Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IV.—A Glorious Forest
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
37
CHAPTER IV.
A GLORIOUS FOREST.
However, we had not been many days on the journey
when it became evident that the summer was over. At
home in Sweden the hlac blossoms had long since wilted,
and now the plentiful vegetation on the banks of the Tarim
had begun to follow their example. When we rose at sun-
rise on 2oth September the sky was threatening. The
night had been cool, and the air was full of the premonitory
indications of autumn that cause the leaves to yellow. A
light haze hung over the landscape, and through the thick
fine dust, which had been whirled up by an easterly storm,
the tamarisks and reed-thickets on the banks adjacent
were only faintly discernible. The wind was too violent
to allow us to continue our drift ; accordingly we lay up by
the bank and waited patiently. When we at length re-
sumed our journey, the waves broke in melodious music
against the prow of our ferry-boat—where Palta sat with
his long pole, singing a melancholy ballad about the adven-
tures of some king and his faithful fohowers. When Islam
Bai began to find the time wearisome, he used to have
himself put ashore in the skiff, and then, rifle in hand, he
roamed through the forest ; and when he came back in
the evening, he often brought wild-duck and pheasants
in his hands. As he had no need to follow all the endless
windings of the river, he generally got ahead of us. Some-
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
