80 A RIVER OF NORWAY 



sport right up to the last day of July, when 

 we left. Our hasty generalisation that a big 

 river will always mean good sport has received 

 its death-blow. 



The conditions this season have been very 

 unusual. Generally the river is moderately 

 high when we arrive, and if warm weather 

 sets in, it rises a little, and then remains fairly 

 steady for a period proportionate to the quantity 

 of snow which has fallen in the previous winter. 

 When- this begins to be depleted, the river 

 commences to fall slowly, and only very ex- 

 ceptionally hot weather, or a great downpour 

 of rain, bring about a rise. This is the state 

 of affairs most favourable to sport. 



This year, on the other hand, we arrived to 

 find the biggest flood we have ever seen. For 

 the first fortnight of June the river continued 

 very high. Then extremely cold weather set 

 in (the thermometer was one evening down to 

 42 Fahrenheit), and the river fell very rapidly. 

 During this period the run of salmon seemed 

 to stop, but a large number of grilse came in. 

 Towards the end of the month, the wind went 

 round to the southward, and there was a good 

 deal of rain. A warm south wind melts the 



