14 NATURAL HISTORY. 



ever, was in Uran; where the brute creation is clean demoralised 

 insomuch that the cows there are said to steal mhowa spirit, and 

 stagger drunk along the streets. There is a fish much like the 

 "Bombay duck," but inferior as food, (Saurida tambil), which is 

 known in Maratha as the " Chor-Bhombil" (" Chor"=: thief), just 

 as we talk of a "horse-mackerel," a " dog-whelk " or a " bastard 

 florican." 



After the Scopelida come the Sahnonidce ; and it can hardly be 

 too often repeated that there are no indigenous salmon or trout in 

 India; though the Lochleven trout (Salmo Levenensis) has been 

 introduced into the Ncilgherrios, with very doubtful success. 



The next family, the Scombresocidcc, or Gar fishes and Flying fishes 

 are represented in both fresh and salt water. 



These are fishes so long and narrow that some of them are known 

 in the British seas as "Horned eels;" they have, however, nothing of 

 the pliability of the true eels, and their anatomy is altogether 

 different. 



In the first genus, Bclone, the body and both jaws are long and 

 slender, and the latter well-toothed. Bclone cancila is their repre- 

 sentative in fresh water ; and B. strong ylurus the commonest of 

 several marine species. 



After them come several species of Hemiramphi, or half-beaked 

 fish, in which the upper jaw is short, and the lower very long. All 

 are known in Marathi as "Tali" and all live upon the Surface of 

 the water, and furnish, with the scabbard-fishes, most of the diet 

 of our sea-fowl and of the sea-snakes ; themselves bound to the 

 surface by necessities of respiration. The fresh water Belono cancila 

 is sometimes taken with a fly. They are very fond of playing on 

 the top of the water, and skipping over anything in their way, and 

 often jump into boats. Severe injuries have often been inflicted, in 

 this way, on naked fishermen, by the larger species, which exceed 

 3 feet in length, and one way of trapping them is to float a net 

 between four sticks, so that if the gar6sh jump over any stick of 

 the four he falls into the net. They are very fair eating, though a 

 novice is sometimes startled at finding the bones of several species 

 dark bottle-green, almost black. 



They usually take a trailing bait well ; but are very apt to cut 

 the trace with their teeth. 



The second division of this family consists of the well known 

 oceanic Hying- fish (Exoavti), known in Marathi as « Chiri " or 



