第44章

”Nowthen，Howarti，throwverycarefully，soastospreadyournetinthatopenspaceamongthelilies，andtakecaretoavoidtheleafstemsthatwouldlifttheleads。””Bismillah！”awayflewthenet，whichfellinacircle，exactlyinthespotdesired。ItwasamusingtowatchtheusuallystolidcountenanceofHowarti，thatwasnowexpressiveofintensecuriosity。

Thecrown-linejerkedandtuggedevenmorethanatthefirstluckythrow。Howarticleverlyandcautiouslylandedhisnet。Itcontainedaregular”miraculousdraught，”includingaNilecarpofaboutninepounds。”Thatwilldo，Howarti，”Iexclaimed；”wehavefishenoughforallthepeopleonthediahbeeah，aswellasfortheofficersof’TheForty。’”

Thebasketwouldnotcontainthem；thereforethelargerfishwerelaidupongrassinthebottomoftheboat，andwereturnedhome。

Howartinowdividedthefishaccordingtoorders，andexplainedtothedelightedcrowdtheextraordinaryeffectoftheword”Bismillah，”whichinsuredanetfulateverycast。

Onthefollowingmorning，atsunrise，thenowpiousHowartiwentoutasusualwithhiscasting-netaccompaniedbyasailor，whocarriedthelargestbaskethecouldprocure。

Wehadmovedourposition，andtherewasnosand-bankintheneighbourhood。

Afteranabsenceofabouttwohours，Howartireturned，togetherwithhiscompanionandthelargebasket。Thiscontainedafewsmallfishhardlysufficientforourbreakfast。”Ah，Howarti！”Iexclaimed，”youareabadMussulman——youhaveforgottentosay’Bismillah。’””Indeed，”repliedthedejectedfisherman，”Irepeated’Bismillah’ateverycast；butit’sofnousesaying’Bismillah’indeepwater；nothingwillcatchtheminthedeep，andIcancatchthemwithout’Bismillah’intheshallows。”

HowartiwasnotafanaticalMohammedan。PoorfellowheneverlivedtoreturnwithustoKhartoum：hismelancholydeathwillbedescribedhereafter。

InfishinginthelakeatGondokoroHowartihadtheusualchargeoftheproceedings。Wedraggedaboatacrosstheneckoflandfromtheriver，andhavinglaunchedit，wefirstlaidastopnet140yardsinlengthalongthebankofbulrushesthatgrewinwateraboutfivefeetdeep；

thiswastostopthefishfromrunningintotherushesontheadvanceofthedrag-net。

Wenowdraggedaportionofthelaketowardsthestop-net，intendingtolandituponaninclinewherethewaterwasextremelyshallow。

The”FortyThieves”hauledawaysteadilyenoughuntilthenetcameclosein。Atthatmomentseveralimmensefishdashedaboutwithinthenarrowedinclosure；thesecreatedsuchexcitement，thatthemenrushedintothewatertosecurethem，whichendedintheescapeofthegreaterportionofthefish。

Thenexthaulwasverysuccessful，andafterfishingforabouttwohours，wecaught434finefish，oneofwhichweighed40lbs。andanother26lbs。Isent200tohead-quartersforthetroops。

Thegreaternumberofthesefishwereb

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