104 



WILD SPAIN. 



till at last, coming suddenly upon a herd of sleeping beasts 

 — bulls, for all I could tell — I gave it up, and decided to 

 weather out the night in the jungle, with the sand for a 

 couch, and a flamingo for a pillow. Great was the relief, 

 about midnight, to hear a distant shot ; I responded with 



a fusillade, and shortly afterwards B , with Felipe, and 



Trujillo's mighty frame loomed through the darkness, and 

 the duress was at an end. 



During the month of April we searched the marisma 

 systematically for the breeding-places of the flamingoes : 

 but though we explored a large area, riding many leagues 



FLAMINGOES OX FEED. 



in all directions from our base through mud and water, 

 varying from a few inches to three or even four feet in 

 depth, yet we could see, at this season, no sign of nests. 

 Flamingoes there were in plenty, together with ducks, 

 divers, waders, and many kinds of aquatic birds already 

 described : but the water was still too deep — the mud-flats 

 and new-born islets not sufficiently dried for purposes of 

 nidification, and as far as we could see the only species 

 which had actually commenced to lay were the purple 

 herons, coots, Kentish plovers, peewits, and some others. 

 Of the flamingoes themselves we secured several more 



