314 EXTRACTS FROM 
lake, and from our present southerly position we could see 
with the naked eye a minaret and the many palm-trees of the 
little town of El-Menzaleh in the far distance. 
The sailors therefore advised us to abandon our old pro- 
gramme and to go on to Port Said. This was certainly a con- 
siderable alteration in the plan of our journey; but it seemed 
to be the only sensible course to pursue, especially as the 
chief steersman guaranteed that if the present favourable 
west wind continued we should reach Port Said the same 
evening. 
No sooner said than done, we got on board our crafts, and 
the light dahabeeyahs sped like arrows through the islands 
without stopping. The eastern parts of the lake were richer 
in wildfowl than the western, for myriads of coots, ducks, 
gulls, herons, and cormorants were seen, and a flock of 
pelicans was successfully shot at, a splendid rosy specimen 
finding its way to the deck of our dahabeeyah. 
In the afternoon the shining white lighthouse of Port Said 
showed on the horizon. We saw some flocks of Flamingoes 
standing a long way off and others flying slowly away. The 
sky cleared and we enjoyed the warm sunshine and another 
sunset full of beautiful effects. Our crew handled the sails 
very cleverly, and were fine hard-working fellows whom we 
grew quite fond of in these two days. By the time that 
twilight began we could distinguish the houses of the town 
and the embankment of the Suez Canal, and at nightfall we 
arrived at our goal. We were within a few hundred yards 
of the shore, but the water was so shallow that both we our- 
selves and all our baggage had to be gradually transported to 
the embankment of the canal by our brave Arabs. 
The quickest of the dahabeeyahs had been sent forward 
with a letter, so that a small steamer was already waiting at 
the canal, and en the shore were our Consul and the harbour- 
master, a Dalmatian by birth. 
