THROUGH WILD EUROPE 127 



knew where the Pelicans nested, and that they could 

 conduct us to the place. One of them could speak 

 Italian, and described their nests and eggs, so that 

 we started off with them in two rude dug-out canoes 

 in high spirits. The Baron squatted in the bottom 

 of one, while I did the same in the other, and the 

 men paddled with single paddles at the stern. 

 There were numbers of Pelicans swimming about, 

 and presently we could see in front of us on the 

 horizon a white mass. These our guides declared to 

 be Pelicans sitting on their nests. 



How eagerly we scrutinized them through our 

 glasses as we drew nearer and nearer ! After a time 

 it appeared as if the birds were sitting on the farther 

 shore in front of a belt of tamarisks, but as we 

 advanced we found that this was not the case. The 

 nests were at last made out to be on two low, sandy 

 islets some distance from the shore. The men, on 

 being asked, said they could take us to within thirty 

 yards of the islands without causing much dis- 

 turbance. This we found to be the case ; and 

 accordingly I stepped out of my canoe with the 

 camera (the water was not much more than 

 knee-deep) and proceeded to make sure of some 

 photographs in case of not being able to get at 

 closer quarters. But in our hurried journey across 

 country we had not been able to bring more than 

 one box of photographic plates in addition to those 



