This post recounts a traditional Abyssinian fishing expedition conducted in the 1850s in the Blue Nile near Bahir-Dar. It is taken from the journals of Mr. Walter Chichele Plowden, who served as the British consul in Abyssinia from 1848 to 1860.1
One day, the whole town of Bahir-Dar turning out for a grand fishing expedition, we accompanied them. There is a species of fruit called Birbira in Amharic. It grows in pods resembling beans, on a tree with leaves like the acacia. This is the ferruginous millettia tree (Millettia ferruginea).
The ferruginous millettia beans are dried in the sun, and then beaten to powder in a large wooden bowl, with four or five thick sticks, smooth and round at the ends, and found in every Abyssinian domicile. They are so hard, that the labour of grinding them is very severe. When thrown into a running stream, the ferruginous millettia powder intoxicates, rather than poisons, all the fish for some distance—according to the quantity. This sport is a favourite amusement with the chieftains of Abyssinia.
On taking stock of the ferruginous millettia flour, each one contributing what he had pounded, we found there was only six “madega”. The “madega” is a traditional weight measurement of the Amhara used for measuring out dry commodities like grain. One “madega” is approximately half a liter, and so six madega is equal to about three liters.
Selecting the spot, after some discussion, we proceeded to the Blue Nile, which was to be the sufferer on this occasion. The ferruginous milllettia powder was cast into the stream at a narrow rapid, issuing into a broad current below. Some parts of this were shallow, others deep. And here, man and boy, wading into the water, took their stand.
Happy those who had nets, resembling landing-nets. For, in about a minute, the fish began to flash up to the surface, and, lying lazily gasping for a few seconds, slid rapidly away, evidently merry. Some ran on shore of themselves. Others were struck on the head with a stick, as they glanced upwards. They were captured in cloths or trousers, or anything at hand. Shouting, struggling with each other for the fish—that now were turning up their white bellies in such numbers as to render selection difficult—the noise and laughter were stunning.
I sat on the bank enjoying the sight, and those supposed to be old men followed my example for some time, or contented themselves with knocking one or two on the head near the edge. But, presently getting excited, they stripped also, and were soon as busy and as noisy as the rest. We were, I suppose, a thousand or more. And after a little quarrel with the inhabitants of the opposite bank, who had carried away some fine large fish that had gone over to the other side, we returned, well laden with the finny race.
There was one black fish, called ambeza that is wary even in its drunkenness. It will not be caught. Glancing up for an instant, it rapidly disappears, and serves only to distract the attention of the ignorant. It is found also in the Lake Tana, where the Weyto people (a people historically found around the Lake Tana and who depended on fishing and hippopotamus hunting for their livelihood) spear them, as they dart about the rocks, eating the small fry. It is quite black, from half to one meter long. In appearance and teeth it somewhat resembles a young shark. They are very voracious, and their raw flesh is said by some to be excellent eating.
Reference
- Plowden, Walter Chichele (1868) Travels in Abyssinia and the Galla Country: With an Account of a Mission to Ras Ali in 1848. Chapter XIII. Edited by Trevor Chichele Plowden. Longmans, Green, and Co.: London. ↩︎