THE SILURUS GLANIS. 167 



going to give aii account, and as its physical features 

 are most remarkable, it will not be out of place to 

 enter into a short description of it. The soil in its 

 neighbourhood is composed of peat, and the ground 

 becomes more and more boggy at a distance of a 

 quarter of a mile from the margin of the lake. As 

 we got nearer to it, we perceived that we were no 

 longer on terra firma, the ground sinking and undu- 

 lating under our feet at every step, and soon becom- 

 ing perfectly impracticable without the aid of a pair of 

 long planks or oars, upon which to step, and which, 

 by offering a greater surface of resistance, prevent 

 one's sinking into, or rather completely breaking 

 through, a yard-thick crust of vegetable matter and 

 soil, covered with a very luxuriant crop of grass and 

 reeds, and resting on the surface of the water. A 

 little farther on, perhaps a hundred yards from the 

 visible margin of the lake, the crust, which to the 

 very brink has the appearance of a meadow, is so 

 thin that it bears only the weight of the ducks and 

 snipes which rise in every direction. 



Finding the walking over this treacherous ground 

 which, moreover, is frequently interrupted by regular 

 holes and channels inconsistent with our terrestrial 

 habits, we went to a landing-place and took one of 

 the boats, a very clumsy kind of punt, with a flat 

 bottom and vertical sides ; it was propelled by a pole 

 about twelve feet long, dilated into a blade at one 



