A DANGEROUS CURRENT 123 



Aldabra doves* was also procured, and then, as 

 it was getting late, we hurried on to the launch 

 and steamed away. Darkness fell, however, long 

 before we sighted the yacht, and had it not been 

 for our pilot we should have had great difficulty 

 in getting aboard that night. The water was so 

 low that it was necessary to keep exactly in the 

 middle of the channel, a task by no means easy, 

 for even under the guidance of the pilot we once 

 missed our way and suddenly found ourselves in 

 very shallow water, from which we had to make 

 our way with extreme caution. 



Aldabra is undoubtedly of a great age, as is 

 evidenced by the fact that nearly all its birds have 

 become differentiated from the nearest allies found 

 elsewhere. Amongst these the ibis, dove,* and 

 a night j art are, perhaps, the most remarkable. 

 The giant tortoise is also peculiar, although, as 

 I have mentioned above, it has been exported to 

 the Seychelle Islands, where numbers are kept 

 in a semi-domesticated state. 



After leaving Aldabra Lord Crawford intended 

 to pay a visit to Cosmoledo and Astove, two small 

 coral islands in the immediate neighbourhood. 

 As far as I can ascertain, these islands have never 

 been visited by a naturalist, and they are said to 

 be inhabited by several species of birds. But 

 during the night, while steaming to Cosmoledo, 

 we were carried several miles out of our course 



* Turtar aldabranus. f Caprimulgus alddbrensis. 



