Ixxx 



150. Tlie VvlU-ctof of T,ic/iniu/,(>/,/^ (O.-Lulici- l;!lli, I SHi)) uli.scrvfil 



. ,, ,. . , Unit ill Tiicliiiionuly tliu siniiily ol' lisli is :il- 



h. U,c Tria,inoi,oly CuUecloiat.. t-'g^H'cr uneqiK.I to Uio clunia.ul ; ' Ull.S 1 n> 



inciiiljcr last year catcliing- wiui a live l);iiL a 

 Killiitay, Ulacroncs aor, of alioiil f'uiir pounds, and a Deloyet at oiicu 

 uxclainiod ' tlial. would lotcli a liiyh prico iu tlie ('oil;' in fact any 

 amount of s^ood fisii ct)iild bo sold in llio town, or indeed olsowlici-u, at 

 icinuncvativo latus. In order to have a linn hold on tlio lisliernien 

 and their aetion.s, wo should eeitainly rent out fisheries under preseribed 

 eonditions, and it might even be neeessaiy to have a legal enactment:. 

 No doul)t tlio size of the mesh should 1)0 regulated; five inches in 

 circumference would be a projier minimum. One only dilliculty arises ; 

 there are daily brought to market baskctsful of exceedingly tasteless, 

 small fishes called ' Vellichay,' Chcia clnpcoidcs, and lliey never grow 

 big-gev than three or four inches, and are largely pureliased by the 

 poorer classes to eat with their rice. Hy limiting the size of the mesli, 

 wo virtually jirohibit the capture of these little creatures, and thus cut 

 olf an article of food. IJiit (hen arises the natural tjucstion, is it worth 

 while losing the b;ilmoii for sake o( the gndgeons ? Poisoning should 

 certainl}' be prevented; it is a barbarous kind of usage. Tanks are 

 not oflcn drained for mere lisli ; the water is too valuable:" would allow 

 lisliing in the jiools near irrigation weirs only to a limited extcnr, as 

 when all of them are connected by a good stream ; because at certain 

 seasons, especially when the waters are very low, iisli are congregated in 

 thcin, and can all be ia]itnrcd with the greatest ease. The Act'ui/j Col- 

 Icclur of Trichinuijulij (July ^Dtli, 1S70) rejiorted, that with the exception 

 of the Canvery, its branch the Coleioon, and the Vellyaur, which form 

 the northern boundary of the district, there are no running streams of 

 Biich permanence as would come under the category of rivers ; the 

 lyaiir and others'beiiig mere jungle water-eonrses which are filled only 

 after local rains, and subside as r:ipidly as they till. The supply of lisli 

 within the limits of the district, as an article of local consuinptiou, is 

 therefore very limited; and, such being the case, he does not consider that 

 any very extensive measures for the conservancy thereof are either neces- 

 sary or called for. fTliat the sui)i)ly of (isli in the Coleroon and C'auvery 

 is insio-nilicant, is the very reason why some remedial measures 

 appear to be called for. About 10 miles i'rom Trichinopoly, where the 

 Cauvcry divides, it is 1,4'6G yards broad, and becomes separated by the 

 island of Serungum into two purts, the most southern or smaller being 

 (JGG yards wide, retaining the name of the Cauvcry; the largest is 800 

 yards wide, and is termed the Coleroon. As a weir exists here 750 yards 

 In'oad, divided by a small island 21C yards wide into two portions, bund- 

 in"- up the river to from live to seven feet in height, it can hardly be conceded 

 that such a stream should be almost destitute of fish, especially as much 

 of the district is I'reely irrij;atcd.] " According to J)r. Day's proiiosi- 

 tion, lishiny should not be allowed during the time the rivers are in com- 

 munieation with the sea, and this time he lixes between October and 

 February ; here, however, this could not apply, and I have, therefore, 

 fixed the season during which fish are not to \m taken, between the 15th 

 Juno and the 15th September, fit is evident my views have been mis- 

 understood in this rejiort, my wisli being to allow the young and spent 



