Fishes, fyc. 3227 



frequently leave him discomfited on the rocks, while they swim away 

 with a glorious but most inconvenient palm of victory, a large hook in 

 their mouths, and part of a line dangling therefrom. Moreover, the 

 rivers in Norway are none of your still, quiet, smooth streams, gently 

 meandering through flat grassy meadows ; but good, honest, hearty 

 torrents, roaring and foaming among the rocks with a deafening noise, 

 plunging and hissing in their mad career, tossing the spray on high, 

 eddying round and round, and playing all kinds of gambols in their 

 frantic excitement to reach the fjords. In truth, salmon-fishiug in 

 Norway is no child's play ; but to give some idea of the quantity and 

 weight caught, it will be necessary to come to statistics. Two Eng- 

 lishmen, whom 1 met at their fishing-station, told me they had killed 

 1,500 lbs. weight of salmon in thirteen days : four of the fish weighed 

 above 30 lbs. each, their weight respectively being 34, 35, 37 and 38 

 lbs. One of them going out alone killed in one day seven salmon, not 

 one of which was under 20 lbs., their united weight being 160 lbs. 

 But the sport of the Namsen far exceeds this : one Englishman killed 

 no less than 2,000 lbs. weight of salmon last season. This same gen- 

 tleman, a very expert angler, killed four fish, whose weight exceeded 

 30 lbs., one of them being no less than 48 lbs. in weight. I believe 

 the largest fish ever known to have been killed in Norway, was one 

 of 52 lbs., taken in the Namsen. But I see it stated that in Sweden 

 Sir H. Parker outdid this, by killing one of 60 lbs. weight. 



Salmon, as may be supposed from what I have said, forms a very great 

 article of food to the Norwegians : indeed " Lacks," or salmon, as regu- 

 larly makes its appearance at"frokost" (breakfast), "nriddag's-speise" 

 (dejeuner a lafourchette), and " aftens" (or supper), the three Norwegian 

 meals, as bread would do in this or any other civilized country. But 

 then the " Lacks" one sees there so constantly is not what the English 

 gourmand would picture to himself: the fish indeed is the very finest 

 and best that can be had, but it is dried in the sun when caught, and 

 never sees a fire, but when required is cut up in slices and served up 

 quite raw. This, indeed, is the manner in which all meat is prepared 

 for the table : meat is killed in October, and never at any other time 

 of the year, (I allude now to the country, not to the towns, where fresh 

 meat can always be obtained). In the month of October, then, a great 

 slaughter of cows, sheep, goats, &c, takes place throughout the coun- 

 try; all the meat is dried and stored away, and lasts the entire twelve- 

 month, affd when wanted, is merely sliced off in shavings, and eaten 

 in its raw state. These meats resemble mahogany in colour, but in 



