IN THE PACIFIC. 139 



at them with a repeating rifle, my dog " Rose," 

 thinking there must be something to retrieve, 

 jumped overboard in their midst; fortunately 

 we dragged her into the canoe before any harm 

 was done. The firing unfortunately disturbed 

 a large flock of pato real, (royal ducks), which 

 sailed away overhead. After this the river 

 gradually became narrower, until there was 

 barely room to work the paddles, and we pre- 

 sently reached our destination, a large swamp 

 with rushy patches and pools, whereon many 

 kinds of duck and teal were to be seen. 



We now landed, and waded over the marsh, 

 picking up duck, snipe, and a couple of brace 

 of geese. We also saw and bagged for the first 

 time a species of duck called the- "pichichi." 

 These birds go about in large flocks, and are not 

 so wild as the other sorts ; they are handsome 

 birds, with rich brown breasts and long yellow 

 legs ; they move their wings slowly and make a 

 whistling noise whilst flying, and altogether 

 are more like miniature geese than ducks. With 

 a good mixed bag we returned to our canoe, and 



