380 COMMON FISH OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



of time would almost entirely replace that which 

 persistently descended. In places where fishing is 

 habitually carried on, however, the habit of descent, 

 although not free from certain risks, must neces- 

 sarily be more protective than that of ascent, and, 

 consequently, those fish who are endowed with it 

 must be placed at an advantage over those who 

 are not, and will ultimately come to be the 

 predominant local variety. 



Almost every pond of any considerable size 

 contains specimens of Catla, Catla buchanani and 

 Rohu, Labeo rohita, as they are in such high repute 

 among the native population as articles of food as 

 to ensure their introduction into any bodies of water 

 providing conditions suitable to them. It was quite 

 surprising to find what a great size individual speci- 

 mens of both species may attain even in very small 

 ponds. When one such pond, in a garden in 

 Alipur, was dragged the number of fish that were 

 secured was very small, but it included a fine large 

 rohu, and a catla weighing more than 30 Ibs. Catla 

 are coarse, heavy-looking creatures, and their aspect 

 would certainly not lead one to credit them with a 

 capacity for anything but stolid resistance to capture. 

 In reality, however, they often show wonderful agility 

 in their efforts to escape from a net. The finest 

 display of this that I ever saw took place on the 

 occasion, already alluded to (p. 327), in which the 

 system of ponds in the Zoological Garden at Alipur 



