Cii.vit. xiv. Ma n-nl Running to Earth. 1 75 



!>.• washed down a stream. At times he lies hidden like a pike, 

 and perfectly motionless behind weeds, under a bank, amongst 

 roots, or in a hole, with just his nose out, watching for unwary 

 little fish to swim by. It is Bald thai they frequently have large 

 holes in the bank in which they live in pairs roiled up. This 

 habit of taking to earth is sometimes very inconvenient to the 

 angler, for if lie is not very prompt and very vigorous in keeping 

 them away from the hank when hooked, they will have the line 

 round a corner, and vmi may then say good-bye to all chances of 

 recovering it, or your fish; you will have to break it. I have had 

 i Murral run into a hole in a rock in this way, and I lost my fish, 

 and my tackle, and my sweet temper, all at a stroke. Of the last 

 two commodities, however, I had more in stock, and soon indented 

 thereon. 



It does not make anything like as good a fight as a Mahseer, 

 but bores down to the bottom. When caught, keep your fingers 

 out of his gills as well as out of his mouth. 



The Murral feeds much as the pike does, and may be fished for 

 in the same way, and with the same tackle. But whether they 

 require clear water, as the Mahseer does, and the necessary 

 concomitant of fine tackle, or can equally be taken when the water 

 is coloured, I am not prepared to state, though I am told coloured 

 water suits them best. The principle on which they surprise 

 their prey is to hide themselves well. 



They are, in my experience, very shy fish, and from what 

 has been seen of their habits should be fished for, not in mid 

 stream, but close to the hanks, and under them, and in the still 

 pools. 



Morning or evening is also the time to take them ; in the 

 heat of the day they may be seen basking on the surface or 

 close below it, and can then he shot. I have seen a native 

 doing this very successfully. He walked up the stream like a 

 wise man, so as to approach the basking Murral unobserved 

 from behind, and he used a hall, and aimed always at the head. 

 By making the head your mark, you not only injure your fish 

 less for the table, but you make much more sure of bagging. The 

 one that this native shot for me had the Blightesl mark on the 

 off side of the head, where the ball badjusl grazed. Apparently 

 the man had not allowed sufficiently for the refraction, and had 



