CHAPTER XVI 

 SOME CONTRARIES OF WEATHER AND SPORT 



AT my first visit to Norway in 1899 I was greeted with 

 days of roasting heat, with roaming thunder growling 

 incessantly in the mountains. The angler fresh from 

 England, out of training with his salmon rod, and 

 with the precarious rocks and boulders for foothold, 

 gradually discards his clothing ; the coat is shed first, 

 then probably the collar and scarf, then the waistcoat. 

 Some underclothing goes next. In two days the heat 

 sufficed to stick together in hopeless amalgamation all 

 the postage stamps in my purse, and I have at last 

 discovered that the haberdashery goods warranted 

 fast colours, and paid for as such, leave confused rain- 

 bow hues upon every vestige of attire after a good 

 Norwegian sweat. 



All this will signify to the initiated that fishing during 

 the six middle hours of the day is out of the question. 

 It is not the case that salmon will never take in glaring 

 sunshine, but it is the exception rather than the rule, 

 and the game is decidedly not worth the frizzle. It 

 means, moreover, that the rivers are low, and it may 

 be stated that they have been so all the season so far, 

 and that there can be no really good sport until there 

 is a change. To be sure, even a single thunderstorm 

 does help a little, but in my case it has wrought harm ; 



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