CXX111 



small fish hooks, ' gal/ by ' tatti' or ' pinjra/ which is generally placed 

 against a running stream of a nalla, the water passes through, but 

 the fish that are carried away by the current of the water are 

 driven into the crevices of the tatti, and are thus entrapped ; by 

 1 phanta/ when a screen is placed against the current in a shallow river 

 or a nalla, on one side it has a sheet of cloth attached to it, whilst on 

 the other a net is spread, as the current is arrested by the screen, the 

 fish, in attempting to pass, leap over it, and fall into the nets spread on 

 the other side ; e Pailni' is a triangular-shaped net (lave-net) on a pole 

 used for catching fish in shallow water ; ' Bhovasent/ a circular net 

 about 18 feet in diameter; ' Tagoi/ a net from 90 to 175 feet in 

 length ; the ' Jhortr' is very similar, but with a larger mesh ; the 

 'Topari' is another species of net; ' Bhewar jal' or cast-net; the 

 1 Kothla' is a bag-shaped bamboo trap, and is generally used in irrigated 

 fields ; snares termed ' Phas / poisoning water by ' milk bush/ ' hin- 

 ganbetf or ' meni/ In Balaghat the following plans are likewise 

 reported : ' Dupka/ a conical bamboo coop ; ' Lamdora/ a night line baited 

 with a frog ; ' Kunkur/ a spear ; ' Dawan/ night-lines with several hooks 

 on one string ; ' Tepon/ another form used during the day-time ; ' Surki/ 

 fine bamboo chicks, as are also ' Chunga' and ' Maindhar/ ' Dhaer/ or 

 a piece of large hollow bamboo three or four feet in length, open at both 

 ends, is left in running water : its weight sinks it : it is suddenly lifted, 

 the two ends being closed by the two hands. ' Chapa/ by lights at 

 night, when the fish jump on to a piece of bamboo matting. ' Ooran/ 

 a large net, which is stretched across a stream in a moon-light night, 

 and the water is beaten towards it by men in canoes. 



263. In the Jabalpur Division, five TeJisildars reply, that there 



are 10,923 fishermen, who almost invariably 



Jabalpur Division Answers ue ^^ occupations the nameg of 



of the .Native omcials. f. T., . r ' 



the castes are Dhimars and Khevats. The 



local markets are fully supplied in three tehsils, but not so in 

 two. Respecting the amount of the population who eat fish, it 

 is given as follows : Seoni three-fourths, Mandla all but Brahmins and 

 Banias, Sagar and Jabalpiir half; Damoh two-thirds. As regards the 

 amount of fish in the waters, in Seoni and Jabalpur it is stated that 

 they were abundant previous to the drought of 1868-69 when numbers 

 died, now again they are increasing; in Damoh they are stationary : in 

 Mandla and Sagar they have decreased. In Sagar small fish are 

 not taken in any quantity during the rains, but they are in the four 

 other districts, at the end of the rains, by damming and lading, by 

 taking those left by receding waters in hollows and rice- fields, and by fine 

 nets ; in fact, at Mandla about half of the young fry may be said to 

 be so caught. The smallest -sized meshes are thus given in four 

 listricts ; one at half an inch, two at quarter of an inch [in one it 

 subsequently observed of the Pilna net, that it has "fine meshes 



irough which a needle for sewing gunny can with difficulty be passed], 



id one at the size of a grain of wheat. Young and old fish are 

 ten during seasons of irrigation, in the fields, by means of traps 



it at the outlet of every enclosure in three of the districts, but 

 the remaining two no fields are irrigated at this period, but 



rherever there is any overflow, the people destroy the fry how they can. 



