AFRICA. 53 
to wade through the water ; as the furf was fo 
violent that the boat could not approach near 
enough the ihore, where we were every mo- 
ment covered with the fpray : but, having at 
length clambered up the rocks, with no little 
difficulty and danger, we beheld fuch a fpec- 
tacle as never, perhaps, appeared to the eye of 
mortal. All of a fudden there arofe from the 
whole furface of the ifland an impenetrable 
cloud, which formed, at the diftance of forty 
feet above our heads, an immenfe canopy, or 
xather a fky, compofed of birds of every fpe- 
cies, and of all colours : cormorants, fea-^ulls, 
fea-fwallows, pelicans, and I believe all the 
winged tribe of this part of Africa, were here 
afFembled. All their voices mixed together^ 
and modified according to their different kinds, 
formed fuch a horrid mufic, that I was every 
moment obliged to cover my head, to prevent 
it from being torn to pieces, and to give a 
little relief to my ears. 
The alarm which we fprcad was fo much 
the more general among thefe innumerable 
kgions of birds, as we principally difturbed 
the females who were then fitting. The^ had 
nefts, eggs, and young to defend. They 
E 3 wer^ 
