CCX1 



389. In the Thyetmyo District, one native official answers as 



follows : — That there are 137 resident fisher- 



Th°etmyo. ° f "^ ^^ ^ men > but man y others come down temporarily 



from Upper Burma ; as a rule, the fishermen 

 do not follow any other occupation. The local markets are generally 

 fully supplied: now and then the fishermen take a holiday, and then no 

 fish at all is to be had. The supply of fish has always been equal to the 

 demand. Fish are trapped in the irrigated fields to a small extent. 

 The taxed nets in use are as follows: — (1) Hmaw, 240x8 cubits, 

 and an 8-inched mesh ^several of the sizes of meshes given, being 

 erroneous, are omitted], it is floated down a river; (2) Let-mat an-paik, 

 250 X 8 cubits, with a mesh of 1 inch, one end is affixed to a sand- 

 bank, and the other is carried out into the stream and brought round to 

 the sand-bank; (3) Paik-woon-boo, 800x35 cubits, with a mesh of 1 

 inch, drifted down the river by the aid of two boats and hauled on to the 

 bank; (4) Kiooon-gee-paik or Mek-kiooon-paik are casting nets ; (5) Paik- 

 lot, or Hna-loon-qneng is similar to No. 2, but is only made in Upper 

 Burma; (6) Hmyaw-aing-dan, 25 X 10 cubits, used in backwaters close 

 to the river's bank, one end is fastened to the shore at the head of the 

 backwater, and the other end anchored out in the stream ; (7) Ret- 

 giveng, 25 X 25 cubits, and a mesh of \ an inch, this is like the Chinese 

 dip-net, and said to be very destructive to the young shad. The untaxed 

 nets are given as follows : — (1) Nga-tsein-paik, 50x1 cubit, with a mesh, 

 of 1 inch, it is pulled along in shallow waters during the dry season near 

 the shore ; (2) Oo-tsein-paik, 60x4 cubits, with a mesh of an inch 

 used as the foregoing; (3) Rong-ma, a casting net; (4) Paik-byon, 

 80 X 8 cubits, having a mesh of 3 inches, worked like No. 1 of the taxed 

 nets ; (5) Let-pyit-kwon, 7x7 cubits, with a mesh of three-fourths of 

 an inch, pulled along in shallow water ; (6) Khyee-kwon, 400x7 cubits, 

 and a mesh of 2 inches, these nets are worked lite the last, and are now 

 and then brought down from Upper Burma ; (7) Kwon-neng, 6x7 cubits, 

 with a mesh of 4 inches between each knot [?], a casting-net; (8) Daing- 

 won, a prawn-net ; (9) Gaw, a net let down to the bottom of the stream 

 and baited; (10) Doo-khyoon, a float-net used in large rivers to capture 

 ascending fish during the dry season. 



390. From the Amherst District, the answer of four Myo-okes have 



_ . . . been received : they report that the great 



Opinion of native officials of •• o ii_ t± r ij.* j. „„j 



Amheret. majority of the fishermen are cultivators, and 



very few solely employed in this occupation. 

 The markets are stated not to be fully supplied in any of the districts : 

 the whole of the population eat fish. The amount in the waters is con- 

 sidered to have remaiued stationary in two, and to be decreasing yearly in 

 the remaining two. Small fish are caught in the fields and creeks during 

 the rains by means of dams, tamans, and traps, yeen and yethai, 

 and other contrivances. The smallest mesh employed is \ an inch in 

 the hand nets. Fish are trapped in the fields during the rains, and 

 caught by means of hviyone, yeen, kooudoung, and yethai, &c. 

 The names only of the implements employed in fishing is given. 

 £ Poisoning of waters is also resorted to during the dry season in this 

 district, as will be observed from the following report furnished by Mr. 

 J. W. Dig lis, Executive Engineer of the Amherst Division, in 1869: — 



