66 WILD WINGS 
mangrove swamp, but at length the clouds began to break, 
and we decided to go. 
We left the large boat anchored near the shore of an inner 
bay, and in the skiff, with blankets, and provisions for sev¬ 
eral days, approached the mangrove thicket which lined the 
shore. No opening whatever was visible, but, on pulling 
apart the branches with our hands, we could see a narrow 
stream of water flowing out into the sea. The branches closed 
behind us, and we were in the meshes of the mangrove 
swamp. The channel was just wide enough to float the skiff. 
Branches met overhead and shut out the sunlight; tangled 
roots and snags reached everywhere through the water, across 
which trunks or limbs had grown or fallen. Some of these 
had been chopped out ]Dreviously by the guide, so our task 
was easier. But by the time we had sculled and paddled, 
poled and dragged the boat for seven miles over and under 
obstructions, with an occasional respite in crossing one of 
the chain of small lakes before entering the next o\'ergrown 
channel, we were glad enough to see the desired lake open 
UJ3 before us. There lay the famous island, not altogether 
white with birds, yet with enough of them in evidence to 
verify the wonderful tales I had heard. A good many birds 
were visible upon the to]:)S of the trees, and there was a con¬ 
stant j^rocession to and from the island. 
We ate dinner out on the lake to avoid the clouds of 
“ sheets,” then cleared a spot for a camp in the mangrove 
swam]:) on the shore nearest the island, after which we pulled 
for the rookery. The nearer we approached, the more birds 
we could see, some white, some black, and others of interme¬ 
diate shades. I sat in the stern with the reflex camera in mv 
lap, the slide withdrawn from a 5 x 7 ]:)late, and the focal plane 
shutter set for one five-hundredth of a second. The skv was 
well filled with broken clouds, through which the sun shone 
