" Wide-awake Fair " 



one thing, and that manufactured by a man- 

 o'-war's cook another ! Defend me from ever 

 sampling such a mixture again as the latter ! 



Ascension is also the nesting resort of the 

 black-headed tern, or sea-swallow. Imagine a 

 piece of fairly level ground known locally as 

 " Wide-awake Fair " measuring 150 yards by 

 200, so covered with birds and eggs that it is 

 almost impossible to avoid stepping on one or 

 the other. The islanders get their egg supplies 

 from this spot when the birds are nesting, and 

 this is how they manage it. They mark off a 

 few square yards with sticks and string, throw 

 out all the eggs they can collect in this enclosure 

 so that none remain, and on visiting the Fair 

 next day find a fresh supply of eggs lying about 

 within the enclosure, all of which they know to 

 be new-laid. 



The cries of the thousands of birds are be- 

 wildering, and a never-ending stream passes 

 between the shore and sea, bringing small fish 

 in their beaks. How in the world parent birds 

 manage to find their young, or the old ones 

 their mates, puzzled me. There must have been 

 hundreds of thousands of birds on the spot. 



There was any amount of good fishing to be 

 had round the island. One day I caught ninety- 

 eight cavallhoes, a fish weighing about ten 

 pounds. The bait used was a bit of white hand- 

 kerchief, tied on to the shank of the hook, the 



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