clxxv 



year. The kinds of nets generally used are as follows : — ghoonowa, 

 a common cast-net, with a mesh one-third of an inch, made of cotton 

 thread; bhukkowa, a larger kind, with a mesh of one-half inch, and 

 constructed of hemp string ; pnndi, a drag-net for small fish, made of 

 cotton thread, with a mesh to one-third of an inch ; ghaseeta, a larger 

 sort, of hemp, and meshes of one inch ; juleea, a net, with meshes of 

 one-third of an inch, is stretched between two bamboos, and dragged 

 along by two men j julka, a large drag-net, with equally small meshes, 

 made partly of cotton, and partly of hemp ; kurhera, a still larger 

 one, with meshes of one inch ; binhore, used in nallas ; it is made of 

 cotton thread, and has meshes one-third of an inch and less ; tuppar, 

 is a net fixed at the bottom of a bamboo cane frame, which the fisher- 

 man uses in shallow water, its mesh is one-third of an inch ; hoorcha, 

 a conical basket open at both ends. In the Bijnour Collectorate, the 

 Tehsildars report that there are about 12 or 1,800 fishermen, all of whom 

 pursue other occupations as well. There are (1) Mussulman Kahars, also 

 (2) Hindu Kahars, (3) Buttiaras, (4) Joolahas, (5) Mullahs, (0) Sir- 

 khooles, a wandering gipsy tribe. The supply in the local markets is 

 insufficient, more fish could be sold : it is eaten from between 50 to 60 

 per cent, of the people, viz., all Mussulmen, and all Hindus except 

 Brahmins, Banias, Sonars, carpenters, black-smiths, Bishnoees, and 

 Gooj urs. About 2, 7 maunds of fish are computed to be yearly consumed ; 

 the amount in the waters has decreased of late years : small ones are 

 taken during the rains by nets, damming streams, and letting the water 

 carefully off so as not to permit the escape of any, or should an opening be 

 left for the passage of the water, a net is fixed across it ; lastly, 

 by digging holes close to the edge of a stream, and filling them with 

 rotton singharas, the smell of which attracts the fish, and they jump in. 

 The minimum-sized mesh employed equals that of the holes in an attah 

 (flour) sieve. Fish are trapped in the irrigated fields during the rains. 

 338. In the Benares Division, the Tehsildars of GorncJcpur report 



that three-fourths of the population eat fish, 

 m Answers of Native Officials d gome of th cagteg make {t the chief ^ 



in the Benares Division. _ , . _. . , . . . 



ot their diet ; none avoid it entirely except 



the Agurwallas and Khutrees, and the class of persons called Bhagats or 

 " abstainers," who entirely abstain from animal food. The sect <>f 

 Vaishnavars are all " abstainers," and so are several castes belonging to 

 the Shivas. The poorest classes eat small fish instead of meal or flour 

 of any kind. It is calculated that 118,096 maunds of fish are yearly 

 consumed in this district. Scarcely any class of people are solely fisher- 

 men, and even they are also boatmen or agriculturists, but a large num- 

 ber of castes employ themselves in it more or less. One Tehsildar reports 

 the supply in the markets as equalling the demand, but five others 

 state deficiency to exist. The Tehsildars of Bustee observe the fishermen 

 follow other occupations as well. Men in almost every village catch 

 fish, more or less, according to their opportunities. They also cultivate 

 land near the waters which become exposed as the floods subside, or else 

 take a lease of the water produce. Where, as at Bukhra, the lake is of 

 very large extent, some members of the family will be entirely occupied 

 in fishing, or in gathering the reeds, whilst others devote themselves to 

 the fields on the shore. In other cases, cultivation may be the primary, 



