the powerful. His bow, which he so
greatly valued, and which was so well seasoned, and could be relied
upon, might be taken from him.

His arrows, so carefully prepared from chosen wood, and pointed with
steel, might be seized. Both bow and arrows were far superior to those
used by the hunters and soldiery, and he dreaded losing them. There was
his crossbow, but it was weak, and intended for killing only small game,
as birds, and at short range. He could make no display with that. Sword
he had none for defence; there remained only his boar spear, and with
this he resolved to be content, trusting to obtain the loan of a bow
when the time came to display his skill, and that fortune would enable
him to triumph with an inferior weapon.

After resting awhile and stretching his limbs, cramped in the canoe, he
set out (carrying his boar-spear only) along the shore, for the thick
growth of the firs would not let him penetrate in the direction he had
seen the tower. He had to force his way through the reeds and flags and
brushwood, which flourished between the firs and the water's edge. It
was hard work walking, or rather pushing through these obstacles, and he
rejoiced when he emerged upon the slope of a down where there was an
open sward, and but a few scattered groups of firs. The fact of it being
open, and the shortness of the sward, showed at once that it was used
for grazing purposes for cattle and sheep. Here he could walk freely,
and soon reached the top. Thence the city was visible almost underneath
him.

It stood at the base of a low narrow promontory, which ran a long way
into the Lake. The narrow bank, near where it joined the mainland, was
penetrated by a channel or creek, about a hundred yards wide, or less,
which channel appeared to enter the land and was lost from sight of
among the trees. Beyond this channel a river ran into the lake, and in
the Y, between the creek and the river, the city had been built.

It was surrounded with a brick wall, and there were two large round
brick towers on the land side, which indicated the position of the
castle and palace. The space enclosed by the walls was not more than
half a mile square, and the houses did not occupy nearly all of it.
There were open places, gardens, and even small paddocks among them.
None of the houses were more than two storeys high, but what at once
struck a stranger was the fact that they were all roofed with red tiles,
most of the houses of that d