Oo) SPOLIA ZEYLANICA. 
They also construct elaborate fixed traps called “ mas-ge”’ or 
‘““mas-kotuwa ”’; these are tall fish-mazes, about 20 feet high, made 
of the same materials as the fences. They project high out of the 
water when the latter is low, but during flood time they may be 
entirely submerged. For example, May 9 was a day of great rain 
at Hanwella, and the entrapped fishes could only be taken in the 
early part of the day, before the waters had covered up the mas-kotu. 
Up to the present I have not found an opportunity of seeing fish 
taken out of a mas-kotuwa. When I visited Hanwella in Decem- 
ber, 1907, they had fallen into temporary disuse, only being worked 
during the rains ; and I was told that there had been a mas-kotu 
fishery in the previous month of November; May and June are the 
chief months for this fishery in the Kelani Valley. The mas-kotu 
may thus be defined as flood kraals, in contrast with the ja-kotu, 
which are fair weather kraals. An important carp, the hiri-kanaya 
(Labeo dussumiert), is taken in the mas-kotu at Hanwella; and 
occasionally, though not in my experience, the lela (Barbus tor). 
Another piece of fishing gear employed by the Barawe fishermen is 
the “ baru-dela ” or casting net, the manipulation of which requires 
a great deal of skill. Other nets are the “ atanguwa ”’ or hand net ; 
and the *‘ pala-dela,”’ a net stretched between two poles, terminating 
in a small-meshed bag. 
Being much impressed by the intensive character of the Barawe 
fishery, I applied to the Mudaliyar of the Hewagam korale (Mr. H. A. 
Pieris) for information as to whether it had ever been more productive 
than it is now ; whether there had been any notable fluctuations ine 
the annual catches ; and whether or not he considered the methods 
of fishing unduly destructive of immature fish, leading to the 
diminution of the local fish supply. The Mudaliyar replied that 
the fishery had been more productive in times past owing to the 
fact that “ the forest is now being gradually cleared of its timber, 
which causes the streams to dry up faster than in former years ” ; 
there had been no noticeable fluctuations ; and he did not think 
that the present methods of fishing in his district were unduly 
destructive. This, of course, is a matter of opinion, which should 
be discussed by a competent local fishery committee. I would 
point out here, however, that the fencing of natural water-courses 
so as to hinder the normal migrations of fishes, and the ‘‘ muddying ” 
of permanent waters so as to inhibit the normal respiration of fishes, 
are practices which call for comment. The deliberate stirring up 
of the mud in order to foul the water belongs to the same category 
as the use of dynamite and vegetable poisons ; or at least modern 
conditions of existence render it necessary to classify them together. 
The stirring up of mud is done sometimes by men, sometimes by 
buffaloes. Wakwella on the Gin-ganga, near Galle, seems a likely 
enough place for a fishing station, but in fact is disappointing. In 
August I tried to obtain a sample of the fishes frequenting those 
