APPENDIX. 



213 



When arrived on the more, he carefully feparates the 

 ends of the firings, and ties them, without (training, each 

 to a palm branch made fall on more, to the end of every 

 one of which hangs a fmall bell. He then goes and feeds 

 his cattle, digs ditches, or lies down and fleeps as his bufi- 

 nefs calls him. The oil refills the water for fome time, at 

 lafl the cake begins to difTolve, pieces fall off, the broken 

 dates dipped in the honey flow down the flream, and the 

 large fiih below catch ravenoufly at them as they pafs. The 

 fifh follow thefe pieces up the flream, gathering them as 

 they go along till they get to the cake at lafl, when alto- 

 gether, as many as are affembled, fall voracioufly to feek 

 the dates buried in the compofition ; each fifh that finds 

 a date fwallows it, together with an iron hook, and feeling 

 himfelf fall, makes off as fpeedily as poflible ; the confe- 

 rence is, endeavouring to efcape from the line by which 

 he is faflened, he pulls the palm branch, and rings the 

 bell faflened to it. 



The fiflierman runs immediately to the bell, and finding 

 thereby the particular line, hauls his prifoner in, but does 

 not kill him; the hook being large, it generally catches him 

 by the upper jaw, which is confiderably longer than the un- 

 der. He then pulls him out of the water, and puts a 

 ilrong iron ring through his jaw, ties a few yards of cord 

 to it, and faflens him to the fhore, fo he does with the 

 reft. Very rarely one hook is found empty. Thofe that 

 want fiih at Girge, a large town oppofite, or at Achmim it- 

 felf, come thither as to a fifh- market, and every man takes 

 the quantity he wanes, buying them alive. Fifli when dead 

 do not keep here, which makes that precaution necefTary. 

 We bought two, which fully dined our whole boat's crew ; 



F f 2 the 



