108 I'lnnn-Fi-ihiiit) for Mdhseer. Ciiapt. viii. 



About 4- miles out on the Mandla road was the Gaur Nuddee, a 

 small river flowing into the Nerbudda. This river was very well 

 stocked with fish in the early part of the cold weather, October to 

 December ; after that the water got very low, and the big fish retired 

 to the deep pools, whence they could not be enticed. The road crossed 

 the river by an Irish bridge or causeway, and below this, and fishing 

 from the causeway, I have got many a good bag. I don't think the 

 fish ran bigger than 3 lbs. or 4 lbs. To have good fishing one had to 

 arrive there at daybreak : and a sharp ride from cantonments on a 

 cold frosty morning in December was invigorating, if not very 

 pleasant. Clouds of steam were rising from the stream at this hour, 

 showing how warm it was compared with the air, and it was quite a 

 relief to wade in and warm one's perished feet. As soon as the sun 

 peeped above the horizon your rod and tackle should be ready for the 

 first cast, and if you did not have some fun for the next two hours 

 you had bad luck. There were several good runs up the river, but 

 the causeway was the best place. 



Where this river joined the Nerbudda was a favourite place for 

 fishing, but it was not very easily got at, there being nothing but a 

 path through the fields ; while proceeding there in the early part of 

 the cold season, just after the rains, and before the ground had 

 become dry and hard, I have often had to turn back. It is calculated 

 to make you angry, if after having sent your rod on in advance to a 

 certain place, you find you cannot get there on a horse, but could fish 

 some other part of the river, if you could only recall the man with 

 your rod. It is humiliating to say the least of it, to have to ride back 

 the- 5 or 6 miles, and when asked " what luck ? " to have to reply that 

 you could not reach the river. 



# * # # # 



1 took a great fancy to fishing with gram, in spite of the nuisance 

 of having to change the hook so often. The baited hook is not 

 heavier than a salmon fly, and the fishing approached very closely to 

 fly-fishing. By throwing in a single grain of gram every few minutes, 

 and letting it float down stream, you could tell at once when a big fish 

 was on the feed, and where he rose. I think that stalking a par- 

 ticular fish, which you see rising, is much greater sport than Bogging 

 a river on the chance of a fish coming to you : you had to throw the 

 gram just as nicely, and let it fall just as gently on the water over a 

 rising fi.^h, as if it hail been a wary trout, and you exult much more 

 after landing t he fish, which perhaps you have been watching for a long 

 time, or havo failed to catch on a previous occasion. 



When :it Poona some years afterwards, 1 often asked whether 



