1890.1 259 



"We proceeded on our course down the Eed Sea the same evening, 

 and had a fine steady run until the 20th, when we stopped off the 

 little islet of " Hind Kadam " to laud an observing party, and as the 

 Captain wished me to accompany them and see what could be found 

 in the Natural History line, I w^is by no means loth to land and spend 

 the day there. Hind Kadam, which is about 35 miles from the nearest 

 point of the African coast, close to Suakin, is a little coral islet only 

 600 yards long by 180 wide, no part being elevated more than 15 feet 

 above the sea. From a little distance it looks rather verdant, being 

 covered with an open thicket of bushes some 6 feet high, all of one 

 species, a shrubby Sttceda, just like ours in foliage, but making a hard 

 woody stem as thick as one's leg. Besides this plant I saw only four 

 other species on the islet, all rare, except a coarse rushy grass. Every 

 part swarmed with hermit-crabs, which had appropriated all the empty 

 shells. 



I had a good look for insects, but could fiud only three species of 

 Coleopfera living, viz., a Gonocephalum, a PhaJe7'in, and a minute 

 Jlalacoderm, in size and appearance curiously like a black ScydincBtius ; 

 this last was found running actively among the shells and coral debris 

 at high w^ater mark. Besides these I met with remains of one or two 

 other beetles (Calosoma, Himatismus, Crypticus, &c.), but could find 

 none of these alive. A few little Geometers, &c., were taken flitting 

 very actively among the Sueeda. On the island were two osprey's 

 nests, huge structures of sticks, four feet high and as many in diame- 

 ter, one of which contained three fine eggs, which I took. The island 

 is occasionally resorted to by fishermen from Suakin, and we found 

 two men, an Arab and a negro, who had come here to catch turtle, and 

 had evidently had good success, to judge from the abundant remains 

 of recently killed ones scattered about. Altogether I had a very en- 

 joyable day on Hind Kadam, though I got severely burned by the sun 

 while bathing and wading about on the beach looking for shells. 



On the 22nd we anchored for a couple of days among the Zebayir 

 Islands, and the following day (28rd) I had a ramble on Saba, the 

 second in size of them. The Zebayir Islands are all of small dimen- 

 sions, entirely volcanic in structure and utterly barren, nothing but 

 dreary slopes of black, rough, cellular lava ; only on Saba is there a 

 salt lagoon of considerable extent, fringed with a scanty growth of 

 a shrubby species of Salicornia about four feet high. This lagoon is 

 a great resort of flamingoes, of which several were shot by our people ; 

 unfortunately they could not be made good specimens of. I saw very 

 few insects in my walk, but met with two species of butterflies, Pyra- 



