134 THE SPORTSMAN IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



even without going so far from the Metropolis, Table Bay itself 

 (and particularly towards Robben Island) will furnish the sport, /«/• 

 excellence^ in the shape of Snook fishing, while immediately round 

 the breakwater the hard-tugging Gheelbeck and other varieties too 

 numerous to mention may be captured. Taking it all round, 

 however, it will be a matter of difficulty to find one place more 

 favourable than another along the entire coast of South Africa for 

 the indulgence of this pastime. 



The same remarks are not applicable to the fresh-water fish of the 

 Cape Colony proper, or Natal, and the angler will have little oppor- 

 tunity for displaying his skill with rod or line, as the varieties 

 inhabiting the African rivers are few in number and afford little 

 interest to the sportsman or naturalist. It is to be hoped, however, 

 that matters will now change for the better in this respect, thanks 

 to the enterprise of a few gentlemen who, after going to considerable 

 expense and surmounting numerous difficulties, have, we hope, at 

 length succeeded in introducing trout into some of the streams of 

 the Cape Colony." There seems to be no reason why the experi- 

 ments now started in earnest should not have an equally favourable 

 result as in New Zealand, and when such suitable rivers as the Vaal 

 and the Orange are now so easily reached from the coast, ultimate 

 success ought to be assured. The South African climate, at least, 

 should not form any obstacle thereto, but it is feared that any 

 attempts to introduce the salmon would prove a failure, as the 

 natural features of the rivers would generally obstruct the fry from 

 getting to and returning from the sea. However, as these questions 

 have now assumed an aspect of importance, the Colonial Govern- 

 ments should at once strictly enforce the hitherto neglected laws 

 framed against the atrocious practice of killing fish with dynamite. 

 Regardless of any idea of sport, but actuated with the sole intention 

 of making a haul, persons guilty of using this explosive for the 

 moment forget that for every mature fish obtained in this manner, 

 thousands of the smaller fry are destroyed at the same time. 

 Although, as already stated, it is otherwise in the rivers of the 

 extreme South, it will be found (as regards the abundance and 



* It has been reported that ». trout of 2 lbs. 16 ozs. in weight, 18^ inches in length, 

 and with a girth of SJ inches, has been creeled in the Mooi River, Natal. If the dimen- 

 sions are as given, the girth is ridicnlously disproportionate to the length, as a trout 

 measuring ISJ inches should weigh at least 6 J lbs. It is probable that the specimen 

 referred to was '' spent." 



