CITIES OF THE BROWN PELICANS 
15 
windward. Our craft was a wretched sea-boat. Every wave 
broke completely over her, and in a moment we were all 
soaked to the skin. By dark we had hardly made four miles, 
and were almost perishing with cold — yes, even in Florida ! 
ADULT AND YOUNG PELICANS ON NESTS IN MANGROVE BUSHES 
We debated leaving the boat, walking across the peninsula 
and up the ocean beach. But the thought of stepping on 
rattlesnakes in the dark deterred us, and we pounded wearily 
along. The night was dark indeed when the wind canted 
a few points to the eastward, and at about eleven o’clock, 
weary, shivering, hungry, we reached “ Oak Lodge ’’ again, 
not sorry, however, that we had visited Pelican Island. 
