February 23, 1899] 



NATURE 



401 



Berber, Kassala, Khartum, Sennaar, Fashoda, Sobat and Lado, 

 and possibly Dufile and Wadelai. 



It is suggested that all necessary instructions for collecting 

 fishes should be issued in the form of a circular in English and 

 Arabic, and should be sent to some responsible official in each 

 of the foregoing localities accompanied by a collecting-box and 

 alcohol, to be supplied by the Trustees of the British Museum, 

 with the name of the locality burned into the wooden case con- 

 taining the metal box holding the alcohol, on which the name 

 of the station also should be indelibly scratched or engraved. 

 The selection of the officials to whom the collecting should be 

 entrusted would be a matter for the Government to decide ; 

 but it is suggested that Commandants of Stations, officers of the 

 Royal Army Medical Corps, and officials connected with the Irri- 

 gation Department would be the most likely to take the greatest 

 interest in the work. I speak from experience, because not a 

 few of these officials gave me invaluable aid in the formation of 

 the collections on which the first volume of the " Zoology of 

 Egypt " is based. In military stations, the black troops, when 

 at leisure, are generally well pleased to assist in searching for 

 living things, and were their successes rewarded by small 

 pecuniary payments the results achieved by their agency might 

 be considerable. 



The services also of the fishermen along the river should be 

 enlisted in the work, and were fair prices paid to them for the 

 fishes they collected, and were they encouraged to procure as 

 many kinds of fishes as possible, large and small, collections of 

 considerable value would doubtless be forthcoming, and were 

 they further instructed to net the very smallest fishes, in 

 localities where there are backwaters, doubtless interesting and 

 obscure species would be discovered. 



The fishermen should also be utilised for obtaining the native 

 names of the fishes throughout the different parts of the river, 

 and it is suggested that each station should furnish a set of 

 numbered specimens accompanied by a list giving the native 

 name opposite to each number. 



Should the Egyptian Government see its way to sanction this 

 Survey, it is suggested that the officer in charge of the Museum 

 of Natural History of the Medical School of Cairo should be 

 entrusted with the reception of the collecting materials from the 

 British Museum, with their distribution to the different collecting 

 stations, with their reception when returned filled with fishes, 

 and with the duly of forwarding them to London. 



It is recommended that the distribution of the circulars and 

 collecting-boxes should take place as soon as they are ready, 

 and that they should be sent out to all the stations afore- 

 mentioned, even to the most remote. In this way, many boxes 

 would soon be returned filled, and, as they would at once be 

 forwarded to London, the work of identifying the fishes might 

 be proceeded with at once. By this plan, Mr. Boulenger 

 would be placed in a position to offer valuable suggestions and 

 to make known whenever the collections from a locality might 

 require supplementing. 



In not a few instances only the young of certain species might 

 possibly be represented in a collection, or some of the speci- 

 mens might be single examples of new or rare species which 

 could only be satisfactorily made out by the aid of additional 

 material. Mr. Boulenger having gone over the collection 

 from one locality would thus be able, in returning the 

 box for further material, to indicate clearly to the col- 

 lector wherein his collection had been deficient. This could 

 be done by the aid of an occasional figure of a fish when 

 it was wanted, or even by the return of a specimen when 

 more than one existed and more were required. It would also 

 enable Mr. Boulenger to supply each station with a list of the 

 species of fishes contained in each box, and by so doing con- 

 tribute to stimulate the collectors to further exertions. More- 

 over, were preliminary lists of native and scientific names from 

 a number of stations published at intervals and distributed 

 among the stations, each collector would be in a position to 

 judge of his relative success, especially in those cases in which 

 the stations were situated on the same reach of the river. The 

 native names of the fishes of the reach below the First Cataract 

 are the same throughout the whole of its extent, whereas in 

 many instances they differ materially from these in vogue 

 between Berber and Lado. The reach from Thila- to Berber is 

 so little known, in so far as its fishes are concerned, that 

 preliminary lists from it would be invaluable, either in demon- 

 strating uniformity or diversity of names in its own area, or as 

 regards the reaches to the south and north of it. 



NO. 1530, VOL. 59] 



Whilst the immediate distribution to the above-mentioned 

 stations of instructions for collecting fishes, along with the 

 necessary materials for so doing, is strongly advocated, it is 

 equally desirable that in the beginning of the actual survey the 

 attention of the officer in charge should be confined exclusively, 

 in the first instance, to the river between Assuan and the sea. 

 He should be constantly on the river at all seasons, and on his 

 way down should visit the different stations, inspect the col- 

 lections formed, satisfy himself that the specimens are properly 

 preserved and that they are fairly representative. He should also 

 particularly note the physical characters of the river at each 

 station, find out as much as possible about the habits of the 

 fishes, the depth at which they are found, the general character 

 of the river-bed, the seasons in which the fishes breed, and the 

 nature of their food. He should also satisfy himself that the 

 native names have been correctly recorded in Arabic and 

 rightly applied. 



After the completion of the Survey from Assuan to the sea, 

 the attention of the Superintendent should then be devoted to 

 the reach of the river between Phike and Berber, and after that 

 has been attained he .should proceed to investigate the interesting 

 tract between the latter town and Lado. 



To carry out his operations efficiently the Superintendent 

 should be provided with a steam-launch, by means of which he 

 would be placed in a position to use methods of fishing which it 

 would be impossible to undertake by a sailing-boat. It would 

 enable him to move freely up and down the reaches of the river 

 which might require detailed investigation, and thus provide a 

 means by which the Survey could be carried out in a thoroughly 

 practical manner and with the lea.st loss of time, as the nets 

 at the disposal of the Superintendent might be constantly at 

 work. 



Other advantages of great importance would attend the use of 

 a steam-launch in the way here advocated, as a cool airy room 

 could be set apart for the storage of the specimens in alcohol, 

 either in the course of preservation or finally preserved, and for 

 the drying of the skins of fishes too large for conservation in 

 alcohol. Moreover, the temperature of the contents of the boxes 

 when the heat is great could, in such circumstances, be arti- 

 ficially reduced by simple means. The smooth joltless character 

 of transit by water of boxes full of fishes recommends its adop- 

 tion in preference to all other means ; and, in connection with 

 this, it may be mentioned that should it ever be necessary to 

 send such boxes by railway train they should invariably be 

 slung in complete shade. Transport by camels is out of the 

 question. 



The Superintendent should have the assistance of a native 

 taxidermist to assist him in selecting the fishes as they are 

 caught, in preparing and labelling them, and in changing the 

 alcohol from time to time. His services would also be required 

 in skinning the larger specimens. 



On entering on the investigation of each new reach of the 

 river from Assuan northwards, the Superintendent should 

 secure the services, for a few days only, of three or four fisher, 

 men living on its banks and familiar with its fishing-grounds. 

 Each party should be accompanied by its own boat and nets, so 

 that when their services were no longer wanted the fishermen 

 could easily return to their villages. 



The Superintendent should be furni.shed with appropriate 

 nets, among which should be an eight-foot beam trawl ; and it 

 is recommended that his equipment in fishing-gear should 

 be much the same as that supplied to the officer entrusted with 

 the survey of the Congo River. 



This memorandum is accompanied by some instructions, 

 drawn up by Mr. Boulenger, for the preservation of fishes.' 



1 As it is extremely desirable that any opportunity which may lend itself 

 to the enlargement of our knowledge of the fauna of Egypt should be taken 

 advantage of, it is therefore suggested that this Survey might, without much 

 additional labour, do something towards making known the character of the 

 Mammals found along the banks of the river, even as far as the margin ot 

 thedesert. This inight be accomplished were the Superintendent to have 

 various kinds and sizes of appropriately baited traps set every evening when 

 the launch was moored for the night along the river's bank, but not 

 immediately in front of villages. They should be placed at wide intervals 

 in zigzag lines reaching from the river to the desert ; and likely situations 

 for the presence of animal life, alternately on the two banks of the Nile, 

 should be selected in determining where the launch is to remain for the 

 night. Hares and animals of larger size should be prepared as skins, the 

 skull and leg-bones of each specimen being left attached to the skin, the 

 inside of which should be well smeared with arsenical soap. Specimens 

 smaller than hares can be preserved in alcohol, but, as a rule, no mammal 

 larger than an ordinary rat should be so treated, as the hair is apt to come 

 off unless the spirit has been very frequently changed, which adds to the 

 expense. As many skins, therefore, as possible should be prepared, even of 



