106 Gram-Fishing for Mai Chapt. vm. 



bend to the Limerick ; the bend of the latter hook is very sudden and 

 it broke the grain, but the former being square, the two grains fitted 

 comfortably on it ; they also could not slip over the barb as they 

 sometimes did with the other hook. 



To make a bag a man had to be sent a day or two, or even more, 

 beforehand to bait the runs. This he did by occasionally throwing in 

 a handful of parched gram at the head of the run. This floating down 

 the river attracted all the fish for a long way down, and in a short time 

 they had all collected in the pool, the biggest ones near the head of the 

 run. Of course the first throw you made into this yon hooked a 

 whopper, but after taking two or three out, the rest got shy, and would 

 not come again till next day. You could always get fish, and big ones 

 too, without baiting the runs, but not so many as if the run had been 

 baited beforehand. 



As I said before, the nearest part of the river, and the most 

 accessible place, is about five miles off, where the Nagpore road crosses 

 it. It is called Goari Ghaut, and as there is a pucka road, it is an easy 

 ride or drive. The ghaut itself is a good place to fish, as the fishes 

 are regularly fed there by the priests of the numerous temples on the 

 bank ; but though there are a lot of them, they seldom run bigger than 

 one or two pounds in weight. The Brahmins never once objected to 

 my fishing there, and I think the rice and other grain is thrown into 

 the river, not so much to feed the fishes, but rather as a votive offering 

 to Mother Nerbudda. However, I soon got tired of catching tame 

 fish, as these practically were, and went up and down the river looking 

 for new places. 



I used to get two dug-out canoes, and tie them together with planks 

 placed across, this gave one a seat, and also prevented the boat from 

 capsizing, which a single dug-out is very liable to do. In this way one 

 could quickly drop down the river, fishing all the likely places on the 

 way, and with four men to paddle, it did not take so very long to get 

 hack again, though of course there was B strong current to be 

 overcome. 



About a mile below the ghaut the river narrowed considerably ; a 

 bill jutted into it, forming a deep pool on the inside, and a splendid run 

 at the point of the rock. 1 got the best fish I ever caught in the 

 Nerbudda in this run, and many a one I have pulled out of the pool 

 using a large hook, and lump of dough. One day, I shall never forget, 

 I bad successfully stalked a large fish I had seen rising at the very- 

 point of the rock, ami having landed him after a prolonged light, I 

 was very proud of myself, and sal down to breakfast, previously 

 changing the hook and putting on an enormous lump of dough. I 



