148 SPORT IN NORWAY. 



without meeting with a mountain stream of the clearest 

 and most delicious water. 



The uses to which the dead elk-deer can be applied 

 are as manifold as in the case of the reindeer ; the 

 flesh, hide, hair, knuckles, marrow, fat, sinews, hoofs, 

 &c., being all and each employed in various branches of 

 domestic economy. 



At the proper season elk venison is considered to be 

 a wholesome and nutritious food, though coarser and 

 less palatable than reindeer venison. The flesh is of a 

 darker colour. As may be supposed, the calves prove 

 the best eating. 



From the middle towards the end of the month 

 of September, the flesh of the bucks is uneatable, 

 having a rank and nauseous taste, on account of the 

 approaching rutting season. Still, I think, the stomach 

 of a Norwegian Bonde is capable of digesting almost 

 anything ;* an assertion which those who have travelled 

 much in the country will doubtless corroborate. The 

 best time for eating elk venison is undoubtedly in 

 the beginning of August, though that of the does 

 may be eaten till towards the end of September. 



Mr. Asbjornsen says that he has been informed by 

 an experienced housewife in Solder, who used to keep 



* On seeing them eat, I have often thought of those lines of 

 H orace, beginning 



" Dura messorum ilia," &c. 



