266 
FISHING BY NIGHT. 
It has a singular and powerful effect upon the 
imagination, to witness at midnight a fleet of these 
canoes, gliding about in the distance like so many 
balls of fire, imparting a still deeper shade to the 
gloom of darkness which surrounds the spectator, and 
throwing an air of romance on the whole scene. 
Occasionally in travelling at night, and coming sud- 
denly upon the river from the scrub behind, I have 
been dazzled and enchanted with the fairy sight 
that has burst upon me. The waters have been 
alive with brilliant fires, moving to and fro in every 
direction, like meteors from a marsh, and like those 
too, rapidly and inexplicably disappearing when the 
footsteps of strangers are heard approaching. 
A few other methods of catching fish are some- 
times resorted to, such as stirring up the mud in 
stagnant ponds, and taking the fish when they come 
up almost choked to the surface. Groping with 
their hands or with boughs, &c. &c. 
There is also a particular season of the year 
(about September), when in the larger rivers the 
fish become ill or diseased, and lie floating on the 
surface unable to descend, or drift down dead with 
the current. Fishes weighing nearly eighty pounds 
are sometimes taken in this way. The natives are 
always looking out for opportunities of procuring 
food so easily, and never hesitate to eat any fish, 
although they may have been dead for some time. 
I have never seen the natives use hooks in fishing 
of their own manufacture, nor do I believe that they 
