CHAPT. xxiv. " Phoonghee'a" Contribution. 339 



"varieties of Mahseer; bat in general only three arc recognised in 

 '• Assam ami its dependencies. They are called the Deed Mahseer (the 

 " true Mahseer), tin- Boga Mahseer, and the name of the third I forget. 

 ". . . The upper part of the body to the central meridian line is 

 " almost a golden brown, the litis red, whilst the lower part is bluisli- 

 " silvery : the lips, especially the upper, are very thick, the upper can 

 " be uncurled. It is out and out the handsomest of the Mahseer, and 

 "gives the most sport. . . . Mr. Thomas appears only to have 

 "fished for these, fish from the bank; a far more killing mode is to 

 " trull out of a boat. Whither the Madras boatmen are capable of pro- 

 " pelling a boat up rapids 1 don't know, but the Karens, Burmese, and 

 " Cosseyahs will take a light boat up frightful rapids with perfect 

 "safety. The plan is to trail yonr bait a good 51) yards behind the hunt, 

 "and the sport is thus very exciting. As Mr. Thomas justly remarks, 

 "the large Mahseer are bottom-feeders and in clear streams, whilst the 

 " smaller fish can be seen swimming about midstream, the small fry 

 KT the surface ; the monsters keep near the bottom, so if you want 

 " big fish, fish deep. The fly is most killing in shallow rapids ; a man 

 "should wade in pretty deep, and, if a practised hand, he will kill 

 "many fish, but few of them will be above 10 to 14 lbs., and the 

 " greater number a good deal less. In the Dehra Dhoon, they are the 

 "most gaudy flies, but where I have fished, the most killing fly was a 

 " medium sized No. 4 or 5 semi-circle hook, dressed like the cock-o'- 

 " thi-walk as described by Mr. Thomas at page 101. For smaller fish 

 "the smoky dun was most killing.* 



" For spinning I have found nothing equal to a large spoon. . . . 

 " In the waters of the Upper Burhampootra — especially near Suddyah — 



* These two flies, Cock-o'-the-walk and Smoky Dun, were mentioned in my first 

 edition j the former on the authority of " K," whose letter about fishing on the 

 Pooncli will be found among the extracts on fishing localities, and the latter on the 

 recommendation of a fisherman who had killed many Mahseer before I had ever 

 seen one, and who, while admitting certain merits in the Blackamoor, still fancied 

 the Smoky Dun much more. 



The Coci-o'-the-Walk. 



Of this fly all that K. says is " by far the most deadly fly — indeed, the only one 

 "that appears to tempt them — was Madras jungle cock feathers in the wings, if 

 " with arret body, all the hitter." K. does not say anything about size, so I will 

 tiik.- the liberty to suggest the same as for Blackamoor, to wit, a No. 2/0 and 2 

 Limerick hook, but especially No. 2. 



This fly may be the more readily believed in, as the tuck feathers of the Madras 

 jungle cock are general favourites, arc used more or less as a setoff in many salmon 

 Hies, and aro at the head of the poll in Norway ; even those Norwegians who know 



TUE KOI) IN IM'IA. '/. 2 



