34 TEAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



The journey had to be accomplished on snow-shoes. 

 The by lay up on the brow of a hill rising steeply 

 from the river, and was made up of about 600 to 700 

 reindeer. The place was somewhat difficult of access 

 owing to the depth of the snow ; but after an hour's 

 hard work we found ourselves suddenly in the midst 

 of the deer, who lay in holes in the snow, with no- 

 thing but the tips of their antlers visible. The deer 

 that had drawn me from Bosekop lay there among 

 the rest, apparently not a whit the worse for our long 

 trip. There were also several entire deer, that seemed 

 to look twice as majestic as the others ; and the 

 wapoos cautioned me against disturbing or irritating 

 these, for were a fit of rage to come over them they 

 would not hesitate an instant to attack us. Altogether 

 the by was a curious and interesting sight, from which 

 I found it difficult to tear myself away. 



Of all the bodily exercises I know of, there is none, 

 in my opinion, that can come up to snow-shoeing as 

 it is done in Norway. Skating is nothing compared 

 to this sport. What can equal the splendid sensation 

 of flying across the deep snow at the rate of many 

 miles an hour, without hardly moving a muscle] 

 And then, going downhill, staff in hand, no exertion 

 necessary, other than to keep the balance, while glid- 

 ing softly but swiftly onward. Unlike the Canadian 

 snow-shoes, these ski (pronounced shee) of the Nor- 

 wegians are often fully twelve feet long, curving 

 upwards at the prow, and are not broader than three 



