arried long
distances, and by the mass of vegetable and mineral _debris_ which was
banked against their lower side, showing that at times the whole river-
bed must be covered with a roaring torrent many feet in depth and of
ungovernable fury. At present the river was low, there being but five or
six streams, too deep and rapid for even a strong man to ford on foot,
but to be crossed safely on horseback. On either side of it there were
still a few acres of flat, which grew wider and wider down the river,
till they became the large plains on which we looked from my master's
hut. Behind us rose the lowest spurs of the second range, leading
abruptly to the range itself; and at a distance of half a mile began the
gorge, where the river narrowed and became boisterous and terrible. The
beauty of the scene cannot be conveyed in language. The one side of the
valley was blue with evening shadow, through which loomed forest and
precipice, hillside and mountain top; and the other was still brilliant
with the sunset gold. The wide and wasteful river with its ceaseless
rushing--the beautiful water-birds too, which abounded upon the islets
and were so tame that we could come close up to them--the ineffable
purity of the air--the solemn peacefulness of the untrodden region--could
there be a more delightful and exhilarating combination?

We set about making our camp, close to some large bush which came down
from the mountains on to the flat, and tethered out our horses upon
ground as free as we could find it from anything round which they might
wind the rope and get themselves tied up. We dared not let them run
loose, lest they might stray down the river home again. We then gathered
wood and lit the fire. We filled a tin pannikin with water and set it
against the hot ashes to boil. When the water boiled we threw in two or
three large pinches of tea and let them brew.

We had caught half a dozen young ducks in the course of the day--an easy
matter, for the old birds made such a fuss in attempting to decoy us away
from them--pretending to be badly hurt as they say the plover does--that
we could always find them by going about in the opposite direction to the
old bird till we heard the young ones crying: then we ran them down, for
they could not fly though they were nearly full grown. Chowbok plucked
them a little and singed them a good deal. Then we cut them up and
boiled them in another pannikin, and this completed our prepar