332 INDIAN CYPRINID&. Peonomine. 
ming, the scales are remarkably rough. With all its dexterity and rapid swim- 
ming this species is more exposed to the nets of the fishermen than most other 
fish, and its native name is said by the fishermen to be derived from the instinct 
and agility it displays in attempts to elude them. According to the observa- 
tions of Mr. Griffith, it is found in Upper Assam in the early part of the 
cold season, generally keeping near the surface in deep water at the foot of 
rapids ; in such situations it declines all sorts of bait and flies, but is a highly 
esteemed article of food. In the lower parts of the river, where I saw it in 
Middle Assam about the end of February, its flesh was considered coarse, and 
its haunts were then in shallow waters, perhaps for the purpose of spawning, 
which may account for the slight discrepancies regarding its qualities and 
habits. 
Its usual size is from one to two and a half feet in length, and though 
sometimes coarse, its flesh is always well flavoured. 
II.—Grewn. BARBUS. 
Lower jaw composed of two lengthened limbs united in front so as to 
form a smooth narrow apex; the dorsal fin is preceded by a strong spinous 
ray; lips hard, four cirri, intermaxillaries protractile. 
They seem to live less exclusively on a vegetable regimen than most of the 
Cirrhins, from which group they also differ in the form or sculpture of the 
body, as well as in possessing a shorter intestinal canal. The dorsal which is 
small commences half way between the caudal and the snout, the ventrals are 
opposite to it. At the insertion of the anal the body contracts suddenly in 
depth, leaving an abrupt tail about half the depth of the body, approaching to 
what we see in the Lizards. The body is more slender, the fins smaller, but 
the rays of which they are composed are larger, and the colours perhaps 
brighter than in the Cirrhins. In the latter the head is thick, and the subor- 
