VOYAGE UP WHITE NILE 
49 
sible. Hence it was with no small surprise that we found 
(as already described at p. n), that among their flotillas 
was included a considerable proportion totally incapable 
of flight. These comprised both goslings that had not 
yet attained the flying stage, and their parents which had 
moulted their quills—a singular state of affairs in mid¬ 
winter ? Still, it merely emphasised the fact above 
stated that, in Ethiopia, birds recognise no rule as to 
the breeding-season. 
Sunset on White Nile—Glossy Ibis. 
Under such conditions, it might be concluded that 
these helpless geese were entirely at our mercy. That 
was not, in fact, the case. Nature had foreseen the 
danger and provided against it. Their temporary help¬ 
lessness was safeguarded by a temporary development 
in diving powers that was nothing short of marvellous. 
These heavy geese dived as smartly as grebes or 
goosanders. A whole company, old and young, would 
submerge close at hand to reappear, all scattered, a full 
hundred yards away! From a lifetime’s experience of 
wild-geese, I would never have believed such a performance 
possible. Moreover, this faculty was purely a temporary 
D 
