3226 Fishes, b;c. 



learn that they were numerous, or that they were to be found except 

 in the most northern and wilder parts of the country. 



The Salmon, (Salmo Salar). I know nothing of the natural history 

 of fishes, and am no fisherman ; and with the exception of a great 

 number of small trout, weighing from a quarter to three quarters of a 

 pound, or perhaps a pound, which I caught for the sake of having 

 something to eat, and one very small salmon, which I caught by acci- 

 dent, I did not take advantage in this respect of my tour to this, the 

 best country in the world for the angler. I don't doubt that I shall 

 be thoroughly despised by the disciples of honest old Izaak Walton, 

 for throwing away such golden opportunities, however, be that as it 

 may, such is the fact: and therefore all I say about the fishing of 

 Norway is not derived from personal experience, but from Norwegian 

 friends, or those Englishmen whom I met either at their fishing-sta- 

 tions, or returning from the more northerly ones, which are the best. 

 The great salmon-streams of Norway are the Namsen and the Alten ; 

 the great majority of the rivers of Norway offering no accommodation 

 to those fish, as in that rocky country of precipices there is sure to be 

 some great fall near the mouths of the rivers, presenting an insur- 

 mountable obstacle to the source-seeking propensities of the salmon. 

 Still there are very many salmon-streams, and the weight of fish caught 

 by a successful angler in Norway in a single day was quite astounding 

 to my mind, so unconscious of the gentle art. However, salmon-fish- 

 ing in Norway is by no means that gentle, calm, quiet amusement, 

 which seems to give angling so great a charm in the eyes of some of 

 the lazy dolce-far-niente-\o\\x\g gentlemen of this country. There it 

 is really hard work, and requires a strong arm and a steady hand, as 

 well as considerable skill and adroitness ; for the salmon in Norway 

 are none of your dull, feeble, passive, resistless fish, yielding them- 

 selves to an adverse fate when hooked, and suffering themselves with- 

 out a splash to be towed to land and deposited on the grass ; but they 

 are strong, sturdy, independent fellows, like the Norwegians them- 

 selves, and when they find themselves deceived and in danger from an 

 enemy, make such a splutter and commotion as shows their spirit is 

 up, and that they are determined on a bold resistance and a fight to 

 the last. And their resolute bearing and expert manoeuvres to free 

 themselves by sudden jerks or by main strength, often try to the ut- 

 most the skill of the angler and the strength of his tackle, and not un- 



