

THE OCEAN AS A SOURCE OF FOOD 

 SUPPLY (Continued) 



IT cannot be said that, compared with many other 

 parts of the ocean, the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal 

 show an over-abundance of fish. There are no im- 

 mense shoals to be seen there, as, for instance, are of 

 constant occurrence in the temperate zones yet 

 there is a bountiful supply of fish near the shores to be 

 caught with hook and line, if not with nets. And fish 

 is, moreover, the only form of flesh food permitted by 

 their religion to millions of these hungry coast- 

 dwellers, who, like the vast majority of the inhabitants 

 of Hindostan, are always hovering on the very verge 

 of famine. Yet here, again, the strange spectacle may 

 be witnessed of a whole people, who may never be 

 said to have their hunger fully satisfied, neglecting 

 the bountiful provision which Nature has brought 

 within their reach. Such feeble and futile attempts 

 at fishing as are made in some places excite our 

 wondering pity, both at the inadequacy of the equip- 

 ment used and by the calm fatalistic daring of the 

 fishermen. Here may be seen the fisherman putting 

 forth upon the bosom of the mighty deep upon a con- 

 trivance the invention of which is almost coeval with 

 navigation just three cocoa-tree logs, each about 

 eight feet in length, ten inches across, and six inches 



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