chut. hi. Th< Food of the Mah» 



daring the ruins. The change in their si/.' is both greater and more 

 rapid than in European rivers. It would not be well, therefore, for 

 the tish in them to spawn by the Bame rule as the fish in European 

 watera The ova laid in one place might be high and dry in a few 

 days, and the whole laying lust. It would be like committing an 

 army to the Greal Eastern, instead of dividing the risks by consign- 

 ing it to several troop-ships. By laying in several batches not 

 only are the chances of success multiplied, but the fry are more 

 widely dispersed over the rivers, and I >y happy experience discover 

 for themselves the force of the proverb " the fewer the better the 

 cheer." There is little doubt the fry of the Mahseer eat, amongst 

 other things, the fry of the smaller sorts of fish ; these are much 

 bred in the smaller feeders. Where such streamlets fall into the 

 river, therefore, each batch of Mahseer finds a separate table oVhdte. 



An inventory of the contents of a Mahseer's stomach ought not 

 to be without interest to a fisherman, for unless he knows what 

 tie- tish is in the habit of eating, he cannot tell what bait to offer it. 

 If he expects to be successful, he must otter natural food or some- 

 thing resembling it, for a fish is not so foolish as to take anything 

 that is offered to it on the sole faith of the advertisement. Only 

 reasoning beings do that. Let us then turn out this gentleman's 

 stomach, and discover his weaknesses, as Prince Henry and Poins 

 did Kalstatfs, from the contents of his pocket. What do we find 

 there > Aquatic weeds of all sorts, some taken intentionally, 

 some when grabbing at the insects that live on them ; seeds of the 

 Valeria Indica or Dhup of the West Coast, which are about the 

 srze of a pigeon's egg ; the seeds of many other trees also which 

 hang over the river where it is forest-clad ; bamboo seeds ; rice 

 thrown in by man ; and unhusked rice, or paddy, as it is washed 

 from the fields; crabs, large fresh-water crabs as big as the palm 

 of a man's hand, and with back and claws so thick and haul that 

 it is astonishing how the fish can have the power to crunch them 

 into the small pieces in which they are found in the intestine ; 

 small fish, earthworms, water beetles, grasshoppers, small flies of 

 sorts, water or stone crickets, shrimps, and molluscs or fresh-water 

 snails are also found there, the latter shell and all, and smashed to 

 pieces like the crabs. 



Of all this category the easiest food for the fisherman to present 

 in a natural form is a small fish or imitation tish. 



