308 A Sportsman at Large 



a dozen feet a spasmodic twist with one scull around a sinister 

 boulder, and two more powerful strokes up-stream again, 

 and then the frail craft grounded safely between two rocks 

 on the far side. 



It struck me very forcibly that unless this aquatic manoeuvre 

 was executed with meticulous precision the result would be 

 disastrous in the extreme. An upset in that raging torrent 

 would not afford a dog's chance of survival to the luckless 

 passenger. 



But it had to be risked. 



I think we offered fervent, if silent, prayers of thanksgiving 

 when we were all safely assembled on the far side. 



From this position we had a fine view of the towering 

 mountains which stood guardian over the Rauma Valley. 

 I was greatly interested when Johann pointed out a line of 

 moving specks on the far horizon. He handed me his tele- 

 scope, and I was able to make out a herd of some hundreds of 

 wild reindeer as they threaded their way along the skyline. 

 Now we began to push through what appeared to be a virgin 

 forest. The standing trees were festooned with licnens and 

 other parasitic growths, whilst all around lay those that 

 had yielded to the belated call of Father Time, and had sub- 

 sided to Mother Earth, where they lay partly concealed by 

 ancient moss and rotting leaves their skeleton branches 

 grotesquely interwoven. 



Alter an hour's trudge we mounted some sharply-rising 

 ground, on reaching the summit of which a most impressive 

 sight met our eyes. There, shimmering and glinting some 

 five hundred feet below us, was the lake of mystery ! nearly 

 oval in shape, fringed with high rushes, and hemmed in by 

 huge boulders of a bright ochre shade. The water, of a vivid 

 emerald tint, was so clear that the light-coloured bottom 

 could be seen everywhere, except in one corner, where the 

 depth was such that the verdant tint of the water shaded into 

 a deep azure. A truly beautiful effect. And there, basking 

 on the surface, were the great shadowy forms of fish of some 

 sort ! 



It was impossible to identify them, but they must be trout, 

 we thought. What else could they be ? 



