192 
WILD NORWAY. 
August 2 $th '-—After a night of rain, glass rose and 
sky cleared towards dawn. The wind veered to N., and 
at last we had one fine day, though bitterly cold. Sent 
Aasmund at 5 a.m. to the valley for supplies, and W. 
and I hunted together ; but though we worked fourteen 
hours in lovely deer-country, with miles of tawny grass 
and pasturage, we saw no living thing except a few buz¬ 
zards, kestrels, and a falcon waiting on a covey of ptar¬ 
migan. There are very few of the latter this year, and 
the only other birds of the fjeld are merlins, ravens, 
wheatears, titlarks, and a pair or two of dippers. Lem¬ 
mings abound, as do field-mice and foxes, and we have 
seen one alpine hare, a stoat, and the spoor of a bear. 
August 27th .—Hard frost: our water-buckets and 
basins all frozen, and sponges hard as rocks. Started at 
six, Nils and I going up Vasdals Eggene. We had just 
got nicely climbed out to five thousand feet, when it 
began to snow, and in ten minutes we were driven to 
shelter. Waited till nearly frozen, then abandoned idea 
of going higher, and tried what looked a fine ravine 
towards N.E. But weather went from bad to worse, 
snow lying six inches deep and driving on a whole gale 
Could not see ten yards, so “ chucked it,” and made for 
tent, arriving benumbed and blue at 1 p.m., only a few 
minutes after W. This afternoon proved the stormiest 
of all, rain driving in horizontal sheets. The tent 
leaking badly, there are pools of water all over my 
bed-cover, and a steady drop from a score of places on 
the windward side. 
August 28th.—Morning again broke in deluges of 
rain, and the wind had threatened the stability of our 
abode all night. Obliged to abandon intention of 
