The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1899-07-05
WAYS OF FISHING.
QUEER METHODS USED IN THE NIGER
RIVER COUNTRY.


-India's Fish which Glide Through the
Jungles.
81 have had some remarkable adven-
lures with big game in Africa" said a
returned traveller, but the experience
which impressed me most was fishing
trip. | had an old college mate on one
of the rivers branching from the Niger
and hearing that l was in the country
he sent some of his people for me. A
week later l was at his plantation in
the very heart Of the game region. One
evening my host said to me:
John, the larder is pretty low. How
would you like a days fishing?'
Nothing BETTER l replied. It's a
long time since I've whipped stream
with a rod
"'Oh,' said my friend, we don't use
rods here, especially at this time 81 The
year. There are the TOOLS and lie
pointed to a number of natives ar ued
with picks and shovels.
81 said nothing as l supposed 1t was
a joke, and Joined the procession that
wound away through the woods. Fin
ally we cine to an open country, COW
cred here and there with low brush,
and the men halted on the edge Of
peculiar and irregular saucer-like 1e-
preston about 100 yards across. 1t
looked like the dry bed of lake, and
such it was, an odd place to go 6shing,
but it was the place selected by my
friend and presently the men were
hard at work with pick and shovel.
THE earth was baked very dry, and
the dust few in clouds. Finally one Of
the men gave a shout and threw some
thing out that he had struck about two
feet down. 1t looked like brick with
the edges worn off. | broke the brick
like object into pieces, when out rolled
a fish almost a foot long, alive and
opening its gills as though it had been
awakened from a ten years sleep The
fish had been packed away in a case
as deftly as though made by some
skilled worker. The inside was as
smooth as glass and the color of ma
hogany, and, so far as | could see, air
tight; in this the fish had been her.
metically sealed.
THE men were now tossing out fish
every few minutes. Some of the cases
broke as they fell and the fishes soon
died in the hot sun, but in most cases
they were kept intact and piled in
heap until twenty or more had been
found. They lay at a depth of from
one to two and half feet, and it was
not accidental. The fish at the ap-
proach of the dry season left the sur
face and wriggled its way down
through the mud then, by the aid of
the mucus on It's scales, formed a
smooth, hard case, in which it lay until
the rain came again.
These dry lakes | learned had been
the cause of reputed miracles. People
had been camping in them possibly
when the first rain came, and whore an
hour or two before was earth baked 10
brick-like consistence, was now a
small pond alive wI,n fishes. The mo-
ment the water penetrated to them the
soil melted away and the fishes worked
their way up through the soft mud.
When the natives had dug enough fish
we returned to camp, where they were
piled up like cordwood When one
was required for the table the cook
simply put the case in water as he
would a potatoe, soaked out the fish,
and there it was, alive and ready for
the broiler. The fish was a long eel
shaped creature with head like
snake and four fins placed as though
they were legs. 1t was very go ID 10
tie taste despite the fact that it was
preserved fish.
In India | saw another remarkable
fish hunt One day We were walking
through the jungle when we came upon
crowd of native men, women and
children. provided with baskets OF va
rjous kinds. They were walking rap
idly and in reply to a question one of the
men said that there was a great run of
fish near a little branch of the Boolu
river, not a mile away, and they were
going for the fishing.
I'VE followed the shouting. laugh
ing crowd. who soon turned into the
bush and finally came to what was dur
ing the rainy season a fairly we'll filed
stream, but now rapidly running dry.
They kept down the bank until the wa
ter grew deeper, all peering carefully
at the muddy banks as though watch
Ing for something. Suddenly a small
boy uttered shout and dashed into
the bush the others following
ION examining the soft mud | could
distinctly see singular maze of marks,
as though something had been dragged
along. The shouts of the natives grew
louder and louder, like the oaying Of
hounds on a fresh trail, and when we
overlook them they were picking up
little perch-like fishes from among the
dry leaves of the forest as you would
~ uit vi NUS. hC 6lOuHu was CONtTcQ
with them, all moving apparently in
one direction by wriggling motion,
and their sharp fins. In a word they
were migrating overland just as a bird
would, using their fins as feet or legs
and making remarkable time for fish.
/ timed several and found that they
could move foot in two minutes, not
very rapid time, 1t must be confessed,
but still fast for fish. We passed on
to where the procession was entering
the stream, where they at once swan
away, entirely unaffected by their walk
across country.
How fishes can live on dry land was
for long time mystery. At first
1t was believed that they caryied about
with them a supply OF wster which
they used as occasion required. Some
OF the fishes had cavities in their gllls
that were supposed to be water reser-
voirs upon which they draw in their
migrations, but it is now known that
they breathe air entirely aud are as
truly amphibious as a frog. The Afri-
can and South American lung fishes