54 A RIVER OF NORWAY 



pools may be hopelessly disturbed by an end- 

 less procession of timber great trunks dash- 

 ing together, charging the banks, and jamming 

 wherever there is any obstruction. We are 

 not troubled in this way here. There is no 

 great amount of timber in the rocky valley 

 above, and such as is cut is sawn up locally 

 to provide building material, and to make 

 staves for herring barrels. But we are some- 

 times annoyed by the sawdust from the mills, 

 especially in a flood. This not only floats as 

 a scum on the water, but particles sink to a 

 depth of several feet, and are believed to 

 sicken the fish, or to interfere with their 

 breathing. I have generally found the mill- 

 owners obliging enough in endeavouring to 

 stop the nuisance, when the mischief is done ; 

 but it is difficult to get them to take adequate 

 precautionary measures. The usual practice is 

 to build a stone wall below the mill and 

 within it a sort of zareba of bushes to catch 

 the sawdust as it falls. But the wall is rarely 

 built high enough to keep out a very big 

 flood, and when the water reaches the base 

 of the pyramid of dust, it washes some of it 

 away, and the evil is done. 



