2i 4 BIRD-HUNTING 



was lost by the absence of a ferry or ford over the 

 river we had to pass, which we had expected t to find 

 lower down nearer the mouth. We found there no 

 signs of any ferry, and from inquiries made among 

 the few people we met on the way it turned out that 

 we should have to ride some distance up the river 

 to reach the ferry we had used last year, which was 

 the only one. We therefore halted at a house close 

 to the extensive ruins of an old Turkish castle, on 

 whose broken walls and crumbling battlements were 

 thousands of Jackdaws, now the only inhabitants of 

 what at one time must have been an important 

 stronghold. 



We were as usual most hospitably received, and 

 regaled with cigarettes, coffee, and raki, while they 

 killed and got ready a turkey for our dinner, and 

 prepared sundry weird concoctions in the shape of 

 sweets. Just before the actual dinner was served 

 they brought us the wings, which had been pulled 

 or broken off and roasted. 



In the morning we started off again for the ferry, 

 and made for the pine-forest on the opposite side of 

 the lagoon to where we camped last year, having in 

 the meantime picked up our old friends the fisher- 

 men, to whom we had sent word to look out 

 for us. 



Our camp was pitched by midday under a pine- 

 tree at the water's edge. From the tent-door we 



