Page:Seven Years in South Africa v2.djvu/236

 outflow it formed a dark labyrinth of grottoes; whilst on the right it might seem to represent a ruined castle, so well defined was the foundation from which rose the square watch-tower with its circular turret, the tender weeds turning themselves into a Gothic doorway, through which small fish kept darting to and fro. On the top of the tower were some projecting growths, that kept up the similitude of broken battlements.

Making a dark green background were the lower stems of the reeds that rustled above the water, and in the open space between the water-weeds and the margin of the pond rose the three spiral stalks of a large flowering nymphœa, two of them throwing out their flat glossy leaves, and the third a beautiful pale blue lily, that lay like a gleaming star upon the surface of a crystal mirror. Besides the alge that I have described, there were others at the bottom of the pool, with their lobulated and dentated leaves, rivalling ferns in the gracefulness of their form.

At first this miniature plant-world appeared to lie in motionless repose, and it was not until the eye grew quite accustomed to the scene that it detected the gentle current that the streamlet made. Once perceived, the effect was very charming; the reed-stems were seen to vibrate and quiver with ever-varying degrees of motion, the fictitious towers of algæ were observed to tremble without any disturbance to their general outline; the very grottoes had the appearance of being impelled forward by some secret force to seek admission to some other pool. From the bottom of the water, plants with bright yellow blossoms and serrated cryptogams, stretched up their heads asif they aspired to share the honours