BARBEL (Barbee, envier), a genus of Abdominal Malacopterygious Fishes, belonging to the Carp Family (Cyprinidw), and distinguished by the shortness of their dorsal and anal fimi, by a strong spine, which replaces the second or third ray of the dorsal, by four beards or fleshy tentacula, which grow from the lips, two at the nose, and the other two at the corners of the mouth, and by having but three branchios tegons rays. Like the great majority of the abdominal soft-finned fishes, the Barbels are a freshwater genus, and certainly among the least carnivorous of the whole class. They feed almost entirely upon aquatic plants and roots, to obtain which they bore into the banks of the ponds and rivers in which they reside, using their snout for that purpose like a hog.
Barbus vulgarie, the Common Barbel, sometimes measures 3 feet in length, and weighs from 15 to 18 pounds. The section of its body forms an elongated ellipse ; its scales are small, its head smooth, its eyes large and contiguous to the nostrils, and the lateral line straight and nearly parallel to the back. Its pectoral fins are of a pale brown colour, its ventral and anal tipped with yellow ; the tail is slightly bifurcated, and of a deep purple, and the general colour of the scales is pale gold, edged with black on the back and sides, and silvery-white on the belly. The dorsal fin is armed with a strong serrated spine, with which it sometimes inflicts dangerous wounds on the hands of the fishermen, and does considerable damage to their nets. The barbel is found only in deep and still ponds, and in sluggish rivers which have little or no current. In the hot summer months the barbels abandon for a time the deep pools and ponds which had protected them from the severe winter frosts, and make excursions into the shallower parts of the stream in search of food. Their habits are nocturnal, and they are fond of the society of their own species, being generally found together in large companies. Their flesh is extremely coarse and unsavoury, and their roe in particular is said to produce vomiting, purging, and slight swellings in those who incautiously eat it. The barbel is d very common fish in the Thames, where it is taken rather on account of the sport for the angler than the goodness of the fish.
The Binny, or Barbel of the Nile, is so like the Common Barbel of our European rivers, that it might readily be mistaken at first sight for that fish ; but a little observation will show that it is proportionally shorter and thicker, its back more arched, and it is particularly distin guished by having the first three rays of the dorsal fin so closely united as to have the of almost forming but one single spine. The Binny is very common in the Nile ; it grows to a large size, some times weighing, according to Bruce's statement, upwards of 70 pounds, and is described as being a firm, delicate, and well-flavoured fish. The
traveller just mentioned gives an interesting account of the methods which the Egyptians employ for the capture of the Binny, and for preserving it alive till they require to dress it, or have an opportunity of disposing of it. Having kneaded together a quantity of oil, clay, flour, and honey, with some chopped straw or other similar material to unite the different parts of the composition, the whole is formed into a mass, in size and appearance resembling a Cheshire cheese, round the sides of which, in different parts, are stuck small pieces of dates saturated in honey. Seven or eight stout hooks, each having a separate line of strong whipcord, and baited with a date steeped in honey, are concealed in the centre of the cake. The fisher man then, bestriding his inflated goatskin, paddles himself and his burden out into the middle and deepest part of the stream, where, having sunk the whole mass, be carries the cords attached to the hooks on shore, and fastens each of them separately to the branch of a palm stuck firmly into the ground, and having a small bell suspended from the top of it. He then goes off about his work, which, upon such occasions, is always contiguous to the river, and within hearing of the bells. In a short time the action of the water begins to dissolve the mass of paste at the bottom of the river, and the small pieces of dates getting detached from it float down the river, and are greedily caught and devoured by the Binnies. These naturally ascend the stream in the direction from which they perceive their favourite food to proceed, and having arrived at the mass of composition, begin, as is their custom, to root and bore into it, till they at length arrive at the dates inside, which they ravenously swallow, and are of course caught by the hook concealed within. In its struggles to escape the fish neces sarily pulls the line and the palm branch to which it is made fast on shore, when the ringing of the bell gives notice to the fisherman.
" The fisherman, says Bruce, " runs immediately to the bell, and finding thereby the particular line, hauls his prisoner in, but does not kill him : the hook being large, it generally catches him by the upper jaw, which is considerably longer than the under. He then pulls him out of the water, and puts a strong iron ring through his jaw, ties a few yards of cord to it, and returning the fish to the river, fastens him to the shore : so he does with the rest, for very rarely is there a single hook empty. Those who want fish at Girg6, a largo town opposite, or at Achmim itself, come thither as to a fish-market, and every man takes the quantity he wants, buying them alive. Fish when dead do not keep in Egypt, which makes that precaution necessary. We bought two, which fully dined our whole boat's crew ; the fisherman had I0 or 12 of them fastened to the shore, all of which he pulled out and showed us."