154 FIFTEEN DAYS ON THE DANUBE. 
When I had satisfied myself with looking at this scene, I 
descended to the carriages by another route, and then set off 
with the head forester in a small country cart, our object 
being to look for Wild Cats, these fine strong animals being 
among the commonest inhabitants of this district. At first 
our road led through a very pretty woodland valley, with 
marshy meadows bordered on both sides by low oak-covered 
hills, and in a thicket of thorns by the edge of one of these 
woods was an old fox-earth, which the keepers had discovered 
to be the abode of a large Wild Cat. They had seen the 
beast hunting mice near its dwelling almost daily, but not 
to-day, and though we searched for it in every direction, all 
our trouble was in vain. The forester knew of another much 
larger one in this thoroughly well-looked-after ground, but 
to get to its haunt we had still to tramp a long way through 
some oak woods and swampy little glades. 
During the whole of this time I had seen but little of 
interest, for the woods were particularly silent, and I noticed 
hardly any raptorial birds, only here and there a little Kestrel. 
There were also a few Hoopoes on the meadows, and some 
Orioles flying about among the bushy oaks, and by the edge 
of a lonely valley a Roe was feeding, which on seeing us 
sprang frightened into the cover. 
After surmounting one more little range of hills we reached 
the most northerly extremity of these woods, just as night 
was beginning to fall and it was getting too dark for shooting. 
Before us stretched broad fields of corn already pretty high, 
and the forester informed me that the cats came out here 
almost every evening to hunt among the fields and meadows; 
I waited till it was quite dark, but the much desired beasts of 
prey did not show themselves. 
About half an hour afterwards I heard a carriage rumbling 
behind me, which proved to be Leopold’s, who was returning 
from the opposite direction. I got in with him, and accom- 
