CHAPTER XL 



MAHSEER FISHING. 



When a boy I was devotedly fond of fishing, and 

 participated in it to my heart's content. In Southern 

 India, there is very little angling except for 

 " murral," but I found I was nowhere in the pastime 

 although possessed of far superior tackle and the 

 same bait, a live frog to an experienced native ; in 

 fact, such a person could give me eleven out of a 

 dozen and beat me at this sport. They had a peculiar 

 knack of working the frog on the surface of the 

 water, of which I was altogether deficient, so being 

 unsuccessful, I took very little interest in that kind 

 of sport. In Burma I had too much to do, laying 

 out roads and inspecting works, and seldom came 

 across a river where good fishing could be had, yet I 

 caught a fair lot with fly in the Shoay Ghein River. 

 The Burmese called these fish gna-mein, the Bengalies 

 bahsah. It is a superior article of food ; and grows to 

 a very large size, but those about six to eight pounds 

 are the best eating. It was not therefore until . I 

 went to Assam that I took to fishing in earnest. 



I had bought some second-hand tackle from a 

 Deputy-Commissioner, so when in Bagh Dooar, en- 



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