Minneria Lake. 45 



wooded hills bordered the extreme end of its waters, 

 and distant blue mountains mingled their dim summits 

 with the clouds. 



It was a lovely scene, which we enjoyed in silence, 

 while our ponies feasted upon the rich grass. 



The village of Minneria was three miles farther on, 

 and our coolies, servants and baggage were all far 

 behind us. We had, therefore, no rifles or guns at 

 hand, except a couple of shot-guns, which were carried 

 by our horsekeepers : for these we had a few balls. 



For about half an hour we waited in the impatient 

 expectation of the arrival of our servants with the rifles. 



The afternoon was wearing away, and they did not 

 appear. We could wait no longer, but determined to 

 take a stroll and examine the country. We therefore 

 left our horses and proceeded. 



The grass was most verdant, about the height of a 

 field fit for the scythe in England, but not so thick. 

 From this the snipe arose at every twenty or thirty 

 paces, although the ground was perfectly dry. Crossing 

 a large meadow, and skirting the banks of the lake, from 

 which the ducks and teal rose in large flocks, we entered 

 a long neck of jungle which stretched far into the lake. 

 This was not above two hundred paces in width, and 

 we soon emerged upon an extensive plain bordered by 

 fine forest, the waters of the lake stretching far away 

 upon our left, like a sheet of gold. A few large rocks 

 rose above the surface near the shore ; these were cov- 

 ered with various kinds of wild-fowl. The principal 

 tenants of the plain were wild buffaloes. 



A herd of about a hundred were lying in a swampy 

 hollow about a quarter of a mile from us. Several sin- 

 gle bulls were dotted about the green surface of the 



