101 



recasting of the returns, but it is worthy of particular attention 

 that whenever a marked diminution occurs in the catch of 

 sardines, that of mackerel takes a great jump upwards, as in 

 1901 ; also that the enormously prolific sardine season of 1907 

 was preceded by the utter failure of the 1906 mackerel fishery, 

 a phenomenon which has its parallel in Cornish waters where a 

 good year for pilchards is generally followed by a poor herring 

 season. Tn any practical work that may be done in the future 

 in the endeavour to find and fish sardines when they appear to 

 have deserted any particular locality attention should be given 

 to the possibility of attracting sardines to the surface by means 

 of surface bait after the methods employed in the French 

 sardine fisheries. 



76. During the period we were on the Malabar and South 

 Canara coasts^(October to December 1908), the sardine shoals 

 kept close inshore except during the first week we were there, 

 24th to 31st October, when they temporarily disappeared. 

 Usually the shoals were from f to 1 mile from shore, seldom did 

 we see them beyond this zone, and in no case did we see any 

 considerable shoals further than two miles from land. Por- 

 poises were particular 1 ) 7 numerous, often following the shoals 

 into quite shallow water ; on several occasions during the 

 second week of December, while the steamer lay in Cochin 

 harbour, sardines entered the backwater in large numbers and 

 on these occasions we invariably observed that they were 

 followed, possibly chased in, by numerous porpoises. 



Remarkable mortality among sardines. 



77. While steaming from Cannanore to Mangalore on 15th 

 November, when about six miles S.S.W. of the latter port and 

 within three miles of land, numbers of dead sardines were seen 

 floating on the surface. At first they were scattered somewhat 

 sparsely and the waler was not distinguishable in colour and 

 appearance from what we had steamed through for hours pre- 

 viously — inshore water greenish-grey and somewhat turbid with 

 suspended matter, chiefly plankton. Very soon a yellowish 

 tint was discernible and this increased, together with an 

 increasing quantity of dead fish till at last the water was a dark 

 yellow, reminding one of the yellow floods of the Yang-tse- 

 kiang ; where the water was darkest yellow dead sardines 

 appeared most numerous. Fully half an hour was taken in 

 getting clear of these dead fish, so that tliey must have covered 

 an area at least 2| miles in length from north to south. 



