( ) 



Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra and Irrawadi) wliich have 

 always a fair supply of water in them : and others (as tho 

 Sone, Godavcri, Kistna, Cauveri, &c.) that become com- 

 })avativcly dry in the hot nionths, in some of Avhich this defi- 

 ciency is increased by water being abstracted from them by 

 works of irrigation. Their relative valuo as lisherics de- 

 pends on several causes — some natural, others artificial. 

 During certain seasons oi' the year, as in the height of the 

 rains, and in those with snowy sources in the hot months, 

 these rivers form impetuous torrents, absolutely precluding 

 fishing being carried on, excepting at their edges. 



IX. Throughout the cold months, and generally until tho 



How during the dry months SCttiug-iu of tllO SOUtll-WCSt mOUSOOn 



mthoimijmityof tilt: lives of in Juno, rivcrs are at their lowest, 



Indiit, tho waters bhallow until i ji • i • i mi 



only a succession of iioois exist, wlictlier cxamuied m lull ranges or on 



connected hyiUarser or smaller tllC ulaiuS. TluiS, iu the lliU strCaUlS 

 sticiun, niiu lieru tlie larger hsh . ', ->-^ -r\- ■ • ■ / 



must coutinuo until tho river lu tlic ICaugra Uistrict (scc para. 

 '''*'^^- 30\ as the cold months commence, the 



amount of water shallows until there appears a succession of 

 pools united by a more or less insignificant stream ; to these 

 places all the fish that do rot descend to the plains resort. In 

 the cold months, they iake refuge at the bottoms and 

 under rocks, and are not easily netted, but as the 

 Avarmer weather sets ii. (unless the river is snoAV-fed), 

 easily fall a prey to the fisherman as the water steadily 

 decreases. The same thing occurs throughout the length and 

 breadth of Hindustan: thus on the western coast of India, about 

 August or September, as tho south-Avest monsoon decreases, 

 the rivers gradually diminish in size until the doAvnpour of 

 rain commences in June the succeeding year. As they sub- 

 side, pools are left, in Avhich the larger fish congregate. 

 " Though there may be many pools in a river, there are only 

 a few at intervals of four or five miles that are specially 

 resorted to by the larger kinds of fish. These are generally 

 the deepest and longest ; they are sometimes as much as 

 twenty feet deep and a quarter of a mile long. They are 

 generally cooler, from being overshadowed by trees, and 

 more or less overhung Avith rocks. Their very depth also 

 Avould keep them cooler than the Avide shallows extending 

 for miles together, and in the height of the hot season, of a 

 few inches only in depth, under a tropical suu."* 



* n. S. Thoniiis, Esij., on " Pisciculture iu South Caiiara," p. 1. 



