The palm land Author:George Thompson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV. Fishing—Electric Fish—Cavallah-Skate—Angel Fish—Barakoota—Mullet—Lahbonah—Kah-tah—Korahhah—Cutlass No. 1 and 2—Toopoo- nyah—Snapper—Mahcontnh—Saw ... more »Fish—Shark—Jumbo—Modes of Gatching Fish—Ride to Barmah—Rapid Growth—My Family Sick— Death of George—The Scene after his Death—Many came Together— Journal—Burial—Paternal Reflection—Moses yet Sick—The Heathen Weep—Two Mohammedans—Need a Change—Adieu—Kaw Mendi— Journey to Town—Advised to Visit America—Sundry Incidents— View in Freetown. Fishing And Fish. On the 14th, the Doctor, myself and some boys, 4vent off in the boat to catch fish, but did not have much success. We caught three small ones, shot one eagle, one owl, one crow, obtained lever-tea bush, pepper-bush, pawpaws, limes, etc. Somehow, I never succeeded well in fishing in Africa, either I did not get in the right place, or did not have the right bait, or did not pull quick enough, or from some other cause, I could not catch them. Once I went with our old interpreter (an old fisherman), and he caught a large electric fish, which would almost knock us down with the shock it gave us. They are frequently caught. Below I give a few of the varieties of fish, which our river furnished for our table and for the natives. There are other kinds which are not sketched—two or three varieties of catfish, and varieties of scale-fish, of which I did not obtain sketches. The Electric Fish.—(See Cut, No. 1.) It grows from six to eighteen inches long, is large in proportion, and has but little fin, as is seen. The flesh is very white, and much like fat pork, or the blubber of whale. Some will not eat them. When alive they give an electric shock, similar to the machine, the strength of which depends on how hard you hold the fish. When dead it does not shock. It do...« less