CHAPTER II 



THE ISLAND OF HITTEREN 



IN the previous chapter I have said something of my 

 first visit to the island of Hitteren, lying far away 

 north off the coast of Norway near the mouth of the 

 Throndhjem Fjord. That visit took place more than 

 a quarter of a century ago, and the consequence was 

 that then and there I fell in love with Hitteren's pine- 

 woods and marshy glades, with its rocky fjelds, its 

 numerous lakes and streams and trickling burns, its 

 smell of pine and seaweed, its bracing northern air, 

 and, above all, with the sport of hunting its woodland 

 game, and of catching its brown trout, sea-trout, and 

 now and then an odd grilse. I have off and on since 

 visited the island, generally in August and September, 

 through a course of some thirty years, and naturally 

 entertain pleasing recollections of the wild sport it has 

 afforded my friends and myself. 



It may naturally be asked, Why is Hitteren 

 the only place in Norway worthy the name of 

 deer-forest, so far as red-deer are concerned ? This 

 is the fact as my knowledge goes. There are 

 many other islands in the Throndhjem district, 

 near the Namsen, in the Hardanger, and elsewhere 

 on the western coast, as well as portions of the 



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