clxvii 



nml iipili;ips an rqiial nunibpv sliot. 1)y llic tlialconrs." In flm ilry season, 

 as tlio rivoiR Ijocoiiio low, lisli in l.lio jinols sustain injury IVoin crocodiles, 

 otters, &c. Tlie Assistant Comviissioner ohf^orved in a mcmoramluin : 

 " 'J'iie rivcr-fisli enjoy comparative safety from the Dlieemius (fishermen) 

 whilst they arc in the deep jiools of the big rivers, hut arc a prey to 

 crocodiles, otters, &c. During- the raius they run np the tributaries to 

 spawn, and a g-reat number meet with destruction on tlieir return down 

 to their permanent haunts, not only by nets, but other contrivaneea 

 by which tliey are shut up in small pools of the tributaries, and 

 subsequently destroyed wholesale by the drying tip of the pools, 

 netting, or even poisoning them. The lakes in this district have not 

 lieeu allowed hitherto to run dry, and the only destruction committed 

 on fish is in the rainy season, when they run np (lie feeders of the 

 lakes, and go down the escape-weirs, when of course none of these 

 can escape destruction one way or the other. Tons of the smaller 

 description of fish are killed during the rains when they try to escape 

 out of the lake, but their preservation, I think, is not of much 

 consequence." For the river-iish, a close season, from June 15th (o 

 October 1st, is proposed, when net-fishing should be prohibited ; also in 

 (he rocky pools of the smaller rivers to which they resort for breeding 

 purposes. During the rest of the year, the minimum size of the mesh 

 of nets might be limited to IJ inciies between each knot. The following 

 is a list of the principal fish found in the rivers and lakes of Bundle- 

 cund : " Mahaseer'' (Barbus tor), " Kursowur" {Lahco calhasu), "Bissar" 

 [CirrliAna mrigala), " Wnhoo" (Cirrhina rohita), " Bawus" {Catla 

 Buclinnani), " Knovsa." or " Khoorsee" (Laheo curchius), " Sinia" or 

 " rhubs" {iSurpoothee, Beng.) The above not living on their kind. 

 "Sour" or "Gujal" in Bengal, "Sourlee" (Ophioccphnlus) , " Pareen" 

 (U'aihgo athi.,) commonly known as the river shark, "Tengra" a siluroid 

 {pvi>\>n\>\\-{i1lac>ones aor, but "Tengra" is a common term lor a siluroid) ; 

 "Lambur" {Rita), " Galur" or " Golalee" (Barilius), " Pupta" 

 (CalUchrous), " Butala" (a carp) , " Buchooa" {Pseudcutiopius.) The 

 foregoing are said to live on their kind. 



333. The Ol/iciating Commissioner of AUahahad (August 7th, 



1S72) reported: — "All castes eat fish except 



Opinions oflhe European om- I3,.,i„„i„=,, ]?anias, and a few of tlie Tha- 



ceis in the Alhiliabail Division. ,>, • , . , i i c i i 'i 'i 1 



koors. Shiahs reject scaleless fish, as prohilMled 

 in the Koran, but it is not a jiopidar food, and appears to be sought for 

 cbieflj' by the poor, as it is cheaper than any other kind of animal 

 food. There are none who practice (isliing exclusively as a calling." " The 

 supply in fairly equal to the demand." "There is no close time, and 

 no size or condition of fish is spared; the spawning-fish and the 

 smallest fry are alike caught; there are nets used with meshes small 

 enough to retain the smallest." "Every imaginable kind of net, 

 trap, and snare is used. Waging war against such (ish-destrojing animals 

 as crocodiles a])])ears to nic absurd. It would be equally, or more 

 advisable, to jnoseribe frogs and paddy-birds which eat the sjwwn and 

 young fry, and probably destroy far more fish than the crocodile; and 

 further, I have no doubt at all but that a general destruction of 

 crocodiles would directly frustrate the end hoped for by their destruetion. 

 Their very presence in numbers, it being given that they live on ilsh. 



