94 A RIVER OF NORWAY 



which they had been accustomed from child- 

 hood ; even perhaps to an aesthetic prejudice in 

 favour of seeing the dimpled stream glide 



"beneath the tangled roots 

 Of pendent trees." 



Not at all. It arose entirely from a disinclina- 

 tion to unprofitable labour, and when I offered 

 to pay the wages of a wood-cutter, every tree in 

 the valley was at my disposal. From some of 

 the banks so cleared we have erected little piers, 

 about three yards in length and thirty-five yards 

 apart. Beginning from each of these with a 

 short line, and adding a yard or two each cast, 

 it is possible to cover most of the pool. Where, 

 as in Aamot's, the shore is lined with big 

 boulders, some as large as a cottage, it is easy 

 by an arrangement of planks to construct a 

 way from one to the other, and thus to secure a 

 vantage-ground along a great part of the pools. 

 Where this is impossible or inconvenient we 

 have tried a floating raft, made of boards laid on 

 petroleum barrels, arranged in pairs a few yards 

 apart, and anchored in the required spot. 

 There are disadvantages in this contrivance ; a 

 fish may run under the raft, and the line get 

 foul of a barrel or an anchor chain. But in 



