FOWLING ON LAKE MENZALEH 



NE of the best, albeit 

 the least known, of 

 Egyptian wildfowling 

 waters is Lake Menzaleh ; 

 a salt-water lake lying 

 some two miles west of 

 Port Said. This lake has 

 hitherto been the un- 

 disturbed domain of 

 native fisher folk. But a 

 new enterprise has been 

 set afoot to develop it ; 

 and it was on a steamer belonging to the enterprise — 

 which, needless to say, is under British control — that I 

 made my first acquaintance with the place. The starting 

 point of the steamer is Rusonan, near Port Said, and the 

 course lies due west to the village of Matarich, on the 

 opposite mainland. En route half-submerged islands or 

 ghezirehs are passed, and these I particularly noted for 

 careful inspection at a future date. The islands in all 

 cases are honey-combed with waterways — ideal spots, 

 therefore, for fowl. The nature of the islands themselves 

 is peculiar. On the poor substance of sand and mud no 

 vegetation can grow save a small grub plant. In the 

 distance these plants are singularly deceptive, and lead 

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