120 ANIMAL LIFE IN AFRICA 



his fins and forked tail of orange red, his personal beauty 

 is as striking as his boldness and courage. His familiar 

 name is not an inapt one. His mouth is armed with 

 truly formidable teeth, set well apart, and fitting into 

 sockets in the opposite jaw. They are conical, sharp 

 as needles, and, in large specimens, fully a quarter of an 

 inch long. His character is in keeping with his outward 

 appearance, for his habits are essentially predatory, and, 

 were it not for the crocodile, he would be chief tyrant 

 of the waters which he makes his home. In all prob- 

 ability, too, he amply revenges himself upon the newly 

 hatched reptiles for the toll which the larger ones exact 

 from his species. 



Found only in the waters of tropical and semi-tropical 

 countries, the favourite haunts of the tiger fish are deep 

 still pools at the tails of streams, whose banks, closely 

 fringed with dense reeds, afford secure ambush where 

 he can lie in wait for, and dart out upon his prey. There 

 is some doubt as to the size attained by tiger fish. It is 

 said that in large rivers, like the Zambezi, they will 

 exceed thirty pounds weight ; but the largest I ever saw 

 caught there scaled sixteen. In the Crocodile River of 

 the Transvaal, where " tiger fishing " has become a 

 recognized pastime, I do not think that the fourteen- 

 pounder caught by Major Greenhill-Gardyne in 1902 has 

 yet been surpassed. The largest I ever landed myself 

 from the Sabi scaled a few ounces under nine pounds. 



These fish give the most magnificent " play " when 

 hooked. As soon as one, having taken the bait, feels 

 the prick of the steel, he dashes off in a series of magni- 

 ficent rushes, bounding again and again out of the water 

 shaking his head, and using every effort to get free. 

 He will scarecely ever sulk, and should he do so for a 

 time, it is only as a prelude to yet more vigorous action. 



