Ixxvii 



irrigation season. Doubtless, temporary ladders might be formed to 

 allow the fish to pass over the anicut ; but during- the mouths of Novem- 

 ber, December, and January a stone bund is placed across the anicut, and 

 water, as far as possible, prevented from flowing 1 over the anicut. It has 

 been suggested to me that Government should institute an establishment 

 to catch the fish below the anicut and place them in the river above." 

 The Acting Collector (November 12th, 1867) continues, "should Govern- 

 ment approve of the proposals for conservancy of Messrs. Stuart and 

 Vibart, I have the honor to request that sanction for a sum of not more 

 than Us. 200 may be given for the purpose/'' The Madras Revenue 

 Board (January 28th, 1868) observe, " the Board are inclined, however, 

 rather to favor the plan proposed by Mr. Stuart * *, namely, the enter- 

 tainment of an establishment of fishermen, for catching the fish below 

 the anicut and putting them in again above/'' The Collector of the 

 Godaveri District (February 7th, 1868) continues, " I do not think the 

 idea of employing fishermen to catch spawning fish below the auicut and 

 put them into the river above it a good one. I think that the fish 

 will very probably be injured in so doing/-' The Madras Government 

 (May 27th, 1868) observe, "the proposal to employ an establishment of 

 fishermen to transfer fish from below to above the anicut does not com- 

 mend itself to the judgment of Government/' I reported (December 1st, 

 1 868) on those herrings, which die almost as soon as they ^ire removed 

 from the water : " at the Kistna is no bridge across the anicut, and 

 fishing must be carried on for at least 250 yards below that structure ; 

 therefore, the fish would have to be captured, landed, and carried up above 

 the anicut. Doubtless, some would survive the process if a sufficient 

 number were taken, but the ova would be injured, and probably almost 

 irretrievably so. For anything to succeed it must be a natural pass." 

 The Revenue Board (December 18th, 1869) direct that "Collectors of 

 Godaveri, Kistna, and Tanjur will take measures for passing a certain 

 number of fish over the anicuts by netting them in the manner proposed 

 by Lieutenant Vibart/'' The Officiating Collector of the Kistna District 

 (November 10th, 1868) observes, that the introduction of the system 

 of renting out the fisheries should be gradual, so as to avoid causing 

 hardship to those who have hitherto enjoyed the rights of fishing 

 without restriction. The meshes of the nets in use are from one to two 

 inches in circumference, and the fishermen assert that larger meshes will 

 lot take most of the fresh-water fish. [This is an error, as the great 

 majority of the fish in the Kistna river attain to a large size, 

 although seeing those as now captured, one would be led to 

 suppose they could never grow large. There are not above two sorts 

 of all the siluroids or scaleless fish, which at six or eight months 

 of age would go through a mesh of four inches in circumference, 

 and some of those whose fry I witnessed being taken in the Kistna attain 

 several feet in length. The same remark applies to most of the carps. 

 A. list of 38 species which I collected in that district exists in Proceed- 

 ings, Madras Government, February 4th, 1869. The Head Assistant in 

 June 1869 reported, " no doubt here, as in other districts, there is 

 much destruction of young fish by the use of nets with small meshes."] 

 He continues that in the district all channels and tanks dry up in the 

 hot weather; consequently even those larger kinds of fish can only 



