No. 4(1920) THE FISHERIES OF THE NILGIRIS 141 



the means adopted to capture these fish as is clear from the fact 

 that scales are spread over the banks for some distance. 



Fry traps. — I found two fry traps of similar construction to those 

 described in my report on the Bhavani, hidden in the undergrowth 

 of one of the islands. 



The mahseer ascend this river while it is in spate and some 

 evidently travel a long way before depositing their spawn, as the 

 fixed engines to catch them are found high up. 



When the heavy waters are subsiding, which, I gather from the 

 local inhabitants, is towards the end of August or early September 

 according to the monsoon, they proceed to build the most formi- 

 dable fixed engines from bank to bank. In one mile of river, I 

 counted no less than four of these obstructions which had been 

 working last season and were still stout and strong, but not in use, 

 as the actual trap had been removed. All the mahseer that had 

 escaped the traps had left the small river long ago for safer and 

 deeper waters. The heavy floods which are due shortly will carry 

 all these hurdles away, so they have to be rebuilt each year. 



Fixed engines. — In construction these are similar to those used on 

 the Bhavani, if, anything, they are more stoutly built with heavy 

 posts well driven into the river-bed and interlaced with bamboo 

 and branches and supported by strong " Y" shaped stakes. 



Being a small river the poachers have no need to take advantage 

 of the islands as they do in the Bhavani. They build straight 

 across from bank to bank. 



In two places where big trees had fallen across the river-bed, 

 advantage had been taken of their support and traps built along 

 them. 



Up to the present I have not come across on any river so many 

 fixed engines as I found up this Splendid tributary of the Bhavani. 



The engines on the Moyar are primitive compared with those 

 on the Siruvani and the Bhavani, the inhabitants having given 

 more attention to poisoning than trapping. This gives a rough 

 idea of what the fixed engines were originally like. 



Food-supply. — There is a large amount of fish food in the 

 Siruvani, and as the country is well wooded, numbers of insects 

 and much edible vegetable matter are constantly falling in the 

 water. 



Spawning ground. — The value of the river lies in its splendid 

 spawning grounds which should be properly protected. 



