( IIG ) 



come under tlie generic name of maliaseers. Near Simla, 

 in tlie Girri, the Barbus hsxastichus is a niahaseer ; in the 

 neighbouring Ussun lliver, the £. Hiinalaijanus is thus 

 termed, wliilst in the Ilurriapore River, only a few miles off, 

 the H. ' tor is so called. All of these are closely allied 

 together ; so, perhaps, it might bo considered that sueli distipc- 

 tions ai*e immaterial. Iii answer to this is the reply that 

 there are upwards of G(' species of this genus in India, 

 some of which never exceed a few inches in length. 

 This is not a solitary case ; the genus Ophiocephalus offers 

 equal difficulties (see page ccv). Seeing the obstacles in 

 England where every fish that is protected has a very pecu- 

 liar and distinct fin, which does not exist in any of the 

 otlier sorts found there, I doubt if such rules could be carried 

 out in India where no sucli distinct peculiarity demonstrates 

 which fish it is that is to be preserved until it attains a cer- 

 tain age. 



OXXVIIl. Respecting the necessity, or the reverse, 

 Reguintiug tiie n,iiiin,um she of rcgulatiug the minimum size of the 

 of the mesh of neu cmi'i"j'';'i. rueshes of ucts, is another vcry im- 

 portant question that can be locally dealt with. Opinions vary 

 so widely that, to disarm opposition, I think local Civil 

 authorities might fix it, in doing which it should be 

 remembered that it is in hilly districts during the breed- 

 ing season that small-meshed nets are doing an immensity 

 of injury to breeding-fish and their fry; also, that in the 

 plains myriads of very minute fish are ciiptured by this 

 poaching practice. In the Panjab, 1|; inches between each 

 knot of the meshes as the minimum size is found to Avork 

 well, whereas amongst the j:)ropositions received from Euro- 

 pean Civil Officers (p. 98), we observe that in Oudh, meshes 

 of the size of two grains of barley, in Mysore, ^ of an inch, in 

 the Central Provinces, ^ of an inch are suggested. There can 

 never be a necessity of having the distance between each 

 knot less than j of an inch ; and even were such a minute 

 minimum size decided upon, it would in certain districts 

 do an immensity of good. A medium course is likewise 

 open, instead of stopping all fishing during the breeding 

 season to prohibit the use of fixed engines entirely span- 

 ning pieces of water, and regulating the minimum size 

 of the mesh of nets from June 1st to November or De- 

 cember 1st only, so that the ca|)tare of fish whicli never 

 attain any size be permitted during those months when 

 the fry of the larger sorts have grown and are able to 



