286 SPORT IN EUROPE 



farmer with 500 lbs. to 700 lbs. of excellent meat, to be smoked or 

 salted for winter consumption. The elk season in Norway, with a few 

 local variations, lasts from the ist September to the 30th, with an 

 extra day for following a wounded deer. (By the new Norwegian 

 game-law, passed since this paper was written, and coming into force 

 July I St, 1900, the season is limited to twenty clays from September 

 loth.) 



It should be mentioned that although the Scandinavians are an 

 athletic race, often equal to a long stern chase after a travelling 

 elk that will not stop for the loose dog, really first-rate hunters, 

 especially stalkers, are, unluckily, almost as rare as first-rate dogs. 



Next in importance to the elk amongst Scandinavian big game 

 is the wild reindeer [Rangi/cr tarandus), nowadays practically con- 

 fined to certain wildernesses among the high fjelds of 



The Wild , . . , , . r -r>i 



„ . , INorway, with a mean elevation 01 4,000 leet. 1 he 



Reindeer. ^ ^ 



most extensive of these are the great mountain-plateau 

 of the Hardanger-Vidde, having an area of not less than 100 miles 

 by 80 ; the vast alpine region, of even greater extent, lying between 

 the Sognefjord on the west and the plateau of V^alders and Guds- 

 branddal on the south and north-east, and containing the peaks and 

 glaciers of the Jotunfjelds ; the highlands running eastwards from 

 Romsdal towards Roros, which include the Dovrefjelds ; and the 

 more southern tract of the Ryfylke, extending inland from Stavanger. 

 The chase of the wild reindeer is a grand sport, leading the 

 hunter into regions of sublime desolation. Rut it scarcely demands 

 as much description and explanation as the pursuit of the elk, 

 inasmuch as. althouoh it necessitates the utmost exercise of the 



