ccxii 



' ' In the Amherst District, about six or eigh t miles from tlie sea, it Las 

 been frequently brought to my notice, and I have also observed, the prac- 

 tice prevails extensively of poisoning the water of the streams for the 

 purpose of obtaining the fish. The process adopted is as follows : 

 Pools formed in the streams by some natural obstructions are chosen for 

 carrying out this iniquitous mode of capturing fish. Different methods 

 are pursued. In one the bark of the Bunboay tree is floated on the 

 surface of the water for a short space of time, when the fish come to 

 the surface intoxicated, and are easily removed by the hand. The reason 

 for removing the bark so quickly from the water is, that the fish might 

 not become unwholesome, because too much of this substance causes the 

 flesh of the fish to act deleteriously on the health of the person who 

 eats it. The other modes are similar. The bark of the Kyee, or the 

 leaves and root of the Hong, or the fruit of the Bongalong, are used. 

 I have seen considerable quantities of fish obtained in the above manner. 

 They would measure 2 feet down to the minutest size. In fact, these 

 substances appear to intoxicate every fish which may be in the pools at 

 the time they are used ; the time of the year this is adopted is the dry 

 season, when I have large numbers of workmen employed in the con- 

 struction of the Yeh road, many of whom are rendered sick, due to the 

 state of the water, as well as eating fish which has been procured in the 

 manner described.''''] 



391. In the Tavoy District , answers have been received from one 

 native official, who observes that four-fifths 

 f ^^ fficial f of the fishermen are likewise engaged in 

 other occupations. The local markets are 

 only sufficiently supplied with fish at certain seasons, which is eaten 

 without exception by every one in the district. The amount in the 

 water has decreased during the last five or six years; the fry are 

 captured in large quantities during the latter end of the rains in 

 the months of September, October, and November ; they are taken 

 in tshais, a building constructed in the middle of the streams with 

 bamboo screens or weirs placed across the stream, leaving the part, 

 where the building is, open, in which a sloping tray, about 20 yards long, 

 is placed, one end touching the ground, and the other above water, with 

 wall-like screens on each side of the tray : over this is placed another 

 moveable tray or lift, which, when the fish are driven in by the current, 

 is tilted up, and they are caught, or baled out and put into baskets kept 

 in the water. The smallest sized mesh of nets is fths of an inch. Fish 

 are trapped in the irrigated fields during the rains in a few places, by 

 laying screens and bamboo basket traps in the water-courses when the 

 water recedes from the fields : this is generally done by lads for home 

 consumption only. The following are the fishing implements em- 

 ployed : 



1. Tshway-paik-gyee (see Akyab, No. 6); mesh fths of an inch. 

 2. Tshway-paik-galay (see Akyab, No. 10) ; mesh fths of an inch. 

 3. Hmyaw-paik-galay , a river net floated; mesh 2i inches. 

 4. Tsanda-gyee, a place built in the river or at its mouth, 

 where fish are caught on a large scale, worked by eight men : 

 there is J an inch between the bamboos of which the screens 

 are made. 



