69 



trained them to draw fishes as we wanted them, which is, accur- 

 ately and as they really are. Many failed and left, but those who 

 came through the trial period did good work. 



The year 1946 was one of the most difficult of my life. We 

 had huge classes to handle, some had to be duplicated. My 

 wife, also a chemist, just could not escape the appeals for help, 

 and had to teach as well. It was almost as bad as the time of the 

 Coelacanth. We became just machines. We had people all along 

 the South African coast, trawlers and fishermen, sending a 

 constant stream of fish for illustrations. In June-July 1946, for 

 purposes of the book, we took five artists and a photographer and 

 spent a month in and about Louren90 Marques. There was a Dr. 

 Jekyll and Mr. Hyde flavour even about this. We lived in an 

 extremely ancient derelict house, the furniture mainly boxes, 

 but in a select locality, not far from the Governor- General's 

 palace. Lourengo Marques was startled by the succession of 

 notables who visited the ancient structure, and the photographer's 

 antics below the coconut palm in front provided free entertain- 

 ment for all the urchins of the neighbourhood. I spent most of my 

 time collecting specimens, on the bay, about the islands, and 

 along the coast, while my wife culled the market, made friends 

 with the Portuguese deep-sea fishermen, ran the house with ser- 

 vants directed by gestures, tried in vain to keep her young son 

 clean, controlled the artists, and showed our work to impeccably 

 dressed and often uniformed visitors. It was fish, night and day, 

 and we could not speak a word of Portuguese. This was so mad- 

 dening that we decided we must learn that language, which we 

 eventually did, but only after a grim battle lasting five years. 



When we returned to the Union in July 1946, I learnt that 

 there would be at least a possibility of a Research Fellowship from 

 the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, which by 

 then had been established. I consulted the various authorities 

 concerned, and eventually, in September 1946, gave notice of 

 resignation from the Chemistry Department as from the end of 

 that year. It was a most difficult thing to do, as I have always 

 been greatly attached to chemistry and enjoyed teaching, and it 

 meant severance of close contact with students, whom it has 

 constantly been a very real pleasure to handle, teach, and advise. 



The Research Fellowship from the Council for Scientific and 



