CCXXV11 



BENGAL. 



{Supplementary Report, received November 5th, 187:2.) 



405. The Agent to the Governor General, North-Eastern Frontier, 

 Opinions of European Officials and Commissioner of Assam observes (October, 

 in * North-East Bengal, and 9th, 1872) that he is " not sufficiently well 

 Assam, informed on the subject to have any tempta- 



tion to be discursive about it/' and has to " deplore the absence of the 

 tastes which, either as sportsmau or naturalist, would have led me to 

 bestow some attention on the numerous varieties of fishes that are to 

 be found in Assam." No doubt a very unnecessary destruction of fresh- 

 water fish goes on at present in Assam ; but, on the whole, it may be 

 doubted whether such is a wasteful one, in the sense of injuriously affect- 

 ing- the supply available for legitimate consumption. He observes that 

 " I should be slow to believe that there were fewer fish anywhere in 

 Assam now than there used to be, unless it were demonstrated to me 

 that the actual take of fish anywhere over the same area of water with 

 the same engines and the same skill was less than it used to be ; and 

 then, unless the same fact could be proved as to many localities in differ- 

 ent parts of Assam, I would not allow the extension of an inference of 

 diminished fish-supply to the whole province/'' Crocodiles (termed 

 alligators) during the dry season are in extraordinary numbers ; 

 the natives assert they have increased, and, as a consequence, that fish 

 have decreased, the Commissioner, considering just the contrary 

 must be the true solution, continuing — " at all events, I have little 

 doubt but that the number of fishes destroyed by the crocodiles on the 

 Brahmaputra is beyond all proportion greater than what is destroyed 

 by man, and it would seem, therefore, that the first duty of a system of 

 fish conservancy for that river would be the killing of the crocodiles/' 

 Breeding-fish and their fry and those in all conditions are destroyed by 

 the Assamese by every engine and contrivance that they can command. 

 Owing to a sparse population and a large amount of water, it is sur- 

 mised that the destruction caused by village populations must be but a 

 small proportion to the whole, consequently that there is not any emer- 

 gent necessity for atteuding to the conservancy of its fish, but poisoning 

 the waters is objected to. " Dr. Day will, perhaps, pardon me for sug- 

 gesting to his objections that the onus probandi is with him, and not 

 with those who differ from him, for his is the affirmative proposition, 

 viz., that the supply of fish has diminished, and it is for him to prove it, 

 by showing that the fishermen have improved in their means of capture, 

 have changed their times of fishing, and that the fish-eating population 

 has increased, or in any other way/' fHere I must dissent from the 

 statements advanced. First, no onus probandi lies with me, because I 

 have not wished to prove anything, but impartially carry out an inves- 

 tigation given me by the Government of India, whilst the most satis- 

 factory conclusion would have been that, due to the care of the fisheries 

 by officers in civil employ, they were not deteriorating. Secondly, 



