Sierra Leone: A variety of indigenous fish and fishermen gutting fish in the background. Etching.

"The bay and entrance of the river abound with a great variety of fish, as raies, thornbacks, and a fish called old wives. There are also gar-fishes, cavalloes, sharks, and sword-fishes, dog-fishes, and one called shoe-maker, having on each side the mouth pendents like barbel, and the noise they make is something like that of a hog's grunting. Among the fish, however, caught here, the most common are, old wives, pilchards, the becune, the monk, or angel-fish, and the mullettt. … The great plenty of fish found on the bay and river of Sierra Leona are of infinite service to the European sailors, not only for provisions, but also traffick--for the natives are so indolent, that they will not be at the trouble to catch them, but content themselves with such as are left by the ebb tides among the rocks."--Middleton, loc. cit.