INTRODUCTION. xliii 



chamber the fish, still making their way upward, get into the second or third chamber 

 as the case may be, after which return is almost out of the qriestion. The enclosures 

 are visited every two or three hours and the fish removed, or, if not immediately 

 required, placed in one of the chambers, the entrance of which is closed with a 

 stone. 



In some of the pools of the cataract district I tried, but with little result, the effect 

 on the fish of the explosive gelegnite, which was employed in blasting the granite 

 for the barrage. 



On January 12th, 1900, 1 left Shellal on a sort of house-boat, " dhahabiyeh," in order 

 to work the river between the First Cataract and Wady Haifa, which is situated at the 

 tail of the Second Cataract, a distance of about 200 miles. In this reach the conditions 

 are somewhat different from those found north of Assuan, where rocks are almost 

 entirely absent and the river-bed is composed of sandy mud. South of Assuan rocks 

 are abundant and in places rise to a considerable height out of the water, whilst at 

 low Nile the numerous sand-banks make navigation difficult. The banks of the river 

 are steeper and the mud from the river-bed contains a larger proportion of sand than 

 is the case north of Assuan. Cultivation is reduced to a minimum, and the desert 

 often reaches the water's edge, where the only green thing visible is a narrow broken 

 fringe of thorny mimosa. The date-palm flourishes throughout the whole of this 

 district, especially near Ibrim, which produces dates of excellent quality. The 

 population is small, fishermen are scarce, and good fishing-grounds rare, on account of 

 the rocks, so that the fisheries in this district are unimportant. 



Collections were made at Debud Abu Hor, Mirrwau, El Maharraka, Korosko, 

 Derr, Ibrim, Anebi, Abaad, Fergund, Abu Simbel, Belanya, and Wady Haifa. At 

 Derr the first new species was obtained on January 31st ? and during a fortnight's stay 

 at Wady Haifa a second species was added to the list. A rather ingenious dodge for 

 catching large fish such as Bagrus bayadvt&s seen near Korosko. The modus operandi 

 was to drive in a stout stake close to the water's edge, near the top of which a small 

 bell is hung, whilst below it was attached the fishing-line baited with a small fish. 

 The struggle of any fish that happened to get hooked, not a very common occurrence, 

 causes the bell to tinkle, when the owner, who has been fishing along the bank with 

 his casting-net, rushes to the spot and hauls in his line. 



From Wady Haifa I proceeded by train to Kosheh, a small village about 120 miles 

 to the south, the journey taking nearly ten hours. Kosheh is composed of a few mud 

 huts, but has a station and a telegraph-office, whilst portions of the old military 

 buildings are still standing and made fairly comfortable quarters, although, being con- 

 structed of sun-dried mud bricks they got rather warm towards the afternoon. The 

 only really unpleasant feature was that the place was infested with swarms of common 

 house-flies, which I have never before seen in such numbers, not even in Egypt. 



Fishermen were non-existent in this part of the world, and I had to send to Wady 



/a 



