CATLA AND ROHU 381 



was drained in order to dislodge the crocodiles who 

 inhabited it. At this time the water was known to 

 abound in large fish, a fact that had been satis- 

 factorily demonstrated by the income that the 

 garden had for some years derived from the sale of 

 tickets for rod-fishing. Accordingly, when the level 

 had been so far reduced as to bring the remaining 

 portion within manageable limits, a set of fishermen 

 were called in to net it. This they did on several 

 successive mornings with results which were so satis- 

 factory financially that the sale of the fish supplied 

 more than enough money to pay the fishermen and 

 also the hire of the steam-pump and its attendants. 

 But in addition to this pecuniary benefit, the under- 

 taking also provided a magnificent display of activity. 

 After the nets had been sunk nothing noteworthy 

 took place until they had been gradually drawn 

 onwards to a line within such a short distance from 

 the bank of one end of the water that it seemed 

 hardly likely that many fish had been enclosed. But 

 then the scene suddenly changed ; the surface became 

 violently agitated, and was ruffled and broken by the 

 protruding backs of great fish, who rushed hither and 

 thither in quest of a point of escape. Next, as they 

 realised more and more clearly that they were really 

 shut in, they began to muster courage for a supreme 

 effort, and at first in twos and threes, and then in 

 ever growing numbers, they charged directly back- 

 wards and threw themselves high into the air in hope 



