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6 THROUGH NORWAY WITH A KNAPSAClv.
close to me, that I must almost hare trodden upon it.
It appeared larger than a turkey, with huge wings and
tail; and the noise it made in rising was tremendous:
a bear would have been far less startling at first
sight. These birds are, I believe, quite extinct in
Britain, though formerly abundant in the wilder regions
of the Scottish Highlands.
I should not advise other tourists to venture alone
over a fjeld like this ; for, independently of the danger
of losing the way, and being overtaken by the mists,
there is a considerable risk of sprained ankles, when
the path is lost. The slopes of the hills are covered
with loose angular stones, heaped together several layers
thick, with deep holes between them. To cross such
ground as this, it is necessary to step carefully, but
firmlv, upon the angular summits of these blocks;
some practice is required to keep one’s balance, and to
do this safely, as the stones are often loose, and rock,
or even turn over, when trodden 011. When they do
thus turn, a foil is almost inevitable; grazed knuckles
and bruised knees and shins follow as a matter of
course; but if the foot.^ should slip clown one of these
crooked holes, and the whole weight of the body pitch
upon it, a sprained ankle or a broken leg is quite to
be anticipated. Such a mishap is bad enough under
Any circumstances; but here, where no human being
comes within hail for months together, to have to crawl
for miles and miles over broken rock and bog, dragging
a dangling limb, and, after hours of struggling agony,
to faint and die in the wilderness without one farewell
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