track, which we followed through thick hardwood and over a ‘barren.’ It was marvellous to see the sagacity of the Indian. The moment he knew he was on game his countenance brightened, and every faculty of mind and body seemed brought into action, yet without displaying the least excitement or want of perfect self-possession. Where I could see no track (and sporting has sharpened my eye pretty well), he seemed scarcely for a moment at a loss. Where footprints — failed, the turn of a leaf, the slightest scratch on a piece of bark, or a little twig, seemed signs enough. We worked our way rapidly but cautiously through the thick brush, carefully putting back every branch as we passed, feeling lightly with our mocassined feet the fallen moss-covered trees lest they might not bear our weight. H— insisted that the young hunter should have the first chance, so I followed close behind Joe, who every now and then would turn and whisper, THE ELK IN NORWAY. 139 ‘Moose passing through here two hours ago,’ (the Indians‘ are very partial to the ‘present participle’). ‘Here moose lying down,’ ‘ Moose biting this only one half-hour since,’ then very softly, ‘Put on cap, we close ? to moose ;’ and accordingly m a few minutes (about two hours after we had commenced to follow the tracks) he stopped suddenly and pointed, but without saying a word.