52 



THE VIEW. 



• 



bombax (silk-cotton tree), or a 'P'hun '-tree, with 

 noble buttressed shaft and canopied head of 

 leek-green, glinted through by golden beams. 

 Fish- hawks, white and brown-robed, soared high 

 in ether. Lower down, bright fly-catchers 

 hunted the yellow butterflies that rashly crossed 

 from bank to bank ; the dove coo'd in the denser 

 foliage ; the yellow vulture, apparently keeping 

 a bright look-out, perched upon the topmost 

 tree-crest overhanging the shoal water which 

 lined the sides ; the small grey kingfisher poised 

 himself with twinkling wings ; the snowy paddy- 

 bird stood meditating upon the margin of the 

 wave, while sober-coated curlews and sandpipers 

 took short sharp runs, and stopped to dive beak 

 into the dark vegetable mud. 



After seven hours, or ten miles, of alternate 

 rowing, sailing, and pushing through pelting 

 rain and potent sunbeams, we reached, about 

 mid-day, the pier — a tree projecting from the 

 right bank over the miry graves of many defunct 

 mangroves. Our boat, stripped of sail, oars, and 

 rudder, to secure her presence next morning, 

 was made fast to a stump, and we proceeded 

 to breast the hills. We began with rolling 

 ground, sliced and split by alternate heat and 

 moisture, thickly grown with tall coarse grass, 



