194 SOME BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA 



photograph, the more one finds that each one requires 

 carefully considering before being taken ; there are so 

 many things that fight against success. 



The day was perfect, with very little wind and a 

 brilliant sun, so I started to try and do the best I 

 could on the most important subject, the large crowd 

 of Gannets before alluded to. They were tame enough, 

 but it was difficult to choose a time when the birds 

 nearest to me were not taking wing, and at the same 

 time when the flying birds were not sailing by at too 

 close a distance, which would have resulted in a blurred 

 image, and spoilt the group. I noticed that the birds 

 which flew up from the ground had some difficulty in 

 rising, and used their feet for a short time, kicking off 

 against the ground to enable them to rise the more 

 easily. The air resounded with their harsh cry, Carra- 

 Carra. It was quite impossible to include more than 

 about a third of the whole group of birds in one plate, 

 unless I had shown them very much smaller than they 

 are reproduced on plate 21. 



To expose eight half plates on this subject occupied 

 a considerable time, and I then began taking some odd 

 groups of birds, both Gannets and Penguins. I had 

 not been long engaged thus when the captain of the 

 tug came to look for me, and said we must be going ; 

 this was quite an hour before the time limit he had 

 given me, and I told him so, but he was inexorable, 

 and I had no alternative but to commence, packing up 

 my things. 



One other photograph I must not forget, and that 

 is the picture of the old gun. This gun, after being- 

 wrecked a hundred years ago or more, in one of the 



