136 MY SPORTING HOLIDAYS 



animal on the snow before it came into sight. This 

 still left the fact to be explained away that Ivor con- 

 tinued to spy the opposite fjeld until A. H. directed 

 his attention to the animal in question. 



I saw no elk on the south end worth the killing, 

 and shortly after A. H. and I paid a second visit to 

 the saeter, intent on a final serious hunt. Our first 

 day out was eventful. A. H. and Peder on the lower 

 beat spied a good bull on the farther side of the 

 valley, feeding in the scattered birch -scrub. To 

 reach him from where they were it was necessary to 

 cross the deep canon which divided this part of the 

 ground for some miles from east to west. This meant 

 sliding down 150 yards of precipitous pine-clad hill- 

 side, wading thigh-deep through a rapid mountain 

 torrent swollen by melting snow, and climbing on 

 all fours laboriously up the equally steep farther side. 

 All this being accomplished in record time, they 

 proceeded to stalk the bull, but he had moved into 

 thicker cover, and when found gave only a difficult 

 snapshot, and was not seen again. 



Curiously enough, it was also destined that Ivor and 

 I, on the higher beat, should likewise this day, in the 

 ardour of the chase, wade the same torrent and cross 

 the same valley. We reached the shoulder of the 

 fjeld which overlooked the highest dale of all exactly 

 at the psychological moment when it had occurred 

 to three elk to move from the distant birch-scrub 

 straight in our direction. Nothing could have been 

 more fortunate, thought I, as I sat on the snow and 

 watched through the glass the three great deer, 

 looking coal-black against the white background, 

 gradually move towards us through strips of birch 

 and scattered pine. One was a bull not with a large 



