IC-NRLF

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THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

THE ROD IN INDIA

" Pleasant is the fisher's life
By the waters streaming."

" O laborum dulce lenimen."
" Dulce est desipere in loco."

* * " neque semper arcum
tendit Apollo."

THE ROD IN INDIA

BEING

HINTS HOW TO OBTAIN SPORT

WITH

REMARKS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF FISH
AND THEIR CULTURE

AND

Sllustrations of ffisb anfc Uacfele

BY

HENRY SULLIVAN THOMAS, F.L.S.

MADRAS CIVIL SERVICE (RETIRED)

AUTHOR OF "TANK ANGLING IN INDIA"

THIRD EDITION

LONDON

W. THACKER & Co., 2, CREED LANE, E.G.

CALCUTTA : THACKER, SPINK & CO.

MADRAS : HIGGINBOTHAM & CO.

1897

[All rights reserved]

LONDON :

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

r

PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION.

As the Second Edition of this book was, in comparison with the First
Edition, " nearly half of it a new book," so the Third Edition makes a
further stride in the like direction with more than a third of new
matter.

New fish are introduced, with new methods of capture.

Most of the previous full page lithographs are reproduced^ reduced
by photography to the size of the present handier volume, and two
new plates of fish are added.

Endeavouring to give my readers the advantage of all the English
improvements in tackle that I thought applicable to India, I have
accompanied them with ninety-six illustrations thereof, thinking such a
manner of representation more explanatory than any amount of letter-
press, and specially so to the far distant Indian angler who cannot
enlighten himself by visiting a tackle-shop and judging from personal
inspection. Not a few of these illustrations have been presented to
me, as particularized below by name of donor, with page on which they
appear. Still, while thoroughly acknowledging my indebtedness for
the courtesies named, I desire to add that in admitting these illustra-
tions to my pages I have, as ever, had one only consideration, the
interests of the angler.

The above additions to the size of the book have brought fresh
cause for curtailment in other directions. So I have pruned here and
there, and have thrown out two whole chapters on Pisciculture in sea
and fresh water, as having only a secondary interest to some anglers,
and because, from retirement, I can no longer do anything for
Pisciculture in India. At the same time I have not liked to sacrifice

ivi3734<;9

vi Preface to Third Edition.

to terseness the chatty style which so many kindly friends have been
good enough to approve.

Since writing the second edition of this volume new difficulties have
arisen to confront me and to compel me to seek again the kindly con-
sideration of my friendly readers. In my first and second editions,
comprehending, or at least endeavouring to embrace, all Indian fish
that could be taken with a rod, my matter simply grew with my
knowledge of a new subject. But since then I have endeavoured to
divide my subject by writing ' Tank Angling in India,' and I have now
to consider whether or not to maintain the division.

The primary object of ' Tank Angling' was, as stated in its preface,
to produce a cheap book for those who could not afford to fish for
Mahseer, and it led naturally to confining the subject to such fishing
as, without camp equipage and expensive journeys, could be had in
ponds, fort moats, bathing tanks, or other reservoirs close at hand.
That division made, it seems well to keep to it, and for other reasons
also, namely, the avoiding of repetition, and the keeping of * The Rod
in India ' from swelling to inconvenient proportions.

Endeavouring to keep up this division of subjects, I hope that the
two books may become as much sister volumes as if they were entitled
Vol. I. and Vol. II. of one book, though distinct titles indicate to the
purchaser their different subjects, 'The Rod in India' henceforth
treating only of such fish as are to be taken in rivers and estuaries,
those to be captured in reservoirs being relegated to ' Tank Angling.'
Though it is a division sometimes difficult to maintain, it seems the
fairest to my readers, who will thus have both books kept from being
too bulky and too expensive, and also have it in their power to suit
themselves as to whether they shall become the happy possessors of
either one or of both.

Still, in following this division of subjects as regards old matter, I
have allowed myself to temporarily depart from it as regards new
matter which must eventually be relegated to ' Tank Angling,' because,
this plan seemed better than letting new discoveries run the risk of
dying with me, if I kept them back from my fellow-fishermen till I had
an opportunity of writing a second edition of ' Tank Angling.'

Extracts and letters from friends are shown in smaller type, not as
being less valuable, but simply to distinguish them, lest I should be
unduly credited with them.

Preface to Third Edition. vii

The valuable quarto two-volume work, ' Day's Fishes in India/
having, on his demise, passed into the hands of the publishers, Messrs.
Bernard Quaritch, I am under the great obligation of being still
permitted to make extracts therefrom, and have accordingly copied
from that work my illustrations of the Seetal and the Batchwa.

Messrs. C. Farlow & Co., 191 Strand, London, W.C., have given
me the following thirty-two electros : telescopic gaff, gaff to screw on to
handle, gaff to lash on to handle, as figured at p. 19; spring balance,
p. 38 ; Dee minnow, baited and unbaited, p. 69 ; Archer spinner,
baited and unbaited, p. 72; Chapman spinner, baited and unbaited,
p. 72; hog-back fly spoon, p. 128; light-landing net, p. 190; the
Jardine gag, p. 209 ; prawn tackle, baited and unbaited, and of two
sorts, p. 254; Giri spoon, p. 275; hog-back spoon, p. 275; scale of
swivels, p. 278; collapsible line drier, p. 296; knob or button end to
rod, p. 301 ', snake rings, p. 302 ; five illustrations of bait cans, p. 307,
308; winch case, p. 309; hackle-holder, p. 310; table vice, p. 310;
gut twister, p. 311 ; rod box, p. 320.

Messrs. S. Allcock & Co., Wholesale Manufacturers, Standard
Works, Redditch, have given me the following sixteen illustrations :
jointed net ring, open and closed, p. 20 • triangular net open and
closed, p. 21 ; baiting needle, p. 66 j Coxon spinner, baited and un-
baited, p. 71 j Rohu hooks, p. 123; Jardine live bait tackle of two
sorts, p. 141 ; rod rest, p. 142 ; sizes and breaking strain of rust proof
wire gimp, p. 208; disgorger, p. 209; gorge hook, p. 236 j lockfast
ferrule, p. 301 ; Norwegian knife, p. 309.

Messrs. William Bartleet and Sons, Wholesale Manufacturers, Abbey
Mills, Redditch, have given me four electros : scale of Limerick hooks,
p. 117; scale of Mahseer treble hooks, p. 119; scale of Pennell-eyed
Limerick hooks, p. 120; scale of Pennell-eyed Sneck-bend hooks,
p. 121.

The Army and Navy Co-operative Society, Limited, 105 Victoria
Street, Westminster, London, S.W., have given me three electros :
Geen's Richmond spinner, trout size, baited and unbaited, p. 218; fly
scissors, p. 310.

Messrs. J. Warner & Sons, Wholesale Manufacturers, Hewell
Works, Redditch, have given me an electro of their patent wedgefast
winch fitting, p. 294.

Of Messrs. L. Upcott Gill, 170 Strand, London, W.C., publishers

viii Preface to Third Edition.

and proprietors of ' The All Round Angler,' by John Bickerdyke, I
have purchased duplicates of the following thirteen diagrams of tackle
which appear in that work : knot for attaching drop fly by loop, p. 183 ;
frog bait in two sizes, p. 230 ; method of whipping on a treble hook,
p. 280; knot for hook with metal eye turned down, p. 281; knot for
hook with metal eye turned up, p. 281 ; Turle knot, p. 282 ; jam knot
in two stages, p. 282 ; knot for worn fly, p. 283 ; knot in three stages
for tying a collar, p. 304; knot for tying a loop, p. 304; knot for
finishing the splicing of a rod, p. 311.

The knot and the angles of vision shown at pages 99 and 283, are
from memory of the leaves of the Fishing Gazette.

The eighteen full page plates, and the remaining twenty-six marginal
illustrations have been made specially for this work.

To my critic again — " Spare the Rod."

To the angler generally, and specially to old friends and old readers
and helpers, I must be allowed, in conclusion, to cordially wish them
once again " the good sport which this book aims at helping them to
obtain."

H. S. THOMAS.

TIVERTON, DEVON,

September, 1897.

PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION.

THIS Second Edition is nearly half of it a new book.

In my First Edition I sought the co-operation of brother anglers.
Kindly have they responded, some direct to myself, some through the
medium of the Press. Many told me things that I had learnt myself
in the interim : such matter is introduced afresh in this edition as my
own, as it none the less is ; but I thank correspondents all the same.
Some told me things I did not know ; such matter, wherever it appears,
is honestly acknowledged by name or initial, both that the reader
may know who is the authority for it, where I am at liberty to quote
the full name, and also that he may recognise the advantage of the
kindliness.

All such communications as have been made direct to myself, and
consequently appear for the first time in print, have been printed in
the same type as my own matter. Such communications as have
come to me through the Press, even though it may be kindly stated
in them that they were penned in answer to my invitation, are, as
extracts, printed in smaller type ; partly to distinguish them from what
is quite new, and partly to save my book from becoming unwieldy,
not in any way to imply less value.

Of these last communications I have had to clip some not a little
because they repeated what was to be found elsewhere in the book.
I trust I may be forgiven by the writers.

I have enlarged the page so as to be able to present better plates,
but I have not enlarged the type to suit. If I have sinned against
printing rules in this matter it is that I may keep my book from being
too bulky to be still an angler's companion.

I have admitted in the contributions of others though, as promised

x Preface to Second Edition.

in the earlier preface, I have excluded from my own matter narrative
of sport achieved, because I thought it likely to prove interesting,
and an incentive to take to Indian fishing. And this it is hoped the
Chapter on Fishing Localities will help my readers to find their way
to, as the rest of the book may aid them to accomplish.

If old hands, nevertheless, find nothing new in these pages, will
they kindly consider that it is mainly their own fault for knowing too
much. But why should I apologise to such, for really good fishermen
will not expect to learn, and if they concur, even in part, they are sure
to be friendly.

It only remains to cordially wish you the good sport which this
book aims at helping you to obtain.

H. S. THOMAS.

GUERNSEY,
July, 1881.

PREFACE.

TO THE ANGLER.

I PROMISE that you shall not be wearied by long yarns about the
fish that I have caught; the object is to set your rod bending, and
your heart leaping.

Do not be afraid of the natural history. There is not more of
it than a good fisherman ought to know, and as it is expressed simply
I trust it is not very uninteresting.

TO THE NON-FISHERMAN LOVER OF NATURAL HISTORY
AND PISCICULTURE.

As you may not care to wade through the whole book for the bits
likely to interest you, and as those bits are necessarily scattered where
they are applicable, a special * Appendix will enable you to pick them
out without trouble or waste of time.

You must kindly excuse the unscientific language used for the
sake of fishermen pure and simple, who will probably be my chief
readers. I plead and follow herein the example of that distinguished
and pleasant naturalist, Charles Waterton, who had both the courage
and the position to be able to say he had " confined himself to a few
simple words in preference to a scientific jaw-breaking description • "
so that young naturalists might understand him at once, which was all
he aimed at.

Ye giants in natural history, for whom this simple little book is
scarcely fitting fodder, but who may yet dally with it for half an hour
for the sake of the few crumbs to be gathered here and there, bear

* Now omitted.

xii Preface.

with me if in my little effort to follow, longo intervallo^ the style of
such a naturalist as Waterton, I timidly shelter myself under another
quotation from his Essays on Natural History ; it will serve to explain
my reasons for taking him for my model. " I verily believe that if
an unfortunate criminal just now were defended by a serjeant-at-law
without his professional wig and gown, and then condemned to death
by my lord judge in plain clothes, the people would exclaim 'that
poor devil has not had a fair trial.' So it is with natural history.
Divest a book on birds, for example, of its unintelligible nomenclature,
together with its perplexing display of new divisions, and then it will
soon be declared deficient in the main points, and be condemned to
slumber on the dusty shelf. If in this little treatise on monkeys I
shall succeed in imparting a love for natural history into the minds
of my young readers and at the same time convince them how much
is gained in the field, and how little in the closet, my time and labour
will be well repaid. I will introduce no harsh words to confound
them, nor recommend to them systems which at best are unsatisfactory
inventions. All that I have got to say shall be placed before them
in so clear a point of view, that every reader, be his education light
or solid, will be able to comprehend my meaning, and nothing more
than this can be required." Like my model, my aim in this respect
is to impart a love of natural history to fishermen, and to gain amongst
them more friends and coadjutors for pisciculture in India. In my
Official Reports to Government also, all the members of which are
not necessarily pisciculturists, I have ever studiously excluded all
hard words from the text, and have pushed them unceremoniously
into the margin ; so also in this little book any phraseology of science
will be found condemned to a footnote, or to the close company of
a plain Saxon synonym. Thus disposed no exception can well be
taken to its presence, especially in the names of fish where, without
such accuracy of expression, it would be hard to know for certain
which fish it was that was being spoken of.

But lest this seeming rudeness to natural history should scare
away some that might otherwise do me the honour of at least a
cursory reading, I think I had better present my letter of introduction.
The following letter and the handsome accompanying Medal, which
I had the unexpected honour of receiving from the Acclimatisation
Society of Paris, is the best evidence that, though in a humble way,

Preface. xiii

I have still given some painstaking attention to the subject on which
I write : — " J'ai 1'honneur de vous informer que la Societe d'Acclimata-
tion, sur la proposition de sa Commission des recompenses, vous a
de'cerne une medaille de iere classe pour vos travaux de pisciculture
dans 1'Inde."

TO THE CRITIC.

" Spare the rod ! ! "

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

For two of my plates,* the Mahseer and the Murral, I am indebted
to the courtesy of Dr. Bidie, Curator of the Government Museum in
Madras, who very kindly afforded every facility to my draughtsman.
The Barilius Bakeri has been copied by permission from Dr. Day's
* Fishes of Malabar.'

H. S. THOMAS.

MANGALORE,
• April, 1873.

These plates have not been used in the present edition.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTORY.

PAGES

The objects of this book — As good fishing to be had in India as in England, I
— Author's apologies for himself and his subject, 2— Fishermen the best
friends of Pisciculture, 3 — Repetition of former works on general fishing
avoided, and remarks confined to purely Indian fishing, 4 — Continued
co-operation of anglers sought — Contributions and assistance acknow-
ledged, 5 — Anglers in India are comparatively few, 6 . . . . . . 1-6

CHAPTER II.

THE MAHSEER.

A sporting fish, 8 — Shows better sport than the salmon, 9 — The necessity for
being prepared for its sudden rush, 9, 10 — Advantages of a pliable rod, 10
— Winch friction, II — Pressing your fish, 12 — Preventing sulking, 13 —
Continuity of pressure, 14 — Manner of pressure, 14-16 — Estimating weight
of fish before landing it, 16 — Landing — Shelving — Handling, 18 — Gaffing,
19 — Netting, 20-22 — Killing, 22 — Edibility of Mahseer — Attendant
necessary, 23 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-23

CHAPTER III.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MAHSEER.

Its names, 24— Its description by Dr. Day, 25-27 — Different sorts of Mahseer,
27-34 — Manner of drawing Mahseer — Manner of colouring Mahseer, 29 —
Prolonged lips not a sexual distinction, 32, 33 — A stocking difficulty — It is
not confined to Bengal, 33— Etymology of the name Mahseer, 34— Its size,

xvi Contents.

PAGES

34? 35 — Its preference for rocks — Sanderson's fish, 35 — A rare buffalo, 36
— Calculating size by length of Mahseer, 37 — Weighing Mahseer, 37-41 —
The migratory habits of the Mahseer, 41— Not spent and unwholesome
after spawning, because of peculiarity of spawning — How to judge of time
of spawning, 42 — Reason for the peculiarity in spawning, 43 —Inventory of
the contents of Mahseer's stomach, 44 — Conclusion therefrom that the
Mahseer is a bottom feeder — The same conclusion from the formation of
the outside of mouth — Power of sucking up Molluscs, etc., from the
bottom, 45 — Power of pharyngeal or throat teeth, 46 — Are they shed
periodically, 47- -Power of jaw also, 48 24-48

CHAPTER IV.

CIRCUMVENTING THE MAHSEER.

Not to be caught by the same rules as English fish, 49 — The clearest water the
best for fishing — Except in the Ganges, 50 — And with live bait — Affected
by cold winds, 51 — The Mahseer a fish- eater though a carp — Extraordinary
power of jaw — Hooks crushed by it — Power of rigidifying muscles of the
mouth, 52 — Importance of bearing in mind the Mahseer's bottom feeding
habits — Artificial fly as a bait for Mahseer, 54 —Advantages and dis-
advantages thereof — Less killing than spinning — Should always be avail-
able in addition to spinning, 55 — Special necessity for keeping out of
sight, 56 49-56

CHAPTER V.

SPINNING FOR MAHSEER.

Live bait -versus dead bait, 57 — Importance of keeping out of sight, 58 —
Weight, size, and advantages of spoon bait, 59 — Magic, 60— The size of
spoon a rod can throw — Phantom minnow, 61 — Spinning with dead fish —
A pliable rod advocated — Stiff Mahseer rod deprecated, 62 — Castle Connel
rod, 64 — Modes of baiting with dead fish, 65 — Baiting needles — Enlarged
sinkers — Dee tackle, 68 — Geen's Richmond spinner, 69 — Coxon spinner, 70
— Archer spinner — Chapman spinner — Fine tackle desirable, 72 — Sort of
fish for bait, 73 — Best size for bait, 74 — Large fish deter small fish from
anticipating them — Good fisherman generally kills better fish than an
indifferent fisherman — Large fish wary, 75— Fish able to communicate
ideas to each other, 76 — Fish think and have brains, 77 — Examples of
birds, beasts, and insects communicating ideas, and the analogy to be
drawn therefrom in favour of fishes, 79 — Audibility of sound dependent on
rapidity of vibrations, 84 — Gregarious fish communicate, 85 — Salt preferred
to spirits for preservation of bait, 86 . . . . 57-86

Contents. xvii

CHAPTER VI.

HOW, WHEN, AND WHERE TO FISH FOR MAHSEER.

PAGES

Spinning against and across stream — Habits of small fish, 88 — Velocity at which
to spin, 89 — Object of hait revolving on its own axis — Manner in which
big fish surprise their food, 90 — And sometimes chase it, 91 — Educated
fish — Prey chiefly on sick fish, 93 — Eye of the angler fish — Short-sighted-
ness of fish through water — Short-sightedness the protection of small fish,
94 — How to spin when bait is being followed, 96 — Imperative necessity for
keeping out of sight, 97 — Refraction in water, 98 — Stalk your fish, 100 —
Manner of spinning with a fly top, 101 — Best season of the year for
fishing, 103 — Best hours of the day for fishing, 104 — Rivers in which to
fish, 105 — The parts of a river to be fished, 107 — Pool fishing, 108 —
Fishing deep, 109 — Tyranny among fish, in .. .. .. .. 88-1 1 1

CHAPTER VII.

FLY FISHING FOR MAHSEER.

Fishing with a Salmon fly, 112 — The rationale of it, 113 — Colours of flies, 114
— Sizes of flies, 115 — Sizes of hooks, 116 — Scale of Limerick hooks, 117 —
Scale of Mahseer treble hooks, 119 — Scale of eyed Limerick hooks, 120 —
Scale of Sneck bend hooks, 121 — Scale of eyed Kirby hooks, 122— Scale
of Rohu hooks, 123 — The Blackamoor fly, 124 — The Cock-o'-the-walk —
The Smoky Dun — Sizes of flies, 125 — Hooks drawing in India — Tying
flies on eyed hooks — Manner of fly fishing, 126 — Fish slowly — Striking a
fish — Position of the rod, 127 — Fishing when followed, 128 — Hog-backed
fly-spoon, 129 112-129

CHAPTER VIII.

GRAM FISHING FOR MAHSEER.

Size of fish caught by gram — Tried unsuccessfully where fish are not educated
to it — W. F. F.'s method, 130 — Procuring and preparing the bait — Manner
of baiting hook, 131 — Previous ground baiting — Size of hook — Manner of
fishing, 132 — Place and season for fishing, 132-134 — J. A. B.'s sugges-
tion, 135 .. .. 130-135

CHAPTER IX.

LIVE BAIT FISHING FOR MAHSEER.

Colonel Parson's method of fishing in coloured water — Size of live bait, 136 —
Method of baiting — December and January blank months — Peculiar-eyed

xviii Contents.

PAGES

hooks — Eyed hooks rusting gut — Sizes of hooks used, 138 — Usefulness of
eyed hooks — Method of preparing snood, 139 — A yo-lb. fish — The bag
made by this method, 140 — Jardine tackle, 141 — Ophiocephahis gachua
unsuited to this sort of fishing, 142 — Rod rest, 143 .. .. .. 136-143

CHAPTER X.

PASTE BAITING FOR MAHSEER AND OTHERS.

The sorts of fish to be taken by a set paste bait, 143 — Ingenious night-line —
With the rod in hand, 144 — With the rod set — Good for Rohu at night-
fall, 145 . . 143-145

CHAPTER XI.

THE CARNATIC CARP.

Has a smaller mouth than Mahseer — The weight of Carnatic Carp, 146 — Is
something like a Chub, 147 — The Indian coracle, 148 — "Got it in his
bones " — The first lesson — The places to fish — Throwing again in the same
place, 149 — Carnatic Carp congregate and wander like Dace, 150 — Paddy-
bird's wisdom — Playing the fish, 151 — Keep to a swim, without over-
working it — Fish reassured — Monkeys attract fish, 152 — Taking a rapid,
153—" My Lord, if I had not caught you," 154 — P.'s pip, 155 — The rod,
line, and tackle used, 156 — Different baits tried, 158 — Grasshoppers —
Spoons, 159 — Fishing alternate pools — How to make a coracle comfort-
able, 160 — Edibility of the Carnatic Carp — Its manner of taking the fly —
Fish blowing out the fly, 162 — A fish's mouth is his hand, 163 — Striking a
Salmon, a Mahseer, a Trout, a Dace, a Carnatic Carp, etc., 164 — Fishing
on natural history basis — Striking fine, 165 — How to grasp a rod —
Characteristics of salmon and trout rods— Importance of selecting the right
style of rod, 166 — Distribution of Carnatic Carp — Hours for fishing —
Don't fish fasting, 168 — Dr. Day's description of the Carnatic Carp — Diffi-
culty of ascertaining native names, 169 .. .. .. .. .. 146-169

CHAPTER XII.

SMALLER FLY-TAKERS.

Small fish more accessible than Mahseer — Simple English names will be
assigned to fish, 171— The Chela argentea — A clerical error— Other
Chilwas — They will thrive in ponds — Their size, 172 — The flies for them
— Require quick striking — The hours to fish — The places — Can be taken
with float, 173 — Vernacular names of Chela — Frogs rising to flies —

Contents. xix

PAGES

162 Chilwas killed by one fly rod in \\ hours, 1 74— Ten men's dinner caught
by paste bait — Floating bran as " ground " bait — Dr. Day's description of
Chela, 175 — The Black Spot, or Barbus filamentosus and B. Mahecola,
176 — Their localities — Their manner of taking a fly — Require the finest
fishing — Are very shy — Swim in shoals, 177 — Thrive in ponds — Taking
hours — Dr. Day's description — Barbus Chrysopoma, or Olive Carp, 178 —
The lesser Barils — Their colours and size and localities — They are game
little fly- takers, 179 — The flies for them— Indian entomology, 1 80— They
are shy — Fishing up-stream, 181 — Knots, 183 — Dr. Day's description of
Barils, 185 — The Indian trout or Barilius bola — Colonel Parson's paper on
it — Oreinus, wrongly called a trout, 186 — The colour and size of the Indian
trout — The kbaits for it and the time for fishing — The places to fish in —
They are a favourite bait for the Mahseer — Native fisherman's manner of
noosing them — More places to fish for Indian trout, 187 — They leap into
the air — Have a large mouth, 188 — Follow up the fly — The flies for them
— They are predatory, 189 — Months in which to fish for them — Localities
that produce them, 190 — Dr. Day's description of it, 191 . . . . 171-191

CHAPTER XIII.

»

BOTTOM FISHING FOR LABEO.

Compared with roach fishing, 192 — Mahseer fishers converted to it — Mr. Duns-
ford on conversion to my methods — A typical unbeliever therein, 193 —
Old methods good for certain seasons only, 194 — My methods suitable to
all seasons — A 77-lb. Catla, 195 — Sorts of Labeo — Fishing in waves, 196
— Special rod for it, 197 — The free hook, 198 — Fishing in rivers — Laxity
of vernacular names — Rohu hook — Length of running line, 199 — Sort of
running line — The Nottingham stop for detective float, 200— Rohu, Mirga,
Catla, to be taken by the same methods — Catla prefer the bait being off
the ground — 22-lb. Catla on 8-oz. rod — Ringol rods should be oiled, not
varnished, 201 — Rod top ring — Paste baits, 202 — Seasons for Labeo and
other fishing — Ground baiting on a bamboo, 203 — Influences of weather,
204 — Professional diners out — Choosing your fishing-place — Levelling the
bottom — Tackle-box — Manner of striking, 205 — The cost of stocking with
fry — Returning under-sized fish, 206 . . . . . . . . . . 192-206

CHAPTER XIV.

FRESHWATER SHARKS.

How to get sport out of them — Mr. Dunsford's bags, 207 — Rust-proof wire
gimp, 208 — The spinner which is suitable, 209 — The gaff-hook, 209 and 19
— Rod rest, 209 and 142 — Pike gag — Disgorger — Season and weather —

b 2

xx Contents.

PAGES

Bagaritis YarreHii, their size, 209 — Bag of 1065 Ibs. — Places in a river
affected by Goonch, 211 — The tackle that is suitable — Silttndia Gangetica,
213 — Macrones seenghala (or Tengara), 214 — Other Siluroids, 215 .. 207-215

CHAPTER XV.

THE SEETUL, BATCHWA. AND OTHERS.

The Seetul, its size and peculiarities, 216 — Bait and manner of fishing adapted
to it, 217 — Its gameness — Richmond spinner, trout size, 218 — Such a
game fish worthy of more attention — Its habit of rolling on the surface, 219
— Opinions of others, 220 — Mugil cascasia as a bait — Mugil comila as a
dish, 221 — The Batchwa, a sporting fish, 222 — The bait and the fly for —
Wire gimp recommended for use with flies, 223 — Cherki and Tengara, 222,
223 — The Pupta, 224 .. .. 216-224

CHAPTER XVI.

THE MURRAL.

Nomenclature, 225 — Similarity to a Pike — Habits — How, when, and where to
fish for it, 226 — Shooting it — Tackle for Murral, 227 — Live-bait fishing for
— Different ways of live-baiting, 229 — Dapping with a dead frog — Baiting
with a live frog on Asiatic trimmer, 230 — Other live-baiting — The life of a
frog, 232 — Frogs eating frogs — Its power of living out of water — Breathes
air, 233 — Buries itself alive — Thrives in ponds and wells — Exhibits parental
affection, 234 . . . . . . 225-234

CHAPTER XVII.

EELS.
Good eating — Size, 235 — Setting night-lines for — Gorge hook preferred, 236 235-236

CHAPTER XVIII.

FISHING IN ESTUARIES.

Estuary fishing dependent on the tides, 237 — Small fish ascend by back-flow,
238 — Polynemus tetradactylus or B&-mlnt 239 — Colonel W. Osborn's paper
on it — The water in which they are to be found, 240 — They feed on the
grey mullet fry — The best time in the tide discussed, 241 — The rod pre-
ferred— The line and tackle — Flight of hooks — Baits, 242 — The best way

Contents. xxi

PAGES

to fish — The best side of the bridge, 243 — Manoeuvring in face of the
enemy — Fishing localities, 244 — Sporting season — The fish sickened by
putrid smelling water — Strength and size of Polyneimis — Striking, 245 —
The Ba-mln Committee — M.'s experiences, 246 — Pamban Salmon, 247 —
Unnecessary strength of native tackle, 248 — Dr. Day's description of
Polynemus — The Cock-up or Nair fish (Lates calcarifer) — Vernacular names
of — Size of, 249 — Season and water for — Tackle and bait for — Runs out
much line — Manner of spinning for — Of taking bait — Playing, 250 — Time
for fishing, 251 — My own ideas, 252 — Dr. Day's description — The Red
Perch (Lutianus roseus) — The Grey Perch, 253 — Prawn bait, 254 — Elops
— Megalops, 255 — The Seer (Cybittm), 256— Trailing spinning bait from
sailing-boat, 257 — Punctuality of sea fish may be taken advantage of, 258
— Bottom fishing in the sea — Chanos salmoneus or Hyder's fish, 259 —
The peculiarities of its capture — Acclimatization of sea fish to fresh
water, 260 237-260

CHAPTER XIX.

FISHING ON HILL SANATORIA.

Pulney Hills — Stocked with Barils, 261 — Boats available — The seasons for
fishing — Further stocking of the lake — The Nilagiris, the story of their
stocking, 262 — Ootacamund lake — Bilikal lake, 263 — The stocking of the
Pykara river — The stocking with Trout, 265 — Other possibilities of
stocking — Carp and Tench, 266 — Pachmarhi, 267 — Kumaon — Poonah —
Poonah neighbourhood, 268 . . . . . . . . . . . . 261-268

CHAPTER XX.

ROD AND TACKLE.

Rough and ready arrangements disapproved — Mahseer hooks, 269 — Tackle
shops mentioned, 270 — Single vent hook, 271 — Richmond spinner — The
Coxon spinner — Archer and Chapman spinners — Phantoms, 272 — Split
rings, 273 — Spoons, 273-275 — Convenient loop-knot, 275 — Soaking gut,
276 — Rust-eaten gut, 277 — Swivels, 278 — Hooks drawing, 279 — Knots for
eyed hooks, .280 — Winch, 283 — Running line, 284, 288, 296 — Check-
winch, 286 — My brake-winch, 289 — The wedge-fast winch fittings, 294 —
Uniformity in heelplates desirable, 295 — Line drying, 296 — Gut, 297 —
Rod, 299 — Button — Ferrules, 301 — Top rings, 302 — Rod rings, 302, 303
— Sinkers — Whipping, 303 — Flight of hooks, 304 — Flies — Preserving
tackle — Wax, 305 — Lead wire — Copper wire— Whipping cord — Bait
kettle, 306 — Spring balances — Winch case — Knife, 309 — Fly scissors —
Hackle-holder — Table vice, 310 — Gut twister — Splicing, 311 — Otter, 312
— Guide to ordering tackle, 315 — Rod box, 319 — Tackle box — Marking
your gear, 320 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . 269-320

xxii Contents.

CHAPTER XXI.

FISHING GEAR AND OTHER SMALL BEER.

PAGES

Waterproof wading stockings not recommended — Short-tailed coat, 323 —
Broad-soled ankle-boots — Greasing them — Braces — Thick socks — Leech
gaiters, 324 — White clothes objectionable — Advantages of wading, 325 —
Crocodiles not to be feared, 326 323-326

CHAPTER XXII.

THE TAME OTTER.

Its habit of feeding — Its sense of smell under water, 328 — Origin of its name
— Its similarity to the dog, 329 — Its easy domestication — Its capacity for
showing sport — Its utility as a means for catching fish — Its destructiveness
in a wild state, 330 — Anecdotes about otters, 332 — Its scientific nomen-
clature and description, 333 — Peculiar formation and use of its tail, 334 —
Other remarks on it — Manner of rearing them, 335 — Their end, 336 . . 328-336

CHAPTER XXIII.

SPAWNING.

Artificial breeding in England, 337 — Fry in rice-fields — Different ways of
spawning, 338 — Polygamy in fish — Fish ova in the rivers and in the
sea, 339 . . 337~339

CHAPTER XXIV.

STOCKING PONDS.

Sport might be had by it — The Vallum pond experiment, 340 — Labeo breeding
in ponds, 341 — Proper selection of species — Dry and cultivate your pond
— Source of water supply to be considered — Snail breeding, 342 — The
weed to put in — Overflow, 343 . . . . .-. . . . . . . 340-343

CHAPTER XXV.

MISCELLANEOUS.

Avadavats going to bed, 345 — Hooking crocodiles, 346 — Spearing crocodiles —
Difference between crocodile and alligator — The Garial, 347 — Crocodiles
have their uses — Suffocating a porpoise and a whale — Simple means of

Contents. xxiii

PAGES

making a well in a boat for live bait, 348 — Oxygenating water for keeping
live bait — A fish upside down rendered powerless — Fish renewing their
scales — The lateral line — Sea-fish acclimatized to fresh water — Muddy fish
improved in spring water, 349 — Fish's sense of knowing where the water is
— The pain given by anglers, 350 — Do fish talk ? — Do fish sleep ? 352 — A
fish's manner of swimming, 355 — Habits of Kingfishers — Fish-eating
flowers — A paper scent — White ants — Elephants' hair — The size of the
river affects the size of the fish, 358 — Growth and feeding of fish — Stuffing
fish, 359 — Recipes for arsenical soap, 361 — Injurious to teeth — Corrosive
sublimate — Preserving specimens in spirits, 362 — The cautious use of
carbolic acid, 363 — Loch Lomond anglers, 364 . . . . . . . . 345-3 s

CHAPTER XXVI.

FISHING LOCALITIES.
Co-operation of anglers solicited and acknowledged — The best maps to procure 365

MADRAS PRESIDENCY.

Bellary District: W. li.'s futile trip in it — Possible locality, 366. South
Canara District : Holds Mahseer, &c. — Charmacly — Neriya — Karkal, 367

— Kirebag — Sampaje — Siradi — Uppinangady — Subramani — The Comar-
dari — The Yennekal-holle Wondse, 368 — Fever — Jadkal — Mala — Cooloor

— Nagawadi — Biranthadaka — Dharmastala— Mangalore — Cicily — Cunda-
poor, 369 — Mudradi, 370. Coimbatore District: Metapolliam — Nellatorat
— Tekampatti, 370— Puthur— Chengal— Shittuguni— Pillur— Kadukai, 371
— Nirali — Perali — Taimalai — Attapadi — Shermangundi — Gopaneri — Kara-
madi, 372 — Sirumugi — Kacayampoliam — Animalais, 373. Madura
District: Pamben — Periar — Pulney Hills — Firmed — Stonehenge, 373 —
Rani River, 374. Malabar District : Tullipurmbu — Billipatam — Chupura-
padu — Surukundapuram — Kogem — Eroocur — Iratti — Kishur — Gamoth —
Anjeracoondy — Canooth — Mahe — Parakudu— Cootyaddy, 374 — Beypoor
— Areacode — Edda — Mummah— Maumbat — Nellambur— Eddamunnah —
Yeddakura — Tirvangady — Mallapuram — Manjairy — Angadipuram —
Alanalur — Pandikad — Palgat — Cudalloor — Cottampally — Wurracunchairy
— Colungodi — The Cubbany — The Noogoo — The Moyaur, 375 — Manan-
toddy — Bawally — Caukancotta — Gunnapaddyvatam — Sultan's-battery —
Gudalur — Munaur — Attapadi — Shermangundi — Gopaneri — Eddawarra —
Nadghany — Mahe, 376. Nellore District : The Muri — Kistnapatam, 377.
Salem District : Hoginkal — Pennagaram — Sholapadi, 377. Tanjore
District: No Mahseer, but other fish — Tanjore town — Negapatam, 377 —
Tank fishing, 378. Tinnevelly District: Courtallum — Pulliary Pass —
Paupanassam — Arienkavu — The Tamberapoorny, 378. Travancore State :
Anglicoorchi — Toracadu, 378. Trichinopoly District: Trichinopoly
anicut, 379. Mysore Territory : Very much plied with nets, cruives, and
poison — Tirthahalli— Malur — Mandagadde— Sacrabyle — Shimoga — Bale-

xxiv Contents.

PAGES

hannur — Calasa, 379 — Honsoor — Chunchincuttay — Mandagherry — The
Hemavatty — Hansogee — Ramnathpoor — Haggadavencottah — Carken-
cottah, 380 — Manantocldy — Nungengode, 381. Coofg: Verajendrapet
— Wottakuli — Manzerabad — Maranhally, 381. The Deccan: Secun-
derabad, 381 365-381

BOMBAY PRESIDENCY.

North Canara District: Gairsoppa — Kalanaddi, 382 — Karachi — Quetta —
Barbar Kuch — Hurnai, 383 — Poonah — Ganjam — Vizagapatam, 384 —
Jeypur — The Machkunda — Matam — The Kolab, 385 — Kondakemberu —
The Garepiro — Motu — Podiya — Gorgopilley — Salim — The Potera, 386.
The Panjab: Mr. C. S. Kirkpatrick's letter — Delhi — Ambala — Simla —
Jullunder — Hoshiapur — Gurdaspur — Lahore — Gujranwala — Jhelam —
Rawal Pindi — Kashmere — Raniket, N.W.P. — Allahabad — Calcutta, 387 —
Merut — Toondla — Durbangah — Baptiali — Rohtak — Hissa — Delhi — Lahore
— Shalimar — Kunchui Kapul — Waga — Batala — Amritsa — Alliwal — Karnal
— Kohtak, 388 — Chi tor — Ajmere-Khandwa Line — Maundsaur — Newtakka,
389. Bitrmah : Mandalay, 389 — Chin Hills — Manlon Choung, 390 —
Nampoung — Bhamo — Namsiri Choung, 391 — Namlee Ka — Kachin — Sadon
— Myitkyina — Uru — Mogoung — Nampoung — Taping — Irrawaddy, 392 382-392

BENGAL AND NORTH-WEST PROVINCES, &c.
Extract from —

" A?J" letter to the Field, gtk October, 1869: The Poonch— The Jhelum,
395 — Sport — Fly recommended by " K," 397 — Size of his spoon, 402.
"Dean's" letter to the Asian, 2nd September, 1879 : Mirzapore, 402 —
Rewah — Buroundah — Yellow fly — Dark blue fly — Indian Trout —
Allahabad District, 403 — Pathurpore — Koolsara — Endorses the Blacka-
moor fly — Sohra — Khurkha — Mai — Kohrai — Sirsa — Grey fly, 404.
" Doon's" letter to the Asian, iqtk October, 1879 : Jhansi — The Pahooj
— The Barbaric — The Betwa — The Dessaun — Trout in the Barbaric,
404 — Oorcha — Orange fly and dark yellow fly — Black and red fly —
Red spinner — The black spinner, 405 — Nowgong — Mow — Raneepore

— Chirgaon — Goolara — Dhunna — Lullutpore — Hardwar, 406.
"Doon's" letter to the Asian, 28M October, 1879 : The Ganges — The
Song — The Sooswa — Dehra — Kalapani — Kansaras — Jamun Khatta —
Tuppobun — Rickee Khasee — Hurdwar — Myapore Bridge — Kunkhal

— Asufgurh — " Kooties " — Bijpore, 407 — Meerut — Spearing fish —
Roorkee — Puthri— Fategarh — Cawnpore, 408. "Z. jf.'s" letter to the
Asian, 2yd December, 1879 : Laour — A grand bag, 408. "Pale Face's"
letter to the Asian, 2$th May, 1880 : Bata — His flies, 409 — The Jumna
— The Arson — The Suswa — 5-lb. Trout — The Ganges — A night line,
410 — Rikhikare — Nagul Ghat — The Ramgunga — The Kosi — Ram-
nagur, 411— Sialkot — Poonah — Dav, 412. " F. M. M.'s" letter to the
Asian, 25^ November, 1879 : Roorkee — Hurdwar — Mirepoor, 413.
"PoongheJs" letter to the Madras Times, 2tyh July, 1878 : Burmah—
Assam — Sylhet, 413 — Jalpaigori — Afghanistan — Kurrum, 417 . . 395-417

ILLUSTRATIONS.

FULL PAGE.

PLATE

I. Barbus tor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . To face page 28

II- H „ 30

HI- » » -. M 32

IV. ,, Carnaticus . . . . . . . . . . . . ,, 146

V. Chela argentea . . .. .. .. .. .. ,, 172

VI. Barbus JHamentosus . . . . . . . . . . . . ,, 176

VII. Barilius Canarensis . . . . . . . . . . . . ,, 180

VIII. bola ,, 186

IX. Labeo calbasu . . . . . . . . . . . . ,, 192

X. Wallago attti . . . . . . . . . . . , . . ,, 208

XL Bagarius Yarrellii . . .. .. . .. .. ,, 210

XII. Notopterus chitala .. .. .. .. .. . ,, 216

XIII. Pseudeiitropius garua .. .. .. .. .. ,, 222

XIV. Ophiocephalus striatus .. .. .. .. .. ,, 226

XV. Polynemus tetradactylus .. .. .. .. .. ,, 240

XVI. Lates calcarifer . . . . . . . . . . . . ,, 250

XVII. Megalops cyprinoides . . . . . . . . . . ,, 256

IN THE LETTERPRESS.

PAGE

The gaff hook, with collapsing or telescopic handle . . . . . . . 19

,, that screws into a handle .. .. .. .. .. .. 19

,, that lashes on to a handle . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Jointed landing-net ring, open and closed . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Triangular landing-net, open and closed . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Spring balance. . . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 38

Wooden steel-yard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Baiting needles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Single vent-hook tackle, with special sinker, for dead-bait spinning for Mahseer 68

xxv i Illustrations.

TAGE

Dee minnow tackle, baited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

5, unbaited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Geen's Richmond spinner, mounted for Mahseer . . . . . . . . . . 69

Coxon spinner, mounted for Mahseer . . . \ . . . . . . . . 70

,, English mounting, baited . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

,, ,, unbaited . . . . . . . . . . 71

Archer spinner, baited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

,, unbaited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Chapman spinner, baited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

,, unbaited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

A fish's angles of vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

,, » 109

Scale of Limerick hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

,, Mahseer treble hooks .. .. .. .. .. .. ..119

,, Pennell-eyed Limerick hooks .. .. .. .. .. ..120

„ ,, sneck-bend hooks 121

,, eyed Kirby hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

,, Rohu hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 123

Hog-back fly-spoon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Parson's live-bait tackle 138

Jardine live-bait tackle .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 141

Rod rest 142

Loop knot for drop flies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

Francis knot for drop flies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

My knot for drop flies .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 183

Knot for attaching fly-collar to running line, by day . . . . . . 184

My knot for attaching fly-collar to running line, by night . . . . . . 184

Lightlanding.net .. .. .. .. .. .. .. f. .. 190

Knot for detective float 200

Sizes of rust-proof wire gimp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

The Jardine gag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Disgorger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Bagarius Yarrellii and man .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..210

Geen's Richmond spinner, trout size. . .. .. .. .. .. .. 218

Dead frog baited, large . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

» small .. . -.230

Gorge hook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Prawn tackle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

The Ootacamund Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Spoon-bait, mounted as I recommend .. .. .. .. .. .. 274

The Giri spoon .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 275

Hog-back spoon 275

Double loop knot, for spinning-bait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Scale of swivels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Whipping on a treble hook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Knot for turned-down metal-eyed hook . . . . . . . . . . 281

,, turned-up metal-eyed hook . . . . . . . . . . 281

Illustrations. xxvii

PAGE

Turle knot 282

Pennell's jam knot, for eyed hooks 282

Improved jam knot, for eyed hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Fishing Gazette knot for eyed hooks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

Knot for worn fly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

My brake-winch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Warner's wedge-fast winch-fittings 294

Farlow's collapsible line dryer 296

Button end of butt of rod 301

Lock-fast ferrule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Rod top ring with revolving centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Snake rings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

My rod ring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Knotting gut together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304

„ loop in gut . . . . 304

Bait cans, of three sorts 307

Winch case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Norwegian fishing knife . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Fly scissors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Hackle-holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . '310

Table-vice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310

Gut-twister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Knot for finishing off splicing of rod .. .. .. .. .. ..311

Rod box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Arrangement for commanding the overflow . . . . . . . . . . 344

Movements of fish in swimming . . . . . . . . . . . . "355

THE ROD IN INDIA.

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
Apologia pro libra meo.

NOT a few lovers of the gentle art are condemned by their calling to
pass the best years of their existence in India, sighing, amongst other
things, for the banks of Tweed, or Usk, or other familiar stream in
the old country, looking forward to the too far distant time when
furlough, or other favouring circumstance, shall take them home to
the land where they may again beguile the speckled beauties from the
stream, or once more do battle with the lordly salmon. To such it
may be a comfort to know that they need not wait so long for the
" good time coming," that there is as good fishing to be had in India
as in England ; and to minister such comfort to exiled anglers is my
present philanthropic object.

I fancy there are not a few fishermen in India, good fishermen too,,
who know well how to fill a basket in England, who are, nevertheless,
entirely at a discount in India. Indeed, I have met such, and do not
mind confessing that I am myself a lamentable instance of that
distressed class, for whether or not I knew how to circumvent a trout
in England, I certainly could make nothing of the Mahseer in India,
and lost all too much time in learning the manners and customs of that
oriental gentleman. Sad indeed is the retrospect of golden oppor-
tunities lost ! What would I not have given to any one who would
then have put me in the way of seizing them ! To give this helping
hand, the benefit of my little experience, to brother anglers is my

B

2 Introductory, CHAP. i.

object in writing. It is not that I have the assurance to think I am the
right man to undertake the task. On the contrary, I know that there
are many who have enjoyed much better opportunities of sport in
Indian waters, and who have consequently more experience, as well as
better leisure. They are the men who ought to write a book on the
subject, but they do not, and it is not my fault that they do not. It
is not that I have nothing better to beguile the tedium of a P. and O.
steamer voyage back to India, though that may be my opportunity
for scribbling. It is that I have an idea it is the sort of thing some
fellow ought to do out of purely philanthropic motives for his brother
.anglers ; and as nobody else will do it, I suppose I must. It seems
so selfish to have discovered that there is right good fishing to be
had, and then to keep it to oneself. In short, I cannot do it; so
" here goes."

There may be some six hundred books or thereabouts on fishing
in general, but there is not one that I know of on fishing in India.
The subject is scarcely overwritten, therefore, in spite of the six hundred
books aforesaid.

Thus I wrote some three-and-twenty years ago, and I will let it
stand as indicating my reasons for first writing, though I may have
picked up a crumb or two of knowledge since then.

Englishmen have few relaxations indeed in this land of their exile.
Very, very differently situated in this respect is the Public Servant in
India and his congener in England. "All work and no play makes
Jack a dull boy," but I venture to say from experience that an energetic
Mahseer telegraphs such an enlivening thrill of pleasurable excitement
up the line, down the rod, and through the wrist and arm, to the very
heart of the man who has got well fixed, that it makes his pulse beat
quicker, and is altogether as good as a tonic to him. Be he ever so
cool in the management of a heavy fish, even the old hand cannot but
experience a certain amount of exhilaration,

" The stern joy which warriors feel
In foemen worthy of their steel."

I maintain that a few such electric currents before breakfast do
a man good, and send him in to his daily work much more wide-awake
and cheerful. All other electric batteries are nothing to it. Con-
sidering the amount of refreshing good it does a fellow, it is a wonder

CHAP. i. Pisciculture indebted to Anglers. 3

an enlightened Government does not keep a man in rod and tackle,
and allow treble hooks to be included in the annual " Sadirwarid." *
In the graphic language of the Eastern domestic, wishing loyally to
commend a dish to the languid appetite of his overworked master, it is
" Good for master's body, all same like one tarnic."

Furthermore a successful fisherman is calculated to take more
interest than his neighbours in a matter which has grown to be acknow-
ledged in England, in Europe, in Australia, in New Zealand, in Canada,
in America, in Japan, as of national importance, to wit, pisciculture,
or in other words, the means of increasing the supply of animal
food yielded by fishes. A really good fisherman is a close observer
of piscine nature, and not unfrequently of insect nature too, and is
therefore likely to bring more experience than others to the furtherance
of the object. If in my official report on Pisciculture in South Canara
in 1870, my earliest literary plunge into Indian waters, I was able to
give any information about the habits of the Mahseer, its food, its time,
manner, and place of spawning, and the consequent dangers to which
its fry are exposed, and the protection that can be afforded them, it
must honestly be confessed that it was entirely to my fishing-rod that
I owed it. These fish live in such deep and strong waters, among
so many rocks and snags, that they are not approachable by the net till
the rivers have subsided in the dry season, till the fish, formerly spread
all over the river, have congregated into the fewer remaining pools. It
is obvious, therefore, that if net-caught specimens had been the only
ones available, conclusions on their habits would necessarily have been
formed on data very much limited as regards both locality and time;
limited, in fact, to places and periods which my rod proved would have
given no information at all, for the net-caught fish would have been
only those captured in the lower waters and in the dry season, whereas
my rod showed that it was in the high waters that they spawned, and
that they had completed that operation before the dry season. By the
friendly aid of my rod only was I able to take Mahseer at intervals over
several months, and in both the upper and lower waters of the rivers.
The native anglers are very poor hands at catching the Mahseer, and
I should have leaned on a broken reed indeed had I been dependent
on them, for they were very few specimens that I got by that means,

* An annual indent for pens, pencils, knives, scissors, needles, thread, and such
like miscellaneous office requirements.

B 2

4 Introductory. CHAP. i.

not half a dozen in all, whereas by the aid of my own rod I was enabled
in the early days of my first edition of "The Rod in India" in 1873, to
examine the ovaries and the stomachs of between seventy and eighty
Mahseer, and to gather therefrom reliable evidence of the state of
advancement of the former at different times and places, as well as the
most satisfactory proof of what the fish was in the habit of feeding upon.
And since then I have continually examined I know not how many fish
of sorts to verify and extend my knowledge. I say this not from any
conceit with reference to my own individual fishing, but in common
fairness to rods in general, in acknowledgment of how greatly pisci-
culture is dependent on the aid of angler sportsmen, as well as by way
of encouragement to observant fishermen, and in explanation of one
of my motives in writing on fishing ; for my idea is that if I can do any-
thing towards making a man a successful fisherman, I have advanced
one step towards making him, if not a pisciculturist, at any rate an
aider in acquiring knowledge on the subject, and thus an advancer of
its progress.

Very much has been done at home for the advancement of the
science of pisciculture by the newspaper communications of sportsmen,
and though the matter thus obtained is considered and arranged and
utilized by the pisciculturist, it is to the intelligent angler that he is
after all indebted for most of his facts. In this respect the Indian
pisciculturist labours under peculiar disadvantages, for he not only has
to work through the medium of foreign languages, but also without the
aid, as in England, of a thousand intelligent observers, all ready to
communicate freely through the medium of special papers like The
Field or Land and Water. I write, therefore, also in the hope that
anglers may be induced to lend their kindly aid from time to time
towards increasing the knowledge of the habits of the fishes found
in Indian waters, and as a consequence to forward the efforts of
those seeking the best means of increasing the supply of this sort
of food.

Still I write primarily for fishermen. In doing this, however, it
is a little difficult to know how to write. Though there are many good
fishermen in India there are also many who, from early absence from
England, know practically very little about it, although they are ready
enough to take to it, if they can only see their way to getting sport.
I have, therefore, two opposite courses to follow simultaneously. I

CHAP. i. Co-operation of Anglers sought. 5

have to make myself intelligible to the novice, and at the same time to
endeavour not to weary the fisherman by re-writing what he has already
read in different shape in some half dozen of the six hundred books
already alluded to. By way of getting safely through this Scylla and
Charybdis I must commence by presuming my reader's knowledge of
books such as, " A Book on Angling," by Francis Francis, Publishers
Longmans, Green & Co., Paternoster Row, London, in one volume
octavo, price 15^., cloth; "The Sea Fisherman," by J. C. Wilcocks,
Publishers Longmans, Green & Co., London ; and if he has not read
these books yet, I can only recommend him to do so, as it would
be idle for me to go again over ground already so well and so
pleasantly described. It is better that I should confine myself as
closely as possible to the Indian side of the subject, and endeavour to
give my reader only what he cannot get better elsewhere. Still it is
impossible to do so altogether, and yet be intelligible to the tyro ; when
I am more than ordinarily tedious therefore to the practised fisherman,
I can only hope that he will give me all he can spare of that commodity
of which he is generally believed to have such a plentiful supply, to wit,
patience.

If brother anglers reading these pages feel inclined to give me the ,
benefit of their further experiences, I shall hope to embody or quote
them in some possible future edition. The collected wisdom of all
anglers in all parts of India might thus grow into a very complete book,
sufficient to show the best means of securing the best sport available in
different localities in India.

This invitation, thrown out in my first edition, has been very kindly
responded to by anglers. Not a few have written to me direct, and
others have contributed papers to the Field, and to the Asian, some
professedly in answer to this invitation, others in the same spirit of
helping fellow fishermen to sport. For myself I beg to tender cordial
acknowledgments to all who have thus helped in what I must call the
kindliest manner. I am confirmed in the conviction, always fixed in
my mind, that it is very rare for a good fisherman not to be a good
fellow. For others, readers of this little volume, the result is happy,
for they will not be confined to my ideas only, but will have the
opinions and the experience of others also. Believing that my readers
will be glad to have the views of others, as well as my own, and
recognizing that India is too large a field for any one person to cover

6 Introductory. CHAP. i.

unaided, I have endeavoured to bring together in this volume all the
information kindly afforded by others. That contained in newspaper
contributions will be found in Chapter XXVI., on Fishing Localities,
the source and the nom de plume being always given. Some of my
readers may find double interest in, and attach increased weight to,
these contributions, from recognizing under a nom de plume a friend
well known by them to be a master in the art.

Besides the contributions of unknown writers, I am able to give
my readers two interesting communications, one from the pen of
Colonel J. Parsons, and the other by Colonel W. Osborn, commanding
9th M.N.I. Sportsmen will find them both valuable.

The further experience had since 1873 has also enabled me to
introduce not a little additional matter of my own.

If sportsmen think that the above invitation has resulted in any
advantage to themselves, perhaps they will allow me to renew it in this
edition. ' Though I cannot be sanguine that this book will live to a
third edition, still stranger things have happened, and it is just possible
that it may again come to pass that anglers, who have put themselves
to the kindly trouble of co-operating through the press or direct, may
find that, in the total of experiences put together, they get more than
any one of them could individually contribute.

Anglers are in England a numerous class, whereas in India they
form a very small minority of the lovers of sport. Whether for love,
or for money, shooting of any sort, and more particularly heavy game
shooting, is so much more difficult to obtain in England than in India,
that many, who in England perforce content themselves with the rod,
would in India be seduced by the ruder attractions of the boar-spear,
the rifle, and the gun. For myself I can well remember a day in camp,
" marked evermore with white," when rising at dawn I heard over my
early cup of coffee the trumpeting of elephants, knew that there was
a fair chance also of bison, sambre, and spotted-deer, knew also that
there was a Mahseer river in the valley. In one corner of the camp
hut was the battery, in the other were the rods and tackle. Which
shall it be ? I may get up to those elephants in a quarter of an hour,
I may trudge ten miles and not get a shot. I know that I can make
a certainty of the Mahseer. I chose the latter, and brought home six
fine fish before breakfast, and never regretted my choice. But I think
there are not a few who, in like circumstances, would unhesitatingly

CHAP. I. Co-operation of Anglers sought. 7

have preferred the rifle to the rod. And thus it comes about that
anglers are in India comparatively few. They are all too few to help
each other adequately with information over so wide an area as
India; all too few to make it worth while to write a book on the
subject, except for the love of the thing, therefore there is all the
more reason why they should continue to help each other as much
as they can.

CHAPTER II.
THE MAHSEER.

" By sports like these are all their cares beguiled."

GOLDSMITH.

OF the fish to be caught in Indian waters the best is, in my opinion, the
Mahseer, the best, I mean, as regards sport, and we may as well begin
with the best. Its size depends much on the size of the river in which
it is found, as will be seen in Chapter III.

In my own opinion, and in that of others whom I have met, the
Mahseer shows more sport for its size than a salmon. The essence of
sport, or in other words of the enjoyment of any pursuit lies, I take it,
in the exhibition of superiority therein, whether of skill or courage, not
the exhibition for others to see, but the difficult attainment of it for our
own satisfaction. It would be a tame affair to be pork butcher to a
village pig, but to spear the "mighty boar" is quite another thing.
Why ? Where lies the difference ? Simply in the fact that —

"Youth's vigour, manhood's fire,
Firm hand, and eagle eye,
Must he possess
Who would aspire
To see the grey boar die."

Entering more or less into all sports, even into such peaceable pursuits
as chess, whist, or billiards, there are a thousand different gradations of
" the stern joy which warriors feel in foemen worthy," whether mentally
or physically, " of their steel." It is the love of conquest. What is
wanted is not conquered worlds, but " more worlds to conquer." Who
cares to pull out a dead pike on a night line ? The pot-hunter, not the
sportsman. To battle with a heavy salmon, or kill a good game trout
on a very light rod and fine line, is quite another matter From this

CHAP. ii. The Mahseer' s first rush. 9

point of view it is that I say a Mahseer shows more sport than a salmon.
Not that you can kill more of them, which you may also do, but that
each individual Mahseer makes a better fight than a salmon of the same
size. I am prepared to expect that on this point, as on most others not
capable of being proved to demonstration, and perhaps in not a few of
these last also, some will disagree with me. Quot homines, tot sententia.
For my own part I can only say that my prejudices were all in favour
of the salmon, both as being a salmon, a sort of lion of the waters,
whom I had grown up looking on with respect from my childhood,
and as being a fellow-countryman. But the Mahseer compelled
me to believe in and honour him in spite of my pre judgment to the
contrary.

The M ah seer's First Rush. — I came to the conclusion that
though he might not make so long a fight of it as a salmon, he yet made
a much more difficult one, because his attack was more impetuously
vehement, his first rush more violent, all his energies being concentrated
in making it effective, though his efforts were not, and from that very
cause, could not be, so long sustained. Trying to account for this I
had the curiosity to measure and compare the size of his tail and fins
with that of his body, and I found that the superficial area of his
propelling and directing power amounted together to as much as the
superficial area of the whole of the rest of his body. The proportion
which the tail and fins of a salmon bear to the rest of his body is very
much smaller. The Mahseer having then so much greater means of
putting on steam, and having also the habit of always putting it on at
once energetically and unsparingly, it is readily intelligible that his first
rush is a mighty one, and that, that made, his strength is comparatively
soon exhausted. Other rushes he will make, but his first is the
dangerous one. Then it is that the final issue of the campaign is
practically decided. Be one too many for him then, and you may be
grimly satisfied that all else he can do will not avail him; you may
count on making him your own. Then it is that you must wait upon
him diligently. If you have not got all free, the connection between
you and your new friend will be severed within a moment of your
making each other's acquaintance. If you have carelessly allowed the
line to get a turn round the tip of the rod, or let any slack near the
hand become kinked ever so little, or twiste'd over the butt, or hitched
in the reel or a button, then it is that not a moment's law is given you

io The Mahseer. CHAP. n.

for the re-adjustment of this little matter ; there is a violent tug, and an
immediate smash;

" The waters wild

Go o'er your child,

And you are left lamenting."

You must fish in a state of constant and careful preparedness for this
sudden and impetuous rush ; for there is no use in hooking a fish if he
is to break you immediately. Even your very reel must be looked to
that it runs easily, that it is not fouled and clogged by use, that no
treacherous sand has got in from laying down your rod and reel by the
river side, for when a heavy fish goes off with racehorse speed, he will
take no denial, and woe betide you if you cannot promptly oblige him
with the line he wants. If he cannot get it fast enough to please him,
he will break it. All this may be in a measure true of the salmon too,
but it is pre-eminently so with reference to the Mahseer, and more than
ordinary attention should be paid to it accordingly.

Here let me quote, in passing, from the Asian, in which " Marmot "
writes on the 22nd of November, 1881 : — " I have fished in nearly every
river and lake in Ireland, but never had a tussle equal to my last fish at
Tangrot "... " Time, one hour and twenty-five minutes by my watch ;
weight of fish, 42 Ibs."

A single turn of the line round the top of the rod does not always
catch the eye at once, and is much more likely to occur while spinning
than when fly-fishing. It is well therefore to test from time to time
whether or not all is free. This can easily be done by taking a pull at
the line close to the winch. If it runs freely through the top, well ; but
if it does not, get your bait out of the water as quickly as possible, to
avoid accidents. Out with it at all costs without a moment's hesitation.
Never think of risking it, for it is not a mere risk but a certainty that
if you have the misfortune to get a run in that plight you will also get a
smash somewhere, and not improbably of your rod. If you are too lazy
to remedy the evil immediately, let me venture to suggest that it would
be better that you should retire from business.

A Pliable Rod. — A pliable rod is in my opinion a matter of great
moment in Mahseer fishing. The rush is so sudden and so violent that
the hand, be it ever so light, cannot answer to it sufficiently quickly, and
with a stiff rod the mischief is done in the very first tug. Whereas if
you have a pliable rod it yields instantaneously to the tug, it yields

CHAP. ii. Winch friction. n

before you have felt the- tug down at the other end of the rod in your
hand, and the first thing you are aware of is the noise of the revolving
check-winch. If you have a stiff rod you will require to strengthen
your tackle, that is, you will be at the disadvantage of not being able to
fish so fine.

It is friction that you get rid of in a pliable rod; or, to speak
more correctly, you minimize uncontrollable friction, and have a
greater command of the friction which you can control and utilize.
The friction caused by two or three turns round a capstan or about a
belaying pin amounts almost to a dead lock, and so, in a less degree,
the friction caused by a single right angle is considerable. The latter is
about the friction caused by the line at the point of a stiff rod. In a
pliable rod the point yields quickly, reduces the angle, and so reduces
the friction, till you raise the point and renew and increase the friction
at your discretion.

Winch Friction. — The friction of the winch or reel is another
item not to be left out of your calculations in considering the amount of
tension that your line will bear. If you want to realize this, take your
winch off the rod, and, holding it in your hand, satisfy yourself that it
runs quite easily. Then tie the end of the line to a post or anything
firm, and holding the reel in one hand run away as if you were a fish,
only run as fast as a fish swims, and you will find that the friction of the
reel, which seemed to be next to «//, will, when multiplied by the
velocity, amount to such a tension that it alone will break any but a
strong line. Consider, again, the wonderful velocity with which a fish
swims. So quickly does a trout dart away that you can scarcely see it
pass you. When you hook a fish it is frightened at the restraint, and
exerts itself to flee therefrom at its utmost speed. Nothing prevents its
fleeing at that speed except the resistance of your tension ; and if the
fish is so big that the resistance makes no sensible difference to it at
first, as a man's weight does not much reduce the speed of a horse, the
velocity with which the line runs out will, with a heavy Mahseer, be very
great indeed, and the tension from winch friction alone will become
very serious. The tension is also greatest at the moment of starting the
winch in motion. When the pace is reduced you may fall back on the
rod for additional friction, but till it is you will, in the case of a very
heavy fish on which you can make no impression, find that you have to
let the rod be pulled down to the angle of about 45° or 50° from the

12 The Mahseer. CHAP. n.

water, and that nevertheless you still need very strong tackle for large
Mahseer. You have to lower the top because you cannot help yourself,
and it is not infrequently pulled much below that angle. Indeed, I have
had a 16 feet rod jerked clean out of my right hand, and very nearly
out of my left also, when a little unprepared, and for a few seconds had
no strain on the fish beyond what was the result of winch friction. But
quickly recovering my hold on the rod, its point was promptly raised a
little, and then more and more as the violence of the rush allowed.
Your aim is never to let the point be lower than the angle of 45° if you
can help it, so that there is a little, but not too much rod friction just
for the first few seconds, the unavoidable winch friction being, with a
Mahseer, sometimes as much as the line will stand.*

Still you should also be " hard " on your fish, keeping the line as
stiff as a wire from the fish to the point of the rod, so as to avoid slack
line, a state of affairs which not only facilitates a hook dropping out, but
also gives opportunities for a "foul" round a rock. Hold the point
well up so as to keep the fish free of any snags at the bottom. You will
find that in deep water a Mahseer will, like a Grayling, always bore
down to the bottom. If there is a depth of 20 or 30 feet of water, down
he will go to the bottom, your whole collar will disappear below water,
and when at length you again catch sight of the knot that unites the
collar to the running line, you may commence " chortling in your joy,"
for he is giving in, your strain is telling on him, as he will never come
up willingly, he will never spring into the air after the manner of the
Salmonidae. The moment he comes upwards pull him towards the
shore. Put in your claim for being the conqueror.

Well, all being ready for paying out line at any required pace at a
moment's notice, and it not being supposed that it is to be given gratis,
far from it, how is full toll to be exacted for every inch ? This is
usually done by raising the point of the rod more or less according to
circumstances, and thus compelling the fish to bend it before he can get
the line to run, and to bend it more and more as you feel you can
steadily raise the point still further, till eventually you nearly " show him
the butt."

Playing. — Different men kill their fish differently, some taking
twice as much time about it as others. My preference is for having

* There will be more to say about winch friction when we corns to winches ; but
enough here for our present purpose.

CHAP. ii. Playing a Mahseer. 13

my fish out of the water as soon as safely may be. Brute force is of
course out of the question, but short of that I am for putting on all the
strain the rod and tackle is calculated to bear, and it is a matter of
some little nicety to know exactly how much your rod will bear. But,
above all, I am for keeping on the strain unremittingly, without a
moment's respite. Do not give the fish an instant to think, or it may
occur to him to take up a position in which he can sulk at the bottom,
and that is dreadfully slow work. You must then try all the remedies
usually prescribed for a sulking salmon, but it is a tedious business at
the best, and it is losing time while you might be trying for another
fish. My faith is that by sufficient promptitude you can prevent his ever
taking to sulking at all. The very moment he ceases rushing, commence
winding up, and wind away as vigorously as you dare without a second's
hesitation. Do not wait for him to shape the course of events, but
shape it yourself. Rely a good deal on the force of " pure cussedness "
in a fish. Whatever you do his first idea is to do the exact opposite.
He is afraid of your restraint, which is novel to him, and his first
impulse is to break away from it. Subsequent yearnings he may
possibly have, and doubtless has, when he comes to think of it, for the
shelter of some deep corner where he is used to solace himself, his own
fireside. But it is a novel experience to him this restraint, and it is no
new work to you, and you may pre-occupy his mind, and occupy his
tail, not a little, if you show prompt generalship. The master mind
may come in here as well as in the fall of empires, and it is surely a
pleasure to find you have that commodity somewhere about you. Of
course you have it. We all knew you had it. And now it is proved !
The very instant the fish hesitates wind him in. It is not impossible
you may land him at once, getting him on shore before he has well
made up his mind what to do. But the probabilities are that as he
finds himself nearing the shore, and gets a clearer view of the great big
trousered biped that is bothering him, he will summon up all his
strength for another rush. All right, that is just what you want ; you
only want to make him keep on exerting himself unremittingly, and he
must soon be yours. Is there no music in that whir-whir-whir of the check-
reel, the rod bending bravely all the while ? Surely it was of this that
the sporting poet Shakspeare said some hard things with reference to

"The man who hath no music in himself
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds."

14 The Mahscer. CHAP. n.

Fire away, Mr. Mahseer, discourse sweet music on the long-stringed
winch. The more the fish fights the better, the better for sport, the
better for speedily killing him ; any respite is recovery of strength, and
a good sulk makes him almost as bad to kill as a new fish.

The ground on which I lay such stress on continuity of pressure,
more even than on the strength of the pressure, is simple enough when
it is considered. Under any extraordinary exertion the muscles call on
the blood, and the blood on the lungs, for speedy renewal of speedy
waste, and the result is being what is called " out of breath," and the
muscles, though by no means tired out, can do nothing till the breath is
regained, shall we say till the blood has been re-oxygenated. Never
give a moment's grace then for this re-oxygenating of the blood, and
you may kill a large fish in a very short time. The average time for
killing a big fish with a salmon rod is a pound a minute. A twenty
pound fish should be your own in twenty minutes or thereabouts,
according to the water in which you have to fight him. By continuity
of pressure, unremitting strain without one moment's respite, you keep
the fish out of breath, and thereby neutralize the latent muscular
power, which a little breathing space would soon renew, and give you
all your work to do over again. This is how it is that some people
play an ordinary salmon for long hours, and think they have a most
extraordinarily game fish on. It is the same principle on which " the
mighty boar " is speared. Press him to his very utmost speed from the
first, and keep him at it, and you will soon overhaul him • but let him go
at his own pace, a pace that will not distress him, and he will keep you
at an English hunting gallop till he walks away from you, the horse
giving in before the boar, that is, if he is at all a travelled pig.

I have a theory that if the strain on the fish is kept as much as
possible at right angles to the current, it has a greater effect on him
than any other strain. If the fish is down stream playing lazily about,
not vigorously, perhaps meditating sulks, it is obvious that he is at a
great advantage, he has the whole weight of the stream in his favour,
and you distress him very little in comparison to the pull on your rod.
He is practically resting and recruiting. But get the pull to bear at
right angles to the force of the current and he cannot help exerting
himself to keep his nose straight to the stream. If he allows himself
to be pulled out of his position, and gets ever so slightly side on to the
stream, in he comes towards shore immediately, is frightened at the

CHAP. ii. Playing a Mahseer. 15

prospect, and dashes off again just as you would have him. Thus you
keep him at it, and very soon tire him out. But in practice your pull
at right angles to the stream generally compels the fish to keep working
up stream, and that betters your position, enabling you to apply a
strain that is a compound of a perpendicular, a down-stream and a
shoreward pull. In deep water, however, you may be equally satisfied
you are wasting no power by pulling the fish upwards, for the specific
gravity of a fish being very little greater than that of water, he gains
next to nothing by his weight while in the water, and he must keep on
exerting himself to swim downwards, with his head down and tail up,
to resist your upward strain, and as in that direction he can never swim
beyond the bottom, you are ensured against any violent rush. A friend
wrote to me of a fish boring at first, and then making a free fight with
a good deal of spluttering on the surface. I do not look upon this
spluttering on the surface as fighting, but as an indication that the fight
was over, the fish was beaten, and had no longer the power to bore
down to the bottom. As soon as ever a fish begins to splutter, the
pulling upwards should cease, the point of the rod should be lowered
and pulled sideways, not upwards, so as to bring the fish to shore with-
out having its head out of water. Spluttering is dangerous and to be
discouraged, for direct communication through the air means the
absence of the yielding cushion which the water supplies in easing off
each jerk on the line ; it means, also, that the fish gains the advantage
of his specific gravity being greater in the air than in the water. It is
an ugly time when a jack shakes his jaws in the air, and never is a trout
so likely to get off as when springing into the air. With fish that have
not such vices naturally, it is a great mistake to help them to being
troublesome. No Mahseer, indeed none of the Indian carp, are up to
those little tricks, so never bring them to the actual surface, but play
them short of that till you land them.

Briefly, then, my idea is to be heavy on your fish, and be unremit-
ting, be prompt, scan your battle-field, and choose your ground, and
shape the course of events as much as you can yourself; in a stream
pull generally at right angles to it, in deep water pull upwards,
get your fish on terra fa-ma as soon as possible, it is the safest place
for him.

An extra reason for having the line as taut and straight from the
fish to the top of your rod as possible is that you may lessen the chances

1 6 The Mahseer. CHAP. n.

of the fish fouling it round a rock and cutting you. So try and keep
well over him till he is beaten.

Also keep a little below him if you can, so that he shall have to
fight the force of the stream as well as fight your pull. This every
salmon fisher does at once. And the stronger the stream the stronger
the reason for your being below your fish. I know that some also add
the argument that a fish pulled down stream is quickly drowned, be-
cause in that position he cannot so easily eject through his gills the
water which he has inhaled. But my humble opinion is that he will
struggle to the last against being pulled downwards, and that when he
submits to it he is already a beaten fish, and you need waste no more
time on him, but get him ashore.

I have said keep below your fish if you can, still I do not believe in
running down the bank. I think it is resorted to much too readily, the
result being that the command over the line is more than half lost the
while, and not nearly enough steady pressure is maintained. If it must
be resorted to, follow the fish only at such a pace as leaves you still full
master of the rod and the pressure, and do not move any faster till close
on the last extremity. To endeavour to race your fish on a practically
loose line is equivalent to racing an express train.

When the fish is tired you feel each struggle as you feel the stride in
a tired-out horse. Every beat of the tail is telegraphed up the line.
Before the fish was tired you seemed to have on a lively tree, an active
oak, on which you could make no manner of impression. When the
throbbing comes he is a beaten fish, and will soon be your own.

By the time which passes before this throbbing comes you may in
some measure estimate the size of the yet unseen fish. In the first few
moments of the mighty rush you cannot tell a ten-pound fish from a
fifty-pounder, and even a five-pound fish will sometimes beguile you
for a short space into the fond hope, not unmixed with a spice of fear,
that you have got hold of the biggest Mahseer in the river, especially if
he bolts down stream, and it is down stream that they generally make
their first rush. Some say they always bolt down stream first, but that
is not my experience, and I am inclined to think that those who say it
quote unconsciously from the memory of supreme moments deeply
impressed, while less exciting runs, not accompanied by the trying
catastrophe of a break, have not unnaturally faded from the memory.
It is a trick that memory plays us. And I can certainly recall many a

CHAP. ii. Playing a Mahseer. 17

Mahseer that has not rushed down stream first. But, to return to our
subject, wherever your fish goes on his first mad career, when the
throbbing comes you may commence estimating how big he is.

This may perhaps be best illustrated by a quotation from a letter
of my own written close on experiences : —

" R. got an 8-lb. Mahseer. G. and P. came up just in the nick of time
to see it struck. R. had the salmon rod held in both hands with the butt
almost straight to the fish, and bending down to the hand. None but
a good rod and good tackle could have stood it and yet the line was
screaming out down stream for about fifty yards, just as if there was a
5o-lb. fish on, till the fish took up a position in the deep water, and R.
wound up and got close to him to find to his disappointment that the
fight was practically over in that one grand struggle. A little dull resistance,
a few turns, and the fish was shelved. It is surprising what a game fish
a Mahseer is ! The first blow and rush of a 5-lb. or lo-lb. fish is so violent
and furious that no sign is given by which you may know it from a fish
ten times its size ; hence it is that many men think it must have been a
very monster that broke them, whereas it may equally have been a 5-lb. or
6-lb. fish. It is only in the duration of the run, the continuance of the
strength, that the size of the Mahseer can be approximately guessed at."

I may mention here, as a case in point, with reference to the manner
of playing a fish, that a friend killed a forty-six pound Mahseer after a
four hours' fight, and that the very next day, in the very same run, I
killed a Mahseer of the same weight to an ounce, and in splendid con-
dition, in forty-five minutes by my watch. And my rod and line were
not stronger than my friend's \ my line was exactly similar, and my rod
was, if anything, lighter. It was not my fish, then, or my water, or my
tackle that were different, only my tactics. Nor had I any advantage
in the way my fish was hooked. It was simply the tactics — the tactics
to which I am seeking your adhesion.

Should you chance to hook your fish in the under lip — an unusual
occurrence — the upward pull of the line may tend to make it difficult
for the fish to open its mouth wide so as to inhale freely the oxygen in
the water, with the result that the fish would be the sooner exhausted.
But there was no such accident in the above case in point.

Please note that I kept the regulation time, forty-six pounds in forty-
five minutes, a pound a minute. I insist on punctuality.

A brake-winch will very much assist your insistance, and enable you

THE ROD IN INDIA. C

1 8 The Mahscer. CHAP. n.

to put on any pressure your tackle will bear, however light your rod, as
may be seen in the Chapter on Tackle. As long as you do not bend the
rod too much the pressure will not strain the rod, however light the rod
or strong the tackle. See remarks under Winches and Brake-winch in
Chapter XX.

Landing a Mahseer. — And now to land him. There are four
ways — shelving, handling, gaffing, netting.

Shelving. — To my thinking shelving is the safest way, and directly
you see that your fish is getting beaten, look about you for a gently-
shelving strand to which to lead him, and continue the fight in that
direction, remembering that the fish is sure not to like the look of the
bank as much as you do, and directly he nears it is certain to summon
all his remaining strength to dash away from it. So do not pull him
on shore while he is struggling against you, but choose rather the
moment of utter exhaustion directly after one of these last great efforts,
then pull him straight towards shore, with his nose well up on the
surface of the water, and you will find the fish will, with the way you
get on him, be run his whole length well up the shelving bank with his
tail clear of the water, and for a second or two he will lie there like a
log. You will have plenty of time to stoop down and secure him
yourself, without the doubtful aid of an untrained attendant. And even
if you are fishing from a boat it is the safest plan to go ashore and
shelve your fish if he is a heavy one worth killing. Of course you will
take the precaution, when going ashore, to send your boat enough out
of the way to get sufficient elbow-room.

Handling. — But handling is an equally safe way if you have with
you a really well-trained man, who knows his work and will not lose his
head. I have had such, splendid fellows, who joined heart and soul in
the sport. They can be so useful that it is well worth while to train a
likely man. His business is to approach the fish from behind it, and
out of the way of your line, and waiting the moment of exhaustion, or
waiting your word, to use the moment promptly yet not hurriedly,
slipping both hands under the fish, with a thumb in each gill, and then
gripping tight ; or, if it is a small fish, he can take it by the nape of the
neck with one hand, with the thumb in one gill and the fingers in the
other. In either case he will have secured a firm grip, from which no
slipperiness will help the fish to free itself. And so held the fish should
be dragged or carried well inland. You cannot take the fish by the

CHAP. ii. Landing a Mahscer. 19

tail as you can a salmon, as that member is not so conveniently shaped
for the purpose in a Mahseer.

The Gaff. — In Mahseer fishing the gaff is not without a dis-
advantage, a disadvantage which is not present in salmon fishing. The
scales of a Mahseer are so extraordinarily large and hard
that if the point of the gaff-hook happens to enter the
hard exposed part of a scale, it will not penetrate more
than half an inch or so, and the scale comes away and
not the fish. And if you do not observe it and free the
point of the gaff-hook of the transfixed scale you may try
in vain to get the hook to enter anywhere. But this does
not happen often if you gaff the Mahseer in the belly,
where the scales are softer, getting the gaff under the fish
from the side near you, and striking upwards. I know
some salmon fishers prefer to drop the gaff over the far
side of the fish and strike shorewards ; but by so gaffing
you are more likely to strike against the hard scales of the
side than against the softer scales of the belly, which,
with the Mahseer, is the danger to be avoided ; and as
your gaffing would ordinarily be done for you by a native
attendant, many think the danger too great, and never
allow a gaff to be used on a Mahseer ; and I am free to confess that
neither would I ever use it myself on this particular fish if I could
possibly shelve or handle instead. But there have
been occasions on which I have been glad of its aid,
because the position allowed of none other. I have
been in pools so steep-sided and overgrown with
forest that there was no possible landing-place for
more than half a mile. Then a gaff was invaluable.
I have also been with another who had got hold of
a 1 9 Impound Mahseer in such heavy water that it
was most difficult to keep the boat in it, except in
the one position of vantage that had been secured, so
that the fisherman dared not change his position lest
he should be swept away, and the line cut round
one of the many rocks. The current too was so
strong that if the fish had gone down he could never have been
recovered. It was altogether a cramped position in rough water. From

C 2

2O

The Mahseer.

CHAP. II.

another basket-boat a gaff enabled me to take the fish by surprise in
deep water, and he was lifted into my coracle. In such a position it
is well to know the proper way to use a gaff on a Mahseer. And in any
r- case a gaff is the thing for freshwater sharks, so I
give illustrations of the collapsing or telescopic gaff-
hook, and handle, which is of course the more ex-
pensive ; the gaff-hook that screws into a socket fixed
at the end of a handle ; and the gaff-hook that can be
lashed on to any bamboo.

Netting. — With a really big Mahseer a landing-
net is out of the question, as no landing-net ever
made would hold him. Still I have found a big
salmon-net very useful when fishing from a boat, as it
saved the too precious time which would have been
lost in getting ashore, and saved also lamentably dis-
turbing the beautiful water which would have had to
be crossed to the only available landing-place ; and amongst forests
and high banks and rocks that landing-place was not to be seen, and
was perhaps half a mile off. My landing-net was of the steel-ring,
jointed, collapsible sort, i foot 3 inches across the mouth when open,
and 2 feet 6 inches deep in the net, and the net made very full so as to
allow of a fish of over two feet long lying across at full length

directly it is in the net. And
so lying it is difficult for him
to get out again. In place of
a stone to sink the net I
bored a hole through a bullet
and tied it permanently to the
bottom of the net. This net
screwed into a socket fitted on
to a stout male bamboo, which socket equally fitted the gaff-hook,
so that net and gaff were readily interchangeable, according to the
requirements of the fish.

There is also the triangular landing-net affected by some because of
its lightness. It is a pattern that admits of easy enlargement to any size
desired, by simply extending the arms with bamboos.

Here let me quote from "Tank Angling" in connection with Labeo :
" As the fish are heavy, not only must the handle be strong, but it must

CLOSED

CHAP. II.

Landing-nets.

21

be held in the right fashion. Your native attendant will always put the
net under the fish and then lift the net at right angles to himself, so that
the whole weight of the fish is at right angles to the handle. Not the
strongest landing-net going can stand that long, the majority will be ruined
in a single day's fishing, the weight of the fish bending the iron of the
landing-net close up to where it is screwed into the handle. Directly the

fish is in the net the handle should be brought into a perpendicular position,
and the fish lifted out with the handle all the time perfectly perpendicular.
There is then no strain on the iron. There is also no danger of the fish
getting out of the net because, if the bag of it is long enough, the fish will
fall into the bottom of the net well below the mouth of it, and is really more
safely netted than if the net were held out at right angles."

I have been asked how to put a landing-net under a fish, whether so
as to take him head foremost or tail foremost. Presuming that he is a

22 The Mahseer. CHAP. n.

big fish that you cannot take in bodily, and must select which end of
him to commence with, I would select the tail, because of the danger
of the hooks being caught in the net, when, with one plunge, the fish
can easily break his hook-hold or the gut. That plunge is not unusually
made on the fish's first feeling the net touch him, and if, by the hook
being hitched in the net, he gets a firm purchase, a break is inevitable.
This is doubly important if you are using spinning tackle with many
hooks, only one of which perhaps has hold of the fish. But I once had
to land a fish for a friend who, in some inexplicable way, had an
eighteen-pound mirga (Cirrhina mirgald) hooked by the tail. In that
case, of course, I took the fish into the landing-net head foremost. Also
in a stream, bring the net up from below stream, so as to allow of the
fish falling back with the stream into the net.

If you are in a boat you should kill your fish very thoroughly before
you attempt to get him into the boat, or he may run under your boat,
and get an awkward purchase on your line, such as will enable him to
break it in one of his last plunges. Keep him well off the boat, and work
him about till you can bring him up just where you like, thoroughly
exhausted and passive, while your man nets him. But if you can
discover a shelving sandbank anywhere near you, and your fish is worth
killing, I think it is much better to go ashore and run no risks, for the
safest plan is to shelve a fish whenever you can.

Directly you have your Mahseer safe knock him on the head. You
cannot kill a Mahseer of any size as you can a Labeo (page 53 of" Tank
Angling ") by hitting him on the side and bursting his air bladder. If
you don't kill your Mahseer promptly you may find that, in a boat
especially, and armed as he is with hooks, he may contrive to make
himself very unpleasant, and perhaps hook you or tear your net, or
bang himself about till he breaks your tackle against the boat. So
knock him on the head, and don't attempt to take the hooks out till you
have, or he may give a sudden jump that may drive the hooks into you.
A friend of mine did not find it at all enjoyable sport cutting the hooks
out of his own hand.

There are some people who seem to think the end and object of
catching a fish is to eat it, and a rapturous description of glorious sport
is too often cut short by a pragmatic inquiry as to what the fish tastes
like. To my mind that is a very secondary matter. It is, moreover, a
matter on which it is well known that people are not calculated to agree,

CHAP. ii. Edibility of Mahseer. 23

so much so that " de gustibus non est dispntandiim " is an axiom. Is it
fair, then, that I should be called upon to say whether or not the
Mahseer is good eating ? All I can say is that I have tasted Mahseer
in such high condition that they were excellent, they were so rich that
one could not eat any melted butter or other sauce with them, and so
well flavoured that they seemed to me to stand between the salmon
and the trout for the table. Such a fish must be one that has not even
commenced partially spawning, much less one that has completed that
operation. The best size for flavour is, in my opinion, about 6 Ibs. or
7 Ibs., say from 2 to 10 Ibs. When less than 2 Ibs. they are too bony,
when much larger than 10 Ibs. they are apt to be too gross and oily for
European tastes; but they are always thought thoroughly edible by
your camp. Natives, whom I have supplied with more than they could
eat fresh, said it salted well, but I never tried, and tastes differ, though
rich fish do as a rule salt well. But see remarks in the next chapter on
spent fish.

You will want one attendant with you to land your fish and carry
them, as well as to carry and prepare bait, as we shall see hereafter, and
to relieve you of your heavy salmon rod between whiles when clambering
over rocks from one good place to another ; in short, to take off your
hands all the drudgery of fishing, and to leave you only the sport.
Pick out one or more likely fellows therefore, and train them.

But I have been rather putting the cart before the horse, indulging
in the sport given by a Mahseer before saying how to hook him,
seemingly forgetting the wise saw " First catch your hare." Perhaps
it was by way of offering some inducement to anglers to accompany me
out fishing in the next chapter but one, for they can skip the inter-
mediate short chapter or not, according as they care or do not care to
know anything about the natural history of the Mahseer.

CHAPTER III.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MAHSEER.

"I in these flowery meads would be;
These crystal streams should solace me ;
To whose harmonious bubbling noise
I with my angle would rejoice."

IZAAK WALTON.

" a.v£i\Kvffa

roi XPvffV WWlHUUTlUtW." — THEOC. ID. XXI.

"I landed him, a fish compact with gold."

CHAPMAN'S Translation.

IT may be interesting to some that a few words should here be intro-
duced on the natural history of the Mahseer. The Mahseer is a
carp, though, as we shall see hereafter, very different in size, flavour,
strength, activity, and so forth, from his ignoble namesake in England,
or rather from the fish we have been accustomed from our boyhood to
call the carp, as if there was not a very large family of them. So if you
like it better, you can call him a barbel. His genealogy may be 'given
as follows : —

Animalia.
Vertebrata.
Class. Pisces.
Sub-class. Teleostii.
Order. Physostomi.
Family. Cyprinidae.
Sub-family. Cyprininae.
Genus. Barbus.

Sub-genus. Barbodes.

Species. Barbus (Barbodes) tor.
or Species. Barbus tor.

CHAP. in. Dr. Day's Description. 25

Teleostii. Greek, teleos, perfect ; osteon, bone.

Physostomi. Greek, physa, a bladder ; stoma, a mouth ; the swimming
bladder communicates with the digestive canal by a duct.
Cyprinidas. Latin, cyprinus, a carp.
Barbus. Latin, barba, a beard.

In 1873, tne days of my first edition, our mutual friend the Mahseer
had more names than one given him by Cuvier and Valenciennes, by
Dr. Hamilton Buchanan, and continued by Dr. Day in his monograph
of Indian Cyprinidse. But in Dr. Day's later and great work, " The
Fishes of India," published in 1878, the two names Barbus mosal and
Barbus tor are clubbed under one, to wit, Barbus tor. I therefore
follow the nomenclature of the latest authority on the subject, and
subjoin the following complete quotation of Dr. Day's remarks under
the species Barbus for, together with his footnote, quoting my book,
because it serves to show the dubious that we are talking of the same
fish.

15. Barbus tor, Plate cxxxvi., fig. 5 ; and cxl., fig I.*

CypriniiS) tor, mosal and putitora ? Ham. Buch. Fish. Gang., pp. 303,
306, 388; Gray and Hard. Ind. Zool. ; McClelland, Ind. Cyp., pp. 271,
3°3> 337> 388, pl- xli., f. 3 ; Cuv. and Val. xvi., p. 197 ; Jerdon, M. J. L. and
S. 1849, P- 3ii.

Labeobarbus macrolepis, Heckel, Fische aus Kashmir, p. 60, t.x. f. 2 ;
Bleeker, Beng., p. 60.

Barbus progenius and megalepis, McClelland, Ind. Cyp., pp. 270, 271,
334, 337 ; Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1849, P- 31!-

Barbus macrocephalus, McClell. Ind. Cyp., pp. 270, 335, pl. 55, fig. 2 ;
Cuv. and Val. xvi., p. 201 ; Bleeker, Beng., p. 60 ; Giinther, Cat. vii.,
p. 131 ; Day, Proc. Z. S., 1869, p. 556.

Barbus mosal, Cuv. and Val. xvi., p. 200 ; Bleeker, Beng., p. 60 ; Day,
Proc. Z. S. 1870, p. 372.

Barbus mussulah, Sykes, Trans. Zool. Soc. ii., p. 356 ; Bleeker, Beng.,
p. 60 ; Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1849, P- 3r3«

Barbus Hamiltonit, Jerdon, M. J. L. and Sc. 1849, PP- 311? 312-

Labeobarbus tor and progenius, Bleeker, Beng., p. 60, and Cobit, and
Cyprin., Ceylon, 1864, p. 10, t. 2.

Barbus macrolepis, Giinther, Catal. vii., p. 131.

* ' ' For an account of the natural history of the Mahseer, and the sport it
affords, see 'The Rod in India,' by H. S. Thomas ; Mangalore, 1873."

26 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in.

Burapatra* Assam: Poo - meen - candee^ Tarn.: Naharm, Hind.:
Kukhiah, Pimj. : Joon-gah, Petiah and Kurreah, Sind.

\ B. iii., D. 12 (f), P. 19, V. 9, A. 7-8 (^3), L.I. 25-27, L.tr. 4/4.

Length of head 4 to 5, of caudal 4* to 5, height of body 4^ to 5! in the
total length. Eyes — diameter 6j to 7| in the length of the head in
moderately sized specimens, but much larger in the young (at 3*5 inches
in length, being 3! in the length of the head ; at 5 inches 4!), 2 to i\
diameters from the end of the snout, and 2 apart. Interorbital space flat.
Opercle | higher than wide ; the maxilla reaches to below the front edge
of the eye ; snout pointed ; jaws of about the same length ; lips thick,
with an uninterrupted fold across the lower jaw, and both the upper and
lower lips in some specimens produced in the mesial line. Dorsal profile
more convex than the abdominal in some examples, not so in others.
Barbels — the maxillary pair longer than the rostral ones, and extend to
below the last third of the eye. Fins — the dorsal arises opposite the
ventral, and is f as high as the body, its last undivided ray is smooth,
osseous, strong, and of varying length and thickness. Himalayan, Bengal,
and Central Indian specimens generally have the spine strong, and from
•| to frd the length of the head, it rarely exceeding this extent. In Canara-,
Malabar, and Southern India, where the lips are largely developed (see
PI. cxl.), the spine is very much stronger and as long as the head excluding

* "Hatti Shikaree," i.e., Mr. J. E. Welborne, a resident in Assam, gives the
Assamese as Jimga Peetia, and Dr. Day himself does the same further down in this
quotation.

f The Tamil word should be spelt B8m-min, as explained a few pages further on
in this chapter. Poo-min would mean flower- fish in Tamil, and be incorrect for the
Mahseer. Candee, correctly spelt Kendai, is the Tamil word for carp, and includes
with the Tamulians many more sorts of fish than all the Cyprinidse, so that Dr. Day's
Poo-meen-candee may more correctly be read Bom-min without the Kendai. It is
very difficult indeed to get correct vernacular names. The only way is to get them
written down for you in the vernacular character by some native who really knows
how to spell them in his own language, and then to transliterate them yourself on a
correct system, as given in my book "Tank Angling in India," where you will find
it by referring to the word "transliteration" in the index, together with some
remarks on the difficulties connected with correct vernacular naming. The Canara
Canarese name is Peruval or Harale-minu ; the Mysore Canarese, Hallamlnu ; the
Malayalim, Meruval ; the Tulu, Heiagdlu or Peruval ; the Hindustani, Maha-sir.
\ B iii. = Branchiostegals iii.

D = Dorsal fin.

P = Pectoral fin.

V = Ventral fin.

A = Anal fin.

C = Caudal fin.

L.I. = Lateral line.

L.tr. = Lateral transverse.

CHAP. in. Varieties of Mahseer. 27

the snout. Pectoral as long as the head excluding the snout, it reaches
the ventral which is little shorter. Anal laid flat does not reach the base
of the caudal which is deeply forked. Lateral line — complete, 2 to 2| rows
of scales between it and the base of the ventral fin : 9 rows before the dorsal.
Free portion of the tail longer than high. Colours — silvery or greenish
along the upper half of the body, becoming silvery shot with gold on the
sides and beneath. Lower fins reddish yellow.

This fish is the celebrated " Maha seer " of sportsmen in India. The
various large barbels in Assam are termed Petiah, with a specific name
prefixed to denote the species alluded to.

Barbus macrocephalus, McClelland, from along the Eastern Himalayas
and Upper Assam, has not the length of the head, " f ths only of the total
(without the caudal) " — (Gunther) ; but without the head or caudal, or yths
of the total excluding the caudal fin. It has rather a longer head (4^ in
the total) than is usual, its eye is nearer the front end of the head, whilst
the upper bone of the suborbital ring is very wide.

Barbus tor, H. B., or progenius, McClell., shows great variation in the
length of the head, which seems to augment in proportion with the size of
the fish ; the body is often much higher, whilst the lips are very much
more developed than in the last variety.

Habitat. — Generally throughout India, but in the largest size, and
greatest abundance in mountain streams, or those which are rocky.

I think I need hardly apologize for burdening my page with so
much scientific detail, for many an angler is conversant with and
interested in it. One such was learning the first rudiments from me,
over a freshly-landed new fish, when up came a friend of his with a
cheery : " Well, what sport ? " Thereon my angler, who five minutes
before had not known one of these long words, drew himself up with
assumed dignity, and, always ready with his fun, sententiously replied
suppressively : " We were not fishing — er — but — er — studying — er —
mandibular cirrhi, opercles, pre-opercles, branchiostegals, osseous entire
rays and so forth. I am sorry to be talking a little above you, you
know ! " When he reads this I fully expect he will say, as another friend
did, " Yes, I bought your book, and I found the best joke in it was
my own ! "

Further experience has confirmed me in the view advanced in 1873,
that there are more Mahseers than have been named, and that if it were
possible that as much accurate attention could be given to the Mahseer
as has been devoted to the Salmonidae of Great Britain, of Europe, and
of America, it would be found that the Mahseers of India would like-
wise grow in numbers. No one who has not tried it can form any idea

28 The Natural History of the Mahsecr. CHAP. in.

of the amount of labour required to collect specimens sufficient to clear
up a moot point, to decide which differences are only accidents of local
colouring, which the ordinary result of the change of season, which
indicate only varieties, and which serve to constitute separate species.
To satisfy an accurate mind specimens must be collected from many
rivers, in many localities, at various ages, in various seasons, and in
goodly numbers ; and all details of capture must be reliably noted at
the time ; all these facts which form the basis of conclusions should also
be retained for the satisfaction of other enquirers. I did enough of this
to know what a labour it is, enough to know that it would be impossible
for me to find sufficient leisure in the intervals of business to exhaust
the matter to my own satisfaction ; not enough to lay down exactly how
many different Maliseers there are, but still enough to make an advance
in that direction by venturing the assertion that there are at least three
distinct forms with difference of external structure, and many more
with differences in colouring. Conceiving that these differences may be
not uninteresting to some of my readers I will present them with three
plates of Mahseer, illustrative of my contention that there are at least
three distinct forms, and as to the differences in colouring I will ask my
readers to be content with my describing them in the letterpress, in
lieu of colouring the plates, as in my previous edition, in order that
they may thereby get the benefit of a cheaper book within the means of
many a poor brother of the angle to whom the price of my last edition
was deterrent.

Plate I. represents the Mahseer of the Bawanny, an affluent of the
Cavery, which discharges on the East coast of the Madras Presidency.
Plate II. is taken from the Mahseer of the rivers of the West coast of
the same Presidency, and represents generally the shape of the Mahseer
of Northern India. Plate III., copied from Dr. Day's splendid work
" The Fishes of India," illustrates the variety described by him in the
quotation made above as having the lips largely developed.

I put the Bawanny Mahseer first because, to my thinking, he is the
finest of them all. He is much deeper, it will be observed, and more
high backed than the other Mahseers. When he attains size and
corpulence these peculiarities are emphasized, and though, like an
alderman, he lays it on pretty evenly all over from the very chin
downwards, still the obesity is especially remarkable in the droop at
the anal fin. In this respect he is following the fashion of respectability,

m

CHAP. in. Colours of Mahseer. 29

a fashion not neglected even in the agile tiger, but the abdomen is not
pendulous as in the corpulent cat or the cow-fed tiger, but firm and
solid. Please do not think that the representation in the plate is a
mistake of the artist and overdrawn.

To insure accuracy of drawing, every detail of form has in all cases
been taken life size by compass, and then the reduction from that
drawing has not been made by eye, but in numerous comparative
squares, so that we are insured against even a single scale being too
high or too low, as well as against any part being disproportioned.
And the reductions from the second edition to this have been made
by photography.

When fry they are long and thin and round, not deep, and
larger headed in proportion than when mature, bearing about as much
resemblance in figure to the form of their parents, as a stripling does to
his broad-shouldered, well-filled-out ancestor. Still, there is no mis-
taking them, and they can be picked out at a glance by their large
scales and general appearance, without any necessity for closer
identification by counting fin rays, etc. As they grow they soon show
a tendency to be deeper and higher backed than other Mahseers.

In colouring also it is a most handsome fish. It would be difficult
for any artist to do justice to the rich golden hue which shines on the
gill covers, and is the predominant colour of every scale. It is from
this colour that the natives of that locality call it Bom-min (the o like
the o in kingdom, the i long like mien or mean), which is the Tamil for
gold fish, from pon gold and min fish. The colour is not at all that of
the little Chinese gold fish, to which we are accustomed in glass vases,
but something between the colour of a bright new sovereign and that
of bright shining copper fresh from the mint, the burnished copper the
colour of the outside of each scale, and the tinge of brighter gold
flashing through the centre of each scale, and coming out almost all
over the gill covers, and showing itself freely in parts of each fin.

How could any artist do justice to such colouring without the
actuals before him. And even with the living fish before him it calls for
a good artist to seize truth and represent it, for truth in fish colouring
is evanescent. My learned readers will readily recall to mind how
noble Romans had at their sumptuous feasts live mullet laid upon the
table that they might watch the beautifully changing hues of the expiring
fish. Have my readers watched a high conditioned Mahseer in like

30 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in.

manner ? Let them ; and they will see that the colours change every
second after the fish is out of the water. The eye travels from
individual scales to gill covers, to the head, the fins and tail, and before
it returns to the original spot, a change has come over that spot, and it
is perceptible. The next survey is made more rapidly, but still there is
a noticeable change. Thus to notice the changes is easy ; but to catch
each fleeting shade of colour before it is gone is very far from easy.
This is what I have essayed to do in my second edition. I did not
care to present my readers with the corpse-like colouring of dead and
dying fish. I wanted the resplendent hues of healthy living fish as
Nature paints them when rejoicing in their element. How did I essay
it ? I took an artist with me to the water's edge. He had ready rough
drawings of fish in any number, and his colours, brushes, etc., were
handy. The moment I landed a fish he hit the colours, and roughly
and rapidly filled them in. I did the same by his side. We compared
notes. We were conscious that change had been going on as we
coloured, and that it was hard to say wherein the earliest and wherein
the later colours had been correctly seized. So another fish was caught,
and the colours of the painting compared with it the instant it was on
shore. Necessary corrections having been made, another was captured,
and yet another, and these all had to be captured at a season of the year
in which the fish were in high condition, with a healthy colour. The
result was that I had colouring which some told me must surely be too
bright, whereas I affirm that the failure was rather in the opposite
direction. I could not get sufficient resplendency. I could not add to
each colour the look of burnished metal. I could not give the changing
reflections of each angle of light on the glistening coloured scales, the
varying hues of semi-transparent fins showing differently with a dark or
a light background. Enough that I did my little best to help my
readers to recognize our mutual friends of whom we chat together.

Keen fishermen will understand that it is no easy matter to lay
down the rod and take up the brush when the fish are on the run.
There were times when it could not be done at any price, no not for an
annual gold mine. There were times, too, when appliances were
wanting. Friends have engaged to colour fish for me in places
inaccessible to myself, and finding the same difficulties have abandoned
the attempt. Others have most kindly supplied paintings which
unfortunately could not be accepted for want of accuracy.

CHAP. in. Varieties of Mahseer. 31

Having been at such pains to get at the right colouring of my fish
you will guess, kindly reader, that it is not without a pang that I send
out the plates in this edition uncoloured. But I have been told by so
many that my last edition was too expensive, that I have determined to
make every effort to cheapen this, and as the price of a book depends
on the cost of its production, I must forego such costly luxuries as hand
coloured plates.

May I be allowed to sneak in here the exculpation that it was not
for filthy lucre's sake that my last edition was priced as highly as it was,
but in accordance with ordinary publishing rules, and that so sorry
was I to find that it was beyond the reach of some good brothers of the
angle that I tried to redeem the mistake by keeping an extra copy by
me always ready to lend to any one that asked me. So I hope I
stand excused.

I have roughly called this fish the Bawanny Mahseer, but it is not
the only Mahseer in that river, as I have caught there the Mahseer of
Plate III. with its strange development of the lips, and other Mahseer
of form like Plate I., but of very different colour. I see from my notes
made on the spot, that in December I have caught them with grey back,
silver stomach, and bright orange fins and tail, and having none of the rich
golden hue of the Mahseer of Plate I. These colours are so markedly
different from those of the rich golden hued fish that the difference
cannot be referred to the changes wrought by season in the same fish.
Besides it was in the same season of the year, to wit in December, in
the brief Christmas holidays of the public servant, that several individuals
of both types of colouring were caught. Nor can the difference of
colour be attributed to change of colour in water, as in the case of bog
pit, lake or river trout differing in shade to accommodate their colours
to their surroundings, for they were caught in the same part of the same
river as well as in the same season. In September in another part of the
same river, some twenty miles further up, three of us caught the same
orange finned variety above described, and the large lipped ones of
Plate III., as well as one with pinkish fins, all Mahseers, but strange to
say none of the golden hued Mahseer on that trip of four days. This
last absence of the golden hued Mahseer I cannot account for ; but this
much seems deducible from the above facts, that there are at least three
if not four Mahseers in this one river the Bawanny.

A pretty painting of a 5-lb. Mahseer caught in the Arienkavu Pass,

32 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in.

near Courtallum in the Tinnevelly District of the Madras Presidency,
was kindly sent me by a friend. In that the fish is represented as having
a deep chocolate coloured back and fins, the colour blending into golden
brown on the sides and gills, and fading into white on the stomach. The
iris of the eye is a bright vermilion, instead of the ordinary light yellow,
the pupil black as usual. So here seems to be a fourth Mahseer of distinct
colouring, and in my second edition I gave coloured plates of a Mahseer
that was light brown with silver stomach, and caudal and anal fins blue,
which was caught at a place called Subramani, in the South Canara
District of the Madras Presidency, and of another caught at Siradi in
the same district, that was dark grey all over with each scale shot with
gold, and the gold covering the gill covers and lips and iris of the eye.
The grey was darkest on the back fading into white on the abdomen.
The dorsal, caudal and anal fins were bright light blue, while the
pectoral and ventral fins were pink.

I also gave a plate of a Mahseer taken at the Gairsoppa Falls in
North Canara in the Bombay Presidency, which was light blue all over
except on the abdomen which was white, and the iris which was
yellow.

These last four Mahseers were all of the form shown in Plate II.
which is the form of fish that I have caught in Northern India, and
answers to Dr. Day's typical plate and description of Barbus tor.

And yet again a friend writes me that the Assam Mahseer are " a
beautifully coppery bronze colour with vermilion fins." And again
another tells me that the Burmah Mahseer also vary, and a corre-
spondent of the Asian, L. J., writes of a Mahseer of 7 Ibs. with " back
and fins perfectly black, a game little head, and very thick through,"
on which a friend comments, " black Mahseers are not uncommon."

Plate III., is a copy, by kind permission, of Figure I. Plate CXL.,
in Dr. Day's " Fishes of India." It shows a large development of
adipose continuations of the upper and lower lips. The flaps are
exhibited erect in the drawing, which shows well how they can stand
free ; but they ordinarily lie close against the fish. I have found this
peculiar formation occurring in all the places spoken of above, except
in Northern India, where I have not fished enough. It cannot indicate
a mere variety, for I have found it so frequently. Does it indicate a
species, or is it a temporary growth like the beak of a male salmon in
the spawning season? It cannot be the latter, because I do not

CHAP. in. Sexual Distinctions and Difficulties. 33

remember to have ever seen it half developed, and I have notes of
having frequently observed it fully developed in small immature
Mahseer of i Ib. in weight and under, down to fry of five, five and a-half,
and six inches in length, when they could hardly be breeding. Native
fishermen always say that these Mahseer with the large developed lip
are the females, and even their small boys say it unhesitatingly, showing
that it is a well accepted dictum among them. Any such universally
accepted opinion of professionals I am in the habit of picking up as a
thing to be very thoroughly sifted b'efore it is discarded, for though the
native fishermen are untutored, they are professionals in their trade, and
much may be learnt from them within certain guarded limits, for they
possess the accumulated observation of generations of men of their own
caste, handed down from experienced sage to learning youth, learning a
trade that they have to live by. And even when they are incorrect there
is often a half truth buried in their incorrect conclusions. Still at the
same time they do hold very strange theories sometimes, as for instance
that the rock snake is the female of the cobra, which is one of their
tenaciously held beliefs. So though I was slow to cast this Mahseer
theory of theirs overboard till I had sifted it very thoroughly, still I
think the number of such very small Mahseer being caught with the
lips not partially but thoroughly developed, militates against their being
females. My conclusion is that they are a distinct species. But what
the function of these prolonged lips and beard may be I cannot
conceive. It is left as a puzzle for my readers to work out.

If in many rivers there be more sorts of Mahseer than we are aware
of, it presents a new difficulty which may well be borne in mind. When
taking fry for stocking artificial lakes on hill sanatoria or elsewhere, it is
generally held that if you put in six the probabilities are five to one
that you have at least one of each sex from which to hope for propaga-
tion. But if in your six there are three sorts of Mahseer, so distinct in
species as to refuse to breed together, then it may well chance that you
have two each of three separate sorts, and not a sexual pair in the
lot. The evident precaution to be taken in stocking is clearly to
increase your chances by increasing your numbers, and by taking those
also as much as possible at the same part of the same river at the same
season.

The Mahseer having been more fished for in Bengal than anywhere
else it had grown to be the common idea that he was exclusively a

THE ROD IN INDIA. D

34 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in.

Bengal fish, and at the time I wrote my first edition there was a general
impression that there were no Mahseer south of the Nerbuddah. That
idea is now exploded, and we now know that we have the Mahseer in
South India and Ceylon, and we have him in Assam and Burmah, and
the Chinese rivers that bound it, and up in Afghanistan and Chitral ;
and my belief is that if the mountain streams of China and Japan were
tried, the mighty Mahseer would be found widely distributed there also,
for in some paintings sent me frcm Japan, one fish figures again and again
as if he were the favourite, the recognized king of fishes thereabouts,
and he looks uncommonly like a Mahseer. Finding him as we do
throughout the length and breadth of India and Afghanistan and Burmah
and the boundaries of China, wherever there are mountainous rocky
rivers, the probabilities are that he should be found equally in like
rivers in Southern China and Japan.

People talk of the Mahseer, just as they talk of tJie carp, as if there
was only one of them, and when fishermen who have caught Mahseer
in the North of India, on the West Coast and on the East Coast
of Southern India, get together, and describe the redoubted Mahseer
somewhat differently before a circle of eager listeners, and thence
come to dispute with each other as to who is most accurate, one is
reminded of the old fable of the gold and silver shields which the
two knights saw and fought about, and as a fisherman my advice would
be, the less carping about it the better.

The name Mahseer is perhaps derived from the Hindustani words
maha great and sir (pronounced seer) head, or perhaps, as a friend
writes me from Delhi, on the authority of a native gentleman there who
has been a great angler and is a well-known Persian scholar, from the
two Persian words mahi a fish and sher a lion, in recognition of its
gameness.

The size of the Mahseer depends much on the size of the river in
which it is found. Size in a river affects both the feeding and the life-
time of fish, for a large river affords a greater quantity, a greater
variety, and in India a more continuous supply of food than a small
river does, and it also ordinarily affords greater opportunities for
evading capture. The consequence is that there are rivers in which the
Mahseer do not run above 10 or 12 Ibs. ; there are others, again, in
which 40 Ibs. or 50 Ibs. is by no means an exceptional weight. I am
inclined to the belief that the rockier a river the better it supports

CHAP. in. Ma/iseer's Preference for Rocks. 35

Mahseer, for the Mahseer is undoubtedly a Highlander, clinging to
rocky mountain rivers, and, as a general rule, straying but a slight
way from the base of the hills into the plains, and straying chiefly where
the rock continues. The reason I assign for this is that in most places
in the tropics it is only the presence of solid rock that affords positive
security against a river dwindling in hot weather below the level of the
rock over which a pool finds its exit. I say in most places, as some
rivers are swollen in the hot weather by melting snows. It is also
among rocks that crabs and shell fish most abound, and there are fish
that have suctorial discs by means of which they are able to attach
themselves to rocks, and, so adhering, to hold their own against
mountain torrents that would otherwise wash them down, and such fish
thus remaining in the habitat of the Mahseer, afford, I think, no
inconsiderable portion of their food. Instances of adhesive power are
familiar to everybody in the limpet, snail, and foot of the common
house fly, as well as in plant life, and in fish in the head of the remora
(Echends remora} by which it attaches itself to the side of a shark, cod-
fish, or vessel ; and it may interest the observant angler to notice
varying adaptations of the same property in several Indian fish, in the
mouth, on the chin, on the thorax, at the pectorals, and I have been
struck by the numbers in which one of these types of fish, Discognathus
lamta, abounded amongst the rocks. This fish was also of convenient
size to form Mahseer food, running as it does to about eight inches in
length, but more ordinarily found at from four to six inches long.
Where these fish and other congenial foods abound it is intelligible that
the Mahseer should run to size, and delight to stay.

We hear of captures of fish weighing more or less about 100 Ibs.,
and I have in my possession two heads of Mahseer, caught with a night
line by, and given me by, Mr. G. P. Sanderson, author of " Thirteen
Years among the Wild Beasts of India," a book that every sportsman,
old or young, must be interested in, and most, even old hands, may
profit from. Young hands should not essay heavy game without having
read it. Concerning the weight of these fish, he wrote me : —

"As to my big fish I put it down at 150 Ibs., the other 50 have been
added in the telling. I had no means of weighing it but I found it was
as much as I could lift a couple of inches from the ground by hugging it
in my arms ; no one but a big Mussulman peon in camp could do as much
as this. I imagine that a man of 1 1 stone should have no difficulty in

D 2

36 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in.

lifting a man of his own weight off the ground if lying on his back ; I
have since lifted a man of over 10 stone with greater ease than the
fish. A native overseer with me, who was formerly in the Ashtagram
Sugar Works, put it down at 5 maunds (or 140 Ibs. Mysore) ; he said
they were accustomed to deal with 5 maund bags, and he knew the
feel of them pretty well. The measurements of the fish were : length, in-
cluding tail, 60 inches; greatest girth 38 inches; inside lips when open,
circumference 24 inches. The skin and head are in the Bangalore
Museum.

" Of course my rough estimate of the fish's weight is valueless as
fact, but you may believe that I was not out many pounds. It was an
astonishingly thick and heavy fish for its short length. I have caught them
5 ft. 6 in., but not much more than 80 Ibs. It had a shoulder like a
bullock, steeply hanging over. I have caught about fifty of them,
but my next largest was about 90 Ibs. I have no doubt in my own
mind that they run over 200 or 250 Ibs., as I have seen teeth and
bones of them far larger than my I5o-pounder ; they are often caught
by the natives."

So huge were these heads that one o£ them fully covered the
skeleton of an unusually fine sambre's head, and I had arranged it
in my hall with the sambre's head inside the Mahseer's head, and the
grand antlers coming, as if naturally, out of the Mahseer's head, when
a friend called. He looked round at the various spoils of bison,
sambre, fish, etc., till he cast his eyes on this. " Rather a rare buffalo,
isn't it?" said I. "Have you ever shot one like it?" "Buffalo!"
he said, " buffalo ! It's not a buffalo, but it's something of the cow
tribe." I had owed him one. But he was not long before he left me
again in his debt.

A friend of mine, J. C. H., whom those who recognize the initials
will know to be an accurate man, assures me the following story is
a fact. A carder, that is one of the jungle men that are never out
of the forests of the Animullays, or elephant hills, was telling him the
Mahseer at a certain place were as big as elephants. H. laughed at
him. " Have you ever been there ?" said the carder. " No," replied H.
" Well then," continued the carder, reassured, " some of them are so
big they would swallow an elephant."

But after all the Scotchman runs the carder fine, according to the
Field of yth December, 1889 : " O ! sic a fish ! O ! sic a fish ! Aw
never saw sic a brute in a' my life. Aw never saw a whale, but it was
awfu' like ane."

CHAP in. Estimating Weight of Mahseer. 37

Dr. Day, in his " Monograph of Indian Cyprimdse," Part II.,
under Barbus (barbodes) tor, writes : —

"A noted sportsman in the N.W. Provinces, writing to me, says his
largest fish taken with a rod and line was captured in the River Poonch,
24 miles from Jhelum ; it measured from snout to bifurcation of tail 3 feet
ii inches, and weighed 62lbs. . . . The cube of a fish's length gives his
weight in pounds ; fish may vary a pound or t\vo according to condition,
but the test is wonderfully correct."

I confess to a lack of confidence in this rule myself, for I think that
fish of the same species vary, much, not only with the condition of the
same individual at different seasons and in different rivers and climates,
but from individuality of figure, contracted probably from accidents of
feeding in earliest youth. And the rule could not have equal applica-
bility to Mahseer of the differing contours of Plate I. and Plates II. and
III., for it takes no note of girth. This omission of the girth is met by
a kindly correspondent writing me that he has found the following
pretty correct. " Take," he says, " the length and girth in inches.
Add together and divide by two. This gives the weight in pounds
pretty near." Possibly it does when fish run over a certain weight, say
over ten or fifteen pounds, but it surely must be very much out when they
are smaller. For instance, a Mahseer of twelve inches long, without
adding anything for girth, can never weigh six pounds. And if this be
granted then the question arises at what point does the inaccuracy
commence and end. Is there any scientific basis on which to give
it definite limits ? To "my thinking there is not, and so I will frankly
admit that I have ever regarded these and other methods of arriving at
the weight of a Mahseer by its measurements as an unreliable process,
bound to involve inaccuracy and very little better than simply gauging
the fish by the eye, a process the result of which could never be
recorded as an ascertained fact.

Weighing Mahseer. — The only reliable way of arriving at the
true weight of a fish is to weigh it, and to do so as soon after capture
as possible, because a fish loses much of its weight soon after it is out
of the water, especially in a drying tropical climate. If in even your
body, gentle angler, more than half of the constituent parts (58*5 per
cent.) are water, let alone the whisky, you will allow something in a
fish for " drying up " on being taken out of the water. A forty-six pound
Mahseer lost two pounds of its weight in about an hour, while being

38 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in.

carried from the river to the camp. But the rate of shrinkage must be
a variable quantity dependent on the weather.

The handiest implement for weighing with is the one figured in the
margin, and called by some of the tackle-shops a steelyard, by some
a spring-balance. I will follow the latter title as being nearer the mark,
though it is neither a steelyard nor a balance, but a weighing spring.
A steelyard proper has no spring whatever in it, and is solely depen-
dent on leverage for its results. The steelyard of the tackle-shops,
which I am calling after them a spring-balance, weighs by means of the
spring afforded by the coil of steel wire.

You can buy these spring-balances shown in the margin of any size
and quality you like, made to weigh anything from an 'ounce to sixty
pounds, and they can easily be carried in the pocket so as to
be on the spot for weighing a fish directly it is caught. The
sizes and prices shall be duly given you in the chapter on rod
and tackle.

When I bought my fishing tackle I thought a spring-balance
weighing up to thirty-two pounds was big enough for any man.
But one fine day I had the misfortune to catch a Mahseer
well over that weight, and, of course, I was particularly anxious
to know its exact weight. I had in camp two spring-balances,
weighing respectively up to twenty-eight pounds and thirty-two
pounds. I passed a stout cord through the rings of the two>
and suspended them from a bough. Then a cord attached
to the fish and passed over the two hooks suspended the
fish simultaneously from them both. Reading off the weight in-
dicated by the two instruments and adding them together, the result
was the weight of the fish, forty-six pounds. If neither of the springs
is pulled down beyond its power of springing, the total is bound to be
accurate. I have tested it.

There is another way of doubling the weighing power of your
spring-balance. But you must do it to a nicety or you will run into
error, the divergence of an eighth of an inch anywhere begetting it.
Take a stick of any length available, say about a yard, more or less,
and, judging the centre, mark it, and measure off with careful accuracy
the same length on both sides of the centre and mark them. Then
attach a small loop of cord to each of these marked places firmly, so
that it cannot shift its position. A slight notch at each marked place

CHAP. in. About the size of Cornly. 39

will be an additional security against alteration of the position of the
loops by slipping. Hang one end loop on the hook of the spring-
balance, let an attendant hold the other loop so as to have the stick
pretty level, attach the fish to the centre loop, and reading off the
weight shown on the spring-balance double it for the weight of the fish.
The use of the stick is simply the addition of the principle of the steel-
yard proper to the weighing power of the spring-balance. If you work
out the principle properly, you can as easily multiply the power of your
spring-balance by four or other multiple ; but the larger the multiple and
the shorter the stick, the greater the danger of error from want
of sufficient nicety of accuracy in the position of the loops. And if
from dirt or rust or wear there is any initial inaccuracy in the spring-
balance, of course it too is multiplied. The plan is an ingenious con-
ception for an emergency, but if you have two spring-balances their use,
as above indicated, is simpler and less liable to error.

How came I to have two spring-balances in my pocket at the
moment of catching that forty-six pounder ? Because I put them there
for the express purpose of weighing that very individual before I started
fishing that morning. I had been fishing that locality a year before, and
with the aid of a friend who exhibited extraordinary capabilities in that
direction, had succeeded in parting with all my spoons to avaricious
Mahseer, and had on my last, the size of a table-spoon, when up came
a huge beast close under my nose, showed a shoulder like an ox above
water, and with one sudden blow broke off my spoon at the swivel.
Arrived at headquarters at the end of my leave, I sought sympathy from
a brother of the angle, not the one that expended my spoons, but one
of the right sort. " How big was he ? " he asked. " My dear fellow,
I haven't weighed him yet, but he'll keep. He'll be in that same pool
waiting for us this time next year, and then we'll be even with him."
" But how big do you think he was ? " he persisted. Well, the two
biggest men in the station, a large one, were two brothers, the younger
an editor, and the elder a doctor, and the doctor was the heavier, by
about a stone, from being well filled out. Let us call them Cornly.
" Well," I said, " if you wish me to be so confoundedly exact, he was
about the size of Cornly — not the editor, the doctor." It turned out
that my friend was able to get leave before I was, so I gave him a
sketch from memory of the pool, and the holt. As soon as I could get
my leave I followed him, and arriving at his camp after a long ride,

40 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in.

was greeted by him with awe-inspiring silence while he mysteriously
led me round a tent and pointed, still silent, to a grand fish hanging
up. " Oh, that is a fine fish," I began, when he cut in with an injured
and decisive air : " It's Cornly." And then he added : " You try the
same pool again, you'll find his brother there." And so it was that I
started the next morning with two spring-balances in my pocket. It
is their portability that commends them, as it allows of your weighing
your fish directly after capture.

But if y9ii prefer a spring-balance with a dish attached in which you
can put at one weighing a lot of smaller fish, as recommended for
labeo (Tank Angling, p. 61), or at will hang a bigger fish from the
hook, then Salter's spring-balances with the circular dial plate are very-
convenient. They are readily procurable in the grocers' shops weighing
up to thirty pounds, by ounces, for domestic purposes, but the makers,
whence your tackle-maker can procure them to complete your order,
keep them weighing up to almost any weight.

At the Sappers' and Miners' workshops, Roorkee, they make a handy
spring-weigher that weighs up to twenty-four seers on one side, and to
one hundred and twenty seers, which is two hundred and forty pounds,
on the other, using different hooks and loop handles which give different
leverages. The price is Rs. 10.12, by value payable post.

The steelyard proper, or old Roman balance, depends solely on
leverage for its weighments, and once correctly marked, ought never
to vary, for there is no spring to get strained or clogged with dust
or rust. It has two hooks by which to suspend it. When suspended
by the hook farthest from the short end, it will give you an enlarged
reading of the minor weights. If you wish to weigh larger weights you
must invert the instrument and suspend by the hook nearest to the
short end. The fish is hung on the hook at the end, and the weight
is moved along the bar till you arrive at an equipoise, when you may
read off the weight of your fish, and chortle or otherwise, according as
the fish comes up to your expectations or does not. You will get it
in any butcher's shop, but it is clumsy, being made only for heavy
butcher's work.

I made one for myself of wood, capable of weighing anything from
a minnow to an ox, and so may you, though perhaps you do not need
to be so comprehensive as I had to be. Take a neatly squared and
planed piece of tough wood, twice as deep as it is thick, the strength

CHAP. in. The Steelyard proper. 41

and necessary thickness depending on whether you are going to have
it three feet long or six feet, and what weight you mean it to bear.
The longer length will be found troublesome in carriage, and for the
shorter length one by two inches will suffice. It may be, and should
be, much lightened towards the end farthest from the fish. As near
the thick end as the wood will stand it, say an inch off it, screw in the
hook from which the fish is to be suspended, the bar or " beam " being
with its depth perpendicular. On the opposite side of the beam, and
an inch farther from the same end, screw in another such hook, and
again another two inches further on. These last two hooks are the
hooks from which the beam is to be suspended, and I will call the first
mentioned A, the second B. A B
Suspend the beam from B, .. 1

and if it does not hang level, b ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' " " """""jj

weight the short end till it ° w

does. This is easily done by screwing in one or more common screws
half home at the very end of the short end, leaving them projecting so
as to give the lead a hold, and then wrapping stout brown paper round
the short end and projecting beyond it so as to form a cup, pouring
into this cup molten lead more than enough, and when cool rasping
down till your beam swings true from B. Then make yourself a one
pound weight attached to a wire loop that will hang from any part of
your beam, and taking ascertained weights of one, two, three, etc.,
pounds suspended from the fish hook C, move the one-pound weight
W into the equipoising position on the beam, and mark off and number
the places on the beam where the wire rests. Then suspend from
hook A, and similarly mark the weights on the other side of the beam.

The principle can easily be extended to showing ounces, if you
really want them, as you will doubtless see without my being further
tedious.

Though purely fresh-water fish, Mahseer are more or less migratory
in their habits, ascending during the floods considerable heights, two
thousand five hundred feet to my knowledge in the Canara district, ten
pound fish being there found half way up the Mercara Ghat, and
travelling long distances for the sake of spawning. When the streams
are swollen by the monsoon rains they are able to ascend to parts of
the river till then unapproachable for want of water. There they find
fresh feeding grounds that are inaccessible to them at other times.

42 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in.

There they linger till the diminishing stream warns them to be moving
downwards. There they deposit their spawn, and thus secure for their
fry, when hatched, waters then dwindled to dimensions much better
suited to their puny strength than the deeper current of the lower river.
The spawning done, the parent fish keep dropping gently downwards
with the continually decreasing waters, and before the spawn they have
deposited is hatched, they are completely cut off by paucity of water
from their fry, so that till the commencement of the same monsoon in
the following year they cannot return to devour them.

But they must not, after the manner of salmon, be considered back
fish or foul fish when descending the rivers. Careful examination of
the ovaries of many fish has satisfied me that the Mahseer does not
spawn like the salmon all at one time, but just as a fowl lays an egg
a day for many days, so in my opinion the Mahseer lays a batch of eggs
at a time, and repeats the process several times in a season. How
many batches it lays in a season cannot be positively said, but I
should judge from the appearance of the ovaries that there were three
batches.

Fishermen can judge for themselves, and may be interested in doing
so. For this purpose cut the fish open from the vent to the mouth,
and the ovaries will be found lying close against the backbone. There
is no mistaking them, a thin skin, more like a quill in size than any-
thing else at first, with the little round dots of eggs evidently apparent
through. That these are in states of development differing among
themselves in any individual fish will be easily recognisable ; but which
are more or less approaching complete ripeness for being laid, can only
be learnt by the experience gained from comparison of different fishes.
When nearly ripe the eggs will be hanging more loosely together, and
the vent will be inflamed. After a batch has been laid the lower part
of the tail, and the ventral fin, or the fin on the stomach, will be more
or less worn, bearing marks, in short, of having been used to work out
a hollow in the gravel for the reception of eggs. This ragged, frayed
appearance of tail and fin will indicate, therefore, that one or more
batches of eggs have been laid, although others for future laying may
still be found in different stages of development in the ovaries.

If the fisherman sees no eggs in the long, thin, quill-like bag lying
close against the backbone, between it in fact and the intestines, then
he may be sure that he has got hold of a male with milt.

CHAP. in. Mahseer' s Manner of Spawning. 43

The salmon, we know, completely exhausts itself by the mighty
effort of laying at one time about as many thousand eggs as it weighs
pounds, and it is not surprising that it should then be in such a weak
state as to be unfit for human food or sport, unable almost to take care
of itself; and even after it has somewhat recovered, and become what
is called " well mended " it cannot be expected to be the same fish in
the river that it is in the sea. It is a sea-fish, and the river is not its
proper element any more than India is yours and mine. It still pines
for shrimp sauce and a furlough in the sea. The case with the Mahseer
is, however, very different indeed. It gets through its egg-laying on
the same principle as the fowl, not exactly one egg a day, but in
batches at intervals, and does not feel the same drain on itself as
if it had laid them all at one time. Moreover, it is all the while in its
own element in the river, is getting as good feeding as it can ever have,
and is recouping itself between the several layings. The consequence
is that I do not remember ever to have come across a Mahseer looking
so emaciated as to appear unfit for human food, though I have observed
them to be in poorer condition at one time than at another. But that
is very different from looking as a spent salmon does, big and bony-
headed, lank and thin-shouldered, pale and haggard as if he had been
to a ball or a pool till small hours every night for a month. It is a
general rule that every animal, and for the matter of that every grass,
etc., is in its finest condition when preparing to reproduce its species.
A hen is never in better condition than when full of small undeveloped
eggs, and about to commence laying them. It may fairly be concluded,
therefore, that the Mahseer which is prepared to lay one or two more
batches of eggs is in good reproducing condition, is in fact in high
condition, although it may have already laid one or more batches that
season. When it has completed its spawning for the year it has much
deteriorated in flavour and lost all its richness, and I have known one
case, but only one, in which we were all ill after eating one. I think
it was exceptional, and not enough to militate against the general rule
that a Mahseer does not become an unwholesome fish like a spent
salmon, though he may be flavourless at the end of the spawning.

On the 3oth September, 1882, in the Bawanny some Mahseer had
milt in them, and some frayed fins, but the most part seemed excellently
well mended, and in high colour.

A reason for the Mahseer laying in batches may be interesting.

44 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in.

Indian rivers are very variable in their depth, a tropical sun and a
thirsty land drying up the streams that feed them, and reducing them
rapidly to very much smaller dimensions than they boasted during the
rains. The change in their size is both greater and more rapid than in
European rivers. It would not be well, therefore, for the fish in them
to spawn by the same rule as the fish in European waters. The ova
laid in one place might be high and dry in a few days, and the whole
laying lost. It would be like committing an army to the Great Eastern^
instead of dividing the risks by consigning it to several troop-ships.
By laying in several batches, not only are the chances of success
multiplied, but the fry are more widely dispersed over the rivers, and
by happy experience discover for themselves the force of the proverb,
"The fewer the better the cheer." There is little doubt the fry of
the Mahseer eat, amongst other things, the fry of the smaller sorts
of fish; these are much bred in the smaller feeders. Where such
streamlets fall into the river, therefore, each batch of Mahseer fry finds
a separate table d'hote.

An inventory of the contents of a Mahseer's stomach ought not to
be without interest to a fisherman, for unless he knows what the fish is
in the habit of eating, he cannot tell what bait to offer it. If he expects
to be successful, he must offer natural food or something resembling it,
for a fish is not so foolish as to take anything that is offered to it on the
sole faith of the advertisement. Only reasoning beings do that. Let
us then turn out this gentleman's stomach, and discover his weaknesses,
as Prince Henry and Poins did FalstafFs, from the contents of his
pocket. What do we find there? Aquatic weeds of all sorts, some
taken intentionally, some when grabbing at the insects that live on
them ; seeds of the Vateria Indica or Dhup of the West Coast, which
are about the size of a pigeon's egg ; the seeds of many other trees also
which hang over the river where it is forest-clad ; bamboo seeds ; rice
thrown in by man ; and unhusked rice, or paddy, as it is washed from
the fields ; crabs, large fresh-water crabs as big as the palm of a man's
hand, and with back and claws so thick and hard that it is astonishing
how the fish can have the power to crunch them into the small pieces
in which they are found in the intestine; small fish, earthworms,
water beetles, grasshoppers, small flies of sorts, water or stone crickets,
shrimps, and molluscs or fresh-water snails are also found there, the
latter shell and all, and smashed to pieces like the crabs.

Feeding by Suction. 45

Of all this category the easiest food for the fisherman to present in a
natural form is a small fish or imitation fish.

It will also be observed that the food taken on the surface of the
water is little in comparison with that taken under it, and at the very
bottom. The fish, beetles, crickets, shrimps, are all found well under
water ; the crabs, worms, molluscs, quite at the bottom ; and from the
proportionate quantity found in them, the crabs, molluscs, and fish seem
to be their favourite food.

This is what Paley would call " internal evidence." But we have
also external evidence to the same effect, deducible from the formation
of the outside of the mouth. The four fine feelers hanging down, two
on each side of the mouth, which give him the scientific name of barbus
or bearded (from the Latin barba, a beard), are indications of a bottom
feeder.

What the thick lips are for I cannot say, but I hazard the surmise
that it is not impossible they are to enable the fish to detach from the
rocks the water-snails on which they so largely feed.

The upper lip is capable of being extended beyond the lower lip,
and brought down to the same level, so as to form a cup on the bottom
of the stream, and cover any small body, such, for instance, as the
aforesaid molluscs detached from their hold by the upper lip, and being
washed rolling down the bottom of the stream. The molluscs being
thus detached and covered, are readily drawn up into the mouth by
suction, the process by which a fish always gets its food into his mouth :
for how else could it do it rapidly and easily in water ? Let any one
try to catch a grain of falling rice or other light substance in his hand in
a bath. If he moves his hand quickly, the motion will be communicated
through the water to the object, which will consequently evade his grasp.
How else could a trout take down a water-bred fly that sits jauntily on
the water ready to rise again if alarmed. I have seen Mahseer sucking
in their food in countless crowds at places where they were habitually
fed by the worshippers and priests at a native temple, and have heard
their loud sob-like noise as they sucked in air as well as water in their
hurry to secure the grains in the scramble. Dr. Frank Buckland has
written something about certain tame codfish doing much the same.
Anybody who has watched gold fish in a globe will have seen them
constantly sucking in water, drinking it as people used to think in the
dark ages, really breathing it, that is sucking it in, and passing it through

46 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in.

their gills, which are their lungs, for the purpose of getting out of the
water the oxygen contained in it. By the very same process a fish
sucks in a mouthful of water, and with it the fly sitting on it, and down
goes the fly, down the little Maelstrom thus created. In the same way
probably does the Mahseer suck up the detached molluscs, his peculiar
formation of mouth enabling him to do it from the bottom where
another fish could not.

To test their power of sucking up, I have fed them at a place where
they were accustomed to be fed, and tempted them nearer and nearer,
till they were well within observation, and having then thrown in a good
handful of rice, so that much of it must sink to the bottom before they
could get it, I watched them taking it off the sandy bottom. They
sucked it up with great rapidity, so that it wanted close observation, but
I watched them very carefully for some time, and distinctly saw the
upper lip thrust out from its socket, and brought down over the rice,
and then there was a clear act of suction for each grain, though the
grains were taken up one after another nearly as fast as a fowl picks up
corn. The fish the while were not swimming level in the water, but
with their tails just enough inclined upwards to allow the pectoral fins
to work without touching the bottom. The pectoral fins were so near
the bottom that the motion contributed to the water by each vibration
stirred up the fine sand, but they did not touch the bottom. By the
suction from the mouth, however, I could not perceive that any sand at
all was disturbed. They picked up the single grains of rice cleanly and
cleverly, and quickly.

The Mahseer, then, is an accomplished bottom feeder. But as he is
so not by means of a mouth formed for feeding off the bottom only,
but by means of an upper lip which he can extrude or not at will, we
see that the mouth shows adaptability for feeding at various depths at
pleasure.

The means by which the large crabs, shells, and other hard sub-
stances are reduced to a mass of small pieces by the Mahseer is
doubtless the formidable set of teeth in the throat. Every carp has
teeth in its throat, placed so far down that they are not visible in the
mouth ; but the teeth of the Mahseer's throat are unusually formidable,
and the bones out of which they grow are beautifully formed with a
great surface at the back for the muscles to play upon, and that not
directly, but with the advantage of a good leverage. If any blas'e

CHAP. in. Pharyngeal Teeth. 47

individual thinks this " very like a whale," just let him slip a finger
down a live Mahseer's throat, and I promise him the luxury of a new
sensation.

These pharyngeal or throat teeth are not set in sockets like human
teeth, but are continuations of the pharyngeal bones. Unlike other
teeth, in fish instead of dentine, they have a coating of enamel, which is
continued to their base. There seems to be no provision for renew-
ing them in case of loss, no adjoining row of teeth as in the shark,
no second tooth below as in the human being; and in an instance
in which I noticed that two were wanting on one side, the place where
they should be was quite smooth. They are not used for capturing
food at all, but for crushing it in its passage down the throat. The fine
perforations through which they are supplied with nerves and nutriment
are easily seen. The attachment of the muscles to the pharyngeal
bones is also very apparent and in -keeping with what we know of the
power with which they are used.

Professor Spencer F. Baird, Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries in
the United States, says in his report for 1875-76, that the pharyngeal
teeth of the common carp, Cyprinus Carpio, are shed annually a little
before spawning time. Whether or not our large Indian carp, the
Mahseer, does the same is a point that it may interest some to observe.
I do not think it does. I certainly have not examined carefully for this
specific purpose, but I have caught Mahseer before their spawning time
and have never noticed any indications of such shedding, and I think I
should have noticed them if they had been there. For instance, I have
seen broken teeth unreplaced, and I have never seen loose teeth, or
incomplete young teeth. If the tteth are shed one can readily imagine
that it would influence the feeding of the fish at that season of the year.
I certainly have found times even with clear water, when the Mahseer
could not be induced to look at a fly or fish, and I was at one time
puzzled for a reason. Still it does not follow that want of a new set of
teeth was the reason, and it may quite as well have been the east wind,
and I have now no doubt that it was the cold wind, for I have noticed
times without number what a marked effect a cold wind has on the
feeding, not of Mahseer only, but of many other Indian fish. But of
this more in another place. Let it suffice here to say that a cold wind is
quite enough to account for Mahseer being put off their feed, without
taking their abstinence to be in any way connected with dental troubles,

48 The Natural History of the Mahseer. CHAP. in.

and my own opinion is that Mahseer do not shed their teeth. Still I
am open to conviction, and there the question is for enquiring anglers
to investigate, Do Mahseer shed their pharyngeal teeth annually as a stag
sheds his horns, and if they do, when do they shed them, and how long
are the new teeth in coming on, and what is the food, if any, during the
toothless period ?

The Mahseer has also great power of jaw by means of which it is
able at a blow to stun a live fish, and to make up by compression for
the absence of the teeth usually found in the mouth of predacious fish.
That it makes other use of it also to the detriment of the angler will be
found in the next chapter.

CHAPTER IV.
CIRCUMVENTING THE MAHSEER.

'"Take my bait,' cried Hiawatha,
' Take my bait, O king of fishes ! ' "

LONGFELLOW.

SOME people complain that the Hindu does everything in a way
opposite to that which you would naturally expect of a sane man,
because opposite to that way in which all Europeans are accustomed to
do the like acts. On entering a house he has not the ordinary polite-
ness to take off his hat, but instead thereof, he kicks off his shoes • in
place of making himself a little extra civil before a big-wig, he folds his
arms, and stands bolt upright, and so forth. Similarly the Mahseer,
being a thorough Asiatic, does many things by contraries. If you
expect him to take better, as any decent salmon or trout would, when
there is a spate in the river, you will be very much mistaken. Except
for a live bait not a fin will stir then. If you see the river discoloured,
you had very much better not waste your labour and your patience on
it, for you may be sure you will not catch a single fish either with a fly
or spinning. You must wait till the river is clear again, or at least fairly
clear, wait till after the time you would consider favourable for trout 01
salmon, wait till you can see with ease the small pebbles at the bottom
in four feet of water. Though I have taken Mahseer freely when the
river has been the least bit tinged by a thunderstorm, still the colouring
is so very easily overdone that as a rule one is afraid of it. A very little
more colouring, such as you would hail as an improvement for salmon,
would be fatal to Mahseer fishing, while it does not matter how clear the
water is, it may be as clear as crystal, and Mahseer will take well if only
the fisherman will keep carefully out of sight. So it is much safer, very

THE ROD IN INDIA. E

50 Circumventing the Mahseer. CHAP. iv.

much safer, to give the preference to clear water, the colouring ever so
slightly, though beneficial to that extent, being a very touch-and-go
business. Artificial colouring of the water has on trout the same effect
as natural colouring from rainfall, and it is a semi-poaching dodge, never
condescended to by me, dear reader, no, not even as a boy, to puddle a
small stream, and then take them out with a worm, and this at times
when the day is so hot and bright that they will not look at a fly ; but
with a Mahseer, if the river is coloured in the middle of the fine season,
say, by the drainage from rice-fields, freshly ploughed and swamped for
the second crop, you will find it fatal. And colouring from melted
snows has the same fatal effect. This peculiarity of the Mahseer is
more against good fishermen than it is against tyros, because it is exactly
opposed to all the experiences of the former, and those who do know
something about fishing in England are consequently more likely to be
on the wrong tack in India, than those who know nothing or next to
nothing about fishing in general, for they would naturally arrange to fish
at the very time when in India they are least likely to have sport. I
have, however, tested this question pretty thoroughly, and am quite satis-
fied that it may be laid down as a safe rule, that it is useless to fish for
Mahseer except in clear water ; it must be at least so clear that you can
see the small pebbles at the bottom with ease in four feet of water, and
it may be as much clearer as ever you like. You need not be the least
bit afraid if it is as clear as crystal, indeed it ordinarily is so through all
the best fishing months of the year. I have fished in vain with the
water so far cleared after a spate that I could see the small pebbles in
two feet of water, and that with great patience and diligence in known,
good, easily commanded water, and with a large and very bright spoon,
.and yet I only stirred two fish, and even they ran short. I conceive I
must, from knowing localities, have taken my bait very close to their
noses, and kept it dallying there provokingly, and that even then they
missed it from visual obliquity in the coloured water. I am for bright
water, therefore, and in this respect the English fisherman must forego
his old creed, and adopt a new faith as fully as did the thorough-going
young scamp of an undergraduate who, unable otherwise to find fit
•expression for the radical change for the better that had taken place in
his resolutions, informed his friends that he had not only " turned over
a new leaf" as parentally entreated, but several libraries.

I may here mention that " Mountaineer " is quoted by A. O. H.

CHAP iv. Asiatic Fish object to Cold Winds. 51

in the Asian of 2oth December, 1881, as having written to him as
follows : —

" It is a very curious thing, not generally known, that the Ganges is
just the reverse of all or most other Indian rivers in regard to Mahseer
fishing. Thomas, in his book ' The Rod in India,' says about the rivers
in Central and South India, ' It is no use going out to fish unless the
water is quite clear ; ' and a friend of mine in the Kangra valley tells me it
is the same in the Beeas and other Panjab rivers. Here you may just
as well stay at home, unless the Ganges is a little discoloured. It gets
clear about the 2Oth to 2$th November, and for several years I have found
the fish cease to bite then, and continue to refuse to do so till March,
unless a fall of rain discolours the water, when they take readily until it
clears again."

And this peculiarity of the Ganges is confirmed by another observer.

I may further mention that on one occasion I had Mahseer running
pretty fairly while the rain fell off and on, and the stream was just
perceptibly coloured, but when the rain ceased, the weather became
quite bright, and a cold wind set in from the east, they altogether ceased
running, and I had four consecutive blank days. But in this case it was
not the brightness of the water that wrought my woe, but quite a distinct
factor, the cold wind ; and I notice it that the two factors may not be
confounded, for I have observed again and again that a cold wind has
the same effect on the appetites of many Indian fish, as it also has in
some places on trout in England, though rivers differ, trout behaving
specially well in some rivers during the prevalence of a cold wind,
though, in other places, they are quite " put down " by it.

Even humans are affected by a cold east wind, and an old party
who, from sundry aches and pains had grown crusty, and always con-
sulted his weathercock to see if the wind was in the east before he
would venture out, was kept in for a fortnight by a loving young nephew
climbing up and tying his weathercock in the east. Little blackguard !
Who would not be a boy ?

One mode of fishing for Mahseer there is that may be followed in
coloured water. I was not aware of it when the above remarks on
bright water were written in the first edition, but those remarks are
thoroughly applicable still to all the ordinary methods of fishing for
Mahseer, and are worthy to be impressed as contrary to ordinary ideas,
and live-bait fishing is somewhat of an exceptional way to fall back upon
in coloured water, rather than to use by preference to fly-fishing or

E 2

52 Circumventing the Mahseer. CHAP. iv.

spinning. I will therefore let the above remarks stand for the benefit
of the great majority of fishermen, and will refer the man unfortunately
overtaken by a spate, and the man who prefers that mode of fishing, to
a separate chapter on live-bait fishing for Mahseer.

To any one with an eye for fish a single glance is sufficient to show
that the Mahseer is a carp. It has a leathery mouth without a vestige
of a tooth in it anywhere ; the ordinary conclusion would be that carp-
like it is not calculated to prey on small fish, but more likely to be
taken with dough or a lobworm. An examination of its stomach has,
however, told a different tale (page 44), and thence it was that I first
learnt how great a fish-eater the Mahseer is. It has the same weakness
for a fish diet as its congener the English chub, only it has it to a much
greater extent.

But we have not yet done with our friend's Asiatic contrarieties.
This mealy-mouthed gentleman, who looks as if his soft leathery lips
could not hurt anything, has a peculiar way of killing his fish. He has
no teeth in his mouth wherewith to hold any slippery little fish he may
catch, and prevent its struggling out again before he can swallow it. In
lieu of this he is therefore provided with great power of jaw, and he
kills, and holds his fish, by compression, violent compression. It is
difficult to conceive how so soft a mouth can give the bite it does, can
bear to give the violent crush it does ; but there is the analogy of the
tiger, which has a yielding springy pad, on which it treads noiselessly as
on velvet, with which it can however strike a blow that will break the
backbone of a buffalo, and crush in the cranium of a man. Doubtless
the tiger rigidities the muscles of the foot till the velvet pad is like iron
at the moment of delivering its blow, and possibly the Mahseer has the
like power, for that it has very great muscular power in its mouth and
lips is beyond question, and why should it not be able to harden those
muscles, as you can your calf or your biceps, or a cat can her pad when
much pleased, at which times her hard tread is very audible ? That the
Mahseer can exert great power of compression with its soft mouth I
have more than once had clearly proved to me, but the first experience
that convinced me is sufficiently conclusive. My spoon bait, which was
nearly new, and for weight's sake unusually stout, and in thorough
repair when I cast it in for a spin, was doubled right in two, and
crumpled up like a piece of paper, when I landed my fish, and took it
out of his mouth. He must have happened to catch it edgewise in his

CHAP. iv. Power of Compression. 53

mouth as it spun, and thus been able to exert his strength on it ; for had
it not been exactly edgewise on, it would have turned and slipped away
from his jaw as he pressed it, and thus it would have got flat in his
mouth. Probably few fish get a fair bite at a spoon at the very angle
of the spoon in the very part of the mouth required to produce such an
effect on such a hard substance ; the chances must be much against it,
and that would account for the same result not being frequent. But
once seen there was no longer room for doubt about the power of the
fish ; the spoon was whole and sound when cast in, was cast in deep
water clear of rocks, was not run against anything by him, for it was
well inside his mouth when I took it out directly he was landed. Had
I tried to produce the same effect, it would have required a good
downright blow, with a hammer and anvil to help me. I then be-
thought me of the spoon of a friend which was thinner than mine, and
which was much indented as I had thought at the time by rocks. I
bethought me too of the many hooks I had lost unintelligibly ; I knew
I had a light hand acquired by killing trout on fine tackle, and yet treble
hook after treble hook had been smashed, sometimes before I had felt
my fish at all, and some of them had been curled up like a ram's-horn,
and curled inwards as from outside pressure, not outwards as from
tension. The murder was out; they had been crunched up by the
Mahseer's power of compression, and the treble hooks had suffered
more than the single, because they had offered resistance, while the
single hooks had turned in the mouth and evaded it. On this point,
one correspondent asks the question, " How about the teeth inside the
gills ? " to which I answer that the Mahseer has no teeth in the gills, and
the only teeth he has, those in the throat, could never have got near the
spoon, for it is only in the act of swallowing that they can be brought to
bear, so as to comminute the food passing down the throat. No, it is
to compensate for the absence of teeth in the mouth that the Mahseer
has this great power of compression, compression that in an instant
squeezes all the life out of the fish preyed upon, and leaves it dead and
motionless in the mouth, with no need of teeth to hold it, and so it is
passed down the throat head foremost, always head foremost, a small
fish not being masticated by the pharyngeal teeth, and only hard sub-
stances like molluscs, and the claws and shell of the fresh- water crabs,
being comminuted in their passage. These my views on the Mahseer's
power of compression have, like not a few others put forward in the

54 Circumventing the Mahseer. CHAP. iv.

earlier editions of this little work, been only confirmed by the further
experience of myself and other anglers, and stand no longer on com-
paratively few instances however striking. But it would be tedious if
I were continually pointing my readers to confirmations, and I shall
indulge the hope that they will be kindly content to take my word as
they did at the first.

These three main points, then, being borne in mind, the necessity
for fishing in clear water, the Mahseer's love of small fish, and its power
of smashing by compression, we shall be in a better position for
arranging to circumvent it.

There is yet another point which may as well be reverted to before
proceeding further, and that is the bottom-feeding habits of the Mahseer.
This was deduced in the last chapter from the evidence of the contents
of the stomach, an organ not given to telling fibs, and from the formation
of the outside of the mouth. I lay stress on this habit from a fishing
point of view, because I am convinced that a due appreciation of and
allowance for it will lead to better sport. I lay stress on it also because
I know it is commonly disregarded. It stands to reason that you are
more likely to catch a fish by seeking it on its feeding grounds, and
there offering it its natural food, than by requesting its attention in a
somewhat unusual direction, the surface, and there too to a novel object,
not much like anything in creation, a gaudy salmon fly. I lay stress
on this point because so many fish for the Mahseer with an artificial fly
at the surface of the water, and the salmon fisher is for more reasons
than one very loth to give up his fly. The fly is cleaner and much
less troublesome than any other lure. It is much easier to throw
a salmon fly than to spin a fish, and Mahseer doubtless are caught
with a fly.

The Brahmin, who is as punctilious about his food as a much-fished
trout, describes a pariah as " one who eats without asking," and if the
Mahseer were not in respect of food as omnivorous as a pariah, it would
never take down such an unearthly thing as a salmon fly in the pro-
miscuous manner it sometimes does. Though it does take it, and there
is some sport to be had with the fly, still in my opinion it is not a
natural bait, and therefore not the best lure that can be offered, and
the sport thereby obtained is decidedly inferior to that to be had by
spinning. Trout are doubtless to be caught in England by very poor
fishermen, with very incorrect fancy flies, still if the correct fly be used,

CHAP. iv. Spinning versus Fly-fishing. 55

that is, a good imitation of the natural fly at the time on the water, it is
undeniable that the chances of sport are sensibly increased. Similarly,
if the reader will waive his prejudices for the fly, and will spin deep with
a small fish as bait, I will engage that he shall not only kill more, but
also better fish, than with a fly. I think I may safely say that if he can
spin as well as he can fly fish, he will kill three Mahseer spinning to
one with a fly, and that the total weight in pounds shall be again
multiplied by three.

Still he may say that he prefers the fly, that he loves the excitement
of the swirl on the surface, and the rapid approximate guess at the
weight of the fish he has just missed, has all but caught, and has at least
had the pleasure of seeing, or better still loves to form a rapid idea of
the size of the fellow he is well into, and is in for a fight with, and
means to take all the more pains about taming now he sees he is such a.
grand one.

He may say he prefers the fly, and prefers it so much that he would
rather kill fewer by that means than more spinning, on the same
principle as he would rather catch fewer with the rod than more with
the net. If so, by all means let him stick to the style of fishing from
which he derives most pleasure, and I will admit that, besides the
advantages already conceded, the fly has this still further recommenda-
tion, that it can be thrown farther than a minnow. There are pools and
runs the best parts of which cannot be reached with the minnow, but
that can be well covered with a fly, and there are sometimes places in
which, from rushes or weeds, the water cannot be reached at all
spinning. For such occasions a fly collar can be carried in the fly book,
and bent on till you come to ground where it can be exchanged again
for the spinning tackle.

But as there are places where it is impossible to bring spinning into
play, so are there places where the river is so overhung with forest on
all sides that it is difficult enough to get to the water's edge at all, and
impossible without a boat to find room to throw a fly. In such places
even the staunch advocate of the fly will find it advantageous to have a
spinning collar in his pocket, ready for exchange till such time as he can
revert to his favourite lure. If he spins at all well, the result may induce
him to keep the spinning tackle on a little longer, and perhaps may
eventually convert him.

But if he still prefers the fly, or at any rate wishes to use it on

56 Circumventing the Mahseer. CHAP. iv.

occasion, I must request him to be good enough to repair to the chapter
specially devoted to his subject.

In either case, however, let him remember above all things that
he is fishing in clear water with a bright sky, and that he must con-
sequently be much more careful to keep out of sight than if he
were rishing in England, on a cloudy day, by a river more or less
coloured.

CHAPTER V.
SPINNING FOR MAHSEER.

"That fish that is not catched thereby
Alas ! is wiser far than I."

DONNE.

THE inventory which we took in a former chapter (Chap. III.) of the
contents of this Asiatic gentleman's intestinal canal showed that he was
as omnivorous as the immortal Mr. Samuel Weller was omnibibulous.
Metaphorically speaking, the accommodating answer of each of them is
" all taps is vanities " ; but the particular vanity of the Mahseer, or at
least that which we are best able to oblige him with, is, as we have seen,
a small fish ; and the question next arises how is the dish to be served.

Every one knows that fish is good for nothing if it is not fresh, and
a pike or perch carries this maxim so far as to prefer them " all alive,
alive oh ! " A little roach all alive and kicking has peculiar charms for a
jack, but well nigh irresistible though it may be, and many staunch
advocates though it may have in consequence, still I am not one of
them. Except it be for a trimmer, I should prefer not to use it ; my
idea being that with a dead fish you can cover so much more water, that
you can show your spinning bait to ten or twenty fish, where your
stationary live bait will be seen by only one, and perhaps not that for a
while. Advertise freely and you will be sure to find a "claimant."
May he be as heavy as Sir Roger. By the ordinary law of chances the
odds are you will come across more taking fish out of the ten or twenty
than in the one who happens to live in or near the hole into which you
have cast your live bait • and you cannot be constantly moving your
live bait or you will kill it. You must just quietly drop him into a
likely hole, and leave him to " paddle his own canoe " ; whereas with a
spinning bait you can take it saunteringly all through those deep eddies

5 8 Spinning for Mahseer. CHAP. v.

that ought to be full of big fish, just under those big rocks, and as close
to their edge as you like ; you can playfully dally awhile in front of any
pet corner ; you can hark back after a little respite to where you have
seen a fin move; in short you can "paddle your own canoe" when and
where you like, and not be at the mercy of your live bait, and then if
you can really paddle well, your bait will be as tempting as most live
baits. The sequence in my mind is that a good spinner will kill more
jack than a live-bait fisher ; but of course all depends on his being a
good spinner, a natural painstaking one. The live-bait lover certainly
has one very great advantage, which is of more importance than he is
probably aware of; that is, that he is generally more out of sight. Out
of mere idleness, perhaps, without any preconsideration, he lays down
his rod, and sits leisurely down a little way off, and this is in truth the
most weighty reason why he should catch more fish than the dead-bait
spinner, who is perhaps standing prominently out in fine relief on the
very edge of the bank, and constantly moving his legs and arms in the
action of walking and spinning. How men can think a fish is such a
fool as to take a bait, when it sees the " vultus instantis tyranni" on the
bank, I cannot make out. Still they do think it, or at least ignore the
visual organs of the fish, and go on fishing all their days after the
manner of Hiawatha, "jawing" at the Sturgeon Nama.

" 'Take my bait,' cried Hiawatha,
< Take my bait, O king of fishes ! ' "

" Hiawatha's fishing " is a very pretty study of what not to do.

If the spinner of dead bait will be careful to conceal himself from
view of his desired prey as thoroughly as the live-bait lover uncon-
sciously does, he will not be at the great disadvantage he otherwise
generally is ; on the contrary, he will be at an advantage, in that he tries
so much more water with his lure.

And as to his lure, too, I am convinced he is not at the discount he
is commonly thought to be. If he manages it badly, of course he
cannot expect to fare well, but if he is really a good hand at spinning,
his bait will look every bit as natural as a live fish, and, strange to say,
sometimes even more so. Watch a live bait and a well-spun minnow
and compare them. I will back the spun one. The live bait has,
perhaps, a great hook all unconcealed and too apparently sticking out of
its lip ; or if baited in the side, it is soon lying somewhat unnaturally on

CHAP. v. The Spoon. 59

its side ; or it has managed in its lively gyrations to make a tangle of its
line, and encircle itself therein; or it is more dead than alive, and
looking somewhat suspicious ; or may be it is off altogether, and the
angler is in happy ignorance of the fact, and in blissful expectancy of a
momentary run at a bare hook.

My sentiments then are that, if the angler will be at the pains to spin
delicately, will take the trouble to conceal himself thoroughly, and will
bait his fish neatly with the hooks well concealed, he will in clear water
kill more by spinning a dead fish than by using a live bait.

In coloured water the objections to prominent hooks may not be so
pertinent, but of that hereafter. Only here be it remembered that, in
live-bait fishing, the hooks must of necessity be obvious, for they cannot
be embedded in the flesh as much as in a dead fish.

I have killed Mahseer with a spoon, with a phantom minnow, and
other imitation fish of sorts, and with a dead fish, and there is some-
thing to be said for each of them, something that will commend itself
differently to different anglers in proportion as they like taking trouble
or not.

The spoon bait is, of course, only an imitation of a fish, and a rude
one. So rude indeed, that, to the uninitiated, seeing it only in the
hand, it is surprising that anything that swims can mistake it for a fish.
Still, when it is in motion in the water, they do so mistake it, and take
it freely, so that it is by no means to be lightly esteemed as a lure, and
does a great deal more business than would be supposed. One side
being copper or gilt, and the other, the inside, being silvered, it flashes
as it revolves, and is seen a long way off in consequence. But if too
closely inspected, the rudeness of the imitation is so apt to be dis-
covered, that it is seldom used in England except in coloured water.
As it is in clear water that Mahseer fishing is mostly done, that would
seem to place it at a discount in India, but it doesn't, and so long as it
rotates sufficiently to give it a life-like motion, the deception is complete,
for it is deception, Mr. Angler, deception that you are practising. For
choice, the use of the spoon in clear water should be confined to the
runs and eddies; for in the quieter waters you could not get it to
revolve so rapidly without pulling it faster through the water than is
advisable. But fish will take it even in the clear still pools, though in
such water the dead bait is more tempting. Still do not think the spoon
by any means useless in still water, for many a good Mahseer has been

60 Spinning for Mahseer. CHAP. v.

taken with it in still pools, and Marral and Freshwater Sharks I have
killed with it even in ponds. In a good strong run you may even keep
it stationary, nay more, may also lower it slowly down stream, the stream
doing all the spinning for you.

Relying on it chiefly in running and rapid water, I prefer the spoon
to be somewhat heavier than it ordinarily is in England ; for if it comes
to the surface it ceases to have a hold on the water, and consequently
ceases to spin. Having regard, moreover, to the bottom-feeding pro-
pensities of the Mahseer I prefer to spin deep.

One correspondent specially commends to me his favourite tackle-
maker's " scaled spoons," as if any Mahseer could possibly see the scales
when the spoon is revolving ; and even supposing that he could, surely
the spectacle of scales on one side only would be so irresistibly comic
that any Mahseer with a sense of the ridiculous would be too convulsed
with laughter to think of feeding. The only extra advantage of the
scales is that they catch anglers as well as fish !

As to the different sizes of spoons a word may be better said in the
chapter on tackle. I will only mention here that I have been so hard
pushed for bait in camp that I have been thankful to lay hands on a
mustard spoon, and convert it to the much more useful end in existence
of being a beguiler of good Mahseer.

Apropos of this I may be allowed to tell a little incident. I was
fishing in a densely forest-clad part in which a guide was necessary. I
was fishing with a spoon, and my guide sat watching me listlessly till he
saw me get hold of, play, and land a decent Mahseer. Then he woke
up and was all attention. He closely watched me unhook the fish, and
straightway begin spinning again with the same spoon, and soon catch
another Mahseer. It was too much for him. He could contain him-
self no longer. Is it lawful for me, he asked, to see the hook ? Certainly,
I said, and handed him the spoon. He turned it over and over in his
hand and scrutinized it closely and deliberately. Then, with a motion
of the head, and a look of being thoroughly satisfied that he had got to
the bottom of the mystery, he solemnly handed back the spoon. He
asked no explanation of me, so I gave none, but went on fishing and
caught more. That evening he got a rapt audience round him, and
expounded the whole matter. " That gentleman catches Mahseer by
magic of hand, he puts on no bait at all. I saw it with my own eyes.
It is pure magic of hand." He verily believed it.

CHAP. v. The Spoon. 61

A spoon has this further advantage that it is much lighter than a
dead fish, and if you use a springy fly top, as I do, in preference to a
stiff spinning top, as used in trolling for pike, you will find that its com-
parative lightness will allow of your throwing a spoon of ample size,
whereas with a natural fish bait you are restricted in size by the weight
which your top joint will lift and swing out without being strained or
broken.

With a pliable i.6-ft. salmon rod you may safely use a spoon of any
size up to 2 1 inches in length, while a 2-inch spoon is as much as ever
you should throw on a pliable i4-ft. double-handed trout rod, if these
rods are as light and pliable as they should be, and, unless you are
careful, you had better make it il inch.

This fear of straining is probably the reason why stiff spinning rods
have lamentably come to be thought the right rods for Mahseer. But
more of them anon.

There is something very slippery about a flying spoon ; you cannot
catch hold of it without coming well on to the hook, and I think that
you lose less runs at a spoon than at any other bait. A fish cannot lay
hold of it anywhere without slipping off it straight on to the hooks.

The spoon is also as clean fishing as the fly. As soon as you have
killed a fish and removed it from the hook, your lure is ready again,
whereas with a dead fish as bait your bait has probably been spoilt, and
time and trouble must be spent in re-baiting.

Moreover, you may not always be able to procure bait ; at any rate
not immediately on your arrival at your fishing quarters, and the first
evening's or morning's sport may be lost if you are not prepared with a
spoon or an artificial fish.

With so many considerations to commend it the spoon is in practice
more used than any other lure, and in consequence more fish are killed
with it than with any other bait.

I have used a phantom minnow too, but it is too light for fishing
deep, and other artificial minnows, and any salmon minnow will kill,
but it should be specially dressed for this country, as will be seen in
the chapter on tackle, or it will be quickly demoralized. There are
fishermen, also, who have used an artificial dace or roach, such as are
made at home for pike fishing, and had sport with them. But they are
not fitted for all waters, only for the larger rivers containing much heavier
fish than do the smaller ones, and a spoon is preferable to them.

62 Spinning for Mahseer. CHAP. v.

Of all bait, however, the one that I consider the most killing, when
available, and if you will be bothered with it, is a dead fish on light
spinning tackle. Any small fish from 3 to 6 inches in length will do,
but if I am picking out of many in a bait-can I select, and use first,
those that are exactly 4 inches long, tail included. I prefer this length
both because it is a nice edible size, and generally appreciated, I fancy,
by the majority of Mahseer, and also because it is a convenient weight
to throw out from the ordinary fly top of a light salmon rod. If you
have a much heavier bait on, it will rather strain a fly top to be con-
stantly throwing it, and if you put on a special trolling top for the
purpose, not only will you certainly be broken, but you cannot change
from spinning to fly fishing at will, or at least you cannot change without
more trouble, and the loss of more time, than it is worth ; whereas you
ought, with the aid of an attendant, to be able to do it under the minute,
and to take just a dozen casts over that pretty bit at the far end of the
pool which you could not quite reach with your minnow, and which it
would be a positive sin to leave untried, before passing on to other
water, and replacing your fly collar by your spinning trace, the former
being wound round your hat, or better still, thrown down for your
attendant to crown his turban with at better leisure than you can
possibly be expected to have while so deeply engaged.

These were the considerations that first led to my spinning with a
fly top in old experimentalizing days, when also I wanted to make a fair
trial which was the more killing bait, a fly or a fish. I came thereby
to learn, however, that a pliable top carries with it very much more
important advantages. The Mahseer takes its fly perhaps much as a
salmon does, rising at it and descending quietly to its old place at the
bottom till it feels the hook, but even then its first rush after feeling the
hook is very much more violent than a salmon's. It is this grand first
rush that is the glory of Mahseer fishing. But in spinning there is added
to it yet another danger, the Mahseer does not ordinarily take its fish
quietly as if it knew it would be unresisting like a puny fly, but it seizes
it, not always, certainly, but not uncommonly, with an angry blow that
gives a sudden jerk to the line ; it comes at the fish bait with a swoop
like a hawk, and seizing it passes swirling by at speed. To this angry
jerk is -very quickly added the grand rush that follows on feeling the
restraint of the hook and line. Then it is that you find out, as mentioned
in Chapter II., that no hand is light enough. The Mahseer is too quick

CHAP. v. The Mahseer Rod. 63

for you. Before you can drop the top the mischief is done. There has
been a sudden smash, and your friend has gone. You think, dear me,
that was a splendid fish, my tackle was not strong enough. I venture to
say that the probabilities are that the fish that broke you was not a bit
heavier than the last you killed on that same line, and that if you had
only got on terms with him at starting, by means of a pliable rod, you
might equally have killed him also. I do not deny, be it remembered,
that the Mahseer do grow very large, and do want very strong and fresh
tackle, but I maintain also that much of their violence may be neutralized,
and the necessity for coarse tackle obviated, by the use of a pliable fly
rod in preference to a stiff trolling rod, or even a trolling top joint. I
say not only fly rod, but pliable fly rod, for fly rods for salmon are made
both stiff and pliable, and I prefer the latter, and I would now never
think of using a spinning top joint. The rod is in effect only the hand
end of the line. It is the last connecting link between the fish and the
hand. I do not understand the term Mahseer rod as if it were necessary
to have something sui generis. An ordinary pliable salmon rod is the
one on which I rely by preference, and I hold that if you strengthen
your rod by stiffening it you must necessarily proceed to strengthen
also your line, your collar, and your snood ; and having done that, you
are fishing with a barge pole and a cart rope. You are substituting
brute force for skill. Don't call it sport. Sport is the delicious triumph
of skill. The man with the barge pole gets very little of that, poor
fellow, and he has the labour of carrying a heavier rod and a heavier
winch than is really needed. Give me the magic wand that promptly
" stoops to conquer," that is sensitive of every plunge, that aids me like
a friend in meeting it promptly, that works with me hand in hand
throughout the fight, almost speaks to me of the next effort of the
enemy, always anticipates me in foiling it, and when the battle is won,
draws himself up as straight as an arrow, and breathes again for fresh
contests. Ah well ! I have some dear friends among my rods with
many mutual confidences, shared with none else. They have had as
much to do with the killing of many a fine fish as I have.

They have had to do with it in more ways than resisting the first
rush. I have, after some play, killed a marral of some 5 or 6 Ibs.
which had one hook pressing against a tooth, and not embedded any-
where, and which dropped off as the landing net took the weight off
the line. Would such a thing have been possible with anything but a

64 Spinning for Mahseer. CHAP. v.

springy top ? I have, after a vigorous fight in rough water, shelved
a Mahseer of some 5 Ibs., as memory serves me, which had one hook
embedded half way up the barb in the hardest part of the gill cover, in
short, it was only pressing at right angles against the bone, and dropped
out as I took off the tension. Who did that ? Not I, but my springy
top. Once more. In very rough water I hooked a Mahseer, which,
after a mile of exposure on a coolie's shoulder in the sun, scaled, I see
in my notes, 30! Ibs. in camp. Away down stream he rushed like a
madman, screaming out the line, though the basket-boat was started
after him as promptly as possible ; presently he stopped, and the basket-
boat, with its way on, overshot him. Of course I was telling the
boatman what to do, and he was paddling and I reeling up, all we
knew. In the heat of the action as we were making downwards towards
still water, where there was plenty of elbow room and a bit of shelving
bank, everywhere else huge precipitous rocks overhung us, there was a
cessation of vibration, the telegraphic communication between me and
my fish was interrupted. Promptly we paddled above him, got him
out of his arm-chair on some rock at the bottom, and began conducting
him, foot by foot as he gave way, down another division of the river
away from his friendly arm-chair, which he hung on to like a dentist's.
For the first time I got just a momentary glance of the commencement
of a 9-ft. spinning trace. It was refreshing to see signs of getting better
acquainted. But down it went again into the dark depths. Finally I
landed, got the boat and the natives out of the way, and after fifty-two
minutes of good hard fighting shelved my friend. As I stooped down
to unhook the fish, the hook tumbled out. It had only been round one
ray of the tail fin all the time, and the hook had been so small a one
that it little more than encircled the ray at its base. Now, who killed
that fish? Not I, certainly, but my springy rod. I defy the best
fisherman going to have killed that fish with a barge pole. This, then,
is one of the advantages of a springy elastic rod. I know of an angler
going so far as to say that with such rods he did not want any barb to
the hook, and preferred them without for trout, as they pierced more
readily. There, however, I cannot follow him. It is with special
reference to the first rush that the speciality of a Mahseer rod should
be pliability, elasticity, on no account rigidity.

An Irish friend has been down on me with the impatient remark :
" Why don't you call it a Castle Connel rod ? " Why, because that would

CHAP. v. Killing your Bait. 65

be rather to limit it, a Castle Connel rod not being the only pliable rod
that is made, and my chief aim has been to give the reason for discarding
the barge pole that was formerly accepted by the trade as the ideal
Mahseer rod.

"Once use a i6-ft. Castle Connel rod," writes another, "and you
will never use anything else. It is equally perfect for spinning or fly
fishing, and you may use a single gut on it for both. It is the perfect
rod." And isn't it just that I've been telling him ?

I have two ways of baiting. One is more troublesome than the
other, but it is in my opinion the more killing, so I give it first.

Having selected your bait alive and fresh out of the bait kettle,
humanely kill it thoroughly with a flip or two on the back of the head,
but temper your physical energies with a little discretion, so as not to
knock it about.

" There is wisdom in sucking eggs," and there is a right and a wrong
way of killing a bait even. If you have the loach-like Ophiocephalus
gachua to deal with, as hereafter recommended, you may flip away at
his head for a long time without killing him, and though you may half
stun him, you will be horrified, when putting the baiting needle through
him, to find he is still alive and kicking, whereas if you give him one
good squeeze in one hand so as to crush his internal organs, he will die
instantly. If he is too slippery for you, a little river-side sand will soon
get over that difficulty.

You must not follow this same plan with dace-like fish, or with the
Chilwa, however, for if you do, the silvery scales will all come off, and
the bait will at once look dreadfully dishevelled. Moreover it is not
necessary, for the dace-like fish have as thin a cranium as a snipe, and
a flip on the head soon does for them, and with them it is that you
must be careful not to be too rough.

Your bait being dead, then insert the baiting needle, point foremost,
at the anus, and bring it out at the open mouth. Before pulling it
through, hook the loop of the gut on to the eye of the baiting needle.
Then pull the baiting needle out at the mouth, drawing the gut after it
through the fish till the hook comes home to the anus. In doing this,
humour the baiting needle by giving it a turn, as a doctor does an
instrument, so as to tear the vent hole as little as possible in getting
the loop through it. I prefer a single uneyed treble hook, also called
a tapered treble hook, of the sort described in the chapter on tackle,

THE ROD IN INDIA. F

66

Spinning for Mahseer.

CHAP. v.

and about the size shown on page 68. I say about,
not exactly, because this illustration has had to be
slightly diminished to suit the page. The correct size
is No. 5 in the scale of treble hooks given a few pages
on. I used to use No. 7, but I find the hook is so
well concealed in this mode of baiting that one can
afford to use a larger hook, and the larger hook gives
of course greater chances of hooking, and a larger hook
hold. Indeed, you may use No. 3 if you like, so well is
the hook concealed, but to my thinking No. 5 suffices.
When the hook is home to the vent, embed one of the
three thoroughly in the fish, so that the two remaining
hooks of the treble shall be lying close against the fish.
In this position they are scarcely perceptible, whereas if
one hook is carelessly only half embedded, the other
two stick out and show unnecessarily. It is always
worth while to bait very carefully and neatly, because all
your subsequent efforts centre on the nicety of your
baiting. Then you must have a sinker, also described
in the chapter on tackle. Pass the baiting needle
through the loop or ring attached to the sinker, and run
the sinker down the line, and push it, thin point fore-
most, down the fish's throat, so that it is entirely
concealed within the mouth of the bait. Then remove
your baiting needle, and hold the line so as to come out
of the bait's mouth exactly in the centre ; and so as to
keep it in the centre, and make the bait spin true, as
well as keep the lead from coming out, sew the bait's
mouth up as follows with a common needle and thread.
Close the bait's mouth, pass the threaded needle through
both lips so as to bring it out at one of the nostrils in
the upper lip, insert it at the other nostril, and pass it
through both lips again, keeping the line between these
two .stitches. The two ends of the thread will then be
over at the chin of the bait ; draw them together just
gently enough to avoid tearing the bait, and yet tightly
enough to keep the mouth well closed. Tie a sailor's
knot, not " a granny " or grandmother's knot, and cut off

CHAP. v. Adjusting the Bait. 67

the ends. Do not use white thread for this, because it will show, but
stout black thread, double, or any dark coloured knitting silk double,
say brown for preference. Your bait is then ready for use.

This may seem a long, troublesome, and fidgety process, but it
should not occupy as long in the doing as it does in the describing, and
if you have an attendant with you, he can always be preparing a bait
for you while you are fishing, and whenever your bait is spoilt by a* fish,
or by long or rough usage, you can at once change it for a fresh one, by
using the double loop recommended in the chapter on tackle, in the
manner there suggested. This change can be effected in about ten
seconds, or may be less, and the soiled bait left for the attendant to
remove from the hook and replace by another fresh one.

If you have not got a treble hook, a single bare salmon hook can
be used very well for this purpose, the hook being pulled into the vent
after the line, shank foremost, till the fish is well down on to the bend
of the hook, and there is really little more than the point showing. A
No. 4/0, 5/0, or 6/0 Limerick hook will do very well for this purpose.

The only objection I have heard made to this mode of baiting is
that the bait is apt to bend too much by draggling down on to the
hook, because there is nothing in the line to give it rigidity and keep
it straight. But I have not found this myself if care is taken not to
embed the hook further away from the head than the vent hole, and if
it be a fault it is one that is easily remedied by inserting the baiting
needle not at the anus, but a trifle nearer the head. In such case
insert it not in the stomach, which is liable to tear away, but in firm
flesh half-way up the side, and take care to pass the baiting needle, not
simply under the skin, but through a good piece of flesh so as to give
a hold, and also embed one of the hooks thoroughly well into the side
till the other two lie quite flat against it. Pass the baiting needle out
of the mouth and proceed as before. This for objectors, but I prefer
the use of the vent hole as it tears less, and is in my opinion not at all
too far back; indeed I sometimes insert the one embedded hook a
little further aft than the vent, because the vent is differently placed in
different fish, and some require a little more bend to make them spin.
The opposition of the water makes the bait hang back on the hook, so
as to draw up the tail, and create bend enough to make it spin.

But there is one objection to this mode of baiting which I will
freely admit. If your bait is not the Ophiocephalus gachua^ but of a

F 2

68

Spimiing for Mahseer.

CHAP. v.

less tough sort, or if from not being quite fresh it is inclined to get

rotten, which it will very quickly
do in India, then, as the bait
softens from being sodden by use
in the water, the sinker in the
stomach slips down the line, and
by its weight breaks a way for it-
self out of the stomach or vent,
and trailing visibly outside your
bait spoils its appearance utterly.
For such spoiling, too, there is no
remedy but a fresh bait, and of
these you may not have too many.
At any rate you grudge the time
lost in changing, especially if the
fresh bait is not with you, but with
your attendant, who, for better
concealment, is not quite at your
side. In such case try the sinker
used in the " Dee minnow tackle,"
only of a larger size, say i|- inches
long, as in the margin.

There should be no fear of
these sinkers fraying the line if it is
wire, and I see no reason why you
should not use wire or wire gimp
on this tackle, because there is no
need to double or bend it in bait-
ing, and it is doubling that tries
wire. I have always used treble
gut or single salmon gut myself,
but wire had not then been brought
to such perfection. Please see the
single vent hook in the chapter on
tackle.

This bait, though originally the
product of my own untutored in-
tellect, is, I now see, much the same in principle as the " Dee minnow

CHAP. V.

Geeu's Richmond Spinner.

69

tackle " with the exception that I discard the additional flying hook, an
extra hook that is certainly both not wanted and highly objectionable
for Mahseer, and I have my one hook bigger and stouter. Also the
sinker is enlarged.

I will confess I have not used these sinkers, except for trout, but I
have always hankered after them the size for Mahseer, and wire to use

DEE MINNOW TACKLE

TACKLE (baited). (unbaited).

them on ; and now you can get both, and
I should think they ought to be superior
to the inside sinker that I have always
used (p. 66).

But for those who are too idle for
baiting after this manner, and have not
an attendant trained to do it for them,
" Geen's Richmond spinner" and "The
Coxon spinner," specially mounted for
Mahseer, seem to me perfect tackle for
the purpose. Of the two I prefer the
former.

Geen's Richmond spinner I have
never tried on Mahseer, because I had
it not in India, but I have tested it with trout. It is made of
two sizes, for trout and for salmon, the former two inches, the latter
three inches long in the blade, and the salmon size should suit a

Spinning for Mahseer.

CHAP. v.

Mahseer. No sinker is needed because the plate or blade is made
thick enough to act as sinker, and to be at the same time strong and
stiff enough to give an unyielding curve, and it is a curve that has been

admirably hit off
for spinning the
bait. And being
spun by the curve
it is free from ob-
truding screws at
the head, so ob-
jectionable in the
case of any fish
that takes its bait
head foremost.
(See Index for,
Mahseer take the
bait head fore-
most.) The two
projecting points
keep the bait from
slipping. It may
be mounted with
Mahseer hooks

and, as the angler prefers, on treble gut, single salmon
gut, or wire gimp. When you have read about brake
winches and wire traces I expect you will say No. 2 /o
wire gimp for preference.

The Coxon spinner is made on the same lines as
the Geen, with the difference that the plate is of soft
metal, so that you can bend it to any curve you like
every time you bait, and the bait is kept from slipping
by the two hooks at the gills which are mounted on
steel wire with a strong spring to keep the hooks home.
Similarly it should be specially mounted, as particularized
in the chapter on tackle.

I give an illustration of a Geen's Richmond spinner and of a Coxon
spinner, specially mounted, with less swivel showing, with wire gimp, and
with Mahseer hooks, as J recommended that they should be mounted.

CHAP. V.

The undesirable English Mounting.

and each actual size. I give also Allcock's illustration of the way the
Coxon spinner is mounted for the English angler, that you may see
what a plethora of swivels I have discarded as they would be unsuitable
for India, being too obvious in our bright waters. Your tackle-maker
can easily adapt the mounting to Mahseer. Swivel No. 5, hook No. 7
or 8, 8 for preference, wire gimp 2/0. The English illustration is to
emphasize the difference, in order that your tackle-maker may not

COXON SPINNER (baited).

COXON SPINNER

(unbaited).

consider the English mounting all right, and send it you without
thinking.

The Archer spinner has been highly commended to me, but I do
not like the looks of those obtruding screws at the head. I was told
that when baited they obtrude very little. But in this matter it seems
to me that you must be on the horns of a dilemma, that if they do not
obtrude enough to be in the way of a fish taking his bait head foremost,
they will not obtrude enough to spin the bait, and vice vers&. Still

Spinning for Mahseer.

CHAP. V.

anglers may not all have my prejudices, and may like to judge for
themselves, so the plate is given.

The Chapman spinner is a favourite with many, so much so that at
Loch Lomond I could get none other. But even so I would none of
them because of those objectionable screws at the head.

I

ARCHER
SPINNER

(baited).

ARCHER SPINNER
(unbaited).

CHAPMAN

SPINNER

(unbaited).

Most fishermen are familiar with the phantom silk spinning minnow.
They have the advantage of being light for throwing, but to my think-
ing they are too light for spinning deep enough, are always coming
to the surface, and they have the very objectionable feature of screws
obtruding at the head. I never would use anything for Mahseer that
was thus handicapped.

A multitude of hooks, even if they were not repellent, as they
obviously must be in bright water, are not at all necessary in India.
They are made in England for fishes whose mouths are so full of teeth
and scarcely-covered bone, that the surface presented to the hook is so
hard that the chances are sadly against a hook penetrating, and getting
a hold, and therefore the hooks are multiplied with a view to increasing
the chances of hooking a fish. But the Mahseer's mouth and lips are

CHAP. v. The Toughest Bait. 73

soft, tough, and leathery, presenting a perfect hookhold all over, so
that one hook is enough, and two is certainly ample. Moreover, the
Mahseer closes his leathery mouth very tight on his fish as I have
shown, and the chances are much against his escaping being hooked.

On all grounds, therefore, I am for as few hooks and as fine tackle
as possible with the Mahseer. With some other fish with which we
shall have to do hereafter the same necessity may not exist.

Presuming, then, that I have contrived to seduce my reader into a
preference for a dead fish on fine tackle, as being more natural and
consequently better calculated to stand closer fish-eyed scrutiny in clear
water than any artificial bait, the next question that arises is whether
any particular sort of small fish is more killing than another. This I
have endeavoured to ascertain by identifying the fish found in the
several Mahseer killed; but their digestion is so marvellously rapid,
that it is very seldom indeed that the small fish there found are
recognisable. Not only have their scales and fins almost always dis-
appeared, but their very shape has been lost. Though I have once or
twice recognised a few, it does not thence follow that there may not
have been several other sorts amongst the ones I could not make out.
Though I have seen the Mahseer taking dace-like fish freely in the
natural state, and found in them Discognathus lamta (Chapter III.), it
is no sequence that they do not as freely take other fish, which I could
not see them take, simply because they are small fish that inhabit the
bottoms of rivers, and are consequently not within sight. I cannot
say, therefore, if the Mahseer have a preference for any particular sort
of small fish, and as they seem to take them all alike, whichever is
handiest, the question rather is which the fisherman prefers. The
several fish that are dace-like show farthest from their white shining
scales, but that is not much of a point where the water is clear as crystal,
and they are a tender bait, and soon tear on a hook and look dishevelled.
The young of the Chela argentea are a favourite bait with some, because
they are so very bright and silvery. But they are most frail. Any of
these sorts of baits can be readily caught by a throw or two of the
casting net in the shallowing edges and tails of the pools of the very
river in which you are fishing. Your boatman is probably a fisherman
by caste, and has only to be warned to bring his casting net with him.
The OpJtiocephalus gachua, however, a somewhat loach-like fish in
general appearance, and called in Canarese morant, in Tamil koravai,

74 Spinning for Mahseer. CHAP, v

and in Hindustani dok, is much tougher, and consequently keeps its
good looks much longer on a hook. Its lips, which is a great point, are
stronger, and its mouth being wider, it readily takes in a larger sinker.
It may be easily recognised by the similarity of its general appearance
to that of the marral, Ophiocephalus striatus, figured in Plate xiv., for it
is one of the same family and genus, though small. It has small scales,
looking to the ordinary observer like a scaleless skin. It is a bottom-
feeder, always among the stones, and the young are to be found in any
small pool adjoining rice-fields, whence they can be readily taken by
bailing out, or by small boys with a worm, or by damming up any small
stream, and turning it on to a dry reaped rice-field, when they will
follow the stream out on to the rice-field and are easily caught. This
is the simplest way of catching a number in a short time. Your grooms
or other camp followers can do it for you. These fish keep alive in a
bait-can longer than any fish I know ; but they are great hands at
jumping out if it is not closed. Mr. Dunsford, to whom I had intro-
duced them, graphically writes of them as " next door to immortal, if
kept in a pot of water." A wet cloth alone will keep them alive for
an hour or so.

Though I say loach-like, the reader will please understand that I
mean like in general semblance only to the eye of the casual observer,
and not in characteristics to the closer examiner ; for it is really of the
same genus as the marral, though a span is its utmost length. My
desire is to make myself intelligible to the general reader, the more
critical one must therefore please not quarrel with me for, or conclude
ignorance from, laxity of expression like the above, any more than he
would conceive a person ignorant of the earth's rotation for saying the
sun set.

As to what is the best size for a bait to be, it must, I think, remain
a moot point, dependent very much on the fancy of the fisherman.
Some have an idea that the larger the bait you use, the larger will be
the fish you catch. But my humble opinion is that we do not always
take as big a bite of cake as ever our mouths will hold, and I am quite
sure that very fine pike and 30 Ib. salmon have been killed with a very
minnow for bait. I have myself seen a pike of 3 feet taken on a roach
not as many inches in length. The use of a large bait may perhaps
serve the purpose of choking off the smaller fish, and allowing the bigger
ones to have it all to themselves, but I very much doubt it, for it is

CHAP. v. The Size of the Bait. 75

astonishing how huge a bait, in comparison with its own size, a small fish
will sometimes go at if he happens to be more than ordinarily peckish.
On a spoon of 2j inches in length I have pulled out a greedy little
Mahseer of only a quarter of a pound in weight, whereas I have also
taken a i2-pounder on a spoon of only an inch and a quarter in length.
I measure the spoon in the spoon part only, without calculating the ring
and hook fore and aft. Pike, again, have been known to take other pike
of more than half their own size, and in one case every bit as big as itself,
though in the last instance it might have been more intent on fighting
than digesting ; anyhow it won't do it again, for it died of suffocation.
Of course if you go to such a length, as was recently done with success,
of baiting with a 7-lb. jack for an individual pike of 50 lb., known to
reside in a certain locality, it would trouble any small pike to take such
a bait, and you might fairly calculate on strong probabilities of your
taking the particular pike you wanted, or none at all. But you do not
always happen to have a personal acquaintance so intimate as to be able
to provide the special dish which your friend alone shall particularly
affect. Furthermore, I hold that as a preventive measure against
indifferent fish a large bait is not a necessary precaution. My belief
is that if there is a big fish on the feed within reach of your bait, though
small, and you work it naturally enough for him to desire to take
it, he will have it, and woe betide the cheeky little fish that pre-
sumes to come between him and his dinner, for "a hungry man is
an angry man." Again and again have I seen a large fish sail majesti-
cally up to his bait, and take it leisurely in, as if thoroughly conscious
that none of the smaller fish around dare step in before him. There is
a calm resolute look in his eye, and an angry little twitch of his tail,
that the smaller fry understand the meaning of right well. It means
business, and they make way for his majesty most apparently. But if
there is any doubt in his mind, and he shows no sign, they can read that
too, and in they go at the bait, as they are probably hungrier and less
wary than he is. And that is how it is that a good fisherman generally
kills finer fish in the long run than an indifferent fisherman, even though
both fish with precisely the same bait. The finest fish are the oldest,
the most experienced, most wary, and in a position to be the most
fastidious. The deception that satisfies them must consequently be the
most perfect; but if it be quite satisfactory, then they are thoroughly
competent to look out for themselves, and well able to prevent the

76 Spinning for Mahseer. CHAP. v.

smaller fry from rudely rushing in and carrying off their intended
dinner. There is a very decided, dignified, awe-striking, keep-your-
distance expression in the countenance and general bearing of a large
fish about to feed, and in a handsomely attired trout an unmistakable
odi profanum vulgus look, quite enough to make any small fry shrink
into their shoes. Though I have not yet arrived at the point of
recognising the varying lines in the face of a large Mahseer, there is no
doubt in my mind but that the small fish are thoroughly conversant
with them, for I see a knowledge of a certain something there so clearly
reflected in their behaviour, that I cannot question it, and myself am
often able to gather something from his general demeanour, his lordly
lineaments, even before he leaves his station for the bait. His daily
satellites the small fish must, however, have much more closely studied
his physiognomy.

Still the rule cannot be considered by any means absolute. Small
Mahseer must rush in and take their risks of punishment sometimes,
just as half-grown chickens do in a yard, and get a good peck now and
again for their pains. Nothing venture nothing have. Your small bait
may also be taken by a small Mahseer before it comes within the ken
of the large fish which is in another part of the pool or run, a part you
have not yet spun over. An argument this for spinning through the
best bits first ; a reason again why the best fisherman catches the best
fish. He divines intuitively where the best fish ought to be, and he
fishes accordingly. Furthermore, the best fish having taken up their
position in the best localities command only a limited radius there-
from. If the smaller Mahseer never got a chance of a small fish they
would be badly off.

There is no doubt, however, in my mind but that the large fish is
able to make the smaller ones understand that he means to have such
and such bait in sight, and that they are not to think of anticipating him.
It is quite intelligible that he should do it almost without a sign, just as
you would intimate to the bearer of your second gun that you are
prepared for the approaching deer or tiger, and that he is to keep
motionless. He does not need to be told the last half of the idea, it is
a natural sequence ; it would be a work of supererogation to tell him
he must not fire before you ; he never dreamt of such a thing, for he
has been too well drilled. The position of the small fish is a parallel
one. They only need to see in the big fish's eye a look of preparedness

CHAP. v. Fish Think. 77

to take the bait, and they understand the rest. He will take it at the
time he considers best for surprising what he conceives to be a live fish,
just as you will take your shot when you get a fair view of the shoulder ;
though there be a little delay it should be quite as comprehensible to
the small fish as it is to the gun-bearer that the master is only waiting
his opportunity, for there is a look in his eye that means business, and
that is enough.

Do you doubt that fish have ideas, and are able to communicate
them ? It might be proved abundantly that fish can think for them-
selves : and that they should be unable to communicate their ideas to
each other would be contrary to the analogy of all nature. Let it
suffice to ask a few questions which can elicit no reply but that fish can
and do think intelligently. Small fish see a large one going to spawn ;
they follow her in a crowd, and wait patiently till she has worked out a
hollow in the gravel, and commenced to spawn therein, and then they
feed busily on the stray ova that are washed down to them. Have they
not recognised in the appearance of the female, or in the companionship
of the male, an indication that the act of spawning is about to take
place ; else why have they assiduously followed her ? Have they not
been confirmed in the idea by seeing her working out a hollow in the
gravel, else why have they continued to wait upon her ? May be they
have done the same before and got a good dinner by it. If so they
have memory. May be the majority of them crowd after her simply
because they see others do so, and conclude that there is probably
something to be gained thereby. If so it is drawing certain conclusions
from certain premises, which is the process of reasoning. Anyhow,
depend upon it they are no fools, and the angler who hopes to be
successful must commence by disabusing his mind of the idea that he
has a fool to deal with. Every man that lives from hand to mouth has
of necessity to be wide-awake to his immediate surroundings, ever on
the alert to notice facts, quick to draw conclusions, and prompt to act
upon them. It is the case with civilized man, it is still more markedly
so with the savage, while with the animal kingdom it is presumedly the
sole field of thought. Still it is the process of thought, a process
sometimes followed out through a surprisingly long chain, and fish are
no exceptions to the general rule, even though their intelligence, may
not be so educated as that of the domesticated animals that have been
brought into closer communion with the superior intellect of man ; and

78 Spinning for Mahseer. CHAP. v.

may not be so much noticed and appreciated by man, because exhibited
under the water, an element with which he is necessarily less con-
versant than with earth and air.

Fish have a brain, why then should they not use it, though it is not
as heavy as Cuvier's or Byron's or Thackeray's? It has even been
suggested that there is a comparison in the weight of brain and in-
telligence of different fish.*

Why is it you use a transparent, almost invisible, material like
silkworm-gut to attach to your hook ? Why do not you use whipcord
or string? It would be both stronger and cheaper. Why! because
the fish is observant, would notice it, would conclude, would think^ aye
think, there was something wrong, and would not be such a fool as to
take your bait.

Not to multiply examples too much, how is it that the trout in a
much-fished river are much shyer than in less-frequented waters, and
require finer tackle and better fishermen to catch them ? They are not
really shyer of anything but man, they are not less greedy of food than
they were, but if anything the reverse, because of their fewer oppor-
tunities of feeding ; they are only more discriminating, more educated,
more intelligent. They have learnt to distinguish between an artificial
fly and a natural one ; they recognise the figure and the shadow of a
fishing man, and dash away ; while they feed securely on in presence of
the ox grazing on the bank. They may not be a " cooking animal "
like you and me, but they are thinking animals all the same, and no
fools either, and if we wish to do anything with them we should not
take them for anything but intelligent beings. If you do, and only then,
shall we be inclined to think there is some sense after all in Johnson's
well-known definition of the angler, " a stick and a string with a worm
at one end and a fool at the other," albeit the learned man spake it in
ignorance.

I repeat, again, the fish at least is no fool. Eradicate that idea.
Take a new creed. Say rather he is a thinking animal. I might go on
multiplying examples to prove it, but I should weary you. Pray do not
breathe a word about reason and instinct, or I shall have to begin again
and write a whole chapter on that well-worn though interesting subject.

* "The proportionate weight of brain in a Pike as compared with its body, is
as i to 1300; in a Shark as I to 2500; in a Tunny, a remarkably stupid fish, as
i to 3700." — "The Angler-Naturalist," H. Cholmondely Pennell.

CHAP. v. Fish Talk. 79

Do just please concede for peace sake that my fish is a reasoning
being, and I will go on to the next subject, his talkativeness.

I have stated my belief that fish are able to communicate their ideas
to each other, and I hold this opinion on two grounds : the first, that it
would be contrary to the analogy of all nature if they could not do so ;
and the second, that I think I can recognise indications of their
exercising this power.

My belief, then, is that all the higher animal life that we know any-
thing of has the power of communicating ideas.

Has any one the hardihood to assert that monkeys cannot converse ?
Watch them moving quietly along in a large crowd. One of them gives
a little sound of satisfaction, and there are soon plenty with him to share
the fruit he has found. That mamma monkey calls to its young one
that it is time to be off sharp as there is a man coming, or that it should
not dawdle so as there is fruit in front, and it very evidently understands
and repairs to its mother hurriedly or leisurely according to the nature
of the maternal command. This is very marked. And then how
mamma croons over it ! Is it all meaningless ? I will be bound there
is not so much nonsense in it as in half the stuff talked to babies by
nurses and mothers, about blessing their little tootsi-wootsies and so
forth. Let one of the herd see a crocodile where they are about to
drink, or a panther, or anything that alarms them, and only listen to
the jabbering caught up and carried on by all. Do you say it is all
gibberish ? It is intelligible enough to them, and all with one consent
take precautions accordingly. They do not run wildly hither and
thither, as if overcome by an uncertain fear, but they have a clear idea
of what is the matter, and what they ought to do in the circumstances.
The state of affairs has been intelligently communicated.

Try again. Strike gently, so as not to cow, or threaten to strike,
that captive monkey, and see if he does not face round, and give you a
bit of his mind at once. He commences talking with great volubility,
and though you cannot understand him he means a great deal. It is
very evident from his demeanour he does, his face and bearing being
full of rapid expression.

I have often thought it a very good thing we do not know all that
quarrelsome dogs say to each other, for there must be some frightfully
bad language used sometimes. The very style of the growling of
some of them makes one shudder, it sounds so full of coarse oaths.

80 Spinning for Mahseer. CHAP. v.

But they can talk civil talk to each other also. I had a fine heavy dog,
half fox-hound, half Cuban blood-hound, which had an excellent nose.
He came on the scent of antelope, and followed it up till it was warm,
and he could make it out. Knowing from sad experience that he was
much too portly to catch an antelope himself, Jim abruptly left the
scent, and went in search of Juno, the fleetest of the kangaroo hounds,
then hunting for herself about a quarter-of-a-mile off. Back the two
scampere^i together in a great hurry, he picked up the old scent, and
followed it up, till he fairly laid her in view, and then away she went,
he keeping her in sight as best he could by cutting corners. To bring
her away from her own chances of sport, and that so promptly, and to
get her to accompany him back in such a hurry, he must have conveyed
to her mind a very clear idea of some definite sport immediately in
hand. No human being interfered. They did it all themselves. But
dogs can also make themselves intelligible to men, for we have lived
so much with them that we have in some measure learned their
language. Though we do not know all they say about it, man can
well understand from the manner of a dog's giving tongue, when it
thinks it has hit upon a scent, and when it is sure it has a warm one,
and when it is in view. A dog's whimper, its giving tongue, baying,
barking, growling, moaning, howling, yelping, are all distinct sounds,
with a distinct significance, which man has learnt to understand. He
has learnt a little also of the many different intonations in those sounds,
of the differing force of expression in them, and of the looks of face,
and motions of tail, and sometimes of paw and tongue and raised
bristle with which they are accompanied. If he knew more he would
understand also how dogs speak to each other in apparent silence by
signs, or expressions of countenance, or in audible words, that man
cannot follow, or cannot hear.

How does a bison tell its calf that it must run in front of the herd
and lead the pace, and having told it this, how does it make it under-
stand the line of country to be taken ? All this it does in apparent
silence, and you may observe the little one looking back when in doubt
for instructions.

How does an antelope, on the approach of danger, tell its little one,
not yet old enough to run, to lie down instantly, and not to stir for its
life till called?

How does a sheep call its particular lamb out of a hundred or more,

CHAP. v. Power of Speech in Animals. 81

a great distance away, and that particular lamb comes at once, and no
others offer to move ? When it wants to reassure its lamb, and to tell
it not to come, it employs a very different sound, and the lamb shows
by its conduct that it comprehends.

Tigers make very different noises when searching for their prey,
when appalling it, when rejoicing over it, when calling each other, when
angered. Man can distinguish the difference therein. But there is
doubtless much more means of intercommunion which man cannot follow.
For instance, tigers and wolves and wild dogs not unfrequently hunt in
concert, some lying in ambush, while others beat towards them, and they
must have conversed together to preconcert the plan of the campaign.

Birds also converse. See how constantly mynas are chattering
away to each other, especially the hill myna (Eulates religiosa), and
swallows before migrating seem to be busily discussing some subject
or other. I presume it is their journey. Rooks hold great assemblages,
and make much noise thereat, and the end of it all is rational behaviour,
for they are admittedly very learned about various things, and are
evidently not without rights of property in last year's nests. They have
also decisions executed by executioners in the cases of intruders or
offending individuals. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive how any
creatures who habitually live in collected numbers could possibly order
their conduct so as to live harmoniously, unless they had the power of
freely interchanging their ideas.

How could the sociable grosbeak, or sociable weaver bird of South
Africa (Philetcerus socius) conjointly construct for the whole colony one
large umbrella-shaped collection of nests connected like the houses in
a town ; how could they arrange all the necessary details without
communicating ideas and arriving at a joint understanding? Sociable
animals must necessarily converse.

I should not be surprised to find it some day proved that not only
do birds have language, but also separate languages for different species,
as we have for different nations, and variations of voice for each
individual and sex. Without such variations of voice it would be
difficult to understand how, in the pairing season, for instance, each
individual sparrow can not only call a sparrow and a mate, but its own
mate, as it evidently does without mistake, in the midst, too, of a
clamour of other voices. That the bird's ear is formed for the accurate
distinction of voices is traceable in the grey parrot, the raven, the

THE ROD IN INDIA. G

82 Spinning for Mahseer. CHAP. v.

jackdaw, the myna, and others, which not only repeat words, but catch
so exactly the intonation of the human speaker that they are sometimes
indistinguishable.

That there are different voices for different sexes we can ourselves
recognize in the varying voices of domestic poultry, and man can so
copy the voice, and parrot-wise probably the words also, of a she bear
that a male bear shall answer it from far away in the forest, and keep
on answering and drawing near as called. I have seen it done on the
Animalais, till we had to desist because we were unarmed. The
gentleman who did it said that there were junglemen who could thus
call a male bear within easy shot. Many of us have heard natives so
copy jackals crying over their prey that others shall answer and come
even within striking distance of a club. This subject might be enlarged
on, but I only wish to lead up to my fish.

Take just one example from insects, in addition to those from beasts
and birds. Watch the ants moving in long columns along some con-
jointly cleared road, in some particular direction, evidently with some
common object. How did they agree about and communicate to each
other that common plan ? Put your finger, or any other obstacle, in
the line and stop them. There is immediately excitement amongst
them all, and parties swarm up to remove the obstacle with a readiness
that seems to say the state of affairs has been rapidly communicated,
and a course of conduct resolved upon and ordered by authority. See
two ants meet and cross feelers rapidly, and then go on their several
ways. What have they been doing? Fooling? All their history is
against the supposition. They would seem to have been conversing.
Watch them dragging a cockroach up the side of a wall. It is about
fifty times the size and weight of any one of them, but there they are
on all sides, some upholding, some dragging, some pushing, others
indicating the way, and others coming as reliefs, but all evidently
understanding each other, and consequently working with a unanimity
of purpose which alone could make it possible to accomplish their end
as they do. They clear fields, sow seeds, cultivate them, and in due
course cut, carry, and store crops in granaries built for the purpose.
They forage for, capture, stall, feed, and milk cows. They maintain
armies and take prisoners. They have a well ordered society. It is
impossible that they could do all this without being able to communicate
freely with each other.

CHAP. v. Power of Speech in Fish. 83

Though arguments to this end might be multiplied at pleasure, and
are to be found in convincing force in the writings of Sir John Lubbock,
in " Mind in the Lower Animals " by W. Lauder Lindsay, M.D., and
such like works devoted to the subject, enough for the purpose of this
work has probably been said, in passing, to satisfy the reader generally
that beasts, birds, and insects can and do converse as freely as human
beings, and consequently that there is a presumption in favour of the
same faculty being possessed by fish. There being no apparent grounds
why fish alone should be an exception to the general rule, and all
analogy being favourable to their being able to communicate ideas, we
may examine with less incredulity, without any presumption to the
contrary, and consequently with more fairness, whether or not there
are any indications of their exercising the power which they may well
possess.

I instance first the example above given of a large fish deterring
smaller ones from anticipating him in the matter of food ; and I beg a
re-perusal of those remarks with less incredulity and more seriousness
than was, perhaps, given to them before. I have seen the same with
chub also, as well as with Mahseer. I have seen six or eight chub
attracted by my floating cockchafer, and apparently meditating taking
it, when they hung back, divided, and made way for a comparatively
much larger chub of 2f Ibs., who sailed majestically up to the bait,
and took it leisurely down, with a seeming confidence that the others
would not presume to anticipate him. He must have made them
understand, even though he came from behind them, that he desired
to have that cockchafer himself, and he must have felt confident that
he had expressed himself explicitly, and would be attended to. The
same conclusion seems to be pointed at by the frequently deliberate
way in which a large trout sucks down his fly, in contradistinction to
the hurried dart of the smaller trout.

Furthermore, how is it that when a river is much whipped, the fish
all get very shy? I do not suppose they have all been pricked by the
hook and got away, so as to have gained wisdom each by personal
experience. Surely there are too many thousands in the river for that,
and too many more thousands fresh born every year. Those that have
been hook-pricked, not an inconsiderable number certainly, are not
improbably able to communicate the fact to the others, and not till a
large proportion of the community have thus suffered, is much weight

G 2

84 Spinning for Mahseer. CHAP. v.

likely to be attached to their warnings, in opposition to the cravings of
nature.

Certainly there is much to be urged in the contrary direction also,
as, for instance, the fact that fish will keep on biting in one particular
spot, though they see their neighbours being pulled out before their
very eyes. Still men do things quite as foolish. They engage in trades
dangerous to life, and continue to follow them, though they see their
fellow workmen falling off around them from diseases which have been
calculated to result with certainty after a stated number of years. If
the pressure of circumstances, res angusta domi^ be too strong for the
wisdom of the human being, why should not the cravings of nature be
allowed to have outweighed the caution of the fish, rather than be
deduced as conclusive evidence that he knows not the risk he is run-
ning? It is at least an open question, and analogy and observation
incline me to the belief that fish can communicate ideas to each other.

I may not be able to deduce as many, or as striking examples, as
in the case of birds or beasts, but that, as I have already shown, is the
natural consequence of fish inhabiting an element in which we are
necessarily less at home than in our own.

It is not necessary to my argument that the communication should
take place by means of oral sounds as with human beings, though fish
have the sense of hearing. Dr. W. Lauder Lindsay says : " Various
fish kept in pleasure ponds in gentlemen's demesnes also know their
own master's voice or call, and sometimes even footfall or footstep,
from those of all other individuals. They attend to the one and are
indifferent to the other." And Sir J. Emerson Tennent, in his very
interesting " Natural History of Ceylon," has remarked, not without
force, that " organs of hearing have been clearly ascertained to exist not
only in fishes, but in mollusca. In the oyster the presence of an
acoustic apparatus of the simplest possible construction has been
established by the discoveries of Siebold." Sound, we are told, is
produced by vibrations of matter, as light is perceptible through
vibrations of ether. When the air is quivering with vibrations of less
than 16,000 or more than 32,000 beats a second, the sound is inaudible
to the human ear. May there not be such sounds in animal speech,
audible to them, as we notice that there are scents and sights beyond
our powers ? Still it is not necessary to my argument that the com-
munication should be made even by sounds inaudible to the human

CHAP. v. Fish Communicate Ideas. 85

ear. It is equally comprehensible that, as in the case of ants and
animals, they may be made by distinct means, means of which we have
no knowledge.

It has been remarked above that it is difficult to conceive how any
creatures who habitually live in collected numbers could possibly order
their conduct so as to live harmoniously, unless they had the power of
freely interchanging their ideas. May not such a remark have equal
pertinence to fish as to birds ? Is it not equally applicable to such fish
as swim in shoals? Porpoises, for instance, act very obviously all in
concert, and the change, from one unity of purpose to another unity or"
purpose, is made with such rapidity, and such a complete embracing
of every individual of the school, that it is easier to believe that the
new idea was in some way communicated, than to believe that it was
not. Gregarious fish, such as the herring and the pilchard, could
scarcely conduct their migrations in unison if they had not all a
common intent arrived at by communication. The simultaneous
manner in which a vast shoal of fish will descend from the surface of
the sea to deeper water points also in the same direction. It is well
known to anglers that you may catch dace after dace out of a shoal till
you have hooked and lost one in the landing, and that then you will
ordinarily get no more dace out of that shoal. How is this to be
accounted for except on the supposition that they have powers of
communication analogous to those of gregarious animals on land?
Exceptional days there are certainly, that come once or twice in a
twelvemonth, when nothing will dissuade the dace from taking as fast
as you can throw in your fly. But those exceptions militate not against
the general rule, and the conclusion I have drawn ; they only indicate,
as in an instance above, that on those exceptional days appetite over-
masters prudence, despite communicated cautions. The male stickleback
is known to build a nest, and then to find and bring a female partner to
it. Why should it not be believed that the male stickleback made a
communication that induced the female to accompany him, just as
much as such communications are believed to be made by dogs and
other animals which live on the land ? The fact of living wholly on
the land, or much in the air, or wholly in the water, does not seem to
affect the question. It affects only our facilities for observation by
limiting them sadly. But, as far as observations go, they seem to
indicate that there is no difference in this respect between fish and

86 Spinning for Mahseer. CHAP. v.

other animals. They all seem to need, to have, and to use, the power
of conversing, whether by articulate sounds, or by what Dr. W. Lauder
Lindsay calls " non-vocal language."

One more thought occurs to me. I will not put it among the
indications of language, because I am not sure that it fairly is one,
though it may be. Many anglers will have noticed that in playing one
fish it is not infrequently followed about through all its struggles, by
its pair fish, in the case of the marral, or by a crowd of fishes as with
the Mahseer. Why is this ? Is it merely that the others are curious ?
If so, what is it that they are curious about ? Is it about the strange
demeanour of the played fish ? They follow it very closely. Or can it
be that the hooked fish has expressed astonishment or fear, or has
asked for aid ? Do they want to ask him what is the matter ?

This brings me to another sense, the sense of smell in fishes, in
connection with the immediate subject of this chapter.

It was out of the question of the size of the bait to be used, that this
discussion of the intelligence and communicative power of fish grew ;
and the next question is whether it is advisable to preserve bait in any
way, against the eventuality of not being able to procure it fresh when
wanted. It is obvious it will not do to let it take care of itself, for it
will very soon get so rotten as not to stay on a hook five minutes,
besides being offensive; consequently bait is commonly salted in
England and thus kept on sale. Some fishermen have objected to the
salt on the ground of its injuring the hook, and prefer fish preserved in
spirits. I, however, have an objection to bait preserved in spirits, and
I base it on the strong sense of smell known to exist in fishes, in some
more than in others ; a sense considered to be very perfect, and second
only in power to the organ of sight in fishes generally, while in some,
notably Wallago attu^ the sense of smell must rank before sight. A bait
preserved in spirits of wine has a very strong smell even after it has
been on the hook, and used in the water for half-an-hour ; and I cannot
think that a fish will be unmindful of it, and recklessly take such a
strange smelling thing into its mouth ; I have often thought, in using
such a bait, that I have lost many a run I should otherwise have got.
I have seen fish follow it and turn away. Of course I cannot say
positively that it was the smell that turned them away from it, for they
will do just the same to any bait they mistrust ; still I was fishing very
carefully, the bait was neat, and I thought it was the smell. Salt-fish I

CHAP. v. Sense of Smell in Fish. 87

have used with effect, and if you must use preserved fish, I would prefer
that method of preserving them. At best they are very inferior in
appearance and toughness to a fresh fish taken alive out of the bait-can,
and baited immediately on being killed.

Moral. — Don't put anything smelling of a public-house before a
total abstainer, a fish, and least of all before a Wallago attu, of which
hereafter.

But the kindly reader who has been good enough to travel thus far
with me must be right weary of this chapter, and anxiously looking for
an end at which he can put down the book and rest. Further remarks
on spinning will therefore be reserved for another chapter.

CHAPTER VI.
HOW, WHEN, AND WHERE TO FISH FOR MAHSEER.

"Give me mine angle; we'll to the river there.

* * * * I will betray
Tawny finned fish ; my bended hooks shall pierce
Their slimy jaws."— SHAKESPEARE.

BEING provided with the right lure, be it fly or spinning bait, there is
still the question how to use it. Suppose we consider the spinning bait
first, in continuation of our last chapter. How should we spin, with the
stream, against the stream, or across the stream ? Those who advocate
spinning with the stream, or drawing your bait in the same direction as
the river is flowing, do so on the same ground as fly fishermen, namely,
that all fish lie habitually -with their heads up stream, and that con-
sequently you bring your bait down to them, into their mouths as they
say, instead of pulling it away from them up stream. But the cases are
by no means parallel. What is natural in one case is unnatural in the
other, and the secret of good fishing is so closely to imitate nature, that
the fish shall not be able to distinguish your bait from its ordinary food.
Though the fly lights, or mounting from the bottom sits, on the water's
surface, and is carried unresistingly down the stream, the behaviour of
the small fish which you have to imitate is very different. It swims up
stream just as much as down stream ; indeed, if it did not it would find
itself down at the sea in a single season. It swims across also, as much
as up and down. Certainly it does sometimes allow itself to drop down
stream tail foremost, and that action as well as others may be imitated
occasionally, but it is not a common action, and only adopted when
the fish has but a short distance to go, or in a rapid. When a fish,,
whether large or small, wants to go down stream it almost invariably
turns round, and swims down head foremost, for the obvious reason that

CHAP. vi. Imitating Nature when Spinning. 89

it can then see before it, and avoid rock, snags, falls, etc., though when
the rapid is strong it requires to descend tail foremost, so as to regulate
its pace by partial swimming. When swimming down head foremost,
what with the force of the current and its own swimming, it ordinarily
moves more rapidly than when sauntering up stream. Besides which,
it never goes down stream, except in rapid pursuit of some food that
has been carried past it, or for the purpose of returning to, and again
taking up, the post of observation it has lately left. Whereas, when
coming up stream, fish often saunter upwards, watching for what the
stream shall carry down on either side of them, lazily stemming the
current, and frequently remaining stationary. At such times, when
moving most leisurely, and when most intent on their own food, they
must offer much better opportunities for being surprised by big fish than
when moving more rapidly ; I should conclude, therefore, that it is the
position in which the larger predacious fish are most on the look-out to
take them at advantage. It is, therefore, a movement which I should
think it advisable to imitate, or rather I should imitate it much oftener
than I should the swimming down stream. In pulling your bait up
stream, also, it is easy to vary the motion by letting it be stationary, at
times, where the current is strong enough to make it spin and to keep
it off the bottom, and where the stream is more than ordinarily rapid
you can occasionally imitate the motion of a fish letting itself be lazily
carried downwards by the stream. To do that you must not slack off
entirely, because if you do, your fish will be carried downwards like a
dead thing, whereas it should appear like a fish just keeping its nose to
the stream, but letting itself drop backwards. Do not take oft" the
tension on your bait altogether, but lessen it, continuing to just feel it,
so that you will be keeping your bait's nose to the stream, and be ready
to feel at once if you get a run. But if you draw your bait across the
stream, you will show it to many more fish, and therefore have, in my
opinion, a much better chance of taking one ; and that is on the whole
my favourite throw, sometimes letting the bait describe a semicircle by
simply keeping the top of the rod still, and letting the stream, when
strong enough, do the rest ; and sometimes drawing the bait right
across, or half across half up, varying it each throw so as to search all
water, and because it is said that " variety is charming."

Much depends on the pace at which you draw your bait. Many
draw it a great deal too quickly, under the impression that it is all

90 JFftw, When, a?td Where to Fish for Mahseer. CHAP. vi.

important that it should spin round and round with lightning speed.
But there are other things also which are important. The only object
of the bait spinning round and round on its own axis is, as far as I am
aware, to conceal the hooks, and perhaps also to give the general
appearance of a fish moving by vibration of the tail. But chiefly, I
believe, to conceal the hooks. My idea is that it is better to attain this "
end by having few and well-concealed hooks, than at the sacrifice of
natural motion in the bait. It is true that from paucity of hooks you
sometimes have a run and do not hook, because your bait has been
taken by the tail where there is no hook. But I would rather have
that disappointment than not have the run at all by way of diversion ;
and my belief is that you get more runs on fine tackle with few hooks
than you do when you have a bait bristling with hooks enough to scare
away the most strong-minded of fish. Moreover, the Mahseer ordinarily
takes the bait in head foremost, as a trout does, not crosswise as a pike
does, consequently a tail hook is not needed, except to avoid occasional
missing of the bait, and I certainly would not use it just to guard
against such an accident. I would rather rely on the fish missing the
bait altogether, and coming at it a second time. Again it will be
remembered that the leathery mouth, and the habit of compressing its
prey, both point to fewer hooks being needed for getting hold of a
Mahseer than are ordinarily used for trout and pike and salmon.
Besides, there is a great advantage in fishing slowly. Predatory fish do
not ordinarily hunt down flying game like a dog ; they take it unawares
like a cat, and if they feel they cannot seize it at a spring, or a rush,
they give it up, and watch for another opportunity. Consequently, if a
bait passes them rapidly, they take no apparent notice of it, considering
the attempt at surprise likely to be vain. Many and many a time
have I watched them do the same with a passing live fish. The young
fellow is probably not unaware of the dangerous quarters he is passing
through, and makes a dash for it accordingly ; the old fellow sees with
half an eye that he is wide awake, and makes no effect to overtake him.
So little notice does he take, although the small fish has come close by
him, that you are disposed to think he is not a taking fish, not on the
feed, but a thoughtful beggar reflecting on the immoral tendencies of
cannibalism, and seriously meditating the giving of it up. But keep
your eye on him now, as that other little fish which is sauntering
leisurely upwards comes by him, there is the slightest possible undu-

CHAP. vi. Sloiv Spinning with Light Tac/Je. 91

lation of his tail, he takes just one step backwards* as if preparing for
a spring, then suddenly makes one lightning dash, and the small fish has
undergone deglutition. That is evidently the motion that pays. Imitate
it then. But you dare not trail your bait so lazily, so listlessly, about
in bright water if you have a multitude of obvious hooks. For slow
spinning in clear water the necessity for light tackle with but few hooks,
and those well concealed, is therefore imperative. Flights of hooks
invented by Englishmen for English waters, are better suited to them
than to the bright waters and bright skies of the Indian angler. Besides
its being unnatural for a predatory fish to give chase to, and hunt down,
a small fish or bait that is passing at such speed as to indicate a pre-
paredness for flight, and to put him at a disadvantage for seizing it at a
single short dash, like a tiger's bound upon its prey, it is also to be
considered that he may not have seen it at all, or it has passed out of
his sight, or reach, all too quickly.

Here I must acknowledge obligation to L. J. for the following
kindly communication made in the Asian of the 23rd December,
1879. I will quote here only his postscript, because that only is to our
present point. The rest of his letter will be quoted further on. I will
only premise that the rest of his letter shows a capture in thirteen
days of 958 Ibs. of fish, a little fact that gives weight to his evidence.
He says :

"P.S. — I have thought once or twice of writing to Mr. Thomas about
Mahseer chasing fish. In page 79 of his book he says, referring to
Mahseer : ' Predatory fish do not hunt down flying game like a dog ; they
take it unawares like a cat ; if they feel they cannot seize it at a spring or
a rush, they give it up and watch for another opportunity.' I am not one
of ye giants in natural history, and therefore I am not going to pitf myself
against the Author, as I should only get the worst of it, but I just want to
tell him that I on two occasions saw Mahseer hunting.

" On the first occasion I was playing a fish on a long shelving sand,
where I could see my fish some 30 yards off. It was late in the afternoon, I
saw a small fish come full speed from the deep water and pass close to my feet
(I was standing in about a foot of water), followed by a Mahseer who came
tearing along until his dorsal fin stood out of the water. He was so close

* The reason for the slight backward movement will be seen hereafter in remarks
on the swimming of fish.

t Pitting should be out of the question between brothers of the angle. I am only
very much obliged to L. J. I hope he will take in good part my venturing to be
of the same opinion still, and my reasons therefor.

92 How, When, and Where to Fish for Mahseer. CHAP. vi.

to me that had I not been playing a fish I should certainly have tried to
throw myself on him and tried to catch him in that way. He evidently did
not see me in his hurry until he almost ran against me. He appeared to
be a fish of about 25 or 30 Ibs.

" On the second occasion I saw a lot of small fish regularly hunted
into a corner by two Mahseer, and then the gobbling and splashing that
took place must have made it very lively for the little ones."

These observations of L. J. certainly militate against my quoted
view, and yet I will venture to be " of the same opinion still." Not
that I doubt or undervalue L. J.'s observations in the least. I accept
them fully, and yet I think there is plenty of room for us both to be
right. My view is, I think, still the rule ; so it will be seen that I still
stand by it, qualifying it only with the one word " ordinarily." Indeed,
most general rules have to be qualified, for animals are not like
machines that move with never deviating precision, and are incapable
of change. In the matter of the size of the bait, and elsewhere, I have
mentioned that the rules which I may have indicated cannot be
considered absolute. Nevertheless, it is useful, I think, to indicate
what is the ordinary rule, for though animals may deviate from it, we
shall have more sport if we fish in accordance with the rule than with
the deviation. Again, I have been perhaps just a little bit afraid of
being tedious and wanting in connectedness and perspicuity, if I men-
tioned and argued out every qualification, as in the present one. In
the sentence questioned, I have instanced the habits of capture in the
dog and cat, but even those instances are not to be accepted without
qualification. The dog ordinarily hunts down flying game by continuous
pursuit, but sometimes, as in efforts to catch birds, it steals up and
makes a pounce like a cat. I have known a pair of dogs beat a hedge
in this way, one on each side. The cat, too, and the tiger are. not
absolute in their ways. At times they will follow up their prey in hot
pursuit, and tigers will also drive their prey, as L. J.'s Mahseer drove
theirs, into a place where it may be taken at advantage. Tigers will
post one of their number in a gorge for others to drive towards. Some
friends of mine found themselves being thus quietly edged up. Wild
dogs and wolves will thus beat towards their ambushed fellows, yet it
will not be objected to that it is the generally accepted view, and it will
be admitted as a fair description, that the wild dog and the wolf capture
their prey by hunting it down, the cat and the tiger by surprising it.

CHAP. vi. Sick Fish first Preyed on. 93

In like manner, I think, I may hold to my description of the manner
in which the Mahseer captures its prey as a right one, L. J.'s manner
being the exception, which, however, it is interesting to know and
note. In connection with remarks on striking, I have myself noted a
pertinacious hot pursuit of the bait by Mahseer ; nevertheless, I do not
think it the rule when the prey is moving rapidly. Trout will also chase
small fish in the shallows, but their rule is rather to watch for what the
stream brings within reach of the station which they have taken up.

While it is comforting, therefore, to know that the Mahseer may
sometimes hotly pursue your bait a long way, even though spun too
rapidly, it is better to trust to slow spinning, so as to give him an easier
opportunity.

Furthermore, there are more or less educated Mahseer, as there are
highly educated trout. Much fished trout, it will be admitted, require
to be fished for with finer tackle, and less hooks, as well as with greater
skill than do others. Similarly there are unsophisticated Mahseer,
dwelling in uninhabited wilds, that are capturable with ease by almost
any fisherman ; while there are others that have learnt caution from
their growing acquaintance with " that arch deceiver man," and have to
be fished for with more care and more knowledge. Such fish, especially
the larger, older, and more experienced ones, are more constantly on
the look-out for man, more suspicious, and more intelligent in their
criticism. I have heard say, that once upon a time there dwelt in fair
Thames a trout so much fished for with all sorts of tackle, and grown so
experienced therein, that not only could he detect an artificial minnow
at a glance, but he could tell even the shop it came from / I am afraid
I cannot produce a Mahseer quite up to that, but they are on the
way to it.

My belief is that Mahseer, and other predacious fish, prey rather on
sick fish than on others, and for the simple reason that the sick and
weakly are the more easily captured. The same rule obtains with tigers,
jackals, and other beasts of prey, the sick or wounded deer falling
speedy victims where the hale and strong escape. I remember once
fishing a pool with a small fly for Chela, Barils, and such-like. The pool
was full of them, so that the Mahseer had no lack of small fish whereon
to feed, but I saw no Mahseer feeding till I hooked one of these little
fellows on my small trout fly. Immediately a Mahseer came at it, and
I was in fear and trembling for my little trout rod. My conclusion was

94 ffoWy When, and Where to Fish for Mahseer. CHAP. vi.

that the Mahseer had noticed that the fish I had hooked, and was
pulling in, was in some way distressed, and was therefore more easily
capturable. This theory may comfort you in spinning, for a spun fish
looks rather like a fish in difficulties, than like a hale and active one. It
it also another reason still for spinning slowly, for a distressed sick fish
moves slowly and wearily, not with vigorous speed like the too quickly
spun fish.

A fish's range of vision generally is held to be limited by its inability,
except in the Angler fish, to dilate and contract and so accommodate the
eye to distance, and I think that laterally in the water it is still further
circumscribed by the element, that however quickly it may see anything
reflected against the light or in the air, it does not see so far laterally
under water, in part because of the density of the element. On no
other theory could I understand how it is that large fish and small fish
manage to exist in such close proximity. You see any number of small
fish in one part of a pool ; and in another part of the selfsame pool any
number of the very fish that prey upon them ; and those fish are on the
feed too, though not noticing the little ones, for directly you spin one
of those same little ones near them as a bait, it is taken ; whereas if the
big fish had seen the little ones, I cannot conceive why they should let
them alone, and immediately take your bait. These little fish, it should
be remembered, have no thick coverts in which to hide, like deer from the
tigers that prey upon them ; nor have they greater fleetness by which to
escape in the open. The substitute for their protection seems to be the
short-sightedness of fish and the density of the element in which they
live, which makes it difficult to see distinctly any great distance through
it laterally, and without a background of light. Fish can dart exceedingly
quickly for a short distance, so that a small fish that gets a start before
the larger fish is in motion can be very quickly out of sight. Probably
only the unwary are taken by surprise, the others relying on the density
of the element to save them. Whether by surprise or pursuit the sick
could not avail themselves of this means of escape, and would therefore
be especially affected by the predatory fish. If there were no such
means of escape it would be difficult to understand how small fish could
live and feed with any pleasure in the presence of their habitual
devourers. With such a retreat close at hand, however, they feed with
a sense of security in full sight of their enemies, just as a rat does,
enjoying his meal and eyeing you the while, well knowing that his hole

CHAP. vi. Short-sightedness of Fish under Water. 95

is close by, and that he can be into it in a second. It is the hypothesis
of short-sightedness only that makes it intelligible to me why a fish
which suspects your bait/follows so very close behind it, within a few
inches instead of feet or yards, examining it before it makes up its
mind, and requires to follow it for some time too, scrutinizing at those
close quarters, before it can satisfy itself about it. This theory of short-
sightedness, and especially laterally, in the water, has special application
to running water, in which the line of vision is much broken by the
disturbances in the stream, not necessarily violent disturbances as in a
run or stickle, but as in a gentle eddy, as in any part of a river in which
some water is passing other water, and thus breaking the line of vision.
This must be constant in all rivers, for there is always friction between
particles of water in the flow of the stream, and always a back draught
or upward flow along the edge of every river. There is more or less
friction, according as the stream is more or less rapid. Through per-
fectly clear and still water fish may be able to see, somewhat indistinctly,
some little distance laterally, as through thick plate-glass, but when
the water is broken their plate-glass becomes to them like ground glass.
That is my theory, and I think fishermen will find that adoption of it,
and attention to it, will influence their sport.

It is true that large and small fish ordinarily frequent slightly
different parts of a river, still they are not so far apart but that the big
fish ought to be able to see the little ones, if the density of the element
did not curtail their length of vision, and the broken rays refract it.
This my belief becomes a reason in my mind for spinning in right
places, for showing your bait exactly where a fish is likely to be lying,
and one of the several explanations why a good fisherman, who knows
such places intuitively, kills more fish than a tyro. It is one of the
grounds for my opinion that a spun dead bait is preferable to a live
bait, which, from being stationary, is not shown to nearly so many fish.
It is to their short-sightedness under water that I trust, and find I trust
rightly, in wading in to fish, in preference to standing on the bank. If
they could see far laterally in water, they could not fail to see the
fisherman's two legs and trousers all in the water up to the fork, and
seeing, they would refuse his lure. And yet all fishermen find that it
pays very well to wade.

This argument of short-sightedness is in favour, therefore, of spin-
ning slowly, so as to let a fish see, and to give it a chance and a

g6 How, When, and Where to Fish for Mahseer. CHAP. vi.

confidence of catching your bait. The chances, I say, as well as nature,
are against spinning quickly. For my part I like to dawdle a bait
about, up and down, under this bank, close by that big stone, and let it
peep into every little nook and cranny likely to hold a big fish.

But, perhaps, you may see a big fish eyeing your bait, what is to
be done then ? You feel disposed to cease pulling it away from him,
and to let him have a better look at it. The first impulse is to stop
altogether, and wait for him. Such a course would be fatal. Spin
quietly on as if you had not seen him. If he has already suspected
your bait, you will not mend matters by letting it fall dead before him.
But if, on the contrary, he is simply eyeing it, to see if it gives him a
fair opportunity for surprising it at a spring, then let that opportunity
appear, by continuing its listless dawdling motion in the same direction,
and the chances are he will make up his mind with a promptitude that
will astonish you ; and so sudden will be his dash that, before you have
well seen him move, you will feel he has taken your bait. But if he
does not, try him again with another throw or two, bringing your bait
by him in different ways, but not too obtrusively. I remember one of
the first times I tested these tactics. Two decent fish of the perch
family (Lutianus roseus) were deliberately following my bait. They
were side by side, and about a yard behind my bait, but they kept on
following it deliberately, and eyeing it intently wdthout offering to come
a bit nearer. " Oh, my heart went pit a pat, pit a pat ; " but I screwed
it down resolutely, and I bethought me what should I do now if I was
a nice little fish, with two great ugly brutes like that behind me. Why,
if I knew it, I should bolt like mad instanter, and if I did not know it,
I should just go quietly paddling on exactly as I am doing now, and then
I should probably get masticated for my listlessness. So the end of my
cogitations was that my bait was made to act out this little pantomime,
to pursue the even tenor of its way seemingly unconscious of the
devouring element behind. But oh, the agony of suspense ! This spin
can't last for ever. Will they never take ? In another yard or two the
bait will have come so home to me, that I shall have to pull it out. I
was rewarded : one of the two, probably the unsuspecting and inquisitive
female, had made up her mind that it was " O. K.," and had dashed so
suddenly on the bait, that all I was aware of, was her disappearance
from the side of her companion, and a tugging at my rod. The conse-
quence was that she and I became very much attached to one another,

CHAP. vi. Eyesight Keen though Circumscribed. 97

and my rod kept on bowing elegant approval, while we had our lively
dance together, at the end of which I led her to a seat in the boat. So
ended this " spin."

Fishing in bright water as one does, and as I have explained should
do, in India, many a little pantomime of this sort is seen throughout,
and something learnt therefrom of the manners and customs of the scaly
aborigines. But it should always be remembered that two can play at
that game. If you can see the fish easily, so too can he see you, and
much more easily than you can see him. He has every advantage
over you. Though I have twice touched passingly on this subject
already (pages 56, 58, 59), it is well worthy to be gone thoroughly into,
because it is at the very bottom of all good fishing, cannot well be made
too much of, and finds proper place here on remarks how to fish. The
very first principle, the most important rule of fishing, is to keep well
out of sight, and to accomplish this end too much pains can scarcely
be taken. Again and again have I urged this as the main secret, on
brothers of the angle, who questioned how on earth I managed to get
my basket so full of trout. But again and again have I found that all
the same they have only half admitted its force, concluding, ostrich-like,
that because they could not see the fish, the fish could not see them. I
feel, therefore, from the experience aforesaid, that it is almost a hopeless
task to convert my reader from the general neglect of this maxim, to a
thorough belief in the all importance of keeping it constantly in view,
and of acting up to it with the amount of painstaking care that is
necessary to command success. Indeed, I find I constantly have to be
taking my own self to task for not being sufficiently careful in the matter,
thoroughly though I believe in, and practise what I preach.

Properly to appreciate the necessity for exercising unusual pains to
keep out of sight it is as well to consider the facilities which the fish
has for seeing. Putting aside for the moment the exceptions amongst
fish which, like the Freshwater Shark ( Wallago attu\ have their eyes
less developed and are more dependent on smell and feeling, and
referring here only to the majority of fish which are mainly depen-
dent for their existence on their eyesight, common observation of the
rapidity with which they see the minutest objects passing them in the
water suffices to show that their sight must be good ; and though there
may be some controversy about the imperfection of a fish's visual
organs, I incline to the opinion that it is only in this one respect of

THE ROD IN INDIA. H

98 HoWj When, and Where to Fish for Mahseer. CHAP. vi.

adaptability to distance that it is purposely circumscribed, and that
within the limit of distance, whatever that may be, there is no want
of keenness. And yet so many anglers act as if it was " as blind as a
bat," forgetting that in addition to eyesight a fish has over them great
advantages of size, colour, position, and element, of all of which it
naturally avails itself. It is not a tenth of the size of a man, and in mutual
observations the larger object is obviously calculated to be seen first.
Then its colour, like that of most, I may say all, animals, is beautifully
adapted to conceal it in its usual habitat, whereas a man who clothes
himself by his own imperfect lights and the tailor's, does so in direct
variance with all the rules of nature. The object of his fashions is
not so much to conceal his existence, as to be "the observed of all
observers," and sometimes^ indeed, to be comfortable. What more
readily attracts the eye than a white paggaree, and an almost white coat
to reflect the sun ? A black coat is very little better, and is noticeable,
as every sportsman knows, at a great distance. Then consider the
difference of position. The fish is against a background, the bottom,
of nearly his own colour, whereas the man is standing out in bold relief
against the sky. The fish, furthermore, is motionless, while the man
is waving about a great stick of ten or sixteen feet long, moving his
arms to do it, and cannot even keep his legs still. He is moving the
whole of his comparatively big person, as he walks along the very edge
of the stream, and not unfrequently on the top of a high bank. Motion
catches the eye.

But besides these obvious advantages of comparative size, of colour,
of position, and of being motionless, the fish has still another very
materially favouring circumstance in the element in which he is. Water
refracts, or breaks back the line of the rays of light. Newton says :
" Refraction out of a rarer medium into a denser is made toward the
perpendicular," and as water is denser than air, the fish can see you
round a corner j he can see your white paggaree before it is in a line
with his eye. This is very simply demonstrated in the old illustration
about a shilling. Put a rupee into an empty tea-cup or a slop-basin.
Retreat gradually till it is just out of your line of vision. Let a second
person pour in water, and you will see the rupee come into sight again.
H A K being the surface of the water, when you look down at the
angle B A, and think you see a fish in a straight line at D, it is really
at C, and when a fish at C looks up in the direction C A L it sees you

CHAP. VI.

Angles of Vision in Water.

99

at B, the line of sight taking the course CAB. It is true this cuts both
ways, enabling you, as well as the fish, to see round a corner, but as
you neither of you should see each other,
it is an argument for keeping further away
from the bank than if you both saw in a
straight line.

But I have comfort for you yet from ^
the laws of refraction and reflection. A
fish cannot see you out of the water at
an angle of more than 48^°, which is
K D E in the second diagram, KEF
being the surface of the water, and K D D/
the perpendicular. If it tries a more

obtuse angle, as K D F, the under surface of the water is like a mirror
to it, and reflects to it the bottom at B, just as you see the surface of
the water reflect to you the trees on the opposite bank.

Allowing for the refraction shown in the former diagram, a fish
looking out at the angle D E would see you not at A but at H, so that

if your head is below the line
E H it would not be visible to
a fish at D ; but if you are
wading, and within the line F B,
your legs would be visible by
reflection at D, unless the move-
ment of the water hid you.
This is the law which accounts for stooping, or lying down on the
bank, or getting to a lower level by wading, concealing you from a fish.
But in wading you must remember that water conveys sounds made
in the water well, and fish are surprisingly sensitive of sounds made
under water. It is said that in still water a stone striking the bottom,
or a rupee in a swimming bath, lightly though it falls, can be heard
a long way off by a person under the water, though he could not hear
his friends shouting to him above the surface of the water. So you
should wade quietly, not flounderingly.

If you are not fishing, but wanting to observe the habits of fish, and
can afford to be perfectly motionless, that is quite another thing. Much
may be seen by creeping very slowly and imperceptibly up, with a rock
or tree-trunk for a background, and remaining perfectly motionless. It

H 2

K

H

ioo HoW) When, and Where to Fish for Mahseer. CHAP. vi.

is movement, the slightest movement, that catches the eye. It is by
sitting motionless as a stone for hours together that the cat kills a
squirrel. Motion is a sign of life, and when it is absent, animals, as
well as men, are prone to doubt their eyes, and to take the object for
some inanimate thing.

But do not trust to this if you are fishing, for it is unnecessary
as it is difficult that you should see your fish at all, and as above shown,
the chances are about ten to one that he sees you before you see him,
and then your catching him is a thing out of the question. You do not
want to interview the fish, you want to catch him. Take a distant
survey of the water, and when you see a likely-looking bit, take its
bearings, and decide whence you shall make your approaches on the
enemy's position. Then stalk it as you would a sambre. Stalk not
any particular fish, but stalk all the positions in which any fish are
likely to be ; in short, stalk the pool as if it were a living thing full
of eyes, which, in fact, it is, and if any one of them sees you, and its
owner darts frightened away, the probabilities are that the rest also will
take alarm from his movements, and not a fish will you take in that
pool. Do not stalk for too close a shot either ; you do not need to be
nearer than just to see your line fall, than just to see the surface of the
water you are fishing, so that you may keep clear of rocks and snags
and fish it properly. But you do not always require to do even that.
If from your first distant observations you know that the coast is all
clear in a certain direction, then fish it round the corner of a rock
without even seeing it. This is the best position in which you can
possibly be. You do not need to see. You will feel fast enough if
a good Mahseer has got hold of you, and then all you have to do
is to return the compliment by holding on to him. If your hand is
practised, you will know how your bait or your fly is deporting itself,
though round a corner and out of your sight. Please note that I refer
here to Mahseer only. Striking generally for different fish is described
further on as a separate subject, and the page may be found in the
index under the word " Striking."

In so stalking, perhaps, you have attained a snug position in which,
by lying down or otherwise, you are invisible to the fish, but in attaining
it have unavoidably shown yourself at some awkward corner that you
had to get round. If so, do not begin fishing at once, but wait long
enough for the scare to pass off. When confidence is re-established

CHAP. vi. Manner of Casting. 101

you may again invite speculators to take shares. Many a goodly trout,
like his betters, has been taken out of inaccessible retirement by such
tactics. There is a peculiar charm in being even with the wary one
that has baffled you and every one else up to date. The basket is the
proper place for him, you always had an idea it was, and in he slides
most satisfactorily.

There now, I have been very heavy and very long-winded on this
subject; but if I have converted you, I know you will not quarrel with
me in the end, whatever the non-fisherman reader may do. A fuller
basket will make a friend of you.

In Chapters II. and V. I have said that I prefer to spin with a
pliable fly rod with a fly top, just such as I would use for fly-fishing for
salmon ; so I suppose I ought to say just two words on how to use such
a rod for spinning, for there are good pike fishermen who are accustomed
to trolling for pike with a stiff rod, but whose manner of casting the bait
would soon break a fly rod. According to the old style, and unless you
use a Nottingham reel, or its equivalent (for which see Reels or Winches),
with a stiff rod the line is gathered in near the reel by the hand after
every throw, and spread at one's feet, till the length between the bait
and the point of the rod is less than the length of the rod ; then the
bait, which must be heavy, is swung out with some force, and the force
and the weight of the bait carries all the line out through the rings.
The force necessary for such casting would very soon break a fly top.
My way is therefore different. I never gather in any line with the
hand. I reel it up if need be for change of ground. But ordinarily
I do not change the length of line which I have out. I swing the bait
like a pendulum, and when it is at the end of the swing back a
very little lift, if well timed^ that is, if made exactly at the end of
the swing back, will send the bait out to the full length of the line. I
ordinarily have about as much line out as a length and a half of the rod.
It is better to begin with less, and you will soon find that you can cast
in this way with a line about twice the length of the rod. Say the rod
is 1 6 feet, and the line out 32 feet, then if you cast this amount of line
straight out, and drop the point of the rod so as to have it pretty
straight in the direction of the cast, you will find that you have dropped
your bait 32 + 16 = 48 feet away from you. A cast in this fashion of
45 to 50 feet may not be as much as can be managed with a stiff
rod and the ordinary way of throwing a heavy bait, but it is enough

102 How, When, and Where to Fish for Mahseer. CHAP. vi.

for sport, and covers a good deal of water, and the loss of a few feet in
the length of the cast is, in my opinion, very much more than compen-
sated for by the aid which the pliable top gives you in meeting the
suddenness and violence of the Mahseer's onslaught, as already set forth
in Chapters II. and V. As the bait is on the point of falling into the
water it should be just felt with the top ever so slightly, so as to make
it fall lightly and noiselessly. To do this well in a long throw is a
delicate operation, requiring, to my mind, a very great deal more skill
than is needed for casting a fly lightly for trout. I do not hesitate to
say that it is a very much higher art to spin well in this fashion than to
cast a fly well, whether for trout or salmon. Besides the casting, there
is also so much more room for skill, in the life-like management of the
bait in the water, than is needed for the right handling of the fly. But
the very difficulty makes the skilful accomplishment all the more
pleasurable.

In passing let me add that a first-class fisherman tells me he often
breaks rod or line by a fish taking him just as he has put a great strain
on to bring the spoon out and swing it for a fresh throw. Avoid this
by always bringing the spoon to the surface and lifting out lightly for
the next throw.

For throwing with a pliable rod the bait must, as I have said, be
light. If you use a fish you are somewhat restricted in size ; sinker
included, you cannot well swing a fish more than six inches long
without straining your top.

It will be found convenient to hold the rod with the middle finger
of the upper hand above the running line, and the other fingers below
it ; when swinging the bait for a throw, close the upper finger on the
running line to prevent its being jerked out ; when spinning take it off, so-
that the line may be perfectly free to run out the instant a fish strikes.

If fishermen would spin in this manner they would not be so»
wedded to stiff trolling rods for Mahseer fishing. It is because they
have been told that they must spin for Mahseer as for Pike, that they
have taken to a thing like a Pike rod, and then, finding they have a
much finer foe than a Pike to fight with, they have had their tackle-
broken, as was to be expected, and have put down the breaking to-
the fish, instead of to their using the wrong rod, or perhaps spinning;
wrongly so as to compel them to use the wrong rod.

But I trust the stiff heavy rod, once styled the Mahseer rod, has

CHAP. vi. Season for Fishing. 103

now died a natural death in the face of the reasons given for using
a pliable rod.

When to fish. — But the heading of my chapter is How, When,
and Where, and the next point is when to fish. When as to season of
the year, when as to time of day. The season of the year is everywhere
practically governed by the same principle, being the season when the
river begins to clear after being in flood, and this necessarily varies
with climatic differences in different localities over such a wide area as
all India.

On the west coast of Southern India the flood time of the rivers
debouching on that coast is governed by the South-west Monsoon
commencing from 5th to i5th of June, and keeping the rivers in high
flood till the end of September. The rivers are sometimes fishable
near their sources at the end of September, but are seldom to be relied
on till ist October, because of the occasional showers that come down
in September and spoil sport. The sooner after clearing the better the
fishing, just as trout take best at the beginning of the season. From
ist October then till the mango showers in April, or till the end of
April, Mahseer may, generally speaking, be taken, but the best months
are October, November, and the first half of December, because when
the cold of December comes on, and the east winds prevail, Mahseer
are a good deal off their feed, indeed generally quite off, though they
may occasionally be taken in the deeper pools, where they seem to find
the temperature of the water less influenced by the cold wind. In many
places also fever sets in with increasing virulence from ist January till,
in June, there has been a week's heavy fall of South-west Monsoon.
The best season then on the west coast of Southern India is from
ist October to i5th December.

For the larger rivers of the east coast of Southern India the season
is the same, because they are governed by the same monsoon, the
Cavery, the Bawanny, and their affluents having their sources in the
mountain ranges which arrest the force of the south-west monsoon.

Going farther north the sources of the Tungabudra and the Kistna
are subject to the same south-west monsoon.

For the Godavery I am told the season is " in the cold weather and
up to June," which I suppose means from December to June. But
any one living in the locality can easily learn when is the time of the
abating of the floods.

104 How, When, and Where to Fish for Mahseer. CHAP. vi.

When you get farther north still the matter is further complicated by
melting snows, and certain rivers have idiosyncrasies, as the Ganges,
page 51, supra, and others mentioned in the "Angler's Handbook,"
from which I quote the following, premising that for " In India " I
would read the Bengal Presidency :

"Season. — In India there is not much doubt but that March and
October are the two best months for fishing in most waters, and on the
whole the spring fishing is the best ; but, of course, in different rivers the
seasons differ according as to whether the water is affected by the melting
snows. For instance, fishing in the Poonch after the middle of April is
uncertain, and at times almost useless, at least for spoon fishing, as the
river is swollen by the melted snows ; whereas the Mahl, only three or four
marches distant and in the same territory, is beautifully clear until the
rains commence in July, and in fact March seems to be almost too early
for this stream, as the snow on the hills near the Mahl melts very early.
Again, in the small streams round Pindi, which are scarcely affected by
snow water, fishing may be carried on almost all the year round. As a
general rule, December, January, and February are blank months, but
General Dandridge's wonderful bag made at Torbela in January, 1887,
and recorded in Part II., shows that on occasions the fish will take
ravenously even in the cold weather. This is, however, very rare, and
quite exceptional, and as a general rule it may be taken for granted that
there is no fishing obtainable during these months."

For Burmah I am told : " The rivers begin to clear the second
week in September, and are, for the most part, in good order by
ist October."

These then being the general seasons, it is still to be remembered
that Mahseer, as well as Labeo, and probably most similar Indian fish,
are not exempt from being put off their feed by thunder in the air, just
as trout are in England, and also by cold winds, but you will not be so
often troubled with this in India as in England because the climate is
not so variable. And especially on the clearing of the floods after the
rains you will be quite free. Then is your time, carpe diem, for you
will get a carp a day, or rather several Mahseer.

Where there is rice cultivation you are sometimes troubled by
discoloration from ploughing for a second crop, but these are very
local and temporary grievances.

The time of day is also a thing to be considered. Fish will run all
day long, especially on cloudy days, but I don't much believe in them

CHAP. vi. Fishing Localities. 105

between n and 3, and I think the best hours are before 9 A.M. and
after 4 P.M. till sunset. Directly after sunset they cease running at a
spinning bait, though they will take a night line. I presume this is
because they do not see well enough in the dark for the moving bait,
and are guided to the stationary bait of the night line chiefly by scent.
As to the uselessness of going on spinning after dark, the keenest
reader may I think be content to take me on trust, for, when by the
river's side, I have been so keen myself as to go on fishing into the
dusk and dark, though the place was densely forest-clad, and the margin
marked with fresh tracks of crocodiles and panthers, only taking the
precaution of having a man behind me with a loaded rifle, and trusting
to his having sufficient care for his own vile body to keep a good look
out in the rear of mine.

Where to fish. — And now for where ; where, in the two senses
of in what waters, and in what parts of those waters. Mahseer, I
believe, are to be found in every large perennial river in India. I know
that they are to be found in every river on the west coast that I ever
heard of. I know they are to be found in the Mysore rivers ; I know
they are in the Cavery, the Bawanny, the Kistna, the Tungabudra, and
the Godavery. I hear of them in all the good rivers of Northern India.
The lover of the picturesque will find them, admiring with him the
adjective-exhausting falls of Gairsoppa, and dancing in the glad waters
of Hoginkal, and other falls of Cavery ; in Afghanistan, Chitral, Burmah,
China, and, I believe, Japan, they are equally at home; and I believe
they have, in the East at least, every bit as much right as the Artillery
to the grand motto Ubique.

But they mostly affect the rocky mountainous parts of rivers. I
had almost said they are confined to such parts, and are not to be
found where the river grows broader and shallower with a sandy bed.
There are no doubt instances where they markedly cease as the river
leaves the mountains, and I have known them called an essentially
mountain fish in consequence. But they are to be found again where
rocks recur lower down the river than the sandy flats, and there are
deep pools and heavy runs among the rocks ; and they are even to be
found in deep, still pools without a rock in them, so that it is not clear
what rule, if any, governs their selection of locality. But I think there
is no doubt that they chiefly affect the rocky mountainous parts of
rivers, and that very many more and finer Mahseer are to be found in

io6 How, When, and Where to Fish for Mahseer. CHAP. vi.

such parts than lower down a river. To such parts, therefore, I would
recommend the Mahseer fisherman to confine his attention.

We speak here of the whereabouts of the Mahseer only. The
localities in which to find other fish will be mentioned separately in
connection with each fish, and some peculiarities of position will be
noticed in the Chapter on Localities.

It may be of service to the fisherman to have a list of good angling
stations, after the manner of " The Angler's Diary " in England,
together with hints as to how to get to them, and to exist at them ; for
though a river may be a good one, there are sure to be particular parts
in it in which the runs and pools are deeper, and better, and more
approachable than elsewhere. A little information, therefore, on this
head I shall endeavour to give in a separate chapter. But it is obvious
that, for such a vast area as Hindustan, a list made out by any one
man must be exceedingly meagre, and I would suggest that if brothers
of the angle would contribute information about the different localities
they have tried, we might very soon get together a goodly batch of
information, so that new comers from England would be at no loss
where to spend a little leave or leisure, and even old hands would find,
when transferred by business or pleasure to new localities, that they
could tumble better on their legs than they could without this informa-
tion, and that there were a lot of other fellows besides themselves that
"know a thing or two." To the charitably disposed, therefore, I
make my appeal on behalf of brother anglers.*

This appeal was thus made in the first edition, and kindly has it
been responded to, both by direct communication and by letters to
the Field and Asian. The result appears in the Chapter on Fishing
Localities. It falls, however, very far short of what I had hoped to
attain to, and as it is the chapter which may well be the most useful
part of the whole book to really good fishermen, I will let the appeal
still stand, in the hope that brothers of the angle may continue to
communicate their knowledge of localities.

This appeal has also led to the same idea being carried out by the
North Punjab Fishing Club, and Part II., the larger half of their book,
the " Anglers' Handbook," W. Newman & Co., Calcutta, is admirably
devoted to it, with maps and routes and plans of rivers in practical

* Any communication through my publishers, or through Messrs. Arbuthnot & Co.,
Madras, or Messrs. H. S. King & Co., 45, Pall Mall, London, will always find me.

CHAP. vi. Mahseer Water. 107

detail. It might have been called the Anglers' Bradshaw, and in every
angler's library in Northern India it should repose lovingly alongside of
" The Rod in India," and " Tank Angling in India," with an arm round
each of their necks; indeed, that is the kindly spirit of the editor,
Dr. Cretin, and of more than one of its contributors, to whom a brother
angler's cordial grip is given.

But supposing we have arrived at the river's side at a good locality,
where in it are we to find our fish ? An old hand does not need to be
told, for he knows instinctively, though he has never seen the river
before in his life. You can tell well enough from the outside of a
house whether it is a poor man's cottage or a gentleman's mansion, and
if you have an eye for the water, you will be able to make a very shrewd
guess as to where the best fish lie. As a rule the swell is to be found
in the best house, except in Ireland, by the way, where the finest
structure in the villages is the poorhouse. But then everything goes
by contraries in "poor owld Ireland," even down to the cereals, for
there Paddy raises the riot, instead of the Ryot raising paddy, as he
does here. Still, out of Ireland, the rule holds good, and the swell
fish, as well as his brother biped, is to be found in the best quarters ;
and those are readily recognizable.

Look for a Mahseer in just such water as- you would expect to find
a salmon, in the deep runs, especially where a fall enters a pool, and in
the eddies of those runs.

The depth should not be less than up to the fork, and after that the
deeper the better; though Mahseer, like trout, visit the shallows in
search of small fish, etc., when the water is discoloured, and at night
when the water is bright, returning with light to the deeper water.
When the water is very slightly discoloured I have " found my
account " in fishing where the river shallows just above the head of a
run, in water so shallow that you would think a big fish could scarcely
lie in it, water scarcely up to the knees. The Mahseer seem to visit
it then for the better capture of small fish. If you attempted to fish
in such places in bright water you would be seen.

For a Mahseer you may fish a run all its length. I have taken
them quite at the tail of a run, and I have taken them in the very
white water of the fall. They are not afraid of the water. But midway
in the run is about the place for the highest hopes. I have, however,
a special weakness for the eddies, though they are the most difficult to

io8 How, When, and Where to Fish for Mahsecr. CHAP, vi-

fish, because I think the best fish are generally found in them, and I
prefer one good big fellow to two or three smaller ones. But in fishing
the eddies, try and bear in mind that there is generally one on your
own side of the river, just as good as the one under the opposite
bank. Why should you be seized with that " ulterior is ripce amore"
which seems to be almost universal ? Why ? Probably because you
had not prospected the place before you came to it, as I recommended,
and are standing right over it, before you were aware of its existence,
and have consequently spoilt it for all fishing purposes. Whereas had
you prospected, and stalked the place, as I recommended, you would
have shown nothing but the tip of your rod over the bank, and with a
short line would have dropped your bait in close under it. It is time
enough to try the run, and the opposite bank, after you have tried your
own side. The opposite bank or eddy is, in nine cases out of ten,
more difficult to reach than the one under your nose, and, from the
breadth of the river or run, frequently quite unapproachable. Do not,
therefore, neglect the eddy on your own shore.

The still deep pools also are not to be neglected. From a boat
they are the easiest fishing of all, and yield the biggest fish. On this
account some prefer to fish the pools only. An extra reason for
fishing the pools is that when from the cold the fish are off their feed
on the shallows or runs, they seem to retire to the pools, and a
stray fish may be provoked into taking in the pools, when no sport is
to be got out of the runs. The plan is simply to let out plenty of line
so that your bait may be spinning far away from the boat, which might
otherwise frighten the fish, and deep, because big fish ordinarily lie
near the bottom, and the deeper the pool the better the fish as a rule.
Having let out the line the bait is spun by the motion of the boat, so
that it is really spun by the boatman not by you. When you realize
this awful fact it strikes one that it is very similar to shooting sambre
that have been driven out to you by the beaters, instead of stalking
the stag yourself like an honest sportsman. In letting out the line, of
course you will take care, having the boat in motion, to keep the bait
off the bottom, for you do not want to catch that, like the man in
Punch, who got fast into the Kingdom of Scotland. This may be
done by raising the point of the rod as required. Commence at the
lower end of the pool, and row up against the stream, regulating the
pace by the stream. Fix the rod with the reel free, or hold it, as you

CHAP. vi. Spinning from a Boat. 109

prefer. In the lakes in Scotland it is usual to fish thus with two rods,
one out of each side of the stem, and, the depth being known, to tie
a little piece of bright coloured silk round your running line at the
required distance from the end, generally, if I remember rightly,
about 30 yards, so that when you see the little bit of silk pass out
of the ring at your rod tip you may know how much line you have
payed out. Whether you prefer to let out 30, 50, or more yards
must depend much on the depth of the pool and the weight of your
bait. If you have only one rod you can work it slowly across and
across the stem if you like, but always with a taut line, and giving
time after each crossing for the bait to swing round; this will cover
more water than simply trailing. If you are trailing two lines the
second one must be rapidly reeled up by an attendant the moment
you have a fish on No. i or you will get into difficulties.

Use dead bait, spoon or phantom, which you prefer. I have told
you which I prefer, and that a dead bait need not be spun so rapidly
as a spoon or phantom.

Though I say fish deep, still do not be too keen about getting your
bait very close to the bottom, for many more fish will see it if it is well
off the bottom. Bear in mind that a fish can see an object moving
across a light background much better than one against a dark back-
ground, can see an object between it and the light which is above it
better than one between it and the dark bank on the side of it, and
that above it, it can, within certain limits (page 99, supra), see it the
further the higher it is. For instance (see Francis Francis' " Book on
Angling"), an object at A?
which is twice as far from
the bottom as B, will be
seen over the whole base
C D, which is twice as big
as the base E F ; in other
words, your bait at A will
be seen by a Mahseer lying
at C, which would never see it if it was spun 2 feet lower at B. On this
theory you may say a fish will see further if you spin on the surface.
But, on the other hand, we do not know how far a fish can see laterally,
or at any angle out of the perpendicular under water, nor how far from
the bottom a large Mahseer may feel inclined to come up after a bait

no How, When, and Where to Fish for Mahseer. CHAP. vi.

when the water is 20 feet deep. I should say, therefore, spin about mid-
water, and I think you will show your bait advantageously to most fish.
If you are often fishing the same water, you should remember
where you kill your best fish, for where one good fish has been taken,
another of the same size is pretty sure to be found ; the reason being
that those fish which lay wait for, instead of searching for, their bait,
those which stop in one place waiting and watching for what the stream
shall wash down to them, look out for the best places, the places where
the chief current of the stream will carry the most food by them, or a
favouring eddy will bring it round to them, and there they take up
their station behind a rock or stone, so that they themselves may be
in comparatively quiet water, but yet in a good position for watching
passing events, and as any food comes by them, out they dart, take it,
and return to their station. Some such stations are better than others,
and the strongest fish take the best. With them it is naturally

" The brave old rule, the simple plan,
That they should take who have the power,
And they should keep who can."

And when that fish has been taken, and his place is vacant, the next
strongest takes it. This is markedly the case with trout in English
streams, the proportions of which do not vary much from month to
month, and is, in my opinion, more or less the case with Mahseer too,
though to a less degree, because the rapidly varying size of a stream will
in a month or so, or less, make a favourite station an indifferent one.
This rapid variation of tropical rivers also brings it about that you are
not so dependent with Mahseer, as you are with salmon, on knowing
the river, or having some one who does know it to point out to you the
exact resting-places or lies of salmon. They are so constantly varying
that you must trust, as you would with trout, to your own intuitive eye
for where a Mahseer ought to be. But a proper fisherman will readily
recognize the most comfortable-looking quarters for a good fish. The
power of making a correct diagnosis will be acquired by practice,
though there is a spice of nascitur non ft about it too.

How soon a vacant place is ordinarily reoccupied I do not know.
Sometimes the very next day, if I remember rightly. How do fish find
out that there is a vacant tenement ? It would seem that they must be
giving a look in from time to time to see.

CHAP. vi. The Best Fish occupy the Best Holts. in

I may instance the following in " My Life as an Angler," by William
Henderson, London, William Satchell and Co., 12, Tavistock Street,
Covent Garden, W.C., 1880, a book that is very pleasant reading :

" I remember a tale told me by Johnny Younger, which shows how
surely the angler may rely upon this habit of the largest trout. On one
of my visits to his workshops he mentioned three evenings' fishing which
his son had recently taken in the Tweed. On the first of these, when fishing
upwards, I believe with the worm, he came to the stream which flows
immediately below Merton Cauld. The hour was late, the gloaming far
advanced, and the angler had captured several trout of the usual size, when
on trying one particular spot which he knew by experience to be the best,
he succeeded in taking a fish of, if I remember rightly, 3 Ibs. weight. On
hearing this Johnny observed that no doubt this was 'the tyrant,' and
advised his son to try the same spot on the subsequent evening, as the
fish next in size would no doubt be found there. The prophecy proved
true ; a fish somewhat smaller than the last was basketed. On the third
evening another trout still rather less was captured, but the three were far
heavier than anv others taken."

CHAPTER VII.
FLY-FISHING FOR MAHSEER.

"Away, then, away,

We lose sport by delay ;
But first leave all our sorrows behind us,
If Misfortune do come
We are all gone from home,
And a-fishing she never can find us."

COTTON.

Is any one of my readers half as fond of fly-fishing as I am ? If so,

"A sudden thought strikes me;
Let us swear eternal friendship,"

for stoutly though I have argued in favour of spinning for Mahseer, as
being the most killing way of fishing for them, and unable though I am
to retract, still I could wish that fly-fishing were as killing a way, for it
is to my mind the most fascinating style of fishing going. I refer
particularly to fly-fishing with a single-handed rod and very light tackle
for trout. The nicety of skill that has to be brought into play, to make
anything of a bag amongst good and wary trout is sometimes very
refined. It is quite distinct from fly-fishing for salmon, and is a much
higher branch of the art ; though there is an exultant ruder joy certainly
in a hand-to-hand fight with a lordly salmon, when once you have got
him on. But any man who is a good trout fisherman will readily fall
into salmon-fishing ; though a master at salmon-fishing may be but a
rude trout fisherman. But both the real trout fisherman, and the
salmon tamer, will want to know what can be done in India by their
favourite style of fishing.

Suppose we commence with the Mahseer fisher. I'll be bound the
very first question he asks will be an awkward question ; he will want

CHAP. vii. What Fly ? 113

to know what fly to use for Mahseer. This is a question to which
there is no answer with a good reason for it, such as I should like to
have at the back of my beliefs. There are pretty nearly as many
opinions on the point as there are salmon-flies, and not one of them
is satisfactorily supportable, that is, be it added with becoming
modesty, in my humble opinion. As far as I can see, it is simply a
matter of fancy. I can recognize no principle underlying the colouring
of a salmon or Mahseer fly, nor can I conceive why a salmon should
care a button whether or not every one of all the variously hued
feathers that go to make up some of the more expensive salmon flies,
are duly inserted, or more than half of them are forgotten. Take any
one of the more elaborate instructions for tying a salmon fly; I should
very much like to see the salmon that could tell at a glance, as the fly
passed him in the water, whether or not the brown mallard, bustard,
peacock, and blue and yellow swan strips, and half a dozen more
feathers, were all duly in their place. I do not believe in such a
salmon ever having been hatched, no, not even " north of the Tweed."
Why, you could not tell yourself without taking the fly in your hand to
have a close look at it, nor could the very man that tied it ; no more
can the salmon without taking it in his hand to feel, if not to see. So
that is just what he does. He sees something passing him which he
cannot quite make out, it may be good for food, it may not ; he will
investigate ; so he takes it in his mouth, which is his only hand, with
which he is accustomed to feel and to taste doubtful objects passing
too rapidly to be quite made out by the eye, retaining those that are
approved, and ejecting the others. He takes your salmon fly in his
hand, meaning to throw it away if disapproved, but, before the spirit
of inquiry in him is satisfied, your hook is into him, and he is entering
on new experiences.

This is doubtless a very heretical doctrine that I am propounding.
I know that the great majority of good salmon-fishers are of the
contrary opinion. To them the colours of their flies are as sacred as
the strands of their tartans ; they would not let you alter one feather ;
and they will say something about blending colours. I am afraid they
will be down on me heavily for this piece of heresy, and I should be
overwhelmed by their numbers and weight. There rises before me
the fate of poor Prometheus, who got making experiments with elec-
tricity. They called it stealing fire from heaven, and ran him in. But

THE ROD IN INDIA. I

ii4 Fly-fishing for Mahseer. CHAP. vn.

they let Franklin off for the very same crime. Perhaps I, too, may
escape. I will trust to the enlightened age. I wish very much though
that I could find some theory on which to base fly-fishing for Mahseer.
I only look to salmon-fishing to help me in this matter, but I look in
vain. As far as I can see the principle at the bottom of all fishing is,
the presentation to the fish of a hook, so concealed under something
which is its natural food, or which is so like its natural food, that it is
taken unsuspectingly in place of food. This principle is • thoroughly
acted up to in the tying of artificial flies for trout, they being the
closest possible imitation of the actual flies on the water, and the
fisherman changes his fly every hour of the day that the fly on the
water changes. But what on earth a salmon fly is meant to represent
no one knows, nor, indeed, why it is called a fly at all, except from
the trout fly having given the idea that salmon also might be fished for
in the same manner, only with a larger fly. It is only surmised that it
is taken by the salmon for a small fish or shrimp, or some other thing
unknown. My belief is that it is simply taken for the thing unknown,
and experimented on by the salmon in the manner above suggested.
In brief the fly is dressed more to suit the fisherman than the fish.
The fisherman must have a fly he believes in ; he cannot possibly fish
well if he has no faith in his lure. A fly of your own fancy always kills
best. If the fish are in a taking humour, that is, are eagerly on the
look out for food, they will take any fly you throw in sight of them.
If they are not they will only take the fisherman's fancy fly. Therefore,
if you have any fancy fly use it for Mahseer ; if you have not, then take
somebody else's fancy, mine if you will. For with only fancy and no
rationale to guide us, and the necessity for having a fancy of some
sort, all we can do is to look about till we find a man who has had the
good fortune to kill pretty often with any particular fly, so that he has
grown to have a confidence in it, and to use the same till we find a
better. Now I have a very thorough belief in black as the colour. I
had arrived at such a belief, unbeliever though I am, in 1873. I have
been only confirmed in it by subsequent experience. Aye, wedded to
it. And I find I am by no means alone in my belief. I find numbers
of men use a black fly in preference to any other, and I have been
surprised on asking good fishermen at great distances what was their
pet fly, to get back from them simply my old friend the black. I
believe that anything black will do bitsiness. I have tried black wings

CHAP. vii. What Fly* 115

and legs with various bodies, with black worsted body, black floss silk
body, orange body, peacock harl body, with and without silver twist,
with and without tail, and somehow, gradually, I have come to think
that the more glossy and shining it is the better, probably as catching
the eye sooner. I have made as many experiments on the Carnatic
Carp as on the Mahseer, and the fly with which I have done most
business was one roughly dressed on the above fancies, out of the
materials available on the river's side, to wit, almost entirely of peacock
harl and silver twist, with just a little bit of glistening peacock feather
for the legs. I had peacock harl tail, ditto body very full with tag, and
two or three tunis of silver twist, peacock feather legs, and a great
bunch of harl for wings. Of course it was a bungling looking fly, but
it did its work ; that is, till torn to rags ; for peacock harl is too fragile
a material for wings, and does not last long. I shall therefore commend
to my reader a fly tied on the same principle, to wit, as black as I can
get it glistening, but of better materials, and I shall call it by the same
name as my less gaily dressed friend of earlier years, the Blackamoor,
and as I never use any other fly now, I am reluctant to give you any
other. But in my first edition I gave also the " Cock-o'-the-walk " and
the " Smoky dun," and as I find some men still fancy one or other of
them, even above my trusty friend the Blackamoor, I suppose I must
repeat them as accepted flies, though I myself am faithful to the
Blackamoor.

Why black should be a better colour than any other I cannot tell
you. Perhaps it is taken for the black tadpole so common in Indian
rivers, and so juicy, and so relished by the Kingfisher I know, and I
imagine by fish too. I was very nearly trying a dish of them myself
one day. Perhaps it is that black is so readily seen in clear water
against a clear sky. Perhaps it is only that it is oftener used, and with
more reliance than other colours. In the case of the Carnatic Carp,
perhaps, it is that it is mistaken for a broken piece of waterweed.
But whatever it is mistaken for it is taken, and that's the great point,
and as it has treated me and my friends well, I am ready to stand
security for it that it is an honest fly.

Having thus settled the colour to our mutual satisfaction, the next
question is the size of the fly. Here, again, it is quot homines tot
sententia ; and here, again, I have my own ideas, and will submit
them to your judgment for what they may be worth. Salmon flies are

I 2

u6 Fly-fishing for Mahseer. CHAP. vn.

generally supposed to differ in size with the size of the water, the finer
flies being used in the finer water, the larger in the heavier water and
larger rivers. The same ideas are carried into Mahseer-fishing by
salmon fishers. Accordingly I have seen Mahseer flies of all sizes
from No. 3 Limerick to No. 10/0 Limerick, the latter being nearly as
big as a swallow. Indeed, I have heard of an angler who, having tried
his fly in vain, had given it up, and, taking up his gun by way of
diversion, shot a swallow, which fell into the water. To his astonish-
ment there was a big swirl and the swallow disappeared. Of course
he shot another swallow, baited and fished with it immediately. It,
too, was taken down, and he landed a Mahseer. What the weight
was I do not know. On the other hand, I know an excellent fisher-
man who uses always a No. 3 Limerick hook. My own fancy is to
have three sizes, No. i/o, 2 and 3, of which I more generally use
No. 2.

I am quoting sizes from my own scale annexed, and I would beg
the reader's special attention thereto in order to save him from dis-
appointment. In my first edition I quoted from the scale given in
Francis Francis' " Book on Angling," overlooking the caution which
he gives, and which I may as well quote :

" Hooks are varied so much in size, not only by different makers, but
even by the same makers, and the numbering and lettering becomes so
troublesome and complicated, that I have given a scale of Limerick hooks
of sizes numbered for reference, as the easiest and simplest mode of
expression."

The value of this caution I learnt to my cost in this wise. Having
planned a fishing trip with certain friends, I wrote to England for flies
for us all, quoting Francis Francis' numbers, but not saying that I
quoted from him. In consequence out came the flies beautifully tied,
just as ordered, but all on hooks of sizes that were useless. Francis
Francis' Nos. n and 12, which I was ordering for Carnatic Carp, would
.have been Nos. 5 and 6 on my then scale, whereas Nos. u and 12
on my scale were perfectly useless, and that was the scale that came.
What was to be done ? There was no time to write again, and we
were all too busy men to. tie flies for ourselves. We had not the time.
What was to be done ? My friends had relied on me, and .... well,
it was very vexatious. I had to look about for a likely native, and a
friend and I taught him, and so we got our flies just in time after all.

n8 Fly-fishing for Mahseer. CHAP. vu.

But it was very nearly being a worse disappointment. In ordering
flies, therefore, be sure to quote, not only the number, but also the
author of the number. If you take Francis Francis' number, say so ;
if mine, say so, and your tackle-maker will know what you want. If
you do not he is not to blame if you suffer a like disappointment
to my own.

But why have I given you a different scale from Francis Francis' ?
It is very annoying, doubtless, and I am very sorry to do anything to
annoy you. Still less had I any silly fancy for setting up a standard of
my own. I would very much rather have followed Francis Francis'
or any recognized scale, but unfortunately his scale did not go as far
as was necessary for Indian fishing ; it did not give the larger sizes or
the smaller ones ; it only gave medium sizes, such as he wanted for his
own reference only. I saw no way of adapting his numbering to that
of any hook maker that I knew of because, as he says, he had started a
numbering of his own.

I have, therefore, been at much renewed pains to discover a
generally recognized standard of size that I could give you as the
standard. But there is no such thing in existence in this planet, and
nothing but an Act of Parliament can command it for you, and I am
afraid we cannot run to that in time for this edition. In reviewing the
second edition of this volume in 1881 the Field remarked on this
subject, and the Fishing Gazette also took it up, and urged it on
manufacturers ; but to no purpose ; the confusing multiplicity of sizings
and numberings still remains. Pretty nearly every wholesale hook-
maker has a standard of his own, in thickness of wire as well as in
bend, and if a tackle-maker wants any particular hook he frequently
finds it safer to send a specimen hook than to quote size. Especially
is this the case with Mahseer trebles, in which the thickness of the
wire used varies much.

And yet, perhaps, it is not so very unreasonable of hook-makers as
might at first sight appear. In the case of any large firm that has been
making hooks for a generation or two there is probably a large stock
of dies round which the wire is bent, and a heavy outlay has also
probably been made on illustrated catalogues, and it would be un-
reasonable to expect them to throw all this away and to start afresh.
It is for the newer manufacturers to follow their scales and they do so
to a great extent.

CHAP. VII.

Standards of Sizes of Hooks.

119

So, accepting the inevitable, I cannot do better for you than to give
you the same scale of uneyed Limericks and of Mahseer trebles, both
eyed and tapered, as I gave in my last edition, which I told you was
held in common by at least two firms of wholesale hook-makers —
Messrs. R. Harrison, Bartleet, and Co., Metropolitan Works, Redditch,
who gave me my scale for the last edition, and Messrs. William

EYED

7APERED

SCALE OF MAHSEER TREBLES.

(Eyed and tapered are both made these sizes.)

Bartleet and Sons, Abbey Mills, Redditch, who are giving me my
scale for this edition, as acknowledged in the preface.

In my last edition the plate of the scale of hooks was necessarily
hand-drawn, electro typing not having been introduced in 1881, and
though I had the best of draughtsmen, a certain slight modicum of
inaccuracy unavoidably crept in; this time there ought to be none,
the hooks being reproduced actual size by photography, and electro-
typed.

Of eyed Limerick hooks there are also so many varieties that,
growing desperate, I have accepted from Messrs. William Bartleet and
Sons the patent Pennell eyed, because it has the recommendation that
the eye is formed by the tapered end being " returned," as it is called,
down the shank, instead of being abruptly finished off at the eye in a
way that might, it is supposed, fray the gut. Only the larger sizes
figured have the eye thus returned, and they are made of stouter wire

120

Fly-fishing for MaJisecr.

CHAP. VII.

for salmon. The full quotation of this hook is Pennell's Limerick, with
looped turn-down eyes, patent up-turn shank.

The Pennell-eyed hooks have also a little bend in the shank near
the eye, which is supposed to bring the line of tension parallel with the
point of the hook so that it shall pierce more readily. Whether it does

SCALE OF PENNELL-EYED LIMERICK HOOKS.

eftect this or not I cannot say. I have never been able to discover
any difference in this matter.

The same firm, Messrs. William Bartleett and Sons, were good enough
to offer me an electro of similar eyed Limerick hooks, continued down to
No. 17, but they are made of thinner wire for trout, and too light for a
Mahseer. And, as you will see when you come to flies, I generally
prefer a Kirby hook or a Sneck when you come to Carnatic Carp sizes,
solely for the purpose of convenience in catching the eye more quickly
in selecting Carnatic Carp from Mahseer flies.

In the matter of the eye of the Limerick hook, very neatly brazed
eyes, which leave nothing to be desired, are produced by Messrs.
J. Warner and Sons, of Redditch. And the round wire which they use is
of a thickness suitable to salmon and Mahseer and of excellent temper.

I append also a scale of eyed Snecks and eyed Kirbys, as they will
be useful farther on, and it will be convenient to the reader to have all
his scales of hooks in one place.

CHAP. VII.

Standards of Sizes of Hooks.

121

The Snecks are again Pennell's turn-down eyes, up-turned shank,
and the electro of them is from the firm of Messrs. William Bartleet
and Sons. That of the Kirby's is my own electrotype of a card of

or?

r

SCALE OF SNECK BEND HOOKS.

hooks specially made up for me by Messrs. Hutchinson and Son,
Kendal.

So much for the size or bend of the hook. Revert we now to the
thickness of the wire, a point of considerable importance to the angler,
for we get Mahseer trebles made of a wire so thin that they are quickly
demoralized by the Mahseer's power of compression elsewhere spoken
of, and others again that run into extremes in thickness ; and it would
be a great thing for anglers if they could rely on their Mahseer hooks
being always of the proper thickness of wire. An angler setting up a
Mahseer kit for the first time, and simply ordering his tackle from
a book, cannot possibly be expected to know the gauge of the wire of
which the hooks should be made and naturally depends on his tackle-
maker to see him right in this matter. Not infrequently he orders his
tackle, or his good old aunt orders it for him as a gift, from the shop
near his own home which he was known to trust to for all the trouty
triumphs of his youth. Not infrequently said tackle-maker, however
good in other respects, has no special knowledge of Mahseer hooks,
and the result is disappointment grievous to think of. Whereas if the
said tackle-maker knew, he would tell his hook-maker what sort of hook
he wanted for making up his tackle. Representing this difficulty to
Messrs. R. Harrison, Bartleet, and Co., wholesale manufacturers,
Metropolitan Works, Redditch, they were good enough to tell me and
allow me to quote that the gauge of wire, Sheffield hook gauge, not the

122

Fly-fishing for Mahseer.

CHAP. VII.

imperial standard gauge, should, for Mahseer trebles, be three sizes
bigger than that used for ordinary treble hooks.

And lastly there is the temper of your hooks. There I cannot help
you. There your tackle-maker should stand your friend, for he should

CHAP. vii. Temper of Hooks. 123

order his hooks from none but the best makers. A cheap hook may
do for roach, dace, sticklebacks, and such like, but to economize in
hooks when such lordly fish as Mahseer are the game is wholly
unpardonable.

I have, staring me in the face as I write, a treble hook that was
taken with one grand rush over one hundred yards across a big river,
and then sent back to me by a mighty Mahseer, curled up and twisted
about like a ram's horn, with the insulting message : "There; take your
wretched hook • it comes from the wrong shop." If the temper of the
hook had been better I should not have had such an ugly reminiscence.
And yet I happen to know that the tackle-maker at least was a most
reliable man. It only shows what care should be taken in the making
and tempering of Mahseer trebles.

For ease of reference the special Rohu hooks made by Messrs.
S. Allcock and Co., Standard Works, Redditch, may also be shown
here. If you use these short shanked hooks, which are on the same

ROHU HOOKS.

principle, only eyed and of thicker wire, as the short shanked roach
hook called "round roach," there is no room for attaching the lead
wire used with the longer shanked Limerick, and you must trust solely
to the weight of the paste bait for sinking, as you will see in the
chapter on Labeo. It is a question of preference. I have never
tried these because I did not know of them, but I expect they will be
fancied for the same reason as the round, roach hooks are for roach.
The wire of the round roach hook is altogether too fine for a 50 Ib.
Rohu, and these hooks were made at the special request of an Indian
fisherman, Colonel Manners.

And now to conclude this troublesome matter of hooks. While I
have been bound in common courtesy to acknowledge the civilities of
those manufacturers who have kindly helped me to scales of hooks, I
wish not to imply that they are the only manufacturers of these hooks,
because that would not be fair to other manufacturers who are un-

124 Fly-fishing for Mahseer. CHAP. vii.

known to me, and I have no desire for favouritism, and make no
merchandise out of such kindly assistance. My sole object is to give
the angler and his friend, i.e., his tackle-maker of his own selection,
definite standards of size, so that he may both clearly understand me
and be able to make his tackle-maker understand him. That the
angler shall on every occasion of an order look up and quote the
manufacturer whose name is connected with the scale is not to be
expected, nor will it serve any useful purpose, for every tackle-maker
makes his own careful selection of the manufacturer he employs,
ordering from one perhaps for one class of hook, and from another
' for another. All the angler has to do is to specify that he quotes his
size from this book. His tackle-maker will then know how to do the
rest. He need not confine himself to Pennell hooks if he prefers any
other, or even to eyed hooks if he prefers them tapered. He has only
to specify the plate from which he quotes size, and his tackle-maker will
be in a position to make no mistake about giving him the equivalent
size in any hook he desires.

Having thus come to an understanding, or to a misunderstanding,
which you will, but at least to something definite about the sizes of
hooks, I will describe the flies to be tied on them, adhering, of course,
to what I must perforce call my own scale, because there is none other
that I can quote.

THE BLACKAMOOR.

Tag : three or four turns of tinsel. Tail : two or three sprays of
peacock harl from the end of the tail feathers that end without an eye,
and are feathered only on one side. Body, peacock harl very full and
ribbed with two or three turns of tinsel. Legs or hackle, commencing
small, a little short of the tail end of the body, and carried up to the
shoulder, hackle increasingly large and increasingly thick, and forming
also the shoulder hackle, which may be full. For this use the tip end
of one of those tail feathers of the peacock that ends without an eye,
and that has harl on one side only, as those are much the brightest, and
of a convenient length for the larger flies ; for the smaller, the feathers
taken from the back of the peacock may be substituted. Wing : the
glossiest, deepest black procurable, e.g., the black crane, the raven, the
glossy blue-black feathers of the magpie's tail, with a sprinkling of the

CHAP. vii. Flies. 125

same peacock harl from the eyeless tail feathers to make it shiny. In
the smallest fly on No. 5 Kirby the almost black blue from the wing of
the mallard or magpie may be preferred to simple black.

For Mahseer I use 2/0 and 2 of my Limerick scale, and more
generally No. 2. Some use 6/0 and 7/0; and one excellent fisherman
I know delights specially in No. 3. But I think 2/0 and 2 are your
best sizes, especially the latter, and that if you want anything bigger
than 2/0 you should use a fish bait. For Carnatic Carp the same fly
on No. 5 and 6, my Limerick scale, but more generally No. 6, for the
tail and first drop fly. For the second drop, the same just a size
smaller. It is convenient to have it tied on a different sort of hook so
that it may catch your eye quickly, when selecting it for the drop fly,
so, say No. 9 Kirby. This last may be tied on a single salmon gut,
but it and all others are the better for being on eyed hooks.

THE COCK-O'-THE-WALK.

Of this fly all that K. says is, " By far the most deadly fly — indeed
the only one that appears to tempt them — was Madras jungle cock
feathers in the wings : if with silver body all the better." Say the same
size as for Blackamoor.

THE SMOKY DUN.

This fly is of one colour all over, a smoky dun colour, the colour
say of the smoke ascending from a damp wood fire, a dusky fisherman's
blue or ash colour with just a perceptible touch of light dull yellow or
dun in it. Wings and body the same, with a tag and three or four
turns of silver twist, and a tail of peacock's back feather. Size the
same as for Blackamoor.

For Mahseer I fish with a single fly as for salmon ; for Carnatic
Carp with a collar of two or even three flies as for trout, but a collar of
single salmon gut.

For the benefit of those who are newly compelled in. India to tie
their own flies, I may mention that the hook of all salmon or Mahseer
flies will of course be tied, not on single gut, as in the case of a trout
fly, but on stout salmon gut doubled, so as to leave at the head a short

126 Fly-fishing for Mahseer. CHAP. vii.

loop, between a quarter and an eighth of an inch in length. The
object of this is to give the gut stiffness, to prevent it from constantly
doubling under the weight of the hook, and thus fraying, and eventually
giving way, close up to the hook. The precaution is necessary in the
case of salmon flies because of their weight ; and when the fly is large,
treble gut also is thus looped instead of single gut. But it is simpler to
use eyed hooks.

Hooks draw very much, however, in India, because the great heat
dries the wax and shrinks the gut, and as a consequence hooks not
freshly tied are very liable to draw. The precaution should therefore
be taken of tying a knot in the gut laid against the shank of the hook ;
when it is covered with dressing it will not show.

Fishing with a good fisherman, the hooks bought by him from
Messrs. So and So all drew, and he thereon condemned all So and So's
tackle as cheap and nasty. But all my English flies bought of the best
tackle-makers in several directions in England for trout-fishing, and
taken out to India, all drew, dozen after dozen, at once. The moral is
that the best whipped flies and hooks will draw in India, and eyed
hooks only should be used. The aforesaid fisherman came to this
conclusion also on subsequent reflection. But when tying flies on eyed
hooks we found that the whole body of the fly turned on the hook and
slipped down. To prevent this put a little varnish — the merest touch
— on the shank of the hook before tying.

Fish with the fly for Mahseer, just as you would for salmon ; that is
to say, that if you are a salmon-fisher I can give you no advice, you are
sure to follow your practice. But if you are not, I may as well mention
that the general idea is, that you should not draw your fly with a steady
pull through the water, but with a succession of little jerks, with slight
pauses between, so as to give it a shrimp-like motion, the theory being
that with every jerk the feathers will be compressed against the hook,
and with every pause they will spread out again, thus making a greater
show, and giving an appearance of life to the fly, an appearance of
kicking out for a swim. That is, I believe, the theory and the general
practice, but I may be allowed to add I do not believe in it. I believe
the constant twitching only disturbs the water, and tends to frighten the
fish, and the uneven motion of the fly increases the risks of the fish
missing your fly when he rises at it. My way is to be careful to throw
a perfectly straight line, and then to keep it just taut and no more,

CHAP. vii. Striking. 127

drawing my fly steadily and as slowly as possible, sometimes not
drawing it at all, but letting it swing round with the stream, varying the
throw and the draw so as to cover all likely water.

Mind you do not pull too fast. Many a fish will not be troubled to
rise at a fly that passes him in too much of a bustle. Possibly it may
have passed him before he has well seen it, or even if he has seen it, it
is in too much of a hurry for him ; he is not inclined to rush after it
and scramble for it with his next door neighbour, who is just as wide-
awake as he is. Be that as it may, work your fly slowly : more fish are
killed thus than by quick fishing, and less fish rise short.

And as to that much disputed question, the striking of a Salmon or
Mahseer, whatever rule you accept in one case is equally applicable in
the other. My plan is to strike as quick as lightning with a trout, but
with a Salmon or a Mahseer, not at all. If your line is thrown straight
and always kept taut, as it should be, you will feel a Salmon or
Mahseer, and no mistake, when he has your fly well in his mouth ; you
need not watch the swirl, as for a trout, you will feel fast enough if he
has caught your fly or missed it, and if you feel him then " belay there,
belay," hold on to him hard enough to drive the hook in well past the
barb ; hold on, not by touching the line, but by raising the top of your
rod, and making him bend the rod as much as you safely dare. He
will do the rest for you in his violent efforts to break away. There is
no occasion to strike with a jerk as for trout or small fish. If you do,
the chances are you will be just too quick for him, and will pull the fly
out of his mouth ; and if you do that you frighten him, and he will not
come again, which he might do if he was not conscious of anything but
having made an ass of himself, and missed a good thing. Remember,
also, he is taking it unconsciously and leisurely, not in a hurry to catch
hold of it before you shall snatch it away. In short, hold on to him
when you feel him and not before, just as you would to a stumbling
horse. But to do this properly you should not only have no slack line,
should not only be just feeling your fly with your rod top, as you just
feel a horse's mouth with the weight of a finger, and no more, so that
you are keeping up communication with your fly, and are in a state of
constant preparedness to act when called upon, but the point of your
rod should be held almost at a right angle to the direction of the line,
so that the fish when taking the fly, and striking himself by his weight,
may do so against the full play of the elastic rod. If the rod is held

128 Fly-fishing for Mahseer. CHAP. vn.

with the point towards the fish he gets a straight pull on the line direct
from the reel, with no spring to ease off its suddenness, and the result
is in most cases a break, either of tackle or hook-hold.

The advantages of the non-striking principle are clearly seen in
spinning. How often does a fish miss your bait, and if you do not
pull it away from him with a jerk by striking, go at it again. No
doubt it is hard to keep cool in the circumstances, for " it gives one
quite a turn " to see a big fish roll over your bait, with every appear-
ance of having taken it, and it is almost an instinctive act to strike.
But it should not be done. If he has taken it, it will be unnecessary,
for his weight will both hook him and tell you. If he has missed it,
it is quite a mistake to jerk it rudely away from him, and it will only
put him out. To exemplify the advantage of not striking, I may
mention a 6J- Ib. Mahseer coming up at my spinning bait, and turning
over as if he had taken it. As I did not feel him, however, I pulled
steadily on as if nothing had happened. He immediately turned and
rushed at it again. Again he missed it, and my little bait went
spinning demurely on, as if there was no such thing as a Mahseer in
the river. Round he turned and went at it the third time. The line
tautened, and virtue was rewarded. I felt all over just like little
Jack Horner felt, " what a good boy am I." The thing occurs daily,
and, for my part, I cannot understand why people dispute about
whether or not you ought to strike a salmon. It is clear to my mind
both that you need not, and you should not. With trout and small fish,
it is quite another thing. The rationale of the matter will be found
further discussed, however, in the Chapter on the Carnatic Carp.

I may add, that the salmon fly has yet another redeeming point,
over and above those mentioned in Chapter IV. Though,
in my opinion, you catch fewer Mahseer with the fly than
spinning, still I think you have a better chance of a variety
of fish with the fly, than with a small fish. Other fine carps
more or less like the Mahseer have much smaller mouths
comparatively, and cannot therefore readily take the same
sized fish-bait, as the Mahseer. These take the fly better,
and as a consequence do not feed so much on fish. Bu
they must have a chapter to themselves.
Advocates of the fly also say that, in small streams, containing only
small Mahseer of 5 Ibs. and under, the fly is more killing than the

CHAP. vii. Hog-backed Fly Spoon. 129

spoon. But I confess that I should put it a little differently, I
should say that a small hog-backed fly spoon of f of an inch in
length, and so light that you can throw it much like a fly, is the
more killing in such waters, though the fly is pleasanter to cast. Most
of the Indian carps too, when they grow large, become predacious
enough to take a small spoon of this size. The illustration is the
exact size.

THE ROD IN INDIA.

CHAPTER VIII.
GRAM-FISHING FOR MAHSEER.

" The pleasantest angling 'tis to see the fish
Cut with her golden oars the silver stream
And greedily devour the treacherous bait."

SHAKESPEARE.

THERE is another way of fishing for Mahseer practised at Jubbulpore,
which has attractions of its own for those whose lot is cast there, but
of which I have no personal knowledge. I will therefore extract from
the Asian of i2th October, 1880, the following letter kindly written
by W. T. F., together with a suggestion by T. A. B. in the same paper,
under date Qth November, 1880.

I may first mention, however, that the Field records that the
late Major Geoffrey Nightingale caught a Mahseer of 4olbs. in weight
in this way on single gut, and a single scale of it measured 2|
of an inch in diameter in a life-size engraving in the Field of
9th October, 1869.

I may mention also that I have tried the same way of fishing very
carefully, and have also tried it with what seemed to me a more natural
bait, the fruit of the banyan (Ficus Indicd), which I used in large
quantities, but on every occasion it was a signal failure ; from which I
gathered that this style of fishing is probably confined to localities in
which the fish have been thoroughly educated to it. So I proceed
with my quotations from the pens of men who have practically tested
it where the fish are so educated :

" The mode of fishing for the Mahseer in the Nerbudda, near Jubbulpore,
being peculiar to that place, will no doubt be interesting to some readers
of the Asian.

" I think that is the only place in India where parched gram, called in

CHAP. vin. Baiting with diabetic. 131

Hindustani chabena, is used as a bait ; at least I have not heard of it at
any other place. The queer thing about it is that not only is the gram J;he
best bait, but it is the only bait, except dough, which will catch fish. I
suppose they have been educated to like gram, and gram they must have,
and nothing else. I have tried one thing after another — flies, minnows,
frogs, beetles, both natural and artificial, dead and alive, as well as spoons,
but the fish will not look at any of them.

" Jubbulpore was my first station in India, and having been accustomed
to salmon-fishing in the north of Ireland, I was delighted to find that I
could still follow my favourite sport in India.

" The river is very easily got at, being only about five miles off ; but as
it is necessary to procure the bait before proceeding to the river, I think
a description of it ought to precede that of the river.

" The simplest way to get the gram is to send to the bazaar for half a
seer of fried chabena. I have often tried to parch the gram myself, and
though I have watched the bunnias doing it I could never succeed. It
is done in hot sand kept continuously moving to prevent it being burnt
but as it is procurable in every village of any size there is no use trying to
make it oneself. When procured the gram is seen to be loosely covered
with the cracked outer shell ; this has to be removed, and then the gram
appears of a yellowish-white shiny colour. A hole has now to be drilled
through it, large enough for the gut and shank of the hook to pass through,
as the gram is very soft (it can even be crushed between the finger and
thumb) ; this is very easily done with a fine brad-awl, but as a brad-awl
is very liable to break it, I had a special instrument made for the purpose.
This was simply a spear, the size of the head of a pin, very flat and sharp.
Being flat it allowed the particles, as soon as cut away, to fall down,
which the brad-awl did not, and thus prevented the gram from splitting.
Several of the grains will be found already split, and it is very important
to pick out only the perfect ones, as the more perfect they are the longer
they will remain on the hook. A lot of these ready bored must be provided,
say a match-box full, as they get used up very fast, for as soon as the gram
gets sodden with water, which it will do in five or ten minutes, it breaks
off and another has to be put on. This is the one great drawback to gram-
fishing, for as each grain has to be threaded on the hook, and not forced
over the barb, it is necessary each time to remove the hook, and having
threaded on the gram to replace it on the casting line. As this occurs
sometimes after one or two casts, it becomes a nuisance, and to lessen it
as much as possible I always arranged that, while I was fishing, my servant
stood behind me with another hook ready threaded with gram. I thus
lost very little time removing the old hook and putting on the new, but
even this dodge is only a slight improvement, and the old nuisance remains.
The only real remedy is to use artificial gram. I have made this for
myself by using a very white hard wood (I have forgotten the name), and
after carving out the grain of gram, covering it with a thin coating of

K 2

J32 Gram-fishing for Mahseer. CHAP. vin.

shellac varnish ; this gave it the slight yellow tint of the natural grain, and
also prevented it from getting dirty and soaked with water. I found I was
just as successful with this as with the real gram, but as it used to take
me hours to make a single grain, and that even then only every third or
fourth one was at all like the original, I thought the game not worth the
candle, and soon reverted to the natural gram. No doubt if Farlow * or
some other tackle-maker could be induced to make them it would be a
boon to fishers at Jubbulpore.

" Having got the bait we now go to the river and get the tackle ready.
For a casting line I used double gut, twisted just enough to keep the strands
together : the hook also was tied on double gut, but the loop for joining
it to the casting line must be tied with silk, not knotted, otherwise the
knot would not pass through the hole in the gram. For the hook I used
a No. 7 Limerick, or the same size Sneck bend. The size just held the
two grains of gram, and was not too heavy to prevent it from floating,
which it did naturally on account of the lightness of the gram. I think I
preferred the Sneck bend to the Limerick ; the bend of the latter hook is
very sudden and it broke the grain, but the former being square the two
grains fitted comfortably on it ; they also could not slip over the barb as
they sometimes did with the other hook.

" To make a bag a man had to be sent a day or two, or even more, before-
hand to bait the runs. This he did by occasionally throwing in a handful
of parched gram at the head of the run. This floating down the river
attracted all the fish for a long way down, and in a short time they had
all collected in the pool, the biggest ones near the head of the run. Of
course the first throw you made into this you hooked a whopper, but after
taking two or three out the rest got shy and would not come again till
next day. You could always get fish, and big ones too, without baiting
the runs, but not so many as if the run had been baited beforehand.

As I said before the nearest part of the river, and the most accessible
place, is about five miles off, where the Nagpore road crosses it. It is
called Goari Ghaut, and as there is a pucka road it is an easy ride or
drive. The ghaut itself is a good place to fish, as the fishes are regularly
fed there by the priests of the numerous temples on the bank ; but though
there are a lot of them they seldom run bigger than one or two pounds in
weight. The Brahmins never once objected to my fishing there, and I
think the rice and other grain is thrown into the river, not so much to feed
the fishes, but rather as a votive offering to Mother Nerbudda. However
I soon got tired of catching tame fish, as these practically were, and went
up and down the river looking for new places.

" I used to get two dug-out canoes and tie them together with planks

* It would never pay an English tackle-maker to make this imitation for one
single locality, but natives being adepts at carving at very low charges, possibly
some local tackle-maker like Luscombe might get it done.

CHAP. vin. The Marble Rocks. 133

placed across ; this gave one a. seat, and also prevented the boat from
capsizing, which a single dug-out is very liable to do. In this way one
could quickly drop down the river, fishing all the likely places on the way,
and with four men to paddle it did not take so very long to get back
again, though of course there was a strong current to be overcome.

" About a mile below the ghaut the river narrowed considerably ; a hill
jutted into it, forming a deep pool on the inside, and a splendid run at the
point of the rock. I got the best fish I ever caught in the Nerbudda in
this run, and many a one I have pulled out of the pool using a large hook
and a lump of dough. One day, I shall never forget, I had successfully
stalked a large fish I had seen rising at the very point of the rock, and
having landed him after a prolonged fight I was very proud of myself and
sat down to breakfast, previously changing the hook and putting on an
enormous lump of dough. I threw this into the deepest part of the pool,
and putting my rod down on the ground I began my breakfast. In a
short time there came a slight tug at the rod, and again all was still.
I thought the fish had failed to hook himself and finished my meal. But
on taking up the rod I found there was a big fish on. I had to follow him
across the most break-neck places and was several times in danger of
cutting the line, but I landed him at last. These were the two largest fish
I ever caught at Jubbulpore — 12 and 10 Ibs. The average size is only 5
or 6 Ibs., though I believe the fish in the river go up to 30 Ibs. or more.
The Nerbudda is a very large river, though nothing compared with the
great Punjab rivers, and of course the fish will not run to the same size.
I was greatly elated at getting these two fish on the same day.

" About two miles below Goari Ghaut there were some large islands in
the middle of the river, and the runs on each side were very good. There
were good places all down the river ; and at Behra Ghaut, especially just
below the Marble Rocks, I was very successful.

" The Marble Rocks are about 1 1 miles from Jubbulpore, but as there
is a pucka road almost all the way one can easily go out for a day's fishing
by sending on a horse half-way. There is also a dak bungalow there,
and three days' leave can be spent very pleasantly. I was never tired of
looking at the beautiful cliffs, which give the fishing there a peculiar charm ;
at home half the delight of trout-fishing is the lovely scenery one has to
pass through ; but in India the wide, dry, sandy, or stony bed of the river
sadly mars the beauty of the scenery, and it is only in the rainy season,
when the river is full, that it can be appreciated.

" The river enters the marble chasm by a fall of 30 feet, and once while
fishing above it I hooked a fish within 40 yards of the brink of the fall.
It was very exciting trying to keep him from rushing down, and I don't
think I ever played a fish so hard ; it was a terrible strain on my rod and
tackle while it lasted. There is a railway station for the rocks, but unless
you could interest some of the railway officials in your favour, and get the
mail train stopped there, the station was seldom used, as the other trains

134 Gram-fishing for Mahscer. CHAP. vm.

did not suit. I once went down by train to where the railway crosses the
Nerbudda, about 20 miles, as well as I can remember, from Jubbulpore ;
there was very good fishing there. Up the river above Goari Ghaut there
were lots of good places ; one road went along the Rifle Range and let out
at a place where there was a village on the opposite bank. I cannot now
remember the name of the place, nor have I any map by me to refer to.
There was always a ferry-boat waiting on the near bank to carry the
villagers across, and this could be hired for fishing from.

"About four miles out on the Mandla road was the Gaur Nuddee, a
small river flowing into the Nerbudda. This river was very well stocked
with fish in the early part of the cold weather, October to December ;
after that the water got very low, and the big fish retired to the deep pools,
whence they could not be enticed. The road crossed the river by an
Irish bridge or causeway, and below this, and fishing from the causeway,
I have got many a good bag. I don't think the fish ran bigger than 3 Ibs.
or 4 Ibs. To have good fishing one had to arrive there at daybreak :
and a sharp ride from cantonments on a cold frosty morning in December
was invigorating if not very pleasant. Clouds of steam were rising from
the stream at this hour, showing how warm it was compared with the air,
and it was quite a relief to wade in and warm one's perished feet. As soon
as the sun peeped above the horizon your rod and tackle should be ready
for the first cast, and if you did not have some fun for the next two hours
you had bad luck. There were several good runs up the river, but the
causeway was the best place.

" Where the river joins the Nerbudda was a favourite place for fishing,
but it was not very easily got at, there being nothing but a path through
the fields ; while proceeding there in the early part of the cold season,
just after the rains, and before the ground had become dry and hard,
I have often had tc turn back. It is calculated to make you angry
if, after having sent your rod on in advance to a certain place, you find
you cannot get there on a horse, but could fish some other part of the river
if you could only recall the man with your rod. It is humiliating, to say the
least of it, to have to ride back the five or six miles, and when asked * What

luck ? ' to have to reply that you could not reach the river.

* *****

" I took a great fancy to fishing with gram, in spite of the nuisance of
having to change the hook so often. The baited hook is not heavier than
a salmon fly, and the fishing approached very closely to fly-fishing. By
throwing in a single grain of gram every few minutes, and letting it float
down stream, you could tell at once when a big fish was on the feed, and
where he rose. I think that stalking a particular fish, which you see rising,
is much greater sport than flogging a river on the chance of a fish coming
to you : you had to throw the gram just as nicely, and let it fall just as
gently on the water over a rising fish as if it had been a wary trout, and
you exult much more after landing the fish, which perhaps you have

CHAP. viii. Preparing Chabena. 135

been watching for a long time, or have failed to catch on a previous
occasion.

"When at Poona some years afterwards I often asked whether there
was any fishing in the neighbourhood, but invariably was answered ' No,'
that there were lots of fish but no one could catch them. The river at
Poona is a good size and I thought I would try and get some of the fish
which I made sure were in it. The first two days I tried everything I
could think of as bait, but failed to touch a single fish. The third day, a
happy thought, I determined to try the old Jubbulpore plan of parched
gram, and very successful I was, that day getting several fish, one n Ibs.
in weight. They were not Mahseer, but some kind of carp, very deep
in the belly compared with the length. I did not keep the secret to myself,
and many good bags were afterwards made. The fish did not give much
sport like Mahseer, but after being hooked used to sulk in the bottom of
the river, and I was three hours landing the above n -pounder.

" W. T. F."

* * * * • * *

" I have read with much interest the letter from ' W. T. F.' about
fishing near Jabalpur. I, too, have fished in the Nerbada, and adopted
the plan mentioned by your correspondent : indeed it is about the only
way in which you can catch fish in this river. ' W. T. F.' mentions that
he found some difficulty in getting parched gram to stay on the hook :
what we used to do was to soak some raw gram in water, till it was soft
enough to pass a stout darning needle through. We would then thread
as much bait as was required on to the common country thread sold in
every bazaar. The bait was rolled up in damp cloth, and all we had to do
was to take off a grain or two when required for the hook. Let ' W. T. F. '
try this plan and see how it succeeds.

" T. A. B.»

CHAPTER IX.
LIVE BAIT FISHING FOR MAHSEER.

" Thus have I cleared the field of my worst foe ! "

THE SPANISH STUDENT. Act II., Scene V.

ALL the previous chapters have treated of fishing for Mahseer in clear
water, for, in the matter of fishing for them in discoloured water,
anglers of any Indian experience have hitherto been agreed that it was
simply useless. Whether from melting snows, or from heavy rainfall,
or irrigation drainage, a flood or discoloration in the river was con-
sidered an insuperable bar to all fishing. There was nothing for it
but to pack up one's tackle, and give it up as a hopeless case. And
thus there was the great objection that Mahseer-fishing was confined
to clear water, that a change of weather might at any time make the
fishing trip a complete failure and disappointment. But anglers will
rejoice to hear that there is yet a way in which this worst difficulty may
be overcome, yet a way in which the mighty Mahseer may be taken
even in the dirtiest water. We are indebted, and that not a little, to
Colonel J. Parsons for the discovery ; so I shall, with his permission,
give it in his own words, as kindly communicated to me. He writes,
under date 8th July, 1878 :

"A friend has lent me your book 'Rod in India.' I observed that you
invited hints on fishing. I am not aware whether you still seek them or
not ; however I think I may as well tell you of my way of fishing when the
river becomes thick. It is not original, but merely an improvement of a
native method I saw practised many years ago at the Jumna, in the hills
between Mussoorie and Simla.

" I fish with live bait picketed, as it were, in the river ; the bait may be
any size up to \ Ib. in weight (as Mahseer don't doubt them 'sardines' if
they look large). A bullet is secured to the line about 2^- feet from the live

CHAP. ix. Fishing in Discoloured Water. 137

fish, to give him room to swim about if he wishes, and then the end of the
fishing line, with bait and bullet, is deposited in any likely place in the
river, and the rod is ' set ' on the bank, with reel free to run when required.
The best place to put in your live bait is in one of the eddies near the
head of a rapid ; a favourite place is in the backwater, of two feet or so
in depth, between two channels of a rapid. In the deep pools Bowalis,*
a fresh- water shark kind of fish, and eels (I once caught one of the latter
1 8 Ibs. weight in this fashion) are likely to take the bait and give trouble.
It is not improbable that Mahseer can feel f about well with their leathery
mouths, if they cannot see in heavy water. Anyhow the above is a very
successful way of catching Mahseer when the water is too thick for spinning
or a fly, for, with close upon thirty years' experience of fishing in India,
I have invariably found that neither minnow nor fly are of any use in heavy
water. I never lose time myself in trying them ; but it is difficult to
persuade others till they have tried their own patience in the matter. I
have caught very heavy fish with live bait thus used, and this is not
surprising, for, as you mention, Mahseer are bottom feeders — and I have,
moreover, caught nearly as many in a day in muddy water with live bait
as I have in bright water by other means. I mention one instance only.
Major S. . . . fished a few miles up stream from Naoshera on the Towi
River (which is met on the Bhimbur route to Cashmere), and, though a
really good fisherman, could not get either run or rise ; before his return,
in less than four hours' time, I had caught and landed five good fish in
the pool close to our camp ; the water was like pea soup, and the fish were
all caught, as above, with live bait. I might probably have caught double
the number if I had set a couple of rods. I have caught many large fish
varying from 10 Ibs. to 50 Ibs. in this way, and what more could be wanted
from the river, when trolling or fly-fishing is impossible ? The bait, if
neatly put on, and not pulled about frequently, will live for an indefinite
period. I have generally found his existence shortened very rapidly by
Mahseer.

" I give you a sketch of the bait. The body hook is inserted while
the point of the shank is held next to the tail, and then turned over so
as to let the shank lie on the side of the bait. The bait, of course,
must not be curved. The mouth hook is put in last. Attach the bullet
with a piece of thread to the line, so that you lose bullet only in case of a

* Wallago attu of Chapter XIV.

t I should incline to the conclusion that it is by their sense of smell that they
are mainly guided, for a live fish leaves a scent under water as much as a live animal
does on land, — witness the way in which an otter will follow the scent of a live fish
under water, as I have seen. I think that fish are also guided mainly by their sense
of smell in taking bait on night lines, for it is very certain that fish cannot see as
well at night as they do by day. Native fishermen know this well enough, and
accordingly spread their nets at night.

138

Live Bait Fishing for Mahseer.

CHAP. IX.

foul. The bait itself rarely fouls. The curve of the side hook stands out
at right angles to the side of the bait, so that it may speedily act when
the bait is taken. The hook at A is passed through the thin flap in the

upper lip. The dotted line at B is where a bit of the shank of the body
hook is under a bit of skin of the bait. The points of both hooks are well
exposed.

" In Upper India December and January are blank months for Mahseer
fishing, use any bait you like.

" One hundred yards of line is enough for any fish. K. says 200, but
look at the account of his monster run, less than 100 yards. The fish was
4 feet 5 inches. I have caught 4 feet 6 inches that never ran 50 yards.

"This method of fishing may occasionally succeed when the water is
clear, particularly in rough parts, but never so well as in thick water ;
indeed, it is only then excusable as a substitute for fly and minnow."

Colonel Parsons kindly sent me at the same time a pair of hooks
tied as he uses them. They are " peculiar-eyed Limericks," answering
to No. 6/0 and 4/0 on my scale of the ordinary tapered Limerick
hooks, the larger one being the side hook, and the smaller the
lip hook. They are mounted in the simplest way possible on a single
piece of salmon gut, and he writes that the mounting of them took him
just 45 seconds, which, of course, is a great recommendation to any
man who is pressed for time, and the majority of Indian officials have
very little of that commodity to spare.

I am informed by a tackle-maker that these eyed-hooks were at
one time tried for salmon flies, but were condemned on the ground
that the iron cut the gut. I presume it was when laid by for months
in the fly-book that they rusted into the gut, for I cannot see how they
can cut the freshly-tied gut in a single fishing trip, provided care is
taken, by thoroughly well soaking the gut before tying the knots, that

CHAP. ix. Making up Live Bait Tackle. 139

there may be no crack at the knots. I always use eyed trebles myself
in spinning, and never found this objection. Colonel Parsons writes :

" Being, like yourself, frequently pressed for time, I have of late years
almost discarded the use of silk and wax in mounting bait and spinning
casts. On artificial minnows I use eyed strong double hooks, which are
mounted in a * twinkling ; ' and for spinning natural bait, or securing live
bait, I use eyed single hooks."

There is no doubt in my mind that, for spinning tackle in India,
eyed hooks are much to be preferred to bound hooks, as there is much
greater danger of losing a fish from the hook drawing or the binding
being rotten, so rotten as to rip right up, proclivities too common in
India, than from the hook cutting or rusting the gut. Besides, the
danger with the binding is not noticeable, till a big fish comes and
finds it out for you ; whereas, any rusting of the gut is easily perceived,
and as easily remedied. Many a man will not hesitate to snip off and
re-knot a doubtful piece of gut, when he would think twice of looking
out silk and wax and re-binding it.

Colonel Parsons' live bait flight of hooks is mounted as follows : —
A single length of good stout salmon gut being doubled in the middle,
so that the two ends lie equally side by side, a common knot, such as
one ties at the end of a whip lash, is tied at the end of the gut, so as
to keep the ends together, and to keep the knot that follows from
slipping. Close above this is tied just such another knot, but this
time through the eye of hook B. The necessary space being left, just
such another knot is tied round the shank of hook A, and another
through the eye of hook A. The knots on A can easily be slackened
and worked further from or nearer to B, so as to accommodate the
intervening space to the size of the bait. With reference to the bait,
Colonel Parsons writes :

" Six inches in length is a good size for a Mahseer, but you will observe
that if you can't get the size of bait you like, the small, or mouth hook
can easily be shifted up or down to suit a larger or smaller bait. I have
frequently used a bait I Ib. in weight, and occasionally as much as i^ Ib. ;
the fitting up of a mount to suit him is only the work of a minute, as I
have larger eyed hooks.

" I am afraid you may consider me somewhat of a barbarian,* but press

* Far from it. The contrivance is neat and simple, and I doubt not my readers
will feel as much indebted as I do to our friendly mentor.

140 Live Bait Fishing for Mahseer. CHAP. ix.

of time and the not over susceptibility of the Mahseer in rough or thick
water, induced me to these inventions. In slack clear water of deep pools
the Mahseer is a very wary wight, and I advocate care, and as neat tackle
as is consistent with the great strength of a large Mahseer, to effect his
capture. How very seldom one gets two large Mahseer in one day out of
a clear slack pool ? No. I may succumb to a minnow skilfully worked by
a knowing hand well out of sight, . . . but No. 2 betakes himself to cover
for the rest of the day, at any rate whenever he sees anything in the form
of a line or cast."

In a subsequent letter, Colonel Parsons writes :

" I have paid a short visit to Tangrot (the proper name is Dhangrot).
I found both Jhelum and Poonch flooded with snow-water and thoroughly
discoloured, instead of the crystal streams of the early year. The bungalow
book informed me that the locality had lately been visited by a good fisher-
man, who, the boatmen informed me, had worked hard at spinning with
spoon for Mahseer with blank results, being helpless in such a state of
affairs. I anticipated the same at this time of year (i/th March, 1880), as
both rivers are fed by the Himalayan snows, now melting daily, and had
brought a casting net for live bait. The result of my mode of fishing with
live bait in troubled stream is this : —

"First morning (i2th March), a 12-pounder.

" Evening, lost a heavy fish by the snapping under the barb of one of
Bowness and Bowness' best salmon hooks.

"Next morning (i3th), a Q-pounder.

" Evening, a I9~pounder.

" Next morning (iSth), a 32-pounder, length 45", girth 23".

"Evening. Lost an enormous fish (fully 5 feet long, and I estimate
fully 70 Ibs. weight), after playing him for two hours, and until he was
fully exposed to view in a semi-exhausted state by the bank, at which
critical period the line fouled. I immediately saw the danger and felt
uncomfortable, but thought the fish was ready for landing ; he, however,
suddenly rallied, and by his vast weight parted a new treble salmon gut
trace, and through a huge self-created wave dived into the Jhelum, not
to be seen again for some time I should say. Disconsolate I embarked
in my skiff to my dinner on the opposite side of the river, the fish having
worked me from 5 to 7 P.M., at last in a faint glimmer of moonlight, which,
by-the-bye, was not very favourable for the landing process of such a fish
under a straight bank. I have no doubt he felt very weary, poor fellow,
but it might have consoled him had he known how he made my biceps
ache holding him up pretty tight, through runs and sulks for two hours,
with a ig-feet salmon rod.

"Next morning (i6th, yesterday). A i5-pounder, and in the evening

CHAP. IX.

Jardine Tackle.

141

I moved from Dhangrot, well satisfied with my first visit to that far-famed

fishing ground.

******

" I only fished a comparatively short time morning and evening. . . .

"The above fish were all Mahseer. Aggregate weight of the five,
87 Ibs. ; average, 17^ Ibs. Tells well for Tangrot, and also for live bait !
At the same time I prefer the fly and spinners when the state of the water
admits of their use, there being variety and choice of casts."

I think the size of the fish taken, much more than the number, is a
very satisfactory proof of the effectiveness of- the method of fishing,
and it is a very great matter to have got over our hitherto insuperable
difficulty, the coloured water, and we can henceforth fish at such times
as well as in clear water.

The Jardine tackle is much affected in England for live bait fishing,
and might be used for this. The live bait is held captive by the free

end of the straight wire in the tackle being passed in at the mouth and
out at the gill of the bait, without wounding it or interfering with its

respiration, and then being hitched, as provided, the hooks are placed in
position and kept there, either by elastics, or by being passed through
the veriest morsel of skin. The hooks No. 8 should be special for

142 Live Bait Fishing for Mahseer. CHAP, ix,

f
Mahseer, and wire gimp No. 2/0 could be used instead of double

salmon gut.

With reference to other fishing, I have recommended the Ophio-
cephalus gachua or dok of Hindustani as
a bait ; but it would not do for this style
of fishing, because, like the murrel, it
requires to come frequently to the surface
to breathe the air, and would be drowned
by being picketed to the bottom by a
bullet.

A friend who was an ardent pike
fisherman used to set several rods with
live bait in Slapton Lea, well apart, and
he picketed a daughter over each with
a book and a whistle. If a bait was
taken, the alarm was sounded, and my
friend ran to the rescue, and played the
fish. If you practise this fishing with
water at all clear, of course you will
warn your watchman not to indulge his.
curiosity in watching the line or the top
of the rod, but to sit well away from

the bank and listen for the whirr of the check-winch. This is a

convenient way of setting your rod.

CHAPTER X.
PASTE BAITING FOR MAHSEER AND OTHERS.

"Saepe
Occultum visus decurrere piscis ad hamum."

HORACE. Epist. I., 7, 74.

FOR fishing, as in the last chapter, live bait is not always handy, and
paste is also effective. I have but little personal experience of this
style of fishing, and am chiefly dependent on that of others ; but I quote
from no mean authorities. The first was a Nimrod, the other two are
excellent fishermen.

The best fisherman need not be ashamed of acknowledging to a
liking for a change at times, and there are times when one is weary with
toil, and heat, and the failure of sport in any other way. And more
than once have I heard the wail of a right good brother of the angle
over monsters who would only feed at night, being much too wary to
be taken by any device by daylight. And it is a style of fishing that
can be followed simultaneously with float fishing, extra rods being set
for it while you are busy with your float. And it is not one fish only,
but many that can be taken in this way. The Mahseer and other
carps, the Rohu and other Labeos, the Silund (seemingly called also
Sinnan), the Pangwas and other siluroids, the Catla, and possibly
others that I know not of, may be caught in this way. While experi-
menting for a dull interval I have myself taken a Pangwas (Pangusius
Buchanani] of 14 Ibs., and a Chagunio (Barbus chagunio). Day gives
the sizes of these two fish as " upwards of 4 feet in length " and " at
least 1 8 inches," while Silund (Silundia Gangeticd) "attains," he says,
" 6 feet or more in length."

Mahseer are caught at the bathing Ghat at Delhi with paste bait

144 Paste Baiting for Mahseer and Others. CHAP. x.

and hand line. The native fashion is to hold the line in the hand after
taking in the slack, trusting to the fingers for following the bite.

An improvement on their method is the following ingenious plan :

" A shingly bed in the deepest pools is ground baited (not necessary) for
some evenings with balls of ragee paste. The fishing is night work. I
usually have three or four reels out, with 300 or 400 yards of line each.
They should not be thrown out too far ; the reels are planted vertically
on the bank, and have an arrangement of bells to signal a fish on. The
line has a couple of turns round a stone of 3 or 4 Ibs. to strike the fish.
I have seen these stones jerked 10 feet away into the water. The bait
used is a bunch of big crabs, a fowl's entrails, or a ball of ragee paste as
large as the fist. From 8 till 12 P.M., and again towards morning, are
the most likely times. With a mattress, and coffee, and cheroots, one
can pass the night in fine dry weather very pleasantly. I have had eleven
runs in three nights from heavy fish. One cleared out with 350 yards
despite every effort to stop him. The river there was about 200 yards
broad, clear of rocks, but running n feet deep, and strong. As the reel
was all but out I was obliged to call a halt, when the line went like rotten
thread. I have no doubt my big fish was a minnow compared to this."

I gather from the description that there were no rods used, and
therefore no means of taking toll of the fish while running out the
line. Rods could easily have been used in addition, and would have
added to the sport, as well as to the chances of tiring out and killing
a big one.

Another method, which I have tried once, and with success, is to
use a No. i Limerick hook, baited with a ball of paste, from the size of
the thumb nail to that of the end joint of the thumb, and without sinker
or float. Cast out as far as you can into the deep water below the run,
and let it be carried out. When as far as it will go, and at rest, take
in the slack between the rod and the bait, but leave two or three yards
of slack between the lowest ring and the winch. Hold the rod, or set
it as on page 142, not at an angle with the water, as that may check the
first nibble, but parallel with the surface of the water, so that the slack
line, carefully laid out or coiled on the ground, may run quite freely
through the rings when the fish moves off with your bait taken. If you
are holding the rod, with a very light finger on the line, you will feel
that it is gliding out ; if you have set the rod, you will see it. This is
your time for striking, and in either case put your finger firmly on the
line, and strike. Habet.

CHAP. x. Fishing at Dtisk. 145

The other method is to weight the end of your line with three or
four bullets, for the purpose of sinking the line, and of striking the
fish when he bites. At a distance of a yard from the sinkers, and a
yard or two apart, have three or four No. i Limerick hooks baited as
above. Cast out as far as you can, set the rod at an angle, wind in the
slack, and attend to other fishing till you hear the winch singing. Then
chime in nippy.

I am told this last plan is effective with Rohu in the bold biting
season. I should think the slack line parallel rod method, with a very
light finger on the line, preferable for night fishing for big shy Rohu that
will not take by daylight, though they might simultaneously be given the
benefit of a second chance with the other method set near you. These
big shy fish frequently come on the feed just as it grows too dark to see
your float, and you might then be inclined to exchange your float for
the above methods, just for half an hour or so, before yielding the field
to the enemy.

THE ROD IN INDIA.

CHAPTER XL
THE CARNATIC CARP.

" Rura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes,
Flumina amem silvasque inglorius."

VIRGIL. GEORGIC II., line 85-6.

MAY I have the pleasure of introducing to you a new friend, Barbus
Carnaticus (Jerdon). In view to your being better acquainted, suppose
we stand on no ceremony, and anglicize the name into the Carnatic
Carp.

I must be pardoned this little liberty with his patronymic, for the
reasons set forth below.

The Carnatic Carp, let me tell you, is not at all a bad fellow. He
is not to be set aside lightly as if he was a mere carp, like the fish
(Cyprinus carpio) commonly known by that name in England. He is
much more like the mighty Mahseer, the king of carps ; indeed, he has
been frequently mistaken for a Mahseer, and it is for that very reason
that I must lay stress on not allowing that he ought properly to be
called a Mahseer. That word Mahseer has been too elastically used
by fishermen. They have made it cover almost any big carp. Still,
though I cannot concede that Barbus Carnaticus is properly a Mahseer,
I ask for him a sort of brevet rank, by which, though a carp, he may be
promoted above the level of the common English carp known to our
school-boy days. The Indian Carps, mind you, are very different from
those in England. The Indian Carps run, in the Mahseer, up to
200 Ibs., as the Indian cats do to tigers, and ferns to trees (Alsophila
latibrosa, a tree fern). Viewed thus in its proper light, it is no disgrace
to be a Carnatic Carp, and his acquaintance is worth your cultivating.
He runs to 25 Ibs., and takes a fly.

My objection to his being called a Mahseer lies in his mouth, and

CHAP. xi. Naming Fish. 147

my reason for urging it is that the smaller mouthed Carps feed
differently from the large-mouthed, and must necessarily be fished for
differently ; and hints for the taking of the Mahseer would only lead
to disappointment if applied to the hero of this chapter, under the
impression that it was much the same fish. Indeed, I know cases in
point, of fishermen who confounded them, and consequently con-
founded their style of fishing, with the result that they did not get as
much sport as if they had critically adapted their manner of fishing to
the fish they sought. One of these was also no mean master of the
salmon wand. But they did not vary their fishing with their fish, they
used large flies where they should have used small, and small flies
where they should have used large ones ; and they threw a fly where
they should have spun, and vice versa ; and they sought for both fish
in like places, whereas they should have chiefly tried the deep pools and
gentle eddies in the one case, and the runs in the other. All this
came of their thinking them both Mahseer; and as they had caught the
Mahseer in such and such a way, they thought they could do so again.
Now it would make me unhappy if you did the same, if you should
call this fish a Mahseer, and you should apply to him all the advice
given in the " Rod in India " about the Mahseer, and should conse-
quently be disappointed in your fishing, and perhaps angry with your
faithful mentor, and that, too, after all the pains taken with your
education. " But why cannot you call him a Chub ? " you say. True,
he is more like a Chub than a Carp in his ways. But then he would
not stand alone, there would be other claimants for the title of Chub,
or Barbel, or Roach, or Bleak, or Dace, or Rudd, and I should only
mislead you by indicating a similitude which was not close enough,
and which had more than one claimant, for there are about sixty kinds
of Carps in India. It is better to start fair altogether without any
English preconceived ideas to be got rid of, and I think the simplest
way is to take the name given him by his sponsor, Dr. Jerdon, the
naturalist's name, the name recognized by Ichthyologists, and anglicize
it as closely as possible. Such names are ordinarily indicative, first, of
the classification, secondly, of the peculiarity of the fish in question,
though they are sometimes named after friends, which naming, though
it may be a kindly recognition, occasionally hard, perhaps, to avoid,
is not useful descriptively ; for, though the fish may be bearded and
moustached, and so far be all right, still you know it cannot have two

L 2

148 The Carnatic Carp. CHAP. xi.

legs and Bond Street breeches, like the owner of the name given it. In
this case the name is descriptive of habitat only, and therein I sincerely
hope it is erroneous, and that the Carnatic Carp may be found over a
much wider area than that assigned to it by Jerdon and Day. But
whether or not he is so restricted matters not from an angler's point of
view, as there are other fish so like him in form and habits that he may
be taken as typical of them also, what applies to him applying to them
also in the matter of fishing for them. An exact description of Barbus
Carnaticus, quoted from Day's " Fishes of India," will be found at the
end of this chapter. It may aid fishermen who are naturalists to
recognize it elsewhere.

Barbus Carnaticus being then simply a Carp of the Carnatic, with
your leave we will call him the Carnatic Carp. Don't be vexed with
me now for this formal introduction. It is just as well not to pick up
a new friend too quickly. Better know something about him first.
But now you know his family, we may safely proceed to a closer
acquaintance, nay, even to an attachment, so to speak, by means of
rod and line.

You will do very little business from the shore. Indeed, I would
not attempt it. You must have a boat, and there is none better than
the common basket-boat or coracle of the country. It shoots the rapids,
bumps the rocks, skims the shallows better than anything else, and
when you come to an utterly unnegotiable waterfall, it — the boat not
the waterfall ! — is very easily taken out and carried round by one man,
your boatman. For this reason you should have a small one, just so
small that one man can carry it. It will hold you and your boatman
comfortably, and all the fish you can catch. It will hold a third man
too if you want him, it will hold three safely, but as a rule you do not
want a third man, for your boatman can lend you a hand with the
landing-net when you want it, and a third man only lessens the
buoyancy of the boat, which is not an advantage when shooting a
shallow rapid. As to a second fisherman being in the same boat, it is
out of the question, for there is no room to manage two fly-rods from
cne such small boat. Each fisherman must have a boat to himself.
However, you and I will get into one boat just for half-an-hour, and
you shall have a cast with my rod, till you get on terms with our new
friend. I will take the liberty of supposing you are like a man I had
the pleasure of being out with after these same fish, the Carnatic Carp,

CHAP. xi. " Had it in his Bones." 149

a thoroughly good sportsman, good in the pigskin, good with the rifle,
but whose education had, for lack of opportunity, been lamentably
neglected in the fishing line, and who was pleased to place himself
under my tuition therein. It was about the only flaw in his otherwise
estimable character. Still, you will admit, it was a very serious flaw.
However, it has been effectively remedied now, so we will say no more
about it. "Caught Salmon?" I began. "No," said he. "Nor
Trout ? " " No," said he, " never threw a fly in my life, but I fancy
I've got it in my bones." He was right. He took three or four nice
little fish from i Ib. to 3 Ibs. each that very morning before breakfast,
and after less than half-an-hour I had let him alone as big enough to
take care of himself. Between you and me there are some men whom
you could not make fishermen of, even though you brought them up by
hand on cod liver oil, and weaned them on nothing but sardines and
anchovy paste. But we will hope you have " got it in your bones."

Here we are on the Bawanny, an affluent of the Cavery. We have
got into the basket-boat at the top of a large pool from a furlong to
half-a-mile long, say 150 yards broad, and from 2 to 20 feet deep, with
a grand salmon run rushing in over the rocks, and continuing some
way into the pool. Lower down the pool has scarcely any apparent
motion except the eddies near the shore ; and the banks are steep and
well above the water level, huge forest trees overhanging the margin of
the river. We will begin at the top, and work down river, for the simple
reason that it is hard to work the basket-boat against the stream. This is
a deep, strong run, and though just the water, for Mahseer, it is a little
too much for the Carnatic Carp. Still, do not neglect it, for I have
had big rises even in the heavy water, but try specially the edge of the
run, and the eddies and backwater between two runs, and the tail
of the run where it is losing its force in the deeper water of the pool ;
try right down till the run merges in still water. Ah, there you are !
Missed him ! He wasn't a bad fish either. Somehow the biggest fish
are always those one doesn't hook.

Never mind. Stay the way of the boat, boatman, and we will try
him again. There he is again. Felt him this time, didn't you, but
couldn't get hold of him ? You didn't strike quick enough ; or you
hadn't a straight line and could not strike home enough. But you will
find out more of that difficulty when you come to fish the stiller water.
Now that the run is over, try the bank edge. In most places

150 The Carnatic Carp. CHAP. xi.

along the steep bank edge, where the water is at all deep, you will
notice quiet eddies, formed by the opposing forces of the stream and
the backwater.* Fish there, especially when they are under overhang-
ing trees or near reeds, always presuming that the water looks at least
2 feet deep. Kuti, the boatman, thoroughly understands, without your
telling him, that he must keep the boat so far out from shore that
at your longest throw at right angles to the shore you can just drop
your tail fly within about a foot of the shore; commence throwing
therefore, and he will soon see and gauge the length of your throw, and
will let the boat go drifting quietly down the stream, but slightly staying
its way, and keeping you exactly facing the shore, so that you can
throw with ease, and draw your fly towards you, just as slowly as
suffices to keep the line taut while it floats down the stream. And so
you keep on trying fresh water every throw. If you fancy a place tell
him, and he will paddle against the stream just enough to keep you
stationary. If you rise a fish tell him at once, that he may keep you
within reach of the fish while you throw over it again immediately.
Do not wait and give the fish time for forgetfulness as you might with a
salmon or trout, but throw at once, because you cannot depend on its
remaining in the same place for any length of time. It may remain,
and probably will, but it may roam, for it is not its habit to lie like a
salmon or trout behind a stone at the bottom, but to roam about more
or less in a swim. Fast in one at last ! Hurrah ! Back away, Kuti.
Back into mid stream. Never mind whether the fish takes out line or
not, back away hard all. There, now, you have deep water and
plenty of elbow room, free of snags below and boughs above, and,
what is of more importance still to your sport, you have drawn your
fish away from his fellows, and are killing him in a place by himself,
for this fish commonly swims in shoals like a dace, and it is better to
disturb the rest of the shoal as little as possible. It is quite possible
that you may not have disturbed the rest of the shoal at all, for it is
quite possible that the fish you have, left the shoal, and followed your
fly some little way before he made up his mind to take it, and you
hooked him. At any rate we will hope for the best and do all we
know. " Tis not in mortals to command success, but we'll do more,
Sempronius, we'll deserve it."

The wisdom of killing a fish by itself, is amusingly recognized in
* This backwater is explained in a footnote in Chapter XVIII.

CHAP. xi. Playing and Netting from a Boat. 151

the Tamil proverb that the Paddy-bird or Indian Egret never takes a
fish out of a shoal, but waits till a solitary one passes. The proverb
was told me apropos of a criminal prosecution. I was running the
trail of a first-class plunderer, a regular tiger, amongst the poor sheep
committed to my protection as a ruler. There was a very twin to him
left as unnoticed the while as if I was utterly ignorant of his goings on.
But lookers-on, who wanted to see justice overtake the tyrant, told me
afterwards. " We understood you, Sir, you were like the Paddy-bird."
And so the story came. In this, then, prudent reader, be like the
Paddy-bird.

Cannot you get a pull on him at all yet ? Wind him in whenever
you get a chance, either from his swimming in your direction, or
yielding ever so little to your steady unremitting pressure ; take every
inch you can ; still don't be in a hurry, don't attempt to put on more
pressure than your rod will bear, only keep on the pressure you have
on unremittingly, and whenever you feel it lessen ever so slightly take
as many turns of the winch as he will let you. Wind him in fast, but
keep your hand very lightly on the winch, ready to let go in a second
if he makes a plunge. Kr-r-r-r goes the winch, and he has made a
dash off on catching sight- of you and the boat. The rush is over.
Quick, and wind him in again. Ah, it is about his last run. Now
steady, wind in cautiously till you have got the line just such a length
that you can bring him up to the top at the side of the boat ; but keep
him off the boat. Don't attempt to lift him out by the rod ; he is too
big, and would break your top ; still less dream of touching the line,
Kuti knows all about it. He has got the landing-net out, a big salmon
landing-net, about i ft. 3 in. across the mouth, and 2 ft. 6 in. deep, and
very full so as to let the fish lie across directly it is in the net. Bring
the fish slowly towards him that he may take him into the net tail
foremost if he can. Be on the look-out, however, to keep a constant
taut line on the fish, for he will evade the net as it nears him. Never
mind the boat tilting to within two or three inches of the water; Kuti
knows exactly how much his boat will stand ; only do not you stand up
or otherwise move from your seat. It is not worth while going to the
shore to land your fish, besides there is no approachable shore within a
reasonable distance, for it is for a long way so forest-clad that you
could not get to land with an upright rod. Well netted, Kuti ; into the
boat with him. Five pound if he is an ounce. You have taken nearly

1152 The Carnatic Carp. CHAP. xi.

a quarter of an hour over him. You ought to have had him in very
little over five minutes. You see his mouth is much smaller com-
paratively than a Mahseer's, and he is a somewhat thicker built, less
active-looking fish. However, we can discuss that hereafter. Do not
waste time looking at him now. Let us get back to the same place,
and try for another out of the same shoal. It was just a little below
the trunk of that large wild mango tree up there that you hooked him.
You have floated down a little and must make up to it again. Fish all
about that place. Well, that is not so bad, taking another 2|lb. and a
i|-lb. fish out of the same swim.

You see the advantage of working a shoal when you have lit upon
one. But do not work it to death. They are not rising to you now.
They seem to have had quantum sufficit. Depend upon it some wary
old fogie has " twigged " you and " blabbed," with one of those wise
shakes of the head about the imprudence of youth, and they are all
looking at him to see if he is right, or only a fogie. If you throw
again you will give him a chance of venting a provoking " I told you
so." It is better they took him for a fool than you for a rogue. So
move on to "pastures new," and after you have gone, there will be a
row in the house. Natural food will come down stream, the old fellow,
full of his croaking, will abstain and advise all to be " varra carefu',"
but some youngster will take it, smack his lips, and turn the laugh
against the canny one ; and the next morning, when you come round
again, you will find his sage advice has been dissipated, and even his
own beliefs so shaken, that you will be as warmly received as ever, and,
may be, take in the old fellow himself.

Do you see those monkeys moving about feeding in the trees down
there? Mark the place, for we must fish it very carefully when we
come to.it; my impression is that when monkeys are moving in trees
overhanging the water, the result is that more fruit and more insects
drop down into the water than ordinarily, and that the fish congregate
more or less from the neighbourhood to watch for them. As you get
nearer, and the monkeys notice you, they will commence vociferating
and violently shaking the boughs, which will still further improve the
position ; meanwhile we will not neglect the water between, but fish it
regularly down, till we come to the monkeys. Never mind its looking
almost still without any ripple on it, it may all hold fish. Drop an
enquiring line to know if there are any fools at home. You're sure to

CHAP. xi. Shooting a Rapid. 153

find some, for the river is nearly as full of them as the world is.* What
should we do if it wasn't ?

These fish take the catkin blossom of the Indian willow very freely.
It is in flower at Christmas time. They congregate under it. Drop a
fly among them to give them a chance of a change of diet.

Kuti says he has seen a fish rise just about a yard below that bough.
Depend upon it he is right. He never takes any notice of those little
bits of fish which are too small for our present flies, the Chela argentca,
say silvery chilwa (Tamil, Vellachi, Hindustani Chilwa), and he will
tell you like a European whether the swirl is that of a good fish, or of a
smallish one.

This same . Kuti is no chicken. He and I were in a boat ap-
proaching a rapid, only half of which could be seen from the pool
above, and that half was anything but prepossessing, as the river went
roaring down the steep incline, which was so long that you could not
see the end of it, and could not therefore see, or even guess, how it
behaved itself at the far end. I confess I did not like the look of it,
and I asked suggestively. " Will the boat go ? " He would not take
the hint, but answered with perfect indifference, " Don't know," letting
the boat glide on the while. " Have you never been here before ? "
" No." " Are you going to try it ? " " Yes." It was a case of sit
well down in the bottom of the boat, and hold on to the edges, so as
not to be overbalanced, for in another moment the basket-boat was in
the middle of it, being tossed about like a feather on the waves, and
flying down at great speed, while Kuti jockeyed it with consummate
skill, and cool collectedness, taking in intuitively, from the shape of
the water, the position of each submerged rock, deciding whether to
ride over this, or dodge that, and all with such rapidity and such power
of paddle. And how the little boat obeyed him ! Now and then it
would seem as if it must be all U P. But the fellow was as cool as a
cucumber, and the next moment we were past the danger, still riding
rapidly on, and after having had ample opportunity for fully appreciating
the advantages of holding on tight to the edges of the boat to avoid
being pitched out, there was a flop, and we had taken a drop into the
pool. Kuti promptly gave three or four vigorous paddles, and was out
of the main current, the little boat riding quietly on the still water close

* Carlyle says tersely — I quote from memory — " There are thirty millions in Great
Britain, mostly fools."

154 The Carnatic Carp. CHAP. xi.

under the rocks at the edge of the run. No one who had not been at
it from a boy could possibly have done it. Kuti's own elder brother,
who, like himself, has been on the river from childhood, who also has
the name of Kuti, and is also a good boatman, even he had thought
better of this one rapid, had taken his boat out at the top, carried it
round by shore, and put it in below the run. I think he was the wiser
man of the two ; still Kuti minor is a broth of a boy. It is a pity he
only talks Tamil. It suits me well enough, and we hold long conversa-
tions as we work away together, the one at the rod, the other at the
paddle, and when a good fish rises and is missed, he takes it quite to
heart, and cannot repress an involuntary sound of regret ; still it is a
pity he cannot talk English for the sake of other anglers.

A certain sporting major used to so delight in this basket-boat
fishing that he came more than once all the way from Calcutta to the
Madras Bawanny for it. The following episodes, as written at the time
for the Asian, will show that it has its little exhilarating excitements, as
well as serve to lighten my page.

R. was coming down a rapid, from a higher to a lower pool, in the
usual coracle, with a rat of a boy for boatman, a boy with baccy-pipe
legs and arms, a point to be remembered, and a general magnitude,
such that any ordinary man would have had no very great difficulty in
dandling in his arms. Against his better judgment R. was tempted to
flick a fly into certain cosy looking eddies as he whisked past. As
might be expected the fly was caught in a bush behind. " The line is
caught, to the shore immediately," was the word. Gallant efforts did
the lad make to get the boat out of the mahrrapid into the side eddies,
as if for very life vigorously did he seek the shelter of a certain rock.
All but he reached it. One effort more, and the last shelter is lost or
won. The lad leaned over and strained to reach the rock with his
hand. It was just half an inch too much, and over tipped the coracle.
In went the little rat headforemost, over went R. backwards, but
wriggling in his fall managed to make his exit legs downwards, keeping
hold of the boat with the left hand, and the salmon rod with the right.
By the time he had struggled to a firm footing, up came a cocoanut
head, and the little drowned rat reappearing, clutched instanter at R.'s
left cuff, and with an awestruck visage, full of the grave import of the
occasion, said in impressing solemn tone : " My Lord, if I had not
caught you, you would have been gone" Meanwhile R. was holding

CHAP. xi. Fun in a Coracle. 155

the boat, which would otherwise have been carried away down the
rapid ; and standing up to the fork in rather rapid water. So with a
lengthened " You indeed ! " of astonishment, he simply said to the
boy, " Hold the boat while I free the line." The grandiloquent youth
woke up to the realities of life, and dashed off to release the line
himself, and both of them got into the boat again and proceeded.
Then R.'s pent-up sense of the ludicrous could be restrained no longer,
and ring after ring of laughter would come out, though the poor boy
was sadly silent, and after R. had told the tale to every one, and fairly
used it up, he was heard gurgling alone in his tent, as he was washing
hands, etc., for dinner. " What's the matter ? " shouted H. R. replied
solemnly, " My Lord, if I had not caught you, you would have been
gone."

This idea of helplessness in the white man, involving protective aid
in the black, seems strangely to have pervaded all the boatmen, all
looking upon us as " landlubbers " perhaps, for the very next day came
P.'s turn for a pip, and this time in deep water. In the heavy water of
a big pool the boat gave a sudden whisk which upset P.'s centre of
gravity, and over he went. In consequence up tipped the light coracle,
out went the boatman at the opposite side, and both men and boat
went down, sucked under the rock by the current, "rari nantes in
gurgite vasto" twenty feet deep. P. struck out for the top, but only to
come against the bottom of the boat ; at length swimming free of it,
and emerging, and still swimming in twenty feet of water with a heavy
current, a new peril awaited him. The boatman seized him by the
arm to save him, which of course hindered his swimming, and it took
all P. knew in shouting Tamil, and striking out, to shake him off.
Meanwhile, P.'s pith hat had floated down into the pool below, where
R. was, and recognized it as his son's. While R. was making for it in
his coracle a black figure appeared on the top of the high rocks above,
gesticulating and pointing to the hat, from which R. gathered that P.
had taken care of himself, and was now only in danger of sunstroke
from being hatless. The gesticulating figure was the boatman, who
coming down for the hat, was full of his woes. The boat had upset,
and he and the gentleman had gone down, and the boat was gone.
"But the gentleman?" asked R.'s boatman. "He exists," said P.'s
boatman, "but the boat," and that was the important point to him,
" the boat has disappeared." An hour or so afterwards a good diver

156 The Carnatic Carp. CHAP. xi.

recovered it. It had got jammed under the rock by the current, and
held down in deep water, where P. actually was, and might have
remained if he had not struck out manfully.

Our wag H. was heard to say gravely that he could bring home as
good stories any day if only he was allowed to go out alone.

Sometimes a rock is found standing out in deep water in the middle
of a pool, showing just below the surface and causing gentle eddies in
the deep pool just below it. Big Carnatic Carp affect such places as
far down as there is the slightest eddy in the water. One such place I
have in loving memory, and it has been photographed and reproduced
in oils.

Now we will get ashore and let you put Up your own rod. Mine,
you see, is a i6-ft. light-made pliable salmon rod, with 120 yards of
Manchester Cotton Twine Spinning Co.'s waterproofed line on a
4-inch diameter check-winch, with a 9 or 10 feet cast of single salmon
gut, carrying three flies, as for trout, the two end ones being on No. 5
or 6 Limerick hooks, according to my scale, dressed very full, and all
the way down the shank, and the first drop on No. 4 Kendal-Kirby, or
round bend, which is just the same size as No. 6 Limerick, but being
short and fine, it is a much smaller fly. The flies are all nearly the
same colour, being as black or dark as I can put them together with a
glistening shiny appearance. Nothing kills better than a fly all peacock
harl body, wings, and all, and full. But peacock harl is frail, uncom-
monly frail, and wears out all too soon, and objection may well be
taken to it on that score. You will find our friend Blackamoor in the
chapter on Fly-fishing for Mahseer.

My rod used to be a i6-ft. light-made, pliable salmon rod by
Farlow, and I was thoroughly contented with it till I tried a light
pliable double-handed i4-ft. trout rod, and then I vacillated between
them, preferring the i6-ft. rod when there seemed to be a fair chance
of a stray Mahseer as well as the Carnatic Carp, and the i4-ft. rod
when the chances seemed the other way, and when tired in the .after-
noons, till I think the younger lassie was beginning, to seduce me from
my old love. Indeed I was beginning to question in my inconstant
mind whether the one was not a match for money, greed of Mahseer,
and the other a love match, love of sport, purer sport with greater
skill, and still there came in a slinking attachment to the old girl
who had been my sole companion and confidante in many a well-

CHAP. xi. Which Rodl 157

contested fight. Still it is a matter of opinion, for a friend who
was fishing with me came home one evening very cock-a-whoop at
having killed a 5-lb. Carnatic Carp on a single-handed n-ft. trout rod,*
and having had so much fun out of it, that he declared he would never
use a salmon rod again. There was no gainsaying that argument, but
against it there is the consideration that you kill many more fish with
the salmon rod, for the simple reason that you can throw a much
longer line ; and this is a matter of some importance, when you are
fishing mainly in still, or almost still, water, and you want to get your
fly so far away from you that the fish may not see you or the coracle ;
for if they see it your chances are of course nit, as already fully ex-
pounded in previous chapters. The coracle is such an obvious object
that the necessity for a long line is greater then than when fishing on
foot, and able to conceal yourself. I have killed the Carnatic Carp in
heavy runs, and in shallow stickles, which you can approach more
nearly with impunity, because of the ripple on them ; but I have killed
many more and better fish of this sort in the deep, almost still, eddies
near the steep banks under the overhanging trees ; therefore it is for
this sort of fishing that you should be best prepared, and for this I like
the long cast of the salmon rod. Again, three large No. 5 Limerick
hook flies are just a trifle heavy for an i i-ft. rod. Once more, we are
not quite sure how heavy may be the fish you may get in this manner
of fishing. It is true that of the fish caught by my friends and self the
great majority were 5 Ibs. and under, and that 7, 8, and 9 Ibs. were the
biggest Carnatic Carp we took ; still Day says they run to 25 Ibs., and
such a distinguished naturalist is not likely to have made such an
assertion without having tested it by something better than native
hearsay; tested it probably by net-caught specimens. Natives have
told me that they run to nearly a cubit in length ; we know they are a
very deep fish. Whether a 2 5-lb. Carnatic Carp will rise to a fly or
not has, I fancy, got to be discovered, but if it will, such a fish would
ordinarily be a trifle too much for an n-ft. rod. And one lives in
hopes of getting such a fish on, does not one ?

A i4-ft. rod is a compromise, and latterly I came to recognize it.
It is a rod which you can use single-handed for a few throws, very few
with most men, but for any length of time it will call for two hands.

* I have since had the same experience on a 9-ft. trout rod, and yet I am un-
converted.

158 The Carnatic Carp. CHAP. xi.

It is properly a light two-handed rod. Where there are only Carnatic
Carp to be considered, undoubtedly it is the right rod for them, and as
you would not fish for Carnatic Carp, or " the likes of them," except
where the chances of Mahseer were few in comparison, you should
then take the rod which best suits the style of fishing contemplated.
But if the chances are at all even, of course you will prefer to be
prepared for all comers with a i6-ft. rod, and should a 5o-lb. Mahseer,
instead of a Carnatic Carp, take your fly, to be able to pass the word
" ready, aye ready," and to look to making him your own, instead of
being anxious to get it out of his mouth, like the thrifty Scot of
Punch : —

DONALD. " E — h, Sir ! yons a gran' fesh ye've gotten a baud o' ! "
THE LAIRD. " Oo, aye, a gran' fesh eno', but I'd be gay an' glad if I saw my
twa and saxpenny flee weel oot o' his mooth ! "

I have killed these fish, for please remember that we are discussing
nothing but the Carnatic Carp in this chapter, on flies of many colours,
and of pretty nearly all sizes, from a No. i£ Limerick to a No. 6
Limerick (my scale), and even a No. 5 Sneck bend, which is equivalent
to a No. 8 Limerick, and I have killed on a phantom minnow, and on
a spoon, and on spun dead bait ; but I have killed both more and
larger fish on a No. 6 Limerick hook, and have done more business
with a dark, gaudy fly, composed body, legs, and wings entirely of
peacock harl, than with anything else ; though my old friend the simple
black fly seems to be very little less attractive than his more glistening
brother. Still, I am bound to confess that there once was an evening,
a memorable evening, it was a sorely trying evening, when the fish
were rising freely at some natural fly, and would not look at our flies.
The natural fly was on only for a brief space at sunset, and I could
not catch it, but it seemed as small as an ordinary trout fly, if not
smaller. Trout will play you the same trick sometimes, when they
are " midging," even though you think you have every fly entomologi-
cally worked out, and exactly prepared for their acceptance, so that
sometimes it really does seem that like the little boy : —

" Who can thoroughly enjoy

The pepper when he pleases,
They only do it to annoy
Because they know it teases."

Still our flies did their work very well ordinarily, for we got fish

CHAP. xi. Small Spoons. 159

running from £ Ib. to 9 Ibs. ; very seldom, indeed, did we take
one under i Ib. and not often over 5 Ibs. or 6 Ibs. They generally
averaged between 2 Ibs. and 4 Ibs., and we used to take from three to
fifteen fish or thereabouts (I write partly from memory, partly from
notes) every morning, and not much less in the evening. Still, I had
some thoroughly blank days near Valamhoondy, as experimenters
must expect when trying new waters; as even old hands have even
amongst their old friends the trout at times.

On one occasion they fairly put our backs up with their exasperating
fastidiousness, so \ve made the men catch us a lot of grasshoppers,
which they did very easily. They were brown ones. And with them
we played the very deuce with those Carnatic Carp, throwing the
grasshoppers like a fly, but tenderly, some of us using them on bare
hooks, some on our flies.

I have also killed Carnatic Carp on spoons of all sizes, up to a
Mahseer spoon as big as a dessert-spoon. But a small, hog-backed
fly-spoon of £ inch in length is more their size if you are fishing for
them alone. It is illustrated at the end of Chapter VII.

It is a thing to be remembered that all Indian carps, when they
grow to any size, become more or less predatory, and may consequently
be taken on a spoon. Even a Labeo, the Rohu, has been known to
take a small fish.

If fishing a large river, which is rocky enough to hold Mahseer as
well as Carnatic Carp or its equivalent, one grudges losing any possible
chance of the finer fish, the Mahseer, by using the lure chiefly applicable
to the lesser fish, the Carnatic Carp; and though Mahseer will also
take the larger fly used at the tail of the Carnatic Carp cast, we know
that the larger Mahseer are far more partial to the spoon, so in such
case you can compromise by reducing your spoon to a size suitable
for a Carnatic Carp, and with it fishing the stronger runs in the hope
of a Mahseer, and the tails of the runs, the eddies, and the stiller water,
in the expectation of a Carnatic Carp. You thus give them both
a chance of a look in, and neither of them can complain. A 4o-lb.
Mahseer has been caught on a spoon of if inches in length, and
the captor thereof habitually uses for Mahseer spoons of £ to if inches,
the last for preference, and a Carnatic Carp of 5f Ibs. has been taken
on one of 2\ inches, say the size of a dessert-spoon. Either of them
therefore ought to be content with a spoon of i| inches, with No. 7

1 60 The Carnatic Carp. CHAP. xi.

treble hooks, one at the head and one at the tail, and a No. 5 double
swivel. You can cast it easily with a i6-ft. or i4-ft. rod,., as you
prefer, and if you have plenty of running line on you may yet take
heart of grace from the thought that many a goodly Mahseer has been
killed on occasion with no better weapon than a i4-ft. rod, though it
is not the right weapon, and must be in very good hands.

Supposing that each angler has a boat and boatman to himself, and
that not more than two are fishing from the same camp, it is not well
to separate ; it is a pleasanter way to take the pools alternately. A.
commences on the first pool, be it large or small, the luck will right
itself before the morning is over, and fishes it down from head to tail.
B. meanwhile glides down stream in his boat to the next pool, without
even wetting his line in A.'s pool, though he sees a fish rise. When A.
has done his pool, he glides down till he overtakes B., and you ask
each other of the sport, as A. passes on to pool No. 3, and so you keep
passing and repassing each other, comparing notes, and encouraging
each other, while each has the satisfaction of knowing that he is fishing
fresh water all the time.

The Indian coracle or basket-boat has no seat in it. It strains the
knee joint to sit like a native on the " hunkers," t.e.t on your own heels;
it is but poor relief to sit cross-legged, and it hurts the knee to kneel ;
standing is out of the question, so that the Indian coracle is, for
any length of time, a very uncomfortable vehicle, so uncomfortable
that it does away with half the pleasure of your sport, and prevents
your fishing as well as if you were comfortable. You cannot take
in a chair, because the legs would find their way through the leather
bottom of the boat, which would end in your eventually finding your
way to the bottom of the river. You can obviate all this, and
make yourself thoroughly comfortable for about 8 annas, say, is.
Get a bamboo basket, made much the shape of the ordinary basket,
that is the shape of the round half of an egg, only have it made
much stronger than is usual, strong enough to bear your weight,
whatever that may be, and have it made so deep that when turned
bottom upwards it will be exactly 14 inches high. On this bottom
you are to sit ; therefore cover it with stuffed leather. A cushion
would slip and trouble you at critical moments, therefore sew the
rough leather on to the basket, with a little stuffing under it. This
will bring it up to 15 inches, which is as high as you can safely have it.

CHAP. xi. Seat for an Indian Coracle. 161

The height of a dining-room chair is 18 to i8f inches in the seat. A
friend who accompanied me would never have his basket seat more
than 12 inches high, stuffing included, because of the risk of capsizing
the boat if the weight is too high when shooting the rapids. This
turned mouth downwards in the boat will give you a comfortable,
steady seat. The basket must be very strongly made, or it will
get limp, with a lean to one side, and become most delusive just
when you are most confiding in it, sending you flying on to your back
when the boat bumps against a rock. On this account you may
be tempted to have a box instead, but you will find that too heavy
to carry. Of course you will never take a valuable box of tackle
as a seat. Having had one very pretty pip I never take anything of
that sort that I cannot put in my pocket and stick to. The open
end of the basket should be closed with a fastenable lid, so as to
keep in the fish. Add a slit in one side of your basket seat, and
you can then put your fish under you, and have them stowed away
out of the sun, and out of the way of your feet, otherwise you
may well have the boat so full of fish that you cannot move your
feet without treading on and mashing a fish. I add also a basket-
work door to the slit, working on a hinge, and fastening with a
peg and eye. This keeps the fish in, and enables you to use your
chair as a basket when out of the water, and wanting to carry
your fish. It comes in handy then, for you have no one but
your boatman with you, and if you go ashore to get round an im-
passable rapid, the boat, paddle, and landing-net is about as much as
the boatman can manage, and you will have to carry your rod
and fish yourself. Sometimes you will be tempted to wish the
basket was not so full of fish, but do not leave them behind, they
are very acceptable to the camp servants and to the boatmen. In
this respect I always treat the man that shares the toils of the
campaign handsomely. Do it yourself, or the camp servants will
treat him badly. It is good policy for sport's sake, as well as
the right thing to do.

If you have not been at the trouble to have a basket of this
sort made beforehand, then two or three common baskets, which
can be picked up ready-made in any bazaar, put one inside the
other, strengthen each other, and are better than nothing. But
they are not so comfortable as a properly made basket-seat, for

THE ROD IN INDIA. M

1 62 The Carnatic Carp. CHAP. xi.

they are not high enough, and are rough to sit on. If you go-
fishing, it is presumed you go for pleasure, and your pleasure will
be very much marred if you are sitting all the while in constrained
positions which grow more and more trying with time. For a trip
such as I am proposing a comfortable seat is as much a part of
your fishing gear as your rod and line, and it should be got ready
beforehand and taken with you. You may try ever so much to-
keep yourself up to the mark, but it is impossible you can keep
on fishing nearly as well while increasingly uncomfortable, as if you
were thoroughly at ease and enjoying it.

For eating oneself, I do not think the Carnatic Carp are worth
keeping, though they are much better than the common English carp
(Cyprinus carpio), which some people manage to clamber outside
somehow. To those about to do so, my advice is, don't.

Our Carnatic friend is not so active a fish as the Mahseer. It does
not dash off like the Mahseer, it takes out very little line, but goes
down in deep water, and bores about like a log without very much
change of place. It is, therefore, not a difficult fish to kill. It never
jumps into the air like a trout, nor shakes its mouth in the air like a
pike. It has a leathery, toothless mouth, and gives as good a hook-
hold as the Mahseer. Its teeth are, like the Mahseer's and all carp's,
pharyngeal or in the throat. Still, do not think otherwise than kindly
of him, for is he not a fly-taker ? And is it not a great thing to get a
fish that takes the fly better than anything else ?

But it does not take the fly after the manner of the Trout, the
Salmon, and the Mahseer, rising to it from its place in the stream,
taking it quickly in at a gulp, and then returning to its position. On
the contrary, it takes the fly more as the dace does.

It swims leisurely up to it, and just sucks it in. It then does not
sink to the bottom so as to oppose its weight to and tauten the line at
once. It stops where it is, or continues to swim leisurely about, or it
lets itself be carried leisurely down stream to where it was before.
And if while doing this it discovers that your fly is a tasteless, un-
comfortable-feeling feather, instead of the juicy morsel it had expected,
it simply spits it out. It is a pretty little accomplishment commonly
practised in polite circles among all fish, and some of them are great
adepts at it. Chelmo restrains is a gentleman I would almost back
against a Yankee at expectoration. He makes his living by it. He

CHAP. xi. The Theory of Striking. 163

used to be known by the name of Chcetodon rostratus. I suppose he
changed his name because he didn't like the stories told about him.
Men do say that when he sees a fly in the air, he, to put it nicely,
blows a drop of water at it, with such force as to bring said fly down
as dead as Julius Caesar. Thereon he improves his opportunities, and
puts himself outside said fly. He can make due allowance also for the
fly being in motion, and for the wind. Chelmo rostratus may have, in
the formation of his mouth, a choke bore, peculiar facilities for forcible
and precise expectoration ; but all fish can, and commonly do, perform
that interesting operation more or less. The whale takes in a huge
gulp of water in its capacious mouth, retains the medusa on which it
feeds, and ejects the water in the manner commonly called spouting.
Most people will have seen gold fish in an aquarium not only sucking
in water, and ejecting it by the gills as mentioned at page 45, but also
ejecting it by the mouth when they have taken in any food they do not
want to swallow. A grain of rice, for instance, may be seen blown out
of the mouth with considerable velocity. Have you never found your
worm or your spinning bait blown up your line well clear of the fish's,
mouth? How can you account for this except by allowing that the-
fish has the power of blowing a thing out of its mouth. If you watch
very closely you will see how it is done. The mouth having been
opened to suck in either the water the fish is to breathe from, or the
food it is to feed on, it is closed again while the gills and gill-covers .
are opened to let the water pass out through the gills, while the oxygen
is inhaled, and that the food may be swallowed without water. If,
when the water has been thus got rid of, it is found that the substance
in the mouth is not the food that is desired, but something to be
rejected, the mouth is again filled to the full with water by opening it,
and then by closing the gills first, and by compression of all the flexible
parts about the mouth, and partial closing of the orifice, the water is:
violently squirted out. In short, the mouth of a fish is a sort of suction
pump capable of working both ways, by alternate dilation and com-
pression of the mouth, the gills and gill-covers, and the skin under the
chin. If it were not so I do not know how fish could apprehend their
food. They have no hand in which to take the food and examine it
before putting it in their mouth, as briefly alluded to in the chapter on
Fly-fishing for Mahseer. Their mouth is itself their hand, in which they
take and examine much that looks like food, but which they are not

M 2

164 The Carnatic Carp. CHAP. xr.

sure of till they have thus tried it. Only on this principle can we
understand a Salmon taking into his mouth all the extraordinary
coloured artificial flies he does, not like anything that he has seen in
the sea. An extra reason for a fish taking unknown things into his
mouth for examination is that, in rivers, they are carried past so rapidly
that the fish has not time to trust entirely to the eye. It is this brief
interval, then, between sucking in for investigation, in the belief that
the artificial fly is or may be food, and the blowing of it out again on
the detection of the fraud, that you have for striking your fish. In the
case of the Salmon and Mahseer you are helped at the critical moment
by the fish's habit of descending to its place at the bottom, and by the
weight of the fish tautening your line, so that if your line is thrown and
kept straight, as it should be, the tautening takes effect at once, you
only have to resist and hold on to it, much as you would to a stum-
bling horse. The Trout helps you just a little by the same habit of
descending to his place at the bottom, but the Trout's weight is not
enough to tauten your line decidedly, and the trout line is by no means
always straight, especially when throwing up and pulling down stream
with so light a line, and when throwing across it is often bellied by the
force of the stream, and when there is wind to contend with it is
impossible to throw a light Trout line quite as straight as a heavier
Salmon or Mahseer line. Consequently you need to strike quick for a
Trout, as quick as you like, you can't have too quick an eye and wrist.
But the hero of this chapter, like the Dace, the Barbus filamentosus,
and others to whom I shall introduce you, does not descend to take up
his place at the bottom ; he does not aid you, therefore, the slightest
bit in taking the slack out of your line, and the interval left you for
hooking him is shorter. In consequence you have to strike if possible
still more quickly. On these grounds I hold that you cannot strike too
quickly for the Carnatic Carp. With this idea in my head, I have
watched these fish. They were taking some small natural fly very
freely, and refusing to look at our artificial flies, showing thereby that
our flies were not like their natural food then on the water, yet now
and again at long intervals, when there was less natural food on the
water, some one fish would take our fly out of pure curiosity. Thus
the adventurous got taken in. The much-fished Trout has learnt that
this spirit of enquiry doesn't pay, and he won't take a fly into his mouth
unless its colours and its size and motion are so exactly like the natural

CHAP. xi. The Theory of Striking. 165

fly at that time on the water, that all his hereditary and acquired
suspicions about perfidious anglers are disarmed. His motto is Timeo
Danaos et dona ferentes .

There, now, I am always prating about fishing with your brains, and
not by rule of thumb, and may be you will be sick and tired of me, and
shy the confounded book on one side ; but to my mind it is so much
more interesting to have an intelligent reason for what you are doing,
that I hope you will be graciously pleased to pardon the seeming
digression. Suppose, now, that you have been missing rise after rise of
our friend of this chapter, the Carnatic Carp, and you cannot make it
out, and you vary your tactics and strike a little slower. Instead of
there being any improvement in the results your discomfiture is only
increased. And then you try back again, and you fish half-heartedly
on no fixed principle, but according to your vacillating haphazard
mood. Whereas, if you have accepted my reasoning as sound, and
have yourself seen that these fish take the fly just as I say they do, then
you fish like a man with a purpose. If you miss a rise you do not
deviate from your purpose, you only say to yourself my fixed purpose
must be still more carefully executed, my line must have been cast just
a little carelessly, not quite straight, or it cannot have been kept quite
straight as it should have been, or that fellow was one too many for me
that time, though my ball was a regular bailer. Try some more of
those. The truth is I had not had a rise for some twenty throws or
more, and I had got just a little slovenly over it. Never mind, I'll
take a pull on myself and see if I can't be even with them next time.
Next time you have him.

There are good fishermen who will be angry with me for all this
prating, I daresay, because there are good fishermen who lay down
points dogmatically, and their dictum is accepted because they are
successful. But I maintain that even the successful could be more
successful still if they would study the rationale of the thing, and fish
at every step on natural history knowledge. The best fishermen do
this intuitively, and such would not accept anything on the ipse
dixit of the writer merely because it is set down in a book. They
will want to know the reason why, and to weigh the reasoning for
themselves.

But some will say that, when striking very quick, they are in danger
of striking too hard and breaking either rod or line when they come

1 66 The Carnatic Carp. CHAP. xi.

across a big fish. There is a simple way of making any such mishap
much less likel> Never throw the full length of your line, but just a
foot or so under it, so that it is necessary to get the rod out of the same
line with the line, to get the rod point just a foot or two elevated before
you can quite straighten, or gather up the slack on, your line. Then
any sudden pull must come on the top joint of the rod, which being a
pliable fly-rod yields till the line runs. Be careful at the same time to
grasp your rod with three fingers of the upper hand underneath the
line, and only the middle finger above it, so that when the middle finger
is raised the line runs free. You may then strike without much fear.
If you strike a trifle too hard the bending rod and running line will
save your tackle from the worst force of the first blow, and after that
you have time to regulate the incline of your rod to the pull of the
fairly-hooked fish. You will find that the middle finger soon becomes
very ready at checking or freeing the line at will. When casting it is
closed on the line so as to prevent its running out involuntarily, and
when working the fly, and expecting a possible rise and strike, it is held
free. The middle finger soon learns its duties to such a nicety that, if
you so wish, it will even ease off the strike by only half closing on the
line and so only partially checking it. You can with advantage adopt
the same method of holding a light, single-handed trout rod, and you
will find it will help to save your fine drawn-gut collar when a bigger
trout than usual is pleased to honour you, will save it at the strike, and
then instantly come to the rescue in stopping the line for the playing
of him.

But this principle is only applicable within certain limits. With a
salmon rod you can never strike lightly enough for fine drawn gut, that
is, if you strike at all quickly, you must use salmon gut ; with a two-
handed i4-ft. trout rod you must use coarse or stout gut; with a light
one-handed trout rod only can you use the finest drawn gut or even a
single hair. To strike quickly and lightly is the finest touch of art in
the accomplished trout fisherman, but even he cannot do it with a two-
handed i4-ft. rod, much less with a heavy salmon rod. It can only be
done lightly enough for the finest tackle with a light rod of from 9 ft. to
ii ft. which you can perfectly command with a single turn of the wrist.
I use for such fishing a lo-ft. rod. A i4-ft. rod is just too much for it;
you need to take both hands to it, and you use your arms more than
your wrist, and directly you have to use your arms you are slower in

CHAP. xi. Selection of Rod. 167

giving the strike, and slower again in stopping it, in short, you neces-
sarily take longer in overcoming the greater vis inertia of the heavier
rod, whether it be in setting it in motion or in stopping its motion or
momentum. Some trout fishermen prefer a i4-ft. rod for trout-fishing
on the ground that they can cover so much more water and keep
farther away from the fish. That is true enough, but if they would only
consider the above, and try it, they would find that they dare not use
nearly such fine tackle, because it is simply impossible even in the most
accomplished hands to strike as lightly. As I have insisted elsewhere,
under Mahseer fishing, that you must accommodate the strength of
your tackle to the pliability of your rod, so here also the converse holds
in striking your fish, which is again the converse of your fish striking
you, that you must accommodate your rod to the strength of your
tackle, accommodate it both in pliability and in lightness : in pliability
to allow of the line running readily, in lightness to allow of the wrist
having a complete mastery. Of course there is a mean. If the trout
rod is too pliable you cannot strike quickly enough. Therefore I
prefer in a trout rod that it should be rather too stiff than too limp,
trusting to its lightness to allow of my wrist giving rapidity. In the
salmon rod, I prefer greater pliability short of being top-heavy for
reasons set forth under Mahseer-fishing, in short, because the Mahseer
does not lay a light hand on you but a heavy and a sudden one. For
our present friend the Carnatic Carp I prefer a light i4-ft. double-
handed trout rod. With that you may use single salmon gut on your
flies, but not finer with prudence.

A single-handed trout rod is a mistake for this sort of fishing as a
general rule, because you cannot throw big enough flies nor throw them
far enough from the boat for a good day's sport; but if you are tired, as
I have been, with wielding a heavy rod all day, and want just a little
sportive dalliance in the evening, and are content to confine your
attentions to water in which a long throw is not necessary, you may
have the refinement of sport by killing 5~lb. fish on a small trout rod
that will not lift a quarter of a pound off the ground.

I have not had opportunities for fishing for the Carnatic Carp on
other rivers than the Bawanny, an affluent of the Cavery, and I have
only fished some 20 or 30 miles of the river, above and below
Metapolliam, particulars of which will be found in the chapter on
Fishing Localities. But I have recognized the same fish caught in nets

1 68 The Carnatic Carp. CHAP. xi.

100 miles or more down the same river in the Tanjore District. I
have, therefore, grounds for thinking it is more widespread than
Dr. Jerdon was aware of at that time. It is thus clearly not confined
to the base of the hills.

H , who is a good fisherman, writes me that he came across

very heavy Carnatic Carp at Hoginkal, on the Cavery. " They would
look at, but would not take a fly there. They took a green weed called
Pcisam freely," but were as cunning as a fox.

The Carnatic Carp was introduced into the Bilikal Lake, and the
Ootakamund Lake, on the Nilagiris. It is known to be flourishing in
the former water, and is believed to be so also in the latter. Fishermen
should try them with a boat.

The best hours for fishing are, in my view, from dawn till n, and
from 3 to dusk, though just at dusk I could frequently do nothing with
them. Fishing for such long hours as from dawn to n, and often
getting up at half-past 3 or 4 in the morning, to get out to your ground
by dawn, one gets a little bit hungry before n, and if you allow yourself
to get faint and hungry under a tropical sun, you are simply tempting a
sunstroke, and, what is more my business, perhaps, you are not fishing
well, but in a slovenly, tired manner. You are not half enjoying it,
and you are not killing nearly as many fish as you would be killing if
you were feeling quite fit. Now, to think of sitting down to eat while
fish are rising is too Gothic. The precious moments cannot possibly
be spared for such low uses ; so my little plan is to take Abernethy
biscuits in the left pocket. They are easily broken with one hand, and
eaten without taking your right hand off the rod, or your eye off the
line for one moment. Many a one have I eaten while in the act of
playing a good fish. In England, where you are at it all day, from
morn to eve, and are not going home to breakfast and shelter during
the heat of the day, there is nothing like sitting down comfortably to a
pleasant meal and chat, and bit of a rest ; that's quite another case.
Then you should take something for your man as well as for yourself-
A gentleman I know of had failed in this little forethought, and was
rebuked for it. He had had his snack and was at work again. His
man had had none. But no better luck attended the afternoon
fishing than had come in the morning; the basket was as empty as
the man's inside, and the master broke the silence with — "The fish
won't bite." Thereon the man incisively: "Woant boite, woant 'eyv

CHAP. xi. • Spawning Time. 169

If they was arf as 'ungry as me they'd be boiting as if the divil
was in 'em."

I have had somewhat inadequate opportunities for arriving at any
conclusiveness about the time of spawning, but one year I noticed that
Carnatic Carp caught at the end of September had their roe more than
half formed, and that fish caught in December were full of milt ; and
another year some ten miles higher up the same river they were mostly
full of roe and just spawned on 3oth September, 1882. Natives said
the fry could be taken in the dry weather (Chitra). Native fishermen
say that they feed freely on waterweed, and may be taken with a piece
used as a bait. Perhaps this is what the peacock harl body is
taken for.

The following description of the Carnatic Carp is extracted from
Dr. Day's " Fishes of India " :— *

Order. PHYSOSTOMI.

Family. CYPRINID^E.

Sub-Family. CYPRININ^E.

Genus. Barbus.

Sub-genus. Bar bodes , with four barbels.

Division b. Last undivided dorsal ray osseous and entire.

BARBUS CARNATICUS.

Jerdon, M. J. L. S., 1849, P- 311 \ Giinther, Catal. VII., p. 128.
Puntius (Barbodes) Carnaticus, Day, Proc. Zool. Soc., 1867, p. 292. Poaree
candee, Saal candee^ Shellee Tamil. Giddi-Kaoli, Hind. Gidpakke, Can.

B. III., D. 12 (f) P. 15, V. 9, A. 7 (!) C. 19, L. 1. 30-32, L. tr. 5/6.

Length of head 5f, of caudal 4! to 5, height of body 3 to 4 in the total
length. Eyes — diameter 3 to 4 in the length of the head, I diameter from
the end of snout, and ii to 2 apart. Inter-orbital space flat. Dorsal
profile more convex than that of the abdomen. Upper jaw the longer.
Lower labial fold interrupted. Teeth — pharyngeal, pointed, curved, 5, 3,
2/2, 3, 5. Barbels — thin, both pairs shorter than the eye. Fins — the

* Pub. by Bernard Quaritch, 15, Piccadilly : 4 vols. 4to., £12 I2s.

f Sel-kendai, pronounced Sh^i-kendai^ is the Tamil of the Coimbatore district for
the Carnatic Carp, while the same word stands in the Tamil of the Tanjore district
for a Labeo, which again is called in Coimbatore, Karumula-Kendai. Such local
variations in a single language increase the difficulty of arriving at correct vernacular
names, and indicate the need for extreme caution in the understanding of native
testimony.

1 70 The Carnatic Carp. CHAP, xu

dorsal 3/4 as high as the body with a concave upper edge ; it commences
anterior to the insertion of the ventral, and midway between the snout and
the base of the caudal fin \ its last undivided ray is a strong, broad, smooth
spine, nearly as long as the head in the immature, and sometimes longer
in the adult, especially in specimens from Canara. Pectoral as long or
rather longer than the head. Anal laid flat reaches the caudal. Lateral
line — complete, 3! rows of scales between it and the base of the ventral
fin ; 12 rows anterior to the dorsal fin. Free portion of the tail as high
at its base as it is long. Colours— greenish-brown along the back, becoming
dull white, glossed with gold on the sides and beneath. Fins greyish.
Eyes golden.

Habitat.— Rivers along the bases of the Neilgherries, Wynaad, and
South Canara hills. It attains at least 25 Ibs. in weight. Some have
been introduced into the Ootacamund Lake. The figure is from a young
specimen, life-size, the dorsal spine not being well- developed, and the snout
not so obtuse as in older specimens.

N.B. — The figure which I have introduced is from a mature 7-lb. fish.

Mr. J. E. Welborne (Hatti Shikaree), of Assam, says (Asian,
loth June, 1879) that the Assam Bookha is somewhat similar to the
Carnatic Carp. From Dr. Day's description it would seem to be very
similar, and I hope the same angling tactics may be found to answer
for its capture also. I therefore make a short indicative extract from
Dr. Day's work : —

Barbus hexagonolepis, Bokar and Boolooah, Assam, with 4 barbels
<Barbodes) and last undivided ray osseous and entire. B. Hi., D. 12 (f)
P. 17, V. 9, A. 7 (f) C. 19. L. 1. 28-31, L. tr. 41/41. Habitat, Assam, in
the larger rivers, and those from the Himalayas. It attains upwards of
2 ft. in length, and takes a fly or bait freely . . . McClelland considered
Cyprinus putitora, Ham. Buch., as a variety of this species. It is said to
attain 9 ft. in length.

In the Jaldoka, a tributary of the Teesta, I have taken Barbus
Dukai, with a small spoon such as I would use for Carnatic Carp. It
was very like that fish, only of a bronze colour. Its formula is in
Chapter VIII. of " Tank Angling."

If you will glance through that chapter you will see that I have
similarly mentioned Barbus curmuca, Barbus lithopidos (the stone-
coloured Carp), and Barbus Jerdoni, giving their formula.

CHAPTER XII.

SMALLER FLY TAKERS.

*»-

" Be mindful aye your fly to throw
Light as falls the flaky snow."

IZAAK WALTON.

THUS far the weapon of warfare has been mainly the salmon rod. But
there is business to be done with the trout rod also, and as it has its
devotees, a few pages must be given to smaller fish that rise to a trout
fly. Some of them are very small, certainly, but you are not bound to
fish for them because they are just mentioned ; and why should not
ladies and boys have fishing? There are some old boys, too, who will
whip away at anything, however small. And quite right, too, when
there's nothing bigger to be got. It does them good. It's the only
medicine for the mania which is in many of us. Besides some of these
fish are easily introducible into any pond, and are otherwise more
within every-day reach than the mighty rivers which hold the Mahseer
and the Carnatic Carp, rivers to which it is not convenient to every-
body to make a pilgrimage. Without further apology, therefore, I shall
introduce my little friends.

I shall endeavour to call them by simple names. But this is not
easy, for the majority of Indian fish are known only to Ichthyologists
and native fishermen, and have, consequently, only Ichthyological or
vernacular names. Except in the case of the Mahseer, where the
Hindustani name has been adopted, the use of vernacular names seems
a mistake, as they differ with the language and locality. The full
Ichthyological name is frequently too long for common adoption.
Where the correct name can be simply anglicized, as in the Carnatic
Carp, it seems best to follow it. Where it cannot, and I am not aware
of any name ordinarily used by Englishmen, I hope I may be excused

172 Smaller Fly Takers. CHAP. xn.

if I propose a simple one for acceptance. Of course the correct
Ichthyologist's name shall be appended, and, where I can give them, the
several vernacular names. Not being a competitive examiner I shall
assign no order of merit.

THE CHILWA.
Chela argentca.

I used to call it the Chela, after the scientific name. But 1 think
the Ichthyologist's name, though meant to follow the vernacular, has
unfortunately got wrongly transcribed from a hurried manuscript or
inaccurate pronunciation, just as in Gavialis Gangeticus the r has been
changed to v by an error of handwriting or of printing, and it should be
Garialis Gangeticus. So I will call our little friend the Chilwa.

The Chilwa is a very common fish. Day gives ten species, some of
which are to be found in Northern, some in Southern India. There is
a good deal of similarity among them, so that one drawing (Plate V.)
will probably suffice to help recognition of a fish that must be known
to most lovers of the craft. The chief external characteristic of them
all is a very flat-sided, thin body, with a stomach running to quite a
thin edge, but not a serrated edge, and the dorsal fin set far back just
over the anal fin. They are very silvery, some more so than others,
and their numerous minute scales come off very easily. They are a
delicate fish both to eat and to keep alive, so that it requires care to
transport them alive ; but, once in, they will live in any pond, and
keep its surface alive with rises. They thrive in any still water. In
the rivers they are to be found in the still water. One of them is very
minute, not attaining more than 2| inches in length, but the majority
run, according to Dr. Day, from 6 to 9 inches in length. I have
certainly never caught any over 9 inches in- length, but I have seen
larger ones, and native fishermen assured me, very positively, and
exactly, that some of them, and they particularized a Chela dupeoides,
ran to 18 inches in length, and to a hand-breadth in depth. Considering
the accuracy of their information in other respects, I believe the
informants in question to be right. Being such a very thin, narrow
fish, with a minimum of depth and breadth, their weight is very dis-
appointing in comparison with their length, and a fish of 6 or 7 inches
is flicked out with ease by the lightest trout rod. One of 18 inches in

CHAP. xii. The Ckilwa. . 173

length, however, should be worth catching. They are most game fly
takers, springing into the air after the fly. They want striking very
quickly, and especially they want the smallest possible fly. Any black
or dun fly will do for them ; but if it is not small enough you may have
rises, but you will keep on missing them most provokingly. If they
are in the rising humour they will cover * the surface of the water with
rises, and you may have rises at every throw. But you won't catch
them unless your fly is very small, and your fly top stiff rather than
pliant, so that you may strike quickly. You will be surprised what a
difference a stiff top joint will make to you.

Ordinary trout flies on No. 9 to 12 Sneck bend hooks are scarcely
small enough, and it would be better to have black flies and light duns
tied on No. 14, the smallest size of Sneck-bends and fine drawn gut.
These were the smallest hooks shown in the scale given in my last
edition. They may now be quoted as ooo in the scale in this edition.
Fish with three such flies on a light collar.

They do not seem to rise till i or i| hours before sunset, and to
rise best just before and just after sunset. They rise in the morning
also, but not so well as in the evening. I do not think they attain the
same size in ponds as they do in rivers, though they become very
numerous. In rivers they are to be found all over the deepest, largest
pools, pools that hold Mahseer and Freshwater Shark. They seem to
be most numerous along the shore edge and near bushes, but the bigger
ones seemed to be mostly in the deep mid water, but always near the
surface.

They may also be taken easily with a float, if they are thought
worth fishing for in that way. The bait, a single grain of boiled rice,
or a small pellet of rice on a minute hook, say No. ooo Sneck bend,
should hang within about a foot of the surface, and the float must be
very sensitive, and the rod short and light and stiff so that you can
strike quickly. Natives use with advantage the merest little bit of pith
or quill less than an inch long, and a straight bit of small bamboo tip.
I have seen them, thus armed, catching them by the dozen, to eat.
Perhaps they were having an unusually good time of it; but they
spoke as if it could be done whenever they liked. Still they seemed
abnormally jolly over it.

I have caught three sorts myself with a fly — Chela argentea, C. boopis,
and C. clupeoides, — and I have caught them on the west coast of

174 Smaller Fly Takers. CHAP. Xiu

Southern India, in other parts of the Madras Presidency, and in
Mysore.

The Tamil name is Vellachi\ the Canarese, BellachL Day says,.
" Generally termed Vellachee-candee in Tamil ; Bay-ree-saie and Baarsee,
Tel. ; Bounce-putti, Ooriah ; Took, Punjab."

They are evidently the fish commonly spoken of by sportsmen in
Northern India as Chilwa.

Apropos of these little fish, which are caught as much in ponds as
in rivers, I should not omit to mention an absurd little adventure. As-
we rode into camp we found the tents pitched close to a large pond,
and the pond covered with circles. " Just look there," I cried, before
I was well out of the saddle, " we will have a dish for breakfast," and
the trout line was very soon put together, and two expectant friends
watched the line fly deftly out, and light with fairy grace among the
circles, and lo and behold they were only frogs that were rising so-
freely at the small flies on the surface ! Dear reader, dortt tell any one.

When shall I write a fishing book as I ought ! Evidently it is not
in me. Some friend or other is sure to find fault. Look at the
following. But what does it matter so long as they so kindly come to
my rescue ? Best thanks to them. It is what I have always asked, and
I will confess that my friend is right : —

"I notice in your book the Chela or Chilwa is treated with scant
ceremony. He gives good sport with a fly, failing heavier fish, and bites
more readily than any other fish I know. We had a little rivalry in Ajmir
some years ago to make the biggest bag. The time was from 5 P.M. to
dark, i.e. one and a half hours about. A friend killed over one hundred
and forty at one sitting, and I managed to beat his bag by twenty-two,
that is at the rate of nine fish every five minutes. Three flies and a short
line. The difficulty lay in unhooking them fast enough, and I found a
sharp jerk would tear the hook out and save much time, only occasionally
a fish was slung overboard in this way. They are excellent eating and
found everywhere."

Not a few other friends have written me enthusiastically of this
fishing.

On one occasion when fishing a tank for Labeo, I noticed that it was
pestiferously swarming with Chilwa. I was doing the thing comfortably
with servants about me, one looking after the paste bait, keeping up an
ever ready supply of rolled-up balls, another on the gut vive with the

X:HAP. xn. The Chilwa. 175

landing-net, another plying me and my friends (ego et rex meus, for
which Wolsey was called a bad courtier but a good scholar) with Ai
hot coffee and biscuits between the captures, and all falling in with the
sport right cheerily. It was too much for me, and I said to myself :
" You're good fellows, you shall have sport too in propria persona, and
not only by proxy." So I rigged up some No. ooo eyed hooks on a
single length of trout gut, gave them each a miniature detective float —
for which see " Tank Angling " — and a bit of string. Meanwhile they cut
themselves each a twig of bamboo. They used a tiny bit of my paste
bait, much about the size of a No. i shot, put the hook, with no shot,
about a foot below the float. The Chilwa took boldly. It was one
bob of the float and, mirabile dictu, they were instantly transformed into
flying fish, flying on shore. In a marvellously short time my men had
a basketful. " You've caught your dinner," I said. " Dinner," they
replied, " there's ten men's dinner there." I need not say my men were
none the worse attendants for being the happier, and the Labeo wagged
their old tails rejoicingly at the reservoir being a few hundred freer of
the pestilentially numerous Chilwa that jostled them for food. So there
you are, you see, that's the way to do it, whether with fly or paste.

A little bran floating on the surface will bring them about you.

The Chilwa is scarcely worthy of my devoting to it the number of
pages that would be required if, as in other cases, the full description
was extracted from Dr. Day's work. The general characteristics of the
genus may suffice, with an epitome for each species.

Body rather elongate and compressed ; abdominal edge cutting. Pseudo-
branchiae present. Mouth directed somewhat upwards with the lower jaw
prominent, and generally with a knob above the symphysis. Barbels
absent. Pharyngeal teeth hooked and slender, in two or three rows.
Dorsal fin short, without any osseous ray> situated principally or entirely
opposite the anal, which latter has an elongated base. Pectorals long.
Caudal forked. Scales of moderate or small size. Lateral line concave.

Order. PHYSOSTOMI.

Family. CYPRINID^E.

Sub-Family. CYPRININA.

Genus. Chela.

1. Chela gora. B. iii., D. 9-10 (i^S), P. 15, V. 8, A. 15-16 (I7£n).
C. 19, L.I. 140-160. L. tr. 18-20/18. Vert. 46. Ghora chela, Beng.
Chel-hul, Hind. Habitat: Sind, Punjab, North West Provinces, Bengal,
Orissa, and Assam. It attains at least 9 inches in length.

2. C.Sladoni. B. iii., D. 10 (f), P. u, V. 8, A. 20-21 (^^)9 C. 21,

176 Smaller Fly Takers. CHAP. xn.

L. 1. 65-68, L. tr. 10/8. Habitat : Irawaddy, in Burma, extending north-
wards as far as Mandalay.

3. C. sardinella. B. iii., D. 9 (f), P. 13, V. 8, A. 21 (T%), L.I. 48,
L. tr. 7l/4. Habitat: Irawaddy river at Rangoon; also the Salwein at
Moujmein. It attains to at least 6 inches in length.

4. C. untrahi. B. iii., D. 9 (f), P. 13, V. 7, A. 17-19 (rfffy), C. 17,
L.I. 55-65. L. tr. 7-9/5- Untrahi, Ooriah. Habitat: Mahanuddi river
in Orissa. Also the Cauvery and Coleroon in Southern India. It attains
at least 8 inches in length.

5. C. argentea. B. iii., D. 9-10 (f^f), P. 15, V. 8, A. 17-19 (T^),
C. 19, L.I. 43-45, L. tr. 63-7/3. Habitat: Bawanny river at the base of
the Neilgherries, Cavery river, and Mysore ; attaining 6 inches in length.

6. C. Pitnjabensis. B. iii., D. 9 (f), P. 11, V. 6, A. 16-17 (jf^)* c- J9>
L.I. 90-110, L. tr. 12/9. Took, Punj. Habitat: Lahore, in the Ravi river;
also the Indus, in Sind. It attains at least 2| inches in length.

7. C. phulo. B. iii, D. 9 (f), P. 13, V. 9, A. 18-19 (T|=4_8), C. 19,
L.I. 80-87, L. tr. 12-15/6. Habitat: Assam, Bengal, Orissa, Central India,
and the Deccan as far south as the Toombudra and Kistna rivers ; attaining
5 inches or more in length.

8. C. boopis. B. iii, D. 9-10 (*^»), P. 15, V. 9, A. 14-15 (g±J,
C. 21, L.I. 38-40, L. tr. 6-6|/3. Habitat: S. Canara, and (?) Mysore;
attaining at least 5 inches in length.

9. C. clupeoides. B. iii, D. 9 (f), P. 13, V. 9, A. 13-15 (TT^T¥), C. 19,
L.I. 80-93, L. tr. 12-15/6. Habitat: Cutch, Jubbulpore, Mysore, the Deccan,
Madras Presidency, and Burmah. It attains at least 6 inches in length,
and is very good eating.

10. C bacaila. B. iii, D. 9 (f), P. 13, V. 9, A. 13-15 (TT^), C. 19,
L.I. 86-1 10, L. tr. 17-19/6-10. Habitat: Throughout India, except Malabar,
Mysore, and Madras, and parts of the Deccan. Dr. Gtinther gives
Moulmein as one of its localities. It attains at least 7 inches in length.

THE BLACK-SPOT.
Barbus filamentosus and Barhis Mahecola.

These two fish differ from each other only in the filaments attached
to the dorsal fin in B. filamentosus (Plate VI.), and in Mahecola having
two barbels and filamentosus wanting -them. Their most marked
characteristic is the singular black spot on the lateral line near the tail.
They frequent the same waters, run to the same size, about five or six
in the pound, and are to be fished for in the same way. They unfor-
tunately seem to be confined to somewhat limited localities. I have

I

CHAP. xii. The Black-Spot. 177

only met with them on the West Coast ; but Dr. Day adds the base of the
Neilgherries and Southern India, and Ceylon. In any case, the area is
wide enough to allow of their being mentioned ; very much wider than
the area occupied by the Grayling, and probably, like the Carnatic
Carp, they are representatives of a class of many other similar small
carps, in different parts of India, that may be fished for in the same
way. They affect the smaller tributary streams, and especially, if,
indeed, they are not confined to, those which are rich in water-weed, on
the seeds of which, as well as on the weeds themselves, and the insect life
therein, they feed largely. They are not to be found in the runs, but
where the water flows more gently, and even in the still water. There
they congregate in shoals like dace, and take the fly with a very gentle
suck like dace.

To make anything of a bag of them they require right good fishing.
I have a note of having at Mala, in the South Canara District, caught
thirty one afternoon. Up they came, a fish at each fly, and out they
came, one or two at a time. In one throw I took three fish of about
3! ounces each, o.ne on each fly. But, aye, there's a but, and it must be
admitted I have a note also that runs thus : " Had I taken all that rose
that afternoon, I suppose I should have killed 300 fish, weighing from
35 Ibs. to 50 Ibs." Of course I write, not from memory, but from notes
made at the time. They are very shy and the water very bright, so you
must fish very fine. Their mouth is leathery, but small, so that I think
a fly on No. ooo Sneck bend is preferable to No. o. You miss fewer
rises with a small hook. The above note will show I found this out to
my cost. Any light dun or black fly will kill, but I saw on the water a
deep purple little fly, and imitating it did best with it. It is mentioned
among other flies in the remarks on the lesser Barils. Because of their
shyness, throw as long a line as you can perfectly command, both to fall
straight and to strike quickly with, for they frequently rise as the fly
touches the water, though a sunk fly will suit them also. Do not draw
the fly too close to you, because they will also follow the fly, and if they
follow it too close to you they see you, and there'll be an end of your
fun. Remember they swim in shoals like dace, so that if you get on a
shoal you had better not move from it as long as they keep rising.
Out they come, one after another, with a quaint look of unutterable
surprise in their faces. " Now, who would 'a thought it \ " You may
go on throwing in exactly the same place. Draw your fly very slowly.

THE ROD IN INDIA. N

178 Smaller Fly Takers. CHAP. xn.

They are deep and thick for their length, so that the full-sized ones are
just a little too heavy to flick out. Any fish that cannot be flicked out,
but has to be struck fine, with a light quick hand, and then brought out
quickly, contents me if there are enough of them ; and I think it is
likely to be the same with many of my readers. For the " straight tip "
on quick striking with a very fine line, I must refer to the close of the
chapter on the Carnatic Carp, and to the mention of a stiff top under
Chilwa.

These fish have the further recommendation that they breed well in
ponds, but there they seem, though numerous, to run smaller than in
the rivers, presumably from inferior feeding. In the rivers they may
be seen rooting busily among the water-weeds, where they find shrimps
in abundance, just half-an-inch long, and prawns from i| to ij- of an
inch in length, and numerous larvae, from just T2^- to T9^- of an inch long,
and little stinging beetles ; and the weed and its seed may be found in
their stomachs.

In the rivers they do not seem to take so well in the mornings as in
the evenings, at least not till 8 or 9. Whether they go on rising from
that hour through the heat of the day, I never had the leisure to find out.
From 2 P.M. I know they take well, and keep at it till after sunset, till
it is quite dark. They seem to sit up late, and be heavy in the morning.
Bad habits those. In a pond where they were small and hungry, a
friend and I got sixty-six before 1 1 A.M. This was at Warranga, near
Mudradi. I have had capital fun with these little chaps.

Order. PHYSOSTOMI.

Family. CYPRINID^E.

Sub-Family. CYPRININA.

Genus. Barbus.

Sub-Genus. Capoeta, with two barbels.

Barbus Mahecola. B. in., D. 11 (f), P. 15, V. 9, A. 7 (f), C. 19, L. 1. 21,
L. tr. 5/4.

Sub-genus. Puntius, without barbels.

Barbus filamentosus. B. iii., D. 11 (£), P. 15, V. 9, A. 7 (f), C. 19,
L.I. 21, L. tr. 4/4.

THE OLIVE CARP.
Barbus chrysopoma.

Of this fish I have caught but few, and he is not worth a great deal,
but as he will take a fly, and will live in ponds, he can be used to stock

CHAP. xii. Barils. 179

ponds where it is proposed to do so to make sport. I have taken
them about ~ Ib. and slightly under, with a black fly on a No 6 Sneck
bend hook, and I have also taken them and seen them taken with a
float and paste bait. But I have seen them taken over ~ Ib. with a net.
J have only seen them in the Adyar river above the anicut, and in the
Red Hill Reservoir, both near Madras. I cannot call them a sporting
fish, though I have known men well pleased with them. I found these
fish always in still water. I see Day says they are to be found in the
fresh waters along the coast of India from Cutch to Bengal, also in the
Deccan, Mysore, and Madras ; he also received a specimen from
Darjeeling. Tamulians call it Shani Kendae, or cow-dung carp, from its
colour, but olive carp is to the same effect, and prettier.

There are just a few passing remarks on bottom fishing for this fish
at pages 37 and 46 of " Tank Angling."

Barbels iv., D. 12 (f), P. 17, V. 9, A. 8 (J), C. 19, L. 1. 28-30, L. tr. 6/6.

THE LESSER BARILS.
Barilius Canarensis.

Of the genus Barilius there are fourteen species in India. They
are so widely distributed that every Indian angler must come across
them. One of them, Barilius bola, attains some size, and is commonly
known as the Indian trout ; under that name, therefore, it will be treated
of a little further on. The others run more or less to 6 inches in
length. I shall therefore call them the lesser Barils. Plate VII. is a
life-sized representation of a full-sized fish. I have .given Barilius
Canarensis, but B. Bakeri and B. gatensis are to my knowledge so
similar in their habits that, for angling purposes, they are practically the
same fish. The colouring of the Barilius Canarensis is so very brilliant
that paints cannot do it justice ; every colour should shine like
burnished metal. The Barils are a very game little fish, rising to a fly
with a quick dart just as a burn trout does. They are an active fish,
and are to be found where the stream runs briskly among rocks, to be
found in the stickles, and all about the edges of the deep runs. They are
in large rivers frequented by Mahseer, and in the very same water. In
fact, I was fishing for them once, and the moment I had hooked one a
Mahseer, recognizing that it was a fish in distress, went for it. They
are also to be found in the smaller streams inhabited by the Black-Spot,

N 2

180 Smaller Fly Takers. CHAP, xn,

but not in the same water. Where the river runs lazily among the
weeds you will find the Black-Spot; where it runs rapidly among"
rocks, the Baril.

They are small, not running larger than a hungry beck trout of 3-*
ounces and under. They are, however, plentiful, and free fly takersy
and to be fished for just as for a trout. They will rise to any small
trout fly, and I have had on simultaneously one red, one dun, and one
black, and they have taken kindly to them all, and sometimes two and
three have been pulled out at once, just as little beck trout are at
home. But the trout flies should be of the smallest, for though the fish
will rise, they will not be readily hooked, unless the fly is on a hook as.
small as No. ooo Sneck or Kirby bend.

For choice, black seems to be the favourite colour for these little
fellows, as well as for Mahseer, perhaps because it is most quickly seen,
against the light ; and a friend, who is a good fisherman, so far believes
in it, that he mounts his collar with all three black, such as the black
gnat, small black palmer, and like flies black or nearly black.

Why it should be so fancied I do not know, for I do not remember
to have ever seen black natural flies on the water in India, except it be
little bits of black flies very little bigger than a well fed mosquito.
These I have seen in countless numbers, but they are too small to-
imitate, and are only fitting food for fry, and minnows, and chilwas.

I have noticed and painted red flies and yellow flies which were
evidently water-born flies, but they were not in any numbers, and the
fish were not sporting at them, so why should I trouble my reader with
them? They must remain among the useless notes taken in my
endeavour to work out the rationale of fly-fishing in India in preference
to the rule of thumb. The subject is too big a one to be mastered
without very much more leisure at the water's side in all months of the
year than I am ever likely to have at command. Will any one else
work up the ephemera of India in connection with fly-fishing ?

I have also observed the overhanging bamboos covered with light
dun flies that were clearly land flies, and remained on the bamboo till
disturbed, not seeming ever to fall into the water for the fish. Such
flies, of course, are useless.

There is no doubt that fly-fishing, if worth anything as a science
and a sport, should be reduced to its entomological basis, and each
artificial fly should be a close imitation of some known natural fly in

CHAP. xii. Approaching the Water. 181

the habit of living on or near the water, and thus becoming the
common food of fish. But if we cannot ascertain the natural flies, we
-can only do as our fathers pretty generally did in England, and as not
41 few are still well content to do, namely, to make arbitrary guesses at
the sort of fly to be used at certain times and places, with very little
reference to entomology, preferring to it, indeed, such crude regulators
as the colour of the water, and the brightness or otherwise of the day,
lo guide our preferences, and after all coming back to this, that if one
man has killed with a certain fly, another may. For the Barilius
Bakeri, then, any small trout fly will do, the black, perhaps, for
preference, the size being No. ooo Sneck or Kirby.

It must not be presumed that, because fish are small, they are not
•shy. There is no sequence at all in the argument. It may be that
some small fish are not so shy as the bigger ones, but some sorts again
are ; and you may be very sure that none bite the better for seeing a
biped making demonstrations at them from the shore. None but those
which have been fed by hand will be sociable. Therefore, if you go
and stand bolt upright at the very edge of the stream, and don't get
sport, don't blame me, that is all. Do not you remember how even
the little burn trout in Scotland dart away directly they see a Saxon on
the bank ?

You will very much improve your sport if you will condescend to
be careful in this matter, even with small fish, and notably with the
Barils. They should be fished for just as carefully as a trout. It is
well to remember that fish ordinarily lie with their noses up stream,
looking in front of them, and, more or less, on each side of them, for
what may be brought down to them by the stream, but not behind
them ; and as you know that their backs are consequently all turned
the same way, that is down stream, and they cannot see with their tails,
it stands to reason that if you want to approach them unobserved, your
best chance of doing so is from below them in the stream ; and this is
why the most successful fly-fishermen endeavour always to approach a
bit of water from below, and take the best fish throwing up stream, and
pulling down towards them, or rather just keeping the line taut while
the stream brings their fly down to them. The most convenient plan
is to fish a river upwards, that is, to commence fishing at the lowest
part of the river you mean to fish over, and to walk upwards as you
fish. This saves retracing steps, as you stalk to the foot of each pool

1 82 , Smaller Fly Takers. CHAP, xn-

or run you fish. The simplest way to fish any particular bit of water
with a fly is to approach crouching, and, kneeling on one knee so far
off from the bank that you can only just see and command a little bit
of the water, throw your fly straight across, keep your line just taut and
no more, and let the stream carry it down and round towards you as
quietly as it will, without any pulling from you, and you thus fish first
the water where you are most likely to be seen ; repeat the process a
yard or two higher each time, carefully edging nearer and nearer the
while, till you find yourself throwing straight up the stream close under
your own bank. These are, of course, only general instructions for
thoroughly fishing over water, and cannot be held applicable in all
cases; for differently exposed, differently running, waters require to
be fished differently, and not a little depends on the generalship dis-
played in properly availing yourself of every advantage of ground in
approaching the enemy's position.

Another argument against fly-fishing from above is, that if you
throw your fly downwards, and pull it towards you, you will pull it in
the most unnatural way, for no natural fly ever floated up stream. I
know that fish are caught in this way sometimes, but it is not good
fishing, and will not pay as a rule.

Fly-fishing, it will be observed, is in this respect the contrary to
spinning, the rule in the latter case being to pull the bait more or less
against the stream. And the same rule obtains more or less in salmon
fly-fishing, but then that is not properly fly-fishing, though commonly so
called, because no mortal can tell you the entomological specimen of
which a salmon fly is a representation.

Perhaps you may say the fish are too small, and not worth all this
trouble. So be it. In such case let them alone, and don't fish for
them at all. But if you will fish for any of these smaller fish just for a
change, you may as well catch them while you are about it. This I
tell you, therefore, you will not do unless you condescend to take the
pains to fish for a Baril as carefully as for a trout. If you are a good
fisherman all this painstaking will come to you naturally, as a matter of
course, and be no pains.

Flies draw, and rust, and get moth-eaten quickly in India, and
should consequently be got from England in small quantities from time
to time. They are light, and can easily travel in a letter. Do not buy
any that have been kept some time in store in a shop in India

CHAP. xii. Attaching Drop-flies. 183

unless they are on eyed hooks, as recommended on page 125. But if
you tie your own flies, so much the better.

It is decidedly a point to put on your drop flies neatly, so that there
shall be no large knot to make a ripple in the water. Some put on the
drop by a loop, but to my mind this is a lazy
way, that shows a trifle too much for a wary
fish, and yet a great many do it because it is so
easy, and there are other knots which I don't
think worth mentioning. I like the one recom-
mended by Francis Francis. Tie a simple knot
at the end of your drop, and then with the drop gut tie a simple knot
round the gut of the collar, and let it slip down the collar till just over

a knot or join in it, and then pull tight.
This is very neat and strong and simple,
and I confess I generally use it on a fresh
collar. But it is not quite without an
objection. As you must always tie your
drop over a knot you must always tie it
just over a join in the line, or you must
make a knot in your collar on purpose
for it, and practically it ends in this, that
you almost always tie on your drop over
the same knot, and if you change often,
you fray that spot in the collar and weaken it. So you must remember
this, and when you find the collar weakening thus break it yourself, and
tie a fresh knot, in preference to waiting till a fish breaks it for you and
you lose him. Here is an alternative knot. Wherever in your collar
you wish to place your drop fly, tie, in the collar,
the knot here shown, being careful only that E. is
the end near the rod ; A. the end near the tail fly.
It is very easily done by making the loop C. and
doubling the bit B. through it. The line has not
to be taken off the rod for the purpose, or the ends passed through at
all. It is done in a couple of seconds by two turns. Having done
this, and taking care that your gut is thoroughly soft from soaking, so
that you may be sure it will not crack in knotting, pull A. and B. so
that loop C. becomes a tight knot. Put your drop fly, with a simple
knot at the end, through the loop D., and then pull E. till D. also is

i84

Smaller Fly Takers.

CHAP. XII.

absorbed into a tight knot. Then pull your drop fly close up to its
own knot, and you are ready for action.

What I consider the advantages of this knot are, that it is tied as
quickly, if not more quickly, than any other ; is as neat as the neatest
of them ; can be tied in any part of the collar you like, so that you can
have your drop fly at the precise distance you fancy from the tail fly ;
and if a breakage or anything has somewhat curtailed that distance,
you can hit it off again to a nicety. This is a point to my fancy, for it
makes one unhappy to have the drops crowded together. To move
your first drop a length further up will, perhaps, bring it too near the
other drop, whereas you had rather it were not quite so near the tail fly.
This is the dilemma in which you are placed, if you are dependent on
the knots at the joins, whereas by my plan you can locate your drop fly
just where you have a mind, to an inch. Again, it is superior I think
to other knots in the ease with which you can remove your fly. Pull
the end A. and the drop, and the knot will open, with a little aid of the
nails on the knot. Or if you are not handy at this work, or will not be
troubled, nothing is easier than to nip the fly off close up to the gut.
You lose next to nothing of the length of the drop thereby ; you lose
considerably less than you do when nipping off one of Francis Francis'
drops. As soon as the drop is removed, the whole knot easily
straightens, and a fresh knot is tied, for a fresh drop in a fresh place,
an inch or so higher or lower.

I have said be careful in tying the knot that the end E. is the end
nearest to the rod; the reason is obvious.
The knot is a slip knot, and therefore a
heavy fish on the drop might open it, if it were
not so placed that the more the fish pulls, the
more he tightens the knot. The end that
tightens up the loop D. and keeps the knot at
the head of the drop from coming through that
, loop, is the end E. ; E. being made the end
connected with the rod, it follows that the
more the fish pulls against you, the more he
tightens E., and the more secure he con-
sequently makes the knot. I showed this knot
to a friend, who tied it with A. towards the rod, lost his fish and fly, and
said it was my fault !

\

CHAP. xii. Attaching the Fly -collar. 185

For attaching the fly collar to the running line the accompanying Fig. i
is the ordinary knot. But when you are likely to be fishing on into the
dark when it will be difficult to see to untie any knot, you may
substitute the second knot, Fig. 2, and you will find that you can untie it
with your eyes shut. The finger feels the single knot at the end of the
line, the nail closes above it, and you pull that with one hand while you
pull the gut collar with the other. The knot comes undone.

The following brief extract from Dr. Day's " Fishes of India," may
be useful for reference : —

Order. PHYSOSTOMI.
Family. CYPRINID^E.
Sub-Family. CYPRININA.
Genus. Barilius.

SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES.
A. — With four barbels (Pachystomus}.

1. Barilius vagra. D. 9, A. 13-15, L.I. 42-44. With 10 vertical bars.

Sind Hills, Himalayas, Ganges, Jumna, and Brahmaputra.

2. Barilius modestus, D. 9, A. 12-13, L.I. 43. Back dark, sides silvery.

Sind and Punjab.

3. Barilius radiolatus. D. 9, A. 12, L.I. 56-62. Silvery. Central

India.

4. Barilius shacra. D. 9, A. 10, L.I. 60-70. Twelve vertical bars.

Bengal, N.W. Provinces, and Assam.

5. Barilius bendelisis. D. 9, A. 9-10, L.I. 40-43. Short vertical bars :

each scale with a black spot in adults. From Western Ghauts
throughout India (not Sind) to Assam.

'R.— Wtth two barbels (Bendilisis).

6. Barilius barila. D. 9, A. 13-14, L.I. 43-46. With 14 or 15 vertical

bars. Bengal, Orissa, and Lower Assam.

C. — Without or with only rudimentary barbels (Barilius}.

7. Barilius Bakeri. D. 13, A. 16-17, L.I. 38. A row of large spots.

Travancore.

8. Barilius gatensis. D. 10-12, A. 15-17, L.I. 40. With 15 vertical

bars. Western Ghauts and Neilgherries.

9. Barilius Canarensis. D. 12-13, A. 14-16, L.I. 38. Two rows of

spots. Canara.

10. Barilius barna. D. 9, A. 13-14, L.I. 39-42. Nine vertical bands.
Orissa, Bengal, Assam.

1 86 Smaller Fly Takers. CHAP. xn.

11. Barilius guttatus. D. 9, A. 14, L.I. 44-48. Two rows of spots.

Burmah.

12. Barilius tileo. D. 9, A. 13, L.I. 70-75. Two rows of spots.

Bengal and Assam.

13. Barilius Evezardi. D. 9, A. 14-15, L.I. 40. Silvery. Poona.

14. Barilius bola. D. 10-11, A. 13, L.I. 88-94. Two rows of blotches.

Orissa, Bengal, Assam.

THE INDIAN TROUT.
Barilius bola.

When I wrote my second edition I had no personal knowledge of
this fish, and was indebted solely to the obliging pen of Colonel
Parsons, from whom I will still quote, adding the personal and other
knowledge since acquired.

I have called it the Indian Trout, because it is commonly thus
called in Northern India. Other competitors there are for the name ;
but Barilius bola seems to have the best title to be called the Indian
trout. To avoid confusion, therefore, we will commence by deposing
the other fish which seem to have less right to the honourable dis-
tinction. Orienus Richards onii has, according to Day, been called the
" Kemaon Trout." " In some specimens there are black spots on the
sides and head." Of Orienus sinuatus Dr. Day writes, in his " Fishes
of India," " Some have scattered black and occasionally red spots, and
these have been termed Trout." But this fish has a sucker with which
it adheres to rocks, which is most untroutlike, and Dr. Day tells me it
will not take a fly at any price, a piece of wrong-headedness for which,
with your concurrence, it should be shorn of its brevet-rank, in spite of
its red spots. Ohformose puer nimium ne crede colon — we will degrade
you in spite of your looks. " Handsome is that handsome does " is the
better rule, and as Barilius bola sports like a trout, as we shall see, let
us allow his claim, though he has no adipose dorsal fin like the true
trouts (salmonidce). We may have the less hesitation in confirming the
honorific as there are no indigenous trout in India.

The plate is taken by permission from Dr. Day's " Fishes of India,"
the mouth only being a little opened to show the peculiarly beaked
and prominent under jaw.

"The Barilius bola (vernac. Gulabi Machli, rose-speckled fish) by
An lo-Indians commonly misnamed Trout," writes Colonel Parsons, "is

CHAP. xii. The Indian Trout. 187

found in many rivers of India, its chief habitat being clear streams with
stony bed.

" Though not of the Trout genus it bears some resemblance in outline
to the European Trout, but is of more delicate formation, and the more
brilliant looking fish of the two. Like the Trout it is very beautifully
spotted.*

" The weight of the Barilius bola of different rivers varies greatly ; the
average weight of mature fish in streams where it best thrives is probably
about -£- lb., and maximum about 2 Ibs. This may be an estimate under
the mark, as the writer merely notes from his personal experience as a
fisherman, as far as it extends, during periods of fishing recreation that
were chiefly devoted to the capture of Mahseer, and he has never known,
the Bariliiis bola to be brought to market by natives of the country,
whereby the quantities coming under observation would afford data for
satisfactorily deciding on the dimensions of this species of fish.

" The Barilius bola is taken with the fly, and likewise with small spinning
bait ; a small sized phantom is a very good bait to use. They are usually
shy, and take the fly best at the close of day, when a white moth (lake
trout fly size) is perhaps the most suitable lure, the addition of white bead
eyes to the fly I have known to be an improvement. Anglers fishing for
Mahseer, with a good sized spinning bait, occasionally hook a good
specimen of the Barilius bola, notably in the ' Sone ' or ' Song,' a beautiful
stream which joins the Ganges, a few miles above Hardwar, on its right
bank, and which is a grand place for Mahseer-fishing.

" The Barilius bola runs large in both the Ganges and the Jumna ; in
the Boon I have got them close on 2 Ibs. at Dadapur, the head of the
Western Jumna Canal, a few miles from Jagadri on the S. P. and Delhi
Railway. This fish is, however, difficult to catch in most localities where
I have tried them, and I attribute this in a great measure to the frequent
presence of Mahseer in their vicinity. It is a marvel to me how any
Barilius can escape at all from the rapid moving Mahseer, which is
perhaps more partial to the Barilius than to the young of its own species,
which, by the bye, the Mahseer swallows very freely, as I have repeatedly
proved to my entire satisfaction in live bait fishing when the devourer has
full time afforded to consider the species of his morsel.

"The native fishermen at the Jumna, on the hills between Mussoorie
and Simla, use scarcely any other bait than the Barilius. They have a
curious way of catching their bait. The trout, which for convenience sake
we may call them, are excessively keen sighted, and the stream running
into the Jumna at this locality where they are taken is of exquisite brilliancy^
consequently they very soon clear out of reach on the appearance of a
net caster. Their capture is effected by means of a weighted line of horse-
hair nooses, dexterously slung across stream well ahead of the fisherman.

* But not with red that I can remember.

1 88 Smaller Fly Takers. CHAP. xn.

As he walks up stream, scaring the fish to the line, the trout shoot along
the bottom as if to escape observation, and the line being weighted, with
nooses all along it across the stream, some of the fish can scarcely fail
to run into loops open to receive them, but which draw tight over their
shoulders on nearing the dorsal fin. The trout in this stream average
under £ lb., and are easily held by the noose. I have watched the per-
formance with interest, and immediately purchased some of the bait in
exchange for English fish-hooks, more prized than money by the fishermen.

" The Barilius is numerous in the Morar near Gwalior ; it sometimes
takes the fly well, but it is of very small average size in that stream. In
the Scinde, another stream in that territory, I recollect many years ago,
* when my lines were cast in those places,' getting a couple of these fish
close on 2 Ibs. each.

"When fishing for Mahseer, and hooking a Barilius, there is little
doubt which is hooked from the first, as the spotted one will jump repeatedly
out of the water and dash about in a perfect frenzy and is game to the
last ; not that I wish in any way to disparage the noble Mahseer, whose
peculiarity is the truly grand rush he makes when first struck, and woe
betide the line then if all is not clear. This spanking fish, far beyond the
pretty little Barilius, has beguiled many a day of my exile and long may he
flourish."

And so say all of us.

These Indian trout (Barilius bola) have an exceptionally large,
wide open mouth, more so, I think, than even our freshwater shark
(Wallago attu), and are evidently highly predacious, as you may see
the small fish of about an inch long fleeing before them everywhere.
They take a fly most boldly, no striking is required, as they do it for
themselves, and it is evident they take it for a fish, seizing it as they
would a fish, not sucking it down as a trout does a fly. Their mouth
affords good hookhold, and they fight most gamely. I found it paid
better to draw the fly quicker than you would for trout, and up stream
rather than down stream ; and I noticed that they pursued the fly (so
that you should not strike till you feel them) coming after it with their
head and eyes above water, all indications that the fly is taken for a
fish, and not as a natural fly. If you get a rise and miss it, do not
give the place a rest as you would for trout, but keep on throwing
over your fish. I have had one come two or three times running till
at last I have taken him. But if they are well on the feed they will
take home the first time. I have had occasions when, for concealment's
sake, I had to fish them from below and pull down stream, and I
have seen them turn over lazily at the fly, and I had to give them

CHAP. xii. The Indian Trout. 189

a helping hand with a strike, but it is not the rule. If you are pulling
your fly fast enough, say just about as fast as you would have to pull
a small spoon at its slowest, they will hook themselves. If you hook
one the others will swarm round him out of curiosity, and sometimes
take another of the flies while you are playing him. I have thrown
a cast of three flies over a shoal, and had one on each fly simulta-
neously. The rod was a light one of 9 feet that could not lift £ Ib.
off the ground, and the fish were all of a size, to wit, £ Ib. each. The
first drop was rust-eaten and failed me, but the other two held, and I
killed the two fish. When you have two or three fish on at once like
that, and each one of them is too heavy for your rod to land, so that
you must use the landing-net, and have no attendant, you must play
them till they are pretty thoroughly beaten, and take the tail fish first
into the net, and so upwards. I had an attendant, but would not let
him approach for fear of scaring the pool, as I saw there was a goodly
shoal of fish there, and I wanted, and got, some more out of that shoal.
It is in very clear water that you fish for them, so you see all their
little games, and it adds not a little to the sport. Of course it
means also that you must stalk your water carefully, and throw a
fairly long line, for a small rod, and a single-handed trout rod is the
weapon.

You will find them chiefly in the running pools, among rocks,
specially at the head of the pool where the run enters it, but sometimes
in the shallows also.

The flies we used at the end of November were the size of a large
lake fly or the smallest yfo<? water salmon fly, on a No. 6 Limerick hook,
but smaller flies are used with advantage, I am told, when the water is
very low, a No. 9 Limerick being then preferable.

As to colour a great authority recommended me his pet fly, No. 5
Limerick hook, my scale, body silver tinsel, legs grey, the hackles of
the jungle cock do well, wings two large and two small jungle-cock
feathers, using the glistening hard piece like a beetle case ordinarily
used at the shoulder of salmon flies. Others on the spot recom-
mended either black or red, with silver body. I found black served
me best. When they are taking well any colour is accepted.

J. A. Bell, then a Captain, told me that he had taken small fish of
two and three and a half inches long out of them, which shows again
that they are highly predatory, and that at times a small spoon of three-

190 Smaller Fly Takers. CHAP. xn.

quarters of an inch in length is bound to be effective. Some use
an even smaller one.

At Deoli the fish commonly run from f Ib. to if Ib.

The same good sportsman informs me that in the Banas, Rajputana,
they commence taking in October, and the fishing goes on improving
every month till January, and is good all January and February, and
where there is water enough continues till the rains come any time in
June, when they run up stream to spawn ; then the small spoon
may be used to advantage, and the best sized Indian trout of i| Ib.
are caught in March, April, and May, when also they are found full
of young fry, which clearly indicates the suitableness of the spoon
bait then.

My informant tells me that they are very sensitive of changes of
weather, S., S.W., and W. winds being good, but N., N.E., and E.
being bad.

Their large head makes them very easy to hold in the hand close
behind the head.

A fishing basket is a desideratum, and so is a light landing-net.

The flies should be on stout lake
trout gut, and the collar the
same.

The long shallows between
the pools are affected by the fry
of the Indian trout, and their shallowness is their protection from their
predatory parents.

I was told of very big bags made of these fish, but as those details
are not in my notes I mistrust my memory. Prettier sport than what
I had amongst them I could not wish for.

Another correspondent writes : — •

" The Barilius bola abounds in the Gameri and Burock rivers near
Chillere, clear streams, and I have caught them with a fly at Ujjain in the
Seepra. I expect they are to be found in the Gumbir near Fatehabad,
and also in the Chumbul. I shall be fishing in the Gumbir next October
when the water clears."

Ujjain and Fatehabad are both places on the rail.

Some few more remarks are made on this splendid sporting fish
in the extracts at the end of the book, which the index will help
you to.

CHAP. xii. The Indian Trout. 191

Turning to Day's " Fishes of India," I extract the following
portions : —

"Barbels absent. Branchiostegals iii., D. 10-11 (f^), P. 13, V. 9, A. 13
(T3-), C. 19. L.I. 88-94, L. tr. 12-15/9-11. . . . Head compressed, snout
pointed, a well developed knob above symphysis of the lower jaw. . . .
Colours : silvery, with two or more vertical rows of bluish blotches along
the sides, the upper being about twelve to twenty, and the lower inter-
mediate ; some spots also on the head. Lower half of the dorsal fin
slightly grey. Caudal, orange stained with grey and black. Pectoral,
ventral, and anal, orange, the colours being somewhat similar to those of
a trout ; it often goes by that name amongst Europeans.

"Habitat: Orissa, Bengal, N.W. Provinces, Assam, and Burmah,
attaining at least a foot in length : one killed in Assam by Mr. Hannay
is stated to have weighed 5 Ibs. It is a very game fish, takes the fly well,
and is one of those termed Rajah mas, or ' chief of the fishes ' in the Assam
rivers.

" Bugguah, Ooriah ; Korang, Assam ; Sola, Beng. ; Buggarah,
Hind."

While fishing for Barilius bola I have taken Barlus chagunio with
the same fly, and I am informed that they are frequently so taken. So
I append its formula, so that you may be able to identify it and couple
it with its vernacular name. Day gives these as Jerruah, Beng. ;
Chaguni, Behar ; Pootee keintah, Assam ; and says, " it attains at least
1 8 inches in length." I have taken the same fish with a paste bait,
when fishing for his betters.

B. iii., D. ii (f), P. 15, V. 9, A. 8 (|), C. 19, L.I. 44-47, L. tr. 11-9.

CHAPTER XIII.
BOTTOM FISHING FOR LABEO.

" Labeo and Flavius set our battles on.
'Tis three o'clock, Romans, yet ere night
We shall try fortune in a second fight."

— Julius Cczsar, act v. scene iii.

GOOD roach-fishing is the Elysium of the Londoner. He will tell you
that it calls for much more exact nicety and skill than you have any
idea of, and he will be right. He will revel in his theme and expatiate
upon it. What he would say to you I say again to him. I have his own
sport here, the same sort of fishing, only magnified ; magnified many
fold as regards the nicety of skill required for the capture of the astuter
Asiatic ; magnified as many fold as regards the size of the fish to be
taken. Fancy a Londoner with a roach of 50 Ibs. fairly landed. You
would never hear the last of it. And fancy him again if all efforts to
catch that fish with the ordinary roach tackle had proved futile, because
roach tackle was too clumsy for the adept thief of a fish, and he had
been driven to improve his tackle. After such a triumph over ex-
ceptional difficulties I fancy he would be a talkative Londoner. Is it
not fair that I should ask of the roach fisherman that his very love of
his favourite sport should make him ready to appreciate highly a style
of fishing so very like his own in character, and yet surpassing it in its
best sport-giving characteristics ? I shall introduce him to a float —
my " detective float," vastly more sensitive than his roach quill ; to a
rod calculated to strike much more rapidly; and to fish running
commonly from i or 2 Ibs. to 10, 15, or 20 Ibs., and of which one
of 100 Ibs. is recorded as having been taken with a rod. And I may
quote an actual bag of a correspondent, whose nom de plum? is " Meade
Shell " :—

" I caught a very large number of fish (chiefly Rohu) last year. On
4th October I landed sixteen fish which weighed 208 Ibs., and two other

CHAP, xi i L My Methods Endorsed. 193

gentlemen caught six more. The largest fish we caught weighed 18 Ibs.
and the smallest about 12 Ibs. In five or six days fishing nearly seventy
fish were landed and the tank (1000 x 500 feet) is crammed with fish. The
largest Rohu I have caught was in Tirhoot, and weighed 54 Ibs."

Sixteen fish weighing together 208 Ibs. means an average weight of
13 Ibs. each. Again I have it recorded that one rod has been known
to kill 200 Ibs. weight in a day, the fish being from 27 Ibs. and 23 Ibs.
each downwards, the smallest being 2 Ibs. Will this content him ?

But if such arguments suffice for the roach fisher they will make
no impression on the salmon tamer, the Mahseer conqueror, and the
fly fisher, who simply laugh bottom fishing to scorn without ever trying
it. They scorn, forsooth, because they know nothing about it, whereas,
if they only tried it, they would infallibly be converted, for I never
knew any fisherman, however good at Mahseer, who had once tried
this Labeo fishing with me and was not fully converted to it as taxing
all his skill in a higher degree than any other fishing, and as showing
sport of a superior order.

But there is yet another class of scoffers, those who believe in the
fishing, but not in my methods. For them I cannot do better than
quote the words of a convert. Mr. H. S. Dunsford, a " good wine "
that " needs no bush," by way of saying he is a good fisherman, writes
in the " Angler's Handbook " :—

" After many years of excellent tank fishing I would strongly advise
those who wish for success in this kind of sport to accept Mr. Thomas's
teachings unreservedly and entirely. I have met many sceptics who have
scoffed at his insistance upon the use of very sensitive floats, absolute
exactness in the regulation of the depth of the bait, etc., etc., and their
argument has been that they have done very well without these precautions.
This is no doubt quite true. In my earlier experiences of tank fishing I
obtained very fair sport myself, though I was very casual in my use of
floats, regulation of depth, and so on, but experientia docet, and looking
back to those days I feel with many a vain regret that if I had only known
as much as I do now, thanks to Mr. Thomas's teachings grafted on to my
more slowly gathered and much less perfect knowledge, my sport, instead
of having been ' very fair,' would have been ' Magnificent ' with a capital M."

A friend who had fished with me and was a believer in my methods,
wrote me : —

"You would have given ^100 to see R. fishing. He had your book
in his hand, and was reading it and fishing, and alternately striking

THE ROD IN INDIA. O

194 Bottom Fishing for Labeo. CHAP. xm.

and exclaiming ' It's all lies ! It's all lies ! ' and was nearly flinging the
book into the water. The whole first day he caught nothing, while I,"
says my friend, "took 83 Ibs. weight. At last he got home on a fish,
broke his rod in two, and swung out a 2-pounder so hard against the high
wall behind him that it was stunned. ' There's something in it,' he said.
Then he silently mended his rod and mended his ways, and after two days
got well into it. R., let me add, was exactly described by anticipation at
page 42 of 'Tank Angling' 'And when you have told them everything,
and they come to putting it in practice, and sit by the water and miss bite
after bite, as we have done, they will only say you are lying,' said one of
a fishing party."

When I was yet a stranger to the Rohu and knew only the Madras
Labeos, I heard of an angler who had taken them for twenty years, and
was the authority in those parts. So I went two hundred miles to see
him and learn of him, and he most kindly responded to my request and
came sixty miles to meet me and show me all he knew. I was first at
the water, and was at work when he arrived. He at once condemned
my tackle and offered me his own. I begrudged the time that would
be lost in changing, and persuaded him to put up his, promising to
change as soon as I saw him killing fish, fully believing that I should
have to change. He used a big float made of a bundle of five peacock
•quills tied together at both ends, and he cast far out into the tank. I
used my light " detective" float, and had it immediately under the tip
of my 10 feet rod. Otherwise we fished alike. He was a good fisher-
man who had killed his own weight many times over, and was naturally
well content with the tackle with which he had done it. I was not a
little surprised to find that nevertheless I killed twenty fish to his one,
and much larger ones. What could be the explanation of it ? I wasn't
going to be such a " silly " as to put it down to my own good fishing,
for there we were probably quits, and he had the unquestionable
advantage of experience of his own country and climate. It must be
in the tackle I thought. But why ? Why should his, which had stood
the test of twenty years, be inferior to mine, tried for the first time in
waters new to me but well known to him ? We must have an adequate
reason. I had come two hundred miles to learn it. So chatting away
like two conspirators I learnt much of him, and eventually came to this
conclusion. He knew the seasons of Northern India well, and con-
forming to them, fished only in the rains, from " i5th of June even up
to September," and considered 2ist April, when he met me, so hopeless

CHAP. xiii. My Methods Tested. 195

that he would not have tried except to please me. In the rains the
Rohu bite boldly, and for bold biting his float was not too coarse, nor
his distance too great, the striking not needing to be so prompt. But
biting as the Labeo were in April, and always would be at that time of
year, he, not seeing his bites, clung to it that they were only the bites
of small fish. No mortal could have seen those subtle bites at the
distance out to which he cast his float even if he had been using my
more sensitive " detective," much less with his coarser float. With my
little " detective " float close under my rod tip the bites were clear
enough, and I struck when the sharp little jigs followed each other in
rapid succession, and the fish taken ran up to 15 Ibs. and 20 Ibs. each,
whereas his biggest was 2 Ibs. He was a typical instance of the Rohu
fisherman who having caught Rohu freely when they were biting boldly,
thinks that is the only way and time to take them, and that there is
nothing more to learn. He is not a whit different from Mr. Dunsford's
many scoffers, and while instancing him as a type in detail, solely for
the purpose of convincing argument, I trust I have concealed his
kindly identity among the vast crowd of such anglers ruined by too
easy successes. In this kind of fishing too easy successes are the ruin
of many a good man.

My argument then is that my methods are suitable both for bold
biting and shy biting, and extend the period of good fishing over many
a day and month when it must otherwise be blank or poor indeed.

Hoping that I have herein convinced both the inappreciative and
the scoffer, I will proceed to my fish, first giving just one little tiny true
tale for the better content of the inappreciative of the size of the fish
offered for their sport.

A writer in the Asian of the i5th of May, 1888, F. G. G. O. by
name, tells a tale, headed " A True Story," which is too spicy to be
lost. Fishing with a paste bait, he eventually landed, hooked in the
lip, a Catla which scaled 77 Ibs. But in the course of the pky an
erudite English-speaking native brother of the angle, counselled him
in this wise : — " Do not as yet endeavour to coerce him, he is of great
strength, and you should wait until his powers are somewhat diminished.
Ah ! sir, do not as yet anticipate, his force is not yet evacuated, and he
will still afford you much trouble." Many natives are excellent fisher-
men, much devoted to the sport, and with something to teach us, as
we shall see anon.

o 2

196 Bottom Fishing for Labeo. CHAP. xin.

In " Tank Angling " I said I had a personal acquaintance with only
four of the Labeos, but since then I have extended my visiting circle,
and have become quite intimate with the grand Rohu, the sprightly
Mirgha, and the massive Catla.

The heroes of this chapter are the Rohu (Labeo rohita), which
attains three feet or more in length, and has been caught on a rod up
to 54 Ibs. in weight; the Kalbans (L. calbasu}, and L. Kontius, which
grow to 3 feet in length, and have been recorded as weighing 20 Ibs. ;
and other Labeos proper, as Labeo fimbriatus, and L. nigrescens, and
L. bata, which are half the size of L. calbasu and L. gorims, which
attains nearly 5 feet in length, probably nearer 70 Ibs. than 50 Ibs. in
weight ; the Mirgha (Cirrhina mrigald), growing to 3 feet in length,
and taken with a rod up to 34 Ibs. in weight ; the White Carp
(C. cirrhosa) of i~ foot in length; and the Catla (Catla Buchanani),
attaining at least 6 feet in length, and recorded as having been taken
up to 100 Ibs. on a rod.

But as I have already filled more than half a separate book with
this subject it would not be right that I should swell these pages with
repetition. I will rather presume you to be the happy possessor of
that little volume " Tank Angling in India," and I will here set down
only the additional matter that I have acquired since that little book
was published in 1887.

Fishing in Waves. — It was always an admitted difficulty that
if there were waves no float could show the minute jigs of these
peculiar fish when biting shyly. A way of meeting this difficulty has
since been found. In the Hassan Sagar tank at Hyderabad in the
Deccan, the fishing is from the embankment, with 30 feet of water at
your feet, and in December the prevailing wind sweeps across the
whole breadth of the magnificent reservoir straight towards you,
raising, not a ripple only, but a decided wave on the surface, breaking
with a plash at your feet. No float could be of any use at that season
of shy biting. In the bold biting season, when a Rohu would take
under even a pike float, it would of course be easy. But in December
if the float was, as it should be, so sensitive that the weight of the bait
would pull it under, then, at every wave, being out of its depth, it was
submerged ; and with a float one moment under water and the next on
its side, it was impossible to see a bite, much less the critical jigging.
If, on the contrary, the float was buoyant enough not to be submerged,

CHAP. xiii. Special Rod for Fishing in Waves. 197

then it was both too unsensitive to show the shy bite even if you got
one, and it prevented your getting one by lifting the bait off the ground
at every wave, and keeping it in constant unnatural movement, for, the
water being 30 feet deep and still, all should have been motionless at
the bottom. For meeting this difficulty the natives had, I noticed,
a very ingenious plan. They fished with two rods with one bait. One
rod, holding the reel and running line, was laid aside in preparedness
to play the fish when hooked. This rod was really only a short 6 inch
butt. Therein I thought they were at a discount in playing, and that
one of our rods could as easily have been used. The other rod was
a very special one. It was 4 feet long, made of the finest branch of
bamboo they could get. They said they cut twenty such branches
before they got one to suit them, and when they did, you could see
how they prized it by the way they painted and decorated it. But
the finest of the fine branches suffices not, and they whip on to the
point 6 inches more of the silicious part of a big bamboo, fined down
as fine as they could cut it. To the top end of this light rod they tied
the tangoos line coming from the bait, and to the bottom end they
tied the running line coming from the short butt. You will observe
that there was no light running line between the light rod and the bait,
because it would have lessened the sensitiveness. There was only
tangoos, their equivalent to our gut. Then having baited, and using
no float, they flung out the bait so far that it carried the little rod out
also. Then waiting till the bait had reached the bottom, which was
there some 33 feet, they drew in the running line till they recovered
the little rod, and thus secured a taut tangoos between the little rod
and the bait. You might gain the same end by having a very light
ring at the tip and letting the line run through till you had got the
right length, and then stopping it with the hand. When a bite came
you could see every movement of it indicated by the sensitive top of
the little rod, which was in effect their float. You could feel it also
coming down the exquisitely light rod, but they went by sight. With
this rod they struck hard with the whole arm. There was no fear of
a break, as it yielded so easily, and a hard strike was in consequence
necessary. If the fish was small they played it with this light rod. If
it was large they flung' in the light rod, and took up the butt, and
playejj the fish from that, the light rod then becoming only a part
of the running line, and disappearing under water during the play.

198 Bottom Fishing for Labeo. CHAP. xm.

They used a No. 9 Limerick hook and a very light sinker. But I
do not see that it need affect the principle whether you follow their plan
or ours in the size of hook and manner of weighting. They said they
caught fish up to 20 Ibs. in this way, and they were catching fish by this
method when, from the waves, we could do nothing at all with the
detective float. Still, when there was no wave a detective float, even
at the depth of 30 feet, beat them more than twelve to one, fishing
near each other.

They also used a second unbaited hook hanging free from a separate
tangoos about an inch below the baited hook. It is the counterpart of
the plan mentioned at page 56 of "Tank Angling." In consequence
of there being no Rohu in Southern India, and other Labeos being,
even in the rains, more subtle biters than the Rohu, that bare second
hook has come to be generally used. And it cannot properly be called
stroke-hauling or snatching, for you can never see your fish to catch
him foul by sight, and consequently it can never be used without
the fish biting, and you never catch any but the individual fish that
is actually biting, and not even that anywhere foul about the body,
anywhere except in the mouth or close to the mouth. It is no more
unsportsmanly than the free hook at the tail of a spinning minnow, or
the flying mount of two or three trebles that whirls round and round
a spun bait and catches foul many a fish that has not actually taken
the bait in his mouth. It is less so from the free hook in paste
baiting never coming into play till the bait has actually been taken
into the fish's mouth and the biting has continued for some time, and
it is never relied on to vary the time of striking and to strike other-
wise than with a view to catching on the baited hook. I have known
the fish bite so warily that a party of four rods in four days could not
catch a single fish except on this extra hook. It is such peculiar
fishing that makes the extra hook at such times allowable. I see
from newspaper notices that it has equally been used by English
sportsmen as well as natives in Northern India, where the bites are
often much freer than in the South. And so it comes that honest
anglers have asked me to say for it what can properly be said for
it as fair fishing.

Instead of one free hook one inch below the bait as in " Tank
Angling," it is now preferred to use two at a distance of two inches.
Two No. o Limerick hooks are knotted together by the gut being

CHAP. xiii. Fishing for Labeo in Rivers. 199

passed twice through the eyes and then tied in a slip knot, so that
when pulled home the hooks must lie back to back. To prevent
their standing out they are then whipped back to back with silk.
With a clear space of two inches above them on the same gut is
the No. o Limerick hook for the bait. When the gut is well soaked
and soft, the double hook at the tail is concealed in the mud from
lying flat at the bottom, which a treble hook could not do.

Another difficulty has been the fishing in rivers. Mr. J. S. Aldwell
tells me he has succeeded with the Naraini, which, from his description
of it, as having red fins and tail, and a fimbriated mouth — i.e., a mouth
with a frilled edge — would seem to be one of the Labeos. He took
them as much as 2 feet long, and thick fish, in the running water below
the Okhla weir, with thread weed, on a No. 4 Limerick hook, without
float or sinker, working it up and down near the surface, and striking
sharp on their biting. There was at the time only a little stream, the
sluices being all closed. Others say the Naraini is the Mirgha. I
have had no opportunity of identifying the fish under the vernacular
name. Possibly the Hyderabad plan above given might also serve in
rivers. It is in rivers that they have beaten us hitherto.

Anglers who know their fish well enough by their vernacular names
do not always know the scientific equivalent, and as vernacular names
are often used somewhat laxly, and differ with localities, it is not
always easy to connect them with the right fish without seeing the
fish oneself and identifying it. Thus I found the vernacular name
Rahu, Rohu, and Rohi, used indifferently in Northern India, to
include sometimes Mirgha and Kalbans, and I was told it was also
loosely used to cover all large carps except the Mahseer, as Kendai
is in Tamil. I was puzzled, too, about Kalbans till I found it was
the popular abbreviation of the more correct Kalabans, the n in
Kalbans being silent. Hence Labeo calbasn.

If you use the soft lead wire sinker advised in " Tank Angling,"
page 30, you will need the long shank of the Limerick hook ; but
if you dispense with a sinker then the Rohu hooks made by Messrs.
S. Allcock & Co. of Redditch, and figured at page 123 supra, are built on
purpose for you.

I have said in " Tank Angling " that 30 yards of running line was
ample, but I did not then know of Rohu and Catla running up to
the size they do as capturable by this style of fishing. I should

200

Bottom Fishing for Labeo.

CHAP. XIII.

now say 150 yards would be better. The tussa silk line recommended
being only one-thirty-second part of an inch in diameter it does

not take a large winch to hold it.
Say 3!- inches in diameter.

For this style of fishing I cannot
improve on the line or the dressing
there given. I can only add that the
varnish is not everlasting, and that
when it is worn out the tussa silk line
will recur to thoughts of untwisting.
It is a simple matter to re-waterproof
it. If you use a heavier line it will
weight your float, and you will lose
sensitiveness. Still, these lines are
not suitable to spin with, as they
kink too much.

With fish running large, and
the line always necessarily so
fine that there can never be
much margin of strength to
spare, one is particularly jealous
of any weakening, however slight
and gradual, and the knot by
which the detective float (" Tank
Angling," pp. 26, 27) is fixed in
position having perhaps a slight
tendency in that direction, it is a
question whether the marginally
illustrated adaptation of the Not-
tingham plan is any advantage.

The stop is a bit of a match with the edges rounded off, the knot a
double hitch. As I had left India before I thought of it I have not

CHAP. xiii. A Big Fish on a Light Rod. 201

been able to submit it to the test of thorough personal trial, as I like to
do, before commending anything to my readers. If it is no improve-
ment then it must be accepted that our good little detective float is too
true a friend to be dropped for this minor suspicion of a drawback.
The india-rubber caps used in roach fishing are not likely to be of any
use, both because india-rubber perishes so rapidly in an Indian sun,
and because the float is not suited to their use.

In "Tank Angling" it was rather a presumption (pp. 13, 14) than
an ascertained fact, as it now is, that the Rohu, the Mirgha, and the Catla
could be taken by the same methods as the Labeo of Southern India
better than by the rougher methods formerly followed. Rohu and
Catla have also been taken with small fish, spoon, and Phantom, and
Catla are said to be very destructive to small fish. But paste is the
standard bait.

For Catla the following remarks by F. R. O. G. are worth con-
sidering and experimenting upon : —

" I had been fishing with little result, and had gone to observe some
natives who were fishing near. I saw they were tearing their hair over
something and soon saw the cause. It was evident to me by the large
bubbles that a Catla was around ; they saw too that a fish was there,
but what fish they did not know, and so they went fishing along, bait on
the ground, and getting nothing but nibs as the soldiers did (p. 5 1 in your
book). Now for a Catla one must, I think, fish with the bait off the
ground, for his mouth would seem to be formed to take bait from above
and not off the ground. At any rate I called for my rod, quietly shortened
the depth and caught that Catla at once. That was the only one I got
last year, for they do not seem to come to ground bait as other fish do ;
that also would be accounted for if my theory is correct that they do not
feed off the ground."

I have only taken them myself when fishing on the ground for
Labeos. But one foul-hooked about an inch behind the eye, showed
from the position of the hook that he must have been over the bait,
head downwards and tail upwards, trying to take the bait off the
ground in that uneasy fashion. Being 22 Ibs., and hooked as he was,
and on a rod weighing only 8 ozs., he was as good as a 44 Ibs. fish on
such a rod, and showed good sport, which seemed to be much enjoyed
by a big gallery.

Ringol rods are the better for being oiled when laid by, not
varnished, as otherwise they are apt to split during the hot winds.

2O2 Bottom Fishing for Labeo. CHAP. xin.

The oil dilutes the cobbler's wax on the whipping of the rings and
top. You will do well, therefore, to first dress the whipping only
with liquid glue, or with sealing-wax melted in spirits of wine. If
thin it will penetrate and bind the whipping as well as protect it.

The cased rod-top ring, recommended for Mahseer, should be used
in this fishing also, as I have had a brass one cut in such grooves by a
single 24 Ibs. Catla that the line hitched in the grooves.

For paste bait I would add to the recipe given at page 34 of
"Tank Angling," that the ground nut should be ground very fine,
and bran omitted. You will then get a bait of the consistency of
fresh putty.

With a good tough putty-like paste there is no necessity for mixing
cotton with the paste, as some advocate. I dislike it myself, because
some of it remains on the hook every time you strike, till you very
soon get a bale of it hanging about the barb.

In Northern India wheat flour is to be got in any village bazaar, as
it cannot be in Madras. Therefore, while the above recipe may be
retained for the Madras Presidency, I was converted in Northern
India to wheat flour, and saw it well made up as follows.

Recipe. — Mix wheat flour and water into a good stiff dough, as if
for making pastry ; roll it into a ball, and put it into a pot of boiling
water over a quick fire, and boil briskly from twenty minutes to half
an hour, probing with a fork or skewer to see if it is agglutinized or
sticky inside. When it is, take out the lump, and, when cool enough,
knead it very thoroughly. The result will be a very stiff and white
paste. Add any scenting matter. But it may be made too stiff, the
hook not passing through it readily enough to hook the fish. When
it is so stiff that it does not fall off the hook on striking for a fish,
it is too stiff. This fault can easily be remedied at the waterside by
kneading it up with a little more water.

I am told linseed, well roasted whole, and mixed in balls in clay,
makes a good, strong-smelling ground bait, and that linseed cake, well
roasted, may be used in the same way. The latter is Tisi-ka-kalli.

I have found that bran and asafoetida mixed, and used as a ground
bait while fishing, acted excellently.

You will remember that Rohu and others can be caught by day or
dusk or night with a ground line, as mentioned in Chapter X., p. 145?

CHAP. xiii. Seasons for Fishing. 203

Season. — I was told by what was considered the best authority
that the season for this fishing in Tirhoot is from July i to November 15,
the very best months being September and October, and the time
before September being better than that after October, though it was
also possible to have sport in the cold season. For the Punjab I was
told, again on good authority, that from April i to the end of October
was good. The natives about Calcutta mostly leave off fishing at the
end of September. I had sport myself at Rohtak in the middle of
November with Mirgha; but all fish had a good deal gone off the
feed, Rohu and some others entirely, and it certainly was past the
season.

For the Madras Presidency, March to October, with May and
June for preference. Only on occasional warm days will you do any
good in December, which is rough, as that is when Madrassees get
their annual holidays.

For Okhla the following were given me as suitable times, and were
taken by a good fisherman not from lax memory, but from a written
record of his bags. Mahseer commence at the end of February, the
earliest noted being the i2th, 2oth, and 26th of February. Batchwa. —
A few by the end of February, March better, April shows heavy bags.
Moh. — End of April and beginning of May. Tengara. — Middle of
March. Bouli or Bawali. — End of February. Silund and Catla. —
Middle of March and beginning of April. Kalbans. — Beginning of
April. By the first week in June the river generally gets flooded,
when fishing ceases.

I quote the following exactly as it has been kindly written for me,
without any personal knowledge of my own : —

" Take a bamboo sufficiently long for the thinner part of it to project
three or four feet above water while the lower part is firmly stuck into
the bottom of the tank at a convenient casting distance from the place
where you propose to fish. At a suitable depth, say half way down the
bamboo, bind water weeds round it so as to form a cushion. Outside this
put a handful of worms, wrapping soft string round so as to bind them
firmly to the cushion. You have then a ball with worms outside and weeds
inside which keep the worms from being crushed against the bamboo.

" Now adjust your line so that the baited hook shall be exactly on a
level with the ball of worms, and have the bamboo stuck into the place
previously selected by you. It will at once be surrounded by shoals of chilwas
and other small fish, but it will not be long before the Rohu make their

204 Bottom Fishing for Labeo. CHAP. xin.

appearance. This will be notified by the bamboo jigging to and fro as
the fish tug at the worms. Now is your time. Having put a worm on
your hook drop it very gently as close to the bamboo as you can. ' Aha ! '
thinks Mr. Rohu, * here's a worm got loose at last,' and he bolts it in-
continently. Then get him away from the bamboo as soon as you can,
both to avoid fouling your line and to keep the other fish from being
frightened.

" When the bamboo ceases to jig it is a sign either that all the worms
are gobbled up, or that the fish have gone off the feed. Pull up the bamboo
and in the former case prepare a fresh ball of worms. In the latter case
either give up fishing for the day or pitch the bamboo again as far as
possible from its first location, so that you may have a chance of attracting
fresh guests.

" The dodge is much practised by Bengalis and is very killing. You
can see at a glance when fish are on the feed, and your risk of having the
bait stolen is very small. I especially recommend it to anglers who,
unlike my friend Blank, have not the patience to sit for hours at a time
waiting for a bite."

Another, while confirming the above generally, adds the rider that
the plan is useless unless there is fresh water in the tank from rain.
This I can well imagine, because it would be in rainy weather only
that worms would naturally come to the surface of the soil and be
washed into the water, and fish be expecting them. In the dry
weather they would naturally lie deep in the soil. They do so in
England, much more must they do it in the tropics.

Worms dug up from damp soil near a water channel, e.g., at
Rohtak, were as large as English lob worms and very tough, but got
very flabby the next day. They haven't the stamina of a Britisher.
They were shown me as a bait used for Wallago attii and Tengara.
Why not for Rohu also, according to this plan ? Would it not be a
sort of magnum bonum plum to him ? At any rate a magnum. Tastes
differ !

'Weather. — Changes of weather are also factors ; cold winds, and
thunder, and impending rain having, even in the height of the season,
the same unappetizing effect on all Indian fish, from the Mahseer
downwards, as one recognizes in England, though they will bite well
when the rain is falling heavily. An occasional warm day will
sometimes bring you fair sport when it is otherwise too late to
expect it.

Seeing how fish are off the feed for days and months together,

CHAP. xiii. Professional Diners Out. 205

and then suddenly ravenous on a change of weather, a fisherman's
wife remarked that it was very lucky the gentlemen were not the
same, or it would be very difficult to cater.

I have come to the conclusion that the bite varies much more
with the weather than with the place being much fished; indeed,
I doubt if the latter has anything to do with it in the case of these
particular fish. If anything much fishing rather benefits these adept
thieves than otherwise. Just look at the amount of bait that is given
them gratis by one of your promiscuous fishermen, who fishes not
specially, as for Labeo, but as if all fish were alike, and all paste bait
fishing the same. I have seen such an one getting splendid oppor-
tunities, but persisting in fishing as if for roach. Of course the fish
were having a rare old time of it stealing his bait, and like so many
professional diners-out, getting their dinner for nothing. Like them
too, doubtless, if we only knew, they complacently recall its quality :
" The soup was good, the fish was good, the entrees were good, the
joint was good, everything was good, the liquor, etc., etc., but the host
was an ass." The percentage of fish killed to fish fed is, with the
promiscuous man, very small. He thinks he is fishing, but practically
he is only ground baiting !

When choosing your place for ground baiting, especially if you
are going to have a stand erected, it is well to note whether the water
will be under the lee of the bank, so as to have the minimum of ripple,
and whether you will have the glint of the evening sun off the water
in your eyes. Both matters interfere with sport. If the wind or
the shade shifts in the course of the day, ground bait two places
on opposite sides of the reservoir.

A Calcutta fisherman writes: "As regards a level bottom for fishing,
we obviate the difficulty by sending down a diver ; he takes four annas
and levels your ground."

I have found my tackle-box very convenient for bottom fishing.
It is strongly made of f-in. teak planking, so as to form also a con-
venient seat at the same time as you have under you the means of
readily replacing breakages. You will find it in the Chapter on
Tackle.

In striking I do not use only the wrist, as I might with trout
or roach, nor do I use only wrist and elbow ; but I strike with one
arm from the shoulder, simultaneously using the muscles and joints

206 Bottom Fishing for Labeo. CHAP. xm.

of the shoulder, of the elbow, and of the wrist, and thus, I believe,
accelerating the stroke by three concurrent means. This was N.'s
manner of striking, the N. mentioned in " Tank Angling " as a very
professional at Labeo fishing, and when I see a thing pay, as it did
with him, I copy it.

I am told by a member of it that the Calcutta Angling Club have
turned into their tanks twenty-five thousand fry of Rohi, Mirgha, and
Catla from about 4 to 6 inches long at Rs. 6 a thousand, and have
killed in those ponds, which are preserved by them, Rohi up to
21-^- Ibs. and 22^ Ibs., and Catla up to 19 Ibs. A pleasing record.

Their former rule was that all fish under 3 Ibs. were to be returned
to the water. They have now altered it to all fish under 1 6 inches in
length. They did so on October 28, 1895, while my letter, advising
them to take that very step because of the difficulty of gauging 3 Ibs.
without weighing, was dated from England October 29, and I had
been thinking of them the day before. One of them calls it telepathy.
At any rate, I may say with Horace : Utrumque nostrum incredibili
modo consentit astmm. Quczre, had Horace any hazy ideas of the
brain wave and telepathy ?

CHAPTER XIV.
FRESHWATER SHARKS.

" FALSTAFF : If the young dace be a bait for the old pike, I see no reason in the
law of nature but I may snap at him."

HENRY IV. 2nd Part.

Wallago attu.

Wallago attu (Tamil, Vale ; Gwali, Punj. ; Hindustani, Bawali,
Boali ; Latchi and Mulley, and Bawari of Tirhoot ; Lanch and Lanchi,
of Deoli ; Assamese, Baralie) has been treated as a pond fish in " Tank
Angling," because he is seldom fished for in rivers, Mahseer there
claiming prior attention, and is always present in reservoirs that are
river fed. But he has therein been treated with scant courtesy because
he came in our way when better employed with Labeo, and when so
employed I would not advise any other way of fishing for him than I
have therein set down. But if you prefer to devote yourself entirely to
him, or come on a reservoir, as I have, where the circumstances were
not suitable to labeos, and there didn't seem to be any, you may have
very good sport out of him by substituting your light labeo rod for your
pike or salmon rod, and spinning with a small fish the size of your
forefinger, or even with a small i| inch spoon. With such light tackle
they give excellent sport, as I found in a reservoir shown me by
Mr. H. S. Dunsford, and induced, as I was, to try it by the record of
his bags. Between 9 A.M. and 10.30 A.M., he killed n, weighing
together 4olbs., the biggest being lolbs. After breakfast he killed 9
more, weighing 45 Ibs., the three biggest fish being i2lbs., lolbs., and
81bs. Then trying another pond he took 12 more weighing 30 Ibs.,
which makes a total for the day on one rod of 32 Wallago attu, or as
they are called in those parts, Mulley, weighing 115 IbS'. Half of these
were caught on a i? inch spoon, half on fish. In another place he

208 . Freshwater Sharks. CHAP. xiy.

took 27 fish weighing 70 Ibs. on live bait, hooked only through the
nose, and pulled slowly along, sometimes on the bottom. Also 2 rods
killed 1 30 Ibs. in one day. These good bags were made in May and
June, but even as late 'as mid-November I have had very fair sport
with them at Kurkonda, when I was agreeably surprised by the amount
of play one of n Ibs. showed on a 10 ft. labeo rod, with fine tussa silk
labeo line. He had it all his own way till he had some 50 yards of
line out, and then fought gamely against coming in.

In the same chapter of " Tank Angling " I have descanted at some

length on wire as preferable to gimp

~~~ or gut for this fishing. That may

'* all now be thrown aside as ancient

*^ history, since the yearning after a
4/0 ^ good wire trace, started in India,

^-§ has found an echo in England, and
3/0 tackle-makers have given their atten-

IC!^ tion to it, so that excellent spinning
/i ^ traces are now to be had of several

makers. The best preparation of
wire that I have seen is the " patent
rust proof wire gimp" of Messrs.
S. Allcock & Co., Redditch. It
is pliable and composed of a com-
pound of metals that do not rust.
From the sizes illustrated, and the
breaking strain as under, you can
choose the thickness you prefer. I
should say No 2/0 with a breaking
strain of 25 Ibs. would be the most generally useful. It is cheap, about
two or three pence a yard, and you can mount your hooks on it as well
as have traces of it.

Breaking strain 8 12 21 25 30 40 60 .. .. Ibs.
Gimp No. . 5/0 4/0 3/0 2/0 1/01234

But the makers are wholesale manufacturers only, so you cannot buy
of them in retail. Your tackle shop will manage that for you.

Freshwater sharks will also take a dead bait on a gorge hook, as
figured in the Chapter on Eels.

CHAP. XIV.

Pike-gag and Disgorge?:

209

It is to Dr. Collis I believe that we owe the first idea of
wire traces for Mahseer fishing. Palmam qui meruit ferat.

For the small fish of a forefinger in length the Richmond
or Coxon spinners may be used trout size, mounted on No. 4/0
wire gimp with No. 9 treble hooks. But if you prefer a bigger
bait you can use the same spinners as tied for Mahseer on
No. 2/0 wire gimp.

For Wallago attu a gaff is specially useful. You have your
choice above at page 19. So is a rod rest when fishing with
live bait. See page 142 supra.

However dead the fish may seem, never dream of attempting
to take out your hooks
without securing yourself
against his closing his awful
jaws on you, by firmly
wedging his mouth open
with a log, or stone, or
gag. And a disgorger will
be found useful.

Season and Wea-
ther.— As far as my own
experience goes Siluroids
and Murrel follow the
same habits In relation to
seasons and weather as do
other Indian fish, taking generally best in the warm season
and on warm days, and not as pike, in the winter. On this
head Yuba Bill's remarks under Goonch may be referred to.

Bagarius Yarrellii.

This fish has improperly got into " Tank Angling." He is
essentially a river fish, so I will bring him back again into this
volume.

Bagarius Yarrellii is another predatory monster siluroid, big
enough surely to satisfy any one. The one shown in the
annexed woodcut scaled 136 Ibs., and was 5 feet 8 inches long
from the lip to the end of the tail, and 5 feet to the fork of the

THE ROD IN INDIA. P

210

Freshwater Sharks.

CHAP. XIV.

tail ; the circumference of the head being 3 feet 4 inches. The
marginal drawing is taken from a photograph kindly given me by
Mr. Cyril Kirkpatrick, and the fish was caught by his friend Mr. Van
Cortland, in the Jumna, at Okhla, at the head works of the Agra
canals, on the evening of the nth May, 1875. The history of the
capture is given in the Field of 24th July, 1875. It would seem that

it took a Rohu, or labeo rohita, "of 12 or i4lbs." which was hooked
foul and being played, and ejected it as fish will, in the effort to get
rid of the hook, while being played. As it is probably the largest fish
yet caught with a rod and line in India, I must present a plate giving a
side view of it. Plate XL The Plate was originally copied by
permission from Dr. Day's work.

CHAP. xiv. The Goonch. 211

The Punjab name is Goonch.

Mr. Cyril Kirkpatrick has kindly given me the following bag, taken
from his note-book, which is reliably exact, the facts having been
recorded at the time. The fish were caught in his company by
Mr. Aldwell.

i6th March, 1881, 134, 103, 94, 87, 79, 18 Ibs. = 515 Ibs.

20th „ „ 74, 63, sii, 4of, 2i£lbs. = 250^ Ibs.

27th „ „ 721,63 Ibs. = 135! Ibs.

loth April, „ 164 Ibs. = 164 Ibs.

i.e., in four days on i rod fourteen fish weighing 1065 Ibs.

They wanted to clear them out, because they were troublesome
when Mahseer fishing, sulking and smashing tackle. Therefore they
used the strongest of tackle, a male bamboo or ringol, on which they
played them till they sulked, and then they simply hauled them out,
hand over hand, on a cord as thick as a pencil.

Then followed in the note-book the entries : —

1 5th April, 1 2 Ibs.
24th „ 12, 15 Ibs.

And then the remark " no more caught that season," from which it
would seem that they had succeeded fairly well in clearing out " the
sulking brutes."

Here a communication to the Asian of 27th February, 1883, by
Yuba Bill will interest my readers : —

" I am much obliged to ' Rod ' for his kindly notice ot my inquiries
regarding Goonch in the penultimate issue of the Asian. The fish to
which I alluded is, as he suspects, the Bagarius Yarrellii shown in plate 18,
(now xi) facing page 170 (now 209) of The Rod in India,' and the place is
Okhla, seven miles from Delhi.

" I generally find the Goonch occupying the very head of a rapid ; they
lie motionless with apparently no effort in the white water among the
boulders at the foot of a smooth incline down which the water rushes with
immense force through the open sluices of the weir. Some idea .may be
formed of the strength of the stream from the fact that the river Jumna,
which is at this point about three quarters of a mile wide, is artificially
narrowed by a bund to a width of about thirty yards, this being the length
of the weir through which nearly the whole volume of water has to pass

P 2

212 Freshwater Sharks. CHAP, xiv

when the sluices heading the Agra Canal just above the weir are closed.
The monster weighing 136 Ibs. caught by Mr. Van Cortland was, I believe,
caught in the white water of the rapid, or just below it in the full strength
of the stream, and I have frequently seen a Goonch take my spoon or
minnow here as soon as it touched the water.

" They lie very often with their backs just out of water and are easily
shot with a bullet. Mr. Cyril Kirkpatrick, with whom I have more than
once fished at this place, and in whose company I hope to do so again

before many days are over, can corroborate my experiences on this point.
******

" With reference to ' Rod's' first letter in the Asian of the I3th instant,
on the effects of temperature, I have generally found that in the cold^eason
predatory fish do not take freely, at least in tanks.

" My experience of river fishing in the cold season is very liiL^/cl, and
T have only noticed personally one exception to this which occurred on
the 1 7th, 1 8th, and igth of February last year. I fished on those dates
in a tank in the Hissar district from I P.M. to 4 P.M., and killed respectively
eight, six, and one fish of the Wallago attu species with a spoon as big
as a dessert spoon, silver plated on both sides. These fish ran from 3 Ibs.
to 15 Ibs., average weight 6^ Ibs.

" I had in the month of June in the preceding year killed one hundred
and twenty-five of these fish in three days with spoon and minnow, but
they only averaged 3 Ibs. as the tank was very much overstocked with
them and they were probably half starved. This thinning out of them
evidently improved their size very rapidly, as only eight months elapsed
between the two occasions, and it evidently shows that these fish grow
at a most astounding rate when able to obtain plenty of food.

" The days in February above quoted were bitterly cold, especially the
17th, on which I killed eight fish, in fact so cold, after heavy rain a day
or two before, that, although I had shot on foot along a ten mile stage
from 8.30 A.M. till midday, I was shivering when I arrived at my camp.

" I do not think, however, that the habits of predatory fish in tanks
afford anything like an accurate test of the same fish in rivers.

"On the nth of this month I fished at Okhla in a cold wind but a
hot sun, and did not rise a fish though I saw a few, all of predaceous species,
rising at about 3.30 P.M., and the belief is general, so far as I can discover,
among fishermen in the Punjab, that the cold season is not suitable for
fishing even when the water is in good order, as it generally is at that
season in this part of India.

"YUBA BILL."

"Delhi, 22nd February, 1883."

Mr. Cyril Kirkpatrick also prefers the shallow at the head of the
white water for these fish, where, letting the bait down the white water,

CHAP. xiv. Goonch and Sinnun. 213

the Goonch takes it for some exhausted fish that has failed to get past
the shutters and is falling back. He also has a preference for a good
stout cord that you can haul on to, so as not to waste time or try tackle
over their sulking. Others have similarly caught them for the purpose
of getting them out of the way for their Mahseer fishing, as they would
break Mahseer tackle.

I have also seen them taken in the still water of the pool below the
sluice runs at Narora.

The flesh of the Goonch is yellow, and the natives are very partial
to it.

The' tackle may be the same as dressed for Mahseer on wire gimp
No. 2/0, unless you mean to haul them out hand over hand, when the
gimp should be stronger. For strength, see page 208 and make your
choice.

Silundia Gangetica.

The capturers of the monster Bagarius mention in the Asian of the
8th of June, 1880, having caught another large Siluroid at the same
place, Okhla, near Delhi, while spinning a tin minnow : " It was very
game and fought splendidly, making one magnificent rush of over
80 yards, and being gaffed cleverly by a friend after about three-
quarters of an hour's anxious play, and before it was quite done up.''
It weighed 42 Ibs. and was 39 inches long without, and 47 with the tail.
The native name is given as Sinnun or Silun. Day says it attains to
6 feet or more in length, and is to be found in the estuaries to nearly
the sources of the rivers of India and Burmah.

Mr. Cyril Kirkpatrkk tells me that this fish is a very game one,
fighting well, and that he fishes for it in the same water as for the
Goonch, but for the Silun in the whitest deep water, and in the
strongest stream, while he fished the shallow of the white water for
the Goonch. He says its colour is golden, like the Mahseer, when
coming out of the water, but quickly fading, the fish becoming blue-
backed with a white stomach. It is scaleless. Its formula will be
given below. The bait is a spoon or fish, but I have a note of one of
1 2 Ibs. having been taken on a Mahseer fly at Okhla in May, of which
also it is honourably recorded on separate testimony that it " fought
magnificently,"

214 Freshwater Sharks. CHAP. xiv.

In Southern India I have not come across either of these two last
fish, but that is only negative evidence, and though Wallago attu is
much more common in the South, Dr. Day informs us that the other
two are also to be found there.

Macrones seenghala.

The Tengara is another of the Siluroids much quoted by anglers.
But Tengara seems to be a name somewhat loosely used, as are so
many vernacular names, not by Europeans only, but by sporting natives
also. And it is not to be wondered at, as so many of the Siluroids are
so much alike that a case of " mistaken identity " is very easy. I have
myself taken two Tengaras in a day, and two Batchwas, and more than
one Pupta. " I think there be six Richmonds in the field," and anglers
may possibly complain that I have not included their own particular
Tengara under the names Macrones seenghala^ and M. aor, which are
"very closely allied and chiefly distinguished by the much shorter
maxillary barbels of M. seenghala"

They are said to run to " a considerable size " and to be good
eating, therein running the Batchwa close.

They are best taken with a small live bait picketed at the bottom,
very good business having been done by a friend with one of 2! inches,
baited on a single lip hook, as any heavier tackle would kill so small a
bait. And I have myself taken them at Narora anicut spinning with a
small Mugil casca sia of 3 or 3^ inches, as for Seetul, at the bottom, with
constant waits, and especially in a run, or at the edge of a run, but
always on the bottom.

Order. PHYSOSTOMI.

Family. SILURID^E.

Genus. WALLAGO.

Wallago attu. B. xix.— xxi., D. 5, P. 1/13-15, V. 8-10, A. 86-93 (^^),
C. 17, Vert. 13-56.

Genus. BAGARIUS.

Bagarius Yarrellii. B. xii., D. |/o, P. 1/12, V. 6, A. 13-15 (-^j),
C. 17.

Genus. SILUNDIA.

Silundia Gangetica. B. xi.-xii., D. y/o, P. 1/11-13, V. 6, A. 40-46

CHAP. xiv. Other Siluroids. 215

Genus. MACRONES.

Macrones seenghala. B. xii., D. |/o, P. 1/9, V. 6, A. 11-12 (~), C.
19-21.

Upper surface of head granulated in ridges. Habitat: The Indus,
salt ranges of the Punjab, Jumna, and Ganges, certainly as low as Delhi,
also the Deccan, Kristna river to its termination, and Assam.

M. aor. B. xii., D. i/o, P. 1/9-10, V. 6, A. 12-13 (£=*), C. 17. Through-
out Sind and India to Burmah.

The Kors (Assamese name) mentioned by Mr. J. E. Welborne, of
Assam, as running within his observation to 60 Ibs., and his hearsay to
100 Ibs., and the Poongah (Assamese), seen weighing about 20 Ibs., and
both to be caught with live bait in the still deep waters of the Assam
rivers, are from his description in the Asian evidently Siluroids, but
which of them it is not possible to say without seeing them.

Mr. Welborne's plan is, in pools of 30 feet deep, if possible, using
for preference a | Ib. live bait, and even up to \ lb., with one treble
hook beneath the back fin, and one hanging free below the stomach,
and an ounce sinker 2 feet from the bait, and the bait about 3 feet from
the bottom of the river, to hang the line, taut from the rod top, over the
side, and let the boat be carried down the gentle stream from the head
to the tail of the pool ; which done, you may work up the edge of the
pool and repeat the operation. He has also killed with the spoon.
He thought the afternoon fishing the best. (Asian, 22nd July, and
2nd September, 1879).

I have given his method because he says he has been successful
with it, and I do not profess to know the fish or the rivers he writes of.
But it would seem to me that the bait must hang very near the boat,
which, to a fish below, must be a great dark object looming against the
light, and not exactly attractive, an objection easily obviated by the use
of a large float or bung, or a string of two or three bottle corks, which
would equally suspend the weighted line and bait, and also allow of its
being kept well free of the boat some 20 or 30 yards down stream.
Also the Jardine live bait tackle might be substituted with advantage.
You will find it in the Index.

CHAPTER XV.
THE SEETUL, BATCHWA AND OTHERS.

"I care not I to fish in seas,
Fresh rivers best my mind do please."

ISAAK WALTON.

SINCE writing my last edition of this book, and since the birth of
" Tank Angling," I have made the personal acquaintance of the Seetul,
and have been so charmed- with my new friend that I must give him a
new chapter.

Let me formally introduce him as Notopterus chitala, called in
various vernaculars, Chitala, Chitul, Seetul, Moie, Mohi, Moh, Gunduny
and Bunnah in Tirhoot, attaining at least 4 feet in length.

Previously knowing them only by book and report, I first saw them
for myself at the Narora anicut. The water was alive with them, rolling
over on the surface, displaying their bright silvery sides, they are very
flat-sided as well as very silvery, and giving one the impression that
they were surface feeders. On that hypothesis therefore I fished for
them, and fished in vain. But there were some seven other good rods
there beside your humble servant, rods to whom the Seetul was no-
stranger, and one of them catching one I asked to see it. The
formation of the mouth made me mistrust the surface antics as play, '
not feeding, and conclude that feeding would ordinarily be at the
bottom. The size also of the mouth told again its own tale. The
mouth was remarkably small for so large a fish, indicating that the
natural food must be small. And the dentition was not formidable,
the teeth being viliform or file like. I took a look also at the tackle
with which my brother angler had caught the fish. But instead of
exactly copying it I had an idea I could manufacture something more
to the fancy of my new customer. So looking about me to try and
discover what it could be that my new friend was feeding on, I saw that

CHAP. xv. , Suiting a New Customer. 217

a small fish, averaging, tail included, not more than the length of my
middle finger, was running up the fish ladder in countless numbers. It
was captured and found to be Mugil cascasia, of which more anon. So
I then and there rigged up on single salmon gut fine spinning tackle of
one lip hook and one No. 6 treble with a sinker, and fished on the
bottom, pulling very slowly, and at short intervals letting the bait rest
for a minute or two on the bottom. I soon found that it was by a long
way a more killing bait than any one present was using. And they saw
it too in the proofs spread upon the shore, and they wanted to know
what it was, they who had caught Seetul for years, while I had never
seen them before in my life. Of course it was a pleasure to show them
every whit, with the why and the wherefore, though I had not presumed
to venture a hint till my experiment had proved a success. It was a
crow for this child. But nothing more, dear reader, than you or any
angler can do that will fish with his brains on a natural history basis,
observing his fish closely, and adapting his tackle to its special require-
ments, remembering that he cannot always expect Indian fish to
appreciate English tackle, not even the best of it, as they may have
idiosyncrasies of their own which must be humoured. Accordingly,
here I was trying for fish that I knew ran to 4 feet in length, that were
rolling and flashing in my sight showing off their great size and agility,
yet fishing with tackle such as would have been suitable in England for
a i Ib. trout, the gut only being stronger. Another thing I had expected
from the formation and armature of that mouth, namely, that the bite
would not, probably, be sudden like a pike's or a siluroid's. And so I
found it. Giving time by slow spinning and constant waits on the
bottomland using a sensitive rod, I found the bite was a gentle nibble,
not always followed by a run off with the bait. So I struck to the
nibble and it payed. It was promptly answered by a grand rush, my
silvery friend flinging his glistening sides with a bright flash high in air.
In the matter of play he was a magnified trout. Let me instance one.
He turned the scale at 16 Ibs. He was taken on a 14 feet double-handed
trout rod, that was exceptionally light and pliant for its length. With
it I could feel the gentlest nibble of a small-mouthed fish fumbling
over a bait which, though only three and a half inches long, was more
than a convenient mouthful. And when the grand rush came in
instant answer to the strike, how the rod bent and quivered and yielded,
seeming to gasp for breath at the pace at which the line flew out in

2lS

The Seetul, Batchwa and Others.

CHAP. xv.

spite of all the strain the rod could bear. Over and over rolled the
fish on the surface, just as when at play, exulting doubtless in his
strength, not dreaming what a serious game it was going to be for him.
Four feet in air leaped the burnished silvery athlete in his wrath, and
not once but again and again and again, each time dashing off with
a plunge as he regained his element. But the little rod held on
tenaciously, labouring hard the while. Brother anglers, viewing the
seemingly unequal struggle from a passing boat, called out in honest
sympathy : " Next time you come here you will bring stronger tackle."
" No," I shouted back, grimly confident of
conquest, "the sport is to kill him on this."
And so the fight went on till we " foiled his
wild rage by steady skill," " we," being my
pertinacious rod and I.

Geen's Richmond spinner, trout size, and
with hooks and gut mounted as for trout,
would suit this fishing. It is made a trifle
larger than the illustration, the actual size
being two inches long in the curved blade
including the swivel. Consequently it will
carry a dead bait of that length or an inch or
inch and a half longer. The hooks, though
of the same size, will be the better for being
Mahseer hooks No. 12, because then the
tackle can, on emergency, be available for
small Mahseer in mountain tributaries. If
you have not got such tackle by you, and
must rig up something impromptu, you may substitute a single vent
hook, as on page 68, but of No. 8 size treble, on salmon gut, with a
Dee sinker minnow size.

So game a fish was well worthy of more attention than I was able to
give him, and much I wish that I could have prolonged my stay in his
neighbourhood. Having by a glance at his mouth arrived at these
preliminaries and tested them successfully in practice, that the bait
should be small, and worked slowly, and at the bottom, and that the
strike should be made on the nibble or fumbling over getting the bait
into their mouth, I should much like to have been able to make other
experiments, advancing further on the lines of these discoveries. If a

CHAP. xv. Endeavour to Oblige Him. 219

i61b. fish preferred or needed, I think needed, to fumble over a
fish bait only 3! inches long, tail included, I should have liked to
try him with something still smaller, so as to test the question whether
it was the size of the bait that necessitated his attempting it in that
fashion, or whether it was his habit of feeding equally when the
bait was so small that he could easily take it in at a mouthful if he
wished.

It would seem at first sight that to picket a very small live bait on
the bottom, in the manner described for Mahseer, would be successful.
But I hardly think it would if you left it to look after itself, for these
fish do not seem to hook themselves by closing their mouth roughly on
your bait, but nibble at it and need that you should be handling your
rod ready to strike.

And what is this nibbling? May be it is the effort of a small-
mouthed fish to turn the prey in its mouth so as to be able to swallow
it head foremost. If so, perhaps a very small gorge hook, small enough
for a minnow bait, worked about the bottom, and even left to itself, if
they will take a dead bait, would be effective. If you have not such a
gorge hook at hand you can make a fair substitute out of a small eel
hook, or a single Limerick or treble, on gut for preference, weighted
and baited after the manner of gorge hooks with a baiting needle
inserted at the mouth and brought out at the tail, drawing the gut
after it till the hook is home to the mouth ; or you can use a dip
minnow.

But whether or not these suggestions will further advantage you,
this much we know that you will greatly increase your sport with these
fish by having regard to the lessons learnt from the size and situation
of the mouth.

Their habit of rolling over and over on the surface is remarkable.
Labeo have the same habit, except that with them you see only the
boil, while with the Seetul the whole glistening side, is displayed
flashing in the sunlight. I fancy it means jubilation. With Labeo it
always indicates that they are feeding, and it is strange that both should
come to the surface, when it is at the bottom that they are feeding. I
suppose it is not the hungry ones, but those intoxicated with good
feeding, like a colt too full of beans, that fling themselves about. I
have known even a human with just a touch of the same feelings, fling
himself into an easy-chair as he described his good dinner with a half

220 The- Seeing Batchwa and Others. CHAP. xv.

sigh of contentment : " A feeling of comfortable repletion, combined
with partial intoxication ! "

I have known them taken on a spoon too, and when I was at
Narora in mid-April they took best in the evening.

" Meade Shell," tells me they are to.be taken at Okhla also, and
grow to 80 Ibs. He adds : " It takes worm bait freely and can also be
taken with ,a leech. I should say it even grew to 4 or 5 ft. in length.
It has a habit of coming to the top of the water, and slowly turning
over, and exposing almost its whole length. When it has deposited
eggs it will sometimes give a native a sharp nip when bathing, should
he come too near the eggs."

Mr. Welborne in the Asian of 3oth March, 1880, says he is told it
attains a weight of about 40 Ibs. but the average size they are caught by
the Dhooms in their nets, would be probably about i81bs.

Dr. Day says " it attains at least 4 ft. in length," and inhabits " the
freshwaters of Sind, Lower Bengal, Orissa, Assam, Burmah and Siam to
the Malay Archipelago."

Dr. Hamilton Buchanan says of it : " The belly is uncommonly rich
and well-flavoured, but the back contains numerous small bones," and
Mr. Welborne writes : " It is not usually thought much of for the table
by Europeans, but the natives think highly of it, and I think they are
right, for I know nothing better in the fish line than the thin or belly
part of this fish fried ; the back or thick part I will admit to be uneat-
able. The thin part, when in condition, is covered with fat and very
rich and tasty."

A well-known angler writes me, I believe in all gravity : " The
Mohi can wriggle backwards with sufficient force to draw out a few
yards of line while gazing reproachfully at you, head on. He is the
only beast I know who can do this, and he looks rather uncanny during
the performance."

N.B.— The writer is a police officer, and the police you know
prefer that one should come along quietly and not make faces. So
take your pinch of Attic salt with this !

Its formula, taken from Dr. Day's " Fishes of India," is :

B. viii.-ix., D. 9-10 (£!), P. 16, V. 6, A. 110-125 (135). C. 12-14, L.I.
1 80. Caec. pyl., 2.

CHAP. xv. Freshwater Mullets. 221

Mugil cascasia.

You have been promised above that you should hear more of
Mugil cascasia. It is a small freshwater mullet that does not appear to
exceed 4 inches in length, but is a very important little body as a bait.
Dr. Day says its habitat is the " upper water of Ganges and Jumna
rivers, and certainly as low down as Patna, also in the Brahmaputra."
I have seen Mahseer taking it freely, laying wait for it at the top of
a fish ladder, and it is in such countless numbers that it may well form
the chief food of many fish, notably of the Batchwa. While they are
present in such numbers it is probable that a small spoon of 2 inches
would be a more effective lure in those parts than a larger one. I
know I thought myself at a disadvantage in this respect till I observed
it and changed to a small spoon.

When using it as a bait spin high with it for Batchwa and Cherki,
high and at mid-depth for Mahseer and Murrel, but at the bottom for
Seetul, Tengara, and Wallago attu and other siluroids.

It is considered bad eating, and is not to be confounded with
another freshwater mullet, Mugil corsula.

Mugil corsula.

Mugil corsula, which grows to a foot and a half or more in length,
has perhaps no proper place in a book on angling, but it has crept into
my notes because of its habit of swimming on the surface in shoals,
with its prominent eyes protruding above the water, and giving one the
delusive hope that it was a fly-taker, whereas it is so quick in observing
the angler, and diving down on seeing him, that Bevan recommends
shooting it with shot as the only means of capturing it. Having got
itself into my notes under such false pretences, it has only itself to
thank if I deliver it over to your cuisine, for I am told it is excellent
eating, especially in the form highly commended to me by an officer
who got his mess sergeant to write me out the following regimental
recipe.

" Recipe. — Clean the fish and remove the scales and backbone from
inside, not opening the back for the purpose. Soak for two hours in a
mixture of Worcester sauce one tablespoonful, juice of two limes, sugar
two teaspoonfuls, salt and pepper, constantly turning the fish meanwhile.

222 The Seetul, Batchwa and Others. CHAP. xv.

For the smoking process procure a sufficient quantity of shavings, scraped
off with a knife, from the sugarcane, the shavings to be wetted and put
on top of lighted charcoal, the fish on a grating (iron) about two inches
above the fire, and covered over with a degchie lid, or other contrivance
to prevent the exit of the smoke as much as possible. Smoke for about
one hour or until the colour of the fish is similar to that of the well-known
' dried sprat,' or a lightly browned 'red herring.' When required for
table fry lightly in butter."

The Batchwa.

The Batchwa is too sporting a fish to be omitted for the insufficient
reason' that my own personal knowledge of him is but small, for my
friends allow me to supplement my knowledge with theirs. He is also
excellent eating.

At Narora in April, I took the Batchwa (Pseudeufropins garud)
promiscuously with the Cherki (P. murius), and they are so alike that
many, I am told, do not distinguish between them. The river was
swarming with the little freshwater mullet, Mugil cascasia, mentioned
above, and so it was natural to use it as a bait. The largest of these
mullets did not exceed 4 inches in length, and I preferred one of 3^
inches for bait. I found it best to spin near the surface, using no
sinker. But my friends aforesaid, who are good authorities, Mr. Cyril
Kirkpatrick and Mr. H. S. Dunsford, told me that Batchwa fishing
differed with the season. In April they ran up to i|-lb., but in May
were in larger numbers at the Narora and Okhla anicuts, the bigger
ones being in mid-stream, the smaller ones in the eddies, the smaller
ones then taking a fly the size of a lake trout fly or bigger, say No. 9
to No. 4 Limerick, the bigger for choice, or a very small fish or spoon.
So freely do the smaller ones take the fly that on a cast of three it is
not unusual to take one on each fly. There is a curious consensus of
opinion in favour of the bigger hook on the ground of giving a better
hookhold, the Batchwa often getting off the smaller hooks. The
recognised colours of the flies are orange and black.

Batchwa are said to show sport from the i5th or end of March,
though an odd few may be caught even in February, till at least the
beginning of November, April and May being the best months, and
possibly they may take after November, but deponent cannot say.
They take in coloured snow-water, when Mahseer will not. On the

I!

o ^

5 ?
£ <-=

i!

w ^

vt

CHAP. xv. Batchwa Flies. 223

2 Qth May, two rods, Mr. Cyril Kirkpatrick and Mr. Aldwell, caught in
one afternoon 163, running about one pound each more or less. That
is about 80 Ibs. each in a short Indian afternoon with no lengthening
English twilight. You can hardly wish for anything much better.

Generally the fishing is at the surface, using no sinker with your
spinning bait. Only when the Batchwa do not show at the surface
should you fish three or four feet deep. Always spin in the rough
water and against the stream. When fly-fishing, if you cannot reach
them let the stream carry out your line till you can. They will not
take it going down, only when pulling it up, and they strike themselves
excellently.

After catching half-a-dozen or so examine your gut, as their teeth
are sharp and fray it, says my friend. This seems very troublesome,
and a very short life for a fly on gut. It suggests the idea of having a
few flies for Batchwa tied on No. 5/0 wire gimp. But it is a new
departure, and I am bound to tell you I have not tried it, as I have
everything else I recommend. It is merely a suggestion, for you to
experiment with or not as you fancy. Be plucky and try it on a few, as
I am in England and cannot try it for you ; and have the rest of your
order tied on eyed hooks, and attach them yourself with a short snood
of No. 5/0 wire gimp, or ask your tackle-man to so attach them for you,,
and if, on trial, you do not like the wire gimp, you can snip it off and
revert to short-lived gut snoods.

As the right way to lay hold of a pike is with a finger and a thumb
in each eye, so the right way to handle a Batchwa, Cherki, or Tengara
is with his head in your palm.

For those who like to distinguish between the Batchwa and the
Cherki I append the usual epitomized formulae taken from Dr. Day's
" Fishes of India."

Pseudeutropius gama. B. vi., D. y, P. i/n, V. 6, A. 29-36 (aoj •)>
C. 17. Found generally throughout the larger rivers of Sind, India, Assam,
and Burmah. Attains upwards of two feet in .length. Punia buchua^
(Dorian ; Puttosi, Beng. ; Buchua, Hind. ; Dhong-ga-nu, Sind ; (Kocha>
Teesta, H.B.).

P. murius. B. v., D. y/o, P. i/io, V. 6, A. 38-43 (3-^), C. 17.

Muri-vacha, Ooriah and Bengali ; Matusi, Beng. ; Buchua, Hind. ;
Ke-raad, Punj. ; Chhotkd vdchoyd, of the Kusi (H.B.).

Habitat: Rivers of Sind, Orissa, the Jumna, and rivers of Bengal and
Assam, attaining about six or eight inches in length.

224 The Seeing Batchwa and Others. CHAP. xv.

I have caught it larger.

The chief distinguishing points are, that in the mature Batchwa the
second adipose dorsal fin is wanting, and the feelers of the Batchwa are
longer than those of the Cherki.

The Pupta.

The Pupta, like the Tengara and the Batchwa, seems to have more
than one representative under the same name. Of one of them
Mr. Cyril Kirkpatrick says that it is a very good fly-taker indeed,
especially early in the season, before the Batchwa is up. He has
caught hundreds of them, almost entirely on the fly, but some few with
a small fish as bait, at Okhla near Delhi. One I caught at Bisalpore,
when fly-fishing for Barilius bola, and certified by a sporting native as
a pupta, was different from others equally so named. It is one of the
smaller siluroids, and another case of " many marching in his coats."

CHAPTER XVI.
THE MURRAL.

" Ah me ! what perils do environ
The man (? fish) that meddles with cold iron ! "

BUTLER'S Hudibras.

THE Murral or Marral, misspelt also marrel, murl, morrul, in the
various untutored efforts to transliterate the Hindustani name, is
the Ophiocephalus, or snake-headed, of Ichthyologists, and the Viral,
misspelt Verarl of Tamil, Hal Mars of Assam, and Owlu minu, I am
told, of Coorg ; and, to make all sure, here's his honour's likeness.

I have been much exercised by this fish as to what is his proper
place, whether in this book or in " Tank Angling." I think the latter
has the stronger claims on him, for though he is in every river, he is
also in every reservoir ; not only because he enters them voluntarily
when they are river fed, but also because natives esteem him such
good eating, and find him so easy of transport, by reason of his being
so tenacious of life out of water, that they have introduced him into
every pond, fort-moat, or other reservoir in their neighbourhood, and
even into wells. Once introduced they will survive the annual drying-
up of a tank by sestivating, as will be seen below. So I think this
fish should be relegated to " Tank Angling."

But as I have been charged, and I fear I must admit rightly charged,
with having therein treated him with little ceremony, I will here
endeavour to atone, adding only such matter as has been omitted from
"Tank Angling," and should appear in the next edition of it, and
referring my reader for the rest to that book.

It is a funny compound, is the scientific name of this fish, and is
illustrative of many another scientific name, see p. 172, supra, for
which, by the way, I am not presuming to blame any one, but rather

THE ROD IN INDIA. Q

226 The Murral. CHAP. xvi.

apologizing for the necessity which, in the interest of identification
and advance in knowledge, is wisely laid on every Ichthyologist to
follow the name given by the first sponsor. So we have the name
of the genus in Greek, Ophiocephalus, or snake-headed, and of one
species, O. micropeltes, small-shielded, the name of the species also
is correspondingly in Greek; then we have O. leucopunctatus, white-
spotted, with the first half of the compound word leucopunctatus Greek,
the second half Latin; and "in O. marulius we have the Hindustani
word marral, Latinized.

However, his acquaintance is worth cultivating, for he grows to
2 and 3 feet in length, and is not bad eating. He is as full of bones
as a pike, but then he ought to be brought to table as full of stuffing
also, so that you may be of a forgiving disposition.

He is very like a pike in more ways than one. He is long-shaped
like a pike ; has a mouth full of teeth like a pike ; like him basks in
the sun at the surface, though very tolerant of cold also ; and like
a pike roams about at times for his food, instead of waiting stationarily
behind a rock, for it to be brought down to him by the stream. This
is the natural consequence of his living chiefly in ponds, and in the still
pools in rivers, where there is little or no stream to bring things past
a stationary object ; and the consequence also of his food not being
such as would naturally be washed down a stream. At times he lies
hidden like a pike, and, perfectly motionless behind weeds, under a
bank, amongst roots, or in a hole, with just his nose out, watching for
unwary little fish to swim by. It is said that they frequently have
large holes in the bank in which they live in pairs coiled up. This
habit of taking to earth is sometimes very inconvenient to the angler,
for if he is not very prompt and very vigorous in keeping them away
from the bank when hooked, they will have the line round a corner,
and you may then say good-bye to all chances of recovering it, or
your fish ; you will have to break it. I have had a Murral run into
a hole in a rock in this way, and I lost my fish, and my tackle, and
my sweet temper, all at a stroke. Of the last two commodities,
however, I had more in stock, and soon indented thereon.

It does not make anything like as good a fight as a Mahseer, but
bores down to the bottom. When caught, keep your fingers out of
his gills as well as out of his mouth.

The Murral feeds much as the pike does, and may be fished for in

CHAP. xvi. Shooting Murral. 227

the same way, and with the same tackle. But whether they require
clear water, as the Mahseer does, and the necessary concomitant of
fine tackle, or can equally be taken when the water is coloured, I am
not prepared to state, though I am told coloured water suits them
best. The principle on which they surprise their prey is to hide
themselves well.

They are, in my experience, very shy fish, and from what has been
seen of their habits should be fished for, not in mid stream, but close
to the banks, and under them, and in the still pools.

Morning or evening is also the time to take them ; in the heat of
the day they may be seen basking on the surface or close below it,
and can then be shot. I have seen a native doing this very successfully.
He walked up the stream like a wise man, so as to approach the basking
Murral unobserved from behind, and he used a ball, and aimed always
at the head. By making the head your mark, you not only injure
your fish less for the table, but you make much more sure of bagging.
The one that this native shot for me had the slightest mark on the
off side of the head, where the ball had just grazed. Apparently
the man had not allowed sufficiently for the refraction, and had very
nearly missed his fish in consequence; but just a touch had been
sufficient on the head, whereas a flesh wound would not have secured
the fish, unless it had been so central as to break the backbone. If
you aim at the head you may even miss your fish, and the concussion
of the water will stun him, if you have gone close to him. I am
told they sink when killed, or stunned, as I should suppose they
would. You must, therefore, have a man ready to go in after them
at once.

But if you go in for fish shooting, and I would not call it poaching
in India, you must allow for refraction. Refraction makes the fish
appear nearer to the surface than it is — you should therefore aim
below it ; your ball also has a tendency not to pursue a direct course
under water, but to glance upwards — another reason for aiming low.
Furthermore, your ball will not take to the water kindly at all, will
not do business far under the surface. I think a foot under water is
the utmost distance at which you can trust it to be effective.

But to return to the rod and line. The Murral may be spun for
with the same bait and tackle as has been recommended for Mahseer ;
but if you want to get sport out of him, you must remember that he

Q 2

228 The Murral. CHAP. xvi.

has not the power of a Mahseer, and that if you use a Mahseer rod
or an English pike rod, you will make an end of him in no time by
mere brute force. For sport you can have no better rod than the
light little Labeo rod recommended for Labeo fishing in " Tank
Angling," and for Wallago attu on p. 207, supra. I have tried it and
had capital sport with it, and consequently thought more highly of
the Murral than I did when penning " Tank Angling," for I killed
Murral as well as Wallago attu on the occasion mentioned above,
page 208.

But if you use such a light rod you will strain it in casting if you do
not also lighten your bait. For repeatedly casting a dead bait out as
far as you can throw it is a very different thing from gently lifting and
dropping in a live bait at long intervals and within easy reach of the
shore. The light rod cannot vigorously cast a dead spinning bait of
the same size as it can gently lift a live bait. So while a 4~mch bait
is recommended in " Tank Angling " for live baiting, a 3 or 3 1-inch
dead bait, tail included, which is the length of your fore-finger or
middle finger respectively, is as much as you ought to put on such
a light rod, the tackle being Geen's Richmond spinner or the Coxon
spinner, salmon size, as mounted for Mahseer on pp. 69, 70.

If you prefer a still lighter bait these two tackles, the Richmond
and the Coxon spinner, are made trout size, for which please see
illustration and remarks on p. 218, and the trout hooks will hold a
Murral if you are light handed, and with so light a rod you can trust
yourself with finer, rust-proof wire gimp (say No. 4/0) than I have
suggested for Mahseer and Wallago attu, on pp. 70, 208, and the
hooks may be No. 1 2 Mahseer trebles. But this is rather multiplying
tackle for the fanciful. Still some take a great pleasure in being
fanciful about their tackle, and my object is giving pleasure, is it not,
so it is just mentioned, but my recommendation is the salmon-sized
figure at p. 69.

You can also use a small spoon of i| inch length.

Fish close to the surface, as Murral feed largely on frogs, for
which you may frequently see them roaming about near the surface.
A good reason for fishing near the surface, in preference to fishing
deep, is to be found in the position of the Murral's eye, which is placed
very high in the head, and is calculated for looking upwards rather
than downwards ; so that a Murral, even when concealing himself, by

CHAP. xvi. Native Method of Live-baiting. 229

lying on the very bottom, can well see what is passing over his head,
and between him and the light.

The depressed shape of the head and fore part of the Murral's body,
especially of the under half, shows that it is frequently at the bottom ;
indeed, so depressed is the form, that it seemingly could not swim
with its mouth at right angles to the perpendicular, if it was not
assisted by an unusual length of dorsal and anal fin.

There are two or three ways of live-baiting. There are the ordinary
English ways of running the hook just under the back fin, or through
the upper lip. Through the lip is unsatisfactory to my mind, both
because it gives a very tender hookhold, and is liable to give way
when taking your bait in and out of the water ; and also because it
interferes, I think, with the breathing of the bait, and kills it sooner
than it need. Of course you should not adopt the clumsy way I have
seen some follow of hooking the bait right through the body near the
tail, for you thereby make its movements in the water unnatural ; and,
I should think, soon kill it, for I am free to confess I never tried it
myself. Then, again, there is the somewhat cruel way not unfrequently
used with trimmers in England. Just slit the skin with a penknife, on
the side, half-way down the fish, close to the gills, insert a baiting
needle, and pass it carefully down the fish only just under the skin
till about over the anus, when you bring it out, and draw the loop of
the hook after the baiting needle till the hook is home to the entrance,
and lying close against the fish. But the natives have a very neat way
of baiting a live fish. They insert the hook at the anus, and pass it
carefully point foremost towards the back, but only just under the
skin ; and when they have got it well up to the bend of the hook,
they push the shank gently in up to the very head, so that the whole
hook is concealed under the skin of the bait, and lies with the back of
the hook towards the back of the fish, and the point towards the
stomach, for the hook has had a turn given to it in the process of
inserting the shank. Lastly, the hook is felt through the skin, and the
cord gently pulled, so as just to bring the point through the skin of
the bait. This last is a delicate operation, and serves the double
object of preventing the hook from slipping out of its concealments,
and of being the better prepared for hooking the fish that takes the
bait. This sounds a long operation, but is very quickly done, and
seems to injure the small fish but slightly. If you have gut attached

230 The Murral. CHAP. xvi.

to your hook there is nothing at all showing, and even if you have
thinnish wire gimp (p. 228) there is very little to be seen in dirty
water. But the more modern Jardine live-bait tackle seems best of
all (p. 141), mounted on No. 4/0 wire gimp. Having live baited, you
can fish with a rod, or can set trimmers after the English fashion for
pike, just as you prefer.

Another way, and a paying one, to fish for Murral is to dap with
a dead frog. The common little brown frog (Rana cyanophlyctis) is
the one they like. Run the hook, No. o Limerick in my
scale, through the head of the frog, and bring out the
point only, not the barb, just through the skin under the
chin ; extend the legs up the line, and bind them together
on it, the frog being dead. Dap the frog on and between
the lilies on a pond. A stiff rod and stout line is ad-
visable, because, among a network of lilies, you dare not
give any line, but need to lift your fish straight out at
once, and as they run large a stiff pole of bamboo is
about the best thing you can have. The natives place
the butt of the pole in a leather socket at their waist, so as to give them
a leverage in using the pole. You may also use a gorge hook as in the
larger illustration.

But there is yet another way of fishing for Murral which is the most
killing of all. It is the native method of setting a trimmer, and is very
simple and very perfect. In your large still pool look for a bush with
a bough overhanging the water. You will find plenty of
them, and can set an Asiatic trimmer at each. Be prepared
with some live frogs in a covered earthen pot. Bait one by
passing a hook in and out through a little bit of skin nearer
the head than the centre of the back. The way in which a
frog sits naturally in the water is not on the flat of its
stomach, like a duck, but with just its eyes out, and its hind
legs well under water. By inserting the hook a little forward
of the centre of the back, you not only give the frog this natural
attitude, but you also relieve it of inconvenience by letting its weight
be borne by the water, not by the hook. Be careful you do not touch
anything but the veriest skin, and bear in mind old Izaak Walton's
famous injunction to " treat him tenderly as if you loved him." The
skin is easily taken up like the loose skin of a dog. Then reach

CHAP. xvi. Asiatic Trimmer. 231

out, and pass the line over a fork in the overhanging bough, the
object of the fork being to keep the line off the shore, and then
lower away your frog till he just sits comfortably and naturally on the
surface of the water, unsuspended by the hook, his weight really being
on the water, and yet without an inch of slack line. Then make fast
to any convenient object on the shore, giving, as aforesaid, no slack
line at all. You may leave it to do its work while you go away and
tie a dozen more, or spin, or smoke the pipe of peace.

The Murral feeds largely on frogs, and sailing quietly about, looking
for them, as his habit sometimes is, he comes upon your bait, and, as it
is thoroughly natural, of course takes it.

"Ah me! what perils do environ
They£sv& that meddles with cold iron."

He has to go through a severe course of steel before he has done with
it. As there is no slack line at all, he is struck the moment he has
taken the bait; the line is taut on him, and he is seen flapping about,
with his head half out of water. You have consequently no need to
be constantly examining your trimmers, as you can see, from a quarter
of a mile off, a great fish flapping and splashing on the top of the
water.

As there is no play whatever given to the fish, but a dead pull from
the moment he is hooked, it follows that your line and hook must be
strong — must be much stronger than it would be necessary to use on
a rod. A single hook of about the size of a No. 4/0 or 3/0 Limerick
hook will do very well ; but a good strong treble hook is perhaps a
trifle better. It should be tied on a piece of the No. 2/0 wire gimp,
p. 208, or thicker if you like ; the natives use a bit of copper or brass
wire, which does very well. The line can be any piece of good stout
twine. You need not be nervous about its being seen by the fish, for
the manner of baiting is such that there is nothing whatever to be seen
in the water, and the hook, be it ever so big in reason, cannot be seen,
because it is thoroughly screened by the frog, which is in a direct line
between your hook and the fish to be taken. Of cord, too, there is
only about a foot or two, hanging in a motionless straight line directly
down to the frog, by which again it is mainly hidden ; it is also generally
difficult to see in the shadow of the bush.

The whole method of baiting is so simple and so effective, that it

232 The Murral. CHAP. xvi.

might be adopted with advantage for pike in England, for they also
have a tooth for frog, though not quite such an one perhaps as the
Murral : —

" But John P.

RoLinson. He
Sez they didn't know everything down in Judee."

So the little wrinkle is thrown out.

In shallow edged tanks with no overhanging bushes the same
method is adapted by a native wading in nearly up to his armpits, with
three thin pieces of bamboo, which he sticks into the mud, with their
bases well apart and their tops together, so as to form a tripod ; and
from the point where they meet he drops his frog just as he did from
the fork of the overhanging bough, and the other end of the line is
made taut on the shore. One man ordinarily manages three such lines,
radiating out from the point where he sits on the shore, to spots 20 or
30 yards apart in the tank. He has one under each foot so as to be
able to feel with his bare foot the twitch of a bite, and he has one in
one hand. He cannot manage more. Doesn't he just wish he was
centimanus Gyas. If the tank is covered with weeds, a small clearing
is made for the tripod and bait, and though this may disturb the
locality while baiting it does not matter. A mole cricket tied to the
hook, not impaled, and dapped all alive and kicking, is said to be
irresistible. I can quite believe it. But surely it should be among
lilies. Cockroaches are also used for such fishing, but in what exact
method I cannot say positively, for I have no note ; my memory is
that they are impaled on the hook, as cockchafers are for chub in
England, and cockroaches certainly are wonderfully tenacious of life
in a hot climate. I know, however, that you may safely repose
confidence in a frog.

Ah me ! who would be a frog ? To " lead the life of a dog " is
nothing to leading the life of a frog. On land mongooses, snakes,
kites, crows, rats, larger frogs, and battalions of paddy birds, or egrets,
go in at him greedily. In the water the Murral feeds almost entirely
on him, lying perdu under the banks for the purpose ; while the water-
snake follows him in both elements. But the verdict is "serve him
right," for he is a fry-eater and a spawn-eater, and he is irrepressible,
getting up drunken choruses all over the country directly there is a
good fall of rain, and he has had a wet night of it. It is truly

CHAP. xvi. The Reminiscences of a Frog. 233

disreputable ; and then he is so greedy. I had some in a can, together
with other bait, when what should I see but one of these " glutinous "
ruffians improving his opportunities by endeavouring to swallow a bait
longer than his own body. He had the head and shoulders and half
the body down his " sarcophagus or elementary canal " and was holding
on to it sulkily, while the fish's tail was wagging gaily. I pulled poor
fishy out, when froggy straightway went at him, and half swallowed him
again. You see what an incorrigible brute he is, so put him into your
can, and be off with him to the haunts of the Murral without any
compunction.

A frog swallows a frog head foremost, a snake swallows a frog legs
foremost, the little frog in both positions calling out lustily the while,
and the operation in both cases being a protracted one, the placid
imperturbability of the swallower contrasting markedly with the gesticu-
lating vehement oratory of the swallowed. While the big frog, Rana
tigrina, was swallowing the little frog, Rana cyanophlyctis, head foremost,
the little brown fellow kicked all he knew, very little more than his
hind legs being out, and from cavernous depths shouted in sepulchral
tones " Police ! Police ! ! Police ! ! ! " Being a J.P., I stopped to know
what the row was about. Rana tigrina had not a word to say for
himself, and moved not a muscle of his impassive countenance, much
less stirred hand or foot. As in duty bound I eventually interposed
and freed the little one. He was not injured in the least, only a little
frightened ! Considering his character, I think I should have done
better had I let the urchin alone.

The Murral lives a long time without water, and can therefore be
taken home alive, and consequently fresh, the flesh remaining firm.

The reason for this is that, unlike most fish which breathe only the
oxygen contained in solution in the water, the Ophiocephalida inhale
the atmospheric air direct. They may be seen coming up to the
surface continually, exhaling a bubble and taking in a mouthful of fresh
air, and they have an air cavity for the storage of the fresh air. If
confined in a globe or other vessel with a net stretched across a little
below the surface of the water, so as to prevent them from breathing
the atmospheric air direct, they will die from not being able to
oxygenate their blood, however fully supplied with oxygen the water
may be. Being thus able to breathe our air, and being commonly
dependent on it, they do not suffer like other fish on being transferred

234 The Murral. CHAP. xvi.

to it. Indeed, they travel on land of their own accord, and any one
allowed to jump out of your can or tub of water will soon be seen to
wriggle a considerable distance on land, and to keep it up long after
any of the carps would be dead. They are among the fish that have
been known to bury themselves in the mud at the bottom of drying
rivers and ponds, sestivating there through the drought till the next
rains release them. They have been dug alive out of the sun-burnt
mud from as great a depth as 6 feet.

The Ophiocephalus gachua, which I have mentioned above as a tough
bait, is one of this family, therefore easy to keep alive in a can, and not
to be picketed to the bottom.

Murral will thrive in ponds, and at various altitudes, so you can
easily stock a pond if you desire, but they will speedily depopulate it of
other sorts of fish. The natives frequently put them into their wells,
from which they can take them fresh and fresh as they want them.

In brief they are ubiquitous. In any fort moat you will find them
for a certainty because when the Mussulmans were rulers, and held so
many forts, they introduced them freely. Mussulmans are great fish-
eaters, and sporting fish-catchers, because a fish is an animal food that
they are permitted to eat without the offering of hallal, as " Allah has
cut its throat already," witness the gill openings, and for the reasons
stated Murral are the easiest of all Indian fish to introduce.

The Murral, unlike most fish, exhibits parental affection towards its
young, keeping them together in a shoal, and swimming under them,
and attacking anything that comes near them. This it does till they
are about 3 inches long, when it turns on and eats them itself, if they
do not disperse.

There are nine Ophiocephali, of which four attain to about 3 feet
long each, and one to 4 feet. These larger Ophiocephali are commonly
called Murrals. Of these five, then, I have in " Tank Angling " quoted
abbreviated descriptions from Dr. Day's " Fishes of India," omitting
the others, except O. gachua, mentioned above as a good bait.

CHAPTER XVII.
EELS.

"The imperious seas breed monsters; for the dish
Poor tributary rivers as sweet fish."

SHAKESPEARE.

THESE fellows are not much in my line. I confess I hate the sight of
them ; for if ever you see eels lounging about the bottom of a river in
England, like so many coastguardsmen expecting foul weather, you
may be sure the trout will not rise. How could they be expected to
in such low company ! And if you have the bad luck to hook one, he
just behaves like an excited corkscrew, till he has got your line into so
many knots and kinks, that it will take you a month of Sundays to
unravel it. And then as to unhooking him. Oh ! don't talk of it.

But some think them good eating, and like to catch them, so we
will give them a page or so, grudgingly.

Of spined and unspined eels you will find, in Dr. Day's work,
47 species, under the families, Rhyncobdellidce, Symbranchida, and
Muranida : but many are small, and the last-named are almost all
marine, and of the others many are tidal. The only ones worthy of
the angler's notice seem to be my old friend Mastacemblus armatus,
which runs, to my knowledge, to about 2 feet in length, and Anguilla
Bengalensis, which Dr. Day says runs to 4 feet in length, and has been
introduced into the Neilgherries. This is probably the fish of which
Colonel Parsons caught, by his live bait method, one weighing iSlbs.

Their flavour is much esteemed by some Europeans, and the natives
in your camp are always very glad to get them. It is as well, therefore,
to know how to catch them ; and as they are easily caught, your servants
can be allowed to do this much for themselves, if you will be at the
trouble to provide them with the simple tackle necessary, and the bait,
which in any case you would have to throw away at the end of the day

Eels.

CHAP. XVII.

from its being dead. They will afford them a good meal, and you

beaming countenances to look upon !

The plan is to set night lines with dead fish. Take your dead bait

of 4 inches more or less in length, and string one on to a common
double eel-hook on wire, by passing the baiting
needle down the throat and out at the centre of the
tail, and drawing your hook after it till the hooks are
well home to the mouth of the bait. Then attach the
hook to the line, and having tied a bullet or other
good sized sinker to the line, throw it well into the
middle of any good, large, deep, still pool ; make
well fast to the shore, and leave it all night. If you
have set half-a-dozen of these, you will probably find
two or three eels on in the morning.

These common double eel-hooks are to be bought
in India. Messrs. Oakes and Co., at Madras, have
them, and so doubtless have the tackle shops in
Northern India and Bombay. But a neater arrange-
ment is a common pike gorge-hook, because there
you have the weight neatly stowed away inside your

bait ; and the hooks are shaped so as to sit closely against the mouth

of a bait, and consequently to go comfortably down the throat.

Fatilis descensus Averno est. But as to coming up again, sed revocare

gradum, that's quite another business.

Your night line must be a good stout one, and well made fast, for

the fish is strong, very strong, and has the whole night to himself to

work his wicked will.

They are all fish-eaters, so the more your servants catch, the better

for the little Mahseer, the youthful Barils, and the unsophisticated

young of the other sorts of game fly-taking fish. Encourage them,

therefore, to go in at them heavily, and show them how to draw the

hook home so as to lie neatly against the lips of the bait, and so, in

fact, that it shall offer no obstacle to a fish that gradually swallows

your bait head foremost.

Be wary how you handle Mastacembli because of the sharp spines

on their backs. Their fry may be seen in the rice fields. They are

widely distributed.

I see no sport in this style of fishing.

CHAPTER XVIII.
FISHING IN ESTUARIES.

"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune,

*****
And we must take the current when it serves
Or lose our ventures."

JULIUS

ALL fishing in estuaries is very much, and I am inclined to think
entirely, governed by the tides, except, perhaps, when monsoon floods
somewhat modify calculations by overpowering the tides, and except in
the months when the tides of putrid-smelling sea water set in ; then the
fish are sickened. But the tides seem to affect different fish differently,
so that it is a very difficult matter to work out to a satisfactory
conclusion. I have noticed fish taking freely at the very commence-
ment of the flow in an estuary, while not a few fishermen agree that
certain fish take best during the latter part of the ebb tide.

I am inclined to think that the former are chiefly the rock-fish
Lutianus roseus, and Chrysophris dat?ua, and C. berda, and sometimes
Lates calcarifer. The latter are the well known B&min of the Malabar
coast, Polymmus tetradactylus. The latter go to sea with every tide,
I believe, whereas the former do not leave the estuaries, I think ; and
this difference in their habits may well account for the difference in
their time of feeding.

Watching an estuary I noticed that when I first came to the spot all
was quiet, not a fish was moving. Then the tide turned to flow, and I
saw all along the edge of the river, between me and the sea, heavy fish
rushing at smaller fish, and making great swirls on the surface ; when
they came opposite me, the place was alive with big fish striking little
ones ; but it did not last more than a quarter of an hour : with the

238 Fishing in Estuaries. CHAP. xvm.

advancing tide the swirls passed upwards, and I could plainly watch
their course into the far distance. It was clear that the text at the
head of the chapter was closely applicable, and it came into one's mind
at once

"There is a tide in the affairs of fish,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune."

It was not the same at the ebb tide. It was only at the commence-
ment of the flood tide that the fish were moving. These fish were, I
am inclined to think, the rock-fish mentioned above, and sometimes
Lates calcarifer.

But why is it, you will want to know, that the big fish in estuaries
cannot be content to feed in one place, like the big fish in the rivers
above tidal influence ? Why is it that they must be for ever advancing
with the advancing tide ? You want a reason, and I will give you one.
If you place yourself on a projecting rock, or stone jetty, and watch the
first flow of the incoming tide, you will see innumerable shoals of
minute fish, from an inch long and upwards, coasting busily up the
river.* They are near the surface, and you can see them well. Keep
motionless, and as much out of sight as you can, that you may not
frighten them or anything else, but may see them pursuing their natural
course. How pretty and sociable they look ! Dash into them goes a
huge open-mouthed ruthless-looking monster, and makes a cruel gap
in their closely-packed column. It is pitiful to behold. Poor little
things, how like they are to soldiers when a great round shot has torn
through their ranks. They close up again and press on.

"They fill
The ranks unthinned though slaughtered still."

Dash goes another monster, or, perhaps, the same one, and again
there is an obvious gap. " Close up, close up," is the word, and so

* They coast, because there is always a back-draught, or back-flow of water, at
the edge of every stream, in the opposite direction to the main current of the stream,
and caused by the stream carrying down, by friction, water that must return to fill up
the vacuum it left as soon as it is released from the power of the friction that removed
it. This back-flow is constant in all rivers throughout their length, and the tide on
entering a river, and while still contending with the current of the stream, takes first
advantage of this back-flow, and accelerates it, till merged in the general inflow of the
tide. Small fish wishing to ascend a river take advantage of this back-flow, which is
always running up each shore, and thus by coasting they get up a river, without
having to swim against the stream.

CHAP, xviii. Polynemus. 239

they keep pressing on up stream, apparently very much frightened, but
still unwavering in their purpose of pressing on up the river, with all
their little strength. What their purpose is in resolutely struggling up
stream, and whether they are small fish or fry I am not certain ; but I
have a strong suspicion that they are the minute fry of mullet, which, I
am assured by native fishermen, ascend and descend for the sake of
food with every tide, and which I know are caught in large numbers
by taking advantage of this their habit. When they have passed the
fish cease taking. Whether it is because the big fish have followed
the little ones, or have turned their attention to other food, as trout
will when the rise is over, I cannot say ; but that it is no use fishing for
them I can say.

For the brief period that the small fish are passing, you will have
excellent sport. Put on a dead fish, and spin as for jack, with stout
hooks on rust-proof wire gimp, for which see page 208. Gut will not
do, it will be cut through in a trice. The gimp, too, must be stout. I
have had every available bit of tackle broken by successive fish in
twenty minutes. But then I was learning ; I was buying my experience
a great deal dearer than you will buy this book. But I have made the
fish pay for it eventually, for, when a shoal has been passing, I have
taken toll of them as fast as ever I could land them and throw in my
line. It is " a short life and a merry one." The tackle may be the
same as recommended at pages 69, 70.

Polynemus.

But the best fish to be caught in estuaries is the Polynemus tetra-
dactyius, Plate xv., well known to sportsmen on the West Coast by
its Malayalim name, Bci-mln, pronounced Bar-meen, and all too well
known for its tackle-breaking propensities. " They eat an astonishing
lot of phantoms," writes a friend, bemoaning his tackle. The fish I
spoke of in my first edition as the Pamban salmon is either this same
fish or Polynemus Indicus. I have caught and seen them caught with
a fly at Pamban, and seen thousands netted at sea, and seen them,
unfortunately, only when they were sick and unfishable in the estuaries.
So I have indented on my friends for details of their manners and
customs in the estuaries. I am chiefly indebted herein to Colonel
WT. Osborn, then Commanding 9th M. N. I., who has most kindly been

240 Fishing in Estuaries. CHAP. xvm.

at much pains to draw up a paper which, it will be seen, forms the
body of this chapter.

The mouth of the Ba-min is placed well underneath, the nose being
very prominent, as may be seen in Plate xv., and the jaws and the
inside of the mouth (vomer and palatines) are armed with villiform, or
file-like teeth, which not only cut through any tackle, except wire or
gimp, but present a hard and bad hook-hold. The eye is covered with
a fixed transparent membrane, through which the eye may be clearly
seen moving free of it inside it, and which is so tough that Colonel
Osborn has twice hooked fish foul by it and landed them. The free
rays of the pectoral fins are singularly prolonged.

Dr. Day says that in this species "the free rays reach to nearly
the end of the ventral." The individual from which my drawing was
taken was only i foot long, and possibly youth may have something to
do with their growth. Unfortunately my approaching departure for
England prevented my being able to get a larger specimen to draw
from. The first dorsal is also wanting, in the drawing, of one short
small spine. This may have been an oversight of mine, and I cannot
positively say it is not, for I have not brought the fish home with me,
whereby to reverify, but I think I took every possible precaution
against oversights. It may also be a vagary. Dr. Day's footnote
shows that other observers have found such divergences from rule in
this fish.

Like the Bass fish, which is sometimes called the Salmon-bass, it
has a rough general similitude of shape and silvery colour to the
Salmon. All anglers agree that it is much more powerful than the
salmon.

Colonel Osborn writes : —

" The lying places ot the Bahmeen in the tidal backwaters are in the
swift, deep runs, where the incoming or outgoing tide produces a quick
stream, with a strong ripple, where the stream is narrowed between sub-
merged rocks, and where, as a consequence, the run is swift and the
surface broken ; and where there are side eddies is a very favourite spot
with them : they seem to be attracted thither by the small fish which
abound in the side eddies.

" Bahmeen are also found among the piers and piles of wooden or iron
bridges, such as the bridge across the river at Mane", or the three bridges
on the Cannanore side of Tellicherry. ' These are their haunts, and it is of
no use fishing for them until you observe them on the feed ; in fact, you will

CHAP. xvni. T/ie Bbmm Committee. 241

not know that there are any Bahmeen about till the tide begins to ebb or
flow, bringing, up or down with it shoals of small fish, principally young
grey mullet, and on these latter, while they are running, the Bahmeen
principally seem to feed. In fishing for Bahmeen these small grey mullet
form the most attractive bait that the fisherman can use.

"At such times of tide and at such places as I have described, you
will not be long in doubt as to where the fish are, or the proper spot to
fish for them, for as soon as the ebb or flow settles into a steady stream
you will see the Bahmeen dashing up at the small mullet every minute
and throwing themselves completely out of the water. They will continue
to feed in this way till slack water.

" I have heard it discussed whether Bahmeen feed and take best on
the ebb or the flood tide ; in some waters, possibly at certain times of
the year, these fish seem to take more readily on the flood than on the ebb
tide ; such I found to be the case once on the Mahd river when fishing
from the bridge there in the month of April, but, as a general rule, I think
it will be found that Bahmeen take best on the ebb tide, though it is also
possible to catch them on the flood ; but, after a good deal of experience,
the ebb is the tide I recommend, though when the tide is flowing it should
not be neglected, as you are always likely to get a run or two even on
that tide."

This question of the right time of the tide has exercised many great
minds, and I have quite a bundle of letters on the subject from
observing fishermen kindly wishing to help me to a right decision in
the matter. Their views differed from time to time, but the end of it
was that certain of them, personal friends, well known to me as good
fishermen, met together for a combined Bamm attack, and after putting
their own several experiences, and those of their friends together, wrote
me what I shall call the report of the Bamin Committee. It entirely
confirms Colonel Osborn's view, for though it may seem to limit it
somewhat, it will be seen that a subsequent quotation from the same
pen qualifies the limitation just as Colonel Osborn has qualified it.
After so much diversity of opinion as there has been, a concurrence of
opinion is satisfactory. " The reason I had never succeeded before
was that I was always told to go at low tide just at the turn, whereas
the time is two or three hours before the low tide. An hour before low
tide they are quite off the feed, and probably not there." These views
are again confirmed by another fisherman, R., who tells me that not
only has he fished for Banrin with advantage during the last quarter of
the ebb tide, but has, in a boat, followed them down with the tide, and
caught them all the way down to the very sea.

THE ROD IN INDIA. R

242 Fishing in Estuaries, CHAP. xviu.

Colonel Osborn continues : —

"As with the Mahseer when he makes his first rush, so with the
Bahmeen, the smallest check and you part company, for he is a strong
and hard-mouthed fish.

"The rod I like best for this kind of fishing is one of Farlow's Pike
spinning-rods, bamboo for choice. Mine is 12 feet long, with its short top,
— for Bahmeen I prefer the short top — as I would, indeed, for Pike, for
the long flexible top joint is only of use in spinning a minnow for trout.
Note the length with short top, 12 feet, because the farther you go beyond
this length, the less line you can throw out, the exertion in throwing will
be greater, your control over the line not so complete, and the cast not
nearly so perfect and artistic as that which can be got out of a 1 2-foot rod.

" The reel should carry looto 120, or 150 yards of 8 plait smooth running,
spinning line ; not a corded line, for in spinning either from a bridge or
from the banks for Bahmeen (which latter you may have a chance of
doing), you have to spin in exactly the same way as you spin for Pike, and
a corded line would kink and spoil your sport."

" A gimp trace," he continues. But the gimp of those days is now
out of date in comparison with the rust-proof wire gimp mentioned
above, page 208, and the flight of hooks may be the same as for
Mahseer and others, as illustrated on pages 69, 70.

" It will save you time and trouble, for you only have one really good
tide to fish on, if you have six or seven of these flights ready baited.

" Baits are the next thing to speak of, and I will confine my remarks
on this point to natural baits, as I have tried for Bahmeen with both spoon
and phantom without success, though I have heard that others have found
the spoon and phantom answer."

I may here put in a word to say that not only have others written
me of kills made with phantom and spoon, but one used nothing but
phantoms, and exhausting his shop supply had to set up a home
manufactory thereof. I, too, have killed and seen them killed with a
white fly in the Pamban Channel. But a fish bait, as argued above, is
doubtless the deception nearest to their natural food ; apropos of which
remark it was that I was once upbraided in the presence of these very
Bamm, " You have written a book to teach men how to deceive."

" A young grey mullet about 3, 4, or 5 inches long, is the best bait
that can be used ; these small mullet are not difficult to procure, for they
abound in all waters inhabited by the Bahmeen, and the latter seem chiefly
to feed upon them. On the shores of these waters also native fishermen
and casting nets are always to be found. Some time before the turn of

CHAP. xvni. The Bhmm. 243

tide, set one of these men to work with his net, give him a bait kettle, or
an earthen pot as a substitute, to hold the baits, and bid him be careful
to sink the kettle in the river each time he puts fresh baits into it, as
natives have no idea of the necessity of supplying fish frequently with fresh
water to keep them alive. By the time the tide ebbs or flows you should
have enough small mullet to last you a day. Other small silvery fish will,
of course, do for bait, but the mullet is decidedly the best, being the favourite
food of the Bahmeen, and being also very tough and lasting, bearing the
same proportion in these latter qualities to other fish, as a gudgeon does
to a bleak or a small dace. Should there be any difficulty in procuring
baits at any particular spot, small mullet or other fish can be preserved
for a short time in a wide-mouthed bottle of spirits of wine or methylated
spirits. I have several times used baits thus prepared, while Bahmeen
fishing, and found them answer very well. Baits do not get soft in
methylated spirits, and their toughness is very well preserved.

"Having now mentioned rods, tackle, and baits, I now turn to the
actual capture of the fish.

" As I have already said, when the tide steadies into a regular stream
you will, if standing on a bridge, soon see the mullet and other small fish
darting in different directions and the Bahmeen dashing after them.
Commence spinning at one end of the bridge by throwing out as much
line as you can control ; let the bait trail and spin in the water, and be
careful to spin well over those spots where you have seen fish rising. Hold
your rod with both hands across your chest, with the point rather elevated,
and without making another cast walk at such a pace as will keep the
bait spinning nicely to the other end of the bridge. And now comes the
question, which is the best side of the bridge to fish from. This is an
important point. The best side of the bridge is that towards which the
stream is running, the reason being that mullet always work up against
the stream, and the Bahmeen always lie in wait for them on that side of
the bridge towards which the stream runs, so that as the shoals of young
mullet toil slowly up against the tide and make their way through tlje
arches of the bridge they fall an easy prey to the Bahmeen, which are
lying in wait for them and hiding behind the piers and piles of the bridge
on the other side. When there are a large number of fish about they can
be caught on both sides of the bridge ; but the rule I have given as regards
what I may call the stream side should be adhered to."

This is Colonel Osborn's view. I am not prepared to contradict it.
But my own idea is that the mullet fry go with the tide both in and
out, and that the Bamm hide or rest behind the piles as Trout, Salmon,
and Mahseer ordinarily do behind rocks (see page 90). However,
the fishing rule here given is equally supported by either theory.

" In nearly all of the bridges I have mentioned in these notes you will

R 2

244 Fishing in Estuaries. CHAP. xvm.

find projecting planks outside of the hand-rail, or balustrade, on both
sides of the bridge. Climb over the railing and get on one of these planks
and spin away wherever you see the fish breaking. This is the best way
of all to fish from these bridges, as you have full command of the water
and of your fish when you strike him.

" If the Bahmeen are feeding you will not be long without a run, and
should the fish run away from the bridge into clear water, get to the
nearest end of the bridge as soon as you can, leave it and run up the bank
as far as possible, so as to prevent the fish from running through the bridge
or among the piles. Having got into a safe place play and land your fish
as you best can.

" It is a good plan to have a canoe with a man or two with it moored
on the most convenient side of the river, and on striking a fish, should
he run through the bridge below your feet, run down to the bank letting
out line all the time, get into the canoe, follow, and either play him from
the canoe or from the bank below. This is the reason why I recommend
a long line, it enables you to do all this. If you are steady and do not
get flurried, and your tackle is as strong as it ought to be, even if the fish
should run through the bridge below you, you can often, with careful manage-
ment, work him back again gradually to your side, and send a man down to
the nearest pier to gaff him ; this only holds good with a masonry bridge.
Should a fish behave in this manner at a bridge built on piles a canoe is
the only thing to get you out of your difficulty, and even then you may
lose your fish and tackle by his running two and three times round a pile,
as they are sometimes fond of doing.

"You may, if lucky, find a place frequented by Bahmeen where you
can spin for them from the bank, in which case proceed in exactly the
same way as if you were spinning for Pike. There is such a place about
five or six miles from Cannanore, in the Billipatam backwater, and just
at the end of the village on your right as you face the water ; the tide at
the place I mean makes a deep and swift run between sunken rocks ; and
at this point Bahmeen congregate and sport is to be had.

" The places I know of where Bahmeen fishing is procurable are
Billipatam village, near Cannanore, just mentioned ; the three bridges on
the Cannanore side of Tellicherry, of which three the centre one is the
best ; Yellatoor bridge near Calicut, the backwater at Beypoor, Currulhoondy
railway bridge near the camp platform and troop rest house, about a mile
and a half down the line from the Beypoor station ; and there is another
small bridge, up the Tellicherry backwater, about three miles from the
central bridge, that I have already spoken of as being a good place for sport."

Near the mouth of the Kallei River, in Calicut Town, between the
mouth and the bar, is mentioned by M. as another place.

" About the best place I know of for Bahmeen is the Mand river, where
it runs through the little French town of Mahd, about 20 miles south of

CHAP, xviii. The Bcimtn. 245

Cannanore. From the bridge that spans this river at the entrance to the
town, capital Bahmeen fishing is to be had, and you can generally hire
a tolerably comfortable bungalow on the bank of the river close to the
bridge, and from your window you can always see when the fish begin to
feed, so you only have to shoulder your rod, and walk a few yards to your
sport.

" I don't know the spawning time of the Bahmeen, but I have had good
sport with them all through the monsoon and in the months of March,
April, and May. At the end of, and after the monsoon, however, the
sea at the mouth of these backwaters becomes almost putrid, and a very
unpleasant smell arises from it. When the incoming tide brings this
dirty water up the backwaters it seems to poison the Bahmeen, Nair
fish, and other large fish ; the water has a brown tinge in it, and, as the
tide ebbs, numbers of large fish, all dead, float down with it and go out
to sea. At these times the native fishermen wade in and secure the dead
fish as they pass with a short harpoon. I need hardly say that, during
the months when the rivers are in this state, it is of little use attempting
to fish.

" In concluding these notes I think I may say that Bahmeen fishing
is good sport, and quite worth following. In starting on a fishing trip it
is well to be provided with plenty of tackle as the fish are strong and
breakages frequent. I don't know what weight Bahmeen run up to,
the largest I have landed was one of 9 Ibs., but I have seen many larger
than this which have been caught in nets, some of the latter having
scaled n and 12 Ibs. A Bahmeen of this weight would give very good
sport."

I have seen thousands of Polynemus Indicus brought ashore by a
fleet of netting boats: 12 Ibs. was quite an outside weight. They
averaged iolbs., and were all very much of a size. Day gives much
larger sizes for P. tetradactylus as will be seen below.

"When taking your bait the Bahmeen does so with a violent rush,
in the most determined manner, and away he goes at his best pace as
soon as he feels the hook. After he has gone a few yards, and you can
safely do so, strike him twice so as to drive in the hooks, for he is by no
means a leather-mouthed fish like a Mahseer, and without some such
performance on your part he is apt to get rid of the hooks as soon as the
line slackens, which, by the bye, you should always endeavour to prevent.
Be careful to have your line clear and free, for if there is a check of any
sort when the Bahmeen has made up his mind to go you will probably have
to lament the loss of both fish and tackle."

I never could be persuaded to endorse this striking of any fish after
he is hooked, my own belief being that if you will only keep on sufficient

246 Fishing in Estuaries. CHAP. xvm.

pressure his struggles will do all the jerking you can possibly desire,
and that it is very dangerous for you to slacken ever so little for the
purpose of getting up a jerk.

Before parting with the Bamin, I will quote from M., whom I have
already quoted as a member of the Bamin Committee : —

" We are agreed that they run stronger than Salmon for their size ;
but with gimp, and 100 yards on a good reel, the only danger of being
broken is their charging the piles under one's feet. The first one that
tried that broke me, but I find that with judicious use of stones they can
be kept off, and one gets down at last on to the shore of the river and
brings them to the landing-net."

But the same writer had rather a rough time of it afterwards, as the
following letter will show : —

" I had rather a disastrous morning with the Ba-meen the other day.
A peon on watch reported they were feeding at daylight, though it was
then almost high tide, just beginning to run out. A lot of fry were under
the bridge, the Mullet were eating them, and the Ba-meen the Mullet.
This was under the still arches near one side, instead of, as usual, in the
centre where the current is strongest. The first fish I lost after playing a
few minutes. Hold gave way.

" The next, a very lively fish, drowned me as I was getting off the
bridge as he ran down stream and got a bush between us. However,
being well hooked he did not get off, and I got the slack in, and had
nearly tired him out when, to my horror, I found the reel running stiff,
and at his next rush I could not give it him fast enough, and the bait came
back with one of the tail trebles straightened.

" It turned out that a screw inside the reel had started and jammed
against the disc, into which it was cutting, and when opened the box was
full of brass filings.

"This was, then, bad luck. I then put on a fresh phantom, having,
luckily, a second reel and line, and had two or three runs, the fish missing
being hooked.

" This I attribute to my having tied the treble on stiff wire, making the
whole bait stiff. I then put on a guttapercha bait, a great favourite, and
had hardly begun when a fish took and bolted at once round a pile. I
make it a rule to break them directly they get close to a pile, but this
one I gave line to in hopes of saving my bait, and did so, a large treble
breaking. I got a boat and rescued line and bait but found the casting
line all frayed against the barnacles on the pile. I had now to set to
work and tie the stiff phantom afresh with gimp ; and, while doing so, a
monster rose under one of the arches. As soon as I was ready 1 went

CHAP, xviii. The Bamln. 247

at him and soon hooked him. He went down stream, and after ten
minutes I began edging off the bridge to get to the bank when he suddenly
came charging at me to get under the bridge. His power was enormous ;
and, in spite of stones and a long bamboo with leaves tied on the end,
he came under and actually got a few yards above the bridge, I being in
an upside down position, and holding him very tight. At last he made
for the piles and broke me. This was the biggest fish 1 have hooked, and
I think he must have been from 15 to 20 Ibs.

"Had I then had what I have now, a wooden ladder fixed into the
centre piles, and a boat moored with men ready, I could easily have
killed him by following him on his first rush, and getting below him if he
tried to make up for the bridge. Next day I went out. I had hardly
begun when a brute came and took me and instantly went round a pile
and broke me. This made seven consecutive fish that had broken me here.
I then hooked and landed a 6-pounder, using the ladder and boat. I
have lost three fish round piles after they have run away fairly down
stream, and this, of course, is avoidable ; but if they go at the pier at
once there is no remedy. It seems to depend on where one's bait is.
The fish naturally pulls against you ; and if your bait has been swept 8 or
10 feet down stream he runs down ; but if he takes almost under the arch
he runs in.

" In one case I purposely gave a fish line instead of breaking to see
what he would do, and this was the result."

Here was a sketch of a labyrinth of piles with which, dear reader,
you must kindly dispense.

" I unravelled the maze, and finally, after going from pier to pier in a
boat, caught sight of my friend at the eighth pier. The run I must tell
you was all done in a few seconds. It took ten minutes or a quarter of
an hour to work it out, and I could at one moment have checked the fish
had I been ready. Seeing me close to him he took three turns round the
pile and broke. The last few days I have been out fish have not been
feeding. I have a theory that every fish left there has got a phantom in
his gills.

" I think you will admit that they treated me badly that morning.
They seemed to have determined to show me what they could do. They
straightened one treble, broke another, a large strong one, filed the casting
line, pulled off one phantom's head, demoralized a reel (one of Bowness'
best Mahseer reels) by sheer hard running, and, finally, the big chap tried
all he could to break the rod and has given it a permanent bend."

In the Pamban channel, just opposite the Superintendent's house,
there are, or at least there used to be some thirty-five years ago, a
number of splendid runs. It is to be hoped the Government has not

248 Fishing in Estuaries. CHAP. xvm.

cleared them away for the benefit of the shipping ! ! Probably not, for
they were not in mid-channel. There was a fish there that we used to
call the Pamban salmon • and were well content with the name, for in
those days I had not troubled my head with fish nomenclature and
classification. It turns out to be our mutual friend Polynemus. Either
P. tetradactylus or P. Jndicus, probably the latter. I only had one hour
at them, but it is a day to be remembered in all my lifetime. What
splendid sport they gave ! We anchored the boat at the head of the
run, and fished below us in the middle of it We used a full-sized
salmon fly, made of nothing but the white feather of a quill pen, tied
palmer-fashion all over it. Much the same fly is used for Bass in
England. How freely they rose, and how vigorously they tugged.
My companion, who put me up to it, and provided rod and boat, lived
there, and used to catch any number of them. But there were certain
seasons, he said, in which they would not take at all. Which were the
favourable and which the unfavourable months, I cannot at this length
of time recall. W., fishing there in October, writes me : " Pamban
salmon do not come on till late in the year." I presume he means
later than October.

The then Port Officer of Pamban wrote me on the 28th of
September : " Polynemus is just coming in season and will be plentiful
next month."

The natives, in fishing for Bamin, use a strong cord, with a large
sea-hook, on a piece of bell-wire. But they use much direct force in
pulling in their fish, because they have very crude ideas about the
suaviter in modo, fortiter in re principle of running tackle on a reel,
which enables you in time to kill a heavy fish on a light line. Don't
be alarmed, therefore, at their tremendous preparations, but trust to
stout wire gimp, and a salmon rod, with a good length of line, and
making your fish work as hard as you dare for every inch of it. Do
not waste a bit of it by giving it too easily. The native fisherman may
examine your tackle, and condemn it as too weak, and you may be
disposed to believe in him, because he has actually killed the fish, and
ought to know. Never mind that ; just do with him the very same as
you will probably do with this book, namely, listen to all his advice,
and then don't follow it. Only draw your own conclusions therefrom.
At the same time you need not be uncivil, or he will become uncom-
municative. Do not rudely disturb his complacent belief that you

CHAP. xvin. Lates calcarifer. 249

cannot help yourself, that your tackle is not so good as his, and that
you must make the best of a bad job ; and then, when you land a fish
nevertheless, he will be all astonishment, and doubly anxious to show
you there is still " a thing or two " which he knows better than you ;
and you may pick up many a useful wrinkle from the native fishermen.

It is now time I made the usual descriptive quotation from Dr. Day's
" Fishes of India," and bid good-bye.

Sub-class. TELEOSTEI.

Order. ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Family. POLYNEMID^E (including eight species).

Polynemus tetradactylus. B. vii., D. 8 ^~, P. 17 + iv., V. 1/5, A.
7fE?7» c- J7> L-1- 75-85> L-tr- 8/14. Caec. pyl. many. Habitat: Seas
of India to the Malay Archipelago and China. Attaining 6 feet and
upwards in length. It is excellent eating. This species appears to ascend
higher up the rivers than any of the others, and the young are numerous
in the Hoogly, at Calcutta. Ham. Buchanan observes : " I have been
assured by a credible native that he saw one which was a load for six
men, and which certainly, therefore, exceeded in weight 320 Ibs. avoir-
dupois." (Fish Ganges, p. 225.)

P. Indicus. B. vii., D. 8 ^-^ P. 15 + v., V. 1/5, A. {^^, C. 17,
L.I. 70-75, L. tr. 7/13, Vert. 5/19. Caec. pyl. many. Habitat: Seas of
India to the Malay Archipelago, and Australia. It attains 4 feet in length,
but is rarely above 20 Ibs. weight.

The Begti.

Lates calcarifer is said by Dr. Day to be the Cock-up of Europeans,
though how it got the name I know not. I found it well known in
Calcutta as the Begti. It is also called the Nair fish by Europeans.
The Canarese called it Kulanji when small, Madavu when large ; just
as we use the terms Jack and Pike. The Malayalim name Colonel
Osborn writes is " Coollon, the final n being pronounced as the n in
the French place Dijon." For other vernacular names, Dr. Day shall
be quoted hereafter.

I have seen them weighing 30 Ibs. on terra firma, and Colonel
Osborn says he has seen them over 50 Ibs. or 60 Ibs. in weight. They
are a sea fish frequenting the estuaries, and are found in company with
the Bamin. Their mouth is similarly armed with numerous minute file-
like (villiform) teeth ; their colour is silvery, with a bronzy sheen on

250 Fishing in Estuaries. CHAP. xvm.

the back. Plate xvi. will aid recognition. The young have not the
humped back seen in the adult fish.

I have done not a little business with these fish myself, but Colonel
Osborn seems to have had more opportunities of watching them, so I
will quote his kindly contributed paper : —

" When the S.W. monsoon is at its height, and the rivers are very
much discoloured by the floods from the western mountains, the Nair
fish enter the backwaters, which are then quite thick from the inland
floods, and congregate about the bridges in company with the Bahmeen :
during the day they seem to take best when the water is most discoloured,
coming in with, and feeding on, the flood tide ; they have a large and
very brilliant eye, and possibly can see well in thick water while they
themselves are concealed from other fish whose vision is probably not so
perfect in muddy water, and I am strengthened in this opinion by having
noticed the nocturnal habits of the Nair fish, and observed them feeding
during a good portion of the night."

The tackle I would recommend is the same as for Mahseer, and
Freshwater Shark, and Bamin, illustrated on pp. 69, 70, except that as
the water is coloured, and the bait larger, you can put on a third hook,
leaving a clear space of an inch below the other two, and your bait may
.be 5 inches long. If you so fancy you can increase the size of your
trebles two sizes, from No. 8 to No. 6, as I believe Colonel Osborn
would. But I would not, I should stick to No. 8.

" The bait should also be larger than that used for Bahmeen, as this
fishing is carried on in thick water and at night. Rod, line, trace, snood,
and hooks, should all be strong, for when the Nair fish really finds Dut
that he is hooked, he starts off on a journey which is a pretty long one
before he stops. I allude here to the large sized ones. I once struck
one that must have weighed about 50 Ibs., and off he started up the river ;
I only had a medium sized gimp trace and snood, so dared not check him.
I managed to jump into a canoe from the bank, and followed him for about
400 yards before he stopped. In a subsequent struggle he broke my snood
and I lost him. A friend of mine followed a fish of similar size for about
the same distance up the river before he came to a standstill, a few days
before. I mention this incident to show that, when these fish make their
first run, after being struck, they go far. Let them have their run out and
keep them going afterwards if you can.

" In spinning for the Nair fish you should spin slowly ; he takes the
bait, not with a rush like the Bahmeen, but slowly and deliberately, as
compared to the hurry of the other fish. And sometimes, while fishing

I

*

CHAP, xviii. T/ie Begti. 251

rather deep, as the fish does not always rush off after taking the bait, I
have not known that I had a fish on till I felt the check on drawing in
the line. I have known a Nair fish, after taking, move about at a quiet
pace as if nothing had happened, when it suddenly appeared to occur to
him that he was ' on,' and off he went for his run. It does not answer to
check this, or any other fish, while he is running, even if there be danger
ahead ; try and let him have his run out, for these strong and heavy fish
have a way of plunging violently when checked, which is fatal to tackle.
As soon as the first run is over reel up quickly till you are as close as you
can get, and then start him for another cruise. Continue in this way till
you can master him without fear of a break. In mentioning these pre-
cautions I allude again to the fish of large size, the smaller ones are easier
dealt with, but the large fish are so heavy, that caution is necessary in
handling them when they are inclined to plunge and be restive.

" The best time for fishing for the Nair fish is, as I have said, for day-
work, during the monsoon, when the waters are thick. At other times when
the rivers and backwaters are clear, commence fishing soon after sundown
and go on as far into the night as the fish are on the feed, for you will
hear them splashing and feeding all about you. When they have stopped
doing so it is not much use trying for them any more.

" The break of a Bahmeen you never can mistake for that of a Nair
fish : the former is a sharp and violent splash, the spray flies in every
direction, and the Bahmeen nearly always shows himself ; that of the Nair
fish is a deep-sounding plunge, the sound of which a practised ear can
recognise, even in the night, when you cannot see the break ; there is not
much spray and the water subsides with a peculiar swirl.

" I have here noted all that I know at present about the Nair fish,
for, compared to the Bahmeen, he is, I may say, a new acquaintance of
mine. I will only add that, for this fish also, a small grey mullet is the
best bait that can be used. I have mentioned, also, as a peculiarity of this
fish, that he takes a bait rather slowly, and in a much quieter style, than
the Bahmeen does. This is what I have observed during a somewhat
limited experience of the habits of the Nair fish, a period not extending
over a full year. There are times, I believe, when the Nair fish takes a
bait greedily and goes at it with great eagerness.

" The ways of fish differ so much under various conditions — local and
atmospheric — that it is impossible to find out all about them, or even to
arrive at a correct knowledge of a good many of their habits without close
observation, extending over several seasons.

" These notes are simply the result of my own observation of the fish,
whose habits, and the method of whose capture, I have endeavoured to
describe. They are intended, not so much for the use of sportsmen, many
of whom are probably better informed on the subject than I am, but
for those to whom a few hints as to where and how to obtain sport may
be useful."

252 Fishing in Estuaries. CHAP. xvin.

I have let Colonel Osborn's opinions stand as they are, but for my
part I do not see the advantage of letting a big fish have his run,
except it be that you get a belly on the line which acts as a cushion to
sudden jerks. I would rather contest every inch with him from the
first, trusting to the elasticity of my top joint and to my tackle being
fresh and good to help me over the angry plunges, at each of which
you make the usual concession to his temper of a momentary slight
lowering of the top of the rod, a concessionary bow so to speak,
and the more passionate he is the cooler you must be in watching
his temper. So doing I would even take a little extra toll out
of him with my brake-winch, page 17, as soon as I got him settled
down to a good even gallop, for the first violent burst is always soon
over the worst of it. There will be no increased danger of a consequent
break of tackle, because the brake is so completely under control that
you can ease off instantaneously if he gets passionate. A British
Ambassador in foreign parts, whose programme was laid out for him,
as I am laying out yours here, wrote Lord Palmerston that if we did a
certain thing the foreigner threatened war. Old Pam's answer was
prompt, brief, and characteristic : " Tell them two can play at that
game." You say the same to your fish. I don't see why they should
have the game all their own way. I like "cutting in" and taking a
hand myself with just a pound or two of extra tension. But always,
mind you, at the right time, judiciously applied, with a delicate touch
of the thumb on the spring button. And it is this judicious application,
this employment of one's brains in fishing, that is an extra pleasure.
It makes the conquest more scientific as well as much more certain.
Many risks of rock and snag, and sag and slack line, and fresh breath-
ing space, are avoided by keeping a straight line from rod to fish. And
much time is saved by continuity of tension ; not brute force, that I
never advocate, but evenly regulated continuity. Of course Pam killed
his fish. And so will you if you mind what you are about.

This fish has also been caught in the Fort moat at Madras ; they
would seem to have got in through the sluices as fry. One of these
fish caught there by Mr. Robinson, and now stuffed in the Madras
Museum, weighed 33 Ibs. 5 ozs.

They are in all estuaries on both coasts of India, certainly as far
north as Calcutta. At Cochin a good fisherman gave them up as a
bad job, as " they had walked off with and smashed everything he had

CHAP, xviii. Estuarial Perches. 253

tried them with." They have done the same for me too, but that was
in days when I was not so well equipped. So there is " foeman worthy
of your steel."

Sub-Class. TELEOSTII.

Order. ACANTHOPTERYGII.

Family. PERCID^E.

Lates calcarifer. B. vii., D. 7-8 -^^-^ P. 17, V. 1/5, A. ^, C. 17,
L. 1. 52-60, L. tr. 6-7/13, Caec. pyl. 3.

Dangara, Sind ; Nuddee-meen or Nair-meen, Mai. ; Painnee-meen or
Koduwa, Tarn. ; Pandukopa or Pandu-meenu, Tel. ; Durruah and Bekkut,
Ooriah ; Begti, Beng. ; Nga-tha-dyk, Arrac ; Koral, or, if large, Baor,
Chittagong ; Todah, Andam. ; Cock-up of Europeans.

The Red Perch.

In the Madras Fort moat I have also caught spinning as for the
two previous fish, Lutianus roseus of 5 Ibs. weight, and I have caught
them in estuaries, and in a pond at Cundapur where they had become
acclimatized to nearly fresh water. They are an estuary perch
frequenting the rocks. The bait should ordinarily be much smaller
than for the two previous fish. Say the same size as for Seetul,
page 218, only it would be safer, because of their teeth, to have the
tackle mounted with wire gimp, page 208. No. 4/0 with a breaking
strain of 12 Ibs. should be amply strong enough.

The Canarese name is Kemberi.

Family.

Lutianus roseus. B. vii., D. ||, P. 16, V., 1/5, A. |, C. 17, L.I. 48,
L. r. ||, L. tr. 7/18.

The Grey Perch.

The Grey Perch, Chrysophrys berda, is a similar estuarial perch, to
be taken with similar tackle, in the same places as Lutianus roseus. I
have taken them as above, but friends who are reliable fishermen tell
me that they are specially partial to a prawn. In case you should wish
to invest in prawn tackle here it is for you to look at and select for
yourself. I have had no personal experience of its use, but with my
usual preference for light tackle I selected from three different sorts
the one with fewest hooks, but my tackle-maker writes me that it was

254

Fishing in Estuaries.

CHAP. XVIII.

his older pattern which he had to give up because there were so many
complaints of salmon biting the back of the prawn without getting
hooked. Now I don't suppose he himself believes for a moment that
there is a salmon swimming who is so canny, even in Scotland, as to
take the prawn by the back alone, without closing his mouth on the
whole prawn. But he has to cater for his customers, and to my
thinking it is the old question of anglers' fancies, and for my
part I remain an advocate of light tackle, preferring to run the slight
risk, if any, of losing an odd fish now and then from having too few
hooks, to the far greater probability of losing many a run at a bait
armed with too many deterrent looking hooks. Still I give the

objection for what it is worth, not knowing which way my reader may
lean, and if he thinks there is a wily Asiatic fish that will take his prawn
by the back, he can select accordingly, and I am the more profligate of
illustrations because my readers, being mostly far from tackle shops,
are more than ordinarily dependent on them. Bait by inserting the
point of the needle just below the tail, and bringing it out at the breast
of the prawn, and into an eye in the shank of the tail treble hook,
which is then pulled just home, and the tail of the prawn made fast to
the trace by a turn or two of any dark thread.

To suit these estuarial fish with their many teeth, the tackle might
with advantage be dressed on No. 4/0 wire gimp.

CHAP. xvni. Elops and Megalops. 255

I confess I never used prawns as a bait myself, but as prawns
abound in India, and not only in estuaries, but also in fresh waters, I
can well imagine that they should be a good bait, and not for this fish
only, but for many. Some Indian prawns, as Palemon cardnus, of the
Indian seas and the Ganges, attain a foot in length. I saw one 6|
inches long taken in a fresh-water pond in the People's Park in Madras.
The cannibal was taken on a prawn bait on a hook. In Calcutta the
natives frequently fish solely for prawns on a hook about the size of
a roach hook, using prawn as bait. They give them plenty of time
and do not strike, as for fish, but tauten and lift out without a jerk.
Practice shows the difference between a slow prawn bite and a smart
fish bite with lively bobs. The float goes slowly down and stops down
just a little below the surface. A minnow hook should be better than
a roach hook. Prawns use their nippers to steal your bait and convey
it to their mouths if small enough. I have seen one fisherman with
quite a dinner for a dozen thus captured.

Day says he has seen Chrysophrys berda 30 inches in length. They
ordinarily run from 2 Ibs. to 5 Ibs.

Elops saurus.

This is another estuarial fish, to be caught in the same way as the
two previous fish, and also with a white fly, small salmon size, say
No. 3 Limerick. It is a long thin fish, very active. I have seen it
taken a foot long and natives say it grows to 3 feet long by i foot deep.
Its Tamil name is Alati.

Megalops cyprinoides.

Megalops cyprinoides^ which it is as easy to call Megalops as any-
thing else, also takes a bait well at times. I have come across them
coming up an estuary in a shoal, and it was like hauling in Mackerel ;
and they run about the same size. There was a fish on as fast as ever
you could get your line into the water. But the fun was very short-
lived. It was in mid-stream, and they were all past the boat in a very
little time. I have also taken them on a May fly and a Carnatic Carp
fly, in a pond which was connected with the Adyar estuary. I had
only 30 minutes to spare, and in that time, on a light trout rod, took
six of £ Ib. each, lost four more among weeds, and had one fly bitten

256 Fishing in Estuaries. CHAP. xvm.

off. Some of them sprang a foot in air, and all fought well. If I essayed
them again I should try a fly a little larger. I have also taken them
with a dead bait and float. I have seen them in Calcutta, and they are
on both coasts. They acclimatize very readily to fresh water, and
grow fast, as I know, and breed, as I am told, in ponds. But they
must be very destructive of the fry of other fish. It is not a prudent
thing, therefore, to put them into any pond in which you wish to breed
fish. But natives are fond of keeping them in ponds, and in a Fort
ditch or any place into which predacious fish have already got it may
be acided without injury. Plate xvii. will help you to recognize it.
The Tamil name is Mordng Kendai and in places Pal Kendai.

Order. PHYSOSTOMI. Family. CLUPEID^E.

Megalops cyprinoides. B. xxiv.-xxvi., D. 19-21 (iy^.I9), P. 15-16, V. 10,
A. 24-27 (5^5), C. 19, L. 1. 37-42, L. tr. 5-6/6.

Punnihowu and Naharn, Ooriah ; Cunnay, Mai. ; Moran cundai, Tarn. ;
Nga-tan-youet, Burmese.

The Seer.

If you try the same tactics at, or close to, the mouth of a river, as
have been recommended for Bamin, you may get the Seer fish, which
is a splendid fellow. I do not think they ever come far into a river.
Indeed, I am pretty sure they do not. I once saw a fine one of 15 Ibs.
killed in a funny way. A friend and I were spinning for them. I
left my friend spinning at a projecting sand spit, at the mouth of the
Mangalore harbour, which is cut abruptly away by the current, and is
very little above the water level. He threw out his bait, and spun it
home to him, and had just pulled it out when, to his astonishment, and
I believe alarm, a i5lb. Seer fish, in dashing after it, sprung clean on
shore, at his very feet. There he was, a fine fellow, flopping about, and
in imminent danger of getting into the water again. All hands punched
his head, with the butt of the rod, with boots, for we had been bathing,
and anything handy, and with any amount of excitement. Meanwhile,
others of us were in a boat trying the mid stream, and coming back we
were shown the fish, as if it had been a legitimate bag, with a long yarn
about the line it had taken out, etc. But I had happened to get a
glimpse of it in the distance, and joined in, therefore, with their story,
saying, " I saw you showing him the butt"

CHAP, xviii. The Seer. 257

I am inclined to think much fun might be got out of the Seer fish.
The matter wants developing.

H. writes : '" I caught a couple at Ponany, and I never saw finer
running. I do not think I exaggerate in saying they leaped 8 feet out
of the water at times. They were 15 -pounders." The writer, be it
remembered, is no tyro, easily exhilarated, but an old salmon fisher,
and otherwise a mighty hunter.

The Seer fish is Cybiiim, of which there are five species in the
Indian Seas, attaining some of them 3 and 4 feet in length. They are
excellent eating. Their mouth is full of very formidable teeth. They
are a sea, not an estuary fish.

It should be remembered that Seer are not always present. They
do not make their appearance till a month or so after the close of the
monsoon, when they follow up the little fish frequenting the rivers.
The simplest way to ascertain when they are in, is by having them
for breakfast from the fish market, for the natives net them as soon as
they come.

Seer, and, I believe, other fish, are caught off the Indian coasts
much after the manner of mackerel in England. A crude imitation
of a fish is made to shape out of the white kernel of the cocoanut,
and placed on a big hook, about the size of No. 10/0 Limerick, or
out of white rag; and three long lines thus baited are trailed well
behind the vessel as she sails, one from each arm of the yard, and
one from the mast head. They are thus kept well apart out of danger
of tangling. A bridle or connecting line, one from each of these lines
to the deck, makes it easy to tell if there is a fish on, and to pull the
line in so as to have it and the fish on deck. This style of fishing
wants a good breeze. " It's the pace that kills " fish. This I give
from hearsay, not personal trial, for my " soul would sicken o'er the
heaving wave."

Friends going home by P. and O. tell me that they have caught
fish in this way from the steamer. They did nothing in the deep sea,
but in those parts of the Red Sea where they ran near land or rocky
shallows they killed big fish in spite of the jeers of incredulous fellow
passengers. The hook about the size of No. 10/0 Limerick was on
thick wire, the body weighted with lead and covered with white rag,
the wings and tail being of the same.

But splendid sport though estuary fish give you at times, I cannot

THE ROD IN INDIA. S

258 Fishing in Estuaries. CHAP. xvm.

but say that, in my estimation, estuary fishing is highly unsatisfactory,
for the simple reason that the fish, whose habits are governed by the
tides, will not take except at the right time of the tide. If the tide
would always turn conveniently, just half an hour after one got out of
Cutchery, I would not complain. But as it is, the chances are just
about twenty-three to one against your hitting off the right time. If
your time is your own like a native fisherman's, and you do not mind
a little sun, and can study the tides, and be on the spot at the right
time, then you may have excellent sport. But how few Europeans
there are in India who have the necessary leisure. If you have the
leisure, and have come to know their times, this very periodicity of
their taking is in your favour. The fish are all on the feed at the
same time, and to be able to predict this beforehand, and to arrange
to meet them at dinner, is a very great point indeed. What lucky
and uncertain hours are those when the trout are fairly on the feed,
in a taking humour at home. How one fishes on, hour after hour, in
England, in spite of indifferent sport, in the expectancy that at any
time in the day there may be a change, with the air full of flies, and
the water covered with circles. But there is not such an amount of
uncertainty about the estuary fish. He takes his meals at regular
intervals, and you can tell his dinner hour as well as he can himself,
for his clock is in the heavens, to wit the moon ; only it is a little
like Captain Cuttle's famous watch, about which he gave the advice
and testimony — •" Put it back half an hour every morning, and about
another quarter towards the afternoon, and it's a watch that'll do you
credit." Similarly your fishing clock, the moon, is irregular, and
you must remember that it is not exactly 12 hours between high tide
and high tide, but nearer 12 hours and 20 minutes; though even this
odd 20 minutes is sometimes nearer 15, sometimes nearly 25. But you
will not be far wrong if you bear in mind that each high tide, after an
interval of 12 hours, is about 20 minutes later than its predecessor,
and as there is one in the night as well as in the day, the day high tide
recurs, more or less, about 40 minutes later than it did the day before.

On the whole, therefore, the estuary fish is no lunatic for not
sitting down to table till the cloth is laid, and his dinner ready in
the shape of passing shoals of little fish j and, though his punctilious
punctuality, and his lunar time, may be inconvenient to me, there
may be others to whom it may be no bar to the closer cultivation

CHAP. xvin. Chanos Salmoneus. 259

of his acquaintance. To them, therefore, I introduce him with this
caution about punctuality. He will not wait a minute for you.

Sea-fish are to be caught in India, as elsewhere, by bottom fishing
from a boat, and for those who fancy this style of fishing, good sport
may sometimes be had. With a view to tell them about it, I
commenced collecting the information from the native fishermen.
But it strikes me there will be very little practical use in my swelling
my book with what anyone can learn just as well direct from them.
Moreover, it is difficult for any book to make a man independent
of local aid in sea-fishing; for there are certain places in the sea
that hold certain fish, while other places hold none, and he will
still want the local fishermen, who know the spots, and the guiding
landmarks, to anchor him immediately over these favoured spots.
Being perforce reliant, therefore, on the native fishermen for locality,
he may as well leave them to supply bait, lines, and everything else.

Chanos salmoneus.

One sea-fish, however, I will mention briefly, because, though not
to be caught with rod and line that I know of, it, in its own way, shows
really exciting sport. Acclimatized to water that is very slightly
brackish, it runs to 20 or 30 Ibs. in a pond at Cundapur, and having
the repute of having been reserved by Hyder for his own use, it
has ever since been protected, and going by the name of Ryder's
fish, is believed to be a freshwater fish, imported and put there by
Hyder. I entertain no doubt, however, that the fry introduced
themselves through a breached sluice from the adjoining estuary,
and that, on the sluice being permanently closed, they gradually
got acclimatized to the water growing less and less salt. Now they
breed there freely. Being satisfied this must be the explanation, I
showed a peon a stuffed specimen, and, impressing every detail of
its form on him, and making him repeat them with his back to the
fish, and selecting the month in which I thought it most probable that
the Chanos salmoneus would enter the estuaries to spawn, and allowing
time for the fry to hatch and grow before going to sea, I sent the peon
to the estuary, not the pond, to catch some fry and take them to
another lake, the bigger Karkal Lake. He found them as predicted,

S 2

260 fishing in Estiiaries. CHAP. xvm.

and introduced fifty in the Karkal Lake, bringing me back specimens
in spirits that I might be satisfied there had been no mistake.

The full grown fish are caught in the pond in a singular manner.

Ordinary drag nets are connected till they are together long enough
to stretch right across the pond ; but not a single fish of this description
is by any chance ever caught in this net ; its sole use is to frighten
them. Behind this net comes a long row of small canoes tied to the
drag net at short intervals, so that the hauling of the drag net shall
keep them in their places close behind the drag net. On the thwarts
in these canoes stand men extending a similar net in the air, at about
the angle of 45° from the water, to the greatest height they can reach.
Thus arranged, the line proceeds, and the fish, frightened by the drag
net in the water, endeavour to leap over it, and in so doing fall into
the net spread in the air. It is a sight to see a silvery salmon-like fish
of 20 pounds or thereabouts face the line with a spring that clears boats
and standing men and up-raised nets. Sometimes he leaps against the
net close to the boatman, or even hits him and brings him down like a
nine-pin, a sort of tumbling that the fishermen seem to enjoy if the fish
is secured, and the eventual victory lies with them. Altogether it is a
pretty and somewhat exciting scene to witness, especially if the spectator
be himself under fire.

They are such magnificent fish that it is a thousand pities they
cannot be taken with a rod and line. I have tried spinning and fly
in vain, and only know of one having been taken with a prawn. They
have a mouth like a grey mullet and might, perhaps, be similarly
tempted with a rag-worm. But I should not be hopeful, for the grey
mullet also are very difficult to take with a bait, as is well known.

It may be noticed in passing that the acclimatization of salt water
fish to fresh water is no uncommon occurrence. There are ponds in
the sand strip between the sea and river at Mangalore in which the
water is fresh, and yet they contain several distinct species, of purely
sea fish that have lived and spawned there for more than eight years.
The salmon, shad, and hilsa, for instance, change every year from sea
to fresh water, and trout are found at sea. So there is nothing extra-
ordinary in the Chanos salmoneus taking kindly to fresh water.

CHAPTER XIX.
FISHING ON THE HILL SANATORIA.

" We care not who says,
And intends it dispraise,
That an angler to a fool is next neighbour ;
Let him prate ; what care we ?
We're as honest as he ;
And so let him take that for his labour."

COTTON.

Pulney Hills.

ON the Pulney Hills in the Madura district is a sanatorium, about
6000 feet above the sea, called Kodaikanal, and in it is a lake, which
was stocked by an accident. Mr. V. H. Levinge, afterwards Sir Vere,
who made the lake in the site I had suggested when serving under him,
had sent, at considerable expense, to. the Nilagiris for English fish to
stock it. They died in transit, and the coolies that carried them, not
liking to confess it, caught indigenous fish at the base of the hills, and
filled up their vessels with them. In the haste to put them out alive, the
fraud was not detected by whoever it was that was charged on Sir V.
H. Levinge's behalf to put the fish into the lake alive. The whole lake
now swarms with them, and they are one of the lesser Barils (Barilius
gatensis). This Baril is said by Dr. Day to attain " at least 6 inches " in
length. They have been caught in that lake up to 7 inches, but never
over 2 1- ounces in weight. Still they are pretty fly-fishing in an enjoyable
climate. They rise freely, the whole lake being sometimes covered
with their rises just before dark ; but also sometimes not, as, like other
fish, they have their times and seasons. They do best after rain. If
only you have a light rod, sufficiently stiff for quick striking such tiny
weights, you may then take them by the dozen. Use a cast of three small
trout flies, as small as you can have them, red and dark flies being

262 Fishing on the Hill Sanatoria. CHAP. xix.

preferred, from 8.30 or 9 A.M. till the afternoon. In the evening just
before dark, a light dun, almost white, fly is preferred, and especially
near the weeds at the edge, on which it seems to be bred. You* cannot
do much from the shore, and should have a boat, and let it drift.
There are boats belonging to the club, but they are in much request.
I had a single Berthon in which I was very close down to the water,
and scarcely dared sneeze. And subsequently I had a Hawker's shoot-
ing punt built for me at Madras, and took it up. The latter was just the
thing. It took two or three persons, and was safe for a lady, or you
could stand up and move in it. It is a sort of boat that any village
carpenter can build under your supervision.

The young swim in shoals, the full grown ones singly.

As to season, I found in July that the white fly in the evening had
past. In July the weather is boisterous. In August the fish began to
rise again. The best time seems to be May and June, and perhaps
from March.

In January, 1886, I put in 8 Carnatic Carp, and in May, 1886, 20
Megalops cyprinoides .

In the first week in June, 1887, I sent up the young of Mahseer, and
of Carnatic Carp, and the gentleman on the spot to whom I consigned
them, wrote *me that he turned into the lake 19 out of the 20 Mahseer
sent, alive and well, and the whole of the 60 Carnatic Carp sent, all
vigorous but one, which however recovered. I have heard no news
of them, though they ought to have made a show by this time, and to
improve the fishing in the lake.

The Nilagiris.

From the printed Government records I note that in 1867 Dr.
Day introduced into the Ootacamund Lake 16 Eels, 28 Carnatic
Carp, 2 Ophiocephalus marulius, 10 O. striatiis, 149 O. gachua, and
some Labeo, Dussumieri, Rasbora Nielgerriensis (which is the Nilagiri
indigenous minnow), Barilius rugosus (which is our modern friend
B. gatensis), Puntius gracilis (now known as Barbiis micropogori), Barbus
filamentosus, and six Gourami (Osphromenus olfax). The last-named
are said to have all died of the cold. Of the others nothing has since
been heard or seen, in the Ootacamund Lake.

But as regards the Billikal Lake, there the Barbus Carnaticus, my

CHAP. XIX.

Ootacamund.

263

fine fly-taking friend of Chapter XI., introduced by Dr. Day, is
flourishing. The then owner of it, Mr. Thomas Kaye, told me, in
September, 1875, that he saw the big fish spawning on the shallows of
the lake, sixteen at a time, and that they rose best to the fly in the
N.E. monsoon, after and in a shower ; that they took butterflies, when he
threw them in, and tried at swallows. He had shot 3 Ib. fish, and had
seen them 4 feet long in the water. He heard them splashing from
his bungalow, which is two or three hundred yards away from the lake.

THE OOTACAMUND LAKE.

He preserves well from netting, and is kindly about allowing gentlemen
anglers to fish. But alas ! alas ! he had put in the small English carp
from Ootacamund in 1874. The present owner is, I am told,
V. Thiruvengadaswami Mudaliar.

I paid one day's visit to the Billikal Lake, which is about 6 miles
from Ootacamund, but could catch none, because the big fish keep to
the deep water, and are unapproachable without a boat. Any one
essaying them there should have a basket boat brought up from the
low country, or try the deep water near the embankment, bottom

264 Fishing on the Hill Sanatoria. CHAP. xix.

fishing if he cares to. The existence there of the Carnatic Carp would
seem to say that if they have borne the change of climate to that
elevation, and have got acclimatized to it, they will probably bear it on
to Ootacamund from thence, even if they do not bear it direct from the
plains, which latter seems doubtful.

After Dr. Day came Mr. Mclvor, who introduced carp and tench
from England. It is a thousand pities that he did so. To go all the
way to England for the common carp was truly a sad waste of most
laudable enterprise and painstaking perseverance, for the carp is only
an imported fish in England, and attains but a slight weight there
comparatively, with a very poor flavour, and yields next to no sport ;
whilst India is itself the very paradise of carps of numerous sorts, from
200 Ibs. downwards ; carps that are much better eating, that propagate
and grow more rapidly, and, moreover, afford excellent sport to the
angler with fly, spoon, live bait, or bottom fishing, as may happen to be
preferred by the weary health-seeker of the chief sanatorium of Southern
India, Ootacamund. How large the carp grow at Ootacamund I do
not know. Fishermen there have told me certainly of lines carried
away by them, but then their lines were very frail ones, unsupplemented
by reels, and the fish that broke them might quite as well have been the
Carnatic Carp put in by Dr. Day. All the fish I have seen taken there,
whether by rod or net, were miserable little things, of about 3 ozs. in
weight, and I have seen two or three drags made by the authorities, on
purpose to try and discover if there were any decent fish. Miserable
little carp of this size swarm and choke the water in the Ootacamund
and the Lovedale Lakes. At one-time I thought these objectionable
little carp could be eliminated by netting, so as to make room for
better fish, and I made a most careful effort. But it was a complete
fiasco. The lake is so full of weeds, and is of such varying depths, that
a drag-net gets choked with weeds, and while the net is being hauled
up full of them, the fish get under the net and escape.

The Tench, the only other fish I have seen in the Ootacamund
Lake, were likewise brought at great pains and expense from England ;
a very poor fish in edibility, and most uncertain in sport.

Lochleven Trout are said to have been introduced into the Pykara
stream by the late Mr. Mclvor ; but the evidence is open to question.

I have at Ootacamund had fish brought me alive, which, from being
caught in clear water were so bright that the gentleman who brought them

CHAP. xix. The Nilagiris. 265

was positive, very positive, that they were trout, and was very slow to
believe me when I told him they were tench. It shows that you must
know not only the bona fides, but also the scientific knowledge of your
informant as to the fish reported to be introduced, especially when fry
are spoken of.

Then Mr. H. P. Hodgson wrote me, in November 1882, that he and
Mr. Knox and Mr. Wapshare had, in April 1877, caught below the
Pykara falls and put into the river above them 123 Mahseer, the largest
being nearly £ lb., " that they were all fresh, and in good order, and
swam away gaily."

Then I personally put a fair lot of Mahseer and Carnatic Carp fry,
healthy and vigorous, into the Ootacamund Lake. Unfortunately I
cannot lay my hand on my note of their number, and the date, and will
not speak from unassisted memory. Whether they have survived the
cold and made any show at all I should much like to know.

Lastly, the Nilagiri Game Association has, I understand, laudably
persevered with the hatching out of trout ova, till they have succeeded
in placing out a goodly number of young trout. But I have not heard
of any fishing having been yet had out of them.

The Nilagiri News of 28th September, 1895, reprints Appendix D.
of the report for 1894-95 of Major C. J. Grant, Secretary of the
Nilagiri Game Association, from which I epitomize the following notes
of progress accomplished.

In 1895, Association ponds being examined, yearling trout were
transferred from them, 7 to the Pykara River, 120 to the head waters
of the Avelanche River, 46 to the Burnfoot lake.

In the spring of 1894 the Dodabetta reservoir was netted, and
1 6 seven-year-old trout from ij to 7 Ibs. were taken out, and 16 of
them transferred to the Burnfoot lake, one of 2 Ibs., which died, being
preserved in spirits.

In the Burnfoot lake there were, at the time of the report, " about
60 fine trout."

The trout placed in the Kundah River in 1888 have bred. "In
all the small pools small trout are darting about." Major Grant with a
fly took two of three or four ounces, and returned them to the stream.
One heavy fish broke him, and he " landed one over a pound, a female
full of almost ripe ova."

The stock pond at Pykara "had 28 yearlings put into it in

266 Fishing on the Hill Sanatoria. CHAP. xix.

February 1894. The survivors will now be 2- years old, and are
well grown fish."

I see it reported that " mountain carp " have been taken with a fly
in the Pykara stream. The scientific name is not quoted.

The Billikal Lake swarms with the little indigenous Rasbora
daniconius. It only attains to 8 inches, but it rises very freely indeed
to the smallest fly you can use, and may serve excellently to teach
schoolboys to throw a fly, and to feed big fish. They thrive very well
there in company with the Carnatic Carp, but they cannot stand the
common carp, seemingly.

It is probable that Labeos will thrive at Wellington, for I sent some
fry to a friend, who had a plantation at an elevation of about 4500 feet,
and they lived and grew well in his pond, till a clever coolie let off all
the water, and they went into the coffee pulper. But whether they will
survive the greater cold of Ootacamund is a further question.

If they will live on the hills one might hope that the Cirrhina
tirrhosa, or White Carp, mentioned in Chapter XIIL, might also thrive
there.

Barils thrive well on the Pulney Hills, and ought to do equally well
on the Nilagiri Hills. They have been introduced into a reservoir at
Devashola, near Coonoor, by the late Mr. Money, and have bred there
as I saw. To take them on to Ootacamund and to the lakes at Kodanad,
and at Wellington would be a very easy matter, a few pots and coolies,
and casting nets being all that would be wanted. The Wellington
water should be stocked with them, if it is only as a healthy diversion
to the soldiery.

As to the fish already there, the manner of capturing them may be
dismissed in very few words.

The Carnatic Carp has already been treated of in Chapter XL and
above. Of Rasbora daniconius enough has been said. There remain
the English Carp (Cyprinus carpio\ and Tench (Tinea vulgaris).

The English carp are very difficult to take with the rod. They are
the fox of the waters for cunning. The plan, however, is to use fine
gut and light quill float, with small shot about a foot from the hook,
No. 6 or 7 Kirby size, not larger. Let the shot rest on the bottom, just
tilting the float. Bait with paste, worms, or gentles, ground-baiting with
the same mixed with clay or bran. Keep out of sight and quiet, and
strike when the float moves off, not before. "Ephemera" says they

CHAP. xix. Hill Resorts. 267

rarely reach 6 Ibs. in rivers, and 12 Ibs. in ponds in England; while
other writers say they grow to twice those weights, and even more in
warmer climates than England. Let us hope, therefore, that they really
do grow to a respectable size on the Nilagiris, with their sub-tropical
clime, and that we have seen only little ones because they are the most
easily caught. To catch these little ones with a rod and line is a very
simple matter for any boy that thinks it worth doing, but to catch the
big foxy ones if there are any, wants ground-baiting and very quiet and
very fine fishing. Ground-bait two or three likely holes, and keep
ringing the changes on them, moving from one to another to let it
quiet down after landing a fish. Rest your rod on a forked twig or
otherwise so as to keep quiet.

Tench should be fished for in the same manner, or with the bait
just off the ground, the bait being well-scoured brandling. Though
captious feeders, they are freer biters than carp. They seldom exceed
5 Ibs. or 6 Ibs. in weight ; 2 Ibs. is a common weight. I have boyish
memories of fair fun with them. They are somewhat more palatable
than the common carp. A pond may be full of them, and the existence of
a single one never be suspected because they are undemonstrative, and
keep about the bottom. I sent some fry to the Shevaroy Hills in June,
1878, and they were safely turned into the smaller lake there. Tench
bear carriage remarkably well.

Pachmarhi.

Pachmarhi in the Saugur distict. Fourteen miles off is the Dak
Bungalow at Singanama at the foot of the hill, and the river Denwa is
a mile further.

" If the angler has no tents he should go to the Singanama Bungalow,
and thence strike at right angles across the road for about a mile, and fish
down till he comes to impassable cliffs. But if he has tents he will get
better water by crossing the river by the road, which crosses it below the
bluffs, and camping near the village about 2y or 3 miles from the Dak Bunga-
low. The bank of the river is too thickly wooded for camping. Native fisher-
men can be got in the village to serve as guides to the pools and ways. Sambre
and spotted deer are in the jungles. March is the best time for Mahseer.

" In the little stream that runs into the Pachmarhi lake excellent Chilwa
fishing can be had in the rains.

"The Pachmarhi lake is said to have Mahseer in it, but I never heard,:?
says my correspondent, " of anything being done in it."

268 Fishing on the Hill Sanatoria. CHAP. xix.

" The way to the Pachmarhi Hill station is by dak 30 miles from
Piparia Railway Station on the Calcutta Bombay line, five hours beyond
Jabalpoor from Calcutta."

Kumaon.

For the fishing in these parts the reader is best referred to " Angling
in the Lakes of Kumaon," by Dr. Walker.

Poonah.

Few people know the fishing to be had at Poonah. Within 12 miles
of the club, three rods took 287 Ibs. of Mahseer running from 5 Ibs.
to 20 Ibs.

A correspondent writes me that the reservoir at Karackwasla, which

1 have seen but not fished, is 10 miles from Poonah, that there is a very
roomy and comfortable bungalow, about half-a-mile from the bund,
belonging to the executive engineer, who is courteously kind about lending
it when convenient. But there is also good tenting ground all round.
By the courtesy of the executive engineer a boat can also be had, the
borrower paying his own boatman of course. The plan recommended
is to spin a bright 3 inch spoon deep with a 2 ounce sinker on, and
40 yards of line out of the boat. The best times are said to be from
1 2 to 4 in February, March, and April in bright weather, in clear water,
when twelve Mahseer, averaging 10 Ibs., would be a good day's sport.
Wallago attu are also sometimes taken. In dirty water one rod,

bottom fishing, got twenty or thirty fish of i Ib. each, which he called
Mahseer !

The Muti Mula is the river which is bunded up at Poonah. It runs
parallel to the G. I. P. Railway ; and ten or fifteen miles from Luni station
are two good Mahseer pools. Keirgaum is the station for Sardilgaum,
seven miles off, where is plenty of length of Mahseer fishing with plenty
of rapids, but no road, and no bungalow. Bullock carts and tents are
necessary. My kindly correspondent adds, that the best time is
September, October, and early November, that is, as soon as the river
has cleared from the monsoon. He used a small spoon of if to

2 inches.

The Muti Mulla runs into, the Bhima river, where the better water
is, lower down than the junction. Sardilgaum is four miles below
Pargaum, where the road from Poonah to Siroor crosses the river.

CHAPTER XX.

ROD AND TACKLE.

"Away to the brook,

All your tackle out-look,

Here's a day that is worth a year's wishing ;
See that all things be right,
For 'twould be a spite
To want tools when a man goes a-fishing."

COTTON.

I BEGAN my fishing in India with rough-and-ready self-made articles ;
accordingly, in my first edition, I began this Chapter with instructions
how any brother fisherman in like distress might set himself up with
an impromptu self-made kit. I think it was a mistake. Such a kit is
sure to be a bad one, sure to lead only to terrible disasters and
disappointments in any but the most skilful hands, and not unfrequently
even in those. Practised hands will know how to make up makeshifts
without my telling them; others should not venture on using them.
Rather let them be careful to buy the best implements to aid them in
their first efforts.

Hooks. — The hooks required for Mahseer fishing will, as far as the
fly fishing is concerned, be the same as for Salmon fishing, to wit,
Limerick hooks, but in ordering them you will please not forget the
caution given at pp. 116 and 124, and will refer your tackle-maker to my
illustrations of sizes, pp. 117, 119-123.

But for spinning you will require a very different style of treble
hook to the sort ordinarily used for spinning in England, you will
require one made specially for Mahseer. The sizes of Mahseer trebles
are the same as those of other treble hooks as given on p. 119, but
Mahseer trebles are made of very much stouter wire.

A tackle-maker accustomed to supply Indian tackle will know what
you mean if you call them Mahseer trebles ; but from ordinary tackle-

270 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

makers you might just as well ask for the man in the moon, and expect
to get him out by the next overland parcel post. You will have to tell
them that it is the treble hook called by the hook makers extra-stout.
The ordinary tackle-maker, who is not educated to the supply of Indian
tackle, is sure to have none of these hooks in his shop. He never
deals in them, has probably never seen them, and does not know how
to order them of the hook maker, even if he sees them. Tell him they
are called extra-stout, as I said above, and that such hooks you must
have. It will shock his sensibilities doubtless, his refined eye recoiling
from anything so clumsy.

Moreover, he considers it no compliment to offer such a hook to a
sportsman, . as if he had not fine enough hand to kill a fish on an
ordinary hook ; and, indeed, it might be considered an insult, if the
pull of the fish was the only thing to be afraid of. But that is not
the difficulty at all, it is the very unusual power of compression
exercised by the Mahseer, the violent chop with which he seizes his
fish, that crushes an ordinary treble hook before you feel your fish at
all, as explained at length in Chapter IV.

Tackle Shops. — My readers being mainly Indians, some of whom
had come out to India without being inoculated with the fishing virus,
I felt in my former editions that they, some of them, might not know
where to look for tackle shops ; and in the days of my first edition,
few tackle-makers knew anything about Mahseer, and the special hooks
needed for them. It was specially due to my readers, therefore, that
I should mention shops in which these hooks were kept. I mentioned,
therefore, C. Farlow, 191, Strand; and Bowness, 230, Strand, as the
only ones I then knew to have any knowledge of Mahseer tackle.
Since then, however, letters to the Field have been frequent, and
tackle-makers have had their opportunities of learning, and perhaps my
books have added their mite to spread the knowledge; and anglers
have talked to their tackle-makers. Still they are, speaking generally,
slow to turn aside from their main English trade and sacrifice time to
making a speciality of Indian fishing, and in earlier days there were two
schools of anglers, so that they did not know which to accept as safe
exponents, the cable and barge pole school, or the more modern pliable
salmon-rod school. So it has come about that though any tackle-maker
that you are accustomed to deal with ought, from the instructions in
this book, to be able to supply you correctly, I am afraid few of them

CHAP. xx. Tackle Shops. 271

will, unless they have, or aim at having, a sufficiently large Indian
connection to make it worth their while to buy this book, and keep it
by them for reference, and to give it the necessary study. If they will
I have done all I can, in careful particularizing of details, to help anglers
to continue to deal with their old friends by helping their old friends to
be able to give them satisfaction. If, therefore, your angler affections
are already centred I do not want to tamper with your love. My love,
I will confess it, was plighted long ago to Farlow. He first hooked me
with a proper Mahseer hook, and then stole my heart with one of his
rods. It is the special confidant spoken of among rods, p. 63. And
up-to-date they have continued to make such a speciality of Indian
fishing that — well, I am afraid to say more lest I should be charged
with favouritism, while, in brief, the one thought of my book is to aid
the angler, in special consideration of the grievous disappointment of
having the wrong tackle sent you out in India at such an irremediable
distance from your tackle shop.

I may add the following names: — Bowness, 230, Strand; G. Little
and Co., 63, Haymarket, London ; the Civil Service Co-operative
Society of 28, Haymarket; the Army and Navy Co-operative Stores
Society, 117, Victoria Street, Westminster, London, S.W. ; J. Enright,
Castle Connell, Ireland; Eaton and Deller, 6 and 7, Crooked Lane,
London Bridge, E.G. ; Hardy Brothers, Alnwick. In Madras, there is
the shop of Messrs. Oakes and Co. In Bengal, I know that T. P.
Luscombe of Allahabad knows how to supply the right article, and I
am told that the three following men also do : — •

R. B. Rodda and Co., 7 and 8, Dalhousie Square, Calcutta.

Manton and Co., 13, Old Court House Street, Calcutta.

Biswas, whose address I do not know.

Presuming presumptuously that some few of my readers will be
converted to my ideas of tackle, and will wish their tackle shop to
supply them with the things particularized, to lighten the labour of
the tackle-maker, I have gathered together in one place in the index,
and as far as possible in this Chapter also, all the references that will
be useful to him.

Single Vent Hook. — The single vent hook for spinning should
be one uneyed Mahseer treble hook, No. 5, on No. 2/0 Allcock's
patent rust-proof wire gimp, the gimp being, to prevent slipping,
passed between the trebles and brought up again three-quarters of

272 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

the shank of the hook before whipping. This passes into the vent
with less tear than an eyed hook. About 9 inches of gimp, and a
loop whipped. A Dee-side sinker i~ inches long, and proportionately
thick, with hole sufficient to let the looped gimp pass. See pp. 68, 69,
and Sinkers infra.

The same on gut, single salmon, or treble, with sinker, as in
illustration on p. 68.

Richmond Spinner. — Geen's Richmond spinner, salmon size.
Mount with No. 7 or 8 Mahseer hooks — 8, which is the smaller,
for preference — in the position shown in the illustration on p. 69.
Unless specially desired on single salmon gut or treble gut, mount
on No. 2/0 patent, rust-proof, wire gimp, single throughout, the
hooks being not eyed, but straight and whipped on, the end hook
having the gimp passed between the trebles and brought back the most
part of the shank of the hook before whipping. This for Mahseer.

For Bamin and Freshwater Sharks always use wire gimp, and of the
strength above named.

For Cock-up, see p. 250, the same wire gimp but hooks two sizes
larger, and one extra hook an inch clear of tail hook in the illustration
on p. 69.

The Coxon Spinner.— The Coxon Spinner, salmon size, mount
as in Richmond Spinner. As shown in the illustration on p. 70,
discard the second black swivel usually sold with the patent tackle.

Richmond Spinner. — Richmond spinner, trout size. For Seetul
mount as ordinarily mounted for trout. For Red Perch, Grey Perch,
and Batchwa, pp. 253, 222, mount on No. 4/0 wire gimp. In both
cases use Mahseer hooks so that the baits can, on occasion, be used
for small Mahseer.

Coxon Spinner. — Coxon spinner, trout size, the same mounting
as for Richmond spinner, trout size, discarding the second black swivel.

The Archer Spinner, the Chapman Spinner, the
Phantom. — The Archer spinner, the Chapman spinner, and the
Phantom are mentioned and illustrated on p. 72, but are not recom-
mended for the reasons stated. Such anglers as nevertheless desire
them should have them mounted like the Richmond spinner above.

Phantoms should never be used for Bamln, Begti, Freshwater
Shark, Batchwa, Red and Grey Perch, as they will simply tear the
skin or cloth to pieces in no time.

CHAP. xx. Spoons and Split Rings. 273

Spoons. — Spoon baits also should be mounted with the same
hooks specially for India, and should, for the reason already given
(pp. 52, 60), be made of thicker metal than fishing spoons ordinarily
are. I like them as thick as a good teaspoon, and gilt on one
side, silvered on the other. The sizes for Mahseer spoons are from
3 inches in length in the bowl downwards to ii inches, 3 and 2f
inches being used in deep pools where the biggest fish are expected,
and where the spoon is required to show further down into the depths,
but 2| and 2 inches being preferable for general use, while some
devotees of specially light tackle never use anything bigger than
1 1 inches. The two smallest sizes, 2 and if inches, spin best, I
think, for being hogbacked ; and in the larger sizes I prefer the bowl
rounded in the shape of a dessert-spoon, rather than narrowed, as I
think they get a better hold of the water, and can be spun at a lower
speed of traction than the narrower ones. Two and a half inches in
the bowl is just the size of a dessert-spoon, and is my general favourite.

For the reasons given below in connection with rust-eaten gut, it is
desirable that the ring in the spoon to which the gut trace is attached
should be of some material that does not rust like the steel split ring
ordinarily used. German silver or brass, or aluminium or an aloid
may be substituted with advantage.

Split Rings. — And split rings must unquestionably be abhorred.
They are an abomination. No matter how stout they may be, and
how strong when new, they very soon become utterly untrustworthy
and fail you with your first big fish. It stands to reason that they
are bound to do so from their very formation. By the law of
capillary attraction the split in the ring is bound to fill with water
the first time you use it, and equally bound to retain water when
laid by, and you cannot get at it to wipe it off, cannot even see it ; yet,
if you consider, you know it is bound to be there, and bound to be
rusting, and thus the little split ring has two outsides and four insides,
all simultaneously exposed to continuous rusting. The inevitable result
must be its being rapidly rust eaten to a rotten thread. The action of
rust is quick, and Byron was correct when attributing to a single night's
exposure " the rust on his mail."

" And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail."

Tackle-makers are predisposed to using split rings, because they are

THE ROD IN INDIA. T

274

Rod and Tackle.

CHAP. xx.

so easily put on, look so neat, and are supposed to be so convenient
for the angler. I enter against split rings the most uncompromising
protest. Oh, the magnificent fish they have lost me ! I cannot bear
the sight of them. I take them off and break them up the moment I
see them.

The accompanying illustration of one of Farlow's spoons shows
the way I like them mounted. The
attachment is by a small soldered ring,
the upper one unites spoon and swivel
and treble hook, the tail one similarly
unites spoon and tail hook, and in both
cases the hook is well home to its work.
There are only two hooks, one at the
head and one at the tail, and the hook
not unfrequently added at one side of
the spoon is dispensed with, because two
trebles are quite enough to ensure the
hooking of any fish that is fool enough
to take the spoon into his mouth, and
more than two hooks unduly impede the
spinning of the spoon. The spoon is one
of an older pattern of Farlow's, and he
tells me they are now made narrower ; but
I prefer the old shape, because I think it
takes a better hold of the water, and
therefore revolves with less rapidity of
tension, and therefore allows of your
spinning more slowly. In short, the well-
rounded shape, just the form of a dessert-
spoon, is my favourite. In this matter of
split rings I do hope, dear reader, that
you will be content to be guided by me.
It is not a matter for compromise, not a
matter for argument. It is aut Ccesar aut
nullus.

There are good fishermen who advocate
flying hooks, as shown in the illustration
which Farlow calls the Giri spoon. I do

CHAP. XX.

The Giri and Hog-backed Spoons.

275

not, and for this reason. The hooks being further from the spoon

must necessarily have a larger circle to traverse with each revolution

of the spoon, or in other words they have, with each revolution

of the spoon, to be forced through three or four times

as much water as the hook that is close up to the

spoon. It follows that by so much they must retard

the revolution of the spoon, for it is the spoon that

must drive them through the water. A second reason

is that flying round at such a distance from the spoon

they are likely to hook some fishes foul outside the

mouth, and to strike others without getting a hold in

the harder outside of the head, whereas the hook that

is close up to the spoon will have the fish's mouth

closed tight upon it, and be much more likely to get

a good hook-hold. The one hook close up to the

tail of the spoon may well be mistaken, when revolving

well, for the tail of the bait in the natural movement

of swimming.

The accompanying figure of a hog-backed spoon
is simply to illustrate the hog-back, not the mounting
with flying hooks, which latter I do not advocate.
In my view they should be mounted with a hook close home as in
the larger spoons, only the size of the hook being accommodated to
the driving power of the spoon. Say No. 7 hook
and No. 5 swivel, one hook at the tail sufficing for
so small a spoon.

Double Loop-knot. — Any one who baits with
a fish on one treble hook, or on a single hook
drawn home to the anus, should have a loop at
the end of his spinning trace big enough to allow
of the bait being passed through it ; for the simplest
way of attaching this bait to the trace is to put the
large loop of the trace through the loop of the
snood,'" and then pass the bait through the large loop.
But traces are not always made with large loops,
and then the only alternative is to unhitch the collar

* The snood is the length of gut, or other material, with loop, which is attached
to the hook.

T 2

276

Rod and Tackle.

CHAP. XX.

from the running line every time you fresh bait, and passing the loop
of the snood through one loop of the trace, then to pass the whole
trace through the loop of the snood, and hitch on to the running line
again. This is a tedious operation, and time is too precious when
fish are taking. I have, therefore, a little knot of my own for getting
over this difficulty. It is a double loop, made of a single length of
good stout salmon gut.

Commence by thoroughly well soaking your gut for a quarter of an
hour or more. Then arrange it as in Figure i, and tie a simple whip
knot or common knot in it, such as is commonly tied at the end of a

whip ; a single knot, not a blood knot.
The gut will then be disposed as shown
in Figure 2. If in this stage you take
the trouble to see that the guts fall
evenly side by side, and not across
each other, your knot will be both
tighter and neater than if clumsily tied.
Pull the two loops, and the two ends,
till you get all quite taut; and then
cut off the ends, and you will have a
neat knot as in Figure 3. When neatly
tied and well pulled together, in well
soaked gut, the knot is a very neat
and strong one. Of course you will arrange to have a large loop
at one end, and a small at the other. A very little manipulation is
sufficient for this.

Put the end of your trace through the small loop, and then pass the
big loop through the trace loop, and you have then furnished your
trace with a large loop of double salmon gut big enough to pass any
bait, and strong enough to hold any fish ; stronger, probably, than your
spinning trace, which is seldom made of such strong gut.

Soaking Gut. — Thoroughly soaking your gut, before tying any
knots in it, is a precaution inculcated in all books on angling; but
it is very much more important to attend to this in India than it is in
England, because in a tropical clime the gut is much more dry and
brittle, and consequently cracks more easily. But if the gut is soaked
in cold water till it is quite soft and limp, there is no fear.

If your trace, your phantom, or fly collar, has been much doubled

CHAP, XX. Gut. 277

up in your book or case, I would suggest well wetting or straightening
it in the river, before trusting it with a heavy fish. Indeed, I would
suggest well wetting it whether it has been so doubled up or not, for
the fish may give it an uncanny turn, and I have lost two good fish in
an evening, and that on treble gut fresh from England, solely from the
gut being dry and brittle and easily broken. Always soak your gut
thoroughly, therefore, both before tying, and before fishing. Do not
trust to your not getting a run the first half dozen casts, and your line
being by that time well soaked and pliable, but soak before endangering
it at all. And if you have a man with you, as elsewhere recommended,
always keeping a second hook ready baited for you, take care that that
snood is well soaked. Do not let him hang it out to dry in his hand
or keep it in his pocket, but have him drop it into the bait-can when
ready, and let it soak there till wanted. I always put my spinning
trace and two flights of hooks into the bait-can before starting for
the river side, so that, by the time I reach the fishing-ground, they
are soft from having been well soaked, and I can begin fishing with
them without delay. Another simple plan is to steep a pocket-
handkerchief in water, half wring it out, and wrap your tackle in it
before starting.

Rust-eaten Gut. — A constant source of disappointment in India
is the swivels rusting, and eating into the gut to which they are tied,
and the gut consequently giving there when you get a heavy fish.
If they have been put by for a fortnight, always try them in your
hand before risking them. Don't be afraid of breaking them, it is
much better that you should do so yourself and re-tie, than that a
fish should break it for you, and carry away your phantom, or spoon
into the bargain. But well soak before testing, or you do not give the
gut fair play, and it may crack from brittleness at the double, though it
would be strong enough after being soaked. Test with an even strain,
not a jerk. The simplest way to test fairly is to hook one end of your
line on to a nail or something unyielding, and the other end on to a
spring weigher, and pull in a straight line till the spring shows a tension
of 3 Ibs. for trout lines, or 10 Ibs. for salmon or Mahseer lines, £ Ib. for
single hair lines.

Preserving Gut. — Gut is preserved by being kept from the air
and light in an even temperature. I keep mine in a wash-leather bag
placed in a tin box, and that in a drawer or box.

278

Rod and Tackle.

CHAP. xx.

Swivels. — Why on earth swivels, which are meant to be
amphibious, should ever be made of a material that will not stand
the water without rusting, is a thing I never could make out. The
only excuse for it is that they can be made finer of such a hard
material as steel, than of anything else. This is all very well,
but it is an advantage which is more than counter-balanced in India,
and the sea, by their rapidly rusting. With brass, German silver,
aluminium and aloids to choose from, there is no excuse for' having a
swivel made of material that rusts and consequently loses its strength,
as well as sticks fast, declining to revolve. Silver-plated steel swivels
are unsatisfactory, as the plating is thin and soon disappears. There-
fore never have a steel swivel in any form.

Swivels : their Size. — It is a common thing to mount vary-
ing sizes of spoons with proportionate sizes of swivels, as if you
could be so sure that a big Mahseer would not take a small spoon.
Many anglers, as we have seen above, prefer always to use a small
spoon for Mahseer, and one of 40 Ibs. has been taken on a spoon

9 10 ii 12

of if inches. In Mahseer fishing the swivel should uniformly be of a
size ready for all comers. All spoons for India, from i| to 3 inches,
should be mounted on the same sized swivels, and the size I prefer is
No. 5, and the swivel on a spoon should be a double swivel. I have
lost a grand fish by the small swivel on a small spoon failing me, and
I have met a sorrowing angler who said he had lost more fish by swivels
breaking than in any other way. There is reason in proportioning the
size of the hook to the spoon, because the spoon has to drive the hook
when revolving ; but there is none that I can detect in lessening the
size and strength of the swivel that is offered to a Mahseer.

CHAP. xx. Hooks Drawing. 279

The sizes of swivels are as follows : —

No. i/o single swivel is ff of an inch long.

T 19

55 55 16 55 J>

~ 55 55 T6" 55 >5

J 11 11 11 11

4 55 55 1% 55 55

5 55 55 ~HF 55 ))

6 -i2

55 55 16 55 )t

7 55 11 Te" J5 1)

8 10.

55 55 16 '5 »

9 55 55 T1F 55 »
^ '5 55 Tli 55 »

The double swivels, being made of two swivels linked together,
are nearly double these lengths, and are simply numbered from i/o
to 9. The size most convenient for Mahseer is, in my opinion, No. 5.

Swivels : their Position. — Of course the swivel does most service
close up to the origo mati, the revolving object. With a spoon you can
afford to have a double swivel close up to it, and it is best there.
But with a dead fish, which you often spin very slowly, it would
show too much, and a single swivel is as much as I like to have
there, the rest being on the spinning trace. For this reason I have
discarded the second black swivel generally placed on the Coxon
spinner.

My idea is that the action of rust is more rapid in a tropical country
than in England ; at any rate it is much more provoking and remarked
in a country where you cannot replenish for want of a tackle shop, and
consequently it should be the better provided against.

Hooks Drawing.— Hooks draw dreadfully in India, from the
great heat drying up and shrinking the gut, as well as slackening the
silk tying, and making the wax as brittle as resin. Every fisher-
man in India should be ready to re-tie his hooks afresh after any
length of time ; and every tackle-maker should take precautions in
making up Indian tackle, which he does not condescend to do with
English tackle. Two hundred years ago, careful old Izaak Walton
advised one to singe the end of the gut before tying a fly, and this
should always be done with trout flies for Indian use. It is neglected
because flies are tied in the daylight, when a candle is not at hand, and
because it is considered unnecessary. But for India it is necessary,

280

Rod and Tackle.

CHAP. xx»

however good the fly tyer, and should never be neglected, or at least
the gut should be flattened between the teeth.

For salmon flies for Indian use, the same precaution should be
taken ; or the simple one of tying a common knot in the gut. There is
so much thickness of body in a salmon fly that this knot is concealed
under it, and is not noticeable, as it would be in a small trout fly.

With a treble hook, the obvious plan is to double the gut, and
bring it half way up the other side of the hook. It is impossible for it
to slip then. All flights of spinning tackle, and all minnows mounted

with treble hooks, should invariably be tied with this care for a tropical
clime. Add a touch of varnish over the tying.

Though I let the above remarks stand as they were in the second
edition as regards hooks drawing, I must be allowed to go still more to
the root of the matter, and say that longer experience of hooks and
their habits in an Indian clime, has made me more and more enamoured
of eyed hooks for the tropics. I can see no force in the objection some
few raise on the supposition that the stroke is not as parallel to the
point as in the whipped hook, and I know that some of the stoutest

CHAP. XX,

Knots.

281

objectors have abandoned their position. To make this matter
complete I quote the following from " Tank Angling ." : — (

" I prefer eyed hooks whenever I can use them because hooks draw
so terribly in India that you can never trust a whipped hook a second
season, even though you have bound it yourself and know it is thoroughly
well done. I have heard tackle shops complained of because of their
cheaply tied hooks, whereas it was not the tying that was really to blame
but the climate. If you are fishing with a worm you must have whipped
hooks because the eye presents an obstacle that you cannot pass the worm
over. But for a paste bait and for a fly the eye is no objection, while it has
this great advantage, that it cannot draw, and you can and should tie the
gut on fresh just before fishing, so that you may know it is not rust-eaten
but is thoroughly trustworthy.

" Eyed hooks are made in different ways, with the metal eye flat with
the shank, or say at right angles when the hook is lying on its side on
the table, this is called needle eyed ; with the eye
inclined towards the barb which is called turn down ; •

with the eye inclined away from the barb which is
known as turned up. Their respective advantages are
discussed at length in * The Badminton Library.'
Without bringing the controversy into these pages I
will simply say that whichever hook you have you must
accommodate your tying to it so as to make the point
of tension on the line parallel to the point of the hook.

"If the hook is needle-eyed pass the gut through
from either side of the eye and without going round the

shank pass it through the same way a

second time, and then tie a common

single knot with the short end round the

long end of the gut, and pulling it tight,

work it close up to the metal eye and

snip off the end.

" If the metal eye is turned down first

insert the end of your gut on the upper

side of the eye, that is the side furthest

away from the barb, and passing it once

half round the shank put it again through the eye from the

lower side, so that both ends of gut come out at the upper

side of the eye, then with the short end of gut tie a single

knot round the long end of gut, pull tight, work up close, and

snip off the end as before."

If the metal eye is turned up vary the tying so that the result shall be,
as in the illustration, to keep the pull and the point of the hook parallel.

282

Rod and Tackle.

CHAP. xx.

In all these three knots the snipped off end of gut will lie parallel
with, and pointing in, the same direction as the long end of gut.

If the eye be too small to let the gut through twice this knot may be
substituted. I see Bickerdyke calls it the Turle knot.

The jam knot is a favourite with not a few. I have never used it on
a hook, always preferring the knot that follows it,
so I introduce it with Bickerdyke's caution, given
in " The All Round Angler " : —

"If the eye of the hook is very
small and closely Jits the gut then,
and only then, can the jam knot
recommended by Mr. Cholmondeley-
Pennel, be safely used. It is neat,
easily made, and easily unmade. To
tie it hold the fly in the left hand,
push the gut through the eye A in
the direction of the hook bend, leave
go the fly and with the end of B
make a slip-knot C round the end D.
Leave the slip-knot open enough to
pass comfortably over the metal eye
of the hook. Next take the fly in
the left hand and pull the gut end D.
The knot C will then slip to the eye,
and, with a little assistance, will pass
over it and form itself into the jam
knot shown on a bare hook. It is
made in a few seconds and is really very simple, but I must repeat the
warning that it is only safe when the eye fits the gut. It should only be

CHAP. XX.

Knots.

283

used on flies not on bare hooks. Quite one-eighth of an inch of gut end
should be left with this knot."

The liability to slip, against which you are here cautioned, may be
entirely obviated by the simple expedient of passing the end B, not once,
but twice through the loop C, and proceeding as before. You will find
it results in a double turn round the shank of the hook, and slipping is

impossible. It is clear from the diagrams that you could tie either of
the above knots less circuitously.

But to my thinking the following knot, taken, I am told, from the
Fishing Gazette, is preferable. It is the one I always use for eyed
trout flies in dry fly fishing. Put the gut through the eye of the hook,
and run the hook up as far as you like for room for tying a
common loop A. Pull the knot B tight, leaving a large loop A. Put
the long end of the gut C through the loop A, and lessening the size
B o of the loop A, and

c humouring it over
the metal eye of
the hook, pull all
tight. The end D
of the gut will
merge in the fly
and be lost sight
of. The end C is
the end attached to
D B the collar.

Sometimes from the repeated bending of
the gut at every cast, one has the gut of a
whipped fly so weakened close up to the fly,
that it is obviously no longer trustworthy, and
yet it is an honest fly otherwist, fit for more
duty, and you have not another to replace it.
What is to be done then ? Look in the margin.

Winch. — The winch for Mahseer fishing should be capable, accord-
ing to different writers, of holding TOO, or 150, or 200, or 250 yards

284 Rod and Tackle. QHAP. xxv

of running line, but I have said in my last edition that I thought 120
yards to be ample, and longer experience has given me no reason for
lengthening my line. There may be singular occasions when a big
fish wants more than 120 yards, and you are not in a boat, so that you
can follow, or are hemmed in by forest, so that you cannot move after
him along the shore, and the home he is making for is far from where
you hooked him ; but such are very singular occasions I am satisfied.
Much of your enjoyment in fishing depends on having in your hands a
rod you can work with comfortable ease. The winch is not the least
part of the weight, and if you enlarge your reel, and double the length
and weight of your running line, fishing becomes a labour instead of a
pleasure. I do not see the wisdom of making all your sport a labour
for the possible chance of falling in with a fish that, in very exceptional
circumstances, might want a most exceptional amount of line. I would
rather fall out with such an exceptional character. I would rather
break my line with one such fish in a thousand, or, perhaps it would be
nearer the mark to say there is only one such fish in several thousands.
I would rather deliberately break with such a fish than take the cream
off all my sport with the other nine hundred and ninety-nine. I have
never had to do it yet. Of course I have been broken again and
again — who has not ? — but it has always been in the violent first rush,
never for want of running line, and I use, and commend to your use, a
winch holding 120 yards. That is to say, if you are a good fisherman,
and are pretty hard and quick on your fish, and especially if you have
a brake-winch to give you greater command. But if you part with your
line too freely you had better lengthen it to 150 yards.

Will you consider for a moment ; a fish does not ordinarily set out
for the next county the moment he is hooked, his object on such
occasions is not foreign travel but his own village. He is frightened at
the novel feeling of restraint, exerts all his strength to rush from it, and
his object is to seek shelter in his home, which with the Mahseer, is
ordinarily the deepest part of the very pool in or near which you have
hooked him. He has left that shelter for the shallow, or the run, in
search of food, and only aims at returning to it ; or, perhaps, he has not
left it, and it is there you hooked him, and he has no definite ideas
of where lo go ; he just wants to make a short rush to shake off the
restraint, the thing that is holding him, and then he will return to his
home.

CHAP. xx. Length of Lins. 285

Consequently a fish does not usually take out all your line, and
expend all his strength in one rush. No one has told him that your
line is only so many yards in length, and that if he will only persevere,
he must come to the end of it, and break it ; on that subject his mind is
fortunately a blank, so he ordinarily confines himself to the limits of
the pool in which you have hooked him, and rushes up and down that ;
so that you lose and recover and re-use the same length of line many
times in the course of one fight. And if by any chance he does come
to the end of your line, the course is simple. I confess I once had a
fish take me so very near to the end of my 120 yards of line that I
kept anxiously watching the reel to see if it would hold out, and had
to make up my mind what I would do if it didn't. If something
must be broken, the choice is obvious, let it be the line, not the rod.
The course, then, is simple ; lower the top of your rod till it is in a
straight line with your line, till all the strain is taken off the rod, and
goes through the ring straight from the reel to the fish. There hold on,
but don't despair yet. Of course you then have on the very utmost
strain you can possibly put on, and it is death or victory. After running
out 120 yards of well-contested line, the odds are it will be victory;
you will turn him, and if he will only go in any direction but straight
away from you, you are saved. I hope I am not romancing, but citing
from the tables of real memory, I think I am, that either I or one of my
friends have thus been victors at the last tug. At any rate, I know
there's a firm conviction in my mind that the die-hards in life not
unfrequently live through it. But if the worst comes to the worst and
you are broken, it is pretty certain that the break will be in the snood
or trace — most probably in the snood that has seen most wear. There
is also another view of the position, the unpractical perhaps, but the
romantic one. The existence, or idea of the existence, of a remote
possibility of a tug as a last hope, remote though the bare possibility be,
is just the little risk that adds spice to your sport. Sport reduced to a
certainty is sport robbed of its essence. H., whom I have quoted
elsewhere, was such a thorough sportsman that he would never keep a
head, however fine, that was not shot with what he called " the toy,"
the other rifles, which were the usual weapons of ordinary mortals, were
never used by him, except at elephant and bison, and, in cases of
emergency, with bear, etc., but any deer shot unadvisedly with what he
was pleased to term scornfully a " blunderbuss " was a head to be given

286 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

away, got out of sight as an unsportsmanlike thing to be ashamed of.
The chances are your 120 yards will never be run clean out and broken,
and, even if they are, it is certainly very much more enjoyable, and
perhaps just a trifle more sportsmanlike to run those remote chances.

I will confess that I have myself had on as much as 250 yards of line
at times when I have set my heart on killing the biggest fish that ever
swam in all Hindustan, but I have never had occasion to use the extra
length of line, never. The only result has been that I have simply
carried about an unnecessary weight of winch and line.

The amount of line a winch will hold, depends very much on the
description of line you use. The same winch will hold considerably
more of the line recommended below for Mahseer fishing than it will
of the india-rubber coated plaited silk, which is both more expensive
and more bulky. To avoid repetition, therefore, it is perhaps better
that I should give the sizes of winches when speaking of running line.

I would recommend the invariable use of a check-winch in preferenc e
to an old-fashioned simple winch. When you have just the length of
cast you wish to throw, the check on the winch keeps the line at the
same length : whereas, without the check, it is liable to run out a few
inches each cast, and thus throw you out, and trouble you. The noise
of the check gives you immediate notice of your having a fish on, and,
what is of more importance than anything, it makes the reel cease to
revolve directly the fish ceases to pull ; whereas, if it goes on revolving
as a wheel or common winch from the impetus given to it, it will take a
turn or two more after the fish has ceased running, and your running
line will get wound the wrong way, and the chances are that if your
fish makes another dart of it, there will be a hitch in the line, and your
fish will break away. The best winches are termed revolving plate
winches. In them the handle has no separate elbow round which the
line is apt to get hitched, but is let into the plate which revolves.
Winches are made of all sizes, increasing by a quarter of an inch in each
size, from 2 inches to 5 inches in diameter, and after that the breadth
is increased, and I have seen a specially made one very much bigger
than 5 inches in depth. And those now made for Tarpon fishing are,
roughly speaking, very roughly speaking, nearly as big as a bicycle.

Without professing to have any personal experience of Tarpon
fishing I may mention that having been shown the Tarpon reel with its
addition of a flap of leather, and the method of using the flap, it struck

CHAP. xx. The Check-winch. 287

me that it was a device much more inconvenient and laborious of
application, as well as less effective in results, than my brake-winch
mentioned below. This new brake may therefore be found useful to
Tarpon fishers as well as to Mahseer fishermen, and may be an
advantage even to salmon tamers.

I have said use a check-winch in order, more than for any other
reason, that the line may not overshoot, and so getting wound the
wrong way for a turn or two, become liable to a sudden hitch when
called on to run out again. Such overshooting is the more likely the
more rapid the run of a fish, and no fish takes out line and makes the
wheel revolve faster than does a Mahseer.

Still the strength of the check should not on that account be in-
creased beyond what is found right for a salmon. This I found from
once having a check-winch in which the spring had to be replaced by
a local Indian workman, a first-class workman, but not one specially
educated in check-winches. The new spring which he put in for me
proved too strong, and I found on trial that the result was a break of
tackle at the first blow of a Mahseer, so that I dared not use that winch
again till the spring was eased.

The rapidity of rush in a Mahseer is an argument that cuts two ways,
and to steer between the Scylla and Charybdis of overshooting and too
much winch friction, the pull on a check-winch should be adjusted with
as much nicety as the pull on a trigger, adjusted exactly as for salmon,
and it should be uniform. I have seen a winch in which the pull, with
the winch rightly full of line, was ordinarily 4 ounces, but sometimes
ran up to 9 and 10 ounces to just move the line. Such irregularity is
fatal to Mahseer fishing. It is a reason for not buying cheap winches,
but going to the best makers for this important part of your fishing
tackle.

In respect of the pull, therefore, the check of the winch for Mahseer
should not, any more than the rod, be sui generis, but the. same as for
salmon, only it is doubly necessary that it should be of the best quality,
and any extra pressure that may at times be needed, should on no
account be by a stiff winch or, what amounts to the same, by any one
of those reels which provide for your increasing the winch friction by
a side screw, because the action of those side .screws cannot be sufficiently
rapid to meet emergencies, and must result in giving you, for the time
being, uncontrollable friction, which can only end in a break of tackle,

288 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

for the Mahseer is sudden. Beyond the ordinary check there must be
no friction but what is under the most complete and prompt control,
and that can only be by raising and lowering the rod top, or by the
thoroughly controllable means given you below in my brake.

In all my fishing I have used the Manchester Cotton Twine Spin-
ning Company's line No. /¥, and 120 yards of it will go comfortably
into a winch of 4^ inches in diameter, with the ordinary bar of if inch,
and 150 yards will just go tightly into a winch of 4- inches with the
same bar, but comfortably if the bar is |- inch. I still recommend the
same line because it is so strong and so durable, being so well water-
proofed. And as to 150 yards of line going tightly with the ordinary
bar, it may be remembered that, when fishing, there is always the rod
length, 1 6 feet, and something more off the reel.

The company issue with their lines the following advice for those
who have time to read it and apply it. I never had.

" FISHERMEN SHOULD BE PREPARED TO RE-DRESS THEIR
OWN LINES.

"We consider one of the greatest troubles connected with a spinning
line is the imperfect waterproofing or dressing. It has long since been
proved that to steep a line in wax and boiled oil is only to rot it ; and we
find neither this nor any other dressing will resist for any length of time
the friction of the rings along with the washing of the water, so that the
only remedy a fisherman can have is some simple, clean, and quick way
of re-dressing his own line at a moment's notice. For this purpose we
make up our composition of indiarubber, guttapercha, tar, etc., into cakes,
is. each, sufficient to dress or re- dress twenty or thirty lines, or that portion
of the line most used. It is put on cold, with little or no trouble, and
becomes dry and ready for use in three minutes after dressing. Of course
this is only a top dressing and not expected to stand any great wear and
tear, but our friends tell us it is very effective for present use, particularly for
re-dressing that portion of the line so constantly passing through the rings
of the rod, which can be done without removing the hooks, etc. The line
will be equal to new after each dressing. Our enamel waterproof salmon
and trout lines are perfect.

" Directions. — Stretch the portion of line you wish to dress — tight — from
post to post, rub on the composition quickly to cause friction heat, let the
composition cover the line as regular as possible and not too thickly.
After you have covered the whole length, nip the line lightly with a bit
of woollen cloth or wash leather, and rub quickly to cause as much friction
heat as possible ; you must feel the heat to your fingers through the rubber ,

CHAP. xx. A Brake on tJie Winch. 289

this will lay the composition even and smooth, and drive i* to the centre
of the line, and will be ready for use in five minutes after. It is best to
dress only a short length of line at a time, as then you can make it tight
without fear of breaking."

There is another newer line now in the market which is recommended
by tackle makers, and has found its way to India, and is certainly
remarkably strong, and takes less space on a winch than my old friend
above mentioned, a winch of 3!- inches in diameter holding 120 yards of
this tanned plaited hemp size E. It is too light for casting a fly, and is
used by salmon fishers as backing. But it is not waterproofed, and the
question is how long it would keep strong without rotting. One who
had tried it said he found that from being so soft it embedded itself on
the winch, and so stuck in the middle of a run.

A Brake on the Winch. — What a splendid fighter is the
mighty Mahseer. Though you have " foiled his wild rage " in the
suddenness of his first mad burst, reducing rod friction by the use of
a pliable rod that " stoops to conquer " ; though you have been
careful also to *have as little winch friction as is safe } though you
have in both these directions minimized uncontrollable friction as
much as you can and dare, so as to have the better command of
the friction which you can control and utilize, by raising or lowering
the point of the rod so as to increase or moderate what I have called
the rod friction ; though you have done all this, still who has not wished
that he had more power of friction at his command ? Who has not
felt that it is with all too light a heart that the mighty Mahseer laughs
at your bending rod, that when the time has passed when you fear his
suddenness, when the pace has slackened and you feel it is safe to
begin to put on pressure, who has not felt that it is all too little that you
have it in your power to apply, and that bend your rod as much as you
dare, the fish is still going going gaily just according to his own sweet
will. It is the burden of every description of Mahseer fishing that you
read in the sporting papers, that the angler had no control whatever.
In how many cases does he tell you that he put his hand on the line in
the hope of checking the pace, but instantly had to withdraw it as the
line burnt him like fire. Verily, it is exactly like fire, and he who has
done it once will not do it again. With the line running at a pace that
cuts a groove in the very brass ring at the rod top, won't it cut a burnt
groove in your fingers if you touch it ? Rather. Experto crede. Even a

THE ROD IN INDIA. U

290

Rod and Tackle.

CHAP. XX.

salmon will run out at a pace that makes a salmon fisher chary of
putting his hand on the line without the intervention of a thick glove.
How much more a Mahseer. But you cannot wear thick gloves in
tropical climes. I have gone so far as to try thin white kid gloves.
But they are not a bit of use. The flying line cut them through like a
knife in a trice, and was burning my hand just as if I had nothing on.
In no time the gloves were cut right through in half a dozen places, and
no impression whatever was being made on that Mahseer. It was only
I that was impressed. It vexed me so to think that he had the game
all in his own hands, and I could find no way of being even with him,
till at last I have devised a brake which gives you complete control over

the friction, so that you can regulate it to a nicety and with the greatest
promptitude. I had it made for me some sixteen years ago, before
leaving India, and have tested it again and again on Mahseer, and
found that in actual practice it works to perfection. It is no new idea
with me copied from others. As long ago as my first edition of 1873,
I had suggested what I then called a Mahseer drag, but which in my
next edition I subsequently discarded as imperfect. But my present
idea I am quite satisfied with after thorough trial, and can confidently
recommend it to my brothers of the angle. Since coming home I have
seen in tackle shops two other devices for compassing the same object,
showing that tackle makers had accepted it as an end to be gained if
possible, and if it is so with salmon much more it is with a Mahseer.

CHAP. xx. My Brake-winch. 291

One of these tackle makers was himself a practical salmon fisher, and
assured me that he found by actual experiment, that he could kill a
salmon much quicker with his device than without it, and I do not
doubt him for a moment. Indeed, I can see that it must be so, for
he has gone half way to getting hold of the same idea as myself, but
stopped short at what has been my difficulty, that of applying a practical
brake. As in my own winch he brings the revolving plate to the
outside edge of the winch on one side, but there he gives it a smooth
surface so that he can apply his finger to it to check its speed as it
revolves. He says it succeeds with a salmon. Maybe it does. But I
would like to see him trying the same game on a Mahseer. He'd very
soon cry " off," with his finger burnt by the much more rapidly revolving
plate, or if he relieved his finger by taking it off now and again, as a man
does when trying to stick to a hot plate at a shooting lunch, and as I
did when trying to stick to my trial of the white kid glove, the very
taking off and on must mean want of continuity of pressure with
occasional jerks, after one of which he would probably find that the
Mahseer had cried " off," for any abrupt stoppage to a fish going at
that tremendous pace must necessarily imply more or less of a jerk, and
probably prove fatal. But with my brake it is not so. There is a
comfortable hollow button handy to the finger or thumb-tip through
which you can apply to the revolving plate just the modicum of
pressure you desire, and can apply it continuously without the slightest
inconvenience, and there is a spring which makes the brake spring free
the instant you release it, or relax the pressure, so that you can regulate
the pressure to a nicety from an ounce pull upwards to a dead lock,
and that with promptitude, according to the varying tactics of the fish
throughout the conflict, and by the pressure of a single finger.

The other device I saw was a screw on the outside non-revolving
plate, by giving a turn to which you could bring pressure to bear on the
side of the inner revolving plate, and so set the friction to any degree
you liked. But so set it became a permanent quantity till you unscrewed
it again, a thing you could not attempt to do while in the act of playing
a fish. Any such set friction would be utterly fatal to Mahseer fishing.
It is the very thing we have been trying all along to get rid of,
uncontrollable friction, for though, in the case of this device, it may be
capable of being regulated before commencing to fish, it is under no
sort of control at the second of a heavy fish striking you, and would

u 2

292 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

probably insure your being broken at the first blow, the critical instant
when you want your pliable rod and your easily running winch to help
you till the pace slackens, and till you dare to apply thoroughly
controllable pressure.

If I thought of my brake sixteen years ago and thoroughly tested it
on Mahseer, why, you will ask me, why didn't I tell brother fishermen
of it through the medium of sporting papers. Why, because there was
one thing wanting.

And I had no manufacturer in India competent to perfect my winch,
and when I came to England I forgot all about it till I was asked to
revise this book.

I may mention here that my manufacturer thought to improve on
my pattern by fixing the brake to the side of the reel, and keeping it
free by a spiral spring, but it was a dead failure, just so much force
being needed to overcome the spiral spring that you could not tell how
much you were using against that, and how much against the fish, and
it consequently spoilt the nicety of regulation of pressure on the fish.
He thought my exposed spring likely to be injured, but when in use on
the rod it is in a very well protected position.

If you use a brake .and bring to bear on the fish more pressure
than you dare ask of your rod by raising the point, it follows that
you must lower the point of your rod more and more in exact pro-
portion as you increase the pressure beyond what the rod could
bear if not lowered, and so you may go on lowering your point and
increasing your brake pressure, without any danger to the rod, till you
get rod and line both in one and the same straight line from your hand
to the fish. Then you are playing the fish by hand. This is a most
extreme position, but on one occasion I was compelled to adopt it and
only killed my fish by being able to adopt it. I will venture to quote
briefly from a description of my own written by request to the Asian in
January, 1882, immediately after the incident, which will be better than
calling on memory. " More obstacles surmounted and at length R. was
in the same pool as his fish. At this moment up rushed H. with a
cheery * Well done, he's your own.' But though the scale was turning
the fight was not yet won. R. got out of the boat on to a tempting
little bit of sand. This meant shelving, and the fish, not liking the
idea, again made down stream. This would not do at any price, for
further down the stream there was a succession of rapid falls, say a

CHAP. xx. My Brake-winch. 293

cataract, that no boat could live in, that no mortal but an ibex could
run alongside of, and longer than the running line, so after all the
play the whole stake had to be cast on heroic treatment at this point.
H. ran below to turn the fish, but meanwhile R.'s tension had made the
fish's heart fail, and he yielded, and came up stream just at a point
where, if he had only persisted in going down stream, he must have
broken loose, and been still exulting in the glad waters of the Bawanny.
It was a victory of mind over matter. But the tension had drawn the
winch out of the winch fittings, and it was loose in R.'s hands. A call
to H. and it was adroitly put in position again." And so on till the fish
was shelved, as game a fighter as it has ever been my good fortune, for
R. was your humble servant, to battle with and vanquish, and with
great advantages of water of which the fish fully availed himself.

1 I have quoted the battle in order to show that I am not dealing with
theories, but with actuals. The tension being straight from the fish to
the winch, the winch was pulled against the sliding ring which held it in
position, till the ring was pulled up the rod and the winch was free and
would have fallen to the sandy ground or river if it had not been
caught as it fell. And who but a first class man like H., cool of head
and quick of hand, would have put the winch in position again and
fixed it the right way up, with no hitch on the line, the fish fighting all
the while. Here was a real danger consequent on using a brake, a
danger which I could not have surmounted with any one but H. to help
me, still less if I had been alone.

From that 'day forward I always put a lashing round my rod just
above the sliding ring, after it was put in position over the winch heel
plate. I call the plate on which the winch stands the heel plate. But
it was a troublesome expedient, and I don't think the "Wedgefast"
winch fitting of J. Warner & Sons, Hewell Works, Redditch, was then
invented. Fishing in tropical climes the wood of the rod is sure to
shrink from the heat, and the ring fittings, which fitted to a nicety when
they left the rod maker's hands, become a little loose, and with a heavy
winch on a rod in constant motion all the day and sometimes held
point downwards, with the weight of the winch pressing against the
upper sliding ring, if you happen to be fishing from the top of high rocks
in a pool well below you, the winch may well get dangerously loose in
its fixings. To guard against this you will do well in any case to have
some such contrivance as the " Wedgefast " which is the best device I

294

Rod and Tackle.

CHAP. XX.

have seen. But if you use a brake it is a necessity that your winch shall

be firmly and reliably fixed in position.

I have never tried the " Wedgefast," but it looks very thorough, and

I see it recommended, and if you have such fittings on your rod I should

think you could use my brake with safety.

It is made of oxidized brass in two sizes. No. i,
for Trout rods. No. 2, for Salmon and Pike rods.

A is a tapered socket into which one end of the
winch plate slides, the other end is placed in the socket
B, which is then moved into position by sliding along
the plate D D, and when adjusted is fixed and held in
position by a couple of turns of the screw nut C. The
nut C is so made that it cannot be removed, consequently
cannot be lost. To take off the winch, C is turned the
reverse way, B and C slide down towards the butt, and
the reel is instantaneously released.

My own device is I think much simpler, and it is
attached to the winch, so that the winch is complete in
itself. It is a small heel, like the heel of a boot, at one
end of the heel-plate of the winch, which high heel falls
into a notch cut for it in the wood of the rod, and is
held down in it by the sliding ring. To cut this notch
correctly put the winch in position, pushing it home
under the fixed ring of the winch fittings, and then
marking with a scratch the place it comes to in the rod,
remove the winch, and on the butt side of the scratch
cut a notch to fit the projecting heel. You can do it
easily enough with a penknife, but if you love your rod
as you should you will cut it neatly with a small chisel,
so that the winch just fits in without any wobble, and just
allows the sliding ring to pass as usual when the winch is
in position.

The projecting heel is not cast as a fixed part of the
winch, but can be unscrewed and reattached at either

end of the heel-plate according to the fancy of the fisherman. It can

be removed altogether and dispensed with, as it must be if the angler

happens to have a .Wedgefast fitting already on his rod.

But all this botheration comes of winch-makers making the heel

CHAP. xx. Uniformity in Heel-plates. 295

plate of their winches of varying fancy sizes, whereas if they always
made this one part of the winch of one uniform size, irrespective of the
size of the rest of the winch, all agreeing what that size should be, or
getting sporting authorities like the Field, Land and Water, the Asian,
the Fishing Gazette, to discuss and fix the size, rod-makers would then
be able to sink the heel-plate so accurately that when once the sliding
ring had passed over it, it could not possibly shift or wobble. I
suggest 3 j X i X TV of an inch. It would not add half an ounce of
weight to the smallest trout winch, and it would add that little at a
point, close up to the hand, where it would not spoil the balance or be
otherwise felt. And it would be strong enough to hold the biggest
Tarpon winch going. And if indeed any additional strength is needed
for these last-named winches, it can be obtained by slightly thickening
the casting just at the point of junction of the longitudinal heel plate
and the cross plate, without any alteration of the rest of the dimensions.
If it be objected that a large heel plate to a small winch would
be disproportionate and unsightly, I reply that to practical anglers that
would probably be a matter secondary to the utilitarianism of uniformity.
As it is now rod- makers have no fixed pattern as a guide, and one
winch fitting is too large and the winch is loose, while another is too
small and the winch will not enter. I speak with special reference to
waters holding big fish, where it is necessary to have an amount of
running line ready for all comers. I could name a gentleman who
killed a 40 Ib. Mahseer on a single-handed 10 foot trout rod, and I
have myself killed a 22 Ib. Catla hooked foul in the cheek, and there-
fore as good as a 44 Ib. fish for fighting purposes, on a 10 foot rod that
weighed only 8 ounces. Of course I had on a large winch necessarily
lashed on, with plenty of running line. One has to have that in the
East. One does not want to take a salmon rod when the majority of
the fish expected will run from 2 to 4 Ibs., and one simply must not take
a large rod when quick striking is necessary, as for Labeo, or it will
certainly neutralize all your chances of sport, for it would be a practical
impossibility to strike quick enough with such a rod, and yet you wish
to be prepared for an exceptionally good fish if he comes. It is hard
on Indian anglers that we cannot get all heel plates and all winch
fittings of a uniform size, so that winches may be interchangeable at will.
But I suppose the practical difficulty is that English trout fishermen do
not want such large heel plates, and would be prejudiced against them,

296 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

though they did cause them no practical inconvenience, and that tackle-
makers would have to consult their prejudices. But such tackle-makers
as lay themselves out for supplying Mahseer and other Indian tackle
might surely add to their favours that of uniform heel-plates and
uniform winch fittings. But maybe they have vested and other
interests to the contrary, and I shall have them all down on me like a
thousand of bricks, even old friends among them, and a good tackle-
maker is verily a valuable friend to the angler. Do you bestow all your
affection on the rod that fought that splendid hand to hand fight
together with you, and saw you through to victory ? Pass a little of it
on to the good chap that took such pains to make it all of honest stuff
without a knot or a flaw in it, and tapered and weighted to a nicety
that only long practice can accomplish, and every joint of "slender
frame, but firmly knit " like Malcolm Graeme.

But, reverting to my brake-winch, I may mention that it has been
patented, and that the manufacturers are Messrs. S. Allcock & Co.,
Standard Works, Redditch.

Running Line. — In the way of running line there is nothing
nicer for light fly-fishing than plaited silk, coated with india-rubber, and
use 30 yards. For Labeo fishing Tussa silk, as in " Tank Angling."
•For Mahseer, Freshwater Sharks, and such-like heavy fish, the
Manchester Cotton Twine Spinning Company's line mentioned above
p. 288.

Of all your lines be careful that they do not rot from being put
away wet.

Anglers are not half careful enough about this, and I have seen a
worthy Major, after losing a fish, instead of before killing one, testing
his remaining line, breaking off whole handfuls, with mouthfuls of
expletives, the lavish expenditure of which might have been spared us
if only he had been at the habitual pains, on returning from fishing,
immediately to hang out his line to dry on the backs of two chairs,
or by the use of one of these line driers. I quote from the price list
from which I get the illustration.

" Farlow's collapsible line drier, a machine for effectually drying lines
when wet, made so that the air passes freely through to every portion of the
line, and so dries and preserves it. Each winder is fitted with a screw
clamp, so that it may be screwed on any table. This clamp is arched so as
to receive the scoop of the winch, which can be placed or removed at will,

CHAP. XX. Gilt. 297

so that the machine need not be unscrewed after once fixing. The great
advantage gained in using this winder is that it entirely prevents the kinking
of the line, as is usually the case in
the old method of winding the line
round the backs of chairs, etc."

You see he is down on me
and my chairs, etc. It is a ques-
tion for you to settle according to
your banker's balance, and for
my part I am content with my
old friends, the backs of two
chairs, and am not at all sure they are not the best after all. You can
place them as far apart as you like, and they give plenty of separate
winding space, so that line need not fall on line, and they are easily
made steady by placing books, clothes or anything handy on them to
weight them.

Gut. — For gut, too, I could wish that some fisherman, who has
time on his hands, would give the tussa silkworm (Anthertza Paphid) a
trial. It is more than twice the size of the ordinary silkworm ; and the
Atlas moth (Attacus Atlas) is still larger. I am inclined to think a
thicker and stronger piece of gut, for Salmon and Mahseer fishing,
might be got out of them. The process of manufacture is simple
enough, apparently, for, if what one reads be true, you have only to
take the worm, when, from a piece of silk hanging from his nose, you
see he meditates spinning, and put him into a closed jar of vinegar, and
let him pickle therein, for some six hours in a tropical climate, more in
a colder ; then break him open, and taking one of the two guts, stretch
it between finger and thumb, and keep it stretched across a plank, by
hitching the ends into niches, or round pins or tacks, and put it into the
sun to dry.

From " Shifts and Expedients of Camp Life, Travel, and Explora-
tion," by W. B. Lord and T. Bains, I quote the following : —

Silkworm gut can also be obtained wherever silk-spinning worms are
met with. To make it a number of the caterpillars are to be collected
just prior to their time of spinning. These are to be placed in a pot or
other convenient vessel, containing a mixture of vinegar and water in equal
quantities ; they are then to be covered down and allowed to stand for
about twelve hours. A worm may then be taken out, opened, and tested
a.s to its fitness for drawing. If, in pulling the yellowish green coils which

298 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

will be found within it to their full extent and extreme, they break from
softness of texture, the worm must be allowed to remain in the vessel
some time longer, the temperature having much to do with the condition
of the pickled insects. When the coils are found to be tough, and stand
stretching fully out, one end of the strand must be placed in a slit made in
the end of a thin board or sheet of bark prepared for the purpose. This
strand is now to be drawn and stretched to the other end of the board,
in which corresponding slits have been made, when the extremity of the
gut is secured in one of them. When all the worms have been thus treated
the stretching board is to be placed in the sun in order that the gut may
dry, which it usually does in about twelve hours. It will now be found
that a considerable quantity of yellow substance will remain adhering to
the gut. This must be removed, and in order to do so dissolve a common
piece of soap, about the size of a musket-ball, in a gallon of rain-water.
Place this, with the gut in it, in a boiler and boil it for ten minutes, when
the gut must be turned out in a cloth to drain. Before cooling each strand
must be lightly and smartly drawn through a pledget of cotton held between
the finger and thumb, which will at once strip off the yellow coating ; but
great care must be taken not to press the softened strand hard enough to
make it flat or curled. As fast as the strands are run through the cotton
they must be replaced on the board and again dried in the sun, after which
they can be selected as to size, quality, length, etc., and packed up in hanks
by twisting cotton or any other kind of thread round them."

The advantages which I suppose these worms to possess over the
ordinary silkworm are, that they are larger, and will probably yield
much larger guts ; also that they are indigenous to the country, and do
not require to be fed on mulberry leaves, or other choice food, but on
the wild tree leaves on which they are found.

More or less objection is taken by silk-spinners to both these worms,
on the ground that the silk is difficult to reel, by reason of its being
stuck together by such a strong gummy substance, that diluted sulphuric
acid is recommended for mixing with water in which the cocoon of the
tussa silkworm is boiled ; and of the Attacus Atlas it is said " the silk
is difficult to reel, though it yields partially if boiled in vinegar." But
this very objection becomes a decided recommendation from a fisher-
man's point of view, for the stronger the gluten the less likely the gut
is to fray in water, as ordinary silkworm gut will when worn.

To aid recognition by those who do not know the tussa silk-moth, I
quote an extract from a description by Dr. Shortt, F.L.S., F.Z.S., etc.
of Madras : —

" The male and female moths differ in size, the male measuring from.

CHAP. xx. Rod. 299

the tip of one wing to the other between 4 and 5 inches, whilst the female
measures from 6 to 7 inches in expanse of wing ; both are of a uniform
yellowish brown, having a couple of lunated transparent talc-like spots on
each wing, and it is chiefly in the form of these spots that they differ from
other moths of the same kind."

An exhaustive history of these and other silkworms, their food
and culture, will be found in an official report on " Silk in India," by
J. Geoghegen, Under-Secretary to the Government in India, Depart-
ment of Agriculture, Revenue, and Commerce, and published at the
Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing, Calcutta.

Rod. — For fly-fishing for the smaller fish a light single-handed rod
of 10 or 93- feet in length is the luxury. You should have an extra top
in case of accidents, and let it be stiff, because you can strike so much
more quickly with a stiff rod than with a pliable one. For Mahseer I
lay great stress, as you will see, on the rod being pliable, because there
you need to be aided in meeting the sudden plunge of a heavy fish, but
with small fish, such as chilwas and barils and the minor carps, the
object of first importance is quick striking, and this can be better done
with a stiff than with a pliant rod. Consequently you will find that all
the best rod-makers make their light trout rods much stiffer than they
did some ten or twenty years ago. I remember fishing for minor
barils with one whom I had but a short time before taught the very
rudiments of fly-fishing. The little fish of 3 ozs. and under were rising
freely at every cast, and he was hooking them much faster than I was.
He thought he had suddenly developed into the better fisherman. But
the secret was that he had a modern, I an old-fashioned trout rod of
the days of my boyhood, his being both much lighter and also very
much stiffer than mine, and I was thereby placed at such a disadvantage
that I couldn't hold a candle to him. Of course I saw how it was in a
moment, but he didn't, and it didn't seem the civil thing to undeceive
him. But I may tell you, dear reader, so as to aid you in the choice of
a rod. For small fish lightness and stiffness of rod both accelerate the
stroke. The reasons for its doing so are explained in " Tank Angling,"
page 20, where rapidity of stroke is the sole thing aimed at, and no fly
throwing has to be considered.

For Mahseer, however, you want a double-handed salmon rod, and
1 6 feet is quite long enough. I have had 17 feet and 19 feet, and
.prefer 16 feet.

Rod a/id Tat&fa \ \ . \\.

The Irish rods, with splices instead of ferrules, play the best from
end to end, it" you \\ill be troubled with putting them together, and if
you will also do so thoroughly tightly, so that they are like one pic
but most fishermen will not be so bothered in spite of their proverbial
patience, nor would I advise them to it.

On no account buy a rod with a screw inside the ferrule; the screw
always -wears, and then the rings do not come in line, and the joints
always stiff and unbending.

An ordinary ferraled rod is the general favourite, and though glue
dissolves in the damp, and wood shrinks in the drought, of a climate
which runs to extremes, still, if the ferrules are all riveted inside and
outside, as a good rod should be, they will stand. Mine have 1 .
pretty lively experience, in as much as 135 inches of rainfall in two
months, and have consequently had a constant glue-melt ing atmosphere,
besides a very bone-drying one at other times.

But be very careful how you choose your rod, for it is to be your
best friend in Mahseer fishing. On no account buy one of those stiff,
almost pike, rods ordinarily advertised as Mahseer rods. I know there
are those who commend them, and that it is on that account that they
are so made and so styled. I suppose, also, that the commenders
thereof are held to be law-givers in the matter of rods, or the u.
would not follow them, or perhaps I might say were held to be law-
givers, for I think their day is over, and the old idea of a barge pole
for Mahseer fishing is now sufficiently exploded for me to spare my
readers four pages of opposing views, and simply refer them to
PP- 63, 65 supra.

In brief, then, let the Mahseer rod be an ordinary pliable light
salmon fly rod of 16 feet, not necessarily top-heavy, as a Castle Connel
rod inclines to be for the purpose of aiding the cast, but essentially
pliable. On no account have a short stiff spinning top with it. as that
would only serve to lure you to your ruin. Have an extra tly top if
you like, lest one get strained or broken.

If you are a light spare man lighten your rod accordingly, and on
no account fish with a rod beyond your strength. Some good fisher-
men, but they have to be very good, use a 14 feet rod, and no doubt
those who can use such a rod magnify their sport by minimi/ing their
weapons. But it is not the best implement, the best is 16 feet, and most
men can use it comfortably, but a specially weak man may reduce it

CUM'. XX.

!'<>• rules.

301

6 inches or a foot. But then he would probably have to have it
specially built for him.

A button at the bottom of a Mahseer rod is a very great relief from
the puin which a sharp end to a rod gives when pressed continuously

a-ainst your side in playing a, bi^ fish. In

a cold climate like England an india-rubber

knob is commended MS a luxury, but I don't

know that I would advise it for Indi.-i, as I

doubt if it would stand the climate. Still

if it fails it will screw out and you can

revert to your wooden button, on which

many a good man in India has killed many

times his own weight. It will screw into

the same place, and as the forms of both are much alike one illustration

will equally serve to explain the technical term button.

Ferrules. — The old ferrules are out of date. Though the eye
ini^ht 'not detect it till educated to do so, they were cone-shaped
and tapered too rapidly, and consequently did not bite all the way
down, but at only a small point. Metal turning by engine is now
reduced to such exactness that an error of a thousandth part of
an inch is considered a misfit, and ferrules are now made to fit so
exactly that even the air cannot escape, and you hear it expand on
being released by the withdrawal of the
joint. From the noise thus made these
are called in the trade suction joints,
because a name is wanted, though there
is and can be no suction. It is that the
ferrules are more nearly parallel and fit
closely all the way down. They never
slip loose and need no binding together
as the old ferrules did.

The lock-fast joint is another ex-
pedient which answers admirably. One
of these two, the former for preference,
you ought to have on any new rod, for
tying the joints together was a trouble,
and if neglected a worn joint often got loose in the course of the day,
and then the rod would not cast well, and there, was danger of a

302

Rod and Tackle.

CHAP. xx.

break of the tongue of the ferrule, and sometimes the whole joint
came out.

Rod Top Rings. — The rapid rushes of many a Mahseer will
end in cutting a groove in the ordinary eye of twisted brass wire at
the point of the rod, and the line afterwards hitches in the groove.
My remedy was to remove the eye, and whip on a fresh one, having
several ready. It was easily done, and the eye easily made. But
the eye or top ring with a phosphor bronze revolving centre is much
better, the revolving centre preventing the cut of the line
coming always in one place, for it is easily turned with the
finger, and the phosphor bronze being a much harder material
than brass. The electro is actual size, you can get them
many sizes bigger, but I prefer the smallest that is strong
enough for hard work.

The same, tops are made with a steel revolving centre.
But steel is a metal that is subject to rust, and from, constant
contact with a wet line, the inducements to rust are constant
and obvious. And ever so little rust means a rough surface
which must fray your line.
Rod Rings. — I never could see the sense of varying the size of
the rings on the rod. If those on the top joint are large enough to
let the line pass, they will be large enough to do the same on the
bottom joint, and what more is wanted? And standing rings when

SNAKE RINGS.

thus reduced to a uniform small size, are not in the way, and
are easier to thread than the old-fashioned flap rings with keepers.

CHAP. xx. Rod Rings. 303

They are also better for bearing the strain and the friction when the
rod is bending in the playing of a heavy fish. If the inside of the eye
of the ring be one-eighth of an inch clear it is surely large enough.

The snake rings of phosphor bronze, not steel, have a fascination
for many, and tackle-makers commend them. To me they look as if
the line was likely to hitch if, reversing your rod, you play your fish
with the rings uppermost. And so I never would risk trying them, and
consequently am not competent to condemn them.

I have preferred this pattern, originally my own tinkering out of
brass wire, then made for me for a song by a native jeweller, now made
by Farlow of a harder material, phosphor bronze. They are
the lightest and cheapest I know, and whichever way you
turn your rod the friction of the line comes on the metal of
the ring, not on the whipping. Their lightness is a special
recommendation for Labeo rods.

Farlow makes nearly the same with a revolving centre, the same
size, as shown in the rod top ring. They are very perfect. You might
have them on your Mahseer rod, while you have my lighter smaller
ones on your Labeo and Trout rods.

Similar rings are made with a steel revolving centre, lacquered. I
would dissuade you from them because of the danger of rust and
fraying of the line, as mentioned in connection with steel centres to
eyes at the rod point.

Sinkers. — I think the best form is that used in the Dee spin-
ning tackle, page 69, and made larger for Mahseer. Farlow has
had special moulds made at my request for sinkers of i^ and i£ inch
in length, with holes large enough to allow the loop of wire gimp to
pass. You will see them illustrated at page 68 supra.

'Whipping. — It is the fashion with some tackle-makers to bind
the gut loops in the snood and collar with silk, whereas the fastening
would be both tighter and less visible, besides lasting longer, if in
single gut it were simply knotted after well soaking the gut. In India
particularly, where whip fastenings are so liable to come undone, from
the extreme dryness of the air shrinking the gut, spoiling the wax, and
slackening the silk binding, it would be more satisfactory to have plain
gut knots. Knots also are not liable to fray as silk is from wear.
With treble gut collars, of course, the best fastening is the whipping
with gut, which is exceedingly neat and durable.

304 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

For the angler who likes to make his own collars, or has to repair
breakages, the accompanying drawing of a gut knot in three stages may

be useful. And the single knot for making a loop at either end of the
collar is simple.

Flights of Hooks.— For the single vent hook for Mahseer
please see page 66, and for the special sinker to be attached pages
68, 69.

For Richmond and Coxon Spinners, salmon size for Mahseer,
pages 69, 70, and for Freshwater sharks, Marral and Ba-mm the same on
wire, pp. 208, 242.

For Begtie, page 250.

For Richmond and Coxon Spinners trout size on gut for Seetul,
page 218, on thinner wire gimp for Freshwater Sharks, Marral, Batchwa,
Red and Grey Perch and others, pp. 207, 228, 222, 253.

CHAP. xx. Flight's of Hooks. 305

For live bait, pages 138, 141.

For prawn bait, page 254.

Flies. — For Mahseer, pages 124, 125. For Carnatic Carp,
page 156.

For smaller fish, pages 173, 177, 179, 180, 181.

For Barilius bola, page 189.

For Batchwa, pages 222, 223.

For Megalops, pages 255, 256.

Preserving Tackle. — In consequence of hooks rusting so
quickly in India, and the difficulty of replenishing your stock, the
prudent man will perhaps take extra precautions which I confess I
never had the time for. A thin coating of shellac varnish put over
your hooks, and heads of flies, will exclude the air, and thus preserve
them from rust. It is all very well for tackle shops, and for men
in England amusing their leisure, but no official in India has time
for it.

My flies I always kept in a tin box of sandalwood sawdust. The
oil in the sawdust kept the hooks from rusting ; the smell preserved the
feathers from being moth-eaten.

A writer in the Field says that if boxes are used a small crystal of
naphthaline, not much larger than a pea, in each compartment, will keep
moth away from flies for a whole year.

Shellac varnish is easily made. Lac is procurable in any native
bazaar in India. Put it in a glass-stoppered bottle with wood naphtha,
Time does the rest. Made thick, it is liquid glue ; thin, it is varnish.
Spirits of wine will not do as a solvent.

'Wax. — Wax you must have. Cobbler's wax you can get from any
bootmaker, but now-a-days you must be careful to call it shoemaker's
wax, or you may be told he has not got any. If you are living in the
wilds beyond the pale of shoemaking, and are compelled to make your
cobbler's wax yourself, the following recipe may be useful : —

" Take 4 ounces of resin, grind it to a fine powder between two stones,
i oz. of beeswax chopped up small, and 2 ozs. of common pitch ; mix these
substances with the resin, and place the whole in a small native chatty pot.
Then put the pot in a bed of hot wood ashes, and with a long, flat-pointed
stick work and stir the mass about until thoroughly melted ; then add f oz.
of good clean fat, and keep the whole in solution for about a quarter of an
hour or twenty minutes. Grease the bottom of a calabash or bowl, half fill

THE ROD IN INDIA. X

306 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

it with cold water ; take your pot off the fire with a twisted stick, and pour
the molten material into the water. When cold enough to handle, grease
your hands and work the wax about, pull it out into long strips, double these
back on themselves, and so proceed until all the materials are well amalga-
mated ; then work it out into a long stick or rod, take a greased knife and
divide it up into pieces, large enough to make convenient balls for use.
These are best kept floating in water until wanted." — " Shifts and Expedients
of Camp Life, Travel, and Exploration," by W. B. Lord, Royal Artillery,
and T. Bains, F.R.G.S. : Horace Cox, 346, Strand.

For white fly-making wax here is a recipe : —

" Two ounces of best yellow resin, one drachm of beeswax ; put them
into a pipkin over a slow fire till completely melted. Then add a quarter of
an ounce of spermaceti ; and let the whole simmer, constantly stirring it for
a quarter of an hour longer. Pour the melted mass into a basin of clear
cold water. It will instantly become thick. In this state, and while yet
warm, work it by pulling it through the fingers till cold. This last operation
is necessary to make the wax tough, and to give it that silvery hue it has
when made in perfection." — " The Angler and his Friend," by John Davy,
M.D., F.R.S.

Francis Francis substitutes tallow, I see, for spermaceti.

Lead Wire. — For weighting lines for float fishing, split shot are
ordinarily used, but a much handier thing is the soft-drawn lead wire of
the Manchester Cotton Twine Spinning Company. It is so easily put
on, and can without the least difficulty be exactly accommodated to the
finest float, whereas it is troublesome sometimes to exactly hit it off
with shot. It is cheap enough, 15 yards for is.

Copper Wire. — The same company supply also fine soft copper
wire, as fine as fly-tyers' silk, in knots of 40 yards for is. It is nice
for whipping, and fishermen should not be without it.

Whipping Cord. — While you are sending to this company for
running line, etc., you will do well to get their "waterproof cable
whipping cord, 100 yards for is." It is excellent for repairs of
breakages. Their silk for whipping hooks, flies, etc., is also good
They supply also all sorts of excellent lines for sea-fishing. But, as I
said before, their transactions are all for prepaid cash, a little difficulty
which your tackle-maker will arrange for you.

Bait Kettle. — A common earthen pot makes a very good bait-can.
Arrange a string by which to carry it by one hand, tie a cloth over the

CHAP. XX.

Bait Cans.

307

mouth to prevent the bait jumping out, and punch small holes round
the neck of it with a nail ; in doing so use caution to prevent breakage.
When fishing, keep it well under water in the river, having first poured
out all the old water. Your bait will keep alive the longer for thus
having fresh water. Do not bore holes lower than the neck, or you
will have no water in your earthen pot, when carrying it from place to
place. This is as good a bait kettle as you can desire, and is to be
had for between one and three pies, say, at the very outside, for the
vast sum of two farthings. If your bait are Ophiocephahis gachua, less
care is necessary about the changing of the water, but more that they
are not suffocated by being cut off from the air ; for them the earthen
pot must be left out of water, not immersed, and the cloth kept carefully
over the mouth, for they jump out more than any fish.

Still the luxurious and affluent angler may like to know what are the
appliances sold for this purpose, and as it is not so easy for him to get
an illustrated price list out in India, or to walk into a tackle-shop and
have a look round, I must e'en be his fidus Achates, and spare the space
for these illustrations, given me for his benefit, as you will have seen in
the preface. And for his better information I may as well copy as it
stands Farlow's descriptions and sizes and prices, so that he may be
able to judge for himself of the several advantages and cost of the
different sorts and sizes of bait cans.

ZINC BAIT CANS.

Outer Can.

Long.

inches

Wide.
5£ inches

7 „

8 „

9 „

Inner Can.
(Perforated.}

Deep.

5^ inches
7 „

Each.

5*

7/.

8s. 6
icx.

X 2

3o8

Rod and Tackle.

CHAP. XX.

Loiig.

Wide.

Deep.

Eacli.

61 inches

4^ inches

4 inches

ij-. 6

8jj , ,

•• 5 *•

- 4* „

2J.

93 •>

.. 5f »

- Si »

3s-

I3f "

e| ;

:: 1 :;

4*.

15

The engravings represent the two parts of the can separated, and
the position of the bellows and air-conducting tube. When grasping
the handle of the can in the act of carrying, the handle, so to speak, of

FIELD'S PATENT AERATING BAIT CAN.

the bellows (B) can be easily and naturally worked by the thumb ; the
air pumped from the handle is conveyed down a small tube (C) into the
bottom of the can, so that the aeration of the whole of the water must

CHAP. XX.

Spring Balances.

309

be thoroughly effected. The inner or perforated can has a handle, and
by attaching a piece of cord can be placed in the water, consequently
allowing the water to flow through it, thus keeping the baits beautifully
fresh and active ; it can, when a bait is required, be lifted out, the water
subsides, and a selection can be made.

Price IQS. 6J., I2S. 6//., and i^s. 6d. each; Postage is. extra.

Spring Balances. — Spring balances are made of many sizes, and
three qualities, and priced accordingly, as the following extract will-
show. At page 38 supra, I have recommended your having two of
best quality brass weighing up to 30 Ibs. each.

5-8 Ibs.
9-v.

5-8 Ibs.

15 Ibs.
13-r.

NICKEL-PLATED.

20 Ibs. 25 Ibs. 33 Ibs. 40 Ibs.
17-r. 20s. 21 s. 2js. 6tt.

BRASS (Best Quality).

20 Ibs. 25 Ibs. 30 Ibs. 40 Ibs.

50 Ibs.
30 s.

60 Ibs.
37*. 6d.

50 Ibs. 60 Ibs.

15 Ibs.

5-r. 8s. us. i$s. I^s. 2Os. 25^. 2&r.

For trout fishing, weighing up to 3 Ibs. showing ozs., nickel-plated, 13^. each ;
plain, Ss. 6d. each.

BRASS (Second Quality).

1 6 Ibs. 20 Ibs. 30 Ibs. 40 Ibs. 50 Ibs.
3-r. ()d. 4.5-. 4T. 6d. $s. "]s. 6d.

Winch Case. — Here is another luxury I never indulged in, but I
won't say it won't be useful if you do.

7 Ibs. 12 Ibs.

2S. 6(1. 3-T.

60 Ibs.
Ss. 6<t.

NORWEGIAN KNIFE.

Fi shing Knife.— A good knife always comes in handy, and you

3io

Rod and Tackle.

CHAP. XX.

should never start for a day's work without one in your pocket. It
is often needed for cutting out a hook. There are any number of
elaborate designs containing every requisite under the sun, for which
I hesitate to spare the space. My own faithful companion was a simple
two-blader, with a corkscrew at back, with the handle made of a metal
that didn't mind an occasional ducking, and attached by a string from
a loop, like a boatswain's, to prevent his taking a dive of his own with-
out my company.

The Norwegian knife is also an inexpensive friend with a saw to it.

Fly Scissors. — These should find a place in your fly book, and
frequently come in handy.

Hackle Holder and Table Vice. — If you tie your own flies or
tackle, you will find these convenient appliances.

CHAP. XX.

Splicing.

Gut Twister. — I have always thought I wanted a gut twister, but
I have very seldom required it.

Splicing. — If you break your top joint, you ought to be able to
mend it yourself. Cut a neat splice with care, having seen that the
slope of each side corresponds to the
other, and that when put together
they make a joint that fits evenly
all along, and is neither bigger nor
smaller than the parts of the rod
close up to the joint, unite them with
common glue, and get someone else
to hold them in position while you
tie them tight together with three
double hitches of strong twine, one in
the centre, and one near each end,
and then whip it roughly with the
same stout twine, so that the joints fit as closely as possible at every
point. Put away for twenty-four hours to thoroughly harden. Then
having freshly waxed with cobbler's wax some good stout silk — red is
the colour usually preferred — clear away with a penknife a little of the
rough whipping at the end at which you propose to commence whipping
closely with silk, leaving the rest of the rough whipping to hold the
joint firm till you get close enough to it to need to remove more, and
so proceeding, finish off with the whipmaker's knot, as shown in the
diagram — that is three turns kept loose by a pen or pencil being-
placed under so that the end of the silk can be passed under, then
whip the loose whipping fairly tight, and pull the end till the slack all
comes through. The same knot may be used in binding bare hooks,
or whipping on rod rings.

312 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

Otter. — An artificial otter is not imfrequently used in lakes in
Ireland ; and as some may like to use it in India, where the competition
amongst anglers is not so great as to bring down on you from your
neighbours the charge of poaching, I will supply instructions for
making one.

I should add that it has this to be said for it in India, and that it is
on this account solely that I mention it, or ever deigned to give it a
thought, that here we do not know definitely by the experience of ten
thousand anglers exactly how to fish. We are all more or less explorers,
trying to find what fish there are in India that will take a bait, which
will take a minnow, which a fly, and what fly is preferred. For this
purpose the otter covers a larger field of experiment, it searches more
water, and it allows of one man trying twenty or thirty flies at one time,
instead of three at the most.

Take a light plank, £ inch or an inch in thickness, of 2 feet in
length, by 7 or 8 inches in depth, and lead it so that the water-line shall
be about i inch from the top. Insert a brass ring, or light staple,
exactly half-way up in the centre of the stern of the plank, and two
more like staples, two-thirds forward, one in the top edge of the plank,
and one in the bottom edge, or exactly opposite each otr^er. To each
of these staples tie a cord about 2 feet long, and bring the ends
together, so that when suspended the plank shall hang quite even cross-
wise, but lengthwise shall have the stern slightly lowered, say 6 or 7
inches, for it is on the principle of the inclined plane that the otter
acts. Then to the point where the three cords are knotted together
tie a long cord, push the otter out from the shore, nose foremost, in
the direction you mean to walk along, keeping the line taut, and try it.
If the otter acts properly, it should keep parallel with you, keeping the
line taut all the while. But if the top and bottom cords are not of
exactly equal length, it will not sit true, and consequently will not have
so good a hold of the water. If the cord from the stern is too short,
the otter will have a tendency to yield to your tension and to come in
to you, and will not keep away enough to keep the line taut. In such
case let out the stern cord a little, and try again. If you lengthen the
stern cord too much, the angle of the plank will be too great, and the
otter will pull away from you too much, and in consequence will not
keep pace with you, but will lag behind. You must therefore humour
this stern cord till you have got it to work nicely ; and, that attained,

CHAP. xx. Artificial Otter. 313

knot all three cords together in one simple knot, such as is usually tied
at the end of the lash of a whip by non-whipmakers, so that they may
not slip ; and leave a loop over to which to attach your towing line with
the hooks on it. This adjusting of the stern line of the otter is rather
a nice operation, but, once done, it lasts for ever.

The towing line can be used with flies or spinning bait, just as you
like. To lead the otter so as to sink it to the desired depth, drive in
small screws all along the bottom edge of the plank, one every inch,
say, so as to stand out a little in continuation of the plank and give the
lead something to hold by. Then paste brown paper on both sides of
the plank, near the bottom edge, and let it dry and stiffen. Stand the
plank bottom edge upwards and pour molten lead into the trough thus
made all round the line of jutting-out screw-heads along the bottom
edge of the plank. You will need at least half an inch of lead, and it
is better to pour too much than too little, for it is easy to plane off what
is extra with a common jack plane, whereas it is not so easy to add
lead with a second molting, for it does not make a good joint with the
previous cold lead; there is always a crack left with a want of firm
hold. Remove the paper wall, and trying the otter in the water, plane
down the lea'd till the plank sits evenly in the water, with just about an
inch or an inch and a half above the water level.

The usual way is to attach the tow line to the loop, where the three
otter plank cords are knotted together, which three cords we will call
the bridle ; but another plan, as suggested by Mr. Wilcocks, in his " Sea
Fisherman," is to tie the tow line primarily to the staple at the stern of
the otter plank and connect it with the bridle by a piece of fine twine.
When a fish is hooked you will then, by the act of striking the fish,
break the thin connecting twine, and the strain coming on the stern of
the otter, you will easily haul it on shore end-on ; whereas it is not so
easy when the otter remains broadside-on, and more or less interfering
with the playing of your fish. The better way when it remains broad-
side-on is to stand still, or retrace your steps, so as to get the otter in,
and keep on pulling in the line till the otter describes a semicircle and
runs in to shore.

But against Mr. Wilcocks' plan it is argued, again, that the otter
does not interfere with the playing of your fish, but more or less aids it
by yielding to violent tugs, and coming up and going on again as you
proceed, and thus helping you in the drowning of your fish. Moreover,

314 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

it is urged that you do not want to be compelled to pull in your otter
with every individual fish, because it saves a great deal of trouble to
keep moving on, the fish is soon killed, and trails quietly, and it is time
enough to pull in when you have five or six fish on.

Still it may be that Mr. Wilcocks' plan is preferable, with heavy sea
fish, of 10, 20, or 30 Ibs. each, and it is about sea-fishing that he writes.

The tow line should be prepared as follows : — Get a number of
small brass rings just big enough to run easily on the tow line, but so
small that a knot tied in the tow line will not pass through them. Put
twenty or thirty of these rings on the tow line, each 6 or 8 feet apart,
say 8 for preference, with a common whip knot on each side of it, so
as to prevent its shifting. The ring is to prevent the drop lines from
twisting round the tow line. To these rings attach your drop lines,
which must not be more than 2- feet to the hook; so that by no means
can they reach each other, and entangle in the water, even when the
drops are only 6 feet apart.

But I think 8 feet is a fairer distance at which to place the drops, so
as to be secure against entanglements, even in the event of the tow line
sagging, or a heavy fish behaving badly. These drop lines will be the
better, in the case of spinning fish, for having one or two swivels each.
I would recommend the drop lines having two brass swivels each, and
being not more than 2 feet long, with a large loop at the end. To this
loop your spinning bait snood can then be easily attached, and re-
attached, when fresh baiting. But the whole drop should be removable,
because you want no swivels with flies, and will be the better for having
nothing but gut, 2| to 3 feet of gut to your fly.

The otter can be made larger if you like, maintaining the same pro-
portions, which are that it should be about three times as long as it is
deep, and always sunk with lead so that the water-line shall be within
an inch of the top. I have one, 4 feet long, which nearly pulls me into
the sea. It was made for fishing broad estuaries for heavy sea-fish, and
for fishing the seashore outside the waves on calm days ; but I have
had very little opportunity for trying it. Still I have seen what it
can do in the lakes in Ireland, and have seen also that Indian sea-
fish, the Seer, for instance, will take a small fish readily enough. I
wonder if a porpoise would take it. If he did you would have caught
a Tartar.

The otter can be used whenever you have a good extent of un-

CHAP. xx. Artificial Otter. 315

interrupted shore or beach to walk along without interposing trees, etc. ;
and it can also be used from the stern of a rowing boat, for as you
move on rowing it will move parallel with you ; and if you are very
avaricious, you can have one on each side of a boat. But remember,
that weeds have a strong affinity for tow lines and drop flies, especially
when there is a fish on.

I will confess, however, that I have not had the patience to ex-
periment with the otter half as much as I purposed to do. It went
against my grain, and in golden moments of leisure I found myself
fingering my old friends the rods in preference.

The simpler way, however, is to have two small otters as above ; if
you like to use them singly you can do so, one on each side of a boat.
If you wish to have one of double the power, so as to take out a very
long line from the shore, drive a small staple into one of the otters,
midway in- the plank perpendicularly, and a little forward of midway
longitudinally. The staple may be easily made of a piece of strong
brass wire, with the eye protruding on the off-side and the ends on the
near-side doubled down. To this eye attach the bridle of the second
otter. The two otters will be thus coupled, and will walk side by side,
together bringing just twice the tension to bear on the tow line that
either does singly. If you always worked your otter one way, say from
right to left, nothing more would be wanted ; but as you sometimes
require to work from left to right, drive in another staple close along-
side of the first one, and, as before, in the centre of the perpendicular
of the plank, but with the eye protruding on the opposite side. You
have thus an eye on either side to which to attach your off otter. To
reverse an otter, turn the nose in the direction in which you wish it to
run, and bring the bridle between you and the plank. To hitch on and
unhitch the second otter, it is convenient to have a thing like a " safety
pin," only shorter, and made much stronger of thick brass wire. A pair
of pincers will twist one up in a minute.

How to Order. — Friends wishing to set themselves up in tackle
have come to me to advise them what to order, and to help them how
to describe what they want, so that the English tackle-maker may not
misunderstand them, and have asked me to give them some idea also
of prices ; I wish to sit down similarly by the side of my reader, and
help him to indite his order. This may seem a work of supererogation
to some, but to others I am convinced from experience that it will be

316 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

a practical assistance, because they have not a tackle-shop into which
they can walk, and point out this thing and that thing, without knowing
its name, and take the shopkeeper's advice about other things.

. For such, then, I add a liberal outfit, the prices being taken from
a good tackle-shop's list. Inferior articles can, of course, be got at
cheaper rates, but it is most unsatisfactory to buy such. Those who
think my order too big can easily omit what they do not want. It
is better that they should omit than that I should.

Such of the tackle required for Mahseer as will come in equally
useful for other fishing is not here repeated under the names of other
fish, only what is wanted extra for them specially being thus entered
separately.

FOR MAHSEER.

£ s. d.

I Pliable, but not top-heavy, rather light, salmon rod (not the stiff trolling
rod that has been commonly called a Mahseer rod), four joint,
greenheart, suction joints, winsh fittings, with button-ended butt,
partition bag, and extra fly top, 16 ft. Split cane, I am told, will
not stand the climate, but I have not tried ... ... ... ... 3 10 o

I Superior bronzed revolving plate check-winch of 4 or 4^ inches in
diameter, according as you wish to have 120 or 150 yards of line,
the cross bar being if inches, my brake-winch for preference.
Ebonite will not stand the climate ... ... ... 4-in. diam. 200

4j-in. „ 2 10 o

120 or 150 Yards, according to choice, of Manchester Cotton Twine
Spinning Company's No. |j, 16 plait Egyptian enamel waterproof
running line, at about 2s. a score yards ... ... 1 50 yards 015 o

1 Salmon fly collar, half treble, half single, extra stout, salmon gut ... 050

3 Single, extra stout, salmon gut fly collars, at 5-r. each ... ... ... 015 o

2 Stout spoons of 3 inches, silvered and gilt, mounted without split rings,

but with wire or solid soldered rings, with one No. 5 Mahseer
treble hook at head, and one like hook at tail, and none at the
side, on a double No. 5 swivel, as given at page 278, on No. 2/0
Allcock's patent rust proof wire gimp .. ... ... ... ... o 80

2 Like spoons 2 f inches ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 080

4 „ „ 2£ „ o 14 o

4 Stout spoons, 2 inches, hog backed, with one No. 7 Mahseer treble at

tail, none at head, single swivel No. 5 ... ... ... ... o 10 o

4 Ditto I J inches ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 080

4 Geen's Richmond Spinners, salmon size, on Allcock's patent rust proof
wire gimp No. 2/0, with two No. 8 Mahseer treble hooks, dis-
posed as in the plate on page 69 ... ... ... ... ... o 10 o

i Coxon Spinner, salmon size, similarly mounted ... ... ... ... 020

3 Spinning traces of the same wire gimp, with double swivels No. 5 ... 030

CHAP. xx. Approximate Estimate. 317

£ *• d.

12 Yards of the same No. 2/0 wire gimp ... ... ... ... ... 040

1 Dozen Mahseer treble brazed hooks, not eyed No. 5 ... ... ... 026

2 ,, ,, ,, ,, eyed, No. 5 050

2 ,, ,, ,, „ ,, No. 7 050

2 ,, ,, ,, ,, not eyed, No. 7 ... ... ... 050

2 ,, ,, ,. ,, eyed, No. 8 050

2 „ „ „ ,, ,, No. 12 050

I ,, double swivels, brass, No. 5... ... ... ... ... .. 040

i ,, single „ ,, ,, 020

6 Dee sinkers i^ inches long, for putting in mouth of bait ... ... ... 020

6 ,, ,, i| ,, ,, ,, ,, ... ... ... 020

3 Jardine live bait tackle mounted on the same No. 2/0 wire gimp, with

No. 8 Mahseer hooks ... .. ... ... ... 020

I Spring balance weighing to 30 Ibs., or two if you wish to combine them

for weighing fish over 30 Ibs. at, nickel-plated, each ... ... I i o

brass, best quality ... o 14 o

,, second ,, ... ... ... 046

i Bait kettle if you like, p. 307 supra.

i Table vice ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... o 10 o

i Winch case ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... o 12 o

I Hackle holder... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... o I o

i Dozen rod rings, upright, phosphor bronze, revolving centre, inside

diameter of aperture \ inch, for repairs ... ... ... ... o 10 o

i Dozen rod rings without revolving centre, inside diameter of aperture

\ inch for repairs of Labeo rods ... ... ... .. ... 030

i Line drier ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... o 15 o

I Knife, from $s. to 28^.

i Rod box ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ! 15 o

I Tackle box ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... o 10 6

i Hank of stout salmon gut ... ... ... ... ... ... ... i o o

3 Baiting needles ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 006

3 Blackamoor flies on No. 2/0 eyed Limerick hooks, my sizes ... ... o 3 o

6 ,, ,, No. 2 ,, ,, ,, 060

i Fly book, 7 x 4 inches ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 0120

I Pair fly scissors ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 026

i Fine file ... ... ... ... [. ... ... . . ... 006

1 Skein or reel of silk for tying flies ... ... ... ... ... ... 006

2 Skeins of silk, stouter, for rod repairs ... ... ... ... ... o i o

100 Yards Manchester Cotton Twine Spinning Company's waterproof

cable whipping cord ... ... ... ... ... ... ... o i 6

1 Dozen bare Limerick hooks, No. 2/0, eyed ... ... ... ... 016

2 ,, ,, ,, No. 2, „ 026

I „ No. 6/0, eyed 020

i ,, No. 4/0 ,, 020

I Gut twister ... 086

An extra rod, winch, and running line as above in case of breakages in a

remote camp

318 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

FOR CARNATIC CARP, Extra.

£ *> <*•

2 Dozen Blackamoor flies on No. 5 Limerick hook, my size, on eyed hooks 012 o
I Dozen Blackamoor flies on No. 10 Kirby, on stout single salmon gut

or on eyed hook for preference ... ... ... ... ... 060

i Landing net, 14 inches diameter, folding ring and handle ... ... o 10 o

3 Dozen No. 5 eyed Limerick bare hooks 039

1 ,, No. 10 Kirby, eyed - 006

2 Hog-back fly spoons ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 020

I Two-handed trout rod, 14 feet, 4 joints, greenheart, suction joints,

winch fittings, with extra fly top, and partition bag, the winch

fittings to be adapted to the Mahseer winch ... ... ... ... 215 o

FOR FRESHWATER SHARKS, &c. Extra.

3 Richmond Spinners, trout size, armed with No. 12 Mahseer treble

hooks, uneyed, on patent rust proof wire gimp No. 4/0 ... ... o 6 o

I Coxon Spinner similarly mounted ... ... ... ... ... ... 020

1 Disgorger ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 006

2 Rod rests o 10 o

i Gaff hook, steel 050

I ,, ,, plated if preferred ... ... ... ... ... ... 076

I Jardine Gag ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 076

FOR SMALL FLY TAKERS.

I Single-handed trout rod, not top-heavy or limp, but stiff, 9 or 10 feet,
three joint, greenheart, suction joints, winch fittings, with screw

spike, partition bag, extra fly top, and short spinning top ... ... 2 5 6

I Superior, bronze, revolving plate, check-winch 2| inches ... ... I I o

30 Yards waterproof plaited silk taper trout running line 076

1 Dozen black flies on No. ooo sneck-bend hooks ... ... ... ... 020

2 Dozen light duns of various shades on No. ooo sneck-bend hooks ... o 4 o
£ Dozen black flies on No. 6 sneck-bend hooks ... ... ... ... o i 6

3 Fine drawn trout fly collars or casting lines ... ... ... ... 030

I Medium trout fly collar ... ... ... ... ... ... ... o i o

1 Hank trout gut, medium ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 030

2 Dozen bare No. ooo sneck-bend hooks, eyed ... ... ... ... o i 6

FOR LABEOS, Extra.

I Labeo rod, as described in ' Tank Angling,' pp. 16 to 20, and 69, 70 ... 115 o

I Check-winch 2f or 3 inches in diameter ... ... ... ... ... 100

6 Detective floats, ' Tank Angling,' p. 23 030

CHAP. xx. Approximate Cost. 319

150 Yards light tussa silk running line, 'Tank Angling,' p. 21

2 Dozen bare eyed Limerick hooks, No. I, now No. o ... ... ... 026

3 Dozen lengths salmon gut ... ... ... ... ... ... ... o 12 o

I Hank soft lead wire ........................ o I o

i Plummet ..... ..................... 002

i Dozen No. 2/0 Rohu hooks... ... ... ... ... ... ... o I o

FOR SEETUL.

3 Richmond Spinners, trout size, on salmon gut, No. 12 Mahseer treble

hooks ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 060

FOR BEGTI.

2 Richmond Spinners, salmon size, on wire gimp as for Mahseer, with

an extra hook, an inch clear beyond tail hook for Mahseer ... o 5 °

FOR BATCHWA AND SEA PERCHES.

2 Richmond Spinners, trout size, on patent wire gimp No. 4/0, No. 12

Mahseer treble hooks ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 040

FOR BATCHWA.

3 Black flies No. 4, eyed Limerick hook ... ... ... .. ... O

3 Orange flies No. 4, eyed Limerick ... ... ..'. ... ... o

3 „ „ No. 6 „ o

3 Black ,, No. 6 ,, ... o

3 Yards No. 5/0 patent wire gimp ... ... ... ... ... ... O

FOR SEA PERCHES.

2 Prawn tackles on No. 4/0 wire gimp, hooks No. 10 Mahseer trebles ... o 2 o
i | inch spoon ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ••• o I 6

Total ... 40 18 5
Add a percentage for freight, insurance, and loss by exchange.

Rod Box. — Order the whole to be sent out in one stoutly-made
hinged and locked box with your name painted on it. You will find

320 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

such a box very convenient for keeping your tackle in, and for trans-

porting it on your trips to the fishing grounds, occasions on which you
will sometimes find a good lock an advantage.

Tackle Box. — I have found a tackle box a most convenient thing,
especially for a busy man. When you start for a fishing trip nothing has
to be hurriedly looked up at the last moment, nothing is liable to be left
behind, as everything is in its place. Mine has for unit a tin box,
of which the outside measurements are 9 x 4! X 2 inches deep. This
makes two boxes of 9 X 4! X i inch, with a common bottom at one
inch deep, and a hinged lid each. These boxes are again subdivided
according to convenience, one division crosswise making a convenient
size for collars and traces, smaller divisions into six and eight being-
suitable for hooks, swivels, and spoons. Each tin box has a folding
tongue of wire by which it is taken in and out of a wooden box, which
just holds six of them standing endwise, with their label of contents
upwards. One tin is always marked " Sick and Wounded," into which
goes promptly any tackle that is the worse for a fight and needs repair.
Then you know that all your other tackle is in good fighting condition,
and you know where to put your hand at once on what needs repair,
and time and disappointment are saved both ways, when time is
precious. A certain Commander-in-Chief, examining my tackle, was
much tickled with this scrupulous care for the "sick and wounded."
The wooden box that holds the tin boxes is made of | inch teak
planking, strong enough to stand any amount of knocking about, and
to make a good dry seat when bottom fishing for Labeo. This box
is never risked in a basket boat — it is too precious. But any one
of the tins, containing a day's requisites, goes into a pocket when of!
terra fir ma. A good lock and key complete the box. I have two
such boxes.

In India, one commonly makes up a party for distant fishing and
shooting, and several rods are apt to get thrown together in a corner
of the tent, and when coming from the same makers, and ordered after

CHAP. xx. Smaller Order. 321

one pattern, as they would be if two or three chums ordered from this
book, it will be found that they are very much alike, and that it is
no easy job to tell the several joints one from another, when starting,
perhaps somewhat hurriedly, for the day. It will save you some
trouble, and cost nothing comparatively, to have your initials cut small,
at twopence a letter, on every joint of every rod, and on every winch
you possess, and marked pretty large on the rod partition bag. Thus
you will always be able to pick out your own property at a glance, and
will not get in exchange a carelessly put away rotten line, or your
friend's top with a bad warp in it from ill-usage ; or, still worse, give
him yours, or exchange tops, that when you are a mile apart, and putting
them up at the river's side, are found not to fit into the second joint !

For those who wish me to indicate a minimum economical kit, I
will extract from the larger order the following : —

FOR MAHSEER.

£ *• *.

I Salmon rod, as in the larger order ... ... ... ... ... ... 3 10 o

1 4-inch winch, with my brake ... ... ... ... ... ... 200

120 Yards running line... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... o 12 o

2 Spinning traces of patent rust proof wire gimp No. 2/0 ... ... ... 020

1 Treble gut fly collar 030

2 Spoons of 2\ inches ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .,. 070

2 Richmond Spinners, as in larger order ... ... ... ... .. 050

1 Dozen No. I treble hooks uneyed ... ... ... ... ... ... 026

3 Yards patent wire gimp No. 2/0 ... ... ... ... ... ... o I o

2 Snoods of my one treble vent hook spinning tackle on wire gimp, No. 2/o 008

1 Baiting needle... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 002

2 Dee sinkers i| inches ... ... ... ... ... 008

3 Blackamoor flies on No. 2 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 030

1 Skein or reel of silk for tying flies ... ... ... ... ... ... 006

2 Ditto, stouter, for rod repairs ... ... ... ... ... ... o I o

FOR CARNATIC CARP.

6 Blackamoor flies on No. 5 Limerick, eyed hooks, my sizes 030

3 ,, ,, No. 10 Kirby, as in larger order ... ... ... o I 6

FOR FRESHWATER SHARKS, &c.

Wire gimp as in the larger order ... ... ... ... ... ... 040

I Richmond Spinner, trout size, as in larger order ... ... ... ... 020

THE ROD IN INDIA. Y

322 Rod and Tackle. CHAP. xx.

FOR SMALL FLY TAKERS.

£ *- d.

I Fly rod 256

1 2^-inch winch... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... I I o

30 Yards running line ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... o 7 6

\ Dozen black flies on No. ooo snecks ... ... ... ... ... o I o

\ Dozen dun ,, ,, ,, ... ... ... ... ... ... o I o

2 Ordinary fly collars ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 020

FOR LABEOS.

I Labeo rod I 15 o

I Check-winch 3 inches diameter ... ... ... ... ... ... I o o

I Dozen No I. eyed Limerick hooks, now No. o ... ... ... ... 013

I Hank soft drawn lead wire o I o

3 Detective floats ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... o I 6

150 Yards fine tussa silk line ... ... ...

I Dozen lengths salmon gut ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 040

I Plummet 002

14 18 ii

Adding a percentage, as above.

Of this, any of the parts for different fish that are not desired can
be omitted. But this is a highly limited order.

CHAPTER XXI.

FISHING GEAR AND OTHER SMALL BEER.
" The apparel oft proclaims the man." — SHAKESPEARE.

JUST a few short words on the clothes most convenient to wear when
fishing in India will add to the comfort of those that will be troubled
to read them.

As you have already seen, you will have to do a good deal of wading
if you are at all keen about sport. But on no account get waterproof
wading stockings. First-rate things though they are in England, they
are not at all wanted in India. I doubt if they would keep good in
India. I am quite sure they would be unbearably hot in that climate,
and, much though I have waded, I never felt the want of any such
protection in India ; for the water is not perishingly cold, as in England,
but comfortably tepid, so that, if you make a rule never to be tempted
to go in over the fork, you will not be the worse for it. If you walk in
deeper, and stand in the water up to your stomach and vitals, I will not
be responsible for congestion of the liver, dysentery, and all the
rest of it.

Remembering that you will be often in water up to the fork, shorten
your coat tails accordingly; and have your pockets high and dry, or
you will find, after landing a fish you have been very intent on, and
waded in to get at, that your fly-book, or some other valuable, has been
thoroughly soaked the while.

The stony bottom, with its rounded boulders, is often very slippery,
and, as you see the native naked foot slips less than a shoe, you may
be tempted to wear thin shoes, so as to give you the better foot-hold.
I tried thin racket shoes, but was very soon convinced of my mistake.
Under water you cannot always see where you put your foot, and you
are watching your fly, etc., and have to feel the bottom with the foot,

Y 2

324 Fishing Gear and Other Small Beer. CHAP. xxi.

and you are sometimes in a little hurry, for life is not long enough for
dawdling, and then you bring your unprotected foot against a rock, and
generally right on the top of your pet corn. But what is worst of all
is when you get your unprotected foot jammed by the weight of your
body between two rocks. That will decide you in favour of thick
boots.

Have good heavy boots, then, with the sole a trifle broader than the
foot, and of a good thickness. I mean the boots commonly made with
a sort of open verandah all round the foot. Ankle-boots are a pro-
tection to the ankle, saving it from being bruised and also from being
turned and sprained; laced boots best protect the ankle. In short
" the Alpine, boot" is about the most comfortable you can have.

Walking amongst the rocks in, and on the edge of, a river is a
galloping consumption of boots. Nails are an antidote. But too many
nails make the sole slippery, make it almost as bad as one without any
at all. Have the sole studded all over with large nails an inch apart.
These will improve your foothold.

After being so soaked your boots will get uncomfortably hard if not
greased. If you dry them first and then grease them they will shrink,
but if you grease them when wet and put them in the sun the grease
will take the place of the moisture, and the boots will remain comfortably
soft and unshrunk. The cheaper, less refined vaseline, as used by
veterinary surgeons and commonly called Vets' Vaseline, is the best
thing you can use. It never moulds, smells or becomes rancid. Keep
an old blacking brush for spreading it, and working it into the seams.
Use it freely, as it is cheap, and preserves the leather. In its tin it is
very portable.

Braces are a mistake, for when exerting the arms by making a long
stretch in clambering round a rock, for instance, they give, or, more
likely, a button flies. The trousers should be supported from the
waist.

Good thick socks are not only a wise precaution for health's sake,
but a comfortable protection more or less against the sand, which,
however, will get in when stirred up from the bottom in wading, and
which proves a nuisance when walking home again.

The forest-clad riversides often swarm with leeches, which bite
better than the fish. Tuck the trouser into the sock, and tie round
tightly with a string in lieu of leech gaiters.

CHAP. xxi. Leeches. 325

I have been told that the after itching, which is the worst part of
their bites, may be prevented by rubbing gunpowder into the bite
immediately on your return home, and that no mark is left by the gun-
powder, but I am satisfied the amount of after itching is entirely
dependent on your then state of health, and that nothing you can do
affects the matter.

It is better to get them to let go their hold themselves, than to risk
the leaving of a broken tooth in your leg by pulling them off. If you
should happen to be so far behind the age as to have a flask of powder
in your pocket, a little of that sprinkled on the leech will effect the
desired release. They cannot stand the saltpetre in it any more than
common salt. Tobacco juice or a hot cheroot end will get rid of
them.

But all this is a somewhat luxurious method of being leech-bitten.
The usual recipe is grin and bear it, but never scratch the annoyingly
itching bites, or you will rue it in their long continuance.

As to the material of your clothes, you need not " fash " yourself,
though woollen, of course, is most comfortable. But as to the colour
you should be careful. White turbans, white coats and white trousers,
are all to be eschewed ; "for the apparel oft proclaims the man " in
more senses than Shakespeare meant. Common shikar clothes are
the things.

Wading not only enables you to get at many a pretty bit of water
otherwise unapproachable, but when up to the fork in water you are
lower down, and consequently less likely to be seen by the fish, than
when standing out in fine relief on the bank, with the sky for a back-
ground.

I do not think fish see any great distance laterally in the water, and
I am inclined to think this is why you find preying, and preyed on, fish
living so near each other in the same stream, without clashing half as
much as one would expect them to do. It is also a reason in my
mind for spinning in the right places, close to where you conclude
preying fish to be lying. The case is very different with the fly, for
that shows against the light; and the nearer it is to the surface, the
further it is seen by a fish on the botton ; for conceiving a fly and the
angle of radiation, or vision in the water, are represented by an isosceles
triangle, of which the apex is the fly, the two legs the angle of vision,
and the base the bottom of the river, it follows that an extension of the

326 Fishing Gear and Other Small Beer. CHAP. xxi.

two legs extends the base, or, in other words, that the fly which is
further off, from being at the surface, is visible over a greater breadth of
bottom, than the fly which, from being sunk, is nearer the bottom.

An objection to wading is said to be that you are now and then
swallowed by a crocodile. But I have not experienced that sensation
yet, and though there are crocodiles enough, I do not think there is
really anything to be feared from them. I have again and again waded
in just where I have seen a crocodile disappear, or have noticed fresh
footmarks and basking places. Mr. Sanderson, in his " Thirteen Years
among the Wild Beasts of India," writes the following : —

" The few crocodiles that are found in the Mysore rivers very rarely
attack people ; and fishermen — who pay no heed to them — have told me
that, if they come upon a crocodile whilst following their employment, it
will skulk at the bottom, and not move though handled, apparently believing
it escapes observation. Crocodiles are, like all wild creatures, very timid
where not encouraged, as is sometimes done by superstitious natives. In-
credible though it may seem to readers with no knowledge of the saurian s
but that derived from stories of their boldness elsewhere, I may instance
having seen several ' bestas ' (the professional boatmen, divers, and fisher-
men of Mysore) dive time after time into water 1 2 feet deep, and bring to
the surface by the tail a crocodile 7 feet long which I had wounded. The
creature was not in any way crippled, but seemed overcome with fear. It
offered no resistance till dragged near a rock, where I stood with a rope,
when it would turn and snap at the man pulling it, always sinking, however,
the moment this demonstration made him let go its tail. Different divers
went down successively, one at a time, and brought it to the surface. I at
last killed it with a charge of shot."

Still it was reported that they killed women and children groping for
shellfish in the Malabar district, and it was on that ground that the
Government of Madras sanctioned a reward for killing them in the
Malabar district, at so much a yard, and the result was that seven miles
of them were killed in a very short time, when the reward was stopped.

Seven miles of crocodile ! It reminds one of Sheridan's sympathising
remark on the giraffe with a cold in the Zoo : " Fancy having three
yards of sore throat."

An acquaintance of mine was stripping for a swim in a tempting
looking pool, his native attendant silently watching him all unconcerned
till he eventually dropped the casual remark : " There are about thirty
of them in that pool." "Thirty what?" asked the white man.

CHAP. xxi. Crocodiles. 327

" Crocodiles," was the still unconcerned reply. The undressing for a
swim in that pool was promptly discontinued. This was in the Madras
Presidency. One reads of crocodiles feasting on human bodies in the
Ganges, and one naturally concludes that they may equally take the
living, and I have myself been warned not to wade in certain parts
in Northern India, though in the Madras Presidency I have always
treated the animal as an inoffensive coward, and waded at pleasure
though, to the caimans or alligators of America I should have paid
more respect. The Canara crocodile is Crocodilus palustris ; the
Malabar, Mysore, and Madras one, C. porosus.

Trousers hang about the legs, and are not only cold and clammy
when walking, but are also heavy with water. A more comfortable
costume is knee breeches and worsted stockings.

CHAPTER XXII.
THE TAME OTTER.

" Oh ! the gallant fisher's life,

It is the best of any ;
'Tis full of pleasure, void of strife,
And 'tis beloved by many."

J. CHALKHILL.

ONE can imagine the above song being jovially rolled out by a rollicking
otter, after a good day's hunting, just as well as by Isaak Walton's old
friend John Chalkhill ; for the otter is as fond of hunting in the water
as any hound is on land. He evidently hunts from the love of it, and
not for the pot, for he eats a mere snack out of each fish he catches,
leaves it, and hunts for another. Any one who has been much on the
banks of rivers where otters abound, will have seen many a fine fish
little more than tasted and left on the bank. Having watched five full-
sized wild otters hunting together, calling cheerily to each other in
the water, gambolling on the sand together for a minute or so, and
then in again at a call, and going on calling cheerily again, shall I say
laughing, charring, and singing " jolly dogs are we," as they went hunting
down the river together, I could not doubt they were thoroughly
enjoying themselves, and following a propensity, a sport, rather than
working for their living.

The otter picks up and follows the scent of a fish under water, just
as a dog does that of game on land. You may think a fresh live fish
has little or no odour. Perhaps not to man, and you may be surprised
at a scent being left in water. But water retains a scent well, as may
be seen from dogs readily recognizing the scent of deer, and following
it across a stream. And as to the powerfulness of different smells, it
evidently depends on the capacity of differently formed olfactory nerves
for appreciating them. It is astonishing how a dog will follow at speed

CHAP. xxii. The Tame Otter. 329

the scent of his master's foot, left, through a sock and through a thick
boot, on the gravel path on which it has been only momentarily placed
while walking, and detect it also from other footsteps. A man might sniff
away for ever, and never recognize the presence of any odour whatever
on that pathway, except perhaps the smell of earth. At the same time
a man is struck offensively at several yards distance by the stench
of certain things which the dog almost touches with its nose, and very
deliberately examines before it seems to have made up its mind. If
this last example were not enough to show that different olfactory
nerves appreciate different odours very differently, we all know the
conclusive dictum of the huntsman that his checked hounds had lost
the scent "all along o' them stinking violets." And so we say the
olfactory nerves of the otter are endowed with the power of recognizing
the scent left by a live fish in the water.

The otter (Lutra nair*) is the nirnai, or water-dog of the Dravidian
languages of Southern India, the panika-kutha, or water-dog, again, of
Hindustani; and the different names applied to it in Sanscrit mean
\vater-cat, water-rat, and water-animal (udrahf) from which last our
word otter is probably derived. And why should he not be utilized
as a water-dog, instead of being exterminated before his uses are
discovered? Why should he not be domesticated and bred for the
chase in the water, just as the wild dog has been on land ?

The wild dog is very destructive to game, and so is the otter to fish,
it being estimated in England that each otter destroys a ton of fish a
year. But the domesticated dog under man's control is very useful to
his master, and the following extracts will show that the otter can be
readily domesticated, much more readily I imagine than the wild dog,
and affords both sport and business-like profit to his master. If the
same attention were paid to the breeding and training of otters as has
been paid to dogs, there seems no reason why similar marked results
should not be obtained in varying size and power ; at any rate you can
very soon get a retriever otter, and that is about all that is wanted.
I have now, as I write, three little otter pups diligently sucking away
at a pariah bitch, though they made difficulties at first on the score of
the dog's teats being not so fine as an otter's nipple. When their eyes

* The common English otter is Lutra vulgaris.

t For the Sanscrit, my authority is the late A. C. Burnell, Esq., of the Madras
Civil Service, whose scholarly attainments are well known.

330 The Tame Otter. CHAP. xxn.

open, I trust that they will awake to the fact that they are dogs after all,
and should comport themselves as such. They are not " unlicked cubs,"
for the pariah takes to them in this respect, and it is hoped that the
educational career that is before them will form their minds, and make
them morally all that can be desired.

And now I will let the following extracts from La?id and Water speak
for themselves : —

FIGHT BETWEEN A JACK AND AN OTTER.

" Sir, — Much having been lately said in Land and Water about Otters,
I beg to offer a contribution.

" Many of your readers may not be aware that these very sagacious
animals are capable of being tamed, indeed I may say domesticated, or, in
other words, that they can be trusted to go free about the premises, to which
they become quite attached, like cats or dogs. In some parts of India they
have long been used, not only for fishing for their masters, but for driving
fish into nets. Having had such interesting pets, and having been instru-
mental in others keeping them, I could give quite a curious history of them ;
but at present this is not my object, which is to try and describe a glorious
battle, which came off on the 2ist instant, between a trained otter and a
very large pike. I was summoned to the scene of action by the otter's
master, Mr. Hulse, of the Rifle Brigade, who brought it from India about a
year since. The pond where the fish was is a small but deepish one in
Stoke Park, near Guildford. The otter, following its master to the place,
entered the water and immediately dived, when we could follow his track
as he hunted below by the long string of bubbles (' bells,' as otter-hunters
term them), which, coming from his nose, marked his passage. In a short
time there was no doubt as to ' a find,' as the rush and troubled state of the
surface too plainly indicated, for it was like two express trains in full chase
of each other. All this lasted but a short time, say, about half a minute,
and the exertion and coldness of the water, etc., seemed to take a good deal
out of the animal, for he not only came up to breathe, but landed, and after
rolling himself, which they delight in doing, ' time being up,' in he went
again at the word of command. Many rounds like this took place, the
pike always breaking away, until it was varied by the capture of a carp,
the head of which he was allowed to eat. His appetite seemed whetted by
this, for he became very eager, and, whenever he came across the pike, a
great struggle took place, but the big fish seemed such a monster that he
could not worry him, yet, by the aid of his feet, he turned him over once,
but never brought him to the top, though the otter's tail often waved above
water. Up to this time behind the fish's head was the part attacked, his
great and powerfully- armed jaws being avoided, but now the fish was

CHAP. xxn. The Tame Otter. 331

evidently growing weaker, and the otter changing his tactics by attacking
the enemy in the rear. Each round told in favour of the otter, and, finally,
' the sponge was thrown up ' by the beaten fish being towed to land by its
tail, amidst the loud and hearty whoo-whoo-ops ! of all present, the doubtful
battle having lasted above half an hour. The fish, which proved to be a
female, weighed 20 Ibs. 1 1 ozs., and the weight of the otter (a female, and
very like an English otter) is only 1 8 Ibs. Thus ended as well-contested a
battle as I ever witnessed, and a sight I would have gone any distance
to have seen. Surely all true Englishmen must admire the bull-dog pluck
of this animal, and endorse Mr. Benson's sentiments, as given in your last
impression, which clearly is that it is a disgrace in this enlightened age of
progress and civilization to allow ignorant keepers and watchers to exter-
minate the poor otter. Otters will travel any distance, and I have no doubt
that some of those which have lately been so cruelly murdered are from
the Wey, in my neighbourhood, and consequently I. particularly regret their
loss, for I know they do much more good than harm, and this knowledge
I have gained by studying their habits for years, both in the wild and tame
state. I have plenty of fish, and I cannot see that they diminish ; and yet
I am seldom without an otter or two, and sometimes a brood of them, for
they are sacred here, as well as all rare birds, etc. Occasionally I find the
remains of a small jack or an eel which they have caught and partly eaten.
I know they scent these under water, and bring them up from the mud :
indeed, they prefer them to every thing. Then they are very fond of frogs,
and they will kill water-rats, water-hens, and even rabbits occasionally.
They certainly seldom kill large fish in the wild state when they can get
smaller more easily. Otters appear to grow for about two years, and they
seem to differ considerably in weight. I once saw one killed in the Lune,
near Lancaster, by Mr. Lomax's otter hounds, which was 28 Ibs., and that
excellent sportsman told me that the largest he had ever seen was a male,
which weighed 30 Ibs. It was found in a hollow willow, in Warwickshire,
and was evidently a patriarch, from its teeth. I hope some day to hear of a
salmon being presented to Mr. Buckland's Museum of Economic Fish
Culture, killed by Mr. H.'s otter."— F. H. SALVIN.

The more thoroughly to convince my reader of the practicability of
utilizing the otter for sport, I add still another extract, which is taken
from " The English Cyclopaedia."

" But it must not be supposed that the common otter is, as it has been
asserted, confined to the fresh waters.

" That the common otter is capable of domestication and attachment we
have ample testimony. Albertus Magnus, Aldrovandus, Gesner, and others
attest this. Every angler will remember the passage in Walton, where good
Mr. Piscator is anxious to possess himself of one of the young otters which
the huntsman, after the death of the ' bitch otter,' had found : — ' Look you,

332 , The Tame Otter. CHAP. xxn.

says the huntsman, ' hereabouts it was she kennelled ; look you, here it was,
indeed, for here's her young ones, no less than five ; come, let's kill them
all.' f No,' exclaims PiscatOr, ' I pray, Sir, save me one, and I'll try if I can
make her tame, as I know an ingenious gentleman in Leicestershire, Mr.
Nich. Seagrave, has done ; who hath not only made her tame, but to catch
fish, and do many other things at pleasure.' Buffon, who could be as hard
of belief in some points as he was credulous in others, disbelieves the otter's
capability of domestication. The testimony above noticed has been con-
firmed by a cloud of modern witnesses. Goldsmith mentions an otter which
went into a gentleman's pond at the word of command, drove the fish up
into a corner, and having seized on the largest, brought it out of the water
to its master. Daniel, Bewik, Shaw record instances of the animal's docility
in this way. Mr. Bell and Mr. Macgillvray both corroborate the fact. The
latter has collected the following anecdotes: — 'Mr. M'Diarmid, in his
amusing " Sketches from Nature," gives an account of several domesticated
otters, one of which, belonging to a poor widow, when led forth plunged
into the Urr, or the neighbouring burns, and brought out all the fish it could
find. Another, kept at Corsbie House, Wigtonshire, evinced a great fond-
ness for gooseberries, fondled about her keeper's feet like a pup or kitten,
and even seemed inclined to salute her cheek, when permitted to carry her
freedoms so far. A third, belonging to Mr. Monteith of Carstairs, was also
very tame, and though he frequently stole away at night to fish by the pale
light of the moon, and associate with his kindred by the riverside, his
master, of course, was too generous to find any fault with this peculiar mode
of spending his evening hours. In the morning he was always at his post
in the kennel, and no animal understood better the secret of keeping his
own side of the house. Indeed, his pugnacity in this respect gave him a
great lift in the favour of the gamekeeper, who talked of his feats wherever
he went, and avowed, besides, that if the best cur that ever ran " only
daured to girn " at his protige, he would soon " mak his teeth meet through
him." To mankind, however, he was much more civil, and allowed himself
to be gently lifted by the tail, though he objected to any interference with
his snout, which is probably with him the seat of honour.' They are

however, dangerous pets, for, if offended, they will bite grievously.

*****

" L. Nair* has the fur deep-chestnut, lightest on the sides ; lower part
of the neck and cheeks, as well as the throat, reddish bright-brown ; above
the eye a ruddy yellow or yellowish-white spot.

" This is the Nir-nayie of the people of Pondicherry, and is probably the
species seen by Bishop Heber, who passed a row of nine or ten large and
very beautiful otters, tethered with straw collars and long strings to bamboo
stakes on the banks of the Matta Colly. ' Some were swimming about at
the full extent of their strings, or laying half in and half out of the water ;

* The common otter of Europe is Lutra vulgaris.

CHAP. xxii. The Tame Otter. m 333

others were rolling themselves in the»sun on the sandy bank, uttering a
shrill whistling noise as if in play. I was told that most of the fishermen in
this neighbourhood kept one or more of these animals, who were almost as
tame as dogs, and of great use in fishing, sometimes driving the shoals into
the nets, sometimes bringing out the larger fish with their teeth.' Another
proof, if any were wanting, of the feasibility of taming these animals and
rendering them useful to man."

Of a different species of otter the writer of this article continues :—

" D'Azara further states that a neighbour of his purchased a young
whelp, which at six months old was 34 inches long. It was permitted to
run loose about the house, and was fed with fish, flesh, bread, mandioca,
and other food, but it preferred fish. It would walk into the street and
return, knew the people of the house, came when called by name, and would
follow them like a dog, but its short legs soon failed it, and it soon grew
weary. It would amuse itself with dogs and cats as well as with their
masters ; but it was a rough play-fellow, and required to be treated
cautiously, for it bit sharply. It never harmed poultry or any other animal
excepting sucking-pigs, which were not safe within its reach, and it would
have killed them if it had not been prevented. It entered all the rooms, and
slept always below the bed, was very very cleanly, and always visited one
particular spot for the deposit of its excrements."

Lastly, I must give the reader an extract from our eminent Indian
Naturalist Jerdon's work on " The Mammals of India," where he treats
of " The common Indian Otter," which he calls Lutra nair : —

" Accepting the synonymy as above,* then, this otter is found throughout
all India, from the extreme South and Ceylon, to the foot of the Himalayas,
and from the Indus to Burmah and Malayana, frequenting alike rivers and

* Fam. Mustelidce, Weasels and Martens. Lutra Nair.

F. Cuvier — L. chinensis and L. india ; Gray — L. tarayensis ; Hodgson — Elliot,
Cat 15. Blyth, Cat 214. Pani-kuta, H. ; Nir-nai, Can. ; Neeru-kuka, Tel. ;— all
signifying water-dog— Jal Manjer, Mahr., i.e. water-cat. Ud or Hud, Udni
Udbillau, Hindi.

The Common Indian Otter.

" Description. — Above hair brown, or light chestnut-brown, in same grizzled with
hoary tips, in others with a tinge of isabella yellow ; beneath yellowish-white, or
reddish-white ; upper lips, sides of head and neck, chin, and throat, whitish, the
line of separation between the two colours more or less distinctly marked ; in some
the throat tinged with orange-brown ; paws, albescent in some, simply of a lighter
shade in others ; tail, brown beneath. F. Cuvier, in his description, mentions some

334 -The Tame Otter. CHAP. xxn.

salt water inlets, and from the level of the sea to a considerable elevation.
It has its lair under large rocks, among boulders ; and, in alluvial countries,
excavates extensive burrows, generally in some elevated spot close to the
river, with numerous entrances. It is almost always found in parties of five,
six, or more, and, though partly nocturnal in its habits, may often be seen
hunting after the sun is high, and some time before sunset. I have seen a
party out in the sea, on the Malabar coast, probably making their way from
one backwater to another, but as they are very numerous on this coast, they
may now and then hunt in the sea. This otter is trained in some parts of
Bengal to assist in fishing, by driving the fish into the nets. Young ones
are not unusually caught in the fishermen's nets, and are very easily tamed.
I had one brought me when very young, whilst at Tellicherry, on the
Marabar Coast, which I brought up with a terrier dog, with whom it became
very friendly. This otter would follow me in my walks like a dog, and
amuse itself by a few gambols in the water when it had the opportunity, and
now and then caught frogs and small fish. As it grew older it took to
going about by itself, and one day found its way to the bazaar, and seized a
large fish from a Moplah. When resisted, it showed such fight that the
rightful owner was fain to drop it. Afterwards it took regularly to this
highway style of living, and I had on several occasions to pay for my pet's
dinner rather more than was necessary, so I resolved to get rid of it. I put
it in a closed box, and having kept it without food for some time, I conveyed
it myself in a boat some seven or eight miles off, up some of the numerous
backwaters on this coast. I then liberated it, and when it had wandered
out of sight among some inundated paddy-fields, I returned by boat by a
different route. That same evening, about 9 P.M., whilst in the town, about
one and a half miles from my own house, witnessing some of the ceremonials
connected with the Mohurrum festival, the otter entered the temporary shed,
walked across the floor, and came and lay down at my feet ! "

The peculiar formation of the otter's tail is not without interest. It
is not round like that of a dog, cat, or rat, but flattened, and specially

pale facial spots, but these are indistinct, though there is sometimes a faint pale
eyebrow.

" Total length up to 46 inches, of which the tail is 17, and 3 inches wide at the
base.

"I have followed Blyth in joining L. Nair and L. Indica, though at one time I
was strongly inclined to believe them distinct. My impression was that the common
otter of most of the rivers of Southern India, at all events, was distinct from the
generally larger, and more robust otter found in such numbers along the Malabar
coast, and in Lower Bengal ; and that the latter, besides being larger, had the fur
more reddish or yellowish brown, and with the two colours much more distinctly
divided; in fact, more resembling Lutra vulgaris ; but in the absence of authentic,
specimens, I can only draw the attention of observers for future verification."

CHAP. xxii. Some of His Habits. 335

at the base, where it is 3 inches broad. It is flattened horizontally, too,
as in the Cetaceans (whales and porpoises, etc.), and not perpendicularly
as in true fish. Were it meant only for a propeller in swimming, it
would have been most useful had it been put on like a true fish's, but
the advantage of having it flattened horizontally is that the otter, like
the whale and the porpoise, is thereby enabled to come rapidly to the
surface for air. Ordinarily it is used like the whale's tail or " flukes " to
bring it to the surface head foremost, but from Captain Salvin's letter
above quoted, it would seem that when the head of an otter is forcibly
kept down by a struggling fish, the tail of the otter is still a power to
bring the otter to the surface tail foremost, and it is readily intelligible
that when holding on to a fleeing fish, the otter can put on a very heavy
drag by simply curving its tail. On the few occasions which I have as
yet had of being near a swimming otter, since I wished to observe it
with this view, I have never seen it use its tail in swimming ; the tail
trailed idly behind, while the otter swam with its feet only. I can
understand the horizontal compression of the tail being very useful and
necessary to the animal in diving, as well as in rapidly coming to the
surface. In a long-continued dive, when giving chase to a fish, how
could the otter regulate the depth of -its dive sufficiently rapidly, without
its horizontally flattened tail.

The otter always comes to the shore or a rock to eat its prey, or to
shallow water in which it can stand, and sits up and looks about it like
a dog, and, when eating, holds the fish down with its sharply-clawed
feet just as a dog holds a bone on land, and growls over it in somewhat
the same fashion ; but when standing in shallow water it holds the fish
up in air between its two fore-paws, and every wild otter that I have
noticed always commenced eating the fish by the tail, like a wise general
cutting off the retreat. When wishing to travel with its capture, how-
ever, it always retakes it in its mouth, so as to have the use of the fore
paws for swimming. When lapping milk, however, it is much more like
a dainty cat, and it spits much like a cat. How neatly it picks up or
catches a fleeing frog ! Active minded though it be, and taking quick
and long leaps, and more slippery than any cricket ball, the frog is
fielded in the best style of " Lord's " and is " well held " too, and no
mistake. And then what a quantity of them an otter eats. My babes,
which have grown while this chapter has been with the printer, require
a regular commissariat of frogs, and my major-domo complains that

336 The Tame Otter. CHAP. xxn.

frogs are more expensive than sardines ! ! But then veracity compels
me to admit that the price of fresh sardines is here from 300 to 600 for
an anna, say Anglice from 200 to 400 for a penny. For the present I
confine my little otters to frogs, as the only meat diet besides their
" cunjee " or pap ; for I lost an otter by letting them take too early to fish.
When they are old enough to cost me no more anxiety in re diet, I
must try to find out by experiment whether they prefer fishes or frogs,
and how much of each they voluntarily eat. It is beyond a doubt that
otters are useful, in destroying frogs, which are again great eaters of fry
certainly, and I think of spawn too ; but the question is whether the
good they do in this way preponderates over the havoc they commit on
fish. The weight of general opinion is against the otter ; but what of
that, who has not been misjudged? He has a staunch friend above
quoted, and he is certainly entitled to an impartial trial.

I have been asked to say what became of my otters. They grew,
and their numbers were added to, and they had a dog-boy all to
themselves, and went out walking with him, answering to his call and
following him, and playing round him, the admiration and amusement
of many, as they went out for their daily walks. But I could not give
them as much personal attention as an experiment of this sort requires,
and I had to be away on circuit for months at a time, and coming back,
found my personal intervention resented, and the dog-boy's authority
lapsing. In an evil moment I added to their number an otter puppy
that had been weaned by its own mother, and had thus seen a little too
much of the world. This one went about with a collar and chain
trailing to prevent its escape. But it taught my little innocents bad
ways, till, having established the leadership of age, it one day gave a
shrill whistle, which was a call to the others to follow, and dashed into
a well. All followed, and all were entangled in the chain, and all were
drowned together. It would have been better if I had tried a single
otter, with only dog companions to help in its education ; and it is
useless to attempt such a task by native proxy as I did ; you must be
able to give much personal attention, and to bring up the animal almost
entirely in your own company, and have him much alone with you.
Numbers are against you.

CHAPTER XXIII.
SPAWNING.

" I marvel how the fish live in the sea.

Why, as men do a-land ; the great ones eat up the little ones."

PERICLES.

A FEW general words will suffice to show how much room there is for
interesting inquiry in connection with the reproduction of fishes, and
to what good use information on the subject can and has been turned.
Most readers will be aware that in the case of salmon and trout the
female produces eggs without any connection with the male, and when
they are ripe within her, scoops out a hollow in the gravel to receive
them, and as she exudes them the male or cock salmon, who waits
upon her, ejects over them a milk-like fluid called milt, which fertilizes
them, and in which the spermatozoa can be detected by the microscope.
The ova of trout are covered with an adhesive matter which makes
them keep more or less together, and therefore more within the influence
of the milt, than if they were separated, and which makes them adhere
to stones, so that they are not in danger of being washed down, even
by a strong stream, and do not need to be covered as was formerly
thought. Again the spermatozoa are observed under the microscope
to radiate in the most regular order, so that nothing escapes them.
This manner of breeding makes it comparatively easy for man to
capture male and female fish, express the ova of the latter when ripe
into a bucket of water by very gentle pressure of the stomach, and
then similarly cause the male to emit milt, and stirring the two up
together, to fertilize the eggs, and hatch and rear them under protection.
It has been calculated that, when exposed to the ordinary vicissitudes
of nature, only one in a thousand salmon ova ever becomes a fish fit
for the table ; whereas man has learnt by artificial means to bring about
three quarters to maturity.

THE ROD IN INDIA. Z

338 Spawning. CHAP. xxm.

The Mahseer and many other fish breed in the same way, with this
difference, that the Mahseer appears, as already shown (p. 42), to lay
its eggs not all at one time, but in several batches. The Mahseer might,
therefore, be artificially multiplied in the same way as the salmon and
the trout.

In India, however, we have another means of culture in the rice-
fields, which are filled at times with the fry of all sorts of fish, the
Mahseer, amongst others. As it is the instinct of some mature fish to
ascend the rivers for the purpose of spawning in small waters calculated
to.suit the puny strength of their tiny fry, and by their shallowness to
afford them protection from predatory fish, so is it the instinct of their
fry to descend, as they grow, to deeper, wider waters. In India, more-
over, they are compelled to do this by the decreasing in the hot weather
of the rivers. Down the river these fry dawdle, therefore, feeding as
they go. But as the rivers are frequently dammed up and turned off
for irrigation purposes, they naturally go with the stream down the
irrigation channel, and consequently find themselves in a rice-field.
In the shallow water of the rice-field, and under the shadow of the
growing rice, they would do very well, were it not that death awaits
them at every turn, in basket traps placed at every drop from rice-field
to rice-field, into which they fall by still following their natural instinct
of descending the stream. It is hoped the day is coming when these
rice-fields will, some of them, be utilized for the preservation, instead of
the destruction of fry, and others have their connection with the river
guarded with gratings. Some further remarks on the subject will be
found in " Tank Angling in India."

While some fish, like the Salmon, the Trout, and the Mahseer, lay
^their eggs in hollows worked out in the gravel, others lay them in the
sand, where it is pretty to see the tiny fry still nestled together after
birth, so closely that they look like one black spot, in a hollow like an
inverted cone of one or two inches in diameter, with their umbilical
sacs still unabsorbed. Other fish, again, like the perch; lay their eggs
in long strings like beads, and adhering by a glutinous matter to bushes.
The stickleback builds a nest among the reeds and keeps fierce guard
over it. It is the male stickleback that builds the nest, and that
unaided by the female, for in due conformity to the rules of modern
society he makes no matrimonial overtures till he has provided for the
becoming maintenance of a wife, and no girl stickleback with any

CHAP. xxin. Three Husbands. 339

self-respect would think of accepting him without a furnished house.
The murral takes up its quarters in a hollow in the bank, and protects
its young by keeping them in a crowd, and swimming under them till
about two inches long, when, like other predatory animals, it kills them
if they do not separate. Some sharks bring forth young alive, some
deposit them in a purse with tendrils for attachment to seaweeds, and
their young flee for refuge into their mouths. Certain cat-fish, Arms,
I have observed, hatch their ova in their mouths, and keep them there
even after being hatched. Dr. Day and I examined over 500 of these
fish in company on one occasion, besides the observations we had each
made at other times separately. The conclusions we came to were
that the female seemingly holds the eggs as she extrudes them in her
two large cup-like ventral fins, where apparently they are fecundated,
and whence they are taken by the male, who thenceforward keeps them
in his mouth, never eating till they are hatched. The eggs sink in
water, and are about half ('5 and '6) an inch in diameter, consequently
the males were found on an average to carry not more than 16 ova
each ; and the female laying about 50, she seemingly occupies three
husbands. Some friends were going over my little museum with me
one day, and a lady, hearing how the bringing up of the children was,
in this case, left unreservedly to the devoted husbands, turned reproach-
fully to her husband, " A very proper arrangement." Thus was the
poor henpecked Arius held up as an example. Some sea-fish spawn
in the open sea, leaving their ova, which float, to be hatched on the
surface, some in the sand, some among the rocks and seaweed.

As a general rule the ova of fresh-water fish sink to the bottom, and
the ova of sea-fish float. It is a wise provision that it is so. The ova
of river-fish require to reach the bottom to prevent their being washed
down by the stream that would otherwise soon carry them to the salt
water and destruction. If the ova of sea-fish similarly sank, they would,
at the bottom of the deep sea, lose the life-giving influences of that heat
and light which they gain by floating on or near the surface.

z 2

CHAPTER XXIV.
STOCKING PONDS.

"But we'll take no care when the weather proves fair;.

Nor will we vex though it rain;
We'll banish all sorrow, and sing till to-morrow,
And angle, and angle again."

IZAAK WALTON.

EXCELLENT fishing might frequently be had in ponds close to one's own
residence, ponds to which you need make no expensive pilgrimage, as
for the mountain-loving Mahseer, ponds to which you might easily resort
any morning or evening that you had an hour or so to spare. Golden
opportunities for creating excellent sport are thrown away through
want of knowledge, so I shall venture a few words on stocking ponds
in India.

First, I will tell you of a little experiment which I made myself.
Close to my house at Vallam, in the Tanjore District, was a rain-fed
pond of some three to five acres of waterspread, as my memory runs.
It ran very dry in the famine, and the opportunity was taken to clear
it out for sanitary purposes. Thus it had been cleared of all predatory
fish, and this was my opportunity. When it refilled with water, I put
in about 2 Ibs. weight of well selected fry of non-predatory fish. Their
intrinsic value was about 2 annas, say, 3^., but, by reason of my living
7 miles from the river, I actually paid 2 rupees, say, 4^., for them. I
threw in a handful of small snails, and I prohibited any sort of fishing
for eighteen months. I soon saw the banks lined with young snails,
and observed that the fish were doing well. At the close of the
eighteen months' rest, I made it known that any one might fish with
rod and line as much as ever they liked for nothing. The banks soon
showed increasing numbers of native anglers. When they had got
well accustomed to it, and were thoroughly happy about their takes, I

CHAP. xxiv. My Experiment. 341

said, one day, " You get all this good fishing for nothing, because the
watchman prevents netting." (He was the municipal watchman whose
business it was to see that the drinking water was not befouled or
stolen, and nothing extra had to be paid him on account of the fish.)
" Will it be a great thing for you all to give him one fish in ten of what
you take, so as to keep alive his interest in being your protector ? "
" Not at all," they answered with willingness ; and so it was arranged
that the watchman was to take tithes, and henceforward I called him
the " Rector " in my notes. I gave him a few days to fall into grooves,
and then I told him to keep an account of what he got daily. He did
so, but he complained that the anglers stood very rigidly to their one
in ten, never giving him one in nine or two in nineteen, and never
giving him a good-sized fish when they got one, but always the smaller
ones. I thought this was better than encouraging him to be grasping,
so joined with him in deploring the depravity of mankind, but did not
interpose in his behalf. The result, you will see, was that his tithe
was very much less than a real tenth, was probably much nearer one-
sixteenth or one-eighteenth of the real weight of fish caught. This
was more satisfactory for my calculations than over-estimating. He
kept this account for a month in an average sporting period. I fre-
quently weighed his tithes to arrive at a fair average of the weight
corresponding to his numbers, and here, again, I erred on the side
opposite to exaggeration. I found that anglers were taking fish out of
that one pond at a rate which amounted to 4000 Ibs. weight of fish a
year. As time went on, anglers rather grew in numbers than other-
wise, and some of them took to it, not as a pastime, but as a profession,
selling their takes ; and as the fish grew bigger, they started country-
made reels and running line, as I taught them, and always met me
with a pleased look as I strolled round to ask what sport, and look
at their bags j and after more than a year had passed, they declared
that not only had all the fishing made no impression on the fish, but
the total takes were continuing to increase. As there was no netting,
only angling, I let them fish all the year round without any close time.

Among the fry that I put in were some Labeos. The natives were
very positive that they never bred in ponds, but needed running water.
I thought they might be induced to try breeding in a pond when they
found it impossible to get to a river, and the event proved I was right.
After a time, Labeo fry were caught very much smaller and more

342 Stocking Ponds. CHAP. xxiv.

numerous than I had put in. When these fish began to grow in size
and multiply, the total weight of the takes increased very much, and
this did not take place within the eighteen months, when I took my
fish census.

From the above little story I think I may fairly be allowed to say
that my 2 Ibs. weight of fry yielded, after 18 months, 4000 Ibs. weight
a year, and in suosequent years yielded at a much greater rate.

This was the result of careful selection of species, species that
would not prey on each other, and that would more or less feed
differently. The native fishermen brought me pots full of fry, the
majority of them dead as usual, and, pouring them out on the ground,
I cast the predaceous ones on one side, and saw them killed, and the
desirable sorts I selected with my own hand, and put them into the
pond myself. Some people, in stocking a pond, put in any fish the
natives recommend for size and flavour. Foremost among their
recommendations are the Murral and the Freshwater Shark. As well
might you expect to raise a flock of sheep successfully by turning
wolves and wild dogs into your fold along with your lambs.

The first thing to be done in stocking a pond is to be sure you
have no predatory fish in it. It is very hard to be sure of this, while
there is a drop of water there. The Murral also is one of those fish
that can live in the mud of a sun-dried reservoir. It is best, therefore,
to dry your pond, and clean it out, using the silt for manure, for good
manure it is, and raising a crop in the bed of the reservoir. This
cultivation of the bed of the pond should not only consummate the
destruction of any fish fry or ova left in the mud, but leave the bottom
more full of insect life to form good feeding for fish when the water
is turned in.

Then water turned in should not be brought by a channel from a
river, or by overflow from another reservoir, so that fry of all sorts of
fish might indiscriminately find their way in. You should be able to
be certain that no fish can get into your pond, but such as you select
and put there. If your source of water-supply is at all doubtful in these
respects, you must be very careful with gratings.

First, throw in a few water snails to make food for your coming
fish ; the small black one, Tamil, Ummachi, is the most common and
the most useful. They will soon multiply astoundingly, and the minute
young snails, smaller than any pin's head, form excellent food for fry,

CHAP. xxiv. The Observant. Turkey. 343

while the full grown ones are taken by the mature fish. If you like to
take the opportunity of breeding some in a glass tank, it is very pretty
to see how they feed. Crumble some biscuit powder very fine between
your fingers, and let it drop quietly on the water, and it will cover the
surface like scum. You will then see how the stationary snail feeds
itself thereon. Remaining quite stationary on the glass, it creates a
current which draws the fine biscuit powder to and past it in a con-
tinuous stream ; and if you watch closely, you will observe that there
is much less biscuit powder in the stream that leaves it than in the
stream that comes to it. I thought to breed snails for my fish, and
put some in a large bathing tub in my garden. They did famously,
till an observant old Turkey cock went his rounds one morning and
ate them. Similia similibus curantur, so I ate him. I should think it
would not be a bad plan if you are preserving fish very closely, so
closely that you want to feed them for the table, as in stews, to have a
separate very small pond in which to breed snails free from being
preyed on when minute, so as to have a constant and large supply of
mature ones wherewith to feed your fish. Snails are excellent scavengers,
and rapidly clarify water.

A few water-weeds will help to clarify your water, will give food
and harbour to both fish and snails, as well as numerous larvae which
make fish food ; and some fish will lay their ova on them. But if your
pond is frequented by bathers, you must be careful what you put in. I
have known a poor fellow drowned by having his legs caught by weeds,
and I had a most narrow escape of it myself, when swimming home
after snipe shooting, in preference to walking a long way round a long
tank. There is a weed which grows from the bottom by a long stem,
about the thickness of your Mahseer running line, with small hairs at
long intervals on each side of the stem. It is very brittle, and easily
breaks away from the swimmer, and it is beloved by the fish, and
snails, and larvae, and easily removable when excessive, and it does
not die down and make the water oifensive at times, as some other
weeds do. In Tamil, it is indifferently called perumpashi, kodipdshi,
and ilaipashi.

In stocking any pond you must be careful to provide against escape
of your fish by the overflow. The first idea that occurs to one is
to bar their way with a grating. But a grating that will prevent
the passage of fry must be very fine indeed, and such a grating

344

Stocking Ponds.

CHAP. XXIV.

on the surface is liable to be very soon choked with the debris
that always floats down with a flood. Let A B be a section of
your bank, and A the point of overflow, A H the outfall. You
will, of course, be guided by circumstances in the amount of height
you allow at A C for overflow, and in diminish-
ing its height and force by lengthening it.
Run out a plank C D E F one foot or more,
continuing E F at least 2 feet and more if
possible below the surface of the water, at the
K lowest level of the outfall. At F G have a fine
wire grating. Then any debris floating down
towards the overflow must necessarily come

against the plank at the surface of the water at E, and the grating
F G is left clear and unchoked for the flow of water, and F G being
well below the surface, the draught of water is not enough to over-
come the buoyancy of the debris, and draw it down so far. Similarly
the instinct of fish is to escape by the surface, never by the
unnatural course of the arrow, and if any stray curious one should
accidentally find the unusual outlet, which he will not if it is deep
enough, you have a fine wire grating F G. If the pond be a
small one, and the overflow slight, A G B, instead of representing the
bank, may be a pipe let through the bank as a syphon, and lead any-
where into the pond, and surrounded by a box, K I D F, as shown in
dotted line. If the overflow be considerable, the strength of it may
be minimized by extending its breadth, and C D E F may be formed
of masonry, and at any slope, and turfed over for appearance sake.
But the cheapest way is to make it of a plank nailed to posts. If in
floods the highest flood over A is a foot deep, it follows that the space
A C must be fully that with a good safe margin to spare, and the space
between F and the bottom must be not less.

This much of my last edition I will allow to stand here, because it
is not repeated in " Tank Angling," and for the rest I would refer my
reader to that volume, to which the subject more properly belongs,
and in which I daresay it may some day be still further elaborated.

CHAPTER XXV.
MISCELLANEOUS.

"HAMLET. — A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king;

and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm.
KING. — What do'st thou mean by this?

HAMLET. — Nothing but to show you how a king may go a progress
through the guts of a beggar."

SHAKESPEARE.

DID you ever watch avadavats going to bed ? It is a provoking sight,
because they take such a long time tucking themselves in. Yes, they
tuck themselves in, it is a fact ; and they do it in a very provoking
way, provoking to their neighbours as well as to spectators. They all
perch huddled together in a row, and seem to be arranging it com-
fortably enough for all parties when just as

"Tired nature's sweet restorer 'balmy sleep/

* * his ready visit pays,

Where fortune smiles,"

the unfortunate avadavat at the outside awakes to a sense of his
weather side, which is exposed, being colder than his lee side, which is
against his neighbour's ribs, and suddenly jumping up runs along the
backs of his sleeping neighbours, and wriggles himself in, in the middle.
This half wakes and annoys every one, and they all look cross about,
but shortly get over it, and are just comfortably off to sleep again,
when avadavat No. 2 at each end discovers that the absence of an
outside neighbour, and consequent exposure to the elements, have
similarly seduced his weather side of its caloric, and convinced him
that avadavat No. i was not such a fool as he looked after all, so he
too jumps up impulsively, scuttles along the backs of his fellows, and

346 Miscellaneous. CHAP. xxv.

tucks himself in, in the middle. And so the tucking-in process goes on
as one outsider after another cools down, and wants a warm place in
the middle of the row, till it is too provoking to look at any longer.
Fancy fellows with long claws running over your head all night long at
intervals of a quarter of an hour, and your being blandly asked the
next morning if you " had passed a pleasant night ! " It would be too
exasperating. But that is just what these avadavats do every night of
their lives. And that is just what several of my ideas want to do, they
keep on wanting to tuck themselves in, in the wrong places. But I
cannot stand that, so these avadavatish ideas are allotted a perch to
themselves, whereon to jostle, and wriggle, and tuck themselves in
higgledy-piggledy, just as they like. Between ourselves, I verily
believe that, even after they have been arranged for the night by the
printer, they will fidget about and change their places. I therefore
disclaim all responsibility for their order.

Crocodiles are very shy, and not to be caught, except by night line.
A simple way of setting this is to get a bamboo of full thickness, and
10 or 12 feet in length. To one end of it tie a hook with only a foot
of line between hook and bamboo. I used three large sea hooks tied
together like a treble hook. The line should not be a single cord,
which the crocodile can bite in two, but fifteen or twenty pieces of
common twine tied together at the ends, but not twisted at all. These
will get between his teeth, and escape being bitten, and their united
strength will hold him fast enough. Bait the hook, which must be a
large and very strong one, with a bull frog, or a fowl's entrails, or a
couple of crows, or any meat, and push the whole out into the lake,
pool, or fort moat in which the crocodiles are, and leave it for the
night. If there is a slight current, it is easy enough to attach a stone,
by way of anchor, by a long string to the other end of the bamboo, and
to drop it in. The line between the bamboo and the hook being so
short, the bait is kept near the surface, and is not liable to be concealed
amongst weeds, etc., at the bottom ; when the crocodile takes the bait
and turns down with it, the shortness of the line, and the ready
opposition of the floating bamboo, quickly strikes the hook into him,
and the more he tries to get down the more stoutly the bamboo resists
him, for it is full of air from end to end, and is a very powerful buoy.
As long as he keeps to the water the bamboo plays him well, and if he
tries the land he will soon be brought up with a round turn by the

CHAP. xxv. Crocodiles and Alligators. 347

bamboo getting hitched amongst bushes. As far as my experience
goes they always take to the land eventually.

I have been told that good fun can be had out of the crocodile by
baiting as above in the daytime, and setting a man to watch from
a distance in concealment. The man must be very still, and well
concealed, and at a distance, or not a crocodile will be hooked, for
they are very wary. Directly one is hooked he gives the information.
Then into small boats quick, one man in each prow with a hog spear,
start fair, and "ride" or "off" for first spear. As he sees the boats
coming, down goes the crocodile, and up stands the bamboo, more
and more upright the deeper he goes, so that the more he tries to
avoid you, the more conspicuous becomes his course. Follow him up,
for if the bamboo is a big one, as it should be, it will be so strongly
buoyant that he must come to the top soon. There, now, the bamboo
is beginning to slope, showing that he is coming to the surface. Now
is your time for a spear. But look out for his tail — it is very powerful.
If he upsets you, he has big brothers about, and they may reverse the
sport.

What is the difference between a crocodile and an alligator ?
Sir J. Emerson Tennent, in his interesting sketches of the Natural
History of Ceylon, makes it clear enough : —

" The Portuguese in India, like the Spaniards in South America, affixed
their name of lagarto to the huge reptiles that infested the rivers and
estuaries of both continents ; and to the present day the Europeans in
Ceylon apply the term alligator to what are in reality crocodiles, which
literally swarm in the still waters and tanks in the low country, but rarely
frequent rapid streams, and have never been found in the marshes among
the hills. The differences, however, between the two, when once ascer-
tained, are sufficiently marked, to prevent their being afterwards confounded.
The head of the alligator is broader, and the snout less prolonged, and
the canine teeth of the under jaw, instead of being received into foramina
in the upper, as in the crocodile, fit into furrows on each side of it. The
legs of the alligator, too, are not denticulated, and the feet are only
semipalmate."

The Gangetic Garial has a lengthened beak which marks him
unmistakably. I have adopted the modern spelling of the ' Royal
Natural History.'

" Probably owing to a clerical error on the part of its first describer
the slender-snouted crocodile known in India by the vernacular name

34^ Miscellaneous. CHAP. xxv.

of garial, is almost always spoken of in Europe as the gavial, while its
misspelt name has even been latinized into Gavialis."

Do not deem crocodiles to be unmitigated evils. They have
redeeming points like the rest of us. I have found in the stomach of
one, beetles which eat spawn, tortoises which eat fry, otters which eat
fish, besides fish which it had taken itself. Doubtless their chief use is
to keep down the larger predatory fish till man comes in and dispenses
with their services.

Have you ever had a porpoise in a boat or net ? He is like a bull
in a 'china shop, is difficult to kill, and will stand a good deal of
cudgelling. The natives have a very simple way of disposing of him..
They just plug up the blow-hole with a lump of clay, and he is soon
suffocated.

I once had a young whale on shore. What brought her ashore,
whether mistake, or fright of enemies, I know not. She was in full
health and vigour. We got hold of every rope and every man we
could muster, and tried to pull her further up, but we might as well
have pulled at Regent Street. Ropes broke like pack-thread, and the
tail, pardon me, the flukes, kept banging on the rising tide, and making
reports like a pistol. Men produced knives and made great incisions
in the poor thing's sides, so that the whole arm passed in after the knife
right up to the shoulder. Every wave that came up went back dyed
with blood. But to no purpose, the tide was gaining on us faster than
the whale would die. It was clear she would soon have water enough
to float her, and then she would laugh us all to scorn. The above-
mentioned way of killing porpoises occurred to me. Sea-sand was the
only thing available. I took up handful after handful, and reached up
and poured them into the blow-hole faster than she could blow them out.
The effect was very rapid, and the approaching tide, instead of helping
her, helped us to get her huge carcase higher up the shelving shore,
and secure.

Have you ever been in a boat that leaks in the bows, or in any
particular spot, and noticed the ready means by which the native
boatmen confine the leak to its own locality, and thereby keep the
rest of the boat dry, till such time as they can conveniently get it
caulked. Just fore and aft of the leak they run up a little wall of
dabbled clay as high as the water-mark. The consequence is that the
leak cannot spread. If you want a well for live bait it is easy to apply

CHAP. xxv. Miscellaneous. 349

this cheap and ready plan. Bore in the bottom of the boat a hole or
two of a size that you can easily plug with a cork at other times : and
fore and aft of this leak run up your mud walls, making your well just
as large or as small as -you like.

But if you wane to keep bait alive at your house for any time, and
have not a running stream, you must oxygenate the water by growing
water-lilies in it ; by having a fountain playing in it, which is very easily
arranged ; by blowing into it with a bellows from time to time ; or
even by taking up some of the water in a tumbler, and pouring it in
again from a height.

If you turn a fish belly upwards, he loses his power in the water.
It is like putting salt on a bird's tail, but natives can do it.

Has it never surprised the angler that he seldom catches a fish with
a single scale wanting in its whole coat, though those scales come off
all too readily in his hands. It is because scales are renewed like
feathers ; and it is believed that a salmon exfoliates its whole coat of
scales every year, in the same way as a bird moults, and that this is the
reason why a foul salmon looks so dull and dirty with its skin minus
scales ; while a clean run salmon is resplendent with a brand new set of
silvery scales.

Fish have a marked line, somewhat like a pencil mark, on each side.
This is called the lateral line, and its position and course is very
carefully noted by naturalists. It is formed by minute perforations in
each scale ; and it is supposed by some that its use is to allow of the
exuding of the slime, or mucous matter, with which a fish's scales are
covered ; by others for allowing the escape of a fluid which lubricates
the skin beneath ; by others to be organs of sense, connected with nerves,
and sensitive of forms of vibration, and hearing depends on vibrations.

It is not commonly known that sea-fish can be acclimatized to fresh
water, but it has been done again and again. The salmon is an
instance of a sea-fish taking kindly to fresh water of its own accord.
The Sable or Hilsa (Clupea ilisaJi) is another, and instances might be
multiplied. But besides those fish that by nature resort at times to
fresh water, those also that never go of their own accord into fresh
water, have been acclimatized to it.

Fish, like the tench, which are bred in muddy water are improved
for the table by being kept a few days in stone troughs, in bright
spring water.

35° Miscellaneous. CHAP. xxv.

" Like a fish out of water " is a common saying, the drift of which
needs no expounding. I venture to question its accuracy in its full
acceptation. I venture to think a fish out of \vater is not quite so
much abroad but that it has still a sense of where the water is, and that
it makes as good efforts to regain it as a man that cannot swim does to
gain the shore ; makes as good efforts, in short, as could be made by
an animal of its formation. Crocodiles travel long distances to water.
Eels, too, are well known to cross meadows in the night, and not to
fail to find their way back to the water. The climbing perch (Anabas
scandens) intelligently retraces its way to its own element.

Why should not all fish have a sense of knowing, by smell or other-
wise, where the water is, and making their best endeavour to regain it ?
It is true they are generally aided in their efforts by the shore ordinarily
shelving down to the water, and it is thence concluded an accident
that their jumping about resulted in bringing them nearer to their own
element. But the shore does not always so shelve, and yet the same
result has taken place so often with me, that I could not help observing
it. When considered without prejudice, it is more natural that the fish
should have this sense than that it should not. Savages and other
animals seem to have an intuitive knowledge of the points of the
compass to aid them in selecting their direction. Why should not fish
have' a similar power adapted to their needs ?

I do not believe that a fish suffers more pain from being caught by
a hook than from being caught by a net. We all know the well-worn
story of the angler, who, hooking a perch foul by the eye, so that the
eye came out and he lost the fish, would not be troubled to rebait his
hook, as the fish were taking so fast, but cast it in just as it was, with
the eye on the hook, and immediately caught the owner of the eye on
that very hook. That perch cannot have suffered much ophthalmically,
his appetite must have been his chief trouble. I have myself seen a
shark hauled half out of water, when his weight was such that the chain
attached to the hook broke ; within a very few minutes, however, he
was again following the ship, and in the clear ocean water we could see
the chain hanging out of his mouth. A new hook was rigged, and on
his being hooked and pulled partially out of water, a sailor swarmed
down the rope, and slipped a noose over him, because of his great size.
We soon had him on deck, and recovered the old hook and chain.
That shark cannot have suffered much pain, even from the hauling of

CHAP. xxv. Does Angling Inflict Pain? 351

several sailors. How do you account then, you will ask, for a fish
dashing away directly it feels it is hooked. I say it is not from pain,
but from fright at the sense of restraint. If it were from pain it would
give in sooner. Fish are equally frightened at the same feeling of
restraint in a net, and struggle hard to break through the meshes.
They will do the same from your hand. Fish were created for capture
and food, and I do not suppose that it is as unpleasant to be caught
with a hook as to be masticated by a Freshwater Shark. We have no
records of the sensations undergone in being masticated, whereas we
do know that drowning and hanging, forms of suffocation, are rather
pleasant than otherwise ; so those say who have tried, and I suppose
you would rather take their word for it than try yourself. There is
a vision of green fields. True, they didn't complete the experience,
but they liked it well enough "as far as they'd got" as Brigham Young
said of matrimony. And fish are killed by suffocation. They begin
by being out of breath as mentioned above, those which' are hooked
in the mouth more so than those that are hooked foul, because you
interfere more or less with their respiration. It is said, too, that a fish
is drowned by water entering through the gills. When out of water
they are still more suffocated unless, as some do, you kill them with a
blow.

Mr. Henderson, in his " My Life as an Angler," writes that he had
just lost a fish with more than half the casting line, and immediately
after caught a 9 Ib. salmon in the same lie : —

" What was our surprise," he adds, " to see hanging from its mouth the
lost line with a long array of heavy shot attached to it. On examination we
found that the first set of hooks was planted far down in the stomach ; and
yet, though the long heavily-weighted line was hanging in a strong stream,
and therefore tugging at that most sensitive organ, our salmon's appetite
was equal to a second breakfast. Surely this bears out the comfortable
theory that fish have little feeling."

In "The Moor and the Loch," by John Colquhoun, London,
John Murray, Albemarle Street, there is the following further testimony
to the same effect : —

" Having tied a cast rather hurriedly in the morning, I hooked a good
fish upon my bob . . . when the single knot slipped. Two days after, when
fishing the same place, I again hooked and killed a fine trout, upwards of a
pound weight, and to my astonishment my own handiwork, with two inches

35 2 Miscellaneous. CHAP. xxv.

of gut, was sticking in his lip. One of the fraternity, sedulously employed
on the opposite bank, remarked, that * it must have been an honest trout,
for it was not for want of temptation that he kept the hook for the right
owner.' . . . The insensibility to pain, which an angler can scarcely fail to
notice in these cold-blooded creatures, is a point which happily redeems
from cruelty the necessary inflictions of his craft. I recollect catching three
fine trout one evening when trolling on Loch Lomond with a friend, and we
discovered hanging out of the mouth of one of them a strong hair line. On
opening the fish we found a large bait-hook fixed firmly in his stomach, the
wicker and part of the hook being nearly digested. The creature had
evidently been caught and broke away from a set line, and though hooked
in so vital a part, not only took our bait greedily, made a most capital fight
for a quarter of an hour, but was in the very finest condition, having fattened
on his hard fare instead of wasting from torture."

In connection with the power of language, vocal or non-vocal, in
fishes (pages 77 and 83) I omitted to mention that I have had trout
emit distinctly audible sounds in my hand, perhaps mechanically pro-
duced by the unavoidable pressure of the hand, but seemingly not so.
I grant that it is very rare to hear a trout make a noise with its mouth,
but that is no argument, for it is equally rare, if not more so, to hear a
fox utter a sound when run into ; only once out of hundreds of kills
have I heard a Deccan fox cry when picked by the silent greyhounds.
With Barbus Carnaticus it is rather the rule than the exception to make
a noise when caught, and they do it when in the bottom of the boat as
well as when in the hand, so that it is clearly voluntary. The fact that
sound is uttered at all, if, as it seems, it was voluntarily not mechanically
produced, is a strong argument for the general power of utterance, and
that, again, is an argument for the concomitant power of hearing, which
some have denied. Though, without an external orifice, the ear is
internally traceable in fishes.

Do fish sleep ? If you can solve the enigma you will be clever.
It is a question worthy of a competitive examiner of most malignant
type. Thus I wrote in the last edition. But the same question having
been recently thrown out in Land and Water I have endeavoured to
reply to it as hereunder quoted, with the kind permission of the editor.

" SIR, — Your correspondent ' Laird ' has propounded to us the conun-
drum, ' Do fish sleep ? ' remarking that ' the question affects not only the
salmon tribe, but also all kinds of fish,' and asking for 'experiences.'
Apparently he has had some experiences himself, but hesitates to give them.
And well he may, for if any one were to say that he had seen a salmon, or

CHAP. xxv. Do Fish Sleep ? 353

any number of salmon, asleep — aye, fast asleep — the first obvious question
would be, ' How do you know they were asleep ? ' We must first be agreed,
then, as to what sleep is, and what are the indications of sleep that may be
accepted in settlement of the question. The ordinary sign of being asleep
in a mammal is closing the eyelid, but this indication of sleep you cannot
expect to see in a salmon, simply because it has no eyelid, and the absence
of any eyelid or nictitating membrane would seem to argue further that the
salmon had no need for it, and consequently no need for sleep, which is
ordinarily accompanied in mammals by a closing of the eyes, so as to shut
out the light and free the brain from its exciting influence. Still it does not
seem safe to conclude that because a salmon is not formed so as to sleep
under the same conditions as a mammal, therefore it cannot sleep at all,
and though the primd facie probabilities may be strongly against a salmon
sleeping, as we ordinarily think of sleep, yet they are hardly conclusive, and
there are other considerations which may, in their turn, make us lean to the
opposite view.

" The prior question seems to be, what is sleep ? and it may help us if
we go back to it. Sleep is common to mammals and birds, and, as far as
we can judge from its relations to them, it would seem to be a cessation,
more or less complete, of the voluntary energies of the body, and especially
of the brain, for the purpose of staying waste or allowing of recuperation —
and to recur periodically. But the duration, the completeness, the periodi-
city, the purpose, all vary so widely in different species, individuals, and
ages that we have been able to observe, that we are led to. the unavoidable
conclusion that in all probability there are still as many varieties of sleep
in the regions beyond our observation as there are within it. For instance,
among human beings the sleep of an infant is much heavier and longer than
that of a healthy mature man, the new-born infant sleeping almost con-
tinuously, the man for six or eight hours in the twenty-four. In the infant
the duration of sleep required would seem to be in some measure connected
with growth. Then consider the widely-differing quantities of sleep taken
by the same individual bird in summer and winter. Here the duration of
sleep would seem to be connected with the presence or absence of the means
of procuring food for the recuperation of the system in place of sleep, and
also with the exciting powers of light. But light is by no means a constant
factor, many birds and mammals being more active by night than by day.
Digestion seems to be another purpose, if we notice how young chickens
always nestle under the hen directly they have had a full satisfying meal,
and carnivora sleep off a gorge, and some humans find a post-prandial nap
irresistible. Heat and cold are again other factors ; witness the sleeps of
aestivation and hybernation, observable, the former in the crocodile and the
fish that live for months in a torpid state under the sun-dried clay of an
eastern clime, the latter in the bear, the hedgehog, the dormouse, etc. How
different again are the degrees of suspension of energy. In the sleeps of
aestivation and hybernation it approaches very closely to a complete loss of

THE ROD IN INDIA. 2 A

354 Miscellaneous. CHAP. xxv.

animation, while in animals such as the hare and the weasel its lightness
has passed into proverbs. But passing from the sleep of birds and mammals
we find that many insects have periods of torpid seclusion connected with
the varying requirements of their conditions of life ; and even plants sleep,
closing their petals at night, erecting and folding together their leaves, the
sensitive plant losing its sensitiveness, and plants, generally, exhaling at
night a different gas from what they exhale by day.

" If, then, sleep obtains in such endless variety of degree and purpose in
such a multitude of forms of animal and plant life within our knowledge,
does it not raise the presumption that it may well obtain also, in many more
ways not yet within our knowledge ; is not the\ presumption rather in
favour of sleep in some manner being a general rule rather than an excep-
tion? And in the case of fish we have the still further presumption in
favour of their having the power of sleeping, by the known fact, instanced
above, of some of them sleeping the sleep of aestivation. As to hybernation,
also, we know that the ova of the salmonidae are ordinarily influenced by it
every year in nature, and can, by its aid, be kept in a state of suspended
animation for lengthened periods, at the will of man, when under transport
to the Antipodes. We have also read of fish frozen as stiff as sticks reviving
under warmth, but I do not know how much reliance may be placed on the
accuracy of such statements. On the whole, therefore, there would seem to
be nothing improbable in the idea of fish enjoying times of suspended
energies of the nature of sleep.

" It may be argued per contra that the character of the element in which
fish live precludes sleep, in that they must keep on exercising their muscles
to maintain their position. But even in a stream positions can be, and are,
chosen by fish in which the necessity for movement is reduced to a minimum
— as, for instance, behind a large stone, under a protruding bank, or among
roots. And it is not necessary to sleep that the cessation of muscular
action should be complete, only that it should be reduced so as to give
repose. Birds, for instance, and some horses, sleep standing, and birds
exercise other muscles to keep the head under the wing, and even man con-
tinues to exercise the muscles of his eyelids to close them and keep them
closed, and the muscles of his respiratory and blood-circulating organs, only
in a less degree than when not asleep. It is a matter of degree, varying
with the needs of the system in case.

- " For myself, I incline to the belief that the needs of fish likely to induce
sleep are probably connected with temperature, as indicated above, and
with food, for it is noticeable that fish can endure prolonged fasts, during
which they remain inactive, and that they are per contra endowed with the
most rapid digestions, so as to allow of their recuperating the system in
marvellously brief periods. Their rate of growth is so much more regulated
by food than by anything else that, reasoning from analogy, it is a natural
conclusion that the presence of exceptional powers of digestion and growth,
under exceptional feeding, argue the probability of the converse obtaining

CHAP. XXV.

How Fish Swim.

355

in the need for exceptional rest in the absence of food, and this I should
call sleep.

" In my humble opinion, therefore, fish do sleep. But it is as difficult to
prove as to ' catch a weasel asleep.'

" And now it is my turn to propound a conundrum to ' Laird.' Do fish
yawn? My belief is that I saw one yawn to-day. I have a stream of
ornamental water running through my grounds, and as I stood, motionless,
watching a trout keeping his position, with
scarcely perceptible motion, in a languid part
of the clear stream, now and again rising to a
black gnat,. he opened his mouth very slowly
below the surface, and more widely than for
ordinary respiration ; and it seemed to me
that he was longer in closing it than he ordin-
arily would be when taking food. But I have
never seen the like movement in a fish before,
and it is idle to draw any conclusions from a
single, and perhaps imperfect, observation."

A fish's means of progression has in-
terested me much, and may similarly interest
some of my readers. I, therefore, make
the following extract, and copy the drawing
from the English Cyclopaedia : —

"The whole of the fins are more or less
employed in certain kinds of movements. In
order to ascertain the true use of the fins in
swimming, Borelli, having cut off the ventral
fins of a living fish, put it back again into the
pond. It then rolled from side to side like a
drunken man, and could not keep an upright
position. When the fish move with great
velocity the pectoral fins are laid close to the
body, in order that they may not retard its
motion ; and in rapid motion the tail becomes
the great propelling organ. We shall there-
fore now investigate its mode of action. The first movement of a fish
from a state of rest is produced by a flexion of the tail (as seen in
Fig. at a] ; during this movement the centre of gravity (c) is drawn slightly
backwards. When the tail has arrived at a, it is forcibly extended by its
muscles in the direction a z, perpendicular to its plane ; the force of its
action upon the water in a i is translated to the fish in the direction of i a
causing the centre of gravity (c] to move obliquely forwards, in the direction
c h parallel to i a. The tail having reached the centre line c d. its power

2 A 2

356 Miscellaneous. CHAP. xxv.

of urging the body forwards not only ceases, but during its flexion on the
opposite side in the line a 0, it tends to draw the body backward in the
direction o e. Having reached the point o it is again rapidly extended in
the line o e, causing an impulse on the centre of gravity in c b parallel to
o e. If the two forces c h and c b acted simultaneously we should obtain the
resultant cf\ but as they do not, the point (c) will not move exactly in the
right line c/, but in a curved line which lies evenly between d cf and a line
drawn parallel to it through h. The fish being in motion while the tail
moves from side to side, according to Borelli, it describes an ellipse instead
of a circular arc, which would be the case if the body were stationary and
the tail only moving. The velocity with which fishes move, and the con-
tinuance of their movements, are enough to give us an idea of the great
strength of their muscles, especially when we reflect on the density of the
fluid which is opposed to their speed."

This is doubtless the manner in which the tail is used when the
fish swims rapidly forward in a straight line. When it wishes to turn
abruptly to any side, successive strokes of the tail are made on one
side only, and the body curled round as much as possible, and the
pectoral fin on the inside of the curve is, I think, thrust out, and the one
on the outside of the curve worked. The pectoral fins are certainly
used for turning slowly, but the tail seems to be the great motive power
when turning rapidly, as, for instance, when passing a fleeing fish and
turning round so as to take it in head foremost. Every ray in the
tail, and in any other fin, is under as much separate command as each
toe in a duck's foot, and in drawing up the tail for a blow, the fish
can contract the tail as a duck does its webbed foot, expanding it
again for the blow ; or it can shape and use it like the cross-fanned
screw of a steam vessel. As the ventral fins enable fish to maintain
a horizontal position in the water so does the dorsal fin. I have
noticed a goldfish which had no dorsal fin, and though it had been
hatched thus it could not well command its position in the water,
but rolled slightly. Goldfish are unusually subject to deformity. The
pectoral fins are used to swim slowly backwards. The anal fin also
seems to be used in maintaining the horizontal. It and the dorsal
fin are much prolonged in the murral, which, in accordance with its
bottom-seeking habits, has not so much of the ordinary compressed
shape of a fish, but, being more than ordinarily depressed, seems to
need this additional provision. It is the same with the extensive anal
fin of the bottom-feeding Wallago attu (Freshwater Shark).

CHAP. xxv. Locomotion in Fishes. 357

We may stay pleasurably for a moment to note a peculiarity in the
locomotion of fishes. It is based on principles markedly different
from those which govern the locomotion of birds and beasts. The
flight of birds is in the midst of a highly elastic element, the pro-
gression of beasts on the outside of an inelastic, immobile substance,
the swimming of fishes is conducted in the midst of an inelastic but
easily-displaced element. Again, the locomotion of both birds and
beasts is dependent on the law of gravitation, whereas fish may be
almost said to dispense with it, at any rate relatively to the element
in which they move. It is not so with a bird ; it could not move in
the air if its superior weight therein did not supply it with a fulcrum
whence to apply power, and with the means of utilising in some the
principle of the inclined plane. The fish, however, is suspended in
the midst of an element of very nearly the same weight as itself, so
nearly the same weight that the dilation or contraction of the little
air bladder, which most fishes possess, suffices to make it heavier or
lighter than water, and consequently to fall or rise quickly therein.
To solve the problem of locomotion in such widely different circum-
stances would have sorely puzzled man surely. Even with the secret
laid bare before him, and availed of in steamers, what a very poor
approach has he made to the rapidity of the motion of fish, a pro-
gression so rapid that the eye can scarcely follow the trout that has
darted up stream like a vanishing shadow. What is 16 or 20 odd
knots an hour to 160 or 200? And why should not the latter speed
be attained in vessels by following more closely the fish's method of
swimming, and utilising the unlimited powers of stored electricity.
Surely the " open secret " of the locomotion of birds and fishes may
serve, and be meant to serve, to show us how to utilise like powers,
and, with stored electricity as a motor, we may well vie with them
both in their own elements.

To some this may seem grandly chimerical ; but to them we will
say that stranger things have happened ; such, for instance, as this
little book coming to a second and third edition ! With such extended
means of communication the widely scattered and divided Empire
of Britain could be consolidated into far the most powerful nation in
the world. But I beg pardon that a follower of " the contemplative
man's recreation" should have dared to be contemplative. Those
fishes set me on.

35 8 Miscellaneous. CHAP. xxv.

Kingfishers do not eat fish and fry only. I have seen them doing
good work in killing tadpoles, and when the rivers are discoloured
with monsoon floods, in which they can see nothing, they desert the
rivers and go miles inland, feeding on young frogs and other things.

When the Bassia, the tree called in Tamil ilippe, and in Telugu
and Canarese ippe, sheds its flowers on the water I have seen the
Barbus Jerdoni and the B. chrysopoma, and I suspect others, feeding on
it with avidity.

Riding at a foot's pace after a guide on foot is tedious. If you press
him you only lose time in the end by his getting out of breath, and
it is cruel. Send a man that understands it with him overnight, with
instructions to lay a paper scent. With posted horses G. and I did
thirty miles across unknown country in this way, country in which it
was easy to lose one's way, and got in comfortably for breakfast.
With guides at a foot's pace it would have taken us all day.

When white ants are on the water they are said to be like the
May fly, in that the fish will look at nothing else. I can well believe
it. But their flight is very short lived.

I tried white elephant's hair as a substitute for gut. When dry it
seemed as tough as a wire, but when well soaked it became very elastic,
and broke at a tension of 6 Ibs.

Size in a river affects both the feeding and the lifetime of fish.
Regarding the feeding we may say that size in a river ordinarily
implies a greater quantity and a greater variety of food ; and in India,
where rivers are so liable to suffer from drought and from the drain
of irrigation, it implies also greater constancy of food supply. Each
one of these three items of quantity, quality, constancy in the food
supply has a marked influence on the growth of fish ; all three com-
bined have necessarily a much greater effect. As to quantity it is
marvellous what an amount a fish will eat, and the rapidity of its
digestion is extraordinary. You may see trout quite poor in condition
after a long drought, and a single flood in the afternoon leaves them
markedly improved in condition the very next day. Their food sticks
to their ribs in no time. It is a good thing it is not the same with you
and me. It is noticeable in fish in an aquarium how, immediately
after feeding, they commence to extrude faecal matter, from whence I
argue that peristaltic movements have commenced all down the line
at once. And then the quantity fish take. I have caught trout full

CHAP. xxv. Stuffing Fish. 359

to the very mouth of food, at one time of flies, at another of small
slugs, at another of youvg eels. There is no necessity to apply
pressure to make them disgorge. Their stomachs were distended,
and their last food still unswallowed. And yet they showed no signs
of surfeit, for they took my bait and made a much more active fight
than a fish in lower condition. I expect a fish with a surfeit is as
hard to find as a contented man. I know it is said that over-feeding
on sewage makes the roach at places in the Thames so gross that they
lose their fertility, but I should think it was highly questionable. All
other experience is in favour of rapid growth accompanying liberal
feeding in fish, and of maturity and fertility being proportioned to
the size of the fish. The best fed salmon-par return to the sea and
come back as salmon a whole year before others. As to quality of
food, it may be noted that three batches of trout having been fed experi-
mentally, one batch exclusively on flies, another on worms, and another
on minnows, it was found that the trout fed exclusively on flies showed
the most growth and weight, those dieted on worms the next, and
those on minnows the least of all. The Loch Leven and other trout
might be instanced as profiting by the quality of their food.

If you have a particularly fine fish, or a new specimen, and want
to preserve it by stuffing, it is not a difficult matter, but you must
then be more careful about getting it home uninjured. Having washed
it clean outside commence by entirely covering both sides with a
piece of paper each, pasted on, and allowed to dry. The object of
this is to secure the fish from losing any scales in the manipulation
of skinning and stuffing. With a knife and stout pair of scissors cut
from the top of the gill-opening down to the tail, keeping about half-
way between the lateral line and the back. Arrived at the tail, or
rather within a quarter of an inch of it, cut down at right angles.
Turn down the flap thus made, and thoroughly clean out the fish,
not neglecting the head. Remove all the bones, except those of the
head. Paint the inside freely with arsenical soap. Stuff tightly but
shapely with cotton, remembering that fish shrink dreadfully. Sew
up the opening with needle and thread. Wash off the paper; spread
out the tail and the fins on the good side and back, with pins and
cardboard, so that the rays may be easily counted. Paint over outside
with spirits of turpentine, dry in the shade and finally give two coats
of varnish.

360 Miscellaneous. CHAP. xxv.

This is the old way of stuffing fish that I was taught at a museum.
But I have evolved a method of my own that is, I think, very superior,
in that it preserves the true form of the fish, a point which is of great
importance to a naturalist, who, from the form and dentition of a fish
entirely new to him, should be able to tell you half its habits at a
glance, whereas it would be difficult indeed to do so after some
taxidermist of the old school has changed its natural shape by bulging
it out here and there with tightly rammed in cotton according to his
own sweet will.

Directly the fish is dead, and before it loses its figure, on a plank
take a plaster of Paris mould of one side of it, the under side, making
the mould a little deeper than half way up the depth of the fish lying
on its side, so as to round the corner of its stomach, and get the form
of it, and yet not so much that you cannot remove the fish when the
mould has set. When the plaster has set quite hard, which it will do
very quickly, take the fish out of the mould, and proceed as by the old
method. This done, wash off the paper and put the skin into the
mould, with the cut open side upwards, making it fit well into the
mould by pushing it in with a house painter's large brush. Having
handy a glue pot of strong glue well melted, and arsenical soap, minus
the soap used in its composition, and fine sawdust, smear the inside of
the fish skin with a mixture of the poison and the glue, and over it a
coating as thick as you can of glue and sawdust, and then fill in with
sawdust, so that the glue shall take up as much sawdust as it will, and
press down the sawdust to make sure of the skin fitting well into the
mould. Then leave it till you are quite sure that the glue is as hard as
a board. Don't be in a hurry about this, but make quite sure of it by
leaving a little of the glue exposed on the plank till it is as hard as
it can be. Then you may shake out any not-adhering sawdust and
remove your fish from the mould. If you find you cannot do so
because you have a little overdone the mould, and the fish is now
rigid, it is a fault on the right side, and easily got over by cutting
away a little of the mould. Your fish skin ought to come out the
exact form of nature, internally lined with a rigid plank-like veneer,
formed by the glue and sawdust, that will unyieldingly keep the skin
in true shape. Sew up the flap on the cut side, spread fins and tail,
and turpentine and varnish as in the old process.

At one time I used to take an outside mould of the fish, and then

CHAP. xxv. Stuffing Fish. 361

in that an inside mould with which to stuff the fish. But the objection
to that sort of stuffing is that it is so heavy that in carriage the fins
and tail are so likely to get broken, whereas in the method above
given the stuffing is quite light.

If your plaster of Paris has lost its virtues from exposure and
keeping it is easy to refresh them by putting the powder dry into a
pot over the fire until it bubbles freely like water boiling, and finally
ceases boiling in consequence of all the moisture having been expelled
from it. Then it will be as good as new, and the sooner you use it
the better it will set.

For arsenical soap the following recipe may be relied on. Take —

36 Tolas of bar soap.
30 ,, white arsenic in powder.
12 ,, camphor.
4 ,, carbonate of potash.

Put the soap in one pint of water, and let it simmer slowly for a
quarter of an hour. Then add the arsenic flour and well mix it.
Avoid the fumes, they are baneful. Pound the camphor in a little
spirits of wine, and add it when the soap mixture is lukewarm, and
the carbonate of potash when it is cold.

This recipe is in a convenient form for Indians, if it is remembered
that the unit of weight, a tola, is exactly the weight of a rupee. It is
equivalent to 180 grains.

I add another recipe, however, in English terms : —

Arsenic 2 pounds.

English bar soap 2 ,,

Salts of tartar 12 ounces.

Camphor . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 ,,

Cut the soap into thin slices ; put it, with a pint of water, into a pot
over a gentle fire, stir it with a wooden spatula ; when the soap is
dissolved add the salts of tartar, take them off the fire, add the arsenic,
and, when lukewarm, the powdered camphor, mixing the whole well
together.

Put the compound into a conveniently wide mouthed jar, or glazed
earthen pot, taking care to secure it well with bladder and twine.

I have given the above recipes for making arsenical soap because
it is what I was taught to use as the only and accepted preparation

362 Miscellaneous. CHAP. xxv.

for preserving fish. I should not, however, fail to add a caution about
its use, which I may as well give in the words of that eminent naturalist
Waterton.

" A preparation of arsenic is frequently used ; but it is very dangerous,
and sometimes attended with lamentable consequences. I knew a naturalist,
by name Howe, in Cayenne, in French Guiana, who had lost sixteen of his
teeth. He kept them in a box, and showed them to me. On opening the
lid, ' these fine teeth,' said he ' once belonged to my jaws, they all dropped
out by my making use of the savon arsenitique for preserving the skins of
animals.' "

I, too, have sacrificed sound teeth on this shrine, and lately came
across a gamekeeper who was, of course, strong, and active, and
healthy, as such men have to be. His sound teeth were dropping
out. The cause was found to be the same. He was stuffing birds,
and using arsenical soap. If you take my advice you will have
nothing to do with it.

At the same time I am afraid to commend to you Waterton's
substitute, corrosive sublimate dissolved in spirits, as I am told by
the head of a museum with experience, that the corrosive sublimate
never permeates the skin, and that specimens steeped in spirits of
wine always go to pieces in time when exposed to the air.

For preserving in spirits I can hardly do better than add the
following : —

REPRINTED FROM THE "NATURAL HISTORY REVIEW," APRIL, 1862.
Directions for Collecting and Preserving Fishes.

1. Collect fishes of every size. The eel-like fishes ought not to exceed
36 inches in length ; the broad kinds not 18. Six specimens of each species
will be quite sufficient.

2. Tie to each specimen a label of parchment or of tin foil, on which the
name of the exact locality where the specimen is procured is written, or a
number referring to a list of localities.

3. Cut a small slit in the belly of the specimens so as to admit the spirit,
but do not remove the intestines.*

* In tropical climes, decomposition sets in so soon that I think it is better to
remove the intestines, notwithstanding the loss.

CHAP. xxv. . Preserving Specimens. 363

4. Put the specimens into a large jar or tub containing spirit to extract
the water, mucus, etc. This spirit may be used for any number of speci-
mens as long as it is strong enough to preserve them from early putrefaction.
Leave the specimens in this spirit for from eight to ten days.

5. Transfer the specimens into other spirit, stronger than the former,
and leave them there for another fortnight.

6. Pack, finally, the specimens in spirit which is strong enough to be
inflammable with a lighted match. In spirit like this the specimens may be
shipped, and will keep for six or eight months. Rum or arrack of the
strength indicated answer very well for this purpose, but spirits of wine, if
procurable pure, are best.

7. The best way of sending specimens is in a tin box fitted into a wooden
case. Wrap each specimen in a piece of fine linen to prevent the rubbing
off of the scales and other injuries. Pack the specimens as close as herrings,
and do not leave any free space at the top or on the sides of the box. Fill
the box with spirit, taking care to drive out the air which may remain
between the specimens, and close it hermetically by soldering down the
cover. The best way of closing the box is to make a small round hole in
the cover of the box. First fix down the cover of the box, then pour spirit
through the small hole, until the box is quite full. This hole may then be
easily closed by another small square lid of tin.

8. Turn the box upside down and see whether it keeps in the spirit
perfectly.

9. Reptiles of every description may be preserved in the same way.
However, as they naturally contain less fluid, it will be sufficient to change
the spirits once.

10. The list should be prepared in duplicate, one copy being retained till
the receipt of the other is acknowledged. The list should contain the
native names of the fish, and any information of their habits, qualities, etc.,
that may be procurable. It should state in particular whether the fish was
caught in a tank or river.

In India I have found it an advantage to add one in forty of
carbolic acid to the spirit, but only when the spirit cannot be obtained
sufficiently rectified, and on one occasion on which I could not get
any spirit in the forest the same solution in water preserved the fish
till I could get them to head-quarters and put them in spirits. Too
great a strength of carbolic acid will shrivel the scales. Any of it is
objected to by some as injurious to the colour ; but as the colour of
a dead fish is no guide at all to the colour of the live fish, but rather
misleads, I do not consider that objection a weighty one as regards
fish. Your spirit may be as strong as you like, there is no fear of

364 Miscellaneous* CHAP. xxv.

overdoing that for either your first, second, or third bath. In tropical
India it is safer to have it strong enough and to spare.

And now, dear reader, before we part company with the miscel-
laneous chapter, as I am at Loch Lomond while correcting the proofs
of these pages, allow me to tell you what ribald jesters here say of
" gentle anglers." They do say that : " They go out full of hope, they
come home full of whiskey, and the truth is not in them."

CHAPTER XXVI.
FISHING LOCALITIES.

" I am, Sir, a brother of the angle." —

IZAAK WALTON.

IN my first edition, I wrote : — " This appendix is necessarily a mere
skeleton, because it is unavoidably the result of only one individual's
knowledge, and public officers in India have not leisure and express
trains in all directions to aid them in exploring different fishing
localities. In full knowledge, however, of its meagreness, it is, never-
theless, introduced more as a provocation than anything else, for
other fishermen to throw together their local knowledge, and perhaps
some day make up a useful compilation like ' The Angler's Diary.' "
And recently I sought the aid of the Asian, the editor of which was
good enough to support my request to anglers most cordially. Kindly
have anglers responded, some in its columns, some direct to myself.
I must commence this • chapter, therefore, with acknowledgments,
especially to " Doon," and the editor of the Asian, and I would
mention others, but that I am not quite sure that I am free to publish
names. With the kind permission of the editor of the Field, I have
gleaned also in those pages. The list of fishing localities, though much
amplified by these means, is doubtless capable of being more than
doubled in so vast a continent as India, and if anglers will continue
to help, and my book lives to a third edition, they shall find the
advantage of it in an ampler record of localities. I shall be glad,
too, to be set right wherever I have made any errors in spelling, etc.,
through want of local knowledge.

The best maps that a stranger can buy for his guidance as to where-
abouts are the Government Survey Maps, always procurable at very
cheap rates from the offices of the Surveyor-General of India, at

366 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

Dehra Dhun and at Calcutta; and probably through any bookseller,
but—

The following are named as agents : —

Calcutta. Messrs. Thacker, Spink & Co.
Allahabad. Curator of Government Books, N.W. Provinces.
Nagpore. Curator of Government Books, Central Provinces.
Lahore. Curator of Government Central Book Depot.
Madras. Messrs. Higginbotham & Co.

Poona. Superintendent Government Photozincographic De-
partment.

London. Messrs. Allen & Co., Waterloo Place.
„ Mr. Edward Stanford, 6, Charing Cross.

India No. 2 is a sheet about 2 feet square, neatly doubled up,
of course, giving in one view the principal places and rivers of all
India, Burmah, and Afghanistan. The price is i| rupees uncoloured,
2 rupees coloured.

For more detail a stranger should have also the same on a sheet
about 3 feet 6 inches square, entitled " India without Hills." It is
a good clear map. Uncoloured, 3 rupees ; coloured, 4 rupees.

When he has fixed his locality, if he wants to know his immediate
surroundings, and every bend in the river, and the cross cuts, etc.,
he can get a sheet of " The Indian Atlas," on a scale of 4 miles to
the inch, at 12 annas a quarter sheet, the sheets being 3 feet 4- inches
by 2 feet 3! inches. An index to the sheets of " The Atlas of India,"
on a scale of 128 miles to an inch, may be had for i rupee, and
will enable him to decide what sheets he wants. Many localities
have also been thoroughly worked out in the " Angler's Handbook,"
W. Newman & Co., Calcutta, with maps on a large scale attached,
showing every bend in the rivers, the larger half of the book, Part II.,
being devoted to this purpose.

MADRAS PRESIDENCY.
Bellary District.

It is as well to know sometimes where not to go when places look
tempting on the map. The Toongabadra runs within forty miles of
Bellary. W. H. went by rail from Bellary to Toombadra Station, and

CHAP. xxvi. Madras Presidency. 367

worked up the river nearly to Hampee, and in the whole of that portion
of the river there is not a single good run, or likely place for Mahseer.
There are one or two deep pools in which there are probably fish,
though these are netted constantly; but the bed of the river for the
whole of that distance is simply a broad, flat, sandy plain, with some
half dozen small streams winding through it. It is nearly a mile
broad in many places. Hardly a tree to shelter a goat all the way.
N.B. — The writer, W. H., is a good fisherman.

He writes again subsequently : " I never found out any fishing at
Bellary, excepting at Balahunshi on the Toongabadra beyond Hospet.
There is an anicut there, and some very good runs below it. I got
a 14 Ib. Mahseer there."

"There are, of course, Murral and small fish in the larger tanks,
such as Darojee, and a lot of Puftahs."

Moral. — Never apply for Bellary, and get out of it as soon as
you can.

South Canara District.

All the fish were comparatively small, that is, ordinarily under
15 Ibs. I have never known one taken over 20 pounds.

Charmady. — Here there is a District Officers' Bungalow. This
place is only good early in the fishing season, as the stream here
soon gets too small. Mahseer may be killed exactly opposite the
bungalow; but I would recommend walking down the stream to
where the hills close in on it, and then fishing downwards. Take a
guide, as there are short cuts from which you can ride home. Time,
September, October, and November, and probably later also, till the
fever sets in in January and February. Here are bison, spotted deer,
and an odd snipe or two. Otters too.

Neriya. — Near Charmadi, and good for Mahseer similarly early
only. Fish the larger of the two streams and below the junction.
No accommodation. Fish very plentiful, but small, running from
5 Ibs. to 7 Ibs.

KarkaL — There is a good stream about two miles' walk from
hence. It is the river into which runs the tank surplusage. It is
good early in the season only, say September and October. You will
want a guide.

2 68 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

Kirebag. — A very good place early in the season. Shooting also
good. But difficult of access, and no accommodation. Mahseer.

Sampaje. — There is a travellers' bungalow here. Do not fish the
stream in front of it; it is too small to do much in for Mahseer.
Take the road to the coast for about a quarter of a mile beyond the
bridge, and with a guide strike through the wood on your left to the
main river. There used to be tigers, but I think they are pretty well
thinned now.

Sirctdi. — There is a travellers' bungalow here at present, but supplies
are somewhat scanty, so go provided. The river may be fished from
the shore, both above and below the bungalow. From close above
the bungalow there is a long gap of still water which can only be got
at by a boat. Above this the river is full of runs. There are fine
pools below the bungalow. The Cubbinnali stream may also be
ridden to and fished. Time, September to end of December. Beware
of fever in February till i5th June, and then of monsoon floods till
September. I never could do anything with the fish in the cold east
winds of January. There are other fish besides Mahseer. Barbus
Jerdoni is very numerous. There are Bison and Sambre about. The
place is densely forest-clad, and a great favourite with me.

Kempukal. — There is supposed to be a village of this name some
7 or 10 miles, as my memory serves me, above Siradi on the
Kempuholle. I am very indistinct about the distance at this length
of time, but I have a very clear memory of beautiful water and good
fishing. We had to camp in the forest by the river side, but a very
short way off the public road. Supplies none. Shelter none.

Uppinangady. — The place was praised to me, but I did no good
there, that is with the fishes, but much in the way of business
doubtless ! ! !

Sufrramani.—Good till December or January. The Subramani
river, which is the Camardari, may be fished both above and below the
ferry and ford; and its affluent the Yennakal-holle may be ridden out
to. There is no accommodation. Avoid the time of the Jatra, a lunar
festival occurring about the middle of November, because the thousands
(50,000) of cattle brought for sale discolour the water by their trampling,
and the pilgrims befoul the approaches, and are everywhere washing
at the river's side. Mahseer.

Wondse. — Not far from Coondapur by road or river. There is

CHAP. xxvi. Madras Presidency. 369

a District Officer's empty bungalow, about the use of which no
objection is ever made ; but no supplies. There are no Mahseer here,
but the river holds some lesser Barils and Chilwa, and is full of " Black
Spots" (Barbus filamentosus and B. mahecola), which give excellent
sport by their numbers. Leave the road a little south of the police
station, and ride by foot-path about a mile up the river. Time from
October to January inclusive. Being so near the sea, the place is
probably free from fever, even in March and April. Nowhere in South
Canara can you go far from the coast later than the end of January
without getting malarious fever, of which, however, there is no danger
whatever from within a month, say ist July, of the commencement of
the monsoon, about 5th June. But the monsoon makes travelling quite
out of the question till September, and the rivers are in high flood and
discoloured.

Jadkall. — A similar bungalow, only " Black Spot " fishing, but that
is very pretty.

Mala. — No accommodation. Capital Black Spot fishing.
Cooloor. — Stream very small indeed, and fishing even for small fish
indifferent. No Mahseer. A rough bungalow like that at Wondse.

Nagawadi. — A bungalow. Hannar, none. Only small Chela
boopis. Good snipe at the latter.

Biranthadaka and Biramangalam. — Not easy of access. No
accommodation. Some fair Mahseer water.

Dharmastala. — No accommodation, but a very good station for
Mahseer. Try the river, both above and below the ford from the
shore. Also take a guide and walk, it is unrideable, through the forest,
etc., down to the junction of the two rivers. Try them both from the
shore. Also try the grand pools, below the junction from a boat.
There is plenty of excellent water. Time, September, October,
November, December.

Mangalore. — The only place is the Salt Kotars, and the fish the
Cock-up, with an occasional Red Perch. I had excellent sport at
times, but numerous disappointments. I never could make out their
times. I expect Colonel Osborn is right about their being taken only
in coloured water. Never saw any Ba-min there.

Cicilly. — Do not touch the tame Mahseer. You will find plenty
more farther down the river.

Cundapoor. — Close to the sea. A beautiful spot. There are plenty

THE ROD IN INDIA. 2 B

THE R

370 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

of estuary fish close to the bungalow, if you can catch them. They
beat me. Others have done better with prawns. In the pond within
a ride, the peculiar fishing for Chanos salmoneus is worth seeing. The
Red Perch is also to be taken in that pond. Also a Horse-mackerel
(Caranx).

Mudradi. — In a pond attached to a Jain temple at a place called
Warranga, near Mudradi, there is excellent Black Spot fishing. At
Mudradi there is a District Officer's bungalow.

Coimbatore District.

The Bawanny and the Cavery rivers, which run through and skirt
much of this district, afford excellent sport, and at many places heavy
game can simultaneously be got.

Metapolliam is well known from being on the way to the Nilagiris.
There are bungalows and supplies here. You can do some fishing from
the bungalow, by riding out, but not much, for it is so netted. There
is an easy bridle-path to Nellatorai, 4 miles, whence I have fished down
to the Metapolliam bridge, killing all the way down to the junction of
the Kallar River, which was so muddy that I took no more below that
point. The Coonoor and Karteri stream gets muddy very rapidly
under very slight rainfall because it is so steep, and comes through so
much cultivation, carrying its wash. There was plenty of excellent
water. The fish were the Carnatic Carp, but they run small, none
being over 3 Ibs., doubtless on account of the netting.

You may also fish from the bungalow as your head-quarters, by
fishing down stream from the bridge, and sending your horse down the
Erode road to ride back on. Nothing can be done without a boat.
Basket-boats are plentiful.

But it is far better to camp higher up the river at Tekampatti, where
is a forester's hut, available, I daresay, if you can make love to the
Forest Officer. Tekampatti is the highest place up the river at which
it is safe to sleep. It is well situated a mile away from the river and
malaria, and on the plain side. From thence fish the river, the
Bawanny, above and below the Puthur ford. What we concluded was
the best way of doing it, was to be up in the dark, and ride down to
the river, across the ford, and along the bridle-path up the other side,
the Neilgherry side of the river, till dawn, taking our basket-boats with

CHAP. XXVI.

Madras Presidency.

us at a foot's pace. It is too rough a road to ride any faster in the
dark. Directly it dawned, we called a halt, and put the boats in, and
fished alternate pools downwards to the fordj to which our horses
meanwhile walked, ready to carry us thence to a late breakfast about
twelve. In the afternoon we fished the river downwards from the ford
till dusk, and rode home. In December, the river is fordable in one
place near the Tekampatti camp, and that is the Puthur ford, but you
must take it circuitously the way you are shown.

The distances, as nearly as we could ascertain and judge by timing
ourselves,, were : —

From Metapolliam to Nellatorai,

4 mile

55

Puthur,

4l

Chengal,

8

Shittugunie,

9

Pillur stream,

91

Kadukai,

I0|

Nirali stream,

12

Nirali Hill,

I2f

Perali village,

J3& ,

The Taimalai brook is crossed just below Perali, on the Nirali side.
Thence the road ascends a steep incline, and crosses cultivation at the
top of the hill, which belongs to Perali. Thence the road strikes down
by an easy path to the most magnificent pools and runs you may wish
to set eyes on. They are in the midst of the wildest, forest-clad, rocky
country, and the water is crowded with grand Mahseer, as Paddy would
say, " the wathur's stiff with 'em." But don't dream of sleeping there.
I slept as high up as Sittuguni, we being a jolly Christmas party of five
Europeans, but every man John of us, black and white, got a thorough-
going fever, some being very seriously ill indeed, and we lost one poor
fellow of our number from it, in spite of all the good doctor could do
for him at Madras. We had been told it was safe at that season.
Don't you be tempted to sleep higher up than Tekampatti ; there
friends and self, and natives, have slept again and again with immunity.

Just a little above Kadukai or Kadavu, which means a ford, is the
lowest large pool, just below a waterfall, where you will find Mahseer.
Above that pool they swarm, below it you will get splendid pools in
abundance, but only Carnatic Carp. At least the Mahseer below it,
seem to be so comparatively few, and the Carnatic Carp so many, that

2 B 2

37 2 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

below that point we always put aside our spinning tackle, and took the
fly. If you want to fish for Mahseer, therefore, you had better go on
past Peralij though I have struck the river at Kadavu, struggled up
the river to this pool — an awful struggle, — fished it for Mahseer, and
then fished the river down to the Puthur ford, and so back to breakfast
at Tekkmpatti. The natives were very reluctant indeed to show us the
river above this pool. We only found it by most persistent clambering,
and that is why I have put it down so particularly for you. Below
Perali you can do nothing without a boat, above it you can do a little
from the shore, but to do the river justice, you ought to have a boat.
The Mahseer here are, as nearly as I can tell you, "as big as a
portmanteau."

Nirali Hill stands well above the river, and open to every breeze
hat blows. A camp on the top of it was found free from fever, and it
commands excellent water.

Palayur is estimated about 33 miles from Metapolliam, from it we
went up by Satchampatti, or Tatchampatti to Cheri Kadavu and
Paraputhorai, opposite the Hill Narasanmuku, and fished down to
Sunthapatti, say about 6 miles. The Palghat stream runs in just below
Palayur or Palagur. It was all excellent water for Mahseer and
Carnatic Carp.

The water above the Koondah and Palghat streams should be free
from flood after the cessation of the South- West monsoon about the
ist September, but the Kalar stream is, the Koondah stream probably
is, and the Palghat stream may be, affected by showers in the North-
East monsoon.

G. and I went by Metapolliam, Tholampaliam, and Gopaneri to
Kudipatti, the junction of the Siruwani and Bawani, and came back by
Tholampaliam and Karamadi. From Metapolliam to Kudipatti is a
long tug, some 28 miles or thereabouts, and after Tholampaliam the
road is rough. We got no fever, but we did get fish. It was there
that the brothers Cornly, of 46 Ibs. each, with others of 25 Ibs., were
caught.

Higher up the same river are Attapadi, Shermangundi, Gopaneri,
found mentioned in the Malabar District. From Karamadi railway
station carts can go, a native of the locality told me, to Gopaneri,
15 miles, which is 15 miles from Attapadi, the straight road being by
Tholampaliam.

CHAP. xxvi. Madras Presidency. 373

Sirumugi. — There is a public bungalow here, within a ride or drive,
10 miles, of Metapolliam. Between it and the Kanayampaliam anicut,
5 miles, there is nice water, in which you will find Carnatic Carp,
but not nearly so many as at Tekampatti. A boat is necessary.

The Kinacorai estate, near Coonoor, is within reach of an excellent
part of the Bawany.

The Bawany ordinarily clears from the monsoon floods in September.

The Moyar River is reachable from the Kodanad estates, some
7 or 8 miles from Kotirgherry. Full of portmanteaux. It is liable
to be fouled by the N.E. monsoon.

Animalais. — M. tells me he has caught a 5 Ib. fish with paste in
the river at Animalai, and that the river is full of runs and rapids
higher up, but that falls prevent the fish getting to the higher river.
Beware of fever.

Madura District.

The Vygay being generally a dry sandy bed only, you cannot
expect any Mahseer in that; but you may get sport at the Pamben
channel with the Ba-min, which see.

Periar. — M., an R.E., tells me he caught any number of fish with
a fly in the Periar, near the site of the Periar irrigation work. My note
does not say what fish, unfortunately.

On the Pulney hills in this district is a lake, known as the Kodai-
kanal Lake, about which please see Index and the chapter about it.

Plrmed. — The Periyar is a fine river. J. C. H. says the Mahseer all
run small, but J. F. B. says he has weighed one of 25 Ibs. They
both agree that Stonehenge is the place to camp at. Do not camp
down at the river because of fever. The season is as for Canara
rivers, from 7th to i5th September till ist January. October and
December for preference. J. F. B. says Carnatic Carp are also
numerous. Natives catch them with a berry. The route is via
Firmed on the Travancore side, or via S. I. Railway to Ammana-
yakanur and thence transit by Periyakulam to Gudalur at the head
of the Cumbum Valley, and then a pony up the Ghat. Distances
from Ammanayakanur to Periyakulam 28 miles, from Periyakulam to
Gudalur 37 miles, from Gudalur to Stonehenge 27 miles. A good cart
track all the way. No supplies.

Stonehenge is a mile and a half from a plantation and private bungalow.

374 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

From there the head of the Rani River is approachable, and it is
said by both above informants to be " splendid." But it is a hard
day's work across grassland, and five hours along an elephant path
through forest without touching grassland.

Malabar District.

. For this district I have had a memorandum kindly prepared for
me by W. L. I should premise that the Mahseer are seemingly small,
like the Canara Mahseer, and that the country, being subject to the
same moncoon, the time is the same. The country being flatter than
Canara, the lengths of tidal estuary are greater.

MALABAR RIVERS.
Ordnance Survey Map, Sheet No. 44.

1. Tiillipurmbu River, tidal as far as Chuparapadu. West of
75° 3°' east longitude. Small Moplah village, above which there is
a moderate sized stream with pools.

2. Billipatam River, the largest river in North Malabar, tidal as
far as a mile above Sukukundapuram on the branch joining at Kogem,
and as far as Eroocur on the main stream. At Eroocur, a considerable
Moplah village, there is a good road running up the right bank to
Iritti bridge, when the Perambadi Ghat road into Coorg (not shown
in the map) crosses the stream immediately below the junction of
the two main branches a little to the north-east of Kishur. Above
Eroocur, and on both branches joining at the Iritti bridge, there are
fine deep pools and streams swarming with fish. At Eroocur there
is a D. P. W. hut: at Iritti bridge there are a native travellers'
choultry and a good Amshom cutchery, used also as a police-station ;
and at Gamoth there is a good travellers' bungalow close to the river.

3. Anjeracundy River, tidal as far as Anjeracundy, a cinnamon
plantation, belonging to Mr. W. Brown, above which it is a moderate
sized stream with pools. At Canooth there is a travellers' bungalow.

4. Mahe River, tidal as far as Parakudu, above which it is a con-
siderable stream.

5. Cootyaddy River, tidal as far as Cootyaddy, where there is a
travellers' bungalow near the foot of the ghat of the same name leading

CHAP. xxvi. Madras Presidency. 375

into Wynaad. There is a large river in the monsoon, but in the dry
season there is very little water.

6. Between the Cootyaddy and Beypoor rivers there are a number
of streams of inconsiderable size, except in the rains.

7. Beypoor River. — The mouth of this stream appears on sheet
No. 44, at lat. 11° 10' W. Turning to sheet No. 61, it will be seen
that in length of course this is the largest of the Malabar rivers proper.
It is a tidal stream as far as Areacode, but in most seasons small boats
can go up as far as Edda, Mummah, and Maumbat. The whole of
the upper branches of this river, which spread out like a fan from the
Government teak plantations at Nellambur, are interesting from an
angler's point of view. There are bungalows at Areacode, Edda-
munnah, Nellambur, and Yeddakura, all on the main road leading
from south-east Wynaad by the Carcoor Ghat to the coast.

8. Tiruangady River ^ a considerable stream, the upper waters of
which would repay investigation. There are bungalows at Mallapuram,
where a detachment of European troops is stationed, in the heart of
the Moplah country : and at Munjary and Angadipuram, and there
used to be another at Alanaloor. The country in this stream and
its branches to the west of Alanaloor and Pandekad, is highly cultivated,
there is therefore little likelihood of good fishing, except in the upper
waters.

9. Ponany River, which runs parallel to the railway from Palgat
westward, is a large stream with a broad shallow sandy course. At
Cudalloor a large stream comes in from the north-west. The head
waters of this branch can be reached from Meonaur, where there is
a bungalow on the main road from Palgat to Calicut via Angadypuram.
Another branch comes in from south-east of Cottompally, and, turning
to sheet No. 62, it will be seen that the head waters of one branch
can be reached from Wurracunchairy, where there is a bungalow, and
of the other branch Colungodi, — neither of these streams can, however,
be considered promising.

10. The upper streams of the Cubbany,* Noogoo, and Moyaur,

* W. W. H. tried the Cubbany in March, and did nothing as it was coloured.

Of Cavery Falls G. writes that the time to see them is July when they are full,
and that they are free from fever from July to November. Consequently I should
think the best time to fish those localities would be from i5th September to the end
of November, as it is for the rivers on the west coast.

376 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

feeders of the Cavery, lie in the Wynaad Taluk, and those of the
Bawany also in the Wallawanad Taluk (all in sheet No. 61). The
former can be reached from Manantoddy, Bawally, Caukancotta, in
Mysore, Gunnapaddyvattam (Sultan's battery), and Guddaloor, at each
of which places there is either a bungalow or other accommodation.
The latter can be reached from Munaur (No. 9) by ascending the
Attapadi (misspelt as Allapady in sheet No. 61) ghaut, but this is
an out-of-the-way place with no local supplies.

.- Of Attapadi, which means the hamlet of leeches, H. writes that
he saw fine fish there. I can well understand that there should be,
for it is on the head waters of the Bawany, in fact above Perali,
mentioned in Coimbatore district. H. writes that Attapadi was
healthy in the monsoon, and the water clear even in July and August,
evidently because it came through grass and forest, whence there
was no befouling wash. All the Mahseer in the river seemed to
have gathered up there, and he caught two Carnatic Carp of about
i Ib. each, that were scarred from fish bites, probably bites from
Freshwater Sharks, for I do not think a Mahseer bite would leave
a scar.

Shermangundi is on the Bawany; the river is clear there in the
monsoon, and holds Mahseer. H. will answer for it. Gopaneri is on
a feeder only.

Eddawarra, on the Nilambur River. D. saw a 5 Ib. Mahseer
and Murral and Freshwater Shark caught with live frog suspended
on the surface from five feet springy bamboos stuck in the bank,
twenty such baits being simultaneously set by the natives.

Nadghbny. — D. writes again, there are no fish in the pretty river
one mile below the • bungalow, but following down stream one mile
another river joins, and the Mahseer commence there from the water-
fall at the junction. The fish we got there were small, i Ib. and
under; they took your small sized fly (i.e., the smallest one I have
mentioned for Carnatic Carp) and were greedy and violent. He and
L. got eight Mahseer.

In the Malabar District is also the Ba-min (Polynemus) fishing,
of which the localities are given in the chapter on Estuary Fishing.

K. G. had sport with Ba-mm at Mahe in November and December.

CHAP. xxvi. Madras Presidency. 377

Nellore District.

The Muri. — E. got some good sport, writes C., in the Muri with
Freshwater Sharks.

Kistnapatam Estuary. — C. had tackle broken. Thus there is not
much to be said for poor Nellore.

Salem District.

Hoginkal, or the Smoking Rock, which is about five miles' ride
from Pennagaram (misspelt Pengugaram in the Ordnance map,) is
a very picturesque spot on the Cavery. Its grand falls and rocks
are well worth a visit. Tents are required. No supplies except from
Pennagaram.

H. writes me the water is 65 feet deep. About March the fisher-
men drive the fish for 20 miles up the river to the long pool below
the falls, which are impassable, and block the river below with nets.
They cannot net the pool because the water is too deep, and the
bottom too rocky, but they fish with lines and catch "tons." There
are Carnatic Carp, Freshwater Sharks, and Murral, but no Mahseer
he thinks. I should think there nmst be Mahseer there.

ShoZapddi, 30 miles from Salem. H. writes the river is beautiful
for fishing, such rapids and pools, and all open, but he chronicles no
bags.

Tanjore District.

There is not a ghost of a Mahseer in the district, but I have had
good fun with Labeo in a pond about six miles out of Tanjore, on
the Combuconum road.

Also in a pond attached to a small temple, half a mile off the road,
at a point about a mile from Negapatam, on the Karekal road.

The Tanjore District abounds in Temple tanks, and tanks kept
for bathing and drinking and washing clothes promiscuously. These
are mostly fed by small channels from the Cavery and Coleroon, and
as their supply comes to them only when the rivers are in flood, it
generally brings them fry of all sorts of fish, notably the Labeo, the
Freshwater Shark, the White Carp (Cirrhina cirrhosd)^ the Chilwa,
and sometimes the Hilsa, vainly endeavouring to regain the sea. The

378 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

last-named is a sea fish, Clupea ilisha. Some of these ponds cover
several acres, and are never netted. But about tanks please see
" Tank Angling in India."

At Tirupanandal, Nidamangalam, Tiruvarur, and Tranquebar are
Labeo tanks not mentioned in " Tank Angling."

At Kotur, nine miles east of Manargudi, or half way thence to
Tritrapundi, is a tank full of Labeo, but all small i Ib. fish. The
tank is private property.

f

Tinnevelly District.

Courtallum, the sanitarium of the district, has water near it.
A writer in the Madras Mail, 3ist August, 1874, says : —

" The Milk Falls are situated in the Pulliary Pass, and about 14 miles of
an easy road to the north of Courtallum. . . . The Pulliary Pass is a
charming place when it does not rain hard, but during the Courtallum
season the rain is almost incessant, and in the dry weather the place is hot
and feverish. The pass connects Tinnevelly with Travancore. The road
runs for a long way by the side of a babbling picturesque mountain torrent,
in which there are places for good fishing. The Mahseer is among the fish
found. Comfortable bungalows, situated at convenient distances, are met
with throughout the pass. The vegetation is luxurious, and any one de-
lighting in ferns, orchids, etc., game, and scenery, will find the pass a very
paradise of pleasure."

This has been confirmed to me on many hands.

B. caught small Mahseer of 5 Ibs. at Paupanassam, and in the
Arienkavu Pass. The season is June, after the monsoon has set in,
July and August, and others declare it healthy till the end of January,
as I can well imagine.

Paupanassam (properly Papavinasam — the forgiveness of sins ; there
are many places bearing the same name). B. writes : — Paupanassam,
where the Tamberapoorny, the irrigator of Tinnevelly, debouches from
the hills by a splendid fall. There are charming streams, pools, etc.,
about there, and lots of fish.

Travancore.

With its good rivers ought to be as good for sport as Malabar and
Canara.

Anglicoorchi. — H. writes, November, 1875, that in the river Toracadu

CHAP. xxvi. Madras Presidency. 379

he has caught £ Ib. Mahseer with a fly, but did not stir a Carnatic
Carp.

Trichinopoly District.

There is business to be done at the Anicut I am told.

B y writes, that at the Anicut the Freshwater Shark ( Wallago

attu) run very large; that he had good fun with Kilathays (Tamil
for Macrones), things with feelers, flat under jaw, forked tail. He
caught them 5 Ibs, and over, with a small fish live bait, and they gave
very good sport, being very strong for their size. He stood on the
rock when the stream was running slightly through the shutters of the
Anicut and making the water just as it should be for trout fishing.
They required fine tackle.

He caught Labeo also there.

Mysore.

Somewhat recently I have had an opportunity of giving the
Toongabadra a trial, and was grievously disappointed, for though the
water was in the places named below all that could be desired, and
though I did run a few really big fish, the fishing was very poor indeed.
Not only did I see the rivers very thoroughly netted by men who
understood their business right well, and travelled in gangs netting all
the rivers all their lengths, but I saw also cruives set for fry, and was
told that poisoning was practised. This seems to be the fate of all
rivers in much inhabited or easily accessible localities. Only in out-
of-the-way jungly tracts do the fish get a chance. I tried the following
places in Mysore, which I may, perhaps, most fairly describe by calling
them worth wetting a line in by those on the spot, but not worth
making a pilgrimage to as I did : —

Tirthahalle.

Malur.

Mandagadde.

Sacrabyle.

Shimoga.

Balehannur.

The last place is not very far from Calasa, where, in former years,
I had excellent fishing.

380 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

Mr. Sanderson, author of " Thirteen Years among the Wild Beasts
of India," also gave me the following list of likely places in Mysore, but
it was in 1873, when he was not so great with the rod as the rifle, and
I should attach more weight to it if he could have revised it in later
years. I should think the forest-clad Cubbany should be good,
negotiated in a boat.

" Hoonsoor should be your first place ; from there you can go to
Chunchincuttay, on the Cavery, about 16 miles, where there are
considerable falls in the river. There is lots of accommodation in
the temple, and a Channel Department hut ; but take supplies for
a day or two, till you can get into swing from Hoonsoor. There is
a good cart road.

"About 500 yards below the fall there is a small pool with ^fish.
You will probably see them rolling in the evening. From the fall to
this point are several grand runs, but rocky. All this holds fish.

" Mundegherry on the Hemavutty, about 12 miles across country
from Chunchincuttay, you might try if you find Chunchincuttay answer ;
there are fish ; lots of fine water.

" Hansogee and Ramnathpoor^ 9 and 18 miles respectively up stream
from Chunchincuttay, with a good road, and accommodation at both
places, might be visited. The first has lots of big fish, but only pools.
At Ramnathpoor you would see the temple fish. They don't mind
your fishing 100 yards or so above the temple bathing steps, where
there is good water.

" Returning to Hoonsoor you could run down to the Cubbany, near
Heggadevencottah, 20 miles ; there is a fair road. Should you do so
you should camp at a village near the mouth of a tributary river called,
I think, the " Sartee," which you will see on the map ; there are fish,
and Moormen who know their whereabouts well. I caught my
I5o-pounder there.

" There is nothing in the river at Hoonsoor, the Lutchmenteert.
" I have always had a great opinion of the chances of good sport in
the Cubbany, but have never had proper appliances. It is a treat
to see the fish rising and feeding about in the runs near Carkencottah.

" The rivers I now have fishing on, are the Cavery and Hemavutty.
I do not know the Toongabudra from personal experience, but have
heard from natives that it is inferior to the former two. But the river
for monsters, and lots of them, is the Cubbany. This comes from

CHAP. xxvi. Coorg. The Deccan. 381

about Manantoddy. It is A i for all kinds of fish from Carkencottah,
in Mysore, downwards to its junction with the Cavery. The fishing is
varied and handy. It is certainly the best place, and for 20 miles down
in this part of the country. I presume your most convenient way of
getting there, would be via Mercara and Manantoddy. Carkencottah
is about 12 miles from Manantoddy, with good shooting if you care
for it."

Colonel H. wrote me. Rail to Mysore, 49 miles transit thence to
Karkenkotai, road good except last 8 or 10 miles. Bungalow with beds,
furniture and crockery, no supplies. The whole place was alive with
lusty splashings and rollings in the early morning. Antesaute, 13 miles
lower, not so good. Hampepur, 16 miles more, he got only Carnatic
Carp of 1 1- and 2 Ibs. Nungengode, huge fish under the bungalow.

Coorg.

Coorg has, I am told, good fishing grounds in the Cavery, near
Verajendrapet ; and Sampaje is easily accessible from Mercara. Sport
may also be had before the coffee pulping begins at Wottakuli, half
way down the Sampaje ghaut, but at Wottakuli the Mahseer are very
small, running to about 2 Ibs. or 3 Ibs.

Manzerabad. — S. writes of a lovely little golden brown Mahseer
being taken with a black palmer fly, about the size of a No. 5 Kirby
hook, in a rocky little stream at the top of the Manzerabad Ghat. Also
at a tank somewhere about Manzerabad, J. writes that he killed, with
a black palmer, and subsequently with gaudy flies, on No. 6 Limerick
hook, my sizes, fish of some sort, averaging £ lb., but sometimes
running to -§• lb. and i lb.

Maranhally. — H. caught fish of some sort, description not given,
of 3 Ibs. and 4 Ibs., roving with a dough bait.

Secunderabad.

Four miles from Trimulgherry is the Hassan Saugar tank, 4 miles
across, 16 feet deep at the embankment. Two rods took 45! Ibs. of
Labeo one day, and the next day one of them took 26 fish weighing
60 Ibs ; the biggest being 4! Ibs. But it is said by the native anglers
that the fish run to a great size.

Ten miles from Trimulgherry barracks at Secunderabad in the

382 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

Deccan, and two miles from Hyderabad, is the Meer Allum tank. It is
about 4 miles round, and about 15 feet deep at the embankment. The
natives say the Labeo in it run over 20 Ibs. My informant caught them
up to 7 Ibs. only. This tank is fed by the Moosa river, which also feeds
the Hassan Saugar tank. My informant says : The best time is March
and April, when they bite right boldly, and that the tanks are not low
enough till March. He says he has never caught Rohu in these tanks,
and the fish I saw in the Hassan Saugar tank were Labeo calbasu.

BOMBAY PRESIDENCY.
North Canara District.

Gairsoppa. — This far-famed fall, which beggars all description,
ought to be visited by every lover of the grand and beautiful, but not
without a salmon rod. There is fair fishing above the falls.

Keep the road from the bungalow towards Mysore till you come to
the bridge and stream at the bottom of the hill. Just past the bridge
a bridle-path will conduct you to a part of the river which is about
a mile from the head of the big pool. Thence upwards there is one
succession of pools and runs. But the fish are not plentiful or large.
I never tried the big pool, but towards the tail of the big pool above
the falls, where it first begins to have eddies on it among the rocks,
fish are said to have been caught. The water below the falls is
recommended by some wag in the bungalow book, but do not you go
on such a fool's errand. I have struggled barefoot where natives would
not follow, and could not get to any decent water there.

I also waded through the bungalow book, and though " fine fish "
are talked of therein, nothing definite is recorded over 5 Ibs. In the
rapids far above I saw S. kill one of 20 Ibs. weight, and we got others
of 6 Ibs. and 8 Ibs., but the majority of the Mahseer were very small,
say i Ib. and if Ibs., and the river seemed very bare of fry and of all
sorts of small fish. I fancy the river must be very much poisoned,
netted, and cruived like the rest of the rivers in Mysore of which I have
seen anything ; for the river rises in Mysore.

Kalanaddi. — W. says that A. (a dark horse) fishes much in the
Kalanaddi from Bommanhalli down to about Ancholi, and he thinks for
Mahseer. But I don't warrant it a " straight tip."

CHAP. xxvi. Bombay Presidency. 383

Karachi. — An officer quartered there wrote me that it was easy to
get seven days fishing, omitting Sunday, out of ten days leave, by going
to the Hubb, which is 17 miles from Kurachi by horse or camel. Camel
carts can go, but are not recommended. No bungalow, no supplies,
tents needed. The Hubb, he says, is a large river, with deep pools
walled in by rocks. In the large pool just below Morad Khans bund
he got a 27-lb. Mahseer on a spoon. The natives say Mahseer are not
to be found lower down. Others caught smaller Mahseer with flies.
He heard of a 20 pounder having been caught there. He explored for
4 miles above the bund, and found a good many deep pools with sand
between, the river being very low, as it was February. Nevertheless the
pools were evidently very deep, but not clear, as he could not see the
bottom. The water was said to be better the higher you go, which it
is natural that it should be, as you would get away from the sand and
get into more rocky country. Also February was a very poor month,
about the worst in which to try the river. Being influenced by the
south-west monsoon the proper months would be from i5th September
to ist January.

Quetta. — An officer fished the Hurnai river from Babar Kuch
railway station, going thence to a lovely little bungalow, Kilat-i-Kila,
in the middle of the hills, within half a mile of the river, and about
6 miles lower down than Barbar Kuch. Here he had fair sport, the
fish running not over loj Ibs., but all taken on a single-handed trout
rod. Much better sport had been had there by another a little earlier.
The snows melt there in April, May, June, at the end of July the rivers
have cleared, and the best fishing is in August, September, October ;
by November, when my correspondent was fishing, it gets too cold.

Again he went to Hurnai railway station, and walked 4 miles to a
tiny stream in which he and another had excellent sport. It was so
small that it hardly seemed worth fishing, yet in two hours in the
evening he took 31 fish weighing 24^- Ibs., and averaging a little over
£ Ib. each, the biggest weighing 2 Ibs. " It was most difficult fishing,"
he writes, " as one had to fling one's little spoon into tiny little corners
or under bushes. In one place I pulled out four fish of about f Ib. each,
one after another, and yet it appeared to me that I was throwing into
a little spot about the size of the seat of the chair I am now sitting on."
And yet he was not happy, for he adds, " If I could only have got my
]eave after the snow water had passed down," etc. He was fishing

384 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

mostly with a small Luscombe fly spoon, and sometimes a larger spoon
but always a single-handed trout rod. Another officer did better with
a salmon rod, and advises it. But I should say the bigger rod must
have spoiled the sport^ though it may have increased the bag.

Poonah. — There is a river not very far from Poonah where good
Mahseer have been killed, and other fishing-grounds, for which please
see Poonah, in Chapter XIX., on the fishing on hill sanatoria.

Ganjam and Vizagapatam Districts. — The good fellow who writes
the following knows how to. sympathise with men going to a new place,
and unable to get information as to the localities for fishing. There
will be readers who will be very thankful for his kindly trouble taken
on their behalf: —

" I have for a long time intended to write to you in response to your
call on all fishermen out here to give you details of fishing localities, etc., in
your great book — invaluable to every Indian fisherman, and especially so to
those who, like myself, knew but little of the art before coming out here.
My experience is not large, and I only know two districts — Ganjam and
Vizagapatam and the Jeypur hills — having spent seven years in those parts.
But, as your book contains no details of localities from those parts, perhaps
my small knowledge of them might be useful.

" To take Ganjam first. I do not really know much about the fishing
there, as I spent most of my time in the Southern Division, and the fishing
is mostly in the north. I don't know of any fly-fishing up there except
that for chelas, which exist in places, but there is good spinning for sea-fish
in the Chilka Lake, and especially in the canal running from the Chilka
Lake to Ganjam, also in the mouths of the Rushikuliya (Ganjam) and
Languliya (Chicacole) rivers.

" In Vizagapatam, I must confess with shame that the fish in the
estuaries have beaten me completely, and I can give no accurate informa-
tion about them. It is a treat to see them running at the small fish in the
estuary at Vizagapatam when the tide is running in or out, especially just at
the end of the ebb. The same thing in the estuary at Bimlipatam, where I
saw a native pull out a 4-lb. sea-fish one day on a dead bait with a bamboo
and a bell-rope. I have only had three or four tries at these places, and
have failed to get anything. But there is no doubt that the fishing is there
for anyone who would go in for it in a business-like way. The only chances
I have ever had there were when spending an odd week or so there on leave
or occasional duty.

" There are lots of chelas in all the tanks in the district of any size that
I know, but the tanks are few of them full in the dry weather, and the chelas
run very small indeed.

" The only part I really know much about from a fishing point of view is

CHAP. xxvi. Bombay Presidency. 385

the Jeypur Hills, where I have been for four years ; and there is some very
fine fishing indeed to be got there, though the place is undoubtedly very
feverish. No one ever seems to have gone in for the fishing here since the
memory of man, and I have not yet half explored the rivers.

" The best chela fishing I have ever seen is to be got in the big tank in
Jeypur town. It is about f mile long, and always full. The chela run to
about 9 inches ; the majority caught are about 7 inches, or slightly less.
They have to be fished for out of a boat owing to the weeds, and always
prefer a red fly to any other. I use nothing but red and black palmers and
spinners for them on the smallest hook I can get. The following bags have
been made out of one boat there : —

June 5th. 43 chela, I rod, about I hour, evening.

,, I5th. 60 ,, i „ „ \\ „
July 2nd. 112 „ 3 rods ,, I „ „

And I always get a couple of dozen or so any evening I like. I am always
most successful on a windy day. Sometimes I get a little blue fish (a baril
of sorts, I think), and when they are rising I*get two of them to one chela
on the same flies. They always go for a black fly, but prefer a black and
silver fly to any other. They are very small, and only seem to run about
3! inches or so. There are lots of big murral and wallago in this tank, but
they are very difficult to catch — no labeo as far as I know.

" The best river is the Machkunda, which rises in the ghats above Viza-
gapatam, near Paderu, and runs into the Godavery above Rajahmundri. I
have caught small Mahseer with bait right up at the source of this river,
where it is a mere nallah. Not far from its source there is a curious place
called the * Machigummi,' or ' fish-hole,' at a village called Matam, where
the river runs under a lot of huge rocks. In the middle of these rocks there
is a small pool or opening about 3 yards in diameter, communicating under-
ground with a large and deep pool 20 yards lower down. There is an old
priest at the village who feeds the fish there every day. He goes to the side
of this opening and calls out ' Machi, machi, machi,' and the fish come
crowding up into the opening from underneath. I have seen twenty or
thirty fish all crowded together thus. They will eat out of your hand, and
appear to run to about 9 Ibs. in weight. They don't like one to fish about
there, so I have never caught any. They are rather like Mahseer, but very
red about the fins and tail, and have a curious dark blotch on the side, near
the tail (something like the illustration of the * black spot ' in your book).
They are very like a Mahseer otherwise in shape and nature of head.

" Mahseer are plentiful all down this river and up its affluents, and also
in the ' Kolab ' river, which runs from the north of Jeypur into this river.
All through the north of this district the rivers are too muddy at all seasons
to fish, owing to the red soil they come through. But down in the ; Mal-
kangiri ' taluq in the south (some 70 miles north of the Godavery), they are

THE ROD IN INDIA. 2 C

386 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

all fishable in the cold weather and up to June, though seldom quite as clear
as they might be. Either owing to this, or to inexperience, I can seldom
catch them spinning, and never with the fly. I have never taken on a
spoon, but have got a few running up to 5 or 6 Ibs. on a phantom. I find
the deadliest bait is a ball of raggi paste on a treble hook, trundled down a
rapid into a pool. It is usually taken just as it drops into the pool. If
fishing with it in a slow, big pool, I just throw it in (with no float or lead or
anything) and let it drift till it settles on to the bottom, then haul it out and
try again. It sounds rather a poaching dodge, but it pays even when the
water is very thick. I have caught several nice fish thus when the river has
been in flood with the rains.

" The best place I know is called ' Kondakemberu.' The river Garepiro
joins the Machkunda there, and both rivers are good fishing for a mile or
two in any direction from the bungalow. The Garepiro is always clear, the
Machkunda usually dirty. I have caught several Mahseer there, but none
over 8 Ibs., though I have been broken by big ones several times. One fish
took out over sixty yards of line in three consecutive runs, and then ran
straight up a small fall and cut the line round a rock ; so there is no doubt
about there being big enough fish there. I have had big ones rise at a fly
once or twice, but never hooked them. This river is good fishing down to
Motu, where the Kolab joins it, and the Kolab is good fishing and holds
Mahseer up as far as the ghats leading up to the Jeypur plateau. The places
to go to are Podiya and Gorgopilley, Salim, or, in fact, anywhere on the
river where you can get coolies and supplies, as the country is wild.

" At Motu there are lots of Mahseer. I have also had some fine red-
spotted labeo of 2 Ibs. weight or so brought me, caught in nets when the
men were catching me bait. The best fishing there is just where the
Machkunda and Kolab join. A small river called the Potera runs N.E.
from the Kolab through the Malkunjira taluq. It is fishable all the way up,
but dries up in the hot weather with the exception of the deep pools. I
have caught all sorts of fish, from a few ounces to 2 Ibs., with bait in this
river. I do not know what fish half of them are. I have never caught
Mahseer in it, and do not think they run far up it ; but I have had fair sport
with a slow, heavy fish that is either the ' olive carp,' shown in your book, or
a near relation. I have caught them up to about I Ib. They like a sunk
fly drawn very slowly, and they don't seem to mind how large the fly is in
moderation — black is the colour they affect most. The natives poison some
of the pools in this river every hot weather, but only a few.

" I am afraid I have inflicted a very long — and very feeble, as far as
useful iniormation goes — letter upon you. Still every little helps, and I
should have been awfully thankful for any ' khabar ' at all when I came up.
I have not half worked out the fishing here, and no one else has as yet. It
is extraordinary how few men fish out here ; but the little fishing I have
done up here has shown what there is to be had if the places are once
thoroughly worked at till known."

CHAP. xxvi. The Punjab. 3^7

Localities in the Punjab.
Mr. C. S. Kirkpatrick kindly sent me the following : —

DELHI DISTRICT. Okla Weir, 7 miles from Delhi. Jumma Bridge.

Head of Canal escape, 3 miles from Delhi.
AMBALA DISTRICT. Dadopur (head of West Jumma canal), there is a dak

bungalow at Jagadri on S. P. and D. Railway, 5 miles distant.
Ropar (head of Sirhind canal), canal and dak bungalows.
SIMLA DISTRICT. Various places on the Girl, Sirsa, and Gambar Rivers.

It will be necessary to take a tent.

JULLUNDER DISTRICT. Eastern Beyn, 4 miles from cantonments.
HOSHIARPUR DISTRICT. Mokerian, on the Beas, police bungalow.
GURDASPUR DISTRICT. Batala tanks (private). Various places on Beas.

Tent required.

LAHORE DISTRICT. River Ravi and old bed of the same near the town.
GUJRANWALA DISTRICT. The Chenab near Wazirabad, where there is a

dak bungalow. It is a station on the P. N. I. Railway.
JHELAM DISTRICT. Several places in the Jhelam River. The junction of
the Poonch and Jhelam Rivers where K. fished is best known. Near
the fishing-ground is Tangrot bungalow, 8 miles from Ratyal Station,
P. N. I. Railway.
RAWAL PINDI DISTRICT. The hill streams at Chira, Kirpa, Kahuta

(police bungalow), and many other places. Also the River Sohan.
KASHMERE. Haiti, on the Murre Route, bungalow.
Sopur, exit of Wular Lake, bungalow.
Banair, marshy ground where the Jhelam falls into the Wular Lake,

3 miles from Hajan, where a tent may be pitched.
Pandritau, 2 miles above the visitors' bungalows at Srinagar.
Korwinee, 4 miles from Islamabad, where there is a bungalow.
Pawzgam, 3 miles north of Aishmakam encamping ground. River
Liddar.

C. S. KIRKPATRICK.

Raniket, N. W. P. — The River Sarju or Sujju, at Bageshwar 38 miles
from Raniket is described by an officer with rotten tackle as a beautiful
river for rocks, runs, and pools, and tackle breaking.

W. speaks of having in the Silhet river caught Mahseer of 35 Ibs.
33!, 28, 26, 12, 5 and 2 Ibs. with a fly.

Allahabad. — There is good Batch wa and Chilwa fishing from the
bridge of boats on the Cawnpore Road, and a good tackle-shop on the
spot, to wit J. P. Luscombe, who is himself a fisherman.

Calcutta. — The tanks preserved by the Calcutta Angling Club yield
excellent Labeo fishing.

2 c 2

388 Fishing Localities. CHAP, xxvi

The tanks in the Viceroy's park at Barrackpore are unnetted, and
hold large fish, and permission to fish may be had by paying to the
Babu in charge of the Park the authorised fee for a pass.

Merut. — 7 miles 3 furlongs on the Harper road from Merut is a
tank which I should estimate to be about 200 yards by 150, and which
is 9 ft. deep close up to the edge, and deepening further in. It is said
to be full of big fish, and to be never netted, or fished in except by the
sahibs who caught Labeo, and Mirga, and white bellied turtle in it, but
nothing over 4 Ibs. because it was not a good season for fishing. In the
fishing season for this sort of fishing, for which see " Tank Angling,"
good business ought to be done for the fish are said to run large. The
road all the way from Merut is good, and there is a beautiful mangoe
tope exactly opposite the tank in which tents might be pitched.

Toondla. — 8 miles from it is a well-stocked preserved tank.
Permission necessary.

Durbangah. — Has several good tanks well-stocked with fish.

Bhaptiahi. — Has a good tank.

Rohtak. — Has a well-stocked ample tank which is a sunny memory.

Hissar. — There are " two lovely tanks " in this district, from which
" beauties " have been taken.

Delhi. — At the bathing ghat at Delhi Mahseer are caught with
paste.

Lahore. — A bandmaster, F. K., kindly writes me, and I hope he may
recognize his communication, that 18 miles from Lahore, near the flag
station, Wagah, is a tank about 30 ft. deep which was built by Rangeet
Sing, and which being fed by the canal literally teams with monster
Rohus and other fish which .from his description are probably Mirga
(Cirrhina mrigald). He has caught Rohu weighing 34 and iSlbs.

To the same source we are indebted for knowledge of a large and
very deep natural pond near Shalimar, about a mile from the gardens.

Large pucka tank at Kunchui Kapul, two miles from Waga flag
station, and about ten from Lahore.

At Batala, near Amritsa, are three tanks, of which " Mission tank "
is the best.

At Alliwal, five miles from Batala, is good Mahseer fishing at the
falls on the canal.

Another informant says that at Karnal, the adjoining district to
Kohtak, is a tank which has never been fished, and which he is certain

CHAP. xxvi. Burmah. 389

holds many monsters and none — yes, gentle reader, he says none — under
20 Ibs ! and he is certain of it !

A kindly correspondent gives me the following localities : —

"There is very good trout-fishing at Chitor, a station 115 miles south of
Ajmere, on the Ajmere Khandwa line. The river runs over a rocky bed
with bands of limestone rock crossing at places, and running up large
natural lakes. The trout are found in the rivers and small pools, and are
very numerous and unsophisticated. They are accustomed to see people
washing in the river, and do not much fear men. In the large lakes there
are Mahseer, murral, and the freshwater shark Wallago attu. The Mahseer
do not run large, and are very difficult to catch — perhaps we are not
sufficiently dexterous — in the large, deep pools. The largest I have killed
was a little under 6 Ibs. The largest pool, or rather lake, is nearly a mile
long, and about 150 yards wide. At the lower end it is about 30 feet deep,
and it is full of enormous fish which have utterly defied all our attempts,
poaching and otherwise, to catch them. They come up and roll about on
the surface of the water, so they are easily seen, but they go down again
like porpoises, and give no chance* of a shot. The largest I have seen
appeared about \\ feet broad across the back — I could form no opinion
regarding his length — and looked like a small porpoise, except that the fins
were regular fish fins, and of a reddish colour, and the tail was set vertically
as in true fish.

" There is another good fishing place on the same railway at Maundsaur,
180 miles from Ajmere. There are plenty of Mahseer, which run up to
20 Ibs. weight or so, but the largest generally caught would be 6 Ibs. It is
necessary to walk down the river about two miles, as the natives do not
allow fishing near the city of Maundsaur. Another good place is at the
crossing of the Nerbudda at the station of Newtakka. Here there are fine
fish, but, as you say, they will take nothing but grain which is parched and
bored as you describe. The bed is a mass of basalt rock, and the heads of
the hexagonal columns have a very curious appearance from the railway
bridge. The best fishing place is about half a mile down the stream on the
right bank."

BURMAH.

Mandalay. — Colonel H. has caught Labeo there, and has seen huge
Siluroids brought in with mutton chops, soldiers' rations, in them, having
been caught amongst the shipping.

Another correspondent caught white carp of 15, 13 and n Ibs. in a
tank fed from the Mandalay moat. The moat, he says, is full of Labeo,
white carp, freshwater shark, murral, and a deep silvery fish which is
probably Notopterus chitala.

390 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

Chin Hills. — I am indebted to Mr. Whitehead for obtaining for me
from Mr. Bigg-Wither the following note of fishing on the Chin Hills,
the first notice I have seen of the fishing in that locality, though one
felt sure that there must be Mahseer in those mountain streams.
Mr. Whitehead writes that his correspondent tells him that the
Mahseer there "scarcely ever take a spoon or spun bait, real or
artificial, nor will they have anything to say to a worm, which Mr.
'Whitehead found so effective in the Nampoung River. I can under-
stand," he continues, " their not taking spun bait in the Manipur River,
as I am told it is never quite clear at any season."

If the anglers in these rivers that will not clear would try picketing
live bait, as suggested in Chapter IX., and suitable tackle, they would
probably take generally finer Mahseer ; though they record some of
good sizes.

The Peepul berry mentioned as the bait used is the Ficus religiosa.

" I started in a small river about forty miles north of the Kale'myo, Fort
White road, named the Manldn Choung, I believe, and in another about
six miles south of it. The bait was the ' peepul ' berry of red and yellow
colours, and about the size of a smallish cherry. Thrown more or less as a
fly, the splash attracted the fish.

" March 1st, 2| Ibs., on atta ; Hth, 4! Ibs., on atta.

"April 1 5th, 1894. Twenty-nine Mahseer, 2, if, I, I, I, I lb., and the
rest from £ to \ lb. Lost three bigger ones by cast breaking.

"April i6th, 1894. Morning, five Mahseer from £ lb. to 2 Ibs. ; after-
noon, two fish, 3i Ibs. and f lb.

"April i;th. Morning, nine fish, 2, i|-, I, I, I, I lb., and the rest about
|- lb. ; afternoon, two fish, f lb.

"April I9th. Morning, ten fish, 4, 3^, 3!, 2, 2, i, I lb., rest small (£ lb.).

"April 20th. Morning, 3, i|, i, i lb. ; afternoon, 3, 1, \ lb.

"April 22nd. Another stream. Eleven fish, 2, i| Ibs., the rest from
iy Ibs. down to ^ lb. Two men, using rod alternately.

" April 23rd. Two men, one rod. Eleven fish, 4. 3 Ibs. ; six fish of
from 2 to 2| Ibs., and three small.

"April 24th. Thirteen fish from i£ down to ~ lb. (two men). Some-
times sinking bait (peepul berry) to bottom and letting it stop there
caught fish. We had only one rod out with us ; many fish lost
through gut breaking.

" 1895. March and April. A few fish from 2 Ibs. down in Manipur river
on atta. Colonel Keary caught about half a dozen, from 18 Ibs. to
6 Ibs., on atta.

" March 2oth. On gram thrown as fly in small river.

CHAP. xxvi. Burmah. 391

"April 20th. Sixteen fish, from i| down to f Ib.

"April 2ist. Sixteen fish, 2, iy, i, i, i, i Ib., and rest about £ Ib. each.

" 1896, March 3rd (?). Ten pounds, 2, 2, i, i, on boiled Indian corn and

small hook ; 1 2-ft. fly rod.
" March 2oth (?). One fish of 20 Ibs. on crushed sessamon seed mixed

with atta. Twice broken. One fish ran out (150 yards) all my line,

and broke at end, using strong salmon gut.
" April 1 2th. Ground nut fried and pounded and mixed with atta ;

about half of each. On trout rod, 12-ft. fly rod, 2|, I Ib., five

small.
"April i3th. Bait ditto. On i2-ft. trout (fly) rod. Morning, three of

il Ibs, ; afternoon, !-§-, 3!, 5l, 5!, and 7 Ibs.
" April I4th. i, 2| Ibs., three small.

" April 1 5th. 2|, 3!-, 6|-, •§• Ib. Several times broken by heavier fish.
" From 20th to 23rd April, bait ground nut and atta, steel wire traces,

19, 14, 13, 9, 6j, 5, 5, 2j, and several of i to 2 Ibs. Line broken five

times by heavy fish.
" April 29th. A heavy fish ran out 1 20 yards of line, and wound line

round a rock. Had to smash ; besides, I went down stream about

300 yards with him.
" This is not quite a full record, but as near as I can give.

"G. H. BIGG-WITHER."

A fisherman helps me with the following knowledge of localities irk
Burmah.

As soon as he gets out again he —

" hopes to get some labeo out of the moat round the fort at Mandalay, and",
also out of the ponds in the Palace Gardens, where I know them to be
numerous. In a small pond some twenty-five yards square (which I believe
used to be the bathing place of Queen Soopyalat and her maids of honour),
a warrant officer in the Ordnance Department (I believe he was) used to
catch a great many. I saw one just after he had landed it, which weighed
29 Ibs. There are several of these ponds in the gardens, all connected m
such a way that the fish can move from one to another.

" I have no doubt that all suitable rivers in Burma contain Mahseer ; in
the Irrawaddy there must be some as large as 'dug outs.' I have only
fished in the undermentioned, and only in No. i to any extent.

" i. Nampoung. In Bhamo district, thirty-two miles from Bhamo, easy
to reach, and full of fish. Captain S. G. Radcliffe of my regiment
(3rd Burma) got a Mahseer of 60 Ibs. where this stream runs into the
Taping river ; this was the best of several good fish.

" 2. Namsiri Choung (Choung = river, Burmese). In Bhamo district.
Best fishing place is where river leaves the hills, about eleven miles from

392 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

Bhamo. We never got anything over 5 Ibs. here, but the river is well worth
an occasional try to anyone stationed in Bhamo.

" 3. Namlee Kha (Kha = river, Kachin). This river rises, I believe, near
Fort Harrison (Sadon). I fished it where the Sadon road first crosses it.
A Mahseer of 18 Ibs. was the best I saw turned over, with a number of
others, by a charge of dynamite in the spring of 1892, when the troops
camped there required some fresh food. It is in the Myitkyina district.

"4. Uru River, in the Mogoung district. This river is not easy to get
at, but should be tried by anyone who happens to be in the neighbourhood.
,When at the Jade Mines (Fort O'Donriell, Sankah [Kachin]), in 1891, we
used to get a few Mahseer, and had we been well supplied with tackle would
undoubtedly have caught a lot. I caught a few small ones with flies (small
trout flies).

" I know of labeo only in Nos. i and 2 of above, but expect they are also
to be found in the others. The rivers begin to clear the second week in
September, and are for the most part in good order by ist October."

He was also good enough to refer me to the following communica-
tion of his to the Asian of 2Oth April, 1894 : —

FISHING WHERE TWO EMPIRES MEET.

"The Nampoung River, which at present forms part of the frontier
between Upper Burma and the Chinese province of Yunnan, is a thirty-two
mile journey from Bhamo, easily managed with transport in two days. On
the side of the hill above the river valley is a small fort occupied from
Bhamo, where a visitor, piscatorial or otherwise, is sure of finding lodging
and welcome from the solitary British officer in command.

" The river averages about thirty yards in width, and empties itself into
the Taping, a tributary of the Irrawnddy, about two miles below the fort.
In this two miles there are a dozen splendid Mahseer pools, and the inter-
vening water is almost all worth fishing.

" The Taping is unfortunately always coloured, or would be a grand
fishing river. About two years ago there was a fine pool formed, where the
Nampoung and Taping join, and R. of my regiment, who was here at that
time, had three good fish out of it of 60 Ibs., 50 Ibs., and 20 Ibs. Since then
the Taping has changed its course somewhat, and the pool is spoilt by its
muddy water. I have taken a few small fish there, the biggest i| Ibs., with
worm, but have never been able to move anything with any spinning bait.
In the Nampoung, above the fort, the fish run small. The best I have
taken in that part was 2 Ibs. 5 ozs., but the walking is very much easier than
lower down, and there is no necessity for crossing the stream as often as one
is obliged to among the big rocks below.

" My first stay here was from April to July last year, and the river was
fishable up to the middle of June, when the rains came down in earnest and

CHAP. xxvi. Burmah. 393

spoilt sport. I regret that I kept no record of the fish I caught then, but
the number was certainly not less than 450, of which the biggest scaled
just over 10 Ibs. My best day's bag I remember was forty-two.

" I have now been here since the beginning of the year, and up to the
3ist of March have taken 319 fish, eighteen over 2 Ibs., best fish 93- Ibs.,
remainder of all sizes from 3 or 4 ozs. upwards. I was out on thirty-two
days (not always fishing all day by any means), which gives an average of
ten nearly a day. I have only three times got more than one fish over

2 Ibs. in the day's fishing. On January ist, out of eight, one of 6 Ibs., one

3 Ibs., and one 2 Ibs. ; on January 3rd, out of nine, one of 3 Ibs., and one
2 Ibs. ; on February ist, out of nine, one of 9!- Ibs., and one 7 Ibs. 9 ozs.
These last two fish I got immediately one after the other at the head of the
same pool.

" From the above it will be seen that the fish here, though plentiful, do
not run very large, I doubt there being any over 1 5 Ibs. in the river, but
with a light rod anything over a pound gives plenty of sport, for they are as
game as, if not gamer than, any trout. I only once caught a big trout, that
was one of 3! Ibs., in an Irish lake, and he certainly had not half the dash
of many a smaller Nampoung Mahseer.

" There are at least eight kinds of fish in this river. Of these Barbus
Tor is by far the most numerous and sporting. All the others, I regret, I
cannot name. Perhaps some of them may be identified from the following
descriptions : —

" i. A fish with four feelers, very like Barbus Tor, but with smaller
mouth and more silvery colour ; fins strongly tinged with red. I did not
get a specimen over I Ib. A day's bag would comprise one or two of these,
weighing as a rule from 4 to 12 ozs. I never took one of these fish with
spinning bait.

" 2. A fish with two feelers (I forget whether on upper or lower jaw)
resembles Barbus Tor, but the golden sheen brighter and more metallic,
mouth bigger and less leathery, body shallower — a very handsome fish. I
have only caught three of these, about j- Ib. in weight. They are less bony
and better eating, I think, than Barbus Tor.

" 3. A small fish, the general colour of a murral, covered with egg-shaped
black spots. It has a very small pointed mouth like an eel's, adorned with
many (I forget how many) feelers. I have only caught one of these in this
river, about seven inches long. Judging from this one, a big specimen of
the kind would give very good sport.

" 4. Exactly similar to, and probably only a variety of, Barbus Tor, but
with first spine of dorsal fin serrated. I caught three or four of these in the
dirty water of the Taping.

"5. Chilwa, a small sort not exceeding four inches in length, a bright
silver with vertical dark slashes, or occasional horizontal pale green lines,
on the sides. These make a very good bait. They take a fly readily, and
I have caught them sometimes on a No. I spoon thrown as a fly.

394 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

" 6. Murral. I have never caught these here, but saw two small ones
about five inches long taken by the natives (Kachins) in a casting net.

"7. A labeo of some sort. I caught one small one last summer with
worm. One other that I got on March I5th last of 6 Ibs. 2 ozs. was foul
hooked on the off pectoral fin. I thought at first it was a monster Mahseer,
but it made no first rush to speak of, and played altogether differently,
spending its time moving slowly but strongly about the bottom. It took
about half an hour to land, and the top of my rod broke off clean at the
ferrule just at the end of the struggle. By a great piece of luck the hook
,held, but fell out as soon as the fish was in the landing-net, a minute or so
after the breakage. The pool this labeo came from is full of them, many of
a good size, up to twelve pounds I should say. Just about sunset they move
about near the surface, often showing a broad back out of the water. At
this time of the day, too, they rise as if they were taking something from the
top of the water, but I have never been able to see what they were after, and
am inclined to think that the pretended rising is only a part of the evening
entertainment, and has nothing to do with the evening meal. I should
much like to know how to catch these fish in a river, for they are decidedly
worth catching. Except in the case of the little one first mentioned, I have
not caught any fairly ; the foul hook must have been an egregious fluke, and
cannot count. I have tried them with paste of rice and of atta without
avail. Thomas, in the 'Rod in India,' only says he had no luck with labeo
in rivers, but I imagine they are to be caught if one only knew how.

" Besides the above fishing with worm one gets an eel here occasionally
in the quiet water — beasts with very small mouths, and ventral and dorsal
fins extending to the tail.

"At this point I must confess that the much-despised worm has been
responsible for nearly all my fish here. I gave spoons and spun dead bait a
fair trial when I first came here, and use them now occasionally, but whether
it be from my want of skill in spinning, or from some other reason, the worm
in my experience is far the most paying bait for this river. A cricket is
nearly, perhaps, quite as good, but crickets can only be procured in any
numbers in May and June. A grasshopper is good sometimes. I know a
good many men are of opinion that anybody, fisherman or no, can put a
worm on a hook and forthwith catch fish galore. This is assuredly not the
case, not even as far as putting on a worm goes. Others say that it is dirty
work. Well, it is ; the virgin whiteness of one's hands is somewhat sullied
by meddling with worms, but if this matters there is generally sufficient
water in the immediate neighbourhood of an angler to render an occasional
wash the simplest matter. Catching Mahseer spinning is the nicest method
undoubtedly, but catching them with worm is better than not catching them
with a spinner, and is of itself a very pleasant sport. I have used here
continually a 12-foot fly rod, not too whippy, a light line and single trace
of stoutish gut, both for spinning and worm ; nothing bigger is necessary.
Some anglers will get all the exercise possible, and, to my mind, more than

CHAP. xxvi. Northern India. 395

enough ; they prefer, therefore, a two-handed rod and tackle to match.
This, as I say, is not necessary in a small river. A Mahseer's first rush set
down takes him out of the pool he lives in, but big or little rod is a matter
of taste about which, proverbially, * it is not meet to be disputed.'

" Anyhow, the fishing in this river is right good for anyone who is con-
tented with less than monsters, and a month's leave could most pleasantly
and profitably be spent here by any fisherman happening to be stationed in
or visiting Upper Burma, who has no good river nearer him ; nor is this
the only river in the Bhamo district which holds fish to be caught. There
are many all about the Kachin hills. This, however, is the best I know
comfortably get-at-able in a short time.

"There is no shooting here in the near neighbourhood, as the hills
around are covered with jungle thick as the 'lush and lusty grass' in a
hayfield at home before mowing time. A very lucky persevering gunner
might get a shot at a panther, sambhur or barking deer, or even a tiger, for
they are all about the place, as their tracks here and there by the riverside
testify. I have shot a jungle fowl and quail or two, and two partridges of
the sort called by Hume and Marshall * Indo-Chinese Bamboo,' I think.
But the fishing is the thing ; it is worth all the physic in the world, and
almost makes up for the want of society to the solitary man stationed here.
Long live Barbus Tor ! May he increase and multiply, and die game when
his time comes. "EARTHWORM."

BENGAL.
Extract from the " The Field" of gth October, 1869.

" Having had some excellent sport, Mahseer fishing, in the previous
years, A. and I determined upon seeing what the capabilities of the Poonch
river really were. A trip of this kind of course requires considerable pre-
paration in a country away from tackle-makers, and where gut rots almost
as soon as it arrives. Strong lines also are absolutely necessary ; they must
be two hundred yards long, and have a reel capable of holding that length.
We knew by experience how fatal these monsters were to tackle — even
treble gut — and to hooks, which they managed to break, bend, or straighten
in a most mysterious * way.

"We were prepared and equipped for a start on March ist, 1867, and
had our Murree cart at the door for our sixty-mile drive, which we accom-
plished in five hours. These carts reflect great credit on Mr. Faichnie,
Inspector of H.M.'s Mail at Rawul Pindee, who invented them. They have
four seats, back to back, fore and aft, placed just above the axle-tree. The
shafts run through the whole length of the cart, which is substantially built,
and has the centre of gravity so low that it would be next to an impossibility
to overturn it. Two horses are always used, one in the shafts and the other

* See remarks on compression, pages 48, 52, 270.

396 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

attached to an outrigger ; and keeping the horses at full gallop is by far the
most comfortable motion for passengers. Nothing can be simpler than the
harness. One horse carries a saddle to support the shafts, a crupper, and a
padded chest strap, to which are fastened the traces ; and the other has
merely the chest strap. Horses are changed every six miles, and, as the
coachman blows his horn as soon as he gets within earshot of the changing
place, two fresh horses are ready by the time the cart is brought to a stand-
still. Two minutes effect the change, and off the cart is again at a hand
gallop. A fifteen-mile ride from the trunk road, where we left the cart, took
us to our destination, the junction of the Poonch and Jhelum, about twenty
miles north of the town of Jhelum.

" The Poonch rises in the Pir Punjal, a Himalayan range to the south of
the Kashmir Valley, and after a course of 1 20 miles or so, falls into the
Jhelum. In spring time the Poonch is about the size of the Tweed at
Coldstream, but the pools are deeper, and the streams more rapid ; I fancy
they run about a mile an hour quicker than in the Tweed. We reached our
camp about five in the evening in high spirits, the weather looking very
promising, though the water was lower than we quite liked. Our tents
were pitched close to the junction. Our servants had all arrived, and were
busily preparing dinner ; so we employed our time in putting our rods
together (Irish rods, preferable to all other when ready, but troublesome to
put together), and strolled up the river to view the scene of our exploits of
the previous year. As fishing from a boat was more effective than wading,
we were made a little anxious by the non-arrival of a native boat from some
six miles up the river, as we had sent a man for it several days before.

" Early to bed and early to rise was the order of the day, and next
morning we were both up by daylight. A. commenced fishing in a grand
deep pool, with a high bank on one side, and I began at the junction a
quarter of a mile below him. Neither of us had even a rise ; so at nine we
returned to breakfast, and after our meal, to our great delight, the boat
appeared in sight. It was a huge, cumbersome, flat-bottomed, square ended
machine, with two enormous oars, roughly hewn out of a tree. We had two
men for each oar, besides a steerer. We were soon on board and at work.
My third try with spoon in the pool was successful, hooking a fish of 30 Ibs.
or so ; but after playing him for some minutes, and just as I was about to
land him, a swivel broke, and he was seen no more. When I had some-
what recovered my equanimity, I began again with a phantom minnow,
about the size of a |-lb. fish ; hooked another, and had him a short time,
when, after a vigorous run, the rod straightened, the line slacked, and I
discovered the hooks drawn, an instance of how silk and cobbler's wax dry
up in India. No sooner had I put on another phantom than I lost it, and a
whole casting line, by fouling a rock. This last disaster most effectually
disgusted me, for our supplies of phantoms, lines, etc., though very ample,
could never last at my rate of expenditure. However, I persevered, and our
bag for the day consisted of five fish, of 35 Ibs., 29 Ibs., 17 Ibs., 7 Ibs., and

CHAP. xxvi. Northern India. 397

3 Ibs. respectively, which was not bad, as we had not a rise before three
in the afternoon, and it was dark by six. The water was rather thick,
especially in the pool. At dinner we discussed the failures and successes of
the day, repaired our damaged tackle, devised fresh schemes for capturing
the wily Mahseer, and then turned in, so as to be up and ready by daylight.

" Our custom was t_> fish from daylight (about half-past five o'clock) till
nine or ten, and not start again till between two and three, when we fished
till dark. Our time between breakfast and our start in the afternoon was
always fully occupied in repairing tackle, whipping fresh hooks, or making
entirely new lines, so that the time never hung heavy on our hands.

" Next morning A. tried the junction with fly, as the water was somewhat
clearer, but without success. At times, however, Mahseer rise well ; by far
the most deadly fly — indeed, the only one that appears to tempt them — was
Madras jungle-cock feathers in the wings ; if with silver body all the better.
While A. was wading at the junction I fished from the boat in the pool, and
landed one of 18 Ibs. Shortly afterwards we changed places— A. fished
from the boat, and I waded. I first tried fly, but not getting a rise, put on
a phantom. Hooked one, played him for some time, and lost him ; so then,
as it was quite breakfast time, I walked back to camp, where I found A. in
great glee, having just brought home a splendid fish of 40 Ibs. In addition
to this monster he had hooked five others, all of which got away. As the
day turned out cloudy, and our keenness was redoubled by the sight of the
4o-pounder, off we started soon after breakfast, and made a brilliant begin-
ning by landing a 36 Ibs. and 40 Ibs. between us. Then came a lull, and
we did nothing till the afternoon was well advanced ; then we had sport
indeed. On our return to camp there were laid out before our admiring
gaze, as the result of our day's sport, seven fish, of 44 Ibs., 40 Ibs., 36 Ibs.,
1 8 Ibs., and 14 Ibs., making a total of 210 Ibs. — a feat as regards actual
weight for number of fish seldom, if ever, surpassed in rod fishing, and as
regards sport certainly unequalled. I have never seen salmon run as
vigorously or as long as these fish ; they are game to the backbone ; and,
bearing in mind that we were fishing with treble gut, it will be seen that
their powers of endurance are very great, for I never spare my fish — in fact,
I fear I lost some by being over severe with them. During their run they
take out the line so very quickly, that one has the greatest difficulty in
preventing it from hanking on the reel, in consequence of the bar on which
the line is wound revolving after the fish stops running. At first I fished
with reel and rings under the rod, but I found that did not answer, as some
of the rings were cut through in a couple of days by the friction of the line ;
so I was speedily converted to the Irish fashion of reversing the rod as soon
as a fish was hooked, thereby having the reel and rings uppermost, and so
placing all the strain and friction on the rod itself. Another advantage was,
that by so doing one was enabled to prevent the line hanking in the reel by
pressing one's fingers against the line. This plan was effective, but not
always agreeable, as I found to my cost, occasionally having had the tips of

398 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

my fingers blistered. While on the subject of reels, I might mention that
no reels of English manufacture that I have ever seen have hard enough
metal in the cog or cog-wheel of the check. I was using on this fishing
expedition a new reel of Farlow's, and in six days the teeth of the cog-wheel
had almost disappeared, the space between the plates being filled with brass
filings. In a reel intended for Mahseer fishing, all the parts that have to
bear friction should be made of well-tempered steel.

"At sunrise next day I again tried the pool, but did not even get an
offer ; so I strolled up the river, attended by my shikari, who, by-the-bye,
was quite new at this kind of sport. He took to it very keenly, however,
and soon became very handy at landing fish, which was done in a way
rather surprising to a man accustomed only to the gaff or landing-net.
When the fish is nearly exhausted, the man walks quietly into the water,
gets behind the fish, gently runs his hands along his back until they reach
his gills, then slips his thumbs into the gills and lifts the fish out of the
water. This mode of capture sounds very simple, and it is so if the fish
does not see the man ; but if he does, off he goes for another run. Mahseer
have no dread of being handled ; they keep perfectly quiet during the time
the man runs his fingers along their back, and even remain motionless
while the hook is being taken out, as long as they are held up ; but no
sooner are they placed on the ground than they commence kicking and
jumping in the most violent manner.

" When I had walked two miles I came upon a very lively-looking piece
of water by some mills, which I fished diligently with fly, spoon, and
phantom till I was pretty well tired out by the exertion and the sun, which
was well up by this time ; and the day promised to be very hot. So I turned
homewards ; and when I had finished my two-mile walk over boulders and
deep sand, I was quite prepared for my breakfast, which I found all ready,
and A. very anxious to begin. His morning bag was but little better
than mine, for he had only succeeded in landing an i8-pounder. In the
afternoon, when the day had got a little cooler, we set to work again. I
took a few casts in the pool, but stirred nothing, so went down to the
junction. Here the Poonch divides itself into four or five very tolerable
streams. I fished them all with every conceivable bait, but the only result
was a miserable 3-pounder, and that I hooked by the stomach. A., how-
ever, was much more successful. He had resolved to persevere in the pool,
and by so doing was rewarded by landing two, of 14 Ibs. and 38 Ibs., but,
with his usual bad luck, lost an enormous one. He had played him for
more than half an hour up and down the deep water, when he lost him by
the hooks drawing.

" Though, for some mysterious reason, I never had good sport in the
early morning fishing, still I was up again next morning by sunrise, and we
both tried the pool from the boat ; I literally did nothing — did not even
stir a fish ; but A. landed one of 19 Ibs. At 3 P.M. I went up the river and
fished the head of a small pool, with a glorious stream running into it,

CHAP. xxvi. Northern India. 399

close by some jutting rocks. Here I landed a 4-pounder and a 22-pounder
with phantom and spoon. I then tried a stream a little higher up. I
suspect the water was rather too heavy — at least, I stirred nothing ; so
having given the lower stream an hour's rest, I returned to it, and put on a
natural bait. I soon hooked and landed one of 14 Ibs., when I put on
a fresh bait, intending to have a few more casts before it got dark, it being
then a quarter to six, and rather cloudy. The bait had just come across
the stream and was entering the backwater, when I felt a vigorous tug, and
a monster rushed off down stream, with nearly 100 yards of line before I
managed to stop him.* Then he tried a run up stream to nearly opposite
where I was standing, then down again, then opposite me again, but on
quite the further side of the river, and there he sulked for the best part of
an hour, all' of which time I was keeping a very severe pull on him. Unfor-
tunately, I was fishing from a point of rock, and on my left hand, down
stream, was what is best described as ' a long bay ' of dead water, 50 yards
or so across, and between it and the stream was a bar, consisting of huge
rocks rising to within 2 feet or 3 feet of the surface, but with intervals
varying from 2 feet to 6 feet between them, so that getting below the fish
was quite out of the question. At last I managed to move him, and he
dashed down stream 70 or 80 yards, and sulked there. Now commenced
my task. I soon found that merely keeping a steady pull on him had no
effect, especially as he was now below me. The pressure I kept on him was
so great that attempting to wind up line simply caused the line to sink
between the coils already on the reel ; so my only plan was to draw in an
inch or so of the line with my hand, and then wind it up on the reel. By
dint of perseverance I succeeded in getting him up to within 20 yards or
so, and then not another inch could I gain ; but I managed to rile him
apparently, for off he rushed to the bottom of the stream again. Of course
by this time it was pitch dark, or else I should have been tempted to try
and effect a passage across the bar, with the almost certainty of going in
over head and ears. As it was, prudence carried the day, and I sat down on
a rock, put the butt of my rod between my legs, and lit a pipe. I then sent
my fisherman off to camp, about 2i miles over very rough ground, to order
some dinner to be brought out, besides dry shoes and socks, and a great-
coat. By the time the welcome sight of a lantern appeared it was near ten
o'clock, and all the time I had been fighting for every inch of line. There
was a splice in my line, and the struggle I had to get it on the reel is almost in-
credible. Time after time I felt it pass through my fingers and just reach the
reel, when the fish would shake his head, and pull it half-way down the rod again.
"After some little delay in collecting sticks and lighting the fire, I
managed to make a very tolerable meal, keeping a tight hold on the line
with one hand while I used the other for dinner purposes. Feeling much

* This goes to support my idea that 120 yards is enough. See Chapter XX.,
pp. 284, 286.

400 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

refreshed by my hasty repast, I devoted all my energies to my enemy with
redoubled ardour. After one or two runs, I fancied there appeared to be
something wrong with the reel, so, calling for a light, I examined it, and
found to my discomfort that the two screws which connect the reel with the
bar that was tied on to the rod were gone, and, of course, on the same side
as the handle ; the consequence was that the mere act of winding up caused
the reel to gape very considerably at this opening. I tried various methods
for remedying this mishap, such as getting my fisherman to hold it as
firmly as possible in his hands while I wound up line, etc. ; but I found
none of them so satisfactory as crossing my legs as I sat on the rock, and
pressing the reel against my left knee. This answered tolerably well, but it
was a somewhat awkward position to remain in for long. To make a long
story short, however, about 2 A.M. I prevailed on my fish to cross the bar
and have a swim in the deep, still pool. He gave two furious runs up and
down, I luckily just preventing him from returning to the stream, and then
I hauled him into a nice little shallow creek. The fisherman carefully
handled him, and he was secured. I made my man carry the captive some
yards from the water, and deposit him in a safe place, and then a most
pleasant sensation of triumph filled my heart, as by the light of the lantern
I gloated over the splendid fish which had fought so bravely and pluckily
for eight hours and a half. By this time it was 2.30 A.M., so my servants
shouldered the fish, pots and pans, and we started off home, floundering
about over the two miles and a half of boulders and shingle in pitch dark-
ness, as the lantern had burned out. On arrival I, of course, routed up A.,
and we weighed the fish. He just turned the scale at 52 Ibs., and was
4 feet 5 (inches in length, which I must confess rather disappointed me, as I
had landed in the previous year one of 57 Ibs. that had not given anything
like the sport of this one.

" A. had most patiently waited three hours for dinner, and then in despair
sat down to his solitary meal. My fisherman's appearance with my dinner
order was a great relief to his mind, as he was on the point of sending out
natives with lanterns to search the banks and pools of the river, fearing that
I had been carried down a rapid and stranded in some uncomfortable place,
even if nothing worse had occurred.

" On the following day we did not start till twelve, and had very poor
sport, only catching one of 7 Ibs. each — attributable, I think, to there having
been a thunderstorm in the hills during the night. We had serious thoughts
of moving our camp a few miles up the river.

" Two friends arrived next morning in time for breakfast ; though we
had fished in the early morning, we had bagged nothing. In the afternoon
I went 3 miles up the river, and caught three in a beautiful rocky stream,
losing a phantom ; then, finding that a small boat we had ordered from
higher up the river had arrived, I tried a deep narrow pool from it. I soon
hooked a fine fellow, certainly over 14 Ibs., played him for nearly an hour,
when he sulked ; and, as no amount of stone throwing or pulling would

CHAP. xxvi. Northern India. 401

move him from his position behind a big rock, I got into the boat to go
across. That started him, but unluckily he passed a sharp rock, and cut the
line. This drove me nearly frantic — not only losing the fish after having
played him for so long, but on account of its being the second phantom I
had lost that day ; and besides, if I had only had a little more patience, and
not crossed the river, I probably would have bagged him. Afterwards I
caught four small ones with spoon. A. had a blank day, but one of our
friends, M., landed a 24-pounder.

" Our next five days' fishing was much in the same style as I have
described. We moved our camp some 3 miles up the river, between two
pools. Every day we made good bags, averaging about 100 Ibs. a day. A.
was always very unlucky with big fish ; somehow, they invariably came to
me. Once a 43-pounder that I had hooked, after a good deal of play,
sulked in a most determined way ; nothing would move him. Bearing in
mind how my line had been cut a few days previous, I was very patient
with him, but it struck me as being rather odd that I could not stir him at
all. So at last A. went over the place in the boat ; and, finding that the
line was round a rock, he very cleverly cleared the line. Luckily, the fish
was nearly drowned, and became an easy capture ; but, from the amount
of slack line that flew back in my face the moment the line was freed,
though I was running back from the shore and winding up as fast as I
could, that very disagreeable sensation of ' He's off,' which every fisherman
must know, came over me. In this instance, however, my alarm was
groundless, as the fish still proved to be on. Another day I lost a fine
fish, that I had played for the best part of an hour, and had completely
tired out, by a swivel breaking, making the second good fish lost in that way.

" The accompanying table shows the particulars of each day's sport :

March. Respective weights of fish in pounds.

Ibs.

2nd. 35, 29, 17, 7, 3 (lost 3 fish) ........ 5 91

3rd. 44, 40, 40. 36, 18, 18, 14 (lost 6 fish) . . . . 7 210

4th. 38, 1 8, 14, 3 (lost 3 fish) .... . . 4 73

5th. 52, 22, 19, 14, 4 (lost 2 fish) . . . . 5 in

6th. 7, 7 (lost 2 fish) . . . . . . . . 2 14

7th. 17, 16, 10, 8, 3, 2 (lost 3 fish) ...... 6 56

8th. 30, 18, 10, 8, 5£, 3, 3, 2, 2, 2, i (lost 3 fish) . . n 84

9th. 25,24, 18,16, n, 10,8, 8,8, 7, 7, 5, 4, 3 (lost 2 fish) 14 154

loth. 43, 28, 24, 18, 11, 9, 8, 8, 7, 7, 5, 14, 4, 3, 3, 2,

2, 2 (lost 4 fish) * ........ 18 221

i ith. 33, 13, 10, 7, 5, 5, 5, 4^, 4, 3^, 3^, 2j, 2 (lost 3 fish) 13 98

I2th. 30, 3 .............. 2 33

* There is seemingly an error of 23 Ibs. of detail here, as the totals of numbers
and of weights agree with the 87 fish weighing 1145 Ibs., and with the average
calculated thereon in the next paragraph.

THE ROD IN INDIA. 2 D

402 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

" In eleven days 87 fish were caught, weighing 1 145 Ibs ; being an average
of rather more than 13 Ibs. 2| ozs. each.

" I hope I have been able to convey to your readers some idea of what
splendid sport Mahseer fishing is in India, especially in a good river. For
gameness and vigour the Mahseer, to my thinking, is superior to any
salmon ; his rushes are grand. His not taking fly as readily as bait is, of
course, a drawback. A friend has landed a 63-pounder in splendid con-
dition with fly ; but still it is undeniable that a man fishing with bait,
natural or artificial, will make a heavier bag than one fishing with fly only.
As far as my experience goes, phantom minnows, natural bait, and spoon
are all equally good, and I invariably gave them all a try over the same
water. I used to weight my line very heavily, putting on at least the weight
of an Enfield bullet, and to that * I attribute my catching heavier fish than
A. The phantoms we used were at least 6 inches long. Big fish, however,
have been landed with much smaller ones. The principal objection to the
small phantoms is the difficulty f of being able to use hooks strong enough.
My favourite spoon was the size of a dessert spoon.

" The sun in the day time in March is powerful, the nights are very cool
— almost cold. The previous year we fished in April; even then living
under canvas is bearable ; but the great objection is not so much the actual
heat as the constant dread of the snows melting, for when that happens an
end is of course put to all sport for the season. %

" Our two friends landed 339 Ibs. of fish, but caught none of any very
great size. They were fishing five days. In the previous year three rods
(of which I was one) caught 700 Ibs. in five days, averaging over i8j Ibs.
each, in this same river, the Poonch. In one day we landed 358 Ibs.

" K."

Extract from the "Asian" of 2nd September, 1879.

"In most localities, it is quite out of the question going out in July,
August, and September. The rain is one hindrance, muddy § water another,
fever, etc., a good third. The consequence is, no one ventures out, except
perhaps once or twice during what should be ' close ' time. The only true
fishing months may, therefore, be confined to October and November, and

from February to the rains.

******

" First, then, Mirzapore is the railway station, and thence some 25 miles

* Because the Mahseer is mainly a bottom feeder, and a great fish eater. See
pages 45 and 46.

t This difficulty is got over by a hook made specially for Mahseer. — See page 269.

\ Colonel Parsons has now shown us that we may still continue fishing by his
method. Chapter IX.

§ This difficulty is now overcome. See Chap ter IX.

CHAP. xxvi. Northern India. 403

down the Rewah road is a dak, or rather a road bungalow, to which, whilst
I was stationed at Mirzapore, the courteous engineer never refused entry ;
supplies and servants must be taken, as no establishment is kept ; per-
mission to occupy the bungalow must be obtained. In the hotter months
and rains the shelter is a necessity ; and in the cold weather tents are
preferable. The river, the Beylun, is about 30x3 yards from the bungalow,
and the best fishing is just above and just below the bridge, an ' Irish ' one.
Here, on nth October, my diary reminds me of the capture of a full 12 Ib.
fish, and with the recital I give the description of two flies used before the
Mahseer was landed.

" It is four years ago now since I first camped at Buroundah, where
the road bungalow is. The river had just cleared, and my bag with a
medium-sized' fly, yellow all round except a black feather tail, was three
good fish, the largest scaling 3|lbs. This was encouraging, because I
have been told I should get no fishing in the district. I changed my fly
for one of a larger size, with a dark blue body, broad silver tinsel, no
hackle, wing of peacock harl and ' ruffed ' with buff- coloured silk. Three
pools below the bridge I was into a good fish, but after the first rush the
line came away slack. He had gone, quite a yard of good stout salmon
gut and a good fly lost. It was late, so we (a friend had joined me) went
back to camp.

" Next morning we shot. In the evening my double-handed trout rod,
a beauty, with treble gut, was sailing a fly over the first pool under the
bridge. The fly was a large one, as I now knew heavy fish were to be got,
but until close on dusk there had not been a rise. Three good pools fished
from both banks resulted in blanks, but I sat down and chose a fly as nearly
as possible similar to the one I had lost, and soon felt myself safe in some-
thing good, I shouted with joy, and my chum S. soon came up. We had to
light a lantern, and by its aid at last I landed my first, and, alas, my last 12 Ibs.
in the Beylun. Unhooking him, we found the fly he had carried off the day
before firmly fast in him, and the gut trailing. 1 have never seen such a
thing happen before. It was rather curious, too, that a fish should, after
being struck the day before, remain about the same rapids ; but I am one
of those who do not believe the finny tribe are very sensitive about the
mouth. I wish I could give coloured plates of the flies that are killing, but
I cannot even draw. From Buroundah we returned to Lallgunj, and here
a pretty fair bag of trout rewarded us. The little stream is ' little indeed/
Sometimes almost running dry, but half pound trout on a very light Castle
Connel rod was not bad fun, and over six brace was our reward.

" Let us return to Buroundah. The rapids below the bridge end in a
very deep pool and long one, full of alligators, but if you have time follow it
down and you enter the Allahabad district, — famous for pig sticking, good
for gaiety, and noted for a charming club and a charming secretary. Many
runs have I had with him. I would they could be multiplied indefinitely.

2 D 2

404 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

But in those days we had a ' collector.' The ' glory ' is departed ; yet in
good hands Allahabad will still show sport ; I believe now is showing it.

" I have sadly digressed. As I have said, go below the big pool under
the rapids of Buroundah, and from thence to ' Pathurpore ' near ' Koolsara.'
A I fishing, but the water must be clear, and the angler keep well out of
sight ; dark flies are the best, and I always used them. Let me describe
one that will take splendidly. But why should I ? ' The Rod in India' has
christened it the Blackamoor.

" Then, again, we are now in the Allahabad district, Sohra to Khurkha
is splendid fishing ground the whole way, and there is a place I do not quite
remember, but think it is called ' Mai,' and is close to ' Kohrar ; ' here I
caught my best fish in nearly still water, fishing just the break of the rapids ;
all these places are best reached, I think, from the wayside railway station
of ' Sirsa.' Any friend in Allahabad could give information. The Beylun
joins the 'Tons,' and the fishing from Sohra to Khurkha and at ' Mai ' is on
the Tons. In this latter river I was indebted to a brother sportsman for one
of the best flies I ever threw. We had to make them up, and he showed me
how.

" Body Austrian grey, silver tinsel, tail of two bustard feathers and wings
of the same. It is a splendid fly, and I am much indebted for good sport to
my friend. Here my experiences of Mirzapore and Allahabad end.

" DOON."

Extract from the "Asian" of October 14^, 1879.

" The next district I touch on is Jhansi. It is a fine sporting district,
deer, hares, grouse, and ducks are plentiful. Snipe are not very plentiful,
but still they are to be got with a little trouble. Leopards are very numerous,
but owing to the rocky nature of the country not easily driven, and very
wary. The fishing is excellent.

" I am not quite certain of the distances, but the Pahooj river runs about
3 miles from Jhansi, and holds some of the finest trout I have ever seen.
The Babarie, about 4 miles on the opposite side, almost beats it, and the
Betwa and Dessaun give fine Mahseer.

" Everything, however, in these streams must be taken at ' the tide.'

"The Betwa and Dessaun are raging torrents till October, and then
you must be down and get all you can of fishing or the streams simply
* dribble,' and ' still-water ' fishing is all that can be had. The Babarie and
Pahooj clear rather rapidly, especially the former, and I hardly know
prettier trout-fishing than the Babarie affords. As both these streams are
minor ones, the best fishing is to be got in a break of the rains. I used
always to go past the cavalry lines, through a gate in the Custom's hedge,
and down to the stream where it cuts the Oorcha or Tehree road. Fish
down stream. You get splendid fun. Do not despise the water because it

CHAP. xxvi. Northern India. 405

is rather sluggish at places, and does not look deep. Lower and about
4 miles from Jhansi off the Burwa Sagar road, is the best and deepest pool ;
but though there are numbers of fish in it, I do not remember ever to have
taken there one good trout. No reason why others should not, but it was
puzzling.

" Oorcha, the ancient capital of the Raja of Teekumgarh or Tehree, has
a wall old and broken, in parts made of loose rocks and boulders piled up,
and I fear to say of how many miles in circumference. It is 7 miles,
probably. A Gazetteer would simplify matters. The ruins are grand.
Here we had many a merry party, and many a jolly day. The Betwa runs
close under the old temples, and fish are fairly numerous, though I have
never seen one above 8 Ibs. The rapids are splendid, and there is a dam
below the old city, which was once unbreached, but has been neglected, and
now has one or two rifts in it, and the waters pour through in wild disorder.
Many a good fish have I taken there.

" Most successful was a fly I describe now. Body orange wool, gold
twist, yellow tail and yellow wings, with a ' taste ' of red on the shoulders.
It is very killing.

"Another. Body dark yellow, tag of peacock harl, wings black with
a few peacock harl in it. I found, however, bright English Salmon flies
take well too.

" Then the country *above Oorcha is splendid. The scenery all the
heart could desire, and the Betwa winds through forest lands, now one
united stream, and now through several channels, sometimes clear of trees,
and more often bordered by them thickly. Fishing is grand, and so is it
all on to the bridge over the Jhansi and Lullutpore road. I would like once
again to camp up the Betwa's banks from Oorcha to the bridge on the road,
and fish the old pool. Just above the bridge, too, is one of the finest pools
in the river. It is a ' still ' pool, and requires fishing, but has given good
sport. I have given no fly for the Pahooj or Babaries, but here they are,
and I am indebted for a knowledge of the first to a friend about those
parts : —

" i. Body red, silver twist, wings black, tipped with white (the common
Myna will furnish this or the turkey), hook rather small.

" 2. The ' red spinner.'

" 3. The ' black spinner,' with silver twist. I found gold twist
answer too.

" The above are probably the best flies, but there may be others. My
experience of Jhansi dates only over a year. There are others there who,
if they would, could give better information. Then the Dessaun. I hate
the river ! There are lots of fish in it, though I do not think so many as in
the Betwa, but I never could get a bag out of it.

" The ' Ghat ' off the road from Jhansi to Nowgong, about 38 miles from
Jhansi, and 15 or so from Nowgong, is the place I would choose to try my
luck. From thence one can fish some rapids about a mile and a half down

406 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

stream, and some two miles up stream, besides what fishing one could get
immediately above and below the Ghat itself. Veiy fine trout are to be had
above and below the ' cold weather ' bridge. There is a good pucka road
from Jhansi to Nowgong, and on both banks of the river, bungalows, per-
mission to occupy which has never, to my knowledge, been refused.

" Then there is Mow, near Raneepore, about 30 miles from Jhansi, and
8 miles from the Ghat. You must pass Mow, if my old friend will let you
get to the Ghat, and there, though there is a dak bungalow, with a ' call '
or without one, the chances are you will not be allowed to occupy it, but
be most hospitably entertained, and welcomed by as good-hearted a man,
and as jolly a sportsman as ever stepped. What is more, he would beat
most fellows into ' fits,' with a gun, and just pride himself on showing you
the best sport to be had all round his place, so one cannot do better than
visit Mow, if thereabouts.

"Chirgaon is about 18 miles, if I rightly remember, from Jhansi, on
the Jaloun road. There is here a road bungalow, but the good fishing
ground on the Betwa, which is about 3 miles from Chirgaon, is at and
about a place called Goolara, some 3 to 4 miles on the Jhansi side of
Chirgaon.

"The fishing from Goolara to Dhunna is magnificent but you must
'tent' it, and remember, that though your 'rises,' and probably 'takes,'
will be numerous, the fish will very seldom exceed 7 Ibs. I do not remem-
ber ever trying spinning, but from what I saw of fish in the pools from high
banks, my impression is, they do not run to any greater size in the rivers of
Jhansi and Lullutpore than 12 to 15 Ibs. My experience of these districts
is respectively about a year each, and therefore I am open to correction, but
I think that the instances of fish caught over 10 Ibs. (Mahasir) are rare.
But after all, there is more fun and greater enjoyment in playing a 10 Ib.
or 6 Ib., with a light rod and fine tackle, than working and worrying on
, for a big fish with rods and tackle that might be described as ' Piscatorial
Woolwich Infants ! ' No more now from yours. DOON."

Mr. G. Sanderson tells me Riawalla near Hurdwar is the place of
places to go to in January. That it is not so good in February, and
useless in March.

Extract from the "Asian" of 2$>th October, 1879.

" It is best now to journey up country, and before going elsewhere, let us
take the Eastern Doon. Many know it well, and will remember happy
hours along the banks of the Ganges, the Song, and the Sooswa.

" The Song flows behind the Kalunga Hill, once crowned by a fortress,
famous for its defence by the Goorkhalies. From Dehra you go to Kalapani,
and thence over the hill to a tributary stream, following which down its
junction with the Song, gives the first pool I have tried.

CHAP. xxvi. Northern India. 4°7

" Here in August, September, and a part of October, good fish are to be
taken, up to 8 Ibs., at any rate, though larger are in the waters, and may be
got by spinning. I once saw a fish certainly over 30 Ibs. in this stream,
but nothing would tempt him.

" All down the Song the fishing till October is good, but after that there
is but little water in it, and, indeed, it almost dries up altogether.

" The Sooswa flows past Kansaras, a place once famous for all kinds of
game, but now its glory has departed. Fine Trout and Mahseer fishing is
to be had all down the Sooswa, and where the Song and Sooswa join is a
splendid pool with heavy fish.

"Jamun Khatta, below the junction, is well worth staying at. Good
Trout and good Mahseer, and plenty of them. Down the river some few
miles, you get to the junction of the Sooswa and Ganges, and here are
splendid fish, as large as any river in India can furnish ; but here spinning
pays best.

"Up near the hills, where the Ganges leaves the Himalayas, is
Tuppobun, with its splendid scenery and grand pools. Lower down,
Rickee Khase, with equally good water, and so on, till you come to
Hurdwar, with its ' Myapore Bridge,' the * Bund,' and * Dam,' all well-
known ground.

" The fish, though, are getting more and more shy, and it is not always
that a ' bag ' is to be made. Under the Myapore Bridge, hundreds of
swallows have their nests, and many a large fish has been caught with a
swallow, or rather martin (as I believe they are) tied on to a hook, and used
as a bait.

" I rigged up a very large hook in imitation of a swallow, and tried it
years ago, but only bagged one fish. They do not seem to take freely now.
The 'escape' (I called it the ' Dam') is a fine piece of trolling water, but
one has to be careful spinning, as there are ' snags,' or were — I speak of
days long ago.

" Below Hurdwar is Kunkhal, but unless the escape is open, few fish will
be risen, though lower down the pools deepen, and just above the bridge of
boats at Jheesumwalla Ghat, in one morning before breakfast, I happily
landed two fish over 20 Ibs. each, and three others, none under 10 Ibs. ; a
good morning's work !

" Lower still, down towards Asufgurh, one day's bag reached 146 Ibs.,
the best fish weighing 27! Ibs. This water is splendid fishing, and once
again may I tread its banks. Further down yet Mahseer are to be got,
but only one ever rewarded my efforts with fly. Bait fishing must be
resorted to. The places to fish are the ' Kooties.' Fakirs build themselves
small habitations on the Ganges, and they generally wash their grain in
the river, even if they do not throw the remnants of their dinner into
it ; but often they feed the fish, and a hook baited with atta is sure to
give sport.

" But at the Ghat, over the Ganges between Bijpore " (or should it be

408 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

Bijnore?) " and Meerut, another kind of sport may be had — very exciting in
its way, and hard work too.

" When the bridge is ' up,' in the cold weather under the oldest boats, the
' gonch ' may be seen clinging on by feelers to the bottom. It struck me
they could be speared, so a friend and myself sent down our canoes, armed
ourselves with barbed spears, made so that the heads should slip off the
handles, and drove down to the Ghat. The spear heads had about 20 yards
of stout cotton string attached, and to the end of the rope an inflated
(bullock's) bladder. When we saw the gonch, the spear was sent ' home,'
and the shaft withdrawn. The fish at once went off, and the bladder keeping
on the surface showed his course. We followed in canoes, and taking extra
spears, gained the bladder and pulled up our prey, finishing him as best we
could. One morning my friend and myself killed three gonch thus, all about
80 Ibs. If this sport can be got at one bridge, I see no reason why not at
every one on the Ganges and Jumna, and other streams too, for gonch
abound down country, but I must say I have never tried it anywhere else
but at that one bridge.

" Mahseer are to be got down the canal too. The falls towards Roorkee
are good places, and especially to Puthri Bridge. Here, trolling with
1 Chilwas,' I have caught 18 Ib. fish, never anything larger. But Mahseer
are to be had lower still. In the Meerut district under the falls, I have
taken them with ihefiy.

" Mahseer have been taken, too, with bait at Fatigarh and Cawnpore,
and lower, I believe ; but at the two places named, I have seen them
caught.

" At Bijpore, and at all the bridges lower down, the butchwa take the
fly freely, and are to be taken up to 2 Ibs. in weight. A dark fly seems
the best.

" DOON."

Extract from the "Asian" of December 2$rd, 1879.
"Fishing in Laour.

" I have just got back from Laour, where I went on a fishing trip, and
had very fair sport.

" Extract from my diary : —

November I9th, got nil, lost 4 fish.

20th, „ i, Ibs. 19, lost 3.
2ist, „ 2, „ 30, 36.
,, 22nd, „ 6, ,, 46, 31, 41, 25, 13, 12.
23rd, „ 2, „ 44, 30.
24th, „ 2, „ 24, 32.
,, 25th, ,, nil, gave the good pools a rest,

and tried some new water.
26th, got 3, Ibs. 18, 58, 55.

CHAP. xxvi. Northern India. "409

November 27th, got 3, Ibs. 29, 29, 62.

28th, „ 8, „ 16, 54, 20, 33, 7,* 32, 33, 26.

29th, ,, 2, „ 28, 26.

,, 3oth, ,, i, ,, 28, tried new water again.
December 1st, ,, I, ,, 21.

" Of course, besides these fish, I lost several, of which I kept no account.
I got them all trolling with spoons 4 inches long. I tried the fly, but
without success.

"The river is called the Punateet, and runs out of the Khasia Hills at
Laour. To get to it, you have to branch off at Soonamgunge (on the
Soormah) and go by boat to a village called Elamgao, here you can get
dingies and boatmen to take you up the gorge where you must rough it in a
grass hut. It is a beastly unhealthy place. Every time I go there, all my
servants are knocked over with fever. I got it. once myself, but on that
occasion I was there for six weeks."

Extract from the "Asian" of 2$th May, 1880.
" Fishing from the Simoor Territory to the Nepal Boundary.

" I have fished all the rivers in this tract, except the Sarda, which is the
Nepal boundary.

"To begin : On the west, there is the Bata stream" (query Giri) "that
runs from below Nahan to join the Jumna at Bata ; about I mile from the
junction up stream are two holes that used to be capital fly-fishing places.

1 have known 80 fish taken with a single rod in one day out of these two
holes. My largest take from there was 36 fish, but I only tried for the
larger ones. I once saw a 6 Ib. Mahseer caught there with atta, but from

2 ozs. to 2 Ibs. is the usual thing with fly, and both Mahseer and trout are
caught. The trout (so called) is also a species of carp, but he is a very
game, handsome fish ; occasionally fish of other sorts are caught that look
like roach.

" We used to have our fancy flies, but I am of opinion that Indian fish
generally take a fly in mistake for a young fish or fry ; I say generally, as I
have seen them taking an insect often such as locusts, larva of insects, and
flying ants.

" Red and black palmers are favourites, and a sort of red palmer with a
tail is my especial. He is made of a single hackle feather of the jungle-
fowl or red game ; that and a black one and a fly with white body, dirty
yellow tail, and florican or houbara wing.

* "I never saw a Mahseer like this before. Back and fins perfectly black, a
game little head, and very thick through. He astonished me, as before weighing
him I took him for a fish of about 4 Ibs. He fought like a little devil, and showed as
great a disinclination to be landed as other fish of 12 or 15 Ibs. — L. J."

4io Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

" The Jumna is a splendid river for fly or spinning. I have been told
that pure white and pure yellow flies are the best in this river, but I have
found the ordinary* ones do very well indeed. This river seems a favourite
one for Mahseer ; when the dirty water of the melted snows comes down in
May, making the Jumna as dirty as the Thames, large bags are made.
The river is shallow in the parts mostly fished over, and perhaps the fish
see the lure more readily than in deeper streams. The old town of Simoor,
said to have been deserted 1000 years, is on the banks close to the lake.
Portions of the paved streets and many gods, etc., are still to be seen lying
in the jungle. The Jumna is a good river for monsters. The Tons very
bad fishing always. I have not gone in much for the big river fishing, as to
be successful, you must have Mullahs with Senai's (inflated skins), and I
never fancied this mode of fishing. The Arson has yielded many fish to
my rod, and all with fly. I prefer the first and last-mentioned fly for this
river ; up to 5 Ibs. is the usual weight, but fish of 1 5 to 20 Ibs. have been
caught in it. Snipe are very fond of the edges of this river when going up
or down country. I have forgotten the large fish at the Pounta temple on
the Jumna ; they are to be had with atta I believe. This is a Sikh temple,
and so is the Gurse Dwam at Dehra. A large trout 4f Ibs. was caught in
the Arson, near the mouth, when I was there ; it was the largest by if Ibs.
that I have ever seen.

" The Suswa is a splendid stream for fly, and also the Song. I have
taken many dozens out of these two streams, the average of a good day in
the cold weather, is from 15 to 25 fish, average I Ib. each. I once bagged
in one hole 18 trout, averaging nearly a pound, and one small Mahseer;
5 Ibs. is about the largest one can hope for, until May, but during May and
June, large fish are caught in both streams, but fever is said to be very
prevalent in those months. The Song is the only decent-sized stream I
know of in these parts that is not subject to floods ; it principally drains
Jhils, so the supply of fish is steadier than elsewhere, and the water even in
the cold season is comparatively warm.

"The Ganges, ' The Mighty,' has the monsters. Ask ' Mountaineer' to
tell you how to catch them, as he manages to fetch them out when others
don't. He tells me the great art is to pitch the bait as far out as possible.
He also uses only small Mahseer, about 2 ozs., when he can get them, in
preference to any other bait. The natives catch large fish with a very
cunning dodge ; the line is wound on a roundish wheel ; the end of the
line is weighted with a small stone, say 2 Ibs. weight ; the hook is tied to a
snooding about a yard long, and baited with a small fish : sufficient line is
unwound, and the stone swung round and round until let go with a jerk, it
flies into mid-stream ; the line is then tightened, and tied with a bit of

* I do not understand what is meant ; I have a shrewd suspicion one is as good
as another, and perhaps a good deal better. I have already said my say as an
unbeliever in the matter of salmon flies.

CHAP. xxvi. , Northern India. 411

thread to a forked stick, and all is ready, the snooding allowing the bait to
lay down stream. The fish when taking the bait has to break the thread
before he can run, and that hooks him, and he is left to play himself, as
most fish are caught in this way at night.

" Fish may be caught with atta in the Ganges readily, Mahseer generally,
but at times another fish, something like a cross between a Sauli and a
Goonch, is to be had. I saw 'Mountaineer' catch three at Rikhikare.
Trout can be taken with fly and Mahseer also. Trout in all rivers like a
muddy bottom. One year I saw the Ganges dry opposite a village, except
in the pools, and I had great success with the fly. Mahseer are caught by
the natives as far down as Nagal Ghat, and I had one a short distance

above that place.

******

" The Ramgunga I have fished a good deal. The largest taken in that
river by me with fly, is 5 Ibs., and the largest when trolling, 29 Ibs. I wrote
to your paper at the beginning of the season to say that fish had been killed,
now there are a plentiful supply of young, but nothing over 8 Ibs. has been
killed this year with the rod and line as far as I know, but I saw a few big
fish in one hole. I had a fine morning last month at the smaller fish with
fly. There were shoals of the small climbing fish going up the river, similar
to those seen on the bank at Myapur ; they are brown above, and white
beneath. I put on a home-made fly of these colours, and got 13 fish
weighing 23 Ibs. in a short time ; this I consider very good with the fly. I
lost a long time with the first fish, as when hooked a large Goonch and a
huge Mahseer ran at him in turns, but he was about I Ib. in weight, and the
water very rapid, and they made a mess of him, never getting a fair hold.
I don't suppose I could have done much, if either had hooked themselves,
as I had only a light trout rod and fine tackle. I have made some other
good bags, but none so heavy in proportion. A native boy taught me how
to catch Sauli the other day, and we bagged 18 in about one hour. I could
not see that my fine tackle had any advantage over his coarser line. The
plan is to bait with a bit of meat, and lower the bait to the bottom, near a
weed, and sit still until the fish runs away, then strike, and out with him.
The fun was so fast, that I did not even open a sketch-book I took out with
me. The fish were of two kinds, one a very ugly big-headed beast, of a
uniform dirty olive-green colour, with the two side fins barred brown and
black ; the other a mottled chap with not so large a head. Both have the
fin extending from the vent round the tail to the shoulder, and they are very
good eating ; they were all small. Next time I will try for bigger ones in
deeper water ; they have large mouths with strong erect teeth, and often
dropped off the hook when landed.

" The Kosi is a good river for fish, but bad for fishing, as contracts are
given yearly to the natives to poach it. There are man}'- other small
streams with large holes in them, that have good fly fishing with light
tackle. The Commissioner's Hole at Ramnagur, on the Kosi, is a good

412 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

place for fishing. A few may be had daily with atta, a few with live bait,
and in the evening a fly, but the fly must look something like a young fish,
as the time to catch with fly is when the young fish that have been kept
back all day by the people from the town coming for water, try to pass
round a rocky bluff in the hole, when the stream strikes them, and carries
them out a short distance, then the Mahseer rush at them, and make the
water boil. I have seen this at other places, and if you can manage to get
a fly there just as the boil is ceasing, you probably get a rise. Watching
the proceedings from a high bank above, after the rush is over, three or four
of the small fish will be seen twisting about in the water, injured by fins or
tails, I suppose ; and quite old stagers of Mahseer will be seen gleaning the
injured ones, and I always imagine in these cases that fly is mistaken for

fish; — at all events it is a sure time to catch.

******

" PALE FACE."

Sialkot. — N. tells me the Poonch is within a night's run, and the
Cheenab, where Captain caught 294 Ibs. in one day's fishing.

Poonah. — O., from Poonah, speaks of running out to the Koomowlie,
a small river, but extraordinarily deep, averaging 60 feet deep, with
the bottom honeycombed with rocky cells and grottos, and holding
Mahseer of 50 or 60 Ibs. Dav too, is spoken of by the same corres-
pondent as near Poonah. He caught some sort of carp-like fish there
up to 25 Ibs., with the ground-nut for bait. Another day, in three hours,
he caught there six fish, weighing 75 Ibs. I cannot trace the places on
the map, but they are probably easily discoverable by people in the
locality.

MAHSEER FISHING, NEAR ROORKEE.
Extract from the "Asian" of 2.$th November, 1879.

" A few words now about Roorkee, and how to get there. It is situated
on the Ganges Canal, 24 miles from Saharunpore, a station on the Scinde,
Punjab, and Delhi railway. Daks are easily procured for going and
coming. The head-quarters of the Bengal Sappers and Miners are always
at Roorkee, also the head-quarters and a wing of a European regiment.
The Thomason Civil Engineering College is also located there, likewise
the Government Canal Workshops and Foundry, where you can get
anything from a sewing-machine needle to a wrought iron bridge. The
angler can also get artificial baits, gaff hooks, landing net rings, check-
winches, and other metal fishing appliances made to order there. The
dak bungalow is a comfortable one, within a stone's throw of the canal,
and all supplies are easily procurable. As all the fishing is either in the

CHAP. xxvi. Assam. 413

canal or close to it, a small tent is useful for camping out in. There are
bungalows all along the canal bank, and leave to occupy them can usually
be obtained. There are no boats procurable to fish out of, — at least there
were none when I was there, but at nearly all the falls there are long piers
stretching out from the main piers of the bridges, on the down stream side,
accessible by steps from the roadway of the bridge. At the end of these
piers the angler is in the best possible place for spinning, as he is just at the
end of the broken water made by the fall above, and just above the places
where the big fish usually are. The best time to fish is during the cold
weather. I did not get there till March, but even then I had quite as good
sport as I had hoped for. As the canal water comes from the Ganges directly
the snow water comes down from that river, it also gets into the canal, and
puts an end 'to the fishing. It made its appearance at the time I am writing
about, on the 25th March. I certainly got several fish after that date,
but no large ones, and by the end of the month the fishing was quite at

an end.

******

" I rode on to Kurd war, and my tent was pitched close to the camp of
the Royal Engineer Officers, who were out there making pontoon bridges
for the pilgrims to cross the river. The dam across the Ganges (for the
purpose of turning the water into the canal) is about a mile below Hurdwar,

and the place is called Mirepoor.

******

" I was at Mirepoor seven days, and during that time I caught
25 Mahseer, varying in size from 2 Ibs. up to 15 Ibs. I did not fish all day,

or every day either, but had quite as much sport as I wished for.

******

" F. M. M."

ASSAM.
Extract from the "Madras Times!' of z^th July, 1878.

" On page 85 the author invites ' contributions, which will be thankfully
received.' I am thus emboldened to offer the following remarks, premising
that my experience is confined to fishing in Burmah, Assam, and Sylhet.
. . . There is capital shooting and fishing in Cachar ; moreover, the
Coseyah and Jynteah Hills are easily got at, and the climate there is equal
to Coonoor.

" The late Dr. Jerdon assured me there were some twenty-seven varieties
of Mahseer ; but in general only three are recognised in Assam and its
dependencies. They are called the Useel Mahseer (the true Mahseer),
the Boga Mahseer, and the name of the third I forget. . . . The upper part
of the body to the central meridian line is almost a golden brown, the fins
red, whilst the lower part is bluish-silver : the lips, especially the upper, are
very thick, the upper can be uncurled. It is out and out the handsomest

414 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

of the Mahseer, and gives the most sport. . . . Mr. Thomas appears only
to have fished for these fish from the bank ; a far more killing mode is to
troll out of a boat. Whether the Madras boatmen are capable of propelling
a boat up rapids I don't know, but the Carens, Burmese, and Cossyahs
will take a light boat up frightful rapids with perfect safety. The plan is to
trail your bait a good 50 yards behind the boat, and the sport is thus very
exciting. As Mr. Thomas justly remarks, the large Mahseer are bottom-
feeders and in clear streams, whilst the smaller fish can be seen swimming
about midstream, the small fry near the surface ; the monsters keep near
the bottom, so if you want big fish, fish deep. The fly is most killing in
shallow rapids ; a man should wade in pretty deep, and, if a practised hand,
he will kill many fish, but few of them will be above 10 to 14 Ibs., and
the greater number a good deal less. In the Dehra Dhoon, they use the
most gaudy flies, but where I have fished, the most killing fly was a medium
sized No. 4 or 5 semicircle hook, dressed like the cock-o'-the-walk as
described by Mr. Thomas at page 125. For smaller fish the smoky dun
was most killing.

" For spinning I have found nothing equal to a large spoon. ... In the
waters of the Upper Burhampootra — especially near Suddyah — Mahseer are
very plentiful and run to a very large size. The best fishermen in Assam,
in my day, were the late Capt. Hood — Robin Hood of the Field— and Col.
Combes — lo-bore of the Oriental Sporting Magazine. The latter especially
made very large bags, but he preferred the fly, and he has caught with
it, I believe, fish up to 40 Ibs. in weight, but he is the only one I ever heard
of performing such a feat, whilst with the spoon and dead bait they have
killed fish up to 70 Ibs. in weight. For some years I carried on an active
warfare with Farlow ; he would not make his treble hooks strong enough ;
at last I got him to make the hooks Mr. Thomas alludes to in his book.
Many a fish have I lost, and many an anathema have I hurled at Farlow's
head because he would not credit that a Mahseer is capable of doubling up
the strongest Salmon or Pike hooks. I have had the hooks straightened,
too, many a time, but at last we came to an understanding, and Farlow
is now by far the best man to go to for not only hooks, but for every descrip-
tion of tackle.

" Besides the Mahseer, we used to catch what the Bengalees call Bassah,
and the Burmese Nga Memein. It is allied to the cat fish, and has no
scales ; it is delicious eating, and takes a fly or a spoon readily. This fish
can be caught in great numbers in the Shoayghein river ; it does not give
much play after being hooked. As for murrel I have seen thirteen varieties
exposed for sale in the market at Terriat Ghat, at the foot of the ghaut,
leading up to that moist place Cherrapoonghe, with its fifty feet of rainfall
in the year. . . .

" My first trip towards Sylhet was in 1869, when General Blake was
with us. My journal of this trip is not here, so I speak from memory alone.
He, Ommanney, and I started in November. We went first to Nurting,

CHAP. xxvi. Assam. 415

where we shot duck, teal, and snipe ; then to Jawai (Jynteah Hills), and so
on across the Hills to the Darrung river. ... In the depths of the pool
below we could see in the clear limpid waters not one Mahseer, but literally
thousands. . . . Ommanney caught a couple of fish. . . . The Cossyah
boats are very roomy, very buoyant, and are easily propelled by the
muscular arms of these Cossyahs. I got hold of a capital fellow, the only
word of English he knew was ' wind up,' which he kept repeating whenever
we came to a rapid, where there was danger of losing the spoon, or when
I struck a fish. We tried in the vicinity of our encamping ground, but
though we could see the fish in dozens, they would not look at our baits.
We could ascend the river only about a mile, and were then stopped by
waterfalls. I went up as far as I could without getting a bite ; I had to go
through these rapids. Coming back I struck a trout-like fish at the edge
of the rapid, and it was drowned before we got into smooth water.

" Below our camp, towards the plains, the river was navigable for about
two miles, when it was partially dammed up by the Cossyahs. There were
alternately rapids and reaches of deep water. In one place which we called
the gorge, it was at least 50 to 60 feet deep, with the steep hills rising
abruptly out of the water's edge. I went down to the obstruction without
a bite ; coming back I put on my largest spoon, weighted it heavily, and
in the centre of the gorge struck a large fish which immediately took out
50 yards of line. After several rushes, I got the boat moored in a sandy
nook and gradually drew the fish towards me. General Blake now joined
me and stayed with me till the fish was killed. We could watch its every
movement ; it did its best to release itself from the hooks, it would be
almost on its side, and rub its mouth into the sand. Presently a fish, every
bit as big as himself, came by to see what the commotion was about, the
hooked fish went at him like a tiger, taking out some forty yards of line.
The sun was well up, the glare very unpleasant, and the perspiration pouring
down my face and almost blinding me ; yet I stuck to my fish, and, after
upwards of an hour's struggle, got it into the shallows, where 'Wind up'
cleverly relieved him. It weighed just 28 Ibs., and was, perhaps, the
handsomest fish I ever caught, and gave the most trouble to kill. The
next day I went below the weir, and, amongst other fish, caught one about
35 Ibs., but killed it in about a quarter of an hour. Lightfoot, of the 44th,
and Charley Wilson, of the Artillery, an old school-fellow of mine, joined us,
and we remained fishing in these waters three more days, and then went
partly across country, and partly by water to Jynteeapore, and thence back
vid Jowar to Shillong, putting up some woodcock en route.

" I cannot give full particulars of this trip, because, as T have said before,
my journal is not by me. But in 1870, early in September, Col. Hicks,
Ommanney, Baurne, of the 44th, and I, started for these diggings, vid
China Poonghe. I need not enter into details of our march. At Jerreah
there is a river, which used to be, some years ago, full of Mahseer, but it
has been so poisoned of late years by the Cossyahs, that very few fish are

4i 6 fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

left. The river is full of limestone rocks, and if you strike a fish, you cannot
afford to play it, as it is more than likely to get into a hollow rock, when
you have to cut him adrift. We commenced to fish on the I4th. O. with
a spoon only caught two fish, 1=3 Ibs., I = 2\ Ibs., and 14 small fish with
the fly ; I got one 3 Ibs. only. On i5th, Baurne caught 1-5 Ibs., I = 3 Ibs.,
and 1 = 2 Ibs. Col. Hicks, I = 8 Ibs., and 1=3 Ibs. I had to cut one
adrift that got under a rock, but caught three weighing respectively 20 Ibs.,
9 Ibs., and 2 Ibs., all on the same spoon. Ommanney, I — 3 Ibs., I = 2 Ibs.,
and a lot with the fly.

" On Saturday we moved towards the Darrung river, and tried a cross
cut. Owing to the dams constructed by the Cossyahs we had great diffi-
culty in getting into a branch river, which was connected with the stream
we wished to get to. After an infinity of trouble to get to Lakat, we sent
for boats to take us on, and put up for the night on a sandbank During
the night we heard fish jumping about, but never thought for a moment that
there were Mahseer so far down in the plains. Early next morning, on
starting, I threw out my line, without thinking for a moment I should hook
anything, but in a second I had struck a very heavy fish. The others
crowded round my boat, some declaring I held the fish too taut, others that
I gave it too much line ; I paid no attention, but worked the fish my own
way. At last it kept turning over, belly uppermost, and a beauty it looked
too, with its large red fins and tail ; it was reduced to the last gasp, and was
almost within striking distance of my two-pronged spear, when it gave a
last convulsive struggle, and, in turning over, got its body across the line •
one beastly hook snapped, and the other two straightened, and off went my
monster ! Ommanney and I were together, fishing with exactly the same
tackle, which was in fact mine. We all got our lines out at once ; I kept
having all the luck. It began to rain ; Baurne had gone on ahead, with
Colonel Hicks. As our boat approached a rapid, we saw Baurne coming
down it, fast to a very big fish, with all his line out. As he passed us I
struck a heavy fish which I bagged in half an hour ; no sooner was my
spoon in, than I had another fish, a 22-pounder, which I also landed.
Baurne passed us in a very despondent mood, having lost his monster. Our
hut this time, thanks to Major Stewart, also a good fisherman, was built on
the plains side of the gorge, near the weir. We arrived here at 10 A.M. with
the following bags : — Colonel Hicks, 9 fish, weighing 43 Ibs., largest 13 Ibs. ;
Baurne, 6 fish, 27 Ibs., largest 1 1 Ibs. ; Ommanney, i fish, 6 Ibs. ; I, with
5 fish, weighing 66 Ibs., the largest 32 Ibs. The size of this fish was
3 feet 9 inches long, 2 feet in girth. In the afternoon Colonel Hicks
caught I = 1 6 Ibs., 2 = 4 Ibs. each. I caught 1 = 9, 1 = 2, I = £, i = 5,
i = ii Ibs. B., i = 4, i = 10 Ibs. Ommanney, 7 fish = 47 Ibs., the largest
26 Ibs.

"Monday morning Col. H., i = 4, i = | Ib. I, i = 12, i = 9!-, 2 = 4
each, I = 3 Ibs. Baurne, I = 8 Ibs. O., I = 8 Ibs. In the evening I
caught i = 41 (4 feet 3 inches long, 2 feet 3 inches girth), i =4 Ibs.

= IO.

CHAP. xxvi. Afghanistan. 417

Col. H., 1 = 7 Ibs. Tuesday morning, O., I = 30, I = 20 Ibs. Col. H.,
i = i£, i = !-. I, i = 7, i = 5 Ibs. We then moved back to the sandbank
near Lakat, fishing our way back. It was almost dark, that is, night, when
we got there. There was a bright moon, if I remember aright. Opposite
to the sandbank, another river joined the Lakat stream. Always remember
when fishing to fish a little below the junction of two rivers ; if one comes
out of the hills close by, and the other through a stretch of plains, so much
the better, the fish will assemble at the mouth of the warmer stream in
search of food. As fast as we could throw in our lines, though dark, we
had a fish on ; for a while my spoon was jammed without my knowing it,
and as it did not spin I caught nothing, but as the others were catching
them as fast' as possible, I carefully examined my bait, put it to rights,
and at once hooked a whopper. We caught altogether off this bank as
follows : —

"Om., 2 = 17 each, i = 6, i = 8, i = io|-, i = 11.
" I, i = 25, i = 3i, i = 14, i = 6, i = 3, i = 31.
" B., i = 14, i = 4, i = 2, i = 11, i = 3i, i = 2f, i =
"Col. H., i = 10, i = 3i i = 11, i = 4$, i = 7.

" Could any one wish for better sport, and the greater part after the sun
set, and in a place where it was thought no Mahseer existed? I won't
weary your readers with further details of sport. Baurne and the Colonel
left that night, and Ommanney and I followed early next morning. My
tackle, for a time, was again jammed. Ommanney killed, in a couple of
hours, i = 26, i = 22, I = 20, i = 14, 1=4, whilst I got, i = 14, I =• 6
1=4. So much for sport within a day-and-a-halfs journey of Cachar, a
few hours from Silchar, two days from Shillong. May this be of use to
your readers, and to Mr. Thomas in particular, whose acquaintance I
have not had the pleasure of making, except through his excellent little-
treatise.

" PHOONGHEE."

There is a river at Jalpaigori, about twenty-four hours rail from
Calcutta on the way to Darjeeling, where there is fair water for Mahseer
running to a good size. It is a good ride from the railway station. I
forget the exact distance, but think it must be about 20 miles.

AFGHANISTAN.

Kurrum. — There is Mahseer fishing in the Kurrum Valley.
W. T. F. (Asian, 25th November, 1879), to°k them up to 5 Ibs.,
knew others who had killed them up to 10 Ibs. and 12 Ibs., and does
not think they run over 15 Ibs. there. He considers the river to be

THE ROD IN INDIA. 2 E

4i 8 Fishing Localities. CHAP. xxvi.

full of fish. It is easily commanded by an i8-ft. rod. He killed with
gilt spoon and black fly, and had other flies carried away. The fishing
stops as soon as the snow begins to melt on Safaid Koh, about March.

D., in the Field of 26th June, 1880, gives a long description of
fishing in this valley.

Dr. W. writes that for the first three stages in Bolan Pass he caught
good Mahseer, and the river is full of fish. That a Carp of some sort
was in every puddle, spring, or river, in abundance in the Bolan Pass
and thereabouts. He caught them up to 4 Ibs. with a spoon, but the
average weight was about \ lb., a worm close to the bottom being a
killing bait.

INDEX.

ACCESSIBILITY of small fish, 171

Acclimatization of fish, 256, 260, 349

Acknowledgment of assistance, 5

Address of tackle makers, 271

Afghanistan, 34, 417

Air-breathing fish, 233

Ajmere, 389

Alanalur, 375

Allahabad, 387, 403, 404

Allcock & Co.'s wire gimp, 208

Alligators. See Crocodiles.

Alternating pools, 160

America, 3

Ambala District, 387

Angadipuram, 375

Angler fish, 94

Anglers aiders of pisciculture, 3-6

at Loch Lomond, 364

— co-operation of, sought, 6

in India are few, 6

Angler's Handbook, 104, 193, 366
Anglers. See also Fishermen.
Angles of vision in water, 99, 109
Anglicised names for fish, 171
Anglicoorchi, 378
Angling not pain-giving, 350, 403
Anguilla Bengalensist 235
Anjeracoondy, 374
Ankle boots recommended, 324
Antelope communicating, 80
Antheraa Paphia, 297
Anti-sulking tactics, 13
Ants communicating, 82
Apologia pro libra meo, I
Apparel, 325

Archer spinner, 72

Areacode, 375

Arienkavu, 378

Arius, peculiar spawning of, 339

Arsenical soap, recipe for, 361

injuriousness of, 362

Artificial gram suggested, 132

minnow, use of, 59, 61, 402

otter, 312

Asian, extracts from the, 402-412

Asiatic trimmer, 230

Assam, 413

Assam fish, 315

Asufgurh, 407

Attacus Atlas, 297

Attapadi, 372, 376

Australia, 3

Avadavats, 345

Avernus, 236

BACK fish, Mahseer not, 42

Back-flow, 238

Bag, a good, 401, 408

Bagaritis Yarrellii. Its size, etc., 209

Bait for Labeo, 202

Polynemus, 240-242

found in rice fields, 74

Baiting a single salmon hook, 67

hook with gram, 131, 135

live for Murral, 229-232

dead fish for Murral, 227, 228

Mahseer, 65-72

frog for Murral, 230

needle, use of, 66

with paste, 143

2 E 2

420

Index.

Bait-kettle, earthen pot as, 306

kettles, 307

preserved in salt or spirits, 86

sizes of fishes for, 62, 74-76

sorts of fishes for, 73, 74

Balahunshi, 367
Balehannur, 379
J3&-mln. See Polynemus.

Committee, 241

Banair, 387

Banyan fruit as bait, 130
Barbel, Mahseer a, 24
Barbus Carnaticus, 146

chrysofoma. See Olive Carp, 178.

curmuca, 170

filamentostts, how to strike, 164, 178

See Black Spot, 178.

• hexaganolepis, 170

Jerdoni, 170

Mahecola, 178

mosal, 25

tor, description of, by Dr. Day, 25

Barilius bola. See Indian Trout.
fly fishing for, 186-191, 404,

409, 411

Canarensis, 179

other, 179

gatensis, 261

flies for, 261

season for, 262

Barils, description of, 185

game little fly- takers, 179

places for them, 179

flies for them, 180

several small sorts of, 179

Bartleet & Sons, 119

Basket seat in coracle, 160-162

Bata, 409

Batches of eggs, 42

Batchwa, or Pseudetitropius garua, 216,

222, 387
Bawally, 137
Bawanny Mahseers, 31
Bawanny, the, 149
Beasts communicating, 79
Begti, 249
Bellary, 366
Below your fish, 16

Bengal gram as a bait for Mahseer, 130

Beyn, 387

Beypore, 244, 375

Bhamo, 391, 392

Big fish, 35, 39, 195, 209, 401, 408

Bijpore, 407

Billikal lake, 262, 263

Billipatam, 244, 374

Biranthadaka, 369

Birds communicating, 81

Bison communicating, 80

Blackamoor, 115, 124, 404

Black flies preferred, 114

Black Spots. See Jadkal, Mala, Wondse.

the habitat of, 178

manner of taking fly, 164, 178

need finest striking, 177

swim in shoals, 177

thrive in ponds, 177

taking hours, 178

description of, 178

Boar spearing, 8, 14
Boat fishing, 108, 396
Bolting down stream, 16
Bom-min, 26, 29
Bones, have it in my, 149
Boots, best for wading, 324

to prevent shrinking, 324

Boring, gram, 131, 135

Borelli, 355

Bottom feeding propensities of Mahseer,

45, 46, 402

Bottom-fishing, fish to be caught by, 196
Bottom-fishing for Chela, 173, 175

Labcos, 192

Olive Carp, 178

Mahseer with live bait, 136

paste, 141

in the sea, 259

Bowalis, 137
Brain of fish, 78
Brake-winch, 289

needed, 397

Bridge, the best side of, 243

Bright water for Mahseer fishing, 49, 72,

91, 97, 136-138
Buchanan, 25
Buffalo rare, story, 36

Index.

421

Burmah, 34, 389-395
Buroundah, 404
Butler's ' Hudibras,' 225
Button end, 301

CACHAR, 413

Calasa, 379

Calcutta, good tank angling, 387

Calicut, 244

Calculating weight of Mahseer by length

unreliable, 37
Canara District, 367

fevers, 367, 369

Cannanore, 244, 245

Canooth, 374

Captain Cuttle's watch, 258

Caranx at Cundapoor, 370

Carder's Mahseer, 36

Carkencottah, 376, 380, 381

Carnatic Carp, 146

brought to the Nielgherries, 168,

263, 265

— places to fish for, 149, 150, 152

congregate like Dace, 150

wander like Dace, 150

their manner of taking the fly, 164

Carpe diem, 104

Carp, Mahseer a, 24, 52

how to catch the common, 264

— in the Ootacamund Lake, 264

the white, 196

Carrulhoondy, 244

Castle Connel rod, 65
Cat-fish spawning, 339
Catla of 77 Ibs., 195

setting rod for, 143

take paste bait, 196, 201

take small fish, 201

Cat rigidifies pad, 52

Cawnpore, 408

Central Museum. See Museum.

Chabena, 131

Chagunio, setting rod for, 143

Chalkhill, 328

Chanos salmoneus, 259, 370

Chapman spinner, 72

Chasing by Mahseer, 91

Chatty as bait kettle, 306

Characteristics of rods, 166, 167

Charmady, 367

Chela argentea, 172, 384, 385, 387, 393

flies, 173

a pond and river fish, 172

their size, 1 72

— ten sorts of, 1 72
fishing hours, 173

— lying places, 173

— float fishing for, 173

description of, 175

at Nagawadi, 369

vernacular names of, 175

Chrlmo rostratus, expectora'ing, 162

Cheri Kadavu, 372

Chilka Lake, 384

Chilwa. See Chela argentea.

China, 34

Chin Hills, 390

Chira, 387

Chirgaon, 406

Chitor, 389

Chitral, 34

Chrysophris berda, 237, 253

datnia, 237

Chub, a fish-eater, 52

Chunchincuttay, 380

Chuparapadu, 374

Cicily, 369

Cirrhina cirrhosa, 196

Classification of Mahseer, 24

Clearing the rod top, 9

Clear water essential for Mahseer fishing,

49, 137, 402

Clothes for wading, 323-325
Coasfguardsmen, 235
Cobblers' wax, 305
Cobra, female, 33
Cock-o'-the-walk, 125, 397
Cock- up. See Lates ca.carifer.
Cock-up at Mangalore, 369
Coerce him not, 195
Cold wind, effect of, 51
Collis, Dr., 209
Colonel Osborn's paper, 240

Parson's method of fishing, 136

Coloured water, fishing in, 136
Colouring, manner of, fish, 29, 30

422

Index.

Colquhoun's 'Moor and Loch,' 351
Comfort in a coracle, 160-162
Committee, Ba-min, 241
Communicating, power of, in Antelope, 80

. Ants, 82

Birds, 8 1

Bison, 80

— Dogs, 79

wild, 81

Fishes, 77-79, 83-86, 352

Monkeys, 79

— Sheep, 80

Tigers, 81

Wolves, 8 1

Compression, Mahseer breaks hooks by,

270, 395

crumples spoons and kills

small fish by, 48, 52

Concealment, important, 56, 59, 97-100
Confidants among rods, 63
Contents of stomach of Mahseer, truthful
index of food, 54

information to be gained by ex-
amining, 44, 52, 54, 57

Continuity of pressure in playing a fish,

Contrarieties of Mahseer, 49, 52
Contributions acknowledged, 5
Coollon. See Lates calcarifer.
Cooloor, 369

Co-operation of anglers sought, 5, 365
Coorg, 381
Cootyaddy, 374
Coracle, 148

fun in, 154, 155

seat for, 160

shooting a rapid, 153

sucked down, 155

Cornly, about the size of, 39
Corpulent Mahseer, 28

tiger, 28

Corrosive sublimate, 362

Cosseyah Hills, 413

Cottampally, 375

Cotton, quotations from, 112, 261, 269

Courtallum, 378

Coxon spinner, 70

Crocodiles, useful, 348

Crocodile and Alligator, difference, 347

night line for, 346

— spearing, 347

when wading, 326

Crumpled up spoon, 52
Cudalloor, 375
Cultivating a pond, 342
Cundapoor, 369
Cybium. See Seer fish, 256.
Cyclopaedia, English, 355

DACE-LIKE manner of taking fly, 164

Dadapur, 187

Dapping with a dead frog, 230

Dav, 412

Day, Dr., 262

Day's, Dr., Fishes of India, 25, 26, 37,

169, 170, 175, 178, 179, 185, 1 86, 191,

214, 215, 220, 223, 249, 253, 256
Dead bait, size of, (5 2, 74-76

v. live bait, 57, 58

Dee minnow tackle, 69
Deep fishing, 60, 109
Dehra, 406
Delhi district, 387

Ghat, 143

and S. P. Railway, 187

Deoli, 190

Depth at which to fish for Mahseer, 54,

60, 109

Description of several Barils, 185
Detective float, 200
Dharmastala, 369
Dhunna, 406

Diagrams of angles of vision, 99, 109
Diners out, 205
Dinner bell, 258

Disadvantages of Indian Pisciculturist, 4
Discognathus lamta, 35
Discoloured water, method of fishing in,

136

Disgorger, 209
Distribution of the Carnatic Carp, 148,

1 68

Dogs, communicating, 77, 78
Domestication of Otter, Chap. XXII.
Donne, quotation from, 57
Doon, 187

Index.

423

" Boon's " flies, 404, 405

— letters, 402-408
Double loop, 276
Drawing of hooks, 279

manner of, fish, 29

Dress, 323-325

Drop fly, tying on a, 183
Drying a pond, 342
Dunsford, Mr., 74

— endorsement, 193

EAST wind, effect of, 51

Echeneis rembra, 35

Edda, 375

Eddamunnah, 375

Eddawarra, 376

Edibility of Carnatic Carp, 162

Eel, 235

Mahseer, 23

Educated Trout, 83, 93
Education of Mahseer, 131
Eels, avoiding, 137
night lines for, 236

— size, strength, edibility of, 235
Elamgao, 409

Elephant hair, 358

El ops saurus, 255

English Cyclopaedia, 355

Enlarged sinkers, 68

Eroocur, 374

Estimating weight of fish, 17,

Estuary fishing unsatisfactory, 258

Etymology of Mahseer, 34

Eulates religiosa, 8 1

Evil tendencies of frogs, 233

Exfoliations of fish, 349

Experiment at Vallam, 340

Explanation of terms, 25, 26

Extracts from the Asian, 402-412

— Field, 118, 395-402

— Land and Water, 352

Madras Times, 413

Eyed hooks, knols for, 280-283
rusting gut, 138-139

FAILURES in gram fishing, 130
Falstaffs law of nature, 207
Fancy flies, the most killing, 1 14

Fasting, a mistake when fishing, 168
Fategarh, 408
Feeding of fish, 358

• by suction, 45

times, 104

at various depths, 46

Ferrules, 301
Fever, 367, 369, 375

in Bengal and N. W. P., 402, 409

See Siradi and Wondse.

See Sittuguni

Field, extract from, 118, 395-402
Fight between Otter and Jack, 330
Fine fish. See Big fish.
Fineness of tackle important, 72, 78, 90,

91

Fine striking, 166, 167

Fins, names of, 26

Fish communicating, 77- 79, 83-86, 352

— feeding of, 358

— lor bait, 73, 74

— jumping towards river, 350
no fools, 78

see before they are seen, 97

short-sighted under water, 95,^325

slowly, 90, 91, 127

think, 77

Fishermen, observant, 3

Fishing deep, 60, 109

hours, 104, 134, 145, 173, 227, 241,

397

in discoloured water, 136

localities (Chap. XXVI.), 105, 240,

244, 248, 365
months, 103, 104, 134, 138, 245,

248, 402, 413, 418

— with ball of worms, 203
Fishing Gazette, 1 1 8
Flaps on lips of Mahseer, 32
Flight of hooks for Polynemus, 242
Float fishing for Chilwa, 173

the charms of, 192

with live frog, 230

Fly drop, 183

fishing generally, 112

for Mahseer, 1 12

sea fish, 248

small fish (Chap. XII.)

424

Index.

Fly for Barils, 180

• Black Spots, 1 80

Carnatic Carp, 158

Chilwa, 173

Indian Trout, 189

Mahseer — Blackamoor, 115, 124,

404

Ccck-o'-the-walk, 125, 397

Smoky Dun, 125

recommended by " Doon,"

404, 405

"K.,"397

" Pale Face," 409

Olive Carp, 178

manner of taking the, by the Cai-

natic Carp, 164

sizes of, 115

— — spoon, 128

tying, 125, 126

v. spinning, 57-58, 402

spoiling in India, 279, 280, 303,

305

Food of Mahseer, 44
Foul Fish, Mahseer not, when spawning,

42

Franklin, 114

Free hook in bottom fishing, 198
Freshwater mullets, 221

sharks, 137, 207, 208

three sorts of (Chap. XIV.)

Friction of winch, 1 1

from the rod, 1 1

Frog as bait for Murral, 228

dapping with a dead, 230

eating frogs, 233

taking flies, 1 74

the bad habits, 233

hard life and jollity of, 232

Fry ascend rivers by back-flow, 238

eaten by frogs, 232

in estuaries, 238

in rice fields, 338

GAFF-HOOK, 19, 209
Gairsoppa, 382
Game Association, 265
Gamoth, 374
Ganges, the, 51, 187

Ganjam, 384

Garial or Gavial, 347

Geen's Richmond spinner, 69

trout size, 218, 228

Gimp, rust-proof wire, 208

stout, for sea fish, 242

Goldsmith, 8

Good fishermen are good observers, 3

killing larger fish than indifferent

fishermen, 75, 76
Goolara, 406
Goonch, 411

big bag of, 211

spearing, 408

Gopaneri, 372
Gorgopilley, 386
Gram fishing, 130

" W. F. F.'s " method, 130

" J. A. B.'s," iuggestions, 135

Grant, Major J. C., 265
Grasshoppers as bait, 159
Gratings, 342
Grey mullet fry, as bait, 242

Perch, 253

Ground bait, 203

baiting for Mahseer in gram fishing,

132

in bottom fishing, 144

Gudalur, 373, 376
Gujranwalla District, 387
Gunnapadivattam, 376
Gurdaspur, 387
Gut, brittleness of, in India, 276

manufacturing, 297

of Tussa Silkworm, 297

rust eaten, 277

soaking, 276

Gwalior, 188

HAGGADEVANCOTTAH, 380
Hair, elephant, 358
Hallaminu, 26
Hamlet's progress, 345
Hampee, 367

Hand of a fish is his mouth, 163
Handling a Mahseer, 18
Hanging a pleasant sensation, 351
Hansogee, 380

Index.

425

Harali niinu, 26
Hassan Saugar tank, 381
Hatti, 387

shikaree, 170

Hearing in fish, 84, 99, 352
Henderson's ' My Life as an Angler,'

351

Heresy about salmon flies, 113

Hiawatha's fishing, 58

Highly educated Trout, 93

Hill Sanatoria, fishing on (Chap. XIX.),

261

Hog-backed fly spoon, 128
Hoginkal, 377
Holding the rod, 166
Hooks breaking under the barb, 140
difficulty about standard of, Il8

— drawing, 126, 279

— eyed, knots for, 280-283

flight of, for Polynemus, 242

• flights of, 304

for gram fishing, 132

Kendal scale of, 121

Limerick, scale of, 116, 120

makers, 118-124

peculiar eyed, 138

• Rohu, 123

single for Mahseer, 67

sneck bend, scale of, 121

special, for Mahseer, 119, 269, 414

temper of, 122

thickness of wire of, 121, 123

too many, deprecated, 72

treble, scale of, 119

Hoonsoor, 380

Hoshiapur District, 387

Hospet, 367

Hours for fishing for Ba-min, 241

Black Spots, 178

Carnatic Carp, 168

Chilwa, 173

Cock-up, 251

Estuary fish, 258

Indian trout, 187

Mahseer, 104, 134, 397

Murral, 227

How to work the fly for Mahseer, 126
'Hudibras,' 225

Hurdwar, 187, 406, 407, 413
Hutchinson & Son, 12 1
Hyderabad, fishing near, 382

style of fishing, 196

Hyders fish. See Chanos, 259.

ICHTHYOLOGICAL names, 147
Immortal, all but, 74
Impromptu tackle disapproved, 269
Indian entomology, 180

pisciculturist, his disadvantages, 4

Trout, 179, 186-191, 404, 409-411

• description of, 186

fishing places for, 187

leap into the air, 188

the baits for, 187, 189

their colour and size, 187

Internal evidence, 45

Inventory of Mahseer's stomach, 44

information amassed by taking, 44

Iritti, 374

Irrawaddy, 392

Izaak Walton, 24, 171, 216, 340, 365

singeing gut, 279

JACK and Otter fight, 330

of 7 Ibs. used as a bait, 75

Jadkal, 369
Jagadri, 187, 387
Jalpaigori, 417
Jamun Khatta, 407
Japan, 3, 34
Jardine tackle, 141
Jaw, powerful, of Mahseer, 52-54
Jerdon's otter, 333
Jerked out of my hand, 12
Jhansi, 404, 405
Jhelum, 387

Johnson's, Dr., definition, 78
"J.'s" letter, 91, 408
Jubbulpore fishing, 130
Jullunder District, 387
Jumna Bridge, 387
Jumping, fish, towards river, 350
• into the air not the habit of Mah-
seer, 15

Jungle cock fly, 125, 397
Jynteah Hills, 413

426

Index.

KACHIN Hills, 392, 395

Kahuta, 387

Kalapani, 406

Kalbans, orthography of name, 199

Kallei river, 244

Kansaras, 407

Karachi, fishing near, 383

Karackwasla, 268

Karamadi, 372

Karkal, 367

Karkenkotai, 376, 380, 381

Karnal, 388

Kashmere, 387

Keen-sightedness of fish, 97

Keeping bait alive, 349

below your fish, 16

out of sight, 56, 58, 97-100, 404

Keirgaum, 268

ICemberi. See L^lt^an^ls roseus.

Kempuholle, 368

Kendai, 26

Khandwa, 389

Khasia Hills, 409

Khurkha, 404

Killing fish by compression, 65

Mahseer, 48,

52

a fish alone, 150

or playing a fish, 12-17, 397

Mahseer, 22

Kinacorai, 373

Kinds of fish for bait, 73, 74

Kingfishers useful, 358

Kirebag, 368

Kirkpatrick's, Mr., bag of Goon ch, 21 1

notes on the Sinnun, 213

Kirpa, 387
Kishur, 374
Kistnapatam, 377
Knot, double loop, 276

eyed hooks, 280-283

for drop fly, 183

for running line, 185

fly tying, 282, 283

gut, 304

Kodaikanal and stocking it, 261, 373
Kodanad, 373
Kogem, 374

Kohrar, 404

Kondakemberu, 386

Koolsara, 404

Korst the, a fish, 215

Korwinee, 387

Kotirgherry, 373

Kudipatte, 372

Kulanji, See Lates calcarifer.

Kumaon, 268

Kunkhal, 407

Kurram, 417

Kuti, 150, 153, 154

"K.'s" letter, 395

"L.J.'s" letter, 91, 408
Labeo captures, 193

cost of stocking ponds with, 206

• fishing for, in rivers, 199

in waves, 196

— kills of, 192

running line for, 199

setting rod for, 143

their sorts and sizes, 192

Lahore District, 387

Laour, 408, 409

Land and Water, extract from, 352

Landing a Mahseer, 18, 398

net, 20, 21, 22

Lateral line, 349

vision of fish in water, 94, 325

Lates calcarifer, 249-253

bait for, 250

description of, 253

-peculiarities, 251

season for, 250

size of, 249

tackle for, 250

time for, 251

water for, 250

Lead wire for weighting lines, 199, 306
Leeches, 324
Levinge, Sir V. IT., 261
Limerick hooks breaking at the barb,
140

— scale of, 1 1 6, 120
Line cutting rings, 397
drier, 297

drying, 296

Index.

427

Line, running, 284, 395, 399
Live bait v. dead bait, 57, 58

picketed, 136

— — baiting, native way of, 229, 230

for Murral, 229

Local fishermen, need for, 259
Localities for fishing (Chap. XXVI.),
105, 244, 247

— in which different fish are found,
106

Lochleven Trout on the Neilgherries,

264

Loch Lomond anglers, 364
Locomotion of fish, 355
Longfellow, quotation from, 49
Loop, double, 276
Loss of weight after capture, 37
Lullutpore, 405
Lutianus roseus, 96, 253
Lutra nair and vulgaris, 329, 334

MACKEREL fishing, 255

Macrones, 214, 215

Madavu. See Lates calcarifer.

Madras Times, extract from, 413

Magpies' feathers, 124

Mahe, 240, 244, 374, 376

Mahseer, a Barbel or Carp, 24, 52

— a fine, 35, 39, 401, 408

— bait for, 44, 62, 407

— bottom feeder, 45. 46

— chase prey, 91

— classification of, 24

— contrarieties of, 49, 52

— description of, by Dr. Day, 25, '26

— do not jump into the air, 15

— edibility of, when spawning, 43

— etymology of, 34

- flies for, 115, 124, 125, 397,
403-405, 409, 414

— fly fishing for, 112

— food of, 44

habitat of, 35, 105

hooks for, 119, 269

how to spin for, 57, 101

in a boat, dangerous, 22

• kills small fish by compression, 48,

52

Mahseer, landing a, 18, 398

migratory, 41

misuse of the name, 146

mouth of, 45

name of, 24

natural history of, Chap. III.

ovaries of, 42

pharyngeal teeth of, 47

playing a, 12-17

power of jaw of, 48

propagating, 338

rigidifies muscles of mouth, 52

rod, 10, 62-65, IOI» 299, 3°°

setting rod for, 142-145

size of, 34, 35, 401

sexual difficulties in, 33

spawning in batches, 42

times of, 41, 43

— sport given by, 8, 9, 397, 402

surprise their prey, 90, 91

— swimming power of, 9

tackle for, Chap. XX., 269

take bait head -foremost, 70, 71, 90

taken in bright water, 49, 138, 402

coloured water, 136

taking a swallow, 407

telegrams beneficial, 2

varieties of, 27-34, 413

• • vernacular names of, 26, 29

weighing, 37-39

with prolonged lip and beard, 33

Mai, 404

Mala, 369

Malabar localities, 374

Malapuram, 375

Malkangiri taluq, 385, 386

Malur, 379

Manantoddy, 376, 381

Manchester Cotton Twine Spinning

Company, running lines, 288

whipping cord, 306

Mandagadde, 379
Mandaghery, 380
Mandalay, 389, 391
Mangalore, 369
Manjairy, 375
Manzerabad, 381
Maranhally, 381

428

Index.

Marmot's opinion, 10
Mastacemblus, 235
Maumbat, 375
Maundsaur, 389
Mclvor, Mr., 264
Meer Allum tank, 382
Meerut, 408

Megalops cyprinoides, 255
Mercara, 41
Milt, 42

Minnow. See Artificial.
Mirepoor, 413
Mirzapore, 403
Mogoung, 392
Mokerian, 387
Molluscs, 44, 45

Monkeys attract fish, 152
communicating, 79

Months to fish in, 103, 104, 134, 138,
402, 406

Morant. See Ophiocephalus gachua.

Morar, the, 188

Motu, 386

Mountaineer, 51

Mow, 406

Mr. Weller, 57

"M.'s" experiences, 246

Mudradi for Black Spots only, 370

Mugil cascasia, 221

corsula, 221

Mullet fry as bait, 241, 242

Mulley, 207

Mummah, 375

Munaur, 376

Murtznidce, 235

Murral needs air, 142, 233, 234

rearing fry, 234

See Ophiocephalus.

Murre, 387

Music hath charms, 13

Mussoorie, 187

Muti Mula, 268

Myapore Bridge, 407, 411

" My Life as an Angler," 351

My methods endorsed, 193

tested, 194

Mynas, 8 1

Mysore Territory, 379

NADGHANY, 376

Nagawadi, 369

Nagodi. See Nagawadi, 369.

Nagul Ghat, 41 1

Nahan, 409

Nair fish. See Lates calcarifer.

Names of fins, 26

Native way of live-baiting, 229, 230

Native tackle, 248

Negapatam, 377

Nellambur, 375

Nellatorai, 371

Nellore District, 377

Nepaul boundary, 409

Nerbudda, 34, 130, 135

Neriya, 367

Net, landing, 20-22

New sensation, 47

Newtakka, 389

New Zealand, 3

Nidamangalam, 378

Nielgherries, Carnatic Carp on the, 262

fishing on the, 262

Game Association, 265

— Trout on the, 264, 265
Night fishing for Labeos, 143
Nightingale, Major G., his fish, 130
Night-line for crocodiles, 346

— for eels, 235

fishing for Mahseer, 144, 410

Nirali Hill, 372
Nooses for Indian Trout, 187
Notopterus chitala^ 216
Nowgong, 406

OBESITY in Bawanny Mahseer, 28
Observe, how to, 99
Observing habits of fishermen, 3
Olfactory nerves of Otter, 328, 329, 331
Omnivorousness of Mahseer, 57
Oorcha, 405

Ootacamund Lake, fish in, 262, 263
Ophiocephalus affectionate towards its

young, 234

baiting frog for, 230

breathes atmospheric air, 233

gachua as a good spinning bait, 73,

234

Index.

429

Ophiocephalus gachua, unsuited for live
bait, 142

habits of, 228

live-baiting for, 229

position of its eye, 228

shooting, 227

spinning for, 228

Ordering tackle, hints on, 269, 316
Oreinus, wrongly called a Trout, 186
Osborn's, Colonel W., contribution, 240

• rod, 242

Otter and Jack fight, 330

artificial, 312

distribution of, 333

etymology of, 329

feeding of, 335

follows scent, 328, 329, 331

Indian, 333

Jerdon's, 333

live. See Contents, Chap. XXII.

pleads not guilty, 336

— tail of, 334

— tameable, 330, 333
usefulness of, 336

Ova hatched in the mouth, 339

proportion reared naturally and

artificially, 337

— small fish eating, 77
Ovaries of Mahseer, 42
Overflow, 344

PACE at which to fly fish, 112

spin, 88, 89, 95

Pachmarhi, 267

Paddle your own canoe, 57

Paddybird's wisdom, 151

Pain-giving by angling, 350, 403

Palayur, 372

"Paleface's" flies, 409

letter to the Asian, 409

Palgat, 375
Pamban Salmon, 248
Pandikad, 375
Pandritan, 387

Pangwas, setting rod for, 143
Paper scent, 358
Parakudu, 374
Paraputhorai, 372

Parson's, Colonel, method of fishing, 136

paper on the Barilius bold, 186

snood, 130

Paste baiting, 143

bait, recipe for, 202

Pathurpore, 404

Paucity of anglers in India, 6

Paupanassam, 378

Pawzgam, 387

Peculiarities of Mahseer, 49, 52

spawning, 338

Pennagaram, 377

Pennell-eyed hooks, 119, 120

Petambadi, 374

Perch caught with its own eye, 350

estuarial, 253

Periyar, 373

Persian origin of name Mahseer, 34

Peruval, 26

Phantom minnow, 56, 61, 402

Pharyngeal teeth of Mahseer, 47

" Phoonghee's" letter, 413

Picketted live bait, 136

Pike, 50 lb., caught on 7-lb. bait, 75

Pike-gag, 209

Pike-like Murral, 226

Pirmeid, 373

Pisciculture indebted to anglers, 2, 3, 4

Pisciculturist, disadvantages of Indian, 4

Places for fishing. See Localities.

Plaster of Paris, renewing, 361

Playing a fish, 12-17, 399

Pliable rod, method of using, 101

Pliability of rod advocated, 10, 62-65,

101

Podiya, 386
Polygamous fish, 339
Polynemus, flight of hooks for, 242

manner of fishing for, 243

peculiarities, 240

rod for, 242

season for, 245, 248

strength and size of, 240, 245, 246

striking a, 245

tackle for, 242

their food, 241, 242

where to find, 240

Pond drying, cultivating, stocking, 342

43°

Index.

Pools, fishing in, 108
P.oonah, 135, 268, 384, 412

river, 135

Poongah, the, a fish, 215
Porpoise, killing a, 348
Porpoises converse, 85
Position of ovaries, 42

the rod in fly fishing, 127

Power of jaw in Mahseer, 48

Mahseer, 9

Prawn tackle, 254

Predatory fish affect sick fish, 93

surprise their prey, 90, 91

Preparation of Bengal gram, 131, 135
Preparedness for first rush of Mahseer, 9
Preserved bait in salt preferred, 86
Preserving fish by stuffing, 359

in salt, 86

in spirits, 86, 362, 363

Prevention better than cure, 13
Prices of rod and tackle, 316
Professional diners out, 205
Prometheus, 113
Propagating Mahseer, 338
Proper arrangement, 339
Protruding lip of Mahseer, 45
Provoking bed-fellows, 345
Pseudeutropius garua, or jBatchwa, 222
Puddling a stream for Trout, 50
Pulliary Pass, 378
Pulney Hills, 261, 373
Punctuality of estuary fish in feeding,
258

insisted on, 17

Pupta, 214, 224
Puthri, 408
Putrid sea water, 245
Pykara, 265

QUETTA, fishing near, 383
Quick-sightedness of fish, 97

RAJAMUNDRI, 385
Ramnagur, 411
Ramnathpore, 380
Raneepore, 406
Rapid, shooting a, 153
Rasbora daniconius, 26$

Rationale of fly fishing for Mahseer, 113
Rawal Pindi District, 387
Reasons for writing this book, I, 2
Receipt for arsenical soap, 361

cobbler's wax, 305

fly-maker's wax, 306

• paste bait, 202

preserving fish in spirits, 362, 363

Red Perch. See Lutianus roseus.
Reel. See Winch.
Refraction aids fish to see, 99

allow for in shooting fish, 227

Rest for setting rod, 142

Rewah, 403

Rhyncobdellidce^ 235

Riawalla, 406

Rice fields, bait to be found in, 74

fry to be reared in, 338

Richmond spinner, 69
Rickeekhasee, 407
Rigidifies muscles of mouth, 52
Ringol rods should be oiled, 201
Rings on rod, 303

— top, 302
RIVERS : —

Anjeracundy, 374

Arson, 410

Babarie, 404

Bata Stream, 409

Bawanny, 370, 372, 373, 376

Beas, 387

Betwa, 404, 405

Beylun, 403, 404

Beypc

175

Bhima, 268

Burrhampootra, 414

Camardari, 368

Cavery, 370, 375-377, 380, 381

Chenab, 387

Coleroon, 377

Cootyaddy, 374

Cubbany, 375, 380

Cubbinali, 368

Dessaun, 404, 405

Gambar, 387

Ganges, 51, 407, 408, 410

Garepiro, 386

Giri, 387

Index.

43*

RIVERS (continued) : —
Hemavatty, 380
Hubb, 383
Hurnai, 383
Irrawaddy, 392
Jhelum, 387, 396
Jumna, 187, 387, 410
Kala naddi, 382
Kolab, 385
Koomowlie, 412
Kosi, 411
Languliya, 384
Liddar, 387
Luswa or Suswa, 410
Lutchmanteert, 380
Machkunda, 385
Mahe, 374
Manlon Choung, 390
Morar, 188
Moosa, 382
Moyaur, 373
Muri, 377
Namlee, 392

Nampoung, 390, 391, 392
Namsiri, 391
Nellambur, 376
Nerbada, 130, 135
Noogoo, 375
Pahooj, 404
Periar, 373
Ponany, 375
Poonch, 395, 396
Punateet, 409
Ramgunga, 411
Ravi, 387
Rani, 374
Rushikuliya, 384
Sard a, 409
Sarju, 387
Sartee, 380
Scinde, 188
Silhet, 387
Sirsa, 387
Sohan, 387

Song, 187, 406, 407, 410
Soormah, 409
Sooswa, 407
Suswa, 410

1 RIVERS (continued) : —

Tamberapoorny, 378
Taping, 392
Tiruangady, 375
Tons, 404

Toongabudra, 366, 379
Toracadu, 378
Tullipurmbu, 374
Uru, 392
Vygay, 373
Robinson's ideas, 232
Roach fishing compared, 192, 193
Rod characteristics, 166, 167

for Ba-min, 242

Barils, 261, 299, 318, 322

Carnatic Carp, 146, 318, 322

Estuary fish, 242

Labeo, 201

Mahseer, 10, 62-65, IO2> 299> 3°°

hints about, 10, 62-65, IO2> 299

jerked out of my hand, 12

method of holding, 102, 166

using pliable, IOI

— rest, 142, 209

should be pliable, 10, 62-65, Io2

special for fishing in waves, 196

top ring should be cased, 202

Roe. See Ova.
Rohu captures, 193

hooks, 123

setting rod for, 143, 145

Rolling on surface of water, 219
Rooks communicating, 81
Roorkee, 408, 412

spring weigher, 40

Ropar. 387
Running line, 288

for Labeo, 199

- length of, 284, 395, 399
Rush of Mahseer, 9, 397
Rust-eaten gut, 277

SACRABYLE, 379

Salem District, 377

Salim, 386

Salmon compared with Mahseer, 9, 397

fly tying, 125, 126

hook, use of, 67

432

Index.

Salmon, Pamban, 242, 248

like ChanoSy 259

Salt as a bait preserver, 86

Salter's balance, 40

Sampagi, 368

Sanatoria. See Hill Sanatoria, 261.

Sanderson's Mahseer, 35

Satchampatti, 372

Sauli ( Wai I ago attn], 411

Scale-marked spoons, 60

Scale of hooks, Francis Francis, 1 16

Kendal, 121

Limerick, 117, 120

Rohu, 123

Sneck bend, 121

treble, 119

Scare, allowing, to pass off, 100
Scinde, the, 188
Scotchman's whale, 36
Sea fish in fresh water, 256, 260

ova of, 339

Sealkot, 412

Season, influence of, on manner of Labeo

biting, 194
best, of the year for fishing, 103,

104, 134, 138, 203, 262, 382, 383, 402,

413, 418

for Ba-min, 245, 248

for fishing for Cock-up, 250

• Wallago attu, 209

Mahseer, 103, 104, 134, 138

in Bengal and N.W.P., 402, 413,

418

Seat in corracle, 160
Second free hook in bottom fishing, 198
Secunderabad, fishing near, 381
Seer fish, 256
Seetal, 216

Selecting species, 342
Sense of hearing in fish, 84, 99, 352

pain, 350

sight, 94, 95, 97-99, 325

smell, 86

Sholapadi, 377

Shermangundi, 376

Shakespeare, 88, 130, 192, 207, 235,

237, 323» 337, 345
Shark caught with old hook in it, 350

Sharks, fresh water, in Tanjore. See
Tanjore.

Trichinopoly. See Trichinopoly.

— spawning, 339

Sheep communicating, 80

Sharing the spoils, 161

Shedding teeth, 47

Shelving a fish, 18

Shermangundi, 372

Shimoga, 379

Shoal, a, work without scaring, 150

Shooting fish, 227

a rapid, 153

Short-sightedness offish, 95, 325

Shortt's, Dr., description of tussa silk-
worm, 298

Showing him the butt, 256

Shyness of fish in much-fished waters, 78,

83

Sialkot, 412
Sick fish, 93, 245
Silkworm gut, 297
Silundia Gangetica, its size, etc., 213

setting rod for, 143

Simla, 187

district, 387

Simoor territory, 409
Single vent hook, 271
Sinkers, 303

enlarged, 68

Sinnan, setting rod for, 143
Siradi, 368

Size of bait, 62, 74-76, 139

Ba-min, 245, 246

Barils, 179

Black Spots, 176

Carnatic Carp, 146

Chanos salmeneus, 259

Chilwa, 172

Cock-up or Nair fish, 249

Eels, 137, 235

flies, 115

for Mahseer, 115

Freshwater Sharks, 207, 209,

213
Indian Trout, 187, 190, 191,

410
in a river affecting size of fish, 358

Index.

433

Size of Labeos, 192

• Latss calcarifer, 249

- Mahseer, 34, 35, 401

— Murral, 226

— Olive Carp, 179

— Red Perch, 253
Seer, 256

- spoon, 61, 75, 129, 159, 402

— winch, 283, 288
Sleep, do fish, 352
Slowly fly fish, 127

— spin, 88, 89, 95
Smell, sense of, in fish, 86

Otter under water, 328, 329, 331

Smoky dun fly, 125
Snails, breeding of, 342

— manner of feeding, 343
Snood, 275

Snow melting injurious to fishing, 104,

402

Sociable weaver bird, 81
Sohra, 404

Sone or Song, the, 187
Soonamgunge, 409
Sopur, 387

Sorts offish for bait, 73, 74
Sound produced by vibrations, 84
South Canara District, 367
S. P. and Delhi Railway, 187
Spanish student, 136
Spate ruinous to Mahseer fishing, 49
Spawn, small fish waiting for and eating,

77
Spawning in batches, 42-44

— in the sea, 339

— Mahseer wholesome, 42

- of Cat-fish, 339

- Murral, 339

- Perch, 338

— Salmon, etc., 338

- Sharks, 339

— Stickleback, 338

- Trout, 338
Spearing Crocodiles, 347

• Goonch, 408

Special hook for Mahseer, 119, 269, 402,
414

— stations affected by fish, 1 1 1
THE ROD IN INDIA.

Specimens, preservation of, 359, 362,

363
Speech, the equivalent of, in fishes, 77-

79,83-86

Speed in spinning, 88, 89, 95
Spent fish, not always unwholesome, 42
Spinners, 69-72, 272
Spinning slowly up, down, and across

stream, 88, 89, 95
tackle for Mahseer. See "K.'s"

letter and 269

versus fly-fishing, '55, 402

when followed, 96, 128

Spirit as a bait preserver discouraged, 86
Spoon crumpled up, 52

Giri, 275

hog-backed, 159, 275

hog-backed fly, 128

— should be heavier than in England,
60

size, weight, use of, 60, 6 1, 75, 129,

159. 274, 402
size that a rod will bear, 6 1

— sizes for fresh- water sharks, 207
Sport might be created by stocking

ponds, 340

what is it, 8, 9

Sporting power of Mahseer, 8, 397, 402

Spring balance, 38

Stalk your fish, 100, 108

Standard of hooks, difficulty about, 118

Steelyard proper, 41

Stickleback spawning, 338

Stocking ponds, 206, 340

Stonehenge, 373

Strength and size of Polynemus, 240,

245, 246
Striking a fish, 100, 127, 128

— Labeo, 205

— Mahseer, 100, 164
Po'ynemus, 245

fine, 166, 167

Stuffing a fish, 359

Subramani, 368

Suction, bait taken by, 45

Suffocating Porpoise and Whale, 348

Sulking fish, 13

Sultan's Battery, 376

2 F

434

Index.

Sunset, fishing after, useless, 105
Surukundapuram, 374
Swallow as bait for Mahseer, 407
Swallowing an elephant, 36
Swimming, manner of, 355

power of Mahseer, 9

Swivels, 278
Sylhet, 413
Symbranchidce, 234

Table (fhdte, 44

Tackle breaking, 246, 395

fineness of important, 72, 78, 90, 91

• fly-fishing for Mahseer, 112-120,

124-126

smaller fish, Chap. XII.

• • for Batchwa, 222, 223

Carnatic Carp, 156, 157

Freshwater Sharks, 207

Grey Perch, 254

Murral, 228

Red Perch, 253

Seetul, 217

generally, Chap. XX.

• gram-fishing for Mahseer, 132

Jardine, 141

makers, 124, 271

• making, 271

spinning for Ba-min, 242

Cock-up, 250

— Mahseer, 59-72, 269

Tail of Otter, peculiar formation and use

of, 334

Taking a rapid, 153
Talking a little above you, 27
Tangrot, 140, 141, 387
Tanjore District, 377
Tank angling, 21, 22, 26, 194, 196, 200,

202, 206, 344
Tarpon winch, 286
Tatchampatte, 372
Teeth in throat of Mahseer. See

Pharyngeal.

Telegram from Mahseer beneficial, 2
Telepathy, 206
Tellicherry, 240, 244
Tench, 264
how to catch, 266

Tengara, 214

Tennent, Sir J. E., on fish hearing, 84

Testing strain, 277

Theocritus, 24

Thickness of wire in hooks, 121

Thinking, the fish a, animal, 77

Tholampaliam, 372

Tides, best time of, 241

influence of, on estuary fish, 238

Tigers communicating, 81

• pad rigidified, 52

Time, best time of day for fishing. See
Hour and, 105, 135, 145.

year for fishing. See Season.

— tide, 241
Tinnevelly District, 378
Tirthahalli, 379
Tirupanandal, 378
Tiruvarur, 378
Tirvangady, 375
Toongabudra Station, 366, 367
Toracadu, 378
Trailing spinning bait, 257
Tranquebar, 378

Transliteration of vernacular names, 26
Travancore State, 378
Treble hooks, 119, 269
Trichinopoly, 379
Trimmer, Asiatic, 230
Trimulgherry, 381
Trout, Indian, 186-191, 404, 409-411

Lochleven, 264

on the Nielgherries, 265

Tullipurmbu, 374
Tuppobun, 407
Tussa silkworm gut, 297
Tying salmon fly, 125, 126
Tyranny among Trout, 1 1 1

UPPINANGADI, 368

VALLAM pond experiment, 340

Varieties of Mahseer, 27-34, 413

Veerajendrapet, 381

Vent hook, 271

Vernacular names of Mahseer, 26-29

Vibrations in sound, 84

Virgil, 146

Index.

435

Vision, powers of, in fish, 94, 95, 97-99,
325

towards the surface, 109

Vizagapatam, 384
Voices of birds, 81

WADING advantageous, 95, 99

• clothes for, 323

harmless, 323

Wallago attu, 207, 389, 41 1
Wariness of large fish, 75
Warner & Sons, 120
Warranga. See Mudradi.
Water, clear, versus coloured, 49

clear, for fishing, 49, 72

— supply, 342

in angler's body, 37

Waves, fishing in, 196
Wax, cobbler's, 305

fly maker's, 306

Wazirabad, 387
Weather, the influence of, 204
Weed, water, 343
Weighing Mahseer, 37-39
Weight, loss of, by drying, 37
of Carnatic Carp, 146

Welborne, J. E., Mr., 170

— siluroids, 215
Weller, 57

Whale spouting, 163

suffocating, 348

Whipping gut fastenings, 303
White ants, 358
Wild dogs communicating, 81
Winch, check-, 286

— fittings, wedge fast, 294

— mine, 294

— friction, 1 1

— sizes of, 283, 286, 288
Wire gimp, 208

— thickness of, in hooks, 12 L
" W. J. F.'s" contribution, 130
Wolves communicating, 81
Wondse, 368

Worm fishing, 394
Wottakuli, 381
Wurracunchairy, 375

YEDDA KURA, 375

Yen. See Chrysophris berda.

" Yuba Bill's " notes on Goonch, 211

— Wallago attu, 212

LONDON :

PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

THE ROD IN INDIA.

BEING HINTS HOW TO OBTAIN SPORT.

WITH REMARKS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF FISH
AND THEIR CULTURE.

BY

HENRY SULLIVAN THOMAS, F.L.S., Madras Civil Service (Retired),

Author of "Tank Angling in India."
Third Edition.

As the Second Edition was, in comparison with the First Edition, nearly
half of it a new book, so the Third Edition makes a further stride in the like
direction, with more than a third of new matter.

New Fish are introduced, with new methods of capture.

Most of the previous Full-page Lithographs are reproduced, reduced by
photography to the size of the present handier volume, and two new plates
of fish are added.

There are also Ninety-six Illustrations of Tackle in the letterpress.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON SECOND EDITION.

"The highly valued sportsman's book." — OVERLAND MAIL.

1 ' Entertaining and exhaustive. . . . Already too well received to need recom-
mendation."— SPORTING AND DRAMATIC.

' ' Will also be read with real pleasure by lovers of the gentle craft in all parts of
the world. . . . A very thorough and excellent book. " — GRAPHIC.

' ' A thoroughly capital book in every respect. . . . Every pleasant page — and
no page is unpleasant — is a revelation. . . . Lead the reader on from page to page
with unflagging interest. . . . First-rate work. " — FISHING GAZETTE.

"To the angler going out to India Mr. Thomas's book will be a necessary part
of his outfit." — FIELD.

" Very pleasant reading." — MADRAS MAIL.

"Anglers will surely be delighted with The Rod in India. Naturalists will
undoubtedly take a keen interest. Readers with no special bias will be both grati-
fied and insensibly instructed. " — ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS.

' ' The second edition will be heartily welcomed. The most exacting reader
need fear no disappointment, and the angler new to India will owe a debt of
gratitude. . . . Not a dull page." — TIMES OF INDIA.

"Very able." — FRIEND OF INDIA.

' ' A book to read for pleasure at home, as well as to use as a handbook of
exceeding value to the angler who may be already there, or intending to visit
India." — LAND AND WATER.

1 ' Very excellent and pleasant book. The chapter on the Natural History of
this Fish is one of the most interesting in the volume." — NATURE.

" We cordially recommend to all our readers." — THE ASIAN.

" Pleasantness of his literary style."— THE ENGLISHMAN.

Opinions of different Contributors to the * Angler's Handbook.'

" His two books on fishing should be in the hands of every fisherman, as they
are charming masterpieces." — p. 5.

" First and foremost comes Thomas's splendid work, The Rod in India, a truly
valuable and delightful book. Thomas's Tank Angling is most useful to those
who go in for fishing of this kind, and, in fact, is useful to all anglers." — p. 109.

" Every fisherman should buy Thomas's books. The Rod in India is a master-
piece. There is no book on fishing comparable to it, since the days of Isaac
Walton." — p. no.

' ' All the information the most exacting fisherman could require is furnished in
Mr. Thomas's incomparable book, Tank Angling in India." — p. 122.

" Accept Mr. Thomas's teachings unreservedly and entirely." — p. 123.

" Mr. Thomas's excellent works." — p. 134.

" Mr. Thomas's book, Tank Angling in India, is a sine gu<t non to those who
have opportunities for this kind of sport." — p. 139.

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IMPORTANT.

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The patent consists in making the
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For Particulars see their Catalogue, sent.post'free to any part of the World.

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"SiRS, — I have used the rods you made for me since 1890, I consider them all perfect for their
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It stood successfully the intense heat and the rains which tries a rod very considerably indeed. I can
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large mahseer."-r-LANCELOT GRAHAM, Capt. R.A.

118 LB. TARPON KILLED ON A 14 FT. HARDV FLY ROD.

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" I have landed a tarpon weighing 118 lb. on the Cholmondeley Pennell 14 ft. rod I purchased from
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"ARCHER" BRAND TESTED

FISH HOOKS AND FISHING TACKLE.

[WHOLESALE ONLY. Goods can be obtained Retail
through any Dealer.

See FISH HOOKS, mentioned in pages vii., 117, 119, 120, 121.

PATENT
ARCHER
SPINNER

(Haynes' Patent).
Made in 5 sizes.

SPOON BAITS,

special heavy metal for
Mahseer, &c.

"ARCHER JARDINE" DETACHABLE LEADS,

made in II sizes, from f to 4 inch; non-slipping. Registered No. 229933.

London House: lid 12, Goldsmith Street, Wood Street, E.C,

A dvertisements.

IX

S. ALLCOCK & CO.,

Largest Fishing Rod, Hook, and Tackle
Manufacturers in the World,

STANDARD WORKS, REDDITCH.

PARIS: fteY LONDON:

77, Rue Rambutau. QZ/J, 60, Queen Victoria Street.

TRADE MARK.

CALCUTTA AGENTS: WALTER LOCKE & CO.

17 Gold Medals and Highest Awards at International Exhibitions.

Mahseer

Tackle

a Speciality.

Mahseer
Treble Hook.

"Hercules"

Patent
Rust-proof
Wire Gimp.

"Hercules"
Gut Casts.

Our Hand-made Split Cane Rods for Trout and Salmon,
with or without steel centres.

A dvertisements.

CHARLES LANCASTER.

Awarded 50 First Class Prizes, Medals, and Diplomas.

NOW READY, AND SENT FREE BY POST,

60-paged Illustrated Price List

OF

HAMMER & REJECTING GUNS

"One Trigger " Double Barrel Guns,

COMBINATION BALL AND SHOT GUNS,

Non-Fouling Smooth Oval Bores, -256's, 303's, and Expresses,
Antelope, Rook, and Rabbit Rifles.

CLAY PIGEONS, TRAPS, CARTRIDGES, PISTOLS, &c.

THE ART OF SHOOTING

BY CHARLES LANCASTER.

Fifth Edition. Price yj. 6d. Postage, 6d. extra.

GUN FITTING WITH TRY GUNS, TARGETS, &c.,

And Lessons in the Art of Shooting at Private Shooting Grounds
at Stone bridge, near Willesden Junction,

Factory Established 1827. Rebuilt 1890 at—

2, Little Breton St.,3SS 151, New Bond St.

LONDON, W.

Advertisements. xi

A. GARTER & CO.,

137, St. John Street Road, London, B.C.

IMPERIAL GREENHEART MAHSEER RODS, 16 to 18 feet,

Splint End Ferrules, Spiral Lock Joints, and Double Cork Handles,

Snake Rings, Two Tops and Division Case. £2 2s.

OUR PATENT WAGTAIL, THE BEST MAHSEER BAIT EXTANT.

WAGTAIL Hfev PATENT

PATENT TUSUlifl^ STEEIi

CATALOGUE GRATIS.

F, T, WILLIAMS & CO.,

10, GREAT QUEEN STREET,

MANUFACTURERS OF HIGH-CLASS

FISHING RODS, WINCHES, LINES, FLIES, AND TACKLE

AT LOW PRICES FOR CASH.

MAKERS OF THE 5i!W^ RODS & TACKLE

CELEBRATED SPLIT ^^ REPAIRED ON THE

CANE RODS. -*f»^ix$j3» PREMISES.

TRADE MARK.

MAHSEER RODS & TACKLE,

As recommended by H. S. THOMAS, Esq., in his book, "The Rod in India."

Special attention is paid to the mounting of Baits, etc., and the strength
of the "various Tackles .

CATALOGUES GRATIS.

xii Advertisements.

Gillett's Celebrated Greenheart Trout Rods,
from 7/6 to 20/-.

Gillett's Celebrated Greenheart Salmon Rods,
from 20/- to 35/-.

Gillett's Celebrated Whole Cane Trout Rods,
from 2i/- to so/-.

Gillett's Celebrated Whole Cane Grilse and
Salmon Rods, 25/- to 40/-.

Gillett's Celebrated Salmon Casts, 3 yards,
extra Stout, 2/6.

Every other requisite in Fishing Tackle,
Best Quality at Lowest Prices.

40, FETTER LANE, FLEET ST., LONDON, E.G.

THERE'S NOT AN
ANGLER IN ANY
PART OF INDIA

who would not find it to his advantage to

send to

OAKES & CO., LTD., MADRAS,

FOR

FISHING TACKLE.

LARGEST SELECTION IN THE EAST.

Send for Price List (gratis).

THOMAS'S LABEO RODS AND TACKLE ALWAYS IN STOCK.

No. 80.

A LIST OF

SPORTING WORKS

Selected from the PUBLICATIONS of
TRACKER, SPINK & CO,, CALCUTTA,

AND

W. TRACKER & CO,, LONDON,

1897.

Tank Angling in India. By H. S. THOMAS, F.L.S., Author of

" The Rod in India." Thick crown 8vo., cloth. Rs. 9.

Angling on the Kumaon Lakes. With a Map of the Kumaon
Lake Country and Plan of each Lake. By Depy. Surgeon-General W. WALKER.
Crown 8vo. Rs. 4.

"Written with all the tenderness and attention to detail which characterise the followers of the
gentle art." — Hayes' Sporting News.

The Sportsman's Manual in Quest of Game in Kullu,

Lahoul, and Ladak to the Tso Morai Lake. With Notes on Shooting
in Spiti, Bara Bagahal, Chamba, and Kashmir, and a Detailed Description
of Sport in more than 100 Nalas. With 9 Maps. By Lt.-Col. R. H. TYACKE,
late H.M.'s pSth and 34th Regiments. Fcap. 8vo., cloth. Rs. 3.8.

Large Game Shooting in Thibet, the Himalayas, and

Northern India. Containing Descriptions of the Country and of the
various Animals to be found ; together with Extracts from a Journal of
several years' standing. By Colonel ALEXANDER A. KINLOCH. Third
Edition. With 34 Illustrations and Map of the District. 4to. Rs. 25.
" The splendidly illustrated record of sport. The photogravures, especially the heads of the
various antelopes, are lifelike ; and the letterpress is very pleasant reading." — Graphic.

Modern Polo. A Practical Guide to the Science of the Game,
Training of Ponies, Rules, etc. By E. D. MILLER, late i;th Lancers.
Edited by Captain M. H. HAYES, F.R.C.V.S. Illustrated with 64 Repro-
ductions from Photographs and Drawings. Imperial i6mo. Rs. 12.8.

Polo Rules. Rules of the Game by the Indian Polo Association,
1892. Rules of the Calcutta Polo Club. Rules for Inter- Regimental Tolo
Tournaments, Station Polo, and Polo. By an "OLD HAND." Foolscap
8vo. Re. i.

The Polo Calendar. Compiled by the Indian Polo Association.

CONTENTS : Committee of Stewards, Rules for the Regulation of Tournaments, etc. — Rules
of the Game — Station Polo — List of Members — List of Existing Polo Ponies, Names and Description,
with Alphabetical List— Records of Tournaments— Previous Winners. Vol. I., 1892-93. Vol. II.,
1893 94. Each Re, 1.8. Vol. III., 1894-95. Rs. 2.

Rules of Polo. From the Polo Calendar. (Revised 1895.) As. 8.

Station Polo. The Training and General Treatment of Polo Ponies,
together with types and traits of Players. By LUCIFER. Crown 8vo. Rs. 3.

Calcutta Turf Club : Rules of Racing, together with the Rules

relating to Lotteries, Betting, and Defaulters, and the Rules of the Calcutta
Turf Club. Authorised Edition. (Revised in May, 1892.) Cloth. Rs. 2.

Calcutta Turf Club : Racing Calendar. Vol. I., August i, 1888,

to April 30, 1889. Vol. II., to April 30, 1890. Vol. III., to April, 1891.
Vol. IV., to April, 1892. Vol. V., to April, 1893. Vol. VI., to April, 1894.
Vol. VII., to April, 1895. Vol. VIII., to April, 1896. Each Rs. 4.

Calcutta Racing Calendar. Published every Fortnight. Annual
Subscription. Rs. 12.

Seonee ; or, Camp Life on the Satpura Range. A Tale of Indian
Adventure. By R. A. STERNDALE, Author of "Denizens of the Jungles."
Illustrated by the Author. With an Appendix. Second and Cheaper
Edition. Post 8vo. Rs. 7.

" He has strung these detached reminiscences together after a new plan, and has varied them
with descriptions of Indian life, native and Anglo-Indian, which are very pleasant reading"—
Home News.

"Mr. Sterndale's interesting narrative of Indian life." — Broad Arrow.

Notes on Stable Management in India and the Colonies.

Food, Water, Air and Ventilation, Grooming, Gear, etc. By Vety. Capt.
J. A. NUNN. Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Crown 8vo., limp
cloth. Rs. 3.8.

Indian Horse Notes. An Epitome of useful Information arranged
for ready reference on Emergencies, and specially adapted for Officers and

Mofussil Residents. By Major C . Third Edition, Revised and

Enlarged. Fcap. 8vo., cloth. Rs. 2.

The Best Breeds of British Stock for England and the

Colonies. By Professors J. P. SHELDON and JAMES LONG. Edited by
JOHN WATSON, F.L.S., Author of "Nature and Woodcraft," etc., etc.
Medium 8vo., boards. Rs. 2.8.
Written by well-known authorities, who are men of science and practical farmers.

Useful Hints to Young Shikaris on the Gun and Rifle.

By "THE LITTLE OLD BEAR." Reprinted from the "Asian." Crown
8vo. Rs. 2.8.

Denizens of the Jungles. A Series of Sketches of Wild Animals,

illustrating their Form and Natural Attitude. With Letterpress Description
of each Plate. By R. A. STERNDALE, F.R.G.S., F.Z.S., Author of " Mam-
malia of India," &c. Oblong folio. Rs. 10.

Twenty Years' Pig-Sticking in Bengal. By RAOUL. Illustrated

with 6 Portraits. Rs. 6.8.

A Bobbery Pack in India. With an Appendix containing a Short
Excursus on Banting, and an Interview with Mr. Pickwick. By Captain
JULIAN. Crown 8vo., sewed. Re. i.

Riding for Ladies, with Hints on the Stable. A Lady's

Horse Book. By Mrs. POWER O'DoNOGHUE. With 91 Illustrations by
A. CHANTREY CORBOULD. Imperial i6mo. Rs. 7.8.

"It is characteristic of her book, as of all books of any value, that it has a distinctive
character. Sound common sense and a thoroughly practical way of communicating instruction
are its leading traits."— Daily News.

Horse Breeding in India. Being a Second Edition of " The

Steeple Chase Horse : How to Select, Train, and Ride him, with Notes
on Accidents, Diseases, and their Treatment." By Major J. HUMFREY.
Crown 8vo. Rs. 3.8.

Guide to the Examination of Horses for Soundness (for

Students and Beginners). By J. MOORE, F.R.C.V.S., Remount Depot,
Calcutta. Fcap. Re. I.

Dogs for Hot Climates. A Guide for Residents in Tropical
Climates as to suitable Breeds, their Respective Uses, Management, and
Doctoring. By VERO SHAW, Author of "The Book of the Dog," and
Captain M. H. HAYES, F.R.C.V.S. 24 Illustrations of Typical Dogs from
life. Crown 8vo. Rs. 8.
Contains : Varieties of Dogs suitable for Hot Climates, Management of Dogs in Hot Climates,

Medical Treatment of Dogs in Hot Climates.

How to Choose a Dog, and How to Select a Puppy. With

Notes on the Peculiarities and Characteristics of each Breed. By VERO
SHAW, Author of "The Illustrated Book of the Dog," late Kennel Editor
of the "Field." Crown 8vo., sewed. Re. 1.8.

Indian Notes about Dogs : Their Diseases and Treatment. By
Major C— — . Sixth Edition, Revised. Fcap. 8vo,, cloth. Re. 1.8.

Highlands of Central India. Notes on their Forests and Wild

Tribes, Natural History, and Sports. By Captain J. FORSYTH, B. S.C.
New Edition. With Map and Tinted Illustrations. Rs. 7.8.

|1. H- HflYES' BOOKS OH HORSES.

Points of the Horse. A Familiar Treatise on Equine Conformation.
By Captain M. H. HAYES> F.R.C.V.S. Illustrated by over 400 Reproduc-
tions of Photographs of Typical " Points " and Horses. Second Edition
Revised and Enlarged. Super royal 8vo., cloth, gilt top. Rs. 32.
"No book like this has hitherto appeared in English, or any other language." — Veterinary

Journal.

Veterinary Notes for Horse-Owners. An Illustrated Manual of

Horse Medicine and Surgery, written in simple language. By Captain M. H.
HAYES, F.R.C.V.S. Fifth Edition, Revised throughout in accordance with
the latest scientific researches. Considerably Enlarged, and incorporating the
substance of the Author's " Soundness and Age of Horses." Illustrated with
a large number of Reproductions from Photographs by the Author, and
Drawings by the late J. H. OSWALD BROWN. Rs. 12.

Illustrated Horse Breaking. By Captain M. H. HAYES, F.R.C.V.S.

Entirely Rewritten and Letterpress more than doubled, and 75 Reproductions
from Photographs added to the Original Illustrations by J. H. OSWALD
BROWN. Second Edition. In imperial i6mo., uniform with " Riding."
Rs. 21.

Training and Horse Management in India. By Captain

M. H. HAYES, F.R.C.V.S. Fifth Edition. Crown 8vo. Rs. 6.

" No better guide could be placed in the hands of either amateur horseman or veterinary
surgeon." — Veterinary Journal.

"A useful guide in regard to horses anywhere. . . . Concise, practical, and portable." — Saturda
Review.

Riding: On the Flat and Across Country. A Guide to

Practical Horsemanship. By Captain M. H. HAYES. With 75 Illustrations
by STURGESS and J. H. OSWALD BROWN. Third Edition, Revised and
Enlarged. Rs. 7.8.

" The book is one that no man who has ever sat in a saddle can fail to read with interest." — Illus-
trated Sporting and Dramatic News.

" We heartily commend it to our readers." — Sporting Times.

The Horsewoman. A Practical Guide to Side-Saddle Riding. By

Mrs. HAYES. Edited by Captain M. H. HAYES. Illustrated by 48 Drawings
by J. H. OSWALD BROWN, and 4 Photographs. Imperial i6mo. Rs. 7.8.

Infective Diseases of Animals. Being Part I. oft he Translation,
.by Captain M. H. HAYES, of Friedberger and Frcehner's Pathology of the
Domestic Animals. Translated and Annotated by Captain M. H. HAYES,
F.R.C.V.S., Dr. G. NEWMAN, D.P.H., and others. In Two Vols., medium
8vo. Rs. 12.8 each Vol. When completed, the work may be had bound
two vols. in one. Rs. 25.

Calcutta: TRACKER, SPINK & CO.
London: W. THACKER & CO., 2, CREED LANE, E.G.

"^

14 DAY USE

RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED

LOAN DEPT.

This book is due on the last date stamped below, or

on the date to which renewed.
Renewed books are subject to immediate recall.

LD 21-100m-6,'56
(B9311slO)476

General Library

University of California

Berkeley