they were in fairly well-to-do circumstances as they were engaged 

 in the transport of goods by canal to different centres. This was 

 then an important port and the ruins of godowns of the merchants 

 of those days are still in evidence. Though poor, the people are 

 more cleanly in their habits and some of their children attend the 

 local village school. The curers advance small sums of money to 

 the fishermen to secure their catches and cure the fish themselves 

 without any hired labour. Small dug-outs or canoes made of the 

 trunks of the palmyra are very commonly used in the creeks. 



KOTHAPALEM. 



This village is about two miles from the sea and has a number 

 of salt-water creeks in the neighbourhood. There are nearly 500 

 houses with a population of about 2,000 who are all Pallees by 

 caste. Most of these depend on fishing and some serve in cargo 

 boats and a few are engaged in cultivation. There are some liter- 

 ates among the elders and about 25 children attend the village 

 school but they are not clean. As the fishing grounds are at some 

 distance from the yard the fishermen carry with them bazaar salt 

 for curing fish which they cannot safely bring to the yard. The 

 ticket- holders do not go for fishing but purchase fish from the fisher- 

 men to whom they have advanced money. The ticket-holders 

 in their turn borrow money from sowcars at 18 per cent interest. 

 There is very little demand for fresh fish in the neighbourhood. 



CHACKICHERLA, THATICHETLAPALEM, MYPAUD AND KODUR. 



The fishermen are called Pattapus who are really Pattanavans 

 who have settled down in the Telugu country. They speak a 

 corrupt form of Tamil and Telugu and are simple and law-abiding 

 but their habits are very dirty. They are illiterate and fond of 

 drinking. They have a strong caste panchayat with a hereditary 

 headman. Fishermen are assisted by their women and children 

 in dragging the nets, etc. Their boats and catamarans are con- 

 structed by Lubbai carpenters but the caulking is done by them- 

 selves. Mostly they themselves cure their catches but there are 

 some capitalists of limited means who advance small sums of 

 money to fishermen and compel them to sell their catches to them. 

 No outside labour is employed. 



NALATTUR, KOTTAPATAM AND KONDURPALEM. 



The fishermen are Pattapus and most of them cure their own 

 fish but there are also some Muhammadan curers who purchase 

 fish from the fishermen and cure them with hired labour. In some 

 of the yards the whole trade is in the hands of the Muhammadan 

 ticket-holders who having advanced money to the fishermen take all 

 the fish brought by them. In the case of fishermen ticket-holders 

 the curing is done by themselves with the help of their women and 

 children. 



MONAPALEM. 



The ticket-holders are mostly fishermen and a few Balijas. 

 The well-to-do ticket-holders are traders who in addition to the 

 local catches also get fish from other villages for curing them here. 

 Hired labour is seldom engaged. Fishermen are very poor. 



