SECOND DAY. 7 
paddle-boxes were occupied by Bombelles, the two natu- 
ralists, and Bohuslavek, one of my secretaries. 
My brother-in-law and I established ourselves in a large 
apartment under the saloon, which probably usually served 
as a domicile for the passengers. There a curtain and a 
temporary partition gave each of us a separate cabin. A 
space with several tables was provided for Hodek’s laboratory, 
under an awning of sail-cloth, on the forward part of the 
lower deck ; and below it were cabins for himself and his son, 
in which they also did the finer work, while all the other 
vacant space of the vessel was occupied by the servants. 
The elder Hodek was awaiting us at the landing-place, 
having come to meet us with most cheering news from 
Apatin ; the younger had already joined us in Vienna. 
After we had settled ourselves on the steamer, and all the 
luggage from the railway had been safely stowed on board, a 
few telegrams were despatched and we got under weigh, all 
of us standing on deck, for it was a great moment—the 
expedition had begun ! 
As a good omen for the ornithologists, a Black Kite sailed 
low over the suspension-bridge along the Ofen bank towards 
the Bloxberg, being the first bird which could be inserted in 
the ornithological note-books under the heading “ seen.”’ 
The steamer now began to work through the various 
vessels and smaller boats, and it was not until she had 
reached the centre of the river that she went down stream 
at full speed. | 
Before describing the further incidents of the first day, 
I must inflict upon the patient reader a catalogue of the 
inmates of the vessel. 
In addition to the above-mentioned persons, our own people 
on board were :—My valet, a former keeper from the Upper 
Austrian Alps, my three jiigers, my footman, Leopold’s 
jager, Bombelles’s valet and his jager. Besides these there 
