cxli 



nil, Uic aniuents, coming' fiorn llic cast to tlie Ganges, likewise lake 

 their origin in the llimala^-as, and they are equally tlie brcctling-- 

 places of fish. Tlie Ganges and Jumna do not appear to iiormally 

 extend, during the monsoon time, in a lateral direction, over the 

 contiguous country, to the same wide extent as do rivers in some 

 l)ortlons of India, as the Indus in Sind ; the low lands or "khadirs" 

 being generally hounded by higher ground, termed " bnngur,'' bex'ond 

 which Hoods rarely pass. Both the Ganges and Jumna rivers, near 

 the places where thej' emerge from the Sewaliks, have iriigation weirs 

 across them, diverting water into the Ganges canal at Ilurdwnr, and the 

 Eastern and Western Jumaa canals near Karrah ; lower down below 

 Delhi exists tlie Okla weir across the Jumna, diverting water into the 

 Agra canal. The rainfall in five years ending 1869-70 is stated to 

 have averaged 33'4 inches. 



313. The Ganges and Jumna rivers are replenished from two 



prominent causes, exclusive of siirini's ; durino- 



Gnnscsniul Jumna rivers how ii,. i,_i. ,„„,,n,„ ii,„ „. . i i '^- ^ n "^ 



replenished. the,liot months the supply is derived from 



the ice and snow at their sources which, havino- 



accumulated during the winter, now becomes melted by the action of the 



sun; and in the Ganges at Murdwar^ a dail}' rise of about ]J inch 



and a corresponding fall are distinctly apparent. During the monsoon 



season, the supply comes directly from the rains, flooding all the 



small adlucnts, or indirectly due to their action on the snows- the 



rivers consequently at tliese periods are filled in ratlier a spasmodic 



manner. During the cold months, unrc])lenishcd hy rains or melting 



snows, and much of their water being required for irrigation canals the 



volume fiowing down them is in places vciy small. 



314. The fishes of the North-West Provinces are divisible into 



Fisho, of tho Nortb.Wosfc those of the hills and those of the plains, some 

 Provinces. 0* ^^^li of which classes are migratory, whilst 



others arc not so. Upon the iion-migiatory 

 bill-fislies no remarks are here needed. Amongst the fishes of the 

 plains calling for observation are the migr.itory ones, esjicciall)^ such carps 

 as the mahaseer, which reside in the low country rivers durino- the 

 cold months when the hill-streams are too small and too cold to atTord 

 them sustenance; but when tho rains re-commence, tliej' niio-rate 

 to the hills, and ascending some distance np the cold waters of the 

 larger rivers, turn aside for breeding purposes into their w.Tini side- 

 streams. Thus, these side-streams, uiirei)lenished bj' snow water arc 

 the natural breeding-places of most of the more valunble fish of the 

 carp family residing near such ])laces, and anything j)reventino- their 

 access to these sjiots, or destructive of the fry raised there, must neces- 

 sarily injure the fisheries. A large majority of the young remain in 

 the hill-streams until the next year's rains (see para. 1(58). There are 

 likewise migratory marine fishes, as the liilsa, ascending for breediii"- 

 purposes, and barriers across rivers must im])cde their ])io"-rcss • but in 

 this jiiovincc these fish, in nn economic point of view, are of much less 

 conse<pience than the mahaseer. The local non -migratory fishes pass 

 up small watercourses and channels, depositing their eggs in irrigated 

 fields, flooded plains, temporary formed tanks, or the grassy sides of 

 rivers or lakes. 



