218 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 
telling the keeper and some fishermen to bring up their 
boats as quickly as possible, and taking with us a “esikel,” 
we left the ‘Vienna’ at the house and went on. 
The scene which now presented itself to us at the edge of 
the swamp was really grand and highly characteristic. 
Before us lay the broad so-called Hullé marsh, or rather lake, 
since it does not at all correspond to one’s ideas of a marsh ; 
for what the people here mean by ‘ the Hull6é” is an 
inundated district more or less filled throughout the year 
with water so stagnant as to have hardly any perceptible 
current. This lake is bounded on the east by the Danube, 
on the south by the Drave, on the west by open treeless 
country, and on the north by the great forests of the “ auen.” 
It is very large, stretching towards the west further than 
the eye can reach, and its interior consists partly of perfectly 
open sheets of water and partly of regular forests of thick 
reeds above the height of a man; but the water is every- 
where too deep for wading, the whole character of this very 
interesting submerged district vividly reminding me of the 
Narenta in Dalmatia. 
From its eastern edge we had a wonderful view of this 
wide expanse of water, with its pale yellow beds of reeds 
rustling and swaying in the wind like fields of corn; while 
the grey-green woods to the north, the narrow fringe of 
willows to the south, and the broad plains to the west which 
seemed to melt into the marsh, together with the incessant 
cries of all sorts of waterfowl flying to and fro, and the lap- 
ping in the reeds of the water rippled by the gentle morning 
breeze—all made up a very beautiful and picturesque scene. 
As our boats glided quietly on towards the inner parts of 
this lake, Terns danced lightly around us, and various kinds 
of Ducks rose noisily in front of us, while Purple Herons, 
Grey Herons, and a few figrets flew slowly away over the 
reeds; but we were soon convinced that it would be quite 
