SIXTH DAY. 105 



As evening advanced, the "auen" disappeared more and 

 more, even from the left side of the river, and low banks with 

 occasional meadows and pastures came into view, while before 

 us lay the sea-like expanse of the great Hungarian plain. 



During this part of the journey we saw but little of orni- 

 thological interest ; the Black Kites, and the Purple and 

 Grey Herons so often mentioned, with two or three kinds of 

 Ducks, a few Terns, and other equally common birds flew 

 over our vessel. We also noticed more Cormorants fishing 

 than we had met with on the whole stretch of the river, either 

 above or below Adony. 



Towards evening the storm had altogether passed over, and 

 though the thunder was still rolling in the east, the clouds 

 in the west broke up, the disk of the sun showed itself 

 just before it vanished behind the range of the Slavonian 

 heights, and we saw a splendid effect. To our right the hills 

 were lit up with the most brilliant red, like the Alpine glow 

 of our Lower Austrian mountains, on our left the gilded 

 foliage of the few isolated little " au " woods was quivering 

 in the last evening breeze, while the clouds assumed a purple- 

 red splendour, and mirrored their colours in the waters of the 

 Danube. 



The sun sank slowly in a blaze of light, the ruddy glow 

 lingering long above the western hills. Night was falling, 

 the birds were flying to their roosting-places, and only the 

 storks and herons were winging their way towards the inland 

 marshes to begin their nocturnal hunts. 



Although we had, thanks to the extraordinary speed of our 

 steamer, traversed such a great stretch of the river in so short 

 a time, it would nevertheless have been impossible to reach 

 Cere vie by the evening ; so we were obliged to anchor, and pass 

 the night at the little village of Gombos. Just before it had 

 got quite dark we had seen far away, in a southerly direction, 

 the heights of the Fruska-Gora mountains, so celebrated for 



