NOTES. 151 



towards the mouths of the traps. The latter have two entrances, 

 one on either side of the fence , as shown in the diagram. 



In each half fence of the typical jakotuwa which I have selected 

 for description three traps are inserted at intervals. Each trap 

 consists of an ingenious triple cone-in-cone arrangement rising from 

 the bottom and projecting above the surface of the water, strength- 

 ened by upright poles and horizontal bars. The trap acts as a maze, 

 and the fish which penetrate into the terminal chamber (III.) find 

 themselves in a blind alley, from which there is practically no escape. 

 In order to remove them a man climbs over the top and drops into 

 the water in the middle compartment (II.), from whence he lets 

 himself into the end chamber under water ; this chamber is covered 

 over by coarse coir-netting to prevent the fish from leaping out. 

 Another man in a boat stands by with a hand net called ' ' atanguwa," 

 by which the diver catches the entrapped fishes. This being done, 

 the opening into the inner chamber is made secure, and the diver, 

 having first returned to the middle chamber, re-enters the boat. 



The apices of the cones point towards mid-stream. At the 

 central end of the fence on the north side there was another trace 

 of coconut leaves before the bamboo watch tower of that side. 

 Between the two watch towers (guarding the central channel) was 

 stretched a large net called " atoniya," held up-stream by the two 

 watchers, the corners of the net being attached on each side of the 

 passage to a long pointed pole driven into the bottom ; the opposite 

 or sea end of the net was held above water by two men in a boat ; 

 the up-stream border of the net is below water ; it is a plain net, not 

 a bag. As soon as the watchers see fish passing over the line of 

 demarcation they quickly raise the poles, thus lifting the forward 

 leach of the net out of water, and so the fish are netted. The boat- 

 men then haul in the net and secure the fish, of which I saw only 

 three or four caught at a time, half-sized gray mullet. The jakotuwa 

 is what is termed a " fixed engine " ; the atoniya was at work at 

 dawn, early afternoon, and again towards sundown. 



The fish which were taken out of a jakotuwa in my presence in 

 December last included marine, estuarine, and fresh water forms, 

 e.g., " eliyalu " (Platycephalus) , " kalanda " (Sillago), " parattiya " 

 {Garanx), " anguluwa " {Arius), " koraliya " (Etroplus), " godaya " 

 {Mugil). 



Tlie jakotuwas are lighted up at the mid-river end of each fence 

 by a lantern at night ; this burns all night, and the netting and 

 diving operations are repeated at about 5 a.m. on the following 

 morning. 



A small or single jakotuwa consists of a single cone-in-cone trap at 

 the end of a fence projecting a longer or shorter distance into the 

 river from the shore, always with the guiding trace of coconut leaves 

 at the shore end. In this case there is often an arrangement with 

 rope attachment permitting the entire terminal chamber to be raised 



