( 67 ) 



Burma. Sometimes a line of men work a shallow piece of 

 water with them, and then they become rather destructive : 

 however, eels and walking-fish (Ophiocephalidce) are the sorts 

 most commonly captured thus. The triangular lave-net 

 adverted to in the last paragraph is often made of split 

 bamboo : it is used extensively for the purpose of capturing 

 breeding-fish passing into irrigated fields as observed upon in 

 Kurnal (p. xcvii). In Burma, rattan or bamboo nets termed 

 gyan (p. cxcix) have each piece fixed to its neighbour by grass 

 or fibre in the place of string, the interstices being of various 

 sizes from -^th of an inch to 1 inch. Yindoons are a species 

 of lave-net made of closely- woven split bamboos, and affixed 

 to a long pole ; it is employed to clear out all small water- 

 courses of the fry of fish ; it is pushed along them, and raised 

 every now and then. In some places fixed weirs are placed 

 in a piece of water, and one of the gyans is gradually 

 dragged up to the standing weir. 



LXXI. What is the minimum size of the meshes of 

 The smallest size of the mesh nets in general use in India and 

 of nets which is employed. Burma (excluding Sind), where no 



regulations exist declaring what such should be? I here 

 append the answers received from native officials ; 91 refer 

 to inches : 



Irrespective of the foregoing 91, answers have also 

 been received from 70 more, and they compare the minimum 

 size as follows : 



Size of finger or thumb 



^ ring finger ... 

 As big as a broomstick 

 Size of | a rupee 



4-anna bit 



i of an anna ... 



2-anna bit 



Size of a grain of wheat, mothi, mucca, gram, dholl, lamp-oil 

 seed, barley, tamarind seed, or a small pea, pepper- 

 corn, large needle, bodkin, quill, coarse muslin, en- 

 snare an ant, or hardly anything can pass 



53 



