334 THE WOOD-DRAKE. 



had been submerged for years, now bleaching once more 

 in the sun from the shrinking of the fluid in the summer 

 heat. At first an appearance on some of these whitened 

 limbs of trees puzzled me, for there were black-looking 

 knobs on them, so they at first appeared to me, about the 

 size in circumference of a dinner-plate, to which was at 

 tached something that resembled a long neck and head. 

 These knobs exactly resembled turtle, and turtle they 

 proved to be; they raised their heads in alarm at my 

 approach, glided off the snags into the water, and I saw 

 them no more. Innumerable frogs, who had been sunning 

 themselves on the strand, took from beneath my feet the 

 highest and largest and best " headders" into the water for 

 frogs I ever saw, and showed me that the illustration of 

 Dickens' Martin Chuzzle wit's seat in despair on the log in 

 front of his doorless cabin in Eden had not been in any 

 way overdone in regard to his reptile company. 



Thus walking" on the margin of the water, on reaching 

 a little promontory formed by some fallen trees, I saw a 

 few ducks sitting near enough to the bank for me to get a 

 shot, could I but attain to the spot under the trees exactly 

 opposite them. Having crawled on my hands and knees 

 for some distance, to my great delight I saw a pig routing 

 and knocking about the ground and bushes at the very 

 place I desired to reach ; and this pig, having been seen 

 and heard by the ducks, would lull their suspicion of other 

 danger. I crept on, and induced the pig to see me when 

 at some distance, in order not to occasion him any sort of 

 surprise. At last the pig quietly walked out of my way, 

 when, taking his place, I got a good shot at the ducks ; 

 and Brutus brought me a couple of that lovely-plumaged 

 bird the wood-drake, as plump and fine as it was possible 

 to be. The noise of my gun having again scared the 



