Expedition to the Easieim Canarxj Islands. 55 



to Lanzarote. The last tent was taken down after dinner 

 by tlie light of the moon, and at 9 o^clock we boarded the 

 little steamer and said goodbye to Euerteventura. It was 

 a calm and beautiful night, the sea like glass, and a full 

 moon overhead made even Puerto Cabras look distinctly 

 attractive as viewed from our moorings in the harbour. 



Lanzarote. 



At 5 A.M. on the morning of May the 19th we dropped 

 anchor ofi" the tiny port of Tifiosa, situated on the south-east 

 coast of Lanzarote. Here we were delayed for a very con- 

 siderable time haggling over the price of camels, but at last 

 our difficulties were overcome and we left the coast at 11 a.m. 

 While waiting in Tifiosa, which is noted for the quantities 

 of onions which are exported from there, I had plenty of 

 time to note all the birds in the neighbourhood. Several 

 Yellow-legged Herring-Gulls were basking on the rocks 

 and were very tame. Swifts (^Micropus m. brehmorum) 

 were plentiful, and I noticed two House-Martins amongst 

 them. A fine pair of Kestrels was hovering over the hill- 

 side but I failed to obtain them ; the male was a particularly 

 old bird. My intention was, if possible, to cross Lanzarote 

 and camp close to the only lake found in the islands, which 

 lies on the south-west coast, and is salt. The first part of 

 the journey led up a steep incline from Tifiosa on to a 

 terribly di-y plateau. The cultivated soil seemed to consist 

 entirely of powdered lava, the boundary walls being built 

 of huge lumps of the same material. In these " fields " 

 stunted maize and cactus struggled for existence, and in 

 every other available patch wheat had been planted. Brown 

 Linnets, Pipits, and Kestrels were the commonest birds 

 seen here ; and a fine dark Falcon, which I imagine to have 

 been Falco eleonor(S, dashed past, almost black in colour and 

 with narrow pointed wings. Having crossed this plateau 

 we ascended by a bad path to the Carreterra, which we 

 found to be a really good road evidently rarely used by 

 wheeled vehicles. To the north, towards Arrecife, the land 



