clxi 



waters, f.liej' nre nssnilod in every possible way by nets of all kinds and 

 of tlie verj' smallest mesh, and by fixed cnj^ines of tlie most deadly 

 nature, whicb, when once set up, remain ]icrnianent-!y, witlioiit even the 

 weekly ojien time so strongly insisted on in England, and with the water- 

 way often closed, not merely by a net., but by a sereeii of reeds placed 

 so closely together that none but the very smallest (isli could get 

 through. In this district which is low, and very swampy, the numbers 

 can bo renewed every rain from the rivers, but I have often wondered how 

 any (ish of the smallest kind could remain \n jkils such as 1 have seeu 

 in Oudh. There are numbers there, often miles from a river, which 

 I have seen dragged with the stnallest meshed nets, so as to take a]»pa- 

 rently everj' fish two inches long; then emptied of their water in Feb- 

 ruary for irrigation, and yet after the bed has lain dry from February 

 to dune, there are again next year apparently as many fish as ever. 

 I'oisoning of the water is said to be another means of destruction, but I 

 have never known it done intentionally. I remember hearing in the 

 Ilumeerpur District that it occurs naturally every year. The Hela Tal 

 at Jeitpur is formed by an embankment across a low valle}', and 

 the course of a small hill-stream lies through it. Dining the hot 

 weather this stream becomes almost dry, only retaining water in holes 

 in the luidst of the jiuigle. These holes become full of dead leaves, 

 and with the iiist burst of the rains, the putrid contents are swept 

 down into the lake. The consequence, I was t"ld ou the spot, is, that 

 numbers of fish are perfectly stupefied and float ou the top of the 

 water, ati easy prey to any one who will take them." fTliis is a very 

 interesting instance of destruction of fish which at these seasons may be 

 occasioned by one of the three following causes — (1) mud in waters, (2) the 

 action of infusions of dead leaves or fruit, due apparently either to simple 

 putrescence, (^3) or else to the leaves or fruit having au inherent poisonous 

 character.]] " There can be no douljt tliat the supply is said, in many 

 places, to be falling off, though this is not the case here as yet, aud that 

 if a proper remedy can be found, it might be largely increased." As to 

 close seasons they should vary in different localities; it would do great 

 good, and during Ajnil and May fishing should be j)roliibited. There 

 would be great dilHculty in regulating the size of the mesh of nets, or to 

 decide upon what are fr3', were their sale prohibited. Mr. Ilobart reported 

 of this district (see para. 331) — " In Bfistee, and I believe in Goruckpur, 

 manorial rights exist in fisheries, in the irniumerablo tanks, /////^ and rivers 

 there are very v.aluahle, while cases of dispute about them are of daily 

 occunence. There, there is undoubtedly a most wanton destruction of 

 fish. I remember the Koana used to overflow its banks yearly, and 

 luillions of fish used to come into the rpiiet waters of the lagoons lying 

 near the stream. There was a system of staking the mouths of those 

 lagoons, .when the water fell in the river at the end of the rains, as the 

 fish fried to get away. Except the very large fish, which leaped the 

 artificial barrier (and it was more than four feet above the water), the 

 rest of the fish were slaughtered in tens of thousands, and an incalcu- 

 lable waste occurred. Had the fish been gr.adually killed and sold, the 

 plan has its advantages; as it is, it requires restriction very badly. 

 Again, in that same river, especially in the remote parts, there is a 

 tiap under every bridge that spans it, where fish arc caught and 



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