xxxu 



caiiglit. It cannotj however^ be said that even this has been accuvately 

 dutineil, but wlienever a dispute h:is arisen between the Mahanas and the 

 fai-merSj it has been ruled by the Revenue authorities that one-third of 

 the fish was the hniit of tlie hitter's riglit. This third has never, so 

 far as lie is aware, been levied direct. The fishery revenue of the 

 Kuraehi Collectorate for a eyele of live years ending- 1870-71 has aver- 

 aged, for ordinary fish, i.e., dhand fishing, Rs. 13,51)3-6-0; for jmlla 

 fish, i. e., river fishing in the Indus, lis. 20,7 10-10-9 per annum. 



55. T/ie Collector of ILiidarabad (J\Iay 27th, 1871) replied, that 



nundjors of breeding fish, the pulla, are dcs- 



Hnjdarnbad CoUcctomte; its ^^.^ j j^.^^,^ Felnuary to August in the Indus. 



fishenes. rt \ ■ i\ i ■ i ii i 



Captunng- tliese lierrings, however, will not 



decrease their numbers if there are no weirs in rivers, and they can 

 ascend to their breeding grounds. The fry of other sorts of fish 

 are, however, met with in the shallow lakes of water left in many 

 places, and are consumed by the people ; these form but a minute 

 portion of what the great river must always contain; and, more- 

 over, as all such lakes, termed 'dhands,^ dry up, these fish, if left, 

 would die ; consequently their consumption is not hurtful. It is not 

 advisable to regulate the size of the mesh by law : JirMij, because 

 no necessity exists, secondly, because of the difficulty there would be in 

 carrying out such rules, if made. For the same reasons the sale of the 

 fry of fish should not be prohibited. The fisheries in this Collectorate 

 consist, fifdly, of the Indus itself ; secondly of tanks or dhauds ; and 

 Government has a prescriptive right to a shave of all these, ranging* 

 according to custom, from one-third to one-fifth. Private rights in these 

 fisheries have also been long settled and prescribed by custom. Tiie 

 fishermen almost always belong- to, and fish in, the limits of their own 

 ' meanees' or fisheries : and even on the river Indus, no fisherman is 

 allowed to encroach on the limits of a fishery to which he does not belong. 

 The farmers arrange with the fishermen as to the paj'inents to them, 

 representing- the Government shares. As regards fisheries in jaghir lands, 

 unless the sunnud contains a special grant, the jn-oduce of such is credited 

 to local funds, and is not enjoyed by the jaghirdar. 



56. In the Haidarahad Collectorate the native officials compute the 



fishermen at 3,230 ; they are also almost inva- 

 Opinions of native officials in j.j.^,^, cultivators of the soil and labourers. 



tlie Huiuarabau Collettuiate. mi -^ i> p i ■ , -\r ^ i 



Tlie common name or tisliermen is ' JNlahaua, 

 but others who are not actual fishermen, as the ' Khebranees,' use the 

 hand-nets in canals. The markets are well supplied with fish in the 

 season of the pulla, and during the remaining- five months, only those in 

 the neighbourhood of the lakes or tanks obtain it. The whole popula- 

 tion, ^lussiilmeu and Hindu, except Bralimins, are eaters of fish, the sup- 

 j)ly of which is as abundant as ever, whilst Siiid being in a rainless zone, 

 young- fish are not ca])tured during- the rainy season. The following- are 

 the usual modes of fishing: — " koondee," hook and line; " yar," a cast 

 net ; " matlce," a ptiUa pot ; " suinbokee," a pulla net ; " blmn," a east 

 net used from a boat ; " korree," a basket netj besides fishing stakes 

 and weirs. 



