324 SHOET STALKS 



experiment, because tlie Sundal valley is ratlier populous 

 for Norway, and the hunting expeditions of these people 

 are sufficient to scare most of the reindeer to less accessible 

 places, even though, as far as I could learn, Ijut few were 

 brought to bag. More could not Ije expected with the native 

 pojD-gun, which at the time of which I am writing was 

 generally the handiwork of the local blacksmith. Go back 

 three or four hundred years, and it requires an effort of the 

 imagination to estimate the craft and patience which it 

 must have taken to secure so wild an animal. Tliat the 

 pursuit w\as attempted I once found presumptive proof, 

 for I picked up an iron arrow-head among the bare stones 

 near the top of one of the highest peaks in those parts. It 

 could hardly have been used for any other purpose. I had 

 little expectation of success on this first trip. Neverthe- 

 less, I hoped to gather some hints, and experience that 

 would be useful for a more extended sojourn on the fjeld, 

 which we proposed to make in a few days. 



I was accompanied by an excellent stalker, a farmer 

 from a neighbouring valley, named Tostin, of whose repu- 

 tation I had heard from a friend, who, fortunately for us, 

 was free from the jealousy with which one Englishman in 

 Norway generally regards another if he happens to be on 

 the look-out for sport, and also by his dog " Barfod," a 

 splendid specimen of the Finnish or Esquimaux breed, to 

 which all the dogs in Northern Europe approximate. It is 

 characterised by short upright ears, an alert expression and 

 a tail that curls like the horn of an old Hiohland ram. 

 The vital parts are protected from the cold Ijy a dense ruff 

 of hair. The tail also carries a splendid brush and this is 

 not for ornament alone, for when the dog sleeps you notice 



