A GREAT LAGOON 119 



not be said for the deposits near by of other parts 

 of the turtles. Close to one of the houses we saw 

 a tame frigate bird — belonging to one of the men 

 employed in the turtle industry — which was in 

 beautiful condition and so tame that it could be 

 handled. 



We were most anxious to see the Ihis ahhotti, 

 a striking bird much like the weU-known sacred 

 ibis, and also closely allied to the Ihis bernieri 

 of Madagascar, but differing from both so decidedly 

 that it has been rightly claimed as a distinct 

 species, confined to Aldabra, so far as is known. 

 The overseer of the island informed us that the 

 bird was seldom seen near the settlement, and that 

 it nested some thirty miles away across the lagoon 

 in a part seldom visited. Accordingly early on 

 the second morning of our stay, we set out from 

 the yacht in the steam launch for this ibis colony, 

 taking on board the overseer and a pilot. 



The lagoon, which is enclosed by the island or 

 islands of Aldabra, is very shallow, but for some 

 twenty miles there is a narrow channel of suffi- 

 cient depth to allow a boat, drawing several feet 

 of water, to proceed. This lagoon is of so great a 

 size that during our passage through it we were 

 frequently almost out of sight of land. The man 

 we had taken as a pilot seemed to know every 

 part of it, and without him we should have been 

 unable to proceed for any distance. We passed 



numerous rocks, the bases of which were so water- 



k2 



