THE ISLAND OF HITTEREN 27 



flat, open, boggy country, about ten miles in width, 

 that extended clear across the island from shore to 

 shore. On the flat, as it was termed, deer were 

 seldom seen or shot, so far as my experience went, 

 though the natives always insisted that good stags 

 constantly frequented it. 



Such, then, was our Anglo- Norwegian party in 

 those days of long ago. Sport, I remember, was not 

 very good in that year of 1872, E. N. Buxton in 

 particular being somewhat disappointed with this his 

 first and last experience of the island. He and his 

 party got two or three stags of moderate size only. 

 Later on I met him in Havn, where we had all fore- 

 gathered at the end of September to wait for the 

 steamer for Hull. Christopher Strom's house, on the 

 edge of Havn Bay the only available resting- house 

 was crammed on that occasion with the parties 

 I have mentioned, waiting for three days for the 

 steamer to take us all back to Hull three days 

 during which, as I well remember, we nearly ate 

 ' Sixty-one ' and his old companion out of house and 

 home. The steamer was late, of course ; and in that 

 bracing northern air a crowd of hungry hunters 

 imposed a heavy strain on Christopher's menage. We 

 were all doubtless dismissed with heartfelt blessings. 



But I well remember meeting E. N. Buxton, as 

 I have said, as I drove my carriole down the last 

 steep hill overlooking Havn Bay. He had just 

 returned from an expedition on the mainland, and 

 was coming up the hill to spy for the steamer's 

 smoke on the far horizon. 



' What sport ?' was my greeting. 



'I've shot a bear,' was the reply, on which I 

 heartily congratulated him. 



