."■i'iK A Plea for River Fisheries. Ciiait. xxv. 



powerful. They are required to be so to crush freshwater snails, and 

 crabs the size of the palm. They would make 



Ampullaria glauca , , . , , . „ , _,, 



L. very short work of breaking a finger bone. They 



nhn";'"' a Ben are a ^ S0 somewhat more pointed or carnivorous 



One of Uhio species, than is usual with the Carp species. This pe- 



Limnea stagnalis. .. . . 



Pianortis Indian. culiar formation of their teeth accords with the 



ddina" Coroma "~ observation that small fish also form a large por- 



„ tion of their food. Specimens of their teeth 



Two of Corbwula 



species. are submitted. The gall-bag, too, is unusually 



large. It is much prized by the country people 

 as a remedy in cases of stomach-ache, cholera, and puerperal fever. 

 88. Except in the neighbourhood of the coast, the rivers are 

 generally fringed with forests, the foliage of which yields no scanl 

 supply of insect life ; the overhanging bamboo swarms with small 

 moths, and a bush that springs up in the bed of the river as it 



dwindles teems with various flies. The dhoop 



vSS£t32Z£ dr °P s 8eeds «■ bi S m * bantam's egg, which. 



with the different seeds at different season* 



of many descriptions of trees and the bamboo rice, are greedily 



devoured by the expectant fish. The Cyanite rocks, with which 



the rivers abound, are covered with many sorts of water crickets, 



and the freshwater weeds are alive with 

 Podostomacia. 



shrimps and beetles. The tender roots of trees 



and the leaves of the lilies in the shallows are freely found in 



the intestines of some fish, and others are filled 



I'lllisill'l'ill Kjnj-dl/X. 



to repletion with the simple green leaves of 

 certain overhanging trees, well known to the natives, and used as 

 ground bail before netting. Here in the tropics vegetation by the 

 waterside is rank, and insect life is in profusion, so that the food 

 supply of the Canara rivers can well hear comparsion with the best 

 waters of colder climes; and there seems no limit on this score to 

 the number of fish that these rivers are capable of sustaining. 



92. Frogs do some mischief anion- the fry, but they have 



themselves enough of enemies. In the water 



lli/lorana malaba- 



rica; fylorana flo- the Murral (Ophiqcepkalw) feeds almost en- 



^zriz:fz ti,vh a p° n iWm - * wvM y ^ dose u,uW 



unnamed Bpecies of the banks for this purpose, and on land, nion- 

 polypedate?, 



gooses, snakes, kites, crows, and paddy-birds 

 assist in suppressing them, while water-snakes follow them in 



