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CHAPTEE VI. 

 SKETCHES FEOM S.ETEBSDAL.* 



SCENERY. THE MANNERS AND COSTUMES OF THE IN- 

 HABITANTS. TRAITS OF CHARACTER. ABDUCTIONS. 

 ANECDOTES ABOUT BEARS. 



SJSTERSDAL is certainly one of the most sequestered of 

 the retired mountain valleys of Norway. Of all the 

 crowd of tourists from Christiania who stream out over 

 fjeld and valley, and traverse the far-famed Thele- 

 marken, there is scarce one who ventures over the 

 mountains into Saetersdal. To the English traveller it 

 is a terra incognita, and indeed is but little known to 

 Norwegians themselves ; for the attractions it oners are 

 few, unless the love of exploring unknown tracts makes 

 up for other deficiencies. Moreover, it lies very much 

 out of the way of our regular tourists. Still it is easy 

 of access, for already, on coming from Thelemarken 



* By the permission of the Editor of Cassell's 4 Illustrated Family 

 Paper ' I am enabled to lay before my readers an account of these 

 strange people. My information is principally gathered from a 

 series of letters which appeared in a periodical published in 

 Christiania. 



