CHAPTER VIII. 



GRAM-FISHING FOR MAHSEER. 



" Tile pleasnntest angling 'tis to see the iir-! 1 

 Cut with her golden oars the silver stream 

 And greedily devour the treacherous bait." 



Shaksfeahe. 



There is another way of angling for Mahseer, of which I am fain 



to confess that I have myself no personal experience, and of which, 

 therefore, I ought not perhaps to write ; but it is a way of fishing 

 which has so many friends in certain localities, that I feel it would 

 be a grave omission to leave it unnoticed. I have also at my 

 elbow a good spirit to prompt me, in the shape of a brother- 

 angler* who has made many a good bag in this way in the 

 Nerbudda, near Jubbulpore ; and who is consequently in a position 

 to guide my pen. 



Make up your mind where you are going to fish, and send a 

 servant, a day before, to ground-bait the place. Some ground-bait 

 two or three days before ; but one day is enough ; the places selected 

 should be deep strong runs into pools, and it will be sufficient to 

 bait two or three such places. The baiting is done with Bengal 

 gram alias ('henna), the servant taking ten or twenty measures of 

 it, and throwing in a handful every now and then, for hours 

 together, till all the fish in the neighbourhood have congregated to 

 get it. 



The gram is said to require sonic preparation, though with 

 what object I do not know, for no amount of parching, short of 

 burning to a cinder, makes it at all more buoyant 



The established practice, however, is to soak it in cold watei 

 for about two hours, which is long enough to make it Bwell as much 



• Major George Chn-ti--, 8rd Madras European Regiment, and Superintendent 



of Police. 



