XIV INTRODUCTION. 



Nine days subsequently in S. lat. 22° 19' and W. long. 25° 53', the ice had all melted, and the ova 

 died seventy-four days after leaving London. This time about twenty fry were hatched out, but 

 killed by the excessive pitching and rolling of the ship which caused the water and gravel to be 



thrown with violence against them. 



Since then Salmon and Trout have been safely introduced into Tasmania by conveying the 

 boxes of ova in ice, and it is hoped Trout may be introduced on to the Neilgkerries by the same 

 process. The danger will be in crossing the desert : there will also be a difficulty in having a 

 sufficient supply of ice between Suez and Madras. 



Fisheries, it is almost needless to observe, give employment to many individuals, either in 

 capturing the spoil, in preparing them for the market, or in their carriage to distant places : as well 

 as to the numerous trades to which they are of a greater or less importance. In the State of 

 Travancore each fisherman had formerly to pay a yearly tax upon the net he used, and those who 

 lived in the town of Cochin, or under Dutch protection, had to bring eight pounds weight of fish 

 daily to the senior official. Whilst in the Portuguese territory, besides their taxes, none of their 

 produce could be taken to market until the clergy were first served with what they required. At 

 the present time there is no tax upon fishermen or on their implements of trade either in the 

 British Territory or in the Native State of Cochin. 



The modes of fishing vary with the season of the year, and whether employed in the sea, 

 backwater, rivers or tanks. Wall, cast, stake, and Chinese nets are all used. The last situated 

 on the banks of rivers — as that of Cochin — are about sixteen feet square, suspended by bamboos 

 attached to each corner, and let down like buckets into the water, when, after having remained 

 there a few minutes, they are drawn up again. Besides the foregoing, fishing with a bait is 

 employed, both from the shore and from small canoes. Trolling at the mouths of rivers, chiefly 

 for the Polynemus tetradactylus takes place mostly in the cold months. Likewise shooting with 

 a Chittagong bow, or bows and arrows, capturing by means of bamboo labyrinths, and poisoning 

 the water by Nux vomica, Cocculus Indicus, Croton-oil seed, or other deleterious substances are all 

 common ; also damming up and lading out streams, purse-nets in small water-courses, especially 

 in rice fields, catching by the hand, or by means of wicker baskets, somewhat resembling the eel- 

 traps of Europe, but which are rapidly pressed down over the fish by the fisherman.* 



I now proceed to touch on matters well worthy the attention of those in authority. An 

 accurate survey of the Ichthyology of the Western Coast, and an extensive inquiry into its 

 fisheries and the uses to which the fish are put, appears advisable for the purpose of ascertaining the 

 cause of the remarkable increase in the exports of fish oil, salt fish, and isinglass, which has occurred 

 during the last few years. The following subjects would necessarily have to be considered. 



* The various modes of fishing are detailed at pp. 488 to 493 of a work published by me, under the 

 title of the Land of the Permauls, or Cochin its past and its present. 



