Dahl grew up at Hakadal in Akershus, Norway, where his father was an estate manager. Surrounded by forests, lakes and rivers, Dahl became an excellent shot and a skilled angler. In 1889 he entered the University of Oslo where he studied zoology. In 1893, at the age of 21, he was given the opportunity to conduct a scientific expedition to South Africa and Australia to collect animal specimens for the University's Zoological Museum.[2] In South Africa he occupied himself with some big game hunting as well as the collection of scientific specimens.[3]
After a visit to Batavia and Singapore Dahl and Holm returned to Western Australia where they collected in the vicinity of Roebuck Bay. They finally departed Australia in March 1896, arriving back in Norway on 4 May.[3]
Later life
In 1898, he was appointed as a research fellow at the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters (Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskap) in Trondheim. On Dahl's return to Norway he wrote books about his experiences in South Africa and Australia; his account of the latter was first published in Norwegian in 1898, then titled In Savage Australia when it was eventually translated and published in English in 1926. He became an eminent scientific authority on fish, especially salmonids, and was stationed for many years at Trondheim and Bergen.[3][4][5]
References
Notes
^"Knut Dahl". Store norske leksikon. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
