ST. VINCENT, CAPE VERDE ISLANDS. 53 



throwing largish pieces of the mass into the verge of the surf off 

 the point to attract large fish. 



They watched until they saw a large fish taking these baits 

 on the top of the water, and then they threw a bait on a hook 

 attached to a long cod line. They thus caught a large Cavalli 

 (Caranx), of the mackerel tribe, which they had to play for some 

 time and finish with a spear. Large Garfish (Belone) sometimes 

 came within reach, and were easily caught, being very ravenous. 



One fish, a kind of Bonito or tunny {Thynnus Argentivittatus), 

 of about 25 lbs. in weight, was attracted by the baits, and 

 coming close in swam backwards and forwards in front of the 

 stand on the rock, taking every bait thrown on to the top of the 

 water. The negroes kept feeding the fish for some time to give 

 it confidence. A very strong piece of cord with a hook like a 

 salmon gaff made fast to it, was then baited with a small bit of 

 fish, just enough to cover the point of the hook, and a stout 

 bamboo was used as a rod. The cord was hitched tight round 

 one end of it, with about a foot of it left dangling with the hook. 

 One negro held the rod and the other the cord. 



The bait was held just touching the surface of the water. 

 The fish swam up directly and took it, the negro holding the 

 bamboo struck sharply and drove the big hook right through the 

 fish's upper jaw, and both men caught hold of the line and 

 pulled the fish straight out on to the rock. The negroes evidently 

 felt quite certain of their fish directly they saw it swimming 

 backwards and forwards in front of the rock. I was astonished 

 that so large a fish could be caught in so absurd a manner. The 

 negro holding the pole was not six feet from the fish when it 

 took the bait. 



The inhabitants of St. Vincent are mostly negroes from the 

 adjacent coast. In the town at Porto Grande there was an 

 albino negress, who was exhibited to visitors. 



Of birds the most conspicuous at St. Vincent are the 

 scavenger vultures (Kathartes pernicopterus) , the same which are 

 to be seen in great numbers about the native town at Aden, and 

 about all the towns of Egypt and northern Africa, and which 

 even follow caravans across the desert as gulls follow ships. 

 The birds were always to be seen about the waste land close to 



