205 



CHAP. IV. 



FISHES. 



Little has been yet done to examine and describe the 

 fishes of Ceylon, especially those which frequent the 

 rivers and inland waters. Mr. Bennett, who was for 

 some years employed in the Civil Service, directed his 

 attention to the subject, and pubhshed in 1830 some 

 portions of a projected work on the marine ichthyology 

 of the island ^, but it never proceeded beyond the de- 

 scription of about thirty individuals. The great work 

 of Cuvier and Valenciennes''^ particularises about one 

 hundi^ed species, specimens of which were procured from 

 Ceylon by Eeynard Leschenault and other correspond- 

 ents, but of these not more than half a dozen belong to 

 fresh water. 



The fishes of the coast, so far as they have been 

 examined, present few which are not common to the 

 seas of Ceylon and India. A series of drawings, includ- 

 ing upwards of six hundred species and varieties, of 

 Ceylon fish, all made from recently-captured specimens, 

 has been submitted to Professer Huxley, and a notice 

 of their general characteristics forms an interesting article 

 in the appendix to the present chapter.^ 



Of those in ordinary use for the table the finest by 

 far is the Seir-fish *, a species of scombei', which is called 

 Tora-malu by the natives. It is in size and form very 

 similar to the salmon, to which the flesh of the female 

 fish, notwithstanding its white coloiu", bears a very close 

 resemblance both in firmness and flavour. 



* A Selection of the most Remark- 

 able and Interesting Fishes found on 

 tlie Coast of Ceylon. By J. W. Ben- 

 nett, Esq. London, 1830. 



^ Histoire Naturelle des Poissons. 

 ' See note C to tliis chapter. 

 * Cybium (Scomber, Linn.) gut- 

 tatum. 



