Chapt. hi. Their Manner of Feeding. :'.1 



tamed in it. By the very same process a fish sucks in a mouthful 

 of water, and with it the fly sitting on it, and down goes the fly, 

 down the little Maelstrom thus created, [n the same way probably 

 does the Mahseer sink up the detached molluscs, liis peculiar 



formation of mouth anahling him to do it from tin- bottom where 



another fish could not 



To test their power of sacking up, I have fed them at a place 

 where they were accustomed to be fed, and tempted them nearei 

 and nearer, till they were well within observation, and having then 



thrown in a g 1 handful of rice, so thai much of it must sink to 



the bottom before they could get it, 1 watched them taking it oft" 

 the sandy bottom. They sucked it up with great rapidity, so that 

 it wanted close observation, but I watched them very carefully for 

 some time, and distinctly saw the upper lip thrust out from its 

 socket, and brought down over the rice, and then there was a clear 

 act of suction for each grain, though the grains wen' taken up one 

 after another nearly as fast as a fowl picks up corn. The; fish the 

 while were not swimming level in the water, but with their tails 

 just enough inclined upwards to allow the pectoral fins to work 

 without touching the bottom. The pectoral fins were so near the 

 bottom that the motion contributed to the water by each vibra- 

 tion stirred up the fine sand, but they did not touch the bottom. 

 By the suction from the mouth, however, I could not perceive that 

 any sand at all was disturbed. They picked up the single grains of 

 rice cleanly and cleverly, and quickly. 



The Mahseer, then, is an accomplished bottom feeder, 



The means by which the large crabs, shells, and other bard 

 substances are reduced to a mass of small pieces by the Mahseer 

 is doubtless the formidable set of teeth in the throat. Every carp 

 has teeth in its throat, placed so far down that they are not 

 visible in the mouth ; but the teeth of the Mahseer's throat are 

 unusually formidable, and the bones out of which they grow are 

 beautifully formed with a great surface at the back for the 

 muscles to play upon, and that not directly, but with the advantage 

 of a good leverage. If any blase individual thinks this "very like 

 a whale/' just let him slip a finger down a live Mahseer's throat, 

 and I promise him the luxury of a new sensation. 



These pharyngeal or throat teeth are not set in sockets like 

 human teeth, but are continuations of the pharyngeal bones. 



