THE WILD REINDEER OF XORWAY. 107 



very valuable acquisition. I have known as much as 

 WL, and even more, given for one, which, though 

 perhaps a small sum in an English sportsman's eyes, is 

 a little fortune to a Norwegian hunter. They can 

 scent a deer a surprisingly long way off, when they give 

 unmistakeable signs to their master that they are on 

 trail. I have known them scent deer three miles 

 distant when the wind has been blowing fresh. They 

 seldom or never give tongue, but should one ever 

 transgress in this way, besides sundry pokes and kicks, 

 accompanied by such a volley of oaths* as only a 

 Norwegian, I think, is capable of evolving, it has to 

 submit to the indignity of a muzzle. 



To insure sport an Englishman should always have 

 an experienced hunter and dog with him ; for otherwise 

 he may come plump into the very middle of a herd, 

 but out of shooting distance. Moreover, if a deer 

 be wounded, the dog is then of inestimable service, 

 for he will follow it and rarely fail to bring it to 

 bay. 



When a hunter has succeeded in killing a deer, he 

 immediately proceeds to flay it, takes the entrails out, 



* I think the following specimens, which require a tolerable 

 acquaintance with the language to be able to understand, will con- 

 firm this opinion. The Bonder seem to have an ascending scale, 



beginning with a simple " take you " to " May the boil 



your heart's blood;" "May he play a game of five-card loo in your 

 sinful bowels;" "May he cut up your liver and lights into such 

 small pieces that the lice may have to go on their knees to eat 

 them up ;" with many intermediate ones, but this is the climax ! 



