Dhow Chasing in Zanzibar Waters - The Search For Mecca

214 DHOW-CHASING.
male island, to whicli I had bid farewell just
nineteen years before in tlie old pinnace of the
" Castor," and which became the rendezvous of
the "Daphne" boats for a few days. On
landing in this little spot we found three
strangers there, the only ones I had ever seen
on the island ; as we stepped upon the beach
one of them left it and dashed into the water,
and after taking one look at us—which gave us
the opportunity of discovering that it was a
seal—disappeared. The two other strangers
who were evidently in a great state of alarm,
chattering to each other loudly, were a pair of
fish-eagles ; with a Snider rifle I shot both of
them, being much surprised that after the report
of the first shot the second bird did not
leave the island, but on the following day we
found a nest in one of the trees, containing two
young birds, w^hich fully accounted for the fact
of the parents not having left the island immediately
they espied our approach. The largest
of these birds measured five feet nine inches
across the outstretched wdngs, and the other
only a few inches less. I managed to skin