228 A sporting Tour in Norway. [Sess. 



and distrust which unfortunately prevails so largely among our 

 civilised communities. They are at the same time a religious 

 people — religious not in a formalistic manner, but in the 

 highest sense of the word. As an example of their strict 

 honesty, I may relate an incident from my own experience. 

 One day, while out angling, I left my book, with a large 

 number of most expensive casts and flies, upon the bank of a 

 river. It was only on stepping on board the steamer that I, 

 for the first time, discovered my loss. Just as the anchor was 

 about to be raised, a Norwegian peasant was discovered row- 

 ing in haste towards the steamer. It turned out that but 

 two hours had elapsed since he had found my missing fly- 

 book on the bank of the river, and knowing that it must 

 belong to one of the anglers on board, he had crossed the 

 country, a distance of six miles, to return the lost property. 

 The honesty of this humble peasant is the more strikingly 

 exemplified when we remember that, living as he did on the 

 banks of the river in question, the temptation to retain the 

 book, with its splendid stock of tackle, was very great. On 

 consulting the captain, I rewarded him for his honesty, but 

 he took the sum with reluctance, on the ground that it was 

 " too much." Now for the contrast. Some seven or eight 

 years ago I had accepted an invitation from a gentleman for 

 a day's salmon-fishing on the Tweed, near Coldstream. On 

 leaving for the station, I was, as I thought at the time, 

 fortunate enough to catch the 'bus at the end of the road, 

 just opposite my own house. I sprang up to the front, and 

 had got comfortably seated, but had not proceeded many 

 hundred yards until I discovered that my fly-book, with 

 hooks and tackle worth several pounds, had dropped from 

 my ulster pocket. I lost not a moment in hurrying back, 

 but found that, notwithstanding the brief period that had 

 elapsed, it had been picked up by some passer-by, I adver- 

 tised in the local newspapers, offering a handsome reward ; 

 and although my name and address were also printed on 

 the book in large letters, there was no response, and I have 

 never seen it again. My only regret is that it was not 

 picked up by some Norwegian tramp, instead of by one of 

 the more intelligent of my own locality — I shall not venture 

 to say, of my own parish ! 



