AND STRANGE FISHERMEN 



bartdh) known by Europeans as the mango-fish, from its 

 yellowish colour. It is not unlike our perch, and always 

 commands a high price, partly on account of its tooth- 

 someness, but especially because its air-bladder yields 

 isinglass. Several allied fish are found in the hotter parts 

 of America and Africa. 



In the Ceylon rivers, too, we find the peasantry still 

 clinging to the wading method, almost identical with that 

 practised by the Chinese ; the fisherman finding his catch 

 with his bare feet. 



The use of weirs or garths has been introduced into the 

 Andaman Islands ; at Port Blair, the great convict 

 settlement, the prisoners erect across the mouths of the 

 creeks similar wooden traps to those mentioned in 

 Chapter X ; they are not a fixture, but are periodically 

 moved from creek to creek, because after a time the fish 

 grow wary and avoid the spot where they have seen their 

 friends disappear. The seir-fish, a kind of salmon, is 

 caught in this way. Here deep-sea fishing is almost out 

 of the question by reason of the strong current and heavy 

 seas. 



We cannot leave the subject of Asiatic fisheries without 

 a word or two about that carried on in the Holy Land. 

 The modern Palestine traveller tells us that we should 

 now look in vain for boats "launching out into the 

 deep," and working nets all night in the Sea of Galilee. 

 Not that the fish have disappeared; they are to be caught 

 there in millions, as also in the Jordan and the Jabbock ; 

 but the Arabs, less accustomed to systematic work than 

 the Jews of old, follow easier plans the simplest and 



213 



