40 THE NATURALIST IN NORWAY. 



safety of travellers over the Dovre-fjeld. Our friend 

 was musing on affairs of state,, or was congratulating 

 himself, perhaps, on the certainty of arriving soon at 

 comfortable quarters for the night. His mind full of 

 these pleasant thoughts, what was his astonishment 

 and dismay to see straight before him half-a-dozen 

 wolves ! The traveller was unarmed, and his horse 

 was tired. Luckily, Jerkin was not far distant, and 

 our friend passed the wolves at a gallop, but they 

 followed him up to the door of the station, and then 

 sneaked off, disgusted, no doubt, at the escape of their 

 anticipated prey. 



Tofte, another station on the Dovre-fjeld, is kept by 

 a lineal descendant of Harald Haarfager, one of the 

 ancient kings of Norway. The family is so proud of 

 its origin, that its members have intermarried for 

 several generations ; the consequence of this constant 

 " breeding-in " is, that the only son of the present 

 head of the family is a dwarf. When the present 

 King of Norway stopped at Tofte on his way to 

 Throndjem to be crowned, the station-master informed 

 the attendants on the King that they did not require 

 to unpack the plate-chest, for he had silver spoons and 

 forks enough to accommodate any number of royal 

 guests. 



Pontoppidan relates the following amusing story of 

 the incredulity of a Norwegian bishop : " Hunger 

 sharp as a sword makes the wolf in winter unusually 

 bold ; so that he will often, and especially on the ice, 

 attack and take away a horse from a sledge. On 

 account of this fierceness of the wolf, prudent travellers 

 in winter always go armed. Bishop Munck would not 

 believe, most probably because he resided at Chris- 



