8S CHARACTERISTIC SCENE. 
" X 
so many lilli2xitiaii liimiming-birds, * and yellow- 
legged bees settle on tlie sim-briglit s23ots ; then you 
are startled in your walks by strange guttural 
noises which seem to come from beneath your feet, 
but which 2:>roceed in reality from the iris leaves 
that margin the river's brink. There, moored in 
some secluded shallow s}}ot, is seen a long-roofed 
boat, shajDed like Noah s Ark, with a sloping board 
leading into the reeds and sedges. A little l)oy 
watches all day long his greedy charges, keeping 
tliem in order l>y means of a slender wand witli a 
bit of rag at the end. At daybreak down swarm 
the ducks into the frog-peopled swamp, and at 
sunset they are driven back, and .waddle uj) the 
ladder by which tliey gain access to their roosting 
place. 
There is a wide marshy plain at the junction of 
the ^^nosung and Yang-tsze rivers, with mudflats 
stretching away for miles. Here the uncouth 
l)uffaloes delight to wallow in the ooze ; the white 
padi-birds stand in a row at the edge of the water ; 
and far in the distance, like a sentry at his outpost, 
