378 ELEPHANT-HUNTING IN EAST AFRICA chap. 



thus saving (as in a smaller degree at other points) a good 

 deal in distance through our knowledge of the country. At 

 this part the lake is extremely wide, and when viewed from 

 an elevation looks lovely — deep blue flecked with white wave- 

 crests. 



On the broad, sheltered bays which terminate this most 

 easterly gulf of Bassu we met with our El Molo friends again, 

 now no longer suspicious of us. One afternoon I had the oppor- 

 tunity of watching their mode of netting fish. The fishermen 

 passed my tent in procession on their way to the part of the 

 bay they intended to try, each with a coil of net, skewered on 

 an oryx horn, slung behind his back, knapsack fashion, one or 

 two women accompanying the party. Unwinding their pieces 

 of net, each several yards long, on the bank, they waded in 

 till the water was about up to their chests or necks, and then 

 separated, holding the nets between them, till they had formed 

 a circle. They did not close in much, but the fish that were 

 encompassed, being frightened, dashed about, leaping out of 

 the water, and some over the nets, in their efforts to escape, 

 and many were caught. Then the women took out the 

 captives and threaded them on a cord — first killing each by 

 piercing the head with one of the sharp oryx horns, thus 

 preventing trouble from its flapping about when suspended to 

 her waist in the water — while the men began to wade off for a 

 fresh haul farther on. When a shoal was enclosed the scene 

 was a lively one ; the water would fairly boil for a few moments 

 within the circle, the silvery fish glinting in the bright sunshine 

 as they leapt into the air, amidst great excitement and jabber- 

 ing. The fish caught in this manner were very handsome ; 

 they were deep and narrow, and some of considerable size, and 

 when fresh from the water were very good eating. 



How little trouble it is to procure abundance of food of 

 this kind here is shown by the fact that, after about an hour's 

 amusement in the comparative cool of the late afternoon, the 

 party returned with quantities of beautiful fish. The numbers 



