374 Mr. O. Salvin on the Sea-birds of British Honduras . 
a stranded log or spit of sand every here and there appearing 
above water. 
Though the breeze continued blowing freshly all night, it was 
too much ahead to enable Sam to make Cay Bokel, a small Cay 
at the southern end of Turneff; so, after passing out through 
the channel near English Cay, we had to beat up to the anchorage 
under the lee of the former island, and it was midnight before 
we came to anchor. In the mean time Mr. It. and I made our¬ 
selves as comfortable for the night as the deck of the schooner 
would allow, having to change over at every tack. At the first 
trace of dawn we were glad enough to turn out, and, coffee over 
(before which one does as little a3 possible in the tropics), the 
schooner was again got under weigh, when a tack or two took 
her through a narrow channel into one of the lagoons of Turneff. 
Here we just crept along, with scarcely wind enough to fill the 
sails, but startling the few Pelicans [Pelecanus ybscM$)that were just 
waking up and stretching themselves before leaving their roost- 
ing-places in the mangrove-trees. Bald-pate Pigeons ( Culumba 
leucocephala), in small flocks of three and four, flew across the 
bows just out of shot: otherwise all was quiet, and the prospects 
of spoils from Turneff were not very promising. 
Still Sam said Man-of-war Cay would prove fruitful; so for 
Man-of-war Cay we steered, the breeze freshening as the 
morning advanced. Before reaching the Cay in question, we 
passed into another lagoon, through an opening in the man¬ 
groves. A few Shags ( Phalacrocorax floridanus ) now flew 
round, and I shot several as we came to anchor. There was no 
lack of birds now; for on our approach a cloud of Man-of- 
war Birds {Fregata aquila) rose and hung over the Cay, like 
Rooks over a rookery; Shags hurried out of the bushes, their 
laboured flight contrasting with the apparently effortless hovering 
of their fellow-colonists (no Eagle flies with the ease of a Man- 
of-war Bird); and here and there a White Gaulin (Egretta 
candidissima ) peered out to see the cause of the commotion. The 
small canoe or dorey was soon lowered; and taking Joe (Sanfs 
brother) to paddle, we started off for a closer examination. By 
keeping close to the mangroves on the leeward (W.) side, we 
were able to reach the Gaulins’ nests, which however were 
