After a few miles the gorge got deeper and deeper and more and more
narrow, until it ran between high cliffs which could not be climbed,
and the stream became a torrent running between the high rocks, so
that progress was impossible along the bottom.
We were, therefore, obliged to keep up on the mountainside above the
cliffs and make our way along in the same direction as the gorge,
occasionally looking down into it to see its wonderful scenery.
On steep parts of the mountain we had to clamber along as best we
could, and sometimes it was jumpy work, where, if you kicked aside a
loose stone, you could see it go bounding away down into the gloomy
gorge below. At other times we were walking on beautifully soft moss,
into which our feet sank for several inches; in fact, after a time,
with a good load on our backs we began to wish it was not quite so
soft! But it made our going very quiet and silent, and we kept a sharp
look-out for game.
At one time George was leading the way when we came to a slight rise
in front. Like a good scout, he never came to a rise without checking
his pace and peeping very carefully over it before going on. This he
did more from habit than from any expectation of seeing anything the
other side, but it is a most valuable habit, and one which every good
scout has. On this occasion it proved its value.
George dropped flat on the ground, and, taking the warning from him,
I, too, "squatted" at once, and made the dogs lie down. I did not know
whether we had an elk or rabbit in front of us, but presently George
crept back to me and reported that there were some duck on a pool a
short distance ahead.
He, being the gun-bearer, then started to stalk these duck by going a
long way round, keeping behind hillocks and rocks until he could get
near enough to be within shot of them. It took him a long time.
[Illustration: "George dropped flat on the ground, and, taking the
warning from Him, I, too, squatted at once, and made the dogs lie
down."]
He had a good look at the ground first from our hiding-place, and he
noted any peculiar rocks or bushes which would serve as guides to him
while he was carrying out his stalk, and off he went, creeping and
crawling from one landmark to the next, until at last he wriggled up
to the bush which he had guessed would bring him within shot of the
birds.
When he got there, he peeped through the stems of the bush, and found
that it was not so close as he had hoped--it was scarcely within
gunshot; but the duck had already some suspicion that all was not
well. They are the cleverest birds alive; they had all stopped
feeding, were looking anxiously about, and were beginning to swim
away.
George saw that his only chance was to risk a long shot if we were
going to have any dinner that day, so, pushing his gun through the
bush, he fired at the nearest duck, and, immediately jumping to his
feet, he fired again at another, which by this time was on the
wing--and he killed both.
Of course the dogs and I both hurried down to him in great jubilation.
There were two good fat ducks floating on the little lake. But how
were we to get them? Neither of the dogs was a water dog, and the lake
was really a wet bog, in which a man could neither swim nor wade.
Luckily, there was a breeze blowing, so we went round to the lee side
and sat down to wait for the birds to drift to us. Slowly they came
nearer and nearer, but it was very slow work. It became slower and
slower as the breeze dropped and at last died away when they were not
twenty yards away.
[Illustration: "FISHING" FOR DUCK.]
Then George--again as a good scout would--invented a plan. He took my
rod and began to fly-fish for the ducks! That is, he threw the line
over a duck, and then gently drew it in so that the hook caught in the
bird's feathers. In this way he "caught" both of them in turn and
dragged them ashore.
From the open high ground we gradually descended to lower heights.
First we came among scattered birch trees, and below these we entered
pine and fir woods, and through them we came steadily down to the
level of the valley in which lay the great lake.
Just before getting to the valley we dipped once more into our gorge
where it finally left the mountains, and it was a grand sight. The
cliffs rose sheer up a hundred feet on either side, even overhanging
in some places, and the opening between the cliffs was quite narrow,
where the stream in a dense body of water rushed its way through in a
roaring cascade. It was a magnificent scene.
Just below the cascade the gorge opened out, and the stream spread
itself over a shallow, stony bed, in many courses, till it joined the
main river in the valley.
George and I clambered down the last cliff, and close to the cascade I
made the fire while he went and caught a couple of trout for lunch (we
were going to keep those duck for supper at the saeter), and we were
very glad of the lunch and a rest.
Then we turned for home by a new road, walking round the foot of the
mountain over whose back we had come. But we turned for home in
another sense, for that was the turning point of my trip in Norway; I
had to go back home to England from there.
On our way back we passed great swamps where there were duck, but we
had had enough of them to last us for the present.
In one part of the swamp we came upon the spoor of elk. The elk, you
know, is a great big stag--the same as a moose in Canada; a very lanky
animal, as big as a horse, with a very blobby nose, and heavy,
flat-spread antlers.
It was, of course, very good to learn that there really were elk in
the neighbourhood, but it only made me the more unhappy at having to
leave the country. George, who had no Boy Scouts demanding his
presence, was going to stay on there, so everything that made me more
sad made him all the happier--the unfeeling brute!
Still, I can't complain. I think in the few weeks that I was in Norway
I had had as good a time as anyone could possibly have. There is no
better fun on earth than living in the open and catching and cooking
your own grub, in doing mutual good turns with a good comrade in camp,
and in recognising God's handiwork in the mountains and forests around
you.
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