In fact the speaker had been describing some species of wildfowl

Once I told Thesiger of a cocktail party in London where in a momentary dead silence a voice went on loudly with the last words of a sentence "... and only copulate at two O'Clock in the morning, in running water." "Ah," said Thesiger, "Sabians"; but in fact the speaker had been describing some species of wildfowl.

G. Maxwell, A reed shaken by the wind (1957), 191

T'Hami at this time played golf to a handicap of four

T'hami [the Pasha of Marrakesh] at this time played golf to a handicap of four. (It is illogical, but strange, that the image of an amateur golf champion should be so hard to reconcile with that of an owner of active dungeons.)

G. Maxwell, Lords of the Atlas (1966), 200