( 30 ) 



to the construction of tliis weir, extended over 80 or 100 

 miles of tlie river, instead of its being concentrated, as it 

 were, on a single spot. 1'lie fishing decreased until a breach 

 occurred, when it almost locally ceased, owing to the fi-sh 

 being able to obtain accc ss to their breeding-grounds, and 

 not being stopped by the weir, and they were taken even 

 above Triehinopoly. It decreased, doubtless due to the fisli 

 being imable to breed : the year after this breach, when it 

 had been repaired, a great increase was observed in the fish, 

 evidently duo to one season's breeding. Pruitless to deposit 

 their eggs below these constructions, when between the sea 

 and their spawning beds, and unable to pass them, extermina- 

 tion in such rivers wdll only be a question of time, should no 

 remedial measures be adopted. This fish never breeds in 

 tanks or canals. Amongst the predaceous sea fisbes Avhich 

 arc migratory, a large sea perch, Lates calcarlfcr, ascends 

 sometimes hundreds of miles up large rivers as the Irrawadi, 

 pursuing tlie shad. Sharks, Carcharias Gangeticus, and saw- 

 fishes, Pristis, also ascend high up rivers, and a favourite 

 resort for them is below Aveirs, where they find ample means 

 of subsistence in the slioals of fish detained by those 

 structures. 



The Try of Puesii-Wateti Fisn. 



LTI. The immature or {\\q fry of fish, where tliey are 



Try of fresl.-water fisl.es. fouud, and tlicir meaUS of subsist- 

 How, insteiid<)HRing protcctca, ence, and opportunities of growth, 

 u.ey nru Ac.u.yc.i ^^.^ qi^ggtio^^g ^^.i^j^j^ j^ jg ^g^.y material 



to offer a few remarks upon. I have already observed (para. 

 XLA^'III) how the fry of fishes are protected from their voraci- 

 ous parents in liill streams and rivers, by those localities being 

 generally unequal to the supply of food for tlie mature or 

 large fish, which migrate up tlvese water-courses in order to 

 deposit their ova : consequently, they drop down again into 

 the rivers of the plains as the waters begin to subside, leaving 

 the fry to descend with the next year's rains. These fry, 

 however, appear to Hkewise continue their descent in a very 

 quiet and gradual manner, but when they have an oppor- 

 tunity of going down-stream, they avail themselves of it. 

 In the Ilimalayas numbers of these young fish descend into 

 the kools or canals for turning mills (see para. XXII), Avhere all 

 are captured. Those which reach pools in these streams appear 

 to often continue there throughout the dry montlis, unless des- 

 troyed, until the monsoon recommences. In the low country 



