THE REINDEER AND ITS PURSUIT 
The horns of this stag were not so good as those of the first three, but 
carried an unusual number of small points, thirty -four. The length was 
48 inches and the tops were also heavy and long. 
Thus ended a most successful hunt. 
Recently I have heard that the tame reindeer, to the number of 5,000, 
which have been quartered at the east end of Lake Tyin and at Maristuen 
have increased to such an extent that 500 have been driven up to the Gal- 
lopegin ground, where huts have been built for the Lapp watchers. This 
means an end of the wild reindeer on the Jotunheim. 
Going to Christiania through Valders, I witnessed the unusual spectacle 
of numbers of dead birch and rowan trees killed by the drought. Such a 
sight was unprecedented in Norway. The most melancholy man I ever met 
was an Englishman who had taken an upper beat on the Laerdal, usually 
one of the best rivers in Norway for this season. He had been there looking 
at a mass of dry rocks for two months and when I asked him about sport 
he said, 44 1 hope to see a salmon when I get back to Bond Street.” 
Wild reindeer at large are now every year becoming scarcer in Norway 
except in Stavanger Amt. It is a pity that the Government does not reserve 
large tracts for game preserves, for sportsmen would gladly pay hand- 
somely both in rent and taxes for the privilege of killing a good buck or 
two. Most of those now shot are only half wild ones escaped from the 
Lapps, and many are still more tame. 
The tale is told of a well-known English sportsman who had sworn 
by St Hubert that he would slay none but absolutely wild reindeer. A season 
or two of fruitless search rather damped his ardour, but at last his eyes 
were gladdened with the sight of a splendid buck far up on a remote and 
isolated icefield, and off he went in pursuit. Three days were spent in this 
way before a successful stalk rewarded his exertions, and then, in wild 
delight, he rushed up to gloat over his prize. 44 A wild one at last! ” he 
exclaimed, but on taking off the head and neck he nearly fainted, for under 
the hair he discovered a most beautifully worked collar of beads! At length, 
having recovered from the shock, he started off again with renewed hope. 
Days passed without any result, until at last, in a still more lonely position, 
he discovered another reindeer, not a very fine one, to be sure — it looked a 
bit meagre and underfed — but as the guide protested by all the deeds of 
Odin and Thor that this at last was a genuine wild animal, a careful stalk 
was made, the sportsman fired, and the luckless beast fell over — on the 
top of the Lapp girl who was milking it! 
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