169 
of resort, where they build their nests 
and rear their young. On the upper 
edge of the harder strata the fowls, 
with their white breasts projecting, ar- 
range themselves in rows one above the 
other, as regularly as if they were por- 
celain figures disposed on shelves ; and if 
they have not been before frightened by 
firing at them, you may shoot several of 
of them before they are aware of their 
danger, and without the rest being in the 
least disturbed. Those even which were 
placed close to the fowls that have been 
killed remain quiet in their places, and 
those which concealed themselves further 
back in the cavity readily come forwards 
to occupy the places of those that have 
been shot ; so that the row is again soon 
completed. To describe this spectacle 
properly is impossible; no pen can do 
justice to it ; to form a proper conception 
of it one must have actually seen it." 
In another part of his work he says the 
numbers of fowl exceeds every thing that 
can be imagined. " At certain periods 
they almost darken the air, and they stun 
v 
