Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/157

 FAUNA OF TUNIS. 129 varieties. Its sting often proves fatal. Acconling to the natives, a peculiar kind of fossiliferous siindstone placed ut the threnhuld suffices to prevent scorpions from getting into the houses ; they are said never to be found in the El-Jein amphi- theatre, which is built with these stones. Clouds of hicusta visit the Tunisian Tell, and destroy the harvest; those which devastated Algeria in lH4o were hatched, acconling to the statement of IVUissier, near the Tunisian Jerid. Butterflies are extremely rare in Tunis ; the chief charm of our tields is denied to those of Northern Africa, but a few of these graceful insects are to bo seen hovering over the flowery slojies of the mountains. This scarcity of lepidoptera is duo to the great numbers of birds, which destroy the caterpillars. Tunis possesses a few special varieties of birds, amongst others a sparrow from the Jerid, called the bA-hablbi, or " father of friendship," which flies from palm to (mlm uttering a shrill note like that of the canary. This elegant bird, celebrated in all the songs of the country, is looked upon as a sort of good genius, and the natives protect it zealously against foreign sj)ortsmon ; but all attempts to intro- duce it into the town of Tunis have hitherto failed. The salt lakes are covered with blue and pink-coloured flamingoes, which, from a distance, look like soldiers clad in bright uniforms. Above the fields wheel flocks of starlings, at times dense enough to cloud the skies. The seas which bathe the shores of Tunis swarm with fish. Around Jerba and the Kerkenna Archipelago, which even ancient writings describe as "environed by stakes," the shallow water is divided into irregular compartments formed of palms which rise and fall with the tide, and which enclose channels and chambers into which the fish swim at high water, but from which they are unable to extricate themselves at low water. The islanders are thus enabled to capture a great quantity of fish, which they cure and export to the towns on the neighbouring coast, and even to Italy. The cuttle-fish, which are obtained chiefly on a bank situated between Sfakes and the islands, are dried in the sun and nearly all ex|X)rted to Greece. The Jerba and Kerkenna islanders also fish for sjwnges, either in winter by means of long hooked poles which they drag over the rocks, or in summer by wading in the shallows and feeling for them with their ivct. The shores of Cape IJon, less rich in animal life than those of Kerkenna, are visited by shoals of fish migrating from one basin of the Mediterranean to the other. Enclosures erected along the shore at equal distances entrap the tunny- fish, which are the most highly j)rized of all these migratory fishes. The I^ike of Bizerta, which, according to a legend related by El-Edrisi furnishes exactly twelve varieties of fish, one for each month in the year, is also an imix)rtant fishing- ground, chiefly for mullet, which are caught by a very ingenious device, dating pro- bably from the Punic peritxl. From side to side of the channel is stretched a rope, along which runs a ring retaining a female mullet, who swims easily in the water ; the male fish flock round this enticing bait, and are thus caught in shoals with nets. Palisades of reeds and willows are erected in the middle of the current, through which the fish can easily enter, but are unable to retreat. Finally, on the western coast of Tunis, towards Capes Serrat and Negro, the coral banks stretch from the