A Cruise on the S.Y. Vectis 177 



Norway — and sometimes throus^h wide open valleys, sparsely 

 covered with brush, the probable home of the Ryper, or Wil- 

 low Grouse. I should have much liked to have met with a 

 covey of these birds, but we saw no traces of them. Just 

 about tea time we arrived at the Stalheim hotel, which was most 

 charmingly situated at the head of the valley of the same name. 

 Immediately below the hotel, the river which flows through 

 the valley we had ju.st traversed leaps over the edge of a cliff 

 in a tremendous fall. From the courtyard of the hotel we 

 saw it meandering down the valley, a thousand feet below 

 us. After having had tea and despatched sundry picture post 

 cards, several of us decided to walk on towards Gadvangen, 

 leaving our stoljaerrcs to overtake us. The river now becomes 

 a salmon river, and a good many large fish could be seen at 

 the foot of the fall, which of course they are quite unable to 

 ascend. Our walk down the river was most enjoyable, the 

 scenery being very line, reminding me in places of the Grand 

 Canyon of the Colorado, in the U.S.A. Of new species of 

 bircis seen, the Ring Ousel and the Dipper were the most 

 noteworthy. The Scandinavian Dipper is said to differ from 

 the English bird, but this is certainly not apparent when the 

 bird is in flight. After a walk of about five miles our stol- 

 jaerres overtook us. The country here was more thickly 

 populated, and we passed several small farm buildings. 

 The farm-houses are in many cases built over the barn or stable 

 and admittance is obtained by a ladder which gives them a 

 rather curious appearance. We were also much amused by 

 the way the Norwegians make their hay. They prepare a series 

 of rough racks, something like wooden horses used in English 

 nurseries for drying clothes, and on these the hay is placed in 

 layers. This, of course besides clearing the ground for a 

 second crop, keeps the hay off the wet soil. It entails a lot of 

 labour, but this appears to be done by the women and children. 

 We saw very few men about, and conluded that they were either 

 away at the fishing or else in the lumber camps. About 7 o'clock 

 we reached Gadvangen and found the Vectis lying out in the 

 fjord. The trip had been a very enjoyable one, but we weren't 

 sorry to get back to a good English dinner again. We had 

 sampled three different Norwegian hotels, and hadn't been at 



