clxxix 



BExXGAL. 



312. The disliicts uikIci- this Government are of nn exceedingly 



wide extent .""ul diversified character; ])or- 



Province of Bengal. tioiishcing dci'^^ely, others sparsely, populated. 



A large tract, lies in the Delta of the Ganges; 



some others are hilly, with ranges of a more or less wild character. 



lilxcepting Orissa and a few isolated jiortions, I have not as yet had an 



opportunity of personally examining the fisheries, and this is the more 



to he regretted, as the returns are amongst the most incomplete that 



have been received. 



3 J 3. The main rivers are the Brahmaputra to the east, talcing its 

 course through Assam, receiving many af- 

 Maiu rivers of Bengal. (luonts from the Ilinialayas, and finally fall- 



ing into the Ganges, which last river, in its 

 nvimerous sub-divisions, descends tlnough the centre of the province. 

 On the extreme west is Orissa, a district about 20t) miles long, and 

 situated between the ghfits and the sea; it is intersected by a large 

 number of streams crossing it on their passage from the hilly country to 

 the 13ay of Bengal. These are generally large water-courses, torrents 

 during the rains, but nearly dry, sandy beds in the dry season. The most 

 westerly of the larger of the rivers is the Mnhanuddi. 



S'l-t. What jnoport'wn of (fie rjcneral population would eat Jink could 

 ihrij obtain it ? In Burdwan the amount is 



prlv'itce.''"'^"'^ '"'"' '° ^'"' set ^'^'^" "•^ ''^''°"*^ ^^ r*'*' *^'^"^-' '" Hooghly 



90 per cent., and these are all the answers 



to this question circulated to the native oflicials of the extensive 

 province of Bengal. The Commissioner of Rajshalije, however, reports 

 that in his division fish are largely consumed bj^ all classes of people. From 

 Assam and Orissa no replies at all have been received, but in the latter 

 province, from personal investigations m.ade in 1869, I was given to 

 understand that, with the exception of religious mendicants, and those 

 who have taken a vow that neither themselves nor their descendants 

 shall cat fish, all classes join in its consumption. However, tliere may 

 be, and probably are, some other exceptions, still the average given iu 

 the Hooghly and Burdwan of from 90 to 95 per cent, being permitted to 

 eat it, also probably obtains in Orissa. In Assam I see it is stated 

 that most of the people will eat it. Thus it may fairly be concluded 

 that at the very least three-fourths of the population may be set down as 

 not prohibited by religious scruples from consuming fish. 



345. ILoio are the local markets snpplied with fish? Again, there 



is the same want of native returns, which 



s»Sed. """'''''' '"'""'"'""y are much more likely to be correct than such 



from Europeans, who rarely visit the native 

 bazars. In Burdwan Division, the native report is that the sujiply is not 

 equal to the demand, and if more were brought to the market, they would 

 find a ready sale. In Hooghly, the markets are stated " to be fairly 

 supplied; the fishermen, however, try to keep up the market price by 



