6 TRAVELS IN THE EIGHTIES. 



this the animal shifted his quarters and was not seen 

 on our shooting ground again, though we never 

 ceased to hope that his head might grace one of our 

 ancestral halls, and so he may still be roaming over 

 the barren lands and through the forests of Hitteren, 

 unharmed. 



During August it had rained every day, and it is 

 worthy of remark that the 1st of September was 

 cloudless, and hardly any rain fell during the month. 

 Consequently it was too dry for wood- stalking. A 

 few days later we left for another stalking-hut called 

 Varli. The luggage on this occasion was dragged 

 across the hills on sledges, though there was no snow 

 on the ground. By this method much heavier loads 

 can be moved by one pony than if they were 

 " packed." The mosquitoes rendered the first night 

 here one of agony and made sleep impossible. I have 

 rarely seen them in greater numbers since, even in 

 Lapland or the backwoods of Canada. "We found 

 ourselves compelled to return to Strom immediately 

 without attempting to hunt. But after a rainstorm 

 we came back once more and found these pests less 

 numerous than before. When not after the deer, for 

 we each took our turn stalking, I usually fished for 

 trout on what were known as " the flats," or barren 

 swampy ground covered with innumerable small lakes 

 and streams. One evening I came to a lake where 

 the trout were congregated at one end. I had not 

 hitherto done much, but without moving five yards I 

 caught seventy-five, averaging half-a-pound apiece. 



