BIRDS OF THE BAHAMA ISLANDS. 
35 
CHAPTER VII. 
INAGUA. 
Mathewstown, which can boast of being the only white settle- 
ment on the island, resembles Nassau on a small scale. A good 
deal of salt is manufactured here, and the quantity exported every 
year is considerable for the size of the place. Cocoanut groves 
are being started, and, on the whole, the island is in a prosperous 
condition. 
About ten miles back of Mathewstown there is a large lake, 
which, we had been told, was fairly alive with game at all seasons 
of the year, and to see this wonderful lake had been one of the main 
objects of my visit. On the next day after our arrival, we spent 
the afternoon arranging for the trip. In the evening the' boats were 
placed upon small carts, barely large enough to hold them, which 
were to be drawn by small but strong donkeys, guns were cleaned, 
ammunition looked over, and everything prepared for an early start 
the next morning. 
May 27. — It was three o’clock, and so dark that the outline of 
the shore was barely visible by the dim light of the stars, when 
we left the vessel. Some time was spent in getting everything 
arranged, but it was still dark when the sleepy negro, who was to 
act the part of driver, announced everything in readiness to start. 
