ANNESLEY JiAY. 9 



mass, of which the greater portion has been removed by- 

 denudation. 



An account of one or two short excursions made from 

 the camp may serve to give a slight idea of the country 

 around the bay, and its fauna. On the 28th December 

 I joined a small shooting-party, consisting of Captain 

 Daniels of the Transport Train, Captain Chrystie of the 

 Engineers, and Lieutenant Protheroe of the Madras 

 Sappers. We left at nightfall in a small Arab boat for 

 the head of the bay, about eight or ten miles distant. 

 It was a calm night when we started, but a strong wind 

 sprang up, and we were obliged to anchor off the oppo- 

 site shore, with an uncomfortably rough sea. Our boat's 

 cables, however, were none of the best : two parted, one 

 after the other ; the waves meantime, to make matters 

 pleasant, breaking on some rocks just astern of us ; and 

 after drifting nearly into the breakers, our Arab crew, 

 with that amount of noise which only Orientals can 

 make when they consider themselves in danger, suc- 

 ceeded in getting up sail and beating off. We tacked 

 about until daylight. In the morning we had to wade, 

 more than waist-deep, to the shore ; however, we suc- 

 ceeded in landing our guns, and found ourselves on a 

 very rocky coast quite at the bottom of the bay. There 

 were no cliffs of any height, but black basaltic masses 

 rose forty or fifty feet from the sea in most places, here 

 and there receding into little sandy bays, with patches 

 of mangrove bushes. In one of these we landed, 

 and as soon as we could started inland in search of 

 game. 



