第66章 CHAPTER IX.(7)

"September 29.--We have just heard that Atalan Wat Said, by whom we were so well received, is dead! The Arabs have a disagreeable custom of paying honours to a guest by keeping the anniversary of the death of any relatives whose decease should be known to them;thus, when Atalan Wat Said paid a visit to Sheik Achmet Abou Sinn, the latter celebrated with much pomp the anniversary of his (Atalan's) late father's death. The unfortunate guest, who happened to arrive in Abou Sinn's camp upon the exact day upon which his father had died in the precedimig year, was met by a mourning crowd, with the beating of drums, the howling of women, and the loud weeping and sorrowful condoling of the men. This scene affected Atalan Wat Said to such a degree, that, being rather unwell, he immediately sickened with fever, and died in three days. In this country any grief of mind will insure an attack of fever, when all are more or less predisposed during the unhealthy season, from the commencement of July until the end of October.

"This afternoon I took the rod, and having caught a beautiful silver-sided fish of about a pound weight, I placed it upon a large single hook fastened under the back fin. In about an hour I had a run, but upon striking, I pulled the bait out of the fish's mouth, as the point of the hook had not touched the jaw.

I had wound up slowly for about thirty yards, hoping that the big fellow would follow his lost prize, as I knew him to be a large fish by his attack upon a bait of a pound weight. I found my bait was killed, but having readjusted the hook, I again cast it in the same direction, and slowly played it towards me. I had him!

He took it immediately, and I determined to allow him to swallow it before I should strike. Without a halt, about a hundred yards of line were taken at the first rush towards the middle of the river; he then stopped, and I waited for about a minute, and then fixed him with a jerk that bent my bamboo like a fly-rod. To this he replied by a splendid challenge; in one jump he flew about six feet above the water, and showed himself to be one of the most beautiful fish I had ever seen; not one of those nondescript antediluvian brutes that you expect to catch in these extraordinary rivers, but in colour he appeared like a clean run salmon. He gave tremendous play, several times leaping out of the water, and shaking his head furiously to free himself from the hook; then darting away with eighty or a hundred yards of fresh line, until he at last was forced to yield to the strong and elastic bamboo, and his deep body stranded upon the fatal shallows.

"Bacheet was a charming lad to land a fish: he was always quiet and thoughtful, and never got in the way of the line; this time he closely approached him from behind, slipped both his hands along his side, and hooked his fingers into the broad gills; thus he dragged him, splashing through the shallows, to the sandbank.

What a beauty! What was he? The colour was that of a salmon, and the scales were not larger in proportion: he was about fifty pounds' weight. The back fin resembled that of a perch, with seven rays; the second, dorsal fin towards the tail had fourteen rays; the head was well shaped, and small in proportion; the eyes were bright red, and shone like rubies; and the teeth were very small. I cut away my line, as the hook was deeply swallowed; and after having washed this beautiful fish, I assisted Bacheet to carry it to the camp, where it was laid upon a clean mat at the tent-door for admiration. This species of fish is considered by the Arabs to be the best in the river; it is therefore called 'El Baggar' (the cow). It is a species of perch, and we found it excellent--quite equal to a fine trout. I made an exact sketch of it on the spot, after which the greater portion was cut up and salted; it was then smoked for about four hours. The latter process is necessary to prevent the flies from blowing it, before it becomes sufficiently dry to resist their attacks.

"For several days I passed my time in fishing, with the varying success that must attend all fishermen. Upon the extreme verge of the river's bank were dense bushes of the nabbuk, about fifteen feet high, but so thickly massed with green foliage that I cut out a tunnel with my hunting-knife, and completed a capacious arbour, thoroughly protected from the sun. In this it was far more agreeable to pass the day than at the camp; accordingly we arranged the ground with mats and carpets, and my wife converted the thorny bower into an African drawing-room, where she could sit with her work and enjoy the view of the river at her feet, and moreover watch the fishing."