Chap. VIII. FISH-BONE MEDICINE. 211 



It often gulps down the Konokono, a fish armed with 

 serrated bones more than an inch in length in the pectoral 

 and dorsal fins, which, fitting into a notch at the roots, 

 can be put by the fish on full cock or straight out, — they 

 cannot be folded down, without its will, and even break in 

 resisting. The name " Konokono," elbow-elbow, is given 

 it from a resemblance its extended fins are supposed to 

 bear to a man's elbows stuck out from his body. It often 

 performs the little trick of cocking its fins in the stomach 

 of the Ngwesi, and, the elbows piercing its enemy's sides, 

 he is frequently found floating dead. The fin bones seem 

 to have an acrid secretion on them, for the wound they 

 make is excessively painful. The Konokono barks dis- 

 tinctly when landed with the hook. Our canoe-men 

 invariably picked up every dead fish they saw on the 

 surface of the water, however far gone. An unfragrant 

 odour was no objection ; the fish was boiled and eaten, 

 and the water drunk as soup. It is a curious fact that 

 many of the Africans keep fish as we do woodcocks, 

 until they are extremely offensive, before they consider 

 them fit to eat. Our paddlers informed us on our way 

 down that iguanas lay their eggs in July and August, and 

 crocodiles in September. The eggs remain a month or 

 two under the sand where they are laid, and the young 

 come out when the rains have fairly commenced. The 

 canoe-men were quite positive that crocodiles frequently 

 stun men by striking them with their tails, and then 

 squat on them till they are drowned. We once caught a 

 young crocodile, which certainly did use its tail to inflict 

 sharp blows, and led us to conclude that the native opinion 

 is correct. They believed also that, if a person shuts the 

 beast's eyes, it lets go its hold. Crocodiles have been 

 known to unite and kill a large one of their own species 

 and eat it. Some fishermen throw the bones of the fish 

 into the river, but in most of the fishing villages there 



