114 SPORT IN NORWAY. 



in these parts, for among the remains of slaughtered 

 animals which a few years ago were discovered in the 

 vicinity of the convents in that province, elk bones and 

 horns were found in abundance, bearing evident marks 

 of the knife or saw of the cook. 



But gradually, as the land was reclaimed and put 

 under cultivation, and, in consequence, became more 

 thickly inhabited, the elk-deer seem to have shifted 

 their quarters more towards the north, where the 

 immense ranges of forest and wild mountain tracts 

 afforded an insuperable (in those days) hindrance to the 

 advance of civilization. 



It appears from some very old documents that the 

 elk-deer is mentioned as one of the "noxious animals" 

 in one of the provinces of Sweden ; it may therefore be 

 assumed that it was numerous in those days. At the 

 present day it is found in Sweden, south of the province 

 of East Gothland, and is more numerous in Jemteland, 

 Herjedal, and Dalarne, than in any other parts of the 

 country. Angermannland is its northernmost boun- 

 dary. It is not found, I believe, above the limit of 

 Scotch fir, or about 3,000 feet above the sea. 



Before proceeding to speak of its former and present 

 habitats in Norway, it may be mentioned that elk-deer 

 may be found in Finland, Lithuania, and Eussia from 

 the White Sea to the Caucasus. It is also found in the 

 forests of Siberia to the river Lena, and in the neigh- 



