22 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 
dows, gnarled willows, marshes, more sand steppes, low hills, 
isolated villages on the plains, with their brilliant white church- 
spires visible from afar, countless floating mills, numerous 
little islands, partly decked with tall trees, and endless droves 
of pigs, horses, and cattle—all picture ina few words the 
character of this part of the country which we rapidly ran 
past, and which really offered few details that were pleasing 
to the eye, though when viewed as a whole it had in it some- 
thing undeniably grand. It might not, however, have inter- 
ested many people, and my judgment may be no criterion, 
for I have such an admiration for Hungarian scenery in its 
many various aspects that I am blind to all its monotony. 
We had, moreover, but little time for looking at our 
surroundings, for after luncheon, which, thank goodness, was 
served as soon as we left Adony, we had a good deal of work 
to do. 
I must yet mention one other incident, as it helped to make 
our day’s voyage more notable. About half an hour after we 
had left Adony, I was smoking a cigarette on deck, and 
quietly looking at the play of the ripples, when I suddenly 
observed a black object floating slowly down beside our steamer, 
and on closer scrutiny saw that it was a dead Cormorant, the 
same which I had seen fall into the water while I was stand- 
ing on the bank of the island. I at once gave the order to 
stop : a boat was lowered, and in a few minutes the bird lay 
beside his comrades in a shady corner of the vessel. 
When we had changed our things and lunched, we sat 
comfortably on deck smoking Homeyer’s cigars for him in 
a most friendly way—for his were always the very best. 
Life on board ship is most delightful, and it is by far the 
pleasantest way of travelling. One is at home and has 
everything that one wants; the pace is good, and the land- 
scape changes like the scenery of a theatre; and not until one 
travels in this way does one understand that fanatical 
