United States or United States Virgin Islands ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
At two o'clock in the afternoon we entered Christiansand Harbour; and taking our old berth a little to the westward of the castle, fired a salute, to let our friends know we had returned. Several gentlemen came on board, and made many inquiries about our travels; and when they had learned all, arrangements were made for us to fish in the Toptdal River, at Boom, as long as we liked.
P 's very soul seemed to be diving about in the pool entirely unconscious of every earthly thing but salmon. "By Jove! there's another bite," exclaimed R , as P 's reel spread the tidings with the tongue of a Dutch alarum clock. After a little play, the salmon ceased to live in the Toptdal River. "I can't tell how he manages," said R , in a sort of soliloquy. "I don't get a rise in two days.
The Toptdal River is the property of a celebrated merchant resident at Christiansand, and he derives a considerable income from the sale of fish caught in it.
"A great deal of it is luck," answered R ; "but let us go to breakfast. I am preciously thirsty; I must swill something." We both rose, and walked towards the cottage. The sun had now risen above the tops of the mountains, and shone brightly in the very centre of the valley through which the Toptdal River wound.
When I looked at the insular P , and his active rod, I thought him like to Archimedes who had found his extramundane spot of ground, and, as he threw the fly, and bent his back to let it touch the water lightly, was endeavouring to fasten his lever to the base of the adjacent mountain in order to consummate his wish of raising the world; and the circumfluous R with his long tackle, that hissed when he cast it with the petulance of an angry switch, appeared an ocean god, who had selected a shorter route to the North Cape by the Toptdal River, and was urging his reluctant grampuses up the cataract.
The clicking noise of their reels awoke me. The Toptdal River is uninterrupted by rapids from Christiansand up to our cottage, but as I mentioned, there is before the door a tremendous fall, and a pool of great depth has been formed, by the eternal force and action of the tumbling water. This pool is nearly circular, and about a quarter of a mile in circumference.
Early on Monday morning we weighed anchor, and reached up the fiord as far towards the mouth of the Toptdal River, as the depth of water would permit; and after an hour's sail, the yacht was brought up in a beautiful little bay, about three miles from Christiansand, and about four from Boom.
Easy, starboard oars," again said the Coxswain; and in a quarter of an hour, we were taking the copper kettle into the gig, which P placed quietly away, within his reach and sight, in the stern sheets. The Toptdal River is narrow, shallow, and swift of current; so that it is no facile task to contend with its rapidity and force.
The sun had already sunk beyond the mountains, when P returned on board; and, near as the day seemed to its end, it was determined to start for the Toptdal River, and proceed as far as Boom, a small village about twelve miles from Christiansand, where a merchant of some note had granted us permission to fish.
Word Of The Day