Nov. 25. 1827.  S.P.J.

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ON A SQUINTING POETESS.

  To no one muse does she her glance confine,
  But has an eye at once, to all the nine!

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MANNERS & CUSTOMS OF ALL NATIONS.

No.  XVI.

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FISHING IN THE RIVER YEOU.

[Illustration:  Fisherman]

The fishery of the Yeou, in Bornou, is a very considerable source of commerce to the inhabitants of its banks; and the manner of fishing (as represented in the above engraving) is ingenious though simple.  The Bornouese make very good nets of a twine spun from a perennial plant called kalimboa:  the implements for fishing are two large gourds nicely balanced, and fixed on a large stem of bamboo, at the extreme ends; the fisherman launches this on the river, and places himself astride between the two gourds, and thus he floats with the stream, and throws his net.  He has also floats of cane, and weights, of small leathern bags of sand:  he beats up against the stream, paddling with his hands and feet, previous to his drawing the net, which, as it rises from the water, he lays before him as he sits; and with a sort of mace, which he carries for the purpose, the fish are stunned by a single blow.  His drag, finished, the fish are taken out, and thrown into the gourds, which are open at the top, to receive the produce of his labour.  These wells being filled, he steers for the shore, unloads, and again returns to the sport.—­Denhani’s Travels in Africa.

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ARABIAN HORSES.

Sir John Malcolm, in his Sketches of Persia, gives the following interesting anecdotes of these noble creatures:—­

Hyder, the elchee’s master of the chase, was the person who imparted knowledge to me on all subjects relating to Arabian horses.  He would descant by the hour on the qualities of a colt that was yet untried, but which, he concluded, must possess all the perfections of its sire and dam, with whose histories, and that of their progenitors, he was well acquainted.  Hyder had shares in five or six famous brood mares; and he told me a mare was sometimes divided amongst ten or twelve Arabs, which accounted for the groups of half-naked fellows whom I saw watching, with anxiety, the progress made by their managing partner in a bargain for one of the produce.  They often displayed, on these occasions, no small violence of temper; and I have more than once observed a party leading off their ragged colt in a perfect fury, at the blood of Daghee or Shumehtee, or some renowned sire or grandsire, being depreciated by an inadequate offer, from an ignorant Indian or European.