A EECONNAISSANCE. 303 



to strand his craft, and that I might as well accompany him 

 and explore to the westward, for a stream was marked on 

 his chart which could not be over a few miles from our 

 anchorage. Soon we trod terra ftrma, and, while 

 MacGregor remained, I started, double-barrel in hand, 

 on a reconnaisance, with light steps and lighter heart. 

 The soil was thin and unproductive, bearing nothing but 

 stunted brush, excepting in the ravines and hollows, 

 sheltered from the prevailing winds; here a dwarf de- 

 formed pine or stunted larch would rear its diminutive 

 head, or an antiquated birch, covered with its hoary bark, 

 hang precarious from a jutting rock. Intense solitude 

 reigned around, and naught broke the stillness of the 

 landscape save the persevering wicked hum of the blood- 

 thirsty mosquito. With buoyant hopes I walked on, and 

 just as I began to think I had traversed quite two miles I 

 suddenly came upon the margin of a bright pure river, 

 about seventy yards wide, running in a continuous rapid 

 stream towards the sea. Mungo Park's first view of the 

 Niger, or Speke and Grant's first sight of the upper waters 

 of the Nile, can scarce have afforded more satisfaction to 

 those illustrious travellers than I experienced on this 

 occasion. Several seals were fishing in the current, and 

 their disregard of my presence convinced me that their 

 acquaintance with the lords of creation had been very 

 limited. Several families of wild duck were conspicuous, 

 while salmon and sea-trout broke water wherever the 

 stream was undisturbed by the unwelcome seals. Header, 

 have you ever been at the mouth of a river and witnessed 

 how rapidly the arrival of a seal in its estuary is trans- 



