Related article: let, ** Lomtjern," on whose rocky shores we occasionally spent an hour or two on the way back from more distant waters : its trout are not exactly free risers, but they average well, and the view across innumerable pine-clad fiu^es to the mighty snow-clad ^ants on the horizon is superb. One day while prosaically em- ployed in plucking cloudberries, which grew in great abundance all round, we came across a sub- sidiary tarn, not more than a couple of acres in extent, a couple of hundred yards or so from the main one. On the latter we had failed to get a single rise ; from its small neighbour in an hour and a half we got over four dozen odd, running three to the pound, in a perfect blaze of sunshine and in a dead calm, by using fine gut and small flies. On July 22nd, a spell of hot weather set in — ^with the usual effect. The bums became voice- less; slender streams of crystal clear water trickled down the beds of the larger '* baeks ; " the area of each lake became greatly diminished ; while grass and water plants covered the surface of the bays and creeks. During the day cloudless sunshine rendered successful angling impossible ; and although of an evening the trout were to be seen disporting themselves everywhere in hun- dreds, it was no easy matter to compass even a modest basket of eight or ten pounds, and early in August we ** moved on." June was this year a much warmer month* in Southern Norway than in *99; and, encouraged by the comparatively high air tempera- ture, on June 19th we ascended to our old quarters at Skovdal, where we found that exceptionally mild weather had been experienced for quite three weeks. Lying as it does in the middle of a forest country, all the lakes in the neigh- bourhood are utilised more or less for timber-fioating purposes, and up to the great Norwegian festival of " Sant Hans " (June 24th} they are subject to the artificial fluctu- ations caused by the closing or opening of the various dams con- structed for gathering the logs. Under these conditions **Borte Vand" presented a very unfamiliar appearance. Hundreds of acres of the surrounding moorlands were flooded ; the islands had com- pletely disappeared ; partially sub- merged pine trees reared their heads every here and there above the Buy Cycrin surface, upon which much dibris floated ; and a huge boom at the mouth ojf the river encircled some thousands of logs. Owing to the greatly enlarged area of water, the trout were very hard to locate, for all the usual banks, shallows and bays, where we had been accustomed to catch them, were quite useless ; at the end of the first day, however, the creel contained over six dozen good fish 438 BAILV S MAGAZINE. Dni in excellent condition, picked up in all sorts of queer places. Desirous of ascertaining to what height the warm weather had affected the condition of the trout, we proceeded on the 21st to ** Lomtjern," 2,350 feet above sea level. Even at that height the air was balmy and mild, insects were plentiful, and the trout rose freely ; but the extra 600 feet was too much, and so poor was their condition that of the many cap- tured we only brought back ten or a dozen. With the same object in view we next day tried " Fjeld Vand," 1,950 feet ; but even in that excellent loch, 200 feet only above ** Borte,*' the fish were not nearly fit, and so to the latter we accordingly stuck for the ensuing week, during which period we caught 421 trout, averaging over iJIb. a piece. It had somehow got into the heads of the owners of ** Fjeld Vand " that owing to the sport obtained on that loch in *99, we proposed renting it ; these worthy men had accordingly netted the main confluent more severely than usual during the preceding spawning season. The result was unmistakable, for so much had the fish fallen off in numbers and size that this year we visited what was formerly our best loch on three occasions only, and declined abso- lutely to entertain the idea of leasing it on any terms whatever. •* Borte Vand," on the other hand, owing to the protection accorded its principal tributary, was better than ever, and throughout our stay yielded baskets of from four to eight dozen a day with greai regularity, while the other lochs fished quite up to the standard of the year before. Perhaps the most singular thiag about these waters is the prefer- ence which the trout appear to exhibit for thundery Tveather. Out of a total of 950 caught by the writer in '99, and of 1,344 las: year, 720 and 937 respectively were taken in the first three weds of each season, during wfaidi periods thunder, lightning and electric symptoms generally w^c very much in evidence- We are disposed, however, to think that at that time of the year — ^say for a month from the 20th or 2Sth of June — they will rise to the fly to a very great extent regardless of weather; and that later on the converse may almost be said to be the case. By the first week in August the hot Norwegian sum- mer sun has induced a libera/ supply of food of all kinds for the trout, which are in consequence fat and hard to please ; the tem- perature of the water is too high ; and the character of the wearber that usually prevails is such as to curtail materially the hours durinf which angling is possible. The season of 1899 was very dry, that of 1900 unusually wet, but the heavy rain that fell at the end of July and beginning of August in the latter year had little if any efiect in improving the fishing, which fell off in the above ratio as it did at the corresponding period in 1899. Elk. 190I.] 439 The Hunt Button in France. Xhb following is translated from an article on the " Hunt Button " in the last issue of the Annuaire de la VSneris Frangaise. The import- ance attached to this badge is reflected in the fact that the sportsman who wears it is called ** a Hunt Button." BouTON d' Equipage.