Mahseer Fishing. 363 



when a fish is struck it is necessary to keep an extra 

 taut line, because if you do not, the unfortunate will 

 get under the hollows beneath the boulders, and then 

 good-bye to your tackle, for you cannot force the 

 fish out, so you have either to cut the line or you are 

 saved the trouble of doing so by its chafing against 

 the sharp edges. The boats here are much heavier 

 than on the Darrung, and the boatmen are lazy Chitta- 

 gong or Dacca Mussulmans very ill affected to our 

 government, and thus require a stern hand to keep them 

 in order. H. got one fish, eight pounds, another three 

 pounds, 0. three pounds and two-and-a-half pounds, and 

 a lot of small ones with the fly. I got one three pounds. 

 In the afternoon B. caught a three, two, and five 

 pounder; 0. a three and two pounder, and some small 

 ones with the fly. I got three twenty, nine, and two 

 pounders. We moved camp to-day, trying a short cut 

 to Lakat ; had great difficulty in getting there, as our 

 boatmen kept running away. At length we reached 

 a sand-bank at dark, and encamped there. We 

 heard fish splashing about all night, but did not think 

 they were mahseer. 



September 16th. As we started early this morning 

 I was the only one who threw out a line, and I almost 

 immediately hooked a heavy fish. My comrades were 

 close by and all pulled up to witness the tussle. Some 

 asserted that I had the line too loose, others that I 

 had it too tight, and so on ; but without heeding them 

 in the least, I kept steadily playing the fish in my 

 own way, and at last reduced the captive to its 

 last gasp. It had already turned belly uppermost 

 several times, and we all admired its grand proportions, 

 for the fish was undoubtedly an immense and well-made 



