"Well, That Was A Monster!" I Exclaimed, As I Recovered My
Inglorious Line; Fortunately The Float Was Not Lost, As The Hooks
Had Been Carried Away At The Fastening To The Main Line; A Few
Yards Of This I Cut Off, As It Had Partially Lost Its Strength
From Frequent Immersion.
I replaced the lost hooks by a still larger set, with the
stoutest gimp and swivels, and once more I tried my fortune with
a bait exactly resembling the first.
In a short time I had a
brisk run, and quickly landed a fish of about twelve pounds: this
was a species known by the Arabs as the "bayard;" it has a
blackish green back, the brightest silver sides and belly, with
very peculiar back fins, that nearest to the tail being a simple
piece of flesh free from rays. This fish has four long barbules
in the upper jaw, and two in the lower: the air-bladder, when
dried, forms a superior quality of isinglass, and the flesh of
this fish is excellent. I have frequently seen the bayard sixty
or seventy pounds' weight, therefore I was not proud of my catch,
and I recommenced fishing. Nothing large could be tempted, and I
only succeeded in landing two others of the same kind, one of
about nine pounds, the smaller about six. I resolved upon my next
trial to use a much larger bait, and I returned to camp with my
fish for dinner.
The life at our new camp was charmingly independent; we were upon
Abyssinian territory; but, as the country was uninhabited, we
considered it as our own.
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