2 A RIVER OF NORWAY 



situate a third of a mile from the mouth of the 

 river. Salmon were unable to ascend it until 

 thirty years ago, when a fish-pass or ladder was 

 constructed which gave them access to the 

 upper waters. The water below this fall is 

 affected by the tide, but in summer, at all 

 events, the force of the stream is always suffi- 

 cient to maintain a downward current, though 

 the level is constantly altering as the tide rises 

 and falls. The extreme rise of the tide at the 

 foot of the fall is, at spring tides, about five 

 feet. 



The fjord, or sea-loch, into the head of which 

 the river runs is about twenty miles long. It 

 is, as usual, guarded at its entrance by a number 

 of small islands, the total distance from the 

 river's mouth to the open sea being perhaps 

 twenty-five miles. 



The country which the river drains is com- 

 posed of a hard rock, with very little soil. 

 This fact, combined with the filtering process 

 it undergoes in the great lakes, causes the 

 water almost always, even in the highest floods, 

 to be of a gin-like transparency ; a result which 

 from an angler's point of view has its draw- 

 backs as well as its advantages. 



