Many A Time I Have Vainly Tried To
Lure Them From Their Watery Depths, But No Bait Would Tempt Them That I
Could Ever Hit On, Though I Have Little Doubt That A Fly Or Artificial
Minnow Would Prove Killing.
We could see them in the Macalister, lying
with their heads pointed up stream, and seemingly motionless but for the
slight waving of the tail that retained them in their places.
Having cut
several slender switches, not thicker than a tobacco-pipe stem, and
sharpened one end with a knife, the trooper Ferdinand, who was by far the
most expert among his brethren, grasped this apparently inoffensive little
weapon between the thumb and middle finger, whilst the blunt end rested
against the ball of the forefinger. Stooping down, he approached to within
four or five yards of the fish, which were only a few inches from the
surface, and suddenly jerking his switch forward, it entered the water
almost horizontally, and rarely failed to transfix a 'Barri mundi', which,
darting forward, was soon hampered by the weapon catching in the weeds, and
became the prey of its sharp-eyed captor, who had never lost sight of it in
its endeavour to escape. This fish is excellent eating, and averages from
eight to thirty pounds in weight.
As Dunmore and I were strolling along a small lagoon overgrown with
water-lilies, he pointed out to me a pretty graceful little bird, about the
size of a jack-snipe, but with longer legs, and most extraordinary claws.
I am ashamed to say I shot this poor little fellow, to examine him, and
found that each toe measured at least three inches from the leg to the
extremity of the claw.
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