136 THE SPORTSMAN IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



barbels or feelers ; back, dark umber brown; belly, pinkish yellow, 

 those found in Lake 'Ngami being of a more reddish colour. In 

 appearance it might fairly be said to resemble a cross between an eel 

 and a gigantic tadpole, if such a monstrosity could tossibly be in 

 existence.'\ 



The " Barber " is the commonest of the South African fresh water 

 fish, and may be found in almost every river and dam throughout 

 the country. The waters of Lake 'Ngami, the Botletle,* Limpopo, 

 and Zambesi Rivers are actually alive with them, and they there form 

 the ordinary food of the Crocodile. t It is a strange but at the same 

 time a well authenticated fact that some of the vleys inhabited by 

 these fish, which were full of water during the summer, and to which 

 there is no possible inlet or outlet, although, perhaps, absolutely dry 

 during the entire winter, are again restocked with them in equal 

 quantities when they become refilled. From this it would appear 

 almost certain that they remain without any moisture whatever 

 during the intervening months encased in the sun-baked mud of 

 about the same consistency as concrete. The Boers account for this 

 by saying that the fish store a sufficient quantity of water in their 

 enormous heads to last them until the summer rains release them 

 from captivity ! Possessed of the keenest of appetites, they feed at 

 all hours of the day and night in the summer-time, but bite most 

 ravenously early in the morning and late in the evening, taking 

 almost any sort of bait, from a lump of blue mottled soap down to a 

 piece of the flesh of their own species, but at all times they have a 

 strong fancy for the entrails of Guinea Fowls and Francolins. As no 

 angling skill whatever is necessary, a strong hand line and cod hook 

 will be found sufficient to all intents and purposes for their capture. 

 It is merely a waste of material to use a lighter line, as, when hooked. 



* Messrs. MeoUs and Hicks, when fishing one day on the Botletle River with two 

 hand lines, in the space of an hour and a half landed twenty-two of these fish, none of 

 which were under ten or over twenty pounds in weight ; and Mr. Bglington, in the 

 company of two others, and using a similar line, has caught in the Ifotwani River an ' 

 even greater number in an equally short period, although the majority were much 

 smaller, the largest turning the scale at twenty-seven pounds. 



f For the capture of the Crocodile, a peculiar description of triangular harpoon-shaped 

 hook is manufactured, the line to which it is attached consisting of cable wire nearly 

 half an inch in thickness, which should be fastened to a stout but yielding branch 

 overhanging a pool frequented by the sanrians. The liver of an ox is the best bait 

 that can be used, and this should be allowed to dangle just over the water without 

 touching it. 



