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CCXXIX 



fiiil, but llie River Bnilimapulva appears (o be siifTiuioiil (,o keoi) up an 

 ample su|iply for fclie iiuiTicrons streams whit^h communioate wil.li it,. 

 Alllioiitj-li llie (icople are Biieli larg-c consumers of (isli, they do not dry 

 or preserve it, nor is there any trade carried on in fish witii disl^int 

 ])laces. The Nag-ns, when they come down in the cold weather, jjurciiasc 

 or barter cotton for (isii, which they dry before taiving bacic to tlieir 

 hills. Nothing whatever is done in the way of breeding fish or stock- 

 ing taidis, and the only thing, in the way of conservation that is 

 necessary, is to prevent as much as possible the wholesale destruction of 

 fish iu small streams, which have run up to spawn. What with dams, 

 traps, baskets and nets, which the villagers use, very few fish escape to 

 the larger streams. But, even with this wholesale destruction, the supply 

 of fish appears abundant, and if this destruction were only partially 

 checked, there would be no fear of the sup[)ly running short." The 

 Assistant Com mhs! oner, Golaghat, reports: — " I cannot say that I see at 

 jiresent any signs of the fish-supply falling off; but looking at the reck- 

 less way in which the young fry are destroj'ed, it is but reasonable to 

 suppose that, could this habit be checked, the supply would become more 

 plentiful. Many of the river fish, some of which attain a large size, 

 come annually up the smaller streams and deposit their spawn, and the 

 young ones of these are during the rains dispersed over the surface of the 

 country in rice-fields, swamps, drains and ditches. These endeavour sub- 

 sequently to make their way to the large rivers, but the dangers that 

 lieset them on the road are more numerous than those which JJunyan's 

 Pilgrim bad to encounter. In the shallow waters in the rice-fields, 

 women and children may be seen in crowds fishing with b.askets called 

 ja/eai, through the interstices of which a tadpole could not pass. 

 Those that escape this danger, and, following the fiow of the water, 

 arrive at one of the innumerable little bunds separating the various 

 paddy-fields, find their further progess barred by funnel-shaped bamboo 

 traps called khoka, cJinpa, or ghuiiee, through which the water is 

 made to pass, but whose outlets are so small that only the most minute 

 fish can get through. Escaping to the smaller water-courses, their dan- 

 gers seem to increase. The Assamese divide the ch.annel into sections 

 by erecting Ijunds, and from one of these they proceed to bale out all the 

 water, ca])turing every fish, large and sm.all : they then bund off another 

 portion and do likewise. The fish that finally arrive at the smaller 

 rivers find their exit l)arred by weirs, which will let nothing pass ; and 

 not content with this, the Assamese will sometimes resort to poison, 

 emplo3'ing for this purpose the fruit of a tree called ' Konibehee.' 

 Nearly the entire population consume fish; the only method of pre- 

 serving it being drying it, and this is only done by Mabomedans and 

 the hill tribes." " Although fish may be occasionally put into tanks, 

 it can hardly be said that they are reared, for within a few months the 

 water in the t.ank is sure to be carefully baled out and all its inmates 

 destroyed, the net result being the captun^ of (say) a thousand fish, 

 weighing in the aggregate a couple of pounds." Tlie Assistant Comniis- 

 sinner of Jorchat observes that " the numerous streams which run 

 through the country are well stocked with fish, as are the numerous bheels 

 and swamps. In the rainy season fish are to be found in every puddle 

 and j)addy-lield. * * The supply of lisb is at present amply sufficient, 



