Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1865-10-25
HOW KILLED ~ ELK IL NORWAY.

| was spending the summer in Norway.
1t was in the year ffty-eight; that terrible
hot summer when the sheep died by the
scores in the parks, and became roast NUT
ton as they lay upon the grass; 50 you
may imagine what it was in a country
where the sun was almost as hot by mid
night as at noon. Itwas getting towards
the end of July, and | was looking for
ward to the first Of August with all the
zcst o. an old grouse shooter One day a
young Norwegian student happened to
put up at the same station" where was
staying. lie, too, was going to spend his
vacation on the Fields, Tut disdainin.
such small fry as grouse and ptarmgau
scared at red-deer, reindeer, and elk. 1t
was to our mutual interest. l. for in
stance. had good stock of English pow
der an unlimited supply of Bristol bird :
eve, and a brace of frst-rate settlers. lie
would not only be an agreeable compan-
ION, hut wpalG act as my Interpreter.
4 few remarks on the law relating TO
the preservation Of elk are due in this
place It runs thus Any one shootingan
elk before August Ist. or after October
5lst. Is liable to a penalty of forty dollars.
half Of which goes to Jhe informcr, and
half to the poor~boz of the district -
Doubtless, in some respects. an excellent
provision, as in wild country like Nor
way with It's boundless forests and track
less Fields, it would be a sheer imrossi-
liIity for any native game prcscrver to
keep such staff Of employees as to render
the poachcrs ayocation ut all dangerous.
Bv ofering sribe to the former, the gov
ernmcntE on an ingenious ana in cxpcn-
s.ve scheme for the promotion Of its OBJ
iect But now mark the weak side ,
Say that the eatable portion Of an elk
weirhs 500 lbs. In the matter Of food
therefore alone. shere viii be tolerable
supply of meat through the winter. Then
thee Is the hide and the autIers. into the
bargain. On the lowest computation, an
elk Is we'll worth thirty dollars. 1t is easy
enough, therefore. for two persons to con-
spire against an elk, and while one Of
them does the poaching, his comrade
acts as intormer. and, recovering half the
penalty, both profit BY the transaction
We had just arrived at our quarters,
after long and dusty journey across the
Dovre IN untains. The house at which
we put up lay On the borders Of
a large lake Of surprising loveliness.
Id looked 20 temptin-ly cool that we de
termingd to enjoy the luxury of bath,
before g ing in to sup upon dish of fresh
caught char. which was IN course Of pre-
raratiou Never was bath more refresh
ing. and certainly never was tobacco more
fragrant than when we laid down after
wards on the Grass To be sogthed by it
. All was still. the lake as smooth as a look
. ;n--1lass. and the sun just setting behind
q snow-capped mountain IN the distance
But the silence suddenly was broken 10y
the sound of distant voices, and the splash
Of oars and a few minutes we could
plainly discern sr-a ,eatS emerging from
under the darL aaso~ Of some rocky
y
against each other pulled out my
-brnocular. and soon discovered what
should have taken to be a large bougl
floating on the water about half a mil,
ahead of the boats, only that it was NAV
Ing almost as quickly as the boats were
But Hans soon enlightened me, and witt
a sprinkling Of genuine Norwegian ejacu
'ations. which would lock rather proian,
if translated literally, pronounced tha
the bouch was an elk, and that the boa.
were in pursuis Of It
! Now shall we see a bit of fun; eacl
boat be'ongs to . different farmery e.
he always called a farm-housel, "and
one Of them shoots the elk you will Sc
such a race Is never was
But WY shouldn't we try and ba: