18 THE NATURALIST IN NORWAY. 



numerous, and are larger in size, in the northern 

 rivers of this country. 



The English sportsman in Norway will do well to 

 supply himself before starting with guns, ammunition, 

 and fishing-tackle. These articles may certainly be 

 purchased in the larger Norwegian towns, but they 

 are very inferior in quality. In hunting the bear, the 

 Norwegian bonde uses a roughly-manufactured kind of 

 rifle, a breech-loader, a specimen of native skill; but 

 he is expert in the handling of it. It is by no means 

 an unserviceable weapon, and costs about 12 sp. dollars, 

 or 3 English money. Norwegian powder is coarse 

 and gritty, and is liable to miss fire, an awkward cir- 

 cumstance when the sportsman is standing face to face 

 with a savage bear, determined not to turn tail. The 

 English sportsman in Norway should also have plenty 

 of warm clothing, for the climate is variable extremely 

 cold on the mountains, and very damp on the west 

 coast. The best general wearing apparel in this 

 country is flannel shirts and tweed suits. A water- 

 proof sheet will also be found very useful when camp- 

 ing out. 



The Norwegians have some very singular notions 

 about English sportsmen in general. They appear 

 to think that every Englishman carries a gun in his 

 pocket, and that he has a bulldog concealed some- 

 where. Opinions of this kind, however, are not con- 

 fined to Norwegians. Our northern friends also give 

 us the credit of being thorough cockneys in our 

 amusements. They tell a story at Christiania of an 

 English Nimrod who arrived there per steamer for 

 the purpose of shooting bears. After looking about 

 him a little, this worthy adventurer is reported to 



