( 1 ) 



They arc to be found in rivers, iri-igation or other fchoolsj 

 canals, lakes, tanks and jhils, and are of various degrees of im- 

 portance, not only as regards the amovmt of tish residing in 

 them, but likewise in accordance Avith the character of the 

 contiguous people, as to Avhethcr they arc fish-eaters or 

 reject j;his article of food ; also as to the sparsity or the 

 reverse of the population. 



Rivers AND theie, Expansions. 



V. The rioers of India and British Burma possess 

 ,,,,,. „ . cerlaiu i)eculiarities which tell, to a 



Uiveis of the luuian iMiinirc. . ^ . , i i /• i 



greater or lesser degree, upon the lishes 

 that inhabit them — some of these being due to the season of 

 the year, others to the a}n<)unt of raiu-fall. There are those 

 descendiug from the hilly regions, as the Irrawadi in Eurma, 

 and the Indus in the Panjab and Sind. Besides which, 

 there are certain difTerences to be observed when the rivers 

 are in the hilly districts froui Avhat obtains in the plains, and 

 these re-act upon the fishes which inhabit them. 



VI. The bill rivers of India, pr, more properly speaking, 

 Hill rivers of India: tiioso tliosc wluch takc their risc in the hill 



bnviug Aii.iuo origiug. raugcs, may be divided into (1) those 



whicli have, or (2) have not, Alpine sources. Generally speak- 

 ing, the rioers which have Alpine origins, as those which de- 

 scend from the Himalayas, have for their sources of replenish- 

 ment (exclusive of springs) two most prominent ones. During 

 the hot months, that derived from melted ice and snow is 

 abundant, and a daily rise and fall in the amount contained 

 in them may be observed at certain hours, corresponding 

 to the distance from their siiOAvy sources, and which is due to 

 solar influence. Throughout the monsoon season, doubtless, 

 the rains also assist in the melting of the snows : exclusive of 

 this, however, they are sufficient to fill the rivers in what 

 may bo termed a spasmodic manner. Thus, in the commence- 

 ment of March, the snow-floods begin in the Indus, the 

 inundations of this river being more entirely due to the 

 influence of the melting snows than to that of the rains, 

 as in the Ganges and Jumna, owing to the rai,n-fall being 

 greater in the upper regions of the latter rivers than in 

 those of the former and its afUuents. These hill rivers con- 

 sequently form torrents, rising rapidly and as rai)idly sul)- 

 siding, more especially during the rains, whilst, having no 

 contiguous tanks into which the fish could retire, their 



