For About Half An Hour Nothing Moved; I Was Just Preparing
To Alter My Position, When Out Rushed My Line,
And striking hard,
I believed I fixed the old gentleman himself, for I had no
control over him whatever; holding
Him was out of the question;
the line flew through my hands, cutting them till the blood
flowed, and I was obliged to let the fish take his own way: this
he did for about eighty yards, when he suddenly stopped. This
unexpected halt was a great calamity, for the reel overran
itself, having no check-wheel, and the slack bends of the line
caught the handle just as he again rushed forward, and with a
jerk that nearly pulled the rod from my hands he was gone! I
found one of my large hooks broken short off; the confounded
reel! The fish was a monster!
"After this bad luck I had no run until the evening, when putting
on a large bait, and fishing at the tail of a rock between the
stream and still water, I once more had a grand rush, and hooked
a big one. There were no rocks down stream, all was fair play and
clear water, and away he went at racing pace straight for the
middle of the river. To check the pace, I grasped the line with
the stuff of my loose trousers, and pressed it between my fingers
so as to act as a break, and compel him to labour for every yard;
but he pulled like a horse, and nearly cut through the thick
cotton cloth, making straight running for at least a hundred
yards without a halt. I now put so severe a strain upon him, that
my strong bamboo bent nearly double, and the fish presently so
far yielded to the pressure, that I could enforce his running in
half circles instead of straight away. I kept gaining line, until
I at length led him into a shallow bay, and after a great fight,
Bacheet embraced him by falling upon him, and clutching the
monster with hands and knees; he then tugged to the shore a
magnificent fish of upwards of sixty pounds. For about twenty
minutes he had fought against such a strain as I had never before
used upon a fish, but I had now adopted hooks of such a large
size and thickness that it was hardly possible for them to break,
unless snapped by a crocodile. My reel was so loosened from the
rod, that had the struggle lasted a few minutes longer I must
have been vanquished. This fish measured three feet eight inches
to the root of the tail, and two feet three inches in girth of
shoulders; the head measured one foot ten inches in
circumference--it was the same species as those I had already
caught.
"This closed the sport for the day. We called all hands to carry
the fish to camp, and hoisted the flag, which was quickly
followed by the arrival of a number of men from Sofi, to receive
all that we could spare. The largest fish we cut into thin
strips,--these we salted and dried; the head made delicious soup,
with a teaspoonful of curry-powder.
"September 26.--The weather is now intensely hot, and the short
spear grass is drying so rapidly that in some stony places it can
be fired. The birds appear to build their nests at various
seasons. Many that built three months ago are again at work;
among others is a species of black Mina, that takes entire
possession of a tree, which it completely covers with nests
coarsely constructed of sticks. A few days ago I found several
trees converted into colonies of many hundred dwellings.
"I never allow either the monkeys or baboons to be disturbed:
thus they have no fear of our party, but with perfect confidence
they approach within thirty or forty yards of the tents, sitting
upon the rocks and trees, and curiously watching all that takes
place in the camp. I have only seen one species of monkey in this
neighbourhood--a handsome dark grey animal with white whiskers.
The baboons are also of one species, the great dog-faced ape
(Cynocephalus); these grow to a very large size, and old Masara
fully expects to be carried off and become the wife of an old
baboon, if they are allowed to become so bold.
"This afternoon I took a stroll with the rifle, but saw nothing
except a young crocodile about six feet long; this was on the dry
summit of a hill, far from water. I shot it and took the skin. I
can only conclude that the small stream in which he had wandered
from the river-bed had become dry, and the creature had lost its
way in searching for other water.
"September 27.--I started from the tent at 6 A.M. and made a
circuit of about eighteen miles, seeing nothing but tetel and
gazelles, but I had no luck. Hot and disgusted, I returned home,
and took the rod, hoping for better luck in the river. I hooked,
but lost, a small fish, and I began to think that the fates were
against me by land and water, when I suddenly had a tremendous
run, and about a hundred and fifty yards rushed off the reel
without the possibility of stopping the fish. The river was very
low; thus I followed along the bank, holding hard, and after
about half an hour of difference of opinion, the fish began to
show itself, and I coaxed it into the shallows; here it was
cleverly managed by Bacheet, who lugged it out by the tail. It
was an ugly monster, of about fifty pounds, a species of silurus,
known by the Arabs as the 'coor;' it differed from the silurus of
Europe by haviimg a dorsal fin, like a fringe, that extended
along the back to the tail.
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