228 SPORT IN NORWAY. 



to continue his solitary promenade undisturbed. Such 

 encounters are by no means rare. 



Some Fossekarle* once met with a bear taking a bath 

 in Bygland's Fjord, on a hot summer's day, and forth- 

 with attacked him, armed only with their boathooks. 

 They had a very narrow escape, however ; for the bear 

 wishing to make their personal acquaintance, had suc- 

 ceeded in clambering up into the boat, when it fell dead 

 from loss of blood. 



It is not, however, in Saetersdal Proper, but rather 

 in the contiguous districts, that most bears are to be 

 found. It is here, too, that the regular bear-hunters 

 live. They have a real passion for the chase, and make 

 quite a profession of it. 



One of the most renowned bear-hunters in this district 

 is Niels Knudsen Breistol, a famous blacksmith, who 

 not only manufactures his own rifle, but also provides 

 his countrymen with weapons of his own make. His 

 rifles are well known, and are much sought after. In 

 Evje, too, there lives a well-known bear-hunter; and 

 on a farm called Moy there is a man who is said to have 

 shot about a hundred bears ; but it would be tedious to 

 reckon all the bear-shooters in a district where there is 

 scarcely a peasant who does not go out in pursuit of 



* Fossekarle (literally " waterfall fellows "), are those who are em- 

 ployed iu conveying timber into the river or lake, for floating it 

 down. 



