FISHING IN INDIAN WATERS. 731 



way, and are not despised by the larger fish. At times you may try our old friend 

 " Sarcelle'' with advantage, or even make a weird and curious representation 

 of a flying fish with cotton wool, sUver or tin foil, and a white or red rag, and 

 drag the whole skipping along on the top of the w^ater. This is best done 

 when sailing along with a brisk breeze, and to your counterfeits flying fish 

 shall be taken with such a splash and a rush, that shall make your heart 

 flutter, and after a grand fight you will find that you have got a " barra- 

 couta," Here again the inventiveness of the angler will have full scope, 

 and many a man has his own particular lure, which he fondly believes is 

 better than any other. I had a very good arrangement once, A deadly 

 scheme of triangles something like a Thames pike flight, and from each hook 

 depended a strip of cotton tape, each cut to diflerent lengths, and they all 

 wobbled and waved when being towed in a manner that fascinated many a 

 tish. 



For the smelt nothing is so good as the soft tail of a hermit crab. The 

 crab itself is easily got. They swarm on the beach, and if you will only sit 

 still, you will see the old shells lying on the beach begin to move, and 

 then walk about : rather embarrassing to a stranger sometimes, who begins 

 to wonder whether he is seeing right or not, but a little investigation soon 

 shews him the cause. In each of these shells a crab has taken up his abode. 

 You have got your crab now but the question is how to remove him. Pull 

 him out you cannot, while if you break the shell (in itself not such an easy 

 job), you generally mash up the occupant. I give you a tip for what it is 

 worth. Perchance you may be smoking ; well, if so, take the shell, and hold 

 it quietly for a minute or so with the back or closed end of the shell near 

 the business end of your cheeroot, and in a short time the hermit will, 

 begin to wonder what is up with his hind quarters, and as the heat increases 

 he will very quickly and suddenly evacuate his fortress, and then you have 

 him at your mercy. 



While on the subject of hermit crabs and shells, I would remark that any 

 one with a taste for conchology would here be in his element, for he can 

 gather here with very little trouble a wonderful collection. Some of the 

 reefs here about abound with beautifully marked tiger-cowries, and curious 

 and spikey specimens of all sorts and sizes are to be had, I say of all sorts 

 and sizes advisedly. In the one case I know a reverend gentleman who sorted 

 out 1,500 complete shells and for safety stowed them away with cotton wool 

 in an ordinary small homeopathic medicine bottle ; while down in the 

 Nicobars in a quiet bay, on a shallow reef which is very nearly dry at low 

 water, I know of the existence of a huge tridacne, or clam, each half of 

 which would make a very decent bath for a man, and I moreover tried one 

 day for hours, with a crowbar and six men to detach him from the ledge 

 where he had anchored himself. When we commenced operations, he simply 

 shut himself up, tightened his hold on the rocks, and utterly defeated me. 



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