WHOLESALE DESTRUCTION OF FISH. -139 



to cause the reduction of the channel to something 

 near its ordinary limits within the space of a few 

 hours. It is possible this may have accounted for 

 the circumstance. But the hunters conjectured 

 rather that the sudden fresh, fraught with the im- 

 purities of the surface soil, or holding in solution 

 some extraneous substance noxious to the fish, had 

 so far affected many of those below a certain size as 

 to cause either death or stupor. Or the sudden 

 change in the water from a state of comparative 

 clearness to one of singular density laden as it was 

 with the easily-removed scouring of the surface of 

 the country might have affected the respiratory 

 organs. 



However, whatever the cause, the circumstance 

 as related is a fact, and the hunters felt by no 

 means satisfied that it was attributable alone to 

 the sudden fall of the full channel to its usual 

 dimensions. 



They had now entered on large alluvial plains, in 

 many parts covered with a short dry grass and 

 prickly scrub, the former affording pasturage to 

 numerous herds of antelope. 



As they intended to try their chance by stalking, 

 and not by any less legitimate means, such as 

 approaching them behind a common cart of the 

 country, to the sight of which they are accustomed, 



