176 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 



vehicles. Tiresome and disagreeable as this drive was, I 

 shall never forget it ; for it was a fine wild expedition, 

 utterly unlike the modern civilized form of shooting which 

 we have to put up with in most European countries, and 

 the dark lofty forests, the lonely woodland valleys, and the 

 marvellous mountain-ranges, all enveloped in the deep gloom 

 of an inhospitable night, made the scene look most romantic. 



Day was breaking when we reached the ridge ; for faint 

 glimmerings of light the heralds of the rising sun were 

 visible in the east, and a fresh morning wind was dispersing 

 the clouds. The woods and valleys beneath us, the Save, 

 and the low-lying Hungarian plains were still merged in 

 the darkness of the night ; while the mountains of Servia 

 and Bosnia rose before us, indistinct and ghostly in their 

 outlines. It was a grandly picturesque view. 



The earliest of the birds now began to bestir themselves : 

 Tree-Pipits and Blackbirds broke into song, Thrushes hopped 

 about under the bushes, and Eobins, frightened by our 

 horses, flew chirping across the road ; while the notes of 

 a few Cuckoos heralded the sunrise among the lonely wood- 

 land glens, and the Owls were winding up their nocturnal 

 ditties. 



It was past four o'clock, and the twilight was pretty well 

 advanced, when we struck towards the northern slope of the 

 mountains, along a path so overgrown with thick bushes 

 as to make riding very disagreeable, for we had great 

 difficulty in protecting our faces, and especially our eyes, 

 from rough contact with the branches. 



On the highest part of the ridge was a little glade 

 surrounded by a thick copse. Here we halted, took our 

 guns and cartridge-bags, and, accompanied by the head 

 forester, walked along a steep, stony, and thinly-wooded 

 hillside, and in about ten minutes saw the forms of the 

 aforesaid rocks. At this remarkably interesting spot the 



