xvi VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 



I am but one of many young ornithologists who 

 have been started and encouraged in their career 

 by Dr. Sclater. 



In the following pages I have devoted a chapter 

 to each of the most interesting and the least-known 

 islands or regions explored. Some places were 

 visited more than once, and in such cases all my 

 observations have been brought together, so that 

 the course of each voyage has not been always 

 strictly adhered to. It will, therefore, be well 

 to give a brief itinerary of each voyage, and to 

 set down the chief results obtained. 



First, however, I must tell of the good ship 

 that carried us safely through calms and storms 

 by sail and steam for over 72,000 miles. 

 " Valhalla," R.Y.S., is, I believe, the only ship- 

 rigged yacht in the world. She is of 1700 tons 

 displacement, and is fitted with auxiliary screw, 

 which, under favourable conditions, will drive her 

 through the water at a speed of about 10 \ to 11 

 knots an hour. It is under sail, however, that 

 " Valhalla " is at her best, and on many occasions 

 we logged 16 knots per hour. A better " sea " 

 ship has probably never been built, and under the 

 worst conditions it was rarely that she took any 

 water aboard. The way in which she rode out a 

 cyclone off the Mozambique coast was wonderful ; 

 the waves towered to a height beyond belief, 

 yet not a drop of water came aboard, nor was any 

 damage sustained. In fact, the only serious 



