XXVI 



INTRODUCTION. 



Pip 



which are then rowed away from each other, whilst the nets ere payed out, and, by 

 careful manipulation of the boats, are gradually let into the water, the large float 

 keeping the parts furthest from the boats near the surface (fig. 6, b, c). When all is 

 ready the peg with the float attached to it is pulled away and the two nets sink, in a 

 circular form (fig. 6, d). When they have reached the bottom, each boat hauls in its 

 own net in the same way as an ordinary casting-net (fig. 6, e). 



In Upper Egypt a variation of the above method is occasionally employed, but with 

 only one net, which is called a " gabas." One man walks along the bank with a rope 

 which is attached to the net by a peg to which are fastened two lines, a short one 

 with a large float and a longer one held in the boat. The boat is rowed down-stream 

 and the net is payed out, the man on the bank keeping in line with the boat and 

 helping to drag the net along. After covering a short distance the peg with the float 

 attached is pulled away, allowing the whole net to sink, and it is then hauled in by the 

 cord attached to its middle, which has been previously fastened to the boat. 



A method of catching fish by means of hooks is in common use throughout Egypt 

 and Nubia, but no bait is used, the fish being " foul " hooked. The hooks are roughly 

 made of iron, filed to a long and very sharp point and with a 

 primitive sort of barb, as shown in fig. 7, and are attached by 

 short lines to a stout cord at a distance of from 3^ inches to 2 feet 

 apart, with small corks placed at intervals to keep the line clear of 

 the ground. There are usually from 450 to 600 hooks on a line, 

 which rest on the bottom, and if a fish, especially a soft-bodied one, 

 such as the Shal, Bagada, Farfour, or Fahaka, happens to swim 

 against a hook he has little chance of escape, since the more he 

 struggles the deeper the hook penetrates. Scaly fish are often 

 taken and ground-feeders fall an easy prey. The most profitable 

 season for this sort of fishing is during the flood, when vast 

 numbers of fish are working their way up-stream. When the 

 current is strong, stones are attached at intervals along the line to 

 The lines are usually laid down at sunset and picked up again at 

 sunrise, when they are dried by being coiled on poles placed in the boat (see PI. C). 

 They are either laid down in the middle of the river with a large stone attached to 

 each end and picked up again with a grapnel, or one cord is attached to a stake driven 

 into the bank and the line is payed out. In the former case floats to indicate the 

 position of the line are but seldom used, as each set of men keep to their own piece of 

 the river and know exactly where their lines have been placed. These sets of hooks 

 are generally known as " sennara," although the Arabic word " sennar " means a hook 

 of any kind, barbed or otherwise. Barbed hooks are often referred to as "sennara 

 Ingleese " (English hooks), to distinguish them from the rough native ones, and sets of 

 these are called " zarema." At Assuan I saw such a set of about 250 barbed hooks, 



keep it in place. 



