21 NOVEMBER 1903, Page 13

THIRTY SEASONS IN SCANDINAVIA.

Thirty Seasons in Scandinavia. By E. B. Kennedy. (E. Arnold. 10s. 6d. net.)—Mr. Kennedy thinks that if one fished for a hundred seasons, there would always be something new turning up to enrich an angler's experiences. He has himself a good store of recollections. The particular memory which suggests this remark is of an old " Lendsmann," who used for the author's instruction a detestable contrivance which was nothing more or less than an "otter," though in the place of a floating board it had a swan. We are glad to see that he gave up his evil ways after seeing a trout killed with a rod. Another worth noting is that of a party of four. One elected to fish the river in wading boots, the other three fishing from boats of their own. The wader never moved from his stand, and changed his flies but once only. When the catches were weighed—nothing, it should be said, under a pound was kept—his totalled more than the three boats put together. There are hints of value in the book—fish have so many caprices that the angler cannot have too many dodges in reserve—and other things which go to make it well worth reading. Mr. Kennedy has something to tell us about other creatures besides fish, about lemmings, beavers, ponies, elks, and others, wild and tame. Nothing is more curious than the lemming. From time to time they become overcrowded —they are the most prolific of animals—and then they migrate. They go straight on; if they reach the ocean, they adventure on it. None ofjthe migrants ever return. As to their numbers, it is recorded that in 1868 a steamer on the Trondhjem Fjord took more than a quarter of an hour to pass through a mass of them, while the water as far as could be seen was covered with them.