226 SPORT IN NORWAY. 



middle of this ; and that America, the sea, Jotunheim* 

 are on its extreme limits. The theories of Galileo do 

 not seem to have made much progress here. That the 

 earth remains still, and that the sun, moon, and stars 

 revolve round her at a respectful distance, is considered 

 to be an incontestable fact. Like the old man in the 

 fable, the Saetersdal peasant has a confused idea that an 

 emperor is superior to a king, and an empire to a king- 

 dom, and the Pope *>f whom he has mysterious and 

 uncomfortable conceptions over them all. 



It is still to be hoped that better means of intercourse 

 and growing enlightenment will tend to remove such 

 ideas ; and in time even to obtain the mastery over that 

 filth which has justly made the Saetersdal peasant so 

 renowned, and which is so prevalent even where his 

 circumstances are comparatively affluent, lying like a 

 heavy weight on soul and body, and blunting all per- 

 ception for the beautiful, and for real prosperity. 



Sffitersdal and the neighbouring districts are excellent 

 hunting quarters. On the high grounds are to be found 

 reindeer ; on the mountain side, ptarmigan ; while 

 black-cock, foxes, hares, wolves, and bears abound in 

 the forests. As the peasants never keep dogs, and hares 

 therefore are only hunted in the winter when the snow 

 is on the ground, it frequently happens that they lose 

 their instinctive shyness, and it is no unusual thing in 



* Hume of the giants. 



