BIRD ISLAND AND SAINT CKOIX 1 97 



thereby cutting off the most sheltered corner of the 

 Bay, are two small islands ; the larger one is called St. 

 Croix, and the smaller, Jarheel. 



These islands lie not very far from each other, and 

 at a distance of about ten miles from Port Elizabeth. 

 No boats visit them regularly, for they do not possess 

 a lighthouse, and are quite out of the way of any 

 regular traffic by sea, so that one must either charter 

 a tug for the day or be content to leave them alone. 

 As my friend Mr. H. was leaving for England shortly, 

 we decided to try our luck on St. Croix by chartering 

 one of these tugs, and trusting to chance in being able 

 to hit off a day on which it was calm enough for us to 

 land. Although so much less exposed than Bird Island, 

 St. Croix has the reputation of being very bad landing ; 

 I believe there is only one little creek where boats 

 can approach the shore, possibly two, but I am not 

 quite certain. 



St. Croix is not one of the guano islands, conse- 

 quently it does not come under the strict supervision 

 of the Cape Government, as do the Bird Islands, Dyer's 

 Island, off the extreme south coast, Dassen Island, a 

 little way north of Cape Town — this latter the scene 

 of many wrecks — and several others. The Cape Gov- 

 ernment obtains a not inconsiderable revenue from 

 the sale of guano from these various islands, and also 

 to a much smaller extent from that of the Penguins' 

 eggs, which latter find a ready sale among the poorer 

 classes in Cape Town. The officials are therefore 

 exceedingly chary of giving permission to visit any of 

 these islands which are under their control, lest the 

 birds be driven away from their breeding stations. 



