86 FISH IN THE ZOUGA. 



pallahs. It invariably runs to the water, and crosses it by a suc- 

 cession of bounds, each of which appears to be from the bottom. 

 We thought the flesh good at first, but soon got tired of it. 



Great shoals of excellent fish come down annually with the ac- 

 cess of waters. The mullet [Mugil Africanus) is the most abund- 

 ant. They are caught in nets. 



The Glanis siluris, a large, broad-headed fish, without scales, 

 and barbed — called by the natives " mosala" — attains an enor- 

 mous size and fatness. They are caught so large that when a 

 man carries one over his shoulder the tail reaches the ground. 

 It is a vegetable feeder, and in many of its habits resembles the 

 eel. Like most lophoid fishes, it has the power of retaining a 

 large quantity of water in a part of its great head, so that it can 

 leave the river, and even be buried in the mud of dried-up pools, 

 without being destroyed. Another fish closely resembling this, 

 and named Clarias capensis by Dr. Smith, is widely diffused 

 throughout the interior, and often leaves the rivers for the sake 

 of feeding in pools. As these dry up, large numbers of them 

 are entrapped by the people. A water-snake, yellow-spotted and 

 dark brown, is often seen swimming along with its head above 

 the water : it is quite harmless, and is relished as food by the 

 Bayeiye. 



They mention ten kinds of fish in their river ; and, in their 

 songs of praise to the Zouga, say, "The messenger sent in haste 

 is always forced to spend the night on the way by the abundance 

 of food you place before him." The Bayeiye live much on fish, 

 which is quite an abomination to the Bechuanas of the south ; 

 and they catch them in large numbers by means of nets made 

 of the fine, strong fibres of the hibiscus, which grows abundantly 

 in all moist places. Their float-ropes are made of the ife, or, 

 as it is now called, the Sanseviere Angolensis, a flag -looking 

 plant, having a very strong fibre, that abounds from Kolobeng 

 to Angola ; and the floats themselves are pieces of a water-plant 

 containing valves at each joint, which retain the air in cells about 

 an inch long. The mode of knotting the nets is identical with 

 our own. 



They also spear the fish with javelins having a light handle, 

 which readily floats on the surface. They show great dexterity 

 in harpooning the hippopotamus ; and, the barbed blade of the 



