120 IN THE LAND OF THE BORA. 



having a water-depth of a couple of feet only. 

 The mud beneath is pretty well fathomless, never- 

 theless. 



The Narenta canoes have one terrible defect, 

 with which I soon became acquainted. There is 

 no backboard of any kind to them, and the effect 

 of a few hours' paddling can better be imagined 

 than described. To the native, who is half a 

 Turk, this want is no drawback, for he can sit 

 ■cross-legged for hours. I shall not readily forget 

 my first day in one, nor the backache I then 

 acquired. To the last day of my stay I always 

 suffered from this, even when I was not paddling, 

 and half an hour was enough to stiffen my limbs 

 430 that I could hardly get out of the boat. To 

 make matters worse this first day, there is a strong 

 tide in the marsh streams — a fact of which I was 

 totally unaware. After making my way against 

 what I took to be a smart current all the morning, 

 I was about to leave the broads to return, when I 

 noticed masses of reed and other floating stuff 

 entering the lakelet from the seaward side at the 

 rate of about four miles an hour. I sadly recog- 

 nized the meaning of this, and a weary paddle 

 back I had that afternoon. As I have before 

 said, the duck, geese, and woodcock are only 

 winter visitors to these fens. At this time the 

 dabchick were the only birds to be seen in any 

 numbers in the daytime. It was full harvest 



