BRATSBERG AMT. 65 



very peculiar race of people, totally unlike what are 

 met with in other parts of the country.* 



The TOPDALS ELY, and its tributary the SKJEGGE- 

 DALS ELV, will also afford tolerable trout-fishing, while 

 the lakes are said to abound with good fish. 



The shooting in Saetersdal is exceedingly good ; 

 ryper, black game, and hares are abundant, while the 

 quantum of bears it yields is by no means insignificant, 

 the annual average throughout this Amt being 21-ff. 



The scenery in this valley is very wild and romantic ; 

 but the dirty habits of the Satersdolen (the inhabitant 

 of a valley is called Ddlen) are proverbial, and have 

 tended, almost as much as its previous inaccessibility, 

 to render it comparatively an unknown district. 



BRATSBEBG AMT. 



This Amt is bounded on the north and east by Buske- 

 ruds Arnt ; on the east and south by Jarlsberg Amt 

 and the sea ; and on the west by Nedenaes, and South 

 Bergenhuus Amts. 



It is divided into three Fogderies Nedre Thele- 

 marken, Bamle, and Ovre Thelemarken ; and contains 

 some of the most picturesque scenery in Norway. 



Being but a poor district, the accommodation to be 

 met with is none of the best ; and as poverty and dirt 



* The habits and customs of this peculiar people will be treated 

 of in a separate chapter. 



