A Cruise on the S.Y " J'ectis." T45 



for a time among'st the ladies, who wanted a detailed de-;cripiio"i 

 of the Kaiser's appearance and manner. Little did any of tis 

 think, at that time, what a cold-hlooded murderer he would in 

 a few years prove to he. His visit to the / 'ccfis nmst ha\e heen 

 quite an unusual event, and I helie\e tliat lie made quite a 

 thoroiig"h inspection of all parts of the vessel. In the afternoon 

 we divided forces, about half of us taking- an overland tri]) to 

 Ciudvan.^en. the others g'oin,!,;' through the fjc^rds in the X'ectis. 

 These o\erland excursions were arrani^ed by " C"ook " and were 

 extremely well done. ( )ur courier was one of their best men. 

 A year or so 'previously he had engineered and conducted the 

 Ivaiser's celebrated trip to I'alestine and the Kast. We left 

 Bert^en by rail and after several !i(jurs' trxellitii;' thrcni^ii moun- 

 tainous and well wooded cotmtry. we left the train at a little 

 l)lace whose name 1 now forg;et. We were accoiumodated at 

 ri lar,!4e wooden hostel, on the borders of the lake. It reminded 

 me in a way of some of the wooden hostels I had stopped at in 

 various parts of Western America. After our luxurious fare 

 on the / 'cctisi some of us were inclined to L^rumble at the cater- 

 in;^', and they were still more astonished at the scanty way in 

 which their liedrooms were furnished. Most of us, however, 

 thorou,;:;'hly enjoyed the novelty of the surroundings, and as for 

 the fare, lumber is after all the best sauce, and as the keen moun- 

 tain air liad ^iven us useful aj)petites, the hotel authorities 

 hadn't mtich reason to complain of our eatin.i;' powers. 1 was 

 aroused very early in the morning- by the chatterinj:;' of mag'pies, 

 and on looking' ottt saw two perched on a nei;,.;"hbourin,i^" window- 

 sill, and several more foraging- in the hotel courtyard. It was 

 a lovely morning, and although it was still two or three hours 

 off breakfast time, I decided to ttirn out. A walk along the 

 shore of the lake proved most interesting. The water in places 

 alongside the path was quite deep, and many trout were to be 

 seen, some of large size. Excellent fishing is to be had here, 

 principally by trolling from boats. In one marshy spot I 

 sprung a couple of snipe, and from their slow and steady 

 flight I judged them to be young birds, and I have no doubt they 

 were bred close by. Far out on the lake my attention was at- 

 tracted by a pair of divers. The sun was behind them and I 

 couldn't see them very closely, but I think they were Grebes, 



