164 
WILD NORWAY. 
its tributaries were stone-clry—arid and parclied as 
though no water had occupied them for centuries. In 
water so low and bright, success partly depends on 
finding pools to which the larger fish have fallen back, 
and in which, as sanctuaries, they will be congregated. 
To me, weary of throwing back troutlets, an ancient, 
grey-haired farmer kindly pointed out a wooden foot¬ 
bridge—formed of four long pine-trunks, resting on a 
central pier—which spanned the river hard by. Beneath 
OUR QUARTERS IN TELEMARK. 
the bridge the stream ran eight feet deep, but so clear 
that every stone in its bed was plainly distinguishable. 
From among these stones of infinite hues, as my flies 
reached the surface, I observed a heavy trout leave his 
holt and ascend directly towards where I stood, twenty 
feet above him, on the central span ; up, up he came— 
it looked as though he would never reach the surface. 
Then a sharp turn, and a wave of a broad tail, and he 
was gone; but a blue-dun was fast in his maxillaries, 
and a singular struggle ensued. Had the captive 
