Page:Seven Years in South Africa v2.djvu/239

 of the water-lily, the acknowledged queen of all, and longed, like her, to rock upon the bosom of the lake, to be greeted by the sunbeams, to be refreshed by the morning dew, and sheltered by the shades of night.

Equally fascinating was the exhibition of animal life. In the more open spaces where the range of vision was widest lay some dark-striped fish not unlike perch, perfectly motionless except for the slight vibration of the hinder fins; from the dim recesses of the algæ, bearded sheat-fish would emerge, generally in pairs, and sometimes side by side, sometimes one behind the other, would roll themselves in sport from side to side; and far away right across the reeds by the opposite bank stretched itself as though lifeless a yellow-mottled object, that might at first have been mistaken for a snake, but which on further scrutiny turned out to be a water-lizard biding its time to secure its prey.

Nor were the lower orders of creation less fully represented. Water-beetles and water-spiders abounded; the beetles were species of dytiscus and hydrophilus; the spiders were all activity, some towing themselves up, some with glistening air-bubbles letting themselves descend, and hastening to conceal themselves amidst the intricacies and entanglements of the algæ. The larvæ of the beetles as well as of the dragon-flies were clambering over the filaments of the plants and the stems of the lilies like rope-dancers, whilst the pupæ of the shore-flies were slowly emerging from their mummy-like cases.

The variety of the scene was infinite, and made one loth to turn away.