CHAPTER 



10 



GLORY AT ENTEDEBIR 



THE island of Entedebir is a twin sister of the island of 

 Enteraia, and these, together with the island of Nocra, 

 almost enclose a vast lagoon which, with the proliferation 

 of the coral, will in time become an internal basin whose sole 

 exit will be a narrow strait to the north between Entedebir 

 and Dahlak Kebir. The lagoon is not very attractive from 

 the ichthyological and biological points of view, but the 

 western sides of the two islands, that is, those open to the sea, 

 contain interesting material. 



The coastline of Entedebir is scalloped by two crescent- 

 shaped gulfs with shallow bottoms, framed by dazzling 

 beaches of finest sand, wide open to the sun and populated 

 by myriads of marine birds, from different species of herons 

 to fetonti with red beaks, from seagulls and oyster-catchers 

 to the most colourful creatures of all — the flamingoes, 

 Chinese figures painted with African colours. 



We hunted all these birds, with some persistence, until we 

 had captured specimens of every individual species. Our 

 skull collection was notably increased. The most difficult 

 birds to approach were the flamingoes, as every treatise and 

 book on shooting will confirm. But when they took off' in 

 flight, the sight was so magnificent that though it represented 

 for us yet another failure we hadn't the heart to curse them. 



