CHAPTER VII 



IN THE GULA VALLEY 



WE left Hull early in September, 1902, for a fort- 

 night's elk-hunting in the Gula Valley. By 'we' I 

 mean my friend Alec Henderson and myself. We 

 had leased a stretch of Government land on the west 

 bank of the Gula River, supplemented by an adjoining 

 farm that rounded off the forest on the south end, in 

 all some twenty-five by ten miles of spruce-forest, 

 birch- scrub, and fjeld. As related in the foregoing 

 chapter, I had killed five bulls on this ground the 

 previous year, hunting alone for three weeks on a sort 

 of trial trip, and this season we hoped to do as well or 

 better, although our time was shorter, as we were two 

 rifles instead of one, and had a season's experience of 

 the ground. 



The hope was not altogether fulfilled, largely owing 

 to the weather. In September, 1901, Norwegian 

 sportsmen enjoyed a phenomenally fine autumn, mild 

 and dry the best possible weather, in fact, for all 

 kinds of shooting, though no doubt anathematized by 

 the late anglers, who wanted water, and plenty of it. 

 In September, 1902, entirely different weather condi- 

 tions prevailed. An unnaturally cold summer was 

 followed by a cold and rainy autumn. Heavy snow 



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