540 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XII. 



glow the whole hillsides look transformed and as if they were clothed with 

 the most luxuriant growth of glorious heather ; such purple tints as I have 

 never seen elsowhere away from the Upper Highlands of Scotland ; and 

 Shum Shura in the morning rivals Ben-y-gloe at its best. I have casually 

 remarked that there is apparently no vegetation, I am not a botanist, but 

 I believe I am correct in stating that there are about 120 different flora 

 indigenous to this cinder heap, many of them being really remarkable ; as, 

 for instance, the Aden lily, of which two sorts are to be found high up on 

 the mountains only — one a yellow and one a white species {Alberca yerhuv 

 ghii aad A. alba). These are much sought after and appreciated, and in 

 addition there is a great deal of bird and insect life on the high slopes. But 

 this is not fishing in Indian Waters, and it was to that more particularly 

 that I proposed to draw your attention ; but even now, when I come to 

 think of it and to look back on the many hours spent, I am swamped with 

 the floods of old memories and am almost at a loss to know where to begin, 

 I have in a former ai'ticle referred in detail to the mullet and garfish fishing 

 that is to be obtained there, so that I do not propose to touch on it here 

 again further than that in the list of fish which I shall give. I shall simply 

 mention their names. 



Besides these, viz., the mullet and garfish, there are seer fish, bonito, 

 tunnies, albacore, dolphin, horse-mackerel, several sorts of rock cod (grey, 

 green and red) and dozers of other smaller sorts, the best of which belong 

 to the Lutianus and i-'ciuna families ; while, if you work into the shallower 

 waters near the rocks, fish of most wonderful colours, resembling parrots, 

 jays and macaws, literally gleaming with all the most brilliant colours of the 

 rainbow, are to be had. Fish with green bodies and yellow stripes, fish with 

 heliotrope or lilac bodies and blue fins, with scarlet bodies, with black bodies 

 and blue spots are common ; but one seldom goes out for them unless one 

 wants them for bait, wherewithal to tempt the mighty rock cod as they are 

 perfectly useless for the table, give no sport, and curiously enough, most of 

 these brilliantly-coloured rock fish emit a very disagreeable odoiir. Their 

 brilliant colours, and I think also their strong smell, are given to them as a 

 means of protection, the former in order to harmonise with their surround- 

 ings, which consist of rocks and the brilliant coral growths, and the latter 

 because with the exception of the rock cod, the fishermen all say that 

 nothing else will eat them. The Arab and the Somali fishermen, who will 

 eat almost anything, won't look at them, and I have only once come across 

 a man who would. Years ago I served with an Italian and one day I caught 

 a particularly evil-smelling specimen, with a black leathery skin studded 

 with blue spots, and was going to throw it away when B. reproved me by 

 saying that " God made all things good, and he was going to eat that fish," 

 Eat it he did, too, in spite of an aroma which would have sickened a hog 

 or choked off a Burman, in spite of his being accustomed to his national 



