FISH 



spoor of the latter was exceedingly plentiful, and in 

 one spot on the plains the surface was cut up to 

 an extraordinary extent by their huge footprints, 

 clearly proving that during the rains these mud-flats 

 become very swampy. 



Through the enterprise of one of my Swahili 

 porters, who had bought some fish-hooks at Kismayu, 

 a quantity of fish were caught in the river, and they 

 proved a highly acceptable addition to my larder. 

 They were of three kinds, a large and a small species 

 of barbel and a fish resembling a perch. The latter 

 was almost uneatable, as it contained an incredible 

 quantity of bones ; but the two former were delicious, 

 and when fried or grilled made a most tasty dish. 

 They were artless creatures. A hook baited with 

 a grasshopper or piece of meat and tied to a thick 

 piece of string was all that was needed to haul them 

 in one after the other. My porters, after catching 

 the first one, would cut him up and use him as a 

 bait to entrap others, and they seemed as eager to 

 take the hook thus disguised as when it was covered 

 by a more dainty morsel. One hungry fish actually 

 swallowed the bare hook, from which the grasshopper 

 had been removed by a more artful companion, and 

 was quickly hauled to the shore. 



After leaving Melka Dera I continued marching 

 in a north-westerly direction, following the left bank 

 of the river, while the camels kept well outside the 

 bush. I crossed a large plain covered with coarse 

 grass and then entered more open country, where 

 only a narrow fringe of bush separated the river 

 from the alluvial flats. The grass had been burned, 

 and now the fresh green shoots were just springing 

 up, giving to the scene a fertile and pleasant aspect. 



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