202 SHOOTING WILD TURKEY. 



all presents of our parishioners, I laid out a portion 

 of it in the purchase of powder and shot to be em- 

 ployed in shooting wood-quests and squirrels. One 

 Thursday, when our treasure amounted to ten sous, 

 and the children had a holiday, I provided myself 

 with ammunition, and started in company with 

 Charles, a young French gentleman and a keen 

 sportsman, to shoot wild turkeys on the picturesque 

 banks of the Medina. After beating the copses 

 and brushwood to the utter destruction of our 

 clothes and hands, we failed to start a single bird. 

 Seeing this, my companion directed his attention 

 to coveys of partridges which whizzed past us at 

 every step, while I continued my way along the 

 river's edge picking my steps with great caution, 

 lest I should tread on rattlesnakes or congos, 

 hideous black serpents, extremely dangerous, which 

 abound in the neighbourhood of watercourses. I 

 arrived at length at a bend of the river where the 

 water calmly reposed under the shadow of enor- 

 mous fig trees. Athwart the foliage, the sun's rays 

 gilded the parti-coloured water lilies which formed 

 the framework of this sparkling mirror. The chase 

 was soon forgotten, and whilst I stood admiring 

 this lovely spot, the leaves of the water lilies were 

 agitated, and I observed them disappear, and form, 

 as it were, a pathway under the water. It at once 

 occurred to me that some large fish was taking his 



