HVILESTED. THE UPPER WATER 151 



and escaped. Was there ever such ' a slip between 

 the cup and the lip ' ? " 



The whole story was now complete. The fish 

 made his escape at about three o'clock on Friday 

 afternoon, and from that time until about midday on 

 Monday must have been gradually carried down some 

 ten miles of water, getting weaker and weaker as he 

 was forced through the succession of rapids which 

 bounded the various pools, to be stranded eventually 

 in a dying condition at the very feet of the occupant 

 of the house from which its original captor had so 

 recently departed. To supply a reason for the miracle, 

 we ought to have been in a starving condition, and 

 saved at our last gasp by the opportune arrival of the 

 providential supply ; but for those who are satisfied 

 with fish diet such privation is rare in Norway, even 

 when sport is at its worst. Some weary of fish at 

 every meal, but I was always able to relish such fare, 

 giving a preference to the delicate flavoured sea-trout 

 over the richer flesh of salmon. But to appreciate sea- 

 trout thoroughly, they should be eaten in picnic 

 fashion on the bank just after they have been taken 

 out of the water. What meals I recall by Irish loughs 

 and Scotch and Scandinavian rivers ! Cook your fish 

 in paper on ashes or a hot stone, toast them on 

 juniper forks, or boil them in a huge pot with plenty 

 of salt, and you will find them delicious. 



The scene of this remarkable incident was a very 

 deep pool situated at an angle of the river between 

 two rapid streams, where an immense round cauldron 

 had been scooped out under the opposite bank. The 

 stream below widened into the long pool Fladvad, which 

 generally held salmon, but I fancy that the largest fish 



