cxlii 



315. Having thus briefly enumerated the rivers and waters used 



, ,. , , ,. as breedinff-places, and the fishes inhabit- 



Inipeuiineuts to nsli breeding: • ,i ,1 -j a* i 



in the North- West Proviuces. '"g" t''em. the consideration arises— do any 



causes exist which impede their carrying- out 

 in a satisfactory manner these natural instincts? First, we have irri- 

 gation weirs across the two large rivers, which, unfurnished with fish 

 passes, entirely preclude the re-ascent of fish liaving once passed over 

 them, or ha])peiiing to be below them. Tliis must arrest every murine 

 migratory fish ascending to breed, so they are rendered practiiially use- 

 less for increasing their species. Next, all the migratory carps that have 

 passed over them during the cold months in their pursuit of food cannot 

 re-ascend — they also become Jiurs de combat. And, lastly, of the irrigation 

 works, there are the canals which act in precisely the same way. Perhaps 

 it will be well to give facts as witnessed by others. The Collector 

 of Multra (para. 334) observes, — " I have watched the first rush of 

 water let in, and have been astonished at the shoals of fish brought 

 down by it. * * In the Meeriit district I saw hundreds of 



mahaseer come down ; they were all carried over the fall as they had 

 been over a dozen higher up between that point and llurdwar, not one 

 of which could by any possibility have got back again up the canal.'" 

 (See para. 12 on irrigation weirs and their effects.) Tliese canals thus 

 form traps on a large scale wherein fish are destroyed wholesale 

 whenever the water is cut o(f, and that this is not seldom, 1 adduce 

 the following figures to prove. In the Eastern Jumna canal the number 

 of times and days it has been without a supply of water are as 

 follows : — 



4 years ending December 31st, 1810. 

 " j» j> »> 



5 ,1 >, „ 

 ^ f» II II 



O II II 11 



6 „ ,. II 

 S II II II 



If we now examine as to the comparative number of days on 

 which the canals have been closed, we find the longest period from 29th 

 October 1845 to JJecember 15th, 1815, or 47 days, and the shortest a 

 single day, thus— 



During the first 4 years closures averaged 3J days each. 



„ iie.\t 5 „ „ Oi „ 



I, 5 ,: , 4 



11 ,1 5 ,F J, 5J ,, 



„ I. 5 „ „ 7.2 „ 



II II 5 „ „ 8 „ 



„ 5 ,. „ 15 



The frequent closure of eana's must be destructive to fish, unless they 

 are able to retire into deep holes or contiguous tanks, where the)' may 

 remain quiet until the canal is refilled ; but of course should the canal 

 be left dry for very long periods, as over eight or ten days, the probabilities 

 are thai the water will have liecome so foul that the fish will die. Out 

 of 287 times this canal was closed between January 1837 and December 



