252 MAMMALIA OF INDIA. 
it was supposed, and Dr. Cantor conjectured that at such times it visited 
the sea, but this has been proved to be not the case. The soosoo never 
leaves fresh water; and it is in the river during the rains, for fishermen 
catch it in their nets, but it is hardly ever seen at that time. It rises so 
as to expose the blow-hole only, and the rush of the swollen waters 
prevents the peculiar sound of respiration being heard. But in the cold 
weather, when the river is calm, the ear is attracted at once by the 
hissing puff of expiration, and the animal may be seen to bound almost 
out of the water. Dr. Anderson had one alive in captivity for ten days, 
and carefully watched its respirations. “The blow-hole opened whenever 
it reached the surface of the water. The characteristic expiratory sound 
was produced, and so rapid was the inspiration that the blow-hole seemed 
to close immediately after the expiratory act.” He states that ‘‘the 
respirations were tolerably frequent, occurring at intervals of about one- 
half or three-quarters of a minute, and the whole act did not take more 
than a few seconds for its fulfilment.” But it is probable that in a free 
state and in perfect health the animal remains longer under water. It 
has certainly been longer on several occasions when I have watched for 
the reappearance of one intheriver. The food of the Gangetic dolphin 
consists chiefly of fish and crustacea; occasionally grains of rice and 
remains of insects are found in the stomach, but these are doubtless, as 
Dr. Anderson conjectures, in the fish swallowed by the dolphin. The 
period of gestation is said to be eight to nine months, and usually only 
one at a time is born, between April and July. The young are some- 
times caught with their mothers, and are said to cling by holding on by 
the mouth to the base of the parent’s pectoral fins. ‘The flesh and 
blubber are occasionally eaten by many of the low caste Hindus of 
India, such as the Gurhwals, the Domes of Jessore and Dacca districts, 
the Harrees, Bourees, Bunos, Bunpurs, Tekas, Tollahas, the Domes of 
Burdwan and Bhagulpore, who compare it to venison; also by the . 
Teewars and Machooas of Patna, the Mussahars of Shahabad, the Gourhs 
and Teers of Tirhoot, and the Mullahs of Sarun. In the North-west 
Provinces about Allahabad, the Chumars, Passees, Kooras, Khewuts or 
Mullahs, have rather a high estimate of the flesh, which they assert 
resembles turtle. ‘The Koonths of Benares, Phunkeahs, Natehmurrahs, 
and Buahoas of Moradabad, and also such gipsy tribes as the Sainsees, 
Kunjars and Hubbossahs, in the neighbourhood of Meerut, do not despise 
it. In the Punjab we find the Choorahs, Dhapels, Sainsees, Budcous, 
and Burars eating the flesh; and in Sind the Kehuls. The Moras, a 
tribe of Mahomedan boatmen who lead a wandering life on the streams 
in the Punjab and in Sind, subsist on the dolphin when by good chance 
they catch one; this is also the case with the Cacharies and the Nagas 
of Assam. The Sansee women on the Indus eat the flesh under the 
idea that it makes them prolific. All along the Ganges, Bramahputra, 
