FRESH-WATER FISHERIES OF CEYLON. 93° 
has been attributed to various causes from first to last, but not once 
I believe publicly to what is perhaps the most deep-seated cause of 
all, namely, forest clearing. 
Undersized fishes are destroyed in the wala system of fishing, but 
not to such a great extent as by netting ; and it should not be 
forgotten that the capture of egg-laden females is as wasteful as the 
netting and trapping of immature young. It would appear that 
there is no practical method of stopping the waste ; if it is excessive, 
the only way to counterbalance it is by establishing nurseries and 
hatcheries ; and when one considers the small monetary value of the 
inland fisheries at their best, the idea that hatcheries in connection 
with the rivers of the Western Province would repay the expense of 
their upkeep seems to be excluded, at least for many years to come. 
There can be no doubt that they would be beneficial, and the 
installation of one inland hatchery should be seriously contemplated. 
Night-lines and River-fishing —As with the Kelani-ganga, so with 
the Kalu-ganga, the main rivers do not yield the main fishery ; this 
is found in their affluents, the Pusweli-ganga and the Kuda-ganga 
respectively. The main rivers are, however, exploited to some 
extent by means of night-lines. At Tebuwana, on the occasion 
referred to in the preceding section, having taken a large number of 
madaya from the wala, two men who were noted experts at moda- 
fishing said they would go that evening between 7 p.m. and midnight 
to fish for moda or other large fish with rod and line, using madaya 
as live bait. Only one of them kept his courage to the sticking point, 
and, after some persuasion, was induced to go; but there was a 
deval-maduwa close by, and the noise of people crossing the river 
to attend the festival was fatal to good fishing. The man said 
afterwards that he had had two bites of “ guru-tambaya,” but had 
failed to land the fish. 
The rod employed is a strong inflexible bamboo rod, which is 
supported over crossed or forked sticks from the shore. At several 
points along the banks of the river when travelling by boat one may 
notice a forked stick driven into the ground with a low semi-circular 
rampart in front of it, an ambuscade for lying in wait for moda, &c. 
The whole is called “‘ malu bana.” 
There is no doubt of the fact that river fish as food are scarce in 
Ceylon; a trivial indication of this state of things is to be found in 
the circumstance that, as a rule, the last place in which to expect a 
dish of fresh fish is at a riverside resthouse. At Tebuwana estuarine 
fish from Kalutara are procurable ; at Badureliya and Anguruwatota 
sardines are offered. 
On February 12 I travelled from Badureliya to Anguruwatota on 
an untented raft supported by three dug-outs, in order to ascertain 
whether there might be any sign of an active fishery along the 
tributaries of the Kalu-ganga. Gliding gently along the Magura- 
ganga we passed deep pools in which large fish are known to lurk ; 
