10 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 



of Csepel, on which are several important villages. This part 

 of the country is on the whole rather monotonous, but still 

 there is a certain repose in its outlines which gives grandeur 

 to the scenery. 



A soft west wind was blowing refreshingly over the water, 

 already warmed by the sun ; above us, the clear blue cloud- 

 less sky stretched its broad arch ; and to our left the great 

 Hungarian plains faded off into the far distance, beyond the 

 ran ge of our vision. 



Up to this point the banks were bare, treeless, and generally 

 crumbling, and in places where they were a few yards high 

 we saw many Sand-Martins, with their nests in rows of small 

 holes close together ; but, on the whole, there was but little 

 life on the Danube. 



Some Rooks and Hooded Crows flew from bank to bank, 

 .while Mallards and Teal were swimming about the flooded 

 meadows and flying over the vessel, either singly or in flocks ; 

 and on a tongue of land projecting between the main stream 

 and part of the submerged country I recollect having seen 

 about twenty of these birds all drakes. The females were 

 probably breeding ; so it seems that this sensible bird prefers 

 to leave its better half busy with such household matters while 

 it wanders about the neighbourhood with its fellows. Wo 

 also saw Lapwings, with their eccentric flight, tumbling about 

 everywhere over the wet meadows. 



The further south we went the more the tree-growth in- 

 creased. At first it was sparse, but afterwards became 

 luxuriant and had even an " au 'Mike character. The 

 villages near the river got scarcer, and as they decreased 

 the banks grew proportionally more lonely and uncivilized. 

 At first we saw only a few very small islands covered with 

 thick " auen," though later on they became more numerous, 

 and along both sides of the stream ran a very narrow but 

 luxuriantly green belt of wood. 



