86 SPORT IN NORWAY. 



CHAPTEE II. 



THE WILD REINDEER AND ELK OF NORWAY, THEIR 

 HISTORY, HAUNTS, AND HABITS.* 



PERHAPS of all sport (let .us exclude lion and tiger 

 hunting bear-shooting is comparatively tame), that of 

 hunting the wild reindeer is the most inspiriting, and 

 possesses the greatest attractions. Glorious sport as 

 salmon-fishing may be and is, yet, to come up on the 

 fjelds after having been pent up in the valleys for six 

 weeks, and to breathe the pure, fresh mountain air, 

 affords a relief to body and mind which experience 

 alone can fully appreciate. Grouse are generally 

 abundant (not the red grouse of Scotland, though I 

 believe they are exactly the same species, the -difference 

 in plumage being only caused by climatic influences), 

 and ptarmigan may be found everywhere on the high 

 fjelds. But reindeer-hunting is the peculiar charm of 

 the mountains of Norway. I am not going to indulge 



* This account of the reindeer has lately appeared in the ' Field.' 



