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be considered for the Coelacanth, too. As far as South Africa 

 itself was concerned, certainly anywhere near East London, 

 that could be ruled out, as everyone who knows this area will 

 agree. Most fresh-water rivers in South Africa have no constant 

 flow. Their courses are often so steep that in floods they run 

 strongly, but for most of the year they are reduced to a series of 

 disconnected and usually not very extensive pools. In floods a 

 representative part of their fishes, sometimes great numbers, are 

 carried into the sea and die, and in turn wash up on the shore. 

 You can get a good idea of the fishes in the rivers that way. 



In dry periods the pools hold a fish fauna extensive neither in 

 numbers nor in kind, and they are constantly subjected to inten- 

 sive fishing, not always legal or conservatory in nature. Taking 

 all the evidence into account, while a few minute types may still 

 remain unknown, that a large fish like the Coelacanth could be 

 living unsuspected in our South African fresh- water rivers seemed 

 just about impossible. 



As is described elsewhere, my life in the months following the 

 discovery was troubled and difficult, and there was little time for 

 reflection. The problem of the origin or habitat of the Coelacanth 

 was rather like a hovering storm, ever present, nagging at my 

 mind. It seemed obvious that the chief hope of finding others 

 lay in an expedition with a vessel well equipped to explore the 

 life about the reefs, where ordinary line-fishing would not serve. 

 Having no funds of my own and no sources appearing likely in 

 South Africa, I made tentative approaches to several large over- 

 seas institutions; but the results were indefinite. There were 

 rumours that this or that institution or body was preparing an 

 expedition to come to South Africa, but nothing further. Mean- 

 while a picture of the Coelacanth and the offer of a reward for any 

 further specimens had been sent to all trawlers and fishing 

 vessels. On all these the Coelacanth came to be known as 'Old 

 Fourlegs', and indeed bears that name to this day. 



Although we remained hoping almost daily for further news, 

 the Coelacanth storm slowly subsided, and eventually the gather- 

 ing clouds of international tension and war finally disposed of my 

 hopes for any expedition of our own or from elsewhere for that 

 time. 



All through the war years we constantly sought news and 



