1 8 BIRD-HUNTING 



me quite unbearable. Accordingly we sought shelter 

 in one of the small, whitewashed cottages at no 

 great distance, from which the spot could be watched 

 through our glasses. Needless to say, we did not 

 seek hospitality in vain, but were welcomed with 

 true Spanish courtesy by the whole family. The 

 master of the house was out working in his fields, 

 but arrived about an hour later, and we were soon 

 on the most friendly footing, and satisfying to the 

 best of our abilities their questions about the outside 

 world. In their eyes — for I think not one of them 

 had ever been ten miles from the spot — we were 

 wonderful travellers ; our friend Fernando Flores 

 declaring that we must have spent our whole lives 

 comendo por todo el mundo, running over the 



whole world. And as M had visited India, 



China, Japan, Vancouver, the States, &c, and I had 

 seen South America, Newfoundland, the West 

 Indies, the Mediterranean, and several European 

 countries, our collective travels certainly did cover 

 a good part of the world's surface. 



As we had brought provisions for the day we had 

 no need to share their midday meal, to which we 

 were invited : a central dish of stew, from which the 

 family at the circular table helped themselves with 

 wooden spoons, the meal being washed down by 

 deep draughts of water from the porous, chatty-like 

 jars kept in the coolest corner. Delightfully 



