West Drosophilia River. (from Thought of a half-Craig by Immanuel Camp.) "What a broad, sparkling river it was! How stately it lay between the high green paddocks, how flat and unhurried it seemed! How like a pane of glass! In reality the water was moving at a swift pace, but Craig was not to know it, for the smoothness of the river's surface concealed the steady rush that went on below from all but the closest observer. He saw the edges of this great supine body creeping away into the fields where water turned the ground to a rich and fertile stew. His footprints had filled with water even though he was not standing at all close to its source. Where did this leakage end? he wondered, and he was not surprised to notice that no farmer has built their home in the area. The river went where it pleased and recognised none of the claims that were made on its body. "I will learn from its philosophy," thought Craig. ... At its terminal part, the river swelled into a circular lake and fell still. One thousand tiny streams ran away into the ring of grass that guarded its edges. No family made its home in this marsh and even the farmers hesitated to claim it for farmland, for were there not places where the mud could hold you firm until you died? Indeed, and there were areas where a grown man could be sucked under entirely and die of suffocation in that morass, over which the insects set up a thin noise of seething." Geographical note: the West Drosophilia is an offshoot of the Fly River which forms the boundary between the North-West and the Falling Hills. It runs westward above the Wandering Woods. The lake Immanuel mentions lies a short way beyond the Woods and is known as the Humming Pool. The River is easy enough to pick out on our map of Umbagollah even though we have not marked with its name.