362 Mr. W. H. Simpson's Fortnight 



he might probably long to explore those clifi's if the captain 

 would guarantee that the steamer would not sail without him. 

 As, however, the captain of an Austrian ' Lloyd^s steamer •" is 

 too great a personage to be lightly addressed, especially on an 

 occasion when his feelings are aggravated by the dread of being 

 driven ashore, he, the traveller, will have to postpone his explora- 

 tions until the steamer arrives off Kustendje, where, if the fog 

 and swell permit, he may land in the new harbour which is being 

 there constructed by an English Company in connexion with the 

 Danube and Black Sea Railway, of which Kustendje is the eastern 

 terminus. This was my case. It had, indeed, been darkly 

 intimated to the passengers that the vessel would be obliged 

 to go on through the Sulina channel to Galatz — a circuit of 

 200 miles for any one wishing to reach this place. Fortunately 

 the fog, which had succeeded the gale, cleared up on the morn- 

 ing of the 1 7th, and revealed to us the earthy cliffs which form 

 the distinctive feature of this part of the coast of the Dobrudscha. 

 The first object that greeted my arrival in port was a fiock 

 of Little Gulls (Larus minutus) flying about in the harbour. 

 This I considered a good omen, and even indulged in hopes of 

 finding their breeding-quarters, as many were already in good 

 plumage. This species was subsequently noticed in immense 

 numbers between the 20th and 24th, especially on the first of 

 the above dates. At that time the bulk of the flocks were 

 frequenting a lake of fresh water called " Sud Geul," which 

 extends fur several miles in a northerly direction parallel to the 

 sea, from which it is separated by a narrow isthmus. On this 

 occasion the flocks of Larus minutus, associated with a few in- 

 dividuals of Sterna cantiaca, were literally swarming in the air 

 a few feet above the surface of the water, like swallows over 

 a river on a summer's evening. Far as the eye could reach, look- 

 ing northwards down the lake, these elegant little birds were to 

 be seen on the feed, dashing to and fro most actively. In most 

 of them the head and u^pper part of the neck were of a brilliant 

 jet-black, producing a singular effect in the mass when contrasted 

 with the white of the rest of the plumage. Upon those which 

 were nearest, a faint rosy tinge, confined to the upper part of 

 the breast, was also noticeable. This, I think, is more marked 



