544 



FROM NORTH POLE TO EQUATOR. 



impenetrable thickets, disputing the possession of the ground even 

 with the forests of reeds which are often many square miles in 

 extent. Dwarf willows, at once youthful and senile forests, form 

 dark patches in the heart of the reed-beds. What may be con- 

 cealed in the gloomy wood, with its bogs and thickets, or by the 

 reeds, remains almost quite hidden from the searching eye of the 



naturalist, for he can see through no more than the fringe of this 

 wilderness, nor traverse it except along the broader waterways. 



Such was the district in which our sport began. The eagles, 

 the royal rulers of the air, which formed the primary object of our 

 quest, did not, indeed, come within range, nor even within sight, 

 on the first day of our journey; but, on the other hand, we visited 

 the famous heronry on the island of Adony, and had abundant 

 opportunities of observing the life of the brooding birds. For two 



