204 



FISH. 



The celebrated ' Sir ' (Seer) fish, a corruption 

 from Shir Mahi (,J&U or c tiger fish,' so 



called on account of its armature, known to the 

 Arabs as Kunad and in parts of India 



termed 6 Surma/ appears, for about a fortnight, 

 at Zanzibar during its period of migration north- 

 wards in May and June. There are also c pom- 

 frets,' scates, soles which are small and not 

 prized, and red and grey mullet, excellent in 

 July, August, and September. The remora and 

 the flying-fish enter the harbour ; the hippo- 

 campus is known ; there are mangrove-oysters, 

 ' oysters growing on trees ' — a favourite subject 

 with all old and with many new African travel- 

 lers — and a small well-flavoured, rock oyster, a 

 favourite relish with Europeans, caught about 

 Chumbi Island. I saw no lobsters, so common in 

 the Camaroons river of Western Africa. The 

 sands abound in Medusas, or jelly-fish, and in a 

 large cray-fish, which the Arabs consider whole- 

 some for invalids : it makes a rather insipid 

 salad, but it is excellent when dressed after the 

 fashion of the Slave Coast. The receipt is 

 worth giving, and may be found useful in 

 England. The meat, taken out after boil- 

 ing, is pounded and mixed with peppers and 

 seasoning. It is then restored to the shell, the 



