, as they
were ignorant that allowance must be made for diffraction, and were
puzzled at finding that their spears instead of going straight down at
the fish they struck at seemed to bend off at an angle at the water's
edge. The fishermen, however, explained to them that an allowance must
be made for this, the allowance being all the greater the greater the
distance the fish was from the boat, and that it was only when it lay
precisely under them that they could strike directly at it. But even
after being instructed in the matter they succeeded but poorly, and
presently laid down their spears and contented themselves with
watching their boatmen, who rarely failed in striking and bringing
up the prey they aimed at.

Presently their attention was attracted to four boats, each containing
from six to eight men. Two had come from either direction, and when
they neared each other volleys of abuse were exchanged between their
occupants.

"What is all this about?" Chebron asked as the two fishermen laid by
their spears, and with faces full of excitement turned round to watch
the boats.

"The boats come from two villages, my lord, between which at present
there is a feud arising out of some fishing-nets that were carried
away. They sent a regular challenge to each other a few days since, as
is the custom here, and their champions are going to fight it out. You
see the number of men on one side are equal to those on the other, and
the boats are about the same size."

Amuba and Jethro looked on with great interest, for they had seen
painted on the walls representations of these fights between boatmen,
which were of common occurrence, the Egyptians being a very combative
race, and fierce feuds being often carried on for a long time between
neighboring villages. The men were armed with poles some ten feet in
length, and about an inch and a half in diameter, their favorite
weapons on occasions of this kind. The boats had now come in close
contact, and a furious battle at once commenced, the clattering of the
sticks, the heavy thuds of the blows, and the shouts of the combatants
creating a clamor that caused all the waterfowl within a circle of
half a mile to fly screaming away across the lake. The men all used
their heavy weapons with considerable ability, the greater part of the
blows being warded off. Many, however, took effect, some of the
combatants being knocked into the water, others fell prostrate in
their boats, while s