THE ELK 173 



" Tolk," li;i<l contiiiiicil liis \v,iy, and it' we }>iit our noses 

 inside we conciuTed in his jiidoment. It was not till tlic 

 late cN'ciiiiig wlicii we were ai)[)r(»acliiiiL;' llic watershed 

 wliieli separates Norway from Sweden, that we found hini 

 (\^tal»lislied at Tiin'ocn, a o-rou]) of farndiouses, roonn- ;iiid 

 clean, willi homely folk, to whom the si^ht of MiiL^lish 

 hidii's was a revelation. The I'iver, even up here a line 

 torrent, thirty yards wide, I'an ])ast llie house. Tlie 

 woodeil hills rose on either side si.\ oi' seven hundred 

 feet to l),ire lops. Jliglier peaks stood fartlier l)aek. 

 We dined oil' a scvni-poKnd trout. This was not taken 

 out of the stream, but netted in one of the numerous 

 lakes wliieli dot the woods. Suhserpiently dueks, not 

 malhird. hut a dark krown kind, were krouu'ht to us. which 

 were got in the same way. This kind are rather tame, 

 ;ind when they find themselves enclosed in the circle of 

 the net, instead of tlvino- dive uiuler it and uet their heads 

 into the meshes. Except milk products we could get no 

 supplii's Irom the f.-inn. hut thei'c were man\' r(_^iiideer in 

 the woods, whieh, though a})parently wild, are all owned 

 ky ka]i]is. We sent u]^ to thfii' enmp. tifteen nnles otl", 

 and the next day they brought down ;i three-year-old, 

 which rimii-lied us with the liiiesl nie;it in the world i'or ;i 

 fort night. 



Our rooms were large; all round the bedrooms stood 

 numerous '• m.irri;ige chests" of ])ast gencr;it ions, and a 

 great \ariet\' of reindeer eonts, s/icciij'e/dts, or sheep-skin 

 rugs, which serve as sheets, blaidcets, and counterpanes to 

 the natives at all seasons, and other g.nineiils hniej- IVoni 

 the rafters. The beds in No|\va\' are a dillicnlty ; they 

 are too short for most i'^nulishmen, at least those ol' mv 



