812 EXTRACTS FROM 
various positions among the thick bushes, which formed capital 
cover, and all was soon perfectly quiet. 
- The flight now began. Cormorants, Shovellers, some 
Herons, a good many Marsh-Harriers, and various kinds of 
shore-birds flew past, but most of them were a long way oft. 
A few were killed, but on the whole the shooting was not 
successful. Flamingoes singly and in knots of as many as 
ten also flew up and down out of shot, but no large flocks 
were seen until after sunset. This bird has a most ridiculous 
appearance when flying, for its long neck and legs, which are 
carried quite horizontally, look like a long stick with two 
wings hung on to it. 
In the evening the wind increased and the waves beat 
heavily upon the shore of the island, but the clouds broke a 
little, and we enjoyed the spectacle of a lovely sunset, the 
purple-red of the western sky mirroring itself in the lake as 
the sun sank slowly into the agitated waters. 
As soon as it began to get quite dark we set out to return 
to our vessel, having first to tramp through the thick knee- 
deep bushes of this long island before reaching our boat at its 
western extremity, and then, after a short row, we got to the 
small island, where our dahabeeyah lay fast moored close to 
the shore. All the gentlemen had arrived, and each had 
brought back something, but nobody much, nor had any one 
killed a Flamingo, although a good many long shots had been 
fired at these incredibly shy birds. 
The evening was so chilly that when dining on board our 
dahabeeyah we had to sit wrapped in our cloaks. Some 
lanterns lit up the curious and impressive scene produced by 
the little flotilla as it lay in the dark night close to a barren 
island of this desolate lake, far away from all human habita- 
tions, while the perfect silence that reigned around was only 
broken by the lapping of the waves and the hoarse voices of 
the Arabs. 
