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waters, they are assailed in every possible way by nets of all kinds and 

 of the very smallest mesh, and by fixed engines of the most deadly 

 nature, which, when once set up, remain permanently, without even the 

 weekly open time so strongly insisted on in England, and with the water- 

 way often closed, not merely by a net, but by a screen of reeds placed 

 so closely together that none but the very smallest fish could get 

 through. In this district which is low, and very swampy, the numbers 

 can be renewed every rain from the rivers, but I have often wondered how 

 any fish of the smallest kind could remain in. j Mis such as I have seen 

 in Oudh. There are numbers there, often miles from a river, which 

 I have seen dragged with the smallest meshed nets, so as to take appa- 

 rently every fish two inches long ; then emptied of their water in Feb- 

 ruary for irrigation, and yet after the bed has lain dry from February 

 to June, there are again next year apparently as many fish as ever. 

 Poisoning of the water is said to be another means of destruction, but I 

 have never known it done intentionally. I remember hearing in the 

 Humeerpur District that it occurs naturally every year. The Bela Tal 

 at Jeitpur is formed by an embankment across a low valley, and 

 the course of a small hill-stream lies through it. During the hot 

 weather this stream becomes almost dry, only retaining water in holes 

 in the midst of the jungle. These holes become full of dead leaves, 

 and with the first burst of the rains, the putrid contents are swept 

 down into the lake. The consequence, I was told on the spot, is, that 

 numbers of fish are perfectly stupefied and float on the top of the 

 water, an easy prey to any one who will take them." [This is a very 

 interesting instance of destruction of fish which at these seasons may be 

 occasioned by one of the three following causes — (1) mud in waters, (2) the 

 action of infusions of dead leaves or fruit, due apparently either to simple 

 putrescence, (3) orjelse to the leaves or fruit having an inherent poisonous 

 character.] " There can be no doubt that the supply is said, in many 

 places, to be falling off, though this is not the case here as yet, and that 

 if a proper remedy can be found, it might be largely increased.'''' As to 

 close seasons they should vary in different localities ; it would do great 

 good, and during April and May fishing should be prohibited. There 

 would be great difficulty in regulating the size of the mesh of nets, or to 

 decide upon what are fry, were their sale prohibited. Mr. Hobart reported 

 of this district (see para. 334) — " In Bustee, and I believe in Goruckpur, 

 manorial rights exist in fisheries, in the innumerable tanks, jliils and rivers 

 there are very valuable, while cases of dispute about them are of daily 

 occurrence. There, there is undoubtedly a most wanton destruction of 

 fish. I remember the Koana used to overflow its banks yearly, and 

 millions of fish used to come into the quiet waters of the lagoons lying 

 near the stream. There was a system of staking the mouths of those 

 lagoons, when the water fell in the river at the end of the rains, as the 

 fish tried to get away. Except the very large fish, which leaped the 

 artificial barrier (and it was more than four feet above the water), the 

 rest of the fish were slaughtered in tens of thousands, and an incalcu- 

 lable waste occurred. Had the fish been gradually killed and sold, the 

 plan has its advantages ; as it is, it requires restriction very badly. 

 Again, in that same river, especially in the remote parts, there is a 

 trap under every bridge that spans it, where fish are caught and 



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