CXC1 



358. The replies of the native officials of Bengal have mostly 



been omitted, whilst those sent are unfor- 



Replies of Native Officials tunately more in the gross than in detail; 



very bare. . •',.., ° . , ' 



however, 1 give them as received. 



359. The Tehsildars of Burdwan reply that the number of fisher- 



^ • • . Vi . ^^ • i men is about 20,000, one-third of whom are 

 Opinions of Native Officials. , . ' ' . , . . 



pretty exclusively employed as such ; the 



others follow different occupations as well. The fishermen castes are — 

 1, Koibarta, 2, Keot, 3, Malo, 4, Tiyur, 5, Jelia, 6, Bagdi, 7, Dulia, 

 and 8, Bauri. Nos. 1 to 5 live chiefly on fishing ; 6 to 8 ply the double 

 occupation of fishermen and palki-bearers, the males following the latter, 

 the females the former pursuit : most of them also till the laud. Some 

 men of superior caste angle as a means of recreation. The supply of fish 

 is not equal to the demand ; if more were brought to the market, they 

 would find a ready sale ; the quality is decidedly bad. The amount 

 from the Damuda and other rivers towards the centre of the district is 

 decidedly limited. The chief supply may be taken from tanks, the water 

 in which has of late years become bad and poisonous, so much so as 

 to kill the fish. The average price of large fish is 3 annas, of small fish 

 [chnna) from \\ to 2 annas per seer of 60 tolas. First class bazar mutton 

 realizes 5 annas, and second sort 3 annas, a seer of the same weight. 

 All classes of people, excepting widows of high-caste Brahmins, Boidus 

 and Kaits, join in the consumption of fish; probably 95 per cent, are fish- 

 eaters. As to whether the fish in the waters have increased, decreased, 

 or remained stationary of late years, a great diversity of opinion exists, 

 some alleging that the fresh-water fish have decreased, others that the 

 supply has remained stationary. During the rains small fish are taken 

 by means of ghoonee and by small nets of fine texture : communications 

 are now opened between the rivers and bheels (swamps), and the small 

 fish are introduced into the latter. At this season the fry of large fish 

 are also caught in large quantities, by nets called bisal and kkina, 

 in the shoals of the Damuda and the Bhagirutti, with a view to their 

 being transferred and reared in tanks. The smallest meshes employed 

 will not permit a mustard seed to pass. During the rains, a consider- 

 able amount of small fish, chuna, are trapped in the irrigated fields 

 by means of ghoonee, lark, ara, and hand-nets termed ckaukni. 

 This species of fish is consumed by the middle and lower classes of 

 people, and is sold much cheaper than the large fish. The forms 

 of fishing reported are, by nets both large and small ; lirties, a 

 trap made of split bamboos and placed against a current; palues, 

 made of split bamboos and resembling a conical shaped basket ; ang- 

 ling and harpooning ; hoary and shihii : the first is made of branches 

 of trees and thorns tied together and placed in the river where the 

 current is not strong, small fish take shelter therein, and are taken by 

 means of shikti or ckaukni nets. The names of the other nets, &c, 

 are — bar or maha-jal, a large drag-net. Binti-jal, a net fixed to posts 

 in the middle of a river where the water is deep; dara-jal resembles 

 bar, but is used only in tanks ; Map la, a cast-net. For taking small 

 fish there are the following: — Shinii-jal, resembling khapla, but with 

 smaller meshes ; ganii-jal, stretched across a tank, and the little fish 

 become entangled by their heads; feta-jal, a lave-net; chahii-jal, a 



