Chaft. xi. The Sis* of the Chela. 1 tl 



I Englishman, I hope I may be excused if I ] impose a simple one 

 for acceptance. ( If course the correct [chthiologists name shall be 

 appended, and, where I can give them, the several vernacular 

 names. Not being a competitive examiner I shall assign no order 

 <>f merit. 



Tiik Chela. 



Ch tea. 



The Chela is a very common Bah. Day gives ten species, some 

 of which are to be found in Northern, some in Southern India. 

 There is a good deal of similarity among them, so that one drawing 

 l'] ite XI) will probably suffice to help recognition of a fish that 

 must be known to most lovers of the craft. The chief external 

 characteristic of them all is a very fiat-sided, thin body, with a 

 stomach running to quite a thin edge, but not a serrated edge, and 

 the dorsal fin set far back just over the anal fin. They are very 

 silvery, some more so than others, and their numerous minute 

 scales come off very easily. They are a delicate fish both to eat 

 and to keep alive, so that it requires care to transport them alive ; 

 but, once in, they will live in any pond, and keep its surface alive 

 with rises. The}* thrive in any still water. In the rivers they are 

 to be found in the still water. One of them is very minute, not 

 attaining more than 2i inches in length, but the majority run, 

 according to Dr. Day, from 6 to 9 inches in length. I have 

 certainly never caught any over 9 inches in length, but I have 

 seen larger ones, and native fishermen assured me, very positively, 

 and exactly, that some of them, and they particularized a Chela 

 clupeoides, ran to 18 inches in length, and to a hand-breadth in 

 depth. Considering the accuracy of their information in other 

 I believe the informants in question to be right. Being 

 such a very thin, narrow fish, with a minimum of depth and 

 breadth, their weight is very disappointing in comparison with 

 their length, and a fish of 6 or 7 inches is flicked out with 

 ease by the lightest trout rod. One of 18 inches in Length, 

 however, should be worth catching. They are most game fly takers, 

 springing into the air after the fly. They want striking very 

 quickly, and especially they want the smallest possil>l< fly. Any 

 k or dun fly will do for them ; but if it is not small enough you 

 may have rises, but you will keep on missing them most pro- 



