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surface of the water. But they do not appear to do so, or 

 why are the shad entirely stopped at the lower Coleroon one ? 

 In the Kistna the ascent of the fish usually occurs after the 

 freshes have subsided, and when a wall of stone is built 

 along the top of the weir, and through which water only 

 trickles, this construction being indispensable for the irri- 

 gation of the second crop of rice : fish, however, attempting 

 to ascend during the freshes, one would at first sight have 

 thought, could easily pass over the Bezwada weir, as it forms 

 a long slope on its down-stream face, from its summit to 

 the bed of the river. But such is not the case :* it is asserted 

 that not a single marine species is caught there, or has been, 

 since its construction. Those which try to ascend up the 

 rough stones, in the face of an impetuous current, apparent- 

 ly become so bruised and injured that they are unable to 

 cross, and even could they do so, their ova would probably 

 be irretrievably ruined. But these rough stones do not 

 exist in front of the under-sluices ; and as the river is 

 frequently five feet above the level of the wall above them, 

 it might be advanced that they could cross at that spot, but 

 they apparently do not contrive to do so, which is most 

 probably due to the great force of the current, for they would 

 have to rise 16 feet at least to clear the wall. As they 

 ascend along the river's bed they find a wall and ascend to 

 surmount it, but as they rise the strong current must take 

 them backward down-stream, and thus they never reach its 

 summit which the muddy condition of the water prevents 

 their seeing, for it is only during freshes that the wall is 

 covered. 



XVII. Besides the foregoing there are irrigation canals 



Irrigation canals simple or for which haV6 a bearing Upon the 



traffic as well. fisheries of a district, and these may 



be divided (1) into those simply constructed for purposes of 

 irrigation, or (2) those which are made for both irrigation 

 and navigation. These canals in some places, as the E/oree one 

 in Sind, are mere artificial streams, which, in some portions 

 of their extent, exist in lieu of natural water-courses which 

 have silted up. Here no great falls occur, and references 

 to such are unnecessary. But irrigation canals, as a 

 rule, are given off from one or both sides of a river, which 

 has a stone weir thrown across it for the purpose of bunding 

 up the water to a given height. At the head of each of 



* It is stated at Kurnal (p. Ixxxi) that sable are taken at the weir there; if so, 

 they must cross the Bezwada one. Having written to the Collector, he is unable to say if it 

 is the sable or not, so I have requested, but not as yet received, a specimen. 



