S6 I N A G U A 



to flush once more. The great lank forms of Louisiana and 

 great Blue Herons were poised motionless on single legs wait- 

 ing for luckless minnows to pass, then rose and flapped heavily 

 away, looking like ancient pterodactyls against the sky; several 

 pairs of Black-necked Stilts raised a terrific hubbub when I 

 startled them away from their feeding grounds; their notes 

 reminded me of the yapping of ill-tempered dogs. There were 

 dozens of herons' nests, all deserted, and in the shallows in 

 carefully hidden places, the half floating platforms of the Do- 

 minican Grebes. These too were empty and were in the process 

 of decay though their owners were swimming and diving all 

 over the creek. These grebes are the smallest of their race, 

 resembling small ducks except that their bills are compressed 

 vertically, and their legs are placed so far back that they can 

 progress on the ground only at a slow drunken shuffle. They 

 seldom fly, but in the water are marvels of seaworthiness; as 

 submarines they reach their peak of efficiency, underwater they 

 can swim for long distances, forcing themselves rapidly along 

 with the broad lobes of their aquatic feet. The life of a Do- 

 minican Grebe is spent wholly in the water, either above or 

 below it. 



I was a long way from the coast when the last rays of the 

 sun caught up with me. The spoonbills had disappeared, losing 

 themselves in the tangled growth of the mangroves. The white, 

 chalky mud was exceedingly thick, it clung to my canvas shoes 

 and my trousers and dragged at my feet. Suddenly I began to 

 realize how tired I was. The two grass bags felt as though they 

 were loaded with granite, the thongs cut my shoulders, the 

 sun had burned my neck and face until they smarted at the 

 touch, my eyes were heavy from the glare of the sun, the salt 

 water had cracked the skin of my legs and wrinkled the flesh. 

 I looked for a place to sit down. There was none. The man- 

 groves hedged in any solid ground. Even the mud bars offered 



