1918.] N. Annandale: Fish of the InU Lake. 59 



door of reecl-stenis. This trap, which is called pivanhnwet-vga-i/an is 

 very like one from Bengal figured by Day in his hand-book of " Indian 

 Fish and Fishing " compiled for the Fisheries Exhibition in London 

 of 1883. The reference is to pi. 1, fig. 1 of the book. The chief 

 dift'erence is that the Intha trap is trmicated at the compressed end 

 instead of being produced. 



The other traps recognized for revenue purposes by the Yawnghwe 

 State are probably used for the most part in rice-fields, canals, etc., 

 rather than in the lake itself ; the only other type which I know to be 

 set in the lake is the one used in connection with the large fishing en- 

 closures which I will discuss later. In general structure it resembles 

 the conical frames (pi. V, fig. 1) used in connection with fish-spears, 

 but is not more than 4 feet long and relatively narrow. A funnel- 

 shaped passageway is fitted in the broad end and a hole at the narrow 

 end is filled with weeds when the trap is set. The fish are extracted 

 from this hole. 



The traps used in rice-fields differ only in small details from those 

 used all over India and Burma. Two types are common. One is 

 conical and has a funnel-shaped entrance. It resembles the large traps 

 used in the enclosures but is only about a foot long and is made of 

 very narrow strips of reed-stem. The other, which stands upright, has a 

 flat bottom of bamboo-matting. The upright sides are made of verv 

 narrow strips of bamboo arranged closely parallel to one another in a 

 vertical direction. In cross-section the trap is shaped like a figure of 

 8 with the double curve of one side smoothed out into a single con- 

 vexity. In the depression on the other side there is a series of narrow 

 slits, through which the little fish and prawns enter. As the top m 

 open and the whole trap not more than eighteen inches high, it can only 

 be used in very shallow water. 



Two kinds of baskets are used in catching small fish and prawns. 

 One (pi. VII, fig. 2) of these {hmyonhvet) is broadly cylindrical, and 

 is formed of a very coarse network of rough bamboo strips, with a 

 number of similar strips twisted round the top. A specimen is 42 

 cm. high and 1-3 m. in circumference. Baskets of this kind are filled 

 with peat, fresh weeds and stones, and sunk in the open parts of 

 the lake. They are left at the bottom for 24 hours or more, and 

 then fished up with a fishing spear. Several hundreds are often laid 

 down by a single boat or a pair of boats, on which they are piled to a 

 great height. Fish of various kinds, especially the small Cyprinidae 

 and the species of Mastacemhelus and Notojjterus, go into them, appa- 

 rently to look for food among the peat as well as to take shelter, 

 for the peat is considered necessary. They remain in hiding amongst 

 the weeds when the basket is drawn up. The monthly licence for using 

 baskets of this kind is only three annas. 



The other kind of fishing basket (pi. VII, fig. 1) is also made of 

 bamboo strips, but the strips are much narrower and more carefully 

 prepared, and the workmanship is neat and close. The structure is 

 that of a more normal basket with ujiright strips radiating from the 

 bottom, and with finer strips passing horizontally alternately in and 

 out, below and above them. A large specimen is 26 cm. deep, and 



