CXX111 



small fish hooks, f gal;' by ' tatti' or 'pinjra/ which is generally placed 

 against a running stream of a nalla, the water passes through, but 

 the fish that are carried away by the current of the water are 

 driven into the crevices of the tatti, and are thus entrapped ; by 

 ' phauta/ when a screen is placed against the current in a shallow river 

 or a nalla, on one side it has a sheet of cloth attached to it, whilst on 

 the other a net is spread, as the current is arrested by the screen, the 

 fish, in attempting to pass, leap over it, and fall into the nets spread on 

 the other side ; ( Pailni' is a triangular-shaped net (lave-net) on a pole 

 used for catching fish in shallow water ; ' Bhovasent/ a circular net 

 about 18 feet in diameter; ' Tagoi/ a net from 90 to 175 feet in 

 length ; the ' Jhorti' is very similar, but with a larger mesh ; the 

 1 Topari' is another species of net ; ' Bhewar jaF or cast-net ; the 

 ' Kothla' is a bag-shaped bamboo trap, and is generally used in irrigated 

 fields ; snares termed ' Phas ;' poisoning water by ' milk bush/ •' hin- 

 ganbet' or ' meni/ In Balaghat the following plans are likewise 

 reported : — ' Dupka/ a conical bamboo coop ; ' Lamdora/ a night line baited 

 with a frog ; ' Kunkur/ a spear ; ' Dawan/ night-lines with several hooks 

 on one string; ' Tepon/ another form used during the day-time ; ' Surki/ 

 fine bamboo chicks, as are also ' Chunga' and ' Maindhar/ 'Dhaer/ or 

 a piece of large hollow bamboo three or four feet in length, open at both 

 ends, is left in running water : its weight sinks it : it is suddenly lifted, 

 the two ends being closed by the two hands. ' Chapa/ by lights at 

 night, when the fish jump on to a piece of bamboo matting. ' Ooran/ 

 a large net, which is stretched across a stream in a moon-light night, 

 and the water is beaten towards it by men in canoes. 



263. In the Jabaljmr Division, Jive Tehsildars reply, that there 



are 10,923 fishermen, who almost invariably 

 Jabalpur Division Answers ue other oceupatioils . the nameg of 



of the JNative oflicials. f. t\\ • i t-i 1 mi 



the castes are Dhimars and Khevats. The 



local markets are fully supplied in three tehsils, but not so in 



two. Respecting the amount of the population who eat fish, it 



is given as follows : — Seoni three-fourths, Mandla all but Brahmins and 



Banias, Sagar and Jabalpiir half; Damoh two-thirds. As regards the 



amount of fish in the waters, in Seoni and Jabalpur it is stated that 



they were abundant previous to the drought of 1S68-69 when numbers 



died, now again they are increasing ; in Damoh they are stationary : in 



Mandla and Sagar they have decreased. In Sagar small fish are 



not taken in any quantity during the rains, but they are in the four 



other districts, at the end of the rains, by damming and lading, by 



taking those left by receding waters in hollows and rice- fields, and by fine 



nets ; in fact, at Mandla about half of the young fry may be said to 



be so caught. The smallest-sized meshes are thus given in four 



districts ; one at half an inch, two at quarter of an inch [in one it 



is subsequently observed of the Pilna net, that it has "fine meshes 



through which a needle for sewing gunny can with difficulty be passed], 



and one at the size of a grain of wheat. Young and old fish are 



taken during seasons of irrigation, in the fields, by means of traps 



set at the outlet of every enclosure in three of the districts, but 



in the remaining two no fields are irrigated at this period, but 



wherever there is any overflow, the people destroy the fry how they can. 



