Tragic Fishing Moments 



Africa is a raging volume of water, but at the time 

 of which I am writing it was very shallow, as it was 

 the middle of the dry season. But in certain places 



and they were many there were very deep holes 



and into these holes the crocodile were wont to 

 hide in the day time, coming out at night to feed. 

 The place was called Port's Drift and is about ninety- 

 five miles dead south of Bulawayo and twenty-five 

 from Fort Tuli. This drift as well as Rhodes Drift 

 is well over five hundred yards across, the north shore 

 being in Rhodesia, the south, in the Transvaal. 



The country round about simply teems with dan- 

 gerous game; lion, leopard, elephant, rhino, hippo, 

 and a dozen different kind of buck, including those 

 two rare species, the giraffe (a camelopard) and that 

 very beautiful brindled bull, the greater koodoo. 

 Snakes of all kinds are abundant. Puff adder, cobra, 

 momba, night adder, and the monster python are com- 

 mon; in fact, the country round about at certain sea- 

 sons fairly abounds with big game life. I was stand- 

 ing on an overhanging bank looking down into a 

 deep dark pool in which could be seen scores of the 

 fish (the manseers) ; and there were many of those 

 lurking, skulking ' crocks ' either just under water or 

 lying half in and half out of a weed bed. 



My line was a home-made one of seamen twine 

 that had been twisted on a jenny, and my hook was 

 also home-made by our farrier sergeant out of the 



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