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THE TROPiCAL AGRICULTURIST. [Uec. i, i885. 



«sas 



fact that quite a dili'erent style of curing to that 

 generally in use was adopted at Gandara. Here 

 080 cwt. of tish taken in, had increased in weight to 

 Hli cwt. by the time it was taken out. The 

 mystery is thus explained in Mr. Ravenscrolt's 

 report, which was laid on the Council table on 

 Wednesday and which we are reviewing : — 



The system of preserving fish in vogue amongst the 

 Gandara people is that known as "jadi," and as tish 

 prepared by this method is wet when taken out of the 

 yard, the excess of "tish out" over "fish in" is 

 . accounted for. When at Gandara on the 1st instant, 

 witli the Government Agent Southern Province and 

 the Assistant Government Agent of Matara, we made 

 inquiries as to the reason why karawala — /. c, dried 

 and salted fish — was not prepared, and were informed 

 that the people found they could turn over their 

 money more quickly by preparing " ja,di," and sending 

 it directly into Galle, where it commands a readv sale. 

 I am, however, in hopes that some of the curers will 

 undertake the preparation of karawala, which is more 

 suitable than "jadi" for transport into the interior; 

 but necessarily this must depend upon the market for 

 "jadi"' in Galle. Should the supply of the latter at 

 any time exceed the immediate demand, — and there 

 is a possibility of this, — the price will fall, and there 

 will be an inducement to the curers to prepare 

 karawala; but whether this comes about or not, I 

 think there is reason for the continuance of the yard 

 at Gandara. As I have already said, it has had a 

 good effect in the direction of encouraging the fish- 

 curing industry, and increasing the local produc- 

 tion of a cheap and wholesome article of food for 

 tile people ; and there is every reason to anticip- 

 ate that it will tend to the further development of 

 the industry. 



The " jadi " fish is so cured as to retain its moisture 

 which, of course absorbs a considerable quantity of 

 salt, the weight being thus increased even above that 

 originally noted when offal was included. The result 

 js very different in regard to " Karawala," for it 

 will be observed thnt in the case of Hambantota 

 only 845 cwt. of dried tish resulted from 1,217 

 ewt. received as taken out of the sea. The mode 

 of preparing the fish which, notwithstanding the 

 addition to the cleaned material of a considerable 

 quantity of salt, shows so large a decrea-se of 

 weight, is thus described. We quote from the in- 

 teresting report of Mr. Murray, Assistant Govern- 

 ment Agent of Hambantota, in which much general 

 information is embodied : — 



The following few remarks about the fishing itself 

 m ly not be out of place : — 



The boats generally make an early start before day- 

 break, when the land wind carries them out of 

 sight to the fishing grounds, where they remain the 

 whole day. The return journey is made in the after- 

 noon, when the wind changes, the boats arriving be- 

 tween five and six generally- The lisli when landed is 

 piled in heaps, and is either sold by auction to the 

 highest bidder, or by private sale when a fair offer is 

 made, the fishermen thus realising the full value of 

 their fish at once. 



At the commencement of the season, when the 

 hauls were small, the prices ran up to R4 and 

 Iv.') a cwt,, but as the season advanced they went 

 down to Il'2'7.') and R-2.")iJ. The fish is at once 

 cut open, and after being cleaned in the sea close by, 

 conveyed in the pin^'oes and carts to the fish-yard, 

 where it is weighed. The curers then set to work 

 to apply the salt, being engaged at this during the 

 whole night. The different process adopted in curing 

 are : — 



First, the ordinary one of salting and drying. 



The fish when cleaned are slit in parallel lines 

 down the fleshy parts, into winch pounded salt is 

 v.ell rubbed. They are then putint^ barrels a:id kept 

 there for twelve hours, after which they undergo a 

 soCMuJ cleaning in s^lt-water, and are then exposed tj 

 dry ill the hot sun for four or five di,ys on raised stick 

 platforms, so as to keep them free of sand. On the fifth 

 day they are ready for removal, 



Another process is that of placing the fish after it is 

 rubbed with salt in jars or water-tight barrels, and sprink- 

 ling over each layer a good quantity of saltmixei with 

 dried goraka fruit, the acid juice of which imparts a 

 good rtivour ti tlie fish ; when tlie jar is full it is cov- 

 ered over and left to stand for three weeks or a month. 



A third way adopted, when large (pjantities of small 

 fish, such as sardines, sprats, &c., are caught, is to steep 

 them in brine, and then taken away. 



The amount of salt required for curing varies accord- 

 ing to the size and doscription of fish, as well »• the 

 process of curing adopted. For instance, in picking 

 .small fish in jars or tubs the proportion of salt to fish 

 is one tj two, that is, 1 cwt. of salt is required for 2 

 cwt. offish. For dressing small fish the same quantity 

 is required; for salting and drying large fi,li the pro- 

 portion is one to three. 



Tnere are three descriptions of canoes employed in 

 fishing, all of them with the usual outrigge.s. The first 

 is a single-masted large canoe, called in Sinhalese hedi 

 or 'favalapanne oni, capable of cairying G to 8 cwt. The 

 second, the vara ora, constructed in such a way as to be 

 able to sail out in stormy weather, and carrying a lar^e 

 oblong sail supported by two bamboo masts. This boat 

 is chiefly employed in catching the rarer kinds of fish, 

 such as seer, parair, &c. The third kind is a small 

 cockle-shell of a canoe, keeping close in shore when 

 fishing, and only veuturing out when the sea is smooth. 



The large kinds of fish are caught vvith hook and lino 

 manufactured by the fishermen. There are a few 

 draught nets, m ule of coir rope, and circular hand nets 

 used in fishing from the shore. It would be well if they 

 were abolished altogether, as the fishermen complaiu of 

 their frightening away the small fry on which the large 

 fish prey. 



The dift'erent kinds of fish caught are given in return 

 "A." Ka'.ai/ni/a, v/tiigh'mg on an average about 5 ll>. is 

 caught in largest qurntities. iieer and pi raw are the 

 most prized on account of their excellent; flivonr, while 

 the small sprats called /ayyo would mike a good sub- 

 stitute for sardines, 



A sample of the fish cured here under the salting and 

 drying process in the yard of the European firm was for- 

 warded to the Secretary of the (Jeylon Committee for 

 the Indian and Colonial Exhibition, and he writes of the 

 excel'ent condition in which it arrived. 



It is my opinion that this industry is capable of still 

 greater development by the employment of more b;at<i, 

 and that a sufficient quantity of fish cou'd bj caught 

 and cured to supply the whole of C 'ylon. 



I see no reason why tinning fish should not be c irried 

 on profitably. A seer fish costing abjutlS cents wou'dfill 

 aboutthreegood-sized tins selling at llloileieh. The tins 

 would be manufactured by machinery on the spot for 

 25 cents each, and the labour, kc. would absorb another 

 25 cents, leaving a profit of Kl on each tin. No doubt 

 this and other methods of curing will be tried by the 

 English Company next season. 



It does not follow that because there are a large 

 number of boats in a populous fishing village fish- 

 curing, is sure to succeed. It has been fouud that 

 gcuerally the number of boats is limited t • the demaml 

 tor fre.sh tish and that only enough is caught to meet 

 the demand. I (juote the case of Suriyagahawella, 

 whe'-e there are over 200 boats, and a large number of 

 fish caught and yet the quantity cure 1 is very trifiing. 

 The season closes about the end of April, when the 

 rou^h weather which indicates the burst of the south- 

 west monsoon compels all fisherm ni to beach tludr 

 canoes, and no attempt at fishing is made again till 

 about September. So elated, however, have the men 

 been with the encouragement given by the Govtu'u- 

 ment, that they have all promise 1 to return as early 

 as possible next season, and in larger numbers. 



This District has probably never witnessed such a 

 large fleet of canoes as came down this season, and 

 residents assure me that never did suc;h a larg(! i|uan- 

 tity of salt fish pass through the market and town 

 for sale up-country. 



I have endeavoured as far as possible, by the ex- 

 amination of the principal traders in the town, to 

 ascertain the ([uantity of dried tish erred in Ham- 

 bantota and Pattanagala the previous season before 



