254 WASTE-LAND WANDERINGS. 



tainment ; as it was, my plans being quite frustrated, I 

 saw no beauty or interest in any object. Such is the 

 perversity of human nature. 3STever before had I heard 

 such a concert of owls; never before had the marsh- 

 wrens twittered so cheerily, nor the wild - rice teemed 

 with such a wealth of nocturnal insect life. Nature was 

 celebrating the advent of the harvest-moon ; and yet, be- 

 cause I had planned otherwise, I was in no mood to enjoy 

 a rare opportunity for studying the meadows by moon- 

 light. 



A little later, circumstances forced me to be less fret- 

 ful and more studious. While slowly urging my skiff 

 over the soft mud by very short and most uneasy stages, 

 I reached the carcass of a dog that was being gradually 

 devoured by myriads of small eels. 



This grewsome sight recalled the unfortunate 



'* Sir Thomas's body, 



It looked so odd he 

 Was half eaten up by the eels! 

 His waistcoat and hose, and the rest of his clothes, 

 Were all gnawed through and through ; 

 And out of each shoe 

 An eel they drew, 

 And from each of his pockets they pulled out two !" 



I would refer these lines to those who of late have in- 

 sisted upon the fact that eels are very dainty, and refuse 

 all food that they do not capture and kill. 



At last I reached the running water and was again 

 afloat, but not until long after the day had closed a day 

 that I could wish different but in one respect ; it had 

 been too full of pleasant sights and sounds. 



