PROVINCIAL SUPPLIES 



AHHIUH. 



Bombay 



and 



Karachi. 



FISH 

 PRODUCTION 



Bombay 



Allahabad, ete., obtain a fair supply at certain seasons, but fish is by no 



means the important article of diet in Upper India that it is in the western, 



southern and eastern provinces. In Assam excellent river-fish may be 



had. one of the most highly prized being the bassa, which when smoked 



i-xi-ellent addition to the breakfast table, and by some the King-fish 



^< iniitintti* nuil< lluiuli (Day, I.e. i., 281) or sundari is even more 



highly pri/.ed. 



liombay and Slnd. The trade returns of Bombay frequently make 

 mention ot l>ninu'li> ("Bombay duck"), ''tamarind-fish" of various 

 qualities, such as seir (white-pomfret) the best quality. Bombay has 

 an excellent supply of sea-fish, and accordingly fresh-water fish are nearly 

 as rare in the western capital as sea-fish are in the eastern. Calcutta 

 visitors to Bombay accordingly much appreciate the pomfret and sole 

 they receive there, just as the Bombay visitors extol the Calcutta begti 

 ami mango-fish. Bombay oysters have, as a rule, an evil reputation among 

 Europeans, but all the same there exist extensive beds for their production 

 and a b\ no means unimportant traffic in that shell-fish. The exports to Exporu. 

 China of Shark-fins and Fish-maws (see p. 549) are by far the most 

 important single item in the Bombay foreign trade in fish. Karachi holds, 

 however, an even more important position in the fish trade of Western 

 India than Bombay. The oysters of Karachi are regarded as the best in all Oysters. 

 India. The pomfret, sole and other fish procured in Karachi are excellent, 

 and of a flavour only to be compared with those in the extreme south, 

 such as at Cochin and Calicut. A large trade is at the same time 

 done in shark-fins and fish-maws from Karachi, as also in Isinglass and 

 Fish -oil (p. 545). The Persian Gulf traffic in salted and sun-dried fish is 

 very ancient. Marco Polo (Travels, 1290 (ed Yule), i., 102, also n. 109) 

 alludes to the people of Hormuz living on dates and salt fish. Date and 

 drv-lish diet is alluded to also by Ibn Batuta. 



Madras. This is perhaps the most important province in the fish South 

 trade of India. From ancient historic times the sun-dried, salted and India, 

 pickled fish of the southern Malabar Coast have not only permeated over Fish curing, 

 a large part of India but been carried to foreign countries. Difficulties in 

 the Indian fiscal regulations with salt have for some years been loudly pro- 

 claimed as having restricted if not curtailed that industry, and the subject 

 has received (and is receiving) the most careful consideration not only of 

 the local but of the Imperial Government. The tamarind-fish of Cochin 

 is chiefly made from the seir, and the fish-oil so much extolled over India oil. 

 is made mainly from the sardine (see Oils, pp. 544-5). Under Beche- 

 de-Mer (pp. 122-3) reference has been made to the Madras traffic in sea- 

 slugs. Oysters are specially cultivated at several centres, and the supply Liberal supply, 

 is both large and excellent. South India has thus a liberal stock of most 

 admirable sea-fish (pomfret, sole, sardine, etc.) of all kinds, and in the 

 vicinity of its large rivers a supplementary supply of fresh-water fish. 

 Important fisheries exist, as well as valuable industries in Pearls, Conch, 

 Chank and Mother-of-Pearl (see p. 557). 



Burma. Speaking of Further India, the trade returns show a con- Burma. 

 siderable traffic in locally produced sea-slugs, as also in foreign slugs sea-slug*, 

 imported and to a certain extent again re-exported. There are also 

 valuable local fisheries and fish-curing centres in Burma. The salting and 

 preserving of fish have in fact assumed special forms more or less character- 

 istic. The Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States (ii., pt. i., 433) 



541 



