168 HAPPY HUNTING-GROUNDS 



fowl nest in the spring. The sea-fishing was excellent, 

 and with boating expeditions made a welcome diver- 

 sion when the river was not in order, or the sun too 

 bright for day fishing. Flounder, whiting, and rock 

 cod abounded, and sometimes the large sea-trout 

 that cruised round the mouth of the river waiting 

 for a spate to carry them up could be prevailed upon 

 to take a spinning bait in the salt water. 



The house occupied a commanding position on a 

 plateau overlooking the stream, with a view of the two 

 pools above and below a stone bridge. A garden with 

 many kinds of flowers stretched to the west of the 

 verandah, which extended all round the building. In 

 one of the beds foxgloves, both white and pink, had 

 been sown, and flourished wonderfully, attaining a 

 height of eight or ten feet. The wooded sides of the 

 hills sloped up gradually to the high fjeld, and there 

 were many paths by which pedestrians could reach 

 the numerous lakes which filled the hollows of the 

 upper valleys, and enjoy matchless views over the 

 blue waters of the fjord. The sense of being shut in, 

 which was almost the only drawback to complete bliss 

 on the lower reaches of the Sundal, did not exist here. 

 Although an enthusiastic fisherman has little time to 

 spare for mountain rambles during his short autumn 

 season, it is always a pleasure to feel that it is open to 

 those who wish to do so to scale the heights, and there 

 was something forbidding as well as grand in the 

 frowning ramparts of rock which walled in the valley 

 above Sundalsoren. " Truly the light is sweet, and 

 a, pleasant thing it is to behold the sun," even if its 

 direct rays falling upon your salmon pools delay your 

 sport for a time. 



