222 A Sporting Tour in Norway. [Sess. 



near a river. Here the Elden is of considerable size, and as 

 the tracks led forward to it, there was nothing for us but to 

 plunge in. Helge crossed first with Nor, I following; and 

 though the water was about three feet deep and very rapid, 

 we got safely across. The dog at once took up the tracks 

 again, and we pushed on as before. Bjune was let loose and 

 sent on, but returned in about ten minutes, indicating that 

 the elk was far ahead. After crossing the river the spoor led 

 us uphill, which took the breath out of us ; and as we had 

 breakfasted at 4.30, I felt very hungry and much fatigued. 

 Coming to a streamlet, we halted, secured Nor to a tree, and 

 the keeper in a few minutes kindled a fire. Unpacking his 

 knapsack, I was surprised to see him turn out a small brass 

 tea-kettle, which, after emptying of its varied contents, he 

 filled with water and put on the fire to boil. In a Norwegian 

 forest there is always an abundance of decayed wood admir- 

 ably adapted for fuel, and in a short time tea was made, which 

 we enjoyed to the full. After a refreshing lunch, not forget- 

 ting the dogs, we started with renewed vigour, and followed 

 on the trail. How long, I wondered, was it going to last ? 

 Surely even an elk must get tired, and halt to rest, so that we 

 might be able to get near him. Still there were no indica- 

 tions of his having eaten anything or lain down, and for 

 several more hours we followed on, Nor sticking to the trail 

 with amazing accuracy. As the sun had disappeared, and the 

 shadows of the mountains were creeping over the landscape, 

 we abandoned the chase, and wended our way homeward, which 

 we reached at eight o'clock, after fifteen hours as hard walk- 

 ing as I ever indulged in. Daylight was breaking the next 

 morning when a knock at my bedroom door announced that it 

 was time to get up ; and, stiff and wearied as I was, it required 

 a considerable amount of self-denial on my part to respond to 

 the call. After a hurried breakfast, we crossed the G-lom- 

 men — the largest river in Norway — and at once got into a 

 wood which, I was informed, was the habitat of elk. For an 

 hour we ascended the mountain, frequently seeing old tracks ; 

 and so wearied was I with the toils of the previous day, that I 

 felt walking uphill most difficult. Very soon, however, I for- 

 got all about being tired, as Nor suddenly wheeled at right 

 angles, put down his nose, and pulled in his harness, the 



