72 TRONYEM. [Chap. I I I . Chap. I I I .] TRONYEM. 73
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Pole, Russia was no country for one of th a t unfortunate
nation to have recourse to. There, it is probable,
his sufferings would either have been aggravated,
or soon found an end. This poor officer appeared,
indeed, to be almost broken-hearted at the
sad reverse of fortune, and it was impossible not
to feel deeply for his unhappy and forlorn situation.
Too truly might he say—
“ Sad is my fate, (cried the heart-broken stranger,)
The wild-deer and %volf to a covert can fle e ;
But I have no refuge from famine or danger,
A home or a country remain not for me.”
During our stay at Tronyem, I took an opportunity
of paying another visit, in company with Mr.
Smith, to the beautiful Falls of Lierfossen, on the
river Nid. As it was earlier in the year than when
I last visited them, the body of water, from the
melting of the snow in the neighbouring mountains,
was far greater than before, and consequently more
imposing—the splendour and magnificence of effect
in waterfalls, both on the eye and the ear, depending
more on the mass, than the height, of the
volume of water. We dined with Mr. Oveson, the
proprietor of the neighbouring estates, and in the
evening went in a boat near the foot of the Falls
to enjoy the amusement of angling for salmon.
My friend insisted on my trying my luck with
one of his rods, which I wished to decline on the
score of ignorance and awkwardness; but remonstrance
Avas in vain, so for the first time in my life
I found mvself in the character of an anoler, Avith
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rod and reel in my hand. During our short stay I
hooked tAVO salmon, but landed neither of them—
one having broken the line and darted off Avlth it and
the fly, A v h ile the other was satisfied with the fly
and a small part of the hook. I could have wished
that good fortune had allowed me to land one
of them, but, as it Avas not in the fates, all I could
do was to console myself, on being told that it was
no unusual occurrence, and that it might and sometimes
did happen even to the most expert disciple
of Izaak Walton to lose his fish.
Having passed a very agreeable evening, Ave returned
to our lodgings at Tronyem. Mr. Knudtzon
had lent us his horse to drive thither in the
carriole ; it Avas one of those remarkably fast
trotters which are frequently met Avith in different
parts of NorAvay; and as he was on the point of
leaving the country for some little time, the horse
in question Avas to be disposed of; and I much
regretted the almost impossibility of getting the
animal safe over to England, and the great expense
which would necessarily attend it, otherwise I
should have purchased him for ten pounds !—the
price fixed upon for this beautiful and valuable
animal, which Avould not be had in London for
thirty or forty.
I was glad to observe that the exterior of the fine
old cathedral at Tronyem Avas undergoing very extensive
repairs; and that the original architectural
ornaments, many of which were almost and some
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