‘A JOURNEY IN THE EAST? 313 
Soon there was no more talking, and the only sounds were 
the snores of Huropeans and Arabs mingling harmoniously. 
Never shall I forget that night in the cramped deck-house, 
for we had got into a perfect menagerie of vermin, and our 
poor bodies were devoured by gigantic fleas. 
On the 18th we left our dahabeeyah while it was still 
quite dark, intending to disperse again among the islands 
and to wait for the morning flight. I had myself rowed to a 
small island, where, at the first glimmer of daylight, I stalked 
a little flock of Flamingoes, missed them with the rifle a 
very long way off, and then hid myself among the bushes. 
Birds of all sorts flew past, and I bagged several, among them 
a Lesser Egret; but though the Flamingoes kept flying to 
and fro in every direction, and in such swarms that they 
formed rosy clouds composed of thousands of birds, every 
one of them kept out of shot. 
When the flight was over we again assembled on board 
the vessels. It was a most unpleasant day, for the sky was 
covered with heavy clouds, a keen wind whistled over 
the water, and we were now and again drenched by showers 
of rain as we slipped along towards the southern part of the 
lake on a side wind. 
There we saw enormous flocks of Pelicans and Flamingoes 
standing on the sandbanks, and while trying to approach one 
of them in the boat we passed an island perfectly covered with 
Gulls and Shovellers. At the ineffectual volley which we 
fired at the Flamingoes, gigantic clouds of birds rose and 
settled again a long way off all together. 
We now stopped for lunch at a little island, and as the 
storm was still increasing, debated what it would be best to 
do. Our first idea was to return to Damietta; but the Arabs 
said that with the wind in its present quarter they would have 
to row and tow us, which would have been a long tiresome 
proceeding, for we had already reached the middle of the 
