218 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 



telling the keeper and some fishermen to bring up their 

 boats as quickly as possible, and taking with us a "csikel," 

 \ve left the 'Vienna ' at the house and went on. 



The scene which now presented itself to us at the edge of 

 the swamp was really grand and highly characteristic. 

 Before us lay the broad so-called Hullo marsh, or rather lake, 

 since it does not at all correspond to one's ideas of a marsh ; 

 for what the people here mean by " the Hullo " is an 

 inundated district more or less filled throughout the year 

 with water so stagnant as to have hardly any perceptible 

 current. This lake is bounded on the east by the Danube, 

 on the south by the Drave, on the west by open treeless 

 country, and on the north by the great forests of the " auen." 

 It is very large, stretching towards the west further than 

 the eye can reach, and its interior consists partly of perfectly 

 open sheets of water and partly of regular forests of thick 

 reeds above the height of a man ; but the water is every- 

 where too deep for wading, the whole character of this very 

 interesting submerged district vividly reminding me of the 

 Narenta in Dalmatia. 



From its eastern edge we had a wonderful view of this 

 \vide expanse of water, with its pale yellow beds of reeds 

 rustling and swaying in the wind like fields of corn; while 

 the grey-green woods to the north, the narrow fringe of 

 willows to the south, and the broad plains to the west which 

 seemed to melt into the marsh, together with the incessant 

 cries of all sorts of waterfowl flying to and fro, and the lap- 

 ping in the reeds of the water rippled by the gentle morning 

 breeze all made up a very beautiful and picturesque scene. 



As our boats glided quietly on towards the inner parts of 

 this lake, Terns danced lightly around us, and various kinds 

 of Ducks rose noisily in front of us, while Purple Herons, 

 Grey Herons, and a few Egrets flew slowly away over the 

 reeds ; but we were soon convinced that it would be quite 



