164 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 



dwelling ; so jumped up, holding my gun ready, and got close 

 under the nest in a few strides. The eagle, however, heard 

 me, and flew out of its abode on the side furthest away from 

 me; hut the first shot which I fired hit it hard, and the second 

 brought it down to the ground with a broken wing, and sent 

 it rolling down the slope. 



I soon got up to it, but there was still plenty of life in the 

 bird ; so, not wishing to damage its plumage by a shot at close 

 quarters, I tried to finish it with a knife, but it kept me off by 

 striking out in all directions with beak and claws. I then 

 cut a strong stick, but on approaching the eagle with this it 

 darted towards me full of fight; so I called up my attendants, 

 and it was only by the united efforts of three persons that the 

 bird was at last suffocated. 



It was not a "Stein" Eagle as I had confidently expected, 

 for that shy bird seems never to breed in the Fruska-Gora ; 

 but I had, on the other hand, again met with a very finely 

 marked Imperial Eagle. 



Leaving the place, I went back to the trap and began 

 another abominably rough drive to the next nest, uphill and 

 downhill along the forest-track, keeping as well as I could 

 make out to the east, and therefore quite in the opposite 

 direction to Cerevic. In consequence of the wretched way in 

 which the forests of these monasteries are managed, the woods 

 were here much thinner, and instead of the century-old oaks 

 of Cerevic, there were extensive clearings and low saplings ; 

 but one result of this was that we had a splendid open view. 



We now again came to a very narrow ridge of the moun- 

 tains. Right and left below us lay the broad valleys, 

 meadows, woods, thickets, and glens of the Fruska-Gora, while 

 the distant Hungarian plain presented itself before us like a 

 mirage, and towards the south the Alps of Servia and Bosnia 

 stood out clear and sharp, separated from us by the blue-green 

 valley of the Save. It was, indeed, a noble view ! 



