volume 2 - Robert Bedrosian's Armenian History Workshop

A Monster Fish. iig
the Arabs from them brought us dates and milk and
wondered much why we were loaded with " bricks and
stones," as they called our precious antiquities. A group
of men also came with two fishermen who were dragging
along in a large basket an enormous fish which they
said' was " fit for kings." It was an enormous fish,
more than five feet long, and very thick, and it had a
huge mouth. It resembled the large fish which I had
seen the Bar&,bara catch with a net off the Island of
Sahal in the First Cataract in Egypt. The Arabs call
it " biz," and Buckingham was correct when he said
{Travels ii, p. 440) that one was large enough to form a
good load for an ass. I bought the whole fish for 18
piastres, and the caravan men were glad to take away
for their supper all but the few steaks from it which we
broiled and ate. The flesh had a slightly coarse taste,
but it formed a useful addition to our evening meal, and
the fish secured us the goodwill of the Arabs who ate it.
We left the following morning, March 3rd, as soon
as the skins were repaired, and found that the river
had risen during the night and that the current was very
strong. We floated on at a good pace and we determined,
if it were possible, not to stop until we reached Baghdad,
which we hoped to do that afternoon. The wind was
cold, for it blew from the east, but the sun was bright
and hot, and we all enjoyed the journey that day. The
scenery on both banks of the river reminded me of
Egypt, for we saw nothing but a succession of datepaim
groves, and large gardens and patches of cultivation
stretching away from the river for a considerable
distance. We passed many villages that were half
hidden by palms, among which may be mentioned
Sa'adiyah, Mansuriyah, Kuseri57in, with its splendid
palms, Tarmiyah, with its canal, Al-Malluh, etc., on
the east bank, and 'Awejah and Farh§,d on the west
bank. Here and there, close to the bank, was a shekh's
tomb as in Egypt, and the most important shrines we
saw were those of the Imam Banat al- Hasan, Shekh
Jamil, Beni 'Abbas, and the ImsLm 'Ali. Soon after noon
we saw in the far distance, on the west bank, the cupolas