San-yiian ; but ere long a faint glow in the east heralded the approach of day. 

 The air was filled with the distant honking of geese ; and, with the spreading 

 of the glow in the east, long chains of wild fowl became visible, flying south- 

 ward. Presently a small river was reached, and there, thick upon the 

 southern bank, were hundreds of geese and duck, the latter being of the 

 species Sheldrake, or as it is usually called in China " Yellow Duck." Soon 

 after sunrise we passed a large pagoda, which had been noticed standing out 

 against the gathering mists as we descended the heights the preceding after- 

 noon. At last the bank of the Wei Ho was reached, and considerable delay 

 experienced in getting across. The weather was very gloomy, whilst the 

 mournful calling of the ducks, the dismal flats, and grey sombre river all 

 combined to enhance the feeling of depression which seized the travellers as 

 the heavily-laden ferry moved slowly across the sluggish water. Though the 

 temperature was not in reality very low the cold seemed unbearable, a result 

 doubtless of the moisture in the atmosphere. Moored alongside either bank 

 of the river were huge coal-barges with quaint roofs and dragon-headed joss- 

 poles, which, in the morning mist, seemed to assume strange forms, gigantic 

 and menacing. As the ferry-boat passed close to a sandbank in the middle of 

 the river, an immense cloud of duck rose with a thundering whirr. After 

 circling overhead, and flying up and down the river in a rapidly moving, ever- 

 changing cloud, the birds suddenly swooped into the water, countless little 

 jets of spray marking the spot where they had struck its smooth surface. 



On landing we noticed some geese not far off, and Sowerby, riding up to 

 the small flock, managed to secure one from the saddle. The rest of the 

 journey to Hsi-an lay over a flat country, the first part of which was much 

 intersected by irrigation canals, supplying water to the swampy rice fields. 

 Here many mallard and teal were feeding, and round the villages the beautiful 

 pink and white ibis waded knee-deep in the black, oozy mud. As Hsi-an was 

 neared, the rice fields and canals gave place to wide, rolling fields of early 

 wheat, the green of which was hailed by the party with the liveliest satisfac- 

 tion. The pleasure afforded to the eye by a green field, after the yellow, grey, 

 and brown of a North China winter, cannot be expressed. A quaint charm 

 was added to the scene by strong battalions of geese drawn up in serried ranks, 

 as if on parade. In every direction, too, were little detachments, giving the 

 impression of the outposts, pickets, and scouts of main opposing armies. 

 When approached and fired upon, the flocks arose en masse, honking wildly 

 The noise was deafening, and the sky black with frightened birds till, breaking 

 into chains, they flew off in all directions. 



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