FISHING AT HOME AND ABROAD 



temper, it has a way of tangling a line more hopelessly even than its cousin 

 the conger. Further down the Italian coast the grey mullet is about the 

 only fish that can be reckoned on. I used, many years ago, to catch good 

 mullet in the Government docks at Leghorn, fishing at daybreak with 

 a paste made of anchovies and arrowroot biscuits; and at Naples I have 

 seen small sea bream, up to a pound at most, caught on long rods from 

 the promenade by the Aquarium. 



Near Malta, in the Comino Channel opposite Gozo, there are spotted 

 rockfish up to three or four pounds, sardine being the best bait; and here, 

 again, in the Quarantine Harbour, large grey mullet are caught with 

 float tackle, baiting with bread, and throwing in plenty of groundbait. 

 Greece is probably even worse off than Italy, for the Greeks are, if any- 

 thing, even more wasteful fishermen. I have fished several times at the 

 anchorages off the Piraeus, but never hooked anything better than small 

 fry. The same may be said of Smyrna, where, on a bottom consisting 

 of a curious spongy mineral, I fished on three separate occasions without 

 once getting even a bite. The bass and bream fishing in the Gulf of Ismidt, 

 which is, indirectly, an inlet of the Mediterranean, though immeasurably 

 more prolific of fish, has already been described (pp. 354, 364). Of the 

 Mediterranean coast of Africa I know little, though at Tipasa, in Algeria, 

 sheepshead up to five pounds may be caught from the rocks, using float 

 tackle and paste bait, and there are also grey mullet and bass. It is pro- 

 bable, indeed, that sport in Algeria and Tunis would be considerably 

 better than along the north shore, as these African waters would not 

 be so overfished as those within reach of Greeks, Italians, or Provencals. 



II. ASIA 



ADEN. I have hooked very large sharks here at the anchorage of the 

 P. and O. steamers, and there are also khokari (a kind of bass) up to 

 seventy or eighty pounds, caught with either sardine or boiled potato for 

 bait, and seer up to twenty-five pounds. The seer may be caught railing with 

 mackerel, sardine, or Devon minnow. It fights desperately, and sometimes 

 jumps like a small tarpon. The khokari appear off Suez at the time of the 

 dates, or so, at least, the natives say. Very large grey mullet are caught in 

 the Persian Gulf, but I have no details of their capture on the rod. 



INDIA. It is mainly, no doubt, owing to the fact that so many sportsmen 

 are stationed up country, where the mahseer is the angler's favourite 

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