The Water Was Extremely
Shallow Near The Shore, And The Natives Rushed In And Dragged The Canoes
By Sheer Force Over The Mud To The Land.
We had been so entirely hidden
while on the lake on the other side of the reed bank that
We had been
unable to see the eastern, or Magungo shore; we now found ourselves in a
delightful spot beneath the shade of several enormous trees on firm
sandy and rocky ground, while the country rose in a rapid incline to the
town of Magungo, about a mile distant, on an elevated ridge.
My first question was concerning the riding oxen. They were reported in
good order. We were invited to wait under a tree until the presents from
the headmen should be delivered. Accordingly, while my wife sat under
the shade, I went to the waterside to examine the fishing arrangements
of the natives, that were on an extensive scale. For many hundred feet,
the edges of the floating reeds were arranged to prevent the possibility
of a large fish entering the open water adjoining the shore without
being trapped. A regular system of baskets were fixed at intervals, with
guiding fences to their mouths. Each basket was about six feet in
diameter, and the mouth about eighteen inches; thus the arrangements
were for the monsters of the lake, the large bones of which, strewed
about the vicinity, were a witness of their size. My men had just
secured the half of a splendid fish, known in the Nile as the "baggera."
They had found it in the water, the other portion having been bitten off
by a crocodile. The piece in their possession weighed about fifty
pounds. This is one of the best fish in the lake. It is shaped like the
perch, but is coloured externally like the salmon. I also obtained from
the natives an exceedingly good fish, of a peculiar form, having four
long feelers at the positions that would be occupied by the limbs of
reptiles; these looked like rudiments of legs. It had somewhat the
appearance of an eel; but, being oviparous, it can have no connexion
with that genus. The natives had a most killing way of fishing with the
hook and line for heavy fish. They arranged rows of tall bamboos, the
ends stuck firmly in the bottom, in a depth of about six feet of water,
and about five or ten yards apart. On the top of each was a lump of
ambatch-wood about ten inches in diameter. Around this was wound a
powerful line, and, a small hole being made in this float, it was
lightly fixed upon the point of the bamboo, or fishing rod. The line was
securely attached to the bamboo, then wound round the large float, while
the hook, baited with a live fish, was thrown to some distance beyond.
Long rows of these fixed rods were set every morning by natives in
canoes, and watchers attended them during the day, while they took their
chance by night.
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