260 
W0RI ISLAND. 
satisfied with our answers, others endeavoured to stop 
us by remonstrances and angry gesticulations. Amid 
all this hubbub, we were much amused with the wo?^- 
chalance of our pilot “ Massa Glasgow,” who steered 
on our course steadily, without condescending to repeat 
his answers. 
Wuri Island is about five and a half miles in length, 
by about three in width. It is beautifully wooded 
with a great variety of trees, among which the mag- 
nificent bombax stands forth the monarch of all. The 
banks are steep and high on the immediate border of 
the river, but the ground within is very low and 
swampy. This enables the natives to catch fish in a 
very simple manner, by cutting wide trenches through 
the bank, so that when the water rises in the river, it 
flows by these channels to the low ground behind, 
forming large basins, into which great quantities of 
fish find their way, and are retained by means of the 
sluices. When the river falls the water is let off 
again, a net having previously been placed across the 
aperture, by which means the exit of the finny pri- 
soners is effectually prevented. Another method of 
fishing is practised on this river as well as on the 
Lower Niger. A large wicker enclosure is laid out 
close to the bank, having a sliding door at the outer 
side, and bait within : a person watches from a stage 
or little hut, built close to the basket or enclosure, and 
when he sees that a fish has entered, and is fairly 
engaged with the bait, he lets fall the sliding-door, and 
