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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



LATEEN-SAII, CRAFT ON THE RIVER NILE 



Crete, was flooded and would be unfit 

 for landing till after winter. The air 

 attache at Rome, however, told me that 

 the Suda Bay 'drome was still in good 

 condition, but that I could make sure by 

 dropping down at Taranto and inquiring 

 at the British aerodrome there. 



A glance at the map will show that the 

 Cretan route saves a considerable dis- 

 tance, Suda Bay providing a half-way 

 house. I therefore decided at once to 

 take the Taranto course and try to save 

 the long stretch of Mediterranean from 

 Athens to Cairo. 



HOW Wl; FAILED TO "SEE NAPLES AND DIE" 



After daylight, we left Rome in very 

 bad weather. Our route for the first 

 few miles followed the Appian Way, and 

 as we were flying low we had a fine view 

 of this ancient highway. The landscape 

 for the most part was obscured by broken 

 clouds, but through the rifts we had fleet- 

 ing glimpses of the wild and spectacular 

 nature below us. 



Naples was not directly on our course 

 to Taranto, but having visited it pre- 

 viously as a tourist, I made a detour in 

 order to photograph and gaze down upon 

 its wondrous bay from the sky. To my 

 intense disappointment, clouds and mist 

 robbed us of my desire, and even the 

 mighty Vesuvius was buried somewhere 

 beneath the sea of clouds ; so, reluctantly, 

 I turned away and resumed our course to 

 Taranto. 



Our course now lay almost due east 

 across the Apennines ; but here again the 

 clouds had banked against the moun- 

 tains, and only an occasional peak peered 

 through them. Owing to the clouds and 

 my scant knowledge of the country, I de- 

 termined to fly low, following, more or 

 less, the course of the valleys, which 

 were nearly cloud-free. 



From breaks in the cloud, the sun 

 beamed down on to vales of great loveli- 

 ness. Numerous small waterfalls dashed 

 down the mountain sides, and streams 

 like silver threads rippled away through 



