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peculiar large fishes in a deep channel off Pungutiachi Island 

 (South Kenya), and by means of considerable exertions managed 

 to capture no less than eight of them, the largest weighing over 

 130 lb. We preserved a complete head, and the skull of another, and 

 took these with us. Near mid-December we embarked in the 

 Union-Castle* liner Dunnottar Castle at Mombasa. All our collec- 

 tions, including the Parrot-fish head preserved in the cold store, 

 went with us. 



The day before we left Mombasa, a reporter from the Mombasa 

 Times came aboard with one of our Coelacanth leaflets, and was 

 full of questions. We gave him the main story, which he clearly 

 found fascinating. One of his last queries was whether we believed 

 that the leaflet would really find the fish we sought, and we said 

 we hoped it would. The issue next day prominently featured the 

 Coelacanth story, quite a scoop for that paper with what lay only 

 a little time ahead. 



On the way south we called as usual at Zanzibar, and there my 

 wife went ashore to visit the market, and to renew acquaintance 

 with various people of the most diverse social strata she has a way 

 of gathering to her net, all of them very useful in our work. As she 

 neared the wharf, there was Hunt on his schooner, and she waved 

 to him. He came round to meet her launch, and told her then that 

 he had only recently returned from the Comores. She went aboard 

 his schooner, he was awaiting a friend to go out on a trial run, the 

 engines had just been refitted, wouldn't Mrs. Smith like to come 

 as well ? With little time and much to do, she was unable to accept 

 this invitation, but inevitably she asked Hunt if he had found any 

 clues to Coelacanths. No, he had none, but was as keen as ever 

 and had a whole lot more questions to ask about the creature, 

 keen, searching questions which showed that he had done a good 

 deal of thinking about the matter in the meantime, and which 

 made my wife even more confident of his ability to recognise a 

 Coelacanth for certain if he ever saw it. The leaflets had been 

 distributed in all the islands, and the Governor was both in- 

 terested and co-operative, because, of course, a thing like that 



• The Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co. Ltd. may well be termed a National 

 Institution as far as South Africa is concerned. From this Company and from 

 all its officials, ashore and afloat, we have received constant consideration as 

 well as assistance on a considerable scale, representing in all a substantial 

 contribution to our work and to science. 



