AN ORNITHOLOGIST ON THE DANUBE. 561 



grown man could have reclined without his head or feet being seen 

 projecting over the edge. 



Under these eyries we sat watching, listening to the life and 

 bustle of the woods, and waiting in the hope of getting a shot at 

 the vultures which our approach had scared away. For four days- 

 we went to the splendid woods every morning, and never did we 

 return to our vessel empty-handed. No fewer than eight large 

 vultures, several eagles, and numerous smaller birds fell to our 

 guns, while valuable observations, which fascinated us all, added 

 zest and interest to our sport. But when the last rays of the sun 

 had disappeared, the younger portion of the population assembled 

 about our ship. Violin and bagpipes joined in a wonderful but 

 simple melody, and youths and maidens danced the rhythmically 

 undulating national round dances in honour of their august guest. 



After we had hunted successfully on both sides of the Danube, 

 we took leave, on the fifth day after our arrival in Cerewic, of our 

 most devoted host, the lord of the estates, and continued our journey 

 down the river. In three-quarters of an hour we passed Peter- 

 wardein, a small, antiquated, but picturesquely situated stronghold, 

 and an hour and a half later we reached Carlowitz, near which we 

 spent the night. The next morning we reached Kovil, the goal of 

 our journey. 



In the neighbourhood of this large village, and girdled by culti- 

 vated fields, there are woods in which the oak predominates, but 

 which have such a dense undergrowth, that notwithstanding the 

 many villages about, the wolves and wild-cats lead a threatening 

 but scarcely threatened existence in them. It is not to be wondered 

 at, therefore, that birds of prey of all kinds, especially sea-eagles, 

 imperial eagles, spotted eagles, and booted eagles, "short-toed eagles", 

 kites, hawks, horned and other owls should have chosen them as a 

 nesting-place, and that they should also harbour all kinds of small 

 birds. Sure of rich booty the Crown Prince and his brother-in-law 

 directed their steps to these woods, while Eugen von Homeyer and 

 I tried our luck up-stream beyond the village, in a marsh which the 

 flood, then at its height, had transformed into a great lake. 



A surprisingly rich and varied life reigned in this marsh, 



(m70) 36 



